New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-29
POLICE BEAT HIII,
TALAS DECLARES
Third Degree Brought
Confession in Nichols
Killing, IS His Defence.
POOLROOM MURDER
PLAN CALLED a JOKE
Told COnspirators lie Would Not
Come In" Feeling Sure Of
Being Caught.

Declaring that the police By the use
OF the blackjack and "th.rd degree
methods had wrung from him an I'M
ie confession. Onni Talas, the pale.
unaersized pantry boy. took the stand
b-fore Judge Malone and q jury in
GeAoral Sessions yesterday, where ne
is 0 trial. charged with the murder OF
Mrs. Elizabeth Griggs Nichols, Of 4
East Seycnty-ninth Street. lie re-
canteL practically all Of his story that
he knew of the plot to rob his mistress
on the night of September 8.
Tales broke down completely early
in his story. when he told the jury how
be and Edith Langfeld. the maid, tried
TO revive Mrs. Nichols in the library
after Eddie Lehto and Arthur Wal
touen, who had robbed and then stran-
g.ed her, had quit the house. Nhcl
he recovered his composure Ialas told
Of the alleged attacks BY the detec-
tives.
They took me into the yellow room
of the library and locked the door,
said Talas. Detective Enright began
TO call me bad names. Then he hit me
in the face every once in a while. One
Of the detectives grabbed me by the
right arm and twisted ii and kicked nc
in the stomach so hard | couldn't talk.
They grabbed me by the collar and
4 irted me around and struck me IN the
face again. had 10 put on another
collar before ! could go out; that one
was all smashed up" Talas said.
The witness said he kept silent be
cause he feared to let the police know
that he recognized Lehto and Waltonen
when he let them in the house and
capitulated only when he was 50 broken
in body and spirit that he could hold
out no longer.
As for the meetings between Talas.
Waltouen and Lehto in Mount Morris
Park and in East 125th street pool
rooms at which the robbery was
planned, Talas said he thought the
murder plans a joke and had told them
he would never come in on it, be-
cause he was sure they would all be
caught. ,-,..
Talas often was al a loss for replies
during the three hour cross-eXamina-
ton bv Assistant District Attorney
Brothers. He admitted altohch Hau
given up his osition IN the Nichols
house TO him last June, and that ne
and Lehto had offered to "iook ont for
him" for his part in letting them INTO
The house to steal tine old lady
rings" Talas insisted he tried TO stop
them after they were inside, but was
afraid of the guns they carried. lie
said he wouldn't speak 70 them when
thew quit the house because they had
done thing like that" A few min
utes afterward he admitted he didn't
know they had got the rings or, that
they had harmed Mrs. Nichols.
I'm one breath Ialas insisted he want
ed to call the police, and in the next he
admitted that IL was Edith Langield
and not he that gave the alarm. Mr.
Brothers likewise brought out that
even before Talas had admitted Wal
tonen was one Of the murderers, he
had taken the police TO wrong adj
dress in an apparently honest endeavor
10 lead them % the formers room.
Several hours afterward. when he had
made mis- confession, he took the dc
tectiyes to the right address, but Wei
toncn was gone
The case will probably go 70 the jury
tonight