Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1878 — MYSTERIOUS MURDER. [ARTICLE]

MYSTERIOUS MURDER.

A House with a Strange History, [From the Chicago Times.] A few days ago the house described as No. 31 Bond street, New York, was offered for sale at auction for the purpose of foreclosing a mortgage. For more than twenty years the house has been a terror to timid people. . Many who had occasion to go along Bond street crossed over and “ passed by on the other side.” Some said the buildiug was haunted, while others allirmed that there were stains of blood on the walls of one of the rooms that could not be washed oil. It was several times advertised for rent but the applicants for it were few. They were generally strangers who broke off their negotiations as soon as they learned the history of the house. Even the adjoining tenements were not regarded as very desirable residences. Still the house was a very substantial and commodious one, and cost, when New York property was comparatively cheap, $25,000. It was the house in which Dr. Harvey Bnrdell was murdered on the night of the 30th of January, 1857. The sale of the house serves to recall that tragic event and the notable trial which followed it. The house belonged to Dr. Burdell, who occupied the rooms on the parlor floor as offices and livingrooms. The remainder of the building was leased to Mrs. Ellen Augusta Cunningham, who used it for a boardinghouse for gentlemen. The woman had two pretty daughters, both unmarried. Among her boarders were John J. Eckel and George Y. Snodgrass, the former a favorite of hers, and the latter a friend of the daughters. The murder took place in Dr. Burdell’s private apartment and was committed by means of a stiletto. The discovery was made the next morning by the office boy. Upon the body there were about twenty wounds; there were evidences of a long and fierce struggle. The furniture iu the room was out of place and some pieces broken. The carpet and walls were stained with blood. There was also the mark of a bloody hand on the wall. The rooms immediately above that in which the murder was committed were occupied by the family of Mrs. Cunningham, but they professed to • have heard no outcry or other noise.

The mnrdcr created great excitement, not only iu New York, but, throughout the country. A Coroner's jury found a verdict against Mrs. Cunningham and Eckel as principals and the daughters as accessories, while nearly all the inmates of the house were suspected of complicity. The tiial which followed was long and searching. Almost for the first time in this country scientific testimony was taken. The blood in the room was examined with a microscope by Prof. Doremus and compared with that taken from the body of the murdered man. His eyes were removed for the purpose of discovering traces of the form of the murderer on the retina. The evidence, though strong, was only circumstantial. It was shown that an unlawful intimacy had existed between landlord and tenant, and that they had repeatedly quarreled. Public interest in the trial was greatly increased by two acts of the latter. She endeavored to prove that she was married to Dr. Burdell. She also professed to have given birth to a child of which the murdered man was the father. As wife she claimed dower iu the estate, while the child, “ by its next friend,” claimed to be heir to the property. Much sympathy was excited by the appearance of the child. The criminal trial ended iu the acquittal of the parties indicted. Mrs. Cunningham was less fortunate in the Probate Court. Her marriage certificate showed that she was united to Dr. Burdell, but the minister who issued it did not recognize him as the contracting party. The child was shown to be a “bogus” one obtained from a work-house, to which it was afterward sent. Though the indicted parties escaped with their lives they lost their reputation. Mrs. Cunningham and her daughters went to California, and lived in the mining region there for some years. Eckel was convicted of forgery ami sent to the penitentiary, where lie died. Twelve years after the murder a man named John Jefferds confessed to the kiilingof Dr. Burdell. He had killed his stepfather, Mr. Walton, a distiller, and a Mr. Matthews, who sought to arrest him. Jefferds made his escape, but was arrested at the end of two years. The detective who was working up the case formed an intimacy with him, got him drunk, and procured his confession of the murder of Walton, Matthews, and Burdell. Ho stated that he killed the latter at the instigation of Mrs. Cunningham, wlio was intimate with his step-mother, and for whom he had a passion. Jefferds was sent to jail to await execution for the murder of Matthews, and while there became engaged in a quarrel with a fel-low-prisoner, and was killed. Many credited this story of the murder of Dr. Burdell, while others placed no confidence in it. It is not likely that the mystery connected with the murder will ever be entirely cleared up. The adage, “murder will out,” has come down through centuries, but every year its falsity is shown.