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XTlft IMVAB miU JLtt iaim iia.aMURDER WILL OUT.Mrs. Richard Trump Arrested foiKilling Her Husband.She Makes a Complete Confession Telling How it was Done.The Coroner and the Public BelievedTrunin Hn.d i^r.cnitted Suicide,But the Authorities go to Work on the Case.From Monday’b Dally.On the 30th of last January the public was informed through the daily papers that Richard Trump, a well-known tanner living five miles south of the city inPrairietc n township, had committed suicide the day before by shooting himselt through the head shortly after his ar^val home from town with his wife. It wa? said at the time that Trump had killed himself because of financia difficulties. Others said it was her to fast conduct on the part ot his wife with other men. The principal witnees at the Coronet’s inquest was the wile of the deceased, Mrs. Nettie Trump, a woman abot 28 years ot age, who spent her younger days as a resident of Terre Haute, living in the southern part of town, where, as Nettie Williams, she went to school, and she is known therefore to a large number of our citizens. Mrs. Trump testified that her husband shot himself while she was out in the wood shed gettin g a bucket of coal. The Coroner return® i a verdict of suicide, the widow shed tears over the coffin, and Trump was buriedMB8. TRUMP SUSPECTEDBut the matter did not rest there. Some of the neighbors had their suspicions aroused until gos9ip became so great that it was freely heard that the young widow had made away wifh Trump herself. Superintendent Vnn-dever, Roundsman Dwyer and o .»cr officials have been engaged in workingup the case. Enough was learned yesterday to warrant Mrs. Trump’s arrest. At 10 ;30 a. m. Roundsman Dwyer and Officer Early, on instructions from the Superintendent, started for Mrs. Trump’* residence. They reachcd there at noon. Dwyer told her they were sent for her, as the Coroner wanted her.MRS. TRUMP’S ANXIETY. •Mrs. Trump betrayed her suspicions oi the true meaning of their visit by declaring on the way up that “God knew she had nothing to answer tor,” and that she was innocent Mrs. Trump was taken to Superintendent Vandever’s office. A lengthy interview occurrcd between the Superintendent and Mrs. Trump in the presence of Roundsman Dwyer and Clerk 0verholl z. Superintendent Vandever’s well-known genius for worming a confession out of a prisoner was never displayed hy him to better purpose. Mrs. Trump broke dcvt n and confessed her guilt. Clerk Overholtz was instructed by the Superintendent to prepaie a written statement at the dictation of Mrs. Trump, which he did. When it was completed it was read over for Mrs.Trump and she signed it. The confession Is as follows:MRS. trump’s confession.“My name is Nettie Trump. I, of my owd 9e will and accord, do make the follow og statement in the prestnce of C. E. Vandever, W. E. Dwyer and A. L. Oveiholtz in regard to the killing of Richard Trump on the night of Thursday, Jan. 29tb, 1885. I left home on that Thursday morning with my husband Adam (Richard is not his name, though he always went by that name) with a load of corn. He left me on the corner of Second and Poplar streets. I think be went from there to the hominy mill.I met him at 2 o’clock Thursday alter-noon at the old Naylor, stand on thecorner of Fourth and Ohio streets. Heleft me there and said he was going toseeRumsey, his attorney.SHE FINDS HIM AT T. H. RIDDLE’S OFFICo.“I next met him at T. H. Riddle’s office, southeast corner of Sixth and Main, up stairs. He again left me and I did not meet bim a^ain until about 5 o'clock, when I met him at Byer.^ corner of Fourth and Ohio. He and I then walked to Dobbs’ grocery, wheie 1 stopped to buy some groceries while he went to Keaton’B stable for his team. Then we started for home. We had no crops words on our way home. After we got there he unharnessed the horses and Jet them go. I went out end got him to come into my mother’s house, *vhere wehad been living for four years. He tookeffhis coat and hung it up. I tried to get hi cn to eat some supper. He drank o half cup of coffee.44 HE BEGAN CURSING ME.”“Aiter drinking the coffee he againwent out doors and I followed him. Hethen began cursing me. I succeeded in getting him into the house the second time. He 8Pt down to the table and again tried to eat. He went out tbo third time and my father-in-law went after him. He returned *ith my father-in-law, sat down in froty of-the stove, aod took off his boots. I told my father-in-law to go to bed Rnd he went up stairs to bed. I then went to Mr. Trump and tried to get him to go to bed, but he would not go, and he then cursed and abused me. He got up to go out in the kitchen to get a drink. I wanted to ir*t it for him and he kicked me and called mu'a vile name. He told me to go to h—1; that he could wait on himselt.ms PIVTOL 8UGGEvTS TllE THOUGI TMy mother said to me ‘My troubles are never ended.