Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-04-05

LEANENWOhIh, hbust VuoECu ~O' w
boys found on the river shore this morn
ing at eight o'clock. q mile and half
north OF this city, the frightfully mutt
lated body of woman Of about nifty
years. The body had been quartered
with knife and disemboweled. There
were three deep knife stabs in the left
breast and a bullet hole in the back Of the
head. There were fifty pounds Of rock in
o shawl tied around her neck. Both
legs were missing. About fifty yards
north Of where the trunk was found,
leg lay, and the intestines were found
in gunny sack. The body Is
supposed to be that OF Mrs.
Mettman, who disappeared Saturday
night from her homo in Goosetown, o
suburb Of West Leavenworth. She has
o son who is q brakeman on tho Rock
Island road, and an inquest will be held
when he returns from his run. The MUIR
der is supposed to have been committed
in this city and the body afterward
taken to the river shore and cut up with
the purpose OF destroying all evidences
Of the crime by tossing it piece by piece
into the river. Some accident must
have interfered with this plan, and the
murderer or murderers were compelled
TO leave the body on the shore.
STILL A MYSTERY.
LEAvESwoRTH, Kan, March 31.-The
interest and excitement incident to the
terrible Mettman butchery has not
abated, but seems to be on the increase.
As time passes and no absolute certainty
as to the fiendish perpetrator is obtain
able the public is becoming feverish
and anxious that q positive solution OF
the terrible crime should be forthcoming.
The police are working diligently and
doing every thing possible to expose the
murderer.
The funeral OF the murdered woman
occurred from the German Catholic
Church yesterday, attracting q large
congregation, many of whom went with
the hope of seeing the husband of the
deceased, who is suspected Of being
guilty Of the murder and butchery.
When the funeral services were being
held at tho church Chief Of Police
Doane, Officers Murphy and Mcfarland,
accompanied by reporter, visited the
Mettman house, with the view Of max
ing q more thorough search Of the pre-
misses than had hitherto been made.
In the summer kitchen, now used for
the storage of soiled clothes and other
unused household goods, and under .
pile Of papers and old rags, the officers
discovered two large pools OF apparently
fresh blood in close proximity, each be.
ing about one-half the size OF a mans
hand. Close by were spattered drops OF
what seemed to be human blood, and
the officers felt that they had made q
discovery that would unravel the mystic
ries surrounding the case. A
hand saw was also found, upon
the handle of which there APP
peared to be a sprinkling Of blood. Two
spattered with blood, but it was learned
that these were used by the physicians
ut the post norton examination Satur'
day afternoon, and 10 significance was
attached to this find.
The two pools of blood and the sup
posed blood on the saw handle was the
only evidence that the officers could find
tending to confirm their suspicious as to
the part Mettman is supposed to have
played in the crime.
DR.. Thomas, who assisted in the post
mortem examination, says that 1t was
found the deceased had two bad frac-
lures of the skull, one behind the head
| A.
either of these fractures would have
proven fatal, life might have remained
for twenty-four hours, and the doctor
thinks it probable the bullet was fred
through the head to expedite death, as
the murderer became uneasy or tired,
waiting for his victim to die.
There was found on the reservation
yesterday the artificial teeth and por-
ton of the dress worn by the murdered
woman, together with a pool of blood
and some matted hair. 1t is supposed
that the fiend who was carrying the
body to the river, where it was subse-
ouently found, became tired Of his
CHASTITY load, and placed it on the
ground at this point to gain few mo-
ments of rest. 1t is not believed that
the murder and butchery occurred on the
reservation.
Unmistakable circumstantiale evidence
point to John Mettman as the murderer,
and the horrible thought OF his own
daughter being an accomplice is given
expression on all sides.
Though the daughter has heretofore
borne q good name, her strange and
somewhat tragic actions at the inquest
have led to the belief that she knows all
about the horrible affair.