The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-02-15
SLAYER BETRAYED BY GLOVE.
Worn to Prevent His Undoing, They
Bring About His Undoing.

Perhaps the greatest aid to the So
luton to the mystery of Identities,
and perhaps the most efficient wea-
pom that modern scientific methods
thave placed in the hands of the
courts is the Identification by finger
prints.
One would say that to avoid this
jeopardy the criminal would need
| only to wear gloves when he went
about his work. But it was the very
| fact that one of the assassins wore
gloves that led to the detection of
the criminal agents in one of the
most extraordinary cases reported
in New York, says the Saturday
Evening Post.
A Spaniard named Otero, on his
way from Havana to New York, fell
in with a countryman named Coma
lez. Otero was young, frank, good
natured fellow, and as Gonzalez
seemed to be an unfortunate person
of his own country he took up and
evinced a friendly interest in him.
When they arrived in New York
Gonzalez went with Otero to the Bar
celona Hotel in Great Jones street,
which was known as the Spanish
house.
Suspected Gonzalez.
The proprietors of this hotel were
not pleased with the appearance Of
Gonzalez and, as he came without
baggage, they refused him a room.
However, upon the intercession of
Otero he was finally permitted to
enter.
Otero said that Gonzalez was a
poor fellow whom he was going to
help, who had come to New York for
employment Otero seemed to be a
very prosperous person; he exhibited
considerable sums of gold that he
carried about him. The clerk at the
hotel advised him to deposit his
money in the hotel safe, but he de-
clined to take this precaution. 1t
was afterward remembered that
Gonzalez watched the movements of
Otero with the keenest interest and
constantly attended him.
1t was also remembered that with
in an hour after their arrival at the
hotel Barcelona Gonzalez went to
the Hotel de Cuba in Bleecker street,
little more than block from Great
Jones street, and there met with an
other Spaniard named Pellicier, who
had been a former waiter at the
Barcelona Hotel. Soon after his ar
rival Otero left for Philadelphia and
did not return to New York until the
following Tuesday. At $50 o'clock
Wednesday night it happened that
William c. Mills, of Brooklyn, left
his shop in Fulton street to go to his
residence in Cannon place, and in
the center of the park he discovered
the body of Otero The police were
notified and came Immediately. They
concluded that as the body was still
warm the assassins had been inter-
rupted by the approach of Mills and
had not completed their work of rob-
bing the body.
Found Pair of Bloody Gloves.
One of the pockets of Otero was
turned inside out, but another was
left undisturbed, although it con-
tanned over 5000 in gold and the re-
ceipt for his bill at the Barcelona
Hotel, by which he was at once iden-
titled. In the haste of their flight
the murderers had dropped their i'm
plements and the police found bent
dagger and the detached blade of
razor. These weapons could not be
identified and did not indicate the
criminals, but fortunately, on the
ground near by the police picked up
a pair of bloody gloves. When they
came to examine these gloves they
found that the left one had been cut.
AS the gloves did not fit Otero the
police were of the opinion that they
had been worn by one of the assas-
sins, and they constructed the follow
ing theory: AS Otero was an athletic
and vigorous man he had evidently
been overpowered, and as there were
two implements found it was reason
able to conclude that there had been
two assassins.
AS the most deadly wounds were
stabs in the back the police conclud-
ed that the assassin who had worn
the gloves had clutched Otero with
his left hand while he applied his
dagger from behind, and that the
bolder assassin while gashing Otero
in front with his razor inadvertently
cut the gloved hand Of his confeder-
ate! The police had now a clue