The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-29
-FOUR JURYMEN
WERE DOUBTFUL
Compromise Verdict Regard
ing the Killing of Edith
May WOodiII.

st. Michaels, Nd, June 2s.-With the
compromise fsrdicl ri the cOrOner's
Jury that Robert F. Eastman either
killed or was accessory to the murder
Of Edith May Woodfl and the declara-
ton of State Attorney Taylor that he
was through with the case. the strange
dual tragedy which has for nearly a
week focused the eyes Of the entire
country upon this little out-Of-the-way
hamlet of Maryland's famous eastern
shore became a closed incident today
Four of the twelve jurors refused to
sign the verdict, and the words cor
accessory to the crime" were added to
the draft which. approved by the ma
jority bluntly accused Eastman of the
murder. The four dissenting jurymen
merely wished to protest, they said,
against the manner in which the inquiry
was conducted, declaring much avail
able evidence was not adduced.
Politics in the Verdict.
The letter left by Eastman for his
wife in which he said that Mrs. Wood
i'll had been killed by a woman in
Jealous frenzy was not read. There was
just a bit of petty politics mixed up in
the verdict. for some Of the members Of
the jury have been bitter political enc
mics In Talbot county affairs.
The jury sat for a time today in the
bungalow itself, with Eastman's IN
marked grave not fifty feet away. Mrs.
Eastman had visited the place earlier
in the day and had stood dry-eyed for a
time beside the new-made mound Some
one with ill-judged hUmor had planted
a tomato vine on the grave. Mrs. East
man. thinking the vine a native flower,
asked what it was. No one had the
temerity to tell her. She stood by the
grave until at last a convulsive shudder
shook her shoulders. Then she was led
away.
Theory of the Authorities.
From the testimony, the authorities
have formed this final theory:
That Eastman was in need Of money.
that he probably had been getting mon
ey from Mrs. WOOdill for some time:
that he undoubtedly knew something
about her past life and that he had been
Matchmaking her: that he attempted to
continue this practice and that the wo-
man rebeHed. intimating that she. too.
had found out certain things about
Eastman and that if driven to it would
expose him.
Eastman's dread of serving a term in
the penitentiaTy is well known. His
wife had said that he had told her he
would rather commit suicide than be
locked uD.
Scraps of Torn Letter.
As to why Mrs. WOodnl went to the
bungalow, there was no evidence. An
interesting development was the finding
of the scraps of torn letter in the
cracks of the bungalow floor Little
sense could be made from the frag-
ments.
The letter evidently was about the
visit of some one 70 some place, to be
''chaDeToned or not, as she saw fit"
The compromise verdict declared that
on Sunday, June 20, in his bungalow,
on Broad creek. Robert F. Eastman
feloniously killed, or was accessory to
the crime of numbering Edith Nav
Thompson Woodili, wife Of Gilbert
WoodiH of Los Angeles, Cal"
The four dissenting jurymen were
deeply impressed when they first read
Fastman's letter giving his story of the
crime. and while they morally believed
him alone guilty. they desired that every
possible factor in the case should not
be eliminated. They complained that
no testimony showing that Mrs WOO5ill
and Eastman were met last Sunday at
Oak station, and were last seen to-
gether in a motor boat was officially
presented