MURDER-SUSPECT’S WORRIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 236, 24 December 1927, Page 11

MURDER-SUSPECT’S WORRIES

NOT SUFFICIENT PUBLICITY ADMITS KIDNAPPING, DENIES KILLING GIRL By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. Received 9.5 a.m. LOS ANGELES, Friday. EDWARD HICKMAN, who has been arrested for the murder of the girl Marion Parker, told the guard that he has two worries: First, he is afraid he will not get as much publicity as Leopold and Loeb; second, that someone “will try to force religion on me.” He asked the guard how the papers were treating the arrest, and how many extra editions had been published.

J-JICKMAN has admitted that he knew the Parkers. He confessed that he kidnapped the girl, but denied that he murdered her. Hickman said: Some fiends killed her. I know who they are. He refused to divulge their names. He said he had kidnapped the girl in order to get money to pay his way through college. He declined to discuss the matter further. The officers state that they found £2BO of the ransom money in Hickman’s pockets. The police are questioning him further. The youthful kidnapper was near collapse when he was arrested and showed the effects of his attempted escape and his long drive in the stolen motor-car. The officials arte keeping a heavy guard in and outside the prison, pending instructions from Los Angeles. Hickman is showing no wish to attempt to escape. STRANGE COMPANIONS The police have checked the moneyfound in his pockets. They say they have identified the gold certificates as being those paid by Mr. Parker. They say there is not the slightest doubt of the prisoner’s identity. When he was arrested by two officers Hickman had two companions in the car with him. One was armed with a sawed-off shotgun, the other had a pistol belonging to Hickman. They surrendered quietly. On being further questioned by the police Hickman repeatedly denied being the murderer. He said another man and a woman, whom he refused to name, were re_ sponsible for the act. He said: They wound wire round her neck and choked her to death. HICKMAN UNNERVED

In a recital of the facts of the abduction to the officials, Hickman was always smiling, but was unnerved at the mention of the gruesome details. He said he really did not intend to be a “crook,” because “you will be found out soon enough. You will get caught. But I wanted to go back to Kansas City to go to work there, and get enough money to go to college. “I thought that if I was able to get enough for my tuition, no matter how I got it, I would go straight from then on. This man asked me what I thought of kidnapping someone. I said I would not mind doing it. I remembered Mr. Parker’s daughter. It will probably be a death sentence for me nok.”—A. and N.Z.

PREACHER NOT WANTED CAUSE OF CAPTURE “GOD’S VENGEANCE” Reed. 9.14 a.m. LOS ANGELES, Fri. 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 like a hypocrite if I used religion before I die.” He told the guard, “I believe God’s vengeance, not man’s cunning, was the cause of my capture, but before I die I want to see Perry Parker face to face, to tell him I did not kill Marion.” He added irrelevantly, “I think what I have done will back Jesse James off the map.” He seemed proud of the letters he wrote to Parker, and said, “They were a good piece of literature.” He continued to protest that he was not the murderer. A crowd of thousands about the gaol was quite orderly. SPECIAL JURY SESSION A special session of the Los Angeles grand jury has been called for to-day, to vote on the indictment for murder. The old legal fictitious names, John and Jane Doe, are likely to be included in the indictment, to cover the unknown man and woman. The extradition papers to bring Hickman bask to California heve been sent to Oregon by a special aeroplane. The sheriff’s officers at Dos Angeles have identified the alleged murderer and a youth who came to Los Angeles with Hickman from Kansas City. The sheriff is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of Hickman against the mob. He intends to keep the time of his return a secret to prevent an outbreak. The reward offered for the discovery of the criminal will probably be divided between the storekeeper who recognised Hickman, the chief of police at Pendleton, and a police officer there.— A. and N.Z.