Notorious Snyder-Gray Murder

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22741, 29 May 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

Notorious Snyder-Gray Murder

nWorld Shocked When Inner Lives of Three People Were Revealed

By SYDNEY HORLER

THERE have been many terrible tragedies in America, but it is doubtful if any more appalling drama has ever shaken the United States than the Snyder-Gray murder which occurred in a suburb of New York on March 20, 1927* The three leading characters were people who stood high in the respect of their friends and acquaintances befor« their inner lives were revealed to a staggered world.

1 LBERT SNYDER, a good-look-f\ ing, well-set-up man of early "*■ y middle-age, was engaged in New York as the Art Editor of the well-known Hearst Sports Magazine called Motor Boating. 1 was in the office of the Hearst Magazine organisation not long after lus death, and on every hand I heard expressions of regret at his ghastly end. Snyder, a quiet, studious, cultured ■ferpe, was held in the highest esteem by all his colleagues. He was the lost man, probably, could the future ha\e been foreseen, likely to have married the woman who, with such nnbelie\able callousness, brought about his violent end —but it is not given to us to peer through the mists of the future, and Euth Snyder, that very attractive blonde, who became know 11 aftoijtrards as "The Granite lonian. The Snyders, who had been married for several years, lived in a pleasant suburb of New York in the Forest Hills district. It is called Queen's Village. "Class of its Own" It was shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of March 21, 1927, that information came to Police-Inspector Gallagher to the effect that a man had been found dead at No. 9237, 222 nd Street, Queen's Village, Long Island. His report of the case was read at an early date by the Assistant District Attorney, James -T. Conrov. During the six and a-half years that Mr. Conrov had held .this office, he had personally investigated many revolting crimes; but, to use his own words to an interviewer, "while all these brutish acts sent a shudder through the community, there was something peculiar!}- sinister about the Snyder murder that shocked the whole world and put tho crime' in a class of its own."

deress was, at the time of Gallagher s visit, found immaculate and spotless. Indeed, it might have stood for a pattern of housewifery; table and sink were as clean as a new pin, and all the taps shone brightly enough to rejoice the heart of any beholder. A\ hal proved to he a linen drawer, however, was open, and the kitchen linen scattered about the floor. By this time, Gallagher had not been in the house for more than ten minutes, but a conclusion had already formed in his mind. This theory was arrived at after meeting Detective Heyner, who had come along from the Jamaica Precinct. When asked for his opinion, Heyner pulled at his chin. "Something Funny" "There's something funny about this," he remark'd; "things don't hang together at all. The woman upstairs in bed said that burglars knocked her out as she was walking along the corridor last < night. Adds that her fur coat and jewellery have been stolen. In her condition, 1 haven't asked her too many questions, but what she says doesn t fit in with this." The speaker pointed to the confusion of the room in which they stood. Gallagher nodded. It must be remembered that these two men were experts, and the inspector had 110 need to request the detective to explain further. As already stated, he himself had noted some significant facts. One of these, for instance, was the presence of various articles of sterling silver to be seen on tho round table in the dining room. Valuables Not Touched This silver was valuable, and, if burglars had paid the house a visit that night, it did not seem'at all likely thev would ignore stuff of this character. As Gallagher stated afterwards to an interviewer: "There were several other things lying around too, that 110 burglar would have left behind and. to sum it all up, the way everything was Yanked out from the drawers made it look as if somebody had been searching for something." A cautious man, this was as far as he could allow himself to go at such an earlv stage. As a matter of fact, he was contenting himself for the present with making observations as to the design of the house and the general condition of -things. On reaching the bedroom floor, he found three rooms. A terrible sight met his eyes as Patrolman Schulteis stood aside'to allow him to enter the one

TO"return: Inspector Gallagher tried to discover from police headquarters whether it was a case of homicide, a suicide, or merely a natural death; but be drew blank.

