MURDER MYSTERY SOLVED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3752, 16 February 1907, Page 3

MURDER MYSTERY SOLVED.

If the clerk at Essen who has given himself up proves to' be really the murderer of Miss Lake, a mystery which has baffled the German police will have been solved. On October 2, Miss Madeline Lake was murdered in a wood near Essen, the town where the Krupp steelworks are situated. Miss Lake was thirty-nine years of age, but from her graceful appearance seemed much younger (her age was estimated at twenty), she belonged to Sheen Park, Richmond, England. ‘ She was staying in Essen, as the guest of a Colonel and Mrs Kienast. Her parents are dead, and she had lived for some time with her sister at Richmond. On Monday afternoon, October 1, she went Shopping with a Mrs Bruckhaus, the English wife of a German resident in the town. They were returning home at dusk, and Miss Lake, who was in a hurry; said she would take a short cut through the wood to Colonel Kienast’s villa. Mrs Bruckhaus warned her not to follow this path, as the wood, which is known locally as the Stadtwaldchen is frequented by bad characters, and is notoriously unsafe after dark. Miss Lake laughed at her companion’s fears, and said she was not afraid to go through the wood. Mrs Bruckhaus never saw her alive again. Careful examination of the ground shows that her assailant attacked her unawares, and dragged her from the path into the bushes 45 feet away. There are many indications that she made a desperate fight for life. Her gloves were torn into strips, and the pieces were found scattered about at some distance from each other. Parts of her dress were also torn to shreds. Both her anus were covered with bruises, showing where the murderer, who must of been a man of great strength, gripped her in dragging her through the bushes. The marks on her throat show that he attempted first to strangle her, but the death blows were dealt by a heavy instrument* She was struck on both temples, and portions of her skull were battered in. From the jagged nature of the wounds it is apparent that the weapon used was a log of wood or a broken branch of a tree. The crime appears to have been the work of a madman. It is certain that mere robbery was not the motive, for six pounds in gold, as well as a small sura in silver and the gold watch which she carried were untouched. In the pocket there was also found a ticket to Amsterdam, where Miss Lake intended going next day on her way back to England. The body was discovered fully extended, with arms outstretched and head thrown back, by some miners on their way to the Langenbohn coal mine, which is not far distant from the scene of the murder.