The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-07-22
He Shot Sister.


miles northeast of here, in Dixon !
county, two weeks ago tomorrow af I
ternoon.
Flege confessed to the murder last |
night. The hired man, Heinrich |
Eichenchamp, who saw the tragedy, |
broke down under pressure from |
Sheriff Mears and also told the story. |
Flege had threatened to kill the !
hired man, youth of Is years, If he
ever breathed word of the crime.
Flege Taken to Ponca.
Flege was arrested last night by
Sheriff Mears of Wayne county, who
will probably get the $4,000 reward
that was offered, and was hurriedly
taken to Ponca, the county seat of
Dixon county in an automobile The
quickly gathering mobs of men in
Wayne made it seem unsafe to keep
the prisoner here over night.
The hired man was also taken to
Ponca. They were driven over in the
automobile of DR.. w. B. Vail, former
ly of Norfolk. With them was Sheriff
w. C. Davenport of Sioux City, who
had been working on the case.
Mears Gets the Confession.
Sheriff Mears did great work on the
case. He has been getting on conf
dental terms with William Flege for
some time. He got Flege to believe
that he suspected somebody else. Yes
terday afternoon he drove to Altoona
with Flege, hunting a clew apparent
ly on the Hogrefe murder case, and
while there Mears told Flege that he
believed people suspected him.
Flege Acts Like Man Shot.
Flege,y when confronted with this
accusation, acted like a man who had
been shot. He started toward fence
and went part way through it, His
actions were so dramatic that Mears
concluded instantly that he had found
the murderer And he fastened hack
to the Flege farm to wiring a confes-
sion from the hired man.
The hired man was pretty nearly
frightened to death. Having been
told that he would be instantly killed
if he ever revealed a word of the
tragedy, he was afraid of death if he
tactful pressure to bear, however
that finally the young fellow admitted
that William Flege had killed the girl
and that he (thc hired NAM had
seen the shooting.
Hired Man Tells of Crime.
Eichenchamp said he was just leav.
ing the barn on Thursday afternoon,
June 80, for the field when he heard
Will Flege and his sister quarreling
; at the house, 200 feet away. He heard
shot and looking around, saw the
girl fall, MORALLY wounded. in the
farmyard. Then the brother, appar.
!, emily in fiendish glee, stood over the
wounded form of his sister and fired
another bullet into her body.
Then Threatens Eye Witness.
Having killed his sister, the demon
turned on the hired man and warned
him never to tell, if he valued his
life.
Eichenchamp then went to the tield
- and the murderer jumped into his au
tomobile and drove to Allen, return
ing late that night when a telephone
. message told him that his sisters
body had been found.
Murderer Goes Counting Girl.
g The murderer was counting his
q sweetheart, Miss Hinrich, when q tele
c phone call came to him that the sister
q had been found. The next night, as
c was recorded in these columns some
q days ago, Flege's eyes were sunker
f in and he looked as if he were under
n terrific nervous strain. His gull
q was at once suspected.
" And it was his sweetheart, whom
% he wished to marry and bring TO hi
!. home, that apparently was at the bot
a tom of the crime, together with
# question of property interests.
Will Flege is about 40 years old ant
has been known in the neighborhoot
as Crazy Flege"
d The boy farmland was taken be
e. fore his own father to tell his stor
IS and here, in the presence of his PAL
n, ent, he almost weakened, withdraw
r ing some of the statements he ha
IS made to the sheriff. 1t is suppose
At he feared his fathers wrath over hay
y ing concealed his secret so long.
I'd, Crowds Gather at Wayne.
AS soon as it was known that Fleg
had been arrested, crowds began t
gather on the streets here and Sheri
d. Mears felt that there would be dan
re ger of lynching if Flege was ALLOW
ne ed to stay in the jail here over nigh
". The garage was closed after Vail
ed car was taken out, and the sheriff an
ne his prisoner were slipped out of tow
he as quietly as possible.
Ir. Gloomy on The Way over.
n. On the way TO Ponca in the aut
on mobile Flege maintained gloomy 6
nd 'lence. He said not word. And yhe