Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-28

dropped toward the nose and his nostrils
were dilated and he breathed hard. His
whole body became rigid. and then Knapp
was ready to tell how he killed people.
81 always kill from behind" he said
from between his closed teeth. "L get
them in front of me. Then l clutch them
by the throat, placing my knee on the back
n pend them over. They struggle, but
not long. They look into my face, but /
don't mind that"
The officers believe that Knapp has
"~strangled" from the east to Kansas City.
Knapp today received letter from wife
No. 4 in Indianapolis and was visibly at
fected. He said ne told his present wife
all about his crimes soon after they were
married and that she replied: S'lt don't
make any -differetce to me what. you. have
Every possible effort Is being made to
find the body Of Hannah Goddard Knapp
so as to establish her death and the facts
for an indictment. Meantime, it Is under
stood, three Indictments will be returned
so as to make sure Of a trial on some one
case in the near future. EIt is conceded
tina Knapp will never be tried on more
than one charge.
First Evidence Of Murder.
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 27.-The first evil
dence that Albert Knapp killed his Sec
ond and third wives as we'll as his first is
contained in a statement made by Charles
Jones, who was a prisoner in the Marion
county Jail and the Michigan City peni-
Tertiary with Knapp and who was induced
by A. A. Womack, the sheriff OF Marion
county, to try to get a confession from
- vUAr,anIr Aaa a NUnAArRltNnn afat0-
ment made by Jones. The only reference
Of Jones to KnaDp's first wife is this:
Knapp told me he killed his first wife to
get his second and his second to get his
third"
Knapp's first wife was Emma Stubs of
Terre Haute. He married her in the sos
and she has since disappeared. The police
have been unable to learn her whereabouts,
but IL has been supposed that she was
somewhere in West Virginia.
Jones says in the statement that Knapp
told him he had killed the Gebhardt child
in West indianapolis in July, 1895. Jones
said Knapp told him about the killing OF
his second wife. He took her to the Lib
erty street bridge in Cincinnati and threw
her on the bridge into the canal, after
| choking her. Then he said he went down
TO where she was. As she was not dead, he
finished the job by strangling her. After
he had killed her he went back to town and
reported that his wife was missing. The
police did not hnd her until the next day.
Reason for Killing Woman.
Another reason Knapp gave for killing
his second wife was that sne had accused
him OF killing Mary Elkhart. She said she
was going to expose him. He told Jones he
killed Mary Elkhart for rs cents and that
his wife had accused him Of Il. Knapp also
told Jones Of killing q girl in a lumber yard
in Cincinnati.
Knapp, according to Jones. also said that
there were other crimes that could be
charged to him that would break his neck
two or three times.
Womack says that this statement Of
Jones was made TO him and Warden Harley
OF the Michigan City prison at Michigan
City in 1896.
One Of the peculiar things about Knapp's
statement Is that It was never made pub
lie and no attempt was made to arrest him
on any charge when he was released from
the penitentiary a year ago.
There is much criticism Of the various
ofhcials who knew Of the confession for
not making It public or seeing TO 1t that
Knapp was rearrested. According to the
statement OF A. A. womack. who was then
sheriff Of Marion county, the confession
was made in the presence Of himself
Warden Harley. the chaplain and the stem
ographer who took it down in shorthand
He told OF the confession to Frank Nc
Kay, then Judge OF the criminal court, and
Charles Whsle. then prosecutor. Womach
said he wanted the Judge and the prose
eutor to induce Governor Mount to pardon
Knapp so that he could be tried for the
Gebhafdt murder. but they refused, fearing
Knapp might not stand by his confession
that they might fail to convict him and he