This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: KNIGHT, O'NEILL, WALSH, MILLER, DUGGAN, GILLIGAN Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/VNB.2ACE/646 Message Board Post: "The Helena Independent" 01 Jan 1936 edition MISSOULA MAN WHO KNEW KNIGHT WELL TELLS OF SYSTEM Missoula, Dec. 31. --- William H. Knight, 39-year-old fiendish four-time killer shot down by Assistant Chief of Police Jack Duggan in Butte Friday night, well knew the highways of Montana, according to a Missoula man who knew him for several years. Knight, according to the Missoula man, was a professional chicken thief. Crazed by fear that a woman who spurned his attention would inform officers as to his cold-blooded murder of a Seattle deputy sheriff, he ran amuck in Butte Christmas Day, killed two persons, and the next day had taken the life of a third man, all within 30 hours. The Missoula man who knew Knight said he operated in six states as a professional chicken thief. "He had a sedan outfitted like a tourist's car. The rear seats and cushions were removed, and in their places were built-in coops which would hold from 200 to 250 chickens. A light tarpaulin covered the coops and they had the appearance of tourist's luggage. "Knight would come to Missoula and make a drive up the Bitter Root and back, bringing probably 200 chickens which he would dispose of as any farmer would. Then he would hit the Flathead valley and the other districts and then go on. He tried to get the birds out of the big flocks so they would not be missed. "Knight boasted that once he got his hands on a chicken it would not squawk to give an alarm. He claimed to be an expert. He was a free spender, made many friends in cigar stores, and, treated every one in the house at times. he claimed ot me that his chicken thief operations netted him $50 a day. "Knight seldom made frequent visits to any one locality. According to the story he related, he operated constantly on a circuit which took him across Montana, into Wyoming, through Idaho, Washington, Oregon and down into California. "I had not seen Knight for months, and some of the reports of him of the past week would lead to believe that he was a drug addict. I never knew him as such. "He told me of a family in Idaho where he went frequently to furnish provisions and money. "I was surprised to read in the press of his cold-blooded murders without cause in Butte and the Madison last week, but I always did feel that in a pinch he was a man who would shoot." _______________________________ In addition to the above story, also in the same edition was this related story: DAMAGE TO GILLIGANS WILL BE MADE GOOD Butte, Dec. 31. --- (AP)----Contributions are being received here to a fund to repair damage to the home of James Gilligan where William Henry Knight, quadruple slayer, was fatally wounded by police. Knight held Mrs. Gilligan and her two small children prisoner in their house for a day after he killed two Butte men and a Hutchens, Mont., ranch employee and then returned here in his flight. Machine gun bullets and tear gas in the affray that came when officers trapped Knight in the house caused considerable damage to furniture and the dwelling and the chamber of commerce sponsored a fund to reimburse the Gilligans.