Was Dickmann a Double Murderer ?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 13, 28 September 1910, Page 7

Was Dickmann a Double Murderer ?

Of the dead speak no evil” is a maxim that may’ be disregarded where a coldblooded, callous murderer like the late John Alexander Dickman, who suffered the extreme penalty of the law last Tues, day, is concerned. The crime for which Dickman was executed was the brutal murder of Mr. Nesbit, the Newcastle col liery cashier, whom he slew in a train on the North-eastern railway. Now that he is dead, facts are coming to light which suggest strongly’ that by Did <man*s hanging two minders were expiated, ami a peculiarly vicious and cunning criminal’s career abruptly terminated. About 12 months before the murder of Air. Nesbit a Sunderland money lender named Hermann Cohen was brutally butchered and robbed. Cohen carried on his business at 21, Harold-street. a quiet thoroughfare in the residential part of the town. On Monday evening. March 8. 1909, he was found ■with his skull battered in and the brains protruding. The little finger of the left hand had been cut off. When the police arrived on tin* scene, Cohen, though still alive, was too far gone to make anv statement, and died in a few minutes. Despite very careful inquiries by the police, no arrest was made, and the'coroner’s jury returned a verdict that Cohen was murdered by some person or persons unknown. Such is the brief story of a crime, so mysterious that the police were unable to take a step towards its solution for a full year. Then came the murder of Nesbit, followed by the arrest of Dickman. The police set to work to trace the accused man’s movements prior to the crime. ’They searched his home thoroughly. They took the piano to pieces, emptied the water-cistern, and dug up the garden from end to end. Although they found little to connect him with the train murder, they discovered certain fads which left no doubt that Dickman had had transactions with Hermann Cohen, and they also found certain jewellery. The discoveries were naturally not made public at the time, but while the police were building up the Nesbit case they were also sifting very carefully the possibility that he might also have been the murderer of Cohen. Their inquiries led them to such conclusions that had Dickman been acquitted of the murder of Mr. Nesbit, he would have been detained in custody until he had given a satisfactory explanation of his movements on March 8. 11)09, ami of his possession of certain jewellery, notably a valuable diamond ring, which the police had reason to suspect had once ornamented the little finger of Hermann Cohen’s left hand. Even had Dickman satisfied the police on these points, it is doubtful whether the authorities would have given him his freedom, for the search of his house, it seems had given them good grounds for suspecting him of several daring highway robberies and burglaries in and around Jesmond. where he lived for some time prior to his arrest for the murder of Mr. Nesbit. The victims of the highway robberies were usually women, who wore out alone after dark, and not one of them could give any description of her assailant. One man who was attacked, however, did catch a glimpse of the robber’s features, and on seeing Dickman in Court during his trial for murder recognised him as his assailant. Whether Dickman was guilty of these robberies or not the fact remains that since his arrest they have entirely ceased.