De Jong In New York

DE JONG IN AMERICA.

The Amsterdam Murderer Believed to Have Committed Bigamy In New York.

In the jail at Amsterdam, Holland, is confined a man under suspicion of having committed two of the most horrible crimes in history. He is said to have murdered and probably mutilated two girls, both of whom he had married. At the time of his arrest last December it was even intimated that he might be "Jack the Ripper." It was not known at that time that De Jong had American connections, and The Journal has been the first to exploit a chapter of his life in New York hitherto unrevealed. According to information obtained by The Journal, there seems to be little doubt that De Jong married Barbara Hacker in New York last July under the name of George Marshall. He disappeared soon after, telling his bride that he was going to his home in Montreal for a few days. The woman never heard from him afterward and adopted her maiden name, still retaining the Mrs., being now known as Mrs. Barbara Hacker. The couple were married on July 2, and a few days later Marshall said that he must have some money. He had previously learned that his bride had $500 in a savings bank. He persuaded her to go with him to the bank and draw the money out, saying that he would repay it the following week when his month's salary arrived. Marshall took the money and went away. He came back in a few days, saying that he had to go to Washington on a business matter. He gave her the $500, and she put it in a bureau drawer. Two days later he disappeared again, taking the $500, the woman's gold watch and two gold rings. Before he left he gave Barbara a box of pills, saying that if she would take two or three before she went to bed she would feel much better the next day. When Marshall left Barbara at the bank with her $500 in his pocket, he went to call upon another sweetheart, Freda Wetzler, at 167 East Ninety-third Street. He showed her the money and told her that he was immensely rich. He had been courting her for several weeks and knew that she, too, like Barbara, had a snug bank account. He tried to induce her to get her money from the bank and elope with him. The girl yielded to his entreaty and went to her cousin, who had her bankbook in his possession, and told him that she wanted to get her money from the bank. Her cousin saved Freda, however, by demanding an explanation, and when she told him that she was going to elope he dissuaded her from her purpose. She had $200 at home, however, and when Marshall left Barbara the second time he called to see Freda and borrowed it. He was known to Freda as Adolph Marshall. Just two weeks after his marriage to Barbara Hacker Marshall had become acquainted with a third prepossessing German girl and proposed marriage. His third victim was Johanna Goldbach, who then lived at 118 Belmont Avenue, Newark. Before he could induce the girl to marry him a notice was published that he had deserted Barbara, and Johanna spurned his love. Before he went, however, Marshall had succeeded in borrowing $400 from Johanna. He was known to her as J.G. Marshall. But Marshall was still looking for loving and trusting German girls. He found another in Lena Dill, who is now Mrs. Lauterbach. He posed as Kurt von Tracheim before this woman and is said to have married her after a short but fervent courtship. He lived on her money for nearly a month, and it is said she also loaned him a large amount. He told her that he was a professional horseman with influential relatives in Europe. Kurt von Tracheim lived with his new bride for several weeks and then disappeared. According to all accounts, Marshall left New York about the last of July. The two crimes with which Henrich De Jong, who is supposed to be Marshall, stands charged in Europe are alleged to have been committed in August. The disappearance of Marie Schmitz of Amsterdam, Holland, and Miss Juett of Maidenhead-on-the-Thames, with which the name of De Jong is connected, has never been cleared up. De Jong, it has been proved, was married to both of these girls within a short time. Miss Juett's father accuses De Jong of having swindled him out of 100 pounds and is convinced that he murdered his daughter. The theory of the English and Dutch police is that De Jong killed both of these girls to get them out of the way after robbing them, that the field might be clear for further operations. Neither of the bodies has ever been recovered, although a careful search has been made by both the Dutch and English police. There can be found no definite proof of the crimes of which he is suspected, and he is being prosecuted upon the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses from his two European wives.

Source: Rome Semi-Weekly Citizen, Saturday May 19, 1894