THE HORRID MURDER OF W. C. STANLEY AT ESCATAWPA.
W. C. Stanley came to Escatawpa with a small capital, and invested to the amount of two or three hundred dollars worth of goods. On or about the night of the 6th of June, 1872, he was brutally murdered, and was not found until one or two days afterward, when the woods hogs were discovered eating up his lifeless body. An inquest was immediately held, and one on the jury by the name of Oye, tried to implicate a colored man, William Powe, on a plea of his having made some threats previously, but this insignificant plea was quickly ruled out of consideration as unworthy of any credit whatever, and properly so, for the colored man satisfactory proved himself clear immediately afterward. A verdict of murder by some unknown hands was returned. However, one by the name of Frost began to get very uneasy, and left the place the second or third day succeeding. The passions of the citizens around became greatly inflamed by having such a horrid murder committed within their midst. And this was not the only one; no less than ten other brutal murders had occurred in and about the place within a very limited period of time. Blood and terror reigned to an extent never before experienced. To such a pitch of atrocity had this neighborhood got that no man could reasonably feel safe twenty-four hours.
Almost under any plea life was taken with but little hesitation by lawless violence. However, these good citizens held meetings to protect themselves against such diabolical outrages which then, of late, had been perpetrated in large numbers. They, well knowing Mr. B. F. Woulard to be a close observer, and active and energetic in every other respect, appointed him as the most suitable and reliable person in the capacity of detective to ferret out and apprehend the guilty parties. He obeyed the call, and, after Frost, took the first train to Mobile, Alabama, where, after much trouble, he learned that Frost had departed for Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Still forward, and without delay, he very soon reached that place, where he found him stopping with one of his aunts, and arrested him almost without disturbing the family. There taken before the City Marshal, who was acquainted with Frost, and knew him to be of very bad character—knew that he had sometime before endeavored to induce young men of that city to engage in the counterfeiting business. Mr. Woulard well knew that Frost, prior to the murder of Stanley, was without money, and did not really have respectable clothing to wear, though, when arrested, he had two valises well packed with good, substantial clothing, which he had purchased when passing through Mobile, as learned by detective Woulard on his return to this city, with Frost still under arrest. Then and there, the firm of Jacobins & Brisk gave information to the effect that Frost had purchased from seventy to eighty dollars worth from this firm. It was now plain to detective Woulard that Frost had received money some where, and was required to give an account of the same. He answered by declaring to have obtained it by registered letter. On further investigation, it was satisfactorily shown that he had received no registered letter; and now finding it was vain to attempt to conceal any further, he was about to make a confession of the whole affair; but a person by the name of Cotton, in Mobile, stepped up and learned the cause of arrest, when, to detective Woulard, he proposed for Frost to be turned over to him for a while, during which time he would be apt to get from him a full confession of all the facts connected with the case. Accordingly, Frost was placed in Cotton’s custody for something like an hour, when he returned with this report: “You have certainly got the right man; go now and arrest Oye and his wife, at Escatawpa.” In compliance with such advice, detective Woulard lost no time, but hurried back with Frost, and there did arrest Oye.
But here Frost’s confession should be given, which in substance, was as follows:
“At the time Stanley was absent from home on business, Oye availed himself of the opportunity by going to Mrs. Stanley, and by an attempt at strong reasoning, he persuaded her to leave him—all the while believing that Stanley, in such an event, would become so dissatisfied to an extent sufficient to cause him to sell his goods, which could be so managed as to give Oye the preference of purchase, when the money paid for same could be got back by a devised scheme of robbery. But in the interval between the commencement of the plan and Stanley’s return, two Irish shoe-peddlers came into the neighborhood. Oye purchased the remnant of goods they had on hand. Forthwith one left—the other remained and boarded with Oye. Now, Stanley returned home, and found that his wife had left him, and his store, with all other of his effects, in the hands of Oye. This unexpected conduct of his wife had, according to Oye’s calculations, the desired effect. Frustrated and discontented to an extent better imagined than described, he at once desired to dispose of his whole interest in the place. This was what Oye wanted, and quickly proposed to buy him out, which proposition, under the circumstances, was readily accepted. Oye paid the full value of the goods without any scruples whatever, and put Frost in charge of the same. Stanley, during the time he intended to remain in the neighborhood, and Frost now became room mates, and boarded at the house of Oye. Up to this time, the progress had been attended with very little trouble, and everything seemed to promise continued success. The next movement was a secret consultation among the three—Oye, Frost and the Irish shoe-peddler, the latter of which, from inference, seemed to have before affiliated with such company, and likely his appearance as an Irish shoe-peddler at the time had all been previously arranged to produce the desired effect. This consultation was