WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:12.679 Paul Puder got calm Evansville, Indiana, August twenty fourth, nineteen eleven. 2 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.920 One of the most atrocious murders in the history of 3 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.440 southern Indiana was committed last night in the home of 4 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:27.000 Richard Lee, a laborer in Boonville. Richard Lee, his wife Emma, 5 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:30.679 and their sixteen year old son Clarence were brained with 6 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.159 a weapon believed to be an axe. Their twenty one 7 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:37.479 year old son, Willie Lee, says he detected a queer 8 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.759 odor in the night, as if feathers were burning. He 9 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:45.479 found the bed ablaze, according to his story, and was 10 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.679 horrified to see his father, mother, and brother dead, their 11 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:52.799 heads having been crushed with what he believed to be 12 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.640 an axe. The son notified neighbors, who rushed to the 13 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.159 home and found the three victims of pools of blood. 14 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:07.640 Some of Booneville's citizens doubt the boy's story. A rigid 15 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.480 investigation is being made. The older son is under arrest. 16 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:45.920 True crime Historian presents Yesterday's News tales of classic scandals, scoundrels, 17 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:50.040 and scourges told from historic newspapers in the golden age 18 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.640 of yellow journalism. Episode three hundred and seventy four tells 19 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.280 the story of an awful family murder in Booneville, Indiana, 20 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:01.319 when a lazy young man and without much of a future, 21 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.519 takes an axe to his parents and brother on the 22 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:09.120 eve of his wedding day. What offenses the family committed 23 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.680 to deserve such a fate seemed to be all in 24 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.639 the mind of the accused, and it takes a few 25 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:19.000 tries to get a story straight. I'm true crime historian 26 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:22.439 Richard O. Jones, and for your horror and indignation, I 27 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:29.879 give you a bloody family bed. The Triple Confessions of 28 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:42.039 Willie Lee, Boonville, Indiana, August twenty fifth, nineteen eleven. The 29 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.280 general impression here this afternoon is that Willie Lee, held 30 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.159 as an alleged slayer of his father, mother, and brother, 31 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:54.800 has made a complete confession. Sheriff's Scales and Coroner Farley 32 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.719 were with the prisoner over two hours and came from 33 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:02.360 the prison shortly afternoon. They soon returned, however, carrying a 34 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:06.439 small roll of blank paper, presumably for taking the confession 35 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.560 and writing. Another reason given for believing the rumor of 36 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.960 a confession is that Sheriff Scales this morning arranged to 37 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.120 allow the boy to attend the funeral of the three victims. 38 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.199 The sheriff thought the young man might show signs of 39 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:24.479 weakening when confronted with the remains of the trio, But 40 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.520 after coming from the prison the second time, the sheriff 41 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.560 said he had decided not to take Willie to the funeral. 42 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:35.000 Now it is believed the boy has confessed, and the 43 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:38.520 buggy engaged was not for the funeral, but to convey 44 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.800 Lee to a point of safety, as feeling is running 45 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.560 very high here, especially since the rumors of a confession 46 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:51.520 became current. Sheriff Scales told Lee shortly afternoon that the 47 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.400 residents of Boonville were very indignant that they were talking 48 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.639 of organizing a mob to hang him. Well, if they do, 49 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:10.599 said Lee, they will hang an innocent man. Officers today 50 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.080 found an undershirt and a pair of drawers hidden under 51 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:18.800 a sheet on Willie Lee's bed. The garments were bloodstained. 52 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.360 Young Lee. It is believed after the killing, if he 53 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:28.720 did the killing, concealed the garments there. Sheriff Scales said, 54 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:32.759 the clothing is the size to fit young Lee. Scales 55 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.879 in the corner now have the blood stained garments. The 56 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.360 officers carefully guarded the newly found evidence and would say 57 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.519 nothing further than that they had found underwear hidden in 58 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.519 Young Lee's bed, and that it was covered with bloodstains. 59 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:52.040 Missus Jack Eifler, a neighbor of the Lees, said today 60 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:54.040 that she saw a man going in the direction of 61 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.759 the pond, having come from the direction of the Lee 62 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.160 home early Thursday morning. According to her story, the man 63 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:05.480 was carrying a bundle. Missus Eyfer believes that the man 64 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:09.240 was Willie Lee, and that the package contained bloody tools 65 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.920 used in the murder. It was rumored on the streets 66 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.000 that Young Lee, held as knowing more than he is 67 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:20.519 told of the terrible triple tragedy, was wavering and probably 68 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.480 would make a clean breast of the affair, and when 69 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:25.959 taken before the judge of the Circuit Court, he would 70 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.720 throw himself on the mercy of the court. But Willie 71 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.839 Lee remains as adamant as he was all day yesterday. 