Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-10-27

| curing the young man WHO cOuHltleu
the deed, before he could have opportu-
nifty to skip out. We are not disposed to
criticise the action of the officers, yet We
feel it our duty to say that there was, in
our judgment, an inexcusable delay OF
their part in endeavering to make the
arrest, and that on this account alone
the man who should to-day be behind
the bars to answer for the foul deed, is
free, and a fugitive from justice. Citi.
zens may have been direlect in not ma.
king the arrest, but they have the ex-
cuse that officers charged with such du-
ties, were at hand, and advised of the
situation.
GENERAL WEIR
remained unconscious, and his body
paralyzed, seeming to suffer much at in.
tervals. until death freed him at 4 O'Clock
Monday morning. A few hours after
death Drs. Henry and John E. West and
G. 81. Close made post-mortem exanain-
alton, which showed that the nose had
been broken and that the temporal bone
of the skull on the left side of the head
had been fractured, and that there was
severe congestion of the brain. After
the pOst-mortem was concluded Esquire
Davies, acting as coroner, held an in
quest over the dead body. Below is the
proceedings:
INQUEST.
STATE OF OHIO, RICHLAND TOWNSHIP,
Belmont county, Ss:
An inquest by the undersigned was
held on the oath day of October, 1881, at
the late residence OF James Weir in said
township, over The deed b,dy of said
James Weir. who ~ss supposed to have
come to his death by violence, the un-
dergigned, David NJ. Davies, a Justice of
the Peace in and for said township, then
and there acted as Coroner, there being
no Corner of said county within ten
miles from the place where said inquest
was held. The following is the testi-
mony of the witnesses then and and
there examined before me:
DR.. HENRY WEST being duly sworn testif-
ed as follows: That on Saturday evening, Oc>
tober %, 1881, about 8 o'clock, Mr. Weir's
little daughter came to my home and told me
th.t her papa was badly hurt, and wanted
me to 60 down. l came down and the
first person l met was John Riggs
at front door, and James Weir, Jr, in
hall on inside of door; James said to me, al
have done something, Doctor, that ought to
be killed for" asked him what it was? He
said, 81 struck father with my fist and hurt
him badly think" | found Gen. Weir in
little room between front room and kitchen.
James told me to wait before | examined,
until we carry him up stairs; he and John
Riggs then took hold Of him and carried him
up stairs and laid him on bed in front west
room. When examined him, found his face
was very bloody; he appeared entirely un>
conscious; spoke to him. he didn't answer.
tried to arouse him but could not; then
washed his face. Examined his pulse; it was
about 100i was Of moderate strength. His
left eye was very much bruised On the left
side OF head, about l ] inches above the outer
angle of the left eye, on frontal bone, was a
protuberance about size of one-third of an
egg cut off sidewise. The second place ex>
amined was the lower end of the nasal bone
on left side; there was a cut through the skin
at this point about one>half inch long, through
which the blood was running pretty freely,
from cut of a small artery; the lower end of
this bone was fractured about one-half inch
from the distal end. These are all the wounds
discovered at that time. | continued to at
tend him, and there was no signs of consci-
business up to his death, at $50 A. NJ, oath
October.
DtGgnoas-There was compression on the
brain or severe conclusion.
Aut0psy-At 7:50 o'clock on the morning
of October 24th, four hours after death, as
sisted by Drs George A Close and John E
West, an incision was made through the
the scalp from top of left ear to top of right |
ear across head; the scalp was turned down in
front and the frontal and temporal bones were
exposed, and the fracture of the skull was
discovered through the squamous portion of
the temporal bone extending from under the
arch of the Zigoma running up and backward
about one inch, land then in aserpentine course
backward and downward for an inch and
a half further. There was second fracture, |
V-shaped, about three -fourths of an inch from
base to apex, about the middle of above descri>
bed fracture, below and backward of thesame. |
Over the fracture the muscles and integu |
ments were very much bruised and entirely |
filled with clotted blood. The integuments
under the protuberance above the left eye
were much bruised. Between the membrane
of the brain and the skull there was consider
able hemorrhsge; the brain was very much
congested throughout. There was an abra-
sion or bruising Of the right forearm, not very
extensive. No other bruises were discovered
on his body. Ii appears to me that the ex-
tent of the injuries could not have been done
ion death ensued from those wounds.
Dr.. J. E. WEST being duly sworn, says
that he fully concurs In the above testimony
of DR. Henry West.
DR.. GEonGE A. CLOSE being duly sworn,
says that he fully concurs with the testimony
OF DIR. Henry West, so far as autopsy in con-
cerned.
SHEPHERD DAVIS called, and being duly
sworn, testified as follows: About o'clock on
Saturday evening, October %, Twas called on
by Mr. John Riggs, who told me to come
down to General Weir's, telling me all about
what had happened; he was going up town
to get some liquor; objected to going then,
and didn't go then; Riggs came down again
and spoke to me again; met John West and
went from my place with him to Gen Weir's
residence; went up stairs; DR. II West was at
work. Met James Weir, jr. in the room as
soon as | went in. He seemed to be very glad
that had come TO assist them-said so at
least; he and went to work heating water,
putting in bottles, and took them up and
placed them around Mr. Weir. Quarter past
s o'clock, James Weir, jr, came to room from
kitchen, and called to me; when we came to
foot of stairs started to go to kitched, and
he said s'come in the room;" we went in the
room; he took seat before the stand, and i
sit down beside it, and he asked me "what in
the name of God he should dor" Then he
asked me if be should send for more doctors2
told him that DR. West could and would do
all that could be done; wasn't necessary to
call on any others. James stated to me that
he wanted his father to adopt Ada, his daugh-
ter, to Miss Cady, and that was what the
trouble began about; he picked up these two
papers (witness producing two letters L look
ed over them, and he said all he wanted was
him to sign these two papers. He refused to
do it; he reached up and caught him and pull |
ed him in the door, like; he resisted, and he |
said he had hold of him sometime ago, and
he appeared to be stouter than he was. |
then got excited and struck him once, and
that turned him around, and he fell on the |
floor. In conversation James stated that he |
did not intend to hurt his father, but that he |
hecame pxcited and struck him. imnlorad mo |