A MYSTERIOUS CRIME

Otago Witness, Issue 2949, 21 September 1910, Page 27

A MYSTERIOUS CRIME

MURDER OP AN ACTOR,

LONDON, September 18.

The inquest on the death of Wildon Anderson, the actor, who was shot in July last, resulted in a verdict of wilful murder against some person unknown. Thomas Anderson, a eon of deceased, and Miss Earle detailed the story of the murder and Miss Earle's intrigue with the murdered man.

The police, who are satisfied that young Anderson and Miss Earle are telling the truth, are without a clue.

The Battecrsea crime is surrounded by a dense air of mystery. The victim wasMr Thomas Wildon Anderson, an actor, aged about 40, better known by the stage name of Athesrstone, and he resided at Percy street, King's Cross. The tragedy occurred at 17 Clifton Gardens, Battersca, about 9.30 p.m. on July 16. The deed was perpetrated by means of a revolver fired in the back garden. The reports —for two shots were fired —were heard with distinctness by residents aaid others in the neighbourhood, including- a constable, who immediately hurried in the direction of the sound. A taxi-cab driver who was passing' had his attention arrested by the reports, and also saw a man scaling the back garden fence of No.. 19 Clifton Gardens, a girls' school, the last house in the block. The driver lost no time in communicating his fears to the police at their station in Battersea Bridge road. Proceeding to the rear of No. 17, which is divided into three flats, the policeman who hoard the shots discovered" Anderson lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the steps which lead from the top storey into the back garden. He was unconscious. Two doctors were summoned, but Anderson was past medical aid and died soon after from the bullet wounds, one in the forehead and the other in the face.

Two tenants occupy the house outside which the crime was enacted, the groundfloor being to let. A young- laxly, Miss. Elizabeth Earle, a teacher of dramatic art, resides on the seconcMloor flat, and at the time of the tragedy she had as a visitor the son of the deceased man. Hearing the report of firearms, the son put his head out of the window and afterwards ran downstairs. There he met the constable, and together they proceeded to the back of tlhe house, whore they found the dying man. Owing to the disfigurement caused by the wounds the son did not at first (recognise his father, and it was not until a card was found on him that he had the least idea who was the victim of the outrage. The young- man was at first detained by the police, but as it was quickly ascertained that he was in no way implicated he was released. The mystery is deepened by tho fact iihat the victim was • wearing carpet slippers, and on a subsequent examination cf the premises a strange discovery was inade. On the mantelpiece of the front room, which was unoccupied, there was. found wrapped in a parcel a pair of boot:;, afterwards identified as belonging to the deceased man. In one of his pockets w;i ■ also found a piece of thick rope intertwined -with copper, evidently intended to serve as a hfe preserver. Tho presence of the deceased actor in th» houfle was a complicating factor in tho story. It was suggested that he let himself in by means of a piece of string which the decorators left in the keyhole of the lock. After gaining an entrance he presumably changed his boots for a pair of carpet slippers which he had with him, and then proceeded to tihe rear of tho house in order to make his way up the iron staircase. Hero he met the assailant, who is believed to be a member of the burglar fraternity. Both Miss Earle. and deceased's son state that there was no one in the house to their knoweldac at the time of the ocoui-renoe. The victim of the outrage was an occasional visitor at Miss Earie's, and he became acquainted with her in the course of his professional duties. His son, it is said, was receiving tuition in dramatic art from hor, and tihe father knew liis son was to bo at the house on the Saturdav evening, as he had written" him to that effect. An examination of the back gardens of No. 17. over the wall of which a man was seen to climb by the taxi-cab driver, afforded the strongest evidence that the assailant 'had made his escape that way. There were boot marks on the two pal-

ings, and the flower beds and shrubbery also bore signs of rough usage. The foot- ' marks on. the walls showed that inward and outward journeys were made that way. The culprit must have carried the revolver away with him, as diligent search for it in the gardens and neighbourhood has been fruitless. Only tihe most meagre de; scription. can be furnished of the man who was seen in the dim light climbing over the palings, and it is of no varus for purposes of identification. Mr Moule, an author, has given the police a circumstantial account of tho reason w*hy Anderson, left Miss Bark's flat, in which he had lodged for so many years. There can be no doubt that Anderson became moody. On three occasions—l2 months ago," last Christmas, and on.. May 22—it is alleged he struck the lady with whom he lodged. It is also alleged that he refused to allow her to teach elocution, to any but women pupils. Those who have followed most closely the intricacies of' this mystery are now convinced that Anderson was obsessed by one of these fita of passion when he took his carpet slippers and his piece of cable to the empty flat beneath the one in which he formerly lived. It is true that he knew his so a was above, but'in arsother quarter of an hour the eon would have gone, and he could then quietly steal up the steps outside the flat and enter the flat hg_ knew so well. If Anderson won* to the flat with this murderous intent, the rest of the mystery explains itself without real difficulty. His indention known—it is alleged that he was observed in the neighbourhood several times during the previous fortnight, and his sou suggested that be was there on the Wednesday night of the week before the murder,—it is not difficult to imagine a silent watcher, who, seeing him enter the empty flat, jumped over the garden .wall and lay in wait for him at the foot of the staircase.