The Washington herald., 1908-02-24
ITALIAN FOUND DEAD
Police Hold Kin, After First
Believing 1t Suicide.
TAKES POISON; HEAD CRUSHED
Officials Declare Victim Could Not
Have Inflicted Skull Wound After
Taking suIphuric Acid-StepsOn
Believed 10 Know sOnethinE of
crime-Makes VIII and Disappears.

New York, Feb. 23.-GeroIamo Celia.
one Of the partners in the firm Of Celia
Bros, importers OF wines and wholesale
groceries at 52s and $50 West Broadway.
and credited with being one of the
wealthiest business men in New Yorl's
Italian colony. went to a lawyer on Sat
urday 10 get advice on the matter Of
changing his will.
He said at the time that lie was going
away from home, never 10 come back. At
o'clock this morning he was found by
HIS brother. Dominica Celia. lying in
heap on the floor OF his darkened Office
IN the West Broadway store with his
skull fractured by blow from a ham
mer. his throat bruised by the marks Of
fingers. and an empty vial. which had
contained concentrated sulphuric acid. on
table beside him.
When the police were called in By
Dominica, they accepted the case as one
Of suicide. persuaded as they were by
letter, believed to be in the handwriting
Of Gerolamo Celia. which said that the
writer was going 70 Kill himself. and
which was signed BY the name OF the
dead man.
Two Relatives Held.
Later Coroner Hamburger learned some
things which convinced him that a muir
der had been done. and the police arrested
Dominica Celia. first as a material wit
ness, and later rearrested him as sus-
picious person: and they also held Cesare
Bianchi. a stepson Of the dead man, as a
witness.
Corner Hamburger was supported in his
belief that Gerolamo Celia had been muir
dered by the opinion Of the two doctors
and by evidences of an unusual charac-
ter in the Office OF the West Broadway
store. Coroner's Physician Schultz, after
making an autopsy on the body. declared
that there was enough poison in the
stomach TO kill three men. and that no
man. after taking that much concen-
trated sulphuric acid. could have had the
strength 10 dent in his skull 20 the depth
OF an inch with hammer.
Equally impossible was IL. said DR..
Schultz. for any one 10 have dealt him
self such a blow with hammer and
then 10 have swallowed the acid after
ward
TrRiIed by Blood.
From the evidences Of the fractured
skull and the poison IN the dead mans
stomach. there was the presence Of
broad trail OF blood. twenty feet long. in
the Office where the body was found.
and the marks OF struggle on Ceua's
throat and wrist to lead the police 10 &C
cept Coroner Harburger's theory OF MUIR
der and make thorough examination
into the circumstances surrounding the
wealthy merchants death before dis
missing II as a suicide.
Gerolamo Celia lived. with his wife. on
the top floor OF a tenement which he
owned at = and y Wooster street the
lower floor Of which is occupied By con
fectonery factory owned by is stepson.
Bianchi
On Saturday night Celia had dinner
with his wife and left the house shortly
after in the best OF spirit, according to
the story she told the police to-day. TO
go 10 a restaurant at 100 West Houston
street 10 play cards with friends HIS
nephew. Crazzetti. a cigar dealer on
Broadway, was one OF the players 81 the
restaurant.
About II o'clock the card game broke
up and Celia left for his home
Went Home Alone
Since. as far as the police could learn
tonight. no one accompanied him from
the restaurant on his way home the
hours between IL o'clock and ! O'Clock.
when the wine merchant was found dying
on the floor OF MS Office. being unac-
counted for.
Dominica Celia. the brother OF the
dead man, says when he entered the Of
fee his brother was alive and breathing
heavily Blood was all over his head.
face and hands Dominica bent over him
and asked him who did il. Gerolamo
could not speak. but lifted his hand and
pointed 20 himself several times. He
shortly after became unconscious.
Held Under Bond.
Dominica Celia was taken before Mag
istrate Butts. OF the Jefferson Market
Court, this morning. and remanded into
the hands OF the coroner. who held him
under $1,000 bonds. Bail was provided
later and Celia was released
Information which was brought to the
coroner later in the day, and which Was
by him turned over to the police. led
Q u