Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-27


Stackyard Hollow, northeast of the
city, was found lying dead in the road,
q short distance from his house about
noon on the second day of last No
vember. The body was discovered by
Miss Annie Shamholts, a young lady
who had been nursing KieIs sick
wife, and who was returning from
this city. where she had gone for a
physician.
The next morning, in the account OF
the affair, the Register, in the first
line of the story, asked the question:
"Was it murder or accident?"
The answer appears to be: 1t was
murder.
Murder for the purpose of robbery.
Murder, deliberate and premedi-
tated, if yesterdays evidence is true.
Yesterday w. w. Bow
ers, aged about Jwo,.ty-one, of Fulton,
was arrested on evidence furnished by
his brother, George Bowers, and was
committed to Jail by Justice Fitzpat-
rick, without bail, to await the action
OF the grand jury of the Criminal
Court, which meets Monday.
On the day of the murder Kiel left
Wheeling, after concluding the deliv-
cry OF his milk, and went up the Stack
yard Hollow road in his wagon, lead
ing COW he had bought which was at
tached to the wagon by a long strap.
When about quarter of mile from
his home the COW got loose, and Kiel
got out of the wagon to make the
animal fast again. While he was en-
gagged in this work a rifle ball struck
him in the back entering the body
just to the left of the spine and about
nine inches from the neck, cutting
into one of the large arteries of the
heart, and coming out Of the right
breast, about two inches higher than
where it entered. The body, when
found by Miss Shamholts, was lying in
the middle of the road, on it's back,
with the feet to the north and arms
outstretched. The palms of the hands
were open. The head rested in a pool
OF blood, which had flowed from a
wound in the back of the scalp, caused
by the head striking a large stone
There was no evidence of a struggle,
the clothing was not disarranged. and
money to the total amount of S3.55 was
found scattered about the body, within
a radius of five or six feet. One coin
was lying on the breast of the dead
man. An examination of the body by
Drs. Megrail and Campbell showed
that the bullet was probably of SO cal
lbre, and had passed entirely through
the body. The ball had cut through a
wooden jacket, vest and two shirts,
and was evidently nearly spent when
1t emerged from the body The horse
and wagon was found about one hun
dred yards from the body. The cow
was still loose. The deceased was
slxty-three years Of age, and left
wife and nine children, four of whom
were living at home at the time of the
tragedy He had supplied milk route
IN this city for twenty-five years, and
was very generally known.
The tragedy was rather more than
nine days wonder. A few thought
1t was case of suicide; more fancied
death was due to murder by some I'M
known enemy; the great majority
thought Kiel was the victim of a
stray shot, fired perhaps a long dis
lance away.
Long after the death of Kiel Sheriff
Franzheim and other authorities, in
Guiding Detective McNichol, worked on
the case. Clues were found and fol-
lowed, but nothing very satisfactory
was evolved. The officials as a whole
held 1T to be a case of murder. ana
several parties were suspected. but de-
mite proof was always lacking, and
no prosecution followed. Now. the
alleged murderer is in jail, and the
grand jury which meets next Monday
Will be asked to find an Indictment.
The information which led to the ar
rest of W. w. Bowers yesterday came
from his young brother, George Bow
ers, aged fourteen. The younger
brother was an eyewitness to the muir
der and the subsequent robbery of the
body. He could no longer keen the
secret, and information of his knowl-
edge reached Captain McNichol. He
communicated with the county authori-
ties, and yesterday Captain McNichol
went before Justice Fitzpatrick and
swore out warrant for the murderer.
McNichol and Jailor William McCor-
mack went out to Fulton and put Bow>
ers under arrest, bringing him to the
Jail, with his brother. Before the
nearing, George, the informant, told
the story of the crime to County
Librarian John Beymer, and later re-
peated it, under oath, before the Jus
tice. In brief, it was as follows:
The two boys determined to go hunt
Ing on the morning of November ID,
and borrowed a rifle from Coon
Stein, of Fulton. The older brother
generally carried the gun during the
expedition. About noon they were in
the vicinity Of the spot where Kiel's
body was afterwards found. going
through field towards the road which
Kiel was travelling. The older boy
saw kiel, and said: There comes
Kiel I'll fix him." or a remark to that
effect. He had the gun at the time.
When Kiel's COW broke loose and Kiel
got out of the wagon to tie the animal
again, the older boy fired at him, and
hit him in the back. Kiel fell in the
road, and the two boys went down to
the fence. The younger boy sat on the
fence, while the murderer went to the
body and robbed it of most of the
money, leaving some scattered coins
around in his haste. The two boys
went over the hill, coming down near
the Wise residence, at Woodsdale, went
down to and across the Elm Grove
track to the pike, and came eastward
on the pike to Fulton In the after