The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-02-28
KNAPP A FIEND
IN HUMAN FORM
Recounts His Crimes Without a
Trace of Feeling.
SEARCH FOR MISSING WOMAN
MURDERER CONFESSED SEVER
AL YEARS AGO IN PRISON.

! HAMILTON, O.. Feb. 27-NIrs. Sadie
/ Wenzell, who came here last
night to see her brother, Alfred
Knapp, the confessed multi
murderer. had long talk With the
prisoner in the presence of Sheriff
Bisdorf. His sister had previously
written him about marrying his fourth
wife, Anne Nay Gamble, at Indian
apolis. about a month after the dis
appearance of Hannah Goddard Knapp,
/ his third wife. and in the conversa-
ton Mrs WenzeH said:
ALLY. it has been said that have
/ Hannah's earrings and ring. and
/ want you, in the presence of the sher-
IN, to exonerate me on that score
Hannah's ring viii be found on her
! How about the earrings? %
II she had earrings they will be
found in her ears
/ arrest?"
NO. I have not been we'll moment.
] 1 suffer all the time with a pain in
my head. 1t is there now. and I hardly
know what 1 am doing"
Fourth Wife's Escape.
Had you not been arrested. would
you have killed the wife whom you
now have in Indianapolis? was asked
/ of Alfred Knapp today.
THAT is hard to tell was the re-
ply.
/ The question did not disconcert
/ Knapp, but seemed TO arouse in him
! a speculative sense that caused him to
I 60 into an explanation OF his arrest
/ l know that she woke up several
/ times since We were married and found
] VIII I
! asleep. too, She would wake when [
/ grabbed her, and wake me and ask me
/ what I meant by taking hold of her
neck that way, and 1 could not tell
/ her why because 1 was asleep and
! did not know 1 had done it. Just last
week she woke up just IN time, or she
/ might never have woke up at all.
/ grabbed her so tight and was choking
( her so that she was nearly gone and
woke me up 1 cannot see what makes
me do that"
FruitIess Search
/ The searchers for the body of Han
nah Knapp, wife No. 3, reported no
! progress up to this afternoon. and il
they do not find the show box with the
body on reaching Lawrenceburg. Ind,
! the search will be abandoned Mayor
/ Bosch said today
Unless we ind the body of the wife
/ (Hannah), Knapp viii likely be turned
over 10 the Cincinnati police, where
they have a case against him n which
I the bodies were recovered and to which
he has confessed
In anticipation of knapp's possibly
being tried elsewhere, he was today
/ interviewed on the three cases at Gin
cinnat. Knapp went over each OF the
cases TO which he confessed yester-
day. giving the most revolving par
| ticUlars- In the case of Mary Elkhart,
D
picated this third wife, Hannah God
dard, but his crOss-eXam ination was
! such that the officers do not think
she held Mary's hands while he chOked
the girl The Cincinnati officers say
that evidently he knows all about the
/ killing. of Mary ElkhaTt Emma Lit
tleman and Jennie C0nnOrs. as he give
all the descriptions perfectly, even to
the kind of a towel found around
Mary's neck.
Has No Feeling.
Knapp did not show any feeling as
he proceeded to tell the complexion Of
each victim, her size, traits of habit,
etc. and in each case he was cor
rect in these details When asked as
to his motives he stated that he was
afraid of them for what they knew
about him. He intimated that he had
talked 10 his wives about how ne had
I y
Hannah Goddard, his third wife. He
said Jennie COnnOrs, his second wife.
had threatened TO tell something and
he got rid OF her, but he kept Han
nah Goddard quiet because she was
as guilty as himself in killing Mary
EIkhart And he killed little Emma
in the lumber yard because he feared
she would tell on him. He said his
wives were good to him. worked hard
and were kind but when he got afraid
of them he put them out of the way
and never had any fear of being de-
tected.
Killing of Mary Elkhart.
Alfred Knapp has paid no attention to
the repeated orders of his attorneys and
his sister not 10 talk about his crimes.
In anticipation of his probable trial at
regarding the cases there, and especially
about the strangling of Mary Elkhart-
When asked why he killed her. he eoolly
replied: Il was afraid she would tell
something she knew.
What did she knOw2" he was asked,
and then he said We'll il was this way.
1 was married then to Jennie ConnOrs,
the one l threw in the canal YOU know,
and L was going with Hannah TO this
house on Walnut street, in Cincinnati TO
Mary Eikhart's room. That night Han
nah and / went there and Mary EIkhart
went out and when she came back Han
nah and I were together, and Mary got
sore because we were there so long and
she said: I am going to tell your wife on
you. and then she went out again to the
bakery. Hannah was afraid she would
tell and said we ought to keep her from
ii. and that 1t how il happened. we made
it up and when Mary came back choked
her from behind"
Held Mary's Hands.
What did Hannah do?"
"Sne held Mary's hands: that's the rea-
son she never said anything
hor-