Our Lady of the Angels school fire

[Dr. Fishhead]

I'm going to the library next week. Going to do a request for To Sleep With The Angels. I still cannot believe David Cowan who wrote that was a firebug himself. Hard to wrap my head around it.

[pkstracy]

As a Christian. I must say. That burnt up Jesus statue makes a statement to me.

That he was really there comforting those kids during the fire. And, that he took the ones who died with him.

Powerful words!

[pkstracy]

Selena it is hard to take in that Cowan was a fire bug. You would think that is the last thing he would want to do after writing a book like that.

[Dr. Fishhead]

I know. I wonder if he just...you know. Snapped or something. Hmm.

[torqueflite]

Whoever posted the photo of Valerie Thoma in the hospital in the Stryker frame, thanks. There are lots of photos now on the Internet, ebay in particular, I've never seen. I've watched the OLA main message board for a long time to see if anyone related to Valerie would show up, because she had many brothers and sister. No one has come forward. I found her death to be especially sad and horrific as described by Michele McBride. There's a different account of her passing by a nurse at St. Anne's that by comparison sounds incredibly sanitized. I think it's in the olafire.com materials (the news articles). I'm much more inclined to believe Michele's version though.

[luckyinlove]

Maybe writing about it so much made him curious?

I finished reading TSWTA today. It was really good, i'm sad it's finished. I didn't cry at all when i read it though.

[Dr. Fishhead]

I cannot wait to get it. I have to go the library before the 15th. So, I'll have to put in my request when I go. Then it takes another week or so to get the book in.

Oh the joys of living in the sticks. *sigh*

[pkstracy]

That sucks, Selena.

[LLC]

Sel, I'm ordering the book on Kindle tonight. I read pretty quickly. You can have my digital copy when I'm done.

[Dr. Fishhead]

Thank you!!!

[LLC]

Thank you!!!

Welcome. Sure beats waiting 2 plus weeks and walking thru da sticks.

[Dr. Fishhead]

For sure!

I don't actually live in the sticks. It's just such a small town that our library rarely has anything appealing to me.

[luckyinlove]

TSWTA isn't lendable I checked cuz mine is a Kindle copy as well

[Alanwench]

This is the first time a Snorkel truck is used in firefighting. Below is a picture of the school one day after the fire.

Attachment 43052

[Dr. Fishhead]

TSWTA isn't lendable I checked cuz mine is a Kindle copy as well

I wonder why not? That kinda sucks. But, I'll be preoccupied with the station book for a bit anyways. I'll wait for the library.

[Alanwench]

Attachment 43053 Firefighters remove the body of Sr. Therese Champagne.

[Alanwench]

Smoldering School Ruins Like A Cavern Of Death

By Joe Albright

In the drenched and smoldering ruins of Our Lady of the Angels parochial school, it is almost impossible to feel disaster.

The rooms and halls where nearly fivescore died Monday suggest a subterranean cavern. Blackened plaster boards dangle from ceilings like stalactites, dripping water. Black-faced firemen poke through classroom rubble like archeologists â?? only not so gingerly.

They don't have to be so carefulâ??the bodies they seek are dead four hours, not 4, 000 years.

Fireman's Question

Then the spell breaks. A fireman carrying a pickax says:

â??Hey, reporter, you got any dry cigarets?â?�

The answer is no.

â??Well, then can you tell me how many are dead?â?�

The answer stuns him.

He points to a mound of debris in the second-floor classroom, caused by the cave-in of a section of roof.

â??There may be more in there,â?� he says.

Charred and soaked school-books, plaster and cinders are ankle-deep on the floor. A copy of Charlotte Bronte's â??Jane Eyreâ?� has covers singed off.

Then there is an eighth-grade spelling book. Among the words its owner spelled right were â??skeleton,â?� â??ambulance,â?� â??safety,â?� â??sadistic.â?�

And neatly handwritten is the sentence:

â??What is the definition of 'fiery'?â?�

One girl wrote the sentence before she died.

In another second-floor classroom, geography books left on the desk tops remain open.

Pictures In Wallet

On the desk of Annette La Mantia, 10, of 840 W. Springfield, is a wallet. It contains a picture of a boy friend and a little brother.

She'll never see them again. She was one of the victims.

In the second-floor halls, bone-weary firemen work mechanically. There are none of the customary wisecracks and at least one of them is praying that his child is not in the County Morgue.

Illuminated by the powerful fire department hand torches, the death rooms cease to look like caves. Instead, the specter of a gaunt architectural skeleton has been created.

The building's fleshâ??the lath and plaster ceilings, the linoleum floors, the plastered wallsâ??has been picked off by the fire. What remains is wooden balloon frame construction resembling blackened ribs. Wire - bearing metal conduits are the arteries.

Statue Almost Unharmed

A statue of Jesus stands on a pedestal, almost untouched by falling timbers. Its gilt is black and an ear is missing.

