The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-06-29
ELECTIVES OUTWITTED
How Burglar Ofcer-Queer Bunder of the

Many of the mistakes of detectives
are those of mistaken identity. Some
time ago a man belonging to one of
the best known and wealthiest families
III the country was greatly surprised
and more indignant when he was ar
rested by a detective who thought he
had captured criminal who recently
had escaped from prison. Profuse ex-
plantations on the part of the captured
man, says the Chicago Tribune, were
followed by equally profuse apologies
on the part of the detective. so that
the incident closed without i'll will on
either side.
A mistake with more tragic result
occurred in England in 1879 The mis-
take arose in connection with the IA
nous Edlingham burglary, when two
men were brought before the Newcas-
tie assizes charged with the robbing
Of the vicarage. II appears that when
the vicar interrupted his unWelcOme
visitors they had shot at him. so that
the charge of attempted murder was
added 10 that of burglary. The two
men, Branhaghan and Murphy. who
were charged with the crime. were con-
victed and sentenced to life imprison-
ment. as the evidence seemed to be
convincing beyond the shadow of a
doubt. They served seven years of
their term. Then two other men con-
fessed that they alone were guilty of
the robbery.
Superintendent Butcher, one of the
most astute detectives Scotland Yard
ever possessed, was sent down TO in
vestigate the mystery. The chief of
the local police, who had been in charge
of the investigation at the time of the
of the subordinates who had assisted
him We're placed on trial. il being al
legged that they had concocted evidence
wilfully, upon which evidence the two
men were convicted. After a long trial
the jury found them innocent of will
fully manufacturing evidence. but the
judge in summing up pointed out that
there had been grievOus mistakes in
judgment on the part of the police.
De TOurville, one of the most terri
BILE of the European criminals. escaped
punishment for a long time because of
the mistake of a detective. The death
Of a woman at Scarborough by what
De TOurVille declared was the acciden-
tai discharge of a revolver was investi-
gated by a detective from London, but
so frank and open appeared the con-
duct of the great criminal and so flour
ing was his appearance that the officer
was misled and reported that he was
convinced that the affair was an acct
dent.
When few years later the death of
the wife of De TourVille was being in
vestigated-he murdered her by hurl-
ing her over a preeipice in the Alps
the body of the woman who had died
a Scarborough was exhumed and ex-
amined. 1t was found that, far from
killing herself by accident. she had
been murdered by some one who had
shot her in the back, so that a slight
examination would have established the
fact. The mistake OF the detective at
the time of the Scarborough crime had
terrible results, for in the time De
Tourville was allowed to go free he
committed two more murders.
Sherlock Holmes constantly insisted
that nothing in room where a crime
had been committed should be touched
and this appears to be a good rule
judging from a mistake made by an
intelligent police officer in Ireland. This
policeman was placed in charge of
room in which a murder had been COM
mitted 10 see that nothing was dis
turbed until his superior officers ar
rived. He found the time passed slow
ly amid such melancholy surroundings
and proceeded to console himself with
pipe. He lit a candle which he found
on the mantel piece. and finding a
crumpled up piece of paper on the floor
he used that for lighting his pipe
As he was afraid that his superiors
would object TO his smoking while on
duty, he opened the window in order
To let out the smell of the tobacco and
in order to see them when they ap-
preached. SO that he could put his pipe
out in time. 1t was discovered later
that in indulging in the innocent pleas