Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-01-04
EDWARDS CASE Coroner Mix Making an
 Investigation. A MYSTERY AS YET
The Plumbing of the Hitler House Torn Out to Discover the Traces of the
 Weapon.

the Traces 0t the
 Weapon.
 New Haven, Conn, Jan. 4-Until the autopsy is held upon the body of l Charles A. Edwards, the New York l business man who was fatally shot ill
 a mysterious manner while the guest
 of his brother-in-lay, Charles A. Hitler l on College street early yesterday. no I special developments are expected ill
 this singular case. The autopsy is ex-
 pected to determine beyond question
 the fact of suicide or murder, and in case of the latter the police will pro- | ceed to run down some clews which
 they possess but which do not at pres
 ent offer much promise of a result.
 Medical Examiner Bartlett, who will
 conduct the autopsy, will be assisted
 by several prominent surgeons of the l city. He is expected to report to Cor
 oner Mix an opinion op the question
 of possibility of the wound being self 1 inflicted, and if not to give an opinion | as to the direction and from what dis tance the bullet sped on its deadly mission.
 When Dr Benjamin H. Cheney was called in to see the dying man yester- day he did not discover the bullet
 wound until he turned Edwards over.
 He ran probe into the wound and | located the bullet in the lower section of the brain. The bullet has not been removed After the autopsy Coroner Mix is expected to reopen the inquest
 which was held for many hours last night by his deputy, Philip Pond, and on instructions to be received then the police will resume their work. Over night there were no clews brought to light by the detectives. who continued to carefully examine the Hitler home stead.
 A servant girl in neighboring house had told of hearing three pistol shots during Tuesday night and scrut- iny was made of the walls and cell ings of several rooms to see if any stray bullet could be located. That the dicated apparently by a statement Of Metcalf, the next door neighbor, who was the first to reach the bedside uf the dying man after Charles Hitler had called for assistance. He says that there were powder stains around the bullet wound but there were no burns. The powder only slightly discolored the flesh indicating that only a minute quantity of the charge went with the bullet In a jar in the room a few bloodstains have been found but as yet no theory has been advanced as te the source of the stains, whether Of fresh blood or whether they were left after the jar had been washed.
 Mir Edwards death has caused greater stir in the university section of the city than any incident in great many years. It sems to be generally known that there were disagreements between Mrs Edwards and Ter broth CTS. Charles A.. and Maxcy Hitler over the settlement of the estate of their mother, Mrs Abigail Hitler, who died six weeks ago. MT Edwards recently consulted counsel preliminary to what was expected to be contest in the courts over the division of the estate which Is said to be worth S100,OOO.
 In the first interview given out A. Maxcy Hitler laid emphasis on his re- ply to certain questions by maintain- ing that the best of relations existed between himself and Mir Edwards.
 Coroner Eli Mix. who was out of town yesterday. returned during the forenoon and immediately went into conference with Deputy Coroner Pond to review the evidence taken at the inquest last night. In short time an order was given to have plumbers set at work in the Hitler house tearing up the traps and plumbing and to lay bare for scrutiny most of the drain age pipes. No explanation was given for this move and shortly after 10 o'clock three plumbers went to the house and began the task under the eyes of three men from police head quarters.
 About the time Coroner Mix arrived in town Medical Examiner Bartlett summoned to the undertaking rooms where the body of Edwards had lain | all night Drs Benjamin H. Cheney. William H. Carmalt. who is under | stood to represent the Hitler family. and Jay W. Seayer. formerly of Yale | gymnasium. who is an authority on | measurements. The surgeons | viewed the body. but did not begin an | autopsy and will not do SO until they | have made report to Coroner Mix as to their opinion regarding the manner in which the wound was inflicted. At the inquest last night il was positive ly stated that Mir Edwards was a right handed man. and if So the local ity of the wound was such that it would be impossible in the opinion Of some surgeons for a right handed man to have self inflicted it. Moreover the first joint of the index finger of Mir Edwards right hand was amputate,i to remove a felon years ago. A close friend If MT Edwards says that it is his recollection that the latter was an adept at ball playing with his lefr hand
 Coroner Mix will interview Mrs Esf- wards later in the day and will ln- luire more fully into the family buSf- ness affairs, eSTecislly fhcse relating to the settlement of the estate of Mrs ifller. A. Maxey HiIler in an inter. TJew today reiterated his statement that both himself and his brother rharies were on the most friendly terms with Mir Edwards Ma1cy Hfl- er is evidently suffering at rrp~eut from nervous tr0uhleL and this morn ng remained at his home on Tempse .trsef an.i de.Iinesi to see any but