St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-22
SUNDAY At SALTWATER.
Death of Paul Dill, a Convict With
History.
TAYLOR COOMBS' DEATH
Not Reported to the Warden Until Satur-
day, Though 1t Occurred a
Month Ago.
TAYLOR COOMBS' DI
DEATH

Paul Dill, convict with something of
history. died yesterday of consumption
at the prison hospital, latter having been
an inmate of the prison since only the
latter part of last March. He was
twenty-four years of age and a native
Of Germany, and had served three years
in the territorial prison at Bismarck for
completely in the murder of his father.
The latter lived in Dakota, ten miles
from Wahpeton. with his second wife
and son Paul, by the first marriage.
Suddenly the old man was mysteriously
missing, and neighbors, after long in
vestigation. found his murdered body
buried in the earth beneath the Dill
farm stable. The woman and her step
son were tried for murder and convicted,
and the woman given a life sen,
tence in the prison at Sioux
Falls, where she now is. For
some reason her accomplice was given
short term. No facts of his history
were known to the Minnesota prison
authorities until two or three weeks ago,
when they were learned from fellow
cOuntryman convict. whom Dill, in his
dying days, had told. He confessed that
he had been -criminally intimate with
his Stepmother, but was not in any way
privy to the murder of his father.
Young Dill was sentenced Oh March 90,
1889, in Swift county. Minnesota, to two
years for burglary in the third degree.
lie told the same convict that his crime
consisted in breaking the window of a
store and reaching through the hole to
steal pair of mittens, and that at the
time of the theft he was penniless and
l,a Il
here, and had spent all his time in the
hospital.
Taylor Coombs, the noted negro con-
Wet, died April l at the st. Peter hos
pital for the insane, but, though still in
one sense i'll the charge of the warden,
the latter was not officially informed of
the death until yesterday. A lawyer
wrote in behalf of COMBS father, say
ing that Taylor was dead, and asking
about the convict'S goOd-time money.
Upon this Warden Stordock wrote to
the st. Peter authorities, who calmly re-
piled that COOmbs died some weeks ago
Had he lived, he would have had
eighteen years yet to serve, and he had
already spent two distinct terms in this
prison. He was last sentenced i'll No
vember, 1877, to thirty years imprisOn-
ment for the crime of rape committed in
this county, south of the city, upon
young German woman. After serving
about ten years of this sentence he be-
came insane, and was committed to the
hospital in June, 1887. The warden thinks
that when a convict patient dies al the
insane hospital, OF escapes from that
institution in any way. the fact should
be reported to the prison.
Among the beautiful floral decora-
tions at the First Presbyterian on Easter
Sunday was an eXquisitely arranged
pillow bearing the legend, "In Me
moriam. E. E. Wright" memorial of
the late Mrs. E. +. Wright, mother of
the former pastor of the church. now
at Austin, Tex.
The usual large Easter Sunday con-
gregationS were in attendance at all the
churches yesterday, the services being
especially notable at Ascension church
by reason of the presence Of Bishop
Gilbert, who addressed the Sunday
school children in the afternoon and
delivered discourse i'll the evening.
The funeral of the late Edward L.
Jones will take place tomorrow at 2
o'clock from the family residence. The
young men who will act as pallbearers
on the occasion are Clarence Newman.
George Rosche, John Rutherford, Ed
ward RamSden, Frank RoSche and Eli
oft Macy.
John Sanders. the supplemented
youth who stole DR.. Clark's horse and
carriage, will be arraigned in court this
morning.