The Republican journal., 1913-03-27
A BRUTAL MURDER.

A BRUTAL MURDER.
Emery Danforth Beats His Wife to Death
In the Presence of One OF their Children.
Emery Danforth, who lived in East Belfast,
killed his wife Blanche about. 1890 o'clock last
Thursday night. The first that was known of
the tragedy was when the IL years old son of
the couple ran to one of the neighbors and
said his father had killed his mother, taken
poison and jumped overheard. The police were
notified at once and began an investigation.
The woman's body was found on the floor of a
bedroom, upstairs with the head battered and
the floor covered with blood. The little boy said
that his father had beaten his mother over the
head with stick of wood and then taken her
by the heels and swung her around so that her
head hit the chimney. ais two brothers, Ever
EFT aged nine and Lawrence aged five wears.
said that their father told them to lock the
doors and not to give the alarm until morning.
| He also told them that he was going to take
poison and if that did not kill him, he was go.
ing to jump off the bridge. Another brother,
Warren, aged eight years, was not at home at
the time.
Danforth was 35 years old and had been en-
ployed about the docks He had been drinking
heavily of late and the neighbors say that
family quarrels were frequent at the Danforth
home. His wife was the daughter of John A.
Leighton. md had been twice married Her
first husband was John Jackson, who was
drowned in Gloucester harbor when the
schooner James Holmes was wrecked and
all on board lost their lives. Danforths par
ents, Mr.. and Mrs. Austin Danforth, live on
Cross street.
Coroner Charles R. Coombs empaneled
jury who visited the scene of the crime Fri
day morning. The principal witness was the
son, Emery, who told his story between sobs,
substantially as follows:
"Last night we all went to bed upstairs.
about s o'clock. Everett sleeps with me and
little Lawrence with papa and mamma Some
time in the night, don't know what time it
was, l was walked up by hearing papa and
mamma talking loud and fighting awful.
went into their room and papa was pounding
mamma over the head with stick of wood.
Please don't hurt mamma, said. Shut up!'
he says, If you don't III kill you He kept
on pounding mamma over the head with the
club and she fell down dead, then he hit her
against the chimney. He was in his night
clothes. Then he went down stairs | fol-
lowed him d swn. He washed his face and
hands at the sink, then dressed himself put
ting on his rubber boots and jumper.
oil hot he
himself, and drank all there was in a little
bottle of iodine; then he drank about all of a
bottle of whskey. Then he began to vomit
all over the floor About this time someone
raped on the door and Basil Newell came in.
He asked papa what the matter was and papa
said that he was sick. Papa didn't tell him
about killing mamma. Then the other children
came down stairs. Papa kissed US all and said
that we would never him again because
he was going to jump off the bridge.
"He told me to lock the door after he had
gone and not to tell anybody until morning. I
told papa woudn't t, cause was scared.I wash
ed my face and my brothers faces cause was
afraid might get some of the poison where
papa kissed US. l watched father go across
the bridge until saw him go under the third
light
Then l helped my brothers dress them.
selves and we went out and locked the door y
The boy then told of going to several of the
neighbors', but couldn't raise anyone until
at Mrs. Ida Pattersoa's, who let him in. She
reused several others of the neighbors. The
boy kept the key of the house and refused te
let anyone in until Coroner Coombs and CITY
Marshal knowlton arrived. Questioned bv
the coroner and some of the jurors, the boy
said that his father always picking on
his mother; that his mother worked in the sar.
dine factory in Belfast last summer and bought
his father suit of clothes and also some fooe
for the family. He said that his mother.
last words were: 'if you go anywhere be gooe
children"
Edward Fletcher and Frank E. Pierce, neigh
bors, testified briefly that they heard the Dan
forth toy at Mrs. Pattersons telling hel
about the trouble. Coroner Coombs then in
formed the jury that he did not consider an,
further testimony necessary. They rendered
the following verdict:
We find, That Blanche M. Danforth of Bel
| 1aSt, county Oh NalUO CAME 10 1eF u6aLn ABOUT
1890, Thursday night at her home by being
beaten on the head with a stick of stove wood
by her husband, Emery Danforth,
(Signed) W. A. MASON, (Foreman)
l. L. PERRY,
CHARLES Z. OWEN,
CHARLES F. THOMPSON,
M. W. DELANo
H. E. MCDONALD
| Friday afternoon autopsy on the body OF
Mrs Danforth was made by Dr. E. A. Wilson
and DIR. C. G. Kilgore, who found the wounds
as follows: left side of the head crushed in bach
to occipital bone; left temple crushed in tt
ear; ear badly mangled and jawbone broken
scalp cut in several places; nose crushed; two
long gashes in right cheek; hands from tips OF
fingers to elbows covered with contusions. five
or six cuts on each hand. Other cuts and con-
tusions They reported that they found 8
piece of beech wood weighing one and three.
quarter pounds, IL inches long. two inches
thick, covered with hair and blood The chin
ney was spattered with blood and the foo,
covered with blood for radius of eight feet
There is very decided difference of opinion
as whether Danforth committed suicide bx
drowning or made his escape, and only the
finding of his body, or his capture can de-
termine which theory is correct Corone,