The Elk Mountain pilot., 1880-06-24
MURDERED N THE MOUNTAINS!
James annd William Edgley Los, thsir Lives
And are Robbed While Prospecting
on Anthracite Greek.
The Murderer, Chester fibs, is Followed Be-
yend Gunnisen and Caught

Chas. Baker, Ed. Cummings, Geo.
A. Beebe and Geo. Feller, left Irwin
Wednesday, the 18th inst, 'for pros
pectlng trip on the north fork of An
thracite Creek, southwest of here.
When out only two days they discoy-
cred the bodies of two victims of a
foul and horrible murder.
The bodies were found under the
following circumstances While out
hunting, from camp, on the morning
of the third day, Messrs. Feller and
Cummings saw in the distance what
they supposed the red lining of sheep
skin coat. They were then about 500
yards from camp. As they approached
nearer they discovered the red ma
terial to be the shirt of man who was
lying among some brush on the noun
tain side. The tracks Of a large bear
were near, and the hunters supposed
the poor man had been killed by the
beast. Closer examination, however,
revealed the fact that he had been shot.
The two men, without touching the
body, returned to camp and informed
their companions of the horrible dis
covery. Immediately after breakfast
the entire party repaired to the scene
of the murder and proceeded to make
an examination for evidence as to the
nsEner and cause of the crime. A
bullet hole was found under the left
shoulder blade, evidently made by a
ball from a 44-caliber Winchester
rifle. The ball had passed through the
heart and body, coming out about one
inch below the left nipple. The backs
of the vest and shirt were badly powder
burnt, showing conclusively that the
murderer had placed the muzzle of his
rifle within four inches of the back of
his victim when the fatal shot was fired.
A loaded shell was found about ten
feet above the dead body, and is sup
posed to have fell from the dead man S
pocket as he sprang in the air when
shot, as it corresponded with a snetl
afterwards found in his pocket. The
pockets of the clothing Of the deceased
were found to contain double-case
| (sllver) Swiss watch, a tortoise-shell
knife, and some minor articles. The
party then buried the corpse where
found and put marked stake at the
head of the grave.
The party then returned to camp,
packed their animals and had travelled
about a mile, when they met some
prospectors, to whom they related the
above story. The prospectors said
they had seen three men with pony
and three burros heavily packed, 60
ing in the direction where the body
was found, few days previous, and
later one of the three men had return
ed without his companions, but was
riding the pony and driving the bur
ros. Suspicion was at once directed
to this man as the murderer.
Two Of the party of prospectors,
.Messrs. Overholt and Bennett, and
two OF the party discovering the body,
Messrs. Baker and Feller, returned to
the grave of the murdered man, for
the discovery of further evidence of
the crime. Arriving at the scene they
found the trail Of two men, supposed
to be that of the murderer and his
victim, which they "back-tracked,"
seeking where they had camped, sup
posing there further evidence could be
gained. This trail was followed for
two miles in a circuitouS route, when
! Overholt turned to the right among
some timber, thinking the camp might
be there. The remainder of the party
proceeded to follow the trail down the
mountain towards creek, when they
discovered on the bank a lot of clothes,
consisting of canvas ulster, a miners
coat, two oil blankets and two wollen
blankets saturated with blood. Two
gunny sacks were also found, one
empty and the other contained giant
powder, cartridges, fuse, caps, under
clothing, matches and pocket book
/ containing papers of two parties,
JAMES AND WILLIAM EDGLEY.
Tho .,,4,a-c -rara. hill cf sole for