Ohio, S, 1930-1997, Undated

Online content

Fullscreen

ind her

refore?”
nswered
member

ling his
But not
could

ted the
im, let
room to
Smith’s

Then
and the
table in
ing be-
r Web-
t Snow
rapidly.
epeated
en her
>casions
1 times.
do most

you of
ning to
‘That's
Maybe
lide by
libi you
ilking.”
night, ”
hought,

Nazor
replied
prose-

in. She

1uto
bed

“T don't know why I should have: to
tell you what I see at picture shows,”
she answered testily. And that ended
Julia Maude Lowther’s part of the
conversation.

Savage Vengeance

E DECIDED on a new line of

strategy. Smith and the girl were
to be brought face to face and Smith
was to repeat his charges.

“Tf it has the effect I expect she'll
burn up,” I told Nazor. The chief's
office, a comparatively small room, was
to be the scene. Smith was brought in.

Hesitatingly, Smith repeated his
story. But the Indian woman might
have been a statue as he heaped the
entire blame for the murder on_ her
slender shoulders. He painted her as a
cruel, calculating killer.

Into her eyes came the flame of hate.
At last she was convinced that her
erstwhile paramour was giving her all
the blame. Tilby Smith sensed the
change. She wavered for a moment.

Then only the lightning action of
Nazor and Kelsey prevented her from
snatching up a police gun from the
nearby desk.

“Give me that gun,” she snarled.
“Give me that gun and leave this room
for a minute. You'll have another
murder case.”

The blood of savages was boiling in
her veins. The lust to kill was in her
heart.

“You dirty, double crossing squaw,”
she burst out.

Breathlessly we waited for the next
move, momentarily expecting her to
spring at Smith’s throat and tear him
to pieces with her fingers. Her eyes
were pits of fire and they seared the
soul of Tilby Smith.

“You rat,” she went on, “you talked.
If you hadn’t talked I never would have.
You told me you'd never bring me
into this. You men are all alike. You
can’t keep your mouths shut.” She
was biting her words in her rage. “Now
you are trying to hide behind my skirts
to save yourself.”

The Indian girl turned to Nazor and
me.

“Tl tell you what happened,” she
said, “and I'll tell you the truth. I’m
not afraid to die. But before I do I'll
see that that rat goes first.”

Beads of perspiration stood out on
Tilby Smith’s forehead.

“I’ve been working here as a maid,”
she said. “I’m trying to support my
six-ygar-old son back in West Virginia.
I know Jilby Smith. I’ve known him
for about ten days. I met him in a
theater. He came in, sat next to me
and started to talk to me. He followed
me out after the show and insisted upon
seeing me. He begged to see me often.
Then I learned he was married. He
told me of his troubles at home. He
worked on my sympathies. He promised
me everything.

“One day he told me he was going
to poison his wife to get rid of her so
that he could take me to Florida with

THANK You

RAILWAY POSTAL CLERKS ,

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

Fi Dept. G-215, Rochester, N. Y.
Travel—See Your Country 4 Slndly rush me entirely yore! we qhatse:
(1), A full description of the position checkec
$1900 to $2700 a Year / helow; (2) Free copy of erie ie hig
to get a U. 8. Government Johb'’; (3) A list o
| Many Other Government Jobs & TT. 8. Government Jobs now obtainable.
Feil one eel gl OM: aR
«ee POR ce er . ° . . . .
Short Wee ee Work ‘ Oo ..City Mall Carrier - . . - = ~ = ($1700-$2100)
| Rapid Advancement Z ..Prohibition Agent - + 2 © 2 = «= ($2300-$2800)
| Long Vacation With Pay --Rural Carrier - - - + + 2 = + «= «+ (§$2100-$3400)
Mail Coupon Now. . BRINGS 64.06 icid csi nels vevceccvececacccedioveevecsons SURES tis
Act at once. DO IT TODAY. S SARBUOS cc cncccccccccccctecnssesacesonesveevs
You May Forget Tomorrow. AUMOSS, 66... ce cece cece teenies cee

a .” Use this Coupon before you mistay it. WRITE OR PRINT PLAINLY.

miss this grand opportunity to win a worth-while prize,
Find the Lucky Horseshoe ne
Qualify for this Opportunity
Lots of good luck here! See the numbered horseshoes, ‘They all
look alike, but one is different to all the others—it is a horseshoe
that may be extra lucky for you to find. Look closely, It may
lucky horseshoe and rush waar anewer to qualify you for this splendid oppor-
euplieate Prizes given if ties occur.
d, Cash for everyone taking active part.
Witte today! You can turn your good Tuck ‘into cash! Address
OHN LAKE, 337 West Madison Street Dept.29, CHICAGO, ILL.
~ Ld

A BIGGER JOB-and youre THE MAN
creased their incomes by home-study business train- job to
es ee es es es ee Find Yourself Through LaSalle! ine ei, exible ia dab cen ‘niga itch
LASALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY, Dept. 10349-RCHICAGO

Please tellme about your salary-increasing plan for m advancement in the business field checked. Send also copy
of “Ten Years’ Promotion in One,” all without obligatio:
O Business Management 10) Industrial} Management O Business English
O Commercial Spanish

be different at the sides or ends or lack @ nail hole—there is a
Are you hunting a bigger job, or does the bigger ing soe the LaSalle Problem Method. Let us show
O Modern Salesmanship O Modern Foremanship
O Effective Speaking

TRY THIS. Prove that your eyes are keen. Someone will surely get & 4h
new Buick Sedan free and $1000.00 in money, or $2250.00 all po / ne
Winner's free choice! Five fine new autos and many hag i prises 4 9 “e
$5000.00 worth given free to advertise and make more friends, Done
Ie 7 a
lor :
—_>
—— S
difference somewhere, Find it. Send its number or mark it
with an X and mail to me quick with your name address,
ANSWER TODAY—$1,000 for Promptness
ND sree 00 sare cash given with the Buick
SE NO MONEY inner is dept a Be quick! Pick out the
job hunt you? Why waste years learning through you how i can do just as well or better. The
routine work, when you can acquire in your spare coupon wi | bring you complete information about
timeina comparatively few, months the experience our ‘‘experience training’ in the business field you
and specialized knowledge which bring promotion check, together with details of our convenient pay-
and salary increase? Thousands of men have in- ment “'e Make your start toward that bigger
O Higher Accountancy O Personnel Management
O Traffic Management O Modern Business Correspondence O Banking and Finance
O Railway Station Management O Expert Bookkeeping O Telegraphy
O Law: Degree of LL, B. OC. P. A. Coaching O Credit and Collection
O Commercial Law O Railway Accounting Correspondence

708 ¢ "and scores of others: New
better than ever. In our new advertising campaign someone wins
$3,700—why not you? Qualify for this big money by entering now—

CAN YOU FIND § FACES?

$1,000 EXTRA FOR
PROMPTNESS

If prompt I will give you

$1, extra if you win Ist

prize. Answer today! Now!

‘ou prefer allcash, Sendno,
*, roe answer today. (f@
piandhed onewrlag wins ca Sedan, delivered
Send Today by nearest dealer. Duplicate prizes in case of ties,
No matter where you ¥,,¢3 if you want to win $3,700 first prize money,
send answer today for details, Can you find 5 or more faces? Send no
money, Roger Scott, Mgr., 427 W. Randolph St., Dept. 704, Chicago.

For Mentionine Startiinc Drvrective ADVENTURES 75

CP iad in vei ab De cle Bre od

I VB ANB a Pt ee eed

os SP Se A Le es

him.” the Indian girl raged. Pee
promised me that he’d take care of my

son and that I’d never have to work
any more. He kept begging me to run

away with him.

“He told me that he was going to
use mercury to poison his wife and
then I guess he lost his nerve.” Smith
squirmed under her lashing. “He told
me he didn’t think the method was sure
enough and besides it was too slow. .

“Last Tuesday night he came down
to the place where I have been working.
He handed me a gun and said, ‘Use
this” At first I didn’t know what he
meant. Then he told me he had bought
the gun for me so that I could shoot
his wife.”

A Diabolical Death Plot

eee HAT night will we do it? he
asked. I told him I wouldn't
do any such thing. He pleaded and
begged. I was dumb. I listened. He
told me that if anything happened later
he would take all the blame and keep
ine out of it. He told me that he
would take his wife to the country
Thursday night and then asked me to
meet him at the Main street subway
about six that night. He picked me up
there in his truck and drove me out
Ridge road to a dirt road. We stopped
by the road and he told me to walk
across the field and follow the ravine
until I came to a culvert at the next
road. I was to hide in the bushes along
the road until he drove by with his
wife. Then I was to jump out and
shoot her. He told me he’d say robbers
did it.
“‘T'll be back between 8:30 and 8:45,’
he said as he left me. I made my way

across the field,” she went on. “A light .

rain was falling. I was wearing a black
raincoat—the one you found in my
room, In the right hand pocket I had
the gun which he had given me.
crouched in the shelter of the rail fence
and the bushes near the culvert and
waited.

“At last I saw the headlights in the
haze,” she continued. “I ran down into
the road. Pointing the gun at the cab
of the truck I ordered him to halt. He
got down out of the truck and I told
him to get in the rear. I could see
his wife but not the baby in her arms.

“I fired once. I saw her slip from
the seat, I didn’t know what to do. I
stood there in the road with the smok-
ing pistol in my hands. Tilby came
running up.

“ ‘Get out of here!’ he shouted. : ‘Beat
it’ I ran back across the road, climbed
over the rail fence and started: for
Munson Hill road. On the way I took

off my rubbers, the same ones which -

you have there on the table. I walked
all the way home.”

She looked at Tilby. She was a tiger
at bay.

“Tf you go out to the house you'll
find Tilby’s gun in a hat box ona book-
case in the playroom,” she concluded.

Smith seemed to be in a daze at the

conclusion of her story. At last we had
the truth of the diabolical murder plot.
Nazor shook Tilby vigorously.

“Isn’t it a fact that you and this girl

planned the killing for three or four

days?” Nazor asked. Smith nodded in
the affirmative. He seemed unable to
speak.

Patrolman Coates returned in a few
minutes with the gun. It contained
two .32 caliber, rim fire shells. I could
still smell the odor of burned powder.
Nazor tossed the empty gun down be-
fore Smith, That finished him.

He admitted that he had engineered
the whole plot and had deliberately
taken his wife for a ride and “put her
om the spot.” Not only that but he
had allowed her to be shot with their
infant son in her arms.

But the case wasn’t in the bag yet.
While we were out for a cup of coffee
Smith conferred with his attorney.
Carey S. Sheldon, Jr., and then refused
to sign a statement.

Murder Plans

WE CHECKED up with the dentist
from whom Tilby had obtained the
gun, and he not only verified Smith’s
story of getting the gun but also in-
formed us that Smith had appeared
very much interested in the qualities
of mercury as a poison and had ques-
tioned him about it.

“I told him it probably would act as
a cathartic rather than a poison,” the
dentist said. “Perhaps that is. what
made him want the old gun.”

We canvassed the hardware stores
of Ashtabula and found out where
Smith had bought his shells. The hard-
ware man had known Tilby Smith for
years and described a couple of Smith’s
visits to the store a few days prior to
his wife’s death.

“He came in here and asked me about
mercury being a poison,” said the
dealer. “He asked about the liquid in
a thermometer. I told him I didn’t
know anything about it.

“Later the same day he came back
with the cylinder of an old gun and
asked me to find some shells to fit it.
It was so different from the modern
guns that I remember it distinctly. I
sold him a box of .32 caliber, short,
rim fire cartridges for it. Westerns.”

I showed him the two shells taken
from the gun.

“Same ones I sold him,” he remarked
after examining the shells.

Tilby Smith was tried twice and
sentenced to die in the electric chair
each time. The first time a jury found
him guilty and after the Supreme Court
granted him a new trial he elected to
take a chance with Common Pleas
Judge Charles R. Sargent without a jury.
Sargent found him guilty and sentenced
him to die in the electric chair August
17, 1931.

Maude Lowther’s trial followed on
the heels of Smith’s second conviction.
She had been in jail at Jefferson for
more than a year and a model prisoner.

The slim, dark girl who traces her
ancestry back to Revolutionary an-
ancestors on her father’s side took little
interest in the court proceedings as the
trial got under way. As the parade of
witnesses passed before the jury re-
vealing all the sordid incidents of her
affair with the Ashtabula truck driver
she exhibited a stolidness and a
stoicism which did credit to her In-
dian ancestry.

Against this array the Indian girl
pitted herself. She was her own sole
witness. Her confession had been in-
troduced in evidence when she took the
stand. Her life was in the balance.
She bared her soul to the twelve men
who held her life in their hands, She
admitted everything.

Hardly a spectator stirred from his
seat when the jury went out. The at-
mosphere seemed electrified awaiting
only a spark to set it off.

Not since 1844 had the state of Ohio
executed a woman, The tradition had
grown up that a woman couldn’t be
sent to the chair. New York? Yes.
Pennsylvania? Yes. But Ohio? Never.

The minutes passed. The Indian in
Julia Maude Lowther was dominant.
She appeared to be the least concerned
person in the courtroom. Reporters
crowded about her. To them she smiled
wanly.

“Cheer up,” they urged, “you'll never
get the chair.”

“I'd rather go to the chair than spend
the rest of my life in prison.” the In-
dian gun girl drawled in the West Vir-
ginia hill country dialect. “My life has
been a failure but I’m not afraid to
die.”

The jury did not keep her long.
Business was suspended in the little
county seat town as the word spread
that the jury had reached a verdict. The
dropping of a pin in the courtroom
would have sounded like an explosion
as the jury filed in and filled the box.

The only calm person in the room
was the Indian girl. She turned her
dark eyes on the jurors but her long
lashes never quivered.

“We, the jury, do find the defendant.
Julia Maude Lowther, guilty of murder
in the first degree—”

There was a pause as the clerk
stopped reading. The spectators leaned
forward expecting to hear a recom-
mendation for mercy.

But it never came.

“The chair!” The murmur surged
through the crowded room. The bailiff
rapped for order.

Stolidly Maude sat through it .all.
There were no tears. No hysterics.
She walked out of the courtroom after
the sentence with her head up.

And so, because the State of Ohio
had no accommodations for women in
the Columbus jail, the Indian girl who
killed for the love of her paleface sweet-
heart will be kept in the women’s ward
of the Franklin County Jail until the
state takes her to the death house—
the first woman to die in Ohio’s electric
chair.

oe Hy

H, Trilby, wh, elec. OH& (Ashtabula) November 20, 1931

The |: pe. 2 a

IYSTERY KILLING
in SAYBROOK ROAD

“a
ba

cbs sab

Lonely Saybrook Center
Road, three miles west of
Ashtabula, Ohio, where Mrs.
Clara Smith was shot by a
mysterious assassin

By “Two men stepped into the \

POLICE CHIEF road. They ordered me to
Lj Cx KELSEY stick ’em up. I grabbed for

of Conneaut, Ohio the crank in the bottom of the
car. Just then they fired and
As told to a .
LAWRENCE HAWKINS hit my wife in the head.” That
of the was the beginning of this
Cleveland Plain Dealer strange Ohio enigma

ERE I to name the most

eventful night of my po-

lice career | should with-

out much hesitation desig-

nate that of May 29th,
1930, for it was on that night that | shared in the solution
ot one of the most wanton murders in the history of Ohio
crime. | was then deputy sheriff of Ashtabula County under
Frank Sheldon. :

\t about 9:30 o'clock in the evening of that memorable
Decoration Day, Ashtabula city police called us to report
that a woman had been shot by robbers on Saybrook Center
Koad about three miles west of the city.

Sheriff Sheldon, Deputies Harry Burk, Roy Ritter and I,
jumped into a county car and set off for the scene. The
sky Was overcast and an intermittent spring rain had been
falling most of the day, a circumstance which was to
figure largely in our investigation.

The car rose over a hill crest and there before us, in a
dip in the road, flashlights stabbed the darkness and played
over a group of men. We recognized Captain Harley Bix-
ler of the Ashtabula police. With him were Patrolmen
Harry Brudapest, Harold Shepard and Harold Coates.

Tilby Smith and hig murdered wife, Clara.
Drawing from snapshot taken about a year
before the slaying

Drown by Harlan Crandall 3rd

The men were standing around a
Chevrolet truck parked on the edge
of the road. Beside it, stretched on
the damp ground, was the body of
a young woman, She had been shot
once in the head, and death must have been instantaneous

Captain Bixler outlined the situation ly. The wo-
man was Mrs. Clara Smith, wife of Jil

smith, who did
a small trucking business around Ashtabula. Robbers had
held up them and their two children as they were driving
to Austinburg, a town about seven miles from Ashtabula
to spend the holiday.

Smith was so excited after the
wife’s body on the ground, abandoned
walked with the two children to hi
telephone police. A watch had al;
surrounding roads for the robber

igedy at he laid his

truck, and

Shortly after our arrival a Geni nd r came |
the body. We examined the scene, and th rove to the
Ashtabula police station where Smith wa ting

He was a good-looking young fellow of t 26. At the
moment his hair was mussed and his clot muddy and
disarranged. His first excitement had wi ff, and he

- Washington Court House

SMITH, William G. We, white, 9, hanged at X@MHAHKMH, Ohio, on Nov.

maimed him
je. Ile was
entence, and

‘sted for the
nane is lost

, and subse-

uth Rankin,
gainst ——
he was ar-
‘ec Appointed
ad court ad-
on the 15th

‘lls Gardner
| \
)
|

Pad

Lett Se Seno cere

Warry

GCS NN lle pe

30, 1866.

EXECUTION OF WM. G. W. SMITH,

FOR TIE MURDER OF JOHN GRAY,

Through the courtesy of William Millikin and his son, William,
jr., editors and proprictors of the Herald, we have been permitted
to make the following extracts from that paper, regarding this
crime and the execution of one of the perpetrators. From the is-
sue of November 3, 1864:

“ Murper.—On Saturday night last, a man by the name of John
Gray was murdered by some unknown person or persons. Ile re-
sided near Trimble’s gravel bank, in Concord Township, in this
county, and on the night of the murder he was left alone in the
house. It is supposed, from the marks upon his person, that he
was beaten with the poll of an ax, near the door of his house, and
then dragged off and thrown in the brush. IIe was murdered, as
is supposed, for a few hundred dollars in gold and paper money,
Which he had, as the money and some other articles belonging to
him were missing. No clew has as yet been had as to who the
guilty perpetrators of the deed were. Coroner Carr‘held an in-
quest over the body, and the jury gave their verdict that the de-

ceased came to his death by violence of some unknown person or-

persons.”

From the issue of November 10, 1864:

“MurpERER ARRESTED.—Through the vigilence of constable
Matthew Blackmore, of this village, two men, one named Wash-

ington Smith, and the other John Adams, have been arrested on

acharge~ef having murdered John Gray, in this county, on the
night of the 29th ult., and are now in our county jail. Adams has
confessed to being accessary to the murder, but says that Smith
committed the deed. As the case will undergo legal investigation,
we deem it prudent not to say more at present.”

The following particulars coneernine the murder of John Gray, -
: fo) o b)

are the result of an interview with James Straley, Esq., at that time
sheriff of Fayette County:

34t

342 HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.

Gray lived in a cabin near the Roberts’ farm, at the crossing, and
“at the time of the murder lived alone, a. widow and her daughter,
the other occupants, having been induced by the participants in the
erime to visit relatives at a distanee. The murder was committed
by John Adams, and William G. W. Smith, who lived near Peters-
burg, and was a brother-in-law of Gray’s, they having married sis-
ters.

It appears that an old feud, which was engendered between the
families when they resided in Virginia, still existed. This, and a
sum of money (perhaps four hundred dollars), was undoubtedly the
incentive to the bloody decd.

On Saturday evening, October 30, 1864, they left Petersburg, 0s-
tensibly to attend a meeting of the “ Knights of the Golden Circle,”

_. but in reality to take the life of a fellow ereature. They proceed-
ed to Gray’s cabin, twenty miles distant, on horseback, and upon
nearing the scene, cut a huge club from a thicket, with which they
felled Gray to the ground.

The evidence, so far 4s the actual deed is concerned, was circum-

EXECUTION OF WM. @. W. SMITH. ; 343

on the following morning. He then made inquiries as to how they
were dressed, and was informed that they wore blue army over-
coats, Which were hanging in an adjoining apartment. The detee-
tive looked in the room, but saw no coats. Finally his keen eye
discovered the garments concealed under ladies’ dresses. Inyesti-
gation disclosed the fact that spots of blood marked the coats. Mr.
B's next step was fo search for Smith, who was soon found; and
upon being questioned as to his whereabouts on the night of the
murder, contradicted and could give no satisfactory account of him-
self, He and his accomplice were arrested and taken to Washing-
ton. A chain of circumstances was developed, which showed con-
clusively that they were guilty, and at the preliminary examination
they were committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury.

Probably because of the supposed insecurity of our jail, Smith
was sent to the Pickaway County prison, at Circleville. But even
this place could not hold him, for we learn that he dug a passage
under the prison walls, and made good his escape.

At the trial of Adams, it was developed that both parties were
intoxicated on the night the terrible crime was committed. Adams

2 stantial, consequently we have no means of knowing the full par-
2 ticulars as to the manner in which the poor victim’s life was taken.
However, it is surmised that his body was put on one of the horses,
carried to a gravel-pit, one-half mile further on, and dumped into
the same. They then departed for Petersburg, their home, stop-

ping at Monroe for a whisky, and to exchange horses.
According to our informant, a cloud of mystery surrounded the

testified that he was unacquainted with the true object of their visit
to Gray until they neared the house. He revolted when informed
by Smith that Gray was to be murdered. Smith replied, “You
hold the horses, and I will fix him.” Much sympathy was ex-
pressed for Adams, and as the absence of Smith made it impossible
to ascertain some of the most important facts in the case, he was
murder for several days, it being a difficult matter to discover ue nantly of’ manslaughter, and sentenced to ten years in the peni-
, x a : : < a black- nuary.

a gee ee a he Lvaran penne se eae at the We append the following extracts from the official records of the
eats of Ke tyre on the morning following the same, and had mip in which the State of Ohio was plaintiff, and William G. W.

been seen in the neighborhood on the preceding day with a gun. —_ cae John Adams defendants: =o
At the coroner's inquest at Washington, no evidence was given Wats. i, _ the grand jury presented an indictment against
against him, and, if arrested at all, he was discharged trom custody. . illiam G. W. Smith and John Adams for murder in the first de-
A detective and deputy sheriff investigated the premises surround- ae. On the third of the same month, the court ordered that the
‘sno Gray’s cabin, and finally struck a trail which led to Petersbure. defendants be brought, forthwith from the Pickaway County jail
Here st was ascertained that Mrs. Hemeline and daughter, the ocet - this court, for arraignment. A copy of the indictment was, on
- pants of the Gray cabin, were visiting Smith’s family, at the request 0 following day, delivered to each of the defendants, and they
of the latter. The deputy then proceeded to Smith’s residence, an ie cone to the jail to await further order of court. On the
inquired of Mrs. Smith as to the probable whereabouts of her has T ses day the defendants were arraigned separately for plea.
band on the preceding night. She replied that he had gone t rey plead not guilty. The court, not satisfied with the safety

: jjeht of the Fayette County jail, ordered prisoners returned to the jail
, anied by Adams, and had returned before daylig — y jail, pris 3. j
Monroe, accompanied by 4 ? of Pickaway County.

7
ae

sect ne ll atch ct AS STE

AAA. A ENB AEP Ree, LORETO

knew it
ispected

“Take
life is

ast the
aching
bridge.
a-who
1eeding

bodily

wment
strug-
ircling
sed in
sly up
w feet

The
| capi-
gation,
n was

’ Tay-
% is
r than
Jregon,
e jury
ilty of
mem-
e was
smarck
iatural

narked

VAL

Tigress!

(Continued from page 35)

Nazor opened the door of the girl’s room.
A startled pair of large, black eyes stared
at him from the bed. High cheekbones,
dusky skin and a look of stolidness on her
hroad features confirmed the story of her
Indian blood.

She asked very few questiong when they
told her to dress and come down to head-
quarters with them, Nazor and his fellow-
workers realized that it would take a lot
to break this girl dowm After the first
startled look, her expression became calm
and cold and not by word or motion did
she reveal what she was thinking about
on the way downtown,

Her redskin ancestry stood her in good
stead when they arrived at the city hall and
she was brought face to face with Tilb
Smith, For all that her expression showed,
she might have been looking at a marble
statue. Her eyes traveled from his visibly
agitated face to his tightly gripped fingers.
She shrugged her shoulders and turned

away.

Nazor looked over her head at Smith.
The latter wet his lips and seemed to be
having difficulty in swallowing. But finally
he gave them the signal for which they
shad been waiting—a quick nod of his head
.in the direction of the silent girl. |

“Do you know this man?”. Prosecutor
Nazor shot at her.

The girl continued to regard Smith
coolly. “No,” she said. ;

; “Are you sure? Never seen him be-
ore.” '

She shook her head. “Not that I know

of. Maybe I did see him around, but I

never spoke to him.” "seer

Nazor played what he considered his
trump card. “You may not kriow him, but
he has accused you of murder—of killing
his wife, Clara Smith,”

But if he expected this to stagger the
descendant of ughing Water,’ he was
wrong. She didn’t even deign to answer.
She had said she didn’t know Tilby, and
as far as she was concerned, that ended
the matter. They separated the suspects,
and Sheriff Sheldon tried to get some in-
formation out of the Indian maid. But
he found that he was carrying on a mono-
log instead of a dialogue. .

Maude Lowther, as she told them her
name was, briefly replied that she had
spent Thursday evening at a femee show,
declining to go into further detail.

“TI can't see where it’s any of your busi-
ness what | do with my evenings,” she told
the men testily. “What’s this all about,

age

e officers looked in puzzlement at one
another. Was it possible that the girl was
wine the truth and that the entire story
was but a figment of Tilby’s over-vivid
imagination? No—there obviously was a
woman in the case, and _ something
smouldering in the depths of .Maude Low-
ther’s black eyes convinced them she was
concealing something. There seemed but
one way to find out.

Once again Smith was brought face to
face with the girl. The room was crowded
with officers, so that the two stood within
arm's length of each other. Prosecutor
Nazor turned to Tilby. ,

“Repeat your story!” he commanded
sternly, j °

Shaking, Smith gulped and tried to edge
away, averting his face from the girl.
Finally he began, quailing under Maude
Lowther’s gaze—the gaze of scornful black
eyes that seemed to bore through him.

INSIDE DETECTIVE

Smith was sweating when he had finished
his story of the murder,

For a moment the Indian girl stood
there silently, Then in a split-second she
changed from a submissive prisoner into
a snarling, spitting tigress,

“You—beast!” she screamed at Smith
through clenched teeth.

With a furious lunge she tore herself
away from the olflicers’ grasp and leaped at
her accuser. Raging, shrieking, she fell
upon him, struck him, raked his skin with
her talon-like fingernails, kicked him.

Three policemen finally overpowered
her—but not before she had tried to snatch
the pistol from one of them, The lust to
kill was in Maude Lowther’s blood then,
The spirit of the red man, tomahawk
raised, shone in her face.

“You cheap coward!” she flung.at Smith.
“Trying to hide behind a woman’s skirts!
After all you were going to do for me,
your fine words and big promises. Well—
you’ve done enough already. Now I’m
going to do the talking. And when I get
through, they'll put me in jail, but you'll
be right there with mel!”

A stenographer was summoned, and with
bated breath the men waited to hear the
latest and what they believed would be the
first true version of what really happened
when Clara Smith met death,

“VE BEEN working here as a maid,”
Maude Lowther began. “I know Tilby
Smith. I met him about ten days ago, at
the Palace Theater. He came in, sat next
to me and started to talk. He followed

me out after the show and insisted on }

seeing me. He begged to sce me often.
Then I learned he was married. He told
me of his troubles at home. He worked
pr my sympathies—promised me every-
thing.”

The officers exchanged glances. Tilby
must have been a glib talker, indeed. Hav-
ing absolutely nothing himself, he had still
convinced this girl he could bring her
luxuries, ‘

“One day,” she went on, “he told me he
was going to poison his wife to get rid of
her so that he could take me to Florida
with him. He told me he was going to
use mercury to poison her, and then, I
guess, he lost his nerve. Told me he didn’t
think the method was sure enough, and,
besides, it was too slow.

“Last Tuesday night he came down to
the place where [ have been working. He
handed me a gun and said, ‘Use this.’ At
first I didn’t know what he meant. Then
he told me he had gotten the gun for me,
so that I could shoot his wife.

“I told him I wouldn’t do any such
thing. He pleaded and he begged. I was
foolish enough to listen, He told me that
if anything happened later, he would take
all the blame and keep me out of it. He

‘told me he would take his wife to the

country Thursday night. and then asked
me to meet him at the Main Street sub-
way about six that night.

“He picked me up in his truck and drove

me out Ridge Road to a dirt road. He
stopped and told me to walk across the
field and follow the ravine until I came
to a culvert at the next road. I was to
hide in the bushes along the road until he
drove by with his wife. Then I was to
jump out and shoot her. He told me he'd
say robbers did it.

“Till be back between 8:30 and 8:40,’
he said, as he left me. I made my way
across the field. A light rain was falling.
I was wearing a black raincoat, and in
the right-hand pocket I had the gun Tilby
had given me. I waited in the shelter of
the rail fence and the bushes.”

The girl paused, her eyes deep with the
recollection of that murky, tragic night.
Then with a shrug she took up the tale,

FEMALE

BEAUTY
Round the!
World |

World's Greatest Collection
of Secret Photographs

Now you can travel round the work! with the most dar-
ing adventurers, You can see, with your own eyes,

the weirdest pevples on earth. You witness the strangest
customs of the red, white, brown, black and yellow races,
You attend thelr startling rites, their mysterious prac-
tices, They are all assembled fur in these five huge
volumes of The Secret Museum of Mankind.

600 LARGE PAGES

Here is the World’s Greatest Collection of Strange and
Necret I*hotographs, Here are Exotic I’hotus from Europe,
farem Vhotos from Africa, Torture Photos, Female Photos.
Marriage Photos from Asia, America and Oceania, and
hundreds of others. There are almost 600 LARGE PAGES
OF PHOTOGRAPHS, each page 6% square Inches in size!

