The morning news., 1889-03-15
RESULT OF THE INQUEST.
THE JURY FIX 4s THE SHOOTING
BUT MAKES NO COMMENTS.

An0 woman IN tn6 CeS0-AlleB0d
Fears of McDow's Father-in-Law.
CHARLESTON, S. c., March 1.-The in
quest on the body of Capt. Dawson was
held to-day. A drenching rain and wind
storm, which has prevailed since the night
Of the murder, prevented the gathering of a
crowd and probably saved the murderer
from lynching. He was brought out of the
Jail about IL o'clock and placed in a police
patrol wagon. A guard OF four policemen
and three special deputy sheriffs accom-
panied him. AT his request he was first
driven to the Office of his counsel ex-Gov.
A. G. Magrath, the last secession governor
of South Carolina. His counsel, however,
did not accompany him to the inquest. The
inquest did not develop anything new.
Only three witnesses were examined.
OFFICER GoRDoN's STORY.
The first was Policeman Gordon. His
testimony was substantially as follows: He
had been detailed to watch for negro who
had been for nearly a month walking about
the western section of the city insulting
| ladies and girls by an exposure of his per-
son. On the afternoon of the murder ne
| was in the vicinity of the scene of the muir
der. A negro hack driver told him that he
had heard pistol shot in McDow's Office.
The officer went there and found Mrs. Nc
Dow leaving the house with her child.
THE MURDERER's LIE.
He rang the office bell and Mellow
| opened the door only far enough to enable
him to see who was at the bell. He asked
| Mellow if anything was the matter, and
was answered in the negative. Mellow
shut and locked the door, and the witness
| heard him moving something inside of the
ofN1 81. A1Sa a
| before z o'clock Mellow came out in his
| buggy and surrendered himself As Nc
| Dow came out a white woman approached
| the buggy and spoke with him for minute
or two. This person, it is thought, is a
| woman who had been living at McDow's
house as his paramour. Her presence in
the house is supposed to have been the cause
| OF Mrs. McDOw's leaving the house.
KILLED SOON AFTER ENTERING.
Moses Harper the hack driver, who told
| Officer Gordon about the pistol shot, cor
roborated the statement cf the previous
witness. He saw Capt. Dawson leave the
street car and enter McDow's office at $50
| o'clock. ''In four or five minutes after he
| got in, l heard the pistol fired. Then
heard two groans-struggling kind OF
| groans; then | heard voice say, You
said you'd take my life. now I'll
| kill you" Harper testified that a
| COlOIou WOuldII, N6Uu6T VI DCdUuDS, was
| peeping through window, and that Nc
| Dow's cook, Emma Drayton, came to the
| gate and ordered her away.
| A woman named Jane Mitchell was ar
rested on suspicion of being the peanut
vender, but denied having been there. She
was not identified bv Harper.
Moses Johnston, McDow's driver, swore
that he knew nothing about the matter.
He said he heard the shot in the doctors
office aud was ordered by McDow's wife to
| investigate the cause, but he swore that he
did not go.
Emma Drayton. McDow's cook, who,
according to two witnesses, stood guard
at the gate while Mellow was trying to
bury the body, admitted hearing the pistol
| Johnston'S testimony and also the testimony
of Policeman Gordon and hack driver
| Harper.
Mellow refused to make any statement.
VERDICT OF THE JURY.
The jury returned the following verdict
" That the deceased came to his death
| from gun shot wound inflicted by I. B.
Mellow, and that Moses Johnston the
negro coachman) was accessory before the
fact.n
The prisoner was then remanded to Jail
In explanation of the verdict, it is said
that there is evidence not yet published,
which will show that Mellow used his
coachman to carry notes to the numerous
women with whom he had been carrying
on intrigues.
1t is now probable that Capt. Dawson's
body will be exhumed, for the purpose of
holding post mortem examination. 1t is
| noted that the physician who examined the
body did not make post mortem, but only
| probed for the ball, which he failed to find
MAY HAVE BEEN MAKING SURE OF HIS
WORK.
In view Of McDow's statement that his
victim lived for nearly three-quarters of an
hour after he had shot him, and that he
had spent that time trying to revive him,
| the theory is now advanced that the wound
might not have been fatal and that the
murderer, in order tosseal the lips of his
victim, might have administered morphine
or some other deadly drug All the cir
cumstancss surrounding the case give
color to this theory. Mellow admits
that his victim lived for over half an hour
after he was shot, and that he remained
with him, with his victims head in his lap
| until he died, while the murdered man s
| wife aud children were within the sound
of his voice. 1t was not until he had failed
III burying the body III his closet that he
give himself up. Mellow, in a statement
to a reporter Of city paper, admits that
his fondneSs Of women was b one sin.
THE WOMAN IN THE CASE.
The French maid who was he moving
cause Of the tragedy is still at Capt. Daw-
sons house. Her statement has not yet
been given TO the police or the public. She
was brought out from Lausanne SwitZsr-
land, by Mrs. Dawson several years ago,
and is said TO be the daughter Of Swiss
parents anu of irreproachable character.
The story goes that Mellow made her ac-
quaintance and tried to persuade her to
elope with him after he had obtained a
divorce from his wife.
FEARS OF MDow's FATHER-IE-LAw.
c. d. Ahrens, the father of Mrs. Mellow,
had lived with his daughter and her hus-
band until last Christmas, when he sudden
ly left and went 10 a hotel where he has
since resided. He refuses to speak about
the matter. IL is rumored that the cause
OF his leaving was that his son-in-law in-
tended TO do away with him so as 10 get
possession Of his estate. Mr.. Ahrens is a
rich merchant and 10 highly esteemed.
Having made fortune in the
grocery business, he retired after his
daughters marriage. 10 is said that after
leaving bis daughters house, he changed
his will and bequeathed all his property TO
his daughter, reyoking the provision which
made Mellow his executor.
New Orleans Chief OF Police.
NEW ORLEANS, March 14.-The new
police commission recently organized under
tho law Of tha last lq0islatlra last night