The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-11-16

MYSTERIES
THE RuRpELL MURDER

] ton II Is fairy certain thais sooheE of
later. the commentators will com.
mence to draw comparisons between
It's details and those Of the Burdell
affair, one OF the most mysterious
crimes IN the annals Of the metro
polltan police force. a murder which
included every element Of the sensa-
tioual and bizarre.
DIR. Harvey Burdell. the chief figure
IN the mystery, was a dentist who,
solely through his own efforts had
built up a 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
ance OF agreements, AT the time Of
his death. DIR. Burdell had been living
in a house rented by a Mrs. Cunning
ham. the dentist using one Of the
front rooms for his office and sleeping
at the rear. He kept only n serv-
ant. a combination ofice-boy and valet
who slept outside the house. The only
residents OF the building were a manu-
facturer named Eckel and George V.
s~nodgrass. the son Of a clergyman.
One rainy afternoon DR.. 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 office
boy attempted to enter DIR. BurdelFs
office in order to attend 10 his usual
round Of cleaning and found that the
door appeared to be damned by some
heavy object pressing against It from
the inside. Pushing harder, the 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
clothed blood and there were large
splashes OF blood over practically
every piece Of furniture In the room,
as well ms on the floor, the walls m
a portion Of the ceiling. The dentist
had evidently put mp a hard fight for
his life but had finally succumbed TO
the more than q dozen wounds found
upon his body-wounds which had
very evidently been made by a long
slender dagger. something on the order
of a s%tiletto.
Further to complicate matters, the
Investigations Of the police developed
that at least two persons had been
connected with the crime-one Of
them having partially throttled the
dentist by means Of . thin cord. while
the other had repeatedly stabbed him.
The position OF the wounds also indi
. Gated that one of the assailants was
I~eft-handed. for no right-handed per
son could have delivered blows at the
angles Of those in Or. Burdelrs body.
Upon the slight evidence presented
by the fact that Mrs. Cunningham, the
landlady, was left-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 a mum
Der Of counter questions which were
still unsolved by the theory Of the
police that Mrs. Cunningham. with
the aid Of her dodgers. had killed Or.
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 committed1 A number Of
persons had seen him go 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 a very thin
wall? What were the papers which
had been burned in the fireplace Of the
murder-chamberY II Mrs. Cunning
ham. Eckel or ~Snodgrass had been i'm
p~licated rs the crime, why did none
Of their clothes bear the slightest stain
Of blood, while the room where DIR.
Burdell had been killed was literally
smeared with it, And. finally. what
was the motive for murder-since the
dentists jewelry and several hundred
dollars in cash had not been touched?
After the trial. which lasted only
three days and resulted DO the I'M
mediate acquital Of Mrs Cunningham.
the landlady sprung another sensation
when she declared that she had been
married t. Dr. BurdeIl and that she
was entitled 10 his estate. Her con
teution. however. was never fully IS
tabIIshed and size lost her suit FOR me
property ~ the dead man. finally d.
ing In poverty y q tiny fat IN Harlem,
while Dr BurdelFs brother went in-
sane As q result n the strain u the
trial and EckeH died in the Albany
-penltentiary. while serving a sentence
IN connection with the whisky frauds
Years have elsused since the RurdeII