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sj i. ASTOEJA PUBLIC LlBBAl 0 r1 EXCLUSIVE TELEGRAPHIC PRESS REPORT. TOL. XL. NO. 173. ASTOIUA, OREGON SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 30, 1893. PRICE, FIVE CENTS, V 1 issn '0 V--1 1 v ..',y ... A. Has Struck the Town. Big B "Monterey Fired AndK TheB etsy of the into Cooper's nocked ottom out of Store TP fllUlL pill PI fllr fi JVllo ass uoods Slaughtered The Greatest Reduction Sale Ever Known in Astoria. Positively, You Will Get Bargains. No Humbug. At the Midsummer Sale now in Progress. HANSEN DID IT. Mystery of the Bear Creek Crime Is Cle1 Up. t THE MURDERER CONFESSES An Indifferent, Cold-Blooded Fiend. HE IS UTTERLY REMORSELESS Ha Saja H Struck Hli Wlf With Club .Bud Left Her Body Lying In th Hualiei. The Astorlan's theory was correct' John Hansen has confessed to the mur der of hl old. fragile, unoffending; wife, and, as declared by Dr. Belt at the In quest, and pretty conclusively demon strated by The Astorlan reporter, the terrible, deed was done with a blunt In strument, whh "which the- murderer struck her from behind. There was no other solution, of what, under ordinary circumstances, might have been a mystery; or explanation possible which would account for "the nature of the wounds- The position in which the body lay when found, and the actions of the uxoricide from the minute he announced the murder to Nylund until he made his confession today. His manner and bearing, all along, and especially his conduct at the funeral of his murdered wife, stump him a man of iron nerve, reck leSg of means and careless of conse quences. No horror was visible in his face when he bent over the body of his victim at the morgue and kissed the cold clay j No remorse seemed to move him except as a passing cloud, when he heard the clods fall upon her cbflln in Greenwood- Men with such unlmpres slonable natures and absolute self con trol are the most dangerous in the criminal class. There was hardly need for him, to have confessed, for Sheriff Smith 'and his : aides, and Prosecuting Attorney Curtis,' were weaving an unbreakable web of circumstantial evidence around him. So cloe and connected Is the tes tlmony which those officers have se cured that conviction, In case of trial, would have been certain. There ha" never yet been a man hanged In Clatsop county for murder. Let u see what will be the outcome of this crime and confession. THE CONFESSION- On Wednesday, July 26th, lat, Han sen says, ha was sober all dy. He left, the Burnslde scow about f:30 a. m- and went home, and mat his wife coming from Bvenson's. when ne got In the house he lay down on the sofa, his wife remarking: "If you don't, go to work I will kill you-" He sail to her: "I , have been out flHhlngVaJl night and I now want to rest," ThVn, Hansen sayt he went upstairs to bill, and sleot until the steamer Mlllr whistled, about 3:15 In the aftemuo He then got up, went down stair", mi 1 sat down in front cf ib hou... S' Xj, ,y afterward he reWned to bai-' house picking berries, and he assisted her. "Whtia we were picking berries," Hanson continued, "she (his wife) said: 'If you don't leave this place I will kill you-' " I don't want to leave,' I replied. She then picked up a rock and threw it at me. I had a stick and an ex In my hand. Standing by thei chicken house. I placed it there with the intention of driving the stick out in the pasture to tie the calf to. The stick was about three feet long w'th a knot close to the end. I struck her with that stick, and the knotv part hit her on the head. I was standing a little behind her to the left, and she wa stoopeu down a little, picking berries. She never said anything after she fell In the place where she was found. "I stayed there then with her until she was dead. I then went back to the house and stayed there about two minutes, and then went back again to where my wife lay, and looked at her, and I then went away again, it was then about 4:45. I then went to the tide land and notified John Nyland. and told him the same that I testlfled to at the coroner's inquest. After I came back from the tide land and be fore Nyland got to the house, I chopped up the Btlck I Wiled my wife with and put It In the wood box, and that same evening burned It up In the stove." Signed m the presence of H. A Smith and F. I. Dunbar. JOHN HANSEN. Saturday, July 23, 1893, 9:30 a, m. Shortly afterward Hansen made a short additional statement to the ef feet that after she was dead, he took the keys out of her pocket and went In the house and opened the lower drawer of the bureau, with the Inten tlon of looking for papers. He found a bottle w'th kummel, . In which there was about one good swallow. This he says he drank, and then put the keys in the upper drawer, but never opened It. He was duly sober, he says, and in good humor. . ' A CORRECT FORECAST. All this bear8 out the conclusions ar rrlved at by the Astorlan reporter, who went