The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1906-03-30
ARREST OF BuLeARIAhs At Du..
LUTH THROWS NO LIGHT ON
MINNEAPOLIS MURDERS.
PRISONERS MAINTAIN THEIR INNOCENCE
DECLARE REvlcr,Ms WERE. ALIVE
AND WELL WHEN SUSPECTS
LEFT THE MILL CITY.

lers which Mortified the citizens of
Minneapolis Wednesday was only
deepened during the morning by the
arrest here of eleven Bulgarians who
were residents of sthe house at 243
Tenth avenue south, where the crime
i was committed.
ross-questioned individually five of
the eleven prisoners tell the same
story and maintain their innocence of
any completely in the crime and even
their ignorance ofiit until they were
enlightened by the police. If their
story is true the Minneapolis police
have struck the wrong trail and it
skaters all theories Of the murders
which have hitherto been held and
Ileaves the police absolutely at sea
i for even a theory for the motive for
!, the crime and the identity of the Grim.
inals. The facts as told by K1zman
Siekuloff, the leader of the band, are
these t,-.+,
Came From Northern Turkey.
j S For the last year or more there has
! been band of Bulgarians from the
province of Presbad, in the northern
/ part Of Turkey, working in the woods
and camps Of, Northern, Minnesota
The members of this band were all
| from. the same part, of the province
! and were headed by Siekuloff, who
| acted in the capacity of padrone or
! leader. He was the only member of
the band who could speak English,
! having been, in this country about five
years, and he provided work for his
followers, hiring them out to work i'll
| the mines, on the railroads and in
! the loggingscamps. During the winter
| the members Of this band have been
| working near the village of Alborn, in
this count AIS lit four months. ago
Sieku1off rented sssfhe house at5s2433
Tenth avenue south, Minneapolis, plan
ming to bring some other of his coun
trymen over to America. The party
included his BRIDE Uloka Nardova,
whom he had married about a year
ago while on a visit to his old home.
| Petros Stojer, middle aged man
and a member of Siekuloff's band, was
left in charge of the house about two
months ago and since that time he has
been keeping bachelors hall there
getting his own meals and keeping the
house in readiness for the other mem
bers of the party. r. .
| Reached Minneapolis Last Week.
One week ago Wednesday Siekulcfi
and the six men who are dead com
| pleted their work at Alborn and went
! to Minneapolis with their winters
! wages in their pockets. ~
| Saturday the party of immigrants
| arrived from Bulgaria and the sixteen
people occupied the house Saturday
and Sunday Monday afternoon Sic
kuloff started for Duluth with the new
comers, leaving the six members OF
his old band behind him in Minneap-
oils. They were planning to go out
! on some railroad section work, while
Siekuloif intended to bring the new
arrivals to the northern part of the
! state to work in the mines.
He arrived here with his party Mon
day night. The party comprised him
self and his wife, two boys about fif
teen years of age, seven young men
ranging from twenty to thirty-five
years of age and Petros Stojer, the
member of the old band who had been
left in charge of the Minneapolis
house. Stoier and Siekuloff were the
only ones who had spent any length
of time in this country, the others
having come direct from New York,
where they landed. Some of the ol
members, according to Siekuloffs
story, went down to the train with the
party and saw them safely off. That
| was the last seen of the six alive and
Siekuloff and the members of his party
are at loss to know the cause of the
murders.
! Ignorant Of Cause for Crime.
Siekuloff, when questioned, claimed
that all of the men were very good
i friends and professed entire ignorance
as to what could have been the cause
of the murders. He says that there
are no other Bulgarians in this part of
the country. He knows of no Grim
tnal organization or feud that could
have prompted the murders. All had
money, having been working for two
4 months at Alborn. Of the six men
left at Minneapolis four were brothers
named Jaless. Asked if they had had
trouble with any persons in Minneap-
oils he said they had not. AS to the
articles of a religious significance
4 found in the house he said his people
all belonged to the Bulgarian church
and carried these things with them
always and held services among them
selves. The men will be held here
until Minneapolis directs what shall
be done with them. The correct names
OF the men murdered are:
NUKOLA JALESS.
ANDRI JALESS,
ANGELO JALESS.
i THOMAS JALESS.
a lS@ VOTcr1YNY svTyTYyyIr <Neae.