New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-06-16
CHARLTON IN LONDON?
Newspaper Makes the Assertion,
but Gives No Address.
POLICE BELIEVE HE LIVES
Dragging of Lake Como Con-
tinues, However, at American
Ambassadors Suggestion.

Ambassadors Suggestion.
| London June 1s.-"The EXPRESS this
morning makes the assertion that Porter
Charlton, whose wife's, body was found in
a trunk In Lake Como, Italy, last Friday
and for whom the italian authorities are
making q vigorous search. is In London
The newspaper. however, does not say
where Charlton is living.
| Como, Italy. June 16.-The police are
convinced that Porter Charlton is alive
| They say they have indisputabIe evidence
| that he was seen on the evening of the day
the body Of Mrs. Mary Scott Castle Charl-
ton was found in Lake Como. That would
eliminate the theory of double murder
| and the police do not believe that Charlton
| committed suicide.
The American Ambassador, Mr.. Leish-
man, however, is determined that no meas
ures shall be neglected which would give
the missing man the benefit of the doubt
and he has arranged with the Italian au-
thorities to have the bottom of the lake
thoroughly explored. This will be done
with graphing irons. and divers will be
sent down at various points near the spot
where the fishermen found the trunk con-
| tanning the WCman'S BODY The divers Will
reach here from Genoa tomorrow
Count Guiglia. the crown prosecutor. has
| taken upon himself the whole investigation
| of the case, which is now before an exam
lining magistrate Judge F'racassi. The ex-
animation is being held in strict secrecy.
| the judge ard prosecutor themselves writ
| ing the interrogations and answers, SO that
| the minutes of the proceedings might not
be made public.
| Constantine Ispolatoff the Russian sus-
| pect who is now under arrest, has borne
| himself with considerable bravado in the
| face of a severe examination, and his ans
swers TO the various interrogations have
either been in the form of a denial Or an
! evasive explanation.
One of the lines of inquiry to-day led to
the question OF the disappearance Of set
of brass knuckles, known to be in the pos
session of Ispolaton. The Russian could
not account for the disappearance of the
weapon, but it was developed that Mrs.
Charlton had once asked him for the
knuckles, which he said he had refused to
give to her. The police are of the opinion
that this weapon played a part in the
murder
Nor has Ispolatoff been able satisfac-
torily to explain how where he spent
June 4. and s. His examination is not
yet completed. the authorities are
tain that he has not yet told all he knows
about the domestic life of the Charltons
and the murder.
The Russian was disposed TO poke fun at
the authorities. The italian government"
he said with a smile must be very rich
to keep me better In prison than / have
been able TO live outside on an annual
pension of $50 from the Russian govern
ment." Ispolatoff is credited with being or
having been in the employ of the Russian
government in confidential capacity
demonstrating the Crime.
Tie villa on the lake shore occupied by
Porter Charlton and his wife up to the time
of the latter's death was again visited this
afternoon. AS a result, it is believed that
Mrs. Charlton was attacked in an upper
chamber, and that the first blow was struck
with a terra Gotta statue, which the artist
had named Love Pieced together by
experts IN gathering evidence a plausible
| story of the violent scene was evolved
| According to this there was dinner in the
villa, during which much wine was drunk.
| The police do not profess to say who the
diners other than Mrs. Charlton were. but
the fight that followed is confidently at
tributed in part to a brain infIamed with
drink
Admitting this hypothesis. it is said that
a quarrel occurred and that the woman
was struck the head with the statue, re-
ceiving a wound from which the blood
flowed freely. With the blow the statue
was broken into thousand pieces.
Mrs Charlton appears to have fed to the
chamber above, seeking refuge in bed,
where the sheets were saturated with her
blood. While still on her feet. the investi-
gators say she was struck again and fell
her head dropping upon a pillow, which
bears a large red stain PROSTATE upon
the bed the woman, it is imagined. re-
ceived SIX other blows, which rendered her
insensible and apparently quite lifeless. The
walls of the bedroom bearing red stains
and the condition Of the room generally
leave no doubt of what had been going on
there.
The stairs and the walls adjoining are
stained indicating, the inquirers say, that
after having been made unconscious, Mrs.
Charlton was dragged through the room
and down the stairs to the ground floor
and there placed in the trunk, which was
later weighted and sunk in Lake Como.
The books found in the villa were novels,
the authors including De Maupassant,
Provost and Oscar Wilde. The single eG-
ception to this class of literature was a
little volume at first overlooked. but which
upon examination proved to a hymnal, pre-
scented so the inscription ran. to Porter
Charlton, on his birthday, by his mother.
Following Another Theory.
The police are also following up the
theory that both Charlton and his wife
were murdered. The police and the physi-
clans who performed the autopsy have had
little TO say. but their occasional cryptic
expressions nflame the popular interest II
is believed that the authorities have
worked out a motive for the crime based
upon what has been told them by the
peasant neighbors of the Chartons and
by the physicians who were called in. Just
what this theory is remains matter Of
conjecture
Geneva, Switzerland, June 15.-The police
are keeping a sharp lookout for Porter
Charlton, husband of the American woman
who was murdered and her body thrown
into Lake Como, at Como Italy. They be-
lieve he is hiding in Switzerland.
It has been reported TO the police that
Charlton was seen at Lucerne last Satur-
day.
LEHiGH VALLEY TRAIN 'PHONES