South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-09-09
Police Hold Aged Father Stern.
man when BIOOdStained Wea-
pOnS and Coat are Found ir
His RoOmS--ViCtim May be
Daughter
find MAY UNTANGLE
MYSTERY OF MURDER
Disappearance of HeireSS Gives
Rise to Belief She May be
Victim of SkiIlfuI Butcher
Letter COmpIiCateS Case

NEW YORK. Sept. 9.-The police
today believe that in the arrest of
Peter Sternemann. an aged and eccen-
tric man. who was formerly a mill
liner. they have made some progress
in solving the mystery concerning the
identity OF the girl who was murder
ed and parts OF whose dismembered
body were found in the Hudson river.
Ever since the finding of the nrsi
section Of the torso on Friday uIght
Sternemann has maintained that The
murdered girl was his daughter Ella.
who, he claims, had disappeared some
time ago Tha police at first paid
little attention To him. but the pe,u-
liar actions OF the man caused them
today 10 arrest him and hold him as
a material witness
Shernemann. with his daughter Ella
who is described as being about the
same build as the murdered girl. for-
merly lived in Brooklyn. Naighbors
declare that Sternemann often acted
queerly and seemed fearful that the
girl might come TO some bad end
often he locked her in a room and
kept her there in solitary cOnfine-
ment Some time aso the girl disap-
peared.
Moved to Jamaica
on Thursday OF last week Sterne-
mann moved TO Jamaica y J., and
took a room with Mrs. Matilda
Weiss. Following Sterne mann's ar
rest today Detective Mehling made "A
search OF Sternemann's room. The
detective found there among other
things, a keen-edged butcher knife.
about ten inches long, a sharp hatchet
that bore stains, and a black alpaca
coat which was also stained. Mehling
is Of the belief that there were blood
stains. There also were found a let
ter addressed TO Sternemann which
came from a woman living in New
York in which she declared she could
no longer Keep his daughter as
roOmer. as the house was full Mrs.
Weiss, Sternemann's landlady. said to-
day:
'Sternemann acted strange. He
came here on Thursday. Friday ne
asked me for some hot water. saying
he wanted 10 wash some OF his
clothes. He did the washing i'm the
bath tub. When l went 20 his room
and wanted TO clean it ne told me that
il wasn't necessary, that he would do
it himself"
OFTEN Talked of Daughter.
Mrs. Weiss said that Sternemann
often talked 10 her of his daughters.
and once said to her concerning Ella.
who was 22: Il don't know where she
is now. / wonder If she's good girl.
IF / thought she was not / would kill
her because she would be better off
dead than alive and a bad girl"
Sternemann although he has not
been working steadily in the past year
or so. often did odd jobs at his trade
as milliner. The wire wrapped
around sections Of the torso found in
the river was of the kind used exclu-
sively by milliners.
The detectives have established the
fact that the pillow case which was
wrapped around the first section OF
the torso was secured from George W.
Sachs. a second hand dealer at 146th
and Eighth aV.. this city. Sachs de-
clared ne bought one dozen Of the
castings. He still has ten in stock. lie
remembers selling one 10 "A woman,
but does not recall who she was. lie
has no recollection of what became
OF the other pillow casing, but hazards
the guess that il might have been
stolen.
Have Important Clue.
One OF the most important clues rs
TO the identity OF the girl came 10 the
hands OF the officials in the mysterious
disappearance OF GeneyieVe Norman,
an heiress. Miss Norman's physical
description tallies with that Of the girl
whose torso has been found. Miss
Norman was accustomed 20 wearing
low neck dresses. The N-shape tan
mark on the throat and breast 0t the
girl shows that she too had
worn low neck gowns.
Miss Norman disappeared on Aug.
81. which is the same date thar it Us
believed the murdered girl met hcr
death. Miss Norman for time eN-
hibited last summer with liuaoO
at Palisade park. n Js
which is near the place where Tie lls-
part Of the torso was found
Some weeks ago Miss Norman N-lN
her employment with the Hindoo out
a week ago Sunday Aug. p, am
nounced 10 some friends that she plan-
ned 10 % over 10 Palisades. she mas
not been seen or heard from since.
Surgeons who made a new eXamlna-
ton OF the torso today declared that
the girl would have been mother ID
about four months had she lived.
No Evidence Of Operation.
There were no evidences OF "a crln-
NAL operation having been perforAset
but the medical men are Ot the opin-
on that the girl wsLs dismembered
while still alive.
County Physician King OF Hudson
county. y. J.. who performed an au-
.opsy. declared today that the clean
,ut character Of the work of cutting
he body 10 pieces convinced him that
although the work was not that OF
surgeon, II was accomplished with the
lse OF a surgeons knife and saw by
some one familiar with the use OF
such tools.