The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-08-23
ANOTHER MURDER

quiet country city there was disclosed
yesterday another scene IN the drama
hi.h has been played by Holmes in
his grue some role of the FIend lncar-
nate.
Another murder has been traced To
Holmes and his once co-partner, Ben
jamin pietzel The particulars OF this
murder are as yet meagre, but the To-
cal officers are now working the mat
ter up. and il is believed that valuable
evidence will he secured
The register Of the Gilmore hotel IN
! this citv shows the entry on the 10Th
of January Of the present year OF Mrs.
NJ Holmes and child with no place OF
residences given. She Is described by
| the hotel clerk who remembers her. as
4 tall. tincly-dcvcsopei and handsome
woman. The child was "A light-haired
girl. about years old. named Lucy.
They remained at the hotel three or
four days and had little to say 10 the
| other guests. In fact. she was very
cold and distant TO the ladies VINO
proffered her some little social attcn-
ton.
On the second day after her arrival
\ She went into the Office OF a Justice
I of the peace and said she desired
confidential talk with him She made
her child leave the ROOM ana directed
! her to remain in photograph gallery
across the hall. She then made an at
fidavit before Justice Foot, chargi ny
IL H. Holiness then in Jail in Philadel-
7 phia. with murder. When asked by
4 the Justice for her proof She produced
4 "A written paper signed by Holmes.
which she claimed to have found
among his papers in the Chicago
castle. In this document Holmes
+ relates the story of his murder OF
George II. Thomas, on the Tombgbee
! river, six miles below Columbus.
Upon this affidavit requistion pa
pers were issued by Gov. Stone, Mrs.
Holmes agreeing To pay the expenses
of the chief of police Of this city To 90
+ to Philadelphia for Holmes Justice
I Foot made the woman "A certified copy
of the alleged confession. which she
took with her After leaving the
I Justices Office Mrs. Holmes went to
1 the law office of Judge J. a. Orr and
sought to retain his services to prose
y cute tnt ci>c anu Ert pAHti aNNiSe
from him, but for some reason, which
Judge Orr will not divulge. he refused
his service She left with him the
original confession of Holmes.
Your correspondent tried 70 get the
paper from Judge Orr. but he refused
its publication on the ground that the
paper was the property Of the woman
and to divulge its contents would be a
breach of professional trust. The con
tents Of the paper were gotten from
Justice Foot. he having made her a
copy of it. She gave as her reason for
making the affidavit that Holmes had
two wears ana She hoped 10y his con-
viction To get some Of his property. as
he was worth over >loo, 900
The document states that Holmes,
H. r. Pietz.l and the murdered George
Thomas were in this city on or about
June 20, 1894. but that they stopped ut
different places and were not seen to-
gether on the streets Their conduct
was such as 20 leave the community
under the impression that they were
strangers. few days after their ar
rival they procured small boat, and
all three went down the river to
gether
AT this point the paper says, after
going down the river six miles llol mes
rot out on the bank in search o
drinking water and was absent some
time, and when he returned Thomas
was dead Petzcl said his death wa
caused by falling from the boat an,
striking his head on the rocks: tina
they buried the body in the rive
swamp and returned TO Columbus
This. in substance, is what the con
fession contained.
: The requisition papers came iron
Jackson. and Chief Of Police Munge
arranged to go to Philadelphia afte
7 Holmes, but in the meantime Mrs
: Holmes had quietly left the city.
! 1t is the opinion of the officers tina
IL was the desire OF the woman to hav
0 Holmes brought from Philadelphia I
0 this place to give him an opportunit
Z, to escape on the way or else be az
4 quilted Of the charge OF murder an
) released here. This theory. how
G ever is exploded and credenc
e given to the confession froi
5 the appearance here Of H. +. Pietzs
}. who registered at the hotel here frot
l. Chicago on June 10. 1854 about Ia
time the murder Is alleged TO hay
been committed. About this time ais
Thomas arrived here. stopping at
different hotel. lie claimed To be
the lumber business and was hcr
looking for timber. Pictzcl ais
y claimed to be in the lumber business
Y and in that way he became acquaintc
q with Thomas. IL is well remembers
y that the three men left here in q 10;
y early in the morning and that just b.
&c fore night the boat returned with onl
~ two occupants. There can be n
y doubt Of the murder Of Thomas in II
g river swamps.
g Judge Orr was interviewed by n
rs United Press correspondent. and Will
20 admitting the main facts about I'll
" confession, refused 20 disclose the nj
~ turc OF his business with Mrs. HOLMES
~ but said he knew her reason for wan
or inc her husband brought here fro