The Milwaukee Leader

POSSE SEEKING FIFTH BANDIT: THREE IN JAIL

STEVENS POINT, Wis.—With one dead and three held in the county jails of Marathon and Portage county, posses headed by county officials continued their hunt Saturday for a fifth member of the bandit gang which made an unsuccessful attempt to rob the State bank at Rosholt Thursday.

With the capture of Robert Puffelmeyer, 25, late Friday, police learned of the fifth member. Puffelmeyer was captured in a wooded section near Rosholt.

Forced Into Gang.

The first member taken was Walter Danke, 19, Neenah, who claims to have been an unwilling member of the gang, saying he had been forced to drive the men to the bank after having been stopped on a road near his home.

In the fighting, which occurred shortly after the attempted robbery Thursday, one bandit was killed. He was identified as Joseph Peplinski, 23, who came to this country early this year after his marriage. His bride is said to be on her way to this country, according to a brother of the dead man.

Shortly before noon, Matthias Walcher, 28, was taken into custody after he had stopped the posse and asked for a ride.

Danke is held at the jail at Wausau, while Puffelmeyer and Walcher are in the county jail here.

Pleads Youth's Cause.

After his capture, Puffelmeyer through an interpreter, told county officials, that he had been left on guard outside the bank with Danke, and that when he heard the first shots fired by Carl Rosholt, plucky cashier, who thwarted their plans, he fled. Because of this his companions branded him as a "quitter" and he was forced to leave the automobile just outside the village. He substantiated Danke's claim of having been an innocent member of the gang. He told officials that he and his friends had forced the youth to drive them to the scene of the attempted robbery.

Neither Puffelmeyer nor Walcher were able to speak a word of English.