The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1892-01-01

friend of his, and that this rrlend gave &C
Isaac bottle of black medicine, which he
compelled her to take, although she was
not in the least sick. This medicine, how
ever made her very sick, Isaac had also
asked her to take some big pills, which
she had refused to do. Here was very
suspicious circumstance, which made Mrs.
Sawtell all the more anxious, and induced
her to make known the facts of the case
to the police. Then began the work of
unravelling the mystery.
Gathering the Evidence.
Hiram was traced to Rochester 1t was
also learned that on the day when Hiram
prrived there Isaac was absent from his
boarding place all day, and when he re-
| turned at night, he appeared nervous. 1t
was further learned that he had had a
carriage all day, driving away somewhere
no one could say where. Then young
man came forward who said that he saw
| Isaac drive up to the station i'll Rochester
| few minutes before the train from Bos
| ton arrived Here he waited till the train
| came in, and then man who came on the
| train got into the carriage with him and
| the two drove away. 1t was learned from
| the livery stabl3seeper who let the horse
| that Isaac was alone when he returned, at
| at nearly IL o'clock that night. The
| keeper of country store at Lebanon, Me-,
said that Isaac had come into his place
and bought aspade, saying that he wanted
to buy some land and wished to test the
soil little. The carriage was left stand
ing at the door, and bundle was noticed
in it.
Tell-Tale Blood Spots.
ALI these things made the search still
more careful, and then it was discovered
that the buggy hired by Isaac was stained
with blood on the seat and the bottom, and
the pnG bjOU GO1nlIpI STRANGELY Of lyapDGpnn
as if it had been rubbed with the oil.
Searching parties went out in every direc-
tiOn trying to find traces of the road OV or
which Isaac had driven, and to find the
place where the body was buried, for by
this time every one had come to the con
clusion that the spade was bought for the
purpose of burying the body of a murdered
man, and that a Ratchet, which it was
learned he had also bought, was used in
connection with the murder. People
living on the road to Lebanon, who had
seen the team driven by Isaac on the road,
also said they had heard several shots fired
in the woods by the road. They had sup
posed it was some one cunning.
Capture of the Murderer.
While this web of circumstantial evil
dence was being woven around Isaac,
other parties were searching for the man
himself. He was traced to Portland, Me-,
and there arrested just as he was about to
take the train for Montreal. On his
clothes and his handkerchief blood stains
were found. He was taken back to |
Rochester, to await the further develop |
ments of the careful search that was go |
ing on there for the body of the murdered |
man. This search was constantly bring |
ing something new to light. One day a |
shoe, identified as one worn by the miss |
ing man, was found. Then came bloody |
handkerchief. On Feb. IA, the dismem-
bered body of the murdered man was |
found buried in a hole in the woods of |
Maine.
The Climax.
The trial of Isaac on the charge of MUIR
der began in Dover on Dec 49, 1890 1t
lasted nine days. On Christmas day, $780,
he was found guilty of murder in the first
degree, and was sentenced by Judge Doe
to be hanged on Jan s. 1892. Through all
the trial, and even after the sentence, Saw
tell maintained his innocence, and kept
his belief that he would never suffer the
penalty of death for his crime. In the
early part of the present month, however,
when he felt that his time was growing
very short, and that some action was
necessary if he would save his life, Saw
tell succeeded in getting a hearing for
new trial, on the grounds that the crime
was committed in Maine instead of in New
and that he could not, there
fore, legally be hanged. This trial was be-
fore the full bench and was very thorough.
1t resulted in the agreement of the court
with the previous finding, and back to
prison went Murderer Isaac Sawtell, and
The result of that decision broke him down
and was the cause of the shock
which ultimately caused his death.