The Washington times., 1920-01-12
LAYS THEFT TO. .
D|V|NE.DREAM'
Woman Church Leader Says
She Was Hypnotized by
"a Psychologist.

NEW YORK, Jan. IA fugitive
from justice under four indictments
u grand larceny, Mrs. May Jennings
Bennett, a vice president Of the
Women's Foreign Missionary Society
Of the Presbytery of New York and
formerly its corresponding secre-
tary, has surrendered and is locked
UP in the Tombs.
~ In. ~Dream" for Year.
5Cpnfsssing her guilt to reporters
she. said she had been In sort OF
dream for a year. under what she
believed to be the hypnotic influence
oe . -divtns psychologist" g-.
II is not known just where Mrs.
Bennett had ned. or why she decided
70 give herself mp. When she walked
into criminal courts building to sur
render Saturday. she was accompan-
led by her attorney.
Although the indictments mention
specifically the larceny OF only $1,000
from women associated with her In
church and political activities. Mrs.
Bennett. who says she Is the widow
Of william Hobson Bennett, Is thirty
two, and has been living In handsome
apartments with her mother and Sis
ter in Breton Hall. admitted she has
invested $4,000 obtained by her
schemes In a Mexican oil company,
the wells of which are not working.
Claimed - 900 q Month Income.
The Indictments allege Mrs. Ben
nett claimed to control~leaseholds on
nine houses in this city from which
her income was 81, 900 a month, when
she SO controlled only one house and
has an income of less than $500 a
month. Assistant District Attorney
Smith believes she has obtained much
more than $4,000. as persons who
claim to have lost money through her
have not filed complaints on account
Of her family and church connections,
Mrs. Bennett was active principally
on Washington Heights, where. she Is
said to have canvassed the whole sec
tfon in the supposed interest of the
Republican ticket, and also in church
work, meeting many of the best class
of residents, entertaining at kaffee-
klatsches, and SO on, and borrowing
various sums on representations of
her income. '... .
Fear Death Through Shame.
Before her confession, which was
made in the presence of Warden
Hanley, Mrs. Bennett became almost
hysterical and said publication of her
troubles would mean her immediate
death because Of her shame for her
family and her church.
She insisted she had no crimipal
intent at any time and was under a
strange influence. She said she had
known the man who influenced her
five years, but had been under the
spell about a year. During that time,
she said, she paid him large sums of
money she obtained and was advised
by him often as to new plans and
schemes.
According to her story. the man
posed as a teacher of New Thought.
She said he told her that If she want
cd anything and believed she could
get 1t she would get 1t. He prayed
for the things she wanted, she assert
ed, and when she warned him that IL
certain schemes did not work right
she might get into trouble he told her
he would fix it SO no harm would
come to her. .-...
She gave this mans name and ad-
dress, and said he was instructing
a large class, many members Of which
we're well-known persons.
"Oh, no, l won't say that ] got as
much as $20,000," said Mrs. Bennett,
but I'll cay 1t was a whole lot and
know l shall have to hustle to make
restitution. l am free from the hyp-
motto influence now, and want to ask
for a suspension of sentence SO I
may have chance to pay back every
cent. / think II / get good oppor-
tunity I can do this in a year. / did
not even tell my lawyer about the
influence of the man over me, but
now that matters have gone thus far
I do not see why 1 should be the only
one to suffer. I must have been
weak minded. though 1 do not ap-
pear to be so, but I did not realize
until l awoke to a realization of it all
recently"
Mr.. Smith says Mrs. Bennett is the
most versatile" woman of her kind
with whom he has dealt. She dresses
well and unostentatiously and appears