The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-30
WATCH SLAYER
so HE WON'T
CHEAT LAW
ROmer'S Murderer Makes
New COnieSsiOn--IS Com
pletely Unnerved.

Awaiting the time when he will be
taken to the Court House to put in a
formal plea of mot guilty. to the
charge of numbering Frederick r.
Romer, the Orange undertaken, George
Wilson, alias Williams, is under heavy
guard in the county jail so that he
will not escape the law by self-destruc-
ton.
1t is understood that Wilson will not
be directed to plead until tomorrow or
Thursday, Wednesday being New
Years Day and therefore a legal holi-
day.
The court was too busy today maxi
ing up sentences of convicted offenders
to sit for the purpose of hearing the
formal plea of mot guilty.
At the same time, for the obvious
reason of avoiding a crowd, the exact
day and time when Wilson will first
face the bench is kept secret by the
authorities.
Wilson was brought from Phil
adelphla by Detective Frederick
Godfrey, of Prosecutor Young's staff,
last Saturday afternoon. Upon ar
rival here over the Pennsylvania Rail-
road the prisoner was taken directly
to a cab and not to the prison van,
thus GLIDING a crowd of several hun-
6red who had gathered to get a
glimpse at him. The cab was hurried
to the First Precinct police station,
and from there the prisoner was con-
veyed to the jail.
On arrival at that institution Wilson,
or Williams, appeared crestfallen
and penitent, and, when placed in q
cell, loan and wept nearly all of
Saturday night and yesterday. He
freely talks of the murder to those
connected with the prosecutors office
and blames his downfall to bad COM
pany.' He appears in such low spirits
that a constant guard is kept in tho
vicinity of his cell to thwart n at
tempt at suicide.
AS Wilson, or Williams, is indicted
for murder in the first degree, the
Court of Oyer and Terminer, where
The plea will be made. is forced to ac-
eept a plea of not guilty.
Wilson has no funds, and conse-
quently the county will have to provide
a lawyer for his defense and pay the
cost of the same. This lawyer will
probably be named by the court today,
or whenever the defendant is ar
raigned.
When the s~elf-confessed murderer
was shown the furnace shaker with
which the crime was committed he
shrank from it. exclaiming. Take that
thing away! Take it away!"
you recognize it, then, do your" he
was asked.
"Yes,I do" he admitted. Then. in reply
to questions, he made a new confession.
The negro said he found the iron bar.
which has a hook on one end of 1t and
was used for shaking a furnace, In the
cellar Of the hotel and was prowling
about with the object of robbing a
room when Romer came along. The
negro jumped into the room nearest
to him, which was Romer's, and hid
in the closet. Romer was about to go
to bed when a noise in the closet at
tracted his attention. He, went there
and discovered the negro and grabbed
him. Wilson said he struck Romer on
the head with the bar, gathered every
thing of value h could find and left
the hotel.
Detective Godfrey, of the prosecutors
office, returned from New York this
morning with the overcoat and other
clothing stolen from Frederick r. Ro-
mer, who was murdered by George
Wilson on December 10.
The clothing was found in the pawn
shop of William Walker. los Park row.
Wilson realized $40 on the overcoat and
IS on the other clothing. They were
pawned last Friday at 10 a. m.
The clothing was turned over to the
county prosecutor to be used as evil
dence at the Wilson trial.