The Washington times., 1929-03-08
.NlORR|EDBY
SICKNESS,
N)RIN)GERY,
: De B I i .
Continued from First Page)
the gun under the name of Maria

Continued from First Page)
the gun under the name of Mart;
ConnslI."
"Whers is the EunF" she wal
asked.
IT threw It in the riyer--I-"
The door opened and the big boy,
a. Mrs. O'Connor called him, carnt
IA. He, is a tall lad, with fin'
features.
Before anything could be said be
tween mother and son, the detectives
hustled the lad into an adjoining
room and began to question him.
While big Boy" was being aues
toned, the mother began slowly Il
give way to hystsria and her an
swers to questions were almost in
coherent.
She quoted from her letter t,
The Washington Times, and sait
that the letter would be sufficient
explanation. In .he meantime, one
df the thres detectives was conduct
Ing q quiet search for the revolver
Asked again where it was, she re
piled, Il threw it in the river.
Her letter to The Times follows:
Text Of Letter
Washington, d, c.,
Feb. 10. -929.
The washington Times,
H St., bet. 18th and 14th.
Gentlemen--I am enclosing my
marriage certificate and also my
sons birth certificate, az well as
this letter, to establish the fact
that we are who and what we are.
We are voluntal lily, after talking
It over, leaving this life because of
my ill.health, and because we have
no one to whom we can turn for
help, also because we want to- ttnd
some place where we may be to-
Kether without anyone gainsay-
Ing it.
MY husband left me over ~
years ago shortly after he heard
/ was to have a son. he re-
turned almost two years later
and again I tried to become a
home maker for him and our
SON. 1t was not a success.
tried from time to time to di-
vorce him but had no help and
no cooperation and so did not
succeed in freeing myself from
1 man who would not help US or
perhaps could not. He Is now.
employed in the Washington
Navy Yard as a truck driver,
and I feel that it is only fair to
us that he should bear the bur-
den. of our final disposal.
My son had. a compound frac-
ture of the leg which caused me
to be out of work and run be-
hind in my expenses, and my
health is not equal to the build
ing up that is necessary before
we can face the world again.
am enclosing a list of the unpaid
debts so that justice may be done
these people who have been kind
to me. / feel that it is only fair
that Edward O'Connor should
settle these bills. I have tried
getting small loan to hquidate
some of these bills and give me
time to pay them, but with no
success. So I am taking the
only course left voluntarily and
with the full consent Of my own
precious boy
(signed) Helena NJ. o'Connor
and e. Blair O'Connor
Walked and Walked
ST just walked anC walked and
walked. until came to the place
where the canal runs closely to the
river. ] walked and walked up the
canal banks and finally came to a
rocky, desolate spot between the
canal and the river. climbed over
the rocks and Weeis and threw the
pistol into the river.
81 only did this because my big
boy said to me last night while
we were discussing this, No, l am
going to live at any cost
II knew then that ] would have
to quiet all his fears, so I told him
/ would throw the pistol In the
river. He went to the Public Ii
hrary with a boy friend this after
noon, and that is when ] threw the
pistol away"
The detective who was question
ing the boy came out of another
room and whispered to the detec-
tive talking with Mrs. 0'Connor.
when was the last time you had
ANYTHING to eat?'' the latter asked.
''Not for 4 long tirne," the woman
replied.
Woman Breaks Down
The big Boy and his questioner
emerged from the other room and
n was learned that Mrs. 0'Connor
had planned to shoot the lad and
then herself in the event police came
to the apartment. Mrs. o'Connol
then broke down completely and the
party from headquarters decided
to postpone the "trip downtown un
til she had regained some Of hei
composure.
Asked why she did not call on
sister in Washington for help, and
a brother in Norristown, Pa. Mrs
O'Connor said her sister, who is q
school teacher and so years old
didn't have it and that she had
never asked her brothr for anything
She refused to give the detectives hei
relatives. names.
offered food by the detectives
and by the reporter who was
present Mrs. o'Connor replied, u
don't want anything to eat-just ar
opportunity to settle my debts anc
be self.supporttng.
Wants to Work
ST tried at three banks to gel
ANAL loans to tide US over, bu
they all refused me-" Mrs. O'CoD
nor sobbed please let me go t
work and settle my affairs.
Once at headquarters Mrs. o'Cou
nor collapsed and the woman tele
phone operator Of the police switch
board was called into duty as f;