The Indianapolis journal., 1902-08-11
NO NEARER A SOLUTION
MYSTERY OF THE KILLING OF MRS.
BARTHOLIN AT CHICAGO.
Her Son Still AIissing-A Friend of the
Family Held as a yVftness-AnOther
Letter from Omaha.

CHICAGO. Aug. 10.-The search for Will
liam Bartholin, suspected of having muir
dered mis- mother and Miss Minnie Mitchell,
his sweetheart was continued to-day, but
no trace of the missing man was found.
Oscar Thompson, for eighteen years the con-
slant friend of the fugitives mother, who
was arrested yesterday, stoutly maintained
his innocence of any knowledge of the muir
ders and pleaded with the authorities to be
released After a long examination, how
ever. Thompson was sent back to his cell,
as the police feel confident that he has not
told all he knows. Z. O. Hunter and Mil
F. r. Edwards. former roomers at the
Bartholin house, are being sought by the
police
Late to-day special-delivery letter ar
rived from Omaha for r. II. Mitchell,
brother of the murdered Minnie Mitchell.
from Edwards. who wrote the day after
Miss Mtchells body was identified stat
ing that he was morally certain that Bar
tholin had murdered his mother. Edwards,
in the letter, declared that he had fled from
Chicago because he feared that he would
fall victim to Bartholn's thirst for
blood.
1t was learned to-day that Thompson was
in the house the night that Mrs. Bartholin
was killed. Thompson has admitted that
he was in a room directly across the hall
from Mrs. Bartholin's. The police have
discovered, they say, that the aged woman
room the night of July T. and her body
thrown into closet. where it remained,
undoubtedly, for several days before burial
in the basement. Evidence of this was
found to-day by the police who discovered
Mrs. Bartholin's false teeth, a night robe
covered with blood and a large blood
stained area on the floor of the closet In
Mrs. BartholinS room. The bloodstained
garment was tucked away in a corner under
a shelf, together with the teeth, but the
bloodstained floor revealed that the body
of 1nrD n Nrzf don
in the closet and the door to her room
kept locked for several days.
Another suspicious circumstance to add
to the complications of the mystery de-
veloped tonight. when it was discovered
that Horace Clark, a companion of young
Bartholln, has been missing since the muir
der of Mrs. BarthOlin. 1t is now stated
that ii was absolutely impossible for Bar
tholin to have buried his mother in the
basement during the day time. because
there is no entrance to the cellar except
by way of an outside door. To get the
corpse into the basement he would have
had TO carry it from the closet out of
doors into a back yard directly under the
South Side elevated railroad structure
where trains pass constantly, and in view
of scores of windows on Forty-third street
Thompson. having admitted to the police
that he was in the house every night for
two weeks after Mrs. Barthoin's disa D.
pearance, firmly denies that he saw Bar
thOlin from Tuesday morning the day after
her murder. until Friday evening. and he
also declares that he never heard a sus-
picious sound or saw a suspicious sign dur
ing the day In which the awful tragedy was
committed within his very reach.
Inspector Hunt found a close friend of
Bartholin who saw him last Tuesday. near
~ a week after he disappeared with Minnie
Mitchell, his sweetheart, who was killed on
the night of July 80 BarthOlin called at the
house of this friend last Tuesday night. He
was in a terrible state Of mind and his
actions aroused the wOnderment of his
! host. From him the police obtained de-
/ scription Of the clothing Bartholin wore
! when last seen. These clothes the shoes
1 imitation Panama hat, the coat with the
/ lodge button in the lapel. and the shirt
were found to-day in Bartholn's room
/ thus proving beyond a doubt that he re-
4 turned to the house six days after the
/ death of Minnie Mitchell, and that he could
! have returned al no other time save al
/ night, when Thompson was at home
! Thompson says he never saw Bartholr
| after the Wednesday night he went away
/ with Minnie Mitchell.