Year: 1876




Two Robbers.


Recently was published the story of the
express robbery in Missouri and of the
manner in which the robbers bound, gagged
and carried woman who had become cog
nlzant of their crimes over the bridge at
st. Louis of how, in moment of supreme
agony, when about to be hurled over into
the Mississippi river, with an iron weight
attached to her, she displaced the bag from
her mouth and raised an alarming cry that
caused the villains to leave their victim and
seek safety for themselves in flight. The
St Louis Republican adds this sequel to
the story


Edward Deal, alias Wilson, one of the
North Missouri express robbers, arrived
from Cincinnati, in charge of an officer
Deal is mere youth, tall, rather light build
and of not pleasant contenance. About
eleven o'clock the colored woman whom the
robbers tried to murder, because of her
knowledge of their crime, was brought to
the court. Deal was led before her, and
at the first glimpse of him she burst out in
4 furious and most unmistakable identified
ton. That's him. That's the villain who
put the rubber ball into my mouth Oh,
let me at him Oh, you rascal % and at
| him she would have dashed then and there
had she not been restrained by detective.
Deal, before being led in, pulled his slouch
hat down over his eyes and hung his head
In the most abject manner, but said never
a word. He was sent back to his cell, and
the woman then begun to relate in more
| bo ha1 r,,-r,arl,r fl,a
events of that terrible Sunday when she
for hours heard plans for her murder de-
liberately discussed.


Her description was most vivid of how,
when she opened the door Of the room and
came upon the men dividing their spoils,
they hastily covered the money with a
blanket, pounced on her, locked the door
and gagged her then, after a few moments
consultation, they stripped her entirely
naked, and bound her hand and foot, leav-
ing her lying on the floor. Then came the
should shoot her, cut her throat, or drown
her, it being an agreed fact that either course
must be pursued She was particularly
vindictive toward Deal, because he was up
to that time a total stranger to her, and
yet he was the most abusive to her, and in
sisted on putting pistol in her mouth and
blowing her brains out, and then leaving
her in the room. She says he would oc
casionally come up to where she was lying
and kick her in the side or head by
way Of joke, making some jovial remark
meanwhile. Once he measured the Goa
box to see whether her body could be slowed
in 1t, and then walking up to her he meas
ured off her body, showing that it woulC
be necessary to cut her into three pieces
the last cut coming just where her heaC
Joined her neck. When he reached thi
point he drew his finger nail across he
neck, scratching a mark to cut by, as h
told her. They threw her on to the bed
then rolled her off on to the floor and ap
desiring to studcfy her by bruises, withou
drawing blood. Deal at one time paced u
and down the floor, with hands behind him
giving his ideas as to how the murder hat
best be done, and every time he came t.
where she was lying he gave her kick, a
though it facilitated his reasoning. One
! he stopped down. took lot of her hair Of
{ and threw it into the stove, laughing a
4 the way it burned. Then, seeming to lik
! that sort of joke, he held her mouth. .ope
! while he took out her set of false teeth
! which he also threw into the stove, remark
ing disboIically that he "never knew mic
i gers teeth would craclile like that" Afte
t the men tired out of this, they relieve
a each other while they went to dinner, an
finally, just after dark, one of them put he
t on his back, they having dressed her i
If mems clothes, and carried her down to tn
;, buggy to take her to the bridge for drown
. ing purposes.