1,000 INTIMATE PHOTOS

x 4 savage love can sour
hip in every quarter the OLU
world, You see cannibal magic the “secrete Avan
ond ardery in cece lands where of Africa

a _white man has
rarely trod. You see Oriental uae of rope .
intimacies and female slavery in VOLUME 3
China, Japan, India, ete. You | 7* Secret

mate tuil-paxe close-ups, The
thrilled by the hundreds of short of Sonn
stories that describe them,

5 IMMENSE VOLUMES

The Secret Museum of

Specimen Photes Mankind consists of five .

bound together for conve-
Nudity Round the World
Various Hecret Societies atory and uncensored phoe
Civilized Love vs, Savage to, is the WORLD'S
Marriage by Purchase Q@REATEST COLLECTION
rt Crimes, Criminals OF STRANGE AND S8&-
Omena, Totema & Tabove CRET PHOTOGRAPHS,

Murdor & Mystery uals containing everything
. 4 ~~ from Female eauty
Round the World to

Read Slave Hunters the
o

Exotic Rites and Cults ang | most Mysterious Gulla and

LS ae undreds

1,000 OTHER sacRET and hundreds of larce

PHOTOS Ppaxes will give you days

and Mikhts of thrilling

SEND NO MONEY

Siero olen mali the » Rememteor, each af

& Volumes ts OY inches high, and opened over a for

witel KRemen also that tnls 5-Volume Se formerly
sold for $10, And it is bound In expensive ‘life-time’

cloth, Don't put this off, Fill out the coupon, drop i¢ in
the next mail, and receive this huge work at once,

FORMERLY =i
NOW ONLY <

Fre

For THe ComPLeTeE
VoLuME SET:

t City. Statencossenssons

,
CHP, rR ’
C) See Se ra tee eee 01.06,

iit ttt tet
sz

. yy. i
INSIDE DETECTIVE % *

1 i. saw the headlights in the 18, 1930, a jury found him guilty of
$100 a Month en eed yon into the road. Pointing murder. But the supreme court anted i
e e the gun at the cab of the truck, I page —_ a ew ey ~~ — ~ f rae } Sex
1 It. Tilby got down an to place his e in’ the Y
Sick Benefit Policy i o por "le the eat, beg? see = Rtacies Re. Sargent, The dvaee por Bre Ss (Cont:
. b ife, but God hel I didn’t know s extenuating circums
At Special Low Cost: wife, but tty in her arms. I didn’t think placed before him. On November 20, 19531, ff
ee Tilby would Jet me shoot at her while she Smith paid the supreme penalty of dea : the hands of |
one Le atoendent want pity you wast Puy Nee | was cuddling her child. ; in the elegric chair, - a Meanwhile,
vided for though disabled. RE RN “I fired once and saw her sli from the — sg ee other woman-
podudl' lou eost, pelle Pe aeeed “bs Ns al Provective | seat. I didn’t know what to do. I just TRE girl's trial followed Tilby’s second 4 lured to the :
special lot Om cloaally famous for their $3.68 sccident | ‘stood there with the smoking gun in my ‘conviction. Apparently, now that she felt i man and flee:
Polley. sonal Protective te the only compeny ierwing | hand until Tilby came running up. certain Smith was not to escape paying ; Mrs. Lida De
© health polos coreritt, aw cork. icase end peves | “He told me to beat it and I’ ran back for the crime, her vindictiveness left her : = widewol f
SEND NO MONEY ‘across the road, climbed over the fence and she reverted once again to her original t before and |
‘poze mat rex en mite sms aw | and started for home, me Sheet took “Stoicism. She took very little interest in Carma, lio:
pnd eication te fm out Ingper imedical, examination. off my rubbers and dropped them. the proceedings, until the time came ‘or ‘ A proposal
Mon ages 18 to $9 and women Jt ve LL per ay Bong oe' “Where did you put the gun?” Nazor her to take the stand. ‘Then, in a desperate led to the m
your, name, axe, address and sex te the National Ere asked her. : attempt to make the jury understand, she . Downey fror
Keetive Insurance Cos. 3°00 sa thelr apectal Bow cont civ, | “*«t¢ you go to the house, you'll find poured out her entire story as it has been was living «
is still. im effect. Tilby’s gun in a hatbox on a bookcase 1n = told here, baring her very soul for their arrived at El
- the playroom. inspection. »s i Studebaker
un A. detective slammed the door in back The defense atto F. L. Martin, Pdpaages
AY ut fer Varleos @ of him even before the last words had pleaded for mercy. the crowd in the eee al
a assed: her lips. ‘The tense men relaxed courtroom waited tensely. Not since 1844 . week and th:
or a moment. The way the girl had had the State of Ohio seen fit to end the . * . Hot Springs .
told that story left little doubt in their jife of a woman in the electric chair. that he woul:
i euffer pain and misery ot Varicose iminds. . 4, Many diabolical . murderesses, like the his bride wo
Marra ren Ti fa Ronee, Mi oe Fem e MIETIIOD ae notorious Eva Kaber and Emma Colovito, to Pasadena,
oF ROME TREATMENT. (Teltaltabel Uh sandorvede Sue broke down after the irl’s con- had faced juries of their peers in the past visit his ver
ores aM ircem way Aven, baiwauhen, Wheenelt fession. He already admitted he had en- few years, but in each inatance life im- Hackett. M
ohne gineered the plot and had driven his wife to prisonment was their fate. There was again,
Order your ‘Drug Sundries dt- her death, The recovered gun he also ad- almost a legend in Ohio legal circles that Back in
S AVE rect through our Mail Order a4 mitted was his, ‘ : you couldn't ‘pick jury that would pro- O'Connor w
pariment. “ings Ty Sasecluities Detectives, meantime, checked up with pounce the death sentence upon & wo- agaad ee be
for men and women. All, pers hardware dealers and learned from N. C. = man. 4 e the gua wh:
sonal article 00m Donets. bys | Chapman of the Mitchell hardware store — The jury listened to the summations and Perry on th
O today for FRKEK illustrated cata- that Smith had bought a box of 32 caliber, the judge’s charge. Silently they filed from to Milwauke:
. log. Sell to doctors and druggists. | short rim-fire cartridges for his gun. They the courtroom, : As a tribute to the law- it fitted per
v REX DRUG CO. also learned that he had questioned Dr. —yers’ eloquence, let it be said that not a7 Hackett’s sk
Dept. 76-B, 201 E. 35th St.. Chicago we | Bigler and Emil Koski, Ashtabula barber, person left his seat in the crowded court- Four days
reer md : about the merits of mercury as a poison. room. Of the entire group in the room, widening cir
The loose ends all fitted together perfectly. the girl on trial seemed the most com- ‘of the smoo
STAG PARTY But-it was in Maude Lowther that the - Again her Indian blood was evi- . with the dis
, os” Meat Pocket) chief. interest lay. Who was this twenty- dent. She sat quietly, waiting to hear her. at
Cartoon Folders! € axsortod for $1.00 cash, stemen ot mane three-year-old girl ae Ss eye fate. ~ made b pew oe aps ee A of $4
cwi e., Mew York rs to commit murder ere answer to a well-wis ot
J. LEWIS, Dept, D.8.C., 126 Lexingien AM ae come from? What type of life had statement that she would surely escape the this woman,
she led? . : chair. . ia he read a ¢
Y es at ence of ne Maude Lowther’s story was sordid, yet “I don’t mind dying, Maude Lowther monial ;
EPILEPS Rive tor FREE hitera- itiful, She was born and lived her child- said quietly. “My life is a failure. I " name As e.
ture on “Bleck and White” Testes vert, Ml ¥. Rood in a rough shack in the back hils of haven't much left. I'd much rather die i “Adams, «
cotati teat ce ction West Virginia. Her Indian blood was than spend my life in prison.” ; : least $250,00
a from her mother. Her father was of old With the jury’s return, it looked as if of property
6 ee) MEN American stock. ‘Maude grew up as wild the girl were to have her last wish. For . lice. “He
Personal Needs MEN and uahammpered as the flowers that cov- the impossible had happened. When the ' 60,000 wir
wo cred the hill overlooking the lovely Saga- verdict of the jury was read by the clerk, Florida, and
Valuable catalog FREE. 100 modern items. | more Creek. . ‘ spectators waited for the words “guilty o at Detroit,
VITAL PRODUCTS Dept. D Hebekea, N. J. Pretty, in a-vivid, colorful way, Maude’s murder in the first degree,” to be followed ; Through |
— doom was swift. At the age of fifteen she by a recommendation of mercy. . him at Dura
; ; was seduced by a cousin of the family. But for the first time in many years an married Apt
MEN Pp AST 40 Still a child herself, the girl was confused Ohio jury had voted death for a woman and Mrs. |}
and frightened by the change taking place defendant. Maude Lowther was to pay the. home in Foi
Siteaivud Glier: a by tired,» - ie eaadh, Se ber in her own body. But when her son was extreme penalty! The life that started so a. tod owned
es ee ee sa glo ys born, a savage mother love took posses- tragically in the wooded. hills of West , § of uneite
(gland activator) snd other ingredients, prescribed by sion of her. She wanted that baby to have Virginia was to end ignominously in Ohio’s . \ lived in her
many doctors here and abroad for this very purpose. Con- the advantages she hersclf had never electric chair. ::. be “He want
eat Bee poireviey roe tree, BO-AK OO. weg Aaikithied the il ait tat Ram: ag cel ® bo ge no longer, «= BF once,” she s
See iten: | : he best descri next period of her: sho no ing at all when sentence. ba me tha
> Went d5th Bt, New York. ARIS = Save 8t. | Jife, while working as_ a housemaid in was pronounced. She revealed nothing in bs . go to Fhe.
Clarksburg, West Virginia, in these words: her passive face. She hardly seemed in- i The prom
‘f » \¢ “My father had accused me of sinning, terested. z much below
Gin: and I thought I might as well have the But her lawyers took up the fight for x gave away !
(| game as the name.” her. They filed an appeal for a new trial, | . 14, Perry :
ae NAZY Nuits Maude named sixteen men with whom and it was granted on October 13, 1931. * > Chicago, ar
2 aoa _she had been intimate while working there. Her counsel waived the right to a trial by - . and going :
10 , D AY But she never failed to send money regu- jury and offered to plead guilty te a gen- . where they
SEND ONLY 20 CENTS with name, age and larly for the care of the child she had eral charge of homicitle, The offer was: B® “At Chic:
address, and by return mail ‘RECEIVE a set of borne. ay ; ‘ accepted, and guvixe G. A. Starn sentenced © °-" go out and
14 TRIAL GLASSES to select from to fit your It was Tilby’s promise to arrange things her’ to life imprisonment at Marysville ‘ also to mec!
eyes NOTHING MORE TO PAY until you can | 80 that she could have the child with her, prison. eee 3 left me wit!
pee perfectly far and near, Then the above Besu@ that first tempted her. He painted a glow- And so‘ was justice done for the fatal : and never «
titel Sty wil oot you saly 62.90, 80 more) thee ing picture of the life they would have bullet that pie Clara Smith's life as she : October {
We only Handle High Grade Single Vision and together, Maude thought that at last she held her to her breast. | Traiturous, : atill remain
DOUBLE VISION or KRYPTO BIFOCAL | was about to experience the happiness she scheming Tilby Smith lics in a {clon’s f angle in th
torie lenses, ground into ONE SOLID PIECE ef had never yet found. grave. . when anoth
GLASS. bocTor H. E. BAKER, O.D., with The prosecution made much of her-back- And passionate, tragic Maude Lowther, - was discove
ted 30, years’ experience, OOS. Circular ground during the trial. She was painted the Indian girl he swayed, to his will of Harrix
with latest styles and lowest prices FREE. as a rural prostitute—a cold-blooded crea- with F eiomgy a Doe happiness, is toiling out .- § married Pc
‘MODERN SPECTACLE CO. Dept. 82-V, ture of no mercy. | her days behind prison walls—far from ; had been m
5125 Pensacola Ave., Chicago, Ill. _Tilby went to trial first, and on July the young son she loved. 7 ‘4g y Meanwhil
58 _. ;
4 \ 2 \ a pe .
cd Wig fodiens. . * > ale

I had heard of Dr. Snook many times. His reputation, I
knew full well, was flawless. Nine years before, he had won
considerable fame as a member of the United States Olympic
team when he captured the world pistol championship. Then
too, Dr. Snook’s prominence in the field of veterinary surgery
and his activities as a member of the Scioto Valley Golf Club
had caused his name to appear frequently in print. Strangely
enough, our paths had never crossed. ;

My first view of the forty-nine-year-old doctor, thirty
minutes later, came as a distinct surprise. I had expected a
handsome, athletic figure, but I saw a tall, slender man, slightly
stooped and almost completely bald. He wore light shell-
rimmed nose glasses. The description supplied by my secret
informant flashed across my mind. Dr. Snook certainly filled
the bill!

It seemed incredible that this quiet professor could be in-
volved in such a hideous crime. Yet our investigators had
lost no time making a quiet check of Snook’s background and
reputation. What they learned was bewildering.

Dr. Snook, campus gossip hinted, was clouded in as much

mystery as Theora Hix had been. Despite his outward repu-
tation, rumor had it that he indulged in extra-marital amours.
There were stories—not substantiated, but. still worthy of
attention—that Snook had become deeply involved with one
girl. And that girl was allegedly Theora Hix!

Well-dressed, poised and suave, Snook answered my ques-
tions in a frank and open manner. Yet he appeared quite un-
moved at news of the girl’s death.

“I’m deeply shocked to hear of this,” he said with hardly a
change of expression. “And of course it would be ridiculous
for me to deny that I knew Theora Hix. Naturally, we met
frequently—in the classroom.”

We asked the professor the usual routine questions about
his interests, habits and family relations. And at last Prose-
cutor Chester, who could not forget that our secret informant’s
description of Theora’s nocturnal caller checked closely with
the professor, came out with the vital question.

“Did you cver have a love affair with Theora Hix?” he
asked.

Snook recoiled. “Never!” he gasped indignantly. “That’s an
insulting question !”

It was a delicate situation—impugning the honor of a re-
spected man—but the issue had to be met squarely.

“T’ve been told you were warned to stop seeing Miss Hix,”
said Detective McGath, who had been studiously investigating
Snook’s private life.

Dr. Snook's face implied a strong rebuke. “Certain persons
have misconstrued our relations,” he said quietly. “Miss Hix
was charming and intelligent. I have been planning a two
weeks’ vacation, after which Miss Hix was to assist me in
preparing a book on veterinary surgery. We have been
obliged to meet several times to complete business arrange-
ments.”

“Where did these meetings take place?” I demanded.

“In my automobile. Usually when I drove her home.”

The professor asserted he left his campus laboratory between
7:30 and eight o’clock on Thursday night. “I then drove
out to the Scioto Valley Golf Club and picked up a pair of
shooting glasses,” he declared. “I returned to the campus,
picked up a newspaper and reached home around nine o'clock.
I retired after eating a light lunch.” ~

When we took him to the morgue, Snook gazed quietly at
the battered body of his erstwhile student. I watched him
closely, but his cool, aloof face betrayed no emotion—not even
sympathy—which I thought rather queer.

Now for the first time I noticed the dead girl’s hand was

AT TRIAL

Weakened by
spinal tests, Dr.
Snook lolled in a
beach chair
throughout his
twelve-day trial
for murder.

slightly
flashed a
she real:
slammed
That t!
on the dv
when a «
pair of :
looked 11!
later was

protested
no chanc:

Our sc
Meyers t:
and volu:

Meyer:
sandy ha
broke do\
—a love
when Th

Moreo\
girl duri:
when Th.

“Did \

1 persons
iss Hix
ga two
st me in
ive been
arrange-

uded.

rome.”

y between

en drove

a pair of
campus,

i¢ o'clock.

quietly at
ched him
-not even

hand was

slightly crushed and_ the flesh broken. Across my mind
flashed a thought. Had ‘Theora Hix tried to escape when
she realized her danger, and had the mad slayer viciously
slammed the door on her hand?

That thought reoccurred when I later found a slight smudge
on the door jamb of Dr. Snook’s coupe. My suspicions mounted
when a careful search of the interior of the car revealed a
pair of gray suede driving gloves with several stains that
looked like blood. We also found a woman’s parasol, but it
later was identified as Mrs, Snook’s.

The gloves and the door jamb bearing the strange smudges
were turned over to Dr. Charles F, Long for chemical
analysis. The girl’s stomach was removed and also subjected
to scientific tests, for Prosecutor Chester believed the girl
had been drugged before her death.

OLLOWING HIS return from the morgue, Dr. Snook
made a statement involving Marion Meyers, the thirty-six-
year-old horticulture instructor. “He went with Theora
about two years ago and for a while they were reported en-

LOYAL WIFE

time of the murder.

LAST DATE

Right: Theora Hix
helped operate the
switchboard at Univer-
sity Hospital, then
cheerfully hurried to
her date—a date with
a sex-inflamed killer.

gaged,” Snook declared. “She told me that when she finally
broke their engagement he wept like a baby and pleaded on
his knees for her to marry him.”

“Do you know whether or not he’s seen her lately?” I
asked.

“T believe he has,” replied the professor. “I know he’s madly
in love with her and that she failed to reciprocate his affec-
tion.”

That shed a new ‘light on the already complicated case.
Where was Meyers, and how did he fit into the jigsaw puzzle
of this brutal killing? We determined to find out. Mean-
while we lodged Dr. Snook in the county jail. The professor
protested loudly against such treatment, but we were taking
no chances.

Our search for the young instructor was brief. At noon,
Meyers telephoned Coroner Murphy ftom his fraternity house
and volunteered to aid authorities in any way possible.

Meyers proved to be a slim, shy, intelligent young man with
sandy hair and ascetic features. After long questioning he
broke down and admitted a serious love affair with Miss Hix
—a love affair that had reached its peak two years before,
when Theora was an undergraduate of twenty-two.

Moreover, he confessed that he had been intimate with the
girl during their engagement. They had broken up, he said,
when ‘Theora refused to marry him.

“Did Miss Hix ever talk about Dr. Snook?” I asked.

Meyers nodded. “She told me they had indulyed in a secret
affair for three years,” was his startling reply. ‘“‘I believe Dr.
Snook was really responsible for our break-up. She was in-
fatuated with him and confessed the whole thing to me two
months ago when I again asked her to marry me.”

Upon viewing the body of his former fiancée at the morgue,
Meyers wept. ““Theora was a fine girl,” he said brokenly. “I
can’t explain this horrible crime.”

“Do you believe Dr. Snook could have done it?” I asked.

“1 can’t believe any man who loved ‘Theora would be
capable of such a crime,” he replied.

Meyers maintained that he had been in the company of two
fraternity brothers on the fatal Thursday night. “T was with
them all but a half-hour, about nine o’clock, when I went out
to mail a letter,” he said.

The alibi sounded logical, but pending a checkup, Meyers
was lodged in a cell adjoining Snook’s.

Returning from lunch Saturday afternoon, | found a middle-
aged woman wearing a simple housedress awaiting my arrival.
She introduced herself as Mrs. Smalley, proprietor of a

rooming house at 807% North High Street, and pointed to a
picture of Miss Hix in a local morning newspaper.

“T know that girl,” the woman announced, “She’s been
staying in one of my rooms for three months under the name
of Mrs. James Howard.

My heart skipped a beat. It had become evident that
quiet, reserved Theora Hix had lived a life unknown to her
college friends. Was that secret life to be revealed to us
now? Hurriedly I called in Prosecutor Chester.

“Now tell us your story, Mrs. Smalley,” I directed.

Three months before, the woman related, Thgora Hix and

- a tall, middle-aged man had engaged a room at her house.

Identifying themselves as Mr. and Mrs. James Howard, salt
demonstrators from Newark, New Jersey, they told Mrs.
Smalley they would not use the room much as their’ work
often ‘took them out of the city for days at a time. -

“They had a room at the rear of the house and used the back
entrance,” the landlady said. “Mr. Howard paid the rent
each Wednesday. He seemed very nice, and they never caused
any trouble. My house is a big one, so I scldom see roomers
come and go. I saw the Howards only a few times. They'd
come in around nine o’clock, stay a few hours and then leave
by the rear entrance.”

Prosecutor Chester’s eyes gleamed. “Is the room still
rented?” he asked finally. ‘

“No,” Mrs. Smalley replied. “Mr. (Continued on page 48)

o'clock at the State Market, North High
Street and Twelfth Avenue. He asked the
girl to go to their rooming. house trysting
place, but she refused. They then headed
for the rifle range and quarreled enroute
about his proposed two weeks’ vacation
with his wife and baby. After reaching the
range, they parked and the quarrel became
more bitter. Suddenly Theora reached for
her purse on the shelf behind the seat.

“J had given her a .41 caliber revolver,”
he confessed, “and I was'sure she planned
to shoot me. I wrestled with her. As I
did, my hand struck an object on the shelf
—a hammer I had been using for car re-
pairs. I grabbed it and struck her a
glancing blow.

“She began to curse me, and fought all
the more. During the struggle, she hurt
her hand on the door, and we fell to the
ground, still struggling. I still had the
hammer, and I hit her again.

“She moaned and fell flat on her back.
Frightened, fearing her skull was frac-
tured, I took out my jack-knife and tried
to pierce her ear in order to reach the
brain and relieve the pressure. But the
blade was too short. Then, to stop her
suffering, I made an incision in the side
of her neck, severing the jugular and caro-
tid artery. -

“When she continued to writhe, I struck

_ her a number of blows with the hammer.

... By the time I left, she had quit breath-
ing and was quiet.” -

‘Did the girl say anything during the
struggle?” he was asked.

Snook replied that she died cursing him.
He then told how he broke the ring con-
taining her keys, in order to get the tell-
tale, love nest key, and scattered the rest
around her body. He declared he was as-
tonished when he found no revolver in her

urse, which he later threw into the Scioto

iver from the quarry bridge.

And the sex stimulant? The middle-
aged professor flatly denied having admin-
istered the aphrodisiac found in Theora
Hix’s stomach. As for the gash in the
victim’s groin, he insisted that it had been
inflicted when she struck the corner of the
door as she fell from the car during the
struggle. Ile confessed that following his
return home he washed the bloodstained
hammer and knife under the faucet in his
basement. Then he aye the hammer
in his tool chest and the knife on a shelf
directly above.

County Detective Howard Laverly
promptly drove to Snook’s home and re-
trieved the weapons in the places named.
Traces of blood were found on the wooden
handle where it fitted into the hammer.
et blood was found on the handle of the

nife.

T DR. SNOOK’S trial, which began

. August 2, 1929, Prosecutor Chester
charged the veterinary professor with pre-
mediated, cold-blooded murder. He ac-
cused the tall, angular former world cham-
pion pistol shot of having deliberately plot-
ted to drug the girl into a state of sub-
mission in order to gratify his lustful de-
sires. Chester declared that the doctor had
not waited long enough for the drug to
work, and had carried out his diabolical
plan to kill his twenty-four-year-old para-
mour when she refused to capitulate. _

The middle-aged doctor’s cool demeanor
never deserted him. | Throughout the
twelve-day trial the self-confessed slayer
lounged comfortably in a gaily-colored
beach chair, brought into court for him
because he had been weakened by spinal
tests. The cynosure of all eyes, Snook
never indicated the slightest sign of feel-
ing. pea rmaie f he smiled reassuringly
toward his loyal wife and his seventy-
three-year-old mother, Mrs. Abner Snook,
who journeyed to Columbus from her home

INSIDE DETECTIVE

in Lebanon, Ohio, to cheer her only child.

Dr. Snook was defended by two of the
city's ablest attorneys, former Municipal
Judge John F. Seidel and Attorney D. O.
Ricketts. Despite this, Snook’s plea of
self-defense was given scant credence by
the jury of twelve men,

On August 14, after only twenty-eight
minutes of deliberation, the jury returned
a verdict of guilty of first degree murder.
As the verdict was read several hundred
spectators in the jam-packed chamber burst
into applause. Snook’s expression remained
imperturbable—his face cool and aloof as
ever. He seemed made of ice as his faith-
ful wife and his aged mother wept hysteri-
cally. The latter, on the verge of collapse,
was placed under the care of a physician.

One week later, Dr. Snook, now dubbed
the “iron man," by city prison officials,
heard the mandatory sentence of death pro-
nounced.

Through the months that followed, dur-
ing which the stecly-nerved doctor received
three reprieves, his composure never de-
serted him. Nor did he ever indicate the
slightest remorse for his crime. And many
of his friends rallied to him, still believing
him innocent of the heinous deed. Time
and again they petitioned for a new trial,
but on each occasion authorities found that
the veterinary professor had been given
his day in court. A jury of his peers had
adjudged him guilty.

At the close of a cold, gray day, Feb-
ruary 28, 1930, in the Ohio State Peni-
tentiary at Columbus, certain now that
there would be no more reprieves, the bald-
ish college instructor sat down to his last
dinner on earth. With him were his faith-
ful wife, his spiritual adviser, the Rev.
Isaac E. Miller of the King Avenue Meth-
odist Church, which he attended; K. E.
Wall, pon chaplain; the college room-
mate of his youth, Oscar Roedell of Pom-
eroy, Ohio; and Mrs. Snook’s cousin, Mrs.
Frank Landrum of Junction City, Ohio,

It was a strange gathering. Describing
it later, the Rev. Mr. Miller said, “It was
a normal meal in all respects. We all ate
heartily and there was no restraint. Dr.
Snook ate a piece of fried chicken, two
lamb chops, mashed potatoes, ice cream,
cake and two cups of coffee. The warden
sent cigars and cigarettes, but Dr. Snook,
who never used them, declined. It was
much as if we were on a picnic.”

Nor did the condemned man, waiting
for his hour to strike, seem bitter, his pas-
tor stated. “He didn’t appear angry at any
time,” he said. At the conclusion of the
meal it was suggested that Dr. and Mrs.
Snook take Holy Communion, and this was
done. Mrs. Snook was not hysterical at
any time, even at their farewell. After she
had gone, Dr. Snook handed me his glasses
and asked me to give his sweater to an-
other prisoner.”

After this hearty repast, the poker-faced
Snook awaited his guards. Then, calm and
with no outward sign of emotion, he walked
the “last mile.” As he entered the execution
chamber he. glanced briefly and without ex-
pression at the assembled two-score wit-
nesses, then sat down in the wired chair.

Attendants quickly strapped him to the
lethal seat and adjusted the electrodes.
The current surged through the murderer’s
body, and a few seconds later Dr. Snook
was pronounced dead. As they removed
the black mask from the slayer’s head, it
was noticed that a great white blister had
formed on the bald spot where an elec-
trode touched. ...

Today, Dr. Snook’s body lies buried in
a cemetery near Columbus. Carved up-
on a simple headstone is the inscription:
“James Howard” And so the man who
lived a double life—one open and respected,
the other secret and infamous—is remem-
bered only by the badge of his infamy.

Death of the
Sweepstakes

Winner
(Continued from page 43)

investigators failed to obtain any startling
facts or contradictions from the pair who
had been in charge of the cafe when Steele
was stabbed. Langhauser, after his first
statement, shut up like a clam and met
further questions with a stolid silence. Elva
Cross added little to her story, merely en-
larging on her first version by telling de-
tectives she had left the cafe at 5:20 a. M.,
to go upstairs to bed.

PXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONING
availed no more than the heated search
for the mystery girl and her male com-
panion. Monday morning came and there
had been little accomplished. The inves-
tigation was at a definite standstill. Ger-
linger and Leininger were beginning to feel
slightly sheepish, They had cracked sev-
eral difficult cases in the past without un-
due loss of time. Yet this murder which
had seemed comparatively simple of solu-
tion at first, was _stalemated.

“It’s a cinch,” Leininger told his partner
at headquarters, “Steele was stabbed inside
the cafe. Langhauser is lying to protect
himself or someone else.”

“But try and prove it,” Gerlinger replied.
“It's going to be tough to get him to

- change his story to involve any one else.”

Leininger knew only too well that his
partner referred to the caginess of French
Quarter folk, who always became suddenly
dumb in the presence of police. The men
gat in silence, thinking of a way out of
their dilemma. Suddenly Gerlinycr’s face
lighted up.

“T have an idea,” he said excitedly, “and
I think it will clear up our mystery...
We'll grab Langhauser and hold him in
jail—-let no one see him, Maybe that will
make him, or,” he added significantly,
“someone else talk.”

That “someone else” might be the love-
ly Elva Cross. In their investigation, De-
tectives Gerlinger and Leininger had sen
that something more than business friend-
ship existed between the beautiful blonde
and the husky -bartender. In fact, there
was a rumor that Langhauser, a married
man with children, was carrying on a torrid
romance with the attractive hostess.

So Langhauser was hustled off to the
fourth precinct station and locked in a cell.
At the same time, the detectives made sure
that Elva Cross was informed of her
lover’s plight. Every effort on her part
to see the prisoner was blocked.

Then, as Gerlinger had guessed, Elva
Cross became worried about the bartender.
She contacted the detectives and pleaded
with them to let her speak to Langhauser.

“If you'll only let me see Henry for a
few minutes,” she promised, “I think I.can
tell you who stabbed Steele. I know Henry
is innocent. You have no right to keep
him here.”

The sleuths hid their elation as they
gazed impassively into her pretty, liquid
eyes, now dark with worry and lack of
sleep. Then, they talked to her, stalling
off her request, watching her growing anx-
iety about the interview. As if they had
succumbed to a beautiful woman’s tears,
the detectives at last consented to her re-
quest.

“You can have a few minutes with him,”
Leininger said shortly. “Not that we think

it will do any ge There’s been too
many lies told. e int

end to get to the

Seed

The Secret
Love Slaying

(Continued from page 11)

Howard paid the rent in full yesterday
and told me he and his wife had been
transferred’ to Washington, D. C. He
turned in both keys.” ~

He turned in both keys! The words
brought me up sharply. A broken key
4 ’ chain and twelve keys had been found
near Theora Hix’s mutilated body.

“How many keys did you give them
when they rented the room?” I asked
quickly.

9 “Just two. One for each of them.”
“And what time yesterday did Mr. How-
| ard return with the two keys?”
“Around two o'clock.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t after the after-

noon papers reached the street?”

| sii “I’m positive,” declared the woman. “It
| i was just a little while after lunch.”
Our afternoon papers reach the street
between three and 3:30. The body of
Theora Hix was not identified until 5:30
Pp. M. Therefore how did “Mr. Howard”
happen to possess both keys to the love nest
unless he had himself perpetrated the ter-
rible deed? Here was an important cluc—
and I had my ideas about the identity of
Mr. Howard.

MY GUESS WAS soon confirmed as we

“rushed Mrs, Smalley to the county jail
| : and brouglit Snook from his cell.
| - “Hello, Mr. Howard,” she said at once.
| “I’m sorry to see you in this trouble.”

; “Hello, Mrs. Smalley,” Snook replied
calmly after a moment’s hesitation. “Don’t
worry about me. I'll clear myself of this
abominable charge.” ;

We sent Mrs. Smalley home with our

. thanks and again grilled our suspect. Doc-
tor Snook blandly admitted he lied in his
initial statement.

“T did it to save the reputation of a dead
girl,” he said. “I met Theora three ycars
ago when she took one of my courses. She
was a good student and often remained

| after class to talk over her work. One day

| I took her home and after that she rode
| with me frequently. Theora was very
much interested in sex, and loved to talk

over such matters with me.”

! “When did you first have intimate rcla-

tions with Miss Hix?” asked Prosecutor

Chester. ,

“About three weeks after we met,” the

rofessor replied. “We went to a room-
| ing house on the East Side.” |

‘And have those relations continued un-
til recently ?”

“Except for a few months when she was
engaged to Meyers,” was the answer. ‘Then
one day she came to my office and told me
everything was off between them. She
said she wanted to resume our affair.”

The elderly teacher now strove to justify
his affair with a girl less than half his
| age. “Ours was no silly love match,” he
| insisted. ‘We wouldn’t have married if it
had been possible. It was just a temporary
pleasant arrangement.” — :

“Then why did you kill Theora Hix?”
I demanded quietly.

“I didn’t kill her,” Snook shouted, “and
you can’t prove I did. It’s my belief she
went riding with a stranger and was mur-
dered ... Lately she’s had the idea that
{ she knows a lot about handling people.”

And no matter how we questioned him,

. the baldisl professor clung stubbornly to
his theory. He maintained that he had
worked at his laboratory ‘until between

9 7:30 and cight p. m. Thursday, that he
drove to the Scioto Country Club to pick
48

INSIDE DETECTIVE

up a pair of shooting glasses, then returned
1ome,

We tried to break him down at the love-
nest he shared for three months with
Theora Hix. But even there Dr. Snook
displayed characteristic calm. The ding
room contained a large, iron-posted bed,
an old dresser and a single, shabby chair.
A brown felt hat found in a closet was
identified by Snook as Theora’s.

The professor admitted he removed a
pair of. Miss Hix’ pajamas and some toilet
articles from the room, then destroyed them
in his furnace. Later, he repudiated this
statement and no trace of these articles
was ever discovered. He insisted he turned
in the keys and abandoned the room sim-
ply because he was anxious to terminate

. the romance. Theora was becoming in-
creasingly possessive, he claimed, and was
meddling in his domestic affairs.

Despite the Ohio State University fac-
ulty member’s assertion that he drove to
the Scioto Golf Club on the night of
Theora’s slaying, no member could be
found who recalled seeing him there.

Later in the afternoon, another signifi-
cant development took place when Newton
Fisher, manager of the Brown Dye House
at 100 North High Street, appeared at
police headquarters bearing a gray suit.

“Dr. Snook dropped this off at my place
Friday and asked to have it cleaned,” he
explained. “When I read of his arrest I
looked it over and found what I believe are
several bloodstains on the cuffs and knees
of the trousers.”

I ordered the suit turned over to Dr.
Long for chemical analysis.

Next, a checkup of Meyers’ story con-
vinced us that he was entirely innocent, two
of his fraternity brothers substantiating
his story in every detail. The young horti-
culture instructor was given his freedom,
Seeny Ceooeenet. However, like Dr.
Snook, eyers was ousted from the
faculty by President George Rightmire be-
— of his admitted relations with Theora

ix.

DESPITE OUR deep-rooted conviction

that Snook was guilty, we realized that
if he was to be convicted, more discrep-
ancies must be found in his alibi. Our first
move was to question middle-aged, plump
Mrs. Helen Marple Snook, his wife. The
kindly woman, mother of the suspect’s two-
year-old daughter, rallied loyally to her

Even Dr. and Mrs. Melvin Hix (above)

parents of the slain co-ed knew little

about her. From childhood, the brilliant
girl was an enigma to them.

husband’s defense. Through several hours
of intensive questioning she affirmed his
statement—that he was home at nine o'clock
and retired shortly thereafter.

However, Mrs. Snook’s story was con-
tradicted by William H. Walker, a groom
at the Ohio State veterinary clinic, who
recalled that Dr. Snook requested him to
wash his car on Friday morning. “He said
it got caught in the rain and was covered
with spots,” declared the groom. “It was
dirty, too.

As it had not rained until after the slay-
ing—the girl’s watch stopped at 10:02—a
fact indicated by the victim’s damp cloth-
ing, and as Dr. Snook said his car was in
its garage around nine-p. M., obviously the
| etre od strengthened our belief that

nook was lying.

Results.of Dr. Long’s chemical analysis
of the stains on the door jamb of Dr.
Snook’s automobile, his driving gloves and
the suit of clothing he had dropped off
at the cleaners the day following the slay-
ing, showed that all were human blood-
stains. Moreover, Dr. Long included in
his report an item that sent a ripple of
amazement through Columbus when it was
published.

The stomach of Theora Hix contained
an undigested beef sandwich containing a
strong aphrodisiac—a powerful drug used
to stimulate passion. And a search of Dr.
Snook’s laboratory yielded a bottle con-
taining an identical drug |!

By now the campus was a seething tur-
moil of conjecture and speculation. Things
were lot very bad indecd for the once
respected educator, Had he kept a ren-
dezvous with his pretty mistress, then fed
her a sandwich doped with a sex stimulant?
Had he driven to the rifle range and there
killed the girl when she still repulsed his
advances? Such was my opinion, and that
of other officials working with me. It was
our contention that because of frequent
quarrels, Snook felt it necessary to resort
to such tactics to satiate his bestial and ab-
normal lust.

That was our theory—but proving it was
something else again. Yet we had five

reasons for believing that Snook
would crack under the strain of continued
grilling.

First, he could not explain how the mys-
terious thirteenth key from Mrs. Hix’s
broken chain came into his possession at
the time he abandoned their love nest. Sec-
ond, he gave up their furnished room be-
fore news of the slaying became public.
Third, the various bloodstains, Fourth,
the presence of the aphrodisiac in his lab-
oratory. Fifth, the rainspots on his car
when his alibi asserted it had been garaged
during the rain.

And we officials were spurred to break
the case by the appearance on Monday of
the elderly, gray-haired parents of the
slain girl. Dr, and Mrs. Hix were a pa-
thetic grief-stricken couple as they viewed
the broken body of their only child.

“Theora was almost a stranger to us,”
Mrs. Hix said tearfully. “She was
late in our lives, and even as a child she
showed aptitude as a student. We were so
sure her brilliant mind would bring her
great success that we offered no opposi-
tion when she entered Ohio State, even
though it was so far from home.”

ON THURSDAY, June 20th, after al-
most a week of steady grilling, we se-
cured Snook’s long-awaited confession.
This first admission of guilt, made in the
= of Chief French, Sheriff Paul,
-rosecutor Chester, detectives and myself,
was a si ing and self-sympathetic ver-
sion of the brutal slaying.

As if addressing a classroom of students,
Dr. Snook calmly confessed he met Theora
Hix on Thursday night, June 13, at eight

Ant aan On pares

a
‘<

aged
istere:

Hix's

prom
triev:
Trac
hand
Mor:
knife

cuse:
pion
ted
miss
sires
not
wor)
plan
mou
1
nev
twe!
loun
bea:
bee:
test
nev:
ing.
tow
thri
wh

S Sieaeee oF

The crude weapons used by Doctor Snook te murder
his erstwhile seul-mate. Diseovery ef these by an
alert deteetive, put an end to his erazy alibis.

