THE PADDINGTON MYSTERY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 146, 9 March 1918, Page 10

THE PADDINGTON MYSTERY

MURDER OF AN OLD MAN. When the last English mail left the police of the Loudon metropolis wero busily engaged in attempting to solve what had already become known as the "Paddington Mystery," the'victim, of which was Mr.. Eric Salmon, an antique and wardrobe dealer, of Bishop's Road, Paddington. Mr. Salmon was found dead in his shop with his hands and feet tied. The police were searching' for a man who was seen to _ get into a taxicab at.the corner of Eastbourne Terrace in Bishop's Road. Tho following is a description of the man': Aged about 60; height, sft. Bin.; stout, Jewish wearing . ,brown overcoat,' grey trilby hat, ai:d black boots. •■■' Robbery was clearly the motive of the crime, which; was discovered in a startling manner by two members of the R.N.'A.S.,,.who entered the shop to, purchase a pair of hoots. They knocked on the counter and received no reply, so after waiting about five minutes they feared something was amiss, and proceeded'-, to the back shop'. Here thejj were startled to find an old man lying on the floor dead. The' body- was" not, quite cold. ,Tho& j was an ugly wound on the. back of the i skull/ and tho mouth . was gagged, while, as already stated, the / hands and feet were tied. ' There was eyidenco of..a"severe struggle. ~

Salmon was well known in the neighbourhood. Business neighbours '.'speak, well of him; he has always been credited as being a man of high' dealings, and it was consicieied that it was unlikely that Tie would have any enemies. A most extraordinary feature of die case is that no one seems to havo heard the struggle, or observed the entry of any suspicious person into the ehop, nor was anyone observed to leave hurriedly;.

Councillor Samuel Goldhill, a member of the I'addington Borough Council; related that he had seen the deceased about half-past four. "He told me he was going to hail a cab, and •isked mo to keep an eye on his shop. About a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes after a man, dressed as a military captain, walked up aiid tried the shop door. I asked him what he wanted, and he said he wanted to get into the shop. I told him Mr. Salmon would be back in a quarter of an hour or Itwenty'minutes, and he replied, 'All right.' He kept walking up and down, in froiit of my shop, and ultimately came in and asked me if he could get a, 'bus from here to Barnes. I'said 'No,' and advised him to go to Edgewaro .Road. Then he said, 'Have you a map of London?' I said, . 1 have not.! Mr. Salmon returned about seven ■ minutes to five, and was followed into' the shop by the man. ], saw tile man having a coat tried „on. I was walking up and. down, having a smoke. That was the last I saw of Mr. Salmon." Asked as to his impression of the stranger, Mr. Goldhill said: "He was by no means polite, and did riot thank me for. any answers I-gave him. He bad no overcoat, just a tunic, with three stars and a, peaked cap. He waited for about half an.hour to see the deceased. I last saw them together about five o'clock. I did not fiee the man leave the shop, as I had to go back to my own. business to attend to a customer. I hoard nothing further until Salmon's body was discovered." It is stated that the miirder is linked up in a curious way with the Crippen crime. Mr. Salmon was the man from whom Crippen bought a -sack in order to dispo'se of his wife's remains after he had cut them up. The wai-d----robe dealer also sold to the murderer the male attire which Miss Ethel le Neve, his companion, wore when she f.ccompanied him on the voyage to Canada. Mr. Salmon was a careworn old man, with a_ ueeplyrwrinklecl face and forehead and heavy beard, lie had few friends, and kept -very much to himself. Scotland Yard has no doubt that robbery was the motive of his assailants—for it','is assumed that there was more than one man concorned. , The linen which was used as a gag looks like a pocket handkerchief. It was secured by another piece of linen wrapped around the head and tied at the back. The body lay with the feet under tho chest of drawers. The gag covered half tho face,, which was blue. It is not believed that murder was intended. The police think that Mr. Salmon was gagged and bound, so that he should utter no sound while the robbery was committed, and that an attack of syncope supervened either nhile they were at work or after "ttiey Had left. He had been in failing health lor some time, and at his agelie was over 60 ynars,the excitement may have proved fatal. A post-mor-tem examination of the body was made, 'and, I :Dr. Wright, divisional police-surgeon, expressed tho opinion lhat death was due to syncope.