Will County IL Archives News.....The Act of a Brute December 21, 1883
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com April 29, 2007, 3:46 am

Decatur Review December 21, 1883
Decatur Review, Decatur IL
Dec 21, 1883

The Act of a Brute

The Cook in a Joliet (Ill.) Hotel Murderously Assaulted by One of the Boarders.
The Victim's Throat Cut, and Her Person Alleged to Have Been Outraged - Her 
Condition.

A Murderous Beast

An Atrocious Crime.

Joliet, Ill., Dec 20 - About two o'clock Wednesday morning the guest's at the 
Auburn House, in this city, were aroused by a woman's piercing screams, which 
emanated from a room on the second floor. The night-clerk immediately ran to 
the top of the stairs, where he saw Mrs. Jane Haycock, the head cook, fall to 
the floor, blood gushing in streams down the front of her night-dress. She was 
immediately carried to her room, upon the floor of which was a track of blood 
leading to the door. It was shortly afterward discovered that one of the 
boarders named George Freestone entered Mrs. Haycock's room, bound her head to 
prevent her screams, and then outraged her person. When he had finished his 
fiendish work he started to leave the room, when Mrs. Haycock, recovering her 
senses, gave vent to terrible screams. Then to conceal what he had done and 
prevent exposure, Freestone rushed back, drew a large knife, and deliberately 
cut two gashes in the woman's throat and fled, supposing he had killed her. 
Officers were summoned, and in a few minutes the culprit was under arrest. His 
hands were covered with the blood of his victim, yet he still protested his 
innocence. He was given a preliminary examination and held to answer to the 
January term of the Circuit Court in $20,000 bail. Freestone, in his cell, 
acknowledged having committed the crime, saying he had a grudge against Mrs. 
Haycock, but refused to say what the grudge was. He also said he had been 
drinking Tuesday and did not know what he was doing, in proof of which he said 
he had time to wash the blood off his hands before the police arrested him. He 
said he had gone into the woman's room about midnight, and he supposed the old 
grudge had made him do the deed. Freestone, who is a tolerably good-looking 
young man of about twenty-three years old, showed evidence that the woman had 
struggled terribly with her assailant, his face being badly scratched. The 
doctors say Mrs. Haycock will probably recover. She is unable to speak yet. 
One of the gashes on her throat is about five inches long, but is not 
sufficiently deep to sever the windpipe. She is a tall, good looking woman of 
about thirty.

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