One might be a bit hard-pressed to find a readily available burlap sack today, but that certainly was not the case in the past.
And what a perfect way to get rid of body parts!
Sections of Body Found in Sack
NEW YORK, September 23, 1906. – A burlap bag stamped with the name “Z. K. Mano,” a strip of a woman’s skirt and an oil cloth are the only clues to the perpetrator of a revolting murder committed early today.
The dismembered body of a man, apparently an Italian, wrapped in the bag was accidentally discovered in an excavation at 604 West Thirty-sixth Street. The discovery was made by the day watchman.
Later a systematic search by the police disclosed parts of a man’s legs from the knees down and the arms and hands. These were wrapped together in a newspaper dated September 10, and bound about the bundle was a strip of a woman’s skirt.
All was neatly and securely tied with a string suggesting deliberate preparation. This latter bundle was found under a covering of hay in an empty freight car at 36th Street and 11th Avenue.
The head and thighs of the man are missing.
It is the theory of the police that the murder was committed near the spot where the body was found and parts were carried away for the purpose of disposing of them at some distance from the scene of the crime.
The police believe that the persons carrying the bundles became alarmed and hurriedly disposed of them at the nearest convenient hiding place.
Coroner’s Physician Weston, who examined the body, said that the work of dismemberment had been skillfully done. He said that from appearances the remains were those of an Italian or Syrian.
The body had been washed after death. The physician said that death had occurred after Saturday midnight.
There were three stab wounds on the body, one being over the heart.
Using the burlap bag which bore the name of “Z. K. Mano” as a clue, the police learned that a Syrian nut importer of that name at No. 67 Washington Street died six weeks ago and three weeks later his wife auctioned off the stock in trade of her late husband’s business.
A number of sacks similar to the one in which the body was found were among the effects sold and the police are trying to trace them.
Source: The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]), 24 Sept. 1906.
