Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-07-27
Crippled For Life Man Hopes
TO Live Till wife IS
Prosecuted
Claims Young wife Attempted
His Life For Insurance
Money

criminal division of the Superior
Court, Judge l.. S. Roam presiding, will
meet here next Monday and the open
ing of the session is awaited with un'
usual and statewide interest, for the
first case to be taken up is that OF
Mrs. Daisy Opie Grace, who is charged
with having attempted to murder her
husband, Eugene Hamilton Grace.
This intense interest in the cas- Is
due not SO much to the social promi-
hence Of the defendant and her al
legged victim, but to the peculiar cir
cumstances surrounding the case and
the mystifying features which prom
Use to make the trial n long to be
remembered.
Mr.. and Mrs. Grace came to this
city from Philadelphia, their former
home, about eight OF ten month ago.
According to statements made by Mr..
Grace since the shooting, his wife,
who is an unusually handsome and
attractive woman, used to be n OF
the numerous sirens of the Great
White Way of New York, when he
became acquainted with her a few
years ago. She fascinated him and,
after a brief courtship, he married
her and took her to Philadelphia,
where he held a responsible position.
Less than a year ago Mr.. Grace, who
is we'll to do and has property inter
ests in the South, decided to remove
to Atlanta, where he owns some val
liable real estate.
Grace and his wife made a good i'm.
preston and freely mingled in local
social circles. They seemed to be
devoted to one another and nobody
ever suspected that bloody tragedy
lurked behind the ~all-deceiving mask
of happiness. The catastrophe came
in the night of March 5. What really
occurred within the secrecy of the
Graces' beautiful home on West 18th
Street. is still a mystery, the solution
of which at the coming trial is
awaited with intense interest. Be.
yond a general denial n the charges
made by her husband Mrs. Grace has
volunteered no statement that would
throw any light upon the events OF
that night. Mr.. Grace, however, has
not been so reticent.
According to his statement, made
on the day after the shooting, when
the doctors expected that his death
would be merely a question of a few
hours, Mr.. Grace vas in bed, asleep,
when his wife shot him. Awakened
by the shot, he found himself power.
less to move and begged his wife to
call a doctor. She left the house, &C,
cording to Mr.. Grace's story, but in.
stead of calling a doctor, she took the
next train for Newman, the home OF
Mr.. Grace's mother. There she was
arrested upon the charge of attempt.
ed murder, and brought back to At.
lanta. Later she vas released under
$1,000 bail.
MI. Grace was desperately wounded
and at first the physicians entertain
ed no hope that he would live more
than a few hours. But his splendid
constitution helped him to fight off
death. He was taken to a sanatorium
where he gradually gained strength,
although his lower limbs remained
completely paralyzed. After a month
or more he was taken to his mothers
house at Newman, in this state, where
he continued to improve. Although
the physicians have no hope of his
complete recovery from the injury
caused by the bullet, he is able to
get about with the help of crutches.
The victim of the tragedy has dis
played great bitterness against his
wife since her arrest and has supplied
practically all the evidence in the
hands of the prosecution which is to
be used at the trial. He openly de-
clared that his wife was an adven-
turess and had duped him into marry
ing her, although she did not love
him and cared only for what she could
get out of him. He stated that some
time ago he had insured his life for
$27,O upon her suggestion and
made the charge that she had tried
to murder him to get possession OF
the money, which would have enabled
her to return to her former friends
in New York.
Mr.. Grace, who has come to Atlanta
from Newman to attend the trial, al
though under the law he is barred
from testifying against his wife,
charged that his wife had drugged
him on the evening before the shoot
ing and had induced him to write a