Chapter 4

The investigation showed that Scott Jackson had met Pearl Bryan at her home in the early spring of 1895. He left shortly afterward to attend the dental college at Indianapolis and his visits to Greencastle, while not frequent, were always to see Miss Bryan. In September he returned to Greencastle and entered the office of a local dentist. It was then the criminal intimacy between the two began.

He became attentive, and with a veneering of the usages of polite society managed to fascinate the farmer's daughter. His power over her seemed almost hypnotic. So great was his control over her that she is said to have kept appointments with him in the dental office where he was serving his apprenticeship.

He sought to get rid of her and left the town. Jackson left Greencastle on October 3, and returned to spend the holidays. He seems to have allowed his love to grow cold, for he paid no attention to the girl whom he had robbed of all that a woman holds dear.

In vain did Pearl send for him to come to see her. He answered none of her entreaties, and left the town without seeing her except when by chance he met her on the street.

When it became apparent that she could not much longer conceal her shame, she told her parents she was going to Indianapolis to visit a friend.

NEVER PARALLELED WERE THE SCENES ABOUT POLICE HEADQUARTERS.

The scenes enacted at police headquarters early in the day, following the arrest of Jackson and Walling, were never paralleled in Cincinnati.

Hundreds of persons thronged the corridors in the immediate vicinity of the offices of the department, while a vast crowd was assembled on the outside of the building.

Upon the arrival of Supt. Deitsch he at once repaired to Mayor Caldwell's office, where a star chamber session of some length was held. In the meantime the crowd continued to increase, and it became necessary to call for a detail of policemen to drive back the curious people. In the Mayor's office were Detectives Crim and McDermott with the Mayor and Chief of Police, who for nearly two hours held a seance with the accused men in their effort to reach the truth. The examination of Walling by the mayor was severe to a remarkable degree.

WALLING'S DAMAGING STATEMENT.

He told a long story of his acquaintance with Jackson, but the most startling points were when he came down to a conversation held in their room last Christmas day. Then he said: "Jackson took me into a corner of the room and told me that he and Billy Woods had gotten Pearl Bryan into trouble and that he must get rid of her. He suggested two ways in which it might be done. One of the plans he suggested was to take her to a room and kill her there and leave her. Then he spoke up quickly and said: 'No, I have a sudden thought as something often tells me when I am on the wrong idea. It would not do to leave her there, so I will instead cut her to pieces and drop the pieces in different vaults around town.'"

A few days afterward Walling says that he and Jackson were in Wallingford's saloon with a number of medical students, and there Jackson made inquiries as to the poison that would kill the quickest. He was told that hydrocyanic or prussic acid was the quickest, but that cocaine was about the next and most deadly.

JACKSON PURCHASED COCAINE.

Shortly after that Jackson bought cocaine at Koelble's drug store, on Sixth Street, between Plum and Elm.

"Do you know where he was going to take her?"

"Yes; he said he was going to take her to Ft. Thomas.

"About two weeks ago he asked me if I would help the girl out of trouble, and I said I would. He said she was coming here in about a week, and he would take me to where she was shopping. Last Monday night he told me the girl would be here that night. The next day Jackson told me the girl was at the Indiana House, and asked me to go down there. I went with him, and he went to her room while I waited down stairs. The next day he told me he had an engagement with the girl at Fourth and Plum Streets, and for me to go there and tell her he would meet her in the evening. That is the last I ever saw of the girl."

"When did he kill her?"

"I guess he did it Friday night."

"How did he do it?"

"Well, if you will go to our room you will find a hypodermic syringe, which I think will tell the whole story."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he had a bottle of white stuff in the room, and I asked him what it was. He said it was arsenic and cocaine. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he said he was going to give it to the girl."

"Did he give it to her?"

"Well, I guess he used the cocaine. I don't think it killed her at once, and that she tried to fight him off when he went to cut off her head."

"Where do you think he was on the Wednesday night before the murder?"

MET THE GIRL AT WALLINGFORD'S.

"I think he went to see the girl at Wallingford's saloon. I was there, but I did not go into the back room, where she was."

"What time did he get home that night?"

"I think it was after midnight. He came in with a valise, and I saw him open it and say, 'You are a beaut, you are.' He thought I was asleep."

