The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-11-17

| The knife of the assassin has again been at
work in our community, and the blood of q
murdered victim-and that victim woman
again cries to heaven for vengeance. At the
dead hour of one o'clock yesterday morning,
as the drOwsy Waterman on Delord street was
slowly walking his beat, his ears were startled
by the cry of swatch watch murder ~ en-
anating from the vicinity of Levee and Delord
streets. Springing his rattle and Fastening in
| the direction Of the cry, the guardian of the
night soon came up to man in front of a mis-
cradle looking building on Delord, between
TchoupitOulas and Levee streets. In hurried
and confused manner, the man told him that a
foul murder had been perpetrated in the house,
and young Irish woman named Bridget Rus
sell had been inhumanly butchered. The watch
man fastened in and found the murdered wo-
man lying on bed weltering in her blood in
the last agonics of death. He asked her who
was the perpetrator of the fearful deed. She
replied, at was John, my husband and
saying which, she instantly expired. John
Melvin, the man who called the watch, was
the husband of the murdered woman, or at
least bore that relation to her, although they
were never married, it appears; and the watch
man at once arrested him. He was in the
room all the time, made no effort to escape, and
appeared to be perfectly unconcerned about
anything that was passing. Deputy Coroner
Terrell was called in to hold an inquest on III"
body Of Tho uvnIaD. from the evidence De-
fore the jury, it appeared that she and Melvin
had been living together in the house, that she
had been very drunken and dissolute in her
habits-and on Saturday night, at a late hour
room when suddenly the inmates Of the house
hx< no of tob y, from
Melvin, in the street, in front of the house, and
informed by him that Bridget had taken a fit
and was splitting blood-and on going to her
room, they found her in the condition as stated
when the Waterman came in. The dying de-
claration of the woman is, that it was John,
her husband, who had killed her, who was also
taken as evidence before the jury, who, after
due dcliberation, returned the following ver-
dict: Bridget Russell came to her death
from wounds inflicted in the left leg, severing
the femoral artery, by sharp-pointed instru-
ment in the hands of John Melvin, on the night
of the 2lst instant"
The wounds in the leg Of the woman were
three in number, and were on the inside-one
in the thigh, the other two were gashes across
the leg below the knee, penetrating to the
bone. The murdered woman was about twenty
seven years of age, and was rather pretty
Melvin the supposed murderer, is fifty years
old, grey-haired, and with a long, grey beard;
he does not look like murderer. His occupa-
ton is that of levee laborer. He asserts that
he is altogether innocent of the crime with
which he stands accused; that he entered the
room and found Bridget splitting blood, and in
dying condition, and then called the watch.
He says she must have cut herself, as she was
generally drunk, and when intoxicated, was
almost crazy. He is an Irishman by BIRTH
The accused does not appear to mourn the loss
Of his mistress very deeply. He is locked up
to await his examination before the Recorder
on the charge Of murd-r.
The evidence against the old man, with the
exception of the womans dying declaration, is
purely circumstantial. There is another indi-
vidual who was with Melvin all night, who is
strongly suspected, but whom the police have
not yet been able to arrest.-New Orleans
Delta.