Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-05-07
THREE CENTS PER COPY.

the channel m article might have foaiei fsom |
three 20 i've miles an hour on uat tide; but VA I
ets bods WAS found 10 be ,hai Of Fannie Lillian
Madison. twas proved that sae left Baih county |
| ON March 18th sor Riehm0pd, pretending that |
she would ioin lady there who wished her @ go |
TO Old Point With her, and who would pay all Der
sSpspses That 9" s, be, nrsy, r. ts. avaa msrcsn Ha
TEL and registered hcrseif ss Miss q u
Merien, virsiai,, that ,h, sas ,,,s went 90, %.
| spousc 10 u no,e OF letter which was brought 70
| the hotel few moments before aud carried 70 hsr
fast. 10 which she hurredly replied bya note in
scaled envelope. which cont'ined only he.e
words: Will be there as soon as poss'oss; - 40
bridge. and Belte isle with m1n about lz;So:
ntuTned 70 the hotel about II went out again |
about with her canvas sa,chsi; returned aeou.
s:so: lefI in the parlor with the prisoner. al
about twenty minutes 70 .: ana NSs seen no more |
by any one who knew her. unless nv the prisoner.
morning IN the reservoir. she was not IN Der /
room at IL O'Clock midnight. and did not occupy I
| sitangcr IN Richmond. There Is nothing In ne |
| rcord 10 show tina, she even knew where the Old /!
| The hole In the eight-foot np-and.down plank !
ftnte near the southeast corner opposite the small
PHS dtaIho5ss me o9y ,rissSs ns ns SsS
of Richmond, on thmch Hli-fu three miles |
from tie Old reservoir. The place of her death Is
from The American Hotel. where she alive and
well after "a O'Clock that night. II was DARK. /
old reservoir between the hours OF s., and i2 81.
that night. She did not 90 there alone. grsNel
path led from ihis hole Ia the fence To- hfeht OF
steps az the southeast corner OF the embankment;
bnt the fresh tracks Of a man and woman walk
Ing tide by side wer. traced from this hole In .he
bsnkment TO the top OF the cunbankmeut. where
The ground was fGrrpwsd np % MN @ tracks & all had
| from tie foot of the dead girl and tried In the
| track by the Coroner; The nan who walked wi,n
ban nkment, aud who struggled with her on The FUR
| rowed ground on the top OF The emhankmen,, -
| the crossing and iniermingiirz OF The tracks
| showed, either helped a struggling Girl eight
months heavy with pregnancy, aud only
iogr iees hv c,,w,rS spSn .baqranoned nieSet
| f,n,e three feet -four inches high ana drowning
herself IN the reservoir, irrational supposition
| or that man first oVerc her strength and
suited her cries and then threw her into the water
| woman's cry OF distress Is heard That night
| about 10 or l0s O'Clock coming from that dircc-
| ton. sheis heard 70 cry then after moment or
| Two she Is heard again, then no more Her body
is found In hs wafer next m, rnlng Just opposite
the rIace Of struggle. and Immediately relative 10
the two tracks of man close 10 this picket fence
! pointed towards and looking into the water. Her
lower hp on the left side. has bruse upon 10, |
made most probably by pressure, and her ac-
iul death by drowning was preceded perhaps by
| iiaht eye and temple. This man who mad been |
struggling with her, and who had suppressed her
trp.,rea he's psrt.lIS insenstbie by the strlisht
blow her eve. evidently lifted her over the
fence. and resting her feet on the Drlck emhAnk-
ment siopiug AT al incline of As degrees. showed |
her headfoi the water Theseare the maiu
facts and circumstances Of The situation and sur;
roundings of the body, which show that the glrl |
| was murdered. They are utterly Inconsistent
with the hypothesis Of suicide. But this hypoihe-
SIS of suicide Is further disproved By the dlstr
! buiicn OF her garments The testimony shows
| iha, size was drowncs some time during The night
and probably before nidnight a. the food In her
satchcl was found floating IN the James river
Two miles below Mayos bridge at o'clock the
| next morning with the clothing In IT, not then,
| nlI of n, wet. Had II been thrown In above
| nayo's bridge n could never have passed the
| rapids and the whriinr enrrent. and ohstruc-
tions Of that part Of the strcam-it must inevita-
bly, have become saturated, and have sunk. u was
an oren canvas bog containing clothing tha,
world easily have become soaked with water. III
Il was thrown in by the deceased, for what posi-
| Die reason did she wander that dark and dreary
| nlght from that place. where she could, 50 much
out tO the distant and lonely reservoir But thad
been thrown IN during lie nlght i would have
! Cithor recome saturated and SUNK or have nosted
| fsr Glow the place where 10 was found.
