The Raymer enterprise., 1911-10-26
THEREC0RD ON THE SCREEN
AN ADVENTURE OF PETER cREWE-.THE MAN
WITH THE CAMERA EYES"
By HA ROLD CARTER

arrested upon the charge Of having
murdered his wife, and the evidence
against him was as follows:
His wife. vaudeville actress. had
left him the preceding spring and had
refused to return to him. The prin.
cipal cause for this separation ap.
peared to have been his inability to
support her In comfort. so that she
preferred independence. with the Ger.
tainty OF q moderate income through
her own efforts, to the tiresome rou.
tine OF household duties In the home
OF man earning clerks salary.
During the unseasonable months OF
July and August she had earned a
livelihood by posing for moving pic.
ture plays. Sanford had repeatedly
visited her at her apartment to be-
seech her to return to him. He had
been heard to utter threats In case
she remained obdurate. On the occa.
sion OF his last visit previous to the
tragedy his wife had been heard to
order him out OF the house. and she
had forbidden him to molest her fur.
ther.
One week later. at nine o'clock In
the morning. the maid who came In
daily to clean the apartment found
Mrs. Sanford lying dead in a chair
with n deep stab wound Immediately
beneath the right arm. Death had
evidently been almost instantaneous,
for there was no sign OF a struggle.
and the woman's face was as tranquil
as though she had flung herself down
upon the cushions for brief rest
after the labors OF the day.
The chief witness against Sanford
was the woman who rented the apart.
ment adjacent to Mrs. Sanford's. She
testified that she had met Sanford
upon the stairs on the preceding eve
ming, had seen him enter his wife's
apartment. and subsequently heard
the sounds of a violent alteration,
after which Sanford left the house In
a condition OF intense excitement.
Two hours or 30 later she heard him
return and ring Mrs. Sanfords bell.
She heard voices raised In alteration
In the apartment and heard Sanford
again leave. but In a stealthy and
secretlve manner wholly unlike his
usual method Of departure. She heard
him creep down the stairs and list.
ened at the wall. but could make out
no further sound next door. Doubtless
the murder had already been accom-.
pllshed
The weapon with which the murder
had been committed was found In a
contiguous building lot next day. 1t
was Malay kriss, knife with an
incredibly keen edge. which Mrs. San.
ford had owned. and the murder had
been committed with an upward
thrust. Upon the right side OF the
ivory handle. when the blade was held
edge upward, were the blood.prints Of
four gloved fingers.
When called In for the defense
urged Sanford to plead guilty to man.
slaughter. told him there was every
reason to hope that he would escape
with sentence OF fifteen or twenty
years. In the first place, the fact that
no had worn gloves. In the second
the fact that the weapon had been
taken from Mrs. Sanford's wall, where
It had hung. clearly indicated absence
Of premeditatlon; while the jury
would show every consideration to a
man whose wife had deserted him.
But Sanford obstlnatcly insisted that
he was innocent He admitted that
he had called on Mrs. Sanford the
evening before the tragedy to induce
her to return to him. She had refused.
he said. and taun,ed him with the
story OF Il rival for whose sake she In.
tended to obtain q divorce.
was only half convinced. In spite
OF the yehemence Of Sanford's denial.
have heard criminals assert their
innocence most convincingly. only to
admit their guilt after conviction.
Have you any theory as to who
the murderer was7" asked.
"'rhe man she taunted me about.
cried Sanford. He had been poster
Ing her for weeks to divorce me and
marry him. had threatened her with
death unless she consented. She pre-
tended to me that she Intended TO
comply: but know In my heart that
she always loved me. II | had only
earned more money she would have
come back to me. Do you think
should have hung round her for
months without some reasonable hope
! tell you she hated that fellow; she
just tried to play each OF US of
against the other"
Sanford insisted that this man had
been the second visitor on the night
Of the murder. and had slain Mrs
Sanford In n jealous rage when she
finally refused to marry him. But he
had never seen him and knew nothing
Of his Identity.
That was all had to 80 upon. The
woman In the apartment next to Mrs
Sanford's admitted that she had not
actually seen Sanford return on the
night Of the murder. She was con
aAus A.. ,u,aal xia