New-York tribune., 1906-06-15
ON TRAIL OF SLAYER.
KINN1N CASE CLEARING.
Murderer Nan Visitor After Money,
Says DetectiUe.


formation which Detective Sergeant Price OBJ
| tanned yesterday AS the result of long search
| among documents and papers In the house and
another long interview with Mrs. Stenton, Mrs.
! Kinnans mother. he learned that visitor was
| expected by the woman at the house the night
of her murder, that the visitor was man. and
that this man expected the payment of large
| sum Of money. No money was forthcoming,
| Price believes and the visitor. enraged. seized
| the nearest weapon and beat in Mrs. Kinnan's
| skull.
Who this man was, his relations with the dead
woman and her family, and his whereabouts. re-
main TO be established, but 1t is not at all GER
| tain that Sergeant Price has not already accum-
uated some of this information Documents and
! letters from the Stenton house are likely to fur
nish more light. at least enough to piece out the
| theory to which the police now are giving their
undivided attention. That the murderer will
prove to have been near acquaintance of Mrs
Kinnan's-probably a suitor-is indicated by
what already is known
The discoveries yesterday were of a startling
character. contradicting everything which
the police had based their previous work, and
contradictins all previous knowledge of the
characters and condition of the two women
Squalid poverty is indicated in every detail of
the surroundings. yet bankbooks were brought
to light showing balances in various savings
institutions amounting to about $4,000 to the
credit OF Mrs. Kinnan. Possession OF this
money was unknown to old Mrs. Stenton, and
Burton w. Gibson. the lawyer who has handled
business for both women, believed them to be
too poor to pay fees. Whence came this money
is a problem which the police think will be
solved in great part by further examination
of letters and legal papers. which probably will
have important bearing on the capture Of the
murderer
WOMAN'S MOTHER MORE RATIONAL.
Coroners Mcdonald and schwanneke and Ser
geant Price found old Mrs Stenton yesterday
much more rational than she has been at any
time since the murder. While she answered
many questions irrelevantly, they persevered,
and learned much OF value from their talk
Mrs. Stenton repeated practically her first story
She and her daughter were just about TO pre-
pare for bed, she told the Coroner. when the
doorbeI rang
Don't go to the door" cautioned the old
woman. who particularly disliked TO have sthe
door opened after dark. The daughter went,
however. Then came a short interval until the
mother aroused by the scream of Mrs. Kin
and the crash of her falling body.
And then heard the pattering of feet on the
steps," she told her interrogators. adding an
important new phase to the possibility OF the
escape of the murderer. Hitherto all accounts
have agreed that the murderer was not heard
or seen to leave the porch where the woman lay
Further than that the coroners did not go They
showed the section Of gas pipe and the Iron bolt
found on the porch where the murder was
committed to the old woman. but she glanced al
them vacantly.
II never saw them before" she deciarec.
Detective Sergeant Price Jared better In his
search for information Long after the coroners
had gone he persisted with Mrs. Stenton, re-
turning again and again when she was unable
20 give intelligible answers to his questions HIS
previous Investigations and the examinations OF
the coroner had assured him that the murderer
was not a woman, because of the nature OF the
wounds.
Six bankbooks had been found by Price and
his men Various amounts had been Withdrawn
Deposits had not been always in small sums.
One deposit was 500 and another Sl,2oo Mrs
Kinnan had drawn $50 few days before her
death OF this SAG was found in drawer in
her room Old Mrs. Stenton knew nothing about
| these bankbooks nor did the dead womans
! LAWYER Various other bits of information picked
| up bv the detective he found were unknown to
! Mrs StentOn.
hts investfga tions showed that several years
ago the woman had been in the habit OF paying
| servants and all tradesmen in gold. The prSc-
| tice excited much comment and it was dropped.
| A few years later he found that many OF their
| bills went unpaid and every,AsSs19 around the
gave many dresses to Mrs. KihfeslE Etvhom they
believed to be III want. since she appeared forced
TO take TO nursing 10 earn her lNeIhood me
/ two women had been at various times ehsaee1 see9
! in litigation. Two lawyers thinking they would
lose their fees, refused to 90 any more Work tor
Mrs Stenton
RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION.
Il put together all the results of weeks
work and get thing" said Sergeant Price
last night The women expected visitor that
night. This man expected TO get large sum
of money. He didn't get it, and after a few
words of expostulaton, he worked himself into
a frenzy and struck down Mrs. kinnan. Who
was he? Somebody who wanted money-prob-
ably somebody who had been getting money be-
fore The women had many debts outstanding.
but this visitor closer than a creditor"
The detective would not admit that he knew
the name Of his visitor That there had been
confirmed from Mrs. StentOn herself. and he in
| dicated clearly that he was sanguine as TO the
| outcome OF work along this line.
George l. Malcom. stockbroker. of No. 100
| Broadway, is a cousin Of Mrs. Kinnan. Though
| one OF the nearest blood relatives of the two
| women he said yesterday that he had not seen
them before this tragedy for at least ten years.
The eccentricities of Mrs. Stenton had prevented
any near family relations. he said
4 know nothing about the affairs of Mrs.
! Kinnan Mrs. StentOn. my aunt" said Mr..
| Malcolm Il almost never them. although
| ] went up there when 1 heard OF this murder
| I ha We no knowledge Of anything connected with
| their lives which would furnish motive for
| such a murder. and have not theorised much
! about IL, though I am following developments
| Mrs Stenton always was eccentric and l knew
| really very little about Mrs. Kinnan."
Another weapon with which the murder might
| have been committed discovered yesterday
| when old axe was unearthed from a wood
| pile in the small wilderness back OF the old
house The axe broken On the handle
| We're stains which might have been blood Cor
| oners and police pinned little faith this dis
| covery. One which looked more promising for
| a time was the finding OF n portrait of a younr
| man 10 11ipt