From the June 14, 1854 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Ashtabula County, Ohio–An old bachelor by the name of Lyman Sutliff who was well off in the world, had a fine farm well stocked, lived in his house alone and carried on his farm himself, was about four weeks ago missing and his house was closed up. Not hearing anything from him, the neighbors got alarmed, broke into his house, and found an awful stench arising from meat, maggoty milk and a dead pet porcupine. The whole county turned out last Thursday to look for the missing man, supposing him murdered. Near one of the fences running across his back lot, his body was found buried in the ground, the corpse lying on its back, and so near to the surface that one of its knees protruded out. Suspicion immediately fell on one of the neighbors who had been seen ploughing with the deceased’s cattle. The crowd immediately surrounded his house and demanded his surrender. He was arrested.”