Evening star., 1940-03-11
Staying Details Given
In Mrs. Bur|eson's
Reported Confession
Visions Of Wrecked Home
Described by Prisoner,
Police Chief Says
Nv the Associated Press

Oy the Associated Press.
COLUMBIA, S. c., March Ii
Tall, matronly Mrs. May Walker
Burleson, 51-year-old divorce, was
reported by Jail attendants to be in
q highly nervous state today after,
police said she confessed she shot
and killed Mrs. Richard c. Burleson,
wife of her former husband, a
United States Army colonel.
A matron and trained nurse
were kept constantly with the Gal
weston (Tex0 artist and one-time
suffragette, and Police Chief w. H.
Rawlinson said a physician would
be called in should her condition
become worse She is held on a
charge of murder.
Chief Rawlinson said the prisoner
related in a confession yesterday
that her mind was filled with
thoughts of her wrecked home"
and then went suddenly blank, just
before she walked calmly into a
hotel cafeteria Friday and shot her
successor in Col. Burlesons affec-
tions.
Says Mind Went Blank.
The chief quoted her as saying:
"When that woman (Mrs. Burle-
SOM passed me while was sitting
in the lobby of the mezzanine. The
vision of my mother came before me
and with it the thoughts Of my
wrecked home and my mind went
blank. -" walked from behind her
and walked in front of the table
where she was eating lunch and
shot her. No one had to point her
out to me. I knew her"
Her mother died two years ago.
Chief Rawlinson said Mrs. Burle-
son demonstrated with rubber
paper weight how she held the rusty
pistol in her black silk bag. She
was taken to the place where the
shooting occurred, but not into the
cafeteria to re-enact it. We asked
her if she wanted to go in and show
us exactly what happened, but she
protested, No, no!' and we didn't
press the point"
The prisoners purported confess
sion broke two-day silence during
which she wearily protested her
memory was beclouded. After the
shooting she refused, police said, to
say who she was and mumbled
something about wanting her
mother to come to her.
Was Confined as Mental Case.
The next day, smoking incessant-
" and eating cough drops through
long hours of questioning, she ad-
mitted her identity, but said her
memory was blank. Her question
ers learned, piece meal. among other
things, that she had left Galveston
a few weeks ago, and that she had
been confined as mental case in
the last year.
IT don't remember" or II can't
talk any more" were her answers to
most questions.
Claud N. Sapp, an attorney, con-
xcIlCu Will IMl .. ou4 4CSO1A d1CCA tAAS
purported confession was made. He
said she had no clear picture Of
what happened and that she could
not say whether her statements to
police resulted from the suggestion
Of their questions or from her actual
memory of the Staying.
Inquest Tomorrow.
Coroner j. A. Sergeant indicted
Mrs. Burleson would not be ques-
toned further until an inquest to-
morrow night. $50 far as question:
ing her is concerned, my investi-
cation is complete" the coroner
said. He indicated the inquest might
be postponed if Mrs. Burleson's
family lawyer, Blocker Morse, did
not arrive here from Galveston in
time for it.
Mrs. May Burleson's brother,
Richard Walker of Los Angeles, also
Is expected in day or so.
The first Mrs. Burleson was di-
vorced from Col. Burleson in 1888.
They were married in 1908. The
second Mrs. Burleson was named CO.
respondent in the vigorously fought