Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1935-02-21
Albert Fish Held For Murder,
Married BARTLETT Woman

Married Bartlett Woman
Albert H. Fish, SO, who is held
in New York City for the horrible
murder seven years ago of Grace
Budd, little child, and is said by
the records to have confessed his
guilt, lived for a brief time at Bart
lett, and during that period married
Mrs. Myrna McGrew Nichols, de-
serting her after five days of mar
ried life. Three years later the
wife secured a divorce in Marietta
on grounds of wilful absence. 1t is
said that Fish by his own confess
sion, following his arrest in Decem-.
ber, ranks as one of the outstanding
maniacal killers of modern times.
He will come to trial soon, and it is
possible that witnesses may be call
ed from Bartlett to support an in
sanity defense. 1t is charged that
on June 3, 1928, Fish lured Grace
Budd, mere child, to an abandon
ed house near New York City, and
there killed and dismembered her
body, parts of which were found six
years later by detectives, who never
had ceased their efforts to solve the
mystery. Fish's capture was made
when he was traced by letter in
which a government check in pay
ment of his sons services in west
ern CCC camp, was called for by
/ him. In the confession alleged to
have been made, it is stated that he
detailed the horrible crime, in which
he is alleged to have said that an
overpowering lust for blood was
aroused in him when a friend re-
lated how Chinese in famine dis
tricts eat the flesh and drink the
blood of their fellow being, and he
was overcome with a desire to kill
human and drink his victims
blood, and he set about to stalk
victim.
| Some time after the date of the
Budd murder Fish appeared in Co
4! lumbus, which was during the sum-
mer of 1928, as house painter,
and while working there he met
I Mrs Myrna Nichols, whose hus-
band Milo Nichols had been killed
in coal mine. She was the mother
of seven children, Oldest Of whom
was George, then 18 years of age.
! The mother was working in Colum-
! bus as housekeeper for her brother.
! Later Mrs. Nichols returned to her
/ girlhood home near Bartlett. With
the money she obtained as indus
Axrsa Il, l.
eight acre farm about mile south
! of Bartlett. In January, 1880, Fish
appeared at the home of Mrs. Mich
OILS, and few days later they were
married in Marietta by Squire
O'Neill, returning to the farm near
Bartlett where they remained for
! few days, when Fish went back to
| Columbus. He told his wife he had
a contract to paint a church in Co
I lumbus, and he offered to give the
two older Nichols boys job as
painters. On arriving in Columbus
Fish told the boys that he would
take them out and show them the
church they were going to paint,
and after walking about for several
hours and failing to find the church,
he told the boys he had forgotten
it's location, and proposed that they
go to the postoffice building and
try and straighten out the matter
! Going to the postoffice building Fish
/ left the boys in the foyer of the
! building, with pretense that he
was going upstairs to his office and
! consult records. He disappeared
and that was the last they ever saw
of him. The boys then returned to
Bartlett. In the year 1888 Judge
David H. Thomas granted Mrs.
! Fish a divorce on grounds of wilful
absence for more than three years,
and she was restored to the name
of Myrna Nichols. Later she mar
has since resided near Bartlett.
No word was received from the
missing man until a few weeks ago,
when a daughter of Mrs. Flowers
received a letter from her former
step-father, which had been written
from The Tombs, New York, where
Fish now awaits trial on murder
charge In the letter he spoke of
the marriage to the girls mother;
stated that he had committed a
great wrong; asked about her moth
er, whom he referred to as a good