American Monsters: Fred Gebhardt

0:00 Speaker 1: Warning, Kind of Murdery contains adult themes, explicit language, and descriptions of violence. It is not suitable for anyone, and we recommend you stop listening now.

0:18 Speaker 2: True crime with a dash of the paranormal, the garish, the strange in the darkly comic. I'm Zevan Odelberg, host of kind of Murdery, a podcast that's about more than just murder. It's my very own pocket dimension, home to a curated collection of bizarre and compelling stories, the unsolved, the unsettling, and the unbelievable. I cover it all just so long as it's kind of Murdery. That is correct. Everyone just like it. Says in the intro, I am Zevan Odelberg, and this is kind of Murdery. I hope everyone's had a happy Holidays so far and is headed toward a wonderful new year.

0:56 Speaker 2: I've got one heck of a classic Who'd Done It? True crime story coming right up for you. It's a story I found in the November nineteen twenty five issue of True Detective Mysteries, as told by Detective William D. Roddy of the New York Police who was on the case and as narrated by Isabel Stephen. Here's the teaser. For months, the skeleton of an unknown girl had lain in the Islip Woods, a bullet hole in the skull. But who was she? Who killed her? And for what motive? If you'd like to know the answer to those questions, well then please join me now as we uncover what truths we can and solve what mysteries we may kind of murderies.

1:38 Speaker 2: A mysterious skull in the Islip Woods starts now homicide over at is Liplong Island. John P. Coughlin, then a captain in charge of the New York Detective Bureau, handed me a slip of on which he'd scribbled a few lines, I say me, and that probably makes you wonder just who the heck I am me. I've got no reason to hide my identity, so I'll share it with you. I'm Detective William D. Roddy of the New York Police Department. So, like I said, Captain John Coughlin, he handed me a slip of paper on which he'd scribbled a few lines, and then he added, Terseley looks like a newspaper romance story.

2:22 Speaker 2: Probably one of the patients from the insane asylum who wandered away and committed suicide. Reporters are out there in flocks already keeping the murderer. If there is a murderer well informed of all the details of the discovery, why don't you take a run over there with Thomas Murray. See this man Charles Daily, the undertaker, who seems to be a sort of a di amateur sleuth and as the body at his place. Listen, Roddy, this is the first murder mystery Islip's Hadden over twenty years, and the villagers are all excited over it.

2:49 Speaker 2: I accepted the assignment and hunted up Murray in the squad room, and with him I caught the twelve to fifty one PM train for Islip. In the morning newspapers, I'd read one of the accounts which my chief had referred to, and like him, I'd been rather amused by the imaginative yarn. Big news happened to be scarce just then in the finding of a richly clothed and bejeweled skeleton in the great scrub oak wastes of Long Island had lent itself beautifully to extravagant journalistic fictionalization. The find had been made two days before by a little boy hunting huckleberries.

3:20 Speaker 2: The skeleton had a wisp of flaxen hair, a blue velvet ribbon, a few trinkets, and some storm faded clothing. And the newshounds immediately sniffed out a sensational tragedy. A body in the woods almost a year. Who was the girl? Who could have killed her? What motive could have prompted the act? These were my thoughts, of course, but all in good time. I told myself no use jumping to any hasty conclusions. In midsummer Bayshore, Islip and Amityville are attractive places. Good automobile roads run through shady green woods, Brilliant blue vistas of the Sound, and great placid water lily ponds add exquisite touches to an otherwise monotonous stretch of flat country.

4:00 Speaker 2: But on that morning of October tenth, nineteen oh nine, when Murray and I speeded toward the home of America's most famous insane asylum, adun, Misty Hayes hung over gaunt trees which fall had almost stripped bare. Nearing our destination, we passed through an even more desolate country where acres of scrub had been blackened by fire. Hey, how about we visit a lunch room before attacking the undertaker. Murray suggested, I didn't have any dinner. What about you? Sounds good to me, I replied, I was just finishing my report with the chief.

4:30 Speaker 2: Rang for me. Some ham and eggs and coffee'll make a good foundation. Must be some sort of eating place here for the relatives of the patients at Central Islip. Islip we discovered when we got off the train and walked a few blocks of country road where houses were in the course of construction, had a lively main street thoroughfare. A spick and span beanery stood on one corner, and without further investigation, we entered and ordered the good old standby you young men from the newspapers. The rosy chief waitress asked, after she'd taken our orders without directly committing ourselves to any special newspaper.

5:02 Speaker 2: Murray and I permitted the damsel to retain her delusion and requested her to hurry up with the eats. You newspaper boys are always in a hurry, she remarked, with a flip of her starched skirts as she flounced off. But maybe I could tell you something interesting about that murder case, she flung over her shoulder before disappearing through swinging doors which evidently led to the kitchen. This village must be a nest of amateur sleuths, said Murray, at that she might be able to tell us something, though might as well get it from all sides.