with, Sheriff Smith to the Bcene of the murder. The sharpened stoke for tethering the calf, the advent of the murderer through the gate at the chicken coop, the blow, delivered downward and from the left, ' the Bearch of the body for the bureau keys, and the motive, to get money for drink, were all set forth In the Astorian of Friday and yesterday. THREATENED LYNCHING. At ten o'clock last night information wns conveyed to Sheriff Smith that a large number, estimated nt 300 or over, of Finns and Scandinavians were gath ered in Uppertown, and only waiting the appearance of a !?adi-r to make a raid on the Jull, drug Hansen out und hang him. Although he was r.t a Iops to believe that such u lawless clement existed in the city, or that iTili a foolhardy ut'einpt would le made, the sheriff quietly completed arrangements to iiic.ei (he mcb nil ui'ue tho mat ter, md in iho ev-'nt nf nut being iiblo to pacify them, then to meet force with force and protect hi prisoner nt all hazard. SHERIFF SMITH'S WORK- SI nee Hansen's arrest Sheriff Smith hag not slept a moment, fully believ ng that the murderer would not long withstand the terrible strain, and that he was liable to break down at any moment- As Friday night advanced the sheriff's conylctlong grew stronger, and several thnes he was led to be Ueved from Hansen's manner that the time had come when the clear light of day would be thrown on one of the most horrible murders In criminal an nals- About 2:30 yesterday morning the prisoner weakened preceptlbly. and he appeared as if about to faint- In fact, he staggered, and the sheriff saw that the Btrain ws fat becoming too severe to last much longer. But with a mighty effort Hansen recovered his self control, and nerved himself to the terrible task of keeping his dread se cret. Not yet was he prepared to dls close h's awful port In the tragedy, and remove what little doubt remained of the identity of the author of the crime. But Sheriff Smith did not des pair, and remembering that the chain of evidence, which was being woven, was purely circumstantial and "till far from bejng completed, he contin ued his efforts, and at yesterday morning wag reward-I th success. About 6 o'clock Hansen lay down on his bed, and remained silent for some time, during which the sheriff talked to him on the subject of the funeral and the peaceful appearance of the murdered" woman's face; and as Han sen's memory was carried back to the affecting scene in the morgue where so much emotion was shown by the friends of Mrs. Hansen, and to the moment at Greenwood when the body of the' woman who had been his faithful helpmate for over thirty years, was about to be closed from his Bight for ever, he was for the first time struck with remorse and indicated a da sire to speak. Turning to the sheriff he said: "I can't stand this any long er," and proceeded to tell the whole of the dreadful story. The sheriff Us tened to the recital without interrupt lng the murderer, and as soon, as the story was completed sent for Recorder Dunbar in order that a written confes Blon might be secured. What followed is published above. When Hansen had finished, he broke down completely and , cried for the first time since his ar rest. Sheriff Smith was highly compliment ed on all sidc8 for his success m sq curing the confession, without resort lng to coercive measures, or offering Inducements of any kind. Recorder Dunbar remarked In this connection, that Hansen appeared to find great ro Uef In allowing others to share, his ter riblo Becret, and that no offers of clem ency had been made or unfair strategy resorted to by the sheriff In persuad lng Hansen to speak. HAS A HAD MEMORY. An Astorlan reporter called at the Jail last evening and saw Hansen with a view of learning if any additional in formation could be got from him When the reporter had announced his bulneB Hansen said: "No, I have nothing else, but all I can remember I have said already. My head has not b?en clear for three weeks, but as soon bh I foel better there may he something else that the Astorlan can have for jiubllcatlon." Ho still stuck to the story of having ued the club and reiterated his assertion that after the murder ho had chopped the wea pon up and burned It. WHAT THE DEFENSE WILL BE. It Is possible, judging from the mur derer's desire to appear dazed, that in sanity will bo pleaded In the defense, and it Is apparent that his reluctance to say anything more on the aubjnet of the murder was the result of a, cau tlon from his attorney, Hon. C. W. Fulton. Hansen waa perfectly , ration al, and ho answered the reporters ques Hons with a readiness that did not lend color to' th Insanity dodge. S For an $8 Lot By becoming a member of HilPs Lot Clubs you can.t a first-class lot in Hill's Fir3 1 Addition Astoria . Lots will be delivered weekly; How is the time to procure a 101 to ouiia a home, for C unjz the latest inroro he remains 'at-- ,t that f!j"' V? i i r s i r yr W 4 J --