Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-14
MURDERS WOMAN,
ADMITS CRIME
YOUNG MAN STRANGLES HIS
VICTIM WITH WIRE
Mrs. Bessie HoIlistsr Of Chicago
Noted for Beauty and Fine Voice,
Is Slain by Richard
Ivens
BY Associated Press.

! BY Associated Press.
! CHICAGO, Jan. 13.-Mrs Bessie Hol-
lister, 80 years old, the wife of Frank
lin c. Holllster of the printing firm Of
Hollister Bros, one of the largest con-
Germs OF its kind in the city, was muir
dered last night by Richard Ivens, "a
years old, who had attempted to as
sault her The body of Mrs. Hollister
was found this morning lying on a pile
of stable refuse in the rear OF the Ivens
residence at 36S Belden avenue. Around
the neck was twisted fine copper wire
and death had been caused by strangu-
| lation.
1vens, who pretended to find the body
and reported the fact of the murder to
the police, confessed to the crime a. short
time after he had been taken into Gus
tody. His statement to the police in eff
| feet was that he was at work i'm his
carpenter shop, which stands but
| short distance from the place where the
body was found this morning. and that
when Mrs. Hollister passed by he at
| tackled her and when she resisted he
dragged her into the carpenter shop
and killed her by twisting the wire
around her neck. He then went home
and remained there all night This
| hloiHlliS ue went u Jlle DdTn OSJenSlDly
| to perform some work and, pretending
to find the body, rushed into the house
and reported to his father and later to
the police that the body of a woman
was lying in the heap of refuse near
the barn.
1vens in his confession claimed that
| he was drunk at the time of the crime
but this is denied by his mother, who
| said that he came into the house and
| ate his ubilo
lvens had previously borne a good rep
utation.
! Mrs Hollister left her home yester-
| day afternoon to attend the funeral of
a friend, Mrs. Emma Semple. at 172
Seminary avenue, not far from the
Hollister residence When she left the
house she carried with her a small
clock which she had intended to leave
at jewelers. for repairs, and she in
tended also to stop at florists and
order some flowers to be sent to the
funeral. That was the last seen of
her by any of her friends. The flow
ers she ordered arrived at the funeral,
but Mrs. Hollister did not. After wait
ing until Z o'clock Mr.. Hollister in
| formed the police of his wife's disap-
pearance and an all night search was
| instituted which resulted in nothing.
Judging from the appearance of her
clothing, Mrs Hollister had made des-
perate fight before she was killed Her
long hair was torn loose and tangled
as If 1t had been pulled violently down:
the front of her silk waist had been torn
open and the glove of her right hand
was missing. Three rings which she
usually wore on this hand were gone
Other small articles of jewelry, which
she had worn at the time of leaving
the house. had been taken.
Mrs. Hollister was 80 years old. a wo-
man of great personal charm, hand
| some and had for years been prominent
because of her beautiful voice which
was considered to be of extraordinary
quality.
She frequently appeared at musical
entertainments in different parts of the
| city.
At the conclusion of the coroner's in
quest. which was held late in the day,
a verdict was returned holding Ivens
to the criminal court without bail.
| During the inquest Ivens remained
seated and apparently showed no in
terest in the proceedings. When he
was called upon by the coroner to give
his testimony, his unconcerned manner
and defiant tone caused great indigna-
tion among the men i'm the room and
after the inquest was over w. c. Hol-
| lister, brother-in-law of the murdered
woman. made an effort to shoot him.
He was making his way toward Ivens,
holding a revolver in his hand, when an.
officer caught sight of the weapon and
held Hollister. Other policemen came
to his aid and Hollister was compelled
to leave the place. Ivens when detail
ing the crime spoke in the most in
dlfferent manner. He said:
well. I was standing in front of the
| carpenter shop when this-what's her
| name?"
You mean Mrs. Hollister, don't you?"
asked the coroner.
Yes, that's her name. Well, she
| came along and | grabbed her We
We're standing at the gate in the alley
for five minutes and then dragged her
into the yard"
Ivens identified the wire. which he
twisted around the neck of Mrs. Hol-
lister, saying calmly: Yes, that's it,"