(April 23, 1896) The mystery of the man who was driven by a woman to St. Catharine’s Hospital, Brooklyn, and left to die in the street, on Tuesday, was cleared up yesterday. Detective Becker of the Stagg Street Police Station learned that the woman was Mrs. Julia Leonard of Astoria Avenue and Merise Street, Maspeth, and that the man was her stepson, John Leonard.
He visited Mrs. Leonard, who told him she did not know her stepson was about to die when she abandoned him in front of the hospital. He had been ill with consumption a long while, but they were too poor to obtain medical attendance for him. He finally became so ill that he asked her to take him to St. Catharine’s Hospital. A neighbor’s horse and wagon were borrowed, and she drove him to the hospital. She was afraid to enter the place herself, so she assisted him to the sidewalk and drove away She thought he was strong enough to get into the institution.
She did not manifest any emotion when told her stepson was dead, nor later when she was taken to the Morgue to identify the body. The police did not think it necessary to detain her, and she was allowed to go home.
Mrs. Leonard is seventy-two years old. Her stepson was forty8 years old. They supported themselves by gathering refuse from ashes.