Fusco changed his line of investigation. The mystery Hi, Snook Nk
key found in the murdered girl’s room intrigued him BR po °r. i ‘
He figured a girl would have a key like that for only He 7007)» van
to High and Hubbard Strects. 4th grt eae | We won't
to an u a some
from the University. ° Beier French r

Fred Coleman, a student told him: “Listen, Fusco,
take this for what it’s worth, but I work just beyond
Hubbard and High Streets and several times I’ve seen
Theora Hix in that. neighborhood. -I don’t know what
she was doing there, but it isn’t a section where a medical
student would go in connection with any University
activities. And Miss Hix’s home is in Binghamton, New
York. She had no relatives around Hubbard and: High

WENTY-FC
: Doctor Fox
4 of medium he
» head and a ro
* ing Chief of Po
e. Attorney Johr.
'.Detective She

Streets.” .- “Gentlemen,
; “= and without 1

USCO went to these streets and started a check-up of are making a t

~ didn’t kill The:

all the rooming houses. He got to 24 Hubbard Street,

Mrs. Margaret Smalley was the landlady. She took one
look at Theora Hix’s photograph.

“That woman,” she gasped, “roomed in my house wits
her husband.” -

“Her husband?” 3

“Sure. The uidbend's name was Giwird Snook and
he said he was a salt salesman. They rented the room
early:in February. He said he was a traveling salesman
and wouldn’t be here very long. . He was much older
than his wife.”
- Fusco walked to a phone and Detective Shellenbarger
took up the case from this point. _

When Detective Shellenbarger arrived at Mrs.

b>. “Where wer«
of the murder’
Chester asked.
* Doctor Snoo:
_sometimes ha:
what you did x
he said. “But
- I was in my off
E sity until, 7:30
- Then I ‘drove
Eoca0 T Club a
_ 9: 30. I remem
‘on High Stre

Smalley’s rooming-house he had young Brown with ™ Paper.”

him. Mrs, Smalley looked at Brown ‘and shook her “I suppose yo

head. ' that you got ho
“Heavens, that isn’t Mr. Snook,” she exclaimed. “Mr, _ Chester questio

Snook was around fifty.” r 6 “Yes. Iam:
“When did you see Mr. Snook last?” Schellenbarger was there. I's

asked. for an hour—r

and then wen
and fixed mys:
“Doctor Snoo
' quietly, “did
room at 24 Hi
24 Hubbard
Snopk looked
do you mean?”
“A man rent:
address and pi
band of Theo:
explained. “T}
there with hir
istered as’ Jam«
and gave his p:
salesman.”
Doctor Snool
slowly. The d
Opened and Mrs
“Ts this the M
Mrs. Smalley?”
“He certainly
for himself and
“That’s all, \
Mrs. Smalley
“Do you knov
“Yes. I knovy
“and I'll admit
“You lived th
Chester shot at }
“Yes. I livec
her.”

“It was the 15th, He turned in his keys and said he
had to leave. I believe he said he was going to Washing- F
ton Court House.” -

“What about the wife?” ee

“He said she would stay here unti} Sunday but he
took her things.”

“Was he upset or excited?”

“Heavens, no. He joked and seemed in peer humor
and said he’d come back. He was a fine man. I wie: a
‘the comes back again sometime.” %

“So do I,”’ Shellenbarger remarked. a

The discovery that Theora Hix had a love-nest with
a married man threw the case under a new light. Chief
French and Detective Shellenbarger knew that,. in all
probability, this middle-aged man was married. and >
had a family. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been fF
any need of a love-nest on Hubbard Stréet. :

“There are a lot of middle-aged men in town ready
for an affair,” Chief French remarked. rere Snook }
is a phoney name.”

Detective Shellenbarger assumed this was true, but ©
as a matter of routine he went to the University to check |-
the names of men who might have a knowledge of | |
surgery. He ran into the amazing fact that there was a >
real Howard Snook, a veterinary professor. — Be

Detective Shellenbarger learned that this Howard
Snook was happily married, the father of three children, |
and a man who had made a good reputation in his field.

“It’s incredible to believe that a man like Snook, hav-
ing an affair, would use his real name,” Shellenbarger
said to Chief French. “I would have sworn that the
name of Snook was fictitious.”

‘“We won’t question Doctor Snook,” Chief French said,
“until we find out several things about him. It is pos-
sible somebody used his name. We'll know that pretty
quickly. We have the car-keys thrown in the grass and
they should fit the car of the killer.” . ari iven to that sp

“There is another important angle,” Detective Shellen- I don’t know

barger suggested. “If Mrs, Smalley sees this Doctor ‘of Mise Hix! ts

the automobile-:
“This key, Dc
to your car. V

Chief French -

gation. The mystery .
room intrigued him. .
ey like that for only _
t a tip that sent him ©
listrict some distance -

him: “Listen, Fusco, .
_I work just beyond -
veral times I’ve seen ©.

Snook, we’ll know in a minute if
he is the man who rented that
room.” - ,

“We won’t overlook that,”
Chief French replied.

WENTY-FOUR hours later

Doctor Howard Snook, fifty,
of medium height, with a bald
head: and a round face, sat fac-
- ing Chief of Police French, States
Attorney John J. Chester, and:
Detective Shellenbarger.

“Gentlemen,” he spoke softly
and without nervousness, “you
are making a terrible mistake. I
didn’t kill Theora Hix.”

“Where were you on the night
of the murder?” States Attorney
Chester asked.
fe Doctor Snook shrugged. “It’s
! oy ce cargo an aoe to remember

we Snook ; what you did several nights ago,”

oS al the _ he said. “But I recall now that

s a traveling salesman I was in my office at the Univer-

He was much older | sity until. 7:30 or 8:00 o’clock.

‘ Then I ‘drove to the Sciota

Country Club and returned about

9:30. I remember now I stopped

on High Street and bought a
paper.”

“I suppose your wife can. verify
that you got home at that time?”
Chester questioned,

“Yes. Iam sure she can. She
was there. I sat down and read
for an hour—maybe two hours,
and then went to the kitchen
and fixed myself a snack.”

“Doctor Snook,” Chester spoke
quietly, “did you ever rent a
room at 24 Hubbard Street?”

“24 Hubbard Street?” Doctor
Snopk looked surprised. “What
do you mean?”*

“A man rented a room at that
address and posed as the hus-
band of Theora Hix,’ Chester
explained. “‘Theora Hix stayed
there with him. The man reg-
istered as James Howard Snook
and gave his profession as a salt
salesman.”

Doctor Snook shook his head
slowly. The door to the office
opened and Mrs. Smalley entered.

“Is this the Mr. Snook who rented the room from you,
Mrs. Smalley?” the Prosecuting Attorney asked.

“He certainly is the.Mr. Snook who rented my room
for himself and his wife,” Mrs. Smalley answered.

_started a check-up of |
to 24 Hubbard Street.

ndlady. She took one —

med in my house with a

etective Shellenbarger

er arrived at Mrs.
~ young Brown with
3rown ‘and shook her |

” she exclaimed. “Mr. .
last?” Schellenbarger -

n his keys and said he
was going to Washing- .

» until Sunday but he

seemed in good humor.
as a fine man. I hope

irked.

x had a love-nest with
der a new light. Chief
rger knew that, in all
nan was married: and ‘
e wouldn't have been
vard Street. ass
sed men in town ready . °
arked. “Howard Snook”

photograph shows.

ned this was true, but ..
, the University to check ,
have a knowledge of

“That’s all, Mrs. Smalley,” Chester said.
eon bsg birth . Mrs. Smalley left the room.
ned that this Howard — “Do you know that woman, Doctor Snook?”

“snd Y’ll admit that I rented the room from her.”

d reputation in his field. “You lived there as man and wife with Theora Hix,”

- a man like Snook, hav=- -”

» Chester shot at him.
aI A OS ct oe ives. Tlived there with Theora, But 1 didn’t kill
. er.”

Chief French reached over on the desk and picked up
the automobile-key found near the scene of the murder.

“This key, Doctor Snook,” the Chief said, “belongs
to your car. We have checked it. Theora Hix was
& driven to that spot in your car.”
* “I don’t know anything about that.” Snook was get-
ting angry. “I tell you I know nothing about the murder
of Miss Hix! I don’t propose to be brow-beaten.”

,00k,” Chief French said,: ©
gs about him. It is pos- »
We'll know that pretty: —
thrown in the grass and —

Mer. ee
ngle,” Detective Shellen- —
malley sees this Doctor -

Doctor James Howard

younger than himself.

Snock did not leok like a lethal Lothario as this
Nevertheless he weoeed, won and mardered a girl much
His exceution created another baffling mystery-

“You won't be,” Chester replied. “We just want you
to explain several points. Your car had been examined
by the technicians from the criminal laboratory and
blood was found in it.”

“J tell you I don’t know who used my car,” Doctor
Snook protested.

Prosecutor Chester handed Doctor Snook a combina-
tion diary and calendar. “We found this in your home,”
he said. “It is your diary and it shows the dates you
were with Theora Hix.”

“T admit I was with Theora Hix on several occasions.
But I didn’t kill her!” :

Chief French picked up a hammer and a small pen-
knife. “These,” he said to Doctor Snook, “were found
in your home. Both have bloodstains on them. Were
they the weapons you used to kill Miss Hix?”

“] didn’t kill her,” Doctor Snook shouted angrily. “I
was home. My wife can swear to that. I wasn’t with
Theora that night.”

“We've talked to your wife and she does say you
came home, but we have no way (Continued on page 66)

He was scheduled to die on the
night of February 28th. Two weeks

before this time, newspapermen Cov--

ering the death-house, saw a_ bald-
headed man, of medium height,
round face, and wearing glasses, enter
to visit the condemned man. The
reporters gasped in amazement. They
thought they were looking at Doctor
Snook himself. This strange visitor
came to the death house three times.
The last time was the night Doctor
Snook was to die.

Nobody knew his name or where
he was from. He refused to answer
any questions and he arrived at the
Ohio State Prison in a large sedan
and left in the same car.

Midnight of February 28th ap-
proached. The minister had visited
Doctor Snook. Mrs. Snook and the
children had given the father their
last farewell. The barber entered the
cell to prepare the condemned man
for the chair.

At five minutes to midnight the:

Warden entered the cell and _an-
nounced that all pleas to the Gov-
ernor had failed. Doctor Snook was
sitting on the cot, his head in his
hands and he didn’t look up. The
Warden remembers this very. well!
There was a large crowd of wit-

’ nesses to the electrocution. Most of

REAL

DETECTIVE

them were newspapermen. They saw
the solemn procession come through

-the little side door of the death house.

A minister was walking with the
round-faced condemned man, who
was staring at the floor and walking
stiff-legged. He continued to stare at
the floor when he was led to the chair.

It was all over in ten minutes. The
hood was adjusted. The Warden sig-
naled the executioner and the juice
was turned on. The body in the elec-
tric chair lurched forward and then

fell back limply. Dr. Snook was dead!

wy mt happened next has never
been explained satisfactorily.
The body of the dead man was placed
on a stretcher. A doctor listened with
a pe gi and pronounced the
man dead.. The stretcher was pushed
out into the outer-room. A_ hearse
was waiting. Two men took charge
of the body, placed it in a basket, and
slipped the basket into the hearse.
The hearse was gone before news-

papermen realized. what had hap-~

pened and when they got to the
cemetery the body had already been
buried. It was noticed that a tomb-
stone, a small one, had already been
erected, and on it was the name
“James Howard.” These were the two
first names of the Doctor. '
Newspapermen remembered the
man who looked so much like Doctor
Snook and his visit to the death-
house. They wondered why the rush
to bury Doctor Snook. They passed
these suspicions on, but the public
shrugged them off and said that Doc-
tor Snook had died and was buried.
Two years passed and Doctor Snook
and his electrocution had been for-
gotten by all but the newspapermen
who couldn’t forget the strange visi-
tor to Doctor Snook and the hurry
to bury the dead man. They also tried
to get an explanation about the name
-on the. tombstone. ‘There was an ex-
planation given for these two names.
In 1934 a prominent citizen of Co-
lumbus, who knew Doctor Snook
well, made a trip to South America.
He came back with the story that he
had seen Doctor Snook on the streets
of Buenos Aires. The public passed
this story off as a case of mistaken
identity.: Then three years later an-
other story circulated through Co-

lumbus of identical character.

Then in January of this year Fred
Bateman, a Columbus contractor, had
to ge to Buenos Aires on business. He
had known Doctor Snook intimately.
Bateman went into a small restaurant
on a side-street, one that is never
patronized by Americans.

He ‘started to eat but suddenly he
found himself staring at a man ata
table to his right. The man was obvi-
ously an American. He had a round
face, a bald head, and the little hair
he had around his temples was gray.
He looked old and his right hand

shook. Bateman swears that he was ©

looking at Doctor James Howard
Snook! e
Whoever the man was, he -leaped

up when he saw Bateman and ran.
out of the restaurant. Bateman fol- -
lowed but the man he took for Doctor™

Snook had disappeared in.the misty
darkness of that deserted street.

S Doctor Howard Snook, the mur-'
Theora Hix, still alive? -

derer of ;
Citizens of Columbus can’t quite find
the answer to that question. Some-

body died in the electric chair. Who.

was the mysterious visitor to Doctor
Snook the night. of his electrocution?

‘Did he offer to die for the Doctor?

Doctor Snook wasn’t rich. He couldn’t

pay any large sum to somebody will-
ing to die to leave money to his’

family.

What was the strange rd loge be-
: hese’
and many other questions remain un-.

hind Doctor Snook’s_ burial?

answered. The Columbus police have

just announced that if Doctor Snook ~
is alive and in Buenos Aires, or any .
find him.

other foreign city, they will
If they do, they will have uncovered
the great crime mystery of all time!
- 4. . THE END

hurriedly launched an inquiry into
the two missing suspects. Deputies
Decker and Ballard were beating the
streets in the neighborhood of Se-
mont Road, where the shooting had
occurred. With the fall of darkness,
neon signs flickered on at scattered
points where neighborhood taverns
and all-night coffee joints were com-
ing to life. Trudging from one bar
to another, the officers fired a barrage
of questions at countermen and bar-
tenders. However, not until their
sixth try, did they meet with any in-
teresting responses.

N a sleepy-looking corner tavern,

three blocks from White’s home,
both deputies perked up at the bar-
tender’s words in answer to their
question. “Suspicious-looking stran~-
gers last night?” he repeated, polishing
the top of the bar industriously. “Well,
now, not exactly a stranger—but if
there was a shooting within five miles
of here last night, I’d sure enough
think you ought to speak to Toma-
hawk Grant.”

“An Indian?” Decker asked.

“Half-breed. And a tough cus-
tomer,” the bartender said. “He was
lapping up the fire-water here last
night until he ran out of money. Then

The Devil Pays a Fatal Fare

(Continued from page 61)

he started a rumpus, and we had to

. toss him out. He doesn’t really live
anywhere—sort of bums around—so

he might easily be the guy to bunk in
back of that bus.”

“What does this tough hombre look
like?” Parker asked.

“Doesn’t look like much. Little
guy, thin, but he moves around like
a cat. And he has cat’s eyes, too. I’d
swear they shine in the dark. Last
night he was wear. a red poplin
windbreaker—one of those club jack-
ets. He got it from a semi-pro bas-
ketball outfit he sometimes plays with,
called the ‘Red Devils’.”

Decker’s eyes narrowed. “Does the
name appear on the jacket?”

“Sure, it runs across the back.”

The two officers elegy be glances.

“You say this Grant doesn’t live
anywhere,” Decker said. Doesn’t he
have some particular hang-out where
he can be found?”

Unconcernedly, the bartender
shrugged. “Maybe he has a wigwam
hidden somewhere, .but I don’t know
about it. You might try his pal,
though—that Cappy Fowler. He has
a little shack behind the row of regu-
lar houses over on Crocket Crescent.
Sometimes he puts Grant up there.”

Grimly taking, leave of the -bar-_

~ tender, the deputies made straight for

the shack he had mentioned. It turned
out to be almost as hard to find as a
lost gold mine. Finaly, however, they

located the dilapidated hut inhabited’

by Cappy Fowler.

A resident of the block who hap-
pened to be passing on the street,
pointed out. the shack. “It’s behind
number 246 there; faces on the back
valley. A big clump of oleander bushes
hides it so that you’d never find it
unless you knew where to look.” -

Tossing a word of thanks to the.
helpful passer-by, the two officers .

made for the spot. As they approached
the untrimmed hedge of oleanders,
their footsteps, crunching on the grav-
elly ground, echoed loudly through

the: stillness. Less than twenty yards ©

away, they could make out a streak
of light which twinkled through a
gap in the hedge. A second later,
their straining ears caught snatches
of sound, voices in soft conversation.
Decker removed his service revolver
from its holster. “This Indian is sup-

posed to be a tough cuss,” he whis- | ~

pered warningly into Parker's ear.
Suddenly, bounding forward from
a back yard to their right, a dog
started barking. By the time Ballard
had chased the animal back into its

PULL THE
CHAIR
OUT POPS YO
CIGARET

10 INCHES HiGh
rca

Sth AVE.
MDSE. MART
150 Nassau St.
New York 7.N. °

DETECTIVE

started down the street toward the
corner tailor shop. As he did so a
big sedan, bearing Detective Ser-
geants Whalen and Burns and Police
Sergeants Fitzgerald and Johnson
rolled up to a stop at the curb and
the four leaped out. Quickly they
bore down on the gangster.

“What the—” was his startled ex-
clamation as Whalen grabbed him.

But he didn’t finish it. “For the
next instant he was being hurtled
back into the big automobile. . Burns
and Johnson had grabbed his feet,
Whalen and Fitzgerald his arms and,
like a bag of flour, they flung him
into the car. They piled in,after him,
and the car roared away.

Twelve hours later he was de-
posited at Police Headquarters and
charged with the murder of Ferdi-
nand Fechter. A good portion of that
time the officers had kept him at the
Zoo in Delaware Park.

EAN ILe as darkness settled
over the little town of Sloan,
Godby led a band of heavily-armed
men to the hideout where The Ter-
ror and Grezechowiak were staying.
They stealthily circled the place, and
waited. There was no attempt to
crash in.

They knew they had dangerous
killers to contend with, and they
planned to lay down a tear gas bar-
rage and take the killers unawares,
temporarily blinding them with the
stinging vapors and making their
much-boasted marksmanship of little
avail. ;

All through the long hours they
waited in the darkness, carefully con-
cealed from view, so that their pres-
ence could not be detected from the
house or by too-inquisitive passers-
by. The minutes ticked into hours.
The strain of waiting commenced. to
tell. And then, close on to three’
o’clock, Godby passed the word along
to “close in.”

Out of the shadows moved the
manhunters, more than a dozen of
them. They proceeded cautiously.
Not a word was spoken above a

whisper. Everything was carried out
according to. previously issued in-
structions. Twenty-five feet from the
dwelling they halted, while one crept
forward with tear gas bombs in his
hands.

He went straight ahead ‘until ‘he
stood beneath an open window on
the second floor. Then he drew
back his arm, after the fashion of a
pitcher on the mound, paused mo-
mentarily, and then sent a bomb arc-
ing through the air toward the open
window above. His aim was true. The
bomb fell inside the room. Another.
followed, then another.

Orders were to wait and see what
happened. Orders also were to shoot
only if necessary. It was proposed
to take Bogdanoff and Grezechowiak
alive, if possible.

There was not long to: wait. The
front door of the house swung open,
and Big Bob, his wife and daughter
rushed out, coughing and gasping for
breath. The officers quickly captured
them. But there was no sign of Lit-

tle Alex.
They waited, but still he did not
appear. They knew he could not

have escaped. The net flung around

’ the house was too tightly woven for
any man to squirm through it. He-

was somewhere. in the gas-filled
house.

“We're going in,” Godby shouted.

Donning gas masks, he, Daly and
the police burst into the house.
Flashlights stirred up fantastic shad-
ows in the darkened rooms. Then,
someone found the electric switch
and snapped it on.-

Bogdanoff was nowhere.on the first
floor. Detectives started for the base-
ment, while Godby and Daly rushed
upstairs. They dashed from bedroom
to bedroom, but he was not in any of
them. Only the unfinished attic re-
mained, hot, stuffy and as-filled.
Cautiously, they crept, up the stairs,
their automatics in readiness. The
attic, too, appeared -to be deserted.

“Careful,” Godby said, as Daly
flashed his light about.

Then a racking cough came from

the eaves. With two bounds the Se-
cret Service men were across the
room. Again the cough. Then a
choked: “Damn you, copper!”

Little Alex lay on his belly under
the eaves, his nose pressed against a
tiny drain opening. Two machine
guns lay on the floor beside him. He '
raised his head, gasped, and made a
dizzy effort to grab one of them. But
the gas had been too much. A fit
of violent coughing seized him before
he could reach it. ‘ :

The next instant Godby had_an
automatic shoved in his ribs, and Daly
had snatched aside the two Tommy-
guns.

Justice moved fast from then on.
The three killers were speedily
brought to trial before Judge George
H. Rowe in the Erie County Court.
They were convicted of_the wanton
murder of Ferdinand Fechter, and
sentenced to die in the electric chair
at Sing Sing.

Little Alex, the Crooked Vulture,
spent his last days in the death-cell
protesting that both Max, the Goose,
and Big Bob were innocent of the
crime, and copying verses of various
authors on the masonry walls with
crayon. One was titled “Fate,” an-
other, of his own composition, mini-

mized the sorrows and burdens of

life. —
They died on the night of July 17,
1930. Rybarczyk went first; then
Grezechowiak, and finally Bogdanoff.
He was strapped in the chair at 11:16
o’clock. But first, he made a state-
ment. 7 :
“Gentlemen,” he said, “the State of
New York has just killed two inno-
cent men. I tried to save them, but
my word was no good.”
His word wasn’t any
because it had been good when he
divulged all the particulars of the
crime to his supposed confederate, the
tall, lanky man, whom he had become
acquainted with in Juarez and who
he believed was one of his kind—the
undercover operative of the United
States Secret Service. °
THe END

ood then,”

REAL

to check how long you were at the
university office or the country-club.
There is one weak point to your alibi.
Your wife was in bed. She heard you
come in but she doesn’t know wnat
time it was.”

“J didn’t kill Theora Hix,” the Doc-
tor cried.

TH officers continued to question
him and the grilling went on for
hours and Doctor Snook, sweat
standing on his forehead, parried the
questions _ helplessly. Then after
seventeen hours of this he broke and

cried: :

“] killed her! I’ll tell everything.”

The story he told was recta in its
sheer brutality. He claimed that
Theora Hix demanded that he leave
his wife and marry her. This charge
came when he announced he was giv-
ing up the love-nest and his affair
with her.

They got in a car’and drove to the

6G edge of the city and the quarrel grew

Flaming Fury of the Woman Scorned
(Continued irom page 49) ;

more bitter. He said she threatened
to kill his wife and children. Then -
she turned on him and started to

scratch his face. She said she was
going to kill him. He rabbed the
hammer and hit her on the head. He
hit her many times and _ finally she
lay limp in his car. He drove to the
rifle range and threw the body out.
He didn't know for sure whether she
was dead or not; so he took his pen-
knife and severed her jugular vein.

He went home, washed up, and
read the paper. His wife was in bed
and he called out to her and told
her what time it was, to establish his
alibi. After reading the paper for
some time, he went to the kitchen and
ate some food.

Doctor Snook later repudiated his
confession and when he went to trial
he claimed he had been fore to
sign it. He hired three of the best
lawyers in Ohio and his trial was
one of the historic events in criminal
jurisprudence.

aap f

The prosecution presented its case

rapidly and effectively. The defense .
tried to establish Doctor Snook’s alibi, -

but failed miserably when his wife
admitted she didn’t know what time
he returned home. the night of the
murder.

The jury was out only a short time
and brought in a verdict of murder
in the first degree. Doctor Snook was
sentenced to die in the electric chair.
Reporters recall now the disinterested
manner in which Doctor Snook re-
ceived his sentenced. His only re-
mark at the time was:

“Don’t worry. I won't die in any
electric chair.” a

The case went to the State Supreme”
Court, which upheld the verdict of the
jury. There was a desperate effort
of the defense attorneys to get the
Governor to commute the sentence
to life. The Governor refused and on
February 5th all hope to save Doctor
Snook from the electric. chair was
given up.

£8 >=
Lees

;
Rs

bed baadit!

Ash

sult

t
a

ah eb aah

Se ea

SET ag

deter Lpcrees: tele S ahi

derringer which I had given her. In

the struggle, she was hit on the head

with a hammer with the intent to
stun her.

She continued desperately, and
an increased number of blows of
increasing force was necessary to
stop her. Realizing then, no doubt,
that her skull was fractured and to
relieve her suffering, I severed her
jugular with my pocket knife.
Phillips studied the confession after

it was typed.

‘“‘Doctor,’’ he said to Snook, ‘‘there
is some truth in his confession but it
also had its fishy aspects.’’

‘“‘How do you mean?”’ asked Snook.

‘‘The medical examiner says that the
hammer blows were made after
Theora’s throat was cut, not before.
So that shows quite clearly, Doctor,
that the murder was premeditated, not
just something done on the spur of the
moment or by accident.”’

Snook just sat there staring at

Phillips. He knew the detective had

caught him in a trap of his own
making.

‘‘Another thing, Doctor,’’ Phillips
went on. ‘‘A muscular man like
yourself could certainly have restrain-
ed a slight girl like Theora Hix and
prevented her from getting at the

~pocketbook where you thought she

had that gun. In other words, you
wouldn’t have had to kill the girl to
prevent her from killing you. No,
Doctor, your story just doesn’t hold
up. 99

you the whole truth.”’

The whole truth, sccordifie to
Snook, was this: Theora Hix had
grown very jealous of him. She had
resented his spending a week end with
his wife and small son And so, to get
even, she had injured him in the course
of an unnatural sexual act.

‘““You mean to say Theora Hix was
a pervert?’’

‘‘She certainly was,’’ Snook told
Phillips. ‘‘She didn’t get any satisfac-
tion out of a natural sexual union.’’

‘‘Uh-huh,’’ said Phillips. ‘‘Go-

Dr. Snook now admitted, and took
his pants off to prove it, that he had
performed an operation on himself —
at the request of Theora Hix. What

on.

' the man, doctor that he was, had done

to himself was to perform a castration.
Before he was through, Dr. Snook

soa’ WATERPROOF YOUR CHILD
es Red Cross
Swimming

lessons

‘*All right,’’ said Snook, ‘‘T’ t tell

gave several versions of the killing
— all favorable to himself. But when
the state went to bat, its entire case
pivoted the fact that Snook first
severed Theora Hix’ jugular vein with
a penknife and then battered her head
and body with a hammer. The whole
of the state’s case rested on that one
point — that Snook hammered the girl
after she was dead. That indicated the
savage nature of the man; it buttoned
up the charge that the murder was
wanton and premeditated. There were
human bloodstains on the hammer
Phillips found in Snook’s cellar. And
a bloodstained penknife turned up in
the man’s house.

The state’s prosecutor, ‘‘Handsome
Jack’’ Chester, as the newspapermen
came to dub him, brought tears to the
eyes of his courtroom audience:
‘‘Members of the jury, there is just
one thing I ask of you; that is, when
you return the verdict, you extend to
this man, this fiend, the same kind of
mercy he extended to that dead girl
after she was gone, after she was dead.
If you do that, the state of Ohio will
be satisfied; the same type of mercy
- that is all we ask in this case.”’

Chester then reviewed the events

leading up to the murder, then =

continued: ‘‘Then it was that Snook
starts and he tells his story; and God,
what a story it is; the most despicable
story that I have ever heard from a
witness on the stand. The girl is dead
and gone and she cannot refute that
story. She can’t come in here and tell
her version of what happened.”’

In defense of Theora’s virtue,
Prosecutor Chester reached for and

“held up the victim’s much-publicized

underwear: ‘‘Here is a garment ‘that
Theora Hix wore at the time she was

murdered. Back in the rear part of his

room there are 300 women, and I will
gamble something pretty right here
and now that this is the most modest
garment that any woman in this room
has on, I don’t care how many of them
are here. There can’t be anybody to

dispute that. It tells the story of that _

girl just as well as anything possibly
could...

‘‘Just take that little suit of under-
wear and put the whole story right
there. The girl on the one hand and
Dr. Snook on the other; and the girl
is dead and can’t tell the story... And
he got up here on the witness stand
and told the most damnable, rotten
story that I have ever heard in my
life!”’

The effect of Handsome Jack’s
oratory was evidenced by the sweeping
round of applause as the prosecutor
concluded his address to the jury. It
was the first time in Franklin County
court history that such a demonstra-
tion was made.

The jury deliberated for only 28
minutes! It returned a verdict of guilty.

Thus it came to pass that Detective
Otto Phillips, the man who had started
with nothing but thin air and who had,
through a job of fictionlike sleuthing,
come up with everything, could call
himself a satisfied man one stormy
night in February, 1930, some eight
months after Theora Hix had been
murdered. For that was the night. Dr.
James Howard Snook went to the
electric chair. ‘

The ‘Honey Bee’ Murders

(continued from page 13)

mentigned the suspects.
‘It is possible that they had not

intended for the victims to die,’’ he’

said. ‘‘We think they just wanted the
victims out of the way.”’
Johnson said there was no connec-

_ tion between the murders of the

Anaheim women and the killings of

the Fort Wayne, Indiana, family. .

On October Ist, Ulooa, Torres and
Barrios were arraigned in Anaheim
Municipal Court before Judge Jean

‘Rheinheimer. Alleged ringleader Ed-

ward Barrios pleaded not guilty to two
counts of murder, one count of

~ burglary, and two counts of robbery.

Ulooa and Torres pleaded not guilty

to identical charges. Though the two.
were juveniles when the crimes were

_ committed, they will be tried as adults.

Deputy District Attorney Tom
Goethals said that the primary
evidence against the three will be their
own admissions to acquaintances
about their involvement in the
slayings.

‘‘We are still investigating to ‘add

more evidence, but what.we have now ~
is so much more than what we hada.
month ago we’re confident we'll be |

ready when it gets to trial, re Goethals Bs

said.

against the others.

(continued on page 56)

The deputy DA did not discount the. - -
possibility that at least one of the ©)
defendants might end up testirying gee.

53 . Mes vig

Deadly Romance Of Doctor Snook

(continued from page 5 1)

the piece of cloth. He said nothing.
The girl just looked at the pin and the
cloth, then broke into a fit of sobbing.
“It’s Theora’s,’”’ she said, ‘‘I was with
her when she bought that little brooch.
And this piece of cloth is from her new
black dress.”’

Now Phillips decided that his next
move would be to eliminate Ray
Taylor. Either that, or tie him into the
crime. So he went to Taylor’s place a
fourth time. ‘‘Professor,’’ he said,
“‘give me the name of your closest
friend.’’

“Why?”

*‘Never mind. Just give me the name
of your closest friend.’’

Taylor named another professor at
the university.

Phillips talked with the other,

professor for more than an hour.
When he was through talking he was
convinced that Ray Taylor had had
nothing to do with the murder of
Theora Hix. Why,had Taylor said he
had been at the movies when he hadn’t
been there at all? Because he had been
frightened, and a frightened man often
lies. Why had he denied that he had
seen Theora Hix not long before her

murder and, on the contrary, claimed ©

he hadn’t seen her for months? Simply
because he wanted to put as much
space as possible between himself and
a crime he might become involved in.
And why had he denied that he had
had sexual intercourse with Theora
Hix? Because to have admitted that
he had had sexual intercourse with the
girl would have, in his mind at least,
incriminated him in the murder.

Yes, Phillips told himself as he left
Professor Taylor’s closest friend after
that one-hour talk, Taylor could be
positively eliminated.

Phillips made still another trip to
Dr. Snook’s home. This time, rum-
maging around the cellar in the dark,
he came across a ball-peen hammer.
It had recently been washed by a
chemical substance. To remove human
blood?

A few hours later, a chemist at
police headquarters walked into
Phillips’ office. ‘‘About that ham-
mer,’’ the chemist was saying to the
detective. ‘‘There’s blood on it, all
right. I don’t know yet whether it’s
human or animal blood. But it’s
blood.’’

The next move, as Phillips saw it,
was either to incriminate or exonerate

from all suspicion the wife-of Dr.
Snook. So he took a simple and direct
way. He hung around the Snook home
until the woman came out alone.
““Mrs. Snook,”’ he said, ‘‘this is just a
formality. But I will have to ask you
to account for your time between the
hours of 8 and 10 Thursday night.’’
The woman looked levelly at the
detective. ‘‘Why certainly,’’ she said.

“‘T’ll be glad to. I was visiting friends.’’.

Mrs. Snook gave Phillips the name of
the friends. Within a quarter of an
hour the detective was talking to the
friends. When the talk was over, Mrs.
Snook, an unfortunate victim of
temporary suspicion, was completely
eliminated from the murder scene.

That was enough, finally, for
Phillips. He confronted Snook.
*‘Doctor,’’ he said quietly, ‘‘I’ll have
to take you to headquarters.’’

‘‘What for?’” asked Snook.

“To charge you with the murder of
Theora Hix.”’

Snook just peered at Phillips

through his glasses. Phillips was to say

later that the man looked like an evil
owl. ‘‘Murder?’’ queried Snook. ‘‘I
murdered Theora Hix?”’ The veteri-

‘Narian began to laugh. Phillips knew

he had arrested the coldest customer
he had ever come across.

Dr. Snook was questioned by
Phillips and by other officials for three
solid days and nights. It was on the
third night that Phillips felt in his
bones the animal doctor would crack.
And so he heard himself repeating
what he had told Snook several times
since Snook’s arrest. ‘‘Yes, Doctor,”’
Phillips was saying, ‘‘you were pretty
clever. You used Taylor’s name at the
rooming house, just in case anything
should happen. Then you would be in
the clear. So you thought. Why, you
even limped a little, just like Taylor
does, when you went to that rooming
house.

