Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-12
IABLE TO DISCOVER MOTIVE
WERE ON THEIR WEDDING TRr

FORT II. C. WRIGHT, EASTERN
LONG ISLAND (via New London), June
11-(special Telegram.)-'I am now con-
vinced that my sister, Mrs. Porter Charl-
ton is dead, but l accuse no man. l am
ignorant of any motive, and 1 have no
information which would help me to
solve the mystery"
That was the statement made tonight
by Captain Henry Harrison Scott. U. $.
A., brother of Mrs. Mary Scott-Castle-
Charlton, the American woman whose
dead body was found in a trunk at the
bottom of Lake Como in Italy and whose
mysterious death has shocked the world.
Captain Scott got his first intimation
of his sisters death from the newspapers,
and 1t was not until today that he re-
ceived confirmation of It. Situated at
Fort Wright, on an island twenty miles
from New Landon. Conn, he is COM
pletely out of touch with the world. for
he can be reached only by long distance
telephone or wireless Fort Wright is at
the eastern extremity of Long Island.
the nearest town being New London.
Conn, across Long Island sound
For twenty hours 1 have been at
| tempting TO conjure up In my brain some
solution of this tragedy" said Captain
Scott. AT first I relied upon the hope
that the dead woman was not my sister,
but felt strangely certain all along that
| IL was She Before she sailed she said
that she and her husband intended visit
ing in Italy and mentioned Como as one
of the spots where they anticipated
| spending some time in quiet cottage by
| the lakeside.
'I have noe seen my sister for some
months. ] never saw her present husband.
! Porter Charlton, son of Paul Charlton.
! formerly of Omaha, but more recently of
Washington and Baltimore. l was not
present at the wedding Not that 1 OBJ
jected to tho marriage, but because 1t was
a very quiet affair and did not feel called
| on to attend. Last month received two
letters, one from Mr.. Charlton and the
other from my sister. Both were dated
| April 16 and postmarked New York. The
letters told of the wedding. and saying
! they we're sailing either on that day or the
| following day for Europe They planned to
| spend three years abroad, going first to
| Italy, where they intenden living for some
months. From Italy they were going TO
| France, remaining in Paris some time.
From Paris they were going to Switzer-
land and thence to AustTo- Hungary. They
sope particularly of remaining in Germany
| for long time. They outlined trip which
would take three years to make, and they
planned something for every week of those
three years. was not in New York when
they saifed but l sent them message,
wishing them happiness and a good voyage.
IT received letter or so from abroad,
but nothing containing the slightest hint
that danger confronted either my sister
or her husband. The news that she was
dead came like thunderbolt. was amazed
AAIfA
first. However, there can be no doubt Of
1t now
'Try as may I cannot conJure up a
single motive for the murder Of the girl.
While Mr. Charlton was we'll to do and
they took considerable money with them,
my sister was not what you would term
rich l don't think she had sufficient jew
elry or money on her person to tempt muir
derous thieves 1t Is all q deep mystery
TO me and / hope the Italian authorities
solve IT quickly and bring the guilty per-
sons to Justice So far nothing has been
done towards bringing the remains to this
country. I have received word that the
post mortem revealed the fact that the girl
was really murdered. / can even yet
scarcely believe IT"
Captain Scott was formerly stationed at
Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, but was trans
ferred a year ago to Fort H. c. Wright.
1t was re who assisted his sister when she
was in trouble a year ago charged with at
tempting to shoot a lawyer.
Victim Mrs. Porter Charlton.
COMO, ITALY. June 1.-THE police are
bending all their energies to solve the mys-
terious murder of an American woman
believed to be Mrs. Porter Charlton Of
New York formerly Mary Crittenden Scott
of San Francisco, whose body was found In
a trunk at the bottom Of Lake Como, yes
terday.
Detectives believe that Mrs. Charlton met
her death at the hands Of two men. Porter
Charlton. the young husband. who was on
wedding trip with his bride, has not
been located. Constantine Ispolatoff
, Russian, who has been seen frequently
with the couple, Is in custody The man
whom the police are particularly anxious
to get hold of Is in Switzerland where he
fled Immediately after the murder. There
is no authoritative statement as TO who
he is
The post mortem examination of the body
was made today This revealed that the
woman died from suffocaton 1t was found
there were seven wounds on the head,
sufficient to render her unconscious, but
they were not regarded as OF nature 10
cause death. The victim apparently ex-
pired some time after she had been placed
In the trunk Vhe wrapping had been done
with a strip OF cloth and the body was
crowded into the trunk along with some
letters and personal effects. 1t was the
latter articles which led to Identification.
Aside from the wounds disclosed at the
post norton. the body showed certain abb
normal conditions, on which the doctors
reserved expression OF an opinion.
The police are working hard 10 recon
struct the mysterious circumstances OF the
crime. Their Investigations show that the
trunk and It's contents we're found TO be
too heavy to be carried TO the lake by one
person and the Individual who first at
tempted this task called to his asslstanes