Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1875-10-23
Murder Most Foul.

horror those with which the press
has been filled the past months.
The victim this time was an old
man between sixty.live and seventy
years of age, named Rufus Streeter.
u rather loose character and much
addicted to drink. This Street er
has been separated from his wife
for some time and has resided with
u man named Asa MagoOn, near the
village of Corinth. About daylight
Friday morning peddler named
Clark, who belongs in TOpsham,
was passing on the road near the
house of Hannah Perrin, a woman
of questionable character and habits
when he discovered the remains of
the murdered man lying within
fifty yards of the door. He at once
gave the alarm, and soon the neigh
borEood was aroused.
|
The body was laid out on some
boards and officials notified. The
remains bear evidence Ola fearful
violence, and the most brutal treat.
mcnt. The clothes were all drawn
off the lower part of the body and
fearful cut, as if with u bowie
knife, made clean across the
abdomen, a foot long, so that the
intestines hung out in a large bunch.
The face was horribly mangled,
being one horrid mass, as if beaten
down upon stone. The murdered
man was undoubtedly stunned by
blows and beaten in the roadway,
as marks plainly indicate. A whip,
which is said to belong to Streetcr.
was found in the roadway on the
spot of the marks Of the scuff1e
The man was then drawn across the
roadway down into a gully, and
his face beaten into sickening
mass.
A thorough investigation of the
vicinity was made on Friday after
noon and the crowd searched the
field and brushwOod for distance
of u half a mile, with u view OF
tracing out any marks of teams
which might have been in the vicin-
ity. A party of men discovered
about fifty rods below where the
ragcdy occurred fresh tracks lead
ing from the road down into sandy
hollow of low land following along
about twenty rods the searcherS
were rewarded by finding the spot
where horse and wagon had stood
not many hours before. Returning
to the scene of the tragedy and
reporting the discovery, a young
man, who had nutlcei a team
hitchcd on this low land, recalled
the circumstance, and gave a des-
cription of it, which answers the
description of team owned by
Magoon. This gave a new phase
to the case.
Attorney Boyce of Barre gives
the following account of the arrest
of Magoon After drive of nine
miles to lonesome spot near Or
ange, the party brought up at
Magoon's house. After completely
surrounding the place, inquiry was
made for Magoon. He was found
at the school house, quarter of
mile distant, in rear of the wool
shed, piling wood. When the party
surrounded the shed Magoon was
spoken to, and asked il he would
go to Barre to attend to matter
down there. Without any resistance
he came on and was secured.
A posse of men returned to the
house and made a search. The
team which MagoOn and Streeter
were in was found. 1t belonged to
Streeter. Upon one of the wheels
was considerable clotted blood, and
on the iron step was the plain
imprint where a bloody foot had
stepped upon it. On the buffalo
robe which they had with them was
also tonnd large quantity of blood.
The driving reiDs were found with
the harness, and where the reins
were handled by the driver blood
was also found. a pair of pants,
known to have been worn Ivy the
prisoner, were also found, upon
which was blood. Upon the boot
heel of the prisoner a slight pool of
blood was discovered. The boot
heel of Magoon fits the track of a
heel impression found in the road
near the corpse, and also fits other
imprints found near the house of
Magoon. The prisoner was taken
to Montpelier Jail.
MagOOn's story of the events at
the Perrin house is thBt he and
Streeter missed a jug of their rum,
and that there was talk about it.
The two then rode on to the water.