The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1920-07-23
R|NGL|NG TALE
BELIEVED TRUE.
BY L0CAL. MAN
G. E. helms Corrobrates
Many Details of Story
Told by Confessed
Murderer Find Bleach
ed Bones of Victim.

Al Ringlings confession of implica-
ton in the murder of man in the
spring of 1913 at Price. Utah, whom
Ringing knew by the name Of
"Frenohy" was corroborated in prac,
tically every detail Tuesday by G. E.
Nelms, local real estate man, who was
probate judge in Price at the time the
murder is said to have been commit
ed.
Frenchy, whose name was John
Bartholomew, disappeared suddenly,
according to Mr.. Nelms during the
spring of 1918. Foul play was feared
but every effort to find the body or
get any clue relative to the perpetra-
tors of the crime proved unavailing.
1t was not until five years later that
the bleached bones of Bartholomew
were found practically on the spot de-
scribed by Ringing in his signed con-
fession made here Saturday.
Bullet Hole in Head
The body was identified by the fac.
that Bartholomew was wearing a new
tailor made suit when he was killed
and his name, sewed on the side coat
pocket, had been preserved. Direct
ly in the center of Martholmew's fore
head, bullet hole was found, indicat.
ing that the story told by Ringing
was truthful in the particular that Bar
tholmew had been shot while lying
face upward on the floor.
According to Mr.. Nelms, there was
nothing unusual about the murder so
far as conditions in Price were con-
cerned at that time. This was the
third of series of killings that had
taken place during the early months
of 1913. Price, then town of about
200 population, had II saloons and
drunken brawls were of frequent &C.
curence.. At this particular time, con-
struction work was under way by the
Utah Construction company and by
contractors to whom this concern had
subletsx portion of the work on the
Southern Utah railroad, a line which
tapped the Hiawatha and other coal
mines of that district.
Robbery Probably Motive
Shovel stiffs," men from St. Louis
and Kansas City, men of the scum of
those cities laboring class, were EN-
ployed by these contractors. Barthol-
NEW was not working on the railroad,
having been employed as sheep herd
er, while occasional vacations spent in
Price, when he usually tended bar.
According to Mr.. Nelms, Bartholomew
was of a quiet disposition. not addict
ed to heavy drinking and usually well
supplied with money.
That robbery was the motive of the
crime is the belief of Mr.. Mems and
H. E. Wallace, county attorney. Read
ing between the lines of Ringling's
full confession, in answer to interroga-
ton by Mr.. Wallace, it seems that a
definite plot was laid to get Barthol-
NEW intoxicated, lure him away from
the town center, instigate quarrel
and then kill him. The billiard cue
which Ringing used to strige Barthol-
new down had been used for a whip
stock, according to Mr.. Nelms, a use
to which they were commonly put in
that district. In Mr.. Nelm's opinion,
Bartholomew had $500 to $1,000 on his
person when the deed was committed.
Mr. Nelms knew Bartholomew weil for
a number of years.
Has Prison Record
Ringing has already served a term
in the Idaho pcnitentiary for forgery
and can expect only maximum SEN
tence il he is convicted on the charge
facing him here. in the opinion of Mr..
Wallace. Mr.. Wallace believes that
Ringing confessed that he might be
taken to Utah to face trial there on a
probable chare of manslaughter and
has reason to believe that the penalty
there might be less than in Idaho on
the forgery charge. The fact that
Ringing has been wearing an "Oregon
boot" day and night since his recent
attempt to break Jail, a decided incon.
venience. might have prompted him to
make the confession of the previou.
crime. Copies of the confession and
other particulars of the case have been
mailed to the sheriff at Price. Dispo-