The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-09-11
MYSTERY RlVA[
! IS BLAMED BY
| v|RG|N|AN WHO
} SLEW Spouse
Eternal Triangle Figures In De-
Tense of Or. w. A. Hadley,
ex-Army officer. -
CAUGHT AFTER LONG HUNT
Chase That Began at Richmond
in 1918 Ended BY Arrest in
New Mexico.


weeks ago DR.. Wilmarth Amos Hadley
gazed through the lattice Of friendly
boughs which sheltered his little cabin
hidden on a lonely ranch near Farm
ington, New Mexico.
The hermit with his nowing whis-
kers and nervous manner first excited
the suspicion of the few neighbors who
came to know him. Then they pitied
him. for he told them a story Of how
he had entered upon his strange ex-
istence in an effort to recover from
tuberculosis. He said his name was
Arthur Leonard"
Today Hadley gazes through the iron
bars of the strongest murder cell Of
the Henrico county Jail, into a dark,
ill-lighted, narrow aisle.
County authorities have in their
possession with Hadley's name affixed
to 1t a confession. in which he says
he poisoned his wife in this city in No
vember, 1918. wrapped the body in a
rain coat, weighted 1t with heavy
stone and dropped II into the. James
river, five miles north of Richmond.
The House of Hadley" that was and
the House of Hadley" that is present
q strange study in contrasts.
Rated High in Army.
Three years ago Hadley, an i'm
POSING figure in the ,regalia of a cap
tain in the Army Medical Corps. was
rated one of the best In the service.
Medical men predicted a great fu-
ture for him when he re-entered pri-
vate practice at the close of the
world war.
Mrs. Hadley was a pianist of no
mean ability and possessed a colora-
tura soprano voice which friends de.
clared would find a place on the
grand opera stage.
Making her way in Galveston,
Texas, as a music teacher when she
met DIR. Hadley, Sue Tinsley elected
to abandon her career as musician
young physician.
Today Hadley's back is bent with
the burden of his crime; his will Is
broken by three years contempla-
ton of arrest. He no longer wears
the naughty mien of the army Off
Ger which distinguished him when
he came to Virginia three years ago
to minister to sick soldiers at Camp
Lee. He Is a broken old man at
thirty-nine years of age.
Finding Of Body.
When a farmer on December 30,
1913, discovered the frozen body Of
a woman in the icy waters of the
James river, near Richmond. rela-
tives Of a dozen missing girls rushed
to Richmond in an effort to identify
1t.
Two men from Washington, D. c.,
came to Richmond, one in the be-
lief that the body was that Of his
sister, the other believing 1t to be
his wife.
The war was In progress. at that
time and many young women had
left home to be near army camps
and the soldiers.
Mysterious Griffith"
A mysterious Or. Griffith" Is men.
authorities are unable to connect any.
one by that name with the case, but
Hadley claimed that he killed "Grif-
fifth" because he was pursuing" Mrs.
Hadley; that his act was In defense
Of his home.
1t is believed here that Hadley.
while living his hermit's life In the
West, carefully concocted q line of
defense. should he ever be arrested,
and that the ''Dr. Griffith" Is purely
fiction.
SO far the authorities have not
been able to definitely establish a
motive for the crime.
The name of a former trained nurse,
who was employed at Camp Lee, near
Richmond. during DIR. Hadley's stay
there. has also been connected with
the affair. Whether she will furnish
the third angle of an eternal triangle
the authorities are as yet unable to
say.
Another theory advanced by those
familiar with the history Of Hadley
is that his alleged act is traceable to
an injury suffered many years ago
when he fell from a horse while Wis.
iting his wife's relatives in Cincin.
natl, Ohio.
Since the injury Hadley Is said to
have had periods of absent minded.
ness; that he has been a victim of
aphasia. and that he frequently made
certain moves that he could not later
remember.
Star Witness Dead.
The prosecution will have to rely
almost wholly on circumstantial evil
dence.
1t had developed that Mrs. E. G.
Clark, who would have been the star
witness for the State. has died since
the staying Of Mrs. Hadley. The au.
thcittACot ho"SNCit dIS bttlu 10 nave
in their possession affidavits signed
by her in which she tells of the action
OF the Hadleys while they made their
home with her just prior to Mrs. Had.
ley's death.
County officials believed the woman
o suicide, but this theory was secuted
when 1t was shown that a heavy
stone was attached to the body by
a haywire before the body was
thrown into the river.
The body was In a good state Of
preservation due to the fact that
the river was practically frozen and
the Icy waters prevented decomposi.
ton.
An examination Of the lungs re-
vealed that the woman was dead
before being thrown into the water,
since there was no water on the
lungs.
The Identification.
Twenty-Five days after the body
was found Il was identified as being
that OF Mrs Hadley, the identified
ton being made by Mrs. z. q,