Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-07-04
BAKERS BUTcHERY.
Further Particulars Of ths Murder
OF the Old Man.
Six Persons Arrested as Principals anc
Accessories, and Another will Go to
Jail To-day-Much Excitement
10 the NeighbOrhoOd.
HOW THE CASE WAS WORKED UP.

i
The murder Of old man Baker, in 1881,
has always furnished a prolific source OF
conjecture and comment, to the good
people in this neighborhood, and the fact
that it transpired nearly eighteen months
ago has not in the least abated their ardor
for the arrest and punishment of the Grim
inals. speak plurally, for it is morally
certain that old man Bakers death was the
elimination Of a conspiracy to murder,
whose ramifcations will not soon be de-
fined. The murder wasa most heinous and
heartless one, and the participants in the
death of the old man should be
bounded to the death. On the
night Of April 18th, or early IN the morn
ing of the 9th, of the same month the old
gentleman was attacked by some one, who
first discharged a revolver into his left
breast and then hacked his throat with a
heavy ak, gashing and cutting it in ter
rible manner. The old fellow, although
well advanced in years, had spent them in
the hardest kind of toll, and even at his ad-
yanced age was more than match for any
one of his cowardly assailants. The effusion
of blood, however, from his throat soon
reduced him to condition of helplessness,
and he lay completely at the mercy of his
murderers. The work OF robbery and spoila-
ton at once began. The old-fashioned
traditional. chest, the safeguard of his
little savings, the receptacle OF his
papers, the safe in his eyes in
which everything he possessed was
secure, lay under his bed, where
thieves could not break through and steal,
nor the rural burglars assail was taken out
and broken 20 splinters with maui, within
his very hearing. The money and papers
valuable 10 the thieves having been secur-
ed they left ~ the house and the old gen
! tleman to the kind attentions OF his solicit
Gus relatives. who at once rushed( p to his
assistance. Help was procured and atten-
ton to the wounds of Mr.. Baker, who at
one time promised to recover, but an I'M
! looked for Inflammation of the bowels in
duced by heavy blow from an ak land
overlooked at the time of the examination
interviewed, and within six days he died.
At once Coroners jury was summoned
by Squire Jesse Shaw, and the taking Of
testimony began in the town OF Manning
ton. A large number of witnesses testified In
the matter The testimony, however, was
contradictory and confusing, and repeated
adiournments followed until the matter
apparently was allowed to drop, and for
very short time the affair took its place in
the procession of events, not forgotten or
out Of sight, but shelved until vigorous and
effective measures could be taken which
would uncover the murderers and reveal
the perpetrators of the horrible deed
Early in the present year q number OF
the Influential citizens of Warrington dis
trict began negotiating with the Eureka
Detective Association and Col. A. w
Burnett, its chief. Meantime, U.
Arnett, ESQ, prosecuting attorney OF
Marion county, began to take an active IN
terest in the matter, and threw all OF his
energy into the work of ferreting out
the murderers. He consulted with the
County Commissioners and finally succeed
ed in getting them to make an order ap-
propriating $500. on account of some sub
seouent eXtraneous influence this order
was rescinded by the Board, and the good
people of Warrington were again compelled
TO cast about for some other method Of pro-
cedure. After consultation, however, a
number of the substantial citizens sub
scribed $500 and deposited it in the bank
at FairmOnt subject to the orders OF Col
Burnett.
At Work.
The detectives thus having had an earnest
of good faith held out to them, they at once
went to work in tine matter, The mass OF
testimony taken before the coroner was
Thoroughly examined and digested. 1t was
at first claimed by the inmates and friends
of the Baker household that the murder
had been committed by some member OF a
family by the name of Cartwright
living near. and the investigation by the
coroner was conducted almost entirely upon
this hypothesis. The practiced eye OF the
detective, however, soon saw that this
theory was wholly untenable, and not sup
ported BY an atom of evidence. Another
Search then began and it was almost math-
ematically proven to the minds OF all that
the murder was the work OF some one well
acquainted with the house Of Mr.. Baker,
his personal habits, his place OF sleeping,
and in short, with all the surroundings in
terror and exterior OF the place.
Burnett and his assistant, Capt. j. j..
Martin, of Grant district, Marion county, at
felt around and found that while there was
disposition to push the matter, there was
sort of feeling of vague uneasineSs and
fear pervading the entire community. They
however, proceeded, and as vendors OF fruit
trees, soon acquired thorough knowledge
of the locality. They reconuoitered the
house and grounds OF Book, who succeeded
old man Baker in his homestead, and soon
had an intimate knowledge OF the house,
the room in which the old man slept, The
bed, the corner in which il sat, the win
dows doors stairs and everything in brief
that would be an aid to detection. They
! also employed female help in small way,
and through misunderstanding succeeded
| in eliciting some points, which materially
| advanced their progress. Women are pro-
verbally yoluble, and those around the
| Bakers were not exceptions, and soon par
| tally unbosomed themselves to their anx-
! ious inquisitor.
The result OF al inquiries and interroga,
tions went TO show tho following; First
that the murder had been dons ny some
one within the house, and furthsr,t that the
deed had been very obviously committed
by left handed man. Jim Book, the SON
in-law of Baker, filed the description ex-
actly. He was tall, brutal, left handed and
had personal interest in the removal" OF
Mr. Baker Book comes from Marion coun-
ty, near Pennington, and a few wears ago
married Henrietta, the youngest living
child of Mr.. Baker, and who, by the
way is eight or ten years his senior. Shs
| is rough and ungainly in appearance and
preserves stolid indifference. The most
important man in all the arrests, from q
criminal standpoint, is Elias Baker. This
man has q criminal history not inferior to
that of some Of the old stagers> in large
| citi es. He is son of brother of John
| Baker, the murdered man, and from his
youth up he has been an Ishmalite of
society. He has been accused of all
the crimes in the decalogue
and tried before civil and military courts
for most of them. Baker has been an un-
usually fortunate man, in all of these
trials, for he has never suffered anything
more than temporary inconvenience in
the shape of slight imprisonment.
"In the army" said a prominent and in
| fluential citizen to me last night, "he was
branded as a thief, and stood for hours
bearing the board with the word thief
upon it He was arrested and tried for
stabbing of a comrade. Then he, Hender-
son, Sturm, Felix Beatty, Isaac Thompson
i and lack Watson we're tried before