Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1911-04-14
FINLANDER SUICIDES.
Jumps Through Car Window and
Then Hangs Himself.

A peculiar suicide and under peculiar
circumstances was committed late Mon
day night or early Tuesday morning
about mile south of Beldens and two
miles north of Middlebury. About a
year and half ago one, John Karki, a
young Finn, disappeared from May
nard, Mass, where there are a quite a
lot of Finlanders, among whom were
several relatives of Karki, but none of
his immediate family. These people
kept up a continuous search for the
missing man and until about week
and half ago when they got news in
some way that person answering to
the description of Karki was working in
Winooski, Vermont. A cousin of his,
Erck Star, took train for Winooski at
that time and since had been on the
lookout in the village for traces of his
relative. Monday he came upon him
and found that he had been working in
the wooden mills most of the time since
he left Maynard. Karki agreed to
accompany Star back to Maynard,
Mass, and they took the night train for
that destination. Karki acted some
what strangely while in company with
his cousin during the day and had
knife and razor on his person and made
a couple of attempts to cut his throat
before they took the train but was pre-
vented by the cousin who took the
weapons away from him. They left
Burlington on the southbound sleeper.
Star kept close watch on Karki while
on the train, but just after passing
Beldens station the suicide went into
the closet opened the window and in
some way threw himself out before
anything could be doneIto prevent him.
Star at once notified the conductor of
what had happened but the train was
not stopped until it arrived at the Mid
dlebury station. Star with a couple of
section hands, Night Operator Brennan,
Theodore Duckett and DR.. S. S. Eddy
took hand car and went up to about
the point where Star judged his cousin
had jumped through the car window
and made search, but nothing was
found of him except his cap which lay in
some bushes short distance from the
track. Star stopped in the waiting
room of the railroad station the rest of
the night and in the morning returned
to the scene accompanied by Chief of
Police M. T. Butterfeld and Deputy
Sheriff N. j. Sanford and resumed the
search. They each went in different
directions and hunted until about noon
when Mr.. Batterfield saw something
that attracted his attention and upon
approaching found that it was the body
of man suspended to a limb of small
cedar tree. The other members of the
party were called up, and the dead body
was identified by Star to be that of his |
cousin, Karki. The suicide had divest-
ed himself of his coat and vest, taking
off his shirt and made it into a rope. |
This he tied about his neck and hitched |
it to limb of a tree, but the tree was
so small that his feet were on the |
ground and he had strangled to death, |
leaning forward with his head in the
moose. The authorities OF New Haven |
were notified and permission was given
for the removal of the body, as it |
was a plain case of a suicide. The /
body was brought here and taken
to the undertaking roome of A.
j. Blackmer, to be prepared for
burial. The remains We're taken to his
late home in Maynard, Mass, Wednes-
day morning on the mail train. The /
dead man was 28 years of age and un-
married. His mother and other rela-
tives are living ia Finland. The train
from which Karki threw himself was
running about 40 miles an hour and how
the man eacaped death or serious in
jury in his fight through the car window
is one of the mysteries as he had only
scalp wound over the left eye and other
wise apparently uninjured, but he was
evidently bound to destroy himself and
when he was unable to do so in one way
he discovered method in which he
ct,coaoIoI