The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-14
VILLAGERS TELL
OF WEIRD ORGIES
Police Now Believe Both
Charlton and Wife Were
Mentally Unbalanced
ORIENTAL DANCER
SEEN AT MIDNIGHT
Russian Suspect Makes Splendid
Defense and Blocks Detec-
tives Investigation-Lake
Being Searched.

az COMO, ITALY, June 1.-THE police
have almost despaired of getting any
clue TO the murder of Mrs. Mary Scott
Charlton. whose mutilated body, jamm
ed into trunk, was fished from Lake
Como last Friday, from Constantine Is
polatoff, the Russian suspect under ar
rest
Ispolaton was In the sweat box"
nearly all night and was subjected tn
as searching an inquisition as it was
possible for a half dozen of the best
detectives In this part of Italy to make,
but all To no avail. Not once during
the trying ordeal did Ispclatoff show
the least embarrassment or confusion.
He answered every question with the
utmost GOODNESS and told a story of his
movements and his chance ucquaint-
ance" as he termed IL, with the Charl~
tors that did not present a siugIe val
utrabie SPOT.
Iie showed that he had Tot writ
ten letters, one OF which had been add
dressed tn himself. and the other which
was found in ihe Charlton villa. though
IL was said that ne had sought to es-
fablish an alibi for himself lie re-
futed the. statement of the fisherman
that he had made inquiry as 10 the
dsepast part OF Lake Como and prov
ed that the jewelry and money found
on him were his own property.
''Ws have not yet been able to get
ANYTHING tangible from Ispola taft" de-
ciared one of the detectives to-day
But he 10 n very shrewd man. The
way in which hs withstood our CUES
Hohing convinoes us that ne has been
under fire before. we shall continue
20 hold him for We are convinced At
he knows much more about the crime
than Is Roa apparent"
Strong Defence.
lspolatoff's defense was 50 strong
: That the detectives salienly switched
!. their tactics and told him that they
were convinced that Charlton killed hie
wife aud asked him wile,hsr he could
not furnish them with the clue 10 the
murder. Aside from saying that ne
knew Charlton was Jealous Of his wife
and frequently worked himself into
frenzy through heavy drinking. the
Rnsslan threw no additional llgilt-nn
The case
United States Ambassador Leishman
and United States Consul Caughy at
Milan ara now on the scene. At Leish-
mans reauest divers were brought to
Lake Como, to -day, and began search
ing the part OF the lake where the
body Of Mrs. Charlton was found
Z Leishfnan and Caughy are convinced
thst Charlton WAS murdered
Ats plain case OF double muir
der with robbery as the motive"
Caugby said to the United Press cor
respondent Had the murder taken
place in an American city, the chances
are that the murderer would have been
apprehended long before now. All the
money and valuable jewelry belonging
to the coupie have disappeared. Not
the slightest trace of Charlton has been
found Mo have ziffed all sfnr5as
that ne was seen In various places
after the crime and have found them
absolutely unreliable. The report that
Charlton had sent messages to certain
persons. following the discovery of his
wifes body Is absolutely false. Por-
ter Charlton body is some here in
Lake Come. There is nothing to bear
out the theory that Charlton killed his
wife and then committed suicide"
Weird Stories.
The finding OF a fragment of 81
mans coat in Lake Como, which yes
terday promised startling develop
ments. has So far been of no value, as
il has not been shown that the coat,
To which the fragment belonged was
Charlton's. No one ever saw Charl-
ton wearing n coat or the pattern of
the piece OF cloth,
The police are greatly Handicapped
In their solution OF the crime by the
hood of stories. many of them ad-
mittedly romances, that mas poured
In on them Under the influence OF
such mysterious crimes. the Italian
mind III given to Imagination, the po-
lice say. and the weirdest stories are
connected.
Making allowance however, fer this
state of mind OF the natives around
Moiterasio. where the Charlton villa
was located, the police have found
enough that IL tangible to cause them
to adopt a new tack temporarily IN,
their investigation.
They are becoming more and more
convinced that either Charlton or his
wife. and probably both, was insane,
Stories OF wild orgies in the chari-
ton villa, of midnight dances on the
lawn, with CharltoA and his wife IN
the ecantiest attire; OF lamentations
and weird exercises that savored
strongly Of Orfentalism, have been
told to the police by country folk
and villages, who happened to pass
the Charlton home late at night The
thaorr- OF insanity Is strengthened by
the st-tement of the procurator of
Venice that Charlton and his wife
stopped fer several days at the Hotel
Europe the latter part Of April and
registered as pFOtueT ana SISTER, oC-
cupying separate rooms.
One Of the official staff of Count
Guigli, tho Milan procurator. who is
experimenting the investigation. said
to the United Press to-day:
Both Insane.
1.-THE Charltons were q strange cou-
pie. They didn't do anything in a
normal way. / think that Mrs Charl-
ton was insane and that her husband
probably to humor her. but possibly
himself unbalanced from his associa-
ton with her, adopted her whimsical
ways That she was insane think
was clearly shown at the time she
shot the American lawyer, william
b. Craig. In the Waldorf-Astoria Hoo
tel In New York.
The woman suffered from a ply
sical malformation, the importance
OF which should be disclosed In the
UfYlcial report on the autopsy. Wo-
men have frequently been known to
- Insane from similar 6e8ect. ghsye
D y