The Yale expositor., 1908-07-24
THE STATE IN
GENERAL
A MYSTERY WHICH STARTLED
FENTON AND is UNDER
INVESTIGATION.
TWO SUSPECTS JAILED.
There Are Peculiar circumstances
That May Bring to Light Crime Not
Before Suspected.


James Blanchard and Leila Cossel-
man, the central figures in a strange
case at Fenton which has been en-
gaging the attention OF the author
tiles are lodged in Jail at Flint. The
accusation against them is that they
have been consorting as man and wife
without having gone through the cere-
mony of a marriage, but behind this
charge is purpose on the part of the
and under lock and key until It can be
determined whether or not they have
any guilty knowledge of the death Of
George MARBLE, the former owner OF
the farm on which they have been
living, and his daughter Ella. The
circumstances surrounding the death
Of Mrs. Blanchard last spring are also
to be investigated.
Marble died nine years ago last Oc-
tober and the story is that he was
found dead in a chair in an upstairs
room. The death Of the daughter &C.
CURED last May and is also regarded
with suspicion in the light of the
developments OF the last few days.
George MARBLE came to Michigan
IA years ago from near Jamestown, N
Y, following the death of his wife,
bringing with him his daughter Ella
and his hired man and hired girl, Jas
Blanchard and Leila Cosselman. He
purchased and settled on a farm on
the outskirts of the village Of Fen
ton. Apparently he was well supplied
with money and did not exhaust his
means when he paid $4,000 for the
farm. What became of the money he
had remaining is one of the things
the officers are now endeavoring to
find out. There was some gossip in
the neighborhood after MARBLES death,
but nothing was done in the way of
an investigation. The body was
shipped back east for burial, Blanch-
ard says.
When Intercepted by the officers
concerning the whereabouts OF Ella
MARBLE, Blanchard and the Cosselman
woman said that she had gone away
several months ago, and when they
had last heard from her she was in
Chicago. Upon being asked concerning
a death that occurred in their home
last May, they declared that the de-
cedent was a woman named White
who had come to Fenton from Marion,
o., and was taken sick on the day of
her arrival in the village.
Although the woman was a stran-
ger to them, they said they had taken
her In and done the best they could
for her until she died. After telling
this story Blanchard and the woman
produced a photograph purporting to
be that of the mysterious Mrs.
White" but one Of the officers recog-
niZed 1t as that of the picture of Ella
MARBLE, and the couple admitted that
Mrs. White" and Ella MARBLE were
one and the same persons.
The investigation that is now in
progress is the result of statements
made by Anna Cosselman, 16 years
old, a sister of the Cosselman woman.
The girl came to the Blanchard home
from the east last May to make her
home with her sister. This was after
the death of Ella MARBLE. Ann says
there was one room in the house that
Blanchard or her sister would not let
her go into, and when she finally
looked through the crack in the door,
she says she saw blood spots on the
floor. Then she became frightened,
she says, and last Tuesday she went
to make her home with neighbor.
No such room was found when the Of
flcers visited the place, and this part
OF the girls story appears to have had
the origin in an overweight imagina-
ton.
The investigation thus far has
brought out so many peculiar circum-
stances and developed such an air of
mystery concerning the deaths of
Farmer MARBLE and his daughter how
ever, that the authorities have deter
mined to leave no stone unturned TO
probe the affair to the bottom.