New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-12-17
THE TWO MURDERS.

OuU VI SeIYlCe, duu 5lluu hives Geu
some money in lands. Near Charles
ton, West Virginia, lived a young
lady with whom this Rhode Islander,
Stephen Chase by name, fell in love.
The girl had two or three other adj
mirers, and there was more or less
hard feeling between the men. On
one occasion, when all met at the
house, there were some hot words be-
tween Chase and q young man nam
ed Talbot. There would have been
q fight but for the GIRLS interference.
On the following Wednesday Chase
started out for Charleston on horse
back to again visit the girl. This
was the last seen of him alive. It
was nearly a, week before his body
was found in a thicket ten rods off
the road.
It had been robbed Of all personal
property, and coat, vest, and shoes
were missing. For two or three days
L believed the object Of the murd erer
was robbery. Then learned what
had passed between Chase and T al
bot, and | had another clew to work
on. [ found two men who had seen
Talbot near the spot where the muir
der was committed, and at about
the hour. I found others who had
seen in his possession large roll of
bills. There were yet others who
said he told contradictory stories.
The young lady was a powerful wit
ness against Talbot. On the even
ing of the murder he had cor to the
house in an excited state of min d.
He looked pale and there was a
fresh cut on his cheek, which he said
he got by a fall. He was i'll at ease
when he arose to go and said:
''People about here suppose me to
be poor, but am not | saved sew
eraI thousand dollars during the
war, and can keep wife in luxury"
He exhibited the roll of bills to her,
and she laughingly admitted that he
was a good catch. Inside of a week
I had sufficient evidence to warrant
his arrest.
"What am I charged with" he
asked. -... a~..r
"Murder.'' ....
"Good God! But who-who-"
t"The murder of Nathan Chase"
s'But when-where?"
Son the afternoon of the 18th.
You know where the body was
found" -*.,
"And you say I killed Chaser"
"That's the charge
"Thank heaven! I'll go with you
willingly. ! had no more to do with
his death than you" -. =
He was logged in jail, and everybody
believed him guilty. He had no
parents, and was about 25 years old.
When arrested he had over $2,OOOin
.greenbacks on his person. Chase
was known to have had about this
sum with him. When questioned
about this money by his friends, he
could mike on satisfactory answer
He finally claimed to have found it
on the highway.
When his case came to trial we had
nothing but circumstantiale evidence,
but were we'll satisfied with that.
What could bestronger? Known to
be Jealous Of Chase and his enemy;
seen near the spot, suddenly poss-
,essed of considerable wealth; taking
no part in the search; stealing away
from Charleston to let the matter
blow over; furnishing every proof in
his demeanor that he is guilty re-
fusing to account for his time on the
day ofmurder; giving no satisfactory
account of the money in his posses
sion. Further than this I had dis
covered that he spent nearly all day
in the WOODS, and that on his return
to town his clothing was torn and
muddy. There was just one point in
the case where we were lame Chase
weighed $50 pounds, and Talbot
was a dapper little fellow who didn' t
balance quite 1913. He had no
more muscle than u woman, and the
question was how he got the body
from the road to the thicket. There
had been rain the day before, and
the ground was soft. We found the
prints of feet, and these werc two
large for Talbot. We could not find
that the body had been carried in
there on the saddle, neither had it
been dragged over the earth. It was
q question that vexed me many days
and nights, and the only way that
could satisfy myself was by suppos
ing that Talbot had a confederate
AL things considered, this did not
seem likely. And again remember
ed his words and conduct when ar
rested. He was terrified when
charged with murder, but as soon
as [ said it was the murder of Nath
an Chase he exhibited instant anc
great relief. There was something
queer about that, and it bothered
me.
The young man claimed that hi
found the money, and that he spen1
the day in the woods. Further HI
could not or would not go. Previ
GUS good reputation was, of course
urged in defense, but the lawyer