Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-11-28
ATTORNEY ABEL TALKS To SEA.
Tie PAPERS ABOUT CASE.
r'rs. Todd Offered to Paw Abel to
Defend Steele When She knew He
Was the Murderer Of Her HuS.
band. The Officials Are SevereIv
Criticised.

In Seattle Monday night, Attorney
Abel gave to the Times the story
printed below of the Todd murder
case, that fully justifies the article
printed in these columns on Monday
last. The tale not only reveals the
! commission of deliberate brutal
murder under atrocious circuu-
stances, but betrays a failure to act
on the part of the proper officials
that appears to be more than mere
| neglect.
The interview in the Times is as
follows:
That Frank H. Todd of Hoquiam
was murdered by his wife and that
her escape from punishment, If she
does escape, is due only to abortive
efforts to prosecute on the part of
the county officials of Chehaiis, is
the declaration of w. H. Abel, law
yer for Ralph Steele, who while un-
der the charge for the crime which
startled the state of Washington took
his own life in the county Jail at
Montesano.
Abel has severed his connection
with the case, and is at present stay
ing at the Seattle Hotel, being in
this city on legal business. Discuss
ing the case last night Mr.. Abel said l.:
"The strange part of Mrs. Todd 8
conduct after the murder of her hus-
band was that she at first declared
that she was afraid to incriminate
Steele for fear he would do her bod
lily harm. Later she met me in the
office of Attorney T. H. Mckay and
told me she was willing to pay for
the defense of Steele. This of itself
would indicate her relations with
the accused man. Some of the
points in the evidence which are
against Mrs. Todd are as follows:
"She admitted intimacy with
Steele. She admitted that she had
promised to marry Steele, though her
husband was yet living. She had
disagreed with her husband at one
time and had eloped with another
man. She stated on the morning af-
ter the murder that she had not miss
ed her husband until she found his
body in the woodshed; later she de-
clared she saw Steele bending over
her husbands body after the blow
had been struck.
"Mrs. Todd is known to have pur-
chased chlorofOrm and laudanum be-
fore the murder of her husband. Two
chloroform bottles were found on the
kitchen table the morning after the
murder. The Odor of chlorofOrm
was detected in the house on the
morning after the murder. Deputy
Sheriff Anstie declares that he found
a woman's bloody apron in the vicin-
ity of the Todd home. Neighbors
declare that blood stains were dis
covered leading from the woodshed
to Mrs. Todds room after the mur-
der.
MRS. Todd, after declaring that
she was afraid of Steele offered to
loan money to pay Steele's attorney.
She followed a plan suggested by
Steele so she could visit him without
suspicion. She has admitted since
Steele's suicide that she had intend
ed to run away with him. She
| stated that at her last meeting with
Steele she had discovered he did not
care for her, but wanted her money,
whereupon she decided to, and did,
announce, first, that Steele had con-
fessed to the murder and, second,
that she had practically seen him do
the deed.
"These are some of the principal
circumstances, which to my mind
will make 1t very hard for Mrs. Todd
to prove her innocence. l have moth
ing to do with the case and my opin-
ion is entirely without bias.
"Officials in Hoquiam made Sc
rious blunders at the opening of the
case. County Prosecuting Attorney
E. E. Boner failed to put Mrs. Todd
on the witness stand at the inquest,
and he also failed to act upon the
advice Of Chief Of Police Schneider,
who advises that Steele and Mrs.
Todd be locked up in separate cells.
II this had been done their conflict
ing testimony would easily disclose
the guilty person. Instead of that,
the two were permitted to be in con-
slant communication"