The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-19
GIT MUTH BOY AND CAPTOR.
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rHnausLVun. Juoa "a Frrtt~ Nuth,
Tho srven.yeat.uld son NJ Chnelci Nufii
Tho Iewellcr n lag Columlda avenie. whd
Wa hldnappcd las, Tuesday wss found In q
eacan, h@t- NJ as Nut'h si1ty .-rcpoi
s,rrrt to-day with him. ~ HE rap'or. wa
John Joseph Re1n. nn,e n prosperous reel
estate broker. who wa' arrsa,rI Tor the
kidnapping,
u was passing Mrs Nuih's jewelry store
ono day and saw tho boy sitting In the
window, hcarl soinc one say. Now don't
yUh 80 away, Freddie. n occurred 90
mo. How much world they give to get N,
hoy back " he did 90 away Kean con-
fessed He was a. his wits end Tor money,
and took the chance
He had committed emIpzzlemnnt. Tn.
lesA I've had money At once the pcnitentiary
stared him In the face. In an instant Tim
crime was conceived: in two days It was
executed.
The unravellinR Of the mystery was born
In an incident almost as slight. Kean,
with tho boy, late on the night Of the kid.
mapping, happened to stop for an instant
at a restaurant near Sixty-first and Haver-
ford streets. When the police threw a net
over the entire city and dragged its high.
ways and byways the fact came to light,
and the detectives got the right scent.
In the first place the police had a fair
description OF the %kidnapper to work on.
The messenger boy who took the note to
Principal Ring recalled in detail what the
man looked like.
The first real clue came in a despatch at
l:3O Wednesday morning from the Twenty
ninth district. II read:
Substitute Patrolman Ray J. Levy OF
the Twenty ninth district while making
inquiries at the bakery store of Joseph
Sager, Sixtieth and Haverford avenue,
was informed by Mr.. Sager that a man
answering the description OF Kean, the
abductor, was seen going into Rhodes's
oyster saloon, 6Ol3 Haverford avenue, Levy
Immediately communicated with his station
and the message was forwarded to Capt.
Donaghy at City Hall"
A vigorous search concentrated In this
neighborhood and this developed the fact
that the description tailed with that Of I
John Joseph Kean OF AIS North Horton
street, a small block between Sixty first
and Sixty-second streets. Inquiries were
casually made at the house. 1t was found
that Kean had been acting as a sub-agent
for Thomas j. Cooke, a real estate man,
and that he handled vacant property in
that neighborhood.
1t wa learned also that Kean had-not
been home since Tuesday afternoon. A
wife and three children had been left,
without knowledge of where he had gone.
Cooke was sought. He said Kean had
recently got in financial difficulties and
that he knew he must make good several
hundred dollars or go to jhil. Cooke fur
nished the police With specimens Of Kean's
handwriting.
This gave the police a lever to work with
on the wife. They gave her no intimation
that they suspected Kean was a kidnapper,
but they old her he was wanted for en-
bezzlement. Mrs. Kean herself suspected
hat her husband had gone away with
another woman. She gave the police
photographs and such information as she
had. At the Muth home was furnished the
connecting link that made it sure that
Kean was the kidnapper. Every mail
brought the afflicted father a flood Of letters.
Some were from the kidnapper. The first
Of these was received by Muth on the night
of the kidnapping. 1t was postmarked
Philadelphia, 1o:5o p. NJ, and read;
Mr.. Muth-Your little boy will be placed
in your hands tomorrow morning. There
will be no need or any good in exciting
your %neighbors or tho police. Hold your
self in check until then"
This letter was written on q = piece of brown
wrapping paper and was received by the
by special delivery mail at ll:2o
o'clock the same night 1t was mailed. Muth.
who was working with the police, turned
this letter over to DoDsghy. The next day
brought him another letter, in the same
handwriting, dated Wilmington
Charles Muth, Esq.,
DEAR Sta: Your Offer of 81, 900 accepted.
Now the first move you make TO expose this
information you will regret. To show
our honesty fold twenty $40 or $50 in a
newspaper and address this to or deliver,
to SIS North Front street, Philadelphia. II
this is lone in good faith-remember every
move you make is watched-in forty hours
you will get the boy home. This is your
chance to hold you silence, remember.
The $500 will be demanded in ten hours
after you receive this letter and then it
be all over. Now, remember, we
know everything you do or move you make.
Capt. Donaghy is very much again short.
This is only your warning Address pape
10 A. Adams. Boy is WELL
1t may be here INTERCEPTED that the fact
that this letter was mailed in Wilmington
and that Kean himself did not leave tho
city indicates the man had a confederate.
The police believe 1t was a woman. These
were carefully compared with the
of handwriting of Kean's. The
chain was complete. The writing on these
letters correspondent to a dot with the hand
on the note delivered to Miss Ring.
he principal Of the school from which
freddie was taken. Both writings were
with that Of Kean.
Three more letters were received by
he Muths threatening the boys safety
4 arrangements for ransom were not made.
Enclosed with one letter was a slip OF
yellow foolscap upon which Freddie Muth
lad scrawled Fred. .Muth. Squirrel, Catch,
and other words. Kean had evil
iently enclosed II to convince the boys
parents that he was really with the author
II the letter. A Newspaper clipping also
enclosed containing an account OF the