true statement as to how the evidence which hung
maxwell was obtained published for the
first time.
the preller murder occurred in the summer of 1885, in one of the rooms of the southern hotel, st. louis, mo. clarence preller was a young englishman, as was also his slayer, hugh m. brookes. the discovery of the body, the apprehension of the murderer, his trial and execution, attracted the attention of the civilized world. the true story of the conviction of the perpetrator of this foul crime has never before been published.
hugh m. brookes was a native of hyde park, a suburb of london, england. his father and mother were respectable people, and school teachers by professions. the young man was about twenty-five or six years of age when he committed this crime. he had never done anything but go to school, consequently was well educated. the last school he attended was a law school. he ran away from this institution, after stealing a lot of property that belonged to fellow students. the plunder he secured consisted mostly of ornaments and bric-a-brac, which he pawned at liverpool, england, to secure enough money with which to purchase a first-class ticket to boston, mass. after boarding the vessel he met and formed the acquaintance of clarence preller.
preller was a trusted employee of a large export establishment of london. his duties required him to travel[pg 10] nearly all over the world, or, at least, to visit the principal cities of the world. he was a young man, being about thirty years of age, and finding brookes, a fellow-countryman, an agreeable companion, took very kindly to him.
brookes represented himself as being a titled nobleman, who had just finished his course at college, and was making a pleasure tour of america. he called himself maxwell.
hugh m. brookes, alias maxwell
hugh m. brookes, alias maxwell
the young englishman hung for murdering arthur preller in the
southern hotel.
during the voyage from liverpool to boston, preller told maxwell, as i will call him hereafter, that after he had attended to a matter of business for his firm at boston he had to go to toronto, canada, where he would be detained but a day or two. then he would leave toronto for st. louis, missouri, where he also had some business to do for his firm, which would require but a short time,[pg 11] and that from there he would go through to san francisco, california, and sail from there on the first steamship to auckland, new zealand. maxwell told him that he believed he would go from boston to st. louis, where he (maxwell) would await the arrival of preller from toronto, then accompany him to auckland just for the trip. this proposition pleased preller.
they arrived safely in boston, where they remained two or three days together, and where maxwell learned that preller had in his possession seven one hundred dollar bills. after preller had finished his business in boston they settled their bills at the adams house, where they had stopped, went to the depot together and separated, preller going to toronto and maxwell to st. louis. they had agreed that maxwell was to stop at the southern hotel in st. louis, there to await preller. maxwell arrived at that hotel and engaged a room, where preller joined him a couple of days later. i think it was saturday when he arrived, and they occupied the same apartments.
on the following sunday, after they had eaten their dinner and returned to their room, preller complained of suffering from stomach trouble. maxwell claimed to have some knowledge of medicine, and administered an overdose of morphia, hypodermically. a short time after administering the drug, and when he saw that preller was beginning to breathe his last, he poured more than half the contents of a four ounce bottle of chloroform into preller's almost lifeless lips. when preller was dead, maxwell stripped the body and placed a suit of his own underwear on him. maxwell was small in stature, being only about five feet five inches in height, while preller was much larger and about six feet tall. maxwell's clothing was marked with the name of hugh m. brookes, and they were[pg 12] entirely too small for the body of preller.
in removing the underwear maxwell used a candle snuffer, which is very much like a pair of scissors, only the cutting surface had a half-circle. he cut the undergarments the full length of the limbs so that he could easily strip them off. then he managed to pull his own garments on the body. he emptied out the trunk belonging to preller, and pressed the body into it. he had to almost double it into a circle to get it into the trunk, but he succeeded. then strapping and locking the trunk, he put his own, as well as preller's effects into his own trunk, and retired for the night.
the next morning, after breakfast, he called at the cashier's office, settled his bill, and stated to the clerk that his friend preller had been obliged to make a short run out of town, and would be back to the hotel in two or three days, and desired that the room be held for him, as his trunk and effects would remain there until he called for them. maxwell explained that he had to leave that morning and expected his friend preller to join him later.
he instructed the head porter to bring his large trunk down into the corridor. the one he had ordered brought down contained the dead body, but, to his consternation, the porter brought down the one in which his and preller's effects had been packed. he became very much alarmed, and had his trunk taken to union station and checked to san francisco, buying a ticket for that place. he departed over the frisco road, and arrived in san francisco, where he remained one night, and the following day bought a ticket for auckland, new zealand, and sailed that afternoon.
the weather was quite warm in st. louis, and after a few days decomposition set in upon the corpse in the trunk. the odor from the room attracted the attention of the[pg 13] servants. they reported to the office, the room was entered and the body found. the police were notified at once. a good description of maxwell was furnished by the hotel people, and telegrams were sent in all directions, giving this description, and requesting maxwell's arrest.
capt. leas, chief of police of san francisco, received one of these telegrams, started his detectives to investigate, and succeeded in learning that the murderer had sailed for auckland some three or four days before he had received the telegraphic description of him from st. louis. whereupon chief leas cabled the proper authorities of auckland a full description of maxwell, and even the number of the stateroom he occupied on the ship. of course, capt. leas' telegram reached auckland several days before the ship arrived.
