Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1857-02-10


possibly interest is duly chronicled. Such a
murder, and such a deep sensation has not been
iknown since the famous cases Of Helen Jewett
| and DR.. Webster. Weg give the following, from
! .Porter,a Spirit of tie Times, as emhodying
about the latest conclusions as to the perpetn-
tors of the fearful crime:
/ Itappears that, while in his own house, and
| in his own room, he was aSSailed by murdererS,
/ who, falling to strangle him with a cord, dis
patched him with knife, and lett him with ms
! head toward the door-tOward which he had ey-
Iilently strained for an escape-dead, and wei
tcring in his blood. The body was completely
| dressed as if the deceased had just come in, and
the fact that nothing was taken from the person.
proves that the crime was not perpetrated Dy
1 robbers, or for the purposes OF immediate gain.
| What, then, was it done torP and who hed any
motive to put the unfortunate man to death!
| Who was in the house? Seven people; and,
! from the testimony taken, tits fair to presume
! that among them laid the crime These seven
persons were the lady of the house, Mrs. Emma
Cunningham and two grown daughters, Helen
\ and Augusta; Mr.. Eckel, who seems to have
/ been the paFamour of Mrs. c.. a Mr.. Snodgrass,
a mere boy of nineteen, whoseens to have been
the loyerof Miss Helen; the servant Hannah,
1 and the Hon. Daniel Ullman, whom we mention
| last. as he merely occasionally occupied room
on the third floor, and was not properly one OF
1.-THE family.
/ Now, swho is Mrs Cunningham? A woman,
to say the least, of very questionable reputation
who succeeded in ingratiating herself with DR..
| Bnrdell; and in obtaining from him lease OF
his house at n very easy rate. Soon after her
domestication on his premises, however, she
! takes into herfamily Mr.. Eckel, between whom
aud herself, at once an intimacy Of an unmis-
takeable character grows up. Their sleeping
rooms connect, and the lady never permits eth
/ or of her daughters to be her night companion.
! The Doctor notices this state of things, and not
1 only at once changes mis- dcmeanor towards the
! lady, but withdraws from her table, and takes
his meals at the Metropolitan hotel. He is not
only jealous of Eckel, but he is afraid of him.
/ Nav, he expresses his fear of both, to two or
! three persons, and on no prctence will he taste
food or touch drink in the house. Under this
state of things, he has frequent casual disputes
I! or ouarreIs with Mrs. Cunningham, and among
other things, accuses her of plundering his safe
of valuable papers, to wit: an evidence OF debt
against herself of several hundred dollars. As
The is free in making this charge against her
lshe commences suit against him, laying her da-
nIalsvs aIn, nnn, I,,F this dispute l. cnmnrO-
missed without going into Court, and the Doctor
] gives her bond, guaranteeing the house to her
till the following June, and binding himself not
to iniure or interfere with her again. This is
the state of things in the house, No. 81 Bond
street, on the afternoon of Friday, the 30th of
January.
At five o'clock on that afternoon, Mrs. Cnn-
bingham says she saw the Doctor go out She
spent the evening, at home with her two daugh-
erS, Mr. EcSe, and Mr.. SnodgraSs. At half
Dast nine, the two daughters retired to their
,ooms, on the fourth floor; and Mr.. SnodgrasS
lfter going to the cellar for a pitcher of water,
retired to his. At ten o'clock, Mrs. Cunningham,
accompanied by Mr.. Eckel went to the kitchen,
md ordered the servant Hannah to bed. Be-
tween ten and eleven, she says, she parted from
Mr.. Eckcl; and, few minutes after that, went
to his door, and handed him note, which had
been left for him that evening This brings mat
tiers down till nearly eleven O'clock; and, from
that time, none of the inmates of 81 Bond street,
were disturbed by the slightest noise. A neigh
hor on the opposite side of the street, however,
at quarter of IL, heard the tramp of feet, and
the cry Of ''Murier!" repeated twice, in half.
Stifed voice. The noise seemed, he said, to
come from DR.. Burdell's house, and he hurried
to the front window. and looked over the way
But the noise had ceased, and, judging his ear
to have been deceived by some street atfray, he
returned, and went to bed. Two other neigh
bors detected the smell of burning WOODEN at in.
tcrvals through that rough and gusty night.
In the morning ut halEpast eight o'clock, the
body was discovered by the Doctors Office boy,
! who at once gave the alarm to the family. Mrs.
Cunningham, on hearing the news, wept and
tore her hair, but she did not go down stairs to
look at the corpse. Mr.. Snodgrass went for
physician, and Mr.. Ullman came down stairs;
but Mr.. Eckel, in answer, as it would appear, to
the note left for him on the night before, had
gone out before breakfast, thing which he
never done before. Presently Coroner and Off
GERS came, took charge of the house, and made
through search. On the Doctors body, in
addition to the marks of the ligature, that was
intended to strangle him, We're fifteen deeply
incised wounds, the last of which had severed
the carotid artery in the neck, and in one broad
gus let out his life The blood spirited on the wall
a y
the murderers for their dripping skirts tracked
them where ever they went. Marks of blood
were found in the adjoining closet where the
wretehes had washed their hands, and from the
scene Of murder, the blood was traced up stairs
to the fourth story, in a sort of store room
for dirty clothes; from thence intoa vacant room
in front There was blood on the knob of the
door. and in spots on the floor There was
here, also, crate partially burnt out, in which
there seemed to be some fragments of burned
wolen, and the fire appeared to have been cXtin-
! guished by pouring water on it, as the mantle
piece was covered with thick coat of ashes.
The blood on this floor had been covered care
1 fully with drops Of spermaceiti. From thefourth
story to the basement the dripping garment had
made their way probably after water, and the
basement door was stained, where the asSassins
had either tried it were Safe opened it to let
one or the other temporarily out.
These were the signs of the crime; and on
this basis the Coroner began his investigation.
In turn. Mrs. Cunningham, the servant Hannah,
Mr.. Eckel and Alr. SnodgraSs testified that they
had heard no noise that night; and Mrs c., af-
ter giving in her main testimony, produced Ger.
tificate of marriage, dated 2sth Of October, made
between her and DIR. Burdcll, by the Rev. Uriat
MarviRe. DR.. Marvine, on being called, howcv-
er, did not clearly identify the body as that of
the man who married Mrs C., and the servant
| of Mr.. NJ, who saw the ceremony, was likewise
not positive in the matter; both thought the
man wore larger whiskers, and looked different
ly, aud an impression was thus left on the public
mind that Eckel hadpcrsonated Dr. Burdell, and