Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-02-07
Salen,s big SensariOn.

4 PROMINENT MANS WIDOW INDICTED FOR HIS
MURDER YEARS AFTER DEATH.
Salem Mass. has sensation of the liveliest kind
In the arrest Monday Of Sarah P. Proctor for the
murder Of her husband, George T., in July, 1882
Mr.. Proctor was prominent business man, being
the manager Of the Salem Produce Exchange asso-
citation and chief owner OF the Salem Steamboat
company. He was found in the cellar Of his house.
the house, and In the cellar he found Mrs Proctor
holding up her husbands head and endeavorng to
nlt him from the ground. He appeared to be I'm
conscious and his left side was paralyzed. He was
laid upon lounge In the sitting room. Upon TAX
ing of Mr.. Proctors collar quantity OF blood was
1 ,% upon tne inside ana blood was found upon
cred at about two inches from the left ear On the
back of the head. Mrs Proctor, who appeared
hurt and remarked that MI. Proctor probably
struck the back OF his head against a nail
upon one OF the ash-barrels, near which he was
throughout the day. No attention was paid 70 the
snEhe scratch on the back OF the head, as It dd not
bleed, and Mrs Proctor's explanation was readily
accepted. Mr. Proctor died that night, as every
one believed, from paralysis Two days afterwards,
on Saturday pgrnlng, Bennie C1eaves, a little
head stairs seven-ba1re} revolver. he took it to
bis aunt Six chambers were loaded and one dts
T2s Or the owner Of the pistol
the hands Of the police fol nearly three years It
was found at distance OF almost thirty feet from
where Mr.. ProCt0Ps body was found.
Mrs Proctor said nothing OF the pistol apparently
till Sunday morning, when her father-in-laY was
at the apesRfast table, and then she casually re-
cellar stairs ana She was good deal troubled about
It,. ',y the e old man said quicklys
daughter, LILY, and she said: "Lily, perhaps had
better not have said anything about that" '
1 Wse at
thinning the hair Of the deceased having heard OF
the pistol story took occasion 70 probe the scratch
wound was a deep one, leading up into the head.
He notified the medical examiner. There was a
consultation with Rev. Dr.: Bodies, pastor OF the
UnfversalSt church, where the funeral was to take
place that afternoon, and Immediately at the close
Of the services the body was removed to the under
missing pistol ball was found lodged against the
frontal bone. having entered at Ae base OF the
brain and traversed the center OF that organ. Il
murder had been committed; that Mr.. Proctor must
have dropped in his tracks instantly, paralyzed:
shot himself, or to have thrown the pistol from
where he was found, and that the man with that
shot In his brain, could not have put the pistol
under tho stairs and then gone back to where he
For nearly three years tneporce have been gath
ering pits OF evidence which, on Monday, resulted
It is known that MI. and Mrs Proctor did not live
happily, and that the wife had made various
brunette Of very prepossesslng exterior She is,
apparently, woman OF great strength OF purpose
ana determined Will, and has that reputation
among those with whom she has been Intimate
These characteristics are very strongly marked In
her personal carriage There is evidence that there
were frequent alterations between herself and
hef husband Of greater or less violence.
The more positive evidence against Mrs. Proctor
is not made known by the government officers, but
before the grand jury was her daughter Lfly "a
years Old, who has refused to live With her mother
witt am ne that sn
house that morning, and 1t Is believed that the
theory Is established that the wound had bed more
freely than was supposed There are persons, it's
said who heard voices In the cellar OF the Proctor
house ten minutes before Mn Proctor called assist
apce.
experiments have proved that the shot from the
revolver found in the cellar could be heard all over
the house upstairs, and It Is claimed that q shet
but across the way. The trial VIII be Of most
description.