Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-01-31
BY THEODORE ROSCOE

He dawn msts rose in spectral swirls as
James Hewling, young farmland,
scuffed sleepily through the dew-laden
grass Of lonely orchard not far from Coving-
ton, Kentucky on Feb. l, 1896.
AS he approached the line fence he stopped
suddenly, emitting a sharp yelp of terror.
For at his feet lay what was to be de.
scrbed later as maid of Venus-like form"
Only where her head should have been was
nothing but great pool of blood.
Hewling made haste to give the alarm
The news spread with the rapidity common
10 dreful tidings, and by noon the scene was
overrun by throngs of outraged citizenry
from as far away as Cincinnati.
Swarming through the orchard, they
trampled the grass and bushes oblterating
all footprints but their own. Relic hunters
snatched up blood-stained twigs and leaves,
tore bits from The dead girls dress. and prob
ably made away with valuable clues
Detectives Grim and McDermott, rushed
to the scene by Philip Detsch, Cincinnati
Police Chief, must have wondered if some wild
souvenir-chaser had made off with the slain
womans head
Nowhere was it TO be found.
This led Grim and McDermott to conclude
that the murderer had carried it away, al
though some in the frenzied crowd were will
ing to believe the lady a hobgoblin who the
night before had ridden there headless.
footprints on the back road traversing the
orchard lent credence TO this view, until
the detectives discovered accompanying car
rage tracks. Evidently the unfortunate wo-
had arrived by coach hack. 1t was
deduced that she had been dead four or five
hours when found the blood having drained
from the body.
Evidence pointed to a violent struggle as
of her tOru bar
corset was ripped and the collar rent from
her dress. A mans blood-soaked shirt sleeve
missed by the avid relic-hunters. was found
in the brush some distance away.
But who she. and who could have
committed this horrible atrocity" upon a
poor girl who. a post norton conducted by
the Cincinnati coroner revealed had been
about to become a mother?
Fingerprintng was unknown in those DAYS
and the ladys gloved hands gashed in the
struggle 70 defend herself from her assailant's
knife, testified TO a life of nonentty and
homework Her dress was home-sewn; her
corset, a widely popular brand; stockings and
union suit revealed no tag
But her cloth-top button shoes, incon.
grously. were new, expensive and stylish and
made on an exceptionally narrow last Fur
thermore, the girl was possessed of one singu-
lary marking characteristic-sh had what
was known as "webbed toes"
In the absence of head the detectives
concentrated on the poor girls feet
Publicity was spread concerning her men,
branous toes; then, TO the CONSERVATION of
the police, this seeming popularity proved TO
be fairly common-there were any number
Of web-toed young ladies reported as missing
and half a dozen positive" identifcations
But all were eventually discovered in the land
Of the living.
The headless body in the Cincinnati morgue
remained nameless, and might have continued
so indefinitely but for the quick thinking of
Mr. /. y. POock Newport shoe merchant
Busybodies seldom prove a help TO the
police, but Mr. Poock was the exception TO
the rule.
He became interested in the case because
Of the extreme narrowness Of the dead girls
footwear. Obtaining permission 90 examine
them, he found the width and size 3 stamped
inside
Then Mr.. Poock began a laborious hunt
which ended when a salesman at Cincinnati
Il January 81, 1913