"How about Thursday night?"

"I saw him that night, and I was afraid to stay home and I went to Heider's Hotel."

"When did he take the girl to Ft. Thomas?"

"This was on Friday night. I was in Heider's restaurant eating my supper, and Jackson called me out and told me to go to Fountain Square and wait with the girl until he came back. He said he would not be gone over 10 or 15 minutes. He came back, and I left them. I believe he went to the room and got the hypodermic syringe and the poison."

"What do you think he did with the head?"

"Well, in my opinion he buried it."

"Where do you think it is buried?"

"I think it is in this neighborhood."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, last Monday night I was standing on Ninth and Plum and Jackson came along. He had a valise, and asked me to go with him. I told him I didn't care to, and he left. He had the same valise which is now in the possession of the police with the blood stains in it."

"What do you think became of her jacket?"

"Why, she didn't wear a jacket. It was a long fur cape. I don't think he could get it in the valise with the head."

"What do you think became of it?"

"Well, I can't say as to that. These things have all come to me, and I may recollect something else after awhile."

A DECOY LETTER SENT BY JACKSON TO THE MURDERED GIRL'S MOTHER.

In less than a half hour after making the confession Walling again sent for the Chief of Police and said:

"I want to see you about another thing that may have a big bearing on this case," said the prisoner.

"What is it?"

"Well, yesterday afternoon Jackson got some paper and envelopes and told me he was going to the Palace Hotel to write some letters. I asked him who he was going to write to and he said to Wood. He said he was going to inclose a letter purporting to be from Pearl Bryan to her mother and that he was going to have Wood sent it, I think, to Geneva and have it mailed from that point to Mrs. Bryan. He said he was going to do this to throw Mrs. Bryan off the track."

"Do you know that he sent the letter?"

"He told me on the evening he was arrested that he had sent it."

This information was given to Mayor Caldwell, and the following dispatch was sent:

CINCINNATI, OHIO, February 6, 1896.

POSTMASTER, South Bend, Ind.: Kindly sent all mail addressed to Wm. Wood from this city to me.

JOHN A. CALDWELL, Mayor.

Young Wood, who was present, said he had got a letter from Jackson yesterday, which he had torn up. It went on to ask him to stick to him, and not to say too much. Young Wood was perfectly satisfied to have the mail sent back here.

Chief Deitsch after sending the information to Mayor Caldwell continued his investigation with:

"I have just talked with Jackson, and he puts all the blame upon you. He says you performed the abortion somewhere across the river."

"I don't know a thing about it, except what he told me."

"Well, now, did you do it or did Jackson? He says you did it."

"He's putting it all on me now, is he? Well, he's the one who is guilty. I know nothing of it."

"What did he tell you had become of the head?"

"I understand that he threw it in the Ohio River."

"Do you know where the operation was performed?"

"No, I don't. If I did, it would make it much easier for me to clear myself. As it is, I can prove where I was Friday night. It will all come out in a little while."

"Jackson says that you threw the head into the river, and that the next day you told him to get rid of anything lying around loose at the boarding house by throwing it into the river."

"I never saw the head, and he told me that he threw it into a sewer."

"Didn't you throw the girl's stockings, skirt and other things, which were covered with blood, into the river Saturday morning from the Suspension Bridge?"

"No, he did this himself."

"Then he says the skull was cut up and thrown over piecemeal by you."

"I don't know about the cutting up part, but deny the other."

JACKSON TELLS CHIEF DEITSCH THAT WALLING COMMITTED THE DEED.

Scott Jackson spent a sleepless night at the Central Police Station, and early next morning was taken to Chief Deitsch's private office. He had a haggard, restless look, and when asked to make a confession, sought to throw the blame upon Wood, and subsequently upon Walling.

His story was: Wood was the author of Pearl Bryan's ruin. When Jackson went home to spend the hollidays, Wood told him that Miss Bryan was in a delicate condition, and, knowing Jackson to be studying medicine, asked him what could be done in the matter. Jackson said he could do nothing in the matter, but Wood insisted that he help in an attempted abortion, as this was the only thing which would save him (Wood) and the girl from disgrace. Jackson refused to do this.

