Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-21
NOT A RAY OF LIGHT
Has Yet Been Thrown Upon the
Mystery of Sarah Joyce's Death.
NO EVIDENCE OF A SHOT FOUND,
But Other Features Lead the Coroner to
Feel Sure of Foul Play.
PROGRESS OF THE INVESTIGATION

The cause of Sarah Joyce's death remain.
as much mystery as at the time when hel
body was found on the lonely hillside al
Four-M run. The physicians, yesterday
finished the autopsy sand their re
port to the Coroner is that death
resulted from shock and exhaustion,
no wound or diseased condition being found
in any part or organ of the body that could
be taken as the cause. Coroner's Surgeon
McCandless and Police Surgeon Meyer,
who conducted the examination, unite in
saving that from surgical point of view
the case is one of the most remarkable they
have ever met with.
Sarah joyce was model of health, and
her anatomical development was perfect,
as the autopsy showed. Every organ IN
her body was as near the anatomist's ideal
as could be found. The wound on the right
cheek, the cause of which mystifes sur
geons, Coroner and police, was compare
lively trifling affair, and that on the top
of the head was even less so. She was a
strong, vigorous woman, who would ordi-
narily be but slightly affected by such in
juries.
Mcdowell Believes in Murder Still.
Coroner Mcdowell holds to his opinion,
as stated in yesterdays DISPATCH, that
Miss Joyce was the victim of an assault.
He believes she was either shot or struck
by some instrument which produced
a wound similar to that bull
let would make. While working har-
moniously with the Coroner on the case
Inspector Whitehouse and Detectives
Robinson and Fitzgerald incline to the
opinion that the girl fell and was not as
saulted They are, however, following
closely every indication of clue, and still
hold John Pulpus, the colored man, whose
arrest was noted yesterday.
In support of his theory the Coroner
holds that such robust, vigorous person as
Miss Joyce must have received terrific
shock to have produced the fright which
evidently caused her to sink helpless to the
ground and lie there until relieved by
death. Such a shock would come
from suddenly meeting on. the lonely
roadway an assailant, who with uplitted
arm should spring from the darkness upon
her and deal the blow which sent her roll
ing down the hill Had she simply missed
her footing and fallen the Coroner thinks
she would have suffered little fright and on
return of consciousness would have resumed
her way to her destination.
The Pointer Against Pulpus.
There are but two points concerning
the colored man Pulpus that seem to show
any connection between him and the girls
DEATH One is the fact that he was seen,
and admits of having gone up Sylvan avenue
IN the same direction taken by the
girl half all hour later. The
other is the finding on his person of a num-
Der of pieces of heavy copper electric light
wire The wire is about three-eighths of an
inch thick and cut into pieces about six
inches long The Coroner says that h ard
blow struck with one OF these pieces of wire
would produce just sucE wound as that
found on the dead girls cheek, but all the
pieces of wire were carefully examined, and
no blood was found on any them.
Pulpus, when asked to account for having
the wire, said it had been given him on
Friday morning by Philip Nolan. black
smith, and he intended to use it in making
harness rings. Nolan, however, denies
giving the prisoner the wire, but says
Pulpus had been around his shop on Thurs
day, and might have stolen it then. This is
the most suspicious point in connection
with Pulpus, and the chances of strengthen
ing it do not seem favorable. He was
rigidly examined by the police officers
yesterday, but with little success He
claims not to know. of what he is suspected,
and the officers have not told him.
The evidence supporting the theory of
the police that the girl fell over the hillside
seems reasonable and the Coroner admits
its probability. They think the girl fell
heavily on sharp stone, or possibly nail,
which caused the cheek wound, and that
lockjaw ensuing caused death. The con-
dition of the body when found gives color
to this supposition. The remains of the
dead girl Will be inferred to-day at St.
Marv's Cemetery