Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1908-04-03
KILLED MESSENGER
BANDIT Then ROBS EXPRESS
CAR ON SANTA FE.
Mystery As to How Robbers Got Into
Express car-$1 900 Reward offered
by Wells-Fargo Co.-Pounded Vic
TINS Head Into Pulp and Then Took
His Keys to Complete Job

Newton, Kan, March $40. A.
Bailey, an express messenger of the
Wells-Fargo company, was killed by an
unknown person on Santa Fe train
No. lis, between Florence and New
ton, early this morning. The murder
was very brutal, with robbery as the
object. Both safes, the local and the
through safe, were ransacked and at
lease $1,000 in money and some jewelry
taken. The amo mt the robbers Sc
cured is not known. The dead body
of Messenger Bailey was found at 4
O'Clock this morning when the train
reached Newton. 1t was stretched on
the floor of the car, the head beaten to
pulp and lying in a pool of blood.
The back of the skull was crushed and
the end of the car where it was lying
was spattered with blood. The blood
spatters reached to the ceiling. There
was 20 evidence of any struggle, the
indications pointing to the commission
of the murder while the messenger
was asleep before he could offer re-
oloCdICC' lOdllOy was S60H awe at
| Strong City. At Peabody some one
opened the car door just enough to
throw out package of way bills, and
then closed it quickly.
The custom of the messenger has
been to go to sleep soon after leaving
Florence, and it is possible that he
did this last night. After being struck
while sleeping and rendered uncon.
scious, his body rolled to the floor, and
the robber, after beating him on the
head, covered it with the dead mans
coat. One blow was struck at the
mans face with some sharp instru
ment, apparently a Ratchet, which
broke the jaw bone. From the dead
mans pockets the keys were removed
and the safes ransacked. Then the
keys were put back into Bailey's over
coat, the coat folded and put in hi
crop, where it was found later.
Two theories are held by the off
GERS, One is that the robbers entere,
the car unobserved at Emporia, Stronl
City or some other point along tn
line and concealed themselves unit
favorable opportunity to commit tn
robbery occurred, and the other
that Bailey admitted somebody h
! knew and considered friend.
When the train slowed down at tn
\ Missouri Pacific crossing, in the cas-
part of Newton, two men were see
by the engineer to jump from the trai
d and run south. The south door of tn
l express car was found open when tn
train reached the Newton depot. 1t
. believed these men were the robber
and that they made a detour aroun
the business part of town to the wei
u yards of the Santa Fe, where the
may have boarded Santa Fe train N
= II, which left the depot 20 minute
{ after No. lis arrived. Three suspect
u were taken off the blind baggage
{ the train wnen it reached Wichita, ar
= held for investigation. The Officer
II were notified as soon as the murd'
}. and robbery were discovered, and wit
y in an hour posses were securing II
l country. A reward of $1,000 has bee
u offered by the Wells-Fargo Expre
u company for the apprehension of Il
y guilty parties. Up to this evening !
. trace of the robbers had been found
- The murdered man was about
u years old, and was only recently ma
10 ried. His home was in Kansas Cit
Mo.