"What have you to say regarding the information now in the possession of the authorities that you and Walling were seen in the vicinity of Fort Thomas last Friday night in a hack drawn by a gray horse?"

"That information is erroneous. I was not there, and can establish the fact."

"Who do you think murdered the girl?"

"Alonzo Walling."

"Do you think the murdered girl is Pearl Bryan?"

"Oh, there is no question about that. It is her."

"How, and where was she killed?"

"I do not know."

"For what purpose?"

"To cover up previous wrong doings."

"And to shield who?"

"William Wood."

"Was Wood supposed to be Miss Bryan's sweetheart?"

"Yes sir; he was."

"And how was the affair planned?"

"Wood wrote to me, telling me of the trouble, and asking me to assist him out of it. I showed the letter to Walling, and he volunteered to undertake the job. It was then planned to bring the girl here. She arrived on Tuesday of last week, and what I saw and know of her after her arrival here, I have told."

"How do you account for the condition of your trousers, which have been found and are now in the possession of the authorities?"

"Well, the only way I can account for that, is that they were in our room and Walling put them on the night of the crime. I have not seen them since, and did not know that there was blood and mud on them."

WILL WOOD'S ARRIVAL.

It was 9 o'clock Thursday night when Sheriff Plummer and Detectives Crim and McDermott arrived in Cincinnati with William Wood, the third man in the terrible tragedy. Nothing else had been talked of during the day. Both in Newport and Cincinnati the excitement was intense. When early in the morning it was learned that the two men who were undoubtedly implicated in the horrible murder had been arrested in Cincinnati and an accessory to the crime arrested in Indiana and on his way to Cincinnati under guard, expressions of satisfaction at the arrests were heard on all sides. The subject of lynching the fiends,--Walling and Jackson--was freely discussed. That ominious appearance of suppressed excitement, which shows the keen determination of a mob and which they seek to hide as much as possible, was seen everywhere in the crowds gathered in knots all over the two cities. All that was needed in Cincinnati was a few good, trusty, fearless leaders. In Newport it was different. Determination and decision were seen on the blanched faces of men everywhere. Even Chief of Police Stricker and Lieutenant Smith, said it would be a very risky matter to bring the prisoners to Newport. There is no telling what would be done. Excitement has reached a very high pitch. "We will be well prepared for any outbreak of mob violence," said they, "and upon the slightest indication of any will arrest everybody concerned in the least with it."

WOOD EXAMINED. SAYS JACKSON BETRAYED THE GIRL. HE IS RELEASED WITHOUT BOND.

It was just 11:30 o'clock when Wood was subjected to an examination in the Mayor's private office. The father and uncle of the young man were present. The examination was as follows:

"What is your name?"

"William Wood."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty years old."

"Where do you live?"

"Greencastle Ind."

"You knew Pearl Bryan?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well?"

"Yes. She was a second cousin of mine."

"Does your family visit the Bryans?"

"Yes sir."

"Where you intimate with the girl?"

"No, sir."

"Did you know that she had been betrayed?"

"Yes sir."

"How did you find that out?"

"Jackson told me."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that he betrayed her in September."

"Did he tell any one else that?"

"Yes sir, he did. A young man in Greencastle."

"He will substantiate your statement then?"

"Yes sir."

"Did you receive any letters from Jackson about the condition of Miss Bryan?"

"Yes sir."

"When?"

"About the 10th of January, I think."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he was going to have an operation performed on her if he could get hold of enough money."

"Did the girl know of that at that time?"

"Yes sir."

"How did she find that out?"

"I told her myself."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to shield her."

"Was the letter you received from Jackson the only way that you knew that the girl had been betrayed?"

"No, she told me herself when I was out at the house several weeks ago."

"What did you say to that?"

"I told her to wait until I heard from Jackson."

"You took a great deal of interest in the case, did you not?"

"Yes, I would have done the same if she had been my own sister."

"What arrangement did Jackson say he had made when he wrote to you?"

"He said he had procured a room in Cincinnati, and that she would be taken care of by an old woman."

"What else did he say?"

"He said that the operation would be performed by a doctor and chemist who was an old hand at that kind of business."

"Did he mention the name of the doctor?"

