New-York tribune., 1922-04-30
Twice Discharged En-
ployee, Crilled 3 Weeks.
Names Nic,im's Brother.
in Law in Confession
'Ioaxed ) Months
With $1,000 Offer
II. c. Mohr, Manager of
Show, Held on Murder
Charge, Denies Guilt

!
MOUNT HOLLY. N. j., April 90
Harry c. Mohr brother-in-law of "Hon-
est John Bruen, and since his death
manager OF his mighty Doris and
Colonel Ferrari' circus, was arrested
to-day, charged with his murder Hi,
arrest Is due TO a confession said to
have been made by Charles NJ Powell
under arrest on the same charge, that
Powell had been hired by Mohr to
shoot Brunen.
Not until Mohr had been arrested in
Camden was it known that Powell! was
under arrest. For three weeks, how
ever, ne has been held by the police
and has been subjected to almost con
slant questioning by Ellis H. Parker,
/ county detective. Last night he is said
to have attempted to end his lie by
| dashing his head against the walls OF
his cell.
Powell is twenty eight years old, is
! married and has a child eight months
old. He had operated concessions at
/ various times in Brunen-s show and
nlso had been sn emplo eo OF the show.
! Brunen discharged him last August with
! the remark that he never wanted him
to return. Mrs. Brunen hired him
| again and her husband discharged him
as soon as he learned OF it.
Powell's wife, who formerly was
Marie Fleming, OF Beechwood, Ind, was
near collapse last night after having
been told hey husband had confessed
killing Bruncn.
She denounced Mohr SIS responsible
for her husbands plight, declaring that
che almost had Charley hypnotized."
She visited her husband in the Mount
I Holly Jail yesterday, she said, but he
would not tell her why he was under
! arrest.
"He was haggard and there were
lines in his face. I asked him what he
had been doing and he shook his head
You'll learn was all he would say"
Mohr Declares Innocence
Mohr denied the accusation Yaado
against him by Powell. County Detec-
tive Parker places implicit confidence
in it, however, and says that others
probably will be indicted, among them
county official, when the grand jury
meets next week.
"He lies, Parker, he lies Mohr SAID
after County Detective Parker had fin
| ished reading Powell's long confession.
The accused man did not interrupt
the reading Of the lengthy document,
attributed to Powell
I've do not know set tho full cx-
tent of this case, declared j. II. Ke.-
sey, Burlington County prosecutor.
| "Iohr, above ali persons, was the least
suspected in the beginning OF the in
vestigation. He was trusted by BrI-
nen, who in one Of his letters referred
TO him as one Of the few persons VINO
did not want to take bis life. The
motive for the crime is not entirely
clear to Us yet"
Brunen was shot March 10 az ha sat
in the kitchen Of his home in River
side, n. j., reading & newspaper His
assassin discharged shotgun through
a closed window into the back OF hi.
head.
Powell says that Mohr had tried fer
five months TO persuade him to ki!l
Bruncn, saying that the latter's con
duct was unnerving Mrs. Brunen and
might cause hey death and Offering him
$1,000 FOR the job. According to Powell
Mohr said that he could not 90 the
shooting himself because Of recent
quarrel with Brunen which would d.
rect suspicion toward him. Powell said
that Brunen bought the shotgun and
the shells and took him to the Brunen
home, where he had hidden the shotgun
upstairs in the barn.
Text Of Alleged Confession
"On the night Of the shooting" runs
the alleged confession, "Mohr and /
drove from Camden to Riverside Ke
met me between 6;15 and 6:20 on
Market Street. Camden. J got out OF
tie car and went TO the barn back Of
Brunen's house. 7 got the gun that
Mohr told ms was on the second Aoor.
When got TO the house saw Brunen
sitting st the window, but didn't see
any one else. He was reading . paper
| went over to the window and pulled
the trigger.
Before l got in Mohr's car he gave
me bottle OF whisky--I think less
than half pint-and drank all of it
coming up from Camden. As soon as
shot Brunen turned and ran and
started to sake the gun apart. lost e
pulled the gun apart. One was empty
and one was loaded. ! don't know what
size shot it was, but the shells bought
were No. 12's. Mohr was with me
when I bought them, but didn't 90 in
the store. | can't tell what place it
was because it has been SO long ago.
gave seven cents apiece for the shells
and Mohr gave me $3.50 to purchase
the gun. We bought it at d pawrshop
III Philadelphia somewhere around
Ninth Street, but l can't tell exactly
where.
81 took the gun apart while running
(Continued on page three)
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