Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-05-16

persons was, ~disproved, partly AZ leasI, 10y
S sTs but Holmes' oSjeot IN making the
a sum said to be 1850 and Witch smoun. =
said to have been settled upon m sim
sions'' have served to increase the sensa,
tionalism Of. the case. the only capltal
crime for wfiicb Holmes had 70 answer
2, 1894. of BENJAMIN r. Pietzei; his fellow
conspirator. The murder was coIffnfisted
In the dwelling. No. 1916 Callowhil. street,
Holmes conviction OF murder In the first
degree, the animation by the Pennsylvania
supreme court OF the verdict and the re-
cent refusal OF Governor Hastings to grant
a respite are so well known that q nara
ton Of these facts Is unnecessary.
Holmes was captured in Boston, Mass,
In the latter part OF 1894, by owen Hans
com, the. deputy superintendent of police,
upon the, strength Of a telegram from Fort 81,
larceny. At that time officials Of The n
deity Mutual Life associatipn OF Philadsl-
%frauding the concern out OF $1,000 IN con.
nect!on with cPietzers death. the latter be-
Ing insured for that amount, and the &c
cused believing horse stealing TO be a high
crime In Texas, he voluntarily confessed Il
Deputy Superintendent Hanscom 10 the
insurance fraud. He did not. for a mo:
ment, dream that he was then n SUSPECTED %s &c
Philadelphia without requisition papers
He expressed a Willingness TO be tried here
on the conspiracy charge in preference TO
that OF horse stealing at Fort Worth. Be
fore leaving Boston Holmes made this
confession" 20 Mr.. Hanscom:
when !. concluded II was time TO carry
out our scheme to .defraud, the insurance
and shipped II In a trunk TO Philadelphia.
| turned the check for the trunk over 20
Pietzel on the Sunday nearest the LIST OF
September. | instructed him how to pre-
pare the body, and In three hours we were
on our way to New York. Ten days after
the payment Of the money ] saw Pletzel
that city. whore the father saw them.
one child, Howard, ! took the two girls g
all met again in Detroit. Pjetzel took the
children and went 10 South AmerIca Dur
ing all this time Mrs. Pietzel knew her
he had the children. II she was aware OF
that she would insist that the crooked
business be wound up right away; In or.
DER to keep Mr. o Pie ,ss from her b husband AND
there. travelling from one city to another ;,
This was the first Of a number Of alleged
admissions that Holmes s~ubseauentl
making confessions" that surprised the
authorities.
The insurance officials had good ground
for believing Holmes had murdered Pietzel
oner arrived In Philadelphia he was urged
10 make another Confession" And he did
SO without hesitation. but n varied some.
sraphi trIiS t narr ate how Tie Body was
substituted for P.etzel in the Callowhill
street house, and its Identification by
Alice PeitZel as that Of her father a week
afterward. Holmes also related how the
money was received from the insurance
company and its subsequent division be-
tween Mrs: Pietzel, Jeptha y. Howe; the e
this confession" that Holmes accused
Howe OF receiving $3.50 for his share In
the transaction.
Howe was indicted for conspiracy. but
recently the case against him was
dropped.
Soon after Holmes was brought 10 Phiia-
delphia, Detective Geyer visited him I'm the
county prison IN relation to the tndins OF
the body at 1916 .Callowhill street on Sep
tember 4. 1894. After an hours converse
ton with the WHY Holmes the detective
emerged from the prison with a 'confes-
sion" I'm which the accused said the body
was not that Of Pietzel. but was one sub
stituted TO defraud the insurance com
pany.
a week later Holmes .honored Geyer
he said, that story | told you about the
substituted body is not true. IT Is the body
OF BENJAMIN +. Pietzel. but ] did not muir
der him or his children. on Sunday morn
the third story OF the Callowhill street
house. found a note In "A bottle, telling
me that he was tired OF llfe and had finally
decided 70 commit suicide. He requested
me 10 look after the insurance money and
take care Of his wife and family. then
fixed up the body In the position. II was
right. They are with Minnie Williams, In
London. ! gave Howard 10 Minnie Will
iams In DETROIT and ] sent Alice and Nellie
10 her from Toronto. They met Miss Will
Jams in Niagara. Fails and sailed for Eu-
rope from New York"
this lims aud his sraal Tor ssn;
Each time he pretended 10 tell the truth
but he sedulously avoided doing so. No
body believed what Holmes said abou'
Pietzel, and he would not say anything
about the children except that they were
all right.
In his many interviews with District At
torney Graham, Holmes persisted that ths
three missing Pietzel children were with
Minnie Williams IN London. He even per
suaded Mr.. Graham TO have an advertise
mcnt In the shape of a cipher puzzle in
s pors Of = br Z S J M xGpR pa RiIi,a for t sss p n.
little Pietzels back from Europe. The dis
trict attorney placed but little faith II
what Holmes told him, but the "ad" wal
fort. When the bodies OF Nellie and Alic,
Pietzel were unearthed in Toronto, Holme;
denied having killed them. When How
s~uperannuated stove In Irvington. Ind.
Holmes calmly denied any knowledge o
the lads death. When the murders o.
Minnie. Williams and her sister were dis
covered. Holmes said that Minnie killed
Mamie in a jealous frenzy. and he buried
the body I'm Lake Michigan. lie vigor
ously denied having put Minnie to dealt
SO as TO secure her property. The disap
pearance OF Emily Cygrand was traced Il
Holmes. but the criminal said he knew
nothing OF the girls fate. The partly con
sumed bones that were found In the Chi
cago castle" are known to be those o
some Of Holmes victims. About the las
trict attorneys office TO Confess" Mr.
Graham lost patience with him. Holmes
gave a repetition OF his picturesque false
torney a veritable Jolly about the Pietze
family and Mlnnie Williams being still
alive, The scene that ensued was ex
tremely dramatic. Mr.. Graham said:
Holmes, you are an internal. lyini
murderer. will hang you in PHILADELPHIA;
for the murder Of Benjamin Pietzel."
Holmes nerve was still with him. and HI
said: II defy you. You have no evidenc'
to prove me guilty" Mr.. Graham looked
with disgust and determination at Holmes
delphia for numbering Benjamin Pietzel.
The trial and conviction followed. TIL,
district attorney endeavored TO prove dur
Ing the trial. through Detective Geyer
dren. but Judge Arnold, before whom tn,
case was tried. declared this to be irrele
want. Geyer had unearthed the murder o
the children after a prolonged investiga
ton, and the commonwealth was prepares
TO prove that Holmes had also committe,
these crimes.
Holmes embraced the Catholic faitl
when IL became evident to him that h
must hang. and Rev: Father Daily minis
tered TO his spiritual wants. Throughout
his trial and subsequent Imprisonment
this arch-criminal maintained a nonchal
ance that was remarkable.