Show t Thc Th cIE r ll j T I I eq A vy me M Knife Wielder Claims I Young Woman Victim in Bridgeport While the City's Vigilant Police and Stricken hear MERGING suddenly from the People Are Unable to Find shadows into which he stabber thein same who has weeks held n this o city the of Any Definite nite Clue to the 1 s in the bondage of fear for two r t years celebrated rho second anniversary of his mad career the other night by Identity o the Fiend using his dreaded stiletto upon a fresh r f She was Miss Charlotte t Rf Y eighteen years old of Clinton Ave I R i f nue and rho attack brings the elusive t wielders knife score n to I twenty The girl had gone out to post a letter On the way home she found herself fac- fac facy y x r r ru u T ing the maniac t ii who without speak speak- ip v c ass j It ing threw his arms r around her hugged r j tsz sz t her vigorously aed t t e the cheek bliss on 1 1 and was found nn i conscious on the a few mo I M s r No trace of the r Y P Pl PJ l J stabber was found says the i c 3 d For two years I Ii now the 1 c s T i peen exerting r c v a r y effort to few occasions has there been any any trace after one of his Q outrages tr When they him the phantom they knew what they were doing A maniac as he must be he matches wits with the smartest and escapes lie seldom sel- sel seldom sel seldom dom leaves a clue All that they know of him is that he has gray hair and is about forty years old The year two-year duel with the stabber has left Superintendent of Police Patrick PatrickJ J Flanagan grizzled and worn but not dis Recently he asked for and received f fifty ty extra patrolmen Virtu Virtu- Virtually Virtually Virtually ally all of them are on the hunt hunt for tor the phantom Well get him promises Flanagan grimly and his assistant John II Regan who is in charge harge of the detective bureau says the same ERme When ask the citizens who have a avery avery avery very bad case of nerves and are tired of waiting But Flanagan and Regan dont don't know the answer to that oneTo one To add to their worries Dr Emanuel EmanuelS S Brodsky a well known alienist tells them that the mental disease of the stabber probably is progressive and get get- getting get getting ting worse Until now the phantom foe of society who has devoted his attentions exclusively exclusively exclusively to women has been satisfied to inflict a wound that in most cases Ilas fas been little more than superficial supe In a afew afew afew few instances the knife blade has gone deep apparently by accident but in no instance have the injuries been mortal Dr thinks though that if he heis heIs heis is not apprehended the stabber will cease to get any thrill out of inflicting minor wounds and that Bridgeport will awaken some morning to read of a bloody knife murder All the attacks but one have been at night but not all have been n on lonely streets He ne has entered department stores in search of victims and even in- in invaded in invaded the sanctity of St Augustine's Church to cut a woman who had held the door open for him seeing him fum fum- fumbling fum- fum fumbling fumbling bling in his pocket and thinking him old and feeble until he be struck There are many theories one beIng that while there was WILS only one phantom stabber in the beginning other manIacs have been fired feed by his example example- and there are several now Those holding that opinion would not be tx satisfied with witha a single arrest The police think the guilty man may maybe maybe maybe be a reputable artisan business man or professional man who is normal most of the time and is iq considered above sus- sus suspicion sus suspicion Suspects have been arrested grilled confronted by the victims but the outrages have gone on Very early in 1925 the phantom stabber began his campaign a against the peace and security of the women of Bridgeport and it has raged intermit Intermit- Intermittently Intermittently intermittently ever since Mary Annunziato a little girl was the first victim She was attacked at the Burroughs Public Library Building on l f Main ain Street shortly after dark Having drawn blood the maniac maniac apparently was satisfied for he ran away before she ahe Miss Charlotte the the phantom stabbers stabber's twenty first twenty first victim in two years showing on her cheek the marks left by his knife when he hug hugged g e d dand and slashed her could scream In no SUI sun suo- sequent stabbing has h hu ho attempted to do more The fhe Annunziato girl gave the police T the best description description description tion they have of the knife knife- wielder knife w wielder i e Ide r She s said aid he was about for forty haired t y haired gray ac- ac active active ac active tive smooth smooth- s moo m o o t h shaven shaven and wore a a black over over- overcoat overcoat overcoat coat dark suit and soft black blackhat blackhat blackhat hat months It was two months before the m madman ad man broke out again It was Miss Mildred Cook of Flushing Long