The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-31
KILLED her WITH BARE HANDS
MUTILATED HER BODY AND LEFT
IT IN TENEMENT AREAWAY.

b~orhood-The other woman Identified.
The finding Of a young woman body in an
sreaway Of tenement at 7o4 East Ninetieth
street at $50 O'Clock yesterday morning
brought to light a revolving murder. Adossn
detectives who started out on the casa
before the body Of the victim was cold had
been unable up to midnight TO learn the
identity OF the woman or to get any clue
to the murderer. =
Policeman Healey OF the East Eighty
saw a pair Of woman's tan shoes lying on
the steps leading down into the areaway
from the street. and then he noticed q drop
Of blood on the top step. The body was in
full view as soon as he stepped inside the
railing. 1t had been hidden from passersby
by the front steps OF the tenement. which
form a roof over part Of the areawsy.
The woman was lying face up on the stonc
floor with her skirt pulled over her head.
b head was jammed into a corner Of the
basement doorway and the soles Of her
feet were against the outside wall OF the
aresway. The woman's face had several
blood stains which looked like finger marks.
Her neck was discolored and on each side
were the imprints of a mans fingers. The
murderer had dug his nails into the flesh
on one side.
DIR. Carscaden. from the Presbyterian
Hospital. said the woman had been lead
only a little more than an hour. Her hands
we're still warm. An examination by the
doctor showed that the lowe r part OF her
body had been frightfully mutilated. 1t
was from these wounds that the blood
had flowed. There we're two or three
good sized blood stains on the stone floor
and evidences that there had beer a hard
struggle. The murderer used no weapon.
attacking the woman with his hands alone.
The victim of the assault was about ~
years old. S feet s inches tall and weighed
1876 pounds. She had dark hair. brown
eyes and a swarthy complexion. In the
opinion Of the police she was probably
an Italian or a Cuban. She was poorly
dressed. She wore a cheap taffeta waist
and a dark skirt and scarcely any under
clothing with the exception of a soiled
OtS NONcs Ibttb q D1k nOttN III Ubf
stockings.
Policeman Healey aroused Mrs. Mary
Wolf. who lives in the basement of the tene-
ment. She lie IS years old, but her hearing
is good. She said she had not heard a
sound in the night. She had entered her
rooms about midnight. after having spent
the evening with a friend. She came
down the areaway stairs and there was
nobody there then. She had not gone
to bed until I o'clock. and when she did she
left her windows open. Two OF these
windows open on the areaway. Mrs.
Wolf was sure she would nave heard any
disturbance.
None Of the other enants in the building
could throw any light on the identity OF
the woman. The ~jsnitor. who lives on the
ground floor, heard the policeman when
he entered the area but not a sound
had come to his ears before thai. Tho
j~anitor's dog. which slept near one OF the
front windows, also snoozed on through
all the disturbance. II there was any
The policemen aroused sleepers in other
tenements near by and got the bartenders
from n~eighboring saloons. but nobody
knew the woman. Her body lay in the
sreaway guarded by the police for about
two hours and then il was taken TO the
Morgue.
Coroner's Physician Leblanc, after he had
performed an autopsy. declared that stran-
gulation was the cause Of death. He
advised the police to look for a big, strong
man, probably more than 0 feet tall. The
marks on the romans throat. according
to the doctor. showed that the murderer
had an immense hand. He had gripped
the neck 40 tightly that some OF the bones
had almost been dislocated. The wounds
on the body are too revolving TO describe.
IL is DIR. Lehane's opinion that they were
inflicted before the woman was dead, or at
least while she was being ~strangled. The
blood on her face undoubtedly came from
the murderer's hand when he stopped her
from crying out.
This is not an ordinary murder for hate
or revenge; IL il the work OF a ficnd. said
DIR. Lehane.
The street in which the body was found,
betw cen Third and Second venues is re-
spectacle. most of the tenants being Ger
mans Of the middle class. The houses are
on the south side of the street only. On
the north side are Ruppert's brewery and
one or two stables, The police believe
that this street was selected by the MUIR
derer because Of it's ad~aptability. There
wan io huhNV "t"h aS vOuiA 10 bDoh ny
people opposite.
The only clue that the police could find
in the areaway was in the pair Of russell
Shoes. They we're marked The whirl OF
the Town. There was a show Of that name
at the Casino a few years ago and the police
thought the woman might have bought
the shoes from somebody in the show.
They we're certain that she herself had not
been on the stage.
The fact that the woman was in her
stocking feet and that the shoes were lying
In an orderly way on the steps led the
police TO believe that the woman had gone
into the areaway willingly and had taken Oh
her shoes 90 that she wouldn't be heard.
There are two blood stains on the steps,
which the police say we're probably made
by the man. There was a gas light on one
side OF the areaway and an arc light about
twenty feet away on tho other side. The
murderer had apparently taken pains to
remove eyervthin0 from the wounan's