72 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:37.800 He vehemently denies knowing who perpetrated the awful deed which 73 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.560 blotted out the lives of his father, mother and brother 74 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:45.439 early Thursday morning. The coroner is still examining witnesses, and 75 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.040 every conceivable detail that can be unearthed is sought to 76 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:54.720 fasten the responsibility on someone. Officers this afternoon are dragging 77 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.680 a pond near the Lee home, believing they will find 78 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:00.439 a pitchfork or other sharp instrument us used in the 79 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.639 triple murder, as some of the gashes on the bodies 80 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.160 appeared to have been inflicted by an instrument other than 81 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:10.560 the hand acts found in the kitchen. Several neighbors of 82 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.399 the ill fated family today said Willie Lee and his 83 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:17.839 parents had occasional quarrels, which contradicts Lee's story that he 84 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.319 and his mother, father, and brother seldom allowed harsh words 85 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.000 to come between them. There are many who believe young 86 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:30.959 Lee and his parents quarreled Wednesday afternoon over his approaching marriage, 87 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.759 and that he left home in a huff, calling on 88 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:38.079 his fiancee, Miss Mina Taylor of near Newburgh, whom he 89 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.160 was to have married last night. It is believed that 90 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.759 upon his return home, he was scolded for planning to 91 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.399 marry inasmuch as he had no job and had very 92 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.120 little money. These same people believed that after the midnight quarrel, 93 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:57.720 Lee went to his room, where he waited until his 94 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:02.519 parents and brother were fast asleep, and then committed the deed. 95 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.639 This is merely the position some have taken when queried 96 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:20.000 relative to their version of the triple tragedy. Newburgh, Indiana, 97 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:26.519 buxhom unsophisticated seventeen year old Mina Taylor, whose love dreams 98 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.879 were shattered like a baby's broken doll, who today would 99 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.279 have been the bride of Willie Lee but for the 100 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:37.519 brutal massacre of his father, mother, and brother, bears up 101 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:41.920 bravely under the ordeal of crushed hope. Though her castles 102 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:45.360 have tumbled down about her, and her sweetheart is veritably 103 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:49.720 in the shadow of grim death. Mina Taylor, the sweet 104 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:54.560 faced country girl, has not prejudged her boy. She has 105 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:59.279 called him that since they were engaged. Hers is a 106 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:03.000 curious name nature. She wavers like a bird with a 107 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:07.560 broken wing, afraid to fly in her own heart and mind. 108 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.879 She may believe him innocent, but she says, time, the 109 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:16.839 revealer of all things, will tell. She has put away 110 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:19.319 the things of a bride, and her dreams of a 111 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.800 year have been covered over with the blightening black charge 112 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:28.439 of crime. Though her face mirrors disappointment intensely and her 113 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.720 eyes have the red, swollen look that come after tears, 114 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:36.159 Mina Taylor does not grow hysterical nor wring her hands. 115 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:40.919 Hers is a sensible view of the triple tragedy. Calmly, 116 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:44.799 she talks of the details, weighing this and that piece 117 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.320 of evidence against him and discarding it when she SIPs 118 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:52.240 it down to her own gauge of guilt. Her friendship 119 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.799 with Lee has been life long. They were sweethearts when 120 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.440 she wore her hair down her back and long plates 121 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.960 and froliced about the school yard in Gingham knee dresses. 122 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:06.559 Later they discovered that subtle spark of love between themselves, 123 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:13.000 and a year ago last spring, Lee proposed except that 124 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.240 he did not work regularly, there was nothing against him. 125 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.440 He did not drink, did not carouse with the boys, 126 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.039 and she hoped he would work steadily after the marriage. 