The sun., 1898-02-09
STORYTOLD BY MRS. PLACE.
, Partial CONFESSION MADE TO
THE BROOKLTN POLIOR

,,o,.ru Admit kiilinE Her northumberland
she Hacked Her Husband Because she Fear-
"a uim-TnLen to boek mt HeF vtctius-RVi.
acpce THAT the Crirns whs LobG Nzeditsted.
Mrs. Martha Place, who on Monday killed her
,,,ndauchtcr, Ida, at hor home, 500 Hancock
.,.so,. Brooklyn, md tried to kill her husband,
yuliam w. Place, was removed yesterday from
@, Mars Hospital TO Raymond Street Jail.
Mr place remains in st. Mary's Hospital. His
.ondition is such as to encourage the physicians
n attendance to believe that he will recover
,,orr tho fracture of the skull inflicted by his
vIfs with a blow with an axe.
A.s.so o'clock yesterday morning Detective
Sergeant Becker OF the Ralph avenue police
,tatlon drove up to st. Mary's Hospital in q
natrol wagon. To tho hospital superintendent
h. said ho had come to take Mrs. Place to the
nolIce court. Becker was told that tho woman
was quito able 10 90 to court or anywhere
,l,e All through the night four policemen had
taken turns at watching BY her cot in the ward
,-b,ro she was kept o prisoner. Only onoe did
Tho woman make any disturbance About mid
niub, she seemed to awaken from docp sleep,
,.t nm in bed, and screamed like mad woman.
Tbs screams brought q physician TO tho ward,
,-bo told the woman that taking insanity would
not avail her. and that she should behave her
.slf That had the effect Of quietlng her In short
order and she gave no more trouble during the
night.
when Becker was shown to the ward, he
walked up to Mrs. Places cot and said:
"lhave come to take you TO court Please
ret ready as soon as possible"
When tho woman was removed from her homo
an Monday night she was bundled into the am
bulance without shoes or street clothing. Tho
sisters furnished her with clothing in which to
leayo tho hospital. When sho was ready sho
entered the patrol wagon and was driven Inn
medistely to tho Ralph avenue station. For
about an hour she was closeted in Capt Enniss
room with Detective Sergeant Becker and De-
tectlve Mitchell. What happened there was
told to a sun reporter In the afternoon by
Becker. He said:
ouss told her that she was not obliged to
make any statement of the case to me, that sho
WAS entitled to tho advice of counsel, and that
sssnst sss s'1. her. Then asked her Il there was was
some particular incident which was really at
the bottom Of the rSSgsdy ~ this she Replied
Mr. Places wife that something has not oc-
Cured that led to trouble Of some kind. His
the cause Of all theldifrerences betwcen my hus.
band and myself. Yesterday morning, between
and $50 o'clock, Just before my husband wont
10 business we had some words In the back
parlor. He accused me of something of which
Els daughter had accused me TO him. What no
ssp ssd fhen sTuoG IL the saso
and left the house, slamming the front door as
".shortly after he went away I went up to
my stepdauEhters room. which 10 over the
back parlor and In the rear of the room occupied
of tbc house, snT overIooiins HSncocS stree
asked her what she meant by telling her father
such stories about me. Her reply was imperti-
nent, and finally she edged me out OF the room
and slammed the door in my face
"'That angered mo beyond measure I
5 ny eH hi t. sna f
4 was. Some Of thIs !! poured into, z
foon anh She T1ss'f was .hini 1ik
sitting by the window sewing, was beside my
face. She screamed and left tho room. closing
day. After Rad thrown tho acid in her face I
went TO my own room, whore was busy for
tended to some things there. About 4 O'Clock
In ss,I the - vent Sn SSTn to the
cellar cellar y nI saw 1po an ufna aSo iyinr ON IN the the
door. I. occurred to me then that when my
husband came homo he would renew the quar-
tempt to infict more serious injury upon me.
thought 1t we'll to be prepared for such an at
tack. Therefore. when had hAed the furnace,
took the axe up to my room with me.
Paoe e's como 11 'ie in abont ssr
He had just hung up his coat and hat on the
nat rack 6 From his atitude thought he was
raised tho axe. and hit him % over the the head With with
H.. ne turned partly away from me, and think
Ing he was wa reaching for something with which
Then he staggered out Of the house and I
feIulrned to my room. turned on the gas and
sy SSSo down on the poE where was found By tho
When asked II she intended to Eifi her step
tassughter tsS and her husband, Mrs. Place evaded
tempted to take her own life. Mrs. Place, 40
,,s nSGE. SGpld see no future before me- and could
thing could do was to kill myself"
hiI1,s IN answer 10 questions as to her personal
name was Martha Garretson. She was tho
Se SauShfsr i};a or Isaac Garretson and was born
S.H Mss2nS BsansaoS \ i She sbSus eight miles from
Shom man named Wesley savacol.. with
IN Eh0R RewsSk saS lived SD for Or, nu%5sS
boy who was calisd wiIiie e ssvaooIi. seIp''T The
SSy 6Sy,,na has been boarding with the family Of
Mrs Place said that tho chief trouble between
aS asr husband and herself was on account of this
poy to live with them, but he refused to permit
her to have him.
After the death of her parents. Mrs. Place said
~.
Sarfetson; baggagemaster on the Pennsyl-
% %Nanla italiroad, who lives at 3lS Seaman street,
t, NSw brunswick. On the death of her brothers
Miie she went to live at Asbury Park, where she
"m4rkeu as n dressmaker.
mere arc discrepancies between the story
~. ~. fiace told the detectives Of her past and
shat shat told by people in New brunswick.
enc enc said that her first husband was dead,
tha, Tnlie s. people in New brunswick said
out out the tormality of q divorce and that he
Il it ia ,i " esl Ihet was about seven years ago.
e. 10 alSo SAID In New Brunswick that tho boy is
S SFs. races son and that he has been adopted
,o Uy tne AShenbachs. Within the past year or
tmo MIS-; Place has attempted Nto get control OF
& fno 10Y nut the Ashenbachs had occurred a re-
EEbSso Ebs t ol her claims and would not give him up
TIM tooy nrst name 10 said to be Ross not
by that name. '" A0'o '"ioo niiii
pIailteT pIhlteT ihe police had finished questioning Mrs.
ft N.Y., Detectiye Sergeant Becker and Detectiye
a., 0to'nihg. The woman showed not the sliRht-
she hidl ",dilahey about entering the house. After
nnd srs ntu made the changes which she needed.
no,;ea the supervision of the matron OF the
PVn'Se sta,!on, Becker said to her;
tsLa.' .'oM, ", Slrs Place, perhaps you had better
si look at Ida. 1t may be the last opportu-
n ~ you VIII have to look upon her face.
fsc, IU woman seemed to hesitate and the de-
NJ SfVtbnes boe ied her to the room where the body
n @ tho dead girl lay on a bed, covered with
\ aha