TERRIBLE MURDER IN NEW YORK.

Evening Star, Issue 4098, 15 April 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

TERRIBLE MURDER IN NEW YORK.

New York has been greatly exercised over the discovery of a ghastly crime bearing a strong resemblance in its chief features to that for which Wainwright was lately hung. The account as given in the American papers is as follows :—Several boys playing in a ship-yard on Saturday afternoon, 29th January, made a discovery which resulted in the detection of one of the most shocking murders ever committed in this part of the country, and the arrest of the murderer, who has confessed his crime. The scene of the discovery was the ship-yard of John Englis, between the East River and West street. In a narrow space between a lumber pile and a high board fence the boys observed a piece of newspaper covering some object which was lying upon the ground. Curiosity led them to remove the paper, when to their horror they discovered a human head spotted with blood. Terror-stricken at the hideous sight, they ran screaming into the street, where they attracted the attention of Officer Knapp, who led the way back into the lumber yard, followed by a large crowd of people. The head was found to be that of a man apparently about forty-five or fifty years of age. From the fresh appearance of the wounds, and the small amount of coagulated blood, it was apparent that it had been severed from the body within a day or two. It was well shaped, and the features were those of a handsome man. The hair was dark brown and very thin, the crown of the head being almost bald, There was a full brown beard and a heavy •moustache of the same colour sprinkled with grey. The wounds, which had evidently been made with some very sharp instrument, were clean cut, but somewhat diagonal, as more of the neck remained at the back of the head than in the front. Behind these were two deep gashes, as if the first stroke of the axe, hatchet, or cleaver, with which the work had evidently been done, had failed to sever the head, and a second blow had been given to complete the bloody work. There was also a deep gash on the left cheek. A Mr Conner, who had been sent down on purpose, identified the head as that of W. W. Simmons, a missing workman. He had left the factory in good health on Thursday afternoon, and had not been seen by his fellow-work-men afterward. Simmons was a New England mechanic, and about three years ago came to Brooklyn from Derby, Conn., where his family, consisting of a wife and five children, still lived. He was steady and industrious, and although not a temperance man, was never known by bis employers to be intoxicated, and did not neglect his work. He was of a quiet, retiring disposition, and had only a few intimate friends. He was doing piecework, and on the average made 30dols a week—sometimes earning as much as SOdols. He worked exclusively at the trip-hammer, and was considered a skilful mechanic. Simmons was in the habit of carrying a silver watch and chain, and was accustomed to have 75d01s or lOOdols and sometimes more money on his person. The detectives soon learned that the most intimate friend of Simmons was an Alsatian named Andreas Fuchs, who acted as his “ helper ” at the triphammer. Fuchs was found and taken to Fifth Precinct Station and questioned. He declared, in his broken English, that Simmons was a very bad man; that he was at one time a hard gambler and drinker, and very licentious. He said that Simmons frequently told him in the morning at the manufactory that he had visited some lady friends at Greenpoint the evening before, and that one of them was the wife of a man who was of a very jealous disposition. When Fuchs was closely questioned concerning the habits of his fellow - workman, he became reatless and uneasy. There was much in the manner of the man that was suspicious. The public next heard that a stevedore saw a short man, whose appearance corresponded with that of Fuchs, hanging about the yard where the head was afterwards found. Fuchs was summoned to the Fifth Precinct station, and while waiting for the stevedore to arrive he was examined by the Inspector, who noticed a spot of blood upon his trousers. Fuchs had a fresh cut in his left hand below the thumb, and immediately drew his bleeding hand quickly across the spot when it was noticed. This action and the very perceptible trembling of the suspected man added to the suspicions of the Inspector, who sent Detectives Corbin, Folk, and Short to search his house at No. 98 North, Third street, between Second and Third streets. In a few minutes one of the detectives reported that a piece of flesh had been found, looking lixe pork, and soon afterwards ((word was sent to the Fifth Precinct that the remains of Simmons had been discovered. The limbs had been cut off, and the body much cut and mutilated. The greater part of the trunk—most of the flesh having been hacked from the ribs—was found in a wash-boiler. A pail contained fragments of flesh and small portions of the body, and in a black trunk, which was in a wooden chest, were the legs and arms. Fuchs was immediately arrested and told of the discoveries made a,t his home, when he confessed that he had committed the murder on Thursday night. He said that Simmons had been criminally intimate with his wife, and that Me had detected him in the act, and struck him

with a hatchet, killing him instantly. The next day, Friday, he had cut up the body, meaning to dispose of it piece by piece, the head being the first portion he had carried off. He said his wife had been unfaithful not only with Simmons but with other men.

Mrs Fuchs said she was 39 years of age, and was born in County Waterford, Ireland, her maiden name was M ary Welsh, and her first husband was Michael Kehoe, by whom she had one child, Ellwu, now a girl of eight years, and a witness of the murder. She had always known her husband as Arthur Fuchs, and had married him under that name. She was very much affected on Sunday, weeping bitterly as she told her story, and saying again and again that if she had only been sober the murder would not have been committed. Her story is as follows: ** Simmons came to the house about nine o’clock on Thursday evening, bringing a doll for the little girl. There was some brandy and beer in the house, and after drinking the beer Fuchs went out to get three pints more. All of us drank the beer, and Simmons said he was ashamed to go home drunk j so I said that he might stay and sleep with Fuchs, and I would sleep with Ellen. "We had only two rooms. Simmons agreed to this. My husband says I slept on the floor, and that I was unfaithful, but I was so drunk that I knew nothing of it. My husband and child put me to bed, and while they were doing so I fell on the floor and cut my face. When I got up in the morning I saw the body on the floor of the kitchen, and Fuchs, taking it by the heels dragged it into the bedroom to cut it up. When I saw it I called out, ‘We will be hung!’ but Fuchs said he would make it all right. I drank too much on Friday, and did not see the body cut up. Fuchs was going to dig up the bricks around the fireplace to bury it, and I said, ‘ Don’t leave it here.’ Simmons and Fuchs had never quarrelled, but my husband was terribly jealous. He would have been jealous of his own father. He often accused me of being too intimate with Simmons, but he had no reason for it. I never heard him talk at all of giving himself up. On Saturday afternoon Fuchs went out with the head in a basket covered with a towel, and later came back with the empty basket. I have lived in this country for thirteen years.”

As a reason for the crime, there was not only the jealousy of Fuchs—who, while charging his wife with infidelity, had apparently been very intimate with Simmons—but also the hope of personal gain. Fuchs was Simmons’s “ helper,” getting only 2dols. a day, while Simmons, who was next above him, was making from 30dols. to 50dols. a week as a trip-hammer smith; and as Fuchs understood the working of a trip-ham-mer he would expect promotion if Simmons were got out of the way. Moreover, Simmons generally had considerable money with him. Fuchs was seen wearing the silver watch of the murdered man on Saturday night, thus adding robbery to the greater crime. The principal witness against Fuchs is his stepdaughter, who saw him strike the blow which killed Simmons.