New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-09
MRS. PLACE ALMOST TELLS.
SHE CONFEssEs SHE USED AXE AND
ACID. But WON'T SAY SHE KILLED

SHE coNFEssEs SHE USED AXE AND
ACID, But WON'T SAY SHE KILLED
nsAccrD UPSTAIRS TO THE SCENE OF THE MUIR
DER BY THE POLICE. SHE SHUTS HER EYES
TO KEEP HER sTErDAuGHTERs BODY
FROM HER sIGHT-rDAs PRE-
MoNIT1oN OF DEATH-REsrLT
OF THE AUTOPSY.
A singular incident in connection win Inc
murder OF Ida Mildred Place. of NO 'Sc nan
oock-st Brooklyn. by her Jealous and infuri-
ated stepmother on Monday. came TO hgh' yes,
,erdav Mrs Freda Fahrenkrug, OF NO 4o-
Decatur-st. who had been lda's conhdaht 'oiu
Of a remarkable presentment which Ida mao
,ho, her s,epmother would kill her and her
father Mrs Fahrenkrug is a young WIDOW
,,,,h two or three children, and her hear'
warmed toward Ida Place. who spent as niue
time as possible in the house Win her s'ep-
r,othcr She was seen by a Tribune fePoi'e'
et her home last night. and told with much iee'-
ing OF Idas last visit TO her.
Ida was here on sunday" said Mrs. Fahren-
krur land | noticed that she was much asi-
tated She girl of even 'en'pe'aine"
pos.essed Of well regulated nerves hsd never
.een her so agitated before. When she got me
alone she said: oh. Freda fear that soine
hing terrible Is going TO happen to me- Some
thing seems 10 say TO me over ana over tA"'
mamma ia going TO Kill papa and me. You
know how she has treated us before ana ho"
We are both afraid Of her when she gets on one
o.n.- pr,v Nts This morning woke up early
and seemed TO see her standing over my oeo'
ara avsr since then something has kept teiine
me that mamma is going TO kill both OF US
told her" continued Mrs Fahrenkrug tnat
nrohah,v her stepmother was no worse than
before and that If she paid no attention 10 hei
she would get over her ugliness, but couio not
get the notion out Of Ida's head that some 'errr
bic deed would be attempted by her nlo'hei'
told her that whenever she wanted TO she was
70 come 10 my house and that would taNe
cara Of her. That was the last heard or the
ch,Id-for child she always seemed to me-uh'h
LEARNED that she had been murdered
CROWDS STARE AT THE PRISONER
Mr.. Place last night moaned and tossed on
MARROW bed In the Kings County 1all' physica
wreck She looked like woman sxty-nVe OF
seventy years old although she is under hi'S'
IT'S hardly TO the credit of the police that they
made a living picture of her. carting her ABOUT
from the hospital 20 the Fourteenth PRECINCT
station TO the house in Hancock-st.. 70 pouce
hsaaouar,ers. then back to the Ralph-ave. sta
i
time she rode bareheaded in an open patroi
wagon. with nothing around her but an oo
brown house sacQue. while hundreds of morbioiy
curious people gazed at the haggard, sallow-
faced woman and muttered to their neighoors
Mrs Place narrowly missed making clean
hreast of the whole affair to Captain Ennis or
the Ralph-sve station. and As II was she maze
several admissions that practically convict her
Of the homicide with which she is charged ih's
Is what she told Captain Ennis and detectives
Becker and Mitchell soon after she was taken 10
the police station from St. Mary's Hospital nav
ing made a foolish attempt 10 escape the night
before by breaking away from the officers VINO
had her in charge
Il struck my husband with an axe at $50
ocIock last night in the hallway Of our house
because l was afraid he was going TO attack me-
In the morning we had had violent quarrel
and I thought he would start II up again when
no got home. His daughter sided with him. as
she usually did and slammed in my face the
door Of her room when went 10 speak TO her.
That made me mad, | got some acid from
my husbands desk and threw it in her face.
After that didn't see her In the afternoon
was fixing the furnace in the cellar, When saw
the axe lying close by | thought 1t might ne
useful in case of trouble. so | took II upstairs
with me My husband came in soon after tnat.
and I struck him with it. That's all there is
To it,"
Had you been drinking anything?' asked
Captain Ennis.
Yes" replied the accused woman. L had
glass Of wh,skey and glass of wine, but that
was all Ny husband did always find fault with
me. anyhow" she continued in injured tone.
We were married six years ago. l had then
been widow six years. my first husbands
hahn SlaCOal
hoy who is now fourteen years old. but my hus-
, band while very attentive to his own daughter,
would never permit my adopted boy to live in
the house with us. He Is now in Orange. n. j..
where had him apprenticed to harness
maker.
CONFRONTED WITH HER VICTIM.
A dramatic scene occurred when Mrs Place
was taken from the police station to the house
in Hancock-st. She rode bareheaded TO the
house because a policeman who had previously
taken a hat and cloak from the house TO the
station for her use innocenuy picked out the
murdered girls hat and cloak When Mrs Place
saw the hat she drew away from II and refused
TO It.
BY the time the patrol wagon reached the
house the woman had nearly collapsed She
swayed backward and forward on the seat with
a policeman grasping each arm. She liter
ally dragged out of the wagon and up the steps.
for the policemen started upstairs
she OWNED their intention and began to groan
and struggle protesting that she didn't want
60 with them. She was taken into the bed
room where the murdered girl was laid out.
Look at Ida" said Detective Becker and
deny II you will that you killed her"
But Mrs Place closed her eyes tight and would
not look down and the detectives in some
what crestfallen mood took her back to police
headquarters nearly three miles downtown. She