Murder Mayhem in St. Lawrence County by Cheri L. Farnsworth

Author:Cheri L. Farnsworth [Farnsworth, Cheri L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA), True Crime, Murder, General, Historical
ISBN: 9781614233169
Google: XeV-CQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2010-08-09T00:35:38+00:00

A row of homes in Benson Mines. Courtesy of the St. Lawrence County Historical Association.

The senior Kipp subsequently died two weeks later as a result of the poisoning incident, and Levi was again arrested following the coroner’s inquest. He was taken to the St. Lawrence County Jail in Canton to await grand jury action. Carrie Kipp visited her son in jail to beg him not to tell on her; and if he did feel the need to squeal, she asked him to blame it all on Burrell, Levi later testified. There’s not a lot to do but think and sulk when one is incarcerated, I imagine; and the thought of his mother and Burrell being free and having a good old time—while he sat rotting in jail—surely ate at him day and night. Finally, he decided that if he was going down, he wasn’t going alone. After all, his own mother didn’t seem concerned about him, so why should he worry about her? The Massena Observer of July 7, 1904, announced, “A new and sensational turn has been taken in the Kipp murder case by the confession of Levi Kipp…Young Kipp has made a confession implicating his mother, Mrs. Carrie Kipp, and her lover, William Burrell, a Benson Mines saloonkeeper, and alleging that they hired him to poison the elder Kipp.”

With that, the local papers went crazy. Carrie Kipp and Burrell were taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies N.M. Hyland and H.M. Farmer and arrested on warrants charging them with murder in the first degree. While the move may have caught Mrs. Kipp and Burrell unawares, it came as no big surprise to a lot of folks.

The Massena Observer said:

At the time of the youth’s arrest, it was believed by many that the authorities entertained the theory that the suspect was merely an accomplice, and that he was being held with the hope that close confinement would result in his telling what he knew of the case and possibly admit who was to blame for the mysterious death of the Benson Mines man. Young Kipp went before County Judge Hale Tuesday and made the confession in which he lays bare the plot by which he says he was hired by his mother and her lover…The youth’s confession is said to be corroborated in many respects.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, perhaps they would get some real answers to the case, barring any further unseen circumstances. Carrie Kipp, meanwhile, was getting a taste of confinement that didn’t agree with her. The Canton Commercial Advertiser reported on July 21, 1904, that she “had a very bad sinking spell on Sunday” and that for a time, “it was thought she could not survive, but later in the day she was relieved and has improved rapidly.” It went on:

Had she died, it would have removed one of the actors in a very puzzling problem that is now perplexing the brain of County Judge Hale, who is very anxious that no mistake is made in the disposition of the Kipp-Burrell phase of the case.

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