The Red Cloud chief., 1884-02-01
A FIENDISR CRIME.

married Couple Horribly Butch.
eo IN Their Humble Home near q.
Mo.-The Crime Shrouded I'm Mv..
h.-1ne GENERALLY Accepted Thea, Of
ST. LOUIS, Mo, Jan. "A.
ABOUT i've O'Clock yesterday afternoon
justice Lippeman, residing in the vicinity
uireh'on' Mo-, walked hastily into Chief
ofisan's of1ce and reported that a newlv
married couple named Bodicker had beer
murdered In their bed in a log cabin fou,
miies south of Fenton. in Jefferson county.
mo. In December last Bodicker married =
Souhg glri In this city named Josephine
0iaet' who lived at 1904 Hickory street.
Inc young couple immediately moved te
aiog caoin on the High Ridge road. a few
south OF fenton, where her husband
nad rented land, which he intended 20 crI'
tivate In the spring. They were estee med
oy thelr ~nelghbors, and to all outward an.
p~earances the honeymoon in the loo cabin
was as happy as the young folks could de.
sire Both were industrious, and were in =
world in the future.
Yesterday morning a resident os the
n~eiShoorhood, named Thomas Harrington.
nad occasion to pass along the High Ridpe
ROAD, winch runs past the threshold of the
humble cabin. On reaching the home
'he young couple he noticed the
gate, which opened on a pathway lead.
ing TO the door, wide open. There
was q suspicious silence about tbe
house which caused him to stop. and
on looking at the gate more closely he no.
ticed some bloody marks which seemed TO
LaVe been imprinted with a wounded or
bloody hand. A second glance at the
cabin showed the front door open. He hal.
ioed TO the occupants. but there was no
answer. Fearing that something unusual
had happened, he determined to invest.
gate matters. Tn cabin was divided by a
Partition into two rooms-ak kitchen and bed.
room. The kitchen door, which was lar
was on the north sidefof the cabin. On enter.
ing Harrington was Mortified TO find the
dead body OF Bodicker lying on the kitchen
hoor literally chopped TO pieces. He shud.
dered at the sight and ran to a neipbhor,s
named Mrs. Ford, where he reported his
bloody discovery. a man named Stock.
who was present, volunteered TO 60 with
him and make a further examination OF the
cabin. The two men entered the cabin and
found Bodicker lying in a frozen pool of
blood.
His head was so mutilated and hacked
that ii was barely recognizable. The floor
OF the cabin was a mass of CONCEALED blood
and brains. He WASHING on his back with
his head toward the door and his feet di.
rectly under the stove, which stood near the
center of the kitchen. The body was robed
only in night clothes, and life had left il
several hours before. The men pushed
open the door leading into the bedroom
and their horror was increased two-fold by
the sight that presented itself 10 their
view. Lying on the floor beside the bed,
was the body of Mrs. Bodicker, bathed in
blood from head TO foot.
Her throat had been cut from ear to ear
and the head onlv hung to the body by a
strip of flesh. The body was hacked and
chopped in a frightful manner, and a
ghastlier looking object than her dead body
clothed only in night garments whose
there in the blood-soaked garment, could
hardly be imagined. The bed-clothing was
saturated with blood. and the walls
blotched and stained with brains. The men
attempted TO place the body i'll the bed and
found that il was frozen to the floor, the
hair and limbs teing meshed in blood.
Turning away from the sickening sight
Harrington noticed a bloody trail leading
from the room across the kitchen and out
toward the road.
He followed it until he reached a spot in
the middle OF the highway, which gave
every evidence that a deadly struggle had
taken place 4 portion of the woman's
bloody night garment was found on the
ground. and the ruts and cavities OF the
country road were stained and filed with
blood. The trail again turned and led
back toward the house. but the back track
was of a different character. The ground
looked as If a body had been dragged over
1t. On further examination the men found
that Mrs. Boiicker's body was covered
with earth, showing hat she had been
dragged from the road back into the house.
The mex discovery made was that a runk
which stood in one corner OF the room had
been forced open by some bloody lmple-
ment and rif-d. Bloody fi~nger-marks were
imprinted on the cover, and what was left
Of the contents of the trunk were fiecked
with gore. The SHIRT which the assassin
wore when he committed the deed was
found rolled up III one corner OF the kltch-
IN. The sleeves and breast were saturated
with blood and the murderer, after wash
M. evidently put on one of Mr.. Bodicker's
shirts which he found in the trunk.
Outside in the ward a blood-covered ak
was foand with which the terrible crime
was committed. liz was sharp and deadly
and an examination showed pieces of flesh
and hair still adhering To the blade. The
racks of the murderer were plainly dis
-ernible around the cabin, as the ground
was soft ana muddy Tuesday night ard did
not begin to freeze until early yesterday
morning
rhine has been accepted by nearly all the
aeighbors. Tuesday evening. IL Is sup
posed. a tramp came to the cabin and asked
FOR lodging, and a pallet was prepared Tor
aim in the kitchen During the evening his
Eve rested on the uhh duU oihii NuS
habits of the young people believed that 1t
contained money and valuahles. After the
.ouple retired ne concocted his devilrsh
alan of double murder. After being as
surei hat husband and wife were sleeping
souudly. he rose from his imprompta bed
and searched around until he found the ak.
He then stole into the bedroom or the
sleeping couple and dealt a crushing blow
On the head of the man. The noise awak'
sned TIE Young wife aud she started ua in
alright. The murderer then struck the
woman. but she partially evaded the blow,
receiving it on the shoulder, and leap
ny UP ~grappled with the assassin, and IN
he struycl- reached the door, where she
broke away and ran into the road.
The murderer pursued aud finally over
took his victim in the public road. There
ne struck her a second blow, knocking her
bleeding TO the earth. She continued to
struggle. and while on her knees he almost
iecapItated her with a blow on the neck.
He then dragged the body INTO the house
and threw it beside the bed bodicker'
still showing signs of life, had walked TO-
ward the door that led INTO the YARD,
when the murderer met MIN ana us
matched him with a couple OF blows de
hen forced the trunk, taking what Naiua-
oles ne could tinl. He next procured some
water and washed himself, taking on ms
ploody shirt and putting. on one tnat De
onCed to his victim and lett harringtoh
and Stock spread the news In the neighoor-
- ii ,-.-rlor affprnOOn the cabin