The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-12-14

l 'A-C~ ~ dftiSC THIS
We have been ordered and are paid
to bury him alive for few hours to give
him taste of plain, damp grave ard Of
a common pine box. Our orders are to
place him stone naked in the muslin
| sack dump in a grave and partly ill same
| t" be discovered next morning by the
grave diggers and treated by them as a
worthless corpse.
wv propose to make a few changes.
| as follows: To prevent an escape. Bernard
will have his hands and feet tied with
small cords; small cords will allow small
knots that cannot be undone with the
fingers. For the decency we have decided
10 furnish pair of pants and a shirt of
cheap muslin.
Our orders are to burn his clothing
and articles used for the burial on top Of
the grave to have the ashes mixed with
the dirt but We intend to burn only part
OF them, as We do not want Bernard
to return home in a naked condition OF
TO put you 70 the Inconvenience of Turn
shig some clothing. We have also orders
t, cut his hair so that something Of him
self shall remain in the grave. We enclose
a sample of hair.
we do not call for any sensation:
all we want is to punish Bernard and 10
give you time TO rescue him and prepare
your grave for the real funeral. We sent
you a word to call at the cemetery. You
must acknowledge that we save you much
trouble as it would e a hard blow for you
l. you had the grave occupied by Bernard
al the arrival of the funeral. We also
save you some work as we do not I'LL the
whole grave and Bernard tied in his
shroud viii be unable to kick or break
the box or spoil it. We hope that you viii
appreciate all our precautions"
The .Executoners.
On the last page, TO which the word
over" called attention. was written
I'VE advise you TO carry Bernard in his
shroud TO the vault or to the tool house
while you fix the grave and attend TO the
funeral. BY keeping him a prisoner in
the vault you will complete the punish
ment. The wishes of the relatives OF
the dead man is that you handle Bernard
roughly.
Our postal card signed c. H was to
induce you to come early at the grave the
surprise will not be flowers but sup
posed corpse
Enclosed in the letter was a clipping
from newspaper as follows;
Robbers Buried Him in Celery.
Lebanon. Pa, Nov. Con suspicion
of being the man who last night robbed
the telegraph operator at RossmOre, on
the Reading railroad four tramps were
arrested this afternoon The operator
was bound. gagged and buried under a
pile Of celery.
On the bottom margin of the clippings
were scrawled in ink the words;
I'VE are not the only ones to bury
others"
The reference to postal card and !
notice sent to the grave diggers is prob |
ably a part of the plan that was over
looked. A small lock of hair referred TO !
in the letter was found tied with red |
wrapping string.
Statements made by the police are 70 /
the effect that while BadoHet's feet were /
tightly tied his hands were not bound as
they would have been had it been done /
by assailants Small white cord was used
and it was tied in hard knot about the
left wrist but was only wrapped about
tho other.
Police Lieutenant Dempsey and Round
Barranger sweated the man and
he acknowledged that his original state
ment was a fabrication and that he had
done the deed alone.
80. you buried yourself, did your
Yes, replied the man.
How did you know there was an open /
grave at St. Johns last night?'
Il saw it in a death notice
How long did it take you to tie your
self and get in the box?
About a half hour, 1 suppose"
How did you get the lid on the grave
box with its weight of dirt and rocks?'
L worked it on gradually
Were you not cold in the grave?'
NO"
Did you sleep?'
No. Previously he had told the police
that he had slept for two hours after six
o'clock.
DO you feel any i'll effects?'
..Nones except that my heart is giving
me trouble but that is not new.
why did you use the name Of Ber-
nard? ?"
1T just occurred TO me. l don't know
He would not explain the significance
Of the things found in the grave. but said
he had written the letters :n the Balti-
more post office Several persons who
live in -Waverly remember John Marc
Mr. John Clark,who lives in
Windernere avenue. said that the man
had at one time boarded with him.