New-York tribune., 1902-01-31
WOMAN FREES MURDERERS
WARDEN'S WIFE ACCUSED OF AIDING
TWO CONDEMNED MEN TO ESCAPE.
INFATUATED WITH ONE. SHE Is BELIEVED
TO HAVE JOINED HIM-A DARING
JAIL BREAKING

TO HAVE JOINED HIM-A DARING
JAIL BREAKING
Pittsburg. Jan. 3O-The blind infatuation of
a woman, the wife of the warden of the county
jail mere, Tor one of a pair of murderers
demned to death. is believed to be responsible
for the bold escape of the men at o'clock this
morning. 1t is charged that the woman fur
nished the men with saws with which to cut
their way out of their cells and revolvers with
which to overpower the night force of three
guards. Edward and John Biddle, brothers. the
murderers of Thomas D. Kahney a grocer of
Mount Washington, are the fugitives, and Mrs.
Peter K. Soffel. who is also missing, is the
woman accused of making their escape possible.
She is believed to have joined Edward Biddle
at some place agreed upon.
Shortly before 4 o'clock one of the Biddles
called to James McGeary, a guard and asked
for some cramp medicine, saying his brother
was dangerously sick. McGeary hastened to the
cell with the medicine. when John Bidde sprang
through opening cut in the cell and. seizing
the guard around the waist, hurled him over the
balcony railing to the stone floor, sixteen feet
below. Edward Bddle joined his brother i'm
mediately and both, with drawn revolvers, hur-
ried to the first floor, where they met another
guard, Reynolds, and shot him. The third guard
of the upper ranges. He was
dered down at the point of the revolvers. and
the three then put in the dungeon.
The keys were taken from McGeary, and tte
two murderers then had clear field. The only
persons who witnessed the escape were prisoners
who could not interfere or give the alarm. The
Biddes went to the wardrobe, where the guards
kept their clothing. and each put a suit.
They then unlocked the outside gates and
passed out into Ross-st.
The murderers evidently sawed the bars dur
ing the night, using what appears to have been
soap to deaden the noise. The escape is as un-
paralleled as is the record of the men for crime
in this neighborhood.
WARDEN HIS WIFE'S ACCUSER.
Warden Soffel himself made the charge that
his wife is responsible for the furnishing of the
revolvers and saws to the Biddles In her in
fatuation for the handsome desperate. Edward
Bidde, it is alleged that she has left her hus-
band and her four children, and. it is supposed.
has met the escaped convicts at a place agreed
upon.
Mrs. Soffel the only person admitted TO
the Jail since last Sunday. Yesterday afternoon
she visited the murderers in the warden's alb
sence and last evening retired at o'clock, tell
ing her husband that she going to visit a
sister at Mcdonald and that she would retire
early so that she could get early start. When
the warden awoke this morning he asked for
Mrs. Sone and informed that she was alb
sent Later, when the details of the escape be-
came known he telephoned TO Mcdonald and
was informed that Mrs. Soffel was not there
He Immediately made a frank confession or MS
Warden sorel in discussing the escape of the
Biddles. said:
the Bddles and assisted them to escape This
is an awful thing, but | am only telling the
whole truth. l did not suspect her, ana nence
was off my guard But she is gone. and the
suspicion of assisting in the delivery by fur-
nishing weapons rests upon her. To think that
rNx{fa ba aSt world L
would suspect. should act So"
WOMAN BELIEVED TO BE UNBALANCED
The warden has made inquiries at the homes
of all his wife's relatives and he has been unable
to find any trace of her. An investigation
showed that she had taken all of her best
clothes with her. The wardens overcoat Is also
missing.
The friends Of Mrs. Soffel believe that she
could not have been in her right mind when
she aided in the escape of the Biddles. For
some years she has been invalid and about
one year ago she sent to a sanatorium
1t has been known for several weeks that Mrs.
Soffel was taking an interest in the Biddies.
and II is said that she frequently furnished
them with dainties outside their usual prison
fare.
The county commissioners this afternoon Of
fered a reward of 5000 for the recapture of
the murderers.
1t is reported that the Biddles took n train at
the Fourth-ave station of the Panhandle Rail
road, which is within block of the Jail, and
left here for the West.
For several months preceding the Kahney
murder daring burglaries were of almost nightly
occurrence. On April II last Mrs. Kahney was
| awakened by burglars, and called to her hus-
band, cripple, who was sleeping in an adJoln-
ing room. AS he entered the door of his wife's
room he was shot dead. few hours later
Detective Patrick Fitzgerald and two other
officers surprised the Bddle brothers at their
home in Fulton-st., but before they were cap
tured Fitzgerald killed, and Edward Bid
die. who shot him, dangerously wounded Wal
ter Dorman, another of the gang, turned States
evidence and the Biddles convicted of
Kahneys murder and sentenced to be hanged.
John on the fourteenth of this month, and
Edward on the sixteenth, but three days before
the date set for Johns execution they were
respited until February % and % by Governor
Stone so that their cases could go before the
Pardon Board.
The Prison Board began an investigation this
afternoon and announced tonight that Warden
Soffel at his own request, had been relieved
from duty pending the result of the investiga-
tion. James Francis Burke and j. d. Watson.
the attorneys who defended the Biddles at the
trial. have announced that their connection with
the case is ended and Mr. Burke has tele
graphed the Governor that the application for
hearing before the Pardon Board is withdrawn.
CLEW TO THE FUGITIVES.
Cleveland Jan. 30.-Pennsylvania Railroad Off
ciaIs have informed the Cleveland police that ii is