The Minneapolis journal., 1906-07-12
>. THE CHAIN OF EVIDENCE
Murderer Betrayed Himself at Every
Step After Crime.

Every murderer, no matter how clev-
erly he may plan and work out the hpe
details of his crime, unconsciols:ly
leaves behind an array Of lap dlapning s1ir sfT,
sends him to the gallews. Nathan Riggs
months on the murder of Millie ELI.
son, but the fate Of a murderer fol-
lowed him and marked nearly every
step.
No sooner had he beaten down his
xo tin " With The hamMsr San ana Sa,s eft ses
seemingly so nil S triviai Incident, destined to
evidence. The hall into which he
stepped from the death chamber was
not empty. One person was there,
chambermaid, and she, unsuspectlng,
noticed him as he passed out. He
carried the tell-tale grip that contained
and this grip was also noticed. " i
He then left ard went to his home,
where he hastily changed his clothing,
concealed the stolen articles and went
to the railroad yards by an unusual
route. He t. K his train as usual. All
Of his movements were seen, but were
not recalled until later when his name
was mentioned as being friend Of the
victim.
BeforL the murder he had let chance
statements fall while talking to his
engineer in Hudson. He said he had
Of it.
Shortly before the murder he was
seen on the streets with his victim. He
was first seen by man who knew him
well, standing in front Of tho Rrad-
SHAW millinery store, evidently wait
ing for someone. A little later he was
at the bank with her while che received
cash for her large drafts. -: -.
bad 0n the xcS fa%e tgd afg he hIg purchased the
hammer at the VIZ w. K Morison Mo- W1ni store ,'oo on
Nicollet, and the alcohol at Brown
lees drugstore on First avenue and
Washington. He talked with the clerks,
| who remembered him well.
The strongest bit Of circumstantial
evidence was the fact that the small
grip containing Miss Ellison 's. effects
was purchased by her and taken to the
hotel shortly before noon on the day Of
murderer's grasp as he left the room.
The pext time, 1t was identified it was
in Riggs house ON Pillsbury avenue.
The contents Of the grip were found In
the furnace in the same house showing
that the murderer, whoever he was,
had been to the Riggs home: !
Today persons at the hotel and the
saleswoman in department store
identified the grip as belonging to Miss
! Ellison.
| Pointed Accusing Finger.
Riggs former relations with the vic.
tim. the deceit he had practiced on he1
and the method he had used to obtain
money, all pointed to him as the mur
derer.
| Added to this, the chambermaid, the
clerk and other employees at the hotel
would have positively identified him
as the man who registered as M. J.
Wilson and left the hotel with the
valise.
| Crowning all is the; suicide in Elroy
| Attorneys who are engaged In de-
| Tending criminals say that the circum
stantia1 evidence in this case was
stronger than in any murder case they
have ever known. Had he been brought
to Minneapolis alive he could not have
escaped the gallows, fight the case az
he would.
| Superintendent Doyle said today thai
the detectives would keep on working
until the entire case is cleared up, just
as tho 1t were still necessary to con
v1ct the murderer. Every bit of evi
dence Wal be recorded and kept, fo1
the case ranks with the worst crimes o1
the city.