The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-10-02
DE-. WEBsTER's ARREST.

80
A warrant was Immediately issued for the
arrest of DR.. Webster; but the officer who ex
ecnIed 1t merely Informed him that the search
at the college was to be renewed, and that hIs
presence at the time was thought desira-
BILE, The professor accompanied them with.
out b~etrayiDg the slightest uneaslness or re.
~luctance, and It was not until the vehicle In
which they rode stopped at the city jail that
he wal informed that he vas q prisoner.
he seemed to be struck Immediately With
horror and despair. he, neither protested
bis Innocence nor acknowledged bis guilt, but
begged that bis family might be informed OF
| hIs position, and then fell Into a state of ply
| slcsl and mental prostratlon, painful 10 wilt
| ness. He asked, In q gasptng tone, for water,
| but he could not swallow, and his hands
shook so that he spilled the water and dropped
the glass upon the floor.
oHA1Ss OF EVIDENCE.
On the following day hamper portion of the
trunk was found, lmbed1ed In tan, In an old
tea chest, 30 packed as 20 appear to contain
only neurological specimens; aud this chest
vas proved to 9 Wvss bssa rss, = by !. the car.
bridge, together with q sack Of tan. A large
and SHARP knife, stained with. blood, and a
butcher saw. were found In the.tan, and on
the left breast was q perforat!on ouch as g
knife would have made,- "A pair of overalls,
stained with blood, were found In q press In
the same room. Among the ashes Of the assay
furnace were found fragments of caIcined
bones, a mother. ot-pesrt snlrt button, and
some minute particles 0fkold.
Not only did the renqains correspond With
the height and proportions Of the missing man,
but some fragments Of q lower Jaw were
marked BY the peculiar form for which that OF
DR., Parkman was remarkable. He wore
false teeth mounted In, gold. and the teeth
found, with portions Of bone adherlng TO them,
owing to the skull having been cleft before It
was cast into the furnace, were recognized BY
q dentist as those which he had made for Dr..
Parkman, and which he had repaired only q
fortnight before.
TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
Before the magistrates, the accused dis
played unexpected calrnnesa, but he offered
no explanation of the horrible circumstances
relied upon by the prosecution. When brought
to trial in the following March, he pleaded
mot guilty. and hls catmnesG never torsaok
him during the twelve days over which the
trial wa protracted. When convicted anG
sentenced to death, he, protested his inno-
oenoe, and declared himself the victim of a
secret conspiracy. -
had been tried, and petitions Tor q new trial
considered and rejected, the prisoner con-
tessed his guilt, but petltloned for pardon, on
the ground that the pTov0cation he had re-
ceived from Dr.. Parkmau reduced the offence
to granddaughter. It did notsppear, however,
that he had received any propagation beyond
being dunned for payment of his debt, and
threatened with legal proceedings; and the
State committee Of pardons rejected bis petit
DE-. wEBsrER,i CONFESSION.
1t appears from the confession that the fatal
blow was given with the hammer, which
crushed In the skull. The murderer then
dragged the body Of his victim into another
room, stripped 1t and burned the clothes. He
upon the sink, and d~isnembered. It with the
knife, keeping the water running from the tap
to wash away the blood. The head he carried
into the laboratory and consumed 1t In the
stove. He then divided the trunk, and
covered both portions With g sIrong alkalipe
eofuxfuns wnfcu mo Wguio oestl0y tne
the feet, and threw the hulkier remnants into
the vault, from which he subsequently raised
portions with q hook as the horrible process
OF burning them went slowly on.
The Fest of the ghaatly story Ia told by the
observations of Llttledeld, who received the
len thousand dollars reward offered for the
discovery of the body. The Governor OF Mas
%sachusetts saw no reason to lnterpose between
the murderer and the law, and on the 90th OF
August, 1850, the high sheriff of Boston en-
dol Sad on the warrant for Weoater's execu.
lion that ION that day, between the hours Of
nine and ten Ii, the forenoon, within the yard
of the prison, and In the presence OF the pub
lie officers and twelve other citizens summon
ed to be witnesses OF the fact, John ". Web
ster. convicted of the murder Of pr. Parkman,
was hanged by the neck until he was Dead