Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1909-03-04
JUNKEN CONFESSEs
NEGRO ADMITS KILLING CLARA
ROSEN.
NO ACCoMPLICEs, SAYS He
Admits He sneaked Up Behind Her
and Crushed Her Skull
With Rock.

Albia.-John Junken, the negro who
was confined in the Jail here, charg-
ed with the murder of Clara Rosen,
confessed that The killed the young
woman at Ottumwa three weeks ago.
He stated that he was alone when
the crime was committed and that he
had no accomplices. The confession
was made to Sheriff Griffin The sher-
III was called from his bed to listen
to the negro, who was in a high
state OF excitement and cried that he
wanted to tell all about the crime
which haunted him.
Not at the Pen.
Junken said he had trailed Miss
Rosen to the home of her sister the
night of the awful murder, where he
watched her till she emerged an hour
later, and then sneaked up behind her
and struck her fearful blow with his
fist, knocking her to the sidewalk He
then crushed her skull with a stone
which he picked up. The first blow
had knocked her unconscious. The ne
gro declares he did not assault the
girl. but only robbed her of her purse
and diamonds.
Junken told of where the stolen
iewelry could be found, and search
in the home of Frank Weaver at OF
tumwa revealed Clara Rosen's purse
and gold-backed mirror and other,
stolen trinkets in an attic reached
through a trap door in the ceiling.
Junken was taken to Des Moines
for safe keeping. Junken declares
Weaver was not party to the as
sault.
duplicates Weaver.
Junken in his earlier confession
told Chief Griffin positively that
he had nothing to do with Clara Ro-
sens murder, but that search of
Viewers attic in Ottumwa would
bring to light the stolen jewelry. This
confession and the further admission
that he had only been trying to pawn
Weaver's stolen property threw more
suspicion than ever upon him. 1t
was then thought that he would be
trapped in a lie. But when the trim
kets taken from the dead body of the
unfortunate Ottumwa girl were found
in Weaver's attic all suspicion inn
mediately fell upon the latter
Junken, when asked how the arti-
cles came to be in Weaver's room
when the latter was not implicated,
declared tnat he (Junken) had
stealthily crept to the attic the night
of the murder when the inmates of
the house were asleep and hid them
there. He said he did not tell any
one about this, but thought later of
the plot to implicate Weaver. This
came after he had been arrested as
suspect after trying to pawn a dia-
mond brooch taken from Clara Rosen.
Junken is considered a bad negro
and was released from Fort Madison
penitentiary but a week or more be-
fore the Rosen murder which startled
Ottumwa as never before. 1t was the
fifth crime in which women were the
victims within two years and the
citizens were at fever pitch over the
atrocious murder.
Junken called Sheriff Griffin into
his cell and told him that he wished
to make a statement
The sheriff directed him to write it.
Junken then wrote, in substance,
that he had not found the diamond
belonging to Miss oRsen, which he
tried to sell, but that another man,
Frank Weaver of OLtumwa, had given
it to him and had told him to sell it.
He then told Sheriff Griffin that
the other properly taken from the
murdered girls body could be found
in the attic of the house in which
Weaver lived. He gave. the officer
minute instruction as to where it
could be found. This is understood
here to have been at the Junken res
taurant which was kept by Junken's
mother.
The officers and the detectives
went to the Weaver home and fol-
lowed the directions given by Junken
They climbed from a table into an
attic through trap door and found
the property as described by Junken
They recovered the girls gold
brooch, gold backed mirror and her
purse.
Miss Rosen was murdered Fri
day night, Feb. 5. She had told her
parents that she was going to make
a call on her sister, who lived
short way from her home. When she
did not return at a reasonable hour
an alarm was given and scores and
finally hundreds of friends and
anxious people made an all night
search for the girl. Her body was
found in a ravine, where she had
been dragged and then assaulted.
Her body was covered with bruises
and her skull was fractured in two
places. She had struggled fiercely
with her assailant Six suspects were
arrested the following day, but all
of them proved an alibi and were
freed.
Feud Hinted At.
There were hints at an old feud be-
tween the Rosen-Claridge families,
and this also was exploded when it
was proved that the youth in ques-
ton, who was to have taken the oath
of vengeance in the case was only
four years old at the time a certain
wrong was done his sister.
Miss Rosen was to have been mar
ried to Sanford Carlson of Ironton,
Wyoming. in the spring. The day
for the wedding was set, and the
young girl was then preparing her
trousseau.
In passing an ordinance to prohibit
the sale of intoxicating liquors to abo-