The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-09-27
SKELETON OF
MAN MURDERED
is DISCOVERED
Found in Field by Clay County
Sheriff's Party After
Search of 3 Days
4 UN DER ARRES T
First Degree Murder Charge
Expected to be Filed Fol-
lowing Finding of Bones
UN DER ARRES T


Moorhead. Mimi, Sept. o7.-The
skeleton Of Ray Smith, transient Ia
borer, who disappeared from Barnes.
vile in the fall of 1920. and who is
believed to have been murdered, was
found shortly after 6 o'clock Tuesday
evening in it's shallow grave on the
Peter Engels farm 10 miles southwest
of GAINESVILLE, after three days of
search by Clay county authorities.
: Immediately following the inquest at
2 p. m. yesterday, charges of first
degree murder were filed against
Roman Furst, for whom Smith was
working when last seen, County At
torney w. George Hammett stated.
Just as the sun was going, down
Sheriff P. f. Malvey, in charge of
the search, directed a workman to
dig into a slight depression which
he had noticed a short distance ahead
of the plOwed area The skeleton was
found at once. Coroner o. C. Beck
and County Attorney Hammett were
notified and u coroner's jury selected
ut the grave. The body was brought
to Moorhead Tuesday night and an
inquest was held at 2 p. m. yesterday
at the Wright & Sons chapel.
Worked by Light
With the glare of automobile head
lights illuminating the field, the skel-
eton was exhumed from the grave. A
hasty examination in the dim light
showed that the skull had been
crushed, Mr.. Hammett said. There
was no sign of bullet wound, as far
as could be determined.
The grave, lying north and south,
was about two feet deep-not over
two and one-half .feet-Mr. Hammett
said. The position of the bones,
which had fallen apart, indicated
that the body had been hastily tum-
bled into the grave. 1t was lying on
its face, slightly on the left side and
the knees and hips had been doubled
up so that the toes were turned
down, the heels being higher than
the toes The grave was too short
for the body.
Grave on Edge of Field
The grave was found near the
north edge of 4O-acre field, with
no trees or other marks by which it
might have been located, nearer than
u neighbor's fence. 80 rods to the
south. This field is part of q
larger field containing some 800 or
400 acres, Mr.. Hammett said, and is
about q mile from the farm build
ings.
The crime is believed to have been
committed in Wilkin county about
100 rods from the Wilkin-Clay coun-
ty line. Furst and his companions
are alleged to have carried the body
in a buggy from the scene Of the
crime, through the fence. south Of
the field in which the grave was
found.
Prisoners Point Out Field
In search of the field, indicated
by the companions of Furst, Carl
Marwitz, Fred Marwitz, and Leonard
Mallinger who are being held in con-
nection with the case, as the one in
which Smith was buried, Sheriff
Malvey two weeks ago dug just at
the edge of the depression which
marked the grave, but did not find
the skeleton.
Tuesday evening, he said, he be-
came dissatisfied with the results of
his previous digging and ordered one
of the men to dig there again. The
body was almost Immediately reach
cd.
About three acres of the field had
been plowed during the past three
days in an effort to locate the grave
and the Flowed area extended to
within few rods of the grave when
work stopped Tuesday evening. A fur
row nine inches deep was dug by
the plow and the earth carefully ex.
amined as the plow passed through it
1t was believed that the grave would
be revealed by the difference in tex
ture Of the ground and possibly by
discolofstion due to the mixing o1
the subsoil and the top soil. .
Field Seeded Twice i.
The search was made more diff
cult by the fact. the field had NeeI
plowed after the murder il, alfe9et
TO have been c6mmitted, $ 4 crop ol
harley grown in 1921, the field agar
plowed and s0wp TO winter rye IL