* I then called his father and then the neighbors. Mrs. Young and her son Henry came. I told them Dick had killed himself, and then I went into the house. A part of this statement I made to the Coroner, but the rest I have made to no person before to-day. I make this statement to C. E. Vandever in the presence of W. E. Dwyer and A. L. O^erhoitz, without any promise of any kind whatever from him.| Signed] Nettie Trump.”MRS. TRUMP TALKS TO-DAY,A Lawyer Gets at Her Last Night and She Says This Morning She was Forced to Confess.Mr . Trump's signature shows her to be a woman of education. She talks wel, also. She*was a witness not long sincc in the Dodd—Norris case in the Circou court Tht trial was a protracted one pnd she was present every day. She is fairly good-looking and has a sharp, intelligent eye. She had been married to Trump six years and has one child, about five years old. It has been a subject of common rumor in her neighborhood for some time past that she was fast with other men. On the day Trump and herself were in town he had been drinking, and when they reached home he was in an intoxicated condition.WHAT SHE SAYS THIS MORSINGA well-known criminal lawyer visited Mrs. Trump very late last night at the jail. This morning Roundsman Dwyer called at the jail. he effect of the lawyer’s visit was seen immediately when Mrs. Trump declared to Diryer that she had been forced to make the confession. The officer upraidea her and asked her if she had not made the same statement to him when they were left alone for a while in the office.THE BODY TO BE EXHUMED.Trump’s body will be xhumed as goon as possible. Tne manner m which the bullet entered bis head ought at the time to have aroused the suspicions of those investigating the cast*. Judge Mack, Prosecuting Attorney Henry and Superintendent Vandever had a consultation this morninjx in regard to exhuming the btfdy and having a postmo» •« m examination made. It is now investing to note that on the morning following Trump’s death, a Gazetie reporter heard a ragged little man talking in Berkshire’s old barber uhop on Ohio 6treet]about the case. From his conversation he lived down near the Tramps and knew the family well. He proceeded to argue with the two colored barbers in the shop, Fauver and Guthrie, that Trump could not have killed himself from the manner in which the bullet en tered his head, and he mysteriously siated that it the truth was only knownit would be found that the 4tioiks at .eboupe” had killed bim themselves. Theragged little man looked as it he didn’t have a red cent to his name, but he appeared to be rich in knowledge and opinions in regard to the affair, on which he talked long and earnestly. Th: little man leh. the barber shop saying, 44those folks will get themselves m’.o trouble owr this iniag yet.” The authorities are now locking lor the ragged little man to find out what he kao*s about the case. If this falls under his eye he will please consider himself a witness in this case. iMRS. THUMP WELL KNOWN. 0A resident of this city sid to-day: i;I kuew Mrs. Trump when she was a girl going to school in this city. She was wild and unrestrained, and she entered married life with a badly soiled reputation.”From Tuesday’s Dally.Yesterday’s Gazk/itk contained an ac count of the arrest of Mrs. Richard Trump for the murder ef her husband, and her subsequent confession in writing to Superintendent Vandever. That part of Mrs. Trump’s confession relating to Monroe Moudy, the barber, was not published by the Gazette, in compliance with the request of J udge Mack, Criminal Protccutor Henry and Mr. Vandever, who were of tht opinion thiit if Moudy’sname was connected t with it in Thepapers it would be rendered more difficult to catch him . However, as Moudy was captured at Frankfort, Ind., yesterday evening after the Gazettes' presshour, it is no l ~»n er necessary that this stricture should be longer observed. That part of Mrs. Trump's confession omitted by ihe Gazette yesterday at the request ol the officials nimlt;d is as follows:“I met Rowe Moudy after dinner at Mrs. Septer’s, on the south side oi Miu street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, and while there nad criminal connection with him. We were ’here an hour. Whileat M*s. Septei’s with Rowe Moudy, on the day of the killing, he asked me who came to town with me,and I said ‘Dies.’ He said. ‘Areyou afraid of him?’ I answered 4No.’ He then asked me why I did not leave him. I said, ‘Because I have a child that loves him.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you give him something to get away with him ?' I replied, ‘I wouldnot do that tefr any person.