‘‘Even Theora carried out your
deception for you. You told her to tell
her roommates that she was seeing
Professor Taylor when she was seeing
you. But you were pretty cunning,
Doctor. I’ll have to say that for you.
You had me fooled the first time I
talked to you and you pretended to
be covering Taylor up, knowing that
would make me all the more suspicious
of the man. But it didn’t work in the
long run, did it, Doctor?’’

Snook was now beginning to pers-

pire — always the tip-off for a
detective.

‘After you killed Theora that night,
you took her key ring and took the

key to the room of it. Then you

returned her key with your own when

you gave the room up after the.

murder.’’

The sweat was rolling off Snook
now. ‘“By the way, Doctor,’’ Phillips
went on, ‘‘Mrs. Smalley, the landlady
of that rooming house, had been out
of town. But she returned only tonight.
A little while ago she looked at you
through a crack in the door. And she
has positively identified you as the man
who rented the room from her under
the name of Taylor. So you had better
start talking, Doctor. You had better
start talking.”’ ‘

Snooked mopped his face. ‘‘Yes,”’
he said, ‘‘I guess I’d better start
talking.’’ And this is what he said to a
stenographer:

I met Theora Hix about three
years ago. The friendship continued
in a very intimate way ever since,

inasmuch as she was a very good '

companion. I have been living with
my wife all through this three-year
period, and regard my wife very
highly and respect her very much
as a wife, but she lacked some of
the companionship afforded by
Miss Hix.
During the three years that I
knew Miss Hix, I did assist her in
many ways toward an education,
_. but found out it wasn’t appreciated
as much as I thought it should be.
Our association was not a love

affair in any sense of the word, but ‘

in time Miss Hix developed a more
determined attitude in regard to
dictating my movements, and the
final culmination of this occurred
on the 13th of June of this year,
when I met Miss Hix at the corner
of 12th and High streets in the city
of Columbus, Ohio, when we both
got into my Ford coupe and pro-
ceeded to drive to Lane Avenue and
then west out to the Fisher Road
and to the Columbus Rifle Range
of the New York Central Railroad
Company, during which she re-
monstrated with me against leaving
the city with my family for the week’
end, as I had previously planned to
do. ie fhe ;

She threatened that if I did so,
she would take the life of my wife
and baby. During this quarrel, she
grabbed for the purse in which she
sometimes carried a .41-caliber

"* (continued on next page)

Silt PT

sgl oes §

oF ed Sea

a 7 La ee
2 nL etal ai hited Bea

> wa Sas ¥ S fo Seed
ek Ripe es tee pene err aes pee.

JIU,

Re gece ga PE

ete nen

white,

elec. Ohio 3P (Franklin), 2/28/1930

During dramatic trial, Dr. James Snook, with slight spine injury, reclined in a special chair...

DO YOU REMEMBER THIS HEADLINE MURDER?

by ANSON PERRY

N THE afternoon of June

11th, five miles northwest of

the city of Columbus, Ohio,
ten men were gathered for a revolver
meet on the New York Central Rifle
Range.

One group of men, attired in neat,
blue uniforms, represented the Colum-
bus Police Revolver Club. They were:
Patrolmen Sam W. Earnest, Clell H.
Cox, Glenn Hooven, H. D. Watts and
Corporal Lester W. Merica.

The other group, consisting of
Columbus business and _ professional
men, represented the Columbus Revolv-
er Club. They were: Ray C. Bracken,
Dr. James H. Snook, A. J. Lehmann, H.
H. Herron and Carl Eierman.

When the final volley had been fired

and the score tallied, it was found that ©

the police team had been trounced, the
34

MAs Ti

score being 1,146 points for the Colum-
bus Revolver Club, to 1,019 points for
the upholders of the law.

In the winning group was a tall,

-neatly-attired man, 49 years of age,

whose marksmanship drew complimen-
tary comments from participants on
both teams. Tall, a trifle bald, with a
rather thick pair of lips and a deter-
mined, cleft chin, this member of the
civilian team at one time was the
world’s champion -rapid- and slow-fire
pistol shot, American champion six
times, and a member of the American
Olympic team in 1920. He was Dr.
James Howard Snook, professor of vet-
erinary medicine, Ohio State University.

Respected for his marksmanship, Dr.
Snook was asked for advice by several
members of the police team during the
shoot that afternoon. It seems the po-
lice had been shooting with different
kinds of guns, and they told him that
they were to receive two Colt revolvers.
These happened to be the same kind
that Dr. Snook had used in target
shooting.

Dr. Snook, that Tuesday, finished
with the second highest individual score
for the day, totaling 264 points. His
score was 44 points higher than the in-
dividual score of any of the policemen,
and only eight points under that of
Bracken, who was high man. He was
elated with his showing, which gave high
testimony to his steady nerves and keen
sight. After the meet, Dr. Snook re-
placed a pair of shooting glasses that he
was wearing with an ordinary round,
horn-rimmed pair.

On the morning of Friday, June
14th, just three days after the pistol
meet, two Columbus boys went to the
target range to practice shooting.

In tall weeds just east of a target,
they came upon a sight from which they
instinctively recoiled in fright. There,
less than a hundred feet behind the east
target at which the 10 men had been
shooting a few days before, lay the
body of a girl.

The young woman, at first believed
to be about 18 years old, was well

dressed. There were two distinguishing -

nae DETECTIV V iu MAGAZINE, 4a PRIL 1973

ok vor e-

The victim <
with two ot
that they r

features wh
tifying her.
unbobbed.
wore a man
Her hea
ing terrific
strument. |
right eardr
back and
with a kni
shoulder in
directed a
slipped its
The box
notified th
I was a
case of mi:
phone ran
that the |
tioned to
mate, who

a te

The victim shared a flat in this building

with two other girls, but they told cops
that they never did get to know her

features which might have aided in iden-
tifying her. Her hair was brown and
unbobbed. Upon -her right wrist she
wore a man’s wristwatch.

‘, finished Her head showed evidence of receiv-
idual score ing terrific blows from some blunt in-
oints. His strument. Her throat was slashed, her
‘an the in- | right eardrum had been punctured, her
golicemen, + back and abdomen had been scored
‘r that of with a knife, and a bruise on her left
1. He was _ shoulder indicated that one of the blows
| gave high directed at her head had missed or
sand keen slipped its mark, striking her shoulder.
Snook re- The boys, horror-struck, immediately
ses that he notified the police. :
‘ry round, I was about to leave the office on a
| case of minor importance when the tele-
day, June phone rang and the report was made
ss aoe! @ that the body had been found. I mo-
ent to the i \ i
ag. te ho ee We aeiecaee Theora Hix, lovely, talented and ambitious, came under spell of a vicious killer
a target, (Continued on page 54)
vhich they
ht. There,
id the east
had been
pe Theora was young and beautiful, and also a romantic.
it believed :
Rete Her search for true love — and counsel — led to her murder

by JOHN O'BRIEN
and ED BAUMANN

n the early evening of
February 28, 1930, a
dapper man walked
apprehensively into a
crowded room and settled
nervously into the only un-
occupied chair. He wore a
blue business suit and there

-were red circles under his

eyes, as though he’d been
weeping.

“My peace is absolutely
made with God,” he said, as
one of Ohio’s most cele-
brated and bizarre murder
cases came to an end with a
1,900-volt jolt. |

Even then, after the story had been
hashed and rehashed over every dinner
table in every fraternity and sorority
house on the sprawling campus, not to

Coupe in which the passi

em ee LOOK does —— - =
? He;> white, €léc. Ohio (Franklin), Feb. 28
* fo Nae

Rare insect wings and legs
made up the aphrodisiac,

but sleuths found that... —

La oe

mention every other house in town, it
was still hard to believe. But the

stranger-than-fiction tale of what hap- ~

pened in the summer of 1928 in Colum-
bus, Ohio, is absolutely true.

Shortly after noon on Friday, June
14, of that year, two boys had gone out
to the rain-drenched New York Central
rifle range a few miles out of town to
scrounge around for brass shell cas-
ings. What they found, instead, sent
them running to the nearest home.

“There’s a lady lying on the ground

onate coed was driven to her death by her lover.

Y v¢ Aid pearl tL baline ( Le y

MURDER MIXED
THE LOVE POTION

had been savagely beaten, with nearly
a score of vicious wounds visible on
her face and head. Not satisfied with
that, however, her killer had bent over
her unconscious body and slashed her
jugular vein, turning the green grass
and brown earth around her a crimson

All evidence of the crime was
removed except for a tell-tale
key on a chain in the victim’s
pocket. The killer smiled when
he removed it... but it would only
unlock the door leading hi
the death chamber.

Theora Hix carried on her love
affairs fueled by special drugs.

red.
In addition to numerous bruises,
Coroner J.M. Crafts counted 17 punc-
ture wounds to the victim’s head. ‘‘In-
flicted by a blunt instrument,’ he said.
‘‘And the jugular’s been neatly se-
vered. Judging by the ferocity of the
wounds, she was probably already ina
coma when she bled to death.”’

He estimated the young woman had
been dead 12 to 14 hours, which would
have placed the time of her death at
around 10 or 11 o’clock the night be-
fore. One unusual aspect in a homicide
of this type was the victim was fully
clothed. Nor were her garments in dis-
array, to give any indication that the
killing might have been motivated by
sex. From the very beginning things
did not add up.

It had rained the previous night, and
fresh tire tracks in the soft ground in-
dicated someone had driven a car off
the highway and parked behind a

(continued on next page)
Mrs. Helen Snook supported

husband without fail and
dined with him near the end.

m to

A CRIME

CLASSIC

—
gy —

————— a.

screen of trees. There was no sign of a
struggle, no footprints in the rain-
soaked earth to indicate there had been
a fight. This caused uncertainty as to
whether the woman might have been
killed elsewhere and then dumped on
the range.

Near the body was a broken key
chain, but there was no way to de-
termine at that point whether it had
belonged to the victim. Police also
found a woman’s purse containing a
compact, lipstick, several dollar bills
and loose change, but no identifica-
tion.

One other thing was discerned when
the body was removed to the local mor-

- gue for a post mortem examination. All

of the tags had been torn from the
woman’s clothing to prevent
identification.

**It looks like somebody went to a lot
of trouble to try to make sure our victim
remains anonymous,’’ the coroner
said. ‘‘We’ll see what the autopsy turns
up.”’

Detectives McCall and Phillips were
still combing the murder scene when
two young sisters, Alice and Beatrice
Bustin, called at police headquarters to
report that their college roommate had
not come home the previous night.
Police Chief Harry French took an in-
stant interest in their concern, and
talked to the coeds in person.

**Her name is Theora Hix,’’ they
told him. ‘‘She’s a second year med
student, 24 years old.’’

**And she didn’t come back to the
dorm last night?’’ the chief asked.

‘*At first Beatrice and I weren’t
alarmed, because she sometimes
stayed away from campus,’’ Alice
Bustin said. ‘‘She was supposed to
work at: the university hospital last
night. But then a friend phoned the
dorm to confirm a dinner appointment
for tonight, and we got worried. We
decided to notify the police.’’

‘*You did the right thing,’’ Chief
French assured them. ‘‘Now, tell me
what your friend looks like.”’

After the coeds described the miss-
ing medical student, the chief nodded
grimly and asked them if they would
mind taking a little ride.

**A young woman’s body has been
found,’’ the lawman explained.
‘*We’d like you to take a look and tell
us whether or not it might be your
friend.”’

The Bustin sisters accompanied
police to the morgue, where they posi-
tively identified the battered and

bruised body as that of Theora Hix.

Detectives McCall and Phillips had
returned to town by now, and in-
terviewed the sisters in an effort to
learn more about the victim. Theora, a
stately young woman, was somewhat
of an introvert who kept pretty much to
herself and they could shed little light
on her life on or off campus. She had no
boyfriends that they knew of, and lived
a very frugal existence.

**She confided to us one day that she
has only a $600 a year income,’’ Alice
Bustin reported.

Although they had never seen
Theora with a date, the sisters said that
she was friendly with a male graduate
student named Marion Meyers.

University records disclosed that
Theora was the daughter of Melvin T.
Hix, a retired university professor liv-
ing with his wife in Bradenton, Flor-
ida. The detectives also learned that
Theora had obtained a summer job at
the hospital as a telephone switchboard
operator, in order to augment her mea-
ger income. She had reported at the
hospital the previous night for a train-

GIANT COURT

ing session on the switchboard, but left
abruptly at 8 o’clock.
**I’m late for a date,’’ she told her
I'll be back before long.’’
**Late for a date? Did she mention
whom she was supposed to meet?”

. Phillips inquired.

**No, she didn’t,’’ the switchboard
operator told the detectives. ‘‘She put
on her little brown hat and left in a bit of
a hurry. And that was the last we heard
of her.”’

“Did you say she put on a little
brown hat?’’ McCall asked.

**Yes,’’ the woman said. ‘‘She al-
ways wore it wherever she went.”’

McCall and Phillips exchanged

instructor. ‘‘I must be going now, but :

glances. They had gone over the death |
scene thoroughly. They had found |
some keys, and the woman’s purse, bul :

no brown hat.

*‘Let’s see if she might have left it at
the dorm,’’ McCall suggested. ‘‘If so,
that means she went back there after
leaving the hospital.’’

A check of the coed’s room revealed.

no brown hat. While there, however,
McCall and Phillips decided to try
some of the keys they had found on the

broken key ring next to the corpse. One.

of the keys fit Theora’s dresser. An-
other key opened her trunk, and the
third unlocked her box of costume
jewelry.

‘here were no letters, snapshots or:

‘ny other evidence that might have’

pointed to a secret romance. A search

of Theora’s personal effects, however, .

turned up something more revealing.

“*Look at this, Otto,’” McCall said,
displaying three bank books found in’

one of the locked dresser drawers.

Phillips ‘let out a low whistle as he

flipped open the pages. One of the bank
books showed Theora had $2,000 on
deposit. Another showed $1,836 in a
second bank, and the third, from yet
another bank, showed a savings.
account of $600. |

**She. tells her roommates that she’s
got an income of only $600 a year, and
yet her bank books show $4,436 salted
away,’ he mused. ‘‘How about that
other key? Does it fit anything here?”’.

*‘No, but it looks like a safety box
key to me,’’ McCall Suggested. **Let’s
try the three banks.’

His hunch was right, and in the vault
of one of the banks the detectives
turned up another $600 stashed away in
a lock box. Also found in the vault box
were several bottles of pills and a bun-
dle of letters.

**This hardly looks like a poor girl
struggling to get an education, does it,
Bob,’’ Phillips said. ‘*You don’t think
she had herself a Sugar Daddy, do
you?’’

McCall agreed that the hidden hoard
of money could indeed point to some-
one who had been paying the young
woman because she could not afford to
have their relationship made public.

**A married man?’’ McCall sug-
gested.

**That’s usually the case,’’ said Phil-
lips.

Detective Chief Shellenbarger
assigned extra officers to work with
Phillips and McCall. They began
questioning all known friends and ac-
quaintances of the dead woman, as
well as her employers and university
employes. Theora, police learned,
often spent nights away from the room-
ing house where she lived with the Bus-
tin sisters.

‘*But she always came home the
next morning,’’ he said. *‘That’s why
we were worried when she didn’t come
back this time.’’

Professor James Snook died the
same way he lived, every inch the
perfect gentlemen.

Although Theora never took an
overnight bag or change of clothes with
her, she always returned neat and
clean, the sisters said. In fact, some-
times she came home wearing differ-
ent clothing than she had on the night
before.

‘*That can only mean one thing,”’
McCall said. ‘*Another apartment. Her
secret lover, or whoever, kept a room
somewhere the two of them could hold
their trysts.”’

‘*That would explain the broken key
ring,’’ Phillips added. ‘‘There could
have been a fifth key on the ring—her
key to the love nest—and her killer
broke the key ring in his haste to pull it
off so we wouldn't find it.’

‘*You could be right,’” McCall
agreed. ‘*If we can find the love nest, I
think we’ll find our killer.’’

Detectives located Theora’s male
friend, Marion Meyers, and questioned
him. He had an airtight alibi for the
night of the murder. He had been at a
fraternity house in Columbus, and had
witnesses. He admitted having been in-
timately involved with the young med
student, but said their affair had cooled
down of late.

‘‘T haven’t seen Theora for at least
two weeks,’” he told police. ‘*Our ro-
mance has been pretty much on and
off, basically because she was seeing
someone else.”’

**How do you know that?’’ he was
asked.

**She told me, but she wouldn’t say
who it was,’’ he said. ‘‘She was very
secretive about it.”’

Despite Meyers’ alibi, police held
him for further questioning. At this
point, he was the only suspect they
had. Meanwhile Coroner Crafts, in
performing the autopsy, came up with
another surprise.

**I did not find what I had expected
to find—that she was pregnant,’’ the
coroner said. ‘“That would have given
us a motive. But no such thing. She
was not pregnant, and she had not even
been sexually assaulted. What I did
find were traces of an aphrodisiac in
her stomach. A love potion, if you will,
made out of rare insect wings and
legs.”’

He added that the murder weapon
appeared to have been a ballpeen ham-
mer used by mechanics. This sent de-

(continued on page 46)
19

ZZ.

re AE LK VB a one (An | trey ttt Pre
Md | P-fe-se/ py 2
Abgiuee LK bea! | LS | oA] Ce. Yhased Cx2d Koso,

OTHER

MOTIVE

SYNOPSIS

AL hewae Lbhnkly ay fervarde I ofisdtd tags he Kad _

fhe pee ge /:) ag feror Pia engi 7 Meiecingg

TRIAL

Afufigia ¢ (Al 18/1 91-7

True Detective Mysteries

(Continued from page 10)

Room in the Death House at Ohio State Penitentiary in which Doctor Snook ate
his last meal just before walking out to his death. The electric chair is but a few
paces from this room, beyond the wall at the right

but we had been told to be at the War-
den’s office at 6:30 P. M. Just as we ar-
rived, a few minutes before the appointed
time, a motor hearse drove into the peni-
tentiary enclosure before the eyes of a
curious, restless crowd which was col-
Jecting: outside.

At 6:45 P. M. Mrs. Snook, heavily
veiled, came into the Warden’s residence
where Mrs. Thomas took her to an up-
stairs room. As she passed between two
lines of us in the corridor to the residence,
T noticed that
she was weakening
under the long strain
of the day. She had |
been at the peniten- |
tiary carly that '
morning. In fact, it
had been she, who,
calling softly, had
wakened — her
husband from his
last mortal sleep to ;
spend his last day
on earth. She had
been with him almost
all morning and late
in the afternoon had e
walked with him er
from Death Row in ak
one of the prison’s
cell) blocks to the
little brick Death
House. , :

About the time
that she retired to
an upstairs room
with Mrs. Thomas,
the Warden, who
had been sick in bed
several days, came
down the stairs, ap-
parently planning to
essay the role of
exccutioner for the
one hundred = and’
fourth time in the
seventeen years he has been Warden. He
asked for his derby and a cane such as he
always carries to executions, but at 6:50
he sank into a chair in his office and

A close-up of the electric chair at Ohio

State Penitentiary, in which Doctor

Snook, and many others died, showing

the leg and wrist clamps, and the black
leather head-hood

designated J. C. Woodard, deputy war-
den, to act as executioner, At 6:59 Wood-
ard gave us the signal and we fell in be-
hind and started our gruesome trip across
the dark enclosure of the penitentiary.

We moved ‘swiftly—almost noisclessly
—over the path to the Death House
which leads through grim defiles of high
prison walls. Windows in the cell blocks
were crowded with curious, sullen faces—
but there was not a sound. At the end of
the path loomed the Death House. Within a
a few seconds, the
witnesses — some
two-score of us—all
had passed” within
its confines.

There, at once, one
saw the _ electric
chair. A guard stood
on cach side of it
and the deputy war-
den took up a_posi-
tion a little to one
side. As soon as we
had) crowded nerv-
i ously into the low-
‘ ceilinged chamber of

b . death so ghastly in
cee its brilliant light and
tgs yellow alabastine
: es walls, one of the
a guards strode to a
door at the Ieft of
the chair, opened it

, and gave a sirnal.

Then he returned
to his. station, the
witnesses meantime
standing on tip toe
ands craning — their
necks, the better to
see every detail of
the dread instrument
of death—held back
from its awful em-
brace by a low rail-
ing. Quick, furtive
whispers ran through the crowd. Doctor
George W. Keil, penitentiary physician,
and three other physicians compared their
watches. “Seven three,” said Doctor Keil.

“Seven three,” replied cach of the other
physicians.

Again the guard went to the door at
the left of the chair and | signalled.
Then through the door came the murderer
of Theora Hix—he who had one time been
world champion pistol shot and renowned
veterinary surgeon and professor.

He was a sorry sight. Though outward-
ly calm and steely of nerve, his eyes—
minus the famous horn-rimmed spectacles
which had been part of the undoing of his
intended perfect crime—were red as if
from weeping. His face showed many a
line more than when he had stood trial six
months before in Franklin County Com-
mon Pleas Court.

His first step into the death chamber
brought him face to face with the crowd
gathered to view him in his direst extrem-
itv. Quickly he looked to his left at the
grim, black chair, passed his hand once
over his eyes, twitched his belt, then swung
swiftly toward the instrument. © Three
steps brought him to the platform. One
step up and two more forward and he was
at the chair. Unflinchingly, he turned,
seated himself with ao slight tug at. his
trousers’ legs and looked over the crowd
much as if he were in a class room.

He wore black, uncreased trousers, gray
felt bedroom slippers, a bluing-stained
shirt buttoned at the neck; but without a
necktie, and a shabby black sack coat.

Quickly the straps, clamps and electrades
were adjusted, the two guards and the
Deputy Warden working deftly, expertly,
surely. The headclamp, carrying an elec-
trode, was slid down its groove to fit the
top of his naturally bald head. A. strap
attached to the electrode was passed under
his chin. Doctor Snook pursed his lips
and puffed his cheeks as the strap was
slipped into place.

The guard on his right side rolled up
the slit right trousers’? leg and adjusted
wn electrode just) below the knee. The
movement revealed dark, heavy-knit, gray
socks and the bare calf of his leg. His
fect were slid into two clamps. Other
clamps grasped him) around each knee,
two circled cach wrist and two more
clutched his elbows. A’ strap was passed
around his chest.

HIEN he had been in the chair about
one minute, the black leather mask
was slid over his face. Not an audible
word had been spoken, Then boomed the

voice of the Reverend Mr. Millers ‘Alay

the Lord be with youl”

ver oso. faintly, Doctor Snook's lips
Were seen to move just as the mask
dropped forever to shut the world from
his view.

Deputy Warden Woodard then. signalled
through a partly opened door at the right
of the chair. Beyond that door stood
three guards, each ready to pull a lever.
One of the three levers was wired to
throw the switch—which one, the guards
did not know.

A red light on the wall just above the
chair flashed on, signifying that all) was
ready. Death was humming in the voice
of the dynamo. It was 7:04% P. M.

Doctor Snook sat there without a trem.
or, his long, lean surgeon hands. stretched
out on the arms of the chair without a
quiver—steely as when he fired the cham-
pionship pistol shots on the American

(Continued on page 14)

(Continued from page 12)
Olympic team of nineteen hundred and
twenty.

Louder came the hum of the dynamo.
‘The red light flashed off, then on to the
accompaniment of a dull report. The
body in the chair shot forward and down-
ward, straining against the straps and
iron clamps and 1950 volts struck down
the murderer of Theora Hix in behalf of
the people of the State of Ohio. The long
hands leaped into a tight clinch,

Ten seconds later the current was re-
duced to 350 volts. There was the sick-
ening sound of burning flesh and the hor-
rible sight of sizzling white foam around
the head electrode. For forty seconds the
current was kept at 350 volts. Then it
was returned to the original voltage for
ten seconds,

At 7:06 the current was turned off.

OCTOR KEIL stepped forward as the

guards unloosed the chest strap. He
inserted a stethoscope beneath the blue-
white shirt. The other physicians fol-
lowed him and at 7:09 they agreed Doctor
Snook was dead,

As his body was lifted from the chair
and placed in a long, wicker basket, the
witnesses hurried from the death chamber
hack across the dark, chilly prison corri-
dor which. Doctor Snook had trod that
afternoon in the warm sunlight, arm-in-
arm with his wife, on his last visit to the
out-of-doors,

Upstairs in the Warden's residence, Mrs.
Snook, who had stood so valiantly by her
husband to the last, buoying him up for
his last ordeal, had sat tearlessly for a
while, then had swooned.

A few blocks away in an office in down-
town Columbus sat a broken old man with
his attorney. Presently the phone rang, the
attorney, Boyd B. Haddox, answered, then
turned to the old man and said; “Mr. Hix,
Snook is dead.”

The old man—Doctor Melvin T. Hix,
Bradenton, Florida, father of the girl
Docter Snook had slain—sat very still a
moment, then said: “We must wire
Mother.”

So a telegram went to Mrs. Hix in
Florida that the slayer of her only daugh-
ter had paid the extreme penalty for his
crime to the State of Ohio. A day or two
later Doctor Hix sobbingly boarded a train

True Detective Mysteries

Mrs. Snook is here shown leaving the penitentiary, following one of her last visits
to her husband. Below is the Death House at Ohio State Penitentiary (the low
building) in which is the death chamber and electric chair,“a guard room, a room
where the men condemned to death spend their last hours, a dynamo room and a
small switch room from which the current to the electric chair is turned on

to rejoin his wife and save. what he could
of two lives so lately filled with despair.

Outside the penitentiary as we emerged,
milled hundreds of curious people—men,
women with babes, children—surging this
way, then that, torn between the desire to
sec the widow as she would leave the
Warden’s residence and to see the hearse
which any moment would come through
the gates at a far end of the enclosure,
Thousands of automobiles coursed the
narrow streets, proceeding slowly as_ big-
eyed faces looked toward the forbidding
gray walls,

For an hour the throng lingered, then
dispersed, enabling Mrs. Snook to. steal

.
*
_

away in the darkness. At the undertaker's
establishment another crowd gathered but
throughout the night the mortician denied
he had Doctor Snook’s body. Half per-
suaded, the crowd finally dispersed there,
also,

About 4 o'clock the following morning,
an Ohio State University student returning
home from a date, happened to glance down
West Tenth Avenue where the Snook resi-
dence stands facing the medical college
which Theora Hix had attended. There, in
front of the house, he saw a hearse and
several automobiles.

(VEN at that hour, the word) spread
quickly and while a funeral service was

read over the slayer’s body in the home
which he had partially deserted for a “love
nest” and a paramour half his age, a
crowd of fifteen men stood outside waiting
to trail the body to its last resting place.

Shortly hefore dawn the funeral cortege
started away, and passingg near the heart
of downtown Columbus, sped to Greenlawn
Cemetery on the opposite side of the city.
There, just as the first light of dawn
flushed the East, the burial service was
read,

Soon all about the grave was silent...
deserted. It was the end of the long trail
for Doctor Snook.

The Clue of the Rubber Heel

is a story which will appear next month
in this magazine, written by a Ken-
tucky country lawyer—a story you will
want to read.

Tt
you:
acco’
thin,
unne
that
and
bers:

ward to
s station
ninutes.

.rms and
iad just
re, when

side of

car and
stick "em
covering
he said.
in’t have
a loaf of

ld him I

| ok on the
t. The

e in the

you’ve

y turned

irked ina
d to get

ut. Her
e ground,

as Smith
- captain
ind care-

fixed his
take care

Lurking in the shadowy angle of the rail fence at the left, the mysterious assassin, with uncanny accuracy,
shot and fatally wounded Mrs. Clara Smith who was sitting in a truck parked near the spot marked with the

cross. Contrast this picture, which led to surprisin,

discoveries, with the original version of the shooting

shown in the lower left hand corner of page 28.

Bixler, Nazor and I left the room.

“Hold him on some pretext until we run over to Geneva
and see what the autopsy shows,” Nazor suggested. ‘““We
haven’t anything on him but I’d like to talk to him again
later on.” Bixler agreed.

It was near midnight when the autopsy was completed.
The slug which had entered the woman’s head had flat-
tened out as it ripped through her brain, but it was easy
to determine that it had been a .32 caliber bullet.

Immediately after the autopsy had been completed Pros-
ecutor Nazor, Coroner Webster, Deputy Kelsey and myself
returned to the Ashtabula police headunit For two
hours we questioned Smith with Captain Bixler. He told
and retold a straightforward story. There wasn’t the
slightest discrepancy.

Dawn was an hour away when Prosecutor Nazor sug-
gested to Smith that he accompany us out to Center road
and show us how it all happened. Smith readily acceded
to the suggestion. By the time we got started the eastern
sky was streaked.

The truck had been moved, but in the half light of the
morning Smith showed us exactly how the attempted rob-
bery had been staged, where the bandits stood and where
they parked the car in which they made their escape.

Sunrise brightened things up considerably, but even in
the daylight we could find no definite trace of the robbers
and their car. Here and there along the road was an oc-
casional footprint but these probably had been made by the
members of the crowd that had milled about the place for
hours. The rain had obliterated any tire marks the ban-
dit car might have left.

When the search of the west side of the road had netted
nothing I turned my attention to the other side. The bank
rose off the road and a little way back an old rail fence
angled along parallel with the ditch. Thick bushes topped
the rails and formed a natural hedge. The grass of the
heavy sod was still comparatively short, and springy from
the recent rains.

I followed the fence back toward the culvert to the point
where it made a right angle turn to the east. Close to the
fence and beside a large bush I noticed that the grass ap-

ADVENTURES

peared trampled somewhat. Careful examination of the
ground disclosed several small twigs which apparently had
been recently broken from the bush.

I called Prosecutor Nazor and pointed out the spot.

“It looks to me as though someone had stood around
here for some little time,” I said. ‘Perhaps last night.
They were crouching under the bushes for shelter from
the rain. It looks as though they might have become
nervous over something and broken the twigs off, later
dropping them to the ground.”

Nazor agreed. Together we made a minute examina-
tion of the ground and the bushes to the point where
the fence turned to the east.

I called Nazor and Kelsey. I suggested that we
follow the log fence and the ravine east to Munson Hill
road about a mile away and instructed Kelsey to drive
around there with Smith after he finished looking around
on Center road. Nazor and I continued the search.

Mysterious Footprints

E WAS a few minutes later that we came to an open
spot. The top rails of the fence seemed to have
been moved recently. Close examination disclosed that
something appeared to have been dragged over the top
rail, something that had caught the splinters of the split
rail and broken off weather-beaten portions. Nazor took
one side of the fence. I took the other.

But the search for footprints seemed hopeless. It was
a tedious task to which we had set ourselves and just
as we were about convinced that we were wasting time
I stumbled’ across a pair of rubbers, old rubbers but
still very serviceable. More important, however, was the
fact that they had been but recently discarded. We ex-
amined them.

“They are a woman’s rubbers, not much question about
that,” Nazor commented. “Now what would a woman be
doing out here?” I couldn't answer that but a little beyond
we found something real. In a soft bare spot was the
clear print of a woman’s shoe. The sharp heel had bur-
rowed into the ground. In spots we were able to make

» § =

, 4
4
A
i
2
4
f

R -

a Bat: ®

Scene of the greatest legal drama ever staged in the state of Ohio, the Ashtabula county courthouse was a seething
caldron of human emotions as the prosecution drove home the closing arguments that signed the death warrants
of the killers of Mrs. Smith.

out the prints of both shoes. They led us toward Munson
Hill road.

“‘We know that there was a woman in this gully re-
cently, probably last night,” I ventured to Nazor. “But
what of it? What’s that got to do with a robbery by
two men? Maybe we’re wasting our time after all,” I
concluded, hoping to get Nazor’s reactions.

“It’s the best lead we have and we might as well fol-
low it to the end,” he replied. A few minutes later we
came out on Munson Hill road.

We were within nine or ten hundred feet of South
Ridge and near a neighboring house so we dropped in
to make a few inquiries regarding the mysterious foot
prints.

An Amazing Story

HE mistress of the house said that she hadn’t seen
anyone in the ravine although she had an excellent
view from her house.

“But Dll tell you what I did see,” she told us. “It
was last night, between six and seven. I saw a car parked
down there near the ravine on the west side of the road.
I didn’t see anyone get in or out of it. Finally I noticed
that it was gone.”

We questioned the woman but she could tell us nothing
further.

“T don’t think it had anything to do with the murder
over on Center road because they tell me that happened
after 8:30 and this car left here two hours before that,”
she said. “I’m positive it was gone before seven.”

I borrowed a paper at the house and wrapped up the
rubbers. Then we returned to the machine which was

waiting and drove to the home of Tilby’s father to give
Nazor a look at the truck in which Clara Smith had met
her death.

When we returned to Ashtabula we took Smith into
the council chamber of City Hall and gathered around
the big table. Tilby told his story again.

“You're sure one of the robbers wasn’t a woman?” I
turned on Smith suddenly and fired the question at him.

“Are you trying to kid me?” he countered. “I don't
know what you’re talking about.”

I tossed the rubbers onto the table in front of Smith.

“Ever see these before?”

He looked at the rubbers but his face remained a
blank.

“T suppose you'll be saying next that they’re mine,”
he said after a pause. “Want me to try them on?”

“You told us you’d show us where the Buick sedan
was parked,” I continued. “There wasn’t a track in that

lane.”
“You might as well come clean,’ Prosecutor Nazor
said. ‘Who was the woman?” Smith said nothing.

“I know you're lying, Tilby,’” I said as he sat there
and for the first time his chin fell into the cup of his
hands. His head drooped. He looked from Nazor to
me.

“Tf I told you the truth,” he began, “you wouldn't be-
lieve me.”

“We'll believe you if you tell the truth,’ Nazor said,
“but you'll have to tell a better story than the one you
have been telling.”

Tilby looked at each of us in turn, vainly seeking a way
out. Conflicting emotions struggled for mastery in his
face. Captain Bixler tried a final shot.

STARTLING DETECTIVE

> eRRIOS

aes Bi -

Cracking Ashtabula’s Triangle Horror

[Continued from page 33]

me. I stopped. She ordered me out
of the truck and around to the rear,

“T heard a single shot. I was so ex-'
cited that I don’t know what she did_
after that.”

Then he repeated the story sen running
back to the gas station for help.

