Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1908-02-21
CORD HELD BODY
Corpse of Woman Hung to
IDoorknob Thirteen Weeks
HER HUSBANDsDETAINED


In Room of Hotel Which He Owned |
establishment Was Closed lmme-
diately After Woman Disappeared
Foxcroft, Me, Feb. l9.--The mys-
tery of the disappearance of Mrs |
Maude Woodbury.. wife of Herb,rt !
Woodbury., Il wealthy livery stable
keeper and real estate owner here. who
has not been seen since Nov. last.
was solved when officers making iQl Ii
vestiga,iOn discovered the dead )uOdN
Of Mrs Woodbury. hanging by IL cora to
door knob III an empty room at the
top Of the fourth story lodging house
known rs the Exchange hotel
Woodbury. is - years old and hi,
wife was 3G. The couple were married
eight years ago, the woman being
Woodbury's third wife. 1t 5 claimed
their married life had not been happy.
When Mrs. Woodbury. disappeared
her husband told friends. it is claimed
that he had had quarrel with his wife
|
the house. aud he seemed anxious to
| do all in his power to find out where
his wife had gone and To have her re-
turned to him.
The Exchange hotel. which was
owned by Woodbury.. is large. four
story affair, which ordinarily accommo
dates some twenty-five dodgers. Last
fall there were only eight people in tile
house. however ana Mrs. Woodbury.
concerned herself with providing boarG
for her dodgers and taking care of the
rooms. ON the day on which she dis
appeared Woodbury. turned out the few
dodgers staying at the house and imm"-
diately closed up the place. going to live
with his sister Miss Woodbury..
spinster. who lives on River street.
Very soon after the hotel was closed
Woodbury. advertised his livery stable
property for sale giving ill-heath as the
cause for his going out of business.
That Woodbury. was in ill-healtE was
shown by the frequent visits of Il local
physician. who aScribed his condition
to weakness of the heart. An evidence
OF his ll-health which did not fail to at
tract the attention of the tOwnspeopie
was repetition of Il fainting spell
which he experienced on severa. octa-
sions wien passing by the Exchange
hotel or his daily ride which he has
taken during the past few months. On
two or three occasions physician has
had to be called, il is stated, and Wood
bury has had to be taken back to his
sisters home.
City Marshal Leader of Lewiston. EN-
ployed by Mrs. Woodbury's father.
John Henderson, appeared in FoXcroft.
accompanied by Edward Henderson OF
Milo. brother of Mrs. Woodbury.
Sheriff Knowles of Dover. Officer Ma
suire of Foxcroft and Helen Wood
bury. aged 20, of Dover. daughter OF
Woodbury. by his first wife, and the
party proceeded TO the Exchange hotel.
The officers were admitted TO the ho-
tel by Miss Woodbury.. who had the
KEY The officers started in the base
ment and every room up through tue
three floors of the vacant house was
thoroughly and carefully searched
When the top or fourth floor was
reached nothing was found until the
party had reached room 10. where the
officers were unable to open the door.
\ consultation was held and. as II
was found that to complete the search
the door would have 10 he broken in
the officers questioned if they had the
authority to so act. \ stay in the pro
ceedings was therefore called until OF
ficer Mcguire could seek out the au
thorties and secure Il properly made
out search warrant.
Armed with full authority. Knowles
and Leader then forced an entrance Il
room 10. When the door had been sur
ficienty opened the party entered on'
by one through the narrow aperture
Miss Woodbury. following close be
hind.
Inside the room the frozen body OF
Mrs. Woodbury.. badly decOmposed al
ter its thirteen weeks of sole occu
pancy of the great house, lay stretche,
| upon the floor. the head raised barely
II two inches from the nOor and sus
l pended by small cord twisted abou
the neck and fastened 10 the doorknol
\ on the inside of the door. The bod,
II was fully clothed. there were no marks
Y about the room To give evidence tina
/ any struggle had taken place in tn
1 room. and so far as could be discovere,