Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1873-03-13
General News.
The Isle Of shoals Tragedy.

smutty Nose Island. on Wednesday night. by
man named Wagner, since arrested in Boston.
The following are the particulars taken from
the Boston Journal:
The occupants of the only house upon Smutty
Nose Island were three men and three women.
the former being absent from home large
portion Of the time engaged In troll fishing
Their names are John and Matthew Montvet
brothers. Ivan trissenson and wife. Miss
Annette. and Miss Karen Crissenson. The
women Were left alone Wednesday night while
the men Were in Portsmouth batting their trolls
for the morrow's fishing. Louis Wagner the
murderer. being in the employ Of IIontyet. and
during portion Of Wednesday evening was
assisting the latter in the task of troll batting.
lie disappeared. however. about o'clock In
the evening. and il is stated that he was seen
on one of the wharyes Of Portsmouth with an
aN in his hand. II i conjcciuredthat he shortly
aflcr left for the Shoals. as one of the crew of
the fishing boat Iris missed dory from her
about ten O'Clock. and n il aftsrward proved.
WAS the one used by the murderer in which to
reach the scene OF his brutal work.
Thursday morning about seven O'Clock IIont-
Vet went out TO the Shoals Ia set his trolls. and
was hailed by some women from an island adj
joining that on which the murder was commit
ted. They informed him Of the murder. al
though the extent of it was not imagined hy
them. Hontvet in company with two men
went to his house and found Annette CrisSeu-
son living dead in her night Clothes with her
head badly bruised and manged. apparently
by an AK. From appearances it is probable
that she endeavored TO escape. but was over
taken and killed outside of the house aud the
body dragged into the kitchen. She had three
wounds in the vicinity of the right ear. one un-
der the right eve. one on frontal bone over right
eye. one under the lefl eve. one on left ear. one
on left temple and one back Of the cft ear-all
with sharp edge of the AK. e. The brain could be
seen through the wounds at the right ear. lie
looked further and saw the body of Karen living
On the bedroom floor in a semi-nude state in a
pool of blood. She WAS clothed only with a
chcmi>e. the lower eNtrenites being exposed.
The feet were Strengthened ont II she had
been in great agony. 4 white handkerchief
was tied tightly around the neck. the knot be-
ing al the back of the head. probably to strange
her after she had hidden under the bed. Out
side was pool Of blood and marks OF a sirug-
gle in the snow. and there Were finger marks
Of blood on the doorway. She hsd five wounds
on the back of the head. one breaking her
skull: two on the lcft temple. two on the fore
head over the right eve. one TO lcft of the right
eve. Her tongue was protruding. The wound,
were not sufficient TO cail>e death. which must
have en>ucd from -trangulaiion. SICK, ned and
faint, he. with hi> comrades. turned from the
scene and came into Portsmouth and told the
tale OF horror.
Everybody was excited over the report Of
such an atrocuu> murder. and the rcpr,.>cnis-
iiVc> of the press Immediately sct about en-
d"aNorng Ia reach the spot, already made
notorious by the numerous prize fight, that
have occurred there. No means Of suitable
conveyance being ohtainable. II seemed for a
time a. though the Imagination would Of net,,s-
lily serve them in place Of ocular dcmou>tra-
ton. Application WAS mssle, however, Ia
tomodore j. 4. Howell. OF the Navy ard
who kindly gave hi consent 10 allow the L. :
steamer Man flower to take the Coroner and hi.
jury with several reporters Ia the place in que.
ton. II was nearly nine O'Clock in the evening
when III" party landed on >mutty Nose Island,
and the >icklN raw Of the moon shed cherries
light upon the barren island where stood the
little house in which had occurred hut a few
hours before - shocking a tragedy The Cor
onrr entered the dwelling and stood in the
presence Of the dead. and a fearful presence il
Wa. too, A. 10y the dim light Of lantern were
disclosed the mutilaied bodie. baihcd in blood
wing upoh the floor Just a. the murderer len
them. together with the bl"od-be >paitcrcd
door, AMI Windows. the broken furniture
'r"cA"rY and other thing, all telling tn" story
ct The terrible struggle for life that must have
'u-ecd err the fcnd accomplished his cruel
work. The condition Of the bodies and hou-..
wa. about a. stated above in the account given
10y Mr.. Hontyct.
