The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1913-10-09
LOCAL PART OF STORY
Murderer of Mrs. Rexroat Tells Of
Killing Of Oskaloosa Woman.

The detailed statement of Henry
Spencer of Chicago, who has now
confessed to the murder of twenty
one people, covers several pages in
each of the Chicago papers. His
mention of Oskaloosa in connection
with the crime at Deleyan Lake, Wis.
has given his story a dash of unusual
local interest. This part of his con
fession runs as follows III
Il was in Chicago some days be-
fore, and was broke and without
friends. l appealed to the chief
of police, and his secretary, Frank
Shaughnessy, gave me SO cents and
bought me a meal. Several days
later weat to work for Mr.. Clark in
his restaurant at North Clark and
Kinzie streets. ~.
~ worked there ten days, fourteen
hours a day, for $3.50 a week. He
would not raise me to IS. and | quit.
After leaving Clark's / loafed
around for about three days, and
then went to Delayan Lake and stop
ped at the Delavan Lake Hotel one
night, and then crossed the Lake and
stopped at the hotel over there.
While at the Delayan Lake Hotel
met a girl about &c or 81 years of
age, who was a guest at the hotel on
the opposite side of the lake from the
Delavan Lake Hotel. She came to
the Delayan Lake Hotel to party.
and that is how met her. danced
with her and talked with her, and
found out where she was living.
made an engagement to meet her the
next day at her hotel. When | met
her told her there was blowout be
ing given near the Delavan Lake Ho-
tel that night, and we should go there
and attend the party. a
She agreed to do so, and l met her
that night about Z or o'clock, and
waited unit lit grew dark, and then
rowed her over to the Delavan Lake
Hotel side.
I walked her up into a piece of
farm land, and struck her twice with
the hammer, and took from her her
jewelry, consisting of three diamond
rings and a pair of ear rings, and
about $3.50 in cash.
then left the body where she fell
and went back to the hotel and went
to my room and had something to eat
and waited around until everybody
had gone to bed. or to their respect
i've places and about / o'clock took
the same rowboat from the pier
around to an infrequented portion of
the shore.
Then I went back to where the
body lay and put it on board. and
put a piece of newspaper on my
shoulder .apd laid the board on the
newspaper and carried her to the
boat and then rowed out into the
middle of the lake and threw the
body overheard.
The girl was about feet s inches
tall. weighed about 1876 pounds; dark
complexion. dark brown hair She
said she was from Oskaloosa. Iowa
and that she was teacher. do
not recall whether she was school
teacher or q music teacher. She
also spoke of college in that town
l killed this girl on Wednesday
night. | don't recall the date. Her
first name was Lille. do not re-
call the last name.
She was called Jeanette by the
girls at the hotel. | do not recall her
last name. as II was a peculiar one.
Itowas a French name. She told me
she was French. She had a two
carat diamond ring on her finger and
told me she was engaged to be mar
ried,
Before put the body of this girl
in the lake stripped her of all her
clothes and tied them in a bundle and
buried them in the swamp.
While ] was stopping at the hotel
they found the body of woman who
they said was dark complexioned and
was naked, so that | knew II was
this woman that | had killed
The opinion was that she had
drowned while bathing. had chok.