National Night Stick

Their Name a Misnomer.

February 28, 2012

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Inspector Thomas F. Byrnes. | It Was Another Kind of Cat.

Their Name a Misnomer.

She resides in a swamp near Branford, Conn, and fills the rustics with terror.

A special from New Haven, Oct. 28 says: For several weeks past sportsmen who have been hunting in the woods in the vicinity of Branford have from time to time seen a young woman darting about among the trees. She is apparently about sixteen years of age, wears no hat or shoes, and her clothing hangs in tatters about her, barley covering her form. Who she is, where she lives or where she came from is unknown. On several occasions when addressed she replied in incoherent language and ended her sentence with wild, hysterical laughter. Any attempt to approach her is fruitless. She runs like a dear and leaps stone walls and fences in a single bound. Her retreat is believed to be in Towner’s swamp, about two miles from Branford Center, as she seeks refuge there when pursued. It is supposed that the girl has been the inmate of some asylum from which she escaped. The authorities and citizens of Branford are to organize and if possible capture her and place her in some one of the State institutions.

Reprinted from National Police Gazette, November 19. 1887.

Avon, Mass., Oct. 1891 - Clarence Makepeace shot and killed in a row with his hot-tempered wife in their home in Avon, Mass.

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One morning recently Clarence Makepeace of Avon, Mass., got up about 6 o’clock and asked his wife Annie, to prepare the breakfast. She demurred, and angry words followed. Makepeace threw a lamp at his wife who ran to her room followed by her husband. As he enntered the door the woman grabbed a gun and fired at him, shooting off one side of his fade. Mrs. Makepeace made no attempt to escape but stood over her husband weeping and wailing. Makepeace died from his injuries and the woman was arrested charged with his death.

Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, October 17, 1891.