Bloomington (Monroe County, Indiana) World, November 12, 1899, p. 1. William H. Wagoner Charged with the Murder of His Wife Submitted by Randi Richardson Spencer, Ind., Oct. 11-One of the most remarkable trials ever tried in this county was terminated at eight o'clock when the jury returned into open court a verdict of guilty against William H. Wagoner, charged with murdering his wife on the 10th day of October 1891. It was eight years before an indictment was found by a Greene County grand jury; and during all these years the defendant resided within a radius of 25 or 30 miles of Newark, the scene of the tragedy. A great mystery surrounded the facts in the case. One hundred and fifty witnesses were subpoenaed, and four days were occupied in the investigation. Hon. Charles Hunt of Sullivan, Hon. John A. Riddle of Bloomfield and Hon. Homer L. McGinnis of Spencer represented the State while East & East of Bloomington and Ed. S. Davis of Gosport represented the defendant. It would seem from the evidence that the defendant at the age of 16 years, and while in a state of intoxication, without any prior courtship or engagement, married Clara Anderson who had all her life been a much deformed, ill-shaped and partial paralytic with little intelligence but a violent temper and unable to support herself, much less perform the duties of a wife. It was a tacitly admitted fact that the unfortunate woman was a burdensome charge upon her mother who was a widow, and the marriage was brought about; and the young man thought it a mere joke at the time, but one Watson, a son-in-law, had in fact procured a regular license, paid for them, had a justice of the peace to perform the ceremony, and after this mock marriage, solemnly legalized, however, the defendant lived with the girl five days then abandoned her, but she became much devoted to him and followed him about the neighborhood like a child until in May following this same Watson took her to the home of the defendant's father, but they refused to keep her, and Watson refused to take her home, when she became desperate and declared she would drown herself and plunged head foremost into Indian Creek but was rescued by the defendant when nearly dead. The defendant then took her back to her mother's, some six or eight miles, and left her, and during the summer following, she kept up her visits until he, to get rid of her, went to Springfield, Missouri, remained there something over a year, then returned to the neighborhood of Newark, and the unfortunate woman again renewed her efforts to get her husband to live with her, but without avail. This condition remained until 1888 or 1889 when Wagoner's father sold out and removed to Gosport some 20 miles away; the defendant going with him and making his home there, and on account of the distance, husband and wife did not meet again until about May 1890 when Mary Ann Anderson, the mother of deceased, induced the defendant to return to Newark and enter into the blacksmithing business, she furnishing money to purchase the tools, and he was to live with and care for his wife. This arrangement lasted until August 1890 when the defendant again left. The defendant, in August following, went back to Gosport where he remained until one week after the death of his wife. He again returned to the little town of Payne, and on the 9th day of November 1891, married Mary A. Clark by whom he had one child, a little girl now about six years old. It was from these circumstances, principally, that the state sought to fix a motive for the murder. It was proved that the defendant had, on several occasions, said that he was going to have a divorce or have his marriage with Miss Anderson declared void and had placed his case in the hands of an attorney for that purpose. The defense was an alibi. The defendant was on the witness stand for seven hours. Until the first two days of the trial, it was not known that the state had any other evidence, but on the second evening two prisoners who were in jail testified to continuous confessions which occurred preceding the trial in which it was stated that the defendant had admitted to these men that he was present at the death of his wife, that he had paid the said Watson $50,00 to do the deed, and that he had gone there from Gosport on that night and had met Watson a mile and a half from the house, and that he, Watson, had choked the defendant to death, and at midnight had put her in the cistern. The defendant proved an alibi by his sister and brother-in-law, but the jury did not believe it. Since the trial the defendant has admitted that he was present at the time of his wife's death and that his wife had taken "Rough on Rats," but that she did not expire under its effects, and thereupon George Watson with his thumb and finger choked her till the breath was gone and then threw her in the cistern feet foremost after removing the top. He also says that the mother of the dead woman took the lantern from her home, as well as the rope and kettle, and that it was she who dropped them in after the body had been put in, and she placed the platform of the cistern in its place. If these statements are true, then it was a most foul murder, and the mother and brother-in-law are also guilty.