Sources and Footnotes

On the Trail of a Killer: Sources

• A bulk of this section was constructed from the Jan. 13 through Jan. 29, 1924 editions of the both The Beacon News and Chicago Tribune. Both papers carried exhaustive coverage of Lincoln's confession on their front pages.

• The story about the $500 letter comes from the Jan. 13, 1924, Beacon. According to the Jan. 27, 1925, Beacon, police were upset that Lina's sister had answered the letter at the post office. She was supposed to wait for officers to accompany her, since they believed Warren Lincoln might show. But she jumped the gun and Warren escaped. According to the same story, police were suspicious because the letters had "an unmistakable masculine vein" to them.

• Besides the letter, police also tracked Lincoln through an attempt to withdraw money from Byron Shoup's account by a man who looked like Lincoln. Lincoln was never charged with that crime.

• When Lincoln was arrested, he was staying in a luxurious, elaborately furnished room at 4518 Drexel Blvd. in Chicago, according to the Jan. 13, 1924, Beacon.

• Aurora's chief of detectives is alternately referred to as Otto Wirz and A.J. Wirz. A.J Wirz was used for this story, since it was more common in the local papers. Wirz eventually succeeded Michels as police chief.

• The Charles Baumgarten calendar company is referred once to as James Baumgarten Co., but the more common name was used in this story. The company was located at 1219 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago. According to the Jan. 14, 1924, Beacon, Dr. Van Hook actually mentioned the request for a letter of reference to his local fire chief in Mount Pulaski. The Mount Pulaski fire chief then wrote to Aurora Fire Chief Herman Lohmann asking for copies of some newspaper stories about the recent Illinois Fireman's Association meeting. In a post script of the letter -- almost as an afterthought -- the Mount Pulaski fire chief mentioned that Lincoln had applied for a job, and asked that the note be passed along to Aurora police.

• The quote, "He isn't living" comes from what was apparently a special edition of the Jan. 13, 1924, Beacon. The story carried a long, detailed confession, including Lincoln's "shudders" between sentences. The Tribune carried a similar confession, but with slightly different wording. The Beacon phrasing was used when there was a disparity.

• Michels hearing about the arrest in San Francisco came from the Jan. 14, 1924, Beacon. A copy of Michel's scrapbook in the Aurora Historical Society includes a story from the San Francisco newspaper.