The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-05-23
Almy's Dreadful Crime.

AImy's Dreadful Crime.
The crime for which ABBOTT, alias
Amy, suffered, was the murder of
Christie Warden at Hanover, on the
night of July II, 1891. Few events
in the criminal annals of New England
have created the intensity of interest
which has been manifested in this hor-
rible crime and Its sequence. The
Identification of Almy as Abbott
makes the criminal one of the most
remarkable murderers ever known.
New England was the scene OF all his
crimes. Within the past fifteen years,
a youth reared in law abid-
ing community has gone out from
its schools and churches to enter upon
a life that began with stealing, passed
on to burglary and ended in murder.
Ten Of The last fifteen years have been
spent in state prisons and vet the
prisoner was not thirty-fve years of
age until January 1892. The murder
eris father, Harris Abbott, was one of
the Abbotts of Abbotts Mills, the son
of Eliphalet Abbott. a wealthy, proud
and pompOus manufacturer, better
known as ''Duke" Abbott than by his
real name. The convicted murderer
is equally well connected on his
mothers side.
A COMMON THIEF.
At ten years of age Abbott was de-
tected in stealing from his school
mates and at fourteen he had fitted
up a cave where he concealed articles
of plumber. He was arrested for
stealing, but his father settled the
case. Young Abbott never forgave
the man who had him arrested. \
year afterwards he met him,
accompanied by his favorite
dog. Abbott drew his revolver
and shot it dead at its masters feet.
The man turned upon him IN anger
and the boy pointed the weapon d.
rectly at his breast and said: ''Stop
where you are, or | will treat you as
l did the dog" At the age of IL
Abbott was sentenced to four years in
the penitentiary for entering a dwell
ing and stealing articles valued at four
hundred dollars. His father, overcome
by shame. committed suicide
by hanging. While serving
his sentence he behaved well
enough to secure slight reduction of
his sentence A year after his release
he returned to his old companions and
directed depredationS of large gang
of burglars and highwaymen. During
the year of 1880 a number of stores
and dwellings were burglarized in
North Thetford, where he was living
and suspicion pointed so strongly al
him that he was finally obliged to
leave. He retired to Thetford noun
tain where he had fortified and fur
nished a cave in an almost inaccessi-
BILE point. a posse was organized and
he was captured, after being badly
wounded. He escaped from Jail with
nothing but bed quilt wrapped
around him and WAS captured in a
railroad culvert SPECIFICS with cold.
sENTENCD FOR ALONG TERN.
He was tried for burglary and on
June 23, 1881, was sentenced to fif-
teen years in the state prison. Six
years later he escaped and went south.
There he worked until 1889, when
he returned north. In brief time
he appeared at the home of his
aunt at Cambridgeport and
applied for work at the farm of
Andrew Warden at Hanover. Here
he met Christie Warden. The story
of his unsuccessful attempt to win her
regard and her firm, yet kind declina.
ton to accept man who could tell
nothing of his antecedents is familiar.
Amy lett in the year 1891. He
returned to Salem but nobody would
employ him. On June fourteenth,
1891. he was hiding in Andrew War
den's barn. There is no doubt of his
infatuati0n for Christie. The shock
ing story of Almy's last crime hal
burned itselfint the hearts of every
household. A pure and noble woman
was seized from her mothers side and
murdered with the ferocity of tiger