The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-04-03
IEKYLL AND HYDE
CASE IN AUSTRIA
Young Army Officer Under Ar
rest for Attempted Whole
sale Murder.

Especial Cable TO Herald Republican,
Berlin, April 2.-~Fhere has been an
amazing development in the trial of Lieu
tenant Hofrichter, the young army officer
who is accused of attempting last No
vember to poison some fifty officers OF
the Acknowledgements general staff with
the object of clearing the way for his own
promotion. One of the victims died
A discovery was made which the prose
cution considers reveals that the Iieuten-
ant had for long been leading a Jekyll
and Hyde existence, and had done so
with extraordinary cunning. After HOf-
rlchter's arrest, the police went to ex-
traordinary lengths 30 obtain evidence
even exhuming the body of a young BO-
hsmian girl TO whom Hefrichter had
been betrOtned some years ago. She had
died very suddenly. and the suggestion of
the prosecution was that she had been
poisoned.
Another episode in the Heutenants ca
reer which. brought to light some weeks
ago, was then thought to have little rel
eVance to the poison plot, has now be-
come deeply interesting. Il was the evil
dence of a young Vtennese girl who went
70 Linz to answer an advertisement for
a nursery sOverneSs required by DT.
Halter and his wife. The police rescued
the girl from a hotel where DIR. Halter
had, as she alleged, made advances to
recognizes in Hofrichter DIT. Halter
A new and substantial clue now iden-
tlIieS (the prosecution maintalDs) Lieu
tenant Hofrichter and DR.. Halter as
one and the same man.
me clue IS an envelope which Vienna
firm of paper makers received from the
dead letter office some time ago 1t had
been posted to ''Dr. Halter, Post Restante,
Linz last September. No one had called
for it, and as there was no indication of
"a
turned to the paper makers whose name
was printed on il. 1t proved to contain
a small bag of powder. labeled poison
subhmate." The paper makers put the
envelope On one side for time. Then a
member OF the firm saw ia the newspa-
perS that Lieutenant HOfrichter had used
the name of Haller in the affair Of the
goveTness. and at once handed il over to
the police.
With this discovery the prosecution be
lieves the proof of the prisoners dual
personality to be complete. As Lieuten-
ant HOfrichter, the man is respected by
his brother officers. He Is believed by his
wife, who is ready to make any sacrifice
for him. His mother-in-laW has nothing
but praise for his conduct He was in
dustriOus, kind, thoughtful she says;
he showed his dOmesticity in hundred
little ways His nepheWs and nleces III
Vienna adored their jolly, generous sol
der uncle.
As DR.. HaIler he exhibits says the pros
ecutiOn} amazing ingenuity in the accom-
pllshment Of a diabOlical crime. He Is
proved to have enticed an innocent girl
away from her home, and there are in
dications that that was not his first at
fair of the sort He FORCES railway
passes in order to go on his nefariOus er-
rands at the expense of the state. In
prison he feigns religious mania and mad
ness, at the same time showing extraor-
binary cleverness in communicating with
the outside world Here. indeed, the two
personalities seem to overlap, for Frau
Hofrichter CwhO during her husband s
imprisonment has given birth TO a child
has confessed that the lieutenant has
smuggled letters to her from his closely
guarded cell