Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-10-13
WORKED LONG
ON A CRIME
Man and Woman Lure Australian Turf
Follower to California in Order
To Murder Him.
THEY TRY eENpERs' METHOD
HIT Victim in Head While He 10 at
Their Table and Then Rob
Him.

plot to lure an Australian sporting
man, VIM. E. Ellis, 70 a quiet place
in Berkeley and there murder and rob
him Of 1000 pounds in English cur
rency, which he had on his person.
was partially carried out this after.
noon by man and woman. whom
the police believe to be desperate
crooks. They had persuaded Ellis to
come with them to America and race
horses here.
Crush in His Skull.
Today they brought Ellis from a
hotel in Oakland to a cottage on 2214
Ellsworth street, stones throw from
the University Of California, bade him
sit down to luncheon then crushed his
skull in with a hammer. The woman
fred two shots at him as he lay
PROSTATE. The crooks rifled his pock-
cts of an amount equal nearly to $5,-
500 in American money, then leaving
their victim for dead, hurriedly left
the house and made their escape. FL.
lis regained consciousness and stag
gered to the California stables, two
blocks away, on Allston Way, and from
there was carried to Roosevelt hos
pital where the doctors found he had
a fractured skull
Prominent Turfman.
Ellis home is at 235 Crown street,
Sydney, Australia, where his wife and
three children reside. He is a prom
inent horseman there, and met his as
sailants there during the last racing
season. They represented themselves
to be Mr.. and Mrs. w. c. Curtis,
but assumed the name Of Brush in this
country. Curtis claimed to be a
wealthy race horse man, owning big
stables here. He offered Ellis the pO-
sition of manager of his stables, and
| induced him to sail with them ON the
steamer Sierra, which arrived in San
Francisco one week ago.
Curtis and the woman came to Bur.
| kelley and rented a furnished cottage
on Ellsworth street from a local ag
| ent. Ellis took apartments at a hotel
in Oakland. The couple had evidently
made all preparations to carry out a
| fiendish crime.
Laid Plans caefuIly.
| A bowie knife, stillettO. pistol
butchers knife, bottle of poisonous
acid and a pair of rubber gloves were
found hidden under the bed covers
| adjoining the dining room where the
assault took place. The carpet nail
ed to the dining room floor was ripped
up and large piece of thin oil cloth
was put down instead, evidently foI
the purpose of avoiding blood stains
on the carpet.
Ellis skull was fractured by a blow
from hammer welded by Curtis
who approached from behind while
the guest was seated at the lunch ia.
BILE. Ellis held up his hands to ward
| off a second blow and received the
weapon on the wrist, which was bad
ly bruised. The injured man says he
| saw the woman standing with re-
| vOlver and that she fired two shots
at him.
Curtis tore the coat from Ellis and
| found a roll OF notes to the amount
of 1000 pounds in Ellis hip pocket
In their haste the robbers overlook
ed $513.35 in American money in 9th.
er pockets.
That Curtis and the woman made
hasty escape is shown by the fact
that they left a complete wardrobe
of the most costly clothing behind
| including the contents OF two large
steamer trunks, two suit cases and
satchel and two small trunks. In all
this clothing and personal effects
there was not a single photograph OF
mark that will lead to the identified
tion of the criminals
| Hopes to Get Them.
The police. however. have good de
scriptions of both parties. John Ed
ward, a high school student, playing
tennis a hundred yards from the
scene, says he heard the screams of q
man in pain about o'clock. Ter
minutes later he saw a tall man in
light suit with small woman In
brown dress running down Ellsworth
street to catch a car. The description
of the parties tailed with that OF the
clerk of the hotel, who met then
when they visited Ellis apartments
yesterday. The neighbors who saw
them going in and out the past weel
say the woman was slender, blonde
and wore many diamonds, and dress