The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-01-09
THE DISPATCH.


Sa-1SpAl Sa1SnpAl MVkNISd- Sd-.~.......JAHUARY 9. u
Parricide tn Mssaac husetts.
.1he Boston Herald Of Tuesday oont4iu. the ho
fiots details Of the murder ef Joshua Heath, b
as children, at Dracut, Mass. IL u one Of II
! most cold biooded and heartisss deeds ever con
misted In that State. se
5oung man and Lis sister conspired togsthe
.th terrible maligaity, to kin their father, tbs
sncy niSht ENJOY bis smali property--soms 500
.ne sas.nSs OF many years. This aas the real ms
I've =, ,ne unnatural pair, although they plead,
yosunes.son s Of their act, that the old man Ia
edagsa ITEM dtoss Ing eHougtf
| The woman wss the Hrst TO confess the muris
mr. benjamin hittredgs, who called at the hons
On Monday TO get some work done. When asks
~ssse her iather was, che replied that she did no
wish TO tell, but would II II wasn't for one thine
epon further questioning she said that her LrotAe
nad snot him and that bis dead body was buried i
soc oiae ksmith shop. The deceased was s black
smltnJ She desired Mr.. kittredge, who could no
credit so terrible revelation of crime not TO Ie
any one know the circumstance.
Upon receiving this Information, Mr.. Kittredg
proceeded to the blacksmith shop, looked In at IT,
4 window and on the floor, which Is Of EARTH an,
saw spot Of newly dug EARTH covered ever will
i cinders, ahout the length and size Of q man. III
Nen proceeded to the residences Of Amos Hamb
| ist, ueorge Gutteson, and Jesse Heath, the mur
nerea w naus brother, and with them returned t.
Frank. the con and murderer, went inside OF tn.
place with them, and he was asked IL he WORKED
there. He replied he did at times; at the sans
sine placing piece Of board into vice which he
commenced to shave. rernarking that he was max
ing oox TO put shiuers 10. Mr.. Jesse Heath walk
ca 70 where the earth raised, and asked him
what be had got buried there. He replied that il
vas a dead horse, which he had buried for meat
| for his dog.
when asked If be was not afraid it wou,d smell,
bad, he answered NO: and seeing disposition to
disturb 1t he told them not to- and refused to sell
any sfitwhen asked too 80, saying that he would
pot take forty cents pound Tor 1t, nor any other
IL appears that after the talk about buying some
OF tue meat Mr.. Jesse Heath left the shop and went
70 the house to see the murdered mans daughter.
on returning to the shop he told the son that his
a.nets BODY was hnried there. for be had been in.
iormeo by his sister that she had given her father
apple OF Peru tea, and Prank (ths SOM had shot
him with slugs. The body was then exhumed In
presence OF the coroner and about twenty othsrs--
ne had been stripped Of all his clothes before being
BURIED and the son sods ioearin9 them!
The slug was shown to have passed through the
nead' and on examining the room where the deed
WAs committed. IL was found upon the door GOV
ersd with blood and hair From the admission
MADE by ths mui d.rers they FRS. gave their father
the poisonous tea, and while he sat in chair labor
lagsupder the stupifcstion cased by 1t. the son
loaded gun With siugs, placed it within few inch
se OF his fathers head and deliberately discharged
An inquest was held over the body, and at the
conclusion of the evidence. the jury returned YER
dics-Thst the said Joshua Heath came to bis death
by the wilful act of bis son, the ssii Francis K.
Heath, the daughter Miriam Y. Heath, being acces-
sorry before and after the act.
The following account Of this revolving murder
Is copied from the Boston Traveller:
Frank Heath is q years old. and says he was
born In ealem, n. III. He is feet 33< inches in
height, and rather slender. lie has q full, dark
beard, and though wearing foolish look, is not
very singular In appearance till bis hat, which he
wears most Of the time. is removed. Then his as
psct ia decidedly ludicroua, from total deficiency
OF hair, which he says was lost by the salt rheum
and from the inferior shape of his head, which is
phrenofogically. of very uniutellectual form. He
had on the vest which he took from the body of
bis father, and also one Of his fathers coats.
He showed no disposition to evade questions, but
gave quick answers in an unconcer1ed manner.
He says that he has always been abused by his
father, who was good man when sober, but who
had been, since his earliest recollection badly ad-
dicted to drunkenness. He cannot read vr write
and says his ignorance Is owing TO his fathers
cruelty, who would never give him any schooling
bus kept him at home TO abuse him. His mother
died when he was an infant, and he sRys an elder
brother, whom he can just recollect left home BE-
canse of his fathers cruelty. He has worked on
stone work and at farming occasionally, but says
bis father took all bis earnings for liquor.
His story is that he and his father were at work
on Saturday afternoon, trimming some alders by
the road side, and that his father got angry with
him, and being very much in drink. threatened to
split bis head open with the axe lie then went
home, and was followed by his father who COM
mencej abusing his sister. They soon sat down
to supper. when his father threw butcher-knife
at him because he took up piece of meat. lie
then went out doors aud his father followed with
= loaded gun, and threatened TO shoot him if no
didn't go in He went in, and soon after his sister
gave his father the poisonous tea; he afraid he
would come 10, and 70 be shot him. His story Of
subsequent occurrences corresponds with that be.
Hn sa o. fSa Raw ia Cnn " adj ad Ava
long slugs, and that he loaded it for hawk week
before, but he admits that he and his sister had
been for some time planning how to get rid Of their
father. lie seemed slightly affected while
describing the deed, and said he was sorry that he
had committed it. He said he:never drank any In
toxicatiDg liquors In his life. lie was evidently
not Of strong mind but showed some shrswdness.
aud some Of his answers were evidently framed for
the occasion. urE~e D. ts-.-F 9
Miriam York Heath, the daughter Of the mur-
dered man, ID almost idiotic IN appearance, and
has defect of speech which renders hcr converse
tion almost unintellegible. at times. She is q
years old, has slight form, and her hair grows
nearly to her eyes. She is the mother Of an lille
gitimate child three months old, whose father she
says is Vim. Thomas, mulatto barber, formerly
OF Lowell. She says she went to school "a little
once," and thinks she remembers some of her let
ters. She also states that her father was little
in drink, and her brother very drunk; that her
father did not throw q knife at her brother; that
her brother brought the poisonous stramonium
seeds, made the tea, and administered il himself
that she told her father what he Was drinking
though he was too much Intoxicated to notice it.
and that her brother threw a knife ut her and
threatened to kill her for doing it, She says that
che told the story Of contrary import befors out
Of fear Of her brother, who, she states loaded the
gua expressly for the purpose Of killing his father
and that the murder had been long planned by
him. lie had some time before asked his father
what would poison man quickest, and being told
apple OF Peru seeds, had told her that he was 60
ing to procure some, SOW them by the house, and
when he had raised enough, he would entice In
rich travellers and poison them 50 as to get their
property. 1
Neither Of them seems to have an adequate idea
of what they have done, or the consequences Of
their crime.