Of Bunnies and Men

MOTHERS FEAR NIGHT PROWLER

Window Peeper Believed Mentally Unbalanced; Police Investigate Reports

 

Mothers feared for the safety of their children and kept them confined close to home today as reports circulated that a mentally-unbalanced man has been prowling around residences and peering in windows late at night.

The residence of H. Sedinger at 314 McKinley street has been visited twice this week by the prowler, and last night he was frightened away by Mrs. Sedinger after he had killed three rabbits. Mrs. Sedinger, hearing the rabbits squealing, thought that a dog was trying to break into the screened-in area in which they were confined and yelled to scare the animal away. A man jumped up and scurried away, and police were notified.

Investigation revealed that the rabbits had been clubbed to death and stretched out in a neat row. A few days ago nine rabbits were killed and laid out with the same methodical neatness at another North Hibbing residence. Other residents have reported that they have found their rabbits killed in the same way, but in every case the animals are left behind.

Earlier in the week an infant at the Sedinger home screamed as it noticed a face peering in at the window, and several mothers have reported that they also have heard noises about the windows of their homes. In many instances, clear-cut foot impressions have been left underneath windows, according to police, who have been investigating the cases.

The prowler or prowlers has been reported in North Hibbing, South Hibbing and Brooklyn. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Thursday, Oct. 2, 1930

POLICE SEEKING RABBIT KILLER

Description of Man Furnished by Owners Expected to Result in Arrest Soon

 

Police arrested an elderly, slightly demented man late yesterday to hold for questioning in connection with the killing of rabbits in North Hibbing, Brooklyn and South Hibbing during the past week, but this morning reported that he probably will be released.

Quizzing of the man disclosed the fact that he is apparently harmless, officers stated. Arrest was made after his coat was found in a residence when the occupants returned home after being absent a few hours. The man had evidently wandered into the home and forgotten his coat when leaving.

Belief that the prowler is mentally unbalanced was strengthened last evening when he killed several rabbits in North Hibbing, despite the fact that officers were keeping a close lookout for him. Thursday night he killed 18 rabbits in Brooklyn, according to reports turned in at police headquarters, before being frightened away.

Officers believe that the description given by owners of rabbits who have seen the prowler running away will lead to an arrest shortly, it wad said today. The man being held at the municipal jail does not answer the description of the rabbit-killer, officers reported. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Saturday, Oct. 4, 1930

Victims of "Jake" Cannot be Cured

 

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., April 25—Officials of the state health department laboratory said today that physicians doubt that some of the victims of the strange paralysislike malady believed caused by drinking Jamaica ginger ever will recover. No complete recoveries have been reported among the more than 400 persons in Oklahoma afflicted with the strange malady. The exact cause of the epidemic has not been determined. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Friday, April 25, 1930

Putting the Run on Prowlers

 

The Hibbing police department is waging a war against night prowlers and window peekers following numerous complaints coming into headquarters.

For more than a week, residents of North Hibbing, in the vicinity of McKinley and Garfield streets, have been alarmed by the strange antics of a man, evidently unbalanced, who kills rabbits and chickens merely for the sake of killing. His strange actions threw the neighborhood into a panic, parents fearing that the unbalanced mind of the peculiar-acting individual may lead to more serious crimes.

Police, determined to rid the community of these undesirables, have redoubled their efforts to apprehend this class, commonly known as morons. It is a commendable action and will prevent any possibility of tragedies similar to those occurring in Minneapolis last year.

The time to put the run on prowlers is now. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Monday, Oct. 6, 1930

RABBIT KILLER EVADES POLICE

Prowler Continues PeCuliar Pra CtiCe; Reporte D Seen in North Hibing

 

Several days of vigilance by patrolmen has failed to develop any clues of the identity of the man, believed partially demented, who still continues to kill a number of rabbits each night and leaves them placed neatly in a row for the owner to discover in the morning.

The vicinity in which the man kills the rabbits changes each night. Sunday around midnight, a Park Addition woman stood and watched helplessly while he killed all the rabbit in a pen near the only exit from the residence. With no telephone in the house, and afraid to try to make a break past the exit because of the danger of being caught by the man, she was unable to do anything except stand silent until completed his work and vanished into the alley.

Last night the prowler is alleged to have been seen in North Hibbing. Police in the vicinity refused to make any statements regarding the truth of reports that shots had been fired, although residents claimed that they heard the sounds. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Tue., Oct. 7, 1930

POLICE BELIEVE DOG IS KILLER

North Hibing Residents Report Seeing Animal in Action Last Night

 

Police advanced a new explanation to the mystery of the identity of the prowler who has killed rabbits, ducks and geese in North Hibbing, South Hibbing, Brooklyn and the Boeing location during the past 10 days. Officers claim the killer, generally believed to be a partially demented man, is a big red dog, allegedly seen in the act of killing rabbits by giving them a single twist which breaks their necks.

Mr. and Mrs. G. Rukavina, 311 Sellers street, vouched to police for the truth of the story that they saw the dog shaking the rabbits lasts night and that they found several dead when they frightened the animal away. Officers patrolling the section also reported that they noticed the dog answering to the description given by Mr. and Mrs. Rukavina.

The explanation that the killing is being done by a dog conflicts with the versions of several owners who claim that they heard the rabbits squealing and that they saw a man jump out of pens and run away as they opened rear doors of their residences. One woman reported that she watched the man kill her rabbits while standing helplessly behind the only exit, only a few feet away.

Police today largely discredited the numerous reports that have been turned in to headquarters about the killing of ducks, geese and rabbits, and accounted for the claims that prowlers have been seen looking into residence windows by stating that they have arrested two vagrants who have confessed to acting in this manner while looking for some place to sleep during the recent cold nights. One vagrant, Mike Gorgano, was sentenced to 85 days at the county work farm yesterday, while another, J. Johnson, 49, partially demented, will be sent to the same place either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Thu., Oct. 9, 1930

POLICE BELIEVE CASE IS SOLVED

J. Johnson Sent to County Work Farm for 85 Days; Identified as Prowler

 

Identified by a score of persons as the man who has been frightening mothers and children in North Hibbing, South Hibbing and Brooklyn by peering in windows after dusk for the past 10 days, J. Johnson, 49, a vagrant from Tennessee, was sentenced to serve 85 days at the county work farm when arraigned before Judge Christ Holm in municipal court today.

Arrested Wednesday night when he was noticed by children while escaping from a back yard in Brooklyn, Mr. Johnson admitted the truth of the charges, saying that he did not intend to harm anyone but that the recent cold nights have forced him to look for sheltered places to sleep. He satisfied the descriptions that have been turned in to police headquarters in virtually every respect, even to the belief that he was mentally unbalanced.

Police today disposed of the big, reddish-brown dog which they believe has been responsible for the killing of rabbits, geese and ducks in widelyscattered sections of the city, and were confident that no further damage would be reported, despite the fact that a number of the owners who had rabbits and ducks killed, ridiculed the idea that a dog would be responsible. These owners pointed to the fact that wire had evidently been cut loose from pens and that in some instances the hinges were torn off of gates leading to the enclosure. Hibbing Daily Tribune—Fri, Oct. 10, 1930