5:30 Speaker 2: Am I wrong? When the waitress returned with two large platters laden with good, thick slices of nicely crisped ham and fried eggs, Murray's irritability evaporated. Now what could you tell us, sis, he asked, with a benign smile, at the same time making an assault on the dish placed before him. Now don't tell us if you don't want to, Murray anticipated her KOI of asions and cute desire to be coaxed. His gambit won out. After a moment's hesitation, she replied, well, we live out on the road a bit not far from where the body was found.

5:59 Speaker 2: And last time Thanksgiving Eve, I was working in the kitchen with Ma on account of my uncle and aunt and cousins and gentlemen friend coming to dinner. The next day, round midnight, we heard an automobile go tearing past and a girl screeching piteously, Oh, just piteously. Her eyes rolled in horror at the recollection. Oh hell, there ain't nothing in that, scoffed a big beetle browed man who'd been standing near the cash register. It's not likely that body to lay in undiscovered for nearly a year.

6:24 Speaker 2: Don't be given out yarns like that. They'll be calling you up as a witness and taking your time off from your work here. I won't stand for that, Marie. You're just seeking notoriety well of all the nerve, the girl snorted angrily, And just who are you anyway? Guess if they investigate a few of our local sheikhs right here in Islip, they might uncover a few things I ain't mentioned in any names yet. But I don't mean to be insulted. The man behind the counter flushed his eyes, darting furious sparks at the waitress, who looked him straight in the face.

6:52 Speaker 2: There's silence, spoke volumes. Don't believe there's anything there, I remarked to Murray as we left the place. The mustachioed romeo is probably boahers. There's always a bunch of skylarkers around a little town like this. A police officer directed us to Undertaker Daily's place with a knowing grin. I guess you'll find him right there too, he added, he's a busy man these days. We found Charles Daly's home and undertaking establishment in the middle of an attractive block of comfortable residences, late roses bloomed in front yards and neatly clipped box hedges bordered well kept small lawns.

7:25 Speaker 2: Fortunately, we found the undertaker alone. Instead of being the fussy, little busybody we'd pictured, he was a singularly dignified man of middle aged, immaculately groomed, premature white hair covered his head, and a short cropped white mustache outlined a well shaped mouth, large hazel eyes somewhat bloodshot. Regarded us quizzically as we made ourselves known. Don't you want to come into the house, He invited us in with a little closed lip smile. It'll be far more comfortable there, and I can show you the remains later on.

7:54 Speaker 2: The office was a very small one flat top desk, two chairs of filing cabinet and that filled on the wall hung a huge, gruesome looking anatomical chart. Outside of this was a barn like space with an undertaker's wagon and several boxed coffins standing up around the farther end. We agreed that the house would be more comfortable. On that bleak, drizzly afternoon in October, Seated in cozy, overstuffed chairs, we listened to the undertaker's story. It was Saturday afternoon when I first learned of the discovery, he began.

8:23 Speaker 2: The weather was mild, and we were sitting on the porch when the telephone rang around four o'clock. My phone rings pretty constantly, for I have several sidelines. I would hate to sit around waiting for cases to come in, he explained apologetically. Well, then when I lifted the receiver, I heard doctor Savage's voice on the phone. He's our corner and a great friend of mine. Nick Havens just called up to say that the little Schmidt boy found some bones in the scrub oak lots behind Sayville and Brentwood a little while ago.

8:52 Speaker 2: Doctor Savage said he's had a look at them, and he says they've probably lain there for years. Will you send a man out there with a box tomorrow to gather them up and bury them? He asked, why I can go right now, if you like, doctor, the undertaker had offered, do you want to go along? No, he answered, Nick says, the bones have evidently been there for years, all scattered all over the place, probably one of the patients who wandered away some long time back. Since they've lain there so many years, another night won't hurt them.

9:17 Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of truth to that, the undertaker informed us. Nick Havens is our town constable and deputy sheriff. He's a pretty old fellow, but very reliable, and if it was just some old scattered bones, it wasn't use making a big fuss over him. So the next morning, that was yesterday, I sent two of my men with a box and a shovel to get the bones. I had a case down the street where I had to deliver a coffin. Now I can't explain it, but I had a hunch that i'd better go out to the scrublots and have a look at those bones before the men buried them.

9:47 Speaker 2: I didn't really expect to find anything, you know, but I had my wagon out, and before putting it up, I decided to drive over. I passed my men on the road and took them along with me. We called at the schmidhouse to get the little boy to show us where the boss was. Missus Schmidt was sitting on her porch polishing a gold watch. Well, it's a pretty watch, I said to her, a present. Well, no, not exactly, she admitted. Johnny found it near them bones when he was huckleberrying yesterday. You shouldn't have taken it, I told her, you should have left everything just as it was, But it seemed that Sheriff Nick had told her it was all right.

10:19 Speaker 2: However, I made her give me the watch, and inside it was a blurred bit of photograph and the initials a mL scratched on the case. Why this may even lead to the identity of the body, I told her. She gave up the watch reluctantly and called a little Johnny to accompany us to the scrub oak lots. Here, Officer Murray interrupted the recital. They out of the kid come to find the bones. He asked what was he doing in the scrub lots he'd gone huckleberrying Sunday afternoon. Undertaker Daily explained his mother had some friends in and she'd given him a pail and sent him to give him something to do.

