Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-07-23
WOULD PUT BURDEN OF PROOF
ON THE ELLISONS.
HOPES TO GET MONEY
Widow of the Man Who Killed Him
self at Elroy When Arrested Con-
suits Detective and Now a Theory
is Advanced Which Views Riggs
as Innocent of the Actual Murder.

Riggs did not murder Mile Ellison
in her room at The National hotel.
An unknown, smoOthfaced man did
the deed"
This is the theory to which the
widow of the railway conductor
clings and upon which il is expected
she will base her claim to the $4,000
found by the authorities in Riggs
safe deposit vault.
1t is known that Mrs. Riggs has
consulted a lawyer and that a pri-
vate detective is working on her
case 1t is also known that there
have been some startling develop
ments that tend to prove the widows
theory.
The chambermaid and two other
National hotel employees who saw
the man believed to have done the
murder and who is supposed to have
been registered at the hotel under
the name of NJ. J. Wilson, are said to
have failed to identify the pictures
shown them las those of Riggs.
However, no explanation of the Riggs
cipher letter, in which he directed
Millie Ellison to register as Mrs. M.
j. Wilson has been advanced.
The Riggs defense will attempt
to show that the description of the
man seen about the hotel, entering
and leaving Miss Ellison's room,
tallies to a startling degree with
that of a man who walked up Second
avenue almost Immediately after the
ic ho1 +O hoy
committed. This alleged fact will
be presented:
At Fourth street and Second
avenue he met Nathan NJ Riggs and
gave him the grip that he carried,
after which the two Immediately
separated This meeting was at
2:15 p. m. on Tuesday, and they Will
try to bring as Witnesses three per-
sons who knew Riggs, but are I'M
acquainted with the large, smooth
faced man who brought the conduc-
for the grip. The witnesses are one
man and two women. The man lives
in st. Paul and is said to be ready to
testify as to the meeting, The time
and the circumstances.
Mrs. Riggs friends have evolved
the theory that this man with the
grip did the brutal killing and has
tened directly to Fourth street with
the plumber, which was then taken to
the safety deposit vault by Riggs him
self They argue that even if Riggs
was an accOmplice and possibly plan
ned the murder, he was too clever
70 ric,tA Of h. I
hotel and be seen going in and out
of that public place where he was so
well known. They contend, however,
that if they can prove that Riggs
did not actually strike the fatal blows
it will be up to the EllisOns to prove
that he was an accOmplice or had
anything to do with the murder, and
in this way Mrs. Riggs will have a
good fighting chance to secure the
money left in the vault by her hus-
band
The police scout the idea thai
Riggs had an accomplice, but there
will be every possible investigation
made, and the chances for new and
startling developments are good. A
description of the man who is said
to have taken the grip to Riggs is
alleged to be in the possession of The
private detective, who is bending
every energy to find additional proof
Elm Ellison, father of Mile Eli
son, the woman murdered in the Ma
tional hotel, filed a petition in the
probate court for his own appoint
ment as administrator of the estate
of the murdered woman. The per
sonal property of the girl is valued
at $1,000. She left no real estate
If Mrs. Riggs intends to make a con
test for the money found in heI
husbands safety deposit box, she viii
probably oppose Mr.. Ellison's petit
ton, the hearing upon which is set
for August Is.
Evidence is constantly coming tC
light showing that Riggs took extra
ordinary precautions in many little
details when he planned the murder
of Mile Ellison, and if her body
had been burned it might have beer
months before he would have been
suspected. The latest information
comes from Osceola, Wis, where
Mrs. Nick Worth, sister of Mile Ell
hson, resides.
Mrs. Worth says that on Tuesday
morning, a few hours before she was
murdered, Mile wrote her a letter
from a Minneapolis department store
In the letter she said she was feel
ing we'll and would soon start fol-
the west This letter was received
by Mrs. Worth two hours before the
telegram came announcing the
tragedy. 1t had evidently been writ
ten at the suggestion of Riggs, and
would have done much to ward of
suspicion in case the body of tbs
victim had been burned beyond rec
ignition.
In such a case no one would have