Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-07-14
! horrible Mnrderl

a scene of the most heart thrilling in
/ terest has been transpiring in our County,
for d few days past: Neither time nor
room will permit q lengthy detail of the
facts, but we viii Try 70 give the substance
as briefly as, possible. ss..{ ,,.-.s
Sunday morning last. asschild Of
Scdmp of Jefferson township, scarcely five
years OF age, was seen going away from
the houses with young man by the name
Of Daniel Heckershorn, about eighteen
years old. A little brother Of the child
came back and said his brother, calling him
by name, "had gone TO the big woods with
his uncle Dam, After some time the
parents feeling somewhat uneasy, about
him, began to look for him. Might came
and he was not found. The neighbors
gathered in 10 assist in the seurch They
continued the search until sometime in the
day, Wednesday,, without avail, when
Heckerthorn who had, been arrested on
suspicion Tuesday, confessed that. he had
POISONED THE CHILD. AND HID! THE BODY,
He, went; with the company and after some
time found, 1ae spot. ~ THES BoDY.HADs BEEN
THuRsrsHEADl lFoREaosr, into a hole which
had been cut into the side of a hollow tree,
some rotton wood thrown in upon it, and
some green twigs of spice bush upon the
rotten wood A Coroner's inquest was
called at which Heckerthorn confessed in
substance as fo!lowss That last week
fortune teller by the name of Andrew Ty-
Ter hired him and was to give him fifty
cents per day, and pay his expenses to ac-
company him on his travels, and to begin,
he must poison this child ,and hide the body.
The Sunday following, which, was last
Sunday. That. then, they wound leave
the county for sometime, wait until the
excitement had died away,s q come back,
sand Scamp would give him something
handsome 10 find his lest child by his mag
il art "a 'Fyler gave. him some poison in q
stick of candy, and on. Sunday he induced
the little fellow to go TO the woods with
/ him. he gave him the candy; in a few
minutes the child's face began to grow
black and in fifteen minutes after he had
given him the candy, he was dead. The
physicians, who were called to make
posi- ,nortem examination, stated that the
: stonlach. showed signs of poison, and the
mouth more, the, tongue was swollen SO
that it tportruded from, the mouth; but stated,
that the child could not have come, to its
death, i'm such a short, time as, II eckerthorn
had stated, that it died from, theaeffects of
the poison. They discovered a little back
and below the right ear, fracture in the
skull, two and q fourth inches: in length,
and three eighths Of an inch in. breadth.
The blood was settled upon the. brain un.
derneath the fractured part. and the neck
was dislocated also, so that it was, very ev-
gident it had received severe blow on. the
! back of the head with a club The jury
brought in their verdict, that the child had
come to its death by the violent hands OF
Heckerthorn and Tyler. .Heckerthorn,
Tyler, and one Levi Davis was, arrested,
examined before a magistrate, and COM
mtted to Jail to await their almost certain
doom. The public had gathered by
Wednesday to the number of five or six
hundred, and the degree of excitement ex
listing during the inquest end examination,
was m ost intense. 1t was with extreme
difficulty.that the crowd couldbe restrained
from laying violent hands on the old ''for-
tune. steller,'o', aad tearing him i,sto pieces.
Heckerahora sta ted also that I Ter said he
had disposed OF several children IN the some
a,vay - Witiams County co. Norih-
Western. -S-----Tl