De Jong's Strange Behavior

IS HE JACK THE RIPPER?
A NEW THEORY ON THE AUTHOR OF THE WHITECHAPEL BUTCHERIES.
IS NOW ON SECRET TRIAL.

A Young Hollander Placed Under Hypnotic Power in the Hope of Being Made to Reveal the Hiding Place of the Bodies of His Victims, But the Results so Far Have Been so Carefully Guarded That Nothing Is Known Regarding Them.

The secret trial of De Jong, who is charged with having murdered two young women who he had married within a short time last spring, has just been begun at the Hague, Holland's capital. So far the proceedings of the trial have been so carefully guarded that the most persistent efforts of the newspaper correspondents have failed to elicit any of the details. It is known, however, that the prisoner has been subjected to a series of hypnotic tests under the direction of a celebrated hypnotist of The Hague, also named De Jong, but in no way related to his subject. Just what De Jong was made to reveal while under the mysterious spell will not be made public until the close of the trial. If he has divulged the hiding place of the bodies of his victims, henceforth the greatest skeptics will have to acknowledge the power of hypnotism, for notwithstanding the incessant watch that has been kept on him since his arrest, and the repeated rigid cross-questionings he has been subjected to, not a hint has he dropped that would give the least inkling to the disposition of the remains. One theory the authorities are acting upon, which originated in London, is that De Jong is no less a person than the famous "Jack the Ripper," who for years has terrorized the inhabitants of the Whitechapel district and horrified the whole civilized world by his horrid butcheries of unfortunate women. This theory has given a new impetus to the hunt for the bodies of De Jong's victims, for unless these are found it will be impossible, of course, to fasten this list of crimes on him. De Jong, it would seem, is a more methodical person than "Jack the Ripper" who can have had no other motive for his atrocious deeds than the gratification of a maniacal thirst for blood, while De Jong, it would seem, simply murdered his victims to get them out of the way after robbing them, so that the field might be clear for further operations. Some criminals have murdered for a few sous and yet they were not maniacs, though they must seem nearly so to the well conducted citizens. Since the theory that De Jong is "Jack the Ripper," however, has been put afloat the discovery of the bodies will be awaited with a new interest. The disappearance of Miss Schmitz and Miss Juett, with which the name of the Hollander De Jong is connected, is still the prevailing criminal sensation of Europe. Miss Juett, shortly after her marriage to De Jong, disappeared - disappeared, in fact, while on the honeymoon. She had lived at Maidenhead on the Thames. De Jong has had a mysterious sort of existence. At one time he was a porter in a hotel, at another porter at a lunatic asylum. In 1883 he was in Calcutta, where he pretended to be an artist; in 1887 he married a girl of seventeen in Rotterdam, and when arrested for robbing her mother set up a plea of insanity. De Jong married Miss Marie Schmitz in July. On August 31 he sold her furniture, pretending that he would buy much better things in England, whither they were to go. There is no trace of her since August 20. They had already made one visit to London, and they stayed then at Wheeler's Hotel, Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate Street. Mrs. Wheeler's statement is interesting. She says that De Jong arrived on August 16 from Holland, via Harwich, with two boxes, on one being a brass plate with the name "H. De Jong." Though requested several times to put his name in the visitors' book he did not do so, always pretending to be in a hurry, and at last he gave his visiting card. His behavior in the hotel was most extraordinary. The landlady describes him as a man who has "something of the mesmerist" in his composition, his eyes rolling and watching people restlessly. Mrs. Wheeler added that De Jong must have spoken to the lady during the afternoon in a most disagreeable manner. As he was speaking Dutch he thought probably that bystanders would not understand him, but in this he was mistaken, for a German waiter who had spent some time in Holland was close by and understood the meaning of De Jong's remarks. The couple seldom went out together. Asked about his conduct on Saturday, August 19, when he went down to Maidenhead, Mrs. Wheeler stated that in the morning he appeared very nervous. He was lavish in distributing cigars among the guests, and threw several on the table. He told his landlady that he was going to see the Dutch consul about some documents, but the consul when interviewed said he recollected nothing about the matter. He married Miss Juett on June 15 at Maidenhead. She was a nurse in a neighboring hospital when De Jong first met her. Her parents are very well off. Her father now charges him with having swindled him out of 100 pounds.

Source: Elmira Morning Telegram, 1894