Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-15
COX SAID TO HAVE {
MADE CONFESSION
SAYS THAT THE MAN WHO FIRED
THE SHOT THAT KILLED
WELLS WAS JIM BURKE.

Despite the strenuous efforts Of Chief
of Police Lavell and County Attorney
| Bre>n to conceal the facts in the muir
| der of Missouri Steve" on account of a
! belief that their publication would him
der the authorities in discovering the
| Whereabouts Of "Biff" O'Conner and
James Burke. the two men accused of
| actually accomplishing the crime, the in
formation the Inter Mountain conveyed
to its readers concerning the tragedy by
publishing the statement of George
Smith, the waiter. is now fully verified
Charles Cox. the man now confined in
the county jail on suspicion Of being inn
pl:cated in the affair has made a confess
sion in which he states that O'Connor
and Burke are the murderers. and that
the shot was fired by Burke which sent
the unfortunate Steve Wells to his grave.
Moreover. this statement has been in
possession of the authorities for week
or more. Cox denies that he was party
to tn crime. but when his statement is
taken in connection with the damaging
evidence furnished by George Smith. the
skepticism Of the authorities regarding
his innocence is easily understood.
1t is said that the statement was first
made to Mayor Mccarthy and after
ward to the county attorney and chief of
police. The general text of CoX's con-
fession is as follows:
1.-The murder was committed by Burke.
think the other man was O'Connor, but
I am not sure.
Il was in the room with Slaton and
Steve when the two men entered. Both
were masked and presented revolvers i'm
mediately on entering the romm. Steve
was standing with both hands in his hip
pockets and his back against the wall at
the time.
'It is probable that the murderers eX-
pected to find the party in the rear room
and stumbled ON us before they knew
what was up. One of the men hardly had
the words out of his mouth commanding
us to throw up our hands when he fired.
Steve was just starting to draw his
hands from his hip pockets when he fell.
I suppose the murderer thought Steve
was going to draw revolver. Their
voices showed them to be very nervous.
AS Steve fell the man that fired the shot
which was evidently 1tentional, for fear
that Steve was about to draw gun,
leaned forward as Missouri staggered
away and struck him a crushing blow
with his revolver. 1t was this blow that
fractured his skull.
| , Both men then ran, and in the ex-
element 1 did the same. AS soon as.
| my fright was over I started to return.
and was arrested. I denied all knoWl-
| edge of the crime. because feared that
| I might be implicated, and thought my
| position was such that might not be
| able to prove my innocence. rs
ha no
| shot and struck the blow was Jim
| Burke, because. as he leaned forward
| and brought the revolver down on Mis-
souris head, his mask swung away
from his face sufficiently for me to see
| his features.
This is everything I know about the
affair. I am innocent, and believe when
the case comes to trial my innocence
will be proved fe
The authorities are convinced that
| Cox is telling the truth SO far as he
has gone. although the accusation of
Smith is not disposed Of. Cox has
since making the former statement,
said that when he left Douglas & Cur
It's saloon, at No. 80 West Broadway.
he went directly up Hamilton street and
from there along Granite to Main and
then to Steve's cabin near the city hall.
| ne 1dAlS " explain why ne look TINS
circuitous route. He admits being in
the saloon with Burke and O'Connor,
but says he had no idea they were go
ing to follow him to Steve's place.
County Attorney Breen refuses either
to affirm or deny that Cox has made a
confession. stating that if such be the
case. the publication will hinder the
authorities in discovering the where
| abouts of the murderers.
will you state that no confession has
been made?" he was asked in direct
form.
Il will not" was the emphatic decla-
ration. and then came this addition:
Neither do l say that one has been
made. l hope this will not be published
until the Inter Mountain is sure Of its
| information" a
This paper has learned from a most
unimpeachable source that the confess
sion has been made. 1t is also known
that Chief of Police Lavell traced the
two men, Burke and O'Connor. to Spo-
kane and FROM there a few days later
to Seattle, where all trace Of them has
been lost. 1t is believed that they have
made their way northward into British
territory or to Nome. J.