New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-04-18
SAY HE SHOT O'BRIEN
-sRRESTED ON W1RSHIP.
Police Say Wmter Has Confessed to
Killing Bo5rery Character.

-sten without r struggle board the United
s,ares batteship Kearsarge. lying at the Brooklyn
So ward Edward Purcaro, a waiter, was locked
= ~ Police Headquarters yesterday afternoon,
ts-ged with the killing Of William OBrien II the
T2ouery early yesterday morning. The police say
-. rr,rcaro has made full confession, to the
.ec- that he shot only when O'Brien about TO
.+sb him with knife. Purcaro denies. it is said.
.t.t the shooting was prompted by revenge as was
animated but says that O'Brien had made many
threats 10 kill him on sight
U-hen the report OF the revolver rang out in the
-,o.erv shortly after O'Clock yesterday morning
"a "RiIly'' O'Brien, general all around bad man
"a ..s7,n fighter" sank in heap TO the sidewalk
i.b 3 bvIlet through his heart. the police started
= 80 the slayer, who had escaped in the ex-
c..-oent A Of Headquarters men were
,u-ned loose at full cry, and several arrests were
.se hut not the right -Four were gath
-e6 IN and two OF them were held in $1,000 bail.
lille the other two were allowed to go.
r.,ective Lieutenant Sommers got clew and It
- b,r, TO No s. Bridge street, where it was said
,ba+ The man ne was looking for was on board the
l,sarssrse. There Sommers went. and found Pur-
Earn who said that he lived at Nos. and Cham
81. street. and had been visiting e friend the
,.,,les,ip The prisoner was taken 10 Headquar
,.-s and put through a cross-examination by Act
ing Captain Clark
YES he is quoted as saying. "I shot o Brien
', uss either he L a couple Of times he threat
.,e5 nv life and he came at me last night with a
rnifs He slashed at and ripped my coat open.
y. vas al my throat when 1 fired and he fell
Then I walked away
.-FslIv" O'Brien. the who killed.
iii knoBn Fowery character. He was forty years
old For greater part of that time he had been
f, rsiter or bartender in those places that open
,ten The right places are closing. He had been
mixed Ut in several of the mysterious killings
,lors the BoyeTy nd his picture in the RoSues
c,rerv Some days ago O'Brien lost his job
sino. then he had been hanging around the places
,As-s he VI known. drinking heavily
sho-tl.- after i O'Clock last night, in company
-I,b man known as Harry" a piano player,
bs vert into the Bank Cafe. No 11s Rowery. next
. Steve" Brodie's plpace- The pair had many
drinks and later were Joined by a woman She
aroused O'Brien's anger by abusing him for losing
his lob and O'Brien struck her in the face. Then
there was a general fight. which ended IN Harry
and the woman leaving the place
Shortly afte-ward O'Brien himself got Up and
started out of the door AS he did so two men
started to fight the street and crowd gain
cred around them This was apparently the Tune
hono-ed plan TO the attention Of the police
!. worked. for several patrolmen ran into the
crowd. As they cid so there was a shot from
across the street The crowd. turning saw Q brieh
Slayer and Gall. and another man ran up into
hedging house at No. 1fn Bowery- The policemen
followed, but the got away
A surgeon from GoUverneur Hospital found that
oBrien had died instantly. So close had the shot
been fred that O'Brien's coat was burned around
the bullet hole.
That's what those guys get said one OF the
Bo1eryites. FOR being e squealeT.'
shortly before the shooting the word had gone
around the dance halls that -'Sheeny Bonnie Adei-
sou. who was wanted for killing 'HobnaiT Reilly
zs the latter left Niger Mixes saloon on ED
rus-y ! 1905 had been arrested in Pasadena, Cal-'
and would brought here for trial . br1en
vas the clief witness against Addison. and II was
-F,ourbt that the Iatter's friends had done the
trick"
OBrien was also the principal witness against
Pstrornan Arthur Mallon about five years ago
when MaIon was on trial for killing a gun man
named Brennan in front Of No q Bowery- Malon
shot him after an attack by the Five Points gang
and vas sentenced to twenty years in state prison
Al appeal is now pending before the Appellate
Division. Inspector McCaferty denied that the
waJIo, case had anything to do with the present
shooting P1rcaro will be arraigned in the Iofnps
police court this morning
Los Angeles, April T.-Benuy Addison alias
.sheenv Benny" was bound over to the superior
Cour; to-dav on p charge Of grand larceny ana
held in & 90 bail for trial He was removed 10 the
county jaN in this city from Pasadena "hele ho
prrerYonriuE rob & veteran