Island who was stabbed and not a block from the scene of the first attack The girl was visiting friends on Main Street On May 18 1925 Elsie Schwarz the old year thirteen daughter of John G Schwarz a building commissioner was WIlS waylaid in front of the Public Library and cut about the shoulders Emboldened by the ea ear ear with which he always made his getaway the mis mis- miscreant miscreant miscreant perpetrated his only daylight stabbing on August 22 1925 picking year old year twelve Edith Zimmerman of West Philadelphia who had come up op to visit relatives in Bridgeport and bene bene- benefit benefit fit by a change of scene That attack was made in front of the of-the the tho Central High IliCh School just a block from Main Street The phantom more than justified his name in this instance One moment hs h was holding his hand o or r r the childs child's mouth thrusting the stiletto into her shrinking flesh The next moment he was as gone and nobody saw him go When the hue and cry was raised there was no trace On September 15 the same year as asMar asMar asMar Mar Mar Mar- Dirgo sixteen was passing a dark dark- darkened darkened darkened ened hallway a man she scarcely saw lunged longed at her out of the tho gloom the blade entering her right breast lie was out of sight before the echoes of her cries had died away October was a banner month for the armed madman On the of the month he slipped up behind LeBarr and a girl friend at the John j i What adds greatly to the dread with which the mysterious ous phantom stabber has for two years filled a whole city is the possibility that he has not yet done his cruel worst It is feared that when next he pounces on a girl victim he may plunge his knife more deeply than he ever has be before ore and leave leaves s her dead or dying k by A r fr frt t 4 Catherine Dillon year old fifteen year fifteen year old victim of the elusive stabber who haunts the streets of Bridgeport Connecticut and baffles all the efforts of police and private de- de detectives de detectives to capture himStreet him himStreet Street entrance to the Public Library and stabbed Miss LeBarr The ties ties tics of the police are illustrated by what happened that time The hysterical girls differed radically as to the appearance of the assailant and were of no assist assist- assistance assistance assistance ance in running him down On October 29 at Main and Catherine Streets the maniac appeared and jabbed his stiletto into Miss 1 Margaret Nelson who was fifteen Novembers November's first vie vic viet victim vic victim t tim In was Jean Alexander sixteen who was cut in the right breast while on her herway herway herway way home from the department store in which she worked The man stepped from behind a billboard sign to strike at ather ather ather her The wound was a ft quarter of an aninch aninch aninch inch deep which deep which is about the depth sought by the wielder knife-wielder if his aver aver- average average average age performance be taken as the stand standard ard he sets Shifting the stage he made his next two attacks in the eastern section section of the city on November 23 1925 1926 Cath Cath- Catherine Cath- Cath Catherine Catherine erine Dillon fifteen years old and Rose twelve were stabbed while playing in hi the same fame neighborhood and within a few minutes of each other There were several others the same il J- J a b a c f Mary Dirgo stabbed by a man who lunged at her out of the gloom ofa of a door door- doorway doorway way and sank his knife in in her flesh so quickly that she could give the police no idea of what he looked like month and then the police arrested a town well neer on suspicion and sent him away for six months on general principles There were were no while he was incarcerated and Superintendent Flana Flana- Flanagan Flanagan gan began to sleep of nights The neer ne'er well neer well do-well got out and in August of last year the began again Find him for me roared Flanagan but when they came to check up th they y learned that the suspect had bad been in I a Ismall small town in New Jersey on the night the attack was made and half the peo peo- people people people in the town had seen him there So that was that There was an orgy of dur during ing August September and October of 1926 and panic set in among the women and girls For the matter of that that it has not yet subsided Many girls who work late are arc carrying police whistles and a few of the bolder ones are pack pack- packing packing ing lag pistols in handbags Early In August he attempted to slash old year sixteen Alice Driscoll on South 1111 boa lJ t r I t I It Avenue and made lade the strategic mistake of underestimating the prowess of the tho girls girl's mother who was with her Mrs Sarah Driscoll comes of fighting stock and as soon as she understood what was in the wind she was at the miscreant with a stout umbrella of the family type Unprepared f for r such a warm reception the stabber ran out into the