The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1904-10-28
ARREST SUSPECT
IN WOODCOCK CASE
Man Giving Name of Thos. Kennedy
Arrested at Jacksonville, Ill.
THE MAN DENIES THE CRIME

Further Details OF How Pretty Flea
nora WoodcOck Met an Awful
Death ut the Hands Of
Ffend.
Waterloo, H., Oct. ga stranger
giving his name as Thomas Kennedy
was arrested at Harrisonville, Monroe
county. H., IA miles west of Waterloo.
Friday afternoon, on suspicion Of being
the assailant and murderer OF Nora
Woodcock, the beautiful 1S-year-old
girl, whose burned and bruised body
was found at two o'clock Thursday
afternoon 200 yards from the home OF
her brother, nine miles west of Water
loo, Monroe county. Ill, % miles south
of East ST. Louis
The man denies that he committed
the crime, but will tell nothing of him
self 1t is stated that the officers at
Harrisonville have evidence that he
was near the scene of the murder
Thursday. The arrest was made by
Constable John Snider, who says the
man was acting suspiciously.
There are no bruises or scratches on
the mans face. such as the officers ex-
pected to find on the person with whom
Nora Woodcock struggled so long and
desperately, nor is there any mark of
a conflict on his clothing. He is being
held until Sheriff Thomas Ruch, who
has been notified, can take steps in the
matter.
BIood-Stnined IRON Crank
Friday afternoon searchers IN the
vicinity of the spot where the dead
girl was found discovered a blood
stained iron crank to grindstone,
| black bone button from a mans coat
and four matches. 1t is believed the
iron crank was the weapon with which
the girl was knocked unconscious be-
fore the effort was made TO burn her
body. The button was evidently torn
from the murderer's coat during the
struggle with his victim. The matches
were probably used by him in lighting
| the heap of hay and brush with which
he tried to burn the unconscious girl
Three of the matches had been lighted;
one, with a long, square stick and
capped with a red prep lration, had not
been struck.
The iron crank was identified as one
which had been attached TO grind
stone at the house. and it is believed
the murderer began his murderous at
tack at the house. and that the spots
of blood found near the house were
from wounds inflicted by him before
the frightened girl began her losing
race with him.
story of the Crime
Miss Eleanora Woodcock, Is years
old daughter of Richard Woodcock, a
wealthy farmer of nine miles west of
Waterloo was assaulted, her skull
crushed andh body burned to a crisp
on the farm of her uncle. William
Tryor. three-quarters of a mile east of
her parents place. Thursday morning.
Richard Woodcock, Jr, Oldest broth
er Of the murdered girl. also lived at
the Tryor farm, where she kept house.
The fiend crept upon the girl while
she was at work Ia the house. dragged
her out into the open, where terrific
struggle ensued, the girl fighting
against superior strength to save her
life and honor
She was found about so yards from
the house by her brother, Richard,
upon his return from town, near a
straw stack.
An armful OF straw had been pulled
from the stack by the murderer placed
over the body of the partly conscious
young woman, and ignited by a sui
phur match The clothing worn by
Miss Woodcock caught fire. and was
completely destroyed. Her body was
burned from her neck to her feet. her
face escaping the flames.
While enveloped in the fire. accord
ing TO the evidence, the girl in her
dying agony. recovered sufficient
strength TO crawl from beneath the
burning pile. distance of II feet
away. where she died.
The body of Miss Woodcock. found
four or five hours after her death, and
the charred fagots and bits of cloth
nearby tell the rest OF the story.
Marks about the throat and under
the eyes indicate that the girl was
choked and beaten into insensibility at
the place of the final struggle. and that
her assailant, either believing that she
was dead or in such a frenzy as to
complete his crime, carried hay and
sticks of wood. piled them about the
body, ignited the pyre and fed.
The flames ate away nearly all of the
unconscious girls clothing, and evil
IDENTIFY aroused her, too late to save-her-
self. from her condition OF unconscious
ness.
She dragged herself, on her hands
and knees, from the midst of the fire
to a spot II feet away. There her
weakness overcame her and she fell
and died.