Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-12-15
Divorce Only Solution
of Hood Domestic Tangle,
Declares the Trial Judge

watch Mrs. Hood. Peterson remain.
ed in Chadron a week without OBJ
tanning results. He was succeeded
by Gust A. Tylee, an operative OF
the Omaha Detective association.
Tylee admitted that he was unable
to get anything on Mrs. Hood"
Hood had admonished those who
were in his service as detectives to
maintain a discreet silence, because
publicity was extremely distasteful
to him. Out of Hoods efforts to
obtain evidence against his wife,
arose the alleged conspiracy-to-
blackmail case in which six Omaha
men and three prominent Chadron
men were named as defendants BY
County Attorney Critics of Dawes
county. Critics flied his charges in
Chadron on May q. 1917.
Try to Implicats Critics.
It was alleged at the time of the
conspiracy case that the services of
the Omaha Detective association in
the Hood case were taken up by
John c. Lynch, then county COM
missioner, as an opportunity for him
to get back at the association for
previous activities which had re-
suited adversely for Lynch. One of
the alleged plots at Chadron was to
inveigle County Attorney Critics and
Mrs. Hood into compromising
situation in Critics Office on the night
of May IA, 1917. It was further al
legged that Critics and Mrs. Hood,
having been warned Of the plot, fell
into a plan to obtain evidence /,
against the alleged plotters.
The charges filed by Critics al
legged "that the defendants were to
enter Critics Office when Mrs. Hood
was there, and by force of violence
and arms, and by threatening to
make public alleged misconduct, and
to demand money from Hood by re-
fusing to disclose evidence against
his wife; that they caused Critics
and Mrs. Hood to be present in
Critics. Office and that they did en-
ter Critics Office and make threats
with revolvers; that they conspircd
to obtain from Critics, $500; from
Mrs. Hood, $500, and from Hood,
$1,000; that they conspired to cause
Critics and Mrs. Hood to be charged
with marital misconduct and to
cause them to be found together in
Critics Office"
Defendant is Released.
The defendants in the alleged con-
spiracy case were bound over from
the county court in Chadron, but
were all discharged when the cases
were called for trial in Alliance
during October, 1917.
Within the last two months Allen
G.. Fisher of Chadron, one of the
nine defendants referred to, brought
a civil action in the district court
of Douglas county in the sum !ofs
100000 for personal damages said
to have been suffered on account OF ,
the humiliation and disgrace" arts
ing from the Chadron case.
After the disposition of the con-
spiracy case the Hoods lived quiet
ly for a while. They were seen in
Omaha on several occasions and
during the last Christmas holiday
season Mr.. Hood bought his wife
present in an Omaha jewelry shop.
Judge Westover, who heard the
divorce case a few day ago, agreed
that divorce was the solution of
the Hoods domestic tangle. Dur
ing the proceedings Hood demanded
of his attorneys that nothing should
be brought out to injure the charac-
ter of his wife. Disparity Of ages
was the underlying cause of the
estrangement between the Hoods, he
said. III