Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-14

to see whether 1t Is sharp. He could
no more stop this habit action under
the force of the double suggestion Of
using the knife and handling 1t than
he could. when talking about some
thing else. tie up packages in any 9TH
er way than he is used to tying them.
VERY we'll. 1 conclude that here is
valid evidence that he is butcher. 1
go further. You will see that there
are blood stains on the handle of the
knife. Look at them again under the
microscope. You will see plainly that
this mark was made by right hand
and this by a left hand. The knife
could not be effectively held in both
hands at once. We must admit, then,
that some blows were dealt when 1t
was being held by right hand and
and some when it was being held by a
left hand This Is unusual. 1t either
means that there were two men VINO
killed Decasse-one a right-handed
man, one a left-handed-or else 1t
means that the murderer could change
hands and deal effective blows with
either hand indiscriminately.
"Very we'll. Let us look at the
wounds. The first is across the shoul-
der. 1t must have been dealt by some
one standing in front Of Decasse, and
it could only have been made by
right hand blow. The depth Of the
cut, its position, its direction all show
that. But here is another wound
across the face. The knife has cut
down the left side, over the mouth,
severing with the flesh part Of the
mustache. From the shape and direc-
ton of the cut we argue that this was
probably a left-hand blow. There Is
no possible position in which man
could stand and deal it with the right
hand
LET us run over the classes Of men
who habitually use both hands in their
work. The first that suggests itself
again is the butcher. In using a cleac-
er to chop meat the butcher repeated
ly changes from hand to hand to rest
ITO recapitulate: We have knife
heavy enough to suggest in a butchers
mind the idea of cleaver. We have
1t used as a cleaver to kill man. We
have evidence that in dealing the
blows the murderer changed hands.
just as a butcher using cleaver
would. We have streaks on the blade
showing it was given the butchers test
for sharpness We can now reject the
idea of two men using the knife as
unlikely. The murderer was a butch
er.
1.-THE footprint is easy. In the Ber-
tillon gallery are shoes from every fac
tory in the world. Oberheimer's shoes
have always six pegs in the heels plac-
ed invariably in the form Of triangle.
No other shoe maker uses these pegs
in this way. 1t was easy to recognize
them. My measurements Of arm are
derived from exact calculations OF the
height of the knife from the floor and
the marks left on the floor which show
that the murderer stood on his toes to
reach the weapon. My calculations OF
height are based upon the calculations
of the length of arm plus the measur-
ment of the footprint in the earth of
the overturned flower pot. The for
mula Is an exact one"
Within an hour the detectives
brought before Lepine and Lacassagne
a butcher wearing a pair Of oberhei-
mer's shoes, who confessed that he
had killed Decasse. He lived within a
few squares of his victim. When the
police entered his shop to examine him
as they had the shops Of half a dozen
other butchers, he had cried In panic,
''Who saw me do it?" He admitted
that he had nursed a grudge against
Decasse over a disputed bill, and that,
having gone again to the house, had
been overcome with rage and had kill
ed him. He had struck him first over
the shoulder with the knife held In
the right hand and had then dealt int
second stroke with the left. Why did
he not know, except that when cut
ting meat it was his habit to change
hands"
But in this case we were lucky, DR..
Lacassagne," said Lepine. MY men
might have found half a dozen BUTCH
ers wearing Oberheimer's shoes
rs it not an immense saving of time
and energy at once to narrow the pos
sibilities to a butcher?" said DR.. La
cassagne. And, besides. there were
twenty other bits of evidence left be-
hind further to eliminate five out of
your possible half dozen. No two men
can commit a crime alike, and no
criminal can escape his own record
when it is put to the test of exact sci
ence"-New York American.