Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-05-03
THE CULVER MYSTERY.
Was He Murdered, or Did He
 Drown Himself?
SEVERAL INTERESTING THEORIES.

I Some Believe That He Was Killed, Robbed
 of His Money and Watch. and That Then the Body Was Taken to the Spot In the River Where It Was Found. 1 CLYDE. N. Y., May 3.-Almost every- I body in Wayne county is excited about the mysterious murder of Roy M. Culver and 1 tho singular associations that surround it. , The young man was popular in tho neigh 1 bOrhOod wherc he lived, and through his connection with the Young Mems Chris ; tian association naturally came in contact with a great many people He was con- 1 sdorod a level headed and shrewd young { fellow, the last man in the world likely to 1 go on a wild goose chase after an imagi- nary fortune without taking his brother or any other relative into his confidence The police are tt work of course, and, like everybody else, advance no end of theories. But the mystery is as great as ever today and is likely to continue so ur- til somebody gets on tho trail of the per son that wrote the letter signed "Stran- ger"
 The body Is in an advanced state of decomposition. Without any doubt Culver was a corpse for nearly the full time of his disappearance. It is evident that the body was not ill the spot where 1t was found for this length of timo. This part of the river is n most conspicuous one, only 100 rods from the main street of Clyde. The river at this point is wide and very shallow, and the water is so clear that ono can soc the bed of it at nearly all seasons of the year. Men frequent that portion of the river to fish, especially at this timo of the year During the past TWO weeks there has hardly a day passed without somc one being close to tho very place from which Culver body was taken
 Was He Murdered Ffrsto
 For this reason tho theory is advanced that thc body has not been in tho place where it was fsand during Culver's ab- scnco nor even for one week It is be- liovod that aftor Culver was murdered the guilty parties moved tho corpse from one hiding place to another, and finally sunk it in the river.
 A moro careful examination of the body disclosed that tho hasc of the skull was badly fractured, the wound being ample to cause death. At tho autopsy it was proved that Culvor died before he was thrown into tho water
 When Culver left this village for Syra- cuSG he had nearly S200 in cash, besides syUod gold watch. But when the remains VITO found he had neither watch nor TouHCy.
 This fact has impressed great many people with a firm 3J>licf in the robbery theory, which for q great many reasons appears to bo tho most plausible
 IL is not at all probable that young Gull yer spcnt this amount of money while he was in Syracuse, and it is certain that he did not dispose of his watch in n pawn shop, Every effort is being made to find out whom ho called upon in Syracuse if he ever reached thore, and whom he was last soon with.
 That Letter From "Stranger."
 This naturally leads up to the myste- rious letter without a date sent from Syra- cuso to Culver's uncle by some one who signed it ''StAangcr. ' It is clumsy bit of work, both as to prnmanship and com position. Very little attention was paid to this letter at first Uncle Zimmerman was disposed to ignore it. IIo believed that If there had been any property be- longing 10 the family that it had been cheated out of he would have known it. However, the letter may ultimately give the Clew to tho murderer, though 1t is difficult to sec how just at this moment.
 ThOn there is an insanity theory. Many persons believe that Culver was not mur- dered at all. They base their reasoning upon the statement that both his father and his mother wore insane boforc they died. and that insanity can be traced in his family for generations back. They believed that he himself had become in- sane and had taken his own life, but this theory is proved 10 be falso by the frac- turo in the skull and tho fact that n hand kCrchicf was found tied around Culver's neck by tho peculiar device known as the stranglCr's knot. It was drawn so tightly as to induce strangulatior. Thon a heavy iron was fastened 10 his neck by a rope. Thorc is not much in this theory to hold fast tu.
 A murder in n country town always fills the streets with a crowd of people cu- riOus to spo and discuss growsome things. But obviously requests to look upon all that is lett of young Culver had to be re- fused, His relatives haVo taken charge of inc body, and it will probably be buried today.