The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-03-28
Headless Man in Bag Found in River
Murdered at Wilkes . B ARE.

hanna River laid bare last Saturday
fifteen miles south of Sunbury,
burlap bag containing the rude and
headless body of a man. Ten bull
let marks and five ugly knife stabs
indicate the manner OF the mans
death, but as there was nothing by
which the identity of the victim
could be established, Coroner Dech-
er, of Shamokiu, hai mystery on
his bands that rivaled the famous
Guldensuppe murder that for
time baffled the detective force of
New York.
Andrew Ziegler, a farmer, near
Georgetown, in the lower end of
Northumberland County, found the
bag with its gruesome burden op'
po ite McKees Falls. He rowed
over to one of the islands that dot
the river to do some work, and
while on his way back noticed an
object lodged on bar, and rowing
to the sack, tossed it to land, un-
aware of the character of his find.
The bag was sewed at both ends
with strong cord, and when the
farmer cut the string he uttered all
exclamation of horror.
In making a closer examination
Mr.. Ziegler discovered that the bag
was smcared with blood, indicating
that the murder victim had been
placed in the sack soon after the
commission Of the crime and thrown
into the water Though the body
was only partly decomposed, it was
not difficult to see that the large
hands and brawny arms and legs of
the murdered man proved that he
had been of the laboring class, and
probably had worked in the mines.
| Coroner Decher directed Justice
Bnbb, of Georgetown, to have the
body embalmed, and it will remain
unburied until further investiga-
ton can be made. An inquest was
| held and a verdict of murder was
returned by the jury, which had
the bullet and knife wounds as the
only evidence to determine the
manner of the mans death.
Search was begun at once to
learn if there were any missing men
in the towns along the Susquehan-
ma River and its tributaries. The
river had remained above its nor
NAL height since the rains Of the
early part of the week, and it is be-
ieved by some of the men in the
investigation that the body was
washed from some point far above
the place where it lodged on the
bank. That it had been i'll the
water some days is evident, though
the theory is advanced that posi-
bly, the body might have been kept
for several days by the murderers,
then thrown into the river or some
tributary stream while the flood
was In progress, in which case the
bag, with its burden, mioht have
been carried hundred miles OF
more. But the blood on the bag
seems to dispose of this explana'
ton.
Police in many cities were mott
fed and asked to aid N the hunt
for clues. 1t is the belief of the
Coroner and others investigating
the case that the crime is one of the
numerous murders of the Black
Hand Society. The many wounds
indicate that the victim was attack
ed by several men, possibly a dozen
and was quickly killed.
The mystery surrounding the
finding of the body was unraveled
on Monday.
The dead man was identified as
Michael Kropaski, of Wilkes-Barre
and an associate is charged with the
bloody deed.
The couscience.stricken wife OF
the accused murderer, it is alleged,
told in detail the story of the horri-
BILE crime perpetrated in their
Wilkes Barre home on Friday night
March IS.
According to her reported con-
fession. after the crime was commit
ted, the body was secreted in the
cellar of their home until the follow
ing Sunday morning, when it was
cast adrift in a small creek.