for the purpose of decoying Stanley out on a fishing excursion, so that he could be ambushed, robbed and murdered. Frost was the person agreed on to perform the part of betraying Stanley out, but, on more mature consideration, Oye could not repose sufficient confidence in the Irishman—entirely ruling him out, and broke up the first agreement. The next one adopted was for Frost to inform Stanley that Mrs. Oye had been receiving letters from his wife, Mrs. Stanley. Frost further intimated that he could so manage as to get hold of one or more of these letters, and would, the first opportunity, do so for Stanley’s satisfaction. Stanley, very much wanting to know the whereabouts of his wife and children, urged Frost to get possession, if possible, of the letters the first convenient opportunity. So far, there was a mutual understanding between the two. But little time elapsed before Frost made known that sure enough he had succeeded in getting the letters from Mrs. Oye, and was then in possession of the same. Night being present, it was agreed for Stanley to retire with him, for the purpose of reading the letters, to a place some two hundred yards in the rear of Oye’s drinking saloon, which place is a pine thicket or grove. Matches were procured, and forward they went to this designated place. Here Frost handed Stanley some sort of a paper package; and while Stanley was in the act of making a light from a match to a candle, Oye suddenly rushed up with a loaded revolver, and shot Stanley through the head—followed by five more discharges at him. After he had fallen, Oye was about to put his hand in Stanley’s pocket for money, when a hollow groan was heard, indicating that the last sign of life had not departed, to fully effect which, Oye, with his pocket knife stabbed the victim several times in the breast, and then cut the throat from ear to ear. Oye now leaves Frost to get the money and drag off the corpse to some old well near by, while Oye would return and see that all was right outside. In this operation of dragging to the well, Frost became alarmed and left the spot.
The following day, Oye made a proposition to Frost to take an axe and cut the lifeless body to pieces, so that the same could be sacked and thrown into Dog River. Frost declined to do this from suspicion of a great probability of detection in so doing. As yet, no disposition having been made of the remains, a young man by the name of William Cooper, the next evening, found the decomposing body with active and consuming hogs around it. On the bloody grounds of the murder a pistol rammer was found, which was inspected by detective Woulard. Oye hearing of this circumstance, ordered Frost to immediately take the pistol to which it belonged, and throw the same into Dog River without delay, which was done accordingly. In the confession of Frost, he further told where the pocket-book of Stanley could be found that had been taken away from him after death. Agreeable and true to his statement, the pocket-book was found, and contained a tooth, which on seeing by Mr. A. O’Donnell, was declared to belong to Mrs. Stanley—she having before shown the same to him. With it a piece of poetry, in the hand-writing of Stanley, was also found.”
The fact of Frost and Stanley boarding together at Oye’s house; the fact of the murdered body having been found; the fact of the sudden departure of Frost—before well-known to have been in want of both money and respectable clothing, and all at once, found with plenty, and then his falsehoods and failure to account for the same; and then the fact of his confession about the pocket-book having been proven to be perfectly correct; these circumstances, with others connected, all taken together, fasten guilt on Frost, and go far to establish the truth of the other part of his confessions in which Oye is represented as the principal actor of the whole.
Aware of all this when detective Woulard arrested Oye. He placed both under a vigilant guard for a short time to be controlled by Mr. A. F. Hooks. Immediately after the arrest was made, Mrs. Oye got an opportunity to speak to her husband, and was overheard to say something about a fuss, which in a few minutes followed by her using such language of obscenity and profanity against the guard which, perhaps, was never equalled from the lips of woman. During the disturbance, the intention was for Oye to get away, but the guard kept too sharp a lookout for the attempt to succeed.
The prisoners were conveyed as soon as practicable by detective Woulard, to St. Stevens, Alabama, where they had a preliminary trial, and evidence sufficiently adduced for committal. But all the while Mrs. Oye had been active. A writ of Habeas Corpus had been obtained from the Circuit Judge of the district, Mr. Elliott, requiring the prisoners forthwith to be brought before him for a further hearing. In conformity with the writ, the Sheriff of Washington county, E. L. Collins conveyed them to Mobile, and the evidence there produced was sufficiently strong for Judge Elliott to order them back to Washington county to there await the action of the circuit court.
When the case came up for trial, by motion of counsel, a change of venue was made: Oye’s case being removed to Baldwin county, and Frost’s to the county of Mobile. Owing to the great distance, with proportionate expenses, this change made it very inconvenient for witnesses to attend, by reason of which they were unable to be present in court, and the consequence was a discharge of Oye for want of evidence; but last reports say Frost still remains in Mobile jail—perhaps to be liberated also when convenience of time will justify: thus defeating the ends of justice and demonstrating the almost impossibility of convicting any belonging to the worst class of criminals.
Since the forgoing was prepared for the press, the following additional information has been received through a highly responsible source from New Orleans, La.: