National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-05-09
The Eureka Tragedy.
Failure or the Grand Jury 20 Find an In.
dictnient Against the Accused Wife Of
the Clergyman.

dictnient Against the Accused Wife Oi
the Clergyman.
The story of the killing of Mrs.
Hedges at Eureka, ILL.,, is one of the
most shocking of recent occurrences.
Mrs. Hedges was n widow residing in
Eureka, who devoted a large share OF
her time and energies to the church of
which she was member. One day, a
few weeks ago, her dead body was found
behind school-house, half eaten by
hogs, but bearing unmistakable evi-
dence that she had been murdered. On
examination two letters were found pin
ned to her under clothing, which be-
trayed an improper, though perhaps not
criminal, intimacy between the deceased
and clergyman of the town, man
named Workman. This gave the first
clue to the commission of the crime.
Workman was produced, but he denied
any criminal intimacy with the woman,
and also denied any knowledge Of the
cause or manner of her death. Sus-
picion at once attached to Workman's S
wife, who had the reputation of being a
high-tempered woman, and she was
arrested. Subsequent investigation
showed that Mrs. Workman had made
an appointment to meet Mrs. Hedges !;
that scuffiing and outcries had been
heard in the quarter where the meeting
occurred; that Mrs. Workman had af-
terward declared that she was ruined
for life, and requested prayers for her
soul, though she had never before been
religiously inclined that there were
bruises on her body, which showed that
she had been in a fight; and that the
dress she wore on the evening of the
murder had been hidden, and when
found was covered with mud, blood, and
hair, the hair being the same as that of
the murdered woman. In one word,
the circumstances were as conclusive as
circumstances can be that Mrs Hedges
had been murdered by Mrs. Workman
in fit of jealousy.
The letters which passed between the
Rev. Mr.. Workman and the murdered
woman, and which have since been
made public, give evidence that Mrs.
Workman jealousy was pretty well
founded. Mrs. Hedges seems to have
ences than her reverend lover, though
ueT letteTS ulsciOSt tnat SIG WAS more
strongly attached to him than she should
have been. Both parties concluded,
their letters with prayers. Unalloyed
love and piety are strangely mixed up
in the frequent exchange of letters, the
inference from which is that Workman
used his position to secure the love of a
woman who had no right to love him,
and was beyond the age when such
passion might be considered difficult to
repress. The case appears to have been
one of a dangerous class, in which re-
ligious intercourse on the one side and
hypocrisy on the other either lead to a
violation of moral rectitude or bring the
parties upon very slippery ground.
The most dangerous phase of the casey
however, has been developed in the ac-
ton of the Grand Jury of Woodford
County, ip which the murder was COM
mitted. In spite of the proofs that Mrs.
Workman was the murderess of Mrs.
Hedges, the Grand Jury refused to find
a bill of indictment, and the guilty
woman has been released. This decis
ion was evidently as much surprise to
the people of Eureka, where the murder
occurred, as it will be wherever the his
tory of the case is known. Chicago
Tribune.