Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-04-24
THE MURDEBEE 4egIToHELL
Confession To HIS GOunseI-ROw
Mis Victim was KILLED.
From the Pailadelphla Telegrlph, Is b

4 From the Philadelphia Telegraph, IS d
Whea the letters purportiDg 90 CONS
| from George s. TWitchel, jr., 10 his vile,
| together with her statement, were pub
I iished by Mrs. TWitcnell, the first Inn
preston was favorable to the lady. Since
| then, however, the topic hes been freely
discussed and the tragedy is yet in many
respects a mystery. Outside of our own
community, even, great interest Is felt in
knowing every particular ia any way
connected with the matter. Yesterday
a reporter Of the Inquirer made some in
vestigations into the ciFcU instances bear
ing upon the authenticity or non-aU-
thenticity Of the letters 10 question. In
the letters, while there are many grounds
on which to base the assertion that they
are OF TWitchelPs composition, there are
also pscuiizritiss which seems to denote
that thy are CT different origin.
TWitchelI had the reputation Of being
q coed business man, Cf fair EDUCATION,
and the first two letters, pUrpOrting t.
come from him, and which were wholly
religious in their character, bsar eyi.
dence Of some cultivation, whereas the
important lsttsrs-tbcss containing the
Instructions f0r the o0Dfessioas-Wer
tae production spf an Iliterate person.
These facts seem incapable Of reccuciiia-
tion. II TWiicheH wrote the letters,
even under the excitement Of his i'm
pending death, he would rather, it is
c0nteHdeG, have attempted TO cOuciliats
his wife than 70 have informed her, IN
so many words, of the poor esteem Of
her character by officials Of the govern
ment or by the public. In one part OF
the letter the writer tells Mrs. TWitchell
that, should the people find her after the
confession, she would Do torn to pieces,
and advises her to be ready to fly and,
in another part, she is asked to remain
and submit quietly to srreat-tWO incOD-
sistencies that seem improbable With
the careful originator Of the plots OF the
con niessiOn.
It is also held by those who are busy in
discussing the matter, that it would Eave
been nearly impossible for TWitchell 10
have passed them 70 Mrs. pWitcneH,
with a wGtchful keeper present, even
though the bottle a poison was evidently
passed in. The letters were not in small
folds, nor were they crumpied as though
held longer in the hand, or crushed by
being exchanged in shaking hands or
embracing.
A certain visitor to Twitchell, after the
latter had been cGdemned, offered TO
pass him slip cut from q newspaper
containing some news Of the trial, but
the keeper intgrferred and prevented il,
hencs i5 is very unlikely that they were
passed with the cogtZ 8nce OF the keeper
From inquiry it has also been sscer-
tanned that from some time prior to the
date OF the letters down 60 his death,
TWitchelPs time was nearly wholly Oc-
cupied, either by his spiritual adviser or
his friends calls. His lamp was put out
nightly at nine O'Clock, save only on the
evening preceding the suicide, and yet
be managed, il is asserted, 10 write these
letters, which fl over three columns OF
the Inquirer. That the letters weFe not |
written piscemsal is evident on their
face. Nor could they have been written |
quickly, for they are very closed lined, |
and the letters carefully formed. There |
are but about tTo or three cOrrc ccti0us ia |
the whole Of the " confessions.D Again |
the paper on which they are written is |
from that used by him ia other |
letters, = seeming uDimpOrtan5 fact, |
though il has some bearing on the case. |
A careful scrutiny Of the handwriting |
also discloses something that seems like |
, discrepancy. TwitchalVs manuscript, |
written AZ the presence Of others, Is what .
IS ordinarily termed " back hand, " while /
he confessions. are written in 8 round /
and nearly perpendicular style, with 8
slightly forward inclination.
b sides these, there are in the letters
themselves many Things which seem 20
their alleged origin.
Still another Tum0r has gained cur
'ency that renders these letters less
gorthy Of beliei, II is that Pwitcheil,
)riOr TO bis death, made confession TO
me Of his counsel, IN which be scknOWl-
'dged having killed Mrs. Hill with q
lung shot, aud after throwing her from
he window, sUspeoi1g that life still re-
NAMED, beat heE with the poker.
The rumOr goes even 80 far as 10 detail
ne style OF the weapon. Il is said that
his dipsy was of rOugd make, and bad
5r handle several leather strips, Cu5
rom betting. 1t is also said that this was
0und the day after The murder in the
eilsr Of Mrs. HIPS house, and sscreted.
This gives peculiar perJinsnce 10 the
gequent questions during the trial as to
in the opinion of the experts
the wounds could not have e
,eeu inflicted with q siung shot.
Twitchen's cGu4se', however, deny the
tateneut that u confession was made to
hem and here the matter rests for the
resent.