The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-22
MURDER MYSTERY
IN YAMACRAW
MAN STABBED IN THE STREET
CAESAR WILSON. A NEGRO, KILLED
BY UNKNOWN ASSASSIN.

First known of StabbinE Was When
Wilson Staggered Up to Corner at
Farm and Margaret Streets. Leav-
ing "A Trail of Blood as He Went
He Dropped to the Pavement and
Died in a Few Minutes without
Being Able to TaIk-His Slayer
Escaped on a Trolley Car.
Leaving behind him a trail Of blood
that could be traced for half block,
Caesar Wilson, a negro. staggered to
the corner at Farm and Margaret
streets in Yamacraw a few minutes
after . O'Clock last night, fell to the
pavement and died. He had been
stabbed in the left breast and in the
throat, the jugular vein being cut.
In many ways the murder is the
most mysterious with which the po-
lice have had to deal in some time.
Absolutely no one could be found who
had seen the stabbing, and the wound
ed man died without being able to
speak. For half a block the blood
could be followed along the sidewalk
and then all trace was lost for a time.
Later, blood was found across the
street in an alleyway and on door
step, but this proved to be a false
clue.
Dogs Had Fought.
After the officers had followed the
blood for some time and made d thor
ough examination of the house on
which the blood had been found, it
was learned that there had been a
dog fight over there only a few min
utes before the stabbing, and that the
blood was from that.
By careful examination of witnesses
in all the barrooms and dives in the
vicinity, it was learned that Wilson
had been with two other men only a
short time before he was killed. One
of these negroes, Guy Howard, was
later caught by Detective Wall, but
the negro was so drunk that he could
give no information at all. He admit
ted having been with Wilson, but said
there was no one else along. He stated
that he had left him some time before,
and knew nothing of the stabbing.
Escaped on 81 Trolley Car.
1t was afterwards ascertained that
negro man filling the description of
one of the negroes seen with Wilson
in a saloon, had boarded a street car
bound for West Savannah, ridden to
the end of line and made off in the
country as soon as the car stopped.
The man had a long knife sticking
out of his pocket Conductor j. J.
Hoover stated, and there was blood
on it.
Thinking that the negro arrested
may have ridden out to the end of the
car line as a bluff and returned to
the city by another route he was car
ried before the conductor, but Hoover
said he was not the man who had the
bloody knife and went out on the car
with him. 1t is thought that Howard
may yet be able to throw some light
on the case after he gets sober.
The Probable Way.
The most probably way in which
the killing occurred is that Wilson
and tho man who killed him were walk
ing along the street together, quar-
relied over something and that the I'M
known man stabbed him. The wound
ed man staggered on down the street
TO the corner. where there is a light,
and the other probably turned and
went through an alley nearby. He
caught the car several blocks away
and made his escape.
At the end of the blood trail, tho
ground shows some signs of a slight
struggle and it is supposed that there
is where the stabbing took place.
There was no blood in the street at
all, so the blood in the alley on the
opposite side of the street must have
come from the dog fight, as claimed.
The man was bleeding so that the
blood was running out of his shoes, and
he could not possibly have crossed the
street without leaving a trail.
Quick Work by Police.
When the wounded man was discov-
cred a report was at once made to po-
lice headquarters, and the ambulance
was rushed to the scene, while Detec-
tives Wall and Murphy and Patrolman
Brown went into the detectives wag-
on. Patrolmen Walker and Hicks were
soon on the scene also.
AS soon as the negro died, Coroner
Keller was notified. He visited the
scene about half or three-quarters of
an hour after the death, and gave per-
mission for the body to be removed.
Wilson was a Woodworking negro. He
was employed regularly to sack salt,
and worked all of yesterday. He had
been away from work only few hours
when killed.