NEW YORK MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13722, 11 April 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

NEW YORK MYSTERY.

WEALTHY ITALIAN'S FATE. New York, February 514.—1n the case of Gerolamo Cella, a wealthy wine importer, a thirty-second degree Mason, and a prominent Italian citizen, th? New York police have a mystery taxing all their resources. Signor Cella was found dead in his office in the small hours of Sunday morning, with two wounds in his head, apparently caused by a hammer, sufficient to kill any man, and in his stomach enough sulphuric acid to kill half a dozen men. If Signor Cella inflicted the wounds on his own head he could not have had the strength, say the doctors, to take the acid whereas, if he just took the acid, he "could not have battered his head. A letter "on the dead man's body, written in Italian, saying good-bye, and asking pardon, induced the belief at first that it was a case of suicide; but investigation yesterday and to-day confirms the theory that the police are confronted with a very puzzling murder mystery. Domenico Cella, brother and partner of the deceased, who discovered Gerolamo dying, was arraigned to-day at the police court, and so also was Ctesar Bianchi, deceased's stepson. They are used of being suspicious persons, but no evidence is forthcoming to show that either is directly implicated. The widow of the murdered man was extremely jealous, and a short time ago she ordered the wife of her son Bianchi to leave the Cellas' home here, and Bianchi went with his wife to live elsewhere. Cella was probably attacked in his office, where he had been lured late on Saturday night. He was found there by his brother at ore o'clock yesterday morning. Twelve hours before that Cella had instructed his lawyer to add a codicil to his will which would guarantee a life interest in his estate to his stepson Bianchi. It is the theory of the police to-day that the slayer first attacked Cella with the hammer, crushing in his skull, and then injected the acid down his throat to give the impression that Cella had committed suicide. If such was the plan it was very cleverly conceived, and in some unexplainable way the doomed man was made a party to it, for a note signed by Cella, and which is declared to be in his handwriting, was secured, announcing his intention of taking his own life. The note is vague and disjointed, and if it is not a, forgery, Cella must have been compelled under torture to write it as his own death-warrant, before he was struck down and left to die in the dark. The mysterious letter, when translated, reads as follows :— " New York, February 22, 1908.—Dear Brother —Pardon me if I have done any harm to you and all. It is impossible to live the life that I lead in my home, and I pray you to tell my daughter and stepson. Tell my wife to try and be well. I ask you all to pardon me, but I can't wait any longer. Make the funeral private, and have me placed in the carriage of the dead. Bury me in my plot in Greenwood Cemetery.— Adieu for ever, Gerolamo." The baffling part of the murder theory is the search for a motive and the unaccountable presence of Cella and the assassin in the office shortly after midnight, when the man is known to have received his fatal injuries. Cella was worth at least £100,000, but cupidity could hardly have figured in the crime, as ho was very generous. with his fortune. ' When his two daughterslmarried about a year ago, he gave each of them £10,000,- and the contents of his will were well known to all • who had an interest at stake. Mrs. Cella said her husband was undoubtedly murdered.