Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-28
THREE BOYS KILLED.
Victims of the Hallucination of a
Dull-Witted Woman.
SHE CHOKED THEM TO DEATH.
Her Own Little Urchin Was Laid Out
With the others.
THREATS TO MURDER A WHOLE FAMILY

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATcH.1
BoRDENTowN, N. j., Sept H.-Three
little corpses lie side by side in the morgue
at Bordentown, three boys, victims OF
dull-witted woman's insane rage. Three
weeks ago German woman came to Bor-
dentown with 5-year-old boy. 1t was said
that she came from Mt Holly and that she
was recently discharged from jail there.
She rented a small house, and in few days
was elected by the landlord. William
Boyd, who occupied one-half of little
double honse on Chestnut street, took the
forlorn woman and her child into his house
hold.
She was dirty and ragged, but the 5-year-
old boy she had with her was bright eyed
and pretty. He won the hearts of all who
saw him.
Yesterday William Boyd, his wife and
12-year-old boy went to Trenton to the
Interstate Fair, leaving the strange woman
to take care of the two younger children,
boys aged one and one-half and three years.
She Gave Herself Up.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon Marshal
Jobs was standing in front of the office OF
lumber yard, where woman addressed him
and said that she wanted to be arrested.
"What for?" asked the Marshal.
s'For murder" she answered. u have
lust killed three children"
Marshal Jobs thought that the woman
was crazy, but, after plying her with ques-
tions, he became assured that she was tell
ing the truth, and locked her up in the
town Jail Then he went to the double
L. - l.1Ir ,tnf In
apartments occupied by John Allen. Dis
covering his mistake he forced the door of
the adjoining house and searched the house.
When he opened the kitchen door he stood
aghast Lying upon the floor in the filthy
and miserably furnished room were three
little bodies, with their faces covered with
torn fragment of soiled cloth.
The bodies were laid out with care and
arranged according to size, in manner
showing method akin to madness. Marshal
Jobs placed Constable in charge of the
bodies and hurried back to the Jail He
asked the prisoner why she killed her child,
and she said that it fell down stairs and
struck its head against fat iron. Then he
asked her about the death of the other
children, and she said that she killed them
to put them out of trouble.
Strangled Them With Towel
She spoke imperfect English, and the
Marshal had trouble in making out what
she meant. When be asked her why she
covered the faces of the children with the
cloth, she said it was to keep the flies off
She was not under the influence of liquor,
and Marshal Jobs said that she did not ap-
pear to be demented. She refused TO tell
her name, however, and was reticent about
her previous life. 1t was learned that she
had been known in Mt Holly as Lena
Brown.
1t is evident that all three of the children
were strangled with a towel, which was
found on shelf in the kitchen. But her
fve-year-old boy has a wound upon the
back Of his head which was evidently in
ficted with a smoothing iron which was
found upon the table in the kitchen. Boger.
the father OF the two younger children, is
railroad laborer temporarily out of work,
and the expenses of the funeral of the chill
dren will have to be borne by the town.
Threatened to XIII Whole Family.
Bordentown is too near Philadelphia to
get excited about anything, but yesterday
there was considerable emotion displayed,
and a subscription was started to pay the
expenses of the funeral of the victims of the
feeble minded woman. The examination
of the murderess will be held on THURSDAY
by Justice Burns. Meanwhile inquiries
will be made about the previous history of
the woman.
IT. Is rumored in Bordentown that she
was arrested and committed to Jail in Mt.
Holly for threatening to kill whole fam
ily She is woman of medium height and
build with dark eyes and hair. She told
Marshal Jobs that her age was 20. But she
looks ten years older. She was undoubt-
edly pretty woman only few years ago
and her face is not repulsive now, although
she has been living either in jail or in
squalid quarters for several years. Marshal
Jobs said last night that the house in
which the crime were committed was in
such a condition, that he ordered the occu-
pants to clean up the premises imm sdiatelY.