when the ship arrived at auckland, the police sent out two of their detectives with the pilot, who was to guide the steamer on which maxwell had taken passage into port. they arrested him as soon as they boarded the ship, and when the vessel landed immediately notified the st. louis authorities, in accordance with capt. leas' instructions to them. after obtaining proper extradition papers, the chief of police of st. louis sent two of his detectives to auckland to bring maxwell back to st. louis. they went to auckland by way of san francisco, found maxwell in jail there and brought him back to st. louis. it was a long and expensive trip, and cost the city of st. louis a great deal of money.
on arriving in st. louis the prisoner was locked up without bail, on the charge of murdering preller. he immediately employed two lawyers to defend him. after having consulted with his lawyers, maxwell became jubilant—so much so that he became obnoxious to his fellow[pg 14] prisoners. he was naturally inclined to be overbearing, and seemed to hold himself aloof from the other prisoners. he was rather inclined to braggadocia, and attracted a lot of attention. the daily papers devoted a great deal of space to him, which he seemed to enjoy immensely. in fact, the notoriety appeared to be very pleasing to him.
marshall f. mcdonald
marshall f. mcdonald
the famous criminal lawyer who prosecuted brookes, alias maxwell
a few days after he had been lodged in jail in st. louis, ashley c. clover, circuit attorney of st. louis, in company with marshall f. mcdonald, assistant circuit attorney, drove out to my residence one night. i was then chief[pg 15] special agent for the missouri pacific railroad company, and both messrs. clover and mcdonald were personal friends of mine.
mr. clover stated that the object of their visit was in reference to the maxwell case. he went on to state that although the arrest and returning of maxwell from auckland to st. louis had cost the city of st. louis a great deal of money, and the case had become one of international importance, yet he did not believe that the officers of the st. louis police department had made any efforts to get at the real facts in the case. so far they had not found enough evidence to procure a conviction, in case the defendant went on the stand and testified that the giving of too much chloroform to preller was an accident. mr. clover said that he wanted the real facts in the case. "for," he said, "while there is scarcely any doubt that maxwell caused the death of preller by an over-dose of chloroform, yet he may have done it innocently, and if such is the case, under our laws, he could not be convicted of the murder, and ought not to be, in my opinion. but, on the contrary, if he dosed him purposely and feloniously with forethought and malice, he ought to be convicted. if he did it innocently, and i could be assured of that, i would be pleased to ask the jury to acquit him, but, as i said before, if he is guilty it would be my duty as circuit attorney to insist on his conviction. and now, tom, i want you to get the facts in this case for me."
to which i replied, "mr. clover, i really do not know anything about this case, except what i have read in the newspapers, and, of course, you know as well as i do that a man cannot base much of an opinion on a case of this kind on newspaper accounts, and, therefore, i wish you[pg 16] would give me a little time to think the matter over. i fully approve of the sentiments that you have expressed in connection with the case, and will be glad, indeed, to do all in my power to assist you."
both gentlemen said they wished that i would take the matter under advisement until the following evening at eight o'clock, at which time they would again call at my house to talk the matter over with me.
the following evening at the appointed time they called and were both apparently anxious to learn what i thought i could do in the way of obtaining the facts pertaining to the case.
after the usual greeting, and when both had been seated, i said, "gentlemen, i have been thinking about the case in question, and have become satisfied that there were but two people who knew the whole facts connected with the case, and the facts that you now desire to know. one of these persons is now in jail, and the other is dead. in my opinion maxwell is the only living person who knows the facts, and, therefore, he is the only person from whom these facts can be obtained. i believe i can get those facts from him, but i want you gentlemen to understand that i am in the employ of the missouri pacific railroad company, and, of course, they are paying me for all my time, but if i were not in their employ i could not do this myself on account of my being so well known. for that reason it would be necessary for me to select a competent operative to do this work under my instructions. i shall be glad to do this, or anything else that i can do to assist you in unraveling this case, with the understanding that i am not to receive any compensation for what i may do myself, but i shall expect you gentlemen to pay the[pg 17] operative that i may use in this work the same amount of salary that we are paying him, and his actual expenses. as i said before, i will do all that i can, but will neither expect nor receive any remuneration for my services."
"tom," replied mr. clover, "there is no fund provided by the city for the employment of outside talent for such work as this in question, but i expect to pay the expense out of my own pocket, and i shall insist on paying you for your services in connection with this matter."
i answered, "i will receive nothing for any work that i may do in the matter."
at this point in the conversation mr. mcdonald, who had been sitting quietly, listening to mr. clover and myself, said, "tom, how do you expect to obtain the facts in this case? that's what i would like to know."
