Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-05
coNFEssEs TO SEVERAL MURDERS.
startling Career in Crime of un In
diam CuIprit.

Startling Career In Crime of an In
diam CuIprit.
FORT WAYNE, Ind, Dec. 4.-Willam
Stone, formerly a member of the Dalton gang
under sentence Of ten years here for shoot
ing Deputy Sheriff Harold, has confessed
to committing murders in Chicago Cleve.
land Kansas City and several other places
His story is one OF life Of murder, bur
glary, train and stage robbng, and is
startling confession.
Stone says that he and his partner, VIII
liam Walrath, killed man in Kansas City
in 1888 and robbed him, but later gave the
money to Henry Donnelly, a policeman for
protection. He confesses to the murder oil
! Mrs. Stewart and her son, Clarence, In
| Cleveland. The bodies were cut to pieces
and thrown into Lake Erie. He says the
! following morning he killed a boy in the
| Big Four yards in Linndale, o.
| In Buffalo he and Walrath and a man
| named Burns, saloon keeper, killed wealthy
| western farmer who was looking for a good
time. The money was divided and Stone
and Walrath returned to Chicago and with
their share started restaurant Here Wal
rath married Stones sister. Mrs. Walrath died
and Stone and Walrath left Chicago. Later
Stone returned and was implicated in the
murder Of a father and son named Prunty
Three men are said to be now serving life
sentences at Joliet for the crime, but Stone
was not arrested.
He then tells Of a murder at Dunkrk, N.
Y. where he and man named Duffy
stabbed pal, Buffalo Jack" four times
and then buried him in the woods Another
murder was committed at Union City Pa.
the victim being an old man named Horton
or Norton Another murder was commit ed
by the trio near Youngstown, O., the victim
being resident OF Ashtabula. The last
murder committed by Stone and Walrath
was on April 20, 1895, on a Pennsylvania
freight train. At this time Stone was shot
and did not get medical aid until South
Bend was reached The next desperate act
of the trio was the robbery of Grand
Trunk train in Michigan where five watches
and money were secured. Two of these
watches have been identified since their arrest
| here.
that John C. Stones confession had become
| generally known, he was hustled out Of the
city to the Michigan City penitentiary tc
| serve term IF ten years. When Stone
made hio private confession two months
| ago he implicated his pal. John Duffey, as
the leading spirit in the bloody highway
! robberes. This sensational confession was
| kept concealed till Duffy was placed on trial
yesterday for assault with intent TO kill
a posse Of deputy sheriifs. The confession
! became public too late to have any effect
en- Duffys case, as when the jury retired at
night the wild tae of crimes had not
| reached the jury. Duffy received only
four years sentences, six less than his ac-
| complce, who was implicated in the same
| crime.
The officers or at least some Of them, are
inclined to think that Stone has painted
| and embsllished few molehis of crminality
| into mountains of crime for no other pur-
pose than to vent his enmlty against Duffy
| Since the death of their partner, William
| Walrath from the effect of bullet wounds
| received in their battle with the deputy
| aheriffs here last April, Duffy and Stone have
been such bitter enemies that they have
| been kept in different parts of the Jail and
were never in the same room, even during
meals.
Adivces from Mansfield, o., and Erie, Pa,
and Kansas City, indicate that Stone was
| very familiar with murders committed at
| each Of these places Denials have bsen re-
| ceived from Chicago. Cleveland and Buffalo
KANSAS CITY, Kan, Dec. 4.-The police
| here are somewhat uncertain as to the
genuineness Of the confession made by the
| prisoner. William Stone, at Fort Wayne.
| Policeman Henry Donnelly, the man i'm
| plcated by Stone, has certainly killed one
man and is not free from suspicion Of con-
| nection with the murder Of another. On
September 81, 1885, Christopher Shubert, a
wealthy German from Leavenworth, Kan.
was murdered here and robbed of his money.
! His dead body was found on the Central
| avenue bridge early in the morning. No ar
| rests were ever made and the case continued
| a mystery. Two months later, Policeman
| Henry Donnelly shot and killed Officer
| Thcmas O'Donald, in a saloon This killing
| was also shrouded in more or less mystery,
| for there had been suspicion that Donnelly
| had had some connection with the killing of
Shubert. and it was openly charged that the
killing of O'Donad was in some manner
| an outgrowth of the first murder. For the
killing of his brother officer, after making
a strong plea OF self-defense, Donnelly was
convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to
two years In the penitentary. He served his
time and is now supposed 10 be somewhere
In Colorado. Should the confession Of Stone
be borne out in its details, the police here
assert that they may make an effort to have
Donnelly arrested for completely in the muir
der of Shubert.
CLEVELAND. O., Dec. 4.-The police of
this city think the confession of John Stone
at Fort Wayne, Ind, is based largely on
imagination. Nothing Is known of the crimes
which Stone says he and Walrath COM
mitted in Cleveland, and it is certain the
pair were not arrested here and that they
did not escape from Jail by fegning in
sanity.
CHICAGO, Dec 4.-The police take no
stock in the story Of Convict Stone in Fort
Wayne to the effect that he was connected
with the Prunty murders in Chicago. Three
men were convicted of these crimes and are
now serving their sentences in Joliet The
police never heard Of Stone and do not
want him.
imam THN SECnNn nInNN