St. Paul daily globe., 1892-12-27
TRAGEDY IN A FLAT,
Horrible Triple Murder and
Suicide in a Worcester,
Mass, Tenement.
a MachiniSt Kills His Wife.
Daughter and Mother
in-LaW.
Then the Murderer Stabs Him
self to Death With His
Knife.
An Iron Door Hanger, With a
TWenty-Pound Knob, the
Weapon Used.

ROCHESTER. Mass, Dec. ga horri-
bic triple murder and suicide was dis
covered at noon today in the upper fiat
Of a atenement building at 81 Taintor
street. Henry c. Varnum and his little
daughter Florence were found dead, his
wife was nearly dead when discovered
md died on the way to the hospital, and
Mrs. Wright, the mother of Mrs. Var
mum, now lies al the hospital in criti-
cal condition, unable as yet to talk or in
dicate in any way the story of the awful
event.
Henry c. Varnum came to this city
from Haron, VI, in September and
sought employment as machiniSt,
which he found in the shop of l.. l..
Pollard. He then hired the tenement
on Taintor street and sent for his
family. which consisted cf his wife, an
adopted daughter, Florence, and his
wife's mother, Mrs. Wright. The family
lived quietly and to all appearance
happily. Mrs. Varnum was a regular
attendant at Hope Congregational
church, where she sang in the choir.
Her husband and little daughter often
accompanied her. Mrs. Varnum was
not present at any of the church services
Sunday, and the pastor, Rev. E. w.
Phillips
Remarked About the Absence
and expressed some surprise, saying
that Mrs. Varnum was not the sort of
woman to stay at home because it was
cold. Mr.. Phillips had occasion today
to make call on Christy street near
Taintor. and in passing tine house,
thought he would find out if anything
was the matter. He rang the Varnum
bell, but received no answer, and called
up the lower tenant and the occupant
to the middle dwelling, Mrs. f. E. Hall,
who said she had not heard anything
from the Varnums and felt nervous
about them. She also said that the
door up stairs was open.
Mr.. Phillips went up stairs, and en-
tered the apartments through the parlor.
The rooms were very cold. and the
furniture undisturbed. He passed
through the parlor into the back parlor,
and then into the kitchen. He then
pushed open the door of the bedroom
leading off from the kitchen, and a ter
rible sight met his eyes. Lying OH the
bed, covered with blood, were Mr.. Var
nun and his wife. The man was quite
dead, but the woman was breathing
heavily. III one corner of the room lay
the child. turned over on her face, also
dead. Mr.. Phillips waited to see no
more, but rushed down stairs to the
office of the Knowles Loom works,
where he telephoned for the police.
When the police arrived the mother,
Mrs. Wright, was discovered i'll an ad-
joining room.
She Was Conscious
but not able to speak. though she unde1
stood what was said to her, and made
several Intellectual attempts to articu-
late. The bodies of the man and child
were removed to the undertaken, and
the two women were carried to the hos
pital. The younger woman died Just as
the ambulance stopped at the hospital
door. Mrs. Wright is still unable to
speak, but she may live. She is about
eighty years of age.
The weapon with which the awful
deed was committed was an iron door
hanger an iron strap about fifteen
inches long, headed by cylindrical
knob. The cylinder weighed fully
twenty pounds, Varnum himself was
killed by stab from a knife identified
no illo wv IL liz was CuU III
the region of the heart. There
were no other marks upon his
body. Medical Examiner Keefe, who
examined the bodies. says that the deed
was done early Sunday morning. The
bodies of the man and child when found
were stiff and water in the kitchen was
frozen. There was no sign of violence
about the house outside of the bed
rooms. Mrs. F. f. Hall, who lives in
the tenement below, says that she heard
a slight sound from the child at about 5
o'clock Sunday molDing. and a moment
later the sound of footsteps. The noises
ceased Immediately, and she thought
nothing of them.