Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-08
CLEVER SLEUTH WORK |
MURDERER OF ALBERT coNsTA-
BILE REVEALED IN CONFESSION.
Reward of Laborious Effort by Two
Maryland Detectives-Guilty Man
Now Serving Time.

| Now Serving Time.
| A full confession of the murder of Mr.. AL
bert Constable the well-known Elkton (Md }
| LAWYER last August, was made Monday
| night and yesterday by John M. Shippers,
| the convict In the Maryland penitentiary
| who has been suspected of the crime by the
local police for several weeks. The confess
| sion was made voluntarily, first to Warden
| Weyler, and then to the warden, Marshal
| Farnan, Deputy Marshal Manning, Mr.. AL
bert Constable, jr, the son of the murdered
| man, and States Attorney Squier of Cecil
| county
The confession was sworn to by Shippers
| before Justice of the Peace George NJ. john
| son, and is in full as follows:
1.-THE following confession was made I'M
| der no threats, neither was any promise
made to me whatever as to immunity from
punishment or tightening of sentence.
II was in Elkton after a horse when the
murder of Mr.. Constable took place. MI.
| Constable was very close to me coming back
| over the hill when the thought came into
nv mind to hold him up and rob him. l
was in need of money, having lost all L had
| by gambling.
Did Not Shoot to Kill.
II did not intend to shoot Mr.. Constable
| or kill him. The first time l shot aimed in
an entirely different direction; the second
! time I shot in the air, and the third shot l
fred close to him to scare him, not intend
| ing to kill him.
HE asked me If l wanted money, and
said Yes He told me he only had a quar-
ter and threw it to me. told him to throw
| his watch along with it, and ne qua. lhen
ne commenced to groan, and l asked him
where he was shot, and he said he thought
he was shot in the head He asked me to
tell the colored people up the ROAD that
| he was wounded, and stopped ana halloeu
| to some one in yard that there was SICK
man down the road and he wanted them 10
come down.
"Then / went up the road, crossed Ford S
cornfields and went across our own piace,
where Richard Owens lives, then over TO
| Iron Hill, and took the S:2S train for VII
mington l went from Wilmington to Phll-
adelphia in the trolley. l pawned the watcn
at Riders pawnshop under the name Oh
Clark 1 lost the chain. l do not remember
"JOHN NJ SHIPPERS
Story of the Murder.
The murder of Mr.. Constable aroused in
dienation such as the taking of human
life seldom does The entire state was hor-
ritied at the news of the death by violence
of the leader of the Cecil county bar. He
was shot down while taking a walk near
his home at Elkton oh August lo Inc
murderer was masked, and after fatally
wounding the man who was so highly re-
spected through the state, ROBBED MIN Oh
| his watch and 25 cents, all the valuabies
Mr.. Constable had about him.
The wounded man wa. found by John
Holland colored, who said that a, man &C
costed him and told him that man was
| "in need of help UP the road Mr.. Con-
stable was brought to Baltimore and was
taken to the Union Protestant lrfnrmary,
ba cd N the afternoon OF August
| %.
AS he fingered between life and death at
the hospital Mr.. Constable gave out the
following account of the shooting:
Il was out for my usual walk from the
house to Grays Hill and had just made the
turn toward home when someone from the
side of the road shouted Hold up your
hands! l thought it was someone playing
| a Joke. as l am so well acquainted in the
neighborhood and have been SO often seen
taking this walk, and did not pay much at
tention to the command.
1.-The same order was given secono
time and was accompanied by a, shot.
started to run, and a second and third shot
followed The bullet from the third shot
struck me in the head as / started to look
back l fell and man came forward
| with pistol in hand. l thought he was go
| ing to end my life and asked him what he
wanted. He said he wanted my money,
and told him only had % cents. He re-
manned about ten feet way and tried 10
protect his face.
Demanded His Money.
HE demanded that throw the money to
| him, and l did so. He then wanted my
watch and 1 threw that to him. He was
about to leave, when l begged him to In
form some of the residents that was shot
and in need of help. He said he would do
SO and ran off,
Holland the negro, said he was afraid to
go to the place the mysterious stranger
| had told him. and did not go until his wife
suggested that the wounded man might be
Mr.. Constable, who was known to walk
along the road at that time of day. When
| he did go Holland found Mr.. Constable
| lying in the middle of the road, bleeding
The inquest held by the Baltimore au-
| thorities brought only verdict if murder
| at the hands of parties unknown to the
| jury" Holland testified to the fact of
| finding the body, and gave very accurate
description of the man who first told him
| of the crime.
The search for the murderer Of Mr.. Con-
| stable was prompt and vigorous. the resi-
| dents of Elkton and the surrounding county
| forsaking their business to assist In the
| hunt. Parties of armed men secured the
| country for suspicious characters and every
| foot of the ground in the neighborhood OF
| the scene of the hold-up was searched in a
| vain effort to find Mr.. Constable's watch
| which, it was thought, might have been
| thrown away by the robber
| Negro was First suspected.
| The suspicion of the authorities at once
alighed upon Holland who, it was thought,
| gave too minute a description of the man
| who notified him of Mr.. Constable's condi-
| ton, and William Hobbs, another negro,
| who was at Hollands house at the time.
| but did not accompany Holland when he
| went to Mr.. Constable's assistance. This
] fact In itself was regarded as suspicious,
| and both Holland and Hobbs were placed
| under arrest by the Cecil county authori-
| ties, but the jury returned the verdict that
| Mr.. Constable came to his death from a
pistol shot fired by "a party or parties I'M
| known to the jury and both negroes were
released from custody Later they were re-
| arrested, indicted and placed on trial at
! Elkton on the charge of numbering Mr..
| Constable. The trial was watched with
| great interest and on January 10 Holland
| was acquitted. This resulted. In a nolle
prosequi being entered In the case of
|