Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-04-21

lUV fee' from the railroad track, al
most nude. garments as if they had
been torn of, covered with skirt.
There was a cloth tied around the
neck. The right arm was partially
under the body. and the other arm
raised. There were no indication Of
any severe struggle in the place
where the body was. The girls
shoes and overshoes were not muddy,
showing that she was probably car
ried to the spot where she was found,
and as she was a heavy woman, tall
and strong, weighing about $50 lbs..
more than one person must have been
concerned. One of the carpenters in
the crew building the depot at Darling
located the hat, puree, and two par
cells which the girl had, in culvert
across the wagon road about twenty
feet from the track. The scene when
the old father saw his daughter and
realized what had happened. was very
sad, and all present were much
affected.
The coroner ordered the body re.
moved to the Simonet morgue in this
city, while the sheriff and the county
attorney at once began investigation
of the circumstances. Two negroes,
seen at Darling SATURDAY., Apri! 9th.
were suspected, and getting as accur-
ate description as possible, the sher-
if telegraphed in all directions.
SUNDAY afternoon Coroner Chance
and Dr. j. P. Chance of Royalton
conducted post-mortem examina-
tion, revealing. what had not before
been suspected, that there was q
! wound in the skull which had caused
instant death. The wound was q
circular one. over and back of the
right ear. over half an inch in diam
eter, and the instrument which in
aicted it had penetrated into the
brain for three inches. The charac-
ter of the wound was such that it was
thought to have been done with a
spike maui. A spike maui is made
larger on one end than the other, the
heavy and BROADER end being used to
drive the spike, and then the smaller
and rounded end to drive it deeper.
There were marks of bruises on the
face, but the rest Of the body showed
no marks of violence. The lungs were
found congesred and the heart COL
lapsed, the lips livid, indicating
strangulstion. The cotton cloth,
probably handkerchief, found
around ner neck, was not tttightly tied.
and it is more likely was placed over
the mouth as a gag in the first place.
Coroner Chance impanelled a jury,
which met at rhe morgue at O. CLOCK
Monday afternoon. It consisted of
Phil. 5. Randall Chas. Decker, Jos.
Blake, Frank Dufort. Peter Lauer-
man and N. J. Bracke.
the frs: witness sworn. was Frank
Coenen, 6 brother -in-law of the dead
girl. He said that her name was
Annie, and that she was 81 years of
age. At 10 O. clock Saturday morning
Annie's young brother, had asked him
whether ne had seen Annie, and he
said that he had not seen her since
the Monday noon before. The boy
said she had not returned home. Wit
ness went to the station and learned
/ from Agent Mann that the girl had
bought ticket Monday afternoon, to
leave on the freight for Darling. The
boy went up to Darling and returned
with the information that Annie had
got of the train there, that she had
been at the store, and left for home.
Had told his brother-in-law to 90 up
and learn what he could. He came
back at midnight and told about
Annie leaving the store, and that Fred
Nelson had said that he heard cries
about or 80 O'Clock in the evening
of the day that the girl disappeared,
and had seen light IN the church
soon after. Then the boy returned to
the Coenen home. and reported. Wit
ness and his wife and her mother,
talked Of matter, aud then went to
bed. The witness commenced to tell
about his dream, referred to elsewhere,
but was told that was not material.
Sunday morning he said he left with
q rig about 8'o'clock and found the
body at 8 O'Clock, across from the
Swedish Lutheran church at Darling,
east between the wagon road and the
track, in some willows near a mud
hole. He at once recognized the body,
did not disturb it, and returned TO
Little Falls and notified the authori.
ties. The boy, Phil. Kintop, was
| with him when he found the body.
First knew she was missing on Satur.
| day morning, as her folks thought she
was at this place, and he thought she
| was at home. She had told her folks
tnat she would be home Monday, or
Tuesday. 1t is about the same dis