The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-05-27

sexton Of a wealthy church ~ VIII
llamsburg7"
George Stelz. assistant sexton Of Ho-
" Trinity church. Nontrode and era
ham avenues, Williamsburg. New York
city. was murdered Sunday night by
persons who knew the church. who
knew the people in the neighborhood
OF tho church. and who knew the
murdered man and his habits. In fact,
az the investigation continues. IL Is
shown that be was not murdered for
the money In the poor box. but for the
purpose Of concealing the tracks Of the
men who were caught robbing these
boxes. That they were desperate In
conceallng their tracks Is borne out by
the fact that after beating stelz into
insensibility they fell upon him and
ohoked him 20 that the bones Of his
neck were broken and his wlndpipe
was punctured
That they knew the church Is evident
by their finding their way TO the poor
boxes in the vault under the vestibule
To get 10 these boxes without passing
through the big iron gates. which are
kept constantly locked. one has 10 pass
through winding passages that are
known TO only few OF the parishion-
ers.
Blood spots on the stalrways. In The
vestibule and on the walls OF the vesti-
bule show plainly how and where the
murder was committed II was Stelz's
custom TO round tho Angelus AZ 7
O'Clock Il. tho evening. lie went 10 the
belfry as usual on Sunday evening.
leaving the center doors Of the church
unlocked and carrying the bunch OF
keys, which were afterward found lying
by the side Of the dead body. In his
hand. The bells we're heard tolllng for
i've minutes or more. then the sexton
/ descended into the vestibule.
No more OF his movements can be
traced. except for the blood spots II
is supposed that he had descended 10
the yestibule and was preparing to
, lock up the church for the night. when
he heard noise In the cellar and went
10 investigate. Then he saw the two
thieves breaking open the lower end Of
the poor box. which ran through from
the church door.
The FIRST spot OF blood was found on
the cellar floor. showing that he had
been struck there. Then there we're
blood spots leading all the way up the
stairs to the vestibnle. Here there
were signs Of struggle AZ the height
Of mans head blood was smeared on
the walls. There were blood prints OF
n mans hand on the floor. AZ II the
murdered mans head had struck
there.
On the stairway leading to the second
floor there was n pool Of clotted
h.sJd. extending TO the third step. and
on the fourth step there we're prints oil
two bloody hands I, was here tina
Stelz fell unconscious II was her,
tina, he was choked 10 death.
Undoubtedly there were two mer
concerned in the murder Of the sexton
The appearance Of the dead mans hea,
shows that more than two hands deal
the blows which felled him INFO lnsen
slblllty. Both a sharp and blunt IN
strument were used In the assault
There was one wound between the eye
and one at the back Of the head just Al
the base Of the skull The wound II
front OF the head was made by a sharI
instrument. while that In the back wal
made by a blunt instrument, II II b.
that the murder was done by singh
person then the weapon was both blum
and sharp.
Then there were -four other wounds
IN the back and top Of the head which
were not made with the same instru
mcnt. The finger marks on the man.
throat would indicate that an
ferent sized fingers had crushed ihi
bones.
on the six money boxes In the church
only one had been tempered with. Thii
stood In the cellar directly between
two big iron doors. and over the sta.
tue Of an angel which guards the tomb
OF Father John May and Father John