Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-05-19
MEMBER OF OLD
SWEDE FAMILY
MURDERS TWO
Brutality and Mystery of Crime
Stirs Country; Nearly
Escapes

Stockholm, Sweden. May 1s.-Leon-
ard Rudolph Alexander Gyllenpalm, n
member of one of the oldest families
i'm Sweden-a family knighted in the
seventeenth century and registered in
the "Riddarhus," or Swedish House
of Nobles-has confessed to the dou-
BILE murder which recently occurred
in one of the branch banks of Stock
holm, and which stirred all Sweden be-
cause of the brutality and mystery of
the crime. The manager of the bank
was found with hatchet in his skull
and a woman clerk was shot dead. 1
The chance capture of Gyllenpalm
and his own cold-blooded story of the
crime have made thrilling reading for
the Swedish people. His Nemesis
worked in the person of young
Swedish woman with a good memory
for faces. She had seen the noble
man emerge from the bank. and
though she did not then know of any
murder having been committed. she
noticed there was something strange
about his manner. When she her
self entered the bank she found the
nbodies of the manager and the woman
clerk, and then realized that the man
she had seen hurryins from the place
must have been the murderer. She
described the man to the police as best
she could, but the detectives made
absolutely no headway until. more
than a fortnight afterward, the same
young lady passed the murderer in
the street She thought she recog-
niZed him but was not sure. With q
girl companion she followed the man
several blocks until they fell in with
a policeman to whom the girl told her
suspicious, and the officer decided TO
arrest him.
Then Went to Banquet
The nobleman at first denied all
knowledge of the crime. but after he
had been held for two days. an analy-
sis of some spots on his clothes and
shoes established that they were stains
of human blood and when confronted
with this evidence, Gyllenpalm con-
fessed. He said he was in desperate
need of money and had planned the
crime weeks ahead. He only intend
ed, however. to kill the branch man
ager. thinking no one else would be at
the bank at the time. He carried the
hatchet in leather portfolio, or law
ver's brief case. He was surprised
to see the woman clerk and followed
his first impulse to shoot. Having
committed the double murder. he
/ became alarmed and fed without Sc
curing any money whatever.
Direct from the scene he went to a
Joined a party of friends at a mid
] day breakfast, eating a hearty meal
and drinking several glasses of wine.
That afternoon the newspapers were
full of the accounts of the mysterious
murder. Gyllenpalm, however, moved
about among his friends without the
slightest evidence that he was more
than ordinarily stirred by the news.
/ He had dinner down town with a
] friend and when the meal was finished
! he suggested a walk around to the
bank to see where such an atrocious
murder had been committed. There
was a crowd of the morbidly curious
about the door, which was guarded by
a policeman. Gyllenpalm, in his con-
fession, told how while he was stand
/ ing there in the crowd about the bank
some one remarked:
1T is a curious thing, but a muir
derer always returns to the scene of
his crime"
May Choose Sword TO Die
! Gyllenpalm said that upon hearing
this he gave way at the knees and
almost sank to the sidewalk, but his
/ friends had thought he merely Slip
ped. When he had recovered his
I equilibrium Gyllenpalm asked the po-
/ ltceman if he thought the murderer
would be caught.
Yes" replied the officer. "if he is
/ fool enough to try to leave the city
I'VE have everything watched If he
stays in town though, it will be more
difficult"
Il decided to stop in town." said
Gyllenpalm in his confession.
Always fond of cafe and restaurant
life, the murderer did not alter his
course of living in any way. But
evidently began to worry, for after a
week had elapsed he cabled to his
father in Russia for funds to carry
him TO that country. This money
which might have enabled him TO
escape to complete safety for the rest
of his days arrived in Stockholm the
/ morning after his arrest.
BY reason of his nobility of birth.
Gyllenpalm can choose that he be nut
to death with the sword instead OF the
more plebian blade of the guillotine
Such is his inalienable prerogative.