Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-11-30
CLUES TO GRIMES
TrifIes Have Served to Convict
Perpetrators Of Murders.
slough slayer In England Trapped by
Brown Paper--poctor crlppen
Might Have Escaped Except for
His Bloody PaIamas.


London.-The recent death of Sir
Alfred Wills, for many years high
court Judge, recalls his association
with one OF the best known and quite
the most enthralling OF legal text
books: willis on Circumstantial Evi-
dence."
Since the previous edition many
notable cases have occurred to enrich
the romance OF the FORUM" among
which may be mentioned the rev.
castle murder. the Slough murder,
Crippen's case and some more recent,
though the case OF Oscar Slater re-
Gently rediscussed- escaped the
attention of the late judge.
The veriest trifie suffioed to put the
moose around the neck of Broome, the
Slough murderer On being arrested
on suspicion, he sought to discount u
by telling the police that they would
find 500 in gold In his room, which
he solemnly declared he had brought
away from his fathers house.
The money was found. but the
trouble was to connect II with Mrs.
Wilson, murdered some time before at
had noted just an ordinary piece OF
brown paper in the Victims sitting
room. This he carefully preserved,
and on closely examining II 1t was
discovered that 'it had marks exactly
such as would have been made by
sovereigns made up into rouleau, In
which they lay not at right angles to
paper. but somewhat sloping. No
other coins would occupy the same
space"
There were also marks of two
smf u milled-edged coins--sixpence or
half sovereigns- and minute yellow
specks. such ms 1t was found by ex-
pertinent gold coin would leave after
friction with brown paper. The sum
bun6 in the prisoners. possession
halves, the chain of evidence was thus
completed against him through the
agency OF small piece of brown pa
per.
A view of O northern castle in a
third class compartment enabled an
artist witness to Identify the car
riage in which Dickman, the New
castle train murderer, and Nisbet. his
victim, embarked on their fatal
journey. The accident that Dickman
fumbled In his left trousers pocket
to find his excess fare at Morpeth
enabled the prosecution to connect the
man sc observed fumbling by the
ticket inspector with the owner OF
certain pair OF ''inexpressibles"
stained with blood ON the lining of
the left pocket.
It is still fresh in the public mind
how the most convincing evidence
against Crippen was supplied by those
fatal pajamas. the jacket of which
was found with the body OF Belle
Elmore and was proved to belong to a
suit of which the trousers we're among
Crippen's effects. sold by q Holloway
firm on January s. 1909. thus fixing
the date of the interment as long
subsequent to Crippens arrival as
tenant of the house, and negativing
the suggestion that some previous
occupier might have done the deed OF
darkness and concealed the traces In
the cellar at Hilidrop Crescent.
An insignificant laundry mark,
"599," showed the body found on Var
mouth beach in 1900 to be that OF 4
young woman who had lived at Bexley
Heath, and cheap beach photograph
served to identify necklace found in
BENEFITS possession with one worn by
the dead wife. whom he had throttled
with bootlace.
A dentists recognition Of false teeth
and filings in the almost calcined
skull which had once held the flne
brain OF Doctor Parkman. led to the
conviction OF his colleague, Professor
Webster, whose great knowledge OF
chemistry had enabled him otherwise
totally to destroy his victim. A dem
tist also helped to hang Mannings in
like manner.