The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-07-02

OF which express surprise at the mys>
FERROUS manner in which the murdered
man had disappeared. 1t is said that
some of the letters refer to the money
Smith was 10 receive, and the parents
were surprised that Mrs. Ledbeter
should nave Deen so fooled by Smiths
fictitious check acsimile of which is
shown in this issue
No Blood Stains on Mattress.
SearCn was made this morning for
blood stains on the mattress OF Led
beter's bed, or on the carpet in the
room, but nothing could be found to
indicate that the man was murdered
in the house.
Many people drove to the Ledbeter
farm today to view the field in which
the remains were found.
Chief of Police Geo. Pond, one of the
visitors of the Ledbeter farm today
brought to Mankato the axe which was
supposed to have been used in killing
Mr.. Ledbeter. Several other things
which will be used in the trial of the
will be held until needed
The Ledbeter children are being car
ed for nicely. The two girls are stay
ing at with the Borgmeir family, near
neighbors. The two little boys are
at home. They play about the yard,
but it is not with that joyousness
that should surround the daily life of
little ones of their age.
What the Postmortem Showed.
Ten or a dozen wounds on the head
of H. j. Ledbeter's body evidence the
fact that the murderer or murderers
wanted to make sure of death when
they committed the fiendish, brutal
crime.
The entire right forward part of the
skull was crushed in and there were
found also eight or ten other wounds
that tore through the scalp but frac-
tured no bones. The wound which
caused death almost simultaneously
was huge, gaping cash the point of
which was high up on the right side
of the forehead, evidently made with
some blunt instrument, such as the
blunt edge of an axe. The Jagged
wound was about four inches long and
it tore the scalp backward for eight
einches and extended forward to a
point in the jaw bone.
These wounds were found this morn
ing when Drs. Beach and Holbrook
ma Of
which DR.. Dahl, city health officer
took the minutes
The verbatim report of the postmor.
tenn will not be made public until
after it is given to the coroner's jury
but it is substantially as follows
Description of the Body.
The body over which the exami.
nation was held is described as that of
a man about five feet and five and a
half inches tall, weighing about one
hundred and sixty five pounds, stout
and well nourished. The was was part.
ly bald, and had dark hair and a
smooth face. The body was i'm an ad
vanced stage of decomposition, the
skin and nails dropping off and the
brain becoming decomposed.
The body also had three or four
spear wounds, one of which passed
entirely through the body. One of
the men searching yesterday afternoon
jabbed his spear down into something
hard and when he put his weight up
on it the spear suddenly went down
a foot. This was a round spear. The
doctors found that round spear had
struck Il rib and been pressed through
it and had then gone through the
body. The other spear wounds did not
pass through the body.
The late Mr. Ledbeter belonged to
the A. o. U. W., probably at Red
wood Falls, and carried $1,000 insur-
ance on his life. He had this some
time ago. and unless he dropped it re.
Gently it is still in force.
Arrangements for the funeral have
been completed. The remains will
ha ol-on IN Tho +n,,p hall -, Mall