A porcelain flowerpot is in the form of a Virgin Mary figure. The virgin smiles. The plant inside droops over the side, grotesquely scorched.

A first-floor classroom wall bears the slogan:

â??Holy Communion is the shortest and surest way to heaven.â?�

A book jacket says:

â??Are you listening? Maybe God is calling you.â?�

And out in the halls are rows and rows of little coats and hats.

[Dr. Fishhead]

I can't remember. Was sister Champagne burnt. Or, did she asphyxiate?

[Alanwench]

Sr. Champagne asphyxiated, along with 27 or 28 of her students.

]I can't remember. Was sister Champagne burnt. Or, did she asphyxiate?[/QUOTE]

[Alanwench]

Priests Try Vainly To Comfort Bereaved Relatives And Parents

By ODMUND D'MOCH

CHICAGO, Dec. 3 - (AP) - The acrid stench of burned bodies and clothing hung heavily over the morgue at the Cook County Hospital today.

Inside, scores of priests and hospital attendants tried to comfort bereaved relatives still trying to identify the bodies of schoolchildren who died at Monday's fire at Our Lady of the Angels Roman Catholic School.

Ninety sheet-covered bodies lay on stretchers in three rooms of the morgue basement. Some had been identified within hours after the fire.

Some fire-blackened bodies contorted in agony may never be identified.

Among white-clad nurses and morgue attendants could be seen the frocked figures of priests. Here was one, his arm around the shoulder of the weeping woman, trying to console her.

â??It was the will of God,â?� was heard in a low whisper from the priest. â??Your daughter is an angel in heaven.â?�

The woman wept unrestrainedly.

Woman Collapses

From the other side of the room came a shriek. A woman collapsed and immediately attendants ringed her, eased her into a chair and administered smelling salts.

Nearby stood a couple in their 30s. Pale, dry of tears, they fingered a rosary, their lips moving wordlessly. The man had said earlier his daughter was not reported in any of the half-dozen hospitals to which many of the children had been taken. The couple came to the morgue, but had not looked at any of the unidentified children. They were praying she still might have only been injured, perhaps still in a hospital through some mixup in names.

Hovering among the parishioners was Father Joseph Oginibene. This 32-year old priest, a native Chicagoan, came to Our Lady as the parish was know, in 1952. It was his first assignment after ordination.

Tells of Fire

He was â??Father Joeâ?� to everyone.

It was his daily routine to walk about the schoolyard and near the entrances during recess, the noon lunch period and as the children left the building at 3 p.m.

Monday, Father Ognibene met an old friend for lunch. They dallied at the table. Then he noticed it would soon be time for his young parishioners to leave school for home.

â??I was hurrying to the school in my car,â?� he said. â??I saw smoke coming from the upper windows and drove my car the wrong way up a one-way street. I parked the car and ran into the building.

â??Some children were leaving the building in an orderly fire-drill manner. Others were running about, screaming. Then everything was ablaze.

â??I tried â?¦ I wanted to â?¦ It was the will of God.â?�

When the first bodies began arriving at the morgue, Father Joe was asked to make tentative identification. He knew the greatest force of the fire was concentrated in the section housing Rooms 207, 208, 209, 211 and 212.

Not Sure of Identification

Scores of these children he knew by name. All were his friends.

Yet, when he had to identify them by name, or grade, he could only whisper: â??I'm not sure of this little one â?¦ I think this one was in 209 â?¦ This boy was â?¦ I'm not sure.â?�

He pressed a thin, shaking hand to his temple. For a moment, it appeared that he might collapse. An attendant slipped a bottle of salts to the priest's nostrils and he straightened up, backing away from the pungent odor.

Then he walked among the bereaved relatives. He stopped, talked with a weeping father.

â??It was the will of God, Stanley. Your daughter is now an angel in heaven.â?�

[Alanwench]

