, 1923-04-01
WILSON STILL
STICKS TO HIS.
STORY OF BOMB.
Burns Says He Can Tell In
Five Minutes If Murder
Ell Is Telling Truth
i. BY ROBERT A. DONALDSON,
United Press Staff Correspondent

UNITED Press staff Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Cal. March 81
Whether Herbert Wilson for ten
years a Baptist minister. now under
sentence to life Imprisonment for
murder. is ready to back up his story
that the made the Internal machine
the explosion of which cost n score
of lives in Wall Street in 1920. or
whether he is laying ground for an
insanity plea at a new trial. was the
question puzzllng Investigating Off
GERS tonight.
Wilson is now asking a new trial
more than willing to tell his story, It
is the same story he will tell to viii
liam J. Burns. head OF the United
States secret service. when he ar
rives here in the near future. Burns
said he could tell in a five minute
talk with Wilson whether he was tell.
ing the truth.
Wilson is now asking a new trail
of the appellate court.
Wilson gave the same five minute
talk to the United Press that Burns
will hear.
1t was this way" he said. "You
see. ! des 'gned the epochal Wall
Street bomb at my home, 115s West
Santa Barbara street. 1 was doing
considerable business like tina when
I was on the outside because 1 was
known. if you will pardon me for
saying II. as the best manufacturer
of nitroglycerine in the safe crack
ing world.
After the war made such improve
ments in the nature of explosives. a
number of prominent yeggs urged
me TO take IN the preparation of trim
itrotroiual cartridges for bank jobs
Experiments in my laboratories
convinced me tina the manufacture
Of r. N. II was quite possible in asl
ordinary home, so laid in a supply
ot nitric acid and other proper in
gradients.
Then overtures were made to me
concerning a big New York job :
what later turne@ out to be the Wall
Street bombing. 1t was represented
to me hat the bomb was needed to
cover w an inside Job on a big safe.
where the combination was to be left
open the safe looted. and the bomb
then set off to cover up the case.
81 personally manufactured the trig
Der and hammer mechanism. and
gave directions for the loading of the
bomb with ball bearings, window
weights and pieces OF iron.
Il did not dream that the bomb
would be empoyed in such a criminal
and wanton destruction of human
life
rffs.o. n,,.o -1-o.n %
almost holy remuneration crept over
his crime-seamed face.
4 have decided to tel, all I know
about crime and my connection with
it," Wilson continued. 'In this bless.
cd Easter time, when the religious
life of the world is undergoing n spir-
It of regeneration, l am move to
turn over a new leaf and take n diff
ferent attitude toward agencies of
the law.
Men are apt TO make mistakes
and there is always a chance to re-
pent and be saved. I believe I will
be rewarded If 1 assist in the Gear
ing up the crimes and helping to ap-
prehcn3 criminals as yet unwhipped
of Justice. I know the sheriff will
act toward me in a spirit Of tolerant
Justice"
Wilson then proceeded to enumer-
ate a list of supposed crimes which
he is divulging purely as a matter
OF Easter atonement. They were:
Mail robberies in New York. Buff
falo. Toledo. Cleveland, Detroit, Co
lumbus. Oakland. Cal. and Los An.
geies. a s4O0. 900 robbery of a de-
partment store here. a robbery of
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