The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-05-16
Ocey w. snead, the victim.
in connection with the crime.


(American News Service)
Newark, N. j., May 16.-The plac-
ing on trial today in Newark. N. j.,
of Miss Virginia Wardlaw, Mrs. Caro-
line B. Martin and Mrs. Mary Snead,
charged jointly with the murder Of
Mrs. Ocey w. Snead, marks the be-
ginning of another chapter in the now
famous bath tub" mystery, one of
the most battling cases in the criminal
annals of the East. The curious man.
ner in which the beautiful young wom-
an met her death. the fact that the
three defendants are sisters and men,
bers of an old Southern family. and
that one Is the mother, and the other
two the aunts of the victim, have all
combined to arouse an unusual degree
mass of wierd and uncanny evidence
that will be presented by the prosecu-
ton at the trial in attempt to show
that these three old women we're re-
sponsible for the death of young Mrs.
Snead. and that this cold-blooded
crime was committed in order that
they might obtain the $4,000 insur-
ance on the victims life.
Although the prosecution has a
mass of discriminating evidence, it is
purely circumstantial and the case
hinges on the question of whether the
suicide note found pinned to Ocey
Snead's clothes on the morning her
body was discovered in the bath tub.
is or is not forgery. Since their
Incarceration the old women have not
written . letter Of any kind with the
exception of note which was adj
dressed to the Methodists, in which
they appealed for aid. Their note was
signed THE Wardlaw Sisters"
The history Of the Snead case. as it
il called. bears out tho old adage that
truth Is stranger than fiction"
1t was on November 20, 1909. that
Miss Virginia Wardlaw. the aged
spinster aunt Of Mrs. Ocey w. Snead,
reported to the police Of East Orange,
N. j.. that her niece had committed
suicide by drowning herself in the
bath tub of their humble home. On
investigating, the authorities found
the body of the beautiful young wom-
an lying in about one foot of water in
the tub, with her nostrils submerg-
ed. Pinned to her clothing. which
lay at the side Of the tub, was a note,
signed with the victims name, and
indicating that she had taken her life
on account of Ill health. A search Of
the premises revealed number of in
surance policies. which named Miss
Virginia Wardlaw as one of the ben
ificiaries. This coupled with the
statement made by Miss Wardlaw to
the effect that she had been the only
one In the house with her niece during
the last forty-eight hours, and that
she had helped prepare her bath, led
to her arrest.
An examination of the corpse show
ed that the young woman had met her
death by drowning and no marks of
violence were discernible on her body,
although her face and form were EN-.
aciated, and her stomach showed that
she had been In a half-starved condi-
ton. and also contained traces of NOR
phine. The house itself was scantily
furnished with no carpets on the floor
and no food In the cupboards.
! Through the untiring efforts OF the
New York and New Jersey sleuths
each day brought string OF new de
velopments, but to each development
was added another mystery. First II
was learned that mysterious looking
woman. dressed in black had visited
the Snead home the day before the
crime was discovered. The police say
that this was Mrs. Caroline b. Martin
mother Of the dead girl. and they i'm.
mediately set . dragnet In New York
and New Jersey. On December Is
Mrs. Martin was found living In q
cheap hotel In New York City. and
was placed under arrest and the next
day Mrs. Mary Snead. the third sister
and the mother Of Ocey's husband
was apprehended.
Bit by bit the authorities began to
Ientangle their prisoners with vel