Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1861-12-10
A Foul Murder.

Our city was the scene of as foul and
fendish murder on last Friday evening
as ever marked the annals of crime. One
Of our Oldest and enterprising citizens, Mr..
Benjamin Pickles. was shot down while at
work in his machine shop near the Rock
Island railroad depot. 1t was about s
O'Clock in the evening when the miscreant
accomplished his heinous purpose 1t ap-
pears that the murderer approached the
shop through a dark alley, placed his gun
through window where pane of glass
had been broken out, shot the unfortunate
man, the charge entering his head near the
left eye. killing him instantly, aud fed
without being seen by any one.
Almost simultaneously with the report
of the gun, were heard the screams of the
murdered mans two sons, aged about ii
and l6 years, who we're with him at the
time, and n large number ofour citizens were
soon on the spot. We nave no desire to
witness such another scene. Sweltering
in his own blood, near where he had COM
pleted his days labor, lay the victim of
hellish spite-and the agonizing cries of
his wi fe and children were enough to melt
the hardest heart. The family of the de-
ceased were taken to their home, and the
work OF lerriting out the perpetratOr of the
murder commenced. A jury consisting of
some of our most intelligent and prominent
citizens were summoned by Coroner Dem
mnud.
In the mean time, suspicion rested upon
a German named William Zapi, between
whom and Mr.. Pickles. on account of the
result of law suit, difficulty had existed
Cor some time. He was arrested by Mar,
shall McNerHy and officer O'Brien and lldg
ed in jail. e.sa.
Thejury after a post nortem examination
of the body by Drs. Macarthur and Thomas,
repaired to the Jail to question the prisoner
lie appeared cool and collected and denied
any completely il, or knowledge of the muir
der. lie was closely questioned but his
answers were of such nature as to leave
doubts as to his guilt. The jury did not
give up the investigation here They took
the shoes from his feet and repairing to the
shop where the murder had been committed,
by the light of lanterns compared them
with the tracks made by the person who
had perpetrated the deed, and found an
exact correspondence. The wife of the
prisoner was then summoned, and her sto-
ry differed little frcm his. In ord er to
make the matter moro sure, the coroner aud
jury, aided by States Attorney Logan, cons
tinued the investigation till nearly morn
ing. Among other facts which they dis
covered and which seem to leave little doubt
Of the prisoners guilt, was one of singu-
lar character. The wadding of the gun
was found lodged in the ear of the murder
ed man. 1t was of paper and upon exam.
ination was found to be of German print
a portion Of the jury went to- the house of
the prisoner and by searching the premises,
found ON a shelf in the wood house the
Identical newspaper from which the wad-
ding had been torn. The pieces fitted and
the separated words Joined perfectly. The
jury, of course. found in their verdict that
Mr.. Pickles had been killed by gun in the
bands of William Zapf.
Zapf heretofore has borne good charac-
ter, but he is now in Jail, charged with the
highest crime known to our laws, and nm.
less his counsel can explain the Identity of
the paper and the similarity of the tracks
SO as to place the matter in a different light
than at present, he probably will have to
suffer the extreme penalty. 80
BuRGLARY.-The -four store of Messrs
Howk d Hyde was entered on Saturday
night By Tying the shutter off back win.
dow with bar of iron The money draw
er was broken open, but fortunately the
money had been taken out 80 that The
burglar had his trouble for nothing. 1l7S