Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-02-25
The Dena street MuFdcr.---st1il Inval-
vta n Mystery.

y : /.
# We take tie following from the n. 7. Tim
Of Thsrsday q 81 u, 49, S.. ~ ~
i Not the ieass progress was made yesterd.
towards discovering the murderer Of Dr.. Blu
/ deli. Indeed The mystery seems 70 grew dee
| er and more impenetrable with every successiv
1 step oil the investigation. II was natural ths
suspicion should first fzsten upon tie inmates {
the house. The coroner from the beginning E,
identity assumed that they were the guilty. psl
lhes; and the inaueat had been conducted upo
this impression. Testimony has been sought "a
ther TO make It probable that they were th
murderers, than to elicit AL the facts counecte
with the murder Yet with every snccessiv
step in the inquiry, one after another Of the sus
picions circumstances is explained, and we pre-
sumo every lawyer win agree with US in sayin,
that, at this moment, there is not the slightes
legal evidence to convict any Of the inmates o
the house Of any connection with this horri.
crime.
II has been proved that Or. Bardeu and Mrs
Cunningham had been on unfriendly terms, tina
she had commenced suits at law against him
and complained OF him az having done hel
wrong. But it is also shown that these suit,
had been withdraw, and that all their differ
ences had been an{lcably and finally settled. Il
is also claimed that she tried to entrap him in
marriage; and while she claims to have succeed.
ed, it is alleged, OF rather suspected, that this
was false, and that he was personated in that
ceremony BY Mr.. Eckei. But this is by no means
proved; and if it were, it would fall very far
short Of evidence to support the charge OF mur-
der. On the other hand it is shown that on the
night Of the murder she invited her two daugh.
ters to sleep with her for the first time, because
they were going away early in the morning, and
that they did so. This is absolutely incompati-
bic with the supposition that she took any per.
sonaI, premeditated par in that murder, except
on the incredible suppostion that she inyolnnta-
rily admitted these daughters to knowledge Of
her share in that transaction, or the still more
monstrous hypothesis that they also shared her
guilt They have not yet been examined, but
we presume they viii testify to her not having
been absent from her bed room after ii O'Clock
on the night in question. The most extraordina-
ry latitude has been permitted in the introduc-
ton Of testimony to blacken her character, appa-
rently for no other purpose but to show chat she
was capable of the crime. The suspicious cast
upon the manner Of her first husbands death
were dissipated yesterday by Mr. Ladd's evil
ness OF nine months. Nothing that she has said
Or done since the murder, upon the first hear
ing of it or at any other time seems to furnish
US even presnmptive evidence of her guilt.
With regard to Eckel, the case against himis
not one whit more clear. He disliked Dr. Bur-
dell, as did many other persons in the communi-
", and probably with much less reason. But
nothing whatever is shown that indicates him as
the doctors assassin. The circumstances which
1t the outset looked suspicious are gradually ex-
planned. lie left the house at an unusually ear
y hour the next morning, but abundant proof
shows that this was in pursuance of business
which he kept, all the details OF
which have been fully shown. The statement
hat Mrs. Cunningham went to his store in a car
riage that day, and received from him q roll Of
bills, has been disproved, and it is shown that
ne took his account books from the store io-,
The purpose Of examining and posting them at
his rooms on Sunday. Neither this nor any
hing else that he has said or done seems to us
1t all conclusive as to his participation in the
murder. And in regard to young Snodgrass,
The presumption of guilt, warranted by evidence
s still weaker. The two little sons of Mrs
Cunningham slept in his room that night, as usu-
Il and nothing yet as been adduced to show
hat he was absent from it. The bloody clothes
found in the garret have been accounted for:
he dagger found in one Of the, rooms, it is set
lied was not large enough to have inflicted the
,tabs, the papers found in Mr.. Eckels room were
in Mrs. Cunningham's desk, and they belonged
properly to her rather than to DR.. Burdell, be-
ng stipulations, checks, &C., made by him for
her benefit, and SO far as we can perceive, moth
ng whatever has yet been proved which war
.ants well grounded belief or even legal pre-
sumption or suspicion, that the deed was per-
petrated by the inmates of the house.
