Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1908-12-11
A MASCULINE eoRoIA.
6iIlik Poisoned Five People and viii
Hang Today.


Hang Today.
Special TO Bryan Morning Eagle.
Chicago. H., Dec l0.-After a legal
battle OF over a year. in which his
case was carried TO the highest court
In the land. Herman Billik. the muir
derer of live members OF the Vzral
family, Is face to face with the gallows
Today. in his cell in the Cook county
jail. the man whom the police declare
TO be worthy rival of II. II. Holmes
and Johann Hoch. could hear the work
men setting up the scaffold on which
/ he Is condemned TO die tomorrow
| There appears no chance now for Bill
Xix TO escape his fate. The murderer
himself appears resigned. Sinse the
death of his aged mother a week or
two ago he appeared without hope.
Today he received a farewell visit
from his wife and daughter. His re-
naming hours will be spent in com
pany with Father o'Callaghan, the
Catholic priest who has labored inces-
sanity 10 save the Bohemian fortune
teller from the gallows.
Career Of the Condemned Man.
OF all the prisoners who figure In
the criminal history OF the country
there never was one who went about
his business In a more cold-blooded
manner than did Billik. OF all the
schemes evolved by other experts in
criminal toxicology who manifested as
relentless a disposition In the taking
Of human life as did Billik, there is
none who played his part In so spec
Dol nt tfuta
magician.
Billik was born in Bohemia about
forty-fiye years ago. His mother, who
has just died in Cleveland. was a
wandering fortune teller years before
Billik was born. The son came to Chi
cago from Cleveland about five years
ago. As dill his mother before him
he followed the business of a card
reader and seer. He located in the Bo-
hemian colony on the West Side near
the home of the Vzrals.
His Awful Trail Of Death.
The immediate crime for which Bill
Xix was sentenced to death was the
murder OF Mary VZral, the 22-year-old
daughter of Martin and Rose Vzral.
He was charged also with the murder
of Martin Vzral. the father; of Title.
aged rs; Rose. aged IA and Ella. aged
". While the evidence that he muir
dered Mrs. Rose VZral. the mother, is
not complete. It seems certain that If
he did not himself administer the poi
son that caused her death. he com
PEELED her, through the hypnotic in
iluence he exercised over her, to take
her own life. These five crimes were
committed by Billik within one year
and nine months, and in that time he
had mulcted the family, through the
medium of Mrs. NZral, of $4,000 in
property and life insurance carried by
his victims, which went to the mother
and which he obtained.
Took Life for Small Sum.
Previous to the death of Martin
Vzral Billik had obtained in loans"
from him another $4,000. making the
total Melted from the killing of five
people $4,000. trifle over 1000 a
life. But that was not the lowest
price for which Billik would commit
murder. The life OF little l2-year-old
Ella V2ral was snuffed out with ar
senic because her mother had insured
her for an amount that netted $l05.
She was the last of the family besides
the mother to die. and according to the
evidence at his trial Billik was hard
s-rtssed for funds at the time.
Billik Arrested and Convicted.
Investigation of the series of mys-
FERROUS deaths in the Vzral family
was begun by the police after the
death of Mrs. VZral The death was
pronounced suicide but inquiry showed
that Billik had been in the room with
her prior to her death and had given
her medicine The fortuneteller was
arrested and placed on trial July 3,
1907. The bodies of the VZral family
had been eXhumed, and all were found
to contain arsenic. Jersolobat Nzral
and Emma VZral-Niemann, children of
Mrs. Vzral, were the principal witness
es against Billik He was convicted
and the death penalty fixed by the
jury on July is. He was convicted
to hang Oct. IL, the time for the eX-
ecution afterward being extended to
June H. The case was taken to the
United States Supreme Court and on
Feb. 20 last that tribunal refused
Billik a new trial Billik's counsel
then set up the argument that mas
much as the previous death sentence
had been allowed to pass. Pink was
already legally dead and hence could
not be sentenced again. The court
refused to accept this view of the
case and resentenced Billik to be exc
cuted Dec. H.