Milford chronicle., 1912-12-06
HICKEY ADMITS
MURDER OF BOYS
Killed One in New YOTE a91
One in LaGkaBanla.
GIVES S,,3HED STATEMENT
Attributes His Crimes to Excessive
Use of Liquor-Has Mania Fer XII
ing Boys When Drunk.

.
ing Boys When Drunk.
J. Frank Hickey made full con
fession OF the murder on Oct. u, 1911,
/ OF Joseph Josephs, the seven-y a q
boy, of Lackawanna, a suburb o.
falo, N. Y; also of Michael Kluck, .
New York newsboy, Dec. u, 1902
Death in both instances was caused
by strangulation. Hickey attribu ed
his crimes to the excessive use o..
liquor. When drunk, he said, he was
possessed Of an irresistible mania loiI
killing boys. He denied that he hac
committed other similar crimes, an
said he was repentant for his deed
and expected to pay the penalty.
The confession was mSte to Wesley
c. Dudley the district attorney. The
whole tale has been reduced to a fer
NAL statement and has been signed by
Hickey.
Hickey is forty-seven years old and
divorced. He has a son twenty-one
years old He is a chemist by profes
sion and is possessed of the mildesi
manners and the most ingratiating
personality.
Previously he has admitted to the
police that he is a drunkard and OF
several occasions was an inma,e O.
the Keswick Colony of Mercy, where
drunkards are given a chance to re
form. 1t is located near Writings
N. j., the place Hickey was traced tc
through letters he had written, these
letters being the principal and, for 6
time, the only clues to the murder OF
Joseph Josephs, whose dismembere
body was found in an outhouse neal
his home on Nov. 16 last.
Josephs disappeared on the after
noon of Oct. u, 1911. It was at frs
believed he had been drowned, bu
his father, George Josephs, promi
nent merchant of Lackawanna, insist
ed that the boy had been kidnapped
and a countrywide search was insd
tuted
The case attracted widespread at
tention, as the father from time t.
time received anonymous letters warn
ing him to discontinue the search IN
der threat that his son would be mu'
dered. In one postal card from Bosto1
the then unidentified writer wrote OIL
boy in Central park, New
York city. 1t reads:
Wednesday night, Dec. 10, 1862,
enticed Michael Ricao Kruck, a news
boy, into the park opposite the en-
trance to the arsenal police station.
him and just escaped the
officer who found him. Three times
have taken life, twelve times have
ried and cannot help it."
Another card, dated Oct. 80, 1912
was as follows:
Joseph JOsephs will be found ir
he bottom of the outhouse back Of sa
Don near Doyle's, on Ridge road. A
Trunk crazed brain done the deed and
'emorse and sorrow for the parents l.
bringing the results which will sool
,ome to an end The demon whi.k,
will then have one more victim, max
ng four in all The next morning !
ried to kill little newsy, an Italian
Who always stands in the morning al
seneca street The boy knew me well
Ask him. l wish to pay the price, but ,
will not let the Boston police get ms !
or my family's sake" {
The principal evidence in the hands J
# the police up to two weeks ago was I
letter written under a New York 7
ate and mailed at Writings, N. J., on
'eb l, 1912.
That letter was turned over to the
olice by John Hoskyn, chief mill
fright of the American Chemical Ag
icultural Works, of Buffalo. Hoskyr I
aid the writer applied for a job in
be chemical works on Sept. 13, 1911
he applicant seemed to be above the
lass of work obtainable in the plant U
ut he accepted employment and re )
lained there four days. On departing
e promised to write Hoskyn, which a
e did four months afterward. v
The police then traced Hickey to g
where he was arrested.