Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-03-06
Molher Roastcd in Revenge.

A dispatch from Alfred, Me, says :
The trightful crime Of the matricide
and fire fend, Leroy Farnald, of East
Lebanon, has been explained by that
demon himself as having been commit
ted under the influence which woman
exer ed over him. He on Monday con.
fessed this much, and told in detail of
the burning of his barn and stock, the
killing of his mother with an axe, and
the subsequent roasting of her body in
the flames of her home. Concerning
the motive for his awful crime, Farnald
said.
COB, suppose there was q woman
at the bottom of it. When fellow
goes chasing after a woman, especially
after he gets as old as am (3S), there
is no knowing what he will do"
The murderer admitted that his re-
lations with Mrs. Ella Butler, of East
Lebanon, the widow whose name was
mentioned in the first account of the
matricide, were the basis of the trou-
Bile. They were engaged to be married
a year ago, bGt the wedding was post
poned.
He mentioned the visits of Miss
Goodwin to his home, and his moth
er's desire that he should marry her.
His mother objected to his paying at
tention to Mrs. Butler, and that was
the starting point of the whole trouble.
Setting fire to his barn was his first
act of Wednesdays tragedy. He did
te, OF
mother or setting fire to the house. He
had thought for long time that he
would end his unhappiness.
After fully making up his mind to
kill himself, Fernald procured revolv-
er. When he went to his barn We'd
nesday morning it was with the in
tention to shoot himself Then he
thought of his animals, of his horse,
cold jim" and wondered who would
take care of them He decided that
they had better all 60, too; that he
would set fire to to the hay, jump into
the middle of the flames and shoot him
self, thus ending his existence and
leaving behind the supposition that his
death was accidental.
He applied the match to bunch of
hav that he had raked from the NOW
into the middle of the barn floor. The
revolver was in his hand, half cooked
and ready for execution, when the fatal
moment came.
But he hesitated not because he
lacked the courage, but because the
thought of his mother flashed across
his mind. He realized that she would
mistrust the cause of his act. Besides,
ne did not know what kind of care she
would receive after he was gone. so he
decided that his mother had better go,
too.
He went back to the woodshed, got
an axe, went into the kitchen, and found
his mother in his bedroom, with her
back toward the door, making his
bed
One blow with the back of the axe
blade crushed his mothers skull, and
she fell forward on the bed. Then he
covered her with quilts, set fire to the
bed and shut the door.
He intended to 60 back to the burn
ing barn, to jump into the fire, but
changed his mind and went into the at
tic and crawled under the attic floor,
from which place he was dragged by
the officer Eve hours later.
1t is esumed that the murderers
change OF mind relative to going back
to the burning barn, was due to the
prompt arrival of Daniel Johnson, the
nearest neighbor, who saw the smoke
and ran to the scene of the fire, and
tr;ad !, vain TO liberate the animals and
alarm the members of the family.