1902-09-23-New York Times-Will Wave Extradition
New York Times
23 September 1902, page 1
WILL WAIVE EXTRADITION.
Young, on Verge of Collapse, Is Overcome by His Fathers Message -- Watched to Prevent Suicide.
DERBY, Conn., Sept. 22.--William Hooper Young, who was arrested here last night, has admitted his identity, after having pretended all day thta his name was Bert Edwards. Not only has he acknowledged that he is the son of John W. Young, Wall Street promoter, but it is stated on good authority that he has made a confession of the murder of Mrs. Anna Pulitzer in his apartment, 103 West Fifty-eighth Street, New York City, last Tuesday night.
The prisoner did not know where he was, when two policement took him in custody, while he was walking along the railroad track with a tramp named Cunningham. He did not know where he had been during the last few days. He was crazed with drink and stood the officers at bay like a hunted animal until they managed to frighten him into submission. As far as is known, he not only failed to account for his movements since he left his flat after the murder, but he would give the New York detectives, who came here to get him, no information as to his movements during the time the body of the woman remained in his room nor any description of how he disposed of the body in the Morris Canal, near Jersey City.
When the local Chief of Police notified Capt. Titus of New York that a man resembling Young had been caught, the New York official sent Detective Sergt. Findley here to see if the suspect was really the right man. With Findley came Gustav A. Ernest, a young man who is employed in the Brooklyn gymnasium of Mac Levy, the instructor, who gave Young work recently, having previously had him as a patron. Ernest was taken to the prisoner's cell by Chief Arnold. After looking Young over he retired, and said to the police officers:
- "I'm sure its Young, but I can't swear to it, because he has shaved off his mustache. He has tghe same hands and eyes and voice, though, and I don't think there's any doubt about it."
Until Ernest saw him, Young had not had any intimation of the particular suspicion under which he reseted. He started visibly at the sight of the new-comer, who had worked with him for a little while in Levy's establishment, but retained some measure of composure and looked away. The information that Ernest had partially identified him was telephoned to Capt. Titus, who sent another Detective Sergeant, Hughes, together with Mac Levy himself, to complete the identification.
"HELLO, HOOPER!"
Levy and Hughes arrived soon after 6 o'clock, having left New York on the 4:02 train. The athletic instructor was taken into the jail corridor, and Young was led out of his cell. When they met, Levy said:
- "Hello, Hooper!"
There was no response. Young turned his eyes on the speaker deliberately and looked hard at him, with no sign of recognition. If there was any effort in his assumption of indifference it was not visible. There was a long pause. Finally, as if he thought he was expected to say something, he answered:
- "I don't know you."
- "Of course you know me," said Levy, placing his hand on his former friend's shoulder.
Young, without a trace of emotion, responded:
- "You should be sure of your identification. This is a terrible crime for which I am held."
After this, at the command of the officers, the prisoner divested himself of his clothing, so that Levy might make the identification more certain. He did not undress altogether, however, but was led back to his cell in a few minutes. Max Levy and Hughes went with him and told him formally the cause of his arrest, dwelling on the mention of the crime, for which he was committed to jail. It was then that the man admitted for the first time that his name was William Hooper Young.
While the three were talking, Dixie Anzer, the Hoboken newspaper man with whom Young used to be associated in the publication of The Crusader, walked through the corridor outside the cell. As he passed the door, the prisoner raised his head and exclaimed:
- "Why, there's Anzy!"
Confinement told on Young early in the afternoon, and he showed signs of nervousness soon after Ernest had seen him. When first arrested, though the dark rings around his eyes and the wild expression on his face gave evidence of prolonged mental and physical strain, he was game to the core, and the police officers managed to get him only after he had tried to throw red pepper in their eyes. As he reached for the pepper they thought he was after a pistol, so they made him hold up his hands. After he had been handcuffed he told them that he would have blinded them if they had given him a minute longer.
One of the first good reasons Capt. Titus of New York and the local police had for believing they had the right man was the fact that red pepper was found in the trunk sent by Young to Chicago. Capt. Titus telephoned to Chief Arnold during the afternoon, before any identification had been made, that the trunk, when opened at New York, was found to contain a package of the pepper.
ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE.
By the time Hughes and Max Levy arrived here Young looked to be on the verge of collapse. He was so nervous that he jumped every time any one spoke to him, and his self-possession was not restored until several hours after he had acknowledged himself and agreed to go back to New York without requisition papers. it was understood that the officers prevailed on him to consent to return by telling him how his counsel, engaged by his father to defend him, had said he would advise such a course of action, and how the father had cabled from Paris to say he thought the son innocent.
It is said that Young made a confession during his talk with the officer and Mac Levy, but the exact nature of his statement was not made public. The officers would only say that he had been asked: "Are you guilty?" and that he had answered "Yes and no." When one of the detectives was questioned for further information, he replied:
- "If you say simply that a confession was made, you will tell the whole story."
It was said on authority, however, that the confession had implicated some one else in the crime.
The officers said that Young, in explaining how he happened to have red pepper in his pockets and in his trunk, related how a dose of that article with milk was good for the stomach.
"I heard," he said, "that it was good to sober one up."
Shortly after 9 o'clock the officers left the man alone for the night. The announcement had been made that they would carry him to New York on the 10:55 train, but this plan was abandoned on account of the accident on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
Late this evening, several hours after Young had admitted his identity, he was shown a copy of a cablegram sent by his father, John W. Young, from Paris, advising him to surrender, and declaring that his family would stand by him. Young read the message, and for the first time gave evidence of strong emotion. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he turned to the wall of his cell, while he made a strong effort to repress his sobs. He refused to speak of the message afterward.
Capt. Titus announced late last night that it was decided not to bring the prisoner to New York until this morning. This was agreed upon after a long conversation over the long-distance telephone between Capt. Titus and Detectives Hughes and Finley, who are in Derby. The prisoner's counsel did not arrive in Derby up to a late hour last night, and Capt. Titus commissioned both Hughes and Finley to take turns in watching Young till the time came for his departure for New York. Capt. Titus is inclined to believe that the man may commit suicide if he is given the chance.
In company with the two detectives Young will leave Derby at 5:30 o'clock this morning, and come to Bridgeport, where the party will board a train for New York after taking breakfast. It is expected that they will reach here sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock.
The prisoner will be taken directly to Police Headquarters and then to the Coroners' office in the Criminal Courts Building. He will be remanded then to the Tombs for examination.
His lawyer, W. F. S. Hart, who left in the late afternoon to look after his interests, was detained by a railroad wreck on the way. An axle on the engine of the Portchester local snapped, derailing the engine, hurling the engineer and fireman out, and shaking up the passengers. It was 9 o'clock last night before the wreck was cleared so that trains might proceed. All the incoming and outgoing trains were delayed.