street but the lady still pursued him She proceeded proceeded to pummel him and to scream with such vim that he took to his heels without accomplishing his de- de design design de design sign On August 13 the man attacked Mary fourteen years old as she was scurrying along Warren Street in the early dusk He Ile came closer to capture that time than he ever did before The child screamed a as she saw hin ad- ad advancing ad advancing upon her Ernest Noel a jack steeplejack steeple jumped from the window of was his ground-floor ground apartment and was al- al almost al almost most upon the phantom before the latter realized his danger But when he did he he d away into the shadows with the speed of a jack rabbit and th the courageous steeple-jack steeple lost his footing and could not continue I IOn On that same night the phantom stabbed Adeline Kinder tinder sixteen years old and Anna twenty six The tinder Kinder girl daughter of a prominent sportsman was attacked in the subway at the railway station Miss was cut about the breasts a n few minutes after she had left a beauty parlor Little M Mary ary Corcoran was stabbed In plain sight of half halt a dozen women a few nights later the blade entering her ab- ab abdomen abdomen ab abdomen domen The child gave a startled gasp when the man Dlan reached ou oil and jabbed as he passed At first she thought he had struck her with his fist indignation ignation By the time the impromptu in igna- igna tion meeting was over and the chase be- be begun begun be begun gun the guilty man probably was miles away Mary went to the Emergency Hospital where so many other victims have been taken and there disclosed the inch inch half knife wound that is the trade trade- trademark trademark trademark mark of one of the craziest the craziest criminals to figure in police records since the days of Jack the Ripper On October 7 1926 Carnella Chara Chara- ralla Chara-ralla rails raila nineteen Visited St St Augustine's Church andas and as she was entering ob- ob observed ob observed served a man with his hat pulled low coming toward her in the light half of the vestibule He was shuffling shuming along looking at the floor Believing him to be old she obligingly held the door door open for him to leave As he passed he stabbed her in the left side That wound was nearly an inch deep and differently placed might n have caused death As usual the phantom showed I how he got his name Although he must have passed under an arc light by the illumination playing of which children were ere play- play j ing not one of them saw him going t i Whipping his courage up to the point of insane recklessness on October 23 just before he went into retirement I for awhile the stabber invaded Reads Read's Department Store looking for a victim In I IOn iOn On a landing on the st stairs irs he found her Margaret Margaret Bruzinski of Putnam Street The little was hurrying down to get her hat and coat and be off to a picture show The maniac put his hand over her mouth drew her close to him and drove the knife into her left breast Below customers surge to and fro Above department managers were covering up the counter displays Employees Employees Em- Em were everywhere And still he got away Superintendent Flanagan is sure all the suspects he has questioned including the unfortunate loafer who did six months on suspicion are arc innocent Now he is looking in in the ranks of the u ultra ultra respectable respectable for his hh man Possibly it may be maybe one of those loudest in outcry when the become known A crafty clever bodied able-bodied maniac not too cau- cau cautious not too daring darms While he naturally is not announcing what steps ho he has taken it is known that he is having havin the streets by special police in civilian clothes it is hinted he is employing strong strong armed women detectives and it is rather more than suspected that he is i using men operatives disguised as women It is useless to deny we will have to catch this fellow red-handed red Flanagan sale as Relying upon his victims to Identify him afterward is useless Tho The women are too much excited to note the ap- ap ap appearance of their assailant In court court the conscientious ones whose testimony might bear weight with a jury wont won't identify suspects because they fear they may incriminate the wrong man Let me urge every male citizen of vigilante Bridgeport to constitute himself a lante lance and keep his eyes open A womans woman's cry cr for help on a Bridgeport port street ought to bring all the bodied able-bodied men within hearing to her rescue without waiting for the police I Dr Brodsky tells us this mans man's mal mal- malady malady ady may be getting worse and he may mayI ultimately whip his crazy courage up to I the point of murder There is no use deceiving ourselves There is at large among us a madman with all the ee- ee ele- ele elements ele elements ments that went into the making of the tl to original Jock Jack the Ripper |