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# AT first glance everything appeared as usual except that his suitcase had been moved irom itsusual place. Examination of this showed that the lock had been forced. His small sayings and some personal belongings were missing.. Inside the case was a hammer that had been brought from another part of the house.•‘Fearing that something was wrong, Paterson said later, “I went down on my knees and asked God for strength, wisdom and guidance. I was rising from my knees when I discovered the sleeve of a coat. Then I discovered the dead body of my wife lying under the bed.Her face, skull, elbow and lips were badly bruised, and beside the body, from which the wedding ring was missing, was a bloodstained shirt and other articles of men's clothing. On the Sunday afternoon, under a bed at M rs. Hill's, was discovered the body of the missing Lola Cowan.From the nature of these two killings it was clear that the mass-murderer known as the “Gorilla Murderer or the Dark Strangler, who had brought a reign of terror to the whole of the northern part of the United States, had crossed the border into Canada.KILLINGS WHEREVER HE WENT# ON February 20th, 1926, a few days after a man had applied to Miss Clara Newman, of SanFrancisco, to rent one of her rooms, she was found strangled in an attic.While the search for the murderer was still at its height, ten days later. Mrs. Laura Beale, a 60-ycar-old lodging-house keeper, of San Jose, was found murdered in conditions similar to those in the case of Miss Newman. Again denied a full description of the man who had called to inquire about a room, the police were unable to trace the killer.On June 10th. a stranger called to inspect the rooms of sixty-year-old Mrs. Lilian St. Mary, of San Francisco. A little later in the day her strangled and violatedsimilar circumstances.The day following, a scarf knotted tightly about her throat, the body of Mrs. Mabel Fluke was discovered in the attic of her house. This time also jewellery and clothing had been taken—including four rings from the fingers of the victim.After that there was another lull for nearly a month. Then, at San Francisco on November 18th, the fifty-year-old Mrs. William Edmonds was found murdered.At Seattle, six days later, Mrs. Horence Monks was murdered. Several thousand dollars’ worth of jewellery had been taken.Not satisfied with his ten murders to date, the Dark Strangler returned to Portland, strangled Mrs. Blanche Myers, aged forty-eight, with an apron, and pushed the body under a bed.The Portland police discovered that on the day following the murder of Mrs. Monks a man had taken rooms with three old women at South Portland, remained until the day of the Myers killing, and while there had sold his landladies several articles of jewellery.Three of the articles were proved to have been stolen from Mrs. Monks. The police circulated a full description of the Dark Strangler” to all the States of the L nion and every Province in Canada.Indifferent to this threat, the Dark Strangler two days before Christmas murdered and outraged Mrs. John F. Board, at Iowa, worked south to Kansas City, strangled Mrs. Bonnie Pace, aged twenty-three; strangled and outraged twentv-eight-year-old Mrs. Germanic Harpin. and throttled her eight-months-old baby with a piece of rag.MADE HIS ONE BIG MISTAKE# AND so the Dark Strancler, ' Gorilla Murderer, or Phantom Killer.” to give him sonic of his descriptions, saw the dawn of a New Year with a record of fifteen murders in ten months—an average of one every three weeks.After an interval of fourijutaiii'iivu iua vumuiiiii, nseemed kind of fidgety, as to who and what he was.Thoroughly frightened by the new experience. Nelson crossed the street to Fred England’? jewel- % lery shop, sold Mrs. Paterson’s wedding ring for £1. returned to Mrs. Rowe's, and, leaving the clothes he had bought in Winnipeg in a chest of drawers, left hurriedly.By the time that, a couple of miles out of the city, he begged i a lift from a commercial traveller named Davidson, Nelson was wearing a khaki shirt, overalls, and an old black cap.Later in the afternoon Nelson was picked up by a junk dialer named Isadore Silverman, who drove him to Areola. Apparently they became on friendly terms, for tfrey shared a room—at Silverman's expense—and set off” together the next morning for Del-orainc.CAUGHT IN A GENERAL STORE# THAT night also they spent together, travelling tfie next day to Bousse-vain. where they separated. At about five o'clock that day a man appeared at Leslie Morgan's general store at Wapoka and bought lemonade, cheese and cigarettes. Here for the first t me ]Nelson was recognised as the man \whose description had been so fwidely circulated.Morgan contrived to keep his ,man hanging about, and then tele ,phoned his suspicions to the Koval Canadian Mounted Police post. jConstable Grev arrived and arrested Virgil Wilson, who ex- iplained that he had come from )Brit’sh Columbia to work for a rancher.From Wakopa. where there was no jail. Nelson was taken to Killarncy and lodged tit a cell, the lock of which In- picked with a nail tillt; two hours later. He burgled a house less than halt a mile away, and stole a pair of skating boots and a sweater. tFrom then until his re rapture, 1with I lie women and children as- \semhled in a central hall for safe- ly. Killarnev was transformed ;into art armed camp Early the following morning Alfred Wood was accosted at the edge of a copse by a dishevelled stranger whom he had no d fficulty in recognising as the wanted man.By chance, a police car arrived a few minutes later, and Nelson was recaptured. Pronounced sane at his jrial. he was hanged—from a scaffold to which there were thirteen steps, and front which he was to he executed—in a yard lie-hind the Provincial Jail at Winnipeg on January 13th, 1938.ENCOURAGE LOCAL INDUSTRYAND SUPPORT EMPLOYERS OF LABOR IN TASMANIA BY ORDERING YOURFLOUR SUPPLIES FROM -Gihftnn’it Ltd.. Citv Flour Mills. HnKarf
Newspaper Details
Hobart Voice
Hobart, Tasmania, AU
Sat, Aug 01, 1953
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA 12 Sep 2019
Other Publications Near Hobart, Tasmania
Hobart Colonial Advocate and Tasmanian Monthly Review and Register
Hobart Colonist and Van Diemens Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser
Hobart Hobarton Guardian or True Friend of Tasmania
Hobart Town Punch
Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemens Land Advertiser
