New-York tribune., 1903-03-01
MURDER CASE UNSOEVED.
THE BURDTCK MYSTERY.
CZers Of Little VaLBe---ResuH of
the Awf0pSu.

Buffalo. Feb. 2&-The slayer Of Edwin Z.
Burdsck. the prominent business and society
man. who Was murdered On Thursday night or
early Friday morning. g still at liberty. The
police and detective forces OF the city have
worked hard On the case for thfrty-sfx hours.
but nothing tangible has developed to reward
their efforts. The lines upon which the police
are now working indicate that their belief is
that the murderer win be found among the
close acqusintsnces Of the dead man The Dis
trict Attorney to-day openly expressed the opin-
ion that somebody IN the Burdick social circle
murdered the ciubman- The circle was COM
posed Of g nunbe- Of married couples. young or
in the prime OF life. They were intimately ac-
ouainted socially. The circle has been dis
rupted by more or less scandal. In fact several
divorce suits have grown out Of IL
We have many cIews: IN fact, too many"
said District Attorney Coatsworth this evening.
We sre running them al down as fast as we
can We have one in particular under sus-
ricion- The case is surrounded by the worst
kind Of mystery. and we have nothing that We
know TO be Of value
What theory have you to whether man
o. 4 woman committed the murder" he was
asked
We cannot tell anything about that or one
thing / feel certain. and that is our tnvestiga-
t1ons can proftabiy be confined to some mem
Der Of the circle There number OF divorce
suits growing cut OF that circle Somebody
fearing divorce proceedings may have COM
r7irted the crime. am confident that the nur-
Ger resulted from social relations with some
member of the circle"
The finding of a tl1ft Of hair on Mr.. BurdicEs
body, which at first appeared to be promising
cIeu. apparently has fallen fiat Chief OF De
.a-tives c1,sack stated this afternoon that the
hair matched Mr.. Burdicks
Are you getting any closer to the soiuuon OF
the rnystery?" he was asked.
..N-ot 2 hit We have nothing but theories.
An autopsy upon the body Of Mr. Burdick
u Uss held at the morgue to-day The result
showed the body to be in a We'll nourlsneo anu
healthy condition The wounds in the head
were twelve in number. sEd evidently had been
the result Of blows delivered with great force.
IN +he ton of the head and slightly back of the
forehead was wound not serious as the
others II was a sort Of confused cut, and the
authorities believe il was causes by the hrst
blow struck
Back OF that and on the right OF the skull are
: number of wounds which appear to have
been made with an instrument with a duh
metal edge The skin above the fractures was
not confused The back of the head and base
% the skull were a network Of compound and
multiple fractures. and blow after blow must
have been raine6 upon the head TO have pro-
duced them
The theory Of some police officials Is that MI
Burdick after receiving the first blow staggered
as far as the door. intent upon escape to some
other part of the house He raised his hand as
the second blow descended, and it was then the
fingers of the LETT hand were broken Blow after
bow followed, and Mr.. Burdick, weak and
losing courage, staggered back to the couch
where he was found
Mrs. Burdick, the widow Of the dead man.
arrived here to-day from Atlantic City. She
went at once 10 her home. in AshIand-aveD
where she was affectionately greeted by her
children and her mother District Attorney
Coatsworth and Chief Cusack spent two hours
questioning Mrs. Burdick AT her home.
7 neither know can conjecture ANYBODY
who could have committed this murder, she
said except somebody who had an interest IN
ending this litigation between MI. Burdtck and
me-
At ID o'clock tonight headquarters detectives
Brought two women to the District Attorneys
Office One Of them tall rather good look
ing and handsomely gowned- The other
vas small and plain looking, apparently maid
or domestic They were taken into the District
Attorneys private Office and closely questioned