Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-06-01
AN iNHUMAN MOTHER
Strangles Her New Born Babe and
Throws 1t in q Well.

Last Thursday morning we were
informed that a dead infant had been
found in a well in South Mexico, and
on investigation we found that such
was the case.
D. B. Staples lives in a house owned
by Col. j. j. Haden, just south of
Col. Haden's residence and next door
east of ~. B. MeIntyre's, and joins
Matt Wainscott on the north.
About half past seven O'Clock on
Thursday morning, as Mrs. Staples
was drawing water out of the well
(the well being all open one), she
saw something floating on the surface
and tried to get it out, but it sank to
the bottom again.
About 10 a. M, she was informed
by her children that "that white thing
had come to the top again." On look
ing into the well she saw it was evil
IDENTIFY the corpse of IN infant. She
then called in the neighbors and Sent
for the coroner. When taken from
the well the body was found to be
that of al infant girl, perfectly formed
andwell perserved. Its mouth was filed
with stable manure and hay, with
which it had evidently been choked
to death. DIR. Pipino, assisted by
medical student Frank Steele, held a
post mortem, and as the lungs floated
i'll the water, decided that the child
had been born alive, and had been
either choked to death with the straw
or drowned-in either case, murdered.
1t was plainly evident thet the body
had been in the water sometime, or it
would not have fioated, and, on in
vestigation, we cleaned from Staples
and his wife that about ten days be-
fore, when they had returned home
from a visit to friends, they noticed
some straw and blood on the well
curb, but gave the matter no thought,
and it is supposed that the body had
been in the we'll from which water
was being used all this time. On
account of the water being hard, but
very little of it had been used for
drinking or cooking purposes.
Quite a crowd had gathered, and
it was no trouble to hear rumors as
to who the mother was, and one per-
son was certain he knew the father.
But rumors were not what we wanted,
and on a personal investigation we
were rewarded with something more
tangible. Judging from what the
baby had been choked with, we were
certain that its birthplace had been a
stable, and on investigating the stable
of J. B. Mcintyre, just next door,
We found unmistakabEe evidence that
the child had been born there, and
found a sure trail from the stable to
the we'll.
There is no doubt but what the
child was born in the stable, about
thirty yards from the Nell, and car
ried to the we'll and thrown in by its
mother Immediately after it's birth,
and that, too, on the night of the 18th
or 14th of May while Staples and wife
were away. What is more, the mother
lives near by, for she evidently knew
that Staples was away and that his
well was open, for all the other wells
in the neighborhood were closed.
The neighbors did and do connect
a certain young ady's name with the
affair who lives near byiyery near by.
She was brought before the jury, but
knew nothing. The coroner was sent
to her house to make an examination
so as to clear her if innocent, but he
was insulted and ordered off the
place. We don't want to do the
young lady any injustice. We hope
she is innocent. If she is guilty, We
hope she will get out Of town. Some
person has committed murder-s
most foul murder. An infant who
could not ven raise its voice in its
behalf has been murdered, and tina,
too, evidently by its mother, who.
no doubt, has suffered a hundred
deaths, physically and mentally.
Such things cannot, and should mo-
be overlooked. The guilty party viii
be found, and if found will be pun
ished. The ladies in the neighbor
hood were brought before the jury
and some of them we're very positive
in their statements of the reasons why
said young lady might be guilty, while
t others were sure was innocent. Sht
is suspected, and the right thing fol
, her to do would be to Prov
her innocence, no matter how
disagreeable it might SEEM. Sh'
appears to be a very innocent ant
modest young lady, and we are very
10th for a moment to think her guilt,
of anything wrong, much less such
cold, cruel, inhuman, unmotherl,
crime.
:, The coroner's jury, in view of tn
/. evidence, found the following verdict
r We, the undersigned jurors, empanele'
and sworn on the 25th day Of May, 1882
BY W. w. Rodman, Coroner of Audrail
county, Mo-, to inquire and true present
ment make how and by whom a certain
: female white infant whose body wa
found In the well of D. B. Staples, In tn
y city of Mexico, Mo-, after hearing tn
evidence in full in the case, do fin
that said infant came to its death b,
means of stable manure placed in it
mouth so as to strangle it to death, an
that the crime vas committed by som
party or parties unknown.