CHILDREN KILL THEIR FATHER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11507, 21 August 1899, Page 8

CHILDREN KILL THEIR FATHER.

AN OUTCOME OF CRUELTY.

Lena Bouts, a little blue-eyed, girl of W, and her ten-year-old brother, Nicholas, were brought into Rapid City, Dakota, (reports the San Francisco Chronicle), charged with the deliberate murder of their father, Frank Bouts, a prominent railroad contractor. The family is quite prominent in the western part of Pennington County, and the crime is considered remarkable by the authorities in many respects. The little girl admits the crime, and tile boy adds that ho did what he could to kill Ms father. The father is said to have been very cruel to his family, and this appears to have been tho motive for the crime. It was committed while the mother was visiting at a neighbour's house, and after the killing the little girl prepared lunch in the usual way, and when her mother returned the three sat down and ate, while the dead body of the father, slain an hour before by the two children, was but a few rods away in the rear of the hoiise.

The crime was committed with the father's rifle. While the little boy steadied the weapon the girl fired it from a rear window. Her aim was true, and a great hole was torn in her father's back, and death must have been instantaneous. The gun was put away, and nothing said of tho crime until the mother became alarmed at the long absence of her husband. Tho shooting wa3 then admitted.

The children are quite bright. Th«y seem to think the cruelty of their parent was ample to warrant the murder. Little Lena spoke freely to the wife of the gaoler in Rapid City of the crime. She said, without a tremor or evidence of regret: " You see, papa was very mean to mamma and us children, and Nicholas and I were talking about having him hanged, when he came into the house and kicked me. Nicholas ran to him, and he got kicked too. Then papa went out behind the house to fix a buggy whip, and we thought he was going to whip us, so Nicholas got the rifle and cocked it, as he had seen papa do, and I put it through the window close to where - papa stood. I pulled the trigger, and it kicked me down, but when I looked out papa was rolling on the ground, but did not speak. Then we got dinner ready, and told mamma when she asked us."