Evening star., 1923-10-12
VOODOO|ST SLAYER
HELD MANY IN GRIP
, Nurses Murderer Confident
Devils of His Faith Will
Save Him at Trial.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The star.
PITTSBURGH, Pa, October 12.-
Beating on his steel bars a fantastic
rhythm reminiscent of the booming
drum talk of the cane brakes of
Jamaica, "Dr." Lorenzo Savage, negro
high priest lof voodoo, crouches on
'the stone floor of his cell in the
Allegheny county Jail awaiting trial
for the murder of pretty Elsie
Barthels. a white trained nurse, who
sacrificed her life in quest of a mys-
tic love charm.
Savage. who has confessed to the
murder, has for a long time ter
rorized a large part of Pittsbugh's
colored population. Posing as high
priest" of voodoo. he has performed
feats which amazed and awed the
colored folk to such an extent that
thousands firmly believed his claims
to supernatural power.
Now that he is behind the bars. fac
ing the possibility of execution for a
dtabolical crime, many of his former
subjects" are rejoicing over the lift
ing Of the yoke. Others. however.
still under his sway. declare that he
Will never be punished and that the
dread voodoo will devastate all who
seek to enforce the law aSainst him.
Savage himself. apparently caught in
holds with this minority.
Threatened Police.
you can't harm me-" he screamed
, at the police who arrested him. Il
can blast you with my power 1 can
make your children die, your houses
fall, your souls shrivel up"
But the police dragged him to a
cell and nothing has happened to
them yet for all the rumblings in the
Fittingly. enough. Savage's arrest
was brought about by a bit of his
own magic. Wien he met Miss Bar
thels SUNDAY morning by appoint
ment he carried with him. as a part
of the love charm she had commits
stoned him to make, an envelope con-
tanning the aoe, deuce and trey of
diamonds and the four of spades
of DEATH" were found beside her body
after Miss Barthels' head had been
crushed with 75-pound block OF
granite. Superstitious negroes who
had visited the voodoo High Priest"
recognized them as a combination he
frequently used in his art OF black
magic and gave the police the clue
which led to his arrest.
Savage, according to the police, adj
mitted he had felled Miss Barthels
with his fist and then dropped the
, he had become enraged when she at
tempted to seize $500 she had paid
him for the love charm.
Had Wide Following.
The investigation of Miss Barthels'
murder disclosed an astoundingly
widespread following of the voodoo
doctor. 1t also disclosed that Savage
had come from Jamaica, where
voodooism f1ourishes among the su-
perStitious natives. He added to the
arts acquired in Jamaica certain
sleight- Of hand tricks learned in vaude-
vile, where he appeared for sew
&eral years as assistant to famous
stage magicion. But that he actually
believed in the voodo cult and was
devotee during his early life in ia
maica seems highly probable. He told
several people that he had been born
on sugar plantation in the interior
OF the island, where superstition
reigns, and that he never came to the
coast until he reached manhood.
Cne room of his establishment here
had been fitted up to resemble a
voodoo temple in the jungle. Tropi-
cal plants and grasses, several stuffed
snakes and one live snake, as well
as human skulls and other bones.
were part of the properties of this
occult workshop. A huge West Indian
claimed had been made from human
skin, hung over the altar of rough
stones which occupied one end of
the room. screened by imitation vines.
Just what rites were performed in
the temple, those who participated in
them are loath to say 1t is known
that small animals were sacrificed on
the altar, however, and there are un-
confirmed rumors whispered through
fhe black belt that a least one human
sacrifice was made there.
What effect his crime and arrest