The police surgeon, who had been jcailed, to the house, had stated in his

J-eport that the man in question had been found dead on arrival. That was all. The physician, apparently, had left immediately to spend the week-end jvith fx-iends in Syracuse. Scene of Crime Spring had come early to Long Island that year, and the morning was eo beautiful as Mr. Gallagher tore through the roads in his car that he was forced to remark upon it. The air was balmy, the birds were singing, and the tree 3 were sprouting green. A curious setting for the most terrible crime that even this expert had ever known; The inspector noticed that the house i—to use his own words —was "rather a pretentious place—a double frame structure with two stories, a cellar and an attic, with front and side service entrances well-kept. There was a treilissed arbor leading to the garden and in the rear a large garage."

which occupied the whole north side of that floor of the house. Patrolman Sehulteis made one brief but pointed remark as Gallagher stood in the doorway of this room. "Jt looks as though this has been a tough job, sir,," he said. Gallagher nodded more or less abstractedly, because his whole attention was fixed on a ghastly sight. Placed side by side against the farther wall, were twin beds. On on* 1 of these a body lay. It was covered with bed clothes piled- high, but the sight of a badly-discoloured face was disclosed. It was the husband —and he was dead.

Gallagher ordered the policeman to give him all possible details, and Sehulteis complied. "When I arrived with Tucker," he said, "there was a crowd of neighbours at the door. They told me in a whisper that Mrs. Snyder did not know her husband was dead." Wife's Story

"Where lvas Mrs, Snvder then?" "She was lying in her nightgown with her feet tied on the floor at the top of the first flight of steps. There was a piece of rope on her left wrist." "Weren't her hands tied?" "No, sir." "What did she tell you?" "She said that the house had been burgled, and that she had been tied up bj- the intruders." "Did you point out the fact that she could have untied her ankles herself — having both her hands free?" "I did not, sir." "Why not?" , "Because, from the first moment, sir, both Tucker and I realised that her story was fishy. We agreed to believe what she said and to hold on to that until you came." "I see. Well, wliat happened?" Suspicious Signs "We got her to bed. The neighbours said that would be the best thing, and we agreed. Tucker found that the ropo round her ankles was very loosely tied —another suspicious sign." "Did the woman add anything?" "She just said: 'Please help me into Lorraine's room.' " "Who is Lorraine?" "The only child." "She didn't ask to be taken into her own room?" "No, sir." The patrolman went on to state that a neighbour named Mulhauser led him

The policeman on duty by the front door —Patrolman Tucker —answered, in reply to his query, that the dead man's name was Snyder. The New York police, with the extraordinary polygot population with which they have to deal, are used to curious names, and this one presented no difficulty to him. Neighbour's Discovery

Tucker, who appears to have been an intelligent man, quickly told his superior that Snyder had been found dead in bed; that his wife had stated there had been a burglary during the night, but that neighbours named Mulhauser, •who lived on the opposite side of tho street, had actually discovered tho body. Mrs. Snyder, prostrated, had not yet been told that her husband was dead. Having gained this much, Gallagher walked into the house to start his pergonal investigations. He found a small foyer or hall after passing through the porch, which is an essential feature of all American houses of this type, was immediately faced by a broad staircase leading to the upper part of the

house. The Snyder residence was simply arranged;" the dining room was on the right of the hall, while on the other side was a living room, at the end oi which was a large sun-parlour. Ihe house had a commanding position, lor it stood on a corner. State o1 Confusion

By the time of Gallagher's entry, the sun"was blazing into the living room, and show'ing up in great detail the state of' confusion that prevailed. Three large cushions, evidently taken from a divan, were on the floor; sheets of music from a cabinet, the door of ■which had been wrenched open, were scattered here and there, and it did not take this skilled investigator very long to decide that.the only object that retained its original place in the room ■was a beautiful model of a full-rigged ship that stood 011 the bookcase. The havoc of disarray did not con- ' fine itself to the living room. Crossing the hall and going into the apartment where the Snyders took their meals, Gallagher found gaping drawers, with their contents strewn about. 'JV> the superficial observer, the statement received from Tucker to the effect that Mrs. Snyder had stated a burglary must have taken place during the night, would have received confirmation from the condition of these two rooms. There was little wrong with the kitchen...When all the facts are known, it will strike many readers with curious significance that this apartment demoted to .the culinary skill of a inur-

toward the main bedroom. Entering, the two patrolmen found a man lying partly on his stomach with his head buried ill a pillow. Round his nock was a piece of wire tied tightly. Showing from beneath the pillow was a revolver with two chambers empty.