"No, he said the party was a friend of Walling."

"Did the plan suit you?"

"Yes, I thought it was just the thing."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I thought it would be best for her to go."

"At that time you thought you would accompany her?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why did you change your mind?"

"Because my father requested my staying at home."

"But you met the girl at the depot when she came to Cincinnati?"

"Yes, sir."

"What day was that?"

"Monday, January 27."

"Did you have a long talk with the girl?"

"Well, I talked with her."

"About the operation?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did she seem pleased?"

"I never saw her so happy in my life."

"Did you have any other business at the train?"

"Yes, sir, I came to meet my father."

"Where had your father been?"

"To a quarterly meeting at Terra Haute."

"Then Miss Bryan left on the same train that your father came home on?"

"Yes, sir."

"Were you over in Cincinnati before?"

"No, sir."

"When did you see Jackson last?"

"When he was at home. It was on a Sunday. I think about the 5th or 6th of January."

"Where you with him very long?"

"Yes, nearly all day."

"Where did Jackson go when he left Greencastle?"

"He came to Cincinnati on an evening train."

"Do you know Walling?"

"No, sir."

"Never saw him?"

"Never in my life."

"Ever see a picture of him?"

"Yes, I saw a tin-type of him when Jackson was at home."

"Would you recognize that picture if you were to see it?"

"I think I would."

At this juncture of the examination Chief Deitsch went to get a picture of Walling but failed to find it.

Wood was taken down to Central Station and registered.

He gave his name as William Wood, aged 20, residence South Bend, Ind. After registering he went to the Grand Hotel with his father.

Excitement was running high by this time. The crowds in and around the City Hall, where the prisoners were, steadily increased, and the gravest fears were entertained by the officers. Cordon's of police lined the passage-ways from the Mayor's and Superintendent's offices to the cell-rooms below where the prisoners were confined, and every movement was guarded with the most jealous care.

A BLOODY VALISE. IT HAD CONTAINED THE GIRL'S HEAD, AND WAS LEFT IN A SALOON.

There were all kinds of rumors floating about the City Hall when John Kugel, the saloon-keeper at Ninth Street and Central avenue, walked into Clerk Vickers office and told him that he thought he had a valise belonging to Jackson.

"Then get it quick," said Vickers.

Kugel hurried over and in a few minutes returned with a brown leather hand-satchel about 15 inches long. It was taken to Chief Deitsch, who made an examination. There was nothing in it, but the sides were heavily stained with blood. Chief Deitsch closed the valise and asked Kugel who gave it to him. Kugel said that last Monday night about 8 o'clock a young man with a blonde mustache walked in his place and asked him to take care of the valise, saying he would call for it the next day.

After Kugel's arrival at headquarters Jackson was ordered brought up-stairs and a dramatic scene followed. Jackson was seated facing Chief Deitsch with the valise at the Chief's feet. Standing around were many persons at work on the case.

"Pick up that valise," said the Chief.

Jackson picked it up and held it in his lap.

"Open it."

He did so.

"What is in there?"

"Nothing that I can see, except that it is stained."

"What is it stained with?"

"It looks like blood?"

"Don't you know it is blood?"

Jackson's face flushed and his eyes twitched. He pulled his mustache and ran his fingers through his hair. He was only a moment answering, but it appeared to be an hour to those who were waiting for a reply. He finally moistened his lips with his tongue and said:

"I think it is blood, but I have not examined it carefully."

"Well, then, examine it carefully."

Jackson picked up the valise and held it close to his face. He peered down the blood-stained bag and his eyes rolled around his head. He put his hand to his forehead and slowly said:

"Yes, that is blood."

"Isn't that the valise in which you carried the head?"

"I guess it is, but I did not carry it."

"Well, who did?"

"Walling."

"Well, then, where is the head?"

"I guess it is in the river."

Kugel then identified Jackson as the man who had left the valise in the saloon.

"What did you leave it in Kugel's saloon for?" asked the Chief.

"I wasn't going to leave it there. I was going to get it and do away with it."

"Why did you want to get rid of it?"

"Well, it was better out of the way."

"Why?"

"Well, I wanted to shield myself of all those things."

