Published in the Revelstoke Herald
April 20, 1905
Revelstoke, BC
Murdered, "by party or parties unknown," was the young Japanese woman, Jennie Kiohara, in her house at the west end of the city in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The ghastly discovery was made at 9:30 o'clock, by Mr. Ed. Picard, carpenter, who was making repairs to the house. Having occasion to enter the place in connection with his work he found the body of the young woman lying on the floor in her bedroom in a pool o blood with a blanket thrown over her. Mr. Picard at once notified the police who were promptly on the scene and when the blanket was removed from the body a terrible sight was presented. With hair dishevelled and with fifty wounds upon her body and face, her throat cut from ear to ear, the hands and arms slashed from the finger tips to the shoulder thus giving evident that the unfortunate young woman had at least made an effort to protect herself although the deed was done quickly the victim's life apparently having been taken almost in a moment. The walls and door of the apartment were spattered with blood from the terrible wounds which had been inflicted. The murderer evidently doing his work with dexterity. All the evident goes to show that a number of the wounds on the body were made after death, and that when the ghoulish fiend had finished his butchery he had thrown the blanket over the body and taking the edge of the white bed spread had wiped the blood from his hands and knife, blade, leaving their imprints thereon.
In order to make his escape he must have stepped over the body on the carpet and crossed into the hallway. Here again the significant red footprints on the floor showed the manner of the chamber of horror.
Chief Bain, Constable Sturdy and Provincial Constable Upper were working on the case all day and every effort is now being made to track down the murderer.
In the investigaiton yesterday by the coroner and the police, the neighbors in the vicinity of the bloody deed were unable to give any particulars beyond the fact that the victim was last seen by a number of the women about midnight, when she was in good spirits apparently having no presentiment of the terrible end that was awaiting her in the course of a few hours. It is the opinion of the doctors that the crime was committed between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning.
The motive for the crime is not apparent, since the victim's money and jewelry were found untouched in her room by Chief Bain therefore it is surmised that either jealousy or revenge for some imaginary wrong must have prompted the action.
The police yesterday morning arrested two Japanese on suspicion. One of these is the young man who has been living with the murdered woman from some years past, but here again, there is no evident as yet to connect the prisoners wit the crime and it is likely they will be allowed their liberty. Yesterday Coroner Dr. Cross swore in Messrs. F. B. Wells, A.J. Stone, G.B. Nagle, A. Johnson, H. Thomas and J. A. Smith as the coroner's jury. These gentlemen went to the scene of the crime and viewed the body for purposes of identification and were then dispersed until further evidence can be got together. the Herald trusts that the police will be successful in the intricate and arduous task and so bring to justice the perpetrator or perpetrators of what is without doubt the most blood thirsty and awful crime in the history of the city or the west.
The only tangible clue in the hands of the police is in the from a a comparatively new leather knife sheath 7 inches in length wit sale price marked in ink. The sheaf was found under the body by the police.
***************************
Note: The Revelstoke museum states Wah Chung, a Chinese merchant who owned the house Jennie lived in, paid for Jennie’s tombstone. It was believed that he had had a romantic relationship with Jennie, as well as being her pimp. He was under suspicion for her death, but was never charged.
There is a story that someone, a white man, confessed to Jennie’s death many years later on his deathbed. The information was given to the local police who told the widow of the man who had been police chief at the time. The woman asked the current police officer to tell Wah Chung, since he had been under suspicion for so many years. According to the story, after Wah Chung was told, he said, “Now I can die in peace,” and he passed away within a few months. There is no way of knowing whether this story is true.
Tragically, Jennie was taken from her home in Japan to work as a prostitute in Canada, and then treated with contempt by the Japanese community.
April 20, 1905
Revelstoke, BC
Murdered, "by party or parties unknown," was the young Japanese woman, Jennie Kiohara, in her house at the west end of the city in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The ghastly discovery was made at 9:30 o'clock, by Mr. Ed. Picard, carpenter, who was making repairs to the house. Having occasion to enter the place in connection with his work he found the body of the young woman lying on the floor in her bedroom in a pool o blood with a blanket thrown over her. Mr. Picard at once notified the police who were promptly on the scene and when the blanket was removed from the body a terrible sight was presented. With hair dishevelled and with fifty wounds upon her body and face, her throat cut from ear to ear, the hands and arms slashed from the finger tips to the shoulder thus giving evident that the unfortunate young woman had at least made an effort to protect herself although the deed was done quickly the victim's life apparently having been taken almost in a moment. The walls and door of the apartment were spattered with blood from the terrible wounds which had been inflicted. The murderer evidently doing his work with dexterity. All the evident goes to show that a number of the wounds on the body were made after death, and that when the ghoulish fiend had finished his butchery he had thrown the blanket over the body and taking the edge of the white bed spread had wiped the blood from his hands and knife, blade, leaving their imprints thereon.