The pillow was stained with blood, There was a blue coloured handkerchief partly hiding the face, and some cotton-wool protruded from the* dead man's nostrils. This neighbour identified the body as that of Albert Snyder Broken Lamp Kven in those preliminary inquiries, a number of suspicious details leapt immediately to the minds of the experts. First, the valuable articles left lying about which any conscientious burglar would have quickly annexed; then there was the statement of Mrs. Snyder, obviously full of Haws, and now one of the policemen pointed out another singular occurrence. He said that nothing had been disturbed since the moment of discovery —nothing, that was, except a reading lamp that hung from the top of tho bed. When the doctor—his name was Xeail —got to the house, his first thought, of course, was for the dead man. in leaning over to lift up tho corpse, the doctor's shoulder struck the lamp and it crashed immediately to the iloor. The bedroom, it was noticed, was not nearlv so disarranged as the rooms downstairs. But all the drawers in the various articles of furniture were open, and the contents piled togethei in confusion as though tho inquisitive fingers of a marauder had been endeavouring to find something. The same kind of supposedly incriminating evidence as was to be found in the living rooms below. Among the things 011 the floor were some articles of a man's wearing apparel. Strangled. With Wire

Having heard this evidence, Gallagher approached the bed and dealt carefully with the clothes, pushing thein* gently aside from the body. Ho found corroboration of Sehulteis' statement in a piece of picture wire that — gruesome fact —had been tied so tightly that the greater part of it was actually embedded in the flesh. This" wire, obviously the means b.v which the murderer had strangled his victim, had been doubled. Into the loop end, a metal pencil had been inserted to act as a lever in the garrotting. The inspector s seasoned nerves were further racked by noticing that the man's hands were tied at the back with a towel, .while the ankles were bound with a necktie. On a closer examination, however, it was discovered that these two sets of bonds were fastened so loosely that it would have required only a slight movement on the part of Snvder (had he been alive at the time), in order to remove them. The obvious inference was, of course, that the man mi'ist have been either unconscious or dead when these were placed in position. There was yet another suspicious feature. The ordered arrangement of the man's pyjamas spoke to there having been no struggle—or, if there had been a fight, the assassin, had such a careful eye for detail as to have rearranged the pyjamas after he had committed the murder. Doctor's Theory

But this theory did not hold water very long in the minds of the experts, considering the previous facts already elicited. Moreover, original supposition, namely, that Snyder had not been able to put up any struggle for life, was strengthened by the circumstance of the bed lamp; if this, as had been proved, was in such a precarious condition that the brushing of the doctor's shoulder against it was able to knock it off, surely a man struggling desperately for his life would have brought it crashing down ? Gallagher now paid attention to the body. He saw that there were several lacerations on the scalp, and noticed bloodstains on the handkerchief. When the doctor who had been called in was available —he had been into Mrg. Snyder's room to attend to her —Gallagher asked him his view of the woman's story. The doctor was emphatic. "I don't think it's worth a dime," he replied, with a shake of his head. "Listen to it yourself: Mrs. Snyder told mo that she and her husband and her little girl Lorraine got back home after a party about two o'clock this morning. She and her husband retired, and shortly afterwards, she was awakened by what she imagined was someone walking about in the hall. "At first, she thought that Lorraine had become ill through eating something that had disagreed with Her at the party. She got up, went out into the hall, and was immediately seized by 'two rough men who looked like Italians.' These attacked her, knocking her unconscious through what she believed was a heavy blow on the head. "What happened afterwards, it was impossible for her to say, because she did not regain consciousness until some hours later. "When she did so, she found her hands and ankles tied, and was only able to crawl like an animal to the door of her daughter's room. She bumped herself against this in awkward fashion until the child woke up and saw her plight." "She's Lying" "And after that?" pressed the inspector. "Well," continued the doctor; "she went on to say that she sent the youngster across the street for the Mulhausers, who were friends of the family. These neighbours instructed the girl to telephone for the police and to remain in their house while they came over to see what actually had happened." "What about the blow on the head?" The doctor pursed his lips again. "There's no sign of it," he said decisively; "why, there isn't even a bruise!" "There would have been if her story is true?" "Of course. If she had been dealt such a blow as she has described, there would have been discolouration of the scalp, and the hair would probably be matted with blood; but, I tell vou. there isn't a thing. No, she's lying." The inspector had already come to this conclusion himself, but here was material confirmation of his own view. Moreover, the more the doctor told him, the more serious became the situation.