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"The people throughout this section
and in adjacent New Hampshire towns are greatly excited over the grave
robbery here on Friday night, and today's developments have added fuel
to the flames of sentiment.
The arrest of J.P. Gifford and the
hold of him in $2000 [bond], followed by the arrest of John O'Donnell at
Strafford tonight, in no means allayed the interest in the case, and
startling revelations are expected shortly. The authorities are now
searching for evidence which will warrant the arrest of a third man.
That Joseph M. was murdered, and
that his body was removed from its grave to prevent an autopsy. [This]
belief is gaining ground.
On the day before Thanksgiving,
Joseph M. was found hanging from a tree near his home, and it was considered
a case of suicide. It is now asserted that when the body was found the strap
around the neck was so loose that a hand could be pushed inside it, and that
the neck had not the mark that would have been made had the man been choked
to death by it, and further, that an imprint of fingers was noticeable upon
the neck.
The body is said to have stood as
though it was stiff before the strap was put around the neck, and it is
surmised by some that the man was dead before he was placed by the tree.
A bottle that Joseph M. was known to
have had medicine in was found not far from his home, and this is said to
have been called for by a member of his family, and is now missing. Poison
is assumed by some to have been in this bottle.
State Attorney Enwright and Sheriff
Spofford have been working all day here and in Hanover, but they are
preserving the strictest secrecy in the matter.
This afternoon Gifford was arraigned
in court. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of body snatching, and was
bound over to $2000 to the grand jury. Many members of the Dartmouth faculty
were present in the hearing, and they promptly furnished bail, Gifford
returning to Hanover tonight. He would say nothing in regard to the case.
O'Donnell, who was arrested tonight
at Strafford, will be given a hearing tomorrow. He has been there for the
past few days during the medical college vacation.
S.D. Snow, the student who was at
first thought to be implicated, has proved to authorities that he had no
connection with the case.
The body was found concealed in
Hanover this afternoon by State Attorney Enwright. It will probably be again
buried in the family lot from where it was stolen, although in view of the
sensational reports current, an autopsy may be performed.
The two arrested are said to have
been brought about through information by Dr. Bowles, proprietor of the
Newton Inn, and in the event of a conviction he is likely to claim the $1000
reward offered by the selectmen.
On Friday night, when it was
believed the grave was robbed, Gifford, O'Donnell, Snow and another medical
student, served as waiters at the banquet of the Alpha Delta Phi society in
the inn.
After the feast the students started
to walk to Hanover, leaving the hotel about 1 a.m. At 2 they were overtaken
on the road by fraternity men, who were being driven home in a coach.
It is said that at 3 O'Donnell
returned to the hotel stable and sought to hire a horse and wagon, stating
to the man in charge that his companions had become intoxicated, and that he
wanted to get them home to Hanover.
A large horse was hitched into the
express wagon used in conveying the mails, and O'Donnell drove off,
returning the rig in an hour.
The hoof prints on the road
corresponded with those of the animal driven, and the wheel tracks are also
the same distance apart, being easily distinguished, as they are narrower
than those of an ordinary carriage.
Gifford belongs in West Randolph,
VT, is a graduate of Dartmouth of the class of '94, and entered the medical
school last fall. Snow's from Washington, D.C., and O'Donnell from
Strafford. All are highly connected and very popular among their classmates
and the towns-people of Hanover."
...
"On December 18, 1896, John P. Gifford and Jack MacDonald, [both] Dartmouth
medical students, in the Windsor County, VT, superior court, pleaded guilty
to the charge of body snatching, and were fined $2000 and $1500
respectively.
Gifford settled promptly, and
MacDonald rests in jail. Friends will undoubtedly raise money for payment of
his fine. Both were popular at Dartmouth. Gifford graduated from the medical
college with valedictory honors last month."
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