Arizona republican., 1905-07-13
MURDERED TWELVE
Fiend Destroyed Vessel and
 All On Board But One
Wounded Woman, Left for Dead, Swims to Shore, Then Narrowly Escapes Starvation and SunsttOHe.

New Orleans, July 12.-A shocking story of murder. with robbery as the motive was brought to this city today by Captain Hans Holm, of the Nor
 wegian fruiter Bratten, which plies be- tween New Orleans and Honduras
 ports. It was separately confirmed by officers of the fruit steamer Rosina.
 which came in later in the evening
 with additional details. The little isl-
 and of Utilla. lying off the Honduras
 coast, and whose population is an in
 discriminate mixture of whites, Cay
 manites and Carlos, was the scene of
 the tragedy, in which twelve lives were
 sacrificed.
 The captain of the little trading
 schooner Olympia was about to make
 trip to Ruatan, Truxillo and Belize
 She had about 1,4O0 sols, and was to
 buy cattle at Truxillo to sell at Belize
 She carried crew of four and quite
 a number of passengers. making the total list Of people aboard number thir-
 teen. Among these were two women and two children. The vessel left the harbOr of Utilla at II o'clock Friday
 night, June 30. and after she had been
 under way less than an hour, every body was aroused by a shot and, rush ing on deck, found a negro armed with a rifle shooting down men one after another. This negro was Robert Me Gill, and. as it afterward developed, he had slowed away on board with the
 intention of robbing the captain and then swimming ashore. After he had killed all but one of the men, he or dered the survivor to go below and scuttle the ship. When the unfortu- nate Teappeared on deck and reported the negro shot him dead. He then put the two women, Miss Elsie Morgan and her sister, Mrs. Walter Rose, in the dOry with Mrs. Roses six-weeks'- old infant, steering for the mainland. He changed his mind about allowing the women to live, and killed Mrs. Rose and her infant. Then he began shooting at Miss Morgan, who had leaped overheard, and wounded her in the arm. He fired at her incidentally but his ammunition evidently gave out, for he promised immunity from harm if she would come back to the doTy. She started back, and when within an oars length he struck her on the head with an oar, stunning her. Believing she was dead, he rowed away toward the mainland. Miss Morgan swan back to the island where she was thrown on the beach by the waves in an exhausted condition. She feared the negro would follow her, so she hid in the bushes and for two days suf- fered from the heat and exposure until found by a woman from her neighbor- hood and rescued from starvation.
 In the meantime the dOry had been washed ashore and there was much excitement on the island, as it was be- lieved the Olympia had gone down with all hands. When Miss Morgan l told her story an immediate search | was instituted for McGiu and the au- ! thOrities on the mainland were notified. | They caught him at Fl Porvenir, lit | tie town on the road to Cociba, and | there was a demonstration but he was | and his life was saved | President BOnilla. who was on an in spection tour. The Honduran warship La Tumbla was brought into service and the murderer Dlaced aboard and sent back to the island. Uo to last Sunday he was still alive, though it is firmly believed that he will be tor -ured to death. The laws of Honduras prohibit infiction of capital punish nent but the people will take the case ntO their own hands. Miss Elsie Morgan, the only survivor of the ter 'ibIe experience, visited New Orleans hree years ago and is a we'll educaU- d, refined woman of 25 years.