Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-05-16
Young's Arrest Brought
About by Statements of
Allen Who Had Been Held
AS Murder Suspect.
ATTEMPT ALSO MADE
TO MURDER ALLEN
After Being Thrown Into
Race He Swan Ashore
Many Robberies Cleared
Up; Nelson Suspect Held

N The unrelenting pursuit by Sheriff
w. e. Knox OF the murderer OF
Thomas McGrah, whose mutilated re-
Il mains were taken from the race near
Nthe Union depot Monday afternoon,
was rewarded late last night in the
,Ap9olice station when Charles Young,
Gsunable to Withstand the whitening
ny questions propounded by Sheriff Knox,
" Chief Joseph Beeman and Night Cap
tain Matt Mier, made a full confession
Vi not only of the McGrah murder but OF
(Na number of other crimes as well.
Some Of these were unsolved mystic
lies to the police both in Ottumwa and
Elsewhere, and cover period of two
|Iyyears. Among the crimes cleared up
Skoy the confession are the sandbagging
robbery of Fred Millett on North
NWapello street Christmas eve, 1909,
wnen Mr.. Millett, who is commercial
traveller, was assaulted and robbed
within short distance Of his home,
and left lying on the sidewalk until
help arrived. The Santen saloon was
], also robbed by Young according to the
confession, in which he related the
/ story in:detail telling how he forced
the occupants of the saloon to go into
Ne Ice box while he robbed the till.
ri. . likewise gives the name Of one OF
M B partners whom he called Davis, as
y}H, % perpetrator of the hold-up of Of
HHIter Nels Nelson in January when the
tJBphceman was relieved of his gun in
gae O'Hara livery stable on the south
IR8ide. A house robbery in st. Louis
Sil tier Christmas and the robbery of a
IAN In Davenport year ago last fall
dare among the crimes confessed by
0Young. Immediately after the con-
81 ssion Young was hurried to- Oska-
in Ssa In an auto.
90 Following IL lead given them by
ST Se confession the police department
vgrrested Jim Davis of Central addi-
N ton and he was taken to the Oska-
gfloosa jail this afternoon.
| History Of Crime.
A, The shocking discovery of body in
the race near the Union depot Monday !
d afternoon about / o'clock was the first
knowledge given the public that a
\ crime had been committed, and the
i Identification of the remains as that of
\ Thomas McGrah, q young man living
near Chillicothe, started Sheriff W. e.
Knox on the case. The. first move
kmade was. to see the father OF the
&dead man whose face and throat
b showed knife cuts that made it ap.
1 pear as If murder instead of suicide
caused the death. From the elder
McGrah it was learned that John
i (Simmie) Allen, q friend and compan-
Mon OF the murdered man, had called
" on the father previously to the finding
OF the body and asked if the son had
J returned home. He told the father
that he. (Allen) and Tommy had been
!, in the river at Ottumwa and that while
Nhe got out, he did not know whether
II Tommy did or not, and wondered If he
\ had come home.
A warrant was sworn out for the ar
rest OF Allen by the father of the muir
dered man at the request of Sheriff
Knox, and with this in his possession,
the sheriff left for Chillicothe Tues
day at D. M, and placed Allen under
arrest. He brought Allen on the Bur-
lington way, freight to Ottumwa, ar
irving here about 3 o'clock, and when
getting OFF the train at the Union de-
NJ. he took Allen with him and to-
or they went over the ground
where the crime took place. No
amount of sweating could bring to the
mind OF Allen very clear statement
Of what took place. He had vague
recollection of having come to OttumW-
Ma with Tommy McGrah Monday or
tuesday the week previous. Further
4Bh knew that both had been in the
and thought they had been
Wicked into the water, and said that
Me remembered Tommy McGrah ask
ling that he help him (McGrah) out OF
the water, but that when he got out
he did not see Tommy afterward.
The. Arrest Of Young.
He did recollect after considerable
probing By Sheriff Knox that there was
another person with them and from the
dcarrinticn given the sheriff by Allen.
he was certain that Charles Young was
the man with the two who he'd been IN
the race. The next move made ~ sher
III Knox was to ask the police 10 b:
rest Young. This he did by calling at
the police station Tuesday evening
and asking Chief Beeman and Night
Captain Mier to have their men get
Young and hold him for the sheriff UNI
til morning. They asked him what
charge they should file against him
,and were told to make it vagrancy. /
eAbout 10: 80 o'clock Captain Mier ar