The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1915-12-09
A Fiendish Minneapolis Murder.

"A flendlsh Minneapolis Murder.
More than year ago Mrs. Mary
Fridley Price came to her death on
the bank of the Mississippi river in
East Minneapolis, not far from the
Franklin Avenue bridge. She had
been riding in an automobile with her
husband and man named Etchison.
They reported at the time that some.
thing went wrong with the engine and
that they stopped to fix it close by the
brink of the cliff, which is almost per
pendicular at the spot and probably
$50 feet down to the waters edge.
That Mrs. Price with her pet dog got
out of the machine, that the dog fell
over the brink of the cliff and that
IN endeavoring to save her pet Mrs.
Price plunged headlong down to her
death.
Price claimed that he and Etchison
FASTENED to the foot Of the cliff to
where Mrs. Price lay, but she was
dead when they reached her.
That was the story that was told by
Price and was corroborated by Etchi-
son.
Some of Mrs. Prices relatives and
friends suspected foul play, but there
was no evidence upon which to base
their suspicious.
A day Or two previous to her tragic
death, the father of the unfortunate
woman had given her money and Sc
curities to the amount of $4,000.
There were no children and all the
property of which she was possessed
in case Of her death would go to her
husband.
Some months later Price instituted
suit against the city Of Minneapolis to
recover $500 damages for the loss
Of his wife, he claiming that the city
was negligent in not properly safe
guarding the dangerous spot on the
bluff side of the boulevard.
Then it was that Prices record was
investigated and it was found to be
an unsavory one. He had served time
in Wisconsin prison, had been twice
married and had not been divorced
from his second wife when he married
Mary Fridley
Indictments were returned against
Price and Etchison on the charge of
| first degree murder. Price was Jailed
in Minneapolis and Etchison was ar
rested in Washington, D. C. On Mon
day, in Chicago, Etchison broke down
and confessed that Mrs. Price had been
murdered by her husband and that he
had aided and abeted in the murder.
That it had been all planned out be-
forehand. Then when she stepped or
the footboard of the automobile, which
stood within Is inches of the brink of
the precipice, he and Price put their
arms behind her and flung her over
the bluff, and that Price caught and
threw the little dog after her.
Etchison then told how he and Price
made their way down a path picked
out the day before to where the body
lay. Mrs. Price was still alive and
her brutal husband pounded her with
a stone until she ceased to breathe.
Then the two carried her body up to
the boulevard and reported, as above
| related, that she had accidentally fall
len over the cliff. #
Etchison claims that Price can
celled a note for 1900 he held against
him, and also paid him $4,000 in
money. That was the blood money
paid Etchison for his participation in
the horrible crime
David H. Fridley Of Fridley, Anoka
county, son of the late Major A. M.
Fridley, is the father of the murdered
woman, and it was through his efforts
that Detective John P. Hoy of Mime
apolis, was employed in the case and
unearthed the crime. f.