II seems. however, that Mr.. Honiyci man
aged 10 escape from the assassin after rrcriyinr
| two blows on the head anI shoulder. though
not severe. and fleeing in her night clothing To
= cellar near hY remained there for a few min
ute until She deemed il prudent to abandon her
| hiding l'ac,, and running To the shore sccrctcd
-biif IAehN. NtltTF >lf rtinanftl
/ about sIx hours in the cold. with nothing on
/ but night wrapper. About . in the morning
/ he managed To- gain the attention Of som. oi
/ The residents OF Appledorc Island. who soon
/ reached her and kindly cared for her Her
! ic't were badly frozen. and her condition i
/ very critical. Mr.. Hontyet in her flight WA.
/ accompanied by liiilo log ialans,inp IN the
I f1mit 49, -"'~incd sufncirnt cool presence ot
/ mind 10 Keep the little creature hidden beneath
her clothing all the time the murderer WA.
searching for her, that she might not be be.
'raSed BY his barking at the light.
Prom her We learn that she was aroused
about one O'Clock tshe conjecturc- the hour by
| the setting Of the moonl by the barking of m.
/ house dog. and rising up in bed. saw = man
| cropping around. and instantly gave alarm
| winch proved 80 fatal Ia her companions, a, the
murderer instantly began hi work Of buirhery
The Murderer.
! Louis Wagner. the probable author Of the
double murder. i PruS-ian by birth and A
HAilor 10y occupation. but for the past twenty
months Ia. been following the cuisines. Of ii n.
| lnS IN that vicinity. He has borne a tolerable
| good reputation since hi stay hereabout. al.
though II i, said that occasionally he would
| indulge IN liquor drinking. and when under the
| influence Of Intoxicating drink i. ugly and az.
posed Ia quarrel. His object in the commission
oil The deed Of blood WIS evidently two-fold
revenge and money. There Was about $50 in
| money in a trunk in one of the room, of the
! nous" wherr the murder WIS committed. abou,
/ 'hiN pNii- pDtalil't. the baIdigF ftslug hid
! DIN among some clothing in the bottom OF m.
| chest The theory Of revenge i, based uton
tlc lart That agncr has endcay orcd la gain the
affections Of Miss Karen Chris>en.on who ha,
! INV arlAbif rcpui-cd hi advances. and high
] words have frequently passed between them.
| growing out Of the importuniiie, Of Wagner.
J The murderer. after completing hi. attraction.
/ crime, ruwed Ia Portsmouth and Appeared al
/ the breakfast table Of his boarding place at
seycn o'clock. His NERVOUSNESS attrart.d some
/ .4iflAlIVh M 1
| by hi, appearance. He remained about the.
city until noon Of Thursday getting hi.
whl,kers shaved of in the meantime). when he
! took the ls.aD train for Boston.
| haren thrlssen>on was - years of age and
unmarried. and Anethc 20 year. old and mar
/ ried.
| Testimony before the Coroners Jury
The testimony Of Mary Honivet befor, the
eoroner's jury was a. follows:
was in bed my brother, wife Anethe slept
WIN me my sister Karen slept ON the sofa In
| the kitchen; in the night Karen cried ON
John scared me-" thinking that John Hout-
! vet had returned); | heard some one pounding
haren the door Of the bedroom which open,
OUT OF the Kitchen was fastened by "A stick on
| the kitchen side: shouted and then oncned
tDe door; l reached out and got Karen bv the
arm, and was struck twice with a chair: |
| pulled Karen into the bedroom with Anetbe
and me; told my brothers wife Anethe To
Jump out oil the window, and she did so told
| not: l was holding the door Of the bedroom
when the person i'll the kitchen was irving To
force his way in: when he could not get in he
Went outside around the house. and heard
Anethe shout Louis, Louis - he went back TO
lle door and got the Az. and saw him strike
her three times; | could not setAthe face, but
could see the figure Of man. and knew him
TO be Louis Wagner; | jumped through the
window, and ran down around the henery: |
Tried 10 get Karen To come to. but she replied
she was too tired; | ran down to the dock TO
md a dory, but found none; then went out
on the island and hid behind the rocks: we
Went TO bed about 10 z. NJ. When hid be-
hind the rocks the moon was just setting. |
stayed there till after sunrise feeling that
wagner was stiH on the island. / went down
TO the north side of the island and swung INV
skirts as a signal for help. l came up on the
Point and shouted, and a man heard me and
came over from a neighboring island and took
me TO his house on Hog Island, where l ar
rived at O'Clock, A. NJ, March 9Th. We were
all good friends. Wagner never made any i'm
proper advances TO Inc or the others To nv
knowledge. The only time saw Wagner dur
ing the affray was when he was striking
Anethe. / saw Anethe living on the ground
when jumped out of the window When |
was running away heard Karen shouting the
Voice sounding of doors I navar haarJ