Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1869-02-24
MURDER OF DR.. BURDELL.

mysterious "Burdell" murder, which caas
ed so much excitement. at the time of its
occurrence. After a lapse of twelve years,
the probable perpetrator of the deed has
been discovered, and the circumstances Of
the case brought again to light. The
main points in the Burdell murder" case
are these, as they we're stated at the time
of the occurrence :: ase
DIR. Burdell was dentist, and man of
considerable property; he owned the house
in which he was murdered, No 81 Bond
Street, New York, and at the time had
rented it to widow lady, Mrs Cunning
ham, with whom he boarded Doctor
BurdeH occupied a sleeping apartment on
the third floor, and Offices on the first floor
for business purposes, he being dentist
with large practice Mr. John j. Eekel,
another boarder, occupied a room on the
the third floor as bedroom On the
morning of January 31st, 1857, DR.. Bur
dell was found dead in his private room,
the furniture was In disorder, and the
body was stabbed in a score of places, and
blood was found spattered on the wall and
carpet, showing that the victim had made
desperate struggle for life, with his
assassin. Blood was found along the
stairway and on the outside door, suffi
GENTLY pointing cut the course taken by
the murderer as he made his exit from
the house. Mrs. Cunningham herself was
in her own room, as she swore, at the
time OF the murder, in company with
Dir. Eckel, and that neither of them heard
any disturbance in the room above. Strong
suspicious were created against her, and
she was arrested, tried, and acquitted of
the mu. der of DR.. Burdell, and the real
perpetrator of the crime remained un
known. s sE. -..s ..s.r.5........
In 1860 two men were shot down in
one OF the streets of New York by the
same person one Of them while leaving
his office and the other while in pursuit
OF the murderer. One Charles Jeferds
was arrested upon suspselon Of having
committed the double crime, but after
considerable delay he was discharg ed
without a trial But suspicion still rest
ing upon him, new course of action was
adopted by the authorities A cool, de-
termined young detective, who had not
been long enough in the service to be
we'll known, was chosen to obtain from
Jetterds himself, the missing links in the
chain OF evidence that should convict him
(Jeferds) of the murder of the two men.
The detective proceeded at once to
Cutchogue, j. l., where Jeferds was
staying, and playing we'll his part, soon
became his intimate friend and confident.
After an intercourse ofthree months with
him, the detective obtained sufficient in
formation from Jeferds to warrant his
arrest for the murder of the two me -
Accordingly it was arranged that the de-
teetiFe should bring Jetferds over to New
York on the pretext of going on spree,
and then at place appointed, they would
De met by two officers, by whom the arrest
should be consummated On the afternoon
preceding the evening appointed for the
spree" JeRerds made the following con-
fesslon to the detective:
That upon the night that the Burdell
murder was committed. he was at the
house of Mrs. Cunningham, No 81 Bond
street. While he was there in the parlor
with the young ladies, DIR. Burdell came
In and had violent quarrel with Mrs.
Cunningham, after which he proceeded to
his room. Jefferds then went to the room
Of Mrs. Cunningham, and hearing from
her the particulars of the quarrel, became
much incensed against Burdell, and volun-
teered to ego up stairs and do for the old
rascal" Mrs Cunningham encouraging
him and informing him of the exact posi-
ton of the doctors room, he proceeded
stealthily up stars, having in his hand a
drawn dirk, which he continually carr ed
about him.. dgga53 a49 hs'.a 5g
The Doctor was so intently occupied in
writing at his desk, with his back to the
door, that he was not aware of the pres
ence of any one in the room, till he re.
ceived the first blow aimed at his heart.
With single cry of murder the doomed
IA an sprang from his char and grappled
til his assassin. The struggle was long
and bloody, but the murderer was enabled
to accomplish his work BY retaining firmly
In his grasp the sharply pointed dirk, with
which he frequently wounded his victim
Strange as this story appears, it is be-
lieved by those high in police authority,
that Jetferds WIS the murderer. In his
own slang language Jefferds thus express
ses this final struggle with Burdell H..
"At one time the old fellow caught my arm
and twisted me against the wall and for .
minute thought he'd be too much for me
but put my hand against the wall and saved
myself from going down, and with the other
| reached under and hit him in the kidneys,
and that fetched him.
Not only his own confession has led
them to this belief, but other circumstan-
ces recently brought to light The fate
OF Jetferds is well known; he vas convicted
OF the murder of the two men, sent to
states prison for one year, AMI then was to
suffer death, but while at Sing Sing. he
himself, the thrice dyed murderer, was
killed by one of his, fellow convicts =
Agentng Wisconsin. a.-s z4o.
.a5E 9-----.x.- 80
SPEAKERsHIP oF THE HOUSE Speaker
Colfax will resign his place IN the House
as soon as the Journal has been read on
Wednesday; the Sd of March, and leave
that body to elect new Speaker for the
twenty-four hours. He does this because