Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-03
NO MORE A MYSTERY.
The Murderers of Frank NJ. Bowie
in Jail.
COURT MEETS AT MARLBORO TODAY.
The Admissions Wrung From Pink
ney's Wife.
A MISSING LINK IN PROOF.
NO LONGER A MYSTERY,

NO LONGER A MYSTERY.
Little Doubt That Frank Bowie's Murder
| ers Have Been Caught.
| Special Dispstch to The Evening star.
| MARLBORO, Nd, April S.-The Bowie muir.
dor no longer remains . mystery. Frank NJ
Bowie was murdered not for his money, bu. for
other reasons. and the evidence thus far OBJ
tanned indicates strongly IL it does not prove
distinctly that the crime was committed by
Daniel Barber, one OF the prisoners now in Jail,
and that William Pinkney, another Of the pr!s-
oners. was either present at the killing or was
ct least an accessory after the fact
The latest arrest made was tina. Of Ella Pink
| ney. wife OF one OF the prisoners. She was
lodged in jail on Saturday and IL being held as
a witness rather than as q criminal, although
| she knew OF the crime after il wes committed
and also knew OK the whereabouts Of the watch
stolen from the dead mans pocket When his
body was found in tho we'll. as heretofore
stated the braided watch guard was found
about his neck but the watch was missing.
The fact that the timepiece was missing gave
| an impression that the crime was committed
| for the purpose Of robbery. although il has
| been maintained by tho officers and citizens
| alike that revenge was the motive tnat prompted
| the CRIME.
Nh. DowiEs SURVIVING FAMILY.
| Mr.. Bowie was wealthy and had a family o:
eight children and his wife. The latter is far
from being well just now and IL soon to be con.
fined. 1t Is stated that his children. all of
whom are young, do not know Of the sad fate
| Of their father.
| Although tbs posecsscr Of miles Of property
and considerable money MIR. Frank N. Bowie,
| tbs victim Of the terrible tragedy, was coz
| SANITY in litigation and was always figuring in
. legal proceeding OF some kind.
| This fact led to the belief that the murder
| was committed for reasons other than robbery
and that the taking OF the watch was only an
afterthought. Recent Developments have proved
| this to be true, for fragments of the tinep;ece
| have been found and the arrest OF Ella Pinkney
| has given the officers true idea of the motive
| which actuated the murderer, as well as def
nitely settling tho question who the murderer
was.
THE MISSING LINK IN THE TESTIMONY.
| At this tino it appears that Mr.. Samuel
Sweeney, the town b.iiif. and Mr.. John H.
| Clark Of Forestvillc deserve the credit Of Sc
curing the missing link in the chain Of evidence
which had already started in the direction of
| Barber. rs printed In last Fridays SCAR. Then
for the first time, it stated that Barber
| thought TO DO the man who committed the
atrocious crime, such as had not been cora.
Mttted In the county since tho murder OF Col.
|
| ago.
Tho last link In the evidence, the finding Of
| tho watch, was secured Saturday after Mr..
Clark had visited the Bowie farm and the home
\ Of the prisoner PiIkney Friday evening. He
| and Town Bailif Sweeney went, and after con-
| siderable difficulty managed 10 get from Mrs.
Pinkney tho location Of the place in the western
branch where the watch was thrown.
When Mr.. Clark paid the trs: visit there
Friday he found Mrs. Pinkncy not inclined TO
Ii, .xf ~. t.,.
worked upon her feelings from q religious
standpoint aud then mentioned her three little
children and asked what would become Of
| them.
| Discovering that the woman was q church
| goer and Ind some outward evidences Of re-
ligion about he- he pictured the dark and
stormy future, which. b, told her, would surely
be her fate should she lift her voice toward
heaven and utter such deliberate falschoods.
This. together with the plea for her children.
| brought tears to her eyes. and Mr.. Clark
| Joined her in this performance. Finally she
broke down and then it that she told, per-
| haps not all she knew, but enough to Justify her
arrest in edition to securing much damaging
| evidence.
| Leading him a short distance from the house
to = spot in the branch, and picking out hole
| in the stream near a rock. she said: There is
| where threw the watch"
| This opened the eyes Of the man who had
| succeeded in getting the important clue from
| her. for this the first time she had told HIM
that she and no: one OF the men had thrown
| the watch there.
| A bucket secured to the end Of q pole was
used and the place in the branch was searched
| for the watch but night came on and nothing
| OF the watch had been found. The crystal OF
| the timepiece, she said, she had thrown in the
hot ashes in the stove and when the fire was
extinguished she would gather what pieces Of
| II that she could find and would save them.
| FINDING THE WATCH.
| Tho fruitless search in the branch had almost
led Mr.. Clark to change his mind about the
womans story, but che declared with SO much
| positiveness that her statement was true tha.
| he returned Saturday and searched until his
| efforts were at last rewarded. Town Bailiff
Sweeney, who has been u faithful worker in the
case was with him ut that time and he, too,
found portions Of the tel-tale watch.
The part Of the case on which were the ini-
tiais IF. II. Il. was found, as was the dial and
| several other pieces OF the broken watch. The
portions found were identified by Mr.. E. G..
| Bowie, brother OF the murdered man. and
upon advice Of Acting States Attorney Mer-
| rick Mrs. Pinkney WAS arrested and locked up.
| She told of BARRIERS visit 70 her house after
| the murder was committed, and said he came
| there fo- the watch and 81. The money, il Is
thought, Re wanted for car fare. and he said he
| knew where he could dispose of the watch. Her
husband. she said, told Barber that the watch
| would get MIN IN trouble, ana afteT discussing
| the matter she said the watch was broken in a
number OF pieces and she threw them in the
branch. The crystal was kept for the reason
that her husband knew Of some person who had
a watch minus a crystal, and he thought the
| one belonging to the stolen watch would fit the
ono his friend had
| PINKNEy TALKS ALSO.
While Mrs. Pinkney was telling her story and
helping weave the rope about her husbands
neck he, too, was doing more talking than was
| good for him. While he was telling stories
which he thought would exonerate himself he
was showing guilty knowledge which WILL IN
all probability, require more than human evil
dence to convince jury that he Is an innocent
man.
It is true that he denies having been present
| when the crime was committed, but he knew
| OF the watch and also of BARRIERS feelings and
| intentions SO far as the victim was concerned.
At least that is the substance OF his statement,
| which puts Barber in more than an embarrass-
| ing situation.
Among other things he tells Of Barber's in
tention to murder Mr.. Bowie before he finally
succeeded. and it was all because Mr.. Bowie had
| Q charge against him Of stealing meat. The al
legged stolen meat was in the Jail as evidence
against him. and the case would in all proba-
bility have been called this week. To remove
the case it was necessary to remove the man
| who made the charge. and this he determined
to do some time ago il the statements Of Pink