Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-08
STILL A DARK MYSTERY.

The Chain of Evidence in the Murder of
J. w. Gunsaulis Not Yet Complete-Story
of a Man With Wound On His Les-The
Funeral To-Day.
The sensational murder of j. W. Gun
saulis, on the lonely road near West Lib
erty, late Sunday night, is still the subject
of general comment. Holmes Anderson,
the man arrested by County Detective Beltz-
hoover as a suspect in the case, is still at the
county Jail awaiting the result OF the Cor
ouer's inquest to-day. There are good grounds
for belief that if Anderson was implicated in
the affair he was not alone. Several witnesses
have been found who claim to have seen
man answering to the description of
Gunsauls walking along the road followed by
two men. Aside from this the tootmarks in
the clay near where the body was found show
that at least two persons had been standing
around the place for some time. All the cir
cumstances of the case SO far developed go to
disprove the theory that Gunsaulis committed
suicide. He was in the best of spirits when he
left his af.ianced bride. Miss Maggie Smith, at
her home in West Liberty. He was soon
to enter into the joys of matrimony; to move
with his young wife into neat little home
purchased with his own hard-earned money
also providing home and comfort for his mother
in her old age. Such bright prospects for
young man q years of age are not conducive
to the melancholy state of mind producing the
desire to die. Furthermore, Miss Smith is pos
tive he had large roll of bills and valuable
gold watch when he left her. These were miss
ing when his body was found.
Shot in the Leg by Gunsaulis.
One fact which leads more strongly to the
belief that another man beside Anderson was
implicated in the affair is that at an early hour
Monday morning a man was seen near the
vicinity of the shooting attempting TO bandage
a wound in his leg. 1t is supposed he was one
of Gunsaulis' assaiants. and that one of the
shots from the revolver of the latter hit him.
Working on these clues, the Coroner had
force of men On the case all day yesterday.
Early in the morning Mark Donley, Squire
King and several detectives started out in
search of the other suspect. They scanned the
southern banks of the Monongahela river from
CHARTERS to Homestead, but without success.
The Coroner waited at the morgue until mid
night, hoping to hear favorable report from
his men, but nothing came except that they
proposed TO exert every possible effort to find
the man. 1t is probable that before noon to-
day Anderson will have a companion in Jail
The circumstances of the killing show that
the men who did it were not accomplished muir
derers. Their work was done in bungling
way. 1t was probably not their intention to kill
Gunsauis, thinking they could frighten him
into giving up what valuables he carried. His
person was rot ri1ed in professional manner,
but was evidently done hurriedly, showing that
the realization that they had killed their man
brought terror to the hearts of the robbers.
Coroner Mcdowell holds this theory about the
A Struggle in the Road.
From the evidence we have received it is
evident that the men were weak-hearted.
They must have jumped out at him. attempt
ing to frfghten him into submission. One of
them caught his coat and jerked it open. tear
ing the cloth out with the buttons. Gunsaulis
slipped from his grasp, pulled his revolver and
fired, but was shot down by the other man as
he attempted to run. On finding that he was
dead they doubtless became frightened and
only stopped to empty the two vest
pockets laid open to view by the
happened the lower pocket contained the roll
of bills and the upper one his gold watch. Had
these been in any other pockets the robbers
probably would have missed them. This is the
only construction can put on the case"
Anderson, the man confined in jail has a
rather unenviable reputation IN West
he is well known. He answers we'll
the description Gunsaulis gave Miss
to hold him up the night before the murder
Anderson is large man. measuring about
feet / inch. He is 80 years OF age, and has
mustache and hair considerably streaked with
gray. In appearance he is not very prepossess-
ing. He sat sullenly in his cell all day. and re-
fused to talk about the circumstances leading
TO his arrest. He has been suspected of numer-
Gus petty robberies about Beltzhoover. and is
said 10 have recently received a letter signed
"Whitecaps." Instructing him to mako himself
scarce.
The body of the murdered man is living at
the home of his uncle, A. e. Corey, No. q
Balkan street, Allegheny. Funeral services
will be held at the house this evening at 7:30
o'clock. Tomorrow morning the remains will
be taken to the FIT Wayne depot at 7 o'clock,
will be buried. his mother. who has been
very ill, was reported better yesterday.