The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1877-12-11
A DANIELS

A DANIELS.
How Cometh Onto Judgmer
The Mysterious Tragedy Of L.
Spring.
This morning John w. Daniels ".
taken from the Pettis county Jail
Warrensburg. where he will be trie
for the murder of William Miller,
short distance north of this city, Ia,
February. The murder was one Z
peculiar xtrocity. and for the bene6
Of those unacqna;nted with the pa
ticulas, We republish a full accconn
Of the affair:
On the 24th Of last February, Mr.
j. C.. Castle, who resides on the oil,
Pilkington farm, north Of the city
brought information to Coroner w
H. Evans, that he had found the body
Of . dead person on the farm.
A jury Was summoned and Mr.. Cas-
tie led them to the spot where the nm
known lay dead. which was on the
north bank Of big Cedar Creek. abou,
three and one-half miles north Of Sc
dalia, on the Marshall road. There,
10 the corner Of the fence, wrapped in
q patchwork quilt. nearly covered
with drift wood and debris from the
sGets Of . recent freshet, was the
hedy Hing With ises up The nose
and 1s6h ffe@ the ihce had been en-.
tirely eater OF by some animal, and
left the teeth and jawbones entirely
bare,p resenting
HORRID APPEARANCE.
The skull had been broken in three
places BY some sharp pointed weapon
sufficient to have caused death, and
from the amount of blood on the
clothing it was quite evident that
his thruat had been cut after the
wounds had been inflicted on the head.
1t is quite evident that the murdered
man had been m his bed of gore for
some days. perhaps week. That he
was foully murdered there could be no
doubt. He appeared to be thirty or
forty years Of age; was about FIVE
feet eight or nine inches high. sandy
complexion. blue eyes and evidently
. strong. athletic man.
On his right leg. on the calf of the
6eshy part, below the knee, was a scar
evidently the effects of a knife cut
abo--- three inches long. On the
thigh of the same leg was scar, prob.
ably the result of buckshot or bullet
flesh wound. ~ it could easily be Seen
where the bullet or shot went into and !
out Of the flesh. Blood was tracked |
some distance from where the body |
was found to near where there had |
been q ERE.
Mr.. Castle who discovered the body, |
swore that:
"About 2o'clock to-day, February
24th, 1877, I discovered the body Of
deceased, which is here before us. /
tound him lying under the rubbish and
drift wOod. have no means Of know
ing who the deceased is. l do not
know how he came to his death. |
Movers camp here almost every week"
A verdict was rendered that the un-
known deceased came to his death by |
violence caused by party or parties
unknown.
Subsequently the body was identi-
led ~ that of q man named William
Miller, a farmer of Henry county, and
pertain circumstances seemed to justi-
y the suspicion that neighbor, John
W. Daniels. was his murderer. At
Daniels solicitation. Miller left his
home with his team, in company with
who said they could get
profitable job of herding cattle. When
hey arrived at Calhoun. they could
ind no cattle to herd, and came on to
where Miller was last seen
live, on Main street, February 22d,
It about 4 oclock in the afternoon.
The wagon they came in WAS seen
IN its way to near where the hody was
IouDd that evening before dark. The
next morning it was also seen rapidly
moving southwark toward the city.
Daniels returned to his home and sent
sord to Mrs. Miller that be had
,ought Miller's team. also a lot of his
took. ETC.. and that Miller had given
him bill of sale for the same in Sc
lalia, aud left for Colorado in company
nth two strange men. !,
Mrs. Miller refused to believe the
tory, and her opposition to Daniels
him resulted In his arrest charged
Nth the murder of her husband.
Hearing Of the discovery Of the body
# IN unknown man, she came on and
he body. at her request. was exhumed.
She fully recognized it as that of her
,usband, also the clothing that he had
worn.