The Monroe journal., 1922-12-29
|HISTHRYIS.
MYSTERIES
THE BURDELL MURDER

pages OF New York newspapers ant
begins 10 command nationwide atten
tion II is fairly certain that. sooner ol
later. the commentators will com
mence 10 draw comparisons between
It's details and those Of the Burdel
affair. one Of the most mysterious
crimes In the annals Of the metro
polltan police force. murder which
included every clement OF the senss
tional and bizarre.
nr Harvey Burlell. the chief figure
in the mystery, was dentist who,
solely through his own efforts had
built up wide and extensive practice
in the city and had been connected
with at least three approaches 10
matrimony which had resulted in pre-
ruptial quarrels and consequent SEVER.
0nce OF agreements. At the time Of
aIs dsa,n. ts Rgrlsn he'd besp living
ia a house rented by a Mrs. Cunning.
ham, the dentist using one Of the
front rooms for hi. office and sleeping
at the rear. lie kept only one sery-
ant. a combination ofAce-boy and valet
who slept outside the house. The only
residents Of the building were manu-
facturer named Eckel and George v.
Snodgrass. the son OF a clergyman.
One rainy afternoon Or. Burdell left
the house about FIVE o'clock and, as
several persons afterwards testified.
walked In the direction OF Broadway
up Chambers street. Mrs. Cunning
ham and her two other dodgers were
In the house all evening. but heard
nothing which seemed in the least out
OF the ordinary. retiring at the usual
hour.
Early the next morning. the ofiice
boy attempted 10 enter Dr. Burdelrs
office In order TO attend TO his usual
round OF cleaning and found that the
door appeared to be jammed by some
heavy object pressing against II from
the inside. Pushing harder, tAe door
finally gave way and the servant stag
gered into the room. only to be halted
by the sight OF his employer lying
upon the floor, fully dressed and with
the light still burning brightly. The
corpse, however. was covered with
clottei blood and there were large
splashes Of blood over practically
every piece OF furniture In the room,
as well as on the floor. the walls and
a portion Of the ceiling The dentist
had evidently put up a hard fight for
his life but had finally succumbed to
the more than dozen wounds found
upon his body-wounds which had
very evidently been made by long,
slender dagger. something on the order
of stletto.
Further to compllcate matters, the
Investigations Of the police developed
that at least two persons had been
connected with the crlme-one of
them having partially throttled the
dentist by means " thin cord, while
the other had repeatedly stabbed him.
The position Of the wounds also lndL
Gated that one OF the assailants was
left-handed, for no rlght.handed per.
son could have delivered blows at the
angles Of those In Dr. Burdells body,
Upon the slight evidence presented
by the fact that Mrs Cunningham, the
landady, was lett-handed, she was I'm,
mediately arrested as were Eckel and
Snodgrass. But, at the trial. which
enSued. the defense was able to riddle
the statements Of the prosecution,
with ridiculous ease, presenting mum.
ber Of counter questions which were
still unSolved by the theory Of the
police that Mrs. Cunningham, with
the aid of her dodgers. had killed Dr.
Burdell Among these were;
Where had the dentist been during
the time which elapsed between five
o'clock when he left the house and mid.
night, the hour at which the murder
had been committed? A number OF
persons had seen him 60 out. but no
one had seen him return.
Why had the noise of the struggle
not aroused a woman In the next
house. separated only by very thin
wall? What were the papers which
had been burned in the fireplace OF the
murder-chamber? II Mrs. Cunning
ham, Eckel or Snodgrass had been i'm.
plieated In the crime, why did none
Of their clothes bear the slightest stain
OF blood. while the room where Dr.
Burdell had been killed was literally
smenred with ~ And, finally. what
was the motive for murder-slnce the
dentists jewelry and several hundred
dollars In cash had not been touched?
After the trial. which lasted only
three days and resulted in the i'm.
mediate acQultal Of Mrs. Cunningham.
the lardlady sprung another sensation
when she declared that she had been
married To pr. Burd-ll and that she
was entitled to his estate. Her con.
tention, however. was never fully es.
tablished and she lost her suit for the
property Of the dead man, finally dy
Ing in poverty In tiny fiat In Harlem
while DR.. Burdell's brother went It,
sane as a result Of the strain OF the
trinl and ErkelI tied In tho AIh,nv