Day two of five at work. Yesterday went pretty fast. Today should be OK, tomorrow is another early start so don’t expect much.

• Here’s a first line we shouldn’t be seeing in an article: “Due to a lull in care packages being sent to service members overseas …” Kudos to the often maligned postal service for trying to do something about it. Don’t forget about those soldiers.
• A big thank you to Diamond Jim Doyle and the Democrats from the Waukesha School District for that 12% cut in state aid.
• Arrowhead High School is reaping the rewards of having too many lawyers living in its district.
• You missed the annual mayfly hatch in La Crosse, always a festive time. Ah the joys of living by the river. 90% of the time it’s great.
• The Freeman talks to the very attractive woman running the Waukesha County Fair.
• Meteorologist Sally Severson doesn’t explain how the weather guys can’t tell me what it’s going to be like tomorrow, but presume to tell me what the upcoming winter weather is going to be.
• This Philadelphia writer says the Brewers’ Ken Macha is his Manager of the Year so far. It’s nice to have someone who doesn’t have “issues” a the helm.
• Green Bay Press Gazette has a nice audio/slide show of WW II re-enactors at the Railroad Museum.
• The weekend Police Blotter.
• Today’s Sound Off is a mish-mash.

Except he didn’t do it. He was a fraud.

He wasn’t Robert Irwin. He wasn’t the strangler. He was the 1937 version of our Bob F. known for faking heart attacks to get out of paying for meals.  It was the Freeman who uncovered the ruse.

The real Robert Irwin, the real murderer of Veronica Gideon, turned himself in to the police in Chicago. In November 1938, a New York jury found Robert Irwin, a twenty-eight-year-old sculptor, guilty of triple-murder and he was sentenced to 139 years in prison. An article in Time Magazine which came out the same day our Edward Boyd was arrested gives you the sensational details of the actual murder.

Post script: I wouldn’t have found out if I hadn’t gone to the library to get the Freeman reports on the incident. I’d only gone there because I wanted to get the names involved spelled correctly. I did think it odd that a man confessing to murder was only charged with 2 counts of vagrancy in Waukesha according to his rap sheet, but I thought those may have been before he had confessed to the murders. At least he wasn’t lying about one thing, he wouldn’t return to New York except in a box. Two months into his 9-month sentence at the House of Correction he died.

Oh, uh … is this thing on? Oh, uh, hi there, Autopilot here. Huckleberry started work this morning at 7:00 a.m. and knowing that there is no Freeman on Mondays and that no reporters work weekends any more, he wrote this post yesterday evening knowing you wouldn’t be missing anything and asked me to deliver it on time Monday morning. I was happy to have something to do. After all, it’s just me and the cat here alone in the house all day when he’s gone.  The cat just sleeps. I just keep time. Speaking of time, did you know that if we were still under the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, today would be July 2nd? Anyone? … I guess you can see why he does the writing. Anywho, he’s also given me one other task to perform today. I will deliver the final chapter of “Wanted For Murder” at 11:45 a.m. this morning. Precisely and believe you me it will be precise, because all I’ve got is time.

I stood on a hill in Sussex on Sunday afternoon and surveyed the scene. I front of me, firefighters from local departments were having a contest shooting their hoses at a beer keg suspended above them. To my left, there was a carnival midway, Hat Trick was playing for people in the beer tent/pavilion. Behind me there was a tractor pull going on. Beyond that there were volleyball games in progress and softball players having a tournament. The weather was perfect.  For one day, Wisconsin was the place to be. Besides, I got to drive on the grass and it’s funny but it seems I haven’t done that in a while. Lawdy, I guess it’s been a couple of years since I went to Sussex. A Hindu temple, a Shopko, I didn’t know there was a WalMart over there. When did all that happen? Still, you pass some corn fields and it was nice to see them, too.

