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Show SERVANTS TEMPTED I" BY JEWEL DISPLAY Russian-Finn House Boy Clears Up Mystery of Mrs. Nichols's Death. ROBBERY THE MOTIVE j Police on Trail of Conspirators; Conspira-tors; Housemaid Not Implicated Im-plicated in Crime. By Internationa'. News Service. NEW YORK, Sept. 9. The murder in the white marWc front mansion at No. 4 Seventy-ninth street that result- j ed io the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Griggs Nichols, widow of Joseph E. Xifhols. founder of Austin, Nichols & Co., wholesale grocers, was cleared today to-day by the confession of Onui Tallas, 25 years old, a Russian-Finn house boy employed by the dead woman. The crime that aroused the police department de-partment as no other crime has in a decade was the result of a conspiracy of servants, who aimed to obtain a great fortune in jewels that Mrs. Nichols Nich-ols was reputed to own. There was no intention of killing her. Implies ted in the conspiracy is Tallas, a poor tool, planted in the house when the deed was conceived, a former employee and two men known to the police, but whose names are being withheld for the present. pres-ent. Matter of Conjecture, Whether Mrs. Nichols died from in- I juries received from the burglars or whether her death was caused by shock superinduced by the attack is still ai matter of conjecture, the announcement of Dr. Otto Sehultze, state medical ex- a minor nnd Dr i RAniamir 8 warts. coroner's physician, who performed the autopsy, being vague. Their verdict was that Mrs. Xienols had been afflicted afflict-ed with chronic intestinal nephritis and hypertrophy of the left ventricle. Abrasions of the forehead also were noted. These, combined with the shock of the attack, the physicians stated, might have produced death. But whether the woman died from the direct attack or as a result of it, her assailants are guilty of murder under un-der the law. Tallas 's confessiorrcame after an all-night all-night grueling at the hands of the police, po-lice, and when it was finished Inspector i Faurot admitted the police were look- j ing for Arthur Waldemar. alias WSal-ters. WSal-ters. alias Waldeman, 23 years old, a native of Finland, who formerly was employed bv Mrs. Nichols as an assist-ant assist-ant butler,' but who left her employ about two and one half months ago I because of some trojuble he had in the I neighborhood. The' other men. whose names are withheld, also are sought. J The confession clears Edith Tan- j feldt. maid to Mrs. Nichols; lleona Toi-vonen. Toi-vonen. cook, and Ernest Bital. butler in the household, of all complicity in ( the crime, but they are held in the ' house of detention as material witnesses. Tallas. who was locked up tonight at police headquarters, will be arraigned tomorrow on a charge of homicide. Chief Conspirator Named. According to the confession of Tallas, his position with the Nichols household j was obtained for him by Waldemar, i whom he names as the instigator of the crime, aud who for several weeks importuned impor-tuned him to take f'art in the robberv of the wealthy woman. Tallas refund, i he sava. until a scheme was proposed to him bv which he was to let the men in i the house, be bound and have nothing i further to do with the deed except, to share in the loot. With the understanding that no harm was to come to his employer, Tallas confessed that he finally agreed to the plan on Tuesday night and the deed I was set for Wednesday night, whon it J was known that the butler and the maid Would be out. Failure of the burglars to tie Tallas s feet as well as his bauds led the police to suspect his story, and I after a Bleepless night he finally made 1 a deposition, telling all and remarking! that he was glad to get it off his conscience. con-science. Jewels in i Vaull. Just what jewels are missing is not known, but the thieves only secure.l the valuables worn at the time by Mr". Nichols, the major portion of her collection col-lection being in a safe dapotit vault. The wall safe in the room, which was the obicctive of the burglar, only contained con-tained documents and was not molested bv the intruders, owing to tbeir hurry to get awav. Fondness for displav was ihe indirect cause of Ihe wealthy widow meeting her death. It was her fancy to adorn herself with the most valuable of her collection of jewels and pose before mirror in her room to admire the flash of the white gems. Her mania was white stones anil she had many of them. The exhibition of her valuables occurred oc-curred frequently in the pflesence of the servants, and this is believed to have stirred the burglars to their at tack with the belief that she kept her collection in her home. "It was a bold but bungled job." was the continent of Inspector Fanrnt, after he hnd solver! the crime twelve hours after it was committed. Tallas ts a small, UTiicrm.ri iuismuh Finn of low mentality, who looks as though h could be easily led. He has no criminal record and bears a gOOO reputation in his former places of employment. em-ployment. Waldemar is the master mind of tho conspiracy according to Tallas. The city wbh being searched lato to eight by a score of detectives for Wal detnar and his associates, and everv pawnshop in Ihe city was notified to be on the lookout for the jewels. |