The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-08-14
WILLIS BAD NAME
IL Further Blackened by a
Charge of Murder.

The Shooting of strange He Claims to
Have Been Result of an Accident-He
Shows Great Nerve.
Taunton, Mass, Aug. 1.-Herbert
Willis, the young desperado, was brought
to the district court before Judge Fox
yesterday. The room was packed to
suffocation, and several people had to be
helped out for air Contrary to expec-
tation, he was not arraigned for theft or
burglary, but for the murder Of Fred
eric N. Strange, aged 20, on the evening
of June 22 Willis was pale, but cool,
and eyed the crowd as if he were the
central figure in a show. In clear voice
he waived examination, and was ordered
to iail to await the action OF the grand
jury.
The reason why Willis was arraigned
for the Strange murder is as follows:
The police were diligently searching all
day Saturday and Sunday for the mask,
the hidden wheel which was taken on
the night of the tragedy, and reddish
handkerchief, which was supposed to
have figured at that time, and at the
RAID in PierceS store in Raynham. Wills
apparently felt that the search was going
on and was restless and uneasy. He Kept
I'D his bravado and spoke about his rob-
bling exploits as if he were hero, but
the officers detected an undercurrent OF
anxiety, as if he feared that something
vet would be unearthed which would
fasten more than robbery upon him.
Finally, he took the police into ms con-
fidence and admitted that he was the man
who stole Bosworth's wheel on the night
of the murder, found it was not good.
and determined to have another. He met
Strange and Lincoln. His face was hid
den, so that Strange, who was his friend,
did not know him. He claims that he
did not mean to shoot, but in the excite
ment the pistol went off and Strange fell.
He then rode off on Lincoln's wheel, which
was the better one of the two, and hid
himself in the cave which the police had
already discovered, and which he had
filled with miscellaneous assortment of
goods, the proceeds of numerous bur-
glaries He claims that there was a
struggle in which Strange caught his
wrist, and the pistol, a self-cocker eX-
ploded, with fatal result.
The nerve of Willis is also shown by
the fact that he attended the funeral Of
his victim and friend, and seemed over
come with sorrow at his sad fate. The
record against this boy of 10 is now a
confession of manslaughter, four bur-
glaries, several thefts of wheels, one high
way robbery and two attempts to kill in
Providence.
The postoffice inspectors in Boston are
of the opinion that they have a case
against Willis. Inspector White, who is
q resident of Taunton, arrived in Boston
yesterday morning and stated that he
had concluded an investigation of the
robbery of the Raynham postoffice.
which occurred about four weeks ago.
Raynham is a small place, situated about
three miles outside of Taunton. The
office is located in part of store owned
by the postmaster. The alleged thief
stole stamps and a small amount OF
money, besides number of small arti-
cIes from the store. 1t is thought that
some of the articles found in the cave
Sunday by the police are owned by the
postmaster, and he is to make a visit to
police headquarters for the purpose of
identifying some of the goods If possible.