The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-07-22
A MURDERER CAUGHT.
One Of the Most Bru al c riminais In the His
tory OF Central Mis- on a In the Hands
of the Law

/ Deputy Sheriff August Garst of Gascon-
ado county, Missouri, passed north on the
| Santa Fe last night with prisoner named
| William Hilliar. whom be captured near
Wichita Falls, Tex, last Tuesday morn
| ing, Hlliar is charged with numbering
ais wife near Fredericksburg in Gasconada
county in 1851 and ever since that time he
has eluded the officers, notwithstanding a
| large reward had been offered for his ap-
| prehension. The story of his crime is as
| follows as related by Constable Garst to a
| passenger on the train, who 10 turn relat-
| ed lt to an EAGLE reporter. Hilliar was a
| large tie contractor in the woods thai
skirted the Gasconade river, and was mar
| ried to the daughter OF prominent ply
stefan named Mollenbrock. in central Mis-
souri,. He lived at lila for several years,
and in 1880 moved his family to Frede ricks
burg, a small hamlet on the banks of the
Gasconade about thirty miles from where
it entered the Missouri river. TAe fol low
| ing wear sister OF Mrs. Hilliar visited
them VINO had the reputation of being
very beautiful and as bad as she
was beautiful for she and the husband of
the sister cultivated an intimacy that be-
came criminal in a short time. The wife
suspected it and proposed to visit her
father and tell him about it. The next
| day she disappeared and in the course of
week or SO Hilliar went to the home of his
father-in-law ostensibly to visit his wife
| and finding her not there he feigned great
alarm. He told them then that while her
sister was visiting at Fredericksburg
Mrs. HilliaP proposed to visit her
home for a few weeks aud also
told them the day she started Great
alarm was felt and inquiries were made at
every habitaion along the river regarding
her, but 40 one had seen her. On July 20,
1851, rafter going down the river saw a
Heating body aud picked il up, and ascer-
tanned that il was the body of Mrs. Hilliar.
He tied his raft at once and returned to
notify Hilliar. The latter went at once to
where the body was and sent il
home, while he went to Hermann
for coffin. He was never seen
again until mouth ago when en- old
friend of bis named johnson saw him at
circus at Fort Worth. He Immediately
wrote the fact to Hillear's father-In-
law who, IN turn, reported it to the off,
GERS. In the meantime when the body Of
the dead woman WAS returned to her
home and when it became known that the
husband had absconded. the guilty sister
wrote a letter explaining her guilt and
Immediately cut her throat from ear
TO ear with the razor of her
brutal paramount The officers went
to Texas immediately upon bearing from
johnson, and after three weeks OF diligent
search found Hiiliar through the hotel
L., e
of Wichita Falls was recorded. 1t occur
red to him that Hiliiar's mother was
named Fazel, aud thinking he might have
assumed that name he wrote home and
was sent one of Hilliar's letters
to his fatherin-law, dated June Il,
1880. The handwriting was com
pared and it was identically the
same as the handwriting in the hotel reg
lister. Deputy Sheriff Garst Immediately
went to Wichita Falls, located his man
and caused his arrest A message was
sent to Governor Frances for extradition
papers which were promptly forwarded.
The state of Missouri offered a reward OF
81. 500 for the apprehension OF the muir
dere-, and it is said that Dr., Mollenbroek
offered a personal reward of 81, 900
for the same purpose. NJ. Ii. Elmo of
Norman, Oklahoma, who gave the above
information to a reporter for the EAGLE
last night describes Hilliar as man
about As years old, with heavy brown
beard and scar on the left cheek running
from the mouth to the ear. He states
that Hiiliar was completely FRUSTRATED
with fear that he would be lynched upon
arriving at the scene Of his crime although
he denied his guilt Notwithstanding the
dying confession of his sister 'in-law and
his own flight when the body was discov-
cred,