New Britain herald., 1927-11-22


 trial that the major. on the very ! day of the murder, had made em i pha;ic promises which could have | been kept only in the event Of his gaining access to his brothers safe, Furthermore, these promises had involved specific amounts in the others rosSession: and. in one in stance, he had put UP, on a 49-hour note, security already pl"dged---a fact which. in itSolf would have cX- posed his hand, had his brother lived.
 Miss Hoffman was q helpful and intelligent witness for the prosccu- ton. Her knowledge Of conditions ] at the Benson and Benson offices went far toward strengthening the case against the major.
 Mrs. rlatz also testified 10 over hearing acrimonious arguments be tween the brothers. She stated that lnss than q fortnight before the nlur- der The ma 1jor after an unsucccss-
 ul attempt 10 borrow LOGO from Alviu, had threatened him, saying: If I ever have to choose between your skin and mine, it won't be mine thGtll suffer-
 Theodore Gontagu, the man who, according to the story of the clc- yator boy at the Chatham Arms, had returned at half past two on ! the night of the murder. testified that. as his taxicah turned in front of Ihc apartment houS" the head lights flashed on a man standing iu t Iradcsman's entrance across th" street. end that the man looked like Ma for Benson.
 This evidence would have had little effect had not Pfyfe come for wand after tn" arrest and admitted seeing the major crossing Sixth avenue at rirty-sxth street when he had walked to Pictro's for his drink Of Haig and Haig. He eX- plalned that he had attached no inn portanco to il at the time, thinking the major Nas merely returning nome from some Broadway rcstau- rant. He himself had not been seen by he major.
 This testimony, in connection with Mir. Montagus, annihilated the ma ior's carefully planned alibi: and thoGsrh tho defense cont"ndcl stub bornly that both witnesses had been mistaken in their idcntitications, tho jury was deeply impressed by the evidence, especially when Assistant District Attorney Sullivan, under Nancc's tutoring, painstaliingly cN- plained. with diagrams. how the ma jor could have gone out and return ed that night without being seen by tho boy.
 i It was also shown that the jewels could not have been taken from 1 the scene Of the crime except by ! the murderer; and Vance and l were called as witnesses to the finding Of them in the majors apartment. Nancv's demonstration of the l height of the murderer was shown in court, but, curously, it carried ] little weight as the issue was con- . fused by q mass of elaborate scien- i tiHc objections. Captain Hage- doru's Identification of the pistol was the most difficult obstacle with which the defense hai to contend.
 The trial lasted three weeks. and much eyil,nc" of q scandalous na- turc was taken. although, at Mark hams suggestion. sullivan did his best 10 ninimiz" the private affairs of those innocent persons who's" lives unfortunately touched upon the episode. Colonel Ostrandcr however, has never forgiven Markham for not having had him called as q wit ness.
 During the last week Of the trial Miss Murirl St. Clair appeared as prina donna in q large Broadway | ight-opcra production which ran successfully for nearly two years. She has since married her chiVal- rous Captain I.eacock, and they ap- pear perfectly happy.
 Pfyfe is still married and as eie- gant as ever. He visits New York regularly, despite the absence Of
 his dear old Alvin"; and l have occasionally seen him and Mrs. 1 Banning together. Somehow, l ghall always like that woman.
 Pfyfe raised the 0,o00-how, l ! have no iica--and reclaimed her ! jewels. Their ownership, by the way, was not divulged at the trial,
 for which 1 was very glad.
 on the evening of the day the verdict was brought in against the
 Major, Vance and Markham and l
 were sitting in the Stuyvesant Club. , We had dined together, but no word of the events of the past few weeks had passed between us. Presently, ] however saw an ironic smile creep slowly to Nances lips.
 "I say, Markham,' he drawled; {; what a grotcsque spectacle the trial was; The real evidence, y know, wasn't even introduced. Ben son was convicted entirely on sup positions, presumptions, implica-