At the early hour of 4 o'clock, or a little sooner,
Mrs. BENJAMIN STARKWEATHER, sister-in-law of NATHAN STARKWEATHER of this
city, aged 40, and her daughter, HARRIET ELLA, aged 14 years, were both
foully murdered while sleeping together in their house.
They were killed with an ax, but they were also stabbed in various places with a butcher-knife.
We saw the bodies after they had been laid out, and
hope never to see another such sight. The mother's face was cut in two
with a powerful blow from the ax, which divided the nose, crosswise, and
out open the face entirely across, crashing through the bones of the
upper jaw and cheeks. Over the right eye was another gash from the ax,
sinking through the skull and into the brain; and there was another
which cut open the side and back of the head, and also a great gash near
the right temple. Besides these wounds there were others made by a
butcher-knife -- one through the lower part of the chin, the blade
penetrating deep into the throat; one deep into the right breast; and
another deep one in the left breast.
ELLA, the daughter, presented a still more shocking
sight. Her right eye was entirely gone. The ax had cut a terrible gash
across the brow, eye and check, evidently at one blow, letting out all
of the eye, breaking in the skull, and cleaving down to the cheek-bone.
Above the right eye, near the top of the forehead, was another fearful
gash from the ax, sinking i to the brain; and she was stabbed through
the bosom with the butcher-knife.
The first information of the murders was given by
the son, ALBERT STARKWEATHER, at 4 o'clock. He came to Mr. HORACE
WHITE's, a neighbor, rattling, or rather falling heavily against the
back door, and arousing the inmates with this call:
"Get up! -- get up! -- Come over to our house! I
don't know but our folks are all killed, and the house is on fire!"
Mr. WHITE ran over, followed by ALBERT, and found
his (ALBERT's) room full of smoke and the bed on fire. He took the bed
out and put it out of the window. Then he went up stairs, though the
smoke was so thick he nearly suffocated. ALBERT did not follow him, but
paced hurridly up and down the lower rooms, sobbing and crying.
On getting into the chamber. Mr. WHITE found the bed
all in a blaze, and the bedroom covered with blood. He lifted up ELLA
and found her still alive, though bathed in blood and presenting a
shocking sight. As he lifted her a bloody ax slipt off upon the floor.
Mr. WHITE took it, and lifting the window, placed the ax under it to let
out the smoke, while he next got Mrs. STARKWEATHER off the burning bed,
and finding her dead, placed her on the floor while he rolled up the
bed and threw it out of the window. His hands were blistered and his
clothing rendered very bloody
The dying ELLA he carried in his arms to a back
window in the adjoining room, in order to give her fresh air; and then
sent the hired man (who, with others, had arrived) at once for a doctor.
But the poor girl died in a few minutes. Her blood covered the
window-sill, on which she rested, and the floor near by. Mr. WHITE at
once instituted a search for tracks about the house, but was unable to
discover any distinct marks of feet except in the garden.
ALBERT STARKWATHER, 24 years of age, slept on the
lower floor in the northeast room. His mother and ELLA slept in the
northwest room above. He says a noise up stairs, just before dawn,
awakened him, and rushing out of his room he was knocked down, near the
foot of the stairs, by a man or men, coming down; that he recovered, and
had a scuffle in the dark, and was overpowered, thrown down, and the
man or men escaped. He shows a scar over one eye, which he says was
caused by the blow the murderer gave him. This mark, unfortunately, was
obviously of an older date than this morning.
A jury of inquest was summoned, consisting of Arnold
Olmsted, Charles Annis, Charles A. Arnold, Francis W. Cowles, Merritt
Buckland, Horace Fuller, Moses Scott, F.C. Buckland, Patrick Fitzgerald,
Wm. McNall, John O. Spencer and John C. Robertson -- the latter acting
as foreman. They sat from 9 to 10, and, tacitly agreeing upon a verdict,
decided nevertheless to have an adjourned session at 7 o'clock this
evening, after further facts were developed.
ALBERT's butcher-knife was subsequently brought out
during the session of the jury, and its appearance before his eyes
caused him to start and tremble. A very ugly fact is that the knife was
found in his drawer in his own bedroom!
The Hartford police were speedily put upon an
investigation, and Chief CHAMBERLAIN, accompanied by Officers COWLES and
PAPE, went over to the scene of murder. CHAMBERLAIN arrested the son,
ALBERT, and locking him in the front chamber with himself and COWLES,
(after the inquest,) proceeded to subject him to an examination.
While this examination was going on, EDGAR GREEN, a
man whom ALBERT had hired to work about the place during the Summer,
arrived from Mansfield, where he lives, and where he had driven on a
visit, leaving Oakland last Saturday noon. ALBERT had paid him at the
rate of $34 a month for services which never seemed to amount to much,
the neighbors said; and they think ALBERT never could have afforded to
hire him at that rate. GREEN, however, shows no evidence of guilt, and
was very willing to be examined. He was evidently thunderstruck to hear
of the murder.
ALBERT's reputation is not good. He is a rather
"fast young man," and his associations are said to have been not of the
best. We hear that he was soon to be married.
In his bureau was found a sum of money in National
Bank bills, amounting to about $362. There were three $100 bills, one
$50, and some smaller.
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