Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-10-10
TRAGEDY AND ROMANCE BOTH
FIGURE IN THE CASE.
WIFE FOUND DEAD IN BED
And Husbands Speedy ! Marriage
Leads To Suspicion That Her End
Was Not NaturaI-Seventeen'Y Year
Old Daughter Loyal To Her Father
Says He Is innocent.

for an early. trial of the Fred Magill-
Fay Graham murder case, which has
been brought to Macon county on
change of venue from DeWitte county.
The case is the second on the criminal
docket, which will be the first to be
taken up when court meets tomorrow
The attorneys for the defense say the
accused are ready to face the bar and
are confident that the result will be
vindication. Prosecuting Attorney
Millar, in charge of the prosecution, be-
lieves that be has strong case, parti-
cularly against Magill Whatever the
result the trial is bound to attract as
much attention as ever conferred in a
criminal case in this part of Illinois.
Fred Magill and his wife, formerly
Fay Graham, comes from two of the
most prominent families in the state
Magill and his first wife had never
been able to get along and it was COM
mon talk that he was paying atten-
ton to other women of Clinton, espec-
tally Miss Fay Graham, who had acted
as his stenographer. On May 81 of
this year Mrs. Magill, Familiarity
known as pet Magill," was found dead
at her home in Clinton, and it was at
first supposed that she had committed
suicide.
The circumstances were of a strange
nature, but the authorities paid no at
tention to it until news came to Gin
ton that Fred Magill and Fay Graham
had been married in Denver, and this
but a little over four weeks after the
flrst wife's death. 1t developed that a
few days after the death of his wife Ma
gill had disposed of his property, drew
his money from his fathers estate and
with Miss Graham and his daughter,
Marguerite, aged II, left Clinton.
, MissGraham, who is the daughter of
w. w. Graham, a well-known resident
OF Clinton, led her parents to believe
| that she was going to Chicago to Sc
cure work as a stenographer, and
might also visit relatives in Kankakee.
When word was received that the
couple had been married in Denver on
July an active investigation was
| started by the Clinton authorities and
the result was that Magill and his
bride were arrested in San Diego.
CAL, on July 10, and brought back to
Clinton and indicted by the grand iury
The charge was first degree murder.
The investigation, it is said, showed
that Mrs. Magill had been poisoned
by chlorform.
When brought back to Clinton, Ma.
gill brought forth letters which be
claimed had been written by his wife
before her death in which she Landed
him to the skies as the best of hus-
bands, and in the final letters, which
ne Claimed were written just before
her death, she spoke in glowing terms
OF Fay Graham and even so far as TO
advise him to marry her.
In contradiction to the statements of
Magill the friends of the dead woman
declare that she was of a cheerful dis
position and woman extremely nm
likely to kill herself. On the night be-
fore her death she had been riding
with her husband and appeared in n
cheerful frame of mind. 1t was Nagill
who found her dead body next morn
ing, when he said he had found the
notes pinned to her nightdress. These
notes the prosecution expects to prove
forgeries. The corners inquest at
the behest of Magill, was conducted
with secrecy, the coroner refusing to
make any of the details public.
The Magill family is one Of the
wealthiest in Clinton, and prominent
In the social and financial uorld
Fred Magill inherited 100000 in 1899
but soon got away with it. Before he
went west with Miss Graham he raised
$4,000 on prospective legacy.
Since their return to Clinton Naei,,
and his bride. with the year-old daugh
ter, have been staying at the HON,
OF w. W. Graham, and have appeared
on the street but little. The daughter
Marguerite. stoughtly maintains that
her father is innocent and she is ar.
pceted to be one of the most important
WITNESSES ,inthe case. The defensa
VIII be condusted by six prominent at
torneys.