Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1886-08-06
PROBABLY SUICIDE.

Holes in Him Identified as willard
Pierce, a Fair Haven CarPenter-No
Good Grounds to Think That the
Man Was Murdered.
Yesterday came to light what was at first |
supposed to add another to the list of mysteri- |
GUS Connecticut murders. AS the steamer Eu- |
gene Price of Greenport, L. l., Capt. John w.
Clark, was leaving the harbor yesterday
morning shortly after sunrise, her captain
discovered catboat with her sail set and
evidently empty about three miles southwest
of the old lighthouse. The course of the
steamer was turned towards the catboat, and
when it drew up alongside of the latter the
men on board the steamer were Mortified to
see lying in the bottom of the catboat the
dead body of man with his face completely
covered with blood. The catboat was taken
in tow, the body not being touched, and at
o'clock it was drawn up to the end of Long
Wharf. Captain Clark at once notified Gus
tom House Officer Harry Leigh and he mott
| fed Medical Examiner White, who hurried
| to the scene When he arrived at the wharf
| the body of the man, which still remained as
| found, was lying in comfortable position in
| the boat, with his head resting on the seat in
| the stern and the legs stretched along on
| each side of the centerboard. His hat rested
| on the back of his head, and the upturned
face was horrible sight. The mouth was
wide open, the eyes stared into the air
| with the most frightful suffering de-
| picted in them, the moustache and hair
| were matted with blood, and the face
| was almost completely covered with it. A
bottle was found near the bow and six-shoot-
| e. was discovered under piece of board that
rested under the right knee. The board had
| to be lifted up before the pistol could be
removed. The washboard at the stern of the
boat was covered with blood marks and
there was pool of blood little distance
| away from the dead mans head and nearer
| the stern. A bottle that had con-
| tanned cider was found in the bow.
This was covered with blood and looked
as though it had been grasped in a bloody
| hand. There very little blood under
| the body. 1t was principally distributed
around the stern of the boat. The medical
examiner, without making a further exami
nation, ordered the body removed to the
morgue, which was done, and there a more
careful examination was made by both Cor
oner Mix and DIR. White which resulted in
the finding of three bullet wounds in the
| body, one directly over the heart an inch
and half on the inside of the left nipple
and a half inch below it. Another an inch
and half diagonally above the tip of the
| right ear and near the back of the head, and
| another three inches above the right ear and
1
magniGcently made man nearly six
| feet in height and weighing
in the neighborhood of $50
| pounds. He was clad in blue coat and
vest, white shirt and undershirt and worsted
| pants of mixed pattern. The head was
| partially bald and all the hair was brown.
In one of the pockets was found memoran-
| dun bearing the name, GA. Hunt corner of
| Jackson and Clay Streets" mutilated
Knight of Labor circular, explaining the
| qualifications for admission into the order, a
| Masonic chapter seal on a key ring, nail
| Set carpenters rule and some shavings
i In pocket silver watch was found. On
| the left shin there were marks as though the
| flesh had been recently barked- The mans
| moustache was black and not very heavy.
The body had been in the water, as the
clothes were badly soaked, yet there was no
water in the boat and the hat was perfectly
dry.
The case is mysterious one and people
are at loss to know whether it was murder
or suicide and who the man was. Over 100
people had viewed the remains at the
morgue. The theories as to the case were
| generally that the man had been murdered;
| that the body had been placed where found
| and the pistol and the boat then set adrift.
The shot was fired while the mans hat was
off, as the hat covered one of the bullet holes
| in the mans head and there was no hole in
the hat. The bottle was found
some way from where the body
| lay, covered with blood and
yet there was no blood on the mans hands,
| indicating that he could not have been the
one who handled the bottle and placed it
where it was. The pistol was also covered
with blood, another sign that it was not han
died by the dead man, and that it must have
been used by someone else. All of these cir
cumstances point strongly to support the be-
lief that the man was murdered. On the
other hand DR.. White said if this man shot
~ {1oy, &ho 1,ok31 hal
must have washed his hands before firing the
last shot, for there is not enough blood on
them TO indicate that the blood on the bottle
came from the hands. Then again the
bottle was placed some distance from
the body and if the man had real
ly drank from. it after shooting him
self he must have walked to the bow
of the fifteen foot catboat, laid the bottle
carefully down and then returned to the
stern to put another bullet into himself
How man could have done this with two
bullets in his head is another puzzier. If
this is a case of suicide, then the victim |
must have been peculiar sort of man. He |
must have shot himself twice in the head and |
then taken long drink out of bottle, put
it away distance of seven feet from him,
then put bullet in his heart, put the pistol |
under board under his knee, put his hat
on the back of his head, and laid himself
down in very, comfortable attitude to die. |
He might have done all these things,
but it doesn't look very probable
The dead man hired the boat from White
boathouse Wednesday afternoon and went
out sailing alone, but who he was Mr..
White did not know, although he was a reg
ular customer of his. Mr.. White noticed
the bottle of cider with him at the time
The idea that the remains were those of
Warren Shepard was entertained by many
who saw the body, but yesterday the re-
porter hunted up Shepard's son, a sign
iofnr nd ho paRf ho ho1Iy OF
once said that the dead man was not his ia
Their.
DR.. Amos Hunt, of Fair Haven, was one
of those who late in the day viewed the
body He could not recognize it and had no
idea how his Cthe doctor's) address came to
be in the mans pockets. The name of
Worcester clothing firm was found under |
the collar of the mans coat, while the hat the |
man had on was from Brooks & Co.'s, Chapel
street, this city. Harry Leigh, who received
the body at Long Wharf, thought the ipdi- |
cations tended strongly to support the theory l
that the man had been murdered. The rea-
sons for this view set forth above.
Last evening about 8 o'clock the body of |
the man supposed to have been murdered, |
and found as above stated, was recognized as |
being that of Willard Pierce, forty-one years /
of age, a carpenter living on the corner of |
Clay and Jackson streets, Fair Haven. |
Pierce, who leaves wife, has lived in this |
city for many years and worked for Charles
Clark on Water street until about a month !
ago, since which time he has been out of |
work. He was a man who had his period
ical DRINKS and for some time past
has labored under the idea that everybody |
was against him, and this made him very de-
spondent He went into David H. Clark,
the builders place on st. John street Wed.
nesday morning and told Mr.. Clark for l
whom he had once worked that he was dis |
couraged and would put bullet through his |
head before he went to bed that night. He |
little under the influence of liquor and
Mr.. Clark tried to persuade him not to do so.
The man left the yard shortly afterwards. |
This shows that in all probability the man |
committed suicide. His wife was
notified and will probably take away the re-
mains after the post-mortem examination,
which will be held to-day.
Chief of Police Bollman, who was former |
" coroner, said last evening that very proba- |
bly, the man committed suicide, but Just /
how to explain the wounds he could not say.
He thought that the man had shot himself /
in the breast first and that the bullet had |