The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-08-14


DEATH or 4 CALEB W.
WEST. 4
Suspicious circumstances
d connected with It.
sBELlEFlrHAr HE WAS MURDERED.
: I'd A.: = .t.,si< 81
! FULL PARTICULARS. - -.
Capt. West arrived here on last FRIDAY
at noon With tho body Of his brother. and
from him We have Obtained NIL susie
mont Of tho facts Attending the death Cor
nardss) Of Cslsb Y. West. For almost :
year psf, M. Wsat, IN connsotion With :
man named Rsynolds and liz son, had bssn
engaged Ia puttias Up !. saw= nill In Ben.
ton county. Most q the money MAS fur.
nishsd by Mr.. West. and when the entsr-
prise was given up this summer The Rey-
noldsss were indebted 10 him over $70O.s
The old maa Reynolds let here several
weeks ago, and on Thursday, tho slse Of
July, Mr.. West aud his wife with young
Reynolds and his wife, lett here for Has
tings, where they arrived on Saturday.
and joined tho elder, r.. As some
horse-.tealiug had been going on in
the vicinity, the three men slept in . barn,
with their horses, while Mrs. ". and MIS-.
R. slept in : boarding house close by.
where The mea took their meals. Esvly
on Sabbath morning Nj. West and young
Reynolds went into The country spd made
engagements to 60 to work the next day.
After supper the party all remained in:
the house until late dark, when the thee.
men went to the barn for the night, and
this was the last; time Nj. <West
was seen alive exc pit by the Reynold 'es.
Between twelve and one o'clock the sssen-
ton Of the Waterman on the railroad
bridge WAS attracted by = strange noise
at the foot OF tho shore pier, On which the:
..draw" rests, and going down found the
dying man. Lying, s!there. With - his nose
|. pa tally r. the water thsi noise being
produced by his breathing while In that
position. The Waterman, drawing him
out, LETT tinin charge ofa boy, while 10
should gosfor help: whens'he returned
neither the boy nor Tho body WAS Ito be
found. The former says that West revived
and made attsmpt togmove, which fright
,nes him 10 hit - II avay. bpt ths PIo!
liabilities are that he loft about as soon as
tho watchmra did, and tn It tho body found
it'd wsy into tho river through some other
assistance th.tof' the dying III not dssd)
= c.pts WI III h.r,E on Monday noon,
reaching Hastingss that evening. Hefdund'
young Reynolds,Fvho told himwthat they:
oil went to tho bar2 together on Sabbath
evening, and thatMr. West had started
soon after to go to "Jew store" to buy
hat and pair Of suspenders, that he did
not return, and lhat neither himself nor
his father went to look for him. Capt. W.
was not able to ind tho elder Reynolds
until Wednesday, who then told him that,
in about thirty minutes after Gales leaving
the barn on Sabbath evening, he started to
look him up, and that, although he search
ed a!Lthrough town, was unable to find
him. +
From an examination Of the ground and
from various circumstances, Capt. West
WAS satisfied that his brothers death had
not been the result Of eccid mt. He was
perfectly sober At the time Of going to the
barn. and the most di'isent inquiry failed
to discover that be had been seen 1T 50.
loon or any place else after that time
A pool Of blood showed that he had struck
the stones about four feet from the base Of
tho pier and ave feet from tie water, snd
about seven feet obliqusly from where 10
went Of the bridge, but his body was found
four feet further out, hi; feet drawn up I'M
der his body, his head down between his
knees and his nose partially in tho water.
The river: was dragged without result,
but on "Wednesday evening At dusk tho
body rose about two blocks below the
bridge, and was At once noticed by some
beys, who followed it to shoal water,
where it was secured. Apost norton ex-
animation was made the next morning by
Drs. Finch and Thorne, and : Coroner's
inquest was held. It was found that the
skull was terribly fractured back Of the
left ear oil the ribs on the left side were
broken and several had been torn from the
backbone, and above the right eye WAS q
heavy bruise. The surgeons testified that the
injuries on the left and right sides could not
possibly all have been produced by the fall.
They also testified that ali the injuries bad
been produced before tho body went into
the water ~ <+,s - x.sEsg
The prevailing :opiu;on is. that Mr.. West
was murdered, and the accepted theory Is
that tho injury over tho right eye was
caused by blow which knocked: him. of
The bridge, and that tho injuries on tho
left side were caused by the fall on the
stones at the foot Of the pier that. the
person or persons who knocked him: of,
finding that he did not fall into the river
went below to THROW him Ii, but before
their work WAS complete, were alarmed by
the steps Of the Waterman. coming on to
tho bridge above them, sud hed that they
secreted themselves near by and vbenkthe
boy. followed the .!W1atehmnsna 4hssyi returned
and threw tho body into the water. A man
with 81 these injuries would be- incapable
Of struggling from tho place whore hs was
loft by the xatehman into tho .ri,asiri.s An
other very Suspicious circumstances il thai
during "Wednesday night (aftssf; sthaes body
had been found and statements made that
: comparison Of tbe INJURIES Win thss'; il.
cation Of tho stones might throw some light
On thssafai.) d. stones q the, foot: Of Ii,
plst where tie BODY bad Been 1hrst .dts;oeeov.
cred were Gil removed Or changed, 80. tbsi
the altered appearance Of the pl.c, ,5ws.
noticeable 1t Che first glanoe. y -
The verdict of tho Coroner's jury VII
that the deceased came to his death by
I violence. While there IS this strong BE-