The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-13
A PARTIAL CONFESSION
Denies That He Killed Good
 man in JefferSonville.
Says That the Man Died of Aclcohoh. ism-Rathbun to Be Taken to
 Little Rock For Inden- Acation.

Louisville, Ky, Nov. 12.-Newell Q. Rathbun. who, according to the police confessed that he planned to defraud an Insurance company out of s4evo oy pre- tending that corpse shipped to Lattie 1 Rock, Ark, was his own dead body, to- day admitted, according to the authori- ties, that the man who accompanied him to the hotel in Jeffersonviile. Ind. ana was found dead ths next day, was Charles Goodman, who Is said .o have come from Evansville. Ind.
 The Associated Press said last night that on account of the disappearance of Goodman from the Salvation Army hotel | in Louisville last weones day night with the announced intention Of going to In- diana with a newly-found friend. and his non-return, the police thought the dead man was Goodman. Not until today. l however, would Rathbun admit that | Goodman was the name of the man that accompanied him to the Jenersonviiie hotel
 Chief of Detectives Sullivan and Chief Applegate and Coroner Coots of Jeffer- sonville, interviewed Rathbun today Rathbun listened as one by one the cir- cumstances which the police regard as proofs of his guilt were laid before him by Chief Sullivan. According to the of | ficers, Rathbun suddenly sprang up, and. | walking hastily to a window, looked out for a few minutes. Then. turning Ike an animal at bay, he faced the crowd of men in the room and asked in shaking voice: What Is the punishment for of | lenses of this Kind in Indiana1 Does the death penalty exist over therer
 "Never mind about the penalty, Rath- bun, said Captain Sullivan; what we are interested in Is the name of the dead man."
 l Resolved to aFix" Goodman.
 For a moment. Rathbun looked at the group of faces beIore him and then he said: You are on the light track. Good man Is the name of tho dead man met him in front of the Salvation Army. and determined to keep him drunk for | several days and then fix him"
 Here he stopped and then said: If | should make a confession, 1t would be printed in the papers and would turn peo- pie against me"
 He then lapsed into a sullen silence and would say nothing else. When question: | ed further. he denied having given Good man iaudanum He refused to go back | to Indiana without requisition papers. | Colonel John D. Rodman, United States | recruiting officer here, notified Chief Sul- | livan today that no requisition will be necessary for the return of Rathbun to l Jeffersonville, Ind. He says that Rath- bun is now a Government prisoner, | charged with desertion, and as soon as | he can communicate with Washington. he | will have the prisoner taken over. The l Jeffersonville authorities will make | claim for the custody of Rathbun on | charge of murder.
 Further efforts to securL complete | confession were unavailtng and Hatn- | t@r.a Ar al | this, however, he made the following statement to Chief of Detectives Sul- livan: 'I admit everything except thas | I killed Goodman. 1 meant to kill him. and kept him drunk for the purpose, but he died of alcoholism and I was not fore ed to make way with him. My story about an accomplice named Blancnara
 was fictitious. I acted alone ana w1tnous | confederate"
 Blanchard" was. according to the
 story Rathbun told yesterday. corporal
 whom Rathbun got acquainted with as
 Plattsburg. N. Y.
 Gave Goodman a Quarter.
 It Is said that Goodman who was of a | rowing nature. came to this city on Octo-
 Der 29th and took quarters at the SaIva-
 ton Army. He repeatedly told the Clerk. J. c. Pelton, that he did not have any money and did not know how he would get out of the city. Mir. Pel- 1 ton says that about noon last Wednes- day Goodman entered the hotel and re- | marked that he had just met an easy mark" who had given him quarter. 'I have got an engagement with him | at I o'clock tonight and he Is going to l show me how to make some money" Shortly before o'clock Peltop says he | saw Goodman meet a man answering | Rathbun's description in front of the hotel. Detective Dononhue followed the clue and found that two men who an- swered the descriptions appeared in the Falls City Hotel in Jeftersonville about | o'clock. Rathbun registered for both | and they were assigned to different rooms.
 In about half an hour they appeared | in the office and the hotel clerk says that the man whom Rathbun had said was Teneyke had on different coat and vest than when he went to the room. He had also added a collar and necktie to his attire. The two left the hotels saying they would return.
 According to Pelton's story, Goodman returned to the Salvation Army Hotel shortly after o'clock with new coat and vest on. and also collar and tie.
 Pelton says he joked with him about the change in his appearance~and Good man said he had got the clothing from
 the "easy mark" he had met in the morning. Goodman told Pelton ito check him off as he was going to spend the night in Indiana with his new friend. The man went out and has not been seen at the hotel since.
 Trousers Identified.
 The Jeffersonvllle coroner today identi- fled a pair of trousers found in Rath- buns grip as being of a suit. the coat and vest of which were on the corpse found at the Falls City Hotel.
 The Louisville detectives today re- received telegrams from the chief of police at Little Rock giving an ex- haustive description of the corpse for warded from Jeffersonville as that of Rathbun. In almost every particular the description tallied with that of Goodman | snaciaI from Evansville says: