The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1911-05-10
KILLED TENANT
BURIED BODY
Is the Charge Against In
diana Farmer.
HIS SON HUNTED UP EVIDENCE
And Conducted the Proceed
ingS to Establish His
Fathers Guilt.
DAUGHTER STANDS BY FATHER

Fowler, Ind, May 4.-John
Poole, a wealthy farmer, who is
guarded in Jail here by fifty depu-
~ sheriffs, to-day confessed that he
killed Joseph Kemper, a farm hand,
and then cut his body to pieces and
buried it with the refuse from
killing of hogs. He said the killing
was accidental.
The body was found buried on
his farm near here by his son, who
accused him of the murder and in
timated that the elder Poole was
guilty of murders which rival those
committed on the famous murder
farm" of Belle Guinness, at Laporte,
Ind.
With his confession, Poole said
he had killed Kemper December IL,
while out rabbit hunting when the
family was away from home. He
said they were climbing over a
fence when the gun was accidental
ly discharged. Fearing public opin-
ion was against him because he shot
a man several years ago, he said, he
cut up the body and buried il.
Two other farm hands who re-
Gently worked for Poole vanished in
a similar manner, and searchers are
digging up the farm, searching for
the bodies. These men were Chas.
Clark and Charles Mack.
The exposure of the Kemper muir
der was made by Poole and his
eighteen-year-old son, Emory, who
says his mother and sisters have had
cognizance of POOLS connection with
the disappearance of Kemper, but
have been restrained by threats of
death from making their knowledge
public. The daughter, Grace, is
student in Chicago.
Emory first made known his sus-
picions several weeks ago. He Wis
tied indianapolis and interested
detective agency in the mystery, with
the result that the elder Poole was
arrested March 16, when a mid
night search was conducted for the
body. Poole was released when
nothing was found.
Young Poole himself conducted
the search from then on, with the
result that the body was found in
a cornfield yesterday. 1t had been
dismernbered and buried at a depth
of several feet, and had been COW
cred with bones and other waste
products of several hogs killed the
day following Kemper's disappear
ance. Several pieces of bone bore
evidence of a charge of buckshot.
A carpet saturated in spots with
blood was found, but Poole explain
ed that he had been dressing rab-
bits in the house.
Poole once was tried on a charge
of shooting a neighbor, but escaped
on a plea of insanity. He was sent
to an asylum, but was paroled a few
years ago.
While the search for other bodies
is going on, neighbors have recall
ed several other mysterious disap-
pearances from the Poole farm.
Believes i'm Her Father.
Chicago, ILL.,, May Accused of
wholesale murders by his son, in
Indiana, John w. Poole has a
staunch defender in his daughter,
now in Chicago, a student at the
Englewood Business College.
Miss Grace Poole came fromFowl-
er, Ind, last Monday night to en-
ter the school, She is staying tenn
porarily at the residence of Frank
lin B. Bells, president of the school.
81 do not believe my father kill
ed Kemper or anyone else" the girl
exclaimed, when told of the charge
against her father. 81 cannot un-
derstand how brother Emory could
say that | aroused his suspicious re-
garding my father. I know moth
ing at all about it, and | feel posi-
tive that my father did not kill
Kemper. Father was insane, but
he recovered, and for a long time
has shown no signs of insanity. He
was arrested in March, but was re-
leased afterward because there was
no proof against him. My mother
has been i'll for a long time, and
am afraid that this shock will be
hard on her. Emory stirred up all
the trouble. He hates father"