Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-10-02
Another Horrible Murder

pet atsd 10 this State on SATURDAY morn
log, the Victim being Joseph A. Lowe Of
West Cumberland We gather the 6,llox-
log particulars from the Portland Press:
"loung Lowe lived 10 the hons. with
hi widow ed mother. his stster aud her
husband. Mr.. and Mrs. Ezra Eam..y. and
several Young nephews aud niece., Oar
Ing The last week a younger sister. Mrs.
EAzaheth H. frank. came To the house to
attend the West Cumberland Fair. Friday.
the iair closed. winding up at night with q
band concert and dsnce In the hall A, the
village some two u,ile- distant from the
house. Nj. Lowe hsd been acting a.
iofsgef is'T all horses ut the fair not enter
I'd by exhibitors. aud had Consequently re-.
cei''d some money from day to day. but
not any considerable sums. About n IN
Friday evening he entered the tent wh.r.
Nj. Prince aud Mr.. Shaw wer,-ot,irers
at the ialr-and told them b.. had about
- which lac had taken for grain. and that
he vas going home TO fix up tor IN. dance.
Tie returned home and dressed, telling his
mother that hs should leave hi. money he-
bind him and handed her all of the s. ex-
cept two hall dollars which he put N las
wallet a. he said he might wish to spand
ihst amount 81 the dance. lie then drove
spent the evening". About 10 a. m.. the
brother and sister started to return home
aud Mr.. George ". Morrill,. = n.ishbor.
drove back with them. When they reached
The house Morrill, offered TO 20 In and help
Lowe puI up the horse but the of.r Wa
declined. and Morrill, babe them goodnight
aud eft. The front door had been lsft un-
fastened aud Joseph went IN aud through
the house To- The back door To let his sister
tn there. and to his surprise fouEd that
door open He therefore told his SISTER to
walt while he lighted a lantern AMI went
through the house. Finding everything
all night Mrs. Frank alightei and went in
while Joseph took the horse into the barn
Mrs. Frank wcntto her room and removed
portion of her dress and then. a. Joseph
ava not return she became uneasy aud
called to him out of the front door bu, re-
Sei'ed no answer. She then reused Mr..
Ramsey. who proceeded To tn, barn.
When Mr.. Ramsey got 10 the barn a.
the moon was setting he coGld scc moth.
Ing bu; the wagon close by the open
door. lie went back and told Mr.. Frank
be feared something had happened to
JOSEPH, lighted a kerosene lamp sni re-
turned. When he reached the barn he .ss
Jo-eah's leg sticking oui aud lookiag farth-
er. saw the man was all bloody He ran
Ia Cyrus Shaw's "a neighborl In fright,
and the two returned together catering
the barn Joseph was fogBd lying slightly
on one side. the left arm cxteuded. the
right lying scro,s the body aud presenting
q horrible sight. The unfortunate man bad
evidently put up the horse. and WAS CON
ing from the stall, with a portion Of the
harness on one arm and the lantern in the
other hand when the scoa ndrcl. no had
been concealed In the passage hal rushed
out and. With sharp axe struck Iosn on
the RICH; temple following Il up with blow
from the sharp blade which cut through
the night SIDE OF the neck. seycring tho
he AL from the body with the exception Of
a thin Zap Of fiesh and muscle The lao
tern vas smashed In pi"oe. and lay atc~
i~ci dssiAut. The axe. a common Affair.".
49, lying beside tho murdered man. and
his wallet containing the tao half dollars.
he iwo p'en got the corpse into the hoa..
aud then raised the Hei ghborhood Al.
4 VI they notified The Portland police
AMI toroncr Gould
HOW THr HocsE WAS rNruErn
"A has already been ,al Tho rrau: dor
81 the house Sas Ier unlocked when MIR
l.oSc and his sister wcn, to the ball When
ihry returned they found THIS dor loo :hc
same condition - they len it, DO; Tho back
door open. Ta!s back door = sSfhe .ug.h.
cry side % the porch near the cgJ. T.l.
made 81 stripe Of board aud has 10 panels
ln u. II Was locked on the Inside xlih
hap Fastened 10 that hA.p sasA string
whica wa. passed through A small sius.st
hole 10 The outside OF the door aud ag.,
81 tn IL Ia - -.
arrangement had been made so that the
tne bsfs Of the family when oui uoulI
ccne Ia by that door by pgllus ihl. .,f.n,
and ihus raising the hAsp The hole ~.
a VcFy small ouc near the top Of tho door
" bower catered The hpusc thar ng.A. -.
tered by PalliaE tht. -srTus and iiiling the
hAsp ia an probability. The mother OF ths
murdered iasn Is care shc iAstrted that
door before rcilriLg There !, bare poe
.lpihiy that stranger might h4s. hti IN
this arrangement while s.ArchIr= lrr
means Of entrance, bot As the 'front.' door
WAS unlocked il would ss,m a. II The
chance. were ninety. nine oct OF handed
That he would have discovered that fact
sooner Khan the kao;ted string There 4.
another fact insuiiousd by some a. Ir1d,n.
10 show ,ha; the person ~ho entered tie
house Was familiar With the premise,
shfAft BAeEiHS AAilt.eu ADr outside y Huf 20
get iuto the main part Of the house Il 3
necessary 10 20 through another door I,
Vas The inNariAhi- custom Of the family On
s1in- 10 bed 20 close . ,.dI.r vi Lac
and his slater found li opcu \ preuiafits
Of the door IL that while /. may t.e opened
without noise, Il seuess- badly when De.
Ing shui. u u natural TO suppose that
man Who had entered ihe house Tor the
purpose OF murder or robbery, ADD uot
finding his victim had decided t. lie Ia
a at Tor bin Ia the barn. would leave ihe
house a. nearly a. possible ia the condition
he iound !, tor lear oi arou sing suspicsou
which might foil his design. IL IL iufrFrcd
therefore IRON the fac; that he DID not
,hut this door he Knew he could not do 80
without danger OF roaslng the household
Bot la answer TO this u may be aid That II
the murderer was Anxious net 10 arouse
Suspicion he would not have LET, the back
door open A. he might easily have escaped
BY window or BY the front door.
TnE WEAPON.
The weapon with ~hich the deed va.
done was an AK. IL stood with two others
10 the eastern end OF the shed. The blade,
oi all OF them stood Ia a groove which sas
made by mailing a strip OF board 50 thatH
did not come quite up 10 the -nd boards Of
the shed. Two of the axe. had been used
frequently for cbopplng wood and we're
duii. The one which the murderer selected
or bit upon by accident had been but sci.
dom used and Was very sharp. IL would
undoubtedly require considerable hunting
Tor . stranger to have found the axes.
though he might have done It. II would
seem more reasonable 10 suppose that
stranger going 10 the house Tor the pur-
pose of robbery aud murder would have
been likely TO have provided hlmse.f With
weapon beforehand than TO have taken
the chances OF being able to find oae on
the premises In the darkness OF night
TRACES
The murderer lett no trace, behind him
by which he could be Identified Early
Saturday morning some OF the neipbbors
discovered traces OF footsteps which led
from the picket fence, just below the barn
AS described abnve-down TO the little
bridge crossing the river. on the back road,
II We may call IL. that leads TO the fair
grounds aud thence into Portland. .Ju.t
st the point where the footsteps ended
there were marks Of a wagons wheel, hay-
Ing been turned and left standing some
lime and the width af fhaxa -..a.