* He wanted me 1o leave Dick, and tro with him. I said I would not do tuat; Dick w mid have to trear uie a gnat dtrni meaner than he ( id before I would do it. He then aalud me to kill Dick or get rid of him some w?y.”Moudy 48 a tall, beardless Inrberwith black hair who woikcd u»»il withina short time after the killii.^: at Jno. Tay-loi’2) Grand Central barber thop. He was of the usual typ'-e f wandlt; ring barb rs. The officials have vuit^d the places mentioned in Mrs. Trump’s confession and have lound her statements to be true. To further corroborate her story fn regard toMoudy it can be proven thnt the oarbermct, txlt,n boasted on * he same day be wa? with‘lie taen went back and laid down on I Mr - -the floor in front of the stove. Tne coelbucket sat near him. He kicked it and told me to get a bucket of coal before wewent to bed. I said: ‘Well, presently ’ Ithen went about my work aud he* laid down and went t.) sleep. I had no idea ot killing bim at that time. 1 went up to him; tried to get his coat a*.d vest off and get him to bed. I took his pistol from his right hip pocket, cocked it, a; d killed him before I knew what I was doing. I then went to the coal shed, which is about ten steps from the hoyse and got a bucket^of coal.“DICK IIAS KILLED HIMSELF.”“I then came to my senses, realized what I had done, ana stood and screamed. My mother was the first person who came to me. I said to her:rump hi Mrs. Septcr'b thui be vvas with “a vouog woman iroui ih' country that day.” Moudy also let it be known that it was Mrs. Ttump he ^as with.moudy’s arrest.Superinter. dent Vandever ascertained that Moudy had been in Indianapolis, but that, he had left that city. His home is at Frankfort, Ind., and it was surmised he had gone there. A telegram wa9 sent to the authorities at Frankfort asking them to arrest Moudy. At 5 p. m. yesterday a telegram was received announcing his arrest. Moudy is arrested as an accessory to the crime.SHE WOM TALK.T. arper, Mrs. Trump’s attorney, told her not to talk, and she wont. Sheson wno came to me. i said to her: is still playing the “they-forced-me-to- Prairie Cree*f Harrison, noney ureen•Oh, my Qod | Pjck lias kiu«a hiHJielJ/J ma'ie.tbe-conieesicn’’ dodge. Her little *nd tost Cret* third Saturday is April.daughter Blanche, a flaxen-haired child, remained with her last night. She is live years old. Mrs. Trump says she made Moudy’s acquaintance five or six years ago. She says she only went the one time with Moudy to Mrs. Septer’s. Mrs.Septeris a well-known character. She runs an assignation house on the south side of Main between Fifth and Sixth,on the third floor. She occupies the whole floor. She does her business quietly and has never got her name mixed up in police circles. She is mad at Mrs. Trump for giving her away, and the only consolation she finds is that the exposure may increase her business. She has a girl named Fanny Johnson who formerly lived at Trump’s, and Mrs Trump came there often to see her. Mrs.J3epter says she has known Mrs. Trump since she was a child. She says it is true that Moudy and Mrs. Trump visited her place on the Thursday mentioned and remained there together for about an hour. When they came out Mrs. Trump dropped a dollar into her hand for the use of the room. Mrs. Septer says she told Nettie that she should be careful about coming there with men as she was a married woman and her husband might get hold ot it, but she replied : “Oh, Dick doesn’t suspect any thing. ”ATTORNEY HABPB*.Mr. Harper, as before stated, is Mrs. Trump’s attorney. He is of the opinion that Mrs. Trump is as innocent as the driven snow, and that it was just perfectly awful tor the police to compel her to make that confession. He says he can’t account for her confession on any other ground than that she was scared or that she had lost her mind. For a woman without any mind Mrs. Trump has told her story with marvellous accuracy, as everything she says about her whereabouts on the Thursday she was in town has been since corroborated by others.SENT AFTER MOUDY.This morning at 6 o'clock Roundsman Dwyer and Officer Early started for Frankfort, Ind., to bring back Moudy. They are expected to return at 1 p. m. to-day, if the train is on time. Additional evidence ol an important charai ter has come to light. Douglass Metcalf, the well-known barber at the Grand Central, says Moudy told him five or six days before the killing that Mr?. Trump was going to make away with Mr. Trump betore long. Charles Fairweath-er, another barber at the same place, will swear to the same effect, and that Moudy told him that Mrs. Trump, her mother and himself intended to go to Louisviile and start up a house of ill-fame; that she was worth $1,800, and that they were going to Louisville as soon as be could go to Frankfort.CORROBORATION FROM MOnDY,A letter has just fallen