MURDER MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17258, 6 September 1919, Page 2 (Supplement)

MURDER MYSTERY.

BODY FOUND IN A CELLAR. ' , ' 'fi '• \ \ s'V k "V y?*' v - . ARRESTED MAN.; ACCUSES WIFE. A remarkable Italo-American murder trial- in which the judge laid jury were puzzled by the r introduction of' three separate< "confessions," opened recently at ■ Bologna; in Italy. ■ The exploits of an American -woman "Sherlock Holmes" were also referred to. The crime, which' caused a tremendous sensation .in" New York at the time, was discovered on " Jun» , 16, 1917, when the mutilated body of 'Ruth Cruger, a 17-year-old schoolgirl, was found in the cellar of a New York cycle repair shop belonging to an ltiilian, named Alfredo Cocchi. She had been mussing for four months, and Cocchi, having absconded, and being traced to Bologna, was arrested by the Italian authorities at the instance of the New York police. A twelve-months' legal battle on the question of extradition resulted in the Italian Government deciding to try Cocchi hero, and the necessary evidence having, been received from New York, the trial has begun. It was on February 13, 1917, that Ruth Cruger took a pair of roller-skates to Cocchi's shop to be repaired, and from that date she was not again seen alive. At tho instance of friends, the New York police questioned the cycle-repairer, and thoroughly searched his premises'. . But nothing was found, and Cocchi protested absolute ignorance as to her whereabouts. Two daya after the search he disappeared. Pound by & %^oman. For four months there was nothing definite against him, and the police abandoned the search. But a woman lawyer, Mrs. Grace Humiston, was not satisfied. She refused •to accept the police theory that Ruth had- eloped with some unsuspected lover, and in face of legal opposi- • tion £rom Cocchi'a wife, she continued the hunt. - -j Eventually, sho began a personal exca*. vatiou of Cocchi'B cellar, and there,' several days > later, the body was found. ' Ruth's remains were horribly mutilated, j her head being crushed, and there was a , hideous "Ripper" type of wound extending from abdomen to spine. Her arms j were tight)/ bound with rope and her body was wrapped in tablecloths, blankets, and towels. A verdict of murder in the first degree was returned against the absent Cocci®, who was accordingly arrested by the ' Italian authorities. At the preliminary examination he protested his innocence, but eventually, unde>' ■ severe questioning, he madb a detailed confession. But on the second day of the trial defending counsel sprang a surprise upon the court, when Cocchi repudiated former confessions and declared that, the murder •was sommitted by his wife, his previous .acceptance of gniit having been due to a desire to shield * the mother of his children." ,* In examination, Ooechi calmly describe! how Ruth Cruger visited his shop to get her skates repaired, and how Mrs. Cocchi, whom ha declared was insanely *■ jealous, attacked b«r from behind, killing her. It was then obvious, pleaded Coeehi, that he must conceal the body o:? hand his wife over to justice. Questioned as to the mutilation, Cbcchi broke down, and sobbed that ha had to cut the body to make it fit the grave. With - dramatic fervour he described bis (motions sad suffering!) during the burial, • and his subsequent interviews with . tie • detectives, declaring that at length being unable* to stand the strain, he bolted to Italy. He told his father he had committed the crime to shield his vife. 'Ctviehl . ©harges His Wife. • Judge' "BagnoK remarked • that it was =- curious 'that this charge was * preferred • against his wife after she had written to him denouncing the crime, which she = would acarijely have done had he been .- really shielding her. > * \ ~ ■ But Cocchi stuck to>feiß version. ~ There -was another dramatic surprise, for «v counsel far the defence, Signer venturini, announced ,that he had received a detailed *' confession" from ,an American, who stated that Ruth Cmgar had died from an 3legal operation, "and that her bodv had been removed by i " White Slavers®and . bried in CfeccM's house to. throw the police off.the .acenfc.y'; ... He declared that he had at first taken no notice ; this communication . lag; the- writer as a; crank." But the writer had now placed detailed copies of • the '"statement r in the hands of the Italia,n , Foreign Minister and of the President ft the . Court of Appeai at Bologna, so that < the affair must come -to light. - Part of the hearing wis taken in camera, and the question of the identity of the writer of the third " confession" caused an adjournment for further inquiries. ' Public Prosecutor, judge, and jury were naturally, considerably puzzled over the , v multiplicity of "conftwions." The prose- . B cution is asking for a sentence of 39 years' * -imprisonment.-