The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-01-06
SUICIDE
SOLVES MURDER
PHILA. POLICE NOW
LOOK FOR MOTIVE.
Several Plausible Ones Being.
ConsideredBut Police Are !.
as Yet in Dark. !.

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 5---The clos
ing chapter Of a tragedy which result.
ed in the murder here last Friday Of
Maize Colbert, an advertising ART moo
ell and the suicide last night IN Atl2n.fi Z
tic City Of Bernard w. Lewis, the son
of a wealthy retired Pittsburgh coal
operator, for whom q warrant had.
been sworn out as the mysterious man
who was driven to Miss Colbert's apart
ments in taxicab, was written In the
police annals today with the announce
ment by Captain Of Detectives Tato.?
that the mystery had been cleared, AZ!
far as the identity Of the slayer CON. !.
cerned the authorities:
Tonight the detective department !
had accepted beyond doubt the conclu.s
sion that Lewis, former law student !:
at Yale, who had been separated from
his wife in Pittsburgh. felled the mol
Iel with blow from blunt instrument 3
and fled after strangling her with 81
silk stocking. The investigation OF the
police now has narrowed down to thes,
motive for the crime, while the general:
belief Of the detectives is that Lewis
was temporarily embarrassed imam
cially and may have been driven 20
strangle the young woman to, secure
funds, the supposition that his mind 1
was temporarily unbalanced IL als0t
given credence. A costly diamond ring :
belonging to the slain girl, the gift OF I
another admirer, who had been under
surveillance here; Is still missing.
A theory that Lewis, prompted by
his alleged financial embarrassment
may have killed the girl IN desperadons:
because she would not become party
to a plot to blackmail one OF her rtch
, admirers, is also occupying the atteh-e
ton Of the police. I;
New Angle In Case
A new angle was injected into the i
case tonight by a detective, VINO salo
that he had been reliably informed
that four persons were IN the yoa@nxs @
murder, including the victim herself.
A man understood to be Lewis, GIRL
friend of the model and q male ac.s
Iouaintance Of this young woman. A.
drinking debauch preceded q quarre
lin which Miss Colbert threw some
thing at Lewis and he struck her dow
with the missile, according to this tn
ory. The other couple ran nom
! house, later followed by Lewis, 49,,
had beaten the. girl and then tied 80
silk stocking about her neck
Had Lewis been innocent ana: %
bounded to suicide by disgrace incEa
dent to the linking of his name With;
the murder of Miss Colbert he would
certainly have left a note OF explan2ss;
t1on," said Captain Tate tonight.
"He knew his rights, as he was an:
intelligent man, having studied laNit
and IL innocent would therefore nave
been easily capable of ,disentanglin4S5
himself from the stigma Of having anygs
connection with the crime, directly ols
indirectly"
: TO Lewis as the slayer, as Indicated DyS
the police, were: His possession OF u
blood-stained handkerchief; stranalS
of hair clutched In the DEAD glrII
hand matched that OF Lewis; ne Wore
= woman's silk undershirt said to bos5
duplicate Of others found In MISE!
Colbert's room; his hands were badly
scratched as though struggle nAa2
preceded the crime; his shirt ana co!:E
lar were the same size as the biood.%
stained shirt and collar found IN tnes
pirj's apartment; q curtain cord Slml-s:
lar to the one torn from her apart.
ment was found among Lewis ef-z
fects: in q memorandum book IN his
pocket was a card bearing MISS COLI:
bert's telephone number, ana no Wes
identified by Elwood Powell - mo
man he had driven In q tadcao 20
Miss COlD6rCS ApdI IIuaSAI $uo AAO~sseS
the murder Is believed to have oc:,5i
CURED. @
Lewis At Funeral.
Lewis presence at the victims fu:$:
neral Yesterday was reported Dy tNol
women mourners, who declared taeyi .
recognized the picture and description (;
of the suicide. The nervousness otE.
the man impressed them. they said:
4 bIood-stained undergarment be-i;
lieyed to have belonged to tho Pttts.ii5
burgher, was found today beneath mel
window of a room at hotel occupied ais
by Lewis last Wednesday. Tho kSyffi
to this room was found among his et.ii;
fects at an Atlantic City hotel, where 7,
he shot himself as detectives rappeol
on the door to arrest him. ,,,
The results of the autopsy by Wlu-1,
lam Wadsworth, coroner's physician.
made public to-day, showed that MISS Z
Colbert's death was due to stransula-j5
ton. 80
have Lewis body shipped to Pitt-1
burgh tomorrow, as soon as the coro.G Gs
ner OF Atlantic City releases It Tnere :,
'-.sts