Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-11
Bodies of Mr.. and Mrs. Newton and Little Ethel
Lay Two Days Before Discovery.
Details of One of the Worst Grimes Ever Committed
in Worcester County - Suspected Murderer,
Paul rler, Farm Hand, Who Escaped
Newspaper rIan Dsgraces His Profession
by Despicable Act.

souls to eternity that he might possess
the small sum.
The great mystery is that the crime
was not discovered in time, as the New
neighborhood; and their absence should
have caused more than a mere mention
of the fact. The slow action of the
neighbors may result in never bringing
the murderer to justice, as he has had
good 60 hours start of the detectives;
and in such a case a start of. this length
| Of time means considerable. The gem
eral opinion Is that the murderer went
directly to New York, and that he is
still either in that big city, or arriving
in season Saturday morning, boarded
one of the outgoing boats This theory
is plausible, as the suspected man at one
time was engaged in seafaring life.
THE CRIME.
The appearance of the bodies and the
/ house indicates clearly that the
murderer is one of the coldest-
blooded wretehes that it has
ever been the misfortune of
! Worcester county to have within its
borders. That a man could commit so
| foul crime for a few paltry dollars
seems almost Incredible; yet the man
gled corpses of the Newton household
and the sudden disappearance of Paul
Miller bear testimony to the mans in
human avarice. 1t seems almost beyond
4 hof 1aIF,, Not,
foully take the life of a fellow-man and
then descend to the sacred chamber of
the wife and innocent child; and, with
the same weapon that was used on the
| husband, batter the heads and strike at
| the bodies of the sleeping woman and
child.
| Not the least doubt exists in anybody's
mind that the desire to possess himself
| of his employers money was the sole
motive of Paul Miller for the commits
! sion of the deed He had no grievance,
real or imaginary. against Mr.. Newton,
nor any member of the family, which
would make him speak even unkindly
TO them. On the contrary, Miller was al
ways used well by the Newtons. In fact
his lot was cast in a place better than
the average.
! To secure Mr.. Newton's money, which
was supposed to amount to a respect
able sum, on that evening, then, was
| Miller's only object in rising from his
| bed after the household had retired. To
| secure that money he would stop at no
end, and to insure success three lives
must be sacrificed. Mr. Newton had been
talking with number OF friends for
| some days previous, about the purchase
Of sleigh, and one, or possibly two
more horses. He passed a portion of
| Thursday in the town of Spencer, look
! ing over saleabe sleighs, but none suit
| ed him; and by agreement he met a
Spencer friend Friday, and went to
Worcester, in the belief that he would
secure what he desired there. Before
starting on the journey he drew some
money from the Spencer bank. This fact
was known to Miller He returned to
| Brookfield in the evening, and was met
at the station by the hired man with
| team. He announced that he did not
make purchase, owing to unsatisfac-
tory goods seen; and Miller, under
standing this to mean that he still had
the money in his possession, determined
to get it that night, and, if needs be,
take human life to accomplish his pur
pose. When Mr.. Newton and Miller
Preached the Newton home, Mr. Newton
entered the house, while Miller put up
| the horse and saw to 1t that the barn
was all right for the night.
| The household soon retired, Miller
with the rest. He undoubtedly waited
until the other three inmates Of the
| from his bed and entered the room oc-
lcupied by Mr.. Newton. The axe was in
his possession at the time, and he pro-
ceeded to slay the sleeping man and
! then possess himself of his money after
wards. A few well directed blows with
the butt-end of the axe crushed in Mr..
Newtons skull, and killed him prob
ably before he regained consciousness.
When found, the body of Mr.. Newton
was stretched on its back, and gave
every indication of the man having been
slain before he could make the least eff
| fort to protect himself. Miller then
searched the garments. hanging on the
chair close to the bed, paying no atten-
! tion to anything but money; in fact
| leaving valuable gold. watch hanging
| in the vest pocket The fiend probably
did not secure all the money he hoped
and, probably believing more was
| lsecreted in the house. determined to
make a thorough overhauling of the
place, and probably fearing detection
| from Mrs Newton or little Ethel, de-
cided to put an end to them that there
might be no interruption from that
source.
With this plan in his head, the man
went to Mrs. Newton's chamber lead
ing off the kitchen, and again the ter
ribla axe was brought into action The
bed is situated directly opposite the en-
| trance: and, as the woman and the child
slept, the left side of their faces was
exposed. Losing no time after enter
ing. the axe was swung upon each to
render them incapable of making an
outcry, and then the work of ending
their lives was accomplished by raining
blows upon their heads until they were
battered and beaten as was Mr. New
tons. In dealing with Mrs, Newton,
econtlnuea % Third Pagel