Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-10-28
DEAD BY SHOT.
Question Of Murder or Suicide
Now Agitating Police.
MALDEN'S LITTLE ITALY," !
Husband Of Murdered Woman I'm.
der Arrest Able to Prove
Alibi- Reliable Man and Had Sell
dom Been in Trouble.

Maiden. Mass, Oct 26.-In a,miserable
room at "a Commercial street the dead
body Of Mrs. Pascalina Succio was found
yesterday afternoon under circum-
stances which indicate murder. On the
floor, according to one version of the
affair, was found a 3S-calibre revolver,
and bullet hole in the centre OF the
right ear showed how the woman met
her death.
Though the police were at first inclined
to believe it was a case of suicide, on
examination it was found there were
no traces of powder marks OH the wom-
ans face. which they consider would
have resulted had she used the weapon
upon herself. The murder theory is
further streng g,hened by the size of the
revolver, an ugly looking affair of SS
calibre. with a long barrel. which, in
Chief of Police EtlertOn's opinion, would
have left powder marks II held Withih
four feet of the wOman's head.
Giuseppe Succio, the woman's nus
band. is under arrest. and will be de-
tanned on suspicion until the result OF
the autopsy is ntade known.
The section in which the shooting oc-
Cured is known as the rat hole, peo-
pied largely by the lower class of Italians.
where drunken brawls and fights are OF
frequent occulTeEce. The house at "A
Commercial street is a twO-story and
half structure, Il general supply store be-
ing on the first floor, kept by John Bre-
zia, an Italian, who lives up stairs. With
him the Succio family, consisting Of
father. mother and child, lived as boa d.
ers.
The Succios occupied but one room,
that on the top floor, containing one
double and one single bed, chair and
stand. There is but one small wiEdow
in the room, and the slanting ceiling
makes it impossible for tall man to
stand erect. When the wOman's boiy
was found the bed clothing was in one
corner and near the entrance to :he
room there was mattress upon the floor
stained with blood.
At the time of the shooting Succio, with
his 3-yearo boy, was in Mrs. Brezta' S
apartments, resting after his dinner, ;ic-
cording to Brezias story. Brezia says
that he himself was in his store when
he learned of the tragedy, and he gave
to the reporter his wife's version Of the
affair as she doesn't speak English.
According to this Succio came TO the
house about 1890. and, as was his GUS
tom, ate dinner with his wife and child
in one of Brezias rooms on the second
floor of the house. At about 2 o'clock
Mrs. Succio went to her attic room.
Succio and the child remaining down
stairs. Soon after 8 the little boy wanted
to see his mother, and Succio took Kim
up stairs.
Lo
he found his wife lying on the mattress
in a pool of blood, the revolver on the
floor at her right side and under the
bed. Without waiting to see whether
the woman was dead as Succo told Mrs.
Brezia, he rushed down stairs crying out
in Italian, "Oh, my wife is dead
In the confusion which resulted no one
seems to know what happened, but the
mans cries frightened the inmates of the
house, and attracted some passers-by,
who rushed in. One Of the latter an
Italian, Joe Sia by name. says he was
the first to reach the scene of the shoot
ing.
When | got to the attic room," he
went on, Il found Succio squatting on
mattress crying and calling upon his
wife to speak. His wife's head rested in
his lap and he held the revolver in cne
hand as if about to end his own life, but
/ snatched it from him."
The only other arrest in connection
with the crime was that of John Parks,
whom the police say Is detained only as
q drunk. He had been attracted by
Succio's cries and rushed into the house.
When asked what the relations be-
tween Succio and his wife were, Brezia
replied that they were always pleasant,
and that he never noticed any friction.
He himself showed the greatest distress
over the occurrence, and complained Of
the depressing effect 1t would have upon
his business.
Succio has been employed as a carriage
washer in J. p. Parker's livery stable
and had worked there almost cOntinu-
ously for four years. Patrick Kearns,
Parker's foreman, said that Succio was
thoroughly reliable, and was not accus-
TONED to excessive drinking.
Succio was engaged in an Italian quar-
rel last summer, as result of which he
was charged with assault with a dam
gerous weapon, but was released and
placed on probation in consideration Of
the circumstances attending the affair.
1t seems that one evening a number
of Italians visited Brezia's house in a
drunken condition. In the course of the
brawl Succio, who was sober. claimed he
had been continually insulted. and
finally, in fit of rage, he drew a revOl-
yer and shot one Of the visitors in the leg.
Succio made good his escape, but re-
turned to Maiden within a weeks time
and the disposition was made of his case
ted above