127 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:29.200 Under pressure of persuasion, John Taylor, her father, consented to 128 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.159 the marriage, although he told Lee that Mina was too 129 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.639 young to become a bride. The girl has Lee's bank book. 130 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.200 When he got one hundred and twenty five dollars from 131 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.279 his mother when the house was sold at Newburgh, he 132 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.919 deposited one hundred dollars of it. The girl knew he 133 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.200 had withdrawn thirty five dollars. Since she does not know 134 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:55.480 that the account now is very small. The girl's mother 135 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:57.919 liked young Lee because she had known him for a 136 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:02.679 long time and had heard nothing against his character. The 137 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:06.000 boy was to have returned to the Taylor home Thursday morning, 138 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.799 take the girl to Boonville to pick the furniture, select 139 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:12.799 the house in which they were to live, then return 140 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:16.279 to the Taylor home for dinner and the marriage ceremony. 141 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.600 Lee left the girl Wednesday night about nine o'clock, and 142 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:25.200 she says he was in good spirits and apparently far 143 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:30.639 from a murderous mood. They have not communicated since the tragedy. 144 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.759 The funeral services for the three victims of the terrible 145 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:47.919 murder were held this afternoon. The services were simple. Relatives 146 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:50.600 of the dead were here to take charge of the remains. 147 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:54.879 Interment was made in the cemetery at Newburgh, where a 148 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:59.120 lot had been purchased by the relatives. The sheriff did 149 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:02.320 not allow the prison Willie Lee to attend the services, 150 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.360 although at noon he said he would take the young 151 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.399 man to give him an opportunity to gaze upon the 152 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:13.440 victims for the last time. A great crowd watched the 153 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:22.559 removal of the bodies from the city that a threat 154 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.399 was made against the life of Richard Lee, dead father 155 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.000 of Willie Lee, eleven years ago when his brother in 156 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.360 law Ed Blanchett was killed at Newburgh by Bill Ross. 157 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:38.720 Was revealed by Willie Lee before the coroner's hearing Thursday afternoon. 158 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.960 Dan Sutton, brother in law of the dead man, husband 159 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.960 of the dead woman's sister, is said to have made 160 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.000 the threat. Willie Lee told Coroner Farley that he heard 161 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:55.000 Sutton say that his father, Richard Lee, was the cause 162 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.200 of the murder of Ed Blanchett, and that Dan Sutton 163 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:02.240 would never be satisfied until he got Dick Lee. The 164 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.360 officers are trying to find out where Dan Sutton was 165 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:08.039 the night Dick Lee and all its family but the 166 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:12.919 one son, were murdered while they slept. Dan Sutton's wife 167 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.399 and Missus Lee were sisters, but Dan Sutton and Dick 168 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:20.360 Lee had not spoken for eleven years, says Willie Lee, 169 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:25.039 the surviving son. Though this may be an important clue, 170 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:29.440 the officers are not giving it much consideration. They are 171 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.320 pinning their efforts to fasten the crime upon the boy. 172 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.120 Popular opinion holds him to be the most likely murderer. 173 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.480 So far as the officers know, Dan Sutton never made 174 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:44.799 an attempt on the life of his brother in law. 175 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:54.519 Willie Lee, howled in connection with the triple murder at Boonville, 176 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:59.240 told a straightforward story at the coroner hearing. Quote. I 177 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.639 came home between ten thirty and eleven o'clock Wednesday night, 178 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:06.039 drove the horse to the stable, and went directly home. 179 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.519 When I went into the house, mother was on a pallet, 180 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:12.559 and she rose to a sitting position and asked me 181 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:16.120 if I wasn't outlaid. I said not very, and that 182 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:19.279 it was just about ten o'clock. She asked me where 183 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.879 I was going Thursday, and I said I was going 184 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:25.000 to get married. She said I was going to stay 185 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:28.600 with her, and I laughed. Then I went into my room, 186 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.440 closed the door, and went to bed. When I woke, 187 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.679 I was hazy and I was choking. I grabbed my 188 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.720 trousers in my left hand, stumbled over a chair, struck 189 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.960 the door still by falling against it, stumbled onto the 190 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.240 porch and fell against a pillar. I put on my 191 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.559 trousers out there and went to Lon Nedge's house and 192 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.000 told him the house was burning, and he came back 193 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:55.080 with me. I kicked the front and back doors in 194 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:57.879 and he went to get the fire department. I saw 195 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.919 the wounds on my people's bodies when they were uncovered. 