Eastern Illinois University
The Keep
1942
With the Colors: Jasper County IL Servicemen
Overseas, 1941-1945
6-29-1942
Newton Girl Held in Killing of Mattoon Baby
(Ruth Auteberry) 6-29-1942
Newton Illinois Public Library
Follow this and additional works at: http://thekeep.eiu.edu/with_the_colors_1942
Recommended Citation
Newton Illinois Public Library, "Newton Girl Held in Killing of Mattoon Baby (Ruth Auteberry) 6-29-1942" (1942). 1942. Book 90.
http://thekeep.eiu.edu/with_the_colors_1942/90
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Newton Girl
Held in Killing
of Mattoon Baby
R utli A uteberry B ein g Q uestioned
in A lleged Murder of N ew Born
In fan t a t M attoon, L ast A pril 24
M attoon, June 29.~A n ^ t in v estig a tion is being conducted in the d eath
of an infant, a boy, born,to Mrs. R uth
Zike here A pril 24, follow ing the d is­
covery of the child’s body, buried in a
card board box in th e garage a t the
rear of the Zike hom e F riday a fte r ­
noon. The au thorities h a v e been g iv ­
en signed con fessions of M iss W ilm a,
16 year old daughter of Mrs. Zike,
and M iss R uth A uteberry, 19 year old
N ew ton girl, who adm itted th ey had
m ade aw ay w ith the child a t the su g ­
g estion and request of his m other.
The tw o girls stated , according to
How ard Clark, deputy coroner, and
S ta te ’s A ttorn ey W. K. K idwell, th a t
Mrs. Zike had told them th a t she did
not w an t the child, born early in the
afternoon of A pril 24, and su g g ested
and requested th a t it be sm othered to
death. A ccording to Clark, th e baby
w as laid on a bed and covered w ith
blankets, later placed in a cardboard
box and then locked in the g arage.
The baby, w hich lived four or five
hours, w as then buried in a grave
about a fo o t and a h a lf deep beneath
the boards of the garage. The body
w a s recovered by authorities la te F ri­
day night.
A Coincidence
Mrs. A lice Caton, the county court’s i
w est side probation officer, had visited
the office of a local physician a few
^fays ago and in som e w a y the Zike
fa m ily w as m entioned. The doctor
asked Mrs. Caton how the baby, born
to Mrs. Zike, w as g e ttin g along. Mrs.
Caton stated there w as no baby born
th a t she knew anything about. The
doctor then told Mrs. C aton th a t Mrs.
Zike had paid his office a v is it in
April for an exam ination. H e order­
ed her to go hom e a t once and stay;
there as she w a s soon to g iv e birth f
to a child. The baby w as born w ith ­
out m edical aid, and the chance conversation b etw een Mrs. Caton and the
physician brought out th e murder o f .
the infant.
Mrs. C aton first g e t in touch w ith
D ep u ty Coroner H ow ard Clark arfdB
S ta te ’s A ttorn ey Kidwell, then m ade H
know n her inform ation. An in v esti- jfc
gation of several days revealed the s
true sta te of affairs w hich w a s followed by the signed confession of the |
Z ike and A uteberry girls.
Q uestion Mrs. Zike
Mrs. Zike, w ho w as tak en to th e \
n *c ni»rYi
o t n v tatory
r o f TW
crViw
f ig
1O
W'/~vwi
om nan’s
reform
a tim D
hQt f" la st
w eek, w as visited and questioned
late Saturday by D ep u ty Coroner
Clark, S ta te ’s A ttorn ey K idw ell and
Mrs. Caton. I t m ay be decided to r e ­
turn her to M attoon to appear a t th e
coroner’s inquest se t to be held here
today.
The Zike girl is in the charge of
| j Mrs. C aton and the A uteberry girl
’is being held in jail to awrait the fin d ­
in g s of the coroner’s inquest. Should
the fa c ts be borne out as given in th e
] signed confessions it w ill m ark one o f
Ithe m o st brutal and cold blooded k illS i n g s in C oles county’s h istory.
Mrs. Zike, w ho w a s arrested on a
| ch arge o f contributing to th e delin| quency o f her eig h t children, w a s is
j found g u ilty o f the charge in th e C oles
cou nty court. She w a s sentenced to
serv e one year a t th e W om an’s re1 form atory a t D w igh t by C ounty Judge
g g jjo h n T. Kincaid, a fter he had denied
her p etition for probation. She had
| been returned here from Cham paign
where she w as servin g a th irty day
sen tence on a v agran cy charge.
P lace Children in H om e
-The eig h t children^ w ere declared
delinquent in a hearing in the Coles
county court. Judge Kincaid placed
them in care of Mrs. A lice Caton of
§|§| M attoon, w ho found refuge for seven
' j of them in the C unningham H om e, a t
Urbana. The eighth child, the J.aughf l t e r W ilma, w as too old to be granted
adm ittance to the home. She returnH ed to M attoon and has been under the
w atchful eyes of Mrs. Caton.
Zike, husband of Mrs. Zike, w a s
§B recently released from the sta te penal
farm , w here he had been servin g a
y e a r ’s sentence, im posed in the Coles
3 county court by Judge Kincaid.
The body of the dead child has been
placed in a receiving v au lt in D odge
Grove cem etery to aw ait the resu lt of
the inquest to be held today.
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