June 24, 1962 - Police said today that 18-year-old James H. Vance Jr. had signed a three-paragraph statement admitting he killed two Morris Plains, N.J., teenage girls last week. The youth was charged yesterday with the slaying of Noreen Buckley, 17, and Margaret Ann Kennedy, 16. The bodies were found badly beaten last Thursday in a densely wooded area. Yesterday, Vance had maintained his innocence, but the police said he volunteered a confession early today. Frank C. Scerbo, Morris County Prosecutor, would not release the statement, and he would not say whether Vance had given any motive for the crime. Mr. Scerbo said Vance had asked at 3:30 a.m. to see Lieut. Joseph Logan of the State Police. The youth was said to have confessed to Logan and then offered to give the police a jacket he had worn the night of the murders. Taken to his home, Vance retrieved a windbreaker from under a floorboard in the attic. The prosecutor said the jacket was “blood-spattered.” Funeral services for Miss Buckley will be held tomorrow. Miss Kennedy was buried Saturday.
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