The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-09-04
Police Trace Two Murders
to Burglar Killed
at Work.
WOMEN HIS VICTIMS
Detectives Find Evidence That Henry
Hoffman Made Love, and Then
Slew to Rob.

New York, Sept. ga second Johann
Hoch, the police believe, has been dis
covered in Henry Hoffman, the bur-
glar who was killed while attempting
to rob Charles Varrells fiat early Fri
day morning.
The police on Saturday declared that
Hoffman was the murderer Of Sophy
Heckler, a domestic found dead August
g. and tonight they announce the be-
lief that he also murdered Mrs. Lena
Schum, who was killed in Brooklyn
August 20.
The detective who has been at work
on the Schum case is positive that
Hoffman, killed the woman Among the
jcwelry found in the room, Hoffman
has occupied for some time before he
was killed, earrings which were today
positively identified by Miss Minnie
Springer, young woman who formerly
lived with Mrs. Schum, as Mrs. Schums
property. The young woman described
the earrings infinitely, saying that they
were brought from Bavaria by Mrs.
Schum. She also made a sketch of
them and when a number of similar
pieces were shown her, she unhesitat
irgly picked out those found in Hoff-
mans room.
Also Identifies n Ring.
A peculiar ring of gold, with a small
red stone, which was found in Hoff-
mann's room, also was identified by
Miss Springer as the property of Mrs
Schum. The jewelry later was identi
fed by Mrs. John Schum, the murdered
womans sister-in-law. Miss Springer
also picked from bunch of keys one
found In Hoffmann's room which she
said was the key to Mrs. Schum's fiat
The key fitted the lock of the door ex-
actly when tried later by the police
Samuel Weinberg, a tailor, whose
shop is on the ground floor of the
building in which Hoffman roomed af-
ter the killing of Miss Heckler today
identified Hoffmann's body as that of a
man who went to his shop on August
81, the day after Mrs. Schum was killed,
with a coat which he wanted cleaned.
The coat Weinberg said. was badly
blood-stained. Hoffman explained these
stains by saying that he had been in a
fight the night before and had been
badly battered up, although he showed
no signs of it, according to Weinberg
Hoffmann's method, like that of Hoch
the police say. was to make the ac-
quaintance of women of his own ma
tiona'ity and by pretending a desire
tc marry them secure the opportunity
of robbing and. If necessary, killing
them
Miss Springer said that during the
long time she had lived with Mrs.
Schum the latter had no men callers
and no love affairs The woman was
killed after returning from a Bava-
rian picnic. 1t was the fact that Hoff-
mann was a Bavarian that first led
the police to suspect that he might
have been the murderer of Mrs. Schum-
Killed Girl to Rob.
Miss Heekler was killed August in
the home of her employer. Leo Mack,
in Sixty second street At the same
time the house was robbed. The po-
lice secured a description of q man
who had been seen with the girl several
times, and finally decided that Hoff-
mann was the man they wanted.
The police located him as living IN
der an assumed name in a rooming
house and searching his belongings,
discovered the articles stolen from the
Mack house. Trey took a room in the
house and waited there for him. He
had told his landlady that he would
return on Saturday night, but Friday
morning he was killed. Jewelry and
trinkets in Hoffmann's room were iden-
having been