"mr. mcdonald," i responded, "i feel that it would be easier for me to go ahead and do this work, than it would be for me to undertake to tell you how i propose to do it."
mr. clover then said, "tom, i am going to place this matter in your hands. i want you to go ahead and get this thing started as soon as possible, as the defendant's attorneys are clammoring for a speedy trial, and i do not wish to keep them waiting any longer than i can help. you do this work in your own way and i will pay the bills."
i said, "all right."
the next day i telegraphed to philadelphia to an operative in my employ there. he was an entire stranger in st. louis. i wired him to come at once, and not to stop at my office, but to come direct to my house on his arrival in the city, which he did.
his name was john mcculloch. he was about thirty-five years of age, about five feet, ten inches in height, and[pg 18] weighed about two hundred pounds. he was well built, had a sandy complexion, and was rather a good-looking fellow. he was wearing side-whiskers, or burnsides, as they were called, and a blonde mustache, and looked very much like an englishman. he was truthful and honest, and of sober habits, but a little thick-headed, or, in other words, dull of comprehension. in instructing him it was necessary to explain each detail fully, and sometimes it would seem as if it were necessary to take a hammer and pound the instructions into his head, but when he once understood thoroughly what you wanted him to do he would carry out instructions to the letter.
right here it might be well to take the reader into my confidence. i had decided to get my operative (mcculloch) into jail, where he could meet maxwell, without the knowledge of the local police officers.
after explaining the nature of the case to him, i instructed him to procure the leading daily papers of st. louis, dating back to the time of the murder, and to read every line that had been published relative to the case. this he did, and it took him about three weeks. i met him each evening during the time and rehearsed with him what i wanted him to do, from the time he was arrested, and how he should act after his arrest and incarceration.
early in february, 1886, i succeeded in getting possession of a few blank checks from the office of d. s. h. smith, who was local treasurer of the missouri pacific railroad company in st. louis. being chief special agent of the road i had occasion to visit the local treasurer's office frequently, and being well known, not only to the local treasurer, but to all of his office force as well, i had no difficulty in obtaining the blank checks without the [pg 19]knowledge of dr. smith, as the local treasurer was called by most of the people who knew him, or any of his clerks.
my chief clerk was a good penman, and was familiar with the signature of dr. d. s. h. smith. i had him practice for some time on imitating dr. smith's signature, and found that he could imitate it so clearly that it would have been accepted as genuine by any bank teller. while i wanted a fairly good imitation of the signature, i did not want it to be so good that it would be received at the bank. after practicing for a time he succeeded in making a signature which i thought would answer my purpose. i had him fill out one of the blank checks for the amount of one thousand one hundred and eighty-eight dollars and ten cents. i then gave this check to mcculloch, with instructions to him to present it to the paying-teller of the mechanics bank, which was then on fourth street. he was to present this check at 9:45 sharp, the following morning. i had received a check, a day or two before this, which bore the signature of dr. smith, and had purposely held this out, and was waiting across the street from the bank when i saw mcculloch, whom i will hereafter call frank dingfelter, as this was the name he assumed, and was the name to which the check had been made payable.
on entering the bank dingfelter went to the window of the paying-teller, mr. warner, and presented the check. warner examined the check very carefully, and by reason of its being for so large an amount, and dingfelter being an entire stranger to him (i, having allowed dingfelter time enough to have reached the paying-teller's window, entered the bank with my check in my hand), held the check that dingfelter had presented, and when he saw me he excitedly motioned to me to come to his window. on reaching the window warner commanded me, in an excited[pg 20] manner, to arrest that man, pointing to dingfelter.
i said, "what do you want him arrested for?"
warner, holding up the check said, "why he has presented a large fake check bearing the name of dr. smith, for nearly twelve hundred dollars. why, you know dr. smith's signature?"
i replied, "yes, here is one of dr. smith's checks. i know this is genuine, for i saw the doctor sign it."
he compared the fake check with mine, and i said to mr. warner, "while i am not an expert on hand-writing, i do not believe that dr. smith wrote that signature."
mr. warner exclaimed, "i am positive he did not." then turning to mr. dingfelter i asked, "where did you get this check?"
"i got it from dr. smith," was his reply.
"does dr. smith know you?" i asked.
in rather a gruff manner he answered, "yes, he knows me."
"will you go with me and see dr. smith?" i asked.
"well, i do not know whether i will or not. i don't know who you are," he replied. whereupon i laid my hand on his shoulder and said, "you will either accompany me to dr. smith's office, or i will send for a patrol wagon, take you to police headquarters and have you locked up."
"are you an officer?" he asked.
to which i replied, "yes, i am the chief special agent of the missouri pacific railroad company."
"oh, well," said he, "that is different. i will go with you and see dr. smith."
