Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-05-17
PALLISTER'S BODY. SURE
No Doubt About Its Being the
Other Murderer.
FOUND IN THE RIVER AT SING SING

Did RoehI Keeper Connaughton's
Observation-Disclosures of the Inquest
Story of His Crime.
SING SING, May 1.-THE inquest over
the body of Thomas Pailister, the escaped
prisoner whose body was found in the
river near here yesterday by two fishermen,
is being continued this afternoon and the
testimony of witnesses who could not be
examined yesterday is being taken. Among
them are the New York lawyers who de-
Tended Pallister at his trial.
At the inquest yesterday, which was
held by Coroner Sutton in Principal
Keeper Connaughton's office, these wit
nesses were examined:
Fishermen John Bingle and Robert
Smith, as to the finding of the body; De-
tective jackson and Principal Keeper Con-
naughton, as to the identity of the body
and Drs. Irvine and Sheehan as to the
cause of death.
At the autopsy on the body held in the
room adjoining the death house by Prison
Physician R. I. Irvine and DIR. E. F. Shee-
han. of Sing Sing, the physicians decided
that Pallister was dead before he struck
the water, as there was no water in the
lungs. The wound under the eye was
where bullet had entered
On examination the bullet, which was a
3S-calibre, was found to have passed
through the brain and lodged at the base
of the skull, death being instantaneous.
The two fishermen who found the body
towed it to the prison dock, where Keeper
Connaughton and Detective jackson iden-
titled it.
The Identification was effected by means
of two keys found on the remains, one be-
ing the key of the death house and the
other the key of the condemned mems cells.
The body was much decomposed, but the
India ink marks ON the arm were plainly
discernible. The marks are Get P" on the
back of the left hand and the same letters
ON the arm. There are also several dots
ON the arm.
The body was taken out of the water
and placed in the death house. Here a
thorough investigation was made and a
bullet hole was found under the left eye.
In addition to the keys found on she
yer, which is the one taken from Keeper
Hulse ON the night of the escape,
five cents, the money taken from
Keeper Hulse when the murderers escaped
and a rosary, which was given to Pallister
by Father j. B. Creeden, of this place.
The first examination at the wharf
| showed that the bullet had entered Pallis-
ters face just beneath the left eye. 1t
was supposed to have lodged in the brain.
| After the officials had made a hurried
search of the clothing and identified the
tattoo marks and scars as enumerated in
the police description the corpse was re-
moved to the prison.
Bingle and Smith will lay claim to the
$3.50 reward offered for the body of Pallis-
ter. This is undoubtedly the body seen by
| Captain jerks, of the steamer Black,
| several days ago
This is the conclusion drawn by Princi-
| pal Keeper Connaughton. 81 think that
| when Roehl and Pallister escaped, Pallis-
| ter, who is I'm ex-river pirate, took the
oars. Pallister, undoubtedly, told Roehl
| that he did not think that the boat would
| ever reach land with both in 1t, and
| Roehl, thinking that Pallister might do
| away with him, attempted to draw his
| pistol. When Pallister saw the movement
| he hit Roehl over the head with an oar.
| fracturing his skull, and taking Roehls
| revolver shot him and threw him over.
| board. Afterwards, seeing that he could
| not reach shore, he decided to shoot him
1 self, as he still had RoehPs pistol in his
hand When he shot himself he fell over
| board and dropped the pistol into the
river. This is the only way can account
| for the fully loaded revolver in Pallister's
pocket. AS for the boat being at Haver
Il
right direction to carry it there"
| Lawyer Mclaughlin, counsel for Roehl,
has arrived at the prison, and he is now
satisfied that the body found in the river
May 10, was the body of Roehl.
PalIister's Crime.
Thomas Pallister took the life of Proba
| tionary Policeman Adam Kane in New
| York city on April 80, 1892 He stabbed
| him with butcher knife, stolen from q
| nearby meat shop.
No particularly revolving or brutal cir
| cumstances attended the murder 1t was
rather the result of drunken, Infatuated
fit of passion Pallister and his victim
| were entire strangers to each other Two
| minutes before the meeting they had never
| met
Kane, with his brother and two Other
| men, were walking along at Sullivan and
Grand streets. Pallister jostled Kane and
got knocked down for it. In a rage Pal
lister ran into the butchers seized thu
knife and ran after the party.
First he stabbed one of the men slightly
and then gave Kane a fatal thrust. HI
was arrested and put on trial in Genera
Sessions before Recorder Smyth.
Assistant District Attorney Weeks con
Quoted the prosecution and Lawyer Am
brose Purdy appeared for Pallister. Or
October 10 the trial began. Pallister wa.
convicted of murder in the first degree
On Nov. 4 he was sentenced to death.
| On Apri II the Supreme Court of tn
State affirmed the verdict. At the tim
of the escape Pallister was awaiting re