In order to make his escape he must have stepped over the body on the carpet and crossed into the hallway. Here again the significant red footprints on the floor showed the manner of the chamber of horror.
Chief Bain, Constable Sturdy and Provincial Constable Upper were working on the case all day and every effort is now being made to track down the murderer.
In the investigaiton yesterday by the coroner and the police, the neighbors in the vicinity of the bloody deed were unable to give any particulars beyond the fact that the victim was last seen by a number of the women about midnight, when she was in good spirits apparently having no presentiment of the terrible end that was awaiting her in the course of a few hours. It is the opinion of the doctors that the crime was committed between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning.
The motive for the crime is not apparent, since the victim's money and jewelry were found untouched in her room by Chief Bain therefore it is surmised that either jealousy or revenge for some imaginary wrong must have prompted the action.
The police yesterday morning arrested two Japanese on suspicion. One of these is the young man who has been living with the murdered woman from some years past, but here again, there is no evident as yet to connect the prisoners wit the crime and it is likely they will be allowed their liberty. Yesterday Coroner Dr. Cross swore in Messrs. F. B. Wells, A.J. Stone, G.B. Nagle, A. Johnson, H. Thomas and J. A. Smith as the coroner's jury. These gentlemen went to the scene of the crime and viewed the body for purposes of identification and were then dispersed until further evidence can be got together. the Herald trusts that the police will be successful in the intricate and arduous task and so bring to justice the perpetrator or perpetrators of what is without doubt the most blood thirsty and awful crime in the history of the city or the west.
The only tangible clue in the hands of the police is in the from a a comparatively new leather knife sheath 7 inches in length wit sale price marked in ink. The sheaf was found under the body by the police.
***************************
Note: The Revelstoke museum states Wah Chung, a Chinese merchant who owned the house Jennie lived in, paid for Jennie’s tombstone. It was believed that he had had a romantic relationship with Jennie, as well as being her pimp. He was under suspicion for her death, but was never charged.
There is a story that someone, a white man, confessed to Jennie’s death many years later on his deathbed. The information was given to the local police who told the widow of the man who had been police chief at the time. The woman asked the current police officer to tell Wah Chung, since he had been under suspicion for so many years. According to the story, after Wah Chung was told, he said, “Now I can die in peace,” and he passed away within a few months. There is no way of knowing whether this story is true.
Tragically, Jennie was taken from her home in Japan to work as a prostitute in Canada, and then treated with contempt by the Japanese community.
Published in the Revelstoke Herald
April 20, 1905
Revelstoke, BC
Murdered, "by party or parties unknown," was the young Japanese woman, Jennie Kiohara, in her house at the west end of the city in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The ghastly discovery was made at 9:30 o'clock, by Mr. Ed. Picard, carpenter, who was making repairs to the house. Having occasion to enter the place in connection with his work he found the body of the young woman lying on the floor in her bedroom in a pool o blood with a blanket thrown over her. Mr. Picard at once notified the police who were promptly on the scene and when the blanket was removed from the body a terrible sight was presented. With hair dishevelled and with fifty wounds upon her body and face, her throat cut from ear to ear, the hands and arms slashed from the finger tips to the shoulder thus giving evident that the unfortunate young woman had at least made an effort to protect herself although the deed was done quickly the victim's life apparently having been taken almost in a moment. The walls and door of the apartment were spattered with blood from the terrible wounds which had been inflicted. The murderer evidently doing his work with dexterity. All the evident goes to show that a number of the wounds on the body were made after death, and that when the ghoulish fiend had finished his butchery he had thrown the blanket over the body and taking the edge of the white bed spread had wiped the blood from his hands and knife, blade, leaving their imprints thereon.
In order to make his escape he must have stepped over the body on the carpet and crossed into the hallway. Here again the significant red footprints on the floor showed the manner of the chamber of horror.
Chief Bain, Constable Sturdy and Provincial Constable Upper were working on the case all day and every effort is now being made to track down the murderer.
In the investigaiton yesterday by the coroner and the police, the neighbors in the vicinity of the bloody deed were unable to give any particulars beyond the fact that the victim was last seen by a number of the women about midnight, when she was in good spirits apparently having no presentiment of the terrible end that was awaiting her in the course of a few hours. It is the opinion of the doctors that the crime was committed between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning.
The motive for the crime is not apparent, since the victim's money and jewelry were found untouched in her room by Chief Bain therefore it is surmised that either jealousy or revenge for some imaginary wrong must have prompted the action.
The police yesterday morning arrested two Japanese on suspicion. One of these is the young man who has been living with the murdered woman from some years past, but here again, there is no evident as yet to connect the prisoners wit the crime and it is likely they will be allowed their liberty. Yesterday Coroner Dr. Cross swore in Messrs. F. B. Wells, A.J. Stone, G.B. Nagle, A. Johnson, H. Thomas and J. A. Smith as the coroner's jury. These gentlemen went to the scene of the crime and viewed the body for purposes of identification and were then dispersed until further evidence can be got together. the Herald trusts that the police will be successful in the intricate and arduous task and so bring to justice the perpetrator or perpetrators of what is without doubt the most blood thirsty and awful crime in the history of the city or the west.
