New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-09-07
Probe Into Affairs of Lawyer
Shows Other Instances of Sud-
den Demise Inuring to His
Financial Benefit.
STOPPED SUIT IN ONE CASE
Drowning of George I. Malcolm,
Who Had Action Against Him
at the Time, Never Ex-
plained-Fraud Charged
in Other Instance.

Two more deaths. closely connected
with litigation. by which Burton W.
Gibson was said 10 have profited, We're
brought TO light yesterday by further
Investigations into the affairs Of Glib
son. three of whose clients. as previous
" told died or disappeared under cir
cumstances not fully explained, but
BY whose misfortunes. through mys-
teriously consistent conincidences, Glib
son was said to have been placed I'm a
position of profting by his handling of
their financial affairs.
one of these two new deaths was
that Of George I. Malcolm, who was
supposedly lost from Fall River boat
in October. 1910. but the circumstances
under which he met his death were
never fully cleared. He was nephew
of Mrs Louisa NJ. Stenton, whose
daughter. Mrs. Alice c. D. Kinnan,
was found murdered I'm The Bronx in
1906 under circumstances that led TO
the holding of Gibson by the Coroner
in $4,000 bail.
At the time Of his death Malcolm
was administrator of Mrs. Stenton's
estate after a will. brought forward
BY Gibson and purporting to be the
last will and testament of Mrs. Stem
ton was thrown out of court by the
Surrogate. Malcolm, it is said, was
expected 10 bring suit against Gibson
for the recovery of certain of Mrs.
stenton's property in Gibson's posses
sion. He was said to be the only one
legally competent TO bring such action,
and his death prevented the prosecu-
ton Of the suit.
The second death was that Of Ed
ward Minnicks in Brooklyn in 1894.
Gibson, as his lawyer. had obtained
settlement of s.. 800 from the East
River Gas Company for personal in
juries. Minnicks's widow sued Gibson
f1r an accounting, claiming that she
had received only 500 of the money
due her husband who had died before
the payment Of the settlement, but the
court held that there was not sufficient
Evidence adduced 10 show that Gibson
had failed to turn the money over 10
the woman.
Mrs. Stenton's Tangled Affairs.
But the matters in which Gibson was
most persistently mixed up were the
tangled affairs Of Mrs. Stenton's estate.
he fist met Mrs. Stenton about four
years before the date Of her daughters
murder. She engaged him TO clear
title 10 property in The Bronx owned
BY her, which was encumbered with
back taxes amounting to $4,000. Glib
son. I'm company with a lawyer named
Ashton, entered into an agreement with
her 10 straighten out her affairs. their
compensation to be tWo-ffths Of the
proceeds Of the sale after the necessary
partition sale.
He managed to clear the title, and at
the partition sale bought in all the
property himself through a dummy,
Archibald J. Mcfarland, for S65,OOo.
This left Mrs. Stenton only about So'-
900 after the taxes and interest were
paid and the lawyers drew their two
lfths compensation. Within week
Of the partition sale Gibson made
contract by which he was TO sell the
property at a profit Of something like
$4,000. II was upon the night of the
same day that this sale was to be put
through, despite the protests of Mrs.
Kinnan, who had always protested 70
her mother that that devil lawyer,
as she called him. was deceiving her
mother. that Mrs Kinnan was MUIR
dered.
Mrs. Stenton was declared insane
Continued on third page, sixth column.