The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-07-03
CUT own THROAT,
B. Johnson, FOrger, Takes His
Life at BelOit.
Was Charged With Defrauding
Crosby Brothers.

After being rearrested on a charge
Of forgery, B. Johnson, man wanted
in Topeka, cut his throat and died in
stantly in the BeIoit jail last night
Sheriff Lucas certainly has bad luck
with his prisoners. The third prisoner
of the year committed suicide rather
than suffer the consequences of his
crime last evening.
B. Johnson, a man 80 yeatS Of age,
left Topeka about six weeks age, afrtr
passing two forged checks, for $40 each,
on Crosby Brothers Dry Goods COM
pany. He also beat James Chappelle.
proprietor of the Copeland hotel, out
of a large board bill When ne ran
away from Topeka, he went to Beloit,
Kan. and there forged three checks for
small amounts all under IS. The coun-
ty attorney let him off with a plea Of
petit larceny. and he was fined $25 and
costs. In the meantime he had been
located by Sheriff Lucas, who notified
the Beloit authorities that he wanted
Johnson as soon as they were through
with him A few days ago they notli:e1
Lucas thas they would remit the costs
in Johnson's case and that he would De
released to Lucas last night. Lucas
went after him, talked to him ia the
Jail, read his warrant to him and then
questioned him about the forgeries in
Topeka. johnson confessed to every
detail of the charge, and told something
about his family. He said his mother
l1NGQ dL w GllcN l1lG- EA6Dss diiQ lIlaI 4lt
had brother who lived u miles from
Lyndon. The prisoner was then al
lowed to return to his cell for his coat.
Sheriff Lucas sat talking with the sher-
iff in the Office, when a "trusty," one
OF the two other prisoners kept at the
Beloit county jail, ran in and began
to pound on the Office door. When asked
what he wanted he said that Johnson
had killed himself. Both sheriffs ran
to the cell room, where they found
Johnson leaning against the wall, and
a stream Of blood running from his
throat, which had been cut from ear TO
ear. severing Jugular, windpipe, flesh
and muscle. His head was almost cut
off from his body. In one hand he held
q knife, one of the sort known as
.haWk-bill, with a large, curled blade
Before the officers could remove him
from the cell room, which had been left
open, as the other two prisoners were
TRUSTEES, the man sank to the floor with
out a word, and was dead before the
arrival of a physician, who was hastily
summoned by telephone by Sheriff Luz
cas-.
Sheriff Lucas is feeling rather blue
over the affair, although he was In no
way to blame for the suicide. He is
almost satisfied that he has encount-
cred a 'hoodoo." This man killed him
self with knife which no one thought
he had. He was carefully searched
when put in jail, more than a month
before, and the other prisoners de-
clared that he had frequently borrow
ed a small penknife from them to
manicure his nails, and that they never
suspected he possessed such a, fornid-
able weapon
Five weeks ago yesterday, Ed Wilk
erson, a young man who was brought
back from San Francisco on a charge
of stealing 5000, committed suicide the
night before he was to be taken to the
penitentiary, while Sheriff Lucas was
permitting him to visit his wife for the
last time. The prisoner became sud
denly despondent- because his wife re-
fused to wait for him, and said she was
going to get a divorce. and taking a
package of poison from between the
papers of a cigarette book, swallowed
it before the eyes of his wife and the
sheriff. who made every possible effort
to save him.
On January %. George Swan, boy
who had been paroled from the Hutch
inson reformatory, was picked up by
Deputy Sheriff Lawson ard the re-
formatory parole officer. While seated
ia the buggy with the two officers the
boy suddenly drew q revolver and shot
himself through the brain, dying in
stantly.
If there is anything to the police
superstition that suicides and murders
go by "threes, this suicide by prison
ers may let UP for a year. or two.