Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-11-12
A SINGULAR CASE
Effort to Defraud a Life In
surance Company Leads
to Arrest.
AN UNKNOWN BODY
Found In a Jacksonville Hotel Was
Sent Out as That of Newell {.
Rathbun.
AN UNKNOWN
That Person Is Now In Jail Trying
t. Explain Things to the
Police.


Rathbun, who was supposed to have
been found dead in Jeffersonviile
hotel last THURSDAY, was arrested IN
Louisville yesterday. According 10
Rathbun the corpse which was shipped
- Little Rock as the body OF Rathbun
vac the body of w l.. Ten Eyke. The
police say Ra..lbun has confessed to
desertion from the United States army
and to having formed a plan to fraud
uiently collect $4,000 insurance on his
life, but that he denies having killed
the man who died in the Jeffersonville
United States recruiting station In
louisville. He is held as fugitive
from justice. The arrest was made on
Information from Sergeant Skinner of
the United States recruiting station.
Rathbun enlisted under the name OF
Lou Root. Detroit.
Sergeant Skinner had read the story
of the Jacksonville case, and cireum-
stances connected with the new re-
cruit aroused his suspicious One OF
these was the fact that the man had
On a government suit OF underwear
He said he had bought the garments
from a soldier friend. Another cir
cumstance was his knowledge of army
afrairs about Little Rock. Saturday
he passed the examination and en-
listed. AT the detective Office Rath-
bun was put through the sweating
process. and under pressure made the
following statement. according to his
inquisitors:
MY name is Newell c. Rathbun,
and my home is in Little Rock, Ark.
Several months ago | deserted from
the army post at Plattsburgh, N Y,
in company with another recruit by
the name of w. III. Ellis. | soon lost
sight of him. and went on to Little
Rock. Inere l was married, and at
terward took out the insurance poll
cies. / came to Louisville about 10
days ago and formed a plan to make
the insurance company think | was
dead so that | could collect the in
surance. l fell in with man who
said his name was w. l.. Ten Eyke,
and told him of my plan and he agreed
to help me. Our plan was to obtain
q corpse from some place. put it in
a hotel in Jacksonville, and then set
fire to the motel. While we were in
Jacksonville we took a number OF
drinks and Ten Eyke got drunk. l
think his death was caused by drink
ing. | put the letters addressed to me
in his pocket and left. l did not kill
him. l then came to Louisville and
then to the recruiting ONCE and en-
listed. My real home is in Detroit"
The police are trying to establish
the identity of the dead man. One of
their theories is that he was tramp
that Rathbun had fallen in with The
police have telegraphed to the Little
Rock authorities to hold the corpse
A gold watch bearing the name w
II. Ellis" was found on Rathbun. He
refuses to say where he got it The
police say the handwriting of Lou
Root" the recruit. was very similar to
the signature w. l.. Ten Eyke, on
the Jeffersonvilie hotel register. Cor
'cner Coots of Jeffersonville states that
he examined the stomach OF the dead
man and found traces of enough laud-
arum TO kill two men.
The Louisville detectives think that
the man found dead in the Jefferson
Vile hotel Thursday was Charles
Goodman of Evansville. Ind. Good
man left the Salvation Army headquar-
tiers in Louisville Wednesday night,
saving ne was going to Indiana, and
has never returned 1t is said the
description of Goodman and that OF
the man who was afterward found
dead, tally.