New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-15
MYSTERY IN THEIR DEATH.
SUFFOCATION OF TWO BOYS IN A CLOSET
UNEXPLAINED.
CARBTAKER OF THE HOUSE HELD ON sUs
PICION OF HAVING SOMETHING
TO DO WITH 1T

TO Do WITH 1T.
The mystery which surrounds the pitiful death
by sufocation Of two little lads in the closet OF
a house at No. 10S Edgecon be-ave, as
told by The Tribune yesterday morning, was not
cleared up last night, though clews were OBJ
tanned which may show that some one locked
them in there as punishment and left them
longer than intended. Against this theory,
however. is the fact that no effort made TO
prevent the bodies from being found by the first
person who should inspect the house for rental
or any other purpose. 1t was thought that the
autopsy on the bodies might throw some light
on the case, but the CorOner's physician added
to the mystery If anything, by stating the
cause Of death, "one which examination Of the
bodies does not enable me TO specify save that
IT in all probability due TO violence" II
this gives any ground for supposing that the
boys were first killed and then that their bodies
were thrust into the closet for concealment such
an act could only be that OF an inbecile or
maniac, as the dreadful odor from the cOrpses
must, 1t would seem, lead to their hiding place
any one who cared to look at the house.
sHRIvEILBD LIKE MUMAnEs.
The Coroner's difficulty arose from the condi-
tion Of the bodies. Having been locked up in the
hot and dry closet since last August they had
/ shrivelled up like mummies, and their skin
like parchment After the autopsy thu
Z
distressed parents, who for six months had
mourned them as lost. Now their grief
is revived and augmented by the knowl-
edge that the little fellows died a horrible
death. and perhaps were the victims Of
Hcious cruelty. The boys were Charles B.
Beirne, eleven years old Of No. 115 Edgecombe-
ave, and Martin Loetf1er. nine years old Of No.
1l9 Edgecombe-ave. Their disappearance was
first noticed August 3 last, but no trace of
them was discovered until plumbers found their
bodies on Tuesday in closet the top floor OF
the house already described
The closet is between two bedrooms It is two
by four feet the inside. The door fits the
frame tightly. The closet has window
means of ventilation the door. The door
has a spring lock. There is way Of opening il
from the inside. Ii would seem almost impos-
sbe for any to close II tight from the in
side, either, and this gave strength the belief
that some one outside must have shut the door
upon the boys. Police Captain Martens says ne
tested that very point yesterday, and is con-
vinced that the boys could not have locked
themselves in
Ahearn was held by Magistrate Hogan, in the
Harlem police court yesterday on suspicion OF
/ being in some connected with their deaths
He viii be detained until the police make fur
ther Investigation.
CHARGED WITH CRUELTY
Charges of cruelty treating his own two boys
were made against Ahearn by neighbors little
before Beirne and Loef1er vanished. and
time after August they found home with
their grandmother, Mrs. Mary Ward at Fort
Lee, J. Their names are Cornelius and Pat
rick They are nine and six years old respect
lively. and were playmates of the dead boys.
Detectives found them at Fort Lee yesterday.
Cornelius, the detectives say told them that
Beirne and Loefder were very good friends Of
his and his brothers, and they used TO play to-
gether good deal They often played in the
house at No 1OS Edgecombe- He remem-
bered August well. he said. 1t was about l
o'clock that day that Berne and Loeffer went
into the vacant house, They told Cornelius and
his brother that they going to Spuyten
Duyvil that same afternoon to get some apples
They did start for Spuyten DUyvH > o'clock
Cornelius said He declares that he did not
know about their being missing for two or
three days after that
Cornelius added that he and his brother used
/ TO leave the door of the Edgeconbe-ave house
open sometimes at nights because their father
would be out Cornelius. according 10 the de-
tectives. said their father sometimes came home
a little bit the worse for liquor. Boys used to
annoy him at times, and he had threatened TO
| lock them up but he never took any steps tow
ard doing Cornelius said his father was
very good when ne was not drinking but he
rough and ugly when not sober.
When Cornelius heard that there re-
port that some Of the boys used 10 lock each
other in the closet in which the dead boys were
found he said this not SO. and he denied
that he had ever done such a thing He said
he warned the others about going into the closet
because it had a spring lock and he told them
II they got in they could not get out. He said
he never went in, and no one was ever locked
in there before the boys who died there.
PEOPLE CRITICIsE THE POLICE.
People who live in the neighborhood in which
the tragedy occurred are criticisng the police
. severely for what they term their cruel neglect
al the time the two boys We're lost. II is said
that although the police were Immediately told
that the lads were missing, no effort was made
10 md them The opinion prevails that if the
police had taken interest in the case six
months would not have elapsed before the bodies
were discovered 1t is thought that If a detec-
tive a skilled officer had been sent to the
neighborhood the idea to make a house to house
search would surely have been suggested In
that case IL is probable that there would have
been investigation Of the vacant houses in
the block, Of which there are several beside the
one in which the tragedy took place,
Charles Gehlhaus manager the Edge
combe Cycle Company, No. III Edgecombe-
ave, said last night: If the police had taken
as much interest in the when the boys
were lost as they appear TO be taking now the
poor people would not have been kept in sus-
pense all this long time. II has been a dreadful
trial, particularly to the mother She has been
in terrible condition ever since her boy was
lost. 1 often saw Ahearn sitting the steps
OF the house eating his lunch and drinking mis-
beer. / do not think he knew anything about
IL. l have met him and talked him a num-
Der Of times since the boys disappeared, and he
never exhibited any signs of worry. ! do not
think man could have such a thing on his
mind and not show il IN some way. / don't
think he was a bad man 70 children when he
was sober"
At the One-hundred- and -twenty-hfth-s police
station nothing new in the had developed
up a late hour last night Detectives Parker
and Mackert had been detailed on the case
They left the station shortly after o'clock and
had not returned at midnight.
You dEpend IL, the thing yf he