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Show New York Police Solve B the Hudson River Mye- ffi tery by Taking Rev. jH Hans Schmidt, a Cath- ijl olic Priest, into Cus- 18j tody; Confession Is R Soon Obtained. , III ANNA AUMULLER NAME OF VICTIM II Young Woman Had HN Been Living with the fill Clergyman as His Wife and Was Butchered in mm Bed; Body Cut Up Be- 61 fore Life Was Extinct. j By International News Service. ffil NEW YORK, Sept. 14. Bev. Hans I H Schmidt, curate of St. Joseph's Roman I IU Catholic church in West One Hundred 511 and Twenty-fifth street, today con- Hfil fessed thc murder of - Anna Aumullcr, ml parts of whose dismembered body were flMl found in the Hudson river and are now Blfl in the lTobokon morgue. Hli " killed her because I lovcl her K9f j so much, he said. "Sho was so beau- ISXj tiful, so good, T could not let her live WM without mo. T had made up 1113' mind mi , that sho and I could not live together. B T was a priest and must romain with ff my church. I could not let hor go W away from me." I Sleeps After Confessing. 1 Sobbing out this confession of his m crime the priest was locked up in a cell in the Tombs prison, where, in- I Etcad of collapsing as might have been ff expected, he calmly wont to sleep. R The victim of this most grim and mys- W tcrlous tragedy of two decades was a m M beautiful young German girl of "I. Up c jn to two weeks ago she bad been employed OHmI as a servant ln the "parish house of St. fll 9 Boniface's R. E. church at Forty-seventh jfj ml street and Second avenue. It was there 9H1BE that she met the man who now faces the Jislfi electric chair as the penalty for her brutal fib murder. Two weeks ago the girl had been UJa discharged from the parish hpuso becausu iffll of her physical condition, the result of a if St her relations with the' 3'oung German cu- rate, who at that time had been tran3- f$a lerred to another parish, St Joseph's, ln kSHB Harlem, but had continued to meet the oil girl clandestinely at various placee. Hi it Crime Committed Sept. 2. jjjjl The murder was committed on th ftiJl night of Soptembor 2 In a flat which tho IfiiSfl priest had rented at GS Bradhurat avenue under the name of "A. Van Dyke," and hxI to which he had brought th girl. Intro- fjjjj ducing her as his wife. iiffl According to his own confesBlon. one iwK of the moat amazing documents ln police I jjSR annals In this city, the young clergyman J 5a killed the girl while she lay asleep by jjffi drawing a knife across hor throat with BS such swift and unerring skill that her J jE eyes never opened. Carrying his uncon- i m scions but Mill breathing victim Into the fa bathroom of tho flat, he proceeded to'dis- llK member the living body, first slashing ijjlH through the nock muscles and v-srobrae fl until the head had been removed and ffiEB then with the aid of a butcher knife and wmt carpenter's ;aw, cutting through the mid- Mwt die or the body. Next he removed th MSB legs and arms and finally severed the feot. jftvl Talks Without Tremor. All of these gruesome details were nar- mm rated bv the priest murderer as he stood s yjf In custody of the detectives ln the flat In in which ho had planned and executed thc im ghastlv crlmn. After the first flurry of ex- !gt cltcme'nt when the man attempted to 1M commit suicide by cutting his throat with iN a razor, after he had been arrested In the rectory of St. Joseph's, he was the MJK calmest and most composed member of fsftlj tllWUhoiit a tremor of voice or ijulver of j Infill lip or oy ho told of wrapping up the dls- Hrffl mombcred remains In nine separate pack- NflLli agvj covered with wrapping paper pur- flW chased In a nearby store and how he than. tSi only a few hours after cutting tho sleep- Inc victim's throat, made live trlpn back I and forth across tho Hudson on tho Fort j3U Lee ferry, dropping one or two of the 1 bundles Into the river on. rnch trip until TB. he had disposed of all. Ho described his mm return to the flat and his offorts to re- Rij move evidence of the butchery and Anally M -pointed out the vacant lot where he had IK tried to burn the blood-stained mattrcs?, ffiSW fragments of which were still lying there. jfllf Detectives Weaken. Jffllj Thlfl Jckyll-IIyde In real life was an ab- ivM soluto puzzle to thc detectives. Usuallv Tt JUU'l It Is tho criminal who weakens when con- 'fjifflj fronted with details of his crime. This !Chj2 time it was tho detectives who weakoned. IjMfi The story of one who, under the holy !J??v i (Continued on Pago Two.) Ji HUDSON RIVER MURDER -1TSTERT IS CLEARED UP (Continued irom Pago Ono.) shelter of tho church, had crushed Hie happiness, darkened the' name and ilnally taken the .life of a woman xnve thorn no pride of their skilled triumph when they confronted and arrested this unusual criminal In the rectory." "Sho was innocent." he said, "and believed be-lieved site was my wife. M married myself my-self to her and she held Jhat marriage aacrcd. I killed her because " "Well, because what?" snapped Detective De-tective Iftiuiot. "Because I couM condone tny own sin In everything-. That much of wickedness was in inc. 1. could condone my own shame, but 1 could not be a priest ami also a father. ".May