New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 9, 1915, Page 1

terrible crime. \ RALD BEST OF ALL LOCAL NEWSPAPERS | ICE THREE CENTS. ‘JI: PAGE FEBRUARY 9, 101° 1"\‘6’ E BRI PAIN CONNECTICUT TYESDAY, LITHUANIAN PRIEST AND HOUSEKEEPER 'SHOT AND STRANGLED--BODIES FOUND IN REC Bullet Holes in Priest’s Left Side Allowed Life BI ood to‘i Flow---Cord Around Neck of Corpse Placed By Assassins to Insure Death---Clothesline Used to Kili Woman Previously Shot---No Motivesor Clues Appear --Unpretentious Home Ransacked MAII Night---Stories of Strange Men Around House Told by Neighbors. [-Fouliy murdered, Rev. Father seph Zebris and his housekeeper, iss Evd Gilman, who lived in St. ] lthuaman Roman Catholic ho o bouse at No. 396 were found by neigh- 3¢ Officer Herbert Lyons feloek this morning. This ey iy One of the most ses against society er faken place in New 48 made more terrible h the police are left “mo clues to work &fluer Zebris was found n the floor of the e home, shot through ‘strangled with a cord He was dressed and over house slippers. housekeeper was found ttic floor, a minor shot d in her right arm, and of heavy clothes line about her neck. Al- was no means of ascer- lainivz accurately, Chief W. J. Raw- lingsyof the police department is of the UGelief that the bodies had been dead | six or seven hours. While the thorgughmness with which the house. Had jreen ransacked gives the impres- jon jthat robbery was the : motive, about dissensions in the church made ' againsf: Fathex color to the theory that « ptayed a part in this Or kn two lengths bound’ tightl though there Teacher Becomes S ‘another i sized room and the i way spicious. Rev. Father = Zebris hasw taken an active interest in the ing of Kt. and his housekeeper tended to the heating When the morning today Miss Anne Gulauskas, Whiting street, one of the thought it queer that the priest was not to Le seen that no heat had heen turned into the school building. When neither put in an she left her room and went to priest’s house, finding it locked. then visited Mrs. Frederick O. Schneider, who lives next to the house, and asked her if she en Father Zebris or ¥Ewva this 1morning. A negative answer made et had always at- of tha school. session opened ot e2nT and the She pll parties feel a premonition of fear ! determined to | effect an entrance to the house to see | AlL and Miss Gulauskas for herself what was wrong. doors were locked and she went to the rear of the building to try the cellar door. This gave way a little but there «Wwas a barrel of potatoes against it which prevented it from swinging open. As she made this discovery one of her boy pupils noticed that one of the small cellar windows, on the southeast front corner of the house, was swinging open. On her advice the boy wriggled through this narrow cpening into the coal bin and thence Into the cellar. He moved the barrel »of potatoes and Miss Gulauskas then entered the cellar and went up the stairs into the first floor of the house, A moment later she threw open the front door and in a horrified voice in- formed Mrs. Schneider, who was anxiously waiting without, that the priest was dead, murdered. Officer Herbert Lyon Notified. This was ten minutes to nine o’clock " and 'as Officer Herbert Lyon was just ssing Mrs. Schneider called to him and appraised him of the terrible .facts. A glance at the prostrate and bloody figure of the priest Iying on the front room floor gave mute evi- dence as to what had taken place and . the officer at once began a search for the housekeeper. Into every room of the house he went, everywhere finding bureau drawers pulled out and dumped over and general reigning. When Miss Gilman was not to be found on the second floor Officer Lyon pushed upon the door leading from the priest’s bed room to the tic. that the object of his search would ve found on the floor above and as he raced up the stairs the first object that met his gaze was the body of the idead housekeeper, lving flat on the f floor, a few feet from the head of the ! stairs. Around hér neck iwas two ¥ always | attic. Andrew’s Parochial schaow,, teachers, | appearance ! disorder | at- | Rlood stains on the wall told him | lengths of heavy clothes line, that had apparently been torn from the ramers, and around her left wrist was an- other piece of rope. On her right 3 was a smal wound, giving the appear- ance of a revolver wound or a three cornered stab wound. ‘hief William J. Rawlings, Detec- tive Sergeant Samuel Bamforth and Medical Examiner Dr. T. G. Wright were at once notified and they hur- ried to the scene in the police patrol. Already a large crowd had collected in front of the house and it was neces- sary for the chief to detail an officer to take charge. Special Officer Gus- tave Nelson guarded the door, per? mitting only those who had the offi- cial right, to enter and Sergeant Bam- forth, Officer Lyon and Officer “Ted"” Malone conducted an investigation with the chief and medical exami- ner. Lived in Eight Room Cottage. The house in which Father Zebris made his home is in an eight room cottage. On the first floor is a par- lor