“T didn’t know what to say,” Smith
said. “I° was afraid that if I’ mentioned
her she’d kill me. So I made up the
story about the robbers.”

The story sounded like a fairy tale.

“Are you sure you didn’t have a hand
in this?” I demanded.

“Absolutely not!” he shot back and
he looked me straight in the eyes ashe
said it.

“Ever have any trouble with your
wife?”

“No, sir!” he fairly shouted. “My wife
was a good woman and I loved her but
this woman came into my life and this
is the result.”

I called in Lieutenant Snow. Briefly
T outlined Smith’s story of the woman.

“Ts that the woman I saw you with,
Tilby?” Snow asked. “Down by the
depot a few days ago?” Smith nodded.
I told Snow that Smith said she
formerly lived on Amsden avenue.
Snow laughed.

“I don’t know where she lived but I
think I can find out where she works,”
the lieutenant answered.

Nazor, Kelsey, Webster and the other
police officers came in. Smith re-

_peated the story. Again it was letter
perfect. Nazor, Snow and I left Smith -

in the council chambers and went out
to the chief’s office.

“T think we can find this girl. over
on Vine street,” Lieutenant Snow said.
“Unless I’m mistaken she’s employed
there as maid and a nurse. girl.”

It was only a few minutes before
we were knocking at the door of the
home where she was employed. Prose-
cutor Nazor briefly outlined our errand.

We-were shown to the girl’s room. She
awakened as we entered and sat bolt
upright in bed- trying to rub the sleep
out of her’ eyes.

“Who-are you?”. she demanded.

The ‘stolid look never left the girl’s
face during the ride back to the station.
She refused to talk. We had learned
from her employer that her. name was
Julia “Maude Lowther; that she had
been married and was the mother of
a six-year-old boy now living with her
relatives down in the West Virginia
hill country. Her employer had also
told us of her movements the night
before,

“She left late in the afternoon,” he
told Nazor, “and I heard her return
about 10:30. I didn’t see her but I
heard her come in and later heard her
in her room.”

Murder Suspects

WE LED the Indian girl through
YY the police station and into the
council. chamber where Smith, Kelsey,
Coroner _Webster and. police officers
were seated around the big table. My
eyes were glued on the girl’s face as
she ‘was ushered in. She glanced
around the room carelessly. Her dark
eyes never paused for an instant as
they fell on Tilby Smith. So far as
I could tell from her expressionless face
Smith was a perfect stranger.

I. marched her up. to the table di-
rectly in front of Smith. For several
minutes she stood there like a statue,
cold and emotionless. Her comely
features appeared cast in a mold of un-
concern. But not so Tilby Smith. He
was visibly agitated.

“Ts this the woman?” My words
echoed through the room.

The words seemed to cut Smith like
a lash. He squirmed ‘in his chair.

“Yes,” he finally managed to falter.

I turned to the girl.

“Do you know this man?”

“No,” she replied calmly and her
eyes appeared to drill Smith,

“Haven’t you ever seen him before?”

“Oh, I might have,” she answered
carelessly. “But I don’t remember
him.”

“This man accuses you of killing his
wife last night,” I continued. But not
even the accusation of murder could
ruffle her. .

“Killing his wife?” she repeated the
words. “I don’t even know him, let
alone his wife.”

We escorted her out of the -room to
allow Kelsey to finish taking Smith’s
new statement of the killing. They
Smith was taken down stairs and the
girl took his place at the big table in
the council chamber. The grilling be-
gan. Prosecutor Nazor, Coroner Web-
ster, Deputy Kelsey, Lieutenant Snow
and I popped questions at her rapidly.

Patrolman Coates and Snow repeated
their charges that they had seen her
with Tilby Smith on several occasions
and gave the specific places and times.

Nevertheless we continued to do most
of the talking.

“Smith absolutely accuses you of
murdering his wife and threatening to
kill him,” I told the girl. “That's
serious even if it isn’t true. Maybe
he’s trying to save his own hide by
blaming you. If you have an alibi you
had better get busy and start talking.”

“T went to a picture show last night,”
she spoke up after a moment’s thought,
“at Ashtabula Harbor.”

“What picture did you see?” Nazor
broke in.

“Song of the West,” the girl replied
instantly.

“What was the comedy?” the prose-
cutor demanded,

Her Indian blood was up again. She
sneered,

Op ee ee oe ee cA REE,

Illustrated in graphic detail is this picture of % ‘naiadion tendezvous which preceded the tragedy. 1. Parked auto
where killer received final instructions. 2. Home of witness who saw murder assignation. 3. Where killer climbed

fence into field and ravine leading to murder scene.

4. Where officers found rubbers and footprints of slayer.

r to give
had met

mith into
-d around

nan?” I
t him.
“T don’t

f Smith.
nained a

re mine,”
yn?”

ick sedan
ick in that

itor Nazor
thing.
sat there
‘up of his
Nazor to

suldn't be-

,azOr said,
> one you

ing a way
tery in his

TECTIVE

“Was it the woman I saw you with in the park the
other day?” While we had been out, Bixler, Coates and
Lieutenant Snow had compared notes and recalled seeing
Smith at various times with a dark-haired woman in
her early twenties. And it wasn’t Clara Smith.

The chance accusation told. Smith cringed as from
a physical blow. Too late, he tried to cover up. Seizing
our advantage, we plied him with barrage of questions;
and suddenly, cracking under the strain, he signified his
willingness to talk.

Braggadocio gone, the man turned upon me desperately.

“Sheldon,” he began, “‘I’ll tell you the truth, but only
on the condition that the others leave the room. I want
to talk with you alone.”

The others in the room made a hasty exit. When
the door had slammed behind them, Smith began his story.

“Sheriff, I’ve been lying to you,” he began and I
nodded. “Now I want to tell you exactly what happened
tonight. This woman you mentioned here is the person
who killed my wife.”

I began to wonder what sort of a weird story Smith
was going to cook up.

“I don’t know her name but I think it is Marie,” he
continued. “I can’t tell you where she lives now but she
used to live on Amsden avenue. She has been married
and is part Indian. It was about ten days ago that I
met her in a theater. I saw her after the show and met
her several times after that. We sat in the park or in
my truck and talked.

“She fell desperately in love with me,” Smith went
on. “She knew I was married but that didn’t make any
difference to her. She was violently jealous of my wife,
and made no effort to conceal her hatred. She boasted
of her Indian blood and threatened me.

“You're either going to get rid of your wife, or
I'll get rid of you,’ she told me a couple days after

SAH SBRE:

Common Pleas Judge James G. Oglevee pronounced sentence
in the triangle case.

ADVENTURES

I’d met her, ‘because if I can’t have you no woman will’.”

Smith then described how he had visited the office of
a dentist in Ashtabula and had seen an old gun lying on
the table which he bought for two dollars.

“We lived over the humpbacked bridge on the east
side,” continued Smith, “and I wanted the gun for pro-
tection. A day or two later the Indian woman came
over and climbed in my truck which was parked near
City Hall. I happened to mention that I’d bought a re-
volver and she immediately wanted to see it. I told her
it was too much bother to get it out from under the seat.
A few minutes later I went into City Hall. She must
have taken the gun then because it was gone the next day.

“A day or two later she met me and while we were
talking she wanted me to make a date with her for
Thursday night. I told her I was going to take my wife
to the country. She wanted to know when, where and
so forth. I was dumb enough to tell her.

“By this time I was sorry that I had ever monkeyed
around with her but she kept telling me of her Indian
blood and Indian vengeance and, sheriff, she had me
scared.”

Find The Woman!

MITH then related how his little family had gathered

in the cab of the old dump truck and started for

the country as proudly as if they had been riding in a
Rolls-Royce.

“We had turned down
Saybrook Center road and
left my brother’s gas sta-
tion about half a mile be-
hind,” Smith went on,
“when she dashed out of
the bushes on the east side
of the road. In her hand
she had a gun. It was light
enough to see and that
gun was pointed right at
[Continued on page 74]

Working in conjunction with Sheriff Sheldon,
L. C. Kelsey, deputy sheriff. was instrumental
in solving the roadside murder mystery.

1 the
wked
» the

per-

with
rmise.
made
which
¢ just
S, but

to was

1 must
: looks

1 there
-heeled
rection

ere in-
Were
sterious

ds their
-sqund-
cidower
s up to

ie home
. Mrs.

yvone in

d down

as some *
vhow, I -

coat was
Inter-

cer cares
the care

if
4
"|

. ;
gvan started back for Ashtabula Smith’s cocky air was still
‘with him. He was bored and sleepy, and made it plain that
he had nothing to add to his story..

Once back in the city hall, however, the officers relentlessly
‘took’ up their grilling.

. “Why didn’t you tell us one of the killers was a woman?”
snapped the sheriff.

If he hoped to surprise Smith into a give-away answer, he
was disappointed. Smith merely shrugged and said nothing.

3 Sheldon next held up the rubbers. “Whose are these?” he
“8 demanded.

_Tilby Smith laughed right in his face. “How should I
know? But it’s a cinch they ain’t mine.” He humorously put
out his own large foot, as if to prove it.

The officers tried another approach. “How come there

_ wasn’t a track at the spot you say the bandit’s car was

parked ?”

Still Smith didn’t answer. But his air wasn’t quite so sure
now. It was clear that he was doing some heavy thinking. The

«questioners followed up their small advantage.

- “We think you're lying, Tilby. You might as well tell us
‘the real story. The one you've told us is full of holes. Things

¥ ‘don’t look too good for you. Who was the woman involved

-in, this?”

“The clock ticked the minutes off as the eager detectives
‘waited. The only sound in the big room, was the cracking of
-Smith’s knuckles, as he dug one hand into the other.

+. “J€ I told you the real truth, you wouldn't believe me,” he

. finally blurted out.

“Sure we will,” Nazor assured him, “but it has to be the

- straight facts this time, Tilby.” ’

“All right, I'll talk.”
The detectives leaned forward. They were about to hear

a new version of the murder of Clara Smith. Had they known
just how strange the story was to be, they would have been
sitting on the very edge of their chairs.

“There is a woman involved in it,” Smith began. “I don’t
know her name, but I think it’s Marie. I can’t tell you where
she lives at present, but she used to live on Amsden Avenue
here in town. She has been married and she’s got Indian
blood in her.”
An Indian! The men looked at each other in astonishment.
“I only met her about ten days ago,” Smith continued, ‘“‘at

TENSE MOMENT IN COURT

- The biack-hatred Indian girl sat silent and in-
different at the defense table as the woman
court clerk (right) read the verdict which
doomed her to death in Ohio's electric chair.

; She preferred death to life behind. prison bars.

INSIDE DETECTIVE a

the Palace Theater. I was with her after the show, and
several times after that. We used to sit in the park or in my
truck and talk.

“She fell desperately in love with me,” Smith went on, with
no excessive air of modesty. “She knew I was married, but
she didn’t care. She became terribly jealous of my wife. She
kept reminding me of her Indian ancestry and threatening
terrible things if I did not get rid of my wife and marry her.

“IT [ can’t have you, no other woman will,’ she often told
me. I was really afraid of her, for I didn’t know what she
might decide to do.

“Well, a few days ago, I had some work done in the office
of Dr. S. H. Bigler in Ashtabula. While I was there, I saw
an old gun lying on the table and I gave the dentist two
dollars for it. You see, we live over the bridge on the cast
side, and I wanted the gun for protection.

“Soon after this, I met the girl again. She climbed into my

truck and I happened to tell her about the gun. She wanted
to see it, but I didn’t want to bother dragging it out from
under the seat. I left the truck for a minute or two and I
guess she took the gun while I was gone, because. I couldn’t
find it when I looked.”
’ Tilby Smith paused to light a fresh cigarette. He glanced
around at the officers, as if trying to, discover just how he was
progressing. Not by the flicker of an eyelash did anyone in
the room let him know what they thought.

“Next time I saw her, she wanted to make a date for
Thursday night. That was last night. I told her I couldn’t, as
I had to take my wife and kids to the country. Like a dumb-
bell I told her when we were leaving, where we were going
and other details. She kept telling me how hotblooded the
Indians were and what terrible vengeance they could bring
on a person who betrayed them.” :

Smith told the story they already knew of how they had
started out, Clara and the older boy, ‘all excited over the
vacation. -

“We turned down Saybrook Center Road after we left
Wilbur’s gas station. About half a mile out, just past the
culvert, the Indian girl jumped, out of the bushes, a gun in
her hand. I felt the end was near for me.

“But apparently she had other plans. She made me get out
of.the truck and then I heard a shot. After that she must
have run back into the bushes. I put Clara on the ground
and went back to Wilbur’s.”

Smith leaned back, apparently satis-
fied with the weird tale he had told.
He explained that he’d made up the
robbery story on the spur of the mo-
ment, afraid that the Indian girl’s ven-
geance would be wreaked on him if he
told the truth.

first thing to be done, obviously, before
belief or disbelief was expressed, was
to find the girl. -

Lieutenant Snow came to the rescue.
He said he thought he recognized
Smith’s description of the girl. There
was a girl like that in town, who was
thought to be of Indian descent. .

“J think you'll find her over at Sey-
mour Hubbard’s house on Virie

’ Street,” he said. “Unless I’m _ mis-
taken, she works there asa maid.”

Immediately the group set off for
the home of Hubbard, prominent in
town as president of the Ashtabula
Corrugated .Box Company. He re-
ceived ‘the detectives cordially despite
the earliness of the hour, and offered
them every possible co-operation.

Prosecutor (Continued on page 57)

The officers made no comment. The .

Clara Smith's murder baffled Ohio police—until

they found the “other woman” in a love triangle!

Other
were

voman
Dark. :
story.
vand—
to the

id the
| ces of
night, of
.ifficult. .

ie said.

a com-
x while
ers for

clear- ; pea BETRAYED Py ' fi
certain “& t The Indian blood in Maude’ Lowe..." )": Jn phota be’ ow i) 5.5 eee |
s story es SS there welns. was placid unt! an-.
, : *.) "s gther women’s .traitorous husband '
4 at accused her of murder. Then her,”
sk.” he ae ol fury) was bitter ond, terrifying.
» spend hts cae Maat et }
looked
Vilbur’s

us, and
passed
vo men
ad,

and the
em up.’
me told

rt even
va loaf

him I
che floor
whistled

led the fe Ea : .
and ran ; “ Ta FE yt Oh yl Me +, Sen : ah oe . ; Ae :
a lane. ects : Sat we) ’ ve Se ree ; Cd Nees ‘

vd Clara
ron the
1er’sS ffats

back in

iestioned
nd there

recently,” said the sheriff. “Perhaps as

’ long and tedious one.

eee eens,

INSIDE DETECTIVE

never was the slightest discrepancy in any of the versions.
He seemed unburdened by grief. There was just the sug-
gestion of a smile on the man’s lips as he parried the questions
put to him by the officers.

“You see,” he explained politely, “I used tc do a little
sleuthing of my own and if I say so myself, I was pretty
good. I used to be an undercover man over in Mercer County,
Pennsylvania. So none of your questions bother me any.”

Although Smith wanted to go home with his motherless ©

youngsters, he offered no serious objection to going back to
the murder scene and re-enacting just what had happened.

The beauty of the dawn, which even then was beginning
to light the eastern sky, was lost on the grim-faced party that
made its way back to Center Road. Smith sat in back quietly,
his eyes half-closed. Was he thinking perhaps that Clara, who
had wished so hard for a sunny holiday, now lay cold in
death, her face covered with her life’s blood?

Whatever his thoughts, he was very helpful to the police.
Carefully he pointed out just where the bandits’ car had been
parked and just where the murderer had stood to fire the fatal
shot. He even apologized for his inability to remember many
details of the gunmen’s appearance.

“I was so excited and it was so murky out, that I hardly
noticed what they looked like.- One was very tall and had
enormous shoulders. The other didn’t seem to do much except
wait. ‘The big one did the shooting.”

Smith added it had been too dark for him to see what kind
of car they drove,

The usual crowd of the curious had already gathered, and
in their eagerness to aid the police in solving the case, were
good-naturedly tramping over the ground and obliterating
every footprint or tire tread the killers might have left.

With daylight, however, the officers set out in earnest to
find some trace of the murderers. The west side of the road
yielded nothing helpful. Finally Sheriff Sheldon and Prose-
cutor Howard Nazor, who had directed the questioning of
the widower, began searching along an old rail fence, almost
covered by a heavy growth of hedge and bush that formed a
natural barrier between the road and the fields that lay be-
yond,

The two men carefully followed the fence, their eyes scan-
ning the ground, hunting for some sign that the undergrowth
had been disturbed. Suddenly Sheldon whistled.

“Take a look at this,” he said. He A
pointed: to a spot in the grass that
showed unmistakable signs of having
been recently trod upon. And _ the
ground nearby yielded a number of
small twigs, whose broken ends re-
vealed that they had been recently
snapped off.

“Looks like someone was around here

late as last night.” He pointed to a large
bush that sheltered the spot. “Maybe
they stood here to keep out of the rain.”

“What about the twigs?” Nazor
asked.

“Well, it might mean that whoever
was here was nervous and kept snapping
them off, just to keep his hands busy.”

The case seemed to be growing more
complicated all the time, for: Smith had
said the bandits came from the other
side of the road. The officers determined
to find out who had stood in that shel-
tered spot. And the task looked like a

Nazor and Sheldon, now joined by a
couple of deputies, began the weary
task of searching for footprints in the
soggy ground. Just a few minutes Jater

FATAL WEAPON

Sheriff Frank Sheldon of Ashtabula
County holds the ancient revolver
which sent the bullet:into Clara Smith's
brain. The murder gun was found in
the house of a young Indian girl!

they came upon an open spot, where the top rails of the
fence showed signs of having been moved. In fact, it looked
as if something might have dragged over them.
mysterious, nervous individual had climbed over it, or per-
haps...

The officers refused to let their imaginations run away with
them. A detective’s duty is to find evidence, not to surmise.
The weary search continued.. Then Prosecutor Nazor made
the find. Triumphantly he held up a pair of rubbers, which
he had literally stumbled over on the path. They were just
ordinary rubbers, a little run down at the heel, perhaps, but

_still usable.

But there was one thing about the new discovery that was
of particular interest. They were women’s rubbers!

“That's strange,” Nazor commented. “Some woman must
have left them here, and: not long ago, judging by the looks
of them. But what would a woman be doing out here?”

As if to confirm the theory, a few feet further on there
were footprints, the unmistakable kind that small, high-heeled
shoes leave in soft dirt. The. marks led off in the direction
of Munson Hill Road.

For a moment the searching party paused. They were in-
vestigating the murder of a young mother by two men. Were
they just wasting time, —_ the footprints of a mysterious
woman ?

But with one accord, ‘the ‘officers silently continued their
search. There were often weird angles to the simplest—saund-
ing killings. Perhaps the smirking face of the young widowes

Perhaps the '

had hidden something that should be told, and it was up to

them to find out.

Once at Munson Hill Road, the men stopped in at the home
of Mrs. Frances Luke, to make a few discreet inquiries. Mrs.
Luke thought back, but couldn’t remember seeing anyone in
the ravine the past few days.

“But,” she suddenly added, “I did see a car parked down

near the ravine last night between six and seven. It was some °

sort of truck, though I can’t rightly describe it. Anyhow, 1
didn’t notice anybody getting out of it, and I’m positive it was
gone by seven o'clock.”

And the murder hadn’t occurred until after 8:30! Inter-
esting, but hardly helpful.

There didn’t seem much more to be learned, and after care-
fully wrapping the rubbers in a piece of newspaper, the car-

MADE PUZZLING FIND

At the murder spot, Prosecutor How-
ard Nazor picked up the clue that made
officers ponder—a pair of women's
rubbers, Then he followed the case
through and convicted the assassin.

avan start:
with him.
he had not
Once ba:
took’ up th
“Why «i:
snapped th
If he ho
was disapp
Sheldon
demanded.
. Tilby S
know? Bu
out his ow
The off:
wasn’t a
parked?”
Still Sn
now. It w.
questioner
“We th:
the real st
don’t look
in. this ?”
The cle
waited. |]
Smith’s k:
“Tf I te
finally bhi
“Sure \
straight fi
“All rij
The de
a new ver
just how
sitting on
“There
know her
she lives
here in t
blood in !
An Ind
“T only

Se Sao TS

the left, so that she could keep Freddy, her three-year-

old son, from falling out when the truck lurched around
the turns. She smiled fondly at his tousled head as it pressed
against her side. Poor kiddie, it was long past his bedtime,
and though he had been all excited at the idea of going away,
he hadn’t been able to stay awake.

She and her husband Tilby had been looking forward to
the outing for a long time, too. It was seldom that she could
drop her heavy household burdens, and when Tilby had sug-
gested they take the old dump. truck and go spend the
Memorial Day holiday with some friends on Center Road, she
had been happy. They'd have fun with the Pierces, she knew.

The truck jerked to a stop at the gas station of her
brother-in-law, Wilbur Smith, at the intersection of South
Ridge and Saybrook Center, just outside of Ashtabula, Ohio.
Wilbur came out to see them and have a look at the children.

“Too bad it looks like rain for tomorrow,” he told Clara.

“It’s funny, but it goes and rains almost every acd on
Memorial Day,” Clara remarked.

They talked about fifteen minutes and then the Tilby Smiths

- drove off on their way, as proudly as if their car were a
luxurious sedan, The garageman went back to his pipe and
his daydreaming.

It seemed to him that he had only just settled himself in his
favorite chair, when there was a great commotion outside.

_ Somebody was yelling for help, at the top of his lungs—and
the voice sounded very much like Tilby’s. Quickly Wilbur
flung open the door. Startled, he saw his brother,-his clothes
dripping with rain, his shoes spattered with mud, and in his
arms his two children.

“What happened, Tilby? Where’s Clara?” demanded Wil-
bur.

At first his brother seemed too worn and dazed to answer.
He gave the children to Wilbur and then sank down near the

Cite te SMITH shifted the baby from her right arm to

road, exhausted. Finally he managed to gasp out a few jerky.

sentences that told enough to make the garage owner scamper
for a telephone.

Patrolman Harold O. Shepard and his partner Harry Bruda-
pest, of the Ashtabula police, were the first to arrive on the
scene in answer to Wilbur’s excited call. The garageman gave
them what details he could.

“My brother and his wife were held up by bandits about
half a mile down the road from here,” he chattered. “One
of the men shot my sister-in-law !”

The officers dragged Tilby from the ground, where he still
lay apparently oblivious to what was going on around him.
With him, they sped down Center Road. They found the
truck, in which the family had so joyously set out just a
short while before, parked near a small culvert. And lying
close by, face upturned to the chill drizzle, was Clara Smith.

As soon as the officers reported the murder to Captain
H. F. Bixler at Ashtabula headquarters, he knew that his
Memorial Day. holiday for the year 1930 was going to he
a busy one. He telephoned to Sheriff Frank Sheldon of Ash-
tabula County, asking him to meet him at the scene with the
coroner,

32 H

INS IDS. ‘eat ee

A hasty examination with the aid of their flashlights showed ‘$

a bullet hole at Clara Smith's right temple hairline. Other pn
than this, and the blood which covered her face, there were :
no marks of violence on the woman.

Captain Bixler, after convincing himself that the woman ey,
was dead, began a minute examination of the truck. Dark.
sticky stains on the floorboards told their own mute story.
Clara Smith had been shot as she sat beside her husband—
had toppled to the floor and then been lifted or fallen to the
roadside, ‘

It seemed as if the elements were conspiring to aid the
killer. The steady drizzling was obliterating all traces of
footprints and tire treads. And the murkiness of the night, —
although only a little after nine o’clock, made progress difficult.

Coroner Webster’s comment on the death was brief.

“Whoever did this must have been a marksman,” he said.
“She died instantly.”

The body was ordered taken to nearby Geneva for a com-
plete autopsy, and an officer was left to guard the truck while
Bixler and the others took Tilby Smith to headquarters for
questioning.

MITH LOOKED a little haggard, but perfectly clear-
headed again. Thin and gaunt, but not without a certain
attractiveness, the widowed man proceeded to tell his story _
calmly and straightforwardly. :
“My wife and I left home with the kids about dusk,” he
began in answer to our question. “We were going to spend
the holiday with friends on Center Road. We’d:both looked
forward to this outing for some time. We stopped at Wilbur's

gas station and then drove south on Center Road.

“Clara was holding the baby, Donald, in her arms, and
Frederick was sitting between us, asleep. I had just passed
the culvert, about half a mile from. Ridge, when two men
stepped out of the shadows on the west side of the road.

“One of the men remained at the front of the car and the
other came around to me and ordered, me to ‘stick ’em up.’

I did. Clara started to get out. The man covering me told
her not to. ‘All I want is your money,’ he said. :
“My wife answered, ‘We have nothing. We didn’t even
have enough money in the house this: morning to buy a loaf

of bread.’ The bandit wasn’t satisfied, however.

“Then give:'me your watch,’ he ordered. I told him I
didn’t have one. I reached down to get the crank on the floor
of the cab. As I did so, he fired a shot. The bullet whistled
past my head and struck my wife in the temple.

“The man in front shouted, ‘My God, you've killed the
woman,’ as Clara slid to the floor, They turned and ran
south up the hill to where a sedan was parked in a lane.
I was stunned, but then I got out of the truck and lifted Clara
down. Her face was all covered with blood. I put her on the
ground, grabbed up the kids and ran back to my brother's gas
station.

“And that, gentlemen,” said Tilby Smith, leaning back in
his chair, “is the whole story.”

For two hours the officers questioned and requestioned
Smith about his story. He ‘told it numerous times, and there

LOVE NEST
1e trysted here
couldn’t explain
keys to their
after her death.

nd very close-
it Theora was,
ed fifty dollars

re?” I asked.

his morning ?”
e daughters of
iue,” explained
for the sisters,
zht she might

» the name of

never talked
’ Alice Bustin

ier desire for

rs.
id been moody
| seemed more

at University
seven o'clock

ed. “At about
Lid, ‘My good-
her purse and
back at 9:30.’

‘ated by a con-
ver of a drug
where Theora

red Cummings.
to be on her
hen ordered a
ed to rush out

could it mean?

nabs.
os

TELLTALE BLUE COUPE
Although the professor said his car was in the garage
_ at the time of the slaying, police found strange stains
on the door jamb, and learned the car had been
washed the day after the ‘murder of the fair co-ed.

The agitated, nervous girl of the drug store episodes seemed
quite unlike the placid medical student pictured by her room-
mates. Was Theora Hix involved in some secret affair of
passion? Did the taxi mean a mysterious rendezvous? The
question was soon answered.

Officers assigned to search the rifle range reported early
Friday evening. They had failed to find the girl’s purse, but
they did locate something else—a broken key chain and twelve
keys. “They were scattered in a semi-circle around the body,”
reported one of the searchers.

Curiously I examined the keys and the broken chain. Why
had the chain been broken and the keys scattered? At a loss
to answer, I dropped the keys into my pocket and ordered
Detectives Van Skaik and McGath to search Theora Hix's
apartment, .

Less than an hour later the officers reported they had found
an old style .41 caliber Derfinger revolver, a quantity of
ammunition and a sheaf of letters authored by Marion T.
Meyers of the Gamma Alpha fraternity house, 1501 Neil
Avenue. ,

Scanning several of these letters I became convinced that
more than a casual affair existed between Meyers, soon identi-
fied as an instructor in the university horticulture department,
and the slain girl. We hurried to the fraternity house only to
find that Meyers was out of the city and that no one knew
where he had gone. His fraternity brothers asserted that
Meyers had not kept company with Miss Hix for many months.

That night I described details of the investigation to my
wife.

“Why don’t you drive over to the apartment house and
question some of her neighbors?” she suggested. “Perhaps
somebody other than her roommates might supply you with
a lead.”

“No harm in trying,” I said thoughtfully, ‘“Let’s go.”

ESIDENTS OF THE first apartment I questioned pro-
fessed total ignorance of the unfortunate co-ed’s habits or
affairs. Likewise with the second. But something in the
manner of the occupant of the third apartment, a girl of
twenty-two, a liquid-eyed brunette, pretty and intelligent,
caused me to suspect that she had information of valuc.
For more than a half-hour I questioned her. Plainly she
was fearful of being drawn into the investigation and was

bloodstains in his automobile

sia

LAN
; ont
f

RTI

2/ HN

MYSTERY GIRL'S CAMPUS HOME
In a tiny apartment above a drug store at 1658 Neil
Avenue, Theora roomed with two girls who little sus-
pected her secret love life. From a neighbor, police got
the first important clue to the identity of her killer.

determined to reveal nothing. Finally, on my promise never
to divulge her name, not.even to my associates, she agreed to
tell what she knew. Although the girl has long since moved
from Columbus | have never violated this promise and: never.
shall. ; ,

“I’ve known Theora Hix for several years,” the girl began.
“We attended the same classes and had lunch together oc-
casionally. I noticed she was very secretive and rarely men-
tioned her personal affairs. Naturally, I was quite surprised
when late one night I saw her get out of a shiny blue coupe
in front of this apartment. When her escort helped her from
the machine I noticed he was tall, slender, partially bald and
wore nose glasses.”

“Did Theora ever tell you this man’s name?” I asked
cagerly.

The girl shook her head. “She never mentioned him to
me,” she replicd, “but I’ve seen him on the campus several
times. I believe he may be connected with the university.”

“Do you know a young instructor named Meyers?” I asked.

“No, I don’t know Mr. Meyers.”

“What kind of car does this older chap drive?”

“All I noticed was its color and that it was a coupe,”
she said. ,

“About how old would you say he was?” \

“In his forties, I should judge.”

Thanking the girl warmly and assuring her I would keep
her identity a secret, I walked to my car and told my wife
what had happened.

“It’s a lead,’ she agreed, “but heaven knows there are
hundreds of shiny blue coupes.”

Although the hour was late, I called Detectives Van Skaik
and McGath. ‘Look for a blue coupe and a tall, baldish faculty
member wearing nose glasses,” I ordered.

Events on Saturday moved at a dizzy speed. At 7:30 a. M.
Detective Van Skaik telephoned as I was preparing to leave
for my office. ‘“We’ve got the shiny bluc coupe, Chief,” he
reported. “The car is a 1925 Ford.”

“Fine,” I replied, “who’s the owner—Meyers ?”

“No, his name is Dr. James. Howard Snook. He’s a pro-

fessor of veterinary surgery at the university.”

“Where are you now?” ,

“At Snook’s home. McGath is outside with the doctor. We'll
have breakfast and meet you at headquarters.

1s @
secret
rolent
> her
hings.

only
| Hix
Chief
ficial
ished.

{ face
--year-

com-
apart-
r Ohio
ce and

called
the ad-

vas the
Alice
vorway.
proach-
» report
seven

ver, sat
“ws over
worry,”
here on
nt—I’ve
rate the

‘ing into
¢ garter
-r_ stock-
feet into
Tucking
n buckle
a hasty
ied from
Avenue,

13, 1929,

Theora Hix seemed in the best of spirits—and to all appear-
ances had little reason to be other than cheerful. Brilliant,
talented and attractive, she was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
Melvin Hix of Bradenton, Florida, where her father was a
medical instructor at the University of Florida.

She had entered Ohio State University in 1923 and grad-
uated from the literary school with honors in 1927. After
that she studied in the medical school and recently had com-
pleted her second year there. Studious, pleasant but secretive
about her own affairs, Theora took little part in campus
activities. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon lota, a
medical sorority, but seldom joined in its social life.

Such was lovely, mysterious Theora Hix. So it was that
she remained an enigma even to her classmates. So it was
that as she left her apartment, she was really a stranger to
the very roommate to whom she said goodbye. A strange
girl, alone among thousands of students, she. hurried away
to her appointment—and to death.

WAS READING my newspaper the next morning when

the telephone rang and a tense, boyish voice came over
the wire. .

“Chief, I’m out at the New York Central rifle range with a
friend,” gasped the youth. “We've just discovered the body
of a girl—and it looks like murder !”

The boy said he was Paul Krumlauf, aged seventeen, and
his friend was Milton Miller, sixteen. Warning him to disturb
nothing, I immediately notified Coroner James Murphy, Chief
of Police Harry French and Sheriff Harry Paul. Then I
summoned four homicide detectives and set out for the rifle
range, which is about four miles out of Columbus 9n Fisher
Road between Hague and McKinley Avenues. Detectives Otto
Phillips, Robert McCall, Gail McGath and Larry Van Skaik
accompanied me.

We found the two youths, white-faced and trembling, near
their gruesome find. The body—that of a girl I judged to
be in her early twenties—lay face downward. Her head and
partly revealed features were completely covered with con-
gealed blood. Great holes in the back of her head dispelled any
lingering doubts in my mind about the manner of her death.

A single stab wound was visible through a slash in the victim’s
brown dress near the right shoulder.

Coroner Murphy turned the body face up. There was a
wound about five inches Jong on the left side of the girl’s
throat.

“Her jugular vein has been severed,” he announced soberly.

Recalling that it had rained heavily around 10:30 the previ-
ous night, | bent forward and touched the girl’s bloodstained

girl.

garments, They were damp. The rain, however, had not en-
tirely obliterated tire tracks beside the body. Detective Van
Skaik bent to inspect the narrow tread.

“They look to me like Ford or Chevrolet tracks,” he said.

Suddenly my attention was attracted to the girl’s wrist
watch. Its crystal was broken and the hands had stopped at
10:02 o'clock. In all probability the girl had met her death
at that time.

But she had not sirccumbed without a struggle. Grass nearly
two feet high had been trampled flat for’ an area of six or
eight feet surrounding the body—telltale evidence that a
furious battle had preceded the girl’s slaying.

It was approximately 11:30 a. M. when Coroner Murphy
moved the body to the Glenn L. Myers mortuary at 23 West
Second Avenue to make a complete examination of the
brutally beaten and mutilated body.

That afternoon I dispatched several patrolmen to the rifle
range armed with scythes, lawn mowers, rakes, and with
orders to cut the tall grass and scour the area thoroughly for
clues to the slain girl’s identity.

Who was she and what had lured her to this lonely rifle
range far from the heart of the city? Was she a university
co-ed, as her well-made clothing and refined features indicated ?
Our questions were not long unanswered.

