The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-04-21
a HUI LII hOhROh.
A Mans Body is Found in a
Trunk,
In an Advanced Stage of De-
composition.
Supposed to be that of an
Englishman.
$50 Perish all Traitors to the
Great Cause"
The Southern Hotel, st. Louis,
the Scene.
Probably Murdered by a Sup
T~;1I
Probably Murdered by a Sup
posed Friend.


occurred at the Southern hot3 between ii
and IL o'clock TO-DAY, by the discove y OF
the horribly mutilsted body of a man
packed in ttunk, VIII Oh was taken out If
room 3S5. The stencil from the trnnk led
to the discovery. The hotel regis er re-
vesls the fact that on March 80 a gentle
man registered as Wal G. II. Lem Y
Maxwell, ND, from London, and was a.
signed 20 the room. On opening the trunk
it was found that the ht a6 of the man wss
severed from the body, ahd written on a
paper inside the trunk were tie word, $50
pc ISL all traitors TO the great cause" The
trunk Snd contents were taken ID the
morgue.
MR.. MAXWELL
is described as a very ri sh looking,
blonde yourg man, wearing a dark, wColy
cutaway suit of English stuff His face
was clean shsven, end he wore his hair
bang fashion, not parting it at all. He was
seen in company, and frequently with a
dark locking gentleman ab Jut Fl re feet ten
inches in height. The later wore dark
mustsche and had dark hair. This ge' tie
man registered as c. Arthur Preller, Lon;
don, England, and was assigned 10 room
l84. Four days after Maxwell had re=is-
Il
Ter, asking WHEEL Maxwell was a guest
at the house. He was answered ia the
affirmative, and he soon came on and was
assigned to the room above given. Both
men occupied the room numbered 1874 10
common a considerable part of the time,
each of them calling fer the key ct times,
and the CLERK giving.it out TO each indi:-
criminately, as they
SEEMED TO BE GOOD FRIENDS
and old scquaintances. TIE men were
much remarked about the hotel for their
dudi h, dandified airs. Maxwell let ,he
hotel week ago Sunday night but he had
paid his full weeks board p omptly and il
was supposed that he would return any
day. No suspicion attached to his absence
until The horrible smell called attention to
the room and led to the OPP ming of the
trunk. When the trunk containing the
body was opened in the ho'el corridor to-
day it was found to coptsin the body of a
middle aged man, face AID breast up and
so doubled about the hips and knees that it
filled the receptacle. On the side of the
trunk over the head of the corpse was print
ed in large letters the words $50 perish ali
traitors to the gre cause" The trunk
and Its CHASTITY contents we're Immediately
appeared In the trunk presented q horrible
aspect. The fsce and parts of the body IN
covered, the only garment being a pair of
drawers, reaching just to his knees, were en-
tirely naked and showed
ADVANCED DECOMPOSITION.
The heed and rex were doubled up al one
end of the trunk and The arms were forced
down by the side and under the body. The
legs were bent at the knees and The thighs
being nearly perpendicular as if great force
had been used in putting it into the trunk.
The face was smooth and hsir Jet black and
as far as one could Judge, the de-d man
could not have been mare than 80 years
of age. The body was that of common
sized man in height and build and the only
evidence of violence present d as the body
lay in the trunk was a cut or alb in the
breast. TIE trunk was medium zed,
COMMON ZINC TRUNK
bound with wooden rips.
The most mysterious and sens t:onal
feature of he trunk was tie inscription
posted inside nesr The head. The stcond
trunk wSs left standing near the freight ell
evator. The whole corridor Of The hotel |
was filled with a horrible stencil which |
failed to d 'sappear when the corpse was |
taken away. Soon it bicame evident that |
the second trunk, which was very heavy, |
was EN-; .ng fet d smell also. Attempts |
were made ID open it but it was found to be /
securely locked. 1t ives also csrted Of to |
the morgue where il was opered, ar found |
10 contain numerous articles. 1t also |
contained Maxwell's London address as IA !
PAPER Building Temple, London, On an |
envelope addressed in his handwriting 10
Rev D. G. A. Lewis, B. A, cur tor of 81.
Paul, Marley Leeds, YORKSHIRE, England
He came over on the steamer Cephalonia,
from England. Prtllar has a Russian
passport yized by the Russian ambasSa-
dor in London rs, and passport So for
Spain and Mexico vized by the Spanish
minister and signed Granville.
SEVEN TRUNKS. FOUR vALIsEs, HAT-BoX
were left behind at the hotel and the con-
tents, clothing, ETC., valued at hundreds of
dollars. This is believed to make the
theory of hoax un'enable, and the belief
is that the corpse is either that of Maxwell
or Preller. No one remembers which che
of the two men left the hotel last
Chief of Detectives Burke, after making
an examination OF the rooms at the South.
ern hotel said, II think that the dead man
is G. A. Preller, who arrived at the hotel
on the third inst, ard that be was killed
by Maxwell, who registered there on the
31st of Msrch. The murder tosk place in
Maxwell's room, No. 184, ard the trunk in
which the body was stored was the one
which Maxwell brought with him from
the east. On last Tuesday he bought the
second
TRUNK FOUND IN HIS ROOM.
at store on Broadway, near Walnut
street. Into this he Transferred the books,