Memories of Sister Mary Clare Therese

Eloise was my big sister. She was always available to help me when we were growing up in New Orleans and in San Francisco. I still call on her to intercede for me to this day, and she never fails to answer my call! She was intelligent, pretty, and had a pleasant personality and good sense of humor. She was liked by everyone who knew her. She had lots of friends and didn't miss out on having dates. She loved music and art and was a typical teenager, collecting music albums of the current artists of the 1940's and autographs of her favorite movie stars. I remember standing in long lines during the time of World War II in Hollywood to see Frank Sinatra and other performers. Our parents were very patient and tolerent and could not refuse her request, even though my father didn't like Frank Sinatra (he thought he was a draft dodger). She was a typical teenage bobby socker! I could write a book on my dear sister, but there is not enough space here. While in High School, Sr. Mary Jean Helene, BVM, was Eloise's music teacher and influenced her in making her decision to enter the Convent. She graduated in 1949 and waited, at my parents request, to make certain that she really had the calling for the religious life. She entered the BVM Community in February, 1950 and was very dedicated to her profession. -- (Dr. Hugh P. Champagne, Brother) Sister Mary Clare Therese, I liked you so very much, you were one of the nicest nuns at our school. I would always look forward to seeing you every day, not only in school but in the convent, too. I always enjoyed all those many hours I would spend at the convent after school, helping out with clean up duties and dusting. I could never understand why the convent needed cleaning when it was always so clean, those floors were so shinny and spotless. For me, spending time at the convent was like exploring a cavern, because it was a place that not everyone was allowed to enter. I was so facinated to see the bedrooms, dining area, the chapel, the private sitting rooms, the bathrooms. You even had clothes closets to hang up your habits. Since you did not wear regular clothes, and you were not a regular lady, you and the other nuns were a real mystery to all of us. I was such a nosey kid, I wanted to know everything. I wanted to know if you wore P.J.'s to sleep, and if you ever wore other kinds of clothes, besides the white garments you would wear in the convent, your cleaning clothes. That was another confusing thing for me - you would wear white clothes to scrub the convent floors (I saw that), and you would wear black to school. It just seemed to me that you would wear black to scrub the floors. But why bother to scrub those floors? They were spotless to begin with! Oh yes, Sister, the big question was, DO NUNS HAVE HAIR? To my surprise, when I saw some of you with no habit on your head, nothing on your head, I was sort of in shock like I walked in on a naked nun! YOU HAD HAIR! It was very, very short but you were not bald like we all thought. I couldn't wait to tell everyone at school, "the nuns do have hair!" I loved the time I spent in the convent. For some time there, I wanted to become a nun just like you, and yes wear nun P.J.'s. When God took you away, I missed you very much, and I missed all the fun I had at the convent. But God wanted you in Heaven with him. I thank you so very much for your teaching, and letting me explore your world. Rest in Peace, my friend and mentor. -- (Joyce Peneschi, Student) Sister was my teacher, she came in tough in September. She had taught lower grades before that year. It took us about a week to find out what a funny, wonderful, and yes, beautiful nun she was. She loved to poke fun and always had us on our toes. She would kid around but we still got our work done. For myself, she was very encouraging, and I responded to her and always wanted to do well to get her attention. She never let me down. When I got out that fateful day, the first kid I saw was my friend Jim. The first word out of his mouth was, 'Did you see sister?' I told him I saw her in the front of the room with a bunch of kids huddled in the corner by the window. Shortly thereafter, Jim went into shock ... as I looked up I saw Sister throw kids out of the window. They may have expired by then I just don't know. I never heard anyone say that she threw them out. But I know what I saw, and she was in a frantic state and then I saw her no more. My last day in the hospital I was able to walk around and visit classmates who were in my class, and every one of them would say, 'Did you hear that Sister is dead?' My friend Jimmy was never the same after the fire -- well, who was really? Jim always talked about Sister and always remembered how much fun she could be. You know, she in some way by not being there anymore, somehow helped us still -- the love we had for her in some way lessened our pain and gave us strength. She loved her kids and I know she guided those who died that day to heaven -- of this I am sure. Always, John Raymond. -- (John Raymond, Student) I have no memory of my Auntie Eloise. I only wish I did. My name is Mary Clare Therese' Champagne. I was born 02/24/1959. My mother, Clare Lynn, (Sister Mary Clare's brother, Huey's wife) was 7 months along with me when Aunt Eloise passed away. I hope that she is waiting someday for me with my sister, Mary Louise, at her side! We have so much to catch up on. -- (Mary Clare Therese, Niece) I did not know Sr. Champagne, but I feel compelled to thank her. My aunt was one of the students in her class who perished. Although my mother rarely speaks of that day, I did come to learn that several students, including my aunt, were found huddled together with Sr. Champagne. I'm sure that her final act of love was comforting to her students in their final moments of life. I pray for all of those who perished and most especially for those who still live with the memories of that day. -- (Maria LoGiudice, Other)

[Alanwench]

