Smyrna times., 1889-06-05
Murder or Suicide Q

On Sunday afternoon Mrs Evon. =,
smyrna Landing, in LOOKING a. ,ta -
creek from her residence saw wbat sLe Vle
supposed to be a man swin1,nir'. 'it1U ~ sile
bnt nv current S9t giving it this appearance
~ 49, a iuIther look showed that it did
10y cnahge position. She notified n
5iall'l tiill OF TWO OF the neighborhood who
discovered 1t was dead hoatino bod-,
U0uly Chat 1t was anchored to the nIacgo
by means OF a rope thrown arounJ -
II was pulled to and secured IN AZ
M Mharf' Word was sent up to VIM AZ
i,.i, r9illeS, VINO Is acting as deputy coroner
VINO IN company with DR.. Moore ava,,,
.ueu ana mad the body brought tn fbis
Town. a stone weighing some fan,.' n.S
POUNDS was found tied to tba foo, ce
the corpse, railroad spikes heinz Ue'J u
III securely tying the cord. The IL
was aU the upper end Of the To,J;,-'
above the point visited by the dredain9,,,
machlnes, where the water yvos eboif7e,',ia
ana when decomposition set in -
Ieach the surface at low tide A - -
ner jury was summoned and or =:
IIesG held at six O'Clock. with p "
"eIuoh as foreman and o. B. VoeboIi
as clerk. The body was found yvitI1al.t iIii
any marks upon it Indicating violanna
ana utterly without anythiugon tho 80 49,
son or In the pockets that wouId ioaII - -
iuehtlhcatlOn. In fact the pocl-ats - "
empty except some particles of broS1
leading to the suppOsition that ba ,I,'1@' l,'ss'
III . MAJ, Ia VINO was here purchasing brass
on ~ u cloVhes We're fairly good, having
~ ~ Unree pairs OF pants and two linz
~, ra;, . q elIuer OIue WOOlen Oneandapood
E@ir ol shoes. His dress did not ind;cota
n1 was a tramp. He was of sandy con,
ple4l0h and weighed about 1870 or 10
pounos. lie looked to be obort 40
years OF age. 1t was first tbonobt bo
v y. 90 rag 0uyer who had not re6orted
- us family IN Wilmington for so,no
"o weeks, but witnesses testified III
ne corpse did not answer his dasnri,'
ioD' Inc Interpreter of the bo,5 S
ldilahs who are cutting brush at So {
4'nuihS was sent for but he eoid ~ }
zen were all present, and II vas 80 b
&c iOF MIN to come. The bod, ~. q
uOughU TO be that of a German -. b
'lShman but who, where he was f.oIl tli
!, now ne came there was the oIestio,l or'' o
nc jury was without evidence nc - q
~ u tnese particulars, or the cause ~ n
- ue"Cn ana their verdict was tsbo '
lme to his death from cause umLno,,i'I 'n ne tC
them" He was buried the ,e somn somn fc
'ehing 10 the Odd Fellows cemetor,, ,,,,o NJ
/ Is singular case, and the nn,.s,e,.g,. I'll
Inls writing remains unsolved RSt
Is not comfortable tbouS5t tbut but
"a 'aq men can be found about 1s with J'i5y
u knowing who they are. where III tbo,,
{ from or by what means thew CO.. de
n5, uhelr death. Capt. Brown, of the M
'hding, says that on the precead;no, ny le,
lSeS3day he was notified that his boag5 bg Sc
a been moved from its place and UUaS Uas pa
ai,ng IN the creek. On going after fer op
with another boat he found Il ouit,, ai.eI mC
70 It, This hat was found to exac1I,, ,Si !, tn,
Ine dead man. The conclusion woni5 wi
certain that he had come TO q GoJ foni So
lI1 II marks Of violence had been gT' de,
nd on him. But they were 'Uot vot inc
zen leaves the greater mystery han@,, tw
over the case. -'''ns- Inc