BODY SNATCHING.

Bay of Plenty Times, 8 February 1879, Page 3

BODY SNATCHING.

' A-MfißteAN papars v su|)pl6mcntth(' telegraphic i .sumfna.y of the stealing of Mr'Stfew'ardYbo'dy frohf the .femily vault at; St;' Mark's ' Church, Ne'wYbrk. ; It waf/'diacoyered' by the sexton on thembtTOrigofthe'Tth'that the'twiil. had 'to&eri broken. open -'and- the corpse abstracted 'frota the 'ctoffin. ; These. ews' had been care: '•'ftfUy'dravra-fro^n'tl''^ li_ 6f the 'outer casketCaiid' tHe''l-ad^ciit- 'with "a sharp i knife. ,'l'he silver-plate -upon the'-outer lid'had (ilho' been • wrench -d'bff'and carried away by the robbers. The crime' is 1 supposed " to' have been committed between the. hours pi two and seven a.m. A 'circum'_t f i in'C6' tl^it caused some suspiciotito -rfcrft Upo^'.'the sextoii .was the finding, of a rope,' his 'pr(^drtyy fa_tened''ar')uhd the gravestone, but -he explains that by saying that', he_.fast_.ued'.: 'the rope In the way dis--covered to enable .jhims.if and assistant td descend .into the vault., A .curious feature in connection with the piyeterious affair is tliat some Tnon-h_ since the sexton received a letter warning him that.such attempt -would bo made, and on the 7th 'of October last he 5 , noticed the earth disturbed around the tomb, which he notified to the relatives of the deceased ; but tho matter appears to have! been hushed up and forgotten, almost the only «preejmtion taken being th<i placing of a , night watchman in the -graveyard and the moving of, the headstoJiG, in, order to mislead [ intending deHecratbw." The watchman was ; diacharged pn Monday, "Nrtvcniber 4th, and the body 'Wax stolen a few nights subsequently . No trace of the thieves lias' been discovered. The .only elne; they 'left behind was an old stocking, apieceofnawMpajpc'., a dark lantern, a small iron shovel. And a piece of rope. The boldness of thfe robbery was a surprise to the police, the churchyard being in a moat populous part of the city, and immediately under their cognizanfce/ The police aro of opinion that the crime: was committed by several adroit and| daring robbers, it • requiring at least threeimeri to enter the vault and move the heavy, coffins from their positions, while another man.' was required to take charge of a hor^e and waggon on hand when required. No trace, df the body has yet been discovered , although,, owing to its decomposed state, the authorities believo it cannot long be kept , hidden. - The motive of the robbery ia believed to be the hope of ransom, but, although Judge Hilton haa offered a rev/ard of £5,0.0 for its restitution, no communication has been . opened between him and the thoives. The occurrence has called forth general indignation throughout the United Statea,