Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-03-12
INSANITY IS
BLAMED FOR THE
TRIPLE KILLING
Authorities Believe Mrs. Vim.
G. Brandley's Mind Was
impaired.
NEIGHBoRS SAY SHE HAD
NO CAUSE TO BE UNHAPPY
Positions Of the Bodies Tell
How the Shootings
Occurred.

The only mystery surrounding the
tragedy of the Brandley family at 81
South Mum avenue yesterday after
noon is what unseated the reason of
Mrs. Brandley. The authorities have
no doubt she was insane. OF the thin
and nervous type, she looked to be
considerably older than her thirty-six
years. Her neighbors never could
make out In their own minds what
manner of woman she was. Appar-
entity happy in her home life and
deeply IN love with her husband and
child, she was always a pleasant
woman to meet and listened sympa-
thetically to whatever a neighbor
might have to say. But she never
volunteered any information as to
her own home life or plans to them.
Five minutes after the finding of
the bodies the story Of the actual
killing was plain. William G. Brand
ley, thirty-eight years old, healthy
and with money enough to satisfy
his needs, of good habits and easy
going disposition. was shot while he
slept, apparently. On his chest was
the scar of one bullet which had been
DETECTED and had not entered the
body and In his neck the scar of an
other bullet right over the jugular
vein. This bullet lodged In the neck
The bed clothes were tumbled and
blood d-stained, and the bullet which
struck Brandley in the chest was
found in them. He was clad in the
lower garment of his pajamas. the
Jacket part lying In his bedroom on
the floor near the door, crumpled up
as though 1t had been torn off him.
Trail Of Blood to Bedroom.
From the spot where he was found
to the bedroom ran a trail of blood.
To have reached here 1t was neces-
sary for him to pass through the
doorway between his bedroom and the
hall, through the hall into the dining
room and across that room to the
doorway leading from 1t to the
kitchen. Manifestly he had been shot
while asleep, had wakened and tried
to leap out Of bed, only to be grap-
Piled with by some one from whom
he escaped by slipping out of the
jacket part OF the pajamas. Run
ming from the scene of the shooting
he had fallen dead where found.
The positions OF Mrs. Brandley and
their twelve-year-old son Lucas made
clear how they had met their death.
The boy was found face down with
pillow over his head and the In
pressions on the pillow made plain
that 1t had been held firmly there.
Mrs. Brandley was seated by the sids
of her sons couch on a pile Of pill
lows placed on the floor and held q
revolver in her left hand. It was evil
dent that she had been holding the
pillow with her right hand although
chat hung by her side when she was
found. Both she and the boy had
been shot through the mouth and one
bullet had sufficed to kill each.
Shooting Carefully Planned.
The accuracy of her aim. and the
knowledge of where to find the vul-
nerable spots satisfy the police that
she had carefully planned the shoot
ing. From the fact that she was a
constant attendant at motion picture
shows they believe that she learned
the technique of the murder from
motion pictures.
rTOfIl WHdL mas hDeen lodTn6u OF MIS-
Brandley, the authorities believe she
was not one to succumb easily to
hypnotic suggestion, and. so while
they believe that she learned how 10
commit the murder by watching the
pictures, they are of the opinion that
some other cause unhinged her rea-
son.
Some think the explanation may be
found in her state of health; that she
feared an early collapse of her health
and brooded over the fate of her only
child until she became possessed of
a mania that only by removing him
and herself from their troubles could
she end them.
Her brother-in-law, George c.
Brandley, of Caldwell. who is en-
ployed as principal office assistant at
the street and highways department
Of the Board of Works, at Newark
City Hall, says that he never knew
his brother had a pistol and that
he believes he would have known it
had the brother owned a weapon.
Mrs. Eleanor Gray, of 46 Vermont
avenue, mother of Mrs. Brandley, and
Mrs. Frank Lowney, Of Alexander
street, sister of the dead woman, are
too prostrated today to be able to
give any assistance to the authorities.
Although the Brandleys resided in
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