The Washington herald., 1912-07-07
CHINESE SLAYER
dies In ASYLUM
Long Criminal Record Of Four
Killings and Easy Sentences
Regarded as Remarkable.

Fishkill Landing. N. r.. July a.
Quimbo Apo. known to the inmates Of
the State Hospital for the Criminal In
sane at Matteawan as The Emperor Of
China" and to the police Of America
as the most notorious Chinese slayer who
ever came to this country. died LAST
Tuesday at the asylum. and the inmates
are expressing genuine sorrow. Ever since
Apo broke down mentally while serv-
ing a term for murder In the State
prison, and was Transferred to Mattea-
wan. he has been an object Of much
interest. His delusion that he was En-
Lperor of China was hundred by all who
saw him and the name had stuck 70 him
for years.
Apo had other decisions prominent
among which were the beliefs that he had
an army of 100000 men fntrenched at
Newburgh, vast fotilla Of men-o-war
anchored in the Hudson, a great group OF
hotels scattered over the country, and .
fortune whose only limit was found in
a transient vasary. When Harry Thaw
came to Matteawan the aged Celestial
took a great fancy to him. having read
much of the Thaw trials In tho; papers.
and persisted in sleeping in an adjoining
cot. As special favor Quimbo made
Thaw commapder-in-chief Of his armies
and on the following day dubbed him
admiral of his navies- Thaw finally had
to appeal to the authorities for relief.
Died At Age of Eighty-seven.
Apo was eighty-seven years old at the
time of his death. Thirty-seven years Of
his life had been passed in prison. He
freely admitted three killings. and was
convicted Of a fourth. to which he did
not confess. One of his victims was an
Irish wife, whom he married while in
toxicated. and he nearly murdered q
second wife, also white. Once he was
sentenced to the gallows. He escaped
the consequences OF another crime by
enlisting in the United States Navy as
cook.
Cultivated. well educated, and q most
agreeable companion when sober, Apo
was at one time ruler of New York's
Chinatown. He was brought to this
country when a young man by a retiring
Chinese Minister. In the gold craze OF
1919 in California, Apo and a Mexican
staked out claim and set to work to-
gether. Later the Chinese killed his
companion. asserting that he was being
robbed. He enlisted in the navy and
cooked for three years after this.
Shortly after Quimbo. whose name
means devil" settled in New York as
a successful tea merchant he murdered
a woman of the slums whom he had
married. The crime took place just
after the birth OF a son. George, whose
criminal record proved to be worthy OF
his parentage. Quinlbo in all his trials
managed to put up a particularly clever
self-defense plea. and in this case such
procedure earned for him the commu-
tatiCn of a death sentence to life i'm
prisonment. After serving five years IN
the State prison he professed religion and
was pardonsd.
Married White Woman.
In 1854 he killed another man and was
sentenced to five years IN the peniten-
tiary. He served his term and then in
1870 married another white woman. For
an attempt TO murder his second wife he
served a year in the pententiary. In
1915 Quiubo killed a man named Kelley,
a pugilist He put up his usual self
defense plea and received a seven-year
sentence. II was while serving his
sentence that his nervous system, under
mined by strong drink and excesses,
suddenly gave way. He was then trans-N
ferred to Matteawan.
Apo was a leader in Chinese Masonry.
Only recently the leading Masonic organ
ization appealed for his release, pEonis-
ing. in this event, TO furnish surety that
he would be sent back TO China and
kept in comfort for the rest Of his life.
Quimbo's son Georges life almost
paralleled that OF his father. He was
born in 1S5S and became a pickpocket at
the age of ten. While still in his teens he
stabbed a man and was sentenced 10
fourteen months on a prison ship. After
his release he entered into the green
goods business.
George stabbed three men, was shot
once and was sentenced to prison FIVE
times. In June, 1894, he went on the
stand before the Lexow committee and
gave an inside history OF the green goods
game in New York. He became insane
while in prison and died a maniac in
1896.