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Show Complex Tragedy Attracts Wide Attention ot Press Public; Father Explains R(.veltlng, heartrending and pa-,,lc pa-,,lc was the terrible tragedy that tfll little William Frederick lni'litl 2:t-ui-"itlis-o1d son of Mr. d .Mrs. J"'s A- l"'"11'1' wl ri- 1. on the Provo-Sprlngvillo state ishway m-iir 10 1rovo d,y ce,m'" ,rv Sunday afternoon. The child is the victim of an atrocious act 'n"tbe part ot llis fr-.vi'r"ul Irotbcr. Jiuncs Karl, who knocked iltle Hill.v t0 1110 rou,ld w!,u 1111 x and then cut his head so badly M, tue child died soon after in a rnvo hospital. Tue act not only attracted the ttoiitlou of the people and the press ( uj, section of the state, but dc-aiS dc-aiS of the unusual tragedy were loodcnst throughout the nation. Details of the affair ore too hor-il,le hor-il,le to relate. That the elder child 9 suffering from a nervous nil-jent nil-jent there is no doubt, but his snnl-y snnl-y Is aot questioned by physicians t the state mental hospital where ,e whs taken for examination. One of the stories incident to the raged)' that appeared in the daily ,res8 of this state and other great iensp.ipers is as follows : "Daddy, show tne how to fix hese into something pretty. Grnn'-iiivvcr Grnn'-iiivvcr says site's too busy nnd for nc to run away." He held up a landfill of those brown waxy paves that florists weave Into fun-nil fun-nil wreaths, and a pitiful, little rliite rose. It was Jimmy Brand, -t-yenr-old layer of his little 2-yenr old brother iillie, whom he slew with an ax iinidny afternoon. Out at the back ,f the little ndobe home, with its irofuslon of flowers growing in the urd, the women were preparing lossonis for the tiny coffin, which ran even then within two hours of fing consigned to the small grave n the cemetery across the way. On the green lawn in front of the louse folding chnirs were stacked 'uesduy In anticipation of the coning coni-ng mourners, while neighbors and elatlves came and went. There was . subdued air of bustle, forfeiting owe momentous event in the mr ials of these people. Jimmy did not know what it was ,11 about. Me missed Billie, but did ot remember killing him. This hlef actor in one of the strangest rauias in the history of the county, coun-ty, probably one of the youngest layers in the history of the union, un-ion, a sturdy, husky, apparently loriuul boy, played about restless-v restless-v as hoys will, asking innumerable uestions, rolling In the grass- and ieniunding for nil to watch how ar he could jump from u chair. His father, was remonstrating Willi a reporter concerning tbe manner man-ner in which the story of the unusual un-usual killing had been bandied by the press. "You are making crime out of an accident," he said. "If a man shoots another man that may be' a crime, but this boy doesn't realize wtat he has done; doesn't remember it now. It was an accident, pure and simple, I tell you. "Look at the kid. Does he look insane? Look at me. Do I look insane? in-sane? There has never been a touch of it in either mine of my wife's families. I'll admit tbe boy is restless rest-less and nervous and that he twitches in his sleep, but that is just the result of dreams like we all have. And now you would make him n murderer, a homicide, a criminal crim-inal of the worst kind, when his deed was just the result of some freakish impulse, the consequences of which he could not possibly know." There was an uncanny luterrup- linn. Jimmy had climbed to his father's lap. "What's that yon got in your month?" he demanded. When informed in-formed it was gum be wanted some. For an unwonted time he sat chewing chew-ing his gum in a preoccupied man- I ner, looking off into space, seemingly seem-ingly oblivious to the conversation. The word "ax" was used and suddenly sud-denly Jimmy spoke, his eyes still in i the distance: "If be chop me in the head, I chop him in tbe bead." he said soberly. The words came with the effect of sudden shock. It was as though some spirit was speaking through the lips of the child. They had a chilling, eerie effect, ef-fect, because, after all, Jimmy did remember. What did he mean? So far as known, this was the first hint that Jimmy had given that perhaps he nnd Billie had quarreled,' before Jimmy had felled him and chopped him with death-dealing blows. He came quickly from his abstraction abstrac-tion wherein he had apparently been recalling the tragic moments when the fratracide occurred. Hastily his father set him down and bade him run along and play. There were moments of strained silence and the conversation turned to other things. "What are we going to do about it? Why, .what can we do? Dr. Fred Taylor, up at the state mental hospital, said that Jimmy was all right, and I'd trust him anywhere. I've got to get out to make a living, the wife has a baby in arms, and his grandmother is not well. We can't keep him tied up." There was hopeless sorrow in the man's eyes. |