Columbus newspapers reached the street about 3:30 P.M.
At 4:45 Mrs. Helen Custer, record clerk at the city prison,”
received a telephone call from Alice Bustin. “Why, the de-
scription in the paper fits Theora Hix perfectly,” cried the

Forty-five minutes later both Alice Bustin and her younger
sister Beatrice, shuddering with horror, tearfully identified
the battered remains of their chum and roommate at the

Myers morgue.
Swiftly the news flashed around the campus, rocking the

staid college to its foundations. Students and faculty alike
were amazed, Theora Hix—quiet, reserved Theora, the
enigma of Ohio State, honor student in the medical school—
murdered? It was unbelievable. Why should anyone want to
do away with this lovely, studious girl whose private life,
while an enigma to many, still was above reproach?

icing EXAMINATION of the slain girl’s body
deepened the mystery. Theora Hix had not been ravished,
yet a deep gash had been inflicted in her groin, partially sever-
ing her blue garter belt but not cutting the dress over the
incision. However, the girl’s right ear had been punctured

with a sharp instrument, apparently a penknife.
“What would be the purpose of the wound in the groin and

A great university
re] iy

shook with scan dal

when this grim sex

murder was solved !

END OF A JOURNEY

“Far from the cloistered classrooms where she
“ijved her own life and said not a word about
t, the mutilated body of Theora Hix was laid
to rest. in a vault at Binghamton,, New York.

WOMAN OF MYSTERY

Lovely, talented Theora Hix was a
campus enigma until she made a secret
appointment which ended in her violent
death. Then police probed into her
Private life—and learned strange things.

Eprtor’s Note: This is the only
story of the sensational Theora Hix
case ever sanctioned by former Chief
Shellenbarger, and it reveals official
information never before published.

LIM AND LOVELY of face
S and figure, twenty-four-year-

old Theora Hix lolled com-
fortably on her bed in the tiny apart-
ment she shared with two other Ohio
State University co-eds, Alice and
Beatrice Bustin.

“Alice, what time is it?” she called
suddenly to her roommate in the ad-
joining room.

“Ten minutes of seven,” was the
response as tall, studious Alice
Bustin appeared in the doorway,
“Why, Theora,” she said reproach-
fully. “You know you have to report
at University Hospital at seven
o'clock sharp.”

Theora, fresh from a shower, sat
up and slid two slender legs over
the side of the bed. “Don’t worry,”
she replied airily. “I’ll be there on
the dot. It isn’t so important—I’ve
just got to learn how to operate the
switchboard.”

She dressed quickly, slipping into
a pink rayon chemise, blue garter
belt, brown frock and sheer stock-
ings. Then she thrust her feet into
black pumps and stood up. Tucking
a black purse with a green buckle
under her arm, she called a hasty
goodbye to Alice and hurried from
. the apartment at 1658 Neil Avenue,
in Columbus. :

On this night of June 13, 1929,

BY FORMER CHIEF
OF DETECTIVES

W. J. SHELLENBARGER
Columbus, Ohio

WITH VIRGIL LaMARRE

GENTLEMAN AND SCHOLAR
Noted as a veterinary

3
i
z
Hi

* ie

a cate cin e irisa ial a

Theora Hix
ances had |
talented an
Melvin Hix
medical inst

WAS RE

the“ teleph
the wire.

“Chief, I'm
friend,” gasp
of a girl—an.

The boy s:
his friend wa:
nothing, I im:
of Police Ha
summoned fo:
range, which
Road between
Phillips, Rot
accompanied :

We found :
their grueson
be in her ear
partly reveal
gealed blood.
lingering dou!
A single stab :
brown dress 1

Coroner M;
wound about
throat.

“Her jugula

Recalling th:
ous night, I bk

went to

the gol

Aver’ nt & Sy Ks S hy >

{ . \
AS AA AAA anti
on beni of .

ALIBI HOUSE
While Theora Hix was

being done to death, Dr. x
Snook swore, he was at ;
his spacious home (above).

LOVE AT FORTY?
Bald, fortyish Professor Snook
first denied, then confessed a
torrid affair with his beautiful
student. He claimed that he
was not the first of her lovers.

the one in her ear?” I asked, turning to Coroner Murphy.

“Tt looks as though a sadist with an uncanny knowledge of
surgery killed the girl,” he replied. “The incision in her groin
cut a large blood vessel, while the puncture in her ear in-
dicates an effort to reach the brain.”

“What caused death?” I asked.

“Hemorrhage from the severed jugular vein with com-
pound fracture of the skal a secondary cause. Seventeen
blows were struck on her head after she was already. uncon-
scious from loss of blood !”

I boiled with anger as I pictured the girl's frantic struggles
and the excruciating agony that must have preceded merciful
death.

The Bustin sisters could offer us little help. Between sobs,

BUT NO ONE SAW HIM
Unperturbed by grave charges,
the professor claimed he was at the
; swank Scioto Country Club before
aa : going home, No one saw him.

Sty Tal a

acd

PART-TIME LOVE NEST
Snook admitted he trysted here
with Theora, but couldn’t explain
why he returned keys to their
room (arrow) soon after her death.

they told a story of a girl, quiet, scholarly and very close-
mouthed about her business. They declared that Theora was,
always supplied with ample funds, for she received fifty dollars
monthly from her parents. -

“Had she ever remained away all night before?” I asked.

“Never,” said Alice.

“Then why didn’t you report her absence this morning ?”

“Because we supposed she remained with the daughters of
Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Jeffers at 1490 Neil Avenue,” explained
the girl. “She frequently served as companion for the sisters,
and as there was.a storm last night we thought she might
have stayed with them.”

“Did either of you ever hear Theora mention the name of
any male ‘acquaintance ?”

Both girls shook their heads. “Theora simply never talked
of her personal affairs, and we never intruded,” Alice Bustin’
asserted. .

“How long have you three lived together ?”

“Since last October.” .

“Always get: along well?”

“Always,” affirmed Alice. “We respected her desire for
privacy and she never inquired about our affairs.

However, the sisters revealed that Theora had been moody
of late, but that the previous evening she had seemed more
cheerful than in weeks.

Miss Bertha Dillon, switchboard operator at University
Hospital, stated that Theora arrived there at seven o'clock
sharp.

“She was in good spirits,” the operator recalled. “At about
7:45 she suddenly looked at her watch and said, ‘My good-
ness! I’m late for my date!’ ‘She arose, seized her purse and
rushed off. Her last words were, ‘I’ll-try to be back at 9:30.’
But she never returned.”

That all was not well with Theora was indicated by a con-
versation T had with J. T. Cummings, manager of a drug
store located on the first floor of the apartment where Theora
resided.

“Theora came in here quite frequently,” declared Cummings.
“Lately I’ve noticed that something seemed to be on her
mind. Several times she called for a taxi, then ordered a

- soda. Twice she left her sodas partly consumed to rush out

to the cabs.” Ome
I pondered this story for some time. What could it mean?

&
2
&
rs
sf
i

Although |)
at the tim
on the do
washed th

The agitated.
quite unlike t!
mates. Was
passion? Did
question was

Officers as:
Friday eveni:
they did locat
keys. “They
reported one

Curiously |
had the chain
to answer, I
Detectives V:
apartment.

Less than a
an old style
ammunition :;
Meyers of t!
Avenue.

Scanning $
more than a c
fied as an ins:
and the slain
find that Me,
where he ha:
Meyers had n:

That night
wife.

“Why don’
question som
somebody ot!
a lead.”

“No harm

R-ESIDEN
fessed tot
affairs. Like
manner of t!
twenty-two,
caused me to
For more :
was fearful «

rode with murder, and above all, to lay bare her
private life.

Immediately developments came with machine-
gun rapidity. :

_Coroner Murphy reported the girl had not been
violated. But she had been stabbed savagely in the
groin. A.deep gash had been inflicted. Yet there
was no corresponding slit in her dress. What did
this mean?

“It’s a sex murder, sure as you’re born,” Shellen-
barger said grimly.

Coroner’s Chemist Chester F. Long examined the
victim’s stomach and found evidence that she had
swallowed a powerful aphrodisiac just before she
was slain. .

Prosecutor Chester declared, ‘‘We’ve got to find
out who her. sweetheart was. We’ll get nowhere
until we do.”

Checking Theora’s reputation at the University
Hospital, where she studied medicine, detectives
were told she had been there the night she met
death. Miss Bertha Dillon, hospital switchboard.
operator, said she arrived shortly after 7:15.

A half-hour later the lovely girl exclaimed, “I’m
late for my date! I’ll have to rush. I’ll be back
at nine-thirty.”

She never returned.

When Chief Shellenbarger received that report
he exclaimed, ‘‘So she did have a date!”

Where else had she gone? Could her movements
be traced? Had she gone willingly to meet her
killer? Apparently she had not feared him—indeed,
had trusted him. ;

But when a squad had talked to J. T. Cummings,
manager of the drug store in the building beneath.
Theora’s apartment, he said she had stopped in
briefly that night and had seemed moody.

“She’s been that way a lot lately,” he said.
“Worried. Preoccupied.. A couple of times she
left an ice-cream soda sitting on the counter and
rushed out to grab a cab.”

Why, Chief Shellenbarger wondered? Did this
contradict the switchboard operator’s testimony?
Had Theora feared the date she met?

But—who was the man? Someone must have
seen him. He must have driven her home some-
time, at least. Chief Shellenbarger went to the
building where Theora had lived. Walking down
the corridor, he paused to stick his head into the
door of her apartment and ask his investigators
who were going through her effects, “Any luck?”

“Not yet,” they said.

He nodded thoughtfully and knocked on the
next door. No one home. The next, and a good-
looking young woman answered. At first she was
reticent, but, promised anonymity, she said, “I
saw a man drive her home one night.”

“Who was he?” the Chief demanded eagerly.

“I don’t know. I’ve seen him on the campus

—I think he’s a professor or something. He’s tall,
thin, partly bald, wears nose-glasses, is middle-
aged.”

“Middle-aged?”. Shellenbarger exclaimed. Why
had a good-looking co-ed dated an older man? And
a professor? Did this explain her furtiveness, the
secret meetings? Perhaps the man was married.

“What kind of car did he have?”

“It was a shiny blue coupe—maybe a Ford or
Chevrolet.” : .

Shellenbarger thanked her, promised not to reveal
her identity, and left. He telephoned an order for
his men to hunt for a professor who drove a shiny
blue coupe, then questioned the other tenants of
the building.

But, learning nothing further, he returned to
Headquarters to await developments.

At 3:15 o’clock Saturday morning a man tele-
phoned Headquarters and asked in a trembling
voice, ‘‘What happened to Theora Hix?”

“Who's calling?” the Desk Sergeant demanded.

“Mr. Meyers,” the man said.

“First name, please?”

There was a silence. The Sergeant repeated his
question.

IIS AN’T you tell me what happened to her?” the
voice pleaded. “What does it matter who—”
“Sorry. You’ll have to tell me who you are.”
More silence. Then a click. The Sergeant jiggled
the receiver. The line was dead. Instantly he
demanded the call be traced.

But a few minutes later the telephone operator
said it had come from a pay station.

Who was Meyers? Why was he curious about
the fate of the lovely mystery co-ed? Why had
he refused to identify himself? Had he any con-
nection with her, with the crime?

Detectives reported that the man’s wrist-watch
Theora had worn belonged to her father, Doctor
Melvin Hix, of Bradenton, Florida. So that lead
blew up.

Detective Larry Van Saik said:

“We've found the professor with the blue coupe.
His name’s Doctor James Howard Snook—profes-
sor of veterinary surgery.” :

“A man with medical knowledge’”—the words of
the Coroner flashed into Shellenbarger’s mind.

“Bring him in,” he ordered harshly.

“Okay, Chief.”

Doctor Snook was led in. Tall, slender, slightly
stooped and with the pinch-faced expression of a
scholar, he stood before Chief Shellenbarger blink-
ing his pale eyes in dismay. The Chief regarded
him silently a moment, then asked, “Did you know
Theora Hix?” ‘ :

“Yes, I did.”

“How well did you know her?”

The Professor flushed, stammered, “Quite—quite
well.”

Shellenbarger waited. The Professor removed his
glasses, wiped perspiration from the corners of. his
eyes.
“I met her first in one of my classes,” he said.
“She seemed intelligent, quiet, interested in her

Far south in Bradenton, Florida, the parents of Theora Hix, Doctor and Mrs. Melvin Hix, never
dreamed the danger their daughter was courting in the apartment indicated here by the arrow

work. She was an athletic girl, full of vitality—
quite a remarkable young woman. Le he _ hesi-
tated, and the Chief knew he was coming to the
difficult part—“‘I became interested in her.”

“In what way, Doctor?”

“As a—as a—well, you might say, as a woman.
That is,” he hurried on, “we saw each other eve-
nings, after school.”

He paused, drew a deep breath. a

“Take your time, Doctor. Start at the beginning.
How long have you known her?”

Smiling gratefully, Doctor Snook said, “About
three years. I admired her greatly and_helped
finance part of her way through college. She was
interested in her studies in the Medical School and
came to me after class to discuss medicine with me.
I began seeing her evenings—dating her, I guess
you’d call it, if I were a younger man.”

Chief Shellenbarger regarded the
closely.

“If you knew her so well, why didn’t you come
forward sooner?”

“Because—because I’m a married man.” Doctor
Snook leaned forward, (Continued on Page 50)

Professor

Krumlauf:
Lane

and Paul
from Lovers’

Milton Miller, left,

terror

They fled in

Coroner Murphy knelt beside the body.

“Beaten to death,” he said. “And stabbed, too.”
He pointed to a slash in the girl’s blouse which
bared her white right shoulder. “But there’s too
much blood.” ~

He turned the body over. Then he saw the
reason for the blood.

“Her jugular vein. was cut,’’ he said shortly.

The girl’s lovely face was bathed in clotted
blood. Sodden strands of auburn hair clung to her
pert, turned-up nose, her -full-lipped mouth, her
thin eyebrows, her hazel eyes, her dimpled chin.

“She put up a fight,” Shellenbarger said. The
weeds around ‘her body were trampled as though
by a struggle.

The Chief bent suddenly, pointed to the ground
near by. “Automobile tire-tracks,” he said.

Detective Otto W. Phillips of the Homicide Squad
interpreted:

“It looks like someone drove her here and mur-
dered her after a struggle. Maybe a lovers’ quarrel.
A parked-car killing.”

“Her right hand’s been smashed,’”’ Coroner Mur-
phy said. “The third joints of the little, index and
fourth fingers are broken.”

“Does it look like. her hand was beaten when
she put it to her head to protect herself?”

“No. The hand was not hit with a hammer or
any such thing—the flesh is too torn. It looks—”
he paused, frowned—‘“it looks almost as though
her hand were smashed in an auto door.”

“Might be.”

“Another thing,” the Coroner said. ‘Her right
ear has been punctured with some sharp instru-
ment. Probably the same knife used to cut her
throat. Maybe a penknife.”

He mused a moment.

“It looks.as though the killer had some medical
knowledge,” the Coroner said. “The gash in her
throat was aimed directly at the jugular vein; the
puncture in her ear was aimed straight at the
brain.”

Chief Shellenbarger nodded, asked, “How long
would you say she’s been dead?”

“I think I can tell you exactly when she was
killed—to the minute. Look.”

He lifted her wrist. The Chief saw a watch,
serenty smashed -in the struggle. It had stopped
at 10:02.

wen after ten o’clock last night,” the Coroner
said.

But the Chief was exclaiming, “Say—that’s a
man’s wrist-watch! What’s a good-looking girl
doing wearing a man’s watch?”

What, indeed? Could the watch be traced? Would
it lead to the killer? Who was the man in the life
of the slain beauty?.

'ILJER clothes are wet,” the Coroner said. “That
e confirms the time of death, because it rained
pretty hard last night just after ten.”

The Chief squatted on his heels and methodically
picked up the several keys that were scattered
about the ground. There were twelve of them and
a broken key-chain. He bounced them in his hand.
Had the chain been snatched from -the killer’s
clothing and broken in the struggle? Or had it
belonged to the dead girl? If it had been hers,
why had the killer taken it, broken it and scattered
the keys? .

Identify her—that was the first job. All the
officers in town and county went to work. ,

Two possibilities appeared in the Missing Per-
sons Bureau files—Mrs. Billie Rutherford Glass

Theora Hix: This brilliant medical stu-
dent never had men callers —
yet she died in Lovers’ Lane

Would the clews shown in this posed picture
reproducing the position of the dead girl's body
solve the mystery of the murder of Theora Hix?

and Theora Hix, both of whom had been missin;
since the night before. ‘

Frightened witnesses peered at the -body. |
wasn’t Mrs. Glass. » 9 tan

At 5:30 p.m. the young roommate of ‘Theora Hi
took one look at the cold, stiff body of the gorgeou
brunet, blanched, grasped a detective’s arm fo
support and whimpered:

“That’s Theora.”

Theora Hix—Ohio State University co-ed, grad
uate with honors two years previously, brillian
student in the Medical School. Theora Hix—dark
eyed, quiet, attractive.

Why had she met death? What was there hidde
in her life that had led to this? Could the polic
tear down the wall that blocked from view he
private life?

The word of her murder leaped like a tongue <
flame across the quiet college town. ‘The shade
campus quickened with excitement, professors an
students who had known the lovely Theora whis
pered tensely, the city papers screamed the news ¢
the “hammer murder of the co-ed in Lovers’ Lane

idetor Jdme Howdf Snook, shown’ with’ his attorney,
¥ d aloné Js the Inset: "I never -discisved marriage"

And Chief Shellenbarger, his gray eyes intent
and serious, waited until Théora’s roommate, pale-
faced Alice Bustin, recovered from her shock. Then
he took her into his ‘office and said kindly, “You’ve
got to help us. Who was she?’ Who were her
friends? “Her enemies? Her sweethearts? What
did she do last night?”

Her face tense, Alice Bustin talked about her
dead roommate. She and her sister, Beatrice, had
lived with Theora in an apartment upstairs over a
campus drug store at No. 1658% Neil Avenue. The
slain girl had been quiet, studious, an omnivorous
reader. Level-headed, pleasant, she was admired
by both the Bustin girls—their description of her
later was corroborated by professors and the many
students who had known her.

“When did you see her alive last?” Shellenbarger
asked.

“She went out about seven o’clock last night.”

“Where was she , going?”

“She didn’t say

‘““Did she here, ‘a date? Her body was found at
the rifle range—Lovers’ Lane.”

“She may have, but she didn’t say so.”

“Who were her men friends?”

“T never heard her mention any man’s name.”

“What!” Shellenbarger exclaimed. “You mean to
tell me that a good-looking brunet co-ed never
talked about her dates?”

Miss Bustin frowned, appeared puzzled.

“No,” she said slowly, “she didn’t. Never. And
my sister and I always thought it was funny. She
was so attractive. But she kept to herself—about
her private affairs, I mean.”

ee ui

What did this indicate? Had there been some
flaming secret hidden in Theora Hix’ life that she
had wished to keep secret even from her room-
mates? Was it this that had led to murder?

Shellenbarger insisted:

“But she must have had dates.”

“Yes, she did. Sometimes she’d say she was
going out for a date. Especially recently.”

“Yet her men friends never called for her at her’

apartment?”

“Never. ;

Why? Chief Shellenbarger quickly had forgotten
all other possible angles of the investigation, for
this one crowded everything else aside.

't@HE must have met them some place secretly,
then,” he said.

“I guess so.’

“And you can’t remember a single thing she ever
said that might possibly explain why?’

“No.

“Did she ever stay away from home overnight
before?”

“No. She was usually home by ten o’clock after
her dates.”

The Chief was silent. He questioned Alice Bustin
a few minutes more, then told-her, “We'll have to
go ees her personal belongings at your apart-
ment.”

The Chief conferred with Prosecutor Jack Ches-
ter. Together they plotted the course of their in-
vestigation. They sent out squads in an attempt
to trace the man’s wrist-watch on Theora’s tiny
wrist, to reconstruct her movements the night she

nada Fae Hy,

Too Much Love for the Professor’s Coed (Continued from Page 27)

spoke earnestly. “You can see the po-
sition this terrible thing places me in.
My wife...”

“She didn’t know about Miss Hix?”

“No. She knew nothing. I hope she
need never know. Theora and T-—” he
fluttered his hands helplessly—‘‘well,
we kept a room secretly, for one
thing.”

“You what?”

“We rented a flat at a rooming-house
operated by Mrs. M. M. Smalley at No.
24 Hubbard Avenue in February, un-
der the name of Mr. and Mrs. James
Howard. I posed as a traveling man
from Newark. We told Mrs. Smalley
that we would be in and out of town
a good deal but would retain the room
permanently. We used it—”

The professor lowered his head in
shame.

The Chief had listened silently to
the amazing story. Had this strange
romance between the liquid-eyed co-
ed and the stooped professor led to
murder? But why would a man kill
the woman he loved?

dd 9 pes you continue your association
up to the time of her death?” the
Chief asked.

“Yes,”

“Both of you were—in love?”

Doctor Snook paused to consider
before answering.

“T don’t know,” he confessed slowly.
“T suppose you might call it that. But
not the way a boy and girl are in

love. We enjoyed each other’s com-
pany. It was a convenient arrange-
ment, an escape from tedium. But

love—no, probably not. At least, I
know we entertained no_ illusions
about the permanence of our associa-
tion.”

“You didn’t intend to divorce your
wife and marry Theora?”

“Oh, no. Theora and I never dis-
cussed marriage. Theora was—well,
modern. She didn’t want to get mar-
ried to anyone. Not for a long time,
anyway.”

“This room—is it still rented under
the fictitious name you used?”

“No. When I learned of the murder
I checked out and removed some of
Theora’s belongings. I was hoping that
this part of her life never would be
discovered, both for the sake of her
reputation and mine.”

He had finished. Chief Shellenbar-
ger looked at him a long time. Doctor
Snook must have felt some affection
for the girl who had meant so much
to him. How could he sit there and
dissect their association in this cold,
emotionless manner? Obviously, con-
cern over his wife's learning of the
situation crowded emotion over The-
ora’s death from his mind.

But that was beside the point, the
Chief realized. The point was—

“Where were you last night, Doe-
fore”

“At the Scioto Valley Golf Club
most of the time. After leaving my
laboratory I went to the Club about
seven-thirty in the evening to get a
pair of golf shoes. I stayed a while—
perhaps an hour or so—then returned
home. I retired about nine o’clock.”

Chief Shellenbarger nodded. It
sounded like a reasonable alibi.
But until it was checked, Chief

Shellenbarger wanted to be sure he
knew where Doctor .Snook was. He
said, “I’m afraid we'll have to place
you in technical custody, Doctor—at
least temporarily.”

Doctor Snook said quietly, ‘I under-
stand. I was hoping my wife—”

“Sorry. But it can’t be helped.
She’ll have to corroborate your alibi.”

A sergeant led Doctor Snook from
the Chief’s office. Shellenbarger called
in his men, ordered them to examine
Doctor Snook’s car, to question Mrs.
Snook and Golf Club members and em-
ployes. The detectives left, singly and
in pairs.

Was it possible, the Chief wondered,
that Snook was the killer? He had
answered the questions with complete

frankness, Was that the normal reac-
tion of a man with murder on his
conscience?

Mrs. Smalley, the rooming-house
proprietress, identified Doctor Snook

as the man who had rented the flat

with the slain girl. Detectives found
nothing in the secret love-nest. Mrs.
Smalley corroborated the professor’s
story that he had come to the room-
ing-house about 2 p.m., the day after
the murder, turned in the two keys to
his room, paid the rent and left.

The detectives who had gone to The-
ora’s own apartment stalked into the
Chief’s office and flung on his desk a
pistol and a packet of letters.

The gun was an old Deringer .41.
It had been concealed in Theora’s
dresser drawer. Why had she, sup-
posedly a carefree college co-ed,
needed a gun?

But the Chief passed instantly over

needed evidence to connect a sus-

Captain William Penprase:

with the
story begins on

hooded rapist.
page 28

pect
This

the gun and seized the letters. For
they had been written by a man, by
Marion T. Meyers, and they were filled
with affectionate phrases,

“Meyers?” mused Prosecutor Ches-
ter. ‘‘Wasn’t that the name of the guy
who called Headquarters early Satur-
day morning and asked about the
killing? Refused to give his full
name?”

“It sure was,” Shellenbarger replied
grimly, and he ordered an immediate
check on Meyers.

Meyers turned out to be an instruc-
tor in the University horticulture de-
partment who lived at the Gamma
Alpha fraternity house, No, 1501 Neil
Avenue.

Chief Shellenbarger led a squad
there. But Meyers’ fraternity brothers
said he was gone and they didn’t know
where.

-“He was in town at three-fifteen this
morning,” the Chief said to himself.
Aloud, to the student in the doorway,
“Who’s his best friend?”

. about Meyers?”

The boy hesitated, named as one of
Meyers’ close acquaintances Robert
Summerbell, an instructor at North-
western University who was on the
Ohio State faculty for the Summer.
He was a fraternity brother of Meyers.

Summerbell soon faced Shellenbar-
ger. The Chief demanded, “Did Mey-
ers know Theora Hix?”

Summerbell hesitated an instant.

“T believe he did.”

“How well?”

“I'd rather you’d get all this from
him.”

“So would we,” the Chief said grim-
ly. “And we will—when we find him.
Meanwhile—”

“I guess he knew her pretty well,”
Summerbell said reluctantly. “Very
well, in fact. I think they were en-
gaged at one time.”

The Chief and his men exchanged
quick glances. What did this mean?

“Were they engaged at the time of
her death?”

“No, I believe not. I understand
they broke their engagement some
time ago.” :

“How did Meyers take it? I mean,
was he unhappy over the split-up?”

Summerbell hesitated, finally re-
plied, ‘I’m afraid I can’t answer that.
I don’t know him well enough.”

The Chief realized this was sensible.
The matter was too important to trust
to hearsay, guesswork.

He thanked Summerbell and re-
turned to Headquarters, wondering
what part Meyers had played in the
lurid tangled life of the murdered
southern co-ed beauty. The Chief
threw half his force into the hunt for
Instructor Meyers.

As Shellenbarger sat at his desk De-
tective Phillips entered and said, “We
examined Doctor Snook’s car, Chief,
and we found a blood-stained cap and
And stains on the car door-
jamb.”

“Anything else?” the Chief asked.

“No. Otherwise the car was clean.”

“No rain-spots?”

“No.”

“Bring Snook in.”

HEY did, and the Chief told him
about the cap and glove.
_ “Certainly,” he said. “I used them
in an, operation at my laboratory.”
Shellenbarger knew it might be
true. But he ordered the stains an-
alyzed chemically by Doctor Long to
see if they were made by human blood.
“Did you ever hear Theora speak
of a Marion Meyers?” he asked.
“Yes,” Doctor Snook replied with a
little hesitancy.
“What did she say about him?”
The professor hesitated once more,
finally said slowly, “I don’t like to

talk about him. I’m sure he isn’t im-.

plicated in this terrible thing.”
“You'll have to tell us everything
that might help. What did she say

Doctor Snook sighed, said, “They
formerly were engaged. Theora said
that when they broke up Meyers cried
like a child and got down on his knees
and pleaded with her to marry him.
But,” Snook added hastily, smiling in
deprecation, “you know how women
are. Naturally, she’d prefer to have
me think it was her idea to break her
engagement rather than his.”

“I know,” the Chief said, but his
mind was racing. “Do you know
whether he’s seen her recently?”

“I think he has. She told me only
a couple of weeks ago that he was still
madly in love with her and insisted on
seeing her. She didn’t want to talk
to him, she said. She said he bothered
her for dates constantly. But you know
how women are.”

“Yes,” Chief Shellenbarger said ab-
sently and waved the professor out.

Determined not to build up a mental
theory about Meyers’ involvement un-
til he had questioned the young in-
structor personally, the Chief went to
the morgue where Coroner Murphy
was performing a second autopsy.

“Find anything new?”

“No. But a fellow came to look at
the body early this morning. He
seemed so nervous and worried I took
his name.”

“What was it?”

The Coroner thumbed through his
note-book.

“Marion T. Meyers,” he said.

The Chief hurried out. When he got
back to his office Meyers was there.
He had walked in voluntarily. Pale,
shaken, he faced Chief Shellenbarger.
He was younger than Dr. Snook, thin,
nervous, intent.

“Did you know Theora Hix?” Shel-
lenbarger: demanded.

Meyers’ eyes shifted uneasily. His
lips were sullen as he replied, ‘‘Yes.”

“How well?”

“Pretty well.”

“We understand you were in love
with her.” A

He jerked his head up, his eyes
flashing. . .

“What’s that got to do—”

“Tl ask the questions.” .

He stared at the floor, clenched his
hands.

“It’s true,” He said. “I used to be in
love with her.”

‘Used to?”

“Yes. It’s all over now—that is,”
he said hastily, “it’s been over for a
long time—two years.”

“Why did you break up with her?”

“She—she wouldn’t marry me.”

“Why not?”

He raised his eyes again and they
were flaming. His words tumbled out.

“Because of that Doctor Snook. He
broke us up. Theora was infatuated
with him. When I still was going with
her, Theora was infatuated with him
—crazy about him. She wouldn’t tell
me why she wouldn’t marry me at
first. But later I found out. She-told
me she’d been carrying on with him
for three years—right when she was
supposed to be engaged to me.” He
ended his recital venomously. .

“When did she tell you that?”

“Two months ago. She—” He stopped
abruptly, looked at the detective wide-
a “Surely you don’t think that

“Never mind,” Shellenbarger said
harshly. “If you broke up with her
two years ago, why’d she tell you
about Doctor Snook so recently: as two
months ago?”

“Because—because I tried to get her
to come back to me—asked her again
to marry me.” He said it brokenly.

Shellenbarger studied him. Bits of
a theory were fitting together in the
Chief’s mind. Love... jealousy...
unrequited love... jealousy... shat-
tered romance . . . attempted recon-
ciliation . . . sudden hatred ... rage
... blind mania for revenge...

The young instructor’s hands trem-
led.

Shellenbarger asked him, ‘Where
were you Thursday night?”

Meyers’ words fell absently from his
mouth as he named a Columbus movie
and said he had attended it.

Shellenbarger leaned close to him.

“That theater has been closed for
months,” he spat out.

The instructor’s face went white.

tt] GUESS it has.” He stared at the

floor. “I wasn’t at a movie. I was
with a fraternity brother, Robert Sum-
merbell.” .

“Why’d you say you were at a
movie?” .

Meyers raised his face. It worked
spasmodically. The cords in his neck
stood out. His hands clenched and un-
clenched.

“I don’t know,” he cried, rolling his
eyes wildly. “I’m not myself. The
strain—the terrible strain—I can’t
stand it! I loved her—I—”

He slumped forward, his head on his

arms.

Chief Shellenbarger was tempted to
go after him then. But he knew that
he had no concrete evidence yet. He
wanted to check Meyers’ alibi. So the

ID—2

Be? a Ae rs 8s

Ff
es
Pk et

MOR paar ate, eee Me Len ie ee Net eet
EE CORE eae eS

he as

Snook, a man in his 50th year, was
a slight, bald man wearing horn-
rimmed nose clips. It was afternoon
now, and the veterinarian had just
finished reading a newspaper about the
murder. ‘‘Doctor,’’ said Phillips, ‘‘I
understand at the university that you
were a close friend of Theora Hix?’’

‘‘Both my wife and I were,’’ said
Snook. ‘‘Theora’s father is a college
professor down in Florida, and that

made both my wife and me take more ©

than a usual interest in the girl. In fact,

I personally, unknown to my wife,

helped pay Theora’s tuition fee.’’

Dr. Snook lighted a pipe and looked
levelly at Phillips. ‘‘Do you have any
suspects?’’ he asked.

‘‘Well,’’ said Phillips, ‘‘yes and
no.”’

The doctor turned and looked at the
sleuth. ‘‘Yes and no,’’ he repeated.
‘Don’t you know?”’

Ignoring the question, Phillips asked
another: ‘‘Were you aware that
Theora Hix was not a virgin?’”’

Snook took his pipe from his
mouth. ‘‘I don’t believe it,’’ he said.
‘“‘Who’s going around saying a thing
like that?”’

‘‘Nobody. Except that a medical
examination shows she wasn’t.’’

“*It’s still unbelievable. Why,
Theora His was one of the most high-
minded girls I’ve ever known.”’

‘*But a fact is a fact, doctor. What
I want to know is who was having
sexual relations with that girl.’’

The veterinarian studied another
smoke ring as it floated toward the
ceiling. ‘‘There is one fellow that
Theora had been seeing for about a
year now. I’d prefer not to mention
his name, but —

**¥ou ‘don’ t have to mention it,
Doctor,’’ Phillips broke in. ‘‘I know
who it is. It’s Professsor Ray Taylor.”’

Snook just blinked at Phillips. ‘‘I
can see you’ve covered a lot of ground
since this morning,’’ he said. ‘‘Yes,
Professor Taylor’s the man. But I’d
never in a thousand years consider him
capable of murder — especially a
murder as beastly as this one seems
have been.”’

‘“‘But would you consider him the
type that would have seduced Theora
Hix?”’

Dr. Snook shrugged. ‘‘That would
be hard to tell. Theora was a fairly
repressed girl, wrapped up in her
studies and anxious to be a great
physician some day. It’s entirely

possible that a repressed girl like that

might have yielded to a man under
certain conditions.”’

Due to self-castration operation, accused killer used
a beach chair during his trial.

‘‘What kind of conditions?’’

‘*Conditions conducive to inter-
course. The time of the month, the
surroundings of a girl and a man
— it’s a combination of things that go
to make up a seduction.”’

**You seem to know quite a bit |

about the subject, Doctor.’
- Snook studied the detective. ‘‘Men
in my profession have to keep abreast
of many subjects.”’
» **Would you have any knowledge
as to whether Theora Hix has been
seeing much of Professor Taylor
recently?”’
Snook looked Surprned ‘Why,
she’s been seeing him right along.’’
‘*As recently, say, as last week?”’
“Certainly. Why do you.ask?”’
‘*Professor Taylor tells me he hasn’t
seen Theora Hix for months. He
claims she threw him over for some-
body else.’’

