The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-11
CORNELL ADMITS HE MURDERED HIS WIFE Tells Whole Story Of Killing
 On Cat Mountain WANTS TO SAVE FATHER Says He Does Not Want Aged Man To
 Suffer for Crime That He
 Himself Commit
WANTS TO SAVE FATHER

Marion Connell, who was arrested re- gently in Tennessee on the charge Of Kill ing his wife, made full confession at the county iail yesterday morning. Coroner
 Paris and several witnesses heard the con fession, and although Connel was "arheo
 that anything he said might be used against him at his trial, he made cieah
 breast of the entire story.
 q killed her, and there Is no use or my ! making any bones about 1t, for I've got to die and l suppose l might as well hans
 as die any other way.
 q know what I'm doing. I'm telling the truth just as I expect to tell It on the
 witness stand at the trial, and l don't propose to take all the blame myself. The shotgun was furnished me by another and one man gave me money to get her out
 of the way"
 "She was my wife" said Connell when asked about the point. "The marriage license record will probably prove the truth of that statement l knew httie about her when we were married ana II seems she had several names when first met up with her she told me her name was Minnie Davis and when we got ready to marry she said her name was Minnie Ledlow. That was the name under which she was married and l afterward learned she was known in Birmingham as 1 Annie Rogers.
 "On the day of the killing she had
 taken her things to the home of nelgh- l bor and my belongings were elsewhere' It was my intention to leave that section of the country (Cats mountain) ana go elsewhere. One man had come to me when he heard that I was going away and told me he would give me S2o II would get her out of the way. It seems he was afraid she would appear against him in court about something. Then
 second man came to me and told me an easy way out of the matter and provided me with a gun.
 "When the woman and myself left the vicinity of Cats mountain she was under the impression that I was going to taAe her away with me, that l was going to take her to another state and start out new life. We went toward the old home- stead and when we reached the clump of trees where the body was found-well it's all over now and I did 1t. My old father is innocent of the crime. He was at the Banner mines that day, hard at work, and
 don't want him to suffer for crime
 which was committed by me. They will hang me, I guess but I've got to die. and it might as well be on the scaffold.' It will be remembered that the body of Mrs Connell was found in a clump of trees near Sayre during the first part of June, and that 1t was in state of decom-
 position at the time, showing that the murder had been committed some time
 before. F. M Connell. the father of Ma rion Connell, was arrested at the time on the charge of murder.
 It was through a clever detective feat
 that Connell was captured in Tennessee.
 It seems that he was working in peach orchard under an assumed name' but the
 detectives professed to be prospective buy CTS. and in that way were able to get in
 touch with him and later turn him over to the local officers of the law.