The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-03-05

were tried, convicted and sentenc-
ed to prison. The state supreme
court granted them O. new trial,
however, and they were acquitted.
Still later, one Of Melvin's play
mates told q story accusing two
other men of stealing the child.
The two were arrested, and each
told q rambling and unconvincing
story accusing the other of killing
the boy. Neither story carried much
conviction, and since no trace Of
Melvin could be found the case was
written down as another unsolved
mystery.
Somewhat like the kidnapping Of
Baby Lndbergh, In ats beginning
at any rate, was the kidnapping of
who was stolen from his crib In his
ristown, Pa, in the summer Of 1920.
through window in the middle Of
the night and carried the boy
away. For five years So called clues
in this case kept turning up, but all
proved groundless on investigation
tssf1 shS ShAAu was hSs ASehAs
Equally terrible are many Of the
cases In which the mystery has
been cleared up.
Most notorious Of all was the
kidnapping Of little Bobby Franks
of Chicago by Nathan Leopold and
Richard Loeb. This, the sensa-
tional thrill murder" drew the
attention of the entire country.
Bobby Franks vanished while on
his way home from school. After
his father had received q letter de-
manding ransom. the boys body
was found under a culvert on the
outskirts Of Chicago. Leopold and
Loeb, sons of wealthy Chicagoans,
were arrested little later, were
saved from capital punishment by
the eloquence OF their lawyer, Clar-
ence Darrow, and now are serving
life sentences In the state prison at
Joliet, III.
Almost equally notorious was the
tragedy Of i2-year-old Marian Par
ker, kidnapped In Los Angeles in
December, 1921 by William Ed
ward Hickman.
The girls father, high official in
a bank, received q note a few days
later demanding $500 for the re-
turn Of the child. He went to o
designated spot, paid over the
money--and was given the dead
body OF his daughter, horribly mu-
tiiated.
Hickman was caught later and
was hanged In San Quentin prison
before q year had elapsed.
Little Billy Dansey, aged three,
went out to play near his home In
Hammonton, N. j., one afternoon
In the fall of Holland never
came back. For six weeks the boy
was sought everywhere In the
United States-until his body was
found In a swamp near the town
where he lived. He had been MUIR
dered and shortly after the dis
covery Of his body the father Of
one Of his playmates was arrested
and accused of the crime.
Six-year-old Mary DAILY was an
other New Jersey child. Her par
ents lived In Montclair and she was
kidnapped one afternoon by Har-
rison Noel, a young man who has
been held in an insane asylum for
some time but who had been par
| oiled in the belief that his mental
condition was all right.
Noel murdered her and tried to
| collect ransom money from her ia
ther. He was caught, found insane
and sent to an asylum for life.
| The same gruesome note runs
through the tragic story of Dorothy
Schneider, s, of Mount Morris,
Mich, who was kidnapped. murdered
and buried in q forest by Adolph
Hotelling, a church elder, the ia
Their of five children and suppos-
| eddy reliable and decent citizen.
Hotelling was caught, confessed
and was sentenced to prison for life
after a mob of 5000 had been pre-
vented from storming the Jail and
| lynching him only by the presence
Of a company of state militia.
Similar was the murder Of g.
year-old Marian Mclean in Gin
cinnati in December of 1881. Ma
rian had been kidnapped by Charles
Bischoff, a 45-year-old shoemaker.
who murdered her and hid her
body in a cellar. He was caught
after the greatest manhunt in Gin
cinnati's history. and his case is
now awaiting disposition.
This crime, in turn, was like the
murder of Irving Pickelny, aged 8,
of New York City. Irving was en-