The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-01
Confessed the Theus and DesbOuilIOns
Swindle and Implicated a Man
in the Scheme.
DIVIDED THE JEWELS WITH HIM.
Letters to The Morning News
Her UndOing.

The Diamond Queen" has been cap
tured. She is Mamie DeCris. Her ar
rest solves two mysteries: the identity
of the woman who perpetrated the
fraud on Theus and Desbouillons. and
that of the mysterious Mrs. Williams"
letters.
Miss DeCris was arrested in Atlanta
yesterday, and will be brought to Sa-
vannah this morning. She has con-
fassed the jewelry swindle and part OF
the Jewels were found in her room in
the Klmball House in Atlanta. She ac-
knowledges that she is the author of
the Mrs. Williams" letters to the
Morning News. which started the in
vestigation that led to her arrest.
The arrest was made by Detective
John ]. Murphy of the Savannah de-
tectiye force, who. with a. representa-
tive of the Morning News. left Satur-
day night for Atlanta With a Warrant
for the long-sought Diamond Queen"
the arrest was made at the instigation
of Solicitor General Osborne. whose
former suspicious of the DeCris wo-
man were aroused by the account of
the fake tragedy in which she has fig
ured in the last few days. The follow
ing dispatch tells the story of her ar
rest and confession:
Arrested in Atlanta.
Atlanta, Nov. 3o.-Found in her room
III the Kimball House, with much of
the jewelry stolen Aug. IL, last, from
Theus Bros. and DesbouiIlons Mamie
DeCris confessed to-day to Detective
John ]. Murphy and a representative
of the Morning News th@t she is the
Diamond Queen" She surrendered
the stolen jewelry and was taken to
police headquarters. There she told
her story of theft, and made a clean
breast of the entire affair.
Miss DeCris claims that a young man
from Baltimore named DeCrutcheon,
first thought OF the plan to swindle the
jewelers.. He tsld her that he was
pushed for moneS, and she agreed to
help him in the seheme that he I'M
folded.
Not Her OwF Scheme.
The young woman says that both
notes, which she presented to the jew
elers, were written by NDeCrutcheon,
and that she copied them This was
done. she says, in KnightsN Pharmacy,
at Oglethorpe avenue and Drayton
streets, where she stopped fT a few
minutes DeCrutcheon accompanied
her to Theus' store, and stood, on the
corner while she went inside aid pre-
scented the order bearing the Forged
signature of Mrs. ]. P. Williams. After
getting the jewels she came out ofNthe
Broughton street entrance and hanNed
the packages to her companion, whle
passing Connor's book store. She the
went into Desbouillons' and secured.
five pieces of jewelry on the Blum or
der. While at Desbouillon's she feared
detection, and hurried out, although
Mr.. Desbouillons insisted upon her TAX
ing other articles.
According to her story DeCrutcheon
was waiting for her outside, and to-
gether they turned into WILSON'S pho-
tograph gallery. They went UP stairs,
she saws. lust as young Desbouillons
chased by in search Of her. She claims
that she gave DeCrutcheon the re-
Jnainder of the jewelry and that he
left the place, but she stayed in the
gallery looking at pictures for an hour,
under pretence of waiting for friend.
.OeCrutcheOn lett the same HlB1lL III
Charleston with the stolen property,
and she only hearr from him once.
Divided spoiIs in the PostOfifce.
week later he returned to Savan-
nah and in the postoffice corridor the
spoils were divided. She says that
DeCrutcheon got her to pawn a pin
containing nineteen diamonds and
double stone ring. She gave him the
money secured on the article, which
are now in Savannah pawnshop.
The prisoner claims that she never
disposed of any of her share of the
Jewelry and she surrendered to De-
tective Murphy one gold watch, dia-
mond and sapphire ring, diamond
solitaire and chain and heart with dla-
mond. She has three-stone diamond
ring which she claims she PURCHASED.
together with other smaller pieces OF
jewelry, which she claims as her own,
and they are unidentified. She says
she is perfectly sane and cannot Inn
agine what possessed her 70 commit
the forgeries. She claims that she was
infatuated by DeCrutcheon, ana that
she did not need money or the jew
elry
She broke down and weDt several
times during her confession and
declared that ste would sooner