New Britain herald., 1919-12-03
States Att0rneyAlcorn Asks Indictment On Charge Of First De- gree Murder
ACCUSED AIT FIRST
 DENIED HIS GUILT
Made Confession Only After Being Confronted With Maze of discriminating Facts.

That Luman C. Beckett did not confess to the committing the mur- der of Charles A. Taft in this city on March 1, 1917, with the idea of malt- ing himself d hero. was tho state mcnt Of d member of the state po- lice today, when questioned in regard to the confession secured on Novcm- bcr II. This official who talked with the convict in the Windsor, Vermont, state prison, stated that Beckett was as "lear-eycd and defiant a man as he had ever come in contact with. This same official stated that on the occa- sion of his first visit to the institu- ton, Beckett, after listening to the officer. simply smiled. and snjd, You can go back 10 your states attorney and tell hm that l did not have any thing to do with the killing of Charles Taft" With only this from the pris- oncr. the officer left the Institution on the occasion of the first visit.
 Finally Makes Confession.
 Considerable work was dono in the meantime and when this officer again talked with Beckett: on November II, the dcspernGo had not changed his
 
 rver tho maze of Information that the police have in ther possession was unroldou to Beckett, who finally gave in and confessed his part in the slay- ing of tho jitncur.
 Woman Question Settled.
 Tho state policeman was asked If in his opinion Beckett wAs IL young man who was responsible for the committing Of such a foul dcod. This officer sinlplr referred to tho incidents that have bcon brought out in the past few days, concerning his past porfor nances with a gun. This same official would rot directly answer the query as to whether or not Beckett was accompanied by d woman on the night of thH killing of Taft.
 Grand Jury in Session.
 At 10 o'clock this morning tho grand jury met in session at the county building to bring ill an in- dictment of murder in the first de- gree against Beckett. Among the To- cal witnesses summoned were Chief William J. Rawlings, Detective Ser geant A. J. Richardson, Medical EX- amlncr Harry A. Elcock, David Olan- der, who discovered the body of Taft on the morning following the murder; George Nyborg, who found the rcvol- yer that did the shooting, and Fred Carlson, who notified Sergeant Geo. J. Kelly Of the murder.
 Considerable time was spent i'll questioning the witnesses. One of the state's officials stated this morning that in the event of the grand jury re- turning an indictment against Beckett, it was unlikely that the young man h.a There are considerable legal techni- calities that will have to be gone through before the prisoner can be taken from the Vermont prison and brought to Connecticut.
 Those on the Jury.
 Mem bors of the grand jury sitting in the indictment proceedings today are. Henry F. Smith, Russell r. Taber, William E. Britt, George l.. Clapp of Hartford; George r. Humphrey, Bloom1ield; W. J. Madden, Bristol; William A. Seymour. East Granby i; William k. Rosbrook, East Hartford :: H. A. Middleton. East Windsor; Henry H. Hunt. Glastonbury; w. N. Clark, Granby; Owen R. Ravens, Rocky Hill; C. H. Enc. Smsbury; ;Edward A. Full Ter, Suttield; D. r. Ahern, West Hart ford; William II. Warner. Wethers-
 
 Charles C. Graves, Windsor Locks. When the attention of George Beck cit, father of the confessed murderer, was brought to his sons predicamont, | he said that the boy must have been ''nuttN.' He further said that should ! ;l person commit such n crime he must , be d darned fool to tell anyone. He l also said that if the boy is guilty 1 he will not aid in defending him. It was erroncously stated yesterday | said that Beckett claims to have regis ! ped at the Hotel Beloin on the night ot 1 the murder. A state policeman toda\ 1 said that Beckett claims to hae regis tered under an alias at the Hotel Re- 1 gal which Is across tho street from the ] Hotel Beloin. Owing to n change in l the management of the hostelry, the 1 registry book is not available. 1 Around the county building this 1 morning while the grand jury was ir | session, the officials connected witt l the case seemed to be mbued witt | every confidence that the case they 1 have worked up against Beckett vii l show that the murder of Taft has at 1 last been solved. One of these off 1 cials stated that States Attorney HurI 1 M. Alcorn was in direct charge of tn, 1 handling of affairs for the last few 1 months.