The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-04-01
WH|skEY LED
TO HORRIBLE
DECAP|1AT|OIN.
Woman Victim Of Husbands
Desire to Rid Himself Of
Her
PROPOSED PICNIC EaOED N
BRUTAL MURDER Of WOMAN

vsVey Va JUG DOQy ana U
Strong Chain Of Circumstantial Eyi.
dence Points to His Guilt.
Baltimore, April Lying face
downward on a hill in Mondawmin,
the beautiful country place Of Gen.
Alexander Brown, the body of Mrs.
Mary Gertrude Merrick was found
early this morning, with her head
nearly severed. Her throat had been
gashed from ear to ear, and from the
condition Of the turf and dry leaves
1t is evident that the woman made a
desperate struggle for life.
A few hours later the woman's
husband. Joseph Albert Merrick, we'll
known on the race tracks as AL Mer-
rick. stood at the bar of the police
station charged with the murder of
his wife.
While he trembled and could hard
ly speak when Patrolman Higgins ap-
preached him on the street, Merrick
recovered his composure when taken
to the station house and despite the
efforts of Capt. Santry and detectives.
he has refused to admit any connec-
tfon with the crime. He has admitted
however. that on Wednesday he went
out the Liberty road to look for his
wife, with whom he had an appoint
ment. A strong chain Of circumstan-
tial evidence Is in the hands of the
police. On the trousers the man wore
when arrested, were found spots,
which the police say is blood. A
bloody handkerchief was found in his
pocket.
Killed Wednesday Night.
It is the opinion of the police that
Mrs. Merrick was lured to the side
of the hill and was murdered in: the
twilight Of Wednesday evening. Mer-
rick. who is well known in the north
western section, was cool throughout
the grilling given him by the police
and detectives. At the police station
Merrick was visited by his father,
Park Policeman James H. Merrick,
who is assigned to Patterson park.
Merrick. in matter-of-fact way, told
his aged father to have his wife buried
but not from his mother-in-law's
home.
Merrick. when brought to the sta
tion house, wore new shirt and
clean collar. He maintained a stole
silence and refused to discuss the
case with the officers. He did admit
to Capt Santry that he was in the
neighborhood where the nutilated
body Of his wife was found, and said
that he had been home asleep during
the night.
Lieut.. Kalbfleisch sent Sergt. Char
les E. Hurley to the home of Merrick,
on Francis street. On going to the
bathroom, Sergt. Hurley found a
bloodstained shirt. two handkerchiefs.
and a white necktie with blood spots
on 1t. A bloodstained garment was
found in the cellar Of the house. The
clothing was bundled up and taken
to the station house and was used by
Capt. Santry in his examination of the
prisoner.
For five full hours Merrick was
"sweated." The process, however.
u6u AO CACNt Ou AAAAAs
According to Detective Atkinson,
Merrick admitted that he had been
drinking for some time past, and that
he met his wife on Tuesday, and ask
ed her to meet him on the Liberty
road on Wednesday morning. He also
admitted to the detective that he was
in the neighborhood where the body
of the woman was found. To Detec-
tive Atkinson the prisoner said:
"My wife came to, my fathers house,
where I was asleep, and woke me up
early Wednesday morning. told her
that | would meet her in the country,
and fixed lunch to take along.
gave her the lunch. and in the box
was a bottle of whisky. That was
the last time saw her."
Discovery Of the Body.
Mrs. Merrick's body was found at
$40 a. M, by q colored woman, who
reported her discovery to the engi-
neer of the Forest Park reservoir, who
notified the police. The body lay on
rising ground about 100 feet from a
little stream that runs through the
Brown estate.
From the spot where Mrs Merrick
law all the way to the brook the po-
lice found thin trail of blood. They
think that her assailant cut himself
in the struggle and then hurried down
to the brook to wash his hands and
bind up his wounds. For long time
# did not appear what weapon bad
heen used, and careful search Of
the grounds was made. but to no
avail Finally Sergeant Robert Nc
Clellan of the mounted police. found
the knife, which was a sharp kitchen
knife. that had evidently been broken
in the woman's fight for her life. 1t
was " lying in the bed of the brook,
ahout fifty yards upstream from the
mnint where the body was found.
patrolman Thurlcigh who was on
ror,omhpred seeing Mrs,