Evening journal., 1915-05-19
MURDERS Wife.
Then KILLS himself
]. E. Beckwith's Body in
River; Woman Dead
in Bed
COUPLE HAD
MANY QUARRELS

CAMBRIDGE, Md, May 19.-J. En-
nails Beckwith Monday night shot and
killed his wife, Mrs. Sadie Beckwith,
at their home, in the Neck district,
Dorchester county, and then COM
mitted suicide. Mr.. Beckwith made a
will Monday afternoon and had it wit
messed, by which he disposed OF con-
siderable property, but this, 1t seemed,
did not arouse any suspicion on the
part of the witnesses.
Mrs. Beckwith went to her room
early in the evening, leaving Mr.. Beck
with down stairs. About IL O'Clock
Mr. Beckwith went upstairs, and,
shortly after, Ernest Adams, who
sleeps in a third-story room, heard a
scutfie in Mr. Beckwith's room. but as
it was a very frequent occurrence for
Mr.. Beckwith and his wife to quarrel
and fight, he thought nothing of It at
the time. He did not hear any shot
fired.
When Mr. Beckwith and his wife
failed to appear at breakfast, George
Ward, an elderly colored man. who is
the cook, and has lived with the fam
lily for 20 years or more, began 10
think that there was something
wrong. He waited until about 10
o'clock in the morning and then went
to Mr. Beckwith's room and found the
door bolted on the inside. AS he had
never found the door fastened before.
he was sure something was wrong and
he Immediately telephoned to Daniel
l.. Moore, justice of the peace. Mr..
Moore communicated with States At
torney Trice and he took Sheriff Sher-
man and Deputy Sheriff Bruce c. Dean
and DR.. Brice w. Goldsborough TO the
Beckwith home.
| Wife Fired One Shot.
They found Mrs. Beckwith dead
on the bed with a bullet hole in her
right temple and another in her left
! breast. There was another bullet
hole in a picture which hung over
the bed. Mrs. Beckwith's body bore
marks of a severe struggle. There
were finger nail marks on her arms.
! face and neck. and her arms and
body were badly bruised. A revol-
yer, with one empty chamber and
/ four bullets. was found on the bed.
This is supposed to have belonged to
| Mrs. Beckwith. and she is supposed
to have fired the shot that struck the
picture. In the room were found the
will and letters, one addressed to
Bessie North. a sister of Mrs Beck
with, and two addressed to Mrs. w.
c. Evans, sister of Mr.. Beckwith,
who lives in Virginia
One of the letters 10 Mrs. Evans
seems to have been written before
the shooting of Mrs. Beckwith. and
the other afterward. All the letters
and will are in the possession of
States Attorney Trice, who refuses
to divulge the contents of any of the
papers. A coroners jury, with Daniel
L. Moore as coroner, was summoned
and, after viewing the body and
hearing what evidence was produced
gave a verdict that Mrs Beckwitl
died from a pistol shot fired by some
person unknown to the Jury.
His Body in the River.
Up to this point nothing had been
heard as TO the whereabouts of Mr.
Beckwith, but his automobile had
been found at Travers Wharf. on the
ChOptank River, and il was deter
mined TO make search for the body
at the wharf. Howard Seward in.
formed the states attorney that he
found an electric flash light on the
wharf in the morning. Chief of Cam
bridge Police Charles S. Prichett
Deputy Sheriff Bruce c. Dean. Cant
Joseph Spedden and J. Radcliffe
Jones then began to drag the bottom
of the bay near where the search
light was found. and in less than ten
minutes the body was hooked and
brought to the surface.
A large bullet hole was found in
the head of Mr.. Beckwith. The ball
had entered the right side and gone
entirely through, passing out the left
side at the top. The shot was evi-
IDENTIFY fired while Mr.. Beckwith was
standing on the edge of the wharf
Mr.. Beckwith and his wife had been
married several years. In a quarrel
( which took place last winter, Mr.
Beckwith shot at his wife, and had
Il not been for the Intervention of
George Ward, the colored man for
merly mentioned, he would have kill
ed her then. After this alteration
Mrs. Beckwith armed herself with a
revolver. but George Ward got il from
her several months ago. Mrs. Beck
with on a recent trip to Baltimore
got another revolver, supposed to be
the one that was found on the bed
today.
Mr.. Beckwith was a brother OF Sam
uel c. Beckwith, who left this county
in his youth and went TO New York
where he founded the Samuel c. Beck
with Advertising Agency. with Offices
in New York and Chicago.