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Brooks Confesses

Brooks Confesses image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
May
Year
1886
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

H. M. Brooks, alias Maxwell, on trial in Bt. Louis for the murder of C. Arthur Prellor, bas confessed to killing Preller by accident while acting as nis physician. and that being exeited and frightened. he concealed indicad of making known the faut of death. He declares he has always wanted to teil the facts, and only refrained by advice of his attorneys. The following is Brooks'a statement: Mr. Preller was suffering from a private disease, for which I had previously pro■cribad, mixing the medicine myself from the bottles in the medicine chest I carried ; with me; bat his ailment had reacbed a i Etage when it was necessary for me to ' malie investigations. I was obliged to use , a catheter, and in using a catheter when the parts were inflamed, I had previously ; applieii chloroform in order to produce a condition of narcotism. I explained the j procesü to Preller, and told him what I should bave to do. He was not only willing, bilt was yery anxious to havo me treat him in this manner. About 5 p. m. we began the operation. I administered the chloroform in the usual way. holding a saturated clotb to the nose. ! Mr. Preller passed through the first stage ; all right; it took several moments - I don't ' know exactly how long- then he entered the second stage, and here the terrible remlt carne. I diacovered, too late, that he was dying. Imagine my horror when this fact dawned on me. I was wild witb frigbt, but had presence of mind enough to cut ' the. undershiit fruin i,ho body, and etling I a wet towel I beat him around the ntck and shoulders for half an hour or more. I dld not give up until I was ready to drop from exhaustion, and my efforts were not ended until he had been dead some time. All the clothes he had on at the time were his shirt and undershirt; he i hadstripped for the operation. r What iid I do when I saw my friend was deadi What could I do? I didn't know what to do. I drank eyerthingl could get, wine, whisky, everything. What were my thoughts Ihadnotany. All I remember is that 1 drew on a pair of drawers- the first that feil into my hands- and put the body into my trunk from whieh I had removed everything. I pnt it in the trunk an hour after Preller's death. What was done beside this I have no recollection of. laquor and consternation had possession of me and I know only that my feelings were those of the utmost horror. I remainod in ray room that night- the one in whicb the remains were - and it would be a lie for me to say I slept, for I did not, and I was glad when morning came. What I did after leav'ng my room you know, for it has all beeu printed. He says he supposed the post-mortem, when the body was found, would disclosa the nature of tbe operation and the cause i of death. According to his own story the cutting off of Preiler's moustache, the in■nrinHnn ahout -'traitor" fouud in ths trunk, and all the otner qucti iuu. connected with the tragedy are to be attributed to his liquor and fear crazed condition after the fatality.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Democrat