Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-06-29
THE WooDILL MYSTERY.

compromise verdict of the cOroncrs
jury that Robert f.. Eastman either
| Killed or was accessory to the murder
OF Edith May Woodill, and the decla-
ration of States Attorney Taylor that
| nc was through with the case, the
strange dual tragedy which has for
nearly Il week focused the eyes of the
entire country upon this out of-thc-
way hamlet of Maryland's famous
Eastern shore, became closed Incl
dent today
-Four of the T. jurors who listened to
| the testimony at the rcopcncd inquest
refused to sign the verdict until the
words 'or accessory to the crime"
were added to the draft, which, APP
proved by the majority, bIuntly ac-
| cuscd Eastman of the murder None
of the four dissenting jurymcn would
say that any other person than East
man WAS responsible for the girls
death They merely wished to protest,
they said, against the manner in which
| the inquiry was conducted, declaring
| that much aVaiIa bic evidence was not
| adduccd
| The letter left by Eastman for his
wife in which he declared that Mrs.
W"odiil was killed by woman I'm a
jealous frenzy. was not read to the
| Jury. The officials seemed to take it for
| granted that all of the evidence I'M
| "arthcd since the finding of the body
| was well known to the residents of the
| community and that it WAS uuncrcs-
| sary that it be rehcarScd. There was q
bit of politics in the verdict, too, for
| some Of the members of the jury have
been bitter political enemies i'm Tai
bot county affairs.
The jury sat for a time today in the
lonely bungalow itself within sight of
| Eastman's unmarked grave not so feet
|away. Mrs. Eastman had visited the
| place and had stood dry eyed for Il
| time beside the new-madc mound
Some ore with ill-judgcd humor had
| planted 4 tomato vine on the grave.
| Mrs. Eastman. thinking the vine Il M
| tive flower. asked what it was No one
had the courage to tell her. She stood
| by the grave until at last her shoulders
| shock convuISiveIy. Then She was led
away.
| Much of the testimony given before
| the jury was deeply interesting ard
| made clear many points in the tragedy
| which heretofore have been matters of
| con lecture. The mysterious launch
which was reported as having been
seen near the bungalow on the Sunday
| following the disappearance of Mrs.
| Woodil did not figure in the cvid, nc.
| Residents Of the vicinity of the hun
| Galow were piled with questions about
the launch, but none had seen it,
| No one WAS seen about the bungalow
| on the Sunday when Mrs. Woodill was
| slain. There was absolutely no evi-
i dencc that anyone other than Eastman
| could have been responsible for til"
| crime And the final theory of the at
thorities is this:
| That Eastman was in need of money;
| that he probably had been getting
| money from Mrs Woodill for some
time; that he undoubtedly knew some
thing of her past life and that he hal
| been Matchmaking her: that he al;
tempted to continue this practice an
the woman rcbcIIcd, intimating thu
| she had found out certain things about
Eastman and that if driven to il.
would expose him.
| t.astman'S dread of serving term il
the pcnitentiary is well known Ills Wit
has said that he told her he would rather
| commit suicide than he confined in prison.
The pawlng Of the jcWclry the authorities
set down to the desire of Eastman to get
Jawav When corncrcd the man decided
| that his race had been run and that he
had better make an end to it all AS to
when Mrs Woodill went to the bungalow
there is no evidence. The interesting de
| velopncnt today was the discovery of
| scraps of Il torn letter in the cracks of
the bungalow floor Little sense could
he made from the fragments of the let
| ter. but the writing was identified as that
| of Mrs Woodill The letter evidently
was about the visit of someone to some
place, to be "chaperoned or not as she
saw lit" Whether or not the letter
could have had any bearing upon the case
lis impossible to tell.
| After sitting first in the bungalow, the
corcner's jury adjourned to Mcdaniel
and then to St. Michacls, where the yer
| dict was announced The four jurymen
who dissent were deeply impressed when
they first read Eastman's letter giving
his story of the crime and Whiie theS
morally believed him alone guilty theE
desired that every other possible factor
in the case be eliminated Ihey COM
planned that no testimony showing that
Mrs. Woodil and Eastman met at Royal
IOak station on Saturday ana were last
seen together in a motor boat was Off
Totally Presented The official who con-
Quoted the testimony and the foreman
of the jury. both undertakers, are busi-
mess rivals and the natives commented
tonight up the fact that they usually
disagreed about everything
Mrs Eastman was granted letters o.
| administration today and all her nus
hands real estate and personal property
Twill be turned over to her She VIII so
hack to New York soon and return TO
H. -. s-gsWY NUuWS