The Washington times., 1922-11-05

who lived in Lancaster. Like Brock, ne
turned up alive and well after he had
been "burned to death" and properly
"buried."
Dooley had built 81 200 home-quite
a pretentious structure for Lancaster. He
insured it for the amount it cost him and
also put premium of $4,000 on his life
Inability to meet his bills caused him to
attempt to obliterate his menc>N Notes
aggregating many thousands, one alone
for 10000, were falling due and he was
unable to get the ready cash to meet
them. Shortly before their time for p@"-
ment arrived his home was burned while
his wife and son were away, and whom
they returned they were led to charrcd
human bones which were found in the
ruins and which everybody believed w"rc
Mr.. Doolcy's.
Mrs Doolcy accepted her fate With
resignation and prepared for the burial
Of her husbands body. But the utter ab-
scncc of flesh near the charred bones OK
cited the curiosity of the prosecuting at
torney of Schuyler County, who had some
of the bones scraped, and noticing some
strange marks on them decided that he
would take possession of them all. 1t was
discovered that the bones were perforated
so that they could be strung on a wire and
assembled into a human skeleton. The
skull also was thoroughly examined and
the doctors who performed the autopsy
declared that on account of its thickness
they had no doubt that the skeleton was
that of negro. Inquiries set on foot
soon furnished the information that Doo-
ley had purchased the skeleton not long
previously from a medical school.
But even then il was thought that his
"widow" might have successfully fought
the case in the courts if Dooley had not
committed an oversight before he plotted
his lawful death" He had X-ray photo
graphs taken of his jaw. and these were
in possession of Lancaster dentist for
examination preparatory to having some
dental work done. In the furor of counter
charges that arose after the skeleton was
found, this dentist readily offered these
X-ray pictures in an attempt to positively
identify the skeleton. But a comparison
of the pictures with the jaw bones Of the
skeleton quickly disclosed the fraud.
AS no attempt was made to collect Doo-
ley's life insurance nothing was done to
the widow" since she had an effective
alibi because she was not present when
the house burned down.
tha,, ftnt-N orln naN 1At.
seen around his old haunts again. He told
a truly remarkss le story.
On the night of the fire, he explained,
armed men had suddenly appeared at his
bedside and compelled him to accompany
them They kept him a prisoner, so he
said, in a solitary room for months and
afterward freed him without offering any
explanation for their strange actions.
They took him, he claimed, blindfolded
to point near Kansas City Union Station
and suddenly stripping his eyes of the
bandage told him where he was and left
him. He claimed that he took the next
train to Lancaster with the money they
had supplied, and his story gained Gre
dence because he escaped prosecution.
All this happened scarcely more than n
year ago and is fresh in the minds of tho
citizens of Missouri,
Meanwhile the police are in quandry
II Brenn did not commite the crime, who
did? If he is still alive, why has he not
made his Whereabouts known to tls
family? If he is in hiding, why have the
police not located him by this time? Is
his sudden disappearance a confession of
guilt? II he did not drive pretty Celes.
tines body to his garage, who did? Or
can It be possible that he suffered death
later at the hands of the bandits he
claimed had robbed him? Tho police have
as yet found nothing new to help them
clear up the mystery.