The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-07-21
Desrera+e NEGRO cantured.

that was not only important but added
his fame as detector of criminals. TIL
fellow caught was a negro who CAV
the name of Harry Willis. and said hi
home is in Maryland. He was taken int
custody on suspicion of having committe
brutal assault on John L. Borden, G
YardYille, just beyond Bordentown.
On the previous Monday Mr.. Borde
was assaulted by negro who knocke'
him senseless. The fellow then went t.
the house and Mrs Borden had time t.
bolt the door. She surmised that tn
negros intentions were bad and, withou
knowledge of what had happened to he
husband, she screamed for help. Mr.
Borden regained consciousness ant
fastened to the house, armed with a hoe
He caught the colored man at the doc
and struck him on the head with the no,
Mrs. Borden then handed to her husband
through the window, his shot gun, and al
the assailant ran away, Borden fred a
him.
OG6CIlDltOuS VI bAO IC1AOW WOAO oSh
around and Detective Parker got one Of
them. On Wednesday he received wore
that a man answering the description
given was on the road near Vincentown
Parker and Constable Myers went out
and soon found the man. Without
any words the officers promptly put
handouts on him and then hurried him
to Trenton. Mr.. Borden was sent fol
and, without hesitation, identified the
negro as his assailant. Willis was
held on two charges, one for assault, the
other for atrocious assault and battery
with murderous intent.
Willis presented woeful appearance
upon his arrival in Trenton, gaping cuts
in his cheek and scalp and eight shot
wounds in his back and legs testifying to
the desperate manner in which Borden
defended his own life and his wifes honor.
Willis, when arraigned before Squire
Matheson, was subjected to an examina-
ton by Prosecutor Crossley, but beyond
stating that ne had received his wounds in
a barroom fight in Camden, he could give
no connected story of his movements up
ON the days preceding and following the
assault. Mr.. Borden's positive identified
ton and the character Of the negro's
wounds preclude all doubt as to his guilt.
Mr.. Higgins extracted seven No. shot
from the back and legs of Willis, the shot
being such as were used by Mr.. Borden
when he fired upon his assailant.
Willis story of a barroom encounter is
ridiculous. He claims that the two-inch
abrasion of the scalp and the Jagged cut
OF the cheek were made by club, and
that he received the bullet wounds twelve
years ago. As matter of fact, the bullet
wounds were fresh, several of them being
in an infiamed condition. Willis trousers
and undergarments are perforated with
shot holes, and are slightly bloodstained,
His outer shirt shows no perforations, but
the prosecutor is of the opinion that the
negro changed this garment after the as
sault. since Borden claims that it is not
the one worn by the negro during the en-
counter.
Willis shoes were taken from him, and
an examination of them showed the heel
Of the right shoe to be depressed on one
side and the heel of the left shoe almost
worn to the last. The impression made
by the shoes tailed exactly with the foot
prints of Borden's assailant on his prem
ses.
When Willis was taken from the jail
and questioned in the prosecutors office,
his answers were given grudginglY and
we're essentially the same as upon his ar
alignment. County Physician Scammell
was present and after extracting another
particle of shot from the negro's back,
made diagram of his wounds for eviden-
sial purposes.
Willis speedy capture was in large
measure due to the information as to his
given by farmers in the neigh
borhood of Wrightstown, Pemberton and
Mount Holly, although the county authori-
ties here were not notified of the crime
until twenty-four hours after its commits
sion.
After his assault upon Borden, Willis
was first seen at Wrightstown, where he
entered grocery store to beg food. Then
he was seen near Pemberton.
Willis wounds were temporarily dressed
by DR.. Melcher, and then he was taken to
Trenton.
Not content with simply making the
arrest detective Parker began to trace the
fellows movements from the time he left
Yardville. He found that Walter Stelle,
who lives near Robbinsville, was accosted
by the negro at his gate few hours prior
to the assault on the Bordens. This up
sets the story of Willis that he was not in
Mercer county the day the crime was
committed. Then Parker worked along
the line to the spot where the arrest was
made and he feels able to furnish clue
to the fellows movements from the Bor-
den home to the Pemberton road. The
detective thinks this is the same fellow
who has been assaulting women in the
lower part Of the state.
On Friday detective Parker went in the
neighborhood of Jobstown ana found the
shirt the colored man had discarded. 1t
was covered with blood from the wounds
in the head and the back was full of shot
holes.