Departure

The Nash’s ship left Boston harbor without incident. Ten mundane days at sea passed as the ship slowly ventured South. Nothing unusual transpired until the evening of July 13.

After Midnight

At around 2 AM on the night of July 13, Westerberg was working his late night shift at watch. Something caught his attention in the window to the ship’s chart room (sometimes referred to as an after room). He saw Bram brandish an ax while standing over a motionless body on the floor.

Westerberg went to investigate but heard a bloodcurdling scream from Laura. Startled, Westerberg hustled back to his post. Shortly thereafter, Bram casually walked past Westerburg. No words were exchanged

Westerberg completed his shift at watch and then turned it over to  crew member Francis Loheac.

Almost immediately Loheac heard suspicious noises in the chart room. He then saw Bram erratically climb and then descended ship’s deck.

At this point Monks, whose cabin was next to the chart room, attempting to get the attention of Bram. Bram was having none of it.

The Horrific Murders are Exposed

Startled awake by the odd noises coming from the neighboring chart room, Monks (likely at least partially inebriated) pulled out his revolver and attempted to locate the captain. He found a mortally wounded Captain Charles Nash on the ground billowing a low death rattle. In a panic he looked for Laura but only found remnants of her sliced off hair. It was approximately 2 o’clock in the morning and still very dark.

Bram is Found

Now fully awake and terrified, Monks stepped up his efforts to locate Bram. Relieved to finally track down a living passenger, he told Bram of the captain’s grizzly injuries. However, the sight of an adrenaline-fueled Monks waving a gun prompted Bram to beg for his life.

Understandably, no one was really sure what was going on. Monks convinced Bram that he was not the killer. However, Bram likely thought he had been caught and about to pay with his life. 

Monks accompanied Bram up to the deck with Loheac. They all waited there together until the sun came up.

Interestingly, Bram asked no questions about the captain or the circumstances of his assault.

One More Victim

Spencer returned to the group understandably freaked out. Continuing his pattern of odd behavior, Bram abruptly announced that he found the murder weapon. He zeroed in on a partially hidden bloody ax and quickly made the unilateral decision to toss it overboard.

All Hands on Deck

At this point all of the surviving crew members were brought on deck and brought up to speed on the triple murder that had occurred a few hours ago.

Bram eagerly offered up his theory as to what happened: Blomberg had attempted to assault Laura. When Charles interrupted, Blomberg killed both Laura and Charles with the ax before somehow suffering mortal wounds of his own, which left him with just enough strength to get back to his room before perishing. Bram continue to chat up his fellow sailors. It’s doubtful his theories and observations put anyone at ease.

Another Suspect

However, Westerberg was also an odd personality who seemed capable of unprovoked violence .

Based on the limited information available to them, the Herbert Fuller crew felt the person responsible was either Westerberg or Bram.

Accordingly, both were detained for questioning by their fellow passengers.

Despite being a prime suspect in the murders, Bram, as the first mate, was now the defacto Captain. Thus, the next few days played out like a cat and mouse game. The crew attempted to give the impression that they supported Bram while not turning their back on him. At one point, Bram suggested they dump the bodies overboard, clean the cabins and set sail for French Guiana, 1500 miles away rather than Canada.. However the crew wisely refused. 

On deck Brams behavior was erratic. He warned of a mutiny, prayed, claimed to have been drugged by Blomberg, alternatively cried and smiled, mourned for the captain, etc.  It was as if he was trying anything to see what would evoke a positive reaction from the remaining crew.

The nearest port was a 6 day journey to Halifax. It was an understandably  stressful voyage to Nova Scotia.