St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-21
Presented a Sickening Sight
When Twas Finally
Exhumed.
Evidently What Was Sought.
and Expected Not Z
Found. =
The Injuries Perhaps Greater
Than Developed at the !;
Inquest. = I,
What the Gathering Of Doc.
tors and Lawyers Had
to Say.

The autopsy on the exhumed remains
of Taylor Combs, the murdered inmate
of the Rochester asylum, was held yes
terday at the city morgue. Attending
the examination were: DR.. Homer
Collins, late first assistant physician of
Rochester asylum, County Attorney w.
l.. Breckenridge, of Olmsted county;
DR.. Mayo, Coroner Quinn and Atty.
Gen. Clapp. The body was exhumed
night, and some delay was experienced
in the removal of the coffin. When
taken out the .casket was found to be
in good order, and at the morgue, when
the lid was forced, it. was seen
that, although badly decomposed,
the body was sufficiently intact
for all the purposes of the
investigation. The OdOr eXhaled from
the remains was
so ABOMINABLE
that Attorney General Clapp got weary
shortly after the opening OF the coffin
and retired to hold communion with the
pure, fresh air on the outside. Power
ful disinfectants were Sprinkled on the
uncanny subject, and this somewhat
allayed the overp0wering smell, and the
attending medicos, led by DR.. Quinn,
began their disagreeable task. The
primary object of the investigation was
to discover whether or not syphibitic
taint was present in the body; and,
secondly, to make absolutely certain
the cause of death. The fracture of the
sternum was at once apparent, as an
nounced from the post-mOrtem exami-
nation held at Rochester. A slight
wound was also found in the scalp at
the back of the head, but upon the bone
being scraped, it was found that no
fracture existed on the skull. There
was also a
LARGE. CONCEALED SURFACE
or the left breast. to which attention
was called by DIR. Quinn, and which
was undoubtedly caused by heavy
blow. In manipulating the broken
bones Of the breast, and those in the
vicinity, DR.. Quinn pushed aside one of
the flaps of flesh which had been laid
I back in order to expose the injury to the
sternnm, and encountered the edges of
apparently broken bones, the lower
ribs on the left side.
s'Shall cut in here?" said the doctor;
'sthere seems to be something wrong
about these ribs" -
: DR.. Collins vouchsafed no reply.
County Attorney Brackenbridge, how
ever. replied: eyes, cut away; let's
see what there is 70 this.'' The result
was as suspected by DR.. Quinn. Three
of the lower ribs on the left side were :
LITERALLY SMASHED IN. =
: Not content with a mere external ex-
animation, the knife was again brought
into play, and the bones scraped. The
result was apparently a surprise to DIS
Collins, who said that the ribs must, in
his opinion, have beens broken at the
post mortem held previously. This
view was dissented from by the other
physicians, who held that a terrific blow
must have been received by Combs,
I and that to have broken the bones in
such manner.as shown would be the
next thing to impossible after death.
The remains were thoroughly examined
from head to foot without discovering
further injury, and it was decided to
remove the fractured bones, and, after
short deliberation, the whole sternum,
together with the injured ribes, was re-
moved for preservation in alcohol, and
taken charge of by DR.. Collins. The re-
mains were then covered and screwed
down, and will be inferred this morn
ing.