The sun., 1908-12-26
SHELDON CASE PROBLEMS
POLICE STICK TO THE THEORY
THAT HE KILLED HIMSELF.
Bronx Detective VINO Has Been at Werk
on the. Case Thinks That the student
Pianied to Make Himself q Hero
and went Beyond Hts Own Plans.


and went Beyond Hts Own Plans.
Lieut.. William Colby OF the Bronx
detective bureau and the men under him
who have been investigating the death
Of Van Dwight Sheldon. the New York
University student who was found
bound hand and foot and shot throug gh
the body in the cellar Of Dean Charles
H. Snow home on the university grounds
on Wednesday morning. believe that IL
thew knew a little bit more about the
character Of the young man, his habit
Of thought, and the books he had read
they would be even more strengthened
In the theory they hold that Sheldon
himself fred the shot which resulted in
his death.
As 1t Is Colby believes that when Coroner
Mcdonald orders an inquest into the death
he has enough facts In his possession
to demonstrate beyond a question that
no assailant could have been present and
that all the evidence Of an assault could
have been manufactured by the STUDENT.
One reason why the lieutenant would
like to learn more about the common trend
of mind that had been young Sheldon's
10 the similarity between some OF the
essential details OF the tragedy OF last
Wednesday and those OF an assault at the
hands OF robber which Sheldon asserted
happened last March. The facts con-
cerning this former alleged assault as
given out by Lieut.. Colby yesterday were;
Sheldon said that he had heard the
burglar alarm in Dean Shows house sound
early one morning and had run down the
front stairs. In the vestibule leading to.
the basement door he said he encountered
a burglar. who pushed him up against
q jardiniere near the newell post Of the
stairs and clubbed him over the head
with q slungshot. The burglar then
escaped from the house by hall window.
Investigation made by Colby at the
time showed that the heavy iron bars
Of the outside cellar door had been
forced apart little, but not far enough
to allow the passage Of mans hand.
The door had been unlocked from the
inside, not through the forcing Of the
lock. The burglar alarm had been set
on by the opening Of door leading from
the hallway on the main floor down to
the cellar The opening Of this door
either by one inside Of the hall or ascend
ing the cellar steps would have sprung
the alarm
At tho time Colby was told by the stu
dent that he had been out by the burglar
as we'll as dubbed. he showed outs in
his clothing. but would not allow the detec-
tive to inspect the outs he claimed to have
on his body. Another discrepancy In the
students story told after the first assault
iay in the fact that although he claimed
to have seen the intruder escape from the
house through n window there were no
tracks on the snow outside the window.
Lieut.. Colby dropped the case after
investigating Ii one day. He did not
explain TO Dean Snow why It was that he
gave up the pursuit OF the burglar whom
nobody but young Sheldon had seen.
directly to the outside of Dean Shows
houss, the one which had been unlocked
from the inside after two Of its bars had
been slightly bent as Colby discovered
last March. was found locked on Wednes-
day morning. Nothing but the old marks
o. tampering was visible on . the bars
upof, the CELLAR save the door inside Of the
house leaciinR TO the cellar steps.
Lieut. Colby Ia led TO the belief that
Young Sheldon planned the affair and
killed himself chiefly because OF the CON-
fiiCt1nR 6tatom0nt9 ne nhu fnaCo 10 explain
the presence Of the revolver.
whAn Mrs. Snow was testifying before
the Coroner on Thursday she said that
Sheldon told her as he was lying wounded
that when he grappled with the supposed
intruder he had his revolver in his pocket.
DR.. N. b. Van Etten testified that the
student had told him that the revolver
was In the cellar when he went down there
10 tend the furnace on Wednesday morn
ing; that he kept IL In the cellar usually.
IN the latter story 10 accepted how. asks
the head Of the Bronx detective bureau,
did q burglar manage TO find Sheldon's
irevolver In q strange oellari
Another query that seems to have
weight In the light Of detectives expert
enoe with criminals In this, Why did a
burglar, working between 0 and 10 o'clock
ip the morning under floor where people
were moving about subdue Sheldon after
trying TO out him. then without gagging
him or In any way trying to prevent an
outory deliberately take the risk Of cap-
ture by shooting himf That ID not tie
way ordinary burglars prepare for get
away.
The student was bound hand and foot.
Lieut.. Colby says that In all Of his expert
enoe he never encountered a cass where
a fiat thief or other variety OF burglar
had bound q victims hands In front Of
his chest where the knot could be united
with the teeth. Yet one. tying himsslf
and having TO use bis teeth 20 assist him
could not very well bind his own hands
behind him. II 10 not a trick demanding
great dexterity; In the case Of Sheldon the
knot was uppermost, lying. a. Miss Lar
kin. the governess IN the 6noW household.
4aaelflld q or,,aa fhA hoiak ~ A.. tafk knk,d'