The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-15

Mrs Grace Humiston, the New York
 lawyer, and others at Little Valley on
 Friday night that he and Clarence o.
 ConneIl murdered Charles Phelps and Miss Margaret Wolcott at West Shell by, N. Y, in March last, repudiated his confession yesterday.
 U.strict Attorney Knickerbocker of
 Orleans county and George w. New
 ton, the private detective who collect
 ed rart of a $6,000 reward for bring
 ing about the conviction of Charles r. stielow,, now in the Sing Sing death
 house for the crime, succeeded in get tins King to repuciate his confession
 after spending much time with nin
 since the prisoner was brought here
 :rtiii little Valley.
 Mrs. Humistor. who came here from
 Ossining when she learned that New
 ton, the private ectective, had assisted
 in escorting King tn the Albion Jail,
 Geclared to friends that she wasn't at
 all surprised at the rev turn in events.
 KinG reca rted H,s origira! confes-
 sioi: ah'ch, Mrs. Mi n.nistor says, was a voluntary one and made iu the
 resei.ce of five reputable Albion ci!i-
 :e:s. i;avs He Wa, Bribed to Confess He said tha+ when he confessed to the iiitrdet ot the tld farmer and his housekeeper he Vas promised pnI [ of S6,00O VI icfi vas being held il l)r. kleans county fci. :iie defence of s'ti, low. He insisted he was also proinis- e,i that if ke confessed he would It | go tn jail for niure than 2. yeac. He declared t,tat oi1 the night of the dou- ble t: a.e dy he was Ill a saloon several
 miles from the scene of the murder.
 So Jerai luen wno 'Ie-e in the sa''"n at tho t;pl' h: said. can establish ]is alibi
 Mrs. Humiston and David A. White of Medina; Stielow's attorney of re-
 cord, asked District Attorney Knick- erbocker to be shown a copy of King s
 recantation. The District Attorney, it is said, told them he knew of no such
 statement. When Mrs. Humiston ai
 White arrived at the jail and asked permission to see King they were in formed by the under sheriff that
 Sheriff Bartlett had ordered that no
 one be allowed to visit the prisoner. District Attorney Knickerbocker
 made a statement in which he said: 'T could make criticism of the
 methods which have been indulged in by V liich wicked attempt has been
 n.ade to prevent the admins ration
 of justice"
 Cost $15 5,UOO of C0unty's Money. In reply to this Mrs. Humiston and
 MT. White jointly issued the follow ing:
 '.The course that is being pursued in Orleans county in this case is not surprising in view of the large reward hat has been paid to Newton by the Phelps family and the mistake that has been made in the expenditure of approximately $15,OOe of the county s
 money, of which more thah $3,000 was paid to Newton's detective agency for the bIunder of convicting the wrong man.
 we at this time give to the press the confession, in affidavit form, made
 by King in the county jail at Little Valley on Aug. ii, sworn to by him before Justice of ths Peace Roland H. Pratt in the presence of Sheriff C.. B. Nichols, Thomas O'Grady, Mrs. Humiston and Under Sheriff Wheaton
 M. K. Hughes. Ava Vailliant and Sur fogate Barkin of Cattaraugus county, who asked all the questions that were addressed to King. We cali upon the authorities of Orleans county to be equally frank with the public.' He Felt He Ought to Tell All. According to the copy of Kings
 original confession, Surrogate Larkin
 of Cattaraugus county. who question e him repeatedly asked him if he ap-
 preciated what the results of his ad-
 mission might mean to him, and he declared that he felt that he ought to l confess even though it nnSant the eIec- tric chair: King said no one had threatened him in any way, and he added that he hadn't had a drink in two days.
 Then he told Of riding with O'Cori- nell in a buggy to the Phelps farm
 house and entering by the .,ack way.
 "Right here,'' he went on, 1T picked up an old broom and hacked the end off with an old axe that stood there. We went up to the back door and rapped. He opened the door and we both walked in.
 sHe threw up his hands and said,
 You both get out of here!' I up with the stick and hit him, and he fell. He feli toward the stove. He had hold of the door knob and he reeled around and fell toward the stove and fell
 kind of onto his face:
 q said to O'Conne1l: "Go and get the money; you know where it is.' And
 as he started through the door the woman came running out in her night dress. She went out of the door that
 we came in. As she went out of the door she swung it to, but it did not shut tight OC0nnell just shot once
 at her"
 Shot Phelps Three Times. Surrogate Lai'kin questioned King: o. Did you hear her ho1ler? A. I thought I heard a noise, but did not look.
 0. What did O'Connell do next? A. He turned around and shot Phelps three times, think; all the shots hit him. o. Did he groan? A. Yes, lie made a little noise and moved Eis leg a lit tie. i do not know what OConnell did with the gun, but he went into the next room and came out with the
 money. do not remember of seeing any purse, but he came out in the kitchen with the money. I thought that I heard a noise outside, so said Let us get out of here.'' He handed
 me $1O0 and I put it in my pants pocket It was all in bills, and he had quite a wad in his hand. It was all paper money, and I did not see any .;1.-6t yTba+ v,1a oaU7a Hiff Said fb