The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1911-09-28
BUTCHERED WHILE ASLEEP.
Mystery Surrounds Sextuple Murder
in Colorado.

Colorado Springs, COL, Sept. 20.
-Butchered in their beds by some
persons as yet unknown, who used
an axe, the bodies of six persons,
three in each of two neighboring
houses, were found here to-day. The
heads of all the victims had been
smashed in and the appearance Of
the bodies indicated that they had
been dead several days and that
death came while they slept.
A report says that the murderer
has been caught and that he has con-
fessed, but this is denied by the po-
lice officials, who, it is fntimated,
fear a lynching might follow such
an announcement.
Bloodstained Axe Found.
An axe, which had been loaned
to Mrs. Henry F. Wayne, one of the
victims, by J. R. Evans, neighbor,
last week, was found bloodstained
by Mrs. Evans on Monday near the
back door of the Wayne home. NO
attention was paid to this fact, how
ever, as it was thought the axe had
been used in killing chickens.
The dead: Mrs. Alice May Burn
ham, wife of A. J. Burnham, their
two children, Alice, aged 6, and
John, aged years; Henry F. Wayne,
a consumptive, until recently a pa
tient at the Woodmen Sanitarium;
Mrs. Wayne and their 1-year-old
baby girl.
The Burnham house is situated at
Dale street and Harrison Place, and
the two houses next to it, on Dale
street, are vacant. Directly IN the
rear is the Wayne home and close to
it is that of Evans.
Met by Gruesome Sights.
The discovery of the bodies was
made by a neighbor, who called at
the Burnham home. Not getting
any response and noticing e strong
odor, she forced an entrance. The
bodies of Mrs. Burnham and those
of her two children were found in
their beds, which were covered with
blood and the walls and ceiling were
also spattered.
The woman rushed to the street
and gave the alarm. Immediately
dozen persons went to the Wayne
house, where there had been no
signs of life since Sunday and the
same terrible scene was presented.
In the beds were the bodies of Mr..
and Mrs. Wayne and their child, hor-
ribly mangled, as in the case of the
bodies in the Burnham home.
That such a crime had been COM
mitted in a thickly settled neigh
borhood and left unrevealed for three
days is regarded as incredible. Not
even a footprint is to be found on
the floor of either house and no one
could be found who had seen anyone
about the premises since Sunday,
when all the murdered persons at
different times in a neighboring gro
Gerry store.
Arrested on Suspicion.
Burnham, who lives at the SANTA
rium where he is employed, about
ten miles from the city, was arrested
soon after the discovery of the crime,
but there seems nothing to implicate
him in the tragedy. His employers
say he was at work when the crime
must have been committed. He was
last seen at his home Sunday after
noon and is said to have left there
about 5 o'clock.
Little is known of the Wayne
family here, except that Wayne came
to the Modern Woodmen Sanitarium
about ten months ago from Indiana,
as a patient. One month ago his
term in the institution was up and
he brought his wife and child here
and rented the house in which they
were murdered.
When brought into the morgue
the bodies were almost unrecogniz-
able. The head of every one of the
six victims was either cut or smashed
open and in almost every case the
number of wounds indicated that the
murderer had cut and smashed until
he was sure that he had destroyed
life.