The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-20
killed BY his FRIEND
Sad Result Of the Careless Handling
Of a Shot Gun.
SLAYER NOW IN COUNTY JAIL
After killing Frank Libudzcski at Price.
burg Yesterday Afternoon Frank Pre-.
b;iski Told Conflicting Stories and
Was Committed TO Jail.


ternoon added another to the intermin-
ably long list of victims of the gun
that wasn't loaded. Frank Libudzeski.
of Lincoln street. Priceburg, in the
Second ward of the borough. was in
stantly killed by Frank Prebilski. The
dead boy was Is years old April 10,
and the Prebilski is about 16. He is
now in the county all charged with
murder. Justice of the Peace John Sill
vinski committed him and Constable
Max Koehler brought him down at
o'clock last night The information was
lodged by the mother of the dead boy.
His father. Anthony Libudzeski, is WIS.,
iting In Nanticoke.
The shooting happened about ::
o'clock in the afternoon in the dining
room of young Prebilskis home. How
II happened is not decided, because the
one who did II has told three different
stories, and If he had stuck to the first
version he gave. which was that he
fired the shot accidentally, the proba-
bility is he would not now be in Jail.
His protestations that Libudzeski had
the gun in his own hands and pulled
the trigger himself and was negligently
responsible for his own death. angered
the latters family and aroused the
suspicion that 1t may have been q de-
liberate murder.
THE TRUE VISION.
From the undisputed facts in the case
and the harmoni2ing of the conflicting
evidence the true version of the fatality
is about as follows: Libudzeska, Pre-
bilski and the latter's brother, Michael.
who Is a year older, We're out after
dinner in the woods. They returned
about 2.3O. sat on the porch of Jer-
myns, now Johnson's. store, short
while and went up to Prebliskis home
block away. The house Is directly
behind the store When they reached
the house they sent Mrs. Annie Mehal-
ska, an old grandmother bordering on
80 years of age, for pail of beer. She
got a can, took the money and got the
beer.
Just as she left, Libudzeski asked
Frank Prebliski to bring his gun down
and let him see 1t. The firearm was
produced from the stairway, and while
II was in the latter's hands, 1t went
off and the charge entered Libudzeska's $
chest at the base of the left neck. 1t
went in at the bottom of the coat col
lar, and the muZzle was SO close to
him that the cloth was burned.
The wound was an awful one to look
at. 1t was one and one-half inches
in diameter and the lower edge of its
circumference was at the center of the
third clavicle. It's course was down.
ward and the charge tore through the
windpipe and aesophagus, shattered the
subclavian arteries, and was imbedded
in the upper lobe of the right lung.
HE DIED INSTANTLY.
The deceased was sitting on chair
ha lial
before he fell on the floor The blood
pumped out Of the wound in large
quantities and bestrewed the floor. The
pallor of the body was as strong as If
there was not drop left in It. As
soon as the shooting happened young
Prebilski ran out of the house and to
where his uncle lived. His father was
there visiting and he asked to be saved
from the consequences of the killing.
He cried and pleaded that 1t was acci-
dental.
Chief Of Police Henry Mccarthy and
Constable Max Koehler located the two
Prebilski boys and took them to the
Office of Squire Shivinski until Coro-
ner s. p. LOngstreet arrived at s
o'clock. The body had not been re-
moved except few feet from where 1t
had fallen until DR.. LOngstreet came,
and assisted by Dr. Il. M. Pennypacker,
held an autopsy. They found that the
charge was mostly deposited In the
upper part of the right lung and they
removed several grains. 1t was No. 8
bird shot.
A jury comprising William E. Moses,
Or. w. r. Kennedy. f. J. Burke, Pro-
fessor NJ. j. Lloyd, John Miller, of
Priceburg and John 4. Brown were
present during the autopsy and ad-
journed to Squire Slivinski's office to
hear the testimony. The boy who did
the shooting was the first one exam
ined. He denied point blank that he
had the gun in his hands when 1t went
off and said he was outside. The only
thing he did admit was that he had
got the gun for the deceased to look at.
VERDICT OF THE JURY.
Michael Prebilski. the other brother,
wSls sworn. He saw the two boys
handling the gun in the dining room
and went out in the yard to look after
a two-year-old baby while the old wo-
man was gone for the beer. Chief of
Police Mccarthy found the gun in a
closet upstairs. The shell was taken
sworn, but his testimony threw no
light on how the shooting occurred.
The jurys verdict was as follows: 1--WE,
the undersigned jury. find that Frank
LibudZeski came to his death from the
effects of gunshot wound in the chest
inflicted by Frank Prebilski, while
carelessly handling a gum"
The testimony of the witnesses be-
fore the coroner served for the hearing
before Squire Slivinski on the charge
of murder preferred by the mother of
the deceased. On account of the con-
EAieting- EAie stories told by -Prebilski the
squire decided TO send the case before
the grand jury.
The body was removed to his par
ents' home after the autopsy. At the
hearing his mother was present and