Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-02-04
THE MARTlC MURDER.
now n,nN.N snunr Mrr nrAr,

uis upmS
The mysterious death ol Bernard Short,
ot MutiC township, who was found dead
III tao road near his homo ~ s,Ill the
prlnoipal topic oi CDuvrrsaltuu IN tho
neighborhDOd whrro hD resided, and IN
TACT tho whole county. That thy man was
murdered thoro is little doubt uOw, but
tho guilty parties aro ~ set uul;u0wr 4
reporter oi the lNrELLIdENCER who visited
the family of tho deceased Un Saturday
learned some additional facts.
The homo oi the deceased, whcru he had
resided for u number of Years, ia about a
mile and n half from lawlinsyillc, some
d,Stauco to the hight OF the puDH1 road,
which is reached by a llEo. This road
leads from that highway-bctwoon Rawl
iuSVllo and McCall's Ferry aud tho
tragedy occurred on 10 about 200 yards
from the latter, aud ylobibly three
quarters oi milo from tho homo OF tho
deceased.
\ niuudy spot
At tho spot whore tho body was found
there Is slight rise IN the road aud tho
body was lying ia the right hand track.
Ga tho night of the occurrence tho weather
was Guto warm and II Wa slushy. At
this place whore tho head rested u hole Of
several inches IN depth WAS moltod In the
snow and on Saturday This was yet Iull Of
ia largo spot. Blood aud brains wero
also found at different points along the
road for "A short distance, ana some Ut the
laitci was lying ia "a field to the rilht of
the road at least 40 feet from tho spot
whore the body lay.
Tne Thyory nI NUrI'r.
Il wIs first supposed that h2 man WAS
killed 10y the kick OF his horse, Out tins
would have been impossible aud the psu
Pic of tho community are almost unIuI
nous in the opinion that Snort Mas gd,rd
! by some one who struck him fInm bahiud,
a, ho was quietly driving along the road
| DIS. Vent, OF New pruyidoucr, ard Bay
sou, Of Martluyile, were tho phys'rHus TO
! Deputy Coroner Armstrong, aud tho uody
was also seen 10y d.. Daayor, Of tho BlGk
| The physicians are OF the opinion that tho
man was murdered aud that ne was struck
at least three times by somo instrument
| ike hatchc', axe or piece of wagon tire.
| The wounds are on the back aud left Jalt,
| of the head, which Is badly crushed. The
! ueck under aud back at too car Is Cuy aud
| bruised and tho cheek b'uc is broken The
| wounds are IN no WY similar a. thuso
made by tho heels OF horses shoe. \
man could easily have walked up behind
| shorts sleigh and struck him with one GG
the above iustruments causing Just such
wounds and tho bra Us woult likely 20
have boon knocked just whore pDrrlun
OF them was found ~ the Held. Near the
the place there is a large chestnut tree and
many think the murderer was hidden
| behind II. No tracks were found there,
as the SNOW had been melted
| Tho assassiu
Where the body was found there
was NO evidence Of any struggle
by human beings or tho horse No
u
observed aud it is thought that tho assas-
stu who struck the blow, came up from
behind, keeping the beaten track in the
| middle OF the road, aud. after committing
the crime escaped in this way, or what *
moro likely, drove away with the team.
The horse and sleigh were found at II
o'clock on tho day OF the discovery Of tho
body, about two miles further on In the
same road. Tho animal was loose N tho
road with his head turned around towards
homo, 70 whiCu he seemed 10 be- going.
This looks as though tho murderer had
taken possession II the team. after kill
ing It's owner aud had driven some distance
away, abandoning II when be considered
himself safe. Il seems strange that n
horse should wander uTOuud for u nigh.
and half day without beng seen by sOIuo
one.
The horse had b ru driven b. the dc
| ceased for a number of SUlrs and WAS As
well acquainted with tao road as hIs
master. 1t is therefore claimed that II
there la! been an accident and 40 one had
interfered with the animal hc would have
gone directly To the Lane anl turned in to-
wards Mr.. Shorts home The animal was
also very gentle and never kicked nor
| attempted 10 run away.
When the sleigh WAS found It was not
damaged in any way whatever There was
| not a mark on the dAshor as there would
undoubtedly have been madO IL the horse
had kicked on the right hand end of tho
seat, where deceased is supposed 90 have
been sitting, there were drops of blood and
the side and runner were covered with II
there were also q few drops on the hDor OF
the sleigh. Mr.. Short was injured recently
and for somo time had been wearing u
slipper this was found in the slcigh,
together with cane. whip and horse
blanket, which did not look as though thoy
had been disturbed.
The Motive OF the Crime
What the object OF tho murder WAS ia
4 another great mystery. IL c1ull not have
= been robbery, as when tho body was
found the oyeTCOat was buttOnod up tightly
and none of the other clothing was dis
T turbed. Nothing is known TO have been
taken and there was money in the cloth
! | ing. ue ptThDU VINO tlthlllllhtN Nhf hCt'l
most likely succeeded ia dong all that he
desired, which was 10 kill the man and
f escape. Upto the present writing there
have been no arrests made, although the
r family and friends Of tho deceased suspect
) parties with whom Short had difficulties
during his lifetime. the names OF these
people are known To but few and thoy will
not divulge them for number Of good
0 and sufficient reasons.
= There are al kinds Of repu b 10 the
: neighborhood aud somo of them arc inc1r'
? rect. A story that has gained circulation
I is to the effect that upon one night somo
time ago Mr.. Short, who had been in this
q city, returned TO his home greatly fright
T.. ened he il said to have told HIS wilo
I then that man had followed him with au
a axe and threatened to XIII him. The
+ friends know nothing of tLi5 story and,
i at the time Of tho reporters visit, Mrs
- Short was almost crazy with grief and
q could not be seen. The deceased had a
great many lawsuits during his lifetime,
and by them and in other ways made
some enemies, but his friends had no idea
= of any enmity that would commit a
, crime Of this nature.
\ shorts W WhoToabOuts.
a IL seems very sgular II thls crime was
Y committed at tho hour 1t is supposed to
. have occurred, that no one discovered tho
| h. hn Iay fIbn road IL