Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-25
THE BENNING MYSTERY.
The Crime That Has Startled q Quiet
NeighborhOod.

| NeighborhOod.
| HUNTING FOR CLUEs-EvIDENCEs THAT MORE
THAN ONE PERSON WAS ENGAGED IN con-
cEALTNG THE BoDY-THE WAGON TRACKS, THE
FOOTPRINTS, AND THE MENDED SHOES.
Little more has been learned of the murder
of the young colored woman whose body was
| found in the woods beyond Benning Monday
| afternoon than was published in yesterday s
| STAR. The Investigations by the police seem
| so far to have only added to the mystery. As
published in The STAR the body was fou nd on
the farm Of James Wright, on the Sheriff road,
just beyond the District line. 1t was dicov-
cred Monday afternoon by two children of Mrs.
Windsor, who lives only few hundred yards
| from the place. The children, girl and boy,
| aged respectively fourteen and ten years, were
| walking through the woods gathering wild
fowers and enjoying their Easter holiday.
THE STARTLED CHILDREN.
The little boy was startled by seeing the
dead woman's head He called to his sister,
and the two children had full view of the
corpse, which was lying in little depression
or gully. Then the children. badly frightened.
ran home and told their mother what they had
seen. The news spread through the county
| rapidly, and it was not long before large
crowd had assembled in the thickets to get
look at the body. The colored people seemed
particularly interested in the matter, and many
OF them came a long distance.
WHERE THE BODY WAS FOUND.
The spot where the body was found is about
100 yards from the Sheriff road. There is a
narrow path leading from the road through
the thickets to the washout. where the body
was thrown. The bottom of this hole. or gully,
in which the corpse lay is covered with grass
and moss. and about the banks are wild
| flowers. There are small pools of water about
the woods and there two or three inches
| in this depression. The body lay face down.
ward with the feet slightly elevated. At the
bottom of the steep bank was large stone,
| but if there had been any blood on it the heavy
rains Saturday night had washed it away
When several farmers in that locality heard
of the story told by the children they visited
the woods and found the body in the position
described. They removed the body from the
wet place where it lay and carried it to the
bank above.
THE CoRoNER's INvEsTIG ALTON.
Word was sent to Sheriff Darnall at Bladens-
burg, but that officer was in Baltimore, where
he had gone with some prisoners to the peni-
tentiary. The county coroner, DIR. ID. T. Sher-
if, was notified, and went at once to where the
body was found. DR.. Lewis. of Bladensburg
was also there and together they made a care
full examination of the corpse. They found
that the skull had been crushed in with some
heavy instrument. and that the face was also
cut. From the condition of her clothes it was
concluded that she had been carried, and not
dragged. through the woods from the Sheriff
road, and thrown headlong down the bank.
FOOTPRINTS AND WAGON TRACKS.
There were indistinct footprints leading
along the narrow path, and on the road could
be seen the tracks made by wagon wheels
where the vehicle had been driven from
towards Benning and turned around. From
the place chosen for concealing the body it is
thought that the spot was visited and selected
in the daytime. as a better hiding place could
not have been found in that locality. In that
event the victim must have been murdered and
kept in house for some time before her body
was disposed of. 1t is thought more than one
person was engaged III concealing the corpse,
because it would have been a difficult task for
one person to have carried the body through
the thick underground along the path that
leads to the spot.
As published yesterday there was no testi-
mony given at the inquest that threw any
further light upon the crime.
When Sheriff Darnall returned the inquest
had been held. and the body had been taken to
Bladensburg. That officer took charge of the
wOman's clothing, and is holding them for
identification.
HUNTING FOR CLUES.
The sheriff and Detective Raft secured that
part of the country yesterday but returned
last night without having obtained a single
clue either to the identity of the within Or of
her murderers.
Mrs. Hess. of the Hotel de Benning, told the
officers that she remembered having seen
woman answering the description of the muir
dered woman standing near the hotel Friday
night. The woman she stated wore black
dress with velvet front, such was worn by
the murdered woman but she had on felt hat
instead OF a straw hat, such was found on
the murdered woman's head.
The officers soon abandoned this as a clue
and pursued their investigation further in the
country.
VISITING sHoEMAKER's SHOPS.
Every shoemaker's shop was visited in the
hope of getting some information that would
lead to the Identification of the murdered
woman. As stated i'll The STAR the woman's
shoes bore evidences of having been recently
mended. The officers thought at one time
that they were on the track of the woman. but
when they hunted the clue down they found
the young woman, supposed to have been the
victim. alive and well.
They found an old colored shoemaker named
John Francis. who felt sure that he could
identify the body. He was taken to Bladens-
burg, and the body taken from the grave
about sundown but he failed to identify it.
The body had changed but little from its con-
dition when first found. One side of the face
was badly distgured. which the doctors think
was done by minks or coons while the body
in the woods.
THE MURDERED WOMAN.
The body found is that of light mulatto
woman rather good looking from twenty-one
to twenty-five years old, feet inches in
height with bushy thick hair. large white teeth
and short and thick nose. She weighed in the
nelghbOrhOod of l25 pounds. She was attlred
in a dress of black diagonal goods, the front
black brocade velvet basque plain, and black
jersey with front trimmed with y inch worsted
braid with beaded edge. She wore rough
black straw sailor hat, with band of black
watered ribbon inches wide. Her shoes
were No. 5, button, medium weight. newly
half soled and heeied with steel nails making a
rough job. Her I'M dergarments were plain
and her hose were light color with stripes