The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-14


and their plans, but he looked into the wagon
box and examined the guns and all the traps.
There was no one but Hillmon aud Brown
In the wagon box, aud there was no place
Tor the conceaiInent Of a dead body. And
when the two men Went into camp at
Crooked creek, during the afternoon Of the
day on which Brown had gone post haste TO
the neighboring farmhouse to announce
that Hlllmon had been killed, farmer
spent an hour in the camp talking with the
two men. He knew Hillmon well, as did
most OF the farmers in the vicinity. No
other person was near the camp, and be-
tween the time of his departure and the
time of the finding of the dead body no man
on foot was seen passing on any of the
roads for miles around.
A wELL-PLANNED CONSPIRACY.
But the insurance agents made no claim
that the body was that of Walters. They
had determined upon the theory that foul
murder had been committed, but they had
| no idea Of the identity of the victim. They
| charged conspiracy on the part of Hillmon.
Brown and some of Mrs. Hillmon's rela-
| tives. cousin of Mrs. Hlllmon, Levi
| Baldwin, was one of the suspected men. At
/ the time the two men started on their trip
| Baldwin was in financial straits. His farm
had been mortgaged, and the notes were
past due. Attorneys for the mortgage
were preparing to foreclose Then came
the news of the shooting in the camp.
| Baldwin at once asked his creditors at
| torneys to suspend foreclosure proceedings,
saying:
II am to have $4,000 of the money when
the insurance is paid, and then will take
up the notes aud mortgage"
Baldwin was most active in preparing the
| proofs Of death, seeing that the coreners'
| verdicts were in proper form, and attend
ing to the burial of the body. These cir
| cumstances increased the suspicion of con-
| spiracy, but nothing could be proved.
So persistentlv were the charges of muir
der ma lie that Browns father, who lived in
! Missouri, fearing that the young man would
| be arrested either as principal or accessory,
employed w. j. Buchan, now a member of
| the Kansas legislature. to look after the in
terests of the son. The young man had
gone to his fathers home, and there Buchan
found him. There was meeting between
the two men in the woods one dav, and
| there Brown told a strange story, which,
| In the light of what has taken place within
| the last few days, probably was the truth.
| Brown acknowled that there was a con-
spiracy to defraud the insurance companies.
| and that Hillmon and Lsvi Baldwin
were with him in the plot. There
was no thought of committing murder 1t
| was the intention to secure the body of
| man who had died from natural causes.
| The body was to be palmed off as that of
| Hillmon. But a suitable body could not be
| found, and Brown said Hillmon then
| formed the plan to procure body through
| murder. According to the story Hillmon
| picked up man on the road from Medicine
Lodge and carefully prepared for the crime
| he was meditating. From the sore on his
| arm he took vaccine matter with which to
vaccinate the stranger. Near the evening
| of the second day of the camp on the banks
of Crooked creek, Hillmon raised his rifle,
took deliberate aim and shot the stranger
between the eyes, The body was dressed in
Hillmon's clothing, Hillmon escaped and
Brown rode away to announce the death.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MURDER.
When Buchan heard this story of pre-
meditated crime he sought the attorney for
the insurance company and related what
Brown had said Then, for the purpose, as
he afterward claimed, of saving Brown
from criminal prosecution, he agreed to
procure Browns story in the shape of an
affidavit, and also to procure Mrs. Hillmon's
release of any claim on the policies. He
made another trip to Browns home in Mis-
souri,, and this time was accompanied by
deputy sheriff. Not only did Brown sign
the affidavit, but he was induced to write
a note to Mrs. Hillmon, asking:
"Where is Johnl l must hear from him
at once" garrett
Buchan was successful in his efforts to Sc
cure the release, and Mrs ,Hillmon directed
her ATTORNEYS. to surrender the policies
This they refused to do; telling her that the
affidavit was falseheod. Though Buchan
pr5fessedly was acting on behalf of Brown,
he received no money from his clients
father, who had employed him, but the in
surance company paid fee of s., 500. This
was enough to convince Hillmon's friends
that the attorney had been acting in bad
faith.
Brown had not named Hillmonls victim
in his affidavit, and the attorneys for the
insurance company began to work on the
theory that the body was that of a man
named Nichols. Hillmon had been nego-
tiating with Nichols with a view of him
taking part in the search for a ranch, as
Nichols was an expert in the breaking of
wild steers and horses. Nichols was Lost
sight of at the time of the shooting. When
Mrs. Hillmon signed the release of her
claims, Sept. Is, 1879 she remarked:
ST Nichols ever turns up / will sue the
company"
Nichols did turn up" and the litigation
began.
MARVELLOUS SIMILARITY.
In the meantime the friends of Frederick
Walters of Fort Madison had become
anxious because they had not heard from
him. Investigations were made through
the Masonic lodges in the state of Kansas,
and the young man was traced from point
to point. At last a photograph of the body
found on the banks of Crooked creek was
sent to Fort Madison and it was pronounced
| to be the photograph of Walters body.
| Throughout the years Of litigation the in
surance company maintained that
| the corpse was Walters The
Young mans friends aided in the
defense and Nichols, convinced that
| Hillmon had selected him for the victim
when he began the negotiations for his
participatio in the trip, also did his utmost
| to fasten guilt upon the conspirators The
| insurance company placed strong reliance
on Browns affidavit, but under oath ne
avowed that the writing was fabric of
| falsehoods, and that he had been terrorized
| into signing his name by threats on the part
of Buchan that he would be arrested as an
accessory to the murder and by the presence
of the deputy sheriff who had accompa nied
Buchan.,
The country was searched for evidence on
L