10:51 Speaker 2: She told him to fill the pail for supper and she'd give him a dime. An hour later, he came screeching back that he'd found a skeleton in the woods. They all out and looked at it. Then they went down to their next door neighbor, John Parks, who lives about a half a mile away, and carried the information to Nick Hans in Brookville. Nick called up the corner, and after he'd viewed the bones, the corner called me up. As I explained already, Well, when you arrived at the spot, what did you find? I asked corner daily got that slightly far away look of a man remembering something he'd seen and maybe wished he hadn't.

11:24 Speaker 2: The skull was lying a couple of feet away from the rest of the body. You could see the foxes had been busy at it, and the scrub fire of last July had burned all around it. But funny thing is it hadn't hurt the body much. I picked up the skull, which had some flaxen blonde hair on it, and I heard something fall. I thought it was a trinket or something, though the clothes were all storm faded with the reins and the snows and the shoes had been gnawed by foxes. I could tell that they'd been smart clothes, and they were too elaborate to belong to any of the patients at Islip Asylum, just some poor woman who'd wandered into the scrub and gotten lost.

11:59 Speaker 2: I figured first. Then I found that that little thing that had fallen out when I lifted the skull was a bullet that naturally suggested murder. But the bullet hole in the forehead didn't cover a vital spot, so it was possible the poor thing had committed suicide and had crawled quite a bit and died from the loss of blood. Then how is it that you publicly declared that it's a murder? How did the corner come to send in that report to headquarters? Murray demanded, Wait a bit, I haven't finished, the undertaker said calmly.

12:29 Speaker 2: We looked all around and picked up everything that seemed connected with the body. We carried the skeleton, the clothes, and a bracelet and a little pendent necklace that had apparently been around her neck back to my wagon. On arrival at my establishment, I made a more careful examination, and I found another bullet embedded in the back of the skull. Now, as I'm sure you gentlemen are aware, it's practically an impossibility for anybody to fire a bullet into the back of his or her skull, finished the undertaker triumphantly.

12:59 Speaker 2: That's so, oh, I agreed, let's have a look at it. The haze had become a heavy drizzle while we talked, and though the undertaking establishment was only a few steps away from the house, the clammy mist penetrated our clothes before we'd entered this place of the dead. In a pine coffin on a trestle, the remains of the mysterious blonde woman had been laid nothing but bones, with a few locks of curly flaxen hair found about the skull with grizzly coquettishness by black velvet ribbon, fashionably cut coat of some rich material, silk blouse, and remnants of fluffy underwear filled the last resting place of the unknown.

13:34 Speaker 2: On a small table which stood beside the coffin was a box containing various articles. A silver thimble, a pair of folding scissors, a small piece of paper. Those are the things I took out of her pocket. Mister Daily explained. I selected the paper and looked at it closely. It was some sort of bill head, but the print had been almost entirely obliterated. Looks like a bill for goods, I said, half to myself. Yes, well that's what it is. Daily retorted. The firm name seems to be Cox and Fine. There's a store near the asylum that used to belong to a man of the name of Coke, and he sold out to a man named Fine.

14:08 Speaker 2: I took the bill over there, but Fine tells me that it's only a coincidence that it isn't their bill head, that it comes from Germany. Daily stopped for a minute, then, reaching out, he gently but emphatically took the piece of paper from me. Doctor Savage the corner is sending that to the German minister tonight. He advised, hands off our clues, he implied, without actually saying those words, it was rather plain that while mister Daly was obliging and polite, he didn't altogether appreciate our assistance.

14:40 Speaker 2: Without any super intuition, I sensed that the officials of the village of Islap felt that they were quite capable of handling their own murder. I didn't want to antagonize the man, so without further remarks, I was about to turn away when I spied a label on the coat at the neck. You don't mind if I take this, I requested quietly, and proceeded without permission to rip off the tag. We want something to work on, you know. Don't want to return to headquarters empty handed. By the way, I continued, I heard there was a very noisy party passing through Brookville last Thanksgiving Eve, with a woman screaming for help.

15:13 Speaker 2: Oh yes, I remember, mister Daley replied in an offhand sort of way. There was a lot of talk about it at the time. We are quiet folks around here, much inclined to mind our own business, but that party passed right through the village. Nobody ever connected any idea of murder with it at the time. Hey, listen, doc, if you give us a full description of the body in the identification box you found on it, I don't believe we'll have to trouble you any further. Just now, Murray put in. He'd been roaming around the place, picking up various small articles and examining them closely.

15:43 Speaker 2: In his hand he held a rich silk automobile scarf. Well, Certainly, replied the obliging Daily. You're welcome to this copy. I made out on it. I've noted every detail. I'm sure that I missed nothing. Well, that's good, Murray thanked him, reaching out for the typewritten slip. We just have time to make four thirty and get in our report. Thanks for your help. Keep in touch with us, though, won't you, and I'll let you know how we're getting along well? Surely, Daily replied. Murray was right about catching the train, of course, but we'd seen a lot of reporters in town.

