Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-06-19

the Great Crime-History of the Tragic
Affair-A Widow ard Three Orphaned
Children to Mourn the Loss of a Husband
and Father.
About $50 o'clock yesterday morn
ing Daniel O'Connel, policeman of the city
of st. Paul, was shot and killed by burglar,
on the grounds lately owned by Mr. I. NJ.
Newson, on st. Anthony Hill, now the prop
erty of Frank B. Clarke, while il the dis
charge of his duty as such officer.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE KILLING.
The deceased was one of the lately appoint
ed policemen ard received his authority to act
in that capacity on the 18th of last May, so
that he had been in the service OF the city just
one month when he was killed. He was as
signed Friday night to duty on the Fort road,
and remained on mis- beat till o'clock yes
terday morning when he was relieved by Of
ficer Palmer aud he started
for his humble home on
Marshall avenue. His route naturally was
down Fort street to the Seven corners, thence
up Third TO st. Anthony hill, and across the
hill TO his home. This led him directly past
To present the case in a connected form it
is necessary to go back little. Mr.. William
Bickel, collector of internal revenue, resides
with his family, in the second house east of
the First Methodist Episcopal church, on
West Third street. Mr.. Bckel was absent
from the house the night in question, and the
inmates were Mrs. Bickel, her two sons and
two daughters. The division line between
Mr.. Bickel's house and the one next above it
is represented by a stone retaining wall, the
top of the retaining wall being on level with
the ground Of the upper lot, while Mr.. Bick-
el's lot is abont three feet below
the top o. the stone wall. TIE windows of
the Bickel house on the west size extend
down nearly to the ground, ard are ,eonse-
quently easy of access from the outside.
Mrs. Bickel occupied the bedroom On the first
floor on the side of the house toward the
retaining wall spoken Of, with her youngest
child. Her other children were all up
stairs. Just off the bedroom is a sitting
room, into which opens one of the windows
On the first floor. About o'clock yesterday
morning Mrs. Bjckell was awakened by an unu-
sual rafting noise. Notknowing what it was
that caused the noise, she got out of bed for
the purpose of ascartaining. When she
reached the door leading to the sitting room
she found the noise proceeded from the rat
ting OF the window of the sitting room
referred to. She stopped in the doorway
which was so located that she
could see the window plainly, when she was
astonished to see man shaking, or rattling
IT. ba
cause the catch to fly around so that he would
be able to open the window. She saw the
man plainly, as it was then beginning to be
light, though not plain enough to distinguish
~ mans counterance. This man, after he
had ratified, stuck his face close up to the
glass, with both hands at the sides of his face.
1t seemed as though the fellow was trying ex-
periments, partly TO see if there was any one
in the house. After gazing in while, he ratified
again, and then put his face up to the window
as before. This was repeated several times,
and finally the fellow that was at work at the
window, apparently spoke to some one else,
when another and taller person, who seemed
to have been standing just one side
of the window in the shade, also looked in
and both their faces were close up to the
glass, and each had his hands up to the side of
his face, peering into the room to see if they
could discover that the rafting of the window
disturbed any one. Not seeing any signs of
any person moving in the house, the shaking
was repeated. Mrs. Bickel became satisfied
that they were robbers, and that they were de-
termined to get in. She therefore ran across
the house, and, opening a window, called to
the dog to bite the robbers. The dog, which
sleeps in the stable short distance from the
house, in response 10 his mistress voice,
bounced out and commenced barking with
great deal OF vigor. Seeing that they
were discovered, the two robbers hastily
jumped upon the stone wall, which at that
point is not more than three or four feet high,
and climbing over the fence, ran through the
church yard into the one adjoining, and so on
through till they reached the high fence
which encleses the premises of Geo. L. Otis,
where it is supposed they concealed them
selves in the bushes. William Bickel, Jr., who
was sleeping up stairs, as soon as he heard
the dog bark, suspected what was the matter,
and jumping out of bed slipped on his pants
as quickly as possible, and picking up his
self-cocking Smith & Wesson, started down
stairs in his bare feet. OF course he was too
late, for the robbers had been thorou Chilly
frightened and had evidently terminated their
labors in that direction for that night
He made a thorough examination of
the premises and looked all about with as
much thoroughness as he could. It is now
supposed the robbers had concealed them.
selves in the underbrush and shrubbery with
Ne intention of quietly leaving as soon as
the search for them was abandoned.
! POLICEMAN o'CoNNELL APPEARS.
(. As young Bickel was making his way back
I to the house, Officer O'Co nnell being on his
!, way home as above stated, reached the front,
of the house and Mr.. Bickel related the
circumstances of the visit of the robbers to
the officer and told him the direction in which
they went The two renewed the search,
Bickel going into the yard the same
way that he had returned while O'Con-
nell went around through the grounds above.
The two met on the hill back of the house
and looked all around thr ough the
grounds and made as thorough a
search of the grounds as they
could, but found nothing that had