Beverly banner., 1925-11-27
Copyright by W. C. Chapman

The conviction of the murderer of
Clarence Freller, man named Hugh
M. Brookes, was one of the hardest
pieces of work ever performed by me.
The true story, which / have never
before disclosed, has a remarkable
psychological interest, in that / kept
my assistants in ignorance of the part
that each was playing, while my own
recompense consisted only in con-
fused eye and a number of scratches,
bumps and bruises.
The Prel1er murder occurred in the
summer of 1885, in one of the rooms
of the Southern hotel, st. Louis. Clar-
ence Preller was young Englishman,
representing important commercial
interests. Brookes, the murderer, was
also an Englishman, of respectable
parentage, but criminal past. How
ever, until he met Preller on the
steamship which conveyed them to
America, his worst crime had been the
theft of some property belonging to
fellow-students at law school.
Brookes, representing that he was
a man of title, succeeded in ingratiat-
ing himself with Preller during the
course of the voyage. They journeyed
to Boston together, and Preller, who
was en- route for New Zealand, by
way of San Francisco, proposed that
they should reunite at st. Louis.
Brookes, passing under the name of
Maxwell, engaged a double room at
the Southern hotel, and was there
Soined by Preller a day or two later.
Brookes, or Maxwell, had learned
that Preller had in his possession
seven one-hundred-dollar bills, and
had already resolved to murder him.
On the Sunday after the reunion,
after dinner, Preller complained of
stomach trouble. Maxwell, claiming
to have some knowledge of medicine,
administered hypodermic injection
of morphine, giving his victim enough
to kill. Just as Preller was breathing
his last the murderer poured guam
tity of chloroform upon Preller's lips,
completing his work. When the man
who had trusted him was dead, Max
we'll stripped the body and placed
suit of his own underwear on it. Max
we'll was short in stature, being only
about five feet five inches in height,
while Preller was much larger, about
six feet tall. Maxwell's clothing was
marked with the name of Hugh M.
Brookes, and his obvious design was
to have it appear that he had COM
mitted suicide, or had been murdered,
leaving the police to search for the
dead man as the murderer.
Brookes emptied out the trunk be-
longing to Preller and thrust the body
into it. Then, strapping and locking
it, he put his own, as well as Preller's
effects, into his own trunk and retired
for the night.
The next morning he paid his bill,
stating to the clerk that Preller had
gone out of town for a few days, but
would return shortly, and that he de-
sired the room to be held for him, as
his trunk and effects would remain
there until he called for them. He
added that he had to leave that morn
ing, but expected to rejoin Preller
later in another city.
Brookes had already made that fun
damental error which all murderers
seem to make. He planned to leave
his own effects behind him and to
ship the trunk containing the body to
a distant place, where the dead man
would simply be known by the marks
on the underclothes. But he had given
wrong instructions to the porter, or
else the porter made a mistake, for
the trunk brought down was his own
and not that containing the body.
Brookes became very much alarmed.
He took ticket for San Francisco.
and thence sailed for Auckland, New
Zealand, to which spot Preller had
been bound, apparently still trying to
carry out the substitution of Identities.