The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-09-28
DENIES BEING
MODERN BORG|A
Annie Crawford Says II ls Ridiculous
to Charge Her With Poisoning
Four Of Her
Family.
Her SUSPICIOUS ACTIONS
Small Insurance Policies on Lives Of
Deceased Were Made Pay
able to Accused
Girl.

NEW ORLEANS, La, Sept. 2S.-
With remarkable coolness and oompo-
sure Annie Crawford, the former drug
clerk Of the Presbyterian hospital, ao-
cused of the murder Of her sister Ell
sic, and suspected of poisoning her
father. mother and elder sister for
pittance Of few hundred dollars,
which she collected in life insurance.
ridiculed the idea that she was mod
ern Lucretia Borgia.
THE idea is SO ridiculous that I
don't see how any one could put any
credenoe in it, she said in answer to
a question. why, the money col
lected on the policies of my father,
mother and older sister WAS hardly
enough to pay the funeral expenses.
and would hardly do what | am
charged with for such small sum. II
the sum was $4,000 OF something like
that, there might be some rea ton to
suspect foul play on my part, though
in my own heart the thought OF such
thing is too horrible
The fact has been discovered that
while she was employed at the sani-
tarium, mysterious thefts of drugs oc-
CURED, of which she was suspected.
and that her accounts we're badly
mixed which led to her being dis
missed.
4 Mrs. Robert Crawford, aunt OF the
young woman, told the district attor-
ney when asked II she had ever had
/ reason to suspect Annie OF administer
4 Ing poison to Elsie:
When Elsie died turned to Annie
and asked her, Did you do this?' She
seemed confused, but did not answer.
4 was suspicious, because Elsie be-
came Ill after drinking the milk that
Annie gave her, and then Annie OPP
posed sending for the doctor until
there was no hope"
1t is not unlikely that the bodies of
the parents and elder sister of the
. accused girl will be exhumed and an
effort made to find some traces Of
poison The death certificate in the
case of the elder sister, Mary, gave
the cause as acute meningitis, in the
case of the father, uraemia and tuber-
culosis, and in the case of the moth
or, Bright's disease. The insurance
policies paid on their lives totaled ST.
500 while the policy on Elsies life.
which Annie tried to collect, was for
$3.50.
Elsie Crawford died suddenly last
Saturday and under circumstances SO
suspicious that the coroner's jury had
the contents Of the stomach analyzed.
The finding of enough morphine to
kill at least two persons was followed
by the arrest of the sister
For hours the Crawford girl was un-
der examination by the police She
made partial confession to the dis
trlct attorney, according to the police.
On Monday morning following her
sisters death, Annie made demand on
the insurance company for the money.
On that day she also went to the rail-
road office where her sister was en-
ployed as stenographer, and collected
$45 salary due.
The prisoner also held an insurance
A policy on the life of her youngest sis
ter, Gertrude, who admitted to Dis
trict Attorney Adams that she is
/ afraid of Annie
Annie Crawford is small of statute
4 A wealth of dark hair arranged in an
elderly fashion, causes her to look
older than her 80 years.
The first of the Crawford household
to die was Miss Mary Agnes Craw.
ford, sister Of the prisoner. Her death
occurred June %, 1910, suddenly, sup
posedly OF acute meningitis. Three
weeks later, July Is, 1910 her father
died, uremic poisoning being given as
the cause. After an interval of two
weeks, or July 20, 1910, her mother
died. In her case uremic poisoning al
SO was given as the cause.
Bodies Exhumed.
NEW ORLEANS. Sept. 2S.-Tne