The Cruel Murder of Mina Miller — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Cruel Murder of Mina Miller
John Stuart Mill · en
“I do!” replied another reporter, addressing him in French.
Kenkouwsky sprang from his seat and, with tears falling fast, seized
the reporter by the hand and said: “Tell them that as our Saviour, who
was crucified, was innocent, so am I!”
“Of what?” asked the reporter.
“Of the murder of Mina Schmidt. I married her that day, although I
have a wife here. She told me she loved me. I did not tell her I was
married. After we were married we went to Schuetzen Park. There we sat
at a table drinking, when two men came by. They greeted Mina as old
friends, and we all drank together. One of the men took her away, and
the other then told me that Mina had said that she did not love me.
They all left me, and I, after hunting for them, came back to this city
and tried to find her.”
Chief of Police Donovan of Hoboken, who had been standing by all this
time and listening to what the reporter quickly translated, touched the
reporter on the shoulder and said: “Ask him if he was not in Jersey
City last night.”
The reporter asked the question. Kenkouwsky staggered back and
repeated, “Jersey City! Jersey City! Where is that?” The reporter
repeated the question.
Kenkouwsky replied: “I was with my wife last night.”
“In Jersey City?” asked the reporter.
“No; I was with a woman there.”
Chief Donovan’s eyes brightened, and he then said: “Last Monday a
young girl, whose name I cannot now mention, was taken into a house by
this man. He made her drink wine, and as she was partly stupefied, he
locked the doors and assaulted her. It was for this offence that I and
my detectives were hunting him up to-day. We did not then suspect that
he was the murderer of Mrs. Schmidt. Last night he was to meet another
girl, but she became frightened and did not stay where he told her to
until he came. He eluded us by ten minutes.”
In the prisoner’s pocket was found a clipping from a German paper of
the account of the hanging of Mrs. Meierhoffer and her paramour last
winter. To the reporter he said he had not read any account of the
Guttenberg murder until the day previous to his arrest.
At midnight Chief Donovan had the trunks of Mrs. Mina Schmidt taken
over to Hoboken.
Detective Stanton told our reporter that an empty watch case had been
found in the room at 510 West Thirty-sixth street. On the yellow trunks
labels were pasted with the address:
+--------------------------+
| MONSIEUR JOSEPH REYMANN, |
| |
| No. 52 Rue Clissant, |
| |
| Paris (France). |
+--------------------------+
The purpose of this address was, it is supposed, to induce Scherrer to
believe that he was to take the French steamer.
Seide says he has ascertained that on Monday night, May 2, Kenkouwsky
applied at Becker’s Hotel in Christopher street, for a room, but
refused to write his name. The entry is in the hotel clerk’s hand.
“Louis Kettler, Room No. 1.”