The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-30
No New Light on the Box Car
Murder.
WAS PROBABLY A TRAMP
McDevitt and Dewitt Prove to Be the
Same Mantle Poison and the
Glove the Only Evidence to
Work On.

Frank Dewitt OF Anaconda, who was
previously known as McDevitt. has
cleared away one of the complexities Of
the most remarkable case. 1t will
ice. l.. @. Campbell and Will
lam O'Connell all Identified the body
of the murdered man as of Frank
McDevitt. w. II. Dolan and Morris
Staffenberg said IL was the body OF
Frank Dewitt. leaving the Me" OFF.
but IL was obviously all had the same
man I'm mind, for the reason that all
said he had a brother-in-law named
O'Connell in Helena. Each felt GER
tain he had the mans name right. The
standards correspondent at Helena. on
being Informed the dead man was sup
posed To nave "A relative by marriage
in that city. called on Jeff O'Connell.
who proved to be the person. and from
him learned that his brother. w. @.
O'Connell, had married a woman named
Dewitt. who had a sister. Rose Dewitt,
living in Helena, and a brother, Frank
Dewitt. living at Anaconda. Miss Rose
Dewitt stated she had another brother,
who had not been heard from in a long
time. but the last time he was heard
from he was employed on the docks at
West Superior. where the car i'm which
the dead man was found came from.
This peculiar coincidence, coupled
with the fact that the dead man had
been Identified az Dewitt or McDevitt.
led the sister to believe the murdered
man was her brother. and all the facts
as they were then known rendered the
situation so complex that no one knew
what to think till the Anaconda man
put I'm an appearance. He stated his
name was Dewitt. and not McDevitt,
as he had been called. and that the
reason he had been called McDevitt
was that people had ~Otten to calling
him McDevitt and he had never taken
the trouble to correct the error. He
said he was "a brother of Rose Dewitt
of Helena and that he was the man all
those who had identified the body a
reference 10. This he proved by call
Ing yesterday on all those friends who
had identified the body. when they all
confessed they had been mistaken and
he was the man they referred to.
Dewitt o a good look at the dead
man and declared Il was not the body
or his brother and yesterday relieved
the anxiety of his sister in Helena by
notifying her to that effect.
This portion of the very complex
case being cleared up. leaves the
mystery no nearer solved than II was
on the day OF the discovery, in fact I'm
exactly the same status it was then.
and IL now seems very probable the
first conclusion reached was the right
one, that the murdered man was a wan
derer of the tramp variety. He is GER
tainly unknown, as he was pronounced
at that time. and the %roner records
Will have to he changed to show IL was
not Frank McDevitt. whom the coro-
ner's jury declared had been killed.
The most remarkable feature of the
very remarkable case is the fact hat
Dewitt could bear so striking a resemb-
lance To another human being that
friends who had known him intimately
Tor years could be so completely mis-
taken. 1t is certainly a graphic Illus
tration Of how difficult 1t Is to identify
a dead body.
1t remains now for the authorities to
start i'm anew in the effort to establish
the identity Of the murdered man. IL
Is proposed to photograph the CORPSE
n send the pictures broadcast over
the country. This was To have been
done yesterday. but was not. as no one
appeared to know who would pay the
photographer. and it is just possible
this contingency will be the cause of
abandoning what seems to be the only
plan by which the identity of the man
can Eve be learned.
Undertaken Sherman opos to m
balm the body and keep IL as long as
there is any possibility of learning any
thing. whether a photograph is taken
or not.
Great numbers of people continue to
NlSil " ulutINdhfI = 10 Wow the DO0N.
but out OF all who have seen IL noae
have been able to distinguish a like
ness to anyone they ever saw. except
Dewitt. There seems little doubt that
he vas never seen here. From this fact
the belief Is growing that the murder
could not have been committed here,
but must ave been done where the car
started or somewhere on the road. and
that the cold weather Is responsible for
fnnf that tho hAIN had not .
to decompose. Some hold to the opinion
that the murder was committed while
the car stood at Mountain Junction.
before being moved to the Great North
ern transfer. Those who incline to this
belief think that the murderer and his
victim. or possibly a larger number.
were riding in the car and that a quar-
rel or robbery furnished the motive for
the killing. Those who hold to the
opinion think the cold weather that has
prevailed would have preserved the
the five days that elapsed from the
time the car left Mountain Junction till
the discovery was made. One fact
strengthens the theory that Mountain
Junction was the scene of the murder.
Justice ~Laurandeau, acting coroner. ex-
amined the body soon after IL was
found. In doing so he got his hands
covered with blood. He figures. and
others agree with him.. that while h
cold weather may have preserved the
body a longer period than elapsed after
the car reached Mountain Junction. the
blood would ave concealed and dried
to such an extent that IL would not get
on ones hands I'm handling the body
a the man been killed very long be-
fore. Whatever the facts. IL now seems
highly probable the first prediction viii
prove the right one. that neither the
IDENTITY 81 the murderer nor his victim
will ever be known and that the mys-
terry will remain forever unsolved. al
though there is a possible chance that
IL a letter were addressed to the Peo-
pies pharmacy at Athens. Ore. where
the sugar OF lead found in the dead
mans pockets was purchased. the name
Of the purchaser might be learned. as
the pharmacy law OF oregon requires
druggists to register the name Of every
person buying a poison. There Is no
proof hat the dead man was the orig
inal purchaser OF the poison. but there