The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-10-15
LAb0RER CONPESSES
hurting YOUNCSTER
into O|L-FED FIRE
Tiny Gold Ring, Wristwatch
and Few BIackened
Bones Are Removed
BLO0DSTAINs DISCOVERED
Police Say Discharged Apart
ment House Handyman Be-
came Panic Stricken

Mt. Vernon, N. Y, Oct. 15.-(R-
Police said Monday that Lawrence
Stone, husky young laborer, had con-
fessed throwing Swear old Nancy
Jean Costigan into huge apartment
house furnace.
A tiny gold ring, child's wrist
watch and few blackened bones
were removed from the furnace Sun
day after the six-foot, oil-fed flames
had been turned off. They were all
that remained.
A trail of blood through base
ment maze was interpreted by police
as mute testimony of a brutal assault.
but Stones confession, as announced
by Chief Inspector Michael I. Sill
verstein, said the girl was hurt In a
fall
Stone, discharged handyman at the
apartment house, was quoted as con-
Tossing he had been playing with the
child in the basement and had hit
her with her rubber ball. She fell.
he said, striking her head on the
concrete floor.
Then she turned blue
Became Panic. stricken
Stone started to carry Nancy Jean
upstairs, the confession continued.
but became panic-stricken. He threw
her into the flames.
Blood smeared on his clothes led to
the arrest of Stone, who is "a. He
insisted during hours of questioning
that he knew nothing Of the Staying.
n41S hA 1o&V &hAk hA
got the blood on his clothes while
helping to turn upright . police pa
troll which had been In . collision on
It's way to the apartment house. But.
Inspector Silverstein said, q hall man
had noticed Stones blood-flecked
necktie before the staying was dis
covered.
A tenant of the building said she
had seen Stone and the child togeth-
er half an hour before the horror.
stricken hall man, following the dry
ing splotches. saw the little skull
through the leaping flames.
Nancy Jean, daughter of 4 well
TODD Long Island couple. had been
visiting her aunt. Mrs. G. Russell
Newhouse, at the Pel-Hutchinson
apartment house, the largest and one
Of the most exclusive apartment
structures in Mount Vernon.
Mr.. and Mrs. Richard ]. Costigan
of Forest Hills, her parents. were up
stairs with Mrs. Newhouse when the
Staying was discovered.
Noticed Bloodstains
At S o'clock, Charles Hutchinson
went into the cellar to regulate the
furnace. Almost Immediately he no.
ticed bloodStains.
Hurrying for assistance, Hutchinson
saw man in the basement. He
identified the shadowy figure as the
former handyman and saw the blood
on his tie, Inspector Silverstein said.
He did not stop to speak to Stone.
however.
With Frank Springer, another en-
ploye, Hutchinson opened the furnace
door, saw the blackened skull and
turned off the oil.
DR.. Amos O. Squire, Westchester
county medical examiner, estimated
that the fire was fierce enough to
cremate the body in two minutes.
Three detectives were slightly in
jured as the patrol wagon collided
with the automobile of H. G. Cornell
and an ambulance was called to take
them to the hospital while other Of
ficers hunted for the handyman.
Taking the injured men to the am
bulance, they found Stone sitting in
side it. He had received no injuries.
however, and was taken from the hos
pital to police headquarters, there to
be questioned about the blood on his
body and clothes.
Chemists went to work to determine
whether the blood on the prisoners
clothes was like that on the basement
floor. They also sought to determine
whether the child had been attacked.