Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-11-30
CHARLOTTE.
A Suspected Murderer Arrested
and Imprisoned.
Charged with Having Robbed, Killed and
Cromated Mrs. CoIley and Miss Cath
cart-Moro Hidden Money Discovered
on the Premises.

ueil VI tllS county, is charged WITH
the murder of Mrs. Violet Colley and
Miss Jane Cathcart.
He was arrested yesterday afternoon
at Gold Hill. fourteen miles from Sal
isbury. by Chief of Police w. S. Orr,
eN-Sherifr II. Smith, and Sheriff Mum
roe, of Rowan county, and was brought
to this city last night and confined in
the county Jail.
The clue that led to the arrest of Ell
Ter was sewing machine lease, issued
in the names of his wife, Harriet, and
his daughter, Eva, which was found in
Mrs. Colley'S house, close TO the cup
board that contained hidden money.
The lease, which Is the usual document
prepared when n machine is bought on
the installment plan, is dated January
q, 1898, and al note on the paper show
ed that the machine had been reposses-
sed by the seller, the Singer Sewing
Machin company, through it's agent,
Mr.. c. Y. Reid, on the Goth OF October,
1893.
After finding the lease, Chief Orr
began to make quiet inquiries about
Eller. He ascertained that the man was
jackleg carpenter with scant reputa-
ton of any kind; that he came from
Rowan county originally, but that for
some years he had lived on n small
farm about two miles from the resi-
deice of Mrs. Colley.
y week before the murder I5ller's
wife and three children left for Gold
Hill, where it was found Icller had gone
the day after the women had been
killed. Upon locating his man the
chief announced here yesterday morn
ing that he was going off on Il short
shooting trip. ana he and the two
other officers dressed in sportsmen's
1nft fd,,
noon and proceeded to Ellcr's house,
In the Gold Hill neighborhood. His
wife and children, who were in the
house. Informed the men that Eller
was out in the woods nearby, and the
officers soon found I1ller who had an
axe in his hand.
Chief Orr first fenced with the man
by telling him that he had come to ar
rest him on some cause connected with
the sewing machine lease, and Filler re-
piled that he knew nothing about the
matter, as it had been left in the hands
or the women folks. The chief then
charged Eller with the murder of Mrs
Colley and Miss Cathcart, and the sus-
pectcd man showed much agitation and
fear.
Before anything further was said
Eller pulled out his pocl1etbook, which
contained a little more than q dollar,
and said: This is all the money
have"
why did you leave your old home
SO suddenly and why didn't you come
TO the Cooley house after the murder,
as the other neighbors did?" asked the
chief. Eler answered that he hadn't
time to go to the house; and said that
as to his whereabouts on the night of
the murder he could prove an alibi. He
was told OF the lease having been found
in the house. and he admitted that he
could give no explanation of the find
Ing of the paper there.
The officers took the man to his
house which was searched. Before
they began the search IIller said he had
given his wife $12 when she left Char
lotte to como to Gold Hill. and that this
sum, less the cost of railroad tickets,
was all the money in her possession or
In the house that he knew of. Chief
Orr found $40 in the dwelling, SGT in
greenbacks and So in silver. The pa
per money was in So and 50 bills, old
and crumpled. This money was
claimed by Mrs. Eller and was re-
tanned by her, by permission OF the
officers.
Other circumstances that suggest the
guilt of Eller will be given at the pre-
lininary trial, which will probably be
held this afternoon. 1t will be men
toned, among other things, that the
tracks which were noticed after the
murder and which were regarded sus-
piciously, were made by n man wear
ing large new pair of shoes. When
Eller was arrested he wore a nearly
new pair of No. shoes. Other incl
dents-not to be related herewith be
mentioned at the trial as cause for in
eliminating Eller. And the authorities
Will, of course. insist that he give an
account of his movements on the night
of the murder
The suspected man is 40 years old: 5
feet inches high; weighs about $50
pounds, and is dark, with a sallow
complexion. His general appearance is
not prcpossessng
MORE HIDDEN MONEY.
Hidden money continues to be dis
covered in the old Cooley house. Yes
tcrday Mr.. a. II. Rhyme, the admins
traitor. who searches daily for money.
found SSl.15 in n tin box in a closet in
the sitting room downstairs. Two
gold rings were also found.
y letter from Mrs. Coley's step
daughter, who lives in Florence Alaa
showed that, in spite of the boarding
plea of poverty in order to obtain
riches. The letter mentioned the en-
closure of So, stating that that sum
was all the writer could spare at the
time. 1t concluded by requesting that
Mrs. Colley should write when she was
in need again.
1t is believed by many people that n
large sum OF money is still concealed
somewhere about the premises. Most
of the money already found is of a
comparatively recent issue or. proba-
bly,. the savings of the last fifteen or
twenty years. Mrs. Colley was about
so years old and all her life she had
boarded what she made or had been
given. She had always owned pretty
good paying property and her living
expenses were exceedingly small. She
must have concealed a great deal of