GHASTLY CRIME

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 231, 19 December 1927, Page 1

GHASTLY CRIME

girl kidnapped and MUTILATED ransom for dead body Ev Cattle- —Press Association. — Copyright. Heed. 11.51 a.m. NEW YORK, Sunday. Marion Parker, aged 12, twin daughter of Mr. Paul Parker, the wealthy Los Angeles banker, was kidnapped and murdered, and her mutilated body returned to her parents upon payment of ransom. On Thursday a well-dressed young man appeared at the school the Parker children attended, asking that Marion accompany him to the office of her father, who had been take** suddenly ill, and wanted her. The teachers consented, and within an hour the parents received a demand for ransom. The entire detective force was set to work on the case, the distracted father being repeatedly warned over the telephone thtt any attempt to betray the kidnappers to the police when the ransom was paid would mean the girl’s death. They demanded 72 20-dollar notes as the ransom, otherwise the daughter would be killed. The parents also received several notes, including two from the daughter, pleading that the father accept the* terms, as she was undergoing toture. Eventually the chief of detectives was advised of the acceptance of the offer. A telephone message then instructed Parker to drive to a certaiu place for his daughter, who was seated in a car, beside a man to whom he handed 1,500 dollars. The man drove a short distance, lifted the apparently sleeping girl from the car to the ground, and sped rapidly away. The father ran to the place, and found the girl dead, and shockingly mutilated.—Sun.