New Britain herald., 1926-08-07
SHOE BOX MURDER STORY IS REVIVED
Wallin6fOrd Killing Recalls
 Mystery Of 40 Years Ago
WAS MIX'S FIRST BIG CASE
Former Chief O'Reilly of WaIling- ford Claims To Have Known Identity of Slayer, Who Has, Been Dead For Twenty Years.


 Wallingford, May With the finding of the bodys of Robert De- molin in vacant lot here Wednes. day and the subsequent search for his murderer by Coroner Eli Mix il is recalled that forty years ago Cor oner Mix came to Wallingford on his first important case-the fam ous Shoe Box Murder"
 Says He Knew Slayer
 Although the mystery of the find ing of the torso of a man wedged in small wooden box of the type then used for packing shoes has never been solved, officially, former Chief Danny" O'Reilly, of the Wall ingford police, told the Associated Press last night that the victim had been identified by him and that he had located the murderer who died many years ago. MT. O'Reilly and the coroner are the only two now living of the many officials actively engaged in the attempt to solve the case when it attracted attention two score years ago.
 Chief Danny" as MT. O'Reilly is tamiliarly known to hundreds oi friends whose esteem and affection he won during a period of police service extending over three de cades declares that he had consist ently refused to discuss the "shot box mystery" at any length for va rious reasons.
 Dead 20 Years
 The perpetrator has been dead nearly 20 years" the veteran police officials said, "and I know of nc good reason why the descendants oi relatives ok this killer should be made to bear the ignominy which revelation of his identity would i'm. pose upon them. Unless something which I cannot now foresee forces me to change my mind on this point, I shall carry thes secret tc the grave with me-" He added that the murderer had been mo vaga bond beyond the pale of society bu, the scion of one of New England's families"
 The shoe box with it's contents was found by a berry picker in BroaG Swamp, about 900 yards from tht Cheshire-Yalesville road on Angus IT, 1886.
 Chief Dannys version of the mur der, as given to the Associated Pres. is as follows:
 His Version of Crime
 "A serious crime had been com. mitted against the state of Connec, lieut., a crime which meant a long term in states prison for it's per. petrators if convicted. The murder, ed man. whose home was in Fair. field county. knew all about the de. tails and the principals in this crime. The authorities knew thai he knew it. and, what is most i'm portant, the principals in the slay- ing knew that the authorities were aware that the victim knew about
 
 man would have proven. had he been permitted to live, a powerful states witness against those whom the state had resolved to prosecute for the crime I referred to. I will not mention the nature nor further details of that crime, because every one would know who was of age at that time, to what I referred.
 Tt as therefore decided to put the victim out of the way on the old theory that dead men tell no tales The man whose torso was found in the shoe box was conse- quently lured on a ruse to a lonely spot where he had to pass through an opening in a fence which stood there. His body, passing through the marrow space, formed a perfect target, The victim probably never knew what struck him and. in all likelihood. he died instantly from a bullet wound.
 His body was then horribly butchered. his head, legs and arms being ha&led off. It was never dis covered %here the dismembered parts were concealed.
 "All that was found was the tor. so, in a horrible condition of decay, emitting stench that drove us 40 feet away from the body when the wind blew against us.
 "The attempts made to divert attention from the real clues to the solution of the shoe box mystery and the money spent to hush 1t up have recently been duplicated In the Hall-Mills case in New Jersey" nr ATT r,r,va~ ao a