The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-06-07

There were. fnger-m marks on Mrs. Dun.
combs throat, as though it had been
garroted. A little cold water, how
ever, soon revived her, and by the
time surgeon and the authorities ar
rived she was able to converse. At
the inquest which followed hext day,
her testimony was as follows: sss,yeeeeses ~.
my husband" and I retired ut about
1880 o'clock on Tuesday night, and,
so far as know, we must have fallen
asleep about the same time. 1 was
awakened by the crash, and the first
thing l know l was seized by the throat
and choked. I struggled with my as
sailant, and rose up in bed. At this
time I became conscious that there
were three or four men in the room,
and that one of them was grappling
with my husband. who was irving. to
get out of bed. At this. gave q cry
and my assailant forced me down and
sprang upon me. At the same .mo-
ment, heard a voice say: T..
Put the knife into him. -. d"
"a mist seemed to pass before me,
and became insensible. How long l
remained so I cannot tell, but on COM
ing to crawled out of bed and moved
toward the bell to give an alarm. Then
for the first time, as l leaned on. the
mantlepiece, glanced toward my hus-
band. There was light in the room
as usual, and I saw him lying across
the bed, drenched in blood. Igrasped
the bell-pull and tainted. That is all I
know
The butler and the servants testified
that they found the front door open
Immediately after the discovery of the
murder, and that the metallic receipt
acle for the bolt of the bedroom door
lock was broken.
The most expert detectives in Eu-
rope were in Doncaster at the time,
and they made careful examination
Of the premises and their surround
ings. No footsteps could be found
that served as a clew; but they
brought to'light several highly impor.
tant facts:
l. There was no sign that the front
door lock had been picked.
2. The butler, when he closed the
door on the night of the crime, drew
V"O 1tAu C"O.lllCu
iron bar across the front door.
3. The key of the bedroom door was
found in the lock outside.
4. Mrs. Duncomb testified that she
first saw the bloody corpse of her hus-
band as she leaned on the mantlepiece,
and was about to ring the bell. The
bed was an old-fashioned four-poster,
and the silken curtains at the foot
were drawn when Mrs. Duncomb was
discovered lying on the floor, and the
curtains, thus drawn, shut off any view
of the bed from that part of the room
where Mrs. Duncomb must have been
when, according to her account, she
first saw the corpse Of her husband.
5. Mr.. Duncomb, two weeks after
his marriage to his second wife, made
a will in her favor, leaving her three
fOurths of his large fortune.
6. The blood from the wound in Mr..
Duncomb's throat had spurted over
the bed, and the sheets and pillows on
Mrs. Duncomb's side We're spotted
with it, but there was no stain of blood
on Mrs. Duncomb's night-clothes.
Moreover, the stains were on the bot
tom sheet on Mrs. Duncomb' s side, and
on the inside of the top sheet, but
none on the coverlet- "A proof that she
could not have been i'm bed when the
wound was inflicted, but that the
clothes on her side were turned down.
These facts were not laid before the
authorities, and further inquiries were
made quietly by the detectives which
resulted in the information to be
recorded.
The Rev.Dr. Lane, incumbant of the
Episcopal Church, testified that he
met Mr.. Duncomb on the, Tuesday
morning, and that his conversation
struck him as evincing nervous de-
preston. After endeavoring to cheer
him, Mr. Duncomb said that he had
received an anonymous letter the day
before, informing him that his second
wife during her two years. absence
from his service had led disreputable
life, and that he had been directed to
make inquiries at 4 certain place to
find confirmation of his inf0rmant's
statements. DR.. Lane advised him to
keep the matter to himself, and az
ranged to meet him at the Rectory the
next day to speak further on the SUBJ
ject. Mr.. Duncomb said that he had
destroyed the letter, but would be able
to remember the place mentioned in it..
Thomas Glover a helper in Mr.. Dun
combs stables, testified that he: had
been in the habit of setting night
lines to catch pike in the Don contrary
torhis masters orders, and that on the
Tuesday night of the murder he was
proceeding cautiously from the stable,
over which he slept, to the river,
when he saw Pickering light in the
hall Of the dwelling. He stepped be-