MURDER OR SUICIDE?

Evening Star, Issue 16992, 14 March 1919, Page 3

MURDER OR SUICIDE ?

In a St. John's Wood flat two young women have been found dead, the door of their rooms being locked from the inside. There was a slight leak of gas in their bedroom, but no attempt to block crevices was visible. The stove-ventilator was open, and there were no signs of a struggle. Although they had been dead for several days, a canary in the kitchen was alive and well. Miss Edith Laurence (50), music teacher, of Grove- End road, St. John’s Wood; and Miss Olive Parry (25), V.A.D. nurse, of Caine, Wilts, are the two dead women, and the police may be helped in solving the mystery of their fate by Dr Spilsburv, the groat pathologist, who will probably make the post-mortem examinations. Misa Laurence and Miss Parry were last seen alive on Friday, December 13. A doctor, who examined them, said it hardly seemed feasible that the escape of eras would be sufficient to cause death. For a long time Miss Laurence resided with her mother in tha fiats, which are tenanted by well-to-do people. About a year ago Airs Laurence- died, but Miss Laurence did not leave the place. When the door was forced both young women were found dead in bed, but although a gas-jet in the bedroom was turned on, the atmosphere not very dense. There was no disorder in tho bedroom, and both young ladies wore in uizht attire.