The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-03-09
A Diabolieal Murder.
A HELPLESS BLIND MAN KILLED IN BED-THE
FTEND DEIIvERs HIMSELF Up-yERDIcr OF THE
ooRoNER's JURY.

cQRONERS JURY.
The community was startled at an early hou
on Saturday morning by the report that coi'
blooded murder had been perpetrated, upol
the person Of one Hugney league, poor bnnt
and bed-ridden man, at his residence In Cal
houn-street, the third house from East Bay
| For time the excitement was intense, and the
crowd which gathered around the premises
were prepared in the frenzy Of the moment te
take the law into their own hands, and seno
the murderer into eternity with short shrl1t
THE vIcTM..
Teague was an old man, who for twenty-five
years has been blind, and for the past 1e"
weeks, unable to leave his bed. He was eating
breakfast about eight o'clock, unattended by
any one save his son William, lad IL years o.
age, who was also eating his breakfast feW
feet from the bed. The room was quite small
and somewhat Uttered with furniture, and the
table in the centre left comparatively little
space for movement. The bed was at the FUR
ther end of the apartment.
THE MURDERER.
While the blind man and his boy were thus
occupied. the door opened, and without warn
ing or proyocation, one Peter Murphy, an Irish
man, who had room immediately above that
of the leagues, rushed in, with pistol In each
hand, halted within few feet of the bed, and
exclaiming, as the lad testi6es, ''what sort OF
man are YOU 2" fired. The ball entered the old
mans temple, and he fell back dead.
HIS EsoAPE AND REcAPTURE.
Murphy now turned, and he was next seen
by several parties running down East Bay with
q pistol in each hand. No attempt was made
to stop him, and not until the facts became
known was the pursuit commenced. He how
ever succeeded in eluding the vigilance OF the
officers snd others until late in the day, when
probably feeling that concealment was no lon
ger possible, he delivered himself to the Brit
ish Consul, saying that he had been accused Of
q homicide but was innocent. The Consul at
once transferred Murphy to the custody Of
Sheriff Hastie, by whom be was lodged in jail.
THE CAUSE OF THE DEED
is purely conjectural. Murphy may have been
laboring under an attack Of n,anta-a-potu, or
temporarily insane from other causes. But
there was 30 much method in his madness as
this-that he selected an hour for the commits
sion Of the deed when the elder brother had
gone to his work, and the mother and daughter
were at the Mall drawing rttions. Only the
inoffensive lad was present as an eye witness,
and the wonder is that, if not in mental hal
lucination, the murderer left this living evi-
dence Of his crime. His subsequent course,
however, indicates that he was not altogether
devoid of sense. The fight, surrender, and de-
NAL Of the crime, showed he was conscious
that the blood Of an innocent man was upon his
hands.
THE coRoNER's JURY.
On the receipt of the facts above stated, the
Coroner promptly impanelled jury, who
viewed the body and heard the testimony oil
young league, which, Notwithstanding his
youth, was clear, succinct, and positive. From
his statement it appears that about week ago
Murphy's cat ate niite pigeons belonging to the
leagues. The deceased said that it was bad
cat, and Murphy gave the little boy dollar to
buy more pigeons With, but there was no quar-
rel between The parties on this score.
After hearing further evidence, as published
.bove, the jury returned verdict that ''the
deceased came to his death by bullet from q
,isto, in the hands Of Peter Murphy about 8
\. NJ. on the 7th."
The scene during the inquest wss exceeding
y affs.ting. The widow and three children
we're present, and their sorrow found vent in
.n exhibition Of emotion that was uncontroll-
.ble. The funeral of the murdered man took
place yesterday, and the body was inferred OF
he Catholic cemetery.
The murderer will be tried at the next term
Of the Court Of General Sessions held in this
pity.
TIE PIONEER IN TaADE.-Many OF those per-
SONS whose attention has been arrested by the
striking. advertisement Of Messrs. B. III.
Rhodes & Co., which appears in our columns,
are not aware that they are reading tho pro-
spectus of the pioneer manufacturers of fertili-
zers in this country. Rhodes & Co. made the
manufacture of fertilizers o business, and gave