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It was Found on Flats of the Mystic.
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Part of the Mystery is Solved.
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Cause of Death Now is the Question.
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Corpse Bears Evidence of Foul Play.
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Trefethen and His Brother-in-Law Arrested.
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Autopsy Will be Asked to Tell a Tale.
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Men in Custody Take Arrest Very Calmly.
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Tena Davis has been found, but not alive.
The body of the girl who had been missing from her home in Everett since Dec. 23 was yesterday recovered from the Mystic river.
Whether or not the unfortunate girl committed suicide or was murdered does not yet appear, but the police have taken no chances, and have now under arrest the man to whom suspicion has long pointed as knowing more of the girl’s disappeaance (sic) than anyone else—James A. Trefethen.
The autopsy to be made today will determine the cause of death.
Until its results shall be known no one can say with certainty whether or not a murder was committed.
The body bears, however, such marks as to warrant the gravest suspicions that death did not come to the girl by her own act.
It is in view of these suspicions that the arrest of Trefethen has been made.
He will be formally held today in court to await the result of the autopsy.
Should the latter show that a murder has been committed, he must clear himself if he can.
With him has been arrested his brother-in-law, William E. Smith, as an alleged accessory after the fact.
Both took their arrest calmly, were closely questioned separately by the police and were then locked up for the night in the town lockup of Everett.
From the time the hat of the dead girl was found on the banks of the Mystic river, the stream has been more than suspected to contain her body, and a most careful search has been made by the police of the places where they thought the body might lie.
The progress of the search has been chronicled from day to day and many people have also seen the officers at work.
It was one of these persons who found the body.
About 4:00 o’clock yesterday afternoon Edwin Fuller of Somerville was passing along the Wellington bridge and was thinking of the search and its fruitless result.
It was low tide at the time, and in looking down the River he saw an object lying on the mud flats about halfway between high and low watermark, and 150 feet from the bridge.
He went over upon the marsh, waded as far as it was safe to go and saw that the object was the body of a woman.
He then notified the bridge tender, Thomas Lahey.
Lahey and his son immediately
Put Out in a Boat,
and on reaching the body fastened a line to it and drew it to the pier of the draw, where it was taken from the water.
By the time the body had been placed upon the pier a large crowd of searchers had collected, among whom were several Everett citizens.
They at once identified the body as that of Tena Davis.
Among them were Franklin Fox, a next door neighbor; Walter Peak and M.H. Bullard.
The brother of Miss Davis had been with the searching party, but had left for home about a half hour before the finding of the body.
The part of the River where the discovery of the body was made lies between the Middlesex av. bridge which crosses from the Wellington side to Ten Hill Farm in Somerville — and the Boston & Maine, western division, railroad.
It was upon the sidewalk of the former bridge that Drawtender Lahey discovered the wheel tracks of a vehicle on Christmas morning.
These tracks leading from the Medford side are still plainly visible, and stop at the draw, where the wagon was lifted over the eight-inch guard timber that separates the roadbed from the sidewalk.
Here the marks show that the horse was turned around and driven back toward Wellington. The body when found was frozen and completely covered with mud.
The hair was badly matted.
The body was in remarkably good condition considering the time it must have been in the water.
It was clad in a seal plush sacque, a reddish-brown cashmere dress, black stockings, French kid boots in casing the feet, and a full outfit of underclothing.
Medical Examiner Durell of Somerville was notified as soon as possible after the finding of the body, but it was almost dark before he reached Wellington bridge
He found that the body had been taken from the river and placed on the pier of the draw.
Owing to the gathering darkness Dr. Durell made only a hasty examination of the body, and then ordered its removal to Nichols’ undertaking establishment in Medford.
“I shall make an autopsy tomorrow,” said Dr. Durell to the writer last evening.
“From the hasty examination I was able to make at the bridge, I could not say whether or not there were any evidences of foul play.”
At Undertaker Nichols’ place the body was washed and prepared for the autopsy.
The only marks of foul play apparent from a superficial examination of it were about the head.
Both eyes were blackened, and there is a discoloration on the forehead.
They may not indicate death by violence, but no police officer would hesitate to arrest
A Suspected Person
With such evidences of a possible murder before him, coupled with a suspicions previously entertained.
At the same time that the medical examiner was notified, word was sent to Chief of Police Holmes of Medford, and the body is now in his custody, having been found in his jurisdiction.
Chief Emerton of Everett, Deputy Chief Sullivan of Malden and State Police Officer J.H. Whitney were also notified, and after a look at the body decided that the man against whom suspicions had been made must be arrested.
In the meantime, however, Sergt. Hewitt of Everett, who has been untiring in his work upon the case from the beginning, had fully identified the body as that of the much-sought for girl, Tena Davis.
Trefethen was arrested at his home on Nichols st. soon after 7 o’clock by Sergt. Hewitt and Deputy Chief Sullivan.
