The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-02-25
The Murderer Of DR.. Durdcll.

"Burdell murder, which caused so much
excitement. at the time of its occurrence.
After lapse of twelve years, the prob.
able perpetrator of the deed has beer
discovered, and the circumstances of the
case brought again to light. The main
points ia ''the Burdell murder case are
these, as they were stated at the time oi
the occurrence:
Dr. Burdell was dentist, and a man
fof considerable property; he owned the
house in which he was murdered, No 81
Bond Street New York, and at that time
had rented it to widow lady, Mrs. Gun
ningham, with whom he toadred. Doctor
Burdell occupied a sleeping apartment
on the third floor, and offices on the first
floor for business purposes, he being a
dentist with large practice. Mr.. John
J. Eckel, another boarder, occupied a
room on the third floor, as bedroom.
On the morning of January 3lst 1857,
DIR. Burdcll was found dead in his pri
vate room, the furniture was in disorder.
and the body was stabbed in 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 .Tas found
along the stairway and on the outside
door, sufficiently pointing out the course
taken by the murderer as he made his
exit from the house. Mrs. Cunningham
herself was in heDown room, as she swore
at the time OF the murder, in company
with Mr.. 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 ac'
Quilted of the murder of DIR. Burdell, and
the real perpetrator of the crime remain
ed unknown.
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 suspicion of having
committed the double crime, but after
considerable delay he was discharged
without t,ial. But suspicion still rest
ing upon him, new course Of action was
adopted by the authorities. A cool, de
terlnined young detective, who had not
been long enough in the service to be well
known, was chosen to obtain from JEFF
ferds himself. the missing links in the chain
of evidence that should convict hin,
| (JeFerds) of the murder Of the two
men.
| The detective proceeded at once tc
Cutchogue, L. I,where Jefferds was stay.
ing, and playing well his part, soon be
came his intimate friend and conEdant
After an intercourse of three month:
with him, the detective obtained sufficient
information from Jeferds to warrant hi:
arrest for the murder of the two men
Acco. dinghy it was arranged tnat the de
tective should bring JeGerds over to New
York on the pretext of going on spree
and then at a place appointed, they woule
be met by two officers, by whom the ar
rest should be consummated. On the at
ternoon preceding the evening appointed
for the "spree," Jefferds made the :fol
lowing confession to the detective:
That upon the night that the Burdel
murder was committed, he was at tht
house of Mrs. Cunningham, No 81 Bono
street. While he was there in the parlo
with the Young ladies, DIR. Burdell came
in and had violent quarrel with Mrs
Cunningham, after which he proceeded
to his room. Jetferds then went to the
room of Mrs. Cunningham, and hearing
from her the particulars of the quarrel
became much incensed against Burdell
and volunteered to ''go up stairs and d(
for the old rascal" Mrs. Cunningham
encouraging him and informing him O
the exact position of the doctors room
he proceeded stealthily up stairs. having
in his hand drawn dirk, which he con
tinually carried about him.
The Doctor was SO intently occupied IL
| 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
man sprang from his chair and grappled
with his assassin. The struggle was lons
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
ing believed by those high in police au
thority, that Jefferds was the murderer
In his own slang language Jefferds thus
expressed this final struggle with Burdell
cat one time the old fellow caught m,
arm and twisted me against the wall, ane
for aminute / 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 l reached under sns
hit him in the kidneys, and that fetched
him.
Not only his own confession has lee
them to this belief. but other circumstan
ces recently brought to light. The fate
of Jefferd, is we'll known-he was convic
ted of the murder of the two men, sen
to states prison for one year, and ther
was to suffer death, but while at Sing
| C;no ho b;msalf the thrica.dyed murderer