LITTLE BOY MURDERED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1016, 29 October 1912, Page 4

LITTLE BOY MURDERED.

STONED BY HIS PLAY-

MATES

Little Joseph Timmerman, four years old, of Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., went with five companions on a bug-hunting trip, with the result that three days later he was found murdered, and his body covered with dirt and brush. Two of his companions, later, confessed that they killed him.

The five playmates of the boy who were with him at the time of his disappearance were taken to the police station. They are John Farley, xo years old ; George Donahue, 9 years; Rowland Franka, 7 years ; John Heinberger, 10 years ; and Charles Middletown, 10 years old. John Farley and John Heiuberger, after telling many conflicting stories, finally admitted the deed- They said they alone were responsible. The two boys sobbed out the confession, incident by incident, admitting a bit of the deed, then denying it, then confessing again. They said they stood at the top of the steps on Cliff Drive and threw stones down at Joe. The Tim merman boy was standing iu the pathway leading off from the head of the steps, about half-way down. One stone hit him on the head, and he fell over.

The boys say they started to run. Then they came back down the path to him, saw that he was dead, and to cover up their deed carried him into the underbrush.

“We pulled leaves and branches and dirt over him until he was all covered up,” Johnny Heinberger said.

The boys said when they reported his absence that Joseph followed him up the steps to Cliff Drive. He lagged behind, and they went on without him. The search for the little boy was carried on by relatives, friends, the police and the boy scouts. “Tittle Joseph had not been a favourite with his playmates, 1 ' said Mrs Susie Riffe, grandmother of the murdered boy. “They frequently threw stones at him. “He had beeu gone only a few hours when some of the boys came to Mrs Timmerman and told her where Joe had disappeared. They led her up to the exact spot where he was buried. There they told her that he had strayed off into the woods, “She stood within three feet of the body. Brush and dirt had been pulled down over the spot until nothing unusual could be discerned. They took her again to the same place the next day, and again pointed out where be disappeared.”