The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-14
HAS POLICE GUESSING
RATHRUN, UNDER ARREST AT
LOUIS Vile, Is SOMETHING
OF A MYSTERY
QUEER TESTIMONY At INQUEST
Detectives Cannot satisfy Them
selves as to the Real Identity
of the PrisonerGDead Man
Was Poisoned.

LOUISVILLE, Ky, Nov. 13.-New fea-
lures today in the case of Newell e.
Rathbun. held here on a charge of de-
sertion from the United States army, and
suspected of the murder of Charles Good
man, who was found dead last Thursday
in Jeffersonville hotel, were Rathbun's
statement to the police that his wife at
Little Rock had known of his plan to
defraud the insurance company though
not of the murder feature of it; the de-
cision to have the corpse of the supposed
Goodman returned to Jeffersonville for an
autopsy and identification; the announce
ment from Washington that the war de-
partment had decided to send Rathbun to
Jeffersonville and turn him over to the
Indiana authorities, and the refusal of
the local authorities to send Rathbun to
Little Rock to testify at the coroner's in.
quest over the corpse that was shipped
there. They say Rathbun will go no.
where except to Jeffersonville, where he
is to be tried on the charge of murder
ing by poison Charles Goodman. A tefe-
gram was sent to Little Rock today ask
ing that the corpse be returned to Jeffer--
Sonville.
One Of the most perplexing features Of
the case as it now presents itself to the
police is in regard to the real identity
Of the prisoner here. That he has been
passing himself over the country as
Lieut.. Newell c. Rathbun; that he was
married in Little Rock under that name
and that he was insured for $4,000 appear
to be certain, but the police are convinced
that it is an alias, and that he has never
told his real name, or his real home.
Mistaken Identity or Perjury.
A. dispatch from Little Rock says the
inquest over the remains supposed to be
nf Do
ed this morning at 10 o'clock. Several
persons testified that the remains were
not those of Rathbun. while others testi-
fled that theye were. Detective Chichester
has gone to Louisville taking with him
Emil Gloeckler, personal friend of
Rathbun's, for the purpose of identifying
him. Chichester represents the insurance
company in which Rathbun secured the
policy for $4,000.
When asked for his opinion as to the
claim made by Mrs. Rathbun that the
corpse shipped to Little Rock was that
of her husband, Rathbun laughed and re-
marked: Maybe it is his corpse" That
is all he would say on the subject,
Dr. Benson Doolittle, proprietor Of a
drug store in Jeffersonville, close to the
undertaking establishment of E. M. Coots
& Sons, was in the morgue when the
alleged discovery was made that Good
man stomach contained laudanum. The
fumes were unmistakable. he insists. Cor
oner Coots walked into the room and in
stantly said: "Laudanum. Open the doors
and windows DR.. DoolittIe saws he will
swear laudanum was in Goodman's
stomach In large quantity.
The Louisville police today began send
ing all over the United States photo
graphs and description of Rathbun in
an effort to positively Identify him.
A telegram has been received from the
chleI OF police of Evansville, Ind, stating
that Goodman was a resident of CrinpIe
Creek, Col, where he was a brass work
err.
Rathbun is tonight in the Clark county
lnd.) Jail on charge Of murder. Under
instructions from the war department at
Washington Rathbun, who is a deserter
from the United States army, was turned
over to the Indiana authorities and taken
SacrOSS the river : =