The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-10
PRIEST PERHAPS WAS TORTURED
 BY MURDERERS Had Received Letter De manding Big Sum to Be
 Left On Lonely Road STATE POLICE WORK
 ON DOUBLE MURDER New Haven Holds Four Pris- oners Upon Suspicion
 of Complicity

New Britain. Feb. 10--With appar- ently little tangible to work on the police today continued their efforts to solve the mystery surrounding the murder of Rev. Joseph Zebris, pastor I of St. Andrews Lithuanian Roman | Catholic church here, and his house. keeper, Miss Iva E. GiImanaitis. The 1 body of the priest and his house 1 keeper were found in the rectory yes- terday when neighbors investigated the .non-appearance of the clergy i man for mass.
 The autopsy begun by pr. Philip D. Bruce of Hartford, last night. un- der direction of Coroner J. Gilbert | Calhoun, was expected to be resurn- l ed today. So far it has gone it 1 has shown that Father Zebris was 1 lets entering over the heart one in 1 the side and ones in the back. The | housekeeper was strang1ed in her room in the attic, apparently after disorder of the room and her gar ments.
 The police early today found a gold watch in pocket of one of the coats of the slain priest. A gold filled watch was also found in cabinet and in another part of the house four l gold chased candlest1cks and a valu- able crGcifix. The finding of these 1 articles the police think tends to show that while the house was ran sacked the search was not as thor ough as appearances would indicate and strengthens the story that some other motive than robbery may have prompted the crimes.
 1 Though 1t now appears that the Sunday collection was, banked Mon l day, as usual, the cash in the house may have been large in amount, for Miss GiIson, as the housekeeper, was l usually. known, often took care of money for parishioners.
 l Against the robbery theory is set ithe fact that bIackmailing letters had been received by Father Zebrfs In April, 1913, he received a demand for l $11, 900 from 'sararchists'', as the writers of the letter called them selves. The priest rtdiculed the let ter from his pulpit. but reported it to the police.
 Whether there was renewal of this demand cannot be said, now that the priest is dead. But it is cert tain that within the last week Father | Zebris, who was Aonly ffty-two and robust, told parishioners that if s'any- l thing happened, he hoped the under
 taker who does most of the work in St. Andrews parish would have
 charge of his funeral.
 The co1dness of a schoolroona caus- ed the discovery of the murder. Fath- I CT Zebris went every morning to the parochial school, directly behind the lrectory, Miss Gilman had charge of I it's fires.
 This morning the building was so cold that Miss Anne Gulauskas, a teacher, went to the rectory to see I why. All the doors were locked. Through an unfastened window she sent a. pupil. He let her in.
 Tn the parlor at the front of the 1 house she found the body of the In1~iaa Mise C4HJaI1SIxas nnonod "a front door and shrieked for help. Mrs. Frederick Oschneider, who lives next
 door, answered her summons. I Patrolman Herbert Lyons arrived next After informing Headquarters
 he searched the house and found Miss 6ilman's body.
 Father zebris lay on his back, l with his feet almost on the thres- 1 hold to the hall. His arms were outstretched and his hands clenched. lar position in the attic. She had l locked herself in but the door had been forced with an icepick. A bullet l had scared her right forearm but Istrangu1ation had caused death.
 Just beneath the jaws a. strand of
 twine had been twisted close. Be- l heath were two pieces of cIothesline, cut from a rafter of the attic.
 The police think the murderer was | admitted to the house by Miss Gi1- I F.
 After gunmoning the priest, she went back to the rear of the house. Father
 zebr1s met his visitor at the door of | the parlor. He was about to close the church. for over his red house
 shoes he had drawn a pair of rub bers, and on a chair by the door was his oyercoat.
 At the sound of the shots Miss Gil
 man, 1t is supposed, came from the
 rear and, seeing what had taken 1 place, fled upstairs.
 Most puzzling is the fact that no neighbor heard any noise. The Schneider house is less than twenty
 feet from the rectory. and all about
 the church, houses stand close to- I gether. Most of the families were 1 awake until nearly midnight. 1 Apparently the murderer went I through the school yard to Dwight
 street. After this he might have 1 made his way back to Stanley street, where he could have caught a street car to Hartford.
 Father zebris really organized St. Andrews. The congregation occu- pies a handsome church that cost
 The rectory is an eight-room frame house.
 Dissension attended a change in parish administration after the new
 church was built. Until that time
 committee had been in charge of
 affairs, but Father Zebris appointed
 three trustees. However, these men
 said today that in the last year things
 had mooved with the utmost smooth l ness.
 The letter sent to Father zebris