A MURDERER'S STRATAGEM.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1058, 6 April 1882, Page 4

A MURDERER'S STRATAGEM.

A Berlin correspondent, writing on December 26th, says:—“ A new system of garotting has been invented here by a most dangerous criminal of the name of Wilke, who, fortunately, is safe in the hands of the police. On Thursday week t.vu men, couseieneestrieken, presented themselves before the authorities, accusing themselves of having conspired with a locksmith (the man Wilke) to hire furnished rooms in different parts of the town for the purpose of extorting money in the following manner : —One of them was to go to bed pretending to be ill, and send for a doctor. As soon as the esieian arrived and bent over the , an iron collar of a special contrivance, hid beneath the counterpane, was to be applied to his neck until he had signed a bill of exchange; then he was to be strangled and thrown into a canal which was close at hand. Wilke had devoted much ingenuity to the construction of this instrument, which they described as something like a pair of longs or pincers fixed on the end of a long iron tube, with a winch at the bottom, by means of which the tongs could be made to close as tight as one liked. The peculiar virtue of this nefarious invention was to consist in preventing the victim from crying for help by immediately depriving him of the pow er of utterance. To make matters still surer, Wilke had also constructed two steel traps for the victim’s feet. The conspirators had begun by hiring a room at No. 59, Elizabeth-Ufer, where the Schiffahrtz Kanal has an unusual width, and would facilitate the disposal of dead bodies. That very evening, the penitent accomplices declared, had been agreed upon for committing the first murder, and Dr. Lehrs, living close by, on the Kaizer-Franz-Grenadier-Platz, ■w as selected as the first victim. As soon as this confession had been made, policemen were sent to the house mentioned, where they were told that a man who pretended to be employed at the Government Office for Weights and Measures had, a few days ago, hired a room and paid a fortnight’s rent in advance, but that he had not shown himself since ; he had, however sent a trunk into his room the day before. The directory having been referred to, and showing that no person •of the name of Wilke was employed at the office in question, the constables proceeded to open the trunk, in which they found two man-traps and all the •component parts of the garroting machine. The trunk, waSSktrefully reclosed, and the landlady not to say a word about the visit. An arrangement was then come to between the police and Wilke’s two accomplices that the latter should at first assist their comrade in carrying out his diabolical plan, and only turn round upon him when the victim’s life was in danger. Several constables were •concealed in a neighbouring room, and at 7 Wilke appeared, entered his bedroom with his confederates, went to bed, and sent for Dr. Lehrs. Instead of the latter a policeman came in disguise, and inquired after Wilke’s health. The ruffian at once sprang up and applied his pincers to the pseudophysician’s neck. The latter, having managed to make Wilke understand he had very little money about him was requested to fill up a cheque. On his refusal Wilke turned the winch until the victim began to be afraid of his life, and began stamping on the ground. This was a signal for the accomplices to let the constables hands loose, and for the police to enter and seize the criminal in the very act. Thus arrested, the scoundrel has since confessed that he intended procuring himself a sum of money, of which he was in great need, by garrotting, but ■denies having had any intention of taking the victim’s life.