FARM BOY SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF FOUR PLAYMATES
NEW YORK, June 24. In the Lapeer (Michigan) Circuit Court to-day Judge D. Jardius sentenced to life imprisonment the farm boy, Oliver Terpenning, aged 16, after he pleaded guilty to killing four playmates, aged 16, 14, 12, and 2, while they were gathering wild flowers on May 1. Terpenning told the court that he shot the children, who were all members of one family, because he always wanted to know what it would feel like to kill somebody. Terpenning insisted that he shot them on impulse, and did not at any time attempt to attack the girls, Barbara Smith (16) find Gladys (13). When the bodies were found the girls were still clutching bunches of violets and lilies. After the shooting Terpenning went home and took the family car, intending to flee to Canada, but lack of money caused him to change his plans, and he was captured the following day near Eire.
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Evening Star, Issue 26137, 26 June 1947, Page 7
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161FARM BOY SENTENCED FOR MURDER OF FOUR PLAYMATES Evening Star, Issue 26137, 26 June 1947, Page 7
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