leading from the front hall on the west side and across the hall is small room. An arch w connects the parlor with another fair kitchen, sink room and pantry are in the north- east corner of the house. Upstairs there are also four rooms, a hall and bath. Father Zebri sleeping room was in the northwest corner of the house and leading from his room was the stairway to Over the parlor was another room and two bed rooms are located on the east: side of the house, the DA room being in the extreme north- | €aSt “eagner of the building and at |the head™we the stairs leading from | below. | Pricst Murdera 5y, Parlor. Father Zebris’ dead boam was found lving in the parlor on the firs. floor, directly under the chandelier and wi, i his feet towards the doer. The { side of his body abou. the chest was | completely soaked with blood and at | least two bullet wounds over the heart told how he met his death. That his assassins were anxious to make sure ith;l( he was dead was shown when the police found a hefvy cord twisted tightly about the dead man’s throart. the body, showing that the unfortun- ate man apparently had been shot from the doorway and had fallen where he stood, with scarcely any struggle. Bodies Fully The body was completely dressed. He had on a black broadcloth suit and a black rabbi attached to his col- lar. One leg of his trousers was pulled up partly to the knee and ihe feet were encased in red house slip- pers and arctic rubbers. In a chair at one side of the room was the dead clergyman’s heavy overcoat, where he had apparently thrown it on coming into the house. Nothing was found in the pockets. L His housekeeper's body was also ful- ly dressed and she had apparently been murdered or wounded down stairs and dragged up the two flights to the attic. A trail of candle grease could be traced from the room where the dead priest was found through the various other rooms and up the two flights of stairs to where her body was found on the attic floor. On the stairs were spatters of blood and along the white washed wal of the stairc were other bloody stains, proving ! yond a doubt that the | woman had been dragged there by Ler murderers. Foot Prints On Attic Floor. That the woman had not submitted without a fight was evidenced by the fact that her body was apparvently thrown to the floor and two side combs from her head were found the floor, some few feet away. T ropes with which she had been strangled to death had been taken from the attic rafters and similar are still stretched across with Dressed. be on ropes blan- rm | the | left | Both arms were outstretched and the | legs were laying straight in front of | unfortunate kets and other articles hung from ';:ml clothes that had been hmnp\nzl last night and murdered as he turned them. In the front part of the attic, [ in the closet were strewn th parior to who was be beyond the spot where the body was | floor. hind Another theory is that found, were numerous foot prints in The an entrance tined through the the heavy dust that had accumulated | Zebris' bed room not disturbed, | cellar barrel of pota- there. it contained nothing but a the door to When the two bodies were and some bogks, but the pries from entering ered life had been extinct was ravished A little white dre | wanld time for they were both stone cold | there had been looted and two of it of entry: and Chief Rawlings expressed the| dqrawers were dragged out onto th that after opinion that the crime had been coni- | fioor and their contents kicked about church Father mitted about six or seven hours be- | A third drawer had not been tampered chance to fore with much. On the top of the dress- [ remove than er was Father Zebris' pa s book on the his front New Britain Trust company. It |door showed a balance hiy-one cents | good and nothing had been deposited since |&and 1912, according to the dates in the book. about the ¢ i him front room adjoining Father divth ag was way ar | toes was moved | prevent any« The open ceil: have still 1eturnin, Zebris o table discov- for some 's room 1€ window also ible ion 11 been a way anoiheq from | is d a hing other called the who the before any of his entry House Theroughly Ransacked. From top to bottom the house was turned topsy turvy In the room where the clergyman's body was found the table was pushed away from the center of the room and on it were littered many papers and other ar- ticles. Standing, a mute witness to the whole terrible tragedy, was a gold crucifiv. In the next room, which was used by the priest as his study and office, were two book cases and a roll top desk. One of the book cases had been ransacked and numer- ous papers and books were thrown about the floor. In front of the desk there was also a profusion of papers and the desk was unlocked. Although the cover was down it had been tampered with because the in- side drawers had been pulled out and the papers disarranged. On the floor beside the desk Chief Rawlings found itor, to house, him. hi brutally Mtic of ei murdered Door Pricd Open. a m of Miss mystery. garding the Gil- there is even in her arm might have when she rushed to the Father Zebris the shot and then after £ subdued, was dragged up to ana Few Clues Found. | Re man | wound h Hanging on the bed post was Fath- and in one cor- been de- time er Zebris' sacred host ner of the bed his pillow was propped up against the wali, not fangtompthesnes CotRt g bol | attic and strangled near the door leading to the attic was When the police rnyud a pair of tin-shears, a pair of morning they found pliers, a heavy n}unko_v wrench, two e HetatHG fiat e keys and a bent ice pick. ably by the _In the room where Father Aal.