Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-08-04

Few branches of trees A cOrOner'S
inquest decided that the man came to
his death from wounds inflicted by a
dirk-knife i'm the hands Of William E.
CdderZOok of Baltimore, Md
The insurance people at once had
the body of the murdered man ex-
amfned and it was found that the mea-
surements corresponded with those Of
Winfield Scott Goss. The ring was
identified, and on July Is Undertook
was arrested and locked in the Jail at
West Chester, Pa.
The trial came in the following Oc-
tober, and TdderZook was defended by
Wayne McEeagh, afterward attorney
gel eral. After a long and exhaustive
trial the jury retired and after being
out for two days returned verdict
of murder in the first degree This
plan Of two combining to cheat the in
surance companies and the murder Of
one by the other to secure all the fruits
Of the crime, was brought to close
by the execution Of Undertook on No
vember II, 1874. He died protesting
his innocence and urged that it was a
conspiracy ON the part Of the insurance
people.
The case Of Angie Stewart, little
girl who was murdered by her adopted
parent, is another remarkable instance
Of the length to which the criminal is
ready to go for the sake Of money. On
the evening Of December 5, 1867, fire
broke out in the basement of a frame
dwelling house in the village of Ca
naan, y. Y.
! The house had been recently erected
by a man named Joseph Brown, a
painter who had come to the village
with his wife Josephine, and a girl
named Angie, whom he called his
! daughter. The fire on that night was
quickly subdued
! The pantry door was found to be
tightly closed, and after opening it
tthe body Of little Angie was found
underneath pile of rubbish. The Cor
toner's jury found that death had been
caused by the explosion of a kerosene
lamp. Brown caused the body to be
/ boxed up and removed to Cranky,
Conn.
| He, with his wife, left Canaan for
Cranky, and on the way stopped at
Westfield, Mass, where they induced a
lawyer to claim an accident insurance
of 5000, issued by the Travellers In
surance company. 1t was in favor of
Brown and was good for but three
imonths. The policy had been written
in Dayton, Ohio, and it was learned
that the man and woman had lived
| there under the name of Barney. The
little girl Angie was the daughter of a
| Mrs. Stewart respectable widow,
and the BarneyS had obtained posses
sion Of her, with Mrs. Stewards CON
sent, to take her to Connecticut with
them.
Further developments led to the ar
| rest of Brown and his wife, and they
were confined in the Jail at Hartford.
subsequently,, on a requisition from the
governor of New York, they were tax
en- to Hudson, where bills of indict-
ment were found against Brown for
/ the double crime of arson and murder.
He was tried Oh April -, 1868, and
it was brought out that he had even
imade an agreement to buy a farm with
/ the money that was to come from An
gie's insurance. After long trial the
jury brought in Il verdict of guilty
Brown was hanged on May 80, in the
yard of Hudson Jail
| The wife was indicted as an aces
sorry to the murder, but the C ase was
never brought to trial. After lying in
jail several months she was allowed
to go free and disappeared
In the summer of 1873 two young
men named Winner and AIcNut of
Kansas City, obtained an insurance
from the Metropolital Life Insurance
company The policy was in favor of
Il woman whom McNut married to
make the policy legal.
! That winter Winner concocted a plot
to murder Il man in NIcNut's place
and get the insurance. This plot was
disclosed to Mrs. McNut. A young man
named SEWERS was induced to accom-
pany Winner to Wichita on promise of
Il job, and was never seen alive after
he arrived there. He was taken to
the paint shop used by the murderers,
and there was intoxicated with brandy
and drugged with ether. Cords We're
bound tightly around his body. his
clothing was saturated with kerosene
! and the show was set on fire.
His remains We're found among the
emberS. and at first were supposed to
be those of McNut. Winner reported
5, that they had been attacked in the
night, McNut killed and the shop
robbed and burned. His story excited
suspicion, for there were no bruises
on his person except slight scratches
Mrs. McNut imediately claimed the
insurance and the company started an
| investigation. McNut fled to Missouri
under the name of Leonard. Winner
and Mrs. McNut We're arrested and
, imprisoned, and McNut was tracked
and arrested near Plattsburg, Kan. Nc
Nut then made full confession. He
; claimed that Winner led him into
temptation. Winner was executed and
McNut had his sentence committed to
IA long term of Imprisonment
OF the crime of suicide to defraud
the insurance company the most widely
known instance is that of Captain
ColoocoreSSes. distinguished retired
officer of the United states navy. He
was discovered in Il dying condition in
an unfrequented street in the city of
Bridgeport. Conn. at late hour of
the night of June 3, 1872.