Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-31
urrIrp wIrn A cRowBaR.
A w,re Accused Of Numbering hsr
Husband.
NAV York Times.

New York Times.
Constable John Freeman, OF Queens
county, who Is also captain OF the
Ridgewood- Park police, was aroused al
3:so o'clock yesterday morning oy .
womsn who cried for help in front Of
b;s house. He recognized the voice as
that Of Mrs. Singer, wife Of milk
dealer In the vicinity. In reply to
his injuries she said three thieves
had broken into her house ana
murdered her husband. The con.
stable inquired il her husband
was quite dead yet, and she re-
plied that be was still living. Inc
woman had two children with her.
Freeman told her to 60 on ahead and he
would be at her house on Greene street.
Ridcewood, in few minutes. lie was
az GOOD "a his word. lie went first to
the back yard, where the stables are
ard found Mrs. Singer standing beside
a shed, used for storing feed for the
cows. and which stands between the
house and staples'|
Mrs. Singer got lamp and brought
the constable to the front room on the
first floor, whore her husbands body
was living. 1t was stretched on the
floor about three feet from the bed.
The knees were drawn up under the
BODY, and were perfectly rigid. The
skull was completely crushed in, evil
IDENTIFY by some very heavy implement.
There was nothing on the body except
an undershirt. The constable says the
sight was so shocking he could not en-
dure il. and had sheet brought IN
stantly to throw over the body. Free
man then left the house, and returned
shortly with Il. II. Gefken, JI., night
Waterman, whom he placed in charge
admonishing him to allow no one TO
enter or leave the house. Tie also
gave Mrs. Singer similar instructions.
freeman then made thorough search
of the premises to ascertain If there
was any one in hiding, but discovered
nobody. He found crowbar, clotted
with blood and hair at the sharp end,
outside the gate. lie took care to
verify what he had known before, that
there we're no locks on the doors:
After his Investigation was concluded
he went to the residence OF Maurice
O'Copnell, coroner of Queen's county.
A Jury was empanelled, but the evidence
was deemed insufficient to base a YER
dict upon, and the inquest was ad-
ionrned to o'clock tomorrow evening,
at John Homeyer's hotel, just outside
the gates of Ridgewood park.
The coroner, after examining Mrs.
Singer and hearing all the evidence, re-
commended that she be arrested on a
charge Of murder. The coroner felt
constrained to adopt this course from
the fact that she had told different sto-
ries and given several explanations fthe
affair. She told him that she had been
asleep when her husband was killed.
To Freeman she said that three men
had committed the murder. She was
accordingly arrested, and underwent a
preliminary examination before Justice
Knickman, Of Middle Village. She was
held to await the result OF the CorOner's
inquest and committed to Long Island
City Jail.
Singer kept a number Of cows and
ran a milk route. lie had no store.
His house is a two-story frame struc-
ture. and was mortgaged for almost its
full value. 1t was not bis custom to
keep money in the house outside OF his
living expenses. Every cent he could
spare he devoted to paying the interest
on his mortgage of $4,000. lie also
made earnest efforts TO reduce the prln-
cipal. lie was born in Germany, was
of stout build, and was between forty
and fifty years Of age. His domestic
life was very unhappy. lie quar-.
relied constantly with his wife, and
was frequently arrested for assaults
upon Der. lie drank hard, and when
drunk maletreated his wife. A week
hardly passed without fight, and the
woman bore almost constantly, not only
upon her face and head but upon heI
| limbs, bruises and other marks of III
treatment. She generally retsliated
and as both used bale sticks in tEell
encounters neither got of without in
Jury. The woman gives her age as for
ty-fve wears. She is stout and healthy
looking and Of Irish parentage. There
are four children. The Oldest is a boy
of fourteen and the next girl Of twelve
years.