Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-08-22
JESTER SHOT GATES.
Dying Confession of Murder Thirty.
 three Years Ago.

Dying Confession of Murder Thirty
 three Years Ago.
 CARBONDALE, H., Aug. 22.-Thir- ty minutes before the death dew broke out on his pallid forehead Alexander Jester confessed yesterday that he murdered Gilbert Gates; brother of John w. Gates, thirty-three years ago on the Missouri trail near Wichita. Kan, and that his acquittal at trial twenty-nine years after the commis- sion of the crime was undeserved Jes- ter was nearly eighty-six years old. Not until he was assured beyond the possibility of doubt that recovery was absolutely impossible didNh con- sent to lay bare the terrible secret which he had carried for a generation. His death absolves John W. Gates from the VOW he took twenty eight years ago to follow the murderer Of his brother to the grave.
 The confession justifies the inscrIp- tion on the shaft of marble in Oak wood cemetery, West Chicago. erected crime and kept in it's place after jury had declared him guiltless: Gilbert w., son of A. A. and Mary Gates, was murdered in Missouri by Alexander Jester Jan. 25, 1871, aged 19 years and 25 days"
 Alexander Jester was betrayed to the authorities a quarter of century after he killed and robbed Gilbert Gates by his own sister, Mrs. Cornelia Street, who accused him not only of that crime, but of the murder of her own has been in hiding twenty-five years and had buried himself far out in Oklahoma territory, where under the name of W. H. Hill he hoped to be for gotten. Converted to Methodism by an itinerant preacher, his conscience ,smote him, and he longed for the com lpanionship of the only relative he had In the world. He wrote to her and asked if he could be forgiven.
 The sister communicated immediate iy with the sheriff of Sedgwick county, Kan, informing him of her brothers whereabout and his alias and praying that he be taken into custody and pun ished. He was arrested and made stout fight against extradition, but was brought back finally to the juris- diction of the Kansas courts and placed on trial Most of the witnesses on whom the prosecution relied for 8 con- viction were dead, aud the jury after taking three ballots brought in a yer dict of Not guilty" Jester's plea was that of mistaken identity.
 Tn the summer of 1870 Gilbert Gates, brother of the New York millionaire through Missouri and Kansas. He. fell in with Alexander Jester and travelled in his company, killing buffalo and trading with the Indians. After he had been away from home year, and no letter had come from him, his fam fly became alarmed, and his father started out on a search. He learned that the last place where his son and Jester had been seen together was Warrensburg, Mo. Here all trace was lost of Gilbert. but MT. Gates traced Jester to Bloomington. III. There he found Jester had sold some of Giibert'B buffalo skins and had turned bis team of horses out for a week before leav- ing for return trip to Missouri.
 MT. Gates then set trap to catch Jester, who he believed had murdered his boy. He visited testers farm. near Wichita, Kan, and pretendea that we wanted to buy 1t, finally offer ing Mrs. Jester good price for iG She replied that she would write to her husband about it. One of the Jes- ter children fell ill about that time, so there was double reason for his re- turn.
 A. A. Gates. the father of the miss ing boy, with officers, watched for Jesters appearance. He came driving up one day leading team behind his wagon. MT. Gates immediately iden-. tified one of the teams and a good deal of the property as having b. longed to his son.
 Jester was arrested, and under threat of lynching, made confession in which he said that he had shot Gates, robbed him and had thrown the body in creek near Warreasburg, Mo. Gates body was never found. Before his case came to trial Jester escapel from jail, and all trace of Dim was lost for nearly thirty years.
 Jester's sister died soon after che delivered her brother up Go justice. After his trial and acquittal he went to Indian Territory and was prosper ous and respected up to the time of hiN death.