A Strange Crime.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7534, 7 May 1903, Page 7

A Strange Crime.

BUFFALO MYSTERY FOLLOWED BY A FRESH TRAGEDY,,

The tragic death on March 10 of Mr Arthur D. Pennell and the fearful injuries sustained by his wife caused by their motor-car swerving from the street over the kerb and the pavement and plunging down a 30ft embankment into the jagged rocks of an abandoned quarry have added to the mystery of the murder of Mr Edwin L. Burdick, of this city. The following is the story of the case :—

Mr Burdick, a wealthy manufacturer, was found murdered in the study or "den" of his house on Friday morning, February 27. The body was clothed only in a shirt, and there were half a dozen ghastly wounds in the head. The body had been covered with a Turkish rug, and a number of sofa-pillows were thrown on top. Mrs Burdick's mother-in-law, Mrs Hull, who found the body, sent for the police. On the table was a bottle partly full of whisky, and the remains of a light repast. There were no signs of a struggle, but clutched tightly in the fingers of the left hand was found a tuft of a woman's reddish brown hair. Neither Mrs Hull nor the three children who slept on the second floor hoard any disturbance during the night. Mr" Burdick had been separated from his wife for some months and had begun a petition for divorce, naming Mr Pennell as co-respondent. Mrs Burdick contemplated bringing a crosspetition, naming a certain woman as co-respondent. Two golf clubs were found in the "Den." It was at iirst thought that the murder was committed with one of these, but the theory was afterwards abandoned. The front door was open, and the murderer apparently escaped that way. Mrs Burdick, who was absent from Buffalo, immediately returned and gave the police all the information in her power. In the "Den" the pol cc found a marked copy of a Cleveland newspaper containing an account of a Cleveland woman's divorce. Some people believe she was the co-respondent Mrs Burdick intended naming, but the dead man's lawyers insisted that his acquaintance with her was very slight.

A PLAUSIBLE SUPPOSITION.

The general theory is that some woman prominent in Bufltalp society had been dragged in1»o the divorce proceedings brought, by Mrs Burdick against her husband, and feeling in danger went to Mr Burdick's house by appointment to get him to have her name kept secret, and failing in her purpose, flew into a rage and killed him.

In the "den" was also discovered a photograph of Mrs Paine, the wife of a leading dentist. The police visited the Paines' house, made a thorough search, and found several letters from Mr. Burdick to Mrs Paine. Mr Burdick's desk in the "den" had apparently been ransacked, as the papers there were seemingly disturbed.

At first the police said nothing had been stolen, but on Monday last they learned that the deceased's watch was missing, and a search is being made for it. The watch had been in Mr Burdick's waistcoat in the bedroom on the second floor, where most of his clothes were found. The money and other valuables had not been disturbed. From the belated discovery of the disappearance of the watch the police supposed that it was taken by the murderer in order to give a false scent and make tnem think the crime was committed by a burglar who was scared away. The police are still at work, but it is generally believed that the secret of the most mysterious murder ever committed in Buffalo will remain a sealed book.

To return to Mr Pennell. For years ho had been Mr Burdick's most intimate friend, but recently their friendship had turned to hatred. The action for divorce was filed in December, but the fact did not become public until after Mr Burdick's death. It was known that the latter, fearing an attack, had carried a pistol, though he never named the person he feared. Mr Burdick's attorney, Mr Miller, asserted that at a conference in

his office after his client's separation from Mrs Burdick, Mr Pennell had urged his former friend to be reconciled to his wife. Mr Burdick repliod, however, that he had taken her back three times for the children's sake, but would not do so again.

MR PENNELL'S THREAT.

Mr Miller said that Mr Pennell then threatened to kill "Alice," as

he- called Mrs Burdick, and . himself, making no threat, however, against Mr Burdick'.

Mr Pennell, who was Mrs Burdick's attorney, denied that! their relations were improper, though admitting that he had visited her in Atlantic City after the separation from her husband. It is also reported that he met her in New York the Tuesday before Mr Burdick was murdered,but this is still unconfirmed.

The telegraph company has refused to give the police copies of tho telegrams supposed to have been exchanged between Mrs Burdick's mother, who had remained in Mr Burdick's house, Mrs Burdick, and Mr Pennell, which may or may not throw light on the events preceding tho murder.

After Mr Burdick was murdered, one of tho first houses searched by the police was Mr Pennell's, but nothing incriminating was found.

At no time was Mrs Pennell's faith in her husband shaken. Last summer he bought and learned to drive an electric motor-car. He had recently had it refinished, and since last Saturday, when it was returned to him, he had taken his wife out every afternoon. On March 10 he went out as usual. When on the outskirts of the c ty, as twilight was approaching, two boys a hundred feet distant saw him reach for his hat, which had been blown off by the wind. A moment later the machine lay at the bottom of the quarry.

When the ambulance arrived the surgeons found that Mr Pennell had been killed instantly, and .his wife was unconscious. She was removed to hospital, and her death is expected momentarily. Early next morning, when semi-conscious, she exclaimed, "Arthur, Arthur, dear, why don't s*ou come this way." That was the only time she was not wholly unconscious, and it is the only thing she has said.

Mr Burdick's friends and the police at iirst thought the circumstances pointed to suicide, and Mr Burdick's friends still think so, but the police are convinced that when Mr Pennell reached for his hat he lost control of the motor-car, and that the tragedy was purely accidental. The condition of the motor brake is said to sustain this theory.

Mr Pennell's life was insured for £40,000. All the policies were taken out within five years, and several of them recently. The news of Mr Pennell's death has thus far been withheld from Mrs Burdick.