Omaha daily bee., 1895-07-21
HOLMES TELLS HIS STORY
Vehemently Denies that He is the Muir
derer of the PiSsl Children.
CLAIMS HE CAN PROVE AN ALB
Turned Them Over to the Custody of
"IIatch" and Intimates Broadly that
the Latter Dio the Murder
Gus Deed.


can prove an alibi with reference to the MUIR
der of the Pitzel children in Toronto, and
says the authorities here cannot prove that
Pitzel was murdered in this city In view
Of the finding in Chicago of the charred
bones supposed to be those of Minnie Will
liams as reported exclusively in the Asso-
cated press dispatches last night, Holmes
statements with reference to that young
woman are interesting. He says Il am as
innocent as a newborn babe Of the charge
of numbering the Pitzel children. l don't
believe they were ever murdered, and II
they were / am not guilty. Why, the last
time 1 saw the boy Howard Pitzel was in
indianapolis. Miss Williams was then in
Detroit, and we had arranged that she take
Howard east. Soon after noon / sent the
boy to her in Detroit intending to follow
soon. Before l reached Detroit. however.
Minnie Williams had taken Howard east and
stopped in Buffalo. l then came east with
the two girls, and finally wound up in To-
ronto. We had been there short time
when my wife arrived. She knew nothing
about the existence of the Pitzel children.
Mrs. Pitzel, Dess and the baby came to
Toronto shortly after. Neither Mrs. Pitzel,
my wife, nor Alice and Nellie Pitzel knew
of each others presence in that city.
Il had good reasons for not letting Mrs.
Pitzel know Of the proximity of her chill
dren, for she was then in delicate health
We first thought Of sending Mrs. Ptze along
with Minnie Williams and the three children
to England, but her delicate health pre-
cluded the idea. The man Hatch was In
Toronto at that time. Finally 1t was decided
to send Alice and Nellie Pitzel on to Niagara
Falls. where Minnie Williams and Howard
were. Everything was gotten in readiness
for their departure.
HIDDEN FROM THEIR MOTHER.
81 had quite a hard time keeping the chill
dren's presence hidden from Mrs. Pitzel.
Il succeeded however and escorted them
to the railway station. where Hatch had
gone by prearrangement. The four of us
got on the train, and l rode probably a few
miles out Of the city with the children.
When l was about to get off of the train
Hatch suggested that he accompany the
girls few stations further, so that there
would not be any mistake about their tick
cts. Nellie and Alice were travelling on
half-fares, and / wanted to be sure that
they got along on one whole ticket, which
the conductor had not taken up when | left
the train. So he went with the children, and
he can tell where they can be found if any
one can.
81 came back to Toronto about O'Clock
| In the afternoon, and four hours later Mrs
Pitzel and the two children had boarded
| train for Burlington, as 1t was thought better
she should stop at quiet hotel at that place
| Before leaving Toronto for Burlington with
| my wife, next morning, l met Hatch. He
| SeeHleu all TlSHt, DuI tDeTe were no questions
asked about the children, as 1 wanted the
| matter kept from my wife. He stayed there
| after us. When we arrived at Ogdensburg
| on our way to Burlington, Mrs. Pitzel was
| there.
after sending my wife to hotel,
| went to see Mrs. Pitzel. Hatch came to
| town in few days and rented a vacant
house, where he put in a bed, chair and
| little stove. These things were to be found
| wherever Hatch was. as he never lived in a
| hotel, for private reasons. All our trunks
| were taken to this house, and kept there
| until we left Burlington. One afternoon I
took Mrs. Pitzel to the Hatch household and
| showed her the trunks, one Of which needed
| mending. She saw the bed, the chair and
the little stove, and can tell about 1t to this
| day. We stayed at Ogdensburg for over a
| week, and then went to Burlington. Hatch
| went to Montreal to attend to some bus-
! ness. l may say here that Hatch and myself
were engaged in buying furs and other goods
and smuggling them across the border.
| That's why the trunks were sent to the
vacant house in Ogdensburg. When we
were about two weeks in Burlington, or
three weeks after the two PitZel girls had
| left Toronto / went to a telegraph office to
wire Hatch in Montreal to go to Niagara
| Falls and see the PitZel children and Miss
| Williams off to Europe.
THROWS SUSPICION ON HATCH.
81 had written the message, and was
about to hand it to the operator when Hatch
walked into the office. 1t was surprise to
me to see him there, when I was under
| the impression that he was buying stuff in
| Montreal. Where he had been since | left
| Ogdensburg up to that time | don't know.
l wish l did and don't think that a cell
in prison would be my home today If | knew
! that. Shortly after that l was arrested.
| Now the district attorney, Superintendent
! Linden and all these insurance people will
tell you that Hatch is myth. The insur-
| ance officers and agents know better.
why | had scarcely thought Of the oc-
| in tba In pnrl line ~ IN
when one day last December. Peary, the in
surance agent, asked me who that man was
whom l met in the telegraph office. I an.
swered that the man was Hatch.
| 1.-The company's detectives tracked me all
through the country, although l tried my
best to avoid them. They know very well
who Hatch is. and they know that he was in
Burlington. l am almost positive that they
know much more about the movements Of
| Hatch than | do.
"Going back to Toronto again, and the
finding of the two bodies in the cellar Of the
St. Vincent house, l can say with all con-
fdence that / can prove an albi to any
charge that may be brought against me
there. / can get at least six of the best
| known business men to swear that could
not have rented the house where the bodies
were found at the time stated by all those
| witnesses.
Hatch may have treated the children
all right, but where did they get to IL not to
London with Minnie Williams? Hatch was in
|
for Ogdensburg on my way to Burlington.
II am eager to go to Toronto to stand my
trial for the murder Of Nellie and Alice
Pitzel."
Mrs. Howard, wife number three OF ii. II
Holmes, arrived in this city last night In
response to District Attorney Graham's dis
patch. Sne is being closely guarded from
interviews and no information will be given
as to her whereabouts. On Monday she Is
expected to have a conference with Mr.
Graham for the purpose OF throwing some
light on Holmes movements while in Toronto
and elseH here.
IDENTIFIES THE BODIES.
TORONTO, July 20.-Mrs. Pitzel has
identified the bodies of the two children
found in the cellar on St. Vincent
street as those Of her girls Alice
and Nellie The latter she identified by heI
hair and the former by peculiarly Of her
upper front teeth. She was not allowed te
see any othsr part OF the bodies. as both
were in such an advanced state of decompo.
sition that it was thought the shock would
derange her.
As II was Mrs. Pitzel broke down COM
| pletely and sobbed and cried throughout the
trying ordeal and long afterward. The de
tectives and the doctors were perfectly salts
fed with the identification The case which
the Canadian authorities now have against
Holmes is very complete and Is mucf
stronger than that made out against him a
Philadelphia which fact leads a great many
u l-lF. sknN Nhn WaRtan will