Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-17
Crank" Enters Plea
! Guilty of Murder

kV0unucn from rage One
slowed not the slightest nervousness.
His elbows rested on the arms of his
clair and his long hands hung loose.
Ihere was no twitching of the slender
hhsers, no shifting Of position, no
nlcvement Of the facial muscles to be-
tfay any uneasiness.' This stolid atti-
morning.
At the very beginning Of the trial
Judge Swartz let II be known that he
wanted only salient facts.
II do not want the courts time taken
10 with minutoe.'
IT want only such evidence as will
xiilde me In passing sentence" the
jhdge said.
District Attorney Renninger handed
Mr. Coushlin the letters he had re-
ceived from The Crank and re.
q1ested the courts permission to have
them read.
mo" ruled Judge Swartz. You
have transcripts of them. l can read
them IL necessary.
Crank Described Nursery
Mr.. Coughlin said the first letter
which he received gave description of
fhe nursery from which Blakoly was
skolen.
was the despription accuratc?"
tne COUFL.
absolutely" answered the witness.
"Then you may read the description
Nothing else"
Only when her husband told of the
discovery that their baby was gone and
detailed their frantic search in the
night for some clue did Mrs. Coughlin
show the struggle she was having to
control berself. Mr.. Coughlin told of
hearing noise In the nursery.
II went up there" he said, and ran
ever to the baby's crib in the Diary.
nut my hand under the covers 1t was
empty" He paused moment and
glanced down at his wife. Mrs.
Coughln gulped and moistened her lips,
hut still kept her eyes bravely upon
him.
"I called Mrs. Coughlin," the wit.
ness continued. land we ran to the
rpom where the other boys were sleep
ing. They were all right. Then we
saw that the door from the nursery
tb the sleeping porch was closed. We
Had left It open.
"we ran through to the yard and
there we discovered a ladder against the
sjde of the house under the nursery
window. The foot was braced against
the flower boxes.
Te,ephoned For Police
II ran out to Sandy Hill road and
down the road and came back through
The shrubbery, but could find no trace
Of the child. Mrs. Coughlin let me in
at the front door and we telephoned the
City Hall to notify the police.
Then l put on some clothes and
vent out to get help from the neigh
bors and we all searched everywhere
even a house across the road and some
anpty shacks in the fields adjoining.
But we could find nothing to give us an
idea Of what had become of our baby"
These minutiae do not help me in
imposing sentence" Judge Swartz in
corrupted.
Mr.. Coughlin then related the re-
ceipt of the letters from "The Crank"
The first one told him to nut $4,000 in a
pag and tie il to a post under the Free
ihansburg bridge.
The letter said the SPOT would be
marked by a white handkerchief.
II did not CO." said Mr.. Coughlin.
II asked the postoffice authorities to
20 up and see if the spot was marked in
! then made statement in the papers
that would not pay any money to any
one unless they produced the baby's
clothes and sent photograph of the
child.
81 received another letter in which
the writer asked why | had not done
As he told me. He said that the price
would have to pay for the the baby,s re;
$4,000 and he had offered as proof a
description Of the nursery"
Description Accurate
"Was this description accurate?"
absolutely"
Mr.. Coughlin was then given per-
IL 4 L.. Il
"The room has three doors" he |
fead. There is n rocking chair in the |
middle of the floor between the windows
and the crib. | had to move il to get |
BY. There is a table on the left near
the window with woman's work |
basket on it. The bottle which you say
was full of water is not true. left it |
only half full.
"The ladder has got two hooks