Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-02-06

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ely cut an opening through the ice to
the shore for her to get ont.
fpscm the jasper county Free PSess.l
n ossible Musdes ssd SslciAe ID Jasper
County....A Mas Mnsdese aal Dlssecss
his ~ lie ssA hssss isisss'f.
Tuesday morning our community
was shocked at report brought into
town that one of those tragic events
which tell of the deep dcpravity into
which human nature can descend, or
the intensity of the feeling, that can
rend the human soul, had taken place
in our midst; man had murdered and
dissected his wife and deliberately hung
himself, about five miles west of New
ton, on the farm OF Mr. L. d. Sims.
Reparing at once to the scene of the
murder We we're shown the room in
which the murder was committed-a
very small low room in which we're
found the bloody axe aod blood stained
bed on which probably the deed was
done. Thence, following the clearly
marked track around a small barn to
spot where the dead body Of the wife
evidently had been laid down, into
low straw matched stable, which was
reached through low narrow passage,
we came upon such sight as God
forbid we should ever again witness.
Immediately in front of US as we enter
ed lay the head OF the wife and mother,
partially wrapped in an old stocking
and laid up in the straw near by in
rough log mauger, lay the headless
trunk, wrapped in blue figured silk
dress and bloody sheet, the legs skill
fully severed at the knee joint, and the
stomach opened just below the breast
bone; within a few feet of the head
and mangled body hung the lifeless
body Of the husband and father, his
feet resting firmly on the ground, his
knees bent, and his hands hanging
carelessly by his side. lie had fastened
strap to rail in the low roof, had
then slipped his head through moose,
and the most determined and deliber-
ate manner had launched himself into
the presence Of his God. lie could
have saved himself either by grasping
the rail above him or by merely
Strengthening himself IS he rested upon
the ground. Surely he must have well
coined death as relief from the tor
ments of his poor tortured soul.
An inquest was held in the after
noon which elected the following facts:
The deceased, Harvey Copeland and
Lucinda Copeland, we're about 80 and
25 years of age respectively. They
came from Henry county Indiana,
where the deceased wife has . mother
and other relatives living. Their mar
ried life had been unhappy. For awhile
they lived near Fort DesMoines, but
separating he went to Missouri come
nine months since, and she came into
jasper county to live with her friends.
A short time since he came back and
sought reconciliation which she for
some time refused. Finally asserting,
on Monday they moved into a small
building on the place of Mr.. Sims, he
saying to others that he had determin-
ed to do better, and hoping she would.
The bull ling was some five or six feet
distant from Mr.. Sims dwelling. Mon
day night loud talk was hearJ-pr'n-
cipally the wife's voice, for some two
hours. Then some one was heard to
60 out and return in a few moments,
after which noise as of a blow and
she was heard to cry out "Oh don't
Harv -" Several other blows followed
quickly, and all was still. About two
hours before day the child, bright
little boy three or four years old, was
heard crying and calling for its moth
er, but nothing strange was thought of
these things until in the morning the
little fellow came to Mr.. Sims door
crying with his blood stained shirt in
his hand. Search was Immediately
made and the bodies soon found as
described above. A post mortem ex-
animation of the body Of the wife show
ed three severe blows on the skull, two
of which were sufficient of themselves
to have caused instant death. Her
stomach was found to be opened by
incisions made at right angles to one
another, and pair Of fine CATERS put
within, one Of which was almost torn
to pieces, though evidently new.
The deceased husband was butcher
by trade. He did his work of dissect-
ing with razor found in his pocket.
His object appears at first to have been
to destroy the body and other evil
dences of his guilt, but finding it i'm
possible, put an end to his existence.