The sun., 1898-03-12
MOTHER THE MURDERESS.
u1DA PETERSEN KILLED HER
R.BE AT RoCkTILLE CENTRE.


She IT, Unmarried ana n Domrstic servant
-ucr Story OF the CoId-Bioodcd Crime.
Ao-on Olsen OF 527 Barley street. Fast New
yo-k read In the papers yesterday OF tho hnd'
Ia of tho body OF the 3.year.old child Mt Rock
Ellie Centre. l.. l.. on Tuesday. Tho description
.,,hc body and Of the clothing that was found
.rsvcrcd tho description OF Annie Petersen,
,ho daughter OF llhn Petersen, Mrs Olscn's
cousip and the clothing the child wore when
,hc was taken from Olscn's house NN her mother
i,s, Friday Olsen and Whitney Picrson went
,o ,oRo,kyillc Centre. They Identified the cloth
t,p the moment they saw it and then identified
,hc bolr Of tho child. Within three hours after
this Identification Capt. McCluskv's Central
oe,ce men had solved all the mystery connected
vitb tho murder and had the murdercss, tho
,b,ld's own mother, in custody. With few tears
.ho confessed that she had killed the child.
Annie pctcrsen's body was found carly on
Tresdny morning in n chicken coop In Rock.
,u,c Centre Previous to this part OF her
,,othlng had been found in one part OF the town,
. part in anothor, and n hat in another. Tho
ehild's mouth had been burned with carbolic
acid The autopsy showed that death was due
IN oerbolic acid poisoning. The child's identity
was mystery until yesterday. Nobody In
Rockville Centre could be found who had seen
n alive. There was no exclamation OF how 1t
came there and none OF how its clothes came to
h distributed in the various places where they
were found. Aaron Olscn's identification was
the first light that there had been on tho mys-
t,ry. and once the Identification was made tho
story OF the child's life and of its heartess
murder was ms quickly disclosed as ever MUIR
der mystery was cleared.
Hildn Petersen, tho woman who bore the child
and murdered it, is a Swede. She came here
6ye years ago. Her father had strangled her
mother when IIilda was years old, in Sweden.
and she had gone to live with o Mrs. Olsen, the
mother of Aaron Olsen, in tho town Of Risby in
that country. She was 81 years old when she
eamc hore She is undersized. small.featured.
and as good looking as the average Swede Of
her age. She has blre eyes and light brown
hair She went to live with Aaron Olsen's fam
ily until she found employment. A month or
10 after her arrival she went to work in hotel
In Fourth avenue, Brooklyn. and while en-
ployed there she made the acquaintance Of
Charles Johnson. A year after this the child.
Annie was born. Hilda Petersen said
Johnson was the father. He denied
It, She had him arrested. He was compelled
to pay SS month for the child's support. Hilda
Peterson kept the baby until it was IL months
old, and then took it to Olsen's. She told Mrs.
to keep it with her and asked Mrs. Olsen to keep
IT, offering to pay her So week board. The
Olsens had no room for the child, but they took
It in About three months ago they found 1t too
great burden and they asked Hilda II she could
not make some other arrangement for caring
for it, Size said she could get it in an institu-
tlon in Brooklyn, and on the six or soven times
she visited the Olscns in the three months she
told them she was arranging for its care. Two
weeks ago she said she had obtained employ
ment at So East Fifty-third street. and that she
would take the child and put it in an institution
IN Sterling place, Brooklyn. She said she had
Last Friday Hilda called at Olscn's house.
Olsen was away, but Mrs. Olsen and Whitney
sde had taken tho day of for the purpose ] eN of
getting the baby and taking il to the Brooklyn
Industrial school and Home for Destitute Chill
tren. Mrs. Olson did not want to let the little
one go. She asked its mother TO stay at least
for the night, or at any rate until Olsen came
child to be out after dark. and she would take
1t at once. 1t had not proper clothing of its
own. and Mrs. Olsen lifted it out part of its
outfit being pair of mittens belonging to one
Of her boys This was the last seen of the child
BY the O!sens. They did not see Hilda Petersen
II the woman took the child to the institution
In Sterling place she did not knock or try to
gain admittancc there. She says she did take it
there; that it was after, clock, and that ad-
mission was refused. She took it to Rockville
Centre, where in public street she forced the
little one to drink carbolic acid and it diod.
Then she stripped its body. threw it into the
hencoop, took its clothing. and distributed that
GROUND the Town; and returned to brooklyn. the
following day going to her work, ana since then
she has been acting as though nothing at all had
happened.
noon when Capt. McClusky received word from
the two men he had sent to Rockville Centre OF
0;sns Olsen hiGGnicetion Of the body and Of the
nves Carey and Fogerty to the house. Report
srst Tor The STN and other papers had preceded
tity. She laughed at the men who questioned
her. Then they cornered her with their ques-
Hons and she admitted that she was Hida Peter
pen; that she was the mother of the child that |
mad been at Olsen's; but she laughed when she |
G.sr!S Gss told that the child that, had been at
pc. for she had taken it away herself, had |
brought it over here. and it was now in an in
sttuton. She was asked where the institution
was. She said she didn't remember the street
shd number. A few moments later when asked |
again where the child was she said it was in an |
institution in Brooklyn, and pressed about that,
she said the institution Was in Sterling place
she attempted to throw OFF the detectives when |
n ne{ Questioned her, just as she had attempted
cool and not in the least hustered. Even when |
,hy &ey told her that they knew she was lying and
ps' sba ahey believed she had murdered her child
The detectives told Miss Petersen that she |
Sh HSust come to Police Headquarters with them. |
sns % went to her room. changed her clothing for |
neat looking black suit. donned big hat with |
naming red crown and covered with seven or |
oght pig ostrich tips and said she was ready to |
EH WITH them They took her to Capt Nc |
Sinnsky's office. bringing with them a trunk |
IaIiGh mIniGh they found In her room. She told Capt
McoiusEy the same story she had told the detec- |
TMee; she told 1t with an apparent air of truth.
A ins detectives opened the trunk in her presence
shG i ere they found the shoes that tho little |
sm! gu! mad worn when she left Olsens house |
sa ssia mat were the only articles of apparel be- |
mhging to the child that had not been found in |
nockville TO- Centre. The sight OF tho shoes did |
TSo.. SIs un1erye her. Capt, McClqsky asked her
inose shoes they We're She told him they be-
,o9Red TO her child. He talked with her, and in |
81 iew moments she began to weaken and then |
sn1 Ieu litt!e. At last she said she was ready to
,aSe SSxe q statement. This Is her statement as
'Snen Ho oy capt Mctluskys stenographer:
r. ny name Is Hida Petersen and ! live at SO
t,aSt r. ~, flttv,third street, where am a servant
th.n. X Mrs, =, hlden's house. have Been working
fner ffHere three weeks have been In this country
ipIr Ioh years last September. / know Charles
Sonhson since the first year was here be-
zane Ie acquainted with him In Brooklyn. After
= oechine acquainted with him / became inti-
lac with him. and while with him had this
bW!, annie, and he was the fatheH Of 1t.
sneF S,eF hHd the baby / done housework
"G iadr }ne baby I l. had boarding out with
me troe moved away to the country and / don't
hnW INV Where she is. had Johnson arrested, and
cs re lnh la'I goo to the Commissioners and / re-