The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-06-15
SIX THUGS KILL
CYCLI5T; LEAVE Z
To DIE IN WOODS
Victum Came Upon Bandit Gang
Holding Up Silk Truck
TRIES TO FLEE; IS SHO1
Drivers Bound To Trees And
Left To Perish of Starya-
tion-Culprits Escape

Newton, n j., June 15.-Charles
Kosta of Andoyer, riding motor
cycle, swept around a bend in the
road at Cat Swamp, seven niles from
here, yesterday afternoon, and came
suddenly on eight men standing in
the center of the road near a truck
from which protruded bolts Of raw
silk Two of the men were unarmed
and stood with their hands raised
above their heads, covered by revol.
yers in the hands of the other six.
each OF whom wore handkerchief
over the lower part of the face
Kosta put all the speed he could on
his motorcycle and tried to drive past
the truck and the eight men. AS he
neared the group two OF the masked
men stepped into the road and shout
ed at h m to stop. Kosta sweryed
into a ditch in his effort to pass them,
and as he came alongside the truck
one OF the men fired two shots and
another man fired once. The first two
bullets struck Kosta in the chest and
the third hit him in the shoulder He
pitched forward over the handiebars
Of the motorcycle and was dead %hen
he struck the ground, The machine
plunged down an cmbankment
Dump Body in Brook
Two Of the bandits walked up to
where the body of Kosta lay
and one OF them pushed it
with his foor down tAe embank-
n.ent alongs de Of the road and into
Il small brook, where it lay half Gov
eIed with water FOR several hours.
Then the bandits went back to tho
two men who stood with hands above
their heads. Charles 4esh and Charles
Mann, on their way 10 New York to
deliver a truck load OF silk valued at
$4,000 and owned by the Sussex
Print Works Of Newton l'rodding
them with reyolyers. the six bandits
forced Resh and Mann into the
bushes alongside the road where they
were thrown to the grodrd and tied
hand and foot with robes taken from
It1 truck.
Four of the h ghwaymen remained
with the crew OF the truck, while the
other two wen to the road, and start
ed the car. which they drove away.
TWO or three hours later Resi- and
Mann were forced to their feet and
driven by the four men back into the
woods up the side OF the mountain,
several hundred yards away from the
road. There the bandits tied them to
Il tree, one on either side and then
left. telling them to stay there and
.staryc.'
Men Release Selves
As soon as they were satisfied the
bandits had gone Resh and Mann be-
gan shout ng for help but no one
came The territory around Cat
Swamp S sparsely settled, and they
were too far away from the road
for any one passing to hear them. SO
they began to work at each others
bonds. Resh using the few fingers
that the bandits had left free in an
effort to unite the ropes that bound
Mann to the tree and Mann using his
fingers for the same purpose on the
knots that held Resh. Their finger
nails were broken and their fingers
cut and bleeding when finally, after
more than an hours hard and tedious
work, the bands began TO loosen.
Then the two men threw off the
ropes and set out to gve the alarm
and walked some distance to a farm
house from where they telephoned to
the Newton police department
Deputy Sheriffs Taylor and Lite
we're sent out in an effort to find the
truck and the highwaymen and the
coroner went to get the body OF
Kosta. Resh and Mann were not
able to give a good description Of the
bandit