American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-01-04
A Professor as a Murderer.

a Professor West has hes II living in Do
yer Tor several years. He was formerly CON
nectcd with a school there. and is said 10
be il gent eman of good scientific attain
mentS. Some years ago he severed his
connection with the school. and since then
has had no special occupation. For over
Il wear past lie had been experimenting
with a new and peculiar Kind of gas. the
properties of which are not known to any
body but the manufacturer. About the
time he began his experiments he had his
life insured for $4,000. He caused the
report to lie spread that one peculiar prop
erty Of the gas was the removal o; the
skin from the body. and to prevent al
possible Identification, or even to ascertain
the complexion.
On Thursday morning there was ter
rib!e eXr losion in the Professors labo' Il
tory. A man. supposed to be the Profess
or. was found on the floor. His head
feet. and hands We're missing. The cN-
plosion had set the building on fire. but
it wa saved from destruction. Shreds OF
clothing We're found upon the disfgured
body. which We're identified by the Pro-
tessor's wife as be oBging TO her husband.
There seemed 10 be no doubt that the
Professor had been experimenting with
Ii gas when the explosion occurred. and
that lie had lost his life. A rict search
of the buildina resulted in the discovery
floor where the b dy WAS found. There
was powder enough to haze blown the
bouy to atoms if the flames had reached it.
\ further examination indicated that
the head. feet. and hands OF the corpse
had been cut of. and not blown from the
body. and that the skin had been peeled
from every portion of it. Some days be
fore this the Professor had hired a colored
man as Il servant. This man WAS missing
and the people began % suspect that he
had murdered his master, mutilated the
body, placed it upon the floor of the labo-
ratorv, and caused the explosion.
Early the same morning, the south
bound midnight train stopped at Dover.
This train had Il passenger car attached to
it. The conductor, Mr.. Chandler Evans.
says that the train stopped at the depot
about 1 O'Clock. His attention was at
tracted to Il peculiar bundle tied with a
rope which he saw upon the platform.
1t was covered with a coat, but through
the coat he could see the impress of a pair
of boots.
As the train was starting. a man picked
up this bundle and jumped on the car.
This mans face was closely mutiled. He
wore a slouched hat drawn down to the
bridge of his nose. When the conductor
called for his ticket. he asked if he could
go direct to Norfolk without delay. at
Delmas, still muffled. the man left TIE
cars entered carriage, ana was driven
rapidly away.
This circumstance. together with the
fact that the Professors wife, when told
of the disaster to her husband, received
the intelligence without any signs OF deep
emotion, caused some surprise. When it
was known that the Professors lite was
insured for $4,000, suspicion was aroused
and the authorities went to work. The
Professor was caught in Maryland and
brought back to Dover. 1t was discovered
that the colOred man had not killed him.
but that he had killed the colored man.
He owned up that he hsd killed The neg,o
but said that he had done it in self de-
tense. After the man was dead the Pro-
fessO- cut off his hands. fet t, and head,
and buried them. Then he peeled off the
skin. The body was next placed in his
laboratory few minutes tefore the explo-
sion. 1t is clear that the Professors OBJ
ject was to make the authorities believe
that the body was his, so that his wife
could obtain the insurance on his lite and
afterward join him in a remote part of the
country, where they could live to a green
old age and die happy. The Professor is
now in Jail awaiting va
nington (Det.) Correspondence N. Y. Sun.