Milford chronicle., 1911-10-27
ACCUSES PASTOR
OF SLAYINC GIRL
Rev. RiChaSOD Charged with
Causing Miss LinnGIPS Death.
CAUGHT AT FIANCEE'S HOME
Druggist Says He Sold Minister
Cyanide Of Potassium Before Death
Of Girl.

g of Girl.
Charged with the murder of Miss
i Avis Linnell, a pretty choir singer and
# music student, to whom he was atten'
b tive and to whom he is reported to
h have been engaged before he broke
| with her to become a suitor for the
I hand of Miss Violet Edmands, a rich
I Brookline society girl, Rev. Clarence
, Virgil Thompson Richeson is in the
. Charles street pail in Boston, held
! without bail The case is one Of the
: most sensational and dramatic that
? New England ever has known.
! William b. Watts. deputy superin-
tendent OF police, declares that Ricne-
son was arrested on information sub
stantiated by the police that the had
bought a quantity of cyanide Of po-
tassium al a drug store in Newton
Centre on Oct. 10. This was the poi
son which caused Miss Linnells death.
! RichesOn. a young, handsome, brill
liant man, is the idol of his large and
wealthy congregation Of the Imman-
uel Baptist church, of Cambridge, and
his wedding on Oct. 81 to Miss Ed.
mands was to have been one of the !
brilliant society events Of the fall sea
son. Instead he will be arraigned on |
for the murder of Miss Linnell
The young minister was arrested in /
the Edmands home, following the dis
covery Of what the police declare to
be proof positive that he had recently
bought cyanide of potassium, the dead
Iy drug that killed Miss Linnell
The police say that they have evi-
dence that Rev Mr.. Richeson bought
the poison which killed the girl. with
whom he had been friendly and to
whom he was at one time reported
engaged. The information was given
to them by William Hahn, a druggist |
al Newton Centre. Hahn has known
Rev Richeson well from lhe time the
young minister was student at the
Newton Theological school From
Hahn's tale the poison was bought by
Rev. Richeson on Oct 10.
Il was in my store on the afternoon
OF Oct. 10. when Rev Richeson drop.
ped in said the druggist Il knew
him well from his student days. but Z
had not seen him for a long time He {
greeted me cordially and then began Z
to complain about a dog ne had. He s
said that the animal was whining and '
growing continually and he wanted to
put it out Of the way told him that v
didn't know that he had a dog but Fl
he said that he had. and then went on n
70 describe it. :,
when he spoke of killing the dog n
suggested that he chlorofOrm it, but q
le said that this would cause too n
much of smell Besides. he want
ID something that would do the work
quickly
Then | said: Well. here is some -,
yanide Of potassium. That will kill "
uickly enough, and the minister said, I,
Well, give me some Of that } warn
d him that il was dangerous stun
nd told him to be very care nj about ~
sing it Then I gave him enough to ~
i'll three or four dogs When ] had
laced this in the paper the minister
aid. Well you had better put in - -
ome more so a'dei two or three az
hunks TO what ! had already. ladled
lt What ] gave him was enough TO
III at least ten persons
After he had received the cyanide. me
ev. Richeson said to me: ca
You will receive an invitation to ke
y wedding, and | don't want you to rai
ii to come to It. Then he added. re
his may seem very mys; erious to TIE
'u. Can YOU keep a secret? You know
haven't bought this Keep it to your ing
If With that he went away and Pu
went seen him since"
The wedding of Miss Edmands and
e clergyman was to have taken S
ace on Oct 81 in the First Baptist age
urch, at Newton Centre. More than chi
@ invitations bad been sent out for tolC
e wedding HUI
Avis Linnell, nineteen years old in
lose home was at Hyannis. Mass by
IS found dead in the bathroom of the
ung Womea's Christian Association
me in Boston last Saturday evening. c
first it was believed that she had arm
nmitted suicide, but later develop wor
nts indicated that she had un- who
owingly taken cyanide OF potassium hou
en- or sent her by some other per-
j, and which she used in the be-
that it would remedy physical con
ions which We're causing anxiety
liss Linnell had previously been a Pl
nd Of RichesOn, and it was Under wint
I'd at Hyannis that an engagement idi4S ~
'ted. Later the clergyman became barr
aged to Miss Edmands. whose faith W
is a trustee Of the Newton Theo- 20 e
cal institution, where Richeson a.
lied for the ministry. lowe
PC