The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-07-22

THE Atkinson MURDER MYSTERY
The murder of Mrs. Atkinson and chile
of which mention was made in last week
COURIER, is still exciting our Missoui
neighbOrs, and is involved in great mys
terry. The friends of Atkinson indicat
that on the final trial his innocence (
the dreadful crime of numbering his wit
and ewn infant child will be made to az
pear. The Atkinson version of the a.
fair is, that the father Of Mrs. AdkinsoL
the murdered woman, had driven her froa
their home, and told her that she migE
| find shelter elsewhere, aud under thee
circumstances she went back to her hu-
band from whom she had been separate.
The husband refused her permission 10
come into his yard, but she continued %
loiter about his premises until late in tie
night he invited her in and they patchd
up some kind of compromise of Their
domestic troubles, one condition of ne
compromise being that not one of Ter
fathers family were ever to come on lie
premises. The next morning the wife
cooked breakfast aud Atkinson went TO
| work on the farm. Soon after breakfast,
Mrs. Batsell, the mother of Mrs. Adkn-
son, feeling anxious to know the reslt
of affairs, went over TO Adkiuson's nd
inquired of her daughter if reconciha-
tion had been fixed up. The daughter re-
piled 10 her mother that they had "sor.er
| r,oJo 49,. wilt sh;s ;,tarv;aw vas
progressing, Atkinson returned to the
house, and ordered Mrs. Bstzell to lesve
and got his pistol and threatened to shoo
the old lady if she did not leave. h'
succeeded in driving her of, and WITNESS
es had 20 Interfere to prevent his shoot
ing her. The theory is that Mrs. Adhn
son being driven to desperation by beint
driven from her own fathers house, an'
her mother being driven from her bus
bands house, that she committed suicide
and killed her own child and herself
The little year old girl states that "a
~other gave hsr aud the little ba.Ssan
white powders and took some hersss..y
} The bodies of Mrs. Atkinson and Ter
infant child were found in the river mar
the husbands house. The tracks leadn q
! from the house to the river were snail
shoes exactly the size Mrs Adkipon
wore, and the tracks returning fromthe
river to the house were bare footed. Wen
: Mrs. Adkiuson's body was found inthe
river, she had on no shoes, and the nly
pair of shoes she owned was found inthe
house under the bed. IL she wore hem
from the house to the river when she
drowned herself, as the tracks indicaed.
: how came her shoes back in the hase?
Investigation proved that the hushnd
| wore exactly the same size, aud hadfre-
, quentiy worn his wife's shoes. La dbl
ton to this circum stantial evidence IN.
husband fed the neigh borhoOd; but cldms
that he did so, because warned by hisrel-
atives to-do so on the ground that the
people would mob him before the real
facts could be brought out. Report avs
that the 5 year old child, who FIRST sated
that the mother had given her the Mite
powder, being removed from the faser.
, stated that her father had tied the hhy
and her mother together with a npe.
Report, als1, says, that old man Adkison.
on the morning of the unfortunate afair.
had made his threats that be intenda 10
20 over there and make his son kiIIbis
wife and throw her in the river andlb al
on the same morning he had told paa;es
that his sons wife had poisoned henelf.
probably "A hour before the KILN, ar