New Britain herald., 1917-09-21
WISE IS SUDDENLY
 UNWILLING TO TALK
Declines to Comment to Police on
 Mrs. TObin'S Death

that they already have secured enough evidence to pin the guilt of murdering Mrs. Anna >Tobin, whose lifeless body With the throat cut from ear to ear was found on Pearl street early We'd nesday morning, on her paramour, William J. Wise, of the regular army, there are many about the city, par ticularly the friends of the accused soldier, who think that he Is innocent of the crime and there are, in fact, a number of things which the authori- ties have not as yet cleared up.
 Wise, who is recovering from his wounds at the local hospital under police guard, was again visited by de- tectives yesterday but they state, seemed to have undergone a change of spirit and, contrasted to his will lingness to talk on the previous day, Ne became very uncommunicative. In this respect he is being emulated by the detectives themselves, who only state that there is nothing new on the case. The police did admit, however, that Wise made no statements yes- terday relative to the murder and it is assumed that the only comments from him concerning the tragedy are the ones made as he was being taken to the hospital Wednesday morning and when questioned by Prosecutor Klett and the two detectives In this, it will be remembered, he told tale of being suddenly attacked by an un- known man who knocked him down, chased Mrs. Tobin, returned, took Wise's razor from his pocket and slashed the girl and then cut him.
 In many quarters it is thought that if Wise will continue reticent on the subject until he has the advice of a competent attorney the state may ul- timately find that 1t has a more diff cult undertaking to establish first de- gree murder than first appeared. No one apparently saw the crime com- mitted and unless there was actually third party on the scene as the as- sailant. Wise alone knows of the tragedy and that which led up to it. Thus far it has been largely on his own statements that the police have linked their chain of circumstantial evidence connecting him with the deed and had he kept silent from the start they might have been materially ham, dicapped in getting clue. As it Is they are convinced that his story Is entirely myth concocted on the spur of the moment in an attempt to shield himself and Prosecutor I<lett himself, states that he is confident the police are holding the proper person. The suicide theory is secuted by the pros ecutor, who has in his possession a large batch of letters which may be more or less discriminating inasmuch as they undoubtedly reflect the true situation as it existed between Wise and Mrs. Tobin.
 Girl Had Mentioned Suicide.
 In support of possible suicide 1 theory and in support of Wise's plea ! of innocent are several strange things. l It is now thought to be firmly estab- l lished that 1t was Mrs. Tobin who called Wise to the telephone at the Jewish banquet at the Hotel Nelson at 10 o'clock Tuesday night, follow ing which conversation he departed. Those present at the banquet state that the young soldier drank no intox- icating liquors during the entire eve ming and at all times, even after re- ceiving the telephone message, seemed in excellent spirits. They say that he seemed like anything but man who was mediating murder and as he left he shook hands individually with 50 or 60 guests. At the time he seemed like any healthy young man, his mind
  thoughts. Upon leaving the hotel Wise movements are not positively known, but it is believed that he met Mrs. l Tobin within a few moments and that the two strolled to Walnut Hill. It is known that this section was favorite 1 trysting place for Mrs. Tobin, due partly to it's seclusion and also, pos- 1 sibly to the fact that during the days 1 Of her childhood she lived in this V1- cinity When a child Mrs. Tobin re- ] sided on Camp street in what was then l known as Fort Sumpter and The Bar ! racks, a strangely constructed house l near where Rogers tennis court is 1 now located. It is not known how long Wise and Mrs. Tobin remained in this neighborhood, but at 1 A. M. they are 1 known to have been sitting in the doorway of the Corbin Cabinet Lock factory, only 8 few steps from her home Those upholding Wise's inno- cence point out that had the young soldier contemplated murder it would have been natural for him to have taken the woman's life either in the shadows of the Normal school or on deserted summit of Walnut Hill park where the body might have been thrown into the bathing pool, giving the murderer better chance to make
 good his escape. The fact that when
 the couple were seen at 1 o'clock in
 the morning they were not apparently 1 uuarrelling also lends some credence
 to the supposition that Wise may be
 innocent. The sulids theory, which
 the police laugh at is nevertheless be-
 lieved by many of Wise's friends.
 They claim that the nature of Mrs
 Tobin's wound, one clean deep cut
 shows that it was not made upon a
 victim struggling for her life. Life
 is always sweet and had Mrs. Tobln
 been attacked by Wise, it is argued,
 she would have struggled or squirmed
 from his grip sufficiently to have