it was drizzling rain the morning of this occurrence, was quite chilly and the streets and sidewalks were wet and slippery and dirty, as the streets of st. louis were not kept as clean at that time as they are now. i took the fake[pg 21] check and dingfelter and myself started for dr. smith's office, which at that time was in the missouri pacific general office building on the corner of sixth and locust streets. we walked west on pine from fourth. when we reached the corner of sixth and pine streets i gave dingfelter a signal, which had been pre-arranged. this signal was for him to hit me a good, stiff punch, as the fighters call it. there was a large, clumsy patrolman, wearing a raincoat, standing under an awning near the corner saloon. i was walking on the left-hand side of dingfelter, and when i gave him the signal he cut loose with his right hand, which landed just over my right eye and a little back of it. i had instructed him to hit me hard, and if he succeeded in knocking me down and i became groggy from the blow he was to stumble and fall himself, so as to give the big, clumsy police officer time to reach us. the officer was standing about ten feet from us when dingfelter struck me, but i knew how slow he was and i wanted to be sure and give him an opportunity of getting hold of dingfelter. i went down all right, and in fact, was a little dazed from the effects of the blow. dingfelter stumbled and fell, and the policeman made a dash (such as a heavily loaded ice wagon going up hill would make) and succeeded in reaching him, not, however, until he had arisen, and i also had got to my feet. he got to dingfelter about the same time that i did. the latter made a good fight and tore off most of the uniform of the policeman and my coat, vest and collar. all of us went down in the street and rolled around in the mud. our ears and faces were filled with mud, before we finally succeeded in subduing dingfelter, but i am satisfied if he had tried his best he could have gotten away with both of us, as he was a powerful man.
[pg 22]
my office was on eighth street, just north of pine, and this fight occurred just two blocks from my office, and after we had subdued dingfelter i suggested that we take him there, so as to give us an opportunity of washing ourselves while we were waiting for a patrol wagon to take the prisoner to police headquarters. this we did, and on arriving at my office we turned the prisoner over to my chief clerk and one of my operatives, who happened to be there, while the policeman and myself began digging the mud out of our ears and washing our faces. after washing i found that my right eye was very much discolored, and where my face had come in contact with the pavement there were a number of small cuts and scratches, which were somewhat inflamed, and i really had a sore face.
the operative who i have mentioned before, whose name was phillips, on seeing my face said to me, "why, you sure ought to go and see a doctor at once. your eye is in bad shape, and you need medical attention immediately. let me go up to police headquarters with this fellow. i can attend to the matter for you."
i thanked him, and said that i wished he would do so. i told him what had occurred at the bank, and instructed him to make a complaint against dingfelter accordingly. in due time the patrol wagon arrived and the police officer and phillips escorted mr. dingfelter to police headquarters. at this time hughie o'neil was chief of detectives, and major lawrence harrigan, was chief of police for the city of st. louis.
as soon as dingfelter was hustled into the detectives' office in the four courts, chief o'neil and a squad of his men immediately set about searching him. they found in one of his inside pockets a letter, addressed, sealed and[pg 23] stamped, but apparently which dingfelter had forgotten to mail. it was directed to san francisco. they also found about seventy-five or one hundred dollars, and some other articles, all of which were taken from him and placed in the police department archives for safe keeping. the letter was eagerly opened and read. this letter was quite lengthy, and was just such a letter as one crook would write to another. there was then, and had been for some time previous, a gang of bank swindlers working the cities of the pacific coast, and the newspapers had been printing a great deal about the operations of this gang several weeks prior to the time of which i write; and for this reason the detectives of st. louis were led to believe by the finding of the letter that they had struck something which might lead to the capture of the bank swindlers. the contents of the letter appeared in the afternoon papers. some of these papers censured me for having failed to discover this letter.
after reading the comments of the papers regarding this letter, i would have considered myself very stupid, indeed, for having missed the letter, were it not for the fact that i knew that i had not had an opportunity to search mr. dingfelter up to the time he assaulted me and the officer on pine street, and then i also knew it had taken me about two hours to compose and dictate that same letter.
dingfelter was locked up, of course, and the time was set for his preliminary hearing, to be several days later. in the meantime the st. louis papers were devoting lots of space to dingfelter and his alleged crime; a relief to the newspaper readers, as they had begun to grow tired of reading day after day about maxwell and what his attorneys expected to do for him. from the time of[pg 24] dingfelter's arrest up to the time of maxwell's trial, the newspapers scarcely mentioned the latter's name. some of them occasionally mentioned my name in rather a joking manner, because i had been stupid enough to miss that letter. when dingfelter was called for his preliminary hearing he was promptly remanded to jail to await the action of the grand jury.
he was besieged by lawyers who were anxious to defend him, but he declined their offers, telling them when the time came he had lawyers selected to defend him, and steadfastly refused to divulge their names. the second day after his arrest dingfelter was allowed to mingle with the other prisoners in what was called the "bull ring." an allotted time is given to the prisoners each day in this place for exercise. maxwell noticed that almost immediately after his arrest the newspapers were giving dingfelter all the notoriety, and had dropped himself, so he hastened to make the acquaintance of one so notorious when they met in the "bull ring." this was the only opportunity of meeting him, and from the first time that maxwell saw dingfelter he never lost an opportunity of talking with him, and he stuck to dingfelter like the proverbial fly to the horse. the first time maxwell approached dingfelter he rushed up to him and said, "you are dingfelter, i believe." dingfelter replied that he was and maxwell then said, "they seem to have a strong case against you." "you will have to excuse me, sir, i don't want to be considered impolite," dingfelter replied, "but i must decline to talk to any one in this place about my case, as you call it. i don't believe it would be a good thing for me or any other person to talk about a charge that is pending against them in a place of this kind. i shall be glad to talk with you on any other subject, [pg 25]however, but i trust that you will hereafter refrain from asking me any questions regarding the charge now pending against me in court, and then, i don't know you."
maxwell hastily said, "oh, i am maxwell. i am the fellow who is charged with the murder of that man preller, who was killed in the southern hotel, and whose body was found in a trunk. i was arrested at auckland, new zealand, and brought back here to st. louis to stand trial, but i have been assured by my attorneys that i will be acquitted. they have no proof against me, and just as soon as i can get a trial, why, of course, i will go free."
