The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-06-12
THE MARY CUNNINGHAM CASE.
Police Spy Gets n Confession from thc
italian hoy that lie Himself was the
Murdert r-Other Reasons for suspects
Ing Him.

dered Mary Cunningham was begun
/ at New York yesterday and there is
hope that 1t began the unravelling of
the dread mystery. IL has been he
lieyed from the beginning that some
of the other inmates of the house
knew more than they have told, and
especially the little girl who lived
with the aunt of Mccormack, one of
the suspects, and who has eXh ibitcd
such terror of arrest ever since the
crime No one supposes her to be
guilty in anyway, but to have seen
something which makes her wit
ness and SO in fear of being held in
virtual Imprisonment until after the
trial, according to the New York law
in capital cases where witnesses can
mott furnish bail.
Suspicion has been thickening all
the week about Joe Marreno, the Ital
ian boy who identified Mccormack as
the murderer. II is found that he lied
in number OF points, as regarding his
whereabouts tho night after the crime.
lie said he had had nightmares be
cause OF what he had seen and that
was the reason he told the next day
of it. The first evidence was that he
was off with companions that night
and spent the next day, Sunday, Mt Co
ney Island, whereas his story repre-
sented him rs spending the next day
at home. His brother now says that
he was at home Saturday night and
they slept together and he knew moth
ing of any nightmare. Then there is
trouble with his Identification of
! prison all agree that Insp ectOr Brooks
kNI arfn t..nt. n lttnnG
directly toMcCormack s cell and asked
is that the MANI
The usual method of police identi
fications is to stand dozen men in
line and make the identifier pick out
his man from among them.
The boys description of the kitch
en- where the crime WAS committed
was perfect ana all the more suspic
ious after a fact Mrs. Cunningham
points out He says he first saw the
struggle from the hallway through the
door left open few inches. The
mother shows that tall ice box
stands inside the door, just beyond |
the space for it to swing, so that it !
would be impossible for anybody to !
see into the kitchen at all from the |
hall. 1t is also shown by another ice
man who was in the hall about that |
time, that the door was closed tight. /
Marreno's story has not had "a particle |
of confirmation from any source, from
the little girl he says ordered the ice,
from the tenant he says he tried to
deliver it to or from the man and
woman he says saw him stumble and
fall on the steps in running out of the
house. And, perhaps most important
OF all, he says what he saw was about
30 p. m, whereas the body was dis
covered at = O'Clock and the physi
clans all agree that the girl had been
dead about two hours.
Marreno is known to have several
times assaulted little girls and To
have been thrashed for it. He also
knew the ways of ingress and egress
from tenement houses of this class,
which he had learned in his occupa
ton. Joe cannot read or write, but
his head has been filled with dime
novel literture read to him by some
oflhis boy associates Mccormack,
the other suspect. is hard drinker
and shiftless sort of fellow. His =
wife drinks too.
The case against Marreno was inten ,
sified Tuesday by the statement of
Rocco Celiano, lG-year old Italian, ,
as spy by the police that E
Marreno had confessed to him thatlhe ,,
himself had committed the murder. '
Celano used to be bootblack at po
lice headquarters, and is well known to !
detectives and reporters thereabouts. {
He is an intelligent boy and reads t
and writes English fairy well. He !
says he was placed in Jail for the pur I
pose Of pumping Maneno Saturday il
and gave out that he was arrested for !,
A murder in Mulberry Bend Il "
.alked with Josie whenever | got the Il
,hance. He told me first that he saw o
Mccormick kill the girl, but Sunday 4
afternoon about 3 o'clock he made his a
to me. | said to him, talk s.
ng in Italian, that we were both in n
he same boat, and that if he would ii
ell me his story I'd tell him mine. i
Then he said; u
well, | killed the girl, but | won h
ell you why did il or how did it. "
He told me that he went home af IA
er the murder and slept there that a
light, and that il was not true that NJ
lie had slept in the woods at Fort
ieorge Saturday night or been at Co !
ley Island on Sunday. Sunday in the :,
middle of the night he got up and be r
AN sneaking around the room in which :.
Ge were alone together. He looked un V
er the bed, and then made sudde +
lish for the couch, stumbled in an d -
ulled the covers up over his head. | 10
'as too frightened to say anything a.
hen. The next morning he told me !" q,
hat he had had bad dream, and =,
hat he thought when he jumped up y
nat a woman was standing over his al
ed jabbing him with knife o. q,
The lad had treacherous way .,
oout him. He didn't tell the boys n
9 was in as witness but that it was Az
II murder. He said if he was
acher in the place he'd strangle sew
al Just as he had Mamie Cunning ST
am. He said he didn't care if he tn
as killed for murder, but that he tn
ould give anything to gain his lib sc
ty and get chance to go back to OF
ally. - tn
Celiano said he made his story pub ma
C because he police had refused 20 OF
az him for his services. His testim TN
, destroys the value of young Marie &c
D's evidence against Mccormick. 1t Tn
not convincing proof that Marreno on
guilty of the murder. for he may TIC
I'VE pretended to confess 10 spirit tai
braggadocio. az
The case against Mccormick has ba
city much dropped to pieces The COZ
-st report was that he ran away, but Gel
e evidence in the police court was WI
at he walked. There was said to be so
God stains on his shirt, and his fin roc
n nails were scraDed chemist pm- va,