Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-12-29
IFrom The Cleyoland Plain Dealer.l

From the Cleveland Plain Dealerl
he Murderer OF the Coy Family
Escaped from Isrison--No Cline OF
his Whereabouts have yct been
Discovered-F'uIl Pnrticulars OF
the Escape.
A gentleman residing in Medina, who is
lily posted In regard to the above event,
nds us the following for publication In our
jlumns:
On the night of the oath, or the morning
II the 25th, Frederick +. Streeter, who was
/ ,nyicted of the murder of the Coy family
yld sentenced to be hung on the 18th OF
february next, escaped from the Jail OF
i uedina county, and has thus far eluded the
Vigilance of those In pursuit.
The facts in connection with the escape OF
Streeter, as near as we can gather them, are
theses
The jail of Medina county Is constructed
with dwelling apartments for the jailor and
his family in one end of the building and
the cells for the prisoners in the center OF
the other end, around which Is hall or
walk some six feet In width. This hall Is
shut out from the jailor's apartments by two
strong iron doors, locking upon the side op-
posite from the hall. l9 t.'al
The prisoner was confined in one of the
above described cells, and was the only
prisoner in the Jail at the time. He effected
his escape by crawling through the wall OF
his cell and creating an opening into the
cell opposite, the door of which opened into
the hall upon the opposite side of the jail,
which was left unlocked. This gave the
prisoner free access to the hall. He next
waited his opportunity for escaping from
the hall, and this happened upon the, even
t,,rr Of fha af
son of the jailer entered the hall, leaving
the door, as is supposed, unlocked after
him, while he was engaged In building q
fire in stove which was situated in the hall
a little beyond the door of Streeter's cell.
The prisoner then crawled through the hole
in the wall into the opposite cell, and from
there into the hall, aud, unperceived, Slip
| ped round and through the doors and up
| stairs, where he had no more bolts or bars
| to obstruct his passage, and some time dur
ing the night he jumped from window in
the upper story and was free. AS to the
means he had for cutting the hole in the
wall, little or nothing Is known.
That he had been some time engaged In
his operations is evident from the fact that
his first attempt to escape was through thu
he had carefully cut away, but striking
heavy timbers he abandoned his job anC
concealed his work by pasting piece o
white cotton cloth over the spot, which st
nearly resembled the wall of the cell, as tC
prevent his detection. 1t is also evident
that he passed through the opening in the
| wall more than once, from the fact that .
sheet upon the opposite had been tackled
over the hole. The mystery of the manner
In which he became in possession of the
tools necessary for the work is removed
| from the fact, that there is window in the
| Jail so situated in reference to the door Of
| the cell in which the prisoner was confined
that any small tool could be passed to him
through the CRATES in his door, from per-
son upon the outside of the Jail, if attached
to long pole. ~
Before taking the leave of the town nc
left under the door of the house of the
father of his wife note wishing her amer
ry Christmas, asking her to prove true to
him, and assuring her that they would yet
again be happy together.
As the murder and the circumstances In
connection with 1t were unparalleled in
atrocity, and as the prisoner was proven
guilty beyond doubt, we hope every citi-
zen in Ohio will feel called upon to assist
in his capture to the best of his ability.