Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-04-25
A DOUBLE MURDER.


was startled yesterday morning by the
news of an atrocious double murder
Thursday night at Hilltop, eleven
miles west of that place, the victims
being Mrs. Joseph Cooking, aged 80,
wife of the storekeeper there, and Miss
Daisy Miller, aged is, her sister. MIR.
Cooking, the husband, was found in
the cellar of his store, slightly injured,
with his feet tied with clothesline.
The front door of the store was broken
open, as was the cash drawer. Mr..
Cocking's story is substantially as fol-
lows: Thursday night | retired as
usual, after locking up the store and
the house. went to bed in the hall
room with my son. My wife was in
her room and her sister in hers, on the
other side of the hall. My two eldest
children, girl and boy, were spend
, ing the night at Mrs. Miller's their
grandmother. The colored servant
was in the rear of the house. Some
thing awakened me between l and 3
o'clock. Then 1 heard a noise in the
store. Pulling on my trousers, 1 went
down, passing from the hall into the
dining room, from which door enter
ed the general store. / opened this
door and was faced by two men. /
cannot tell whether they were white or
black. AS soon as / opened the door
I was struck with some blunt instru-
ment. They both may have struck
me; may be with their fists. fell in
the doorway. was unconscious, but l
have recollection of feeling the men
moving my arms and legs. 1 suppose
they were tying me. Then I was car
ried by them through the general store
into the grocery. They opened the
trap.door and threw me into the cellar.
That is all remember"
The two women were found dead in
bed. Both were horribly hacked about
the head, and the Ratchet with which
the murders were committed was
found on a counter in the general store.
The county is being secured for the
murderers, but so far there where
abouts are unknown.
Cocking's wound is not very serious,
though he complains of a terrible pain
in his head. A colored man named
Jones, who discovered the murder, says
the ropes around Cocking's legs we're
loosely tied and easily removed. The
murder is mystery to the officials, but
circumstances subsequently brought to
light cause suspicion to rest upon Joseph
Cooking, husband of the murdered wo-
man. Bits of evidence which have been
unearthed have thrown suspicion upon
him. thought it is all circumstantial and
not sufficient to warrant arrest. The
motive for the crime is lacking.
Cooking did not sleep with his wife.
He had three children. The eldest
slept with the mother while the young
est occupied bed in a little rooom in
the rear of the hall. 1t was in this
room that Concking says he was asleep
when he heard the noises which aroused
him. The child says Cooking was not
in the room and the bed showed that
ne had not been in it. The murdered
sisters are the daughters of the late DIR.
Miller, and we're very popular in the
village of Hill Top. Cooking was
farmer until three years ago, when he
moved to Hill Top and opened the
store where the tragedy took place.
Cooking is we'll known in this city,
where most of his business is transacted.
Dispatches to-day from La Plata say
the impression is becoming stronger
hourly that Cooking is the murderer,
and there is talk Of lynching. There
is not the slightest clue to trace it to
any one else.