Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-07
GOT THE RIGHT MAN.
One of Weems' Companions Says the
Murderer Confessed to Him.
THE PISTOL FOUND IN A SEWER.
How the Night Search for the Guilty
Parties Was Conducted.
THE BULLET FITS WEEMS' WEAPON

THE BULLET FITS WEEMS' WEAPON
| The police authorities are perfectly satis-
fed that they have the murderer of young
John O'Hara, in the person of Lucien
| Weems, who was caught within an hour
after the deed, as published in yesterdays
| DISPATCH. The police worked all night
on the case, Inspector McAleese refusing to
go home until the pistol was found. The
men arrested are Monk Harris, Charles
Gance, George Kelsey, Will johnson, Lu-
Glen Weems, Frank Seymour, Edward Mer-
edith and Edward Powell. The last three
are not concerned in the crime, the In
spector says, and will probably be turned
loose to-day.
The woman, Lottie johnson, to whose
house Weems went Immediately after the
shooting, in state of great agitation, is also
in the Central station, and will most proba-
bly, be held as witness.
Detective Fitzgerald took Harris with
him yesterday morning, and Detective
Robinson took charge Of Kelsey, in order.
if possible, to get the guilty party located
and identified. During all the time Harris
was with the detective he refused to tell
anything, but Kelsey was more communi
cative. He told Detective fRobinson that
Weems had done the shooting, and had
thrown away the revolver afterward. The
weapon was picked up by johnson and
handed to Kelsey, he said, with Johnson's
own revolver.
DIFFERENCE IN THE PISTOLS.
Kelsey started of with Harris, and while
walking, drew the cartridges from both
pistols and handed the one belonging to
Weems over to Harris. It was 32-calibre,
while Johnson's which he kept with him,
was 3S. Kelsey and Harris separated on
Clark street, the former going home to Clark
court. Before entering the house, however,
he threw Johnson's revolver behind some
ash barrels in the alley, where it was alter
ward found by Detective Robinson. Kelsey
was then returned to the Central station.
Harris was told of Kelsey's confession
and the finding of the revolver, and he &C
knowledged it to be true, and proceeded
with his own story. He said that after he
had left Kelsey he started up Wylie avenue
with Weems' pistol in his possession, and
met two young colored girls, one OF whom
he knew, going to msrket Ella Talbot had
basket on her arm, and Harris slipped
the revolver into it, telling the girl twas
not loaded.
Detectives Robinson and Fitzgerald then
started on still hunt for Ella Talbot, whom
they found with her parents, ON Fulton
street, near Clark. This was about A. NJ,
and the girl was in bed. When told by the
officers what they wanted, she took a fit of
Mysteries, which was Gained finally by
judicious hints of giving her a trip in the
patrol wagon. She finally acknowledged
having dropped the revolver in sewer on
Clark street.
SEARCHING THE SEWERS.
Inspector McAleese hired a man to search
the sewer, and with some difficulty secured
his services for a couple of dollars. He
first went into the drop at the corner of
Clark and Fulton, but without finding the
weapon. He then tried drop about 125
feet below Fulton on Clark, and the colored
man, finding the water very deep and very
cold, refused to 60 under. In cropping
upon which lay the revolver which had
done the shooting-the 32-caliber one,
detective Sol Coulson, in the mean time,
was combing the colored settlements for
Weems, and, as stated in yesterdays DIS
PATCH, he cornered him in the house of
Lottie johnson, who is alleged to be his
sweetheart Both were promptly taken to
Central station by Mr.. Coulson, where
Weems has since stubbornly refused to say
II.
was more communicative, and admitted
that Weems had come to her house about II
P. M, and sat down upon a lounge, weep
ing bitterly. Lottie asked him what was
wrong, and he told her it was better for her
not to know and that he was in trouble.
He then laid down on the lounge and went
to sleep, but tossed and mourned during his
slumber. Lottie, fearing that something
was very wrong, awoke Weems and asked him
again what was the matter. but he declined
to state, saying it was for her own good not
to know. He again began to weep, with his
head between his hands, in which position he
was found by Detective Coulson.
SAYS HE CONFESSED.
William johnson, who picked up the
pistol when Weems threw it down, yester- |
day told Inspector McAleese that Weems
confessed to him having fired the shot, and |
also that he shot to kill. johnson will, of
course, be held as an important witness for |
the Commonwealth.
Deputy Coroner Berry yesterday impan-
eled the Coroner's jury, as follows: James
Riddel, Edward Foran, William Geilfuss,
John 81. Voskamp. Charles Geilfuss and II. |
Grant Miller. When the remains were |
viewed at the home of the deceased the in |
quest was adjourned until P. M. to-mor-
row.
An autopsy was ordered, and Drs. Meyer |
and Guy McCandless conducted it. They |
found the ball had penetrated the left side,
DETECTED from rib, which it broke, and |
passing through the heart and both lungs |
lodged Just below the skin on the right side. |
The bullet was extracted and found slightly |
fattened at the point, caused by striking |
the rib. The bullet is pronounced by the |
doctors to be 32-caIiber, weighing one
sixth of an ounce. This corresponds with |
the pistol carried by Weems. Death was
instantaneous, the doctors say.
Chief Brown yesterday expressed himself |
as highly pleased with the manner in which |
the case was conducted by the police, con-
sidering the slightness of the clews lett to