Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-05-08
INFg'S NECK HAS BROKEN
lronrinued from First Page)

q. half-nast twelve o'clock the big
5oors in the rear OF the prison
opan and an undertaker's wagon
.,rsd out In 1t was the pam oia a'
-rss containing the body. The
'' drove rapidly to Mount Moriah
Zen, where il was placed IN
whether or not it will be finally
'..5 in consecrated ground depends
tlolr,es's last words with Father
,r5 The will of Archbishop Ryan.
80 viii be no autopsy on the BODY HI
-,-,-,ss Among his last words was
..- Injunction to Attorney Rctan 10
s-,;5 a dissolution Of his remains.
HOLMES AND HIS CRIMES.
-.o murder Of Benjamin Pite-
for which Herman Mud
alias Fl. n. Holmes. was hang
.,-dav occurred on Sunday, Sep
-. . 1894. The crime was the cul-
-..,.;on NJ a conspiracy between the
, ~ defraud the Fidelity Mutual
va association. of this city. Of $4,000.
+bs svindle was successfully accom-
pf-het. ,.., ...,,o;r.
al in Chicago in 1890. Pitezel was
,.,rris5 and had six children, He was
-oor and was not averse TO engaging in
dishonest business if it were lucrative.
holmes had been practicing forgery,
and he induced Pitezel to enter the
gsra cline" In January. 1893, Pitezel
mas arrested in Terra Haute, Ind, for
-.sirg forced paper. Holmes went
mere and gave 81 .S00 straw bail for
prezel. VAC thereuPon ran away.
Holmes sent him TO Fort Worth. Tex,
,risr the name Of Benton 7. Lyman.
Ts had with him a deed 10 property
there valued at $40. 000 which belonged
IN Minnie Z. Williams. another of
Holiness victims. Holmes and wO-
man he called his wife subsequently,
io'ned him there. and, giving out that
they intended to build the finest build
ing in the town. the men succeeded in
borrowing something ike 50,G@A Then
rhey fed, stealing two ear loads of
horses as they went and shipping them
% ST. Louis.
To was after this incident that Holmes
conceived the idea Of having Pitezels
Hfe insured. He told Pitezel how easy
i- WIS TO bsat the insurance company
With q substitute body, and Pitezel fell
into the scheme. a $4,000 policy was
secured in the Washington Life Insur-
anee Company Of New York. but for
some reason or other it was permitted
20 lapse. Then the Fidelity policy was
taken out The application WAS made
at the Chicago agency. Pitezsl was in
full health. and the risk was considered
first rate. They left Chicago together
10 search for a body. Meanwhile Pite-
zsl told his wife. who was living in St
Louis that he and Holmes were play
ing a game on an insurance company
and % his eldest daughter. Dessa, said
"if yCU ever hear that Your papa is
dead. don't worry, and don't let your
Uc-her Vaorry. I will re all right and
come 20 you some day, no matter what
they say"
IN AUGUST, 1894
Holmes and Pitezel came East. and
Holmes rented the house, No. 1916 Cal
lchill street. a ramshackle old building
for Pitezel TO start in the patent rights
business under the name Of 3. +. Perry.
Tn the meantime. Holmes had brought
woman whom he called his wife TO a
boarding house at No 1905 North
Eleventh street Throughout August
Holmes called on Pitazel frequently
Piezel was seen up 10 10 o'clock on Sat
urday night, September /. That night
ne drank a great deal before he went tc
Eed. Nothing vas again seen OF him
until the following Monday, when Ed
gene Smith. a carpenter, who had been
employed TO do some work in the house
found his body lying on its hack on the
foor of the second story back room
The face was blackened and hhstered
as II from burns, and near by lay a
broken bottle which had contained ben
zine BY the side Of the body was a
p.pe. partly filled with tobacco. APP
rearanCes indicated that an explosion
had occurred while the man was light
ing his pipe. The police believed the
affair was an accident. and no one for 4
moment entertained the theory Of MUIR
Ger
Among the effects found in the room
we're several letters from "PerFy's'
wife in ST Louis, the signatures 10
which had been torn off. The coroner s
musicians held an autcpsy, and. find
ing evidences Of ehloFofQrm and con-
gas'ed lungs. the iurv gave a verdict Of
death from inhaling the fumes Of chlOr-
O'C.m.
About three weeks after this occur
renee Jeptha d. Howe, a st. Louis at
torney. after correspondence with Cor
orer Ashbridge. of this city. came here
and asserted that the body was thst Of
Benjamin. T. PietZel and that he-HOwe
was here to collect $4,000 insurance
ron The Fidelity Company. for which
'rcunt policy had been made in favor
Mrs Pitezel in Chicago year be-
lore. Meanwhile. Holmes. who had in
Uoduced Pitezel to the insurance
agen's was induced by them TO come
Philadelphia and identify the body
-.iS be did positively. and so did Alice
He2eL The l6-year-OlG daughter of the
uedd man. With this uneQuivOcal tes-
-.Nony the insurance company paid the
money. Here the first stage of this ex-
Daofdinary affair came to a close.
THE SECOND OPENED
some time afterwards. when Marion c.
1tlSpe,h. the notorious train robber.
- lul at ST. Louis. declared that
.'2.mes. while in an adjoining cell. had
..9 MIN Of a conspiracy with Pitezel
ll Hove 20 swindle a Philadelphia in
,ance company by the substitution OF
"'.mes'S capture was a wonderful
s,e of detective work. 70 was dis
t.eIsd that letters were being sent to
Nlll under the mama Of ITo,,-s,.1 o,,5 -;
~ f broker named Blackman. in
s,o.oogn street. Chicago. Blackman
>'Narded the letters 10 GiImanton.