The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-02-19
ONLY ONE POINT
RfckeIs Case Has a Single Baf-
fling Feature.
That Is How Mans Cap Was
Shot to Pieces.
THE TOP Uao iORN OUT
But Lining Had Not Been
Mutilated.
COrOner's Inquest VIII Be Re-
Sumed Tomorrow.

Any effort to surround the RickelS
killing with battling mystery and So
satfonalism, is considered a huge joke
BY people who have followed the dou-
Bile killing since the bodies of Rickels
and his stepdaughter we're found four
days ago. Not one person familiar
with the case has been found who is
able to support the third party theory
or offer a motive for their actions.
In the district where he lived Rick
els did not have an enemy. He never
attended social affairs in the school
district and scarce had personal ac-
ouaintance in the community. His
only trouble was of a domestic nature
Cara -seIIc A5t-cf-.eS, ~ ~~--
old stepdaughter, was the only person
who could well have figured in Thurs
day. killing.
Immediately following the double
tra gady, it was urged that a third per-
son fnterfered to protect the young
girl from shame. Aust iminedld-Sly
this theory was Sidetracked by posi-
tive evidence showing that the girl
was not eVading Rickels forced at
tentfon at the time she was shot Her
only encounter with the stepfather
was perhaps some minutes before she
was killed. She was the first to die
Both We're killed by different charges
from the same gun. The same SIZE
shot that killed Clara Belle Stickney'
ended John ]. Rickels life The same
gun did double execution ana WIN
out question the same person fired the
two shots. Rickels fell upon the gun
after it was fired and two discharged
shells we're found=one on the ground
and the other in the gun
That person could have scarce been
other than the insanely jealous step
father. No other member OF the
Rickels family could have paruc1pat-
ed in the killing. That another person
could have advanced on the armed
Rickels until he was able to press the
barrel of a shot gun against his head,
is considered preposterOus. The shot
that brought death to Rickels was 1ired
at such close range, as to cause con
CusSiOn and blew away almost the en-
tire top of the mans head 1t scared
4be SCALP to the bone. When the girl
was killed, the barrel of the gun was
six or eight inches from her head.
These facts are shown by power burns
found on the bodies at the time OF
the post mortem examination
Condition of Cap Unexplained.
ONLY the condition of RickePs cap
seems to remain unexplained The cap
was shot through the top, but the I'm
4n0 was not torn This condition has
been partly explained by person
familiar with the examination It IS
argued that the conclusion Occas1oned
bv the shot fired at close range, threw
the cap from Rickels head and was
perforated with shot before 1t struck
ground
The condition of the cap might be due
TO cuts made before the killing, but in /
no sense aids in the third party IDEA |
The gun that killed RickelS was point |
ed upward at an angle at least 90
degrees and with Rfcke1S standing /
nearly at the bottom of the ravine, it |
would have been impossible for a third /
Dartv TO have fired the SO except he |
had lain prone on the ground Then {
too is the finding of the two recently I
exploded gun shells and the fact that
Rickels' hand still clasped the barrel of
his Gun. These conditions have put the
Intervention of third person beyond a /
reasonable possibility
THAT is not all In the Rickels fam |
IL vas a decided suicidal tendency. /
R{clxe1s' father killed himself. John |
J. Rfckels often threatened to take his /
own life. once he tried it. Every &C !
ton shown in the recent double kill !
ing had been threatened and predict /
ed by Rickels on numerous occasions /
These facts are important in the sOlu- |
ton of killing. Theories other than
that Rickels committed suicide are
practically without standing ground. /
An effort has been made to mystify
and puzzle the public by hints of I'M
published circumstances But the
men who have done the real work on
the case appreciate that the mySterl-
Gus references are but vain efforts to
explain the misleading early reports
of the killing. There is not an officer
in the court house who IS honestly
puzzled because of the lack of a SOlu-
ton of the killing. The only puzzle
which anyone has confronted is to
harmonic early reports with subse-
Quent development and hesitancy to
admit that Rickels killed himself.
The Rickels- Stickney funeral was
held Sunday morning at ConwelIs I'M
dertaking rooms in North Topeka.
Seevral hundred morbid. curious peo-
pie viewed the bodies yesterday before
they were taken to Silver Lake for
burial. Only the relatives and a few