PUZZLED BY A DOUBLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 24, 28 December 1925, Page 8

PUZZLED BY A DOUBLE.

STRANGE LONDON MYSTERY,

WRONG MAN “IDENTIFIED.”

But for the finger-print test Arthur Bacon, one of the two prisoners who escaped from Pentonville recently, might have been wrongly presumed by the police to be dead. A man found dead in the . Thames near Loudon Bridge bore such a remarkable resemblance to Bacon that it was first taken for granted that the body was his. . Police and prison officers who had known Bacon for years saw the body in the mortuary, and were prepared to swear that it was the body of the “wanted” man. A remarkable series of coincidences helped to support this view. . The description of Bacon which had been circulated to the police tallied with that of the dead man. The body was measured, and was found to be sft. 4iin. in height—tho same height as Bacon. Bacon had scars over his left eye and on the chin, and so had the dead man, who had also a brickred complexion and black hair, just like the escaped prisoner. Bacon is 27 years' of age. The dead man had the appearance of being about the same age. Even to the growth of the hair and the receding forehead the features were identical. Medical examination showed that tho man had died from drowning. He had no money, and there was no mark on his clothes or anything in his pockets to give the slightest clue to his identity. He was dressed in a new blue suit, and his underclothing and boots had also been recently purchased. Bacon escaped from Pentonville in his prison garments, but it was naturally expected that he would at once attempt to obtain a new outfit. Moreover, the finger nails of the dead man were closely cut, as those of prisoners have to bo in accordance with regulations. The man had been in the water only about 12 hours, and the body was in no way disfigured. In face of all this—particularly tho “identification” of the body by warders who had known Bacon for ten years and more—there did not. seem any room for doubt about the identity of the man. Then Scotland Yard reported that a comparison of the finger prints showed that the dead man was not Bacon. It was at first regarded as mcredibLe that a mistake could have been made, but it was soon afterwards discovered that Bacon had a mark on his arm, which the dead man had not, and that the eyes were of a slightly different colour.

Such a close facial resemblance has never before been known in the experience of the police and prison officers concerned.