Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-06-26
FRENCH PHYSICIAN
/ DIAGNOSES CRIME
Medical Men Often Employed
to Solve Murder Mys-
terry.

DIR. De Melville, French physi-
clan, who has specialized on the
medico-legal aspects of his profess
sion, has been telling some true
stories of detective work by physi-
clans that equals the mythical
achievements of Sherlock Holmes
There are several sides of the law
that bear on medicine and surgery
and there are various specialists who
devote themselves to one or all of
these important relations.
Four years ago one of the legal
doctors" of the police force received
his notification to accompany gem
darnes to the scene of death-that
of a woman innkeeper. The apart
ment where the woman had been
found dead had not been disturbed;
the legal doctor had full play for his
faculty of observation.
He went all over the room and used
his microscope at various places and
on several objects that appeared to
interest him particularly. At last he
inquired the name of the last vessel
that had come in. 1t proved to be the
livered his opinion, then, without a
moments delay or sigh of uncer-
tainty:
"A lefthanded man wearing a sli>s;tt
mustache murdered this woman. He
is probably a Sicilian, who arrived on
the Donna Maria. He is more than
5 feet 6 inches in height He was ac-
quainted with his victim, having been
a guest previously at her inn. SO he
knew that she often got drunk He
broke in, killed her because he feared
she would awaken while he was rob
bling the place and made good his
escape. He has in his pocket now the
stump of the candle he used to light
him in committing his crime. Make
a swift search for stranger answer
ing this description"
While one of the Havre detectives
FASTENED to take up the quest the
doctor had his reason for deducting
all these details:
"In entering the murderer cut him
self at the door, and blood-stained
splinter on the wood makes 1t clear
that he Is left handed To one side
Oh the SpOl WHERE lllc Diood uAAPpCu
on the floor you can see some candle
grease; that is where his candle
dripped It is obvious that, while he
held in his left hand the weapon he
used, he carried the candle in the
right. When I put the microscope on
the candle droppings I could recog-
nize them as coming from a Sicilian
candle, having studied very closely
the Bertillon collection of candles,
assembled from all parts of the
world. l now surmised that anyone
who would be using Sicilian candle
must have Just arrived from Sicily.
In the candle grease there appeared
two small reddish hairs, very differ
ent in their texture from those which
grow in the beard The assassin must
have stood there, holding the candle
after he committed the murder, bit
ing or twisting his mustache while
he debated his crime and the next
procedure" ~,
Tt was not long before the detec-
tive brought in a Sicilian named Fo-
forazZo, who had been one of the
Donna Maria's passengers The doc
tor, having a piece of paper ready,
offered it to him. He reached out
his left hand, which was cut, to take
1t. When they searched him the
candle end was found in his pocket;
and when they questioned him he
confessed the der.-Philadelphia
North American.