196 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.600 He was asked, this is your revolver that was found 197 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:09.519 in the room. He said it was, but that he 198 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:11.879 had given it to his father two weeks ago and 199 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:13.720 had not seen it until he picked it up in 200 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.440 their room. After returning to the house with hedges, he 201 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:19.759 carried it into his own room and then placed it 202 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:25.080 beside a phonograph. He was asked about an axe. He 203 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.399 said there was only a hand axe about the house, 204 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.600 and he had not seen it since he chopped kindling 205 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:32.440 a week before and threw it into the coal pile. 206 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.360 He said he knew his mother carried life insurance for 207 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.320 members of the family and had seen her pay fifteen 208 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.279 cents a week on several occasions. He said he didn't 209 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.759 know where the oil can was kept. He and his 210 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.039 mother were like children together, he said, and he and 211 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:53.519 his father and brother were chums. He added his mother 212 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.639 gave him money whenever he asked for it. He declared 213 00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:59.279 that she gave him thirty one dollars within the last 214 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:03.720 six weeks, which he had spent foolishly. He had quit 215 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.480 his last job, he said, because his father told him 216 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:10.600 he wasn't making anything of the work. He said there 217 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.399 was no objection to his marriage, and that his father 218 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.080 had told him when he was fifteen he could marry 219 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.720 whenever he wanted to. Ed Schreiber, for whom Richard Lee, 220 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:24.879 the dead father worked, testified that one day, when he 221 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:27.879 paid Lee nine dollars, the old man remarked that it 222 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.919 required a good deal of money to get along, as 223 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.399 he had to contribute liberally to his son, will Schreiber said. 224 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.480 The aged man remarked, we have one gentleman in our family, 225 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:43.799 evidently meaning that Willie didn't work but took life in 226 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:57.200 an easy way. Evidence against Willie Lee bloody underclothing found 227 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:01.639 in his bed, concealed under a sheet. His revolver was 228 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.240 found in the room where his father, mother, and brother 229 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.600 were murdered, taken there perhaps to be used in case 230 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.600 the axe did not accomplish its purpose. When he went 231 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:13.960 to the home of Lawn Hedges and gave the alarm 232 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:18.279 of fire, he was fully dressed. He told coroner Farley. 233 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.639 He had merely grabbed his trousers and put them on 234 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:24.720 outside of the house when he was awakened. When Hedges 235 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.720 returned to the burning house. All the doors were locked. 236 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:32.159 Willie Lee says he came out the front door. The 237 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:35.200 hatchet with blood and hair on it were found in 238 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.960 a corner in the kitchen, and a coal oil can 239 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:43.000 with the top off was also found there. A wash 240 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.720 basin is missing and no keys to the house can 241 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:50.360 be found. Witnesses say the boy beat his mother and 242 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.720 demanded money frequently. He did not work for two months 243 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.440 previous to the murder. He told the corner he had 244 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:06.200 one hundred the Newburgh Bank. The cashier today says his 245 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:10.960 deposit is something like ten dollars. The marriage between the 246 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:14.400 boy and Mina Taylor, which was to have occurred Thursday, 247 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:19.079 met the objections of his parents. A witness declares the 248 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.880 boy said a few days before that he would get 249 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:24.960 the money for his marriage or kill the whole family. 250 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:37.480 Evidence favoring Willie Lee. Willie Lee bore a good reputation. 251 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.599 He did not drink or run with evil companions. He 252 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:44.720 does not appear to be brutal. He talks frankly and 253 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:49.000 explains his conduct before and after the murder. He says 254 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.559 his father and he were chums, and that he and 255 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:56.400 his mother played like children. He stoutly maintains his innocence, 256 00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:01.680 and although unmoved, shows signs of Greek. He has looked 257 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:05.400 upon the dead bodies without portraying any signs of guilt, 258 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.920 and he told the Sheriff Friday he wanted to view 259 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.119 the remains and be at the funeral. His clothes show 260 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:16.240 no blood marks. Three murders, it is said by criminal 261 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:20.400 officers of Evansville, would surely have left some trace of 262 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:30.519 blood upon his clothing or body. August twenty sixth, nineteen eleven. 