16:13 Speaker 2: I had to ask Daily a couple more questions before we departed. Do you think it's advisable to let the newspapers keep such close touch with what you're doing, though, I asked Daily, Won't it give the murderer a chance to make a getaway. I chose this tack with Daily for a reason. You have to be so darn careful when you're dealing with the local authorities. They're jealous of their rights, and they can do more to gum up the works than you can do to clear them. If you don't take the right angle with the villagers.

16:42 Speaker 2: Maybe Daily agreed, But how are we going to identify the remains if we don't advertise them, he asked triumphantly. Something in his voice stopped us from leaving. Who's going to identify the skeleton? Murray must have caught the same tone as myself, for he put the question as an insinuating time. Well, a man and a woman came here this morning from New Jersey, Daily said, swallowing the bait. They wouldn't tell me who they were, but from the way they whispered together, I guess they suspected who she was.

17:13 Speaker 2: I nearly blushed from embarrassment. This was the most important piece of information, and we'd almost missed it. One thing I was sure of, and that was the Daily knew more than he told us. How do you know they came from Jersey? Then Murray asked, well, they wanted to see doctor Savage the corner, and he was out on a case. Daily reluctantly admitted. The woman, without thinking, said they'd come all the way over from Jersey and didn't want to go back without seeing him. But they didn't want reporters to get onto them, so they said they'd just come over again.

17:43 Speaker 2: And then just then a young man came in, and they jumped in their car and hurried off. Did you take the number? I asked, Oh, yes I did, he admitted, I wrote it down here it is. He entered his small office and picked up a scrap of paper, which was weighted down on his desk by a whiskey glass full of buckshot. Murray, who had followed him, took a notebook out of his pocket, and, glancing at the inscription, daily showed him, copied it down much obliged. Again, I heard him say that all you can tell us, Well, that's everything.

18:11 Speaker 2: The undertaker returned shortly, well, goodbye. Then we shook hands with the amateur sleuth and made a wild dash to catch the four thirty train, which was even then heralding its approach with great clouds of smoke puffing through the tops of the trees a mile away. That undertake is one canny, operator, Murray remarked, as we reached the station and raced over the tracks just as the four thirty pulled in. The train was filled with husky railroad laborers, earthcaked and grimy. The plush seats were dusty and damp, and the air musty and melodorous.

18:42 Speaker 2: Whew, Murray snorted, let's walk through and see if we can find ourselves a better atmosphere. The laborers occupied the two front coaches exclusively. Further back, we could get a glimpse of some empty seats and a better class of passenger. Sitting in the third seat of the third car was a tall, dark man dressed in correct afternoon clothes, black cutaway coat and a silk hat. Somebody going to a late afternoon wedding was the idea which flashed through my mind. But suddenly I sent something vaguely familiar about his face.

19:13 Speaker 2: Well what do you think of that, Murray said to me in an undertone, as we sank into one of the clammy plush seats. You see that guy in the top hat. That's the lunch room Romeo. As a matter of fact, the man from the diner had completely passed from my mind. I'd like to know where he's going, all dulled up in Fifth Avenue duds, I remarked to Murray. Uh huh, Murray grunted, seeking new fields to conquer. Maybe, well, let's see this description of what mister Daily calls the remains. Murray took the typewritten sheet from his inner breast pocket, and after glancing over it with concentrated swiftness, he gave it to me with a chuckle.

19:49 Speaker 2: For an amateur sleuth, Charles Daily is pretty good. I don't believe he's missed the dawn thing. But there is a lot here that he didn't mention. He startled a quiet little old lady across the the aisle from us as he gave a short, sharp laugh. The description was comprehensive. It read on subjecting the skull to a most careful scrutiny. I found the place where the bullet had entered to be on the right side, in front of the ear, and at the point where the jawbone hinges. The course of the bullet was not easy to follow.

20:16 Speaker 2: Another bullet had been fired into the rear of the skull. I made a careful examination of the clothing and teeth. There were twelve of the latter left bicuspid tooth on the upper left side of the jaw, crowned with gold. Three front teeth in upper jaw had been filled, one had been filled twice with amalgam, and the other two once Each malformed teeth and lower jaw setting in close behind one another clothes. Corset of black silk, made to order according to a local expert who was consulted. Shirtwaist of black taffeta with embroidery, autoscarf of tan shoes size four or five.

20:51 Speaker 2: Name of Macro obliterated by rain and snows. Coat of black broadcloth lined with gray satin. Jewelry chain with locket in which was diamond watch Swiss gold. Heavily chased, stopped at twelve thirty. Watch has various marks of jewelers who have repaired it. Small gold bocket with tassel of pearls. Gold bracelet with pearls and diamonds receded bill for goods printed in Kreble, Prussia, dated nineteen oh eight. Small guidebook issued by Hamburg American Line. I read over the list several times. Woman was probably slightly over thirty years of age, height five foot seven, weight one hundred and thirty pounds.

