The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-24
CRUEL MURDER
IN new ORLEANS
Italian Boy Kidnapped, Stran-
gled 10 Death and Body
Left in Swamp.
FIVE ARE UNDER ARREST
POLICE TAKE EXTRA PRECAU-
TIONS TO PREVENT RIOTS.

New Orleans, June 23.-TwO miles in the
interior of a big swamp near this city
the headless body of Walter Lamana, an
Italian child between AID years old,
who was kidnapped and held for 5000 ran
som two weeks ago, was found by police
and vigilantes just before daybreak to-
day. He had been strangied to death.
according to the confession of several
Italians held by the police.
The boys neck is supposed to have been
broken when he was stranSled, causing
the head to become separated from the
body, when decomposition set in The
head was found short distance from the
body.
Five Italians, two of them women. are
under arrest charged with being accom-
plices to the murder and extra details OF
police and deputies are maintaining order
in the excited Italian quarter. All day
long small crowds have been dispersed
promptly by the police. despite whose pre-
cautions a report has got out summonlIg
a mass meeting at Elk place. seventy
armed deputies have been placed on guard
at the Orleans parish prison, the strong
est in the state, where three of the prls-
oners are held. and some apprehension
has been felt regarding the safety of two
other prisoners who were last night taken
to an adjoining parish.
Threats of Violence.
seldom since the Malta lynchings, six
teen years ago. has New Orleans been so
stirred with threats of violence as today
and some of these threats are made by
those who participated in the disorders at
that time The law and order element
is much stronger than it has been here
tofOre a large number of leading citizens
having pledged themselves to prevent Vlo-
Ience.
The murdered boy was found near ST
Rose about twenty miles from New Or
leans A sweating process wrung con-
fession from one of the Italian suspects
who was taken from his home In 81. Rose
about midnight last night and carried
into the woods by a combined force of
officials and vigilantes, who mad the
search in charge.
Confesses the Murder.
This man, Ignazio Campigciano, was
kept in the woods an hour, when he con-
fessed. charging four Italians with the
murder. He said that about the time OF
a mass meeting in New Orleans more than
a week ago, held for the purpose of pros
ecuting the search for the body, these
men, who were in a vacant house IN 81:
Rose became frightened and consulted
about what to do with the child the
bow was crying begging to be taken home
to his parents. said Campigciano, and one
of the Quartette of the kidnapers GRABBED
the child and strangled him to death to
stop the noise. Later two of the kid
napers. he said. came to him carrying
the body in a blanket and. after threaten
ing him with death if he told, took the
body into swamp.
Body in Swamp.
Campigciano after relating this story.
led the police through two miles OF
swamp, where the searchers sometimes
waded in water nearly waist deep and at
others crawled under tangles of briers- In
a shallow pool at the end of this search
the body was found in the blanket in
clump of cane.
Returning to the city the police arrest
ed Nicolina Gebbia, an Italian woman,
who is alleged to have confessed that she
knew of the kidnapping plot from the first,
having learned of it from one of the four
kidnapers, whom she expected to marry.
Campigciano said that these four were
StefanO Monfre, Tony Gendusa, Angelo
Cacatari and an Italian named lncanterra-
The police say they expect to capture
these men within two or three days. The
other prisoners directly implicated by the
confession are CampigcianOs wife, Frank
Gendussa and Leonardo Gebvia-
The dead boys funeral was held this
afternoon. BY o'clock this morning the
entire Italian colony appeared to have
learned the details of the murder and the
police feared the crowds which would
gather at the funeral if it were delayed.