He Confessed To Arson

HE CONFESSED TO ARSON

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George Maier Burned Archie Sellick. 

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AFTER THE INSURANCE

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He Saturated the House with Gasoline and was Unable to Rescue Boy. 

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Friday Geo. F. Maier confessed to setting fire to his house in Jackson in which Archie Sellick, the Ann Arbor boy who was employed on the storm sewers by Hutzel & Co. as water boy, was burned so that he died. Maier is 25 years of age and formerly lived in Ann Arbor, where he married his wife, Sellick's sister. They were married when she was 16 and she is now 19. Maier's confession as given in the Jackson Press is as follows

'"Maier was troubled about little debts, and it was said he was strictly honest about paying his debts and always made a strong effort to do so. He figured by packing away the most valuable of the household goods and burning the rest the collection of the insurance would help him out nicely. He claims his wife opposed the idea Sunday night when he explained the advantages of his scheme. She could not agree to it and went to bed to save argument.

"He said the plan looked feasible; that he set to work to pack the goods. Once started on his plan, it seems as though he was held to its prosecution by an unusual and powerful motive. After burying the trunk and hiding his gun and other valuables, he then aroused his wife and baby and had them leave the house by the back door. He then showered the house with four gallons of gasoline. He claims to have gone half way upstairs before lighting a match to give him a start of the fire in awakening the boy. The moment he lighted the match and threw it down stairs there was an explosion and the house inside was completely in flames.

"He rushed to the boys bed, awoke him, told him, to follow him out of the window onto the shed roof. Maier escaped through the window and thought the boy was just behind him until a few moments later he realized the boy was still inside in the flames. He went back and found his foot had caught in the bed springs. He at last got the boy out, but burned his own face in so doing, and the boy was terribly burned. He said he wanted to confess the matter to ease his mind, and he thought perhaps it would be better for his wife not to have the delay of a trial. He said he wished he could be dead and the boy alive.

"The death of Archie is a great weight on Maier's mind."

Maier was arraigned yesterday afternoon on the charge of arson and waived examination, bail being fixed at $3,000. The Press further says: "Mrs. Archie Kay, of Ann Arbor, a sister of Mrs. Maier and young Archie Sellick, has an interesting theory which may prove of value.

''Mrs. Kay says her sister was carried from the burning house by Maier, who then returned and awakened Archie, and then made his escape out of the window in Archie's room. After Maier was safely out of the house Archie was seen at the window trying to make his escape, but for some reason fell back in the burning room. He then grouped around in a helpless fashion for some little time, finally throwing himself bodily from the window. He then threw himself down under a tree in the yard, where Mrs. Maier saw the terrible condition he was in, and the sight was responsible for her present condition. Mrs. Maier says when she was awakened the house was a mass of flames and Maier was in bed by her side. He carried her out, then went back to awaken Archie. She was sure her sister was not aware the house was to be burned that night, though the matter may have been discussed between the husband and wife, Mrs. Maier strenuously opposing the idea. Mrs. Maier, had she been awake and aware of what was going on, and knowing the nature of gasoline, would surely have looked out for her brother. A young and active boy should have had no difficulty in escaping if in a normal condition.

"Mrs Kay is of the opinion from this line of reasoning that both her sister and Archie must have been drugged before going to bed, in order that no troublesome witness of the act should be present. 

"Mrs. Maier said this morning she would answer all questions, and when the drugging theory was made known to her asked 'Do you think George would do that?' But her condition is still critical and it is not yet deemed safe to interrogate her.

"Mrs. Kay is an intelligent appearing woman, and her theory seems quite reasonable. '' Archie Sellick, the boy who was burned was well known here and formally lived on S. Fifth ave. and on Packard st. His father was Charles Sellick, a baker by trade. The family came to Ann Arbor from Delhi. Archie has three married sisters living in the city. George Maier, who has confessed the arson worked at one time in Northfield as a farm hand coming to this city, where he married. He was known here as a hard working, honest and frugal man. Still after he burned out in Jackson at a former fire stories were afloat as to his setting the fire The Jackson papers say he had a fire in Ann Arbor, but there is no record of any such fire in the fire department here.