• Friday Night Live was hoppin’.
• The Waukesha School Board made it a rule that teachers with Facebook pages couldn’t have students as friends. I don’t understand why the coach in question just couldn’t keep an e-mail list.
• Unnamed “officials”  say that a Walgreen’s on every corner is just the way business is done these days. Well, it’s stupid. Tell them to stop.
• Mayor Larry says … I don’t remember what he said and I just got done reading the article about 15 seconds ago, so it wasn’t very memorable. Let me just make something up. “If Walgreens and CVS pharmacy want to open a store a week,” Mayor Larry said, “I’ll be there for the grand opening to cut the ribbon. Will there be cake?”
• The Journal has an article on Pro Health Care’s Lawrence Center, which I has heard was closing, but in fact is only moving its detox services back to the hospital. As someone with first-hand knowledge of their operation, I can tell you that they do first-class work there.
• County Fair Week. I checked the list of vendors and my favorite, Croatian Chicken, is not among them. Guess I’ll have to go to the Croatian Fest in Franklin on Saturday if I want some. I think you have to pay for parking so that’s unlikely.
• What else? Oh, Brewers suck. Time to start football. Hey, note to ESPN-U: I like when you run college football replays because I usually don’t remember who won unless you entitle it, “Spotlight on Pittsburgh (or whatever)” because then I know Pittsburgh’s going to win. That’s no fun.
• Tried to buy a college football preview magazine at Walgreens and they didn’t have any. Has the internet killed those too?
• Last week’s crime map.
• The Flathead County Police Blotter for a typical Friday night in Montana in case you were thinking of moving to some place colder than here.
• Laurel Walker chimes in on the Ted Kanavas going to Texas non-story.

The Waukesha Police and the man who claimed to be the Gideon Strangler. That’s the name I made up for the killer.

Yes, I have the confession and I’ve made a PDF file out of it at the bottom of the post. But before you read it, allow me to first give you my impressions and relevant excerpts:

First of all, I’m surprised that they advised him of his constitutional right to an attorney before they started the interview. I thought that was a Miranda thing which didn’t happen until 30 years later.

He confessed to the murder of three people in New York City in details which sound like they’re right out of Dashiell Hammett:

“She was a beautiful woman, had beautiful figure on page of magazines (sic) and everything and she said I was nothing but this nasty name and I smacked her with my left hand. She hollered and I hit her with my right fist and before she fell, I grabbed her by the throat. Lot of people would say, “I didn’t mean to kill her at the time.” I could have killed her twenty times over.”

OK, the statement he makes above is rather confusing because he is describing his girlfriend, Veronica Gideon, whom he calls “Vee” when he talks about the woman with nice figure. I fully expected him to describe her as “the dame with great gams”, but he didn’t. However, the murder he commits first is that of Vee’s mother, who called him “something that he always hated.” We don’t learn in the confession what she called him.

After stashing the mother’s body on her bed, a man rooming with the mother is alarmed at the disturbance:

“Anyway he came out and I told him everything was alright, I just put mother to bed.”

“… One word lead to another”

“… I don’t where the ice pick was, whether on top of the ice box or where. Used it lots of times to mix drink. He slashed me over my left arm and when he slashed me I got an arm-lock on him and twisted it out of his hand. I got it with my left hand, and hit him three of four times with it and he went limp on  me.”

Two down, one to go.

“I left him on the floor beside the bed. Then I went out straightened up the living room as best I could. There was no blood there because I hit the mother on the chin, and I saw there was no blood there, and straightened up everything, and while waiting for Veronica, went around with my handkerchief and wiped off all the doors every place for possible finger prints. I sat in the living room and waited for Vee and played the radio so none of the neighbors would suspect anything.”

Vee came home from a date with another man, he suspected, about 30 minutes later.

“I took Vee to to the living room alcove to the day-bed there. I showed Vee her mother and she was stunned for a moment. She looked in my eyes. She must have known what was coming. She must have knew.”

He smothers Vee with a pillow because he “doesn’t want to disfigure her at all.”

Read the conclusion to our little mystery tomorrow same time, same station.

Here is the complete:

Confession of Robert Irwin

(Adobe pdf file. Yes I know it’s upside down. Go to “View” and “rotate” – if you don’t see a toolbar with “View” then right click on the document and you will see a choice to “Rotate Clockwise”)

See, that is how to do rain on a weekend. Have the thunderstorm before I get up. The thunder chases that rascally cat to a closet or under the bed and I catch a few more z’s. Keep doing that and I will have no complaints.

