The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-06-17

II said: oh. l only have few acquaint-
He asked: What kind of work would
II said: Anything in Gods world, If
there is any money in it,
He looked at me sharply and replied:
If hear of any thing for you III tell Mr..
Williams and walked away without even
saying goodbye TO me.
81 met Williams an hour later going ont
of his room on Clark street. We took a
grip-car and came over on the North Side.
told him had seen Sullivan ana he asked.
What did he sayf
II said: He came pretty near telling me
to go to = without doing it, /"
Soon after this they met Sullivan on the
street. He took Williams on one side and
handed him money. saying. NOW pay that
rent" Then, seeing Woodruff. Sullivan
told him he must not take offense at his
manner the previous day, as he was very
busy and had great many applications for
Jobs. The Wednesday before the murder
| Woodruff met Coughlin, who asked him to
take q note over to Sullivan. This note
was In cipher. the same as had been used
| by the Fenians when Woodruff was at Nj
agara. Woodruff looked at it, and says it
read, Going up to p. O'SullivaD's."
The remainder of his confession deals
mainly. with the night of the murder.
Coughlin, so Woodruff alleges, paid him
| S25 to bring to Lincoln avenue, from Dim
ans livery stable. conveyance in which n
trunk could be carried. Near Ashland and
Lincoln avenues Melville and a man named
| OShea, alias Mike McDougal, joined Wood
| ruff. The latter says this man was ma
| chinist or blacksmith from Philadelphia,
but that he had known him in Wichita,
Kan. Melville, he said. he had also met
| before In Peoria In connection with Irish
| affairs. They drove out to the Carlson cot
| tage reaching there about A. NJ. The two
men went in and soon after p. OSullivan,
| Melville and Williams came out of the
| door carrying trunk, which they placed
| n the wagon.
| Here follows a new version of the ride
| with the trunk and the disposal of the body
| In the sewer. Woodruff now says the in
Lake Michigan. off Lincoln Park. but
| thinking they were pursued, the plan was
abandoned. Woodruff claims that Cronin's
lnstrument-case was probably buried or
| thrown in the lake by Melville and Will
| Jams when they left the wagon in the
| woods for short time at Edgewater. He
| does not know what disposition was made
OF the clothing. Woodruff concludes with
| an assertion that he has recently been APP
| preached by lawyer who offered 10 take
| hls case gratuitously, and that this lawyer
| had sent word to keep strict silence, as
Alexander Sullivan's attorney would work
in unison, and that one OF Sullivans bonds
men had agreed To pay for WoOdrutf7s de-
| fense.
The climax of the whole confession is
an assertion by Woodruff that all his previ-
| Gus alleged confessions" are bogus. and
! that this is 1.-The first and only statement L
have made since my arrest the intimation
| being that the other confessions" were
| given circulation by interested persons to
create the impression that he lWoodrutf)
| was a liar.
A visit was made to Woodruff at the jall,
| this afternoon, for the purpose of learning
further details of his last startling confess
| sion. The prisoner was found deeply en-
| crossed in the preparation of another con-
fession, which he says Is TO be much moro
sensational than any of the preceding ones
| Woodruff, this afternoon, reiterated his
| confession published this morning, but, on
close examination, subsequently, altered lt
| In many important particulars. He ad-
| mitted that he was only twenty mine years
old, but insisted that he took an active part
IN the Fenian rebellion. He says it oc-
CURED in 1873, but his date does not agree
with history. he says he went to the
| rooms at No. III South Clark street, on
April 20, and stayed there all night with
Williams. but the facts are that the rooms
| were not rgnted by the my sterious Simons
after March %, for on that date the furni-
ture was all removed from the fiat and
! taken to the cottage.
He says that he met Melville April 2. at
| McCoy's Hotel but the register shows that
Melville left that hotel On March 20.and
| did not return until May 3. The prisoner
this afternoon makes the startling state
ment that he was with DR.. Cronin and p
| OSullivan the night of and previous TO the
| murder of the former.
but you say in the published confession
/
three men, and that you did not leave the
| stable till 11:30 o'clock"
Woodruff hesitated moment and said:
"Yes. that is my defense"
| Then 1T Is not trueP
well, saw Cr0nin that night, and had
a good look at him"
Then you must have known it was his
body i'll the trunkf
Why: l might as we'll plead guilty as
| answer that question"
"Did you have a good look at the body
| when it was taken out of the trunkf"
mo, did not. 1t was very dark"
why did you tell this last story or con;
fession after You had told so many others?"
well, was promised the influence of
| great paper in my behalf. They said I
would get the best side of the business"
The only evidence that the police place
| any reliance in Woodruff's latest ''confes-
sion" is the fact that Lieutenant Schuettler
| and his men went to the foot of Graceland
| avenue this afternoon and searched in the
sand for DIR. Cronin's medicine case, which
| Woodruff says was concealed there by
Williams and Melville. The officers dug up
an acre of ground along the beach bnt
fOnnd nothing.
The Times people deny that any improper
| promises were made TO Woodruff. He was
told, they say, that they would do what
they could for him, If he told the truth.
Woodruff gave his age when arrested as
records. The last Fenian invasion of Can
ada occurred abont 1896. This would make
| Woodruff about three years old, according
to mis- own story, when he was member OK
| the Canadian militia and first become inti-
mate with the Fenians. A Times man
called Wo0druff's attention to the discTep-
ancy this afternoon, and received the ex-
| planation that it was a proposed raid IN
1875 that he referred TO. Woodruff then said
that he would be thirty years old on Fri
day, and that he was thus about sixteen
years of age at the time of his intimacy
with the Fenian spies.
The Times tomorrow will publish as n
part confederation of WoodrnfiTs story a
statement from Mic Paully a saloon keeper
mentioned in the confession. Paully adj
mits having purchased sixty-dollar gun
from Woodruff for So The saloon-keeper
further says that he (Paully) has been in
the pay of policeman Schuettler for the
past two weeks to aid in the search for
the murderers. Paully says: my sister
told me to-day that Woodruff came in one
day when was out He had not been hero
but moment when a man came 10 the
door and called him out. The man paid
him some money, she thinks. She says
she is satisfied that she knows who tho
man was"
"Wbo was iti"
Alexander Sullivan"
Paully's sister was not at home and could
not be seen by the Times man, who wished
to get her statement.
Woodruff's story and that of Paully do
not hitch exactly. Woodruff had it that
after leaving Paully's he (WOOdruf1 showed
| &hA 81