Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-09-12
YOUTH CONFESSES
BRUTAL MURDERS
Young Man Who Wanted New
Car Tells How He Slew Two
Statesmen

iChurch, twenty-year-old youth,
accused of Staying B. J.. Daugh-
erty and Carl Asumus to obtain
possession of $500 automobile.
broke down after twelve hours
Iof questioning and made COM
plete confession, according to the
police.
! The youth, brought back from
Adams, Wis, his former home.
where he had driven his mother
i'll the car OH Friday, the day at
ter the murder, was quoted as
admitting that he alone planned
and executed the tragedy.
The terrible beatings shown
upon the bodies and the trussing
of both was merely Ito be sure
they were dead" according to
the alleged confession, which in
part follows:
| "Ausmus waited in tie car out
| side my house while 1 went in
side with Daugherty. told him
l would give him the money in
the parlor. When l got to the
parlor, l drew pistol. He just
held up his hands. l guess he
thought | was going to rob him:
81 pulled out the handouts and
told him to hold his hands out
one at a time All the time |
kept him covered with the gun.
l took him to the basement.
when we got down the stairs
| took the baseball bat in one
hand, but | kept him covered with
the pistol SO that he couldn't
move. Turn around,' | said He
started to turn. | guess then he
had all idea of what was coming.
but it was too late | swung the
bat with all my might and caught
him right across the head. He
went down but tried to strike
back with his two hands together
IL kept beating him over the
head until he didn't NOV any
more. l hit him with bat and
with a hatchet: Then | cut his
throat. was afraid he might
come to while | was gone up
stairs to get Ausmus. Then |
went upstairs and waited. I
knew Ausmus would come in. He
|! did few moments later and /
went through the same thing |
did with the ether fellow.
after l had them both killed.
Il waited until dark and put Aus
MUS in a hole in the garage. Then
| bound up Daugherty's body in
a quilt and dragged it to the au-
tomobile and dumped him i'll the
river, right over the bridge where
he was found floating. | had a lot
Iof trouble with that body Kind
of hard for one fellow to handle
a body that way. You know, it
t1ip-f1opped around. Then | drove
around i'll the car.
''It certainly was a beautiful
car, and l guess l should have
gone back and cleaned sup> the
basement instead pfA riding
around. 1t didn't seem so terrible
to me. | wanted the car and I
thought would get caught ii
Daugherty or the other fellow
; got away.
Coroner Peter Hoffman declar-
ed that Church's S alleged "confes-
; sion was a tissue of lies, false
upon the face of it." He said it
would have been physically i'm
possible for Church to have killed
the two men in the manner de-
scribed. He asserted a belief that
the double murder was the work
of several men.
! "Daugherty's jaw was broken
on each side, proof positive of
tterrible blows. which Church say
he did not deliver" the coroner
said. "Ausmus was alive when
he was placed in the grave in the
rear of the garage. Church says
it was three or four hours after
the attack on Ausmus that he
was buried. He forgets to men
tiOn the manner in which Aus
MUS neck was broken"
The questioning of Church end
ed shortly after 10 o'clock Sun
Iday and he was taken to a hotel
for the night. Throughout his
long cross examination, he show
led emotion.
! At one point Church was said
to have admitted to the police
that another PERSON was ifnpli-
. Gated i'll, the two slayings, but re-
fused to reveal any name. The
bpolice, however, declared that
they are convinced that Church
lalone was responsible and that
: I<1~ 4. 4