MOTIVES.

Had my early life and associations been such as to predispose me towards such criminal proceedings, still the want of motive remains. I can show that no motive did exist. Those who knew me personally can see that it could not have been avarice, for whenever I possessed even a small surplus of ready money, those whom I was owing or friends in need of same could always receive the most or all I possessed. Any ungovernable temper is excluded, for I do not possess it. Appetence cannot be ascribed as a motive, age and other circumstances to a great extent excluding same. The principal motive thus far ascribed, namely, that I had first involved my alleged victims in, or made them parties to, dishonest transactions can be excluded, from the fact that all such transactions are matters of recent date, and almost without exception they are found to have done nothing criminal. Either one of the foregoing I should prefer having my supposed shortcomings attributed to than the only remaining motive I can think of, namely, insanity, to which, either hereditary or acquired, I can plead not guilty, and be substantiated in so doing by a sufficient number of medical experts, whose testimony cannot be lightly overlooked.

Of the three more important cases, first that of the Williams sisters. Nannie Williams was wholly without means. The following account will show that had I given Hatch the $500 he wished to borrow of me in Burlington, there would have been little due Nannie Williams; nothing in fact, if I had included various small sums paid her from time to time, of which no account was kept. It should also be borne in mind that she still holds the title to the $10,000 Wilmette property, which, on this account, is valueless to me.

RECEIVED OF M. R. WILLIAMS.

April, 1893, Cash,

$2,500
April, 1893, Real Estate,

7,000
August, 1894, Cash,

600

———

$10,100

PAID M. R. WILLIAMS.

May, 1893, Cash,

$2,500
July, 1893, Cash,

1,000
December, 1893, Cash,

750
January, 1894, Fort Worth Incumbrance,

1,725
February, 1894, Cash,

1,750
October, 1894, Cash,

1,000
October, 1894, Cash,

412

———

$9,137

———

$963

Shown by cashed drafts and checks endorsed by M. Williams, and other forms of evidence.

In the case of Benj. F. Pitezel, the motive is said to have been the money to be derived from his insurance, and more than this from his Texas real-estate holdings. In regard to the former, I can only reiterate that he was worth more to me each year he lived than the amount he was insured for, and each year he was becoming more valuable to me; therefore, why should I take his life? His real estate was not of one dollar’s value to him, and could only be of value to me after he had signed certain papers, the want of which I felt within thirty days after his death. This is also true of his patents and other belongings. The claim that I designed to kill the six other members of the Pitezel family to avoid being held accountable for the small sum of $5,200, seems too unlikely a motive to call for a denial, and, excluding this, it will be hard to find another, when the care and attention I have given them for years is considered.

In conclusion, I wish to say that I am but a very ordinary man, even below the average in physical strength and mental ability, and to have planned and executed the stupendous amount of wrong-doing that has been attributed to me would have been wholly beyond my power, and even had I been able to have performed it, a still greater task would have been the successful elaboration of a story at the time of my arrest that, if untrue, would have provided for the many exigencies that at that time I could not have known would have occurred later in the case; and I feel justified in asking from the general public a suspension of judgment as to my guilt or innocence, not while the various charges can be proven against me, but while I can disprove them, a task which I feel able to satisfactorily and expeditiously accomplish. And here I cannot say finis—it is not the end—for besides doing this there is also the work of bringing to justice those for whose wrong-doings I am to-day suffering, and this not to prolong or save my own life, for since the day I heard of the Toronto horror I have not cared to live; but that to those who have looked up to and honored me in the past it shall not in the future be said that I suffered the ignominious death of a murderer.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The name he had assumed for the purpose of aiding me to organize our company.

[2] Mrs. Pitezel’s initials.

[3] Before going to Denver when he had felt so sure of carrying out the plan, I afterwards learned that he had spoken to one of his family about his sudden disappearance at any time not necessitating them to worry.

[4] At the time referred to a daily paper had stated that these lawyers were to act as my attorneys, and upon Pitezel’s calling upon them, they had given him this card, and also directed him to the attorney they had recommended to me in the same street.

[5] The claim so persistently advanced that this note was a forgery is untrue; it was still in existence a short time ago, and if the prosecution will produce it the signature can speak for itself.

[6] In any instance, when not registering under my own name, my handwriting will substantiate my statements.

[7] At the risk of being tedious, I have entered into a minute description of our stay while in Toronto, especially as it applies to Saturday, the 19th, and Thursday, the 25th of October, as they seem vital dates in the case.

[8] The tacks used later to replace the portion removed were taken from the carpet in the room, and have been compared with those still there to make good my statement that here was where the mutilation of the trunk occurred.

[9] In answer to a recent question from the authorities, if, after Hatch had thus changed his appearance, he looked like myself, I answer, No, at least not to a sufficient extent to be mistaken for me by one who knew us both.

(Back cover))

MINNIE R. WILLIAMS

Transcriber’s Notes: