Ralph Corwin made his confession in the presence of two detectives of the 87th Squad, a police stenographer, an assistant district attorney, and a lawyer appointed by the Legal Aid Society. The man from the D.A.’s office conducted the Q and A.
Q: What is your name, please?
A: Ralph Corwin.
Q: Where do you live, Mr. Corwin?
A: 894 Woodside Avenue. In Riverhead.
Q: Will you relate to us, please, the events that took place on the night of December twelfth. That would be last night, Mr. Corwin, Sunday, December twelfth.
A: Where do you want me to start?
Q: Did you enter a building at 721 Silvermine Oval?
A: I did.
Q: How did you enter the building?
A: First I went down the steps from the street, where the garbage cans were. I went in the basement, and through the basement and up the steps at the other end, into the backyard. Then I climbed up the fire escape.
Q: What time was this?
A: I went in the building at about ten o’clock.
Q: Ten P . M .?
A: Yes, ten P . M .
Q: What did you do then?
A: I went in an apartment.
Q: Which apartment?
A: Second-floor rear.
Q: Why did you go into the apartment?
A: To rip it off.
Q: To burglarize it?
A: Yes.
Q: Had you ever been in this building before?
A: No. I never done nothing like this in my life before. Never. I’m a junkie, that’s true, but I never stole nothing in my life before this. Nor hurt nobody, either. I wouldn’t have stole now except this girl I was living with left me, and I was desperate. She used to give me whatever bread I needed. But she left me. Friday. She just walked out.
Q: Which girl is that?
A: Do we have to drag her in? She’s got nothing to do with it. She never done me no harm, I got no hard feelings toward her, even though she walked out. She was always good to me. I don’t want to drag her name in this.
Q: You say you had never been in this building before?
A: Never.
Q: Why did you pick this particular apartment to enter?
A: It was the first one I saw without no lights inside. I figured there was nobody home.
Q: How did you get into the apartment?
A: The kitchen window was open a tiny crack. I squeezed my fingers under the bottom of it, and opened it all the way.
Q: Were you wearing gloves?
A: No.
Q: Why not?
A: I don’t have no gloves. Gloves cost money. I’m a junkie.
Q: Weren’t you afraid of leaving fingerprints?
A: I figured that was crap. For the movies, you know? For television. Anyway, I don’t
Q: What did you do after you opened the window?
A: I stepped in the sink, and then down to the floor.
Q: Then what?
A: I had this little flashlight. So I used it to find my way across the kitchen to the dining room.
Q: Would you look at this photograph, please?
A: Yeah?
Q: Is this the kitchen you were in?
A: I don’t know. It was dark. I guess it could be. I don’t know.
Q: What did you do in the dining room?
A: I found where they kept the silverware, and I emptied the drawer and put the stuff in this airlines bag I had with me. I had to go to Chicago last month because my father died, so I went by plane, and I bought this little airlines bag. My girlfriend paid for me to fly out there. She was a great girl, I wish I could figure why she left. I wouldn’t be in this trouble now, if she’d stayed, you know that? I never stole nothing in my life, nothing, I swear to God. And I never hurt nobody. I don’t know what got into me. I must’ve been scared out of my wits. That’s the only thing I can figure.
Q: Where did you go when you left the dining room?
A: I was looking for the bedroom.
Q: Was the flashlight on?
A: Yeah. It’s just this little flashlight. A penlight is what they call them. A tiny little thing, you know? So you can have some light.
Q: Why were you looking for the bedroom?
A: I figured that’s where people leave watches and rings, stuff like that. I was going to take whatever jewelry I could find and then get out. I’m not a pro, I was just hung up real bad and needed some bread to tide me over.
Q: Did you find the bedroom?
A: I found it.
Q: What happened?
A: There was a lady in bed. This was only like close to ten-thirty, you don’t expect nobody to be asleep so early, you know what I mean? I thought the apartment was empty.
Q: But there was a woman in bed.
A: Yeah. She turned on the light the minute I stepped in the room.
Q: What did you do?
A: I had a knife in my pocket. I pulled it out.
Q: Why?
A: To scare her.
Q: Would you look at this knife, please?
A: Yeah, it’s mine.
Q: This is the knife you took from your pocket?
A: Yeah. Yes.
Q: Did the woman say anything to you?
A: Yeah, it was almost comical. I mean, when I think back on it, it was comical, though at the time I was very scared. But it was like a movie, you know? Just like a movie. She looks at me and she says “What are you doing here?” Which is funny, don’t you think? I mean, what did she
Q: Did you say anything to her?
A: I told her to keep quiet, that I wasn’t going to hurt her.
Q: Then what?
