The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
MURDER AND MAYHEM: On the night of Nov.19, 1899 Grant Cassell's house in the central part of Oquawka was on fire.
Cassell and his wife had recently separated and she had taken the children and left him while he continued to occupy the dwelling. Citizens fighting the fire learned that there was a body of a man in the house and after some efforts succeeded in getting it out; it was found to me Grant Cassell.
The lower limbs had been burned off. A post mortem exam by the Coroner disclosed that his skull had been fractured by a violent blow with some blunt instrument on the back of his head and both arms had been broken by a blow with some sort of club or piece of iron leaving bones protruding through the flesh.
The last three men known to be with him were arrested for his murder, but no evidence could be secured. It was apparent that they all had been intoxicated upon the evening question. The grand jury in March 1900 indicted the three men but no evidence developed so the cases were dismissed in October.
1911 History of Henderson County