Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-12-23
Coroner's Jury Still Investiga-
ting Circumstances Surround
ing Mrs. Wilson'S Demise
CASE is A PECULIAR ONE
Some JeweIry and Other va'uabIes
Are Missing and It Has Been
Suggested That the Woman Was
Murdered by Poison--Absence of a
Motive.
;peclal to TImes-Republlcan.


coroner's jury will continue its inves-
! legations not being able to report until
a chemical examination has been maze
OF the stomach of the deceased woman
Did Mrs. Wilson commit suicide. or
was she murdered?
These are the questions which are
perplexing Coroner T. u. McManus and
the Jury which he empanelled to in
quire into the mysteries which sur
round the tragedy.
There are number of facts con-
nected with the death OF Mrs. Wilson
which lead to a reasonable suspicion
that she may have been the victim OF
foul play. While no marks were APP
parent upon her body, the circum-
stances surrounding the death - the
leaving Of her 2-year-old daughter
without some provision for her care;
the lack OF evidence Of dire want and
poverty; the loss Of finger rings watch
and other articles of jewelry - all
these are sufficient to cause reas-
enable doubt as to the correctness or
the suicide theory.
When the coroner reached the 1T
tie home in East Cedar Falls Wednes-
day. he found Mrs. Wilson attired IN
her night clothes. The body was ly-
ing diagonally across the bed with her
head at the foot and her feet toward
the head of the bed. There were
evidences that she had passed thru
a. period of terrible suffering and that
there had been contortion and strug-
gle of the body in the death throes.
The neighbors are aware OF the fact
that while Mrs. Wilson had consider
able OF struggle to maintain her ex-
istence and that of her daughter, she
was not pinched by poverty that APP
proaches to the point OF penury. She
was known to have considerable Jew
elry and was believed to have small
sum OF money in the house, but
search failed to reveal the presence or
any Of these. Az
IL murder was perpetrated, rhe
means employed to accomplish that
end must have been the admlnlstra-
ton of poison, as there were no marks
upon the body of the dead woman.
And if poison had been given by some
one else than herself the little daugh-
ter would probably also have received
some Of it, as it would have to be ao-
ministered In food or drink.
Mrs. Wilson, so the neighbors say,
had a sort Of mania for buying dress
goods for herself and her little daugh-
ter and cloth for six or eight dresses
was found in the home which had not
been made into articles of attire. 1t
Is said that the woman would some
times deny herself Of the necessary
amount of food in order to purchase
articles of dres. The cloth for these
garments was in the main Of the bet
ter grade and more expensive quality.
The coroner's jury Is composed OF
A. N. Burr, Fytzroy Sessions and
Charles Elderkin, three of the most
prominent citizens.
Representatives Of the press visited
the Wilson home and the sights seen
there. and the associations and the
tragedy which they recall were enough
to bring tears to the eyes Of even
those accustomed to such sights. The
feature that stands out the most prom
inently is that the little two-year-old
daughter should be left beside the cold
form of her mother, and should stroke
the pallid cheek and question the UNI
responsive lips, pleading in a baby lisp
for some token of life and recognition.
This little babe-only a babe of two
years Of age-had endeavored to start
a fire when her mother would not get
up at the usual time Din the morning.
She had struck several matches and
made heroic effort to ignite the kind
ling but failed. Then she crept back
into the cold room and to bed beside
mother. When found by a neighbor
she pleadingly asked If her mother was
dead.
Under mat in the home was a pass
book and a small quantity Of money
-s4, all in silver-was found in a
purse. The pass book was on the Ce-
dar Falls Savings bank. A thorough
search yesterday failed to reveal the
watch or other articles Of jewelry, and
the question naturally arises. where
have they gone?
The theory is advanced by a local
officer that Mrs. Wilson may have
pawned the gold in order to secure ar
ticles of food for herself and child,
having no money with which to make
such purchases. But there were the
four dollars under the rug In the
home. Another theory Is that the
jewelry was stolen by some one who
either bore grudge against the lady
or for purposes solely Of robbery. It
is not known that Mrs. Wilson had
any enemies, and a motive for murder
is seemingly lacking unless it be that
of burglary.
The remains of Mrs Wilson are still
at Browns undertaking parlors, but
they will probably be removed to
Webster City, where her relatives re-
side, today. Two brothers whose nam
es are Olmstead arrived here last night
but. are as much at sea over solution
of the tragedy as the coroner and his
jury.
1t was stated here yesterday that a
bottle was picked up by gentleman
who was one of the first to arrive up
on the scene. that the bottle smelled
of whisky and that there is theory
that 1t contained whisky and was sent
to Mrs. Wilson and that it was drug
ged with poison.
Orders Retrial Of Case.
Davenport, Dec 23.-Judge House
granted new trial of the case OF A.
D r5nreard ys. The American Syrup