Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-06-24
ELWELL KILLED
BY WOMAN, SAYS
DETECTIVE BURNS

NEW YORK, June 2.-There is
no great mystery about the Elwell
murder" William J. Burns, interna-
tionally famous detective, said to-
day.
"It was committed in all proba-
bility by woman, and by woman
the night in Elwells home pleading
with him not to cast her off,
In making this statement Burns
took sharp issue with the authorI-
ties investigating the case. who in
sist that the actual shooting was
done by a man, though they admit
that woman was connected with
it, Burns himself has done no work
| on the murder, but has read with
extreme care newspaper accounts of
by eliminating possibility after pos
"The fact that the murder was
| committed with a .45-caliber auto
matte does not remove the possibili-
| ty of a woman being. responsible"
| tomato pulls very easily; all that
| is necessary is a slight pressure, and
| indeed it is a weapon that a des-
| perate; infuriated woman might We'll
| be supposed to have used. Fix the
| situation in your mind and discard
Lived Free and Easy Life
"Elwell had lived a free and easy
( life with women. Then the report
circulates that he is about to remar-
| ry. He even goes so far as to en-
| gage home for the Saratoga rae
| ing season in the name Of Mr.. and
| Mrs. Elwell.' 81
WORD of this reaches one of the
women with whom he has been on
| intimate terms and who possesses
1 -. L.. It, 1izr L HNA &c
| there the night preceding the muir
der. She waits for him until he gets
| home.
1--WE know, by the testimony of a
reliable witness, that he arrived
| home at 3:45 a. m. It makes no diff
since leaving the Lewisohns nor who
was the man in the automobile to
whom he waved good-by.
HE went upstairs and found there
the woman who had come to plead
with him not to throw her over. she
was in the bedroom he had furnished
| in feminine fashion and was proba-
bly, undressed. >, .,.
| that he was to remarry. She demand
ed to know what was to become OF
| her after the relations that had ex-
| listed between them. She reproached
| him for his lack of constancy. she
declared she would never give him
meanwhile Elwell undressed. re-
moving his wig and false teeth, Tor
he was on terms of the utmost in
I'm ali probability they quarreled
| the rest Of the night, the woman
constantly. becoming more and more more
Infatuated. In our work We have nay
scorned' and we know what they
are capable of under those condi-
| tions. I have known theme Wiling
| to commit a hundred murders.
"Elwell was probably glad or an
excuse to leave the room when the
! bell rang and he heard the post
mans whistle. He went downstairs
and got the letters but, instead OF
returning to the woman, he Went 1, INTO ie :,
the reception room. His feminine
visitor waited for a few minutes
and then followed him downstairs.
She saw that he was so little inter-
ested in her plea that he had stop
ped to read his mail u
Upstairs she did not have her
pistol within reach, for she, had
brought it to the house in hand
bag. But when. she went down
stair she took this pistol Nv. With hrd her
"The sight of Elwell coldly read
ing his letters brought her fury to a
kead. She may have asked him one
more question and it is likely he re-
"Then she revealed her pistol.
took accurate aim at his head and
fired. After this she swiftly
dressed and left the house. 1t Is
even possible that she returned
later to remove tell-tale bits Of evil
dence,
"T am certain that more question
+ ing of the Larsen woman, ElwelPs
former housekeeper will reveal a
terry. From the first, even before
she admitted hiding the woman's
kimono and boudoir cap. I was con-
WINGED that she knew more than she
hnd told