Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-12-07
BODY OF MUIR
DERED MAN FOUND
Letters on His Person Identifies
Him as John II. Billings

were. late yesterday afternoon, cali
cd to Twentieth street. between Occur
d'Alene and sherman. at . point
which would be within 20 yards from
the home OF c. Van Dasen, where
paaserby had discovered the body OF
q man lying dead and half covered
with chunks Of dead wood and
branches. The body was frozen stlR
as II It had laid tasre for several
hours.
The oilcera took survey OF the
surroundings and conditions OF the
place and ordered the body aiken 70
the Occur d'Alene morgae, with In
Structions 20 leave untonehed untilthe
county coroner coula arrive and In
yestigate. as Il could not be deter
mined whether n was murder or not
on account OF the darkness.
At . o'clock this morning the on
GERS and coroner went to the morgne.
and after an investigation Il was
found that the man had been MUIR
dered as there were four deep gashes
and wounds on the head any one OF
which would have caused death. The
skull was broken In three places and
the right side of the face was badly
beaten. Il plainly showed that the
man had been struck from the rear
and In ali probability the A-st blow
did the work. as the wound on the
right side Of the head just back Of
the car was fatal Coroner WenE
called for a jury and an inquest was
held at 10 o'clock. They rendered
a verdict that the man came to his
death by being struck on the head
with a club OF weapon in the hands
or some unknown person.
The oficera found on the person
OF the dead man two letters from
relatives which identified him ~ be-
ing John II. Billings. One Of them
purported TO be from his daughter,
Mrs. Emma Wyer OF KingmAn, Kan
sas; the other from his sister. Mrs
Matilda Franks Of Bogue. Kansas,
rural route2 The contents OF these
letters were In the astuFe Of newa
from home and weIe loving In ma
ture. They were written about tbs
middle OF November, addressed u
and received b. the lead man In Spo-
kane q week later.
There was no money or val1able'
on the person of the dead man. Two
large punches OF keys were found
in his pockets. together with amok'
Ing articles. A third letter was alsC
found on an inside pocket from 1
friend. evidently. wlJ resides In Cal
gary; II bore the signature Of WIN
In II he stated that be was glad tina
he lBliingsD vas doing 80 well Ans
had secured a Job with the Stantons
That the man having received tn
letter In Spokane gives sri
denee that he Was then employed
with the r. Il. stanton Meat COMPANY
Of that city.
Several scraps Of tickets In tn
pockets OF Billings show that dur
ing the past season he had been en-
ployed with the Parker Amusement
company In some capacity. as the
were issued as helper tickets.
Billing IL a man OF about 90 year
OF age He vas dressed In dark
plain looking suit. He has hiael
hair. with 3 tinge OF gray Wa
eleanly KhaEen. His bat could %
be found last evening. but today Va
located By = yonngsteT within = fe'
feet Of where the deed was eommlttes
Billings was murdered IN the stree
and Afterwards his Ody wAs dragge
some 20 yards back In the thicks
and partially covered. The plag
where the deed was done shows plair
~ As there are spotA Of blood Q
the ground and the earth shows u
path where the body wAA draKgel
How and when Billings came 70 IN
city and hOw and Why he went 70 a
part Of the city where be was ma
dered IA a mystery. The deed NJ
committed By more persons tha
one. II seems certain. judging fro
: the number Of bruises.
Word has been sent 60 the rel
tives and the oncers are awaiting
: return message before anything "a
Their viii be done, and IN the msa
time the body win remain IN q
labors morxas.