Show cirlor C C M THE BRASS RING anna holzman fifty years old and ilith the face aud and manders of a gypsy alved in a rented house in the outskirts of augsberg augsburg anna moved in a mysterious way and her neighbors know what to make of her she aishe was always asking charity tor for one thing yet it was generally believed that she had bad saved a large sum of money and had it hidden away somewhere the house she occupied was larger than she needed so BO she eho furnished a large room and took two lodgers young men named george Rau Rati and joseph steiner St elner it was in april 1821 that the neighbors began to wonder where anna was it occurred to them suddenly that they seen her for two weeks inquiry revealed the fact that george and joseph had changed their lodgings and they were hunted up and questioned they had haa no idea where the woman wils was they said bald slie site had still gilted in town and he was arrested at once although there thera was no other reason tor for connecting him with the crime than the fact that he was living in the house bouse when the woman disappeared ile he was not at ml hll dist disturbed by his arrest in fact being possessed of it a gense ot of humor he goo d much amused and remarked shnte that the stupidity ot of the police wits was ridiculous ile he was taken to the morgue and shown the remains of thu the woman and muttered some words ot of sorrow borrow and sympathy not by the quiver of un an eyelash did lie he show tiny any symptom ot of guilt or uneasiness the officers who accompanied him on tills this grisly errand were convinced that ito ho was innocent ile iio was examined over anti anil over by tho the magistrate and lie ho never varied from his original story except that ito ho admitted having stolen several articles before leaving the womans comans house lie ile was waa desperately hard up tip at tile the time wits was his excuse at last the magistrate seemed discouraged cou raged ile iio had laid all kinds oi of traps for george and they had falli the nian man bo be confused or rattled by any manner of questioning so the magistrate said 1 I bellev believe you are guilty but it seems impossible to prove it so I 1 suppose you must I 1 bo to turned loose but for tho the present th tho a court will retain these aricdes 0 of yours the articles were certain cheap pieces of jewelry which had be been I 1 found in room litter after hla hill arrest cst among them the ning magistrate istrate had placed the brass ring george protested at once against this injustice the articles were lit hla own and the court had bad no right to keep them ue he made a great fuss and the magistrate looked embarrassed an and d dubious you are positive these things are ara your own ho he inquired indifferently absolutely replied george that brass ring for or instance it Is mine I 1 wore it for years george slipped it finger which it fitted loosely you have confessed I 1 said the mn magistrate 91 sternly tile the facts wc were re explained to him and the dilemma he found himself aimse if in if did what nil all the questioning and jj IN aj C she screamed murder at the top of her voice disappeared suddenly and they supposed she would be back in a day or two vo but time went wenton on and she return so they left the house after reporting her absence to the landlords landlord they were not much surprised by her disappearance they said as site she was forever doing strange and unaccountable things the neighbors knew thet tills this was true so no suspicion wits was aroused annas brother appeared on the scene and after going through the house with the off officers leers declared that many small articles had been stolen here proceedings halted it seemed impossible to shed a ray of light upon the mystery Ilau and stean er were questioned over and over but all that they could tell was unimportant time passes fit at augsborg augsberg no as elsewhere and a new year was ushered in before a solution of the problem appeared the house occupied fly by anna had stood vacant since her disappear ance and one day in january 1822 a la undress resi of the neighborhood wanted to dry somo some linen and it occurred to her that the garret of the vacant liou hou e would be a good place she went into the house slyly but calmly with her basket and ten minutes later she emerged from it as though shot from a gun she screamed murder I 1 at tho the top of her voice and the neighborhood was aroused site she had made a hideous discovery in tho the old gailet and when she had told heit he story atory the officers were sent for nud j n procession climbed tho the stairs of the home and proceeded into tt ti attic thero there the body of the missing woman was found but in such u condition that even the officers cers who were old soldiers sold lera were shocked the unfortunate woman hail had been dismembered portions of her body belly were found in an old heap of rags in one corner comer another part in the chimney another under a loose board in the noor for somo some reason decomposition lind not occurred and it was easy to identify the scattered body as that of anna holzman although the head had disappeared A medical officer found under a heap ot at rubbish the left arm of the woman it was doubled together at the elbow joint and when he tried to straighten li it it a brass ring fell to the floor it was tile the first anti and only valuable clew to tile the murderer the doctor reasoned that it had bad fallen from his linger finger while lie ho worked and had been held in place on the arm by muscular contraction the ring was turned over to the magistrate who tool took charge ot the case had disappeared but bat badgering had failed to accomplish lie ho broke down nud and made a full confession bession fes sion slon no ile had faith in the stories that annn anna holzman was rich and lind had a large sum ot of money concealed in her house no he watched her for a long time and finally concluded that she kept her money in a strong chest which was always carefully locked ills 1119 original idon idea was merely to steal the money but lie ho concluded after it a time that this his be done dona without removing the woman so he waited tor for nn an opportunity one day steiner went out to his bt gone a considerable time and rausch bausch maler felt that ilia hla chance had come ile he stepped up behind the poor woman and placed his big muscular hands about lier her neck site she was small and weak and died in his hands with but little struggle then ho he carried the body to tile the garret and dismembered it and concealed tho the fragments where they had been found tile the lead head he threw into the canal that head had bad been found by a farmer shortly after tho lid crime but ho be throw threw it back into the canal annal fearing it would get him into trouble having committed one of the most moat cold blooded murders ever recorded in criminal history Hau went to the chest to get his reward the only valuables in the chest were eight kreut so ho he had bad done his hideous work for a few coppers steiner was found and testified for the prosecution and Rausel Ilau imater was waa convicted was sentenced to stand lit in lie file pillory for several hours and then hen to have his head cut off with a sword appeals of clemency were made so the court generously remitted tile the pillory sentence and pothina noth lufi more serious than decapitation happened to him the probability la is that the crime would never have been brought home to him but for that worthless brass brasa ring |