Omaha daily bee., 1889-07-21
A DEED OF BLOOD.
Latest Details of the judith Horror
by n MOurncr.

Mr.. Frank Jolliff, OF Lyons, was the guest
Of Mr.. Julius Schaus, %ianitor of the Germania
hall. Both he and his host lost near rela-
tives In the horrible Judith Valley murders,
which are still fresh in the minds of the poo
pie living in the southern portion of Mon
tana. MIR. Jolliff is q brother of Mrs. Joseph
kurtz, who was murdered, and Mr.. Schaus
is the father of the little girl who was also
among the victims. MIR. Jolliff visited the
scene just after the bodies were fonnd and
describes the murder as one of the most
cold blooded known In the annals of the
frontier.
Joiliff brought with him q number of pho
tographs of the place where the bodies were
found and also some of the spoils of the muir
derer, among which were two gold rings and
a pair of ear rings. Those belonging to little
Ida Schaus were turned over to her father,
who holds them as valuable memeutos of his
little murdered daughter. MIR. Jolliff took q
prominent part in the chase for the assassin,
WILDER, and also in the burial of the five
bodies. In talking with a BEE reporter he
said;
The persons so cruelty murdered by this
deSperadO, WILDER, were Mr.. and Mrs.
Joseph Kurtz, Mr.. and Mrs. Ed Briggs aud
little Ida Schaus, daughter of julius Schaus,
OF Omahn. They were on their way from
the Grass Valley mine TO Il new mine
near Great Falls. Briggs and his wife We're
worth nothing. but kurtZ had about $500 in
money and had besides three horses ana n
wagon. James WILDER, alias Henry Patter-
son, a professional murderer, who, under the
guise Of being u pcddlcr, has been carrying
on his devilish work of killing and plum ier-
ing for a number of years, found out some
how that Kurtz had money, and determined
to have it. He accordingly joined the party,
and after travelling with them for Il number
of days enticed them to a deserted ranch
nhna,t l,,nn al -, I ,,r;-t l,., -.i@.@ Il.
a hollow or the evening of July Z, he muir
dered the entire party. The fendish work
was done with q rifle of improved pattern,
which fires sixteen consecutive shots. All
the victims were attached from the rear, and
it Is supposed that they were sitting in the
wagon at the time. Mrs. Kurtz' wounds
showed that she must have died a lingering
death. The back of her husbands head was
blown completely OIL. Mr.. and Mrs. Briggs
were shot through the head and probably died
INSTANTLY. The little girl, VINO was the last
victim, vas not shot, but was either stran-
glcd or her head held under water until she
was drowned IN a pool of water near the
spring. The murderer then gathered up the
trunks and other effects that might lead to q
clue and burned them on the spot. He then
loaded the bodies IN tic wagon and drove
twenty-five miles to the Judith river. On
his way there he chose the most unfre-
qucnted road and did everything to avoid
meeting any one. When intruders came he
would advance to the front of his wagon
|owith his rifle and demand what they wanted.
He threw the five bodies in the Judith river
the evening of the day following the murder
and Mrs. KurtZ' body WAS found washed
ashore on the 18th by Il party of
, cowboys. Two days later, while an inquest
was being held, three ether bodies were
found close together on the banks of the
stream about half a mile above, and still
further up the body of the child was dis
covered. All bore unmistakable traces of
being murdered, aud the profoundest excite
/ ment ensued. Suspicion Immediately rested
I on WILDER, who after the murder had traded
| off Kurtz' horses and wagon to a man
named Cashier. The country was secured fol
the desperate, and he was captured on the
2lst by Sheriff Clary and Deputy Sheriff Joe
Hamilton. He was not given the reason for
! his arrest, but he knew too well that retri-
button was near, and during the night he
committed suicide by hanging himself in his
cell with "a strip of blanket.
-Four years before, WILDER murdered q
cowboy, but escaped hanging through a tech
nicality. About IA year ago he murdered an
Irishman named Donegal in Il manner SINH
lar to that of his latest exploit. and there are
a score of other persons in whose death he is
thought TO have had Il hand.n