Morning journal and courier., 1888-05-07
THE MURDER OF I11IrK HoxLE.

A Celebrated mystexy Which it is NOW Thought is Nearing Its Solution by
 by the Arrest of the Girls Uncle in
 merfden.
 WORCESTER, May 6.-The town of Webster
 IS all excitement again over the Lillie Hoyle
 murder. Dixon R. Cowie, the uncle of the
 girl, and with whom she boarded at the time
 of her disappearance, was arrested for the
 crime in Meriden, Conn.,, Friday night and is
 now in the jail in this city. It is not definite
 ly known what led to Cowie's arrest, but it is
 generally reported that the sister, Alice
 Hoyle, has made a confession in which she
 duplicates her uncle. Certain it is that the
 move was suddenly made, although the sister
 and the uncle have been under the closest
 scrutiny ever since the crime was committed,
 and it is believed that the confession of the
 girl, if made at all, is the result of inability
 to carry the secret under the ceaseless pres
 sure to which she has been subjected. Cowie
 when arrested was as stolidly indifferent to
 all the proceedings as he has been to the
 many explanations of the disappearance of
 his niece. Cowie's wife was greatly over-
 come at Dicks arrest and went into mysteries.
 On the way to this city from Meriden Cowie tried to console her, saying that he should
 NOAA4S soled, and at Springfield was in such con- dition that she had to be taken from the train. Arriving in this city Cowie was taken to the detective's office where he was held for more than an hour awaiting the train for
 Webster. On the train he purchased news paper and gave his whole attention to that during the fifteen mile run. When the old corn crib was passed, where the decomposed remains of Lillie Hoyle were found three weeks after her disappearance, Cowie was closely watched, but he never raised his eyes from a base ball score which helwas studying. At Webster great crowd was in waiting when the train arrived. Cowie was closely watched, but never once betrayed the slightest sign of emotion When arraigned in court he pleaded not guilty, but beyond that he would not say anything. He did not know whether he wanted one week or six to prepare for and when the judge suggested May 19 as the date he readily consented to it. It is not likely, however, that 8 preliminary hearing in the district court will be given | him as the grand jury assemblies in ten days and the evidence will undoubtedly be pre- sented to them direct The judge before ! whom Cowie was arraigned is the one be- ! fore whom the inquest was held, at which ! Cowie was @ witness. He has more than once expressed the opinion that Lillie Hoyle ! died in her own house, and that Cowie and | Alice knew more than had been told. He I has, however, since the case was brought to his attention, refused to say anything about ! arrested, being satisfied that the evidence laid before him warranted an arrest and ex- animation.
 The Lillie Hoyle case is widely known as I the Webster murder mystery. The dead ! body of the girl was found under a corn crib on the old Timothy Aldrich farm in | Oxford, on the Webster highway, on Sep- tember 20 last. It was apparent from the | first that the girl had been murdered, and | that her body had been placed there by her | murderer. She has been missing from her | home in Webster since September 1, and no | trace of her had been found until her dead 4 body was. discovered. Lillie Hoyle was | years of age. She had worked for three | years in the ice cream saloon of Mrs. Sarah | Taylor on Main street, Webster, and was | well known in the town. She had been on 8 | visit and returned to Webster on Tuesday, | August 30, apparently in her usual health and spirits; On Thursday, September | 1, she disappeared. She roomed with her I sister Alice, and on that night she left the | house at 10:30, leaving her sister in bed. She I went away wearing the clothes she had worn | turing the day, but without hat or shawl. ! The sisters lived in the same house with their | 1ncle, Dixon R. Cowie. He was suspected ! of the crime from the beginning, but the de- I ,ectives could not obtain sufficient evidence | against him st the time to warrant his arrest. |
 Cowie has not changed during the winter. ! His eyes are bright and his movements quick. l The detectives believe that he is desperate | nan; that he had direct hand in the mur- Ter, and that he is watching all his chances. It is rumored in Webster that Alice Hoyls, | Lilies sister, has suddenly left town with | Andrew, another uncle.
 An Alleged Accomplice Arrested.
 NEW YORK, May 6.-Two Massachusetts | came here 8 few days ago and l .sked Inspector Byrnes to help them find l Thomas B. MeQuade, young medical stu l lent Of Webster, Mass, who, they say, was implicated in the murder of Miss Lillie | Hoyle. Detectives Rogers and Adams were \ detailed to assist the Massachusetts, men. They ascertaincd that young NcQuade was | registered & student at the Vanderbilt | medical college on Fifty-ninth street. The | college authorities did not know where Nc | Quade lived. The detectives found out that ! 1e boarded at All West Fifty-eventh street, md they captured him there at noon yester- lay. Inspector Byrnes said that he had not ! questioned McQuade about the murder. He | lad learned, however, from the Massachu- 'etts detectives that McQuade has been in- innate with Lillie Hoyle and her sister, Alice, n Webster. The inspector said that he had | heard that McQuade had taken Lillie out for Il ! ride to Oxford, and had drugged and after | ward strangled her near the spot where he I lid her body. It seems more probable to | suppose that McQuade, being medical stu lent, had been brought into the case through l ion upon the girl, but no confirmation of | his theory could be gained at headquarters | ast night.