St. Paul daily globe., 1895-06-02

the central station and locked up,
where he is held on suspicion.
Loren Elias was sent to the insane
asylum at St. Peter, March /, 1895.
being then thirty-two years old. He
imagined that he was affected with
some peculiar disease, and constantly
brooded over it. At the time of hts
examination in the Hennepin probate
court it developed Martha Elias,
the mother. had also been insane some
twelve years ago, and that, in fact,
insanity was hereditary in the family.
Certain friends of the family believe
that Elias charged his mother and SIS
ter with having had him sent to the
asylum and brooded over his wrongs
until he murdered them. Theories
abound on all sides, and the detective
force stands about equally divided on
the subject.
The Clio b e made a careful investi-
, CATION of the case yesterday and while
Loren Elias story is remarkable one,
it may be that the awful deed was not
of his doing. To many it appears that
Mrs. Martha Elias murdered her
daughter and then took her own life
a few moments after her insane son
left the house.
insane for weeks past and neighbors
and friends have noticed her acting
queerly. For the past day. or two,
however, she seemed to be improving
in her condition.
jeweler, to whom Miss Annie Elias was
engaged, probably knows more about
the family than anyone else. He was
ri yxyif INri1a I1ic
and left her at 10 o'clock Asked by
a reporter yesterday if she had said
anything about her mother or brother
last night Mr.. Hallauer said:
mo, she did not. We seldom talked
about her family as it was a forbidden
subject Of conversation between us. In
the early part of our acquaintance,
nearly two years ago, 1 found out
about Mrs. Elias condition and also
the condition of the brother. Some
time since Miss Elias told me that she
was afraid her mother would take her
| own life, but lately she gave me to
undertand her mother was much bet
ter and that there was no danger. /
saw nothing of the mother last night ;"
Another important factor in the sui
eide theory is the objection taken by.
the bullet which tore Mrs. Elias face.
so horribly, the muzzle of the; gun
having been placed in the mouth, as
stated An examination made by the.
u Q b reporter shows that the bull.
let passed through the head in anEup-
ward direction from the mouth. The
point where it entered the wall is still
higher up than the wound of exit,
while the point of entrance to the Sec
IN n ic ~
that the bullet was going in an upS
ward direction and could not have
been fired by a person standing over
the woman, but must have been fired
with the woman lying with her head
on the pillow and with the muzzle of
the revolver in her mouth pointing ups
wards toward the forehead. No other
hand but her own could have done
this, says Supt Smith
1t was claimed yesterday that both
Mrs. Elias and her daughter had beea
struck with some blunt instrument,
probably a hatchet, before the shot had
been fired, and some even went SO far
as to claim that no bullet would be
found in Annie's body. Deputy Coroner
Nye performed an autopsy at the
county morgue at o'clock yesterday
afternoon upon the remains of the two
women. In the case of Annie Elias
death was proven to have resulted
from a bullet wound, the point of
entrance of which was near the base
of the skull, passing slightly upwards.
The bullet was found lodged near the
temporal bone. In the daughters case,
1t was plainly murder.
The autopsy upon the remains of Mrs.
Elias showed death to have resulted
from a bullet entering the mouth and
| passing through the head. DR.. Nye
| stated that in his opinion it was clear
| ly a case of suicide. The broken bones
| and torn flesh and apparent cuts he
explained by the explosion within the
mouth and pointed to where bones
| had been broken by the explosion.
| The eye and cheek were torn and
DR.. Nye believes with the police that
no hatchet or other sharp instrument
was used, but that Mrs. Elias killed
| herself.
Loren Elias was asked about the
| hatchet and told where one had Been
| in the closet. 1t had been found dur
! ing the day by Inspector Hoy and
| brought to police headquarters. There
were no marks of blood upon it.