Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-10-13
MURDER THEORY IS UPHELD
Finding of the Body of Edward Smith Sets
at Rest all Doubt as to the Fate
of the Young Man.

his clothes under the slabs in the jam
and following this theory Fred Linden
| burg made aquiet search In the vicinity
Monday his efforts were rewarded b
| finding pocket book and several letter
| addressed to Edward Smith at Athens
! Lindenberg came to Athens and mad
| known his discoveries. Monday after
noon Fred Damon, Carroll Heath, Free
Lindenberg, Joe Albrecht and severa
others searched the woods in the viciniE
of where Lindenberg had found th
| letters. Under some bushes and GOV
cred with leaves, Albrecht uneartheC
Smiths old clothes, shirt, suspende"s
ruo., where they had probably been hid
den after being taken from Smith
valise.
A chain of circumstantial evidence i
being slowly wound around Young
and the finding of Smiths clothes will
make things look pretty blue for him
The clothes were found two miles cas-
of Athens, nearly four miles from where
it is supposed Smith was murdered
Instead of coming home from Ponia
towski the usual way. Young followed
the telephone line, which runs past the
woods in which he hid the clothing
1t appears that Young had driven into
the woods around an old skidway, lef
his buggy for moment and after rifline
the pOcketbook and clothes, rapidly
hid them.
A telephone message from Wausau
Monday, told where to lookEfor the body
of Smith, but searching parties failed to
find any trace, and it is very probable
that unless confession is made, the
body will never be recovered. The
woods have been thoroughly secured,
but not a trace has been Athens
Record.
Geo. S Smith, father of Edward, and
his neighbor, Thos. Armstrong, were in
the city from Friday night until Satur-
day afternoon On Friday night they
visited Young, the accused man, at the
county jail. The father naturally felt
very bad over the loss of his SON. With
tears in his eyes he begged of Young to
tell him where the remains of his boy
could be found that he might remove
them to his Michigan home. He told
Young that he felt sorry for him and
that he would forgive him for the crime
if the latter would only tell him where
the remains were secreted. Young,
though considered a hard hearted man,
finallv broke down and acted as if
ready to tell something, but went back
into his cell and closed up like an oyster
and would talk no more. He sticks to
his first story told the officers that he
let Smith out of the buggy at the school
house south of Poniatowski; and that
was the last he saw of him. Further
than that statement he vii! make no
other, merely saying, II nave got to
tell of my movements of that day 10 a
HOn nd
and therefore do not care to tell them
in advance" At nearly all times he
puts on a bold front He has been
openly charged with the crime and it
has not seemed to worry him in the
least. OF course he has been inquis-
tive to find out whether anything new
developed, but aside from that lie has
shown heart of stone, and if murder
was committed, as everyone thinks and
has reason to believe has been done,
and he is the guilty party, then he is
criminal of no ordinary nerve and has
indeed cruel heart.
Mrs. Smith, mother of the missing
boy, was recently visited by clalfvoy-
ant, at her home in Michigan. Being
skeptical she wished to test the So
called powers of this personagef and.
not giving her any Information to
work on, asked her TO relate some of
the family history. The clairvcyant
told of a number of things that had oc-
Cured in the family, with a fair de-
gree of accuracy, and finally got down
to recent events She told Mrs. Smith
that she had lost a son near a village in
Wisconsin, describing the crcum-
stances. She stated that the son, in
company with another man, had left
the village at a time tallying with the
date of Edwards disappearance, and
going down d logging road leading
from the main road, the son had been
cruelty murdered. At an Opportune
time, she said, the murderer had struck
her son over the head with a club,
knocking him senseless, and then
stabbed him in the back with knife,
and after rifling his pockets had left
him for dead. After time the son re-
gained consciousness and crawled to a
shanty, where he died. This story she
conveyed in a letter to her husband,
who is now at Athens searching for his
son, and an examination, showed that
there is such road as the woman de-
scribed. 70
BODY FOUND.
Since the above was put in type the
body has been found. Arrangements
had been made for a large crowd of
men to leave here early Sunday morn
ing and join forces with parties from
Edgar, Poniatowski, athens and farm
houses in that section, and by con-
certed action, thoroughly scour the
woods in the vicinity where Young and
Smith were last seen, and then if the
body was not found, hopes of ever find
ing it would probably have been aban-
doned. For nearly three weeks parties
numbering from fifteen TO hundred
men have been engaged almost daily in
going over the ground. but outside of
finding the dead mans old working
clothes, no other trace could be dis
covered. The impression was that
Young had Rot had time to go as far as
as Edgar, and thus the searching par
ties had not looked for the body in the
right locality Had it not been dis
covered by accident it probably might
not have been found until years hence,
when the murder had been forgotten
The body was found about eleven miles
from Athens, making a drive oftwenty-
two miles for Young in the short time
of about three hours Some time was
lost in the commission of the murder,
Stopping at the saloon at Poniatowski
and also in emptyiag Smiths valise
and hiding its contents, so that all
things considered, it was a hurry up
job.
Saturday, Henry Gebelein, a farmer
living in town of Rib Falls, hitched up
his team and with his wife drove to
Edgar TO do some trading. As they
passed point about two miles north of
the village they detected a most un-
pleasant odor, as if some dead animal
was lying in the bushes not far from the
road. He knew of the circumstance of
Smiths disappearance and of the search
being conducted for his body, and re-
marked to his wife that when they re-
turned he would make an investigation.
which he did Reaching the same point
on his return trip he entered the woods
on the west side of the road, but could
lind nothing. His wife directed him to
the opposite side, and after going some
fifty feet ran onto the body Ii was
lying near an old skidway that had
been used several seasons prior, there
being a growth of hazel brush about II
which hid it from the view of the road,
when leaves were on the trees, as they
n 4