St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-19
The Mauling Of Sullivan's
Body by Young Medical
Students.
A Searching Investigation
Made Yesterday by the
CoroneP's Jury.
DR.. Murphy Says He Is Will
ing to Shoulder All the
Responsibility.
1t Is Expected That a Verdict
Will Be Rendered Some
Time This Afternoon.

The mutilatcd and badly decompOsed
remains of John l.. Sullivan, recently
found in a barrel at Lake Johanna.
were again above ground yesterday, and
were placed in evidence before the
cOroner's jury appointed to investigate
certain charges in regard to the manner
and circumstances under which the
body was mutilated and disposed of as
has before been described. There were
many present at the inquest, among
them Doctors Hoyt and Murphy.
and George Lynch, one of those
who were present at the carving of the
corpse, and who took the wonderfully
distinct flash-light picture of the group
in the barn as they stood about the
corpse, knives in hand. The jury was
composed of a. Pugh, foreman;
John G. Harrigan, Nicholas Hardy, Il.
NJ. Keely, A. p. CrOOnQuist and Q. +.
Moeller.
sULLIvAN's DEATH.
J. G. Quincy, an emplOye of the Du-
luth road; Martin Murray, James Ken
nedy and Cornelius Reilly. in the en-
ploy Of the same road, gave evidence
met his death and identified the body
then at the mOrgue as that of Sullivan.
Considerable time was consumed in the
detailed hearing of the cause of the ac-
cident which led to the mans death.
Supt. Copeland, of the Duluth road,
stated that it was the custom to turn cases
of injury over to the hospital or DR..
Murphy. He could not recall in this
instance, whether he had authorized
Dampier or Murphy to bury Sullivan.
William Richardson, an employ OF
Dampier, the undertaken, stated that he
went after the body between 6 and
1Op. m. on May 81. He had permit
for burial, signed "Henry f. Hoyt by
H.C. Sinks" The body lay in the Dam
pier mOrgue for about ten days. The
femOral artery had been taken up and
quart or so of embalming fluid had been
night shortly after this he took the
body, by DIR. Murphy's orders, to a barn
on Robert street near University
avenue. He would not swear
that the decomposed body now
at the mOrgue was the same. IL. q.
Sinks, the health officer, produced the
slip corresponding with the burial Ger
tificate, showing that the certificate had
been taken out by Murphy.
LYNCH'S STORY.
George Linch. the electrician, who
was present at the time of the mutila-
ton of the body, stated that on the
night of the arrival of the body at the
barn Richardson and Wood covered 1t
I'D and went away. The dissection was
begun by Mark Hoyt, Bert
Austin. and Brimall. Austin
and Brimall were present once or
knf fn
knowledge. He admitted that DR.. Hoyt
did a little carving himself in search of
the femOral artery, and stated that
about three weeks later the body was
placed in barrel and surrounded with
brine, to which numerous chemicals
were added. Early in September the
start was made with the barrel and its
awful contents for Johanna and buried
where it was found. A few weeks since
Lynch and a priest walked out there
one Sunday afternoon. They thought
that il they carried shovel, suspicion
would be aroused, so took hachet.
They did not reach the spot until 5
O'Clock, when 1t was beginning to get
dark. With the Ratchet they chopped
real estate sign from tree. and, impro-
vising shovel from the signboard, pro-
ceeded to eXhume the remains.
lowed the liquid covering the remains to
drain away and raised the hideOusly
mutilated body to the ground. 1t be-
came too dark TO do anything, however.
so they threw the body back into the
hole and covered it as we'll as they
could with the Ratchet and signboard.
Lynch knew nothing about how the
inscription. "a Traitor" came to be on
the barrel head. He testified to having
taken f1ash-light pictures Of the scene
in the barn.
MURPHY TAKES THE BLAME.
William Dampier knew very little
about the case. He had known the body
was at his morgue and understood that
it was to await the orders of DR.. Muir
ply. The jury viewed one of the pict-
ureS taken by young Lynch with great
care. 1t showed very distinctly the
Austin, Mark HOyt and Lynch. The
photo of DR.. Hoyt is admirably clear,
and is thought by those who have seen
it to be quite the best the doctor has
ever had taken. DR.. Murphy volun-
teered a statement that the man Sullivan
lived but short time after being taken
to the hospital. lie had believed that
physicians still had right under the
law to claim unclaimed bodies. He had
given the boys consent to operate upon
If, and if there was any blame in con-
nection with the affair, he held himself
responsible. He admitted having per-
formed operations on the body in
search for the femoral artery.
IT'S THOROUGH.
At the conclusion of the inquiry the
jury adjourned until s p. M, when
it reassembled in Judge Egan's Office.
No decision was reached last night, the
jury after spending some time in an eX-
animation OF the evidence adjOurning to
meet this afternoon at p. IN. William
Pitt hurry appeared for Drs. Hoyt and
Murphy. The investigation now being
made is a thorough one. and there is a
general feeling that whoever is respon-
sible for the disgusting treatment of
Sullivan's body will he made TO feel the
arm of the law in all its wrathful force.