The St. Charles herald., 1922-11-11
THE BURDELL MURDER

WHENEVER mysterious murder
w case finds space upon the nrst
pages of New York newspapers ana
begins to command nationwide atten-
ton it is fairly certain that, sooner or
later, the commentators Will COM
mence to draw comparisons Det"een
its details and those Of the BURDEN
affair, one of the most mysterious
crimes in the annals Of the metro
politan police force, murder which
included every element Of the sensa'
tional and bizarre.
DR.. Harvey Burdell, the chief figure
in the mystery, was a dentist VINO,
solely through his own efforts had
built up a wide and extensive practlce
In the city and had been connected
with at least three approaches u
matrimony which had resulted In pre-
puptial quarrels and consequent sever
ance Of agreements. At the time OF
his death. DR.. Burdell had been living
in a house rented by Mrs. Cunning
ham, the dentist using one OF the
front rooms for his Office and sleeping
at the rear. He kept only one serV-
ant, a combination office-boy and valet
who slept outside the house. The only
residents Of the building were a manu-
facturer named Eckel and George V.
Snodgrass, the son of a clergyman.
One rainy afternoon DR.. Burdell LETT
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 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 1t 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
clotted 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 fol
his life but had finally succumbed to
the more than a dozen wounds found
upon his body-wounds which had
very evidently been made by long
slender dagger. something on the order
of a stiletto.
Further to complicate matters. tht
investigations Of the police developed
that at least two persons had beer
connected with the crime o.
them having partially throttled tht
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 wal
left-handed, for no right-handed per
son could have delivered blows at tn
angles of those in DR.. Burdell's body
| Upon the slight evidence presente'
nv the fact that Mrs. Cunningham. tn
landlady. was left-handed. she was I'm
mediately arrested as were Eckel AM
SnodgrAss. But, at the trial. whicl
ensaed the defense was able to riddl
the statements Of the prosecution
with ridiculous ease, presenting nun
ber Of counter questions which wer
still ursolved by the theory OF tn
police that Mrs Cunningham, wit
J the aid Of her dodgers, had killed ID
! Burdell. Among these were:
Where had the dentist been durin
! the time which elapsed between nv
o'clock when he left the house and init
, night. the hour at which the murde
had been committed? A number
persons had seen him 60 out. but y
one had seen him return.
Why had the noise Of the strugg
not aroused a woman in the ne1
house, separated only by very tn
wall? What were the papers whie
} had been burned in the fireplace OF II
= nurder-chamber? II Mrs. Cunnin
, ham. Eckel or Snodgrass had been II
plicated in the crime, why did mol
Of their clothes bear the slightest sta
; OF blood, while the room where Q
Burdell had been killed was literal
Q smeared with it, And, finally. VIII
was the motive for murder-since Il
dentists jewelry and several hundr'
dollars in cash had not been toucEe'
ri After the trial. which lasted on
}. three days and resulted in the i
r mediate acquatal Of Mrs. Cunninghal
n the landlady sprung another sensati'
y when she declared that she had be
ii married to DR.. Burdell and that 9
d was entitled to his estate. Her CT
n tention, however. was never fully
tablished and she lost her suit for t
Ie property Of the dead man. finally
It ing In poverty in tiny fiat In Harie
b while DR.. Burdellss brother went
ts sane as a result Of the strain OF
le trial and Eckell died in the Alba
It penitentiary, while serving a senter
a IN connection with the whisky frau