The San Francisco call., 1899-05-21
DR., BELLE HOWARD
LANDED IN JAIL
Captured After a Long
Chase.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

TACOMA, May 2O.-Sheriff Van de
Vanter of King County last night
placed in Jail DR.. Belle Howard ana
George Howard, her husband, wanted
at Peoria, H. where indictments are
out against them as principal and ac-
cessory in the murder of Miss Hugh
retta Binkley, a beautiful young woman
of prominent family, by means of a
criminal operation. Another indict-
ment is out against the woman for a
criminal operation on Blanche Barn
hart
The doctor disappeared from Peoria
in April, 1898, immediately after the
death of Miss Binkley, and detectives
( all over the country have been looking
for her. Five hundred dollars reward
was offered for her apprehension.
Sheriff Van de Vahter after some
| correspondence with Sheriff j. w. Kin
sey Of Peoria, became convinced that
the woman was in Tacoma or Seattle
and began looking for her. one clew
after another failed, until woman an
swering Mrs. HOward's description was
taken into custody in Tacoma early
this week. This woman was Mrs. Mar
shall, who soon convinced the officers
that she was not DR.. Howard.
This defeat was discouraging, but
failure was suddenly turned into sue
cess by a revelation on Mrs. Marshall S
! part that she knew Mrs. Howard well.
| Mrs. Marshall was watched until she
! boarded a steamer here for Olympia.
1t was then learned that Mrs. Marshall
| had recently purchased a small farm
| two miles from Olympia, presumab bly,
! for the HOWardS
Sheriff Van de Vanter engaged the
! fastest team in Tacoma and made a
! terrific race across country to Olympia
! in order to reach there before the
steamer bearing Mrs. Marshall. He won
! the race by a few minutes and took
DR.. Howard into custody.
Mr.. Howard had learned that the
Sheriff was looking for him and fled
but was caught at Bucoda by Deputy
! Sheriff Wilson as he was trying to es-
cape on freight train. Howard de-
clares he knows nothing of the Blink
ley case. He says he was tried for COM
! plicity in the Barnhart case, but the
jury disagreed and he was let go or
$1,000 bonds. That was nine months ago
since which time he has been travelling
about the country, coming here two
weeks ago.
Dr. Howard is an intelligent woman
of so years. Her former husband, Mr.
| Shotwell, died some years ago and she
married George Howard, a prominent
! business man of Peoria.
In January, 1898, Blanche Barnhart, g
young woman of good social standing
was the central figure in a Peoria scan
dal in which it was charged DR.. Howard
I had performed a criminal operation. Or
April 8 the second cloud came up when
Miss Binkley died, and DR.. Howard
| fled. Her husband remained, stood triaI
on the Barnhart case and then de-
parted. Both have since been searched
! for in st. Louis, Minneapolis and many
other cities.
! Governor Tanner of Illinois wired to-
! day that he has dispatched an officer
with eXtradition papers for Tacoma.
DR.. and Mrs. Howard admit their iden-
tity and offer to return without requsi-
ton papers. Where Sheriff Van de Van
] ter has jailed them is unknown, his OBJ
| ject being apparently to prevent any
attempt to institute habeas corpus pro-
! ceedings.