Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1878-08-31

The Killing of A. NJ. Tullis, of Grand Is
land, CaI., by the Public Administrator,
in Order to get Hold of His Fortune of
s5O,OOO
from the San Francisco CALL
SACRAMENTO, Aug. 13.-Late last
night the Sheriff arrested Troy Dye,
Public Administrator of the county, on
a charge of the murder of Tullis, on
Grand Island. Clark, partner of Dye
in the saloon business, was arrested at
the same time. On the morning of the
I'd inst, A. M. Tullis, fruit-grower on
Grand Island, in this county, was found
dead in his orchard. The night before
two unknown men were seen to come
down the river in 3 small, roughly built
boat. They went to Tnllis's ranch and
landed. One of the men asked the
Chinese servant for the boss. He was
directed to the orchard Soon after 8
o'clock shots were heard fired, and the
shouting of men and the barking of
dog. Tullis was found next morning
on the ground dead. 1t was evident he
had been running when shot, and he
must have been STOPPING over when hit,
for the murderer's tracks were traced to
the rivers edge.
At the inquest held on the I'd and Sd
inst, it appeared that two suspicious
men in a redwood duck-boat were seen
in the river. One of the men pulled his
hat over his eyes when passing people.
The men were seen near Tullis's place at
5 O'Clock, ,and Tullis was killed about in
the evening. The body had four gun-shot
wounds in it, apparently made by pis
tol. One entered about the first false
rib on the left side, and passed obliquely
nm r6 in
of the yertebre of the back and passed
through the right lung. The lung was
injured by extravasation of blood,
caused by the wound. Another ball en-
tered at about the third vertebre, and
lodged just over the right eye, passing
through the brain. A third bullet
passed through the neck behind, emerg-
ing under the right ear. This ball made
two openings. The deceased, when
found, lay upon the right side of his
face, with his right hand under bis face
and his left hand stretched out, full of
dirt, as if he had grasped handful of
dirt just before dying. His head was
toward the south. His shirt was burned
at the place where the ball entered the
back. There were no weapons on his
person. Tullis's tracks led from a
place south of where he was found to-
ward the north. These tracks appeared
for about 200 yards from where the body
was found. He toed out great deal,
and his tracks were easily distinguishes
BILE. There were also tracks of two
other persons. One was large track,
made by a No. or 9 boot, and the
other by a not over No. 6 boot. These
tracks followed behind Tullis's tracks,
and came toward where the body was
found. Right around the body was a
confusion of tracks, as if several persons
had bsen walking around it. The tracks
were the only ones leading to or from
the body, and they went from the body
to the river.
The boat referred to was proven to
be sharp at both ends, and to have in it
two persons. On the morning of the
murder, at early dawn, two men were
seen to launch a rude boat from the old
mouth of the American River. Two
cleats nailed on one end made an indent-
alton in the sand, which an officer found
to correspond with the description of the
cleats given by a man who saw the boat.
The day after the murder two strange
men were seen footing it up the road
from Grand Island to Sacramento. 1t is
said they ran by houses and avoided OBJ
seryation as much as possible. Since
the search for the murderers it has trans
pired that on the way down the river the
men in the boat halted at Corother':
ranch and sought nails and hammer
and strips of wood to fix their rowlock
| The San Francisco agent for Tullis
George P. Starr, says the deceased wrote
to him that he had difficulty with two
| Portuguese, who had been driven iron
the ranch. Deceased was a bachelor, o
very close and retired habits. He wa
known to be severe on tramps, and in
variably drove them from the house
Some have thought tramps, in a fit o
anger, killed him. Tullis left an estat
valued at $4,000. On this estate Tro,,
Dye, as Public Administrator, has file'
his application that letters of admins
tration be issued TO him.
Last night, at IL O'Clock, Troy by
was arrested and charged with com
} plicity in the murder. The arrest wa
effected by Sheriff Drew and sewers
deputies. Deputy Sheriff Harrison
who has been woking up the Tullis case
makes the following statement: ID
saws he arrived here on the Sunday sue
ceeding the murder, and read over th
testimony taken at the Coroner's IL
quest. He asked the Coroner if tn
Administrator had come yet, and wa
told that he had not. He asked II b
had telegraphed, but found he had no
Harrison's theory was, either that IN
relatives that came here killed Tullls
realize on the estate, which they coul
not otherwise get, or that parties her
killed him in order to get the estat
Harrison's theory was that the men WI
killed him lived in Sacramento. He g
a buggy, and he and the Sheriff, N. n
Drew, went to Corother's ranch, ju
below Clarksville, and there they got {
accurate description of the men in Il
mysterious boat. They were told tn,
had passed on down the river. II
officers went ON to Walnut Grove, al
there found parts of the boat, perha
half or two-thirds of it. They exai
.ined the place where the ruins OF &
boat were first found. Harrison's theo
was all the time that the boat had be-
scuttled, and he had been anxious
find it. The people of the island n
offered $50 reward for tie recovery
the boat. 1t was found by butcher
d, the right of the levee. He was drlvl
II on the levee on the side of the old rive
Just below where Tullis was killed, a
all at once heard noise rs If some o
was hammering on board at the ed
r of the river. The noise came from I
spot where subsequently the remains
the boat were found. His horse becal
frightened and jumped from the lev
That led up to the finding of parts
the boat in an eddy which held them
some willows Harrison brought
boat pieces to Sacramento.
On one piece of lumber there v
some figuring. Sixty-four was mu
: piled by 8, and result was footed
after other computation, showing S2
He was told Ga feet of lumber wo'