Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1908-04-04
KILLED MESSENGER
BANDIT then ROBS EXPRESS
CAR ON SANTA FE.
Mystery AS to How Robbers Got Into
Express Csr-$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 31.-O. 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
o'clock this morning when the train
reached Newton. 1t was stretched on
the floor of the car, the head beaten to
a 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 no evidence of any struggle, the
indications pointing to the commission
of the murder while the messenger
was asleep before he could offer re-
sistance. Bailey was seen alive 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 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 his
crop, where it was found later.
| Two theories are held by the Off
GERS. One is that the robbers entered
the car unobserved at Enporia, Strong
City or some other point along the
line and concealed themselves unit
a favorable opportunity to commit The
robbery occurred. and the other i:
that Bailey admitted somebody he
knew and considered a friend.
When the train slowed down at the
| Missouri Pacific crossing, in the cas-
part of Newton, two men were seer
by the engineer to jump from the trail
and run south. The south door of thu
express car was found open when thu
train reached the Newton depot. 1t il
believed these men were the robbers
and that they made a detour aroun'
the business part of town to the ives
yards of the Santa Fe, where the
may have boarded Santa Fe train Nc
II, which left the depot 20 minute
after No. 115 arrived. Three suspect
were taken off the blind baggage o
the train wnen it reached Wichita, an
held for investigation. The officer
were notified as soon as the murde
and robbery were discovered, and will
in an hour posses were securing tn
,, country. A reward of $1,000 has bee
offered by the Wells-FargO EXPIRES
company for the apprehension of til
, guilty parties. Up to this evening II
trace of the robbers had been found.
The murdered man was about
! years old, and was only recently ma
ried His home was in Kansas Cit.
, Mo.