Memories of Sister Mary Seraphica

I didn't know you, Sister, but looking at your picture, you were very pretty and I'll bet you were a nice person. Because God picked you to be a nun, He also picked you to be an angel. I know you are in heaven with my sister, Carol Ann, my little angel. -- (Dolores Labuda, Friend) My Grandfather, William C. Smith, was Sr. Seraphica's Godfather. His mother was Elizabeth Kelley Smith and his father was Charles William Smith, one of the first mail carriers of the Cragin post office in 1880's. My grandfather was an undertaker and owned Wm C. Smith and Sons Funeral Home, at 2500 N. Cicero Avenue in Chicago, for over 50 years. He died in 1977. He buried the three nuns and he saved all the information on the fire in his daybook, which has become part of the family memoirs. I have a daughter studying with a religious order and take my family's heritage of gifts to the Church to heart. I admire the sacrifice of the Kelley family in giving their daughter, Anne (Sr. Seraphica) to the Church. And in this same spirit of sacrifice, Sr. Seraphica gave her life for her fellow man (the children) thus fulfilling the ultimate act of love. Sr. Seraphica, martyr for the children, pray for me and my family. -- (Joan Stromberg, Cousin) My name is Mary Kelley Lemons and I am the eldest niece of Sister M. Seraphica Kelley. My father, James William Kelley Jr., was her brother and only sibling. Sister Seraphica --our Aunt Virginia -- visited us at our family home near Peoria every summer with a companion. We all looked forward to these visits as she was enormous fun with a wonderful sense of humor. She was very tiny and as a young girl was a talented dancer. Her mother had hoped she might go on the stage, but Aunt Virginia was determined to become a nun. She loved her family very, very much. -- (Mary Kelley Lemons, Niece

[Alanwench]

Memories of Sister Mary St. Canice

Sister Mary St. Canice, is a person I will always remember. The last time I saw her was when I was sitting on the window ledge of room 208, and the room was so very black. But as I turned my face back into the room, it seemed that she was looking right at me. I loved her then, I love her now. She never raised her voice, and she always tried to be so helpful and understanding. -- (Michaelene, Student, 7th grade) Sister Mary St. Canice was a very pretty young nun in 1936 when she was our teacher in 3rd grade room 5-B, which was room 205 at the time of the fire. All the boys liked her! 1936 was when OLA went coed. Before that, boys and girls were in separate rooms. I do not know when she returned to OLA. I did not know she died in the fire until the next day. -- (Joe Murray, Retired Firefighter, Former Student) I graduated from St. Charles de Borromeo Elementary School in 1950. The school is located in North Hollywood, California, a suburb of the City of Los Angeles. The school first opened in 1945, or maybe 1946, using temporary bungalows. I assume Sister was there from the first day, but cannot be sure of that. Sister Mary St. Canince was my seventh grade teacher (48-49 school year). Parenthetically, another student in her class that year was Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese. I was a difficult and unruly student to say the least. Sister always treated me with respect and a fair amount of tolerance. That's not to say she didn't discipline me, but always in a constructive way. I learned a great deal from her, and grew to love and respect her. It is no surprise to read of her selfless act of courage during the fire. No surprise at all! It was a sad day when I read about her death so many years ago. I'm seventy years old now (2007), and it's still a bit overwhelming for me to think about it. It makes me wonder why bad things happen to such good people. I know, "God's way is not our way", but so many children could have benefited from her wonderful talents. Heaven's gain is our loss. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to know her. She may be gone, but she's certainly not forgotten. -- (Ron, Former Student) I was devastated to hear of the fire that day. I knew Sister Mary St. Canice was teaching at Our Lady of Angels and prayed that she wasn't one who perished. She was the one single person who â??made the differenceâ?� in my life and I loved and respected her. As our 8th grade teacher, and school principal (Sister Superior) she had the compassion and insight and gentle strength that it took to reach out and help me help myself. She gave me confidence by believing in me before I could believe in myself. I was agonizingly shy and had sub-zero self esteem. She treated us with respect, which wasn't something we were used to. Step by step she gave me opportunities to develop areas she saw I could excel in. She could transfer her strength of character to those of us who had no strength. Her love of developing and guiding her students was in her soul and guided her own final selfless actions. Kathy, Class of 1955, St. Mary's School, DeKalb, Illinois -- (Kathy Earley, Student)

[Dr. Fishhead]

Sr. Champagne asphyxiated, along with 27 or 28 of her students.

]I can't remember. Was sister Champagne burnt. Or, did she asphyxiate?

[/QUOTE]

I can imagine it to be slightly better than being burnt alive.

It still pisses me off that this whole thing happened though.

[Alanwench]

From what I've gathered, David Cowan had some sort of mental breakdown. After he set fire to the small building on the church property, he stood in front of the church and waited for law enforcement and the fire department. At the time, he left a violent message on his brother-in-law's answering machine, threatening to kill him, chop him up and throw him in the sewer. He had an altercation with his wife, too. I don't recall if she filed charges against him. The webmaster at the OLA site said that Cowan is living in France with his wife.

Maybe writing about it so much made him curious?

I finished reading TSWTA today. It was really good, i'm sad it's finished. I didn't cry at all when i read it though.

[Dr. Fishhead]

In other words. He went bonkers.

I wonder if writing the book and having to study info about the fire did that do him.

[luckyinlove]

In other words. He went bonkers.

I wonder if writing the book and having to study info about the fire did that do him.

One of the articles i read said that he wasn't taking his bipolar medication...which can make you act pretty irrationally.

[BelleRain]

You guys have got me hooked on this and The Station Fire.

