Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1910 — Murdered His Father Because He Was Required to Pay Board. [ARTICLE]

Murdered His Father Because He Was Required to Pay Board.

Benjamin Smith, of near Muncie, killed his aged father by beating him to death one day last week and then threw the body into an abandoned well. Ben was a wilful and worthless boy of the “tin horn” sport variety. He wore good clothes ' and went about with girls, -but would not work. His father had demanded that he pay $2 a week board and a quarrel ensued. He later wrote to his father that he was going to be married and bring his wife home to live. His father remonstrated with him, saying he was not able to support a wife. The son killed the father and then claimed that he had himself been issaulted by another man who had co a - mitted the deed. But when placed through a sweating process by the police he confessed the crime. His father was 68 years of age and a good citizen. The young man’s deed was the culmination of a life spent in idleness and bad company. He was ento marry an estimable young lady of Muncie, whom he had succeeded in deceiving.