The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-03-14

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MR. AND MRS. BIRcHELL
sufficient to cause death, and your Jurors
have reason to believe, and do believe, that
said shots were fired by the hand of Regi-
maid Birchell alias Somerset with deliber-
ate purpose, wilfully and feloniously, to
commit murder, on or about the 18th of
February, 1890, and we are of opinion that
Caroline Birchell, the wife of said Reginald
Bircheli, was accessory to the murder after
the fact.n
Mrs. Birchell's Position.
There was very little difference ofopinion
among the jurors as to the question of guilt,
the only question being whether or not a
verdict should be given in the absence of the
prisoners. Under the law of Canada a wife
cannot be punished for shielding her hus-
band, and therefore Mrs Birchell cannot be
made accessory after the fact, in the general
sense of the term.
The Body Exhumed.
When the inquest was resumed ID, r.
Pelley, the young man who accompanied
Benwell and Birchell to this country. was
taken to the grave of the murdered man.
where the body was exhumed. He recognized
the dead man as Benwell After Pelley had
ANohsiheh tho pohy VI inuTueTeu COM
panion he was put in the witness box. He
again told the wonderful story of his asso-
Citations with Birchell and Benwell as he
told it at Niagara Falls.
Were There Other victims9
New and sensational developments are
cropping up in connection with the tragedy,
and the question now is whether there have
not been at least two victims. Some two or
three years ago young Englishman, Neville
II. Pickthall, came here, and about a year
ago purchased a farm six miles south Of
woodstock. About four months ago he
married the daughter Of his minister. Feb.
~ last Pickthall raised a 81 200 on a mort
gage on his farm and left here, saying to his
wife: 81 am going to double this money be-
fore come back" He was seen at Niagara
Falls that night, and then said he was going
to New York to meet his sister.
He Was Never Seen Again.
The testimony in the Birchell examination
showed that Pickthall reached New York
and there met the Birchells. Since then no
trace of him has been found and no word
has been received from him His disappear
ance caused a stir at the time and the police
sent descriptions of him all over the country.
The theory now is that he was enticed to
New York by Birchell with the expectation
Oh making large sum of money, and that
he was put out Of the way for the money he
carried with him. A search of Birchell's
baggage will be made for anything that
might give clew to Pckthall's fate
Pelley's testimony, if true, shows conclu-
sively that Mrs. Birchell aided and abetted
in the swindling of Pelley and the deceased,
whether she knew of the murder or not.
She frequently mentioned the fictitious farm
to Pelley.
Bircheli's Strange Career.
What is known of Birchell's career is not
at all to his credit. 1t is said that he was
always liar, always an adventurer In
college he loved to pose as the scion of some
great family. II caught in lie he would
easily laugh it off. He made the acquaint-
ance of the daughter of David Stephenson,
traffic manager Of the London and North
western railroad, and won her heart by his
dashing ways and taking lies. He said be
was great land owner and stock raiser In
Canada. They were secretly married
against the fathers wishes, who wished TO
know more about the young man, and
sailed away for Canada Aud here, in the
little village of Woodstock, which they
reached in the autumn of 1888, they began
to cut the swell which made him such
local celebrity.
Here He Was Lord Somerset"
Here he was Birchell no longer, but Somer-
set, Lord Somerset, or at least the son of
Lord Somerset, with all the glamour of a
title about him He was an exquisite in
every way. His linen was embroidered to
suit his rank. He even went in debt like n
lord and when he left Woodstock there were
many poignant memories in the shape of un-
paid bills left behind him. His wife, a blue
eyed, light haired, pretty little blonde was
| a tit companion for one SO high bred
They left at last and went back to Eng-
land, and for time lived with Mr. Stephen
son, who forgaye his daughter for her secret
marriage. The girl told no tales out of
| school, though it is certain that by this tima
she knew her husband to be rascal And
| meanwhile Lord Somerset set about some
means of recouping his exhausted exchequer.
In the course of time he fell in with Fred
erick Q. Benwell, of Cheltenham, England,
and Douglass Raymond Pelley, of Saffron
Walden, Essex, and lured them to Canada
as heretofore described in these dispatches.
The Theory of the Police.
| Birchell, his wife, Benwell and Pelley
crossed the Atlantic together on the Ger
manic. By the time they reached Buffalo
! Pslley had been blsd era How much Ben
1 w'll was nulcted does not seem clear, al
though Birchell is said to have carefully ex
.'AA'hNN VIZ eStb IieScb VI valuable Dag
| gage the murdered man had with him Birch.
| ell also knew that Benwell had considerable
money with him. The party reached Buffalo
Feb. l6. The next day Birchell and Benwell
started for the mythical farm, leaving Mrs
Birchell and Peley in Buffalo Birchell re-
turned alone that night and said Benwel
had gene further up the country looking for
desirable land For the next few days Mr..
and Mrs Birchell and Pelley remained at the
Falls, and during this time Birchell acted SO
suspiciousy that Pelley feared OF his life.
Peliey's wild Goose Chase.
One day Birchell said that message from
Benwell to the Stafford house had said to
send all his baggage to the Fifth Avenue
! hotel, New York. Two days later Birchell
came into the house and said;
"What do you think l have seen in the
paper In connection with that man found
murdered at Princeton. They have found a
cigar case marked Y. G. Benwelln
1t was arranged that Pelley should go To
: New York and make inquiries at the Fifth
Avenue, He did so, but found no clew Re-
turning to Clifton he found constable on
the steps OF the Baldwin house who told him
I Birchell had identified the body and was
likely TO be arrested SO Pelley went down
"a MaOistEafa nm .uA tolA hk.- &c.. -