The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1896-04-16
PEARL BRYAN'S FATE.
The Poor Girls MuTdeTeTS SOOn to Answer
for their Crime.
STORY OF THE CRIME.

The fate Of Pearl Bryan's killing, with
its incidents, surpasses in horror the
exlravagances OF Poe. Tho hideous-
ness of this crime ia accentuated by
tue fact that all persons Involved are
young men Of hbeval education, con
iderable intellectual ability, and some
pretentions as to citation and social po
,ition. The unfortunate victim of these
monsters OF blood outlines was
y ung woman OF culture and refine
ment.
Pearl Bryan was killed on The night
ot Friday, January 81. The following
morning the headless body of II young
woman was found in field in the
Kentucky ghands opposite Clncin
natl, about q mile south Of Forl
Thomas The head has not yet been
found There was no clue but check
dress, corset and one shoe. The
shoe was the sole clue Of value 1t
wa traced to Greencastle, Ind
dealer, Farmer A. B. Bry an, living
near Greencastle, identified the shoe
aud dress as the property of his daugh-
ter, Pear Bryan, who left home Janu-
airy 20 to go to Indianapolis to visit
Mrs. Louisa w. Fisher, of No. rs Cen
tr1l avenue. She did not go there, but,
as subsequently learned by the dc
tecives working on the case, went to
Cincinnati, where she met Scott Jack
son.
Taking all the confessions and state,
ments and circumstances into account,
it is almost certainty that Jackson
gave the girl twenty grains of cocaine
IN glass of soda water when they
we're in the saloon. Walling had left
them there together Then the two
took carriage and were afterwards
] lined by WalIing, They drove over
to .he Kentucky side of the river, near
the point where the body was found
The girl was dying from the effects OF
the drug, but was still able to walk.
They conducted her to distance from
the roadway, and when the drug over.
came her, they cut her head from her
body with razor which Jackson had
carried for that pnrpose. The glrl's
niGthes-such of Them as could be
recognizad-were taken from the body.
Her satchel had been brought in the
carriage. The girl did not know why
she had been asked to bring it. The
young men regarded it as convenient
receptacle for her head after they had
killed her Leaving the mutilaIed
corpse of the girl, the monsters OF
clime walked back to Cincinnati
They say they threw the clothes into
the river. One of them says the head
was cast into the Ohio also. The 9TH
er says it was buried in sand bar.
The day following the murder the
body was found. If the murderers
had not dropped one of the dead girls
shoes they might have escaped dis
covery Jackson and Walling were
arrested in four days. They were al.
.host enthusiastic in their attempts to
fasten the crime on each other. The
travelling bag in which the head had
been carried was found where jackson
had left it. A pair of overshoes which
one OF them had worn were found
They were spotted with blood. The
doings OF both men from a week be-
fore the murder up to the time of theil
arrest are thoroughly known to the
police,
A peculiar feature Of the case was
Miss lulu May Holllngsworth, ol
Indianapolis, who made several con
LESSONS about having helped the
students TO perform an operation and
about a colored man being hired tC
kin the girl. The detectives at las
declared Miss Lula to be cham pior
romancer, and paid no luIther atten
ton to her. The defense will try t.
prove that the killing was an ac
cidental result OF an attempt at al
operation, which in Kentucky law il
accounted only manslaughter. They
will state that the cocaine given III,
igirl for the purpose OF deadening tn,
pain of the operation killed her
Specisl preparations will be mad,
to guard the prisoners against whom
dark threats Of popular vengeanc,
have been made,