Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-02-13
PEARL BRYAN BETRAYED BY A
MINISTER'S SON.
A MOST, REVOLVING CRIME
Her Beheaded Body Hid in an Or
chard--A Dental Student Arrested
for the Crime-Implicates His
Roommate-Parents Identify Their
Daughters Clothes.

pie OF Fort Thomas, KY, and has kept
the Police of three states busy since
Saturday, has been cleared up. The
headless woman has been identified rs
the daughter of a well-to-do Indiana
farmer, and one man under arrest has
confessed, duplicating an acccmplice.
Saturday morning the headless body
was discovered in a secluded spot in
the orchard on John Lccke's farm,
short distance north of Newport, KY,
and barely outside the borders and jur-
lsdlction Of the government troops
stationed at Fort Thomas. The body
lay on the side of a bank beneath an
underground of brush near a lane lead
ing through an orchard and about 800
feet east of Alexandria Pike. Coroner
Tingley and police authorities from
Newport and Cincinnati were soon on
the scene and the body was removed
to the Newport mCrgue. The head
could not be found, though all the
ponds in the vicinity were dragged and
the Covington reservoir was drained.
There was nothing on the body
the clothing. The shoes bore a trade
mark of Greencastle, Ind, and that
clew was followed and led to startling
developments. Detectives Went to that
city and visited the home OF A. S.
Bryan, a leading farmer living near
the place. Articles of clothing taken
from the body were shown members of
the family, and they positively identi-
fed them as having been worn by
Miss Pearl Bryan, d daughter, who
left her home Tuesday of last week,
ostensibly to visit a friend, Miss Fisher
of Indianapolis. The dress she wore
had formerly belonged to sister, now
dead, and the family identified it COM
pletely. They also recognized the shoes
taken from the feet of the headless vic
tim as belonging to the absent daugh-
ter.
Augustus Early, a telegraph operator
at Greencastle, who was a friend CT
Miss Bryan, told the detectives he had
heard read letters from Scott Jackson,
a student at the dental college at Gin
cinnati, to Will Wood, son of Rev. D.
M. Wood of this city, that would tend
to show they had guilty knowledge of
the crime. Acting on this information
the authorities of this city were direct
ed by wire to arrest Jackson On the
charge of numbering the woman, and
hold Wood as an accOmplice.
Upon receipt of the telegram detec-
tives started out, and, after twelve
hours watching they got Jackson He
protested his innocence, but a briet
seige III the sweatbox brought forth
eliminating admissions, though not
the whole story. He Implicated Will
liam Walling, also under arrest. Wal
ling has also confessed to a personal
knowledge of the murder. Walling
tries to lay the whole blame on Jack
son. Jackson on the contrary, while
he admits his own guilt, takes pains
to implicate Walling. The satchel
which the murdered woman brought
here on January % was shown to Jack
son to examine. He would not quite
admit that the head had been in the
satchel but said it looked as if it had
been there. Jackson made his confess
SIGN by small statements. He is OBJ
stinate and made it because he saw
clouds of evidence gathering around
him. Not word as to details of the
crime has he spoken. When he admits
the girl was murdered he does it as if
a third person had committed the
crime. The striking thing about it is
the implication of his roommate,
Alonzo Walling, in the crime. Wal
ing has confessed a knowledge of the
crime, but only as a go-between for
Jackson. There is no doubt that Jack
son was the principal, and that Will
liam Wood, arrested at South Bend,
Ind, and now on his way here, is
deeply implicated. A bundle of letters
from Wood to Jackson bear this part
of Jackson's confession out Nearly
all of Woods letters are about the girl
and some of them are such as to pre-
clude printing them.
Pearl Bryan would have become
mother in four months. Jackson says
William Wood is responsible for her
condition. She arrived here Tuesday
night, January %, at o'clock. John !
Belli took her to the Indiana house |
and by her orders notified Jackson. |
She told Belli that if Jackson did not !
come to see her, Walling would. Jack |
son says in his confession that she /
came here to have an operation per-
formed. He implies that Walling was /
the man that procured it. Meantime
he admits that she was killed in the |
to perform the operation.
A startling statement was made by |
Jackson in his cell yesterday morning
which may be classed as an indication /
of the sort of plea the man will make
in case the circumstances point to him
as the murderer. fI am afflicted with
spells" he said, "and after
they pass away get delirious and [
don't know what I am doing. When .
I was boy living in Indianapolis I
have risen in a delirium after a spell +
and dressed myself and wandered
around for hours without knowing /
what I have done"
According to Walling, Jackson has
iold him about his trouble with Pearl .
Bryan, and said William Wood was
also interested. Jackson never re-
tered to anything except the proposed .
abortion until Pearl Bryan came to
this city on January %. Then he
talked about her condition and con-
suited with a druggist and his fellow
c+rdentc ahort tho hest drugs with