Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1880-05-22
Strangely Betrayed.

A gentleman, who is now judge of the Su
promo Court 10 one of The Western States, not
long siuca related to friend the foil.
story which shows how hard it is for murduer
to destroy the traces Of crime.
Some low years ago when held th, rili
OF District Attttruey 10 the interior of tn, S Al"
OF New York, q mau camo to my ofioc o3e da,
aud stated that he and his brother wcro ,n
gagged In The business Of hawking or ledihcs
iawehy. aud that they had always been s,ci,.
tomed to meet at certain points on the rru;ctn
compare notes aud exchange goods. For ,h.
6rst time since they began to travel, his b!olh,r
had failed to keep his appointment. ard, as h.
could GoG 10 trace Oi blu 10 their cusio ufr,
rounds, ho had reason 70 fear that ho was rur
dered.
After gathering Ill tho Information irrm
him that [ could. collected a large pos, !. Of
cltizans and proceeded to max, lhor.uph
search OF the whole resiou.
"In The coueso of two or three days we ONO
to a retired sp,. far from any human habits
iol, where the appcaraLc!i wcro sGch a. 10 in
dlcate that the ground had been recently di>,
turbed; aud, 90 digging down few ic9t, ",
found tho missing pcddcr. Rising him ia tho
turfaco L observed one or moro small black tups
crawling about. which | knew to bo such a. arr
produced by animal decomposition, but as III,
dead body before nc had not bsguu 10 d,c.y.
know that they could rot have or;gioalcd
here. There also fl, from tho y clms
aud crovioes OF tic dead man cohi7g lri!r
sand. while the soil from which We had taken
tho body vas Q! oayey nature, with no ssrd
mixed with it. |. lhs:ctorc. c smo at rvca IT,
tho conclusion that this was not the place whcrc
The booy WAS originally deposited, ard wo &C.
coIding received our cxplUraions.
"Ia process OF tiuo We landed upon a sandy
rcgio1 just Oh tho oun kj7ts Of iltlr village
where again Is was observed that tho surface Of
The ground, although slightly ltcz)n. had been
not long before dug over. Attic d,pth of a
few fec: we came uron tha declycd boty of
horsr. tceming with the sam. spcc cs of bur
that had before detected, whcl led me N
believe that this was probably tho SPOT whero
tho poor pedd!er had bcon first buried. | was
confirmed in this susli,ioa by tho fact that in
the earth thrown out from the pit w huud o
tallow candle partly consumed.
Tho presumption now was that the criminal
lived in tho ali cant village, and | thought it
very likely that tho half burned candle, Of
which took possession, might furnish the clcw
10 his detection. lJ was what is known as 90 old
fashioned dip, not much used in these days, az d
my first efforts were directed to taIng out
10 what families Of tho village such c,udlcs
were buraed. Jt was not long before was abc
TO ldcnuy tho ltcllIy; AID | ss,ertalna hat
he family occupying tho house cons.t.d Of an
aged couple. feeble and bed riddcr. and throo
sons. | also learned TINT tho y0uug women Of
The village had received from thcso bays pre-
souts Of inwery. which, upon ex animation,
w.re identified as having b.ca q ratt Of the
murdered man stock.
Il pcX; proceeded to scaTcI tn, house and
premises where the young men lived, and aftor
tumbling the hay out Of tho birI. we found
coue sailed the pack that belonged to tho ped
dlsr. Il Was very CERTAIN that ono or mcre OF
these buys had Committed the murder, and |
submitted each OF them to searching scrutiny
10 private. Tho result IF this was such as to
sati,iy me that Whilo the twa younger had re
\ brother, be alone was responsible for the mur-
| icr. Ho was accordingly arrested. tried oou-
visited and sentenced to the ga'l1ws. On tho
| morning of hia * .cu'i,n ho ack io8ledRed hia
guilt, adding With 90 oath that ho would dio
| game"
1t would seem as though this crinina! had ct
| frat effectuaIiy corc,a'ed the trsc,s of his
| crime, but iarthing candle revealed lis tott
steps, and lighted tho way to his death.
PUT Our TIE FIRES and havo al Sour
Stoves etored apay and kept in order OF
| STANsBURY's STOVE HOUSE. coroer OF King
and Columbus streets. All orders will meet
prompt attentioo.
| KEEP CooL.-REFRIaERAToRs WATER
| COOLERS and Ice CHESTS can be found at
| STANsBURY's, c,rner of Kiog AMI Columbu
streets.
/ CANDIDATES.