Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-05-24
THE CRONIN MYSTERY.
An Inquest Held on the Body
of the Victim.
THE CAUSE OF DEATH UNKNOWN.
No. Question of the Identity of the.
Body-An Alleged Clue to
the Murderers.

Assooiated Press Dispatches to the HERALD
CHICAGO, May 23.-The States attor-
ney said, this afternoon, he had clue
which he was almost certain will lead
to the arrest, within twenty'four hours,
of the leader Of the conspiracy which re-
\ suited in Cronin's death. ..tt
1t is reported that an arrest has been
made of a confederate of Woodruff, who
| is believed to have been implicated in
the murder of DR.. Cronin. The police
are reticent.
w. P. Reed, prominent Irishman,
had a long talk with the States Attorney
about the Cronin case, this morning.
Before going he is said to have reported
that he could put his hand on the man
who instigated the murder. Afterward
he refused to talk. but the State g Attor-
ney says he has received clews which
would, he believed, oon lead to the ar
rest of the murderer. The chief of the
detectives said there would probably be
q number of arrests this afternoon.
The Coroner this afternoon impanelled
jury to make an inves tigation into the
cause of the death and then adjourned
the hearing till next Tuesday, pending
the result of the investigation by the
police.
The postmortem examination on the
body of DR.. Cronin was held this morn
| ing. DIR. Todd, the County Physician,
and his assistant, Mr.. Egbert, directed
the examination, which was carefully
made and occupied nearly three hours.
The skull was cut open and the brain
removed. After the scalp had been
taken off, the physicians discovered that
: the bones composing the skull had
! the sharp instrument which it was
death. There was no sign of
congestion about the brain but
, the lungs and pulmonary cavity
, were filed with blood. The ply
sicians say that this might have resulted
from the fact that the body was placed
downwards in the catch basin. A cut
t half an inch length was found upon the
! neck, and scarcely bruise upon the
!. lower limbs. The theory that he was
! choked to death was easily explained
away. The doctors founds no signs of
suffocation, and discovered no bruises
about the neck, such as would result
from strangliDg man with towel or
rore. The physicians were taken aback
on finding that there was no fracture of
: any kind on the skull bones or small
= bones about the face. Doctor Todd was
of the opinion that the cuts on the scalp
a must have been made by knife or some
. lighter weapon than an ice pick or
hatchet, but could not account for the
I cause of death except from the contusions
resulting from the severe blows.
The other physicians could not agree as
to the cause of death, although all were
of the opinion that Cronin might have
of the left eye. Even this blow was not
hard enough to fracture or splinter the
bones under the skin.
The dentist fully identified the plate
supporting the false teeth as one he had
made over a year ago for DR.. Cronin. He
also identified the gold filling in one of
the upper teeth.
, John Cronin, brother of DIR. Cronin,
! arrived from Arkansas this afternoon,
! and he positively identified the body as
that of DR.. Cronin. The friends of DR..
Cronin met this evening, and it was de-
, ci6ed to hold funeral services on Sunday
and bury Cronin in Calvary Cemetery.
Woodruff, or Black, who claims to
have hauled the mysterious trunk, the
night Of Cronin's disappearance, was in
dicted by the Grand Jury this afternoon
for the theft of the horse. He still main
tains that ne could clear up the trunk
!, mystery and the Cronin mystery, if he
was cent out with two officers.
William B. Hotchkiss, reporter for the
Inter Ocean, did little piece OF work to-
night on his own account. The result
may be the disclosure that another per-
son besides Cronin was murdered.
Hotchkiss found that the suburban police
had neglected to search the basin after
removing Cronin's corpse. He decided
to undertake the work himself,
and little patience and toll soon showed
that he was not to 60 unrewarded. In
the bottom of the sewer basin, concealed
in water, was found bloody towel ex-
actly similar to the one which was
wrapped around Cronin's head. Further
cropping brought human finger,
so badly decomposed that it was
impossible to determine whether it was
that of man or woman.
Recollections of Woodruf's story about
the body of a woman were brought up by
the find, as we'll as the theory of pos
sible fight between Cronin and the other
parties. The woman's body, Woodruff
said, was cut up in pieces and
the finding of this finger is taken as a
possible corroboration of his story. The
doctors who examined Cronin's corpse
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