"so you are maxwell," said dingfelter. "i have been reading in the papers about you, and if you will pardon me for saying it, it seems to me that you have already been talking too much about your case. if you are not guilty of the crime with which you stand charged, why you ought to be acquitted, and i hope you will be."
after this first interview between maxwell and dingfelter, he and many other prisoners looked upon dingfelter as being a wise and unusually smart prisoner. dingfelter was in jail forty-seven days, and during all that time maxwell never let an opportunity pass without talking to him. i received daily reports from my operative, a task which i found very difficult, and it became more difficult by reason of the southwestern railroad strike, which broke out on march 4, 1886, and continued during dingfelter's stay in the st. louis jail. being chief special agent for the gould system, my time was occupied in protecting the railroad company's property, and in apprehending people who were continually committing illegal acts. i was occupied almost day and night in this work.
from dingfelter's daily reports i learned that maxwell had admitted that he had killed preller for the purpose of[pg 26] obtaining seven one hundred dollar bills that he knew preller to have, as he had shown him the money in the adams house at boston, before they separated there. he also had pawned the plunder for the money which had brought him to america, and that he had made preller believe that he was connected with the titled family of maxwell, that his right name was hugh m. brookes, and that he would like to place himself under the guidance and advice of an able crook, as he believed dingfelter to be, when he gained his liberty, as he was sure he would, in the near future. he told dingfelter in detail how he had killed preller by administering an overdose of morphia, hypodermically; of how, after dinner on the fatal sunday, preller had complained of a pain in his stomach; that he, maxwell, saw that was his opportunity for carrying out the plan he had already formed for taking preller's life in order to secure the money; that he had provided himself with a large quantity of morphia and the hypodermic syringe, and that he had also procured four ounces of chloroform, for the purpose of administering it to preller immediately before death, to prevent the body from becoming rigid, as it does immediately after death, "as," said maxwell in his explanation to dingfelter, "i had to conceal his long body in the trunk, which was so much shorter, and i did not want to cut off his limbs, fearing that the trace of the blood would betray me."
on receiving dingfelter's report relative to the use of the morphia in the murder, i at once reported the fact to messrs. clover and mcdonald, who immediately arranged with two of the most prominent doctors in st. louis to examine the body of preller for traces of the morphia. messrs. clover, mcdonald, the doctors, an official of bellefontaine cemetery, and myself, went to the cemetery,[pg 27] where preller's body had been buried, exhumed the body, and the doctors made the necessary examination, keeping what they discovered to themselves, and they did not divulge anything about it until called on to testify at maxwell's trial, when they said that the traces of the hypodermic syringe were plainly visible on the arm, and that traces of morphia were found. when maxwell was arrested a quantity of morphia was found among his effects, and also the hypodermic syringe, but up to this discovery neither had been considered in connection with the murder, as it had been taken for granted that preller's death had been caused by chloroform. of course, the exhuming of the body, and the arrangement that had been made were known to no one but messrs. clover, mcdonald, the two doctors, the cemetery official and myself, and was treated as a profound secret.
meanwhile, after dingfelter had been in jail and had obtained the information we wanted from maxwell, i decided that it was unnecessary to keep him there longer, so i arranged to have dingfelter released on bail, which had been fixed at three thousand five hundred dollars. i had ex-judge henry d. laughlin, of st. louis, sign dingfelter's bond. i did this without judge laughlin's knowledge that i even knew who dingfelter was. upon his release i immediately sent him to new york, where he entered into correspondence with friends of maxwell's. just before being released he asked maxwell if he could keep a secret, and maxwell said that he could, whereupon dingfelter said:
"i expect to leave this place soon."
"how are you going to get out?" asked maxwell.
"ah," said dingfelter, "that is none of your business. you said you could keep a secret, and the first thing you[pg 28] are doing is to pry into my business by asking how i am going to get out. after i am gone from here, of course, you will know it, but if you do not know how i propose to get out it will be impossible for you to tell any one about it. for that reason it is better that you should not know anything further than what i have already said."
maxwell apologized and promised not to be so inquisitive again. dingfelter then said:
"now, maxwell, after i am on the outside and away from this place, if i can do anything for you consistently i shall be glad to do it."
