Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1912-01-11
RCHEsgIl|At'S
F[L CONF t6s66|d|.
ACCUSED MINISTER ADMITS MUIR.
DER OF: GIRL WHO WAS 70
HAVE BEEN HIS WIFE.
LETTER 70 HIS. ATTORNEY
States That His Motive Was to be
Free to Marry the Heiress, Violet
Edmands- PROSECUTOR Do
'nands Death Penalty.

4 mands-Prosec utor De
mands Death Penalty.
Boston, Jan. 8.That he was re-
sponslble for the death Of Avis Lin
nell was the confession made by Rev.
Clarence Sla v. I. Richeson, in order
that he would be free to marry Violet
hdmands, Brookline heiress. The
Confession is in the form of a letter
Written by the minister to his attor.
ney. in which he recites the story Of
his crime The complete text Of the
confession follows:
Boston, Jan. 8, 1912. John u.
Lee, Esq. w. A. Morse, ESQ.,, Philip
r. Dunbar, ESQ
Gentlemen-Deep penitent for
my SIN and earnestly desiring, as far
\ as IN my power lies, to make atone
sn1ent, = hereby confess that am guilty
Ct the offense of which stand in
dicted.
= am moved to this course by no
lndacement Of settlement or lenience,
fitelnous as is my crime, God has not
wholly abandoned me and my con
& science and manhood, however de-
PRAYED and blighted, will not admit
e my still further wronging by a
public trial her, whose pure young
life have destroyed. Under the lash
iags OF remorse have suffered and
ar2 suffering the tortures of the
damned. A
In this find measure of comfort.
= my mental anguish recognize that
there is still, by the mercy of the
1aster, some remnant Of the divine
ssark of goodness still lingering with
in me. could wish to live only be-
cause within some PRISONS walls l
might IN some small measure, redeem
my sinful past, help some other de-
snairing soul and at last, find favor
with my God
You are instructed to deliver this
to the district attorney or to the Judge
of the court.
Sincerely yours,
Clarence v. T. Richeson."
After receiving the. letter, his law
yers went hurriedly to the Office Of
District Attorney Pelletier, in charge
OF the prosecution, and pleaded with
him for leniency for the murderer.
Pelletier refused. Nothing, he said,
would be promised If Richeson wish
ed to change his mind about his
plea of mot guilty." he must do so
in the full knowledge that at the end
OF the story stood the chair of death.
Crime Strange One.
The crime, with the person involved
and the setting, has become one of the
most famous in New England's crimi-
nal annals. Clarence Virgil Thompson
Richeson, handsome young Virgin.
ian, was pastor of little Baptist
church in Hyannis. Mass, the little
Cape Cod town where Avis Linnell
was the. reigning BELLE
Richeson soon became engaged to
the girl, but, after row with his con-
| gregation, resigned and accepted the
| pastorate of the Emmanuel Baptist
church of Cambridge, fashionable
| Boston district. There he met and be-
came engaged to Miss Violet Ed.
mands, herself worth half a million
| dollars and heir to greater part OF
| the vast estate of her father, Noses
Grant Edmands
Although his engagement to Miss
Edmands was known, Avis Linnell
was kept in ignorance of it. She went
to Boston to study music in the con-
servatory Of music. She told several
persons she was engaged to Richeson.
Strong Case Against Him.
On the night of Saturday, Oct. ~,
/ 1911 Miss Linnell was found dying II
1 the bathroom in the Young Women's
Christian association building. For q
time it was thought she had commit
ted suicide, and an examination OF her
body showed she had been killed by
| cyanide of potassium
| Richeson disappeared Immediately
but was arrested few days later in
the. home OF Edmands, where he was
in hiding. He denied his guilt, but the
state wove about him strong circum-
stantial case.
l. i75st
It was proved that he had bought
the cyanide from q druggist, William
Hahn, Of Newton Center, Mass, The
state cont that Richeson had
given the girl the poison under the
guise Of medicine, and that she had
swallowed it voluntarily, believing it
was the medicine ne claimed it to be.
Only. q, few days before Christmas
Richeson sta bed himself ia the groin
with piece 81 tin and for q time was was
thought to be in q dying condition.
Alaska Bankers In Court.
Juneau, Jan 8, {. --7- lem Il. Summers.
former president, and Stuart g. Holt,
former cashier Of tie First National
ha III 81 in fha