Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1886-08-14
A CHASTITY CRIME.
HORRIBLE STORY TOLD By a
COLORADO MAN EATER"
Subsisting for Many Days on the
Flesh Of Murdered Comrades

Subsisting for Many Days on the
Flesh Of Murdered Comrades.
The trial OF Alfred Packer for murder and
cannbalism, which has Just Eeen concluded
at Gun nson, Col, and viii h resulted III
Packers icing senten ed to forty years il
the renitentiary, was one Of the most remark
able cases known. The last day Packer him.
self was place on the stand and testified in
his own defense. He looked pale, his cheeks
were ho low and his eyes sunken. He stoyo
up during TIE entire statement, which
occupied two and half hours At
times he became excite and empha-
sized his words with gestures and not iufre-
quently with oaths until rcstraine by his
attorney. AS told by the defendant, no tory
cou d lie more eXcit.dly Interesting and hor-
rible than the bare recital of how in 1915 he
aud his five companions wandered aim
lessly about the mountains without
food, raving mad with hunger.
1t was only when the cross examination I'M
covered the weak points III the narrative, and
the witness testified TO the impossible crcun-
stances which he recon- tie |, lhat the truth of
the novel 10 'ital was questioned. Then it
was that the story Of Starvation was doubted,
and it was believed he hal murdered his
comra les to obtain fool. He te tined as fol-
lows
My name is Alfred Pa .ker. have been
in ths mountains many ars. | was in
/ tab in 1875, and l worked in the mines
there until l became !eadel This is form
Of lead collie pc ullar 70 the men employed III
vicinity OF the sme.terS in Utah and Neya-
da) Then l came to Salt Lake, and there
worked awhile i'll a smelter. | was still at
iiict, d, AMI i the Ia of 1913 joined party
q In NJ Canon fpIa III m n
the San Juan country, in Colorado Territory.
We reach III Dry Geek, near Chief Ourdy'S
camp, i'll January Y, 1874. Here the party
SCI arated. lsra 4 swan, George Noon, Frank
Miller, JaEcs HUMP hreys ana Shannon, Wi
son Bell anil myself STUFFED from Ouray
snow was deep and tavel di Hcut. We
gave up our boo, S AMI tied blankets about
our feet. We lad to do it to keep them from
freezing & Id man S.Han gave out first He
was cd and in thin ie.h. Our bread gave out
on the ninth day. We hat eaten ONLY one
meal day during the la It few days, be ause
it was storm ng AMI blowing 20 that we
could not see a few feet before us. We WEI
keeping up toward the summit of the hi S,
aiming for Los Piuos Agency. Bel first
gave up his moccasins, and we made one
meal of those, boiling them. l next gave Up
mine anu then til Others Bell had hatchet,
Neon had gun, hut carried the gun about
half the time. L think we must have been
out i'll the II ountains several w, eIs after run.
ming out OF food. The hen We're e!t.ng
desperate and Bell seemed to be getting
era y. His eyes protruded from his head
White the others complained and talked he
remained silent. he men cried for salt.
They did not asl: for food; it was only salt,
alt. We had been eating willow and rose
buds for several days, having found some
in the valley near the lake, where
Lake City now stands. We had run out of
mat hes an carried fire with us in coffee
pot. One day we saw Il game trail upon the
mountains, and it was q reed that l should
go on the trail, as L was the strongest. l
took the Winchester rifle and searche /. In
the mo! ming left the me,i era y with hun
ger In the eve ling when l returned hal
found bunch OF rose bu hes aud had
q good dinner from them, but no game;
the fire l saw Bell bending over the
fire, cooking some meat spoke to him,
| and imme lately he rose AMI started for me
with a Ratchet. l ran back down the bluff,
but fell, and while down slot bin through
! the side as he approached NE. He e'l and
the hat ,het dropped by me. | snatched it up
and threw it az him and struck him in the
head. | went up to the camp again and
found that the rest of them were dead
aud that the meat that Bel was cook
| ing was flesh from Humphrey sleg, | stayed
| in camp the rest OF that night. l then made
NY csiiilf OH Il sIOfU distance ana STAYED
there for possibly fife n days. During this
| time | was era Y with hunger and cut the
| flesh from Bell 5 leg and boiled it iii a tin cup
| and ate it. 1t ma te me very sick MY stom
| ach was empty and weak and vomi!el very
| violently that night. After this | fire luently
ate the meat and several times | tired to get
out of the country. | would climb up the
mountain, but failing to see any hope | would
return again to the camp and again cut the
| flesh from the limbs of the dead men an eat
| it. was about forty miles from Los Pine,
| Agency and did not know the exact direc-
| ton. This was along in April
The witness then narrated at great length
how he wandered from day to day over the
mountains, having supply of human flesh
along, and finally. in the last days of April,
he found his way to s'a qua h.,
| For five hours Pa 'ker o cupied the stand,
and proved the most rema sEahle witue IS that
was ever PLACED ulyoa the stlni in this
country, if Old attorneys may lee believed.
| HE would abide hy no rule, anil usually ,
kept the att rney Oh the defensive or fired
| questions at him iii al excited manner and
| ire iuentlv to the great anu EN- ant of tho e
present. Hepcoved incorrieible incon ,istent,
irrepreSSible and violent and he wa; fiaa Nv
Ok used, ra!e and trembling, yet defiant
In 1877 Pa kar | was "11v' to of hi; c,n-
rades murder and sentenced to death, but
escaped the gallows through legal tec hnicali-
ties, AMI ever sine has been awaiting a
second trial. This has finally taken ace,
and resulted, as above stated, in verdict OF
forty years imprisonment.