misc documents

random murder articles

 I'm not really sure why theses clippings were saved and cant come up with a connection to the family, likely saved by lucy or jane. Here is the transcription;

A VERMONT TRAGEDY.

Monday Night’s Shooting Affair at Lyndonville.

Additional Particulars of the Killing of Edgar Hayes. The Trouble Said to Have Grown Out of Domestic Infelicity.

Special Dispatch to The Boston Journal.

LYNDONVILLE, via St. Johnsbury, Vt., Dec. 29. — The residents of Lyndonville were startled last evening about hearing by the rapid firing of pistol shots in one of the principal streets in the village, followed by loud screams and excited exclamations from the participants and witnesses in what proved to be a tragedy. A group of two or three men were discovered gathered around the prostrate form of a man who was struggling in the agony of death. In the distance could be dimly discerned the figure of a man fleeing toward Lyndon Corners.

The victim of the tragical affair proved to be Edgar Hayes, a man about 45 years of age. The fugitive was ascertained to be Walter E. Hadley. Both of the men lived in Lyndonville, but had been in California and Panama within a few years. It was nearly an hour before the local authorities arrived on the scene, and pending the coming of the officers the people who had assembled seemed to be apprehensive that it would be unlawful to move the unfortunate man from the spot where he was weltering in his blood.

Beside the dying man lay a small Smith & Wesson revolver with one chamber discharged and a pair of brass knuckles. These weapons were recognized as belonging to Hayes, the victim of the tragedy. On the arrival of Drs. Copeland and Hubbard and local officers of the law, Hayes’s body was picked up, life being then extinct. The remains were taken to the village hall, where they now are awaiting burial.

Meanwhile Deputy Sheriff Silsby had arrived in the village, having in charge Walter E. Hadley, who had gone to the residence of this officer and given himself up, saying he had shot Edgar Hayes, but claiming that he did it in self-defence, and that Hayes fired the first shot. On Hadley’s person was found a self-cocking bull-dog revolver of 44-calibre ball, and having several empty chambers.

A brief post-mortem examination was held by the physicians named. It was found that one ball had penetrated the abdomen; that another had entered the left breast, penetrated the lung and passed out of the back, and that a third ball had entered the forehead. The last shot took a downward course, but was extracted. The body of the dead man also bore two severe contusions, as though made by some hard substance.

It seems that after supper last evening Hadley went out to pass the evening at the house of a Mr. Ayer, where half a dozen neighbors had assembled to play cards. He had been there but a short time when Hayes came in and called Hadley out, saying he wanted to have a talk with him. Two other men present, Lintoot and Bean, accompanied the pair, going down the street a few feet ahead of them. Suddenly, without any premonition, the flash of a pistol was seen, followed by a succession of shots. It is reported that these two witnesses of the tragedy assert that Hayes fired the first shot and struck with brass knuckles Hadley before he fired. At this juncture David Tate, a brother-in-law of the dead man, was coming up the street and, hearing the firing, rushed up, only to find Hayes in a dying condition by the roadside and his antagonist gone. Tate carried a lantern, which he left with a neighbor to watch over the body of his brother-in-law while he hurried away to arouse the officers of the law. He says that Hayes gasped several times after he returned, an hour later.

Much excitement prevailed throughout the night and this morning State Attorney Montgomery of St. Johnsbury went up to Lyndonville with the necessary papers and placed a warrant in the hands of the Sheriff for the arrest of Hadley on the charge of murder. The excitement prevailing here was such that the State Attorney decided not to hold the preliminary examination of the respondent in Lyndonville, and consequently nolle pros’d the original case and made out a second complaint against Hadley for murder, and on which he was rearrested and brought to St. Johnsbury, where he will have a hearing to-morrow morning before Justice Walter P. Smith. His counsel are Messrs. Cahoon & Hoffman of Lyndonville.

The dead man leaves a wife and several children. The duel between the two men is said to have been caused by jealousy and bad blood stirred up by domestic infelicity in Hayes’s family, it being well known that Hayes’s wife had left him on several occasions and that at the time the tragedy occurred she was away from home. It is alleged that Hayes had from time to time charged Hadley with being responsible for his domestic troubles and with alienating his wife’s affections.

Last night Hayes went out on the street to look up his wife, having an idea that she was secreted somewhere, and that Hadley knew her whereabouts. Hadley had received instructions that Hayes threatened to shoot him, and for fear of meeting him he carried the bull dog revolver highly for self defence. It seems that Hayes also had a bull dog revolver at home. Both men have seen life in the wild West, and the tragic story of the Lyndonville shooting reads very much like the tales of the murderous affrays which disgraced civilization in the frontier settlements in early days. The respondent will plead self defence in justification of the shooting, and the result of the hearing will be awaited with deep interest by the people in this section, where the respondent and the deceased have been well known for years. Hadley is about 25 years of age, and returned from California a year ago.

the second article

THE VICTIM BURIED.

