The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-09-12
THE LEFT HAND.

| The murder of Dr. Hunston, of West
| Beach, England, in 1923, presented
some very unusual points of circum-
| stantial evidence. DIR. Hunston was a
/ physician and naturalist, and was
wealthy. He lived alone. and was of
! somewhat miserly habits. He had an
/ illegitimate son, whom he had brought
I up with care. and who was apparently a
worthy youth. DR.. HmstOn's house
stood in the suburbs of the rural town.
with trees around it. Very near to it
was the residence of a lawyer named
Terwhit. DIR. HunstOn was originally
a very successful surgeon in London.
| but during an autopsy he cut his right
| hand with an operating knife, and to
prevent fatal consequences immediately
submitted to the amputatiOn of the arm.
/ The dwelling occupied by the doctor
had been purchased many years before
the date of the crime to be narrated.
From time to time he added to it until
it was a peculiar structure. In a wing
! reached by five steps from the parlor,
was the doctors bedroom beyond that
was his workshop, and beyond that
again. is an odd angle. his study. Jam
med into what appeared a passage Just
begun and left unfinished, was the desk
in which the doctor always kept a guam
tity of loose cash and some old Jewels of
great value, heirlOOmS of the Huston
family, from which he was descended
a cOachman, a gardener, and groom
! lived in the yard right below the win
dOws of the doctors apartments. and he
was in the habit of saying that they
gave ample protection to the dwelling
in that direction. In his workshop
4 LARGE BLOOD MAsTIFE
always slept, and the windows of the
parlOr were supplied with strong shut
ters, carefully closed every night
When lawyer Terwhit jOked with DR..
HunStOn about his chances of being
robbed he was wont to laugh and say
that it would require very expert
thieves to get an entrance, or, having
got an entrance, 10 get out again safe
and sound.
1t was the 18th of August. 1923.
Young HunstOn had returned from col
lege and gone to London for visit to
friends. Lawyer Terwhit had sat with
the doctor until O'Clock. Then the
latter saw that his servant closed up
the house, and soon afterward retired
DR.. funston was an early riser, and
when he failed to be stirring at eight
O'Clock next morning, surprise was ex-
cited among the dOmestics. BY 9
O'Clock they were alarmed, and by 10
O'Clock resolved to send for lawyer Ter
whit and ask his advice. The lawyer
suggested the forcing of the door lead
ing from the parlor to the bedroom of
the doctor. This was done and the
lawyer and the domestics entered.
a DREADFUL SPECTACLE
was disclosed DR.. Hunston Law on the
bed in his night clothes. His arm was
thrown out so as to hang out over the
side of the bed. His head lay over the
bolster. and his throat was cut from ear
to ear. An ordinary kitchen knife.
sharpened like a razor, lay on the left
side of the bed, and in the bolster on the
same side was Il cash. The doors thro'
the work-room into the doctors room
were open. The dog lay peacefully
sleeping. The desk in the study had
been
RANSACKED or EVERYTHING
of any value. There had been difficulty
in opening it. and the person forcing
the lock had worked on the right side
Of the desk as it stood, for there were
marks on the wall showing where he
had rubbed off the whitewaSh. The
windows of all the rooms were examin-
ed. All were fastened except one in
/ the workshop. OF this the cords had
been broken. for when the broken sash
/ was raised it fell with a crash.
Right below this window was q flower
! bed. In the soft mold there were
! prints of a mans knees and of his left
| hand. There were also marks as tho
/ his toes had struck the soil. The ser
| want men who slept near the spot had
/ heard no noise in the night except
4 what sounded like the banging of shut
/ ter, and as there was wind they thought
nothing of that.
Lawyer Terwhit was a very shTewd
man and a very clever criminal expert
/ The authorities were duly notified of
I the dreadful crime which had been per
I petrated, and measures We're taken TO
/ find clew to the guilty person or per
sons. The motive was clearly plunder
/ The perpetrator or perpetrators knew
| that the doctor kept valuables in his
/ apartments. 1t would seem as though
! they knew where there was a defective
/ window. The points presented in the
! case were numerous and pregnant
THE POINTS IN THE CASE.
l. There was no possible means of ac-
cess to the apartments of the doctor ex-
cept by the window already spoken of.
/ That this had been used was evident.
/ II WIS lNtiNt IttO Iioit liic Elouiiu.-
/ There were marks of feet on the coping
! Just below, as though some one had
/ walked along it from the corner, cling
/ ing to the windows, on purpose to avoid
| leaving traces. Immediately below in
! the soil there were no marks of feet.
/ and no impression Of any sort other than
/ those already mentioned, namely: the
marks of the knees, the toes, and the
left hand. These, it was very clear