BOY SHOOTS PARENTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 April 1935, Page 7

BOY SHOOTS PARENTS

“TAKEN FOR A RIDE”

TO OBTAIN INSURANCE MONEY [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] AUSTIN (Texas). April 25. An extraordinary confession lias been made by Howard Pierson, aged 12. who informed Sheriff Allen that he had shot and killed his father, who was an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and his mother, in order to get their property, which included 17,000 dollars of life insurance. Sheriff Allen explained that the relations between the boy and his parents had not been amicable recently. The youth, who was on five days’ vacation from the oilfields, where he had been employed, took his parents for an automobile ride in desolate country. He lured them from the car, on the pretext of showing his mother, who was interested in Indian relics, an old aboriginal grindstone. After killing his parents, he hid their purses. He shot and wounded himself in the arm, and then raced hysterically back to town, 'declaring that robbers had murdered his father and mother and had attempted to kill him. The police searched all night for highwaymen, but after many hours of questioning, due to discrepancies in the youth's story, he broke down, and confessed. HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDY. HOLLYWOOD. April 25. Paul' Wharton, aged 25, said to be the designer of the clothing of a number of prominent screen actresses, was slain by, an unknown person in his apartment. His invalid mother, who was in an adjoining room, told the police that she heard angry voices, and the shouts of her son, and also pistol shots. Wharton was dead when the police arrived. He had been shot three times.