The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1867-02-14
Circumssantial Evidence,
A STRANGE STORY.

full vigor has been expended should
be carefully scrutinized--as when life
lis taken no remedy is left the State,
aud no reparation can be made. Mark
ley was executed at Frederick City,
Maryland, IN the summer Of 1880. for
the murder of seven persons--his
uncle Mr.. Nuey, and aunt ehd three
children; his aunt's father aud moth
er. His guilt was so clearly cstab.
lished that no man in populous city
and county doubted IL. yet upon tho
gallows and for days before the exc
cution, he persisted in his innocence.
The execution was public, in the
presence of a very large concourse Of
Icitizeus--the attending clergyman.
after the rope was adjusted, returned
TO the platform three times, and each
time received the same answer. 81
never murdered them, nor do know
who did" This answer Was made
known to the crowd each time and
not one human being present, but
was convinced, that to special cruelty,
was added a stoli1ity aud stubborn
ness, never before manifested in man.
His body was given to surgeons as
soon as removed from the gallows,
and in an adjoining barracks Quilt
by the English before the Revlution, }
was publicly dissected, in the pres
cucc of number of physicians and
medical students, (ofwhom the writer
was one.) and TIE entire day given to
anatomical demonstrations, by medi-
cal gentlemen selected for that pur-
pose. No man objected, no friend
asked for the body, and but one hu-
man being on earth then lived that
knew that Marklcy was innocent,
aud he was silent then, but an i'm
portant witness during the trial
No man will doubt the fairness Of
the trial when | mention the fact that
Buchanan and Shriver presided, aud
the bar of Frederick was second to
none in the Union. James Dixon,
Esq, was Prosecutor, and the So'eighs
were the ettorneys for the deCense.-
The Jury did not leave tho box, and
in the sentence Chief Justice Buchan-
an, with tears, asserted his full assent
to the verdict of guilty, and said that
in long life he had never heard so
atrocious a case, 7rtt
We will now detail preliminaries
aud give the testimony of Que witness
from whose statements there could
be but one conclusion, and tlat Of
guilty.
The prisoner was an. orphan, and
by the court was bound to bis uncle
Fora term ef yoass \ 10 tho usnSl man.
nor, to receive certain education, and
at his majority to have II certain
amount Of money. The boy vas
iudisTosed to 30 20 school, aud was
idle, yet he was not regarded as vi
fcious. Living in the country, aud in
q. family where every moral duty was
lillust.atcd, and whose Kindness was
the ruling element, he had nearly
completed his apprenticeship, without
any special objections being formed
by his uncle or aunt, aud possibly
had not the loss Of thirty five dollars
been discovered and traced to the
boy, all would have gone on well un-
Ill he had filled the time of his in-
dentures. This was the youths on
ly offeuse, and after full confession,
was heartily forgiven and as far as the
family knew, the fact was confined to
themselves, and almost forgotten -
By means as yet unknown, the fact
became known, and the uncle was
summoned before the grand jury, aud
was comrelle1 to testify to the truth,
and in despite of his enireaties that
/ the affair should be regarded as n
youthful indiscretion, a "true bill for
larceny" was found, the boy arrested,
thrown into Jail, and convicted and
sentenced to the penitentiary for three
years. '
He was taken to the penitentiary,
and Notwithstanding the most solemn
assurances Of his uncle and aunt, that
they were not culpable in the expcs-
ure, and deeply sympathizsd with
him in his punishment, he believed
they were not sincere, and said it was
done to avoid the payment of his
"freedom money! lie regarded
them as his worst enemies, aud as
they were the only witnesses, swore
to be avenged upon his discharge
from prison. His uncle could not
make him comprehend the duty of a
witness, and parted with him in tears,
not more from the disgrace of the
boy than from the sorrow, that he
should feel as he did toward family
whose hearts bled at the misfortune
Of a relative. Anxious to disabuse
his mind, he visited the prison and
returned sorrowing that his nephew
should, even after time should have
molifed his feelings, still hold him
responsible and to the last threatened
his life and that Of his entire family
He would be reyenged, and it should
be summary, and sure. So frequent
liy, before his confinement in the pen
itentiary, were these threats made as
to be known to many persons and ev'
cry man from this neighborhood, who
was permitted by the rules Of the pri
son to visit Markley, heard from tim'
the same threats, aad spoke of then
publicly. If the uncle ever enter
tanned fears, he never spoke Of them
/. and time passed to the completion o
;. the term Of the nephew's sentence
whom Immediately thereafter, on
: Saturday night, the uncle's house wa
! discovered ON FIRE. and, before an,
. help could reGoh, was burned with III
a entire contents. No soul was lef
+ alive to tell the sad tale Of thei
l. deaths, and, on examination, Of thei
charred remains, every one was foun'
with their skulls cleft. This left N
y