I went thru all of the info here, and at OLA site. I wanna read more on the forums there. and now Im all on the Station fire.

[pkstracy]

Yeah it upsets me as well that this happened and that little prick didn't get punished at all. Where was the justice system in all this? Oh wait they were getting paid of by the church, probably.

[catlady1962]

I finished the book last nite. Waiting for the dvd.

[Alanwench]

Mr. and Mrs. [name withheld] were then taken into the writer's private office. The writer told Mr. and Mrs. [name withheld] the details of the confessions and gave them a copy of each confession. Mr. [name withheld] told the writer that he thought that this was confidential and that it should not go any further and the writer stated to both Mr. and Mrs. [name withheld] that because of the enormity of Our Lady of Angels School fire, because of the amount of money that had been spent and is being spent in the investigation, because at the time of the setting of the fire their boy was only ten years old and could not be penalized in regard to the fire and because [the boy] is in definite need of psychiatric treatment, this information should be given to the authorities. Mrs. [name withheld] stated, "but they will bring out all the other fires that happened in Cicero and he was old then." She then asked if this disclosure could be made without publicity and the writer was unable to assure her but promised that if they made the disclosure to the proper authorities that the writer not make any statement whatsoever. Mr. [name withheld] then stated that they would put him in the electric chair or put him in jail forever and mentioned a number of other penalties and he was told by the writer, as Mrs. [name withheld] was earlier told, to contact a lawyer and get him down to this office. Mr. [name withheld] informed the writer that Mr. Dino D'Angelo was the attorney who referred them to this laboratory and that this was promised to be of a confidential nature. The writer then insisted that this be brought out to the authorities so that [the boy] would get the proper psychiatric treatment while he was still a child and before someone else would be burned to death at a later date when [the boy] would bear the full brunt of the penalty oat that time. The writer impressed on both Mr. and Mrs. [name withheld] of their moral responsibility as well as their responsibility to their son as parents.
In reading the statement Mrs. [name withheld] noted that her son refereed to a chapel in the school basement and she immediately stated that the boy was making up the story in that there was no chapel in the basement at Our Lady of Angels School. Mr. [name withheld] used that as an illustration of the imaginativeness of the boy's mind. He further stated that at the time of the Our Lady of Angels fire, [the boy] told them that a fourth grade boy showed him matches and said that he was going to set the school on fire. (This statement is quite significant in that there was a reference to a plan to set the school on fire at the time of the fire and this was referred to specifically by [the boy] in his statement in this laboratory.) However, at the time of the fire it is possible that [the boy], after setting the fire, used an alter-ego, that is someone who did not exist and tried to place the blame on this non-existent person. As a result of the statement by Mrs. [name withheld] that there was no chapel, the writer left the office and asked [the boy] if there was a chapel in the school basement and he stated there was and when told that his mother alleged there was not chapel in the basement, he stated, "She's crazy. She sat in the chapel and waited there for a while, my mother and me." The writer returned to the office and informed Mrs. [name withheld] of [the boy]'s statement and then Mr. [name withheld] asked to see [the boy]. As soon as Mr. [name withheld] walked into the examining room where [the boy] was waiting, he yelled at the boy loudly, "Did you set that fire?" The boy immediately said "No." Mr. [name withheld] asked in the same loud tone, "Why did you say so?", and the boy retorted, "Because he told me to (pointing to the writer)." The writer was upset by this procedure and asked that the boy leave the room and after closing the door reprimanded Mr. [name withheld] for his attitude in this matter. He was informed that the boy, while sitting in the room alone, had masturbated and Mr. [name withheld] stated that it was his fault in that he caught him masturbating on one occasion and slapped his penis real hard. The writer, after calming Mr. [name withheld] down and having a rational discussion with him, stated that if he did not see fit on his own to take this to the proper authorities, that the writer would do so. Mr. [name withheld] then asked sufficient time to consult with his attorneys in that they would get in touch with the writer after the weekend. Mr. [name withheld] then shook hands with the writer and left the laboratory.

[Alanwench]

