FULL TEXT: Information charging Mrs. Marie Maharies with
first degree murder, to be held without bail, was filed this afternoon by A. C.
Neilson, assistant county attorney. The question of her mental condition will
not be taken into consideration, the
county attorney’s office holding the woman sane and responsible for her act,
the death penalty will be demanded.
Following serving of the warrant, the self-confessed
murderess will be transferred from the police matron’s quarterly to the county
jail.
Partially buried in mud, face downward, beneath four feet of
water, the body of Nicholas Maharies, six-year-old victim of insane hatred of
his stepmother, Mrs. Marie Maharies, sr., who confessed she killed him, was
found at 11:30. today by volunteer searchers about 300 yards below the place
where he was cruelly thrust in the river Thursday morning.
~ How Body Was Located. ~
The body was discovered by Francis Hurd, 25, 1602 River
street, working in conjunction with a posse organized and directed by G. R.
Witt, veteran retired fireman, and possessor of a Carnegie medal for saving the
life of a boy on June 17, 1919, under heroic circumstances.
Witt gathered his searching party of a dozen expert river
men at a point 20 yards above the place where Mrs. Maharies said she pushed the
lad into the stream. Forming a hand to hand chain, the men swept down the river
slowly examining every inch of the bottom with their feet. In half an hour,
Hurd, who was stationed about 12 feet from the shore, struck a submerged plank.
Back of the plank he found the little form held fast.
~ Woman Also Longs For Death ~
When told that the body had been found, Mrs. Maharies
expressed no surprise, although a genuine note of sadness crept into her voice
when she inquired for the meager details. Last evening for the first time she
expressed the wish that the body might be found – the first reference she has
made to her deed other than when questioned.
This morning the emotional strain seemed to be telling, for
she expressed some regret for her criminal action to Mrs. F. C. Stage, police
matron, who brought her the news of the finding at noon. Other than that moment
of reaction, the woman has maintained the same despondent attitude from the
time she was arrested, according to Mrs. Sage, who has been her constant
attendant. Since the find no other material change has been observed. She is
waiting patiently for whatever might come expressing the hope that it may be
death.
~ Coroner in Charge of the Remains. ~
The body was taken to the shore and placed upon the bank in
a little clearing of the dense underbrush, while Mr. Witt reached the nearest
telephone to notify the police that the long search was over. Sergt. Mark
Rechtfertig. Lee Smith, patrol driver, and Dr. Sydney D. Smith, county coroner,
answered the call and took charge of the remains.
Those who took part in the organized “foot” search, besides
Witt and Francis Hurd, were Manuel Hurd, Arthur Harries, Lloyd Avery, Guy Boss,
Roy Morain, and several boys whose names were not learned.
~ Hundreds Rush to Scene. ~
News of the finding of the body of “Little Nick,” as he was
known and loved in the neighborhood where he lived, spread rapidly in the lower
section of the city and scores of men, women and children hurried to the scene.
The place could be reached only by several paths that have been beaten by the
searchers of the past three days. These soon became choked with humanity, eager to see the victim of a
woman’s insane jealousy and wrath.
~ Measured Water in River. ~
Evidence of cunning not previously revealed was given by
Mrs. Marie Maharies to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Harry Maharies, when the latter
encouraged by reports that her loved nephew might be alive, visited the
confessed murderess at the city jail last night.
The stepmother claimed she took a stick to measure the river
at several points before she found a place which she felt satisfied would be
deep enough to drown the little chap. When she found a point at which she could
not touch bottom, she persuaded the six-year-old boy to sit on the bank nearby
and throw stones into the water. While he was so engaged, she says, she pushed
him from the back, toppling him into the river.
Mrs. Harry Maharies, who cared for the little boy two years
following the separation of his mother and father, surrendering him to the
stepmother on her marriage two years ago to Nick Maharies, sr., called on the
prisoner to attempt to substantiate that the boy was not killed, but given to
custody of his mother. Mrs. Maharies, however, maintained her stolid acceptance
of her role as murderess and repeated her story without change.
~ Two Children in Family. ~
Nick Maharies was divorced from his first wife in 1919, a
few months after he entered the army for the world war, according to his
brother, Harry. He had two children, a girl and a boy. Until 1921 they were
cared for by Mrs. Harry Maharies. The mother having remarried came to Waterloo
three years ago and claimed one of the children. The girl, now nine, was given
into her custody. She also has a child by her second husband, it is said. They
live in a small town near Des Moines, it is believed.
The first Mrs. Maharies in an American-born woman. Mr.
Maharies is a native of Greece. He has not visited his wife at the city jail
since she was placed under arrest as the confessed murderess of her stepson.
~ Inquest Will Be Held. ~
After viewing the body as it lay on the river bank, and questioning the men who recovered
it, Coroner Smith communicated with the
father, Nick Maharies, and it was removed to Petersen Bros. mortuary. An
inquest will be held later, the coroner stated.
With the finding of the body in the river, every detail of
the stepmother’s story of the crime and her signed confession is proven as the
truth. Mute testimony of premeditated murder was the still little form,
barefooted, and wearing light blue coveralls, just as he had been seen wearing
Thursday morning, trotting along with his stepmother, joyful over promised
pleasures down by the river.
~ Funeral Services Tomorrow. ~
Funeral service will be conducted at 11:15 a. m. Sunday at
Greek Orthodox church. Rev. Christopher Morkides in charge. Burial will be in
Fairview.
The body may be viewed at the undertaking parlors after 8 p.
m. today.
[“Little ‘Nick’ Maharies Found in River - Corpse of
6-Year-Old Lad Is Found By ‘Human Chain’ – Men Holding Hand to Hand and
Exploring with Feet Successful in Quest. – Story of Stepmother. Murderess Verified – Marie Maharies, Guilty Woman, Expresses No Surprise and Little Other
Emotion.” Waterloo Evening Courier (Io.), Aug. 9, 1924, p. 1]
[Note: Some sources spell the name with a double “r.”]
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