Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-14

covers Maxwell's poverty anu Pvs''oiy
refuses 10 put up the money 70 carry
the adventurous doctor across the ra-
cidc ocean preller has plenty OF money
himself: no disappears Sunday after
noon; Sunday night Maxwell is rolling
in wealth; on Monday he converts
lot Of Bank Of England notes into
American money, aud that same eve
ming departs for the West. Professor
Webster. after his crime, writes several
ANONYMOUS notes to direct public sus-
picicn from himself. Maxwell writes
q defiant cpitaph for his friend and pins
It near his head at one end OF the
trunk: $50 perish all traitors to the
great cause There was no doubt
that Webster wrote the anony-
nous notes; it is pretty
well-established fact that Maxwell
wrote the inscription found in the
trunk. Again, both men adopted pro-
fessional means--the methods with
which they were best familiar-to kill
and rid themselves Of their victims.
Webster. after administering the fatal
blow, dismembered his victim and
burned those members by which it was
most probable they might be recog-
nized. Maxwell, the supposition is,
waited until his man slept, and then
administered the chloroform, which
he perfectly well knew would leave
the corpse limp, and allow of its
being packed in just such a trunk
as he purchased for that purpose.
Thus all through these two remarkable
cases points OF similarity exist, ofwhich
those mentioned are the most prominent.
The cases differ only in the character
of the men involved, Professor Web
ster having been respected and honored
in the community of letters in which no
lived, and in the wide variance between
the degrees Of care bestowed by the
two assassins to conceal their crimes.
Professor Webster was on the road to
complete obliteration of Parkman's cor
poreal attributes when he was dis
covered. Maxwell, on the other
hand, made no attempt to final
ly and fully dispose Of his VIC
TINS remains he merely counted upon
concealing the murder long enough to
give him time to board 2 ,ss..ccssmeF g.
New ZeslssIi5d, and he made very ex-
-cellent, and for himself, so far, very
fortunate calculation. When he is
brought back he will have to be con-
yicted entirely on circumstantial evil
dence, as Professor Webster was con-
victed. Preller is missing, but it will
not be easy to find anybody willing to
swear positively that the blackened
corpse now resting in Bellefontaine is
that of the lost Englishman. Still,
the absence of the corpus deficit
may not cut so very much of a
figure in the case. About thirty
years ago, i'll this city, man named
Lamb was convicted and hanged for
killing his wife, although the woman's
body, which was supposed to have
been thrown in the river, was never
found, and all the evidence against the
husband was purely circumstantial.
Maxwell's counsel may do as Rufus
Choate wanted to do for Webster, &C
knowledge the identity of the remains
found in the trunk with Preller, and
plead accident or "a visitation of
Cod; then explain the flight on the
ground of fear after concealing the Oc-
currencc beyond a reasonable time,
and the robbery of the victim
as necessity when flight was
determined upon. There was no
eyewitness to the tragedy, and
nobody but the survivor can tell the
story Of the happenings in Room IA
on Sunday, April 9th. The fact that
chloroform was the poison used makes
the case all the easier for Maxwell, as
he let number of people know that he
was himself in the habit Of drinking
whiskey and chloroform mixed, and
may have introduced his friend to his
favorite tipplc. Many persons are adj
dicted to the drinking ofchloroform, and
Maxwell, having been the agent in pro-
curing the drug, it is easy to understand
that, should his friend die, having taken
an overdose, fright would drive him to
the concealment Of the body and to
ultimate flight. That he made no effort
to cover up his tracks, but rather adj
vertsed himself largely all along the
road to San Francisco, would justify
conclusion Of this kind. But it was
not the writer's intention to argue the
Maxwell case. The purport of this ar
ticle was to show the points of resem-
blance existing between the trunk trag-
edy and the Webster-P arkman murder,
as has been shown, but the decalara-
ton Of Rufus Choate that Webster
neck might have been saved had he
followed the plan Of defence which the
eminent lawyer outlined for him, sug-
gested the same chance Of escape for
Maxwell, and led to its explanation
here that the public might understand
and appreciate the difference between
catching q first-elass murderer and on
victing him.