The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-24
SPIGR WAS EOT MURDERED.
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The inr,e-, Wa marl~l ~ IN acrimonious
NV l~tWsrn srversl meF,bsra ~ ths Jury
and Coruuss Matthsw . Cahill, beoani@~
the lurymen and wi,nea-p. wefv held for
hours without opportunity Ia Rst anything
to eat. A feature also wns the dramatic
manner In which Mrs sptsr. the widow
identified tho rrvolvcr witch oauSsi her
husbands death. She hAndlel The weapon
with The shill ~ sn expert In firearms AMI
after n Gloss examination ~ IL she RAISED II
10 the air AMI pulled the trigger.
Not until the hammer fell with a snap did
she answer yes TO the question whether
or not II was her husbands weapon.
Thirty-thrce witnesses we're examined the
most important Of whom we're the willow
n n Rogers, Jr., Frank '. Keeoh Of Keech
Loew a Co, and several neighbors, one Of
whom, Glenn y. Balch. O civil engineer
swore positively that he heard Ave shots
fred on the night In question. the first two
Of which followed q woman's scream. Then
there was another scream for help, after
which three more shots were fired by the
bakers boy. John Martin. Two other
n~eighbors, women, testified to hearing three
pistol shots fred after a woman screamed
for help. They were evidently Martins
shots. Mrs. Spier stuck to her story that
there were two shots fred in the house.
Not much light was thrown or Spier's
financial transactions. except hat Mr..
Keech admitted that Spier was indebted
to his firm at the time he was shot -for more
than $500, 600, which had been reduced by
the selling Of securities the firm held to a
loss Of S57, 500"
The jury was composed OF some Of the
best known men on the island, including
Walter c. Kerr, president of Westinghouse,
Church, Kerr q Co; Ernest Flagg, the arohi-
tect; j. Fred Smith, the large real estate
operator: William Anderson. Jarvis Fair
child and Clark Durham, brokers in New
York; II. W. Koenig, A. W. Jones, Abram
Greenwald, Theodore Gogsl, @. A. Barth
and Jacob Kirschner. The testimony began
with the physicians in the case and it dis
closed a wide difference Of opinion as to
how close the revolver was held to Spier's
body when he was killed.
n D----- MI A.
told 81 the wound, and then said that the
weapon must have been some inches away
from Spier, because there were no powder
marks visible AROUND or in the wound. Dr.C
W. Townsend. whowas one Of the physicians
who responded to the cries for help, testified
that the muzzle of the weapon must have
been held close to the body, almost in con-
tact with it. and he declared that the powder
had evidently zone into the wound with the
bullet.
Then came the testimony OF two women
neighbours living on either side Of the Spier
home. Miss II. S~halkenberg Of 6 Tompkins
avenue swore that she was awakened by
a woman's scream and that she heard three
pistol shots. Mrs. Flora Hoffman Of 0
Tompkins avenue also swore that she was
awakened by the same scream and heard
three pistol shots. The scream evidently
was that Of Mrs. Spier when she went to the
door TO cry for help and the shots were the
three shots that Martin fred at Mrs. Spier's
to attract help,
Then Mr.. Balch testified that he had
been kept awake all night by a splitting
He lives on Belmont place,
200 feet of the Spier home, and from
=. loIoe--x zut,;la HE roneo ho nArll ~ ~.
Spier front door. Mr.. Balch swore with
great ~positiveness that he heard a woman
Then came two pistol shots in :
rapid succession, fired, he was sure. by the
same weapon; hen more screams. He
to his telephone to call for help, and
there heard one shot, and then two
more after an interval of about five minutes.
These three shots undoubtedly were those
by Martin.
After two night watchmen had testified
about hearing the three shots fired Precinct
Detective j. W. Lawson told how the police
the house. He said that there were
no traces Of any burglar, that DIR. H. W.
Patterson, the family physician, had said
that nothing had been disturbed except
the revolver which DR.. Patterson had picked
up from the floor and had placed on a chair,
md that Mrs. Spier was explicit in declaring
that she heard only one pistol shot. He
read his written report telling how Mrs.
5pier had told Of her husband coming
TO her room, how he had taken the revolver
from a bureau drawer and had gone down
crying to the dog, Sick EN-, Buster
Mr.. and Mrs. A. e. Dowler told how they
been summoned TO the house by tele-
phone and how they found Mrs. Spier lying
over her husbands body. Mrs.
said she and DR.. Patterson had
helped Mrs. Spier up stairs. They corrobo-
rated DR.. Patterson In saying that the back
doors Of the house were open and that
had peer disturbed before the police
All the witnesses up to this point
agreed about the seven or eight pieces Of
that were lying in the corner Of the
lining room, with the revolver beside the
chair.
John Martin. the bakers boy, said that
,e had>been within 200 feet Of the house
or ten minutes before Mrs, Spier screamed
or help. He heard no noises until tho scream
,ame. He was three doors away and did
rot respond at first because he thought it
night be a family row. When he heard the
Try Of murder he ran TO the door and found
frs. Spier, who said "her boy had been