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Show IIIO MURDER Ml ENDED 81 K GRILL Salt Lake Detective Unravels Un-ravels Secret of the Killing Kill-ing of Thoma3 Cavanagh on Idaho Ranch. DAN RUTH ADMITS SHOOTING HIS VICTIM Suspicion First Directed to Man When He Was Arrested Ar-rested on Forgery Charges. The mystery surrounding the disappearance disap-pearance on March 12 last of Thomas Cavanagh from his ranch at Weiser, Idaho, a mystery which occasioned a wide search by officers and detectives in Salt Lake and surrounding districts, was dissipated Saturday when Luke S. May, a Salt Lake dotective, succeeded in securing se-curing a confession from the lips of Dan Ruth, now in the county jail at Weiser, Idaho, about to be charged with murder in the first degree. When Mr. May, head of the Heve-lare Heve-lare Detective agency, with headquarters headquar-ters at the Newhouse hotel, produced thumb prints, blood tests and other evidence evi-dence in' the presence of Ruth at the county jail in Weiser last week the prisoner pris-oner lost his characteristic smile, and according to May. confessed the crime. The confession was the result of nine days' rigid questioning of the prisoner. Suspicion that Ruth was Cavanagh 's murderer was first directed against him when he was arrested on a charge of forging Cavanaqh's name to checks amounting to $lsC0. Enlarged photographic photo-graphic reproductions of these checks are in the hands of Detective May, illustrating illustrat-ing one of the cleverest forgeries in the west of recent years. Discovery of Body. The body of Cavanagh was discovered discov-ered with the skull crushed and a gunshot gun-shot wound through the head, about two miles from the Cavanagh ranch, on Sunday, Sun-day, May 13. Previous to that date rumors were afloat that he had gone to Salt Lake in answer to a letter from a former sweetheart. An inquest was held at "Weiser on May 17 which determined deter-mined that death was the result of a gunshot wound through the head. In his alleged confession Saturday, before be-fore Mr. Mav, Lbtrict Attorney Don- , art and Sheriif "W. B. Walker of Veiser. Ruth admitted that he shot Cavanagh through the back of the head, wrapped the body up with sacks, put a canvas over it and placed it in the attic of Cavanagh 's cabin. After the kiui" he wrote a note to James Elliott, his brother-in-law, asking him to look after the stock on the Cavanagh Cava-nagh ranch. Later Ruth returned to Weiser and Elliott asked him where the blood in the cabin came from. Ruth told him it was from some beef which he , had killed and put upstairs. Detective, May tested this blood and discovered ! that it was human blood. This was one of the principal items of evidence tending to connect Ruth with the murder. mur-der. Assists in Search. Ruth, according to May, confessed that he later wrapped a canvas around the body, tied it with a rope and packed it to his father's ranch four miles away. In order to avert suspicion he then went to the authorities and told them where the body might be found and even of-feYed of-feYed a reward for the discovery of the murderer. After his arrest on the forgery charge he made an absolute denial that he had forged the checks or that he had any knowledge of the death of Cavanagh. Cava-nagh. Thomas Cavanagh at the time of his murder was 34 years of atre. He was a Yale graduate, a fraternity man, and had come west to make his fortune. Three days before his murder he was offered $7500 for his ranch. Detective May said yesterday that Ruth was one of the most determined criminals he has ever had any experience experi-ence with. He said that the deliberation delibera-tion with which he undertook the crime, which the detective says Ruth committed, commit-ted, was almost without parallel in the criminal annals of the west. |
