Leo 1 ounevflle. and also has other '
relatives here. He left Putnam u l
feu years ago. The following story I
of the affair was sent out with copies
of some of the remarkable letters she
wrote to him:
Mrs. Gertrude Downing, the tw ui-5
ty-three-yearold wife of "Jerry" j
Downing, a wealthy fifty-six-year-old
farmer of Voluntown, C’onn., declared
that she loved Ovid Hickey, the
"Adonis of tho Itellboys," the firs;
time she saw him; that she still loved
him and would die for him.
The young wife was held in H.b'fO
hy Justice Gorham in the Sixth Dis
trict Court Friday to October lfi on a
charge of assault upon Hickey with
intent to kill.
Hickey is in the Khode Island Ilos
pital with a bullet wound in his chest.
He is said to be out of danger. The
police say .Mrs. Downing admits that
she shot Hickey and that she tried to
kill herself, but the revolver missed
tire.
Mrs Downing pleaded not guilty to
the chaise. She now maintains that
she -never really intended to shoot the
bellboy.
hi a remarkable statement made to
the ifolice and taken down by a de
partment stenographer, Mrs, Down
ing told according to Chief Inspector
William F. O'Neil, how she met and
loved Hickey and how he became cold
to her. Her statement, as given out
by the police, follows;
"1 met Ovid Hickey here about a
year ago.
"I loved him from the start and I
love him now. I would die for him.
"He has a pretty face. He's a nice
boy.
"I used to go to my home every lit
tie while, but return to him again.
