Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-02-12
Mysterious Murder of DR.. Burdel il
New York.

most respectable streets in the city OF New
ork on Friday night or Saturday morning,
the victim being DR.. Harvey Burdell, a dem
tist of repute and man Of property, whose
office was at No. 81 Bond street On going
TO the office about o'clock Saturday morn-
ing, the boy who did the chores Of Dr. Bur
dels Office found his employer lying dead and
horribly mutilated in the hall near the outside
door The horrible discovery was soon made
known, and naturally created great excite
ment in the vicinity.
No clue has been obtained to the murderer
or murderers. But that the murder was a
most cold blooded, desperate and fendish one
is evident from the condition of the corpse and
the room. The Doctor was a man of indepcn-
dent fortune but as none of the vauables
about his person or the rooms he occupied had
been taken, it is evit ent that robbery was not
the object of the demon which did the deed,
although it is rumored that the Doctor had
had some controversies with q person with
whom he dealt in reference to money matters.
1t is impossible, too that the fact that other
people lived and lodged in the house, and that
such murder could not have been committed
without creating a great deal of noise, may
aid in discovering the brutal aud savage per-
petrator of the deed. There were pools Of
blood around the floor and the body was CO.
yered with blood
The tongue protruding from the mouth of
the corpse gives presumptive evidence that be-
fore the horrid work was cousummated, the
Doctor had been strangled. One hand was
nearly. severed from the wrist, and a closer
examination revealed fifteen stabs upon the
body.
Tha oh Af
age, temperate in habits aud agreeable in man
ner
1t appeared in the evidence taken before the
Coroner that a Mrs. Cunningham, kept the
house which was owned by Dr. Burdell and in
which he had his Office and sleeping apart
ments Mrs c. testified that she had been
secretly married to Dr. B. but owing to some
disagreement he took his meals at the Metro
politan Hotel since September last The i'll
mates of the House were Mrs Cunningham
and two daughters, Mr.. Snodgrass, Mr.. Eek
ell, and servant girl and neither of them heard
any noise or disturbance during the night
They all were at breakfast Saturday morning
as usual, except Mr.. Eckel, who had gone out
before breakfast, an unusual thing for him.
After the murder Of the Doctor, Mrs. Cum
ningham produced before the CorOner's in
quest, a certificate of marriage with him few
weeks ago-but the minister who married her,
and servant who was present, have failed to
recognize either the corpse or a daguerrotype
likeness as the person to whom she was mar
ried, and the impression is strong that Eckel
was the man, and that he assumed the name
of Dr. Burdell for particular purpose. If
this should be proved to be the case, it would,
in our opinion, go far towards fixing the muir
der on them. There is no doubt that Burdell
was jealous of Eckel or that he had cause to
be. He was evidently tired of the people in
his house, and had written agreement from
Mrs. Cunningham to leave on the first of May,
which he certainly would not have desired if
he had been married to her. This agreement
was among the papers stolen from his private
drawer, which he always kept locked, by Mrs.
Cunningham. If we add to this all expression
made by Eckel to Mrs. Cunningham at table
one day, that it would be little matter if he
(the Doctor did get knock, if it could be
done handy," we have pretty strong evidence
that the inmates of the house were depra we'd,
and that there was an unfriendly feeling towards
the Doctor-of whose company they were evi-
IDENTIFY tired, and portion of whose money
they desired to possess. BY the way this lat
ter idea We derive from other testimony which
we have not room to publish.
Having thus given brief summary Of the
case as it stands, we subjoin an analysis of the
evidence down to Thursday evening, from the
New-York HeraM -
l. The fact OF the murder, which is admit
ted.
I'd. The circumstances previous to the mur-
der, and on the night and morning after it. A
large amount of evidence is brought forward
to show that there was bad state of feeling
between DR.. Burdell and Mrs Cunningham
and Eckel The servants testify to improper
conduct on the part of Mrs C. and Eckel 1t
appears that the Doctor hated the whole par
ty. and they all had i'll feeling against the DR..
The antecedents of Mrs. Cunningham, are prov
ed to have been bad. A neighbor swears that
he heard the cry of murder before eleven, when
all the inmates of the house, except the ser
wants, were up. The servant swears that she
was awakened by an unusual noise, and this
was probably in her first light sleep. Other
neighbors swear they did not hear the cry OF
murder, or smell the odor of burning wollen
described by Doctor and Mrs. Main.