The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-10

y.
! by The Herald correspondent.
She is courteous. free and willing to de
| all IN her power 10 aid in clearing up tha
mystery surrounding the crime OF IS, for
| Which Harry Hayes now lies in prison.
Her story was told in a straightforward
way. as though spoken by ore who knew
truth In charging her husband with muir
| oer,-she seemed sad. but nevertheless de-
ttermlned to see justice done. though in
| ioHoWlng the course she is at present fol-
pay the forfeit.
But this has been her fear for years
Ever since the spring in which the muir
der was committed she has not known
but what the next thread cut would be the
| one that binds her to this life: that he
afraid of the knowledge she possesses,
would seek her out and send her to death,
sure that the unbroken silence of the
grave would hide his crime.
ATTEMPT ON HER LIFE.
One event that convinces her of this
! happened five weeks ago. She was in her
| home at Governeur n. y, alone with
| her mother and little child, when the
| sharp crack of pistol rang out on the
stlu night air Such an unusual occur
| renee brought the neighborS TO her house
on the run. A search was made but no
one could be found. The bullet missing
! its mark, evidently imbedded itself in the
| wall of the house. The night prOwler
Mrs, Wright is confident, was her hIs-
! band.
Mrs. Wright knew him some years be-
| fore they We're married but never be-
| lieved in his thieving propensities until
! circumstances forced her to admit TO her
! self the truth. Then she began to fear
him. Fear alone has kept her quiet so
| long.
The first crooked business she knows Of
| his being connected with was in the early
| sos when he lived in Michigan There, it
! seems, he got hold of a large number OF
/ land warrants belonging to discharged
| soldiers and. while he promised to get the
| land sold the warrants, realizing large
| sum of money from them. Then the au-
thorities got after him, and he was forced
| to flee the country.
Mrs Wright next heard of him in
| CrOolston, where he got into trouble, and
! then in Whiteriver Colo. where he was
| engaged in the mercantile business with
| Andrew OLDHAM for three years. In the
fall of SO he returned to Michigan and
| they were married Dec. "A. 1889
PLAYED a SMOOTH TRICK.
On the night of the wedding an incident
| occurred which illustrates his smoothnesS
| and tact under trying circumstances. Inc
| officers got wind of his return and, with
! a warrant for his arrest for the land war
| rant business, went for him just before
| the ceremony took place. But he took
| them in hand and convinced them that
! the warrant was void whereupon the
| officers left him, he marrying Immediately
| and leaving for a tour through Detroit.
! Montreal Albany, New York and Boston.
where he has relatives
| In February of 80 Mr.. and Mrs. Wright
! moved to Salt Lake and took rooms at 122
| East Second South street. where they re-
manned till April, then moving to their
own residence on Ninth South. Wright
\ had plenty of money and everything went
| along smoothly enough. Occasionally he
/ took trips out into the country, telling
| his wife and neghbors that he had
ranch east of the city stocked with sheep
| and cattle He furnished the butchers Of
Salt Like with beef from his ranch. But
| that ranch was a fake: The beef was
stolen in the night. butchered and by the
/ time notice was given, had been sold
1t was at this time that Mrs. Wright
grew suspicious of him. as she knew he
had no business and didn't believe the
ranch story. Then in 92 they traded their
home for farm in West Jordan Then
it was that she became convinced of his
stealing. Once he stole harness from a
neighbOr and traded it for some nay me
owner found it and the result was that
Wright was arrested and tried. How
ever. he produced a receipt from fctic-
tiouS person and convinced the jury that
the real owner was not the owner at all.
Once he brought home a buggy A reward
was offered for the thief. but Wright
never claimed the reward. He used 10
steal cattle from his neighbOrs and. be-
fore they knew they were gene spirited
them away beyond recovery. Once he
stole a heifer from John McCallister, q
milkman. and butchered it at night.
INDICTED FOR THEFT.
On the 24th Of December, "a. he was
indicted by the grand jury for stealing
sheep. The sheep he stole from Moss &c
Hatch, rebranded them and daubed them,
over the tar brand with green paint. But
the black tar showed through the green.
and thus gave him away. When the jury
was making out the indictment against
him one of them said that he was posi-
tive Wright was not crooked. In fact
so favorable an impression was had OF
him that he was sent Tor and DrOugng
before them. He saw that the case stood
ten to one against him, and arising sad;
Gentlemen, l don't understand this
business; I shall go and consult with my
attorney about it, They answered: "Au
right that is satisfactory.
Il will return in a day or so" he re-
marked, and was gone.
Wright left Immediately. went to Price.
through to Castle Valley by a road never
before travelled in the winter. it being
in January. He returned by way of Nepht
and up north on the west side OF Utan
lake. 1t was probably on this trip that
he met the boys at the Hayes raneh VINO
were afterward murdered. He was home
again that winter for two weeks. but
never left the house unless under cover
of darkness. Then ne left again and his
wife never saw him again till after the
murder. How they left West Jordan.
traded the Hayes wagon to Beckstead.
team at the point of the mountain and
drove to the mouth of Spanish Fork
canyon, has been told before.
After leaving Utah in the early fall or
'95. Wright has been heard from in Range
ly and Freshwater, where ne pracIiced
law and won a good reputation for him
his wife at Governor. n. Y, but since
then she has never seen him.
REASON OF HER BELIEF.
Mrs. Wright in answer to the question.
why she believed her husband guilty Of
the triple murder. said that she based her
belief on the way he acted, from several
circumstances which came under her
notice and from the fact that he was in
possession of the property from the Hayes
ranch When he was told OF the deed,
they were sitting at a table. He turned
ghoStly pale and a strange, haunted look
came into his eyes. Before they left West
Jordan he on leaving her alone once,
told her that if anyone came TO give the
horses poison and lead them over in q
eulch TO the rear of the farm. This she
determined not 10 do Since them, in COM
pariue the horses he killed and the wagon
and other property with the description OF
that stolen from the Hayes ranch, she
found a striking resemblance, COIN
cidence not to be easily overlooked. And
en- from details too numerous to mention,
a thread of evidence has been woven
which she believes is memorable. On be-
ing asked if she ever spoke to him of the
murder she replied in the negative, stat
ing that she was too much afraid of him
TO sneak to him of it. fearing that he
would kill her if he thought she knew
so much.
Wright has used number of aliases;
among which are James G. Weeks. c. T.
case Mr. Stephens, James Brown, George Z
Blair, James Atkins and Martin r. Jen-
ningS
Sheriff Storrs says that reward for his
capture will be offered, circulars scattered
broadcast over the land and everything
possible done for his Apprehension;
Tomorrow he expects to go with Mrs.
Wright to the point of the mountain
north of Lehi TO see the place where the
team was killed.