‘*Taylor said that? Why, he’s pulling

your leg.”’
**No, he was in dead earnest.’’
Suddenly, Dr. Snook lapsed into
silence. He grew evasive when Phillips
asked him more questions about
Professor Taylor. Finally Phillips
accused him of being evasive. Snook’s

face reddened. ‘‘Look here, man!’’ he
said, and his voice throbbed with
anger. ‘‘Do you think I’m going to sit
here and put the finger of murder on
somebody else — especially when I
don’t know the facts! I want nothing
like that on my conscience. If you

think Professor Taylor knows anything

about the murder of Theora Hix,
you’re a policeman and it’s up to you
to go out and prove it. But I’ll-tell you
one thing, Phillips. You’ll never prove
a murder by anything I tell you.’’
Snook’s eyes were narrow behind his
nose clips. ‘‘And now, if you’ll excuse
me, I have ‘some papers I must be
going over.’

It was evening when Detective
Phillips called at Professor Taylor’s
room again. -Professor,”’ said
Phillips, ‘‘I’m afraid you’ve been lying
to me about several things.’’

Taylor blinked at the sleuth but said
nothing.

**You’ve been seeing Theora Hix
more recently than you have admit-
ted.’’ Taylor still remained silent.
‘**And another thing, Taylor,’’ Phillips
went on, his pleasant face growing

(continued on page Rte

“17

Se. eat

nrvenevehe IPRs BARREL ah aS

tinal. ae ie

eas ig
ae GE gibt

Chicago’s Sex-Change Rapist

(continued from page 47)

woman Bank said he was with at the
time the teenaged girl was raped.
Banks volunteered the woman’s phone
number, and the detective called her
in spite of the early hour.

Mrs. Phillips acknowledged an
acquaintanceship with the suspect,
whom she knew as Mercedes Van
Dross, but insisted she had not been
with him on Friday or Saturday,
December 17th and 18th.

Later in the day Dioguardi drove to
Mrs. Phillips’ home to interview her
face to face, and she told the same
story. ‘‘I had been with Mercedes twice
in the last month, and on both
occasions I drover her — er, him — to
a party at my brother’s house. But this
was the Saturday night before Christ-
mas, not Friday night,’’ she explained.
‘You know, I know him as a female

_ impersonator and I have a hard time

referring to him as he.’’

‘*Have you ever observed him
wearing a dress?’’ asked the detective,
knowing how silly the question might
have sounded.

‘‘Well, I have seen him in women’s
clothing, but only once or twice in a
dress,’’ she replied.

The suspect’s alibi blasted full of
holes, Dioguardi went to Assistant
State’s Atty. Alfred Petrocelli of the
Felony Review Unit and briefed him
on the case. Petrocelli interviewed
both the victims and the suspect, and
recommended Banks be charged.

On Monday, January 3, on the first
court day of 1983, Banks was indicted
for rape, attempted rape, attempted
deviate sexual assault, and battery.

Dioguardi, meanwhile, went about
trying to find out.all he could about
the suspect, to aid the state’s attorney’s
office in its prosecution.

The detective learned that Banks
subsisted on earnings from welfare,
and as a male prostitute, whose
customers included affluent men on
Chicago’s North Side.

‘*He walked the streets up there,
mostly around Belmont Avenue and
Broadway,’’ Dioguardi said. ‘‘His
‘tricks’ were entertained either in hotel
rooms or in his basement apartment,
in the Roseland neighborhood.”’

Based on his investigation and
interviews with Banks’ friends, both
male and female, the detective

determined that Banks used his

apartment ‘“‘for weddings and wedding
receptions’’ in which men and women,
and women and women, were ‘‘mar-

ried for the night.”’

‘‘From what we gathered, these
were very gala affairs, in which he
played the hostess,’’ said Dioguardi.
‘‘Banks always became very upset
when I referred to him as a he.”’

One such party took place in the fall
of 1981, according to the landlord,
who said several male invitees came
in drag. ‘‘There were gorgeous people
and it was hard to imagine who was a
‘he’ and who was a ‘she,’ according
to what people told us,’’ said Dio-
guardi.

Two female neighbors Banks was
friendly with told police all about the
‘‘beautiful women’’ he used to party

‘with, never realizing they might ac-

tually be other men like himself.

‘‘He was in the process of going
through with plans for a sex-change
operation. At least that was his
intention,’’ Dioguardi said. ‘‘At the
time of the attacks he told us he was
taking female hormones.”’

Dioguardi and the other detectives _

who worked on the case theorized that

those hormones might have had a.

strange reaction on Banks, prompting
him to try to assert his manliness in
such a way as to cause harm to women.

‘“‘Then, too, he may have been

‘having second thoughts and turned to

rape to prove to himself he was still a
man,’’ observed Dioguardi. ‘‘He told
me that, from the time he was age 17,
he realized he was in the wrong body,
as he put it.”’

Banks was truly a complex indivi-
dual, as Dioguardi pointed out in the
case file he passed on to Assistant
State’s Attys. Thomas Gainer and
John Wasilewski for prosecution.

The evidence against the suspect
proved so overwhelming that Banks,
who so vigorously protested his
innocence in the beginning, decided
not to fight it.

On July 22, 1983 Craig Banks, also
known as Mercedes Van Dross,
pleaded guilty to all charges, and
Judge George Marovich in the Mark-
ham Branch of Cook County Circuit
Court sentenced him to 10 years in
prison.

‘‘This case was a textbook example
of cooperation between police and the
public,’’ the detective said. ‘‘If it had
not been for the full cooperation our
investigators received from law abiding
citizens, this man might still be
prowling the streets at night.”’

(Editor’s note: The names Kathy
Rambeau, Myrna Raymond and James
Fitch are fictitious. Use of the real
names would serve no public interest).

Deadly Romance Of Doctor Snook

(continued from page 17)

grim and his voice losing its warmth,
‘“‘I think you lied to me earlier today
when you denied ever having had
sexual intercourse with Theora Hix.”’

Taylor, who had taken a seat, arose
and began to walk around the room.
‘‘All right,’’ he said. ‘‘I did have
intercourse with her.’? The man who
had outwitted Theora’s impregnable
underwear stopped pacing and stood
there glaring at the detective. ‘‘But that
doesn’t prove I had anything to do
with the murder.”’

““You could have been jealous of
this other man — whoever he was
— and have killed because of that
jealousy.”’

Taylor raised his right hand in the
air, as if taking an oath. “‘I swear to
God to you, Mr. Phillips, I had
nothing to do with the death of Theora
Hix.’’ Now the fellow broke down and
began to sob. ‘‘Why,”’ he said, “‘I
wanted to marry her. I’d marry her
right now — if she could come back.”’

When Detective Phillips left Tay-
lor’s flat for the second time he still

didn’t know what to. think. The
professor was either bathed in inno-
cence or dripping with guilt.

The sleuth began to ponder the
possibilities. Theora Hix had appar-
ently been a dual personality — prim
and correct during the daylight hours,
but quite different under cover, or
under the covers, of night. Could it
be that her nocturnal demands had
been a little too much for Professor
Taylor? And if that was so, had the
professor, driven to fury by the mere
thought of anybody else’s coming
along, thwarted such a maddening
possibility by murdering the girl? ‘Such
a crime had been committed before,
many a time, and would, Phillips
knew, be committed many a time in
the future.

On Saturday morning, Phillips took
another crack at the belongings of
Theora Hix in the room the girl had

shared with the two other young ladies __.

(continued on next page)

Deadly Romance Of Doctor Snook

(continued from page 49)

over the drugstore. In the pressure ot
events the previous day, Phillips had
not held all of Theora’s possessions
up to the light. But now, as he did so,
he let go with a low whistle. For he
found a rent receipt — the receipt for
the rent of a room in a rooming house
on the other side of town. The receipt
was not dated and it did not bear the
name of the person to whom it had
been issued. But it was fresh, thus of
recent origin. And the fact it had been
in the possession of Theora Hix
indicated to Phillips that the girl could
just possibly rave been the tenant of
the room.

Sticking a photo of Theora in his
pocket, Phillips rushed to the rooming
house. The landlady, a Mrs. Minnie
Smalley, took one look at the photo,
then squinted at Phillips. ‘“Why,’’ she
said, “‘that’s Mrs. Taylor. Is something
wrong?’’

Phillips didn’t answer the question,
but asked another. ‘‘Mrs. Taylor, you
say?’’ The woman nodded. ‘‘Mrs. Ray
Taylor.”’

‘*Do you know her husband?’’

“I know both of them. They’ve had
the room for five months. Gave it up
only night before last.’’

The night before last. Thursday
night. That would be the night Theora
Hix was murdered!

‘“*What time night before last?’’
Phillips wanted to know.

‘*A little after 10.”’

That figured. Theora Hix had been
murdered between 8 and 10 o’clock.

‘‘What did this man Taylor look
like?’’ Phillips wanted to know.

Mrs. Smalley couldn’t be helpful.
She had usually seen Taylor only at
nights, when the light wasn’t very
good. ‘‘Well, did he walk with a
limp?”’ é

‘‘Now that you speak of it, yes. A
slight limp.’’

“Do you think you’d recognize him
if you ‘saw him again — in the day-
light?”’

‘*I think so.’’

It was from a boarder at Mrs.
Smalley’s — a man who occupied the
next room to that of Theora Hix and
the character calling himself Taylor
— that the detective turned up some-
thing interesting. ‘‘Whoever that man
was,’’ the tenant told the sleuth, ‘‘he
wasn’t taking care of that girl.”

‘How do you mean?”’

‘*Well, I’d hear them fightin’ once

' 50

in a while.”’ .
‘*What about?”’
**She’d want him to spend more

time with her. He was going off on a

vacation and she didn’t want to be left
alone nights.’’

Professor Ray Taylor was having a
late Saturday breakfast by himself in
his rooms when Detective Phillips
appeared at his door with Mrs.
Smalley. ‘‘Ever seen this woman
before, Professor?’’ Phillips asked
Taylor. Taylor just studied Mrs.
Smalley briefly and shook his head
sideways. Turning to the woman,
Phillips asked, ‘‘Is this the man?’’
Mrs. Smalley had been carefully
studying Taylor while Phillips spoke
to the man. Now she just shook her
head. ‘‘No,’’ Mrs. Smalley said,
“that’s not him. I can’t be too sure,
though. As I said, it was always night
when I saw him.’’

Phillips and Mrs. Smalley were
standing on the sidewalk outside of the
building where Professor Taylor lived
when Phillips resumed his questioning
of the woman.

**You said that Mr. Taylor, as he
called himself, gave the room up night
before last.’’

“*Yes, a little after 10 o’clock.”’

““When had you seen Mrs. Taylor
before that?’’

**A few nights before that.’’

“Uh-huh. And did Taylor turn in
his key night before last?”’?

‘He turned in both keys.’’ - -.

**Both? Miss Hix had a key, too?”’

*“Ves.’?’

‘‘And he turned in both his own key
and hers?’’

“*Yes. He said she wouldn’t be
coming back, either. Said they were
going out of town to live.”’

The killer, whoever he was, Phillips
told himself, had wrapped things up
pretty neatly. He had murdered
Theora Hix, had taken her pocketbook
in which she carried a key to the love
nest, and had turned the key over to
the landlady with his own key: And
that, the killer had assured himself,
had disposed of that.

Meantime, other sleuths were going
over the terrain where the slain girl
had been found. The hunters came up
with a key ring. The key ring had been
unfastened, as if somebody had

“wanted to get a key off it. Three keys

remained on the ring. Searching still
further, the hunters came across nine

other keys. '

When the ring and the keys were
turned over to Detective Phillips, he
showed them to the two girls who had
shared the flat with Theora Hix. ‘‘That
key ring belonged to Theora,”’ one of
the girls said. ‘‘She always carried it
with her.”’

**You wouldn’t by chance know
how many keys she usually carried?”
asked Phillips.

“‘As a matter of fact, I do,’’
answered the girl. ‘‘Theora carried 13
keys. I remember the number because
she showed me that ring one day not
long ago and remarked that she had
13 keys on it, and said 13 was supposed
to be a lucky number.”’

Phillips didn’t say anything. But he
told himself that he knew what the
13th key had been for. It had been the
key to the love nest — the key that the
man calling himself Taylor had turned
in to Mrs. Smalley with his own key
on the night of the murder.

It was beginning to add up now. The
killer, who had shared the love nest
with Theora Hix, had slain her, for
whatever motive, then had taken that
key from her ring and had turned it

over to the landlady. The importance
_ Of this deduction was that it definitely

established the man who had shared
the room with the girl as her murderer.
Phillips’ problem, then, was to
definitely identify the man who had

~ holed up in the love nest with the

pretty medical student. 4

_ It was on the Saturday night, a day
and a half after he had first been
put on the murderer’s trail, that
Detective Phillips decided to pay
another call on Dr. Snook. The night
was hot and sticky — typical of
midsummer in Ohio — yet when the
sleuth got out of his car across the
street from Dr. Snook’s house he saw
smoke issuing from the chimney of the
place. Smoke in midsummer. Smoke >
from a furnace. Why?

Now, as he stood there leaning
against his car, looking at the smoke
issuing from the chimney, Phillips
unreeled the film of his memory. Only
a few days before the body was found
in the desolate field five miles outside
of town, Phillips and several fellow
members of the Columbus police *
department had been out on the police
rifle range, which was only a hundred
yards or so from the spot where
Theora Hix was found. Dr. Snook, an

expert marksman, often shot with the

police. The veterinarian, with Phillips,

, (continued on next page)

Be ee ee

¢
18 Dies sobiecne «ee

‘sgt pe

MLA Lathe undichiel Lee aobe tn Gaeeea Chee Ne ee rarer’

had been out on the rifle range that
day, firing away at the targets.

There had been talk between the
cops and Dr. Snook, during the
shooting practice, about the region
some 100 yards from the rifle range.
The locale in question had become
notorious as a neckers’ paradise. ‘‘You
know what they’re calling that place
now?’’ one of the cops had said to
Phillips, indicating the spot where the
Hix girl’s body was later to be found.
‘Shirt Tail Alley.’

Dr. Snook, Phillips now recalled,
had been standing alongside of him
when the cop mentioned Shirt Tail
Alley. ‘‘That’s a funny name for a
necking place, isn’t it, Doc?”’ Phillips
had said to Snook. And Snook,
Detective Phillips now remembered as
he stood there looking at the smoke
issuing from the doctor’s chimney in
the middle of summer, had looked at
him in a queer sort of way. Phillips
had thought nothing of it at the time.
But now, his instinct told him as it sent
a shiver through his compact frame,
the way Dr. Snook had looked at him

_ might have been freighted with

meaning.

As Phillips stood there that Saturday
night, looking at the smoke, he
underwent a change of mind. He
decided not to question Snook, after
all; not just then, anyway. Instead, he
went about other business for several
hours. Then, a little after midnight,
on the Sunday morning, he returned
to the vicinity of the Snook home,
parked his car and sauntered up to the
place. The lights were out. Smoke was
no longer issuing from the chimney.
That was just as Phillips wanted it.

Letting himself into the Snook
home, the sleuth made his way through
the darkness to the cellar. There he
opened the door of the furnace. He
took a poker and rummaged through
the ashes. His poker struck something
hard. It was a partly burned bedroom
slipper.

Retrieving the slipper, Phillips saw,

by the illumination cast by the dying.

embers in the furnace, that the size
marking on the slipper was still visible.
The size was small. Phillips had seen
Mrs. Snook. She was a large woman,
with large feet. She would not,
therefore, take a Size-Small slipper.

This meant that someone in the

Snook household had burned a
bedroom slipper of a size other than
that which Mrs. Snook wore. Next
stop: the morgue. Phillips was hardly

_ surprised when, examining Theora

Hix’s foot, he found that it was the

kind of foot that fitted into a small-
sized slipper.

Phillips was in his office early
Monday morning, mapping out his
strategy for the coming hours, when
he became intrigued by a thought that
had never before entered his mind.
What about Mrs. Snook? Phillips had
measured the woman as a solid citizen,
completely unaware of any knowledge
of the murder of the medical student.

But now! A terrible drama — just
a possibility — began to unfold in
Phillips’ mind. He could see Taylor,
the suitor who had been sidetracked
by Dr. Snook in the affections of
Theora Hix, seeking vengeance on
both Miss Hix and the veterinarian by
going to Mrs. Snook and telling her
of her husband’s infidelity. And
Phillips could now see a woman,
enraged to the point where her reason
left her, either finding her husband and
Theora together out there near the rifle
range, or luring the girl by herself and
then, driven by the furies, slashing and
hammering the medical student to
death.

Phillips found himself in a cold

sweat after he had watched the last |

scene of the imaginative drama played
out in his mind. And he didn’t stop
sweating when he received a phone call
shortly before 8 o’clock that Monday
morning. ‘‘This is Jack Schick,’’ came
the voice on the phone. Schick was a
reporter on the Columbus Citizen.
‘I’ve got something hot for you.’

Ves, Jack,”* said Phillips. ‘“What
is it?”’

‘‘That Hix girl was a close friend of
Dr. and Mrs. Snook,’’ said Shick.
‘‘Well, I find that Mrs. Snook went
out and bought a new dress in a
downtown department store on Friday
morning. That would have been the
morning after the murder.”’

“‘So what?’’ asked Phillips.

‘*So it’s just possible that this Dr.
Snook was playing around with
Theora Hix and his wife found out
about it and took things into her own
hands.’’

‘‘And what would the ritchase of
a new dress the morning after the
murder have to do with it?”’ asked
Phillips. .

‘*Are you kidding? Why, she could
have got her own dress bloodstained
when she killed Theora Hix.”’

‘‘Look, Jack,’’ said Phillips, lying
like a trooper. ‘‘I can tell you just this:
You’re way off the track. Dr. Snook’s
wife couldn’t be more innocent of any
knowledge of this murder.”’

It was on the Monday night that

Detective Phillips decided to pay
another visit to the cellar of the home
of Dr. Snook and his wife. So, when

all the lights in the house were out for °

the night, the sleuth let himself in.

Playing a flashlight into the firebox
of the furnace, he poked around the
ashes again. In a little while he saw
something glistening. It was a piece of
heart-shaped costume jewelry, fasten-
ed to a piece of black cloth that had
somehow escaped the flames. Phillips
was assuring himself that he had
picked up something valuable when he
stuck the brooch and the piece of cloth
in his jacket pocket.

The detective was about to leave the
cellar when he heard a door opening
somewhere above him. He realized
that it was a door leading from the
first floor to the cellar. Then he heard
descending footsteps. There wasn’t
time to get out before whoever was
coming down the steps should reach
the cellar. So the sleuth crouched in a
corner behind the furnace.

' Phillips just crouched there behind
the furnace, hardly daring to draw a

deep breath. The footsteps came
closer. Now he saw the beam ofa. -
flashlight. In the dim illumination, he .

could make out the figure of a woman.

The beam of the flashlight darted
around the cellar. Once it came close
to the detective. But it didn’t play on
him. Then, with the flashlight still

_ turned on, the woman returned to the

cellar steps and began to ascend.
The woman had just started up

when a man’s voice floated down.

‘‘What are you doing down there,

~dear?’’ ‘‘I thought I heard a noise

down here,’’ the woman answered, as

she continued upward. “But appar-

ently it wasn’t anything.”’

Phillips waited until he heard the |
~ woman close the door behind her at

the top of the stairs. Then he got the
hell out of there.

Back at his office, Phillips sat at his
desk speculating on the origin of that
piece of black’ cloth and the heart-

-Shaped piece of costume jewelry. He

decided that the find could have come
from a dress worn either by Mrs.
Snook or by Theora Hix. He wouldn’t
be able to quickly learn if it had come
from a dress of Mrs. Snook’s. But he
could quickly tie the find into Theora
Hix or eliminate it from the girl simply
by questioning her roommates.

-- One of the roommates was out when
Phillips called, but the other one was
there. He handed the girl the pin and

(continued on next page)

tted he had
rsday night,
stained, and
he cleaner’s
ent: ‘People
don't they?”
and mules
admitted he
e nest apart-
<{ them, but
tion this act
e he felt ita

cell in the
development
rning, when
eted, made a
exhibits you
‘act the same
d—positively.
1e same type

ptly charged
Ohio State

nounced his °

he School of
d of his guilt,
a attempt to
k him out to
ne spot where
he challenge,
emotion that
reveal at the

to the apart-
fheora. Mrs.
janitress ad-
then to
had oc-
estigators
janitress and
of the house.
r in the hall-
a towel, and
» community
gered nearby,
face.
knew nothing
r. Snook and
wo occupants
ut, were new

irtment, while
octor, Phillips
ireau drawers.
iddressed the
et’s get this
ou claim that
this place last
haven't seen

ed.

liar, Doctor,”
e not, explain
gotten in here
d on the closet
ring when she
rls at 7 o'clock
she died—the
it know it, but
ou, she stopped

ind)”:
ito lucid focus
he keyring and
ra's dead body.
doctor, frantic
he one object
h her—her key
both shared—
excitedly, and
f the necessity
at the ring,
om nine of the
“y he found
the end.
l, and the
av wie rooming

evidence, Snook

still refused to admit his guilt. The de-

‘tectives took him back to the county jail, .

where he remained under constant question-
ing. During the next few days, the police
were as tenacious in the probing of his
past as the doctor was adamant in insisting
on his innocence. Information which the
detectives acquired through talks with
college administration officials gave further
index to the man’s character, and suggested
a probable set of circumstances which led
up to the murder.

‘They were told that Snook’s extra-marital
predilections had | long been a source of
worry to the university, and while college
officials had never been able to pin on him
a definite transgression and thus ismiss him.
they had several times given him warning
regarding his conduct. Furthermore, there
was an unproven record of the doctor's indis-
creet use of certain narcotics to which he had
access in the course of his work, and it was
suggested that he had administered them
to. an anonymous woman for immoral
purposes.

In the light of this, the authorities be-
lieved that Theora Hix, after three years of
an anomalous relationship with Dr. Snook,
had finally come to realize its sterility,

futility, and the basic injustice it was doing
both to herself and to Snook’s wife. She prob-
ably made her attitude known to the doctor,
and her decision to. break it off. It was
reasonable then to assume that Snook, in an
example of the classic attitude—“If I can't
have her, nobody else will”—planned to kill
her. Before accomplishing his act, however.
through some devious machination of his
abnormal personality, he had surreptitiously
administered the excitant drug to her, hoping
once more to possess the object of his de-
sire.

Although for days, until Wednesday, June
19, the police doubted it, Dr. Snook finally
demonstrated that he was, after all, made
of human clay. After a sobbing session of
some two hours in Chief Shellenbarger's
office, he broke down and confessed his guilt
to the murder. His signed confession re-
flected an accurate analysis by the police of
the specific manner in which he had carried
out the act, but diverged somewhat from
their view of why he had done it.

According to him, Theora had become
porringhienl, and had threatened to kill his
wife and him unless, instead of taking his
summer vacation away from Columbus with
his wife, he remain behind with her. He

said that while sitting in his car on the
rifle range, Theora made a move for her
handbag in which, he declared, she usually
carried the derringer. In self-defense, he

-said, he reached behind him for the hammer,

struck her repeated blows, and then, out of
compassion for her suffering, decided to end
it by ending her life with his pocketknife.
After leaving the scene, he flung her purse
into the Sciota River and not until then did
he find that it had not contained the gun.

Snook went on trial for the murder of
Theora Hix on July 24, before Franklin
County Judge Henry Scarlett. The case was
easily the most sensational Columbus had
ever known, and perhaps the most sensa-
tional in the history of the entire state. The
proceedings lasted until August 14, and
when the jury had deliberated upon the
masterful case presented by Prosecutor Jack
Chester, Jr., they brought in a verdict of
guilty in the first degree. Judge Scarlett
sentenced Snook to death, and on February
28, 1930, he was electrocuted at the Ohio
State Penitentiary.

(The name Claude Willis is fictitious to protect
the identity of a person innocently involved in the
investigation.—-The Editor.)

Lace Mad
Assassin

[Continued from page 23]

“Turn up any leads yet?” he inquired hope-
fully. ‘

O'Connell shrugged. “Hard to say at this
stage of the game,” he retorted bleakly.
“However, it’s pretty evident that Mrs. Goer-
ing was entertaining someone when the
shooting occurred. There are two coffee cups
in the sink, one with traces of lipstick and
one without. Also two plates with remnants
of sandwiches.”

“Which would imply that whoever fired
those shots was known and trusted by Mrs.
Goering.” Grousbeck observed.

O'Connell nodded. “As to motives it prob-
ably wasn't robbery,” he went on. “We found
her purse lying on the coffee table in the
living room, It was undisturbed, and the
wallet inside contained thirty-five dollars.”

One last Jook around and O'Connell led
the way back into the living room. He paused
briefly at the section of the woodwork where
a bullet had lodged.

“That takes care of the five shots Mrs.
Stokes said she heard—one here . . . one in
the frame of the hallway door . . . two in
the wall along the stairway .. - and the last,
the medical examiner will extract from Mrs.
Goering’s body,” he remarked.

Their next stop was at a door in the
upstairs hallway. “This is the door through
which, Mrs. Stokes said, the killer escaped.”
Burns informed Grousbeck.

The district attorney opened the door and
glanced down the steps leading to a narrow
driveway. Flanking the stairs was a dark-
ened window of the adjoining house.

“T suppose it would be futile to ask whether
anyone saw the murderer from that window.”
he mused.

O'Connell had already explored that pos-
sibility. “We've spoken to the people who
own the house,” he said. “Their young son,
Billy, sleeps in that room. He said he was
asleep when the shooting took place.”

Grousbeck nodded and turned his atten-
tion back to the staircase. “Since the killer
probably realized he had aroused the entire
street by the shots, chances are he steered
clear of the front of the house and headed

— TT.?

up that way.” he said, pointing toward Fed-
eral Street.

“Right, and there's a fair chance he was —
noticed hurrying off, or climbing into a car.

shortly after the gun went off,” O'Connell
chimed in hopefully.

After again searching the stairs for clues—
and again without success—the officers re-
turned empty-handed to the now-brightly-
lit hallway where medical examiner William
J. Pelletier was now bent over the lifeless
body of the attractive young matron. In a
matter of minutes, Pelletier was making
known his findings.

Mrs, Goering had been killed instantly by
the bullet which had plowed through her
chest, The medical examiner promised to
extract the slug that night an send it to
Chief O'Connell for examination later by
the boys in ballistics.

The body removed, Murphy and Burns
began a methodical canvas of the neighbors.
An hour of questioning netting them noth-
ing in the way of helpful information, the
officers gave up and returned to the murder
scene, There, after reporting to Chief O’Con-
nell, they received a new assignment.

“The dead woman's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Roy Kimball live over on Log Plain Road,”
the chief said, “and it’s just possible they
might be able to provide some clue to the
motive. Anyhow, take a run over and see.
At the same time you can deliver the baby
to the grandparents.” ‘

The child was still weeping when Burns
took over, but in the patrol car a couple of
minutes later—away from the noise, the
harsh lights, and the strange, excited voices—
it was cooing contentedly, Taking his eyes
off the road for a moment, Captain Murphy
glanced down at baby Sandra and smiled.
‘The smile turned into a frown when he
noticed she was busily engaged in stuffing
her little fist in her mouth.

“Get her hands under the covers!” he
snapped gruffly to Burns. “At the rate she’s
going, the kid's liable to ghoke herself.”
-Uncomfortably and_ slightly awkwardly,
Burns reached over and, after a brief tussle,
carried out the order successfully. In a mo-
ment he was squinting at a small metal disc
which now rested in the palm of his hand.

“Choke herself is right!” he exclaimed
with a low whistle. “It’s a good thing she
didn’t swallow this.” \

Snapping on the overhead light, Burns
studied the piece of metal he had taken

away from the child. It was a foreign coin
with strange markings. Engraved on one
surface was the legend WHITEY, and at-
tached to a small hole near the rim of the
coin was a half-inch length of fine gold
chain, the terminal link of which had been
torn apart. Burns handed it over to Murphy.

The captain turned the disc over in his
free hand. “Might be important, but off-
hand I'd say it wasn’t...” he muttered.
“Kids her age latch onto the darndest things
to play with.”

Burns scowled. “For my money, it isn’t the
sort of plaything people give to a child:
because of its small size, it would be too
easy to swallow.”

Murphy was silent for a moment. Then
he shot a sharp glance at his colleague. “On
second thought, | think you've got some-
thing there. If the kid had the coin when
she was put into her crib, Mrs. Goering
would have seen it. Therefore, it follows that
the tot must've obtained it between the time
she was put to bed and her mother was shot.
And the only person from whom she could
have obtained it would have been the killer.
More than likely she awoke while he was
talking to the mother and when he went
over to quiet her, she pulled the coin off
some piece of jewelry he had been wearing.”

Arrived at the home on Log Plain Road,
Murphy picked up the child and started for
the darkened house, dreading the chore
ahead of him. A minute later he was ring-
ing the bell.

Repercussions came quickly. In a moment.
lights flashed on in the house, followed by
the slap-slap of carpet slippers on the stairs.
Presently a tall, gray-haired distinguished -
looking man was opening the door. One
quick glance at the child in Murphy’s arms
and he stiffened.

“What's happened to Fay?” he demanded,
fearfully.

Murphy was about to reply when a hand-
some, middle-aged woman in a pink wrap-
per materialized at the door, her eyes. wild
with fright. “Something terrible has hap-
pened to Fay! | know it, I know it!” she
gasped.

Murphy handed her the baby, after which,
as gently as he knew how, he explained
what had occurred. Then, before the couple
could give themselves over to grief, he fol-
lowed through.

“We had another purpose in coming here
besides turning over the baby to your care,”
the captain said. “We had hoped you might

itt me a me i iit ‘ s

had an early dinner at home, with his wife,
he said, and afterward went to his university
office, where he worked, writing an article
for a hunting magazine, until about 7:45.
Then he left his office, mailed some letters,
and drove over to the Sciota Country Club
to pick upshis shooting glasses which he had
inadvertently left there. After a brief con-
versation with the locker boy, he drove
toward home and stopped at a pharmacy at
the corner of 10th Avenue and High Street.
There he picked up the évening papers, went
home, spent an hour or more in his own
room, which was separate from his wife's,
sorting through some summer clothing he
planned to take with him on a vacation,
and went to bed.

It was a story which, if only as a routine
matter, required checking. Dr. Snook offered
no objection to remaining at headquarters
to “be at hand should his assistance be
needed.” Phillips and McCall set out to go
over the ground the doctor said he had
traversed the night of the murder.

When they’d finished, they realized the
result was indecisive. The only tangible

point in Snook’s itinerary which they could.

corroborate was his visit to the country
club, for the locker boy there confirmed
that he had in fact talked with the doctor
some time between 8 and 8:30. But no one
had seen him at his office, which proved
nothing either way. And the pharmacist
was noncommittal: Snook might or might
not have been in.

For her part, Mrs. Snook, whom the officers
now interviewed because of the logical im-
peratives of the investigation, could sa only
that she had spent most of the evening in
her upstairs room. At 9:80, she recalled, she
heard a door slam, which she took to be the
doctor coming in, and at 11:30, when she
went to the kitchen, she saw him there hav-
ing a late snack. :

When the detectives returned to head-
quarters, still pondering the deeper impli-
cations of Willis’s remarks concerning Snook’s
relationship with Theora, as contrasted with
the doctor's own description of what it had
been, they found the doctor entertaining
some of the headquarters staff with an ex-
hibition of sure-handedness. Some of his
audience had asked him the secret of his skill
as a pistol shot, and Snook’s answer was in
the nature of a demonstration. He showed
how, for as long as five minutes at a time,
he was able to hold his right arm out-
stretched, fingers clenched as though grasp-
ing a revolver, and during these exhibitions
his arm and hand remained absolutely
motionless. While most of the on-lookers
may have learned something about pistol
shooting, Phillips and McCall learned a
different lesson: Dr. Snook, obviously, was
a man of iron nerve, in complete control
of himself.

This nerve was soon to be put to a severe
test, and the next move on the part of the
investigators was, at the same time, resolved,
when a visitor, in the person of Mrs. W.
Bixby voluntarily a 5 se at. headquarters
with information of a startling character,

Mrs. Bixby, who said she lived on North
High Street, declared that she and her
husband operated a furnished-apartment
house on the northern section of the city.
She said that she had seen Theora’s picture
in the afternoon papers, and had read that
Dr. Snook had visited police headquarters
in connection with the case,

This prompted her to come forward im-

mediately, for, she said, she had been renting

a one-room apartment, since February, to a
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Snook, who had de-
scribed themselves to her as demonstrators
for a salt company, with headquarters in
Newark, Ohio. The woman who represented
herself as Mrs. Snook bore an identical like-
ness to Theora Hix. Since Mrs. Bixby did

not live on the premises, she explained, she
came across her tenants only rarely, and,
indeed, had not seen the supposed Mrs,
Snook for more than a week, but the last
time she'd seen Mr. Snook was the day before,
“He came to me at around 2:30 yesterday
afternoon,” the landlady said, “told me he
was giving up the apartment, and settled
his bill with me.atle told me his wife would
be using the place until Sunday. But later,
I couldn't understand it, because he left both
their keys on ‘the table,”

Snook was immediately sent for and con-
fronted by Mrs. Bixby. To the detectives’
Scarcely suppressed amazement, he greeted
the woman with smiling equanimity, and
addressed her by name. ° Mrs. Bixby was
thanked and dismissed, and then the officers
turned to Snook for an explanation of the
lie he had told,

“It’s true,” he acknowledged casually, “but
I was trying to protect Theora’s name. And
you must realize that I am a married man.”

“But how is it,” he was asked. “that you
gave up that love nest before the fact that
Theora Hix was killed was known to any-
one—except the murderer?”

“Merely co-incidénce,” the doctor replied
carefully. ‘at happens that we decided to
part company last Monday. She gave me
her key to the place, and I told Mrs. Bixby
about her using the place until Sunday just
to make the situation look natural. Also.
when I went there Friday, I cleaned out the
few things I had in the apartment. Theora
had already removed what little she had
around last weekend.”

By this time Phillips, McCall and Van
Skaik felt there was a rising scent in the air.
They left headquarters and headed once
again for Dr. Snook’s house. Two hours later,
after searching thoroughly the residence
itself, and the outlying garage, the officers
felt confident they had uncovered evidence
of the highest potential significance.