"you can do a whole lot for me," maxwell answered, "by getting two of your friends to come here when my trial is called and have them testify that they met preller and myself in boston, and that they accompanied us to the depot when we were leaving boston; that at the depot i proposed that the party take a parting drink; that preller, these two men and myself, went to a cafe, and that i ordered two bottles of champagne, and that when i paid for it i displayed a roll of seven one hundred dollar bills; that i explained that i wanted to change one of these hundred dollar bills so that i might have some smaller change to pay expenses on my way to st. louis. if they will testify to this it will account for the six one hundred dollar bills i took from preller."
dingfelter asked, "are you sure that your lawyers will not get these friends of mine into trouble or let the police get next to them if i can get them to come?"
maxwell assured dingfelter that his friends would be perfectly safe in coming to st. louis, and that the police would not get next to them, providing, of course, that the parties were not already known to the police. he took a card bearing his name from his pocket and tore it in[pg 29] two halves, giving one half to dingfelter and retaining the other himself, saying, "be sure and give these witnesses half of the card, which will serve to identify them to my attorneys when they arrive here, as that half of the card will match the half that i will retain, the edges of the torn card will match and will answer the purpose of an introduction."
it was about five o'clock in the evening when dingfelter was released from jail on bond, and at that hour the courts in the building had adjourned for the day, and the newspaper correspondents and all others had left the building except the few attaches who were on duty. thus dingfelter left the jail unobserved. on his release from the jail he came to my house by a circuitous route, where he remained until a late hour that night, when he left to take a train for new york. i instructed him to open a correspondence with maxwell on his arrival in new york, so as to get positive instructions from maxwell as to what the witnesses were to testify to when they appeared on the stand in his defense. he carried out these instructions to the letter. his letters reached maxwell through his attorneys, and maxwell's letters reached him through the same source, and in due time, all the letters were sent to me with his report. they kept up this correspondence at intervals until maxwell's trial was called. i told dingfelter to appear in st. louis on the morning of the trial, which he did. on arriving here he went to a private lodging house, and being a stranger in the city, his presence was unknown to any person but himself and the circuit attorneys, clover and mcdonald.
when his trial was called, maxwell took the stand in his own defense, and testified that he had administered chloroform to his friend preller on the fatal evening at the[pg 30] southern hotel for the purpose of allaying the pain that he was suffering from, as both messrs. clover and mcdonald had predicted he would testify. maxwell went on to state that preller's suffering was caused by an acute attack of stricture, from which he had been suffering more or less for some time.
on hearing this testimony from maxwell, it was decided to again exhume the body of preller so that the two doctors could make another examination of the remains, and either corroborate or disprove maxwell's testimony, as this was one of the most vital points in the trial. when the body was exhumed the doctors removed the organs, taking them to their laboratory, where the examination was made, and they later came into court and testified that their examination had shown beyond a doubt that preller had never suffered from stricture.
frank dingfelter was among the first witnesses called by the prosecution. in answer to his name, he entered the court room from the private office of the circuit attorney, and after being duly sworn, took his seat on the witness stand. after sitting down he turned his face towards attorney mcdonald, who was conducting the prosecution for the state. maxwell got a full view of dingfelter for the first time since he had seen him in the jail. from where i was sitting i could get a good view of maxwell's countenance. i was watching him closely, and when he saw dingfelter he recognized him instantly. he turned ashy pale and nearly fainted, and would have fallen out of his chair were it not that he was partly supported by one of his attorneys who was sitting beside him. he hurriedly communicated to his attorney that he had recognized dingfelter, whereupon the attorneys for the defense became very much excited. dingfelter was asked by [pg 31]attorney mcdonald the following questions:
question: what is your name? a. john f. mcculloch.
q. where were you born? a. wilmington, delaware.
q. how old are you? a. thirty years.
q. what is your business? a. detective.
q. by whom are you employed? a. thomas furlong.
q. do you know the defendant in this case (pointing to maxwell)? a. yes, sir.
q. where did you first become acquainted with him? a. in the city jail.
q. were you a prisoner in the jail? a. yes, sir.
q. what were you charged with? a. i believe it was forgery.
q. when and where were you arrested? a. i was arrested at the mechanics bank on the corner of fourth and pine streets, this city, by thomas furlong, who was afterwards assisted by a police officer, whose name i do not know.
q. why did furlong arrest you? a. he was commanded to do so by the paying teller of the mechanics bank.
q. why did the teller cause your arrest? a. because i presented a check bearing what purported to be the signature of d. s. h. smith, local treasurer of the missouri pacific railroad company. the paying teller told furlong, in my presence, that the signature was a forgery.
q. did you know it to be a forgery? a. i did not.
q. where did you get this check? a. mr. furlong gave me the check and instructed me to present it at the bank, as i did, and told me that he would be at the bank when i presented it.
q. was mr. furlong there? a. yes, he came into the bank while i was at the teller's window. that was when[pg 32] mr. warner, as i believe the teller's name is, told him to arrest me.
q. then you do not know whether the check was a forgery or not? a. no, sir. i was only obeying the instructions of my employer, mr. furlong. i guess he can tell you all about that check.
the court room was crowded, and as soon as dingfelter stated that he was a detective one of the city detectives rushed out of the court, pellmell, to the office of the chief of police, which was in the opposite end of the building, and informed the chief of what had occurred. the chief rushed into the court room, and from that time on consternation seemed to prevail among all the authorities around the four courts building.