• Congressman and future presidential candidate Paul Ryan explains how Cap and Tax will hurt us all.
• It’s time for Jessica McBride to take a vacation. It’s hard for me to read her column without thinking, “Is she really talking about herself?” She needs to step away for a while. Sort of like Sarah Palin, whom she writes about.
• Pete Kennedy had some trouble returning an item to the I-Store. I like Menards for returning stuff. No muss, no fuss, no questions asked.
• Owen Robinson says Diamond Jim Doyle should lose his job.
• State Senator Ted Kanavas replies to all the Liberals who were saying that he should move to Texas. Believe me, I’ve thought about it. San Marcos is on my daydream list of destinations. Half-way between Austin and San Antonio in Texas Hill Country, no state income taxes, a college town like Waukesha, long hot summers and mild winters, too far from the coast for hurricanes, too far from the Mexican border for abnormally high crime, why am I still here?
• Look, they even have one of those town square thingies:
• 
  View Larger Map
• Saturday Sound Off.

OK it’s raining, but we need the rain. As long as it clears up this afternoon, I’ll be OK with it. If it turns out to be an all-day thing, then I’ll be depressed.

• Speeding in Waukesha neighborhoods. Everybody speeds. Everywhere. Imagine a world where everyone who exceeded the speed limit was taken off the road. There’s be two cars, one driven by a blue-haired old school teacher and the other by her balding spouse. My vote for the street where the 25 MPH speed limit is most ignored … I’m going to vote local and go with Arcadian Avenue. But it’s not like the cops don’t try. They regularly sit over the hill and catch people coming down, but it doesn’t do any good, nor am I entirely sure I want absolute adherence to the law. It’s more important that everyone drives with the traffic and that the people who wish to drive slower move to the right.
• The Thursday Police Blotter.
• John Schoenknecht is going to have a series on the Waukesha Police Department, but he won’t tell you about the capture of the Gideon Strangler. I have the confession and will show it to you on Sunday.
• Congressman Sensenbrenner on Cap and Tax.
• Rural development in the Oconomowoc area could double in the next 20 years. I’ve told you before the seat of power in Waukesha County is moving west. I will miss the farms, however, but I’m getting older. The young don’t miss the smell of a working farm.
• What happened to that Minimum Mark-Up law change, you ask? It sits unenforced by the state while lawyers pad their expenses. Justice delayed is justice denied. I did notice the Citgo at Moreland and White Rock had regular for $2.48/gal last night at about 8:00 p.m. which is 10¢ cheaper than anyone else.
• Friday Sound Off.

It reads (as best as I can tell):

April 12, 1937,  3:30 p.m. Reported by Sgt. Mallert

Dr. Wood of 267 W. Main St. Reports that a fellow came into his office and demanded a prescription for narcotics. Stating to Dr. Wood he had no money. But had his hand in his out side over coat pocket – pushing it in front of the doctor as if it was a gun.

-over-

“Picked up at Waukesha Hotel by Paley Belland* and warrant** after being identified by Dr. Wood brought to Station said he was headed for Minneapolis, was a sales man for Rogers Silverware Co. – claimed he bought a prescription at Avalon Drug Co. which was given to him by Dr. Woods – brought to Station at 5 p.m. booked at 7 pm

Story was that he was Robert Irwin wanted by New York Police for Murder

Statement at District Attorney’s Office

Investigated by Chief

Witness

Scott Lowery

Chief of Police

Dr. Werra“

* Paley Belland was a police officer – Look at that, we learned something. “Paley” was short for Napoleon:

** This is only a guess – It could also be a proper name. I couldn’t make out the writing

Don’cha want to know what happens next? Sunday Scans will have Part 2.

