The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-07-05

into the sleigh or whether the witnesses
had even seen her In 1t no man knows.
What is known is that Mrs. Ring was
just putting her workbasket back to
retire to bed that night when the
knocker at the door announced a visitor.
To the good woman's no little amaze
ment it was Levi Weekes. lie had a
sleigh, with the horse tied to the hitch
ing post in front of the house, and asked
for Elma.
Elma2" repeated Mrs, Ring, "dd
thee say Elma, Levi ?"
Yes, L did," he replied, as the wom-
an afterward thought with some nerv-
business What of itp"
"Why, she hath gone out"
Gone out at this time of night 2"
yes"
"But what should she go out forY
who was she with ?"
This remark puzzled Mrs. Ring more
than ever and. she could barely stam-
mer:
Indeed, Levi, to tell the truth,
believe she went with thee"
He answered promptly; :" If she had
gone out with me she would have come
with me. never saw her after she left
the room"
To make long story short, he swore
he had left the girl standing in the hall
way and had gone to obtain the sleigh
at his brothers.; that he had been de-
tanned there until now and that was all.
And so it turned out to be, so far as
any admissions on his part were con-
cerned. The girl not returning by
morning, a hue-and-cry was raised and
she was sought, but vainly. No sign or
token of her could be found. Indeed,
the very hour of her leaving the house
and whether she left it alone or in the
company of Weekes or anybody else was
never discovered.
Two days after the muff Gulielma
Sands had borrowed was found in Man.
haitian well, but even this and the dis
appearance of the girl led to no further
examination till the I'd of January, 1900,
when the uncle, Elias Ring, and another
person dragged the well and brought up
the poor girls body, with the dress torn
open above the waist, but without
shawl, neck handkerchief or Shoes
There were marks of strangulation on
the neck.
1t was no case of suicide, as she would
not have thrown aside these articles and
retained the muff. But who was the
murderer?
Suspicion at once rested on Levi
Weekes. He was arrested, indicted and
on the last day of March put upon his
trial.
The presiding judge was Chief Justice
Lansing, who disappeared years after as
mysterious.y as did Gulielma Sands,
leaving his hotel for the Albany boat,
never to be seen or heard of. Cadwalla-
der u. Golden was the prosecutor and on
the side of Weekes were arrayed Alex
ander Hamilton and his future slayer
Aaron Burr, and also Brockholst Liv-
ingston.
On the jury of solid New Workers sat,
among others, Robert L. Sylburn, whose
name has recently been brought up as
the original purchaser from the city of
the site of st. Patrick IS Cathedral.
A great number of witnesses were
produced, and the prosecution, adopting
the theory that Weekes took Elma out
in his brothers. sleigh, choked her to
death and threw her in the well. Several
persons living near that spot heard cries
of" Murder ~ on the night of Decem-
Der Both, but no special search was
made. The track of sleigh was noticed
near the well, but quite number passed
there daily and there seemed to be no
proof of any marks of struggle.
There was no testimony that Weekes
and the poor girl were seen to enter the
sleigh, although in after years some
professed to have seen it.
Several witnesses declared on oath
that Weekes spent the evening, from
to 10, at his brothers. house. The evil
dence of his having used his brothers
sleigh was extremely weak and when
on the third day of the trial the counsel
suddenly closed the case without any
address to the jury from either side,
Judge Lansing, somewhat annoyed at
not having time to review the testil
mony, instructed the jury that there
was not sufficient evidence to justify