Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1887 — THE KANSAS BUTCHERY. [ARTICLE]

THE KANSAS BUTCHERY.

Willie Sell Confesses to the Murder of His Father, Mother, Sister and Brother. How a Trivial Dispute Precipitated a Most Horrible Murder. [Kansas City special.] Willie Sell, the 16- year-old boy who was convicted last July of murdering his father, mother, brother and sister, near the town of Erie, Kas., has made a confession, in which he says that his father, J. W. Sell, a well-to-do farmer, was killed by his brother, and that he (Willie) killed his brother to revenge his father, and afterward killed Ms mother and sister. The murders were committed at night, and the first information of the tragedy was given by the murderer, who awaked a neighbor and told him some man was hurting his father and mother. The bodies of the murdered people were found in the farm-house, with their throats cut from ear to ear and their heads crushed. A bloody hatchet and butcher-knife were found in a chair. Suspicion rested strongly on the boy and he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. He is now in the penitentiary awaiting the signing by the * Governor of the death warrant. The boy’s confession is as follows: •

“Mother and sister Ina had gone to bed. Father, Waty and I were still up, when the calves got out and came up around the house. Waty sat at the table reading and father had just taken his coat and pants off to go to bed, and told Waty to go and put the calves up. He said: ‘Let Willie do it. I won’t go out now.’ Father said that he should go, and Waty did not want to, and, while they were talking, I went out and got the hatchet, which was sticking in a log of wood outside the door, and came back to see if Waty would go out with me, I got the hatchet to nail up the calf-pen. Father and Waty were there quarreling, and had become very mad. When I came in where they were, with the hatchet, Waty snatched it out of my hand and struck father several times, at last knocking him down. When I saw what Waty had done I caught hold of the hatchet and jerked it out of his hands, and, striking at Waty, hit him on the head and he fell down on the floor, and I supposed that killed him. Then mother, seeing what was being done, jumped out of bed, screaming, and, before I thought what 1 was doing, I struck her. Ina, my sister, at that raised up in bed and screamed, and I don’t know why I did it, but I struck her with the hatchet and she fell back. They were all lying quiet. I took off all my clothes except my shirt and drawers, then pulled off Waty’s pants, raised him up and carried him into the other room and put him into our bed. After that I went back and got the hatchet and pounded his head all to pieces. I felt mad at Waty because he had killed father. I went to the cupboard and got the butcher-knife and cut Waty’s head nearly off. Then I went back into the other room and sat down, and I did not know what to do. Then I thought that if any of them should come to life they would say I killed Waty. So I took the butcher-knife and cut their throats to make sure work of it. I then blew out the lamp and sat down for several hours, but at last could not stand it any longer and again lit the lamp, and, putting on my clothes, ran over to Mr. Mendall’s and told him some one was at our house with a hatchet and had hurt pa and ma.” There has always been a great diversity of opinion among the people as to whether Willie Sell committed the murder. On the trial there was no positive evidence, and the State utterly failed to find any motive for the crime. On the contrary, it was proven that Willie was an exceptionally good boy, and that he and his sister Ina were more than commonly fond of each other. The neighbors all swore to tho boy’s good disposition, and that he was a favorite in the community, while his brother Waty, who was older than he, was not so generally liked.