I ohanpo my clothes before I Ko with you?" he asked. "Yes," said the inspector. The man arose and moved swiftly towards the door. "One second," said Faurot. Suicide Prevented. , They searched him In the garb that was holy to them and that probably he had no rlgfht to wenr a Ions German razor was handed to tho Inspector. "1 had made up my mind to kill myself my-self if I should be arrested," explained the prisoner with a half smile. But he insisted on solng back to change his clerical collar and his robe. 15ven to him the majesty of the vestments vest-ments meant much. ! He was taken to the house of the murder. mur-der. He was led through the bare but death-stained rooms. He was told lo , mbve again through these rooms, and drj las he had done on that fearful mid night. Tie obeyed In a dazed fashion. Ill went to the cheap, white enameled lroi bed; unmnttrcssed. spring-broke, fie lifted lift-ed from it an imaginary body the body of the girl he "loved." , Under the eyes of the' silent detectives he carried the "thing" his hands extended ex-tended and clutched to the bathroom through the doorway Just four steps df an ordinary man. And then he put tho "thing" in the little bath tub. Some one handed him the Instrument he hat used in the vain attempt to conceal his dead a saw. lie told the rest he enacted It. Me was still dumb and half dazed. . Says It Didn't Hurt Her. "You 'see." he said In a sullen way, "It didn't hurt her. It couldn't have hurt her. She was asleep when 1 came into the room. Her throat was exposed. She never even knew." "And this was the knife?" said a detective, de-tective, displaying the wlde-bladed kitchen kitch-en knife that had been found in the llat. "Yes," he said, "You could give me a cup of coffee, couldn't you?" "After you have told us. everything about it," said Faurot, sickly. "I'll do that. I'll take you right down to the lot where 1 burned the mattress of that bed." He did. At One Hundred and Forty-fourth Forty-fourth street and Seventh avenue the straggling roof poles of a big tent mark the temporary haven of the evangelists' committee which is holding a camp meeting meet-ing in the vacant lot there. It was still half dark as Schmidt led the detectives de-tectives to a spot between two rocks where he pointed out the charred remnants rem-nants of a mattress bearing stains not made by fuel. "Several men saw me bring it here," said the priest. "I think they saw me burn It. They did not say anything." Coroner's Examination. From there they took him to headquarters, head-quarters, where Coroner Flneberg conducted con-ducted another examination. It was when Deacon Murphy, assistant district attorney, confronted the prisoner that his real ordeal began. There was no mercy now. His story had to come out from the Innocent instance lo its sordid close. There is the story of the cleric who killed: "I came to this country in 1007. J had been born and educated in Bavaria. My father was Henry Schmidt, my mother Gertrude Mollere. They are both living still in the old home town. At 12 years I went to college at Mainz; at 18 I went to the seminary at St Augustine. I was ordained September 23, 1904. "For six months I was in charge of the church of St. Elizabeth at Darmstadt. Darm-stadt. Briefly, I had a pastorate at Bor-gel-on-the-Malnz. I was ill and went home; "When I first came here a year after that illness I went to Louisville and then to Trenton: In December, 1910, I came to Now York to St. Bonlfaco's church at lAn-ly-soventh street and Second avenue, as assistant pastor," The 'prisoner here paused in his narrative-, a tense look, almost a look of sadness sad-ness came over the hard features. Meets His Victim. "It was there that X met Anna Aumul-Icr. Aumul-Icr. She was a sers'ant in the house where I lived. We were attracted lo each other. We made frequent excursions together at night, jhat is, in the early mornings. We went to places In New York. "I moved to tho place at St. Joseph's on December 1, 1912. 1 conducted the confessional and tho low masses and I tho services for the night workers. Alter the services I would meet Anna. "Then three weeks ago she was dismissed dis-missed from St. Boniface's. A woman servant had discovered her trouble. "I engaged on August 2o the little apartment apart-ment in liradhurst avenue TVhich she made her home. "At that time sho thought we wero married. She was happy, r adored her. Shi was innocent of all thought of wrong. "She was about to embroider the pillow cases when a woman'frlend told her the pattern wau wrong an1 she changed the pattern. The letter 'A on the pillow case was the design sho chose after this woman wom-an friend criticised the first one. Resolves on Crime. "I became troubled. There seemed no chance of safety if I, a priest, should become be-come a father. "On tho night about midnight It waa of September 1, I went to the flat and got in without awakening Anna. I had bought the knifo and tho aaw at a store across the street from the Tombs prison in Center Cen-ter street. I killed her and carried her into the bathroom. I had no thought but getting rid of tho body. I dismembered II. "For an hour, perhaps, I was at the task. "Early In the morning I began to make my trips to the river with portions of the body. I had wrapped them In tar paper, pillow slips, etc., and tied them with twine. T dropped them in tho river. "They say thpy were dropped from a ferryboat, Or from the Jersey shore. They were dropped from this side of the rlvur. "I made fv'e trips with tho packages. First. 