N&W in 1910--Murder

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
October 2, 1910

FOUND IN BOX CAR WELTERING IN OWN BLOOD
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Ed. M. Kelly, of Bristol, Victim of Most Horrible Murder
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NOT EVEN SLIGHTEST CLUE TO PERPETRATORS
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Hoboes Were Riding in Next Car and Effort to Capture Them Results in Two Negroes Being Taken, White Man Escaping
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ROBBERY SUPPOSED MOTIVE BUT WATCH WASN'T STOLEN
    News of the most horrible murder we have ever chronicled was received in this city yesterday.  It occurred in a box car on a train between Kenova and Wayne and there is little that points to even a clue to the perpetrators.
    Brakemen on the train say that at Buffalo Creek, ten miles this side of Kenova, they noticed that the car door was open.  At Wayne it was noticed that the car door was closed.  This caused the train crew to think the car was being used by hobos and an investigation was made.  The body of a man was found weltering in blood.  He had been shot five times, each bullet doing frightful work.  At this time it was discovered that there were hobos in the next car and an effort was made to capture them.  Two negroes [sic] were caught but a white man who ran with them made good his escape.
    The body of the murdered man was still warm.  From a letter in his pocket it was learned that his name was Ed. M. Kelly, of No. 922 Shelby street Bristol, Tenn.
    It is believed that robbery was the motive, although the murderers did not take his watch.  It was later learned that he was en route to Iaeger, and had shipped his baggage from Kenova by express, expecting to ride a freight to his destination.
    The body was shipped to Bristol for burial.
    Kelly was known here.  He left Bristol only two weeks ago and went to a point in Ohio, where he accepted a position as a locomotive engineer.  He was for a number of years employed as a brakeman on the Virginia and Southwestern railway.  Later he was on the Norfolk and Western and for a time ran an engine between Bristol and Roanoke.  He then went to the Virginian railroad [sic], where he ran an engine between Princeton and Roanoke, for some time.  [Quite a boomer.]
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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
October 5, 1910

TRAINMEN ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF KELLY
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Men Were in Charge of Train Carrying Box Car in Which Body Was Found
    Frank Hasselman, Norfolk and Western conductor, and William Powell, Norfolk and Western brakeman, of Portsmouth, Ohio, two of the best known railroad men on the road, were arrested at Wayne and taken from their train by the sheriff of Wayne on the charge of murdering Ed. M. Kelly, of Bristol, Tenn., recently found in a box car of their train at Wayne.
    It will be remembered that at Buffalo creek [sic], ten miles from Wayne, they noticed a box car standing open.  Of course, this is nothing unusual as there are cars standing open all the time, but when they neared Wayne, they discovered the same box car shut and locked.  Arriving at Wayne, they opened the car and in it found the mutilated body of Kelly, whose blood was still warm.  The body was turned over to the proper officials at Wayne.
    On the next trip the same crew were passing through Wayne when the sheriff stopped the train and took these two men off, putting them in jail.
    There is much indignation felt in railroad quarters when they learned of the arrest, as there is no doubt as to their innocence.  These men are two of the best known and best liked men on the road.
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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
October 6, 1910

TWENTY THOUSAND BAIL
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Big Bond Required of Railroad Men Charged With Kelly Killing

    The Portsmouth Times says: "William Hasselman, father of Frank Hasselman, who was arrested together with William Powell at Wayne on the charge of murdering a man whom they found dead in a car on their train, has arrived home.  Mr. Hasselman stated that there was no doubt of their innocence up there and that $20,000 was offered for bail.  He stated that the two men would remain at Wayne for a couple of days until the circuit judge arrives, and that the officials were not allowed under the law of that state to accept bail until the judge gave his consent.  Hasselman and Powell were released and were around the depot when Wm. Hasselman arrived.  They are staying at a hotel."
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[Strange happenings.  No motive has been revealed.  Any developments reported in the BDT will be posted here.]

Gordon Hamilton
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