dingfelter was kept upon the witness stand for about two days, and during his entire direct testimony, nearly every question asked him by the prosecuting attorney was objected to by the attorneys for the defense. after mcculloch, as i will call him by his right name hereafter, had been excused from the witness stand, i was called. after being duly sworn and the preliminary questions asked, i was told, by the prosecuting attorney, to state to the court and jury how i had been approached by mr. clover and himself, and what i had done in connection with the case. i gave a detailed account of my work from the start up to that moment, being interrupted occasionally by an objection from the defendant's counsel. when i had finished my direct testimony, all of which has already been related, the counsel for the defense began to cross-examine me. my cross-examination consumed nearly a day and a half.
the defendant's counsel first wanted to know how long i had been in the detective business. i answered that i had first become engaged in the business in september,[pg 33] 1862. the attorney said, "then you have had a great deal of experience?" i answered that i had, and then he said, "where did you get this check?" exhibiting the check in question. i asked permission to examine the check, which was granted by the court, and after looking at it carefully i answered, "this is one of the blank checks that i took from dr. smith's office in the manner already described."
question: then you stole this check from dr. smith's office? a. i took that blank check from dr. smith's office without his knowledge or consent.
q. who filled out this check and signed dr. smith's name to it? a. that check was filled out by one of my employes. i stood alongside of him while he filled it out. he did it under my instructions, and if he had refused to do it i would have discharged him and he knew it; and if the law has been violated in any way i am responsible for it.
the attorney for the defense insisted that i give the name of the person who filled out the check, but the court overruled the question on the ground that i had assumed the responsibility. the counsel for the defense then said, "you know that you were violating the law by having this check made out as you did, did you not?"
i replied, "under certain conditions, it might have been a violation of the law."
counsel for the defense asked, "you know that it was a forgery and forgery is a crime under the law?" my answer was the same as before, that it would have been forgery under certain conditions. but he insisted on me answering him direct "yes" or "no." at this prosecuting attorney mcdonald appealed to the court, stating that the witness could not answer the question with a direct "yes" or "no" unless permitted to explain what the certain conditions referred to were. the court permitted me to [pg 34]explain under what conditions the making of the check would not be considered forgery. to which i replied that inasmuch as that intent is the essence of crime, and that as there was no intent to obtain money or other valuables by means of this check on my part, who was responsible for the making of it, and that i was at the bank on the morning that mcculloch presented the check for the purpose of preventing the teller from cashing the check, if he, perchance, had not noticed that the signature of dr. smith was not genuine, and for the further reason that i had promptly apprehended the man who had presented the check at the bank for having done so. this was all a matter of court record.
here i wish to say that almost every person in the courtroom, after hearing my testimony as to my obtaining the blank checks and causing one to be filled out and presented at the bank, were of the opinion that i had gotten myself into serious trouble. many clung to that opinion until they heard my explanation, and the competent court attorneys saw at a glance that i was safe when i explained that intent was what constituted a crime.
i have been asked many, many times since the arrest of mcculloch and my tussle with him, why i caused him to knock me down and to strip the policeman and myself, leaving us in almost a nude condition, and which compelled me to go around several days with my right eye and one side of my face discolored—as some of them said, "in mourning"—and my answer has always been that i had decided everything i did in connection with the case was absolutely necessary so that i might obtain the true facts of the case, which were very essential for the proper prosecution of the perpetrator of this heinous crime, as he was the only living person who knew the real facts. i knew that maxwell was enjoying the notoriety the newspapers[pg 35] were giving him, and i also knew that the public was growing tired of reading about him, and, therefore, believed that if i could paint my operative as a more desperate criminal for the time being, by the notoriety he would obtain through the papers, it would have the effect of attracting maxwell's attention to him, so that he might bask in the light that was being attracted to mcculloch. and, as it turned out, my predictions proved true. i deemed it necessary to have mcculloch slug me and make the fight that he did with the police officer and myself in order to allay any suspicion that might arise in the mind of the chief of police or any of his men. the chief was an alert and experienced officer, and if he suspected for a moment that mcculloch was not what he represented himself to be, or that he was connected with me, he would have undoubtedly exposed our scheme, and thereby destroyed our efforts, which were for the honest purpose of serving the ends of justice.
both mcculloch and myself were acting parts, and from the result it seems that the parts were acted well. i could have gotten the blank check from dr. smith, i have no doubt, merely by asking for it, but he, of course would have wanted an explanation from me, and if i had explained why i wanted them he would have been obliged to state the facts on the witness stand when called before the grand jury, and this would have been fatal to my scheme. had i told my operative phillips, who lodged the first complaint against mcculloch, or dingfelter, as he called himself, he would have been compelled, under oath, to have stated the truth. this, too, would have been fatal. my keeping the matter a secret, resulted in every person telling the truth, or what they believed to be the truth. i myself, did not appear either at police headquarters or at the preliminary hearing, nor before the grand jury, and was[pg 36] not called upon to testify until maxwell was on trial.
