The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-12-29
NEwARK'SMURDER MYSTERY
MISS PETTY ENoWN TO FAVE BEEN
lLITB ON CHRISTMls MOANING.


when the oody OF Enzeoeth feuy' NeWs, "a.
old maid mlser VINO was muIuereu IoI her
! money was found on Wednesday morning ~
her house In commerce street. het history hnu
HaJ OF living were i.ue known. q. W .u'
crime Hsen' oeSohu tne in,orenee ,na' ~
| parenuy II was the WORK OF more tnan one
person anu ""r 49,, . ,v.,s.
time petWeeh eaturuay snu "eune'1 -,
morning the ponce seeme. W ~ ~,
tie 70 WORK on NOT, inuoeu. was a
SURPRISED
| simple affair that the WONDER ott was that one
| had lived so long. Her neiRhbors had grown
accustomed to her peculiar way OF nv Living. and
| they paid little attention TO her lhey were
too busy with their own affairs. and moreover
,neV IooAeu upon "ei, ~. no,
But, as matter Of TACT sne ptooaoI was noe
SO much insane as o~O'''eF'o 'H"'n'' inc
"U ',,, at, ,or.,v
little old woman on the street. usually with q
| basket ON her arm and with bor hair nkem pt
and her clothes ragged they pointed her out
| as Elizabeth Petty. the town mser They had
forgotten, II theyhad ever known 1t that she had
she had taught in Newark's public schools. one
| roar ,who Lnovv sonotbin0 NJ her history aaid
man WIZ NJ" soni ~ ns " - ,i,,, ond
yesterday that she mad once upon , an anu
all faith in men. Then she was afflicted with
a.i iaI'n ~ nen ,n n 81" ,,,,a 80 an Inv.iId
and che lost faith in God. " H." che told her
mother, "the merciful God Of the Bible ex-
listed. He would not see innocent people cursed
with so many Affections" She had faith only
in her money. the money that she sowed up in
her H nous house.
inose peieo"e VIII w 80 -,a,IS
thought 1t not unlikely that her death would
be murder 1m n, nS az. no ar.
lad been rtraneied TO death and that robbery
was the incentive. The additional fact was
| tba mGrninp Of Cristmns lay from the fact
| that no lights had been neen In her house on
Doubt "a to to when she had been murdered
PoIIcemSn Thomas BraddocE, however. told
.iiyn an sunasy evaninr Than A n Holmes
OF iaRne TO. said that Miss Petty had been
IN their store on Christmas morning. lie no
to 10 directed to the clock department.. Miss
sylvia Yam NulSe saIssE0maG Shove she |. her
onw nurrhasss From this Information and
from the results OF County PhysIcIan Eiiott's
Sa,SpSy is Gow pIsb sr cert nP.tm"s pss
or On Tuesday. Dr. Elliott Thought from his
baen daaa more than tbirtv,six hours
several circumstances OF the case indicate
hous s %a wa entered Sy the cellar Door it was
n simple matter to reach this from the street
through nj ut ona aida Of tho house
MuJder nav NOT have entered into the thieyes
i lars She several tines Complained that her
and su ms Of money had been stolen. "'
"t Tia dnoEs ~ her homse show that she spent
@ddition TO the locks She secured some OF the
doors by driving in stanles and attaching
rrenaSt ua she usually stuck wet pnper over
iLs keynolss, when she went out, lh.s 81, che
times woulI fali off This IL il said
She took as an indication that burglars
Of H her money seweS into her dress and a roll
OF bills in an old stocking. As a weapon OF
d door SnoS with Snrt Of the iron sbanS and
attached to this was a piece Of string. Al.
she ad her ia Re1
hy seem. pr"baSie that the SprSlsTs forced an
out sboppins perhaps on CGris,mNs Dav.
The iron Chain and the lock that secured
been bee broke nea' The WOODWORK arouSd the lock
had been cut away, but SUPERINTENDENT brown
says he is satisfied that this was done mouths
a good deal Of noise. Miss Petty slept on AN
cd lounge in the hall near the front door;
undoubtedly have been aroused III she had
not frightened the intruaers away by her cries
Hre hsy to ss the V WdH
When tile police en- tered the house after the
murder. however they found n big pool OF
blood in the front hall and there were eyi-
dences that the struggle had occurred near
the front door. From this it Is conIectured
that the thieves entered the house while Miss
Tetty WAS away. They were surprised by her
return. and concealing thems selves until she
entered they fell upon her and beat her over
the head. Had they plan ed to murd er her they
would have come armed with a knife or some
weapon The wounds on her head, however
were made with some blunt weApon Md her
death was the result OF stranguation. These
facts seem to Indicate that the muI der WAS
committed in the day time and that il was NOT
premeditated
One circumstance which was overlooked in
the hasty examination made on Wednesday
morning was the position in which her body
was found. After She had been assaulted and
perhaps strangled in the lower hall her body
was taken To a ANAL room up stairs IL was
stretched out on the door and under her
head was nlaced roll Of rad fannai
"a IL To eAse H. Why men who had
Grutally murdered an old woman as
She Was murdeTed should take the troubIs to
Mace a ,iIIow under her head when abe wns
dead has puzzled the police. One theory that
IL suGgested by H. and by the bungiing way in
which She was murriered and the evidences OF
a struggle in the lower hall is that a woman
was the murdsrer Only "A woman say those
Who ndyanee his theory would be AIT to nil
lou, ,ha l,an,I 81 n ,ornsa nttar "a nnrdar frhav