The Washington times., 1920-10-11
WOMAN GIVES
MYSTERYC[UE
Housekeepsr to Reveal Life Of
Los Angeles Man Slain In
PaIatiaI Home.

L
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1l.-Loaiss
Peete, former housekeeper to Jacob
| c. Denton, wealthy mining promoter
whose body was found September 23.
entombed in q basement room Of his
pslstial residence in Los Angeles,
has intimsted that she will reveal
startling facts that may lead to SEN
sational exposures when the grand
Jury investigating the case meets
next Thufyday.
WOMAN BREAKS SILENCE.
The woman has been silent on the
case since the discovery of the cellar
grave, and only recently returned
here following a trip to Denver, when
the body was found. Police await
fuller details OF her testimony on
what has been q profound mystery.
with practically no clues to disclose
any means of foul play other than the
secret walling up of Denton's body.
Declaring that Il was her intention
to go into minute details OF her resi-
dence In tho Denton home. with her
attorney. former Judge o. N. Hilton.
before tho grand jury meets next
Thursday. she added:
at is possible that in my memory
there may be one fact that may aid
In discovering the slayer Of the man
| whose body was found"
| This statement was made at her
hotel In La Crescenta after a short
conference with Judge Hilton follow
| ing his unceremonious and sspsa-
| tional election from the undertaking
parlors Of Garrett & Co.. during the
first few minutes OF the Inquest
The verdict OF the coroner's jury
was that the deceased was Jacob C.
Denton, that death occurred about
June 2. and that the probable cause
OF death was 'strangulation by un-
| known causes"
| No mention was made in the testf-
| mony Of the date June g" One wit
ness testified to seeing Denton May
80. and others said the body was
found September 20. Asked about
this, acting Coroner Williams said he
supplied the jury with the approx
mate date.
Jacob Charles Denton, forty-sox,
was wealthy retired mining man
and real estate broker. Four years
ago Denton was working in a small
Arizona mining town for a daily wage.
When killed he left an estate of near
ly half a million dollars.
IDENTIFICATION DISPUTED.
He came to Los Angeles in March
of this year to establish his home
here. but the unexpected death Of his
wife. through illness. interfered with
his plans and then he was mysteri-
ously murdered. Investigation by the
coroner's Office and the district at
torney's office have convinced Of
ficials that the body found in the
cellar is Denton's.
The clothing, the teeth and the
fracture of the arm which Denton
sustained in Arizona years ago. and
the fact that the murder victims arm.
had been fractured long before his
death. leave little doubt as to the
identity. the officials say.
, Closer relatives of Denton, includ-
ing his first wife and daughter. also
have Identified the body.
Later evidence. however. more and
more tends to shake this conviction
that the dead body is really that OF
Denton. Conflicting reports as to
dates on which Denton, or his double
were seen, and puzzling evidence az
to when Denton wore his arm in a
sling and when he didn't. Is adding
doubt and mystery to the case.
FOUR WOMEN IN HIS LIFE.
Police detectives fix June as the
they believe he was murdered that
night This theory disregards q
statement by Mrs. Peete, his house
keeper. who said he was alive June
2, and that of another witness who
claimed to have seen Denton alive
between June and June 10. The
slayers either strangled Denton OF
killed him with poison.
Denton was twice married, first to
Mrs. Sarah Denton, who divorced him
in Denver, then to Mrs. Dolly Winters
Denton, of Bouse. Ariz.. who died ir
Los Angeles in March. BY his first
wife he had a daughter, f1fteen-year-
old Frances Denton, of Phoenix. Ariz.
to whom he sent monthly financial
remittances.
But at least four other women ap.
] peared in his life, One was Mrs
: Peete, the Yenigma woman" of the
murder mystery, who lived at his
house here. from May until August
of this year.
Another was n mysterious Spanish
woman described by Mrs. Peete. who
claims that Denton once Quarrelet
with the woman on the porch Of his
home.
The third was "A girl known as
Doris" named by the first Mrs. Den.
ton in her divorce.
The fourth was a hery spanish
beauty with Denton in Prescott. Ariz.
in 1907.
"MYSTERY wOMAN's- HISTORY.
Mrs. Peete is, thirty-five. She II
the wife of Denver man and the
mother of a four-year-old daughter
She has been described as charm
ing, attractive and buxom." Sht
net Denton in May, when she an
swered his advertisement to sell hi
house and then resided there unit
August 10, when she returned to Den
ver.
She maintains she KNOWS nothing
OF the murder, but numerous dis
crepancies in her statements have
been found by investigators.
Mrs. Peete, accompanied by repre-
sensatives OF the Los Angeles dis
trict attorneys office and by hei
husband, arrived in Los Angeles thi'
week. Her present abode has no
been revealed. The party left the
train at CatuAp. Ariz. and dashed