The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-12-14
HORRIBLE TRAGEDY At DOVER, DEL
A Man Killed and Skinned.

pace IN that town ON Monday week.
/ On Wednesday morning. The 4th ms.
II was discovered that the Office Of Dr..
Isaac G. West, Jr., was on fire. and after
the flames were eXtinguished by the eiti-
zcns the chaned and mutilated remains.
supposed to be those Of DIR. West, were
discovered in the ruin-. II WAS coniectured
that an explosion must have taken place of
some peculiar gas used by the Doctor in
his professional capacity, as the chnrred
body was found to be without head or
limbs. The absence ofthese members and
some other circumstances. however. gaye
rise to the suspicion that things were not
as they appeared \ colorcd man named
Henry Turner had disappeared. and il was
remembered that Vests life was insured
for $4,000. 4 closer inspection of the
body also revealed that the head. hands
aud feet had been cut from the body. and
/ It was then concluded that West must have
murdered Turner and afterwards mutihted
the body beyond recognition, with the hope
that the insurance companies in which lie
had taken out policies would pay over the
$50, 600 to his wife, under the suppostion
that the dead body found was his own.
| Other circumstances strengthened this
suspicion until Friday evening, when West
reappcared in Dover ard delivered himself
up to the Sheriff, coutessing that he had
killed Turner in self-dclence, aud also con
Tossing where he had hidden the head.
hands and feet of his victim. The remains
were found in the places indicated, and the
Coroners jury was assembled, when the
prisoner made confession, of which the
following is the substance
On the day of the murder, Monday, the
I'd inst), Turner had boen employed by
West to perform several small jobs, and
was to have come again in the evening to
Vests Office 10 carry water In the even
ing, according to the words of the prisoner,
Il passed him aud went on up to my Office;
| had just got there and unlocked the door
when he came up; | went on up stairs
ahead Of him, aud unlocked the room door
up stairs, and went in ahead had taken
my gasometer To pieces that day, intending
to iasten small sIcdge hammer To the
weights; tue sledgo hammer vas sitting Just
inside of the door, the other weights were
over in the corner, about eight feet further
on; one of the weights was n bolt, or piece
of an iron axle; il was about two feet long
and an inch and a quarter in diameter
just got over about where this bolt was sit
ting when ] turned and saw Turner with
the sledge hammer in his hands; as he
found that saw what he was doing, he
said, Give me your pocket-book, or I'll
Kill you" then snatched up bolt or
a piece Of axle, and just as | did so he
struck at me with the slcdge hammer, the
blow falling on my hat. dcnting the hat in.
but it did not touch my head. as was stoop-
ing over; | then struck ut him with the
bolt or axle, intending to atrikc him ON the
head, but missed his head and struck
him ON the neck. below the ear: he fell and
| don't think he ever kicked aftcrward.
this was just after sunset; he fell over on
his side; | then felt of him. felt his pulse
and found he was dead | did not intend
to kill him, but only intended To knock
him down so that he would not kill me:
CATER long pause the prisoner contmued);
| then left the body living there and came
up to VIM C. Fountains Hotel and got
my supper and didn't 60 back any more
that evening, but went back again ON
Tuesday morning about ten or eleven o.
clock; ! then thought | would cut Turner
in pieces, and carry him off aud bury him
so cut off his head hands and feet with
my pen knife, knife here SHOWN, had four
blades, and was Unidentified by the prisoner
rs the one be did the cutting withG | cut
off his head and feet with the pen knife
and skinned the body that is the knife
pointing to it, which lies on the table
broke one ofthe blades cutting the bones;
| broke several of the bones with the piece
ofaxle; this was not all done before dinner
| don't know how much | did do before
dinner; went to dinner that day, but do
not know the exact time, do not remember
positively whether was back to my office
after dinner or not.
After making several Intellectual attempts
to dispose of the remains, the prisoner con-
tinucd II then remained in my room
thinking what to do, ard then concluded
! would tear a large box | had to pieces
and make box that would hold the re-
mains for the purpose Of shipping them on
the Delaware railroad to some point and
then follow and bury them; / found that
it was getting late and couldn't stay any
later that night; on Wednesday | didn't 20
back to my room until about . clock in
the morning; then found the remains
smelling 50 could not ship them IN the
railroad; got my dinner at the hotel that
day and was about in different places till
the afternoon; returned to my Office about
= o clock in the afternoon. when | took
my knife and cut the lips and nose off the
head, intending TO skin it, and also cut
some pieces from the abdomen; ! then
struck the head with the bolt or iron axle.
for the purpose of MASKING it up, so that |
It could not be recognized but found that
| could make no impression ON it; ] was
afraid if skinned the head it would still
retain its shape aud be recognized; after
this | took the head in bucket, took it |
down to the lime heap near tho railroad,
and rolled it in the lime, and then raked
il back in the bucket, aud carried it back |
to the place where buried it; | returned |
to my Office about 10 o'clock that night
| took the bucket and put the skin in it
to carry it away; then went out ON the
street with II and saw some persons COM
ing, when ] took it back to my room again;
] then took one of the feet and poured
some alcohol over it, thinking that it would |
change the color of the foot by setting it |
ON FIRE; | set it on fire and split some on
the floor, which also ignited had that
night, before that time piled the box over
the body, placing the small pieces ON the
top of the box intended, II the alcohol
did change the color of the skin Of the
foot, to spread the skin out on the floor
and change the color of it by burning al |
cohol on il found that the alcohol would |
not change the color Of the skin; intend
ed if il did change the color to put the
skin back on the body, and fit il MS well as
| could when the alcohol on the foot
caught fire, gathered mp the feet, hands
aud skin in my hands aud got ont Of the