Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-13
officer ORR'S STORY.
lie Tells the Coroner All About the
Noblestown Tragedy.
OULD HAVE SHOT REED FIRST,
ut the Murderer looked Harmless and
Surprised the officer.
BE yERDICTS In. BOTH THE CASES
OULD HAVE SHOT REED FIRST
BE yERDICTs IN. BOTH THE CASES

The Coroner's inquest in the cases OF
fartin Reed and Hugh Coyle, who lost
heir lives in the Noblestown tragedy OF
saturday last, was concluded yesterday.
he Jury found that after killing Coyle,
Reed committed suicide.
Several witnesses were examined by the
coroner. The first one was Fritz Klein.
was thought he had omitted telling all ne
new, but he either did not know anything
urther. or refused to tell. He admitted
eeing a stove and two chairs in the ice
rouse. but did not know if they had been
Ised by Reed
John A. Orr, Chief of Police of Washing
on, was the next and most important wit
less of the dav. His description OF the at
aek on the ice house, his own woundlng at
he hands of Reed and the subsequent burn
ne of the ice house, was interesting. He
aid:
Officer Orr's Story.
Iknew Martin Reed and Hugh Coyle. 1
got to Noblestown last Saturday afternoon
lbout O'Clock with Mr.. Williamson and
Mr. McBryde- McBryde put away our team
md went for assistance while Williamson
and ! watched the place where we supposed
Reed was IN hiding. There was no one IN
sight of the icehouse when we went into
Wacher's ward except Klein, the last wit
ness who was working IN the yard. In
lbout half an hour McBryde came back ana
said he could not get any help except the
BOSS in n nearby stone quarry. tolc him to
ret him, and we made an arrangement that
when they came mp that two OF us would
,Iose in On the house in the front and the
other two in the rear.
where Reed was but he answered that he
aid not know. / then went over the little
bridge that crosses the hollow and went up
% the door of the icehouse. Ihere was an
outside and inside door. The outer door
vas open, but the inner one was fastened
With min on the inside. i called back to
the men that Reed was in there sure: Inc
other three kept their positions on the out
side and kicked the fastened door open. L
could see all over the room, but no one was
there.
He Faced the Murderer.
81 stepped in and walked to the middle of
the room, where there was a stove and two
chairs. 1 saw the floor above. and Reed at
that instant came up very deliberately to
the front edge of it. He appeared as though
he was about to speak. As he got up he
fired on me. He then went back and laid
down. 1 went to the door and called to
Williamson and McBryde that he had done
ran to window and when he saw we were
ell on the outside he fastened the door
again
if had been inclined, but Reed and 1 ex-
changed no words. After DIR. Taylor had
dressed my wound went back to the house,
but l was not close enough, to the building
to see if the man who shot Coyle was Reed
or not ] then sent to Oakdale for guns and
to Washington for help. But people began
to flock in from every direction and in a
short time there were a thousand people
around there Five guns came from Oak
dale and We stationed them around the
building.
Didn't Care to Go Inside.
d saw Mr.. wacher after I was shot. When
first talked to him he seemed to think
iced was not in the building. but when 1
suggested to him to go in and see, he said he
would not do that for $lO,n
The witness did not know much about
he burning of the building.
Samuel Williamson, Midway constable
who was with Chief Orr, corroborated the
testimony of Orr and then said that when
the building was fired Reed came to a win
dow and remained about minute and then
went back. Wacher remarked to the wit
ness that if they had gone to him in the first
place he would have gone in and brought
Reed out without any trouble. William
son wanted him to 60 in then, but Wacher
refused.
In his charge to the jury, among other
things, Coroner Mcdowell said:
You have a right to say whether you ap-
OrOVe of such means as were emplOyeu 10
take Reed, or whether the civil authorities
should have been called into action. OF
course in some instances our civil authori-
ties do not amount to much, but these vio-
lent gatherings do not tend to elevate the
moral standing of any community.
The Verdict Rendered.
The Jury returned the following verdict:
Martin Reed, aged about 3s years, came to
his death Saturday, August 6, 1892, about 8
o'clock P. NJ in the icehouse on the property
of Peter Wacher, Noblestown, North Fay
cite township, from gunshot wound
through the heart, fired by his own hand
From the evidence, the jury find that said
Martin Reed had been convicted and SEN
fenced to be hanged for murder in Washing
ton county, Pa. anG hat broken jail and
escaped from there, and had been located in
said icehouse, and was about to be captured
by deputy sheriffs FROM Washington county,
and being heavily armed, crowd
or gathering of people assembled
at said place and set fire to said icehouse,
cremating said Martin Reed after he had
shot himself, and we further condemn the ac-
tion of the said unlawful assembly in burn
ing said icehouse down, and in not appealing
to the civil authorities for assistance.
The verdict in the Coyle case read:
Hugh Coyle came to his death on SATURDAY.,
August g. 1892 about $50 O'Clock p NJ, from q
gunshot wound received from a gun or re-
volver in the hands of Martin Reed, an
escaped murderer, whom he was assisting to
capture, he being concealed in the icehouse
town, North Fayette township, Pa. and we
find said shooting was dona with