21:28 Speaker 2: Mister Daley had written his conclusions at the foot of the list. Well, that murderer wasn't afraid of leaving clues behind him, that's for sure, I remarked in a low tone to Murray, unless he suggested someone murdered the woman meeting the robber and was scared off in some way. When we first got this case, it looked like one of those impenetrable mysteries, Murray said to me. But we seem to be burdened now with a wealth accluse hard to know just which one to tackle first. Just then, the train stopped at Rockville Center and passengers filled the seats behind and ahead of us.

22:00 Speaker 2: It was impossible to talk over the case then any further. However, as the train hurled itself through the gloom of the rainy dusk, I pondered over our treasure trove. The abundance of clues was suspicious. Why should a murderer, after luring as victim to such a desolate spot, leave so many obvious clues behind him? If the object had been robbery, and he'd been scared off by hearing someone approach, would he not have returned for his ghoulish loot. It was not likely, on the other hand, that a woman would be wandering about the scrub oaklands unaccompanied.

22:30 Speaker 2: However, speculation at this stage of the case was useless. The various departments of police headquarters would receive their respective items to be worked over, and my chief would direct me as to which step I would take next. Koenigstrass Altona was the address on the label which I'd cut from the neck of the dead woman's coat. This was evidently some small place in Germany. Headquarters would get in touch with the German police, sending them a full description of the case and requesting information.

22:55 Speaker 2: The Missing Persons Bureau would trace their records for the reported disappearance of a woman within the past last year, which might correspond with the one given by the undertaker. The Identification Bureau would trace the watch repairers whose marks were on the little Swiss time piece, and circularize all dentists of the better class, giving a description of the dental work found in the skull. Another department would trace the owner of the new Jersey car, the silk hatted Romeo of the lunch counter I noted, changed cars at Jamaica and crossed over to the train on the other side of the platform, which carried passengers to a Brooklyn terminal.

23:27 Speaker 2: Murray and I followed suit, as it was the most direct way to get back to headquarters At Flatbush Avenue. We bumped into him as he started to cross over toward the subway, and when we entered the same train, he was obviously nervous. However, at brooklyn Bridge station, Murray and I changed to a local. The last I saw of him that night was his face peering anxiously through the window. We turned in our reports and I was just about to leave for home when I decided to clear up at least one item. It would not take long to find out for the Missing Persons Bureau if they had anyone on the list whose description fitted that with the blonde unknown.

23:59 Speaker 2: I found and Ayers, the chief of the Bureau, still at his desk. Briefly, I explained the Islip case to him. After consulting his files, he told me he had a record of no girl missing for a year that fit the description I gave him. I called it a day and left for home. When I reached headquarters the following morning, I was instructed to go over to Newark and interview Missus Henry Warehoff or her husband, who was registered as the owner of the car which had stopped in mister Daly's office. Tom Murray had been sent back to Islip on another angle of the case.

24:27 Speaker 2: On a mystery of this sort, not one, but dozens of men are set to work, and it is largely a matter of luck as to who's going to be the hero that solves the caper. Each man travels along the line mapped out by my chief, he may find that it leads off on a wild tangent, or that it steers him straight toward the goal. This particular morning, I found myself on good ground. The address in Newark proved to be a handsome home in one of the best residential sections of the city. A neatly clad mate answered my ring.

24:55 Speaker 2: When I asked whether mister or missus Warehoff were at home, and informed her that I came from police head quarters of New York. She shrank back an alarm. I took advantage of the open door, however, and brushed my way in. I think mister Warehoff is in himself, sir, she gasped, still regarding me with large frightened eyes. Will you please be seated in our library, indicating a large, luxuriously furnished room on the right side of the hall, and then I'll see if he's really in. I heard her footsteps patter off into the distance.

25:22 Speaker 2: I didn't have to wait long before a minute had passed. A tall well groomed man of fifty entered the room. You've come about, Anna Luta, he said, without unnecessary preamble. I mean you are on zat Islip murder mystery case, are you not? I nodded. While I was just writing a letter to New York Police headquarters when you arrived. Then he recognized the clothing and the trinkets, I remarked, rather unnecessarily. The man had stopped speaking, as if waiting for a lead of some sort. He nodded. My wife and I believe they belonged to a maid we employed here a little over a year ago.

25:54 Speaker 2: She was a very superior sort of person, quite above her position. Although she never said very much about her family, we understood that they were well to do people who lived in Altona, a suburb of Hamburg, Germany. Mister Wearehof moved restlessly about the room as he talked. After lighting a cigarette, he continued, you can understand, half shrugging his shoulders and tensing his lips in a perplexed sort of way, our reluctance to become mixed up in a murder case of this sort. And I hope that you will do everything possible to protect us from the publicity.