The officers went into the room at the rear of the store and asked for him.
There was a great commotion among the people there when the officers appeared.
“He is up-stairs. We will call him.” was the reply to their question.
“Never mind,” said the sergeant, “I guess I’ll go up myself if you’ll show me the way.”
So up stairs they went, and found Trefethen in his room in the upper story.
With him was W.E. Smith, his brother-in-law, the man to whom Trefethen says he sold out his store and stock Dec.14.
Both men looked up in surprise as the officers entered.
“I want you.” Said the sergeant tersely.
“Very well,” replied Trefethen, and both men prepared to accompany the officers.
No talk was made on the way to the station, and when ushered into the presence of the chief Trefethen was as little worried as anyone in the room.
Then he was taken into the chief’s private office and was closely questioned. Officer Whitney and Deputy Chief Sullivan were present.
The examination was a long and searching one, and at its close Trefethen was
Taken to the Lockup.
He looked little more worried when he came out of the private office than when he went in.
“Good evening,” he said pleasantly, as he recognized THE GLOBE reporter as the one with whom he had previously had several interviews.
An equally long and searching examination was made of Smith, the brother-in-law.
He did not know at first that the body had been found.
He went into the private office calm and confident. He came out pale and worried, and like Trefethen, was taken to the lock up.
Information was at once sought from the officers as to the results of the questioning.
“I have arrested Trefethen for murder,” said Chief Emerton in response to questions, “and arrested Smith as being an accessory after the fact.
“They will be taken before Judge Pettengill at Malden tomorrow morning, and will be formally committed to await the result of the autopsy.”
Concerning the result of the examination of the prisoners the chief was more reticent, in view of his duty in case a prosecution should become necessary.
It was learned, however, that Trefethen took his examination coolly, except when suddenly informed that the body of the girl had been found.
“My God, you haven’t found her, have you?” Was his exclamation as he rose partly from his chair and then dropped back again.
He soon recovered his composure, however, and answered as calmly as ever.
He told a different story concerning his movements on the Wednesday night the girl disappeared from the one he told Chief Emerton when first questioned.
Then he told the chief that he started for Charlestown, but didn’t get there before meeting his brother and returning home.
His present story is believed to be that he really went to Charlestown on business and returned.
The examination of Smith brought out the fact that the bill of sale of the store and stock and the lease of the premises to him by Trefethen, were not made on Dec. 15, as he had previously stated, but since the disappearance of the girl.
The officers also say that there are discrepancies between the stories of the two men.
Smith became quite faint several times during his examination and was given water to revive him.
And now, in view of the arrest of Trefethen, it is pertinent to review the
Grounds of Suspicion
which the police have against him.
In the first place Trefethen is the man accused by the girl’s mother of her daughter’s ruin; the only man known to the mother who was sufficiently intimate with her daughter to warrant such an accusation; the man named by the daughter herself when she could no longer conceal her condition from her mother’s eyes and was forced to a confession.
In the second place, the police have been able to find no one else who was even reasonably intimate with the girl, and believe they have proof to show that Trefethen’s visits to her were much more friendly than he himself admits.
“Business” he says was the only occasion of his calls, and that he never paid the girl any particular attention.
Again, the police have the letter received by the mother on the day following her daughter’s disappearance, and which bears a much stronger resemblance in its handwriting to that of Trefethen than it does to that of the girl.
This strong resemblance to Trefethen’s handwriting was fully explained and commented upon some days ago, and it now suffices to say that in the opinion of all who have compared the superscription on the envelope with a receipt given Mrs. Davis by Trefethen, the writing is either his or is a close imitation of it.
The words “Everett” are almost identical in both, and the peculiarities in the formation of the capital letters are similar and very marked.
Then the police have the evidence of wheel tracks on the sidewalk of the Wellington bridge, just above the spot where the body was found, and the bits of red woollen fibre taken from the railing of the draw.
The wheel tracks were made Christmas night and were found by the draw-tender the next morning. The bits of wool fibre correspond very closely with similar fibres taken from a piece of the girl’s dress.
Also in the possession of the police is
A Long Hair,
Corresponding in color and texture to that upon the head of the dead girl.
This hair was found in a crease in the cushion of the buggy owned by Trefethen.
Lastly the police have the hat which the girl wore away.
It is a blue plush turban with blue and yellow feathers. The frame on which it is made has been crushed nearly flat, as if a wagon wheel had passed over it.
The hat was found on the bank of the Mystic river in Somerville at a point where things seldom drift in with the tide.
It was found the day after Christmas resting at high-water mark on the shore, and a careful examination of it shows that it could not have been in the water very long, if at all.
Pressure into the mud under a wagon wheel would give it the appearance it had when found.
Through it was passed the pin used to confine it to the wearer’s head.
It is almost impossible that the hat should…