The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-09-12
TO REVEAL
death MYSTERIES
Body of Mrs. Szabo, Which
Was Buried Under Another 4
Name, To Be Exhumed.

possible. whether death was due to
any agency other than drowning, Dis
triCt Attorney Rogers, Of Orange
county, New York, will cause to be
exhumed today the body Of Mrs. Rosa
Szabo, an Austrian woman, who met
death in Greenwood lake while in a
rowboat with Burton w. Gibson, a
New York lawyer now executor Of her
10000 estate. The proposed autopsy
will embrace not only an examination
for wounds, but a chemical analysis Of
the contents of the stomach.
Gibson had the body buried under
the name Of Mrs. Ritter" in a ceme-
terry near Jersey City, but he has ex-
pressed his entire willingness to have
1t exhumed.
According to the Austro-Hungarian
consulate, detectives have found the
woman who posed as Mrs. Rose Men
schik, mother Of Mrs. Szabo and bene-
fciary under the will. The contention
Of the consulate is that the victims
mother was dead at. the time the will
was drawn and that. therefore, the
waiver of citation spurported to have
been signed by Mrs. Menschik Is a
forgery. This phase of the case will
be threshed out before the surrogate
on September II. when a brother of
Mrs. Szabo. now m his way from
Austria, will testify as to his mothers
death.
Executor 10 Missing.
Another unexplained disappearance
and one more mysterious death have
| oeen added to the deepening mystery OF
he Szabo will case.
George 1. Malcolm. executor Of the
state Of Mrs. Louise Stenton, which
rad a claim of 500, 900 against Burton
w. Gibson, mysteriously disappeared
IN or about October 8, 1910, and has
neither been seen nor heard OF since.
Michael Shippo. a tenan on the
| StentOn sta at the time Mrs. Alice
Kinnan. daughter OF Mrs. Stenton, was
mysteriously murdered, and whose wife
testified at the coroner's inquest that
she heard Mrs. Kinnan say, The law
yer hit me-" after being strangely as
saulted in December. 1907, was finally
found dead in two feet of water on the
edge Of Pelham creek late in December,
1909.
There is probably no more striking
series of condolences in the history of
the law.
Starting wi.N the investigation Of
the Austrian government into the cir
CumstanCeS attendant upon the making
Of the will Of Rosa Menschik Szabo,
these developments came tumbling for
ward in rapid succession:
1t Is found that Mrs. SZabo met
death in q drowning accident in Green
God lake. New York, on July IS. while
in company with Burton w. Gibson,
her lawyer. Following her death, Glib
son produces a will signed by her In
which she .devises her entire estate to
her mother, and makes Gibson her exc
cutor.
Lawyer Drew Money.
After he has withdrawn a consider
able amount of the estate from saw
ing banks, the Austrian consul steps
in and produces sworn afidavits which
allege that Mrs. Szabo's mother died
two years before her daughters will
was drawn, that the m whom Glib
son produced as the mother of Mrs.
SZabo was an imposter, that contrary
to the sworn statement of Gibson that
there were no other heirs, there are, In
fact half a dozen brothers and sisters
Of Mrs. Szabo living near Vienna.
Slain in Mystery.
Following this, attention is drawn
to the fact that in 1906 a Mrs. Alice
Kihnan was mysteriously killed at her
mother's home in the Bronx. The
COrOner's jury does not fix the reSpon-
sibility for death, but Gibson was held
in $25, 900 bono inc subsequently re-
leased on. habeas corpus.
Later Mrs. Gibson is sued by a neph-
ew of Mrs. Louise Stenton, mother OF
Mrs. Kinnan. for the recovery Of $780,
600 worth of property alleged to have
been misappropriated by Gibson. Mrs.
Stenton dies while the suit is pending,
placing the responsibility for Continu-
ing the action upon her executor.
Conducting Own Suit.
Whereupon according to the records
Of the court. MI. Gibson produces q
copy of an alleged will written by Mrs.
Stenton, which makes him her exc
cutor, thereby. If the will Is %probated,
leaving with him the responsibility Of
continuing an action against himself
for 800, 600. Surrogate Thomas throws
the will out, plainly intimating in his
decision that he regards the copy as
bogus.
George 7. Malcolm is made executor
Of the estate. And on or about October
3, 1910, Mr.. Malcolm, q we'll known
stock exchange broker, my~steriously
disappears n Is never heard of again.
He is currently reported to have COM
mitted suicide, and the theory which
prevails is that he threw himself from
q Sound steamer through grief over
the loss Of a son The case was never
more than perfunctorily Investigated.
TIVo SCran9o Eases.
BY a strange series of condolences
Malcolm's disappearance Is the fourth
case Of either a disappearance or death
oy violence Of persons who have been
associated in one way or another with
Burton w. Gibson.
The first was h murder of Mrs.
Alice Kinnan.
The second was the disappearance
Of George I. Malcolm.
The third was the tragic drowning Of
Michael Shippo.
The fourth, the disappearance Of
John r. O'Neill, who announced that
ne was going to call on Mr.. Gibson in
relation to the return to him OF 81, 900
entrusted to the lawyer. lie has not
been seen since.
The NTH was the death by drowning
Of Mrs. Szabo, and the subsequent rev.
elations concerning her will, which
are now under investigation.
NAVAL CHANGES MADE.
Washington. Sept. 10.-When Rear