Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-11-24
MURDERER is FOUND HERE
"Joe Ashton Turns Out 10 Be
James Taylor
He is WANTED IN EUQUENSE
-----
He Goes With Mayor and Chief of Po-
lice Without Protest--No Reward
VIII Be Paid.


wanted in Duquesne, Pa, suburb of
Pittsburg, on the charge of murder,
has been located in Martinsburg, and
viii be sent back to the scene of the
I crime as soon as the necessary papers
are received from the governor Of
Pennsylvania.
The apprehension of tho murderer Is
/, due to the cleverness of City Clerk p.
w. Letter, who accomplished shrewd
4 piece of detective work under the very
; noses of the members of the city po-
: lice force, and who will receive, as a
+ consequence. a bulk Of the reward Of
81 GOO offered for the arrest OF Taylor.
4 As will be remembered by readers Of
The Herald, man giving the nane Or
Joe Ashton. was arrested last week
in a caboose attached to a Baltimore
| & Ohio freight train, IN the yard at
| this point The arrest was made by
| Officer Heck and Constable Wild as a
4 result Of a telegram from the conduc-
1 tor of the train, sent from station
! some distance west OF Martinsburs.
and which asked that an officer come
: TO the station here and remove from
the train a young man who was COM
pelling the train crew TO carry him
4 upon an implied threat to shoot in the
event the crew refused.
Taylor Arrested Here.
officer Heck and Constable Wild
were at the station when the train ar
rived, and took the man into custody
without trouble. They locked him up
in cell at police station after remoy-
| ing a 44-calibre revolver, belt OF
! cartridges and big knife from his
person.
J The man gave his name as Joe Ash.
ton, and declared he was a WORKING
man on his way south in search of em
/ ployment Later he was taken before
Justice Thompson, who imposed fine
of s25 and costs on him for carrying
concealed weapons. In default of pay
ment Ashton was taken to Jail, whers
he is still in custody.
On Sunday, City Clerk Letter, whose
= suspicious had been aroused by the &C
tions of Ashton, ran across dispatch
from Pittsburg,, in which it was stat
ed that a man named James Taylor
ir., had shot and killed a colored mar
named Isaac Carter during a quarrei
in Duquesne, on the night Of Mondag
November -. The dispatch stated
that the father of Taylor, prominent
resident of Duquesne, had offered a
| reward of $1,000 for the apprehension
of his own son, in order that the ends
Of justice might be accomplished. In
speaking about the matter the dis
patch stated that Mr. Taylor had said:
Il want my son brought to justice
and | will give 81 900 TO the person
who captures him or gives information
leading to his arrest"
Upon reading the dispatch Mr.. Lett
er became convinced that the mar
Ashton was none other than Taylor
!, the escaped murderer. Acting upon
this theory Mr.. Letter visited the jail
and sought an interview with Ashton
The Prisoner "Sweated."
Mr.. Letter, accompanied by deputy
! sheriff, walked into the corridor ad
i joining the steel cages at the Jail, and
demanded in voice audible to all the
prisoners that he wanted to see the
men incarcerated there. Ashton was
among the first brought out When
he confronted Mr.. Letter the latter
looked him over critically, and then
|, quietly observed;
YES, that's Taylor"
The latter swallowed hard, shifted
uneasily from one foot to the other
but managed to stammer:
Il You're mistaken; my names jos
4 Ashton
j Mr.. Letter smiled in knowing man
ner, which seemed TO convince Ashton
thatfhe was discovered, for he blurted
i out:
/ Say, are YOU Pittsburg detec
tive?"
i Upon being assured that the Mar
\ tinsburg city clerk was a Pittsbura
sleuth in deep disguise, he asked for Z
private interview, and when closeteC
|, alone with the embryonic detective
he told him the whole story of the
shooting and his subsequent fight.
He stated that he was James Taylor
the man wanted for the murder o
Isaac Carter, and said that he was d
a respectable and well-.o-do family o.
, Duquesne. On Monday night OF las
! week he was in barber shop in the
, pittsburg suburb, when Carter, will
whom he had previously had trouble
, approached the entrance. Seeing Tay
, lor inside, Carter waited until he came
. out when he assaulted him, knockin:
) TAYLOR down with a brick A ferc;
/ encounter ensued, and both men start
ed for their guns. In he language 0
Taylor, he got his weapon first ant
plugged the colored man, immediatel'
fleeing the city. He boarded freigh
! train. and after several days reache'
, Martinsburg, where he was arrested
as told above.
City Clerk Letter stated on Tuesda'
evening he wired the chief of police q
: Duquesne that Taylor was In CUSTODY
} here.
Mayor George w Richards and
) Chief Of Police Fl H. Fister. of De
auesne, Pa. arrived in Martinsbur.