Norwich bulletin., 1920-07-17
GEIssLER MAY HAVE

HAD TWO WIVES
 Bernard o. Geissler. chauffeur, who shot and killed Mrs. Arthur De Cordova and then shot himself, may have been married at least once before meeting the present Mrs. Geissler, whom he married in 1917. Several affairs with women have been credited to him, but the following letter, received Friday by Captain of Police Charles A. Pinney of New Lon- don, points strong suspicion to such a possibility:
 Chief of Police, New London, Conn.,:
 Dear Sir-Can you please give me a description of MT. Geissler in this tragedy of the De Cordovas? My husband has been missing for the past five years-his name is Edward Geissler-and has fre- quently used the name of Bernard He is about feet inches (guessing), sandy haired or bleach blonde. His age is 29 years and he is a jack of all trades.
 The description in the papers compare with this. He was great fancier of women and this was the reason for him deserting me with my little boy
 Hoping you will take an interest in my letter, am,
 Respectfully yours.
 MRS. GEIsSLER.
 Care Mrs. Blaseh, 9S Gerry Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
 The description of her husband, given by the writer of the above letter, closely resembles that of the chauffeur. The dead man is trifie shorter than she described, although this might be accounted for by the fact that she states that she was guessing regarding his height, and except that his hair was more of a reddish hue. But change from sandy color to reddish hue in period of five years would not be impossible.
 An effort is being made by the lauthori- ties to determine whether the man de- sc1bed in the letter and the dead chauf- feur are one and the same.
 Although the authorities have an- hounced that the case is closed, specula- tion is still rife as to the actual facts and the motives which actuated the shooting and killing of Mrs Arthur De Cordova by her chauffeur and the latter's suicide | No explanation as to the reason for the conflict between the statements of Prosecutor Benjamin H. Hewitt of the tow nof Stonington and Dr. Frank l. Payne of Westerly, and those of Coroner Franklin H. Brown of Norwich and Ned 1 ical Examiner W. H. Gray of Mystic have been forthcoming. The first two claim that the body of Mrs. De Cordova dis played signs of violence and that she had l died defending herself against an attack by Geissler, but this the coroner and the \ medical examiner enphatically deny. ! The funeral services of Mrs. De Cor | dova were held at the De Cordova home | in New York city. on Thursday afternoon l and interment was in Woodlawn ceme- ] tery. The funeral of GeissIer was held 1 Friday afternoon at 150 West 18th 1 street and inetrment was in St Michaers l cemetery, Newtown, L. L
 ! InVpStigati0n intn fha roSt of r.;.-1.-
 has shown that his apparent affair with Mrs. De Cordova, which led them to drive i along the lonely North Stonington road, | where the shooting occurred, was not the first that the chauffeur had had with women, for according to George Mercer. I a roommate of his in Washington. D. C.. several years ago, Geissler had an affair | in Washington with a woman that near J ly resulted disastrously for him. Accord | ing to Mercer, Geissler went to Washing 1 ton in 1906 as chauffeur for Mrs. Eliza K. Travers. He remained with her for l four summers, going abroad with her and ] her daughter one summer for an auto mobile, tour through Europe Following this he was employed by Alonzo Bliss, ! millionaire drug manufactured Before going to Washington he was a follower ] of the automobile racing game and in one of the Vanderbilt cup races rode with I Melvin Shepard as the latter's mechani elan.
 1 While in Washington, according to l Mercer, Geissler had an affair with the i daughter of an Eighth avenue, New York, butcher. The woman went to Washing 1 ton with Geissler and remained with him for six months The husband of the woman followed her to Washington. de- ternined to kill Geissler, but unable to l ind the latter, returned to New York i with his wife It is reported that the hus- band killed his wife short time later in Central Park, New York.
 1 On still another occasion, 1t is stated | that Geissler was on wild party which included Gaston Phillips, millionaire | Washington clubman. Geissler left the party early, which continued until the early. hours of the morning and resulted | in the killing of John Macaboy one of i the party, by Phillips at the old Airing | ton hotel.
 pr. Max c. Schlapp, head of the neu-
 roiogical department of the New York Post Graduate hospital, said that 25 per cent. of the r-'lrders in this country were 1 committed l % insane persons who could
 have been cured by proper treatment in early stages.
 'The De Cordova murder, I am told upon good authority, was committed by
 a paranoiac," said Dr. Schlapp. "The slayer of Dr. Markoe was a paranoiac And I have no doubt that the slayer in i the Wanderer murder had an improper
 balance between his emotional and intel.
 lectual processes p
 Dr. F. Del. Myers, brother-in-law oi
 Mir De Cordova, states that from inves. tigations conducted by him he is con.