St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-08-11
CRAZED WITH ALCOHOL HE SHOOTS UP THE
HOUSE AND TERRORIZES THE
NEIGHBORHOOD.
A Five Days Search for the Criminal Results
i'm Finding his Dead Body near the
Scene of the Murder.

Joseph Pascal, crazed with alcohol,
brutally murdered Charles Perkins at
the latter's home in South Walden last
week Tuesday night and after a five
DAYS search the dead body of the muir
derer was found By George Haynes about
4Orods from the scene of the murder.
Mr.. harrington telephoned States At
torney Simonds from his store at South
Walden late in the evening and word
was sent by telephone to Hardwick
about the same time. DR.. Darling and
the Hardwick officers came over from
Hardwick in the doctors automobile,
arriving at the Perkins house soon after
midnight. In the meantime Sheriff
Winch had been notified and he started
from McIndoes for St. Johnsbury in his
REQ, arriving here just before one clock.
Here he was joined by Mr.. Simonds,
Deputy Sheriff Fred S. Hartman and the
editor of the CALIFORNIAN and they made
the trip to the Perkins farm by full moon
light in less than two hours, a distance
of20 miles.
The murderer had left the place but
short time before the officers arrived and
had recently been seen in the woods back
of the house where he had fred on one of
the Hardwick officers and called to an
acquaintance that he would shoot any
one that tried to arrest him. The neigh
bors were in a state of terror, but when
the officers arrived with their Winches-
tiers and Sheriff Winch had sent to Hard
wick for fresh supply, their fears were
somewhat allayed. Sitting in the kitch-
en- of the Perkins home in the early grey
OF the morning the story of the awful
tragedy, as far as it was known, was
told the writer and the states attorney
while Sheriff Winch was arranging for
patrol of the neighborhood in hopes of
locating the criminal.
Joseph Pascal was a Frenchman about
40 years old who lived next to the farm
house of Charles Perkins about one mile
from South Walden on the road to Hard
wick. He had been employed as farm
hand and woodchopper in that vicinity
for about dozen years and had return
ed that day from Morrisvile with his
brother Corlss with two quarts of
alcohol. Going to the lumber camp of
their employer, c. w. Montague, the
usual result followed. After quarrelling
among themselves Joseph Pascal return
ed home late in the afternoon and at
tackled his wife, choking her and other
wise brutally treating her. Taking adj
vantage of her husbands drunken stupor
she fled to the home of Charles Perkins,
her nearest neighbor, to tell him how her
husband had treated her. Mr.. Perkins
at once called up the Hardwick officers
and Mrs. Pascal returned to her home
and told Corliss that the officers were
coming. She then took her four small
children and fled to the home of William
Bradford who lived beyond the Perkins
place Corliss Pascal was sober enough
to give his brother some good advice as
he told him the officers were after him
and he better get out of there.
This information evidently enraged Joe
Pascal and taking his Winchester repeat
ing rifle he started out on the warpath
after his wife. Subsequent events show
ed that if he had found her he would
have killed her at sight as he killed the
hrst man that tried to stop him in his
mad errand and tried to kill or terrify
all the Others that he met before he fled
to the woods. Pascal came up to the
Perkins house at $50 in the evening and
seeing Mr.. Perkins at the telephone sus-
pected he was trying to reach the officers.
Entering the house he angrily asked for
MS wife. Whether he shot Mr.. Perkins
before he struck him with his rife is not
known, as there was no one in the room
nut the two men and no one awake in
the house. Mrs. Perkins was sick in bed
IN the room adjoining the sitting room
and heard the shot and also heard Pas
cal say to Mr.. Perkins, Nov I've got
you where can handle you" The sup
position is that at this time he struck
Mr. Perkins with the butt of the gun,
once over the heart and once on the back
OF the head. Mr. Perkins never spoke
after the assault and death must have
resulted almost instantly. The neigh
0ors found Mr.. Perkins PROSTATE on the
living idiSh OVSI d IOCklLS CudlI
ana lying with his head in the back of
tne overturned chair. The bullet passed
through the feshy part of the right
wrist passed through the door into the
MtGhen, glancing off the kitchen table
ana ourying itselfin, the wall back of the
stove. From the direction of the bullet
1t IS evident that Mr.. Perkins was shot
as ne was standing up and probably try
ing to escape into the kitchen from the
iniuriated man.
Hearing noise in the adjoining bed
room Pascal then burst into Mrs. Per-
A HWGS room and asked in profane words
,T There my wife; it's business tonight"
AL Perkins told him she was not in
. ..le mouse, and then realizing her danger
auSied out OF the house and hid in the
small henhouse about a rod from the
l honse. Later her children found her
mu'hg IN the shedchamber over the
tM;oodshed, though she has no recollec-
t OF leaving the henhouse and was
utIareiooted in her night clothes when
they found her.
ascal continued his search for his wife |
g. gong upstairs to the room of Hiram
LI III! the hired man. He commanded |
lillI TO produce his wife, threatening him
nnt showing him his loaded rifle. 1t did
, nUl take Smith long to get past the
Inurderer a~J l., II.