263 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:37.519 As non caring, as unperturbed, is iron nerved as he 264 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:43.240 ever was. Willie Lee, self confessed murderer, is in the 265 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:49.359 Vandenberg County jail. Though his confession to Sheriff Raymond's scales 266 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.480 has made open the way for the strangling news of him. 267 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:57.960 Willie Lee is the same cold peace of humanity. He 268 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.000 stands the memories of the crime that took away the 269 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:05.319 lives of his mother, father, and brother as calmly as 270 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.359 if they had gone naturally to their death, and not 271 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.960 struggling before his eyes for their lives which he was 272 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:17.400 crushing out by deadly blows from the axe. Willie Lee, 273 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.759 only twenty one, is a fiend. His demeanor makes other 274 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:27.279 crimes and criminals shrink to bare threads of insignificance before him. 275 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:33.039 He is the arch criminal of Indiana. For never since 276 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.039 the Hoosier State unfurled a flag of the Union, never 277 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:42.119 since the massacring Indians receded, has a murder so horrible 278 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:48.240 been perpetrated in this commonwealth. Willie Lee's mother is dead 279 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:50.960 and buried, and he does not show that he had 280 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.000 any more feeling for than for the bird he might 281 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:58.200 bring down with the rifle from a tree. His father 282 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.839 is cold and death and upon the poor old bones. 283 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:04.519 Willie Lee is trying to place the blame for the 284 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.720 triple murder. His brother is in the tomb, and the 285 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.640 thought of the years when the two lads romped the 286 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.000 fields together in the same joy of the barefoot days 287 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.759 does not seem to break the steel like coldness of 288 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:22.640 the young man now held behind the steel bars of 289 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:28.759 the Vandenberg County Prison. Willie Lee is not thinking, apparently, 290 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.000 of how he repaid them for the love they gave him, 291 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:36.480 the sacrifices they made, the long vigils they kept when 292 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.640 he was a frail babe in his cradle. Willie Lee's 293 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:45.240 mind does not run to appreciation. His is a vindictive 294 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:52.920 mind with a turn for revenge, black fiendish crime, breeding hate. 295 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:56.279 Out of his mind does not come the anguishing cry 296 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.720 of criminal air. It is more, the boasts of a 297 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:04.079 wall done deed out of his mouth do not come 298 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.799 words of regret, nor please to God for forgiveness. Only 299 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:12.680 the foul cigarette smoke curls up towards the dingy ceiling 300 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:17.200 of his iron cage as a harbinger of unthinkable crimes. 301 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.559 Out of his eyes. Tears do not flow, but instead 302 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:26.240 there comes a penetrating, desperate look of the arch criminal, 303 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:30.440 so ominous that it chills the red blood of manhood. 304 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:35.440 Now that the deed is done and Willie Lee has confessed, 305 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:39.160 it is said that he seldom placed his arms around 306 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:42.680 his mother's neck and hugged her with that sheer joy 307 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:46.880 of loving babyhood. That he did not often straddle his 308 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:50.279 father's knee and pat his cheek with the soft, white, 309 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:54.279 childish hand that seemed to speak child love. That he 310 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:57.400 never opened his heart in a boyish brotherly love to 311 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:03.160 his brother. Lee was another kind of a boy. He 312 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:08.359 didn't work, He sought pleasure constantly. He begged his poor 313 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:11.519 old father and mother for the dimes and dollars they 314 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:16.000 scraped together and saved. A good time was what Willie 315 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:21.319 Lee wanted. His life so far was poorly spent. Pleasure 316 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:33.160 was his goal. What has been the cost? I got 317 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:37.279 home about ten o'clock and my mother was up and 318 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.000 talked to me and told me she was afraid to 319 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.640 go back to sleep. I told her I was going 320 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:48.519 to bed, and I went to bed. Sometime in the night, 321 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.519 I heard a noise like someone was walking on the floor. 322 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:57.279 I turned over and went to sleep again, and it 323 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.160 was about four o'clock or a half past four or 324 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.880 I heard a noise and turned and ran to the door. 325 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.920 My father met me with the axe and he said, 326 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:13.160 you damn, I'm going to kill you too. I grabbed 327 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.799 the axe and struck him. He staggered back. I ran 328 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:21.759 out the door. I saw my mother and brother lying 329 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.039 on the floor. I didn't go to kill my father, 330 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.160 but was scared and didn't know what I was doing. 