The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-04-08
TEACHERS SLAYER
KNOWN ABOUT HERE
Springfield Murderer Connected
with Local Breaks.
RING STOLEN FROM DIR. PRATT

Man Who Confessed wednesday 10 NIL
ing Miss Martha Blackstone Known
In Brattleboro as Railroad Employe-
Here Frequently In 1908.
The capture Of the Springfield, Mas,
aud burglar, Bertram q. Spencer,
TUESDAY. by the police Of that city and
pink.rton detectives from Boston, y oil
interest TO Brattleboro people a.
this town harbOred the man more or less
al the time during the summer of lgls.
While he passed among the townspeQple
al Brattlcboru a. a brakeman ON the Bos-
ton a Maine railroad he was engaged IN
t.rrorizing the city oi Springfield and the
town OF Greenfield. Mas, by appearing
in homes after nightfall and demanding
money and yaluablcs at the muzkle oil a
loaded revolver just how many breaks ne
committed in BrattlebOro l. not definitely
known though lac has been connected with
two. Ia fact the lootlng OF the residence
of DIR. c. ;. Pratt, July %, l@s, furnished
the clue that connected Spencer with Brat'
tleboro. During the summer OF l"s Spth'
Ger was employed as a brakeman on the
Boston a Maine railroad and ran from
Springfield, Mass, TO White River june
tion. lie was IN the habit oi staying IN
Brattleboro for number oi houis Ire,
quently in the evening and as he mingled
with the people OF the village found II
easy to get line On places that inight
Weld returns. He was known Ia have
,lept at times in caboOse near the Bos-
ton A Maine engine house and II is sup
posed that lac found II convenlnet To climb
the railroad bank where he could approach
the residence. he intended to enter. That
be was connected with the break made at
the residence of W. ii. Bracket In the
summer OF 1905 seems fairly probable ana
il l. not unlikely that tins was his ir,t
work ia this town.
The mans arrest was brought about by
Pinkerton detective, from Boston. tny
locket containing miniature pictures OF
Spencer. mother and sister proved TO be
the clue that ran the murderer down. In
September. 1909. an attempt was made 70
hurglnrize the home OF Atkins +. Blair, %
school street, Springfield. The following
morning Mr.. Blair found in his garden a
locLet with the initial, "B g. ;. en-
grayed upon the back. Mr.. Blair and
others cndeayored To lind the owner OF the
charm hut were unsuccessful. The polce
of that city were told that u they co1id
find man with the initials u. u :. VINO
had ileshy mother and a young wlie or
sister he would probably prove TO be the
mysterious burglar. To the police, now
ever, the clue yielded nothing. After the
Blackstone murder several men lhtereslSu
in ferreting out the matter made study
OF the city directory and found tne entry,
Bcrtram g. Spencer. OtaheilaIl' pos'o,
Maine. 50 Greenwich street hls was 'he
only name in the Springfield directory
having the combination OF initials sought
and resulted in tracing the criminal
Sncncer's arrest Tuesday was followed by
complete confession "Wednesday to not
only the breaks charged against HIM but
to the murder OF Miss Martha BLACKSTONE
Thursday night OF last week. as told III
The Reformer las, week.
The fact that Spencer was burglar was
practically proven a short time after ne
was taken into custody through ring en-
gr,ved with the name Walter IL. Chllds,
Rrattleboro. VT" An inquiry made lor
Mr. Childs from Springfield gave the po,
lice the information that he committed
suicide four wears ago and that shortly be
fore his death he gave his family physl-
cian, DIR. c. 5. Pratt, cameo ring en-
rrayed with his tChllds - name ana au'
drnss The Springfield authorities were
also informed that DIR. Pratts home was
b,rularized July %, 1905, and that the
ring together with other Jewelry was
taken. Among the loot found III opeu
GERS home was Daughters oi the aillsrr
can Revolution emblem in the torn OF
pin engraved with the name OF Estnel
Julia Pratt, which was taken from 'he
Pratt residence.
Wednesday morning A. - Norton Vi 'ne
Boston office OF the fihkertohs caiiie W
Brattleboro and brought WIN nm W.
pieces of Jewelry taken ir1Ih the Nv
house In the absence OF Dr' ana Mls,
Pratt the articles were shown 10 Pelsons
who might identity them Inc INNS nm;, i'ns
was positively identified by Rollm - ,
Childs. George E. Foster, Mrs. Arthur
Childs and Harry X. Lawrence. Defective
Norton attempted to connect Spencer WIN
many of the burglaries committed IN Brat
tIeboro during the past two years. Inc
| identification of the articles taken IRON tht
Pratt house made the officer positive tha'
Spencer's visits here were other 'haii a.
a railroad brakeman. The detective VISITED
A. d. WYATT and secured from nm de
scription of the articles taken from M M
house during the night of Sept. 81, i9V9
From a description of a watch and chaii
with bangle containing the Lord pray
or engraved. upon it taken from the Wyat
house it il, believed that Spencer Is re
sponsible for that break.
Tho detective was making tour of thu
railroad wards to learn what he could o
Spencer when word was sent from Spring
f;eld that the man had confessed. Mr.
Wnrton @ % Immediately gave up his quest TO
information from railroad employees an'
came came uptown to interview DR.. G. F. Bar
har fa,1 reIatiye 10 a revolver that was stolel
F"a, @ h;s house some time ago At tn
sana lsUma time some money was stolen from