Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1909-08-12
CHARGED WITH UGLY CRIME
II. B. Lacey of Gray Charged With
Running His Neice.

III. B. Lacey of Cameron township is
languishing in the county Jail, an infor-
nation having been filed against him by
his sisters husband in which it is alleged
that Lacy has been criminally intimate
with his neice for some months past.
The girls name is Lillian Wolfe, q
daughter of j. H. Wolfe, the complain
ant, and also of Lacey's sister
For some time past the father has sus-
pected that the girl was in delicate
condition and for some reason at present
unknown laid the blame upon Lacey,
who is bachelor and who has been
working out by the month in the vicin-
ity of Gray until a couple of weeks ago,
when he and the girl left Audubon coun-
ty together with the intention of going
to Council Bluffs The two were driven
to Manning by the girls father, who as
sisted them with their baggage at the
depot and babe them an apparently
friendly farewell as the train departed.
After the train had gone, Wolfe, in
stead of returning home, came to Audi
bon and filed information against Lacey
before Justice Chas. S. White charging
him with incest A warrant was Isl
sued for his arrest and Sheriff Crees
brought him back prisoner last Thurs
day and is still holding him in the coun-
ty Jail.
Lacey, who was seen at the Jail by q
Republican representative, denies all re-
spensibility for the girls condition and
claims that the girls father has no cause
for even suspecting that he is in any
way responsible He says he is very
much attached to his neice and deplores
the condition she is now in. AS to their
departing for Council Bluffs, he says he
undertook the trip at the earnest solicit
tation of the girls father and mother,
both of who desired that she should be
taken to some institution or hospital
where she could receive proper care dur
ing the period it would be necessary for
her to be under physicians care.
With this aim in view Lacey says he
took his neice to Council Bluffs and i'm
mediately upon arriving there he took
her to- an institution known as the Good
Samaritan Sanitorium and Maternity
Hospital, where he made all necessary
arrangements for the girls care during
confinement. In confirmation of this
statement he showed receipt which
seems to fully bear him out. The re-
! ceipt is as follows:
Received of H. B. Lacey one hundred
and fifty dollars i'm payment for services
to be rendered Lille Wolfe and coming
infant" Mrs. G. w. Pangle.
This receipt is written on letterhead
of the institution, which bears the name
of Mrs. Pangle as superintendent, and
! there is no reason to doubt the statement
of Lacey that his trip was for the girls
welfare and to as much as possible hide
her condition from the public. He says
it was his own money he paid out fol
the care of the girl at the hospital and
in order to cut down further expense he
hired rooms in Omaha furnished foI
light housekeeping and that the girl
was always in his care, she doing the
cooking for both and looking after what
ever household duties she was able to
perform.
Lacey is an intelligent looking man OF
about 40 years of age. He takes his i'm
prisonment stoically and says he has nc
doubt that he will be liberated as soon
as his side of the story is told. The
girl, Lillian Wolfe, is said to have re-
Gently passed her 10th years.
| Lacey was to have had preliminary
examination on Monday afternoon, but
owing to the non appearance of two i'm
portant witnesses the hearing was post
poned indefinitely. The crime witt
which Lacey is charged is punishable
! by term in the penitentiary of from
one to 25 wears