Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-04-04
By Associated Press

Chas. f. Jones. Secretary and Valet to
the late VIM. Marsh Rice. confessed
under oath that he ended the life of his
employer and benefactor with chloro-
form. This confession was the climax
of a remarkable recital in which were
laid bare the details of the allied and
subtle conspiracy which had for it's OBJ
ject the seizure of $1,000,000 in cash
and negotiable securities, and the CON
version of $3,000,000 in reality to the
uses of the alleged chief conspirator.
There was dramatic force in the di
rectness and minute attention in the
detail with which Jones approached
the tragedy, the moment when he COW
cred the face of the sleeping man with
saturated napkin and then waited
for him to die. The self-confessed mur-
derer told the story of the alleged plot
from it's inception.
The capital crime he committed and
all the minor offenses that preceded it,
were, he declared, at the instigation
was Patrick, he said who conceived
the idea of forging a will and the
transfers and conveyances. 1t was Pat
rick who induced two persons to wit
ness the forged signature. 1t was Pat
rick who determined Rice should die,
and it was Patrick who sought to have
him killed slowly, and then becoming
impatient, determined to use quick ac-
ton, and according to Jones, remark
able as it may seem, Rice never knew
Patrick during his life time, never saw
him but once. Jones, according to his
story, first began his acquaintance
with Patrick when the lawyer called at
the residence of Rice on Madison Ave
nue., this city, in October, 1S99 The
witness told of the growing friendship
and the gradual approach to discus
sion of the affairs of Rice, which fin
ally resulted in the proposition to de-
fraud and Jones finally yielded. Then
came the details of the story of trans
fers and conveyances of real and per-
sonal property to Patrick over the
forged signatures of Rice, the stealing
of blank checks, from the millionaires
check book, then the delivery to Pat
rick and the forging of Rices sigma
ture the proposition to put the aged
millionaire out of the way, first weak
enfng him by continuous dose of
mercury, the calling in of physician
at frequent intervals, thus apparently
providing for the issuance of death
certificate, and the extreme care with
which the plan of slow poisoning was
carried out.
Then, as calmly as though unfolding
the plot of a drama in which he was
interested only as a spectator, Jones
led up to the day of the murder He
swore that Patrick furnished him with
mercury pills of different composition
from those first administered, and told
how the millionaire defeated the pur
pose of the plottefs, by refusing to take
them. Then Jones said that Patrick
began to display impatience. He swore
that the lawyer brought two ounces of
oXalic acid to Jones and Jones swears
he told him to dilute cne ounce in 22
times it's weight in water and to give
the mixture to Rice for the purpose OF
weakening his heart action. Then to
induce the other man to take these sew
| ara1 ppicOpc Tpnoc caid ha mac pOun
PEELED to take doses himself in Rice's
presence One dose was really not
dangerous, it was the cumulative effect
of the drug that was to be feared. Ac-
cording to this remarkable confession
the oxalic acid was too slow and Jones
was asked to use chloroform and laud-
anum. He said that he was afraid to
buy the drugs in the neighborhood and
he sent to his brother in Texas fol-
them. They came by express. This
was followed by meeting in the street
with Patrick, who told him that the
old man was lasting too long, that he
must be put out of the way at once
that Jones should do the work, and
: that there would really be no harm in
, it, because Rice poisoned his own wife
years ago and deserved punishment
Jones described his return to Rice's
apartments and the discovery of the
millionaire sleeping peacefully in bed
He told of his stealthy search for the
napkin and the fashioning of it into
cone shape, as directed, he said, by
Patrick. He detailed the story of pin
ming a small sponge at the point of the
cone. Then he told of saturating the
napkin and sponge with chloroforn
and holding it over his own nostrils tC
test its effect He described his ap
proach to the bed, with the saturated
napkin in his hand, of placing 1T ovel
: the face of the sleeping man, of his
flight from the room, OF the weary wal
of thirty minutes in accordance will
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