LOS ANGELES MURDER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20291, 27 December 1927, Page 9

LOS ANGELES MURDER

HICKMAN’S MAIN CONCERN. NOT SUFFICIENT PUBLICITY. PROUD OF HIS LETTERS. (Frees Association—B- Telegraph—Copyright.) NEW YORK, December 23. Hickmann told the guard that he had two worries. The first was that he was afraid that he would not set as much publicity as Leopold and Loeb, and the second was that someone “ will try to force religion on me.” He asked the guard how the papers were treating his arrest and how many extra editions were published in Los Angeles. The Rev. W. H. Robbins, pastor of the local Baptist Church, brought a Bible to Hickman, who said; “ I do not want a preacher now. I needed that before. I would feel a hypocrite if I used religion before I die.” He also told the guard that he believed that God’s vengeance, and not man’s cunning, was the cause of his capture, but before he died he wanted to see Perry Parker face to face and tell him that he did not kill Marion. Hickman added irrelevantly : “ I think what T have done will back Jesse James off the map.” He seemed proud of the death letters he wrote to Mr Parker, and said • “ They were a good piece of literature.” Hickman continued to protest that a man namer Cramer was the actual murderer. The crowd of thousands about the gaol are quite orderly-—A. and N.Z. Cable. STILL DENIES HIS GUILT. NEW YORK, December 23. (Received Dec. 25, at 5.5 p.m.) The man whom Hickman ’escribed as the actual murderer of Miss Parker nas been in gaol since August. When confronted with this fact Hickman said his crony must havo assumed a false name. He tl\en continued to describe the person as having been in trouble with the authorities before. However the man whom h € accused as the murderer said he knew Hickman, but since he was in prison at the time of the •murder it was impossible that he could be guilty of the crime. Hickman, after 24 hours’ grilling, continued to deny his guilt of the murder.— A. and N.Z. Cable. A MESSAGE FROM HICKMAN. WARNING AGAINST CRIME. NEW YORK, December 24. (Received Dec. 26, at 5.5 p.m.) A Los Angeles message states that the prosecuting attorney questioned Hickman at Pendleton Gaol to-day, where the prisoner had several fits of hysterics, muttering, “Oh, God! oh, God!” Later, Hickman issued a statement to the youth of America warning them against crime. “ I hope 1 can do some good by giving you this warning. Think it over and see my mistake. Be upright and honest and respect law,” he concluded. Detectives discovered finger-prints of a woman in the room where Markin w T as held captive.—A. and N.Z. Cable. HICKMAN ATTEMPTS SUICIDE. TAKEN BACK TO LOS ANGELES. NEW YORK December 25. , (Received Dec. 26, at 10 p.m.) At Pendleton Hickman made two attempts to kill himself to-day. First he tried to strangle himself with a knotted handkerchief, and when intercepted by the guard he tried to dive from his bunk to bash his head on the concrete floor. He had been in a state of lethargy many hours previously. When aroused he tore a Bible to pieces and scattered the pages on the floor, and then attempted suicide. Hickman has been taken back to Los Angeles, leaving Pendelton late this afternoon. A huge crowd surrounded the railway station. —A. and N.Z. Cable.