Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-01

APRIL 1, 1908,
denied admission. but was met at the
door by De Arman himself, who ap-
peared very nervous as he talked.
He positively refused to make q state
ment of any kind or discuss the trag-
edy or the affairs leading up to 1t.
Refuses to Answer
Don't ask me anything" he said,
his lips trembling. u don't want to say
anything. / don't-rI can't--say any
thing. l must not make a statement"
He repeated this over and over, with
extreme nervousness, and inserted his
hands in his pockets half dozen times
while he shifted about in the door ut
terly at a loss what to say. When a
request was made to see Mrs. De
Amman or her physician the request
was refused.
Everyone connected with the affair
in the slightest is very reticent. 1t was
impossible to obtain a statement from
Mrs. DE Arman. her husband or the
chauffeur. The latter. while tho shoot
ing was going on. left the postottice and
turned the corner at a high speed. look.
ing back repeatedly as if much fright
ened. When hailed by. a friend. it is
said, he repeatedly opened his lips but
could not articulate.
The reporter of The Herald found
him aNfew minutes after 6 o'clock in a
nearby garage. still So affected by the
shooting that he could not compose
himself. He refused to make a state
ment saying he was afraid he would
make it two or three different ways,
which later might be used against
him or De Arman.'
At the home of Constable Thomas on
Orange and Charlotte streets the same
reticence was i'm a great degree mani
fest. Daniel Thomas, the deputy con-
stable, with whose family Mrs. Griffith
roomed and boarded, consented to an
interview.
He stated he had "just been upstairs
going through the dead woman's trunk
and personal effects to discover the adj
dress of her parents whom he said
were some place in New York.
He denied that De Arman had been
frequent caller at his house, although
he admitted that De Arman had called
perhaps a half dozen times"
In defense of his home. perhaps,
Thomas also stated that he did not
believe De Arman had ever provided
money for Mrs. Griffith or that they
had been intimate"
Had Picture of Lover
He admitted that Mrs Griffith had a
picture of De Arman of which she ap-
peared to think a great deal. The pic
ture showed De Arman mounted on
one of his favorite horses on an east
ern race course. He also stated that
Mrs. Griffith never worked, but fire.
quented the races" and that she was
possessed of considerable fine cloth
ing, jewelry and money!
He did OOt attpTnnt In 6env that She
twas commonly in the company of De
Arman at the race track" and that
she appeared to be very fond of him
as a friend"
While answering a.. questions put to
him, it was evident that young Thomas
carefully avoided giving a direct re-
ply to any question pertaining to the
dead woman's character. He said she
had roomed and boarded with the fam
lily since November T. last year.
Her full name" he said. 'is Mrs.
Helen Griffith. She is the wife of
Henry Griffith, once well-known
jockey, who is now in San Francisco
or Emeryville, but who / understand,
is not riding. She left the house at
noon today to attend the races, where
she goes almost daily. She has been
very much interested in De Arman's
horses. She was woman who made
herself perfectly at home here and
came and went as she pleased
Back of the killing of Mrs. Helen
Griffith. whose life for the past seven
years seems to have been moulded by
the race track environments, lies a
heart tragedy which. according to all
reports, has had few parallels for
dramatic incident. ...
Wife Aided Husband
Mrs. De Arman is a striking
blonde. short and of small stature, but
with pretty face and figure. She
was married when almost a girl and
it is said that she helped to build her
husbands present fortune. For years,
it is said, the couple lived in a covered
wagon in poverty and the wife and
husband labored patiently together
until De Arman came into possession
of Il small fortune and drifted through
the trend of circumstances into the
race track business
According to reports he was at first
rider, later a bookmaker and so on
until at present he is the owner of a
string of six horses, said to be among
the best now running at the Santa
Anita track.
These horses have been repeated
winners during the present season
and if reports are true he has netted
money The horses are Harvel, Early
Tide, Crescent, Hereafter, Antioch and
Money Must.
About five years ago, according to
common report, De Arman first met
Mrs Griffith at an eastern race track
Of which she was a frequenter She
was then, much more than at the time
| of her death, rather striking woman
of good form and attractive features
with the sporting blood hot in her
veins and the gambling fever well de-
veloped.
De Arman in those days undoubted-
ly became enamored of the woman
ana an attachment sprang up between
them. The affair developed, almost
under the very eyes of the wife, who
at first did everything in her power
to prevent 1t, but who later, according
to her friends, became reconciled. She
is said to have declared to q friend
IN Monrovia that so long as her chill
dren were not aware of their fathers
infamy she did not care. She is also
said to have made repeated efforts
dru,ng the inception of the Illicit love
aftalr, to persuade the Griffith woman
to leave her husband alone for the sake
of the little ones.
Woman Leaves Husband
From all that can be learned it was
some time after De Amman and Mrs
Griffith met that the latter and he1
husband, then jockey. separated. The
facts relative to the separation cannot
yet be learned.
From New York TO Texas. from