Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-03
HE FORGED A WILL.
A Broadway Speculator Attempts to
Profit by a Suicide.
ANINSURANCE FRAUD ALSO TRIED.
a Shrewd Reporter Ferrets Out Remark
able Conspiracy.
PREVIOUS RAS0ALlTIES BY SUMNER

NEW YORK, Dec. Perrin H. Sumner,
Broadway real estate speculator who
gained considerable notoriety in connection
with the mysterious suicide of the man who
registered at the Getty House; Yonkers, as
George Smith, was arrested to-day by Cap
tain Mclaughlin, charged with forgery. The
prisoner. it will be remembered, identified
the suicide as his friend, James r. Edgar, a
wealthy English chemist. There wasa sus-
plcion that the Identification was not cor
rect, and was made by Sumner for the pur-
pose of defrauding a life insurance COM
pany. The sequel tends to show that Sum-
ner, apparently in the hope of realizing by
the scheme the sum of $500, 900, did not hesi-
tate to commit forgery.
The suicide took place October q, and
the man who passed under the name of
George Smith had been stopping at the
Getty House two days before he swallowed
the fatal dose of morphine.
Gets the News From His Nephew.
A few days later Sumner visited the
Getty House and identified the body. He
declared that he did not believe Edgar had
taken his own life, and hinted at foul play.
Captain Mangin. of the Yonkers police, ap-
pealed to Inspector Byrnes, and an investi-
CATION was begun.
During the inquiry Sumner had stated
that he had learned OF the alleged suicide
from George e. Edgar, a nephew of the de-
ceased. He mad the body buried at his own
expense, and the authorities ut once began
a hunt for George H. Edgar, now supposed
to be a myth. Sumner, when closely pressed,
showed letters written by James II. Edgar
and mis- nephews, George H. Edgar and
Robert Rowe, all of which were declared by
an expert to be in the same handwriting.
Sumner besides had rather shady reputa-
tion.
November he made his temperance at
Yonkers, and to allay suspicious, asked for
the examination of the body for further
Identification. He exhibited a picture
which resembled the deceased.
A Reporter Tackles the Case.
The police, satisfied that they had
thwarted life insurance swindle, dropped
the Investigation, and up to the present the
mysterious George Smith" has not been
disco vered.
George r. Phoebus, reporter, deter
mined to fathom the mystery, and for the
past three weeks has been watching Sumner
He found that he visited a man of shady
character. This man was the counterpart of
the picture exhibited as that of Edgar, but
he was living under another name.
1t was also discovered that Sumner had
made a proposition to Lawyer Francis II.
Turner TO have a man personate Edgar in
the drawing up of a will, of which Sumner
was to be executor. The lawyer, of course,
rejected the proposition. but as be thought it
would be well to have the mystery cleared,
he suggested that he find a man to act the
part required. He introduced Pheebus to
Sumner, who thereupon fell into the trap.
Bogus VIII Executed and Signed.
The will was drawn up by Turner and
signed by Phoebus and Sumner. 1t was
atterward attested by notary public. 1t
was in the signing of the will that Sumner
committed the forgery.
Edgar owned property worth $500, 900, of |
which Phoebus was to receive 10 per cent
for his trouble. The police surmise that
Edgar was in the dark concerning the bogus
will, and Sumner, who was willing to resort |
to forgery, ultimately intended murder.
When Phoebus had led Sumner into the |
trap with Lawyer Turner, he called at police |
headquarters to-day and placed the details |
of the plot before Inspector Byrnes. Late |
this afternoon the speculator was taken into |
custody.
Previous Rascalities of Sumner,
This is not Summers first appearance be- |
fore the public. November 6, 1884, he was |
arrested charged with grand larceny, at the |
OF man named David NJ. David |
son. At that time, it is said, he made a |
with the complainant and thus !
escaped a conviction. Summers friends say
that the speculator is accused of forging |
James 81. Edgar's signature to power OF
attorney, making him his executor Thev !
say the signature Is genuine, and il the |
case ever comes to trial they Will be able to
produce Edgar. Their version of the |
affair is that EDGAR is heir to
a fortune of S5OO,OOO. which is
so held in England that it is liable to fall to
the offspring of his nephew, George H. Ed
gar. This, it is alleged, is stated in the
power of attorney, which Sumner is ac-
cused OF forging.
1t is likewise stated that at the time of the
Getty House suicide young Edgar drugged |
his uncle, and he remained i'll until long /
after the publication OF the mystery and the |
Identification and burial OF Smiths body.
Before Edgar recovered his nephew had
and is now supposed to be some
where in the West.