The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-05-13
NEW ARK BATHTyB MURDER

OF the date set for the opening OF
the trial of Miss Virginia A. Nard |
law, Mrs Caroline b. Martin ana |
Mrs. Mary w. Snead. VINO are charg-
ed with the murder of the victim or |
the famous bathtub tragedy. The |
case has been called for trial on |
Wednesday of next week and there
is every indication that the case viii
be strongly fought and will go down
in the annals of criminal history as
one of the most puzzling and pecu-
liar cases ever known in this coun-
try.
| Mrs. Ocey Snead was found dead
IN the bathtub of the house No. SO
West Fourteenth street, East Or
ange, on November %, 1909, and SO
/ peculiar We're the circumstances sur
rounding her death that the autn~ri.
! tes began an investigation to ascer-
tam the true facts in the case. In
4 the afternoon of November 90 some
woman called up the police of East
/ Orange, asking for the address of the
coroner. When the woman was in
formed that there We're no coroners
/ III New Jersey, she informed the po-
nee that woman had committed
suicide in No. SO West Fourteenth
street DR.. II. NJ. Simmons, one or
the deputy county physicians, was
sent TO the house and found the body
OF the young woman in the bathtub
The tub was full of water and tho
entire body of the woman was sub
merged. AT first the physician did
not suspect that there was anything
/ wrong, especially as he found, pin
ned to the clothes of the woman, a
note stating that she had committee
suicide. Closer investigation con-
vinced him, however, that the wG-
man had been dead more than "a
hours. AS the bathroom was the on
ly one in the house, it seemed
strange that the body had not been
four d sooner. The explanations Of
'eltd by the three women in the
house did not satisfy the physician
and upon his report careful nves
tisation was begun by the police au
thorities.
is was ascertained that the victim
of the tragedy and her aunt. Miss
Virginia Wardlaw, had moved INTO
the house on West Fourteenth street
ten days before the finding of til,
body They had no furniture ex-
tept'ng cot and soap box, which
served as table. The two women
mad no money, and had subsisted on
milk, biscuits and few oranges. The
! Investigation was continued and an
amazing mass of material was
brought to light. 1t appeared that
the three women indicted for the
murder of Ocey Snead were near rel
! atlves of the victim. The aunt OF
the dead woman. Miss Virginis
Wardlaw, comes from a we'll connect
ed Southern family and at one time
was president of SouIe college, at
Murfreesboro, Teen, and later a
member of the faculty of Roanoke
college, Salem, Va, but it seems that
Miss Virginia Wardlaw, ACCOMPANIED
by Mrs. Caroline B. w. Martin, tn.
mother of Ocey, and Mrs Mary W
Snead, mother of Ocey Sneads hus-
band, Fletcher w. Snead, came to
New York some years ago probably
f; IN the hope of recovering their for
tune. At first they lived at the
Waldorf-Astoria, later at the Man
hatten hotel, but as their funds be-
gan to run low, they rented mod
est house in Flatbush After two
months they moved to an even less
pretentious house in Brooklyn and
after few weeks to the house in
East Orange. What became of Ocey's
husband has not been definitely as
certained. He has not been seen for
long time. and his next of kin
pretend to know nothing of his
whereabouts.
1t has been ascertained that the
women have been in desperate
financial condition for several years
and have borrowed from many rich
persons, giving their notes as secur1-
ty. AS strong moment of suspi-
cion is considered the fact that the
life of the victim of the bathtub
was insured in ten companies for an
aggregate Of $4,000. The insur-
ance companies at first suspected
that the body of the young woman
in the bathtub was not that of Ocey
Snead, but the body was positively
identified by several persons, among
them by the doctor who had treated
Ocey Snead when her baby, which
died about year ago, was born.
Another strange feature is the fact
that six or seven wills, purporting to
l,n h1N, ,rSsr :.