The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-17
DETECTIVES GIVE 1T UP.
THEY ABANDON THE WILEY CASE
AFTER 4 WEEKS WORK.

Jacksonville or Else Was the
work of WiIIey's own Hand - No
CIew From JacksOnvilIe-ButL Lit
tie Credence Given the story That
the Crime Was Committed There.
strong Faith In the Theory of Self
MutIIation.
The Savannah detectives have aban-
doned the Wiley case.
This is the only definite statement that
can be made concerning the mystery
which has been hanging in suspense for
several days. No new point was turned
yesterday.
The story in the Morning News point
ing 10 the probability that Wiley, nim-
self. had perpetrated the deed was re-
ceived with more favor than any
which has yet been made, and De-
tective wetherhorn. whose shrewd pit OF
work located the house in which Wiley
spent Sunday night in this city, declared
that he had given up the case, because
he was satisfied that If the deed had
been committed by any other than Will
! ley It was not done in Savannah
My theory in the beginning" said De-
tective Wetherhorn, was that 1t was self
muulation, though / was not welded alb
solutely to this theory I'm am assured in
my own mind now that the crime was
not committed in Savannah unless Will
ley did it himself"
! There can be no doubt but that Wiley
spent last Sunday night in the house of
| W. NJ. Jefferson, the negro who keeps
boarding house on Liberty street near the
Plant system depot. He is said to have
come there about p or / o'clock in the
night, and instead of going at once to his
room, he sat out on the front and smoked
| leisurely with several negroes.
| The statement of the wife of the negro
who runs the boarding house is that when
she went to clean the room in the morn
| ing there were blood stains all over the
/ floor. and basin of bloody water She at
! once called her husband and asked what
| kind of a man he brought into the room
the night before. There were the frag-
ments OF a bloody undershirt about the
| place, the sleeves being cut off, and this
bears out the statement that when the
man reached the hospital he had bloody
rags in the pockets Of his coat, which re-
sembled a white stocking leg cut in pieces,
! the fine fabric of the gauze undershirt be-
/ ing mistaken, perhaps. for a woman's
stocking.
There was no news from Jacksonville a.
| a late hour last night throwing any light
on the crime. The police of that city
declare that they do not believe the crime
was committed there. A search was made
| about the depot for bloody tracks, but
nothing could be traced to indicate that
the wounded man had visited the station.
He states that he walked six or seven miles
| up the track and waited for a train to
bring him to Savannah. but this state
ment seems in keeping with all of his
/ statements so far, which have been ad-
/ hered to only 80 long as another narrative
| was not suggested to the patient who now
| lies Frustrated with sanguination at the
/ Savannah hospital Physicians declare
| that 1t was hardly probable that he could
4 have undergone so much physical eXertion
/ as to have walked seven or eight miles,
/ caught train and rode four or five hours
/ to Savannah, spent a night here and wait
| ed till the next morning to faint for the
| first time, or give any evidence that so
/ serious a wound had been inflicted upon
| him.
| Authorities on this particular branch OF
mayhem state that Il is always attended
by a heavy flow of blood and not infre-
| quently results in death, even when done
by skilled physicians
The statement of Wiley that he came
| TO Savannah over the Florida Central and
| Peninsular railroad in connection with the
fact that he spent the first night In
negro boarding house just across the
street from the Plant system depot, which
Is half a mile or more distant from the
| Florida central and Peninsular depot. the
| Plant system having a line to Jackson
vile well as the Florida Central and
| Peninsular, suggests that he did not come
to Savannah by the former. The fact that
he did not sleep on his bed at the board
ing house adds to the mystery.
The last heard or seen of Wiley IN
| Jacksonville was when he left his vessel
the r. w. Dasey, having drawn $40 and
gone ashore with the ayowed intention Of
| returning in time TO take the vessel to
/ Palatka the next morning at o'clock.
He has money to his credit aboard shio
where he was employed.
The detectives here. weighing all these
things. have come to the conclusion that
II Is needless to work the case any fur
Their. for they declare If the crime is that
| OF anybody other than Wiley, himself
II was not committed in this city, and Is
out of their territory.
Meanwhile, Wiley is at the hospital
When pressed with questions as to wheth-
er he did the cutting himself he breaks
down and cries. and does nothing but
make denials. He has made so many false
statements concerning the affair that Il
will be hard for anybody to give credence
20 his narratives hereafter unless they
be supported by circumstances
Two sons OF Lem Davis. the chiropodist
whom Wiley allowed TO be arrested a few
days ago for the crime went to the hos
ptal yesterday and demanded to see Will
ley. They declared that their determina-
ton was TO Choke the truth out Of him. 4"
since It could not be wrung out Of him
In any other manner. The young men
were finally induced 10 leave the place
without creating any disturbance.
The following dispatch from Jackson
vihe tells the latest from that city con-
| corning the case:
Jacksonville, Fla, July l6-The police
have worked diligently for the past TWEEN
ty-four hours on the Wiley case, but the
further they proceed the more firmly are
they convinced that the man was not mu-
tilated In this city.
I IukfNa =