New-York tribune., 1910-01-31
THIEF A MURDERER
MERCHANT is KILLED
and son FOUNDED.
Crime Makes Eighth Murder
in T1co Weeks-AU as
Yet CHsolued.

The murder of Moses Gootman. re-
tired merchant. in his apartment, at No
IS East 1O9th street. at o'clock yester-
day morning, as told in late editions Of
The Tribune yesterday, came as the eli
max OF long list of murders. burglaries
and robberies which have given an un-
envia BILE record 10 the month Of January.
The slayer in this case. evidently in
spired by the fact of the inability of the
police to find criminals. and enlulating
the daring Of other murderers in the last
few weeks, escaped through d crowded
apartment house and left no trail that
the police could follow.
The latest crime aroused Inspector Nc
Cafferty to unusual activity. The entire
detective force was ordered to Police
Headquarters at 3 o'clock yesterday
afternoon, and after a secret conference
the men were ordered to keep in touch
with headquarters and the branch bu-
reaus at all times Of the day and night
Inspector McCaferty refused to tell Just
what took place in the locked chamber
where he and his men were gathered
He intimated that the detectives got a
lecture on detective work" whatever
that might be.
Mr.. Gootrnan was shot down when the
burglar awakened him from his sleep in
the front room Of the apartment. Isaac
Gootman. a son. who is 4 lawyer at No.
Il Norfolk street, heard the shots and
left his bed to go to the aid Of his
father He had hardly stepped into the
room when the burglar fired two shots.
which felled the would-be rescuer. The
younger Gootman is in the Harlem Hos
pital, where the doctors said last night
that his condition was critical One bull
let entered his chest and the other went
through his left arm.
With the exception OF an electric
pocket lamp. the police have no clews-
The description given by the dead mans
son is vague of necessity and might ht
any Of the descriptions given in the
cases OF other murders.
1t appears. however. that on the same
night a burglar entered the apartment Of
David Goldsmith, in the same house, and
carried away quantity Of jewelry. The
police believe that the slayer OF Gootman
also robbed the other fiat They will
now watch the pawnshops.
OTHER BURGLARIEs NEAR By.
The man who shot Gootman entered
the apartment by the fire escape In
making his escape he climbed to The roof
OF the building and then let himself
through the scuttle OF an adjoining
house. making his way TO the street.
where he passed unnoticed while the
police were rushing TO the scene Of the
murder. His evident familiarity with
the buildings led the detectives TO be-
several other robberies which have been
reported from that section of the city.
Through the shooting ii became known
that burglars have been busy in East
1O9th street for several weeks The ire
escapes always have been used 70 enter
and leave the apartments Mrs. z.
Frost. of No. IS East 109th street. next
door TO the Gootman house lost several
pieces OF cut glass. $50 in money and
two gold watches. The fat OF Max
Goldberg. at No. II East 1Osth street
was robbed three weeks ago. Among
the other places which are listed as hav-
ing been robbed within a fortnight are
the apartments at No. zoe East Il5th
street and No. 226 East 115th street.
The police maintained the same secrecy
in the Gootman murder as they have
kept in other recent crimes Although II
was reported that a quantity OF jewelry
was taken from the Goldsmith apartment
by the same man who attempted 10 rob
the Gootman family the detectives re-
fused to give out the list of stolen ar
tlcles. Inspector McCanerty. when asked
for description of the stolen jewelry.
said:
II can't tell you that yet. because il
may furnish a ciew 20 the murderer. and
we want TO do a little investigating
along that line first. Later on I will
make full statement about this case
SAME METHODS USED.
Inspector McCafferty was reminded OF
the methods which marked the police in
vestigations in the murder OF Salvatore