Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1909-12-03

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Elliott has met the Wardlaw woman,
and he says tina she seemed to be I'M
der the influence OF her sister, Mrs.
Martin.
Pertinent questions were put today
to Frederick Weimer. chief of the
prosecutors detectives. He evaded re-
diving by referring the STAR reporter
TO the prosecutor. The prosecutor was
too busy" to permit of an interview.
rs there any truth in the ruinor thai
the aunt Miss Wardlaw, has I'M
bosomed herself and has implicated an
other?''
The detectives only reply was:
Il guess Governor Forts son, who is
looking after the prisoners interests,
will not allow her to tall"
Detectives who have been tracing the
history of the Wardlaw and Snead fam
lilies are convinced that the three
Younger of the four old women" who
have figured so conspicuously in the
'bathtub mystery were insurance
mad. and declare they will be able to
show that the insurance IN the life of
Mrs Snead, who was drowned in tine
hathtub. was the goal which made her
death desirable.
Sergeant O'Neil and Detective Riksf,
of East Orange, declared today that
they had discovered young Mrs. Snead
carried SEA, 500 on her life, $1,000 OF
mis- amount In the New York Life In
surance Company and $500 in tie
Eauitable Assurance Society. 1t is
said tha the aggregate insurance car
ried on the lives of Fletcher w. Snead,
the dead woman's husband n cousin;
his brother Albert. who was burned 70
death a few years g uuder mysterl-
Gus circumstances, and Mrs. Ocey
Snead. will approximate 100000. In
each case one of the four old women
was the beneficiary. 1t is. said that two
efforts have been made to collect the
se4. 600 insurance on the life of Fletcher
Snead, but that Miss Virginia Ward
law. now under arrest here for the
murder of her niece, who called in per-
son to collect the money, was unable
in either instance to produce proof as
to the young man death. The police
believe they will be able to prove he
still Slives.
In a four-hour interview with Mrs.
Mary Snead in New York, ONe1 ana
Riker were able to piece out me ms
: tory of the family. Franklin w. Fort
rad called upon Mrs. Snead before the
visit of the detectives. and IN leaving
mad given nST q HOts SlSuEu " ms
ursing her to make no statement to re-
porters or detectives. Mrs. Snead told
the detectives that If the house at SO
North Fourteenth street, East Orange,
where her daughter-in-law was found
dead. had proved suitable they intended
to establish q home which would yield
a evenue. She did not explain further.
O'Neil n Riker were in conference
with Prosecutor Mott today. Recorder
Mott, of East Orange. received a letter
today telling him that information of
importance might be had at .46S West
Twenty-second street, Manhattan, The
house next door to the latest abode of
some of the coterie OF old women.
While refusing to explain the basis
for their contention the New York
police declare that they have in their
possession evidence which shows clearly |
what was the motive for the crime.
This evidence is contained in two
packages left at police headquarters by
DR.. f. O. Collins, proprietor of a drug
store at 131 Third avenue, Manhattan.
They were contained in q suitcase and
consisted of a bundle of clothing which
a apparently belonged to Fletcher
Snead and two bundles Of papers. 1t
is declared that these papers contain
a motive for the starvation of Ocey
Snead and possibly for her murder.
The suitcase was left five weeks ago
in the drug store by a man who an
swered the description Of Snead. The
two bundles of papers were left in the
store about five months & by an old
woman heavily yelled, who begged that
under no circumstances they be given
to any other than herself. Later an
~ Il--lr .1-aa, aaIIa1 0n1 aaLnH |
for the packets, explaining that she
was the sister of the first and that her
sister was i'll. DR.. Collins refused to
give them up.
The statement made by Attorney
Julian V. Carabba contributed one of
the most sensational developments tt
the weird mystery and lends some
show of strength to the theory that the
girl was under hypnotic influence.
AS was told in the EVENING STAR,
Carabba was called to the Flatlands
house of m stery, at 1893 East Forty
second street, by Miss Wardlaw, who
wished 10 negotiate a loan on an in
surance policy and to have Mrs. Ocey
Snead's will changed. The remarkable
story of this visit is best told in Ca
rabba's own words:
Woman Looked Like a Corpse.
When we got upstairs / saw lying
on q cot a young woman whose ema-
ciated condition gave her the appear
essCs of a corpse.
There was another old woman pres
ent, and she and Miss Wardlaw sat
down on the edge of the cot. Round
their necks We're strung beads, and in
their hands were Bibles, from which
they chanted at times, while they made
strange passes and motions toward the
sick woman, Mrs. Snead, as l after
ward found out.
II thought Mrs. Snead was in a coma.
until Miss Wardlaw asked her if she
did not want to make a new will. The
passes were going on all this time.
Mrs. Snead answered as though i'm
PEELED by some power that she could
not resist. Yes. / do
My God, womani' / exclaimed,
this woman is dying. III get a doc
tor
THE minute | mentioned the word
doctor the two old women exclaimed
that they didn't want one, that the
woman on the cot was going to die
anyway and that they couldn't afford
a physician. l asked for food for the
woman They said they had none,