Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-04-30

tAtAOA dOPAty 0Aotk4Nt ottOA uCyt
attorney.
| Los Angeles. CAL, April SO.-AIur-
der, and not bigamy. will be the
charge to be faced by James r. HURT,
who last night admitted. after an in
yestigation extending over nearly a
month and enmeshed him beyond
hope, that he had killed two women,
had at least contributed to the deaths
of two more and had married at least
twenty. including the four who lost
their lives.
The murder charge. according to
1.-THE officers o; the district attorney
Twill be based on the alleged confess
sion Of HURT that he killed Nina Lee
Deloney one of his wives in LBS
Angeles county, and afterward con-
cealed her body at lonely place in
the mountains of Imperial county,
whence he carried 1t, over a travelled
highway, wrapped In blankets and
laid in his touring car.
Officers Seek Body
After HURT had finished his srate-
ment. at midnight last night. District
Attorney Lee Woolwine, two deputy
sheriffs and other investigators lett
, by automobiles for the spot described
| by the prisoner as the place where
he had hidden Mrs. Deloney's body.
The trip will require at least two days
and 1t was said that no formal charge
of murder weuld be filed until the
party had returned. Enough evidence.
, even without the finding Of the pody
/. of Mrs. Deloney, or the admission OF
the alleged confession, is already
| available to support such a charge
the officers said.
The murder charge and all subse-
J quent proceedings will be brought
against the man under the name oil
Walter Andrew Watson, it was said
this course will be taken because the
defendant told the officers, they said
that he did not know his true name
but was most frequently known as
Watson; because the marriage with
Nina Lee Deloney, which preceded the
alleged murder, was solemnized un.
der that name and because 1t was the
name most used by the man in Los
, Angeles county.
Confession Long One
-.Watson's story was told last nigh
2 in the presence of District Attorne,
: Woolwine Chief Deputy w. G. Do
i ran, shorthand reporter, two depu-
: ty sheriffs and j. M. Marmaduke, ar
I attorney who had previously brought
) and abandoned--a writ of habeas
corpus In Watsons behalf. The stase.
: ment was given in response to ques-
! tions and more than four hours time
: was devoted to its completion. 1t wa;
transcribed at once and will be pre-
sented to Watson for his signature to.
r day.
The presence of Watson's attor.
ney and the complete deliberatior
with which the matter was handled
, caused sheriff's officers to express
: the belief last night that some prom.
ise Of immunity from the death pen.
atty had been given the man In ex-
change for his aid In clearing up th'
involved mysteries of his marriages
and as consideration of the ex
pense that wenld be avoided by elm
mating trial.
Relates Life Story
Watson's statement, In brief, wal
/ that he was native Of the south
: probably of Tennessee; he said his
: first memory was OF finding himself
/ in an orphan asylum where he re.
manned until he was about ten years
! old then, he said he went to live
with a family named Harper and re-
mained with them for about five
years, moving 20 Pittsburg, Kansas
he said he next found himself work
ing for a blackxnith and while In
that employment he was struck OF
the head and knocked unconscious
, by an anvil falling from the block
where II rested. Then, according Il
the transcript of his statement, hi
went to farm nearby where he llv
ed for about two years and then hi
began to drift over the country
His first marriage, he said, was II
Canada during the war" He told tht
officers he had been married so offer
since that time that he could not re
member names, places, nor dates
= He gave them, with frequent prompt
ing, the following list, the first fou
. being those whom he admitted hat
E died either by his hand or with hi
: connivance. according to the state
ment.-
Lists Many Wives
Nina Lee Deloney home Eureka
Mont, married under the name o
Charles N. Harvey at San Francisco
December s, 1919. She had propert.
worth about 100000, he said.
4, Bertha A. Goodnick Of Spokane
married under the name OF II. L. Go
a don, North Yakima. June IL. 1919
8 Her body was found near Plum sta
: tion, Thurston county. Wash. shor
q time thereafter; her trunks nav
: been located In Vancouver. y. G.
t warehouse.
a Alice NJ LudHgson Of Seattle. mar
: rled under the name of Andrew Hi
n ton, at Port Townsend. Wash, Octo
s ber 9, 1917
g Her property, papers. will and mar
: riage, license were found in Watson
r effects.
: Elizabeth Pryor Of Wallace. Idaho
o married unedr the name Of Miltoi
/. Lewis at Occur d'Alene. Idaho. Mafcl
25, 1919. Miss Pryor who was
waitress had little property, although
: some tax receipts in her name wer
e found In Watson's possession.
n Other admitted marriages wete.