marshall f. mcdonald was sitting in his office one day alone, about a month after dingfelter had been in jail and had made such good progress with maxwell, when william marion reedy, better known then as billy reedy, entered his office. reedy was, at that time, a reporter for the globe-democrat, and was very popular. he knew every official around the four courts and in fact, every man in st. louis who was worth knowing. he was a warm friend and great admirer of mr. mcdonald, and on entering his office and noting that he was alone, he said, "mac, why don't you select the right kind of a fellow and have him locked up in jail with maxwell. he might succeed in getting the facts as to preller's murder from him."
mr. mcdonald was startled to hear this suggestion from mr. reedy, but, being a man of steady nerves, he managed to conceal his surprise. he told reedy that he did not believe that anything could be accomplished by locking a man up in jail for that purpose. "for," said mac, "there are nearly four hundred prisoners in that jail and a man might be there for months before he could get to maxwell, and then it is quite likely that his attorneys have already advised him not to talk to any person about his case."
reedy said, "it occurred to me that it might be a good thing to do, and i therefore made the suggestion to you for what it is worth, but, as you do not think it worth while to try it, just let it go."
he left the office, and just as soon as mcdonald could don his hat and coat and leave his office unobserved, he hastened to me. i saw at a glance that he was excited and believed something unusual had happened. i greeted him and asked him to be seated, and then said, "mac, what is the matter?" he extended his long right arm and [pg 37]exclaimed, "why, the whole thing is up."
"what's up?" i asked, "mac, what do you mean?"
"why, billy reedy came into my office a little while ago and suggested that i pick out the right kind of a fellow and have him locked up in jail so that he might work on maxwell," he said.
"is that all reedy said?" i asked.
he then went on and detailed as nearly as he could recollect just what reedy had said. i asked him what he had said to reedy and he told me. i then said, "do you think that reedy noticed your excitement when he made the suggestion to you?"
"no, he could not have," he replied, "i was not excited, i never get excited."
"you were excited when you came in here, and if billy reedy noticed it when he made that suggestion it might set him to thinking, and inasmuch as you did not take kindly to the suggestion, he might possibly make the suggestion to chief harrigan," i said.
"oh, no," replied mac, "billy would not make any suggestions to the chief. he is my friend and i appreciate the feeling that prompted him to make the suggestion, but confound it, i wish he had not thought of it."
i said, "mac, we know that billy reedy is a bright young fellow, and a great news gatherer, and a loyal friend of yours. i do not believe he will say anything more about it, and now i think the best thing to do is to quietly await developments."
my advice was followed, and i do not believe that william marion reedy, who is now proprietor and editor of the st. louis mirror, has ever known just how much that friendly suggestion of his worried his friend marshall f. mcdonald. i have told in my story how mcculloch [pg 38]remained in jail and got the facts from maxwell, and our scheme was not spoiled by mr. reedy's suggestion, for he never repeated it to any other person.
the testimony at the trial was overwhelming against maxwell, and the jury before whom this case was tried quickly returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, and hugh m. brookes, alias maxwell, was hung for one of the most cold-blooded murders of the age.
the st. louis police department had an exhibit in the educational building during the louisiana purchase exposition, st. louis, which consisted of photographs and police records of criminals, burglars, tools and various weapons. this exhibit also had the noose with which brookes, alias maxwell, was hung, and his photograph and the picture of the two st. louis officers who brought him back from auckland, new zealand. there were thousands of people who viewed this exhibit, and i deem it proper to tell the public that the police department had positively nothing to do with obtaining the evidence that convicted maxwell. they had really nothing to do with his arrest, other than sending out his description. he was arrested through the efforts of capt. leas, chief of police of san francisco, cal. his conviction was due to my efforts and the work of my operative, mcculloch, and to messrs. clover and mcdonald. mr. clover paid the expenses from his own pocket and mr. mcdonald deserved a great deal more credit that he was accorded for the masterful way in which he handled the prosecution, but not one of these names were mentioned in the exhibit at the world's fair. mr. clover paid about six hundred dollars out of his own personal funds for the expenses incurred in obtaining the evidence, and i got a black eye and a swollen jaw as my compensation.
dingfelter, while in the jail, also made the acquaintance of two brothers by the name of johnston, who had been arrested in new orleans and brought to st. louis for safe keeping by the united states authorities, on the charge of having had a large number of brazilian bonds printed. these bonds were counterfeit, utterly worthless to any one who purchased them. the government secret service had captured a lot of these spurious bonds and had brought the prisoners to st. louis until they could be tried in the federal court.
the johnstons took a liking to dingfelter and told him all about their scheme, where they had gotten the printing done, by whom, and all the other facts of their crime. dingfelter did not solicit any confidences, but they, supposing him to be a shrewd crook, thought their secret was safe, until maxwell was on trial and dingfelter, as he was known to them, took the stand and testified, giving his right name, john f. mcculloch, and his business, that of a detective. as soon as the johnston brothers learned who and what dingfelter was, they sent word to the united states authorities that they had admitted to detective dingfelter everything pertaining to their guilt, and they were willing to plead guilty to the charges pending against them in the federal court. this they did when they were arraigned for trial.
