The Washington times., 1929-09-21
GIRL FRIEND
! EAKENS
AL|B|
BY JAMES L. K1LGALLEN

y N~feNshOs hA1 SVNA
room drama heralded as "the
Peacox trial" is developing
Into strangely complex story.
Another American trag-
edy, !" its locale is in prosperous
Westchester county and along
ghttering Broadway, but it
could have happened almost
anywhere in the u. s. A.
Tragic figure as is Earle Peacox,
the boy who is fighting to escape the
electric chair for strangling his
hayward" wife, Dorothy, there are
other principals in this drama almost
as tragic.
Held 4 Months
Frances Newman, for instance. She
was Peacox's part.time "sweetie."
She made the mistake Of playing
around" with Mister Peacox." and
got herself in an awful jam as a re-
suit. She has been in Jail for four
months and there is no telling when
she will get out. She is branded as
the "Alibi Girl' in the Peacox case.
Even more pathetic is Mrs. ADELAIDE
Heinzeiman, the frail mother OF the
slain Dorothy Peacox. Terrible
enough to have her daughter killed
as she was. but now the mother
finds herself in the position of having
to take the stand and fight with
every fiber of her being to refute
implications that her Dorothy was
anything but "a good girl"
Another Mother
Miss Newman. a Broadway dance
hail hostess when she met Peacox.
has told her story in all its drab
details. Mrs. HeinZelman Is in the
midst Of hers. She will resume the
stand on Monday for further cross
examination. There was no session
OF court today.
There are other pathetic figures,
OF course-P a cox's bewildered
mother who sits by his side In court
each day and Dorothy's sad.faced
father who seems to be in a daze.
But for the purposes of this article,
ELdACCS N0WD1dH ana MIS- HGlnZ@Is
man are enough.
Frances isn't what Is generally
regarded as a good girl" but she
isn't as bad a girl as the defense
has portrayed her. She was just one
OF those broadway dance hall
hostesses who liked a good time and
wasn't any too careful. She met
Peacox when he and his wife had
parted. He came into the dance
hall where she fox trotted at ten
cents a fox trot and they stepped
a few" while the jazz band blared.
They became chummy and after.
ward he took her to ChiId's for a
feed and then to his room. That
was the start.
Her Boy Friend
Well, they became sort of pals
after that, even though willie"
didn't like the idea of Frances going
out with other fellows. Who was
Willie? Frances explained that
willie was the boy friend whom
I used to live with" If Frances
had any father or mother. or any
other boy friend besides Willie"
she didn't mention them.
Peacox evidently knew his way
around. He had been accusing
Dorothy of running around" with
other men in New York, but at the
same time he was doing a little
cheating" himself. On numerous
occasions ne took Frances to the
Peacox apartment in Mount Vernon
and they made ''whoopee" in their
own inexpensive way.
No Gold Digger
Now, Frances wasn't like some Of
the girls on Broadway. She wasn't
q gold digger" With emphasis,
she denied that Peaocx had ever
given her a cent. She was one of
those girls who can be satisfied with
q little. For example, while Doro.
thy thought the Peacox home In Mt,
Vernon was IAN old dump" Fran
ces thought 1t was simply grand"
with the emphasis on the grand
There was something pathetic about
Frances as she testified.
The only things that Peaeox ever
gave her were some OF Dorothy'a
clothing which he took out OF her
hope chest, and string Of beads
He bought her a feed now and then
And he was nice.
Willie, the boy friend" got peeved
at Frances one night and she called
Mister" Peacox up and asked him
to drive her out Of town. But in:
stead he drove her to his apartment
in Mt. Vernon. That was the wednes-
day night after Sunday night. April
Fl last, when Dorothy was slain in
that very place. On the way to the
apartment Peacox cooked up" an
alibi for having carried Dorothy's
body to his car on Sunday night
when he carted it away to the woods
near Scarsdale-)
About a Flapper
He told Frances a drunken flap
per had hailed him as he was driv-
ing along the Boston post road and
that he had taken her to his apart
men. She started screaming in the
apartment so Peacox carried her out
That was his story Now then,
would Frances help him out? If
the housekeeper or anyone wanted
to- know whom he carried out, would
Frances say 1t was her--tflat she
was intoxicated that night In the
apartment? "all right" the agree.
able Frances said. But" asked Pea
cox, suppose they want to know
why you screamed?" Frances knew
the answer to that. She'd stumbled
and fell.
Fine" said Peacox TRY to re-
member itr
Frances had no idea that Dorothy
was dead-tthat she was lying In
the woods for several days. Frances
stayed In the murder apartment"
~ that night.