Evening star., 1896-08-04
WIFE SUSP ED
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passed through the gate. and mother, faith
er and children were once more at home
Found the Body.
About the house there was no other than
members of the family to be seen, although
1t is now certain that the murderer was
lurking about the place. Matthews and
Irwin had been partners in the oyster busi-
ness at one time, and, since they dissolved
partnership two years ago there has been
an unsettled account between them This
account was In favor of Irwin, and al
though the latter's life had been threatened
and he had said he was afraid of Mat
thews. little did he expect, that night, when
he put up his horse and went to bed. that
some person would do what his former
partner had threatened he. would do:
Just what happened after Jim Irwin
went to bed may never be known. for he is
dead. and his lips are sealed. His widow
says she does not know, and thus far no
ways been the custom Of the family to have
light in their bed room all night, but On
this occasion there was no light in the
room. and when the wife made the discoy-
cry that her husband had been murdered
all was in darkness. 1t was nearly mid
night when she left her home and went to
the home Of her father-in-law, only few
hundred feet away, to arouse the sleeping
husbands sad fate. On her way back to
the house. her eldest child being with her.
she stopped in front Of the house of "Dick''
Swami. the colored man, and there she
either tainted or became hysterical and had
to be taken in and cared for. Because of
the condition of things in her own house
she concluded to remain in the home Of
the colored people until the excitement was
over before she returned home.
Not only did 1rwins aged father and
other relatives respond. but other resi-
dents Of the ancient village turned out
and the affair aroused all the inha bitants
When the house was reached the visitors
went upstairs, and in the little back room
they saw a sight that was perfectly hor-
rlble. There on the bed was the dead body
OF the man, in the position in which he
was sleeping when the murderer emptied a
heavy load of No 2 duck shot In his head.
His body lay on the right side. but the cou-
cussion had been SO great that the head
was little twisted. The whole top of his
head had been blown off, and the head Of
the bed, as well the bedding, walls and
window. had been spattered with brains.
blood and hair. Small portions of the skull
mad been sent across the room, and were
picked up yesterday when the investigation
was begun.
The investigation.
Soon after daybreak the citizens began
the investigation. and when the sheriff ar
rived upon the scene In the afternoon there
was not much work left for him to do
Matthews was suspected because of his all
legged threats, and also because of his al
legged intercepted letter. and Constable Jo-
seph Howard was sent over to Rock Point
to arrest him. He returned with his man
and long before night had him In Jail at
La Plata. The prisoner witness made a
complete denial of completely In or knowl-
edge of the horrible affair, but this did not
have the effect of getting his release, and
SO he went tc the new JAIL being the first
prisoner to occupy a cell in the new struc-
ture.
Before his arrest. however. the coroner's
jury had made start in the way Of prob
iEg the crime. Justice T. w. Wills of this
place acted as coroner, and the jury was
Robinson. J. c. Blackjack. Thomas Owens,
F. II. Wills, A. L. Elder F. B. Matthews.
NJ. NJ. Hayden. Henry Myers. Robert Higgs,
T: W. Mattingly and Charles Sampson.
When the jury assembled 1t was only
room in which the body of the dead man
lay ca the bed. they repaired to the front
room on the first floor and started to take
the evidence. From there they went to
the house of the colored man Dick"
Swami. and assembled beneath a tree in
the front yard. Drs. f. Spencer and C. H.
Posey, who made the medical examination.
were present to give their evidence. but
only partial statements were made. and to-
day they submitted their reports IN writ
ing. These reports showed exactly the ma
ture of the wound inflicted and told OF how
the duck shot had been picked from the
skull and brain. In the brain and blood
they found the gun wad. and a second wad
was found on the bed. indicating that two
shots had been fired. In the bed was a
large pool of blood.
When the jurors visited the room and made
the examination they found the body on
the left side of the bed and the wife had
said she was In bed when she made the dis
covery, but the Jurors failed to find any
al n 10 hor
side of the bed. This satisfied the jury that
Mrs. Irwin could not have been in the bed
at all the night of the shooting. Then. too.
she claimed that the two children, Nellie,
eight years old. and George. about three
years old, were In the room at the time. the
younger of them sleeping on the bed at the
time of the killing. Nellie was called as
witness and questioned rather closely, but
she declared she did not hear any noise. and
knew nothing of what had happened until
her mother took her over to the house of
her grandfather.
Minnie Swami colored, at whose fathers
house Mrs. Irwin went, was put on the wit
ness stand and questioned regarding the
statement of Mrs. Irwin that she washed
from her hand the blood she got on it when
she felt about the bed to ascertain what
was the trouble.
Minnie remembered that she washed her
hands. but she did not remember that there
was any blood on her hand. Although so
near the house at the time of the killing,
she told the jury that she did not hear the
report of a gun shot She saw two blood
spots on Mrs. Irwin's night gown.
In this connection the Jurors had Mrs.
Irwins night gown taken off and preserved
as evidence.
John Irwin, father of the dead man. was
examined but he was unable to throw much
light on the case He had been called to
the house. and was able to tell the awful
scene he witnessed In the little room about
midnight.
Then Lorenzo Jackson. brother-in-law of
deceased, was called, and he told Of the visit
to his house on Sunday, when he wanted his
sister and her husband to remain over
night. He was questioned by the Jurors con-
corning threats alleged to have been made
by George Matthews and he admitted that
he had heard of such threats having been
made.
Wife's Testimony.
II felt some knocking or rapping," said
the wife In giving her testimony. 'and
when felt over in the bed 1 got my hand
in pool Of blood"
Following this the widow told of how she
left the house and went to her father-in-
laws house for assistance. She knew
nothing Of the killing of her husband, she
said, and did not hear the report of gun.
This brought her evidence down to the al
legged tell-tale letters, and a letter dated
I'll,