Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-06-26

| a colored man who had been among
| the pursuerS waded out into the shall
| low water and brought the boat ashore
| The flare o ia match revealed the work
of the suicides pistol. A great hole
| had been torn in his chest. and life was
| extinct.
Eastman for the previous few days had
watched the development of the murder
charges with a smile his face. All
| the morning of the Monday after the
crime he sat in the telegraph office at
Mcdaniel. In the afternoon he went to
Baltimore to mail a letter which Miss
Carrie Thompson, foster sister of the
murdered girl, received on Wednesday
morning and which would have delayed
the search for some days if the body had
not been discovered. He returned on
Tuesday night.
Sitting in the Office on Wednesday af
ternoon he heard George B. Taylor re-
lceive a telephone message announcing the
finding of the body.
| My God" he exclaimed. jumping to
his feet, you don't mean to say a wo-
man has been murdered here Who is
lshe?"
| He dropped back to his chair when told
she was unknown. After a few minutes
he said
Get me a team. Mr.. Taylor. I will go
over to ST. Michaels to get story about
this murder and then take it to Balti-
more"
Eastman had claimed to be a newspa-
per man.
| Reaching ST Michaels he watched the
| a. ,,yfi1 bo
body had been identified.
| Returning to Mcdaniel he ordered a
ticket for Baltimore In the meantime
Constable Mortimer. called up over the
telephone to inquire about him. stating
The was a stranger and might know some
thing
| Eastman then said ooh. if there is
any suspicion about me | will remain.
never saw this woman"
I The letter mailed by Roberts at Balti-
more and received here by Miss Carrie
Thompson is one of the incidents which
seem to connect Eastman most closely
, with the crime. This letter was written
| by Mrs Woodil and was mailed sew
erai days after her death. Whether or
not it was written by Mrs. Woodll to
shield her visit to Eastman's bungalow.
or whether the man had some evil in
/ tent in mind and caused her to write the
| letter to delay search for her body. may
never be known. The letter was intended
to give the impression that Mrs. Woodill
was in Baltimore.
| The letter follows:
"Dear GirI--A line only to saw | am
well and safely landed STAYED with
| little May Bartlett in Easton. You re-
member her and her aunt Mrs. Emery.
| 1--WE had fine time talking over old
days. DIR. Smithers fixed me up tenn
porarjy. | have an engagement with
| him for next week. I'll get all fixed up
! in Baltimore and then if there is any
! travelling to be done we will decamp
! together. BY the way, would you like
to come up now? Just say the word if
You want to- My face is good in Balti
i more.
! 'Expecting a check from Gilbert any
day to make good. Don't know how
| many days I'll stay in town, but you
know where to find me- Write and tell
me all the news. George George r.
| Tavl,r. the stationmaster at McDan-
ieD Mr. Roberts. etc. and I may stay
until Thursday to go with Edith H., to
know how it is in Baltimore. [ don't
know whore to go first, or what to do
to keep with tho rush. Better forward
mail which you may have for me. Let
me know if there are any little commits
sions to be attended to in town. AS al
| ways
| "YOur baby sister,
| EDITH"
| Col. Thompson and Miss Carry
THOMPSON both declared today that the
letter was in the handwriting of Mrs.
| Woodill. They could offer no explana-
ton as to why she should have written
a letter in advance of a trip to Balti-
more.
one of the most pitiable figures in all
l of the lamentable tragedy is old Col.
Charles H. Thompson of Mcdaniel. the
foster father of the murdered girl Sit
ting on the porch of his home. over
looking the water of Harris creek,
| where Eastman had ended his life
early today. the broken old man told
the story of the girls life.
! To the foster brother lying in the grave
next to hers. the girl had been the ideal
of all that was sweet and pure. The
splerdid young fellow had grown up with
her and learned to love her ana 1t Is said
that he desired her to become his wife.
She would not He killed himself.
This is the browning sorrow of my
life" said Col Thompson today the
tears streamed down his face. Il have
exrerienced many sorrows, l have had
my heart wrecking blows. but this is the
hardest of all to bear.
The old man went on to tell much OF
the story of his own life and that of the
girl
The little girl who became his foster
daughter was but three years old when
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