The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-04
Positive Identification Made Of
Dead Woman
HUSBAND VIEWS THE BODY
Woman Who Was Cruelty Killed and
Thrown lnto-the Icy Pond Is Now
Said To Be Mrs. Helena
Sater Whitmore.

Newark, N. j.. January 3.-After
half dozen supposed identifcations had
| been disproved the police were satisfied
| tonight that the woman who was mur-
! dered on the flats that border the Pas
sale river, in Harrison, was Helena
Salter Whitmore, who, with her hus-
band, Theodore S. Whitmore, conducted
a furnished room house at 235 Adams
street, Brooklyn. The Identification
was made by the woman's sister, Mrs.
| Susan Schmitter of the Bronx, and cor
| roborated by Mrs. Schmitter's hus-
band, Martin Frank Englert, a friend,
and finally by the murdered woman's
husband. Whitmore has been detained
| by the police and a summons was
issued tonight for Englert. The latter,
who admitted an intimate acquaintance
| with Mrs. Whitmore, was able to go
into such minute details in his identi-
| fication that the authorities believe he
| will prove valuable witness.
Mrs. Schmitter also furnished the
police with what is believed to be i'm
| portant information. She told of
series of letters and kilograms, re-
| ceived by her sister, purporting to
come from Mrs. Whtmore, but some
| of which must have been written after
her death. A trunk belonging to Mrs.
| Whitmore had also been sent mysteri-
! ously to her home, Mrs. Schmitter said.
Mrs. Whitmore left her home on
| Christmas Day with the intention, ac-
| cording to her husband, of making a
| visit to her sister, Mrs. Bessie Hughes,
| whose home is in Schenectady. AT 2
o'clock the next morning she was seen
| in the company of man In Hacken-
| sack.
| Her nude body was found partly
| submerged in a pool of water near
| where she had been seen. The next
| day Mrs. Whitmore's trunk was de-
| livered at her sisters home in the
| Bronx.
| whitmore is a Brooklyn elevated
| motorman, who ordinarily works at
| night
He did not go to work Christmas
| night He said today that he was
| taken i'll with the grip, after his wife
| left their home and he had not been
able to work since. He had frequently
quarreled with his wife, he said, and
was not surprised when she failed to
return home. They had quarreled, he
| said because she had accepted atten-
| tions from two other men. Today,
| Whitmore placed an advertisement IN
| q Brooklyn paper offering his furnished
| rooms for sale.
Last night Whitmore visited the
| morgue at Harrison and though he
admitted familiar appearance, he
| would not say that the body was that
of his wife. Today Whitmore was ex-
| amined at police headquarters IN
| Brooklyn and finally expressed the
| opinion that the Harrison identification
| was correct He was certain, however,
| that he had received two messages
from his wife after she had left him.
| He was detained on suspicion and TO-
| night was again taken to HARRISON
| where he made his identification posi-
| tive When Whitmore entered the
| morgue tonight he gazed for some time
| upon the face OF the ueau Woiiah anu
| then said:
| "That's my wife, all right think
Warned that he should make no mis-
| take, Whitmore examined the woman
hair, the filings in the teeth ana
| scar on the neck very care1uily anu
| then turning to the officers sald'
Eyes, I am perfectly satisfied
Whitmore was then taken in custody
| bv officers who took him to the town
| hall for further examination. lie was
! still being questioned at late hour.
Husbands Strange Story.
| With touch of emotion that added to
| the puzzling features of one of the
! straneest crimes with which the police
have had to deal, Whitmore told the po-
| lice of his struggle to live down an un-
| pleasant past and how a faithless wire
| had held over his head threat or ex-
| posure-to make known to new acquaint-
ances what he now admits, of serving u
| sentence in Dannemora prison when par
| doned bv Governor Black. Bitter qual-
| rels and as many reconcilations marked
| their married life of Is years.
His wife, he said, had become 1nfatu-
| ated with a sailor known to him only
| as Harry" but when she returned home
| at Christmas following a five-days ap-
| sence he greeted her with Merry
| Christmas She failed to respond and
| thew ouarreled on the street He thought
| that she had a bottle of acid and he at
| tempted to take it from her. In the
| struggle they both fell Later they ell
| fected truce, and had dinner together.
| Then he went out on an errand and when
| he returned to the house she had left
| never to return.
Wlhitmore said that he came originally
| from Schenectady, and that he was mar
| ried by a justice .of the peace In Al
| bany. He gave his age as 36 years lie
| said, according to the police that several
years ago he was sentenced by Judge
| Griffin at Troy to serve sentence OF
| two years and 10 months in Dannemora
| state prison on a conviction of having as
saulted a companion during drunken
| row on the Albany bridge. He said he
| had served about eight months when ne
was pardoned. Some years ago he said ne
| came here and worked in various capaci-
| ties until he secured his position on the
elevated road. He said that on the day
his wife disappeared he had given her
SIS. He knew absolutely nothing he said,
of how she came to be in New Jersey or
the manner of her death.
Southern Train Derailed.
Atlanta, January 3.-A special train on