The only tangible clue in the hands of the police is in the from a a comparatively new leather knife sheath 7 inches in length wit sale price marked in ink. The sheaf was found under the body by the police.
***************************
Note: The Revelstoke museum states Wah Chung, a Chinese merchant who owned the house Jennie lived in, paid for Jennie’s tombstone. It was believed that he had had a romantic relationship with Jennie, as well as being her pimp. He was under suspicion for her death, but was never charged.
There is a story that someone, a white man, confessed to Jennie’s death many years later on his deathbed. The information was given to the local police who told the widow of the man who had been police chief at the time. The woman asked the current police officer to tell Wah Chung, since he had been under suspicion for so many years. According to the story, after Wah Chung was told, he said, “Now I can die in peace,” and he passed away within a few months. There is no way of knowing whether this story is true.
Tragically, Jennie was taken from her home in Japan to work as a prostitute in Canada, and then treated with contempt by the Japanese community.
April 20, 1905
Revelstoke, BC
Murdered, "by party or parties unknown," was the young Japanese woman, Jennie Kiohara, in her house at the west end of the city in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The ghastly discovery was made at 9:30 o'clock, by Mr. Ed. Picard, carpenter, who was making repairs to the house. Having occasion to enter the place in connection with his work he found the body of the young woman lying on the floor in her bedroom in a pool o blood with a blanket thrown over her. Mr. Picard at once notified the police who were promptly on the scene and when the blanket was removed from the body a terrible sight was presented. With hair dishevelled and with fifty wounds upon her body and face, her throat cut from ear to ear, the hands and arms slashed from the finger tips to the shoulder thus giving evident that the unfortunate young woman had at least made an effort to protect herself although the deed was done quickly the victim's life apparently having been taken almost in a moment. The walls and door of the apartment were spattered with blood from the terrible wounds which had been inflicted. The murderer evidently doing his work with dexterity. All the evident goes to show that a number of the wounds on the body were made after death, and that when the ghoulish fiend had finished his butchery he had thrown the blanket over the body and taking the edge of the white bed spread had wiped the blood from his hands and knife, blade, leaving their imprints thereon.
In order to make his escape he must have stepped over the body on the carpet and crossed into the hallway. Here again the significant red footprints on the floor showed the manner of the chamber of horror.
Chief Bain, Constable Sturdy and Provincial Constable Upper were working on the case all day and every effort is now being made to track down the murderer.
In the investigaiton yesterday by the coroner and the police, the neighbors in the vicinity of the bloody deed were unable to give any particulars beyond the fact that the victim was last seen by a number of the women about midnight, when she was in good spirits apparently having no presentiment of the terrible end that was awaiting her in the course of a few hours. It is the opinion of the doctors that the crime was committed between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning.
The motive for the crime is not apparent, since the victim's money and jewelry were found untouched in her room by Chief Bain therefore it is surmised that either jealousy or revenge for some imaginary wrong must have prompted the action.
The police yesterday morning arrested two Japanese on suspicion. One of these is the young man who has been living with the murdered woman from some years past, but here again, there is no evident as yet to connect the prisoners wit the crime and it is likely they will be allowed their liberty. Yesterday Coroner Dr. Cross swore in Messrs. F. B. Wells, A.J. Stone, G.B. Nagle, A. Johnson, H. Thomas and J. A. Smith as the coroner's jury. These gentlemen went to the scene of the crime and viewed the body for purposes of identification and were then dispersed until further evidence can be got together. the Herald trusts that the police will be successful in the intricate and arduous task and so bring to justice the perpetrator or perpetrators of what is without doubt the most blood thirsty and awful crime in the history of the city or the west.
The only tangible clue in the hands of the police is in the from a a comparatively new leather knife sheath 7 inches in length wit sale price marked in ink. The sheaf was found under the body by the police.
***************************
Note: The Revelstoke museum states Wah Chung, a Chinese merchant who owned the house Jennie lived in, paid for Jennie’s tombstone. It was believed that he had had a romantic relationship with Jennie, as well as being her pimp. He was under suspicion for her death, but was never charged.
There is a story that someone, a white man, confessed to Jennie’s death many years later on his deathbed. The information was given to the local police who told the widow of the man who had been police chief at the time. The woman asked the current police officer to tell Wah Chung, since he had been under suspicion for so many years. According to the story, after Wah Chung was told, he said, “Now I can die in peace,” and he passed away within a few months. There is no way of knowing whether this story is true.
Tragically, Jennie was taken from her home in Japan to work as a prostitute in Canada, and then treated with contempt by the Japanese community.
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