The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-12-19

The mystery surrounding the disap-
pearance of Henry Dayton, 11O6 North
! street, two years ago has just been
cleared by Police Chief Gormon.
Dayton was murdered by Joseph F.
Snyder, who was a boarder at his
home, on Labor Day, in September,
1910. Love for Mrs. Dayton Is assign
ed by the police as the motive for
Snyder's crime.
Since the death Of Dayton his muir
derer has been living with Mrs. Day
ton until Tuesday afternoon of this
week, when he disappeared, following
a threat of Mrs. Dayton to turn over
to the police confession of the crime
written by Snyder, December 2, 1911,
over a year after the murder, and CIV
en- to Mrs. Dayton by Snyder the same
day it was written with instructions
that she was not to open it for an in
definite period. Immediately before
presenting this letter marked private"
to Mrs. Dayton, her paramour at
tempted suicide by cutting both of his
wrists. but as no big arteries were
severed and because he was discov-
cred soon after this attempt on his
life and given prompt medical aid he
soon recovered.
Snyder Disappeared.
Last Tuesday, after Mrs. DaytOn's
threat to give his confession to the
police, which action on her part was
the aftermath of violent quarrel she
had had with Snyder, Patrolman Law
Ter arrived at the Dayton home in re-
sponse to the appeal of neighbors. an
noyed by the disturbance created by
Mrs. Dayton and Snyder. Just before
Lawler arrived, about 5:45 p. m. Sny-
der left the house and has not been
heard of since, although every effort
has been made by the local police de-
partment to apprehend him.
AS soon as Officer Lawler arrived,
Mrs. Dayton handed to him Snyder's
confession, which she said she had not
opened until the latter part of lass
week. Lawler at once took the letter.
which stated that Dayton's body was
buried in a small sub-cellar under the
kitchen pantry, covered with lime and
dirt.
Gormon Gets Busy.
Taking for granted that the state
ments contained in the confession
were authentic Chief Gormon wasted
no time in making a search for the
body, but at once in motion all the po-
lice machinery to capture Snyder. He
was engaged in this unsuccessful eff
fort until this morning. when he visit
ed the Dayton home. Mrs. Dayton pro-
Ha Ia
cation of the cellar, but Gormon dis
covered it to be under the kitchen
pantry and entered through a small
trap door. There he saw a small
mound and digging through the lime
and dirt discovered the skeleton of
Dayton, all the flesh having been eat
en- off by the lime.
At the base of the skull was a deep
cleft, showing that the man had been
struck by some sharp instrument.
which the coroner believes was a
hatchet.
Motive Still Unknown.
In Snyder'S confession, to be found
elsewhere, no reference is made to the
motive of the crime and where it was
committed. Mrs. Dayton has inform
ed the police that Snyder told her,
after she had opened and read his con-
fession, that he killed her husband
while he was standing in the kitchen.
Mrs. Dayton says that when the crime
was committed she was in an adjoin-
ing room, but that she heard nothing
to arouse her fears or suspicious, not
even when Snyder was taking the
body into the secret cellar.
Mrs. Dayton is i'll at her home now
and has not been taken into custody
When asked If he had decided wheth-
er to hold the woman on a charge of
suspicion until more light had been
shed on the grewsome tragedy, Chief
Gormon stated that he had reached no
decision as yet. He said there were
several things which pointed TO the
fact that she had been in ignorance of