New-York tribune., 1906-06-20
REVEAL MORE MYSTERY
MRS. STENTON Il PUZZLE.
M~rderous Weapons and Secret
Room Found TN Old House.

faildzlnS dlScoVer1eS maze Dy tne detectives
yesterday IN the old Stenton mansion in The
Bronx, where Mrs. Alice c. D. Kinnan mur-
dered nearly two weeks ago, and startling tale
unfolded by Detective Sergeant Price who is in
charge of the case. deepened tenfold the mystery
surrounding the murder. secret chamber in
the old house. chests full of old silverware dry
goods jeWelry and expensive toilet articles.
serviceable daggers and two deadly sandbags.
formed a new phase of the mystery. Little light
was shed to the Identity of the murderer.
though Sergeant Price has considerable infor-
nation which he has not divulged, and expects
results from it in day or two.
Old Mrs. StentOn, around whose checkered
past the discoveries of yesterday centred. is
the key to the situation. She is in command of
the situation, likewise, and little short of the
thumbscrew seems likely to drag from her the
knowledge which every detective on the case is
certain she possesses.
"The mother could clear up this case with a
single word" declared Sergeant Price last night.
4 am confident that she has all the information
necessary. but she refuses to divulse what she
knows in spite of our best efforts She is de-
iant, and, far from being weak inbecile,
she is imperative. domneerins, crafty old
woman strong physically and shrewd mentally
when aroused"
TELLS OF MYSTERY OF LONG AGO.
Last week Sergeants O'Rourke and Wines
brought to Sergeant Price a man who, as a
boy some fifteen twenty years ago. was an
inmate of the Stenton house. AS a close friend
of the family he spent days at a time there,
and, although only boy, things which puz-
zled him then and have puzzled him ever since,
just as they now are puzzng the detectives.
According to Sergeant Prices informant. even
then dense mystery surrounded the place. Many
men came to see Mrs Stenton at all hours
men we'll dressed and prosperous and men out
elbows with the hangdog expression of the
tramp. These men she saw. not, just as she
chose. If she didn't to see them, she sent
them away without ceremony. and they came
back at her pleasure She didn't go out much.
When she did il usually at night and she
was heavily veed. The who told Sergeant
Price the story said that then he felt sure some
illegal business in which Mrs. Stenton and these
men were implicated was being carried on-per-
hapS smuggling counterfeting.
Once there was serious quarrel among a few
of the most constant visitors. and police inter
ference followed. On this point the sergeants in
formant was a trife hazy, but he remembered
that one of the men was arrested. A large purse
was raised among the others to effect his release
and the money was given to Mrs. Stenton to
bribe a certain official.
Mrs. Stenton, I was told never turned over
that money" declared Sergeant Price, and the
knew that the who gave that money
couldn't collect it from hey and defed them
Now the theory has been advanced that the
man who went TO prison had been released re-
C ~ ana in carrying out his revenge had
killed Mrs Kinnan.'
SECRET ROOM IN OLD HOUSE.
The who told Sergeant Price this story
also told him that there was a secret room in
the old house in which Mrs. Stenton kept mystic
riOus articles. Mrs. Miller. one Of the closest
friends of the family. had also told him of the
secret chamber, which, she said even Mrs Kin
nan never had entered. So yesterday Price Cor
oner Mcdonald and Sergeants Connolly, Heffer-
nan, ORourke and Wines made a thorough
search for the room. Finally they found the
door.
The place rather cleverly concealed,
though it was by no means a secret chamber.
A small room. about by 10 feet lay at the ex-
trenle rear of the house. adjoining the bedroom
OF the murdered woman A door opening from
that room was partly concealed by a large old
fashioned washstand while the upper part, of
glass, was shaded and curtained like window
long closed. Outside, a window in the secret
room was shuttered heavily, and 10 a casual OBJ
server it looked like the outside of the appar-
ent window in Mrs. Kinnan's room
Inside this hidden chamber was a great mass
of fine old clothing. many books and papers a
chest Of drawers falling TO pieces and a large old
fashioned chest, covered with baize In a cor
ner stood old silver mounted rifle and a
fowling piece equally handsome An tvorv ham
died dagger with blade ten inches long. and
smaller one entirely of silver. with the blade
handsomely chased were discovered in
drawer, When the police opened the chest they
found it completely filled with handsome silver
plate, most OF which was initiaIled L NJ " Mrs
Stentons initials before marriage There was
also great quantity of cutlery, some initialled
some plain.
In room upstairs the detectives found trunk
after trunk filled with drygoods still bearing the
store marks Cheap jewelry especially 81
watches. was everywhere Toilet articles in
plush cases, penknives by the half dozen of sim
llar pattern, handbags and expensive table linen
declared that Mrs. Stenton and Mrs Kinnan
never would have purchased such articles one
theory advanced was that the place might have
been maintained as fence
TWO MURDEROUS sANDBAGs.
The most startling discovery of all. though
that of two murderous sandbags. These
We're concealed in a little closet between the mar
lor and kitchen OF the old house They. were
about fourteen inches long and two inches IN
diameter They were made of red flannel stuffed
with fine white sand. One was only half filled
leaving part of the cloth which could be wound
around the hand TO give firm grip. The detec-
lives said they were deadly weapons, made evi
IDENTIFY for service by one who knew the scien-
end was left a heavily stitched niche to prevent
bursting under the pressure of heavy blow.
AS a companion TO these Sergeant Connolly last
night found heavy clasp knife with a deeply
rusted blade. concealed in the hall Of the house
The latest interview Coroner Mcdonald and
Sergeant Price had with Mrs. Stenton gave them
a new view of the old womans nature. Before |