The great difficulty which the public encounter
in acquitting the inmates of the house, grows
probably out of the tact that such deed should
nave been done, at such an hour, and no per-
son within have heard the fSintest sound of any
Kind whatever. II Mr.. Brooks is correct in say
ng that he heard the cry OF murder at half past
zen o'clock, or quarter before eleven, and if
The cry thus heard was that of Burdell, 1T adds
greatly to the mystery Of this utter ignorance
,n their part. Snodgrass went down through the
hall to the basement at half past ten, lighting a
gas light in DR.. Rurdels hall on the way, return
I'd. extinguished it, went up TO Mrs. Cunning
hams room, where he staid fifteen or twenty
minutes and then went to bed. Hannah, the
cook, went up to bed about ten. From ten to
eleven, Mrs. Cunningham, her daughters, Eckel
md Snodgrass were in her room, none OF them
apparently having.gone to bed before eleven
o'clock. Under all these circumstances it seems
very difficult to fix the murder earlier than IL
o'clock, or even quarter after, as cry OF
murder from that room, with the noise OF the
struggle that must have taken place, would Ger
.ainly have been heard by some body. From
to l2, Mrs. Schwarzwelder was in the cores
ponding room OF the next house,. with only a
wall between, through which she had frequently
head the noise of the Drs little dental hammer;
md while she is confident she would have heard
cry or anoise Of any kind, if any had been
made, she heard nothing whatever. At II her
husband came in, at l24 Mr.. Ullman entered,
passed up stairs, and went to bed without hear
ng the least noise. Under these circumstances
It seems very difficult to feel sure that the mur-
der was committed before the hour last named;
and if it was done after that hour, it wasproba-
bly, done By parties ,cho hare not yet fallen an
Ter Suspicion. sif32F
The first step which should have been taken
in this inquest, after fixing the fact of the mur.
der, was TO trace Dr. Burdell from the time hcleit
The house at clock, according to Mrs. Cum
ningham, until he returned to it. He was some
where and probably with somebody, during all
that time, and due diligence on the part OF the
authorities would certainly reveal where and with
whom. There are, or were, bioodmarks upon
the outside of his room door-upon the wall of
stairway leading down, and upon the outer door
las OF person groplng his way out in the dark.
It is quite possible that Burdell may have brought
some one home with him who, after converse
ton more or less protracted, may have killed
him and then gone out. Indications, certainly
are not wanting, that the murderer went out at
the outer door, after committing the act, and it
is annoying to think of the abundant time he
has had, while the inquiry has been pushed in
other directions, to destroy all traces of the act
if the investigation should ever turn toward him.
It seems to us highly important that this field
should be explored-that DR.. Burdell's wherea
bouts during.t that evening should be ascertained
aud special inquiries of The police and others be
made in regard to any body seen in the vicinity
of the house late that night.
A Big sroRY OR BIG Snow BASK.-The
is letter from Essex, Mass, dated
Friday, Jan. 80, 1851: R7
In the snow storm on the night of the 18th,
the dwelling of Mr.. William Perkins, good
sized two.story frame house, located under the
brow Of hill, in the town Of Essex, Mass, was
buried in drift above the chamber
windows insomuch that the occupants were
unable to ascertain when it was morning, ex-
cept by the clock. Mr.. Coggswell, one of the
neighbors, shoveled away the snow from one of
the chamber windows, when Mr.. Perkins took
the sash out, and thus obtained egress. He was
obliged to dig thirty-seven feet OF arch-way be-
tween the house and barn, and towards the
nearest road, &c. The snow above one OF
these arches was eight feet in depth. The pres