The Holly chieftain., 1904-04-15
AWFUL MURDER
CONFESSION OF A. o. eALeRAITH
Found in a Lonely Cabin
In Russell Guich,

Denver, April l0.-Azel D. Galbraith.
who was arrested Friday for forgery,
was discovered last night to have muI-
dered his wife are nine-year-old son,
Donald, on or about last March 9th.
and to have left their bodies in the
lonely cabin at Russell Gulch, where
the murder was committed. With the
announcement Of Galbraith's arrest.
friends living in Russell Gulch insti-
tuted a search and discovered the
bodies in bed, where they had lain a
month. Galbraith had removed all
suspicion by stating that his family
had gone to Boston.
Galbraith made "a complete confess
sion of the murder to Chief of Police
Armstrong and Detective Captain
Connor last night. Smoking a cigar
ette and some times smiling, he related
the awful details without tremor
The only thing about which the po-
lice are undecided is Galbraith's mo-
tive. Galbraith evidently had intended
to take his own life after the murder
of his wife and child, but, as Chief
Armstrong told him, he lacked the
nerve
1t is thought by the police that the
whole motive for Galbraith's crime lay
in his infatuation for Mrs. Lottie Rus
sell of is Twenty-second avenue. He
denies this and claims that his motive
was the financial straits into which he
had brought himself by gambling,
drinking and following women. Mrs.
Lottie Russell was arrested last night
and after an interview with Chief
Armstrong and Captain Connor she
was locked up to be held until the ar
rival of Sheriff Thomas Cody of Gill
pin county. She is not thought to have
known anything of the murder
Did you kill your wife and boy
asked Captain Connor of Galbraith
Il did," replied Galbraith. Il killed
my wife and boy early in the morning.
shot my wife through the head while
she was talking to me. We were in bed
at the time and she never moved af-
terward. r.,
"Then went to the door of the
house and called the boy down and
coaxed him to get in bed beside me,
after l had covered up his mothers
head, and when he turned his head to
look out of the window | shot him
through the head.
Then dressed and got on quartz
wagon. l drank all the whisky in the
house before l left. l rode on the
quartz wagon to Idaho Springs and
stayed there two or three days drink
ing. l came to Denver March 14th."
Galbraith's murder of his wife and
child is regarded as one of the most
cold-blooded crimes ever committed
Galbraith admitted that he had been
planning the double murder for nearly
month before he committed it. 1t
was reported in Denver last night that
Indignation was at white heat in Gill
pin county and it is thought that if Gal
braith is taken back there at any time
soon an attempt will be made to lynch
him.
Galbraith and his wife had known
each other from childhood. They were
schoolmates and had always been con-
sidered a devoted couple.
He probably will be held in the city
Jail in Denver for an indefinite time.
Both Galbraith and his wife were
reared in and around Fort Collins,
where they were very well known.
Many relatives live there. Sheriff John
A. Gross of Fort Collins came to Den
yer last night as an agent Of Gal
braith's sister to see what could be done
to have him cleared of the forgery
charge.
With the utmost composure Gal
braith related the details of his crime.
He told how he had shot his wife and
son and afterward picked the bullets
out of the bedclothing and carried
them in his pocket for several days.
About April 1st he returned to the cab
in, where he took out all the furniture
except the bed on which lay the
bodies of his wife and boy, and hauled
ii away to sell it.
1t was early in the morning that Gal
braith, lying beside his wife, shot her
Their nine-year-old boy, Donald, had
dressed and gone out on the side of the
hill to play. After killing the mother
Galbraith went to the door and called
the boy down to him. He covered up
the form of his wife and persuaded the
child to lie down on the bed beside him.
Then when the boy turned his head to
look out of the window, he shot him,
too.
After the murder Galbraith wanted
to get away from the scene of his crime
and went to Idaho Springs. He re-
mained in Idaho Springs drinking, for
three days, and came to Denver on
March 14th, going to the Brown Palace
hotel. He said last night that he had
not drawn sober breath since killing
his wife until he became sober after his
arrest Friday afternoon by Detectives
Carberry and Sanders. When he was
arrested Galbraith had in his pocket
the revolver with which he had killed