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rIS TRACEDDffiECTNHIKNOWNI1'Former Davenporter Who TuesdayNight Murdered Thomas Morganat Muscatine Bids Fair to be Captured Soon—* Headed for DesMoines .*The red-handed assassin of Tom Morgan at Muscatine is still a fugitive from justice, but the chances for his capture could scarcely be better, as it is positively and definitely known what direction he took in leaving Muscatine and the bloody scene of his atrociously foul crime. It is learned that “Kid” Noble, after hurrying from the mulct dispensary where he fired death-dealing shot into the defenseless form of his erstwhile companion, visited a j friend, who had known him in Kansas City, at this friend's Kecklerville home where he procured an overcoat and j hat and then, plunged into night’s dark j ness and hurried to the fields and j country. He took a jaunt 121 the direction of Atalissa and reached that burg about eleven o'clock in the morning. Here he hung out for a half hour or more waiting for the west-bound passenger train, having purchased a ticket for Des Moines. A resident of Atalissa. who visited the county seat last evening, states that he saw No- j ] ble standing on the depot platform j out there and that he knew Noble so j.] well that there could be no doubt asto his identity. Telephonic communication was had with parties at Atalissa j ? and several of them personally ac-j[ quainted with County Auditor Noble j j informed him that his namesake but!no connection of his had been there and ^mingled and chatted with the baseball boys out there with whom I “Kid” had played several games lastj season. He came in from the south j and one of the boys accompanied him to a store, where lie bought some tobacco, and walked to the depot just before the 11:45 train was due. At thedepot there were quite a few people Kand “Kid” seemed uneasy. He called j lt;for a ticket, flashed a five dollar bill, \\ and soon as the agent laid the ticket on the counter “Kid” picked it up and left, not waiting for his change. He wore a black hat and overcoat, which he had got at the home of a j, Muscatine friend after the shooting. i,Word was immediately sent to all; ] points west to Omaha along the €. R. j ( I. P .and north, of West Liberty on! j the B. C. R. and X. ,as he may have j changed cars at the latter place in- , stead of going to Des Moines. It is;lt; possible, too, that he stopped off atjj some station and caught the first train going east, to throw pursuers off the trail.Strange as it may seem, no one who saw “Kid” at Atalissa knew that he was •wanted for murder, or else did not want to tackle him, for no doubt he was well armed and would have made a desperate and deadly resistance at any attempt to arrest him.There being no telephone at the jail, the sheriff did not hear of the crime until a short time before Morgan died at 4:30 a .m. or just fiye . hours and five minutes after the fatal fray. He had cards descriptive of the murderer printed at once and mailed them broadcast. One went to ■Wilton and another to West Libertybut none were sent to Atalissa or Moscow, but had one reached the rightdestination, Noble would doubtless have been corralled by a posse and be behind the bars or dead with boots on by this time.Perforated With 150 Shots.At the coroner’s inquest held terday over the dead body of poor Morgan it was found that no less than one hundred and fifty No. S shot had perforated his intestines, stomach and liver. His vitals were fairly riddle and the wonder is that he survived as long as he did, though he possessed a sound, vigorous constitution. The shooting occurred at 11:25 p. m. and he expired at 4:30 a. m,, and though mortally wounded and realizing the outcome, he suffered1 with spartan courage, making no complaint or outcry.The body of the murdered man was taken to the home of his father on Kast Fifth street, and the funeral took J place from there this afternoon.Coroner's Inquest.Coroner Norton held an inquest at j lt;H. S. Howe's office yesterday after* j ] noon on the remains of Thomas Mor-1 ( gan, who was shot by Kid Noble at a j lt;late hour Tuesday night. H. S. Howe,!N. Neyens and Martin Have ream p»t were sworn in as jurymen.The first witness called was Dr. A.J. Oliver, who testified as to Morgan’s condition. He stated the abdomen j t had been perforated in the right hy-J] pochondra region, by the first shot, i i and upon opening the abdomen it was j i found that there was severe internal i hemorrhages. Further examination re-;r vealed tba tthe intestines, large and j lt;small, and their xnessentarles. also thei t liver and stomach, had been perforat-; t ed upward of 150 times by numerous ^ small shot. A number of the small t shot were removed and an effort made • ? to repair the above named viscera, but -1 the hemorrhage was so profuse the £ operative procedure was discontinued, t it being evident that his injuries were j i positively fatal. Strength gradually j ifailed from shock and hemorrhage and death occurred at 4:30 a. m. Drs Klein 11 Heidel and Tyler were sworn and eon-11 cur red in the above evidence... IfJohn J, Powell, bartender at Mor-i gas's place of business, was the next' i ■witness. He said he was present at j 1 the time of the shooting. He stated that ten minutes after 11 o'clock Kid Noble entered the saloon and asked!. Tom Morgan where his dog collar I c was. Morgan stated that he did not 1 know; that it “was around somewhere i he guessed, but would not look for it i 1 then.” Noble said: “Are you going to if get that collar?” Morgan replied, “No!” whereupon Noble struck Morgan with his fist in the face, and Morgan fell to his knees. Morgan got up and ran behind the bar, and Noble ran out the front door. In fifteen minutes Nfoblo returned by way of the back door with a double-barreled shotgun It hi* hands, saying to Morgan, “Got your gun”. Morgan replied that he had ao gun. Noble then said “Come to me” Morgan replied, “Never!”. Noble then ihot Morgan white he was standing* . behind the bar. Two shots were fired. At the second shot he stepped two or three feet nearer and shot again. Witness stated he ran to shut the back door, to prevent Noble's escape, but fell and Noble fell over him. He then followed Noble to the alley. Noble was twelve feet from Morgan when he fired the fatal shot. Had known Noble about three years. Noble was not intoxicated at the time of the shooting. Morgan had no weapon in his hands at any time.Richard J. Rohshaw, who was in the saloon at the time of the shooting, stated that after Noble fired the second shot he ran up and grabbed the gun.The Verdict.The following verdict was rendered :We, the jury, find that Thomas Hudson Morgan came to his death on the 22d day of January, 1902, at Muscatine, Iowa, as the result of a gunshot wound inflicted by Kid Noble. *H. S. HOWE, IN. NEYENS,M. HA VERC AM P.hisyes-I1
Newspaper Details
Davenport Daily Leader
Davenport, Iowa, US
Thu, Jan 23, 1902
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Musser P.
IA, USA 21 Feb 2022
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