The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-01
crime OF A WINTER NIGHT
John Mundy COnfcSses Having Nur-
dcrcd His Wife.
HER BODY UNDER THE HOUSE
After More Than Two Years the DC.
tcctiVcs start uron the Murdsrer's
Trnck-Story of the Chase
and Capture.
HER BODY UNDER THE HOUSE

Toledo. O.. June So,-John T.. Mundy.
who was suspe,t IA of having murdered
his wife in this city, was captured at
his home, in ST. Louis. by Chief Raitz
and Detective Nichter. ana was
brought here today and locked up In po-
lice headquarters. He has made a full
confession of the horrible affair.
The body of Mrs. MunLy was found
under ! house in 'this city. where II had
lain foi two years The authorities
frs; searched Detroit, where il was
le2rr.i 1 Mandy had gone. but ne had
| lStt there, and. on Information that he
had g0He to 81. Louis, they went there.
| In ~. Louis the detectives lost no
t,r,e in getting TO the address given in
the directcry Wh-n they came 10 the
house thy were again doomed 10 dis
| appoirrsrners. There was no such man
| living there. But the woman who
came TO the door said that Mundy had
| moved three weeks ago ani sha
thought he had gone to live in Grand
avenue. After careful search of that
! lons; street Mundy's house was located
/ a, No. $40.
| A woman came to the door who said
| she was the Wife of Mundy. She said
J hsr husband was working at the South
! SIDE hc.el, in the process of construc-
/ tiC IL, The Toledo and 81. Louis officers
/ had'a brief conference, and it was de-
cided tha, Chief Detective Desmond
| ard two of his men should go to the ho-
| tel and take Mundy in.
Mnndy's Arrest.
| This was done without delay. and
soon the prisoner was In Chief Harri-
1 gan's private office in the Four Courts
/ prison. He was as pale as death and
/ shock like an aspen leaf. He did not
| know why he was arrested, but his
| guilty. conscience could net b. con-
trolled. Chief Desmond put Mundy on
the rack. For two hours he labOred
with the dogged prisoner without n
word Of confession. He told plausible
stories. and could not be tripped or ca
| jcled. At las; Desmond gave up the
job in disgust and ordered the prisoner
| locked up.
Muniy was put in double irons. and
in company with the Toledo officers
boarded last evening a train out of St
Louis. Mile after mile Murdy and the
| watchful officers of the law rode In a
| double seat in silence. Not a word was
! spoken. Mundy began to twist and
| squirm. His lips We're pressed tightly
/ together. his ha is trembled and his
| whole frame shook with suppressed
| emotion. He was abou. ready to col
| lapse. Chief Raitz turned. slapped him
/ suddenly on the knee. aud said, with
| icy distinctness: "Mundy, you might
as well tell what you know about this
matter. l have enough evidence to
! hang you but II you Fell the truth with
out any falsehoods it will be all the bet
| ter for you In the end"
Mundy weakened t(bly as the chief
spoke. The strain n been too gre 1t
for his nerves. Lit by little he told
the story of the awfi heed.
Con,esscs II Crime.
Yes, killed her." said the prisoner,
choking with emotion. "The deed was
done in January 1893 We,did not live
happily together and she had me ar
ersted and fined in police court the
month before. / was angry and had
been drinking. The devil himself must
have been in me that awful night. The
| children had all gone to bed. We had
words ard I knocked her down. I
thought she was dead, she lay so still
and did not breathe.
| Then the demon got into me. I
| choked her uItil she got black in the
| face. I knew she was dead. but I was
still crazy. I took the butt end of a
butcher knife that had a metal handle
and was sharp at the end, and jabbed
it into her neck. That Is what made
the hole there. did not use a revolver.
| Then I wrapped her up in a rug,
| thrust her body into a clo;et and locked
the door. I kept 1t there two days. AMI
/ aid not know what to do with it. I told
/ the children that their mother had run
away. We had three children--two
boys by my first wife and 3-year-old
girl by this one.
| THE second night ] took up cleat
across the closet door. sawed the floor
and pushed her body under the. house
The ground was frozen. A joist pre-
vented the body from sitting right. 50
I got n rope, tied her hands together
got under the house myself and dragged
the corpse six feet away from the hole
In the floor. Then I nailed the cleat
down again over the saw marks. so
| they could not be detected from the in
side. The next morning sent the chill
dren to my brother-in-law, man
named Barker. who was gate tender In
the Detroit depot. ! put them In care
oi the conductor
| THE next day. which was Saturday
went TO Detroit myself, and have not
been tN Toledo since. told relatives in
Detroit that Lille had deserted me- and
that had broken up housekeeping. To
others I told different stories. and as
time wore on began to feel safe. a
year ago I moved to st. Louis, where
have been since. The woman you saw
| at my house In Grand avenue Is my
niece"
The Murdered Woman.
The murdered woman was formerly
Miss Lille Morrison. and lived with her
widowed mother In Tecumseh. Mich.
She was about 22 years old at the time
she was SO foully murdered. and had
been married to Mundy three years.
Lizzie Mundy. the woman with whom
he was living In st. Louis. Is young
niece OF Mundy. Her name is Lizzie
Mundy. and he took her with him when
| he first went to Detroit. They have
been living together ever since. and a
baby was born a short time ago She
knows nothing of the murder as yet.