The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-13
REVIEW OF CRIME FOR
WHICH THEY GAVE LIVES

Henry Judd Gray were condemned
to die arose from the petty discon.
tent of two commonplace folk "a
bored housewife and an Intellectual
man trying vaguely to be q good
fellow.
But the deed itself famed forth
one Sunday morning 80 luridly that
the story was told and retold in
far lands,
On the morning Of March 20 q
terrified little girl ran from small
frame dwelling in Queens Village,
She brought police and neighbors to
find Albert Snyder, art editor Of
the magazine "Motor Boating" dead
in his bed. The 45-year-old man
had met death violently. His skull
had been crushed, picture wire had
been twisted about his neck, and
chloroform-saturated pads of cotton
stuffed into his nostrils.
Ruth Snyder Tied Hand and Foot
Ruth Snyder, his wife, ii years
his junior, was found tied hand and
foot. She had aroused her nine.
year-old daughter Lorraine by
humping against the door of the
child's bedroom. The house was in
disorder.
Within a few hours, the young
women who thought she had tricked
the police had confessed that she
and her lover, Henry Judd Gray, had
killed Snyder to have him out Of the
way and to enjoy $4,000 of insur-
ance she had placed upon his life.
Gray, Sd year : old travelling
salesman whose line was corsets,
was found not with his wife and
child at East Orange, N. J., but in
q Syracuse, N. Y, hotel where he
insisted he had stayed over the week.
end. But detectives found the torn
stub of q Pullman ticket in the
wastebasket, and it was not long be-
fore he corroborated Mrs. Snyder's
story.
Turn Against Each Other
Brought to trial, the lovers turned
against each other on May 9, a Jury
found them guilty of murder in the
first degree, and on November 20
the verdict was upheld by the court
of appeals.
Ruth Snyder was married when
scarcely past 20, to a man we'll in
his thirties. Albert Snyder and his
wife were not long happy. Snyder,
a heavy, stalwart man, loved the
out Of doors and spent long hours
in his motorboat. Ruth was gay and
enjoyed dancing and parties. A
blue-eyed, highly-colored, vivacious
blonde, she was instantly popular
among the pleasure loving compan-
ions she chose. She met Judd Gray
one evening in a Manhattan restaur-
ant: He was q slight man, with
dark hair and horn-rimmed specta-
cles. He at once admired Ruth and
Ruth liked Judd.
Judd Blames Ruth
On their second meeting they
transgressed their marital vows.
This was told by Gray as he stood in
the witness box in Queens county
court. After q rehearsal Of their
amorous meetings, he told Of meet
ing when Ruth made q suggestion
that Albert Snyder be put out of
the way. The murder was planned
for weeks. The sash weight with
which Snyder's skull was crushed,
the picture wire, and chloroform
were procured. Gray came from
Syracuse, N. Y, to the side door Of
the Snyder home on an appointed
night and found it unlocked as ar
ranged. The Snyders returned from
. bridge party in the neighborhood
and went to bed. At length Ruth
came to him.
Ruth Claims Judd Did Killing
Although Ruth insisted she took
no part in the actual staying Of her
husband, Gray said it was she who
struck the final blows. Then they
went about the business Of GOVERNS.
their tracks. They disarranged fur
niture, burned bloodstained clothing.
He then bound Ruth's hands and
feet.
She asked him to strike her over
the head, he said, but he could not.
Ruth appeared on the stand not
fearful as did Gray, but with her
head held high. She repudiated her
confession to police, asserted thaf
Gray killed her husband over her
frantic protests, and said it was 81
terror that she let him bind her.
Months later, when they learned
that their sentence Of death IN
been upheld by the court Of appeals.
II was Gray who stoically accepted
his fate, and it was Ruth who burst
into tears and hysterically shook
the bars Of her cell.