! All of the above is Judge fsuntleroy's
| own summary OF evidence. though for the
| Ike Of space 10 Is put In smaller type than
| the body Of his opinion
| II would have taken this timid. heavily
| pregnant woman at least ar hour 10 walk
| from Mayos bridge out TO the reservoir;
| and no one met her or saw her walking
| u ore than one half the length OF the city.
| wrapped IN red worsted Knit shawl. Her
| red shawl was found at clock A. NJ on
| Tunstaus front fence on Reservoir street.
| fun half mile from the scene or her death.
! Her hat was found In the dead-house on
| The Clarke-Spring property adjoining the
| reservoir grounds. with red lint OF wool
upon II. aud sand or gravel in II. Why Sc
| crete her hat, and Haunt h her shawl on Dun
stan's fence? Her veil and one glove were
! found lust outside the reservoir grounds at
| the n0ie in the southeast corner or the fence,
seventy. i've yards from the dead.house.
! Why were they dropped there? Why was
| - drnnDpA
| her veil put with her hate Why were they
separated Why were they dropped
al all? Why WAS the watch key that
! was found inside the fence, and close to the
| fence. at the hole in the fence, and which
the prisoner says belonged to the deceased.
lerked OIL? The ring upon II was wrenched
open, aud shows that IL was Jerked or 10
| would not have been Jerked of from the
watch-chsin OF a person coming through
! that hole slowly and deliberately, and from
! the outside: IL was lerked off from some one
going oat from The reservoir-groundsi IN
hurry.
Upon tho theory OF suicide the girl, after
| she entered through the hole in the fence at
J The southeast corner, did bot cut obliquely
across the wet clay grounds and up theenl-
bankment 10 the spot where she died, for
| the female tracks along that way are side
/ by side with those OF a man; but she must
! have wa ked along the gravel path 10 the
| steps leading up the emOankment, AZ the
]
ment in a faw feet OF the water. she Is
! without shawl, hat, veil, and one glove;
| but she still clngs 10 the other glove. she
! does not throw herself into the water. but
Walksalong the southern en- bankment and.
strange 10 say, stops at the place where
the male and female tracks lead up
| the embaDkment, Obiquely nom the hole
| In the fence, 10 where there are evident
! signs Of q stru ggle-"a desperate strug
gle AS one OF the witnesses describes IL.
| between man and a woman; struggle
| which begins there, and from which no
| female tracks return. Just there, In the
/ midst OF the struggle, she drops her other
| glove, and just opposite TO this spot her
! body 10 found in the water.
! Thee facts even by themselves, and
| without their correlative or reciprocal re-
| latiOn TO and with the train OF facts which
| connects the prisoner with the deed, are
wholly inconsistent with tue theory ofsni-
eide. and are inexplicabie except upon the
| explcation OF murder.
The marx OF a straight blow over the back
| OF her right eye. which did not abrade the
skin. could not have been made by her
throwing herself or falling, face fore
| most headlong, and striking upon the
| bricks OF the incline to the water
in the reservoir because IL Is not
! probable, II indeed IL be possible. that such
| an impingement would not have either
STAYED In her skull or have glanced and
| laceIeted her skin. And, again. because, II
she plunged and struck her head on the
| right side above the eye, how did She Druise
| the lett SIDE Oh ner uuuer lpI-' ilOTc prop
| ably by pressure" But. can 10 be sup
| posed that u woman in her condition. VINO
| had been actively on her feet about the
| city-On Belle Isle with the prisoner-and
| In and out OF the American Hotel, and who
| had walked from Main street TO the Oid
| reservoir, nearly O mile. could have climbed
over that pointed picket fence without
| tearing her clothes or breaking the fence
| In that dark, tnclement, cold night9 All
| the marks upon her body and the distrbu
| ton OF her clothing, taken together. show
| that the defence OF suicide Is untenable and
| I'M possible. We are not bound under the
| rule. to notice a letter OF the girl written In
| 1888, which was put In evidence by the
| de fence, TO indicate a suicide. IL contains.
| among other passionate, schoolgtrI ex-
| pressions
| 40, If suicide were not a sin. how soon the
| lingering spark OF my life would vanish bat
| will wait Gods own iifae.N "Oh, 20 think OF my
| school, 10 almost kills me!"
| At this writing she was about seventeen
! years old and In durance vile, as she felt.
| by her father and mother. who had quar-
| relied with her aunt. Mrs. Tunstall, and mad
| forbidden all Intercourse with her aunt
! and would not allow her 10 go any longer 10
| the school to which she had been sent by
| her aunts kindness aud expense. Butt
| was written several years before her death
and II 10 indicates anything, IL proves that
she would not commit the sin OF suicide.
| Another expression OF hers (which the
| defence deems most importantly Is q re
/ mark she made TO Captain Wright on the
train coming 10 Richmond on March 18th
| when some alarm was felt and manifested
| about the fast running, that she wished
the cars would run OF and Kill her Cap
| tain Wright says. "She seemed In good