The evening times., 1897-05-03
PRIVATE ALLEN SUSPECTED
A New Theory of the Saekett'S
HarbOr Murders.
MOTIVE FOR KILLING WOMEN
Circumstances That Point to Their
Soldier Escort as the Guilty Man.
May Have Been Lured Into Trap
and Siaughtered-.No Evidence
Against Mrs. Crouch's Husband.

Sackett's Harbor, n. Y, May 3.-Two
weeks ago last Friday morning Mrs. VIII
bur Crouch and Mary Dal were found dead
in "A carriage, ridtlcd with bullets. Pri-
vate Allen, of the Ninth United States In
fantry, who had been with them, charged
Wilbur Crouch with the murder Of the
women The authorities evidently deemed
Crouch the murderer, for they did not wake
up to the Importance of a thorough inves-
tigation until three days after the murder
was committed. Crouch claimed that he was
innocent and a search of the sleeping
apartments occupied by him brought oat
no incrimnating evidence.
Public opinion changed when efforts
were made to reconcile Aliens story with
conditions that must have existed If IL
was true in every detail. Allen and the Two
women were, according to Aliens story.
occupying the carriage when the shooting
was done. 1t was a covered carriage AID
the top was up He said Crouch seized
one of the reius and began to shoot. That
being SO Crouch would have been in front
of the three Both of the women were shot
in the back, Mrs. Crouch receiving three
bullets and Mary DAILY one
Allen said Crouch shot at him while he
was lying in the bottom Of the carriage.
No one has yet found a bullet mark ON
the carriage. 1t has been found that the
team hired 10y Allen had been driven fToTa
the high way into a field near an unoccu-
pied house. In this field Were tracks made
10y woman's shoe. Ii is evident that the
woman was running when the tracks We're
made Closely following these tracks Were
others made hy a man. At the roadside were
found sixteen unused pistol cartridges and
several empty sh ellis. At the roadside
near where the tracks Were found in the
field was a cape that had been worn by
Mrs Crouch and locks of her hair.
The day before the tragedy Allen had
sent a boy to a hardware store in tlis
viIageto purchase u revolver The weapon
was sold and delivered to Allen. Two pis-
tols, one % and the other 32 caliher,
wele found, one in the highway and the
other in the carriage. Allen claims that
when Crouch began shooting he drew his
own pistol and in doing SO accidentally
shot himself
Two bullets have been extracted from
his body, one OF % and the other Of 80
NdilitT- HG BNlltAS lltob hIlSh NiiC W.
men were Of 80 calihcr 1t is claimed
that the small pistol found in the ,ar-
rage was owned and carried by Mrs.
Crouch.
These things lead TO belief in the
minds of many people that Crouch is not
tie guilty party. One theory is that
Allen had an acComplice; that they met
at an appointed place on the road, and
that the women, eRdeavoTing to escape
from the snare laid for them, were Shot
and afterward placed in the carriage as
found 1t claimed that Allen had threat
ene1 suicide and that his wounds may have
been Sclf-inflictei.
It has been aScertained that Allen was
secretly married in this city last SepteTn-
her to a young woman employed az Madi-
son Barracks He gave his name as George
Allen HAYNES. His wife left for Chicago
a few days after the marriage, and he
began paving attention to Mary DAILY, to
whom it is said he was engaged TO he mar
RED Coupled with Aliens declaration
that he would commit suicide was the state
mpnt that Mary Daily wanted him to marry
her.
with these cIcws furnished by villagers,
the officials set to work three days after
the murder to run down the criminal and
find the evidence to convict him. Their
efforts have not been rewarded with
success. The murder is a mystery still.