A " WHITECHAPEL " HORROR IN RUSSIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2085, 12 March 1889, Page 3

A " WHITECH APEL " HORROR IN RUSSIA.

A. brutal murder, writes a St Peterabnrg correspondent, has just been committed m the South of Russia which bears one or two points of resemblance to the Whltecbapel murders, and, at it also is one of a whole class of similar outrages not confined to any one locality, may not prove uninteresting. The motive of these | crimes, we may say at once, is eoperßt!--tion. A peasant girl was lying dead m a wood near Graivoron (government of Kursk), with evident slcns of having been brutally murdered, Moreover, oertafn portlona of the body were missing, For several daya all efforts to find the murderers were unavailing. No one was ever suspected. Boon afterwards, how erer, a robbery was committed m the village, and suspicion fell on two peasants, who were at once arrested. On their rooms being searched a bandkeroblef was found m which something Id the nature of tallow — extract-ad from human fat — was carefully rolled up. The mother of the murdered girl recognijed the handkerchief as her daughter's, and the mystery was soon cleared up. The prlsonets at odob confessed, and related the history of the crime m all its details. The band of the oorpie, or even the finger, or a candle made of human fat, is firmly believed by the lower oUsies throughout the length and breadth of Russia to render the thief who possesses it safe from detection ; and as there are many thieves m Russia desirous of pursuing their ooonpatlon with impunity, the demand for these objeots Is considerable. These two peasants resolved to secure some " maglo candles" before entering on a series of predatory expeditions. They at first fixed on a peasant as fchelr viotim, but when they oame to wbere be was work Ins; alone they found him with an axe In his { hand, and, knowing him to be a strong man, they thought it wise to ohoose another viotim. An abnormally stout priest was accordingly fixed upon, but when they oalled on him he was away ad* minister Jog the sacrament to a dying man. They then espied this healthy peasant girl, followed her to jbhe wood, despatched her, and removed certain parts of the body, *b!oh they afterwards boiled. They are now under an unusually sttong guard, and their trial will take place In a few weeks.