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Mrs. George H. Coughlin,
Baby Blakely' Mother.
(Continued from Preceding Tage)
If kidnaping was the real purpose of hla
midnight errand he' would hare realized
that his only booty was the child, aid that
the safety of the little one was of prime
importance for the subsequent develop
ment of his scheme of ransom.
It lt was as & kidnaper, that the man
entered the house and left the house with
live child in his hands he would have
followed the plans he had already mapped
out and gone to the place where he meant
to keep the child in hiding. He would not
hare wandered aimlessly on a side road
and then travelled on to the river bank .
and sat there until daylight, holding the
dead body in his lap, as he claims. I
Furthermore, the police, declare that lt
Is not credible that a kidnapper would have
arrived on the scene with no blanket, bag
or receptacle to; conceal the child in. Ac
cording to Pasquale's confession, it was
by accident' that he came across the old
overcoat belonging to one of the workmen
In the house nearby, where he found the
ladder, and which he used to cover the little
one. It is true that Pas quale had with him
that night a yellow imitation leather grip,
but it- was only 24x9 Inches, not large
enough to hold the child. What has be
come of that yellow grip is a mystery
which Pasquale refuses to explain.
That the man did have the overcoat end
had a baby In it on the night of the kid
naping seems somewhat substantiated by
the statement of a woman who lives near
the city line, who declares that she saw a
, man who carried a baby wrapped In a
coat pass her house It was a beautiful
moonlight night j
If the police theory is xorrect Pasquale
rrept into the Coughlin louse bent upoa
burglary alone. Surprised and discon
certed by the .cry of the little one he
seized it and strangled lt Making his es
cape before the parents of the little one
in the next room could intercept him, he
took the Infant along with him, perhaps
not knowing at' that Instant whether the
child was really dead or merely tempo
rarily stifled into quietude. Having safe
ly gotten away from the premises he found
that tlfe chil-d was really dead. He had
bungled the Job. He had secured no valu
ables and the child was dead.
Pasquale eat down in the darkness and
thought the situation over, and as dawn
approached concluded that perhaps he
could salvage something out of the situa
tion after all. H would dispose of the
remains of the little one, destroy its
clothes and try to wring a ransom from
the distracted parents, who -would not
"mow that the little one no longer lived.
This Is the theory of some of the! detec
tives. They believe that Pasquale's cir
cumstantial story about the step-ladder
and. the vision of mother and child and the
plans to return and. kidnap the little one
and the accidental smothering of the boy,
as given in his last confession, are all a
fiction. They are convinced that little
Blakely was strangled in his own crib to
stifle his cries because he had alarmed
the prowler intent onr burglary only.
But Mrs. Coughlin does not accept this
analysis. She thinks that her child, was
stolen in a deliberate and perhaps ex
tremely well planned kidnaping plot She
agrees with tire police that the story of
the accidental strangling In the overcoat fa
highly unlikely and she refuses to belleva
- it
- Is little Blakely alive after alt
Perhaps Pasquale Is a much more clever
CQundrel than has been supposed. Vhen
h planned his second scheme for getting
his hands on the ransom money without
risking being, caught he worked out the den
tails very cleverly. Mr. Coughlin was in-V
structed to get on a, fast expressrain and
ride along, keeping; his eyes fixed 6n thai
countryside until he should see a j figure
waving a white sheet At that moment
and at that point Mr. Coughlin was to
. throw out of the window of the rushing
train the package with the money. A well
conceived plan and almost too intelligent
for a crazy man. And he would have es
caped again had not the Pennsylvania po
lice sprung a surprise which he could
THE OREGON SUNDAY
fet?vi u-'V- Avc.:M n3 Vs 'Vv t s
hardly have fore
seenon a spe
cial train follow
ing immediately
behind the ex
press were a
squad of detectives who
Instantly stopped their
train, surrounded tho
patch of woods and se
cured Pasquale: ' ""'-"
It Is possible that the
man thought he could re
peat these schemes to
mulct Mr. Coughlin from
time to time and that he
held the baby In reserve,
Intending to ultimately
use the child itself as tho
final trump card In his
last hold-up of the dis
tracted parents.
If this is so, then Mrs. Coughlin is right
In her instinct that her baby still lives.
Pasquale perhaps figures that there is no
evidence which "will convince a Jury that
he kidnaped the child or, indeed, ever en
tered the Coughlin residence.
An uncorroborated confession cannot
alone be used to convict a self-confessed
criminal, and Pasquale has already laid
the foundation for a plea that, in any case,
he Is an irresponsible crazy man. If, In
one way or another, the man escapes con
viction he can begin negotiations all over
again to return the child to its parents.
If the child is alive lt would, do him no
good to return lt at this time. If he re
turned it voluntarily the police would
have the corroboration which would con
vict him with certainty.
