WHOSE WAS THE HAND ?

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 176, 27 July 1907, Page 3

WHOSE WAS THE HAND ?

THE MELBOURNE MURDER

EX-DETECTIVE'S THEORY.

Ex-Detective O'Donnell, of Melbourne, is of opinion that he knows -the man who killed Bernard Bauer, vthe diamond merchant, and offers his to the authorities. As the re.Bult of a careful study of the circumstances, Mr O'Donnell has come to the •• conclusion that the crime was the work «.of a man whose names—for he has . many—were a few years ago notorious : in every capital of the Commonwealth, .and whom he himself knew well. The process of reasoning and deduction by which the conclusion was •reached is interesting. "We.start from ithe fact," said Mr O'Donnell to-day, "that Bauer was killed deliberately. It- was not a case of a man knocked down by a robber to enable him to escape. Bauer was.smashed to death, in order that he would never identify the man who robbed him. So we start -from that. Now it is a well-known fact that there is not one criminal in a hundred ra Pentridge, or out of it, who will deliberately take life. Most •of them would knock men on the head with a jemmy or something of that sort, if he was in their way; but 99 out -of 100 would not intentionally kill a :anan.

"I believe I know ■ tha hundredth man in this case. I had him myself -once. He fought like a tiger, and got "his thumb into the socket of my right ,*eye, and started to push the eye back unto my head. 1 managed to get the 'thumb between my tbeth, and held on -while he battered me on the back of ■Hihe head, till assistance came. There rare points of resemblance in all jobs ccommitted by the same individual. *The circumstances of Bauer's murder ;are rather unusual. They are reimarkable in some respects. My man fits nearly all these circumstances. 'Take all the peculiarities and details .and spread them out, so to speak, and the job begjns to take .on definite rshape. The next thing is to find the 'crook' that will fit in. This murder*er was an old hand. I should say he •worked alone. He .was cool, clever, , -determined, and used to 'big game. 'These are a few of the points that are ■particularly noticeable. They all fit the man LJiave in my mind, and other details fit him, too. The descriptions given by Mr Cutler and tile lady on the stairs fit him, too. It may be only a coincidence, but it is something worth going on for a start, but here is the gentleman's picture. It was taken some years ago . Only two people saw the supposed murderer. We'll see what they say to this photo. If they say 'No,' I'll shut up, because I'll be wrong, in that case, and I'll admit it; but if they say it's like the •.man, he should be looked for." Mr Cutler looked at the photo- .*■ graph attentively for a minute or more, then he said, "It's very much like him." When the lady who encountered the -■* supposed murderer on "the stairs was shown the photograph, ■ she found something more than a general resemblance. She said with evident anxiety-in her tone, "Can I get ■Into any trouble for what I say about "this?" The lady was assured that she could not. "Then, to the best of my belief," she said, "that is the man I met. It is very like him. Of course, I would not like to say so for certain." Asked if she had noticed how the man walked, the lady said that he walked very straight, with his shoulders "thrown back, just- as if he had been tfrilled. . These {were almost the terms ib which Mr O'Donnell had described ' to Mr Cutler the-"carriage" of his suspect. "This man would be well-dress ' ed," remarked the ex-detective. "The man I met was well-dressed," was the Teply, "and I noticed that his hands were very white for a man." "That's my man, too," said Mr O'Donnell, who " has offered his services free of pay or reward in the search for the murderer.