The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-02
MRS.sOFFEL MAY RECOVER
Love Letter Tells of the Plans
 For Escape.
Before His Death Jack Riddle Ad- mitted His Career Was Stained by Crime, But Denied. Com
 hitting Murder.

Butler, Pa, Feb. 1.-At the close of a day of intense excitement any many con | ficting stories concerning the chances | for life of the wounded Riddle brothers and Mrs Kate Soffel. the unexpected I has happened, John Riddle. who until late | this afternoon was the more likely l brother to escape present death sue | cumbed at 7:s5 p. m. The condition of Ed Riddle tonight is exceedingly pre- l carious and his death at any moment would cause no surprise. Mrs, Soffel,
 developed symptoms of pneumonia this afternoon after having come safely through an operation this morning for the extraction of the bullet She is the only one of the trio who has any chance Of living. t The death of Jack Riddle was caused by the bullet wounds in his abdomen
 and bladder. Early in the day the play sicians thought pertontis was the prin- cipal danger in his case, but tonight in- ternal hemhorrage set in and the man bled to death in short while As long as he was able Jack was extremely
  as soon as the shadow of death began to fall upon him and he recognized 1t, he became repentant.
 'I know" said he. that my time here is short. and you can say for me that am a Christian and will. die sincere be- liever in God and hope 1 have strength | enough to say so at the last l know have taken part in many wrong oeeus. but have, never killed any man and ftl. frrao rtafn | did. l wish 1 could see Mrs. kahney.. | 1 would tell her the truth about the htll- | ing of her husband This life has been pretty tough for me and tisa end cannot come too quick x. --ti. ... | greater part of the day and 1t is evident 1 that his lease of life Is short. Internal l hemorrhage of the lungs keeps nm almost continuously choked. A sister of the Riddles arrived in town this even ing and was admitted to the jail, but Ed was unable to recognize her. The principal. subject of conversation on the streets today has been whether the Butler County authorities would permit the re- moyal of the Riddles to Allegheny County in the event of either or both surviving their injuries. The question was raised that since the Riddles were under arrest here for felonious shooting they could not be removed. District Attorney John K. Henninger dispelled any doubts on that point this evening by stating that it was the intention to turn the men over to the Allegheny authorities as soon as they were in condition to be moved with sa fety and the same action would pc taken in reefrence to Mrs. Soffel
 After a consultation at the hospital In the case of Mrs. Soffel this evening. DIS trict Attorney Haymaker of Pittsourg decided to allow the woman to remah
 here as her condition is such that the trip to Pittsburg tonight might be fol- lowed by fatal results. Mrs. Sonel IS sur ferine considerably and the attending physicians fear that her removal now would cause gangrene to set In. Attor- ney Haymaker said there would pc no decision made of the prize money unuI the claims of the Butler people had been | heard and the latter will take steps to notify the commissioners of Allegheny County of their claim. The excitement was unabated today and dense crowd or people hung about the jail doors all day irving to get in to see the two criminals. One of the sensational developments or | the day which the authorities had tried l to keep secret was the finding on the | nerson of Mrs. Soffel when searched al | the hospital a long letter from Ed bidoie' | setting forth in detail the plan for the | escape of the brothers from jail ana | naming their destination afterwards. Iost love letter from Ed Riddle 10 his prison sweetheart. Mrs. Kate Sonei' touno | in the snow near the bloody scene Of | their capture, reveals the long careful l plot for their escape from the Allegheny | County jail. The letter clearly shows the | hazardous undertakings of the infatuated | woman to secure the escape or the blo-
 dies. Since December 2, l%i' they hao
 been making preparations to escape. The discovered epistIe tells how Mrs. l Soffel carried the saws to the cells or lhe
 Biddles It clearly shows the wonderlui influence Ed Riddle had over Mrs. Sonel' Mrs. Soffel fell in love with Ed Biddle fin November. The burglar soon reaizen his power over her, it was not long until he started to write love letters to her His affection was reciprocated. hrs. oot- fel fell madly in love with Ed Riddle ana about the early part of December ne pro- nosed a plan of escape to her. She con sented to lend him her aid. Between
 December l4 and Is they had completed all arrangements to escape from the jail.
 Then they learned of the Governors re-
 spite. After this Ed Riddle almost per suaded Mrs SoffeI to fly with him and
 his brother. The contents of the letter
 show 1t was originally agreed that Mrs
 soffel was to leave the city for Canada on the evening the boys escaped. Ihe let- ter in part follows:
 My Precious Little Darling-1 guess never will be able to kiss you good bye. Oh, God pet, don't think that the blow Ia
 all on you I love your. dearest baby,
 more today than ever before. Each min
 ute today has been like an hour to me. You are dearer to me than my very life.
 We were searched pretty close today and these fellows would swear on a stack of Bibles ten feet high that we could not have had this stuff on us since Saturday.
 So that you nearly clear yourself of all
 suspicion without the fellow where you
 bought the saws would come to the sur
 face. They never could convict you. but some people might suspect you. That
 would cut no figure. They never could prove it to save their lives. f,t.. 50 now, baby darling. more precious