The Press., 1906-11-14
MRS. HENRY WILLIAMS BRU-
 TALLY MURDERED.

mlG60Q 1aS6 1nuESuhy 0AbCAAOOAs WhOA Mrs. Henry Williams who lives about two miles south of here, was killed by Charles Henry Bishop. Bishop is but IS years of age and was taken from the county home in Springfield about four years ago. There are one or two points about the case from which a motive for the crime might be drawn. After the deed was done the murderer went to bedroom on the same floor, broke open trunk with an axe, in which was a small iron safe containing eighteen or twen- ty dollars. With the same axe he broke open the safe and got the mon- ey. Such small sum would hardly appeal to him to do so desperate a deed, and the robbery and subsequent conoealment of the money may have been carried out to throw the pursuit of the scent when the murder should be discovered. Dismissing robbery as a motive, the next thread in the tangled skein that leads toward the solution is the story of quarrel be- tween the boy and Mrs. Williams earlier in the day. It is said that the mistress asked Bishop to get some wood, and they had words about it. The boy finally pushed her into bed room and struck her several blows
 Later in the day, when Eddie Jacob sen called at the house to pay for some milk, the woman expressed her fear of the boy and said he had threat ened to kill her. As the boy thought of what he had done and the proba
 bility that Mrs. Williams would tell her husband what had occurred when he returned, the black plan of the murder entered his mind. It was not normal, we'll balanced mind. The homicidal impulse lay dormant, need ing only the quickening power of motive and an opportunity. While the motive seems slight one, it may have been sufficient, and he made his plan and carried it out to the last sickening detail. With" just little more intellect in addition to his fe- rooious animal cunning there would have been nothing to connect him with the crime, and it would have been added to the list of unsolved mysteries. Lacking just this element of intellect he fell into the trap laid for him by abler minds, and in less than 24 hours after the deed was com
 mitted had shown the officers where the money was concealed and laid himself liable to expiate his crime on the gsllows. While Mrs. Williams happened to be the victim, there was bound to be one sooner or later, with his diseased tenor of thought and per verted temperament. The sight of blood, so abhorrent to normal youth, was a welcome sight to his eyes, and he thoroughly enjoyed the butchering of any animal about the place. He followed every detail of the Tucker murder trial, and is familiar with every point in the Thaw murder. In speaking of a boy with whom he had trouble he said to Eddie Jacobsen: : If I should meet him at lonely point in the road and kill him with a stone, could they do anything to me?" Eddie told him he would certainly be punished. and the boy replied, "How do it?'' All this only indicates the homicidal impulse awaiting the time when it should run riot, and in it's devouring intensity make data for an Cther horrible chapter in criminology. The fierceness of this lust for blood is shown by the many wounds inflicted on the victim. It may be there is more cause for pity than blame in considering the case against Bishop. It is possible that the lacking element in his nature of gentleness and pity is a misfortune, and that he could not change the course laid out After the crime was committed Bishop went to the Jacobsen house and reported that Mrs. Williams had been killed. MT Jacobsen was the first to view the horrible sight. Mrs. Williams was on the floor in 8 pool of blood near the sink. Her head was nearly sever- ed from her body, there were numer- ous wounds where she had been stabbed and bruises on her head. A dish towel was around her throat, showing that an attempt had been made to strangle her. A butcher knife lay beside the body and heavy wash stick in the room accounted for the blows on her head. Coroner Fisk and Medical Examiner Newton viewed the body, and permission was given to remove it to Bakers undertaking rooms. Deputy Sheriff Helm visited the premises and secured the knife, the club and the axe used in opening the trunk and box. MT. Williams was in Rockville and did not hear of the occurrence until late in the after noon, and was naturally deeply affect ed by the horror. Coroner Fisk call ed the state police into the case, and a detail of this branch of the service, accompanied by Sheriff Dickinson, arrived early in the evening. At 1 o'clock that night Bishop was taken to the office of Coroner Fisk. The officers, the boy and the coroner staid up all night. The suspect was given rigid examination. He told differ ent stories and it became evident that he was the guilty person, but more evidence was needed. At 2 o'clock in the morning he was taken to that undertaking rooms and made to look on the mutilated body of the woman. He seemed unmoved. Later he was again brought to the room, and during this visit wept and said Mrs. Williams was too good a woman to have been murdered for little money. AS the net began to tighten around him