The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-29
20 STRANGE KNIFE
STABS KILL WOMAN
Mrs. Grace Fox Found Dying i'm
Apartment-DOOr Locked.
Window Open.
MAN DID IT. SHE MOANED
Husband Is Branch Manager
for National Cash Regis
ter Company.

Mrs. Grace Fox whose husband. William
III. Fox, is one OF the New York managers
OF the National Cash Register Company
and a brother of Della Fox. the actress.
died early last evening In the Knicker-
booker Hospital OF twenty stab wounds
mysteriously inflicted while she was
alone and only partly dressed in her
apartment at Beacon Hail. 6lS-62i West
l42d street.
The hospital authorities asserted tina:
1t was almost impossible for any one
TO infict such wounds-about the neck.
shoulders and carson oneself. APP
parently a sharp penknife had been used
and half a dozen men of the homicide
squad who conducted a minute search
about the apartment for several hours
last night. could not find any such
weapon They were absolutely nom
plussed.
From what have seen OF the case
thus far" said Inspector Faurot, when
he left Beacon Hall to continue his in
yestigat.on by further examination
of the womans body at the MorSue.
II am inclined to think 1t is suicide.
but we cannot find any knife. That is
the puzzling feature of the case
The Fox apartment Is so situated,
however. that IL would be easy for an
intruder to get in and out of the place
without being seen. The bedroom win
dow near which the woman was found
semi-conscious at the time. opens on
fire escape which leads down to an
open courtyard three floors below. The
courtyard abuts on an open lot. through
which one might escape undetected.
Phone Call Gives Alarm.
Sam. the negro elevator boy In tho
big six story apartment, received the
first word that Mrs. Fox was In trouble
Answering a call at the telephone
switchboard he heard Mrs. Fox in Q
faint voice ask for help. But he go,
no response to his rapping on her door
He says he then peered under the dooi
and through the crack could see blood
stains on the floor. That was at s 5:2(
o'clock.
The superintendent. William Beagle,
summoned by Sam. forced an entranc,
into the apartment few minutes latei
and found Mrs. Fox covered with blood
She lay on the bed, dressed in night.
gown over a chemise
II hurt myself" the woman moaned
sem-consciously. but Beagle's further
questions elected no response.
When Policemen Kinney and Coogan
OF the West 1920 street station arrived
Mrs. Fox was unconscious. Dr. Fras-
caolla of the Knickerbocker Hospital
counted no less than twenty wounds
about the shoulders, neck and head. He
hurried ha tal
hour later she died. Mr.. Fox. hastily
called from his office In Fourteenth
street. reached her side a few minutes
before her death and he said she told
him this
"A man attacked me. An agent came
to the door. He stabbed me"
Although the first police report Of the
occurrence stated that Mrs. Fox. who was
AZ years old, had committed suicide, the
arrival of Inspector Faurot and de,ec-
tives OF the homicide squad at once
supported the theory that some one had
entered the apartment and attacked her
The police would not say even after
their long search that IL was not a muir
der. A ripper" theory. In fact, was
uppermost In the minds Of those who
heard OF the strange stabbing.
Nothing Was stolen.
Detectives from the fourth branch
who came first Immediately searched
the three expensively furnished rooms
thoroughly, but they were rewarded
with little that might help solve the
mystery. Mrs. Fox's jewelry in her
dresser drawer and $40 in cash near by
had not been disturbed apparently.
Except for the blood stains there were
no signs of disorder.
But the apartment itself-the bed
h,,l
the walls were splotched with blood
Mrs Fox's nightdress showed no rents
OF knife, but the wounds might easily
have been Inflicted without puncturing
the woman's scant attire. The police
made many flashlights Of the place
and took fngerprints Of the stains on
the wall and the furniture. But search
as they did, no weapon came to light.
Inspector Faurot and his aids stayed
In the apartment until after II O'Clock
last night. When he left II was to make
another examination OF the woman's
body at the morgue. Inspector Faurot
said that Mrs. Fox was in the bath
room first, for the stains there were
bigger and the walls were more spat-
tered In turn. he said. she entered the
dining room and bedroom, where she
collapsed on the bed The apartment
is at the rear Of the third floor.
Mr.. Fox was too distraught to make
any statement last night, 4 friend Of
the family, however, who lives N the
same house, said that Mr., and Mrs. Fox
had been married about twelve years
and had no children. She, he added
was intellectual, OF a literary turn OF
mind and was unusually optimistic and
cheerful Mr.. Fox comes from st. Louis.
Don't tell me she committed sui
eide" said this friend 1T is too pre-
posterous."
Mrs. Fox's maiden name was Grace
Darling Woodcock. Before she married
Fox she was welded to DR.. Ira Allen.
whom she divorced in North Dakota In
1902.