Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-08-01
AFTER EIGHTEEN YEARS.
A Convict at Chester Confcsses to an Old
Murder.

A Convict at Chester Comic sses to an Old
Murder.
Penitentiarf Commissioner j. j. Brown,
of Vandalia, ILL.,, while on a recent visit to
the southern Illinois penitentiary, at Ches-
ter, came in possession of the following
interesting facts: There IS o convict in the
Chester pepltentiary by the name of Davis,
sentenced for ten years, from White
county. Davis was the cell mate
of one Charles Henderson, a former
resident of this (Fayette) county,
and we'll remem cred by the people of
Vandalia. Henderson 10 now serving a
ten years sentence from Christian county
for an inhuman crime. Some time ago he
was taken sick in prison, and thinking he
was going to die sought to release his con-
science by relating to his cell mates the
shocking details of o murder, most foul.
committed in this county eighteen years
ago, and confessing that he and his
brothers were the murderers. The crime is
we'll remembered, the victim being Frank
Little, q young farmer residing in the
northern part of this county.
Little and his two sisters lived together,
and were known to be among the very best
people of the neighborhood. The night of
the murder Little was seated at an organ
playing and singing, accompanied by his
sisters, who stood by his side. A shot was
fred through a window, and Little fell to
the floor dead. Immediate steps were taken
by the people of the neighborhood and Off
GERS to hunt down the murderer, but little
or no clue could be obtained. Years
passed, and still nothing developed which
could possibly lead to the Identification of
the assassin, and as time fed the horrible
event Almost faded from the memories of
our people.
Now, the circumstances of the occur
renee are suddenly and unexpectedly re-
viyed under peculiar and surprising condi-
tons, aud there is yet a probability that
the perpetrators may, after oil, be brought
to punishment for the crime of eighteen
years ago. A barn of Campbell Nave, an
uncle Of the murdered man, living in the
same neighbcrhood, was burned q short
time after the murder, and Henderson also
| admits that he and his brother were guilty
of this crime. His brother, he says, is
now in Maine.
Charles Henderson has a uniformly bad
record and is perfectly capable of such a
crime as he confesses to. He is now serv-
ing his second term in the penitentiary.
The first was for implication IN the theft
| of a carload of cattle from j. NJ. Parke, of
| Vera, this county, which was brought to
yandal,a and shipped to Chicago. His
present sentence for ten years is for a
crime committed at Taylorville during the
campaign Of 1888. A big political fight
was in progress at that place, when Hen
derson, was located there as a veterinary
surgeon, sneaked around after dark and
poisoned thirty or forty horses, from the
effects of which several valuable animals
died. He was arrested for the deed, and
in q few days confessed to it.
The convict, Davis, to whom the con-
fessiou was made, and who impaired the
SAM to Warden Dowell, IS a Kentuckiau,
an Intelligent man, and bears the reputa-
ton among prison officials of being truth
ful.