"What were you so anxious to get rid of them for?" persisted the Chief.

"I just didn't want them about," was the prisoner's non-committal answer.

"What was in it first?"

"A lot of clothing and such things."

"Whose clothing was it?"

"Miss Bryan's, I think."

"What did it consist of?"

"Well, there was a skirt, a petticoat, some stockings and other things."

"Where are they?"

"I guess they are in the river, too."

Illustration: Jackson put his hand to his forehead and slowly said: "Yes, that is blood."

Night Chief Renkert then produced a small alligator valise that he had found in Lawrence's barber shop, 133 West Sixth Street, where Walling and Jackson often went. Jackson identified it as Pearl Bryan's. He said that the blood-stained one was also the property of the murdered girl.

AT WALLINGFORD'S. FRIDAY NIGHT, WITH PEARL BRYAN, JACKSON LEFT THERE IN A HACK.

David Wallingford, the proprietor of the saloon at Longworth and Plum, which Jackson and Waling frequented, and his colored porter Allen Johnson were brought in by the officers and questioned in the presence of Jackson and Walling by Chief Deitsch as follows:

"You knew Jackson pretty well, eh?"

"Oh, yes; he came into my saloon every night. He frequently brought his lady friends along, too."

"Was he in your saloon on Friday night last?"

"Yes, he brought a lady in with him and went back into the sitting-room."

"Do you know who the lady was?"

"Well, I didn't then. Of course I do now."

"Who was she?"

"Why, she was Miss Pearl Bryan. I saw Pearl Bryan's picture since, and haven't the slightest doubt it was her. They were back in the sitting-room."

"Did Jackson act queer that night?"

"No; I can't say that he did. But one thing that looked rather queer was that he came in a carriage and brought a new satchel in the saloon with him."

"Did Jackson order any drinks?"

"Not after he had ordered whiskey for himself and sarsaparilla for the girl, they then went away in the carriage."

"What time was that?"

"Oh, about 7 o'clock, I think."

"Did you see him any more that night?"

"No; he came in the next night (Saturday night), though."

"Did he bring a satchel with him on Saturday night?"

"Yes, he brought in the same satchel and put it on the table. I noticed that he sat it down rather heavily and I asked him what was in it. He said: 'Oh, some underclothes,' and we both laughed."

"Was Jackson as merry as usual?"

"No, he was rather depressed. He said his head hurt him devilish bad and he looked worried."

Johnson played an important part in the affair.

He persisted in the statement that Jackson, Walling and the girl, Miss Bryan, were at Wallingford's place on Friday night, and moreover that Albin the barber who shaved the two chums, was on the box and drove the cab in which they departed.

"I tell you I am not mistaken," persisted Johnson. "Let Albin put a cap on and I can recognize him; he wore a cap that night."

"Why are you so sure of the night?" was asked.

"Cause I had an engagement with my girl on that same night, and I remember distinctly."

Johnson said that he saw Walling on the outside and saw the woman get into the cab and drive away.

All of this Walling denied. Once Walling admitted that he was at the place, but he changed it again and declared that he was not there until Saturday night, when he saw Jackson borrow a dollar of the bartender.

Johnson stood in front of Walling and said:

"I don't want to get you into trouble, but you know you were there Friday night, and there is no use of you denying it."

Walling however, still refused any admission.

Once during the talk Jackson shook his finger in the face of Walling and said:

"Be careful; do not go too far."

Again he said: "You lie, and you know you are lying."

To which Walling answered: "You show in your eyes that you are lying."

The colored porter persisted in all the statements made to the authorities that Albin, the barber, was driving the cab.

ALBIN, THE BARBER. SAYS HE DID NOT DRIVE THE MYSTERIOUS CAB FRIDAY NIGHT.

Detectives Witte and Jackson were at once sent for Fred Albin the barber, and were not long in bringing him in. He and Johnson, the porter, were seated on the same lounge in the Mayor's office and Albin was examined by Chief Deitsch when he told the following story:

"I have known Alonzo Walling for about two years. He lived across the street from my home in Hamilton, O. Last fall he concluded to come to this city and study dentistry. He told me this and I offered to come to this city with him. I saw him nearly every evening, and in fact, we chummed together.