The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 11, 1902, Page 1

VOLUME XCL-—NO. 73. SAN FRANCISCO, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY. 11, 1902, DU~ AT - g PRICE FIVE CENTS. DEEPER GROWS MYSTERY ENSHROUDING THE TRAGIC FATE OF ELEANOR FULLER ~ AND POLICE ARE TEMPORARILY BAFFLED i especially to aid in the perpetration of his hideous crime. knowledge of the crime and of the assassin ends. The case is becoming shrouded in deeper mystery every day. Dr. Bacigalupi made an official statement yesterday that Eleanor Fuller was strangled to death. ce are diligently secking to establish the identity of John Bennett, the foul fiend who lured little Eleanor Fuller from her home and subsequently strangled her to death in the vacant house at 2211 Sutter street, which he had [ They are satisfied beyond a doubt that the man who met the girl at the Popular Réstaurant is the man who rented the house and who afterward bought the furniture. [ | | | On removing e CALL ARTIST PORTRAYS HOW ELEANOR FULLER WAS STRANGLED. GIVEN BY AUTOPSY SURGEON DR. BACIGALUPL THE MYSTERIOUS CASE WHO WILL TESTIFY AT THE CORONER'S INQUEST. DRAWN FROM A DESCRIPTION PHOTOGRAPHS OF IMPORTANT WITNESSES IN | Detectives Are Straining Every Nerve to Capture John Bennetti HE wystery surround- g the identity of the strangler Fuller to > vacant Sut- house and the Nora reet eous crime grow e of theories statements no has developed to the whereabouts or identity of the moral ieper who changed his tangible cl who | 1p to the commis- | | name at every important step in | the consummation of his fiendish plans to murder the young girl. The police are scouring the town for John Bennett. They know that he is the man who was on friendly terms with the girl {before she left home. They {know that he is the man who |rented the house from Umbsen | & Co. under the name of C. B, Hawkins, and they know that he is the man who bought the bed* ding from Cavanaugh’s under the name of Scott. They do not know nor does anybody else in- terested in ‘the solution of the mystery know who the murderer is or where he lives or what his connections are. His identity baffles investigation. The inquest on the body of the murdered girl will be held at the Coroner’s office at 10 o’clock this morning. Dr. Bacigalupi, the autopsy physician, made an important discovery yesterday that ‘bears out his statement of the Fiendish Murderer of thg Sutter-Street House Victim. the night before that Eleanor Fuller met a horrible death at the hands of a strangler. The | physician removed the flesh and skin from the murdered girl’s throat and laid the pharynx bare. It presented a horrifying sight. Directly under the slight discol- orationsthat appeared on the out- side of the girl’s throat Dr. Baci- galupi found two bruises,‘ one of which was about the size of a half-dollar piece. The character of the bruises showed plainly that fession. HE CALL is.enabled to give. this morning_the latest.and_most. authentic _description of the man Bennett, who wrote to Nora Fuller to mect him at the Popular Restaurant, Geary street, with a view of engaging ler to attend his family, but who, there is no doubt now, decoyed her | to the house at 2211 Sutter strect, where he foully and brutally strangled her to death. scription is given by F. W. Krone, whose restaurant on Geary street Bennett patronized for fifteen yeats: Bennctt has a decided cast in his right eye and the eyelid droops slightly; his hands, always in good condition, favor the idea that he has never done any manucl labor. five fect seven inches, and he weighs about 160 pounds; he has excellent teeth, which are slightly prominent, and his mustache is of a brownish color. His chin is he has a military walk and takes long strides and appears to be a man belonging to some pro- He seemed to be studiously inclined and at all times read the papers or a book which he would bring with him to the restaurant. He was always well dressed. There was every indication in his manner that he was a student and a professional man. 2 2 The de- His height is about rather long, as is also his face; o they had been made by the stran- gler’s strong fingers as he shut off his victim’s breath and sent her innocent soul into the land of death. ¥ Captain Seymour was be- sieged yesterday with all sorts of cranks that usually imagine that they can give important de- tails on nearly every big murder mystery that puzzles the police. The stories told by many were wild and disconnected, but there were some important details gathered by the police. Ray Zecrtonna, the grocery clerk employed at Menke’s gro- cery store at Central and Golden Gate avenues, from where Nora Fuller used to telephone to Ben- nett, -tells a tale that adds addi- tional mystery to the murder. On the evening of January 11, when Nera Fuller left her home to answer the advertisement in- serted in the papers by Bennett, Zertonna says that she was met on the corner outside the store! by a middle-aged man who an- swers the description of the elu- sive Bennett. He also says that Nora Fuller seemed glad to meet her friend and together the couple walked down Central ave- nue toward the McAllister-street cars. Whether or not they took the car together, Zertonna does not know. While he was standing outside the store watching Nora Fuller and her friend, a customer entered and he went inside to wait on him. Zertonna states that on one occasion, he does not remember how long before the girl’s disappearance, Nora Fuller came into the store and bought some stamps.. She had a sealed letter in her hand, and when he gave her the stamps Nora put the letter on the counter to annex the stamp. Zertonna saw the name of John Bennett written on the face of the envelope. As Nora Fuller was not known to have written any letters to Bennett, + this is strongly indicative of the fact that she knew the strangler before he enticed her away from her home. Captain Seymour detailed three of his detectives to inter- view every business man and agent whose cards were found in the house where the murdered girl's body was found. All of them -save one stated that they had sent the cards to the Sutter-street house simply to seek trade, and knew nothing about the cccupants except that C. B. Hawkins had rented the house from Umbsen & Co. The firm of Rader & Snyder, real estate brokers, whose offices are on the second floor of- the Emma Spreckels building, could give no satisfactory explanation of how their card happened to get in the possession of the girl or her murderer. Rader is acquainted with At- torney Hugh Grant' and Miss g0