The evening times., 1899-04-14
qHE MYSTERY OF
RIDERS CASTLE
Body Proves to Be That Of a
Woman.
Charles II. Butler, COlOred, Arrest
ed on Suspicion.
CIrcumstantIal Evidence COnvincen
the Police That Murder Was
Committed.

The mystery surrounding the finding OF
! body in the coal vault at Riders Cas-
+, tie 423' New Jersey Avenue northwest,
yesterday has not been cleared up by the
police.
An autopsy was held at the morgue this
! morning to determine the sex Of the per-
son found and the length of time the body
had been in the ground before its discov-
| cry.
Coroner Carr and Deputy Co. oner GlaZe-
| brook performed the autopsy and the con-
clusion reached is that the body is that OF
| colored woman about five feet four
inches tall in life and who weighed about
| 10 pounds and was under thirty years of
age. This conclusion was reached by the
| coroner and his assistant after a close ex
| animation of the body and the nth from
which it was taken.
All OF the organs in the upper portion Of
| the remains We're decomposed and missing.
The intestines and some Of the abdominal
organs were partially intact, and the doc
tors were able to determine that they were
| in i healthy condition at the time of death
| as well as the wOmans age.
One OF the most important decisions OF
| the coroner was that the body could not
| have been in the ground longer than sew
| en- months. This decision was based on
! the condition OF the organs found and the
extent of the decomposition.
! This would place the time of the death
of the person in the latter part OF Septem-
| ber or the first of October. DR.. Glazebrook
J told reporter for The Times that he
thought it possible that the body had been
/ there longer than that, but that il not
! probable. He thought that had the re
| mains been in the vault during August,
their presence would have been made
| known by the stencil.
! II this be true it obliterates the sus-
picion against Mary Dorsey. as she has cot
been near the house since March. 1895.
| The police and newspaper reporters were
engaged all the morning in trying to dis
| cover some clew that might have been
| overlooked by those who found the body.
| But all efforts were in vain.
| The police are firmly convinced that
murder was committed. They believe
that the manner in which the body was
! disposed of proves this. The position of
the corpse when found denotes that some
! thing unusual had occurred. The body
T, was lying face downward and the head
| was at least foot from the trunk. Wheth
| er the throat had been cut or any of the
| organs in the upper part OF the remains
had been injured with blow or a fall will
| probably never be known. The police IN
! tend that the matter shall receive most
! thorough investigation.
| Charles Henry Butler. who lived in the
house and gave his name Walter Butler
| TO the police yesterday. has been arrested
! and is locked up at the Sixth precinct sta
| tion to await developments. The police
are not of the opinion that Butler was
| concerned in the supposed murder but he
] was the only person who had access TO the
| vault in which the body was found at the
time the coroner says the crime was COM
| mitted.
| He was interviewed by a Times reporter
! in his cell at the stationhouse and told a
straightforward story regarding his actions
| during the months directly preceding and
| following the date fixed by the coroner.
| He insists that no person could have en-
tered the vault between April, 1898, and
| April, 1899. without his knowledge. as he
| had lot of old furniture there and If this
| had been disturbed he would have known
| il.
Detectives Boyd and McNamee from
| headquarters and the police of the Sixth
| precinct are all engaged on the mystery.