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Show BDY CONFESSES A HORRIBLE CRIME Poland, N. Y March 30. The announcement an-nouncement today by the Herkimer county authorities that Jean Gianlni, 16-year-old boy, held on the charge of murdering his former school teacher, teach-er, Miss Lydia Beecher, had made a complete confession of the crime was no great surprise in view of the chain of circumstantial evidence which District Attorney Farrell, Coroner Coro-ner Huyck and other officials had woven about him from the moment Miss Beecher's body was found in the little swamp near Poland Saturday Satur-day until the youthful murderer broke down and made a clean breast of his atrocious crime. District Attorney Farrell yesterday and last night parried a direct answer an-swer to the question ns to whether, or not Gianini had formerly confessed the crime, but today, after Mr. Beecher, Beech-er, father of the slain girl, had come, out of the Herkimer county Jail after af-ter a five minutes' Interview with the prisoner and stated that all doubt in his mind had been removed as to the perpetrator of the crime, the officials of-ficials became less reticent, and this afternoon it was definitely Btated that young Gianini had acknowledged the murder and had given Mr. Farrell Far-rell and Coroner Huyck all the details de-tails regarding his movements last Friday evening before he met Miss Beecher. He told of circumstances surrounding tho actual killing, his flight to his father's fine home to remove tho traces of his crime and his escape from Poland on Saturday morning berore Farmer John Fitch, driving to Poland with a load of milk, discovered the hody of tho mur- dercd school teacher, secreted behind the willows. Charles Gianini began today a legal fight to save hla son from the electric chair. An alleged confession by the boy was plnced before the grand jury today to-day by District Attorney Farrell. The elder Gianini, after cheering his son by visiting him today in jail, where the boy is held on a charge of murder, said the accused youth was mentally unbalanced. He announced that ho had engaged Joseph A. Shay as counsel for the boy's defense. Shay was one of the attorneys for Charles Becker, the former New York City police lieutenant awaiting a second trial for the murder of the gambler, Herman Rosenthal. Glanini's confession, in the opinion of the local authorities, indicates that he lured Miss Beecher to the scene of the murder primarily for the purpose of mistreating nor, but that he had also carefully planned to kill her If it were necessary to accomplish ac-complish his purpose or cover up the lesser crime. In his confession to the authorities he details with great accuracy how ho met Miss Beecher near the Poland postoffice and how he renewed re-newed his request to her that she visit his father and ask that he be permitted to return to the high school from which ho was expelled nearly a year ago. Miss Beecher hesitated at first to go to the Beecher home, but the youth was most urgent and she finally fi-nally consented. Wending their way out of the dimly lighted streets of Poland they were at the gate of the Gianini residence within a few minutes. The boy then remarked to the school teacher that his father was spending the -evening t the home of a friend named Ilolcomb. a short distance down another road. He said that as long as they were out that far he suggested to tho girl he would like to show her a house his father was building beyond the brow of the hill on the slush-covered high way ovor which they were walking Gianini told tho girl they could see the new dwelling from the summit of the highway, and Miss Beecher was finally prevailed upon by the boy to continue about 500 feet further, which brought them to the top of the hill. "When we reached tho summit of the road." said Gianini, "Miss Beecher Beech-er remarked to me that she would go no farther, and furthermore that she would have to haston back to the village. She also said that she would not endeavor to see my father that evening in my behalf but Instead would write him a letter." The confession of tho boy then narrated nar-rated how he drew the Iron wrench from his pocket and struck the girl twice on the head, a moment afterward after-ward plunging the knife into her neck several times as she sank to the snow. Tho blows from the wrench did not render the girl unconscious and she struggled with her murderer until loss of blood and repeated blows on the back of the head and slabs with the dirk overcame her. The girl did not die immediately, but she was insenslblo and helplcs3 as the lad dragged her by the feet across the highway, through the barbed wire fence and into the swamp, 100 yards beyond. Depositing his ghastly burden In a snowdrift, Ginning fled from the scene to his home, Washed the blood stains from his hands and knife and went to bed. ' "Did you sleep well after killing the girl?" District Attorney Farrell asked the boy. "Sure, I did," was the ready rc sponse. "Wasn't I revenged?" Dawn of Saturday found Gianini fleeing from his home to the stable of Sam Hutchinson, for whom he had done odd jobs. He had a mission to perform at Hutchinson's. The wrench with which he had beaten the girl to death had to be hidden, and Hutchinson's barn was the place selected in which to secret the weapon. weap-on. Then he had a bowl of inush at Hutchinson's, made an excuse for not finishing the chores at that place and started down the railroad tracks to Herkimer to attend a moving picture pic-ture show. He reached Newport, five miles away, before he was arrested ar-rested on suspicion that he had killed the girl. oo L |