New-York tribune., 1906-05-09
SPIER DEATH UNS0LVED
SUICIDE THEORY GAINS.
Recent Business UorTieS Ascyibed os
MotiUe for SeIf-Destructiou.


kins avenue. New Brighton. Staten Island. Is
situated. inclines to the theory that Spier CONE
mitted suicide, although ne viii not commit
himself definitely to such a statement on
point. however. Captain Hogan Is positive. and
that is that no burglar committed the deed.
After the most careful examination OF tho
house and the grounds surrounding IL. am alb
sOlutely certain that the house was not entered
by burglar he said
On the other hand Or. H. W Patterson. the
Spier family physician. who was one OF the nrs-l
TO reach the house after the tragedy. and Coro-i
ner ~, J. Cahill are Just as positive that Spior.
was murdered by burglar who was Caught IN
the act OF robbing the house by its unfortunat,s
owner.
The burglar theory rests mainly on the testi-i
rnony OF the widow. Mrs. SpIer said that shei
was awakened by her husband knocking at herd
door and saying: kid. there are burglars in thsl
house. must 50 after them
Then spier took his revolver from a bureau
drawer. and. holding the collar OF Buster. the
Boston bull terrier. in his other hand. crepel
down the stairs. A moment later. Mrs sple-
says she heard her husband call out "sic EN-
Buster"' There was the report Os a TevOIverJ
the sound Of a body falling and all was stHl
When DR.. Patterson and others came IN ans'
swsr 20 shots fired by a passing tradesman who
heard the cries OF Mrs. Spier and her two maids.
they found few pieces OF silverWare on the
floor. The doors leading TO the back porch vera
open. There were no signs anywhere Of a strus-l
gle
POLICE FIND FEW CLUES
Two beer bottles wrapped IN a newspaper IS
/ last Sundays date. were found near the back
fence OF the Spier garden II was learned thas
| they had been purchased from a dealer n.
TOmpkinsvHle, and the police are said 70 be N.
possession Of the name OF the man who bougha
them This. the burglar theorists say, nav fur
vfeI a0Ivra
had been made at a late hour last night
The maid. Eva OhlOff. has also told Of seeing
/ a rough looking man looking at the house on
| Tuesday and Thursday OF last week. This mighs
supply clew. but the police do not place much
| faith In Il
II learned from one Of the maids thar
the doors opening on the porch were frequently
left open at night. so apparently that had no
| significance. And. while Il would be easy for
an active man 20 climb up 20 the porch from
the soping ground at the rear Of the house. there
was not a scratch fOOtmark or evidence Os
any kind that any one had done so. Captain
Hogan and his detectives say fleeing man must
have left some marks. even il he had gained en-
trance to the house without doing 50.
The advocates Of the suicide theory say that
for several days Spencer had been in a nervous
condition. so nervous that he had voluntarily
occupied a room apart from his wife. 50 that he
might not disturb her at night Then there was
the judgment for $5OS7O against him as presi-
/ dent Of the Yetman Typewriting Transmitting
Company. Again there was the odd changing
Of the beneficiary in the two New York Life in
surance policies, aggregating $4,000 and only
recently taken out from his wife to Alfred
Lauterbach, as trustee Of his estate.
Furthermore. according 20 an intimate busi~
ness friend. Spier was known to be a heavy
speculator.
I'm this connection this friend said. 'it Ia
worthy Of note that the stocks in which tho
Standard Oil crowd are interested have been
hammered great deal Of late, and what might
only have made dent In the roll Of the bigser
men might have swamped SpieF."
Another point urged by the suicide theorists,
is that Detective Sergeant Lawson. the arsti
police officer to view the body Is positive thac
l there distincS marks OF powder on the
pajamas Spler wore Here however a direct
| conflict Of testimony Is reached DR.. George
Wood. the cOrOners physician. says there were
no such marks. and that only the edge OF the
i cloth was burned. would naturally take place
/ If the shot were fired at close quarters.
One phase Of the case that has caused soma
| feeling between the police and the coroner IS
/ that the latter has positively refused to carry
/ his autopsy to the point Of extracting the fatal
bullet from the body. This he says. Is at tha
request OF the widow.
Captain Hogan has pointed out that the re-
| cCvery OF the bullet would go far toward deter-
/ mining whether the dead man was killed by RS
/ own revolver. and so. to a great degree. would
/ clear up the mystery This matter Is now IN
the hands OF District Attorney J. ]. Kenny
i probing shall be done before the burial which
/ is set for o'clock this afternoon at the Mora
Wan Cemetery. New DOrp. Staten Island
BertillOn experts were at work on the cass
l yesterday. They examined the finger print on
the rear door 1amb and smear made by s
i thumb on the handle OF the bread tray which
was found on the floor. The smear on the silver
was found to measure up with the thumb OF Mr..
I SpieE.
The dog. Buster. Is the subject Of much dis
cusssiOn and conflicting arguments. Some say
the dog raised a big racket at the time Of the
c10 and 0rn raj he was mt cov7 H.
Horace v. Patterson, whose nome IS at the reap
OF the Spier place states that Buster did much
barking at the time Mr.. Spier killed
MR. ROGERS CHANGES OPINION.
H. H. Rogers. jr.. who on Monday was a firm
believer In the murder theory. had somewhat
modified his opinion last night.
''sInce making the statement that believed
Spier had been murdered by burglar said 1fr.
Rogers. IT have heard from the police. and am
be a case OF suicide. although II may be pos
sible. do not believe that the fact that Spier
recently took out $4,000 in life insurance has
any bearing on the case That may be merely
a coincidence as IN many similar cases.
When asked whether SpieTs finances were in
a bad condition, Alr- Rogers said that IL 10 were
so IL was news % him. He did not believe his
father H. II. Rogers, 81 would offer reward.
IN view OF the fact that Borough President CrouI
well already had done So
John Boone. manager Of the Times branch OF
the New York Life Insurance Company. said
yesterday that both policies issued to Mr. Spier
were incOntestable and would be paid by the
company, even u u were certain that Mr. SDeF
committed suicide. He said he did not know
Mr.. SpieT'6 reason FOR having the policies made
out 70 Alfred I.auterbach as trustee. 0lr Spler
was solicited for the insurance by Mr. BoOns
personally.
and counsel for Mr. Spier he was prevented nom
talking about the case. II plain that Hrr
LauteFbaeh secuted the suicide theory. There
was report that the policy for $4,000 would
have to. 20 TO the payment OF the YeCman Com