The Washington herald., 1919-10-06
WEIRD DEATH OF
WRITER MYSTIFIES
CHICAGO POLICE
: CONTINUED raoA PAGE ONE.

4 liz run NllCk&O c6LuIuay nlknl-
Finger-print experts took every
print that could be found in the Pw-
Ecen apartment
Finser-prints were taken Of every
one Of Purcelrs relatives, torethei
with those of Miss Corder.
At the same time. chemists vert
testing the contents OF Purcelfs
stomach for poison
Members of the family an proved
that they were many miles from Chi.
cago when Purcell died.
wealth Lost q, stocks.
Nothing could be learned as to whai
had become Of Purcelrs wealth. un.
I'll ii was found That he had becom.
impoverished through stock gambling
Only one fnger-print was found tn,
source Of which was not easily ex
plainable. That was on q mirror. anC
might have been made months ago.
The case was a mystery" Ger
tainly. and the police were at a stand
still in their investigation when tn,
eyes Of a nervous. quick-witted youns
woman revealed something that mad,
the whole AFFAIR more intricate anC
uncanny than ever.
Mrs. Ruth n. Cruise, wife Of 4
nephew Of the dead man. was inspect
ing the nat, which had been left pre-
ciseiy as II was when the body wa
found
She was especially interested in tn
breakfast table.
IT can't help but feel that there n
something queer about chat meal,
she said to q detective. TT doesn'
look right to me-
Suddenly Mrs. Cruise snatched a,
the three fragments Of toast and it
ted them together.
They had been broken from ch,
, same piecei
She next pointed out that thsrs wer
signs OF but one egg having been
used.
The coffee cup. had not been drani
from
The sCG1ouf1age BresAfsst.r
It was a -csmounage breakfast
Mrs. Purcell and her daughter ar
rived In Chicago from an out-of-tow
VISIT the morning the body was found
They had planned TO surprise Nj
Purcell and had not written teflin
him the time Of their return.
!, hrs- Purcell had received two lei
tiers from her husband saying that b
feared there was plot against him
| dh1L CIOOhE NCrE tCncInlnE 10 TO
him. He told of telephone calls fror
strange woman
Announcement by the chemists ths
it was nicotine that killed Purcell wa
a startling development when the cas-
, was already q week old
Tests were made for nineteen POI
sons. which had been used for murde
and suicide in the past before nice
tine, a common aIkalotd sold freel
for killing insects on flowers an
shrubs, was hit upon
1t is instantly fatal and about fort
drops OF the pure poison were foul
in PurceI's stomach. This quantit
. would kill ten persons
There remains a division Of opinio
among those who are studying IN
? Purcell case as TO whether he khle
himself or was slain
Reasyns fsr suicide.
that Elias h Purcell died by hi
own hand
The rope by witch he was fas
tened In the chair IN only about
> yard long. II is a flirnsy cord @
twisted strands. The left hand wa
: tied to an arm chair. the right wa
held by . freely running poos,
: This rope, would not have prevente
Purcell from rising from the chail
: He could easily have raised q glas
to his lips. There was a broke
tumbler on the floor at his feet.
The towel tied about the face wa
not held against the mouth. but ha
slipped to the chin.
The bundles, supposedly wrappe
up by thieves. did not contain Oh
jects of much value and were 70
: carefully tied to suggest the has;
of robbery.
When Mrs. Purcell saw the bur
dies. pinned and knotted. her m
exclamation was. That's Just liz
my husband!-
Several motives are TO be foun
which would account for a camoy
, haged suicide. besides the loss {
large sum Of money.
? Was Fssd Of Pest.s.
{ Purcell was vain and moody. r
, had been in the theatrical busine.
= and was known to be FOND ,
= posing. About $4,000 in insuranS
: policies might be jeopardized il
t were proved that Purcell took n
e own life
5 The evidence pointing to murd,
[ weakens under examination. Tt
e milkman who saw the face at n
$ window in the gray light OF dsv
admitted when he had thought n
matter over that he could not I
positive whether it was an old ma
: or a young one, whether Il wa
Purcell or someone else.
: Purcell was inordinately proud ,
: his family. He claimed descent fro,
: a Horace Purcell who was crrani,
= in Westminster Abbey in the sever
, teenth century.
I Purcell was an invalid, with
Y weak heart and other ailments.
= Evidence of Suicide.
: The three slight marks on II
s head might have been self-infiicte
hammer blows, administered {
d strengthen the appearance of mul
e der. Physicians say that they We,
= made several days before death.
e The grocer from whom PURGE
I had purchased his small daily stoc
Y OF provisions recalls that on Satul
' day Purcell did not appear. Thor
was no food in the house He ha
evidently made up his mind that h
would never require another mea
A ballad. The Last Guest" writ
ten by Purcell in 1911. relates ho'
en- old man, who has heaped u
wealth for the sake of his famiI,
: is at Last glad when death come
: to take him.
So. although many investigator
!. continue to Insist that Purcell wa
1 murdered il appears that n
dreamy temperamental poseu
brooding in loneliness over the 10.
: of money and of health. devised fc
him self n death which Uro,,ra \.