Some crimes arrive in the newspaper almost stripped bare, leaving behind only a few terrible details and a great deal of silence. The 1906 murder of R.K. Lewis, a wealthy banker and farmer of West Farmington, Ohio, is one of those stories.
According to the report, an unknown man came to Lewis’s home by carriage and remained there for about an hour.
What passed between the two men was not recorded. It may have been business, an old grudge, a private matter, or something no one else was meant to hear. But when the meeting ended, Lewis was found dead.
The scene was brutal and strange. His head had been crushed, his hands and feet were bound, and his body had been covered with burning straw and oil. Whether the fire was meant to destroy evidence, hide the nature of the crime, or add a final act of cruelty, the article does not say.
By the time the murder was discovered, the mysterious visitor had vanished.
Mysterious Murder of a Banker
WEST FARMINGTON, Ohio. — The people of West Farmington, a village near here, are greatly excited today as the result of a mysterious murder last night of R.K. Lewis, a wealthy banker and farmer.
An unknown man appeared at the home of Lewis in a carriage. Lewis and this man, it is said, were in conference an hour, and at the end of that time, Lewis was found dead with his head crushed and his hands and feet tightly bound.
The body was covered with burning straw and oil.
The unknown stranger is missing.
Source: San Antonio Daily Light. San Antonio, Tex. January 20, 1906.
