Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-30
HELD FOR THE CRIME
FANATIC DECLARES He DID NO
WRONG IN KILLING CHILD.

EASTON. Pa, April 3O.-Coroner Feth.
croft began an inquest yesterday morning
| at Nazareth, near Easton. into the death
of Irene May Smith. the five-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Smith
of Alliance. who was offered as sacri
fec by her parents and uncle. members
of fanatical religious sect.
The jury later returned a verdict charg
ing Robert Bachman, the uncle, with the
murder. The surgeons who made the
post-mortem examination found tina
] death was due to strangulation. Bach
man will be formally charged with thu
murder tomorrow morning.
| Bachman insists the child was possessed
of devil and that he killed her by com
mand from heaven. He maintains tina
he did no wrong and that God will pro
tect him. He cries out from his cell tha
he is to be crucified, and pleads with thu
jailor to hurry the execution that h,
may appear before the throne of God, VIII,
sent him to earth to perform a grea
mission for the salvation of mankind.
In a Pitiable Condition.
Smith is in a pitiable condition mental,
and physically. He was seized today
| with several fits and rolled from his co
| to the floor, where he tossed about, shout
ing and praying. He appears to know
little of the killing of his daughter, and
when the subject. is preached to him he
insists that nothing wrong has happened
| and that his brother-in-law was directed
by the Holy Spirit.
Mrs. Smith. on the other hand, is ra.
tional and realizes the awful gravity OF
the situation. She is heartbroken and
| walls piteously over the tragic fate OF
her child. She declares the religion she
l>, ,hAvr ID al fc 81, ,~s>~
and that they were not acting by direc.
ton of God. She never had much faith
in the teachings OF the sect, but joined
| them to keep peace in the family.
Her husband. she says, was good and
| kind to her, but when she objected to
the new religion he became furious. When
she went to Nazareth last Saturday to
attend the meeting that ended in the
death Of her daughter she says she had
NO idea of the intentions OF the party
to kill her child. AS the maniacal ses-
sions progressed. she asserts. she, too
lost her power of reasoning and did not
realize what was going on when Bach
man choked and beat the life out of the
child
Another Form Of New Belief.
In Jail today Bachman gave vent to
another form of the new belief. He de-
clares the sin committed by Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden has never
been properly atoned for, and part of his
mission is to wipe out that offense.
Mrs Smith was one of the witnesses at
the inquest. She swore that her brother
Bachman, killed the child in a fit of re-
ligious frenzy while she and her hus.
ban6 were in another part of the house
On their wey to their home at Alliance
Mr.. and Mrs. Smith concluded that
Eachman's religion was all wrong and
that the death of the child was the work
Of the devil, and not of God. as Bachman
cent ended.
Daubert, one of the party which had
been holding the meetings. swore they did
| not believe In the work of Bachman
and that the latter was insane. His testi.
| n ,Ony was to the effect that the meetings
at the outset were no more than gather
inRs for prayer and Bible reading SC
common in this section among certain
classes of Pennsylvania Germans. The
ASST mblages are known as "experience
meetings.
Neighbors of Bachman testified to the
| noise made In the house Sunday and
Monday and to the Smith child telling
them that her mother and father were
lying on the floor kicking and crying
and of her uncle smashing furniture and
doors. She was hungry and got food.
The jury went to the Bachman house.
and found that In the room where the
| child had been killed everything wa
smashed to pieces.
Mrs. Smith was released on bail after
tbs inquest.