The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-26
Suspected Murderer of Mrs. May WOOdiII Commits Sui-
 eide With a Pistol
IN HOPELESS FLIGHT
 WRETCHED MAN ENDS ALL
Robert Eastman, the Former Broker, Fleeing from Pursuit by Sheriff, Turns His Revolver Ur
 Himself and = llz1s

St. Michaels, \ ast tragic chapter in .lme un- paraleed in this of the coun- try was written in tie half light of an early summers day today when the man accused of the heartless murder of pretty little May Edith Thompson Wood ill-a spectre form fleeing in a skff from posse of determined. relentless pur- suers-stood for a moment facing the men who had eornered him on the wa ters of narrow creek. then fired a bull let crashing into his heart and fell a lifeless lump into the bottom of the boat which he had hoped would carry him to landing place where flight might be possible.
 Taking his fate into his own hands and plotting out untold the story of the death of a girl who had moved in the highest social circles. a beautiful, tai ented girl who had been a protege of former Secretary Gage and of former Gov Frank Brown of this state-the man known here as Emmett E. Roberts, but who in reality was Robert Emmett East man. failed broker, passed beyond the reach of the law and with his going there vanished the hope of clearing up the motive and bafflng details of this strange l tragedy.
 Eastman's Letter. letter found upon Eastman's body, addressed to Miss Winnie Bradcome, care of Klaw & Erlanger New York, gave Eastmans i'll sustained excuse for the crime. It was a rambling account of how he had been out in a launch with a party of men and women. all of whom had been drinking to excess with the exception of himself and hirs. Wood 1 i'll, and how one of the women in a fit of jealousy had attacked Mrs. Woodill with wine bottle and had killed her, and how the rest of the party had de- serted him. leaving him to dispose of the l body and to end his own life. Eastman l asked Miss Bradcome to come to Mary land to take charge of his body and his property
 The authorities, after a thorough in- vestigation, have proposed a further ex- | animation into the case
 | Miss Bradcome today conveyed the, | somewhat daffling information that she knew nothing of MT. Roberts or of | Eastman.
 l Foreman Radcliffe, of the coroner's | jury, wired Miss Bradcome to come and | take possession of the body however, | and received reply from her saying she could not because of lack of funds. He has now wired her to draw him for | $50 and is now awaiting developments | Neither the known movements of Mrs. | Woodill nor any of the circumstances l tend to bear out Eastman's explanation | in the letters which he had no oppor- l tunity to mail according to the author | ities who seem to believe with Col | Charles H. Thompson of McDaniel the father of the girl, that Eastman, in whose company she last was seen alive was responsible for the death of Mrs. l Woodill.
 Many Motives Advanced. i Many motives have been advanced That Eastman was infatuated with the girl l was well known. She in turn was fas- | cinated by him at times and possibly l frightened by him at times.
 The girl met Eastman Saturday, was seen to leave the MeDaniel wharf in a 1 launch with him, and Wednesday her nude body was found floating on the sur 1 face of Rose creek, crudely tied with d | rope and weighted with iron and bricks. | Mrs. Woodill, the wife of Gilbert Wood | i'll. an automobile dealer in Los Angeles, | who had been on a visit to her relatives
  | rejoin her husband, to whom she was | ostensibly happily married. Jealously, in- | duced by the fact that she was so soon l to go away, Is foremost in the list of | theories, but the real story of the bunga- low may never be known.
 | The meeting of Eastman and Mrs. woodill brought together two oddly suited figures. and the tragedy brought | to an end two strange careers. Mrs WoodIII,e parenf,oa l Mrs. Woodill, though twice married, was | but slip of a girl. vivacious, petite lit- l tie thing, fond of pretty clothes, always 1 immediately dressed and weighing only about 100 pounds Where the girl sprang | from and who her father was are clothed | with much of the same deep mystery 1 which surrounded the details of her death | The records in Minneapolis show that the | baby adopted by Col. Charles H. Thomp- | son and his wife was entered in the rec l ords of adoption as the daughter of Mat l thew and Zetella Knight Witz. Indica- | tons seem to point to the fact that Witz | was not her father. Mir. Woodill Is known to have advertised recently in an endeavor | to find something definite about his wife's s | percentage.
 1 No pursuit of an accused assassin was ever attended by more picturesque sur roundings than that which ended in the death of Lame Bob Eastman. who had been known during his short residence | here as Emmett E. Roberts. | Eastman had simply transposed his l name from Robert Emmett Eastman to | Emmett E. Roberts.
 Murderer Disappears. | The man disappeared last Wednesday | evening, following the discovery of tho body and It's identification. Suspicion had | ~--------------------