More About Matilda Wade And The Roscoe Village Murder

The Coshocton Daily Age presents a more detailed account of Matilda Wade's murder in Roscoe Village: "The proof showed that Mrs. Wade, the wife of a druggist in Roscoe, was doing some washing for herself in the basement or cellar of the hotel where she was boarding. In time...she was missed and blood was found where she had been at work. Her husband was sent for and as there was an unused cistern near where she had been washing and traces of blood leading to it, he was let down in to it and found his wife at the bottom. She was drawn up and it was found that her head had been nearly severed from the body."

The man accused of Wade's murder, John Gearhart. According to the Age, he had been employed to tend the stables and chop wood. It was while Gearhart was whetting his axe that blood was discovered on the blade. Gearhart plead not guilty and the defense was insanity. Gearhart was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He died of cholera in about three months of living in the penitentiary.