The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-19

slrp Tho rrartva tros trs n1nfri ~
the htn
krtn mn,lr y hulo In ha ifHu-Hrs packet
and through " tore rnsth after lcn 9Th from
his shirt and urti"f siuft tirao he iWisirI
lniun or. Wrrn the Funris vorc clnngri
nj mulu ~ kern irv utun hts ~'' H.
tict he futr piiuui HE nrvt mi twisted n
tightly tnly ,no i1iug pro-, "hinti him
from carving uut his Iurlg'ar The saa
that hr ,pill mpi crn'ril hia breathing
during ihp 4rri inrrn-ciulsnets that ful.
hw~l
when 'h' now guards returned. shortly
%lntprr ! o'rlu,k, they thought that kenn
VIA 'h~rnR, until they heard hts luui
breathing, when they wen' into hi- crll
N" WIS n"ttly dead. but policr sur Rrona
~ yrI him
Why didn't you let ma die'" said krnn
when he came to. Surely that would have
satisfied The law
Captain ~ Detectives Dnnnghv said Ia.
might that II was kean who had Threatened
Tanker George HUM with stealing hi- son.
We know thi. Il So" s1id Donaghy.
"kran viii confess Il hv tomorrow. lie
tried this first. hut could no; get IA" boy
Then he caught the Muth boy
Charles i. Cooke. kean's employer. who
was largely Instrumental in enabling the
police 10 capture him. said to-day that no
"a been IN almost constant Communica-
ton with Kean since the day Of the kid
mapping. He said
In one Of the letters I received from
Kean he wrote that II I tried to have him
arrested he had one-ha!f ounce Of laudanum
and a dozen or cyanide of potassium tablets
in his pockets and he would know how to
Use the two doses. ! saw his wife several
times. but Mrs. Kean raid that she had no
idea where he was. but she thought he had
gone away with another woman"
Since Kean came here from New York
he has lived a life of mystery, even to his
family. He has gambled heavily on the
racetrack and in stocks. His desperate
course in capturing the Muth boy was to
prevent his arrest for embez2ling $500 and,
the police say. to provide funds for a oma
with whom he was intimate and who form
erly lived in one of the houses for which
he acted IA agent.
He came to Philadelphia twelve years
ago. taking a house in North Gratz street.
in the neighborhood where the Muths live.
For time after arriving here Kean did not
seek any job. He developed a mania for
trying to invent things and fitted up a work
shop at his home. What time he did not
spend there he passed in Offices of various
stock brokers and soon lost the $40, 900 or
more he had stolen from the Harlem Bank Of
New York.
He then got work as a bookkeeper with
a merchant named Cornfeld in South street
near Sixteenth. He began writing home
at frequent intervals for money. His
father was night Waterman in the Fifth
Avenue Nation Bank. New York, and
finally the father wrote that he would send
no more under any circumstances.
Kean began living more or less by his
wits and under the guise OF promoting
more or less questionable enterprises
worked a confidence game upon several Of
his a~cquaintances. The results were slim,
however, and he began to connect himself
with real estate brokers. seeking a stray
commission and Offering to act as watch
man or agent. |
He went to live at $40 Robinson street,
where after about six months his fortunes
reached a desperate point and a constable
attached his household goods. 1t was at
this time that he went to Charles j.. Cooke
of 1907 South Thirteenth street and sought a
job as agent for some of the real estate
operations in charge of Mr.. Cooke.
This was in the early part Of last October
and Kean lived comfortably until he became
involved in an affair with a woman in the
neighborhood, as told by Mrs. Kean in her
story of the case. This taxed his resources
and he began to hold back the rents he
collected for his own Use.
Mr.. Cooke, on June 8, wrote Kean that
his services as a ant were no longer desired.
1t was found that he had embezzled $500,
and Mr.. Cooke swore out a warrant for
kean's arrest. Kean begged a little time
to raise the money. He said he could get |
it in New York. 1t was to raise this money
that he kidnapped Freddie Muth.
The newspapers of Philadelphia helped
to effect the capture of Kean. Soon after
the kidnapping the police came upon a
tangible clue to the identity OF the kid
napper About the same time the re-
porters following the case learned Of this
fact and began to hint that the police were
hot on the trail Instantly the clue van
ished.
The police knew the k%idnapper was
Kean, and they knew he was in Philadel-
phia, but where or how he had hidden
was a mystery. AT o o'clock on Friday
night Superintendent Of Police Taylor
determined upon an unprecedented move
He had just received through the Muths
a letter from She k%idnapper in which he
threatened to kill the boy and himself.
Each night city editor was asked to confer
with Taylor. They went to the City Hall.
The police laid bare everything letters,
evidence, names. Then Supt. Taylor and
the captain of detectives asked for help.
AS a result there was no leak.
The day following the conference the
Philadelphia morning newspapers all
printed stories on the Muth kidna piping,
the kind known to the profession as "ho,
air Most Of them contained a ~fanciful
yarn about the police searching for an
Armenian Now it so happened this was