26:22 Speaker 2: After I'd reassured him on this point, he went on. When missus werehof and myself saw the description of the clothing and the jewelry found by the police in Islip, we recognized it. The initials A l sort of clinched the matter. To make it sure, we at once went over to the Long Island and visited the undertaker's establishment. You say this, Anna Luther worked for you as a servant until a little over a year ago, I asked, Not exactly, as an ordinary servant. She was more of a useful companion to my wife.

26:50 Speaker 2: She led us to get married, and at the time she promised to come and see us on her return from honeymoon, which she was to suspend in Germany. He explained, did you ever see the man she married? Yes, he readily replied, a tall, dark, rather fopishly dressed person who was addicted to a tall silk hat, striped trousers in a cutaway coat. Subconsciously, I thought of the lunch room Romeo. This man he claimed to be an architect, but he was rather vague about his connections. Besides, I noticed he had hands of a working man.

27:18 Speaker 2: I'm rather interested in hands. I always noticed them. Particularly this man's hand had a peculiar fingertips, rubbed smooth sort of if you know what I mean. What name did this man go by? Mueller and Miller? Used both? He said his right name was Mueller, but then he used Miller because Americans found that the German form was rather difficult to pronounce. I thought this was rather odd. I tried to convey my misgivings about the fellow to miss Luther now, but she was infatuated with him, and she wasn't the sort of young woman who you could just easily influence.

27:47 Speaker 2: I described the man in the lunch room and asked mister Warehurf if he thought he might be the unfortunate girl's fiance. That is possible, he admitted, if you like, I'll have another run over there and have a look at him. Although we don't want to necessarily get to mixed up in this, we still very fond of miss Lutha On If DEKs anything we can do to help, we shall be very glad to do it. We have a photograph of the girl. If that will help you any I assured him that it would very much. He went to a desk which stood by the window and opening a small drawer, took out an ordinary cabinet sized picture.

28:17 Speaker 2: Ah, yeah it is, and that he is fairly like her, though it makes her look more booksomed than she was, and really does not do a justice. She had very beautiful hair, which was the color of corn silk and waved naturally. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue, and her complexion was naturally pink and white. Putting the picture in my pocket, I thanked Anna Luther's former employer, and reminding him of his promise to give the lunch room man the once over, I departed. I went back to the police headquarters and wrote out my report.

28:43 Speaker 2: Visiting the rogues gallery, I looked over the collection which represented professional he vamps who specialized in duping servant girls an extraordinary assortment. There, all types were represented, one under the name of Fritz Scherfer line occupation cabinet maker usually employed in piano factories, bore a striking resemblance to the description given by mister Warehuff of that of the lunch room cashier. This man had been sentenced to sing Sing twelve years before for bigamy and larceny. Although the sentence called for seventeen years.

29:14 Speaker 2: It had been later reduced to five. As Sharferline's case had been a very ordinary one, few details were given. A complete history could be found in the District Attorney's office, however, and making a note of this man's name and number, I filed it away for future use on the chance that collaborating data might come in linking this man with the murder of Anna Luther. At the time I was engaged principally in the fingerprint department, and during the next few days I was kept busy on other cases. Two weeks later, Captain Coughlin again called me in on the Luther case.

29:44 Speaker 2: We've received full information from Nyamburg police on the Islip murder, the Captain said, tapping a sheaf of papers on his desk. It seems that this man Mula represented himself as a piano manufacturer to the woman's parents. Said he'd bought a sight on Long Island and intended on building a factory there. They gave him most of their savings, which were considerable, and also several presents. Among these were two valuable police dogs. I'll bet the man is Fritz sharfer Line, who was sentenced for bigamy twelve years ago.

30:14 Speaker 2: I exclaimed, my hunt had come through. The captain looked up sharply, what do you mean? I explained briefly, my hunt through the rogues gallery. We'll all put men on the trail through the piano factories in Long Island and New Jersey. I have the photographer run several copies of Shafe Lion's picture. The next few days developed nothing of importance. They were filled with ordinary routine work. Men, provided with a complete description of Mueller is furnished by the Warehuffs, scrutinized the employees of every piano factory on Long Island and New Jersey.

30:41 Speaker 2: Others visited the immigration officials and interviewed the cab drivers of Hoboken, where the ocean liner on which the honeymooners were supposed to have returned had docked. There were naturally scores of men who resembled the general description of Mueller, and each of these was thoroughly investigated, tediously, tirelessly. The manhunt proceeded. German police dogs were not so common in those days as they are now, and I had an idea that we might be able to trace Mueller through the two which he'd brought over.

31:07 Speaker 2: The chief gave me permission to take up their trail crossing to Hoboke, and I made a thorough canvas of the taxi drivers and old cabman, showing each a photograph of sharfur Line and the unfortunate Anna Luther. For the late afternoon of the second day, ten days after the discovery of the skeleton in Islip, I was just about to return to New York when a dilapidated closed cab rattled over the cobblestones and stopped in front of a German beer garden on the waterfront. Two men got out, paid the fare and entered the place.

