The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-11-24
EVIDENCE. All!
GIRGUMsTANAL
DIR. CRAIG WILL BE TRIED THIS
WEEK FOR MURDER OF
WOMAN.
DETECTIVE WORKED A LONG
WHILE ON MYSTERY OF DIR.
KNABE'S DEATH.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, Nov. "a
DR.. William B. Craig, president OF
the Indiana Veterinary College, will
be placed on trial at ~Shelbyyille next
Friday for the murder of Dr. HeleA
Knabe, who was one of the most
prominent women in Indiana.
On the morning OF October "a,
1911, DR.. Knabe was found dead in
her apartment with a deep wound in
her throat. Life apparently had bee l
extinct for several hours when thu
doctors office girl, Miss Katherine
Mcpherson, made the discovery.
The police made a number of arr
rests but in the absence of any known
motive for the crime, all the suspects
were released. The public was no.
satisfied with the police theory OF
suicide and the case was presented to
Two Marion county grand 1urles, Dot4.
Of which failed to take action. IN
the meantime, Coroner Durham had
been conducting an Investigation o.
his own, and he reached u decision
chat DR.. Knabe had been murdered
by unknown persons"
Various rewards were offered for
information leading to the arrest OF
slayer or s%layers, but these failed to
bring results. Friends Of the woma4t
finally induced the local council OF
women OF indianapolis to raise a fund
with which to conduct a further III
rcstigation Of the mysterious case.
Harry c. Webster, a private detcc-
tive employed by the council, work.
ed for nearly a year on the case, and
in December, 1912, be presented be-
fore the grand jury information on
which the Indictment against DR..
Craig was based. A. NJ. Ragsdale, az
undertaken, also was indicted as an
accessory after the fact.
Craig's attorneys asked a change
Of venue, and the case was sent TO
Shelby county, where the trial was
Set to begin November rs. The dale
for Ragsdale's trial has not been set.
After the indictments were return
ed. Webster admitted that tile case
the had constructed was entirely cir
cumstantial and that he had no wit
nesscs to testify that either DIR. Craig
Or Ragsdale were in ut. Knabe's
apartment during the night on which
the woman met her death. In the al
legged relations OF DR.. Knabe and Dr..
| Craig, however, he claimed 10 have
| found a motive for the crime.
In his report to the Council Of Wo-
men, Webster reviewed the friendship
between the two physicians, which
began in 1908, when DR.. Knabe was
assistant pathologist in the labora-
tory of the state board Of health. Ii.
support Of his lesser circumstantiai
evidence, Webster made the follow
ing disclosures:
A bitter quarrel is alleged to have
followed alleged attempts of DR.. Craig
Ito end q relationship which had be-
come Objectionable to him.
DR.. Craig is alleged to have been
positively identified by Harry w.
Haskell as a man he met coming out
Of the aeraway between the Ncndome
flats and the Delaware apartments
where DR.. Knabc lived, shortly after
II o'clock on the night Of October -.
Dr.. Craig Is alleged to have known
Of the death Of DR.. Knabc on the
morning Of October "a, before anyone
outside the apartment had been IN
formed of the finding of the body.
Late on the night of October 20
DR.. Craig is said TO have returned t0
his home and to have made a COM
plete change of clothing. Webster
said this information was furnished
him by DR.. Eva B. Templeton, who
claimed to have been told by Mrs
Lydia Tenant, h~ousekeeper Tor Or.
Craig.
The wound in DR.. Knabc's throat
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