Funeral of Foxboro’s Murdered Woman—Medical Examiner Hitchcock’s Explanation of the Law Relating to His Duties.

Special Dispatch to The Boston Journal.

FOXBORO’, Mass., Dec. 29. — Early this afternoon Medical Examiner Harris of Boston and Medical Examiner Hitchcock of this town made another examination of the body of Mrs. Arrington. Dr. Harris said that the first autopsy had been most thorough in every respect. No important detail had been omitted. A closer examination of the wounds on the head shows that two or three were made by a stick of wood. The edges of the cuts were rough and had evidently been made by a rough club, such as a piece of firewood. The premises and adjoining fields have been closely searched, but no such stick could be found. It would necessarily be covered with blood.

Of course there was no fire in the stove on the morning the body was found, but there were evidences that wood had been burned therein. One theory is that the murderer used a stick of wood which he found in the wood box adjoining the stove to stun the woman when she awoke; that having been done, he completed the job by using the hatchet. In that case he probably burned the piece of wood after being convinced that the woman was dead.

There was no evidence that an assault had been committed previous to the murder. Nor is there yet any reasonable explanation of the motive for the deed. District Attorney Bumpus, who arrived here this morning, thinks that the murder was the work of a drunken man, whose only object was robbery, but he is puzzled over the absence of any evidence tending to show that a search was made for money or valuables.

The detectives followed up several clues this morning, but nothing decisive was learned. One story was to the effect that a man was seen to run out of the house long after dark Thursday night. The officers spent all the morning trying to trace that rumor to its source, but were unable to find out who started the story. They closely examined a young man whom they suspected as the murderer, but he clearly proved his innocence from the fact that he was dead drunk in a house in another part of the town. While standing in front of the house in which this young man lived, a gunner in the weeds across the road fired at some game. The shot whistled about the ears of the detectives and reporters and struck the carriage.

The funeral of the victim of this mysterious tragedy was held at 2 o’clock this afternoon, Rev. M. F. Johnson of the Baptist Church officiating. The services were very short, but impressive. A few friends gathered in the room where the tragedy was committed, while in an adjoining room, encased in a black cloth covered casket, lay the deceased. The friends were not allowed to see the body. After the funeral the remains were placed in the receiving tomb of Rock Hill Cemetery, four carryalls following the hearse. No one left the carriages, but as soon as the box was placed in position all left the spot. The body will not be buried until spring.

An interesting fact in connection with Widow Arrington’s life has just come to light. It seems that a mortgage of $400 on her property was held by a Foxboro’ gentleman. About a year ago the Hyde Park brother paid that mortgage and left the old lady’s home free from any incumbrance. The gentleman who held the mortgage refused to let the mortgage pass out of his hands till he was assured the widow would not suffer thereby. After that act of kindness on the part of her brother the widow made a new will bequeathing the property to the Hyde Park brother. That will has not yet been found, unless the Medical Examiner took it when he had charge of the room.

Medical Examiner Hitchcock says in relation to the delay in notifying the authorities that he was not authorized to say there had been a murder until he was positive of the fact, and that he did not so decide until Sunday afternoon. He claims to have followed the law fully, even going beyond his duty by taking full notes of the condition of affairs, and though he is sorry that the evidences of the crime were cleared up he asserts that he had no authority to prevent it.

Late this evening the detectives received information concerning the suspicious actions of a man...

what i know;

The Lyndonville Shooting: Walter E. Hadley

The case against Walter Hadley moved quickly. Following the hearing mentioned in your clippings, which took place before Justice Walter P. Smith, Hadley was discharged and cleared of all charges in early January 1886.

• The Verdict: The court ruled the killing was justifiable self-defense.

• The Testimony: During the hearing, it was revealed that Hadley had helped Hayes’s wife leave her husband several months prior because Hayes was allegedly abusive.

• The Confrontation: On the night of the shooting, witnesses and evidence confirmed that Hayes had followed Hadley out of a house, struck him with a hard object (likely the brass knuckles mentioned in the article), and fired at him first.

• Justice Smith’s Reasoning: The judge noted that because it was dark and Hayes had both threatened Hadley and fired upon him, Hadley was within his rights to return fire to protect his own life.

The Foxboro Murder: Mrs. Arrington

• The murder of Widow Mary Arrington (often spelled Harrington in some archives) in Foxboro, Massachusetts, became one of the most infamous unsolved mysteries in the region at the time.

  • The Brutality: As your clipping notes, she was killed with both a blunt object (firewood) and a hatchet . The lack of a clear motive—since no valuables were stolen—stumped investigators for years.

  • The Investigation: Several suspects were detained, including the "dead drunk" young man mentioned in your article and even a local "tramp," but no one was ever successfully prosecuted for the crime.

  • A Cold Case: Despite the involvement of high-profile Medical Examiners from Boston, the case eventually went cold. To this day, the "Foxboro Tragedy" remains a staple of local Massachusetts folklore and true crime history.