Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-10
BODY THAT
OF SLAYER?
PETTY POLITICS HIMDERS IN
VESTIGATION
BELIEVED MURDEREss MAY HAVE
PERIsHED IN FIRE
Evidence Against Frank Lamphere,
Held for Completely in Killing
Members of Family, Grows
Stronger
By Associated Press.

By Associated Press.
LAPORTE, Ind, Nay 9.-The dissen.
sions which have been brewing among
the officials of the city and county of
Laporte, interested in solving the mys-
teries of the Guinness farm, broke
open today.
1t is openly charged that the politi-
cal affiliations of some of the men con-
cerned had much to do with their atti-
tude toward the laSors of the sheriff
and prosecutor and a factional fight in
the party to which the latter belongs
is blamed also.
The widespread reports that evidence
has been found tending to prove that
the corpse supposed to be that of Mrs.
Bella Guinness is in reality the body
of another woman, are said to have
had their origin in the camp of the
defense, the members of which are of
opposite political faith to the sheriff
and of the faction opposing the prose-
cutor
These reports had their origin in
statement said to have been given out
by Dr. H. p. Long, a former coroner,
and one of the four physicians who
performed the autopsy on the bodies
found in the ruins of the Guinness
home.
Identity in Doubt
DIR. Long, however, said today that
he had not issued such a statement but
had merely expressed q personal opin-
ion that he was not satisfied as to the
identity of the corpse in question.
The other members of. the board re-
fused to be drawn into the controversy
but DIR. J. H. William Meyer, the fourth
member, said he had no doubt that the
corpse was. that of Mrs. Guinness. He,
too. however, declined to reveal the
findings of the physicians.
The attitude of the coroner as be-
tween the two factions has not become
manifest. At the prosecuting attorneys
| office, however, it was asserted DR..
Mack, the coroner, had changed the
| first report as to the identity of the
| Guinness body and an inspection of
| the documents showed this to be the
case.
All four doctors were unanimous as
to the facts and conditions surround
ing the bodies taken from the Guinness
home.
There was absolutely no difference
among u.s." said one of the doctors,
and this was confirmed by other mem
bers of the board.
There is no indication that the skulls
of the three children bore penetrating
wounds. 1t had been asserted that
fractures caused by some weapon had
been found on these skulls.
Neither was there any kind of brain
hemorrhages and the heart and lungs
of at least two of the children re-
vealed the same conditions found in
these organs in the body of their
mother. The hearts were all dilated
and full of clots, and the lungs had
collapsed.
This condition is found in the case of
persons who have died from suffoca-
ton, and the circumstance Is taken as
another evidence that the theory re-
garding Mrs. Guinness having cremat-
ed her children, substituted another
woman's body for her own and then
escaped after setting fire to the house
is not tenable.
Heat May Have Shrunken Body
One of the alleged circumstances
upon which this theory is based is
the fact that the boGy of the woman
is much smaller than Mrs. Guinness
was. The intense heat to which the
corpses were subjected, according to
DR.. Meyer, would, however, fully ac-
count for this circumstance.
Mrs. Guinness was an abnormally
large woman in every particular. When
the corpse was cut open a layer OF fat
two inches thick still existed over the
abdomen.
sui luTlIltI 6NluCltCO lilchI lhC OOQy
was that of Mrs. Guinness was found
in the fact that the remains of a finger
ring which she is known to have worn
were found in the ashes several days
later.
The buckle of a money belt such as
the woman is known to have used was
also picked up and later still key
which corresponds to the lock on her
safety deposit box was found in the
basement.
For the first time since Sheriff Smub-
zer began work on the farm he failed
to discover at least one additional
body. Excavations were made at sew
eral points in the barn yard. but in
none of them was there indications OF
human bones or flesh.
The search for bodies is to be aban-
doned for a few days at least, the
sheriff announcing that he will en-
deayor to secure additional evidence
regarding the identity of the corpses
found in the basement. With this OBJ
ject in view he has employed Louis
Schultz, who was formerly a miner, to
sluice the ashes in the cellar in the
hope that additional metallic relics OF
Mrs. Guinness will be found. The gold
filling which she is said to have had
In several of her teeth is to be an
especial object of this search.
May Find Other Bodies
The sheriff is not convinced that he
has found all of the bodies which have
been buried on the farm, but he has
not fully determined the method by
which he will conduct further explor-
ations.
The crowds of visitors to the farm
and the city were augmented today.
In the city there was constant
stream of morbid sightseers visiting
the morgues where ten of the fourteen
bodies are lying.
The sheriff received today several
inquiries from outside points regard
ing missing persons who may have
been among the victims of Mrs. GUM
tContinued ON Page Two)