Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1918-01-05
RICH BROKER
MAY HANG FOR
WIFE MURDER
60NE TOO BRIGHT Is POSSIBILITY
P0F REPRlEvE FOR FRED L. SMALL,
A BOSTON BROKER, CONVICTED
FOR CRIME OF 1916.

CONCORD. y. H. Jan. 5-In the posi-
bility of reprieye or pardon from the
governor and council, possibility that
appears to be none too bright, lies the only
chance for Frederick l.. Small. Il one time
Boston broker and man of considerable
wealth. tn escape death on the gallows ten
+. days hence. The crime for which he i
under sentence TO pay the death penalty
was the murder of lis wife.
While much of the evidence was circum-
stantail the jury in finding Small guilty
Vdeclared for capital punishment. the death
penalty under New Hampshire law being
inflicted only when the jury believe, the
crime 20 atrociouS a To warrant 1t. The
attorneys for the condemned man carried
the case to the state supreme court, which
trobunal has now upheld the verdict of the
trial court, and refused plea for Il new
trial
According TO the evidence at the trial
the plot formulated by Small 10 do away
with his wife and conceal the evidence of
his crime wa> one Of the hest laid that has
ever come under investigation by the New
IIamphire authorities. Only by the mcrcSt
chance did the plans slip up, leaving evl-
dcncc that Mrs Small had been murdered
and was not the victim of accidental death,
"a was at first supposed.
Mrs. Small met death in cottage occu-
pied by her and her husband on the shore
of Lake Ossipee, two miles from the vii
lagc of Mountanview. II was the only
Occupied place in the vicinity Mr.. Small.
cral years before. bought the cottage and
with his wife had lived there for most of
the year.
On the afternoon of September 2s. 1916,
Small left OS>pec for Boston to attend
10 some business. leaving his wife alone IN
the cottage. Some six or seven hours later
the cottage was discovered To be on fire.
BY the time the nearest neishbor~ reached
the scene the house had been practically
destroyed.
II was by the mere~t chance that search
crs digging III the ruins of the cottage for
the body of Mrs. Small discovered evidence
of murder. The body had dropped with the
burning floor into the basement and the
head and neck lodged in a pool of water
and were therefore preserved, while the
other portions of the body were burned be
yond recognition. About the neck of the
dead woman was found rope that had
been tied tightly and secured in square
knot. The rope was identified u one
taken from motor boat belonging To
Small. Further examination rclcavcd the
fact that the woman had been beaten over
the head and shot through the right temple.
With the finding of the head. the author
itic>, who previously had announced that
the woman had lost her life accidentally.
set about to find the murderer. Upon
learning the news of his Wife, death Small
ha>tened back from Boston and immed
ately offered $1,000 To the one who di,cov-
cred who killed his wife
~ the investigation broadcncd it was
found that husband and wife had taken ont
Il loint insurance policy, 100000 payable
to the survivor. This. the state contended.
furnished the motive for the murder.
Search of the ruins also revealed many
electric devices which the prosecution
charged. were arranged To start the fire
several hours after the murder and at 4
time when Small would be far from the
scene.
The defence alleged that Mrs.. Small was
Killed by i man who attacked her and then
sci the fire to conceal the crime In ap-
pcaling To the supreme court counsel for
the prisoner asserted that he did not have
fair trial. that much of the technical cvi-
dcncc relating to the So-called electrical
devices was incompetent. and that the ex-
hlbltion Of the woman> head in court was
calculated to inflame the minds of the
jurors.
The supreme court overruled the excep-
tions of Small'> counsel and declared that
the introduction of the head of Mrs. Small
was competent evidence of the cause Of
the murdered woman's death.
NOrwenian 0SSes