Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-30
Result Of Inquiry Concerning Death
of an Unknown Man.
BODY FOUND IN VIRGINIA WOODS
Nothing by Which Remains May
Be Identified.
DOUBTS RESPECTING VERDICT

1
| farm, in Fairfax county. Va, about two
miles from the Chain bridge. An inquest
| was held this morning, but the remains
| were unidentified and will be inferred to-
| morrow morning about o'clock, if un-
| claimed. The general impression is that
| death was self-infiicted. This view Is
| strengthened by the fact that a revolver
was found in the hands of the dead man.
| The discovery of the remains was made
| by three young white boys named Bab-
| cock, who, 1t is said, were hunting for
| buzzards' eggs. The body was lying with
| in fifty yards of the river bank-a steep
| hill, perhaps four or five hundred yards in
height. The spot was one well selected
| for suicide and is visible only on one side
To the south was the steep side of a rocky
ledge, perhaps fifteen feet in height, and
the man was sheltered by this when the
| deed was committed, the space being only
two or three feet in width Persons might
| pass Immediately over the body and never
be able to find it, and only for the fact
that the buzzards are said to lay their
eggs In rocky cleftS was the discovery
made.
The remains were in a rather bad condi-
tion Alarmed over what they had seen
the boys hurried to Chain bridge and there
| notlhed a constable of their find. 1t so
| happened that while Chain bridge is with
| IN the jurisdiction of Alexandria county the
| spot where the body was found Is well
within Fairfax county, and SO notice was
| served on Constable James L. Mccarthy
who Immediately began an investigation
He found the body and. after notifying the
Justice Of the peace, Henry NJ. Fortner,
| made arrangements for an inquest, which
was held this morning shortly after o
O'Clock and at which nothing developed to
disclose the identity of the dead man.
Identification Impossible.
Identification of the remains from the
face was impossible. 1t was also practi-
cally impossible to judge the age of the
dead person. The clothing was all that re-
mained intact, and from this fact alone, if
by any means, the future identification will
be made.
The entire front portion of the face was
missing, from the eyes to the chin, and
from ear to ear. The flesh had all disap-
peared. and this is supposed to have been
removed by the buzzards, which are re-
ported TO be quite numerous in the locality
The nose had been entirely eaten off and
| II mustache once adorned the face it was
no longer to be seen. The teeth appeared
to be quite prominent, and We're regular
Both of the ears We're gone.
On the left side of the face, a little be-
low the temple, small wound was plainly
visible, which was caused by the bullet
plowing its way through the bone The
flesh remaining on the hands was black
ened by decomposition. Although in places
Siotleu Will DIoOu II could easily be
seen that the hair was of a red color-a
sandy hue, as one person expressed 1t.
When found the man lying on his
left hip, and the trunk of the body was so
twisted around that the face was living
toward the ground, with the arms folded
near the body. In searching the clothes
for articles that might possibly be used for
future identification 1T was necessary to
turn the corpse entirely around When
lying squarely on the back a large gap
was visible in the neck, giving the i'm
preston that the throat had been cut The
wound seemed to be entirely too clean to
De caused by decomposition.
Description of Body.
The dead body was evidently that of a
person who weighed about 14O pounds, and
who was about five feet six or seven inches
in height 1t was clearly not the body of
a tramp. The corpse was attired in
short graysh colored overcoat covering a
small square checked gray coat and vest
He wore also q pair of blue gray panta-
looms striped lengthwise Black socks were
visible A rather wide striped blue and
white shirt was worn, with cuffs to match.
"A white collar, standing, of medium
height, on which the marks could not be
ascertained among the blood stains and a
small square-checked silk necktie of gray
and white We're worn. 1t was one of the
ready-made' ties, and bore the only mark
found on the dead mans clothing, having
the stamp of Ed Steudtner, Hoboken.
i
A search in the pockets revealed a pair
of light kid gloves, practically new, of a
broWn1Sh tint, two cigars, a box of matches
and an almost new 81 bill found in an up
per vest pocket. A half-emptied half pint
bottle of whisky was also found in the
clothes, the bottle bearing no label at ALL
In the right hand was found a Four
hand revolver Of 80 caliber. containing five
chambers. There were two empty cham
bers, while the trigger rested on one ap-
parently recently discharged. Two full
loads remained in the weapon. On the
cuffs pair of gold-waShed buttons was
found. They were rather oblong in shape
containing blue stone setting of some
kind, with an engraving that partly resem-
bled the letter o.
At the inquest this morning before Squire
Fortner there were no witnesses heard. A
| jury, consisting Of j. NJ. Walthers, fore
man; John o Cant, Emory Boucher, Ward
Kirby, Charles Schutt, William Rogers and
| W. E. Phillips, was impaneled and held a
session Immediately beside the body.
Verdict of the Jury.
After viewing the body and hearing the
| opinions OF those present the Jury returned
| the following verdict:
1--WE, the undersigned jury, viewed the
remains of a dead nan found on the Nc
Carthy farm, in Fairfax county, Va, and
suppose that the said man came to his
death by a pistol shot from his own hand ];
said man supposed TO oe about thirty-two
years of age five fect seven inches in
| height. and weighing about 14O pounds.
| We suppose that he has been dead for
three weeks"
| After the verdict of the jury the articles
| found in the possession of the dead man
were placed in charge of Squire Fortner,
| while Constable Mccarthy made arrange
| nents for the funeral. He stated that the
| interment would be made near the spot
| where the body was found, and when seen
| by Star reporter his way to
! Georgetown to secure suitable c0fin.
| Doubts of Suicide.
Though the jury returned a verdict of
| suicide, the opinion is held by some who
viewed the remains that death may have
been caused by some other person. The
/ fact that the bullet hole was in the left
| cheek and the pistol was clasped firmly In
| the right hand of the dead man was re-
garded as peculiar. Another fact cite.. in
support of the doubt Is that the throat is
| supposed to have been cut, and that no
knife was found in the vicinity. Despite
| the fact that the jury expressed the pelief
that the man had been dead for three
weeks, the condition of the body, It Is said.
did not fully justify this belief there being
| no odor from the decomposing flesh.