1 took the upper torso, then the lower. I carried after that the head, the arms, the leg--." The story that Schmidt told of Ills relations re-lations witli the girl is In some parts 1m I possible of publication. Tho solution of this, the most baffling murder mystery of years, was brought about by tracing tho pillow slip in which the upper section of the dismembered torso had been wrapped. It was found that, a certain number of theso slips had been Kent from Jim factory in Newark to the store of George Sachs at 278 TCIghth avenue. Sachs had sold only two pillows. One of these was sufficiently accounted for. The other had been delivered with some furniture to a fiat at 68 Bradhurst avenue. The flat, had been rented by a man of clerical appearance who had occupied oc-cupied it with a young woman. Neither had been seen there slncp September 2. The man had been scon there last, sneaking sneak-ing In and out as If he wished to avoid recognition. After waiting a few days Inspector. In-spector. Faurot of the detective bureau, who had charge of the case, decided to break down the door. Evidences of Crime. As he entered ho was confronted by several sev-eral evidences of a crime. The floor was . bloodatajnf.d and 3trewn with fragments of wrapping paper and pieces of cloth cov ered who Mich as had been wound around the packages containing the dismembered torso, lie also found a letter addressed to Anna Aumullor, care of St. ttonifaco's H. C. church, Forty-eIghth street and Second avenue, and a photograph of l ho girl. At the rcctoratc of the St. Boniface it was found that the woman had formerly for-merly been employed there as a servant, but had 'been discharged because of her "unsatisfactory mode of living." The young priest, who had formerly been curate at St. Boniface's, was traced to St. .Joseph's In West One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street. Dotcctlvrs called at the parish house and demanded to see him. Nervous and rubbing his eyes, Schmidt, who had been aroused from a sound sleep, received them In the reception recep-tion room of tho rectory, Schmidt Arrested. "Mr. Schmidt," said Inspector Faurot. "I have come to arrest you for the murder mur-der of Anna Aumullcr." Schmidt collapsed and moaned. He was dressed In his clerical garments. Fearing Fear-ing ho would do himself harm tho detectives detec-tives seized him. To show the priest that they knew who tho girl was they produced a photograph of iter. It had boon picked up In the house where she had been murdered. Schmidt covered his faco with his hands and moaned and pleaded not to be confronted, con-fronted, with the picture, J-.ater, however, ho made a supreme cf-' cf-' fort to control himself and asked to be permitted to go to the bathroom. Permission Permis-sion waa about to be given to him when Inspector Faurot decided to search his prisoner. He found a razor in his pocket. After that Schmidt was carefully watched and at no time was lie permitted to use his hands freely Prisoner Questioned. At police headquarters Schmidt was subjected to a close grilling by Inspector Faurot- The Inspector said: "Schmidt has udmlttcd to us that he hired the Mat and took the girl there. He said that at midnight on August 31, he let himself Into the apartment with the key. He saltl he had known the girl for more than two years and was Infatuated with her. Miss Aumuller was asleep In bed but he went over to her. He had a large butcher knife In his hand. He cut her throat before she could make an outcry. He believed he had killed her and carried her Into the bathroom." bath-room." The autopsy had shown that the girl was dismembered while still alive and the absence of blood In her veins had given rise io the belief that the person who had cut her to pieces had drained her so that in disposing of the body there would be no trail to follow. "I produced a diagram of the body." continued Inspector Faurot, "and showed it to him and he Identified It as the way he had cut the body to pieces In the bathroom. He severed the head, then the upper part of the body, then tho arms, the stomach phrt and her legs. "He said he went to a neighboring store and bought some brown paper and then wrapped each part separately. Disposition of Body. "From that day Septcmber'l Schmidt said ho took a part of the body out of the flat. Ho boarded an Eighth avenue car, rode down to One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, took a cross-town car to the Fort Lee ferry, boarded a boat and when in midstream threw the bundle Into the river He did this five times until he had disposed of the last vestige of tlie body. Then he returned to the flat and to destroy evidence of his crime had carted the mattress up to a vacant lot In One Hundred and Forty-fourth street and attempted to turn it He did not succeed entirely in tills, as we have the mattress with the stain