Gunnison news-champion., 1923-03-02
|hIS1uRYS'
MYSTERIES.
THE BuRDELL MURDER


begins TO command nationwide aiten-
later. the commentators will com
mence TO draw comparisons between
Its details and those OF the Burdell
affair. one OF the mos; mysterious
crimes In the snnals OF the metro
poiitan police force. a murder which
Included every eiemen; OF the senss-
tional and bizarre
DIR. Harvey Buri.Il. the chief figure
In the mystery. Was a 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 TO
matrimony which had resulted In pre-
rupiial quarrels and consequent sever
ance Of agreements. At the tire of
his death. DIR. Burdell ksS been living
In 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. combination ofice-boy and valet
who slept outside the house The only
residents Of the building were n manu-
facturer named Eckei and George V.
Snodgrnss. the son OF Il clergyman.
One rainy afternoon DIR. Burdell left
the house about i've O'Clock and. as
several persons afterwards testified,
walked In the direction Of Broadway
up Chambers street. Mrs. Cunning
hmm and her two other dodgers were
in the house all evening. but heard
nothing which seemed In the least out
Of the ordinary. retiring af the usual
hour.
Early the next morning. the once
boy attempted to enter DR. Burdeifs
office In order TO attend to his usual
round Of cleaning and found that the
door appeared to be jnmmed by some
heavy object pressing against II from
the inside. Pushing harder. the door
finally gave way and the servant stag
gered Into the room. only to be haltet'
by the sight Of his employer lying
upon the floor. fully dressed and with
the Hight still burning brightly. The
corpse. however. was covered with
clotted blood and there were large
~UttehtN VI bibtu oNtf
every piece Of furniture In the room.
as well ms on the floor. the walls and
portion Of the ceiling. The dentist
had evidently put up 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
u IL. ~,
Of stiletto.
Further to compiicate matters. the
Investigations OF the police developed
that ~ least two persons had been
connected with the crlme-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
ieft-handed, for no rIght-handed per
son could have delivered blows nj the.
angles of those In DIR. BurdeIl's body.
Upon the slight evidence presented
ny the fact that Mrs. Cunningham, the
landlndy. was left-hnnded. she was i'm
uedlately arrested ms 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 num-
her 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 1--WE
o'clock when he left the house and mid
night. the hour at which the murder
dad been committed? A number OF
persons had seen him 60 out, but mo-
one had seen him return.
Why had the noise of the struggle
not aroused 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
plicated 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
smeared with it? And, finally. what
was the motive for murder-since the
dentists jewelry and several hundred
dollars in cash had not been touchedY
After the trial. which lasted only
three days and resulted in the i'm
mediate acquital Of Mrs. Cunningham,
the landiady sprung another sensation
when she declared that she had been
married TO DIR. Burdell and that she
was entitled to his estate Her CON
iention. however. was never fully es-
tablished and she lost her suit for the
property Of the dead man. finally dy-
ing IN poverty in a tiny fiat In Harlem,
while DIR. Burdell's brother went In
tane as result Of the, strain Of the
trial and Eckell died IN the Albany
3enitentiary. while serving q sentence
N connection with the whisky frauds.