New York, Aug. 28.
Annie Moore, 50 years old, was brutally murdered in a little furnished room at No. 6 Second street, just off the Bowery, some time between 11 o'clock last night and 2 o'clock this morning. The woman was horribly slashed. There was a wound in the neck under the left ear, which had severed the jugular vein, another cut ran across the right side of her neck; the breast was slashed and there was a fearful wound in the stomach. The horrible wounds recalled at once to the minds of the officers and doctors who were called the Jack the Ripper murders some years ago.
James Moore, 38 years old, a bricklayer, brother in law of the woman, but who has been living with her for seven years, is under arrest in connection with the murder as a suspicious person. It was Moore who notified the police at 2 a.m. that the woman had been killed and he led the police to the house. A hurried investigation by the officers showed no signs of a struggle and they concluded that the woman had been attacked in her sleep. On a pillow, which lay across her face was the imprint of a bloody hand. The victim's hands were clean so that the police believe the mark must have been left by the murderer. The police believe that this clue will lead to the detection and identification of the murderer. No weapon was found on the premises.
Moore maintains that he is innocent. He told the police that he left the house on Second street at 7 o'clock last night and went to the London saloon, No 239 Bowery, where he remained until 1 o'clock this morning. Police inquiries at the saloon developed the information that Moore had been there until just before 10 o'clock when he left. Lodgers in the Second street house told the police that Moore returned home about 10 o'clock and that he did not go out again afterwards.
The murdered woman before her marriage to the prisoner's brother was Annie Fitch. Moore, the prisoner, is in an advanced state of consumption. He has a wife and children living hardly a stone's throw from the scene of the crime.
Three life insurance policies were found in the room. They were issued by the Prudential Co. May 1, 1906. One of them, for $275, was on the life of the woman and made payable to the prisoner. The others were on the life of Moore, made payable to the woman.
James Moore's son Edward, aged 18 years, was arrested and technically held as a witness in the Moore murder case after his father had been examined by the police. The youth is said to have suffered from epilepsy for several years.
Moore's son Edward testified before the coroner today that his father was accused by the dead woman of having brutally beaten her last Sunday. Moore admitted striking the woman. He was held without bail by the coroner.
