The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-10-18
HAD NO ENEMIES.
CONTINUED from Page one.1

and was a sad and impressive cert InOny'
All the stores closed. The church vas
crowded. Men and women were moved
to tears by the music
If John Snowman can produce TINS
evening at the inquest one of the let
tiers he had from Marzyck, the officers
may get a clew to the mystery. They
viii compare the handwriting to thai
on the Baker hotel register, where the
man who left bloody shirt REGISTERED
under the name of John Smith"
Suspected Man Desperate.
Ellsworth, Oct 1S.-Dr. L. NJ. Reitzel,
county coroner, arrived here last night
and took charge of the Snowman muir
der case. The coroner's jury has been
impaneled and began its sittings this
morning. The jury will convene from
day to day and consider evidence and
take testimony until some definite
light is thrown on the case There IS
no tangible cleW at hand at this time
Nothing certain is known in regard to
the identity of the murderer of the
Snowman family. Suspicion and cir
cumstantial evidence point strongly
now to Charles Marzyck, brother-in-
law of Mrs. Snowman Dozens of ru-
mors and reports are rife on the
streets of Ellsworth today. most OF
them wild and misleading and
without backing or foundation
But it is certain that Marzyck had
motive, or rather a fancied grievance
against the Showmans for the crime
and that he had threatened vengeance
against them. It is certain that
Marzyck was a desperate character, a
former soldier in the Philippines and
had committed a crime in Colorado
from which lie escaped the conse-
quences and fled to Ellsworth in 1906
Marzyck'S parents live in San FRAN
cisco and the authorities there have
been notified and will investigate NO
word has yet been received from there
If word comes from the coast that
Marzvck had never left there, then the
ground. If. on the contrary, the word
is that the Slav had left there the case
against him becomes stronger.
The Ellsworth county commissioners.
in session here this week, have offered
a reward of $500 for the apprehension
of the murderer, the city has hired
Pinkerton detective who will arrive
here today, the state offers reward OF
$780, The citizens here are aroused to
a terrible pitch of excitement and will
not spare money or effort to capture
the monster who murdered the family
in their beds some time last Sunday
Sht.
Scene in House Strikes Terror.
It is impossible to conceive of the in
human brutality of this murder from
distance. Actual contact with the
scene of the crime makes the heart
shrink from the shocking ghastliness
of 1t all. The blood runs cold at
sight of that little room in that little
house on the hill above Ellsworth.
It is the tiniest kind of a house
Just a shanty with a lean-to built
against it. Only two rooms. The front
room is not larger than SxS. Just
room to walk between the two beds
a table, a chair and a bureau are the
only other articles of furniture besides
the beds. Seen last night by the light
of DR.. ReitzeTs lantern, interior. of
that room beggars description. Vic
r&HugO's most horrible word pic
ture could not describe it. Poe's
haunted house would offer a pleasant
contrast beside this room. The most
terrible scene the writer has ever wit
messed could be turned to as pleas
ant relief. from this.
The place is a pen of slaughter.
Nothing had been touched since the
crime except that the bodies had been
removed. Men guard the place until
the arrival of detectives. The room
is a squalid place, dirty and unkempt.
The victims clothes are strewn about
the room and hang from the back of
a chair. The sight of the beds will
remain. a CHASTITY vision, until time
has effaced it from the memory of
those who witnessed it, The original
white of the bedclothes and the pillow
cases had been effaced with blood and
brains The print of the heads re-
NAMED in the pillows, mute witness
of the last sleep and the agony of the
awakening.
But worst of all are the traces of
the presence of little children in that
y
tie bed. The short dresses. Above
the bed occupied by the little ones was
a bright-colored picture on the wall.
a calendar showing a little girl in a
red dress running at play among the
flowers The contrast of this picture
above that bed had all the pathos of
the tragedy of life and the crimes of
the centuries and the misery of the
world in it's pointing finger from light
and happiness to anguish and dissolu-
ton.
The Victims Awaiting Burial.
Coroner Reitzel had more horrors in
store still for the newspaper men who
were looking for local color. He went
from the house to the undertaking
out awaiting burial That scene will
haunt the most stolid mind. The NUT
Hated bodies of the young mother and
father were bad enough, but those
little children. Tt is enough to SAY
that the murderer had done his work
with an ak and wanted to make sure
OF each death. The funeral was held
late this afternoon, and the town at
tended in body
Mrs. Snowman Made a Fight For Life
That Mrs. Snowman made fight
with her murderer. Coroner Reitzel is
convinced after careful inspection of
her body. The flesh on her arms and
breast is bruised and blue and the
bruises show finger prints in the flesh.
One of the children. the oldest girl.
had also struggled for her life, and
her arm was bruised by the murder
ers hand.
Only known Motive for the Crime.
Public opinion here has fastened the
crime upon Charles Marzyck. brother
in-laW to Mrs. Snowman. and there
appear to be good grounds for it.