Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1875-11-04
Murder after Divorce.
A Remarkable Case on Trial in
st. Augustine, Fla.
A Nephew Driven by his Aunt to
Commit a Double Murder-A
Nice Young Man to go a Fishing

% ST. AUGUSTINE, + Ia, Oct. b
0 Mary Ann Keech, alias New.
. ton, has just been convicted of
0 connection with the murder of
0 Ellen Hunt, alias Ellen Keech
o as accessory before the fact
0 The circumstances Of this case
are in some respects peculiar.
= Nearly quarter Of a century
0 ago Henry Keech, living in
9 Wisconsin, married a woman
known as Mary Ann Newton.
0 After twenty years of welded
Q life Mr.. and Mrs. Keech quar-
! relied and obtained a divorce
D The court decreed that certain
property should be settled on
: Mrs. Kcech, who reassumed
her maiden name, and who is
defendant in this trial. Keech
had the deeds to this property
drawn up, showed them TO his
late wife, told her that he would
have them properly recorded,
and then feloniousIy decamped
TO Florida. He settled at jack
sonviIle, invested lis funds in
real estate at that place and at
St. Augustine. Among other
lands, Keech owned a farm near
St. Augustine. Here he lived
with a woman named Elleu
Hunt, who passed as his wife,
Three and a half years passed
since his departure from Wis
consin.
In May last Mrs. Newton.
learning Of the whereabouts and
circumstances Of her former
husband, hired a nephew named
William Newton to 60 to Flor
ida for the purpose Of killing
Keech and Ellen Hunt, and OBJ
tanning the title deeds which the
court had decreed her. VIM.
Newton visited the house near
St. Augustine, passing himself
off as purchaser Of real estate
who intended to settle III that
region. He spent the night at
keech's S house, and in the NOR
ming invited his host to go q
fishing. The two men made the
excursion as proposed.
A MURDER AND MIRACULOUS
RECOVERY.
Upon their return to shore,
while Keech was fastening the
boat, Newton crept up behind
and shot him in the back of the
neck. Keech fell, and Newton,
to complete the work, pounded
the head Of the victim between
two coquina rocks untilhe deem
ed him dead; and, even then un-
satisfied, cut his throat and de-
parted. The murderer then
went to the house and put three
pistol balls through the woman's
head. Having searched the
house for certain papers relating
to the investment of Keech's
property, he took a saddle horse
from the stable and rode away.
The neighbors soon discover
ed the dead woman, and also
found Keech near the shore. -
Strange to say, the latter was
not dead, and has since recover
ed. The officers Of the law gave
chase to Newton, and captured
him in the vicinity Of Volusia.
The most singular part of the
story is still to be told. When
Newton was arrested, he gave
to his captors a letter address,
ed to Mary Ann Newton, in
Wisconsin. They mailed it
without opening. In this letter,
Newton, as has since appeared,
informed his aunt of the success
of his murderous mission. In
consequence, the divorced wife
came down to Jacksonville,
claimed that she was the widow
of Henry Keech, who had been
murdered, and began to collect,
or to try to collect, rents on his
investments. 1t is not difficult
to imagine he: surprise and con-
fusion when she learned that
Henry Keech was not dead, but
in st. Augustine, and in a fair
way to recover from his wounds.
In the meantime, Newton, who
was imprisoned at St. Angus
tine and who had partially con-
fessed his crimes, had given the
Sheriff an. order on the Jack
sonville postmaster for a letter
addressed to him under an as
sumed name. The sheriff OBJ
tanned and opened this letter. =
1t proved to be from the aunt,
and, although artfully disguised,
implicated her as an accomplice
in the murder. She was, there