Evening star., 1937-10-17
SLAYEROF COUPLE
FACESQU|CK TRIAL
Youth, 18, Confesses Driv.
Ing Over Six States With
Victims Bodies.
By the Associated Press.

ber 16.-A sleepy-eyed, auburn-haired
youth of 18 faced quick removal to
Maine tonight after Prosecutor John
j. Breslin announced he confessed
killing an elderly physician and his
wife, stufhng their bodies in car
and driving his gruesome cargo
through six Northeastern States.
The youth, Paul Dwyer, South Paris,
Me, high school junior and son of
a widowed nurse, was arrested shortly
after am. by two patrolmen, who
saw the worn soles of his shoes stick
ing out of the window of parked
automobile where he slept-so tired
from a 56-hour ride. police said, he
told them MY eyes were sore"
Taken to police headquarters for
routine questioning-police thought he
was a vagrant-the youth was said
by Police Chief George Shippee to
have described readily the double
murder" of Dr.. John G.. Littlefield,
81. South Paris physician and his
wife, Lydia, g.
Patr0lman Finds Body.
He began to talk after a patrolman,
making quick search of the car
reported he found the body of a
middle-aged, gray-haired woman on
the floor below the back seat with
suit cases and blankets piled on top
of her.
II might as well tell you," Shippee
quoted the youth as saying. There
man in the back trunk. I killed
him, too"
In the trunk police found DR.. Lit
tlefield's battered body.
Authorities of Oxford County
Maine, notified Immediately, came
here to return the youth, who police
said expressed desire Ito go back
to Maine, because they don't have
capital punishment there" Breslin
said Dwyer waived extradition.
Extradition Waiver Signed.
A formal waiver of extradition was
signed late today by the youth in the
Bergen County Court House chambers
Of Judge j. Wallace Leyden in Hacken-
sack. Dwyer was then handed over
to Sheriff Matthew Donahue. who
placed the pale-faced boy in the
county Jail.
DWyer will be flown back to Maine
by chartered plane tomorrow morning
In the custody Of Maine authorities
who arrived today. They were Robert
Smith, oxford County attorney, and
F. F. Francis. oxford County sheriff;
Henry E. Burnell, Cumberland County
sheriff, and State Trooper Eugene H
Stevens OF Wells. Me
According to the confession attrib-
uted to Dwyer, the doctor was slain
In Oxford County and his wife in
Cumberland.
Tells Story Amid Tears.
The boy had told his story amid
tears and when he finished, police said,
he blurted out:
II didn't mean to do it, I just lost
my temper. then I got scared I'm
glad it's all over"
Chief Shippee said the youth told
them he called Dr. Littlefield to his
home Wednesday evening to examine
him for a social disease. He said the
doctor told him he did not have the
disease, but remarked the girl II was
going with last Winter was pregnant, "
6hippee quoted Dwyer as relating.
The youth declared that angered
him, and he struck down the ply
sician, finally strangling him with a
belt and hitting him with a hammer
two or three times" Shippee said.
Body Stuffed Into Trunk.
With the doctors body stuffed into
the automobile trunk, young Dwyer,
Chief Shippee said, then related how
he drove to the Littlfleld home and
told the doctors wife her husband
had killed two men with an automo-
bile and had fled town. The youth
offered to drive Mrs. Littlefield to
Boston, the chief continued, to meet
her fugitive" husband.
I'VE drove to Boston," Shippee
quoted the boy as confessing. I'VE
were expecting DR.. Littlefield but he
didn't arrive-and. Of course, he
couldn't. So I went to a telephone
booth and called a wrong number. I
told Mrs. Littlefield that the doctor
had gone to Concord, N. H. So We
went to Concord"
A long drive, Shipee, said, took the
boy, the unsuspecting elderly woman
and, in the autos trunk, her dead
husband to Concord, N H., where
1--WE waited until late Thursday for
the doctor to arrive but, OF course, he
couldn't"
Drove to Manchester.
Then. Shippee said, the boy drove
to Manchester, N. H., back to Concord,
through Boston, Newburyport and
Portsmouth to Portland.
The youths signed confession, Ship
pee said, then read:
Il decided to take her home and
the body to Oxford County courthouse
and confess. We stopped to rest some
where between Portland and South
Paris. I was so tired my eyes were
sore. I hadn't slept since Tuesday
While we were parked, We began talk
Ing about the doctor. I was so tired
apparently let something Slip Mrs
&JAotiSAANid 40SotAOilCNl NlOoCly dOOut
what had done with the doctor.
tried to stall her off and was just going
to tell her about the doctor when she
accused me of killing him.
"She said she knew it and wa.
going up to the road to get some one
to straighten it out"
Shippee said the youth told then
they argued, she began to blow thu
horn, and Il grabbed her by tn,
throat and held her until she stopped
fighting"
Il put her body in the back on ths
door and covered her with blanket
and suitcases," Shippee said the con
fession read. II looked in her purs,
which was on the front seat and saw
about $3.50 and some jewelry."
The endless driving began anew
Eh{py,oa Sotd-fhro,,oh Dorf1opd Nav,