Lizzie Borden Society Forum

BOSTON, Maps., April 13.— The most
revolting crime known in Boston in many
years was unearthed by the police of Dor
chester district late this afternoon, when
the body of Alice Sterling, the eight-year
old daughter of George W. Sterling of
Savin Hill, was found buried in the manure
pile of the stable on the Dennis estate.
The little girl's skull had been crushed
in by a heavy blow with an ax, and there
were unquestionable indications of other
crimes. Angus D. Gilbert, night station
agent of the Savin Hill station of the Old
Colony division of the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad, is under
arrest, charged with the crime.
George Sterling, who is a hairdresser, re
ported to the police at midnight last
Wednesday that his little daughter had
disappeared some time during the after
noon, while Mrs. Sterling and other mem
bers of the family were absent. Searching
parties looked all day Thursday, but could
and no trace of her. Officers Perkins and
Smith were given charge of the case, and
yesterday the latter was informed by Miss
Edith Reid that she had seen from her
residence a man with a red mustache and
light overcoat leading the little Sterling
girl down the railroad track toward the
beach.
From the description, the officers de
cided the man they wanted was Gilbert,
the night station agent at the depot. In
the daytime he worked for G. W. Em
mons. He slept in an old stable on the
Dennis estate near by, and Miss Reid
states she was positive the man went in
this direction.
The officers this afternoon instituted a
search of the premises surrounding both
the Dennis estate and the Emmons place.
During the search Gilbert was found at
work at the Emmons place and was placed
under arrest. The old stable was then
searched. When the manure pile was
searched Officer Perkins struck a human
foot. A body was palled out and identi
fied as Alice Sterling. Her skull was
crushed and the cause of her death was
apparent. Her clothing was torn. A
bloody ax was found near by, concealed
under a beam.
An autopsy will be held Monday. Gil
bert would not admit the crime, but when
brought handcuffed to view the body he
trembled like an aspen leaf. Gilbert is
rather slim, almost six feet tall and is 26
years old. He came from Musquedoberl
Harbor, Nova Scotio, near a year ago, and
was considered a good business man.
Miss Reid, who furnished the clew, and
another woman living near by, called at
the station late to-night and positively
identified the prisoner as the man they
saw with the little girl on Wednesday.
Mrs. Sterling is prostrated over the affair
and is in a precarious condition. Gilbert
was an acquaintance of Sterling and con
sequently was not unknown to the child.