GERMAN MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14103, 3 July 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

GERMAN MYSTERY.

j : EXTRAORDINARY MURDER AND ; "-. < - ~ : BLACKAIAIL.'.- .-■ • . - •• •'--■ Aftbb weary months of fruitless effort and perplexity the Leipzig police believe they a."', at last last on the right trick of a murderer whoso deliberate infamy, cynical sangfroid,' and. impudent defiance' of the powers of the law entitle him to ,-i prominent place in the annals of crime. About a year and a-half ago a superannuated compositor named Friedrich and his aged wife were found lying in their blood on the floor of the humble dwelling which they occupied in an obscure quarter of .be great publishing town. At first it wa*i conjectured: that they 'had been: sacrificed for the sake of such small coin and trumpery trinkets as they carried on their persons. It. soon became evident, however, that these two murders were to have be* : merely the preparation,' for a third. The real victim : - was the special postman ' whose duty j it was to pay out money orders iii that district. One of these for a paltry, sum had been addressed to the Friedrichs by some person unknown, and it was evidently the miscreant's purpose to remain on the premises till the official arrived, strike him down, and rob him' of his welllined cash-bag. It was also ■; shown that only some , unforeseeable interference had i prevented the realisation of this - plan. I Further than this the police could not go, [ and after a while the horrible affair was forgotten by the public. Early in the present year the head of the Leipzig, publishing house of J. J. Weber began to be pestered with blackmailing let- ' ters, 1 written in a feigned antique calir giaphy, which suggested scholarly associa- ■ tions, and in a peculiar, pompous "and florid style. " But • the most remarkable -point about these communications was that the writer claimed to be the author of no fewer than twenty murders, among- them that of the two Friedrichs, and offered the; publisher memoirs describing these crimes for the sum' of £250. As proof of his authenticity he mentioned where the watches stolen from the Friedrichs had ft en sold. The police went to the address mentioned,/ and there, sure enough, were -the; missing articles. . •/• ,

' TRAPS THAT FAILED. It is now quite clear , that the blackmailer* was either the murderer himself, or in very close touch,with him. Consequently 'elaborate arrangements; -were ;made to catch him. „ The ciphered replies he asked for were inserted in the local papers, and money wrb left at the shops designated by him. But though detectives encircled these places in an almost "impenetrable ring, they were unable to, lay hand on this clever scoundrel, who once or twice actually succeeded in carrying off the bait from under their very noses.. After each failure the police received derisive, letters, jeering ,at, their incompetence and lack of penetration. One "of these missives, which came as a sequel to an unsuccessful, trap in a confectioner's shop, contained the following passage: Oh! they never guessed that in the lady in a. dark-blue costume,''who .bought various" kinds of cakes and pastry, and later >'' promenaded up and 'down outside, they had before them.'him whom they sought so eagerly. Yet, I can -believe that many a lady would have envied me that waist. With the modem: developments of cosmetics at, : one's disposal it is nob difficult—with ' a little; adroitnessto personate a lady, which the Leipzig , authorities ought to know. Apart: from ignoring: the lady,' they showed'- themselves . this time little sharper than in the past, i Whether or not the suggestion that the I blackmailer had, -.personated a woman was i true, it was quite clear that he had moved about unnoticed among the detectives, and [was acquainted with every step they took. | One shop was watched for quite -a long period, and - the ; : first day on which the ! i vigil was -relaxed a messenger slipped in 1 .and. fetched away the bait." The local j police were reinforced by the most skil- 1 ■ ful criminal investigators from Beriiuj , but all in vain. "" , . , r . j ! ■' ftEMAKKABLB: tETTEH. J Meanwhile the affair had iakei.i a fresh turn, which rendered the mystery still more bewildering. One of the blackmailing . letters contained the following narration : — One very rainy day of September,. 1907, a very well-dressed lady, with -a white boa, came, with quick, .short steps along the Qottsohedßtrasse,!! Immcdiatcty behind, her could be.- seen a gentle- . man of some 23 or 30 years, also well, dressed, who was obviously taking' great pain l : to keep as nearly as possible only one step bi'hiiiil the lady. Clearly the : lady had not suspicion-.' of thepeculiar coniUiet of the gentleman behind' her, and did not' notice thai he was wing l her continuously, otherwise . she would certs inly have thought it "stransre that he suddenly - entered the same house as. she, and hastened past her in the broad entrance hall and up the ptaiis, which, however, he at once descended again. Meanwhile, , the lady had got: halfway up to the? first storey, when/the gentleman, -who was apparently hastening past her, suddenly sprang upon her quick, as. -, lightning,'-: -and',. attempted ' to- cut -her .'throat'-; with a sharp knife. '.'■ Nevertheless, the boa frustrated the work by getting caught in the knife.< In, spite of the ; loud cries of the lady, the assailant did not desist, and cold-blot. attempted to fulfil his purpose. He .would also have succeeded completely had he taken.- with him; another weapon than- a pocket-It His daggier he had forgotten— which' does not often happen. But at the second cut which he then made the pocket-knife shut-up, arid the lady-had the good fortune to be only sightly: wounded. If the assailant had merely, intended robbery, hevcould have taken her; silver bag and diamond; rings at his ease.. ' Tins was a much more detailed account than had yet been published of an . outrage which had actually been perpetrated on the wife of a manufacturer _ named Wagner, ar.4 the police were speedily able to convince them selves that the information contained in the letter could only have come from the would-be assassin himself. :, ; TWO':A3EtEESTS.' ; * The investigations of the police in -this . case had shown that Herr Wagner was on bad terms with his wife, '.who was of questionable origin, and that he had- a liaison with another woman. On the strength of the statements of Fran Wagner he had been arrested on suspicion of having attempted to compass her death, and he still remains in custody. Previous to his arrest llerr Wagner had been in communication with Dr. Arthur ,Pleissner, a lawyer and /-journalist well known both ,* in Berlin and Leipzig, who had given up the office where he imparted legal advice on divorce cases, and started a Id-monthv.paper, the Deutsche'r Kampf; : In this publication he had severely criticised the action of the police in the Friedrich case, and he now took up the; cudgels vigorously for Herr Wagner. With the professed object; of proving that Fran Wagner's story of-an attack upon her had been trumped up by her to wreak vengeance on her husband, Herr Pleissner travelled about the country collecting information with regard to her antecedents, and published : long articles on the affair in his paper. In .'the- course of his investigations he eaid that he had received several anonymous letters from Halle, and these he handed over to the Public Prosecutor. One of them was written in a mixture of cipher and Hebrew characters, and the address bore a strong resemblance to the writing of the blackmailing letters which had been sent to the firm of Weber. This, for . some reason which, is not quite obvious, threw the suspicions of the police on to Herr Pleissner, and after the ' confiscation : of' S his papers, and a hearing by the Public Prosecutor, he was arrested. A number of papers have also been seized at; the house of:■ Wagner.V legal adviser. That is all that is known about this extraordinary affair up to the present. *