The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-04-15

| LATE last ulEut the detectives uau aoout
decided that Durant had murdered Miss
Williams. and this theory was further
strengthened this morning when. on max
ing thorough search of Emanuel church,
tho dead and outraged body of Miss La
/ mont was found concealed in the steeple.
Death had been caused by strangulation.
The body was lying just inside the door of
the tower room, nude and on
the floor. Around the neck there
were few streaks, the marks
Of fingers that had been pressed deep into
! the tender flesh. The features were badly
distorted, being drawn down ut one cor
ner and the lips were swollen and blood
| stained. Tho nose was the only feature
that retained its original shape, for the
cheeks were bloated. The girls light
brown hair was matted with dirt and hung
loosely about her shoulders. The body
was In the first stages of decomposition.
When the officers reached tho head of the
stairs they found the door of tho tower
room locked. They broke in the door. II
was SO dark they could not see and one
of the officers struck a match. As the
light fiared up they saw before them the
dead body of me girl for whom they were
searching. The body was taken to the
morgue, where it was placed on q slab by
the Stue OF Minnie Williams.
As soon as the news became known inn
mense crowds surrounded the church and
had to be kept back by the police. The
chief OF police sent for Rev. DIR. Gibson,
pastor of the church, and the report be-
came current that he had been accused of
the crimes and had been arrested. Great
crowds surged to Dr. Gibson's house and
the excitement grew more intense. It
soon spread all over the city. Extra
papers were gotten out and thousands of
people focked to the scene from all over
the city. Rumor of the arrest was later
denied and it became known that DR.. Glib
son and the sexton of the church had been
merely called before the police to tell
what they knew.
At 8 o'clock came the news that Durant
had been arrested at Walnut Creek, on the
road to Mount Diablo. He was caught by
Detective Anthony, who left in pursuit of
him this morning. The detective and his
prisoner left on the next train for San
Francisco, where they arrived this even
ing. Another immense crowd had gath
cred at the ferries TO see the suspected
murderer come in, but a detachment of
police was in waiting and they kept back
the crowd. Durant was hustled into
patro, wagon and whirled away to the city
prison, where he was locked up. The po-
lice are certain that they have the right
man. They claim to have two witnesses
who saw Durant and Miss Williams in
company last Friday night and also state
that when n search was made of Durant's
house to-day that in the pocket of his coat
was found a purse which Miss Williams
is known to have carried Friday night. !
Durant is about % years old and was
born and raised in the neghborhood In
which the murder was committed. He Is
q graduate of the Coggswell High school
and has been studying medicine for a
year. He is a member of the Second
brigade signal corps and was assistant
superintendent OF tho Emanuel Church
Sunday school. He was always of quiet
disposition and his friends refuse to be-
lieve, in spite of the evidence, that be
committed the crime attributed to him.
The police, however, think that Durant is
another ''Jack, the Ripper" with a mania
for murder. They state that il is highly
probable that Durant is responsible for
the killing of Eugene Ware. young drug
clerk who was found stabbed to death in
the store where he worked. No trace was
ever found OF the assassin and the theory
is that Durant killed him. No motive for
the crime was discovered and the fiendish
cruelty of it, Ware was stabbed In Is
places, leads to the belief that il was the
work of an insane person. Durant's par
ents are highly esteemed people. HIS
father is chief engineer in Buckingham &
Hecht's large shoe factory, and while not
rich, has been able to give his children
a good education and start them in life.
Detective Anthony met Durant and his
companions coming back from Mount
aata Thax in. n L
been on a signaling expedition. When
Durant was placed under arrest, his COM
rades at first wanted to resist the officer.
but finally allowed him to be taken to
Walnut Creek, where the officer and his
prisoner boarded a train for San Fran
cisco. When they arrived at the prison,
as already described, Durant, in his regi-
nentals. was taken to the chiefs Office
and subjected to a searching examina-
tion. He appeared very cool and even
when arrested by Anthony and told that
Miss Lamont's body had been found, did
not lose his nerve, although ,he appeared
greatly shocked and surprised. After the
examination by the chief, Durant was
taken TO a cell where he was joined by
his parents and a lawyer. He made the
following statement to the associated
press:
"The last time / met Miss Lamont was
on the morning of the day she disau-
peared, April 3. We talked about books
and promised to urinR book for her to
prayer meeting that night. Miss Lamont
did not appear ut prayer meeting and the
following Friday took the book to her
house and gave it to her sister. The lat
ter told me that Blanche had gone to
school. evidently trying to keep the fact
OF her disappearance secret. That Is all
l. know of ths Lamont case. The last
time ! saw Minnie Williams was three
weeks ago."
When confronted by the evidence that
Miss Williams purse had bsen found in
his pocket, Durant gave the following ex-
PLANTATION: II was going homo from
DIR. Vogle's Friday night when my foot
struck small object on the sidewalk.
picked IL up and found that IL was a small
mirror Na.r k.,