No Light on the Kairer Murder

NO LIGHT ON THE KAIRER MURDER “Shot by an Unknown Man” the Verdict of the Coroner's Jury. Funeral Services Over the Remains of the Murdered Baker. The Rewards Now Amount to a Thousand Dollars—Police Still Working in the Dark—A New But Faint Clue—Other Jersey Matters. The closing scenes in Camden's latest tragedy were enacted yesterday. In the morning an inquest was held and in the afternoon the body of William G. Kairer, Sr., the wealthy baker who was shot by an unknown burglar, was buried. The inquest was held by Coroner Hopper in the court house, and a morbid crowd was present to hear the son tell how his father was shot down at his side. Nothing of importance not previously known concerning the tragedy was brought out at the inquest, and the identity of the murderer remains as much a mystery as ever. TESTIMONY AT THE INQUEST. William G. Kairer, Jr., after a violent fit of weeping, took the witness stand and told how he was awakened by the burglar, the scuffle on the stairs, the search made by him and his father and how the front blinds were dashed open and his father was shot down. He said he was certain the shots were fired from outside the house. The only person who testified to seeing the murderer was Miss Flora Upton, who lives at 432 Beckett street, next door to Kairer's house. She saw him walking rapidly away after the shots were fired. She could describe him only as being of medium height, stout and wearing a dark coat. The jury went through the formality of retiring and speedily brought in a verdict “that William G. Kairer, Sr., came to his death from a pistol shot wound at the hand of a person or persons unknown.” FUNERAL OF THE VICTIM. The funeral of the murdered man was held immediately after the inquest. Hundreds of persons passed through the house, 429 Beckett street, and gazed at the corpse, which lay in the room where the deceased was shot. There were many floral offerings from friends and secret societies. Rev. J. B. Graw, D. D., pastor of the First M. E. Church, of which Mr. Kairer was a member, conducted the funeral services, and referred in feeling terms to the tragedy. The pall-bearers were A. E. Davies, Charles Parker, N. C. Stowell and C. T. Pierce. Delegations were present from Pottowattomie Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men; Fidelity Lodge, Ancient Order United Workmen, and the Legion of the Red Cross. The body was interred in Evergreen Cemetery. A THOUSAND DOLLARS IN REWARDS. The Police Commissioners, at their weekly meeting yesterday, authorized a reward of $500 for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. This makes $1000 in rewards now offered. The police have learned nothing that will throw additional light on the mystery. Theodore Lambert, the colored man first arrested, is still held in custody, but he has not been connected with the crime. Chief Davis was working on a new clue last night. He learned from C. W. Boyle, the railroad agent at Collingswood, that a colored man answering the description of the supposed murderer was hanging around the station for several hours the day of the shooting and then took a train for the city. ANOTHER ARREST. Sergeant John A. Smith, of the Camden police force, last night arrested a colored man named Isaac Cox on suspicion of being the man who pawned Kairer's watch in Philadelphia. Cox was arrested at Matchtown, the colored settlement on the outskirts of Merchantville made famous in the Le Coney and Lingo murder trials. Cox answers to the description given by the pawnbroker's clerk.