Shetch of the victim, reward poster for the victim with her likeness; victim's headstone.
Shetch of the victim, reward poster for the victim with her likeness; victim's headstone.
Date of Discovery: March 25, 1887
Location of Discovery: Rahway, Union County, New Jersey
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Unknown
Cause of Death: Homicide
Estimated Age: 18-22 years old
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 5'2"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Unknown.
Fingerprints: Unknown.
DNA: Unknown.
Clothing: Dark green cashmere dress trimmed with green feathers, yellow kid gloves, foreign good shoes, bonnet, a black straw hat with red velvet trimmings, a black dotted veil, and a fur cape.
Jewelry: Jewelry of unknown description.
Additional Personal Items: She had been carrying a small satchel, a small basket of eggs, and an umbrella.
A young woman was found was found by four men several hundred feet beyond the Central Avenue Bridge, near Jefferson Avenue, frozen in the mud, at 6:30 AM. Her throat had been slashed in two places and her face badly beaten. Her torn fur cape lay next to her and her body was surrounded by large footprints.
Near the river an officer found a small black bag that contained small articles, some that might have belonged to a man. He also found a basket containing nine eggs, all but three of which had been broken. Across the fence, a pen knife with a turquoise handle was discovered.
Mark Keefe, one of the jurymen, said he had seen the girl's basket in Baker’s grocery store more than a month before and that Mrs. Baker had mended the lid. Billie Byrnes, a clerk at the grocery store, was called in and denied the story.
Since her jewelry had not been taken, robbery was ruled out as a motive, and it was assumed that she was a foreign prostitute who'd fallen prey to a drifter.
Pictures of the girl were published in leading newspapers and crime magazines across the country. Professional and amateur detectives came to Rahway to try their hand at solving the mystery. Hundreds of persons filed through Ryno’s Morgue to look at the body. Despite a $250 reward, no one came forward to identify the mystery woman or to provide any information.
Two and a half weeks after she was found, the unknown girl’s casket was taken to First Presbyterian Church for services. It was carried by six New York reporters who were covering the story. She was interred in Rahway Cemetery on May 2, 1887. Since the young woman's virtue was uncertain, her grave was dug at a discreet distance from family plots.
Though the girl was now in her final resting place, the case was not closed. One man who didn’t want interest in the crime to die was Isaac Crane, who saw a way to make money from the unsolved mystery. Crane rented a store on Cherry Street and on the Fourth of July exhibited a rooster he claimed was hatched from an egg found in the murdered victim’s basket. As it turned out, interest in the crime was still high. Several hundred people came to see “Mystery” the rooster and Crane smiled as he collected ten cents from each customer.
In the middle of June, the case seemed to be broken. In Salem, Illinois, Kasper Shumbeck confessed to the crime. Robert Bowman, the man who turned him in said in conversation that Shumbeck had told him “I did something bad in New Jersey and it bothers me, almost to death”. After being put in jail he wrote his confession.
Kasper Shumbeck comes and makes confession to Robert Bowman and J.W. Conley that on the thirteenth day of March 1887, at Rahway, New Jersey, in the afternoon, that he, the said Kasper Shumbeck and his friend John, a Swede, did kill and murder a young lady about seventeen years of age named Clairy. We met her outside of the town and killed her by the roadside. My friend John struck her with a club and I cut her neck with a pocket knife. I therefore demand that J.W. Conley, a constable of the county of Marion and the State of Illinois, take me in custody and have me dealt with according to law in the matter above stated and I hereby surrender myself into this charge. I hereby make the above confession to Robert Bowman, J.W. Conley and John A. Phillips on my own free and voluntary will, and no act of compulsion on their part.
Shumbeck was sent to Rahway for interrogation. After several days of questioning, it was concluded that his confession was a fraud. In the next few years many people came forward with information, but like Shumbeck’s story they were not accepted as being the truth. A famous New York wax museum offered the city one thousand dollars for the girls clothing, but the offer was refused. The police department kept the girl’s belongings and would not give up hope that the case would someday be solved.
Agency Name: Rahway Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 732-827-2200
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Not entered
Rahway Police Department (archived)
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Added: 1/4/15; Last Updated: 9/18/18
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information may be estimated.
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