Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-03-05

BILE to move until daylight. Although
there was little reason to believe then
guilty, they were both placed under
arrest. A hasty search Of the hous,
revealed the fact that nothing ha,
been taken but the blue and gold BIO,
on the whatnot, although there wa
over 81 900 in money in the house ant
much valuable jewelry.
The night on which the murder wa
perpetrated was one that had beer
waited for. 1t was Of darkness, anC
a furious rain storm prevailed. Tn,
wind blew almost with the violence
of tornado, and the noise made b.
the warning elements was such as &
serve n murderer's purpose well. No
body would be on the highway OF
such night, and the sound of re
volver shot would be drowned instant
ly by the tumult of the winds.
There was one footprint, however
which the rain did not obiterate
Under a window on the west side O
the house was the mark of a rubbel
boot or shoe, showing that somebody
had stood there and watched whilC
the murderer was at his work inside
Everything connected with the case
indicated that The murder had beer
done by somebody familiar with the
house and the habits of its occupants
Without doubt the guilty parties
knew where the servants slept, for af'
ter the shooting they opened the stair
door and listened. Had the servants
made the least sign of wakefulness,
they, too, would have been slain.
Suspicion attaches to the Holcombs,
though no arrests in that quarter
were made. 1t was found that Il man
in Holcomb's employ, named Foy,
had a pair of rubber boots which
fitted the track made by the window.
Mrs. Holcomb took to her bed after
the murder and refused to see any one,
but her deposition was taken soon af-
terward. She admitted that Holcomb
had got up in the middle of the night
to go out and shut the barn door
which was slamming, but denied that
he was absent long. Byron Crouch
came home from Texas, and remained
a few weeks, returning then to his
ranch after putting the Pinkertons to
work on the case. Soon after his de-
parture for home Mrs. Holcomb was
fund dead in bed under circumstances
indicating that she had committed
suicide, but after an investigation,
the Coroner's jury found that her
death was caused by heart disease.
At the inquest in the case of the
Crouch murders, which has dragged
along most of the winter, the only inn
portant evidence introduced was that
of a hardware dealer in Jackson, who
testified that several weeks before the
tragedy, Daniel Holcomb purchased
of him a 80 calibre revolver. This
was the size of the pistol with which
the shooting had been done. Hol-
comb denied that he ever owned "a re-
volver of any kind, and positively
swore that he had never been in the
hardware store spoken Of
When the verdict was rendered that
the Crouch family came to their deaths
at the hands of parties unknown, the
detectives, stimulated by the rewards
offered. fairly swarmed in this part of
the country. They kept close sur
veillance on Holcomb and Judd
Crouch, and hung about the old home
stead with great persistence. Several
amateur detectives busted themselves
on the case, and some of them were
threatened by the hired man Foy and
by Judd Crouch.
One day last week Foy boosted that
he was going to Union City to settle
an important matter. He said he
had plenty of money and knew where
he could get more. He went to Union
City as intended, and while there shot
and dangerously wounded Elmer
the deputy Postmaster Re-
turning to Holcomb's house, he put a
bullet through his own brain and ex-
pired Immediately, leaving no explain
alton of his conduct. 1t has since
been decided that he went to Union
City to kill ID. j. Euston, editor of
the Register, who had cast reflections
on him in his paper, but mistook
Shuler for him. When Foy shot
himself at Holcomb's several officers
were ut the door with warrant for
him.
This tragedy caused intense excite
ment throughout all this region, and
the people had hardly got so they
could sleep nights when another startl-
ing event occurred. Detective Brown,
who had been at work on the Crouch
case, was riding on the highway near
the scene of the murder one night last
week, when he was stopped by two
men, one of whom inquired: as your
name Brown ?"
Receiving a reply in the affirmative,
the speaker drew a revolver and fred,
the ball stricking Brown in the thigh,
and causing a serious wound. The
two men then fed, and Brown made
his way with difficulty to the village
Of Horton, eleven miles from here,
where he sent telegram to jackson
charging Judd Crouch with his at