The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-11-21
LAYS ALL BAKE
Tails # Ills D uble Life, His Many
RIB .ries and 0ther crimss.
ENDING VITA CRIME.

Escaped Suspicion of Thirteen Ihefts'
sut on Unlucky Fourteenth Lost
Locket That Led to Detection and
On Fifteenth Shot and Killed a
Young Woman.
The confession Of Bertram Geger
Spencer, on trial for the murder OF
Miss Martha B. Blackstone at Spring
feld. Mass, as made to representa-
tiyes of the State Detective Bureau
and municipal police shortly follow
ing his arrest, is one Of the queer
est of documents and tells all ABOUT
a series OF crimes committed at
Springfield by him, while holding a
responsible position in a business
house of that city as shipping clerA'
and looked upon by all as an honest
industrious citizen.
No fiction can equal this confess
sion--equal the contradictory phases
OF character displayed in q man who
could invade a home to loot 1t, VINO
could shoot down defenseless women
and. OF the other hand, could polite
ly listen to frightened, fainting wo-
mans request for a glass of water
and fetch it to her, or eouli sympa-
thetiaally consider a mothers plea
on Christmas Eve that the gifts she
had to place in the little ones stock
ings and on the family hearth should
not be stolen:
Yet in this confession Is also the
raise into madness the anger OF nor
NAL men-confessions that he not
only robbed women but that he bound
and gagged them and showed an
other phase Of his despioable char
acter.
When the locket, lost during an
attempted burglary six months be-
fore, had been traced 10 him and the
detectives went to the place where
he worked as shipping clerk and told
him he was under arrest as suspect
in the murder of Miss Martha Black
stone, they said that he had first
demanded:
'Is this a joke?"
ut is too serious matter for us
to come here and joke about" one
detective said.
Spencer had called to his employ
er, a Mr., Handy:
"Why, Mr.. Handy, what do you
think? These men have come to ar
rest me for the murder Of Miss Black
stone up there in Round Hill. What
do you think of that?"
Ills employer had reassurod him TO
the extent of saying that he had bet
ter go with the officers, with the as
surance that if he were innocent
everything would come out all right.
"All right" he answered, then III
CO."
At midnight on the day Of his ar
rest he was in CELL the many arti-
cles found in his house had been
identified as stolen things; the re-
yolver and mask and searchlight Ian
tern and belt and holster had been
uncovered there.
The testimony is that Spencer
called to State Detective Flynn,
whom he saw in the corridor, anu
asked:
rs it true that this drunken fool
over there in that cell has been hol-
lering all night; that Mrs. Dow and
one of her daughters has identified
ME as She man who murdered Miss
Eiackstone?"
This drunken man" was q police
ruse. -...
That's something can't discuss
with you," said Flynn.
Spencer already knew that Mrs.
Dow and her uninjured daughter,
Miss Lucy Dow, had identified a bead
ed belt and nearl brooch found at
his home as articles stolen from them
on the night of the murder.
1t was two days later, he said to
the detectives. that he desired to tell
everything. They warned him they
were policemen and would tell what
he told them to the courts. He said:
Il don't care. I want to tell you
Verbatim extracts from his confes
sion will perhaps prove the most in
teresting. He tells, for instance, Of
entering a house by a window and
discovering a man and woman talk
ing. From their talk he gathered
that the man would son retire. so he
rolled under the bed in back room
and waited.
1.-THE man went upstairs. Then
this lady came in and locked the
doors and went to bed. l must have
stayed there an hour or two waiting
for her to go to sleep and every time
that l would make the least move to
come out I could hear her kind Of
sigh.
when l got up to the edge Of the
bed she rose up and screamed. Then
her position changed from a sitting
to lying position. demanded mon
ey and jewelry. While l was talking
to her she pulled off some rings and
dropped them into the bed. and saw
her and said: What did you do?