Los Angeles herald., 1905-03-27
FRIEND OF MRS. MILBURN
MEETS SIMILAR FATE
KILLED BY STANDARDIZATION
Associate of Ocean Park Victim In
ST. Louis Found Lifeless In Her
Room, After Being Bound
and Gagged

bers at work in this country who
choose lone women reputed to be
wealthy as their victims?
Was Mrs. M. B. Page of st. Louis,
who was murdered in her home March
20, another victim of the murderers
who killed Mrs. N. ]. Milburn at Ocean
Park six weeks ago?
According to all indications, both
women were murdered in the same
The police and detectives in neither
case believe that murder was intended,
but owing to the terribly rough handi-
ing by the murderers the victims died.
Mrs. Page was known to have been
a friend of Mrs. Milburn and was con-
nected with her in some business deal
ings while the latter was in st. Louis,
and her death, following as it did the
death of Mrs. Milburn and the fact
that both were murdered in the same
manner, deepens the mystery which
shrouds the last hours of the two
friends, and the facts of which the
police believe may never be unveiled.
Police Have No CIews
The murderers of the two women,
whether they were the same or not, so
completely covered their tracks that
the detectives of neither Los Angeles
nor of st. Louis have been able to Sc
cure a single clew to their identity
The local case is still being investi-
gated, and at the present time it is
believed that Mrs. Milburn was as
saulted at some point near Ocean Park
or Santa Monica, the intent of the as
sailants being to rob her of the money
which it was thought she had
In order to prevent an outcry or the
noise of a scuf1e from attracting at
tention and possibly leading to dis
covery, the woman was choked. and
possibly bound and gagged new
theory which has been advanced is
that it was the intention of the rob-
bers to leave the helpless woman, after
she had been bound and gagged, where
she would probably be discovered the
next day, giving the robbers plenty of
time to escape In the meantime.
Peculiar Nature of Crime
So rough had they handled her that
she strangled, or her neck might have
been broken outright, but when the
robbers found they had murdered the
woman they cast about for a means to
effectually cover their tracks, and nat
urally adopted the method of taking
the body out to sea for some distance
in dory, removing all the bindings
and all marks of Identification, and
dropping the body into the water.
1t is fact well known to fishermen
and sailors on this coast that at this
time of the year there is well defined
current setting down the coast between
Santa Monica and San Pedro. 1t isl
believed that this fact was known to
whoever carried the body out to sea,
and they evidently though that the
current would carry it much farther
south than it did, possibly depositing 1t
it the shore as far south as Redondo.
From the fact that the body came
ashore close to the place where it is be-
lieved to have been thrown into the
ocean it is thought that the murderers
were in too great a hurry and did not
take it far enough from shore to catch
the full effect of the current
Murder of Mrs. Page
Mrs. Page was murdered in singu-
larly similar manner. She was a for
tune teller, 70 years old. and lived in
a house of her own at 2211 Market
street, st. Louis.
In the house were six dodgers. She
was known to be alive at $3.50 o'clock
the night of March 81. At sos o'clock
the next morning she was found dead
on the floor of her room, bound and
gagged.
Physicians say she died from stran-
gulation, caused by rough handling and
the terrible way in which the gag had
been fastened in her mouth. The body
was still warm when found The doc
tors who examined the corpse said that
a body might remain warm five hours,
so she might have died at o'clock in
the morning, or but short time before
she was discovered.
The detectives do not believe that
the murderer intended to kill his VIC |
tim, but bound and gagged her to pre-
vent her attracting the attention of the
other dodgers. Under the sweating of
the detectives these dodgers maintain
that they neither saw nor heard any
thing of the crime or the criminal.
Mrs. Pages hands were tied behind her
and her ankles tied together, new cot
ton rope being used. A piece of cloth
torn from a sheet or pillow case was
wrapped around her head, forcing her
mouth open and holding 1t so and COW
erlng her nose. 1t was tied so tightly
that the woman slowly strangled.
Wore Valuable Diamonds
She was reputed to be wealthy and
TO keep large sums OF money secreted |
IoOntlnued On PaEe rwoa