Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-08-02

rived there at O'Clock Saturday night. Half
an hour later he complained of headache and
went to bed, saying he would be down again
by 0 o'clock. AS he did not keep his promise
the hired girl knocked on his door at that
hour, but, receiving no reply, was told not to
disturb him. He was not seen by the inmates
of the house until Z O'Clock Sunday morning.
The girl was up at 5, and as she crossed the
yard she saw that his window was up, and
some of his clothing was hanging in the sun.
At the barn l found the cooper's buggy,
washed clean. Fergus had done this Sunday
forenoon. He had not made a good job on
the horse, however, and | found plenty of
mud on his fetlocks. AS it was dusty Satur-
day night when he was driven over, this mud
must have been picked up after the storm. I
found the harness stiff and damp from being
wet, and the cloth cushion of the buggy was
still damp. Hunting further, found the
fresh tracks of horse and buggy turning into
the barnyard after the rain. The window of
the room occupied by Fergus opened on the
roof of the shed. At the lower edge of the
roof stood leach. On the edges of this leach
and on the roof found mud. On the carpet
in Fergus room found more of it. He had
scraped and cleaned his boots and flung the
dirt into stove, whence got half a pound.
All this got without the aunt suspecting
that was after proofs. l then returned to
the scene of the murder, and after an hours
search discovered the place where a horse had
been hitched for some time. 1t was in the
rear of the house, on an open space and under
a tree, and the horse had paved up the
ground and gnawed the bark of the tree.
The footprints of man could be family
traced across the garden, and l had no doubt
that Fergus came and went this way. On
the fourth day after the funeral I learned
from the insurance man what he had seen
during the storm, and then a warrant was
issued and Fergus was taken into custody.
By this time the townspeople had begun to
think it queer case Fergus had gone over
the house and declared that nothing had been
taken. No suspicious characters had been
noticed in the neighborhood. Jewelry and
money had been left lying on the bureau,
showing that the object could not have been
plumber. Did the woman have an enemya
No, not one, as far as we could learn. Who
could profit by her death2 No one but Fer
gus and yet this was one of the strong points
he brought forward 1t was known to score
of people that she had made her will in his
favor. Would not everything be his at her
death!
10 clluCu our case anu make ClfCuInSCaQClal
evidence good we must show motive. This
seemed hopeless, but I went at the task,
hoping evidence might aid me if Fergus
was guilty. / examined his personal effects
over and over again in search of hint, but
for two weeks after he had been sent to jail
discovered nothing. Then I got the clew
where ought to have secured it before In
a drawer in his desk I found several adver-
1oin fba int Of
One of them read:
"a steady young man with $4,000 cash capital
can double it in one year in legitimate enter.
prise. For particulars address box S9l, etc.
Another read:
If you have nerve and 5000 in cash we will
make you millionaire in one year. We permit
the fullest investigation before investment. Write
for particulars.
A third just hit his case:
Are you young and ambitious man, feeling
that you could get ahead il properly backed and
encouraged? Have you any money: Can you
get from one thousand TO three thousand? If so
will positively guarantee you 500 in return
for every dollar, and inside Of year.
felt sure he had written some of these
parties, but as 1 could not find any letters
from them I set out to hunt them up in per-
son. They were bold faced swindlers, and
elcy Doolcl GU Ills SOulc, DuO LII Uuo cuu gov
five letters written by Fergus. In one of
them he stated that he would soon have
money to invest, and expressed his satisfac-
ton at the particulars of the speculation as
far as given him. The greed of gain, then,
was his incentive. The woman, who had
been mother and sister to him, came of long
lived race, and was in good health, and a
month before her death was told by doctor
in the hearing of Fergus that she was likely
to live to be 90 or 100 years old. Until her
death the young man could hope for little or
nothing, as she was obliged to make the in
terest of her capital support her.
Murderer or not, the boy was the legal
heir, and he employed the best legal talent
in the west to defend him. The lawyers
might take every dollar if they could but
clear him. 1t was veritable fight for life
with all the money and most of the talent on
one side, but that web of circumstantial evil
dence kept drawing closer and closer, and it
could neither be broken nor explained away.
Had Fergus been innocent frank reply to
each question would have explained it,
Being guilty, his evasions only made matters
worse The jury were out fourteen hours
before finding verdict of guilty, but within
all hour he had made full confession. He
told me that he had been planning for two
months, and that he believed he had ar
ranged details until his case could withstand
the most minute investigation OF the highest
detective talent-New York Sun.