The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-06-30
DEATH ENDS GRIM TRAGEDY.
Thrilling Story of Romantic Life of
Mrs. WOodill and Her Murderer
Wait BcfricnGed by sad Man.

81. MlNlfAE4l Mu., June ZJ,--.ND
pursuit of any accused assassin was
ever attended by more picturesque
setting than that which ended in the
death of Lame Bob" Eastman the
supposed slayer of Mrs. Edith May
Woodill early today. Eastman was
known here as IGmmit +. Roberts
having simply transposed his name
from Robert Emmit Eastman. He
committed suicide rather than surren-
der.
The man disappeared late Wednes-
day, following the identification of
Mrs. Woodill's body. Suspicion point
ed to him from the first, for he was
the person the girl was last seen with,
\ missing skiff from the home of a
neighbor told the story of his flight.
All Thursday posses vainly searched
for him. Late last night, however,
John w. McQuay, who lives four
miles from Mcdaniel on Harris Creek,
heard the soft splash of oars. Receiv-
ing no answer to his halls, McQuay
frantically summoned help by phone.
The posse arrived and securing an
other boat they began a stealthy trail
ing that ended with the death of the
fugitive. Hour after hour Eastman
tried to shake off his pursuers. AS he
became exhausted. his progress be-
came so slow that the posse passed
him in the darkness. Not sure the
men in the other boat were pursuing
him. Eastman continued until he
reached a point just opposite the
l,n .,;, for
whose death he was being sought. AS
he passed the posse hidden in the
tall grass of the shore called on him
to halt Then came the report of n
revolver. 1t had been aimed by East
man at his own heart, Officers, how
ever thinking the shot directed at
them. returned the fire and claimed
at first it was their fusillade which
caused the mans death. Physicians
at the coroner's inquest finally deter
mined the question.
Eastman had watched the events
previous to the discovery of Mrs.
Woodill's body with a smile on his
face Monday he spent the morning
in a telegraph office at Mcdaniel. In
the afternoon he went to Baltimore
and posted a letter to Miss Carrie
Thompson, which if the body had not
been discovered would have delayed
the search some days. Tuesday he
returned. Wednesday when the body
was discovered he asked for horse
expressing his intention of driving
over to St MichaeI's to get the story
of the murder to take to Baltimore
Reaching st. Michaers he watched
the proceedings and did not leave un-
til the body was identified. Return
ing later he ordered ticket for Bal
tmore.
In the meantime a constable called
up to inquire about him, and East
man then stated if there was any sus-
picion about him he would remain. He
declared he had never seen the
woman.
a letter which SENS to connect
Eastman most strongly with the case
was written by Mrs. Woodill and mail
ed several days after her death. Whe-
Their she wrote it to shield her visit to
Eastman's bungalow or whether the
man had some evil intent in mind and
compelled her to write it to cause de-
lay in the search for her body, may
never be known. This letter was in
tended to give the impression that
Mrs Woodill was in Baltimore secur-
ing the services of a doctor.
One of the most pitiful figures in
the lamentable tragedy is old Colonel
Thompson who after following the
girls body to its last resting place
beside the graves Of his wife and son
told as much as he knew of the girl $
history. To her foster brother She
had been the ideal Of all that was
good sweet ana pure, ana when he
had asked her 10 become his Wife and
she had refused he killed himself.
Now has come The GROWING sorrow
of an old mans life.
Col. Thompson while a charity
worker in Minneapolis first met the
Cslild, She was then three years old
and in the custody of Il street car
driver, who was willing to surrender
her to anyone who could provide her
a better home. He told of the girl 5
first marriage to Dr.. CasWell or Gross
well in New York, which union was
soon annulled. lie also told of her
engagement to Harry Adams and her
subsequent marriage to Gilbert Wood
i'll of Los Angeles, to wnom she SEEM
ed devoted. He told of her meeting
with former secretary of the treas
ury Gage and of the latters interest
in her education. Regarding East
man, Colonel Thompson said Mrs.
Woodill never met him until she came
to spend the summer at the Thomp-
son home. He places no credence in
any suggestion that she had previous
ly known him. Why Eastman should
have killed the girl is beyond Colonel
Thompson's imagination.
LEWISTON, Idaho, June 25.-Mrs.
Albert Knight. mother of Mrs. Edith
May Woodill, was found tonight by
a representative of the associated
press at her home at Ahsah, a settle
ment in the mountains forty miles up
the Clearwater river from this city
Mrs. Knight related the story of her