Three Wounds.

Little Murders

(Two possibly related stories from The Boston Daily Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, August  12, 1892.)

Three Wounds.

Willard Nesbitt Was Cut in the Breast.

He Was Found in Medford in an Unconscious State.

He Remembers Nothing of the Occurrence.

Doctors Fear that he Will Not Recover.

Is He the Man Who Disappeared from Dedham?

Medford, Mass., Aug. 11. – Willard Nesbitt of Dedham was found in the yard of the Medford House here this evening with three stiletto wounds in his breast, from which his death may result.

The manner in which he received his wounds is a profound mystery, as the man himself either cannot or will not account for them.



Shortly before 9 o’clock this evening a man walked up to the pump in the yard of the Medford House, and while waiting to get a drink of cold water fell senseless to the ground.

John Welch, who has charge of the hotel, immediately telephoned to the police station, and Officer Ewell and Dr. Pearle Martin were soon on the scene.

It was thought before the arrival of the doctor, that the man was overcome by heat, and one of the onlookers opened the man’s shirt to give him plenty of fresh air.
When the shirt was opened, to the horror of all present, three wounds from which thick blood flowed were revealed.

Upon examination it was found that the wounds had been inflicted with a stiletto, and that they might prove fatal.

They were all located in the breast near the right nipple. One, nearer the sternum bone than the others, penetrates the pleural cavity, and is very dangerous.

The wounded man was taken to the police station on a stretcher.

On his arrival there he seemed to have recovered consciousness but could not be induced to talk.
He was not intoxicated and appeared to be a man who was not addicted to the use of liquors.

The police officers impressed upon the man’s mind that he was liable to die at any moment and the sufferer eventually told is story of the day’s happenings.

His name, he said, was Willard Nesbitt, and he was born in Scotland. He had no relatives in this country and very few associates. He gave his age as 26 years, and said that he had been boarding for the last nine or 10 months with John Cahill at 115 High st., Dedham.

He came to Boston this morning on business of a private nature, but no amount of questioning or reasoning could draw from him the real nature of the business.

He remembered having been on Tremont row in front of a dime museum at 3:30 this afternoon and then everything went blank, he says, until he saw a man selling dry goods in in alleyway off Main st., Medford. This was but a short time, possibly half an hour, before he fell at the pump.

He said he had a pocketbook with $20 in it in his coat when he left home, but no such article was found on his person when he arrived at the Medford police station.

When asked whom he knew in Boston he mentioned among other names those of Officers Rosetta and Burns of station 1.

He could not account for his condition, but he explained that on the 27th of last month he was overcome by the heat and laid up for three days.

The Medford police advance the theory that the man was overcome by heat, and while he was in a half dazed condition somebody ran him off to a secluded spot, inflicted the wounds then left him.
Nesbitt is very reticent about the business upon which he came to Boston, and does not act frankly under the questioner’s fire. He seems to be holding back some information which as vital bearing upon the case.

He had a 100-ride ticket between Boston and Dedham in his pocket, and upon the back of it was written the name Miss Nellie Cull.

The Boston police notified Medford that a man with three wounds in his breast visited station 1 this afternoon and had the wounds dressed, but the Medford authorities do not believe that it could possibly be the same man, for Newbitt’s wounds were not dressed when he was found in Medford.
Nesbit was resting quietly at the stationhouse at midnight, and Officer Hanscom was acting as his watch and Nurse.

Fears are entertained for his recovery, and in case of his death before a full statement of all he knows about his condition, the case may prove a deep mystery.

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What happened to Nesbett?

He Disappeared on the Morning of his Wedding Day.

Dedham, Aug. 11. –This town was treated to a somewhat novel sensation in social live today.
For some time past William Nesbett, a carpenter, has been paying attentions to Miss Bridget Hanlon of Eastern av., Dedham Centre.

Their courtship progressed very favorably, and engagement ensured and the banns were published. They were to be married at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

This morning Nesbett left his happy bride to be, saying that he was going to Boston to get his wedding suit, and would be back in season for the ceremony. He failed to keep his appointment, and Miss Hanlon is almost prostrated by his duplicity.

Miss Hanlon is a highly-respected young lady, and up to the present time Nesbett has always been an esteemed as a young man of good morals and steady habits.