Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1887 — THE KANSAS BUTCHERY. [ARTICLE]

THE KANSAS BUTCHERY.

Willie Sell Confesses (o the Murder of His Father, Mother, tis ter and Brother. ' ■ —-—7— — ; —— -- " • C How a Trivial Dispute Precipitated a Most Horrible Murder. . [Kansas City special.] Willie Sell, the lfi-year-old boy who was convicted last J illy 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 his 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 toid him some man was hurting pis littcer and mother. The bodies of the murdered' people were found in the farm-house, with their throats cut from ear to .ear an l their beads crusned. A bloody hntchet and butcher-knife were found iu a chair. Suspicion rested strongly on the bqy and he wss arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. He is now in the penitentiary awaiti g the signing by the Governor of the death warrant. The boy’s confession is as follows: 1 '

“Mother and sister Ina had gone to bed. Father, Waty and I were still tip, wh- n the calves got out and came up around the house. Waty sat at the t.ible reading and father hud just taken his coat and pants off to goto bed, and told Wutv to go and put the calves up. He said: ‘Let Willie do it. I won't go ont now.’ Father said that he should go, and Waty d:d not want to. mid, while they were talkin •, I went out and got the hatchet, which was sticking in a log of wood outside the door, and came back to see if We.tv would go out with me. I got the hatchet to nail up the oalf-p-n. Father and Waty were there quarreling, and had become very mad. When I came in where they vert, with the hatchet, Waty snat hed it oit of my hand and struck father several times, at lasiTTsnocking him down. Wh. n 1 saw wba \V aty had done I caught hold of ti.e hatehet and jerk. d it o t or nis hands, and, striking at Waty, bit L in on the h »d and be fell down on the floor, ana 1 supposed that killed him. T en mother, seeing w. at was ■ being done, jumped ont of bed, screaming, and, before I thought what I was doing, I

struck her. Ini, my lister, at that raised up in bed and screamed, and I don’t know why I* did it, bnt 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 palled off AVaty's pants, raised him np and carried him into the other room and put him into our bed. After that I went bshk and got the hatchet and pounded his head all to pieces. I felt mad at AVaty because he had killed father. I went to the cupboard and got the butcher-kuife and cut AVaty’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 AVaty. So I took the bntcher-knife and cut their throats to make sure work of it. I then blew out the lamp and sat down for several hoars, but at last could not stand it any longer and again lit the lamp, nnd, putting on my clothes, ran over to Mr. Mendall's and told him some one was at our house with a hatchet and had hart pa and ma." >