{_-.\ e it dead body fi\\‘ fmn}d . |]|;i f»‘;n‘u, | piece of the key to the lock LRGBS (RO DG rom i | ¢wisted off. Thus, it is thought that thirty-two calibre revolver and a|gpar vainly trying to unlock the at- couple of burnt matches. In the ad- 5 : S e tic door the brute joining room, near the lootec the crime. grabbed pried open the door | scratches indicate, and the helpless woman up she was cruelly strangled That her death must a horribly agonizing one from the condition of her lower limbs show evidence of h | ing threshed about in pain and her swollen features, with the blood hurst- ing forth from the mouth and nos trils, prove beyvond a shadow of a doubt that her death was a dreadful one received fense of he was | ing t On a chair i the this door prob- holt to investigated that the pried apen, pick The out and the ice still was who the book- ers the then ice and fresh SCENE OF HORRIBLm CRIME 1bove wherrs death ve is hody h bheen showir He a dence in the room where Father was found does not lead one to that he was given ai to offer any resistance rabbi and his white shirt with blood, which had dr outstretched hands made it appear | trat he had died where he had fallen Whether he had been strangled be- fore or after the shooting is a matter of conjecture, but it is believed that he shot first and then strangled to make sure that the job finished | believe {unity oppor- His were red d, and the was was Church After the there were a suspicious noted by past few Lyon, who vicinity, 1 its Burn All ., crime number was of discovered unusually facts learned that were different people during the nights Officer Herbert has in this passed Andrew's church at 3:30 o’clock this morning and thought it peculiar at the that the lights in the basement of the edifice were burning brightly. Not being familiar with the customs of the religion however, the officer con- cluded that the priest was conducting gome mass at the time. Peter Kolosky, emploved Curtin in his Park street saloon bartender, informed a Herald porter this morning that when went to work at 4:30 o'clock this morning he passed the church and even then the lights were burning | brightly in the basement. Parishion- ers say the church lights should have been extinguished at 9 p. m These facts may indicate that it was some time after this that 'the priest left his church and returned to | ¥ home only to meet with foul | murder that cut short his energetic | career in t} by St THI UNPRETENTIOUS RECTORY OF ANDREW’S PARISH WHERE FATHER ZEBRIS AND HIS HOUSEKEEPER MET THEIR FATE AT THE HANDS OF UNKNOWN MURDERERS.. (X MARKS ROOM WHERE BODY OF PRIEST WAS FOUND.) inside lh('! similar pen- had been contents re- a new yellow pencil and desk he found another cil, proving that the desk opened and part of its moved. In the kitchen a dime was left un- disturbed on the gas stove, but the ice box had. been turned inside out and a large quantity of table linen and other clothes were piled in a heap on the floor. The kitchen tab was also littered with a profusion of articles. The only room in the whole | house that did not seem to be dis turbed was the one across from where Father Zebris was murdered. Rem- | nants of a frugal meal were found on a table there. There was half of a jelly roll, a dish with three ap- ples and two oranges in it, another dish containing some rolls and a bag of eatables. the upstairs apartments were turned upside down even more han below. The bathroom was not case, a Herald reporter found a thirty- two calibre revolver bullet that had not been discharged. It was a meta! cased bullet and one similar to those used in the latest model revolvers. But search as they would, the police were unable to find the slightest trace of any revolver, knife or other weapon and the only clues with which they , have to work on, so far as they have been made public, the articles mentioned in the preceding para graphs. Few Many Theories, Added mystery surrounding double murder is how the a sussins effected an cntrance. So | far as could be learned, all tae windows to the house were locked ex- cept one leading onto the front porch from the parlor and the blinds were tightly closed on this. The barrel against the cellar door aso might have prevented an entrance from being made there. by J. M as re he are | hour ey the assin or Other Mysterious Facts, | This church Peter, a morning the told story prominent of the | Griskoni member of the | church, which tends to prove that several attempts have been made late to gain admittance to the Thouse According to the story which sexton In things of priest's | | east side of the dead priest is credited with tell- One | I8 his sexton a \.