Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-10
VENT WAS MURDERED
BuLLETHoLEs FOUND IN THE
DEAD MILLIoNAIRE's BODY.
Conditions Indicate He Fought With
Bandits Before He Died-Was
Robbed After Death.

A dispatch from Bristol, Tenn, says:
F. Bullitt, attorney for the Wentz family,
visited the scene where the dead body OF Il.
L. Wentz was found on Sunday and identi-
fed the body as positively that OF the miss
ing young millionaire. The identification
was made by means of the riding suit.
spurs, eyeglasses. &C., including SILK
handkerchief bearing the initials "E. L.
W." Near the scene was found the Guns
from which the valuable buttons had been
removed, and his revolver, three chambers
of which had been discharged. The empty
shells indicated that Wentz had had a bat
tie with the bandits before he was killed.
Murdered for Revenge.
1t is believed that the most probable
theory is that Wentz was murdered by
moonshiners, who desired to avenge the
death Of their leader. who was killed only
q few weeks before Wentz disappeared. The
raid on the moonshiners was In accordance
with Wentzs desire to rid his lands of
such operations
The body, which was discovered in the
mountains near Kelley View, Wise county,
Va. Sunday afternoon by Dave Raleigh,
miner employed at Blackwood, Va, while
hunting lost COW, lies tonight identically
as 1t was first seen, and around it stands
guard of twenty-five men.
Position OF the Body.
Two of his front teeth are gone, pre-
sumably shot out while holes, thought to
be bullet holes, are found through the coat
and vest just below the ribs on the left
side.
The finding of the revolver with three
shots discharged would indicate that Wentz
had been attacked, and had returned his
assailants fire. AS a matter Of fact, the
young man did not have a revolver with
him when he left Big Stone Gap on the
morning of October IA to ride to the home
OF Charles Wax, one of the coal company's
land agents, about fourteen miles from his
starting point The revolver may have
been thrown alongside the body by those
responsible for the death to create the inn
preston of suicide.
Was Revealed by Fire.
The place in which the body lies has been
recently burned Off by forest fires and his
hair and clothing scorched. The body is
lying about thirty feet from the mountain
path, and is now easily seen for hundred
1eet. Last fall when the searching party
was held the spot was hidden by under
growth and leaves The color of his CLOTH
ing is SO much like that of the logs upon
which the head rests that the searchars
failed to find him last fall, though thew
passed within twenty feet of him. Num-
Ders OF men have recently passed near the
spot without discovering the body. though
from all appearances there seems no donht
but 1t has lain there all the time HIM
dreds or people visited the spot last night
and today. e ~
Sketch of the Victim.
Edward l.. Wentz was the son Of DR. and
Mrs. John S. Wentz, both members of
prominent families in Philadelphia. Over
ten years ago Representative Edward Lei
serring of Pennsylvania. millionaire
most OF whose money had been made in
coal, went to Big Stone Gan, and REALIZING
me possibilities of the country, bought 15O
IVY acres of land. Such people as lived in
I TINS tract We're squatters who believed
their rights of tenure inalienable and to he
defended by guns, as they were accustomed
10 defend all their rights and to settle all
their disputes.
Leiserring died before he had developed
the property, and it fell to the Wentz ami
y, and the two sons Edward T. and D.
r. WentZ formed the Virginia Coal and
IRON Company and went into litigation to
claim the land and to develop it.
The brothers had not been in the co,1n-
try long before they realized the conditions
with which they had to cope The noun
ta1neers grew sur1y; some of them moved
farther back into the mountains, but
others. and they were the majority. re-
manned where they were, sitting before
their cabin doors. rifles over their knees
which they fingered longingly as the out
sders passed by on their business of de-
veloping the country. Some of these squat
tiers were asked to pay rent, but in most in
stances they refused. Edward L. Wentz
was recognized as the leading spirit In these
operations, and 1t was against him that the
particular enmity of the mountaineers was
directed.
Early in last October an Illicit distillery
was discovered and broken up by the
revenue officers after a battle In which
one OF the officers was killed and in which
the leader of the clan was mortally wound
ed. The distillery raided was one of the
largest and the Oldest In these mountains
and connected with Its operation was a
large proportion of the Inhabitants here
fair was placed by these men on the shout
ders of Edward Wentz, and he was warned
repeatedly by inhabitants with whom he
had made friends that his life would not
be worth moments purchase IL one Of the
members of the disturbed gang could get
shot at him.
Wentz tried to take the warning seri-
ously for a time and succeeded until the
of October H. when he went rid
ing.
He was last seen by an old woman near
had caught fire and he had dismounted to
assist her.
The search has never abated for one
since the disappearance, but last
Friday 1t was believed to be nearing an
end, for party found, in searching the
cabin of two outlaws then under arrest, a
pair Of riding breeches which 1t is thought
Wentz wore on the day he rode away from
I he mining settlement for the last time.
Wentz was handsome young fellow, de-
voted to his business and to outdoor sports.