331 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:31.960 I struck the match and threw it upon the floor, 332 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:34.680 and it must have bounced up on the bed and 333 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:38.519 set fire to it. I saw my mother and brother 334 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.680 lying on the floor, and I was scared, so I 335 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:46.640 didn't know what I was doing. He my father had 336 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:51.039 threatened all our lives several times before this. I would 337 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.799 not have killed my father if it had not been 338 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:58.640 to save my own life. I make this statement now 339 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.960 to mister Scales with without fear or threats. I only 340 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:13.200 want to tell someone how it happened, Signed William Lee. 341 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:17.799 The devastation of the Lee home where three of the 342 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:22.279 family were slain, is going forward by degrees owing to 343 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:28.119 the morbid curiosity of souvenir hunters. Splinters from the weather boarding, 344 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.640 glass from the windows, and pieces of the bedclothing are 345 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.960 being carried away by many people who go to the 346 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:39.559 scene of Thursday's awful tragedy. Photographers flocked to the house 347 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.759 Friday and took pictures. Visitors tore boards from the side 348 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.759 of the house and carried things away from the rooms 349 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:50.799 that they could reach through the glassless window frames. Unless 350 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:54.039 the police take some measure of protection, the house will 351 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:57.680 be badly damaged before Willie Lee has gone to trial. 352 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:14.000 To avoid future commercial interruptions, visit us at www dot 353 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:19.240 patreon dot com slash True Crime Historian. For as little 354 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:22.160 as a dollar a week, you can enjoy full access 355 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:27.200 to the true crime historian Dusty Vault, exclusive episodes and 356 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:34.039 whatever personal services you require. That's www dot Patreon dot com, 357 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:36.720 slash true Crime Historian. 358 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:47.839 Lad Edition Extra. To Shriff John J. Davis this afternoon, 359 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.200 Willie Lee confessed that he killed his mother, father, and 360 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.359 brother at Boonville early Thursday morning, and then set the 361 00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:59.319 bed in their room afire to destroy the bodies and 362 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:03.400 evidence with flames. He made a clean breast of everything. 363 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:08.160 Nothing stands between him and the gallows now, he told 364 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.400 the sheriff. He went home Wednesday night and said he 365 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:12.839 was going to get married the next day, and made 366 00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:16.000 a demand for money, and that this demand was denied. 367 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:19.759 A quarrel followed, he said, and he went into his 368 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:23.039 room and waited until they had gone to sleep. Then 369 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.960 he slipped out and got the axe, killed his father 370 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:29.680 with one terrific blow, struck his mother, and beat down 371 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:32.480 his brother, who was awakened and made an effort to 372 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.279 get up. He made several efforts to get the fire 373 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.599 to burn, he said, and when he thought it was 374 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:41.279 under good headway, ran out of the house and gave 375 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.759 the alarm, hoping to give the appearance that he was innocent. 376 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:48.759 The axe found in the kitchen, he says, is the 377 00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:52.400 one used. He washed it off and threw the water 378 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:56.359 into the vault. The water he washed his own hands 379 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.559 with was thrown into the same place. He says. He 380 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:03.160 carried his revolver in the room to shoot any one 381 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:05.640 of them that might get the best of him. When 382 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.720 he went back to the house, he picked up the 383 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:11.160 revolver and put it in his room to avert suspicion. 384 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.559 The full admissions of his guilt were made to Sheriff 385 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:19.000 Davis between ten and twelve o'clock today, when the sheriff 386 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:22.720 was closeted with him for two hours. At noon, the 387 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.200 sheriff left the jail and went to his office in 388 00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:29.440 the courthouse and locked the doors. A reporter tried the 389 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.720 door and could not get in. Ten minutes later the 390 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:36.000 sheriff came out. He went back into his office with 391 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:40.079 a reporter and then admitted that a completed confession had 392 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:50.759 been made. Willie Lee's Confession in full, as written by 393 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:54.400 Willie Lee and given to Detective John Hoagland on August 394 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:59.200 twenty sixth, nineteen eleven, Written at the jail at Princeton. 395 00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.200 I make this confession of my own free will, without 396 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.200 any promises on the part of anyone and in the 397 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:09.799 hopes that it will clear the mystery of the murder 398 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:14.559 of my father, mother, and brother. My father and mother 399 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:18.279 both threatened to kill me on several occasions, and had 400 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:22.880 the morning before this murder. That night when I got home, 401 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:26.799