The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-09-09
A MYSTERIOUS MURDER.
The Body of a Man Found in
Deering.
The Body Not Recognized and NO
CleW to the Murderer.
Much Excitement Over The Affair.

startled yesterday afternoon by the report tnat
O murder had been committed in that town
and there could be no clue found to the perpet-
rators. Tho news spread rapidly and all sorts
of stories were started. Our reporter was early
on the ground and got the story from first
hands.
During the afternoon Mr.. John Skillings and
his son of Libby's Corner, and William E. Seal
of Capisc, were out berrying in what is known
as Mason's woods, near the canal, about mile
from Stroudwater village. About five o'clock
when about to leave the woods one of the num'
Der discovered a spot where the brakes which
grew very rank had been broken down. A
closer examination revealed the fact that the
dirt beneath the brakes had been disturbed
within few days. This state of things natur-
ally attracted considerable attention as the
place was some distance from the travelled
road. Mr.. Skillngs began to dig into the dirt
and soon came to mans coat Feeling Of
this garment it was at once seen that the
body of person was beneath it. This discov.
cry naturally alarmed the parties and they
started for the town authorities Mr. Sturrt,
the chairman of the board of selectmen, was
not at home, and Mr.. Chenery, the constable.
was next applied to and he referred them to
Coroner Gould. A messenger was despatched
to this city for Mr.. Gould and he went out at
once. To reach the place he drove out by
Stroudwater over thes Saccarappa road to the
canal bridge Here they took woods road to
the right and followed up the canal some half .
mile. Then turning to the left they went sew
eral rods from the canal and there found
large crowd gathered about the mysterious dis
covery.
body, which proved to be that of a man about
25 years of age. He was lying on his face and
evidently been thrown into the pit very hur-
riedly, for his head was turned under in man
ner that had broken his neck. His skull was
broken in evidently by some blunt instrument
and the brains were protrudng from the
fracture. There was also mark on the FORE
head, but it could not be determined how the
injury was caused.
The body was rolled up in an old fashioned
patchwork quilt made of wooden and lined with
the same material. The body was that of
man weighing about 14O pounds and was pro-
badly an Irish-American. He was of sandy
complexion curly hair and smooth shaved
face with the exception of mustache. He
was apparently laborer as his sleeves were
rolled up as though he was at work. He wore
black pants, blue cotton shirt, knit under
shirt and stockings but no boots. In the quilt
in which he was found was his vest rolled up
and beside it an old fashioned money belt made
of cloth. The arrangement of his clothing
shows conclusively that he was robbed and
murdered. His pants were turned down from
the top and the bottoms of both his pockets
cut off. The cloth shows that this cutting was
done by very dull knife. The belt found
with him had been in use but short time
before and it was evidently removed from his
body very hastily.
From the appearance of the body it had
been 10 the ground bat about 4S hours when
discovered. Within few feet of where it
was fodnd were discovered the wheel tracks of
a wagon which had driven in and then turned
around and gone out The width of the
tracks showed the vehicle to have been a
beach wagon or something of that sort. This
shows that the murder was committed some
where e'se and the body brought there, the
hole dug and the remains quickly covered up
Who the victim is is not known as none of
ooooO NiO"OA snO boNJ NouiO ACoOS I've
The author of the terrible deed is equally
as mysterious. One thing is certain however
and that is that the murderer was we'll
acquainted with the location and knew where
body would be the least likely to be dis
covered. The Canal bridge itself is a long
distance from houses, but when he followed
down the banks half mile he was still more
secluded. Not satisfied with this however and
fearing that stray travellers on the bank
might discover a trace of the crime he went
back several rods and there concealed as was
supposed all traces of the crime
There is no one missing in Deering nor in the
neighboring town of Westbrook as far as can
be learned who answers the description of the
ment all the greater in the vicinity. To find
the body of a strange man who without doubt
has been murdered for money, very naturally
excites people. Last evening all sorts of theo.
ries and stories were afoat. One was that
section man on the Maine Central. who was
known to be miser and to have his money on
his person, had been missing since Thursday.
Investigation showed that the man who was
missing had returned sound and well. The
story that the murdered man was an employe
of the corn packing shop proved equally un-.
founded. Thus the matter rests just as it did
when the body was discovered. There is not
the slightest clue to who the murdered man is
or to who murdered him. The town authorities
have employed two constables to look into the
matter little and see if any further informa-
ton can be obtained.
The body was conveyed to the town farm
and there deposited to wait further develop
ments. Coroner Gould is to hold an inquest to-
day at o'clock and it is hoped that he will be
able to get out some new facts in the case.