The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-31

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a short time previous mysteriously disap-
peared. The dead body Of young woman
had been found, which Jane Bloom idenu-
fled as that of her sister Sarah. She was
very positive of the fact; described with
great accuracy and mnuteness certain
physical peculiarities of her sister, and in
sisted that the body was hers. notwith-
standing directly opposite testimony given
| by Jenkins. But, during the investigation
instituted by the coroner, the original Sa-
rah Bloom appeared in Newburgh alive
and well. The young man Jenkins who had
been confined to await the result of the
inquest. was at once set at liberty, all
cause for suspicion against him having
been removed by the discovery that Miss
Bloom was living The question then came
up: How could Miss Blooms sister have
I been so deceived as to testify positively
that the dead body was that Of her sister?
The result of comparison of
marks upon the bodies OF
the two women, however, settled the
doubt. The peculiar marks on the dead
| body and those on the body of Sarah
Bloom were identical In form, position and
number. The body had a scar on the left
eyebrow; Sarah Bloom had the same.
The body had scar on the middle joint
of the middle finger of the left hand; Sa-
rah Bloom had the same The two mid
die toes of the left foot of the corpse were
grown together nearly to the first join;
q similar PECULIARLY existing in Miss
Bloom. The toes of both feet in the corpse
and in those of Miss Bloom were COM
pressed, as from wearing tight shoes
mark as from ring which had been
roughly drawn from the finger, was found
on the hand of the murdered woman, but
the ring was not found. Miss Bloom wore
cornelian ring on the corresponding
finger. These curious condolences, very
remarkable as far as regards physical pc
cuiarites, seemed to Justify the conclu-
eions which were arrived at prior to the
temperance of the missing woman.
A very remarkable case occurred in Con-
necticut A lad by the name Of Sage dur
ing one of the coolest mornings of the
winter was sent by his father to the barn
to feed the cattle. The boy declined going,
because he had been threatened with vio-
lence by an Irshman named Patrick NJ
gent, who kept mis- horse at the barn. The
father thought the excuse a frivolous one
and compelled the son to 60 who departed
in tears. This was the last seen Of him
by the family. Suspicion Of foul play was
at once aroused, and Nugent was arrested.
But the evidence was not then deemed
sufficient to commit him. A hole was found
in the ice in the river in the rear of the
barn, and it was suggested that the body
of the boy had been put through the open
ing into the river Some time after a body
was found on the river bank. and was be-
lieved to be that of young Sage. The ia
Their saw upon 1t several marks which
corresponded 9th those upon the body
of his son. The hight was precisely the
same, and piece of the coat was recog-
nized as resembling tie coat worn by his
son. In the spring the lining of an over
coat, corresponding with that of young
Sage, was found on the banks of the river.
Still there was no positive evidence
against Nugent; but suspicion grew
CT fnf1or doll w Of All
was removed by the appearance of a sail
or named John Amos Benson, whose test-
mony was direct and positive. Nugent
was then rearrested. Benson stated that
he was passing on the day of the dlsap-
pearance of young Sage, and when near
the barn he heard an alteration. He
looked in and saw Nugent and his wife
and boy whom he described, and whose
description answered perfectly to that of
young Sage. Nugent, with an oath, struck
down the boy with club, and then stab
bed him with a knife. AS he looked out
of the door he saw the witness Benson,
asked him what he was doing there, and
finally compelled him to come in and help
him to remove the body He was asked
what young Sage had on his feet, and he
answered pair of cowhide boots one of
which was worn through at the side and
the other was worn through on the ball
The father said that was true and that
ed. Blood was found on the barn floor
and pieces of the floor were sawed up and
saved for the trial. The jackknife was
also found, or one supposed to be the knife
used to complete the murder. Benson de-
scribed the gangway through which the
body was carried to the haymow in an
adjoining barn, and here tracks i'm the
snow were remembered to have been seen
from one barn to the other
Benson said he never saw the how he
fore the murder, but he remembered his
appearance. He picked out man In the
room who had such hair, and the father
said the comparison was correct No
doubt now remained on the mind of any
person In the room of the guilt of Nugent
When the prisoner was brought in he was
asked If he knew Benson. He said: mo;
/ have never seen him before" Benson
replied: Yes you do, Nugent and you
know you killed that boy. and that l
helped to put the boy under the hay"
Benson was then told to look Nugent in
the face, and tell the whole story He did
so, Nugent all the while trembling like a
condemned culprit. On being told that
he was in a bad scrape. he said: Il know
it. but God is my Mantle will get me ont
of It," Nugent was then remanded to
prison Accidental circumstances delayed
his trial. Notwithstanding the direct
character of the above testimony subse-
never sleeps-the Providence that is ever
active in all the affairs of mankind-was
watchful and vigilant as ever to bring out
the astounding truths that seemed to lie
so far beyond all human vision. The miss
ing lad Sage made his appearance, and the
sailor confessed that he picked up the
facts about town, and then concocted the
whole story for the sole purpose OF obtain
ing the $500 reward offered.
There is a case cited Ia William Wills
famous essay on the Principles Of Cir
cumstancial Evidence" which bears more
directly on the Luetgert case, because the
corpus delecti consisted of some bones sup
posed to be those of the murdered man.
II was the case OF the two Boorns, con-
vcted in the supreme court OF Vermont,
in September term, 1919, of the murder
of Russell Colvin, May 10, 1872. 1t APP
peared that Colvln. who was the brother
in-law Of the prisoners, was a person Of a
weak and not perfectly sound mind that
he was considered burdensome to the fam
lily of the prisoners, who were Obliged to
support him: that on the day of his dis
appearance. being in a distant field where
the prisoners were at work, a violent
quarrel broke out between them, and that
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