POISON IN WOODEN LEG.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 69, 6 March 1914, Page 1

POISON IN WOODEN LEG.

A bewildering mystery containing all the elements of the most imaginative detective romance has developed cut of the inexplicable fate of the old man. The po.n mortem examination showed that he had taken his lifo-by swallowing a dose of potassium cyanide— a deadly poison. The missing bank-notes were not iound on liim. aiid, .stranger stoll, the foreign banknote he had exhibited at the bank was likewise nowhere to m< found. On closer examination of the body the police authorities believed they detected some resemblance between the deceased and a man called Reed, convicted for larceny 16 veal's ago. The stranger's belongings jwijited thi,; Imiiiu a British subject, but witness asserted that his French was faultless. The cripple's identity has been conclusively established. ' He is a man named Jasper Reed, born at Aleut real Jin, W3S. His leg was amputated in prison there while he was undergoing a sentence lor the theft of fc-180 in another Antwerp bank in circumstances almost identical with those of Saturday. Tattooing on the arm and five gold teeth made the identification coni* plete. In a cavity of the wooden leg a phial of poison was discovered. Reed is believed to have been a prominent member of an international gang of thieves. In 1897 the gang made an unsuccessful attempt from London to secure his release, otaitt. if te.WM.Nt fw, t« t