The Saint Paul globe., 1898-07-27

The coroner's inquest over the re-
mains of the unknown man, whose
body was found on the premises OF
George Bohn, $40 Atlantic street, held
at the county morgue yesterday after
noon, resulted in a verdict that the
man came to his death by shot from
a revolver fired by some person un-
known. This officially established the
murder theory, but here developments
in the case end. as no clue to the dead
mans identity has yet been found nor
anv explanation of the shooting.
The testimony at the inquest seemed
to show that the body must have been
carried into the orchard and conceal
ed under the bushes and hay. DR..
Okage, deputy coroner, testified that a
wound such as was found in the mans
head would have produced instant
death, thus precluding the possibility
of the man having reached the bushes
after having been shot elsewhere.
officer Hanson, who picked up the
revolver and examined 1t with Deputy
coroner L. A Nelson, said positively
that there was no empty shell in the
chamber. He had examined the Wea-
pom carefully and said he would have
certainly seen a she'll had it dropped
from the chamber when he broke the
barrel. Deputy Coroner Nelson cor
roborated the policeman's testimony,
finding the mans knife and purse and
the blue dotted handkerchief.
---- Gunsmith NeVotney testified that the
revolver had not been discharged with
in two months. He said the condition
of the barrel and chamber would have
shown beyond doubt if the weapon had
been recently used. Mrs. Bohn told of
finding the body under the hay, while
George Bohn testified to the trail of
hay leading from the swaths along the
railroad track to the bushes. Mr.. Bohn,
asked if the neighborhood Of his home
was freGuented by tramps, answered
that he had seen more than 100 tramps
0 getting off trains in the morning.
The evidence at the inquest deepens
the nlYctery. If the revolver found by
the dead man had not been discharged
for two months, it follows that the man
was not shot with this weapon, though
the bullet found in his brain was of the
same caliber. This might indicate that
the weapon belonged to the dead man
and was thrown into the bushes with
the other articles found in his pockets,
or that it was placed there by the sup
posed murderer, together with the
large number of cartridges in the dead
mans pocket, to create the theory of
suicide.
That the body was carefully con-
cealed under the hay, there seems no
doubt. No matter how eccentric a
wCuld-be suicide might have been, it
IS believed that no one could have so
completely covered him UP SO that the
pile of hay might have been seen and
passed without the slightest suspicion
that a body lay beneath it, and then
have fred the fatal shot. Then the hay
was Packed about the body so that
even Mrs. Bohn, with suspicious arous-
ed had to procure a stick with which
to prod it about before uncovering any
part of the body.
The fact that the lunch box found
near the body did not belong to the
dead man removes the strongest foun-
dalion for the belief that the unknown
was a workingman, possibly wayla!d
and murdered on the way home, and
gives more credence to the theory that
the body was that of a tramp, killed,
perhaps, by some of his companions.
The neighborhood of the Bohn place
is overrun with tramps. These men
travel in groups OF from three to q
dozen. The dead man was undoubted-
ly young, and it is believed may have
fallen in with u tough gang, that killed
him for money which he may have
had.
No inquiries were made yesterday
either of the police or at the morgue
by anyone searching for missing
friends or relatives, this strengthening q
the belief that the dead man did not
live in the city.
The police are still working on the
case.