Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-04-07
Bodies Of Man and Wom-
an Found When Police
Break in Door.
POISON MEANS OF SUICIDE;
HAD BEEN DEAD TWO WEEKS
Peter S. Hessler, Matchmaker,
and Mrs. Mary Louise MUIR
ply, Die Together.

Evidently victims of suicide pact.
made two weeks ago, the bodies of
Peter S. Hessler. an eccentric watch
maker, and Mrs. Mary Louise
Murphy, wife of William Murphy,
were found today in one of three sordid
and scantly furnished rooms on the
d third floor of a double frame tenement
81 at IL Goes place, which the man had
q used for asworkshop and home.
s. The body of the woman was identified
at the morgue by a woman friend this
#afternoon
From the condition of the bodies de-
n tectives, who today. at the request of
other tenants of the house, forced the
door, to the fiat, believe that the man
md woman have been dead for two
weeks. The discovery of letters and
post cards addressed to Hessler on the
steps before the door dated two weeks
ago apparently corroborated this con-
eiusion.
M When Plainclothesmen King and
Smith, of the First Precinct broke
.5zopens the door leading to Hessler's
roonls today the resulting crash so
st startled Mary Maloney, who lives with
Xher parents on the floor below that
she ieaped ou. of the front window,
fracturing her ankle on the sidewalk
beiow
The detectives found the bodies of
ii The man and woman lying on the bed.
Il The woman was covered up. The man,
r fully dressed in a light blue serge
e suit. lay son top of the ooveriet Eyt-
IDENTIFY before her death the woman
Il had been bleeding from the nose and
s...> h. q 50
that 1t WAS unrecognizable Tenants
in the building recognized articles OF
The wo,nan's wearing apparel as be-
Z longing to a woman who had been
I visiting Hessler,s rooms for the last
four months She was known in the
house as Mrs. Murphy.
A whiskey glass, empty save for a
white sediment in the bottom, stood on
d table near the bed and was apparent
~ the medium of the death OF the man
and woman The police believe it pos
s;ble that the man might have struck
down the woman in a fit of anger and
then, in remorse, gulped down
the poison. The suicide pact, however.
seemed more logical under the circum-
stances.
For Ave years Hessler, concerning
whom other tenants of the house knew
apartment where he mended clocks,
watches and eyeglasses. Detectives
found a table Uttered with watches
and spectacles, and on shelves about
the walls were many old clocks In
varying stages of repair. Since the
death of his wife the man seemed to
live even more to himself than had
been the case before. Beyond the
mysterious woman who visited him at
intervals. he seemed to have no friends
He had not been seen for several days
and his mail was left on the steps. AD
agent of the landlord, Theodore Coe
visited the place many times to col
lect Hessler's rent. but on each occa-
sion found that he could not gain en-
trance to the rooms
week ago those living in the house
began to detect disagreeable odor,
which daily grew more perceptible
They complained aobut it to the land
lord, and an effort was made to trace it.
. 1t was not until today that the landlord
conceived the idea that the odor might
enanate from the apartment on the
third floor. He communicated his sus-
!. picion to Captain Ryan, of the First
Precinct. and Plainclothesmen King
aha Smith were sent to the house
They forced open the door,
The remains of a light lunch We're
scattered about table in the dining
room. and several empty whiskey TASKS
we're found III the rooms Other than
the condition of the womans face there
was nothing to show that either the
man or the woman came to their death
by violence.
Hesslers brother Arthur, worried over
his ssdisappearance, called at the First
Precinct yesterday it is said, and made
inquiries for him. The police found in
the apartment an industrial insurance
policy which had been paid up to a
month ago. The beneficiary of this pol
icy was given as Julia e. Lighthardt
2 Newspapers bearing the date March
f7,iwhich were found in the rooms, lend
color to the theory that Hessler and the
woman had been dead since that time.
The county physician will conduct an
Investigation. which will be supple
neoted by that which the police have
already instituted. The sediment in the
bottom of the whiskey glass will be sub
1ected to chemical analysis.
Another Industrial insurance policy
taken out in the Metropolitan Life In
surance Company bore the name of
Jnlia OBrien Murphy. Both policies
+ hadstaazpaid up to March Il.
Cou, Physician Mckenzie an
nounced hat an autopsy to determine
the cause of the death of the man and
wonan would be held. He said that
the whiskey glass with white sediment
had, he believed, contained cyanide
of potassium. That poison is used by
jewellers.
A communication addressed to Mrs.
Minnie Hessler, 1858 East Forty-fifth
sfreet, Cleveland, Ohio, was found in
ke rooms, and a bill from Adolph
Ffeil. undertaken. of 173 Court street,
| for the funeral expenses of Stewart
Hessler in 1907.