The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-03
JURY SAYS TEAcHOUT
GIRL WAS MURDERED
Coroner's inquest Fails to Solve
Mystery Surrounding
Maids Death

| Beyond establishing the fact that
Ruth Teachout was murdered, the cor
oner's inquest which was held at the
| county morgue yesterday morning ac-
compl1shed little besides adducing tes-
| t1mony which served only to increase
the mystery that has developed since
the girls body was found floating in
the Mississippi river at the ST. Paul
boom last Tuesday.
The verdict of the jury, which re-
| cited that Ruth Teachout came to
her death on June %, 1904, by stran-
/ gulation at the hands of some person
! or persons unknown" was supported
entirely by the testimony of DR.. J. NJ.
] FinneH and DR.. Judd Goodrich, who
performed the autopsy, and who said
| that inasmuch as the silk tie which
was knotted about the girls neck was
so tightly drawn as to prevent water
from getting into the lungs, she had
/ been Strangled before her body was
| placed in the river.
While 1t appeared from the testi-
| Tnony Of the physicians that the girl
had been strangled and that she had
died before her body reached the wa
ter, her movements from the time she
| was last seen by a friend until she
met her death, some time early Satur-
/ day afternoon, on the bank of the Mis-
! sissippi, three quarters of mile be-
| low the mouth of Minnehaha creek, re
main unaceounted for.
Girl Was at Business College
No witness was produced who had
/ seen the girl after she left her home,
1902 Third avenue south, Minneapolis,
at 1890 in the morning, but there was
| hearsay testimony to the effect that
| she had been at the business college
oh 10, f@,, hill,
| SATURDAY morning, and that while
| there she had written a letter, which i.
| is supposed she mailed.
The testimony of the girls parents
failed to yield clew which might aid
in the solution of the mystery. The
girls father, Charles N. Teachout, her
| mother and her sister Eva, taking the
stand successfully, repeated the same
story, with a few minor deviations, and
| all agreed that they knew of no reason
| why she should have been the victim
of foul play, and their testimony
equally precluded the idea of suicide.
A significant feature of the hearing
was that Howard Taylor, deputy couE-
ty auditor of Minneapolis, whose name
was frequently dragged in by the wit
nesseS was not summoned. He was
first mentioned by the girls father,
who said that when he was informed
of the finding of the girls pocketbook,
bank he Immediately suspected that
they had been left there as part of a
scheme.
| 'Who did you think of as a possible
aceomplice in connection with the
scheme?" asked County Attorney
Kane.
! Howard Taylor" replied Mr.. Teach
out, because she went away with him
! a year ago last April without telling
us anything of her departure. Taylor
has been an acquaintance of the fam
lily for many years, my wife having
known him before he was married. He
| took my daughter with him to Chicago
| without telling his wife or our family
that he was going away. 1t later de-
| veloped that he had told her that he
was going to that city and she had ex-
pressed wish tp go to Battle Creek
Mich, to visit her sister He agreed
to pay her fare and they went off
quietly together
Mrs. Taylor Visits Home
CA few days after they left Mrs Tay
lor came to our house when no one but
my youngest daughter was at home.
Mrs. Taylor asked if anything had been
heard of Ruth, and my daughter said
that telegram had just arrived. Mrs.
Taylor tore open the envelope and read
the message. 1t announced that Ruth
had arrived at Battle Creek, and was
| signed HOWdFQ, the OHiISlldil Hdlile
of her husband and also of my Son-1n-
| law. She believed that her husband
had sent the message and a short while
afterwards shot herself in a jealous
passion. My daughter returned from
Battle Creek last September, but went
back again within two weeks and re-
NAMED there until April, when she
| came back to Minneapolis. Since her
return home she had been attending a
| business college, in which she was
taking a course in stenography. She
| attended the school regularly and adj
vanced steadily. She was home every
| night, as far as I know, and was keep
ing company with no young men. She
was corresponding with young man
in Battle Creek, but 1 do not know
whether she was engaged to him.
| 1.-THE last time l saw my daughter
was Saturday morning, when L lefb
| home at o'clock. She was in her bed
room and I went in and asked her if she
needed any change. She said she would
like to have cents, and | gave her a
dime. She appeared in her usual spir-
its, and l know that there was no fric-
ton of any kind in the family. She was
a girl Of even temper, quiet in manner
and not much given to making friends.
when l returned home Saturday
evening about o'clock, a young man
was there with my daughters purse, a
parasol, which she had been using, and
her handkerchief. He left his address,
and said he had found the articles on
the bank of the river below Minnehaha
creek. 1 suspected that the things had
been placed there as part of a scheme,
and did not fear that my daughter had
been drowned. The next day, Sunday,
/ went to the young mans residence
and had him accompany me to the spot
where he found the things. There was
nothing about the place to give us any
clew. Monday I reported the case to
the police"
/ Mrs. Teachout on Stand
Il had no reason to suspect that any
thing but proper relations existed be-
tween my daughter and Mr. Taylor"
said Mrs Teachout, who followed her
husband on the stand He had been
acquainted with US for years, and fire.
quently came to the house when the
| girls were children. After his mar
riage he came occasionally, but Mrs.
Taylor never came to our house, and
| neither I nor any of the girls visited
her. When he returned from Chicago.
after taking my daughter away with
him, I reproved him severely, and he