Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-08

WISE ne WOuiQ not nave been lOa0nS ABOUT
Laurel 1 thought no more of the matter
until read a description of the man last
evening in The Star"
Mr. Lewis Haislett, who was working
and was in the shed during the CONVERSE
ton with Brown, verified the foregoing
story in every detail.
Gave Him n Ride.
Mr.. Smith today accompanied the re-
porters to the town hall, where the remains
are lying and positively identified the hand
that remains a part of the corpse as that
of the woman known to him as Mrs.
Brown.
After reading the description of the sup
posed murderer in The Star, George w.
Stansfield, the farmer who lives several
miles from Laurel. and who drove into
Washington Tuesday. August 10. remem-
bered that he had allowed a man answer
ing the description to ride III the wagon
with him. AS stated, he met the man on
the road near Beltsville and allowed him to
ride all the way to Washington.
Constable Harrison of Beltsville was Wis
tied by the reporters. and remembered that
about four weeks ago" a man answering
the now well-known description passed
along the road in front of his residence
An important feature in connection with
the statement of Constable Harrison is
that the man was accompanied by black
dog. The couple seen in Laurel had with
them two dogs. one yellow and the other
black. The yellow dog deserted them, and
is now staying with the celored man near
the place the body was found.
In a Store.
Friday morning. august 6, a woman. with
a man and two dogs. arrived at Laurel and
went to the meat store of W. G.. Shaffer.-
The woman went inside the store and pur-
chased some bologna and some dog meat.
Mr.. Shaffer, who waited ON her, says she
spoke in broken English. and while he
was waiting on her lie man and dog re-
manned outside. The woman, Mr.. Shaffer
declared, was about five feet in height,
with fair complexion short brown hair
and rather plump, weighing about 1a5
pounds Benjamin Ashby, a clerk in the
same store. who made a close observation
Of the woman, said that she wore a white
apro the lower right hand corner of which
was torn.
the man on the outside tailed very much
with the description of the man seen by
Messrs- Knowlton and Duvall in the woods
on the day the murder is supposed to have
occurred.
Messrs- Shaffer and Ashby described the
man as being about feet in height, with
long. sandy hair and full, red mustache
He wore dark SLOUGH hat pulled over the
upper part of his face, and for that reason
they were unable to see his eyes. The
lower part of his face was covered by a
stubby beard, and, from his appearance
the man looked as if he had not been
and noticeable feature about both the man
and the woman was that the woman
walked with slight limp. and the man
had a stoop shoulder which caused him to
bend forward as he walked.
While the man was outside the store
waiting for the woman ne became involved
in quarrel with a lad named Keyes a
brother of Thomas Keyes, who found the
body in the woods on last Sunday The lad
had lost some money which the man had
picked up, and the latter refused to give it
TO the boy for the reason that the boy
could not positively identify it.
Just as the man and boy were quarreling
about the money something occurred which
probably showed the nature of the man
and the woman. and probably was one of
the reasons why the crime was committed
The woman came out of the store while
the man and young Keyes were having
their difficulty. and. after learning the
situation. the woman in rather dictatorial
manner ordered the boy to let the man
keep the money, and the boy obeyed. The
man continued to grunlble as the pair
moved away, demonstrating that he was of
quarrelsome disposition
To Be Preserved.
As has already been stated in The Star,
when the skeleton was found, and as re-
lated then, it was the general impression
that the skull had been severed from the
trunk Outside of this fact, there is no di-
rect evidence of.foul play. The skull, by
the way. will be preserved for further iden-
titication- The face is pretty well preserv-
ed. and the teeth. which are always good
objects for Identification, are in excellent
condition The rest of the body, which has
been lying in the town hall today. will
be buried tomorrow in Laurel cemetery.
one OF the dogs which arrived here with
the strange man and woman is IN the pos
session of colored man by the name Of
Basil Levy, whose house is nearer to the
place where the skeleton was found than
any other habftation.
Sherin Underwood of this county was an
prised of the case today, and he will detail
TO work on the mystery. Had the sheriff
been notified earlier in the day, 1t is very
possible that the county commissioners
WouId nave offered reward for the ap-
prenenS1on of-the supposed murderer. 1t Is
stated on good authority that such a re-
ward will be offered this week.
Fhe Present Theory.
1t is. believed that Brown, If he was in
reality the murderer. mad no purpose in
Turing his wife to Laurel in order to make
way with her Had that been his purpose
he would unquestionably have chosen one
OF the many lonely spots that border the
road from Relay to Laurel. The couple. 1t
Is quite certain. passed along that road
The murder was very likely due to a sud-
Gen Impulse Witnesses say that the
woman was quarrelsome and nagging The
man, perhaps angered by her actions and
IN reckless frame of mind, due to their
penniless condition. ended her life 1t is
pretty clearly established that the throat
OF the woman was cut.
The murder occurred some time Satur-
day The man was seen washing himself
in the woods Sunday. He did not leave
the locality until Monday night. He pro-
eeeded TO the house of Mr.. Allen Wood.
the nearest residence to KeIlogg's woods.
Monday afternoon and made his way un-
seen into the kitchen.
There he was found by Miss Wood She
inquired what he wanted. and he replied
that he wanted drink of water She told
him that the place for him to get water
was at a nearby pump. The man started
TO say In reply to the inquiry: she told
me L could get some fire here" but cor
rected himself and asked for water. He
ITO not go to the pump. but proceeded to
some thick bushes near an old cemetery.
The man was seen by Miss Wood, her sis
ter. Mrs McGaughey, and Miss Winn, the
latter guest at the house. They all agree
that he wore look on his face that was
miserable. almost pathetic, but not
vicious"
The nan was seen near the old cems-
terry that night by a colored servant, en-
ployed in the Wood family, named Becky.
Ihe latter had occasion to go 10 the GEM
etery in search of her children, who had
started out to look for wild grapes
There Is evidence that the man slept
that night in the bushes. The supposiIion
% tod