31:36 Speaker 2: In hunting criminals, you never know in what guys luck may come along, So before the cab he had a chance to whip up his horses and depart, I stopped him. You remember picking up this man and this woman about a year ago, I asked him. He stared at me blankly. Then his weather beaten face wrinkled itself into a mass of crisscross furrows. His little bleary eyes buried themselves in folds of flesh. He guffawed loudly, say what do you think I am? A camera? I get off there, young fella, I flashed my shield.

32:05 Speaker 2: Say listen, I'm from New York Police headquarters, and before you go any farther into convulsions, you might want to pay a little better attention, I grounded him. He straightened up. In a second. This couple I'm looking for had two German police dogs with them. Well, now you're saying something, he added a few picturesque square words. Let's have another look. Ah, I remember the brutes, all right, he squided at his eyes as he looked at the two pictures. I couldn't tell you for truth if them were the couple.

32:31 Speaker 2: I didn't pay much attention to the lady, but as I remember, she was pretty and blonde. The man, he looked older than that. Where did you take them? I asked, sharply, cutting into his garrulity. I was driving to Long Island City that day. I used to live there, in fact, and a man and a woman that came along, and a man of the dog's got me cab. The woman she took a street car. I was told to drive to an address in Astoria, and there was quite a ways, and the man kicked about the bill and threatened to set the dogs on me.

32:56 Speaker 2: That's how I remember this one looks like that man, but I wouldn't take my on it. Do you remember the address in Astoria, I asked him. No, he didn't remember that, he said, but he gave me some general directions that would lead me toward the poorer section. Taking down his name an address, and handing him a tip, I left him and got back to headquarters as speedily as possible. There I laid the information before the chief, and he directed me to visit Astoria the next day and make a personal hunt for the dogs.

33:20 Speaker 2: At the same time, you might want to look up this man, Paul Gibbert, who lives in Astoria, he said, selecting one of the detective's reports which were lying on the desk in front of him. He works in the smith piano factor, and he went to Europe about a year and a half ago, according to the gossip. The next morning I called at the address on the Gebhard report, a small workingman's cottage. It was with a handkerchief sized plot of ground in front and a small backyard behind. A little boy in blue rompers was sitting on the stoop playing with a hungry looking kitten.

33:47 Speaker 2: Mother home, I asked, him. He looked at me solemnly, without answering. I started to go up the steps with a bound. He sprang to his feet and darted toward the rear of the place. I followed. Ma, Ma, he screamed, there's there's a man here. A neatly dressed woman of about twenty five years of age opened the door and looked at me with a hostile eye. Nah, he's at work, she answered sullenly. Then she quickly corrected herself. I mean he's gone away where I asked. I want to see him about his police dogs.

34:15 Speaker 2: I heard he had two fine specimens, and I'm looking to buy one of them. This was a long chance, but I wanted to see what the woman would do. She shrank back. He ain't got no police dogs, and I don't know where he's gone. He's left me paint the first time, but it's the last. In the small yard, I saw two large kennels. What are these four? Then, I asked, But don't know was the only answer I got. I wanted to see the inside of that cottage. I had a feeling that Gebbert was there, so I used the old dodge and asked for a drink.

34:43 Speaker 2: Of water. Reluctantly, the woman entered the house. As she was about to close the door, I put my foot in the opening and followed her, glancing swiftly about the spotlessly clean kitchen. My eyelighted on a dish towel. Momentarily I lost my breath, for on the corner was embroidered the initials A L. There was no longer any doubt that Gebert Mueller were one and the same man. I accepted the glass of water and returned it to her empty. However, I put no more inquiries to the woman. I left her standing with the tumbler in her hands.

35:12 Speaker 2: From some children who were playing in a vacant lot, I learned that Gebert had taken his two dogs away a few days before, and spent the rest of the day locating them in a private kennel some miles distant. They were ferocious looking beasts, but they'd become somewhat tamed during their sojourn in America. And when I explained my mission to the keeper of the kennels and my intention to hunt their owner by means of his dogs, he was obliged to give them into my custody. The newspapers had heard of the missing dogs, and they also had been searching the Long Island kennels for them.

35:39 Speaker 2: When we arrived in Astoria, a photographer caught sight of us and stopped the cab. Hey there, Roddy, are those the missing dogs? He shouted, Yes, I admitted, you can snap them if you want to. I'd rather snap them where you've taken them. He grinned and accepted my silent invitation to jump into the taxi. By George, they're the home kennels, he exclaimed. Let's take a flash of them there. It was by then too dark to take a picture without a flashlight. We posed the dogs each near its kennel. Just before the flash exploded, I peered into the gloom.

36:07 Speaker 2: It seemed to me that I saw something lurking in the shadows. Then there in the brilliant splash of light which followed, I saw sharfer Line alias Bueller alias Gebhart. Before he had a chance to move, I was upon him. We had a pretty little tussle there in the yard, for he put up a stiff battle. Momentarily I expected the dogs to join in and tear me to pieces, but the photographer, who was a pretty hefty Chap got a hold of them and I managed to get my prisoner into the house safely within an hour.

