Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-06
Accident suicide or murder

Tho veil of mystery is drawn tightly
over the death Of NJ. e. Broaddus' 'r.'
the Richmond College student, whose
hodv vas found in sutton's woods yes
terday morning by two small boys. Inc
certificate given by Coroner Taylor states
that the cause of death Is "unkno"n-
The father of the young man oei'eHeS
that his son met with foul play and has
taken the body to the old home for
burial with the conviction f;ed III ms
mind that his son was murdered When
the body was found, the face was our'eo
deep into the hat he had worn. wherein
were two handkerchiefs which 1T Is oe
Iieved had been saturated with chioro-
form. because the tell-tale bottles lay
addicted to the chloroform habit for
wears. The accident theory is based on
the last hypothesis
The murder theory finds believers
among those who whisper of an Illicit
connection between the dead and Ger
to trace. and with whom, it is believed
Broaddus spent Monday, Tuesday. and
part OF Wednesday.
One Of the bottles, presumably used Tor
chloroform, found near the dead man.
has the name of Thompson" the drug
gist. blown in the glass. and Mr.. Thomp-
son tells of a man who bore no resemo-
lance whatever to the deceased-though
his recol!ections are very vague-who
bought the drug from him on Wednes-
day evening, the night on which the coro-
ner believes young Broaddus died, judg-
ing from the state of decomposition In
which the body was found. and the rigid
ity of the limbs and muscles. The case
is shrouded in mystery over which the
silence of the tomb reigns, and it is now
inscrutab!e.
Left No Messnge.
At the college all sorts of rumors were
a1oa.- last night. One of these was to
the effect that a letter had been dis
covered late yesterday afternoon In the
room formerly occupied by young Broad
dus in the house Of Mr.. William B..
Daniels at Home Place, near the Soldiers
Home. addressed by the student to his
father and announcing his intention Of
ending his life. and pleading for forgive
ness for the pain the act would cause.
The letter. it was said, was addressed to
his father. with directions for its de-
livery after the sons death.
DR.. Broaddus, who was seen just be-
fore he left the city with his sons re-
mains, declared that he received no such
letter and that after a careful examina-
tion Of his sons room he had been able
to find not a single trace Of any pre-
paration for departure or suicide, and
nothing that would indicate at all that
young BroadGus had any idea when he
left his room on Monday morning that
he was never to return to it.
One of the saddest and most heart
rending details of the tragedy occurred
yesterday morning after the body of tho
boy had been found The youth did not
return home to the bosom OF the Daniels
family on Monday He was not at din
ner and Mrs. Daniels grew uneasy, .or
young Broaddus had disappeared once
before In very mysterious manner, and
had turned up near his old home In the
State of Missouri. There were other rea-
sons which made a rather close super
vision Of his habits not only necessary
but impera tive, and on Monday night DR.
Broaddus was notified that his son had
not been seen during the day, and had
not attended the lectures at the college,
which he set out to attend. apparently
in the highest spirits.
Sad Blow to the Father.
Dr. Broaddus grew anxious and came
to the city on Thursday night from his
home at McClelland. Isle Of Wight coun-
ty. He did not call at the college until
yesterday afternoon. and it was while
he was in conference with Professor
Boatwright, in the latter's house, that
the news came to the college Office that
the body of young Broaddus had been
found. The information was carried at
once to DR.. Boatwright, and he was CALL
ed from the room to receive it. He was
utterly dumfounded, and upon him de-
volved the most painful duty of breaking
the awful news to the anxious father.
into whose mind had come not sug-
question OF fate SO dire and terrible
DR.. Broaddus broke down utterly and
it was an hour or more before he was
sufficiently collected to learn the details
as far as they were known, or to con-
suit with anyone in regard to the dispo-
sition of the unfortunate boys body.
The body of young Broaddus was found
by Frederick Hegemeyer., OF 1907 Ran
dolph street. and Eugene Perkins, Of
1905 Randolph street, who are aged, re-
spectively u and II years.
The boys were wandering through the
woods about half past ten in the morn
ing when they stumbled across the dead
body. They ran fearfully away, and
breathlessly told men who were working
near the new reservoir. who rushed at
once to see the CHASTITY sight
Coroner Taylor was summoned by a
telephone message sent from the nursery