The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-08-12
MURDER MOST FOUL.
Two BrOthers.in.law Get Into an AL.
tercatiOn and One Deliberate
ly Murders the Other and
Seriously Wounds
His Wife.

evening furnished an ARGUS reporter
with the particulars OF cruel and delib>
rate murder that was committed near
Moscow, little station on the c. R. l. & |
P. road thirty miles from Davenport
Saturday night. 1t appears that
for sometime Mr.. and Mrs. Riddell, |
of Rochester, Iowa, small town
in Cedar county, which joins Mus
catine county on the north, had been
visiting Mr. and Mrs Charles zimmerman,
Of Muscatine. The wives of the above
men are sisters, and the visit proved all
the more pleasant and satisfactory on
that account. Saturday the visiting
couple desiring to return to their home in
Rochester, Mr.. zimmerman hitched up
his team and after dinner the party start
ed for the above named place. Although
no liquor is to be obtained in the prohi-
bition state of Iowa, it is alleged that the
brothersinlaw secured Il jug, or bottle full
of the liquid before leaving Muscatine.
They imbibed freely of the family dis.
turbance" and finally Riddell began to
talk of a little crookedness in which he is
supposed to have figured. 1t seems that
last winter the general merchandising
store of John Kline, of Rochester, was
robbed of $3.50 and that Riddell was &C
cused of the robbery, though no authen
ticated case was made out against him.
been heard to make some very
uncomDlimentary remarks about Riddell,
and it was about her that he was talking
in his drunken rage. zimmerman re-
monstrated with Riddell when the latter
swore that when he got home he should
take pleasure in shooting the top of Mrs.
| kIine's head off. One word lead TO an
other until finally the two men got out
of the wagon to settle their differences in
pugilistic manner. They fought saw
agely, but Rddell finally proved the victor,
and zimmerman got back into the wagon.
During the progress of the battle Mrs.
Riddell threw breach loading gun,
which was in the wagon, over fonce
near by so that neither of the combatants
could seriously injure each other. Rid
dell, it seems observed the action of his
wife, for as soon as zimmerman climbed
into the wagon, he climbed over the fence
and secured the gun. Drawing several
shells from belt he wore, he loaded the
gun as he walked rapidly after the wagon,
which was again moving toward Rochester
As he neared the wagon he applied vile
epithe! to his brother in law, and raising
the gun to his shoulder, fired
zimmerman fell heavily to the ground
with the entire top of his head blown off
while the shrieks of the terrified women
startled the neighborhood. Mrs. Ammer>
man, who was seated beside her husband
had one of her arms b1oken by the shot,
and also received wound in the side A
number of people soon came along and
the body of zimmerman was picked up
and conveyed to the nearest house where
the coroner of Cedar county yesterday
held an inquest upou the remains Rid
dell did not attempt to get away after
having committed the crime, but seems to
glory in what he had done He was
taken to Upton, the county seat of Cedar
county, where he was held to await the
action of the grand jury. He is black
smith by trade, and is said to be extremely
brutal in his manner, especially when in
toxicated The murdered man was a
peddler and bought and sold rags for a
living. Our informant says that he was
quiet and inoffensive when allowed to
pursue the even tenor of his way. From
all accounts the murder was cruel and
foul and the murderer will doubtless meet
a deserved fate.