Semi-weekly herald., 1912-12-16
HICKEY MAY ESCAPE CHAIR


the case of J. Frank Hickey, the self
confessed murderer of boys, who's,
trial upon the charge of having mur
dered the -ycar-old Joseph Jo
sephs at Lackawana, n. Y, on Oct
cher l2, 1911, will come up before tn,
supreme court in this city on Mon
day. For many reasons this case /.
one of the most unusual and interest
ing in the criminal courts of this stat,
If not of the whole country.
Pronounced cases of dual pcrson.
ality are not common and the psyche.
logical problem which they present
makes them intensely interesting L.
every student of human nature IN it,
ABNORMAL state 1t has long since
been recognized that when Robert
Lewis Stevenson wrote his famuu-
book "Dr, Jekyl and Mr.. Hyde" he
did not present a physiological i'm
possibility, but that he gave a master
ly presentation of clear cut and
typical case Of dual personality. en-
tirely within the limits of possibility
though trifle more extreme and sen
| sational than most of the cases which
occasionally come TO public notice.
The life history of j. Frank Hickey
and the circumstances connected with
his arrest and indictment present
many peculiar features. Hickey Is a
man of middle age, of good address
and from his appearance nobody would
suspect him of being a man Of alb
normal or criminal character. He re-
ceived good education, became a
pharmacist and then an expert chem
ist and filled various responsible 90
sitions to the satisfaction of his en-
ployers. In his normal condition a
man of culture, kind and pleasant in
his ways, he became fiend f2led
with the lust of murder when the
poison Of alcohol benumbed his better
self and released from It's latent
state the sinister part of his pergoral-
ity.
When under the control of his cyil
ego Hickey became filled with The
insane impulse to kill boys, an Impulse
which he could not resist. According
to his own confession Hickey tried
to commit murded twelve times, but
only twice did he succeed One of his
victims was little Joseph .Josephs, for
whose murder he is to be tried next
week, other was Michael r. Kmck,
a newsboy in New York City, whom
he lured to an unfrequented part or
Central park where he strangled him.
In both cases it was believed that
the boys had been Kidnapped. The
body of Michael r. Kruck was found
after while in Central park and
Hickey was arrested on suspicion.
After his arrest in Buffalo he made
Il confession, but repudiated his state
ments after he had recovered from his
intoxication. As there were no proofs
against him he was released by the
police.
Joseph Josephs was the son Of n
wealthy merchant of Lackawana and
after his disappearance his father,
believing the boy had been kidnapped,
instituted country wide search. The
boys dismembered and decomposed
body was not found until after the
police of Lackawana had received a
postal card from Hickey, mailed from
Boston, and informing them that the
writer had strangled the boy and
thrown his dismembered body into
cesspool back Of saloon in Lacka-
wanna.
1t was his mania for writing postal
cards to the police authorities of
different cities, confessing to crimes
and giving information as to where
the bodies Of the victims would be
found which led to the capture of
Hickey. Facsmiles of the cards were
reproduced in the newspapers and
some persons, who recognized the
similarity of the writing with Hick-
ey's chirography, informed the po-
lice. An investigation was made
which disclosed that Hickey had been
under arrest FOR the murder of the
Kruck boy, and after some further
search Hickey was found in an nsti-
tuition for inebriates at Whiting, N. j.,
arrested and charged with the mur-
der Of the Josephs boy.
Hickey did not resist arrest and ie-
clared his willingness to be taken to
Buffalo without formal extradition.
On the way from New York city to
Buffalo Hickey made full confess
sion of his crimes, including the muir
ders of Joseph Josephs and Michael
X. Kruck. He said that when under
the influence of liquor he could not
resist the desire to kill boys, while nc
deeply regretted his crimes when in
normal condition. 1t is believed that
Diokey will probably be found insane
and be committed to the Dannemora
asylum for the remainder of his life
OBSERVANCE OF PEACE SUN.
DAY.