The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-05-18
THE MORGAN MURDER
Confines to Excite Great Inter-
est in Tyler County.
MR.HDDLEsPURGER DISMISSED
After Proving an AliOi-Mrs. Morgan
Arrested for Her Husbands MUIR.
der-The Evidence Against
Her Almost Conclusive.


Special Di'pdieh 10 ne Ialelii0nosT.
BEARsviLLE, W. Va, May 1.-The
interest in the Morgan murder trial
continues. Clark Addlespurger, who
was arrested last week by Special Officer
Myers, had his examination before JUS
tice Livingston on Tuesday. Fully five
hundred people were present. The evi-
dence Of Mrs. Morgan was substantially
the same as that given before the coro-
ner, which has already been printed.
She identified Addlespurger Us the man
who did the cutting, and said "he looked
natural, and she could not give him up"
Evidence was given by several witnesses
as to the details Of the crime, but no
further evidenceimplicating the prisoner
was given. Several reputable witnesses
from Washington and Noble counties,
Ohio, were introduced who testified pos
itively that Addlespurger was in Ohio at
the time of the murder, and for several
days before and afterward. 1t was clear
to the justice and to all present that the
prisoner was innocent, and he was ac-
cordingly discharged. His case was well
handled by Hon. Anthony Smith and
Hon. ]. M. Mckinney.
On Monday Mrs. Morgan and A. Mere
dith were arrested on the charge OF COM
mitting the murder. They were taken
before Justice Duty, and Meredith's ex-
animation was held on Tuesday even
ing. Suspicion rested on him because
he made his home at Morgan's and
spent his Saturdays and Sundays there.
Meredith's wife is in the asylum at
Weston, and his family is scattered.
There was no evidence whatever against
him, and several witnesses testified to
his presence at mill near Mole Hill,
four miles away, at the time the muir
der was committed. Meredith is an old
soldier OF good character, and very few
persons believed that he had anything
TO do with it. He was discharged, and
the court adjourned until Wednesday
morning.
On Wednesday large crowd assem-
bled in the tobacco packing house at
Bearsville, where Justice Duty and Davis
were to hold n preliminary examination
OF Mrs. Morgan on the charge OF muir
dering her husband.
The first action OF the court was to
issue an order 10 Drs. Isaac and A. p.
Jones, DR.. W. A. Smith and several
other persons TO proceed to the cemetery
and disinter the remains OF Jacob Nor
gan and make thorough examination
OF them, and to bring also the clothing
OF the murdered man. A motion to
continue the case for ten days was over
ruled and several witnesses were exam
ined. Very little new information was
elected, however, and it began TO look
rs il she also would be discharged.
AT this writing, however, it is becom-
ing evident that the suspicion against
her is well grounded. The examination
has not been concluded, and will not be
to-day. The party sent to exhume the
the body has returned, and the evidence
they are waiting to give will put an en-
tirely different face on the matter. The
doctors say that Morgan was
SHOT IN THE BACK
And the shot must have been fired
while Morgan was in astooping posture,
or by some one who was sitting or lying
down. The ball, which was about a
22-Caliber, entered between the tenth
and eleventh ribs, about four inches
from the spine, fracturing one Of the
ribs and passing upward through the
liver and through both lobes Of the right
lung, coming out between the third and
fourth ribs, near their junction with the
costal cartilage. The knife wound in
the left side was below the eighth and
ninth ribs and the knife mad passed up.
ward and entered the left lung. The
knife wound in the neck severed the
jugular vein and Caroted artery. 81. g.
The evidence OF Mrs. Morgan is that
her husband was shot in the breast by
an unknown man; that her husband
clinched with him and terrible strug-
gle ensued; that second man entered
with n knife and began stabbing him;
and that she ran from the house and
gave the alarm. 1t is certain that Nor
gan was shot in the back; no strangers
were seen by any OF the neighbors either
before or after the murder; there was no
evidence Of struggle; there was no
blood on the floor except right where
Morgan's body was found, though she
says he was shot near the door, ten feet
away; she had pistol, and there was
bowie knife in house, with which the
wounds could have been inflicted, and
she is a woman Of bad character. All
these facts tend to upset the theories
that have been established and to throw
suspicion on the woman. Though
there has as yet been no direct evidence
against her, all other theories have
been exhausted, and the general belief
is that the woman is either pdriiccps
crinlin1 or islying to shield some one.
Light is beginning to break, and before
this examination is concluded it will be
apparent to all who killed Jacob Nor
gan. Il.