Evening journal., 1911-02-15
STAYS WIFE
TO WE'D AGAIN
Confronted by Affinity Read
ing Man is Said to Have
Confessed Murder
HAD FIXED THE
MARRIAGE For WILMINGTON

READING. Pa. Feb 15.-Matthew
T. Vanaman, held here on the charge
OF the murder OF his young wife Mon
day morning. broke down before Mag
istrate Koch last night and confessed
when confronted by Ella Wessner,
the 20-year-Old girl OF Blandon, this
county, whom he had courted and
promised TO marry next month.
Vanaman confessed that he had
murdered his wife I'm order TO be in
a better position to marry the girl.
The confession marked the climax %
an examination that had been care
fully planned by the authorities. VAN
aman was brought down from jail and
was permitted to tell his story. Cross
examined by Assistant District At
torney Duman, he denied his intimacy
with the Wessner girl and even de-
MED that he knew her.
Suddenly she came forward from
an inner room, in which she had been
listening He almost collapsed when
she took the stand. Miss Wessner re-
peated the story she had told the Dis
trlct Attorney earlier in the day.
Bit by bit the details Of the tragedy
were wrested from Vanaman, who de-
scribed how he spent the night asleep
on the couch, and how, early in the
morning he went to his wife's room
and. securing a revolver from the
dresser, placed il at her head and
pulled the trigger. The revolver. he
said, he threw I'm the Schuylkill river
several hours after the shooting. He
would not admit that he afterward SET
fire TO the bed.
were TO Marry In Wilmington. :
Ine girls story disclosed the hus-
bands duplicity and unfaithfulness TO
MS wife, who was a good housekeeper
ana mother. Learning for the first
time that he wooer was a ma -ried
man, Miss Wessner was overcon,e q
WIN grlef as she told Assistant Dis
ulct Attorney Dunn that Vanaman
nad courted her for the last four
months and had promised to wed her
at Wilmington. the second week in
WIN approaching maternity as a
secret the deceived girl kent her own
counsel and made preparations for
the coming wedding. I'VE will Keen
our wedding a secret" he told me
We're the words the gil told Assistant
District Attorney Dunn in his ofice
added ~ i've ne
Inc lack OF money was the only re
naming obstacle in the way of the
designing husband and deceiver ot
the affections Of an innocent co,r,,.,,
stL sIiL his eager attempt to surmouni
snls oinlculty proved to be another
step IN MS downfall. When he called
AZ the hospital 10 secure legal prool
rom the physicians of his Wife's
ueath In order to receive payment q,
insurance funds, he was confronts5
WIN TIE charge of wife murder anS
the only retort from him as he eazos
upon MS wife's corpse al the moron
was, wonder how the bullet womb.
got IN her head?" "'ui'l'
lhe authorities are convinced +h.,
the husband, under pretense OF FEELING
unwell. lay on a couch down stairs
until he was sure that his wife and
baby We're asleep. Their theory is
that about $50 a. m. on Monday he
crept to his wife's bedside and shot
her as she slept
Husband COntradicts Himself.
The husband contradicted himself
IN his statement regarding the fire
He tells three conflicting stories
First. he said he grabbed his infant
child from the bed where II silent
besides the mother Then he said the
child was upon the floor when he de-.
tected the odor of smoke upon helms
awakened by the telephone call from
holb's bakery. where he was employ.
ed. The third version given by III,
husband is that he carried the child
down stairs. The District Attorne,
Is OF the opinion that the father hal
baby ~
Nanaman would have secured tw,
insurance policies held by his wife fo
amounts of S1l7 and $50 respectiveIv
Besides, he would have received AZ
IN death benefits in four lodges a
Birdshoro and the Cadet Band Asso
citation of Reading.