The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-23

of the medical examiner, showed clear
ly that the old man had been killed to
! satisfy the greed for gold. Indications
/ too, pointed to the fact that the muir
derer, after plundering his victim, at
! tempted to hide his double crime with
another, that of arson. In this he was
| frustrated through the results of the
murder, the blood of the victim flow
! ing so freely that it quenched the in
cipient blazes started by clusters OF
matches.
ROOM IN CONFUSION.
The interior of the Bennett kitchen
was in frightful disorder. The table at
which Mr. Bennett was evidently work
| ing was tipped bottom-side up near the
1 door leading into the yard, a large box
of private papers was overturned and
/ its contents scattered over the floor, the
| table cover, papers and writing mate
! rails that were on top of the table were
scattered about, lamps and chimneys
We're broken and kerosene spilled over
the floor and in the centre of the dis
order the body of aged Asa Bennett lay,
the head battered into an almost unrec-
! ognizable mass and reposing in a big
pool of blood.
Nothing was disturbed about the
the kitchen until the arrival of DR..
| Chamberlain, and then closer investi-
| cation revealed the atrocious attempts
| to hide the murder in setting the house
and body afire. The two lamps that
were used by Mr.. Bennett at his work
! were thrown on to the floor. One of the
lamps was broken and the other fell so
that all the kerosene leaked on to the
! floor. On one spot where the oil satu-
rated the floor, portions of charred
matches were found as if the lighted
matches were dropped by person hur-
riedly leaving the house and sure that
a blaze would start Immediately. In
another spot where the kerosene had
flowed over the floor, more matches
were dropped, with slightly better re-
suits as the oil took fire, but through
some act of Providence, did not blaze.
Two matches with the ends burned
were found in the beard of the MUIR
dered man and two more We're picked
off his breast. At first it did not strike
the officers that the presence of the
matches and the burning of the floor
indicated an attempt to erase traces Of
the crime, the first thought being that
the murderer lighted the matches and
threw them about after the lights went
out and when he was searching for an
exit from the house. A study of con-
ditions, however, shows careful plan
ming on the part of the murderer.
MI RDERER 5 PLANS.
Apart from the pool of blood in which
the victims head lay, there was an al
most equally large pool beneath the
stove, showing that the head of Mr..
Benefits body laid there for time
after he was robbed of his life. A
study of this pool showed that the body
was face downward when lying with
the feet toward the door. The muir
derer must have pulled the body about
afterward, perhaps to be better able
to search the pockets for the money
that he had taken life to possess. If
there was a scuff1e of sufficient size to
warrant tipping over the tables and up
setting the lamps, it is, of course, OBJ
vious that none of the glass would be
on Mr. Benefits body. But, instead,
when the medical examiner viewed the
remains, several pieces of broken glass
were found on the stomach and one of
the chimneys, that did not break when
thrown, was on the chest.
The two burned matches found in the
beard were carefully tucked among the
hairs and the other matches on the
chest also showed by their position that
they We're not dropped there by chance.
~All who were in any way connected
with the case in an official capacity
agreed that the deed was done by some
Mr. Benefits habits and the fact that
he was reputed one of Hubbardston's
wealthiest citizens. The walls, doors,
window sash and even the ceiling in
the vicinity of where the body was
found were literally spattered with
blood showing the force with which
blows were dealt by the weapon of
death-an iron bolt, one foot long and
an inch in diameter Mr.. Bennett faced
bic MT oil cfr &c
and evidently put forth great exertions
to overcome the heartless assassin.
BLOWS RAINED ON ONE SPOT.
Every blow rained upon the old man
with the. heavy bolt, and there must
have been many of them, was directed
to the left side of the head and all
fell within a radius of four inches,
with the left eye as a centre. This
shows clearly that Mr.. Bennett had his
assailant to his right all the time and
endeavored to fight him off with the
right arm, the stronger of his weak
arms. No blow was sent to the top or
back of the head, and the murderer III
his frenzy had unerring aim, as there
was no mark on the shoulders to indi-
cate that the fiend missed when he sent
his blowA to the eye Mr.. Benefits
right hand showed traces of his strug
gle, the knuckle of the middle finger
being crushed and the third finger be-
ing split for more than an inch from
the hand.
AS stated, Mr. Bennett was con-
sidered a very wealthy man, but there
is hardly man in town who could give
any idea of his wealth based on knowl-
edge furnished by Mr. Bennett. He
was very reticent in relation to his bus
mess affairs His banking was done in
Gardner, but he was in the habit of
keeping goodly sums in the safe at
Wheeler Bros store He frequently
deposited checks with William H.
Wheeler, a member of the firm and
town clerk The firm was allowed the
use of the money for the favor of per-
hitting Mr.. Bennett to use the safe,
and he was free to call for his deposit
at any time.
Recently he passed deeds for the
transfer of two large wood lots, and
many persons in town believed he had
the money for the deals in his posses
sion lately, although investigation to-
day developed the fact that he only held
the intending purchasers notes. 1t has
been his custom for many years to de-
post in the bank, at Gardner about
Christmas time various sums to the
credit Of his grandchildren, and it was
generally known among many persons
that Mr. Bennett intended to go to
Gardner today with Elisha Murdoch
Mr.. Murdoch, although living the next
house to Mr.. Bennett. did not know of
the murder until informed of the fact
by The Spy man this morning. He
was in his yard preparing for the jour
ney to Gardner when The Spy man
called upon him. AS soon as he heard
of the murder he abandoned all prep
arations for the trip, as he said there
was no need to hitch the horse If Mr..
Bennett could not go, the trip being
nj a In 70 l.,