The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-06

ing until nearly dusk the same even
ing. While the road was not much
travelled, ii seemed almost impossible
that no one had passed over it during
the entire day Of the murder. DID
not believe this to have been the case
and had maintained sharp lookout for
indications of earlier discovery. As i
expected, William Mcfarland had not
been the first man-to come upon the
body after the murder. BY dint of
inquiry it was found that Thomas
Dwyer, an eInploye of the Chicago &
Northwestern railroad, had passed over
the fatal road about 10 o'clock Sunday
forenoon and had found the body OF
Higgins. He made examination enough
to satisfy himself that the man was
dead and then hurried toward the Swi-
CERT house in order to give the alarm.
AS he neared the house Swigert ap-
peared in the door and Dwyer hurriediy
told him of his grewsOme find
Il have to go TO work" he said to
Swigert. go to Higgins house and
tell his folks"
AZ can't leave here" replied swigert-
MY baby is very sick and don't dare
leave it alone"
. Dwyer, 1t seems, believed he had dis
charged his duty in the matter and
had gone on about his business. After
I received his statement made inquiry
to determine If Swigerts baby had been
sick on that day and If he (Swigert)
ndQ DeGn alone WITH II at the time
DWyer had notified him of the finding
of Higgins body. Both Of these state
ments / found to be false. as the baby
had not been sick and Swigert's FAM
lily was at home when Dwyer was
there.
On examination of the ground imme-
diately surrounding the spot where the
body of Higgins was found a good
sized, egg-shaped stone had been found,
and some; one had been thoughtful
enough, fortunately, to save 1t. On
hearing of the Incident [ secured the
stone. It showed plainly that it had
been partially imbedded. in the ground
| for a long time, as one-half of it was
clean and suRburned and the other part
showed unmistakable traces of having
been buried in moist clay. I determined
to find the former resting place of this
stone. 1t was the weapon, without
doubt, with which Higgins had been
felled to the ground before he was shot,
and might prove a, valuable link in the
chain of circumstances that was being
forged. If my theory was correct
that William Swigert had killed Kean
Higgins believed my search for the
resting place Of the stone would be
short. / reasoned thus: If Swigert were
the murderer he had probably left his
house Sunday morning just in time to
intercept Higgins on his way to mass,
and, as Swigert well knew his neigh
| boris regularity of attendance at this
service, he could time his movements
accurately. This being the case, ii was
not likely that Swigert would have gone
out Of his way far 20 have secured a
stone or other weapon with which to
! fell his intended victim. 1, therefore,
| started over the path leading from the
scene of the murder to Swigerts house,
! examining the ground carefully on
/ either side for cavity in the clay
| from which the stone found on the
! nf foh
/ taken. This search was tedious, but
was at last rewarded. A few feet from
( the path and about half way between
Swigert's house and the rail fence
I found a semi-spherical hole in the
I ground into which the stone fitted per-
fectly. The soil was clay, and the i'm
| preston of the part of the stone that
/ had been imbedded was so accurate
| there was not the slightest doubt of its
! having been the former resting place
| of the missile
/ During the days 1 had been at work
on the case / had not let it be known
| that ] was a police officer. After the
| establishment of the circumstances SET
| forth, however, I was firmly convinced
| that the Old farmer had met his death
at the hands of his neighbor, although
no motive yet appeared That which
| l had learned / had kept to myself
and l had tried 10 work in a way
that would attract as little attention
| pOE5lDlts believing litdt the laClt
in my possession justified the arrest
of Swfgert 1 returned to Chicago &c
secure the necessary papers
Up TO this time / had no trace OF
the revolver belonging 10 Gross. ( hac
no doubt however, that 1 wovhd find
| il somewhere on the Swigert Premises
but 1 had no search warrant undei
which to proceed. I therefore secured
a search warrant and one for the ar
rest of Swigert. Reporting to the Lake
street station, Chief Washburn beins
out OF the city. I secured the service: