Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-05-10
WHO KILLED MRS. COLLINS?

A staff correspondent of Wilmington
Erery Ercning writes from Laurel, Del,
his Investigation of the Collins murder.
as follows:
Mrs. Ida Collins of Portsville, near
this town, was brutally murdered two
weeks ago last Saturday. Thus far two
arrests have been made in connection
with the crime-those of her husband
and the negro William Pratt. he of the
numerous aliases. And the sentiment
of this community is radically divided
as To which of the two, if either, is the
guilty man.
For it may be that both are innocent,
and that the murderer was one against
whom even the breath of suspicion has
not yet been directed.
But as TO Collins and Pratt, the stu
alton is Il peculiar one. With respect
to the former, "a large number of people
have simply assumed that he is the
guilty man. Their suspicious rested on
him from the first, and apparently they
hold To them simply because they will
not admit that they were mistaken.
There Is absolutely not scintilla of
evidence against him: not the sugges-
ton of motive. Nothing but sus-
picion, which thus far has been sup
ported only by the miserable gossip and
scandal that invariably attends Il situa-
tion like this, and that invariably proves
to have no foundation in fact when run
to the ground by close and impartial
investigation. How the court looked
upon his arrest was clearly indicated
when they granted the motion for his
release on bail, and fixed the considera-
ton of the bond ut the nominal sum of
$500. Had .he testimony against him
been of the slightest weight the bail
would have been of very substantial
figures, or the motion would have been
denied
AS to the negro, the situation is diff
ferent He is Il man of bad reputation
and dangerous disposition. He has
made confession which, no matter
what may be said about the conditions
attending it, was his own admission.
The statements of that confession coin
eide with the circumstances and sur
roundings of the crime i'll such Il man.
ner as to indicate that the man was
telling the truth and was not merely
scared into damaging admissions. A
man closely resembling him was seen
leaving the Collins place about the time
of the murder. Pratt's shoes were found
to fit the footsteps made by this man.
There was blood on his clothing, and
blood was observed upon the fence at
the place where the colored man was
seen leaving the farm.
So much for the situation as it applies
to the two men who have been held by
the law on suspicion of being guilty of
this horrid murder. The one an object
of mere suspicion and baseless accusa-
ton; the other the sclf-confessed muir
derer, whose confession agrees will all
the material circumstances of the crime
and whose record is that of Il man who
would not hesitate an instant to COM
nit murder, for the purpose of either
robbery or revenge.
Ii the crime was committed by one or
the other of these two men, it should
not be difficult for the unprejudiced
mind to select the one against whom
rests the greater presumption of guilt.
And yet someone else might have
committed the crime.
There has been entirely too much at
tention paid to the talk of idle gossipers
i'll the Collins murder. Many of the
newspaper stories published originated
in the minds of tn ose who frequent the
hotel porches and street corners. and