on It. , "In addition to the evidence secured through the finger print we also secured se-cured in the pocket of the coat hanging hang-ing in the apartment a handkerchief." Tho police searched the rooms of Father Schmidt in tlie parish house and found a marriage license Issued to "Anna Aumuller Au-muller and Hans Schmidt." The address ad-dress given was a number in East One "Hundred and Fifty-fifth street, and the police say that It Is flctiolous. The license li-cense was Issued on February 26, 1913. Finally Shows Emotion. The Information charging Schmidt with the crime was made by Detective O'Nell. one of tho detectives who accompanied Inspector Faurot, when the arrest was made. All through the reading of the affidavit Schmidt sat unmoved until the detcctlvo read that part In which he was accused of having "cut up and removed" re-moved" the body of Anna Aumullcr. Then he winced. Throughout tho proceedings before Coroner Cor-oner Foinberg ho sat in a daze. His, blondo hair was disheveled and his blue eyes had a glassy appearance. After the reading of the affidavit the coroner asked him if he had anything to say, and he shook his head in the negative. nega-tive. The coroner asked: "Do you desire to make a statement now?" Father Schmidt shook his head, "No," he said in a whisper. 'Tedigree" Taken. Harry Lelsersohn, Coroner Felnbcrg's secretary, then proceeded to take the prisoner's pris-oner's "pedigree." "Your name?" he inquired. "Hans Schmidt." "Where do you livo?" "No. 10." West One Hundred and Twenty-fifth .street." "Your age?" "Thirty-two." "Occupation ?' "I am a priest." "Where were you born?" "'In Go' many. 1 "Single or married?" "MaTrlcd." "I commit you to the Tombs without ball until the inquest Is held." Tlie priest wna taken to tho Tombs prison by Detectives Cassasea and Mc-Naugh. Mc-Naugh. Ah the party approached tho prison Cassassa Inquired: "Whore did you purchase the knife and saw with which tho murder waa committed?" com-mitted?" "In stores near tho Tombs prison," was the reply, ncording to Cassassa. Points Out Stores. Tlie priest pointed to a shop at 61 Center Cen-ter street conducted by Charles I-ang-belii, cutler and grinder, in the window (.f whlcn a number of butcher knvc3 with ton-Incli blades wero on exhibition. The shop ir. directly opposite tho Tombs prison. "Is that where you purchased tho knife? ' Inquired Cassassa. The icply was In tho affirmative. "How much did you give for the knife?" "I don't ri'inomber. "You came down horn from Harlem for the purpose of buying the knife and saw7" "Yes." "Whore did you purchase the caw?" "Further up the street." Schmidt conducted tho detectives to the store of Stern & Co.. dealers In secondhand second-hand machinery at 1 1 G Center street, directly di-rectly opposite the chambprs ln the criminal crim-inal court building in which, In all probability, prob-ability, he will bo tried for murder. Tn the window of tho store were displayed dis-played two saws similar In make to that found In the Bradhurst avenue apartment. They were marked "formerly $l, now 55 cents." "I bought one of these, said the priest, pointing at the sawn on display. In "Murderers' Row." The priest was assigned to cell No. JS9 In ' Murderers' Row" In the Tombs prison. pris-on. According to keepers- in the prison, as soon as the door of his cell was closed behind him he removed Ins coat, made an improvised pillow of It a?.d laid down on Ids coat and went to sleep. While Schmidt will not say anything more than that he killed her because he love! her, the police believe that It was fear of exposure that impelled him to take the life of the woman. Her condition condi-tion had become notlccablo and she had been discharged from the rectory of St. 13onifaco church. There was nothing for tho girl but disgrace. Tho Issuance of the marriage license shows that before she had consented to lead the kind of life the priest had desired, she had Insisted upon marriage. He had evidently delayed and promised that he would right the wrong hut not until the last minute had ho in a measure made good his promise. The police believe that ho ncvor intended in-tended anything but murdering the girl when he took her to tho house where there was not another estigo of furniture furni-ture besides tho bed and mattress. In the apartment were found two trunks containing women's wearing apparel, ap-parel, but nothing of Schmidt's aside from a coat. Several letters and postcards were also found and all were addressed to tho girl, but the police will not make them public. Early today, according to 'parishioners of the church. Schmidt said to the Rev. Father Ilimtmann, rector of St. Joseph's church, that, he would hear no more confessions and when asked for his reason rea-son said. "I have something of importance im-portance to tell you." With his superior, supe-rior, Schmidt then retired to the study and told all that had transpired in the Bradhurst avenue flat where his alleged confession to the police says he murdered the girl. Father TTuntmann conferred with his other assistants and it was agreed that the authorities should bo notified. The police, however, were even then on Schmidt's trail, and his arrest followed shortly. |