\‘\-n‘l( ago last Sunday followed | &Nt at 11:30 o'clock the clergyman | late | Wis called out by a family named | Kanapka, on Williams street, (o | christen a baby, At 10:30 o'clock hour before this call came, two strange men approached the rectory and rang the door bell. As Father | Zebris had not yet retired he raised the window and saw two well dre men standing the porch \ injured, but the two bed rooms on the the house were badl: to pieces that thgy looked a hurricane had passed through | The bed clothes were ripped from beds, the bhureau drawers were | thrown about and piles clothing were kicked around the floor in a wild state of devastation. The front bedroom was apparently the one cupied by Miss and that disturbed even than the Of theories as to how an entrance was affected there are mar that Father Zebris was into his house from the church so torn though them. as an N e WEATHER. of Hartford, Feb, 9.—IF 2ht and Wednesday. er tonight. ir to- Cold- oc- Wi spare sed more on par- | committed | dragged | time | | when she | riage | nis | there w REV.FATHER ZEBRI ipon making | foully | | The | be- | WE ) BY MOST OF | - C DEATH TIGHTEN} [ DEATH. | were heavily feweled Asked the priest what they want ed, they réplied that they had just come from Europe and wanted to get married at this answer the "priest that they bring their girls they gired 1 get married no reply he closed the indow men away, On the other attempt i priest's house ton himself the bell As he ,the priest he, their by Suspicious nded him it Recelving and th previous was SadE according who well sk ed dern to de w wer Sunday to enter to the could not understo to Ax the A man ms very d, rang admitted clear and be did ! hot make hi declined to went ints idmit him and | In addition neighbor of the ! clares that at a | urday or Sunday strange man of the stocking feet and ! pounding madly { door Believing the 111\. priest to get hin call, the witness paid no tention to his antics and Today he feels that there significance awa to these facts another dead clergyman either he the te hour Sat night say frox on hous: in without a standing eteps priest’s coat « the Is of aftoer on pan man to to go on further went may the been to 1 watched, Indications about show that Father housekeeper lived the bare necessities of life. The are painted but none of them | peted, rugs being the only things used to cover the bareness of the floors The furnishings are also meagre and the walls are barren of any orna- ments. There was also but very little food stuffs found in the place, a few bushelg of potatoes and a quantity of in the cellar being the stock on hand 1895, the sorhe the ho Z frugally, with parish bris and are car found the Ca Father Z apples extent of e Here in New 1895 sbris came to Lithuanian Parish | from Waterbury. He was about fift) | two years of age and his housekeey er, who was not very was well liked by all who knew her She was last seen yesterday afternoon came out on the porch and nodded to some of her neighbors Yesterday Father Zebrig celebrated mass as usual and performed a mar- ceremony for threc ng While certain periods of hi this city have been congregation insists that no factional feeling Rawlings is not this, however, and may some feelin present ago when | Britain yor couples regime in stormy there is absolutely ent. Chief to believe that there in the church About five Zebris instituted a new pr the church in doing away committee, conditions became or unsettled and many of his thought he usurping too power. The committee's power wa taken by three trustees. For a strife within the ranks occasions the police to interfere peace. On one partic Officer “Ted” Malone the church and quell it pre neline thin} be ith at vears ather cedure at with the was time and have or u on several heen der to preserve lar Sanday detailed compelled in v to visit room Her bed was pulled to piece j e~ | tiCUlar noticeable thing about them 4 an incipient riot But these troubles ) ABOUT HIS THROAT, fingers ‘\Yu « | murderer | was admitted th was then pro well known but | (Photo | HIS PARISHIONERS BY SHOOTING—A €0 PROBABLY all passed purishioners and Recotved his people he enemies and mart one particular 1o he Th Father daid in th lettors thre oo led that hel Neot the forfeit the it at arger than e va Gilman n with ear a thi h the re ver t Father and faithis er lorty as fa chneidef, rectory M s ! Gilm iznificang| wa ple One re A r ma ome T not 1i that Jet might ir be case Undertaker Detective After Detective asked on the the - He kille tion but weork d to save points to hardly upon.” Sergeant Bami his dead priest's et Heard In the OfMcer Fred Ward four or Jive borhood at Mr. Ward & Judd’'s lutely t going five courss sh is a o L3 a whe sl “h tron mad time indicate ta “Ted M of 4 113 ot dete came a el work of golg e shots fire up on ihs elbow more concluded imporan and d This being # that Father Zel er met their & giving the eight hou to make good 1t also U hullets fired me is (Continued culpl on an I a working Sergea this