into the hands of the authoriries, dated Frankfort, from Moucly to Mrs. Trump. In it he says he is still at Frankfort and he asks her to mfcet h;m there. This ia an important piece of evidence, as it is evidence in Moudy’s own handwriting corroborative of his statements to others oa the same subject. There is some speculation as to what can ba done with Moudy in oase nothing is proven on £im more than what Mrs. Trump confessed in her statement. This depends more upon what the developments of the next few days may bring forth.ABE THERE OTUBBS?There is another important witness—a woman of character and standing—whose estim^ny would go to show that Mrs. Trump was not alone in the commission of the crime, and that another person, the mother of Mrs. Trump, knows a great deal that she has not yet told on ths subject. This witness will testify that Mrs. Trump’s mother said some little time before the killing that if “they didn’t get away with Dick one way they would another.”A3 TO MBS. TRUMP S CONFESSION.The claim set up in a half-hearted way by Mrs. Trump that the confession was forced out of her is preposterous to tho^e acquainted with the facta. Mrs. Trump had the utmost liberty of statement anil everything she said was put down by Clerk Overholtz in the presence of Superinter dent Vandever and Roundsman Dwyer. Ev ry statement made by her that seemed in’iier favor was put down with the rest. Each particular statement was separately read over to her as soon as it was written, and when it was all put down it w'as read an a whole, to all of which she gave assent and attached her signature. It has been found on careful examination that she did not nme one mi#statement with reference to her whereabouts on that day. A little incident can be relatel. When Mrs. Trump signed the confession the officers again got into conversation with her in regard to the killing, whereupon she said that when she fired she held the pistol right up against his head. She did not make this statement before or it would have been included. As she spoke she reached out her hands to indicate that she heldtht pistol up close to his head.VAHDEVER’S SAGACITY.It is remarked by Superintendent Van. devcr’s brother officers that cn the day alter the killing lie said he did not believe it was a case of suicide, as was then generally supposed. It is solely due to Mr. Y^ndever’s superior knack ot knowing how to deal with a guilty prisoner that enabled him to get the confession from her. In this respect it is not too much to say that Mr. Vandever has not asuperior in the country.. -.......— —--- ■ i ■ ~.• COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD.Meeting at the Township Trustee’s OfficeThis Morning.The following order of busicess wasadopted:(1) Abor Day.(2) Married women in school.(3) Graduation.The Board recjuests each teacher to observe the 14th ot April as Arbor Day and ii his or her school should be out that they make arrangements and return to the school house on that day and plant trees, flowers, etc.Moved that each Trustee bold the examination in his own*township and forward the manuscripts to the county superintendent for examination and that he mark the per cent.The dates of each examination was settled on: Sugar Creek and Nevins in third Saturday in February; Unton, Pierson, Riley, Fayette, Otter Creek and Prairieton third Saturday in March; Prairie Creek, Harrison, Honey CreekHOIBS 100135ThI W(•None GenuiBeware owrapperbof 1 have iiBCholera, 11lt; three hundr€OF TWO OB TlNOT LOST J and I am euiPRICES,J A. FOi Indiana and7 DAIRYshould uts o lor Cleaning ibear our nan mer brand wlThe teach held their h Maiville, Flt; present, alslt; tors. rlhey ner preparec credit to Mi palatable ac Resolutions All, tor his lt;schools and people of Si wise thing ^ trustee Tor h terests honei he draws hii well done, a and writing often the ca ly all done t oi the institi that have fa thry never h ing the teina“CeCentervilto Coat City and two moing is eoingducted by ECock race isering----Oiclose and al and see wha made in the are coming ....Masterfever.....Wlt;bride at I. ( a week ago, place were 1 paid “Aooth up giris, il’t are very bus moved on M terville.... 1 visit last Sa were four n week....Th sleighing acWives! ABE YOULady, who 1 ments worst troubles, bu Leucorrhoei pressed Mei edies which sufferer froi remedies an revealing h subjeoting) shock of ao The recipes sent to any securely sc Bbabie, 42lt;P* Name
Newspaper Details
Terre Haute Weekly Gazette
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
Thu, Feb 12, 1885
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Tim C.
USA 30 Mar 2018
Other Publications Near Terre Haute, Indiana
Western Register and Terre Haute Advertiser
Terre Haute Wabash Courier
Terre Haute Tribune Star
Terre Haute Tribune
Terre Haute Star