I know I seem to go on and on about the weather but it was 52° when I got up. IT’S JULY 9th, NOT SEPTEMBER 9th, PEOPLE. Who is going to pay me back those hot summer days we’re not having? WHO? If the weather went back to normal right now we would have 8 weeks, count’em EIGHT WEEKS until September and the cold and wet and cloudy/dreary/rainy/sodden/cloudy/wet/cloudy 7-Day forecast which defines Wisconsin until it GETS WORSE. Then you pay your property tax bill.

• Property taxes which face an astronomical increase thanks to Jim Doyle and the Democrats who slash state support to Waukesha schools by $6,000,000.00 in their new budget. This helpful Journal chart shows that whomever came up with this school funding formula was once described by his school district as being “educable”. They were wrong.
• But at least 6th Graders will now be in middle school , rather than elementary school which should solve everything. Like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
• I  think (not “It think” as I originally typed and left here for you all to read for two hours – My kingdom for grammar checker as well as a spell checker – do witches have spell checkers?)  the current businesses on the “other” end of Sunset, whatever direction that is, will be hurt by the Fox River Shoppes, not helped. However, when the economy recovers, it could mean a major rebuilding effort on that end of Sunset. I’m old enough to remember when there was nothing south of Sunset but farm fields.
• Patrick Cudahy burns down, Oscar Mayer dies and then there’s this from the Lodi Agricultural Fair which opens today:

Taking into consideration USDA/APHIS recommendations regarding the H1N1 virus,
the Lodi Ag Fairboard has made the decision to make the Swine Show a TERMINAL show this year.
All swine will need to go to market directly from the show.

• “Terminal show” – we all know what that means,  right Mr. Piggy? Coinkydink? I think not.
• The Freeman finally catches up to the Chronicle with an article on the Putney Building remodeling.
• Darryl says that the Clarke Hotel paid its delinquent tax bill, that the Social Club is closed for “remodeling” and that Mexican restaurant downtown may also have some previously unreported problems.
• Lose a Sentry store, gain some porno shops. It doesn’t sound like an even trade for Oconomowoc residents.
• Pete Kennedy digs into the issue of natural burial at Prairie Home Cemetery.
• James Wigderson takes a decidedly liberal position on voting privileges for convicted felons. It doesn’t bother me in the least that some convicted felons can’t vote in Wisconsin.
• Thursday Sound Off.

Next week will be a good test for me because I work all five days and two of them have 7:00 starts. It’s an important step for me if I really feel I can go back to full time. One indicator should be that I’m not looking forward to it. If I really wanted to do it, I’d be eager to get going, right?

Other than that, I’ve got nothing. The picture is from the retirement party I went to last Wednesday. Thunder Bay Grill has very good food but the acoustics in the banquet rooms for retirement parties suck. Retirement=Old. Old=Deaf.

• The Common Council would not change zoning laws in business parks to allow self-storage facilities. An owner of these “mini-warehouses” seems to testify against the zoning change: “Jeff Panosian, a Pewaukee resident who owns the Waukesha Storage mini warehouse on Merrill Hills Road in Pewaukee, said that mini warehouses provide less tax base and fewer jobs than other businesses allowed under the zoning. Unlike a regular warehouse, there is “no control” over what is stored at the self-storage units, he said.” Anyone who’s watched “Silence of the Lambs” could attest to that.
• However it appears that zoning laws are like a woman’s mind and can change in the blink of an eye, as Walgreen’s wants to build another of their now generic-looking drug stores in an area zoned residential. What do zoning laws mean if you’re living in an area zoned residential if your neighbor can just sell to a chain store and the zoning gets changed? There are no spots on Sunset Drive left in an area zoned for business?
• An interesting article on the Prohibition Era in Waukesha’s Little Italy. I didn’t know about the cave. The only thing I would take issue with is: “Meola said his father, Anthony, built The Yellow Front Tavern in 1926, shortly before Prohibition started.” Prohibition was passed in 1919 and ended in 1933.
• This guy did not follow my advice to stay in your zip code.
• Mark Belling says Diamond Jim Doyle is like a hurricane.
• A liberal calls Sound Off and asserts that Socialism and Fascism are complete opposites. This is absolutely incorrect. For one thing, both depend on a huge, dominating central government, like the one his Obamagod wants.