New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-11
ROEHL ESCAPED ONLY TO DIE
urRDFRED BY TREACHEROUS PALllSTER.
THE ROXY FOUND IN THE HuDSoN-hIs COM
pANIox SLEW HIM TO INSURE HIS
OWN SAFETY.

two mnrlcrers Palistcr and ko"lll, who We're
soon 10 follow CARLYLE Harris 20 the death chair.
e.capcd from the State prison here. the fisher
n,on around here have been keeping close
watch on the river in the hope that the ho,'y OF
ono or thc bodies of both the men might be-
found General Austin Lathrop. the Statr Su-
nerintendcnt of Prisons had offered the sum of
co5O each as a reward for the men, dead or alive.
This morning Frederick Cronk. IA fisherman of
,,;s nIoce. started ont with Benjamin Flynn and
Rsniamin Stratton to relieve his nets of their
catch. After lifting the nets. removing the
fish and resetting the nets the men started 10
return The nets We're set about half a mile
from the end of CrotOn Point, long, narrow
strip of land which runs out considerable
distance into the river.
They had rowed not more thar a quarter of a
mile from the nets when one of the men thought
he saw small, Hack object bobNing up and
down in the water. II moving with the
tide first appearing quite distinctly to the view
and then disappearing altogether. He called the
attention of his companions 10 tn" object ana IN
few minutes the boat was alongside
of il It. proved to he mans head which had
been seen ahovc the water. The body was stanc-
inc almost upright in the water with tn" arms
behind it, The men in the boat Immediately sur
missed that il was the body of one of the escaped
rurdcrers.
They carefully put the paintet around it AMI
flowed il 10 one of the piers tn. prism. The
did not take the body out of the water, fer II Is
against the law TO do until afte: coroner has
seen it, hut fastened the painter by which 1t haoi
been towed TO the pier. Leaving one man thero
to guard it. the other two started out, one to in
form the prison officials of their find and the other
10 send word to the coroner. In a short time the
news spread about the village ard soon there was
a crowd at tho pier.
Principal Keeper Connaughton and j. jack
son, the State detective. were not slow in getting
there arriving about 9 o'clock. They made
hasty examination of the corpse and decided i'm
mediately that il was the body of Frank w.
Roehl one Of the murderers. The State de-
tective. while looking at the head for certain
marks of identification. found a bullet hole Just
above the right ear
Telegrams were sent TO Coroner George ii
Sutton. of Peekskill. asking him to come TO Sing
Sing immediately He reached this place IN
about two hours and Immediately allowed the
prison authorities to take the body from the wa>cr
and into the prison for an examination In the
mans clothes found papers ana photo-
granhs which il was known Roehl took with
him when he escaped Around his neck was
ribbon TO which was attached the cruciiIX 'ha'
he had worn in prison, and IN one oil Ms
pockets was the Roman N"'iloi"" p'"'
that had been given TO him.
While the coroner was lmpannclllh@ jury i
the INQUEST DR.. Irvine. the prison physiclah'
and DIR. f. F. Sheehan. of this place, made an
autopsy. They first examined the bullet wouhn
in the head and probed for the oulle'' "hioh
was found mbedded in the lower portion OF 'le
left side of the BRAIN near the base OF the SNuui'
The course that the lbdet had taken. the
physicians declared, showed that Roem couid
not have shot himself but that he was sno'
by some one who standing above nm Inc
bullet was from 80 calibre cartridge ~ ""'
!. shapeless piece of lead when removed oy the
1900 Tho nhvsicians also discovered that the
ton Of Roell's skull had been fractured. lhere
,ras Vshaped fracture on the top OF the
bo.a attending nearN across it, IL was man
-, inch wide. Next the skull was an ante
,nortem clot of blood two and one haii Inches
in diameter The lungs had no water IN them
All of these facts proved 10 the sallslac'loh Vi
the physicians that Roehl was not drowned
lie vas dead before his body touched the water
The coroner summoned on his jury James NJ
Jarvis. foreman; Elwood Sumner. Corheius
Dalv C. d. Maleady. George wilson. james D.
Davis. james T.. Shea and Jacob Lawehuaup''
NV corope,,s clerk. j. VI. Tcrwiuger, made
a summary of the physicians findings for pres
cntation 10 the jury. The jury was not long IN
ra,chinp a verdict Its decision was, Frank w
po.bI came 10 his death some time between April
on ord Nav TO- 1893, from a bullet wound OF
o fr.c,ure of the skull produced by piston shot
or n b,ow from person or persons to TINS Ju!'
unknown but supposed TO have been one lhohias
pallist.r who was in bis company on April %''
1893"
There ;s no doubt in the minds Of the prison
officials that the body found was that Vi
Roebl and that Palster murdered him ""c''
the body was taken IRON the water J., was 80
an excellent state OF prcscrvatloh' "nii. '0
was IN the death cell Dr. Irvine puiieu '"'',
~ tour of bis teeth for him. He had preserved
the teeth and they fitted exactly '"o I" 49,
in tile dead mans Jaws. At the inquest too' '"1
bodv was examined by John DurrenbecScr ana
William T. Ford, two men who had wa'c"o'
R.el,j in the prison, and they were posi''e "'"'
Il wac Roebls body. These precautions "eic
TALON because il had been rumored ua' '
body was not that Of Roehl. but oi son'c "'''',
whom he had killed and with whom hc ""'
changed clothes. .s .,.+
Ihc fish. rnen who found Roehrs body salo '''"'
they thought they saw another pouy '"O,
distance, from where they found Rochis N'"''9
everybody who owned boat here was Soo' "
ing out into the river with eyes bcht lh'"'
upon the water. No further discovery was ''
however. .
Whether or not the killing Of Rochl gre" "u'
of p quarrel between the two men, or Palis''I Wv
liberately murdered his companion Tor MS i''o"'H
and TO get him out Of the way. will not DC h"o"i
unless Pallister is captured and makes c'hicS,io
Roehl, no doubt, never knew what hit HIM II
probable that Pallstcr first struck him IRON W.
hind and then shot him. On the night 'ha' 'hc
men escaped a perfect hurricane was swccphe up
the HUDSON River. The next morning one oi '"'
fishermen could not find his boat which nc hao
fastened securely the night before. The day loi-
Io,vipo the escape the boat found at ilaVcr-
st,.w ON the other side of the river but il couln
no. have reached there unless it had been rowcd
across the river The river here is about three
IN les wide. and few Of the boatmen would nave
6or 10 risk their lives in crossing it that night