The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1918-01-24
MUST Be HELD AS "sLAvER"
Mrs. Mary E. Poliment, Kenosha, Tells
Police and Federal Officials Sordid
Story of Relations With Man Who
Would Use Her to Defeat Draft.

Attempt to eVade the draTC ana VlO-
1ation Of the Mann act, are charged
against Bruno Panucci, former Keno
shan by officers of the y. S. govern
ment and he is now being held in the
city lookup pending the action of the
federal grand jury in Milwaukee on
the sordid story which Mrs. Mary E.
PoIimeni told the federal officials and
local police officers on Tuesday after
noon. After she had told her story
here she was taken to Milwaukee on
Tuesday evening to repeat the story.
Panucci has been living in New
York since 1915 and it is alleged that
he returned to Kenosha on January
18th with the intent of forcing the
Polimeni woman, who for two years,
had lived with him as wife in New
York, to sign an affidavit by which he
could claim exemption under the Sc
lective service law. Panucci was ar
rested here on a charge of carrying
concealed weapons and at the same
time the Polimeni woman was picked
up ON account Of the fact that she had
threatened to take her own life. The
woman remained true to the man for
several days, but under repeated ques-
tioning by the district attorney and
federal officials she broke down and
told the real story of her life. She
admitted that while she had lived
with the man in New York for more
than two years she had never been
married to him and that she had
never been divorced from her hus
band, Frank Polimeni.
1T was the old story of the eternal
triangle in the homes of the foreigners
in Kenosha. Mary Polimeni was mar
ried to Frank POlimeni in September
1910, and they established a little home
over On the west side Of the city. In
the fall of 1914 Polimeni brought
Bruno Panueci to be q boarder at the
had supplanted the husband in the af-
fections of Mrs. Polimeni. The woman
told the district attorney and the fed
eral officials that she and Panucci
planned it all out that she would go
with him to Milwaukee and lead an
immoral life in order to get money
with which they might set up home
in some distant city and that after she
had led life of shame in Milwaukee
for month she turned over to him q
hundred dollars with which the trip to
New York was made. In November Of
last year Mrs. Polimeni returned to
Kenosha to visit her parents. She had
decided not to return to Panucci in
New York and early in January she
received a letter from him demanding
that he had claimed exemption from
military service ON the grounds that he
had wife entirely dependent on him
for support and he insisted that Mrs.
Polimeni make an affidavit to this eff
feet. She refused and Panucci came to
Kenosha in person to seek the sigma
ture of the affidavit. The woman told
the officials that when he came to her
home here he was armed with a deadly
weapon and that she was greatly in
fear of him. After that interview
with Panucci, in which she had de-
clined to make the false affidavit, Mrs.
Polimeni told one of her friends that
she was so in fear of the man that she
was tired of life and wanted to kill
herself with gas. These friends told
the police the story.
Panueci was questioned by the fed
eral officials, the police and the dis
trict attorney on Tuesday but he re-
fused to make any statement. He was
not advised of the statements which
had been made by Mrs. Polimeni
It is expected that he will be
taken to Milwaukee by the federal
officials either this afternoon or
Thursday following action by the fed
eral grand jury.