New Britain herald., 1925-07-11
SUPER.THRILL IS
 CAUSE OF MURDER
Son Of Wealthy Man Is Sought
 by Police

Nnneoia N r. July Il Ft-Hav- ing committed murder to get the super-thrill Of his hectic career. in the opinion Of the authorities, Philip K. Knapp. ?s year old ex-college Beau Brummcl, deserter from the army aviation corps and wrecker of womens hearts Is being sought by police.
 Like the murder of Bobby Franks In Chicago, in which the finding of a pair of glasses In swamp led to the intellectual sIayers' capture, Knapp's carclessneS started the hunt for him.
 Knapp is accused of picking for his victim modest, trusting man, Louis Panela, Hampstead taxicab driver, Searchers stumbled over g foot protruding from the ruins of the old Camp Mills base hospital near here July 4 Panella disappear cd the previous night. That same day Knapp had obtained three day leave. The body might not have been found for weeks, if at all. had Knapp heared over 1t little more Of the wreckage.
 A formal warrant for his arrest is to be sworn out today by Nassau county authorities. Knapp in note phrased like an army order said he had made np his mind to kill be- cause he had exhausted every other means 10 get a kick" out of life. Tho note was found in his locker. IL was addressed to his father, VII liam W. Knapp, Syracuse. ". r., en- gineer and the commandant of his observation squadron.
 Frankly, the thought of self-de- struction has been considered" he wrote June "s, a week before he Is said to have committed murder. But in that although the result was de- sirable the excitement. the utter joy Of facing death vas absent"
 Knapp hattled natives In the South American wilds His skull vas crushed go badly that a steel plate was inserted. He sailed the South Pacific. He said he tried everything In the automobile world, racing. accidents, airplane crashes, ad inflnitum.
 "Bootlegging proved too tame" he wrote, anything was welcome that endangered life"
 He enlisted at Mitchell field, April 13, because, he wrote. flying was about the only occupation un- tried and because a certain young woman, formerly his wife and at present most distasteful to him was trailing him.
 Intercepted letters showed he had been writing to Miss Peggy Parker in New York and had made ar- engagements to visit her upstate this month.
 Knapp riHed Panella's pockets of s7o, drivers license and badge and drove about Long Island for two days. Then he came to New York. substituted his own picture for that of his victim in the license, and sold the car to an agency for sl,o0o. He pawned himself off ss Panella and accepted s1oo in part payment. He endorsed the check with Panella's name, but never called for the bal ance of the money,
 He wrote a friend at the flying field from Albany July g, He is said 10 have registered st hotel there as P. T. Rogers of Buffalo He was seen later in Glen Falls. apparently heading for Canada. Officers of the field reported his disappearance, bearing of the taxicab drivers nlur- der, when Knapp failed to return. A revolvel was missing from the racks.
 Panella, the father of two chill dron, was evidently induced to drive 10 a lonely spot near the base hos pita'. Knapp's striking personality red hair and mustache, and refined manners induced implicit faith in his integrity, Powder marks on Pan elias neck showed that the army revolver was pressed close to his skin,
 At Syracuse Knapp was known as the black sheep of a respected fam fly. He said he was kicked out Of Cornell and Syracuse universities and had habit of disappearing from home. He studied mechanical engineering after serving in the army during the war
 Al Mitchell Field his fellows re- garded him as a man among wom. .cn. He rarely mixed with the gang and summed the horsArIsy Of the barracks.