The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-01-16
A MYSTERIOUS CRIME.
TIE MURDER OF DIR. MERRYsrAN
COLE, OF BALTIMORE.

THE MURDER OF DIR. MERRYBTAN
COLE, OF BALTIMORE.
The Known Details OF tho Awful Decd
Strange Disappearance Of the Per-
petrators. q
from the Baltimore Gazette, January 49,
A murder of most atroclous character was
perpetrated in this city on the evening Of
Saturday last. The victim, DR.. Asrrsman
Cole, was an aged citizen, who, In days gone
BY, In addition to the pursuito tof his profession,
took an active interest In politics, and was at
one time a candidate for the mayoralty. By
some persons he was reputed to be wealthy,
but the actual value of bis property, which
consisted principally Of SMALL tenements
that were let to negroes, did not, as we
learn, exceed ten thousand dollars. VI
these small houses the rent was e3acted
weekly, and 1t seem to have been the
cnstom of the murdered man to:expect bis
tenants to call at his Office and pay their rent
punctuaIly every Saturday evening. That Of
flee was, FOR many years, front room or NO.
S6 North Exeter street, an old frame tene-
ment of two stories, the upper part OF which
was usually rented, but which was not inna6-l
tied at the lime of the murder : 1t was 70 TINS
on the same street and only about hundred
and twenty feet distant-went, little after
six o'clock, on the evening In question. Ordl-
uary, the street is 8. .slngularty quleg. one, the
only occasions durlsg the week on which many.
pass through It being Inc maFset aays
fare for portion of the district lying TO
the south. This ls notably the case of Satur-
day eyenIn2s, and between six and seven
O'Clock there must have been many persons
passing the house In which the murder was
perpetrated. The house. as we have said, Is
in width, and has q central door opening dl-
rectly into the small. room which DR.. Cole
uspd for the transaction Of business, and
where he received his weekly tenants. A par.
tition separates the room, or office, from
another room to the south of 1t, which was
empty, and from which side door leads to an
alley dividing the frame house from the mouse
adjacent. Tits alley has of course Its outlet
nm North Exeter street. It is In point OF
fact. nothing more than 8 recess, as IL Is
cIosed at a depth of about SIX feet by gate.
In the rear Of the house-whleh could be
reached by door at the back OF the: oft1ce
as well as by the alley gate.is dreary
fsrd, shut on from the yards OF tne houses
on High street by board ie1cing. F.oM ~
inrress and egress, It Will be observed that
the murderer had three ways OF quitting II
alter att the perpetratlon Of his crime. he could
either leave the house by the central door, oy
the side door opening upon the ailey, OF, seal
ine the fence enclosing the yard IN the rear,
he could have slipped through slae a,iey '9So bo
escape is still involved In mystery. NOBODY
seems to have known anything about tne
murder until somewhere near half-paSt seven
O'clock, when 1t was discovered by colored
woman. An alarm was Immediately raiseo,
his family sent for, and light being Cd.
| tained-for 1t was then dark-lne ooay OF
fhe murdered man was found to be lying
partially under the table, with the head, near
| The wall. on q pile of books. In the opinion
nj the doctors who examined the BODY, at
| least half an hour must have elapsed since tne
murder had been perpetrated. Ine prutai
manner In which the bloody work had been
done was painfully evident. Inc enslIe nsao
and face we're horribly mutilated: me upper
law was fractured lust under the nose, and
ihe same law crushed Just. below the LEFT eye.
The left orbit was also fractured, and there
was a large lncsed wound over the lelt eye.
and the right parletal was crushed IN. On tne
back part OF the head there was severe con-
tusedtw6und. q little to the right Of the oeci-
IaS Me6s cne ouF o %eR cs entirety
nine confused and four fncised wounds.
When found he was lying on his
back. and around his head there was large
pool OF blood, but none was found elsewhere
| in The room. That the murder was ioEoWed
| by robbery seems perfectly clear, as "lne lelt
nocket OF the pautaloonB of the deceased was
Torn entirely out, and only hung by small
| piece OF CLOTH" His pocketbook was also
missing. AS his watch was found on hls per-
son. and the money In the breast pocket OF MIS-
! coat had not been taken, and as various small
sums IN one dollar notes and lractonsi cur
repcy were found on the floor or under the
body, the irresistible inference Is tnae Inc oas
hastened his escape before he could fully
gather up the proceeds OF his crime.
| The siraupest thing. about this dreadful
murder ia the cleanness with which It was
done. and the utter absence OIL all clue 70
The perpetrator. 1t is said that two men en-
tered the office about seven O'CLOCK, closlng
the door after them. Who they were, OF
whether they were negroes or white men,
no one seems to kncw-so little notice ap.
nsars tn have been taken of them. Beyond
This there Is not the fragment OF clue.
| here Ia no evidence even TO snow Wnat
manner of instrument it was with which
the killing was dvne. It ID only because
the wounds were OF TWO klnas-cuts thN, anu
contusiops-that it has been Inferred tnat
two parties were engaged In the murder.
This. we should say, does not necessarily foL
low. and II such q theory were adopted by the
detectives, 1t might seriously mislead them.
The murder might have been the Work
of one man. The cuts aud terrible bruises
and fractures might have been made 6y tne
same instrupent. Moreover. on quitnne
the nremIses. one man would be much more
Iikefy to escape observation than two. the
murder is. indeed, most singular In that the
nernetrator has not left behind him Vestige
Of anything by which he can be traced. Tnere
was no blood anywhere, except about the
body of the murdered man, nor is there any
thing TO show In what way the murderer
made his escape. The most natural supposl
tion is that he came In and went out at thu
front door. which was within three feet o
ihe table at which his victim had been sitting
|. But surely the very difficulty OF the tast
ought to stimulate our detectives to extraor
dinary exertions to solve this dreadful prop
lem. ills one of those crimes that shake 10!
faith of all honseholders In their security. |
was perpelrated Within six inches OF the pup
lic pavement, and by window so low tina
any person passing might easily have looke,
Through 1t. The secrecy with which tho Worl
spss done, and the mystery that SURROUNDS u
cha,lenee %J the best skill of those whose duty
is to hunt up the murderer
i THE TICHBORRE TRIAL.