Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-09-12
FIRST DISCOVERY OF BLOOD
A New Story Regarding the Investi-
cations in the Carlson Cottage.
kuntz and.C0Oney Arrested Before the
Murder but Liberated.
Suspicious Actions of Captain Wing of
the Lake View Station.

CHICAGO, Sept. Sit seems that al
though great deal of matter has been
published about the Cronin murder. the
true story of the discovery of evidence is
now told for the first time 1t is also
singular that the reporters who were work
ing on the case never discovered that on the
night of the 18th of May, two men, now
supposed to be Kuntz and Cooney, were ar
rested, taken tn Lake View station and dis
charged In the morning by Captain Wing.
The local papers stated recently that there
was certain Irish officer upon the Lake
View police force who was suspected
of direct implication in the case. Other
similar statements were subsequently
printed and the officer finally determined
to tell his story. Officer Isaac Robinson
has been on the Lake View police force for
several years and has always borne good
reputation. He was not member of any
Irish secret society. At different times
before the murder, Robinson noticed men
going In and out of Carlson cottage and
asked Carlson about it. Carlson told him
he had rented the place to two men who
expected to move in. On the night of
May 9th, Robinson saw a man crawling
out of the basement of the cottage
whom he now believes to have been Burke.
In reply to the officer queries he said he
was one of the renters and had been look
ing IN the basement with view to stow
ing furniture. Robinson was not satisfied
but had no authority to arrest the man.
The next night he came upon two men
talking together in front of little real
estate office south of the Carlson cottage.
They had the doorf the office open and
were talking about hiding something
under the floor One of them who spoke
IN broken English with German accent,
told the officer they had lost their way and
wanted to get down town. He said they
were painters and lived on the west side.
Robinson wanted to know why they stood
there talking if anxious to get down town,
and the other, who spoke with an Irish
accent, answered evasively. Robinson de-
termlned to arrest them, and as he started
for the patrol box a man ran across from
the direction Of 0 Sullivan's barn and de.
manded to know what he was doing.
Robinson recognized this person as
the man he had seen crawling
from the basement of the Carlson cottage
and answered sharply: If the stranger
said much | would take him along too.
The man said no more and Robinson took
his prisoners to the station where they re-
peated the story told by him. In the
morning they were released by Captain
Wings orders; that officer saying to
Robinson: whats the use of sending
them to the bridewell to cost
the city twenty-five cents a day -
The two men thus discharged, it is now
believed by Officer Robinson were Kuntz
and Cooney. Their description answers
that of the two suspects very closely. At
the time of their arrest it was not generally
believed that Dr. Cronin had been MUIR
dered. Two nights later Robinson says he
saw one of the men he had arrested coming
out of the cottage after midnight. He did
not accost him because he considered he
had been rebuked by Capt. Wing when
the prisoner was discharged. Robinson
talked with neighbors about these matters
and concluded it must have been the crime
committed in the cottage. He told Carlson
and young Carlson went into the cottage
and found the blood stains. He thought
that Cronin had probably been killed and
the place suggested itself to Robinson and
he told Capt. Wing his suspicious. He
listened to the story but did nothing
Three times in succession the officer claims
to have told Wing of his belief that Cronin
was killed in the cottage, but nothing was
done until a week after Cronin's body
was found when Lieut.. Schluttler, who
was sent from down town to Lake View
heard of Robinson's suspicious and In
vestigated the matter, and then the cottage
story was made public.
MIDNIGHT Another officer at the
station at Lake View, says he knows Kunz
and that he was not one of the two prison
ers Robinson brought in on the night Of
May Z. He also says that the prisoners
were released by the patrol sergeant and
not by Capt. Wing.