Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-10-24
PREACHER FEARED
!. SCARLET Letter
MODERN ARTHUR DIMMESDAl9
PREFERRED MURDER TO
SHAME.
POLICE EVIDENCE IS DAMNINC
Police Have Woven . Net Of Circun,'
stances Around Rev. Richeson
That Seems Impossible to
Break Through.

9Teak SnIOu9U'
Boston, Oct. 23.-Rev. Clarence V,
r. Richeson, a modern Arthur Dim
mesdale of 1.-The Scarlet Letter." who
is accused of the murder, as we'll az
the betrayal, of Avis Linnell, the pref
ty young choir singer, in giving her
q deadly dose of cyanide OF potassium
under the guise of a harmless medi'
cine which would spare them both a
publication of their shame, is held in
a remarkable chain Of circumstantial
evidence which the police have forged.
link by link.
The cruel and tragic death OF Miss
Linnell which Rev. Mr.. Richeson treat
ed so lightly has been laid at his door
and the following facts have been es'
tablished:
Mr.. Richeson bought quantity OF
cyanide of potassium and enjoined
secrecy upon the druggist who sold
him the poison.
Following the purchase of the poison
he telephoned to Miss Linnell at the
Y. w. c. A., in Boston, where she had
q room while here as student OF
music and a choir singer. This was
on Friday, Oct. 10. Over the tele'
phone he was heard to make an ap'
pointment to meet Miss Linnell the
following day and she was happy over
the opportunity to meet her preacher
sweetheart and perhaps hoped to hear
from his lips that the report OF his
engagement to an heiress was untrue.
Miss Linnell told a number Of her
friends that she had an appointment
for luncheon the next day with her
friend" whom all knew as Rev. Mr..
Richeson.
Two Important Witnesses.
A witness has been found who Is
not q member of the Y. w. c. A. and
knew nothing about Miss Linnelrs ap'
pointment, but who met the young wo'
man late Saturday afternoon and Miss
Linnell told her that she had lunched
that day with the Baptist clergyman.
Another witness who identity the
police are guarding with jealous care
declares that she saw Rev. Mr.. Richie
son and Avis Linnell at luncheon in q
restaurant together on Saturday. The
police have even found, they say. the
restaurant in which this last and tragic
luncheon occurred.
Saturday evening Miss Linnell was
found dying in the bathroom OF the
7. w. C. A. She died whispering that
she had lunched with Mr.. Richeson,
and an investigation showed that she
had taken a quantity of cyanide Of
potassium. Mute evidence made It
clear that the young woman had not
taken the dose with suicidal intent.
Richeson was called on the tele.
phone and told Of Miss Linnells death.
He appeared to be annoyed and
wished to know why he had been no.
tilted. He was told that he was
known as the fiance of Miss Linnell
and her friends at the Y. w. G. A. un-
derstood that she had lunched with
him that day. The minister denied
stoutly that no had seen Miss Lin.
nell.
Betrayed BY Druggist.
Thursday the druggist who sold Mr..
Richeson the cyanide Of potassium told
the police Of the minister's purchase
and admonition Of secrecy. The min
lister was located ut the home of his
fiance, Miss Edmands, where he spent
the night. The police who called
were denied admission, but the fol-
lowing morning he was found and
placed under arrest. He made no
statement. This is the evidence
against the Rev. Mr.. Richeson.
From the basis facts the police are
weaving together a net of circumstan-
tial evidence of veil-like fineness from
which they believe the prisoner will
not be able to escape and at the same
time building up a tragic romance even
more absorbing and sad than Haw-
thorne's tale of Old Salem Town, and
the fate of Arthur Dimmesdale and
Hester Prynne.
From his cell Richeson anticipated
the action Of the church authorities
by resigning his pastorate of the Inn
manuel Baptist church in Cambridge.
Miss Edmand3 who was to have been
married to the young minister on Oc-
tober 81, is sick with grief over his
predicament but is loyal to the accus.
ed man and her father, Moses Grant
Edmands, the Brookline millionaire,
engaged Philip r. Dunbar, promi.
nent attorney, to defend Richeson.
Mr.. Dunbar will be assisted by his
father, former Judge James w. Dun
bar. Mr.. Edmands called upon Richie
son in his cell and told of his own
and his daughters belief in his limo
cense and pledged his support to the
limit of his resources in his defense
Many people can be found who ad,
NIT that Mr.. Richeson was most &C.
centric person but there are none who
express the opinion that his mind was
unbalanced at the time this deed was
committed. DR.. H. NJ. Gardner, who
has performed professional services
for the clergyman, made the following
statement for the press:
Only Case Of Nerves.
Il have treated Mr.. Richeson for
about six months. His only ailment
is case of nerves.
"The only medicine have pre-
scribed for him is what is ordinarily
prescribed in cases of nervous break.
down and his condition was due
wholly to overwork. There is abso'