The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-07-31

The, Baxwell case Is, perhaps, the
most remarkable of all. and the rela
ton of it here will also serve to dispel
the idea that In orderfo trial OF murder
case, it is necessary always first to show
the corpse--or as some, ignorautly mis-
using the law phrase, term 1t. the corpus
deticfi. The affair happened in 1S41 at
Gibraltar, where one James Baxwell, a
wealthy merchant, was residing with
his daughter. The girl loved and was
beloved by one William Katt, hut the
father opposed the union fiercely on re-
ligious grounds, he being q Catholic and
Katt a Lutheran. This led to repeated
quarrels between father and daughter,
and the former was heard to declare
that he would sooner kill the Girl than
that she should marry the man of her
choice. Two days later distressing
cries were heard proceeding from q
deep cave adjoining the merchants
house, the cries gradually dying away
into sobs and finally SILENCE. The girl
was missing from that time, and as the
father. when interrogated, angrily dis
claimed any knowledge of her where
abouts, suspicion was aroused and a
search instituted. In the cave. were
found a blood-staiped polt ton of the
daughters dress and small lock Of
hair resembling her. .clotted with blood.
Upon these facts the father was accused,
tried, found guilty and sentenced to
death. At the scaffold, where stood
Katt, Baxwell spoke to him, shook hands
and avowed his forgiveness of all wrong
done or attempted. The exeoutioner
adjusted the death-cap, but as he was
about to draw the bolt young Katt cried
to him to desist, as he could explain all.
The old mans forgiving words had
caused him to relent in his fell purpose,
and he explained that the daughter was
living, that be had married and seclud-
ed her from the world, where she knew
nothing of the prosecution of her father.
That in peyenge for the sights that had
been put on him by the old gentleman
he had secreted the bloody hair and
dress fragments in the cave and had
himself given vent to the cries of dis
tress that had so alarmed the neighbors
and had been the original cause of di-
recting the foul suspicion of murder
against the father. This surprising Ian
guage caused the executioner to stay
his hand. but it was too late. When the
the black cap was drawn from the head
of the unfortunate old man he was found
dead Imagination had killed him. Katt
was punished for his crime, and his I'M
fortunate wife retired to a convent.
The famous Webster-Parkman case
has been fully recounted by the press.
1t only remains, therefore, to call atten-
ton to one almost precisely similar in
its main features, which was also tried
in Boston, but in which the strong chain
of circumstantial evidence was COM
pletely refuted by the skillful presents
ton of the case for the defense. The
case was that of Leavitt Alley, who was
tried in February, 1873, for the murder
of Abijah Ellis. Speaking of the SINH
larity between it and the Webster case,
says: "There is at many
points wonderful parallelism in the
two trials. The victims were both men
of wealth and of strikingly similar
habits; both were hard creditors, and
the incentive alleged in each case was
the inability of the murderer to meet
certain payment" Some workmen
near the Cambridge Gasworks discover
ed two barrels containing the mutilated
body floating in the Charles River.
They were packed with horse manure
and shavings, and in one of the barrels
was found a piece of brown paper with
the name of M. Schouler, a billiard
table manufacturer, on it. 1t was then
learned that Leavitt Alley, a teamster,
was in the habit of removing Schouler's
shavings to his stable. The stable was
and it was found that a dry
manure heap had been recently disturb
ed, while spots of blood were found
on the boards near by. 1t was then
shown that Alley had started on
the morning previous to finding
the remains from his stable with load
Of four barrels, two of then heavy, only
two of which could afterwards be ac-
for, while one witness also tes-
titled that he had seen man strongly
Alley upon the milldam,
where the barrels that were found were
to have been thrown into the
river. 1t also came to light that Alley
owed Ellis $500, for which he had been
and persistently dunned;
that new AK which Alley had pur-
chased was missing; that blood-stains,
identified by experts as not only human
blood, but the blood of the murdered
man, were found on Alleys clothing;
that woman had heard strange noises
in the stable the night of the murder,
and that Alley was abundantly sup
piled with money the day after the muir
der, although he had been known to be
hard up before that time. All this tes-
timony was entirely cireumstantial and,
by itself, the inference of guilt
would have been conclusive. But coun-
sci for the accused went through each
item of it with the most painstaking
skill. One by one the points for the
were turned. The result
was, after a nine days trial, and one
of the most memorable struggles in the
history of our criminal Jurisprudence,
that the accused was triumphantly &C
quilted. Had the trial occurred at an
earlier date. when juries and courts
were more inclined to lean to the side
of severity than mercy, the result would
probably have keen widely different
st. Louis Globe Democrat.
BOILING WATER.