Connecticut western news., 1896-03-12
MARY E. SULLIVAN.

ton as a result of the brutal assault She died soon after without regaining con- sciousness, leaving no statement regard ing her assailant
 The fact that in her brief periods of sem iconsciousness Miss Sullivan cried: "For Gods sake. let me up Don't do that Oh, don't" is accepted as conclusive evil dence.
 A woman being beaten on the head with an eight pound iron coupling pin would either lose consciousness immedi- ately or scream incoherently for help.
 Her brain would be too bewildered to permit of her framing an intelligible sen tence and she evidently repeated in her delirium just before death the last words that had passed her lips before she sank into unconsciousness.
 It was not robbery. That is beyond dis pute, for Miss Sullivan's jewelry was not disturbed, and she had left her purse at home.
 Possible Clew.
 The police have copy of the fol- lowing letter, which, they believe, will throw some light on the mysterious case:
 PHILADELPHIA, March 6.
 To who may read it, will you kindly Inform me if the young Ladey who was murdered, Mammie Sullivan, did she ever have gentleman friend named William Meehl; if so, please inform Me at once. and win try and point out to you the man who I think done the deed. Please do not delay My Answer. Yours truly, N. R. WILLARD. z Olaf Petersen, the young man who dis covered the body of Miss Sullivan, be- | comes more interesting to the police as the days pass. They have discovered dis crepanoies in his statements which do not make them feel safe in proceeding upon the information furnished by the young man. It was Olaf Petersen who saw "the man in the long gray ulster" running | away from the scene of .the assassination just before he found the dying girl. The man in the long gray ulster is the fellow | the police have been looking for, and one arrest has been made on the description | given by Petersen. But since the young man has contradicted himself the ulster description is at discount with detectives The Philadelphia Letter.
 | PHILADELPHIA, March 10. = What is thought to be an important clew to the ] Sullivan murder in Paterson, N. J., has ! been discorered here. Patrol Sergeant l Harvey WiSon, who is the husband of a sister of Mary Sullivan, the murdered girl, has returned to his home, 905 South Second street. He had been summoned to | 1T | murder of his sister in-law and the illness | of his wife, who is at the Sullivan home | Sergeant Wilson had with him the letter | mailed from Philadelphia on Friday last ] received in Paterson on Saturday. signed by N. B. Willard, and asking if the young lady who was murdered had ever had a gentleman friend named William Meehl.
 This letter Sergeant Wilson said he in- tended to turn over to the chief of police Mir. Willard, who is a young man, was found at his home in the rear of 1126 Dau- phin street. He said the reason for writ ing the letter was that he wished the criminal to meet proper punishment. He said that on the day preceding the murder he assisted a stranger to procure transpor- tation to Paterson on freight train leav- ing Wayne Junction about 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon.
 The man was about 30 years old, he said, had brown hair, brown eyes, light mustache and Lad a swinging walk and wore gray trousers and overcoat, black fe- dora hat and heavy working shoes. MT. Willard said the stranger showed him a letter addressed to William Meehl Eley- enth and Pennsylya postoffice," and signed Mamie Sullivan. He said the letter was written from Paterson, N. J., and ex- pressed in 1t a regret that friendship should come to a close, MT. Willard said the stranger made tho statement that the I girl would marry him or would never live to marry another. The stranger claimed to be an iron worker, and at the time oi leaving Philadelphia was without funds