36:33 Speaker 2: He was lodged in the Suffolk County jail for two days. He obstinately refused to talk. I was sure that he and sharfer Line were one and the same, but when we took his fingerprints it was impossible to identify him. His work as a cabinet polisher had rubbed the papillary ridges almost smooth. This caused a smudged print which was useless for identification. The Warehoffs, however, identified him positively as the man who had married Anna Luther, and we could, of course hold him on a bigamy charge.

36:59 Speaker 2: When we proved that he was a second offender, a mighty stiff sentence would be dealt to him. However, we weren't at all keen on complicating the murder charge with the lesser one of bigamy. That man was one of the hardest I ever met. We gave him a third degree that would have frozen the blood of any ordinary mortal. Now I don't mean that we beat him up. That would have meant nothing to a jackal of Gebert's type. But night after night and day after day, we took turns in questioning him. Coroner Savage dangled the gruesome skull of Anna Luther, with its pitiful crop of flaxen hair before his eyes.

37:32 Speaker 2: Our evidence of his guilt was gone over and over again. The skeleton was finally lodged in the cell next to his Around midnight of the fourth day, when I was questioning him, he asked to see Coroner Savage. The coroner came over immediately, say Gabhart demanded. As soon as doctor Savage appeared, can you get me a sentence for manslaughter instead of electrocution? If I make a statement of facts? Not the slightest trace of emotion sounded in his voice. He made the inquiry as casually as if he were discussing the sale of one of his dogs.

38:01 Speaker 2: Well, you stand a much better chance, the coroner replied, after a moment's astonished hesitation. I can't promise you anything definite, but I'll do my best to mitigate the sentence. Besides, you owe it to your wife and children to take advantage of every opportunity for a lighter sentence than the chair. All right, the prisoner replied, carelessly, I'm getting sick of this. I'll come through. The coroner called up Captain Coughlin, who arrived with Thomas Murray within a couple hours, and around three o'clock in the morning, Gebert made his ghastly statement.

38:30 Speaker 2: Here are his exact words, as taken from the stenographic record about December nineteen oh seven. I first met Anna Luther. We were married in February nineteen oh eight. She went to Henry Warehoff's in Newark, New Jersey, to spend a day or two on the pretense that I was going to rent an apartment for us to live in. I returned to my home and wife in Astoria. I met Anna Luther again on April eighth, and we went to an address on thirty fourth Street, New York City, and from there we went to Jamaica.

38:55 Speaker 2: We stayed in Jamaica until the next day, April ninth. We went to Bay Shore and walked about, and I showed her some property I said I owned. I got into an argument with her about some money matters, and I turned and wanted to go back. She followed me up, screaming, and I shot her in the head. I didn't look at her, and I do not remember whether I shot her more than once. I remember after I went to the Islip depot and took a train for home, it was nearly dark. On my way home, I threw the revolver out the car window.

39:20 Speaker 2: I want to state that I did not kill Anna Luther for her money, as the newspapers have stated. My original reason for marrying Anna was that I didn't care to be with my first wife any longer. But as she my first wife, had given me a child, my desire to again see my child caused me to want to get rid of Anna and then return to my first wife and child. This is the reason that I shot Anna Luther, and I told her in Bay Shore that I was married and had a wife and must leave her. She screamed and ran after me and kissed me and wanted me back, and I shot her.

39:48 Speaker 2: This statement is made of my own free will, without any hope of recompense being offered me. Signed Frederick Gerhardt, Witnessed by John P. Coughlin, Acting Captain Thomas Murray, William D. Roddy, Detective sworn before me the twenty fifth day of October nineteen oh nine Edward W. Bull Notary public and you shot her when she came up to you and kissed you, someone asked in a horrified voice. Yes, he answered impatiently. She told me she loved me, and she kissed me. As she put her face up to kiss me again, I shot her in the head.

40:17 Speaker 2: A horror stricken silence followed, Tell me something, I asked at last. Why did you leave the body with so many marks of identification upon it? Didn't you know that you would be traced through those? He considered the matter for a moment. Well, I did go back once or twice, he admitted. I went to the place where I shot her, but the body wasn't there. She must have managed to crawl along quite a bit before she died. The quite a bit proved to be a half a mile when later we measured the distance between the point where she was shot and the place where the little Schmid boy found the body.

40:46 Speaker 2: Although Gibhart appeared to be brutally frank in his statement, he wasn't exactly accurate. Anna Luther had possessed a large sum of money which had disappeared. Her fine embroidered linens and much of her clothing were found in the Gibhart cottage, where we also found the gun which the murderer had stated that he had thrown out the window. The jury who heard the case decided that there was no question of the cold blooded monster's guilt, and two months later he paid for his crime in the Electric Chair.

41:11 Speaker 2: I'm Zevan Odelberg and miss has been kind of Murdery.

41:16 Speaker 1: If you like the show, he subscribed on view and tell your friends. You can find us on social media at Kinomurdery or email at Kindomurdery at gmail dot com