New Britain herald., 1923-03-12
KILLS TWO, THIRD,
 YOUNG GIRL, FLEES
Man Also Had Built Vault For
 BodieS- Tries Suicide

fnlladelpnla, Marcn lS.-Manuel Silva, 37 years old, beat his wife and mother-in-law to death with a mallet at his home at Sl45 North Hamburg CT street Saturday night and then at tempted to kill his thirteen-year-o old daughter, Emma.
 The girl escaped by jumping from window of the second story room as reach her. While police battered down the front door to arrest the murdered, Silva placed the muzzle of a small calibre rifle to his head and fired two bullets into his brain. He probably will recover.
 For five months Silva had planned to destroy the entire family and in that time had built a subcelar in his home which was to have been the tomb of the three persons. Silva planned to wall up the door to the tomb and then flee the country.
 Built Concrete Tomb
 The subcellar, which was eight feet deep, was lined with concrete and seven concrete steps led from the cellar floor to the death chamber. At the foot of the stairs in the subcellar was small concrete lined room con taining a gas jet and racks upon which the bodies were to have beer placed.
 Then the entrance to this room was to have been sealed with bricks and concrete the subcellar filled in and new coating of cement placed upon the cellar floor. Detectives said that had Silva been successful in his plans it is doubtful if the bodies would have been recovered for years.
 Silva finished the death chamber on Saturday afternoon and the murder of the entire family was set for Saturday night. At s:3o o'clock Mrs. Wilhel- nina Silva, the wife, and her daugh- ter, Emma, went next door to attend a party.
 Silva remained in his home with his mother in-law, Mrs. Mary Rames, 53 years old. He was working in the eel lar and soon after 10 o'clock called Mrs. Rames into the cellar. As she reached the foot of the stairs Silva struck her on the head with mallet. l with knife. Making sure the woman was dead he threw her body into the pit and then dragged it into the tomb.
 Then Silva went up stairs and rap ped on the wall between his home and the Cervoni home for his wife. Mrs. Silva came into the house and she too was killed as her mother had been and her body thrown into the subcellar and placed on bunk in the tomb.
 The Daughters Escape
 Not satisfied, Silva again rapped on the wall for his daughter, Emma. The girl opened the front door of her home and asked, Do you want me, father?" "Yes," Silva replied. Come into the cellar: I want you to hold a light for me while I do some work"
 All right" the child replied. T want to take my silk dress off first" and ran up stairs.
 Come here at once" her father said as he approached her. The child saw that her parent held large mal- let behind him. The child rushed up stairs and locked herself in her room. Her father attempted to force open the door and the frightened girl raised the window and hanging from the sill by her finger dropped to the yard, twenty feet below.
 When Silva heard the girl climbing out of the window he ran into the yard. The girl climbed high fence and seeing a dark overcoat on a clothes lines threw it over herself | and hid in the yard until her father gave up the search and went into the | house.
 She then made her way into the | home of a neighbor but was so badly | shocked she was unable to speak. The police were notified and Silva's house | was surrounded.