Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-08-20
FIND BODY IN A TRUNK.


Last Saturday party Of pIcknickers on
the Bell farm, near Mt. Ephraim, while
exploring a ravine between the Bell and
Glover farms, came across a trunk, secured
by ropes. Their curiosity was aroused and
when the cover was lifted the body Of a
man was discovered. OF course the news
spread like wildfre, and the authorities
have the case in charge
WORK OF VIOLENCE.
That the trunk corpse is evidence Of a
foul murder there is little doubt in the
minds Of the investigating detectives. But
the manner in which murder was done is
still mystery, as there Is absolutely no
marks Of violence on the body There is
not even the mark of blow anywhere on
the corps, nor are any of the bones broken.
County Physician w. S. Jones will open
the skull to see if it was fractured. II no
fracture is found, poison, perhaps knock
out drops" administered in some boat
house, may have caused death At first it
was supposed that the man had been stran-
gled His shirt was pulled over his head
and knotted together. 1t was found, how
ever, that the shirt was not tied together
around the neck, but was merely knotted
under the chin, most probably to keep the
arms together while the body was being
forced into the small trunk.
This trunk, the location at which it was
found and the story told BY Jacob Hendrick
son about the midnight visit to the rayine
in Bells woods. form together the most
striking features which Detectives Smith
and Carroll so far have uncovered in their
investigation.
MANY CONFLICTING FEATURES
'sTo my mind the location, the hidden
raYine that DO stranger ever found, shows
that the body was carried there in the
trunk BY people well acquainted with the
neighhorhood, said Acting Prosecutor
Wolyerson, after returning 10 Camden from
a trip oyer tne scene III The trunk mardes
mystery, The location does nor permit
us to get away from she idea that some
body in that neighborhood knows something
about it. AS the same time, there is the
trunk as a conflicting piece OF evidence
which rather suggests that the body was
brought to the ravine from some distance.
And then comes Jacob Hendrickson' s story.
Hendrickson' story, have no reason to
doubt, but it has not yet been verified. But
the trunk and the hidden ravine are there
as facts, all important though conflicting in
their suggestions.
That the body was carried some distance
to the gulch, as supposed By the acting
Prosecutor, is further supported by the
manner in which it was packed into the
trunk It was hard work to get the body
into the trunk To hold the body still
more securely so that it would not move it
was propped on all sides by bed ticking.
The ticking was also put on top Of the
body, and after the lid was put on the trunk
it was tied securely with an ordinary
clothesline.
AS the body was packed and the trunk
tied, it was prepared for long trip and
could even have stood the rough handling
of express hands on railroad train or in a
freight yard. 1t is not believed that any
body would have gone to all this trouble if
the body was to have been driven merely
from a nearby farm to the gulch. The
trunk itself Is of the cheap kind usually
carried by immigrants 1t is pine board
box, covered with peculiar tinfoil paper
in bright colors, with curved lid divided
into six sections by cross pieces Of vanished
wood The lid is also covered with tin,
stamped in an old design. The TWO centre
sections were coIored in bright green, while
two sections were kept in their natural
silvery brightness and the end pieces were
laequered in black. 1t is Of the kind Of
trunk that Italians, Russians and some
times farmers use, but that no city people
would travel with