The Washington times., 1920-10-11


The earth taken from the garden was
found heaped over the body In the
secret basement tomb. HIS statement
V In ths hands Of the district attorney.
Denton's will wAs given TO Judge
Avery ny Mrs. Psets. II leaves 10 Der
cent OF Denton's sStAts In q trust
fun1 for his AssUhsss. Frances Dem
ton. and D. per cent to = chiidrsn's
| homo as . memorial to his second
wife. This viii has bssn pronounced
suthentic by Milton carisoa. examiner
| Of questioned dCcumsntA
-Amoas important pisc4s Of svtAsscs
gathered BY detectives and Newspaper
men are q blood stained rope, which
may have been used TO strAnSls Dem
ton, and three COLORADO chau6ssrs
badges In the housA
Ms ROAANTso CAREnRL
The victim. JsseS Charles Dseten.
was . romantic ngprs. wealthy min-
Ing man and capitalist his pas.
probsd for clues to his murder. dis
closed many coiorful dstaIla
Although q well known ngurs In
Los Angeles. little had bssn known
Of bis business Affairs. He owned
property In Los Angeles. He was pro-
motor. general manager and PRECEDENT
OF the Grand Pacinc Copper Company.
superior. Aria He was known on the
New York curb.
The murder was not disclosed by
accident. For weeks . private de-
tective engaged by Dsnton's at
tofneys. who wore Suspicious Of hts
mysterious disAppearancs and long
absence. had been searching for him.
The detective, looking over the house,
came across q specially constructed
body, wrapped m bed clothing and
bound with ropes. was found there.
The first arrest in the case was
that Of Crowhurst. the plumber. who.
In an affidavit made to the district
attorney told of the secret basement
| chamber.
Cofncident with Crowhurst's state
ment came one from George f. Neil
q prisoner in the county Jail and for
| mer chauffeur to tenants at the Dem
ton house, who told OF having been
given part OF Denton's clothing by
| Mrs. Peete. When arrested. other
| clothing formerly owned by the
mining man was found in the plumb
| er's possession.
THE PLUMBERS STORY.
| In his statement to the district at
torney. Crowhurst told how he wa
summoned by Mrs. Peete to repair q
water hea r in the basement of the
house. He said:
Mrs. Peete told me IL would moi
be necessary for me, while repairing
the heater, to 10 into . little room
In the cellar. . sort of closet rudsly
constructed under the basement stairs
At that time, noticed in tho cellar
| large amount Of loose earth lying On
| the floor. The earth smelled az IL II
had been freshly turned over. ! re-
paired the heater and left.
"A week or so later she summoned
me again, and said the heater made
peculiar rumbling noise. She said
| 1t sounded as though . graveyard
| were waking up. She asked me te
examine closely the door which let
from the cellar into the kitchen, and
suggested that / might board up al
the space giving access into the cellal
from the house,
Mira Peete was frst questioned h
Denver. She told conflicting stories
one to the effect that subsequent t
the time Denton had been reported
missing she had seen him in Los An
geles. She expressed the opinion tha
Denton had a double. She said:
"As for the clothes Crowhurst say,
gave him they were the property o.
Mr.. Denton. He gave them to me t.
give to the Salvation Army. Crow
hurst came to the house to repair
the water heater on orders from Mr.
Denton.
He spent several days on the job
and what he could have been doinl
all that time Is a mystery to me
But he was not boarding up tn,
closet. II there had been the slight
est noise during that time I wouls
hAye heard it."
MS. Pecte mentioned a mysteriou
Spanish woman with whom Dentoi
was alleged to have been intimate
Speaking Of the manner in. which sh
came to live in the house. she said
II read Of Mr.. Denton's house in
newspaper ad. When / called he tol,
me he wished to sell the house, no
rent 1t. told him 1 would take car
Of his house for him and rent 1t o
sell 1t for him, as he saw fit.
BECAME HIS HOUsEKEEPER.
'He consented and agreed to lie
me live there rent free. He was Z
occupy a room. separated by the gues
chamber from mine. He occupied tha
room, but was seldom in II. -
"On June ne agreed to give m
power of attorney to sell his house
but he did not appear. and i re
ceived word he had been injured 4
an accident. When he did not RI
turn ! started q search for him. Hi
will, leaving most of his property t
his daughter. who lives in Phoeni,
Arix. was found"
From Phoenix the following da
came Denton's divorced wife and hi
daughter. Frances Denton, to aid i
the investigation.
Although the facts brought out I
the statements by Crowhurst an
Mrs. Peete were Significant, they lie
to a blind alley. The police invest
CATION lined the murdered minin
man up with Albert Norwood. cor
fidenSe man, who recently had bee
killed, and an investigation wa
started to learn whether Norwood bt
fore his death at the hands of men
bers of his gang. had laid plans I