Murder, He Wrote: Script Proves Clue to 1893 Slaying

The dark secret that John W. Spicer took with him to his grave in 1943 has been uncovered in Fountain, Colo., by a family refurbishing a house that Spicer helped build. A murder confession he apparently wrote in 1899 was concealed under layers of paint on a window molding. “On or about the (illegible) day of March, 1893 . . . I did kill and wilfuly murder with a club one John J. Sebastian for his money and jewelry to the value of $5,000.00 and did drag the mutilated body to a deep ravine some 500 yds. distant. . . .” Spicer wrote. No record of the murder could be found, but Spicer’s only surviving relative, daughter Marguerite Bulkley, 89, of Pueblo, said she remembered her father once telling her he killed a bum in self-defense. District attorney’s office investigators said they believe the confession is authentic and was written about six years after the slaying, as Spicer helped build the 12-room mansion.

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--A 16-year-old computer wiz programmed his computer to dial every phone in China--China, Me., that is. Kennebec County Sheriff Frank Hackett said the boy, unidentified because of his age, had programmed his computer to call every phone number in China, where he and his mother live, and then fell asleep. When he awoke, he found the computer had made 801 phone calls.