One significant thing tends to lend color
to the possibility that the child is still
alive. On the morning after the kidnap
Ing footprints of a man AND A WOMAN
were discovered in the soft earth at the
foot-of the ladder.' Pasquale has denied
that he had any accomplice. But if his
errand on that June night was to kidnap
the Infant It would be quite natural, to
have a woman as his confederate. If any
body had seen them along the road the
Infant in the arms of a woman would dis
arm suspicion, i A screaming baby In the
hands of a man might have attracted at
tention. How came those footprints of a woman
- beneath that ladder T
And another thing. Pasquale carefully
secured the hot-water heater used to heat
the baby's milk bottle and carried lt down
the ladder and set It on the ground. The
heater was found at the foot of the ladder
the next morning and Pasquale says he
made a special trip out of the window and
down the ladder to make sure of lt This
would look very much like the first Btep
In a'well deliberated plan to .steal the child
and provide for its subsequent welfare.
Pasquale did another thing which seems
strongly to Indicate a kidnaping purpose.
He slipped the baby's half-consumed bot
tle, of milk into his pocket A man with
no intent to kidnap and preserve. the child
would scarcely have done this.
Furthermore, j lt Is a highly significant
fact that Pasquale at the very moment of
the crime took time to do something then
and there which could only have been
done for the purpose of establishing some
thing to Identify him later on Inhiegotia
t Ions which he must then have had in
mind. In his first letter to Mr. Coughlin
he said: ;-
It you dont think that I am the man
who stole your child look at the window
sill of the nursery and find three nicks cut
by a penknife.? And, sure enough, the
three nicks were there.
" And still again lt was remarked that the
bedclothes In the little crib were not
tumbled, but were carefully folded hack
as a woman lays back the cover after she
has taken an infant out of Its bed. This
- would not Indicate a hasty selling and
trangllng ot the little one to still its
-JOURNAL, PORTLAND,
lAiXUaP &tAM 'Lifcc (Jul d ttiAjtd. Lt . H ' t t j iflr .r 7K 'C ft. V I
kudu, CUi4 ctvUd kt tfu-
but A Imam (tfMjf, .x
voice. Would Pasquale himself have been
likely to have folded back those bed
clothes in the way they were found? Is it
possible that the same feet that made
those woman's footprints at the foot of the
ladder also were actually in little Blake
ly's room and their owner smoothed back
gently the cover while Pasquale lifted the
little sleeping form into his arms?
If little Blakely was deliberately kid
naped and a woman was on the scene to
take care of the child, it is almost beyond
belief that the little one was accidentally
strangled. If the woman's footprints were
made by an accomplice of Pasquale there
Is every reason to suppose that the baby
was carefully cared for and removed to a
place of safety In accordance with plans
well matured. If this is so the man Pas
quale has lied from beginning to end in
every essential detail and Mrs. Coughlin
may be justified in her hope that some
where some woman still haa little Blakely
alive and well.
This she has always believed, and in her
touching appeal for the return of the little
one, she said:
"To the abductors of Blakely Coughlin:
, I want my .baby. Some woman must be
caring for it. Won't you Jet your mother
heart plead for me now and Bend htm
safely back to me?"
Pasquale will be put on trial In a few
weeks, charged with, murder' kidnaping
and burglary. The prosecuting attorney
feels sure he has evidence enough to con
vict the man.
Pasquale is thirty-eight years old. He
is an Italian, born near the French-Swiss
border and has a wife and two children,
but asserts that' he does not know their
whereabouts. He has a long police record.
He has been arrested a number of times
for robbery, has resided in New York City
and then moved to Philadelphia. A few
weeks before he kidnaped the Coughlin
baby he was released from the county
prison at Holmesburg, Pennsylvania,
where he had served two years for larceny.
Nowhere along his criminal career, so
far as the police can ascertain, Is there
anything to indicate an unsound mind. On
the other hand, Pasquale is a man of more
than average criminal intelligence and evi
dently has had considerable education. In
his letters his grammar and diction Is re
markably good and the . following photo
graph of his signature shows a well round
ed, easy handwriting:
Whatever happens at the trial of Pas
quale, lt is not likely that the true facts
and all the facts surrounding the disap
pearance of little Blakely Coughlin will be
known for a long time to come it ever.
If Pasquale should manage to secure his
freedom and the child Is still alive it is
thought likely that he will find a way to
try to return the little one to its parents
for whatever ransom money he can get
(C) 1920. IateraaUoaa; Feature Service. Ina,
SUNDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 21, 1920.
I
From
Mrs.
Coughlin'
Appeal to
Kidnappers
to Return
Her
Baby.
Section of the Coughlin
- Wrapped
Great Britain BichU Seaerved.
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Residence and Pasquale's Escape With the Kidnapped ChU4
in an Old Overcoat, According to Hi Confession. '