On Saturday, January 12, 1962, the writer contacted Mr. D'Angelo the attorney for the [name withheld] family, who is a member of the law firm of Geocaris, D'Angelo and Dahl. The writer asked Mr. D'Angelo to bring these facts to the authorities and briefly state the reasons as were stated in this report. Mr. D'Angelo asked that he confer with his law partners over the weekend and discuss the matter with the [name withheld] family and would contact the writer on Monday morning. No cntact was made by Mr. D'Angelo, therefore, the writer placed a call and talked with Mr. Geocaris who stated that Mr. D'Angelo would return the call at 1"30 P.M. At 2:45 P.M. when no call was received, the writer again called Mr. D'Angelo and talked with him. He stated he woild have more discussion with his law partners and would return the call again. Later in the afternoon Attorney Dahl contacted the writer and stated that after discussion with the family, they believed the boy did not set the fire to Our Lady of Angels School and therefore would not disclose this information to the authorities and stated, "I hope you will not either." The writer informed them that during the day he had contacted Professor Fred E. Inbau of Northwestern University Law School who was lecturing in Louisville, Kentucky and discuss the manner, responsibilities as well as the legal responsibilities in this case as to privileged communications. Professor Inbau agreed that the information should be placed in the hands of the Juvenile authorities for the benefit of the boy and that Judge Cilella, being the judge of the Family Court, should be contacted in lieu of anyone else. Professor Inbau made this decision realizing that the boy was ten years old at the time of the fire was set in Our Lady of Angels school and that the new criminal code, which he believed applied in this case, states that a boy under the age of thirteen is incapable of committing a crime, therefore, no criminal punishment should be concerned with in this case. These facts were given by the writer to both Mr. D'Angelo and Mr. Dahl in conversations with them with the final suggestion to Mr. Dahl to discuss the matter with Professor Inbau in that Professor Inbau would be in his university office before 5:00 P.M. After Mr. Dahl refused to disclose this information to the authorities, the writer contacted Judge Cilella of Family Court and Judge Cilella immediately stated that he did not want to disqualify himself in that he may have to hear this case in the future, therefore, he did not want to receive any information from the writer. On Monday morning, January 15th at 10:00 A.M., the writer received a call from Sergeant Drew Brown of the Chicago Police Arson Squad inquiring as to whether [the boy] was tested in this laboratory on Friday, that he had information that the boy had confessed the crime and that this information came to him from among other sources, Monsignor Gorman, Chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department. The writer informed Sergeant Brown that he was unable to disclose this information and that if anything was forthcoming it would probably come from the attorneys for the family. About 11:00 A.M. a Chicago Tribune reporter, George Bliss, contacted the writer and was quite informed as to the confession having been obtained in this laboratory and was anxious for the details regarding this confession. Again the writer refused to comment in any respect but it appears the information was sufficiently sound, that Mr. Bliss came to this laboratory and remained in the laboratory until 6:30 P.M. that evening. At that time as a final gesture the writer told Mr. Bliss that Judge Cilella was contacted but he refused to accept any information on the case. At 10:00 P.M. that evening the writer was called at home and told by Mr. Bliss that he decided with his editors to print the story but delete the boy's name and that his editors had talked to Judge Cilella.
During the course of the conversation with George Bliss, he told the writer that the Chicago Tribune had a reporter named Whistler in Cicero for the past month and a half and they had information as to all the questioning of this boy as well as interrogations of his teacher, Miss Tristano, who was on the faculty of Our Lady of Angels School in 1958.
The writer believed that he satisfied his moral obligation after this information was made public and responded promptly when he was summoned by your office to supply the information obtained. The writer did not wish to contact the police or to contact your office in this matter because of the possibilities of arresting the subject and believed that the lawyers or the parents would complete their moral obligation and benefit the boy by taking the information to the Family Court. It was with reluctance that the writer had to follow the course that he did follow in this case.

Respectfully submitted,

[Dr. Fishhead]

I still think the boy (who most of us here know his name now) was just covering his ass when he finally figured out he was gonna be up shit creek without a paddle. Anyone agree?

[pkstracy]

I agree Sel. I think that is why he changed his name and everything.

[catlady1962]

John Kennedy, a private fire and arson investigator, was hired by Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, the insurer of the OLA school building, and according to the book TSWTA, his December 3rd report stated:
"In the sacristy, a distance of about sixty feet from and with acess to the point of the fire's orgin, I found several matches and a match book. These matches, some of which had been lit and some which had not, had been torn from the book and scattered about on the top of a wooden table. This was done in such a manner as to indicate that someone had torn matches from the book, igniting some of them and tossing them indiscriminately about this area. From the condition of the soot and smoke which had settled over the table, matches, and match book cover, it was evident that his had been done prior to the fire and possibly immediately before the fire. The soot covered the top of the match book and matches, but the surface beneath them was clean".

I can't recall reading anywhere else that matches had been found in the debris. I also found it interesting, but not suprising, that under questioning about a different fire, our little bastard arsonist was asked to empty his pockets and inside....matches!

[catlady1962]

I still think the boy (who most of us here know his name now) was just covering his ass when he finally figured out he was gonna be up shit creek without a paddle. Anyone agree?

Totally agree! And his family has done one hellva job protecting his privacy! Wish we could see an adult photo of him. I can just imagine that he somehow looked creepy as hell! Could someone please PM me the address of his last location? Thanks!

[catlady1962]

Mrs. Olga Wisz, mother of Wayne Wisz, Room 212, at the inquest.

"Please", she whispered, biting her lip, "build safe schools for our kids".

[catlady1962]

Sister Mary St. Florence Casey, principal of OLA school, at the inquest.

[Alanwench]

Wow! I never read that information before. Good find.

