January 13, 1925 – Edward L. McAllister is Found Murdered In Home

Edward L. McAllister, employed at the Atlantic, Coast Line Railway shops, was discovered murdered at his home, on Thirty-ninth Street, near Ash, by H. B. Brown of Bee Road and Victory Drive, at 10 o’clock this morning.

Mr. McAllister was found in the kitchen of his home badly mutilated about the head from hatchet wounds apparently received sometime Saturday evening.

His wife had died last November, and he since had lived in his story house alone. Mr. McAllister was last seen alive Friday afternoon when he left the A.C.L. shops.

Mr. Brown, who also works at the A. C. L., discovered Mr. McAllister’s body when on an investigation to determine why McAllister had not been at work in several days. Mr. and Mrs. Brown went to the house together. The house is owned by Mrs. Brown’s mother.

Body Discovered.

Mr. McAllister was discovered by the Browns after they had inspected the house and decided that no one was at home. They had knocked repeatedly at the door, but had received no response, and were on their way home when they were joined by Tom Carr, another neighbor. Mr. Carr accompanied the Browns to the back of the house, where some of Mrs. Brown’s chickens were kept by Mr. McAllister. The body was first seen through a window. It was after going through the back door that the body was found in the kitchen.

As discovered by Detectives McCarthy and McCord this morning. McAllister was lying in a pool of blood with a big hatchet wound in the top of his head.

Hatchet on Table.
The hatchet with which the crime was committed is lying on the table. Blood is splattered on the wall. The body was lying on the floor with rice from a dish on the table scattered about. The room is otherwise in excellent order with no apparent sign of a struggle. The dead man was supposedly eating a meal when his assailant struck him in the head.

In his hand is a spoon and the remains of a partially eaten meal are scattered on the floor. The clothing of the dead man not ruffled and there is no sign in or out of the house to indicate any conflict. In the room were two chairs facing one another. On the wall above the body were blood stains. These stains are also on the table where the hatchet had been placed.

Mr. McAllister is survived by a brother, J.M. McAllister of Pittsburgh. Letters sent to the dead man from relatives in Pittsburgh were found in the room.

Unused Still.
On the table of the kitchen a partially filled bottle of corn whisky was found. In the front room was an unused copper still sent from a mail order house in Chicago.
The belongings of his deceased wife were gathered in a bundle, in the front of the house and the dwelling had apparently been used solely by McAllister since last November, when she had passed away.

Among the dead man’s effects was a letter from the county police, directing that he not bring his wife in for treatment until a few days later than had been planned. Mrs. McAllister had been under the care of the physician at the jail.

His Clothing.
The dead man was dressed in a corduroy suit and khaki shirt. He was stretched upon the floor, with the chair upon which he had apparently been sitting standing upright near at hand, close enough to the table to have been used while eating a meal.

The only mark of disarrangement in the room was a small fragment of arm cushion used as a rest on the only other chair in the

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Time of Crime.

Brown’s Account.

“This morning my wife and I wend to the place. My wife went to the rear door to see some chickens McAllister was keeping for us. I went to the front door and knocked, but, got no response. Tom Carr a neighbor, came up and went to the kitchen window to see what was inside the house. I saw Mr. McAllistser’s legs sticking out toward the center of the room. I at first thought he was hurt, but finally saw be was dead.”