Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-30
FIFTH "BLUEBEARD"'
: VICTIM is FOUND
Body of Woman Believed That
of Mrs. Dorothy P. Lemke,
Worcester, Mass.
fContinued From First PAGE !

Continued From First Page)
hours before that he killed Mrs. Eicher
and her three children, his purpose to
secure for himself the property he be-
lieved she owned
Exhorted by a ClarkSburg minister to
consider biblical sayings on the
enormity of crime and the confession
of sin, he collapsed in tears, faltered
an outline of his deed, and then. re-
turning once more to the compcsure of
two days of rigorous questioning, die
tated a formal, brief statement admit
ting his guilt,
Il did, in the month of July, 1881,
murder Mrs. Asia Eicher and her three
children, Harry Greta and Anabel, by
using a hammer and by strangulatton,
he said
That was his only reference to the
killings themselves. He absolved his
wife and sister-in-law of any compile
ity. declared the statement was made
of his own free will, and nothing more.
The brief statement gained him re-
SPITE. however. Not until he has rested
and fully gained control of himself
will officers attempt TO have him tell
his tale of horror in detail.
BY that time they expect to question
him on more than the killing of widow
and children Today, a resident Of SUI
burban Quiet Dell reported finding
bones. apparently human, in the ruins
of a burned cottage near the garage
near which the bodies of the woman, her
son. and her two daughters were found
buried in the muck surrounding sewer.
Then too there are his further actiVi-
ties as correspondent in matrimony.
These activities, he said, were merely
fnr Even tQ7ay.
three days after he was arrested for the
disappearance of the Chicago family, let
ters arrived for him from women
throughout the country.
Even without a detailed story from
the prisoner himself, officers here could
outline the events of the last few
months.
Car and Home Bait.
Papers among his possessions showed
he correspondent with innumerable wom-
en- in ali sections of the country, OBJ
tanning their names through matri-
monial agencies, posing in the ardent
letters he wrote as a wealthy civil en-
gineer longing for womanIy compan-
ionship. yearning to return and establish
a home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The bait
was a beautiful I0-room house. COM
pletely furnished" promises of liberal
spending money and Of a car for his
wife alone.
He met Mrs. Eicher. To Chicago
neighbors who had never seen him be-
fore the widow of a silyersmith de-
scribed him as lust an old friend OF the
family" Two months ago she disap-
peared, Powers disposing OF her home.
A few days later the three children van
ished also, taken away in car bearing
West Virginia registration plates. But
before the children were taken, Powers,
who called himself Cornelius o. Pierson
in his philandering sent one Of them
70 a Chicago bank TO secure 81 900 from
Mrs. Eicher's account but was refused
because Of insufficient funds.
Today he admitted he lured Mrs.
Eicher here, bringing the children later.
He went that far in his story and then
stopped It was hours later before he
confessed the rest.
He did not tell how he strangied his
victims. A rope, found tied to rafter
above a trapdoor TO the cellar Of the
garage" he built at Quiet Dell in
dictated what the method might have
been. Blows from 8 hammer COM
pleted the work.
If he had planned to acquire Mrs.
Eicher's property, however, it was in
dicated his returns would be small !
Chicago sources today revealed that the
home the woman owned was heavily
morTgaged, that she was deeply IN oeot. (
Continues Correspondence.
With four victims beneath ground, |
Powers continued his matrimonial cor |
respondence Five letters 10 women |
were found in his possession when he |
was arrested, awaiting TO be mailed. !.
One Of them showed ne had intended /,
visiting a woman in Hagerstown, Md, !
today or tomorrow.
Meanwhile, police investigated the /
possibility that he had ventuTed into
nlatrtmony more than once. His pres !
ent wife Mrs. LueIla Powers. whom he i
married four years ago, is living here. |
Today Mrs. ESsie Watkins of Fairmont, |
w. Va, said she believed Powers was !
the man she married here as George |
Michael Matthias a year ago, but she |
changed ner mind after talking with /
officers and viewing photographs here. !
Confession Of the killings and revela- /
ton of her husbands correspondence /
with women had no effect upon his |
wife here. She caTessed him when she |
saw him today and declared she would /
stick by him" /
Powers confessed the killings after /
day Of limiting that the story would be-
told First he demanded &c see q law
yer and was granted that request. Then /
he asked to see a minister, and the |
Rev. T. z. Gamer Of the Clarksburg |
Baptist Church was called. He then |
admitted he had rured the woman here, |
then stopped and asked for time to |
rest and seek spiritual reinsurance. To- |
gether he and Mr. Gamer read the |
Bible, the minister dwelling on biblical F.!
references TO confession and to the !
enoTmity Of crime. Powers began TO !
cry like baby" the minister said, |
and the confession was obtained
Or. II. H. Haynes, who assisted in
the autopsy, said that apparently all
four victims were hanged. The autopsy
disclosed, the physician said, that the
women and children had had nothing
to eat for at least 40 hours before
death One Of the children, Harry. II,
had been struck twice on the head
with hammer.
crE-rs IIrpEn CHI nREN