The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-11-07
The Cronin Murder TriaI.

" INNIIEG. NOV. Z. - ASSlSLdGG
States Attorney Baker of Chicago had
long interview Yesterday with Bob
Heffer and from him received corrob-
Grafton of many of the details connec-
ted with the murder of Cronin which
Gillett recounted. on Thursday. He
told Heffer that CoughlIn was the main
actor in the tragedy and had engaged
both him and Cooney to participate in
the crime. He told Heffer that sand
bags were used by two of the assailants
while the third welded a common base
ball club. Four men were waiting in
the cottage for him. At last the car
riage drove up and the doctor hurried
up to the door. He knocked loudly
Two of the assassins stood behind the
door ready to strike while one of the
others from the inner room called
come in, :" in a loud voice. The door
was quickly opened and the doctor
strobe in. The instant he was in. one
of the assassInS slammed the do r
while the other struck the physician a
terrible blow with sand bag. The
doctor fell heavily to the floor. Burke
always declined to say who struck the
first blow and this fact Mr. Baker
says makes quite clear the fact
that it was Burke himself else he
would have mentioned the name. The
moment the doctor was down the
whole four rushed on him and with
sand b gs and clubs pounded the life
out of hun. Blood poured from his
mouth and nose and even his e, Is. He
struggled and gasped for breath and
yearly twenty minutes elapsed before
he ceased to gasp. Then the fiends
stripped the biood-stainsd clothing
off him and one of them pounded his
face so as to make it impossible to rec
ognIZe the body. Coughlin then haul
ed the trunk over and the body Was
crammed into it. One of the quartette
went out and brought an express wag-
on which had been left at convenient
pace, when they went to carry the
trunk out. The blood was dripping
from it and ran on the floor and on
some of their boots. The trunk was
set down and the leaks III the trunk
patched up with cotton batting which
was found in the doctors instrument
case. The trunk and its contents
were then taken to the lake, COughIiD
driving the horse. There was no boat
the trunk out into the water but it
would not work. Anxious to get rid of
the body in some way, Burke suggest
ed that it be thrown into catch basin
The suggestion was adopted.
Charles j. Carlson, son of the own
er or the Carlson cottage, was the first
witness in the CrOnin case this morn
ing. He told about the renting of the
Carlson cottage to a man who called
himself Frank Williams.
Can you point out Frank Williams
in the court rOom?"
Yes SIR
Point him out please -
THE second one there" (pointing to
Martin Burke.)
The witness then proceeded with his
testimony, saying that after receiving
the letter from Williams rellnquishing
the cottage, he entered it through a
window on May 10, and discovered the
bloody. evidences of the crime on the
walls and floors. The witness then in
dicated on a diagram the location of
the blood stains. KuDZe was pointed
out to him by the counsel for the state,
but the witness could not identify him
as any one he had ever seen before.
The witness was subjected to long
cross examination which did not seem
to develop any new facts. He was fol- |
lowed by Johanna Carlson, his
m Othef