Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-30
HURT ISA[LEGED
TO ADMIT KILLING
TWO Of HIS WIVES
Says He might Have Muir
dered More" But Pleads
"Weak Memory"
By the Associated Press


EOS ANGELES. Calf. April 3O-At
least two OF the numerous women James
r. HURT is alleged to have married in
various parts of the country were muir
dered by him. two others met "acci-
dental deaths while with him. and he
might have murdered more according
10 an alleged confession made public
early today by J. Morgan Marmaduke
his attorney. and county officials. HURT
SAID he could not remember" what
happened to some of the women because
Of his still weakened condition. result
ing from two attempts to commit sui
eide, the reputed confession said. He
lay on cot at the county hospital as
he talked :,
HURT has been held here several days
while officers investigated reports of
numerous marriages
Desire to Kill Obsessed Him.
He married twelve or fifteen women.
probably more" HURT was quoted as
saying. A desire TO kill obsessed him
four years ago. HURT W. alleged to
victims. there being 40 dir ct motive. for
their deaths. and no desire 10 kill men.
children or animals.
Nina Lee Deloner. killed with a ham
mer at Long Beach. Calf. and Eliza
beth Pryor. whose head was crushed
with a sledge hammer near Plum,
Wash. We're the wives" whose muir
ders the officers said HURT confessed.
The partial confession said the Of
f1cers. related to the deaths of Bertha
Goodrich and Alice Ludvigson. Miss
Goodrich was tipped out of boat in
Lake Washington. near Seattle. and
Miss Ludvigson was drowned in a river
in Idaho. they said.
A party immediately left for the
place near San Diego where HURT
said he buried Miss Deloney's body.
May Have Welded Twenty-Five.
More than twenty-five marriages
have been attributed by the officers
to HURT. Seven women are listed as
missing. They include. besides the
four named in the alleged confession,
Mrs. Gertrude Wilson. Seattle: Bea
trice NJ. Andrews of Canada and Eng
ada.
The first to die. according to the
alleged confession. was Miss Ludwig
son. HURT was quoted as saying he
was in a boat with her. fishing in a
river in Idaho. His memory was
weak as to the exact time and loca
ton. The boat. he stated. damned
against logs. which were dashed to the
bank Of the river. and he and Miss
I.udvigson tried with their arms to
free the raft When he broke away.
he narrated. the woman lost her bal
drowned.
He said Miss Goodnic,s died when
she fell from a launch into Lake
Washington, while trying to go from
,Ae stern to the center. Later on. the
officers said. HURT himself referred to
this death as "a murder"
In the Pryor case, the officers said
he asserted. the woman attacked him
with a hat pin and he showed her SO
violently that she fell and struck her
head against box.
He believed she was dead. he was
said to have declared. but to make
certain, struck her with hammer.
Miss Deloney. he was quoted as
saying, he killed at a camp near Sig
nal Hill. at the edge of Long Beach,
Calf. January 26 last. after they
quarreled about letters he had re-
ceived from other women.
Does Not Know His Right Name.
The officers said HURT told them he
did not know his right name. but adj
mitted having used many. aliases.
He said he knew nothing Of his
parents, but did know he was born
somewhere in the south. He said he
had little education.
He admitted, the officers said, that
he had no direct motive in killing his
victims. some of the Sayings follow
ing violent quarrels.
He said. they declared. he had killed
some women who had no money"
Something just told me to do it," he
was quoted.
He told them he obtained a certain
satisfaction in the very act of murder,
the officers said. and experienced a
sense of relief that the woman in each
case was dead.
Attorney Marmaduke, representing
HURT, stated that the alleged con-
fession had been given to the dis
trict attorney lin the best interests of
his client
Planned Trip With Latest Wife.
HURT was arrested December 10 at
his home in Hollywood. At that time.
according to the police he was prepar-
ing to take his latest wife on trip
into the mountains. He was taken
into custody for investigation in con-
nection with the operations of a gang
Of confidence men.
Nina Lee Deloney. whose home was
at Eureka. Mont, married HURT, the
officers said. under the name of
Charles n. Harvey at San Francisco
December ), 1919. She was last seen
at hotel at Santa Monica, Calf,
January 26. 1920. She had property