St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-06-09
Horrible Murder at Highgate, VT.
YOUNG WIFE KILLED IN HRR own HOUSE.

YOUNG WIFE KILLED IN HRR owS HoUsE
CANERlnGE. Vi. June 3.-MI. Charles Butler
came down t" Highgatr village last night. leaving
his wifi al h"mr with hired man named Tatr"-
When lac returned home h" found his wife lying
dead in pool of hl""d the floor hrT head having
been cut open with AN axe. The man Iairo was
AWAY after help. His story Is that tramp attack
,d Mrs Butler and - hc could not help heI he ran
iuT rghhuIs I" come and help. that the ny
with the tramp commenced up stars that he
struck her first with a chair driving the chair rs
hrT head hr then beat her on the head with 81.
stick OF wood She got away from him and rau
down stairs and I" the d""T, where hr again at
tackled her this time with axe cutting her head
open and instantly killing her. Iatr" was covered
with b""d and he could not tell straight story,
hr arrested He l. about u wears Of age. Mrs
Butler about the same age
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
W. c"ndrn~- from the st Alhans Messenger the
following. additional particulars of the horrible
tragedy At ilighEat-. Friday
Ih,. victim Of TIN. tragedy Mrs Alice Butler
Was Young and lovely wife. esteemed 10y all who
knew her. She Was about twenty one wears old,
and had h-I married about fnur Years, but had nu
children She - daughter "f the late Augustus
Mead. of Swant"n. Her supposed murderer. Ed
ward Iair". u frrnchman. and will ht twenty
one Years old next August. lie has been pr"tli
gate. Young man hut has never been called q bad
boy. and has never been known Ia he caught III any
bad scrapr- tie has a widowed mother. and
rra brothers and sisters. 1t Is difficult t" ASST ign
the reason for the crime but II l. thought that he
attempted /" violate the person of the unfortunate
woman aud failing, murdered her I" avoid dis
1t seems that Mr.. Butler VIII" lives about TIVE
miles north of lIiGhglt" &, ntrc. went I" the village
Friday evening. leaving his Wit, and hired man
Edward Tatr" al home. Between nine and ten
O'Clock Mr.. Butlrr returned home and found thu
house dark. He went int" the house and started
t"r the match safe. and stumbled against something
lying "n the floor lie lighted the match and saw
the hirl"~- remains "f his wife III a poe" "t blood
her head beaten almost I" pumicr. and her hraIms
Gazing out On t" the floor. Near her WAS his gun
axe covered with blood. several hlnndN stick,
. ut Wood the t,NtI and a char hTuk -
Mi Butler started tor assistance hut s"nn hear,
voices Approaching. and Edward Gatr" came M
with OF the nrighhoTs whom he had beef
after lie claimed Ia Mr. Butler that as he 20
IN. /" bed hr had got up stairs and A. he took "t
his pants. Mrs Butlcr came running up stairs an'
a man after her that a. soon a. he reached the
chamber he turned upon him Clatr"I. knocked hin
down stairs. and that he then for help.
Tatr" at once arrested. An Inquest wa,
held and from the evidence the Jury mt "nr,
{" the conclusion that Alice Butler came {" hrl
death at the hands "f Edward Tatrn. 1t appearr,
that the afiraV commenced up stairs where Wa
found stick of wood covered with blood and
chair broken and blood on the walls. The body
Law i'll ia" kitchen near the back door, where II l.
thought she made AN attempt To rsrap"- An"s
the entire skull from the eyes I" the base "i the
crown a c"mplrt" pumict 1t is Thought thai
the. as~aant struck her "n the head with the tia
side al the still there scalp fractures tina
showed different blows. Tatrns shirt was tori
almost OH ut him and very bloody. which h,
claimed the tramp did His hands badly
chaPprd and he could not wash them that thu
blood could not he seen i'll the chapCracks. Ii,
claimed To- have. been knocked down twice an,
thrown down stairs but no marks OF violence coul,
he found upon his person except slight scratch nI
his neck. There quite large quantity q
blood found on his wrists and arms and his leg
were badly spattrrcd with blood which appeared
l" have struck him with force
\ little thirteen months old boy son of Abrr
Webster. of lrasbursh fell from walk in the shed
| On I" the ground striking his head upon mai
that stuck up through a board that lay on tn,
ground. The nail entered the head near the top q
the ear, breaking the skull and penetrating thu
brain to the depth of an inch and a half The moth
er. with considerable difficulty. pulled the boar,
from the little hoy head Strange tell the chill,
is now reC"vern. and will doubtless get well
/ The managers of the Burlington home for drsti
tute children have received from Capt j 1. Drew
the handsome donation of 600 towards the curTrn
/ expenses of the home.
About three weeks age. while at play about thu
cart, a grandson of Parker Virgins of Barton, wa
wounded near the eye with II tine OF a dung fork
and it is feared that he will lose the sight -
the eye. He was hit 10y the fork in til" grand
| father : hands.
| Troy on Wednesday, May 3Ist. about o'clock 4
NJ Mrs. Sarah &. Wiley wife of W. +. Wiley
the victim. and committed the deed by cuttin!
her throat with II razor She had been i'll for som
months with symptoms uf INSANITY and for the las
three weeks had expressed fears in regard To b-in.
Insane. Tn the afternoon of her death she wa
missed from the house and was discovered benin,
the barn by her little who alarmed by the sigh
nf blunly wound in his mothers throat ran t,
notify his father; the mother still able t" speak
telling him not to The father sent the boy atr
/ n physician and saw his wife as he approached in
tiIct more serious wound which severed the iugu
| lar vein, and CAUSED immediate death.
| Commencement at Middlebury college opens
Sunday, July Ii, with the haccalaure;,t- by PIrsi
dent Hurbert, and in the evening anIiddrss VIII h.
delivered beturr the philadephan society by Rev
DIR. Hiram Mead of ObeIlin, .. On Tuesday. cnm.q
the annual meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa society
the annual address before the associated alumni 10y
\. F. Rankin of St .IOhnsbuTy, and the alumni
dinner III the evening Is the PiTkerian priz- speak
| lng. The commencement exercises and annua
meeting of the associated alumni occur On Wednrs
day.
The question of the right of a superintendent %
the reform school to give inmate furl0ugh ha'
been brought before Judge PierTep"nt Geurg'
Kelley of Burlington, who had been released i'll tn,
spring of LEA. long before the expiration of hi,
time, was seized again few days ago, against hi'
will and that of his parents and put back into tn,
Institution and the claim of his counsel that he il
! Illegally detained there involves the question
whether the superintendent had II right To let hin
out in the first place
| The building erected ill the centennial ground.
for the use of the State by Col N L. Sprague Jr.
has been completed and turned over to Dr. Gold
smith. the NermOnt commissioner.