Year: 1874




The Case of Undertook.


man named Goss kept small store
on The outskirts of Baltimore. One night
tne store was burned down, and among
the smoldering ruins the body of mar
was found, charred, but yet retaining suf
hclent marks of person as to be family re.
cognized as Goss. There was nothing
positive as to the Identification, but the
general impression was that the remains
were those of the store-keeper. Inquiries
were made by the insurance companies, fol-
Goss had several policies for several thou
sand dollars. The day before the fire Goss
had drawn out all his bank deposits, a fact
which looks suspicious, and the insurance
companies required further time to settle.
Udd9rZook now makes his appearance.
A short time after the fire Undertook Wis
tied small town in Pennsylvania, near
the Maryland line, where he met a friend.
They rode off together in buggy, but
Undertook returned to the town alone and
explained that he had left his associate at
! the railway station. A week or so after
wards gathering of crows in retired
spot attracted the attention of some coun-
| try people, who found the skeleton of a
man upon which the feathered scavengers
had been feeding. There was single gar
ment with the body, which, with a ring
| found in the buggy, has been identified as
belonging to Goss. Persons have sworn
| to photographs of GOss as the likeness of
the man who went out with UdderZoOk in
the buggy, while others have testified that
Undertook proposed to them the murder
and coneealment of an unknown man!
For this murder of Goss, Undertook
has been tried and condemned to be exc
cuted, and will probably suffer the penalty
of the law, as the Governor has refused to
interpOse the executive elemcncy.


The theory of the prosecution is that
| Undertook and Goss had planned to burn
the store, and had placed dead body in it
to be burned, which being recognized by
certain articles as that of GOss, would en-
title his widow to the policies. In this
conspiracy the wife of Goss is included. 1t
is then supposed that, in consequence of
the refusal of the companies to pay, disa-
greement arose between the men. and
that in order to prevent detection by re-
lenting purpose on the part of Goss and
his wife, that Undertook determined to
murder him. Undertook also may have
supposed that Goss carried on his person
a part or all the money which he had
drawn from the banks. The theory of the
prisoner is that GOss perished in his store,
which, as the remains were partially identi-
fed at the time as his, is certainly pre-
sumptive evidence of the validity of that
line of defense. The resemblance of the
man who rode away with Undertook to
the photograph of GOss, is circumstantially
strong against him, as is also the finding
of the ring and garment, but innocent men
have been hanged on circumstantial evil
dence even stronger than this.


Jonathan Bradford, an inn-keeper, was
found standing over a murdered man in
his own house and with bloody knife in
his hand; yet he was innocent. A tramp
er had entered the room. of the victim to
rob him and had murdered him. Bradford
had gone up for the purpose of robbery.
His ascending footsteps had alarmed the
assassin, who secreted himself, and when
Bradford entered the travellers room the
actual murderer gave the alarm, and the
innocent inn-keeper with guilty purpose
was detected. as it were, in the act. Brad
ford was hanged, and the real murderer
afterward made a death-bed confession.
Another memorable English case is that
of Ambrose Guinnet. He slept with a
man in small tavern in a seaport town,
and during the night Guinnet's bed-fellOw
was suddenly taken with a bleeding at his
nose. He partially dressed himself, went
out of the house and was imme-
diately seized upon by the press
gang, who, in the good old times,
were permitted by act of parliament
to seize upon any one and impress him for
naval service. He was taken on board
ship, which, as il. so happened, Immediate
ly sailed. Next morning the man was
missing. Guinnet was found slimed all
over with blood, the absent mans money
and watch were found, as it were, in his
possession, and the blood copiously smear
ing the stairs and hand-rails, was construed
as evidence of his having descended with
the body, and disposed of it in some un-
known way. Guinnet was hanged. A
few years ago DR.. Schoeppe was convicted
in Pennsylvania of the murder of Miss
Steineke on circumstantial evidence. A
delay was granted and his innocence was
finally established. We cannot in these
times of lax-law dealing and opposition to
capital punishment, complain of too much
hanging, but circumstantial evidence falls
short of what should be demanded, in
order legally to choke man to death.
st. Louis Republican.


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