MYSTERY OF A HEAD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 263, 10 November 1906, Page 13

MYSTERY OF A HEAD.

STRANGE POLICE TUEORY OF A GRUESOME TRAGEUY. New York is taking a shuddering interest Id another ghastly murder mystery. On Spptpmbpr 23. a workman engaged in excavation in Eleventh-avenue, near the rtvpr. lonnd a heavy parrel wrapped la sacking and oilcloth. It proved to contain tlio torso of a powerful man. The head and limbs had been roughly severed with a sharp knife, and a number of Coep stab wounds in the breast indicated tho mar ncr of death. Several circumstances gave an exotic Interest to the apparent crime. The district In which the discovery was made is largely inhabited by mixed nationalities —Syrians, Armeniajis. Hungarians, and Italians —all of whom are in the habit of settling feuds and personal quarrels In their ovvn way with the knife, having UttLe regard for the laws of the land. The sacking wherein the trunk -was wrapped is of peculiar texture and colour, prohably ot Syrian manufacture. The oilcloth, which bore a gaudy picture of George Washington, is such as is frequently purchased by immigrants. The stabs had been made with a double-edged weapon, which pierced the heart. The following day, Id a freight car standIng in a siding In Eleventh-avenue, another workman discovered a red cloth parcel containing the forearms and lower portions of the legs belonging to the same body. In the afternoon some boye playing In a railway yard discovered another parcel containing two thighs. Only the head Is now missing, for which a vigorous search is being made But some doubt p-xists as to whether this will ever be found, the police having the theory that the murder nas been committed in accordance with a decree of some organisation. The victim's country is probably Syria, where the head is Intended to be sent to serve as evidence that the decree has been carried out.