The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-11-15

Louisville. KY, November 13.-New
features today in the case of Newell C.
Rathbun. held here on charge OF de-
sertion from the United States army
and suspected of the murder OF Charles
Goodman, who was found dead in bed
last Thursday in a Jeffersonville hotel.
were: Rathbun's statement to the po-
lice that his wife at Little Rock had
known of his plan to defraud the IN
surance company, though not OF the
murder feature of it; the decision to
have the corpse of the supposed Good
man returned to Jeffersonville for an
autopsy and Identification; the an
nouncement from Washington that the
war department 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 jury over the corpse that
was shipped there. They say that
Rathbun will go nowhere except to
Jeffersonville, where he is to be tried
on the charge of numbering by poison
Charles Goodman. a telegram was
sent to Little Rick today asking that
the corpse be returned to Jefferson
vile.
The suspicious of Captain Sullivan
were aroused this morning by news
from Little Rock that a Miss Corinne
Pryor had stated that Rathbun had
proposed a very much similar plot of
defrauding an insurance company to
her and had said if she would marry
him and carry out her part he would
send a corpse home: that it could be
buried as his, and that he and she
could divide the insurance money. He
also learned that Mrs. Rathbun insist
ed that the corpse sent from Jefferson
Vile and now in Little Rock was that
of her husband.
After ascertaining these facts, Cap
tain Sullivan had Rathbun brought into
his private office and interrogated him
about this phase of the case. Rathbun
said:
Il have only told you part of the
truth, so far. l arranged this matter
with my wife in Little Rock long ago.
but did not want to bring her into the
case. Now it looks like 1 will have to.
1 told her that 1 would find a corpse
and that she was to telegraph for it to
be buried and then collect the insur-
ance and in time 1 would desert again
from the army and meet her at some
place and We would divide it.
After making this statement Rath-
bun said that his wife knew nothing of
any plot to commit murder or to set
fire to a hotel. Indeed" he said, mo
murder was committed, for I did not
kill Goodman. might have killed him
if necessary. but he died from natural
causes
One of the most perplexing features
of the case as it now presents itself to
the police is in regard to the real iden-
tity of the prisoner here. He has been
passing himself off over the country as
Lieutenant Newell c. Rathbun: he was
married in Little Rock under that name
and he was insured for $4,000, but the
detectives are convinced that it an alias
and that he has never told his real
name or his real home.
1AllIe fNOCk, Ark, november 1S.-ln
order to establish the identity of the
man under arrest at Louisville, Ky,
and said to be Newell c. Rathbun.
deputy Sheriff A. B. Chichester left
this afternoon for Louisville, accompa-
MED by Emil T. Cleockler, who knows
Rathbun we'll
Today Coroner Young took testimony
touching the identity of the dead body
sent here as that Of Rathbun. Charles
McKown, whose wife is a sister of
Rathbun's wife, testified that he was
well acquainted with Rathbun. He
had looked at the body and thought
it was undoubtedly that of Rathbun.
The witness received the remains at
the depot Sunday morning and had
them conveyed to his house on Third
and Cross streets. When the coffin
was opened Rathbun's wife viewed the
remains and said that's my darling"
The first intimation he had that any
thing was wrong was when Mrs. J. c.
Watkins came to his house Sunday and
after looking at the body said it was
not that of Rathbun.
Chris Elkins testified that he knew
the man who was here as recruiting