Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-06-06
A Beautiful Fiend.
The Terrible Crime of q Young
Missouri Widow Convicted by
an Unexpected Witness.

an Unexpected Witness.
cit is a very, very strange
case, Judge" said Mr.. Antho-
ny Dunbar, Prosecuting Attor-
ney of St. Charles, Missouri, TO
Judge Ballard, Of that Judicial
District, on the 18th Of May,
1913. every thing seems TO
indicate that Julia Fairbanks
set fire TO the house which her
deceased husband left her. But
why should she have commit
ted SO grave a crime, by which
she has not only destroyed her
own property, bnt also brought
!about The death Of her own two
step-sons? She was greatly at
tached 10 them"
is a very strange case, re-
marked the Judge, "and / dread
the necessity of trying it. Still
1 will do my duty to the best
of my ability. Maybe during
the trial
rrNrrvDr-C,rr-n nTcCI ncT-DEC
dwelling the mystery will be
made"
"What complicates the case,
Judge, is the unquestionablc
fact that the prisoner is perfect
ly sane"
The case Of Mrs. Julia Fair
banks was a very mysterious
one. She was the young wild
ow of Arson Fairbanks, who
had two sons by a prior mar
riage. lie had. suddenly died,
leaving his wife very little mon
ey and a small farmhouse on
condition that she should cdu-
cate her two step-scns, who
were respectively six and eight
wears old. The Young widow.
who was
A VERY HANDSOME : WOMAN,
Had led a very secluded life
since her husbands deccaso,and
had ckcd out a scanty liveli-
hood by giving music lessons
and doing ncedlework. She was
believed TO. be very pious, and
she was generally popular a.
mong the church members.
So much the greater, there
fore, was the amazement Of the
people of St. Charles when, at
an early hour on the 9th of A
pril, 1943, the house of the
widow burned down. Her two
step-sons perished in the flames,
and strong proof was discov-
cred that she herself had fred
the house.
She was arrested, but doggec :
ly refused to say what motive
had caused her to commit the
terrible crime.
The Grand Jury indicted her
for arson, and ber trial took
place on the 18th of May.
The aforementioned facts
were clearly established by the
evidence for the prosecution,
when suddenly a stranger en-
tered the Courtroom, and asked
to be sworn as a witness.
When Mrs. Fairbanks caught
sight Of him, she turned very
pale, and then, uttering a loud
scream, she tainted away.
The witness swore to
THE FOLLOWING STARTLING
FACTS:
He said he was the brother
Of the late Anson Fairbanks.
He had known the prisoner
prior to her marriage to his
brother at Louisville, Kentucky,
where her reputation had been
notoriously bad. She had had a
lover there, one PennybackGr, a
lawyer debarred for forgery.
Pennybacker had been rearres-
ted for forgery one week be-
fore. Among his papers was
found a will, purporting to have
been made by Anson Fairbanks
iii favor Of his widow, bequeath-
ing TO her the sum of $4,000.
which he had on deposit in the
State Bank of Kentucky. A
number Of letters written by
the widow TO Pennybacker fur
nished evidence that the viii
had been forged by him, and
that she was engaged tobc mar
ried TO him as soon as she got
rid of her step-sons.
The prisoner violently pro.
tested her innocence, but the
Conrt ordered an adiournment