The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-06-17
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n C1EXEORNT1a HORROR.

|
ministrator OF the county OF Sacra-
mcnto, California, and us such was
entrusted with the management and
settlements Of tiic estates Of such de-
ceased persons rs had no heirs or rcla-
tivcs near at hand to administer. The
regular cnsolruncnts Of the Office not
! being sufficient to satisfy Dyes avoricc
| ne conceived the bold and horrible
scheme Of inaugurating sorics Of
murders Of those persons Whose cs-
tatcs by law would fall into his hands,
! Ills first attempt was successful rs far
as the murder was concerned, but
detection followed and the murderer
paid the penalty Of his crimes on tue
10Th Of May.
HISTORY or TIE CRIME.
Living on Graud Island, situated
where the Sacramento River flows
| into San Francisco bay was an old
bachelor, n. NJ. Tullis by name, who
had by industry and thrift had accu-
mulatcd fortune of &50,0O0
On the moruialg Of August 2, 1873,
Tullis was found dead in his orchard.
There were four pistol shot wounds in
the body. 1t was evidently II case of
murder. Various theories were at
first advanced III explanation of tho
crime. As Tullis had employed
Chinese servants il was thought no
had fallen victim to tho anti-Clinosc
| feeling, which ran high ut tho time.
1t was also known that he was very
severe on tramps, always hunting them
away from his place, and his violent
death was attributed to q spirit Of re-
vcngc on the part of some tr;mps
whom he had roughly treated. But
these theories were far from being
held as satisfactory hy thc people. n
reward was offered for the capture Of
the murdcrcrs.
The night previous two mon were
seen to go down the river in Il new
a'd roughly built boat. They landed
at Tullis' ranch and ono Of the men
| asked a Chinese servant for the boss.
lie was directed to the orchard, and
soon after were heard the report OF
shots, the shouting of men and the
barking ofn dog. Next morning the
tracks Of men were found leading
from where the murdered man lay
down to the river. Suspicion pointed
| to the men who landed from the boat
rs the mlrdlcrcrS, and on this clcw the
detective proceeded to work. In the
meantime Troy Dye, as public adj
ministrator, filed an application that
| letters Of administration be issued to
him on Tullis' estate. Some days
later portions Of tho boat in which tie
two men were seen were found in tho
! willows by the side of the river below
Tullis' place. On one piece Of tic
boat was found figuring, which ulti-
matcly led to the discovery that the
lumber from which the boat had been
built had been purchased by q man
named Anderson and nn unknown
man from Walton's lumber yard, and
hnd been cent to Dye'a housc. whcro
the boat was built. On the night Of
August Il the sheriff Of Sacramento
arrested Troy Dye and Clark. his
pan tncr IN tho saloon business. Dye,
who was Il farmer and butcher and
interested in the saloon business with
Clark, had up to this time borne an
irrcproachablc character. Anderson
was butcher, had been employed by
Dye ut the time at tho Tt,llis murder
was boarding in Dyes house. After
the murder he disappeared but was
subsequently captured and lodged in
Jail at Sacramento to await trial. -
|, a WHOLESALE BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT.
In his confession Dye said Andcr-
son, n man from The Fast, who had
done Il deal of "work" there, and
another man named Dick proposed
that they should kill all the rich men
for share of Dyes percentage on the
estates he would administer. Dye on
! planned to them the nature Of his office
and the percentage he received on the
estate he administered. About the
Goth of April, 1878, Dye and Dick
went down the river oil a steamer,
and Dye pointed out the places Of
| different persons who were "well
! fixed and had no relations" Tullis
| WAS included in the list Of persons
whose estates could be administered
with profit. a week later Dick went
down on Il steamer and took q survey
of Tullis' ranch. lie paid another
visit to Tullis' place, and after drink
ing bottle OF liquor with Tullis pre-
scnted him with another charged with
poison; but tho poison scheme did not
succeed and then his murder was de-
cldcd upon. AN assassin was brought
from San Francisco to murder Tunis,
but as the man was in tho habit of
drinking to excess this plan was aban-
doncd and the would-bc assassin sent
back to San Francisco. Anderson
was then working in Yuba City, and
had written to Dye to send him word
when he had any "work" laid out.
Dye went for Anderson himself, SO as
to avoid risk, and he found the latter
eager for tic bloody business. On
tho night Of the 18th of July Dye drove
Anderson and Dick down along the
river as far as Richland. On the way
down Anderson wanted to stop and
kill ranch man named Strothman,
who was supposed to be n good sub
ject for the administrators, but Dye
thought one murder was enough to
have Oh hand at time. At Richland
they took u boat. On arriving at
Grand Island they found Tullis was
absent in San Francisco, aud tho
rntlians returned disappointed. An
derson returned to Yuba City, but on
tho summons of Dye eagerly repaired