John Kennedy, a private fire and arson investigator, was hired by Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, the insurer of the OLA school building, and according to the book TSWTA, his December 3rd report stated:
"In the sacristy, a distance of about sixty feet from and with acess to the point of the fire's orgin, I found several matches and a match book. These matches, some of which had been lit and some which had not, had been torn from the book and scattered about on the top of a wooden table. This was done in such a manner as to indicate that someone had torn matches from the book, igniting some of them and tossing them indiscriminately about this area. From the condition of the soot and smoke which had settled over the table, matches, and match book cover, it was evident that his had been done prior to the fire and possibly immediately before the fire. The soot covered the top of the match book and matches, but the surface beneath them was clean".

I can't recall reading anywhere else that matches had been found in the debris. I also found it interesting, but not suprising, that under questioning about a different fire, our little bastard arsonist was asked to empty his pockets and inside....matches!

[Dr. Fishhead]

Really great finds Catlady and Alan.

[Alanwench]

Q:	Did you think anything more of this about burning the school after that?
A:	About a quarter of three that same day.
Q:	What did you do?
A:	I asked my teacher if I could be excused and went to the washroom. After coming from the washroom I went to the chapel to see if anyone was in there. Then from the chapel I went back to this here can like janitors have, it was made out of cardboard like and had steel rims on it and I didn't see anybody no place and I used three matches and I lit the thing and I ran back upstairs to my room.
Q:	After you got to your room what did you do?
A:	I went back to my seat and was talking and goofing around, bothering the kids and then my teacher opened the door and there was smoke coming and she ran to the fire alarm upstairs and she turned it in for the school so everybody could get out to know what it was. Then she got all us kids over to the window and had to wait until the firemen could get through there first with the net and she pushed us out the window and she jumped herself.
Q:	What floor was that on?
A:	Second.
Q:	What street was that facing on?
A:	Avers.
Q:	What did you do then after you got down into the net and out?
A:	I ran to my den mother's house because she was going to have a den meeting.
Q:	Who was your den mother?
A:	I don't know her name. I only had her a couple of times and they moved to Wisconsin.
Q:	Do you remember where her house was?
A:	The only place I know is Avers and the Avalon Theatre - it was near there.
Q:	Did your den mother have any children?
A:	Yes, two of them.
Q:	How old were they?
A:	The littlest one was one year old and I think the biggest one was six as she was in first grade.
Q:	Was your den mother at home?
A:	Yes, cause she was expecting us for a den meeting.
Q:	Did you have your den meeting then?
A:	No.
Q:	Why not?
A:	Because of all the confusion and excitement of the fire.
Q:	What did you do then?
A:	She tried to calm me down and she asked me for my mother's telephone number at work - it took her a while to get it out of me because I was nervous and that and then she called my mother and she told her what happened so that my mom wouldn't hear it on the car radio driving home and faint or anything.
Q:	What did you do then after the den mother contacted your mother and there was going to be no den meeting?
A:	She told me to go and sit down and watch TV or do something.
Q:	What did she do?
A:	She was waiting for the rest of the kids going to the meeting.
Q:	Was there anybody else there?
A:	Nothing but her kids.
Q:	Did these other boys arrive for den?
A:	One of them didn't and the rest of them did.
Q:	Who didn't make it?
A:	My den chief, Ray Mokowski.
Q:	How come he didn't make the meeting?
A:	He got killed in the fire.
Q:	Did he go to Our Lady of Angels School?
A:	Yes.
Q:	What grade was he in?
A:	I think he was in the 8th or 7th grade.
Q:	Do you recall who the other boys were that came to the den meeting?
A:	No. There was one boy whose name was Larry, I don't know his last name.
Q:	Did that dismiss the meeting?
A:	Yes.
Q:	What did you do then?
A:	They waited until my dad came and got me.

[Dr. Fishhead]

But, we know Tristino's class which that little effer was in did not escape from the window.

[Alanwench]

