LONG YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18501, 24 February 1930, Page 9

LONG YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.

Case of Fiendish Cruelty. BROTHER’S AMAZING INHUMANITY. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received February 23, 5.5 pm.) LONDON, February 22. A case of fiendish cruelty, even eclipsing that discovered at Montsevello last week, is reported from Berlin. The police discovered a creature that once was a man, with long hair, and fingers and toes resembling claws, on a farm near Frankfort on the Oder, following the receipt of an anonymous letter. The creature is fifty-five years old. His brother, a wealthy farmer, kept him twenty-five years in captivity, in a back loft, the window of which was not only barred, but plastered up. He was fed with pig-wash, and when found was in the filthiest condition, utterly naked and unable to speak an intelligible word. The man resembled an ape rather than a human being. As his rescuers entered, he shrank back, covering his face with his hands, and he uttered pitiable, inarticulate sounds. The man could not walk, and had to be carried to the hospital. When fed with a dish of bread and milk, he plunged both hands into the basin. The nurses had to feed him with a spoon, like a baby. What makes the crime worse is that the mother’s will specifically allotted tbe wealthy brother the sum of £6OO, to help the half-witted son's maintenance. Neither the brother’s wife nor the three daughters manifested the least pity for the prisoner. Even the villagers, who were aware of the man’s existence, had not reported the matter. The brother was arrested, after he had threatened three detectives with a shotgun. The doctors say the victim has suffered so much mentally and physically from confinement, that it is impossible that he may ever be an intelligent human being again.