The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-12-02
THE STlLLWELL MURDER.
A Black Barkeeper Gagged at
Peoria and His Alleged
Accomplish Caught
in st. Louis.

evening Dy 0etectlves OF the ihei
Agency on the charge of being al
accessory to The murder of Am 's j
EtilIwell, a lie ,ding merchant of Han
nib ]. Mo-, which occurred on Decem
Der 80, 1888. The negre~s who il
said To know great deal more abou
the assassination than she is willing t.
tell, spent the night in Jail and viii
be ken to Hannibal this morning.
This arrest, following as it does the
arrest at Peoria, ILL.,, vest rday Of
Stanley Hendrick, the negr, who i.
sail TO be the murderer, is said to
promise a complete solution of the
bloody mystery.
$780, THE MURDER.
Amos j. Stillwell was a wealthy
and prominent merchant Of Ham.
bal, Mo. He was 81 years old and
had wife 20 years bis junior, with
VIII IN he was said to be not on The
best of terms. On December 20 they
went to card party and returned
home late in the e!ening, and re
tired to bed. According to the story
told hy Mrs. StilwelI, she Was awak-
eDed about 2 o'clock in the morning
by hearing her bu.band say. sis that
you, Fannie ?" and just as she opened
Der eyes she saw a man swing an axe
and split her husbands head open.
The murderer ran out the room as she
sprang from the bed. She ran to the
neighbors, and gave The alarm. There
were many sensational developments
connected with the Csc, but tie
grand jury wres'led with it without
finding any indictments. Just one
year to the day after the tragedy Mrs.
StillwelI and DIR. Joseph G. Hearn
were married, and in this connection
the story told by Clarence Newcomb,
manager of Thiels Detective Agency,
takes ON a decidedly sensational tinge.
GRATEFUL NEGRO.
DIR. Joseph G. Hearn, the family
physician and particular friend of Mr..
and Mrs. Stillwell, and the man whom
Mrs. Sill well has sine married, is said
to have fed, cared for AMI treated
while i'll, S'anley Kendrick, the
alleged murderer. Kenirick is said
to have been very grateful for the
attention given him by DR.. Hearp.
> he story which led to the arrest of
Kendriek and his accomp ices in the
murder was Outlined by the detectives
from Esther Dick, and In substance is
as follows:
HOW IT WAS DONE.
Kendrick, with whom she had been
living, announced his Intention of
committing the deed and requested
her aid also the aid of Bertha Miller
and m N named Rhodes, agreeing to
pay them well for the job. The pre-.
arrangements were all made,
and on The night specified, December
%, 1888, the four proceeded to the
Sti lwell res dence. The women were
left at the street corner to give |
warning in care of danger, while |
Kendlick and Rhodes entered the
house. Kendrick, in passing through
the wood shed, had secure two
edged axe, with which the killing was
done. Mrs. Stillwell and the two
children were sleeping in the same
room in which the murder was COM
mitted, but no attempt to harm them
was made. A purse containing $50
was taken from Mr.. StillwelPs person
at the time the deed was committed,
and the greater part of Its contents
were strewn along the road taken by
the perpetrators of the murder after
leaving the house. The two negro
women, it is claimed, received $40
each for their services, while the
money whirh remained wss divided
between Kendrick and Rhodes.
The quartette then scattered, and it
seem. no suspicion was attached TO
Them until TniePs Detective Agency
took up the case and began the work
that led 20 the two arrests above re-
corded.
Mr.. Newcomb, Thiel's manager, !
states that the first clew secured by
The detectives Was obtained from q
on between Bertha Miller
and Esther Dick, overheard by an
Did negro washerwoman who lived In
he same house with the Dick and
Miller women. From this clew the
case was worked up.
MORE MYSTERY.
Mr.. Newcomb stated last evening
hat he had arrested the Dick woman
IN st. Louis, and that she was locked
up at the Four Courts, but the police
asst night positively denied all knowl-
.npe of any such arrest. and said the