Q:	Did you tell anybody about starting Our Lady of Angels fire before?
A:	No.
Q:	Why are you telling us about it now?
A:	I wanted to get it off my chest.
Q:	Why didn't you tell it to anyone before?
A:	Afraid my dad was going to give me a beating and I'd get in trouble with the police and I'd get the electric chair or something.
Q:	Why are you thinking about the electric chair?
A:	On account of what my dad told me, that this kid around 16, he shot his parents and a couple of kids and he got the chair for it and he said you wouldn't do things like that, you might kill somebody.
Q:	Was he referring to anything particularly?
A:	No.
Q:	How did your father start talking to you about the electric chair and so forth?
A:	A couple of days ago it was a picture I seen - Wednesday, I think - a picture of a guy. He got sent to the chair for nothing - he didn't do it and my dad kept telling me things about it and about the gas chamber.
Q:	This picture you are speaking of, where was that picture?
A:	On TV.
Q:	Who played in that?
A:	Edward Robinson.
Q:	What night was that?
A:	Wednesday, the 10th, I think. It came on either 10:15 or 10:30.
Q:	[the boy], I want to get it clear in my mind as to how your father talked to you about the electric chair. You said he brought it up after seeing this Edward G. Robinson picture the other night but did he say anything about that to you before this?
A:	No, except for that one fire I set at 1906 49th Court in Cicero.
Q:	Did you set the fire at that location?
A:	Yes.
Q:	When was that?
A:	I don't know what day that was - it was on the night I was collecting for my paper route. I think it was around Thanksgiving in November.
Q:	Did your father learn that you set this fire?
A:	Yes.
Q:	What did he say to you then?
A:	He said the next time I did set any place on fire and if you kill somebody and if the police don't get you and give you the electric chair I'll come after you myself personally and kill you.
Q:	Did you believe your father would do this?
A:	Yes.
Q:	Before this past November and before the statement that you said your father made to you about the electric chair, what was the reason why you didn't tell anyone about Our Lady of Angels fire?
A:	I was scared to.
Q:	Who were you afraid of?
A:	I was scared of my dad - not my mother but my dad would give me the beating.
Q:	Do you know where you are now?
A:	The building no. I know we're downtown in Chicago some place near the lake.
Q:	You are in our laboratories, John E. Reid and Associates laboratories at 600 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. How did you get down here today?
A:	My mother drove me.
Q:	Your mother, of course, is sitting out in the next room waiting. I think she's still there?
A:	She better be. I can't walk home.

[Alanwench]

Exactly! It seems that he made up stuff as he went along. In the same interview, the kid tells of walking back from eating lunch at his home and meeting a boy named "Bob" who said that he had matches and would set the school on fire so the kids would get a vacation. "Bob" was obviously an alter ego created by the suspect.
Apparently the suspect disliked a person or some people in the Cicero bowling alley and also disliked a boarder or boarders at his home. Both places were set on fire.

But, we know Tristino's class which that little effer was in did not escape from the window.

[Dr. Fishhead]

He was so full of shit his eyes were chocolate brown.

[Linnie]

I agree Sel. I think that is why he changed his name and everything.

The irony is that he would probably have been beaten within an inch of his life if ALL he had burned was the damn trashcan. Because as a former RC parochial student, I can tell you, that's the way they were. By all means, DO sweat the small stuff !!!
But something HUGE, like burning down the school (getting off on it !!!) and killing dozens of people (whether he meant to or not)? Moral paralysis and the need to cover their arses (and assets) sets in. He probably never even spent a day in freaking Juvy Hall. He had TWO lawyers, a troop of shrinks, and special schools where he could be shuffled about. By the law at the time, he could not even be prosecuted because his age was considered over the enormity and evil of his crime.
But... burn or overturn a trashcan, lob a spitball, suck the ink out of a pen onto your clothes, wear stockings instead of "KNEEEEESOCKS!!!", or even have a speech defect (as happened in my school), and one got punished and humiliated like it was the end of the world.

[willow]

I gather the arsonist changed his name later...can someone tell me what he changed his name to?

[Dr. Fishhead]

The irony is that he would probably have been beaten within an inch of his life if ALL he had burned was the damn trashcan. Because as a former RC parochial student, I can tell you, that's the way they were. By all means, DO sweat the small stuff !!!
But something HUGE, like burning down the school (getting off on it !!!) and killing dozens of people (whether he meant to or not)? Moral paralysis and the need to cover their arses (and assets) sets in. He probably never even spent a day in freaking Juvy Hall. He had TWO lawyers, a troop of shrinks, and special schools where he could be shuffled about. By the law at the time, he could not even be prosecuted because his age was considered over the enormity and evil of his crime.
But... burn or overturn a trashcan, lob a spitball, suck the ink out of a pen onto your clothes, wear stockings instead of "KNEEEEESOCKS!!!", or even have a speech defect (as happened in my school), and one got punished and humiliated like it was the end of the world.

Someone got punished for having a speech defect. Damn, that is harsh.

Kinda glad I went to public school. I don't have a speech defect. But, I would have been so pissed if someone had called out a classmate on something that couldn't be helped. I would have had to raise hell over it.

[Dr. Fishhead]

I gather the arsonist changed his name later...can someone tell me what he changed his name to?

Just PM'ed you.

[Alanwench]

There was an enormous miscarriage of justice in protecting the arsonist and allowing victims/families/survivors to have no counseling ( I know it wasn't commonplace, but still... and not being allowed to talk about the fire. Meanwhile, the kid is shipped off to Michigan and supposedly rehabilitated. The book about the Star Center, or whatever it's called, has feedback on the Amazon site. Someone gushes on and on, acting as if the kid set a trashcan fire that didn't kill and seriously injure people.