To start with, when they poked into the
basement furnace, they found indications
of a recent fire, and after sifting its charred
remnants, they found portions of a woman’s
silk pajamas, and a pair of mules, which
were not Mrs. Snook’s. Also in the base-
ment, in a tool box, they came on a ball-peen
hammer, and a penknife, both of which
showed signs of recent washing.

Then, upstairs, in the doctor’s bedroom
closet, the investigators found a brown suit,
which bore a cleaner’s tag indicating it had
been returned from the shop only that morn-
ing. One of the detectives succeeded in reach-
ing the cleaner, and was told that when the
suit was brought in it was stained on one
knee and sleeve with what appeared to be
blood.

The doctor's car gave up further damning
exhibits. On the back deck, lay a cap and

air of gloves—both bloodstained, and cling-
ing to the upholstery were several hairs of
the exact shade and texture of Theora’s.
Most sh aed nag and most graphic of all, was
the condition of the car's right door jamb.
It, too, was stained. with a substance which
resembled blood, and, assuming it was
actually such, offered an explanation of the
dead girl's mashed fingers. Either, in at-
tempting to flee from the car, or in an
attempt to resist being dragged into it. the
door had been slammed on her hand.

In an attempt to prove or disprove this
latter basic assumption, the officers took
scrapings from the jamb, and turned them
over to City Chemist E. F. Long for analysis,
together with the cap and gloves.

Then, in a tense interview, they charged
the veterinarian with their finds. Snook
proved to be a slippery customer, able to
retreat strategically from his: former posi-
tion, but unwilling to make any admissions
of a damaging nature.

“Tf it’s blood at all that you found on my
things,” he asserted, “it’s animal blood. After

all, that’s my work.” He admitted he had
worn the brown suit on Thursday night,
but denied it had been bloodstained, and
marked off his taking it to the cleaner’s
Friday, with the laconic comment: “People
have to get their clothes cleaned, don't they?”

As for the charred pajamas and mules
found in the furnace, Snook admitted he
had removed them from the love nest apart-
ment on Friday, and had burned them, but
declared he had failed to mention this act
when questioned earlier because he felt ita
trivial and unimportant detail.

Snook spent the night in a cell in the
county jail, The next day's first development
in the case came at mid-morning. when
Chemist Long, his work completed, made a
report. “All three of those exhibits you
gave,” he told the detectives, “react the same
way to tests for human blood—positively.
Furthermore, the blood is of the same type
as the dead girl's.”

With this, §nook was promptly charged
with murder, Soon after, the Ohio State
administrative authorities announced his
dismissal from the faculty of the School of
Veterinary Medicine. Convinced of his guilt,
city and county officials, in an attempt to
shake his imperturbability, took him out to
the rifle range and led him to the spot where
Theora had died. Snook met the challenge,
and failed to show even the emotion that
anyone might be expected to reveal at the
scene of a loved-one’s murder.

Then the party moved on to the apart-
ment: Snook occupied with Theora. Mrs.
Bixby was not present, but the janitress ad-
mitted them to the building, and then to
the apartment Snook and Theora had oc-
casionally occupied. One of the investigators
was assigned to question the .janitress and
other occupants on that floor of the house.
While talking to the caretaker in the hall-
way, an aged man, carrying a towel, and
apparently on his way to the community
bath at the end of the hall, lingered nearby,
curiosity written all over his face.

The janitress, it turned out knew nothing
of consequence regarding “Mr. Snook and
his wife.” Nor did the other two occupants
of the floor, who, it turned out, were new
tenants,

Thside the love nest apartment, while
other officers questioned the doctor, Phillips
began poking in closets and bureau drawers.
Turning from a closet, he addressed the

‘prisoner abruptly. “Now _ let's get this

straight, Doctor,” he said. “You claim that
Theora gave you her key to this place last
Monday night, and that you haven't seen
her since. Is that right?”

“That's right,” Snook agreed.

“Then I’m afraid you're a liar, Doctor,”
Phillips shot back. “If you're not, explain
to me how Theora could have gotten in here
to leave this brown hat I found on the closet
shelf. It's the hat she was wearing when she
said goodbye to the Bustin girls at 7 o'clock
Thursday night—the night she died—the
night you killed her. You didn’t know it, but
it’s clear that before she met you, she stopped
by here and left her hat behind.”

This revelation brought into lucid focus
the hitherto hazy picture of the keyring and
twelve keys found near Theora’s dead body.
After murdering the girl, the doctor, frantic
to remove from the scene the one object
which could connect him with her—her key
to the apartment they had both shared—
snatched her keyring. Then, excitedly, and
impelled by his realization of the necessity
for quick flight, Snook tore at the ring,
flinging around him at random nine of the
other unimportant keys until finally he found
the one he wanted—fourth from the end.
This apartment key he packeted, and the
next day left it on the table at the rooming,
house.

In spite of this irrefutable evidence, Snook

ene, s

still refuse

tectives tox

where he remainc
ing. During the
were as tenaciou
past as the doctor
on his innocence
detectives acquit
college administr:
index to the man
a probable set o!
up to the murder

They were told
predilections had
worry to the uni
officials had neve:
a definite transgre
they had several
regarding his con
was an unproyv enyr
creet use of certair
access in the com
suggested that hx
to an anonymo:
purposes.

In the light of
lieved that Theor:
an anomalous rel:
had finally com

Lov
As

[Contin:

“Turn up any lea
fully.

O'Connell shri
stage of the gar
“However, it’s pre
ing was enterta
shooting oc
in the sink
one withou
of sandwiches.”

“Which would
those shots was k:
Goering.” Grousb

O'Connell noda
ably wasn't robbe:
her purse lying «
living room. It
wallet inside con:

One last look
the way back int«
briefly at the sect
a bullet had lod

“That takes ¢
Stokes said she h:
the frame of the
the wall along th«
the medical exam
Goering’s body.”

Their next ste
upstairs hallway.
which, Mrs. Stoke
Burns informed (

The district at:
glanced down th«
driveway. Flanki:
ened window of |

“T suppose it wo
anyone saw the m\
he mused, ~

O'Connell had
sibility. “We've s;
own the house,” }
Billy, sleeps in
asleep when the

Grousbeck nod:
tion back to the
probably realized
street by the sho
clear of the front

id noth-
yndered
ion .4]-
o fit it.
» Misses
in fire-

. where
ie of. its
1€ previ-

lips in-

7, andk
quarters
to leave
between
the last

stponed
i and re-
d of the
cers’ in-
ppeared,
iring the

F. Long,
1a Dillon,
r murder.

oeen mur-

e fact that
threw the
Early the
llenbarger
d Phillips,
sfully con-

ive deeper
o turn up
therefore,
ichers. Yet
; emerged.
had, been
iarv Medi-
ig in with
several on-

campus dormitories occupied exclusively by women. Third,
from several sources, the officers heard that ‘I’heora had
frequently dated a young research instructor in the Horti-
cultural Department, named Claude Willis.

Eager to question Willis, the detectives visited his de-
partment, only to learn that he was not in Columbus, but
engaged in some experimental work at one of the uni-
versity’s agricultural stations, located at Bono, Ohio, where
he'd been since the previous day. Phillips set in motion
the necessary machinery to accomplish his return to the
city, and then, with his colleagues, made more specific
inquiries concernin him. ;

Willis, it appeared, was 35, and a member of a fraternity,
Gamma Alpha, at whose campus frat house he lived when
in Columbus. He was spoken of in the highest professional
terms, and reference was made to his advanced work in the
field of cornborer agronomy. Indeed, he was credited with
recently having made a discovery in this scientific area
which, it was estimated, would increase the corn yield of
the state of Ohio by five per cent. Personally, he was de-
scribed as being mild mannered, studiously inclined, and
good natured,

While awaiting an opportunity to talk with the scientist,
the investigators visited the administrative offices of the
School of Veterinary medicine. Executive personnel there,
after consulting their files and their memories, added no

demension to the picture of Theora Hix. They said she
merely had been reserved, performed her duties adequately,
and so far as they knew, had left no particular impress on
the institution.

The next port of call in this weary round was the campus
dormitory where Theora formerly had lived. There they
were lucky enough to find working on a day assignment,
a man who, during Theora’s residency, had been the night
watchman. He remembered her well, for a very special
season.

“There’s a 12 o'clock curfew in this building, you know,”
he explained, “but that girl wasn't having much part of it.
Many a night she didn’t show up here until 2 a.m.—or later.
I'm an easy-going sort of fellow, and to tell you the truth,
I closed one eye to it. She seemed to be grateful, for every
once in a while, I’d get a little tip.”

The ex-watchman went on to ef that when Theora came
home on these late nights she had always been brought by
the same man, or at least, arrived in the same car, which
was always driven by a man. “I never got a good look at
his face,” the informant added, “but I can tell you that
his car was a blue Ford coupe.”

Phillips, McCall and Van Skaik got through with this

interview in the early afternoon, and then went over to
the Gamma Alpha fraternity house ,to await the appearance
of Claude Willis. He showed up shortly thereafter and
sat down with the officers to talk quite candidly.

“1 can’t tell you how shocked I am to hear of this terrible
thing,” he declared with quiet simplicity. “t: don’t mind
saying that Theora meant a great eal to me.”

The officers’ ears pricked up at this statement and they
pressed Willis to enlarge on it. He'd known Theora, he
went. on, since she first came to the university six years
before, and had always admired her greatly. In the be-
ginning of their relationship, he said, she ap eared to re-
turn his feeling, and they got along famously. But three
years ago Theora’s interest in him diminished, and, al-
though they continued to see each other occasionally, she
would not grant him as many dates with her as theretofore.
About two years ago, in the hope that drastic measures
might restore the prior happy condition, he proposed mar-
riage to her. She refused him.

“She gave me as her reason,” Willis continued, “that
she didn’t want to get married until she had her medical
degree. I couldn't help but feel, though, she told me that
just to let me down easy. I believed then, and I have more
reason to believe now, that there was another man in her
life.”

Phillips, McCall and Van Skaik deferred for a moment a

The grassy field, left, behind the rifle
range (seen in the background) where the
girl was found. Above are the clothes,
knife and hammer, exhibits at the trial.

piecemeal dissection of the story they'd just heard, and
turned at once to the question of how Willis had spent
Thursday night—the night of the murder.

The young research man declared that he had been in
the company of a visiting fraternity brother from North-
western University, whom he named, until 9 o'clock. Then,
he said, he went out to mail some letters but was back in
his room within fifteen minutes, and prepared for bed.
He offered, as corroborative testimony, the names of a half
dozen other house residents who saw him wandering around
in his pajamas, until a fairly late hour, when he went to bed.

“It’s strange,” he added. “Theora was killed on just the
night she was very much on my mind. I haven't seen her
in two weeks, and I had a strong impulse to call her and
ask fora date. I didn’t, though. I guess I was afraid, .-.”

“Afraid of what?” Van Skaik put in.

“Afraid that she might turn me down—afraid she was
out with that other man.”
ww. “And who is that?” Van Skaik pressed the attack.

Willis hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. “I hate
to be bandying Theora’s name around in such a connec-
tion.” he said bitterly, “but I realize that this is serious
business. 1 was afraid she’d be out [Continued on page 75]

down
Jim
ver.
er and
time,”
ing in
ionths.
varned
{ knew
all for

more
Beadle
couple
d Mrs.
wrning,

fter 8
Chis is
r who
imped
badge.
ive,

imant.
»f that
to you
Doctor
ed my

Beadle
iuse of
oating
veaked
e said.
hand.
iought

shes in
vuldn't
- as

__er
d that
> with
to the
isband
doctor
wasn't

sheriff

know.
er in.

looked
! them

' Beadle

ilders.
{ come
ing. I
I was
le out
him.”
o sure
1 have
to be
r. and

often
“Jim

Sheriff
to be.
ut you

room,
ld you
ore to
y jury
rurt if
al.”

of only
‘y had
"e SUS-
o fired

Sheriff Pecot secured first degree murder
indictments against all three suspects on
July 18th. They were all held without bail.
And they all pleaded, ‘Not Guilty.”

Jim Beadle signed a statement confirming
the confession he had made shortly after his
arrest. “I have engaged Rene H. Himel to
defend me,” he said. “And he has advised
me to aid the state's case all I can. That
course will be taken.”

R. F. Walker, former Speaker of the
Louisiana House of Representatives was re-
tained to defend Dr. Dreher and Mrs.
LeBoeuf. “We-are innocent of any wrong-
doing except aiding a killer to hide a body,”
the doctor stated. “That fact will be proven
in court.”

‘The trial that followed was one of the most
sensational in all the history of the South.
No woman had ever been sent to the gallows
in Louisiana. People of prominence rallied
to Mrs. LeBoeuf’s aid. Dr. Dreher’s friends
of long standing testified to’his good name.
And the lake people came to Jim Beadle’s
defense. It was the upper crust against the
lower; a class conflict that rocked the delta
land,

It took a full week for the many defense
witnesses to testify. Then, at last, the prosecu-
tion’s turn came. Judge James D. Simon
and the jury listened to details of the ugly
rumors of illicit love, clandestine meetings
in Palourde Lake cabins, threats and grow-
ing hate.

Finally Jim Beadle was put on the stand.
He looked into the faces of the accused
doctor and Mrs. LeBoeyf and sneered. Then
he told his story all over again. How he
had been employed to protect Dr. Dreher.
The details about the gun and the quick
shooting. Of Mrs. LeBoeuf's coolness; and
her question, “Is Jim dead?”

Defense Attorney Walker submitted him
to the most bitter cross-examination any
court had ever witnessed. Mrs. LeBoeuf
collapsed and had to be taken to a hospital.
For the remainder of the trial Ada LeBoeuf
appeared before the court in a hospital bed
which was wheeled in by an attendant.

Prosecutor Gilmore read the stories Mrs.
LeBoeuf and Dr. Dreher had made. Then

he tore them apart bit by bit. The defense
objected strenuously.

“My clients were under duress and emo-
tional strain,” Attorney Walker shouted. “I
object—”

The prosecution continued with the
judge’s permission. Jim Beadle’s story was

repeated, It sounded incredible; but no one —

had succeeded in tearing it down.

Then when all those gathered in the court-
room believed- they had heard everything
pout the prosecution played its trump
card.

“There is one final statement,” Gilmore
shouted. “A confession made by Mrs.
LeBoeuf and corroborated by Dr. Dreher.
The clerk will now read it.”

Judge Simon rapped for order,
threatened to clear the court unless complete
order was maintained,

“I, Ada LeBoeuf,” the clerk droned, “make
this confession of my own free will because
I believe it to be for the best. On the after-
noon of July Ist, I sent a note to Doctor
‘Thomas Dreher and told him that I had
arranged to go boat riding down toward
the schoolhouse at Lake Palourde, with my
husband, James LeBoeuf. Dr. Dreher sent
word that he would meet us there.

“My husband and I went to the home of
my brother, near Morgan City, and I bor-
rowed his boat. Mr. LeBoeuf took his own.
I had told him that I wanted to row, too.
I took the other hoat because I didn’t want
to be in the boat when my husband was
killéd.: 5...

The prosecutor stopped the reading.

“1 didn’t want to be in the boat when my
husband was killed!” he shouted.

Gilmore waited a long moment. Then he
signalled for the clerk to continue.

“When we got to the schoolhouse I saw
another boat coming around the corner. I
heard Dr. Dreher say, ‘Is that you, Jim?’
and my husband answered, ‘Yes, is that you,
Doctor?’ Then there were two shots. I think
James Beadle fired them because Dr. Dreher
was standing up. . ...”

The most sensational trial in all Louisiana
history lasted the better part of a month,

On the 25th day of August the judge charged
the jury.

A verdict was reached in less than four
hours.

“We find the defendants guilty of murder
in the first degree,” the foreman stated, “with
recommendation of life imprisonment for
James Beadle.”

Everyone present knew what that meant—
death on the gallows for Dr. Thomas Dreher
and Mrs. Ada LeBouef, the first woman to
be executed.in Louisiana!

_ Two days later Judge James D. Simon
pronounced the sentence: To be hanged by
the neck until you are dead, and may God
have mercy on your souls, James Beadle, in

.compliance with the jury’s recommendation,

was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Counsel for the defense fought the verdict

‘all the way to the United States Supreme

Court. Several stays were granted. The de-
fendants did not. abandon hope. Most
Louisiana people did not believe that Gov-
ernor Huey Long would allow a woman to
be hanged in that traditionally chivalrous
southern state. But they were wrong. He
publicly asserted that the efforts of pressure
groups to keep Ada LeBoeuf from the gal-
lows was ‘‘a mockery on decency and order
in Louisiana.” When the Supreme Court
ruled that the trial had been conducted
according to the statutes and that state law
made no distinction between exacting the
life of a man or woman the last hope
vanished.

At daybreak, on the grim gray morning
of February Ist, 1929, Mrs. Ada LeBoeuf
was taken from her cell and led through the
silent prison yard to the gallows. The black
hood was placed over her head and the rope
tightened. Minutes later she dropped through
the trap to her doom.

Dr. Thomas Dreher mounted the thirteen
steps soon afterward. Their bodies rested
side by side in baskets provided by the state:
mortal evidence that illicit love and murder
can only end in tragedy for all participants.

Thus ended the mystery of the mutilated
corpse in Lake Palourde—a crime that even
today is spoken of only in whispers by ,the
natives of Louisiana’s delta country.

At Passion’s End

(Continued from page 47]

with a married man I know she’s been see-
ing—Dr. Snook.”

“You don’t mean Dr. James Howard
Snook?” Phillips asked incredulously,

“That's right. The same.”

The astonishment apparent in Phillip’s
voice was shared by the other detectives, All
three knew the doctor well, if not personally,
at least by reputation. Dr. Snook had long
been a professor in the School of Veterinary
Medicine at Ohio State, and was generally
thought of in Columbus as a respectable and
responsible citizen, and as a good husband.
He was familiar to many members of the
city’s police department, however, for another
reason. A crack shot, he had once been the
world’s champion rapid-and slow-fire pistol
shot, six times the American champion, and
in 1920 had been a member of the American
Olympic Team.

Startlingly pertinent to the investigation
at hand, however, was the recollection the
detectives had of hearing and reading about
a pistol meet at the New York Central Rifle
Range only three days before Theora Hix's
body had been found there. At the meet,
held on Tuesday, June 11, as a member of
the Columbus Revolver Club, a civilian
organization which was competing with the
Columbus Police Revolver Club, Dr. Snook

had given a remarkable display of marks-
manship. His team won hands down, and the
doctor's individual score of 264 points was 44
points above the highest score oFaos individ-
ual policeman, At the conclusion of the meet,
the police team had asked Snook for his
expert advice in the handling of Colt revol-
vers, a type of weapon they had not been
shooting with, but which they atirre
expected to acquire. Snook willingly obliged,
and out of his vast knowledge of firearms,
delivered a helpful and cogent dissertation
on the subject.

But here now was Dr, Snook mentioned in
an unsavory manuer, in a most unsavory
investigation!

Phillips, McCall and Van Skaik, of course,
immediately obtained the veterinarian’s
address which was 349 West Tenth Avenue,
and sped there post-haste. The doctor, a
tall, balding man, of about 50, wearing horn-
rimmed glasses, met them at the door. The
detectives were immediately struck by the
fact that his left arm, the hand and wrist of
which were bandaged and confined between
splints, was in a sling. In view of the delicate
nature of their mission, and the fact that
Mrs. Snook was at home, the officers re-
quested the doctor to accompany them to
police headquarters, ‘es

During the ride back, the conversation
was confined principally to the subject of
Snook’s arm injury. The doctor explained

‘that on Wednesday, a wrench with which

he'd been tightening a bolt on his car had
slipped and he’d hurt himself.

“What kind of car do you drive, Doc?”
Van Skaik asked him.

“A Ford coupe,” Snook replied.

“Oh, yes,” the detective went on casually.
“I think I’ve seen you in it—out at the target
range, maybe. A blue job?” ;

“That's right,” said the doctor. “It's blue.”

At headquarters, seated in Chief Shellen-
barger’s office, the detectives plunged to the
heart of the matter. “Dr. Snook,” Phillips
addressed him, ‘we have reason to believe
that you have had some sort of association
with Theora Hix. Is that true?”

Imperturbably, the: doctor regarded his
questioners, who sensed strongly the man’s
facile and complex mental machinery. “Of
course I knew Theora,”’ he acknowledged,
“_well—for three years.” Then he went on
to say that he had first met the girl when she
was employed as a stenographer in the
School of Veterinary Medicine. He had
taken an interest in her and her career, and
had even helped her financially from time
to time. In some measure, the association
between them had been cemented by her
interest in his hobby of pistol shooting. To-
gether, they'd gone to various ranges and
practiced. Because of her enthusiasm, he’d
given her a .41 derringer, and she'd learned
to use it proficiently. “But that’s as far as
our relationship went,” concluded the doctor,
“and if you think it was otherwise, you've
been woefully misinformed.”

The detective slid over this portion of the
veterinarian’s testimony and went on to his
movements on ‘Thursday night. The doctor

1) woman, sub-
ccount of his
ung. At a lit-
said, she saw
wnack from the

) as if to leave.
us, Doctor,”
ill, a couple of
.n do this more
professor as
man who had
ard Avenue.
‘ge a moment.
tht as well tell
ne we became
1 did not kill
or me to harm
ent was con-

d, “you turned
bbard) Avenue
ss

iid. “As soon
thought it best
‘ctions between

‘stioned Snook
th the explana-
ssociation with
er a time the

iround to

‘essor was
Hix. He, too,
relped Theora
‘ this, believed
Sive company.
n for question-
used when the
. he had given
rouse when try-
outs on Thurs-

ceMahon admit-
4. oT owas) with
want to drag
- this. If you'll
in unidentified,
was.”
ction with the
you've nothing
uched by scan-

Mahon’s story.
horticulturist’s
the movie it
n an alibi for

nbus detectives
1ad arrived in
< Friday morn-
in or near Co-
clock Thursday

-Mahon’s sedan
ling suspicious.
ntion to Doctor

seat they found
laughed off this

he scoffed, “do
pid* as to leave
re in plain
dog I ex-
tk ago.”
ctor’s wardrobe
rarments, but in

going through the clothing the detectives
noted that he habitually sent his suits to
one cleaning establishment. They went
there.

On Friday morning Dr. Snook had
shown up at the shop with a gray: suit.
It bore dark stains on the knees, and there
were other suspicious discolorations on
the linings of the sleeves. The garments
were turned over to Police Chemist C. F.
Long.

SPURRED by the discovery of the gray

suit with what seemed to be blood-
Stains on it, the officers went over Snook’s
coupe again.

This time Phillips found what he was
looking for. It was a stain on the felt
strip sealing the edge of the right-hand
door to its jamb.

“That,” he announced to his partner,
“explains one thing that's had me bothered
from the first, the curious fractures of
three fingers on the girl's right hand. This
door was slammed on it as she tried to
escape from the coupe.”

The police spent another day in gather-
ing up loose ends of the case they were
building against Doctor Snook. On Mon-
day they accused him as the slayer of
Theora Hix.

He denied the charge. They told him
of the blood on the coupe’s door, of Chem-
ist Long's report that blood in the sleeve
lining of his gray suit was human blood,
of Miss Hix's type. They let him know
that his wife, upon being questioned again,
had backed down in her support of his
alibi for Thursday night, saying now that
she had not seen him at home at around
nine o'clock, but that she had merely heard
a door slam and had supposed the noise
was made by her homecoming mate.

Still Snook insisted he had no knowledge
of Theora’s murder.

“It's no good, Doc,” Phillips told him.
“You gave yourself away the first time we
talked with you. About those keys, the
two keys that you handed over to Mrs.
Smalley .. ."

They solved the puzzle of the discovery
of the rest of Miss Hix’s keys at the
murder scene, Phillips contended. ‘The
killer, in ripping the keys off her ring, had
been seeking one of them, the thirteenth
key she carried.

“That was the key you gave Mrs. Smal-

ley when you said you were leaving the
apartment,” Phillips said.

“I’ve already explained my action in
doing that,” Doctor Snook protested. “I
simply wanted to sever any connection
that might be traced between Miss Hix
and myself.”

“Sure, sure,” Phillips said. “Now ex-
plain this, Doc. You handed over those
keys more than two hours before the
body had been identified as that of Miss
Hix. Who, except her murderer, would
have known then that she was dead.”

' That did it, that and the other clues
the police already had presented. Snook
confessed,"

.He said that as he and Theora sat in
his coupe at the rifle range on Thursday
night, she became furious because he
planned to go away for the week-end with
his wife and baby. She threatened to kill
them, he declared, unless he remained in
Columbus with her.

When she suddenly seized her purse, he
said, he believed she was reaching for the
derringer pistol, which he had given her
sometime previously. In panic, he reached
for a hammer from the deck behind him
and struck her on the head.

When he finished bludgeoning her, she
was still moaning. It was then that he
took out his pocketknife, slit her throat
and jabbed the blade into her ear. “To
put her out of her suffering,” he said.

The hammer and the knife were found
in his basement, and also there, in the
furnace, detectives found bits of the dead
girl’s missing purse.

It was two months to the day after the
discovery of Theora Hix’s body that a
jury which had listened to a lurid account
of Doctor Snook’s strange romance with
the coed brought in a verdict dooming
him to the electric chair.

From that date, August 14th, 1929,
until the evening of February 28th, 1930,
Doctor Snook sat in a death cell in the
Ohio State Prison,. weeping with remorse
as appeal after appeal was denied.

At 6:59 p. M. on February 28th, he
walked into the execution chamber and
Sat in the ugly electric chair. Ten minutes
later he was dead.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The name Marty
McMahon used in the foregoing story is
fictitious,

BLOODSTAINED HOURS

(Continued from page BB)

preferring to listen, or to sink back in
silent meditation. When he spoke it was
with a decisive air.

“I do know of a pretty good job,” he
admitted. “But it's a hundred miles from
here. My car'd never make that. Not in
the shape it’s in now.” He paused thought-
fully. “We could take yours, though.”

He addressed one of the 18-year-olds.

“Not tonight,” the boy came back. “No-
body is using my car for any jobs. Not
now or any other night. Particularly not
a hundred miles away.”

“What's the matter, kid? Are you
scared?”

“Call it anything you want,” the youth
replied. “I’m getting along all right. They
put you in jail for the kind of jobs you're
talking about.”

“That goes for me too,” the second 18-
year-old added. “What you do is your own
business, and more power ‘to you. But
I don’t want any part of a thing like that.
I'll admit it. I’ve got cold feet.”

The Frisco Kid winked at the younger
boy. “Looks like theré’s only the two of
us,” he said. ‘Well, that's enough. But
we'll still have to get a car.”

A silence settled over the room. Once
again the Frisco Kid seemed lost in

ineedS00 Men

ke SUITS

Pay No Money—.
Send No Money

My values in made-to-measure suita
are 80 sensational, thousandsof men
order when they see the actual gar-
ments. I make it easy for you to get
your own suit to wear and show—
and to MAKE MONEY IN FULL
OR SPARE TIME! My Plan is
Amazing! Just take a few orders at
my low money-saving prices—that's
all —and get your own personal
suit, and make money fast taking
/ orders. You need no experience. You
need no money nowor any time. Just
rush your name and address now
for complete facts and BIG SAM-
PLE KIT containing 150 ACTUAL
woolen samples, it’s FREE! Send
your name and address ‘TODAY }

PIONEER TAILORING CO., Bept. j-1004
Congress & Throop Sts., Chicago, lil.

The quick, low-cost WAYNE
wey te @ High Scheel
education. Ne classes;
pleasent, spare-time home
training; college preparatory;
standard texts; credit for
past schooling. If yew have
finished 8th grade and are
ever 17 years of age, write
for free cotaleg.

WAYNE SCHOOL

2827 SHEFFIELO AVENUE
Catalog HB8-10 CHICAGO 14,

WORK HOME OR TRAVEL {
DETECTIVE Particulars FREE

| Write GEORGE H. D. WAGNER !
| 125 West 86th St., New York

Name.......... 4.16 vile #518 weve @ seeee
) Address.............. scccssdocse f
rik » a U
7! ~ MA £ oe 2)
Lustre Foils © Satins © Brilliants
Amazing values bring you ea: y or- e

LJ
dera! Karn Extra Dollars FAST. Big Y

ieee Christmas Sarde with Name
. or $1. up. New lo-In- The- Dark

Imprinted
Stationery. 30 FREE Samples with
Name; Several $1 Boxes on Approval.
4 JOY GREETINGS, Dept, 45-8,
SO7N. CARDINAL, ST. LOUIS 3, MO.

ILLUSTRATED BOOKLETS& NOVELTIES

Our VEST POCKET series of ILLUSTRATED COMIO
BOOKLETS are the kind that are FULLY ILLUS-
TEATED with comic characters,
kind YOU want for EXCITEMENT and AMUSE-
ites aaah epaid in sealed elope
mov pr env
zie. No C.0.D. orders or check accepted. WHOLE-

LIVE WIRE NOVELTY CO., Dept. 11-3
3 Orchard Street New York 2, N. Y.

CONQUER PILES

CONSTIPATION
AND RECTAL IRRITATION!
with Dr, Reilly's Pile-Ald. No Lost Time.
fi .
Stops Straining, Pain,

rom le and Chronic Constipation, is tht Ht
Folds Heal Rapidly. May. Prevent Serious Trouble.

Ue.

ippy

. Doctors, Nurses, Druggists Amazed. Be Pain-Free,
Ha J tA like other Users. No Hospital Bill,

Ya fan} jest: Try Pile-Aid for 30 on Money-Back Guarantee.
Financial rence, City Bank & trator Milwaukee.

oaveR wows This Ad and $22.50, your Deuggiat aves
you Dr, Reiily’s New, Scientific, Lilet ne a month's

supply of Pile-Aid Treatment, OR send $22.50 for Quick Relief to,

DR. REILLY’S APPLICATOR, Inc., Dept. N

4231 W. Fond du Lac Ave., Milwaukee 16, Wis.
© PREG—WRITE POR INFORMATION © NO OBLIGATIONS

for OLD
IN 24 HOURS |

15?>

Wonderful New Scie
forms OLD,

E
Why envy beaullful fa
new lientweleht

replaced. Your cost amazii
. No impression needed under our ne

plate. Rush name,

fitting before «duplication
West Beata! Laboratory, 127 N. Dearborn St.,

New FALSE PLATE

ngly low: actual

lee.
ife again, and save money on
natural-looking plastic
1 details sent FREE. If
‘we show you how to make it comfort-

‘Dept. 4-26, Chicage 2, Ill.

ils, shaving,

Traffic men earn $4,000 to
experts on rates, tariffs,
time at home for executive traffic
authorities. Placement counsel an,
**Traffic Management—the Fast Grow

LASALLE Exten

A Correspondence

Water Heater “

AGENTS

jon
Hiatal DISTRIBUTORS
eltfor write. REGULAR

10,000 and up. Thousands of firms need
ulations. We train you
jobs. Personal trai

Man’s ring, Masonic em-

ruby-red back ia

blem on

1/30 14Kt yellow gold plate
with 4 im{tation diamonds

SEND NO MONEY! Send

G
Federal tax arg Topsy
CLARK RING CO. De

__TA40 MILWAUKEE AY,, CHICAGO 47

thoroly in spare
ining under traffic
Write for free 48-page

i Profension.’°

sion Universify, 417 So. Dearborn St.
Institution Dept, 8383T, Chicago 5, Hl.

t.1688

ine of comic booklets

—each a complete sequence, rich in
humor and clearly illustrated. 12 of
these little booklets, all different,
sent prepaid for $1. No COD please.
NOVEL ARTS

Sway them ROMANTICAL
SOCIALLY, and ON THE
Sexes Described and Analyzed. Swift Sure-Fire

ods of Influencing them Revealed.

OLYMPIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
Chicaxo 14, __ Til,

LY and Leap to Success
JOB. 34 Types of Both
Meth-
Send $1 new to

rdless of 4

$500.00

Omaha 2, Nebr.

on os ak Oa OO a

$50 TO

ROW

FOR ANY PURPOSE... you .
Bh may BORROW $50 to $500, rega
ere you live... entirely-by mail... PAST, &
NFIDENTIAL service. NO CO-SIGNERSINO J]
QUIRIES made of employers, friends, or
Hl tradespeople! SOLVE YOUR MONEY PROB- ff
LEMS, NOW! Consolidate old bills. Buy what uF
ou need and repay in convenicnt monthly ae
ayments to fit your income. acr Now!
for a moncy-request application,

AMERICAN LOAN N
Supervised by the State of Nobracks PLAN popt. HO-8
219 City National Bank Bidg.,

‘ve got to leave now,’ he said, ‘but my
wife will stay on until Sunday.’ I thought
that was funny, because he left both his
key and his wife's key.”

Mrs. Smalley.described Snook. He was

in his forties, bald, tall, with horn-rimmed
glasses and had a dark Ford coupe.

“So ‘Theora Hix shared a love nest with

the guy in the horn-rimmed specs,” Phil-
‘lips said after the landlady left. He re-
ported this to Detective Chief W. G. Shel-
lenbarger with the request that the uni-
versity’s roll of instructors be scanned for
a professor named Snook. :

“Not,” he said, “that I believe you'll

find that name on the roster. It sounds
too much like a phony.”

The two homicide men went to the love

nest and searched it, finding nothing.
Identification experts went over the room
in a quest for fingerprints, but turned up
nothing of worth to the investigators.

T° the surprise of McCall and Phillips,

‘the name Snook was found on the

university’s teaching rolls. Dr. James
Howard Snook was a doctor of veterinary
medicine, and an instructor in that science.

He was a man well known to the police,

although not because of any’ previous
criminal activity. A tall, balding man in
his forties, Doctor Snook was a former
world’s champion pistol ‘shot. Indeed, on
Tuesday, only two days before the murder,

Dr. Snook had stood with other members

of a civilian team on the very range where
Theora Hix’s body was found and had
helped to beat the police quintet in a

pistol] match. His individual score that
day was higher than any of the police ex-
perts and second only to that of one of
his teammates.

A man of good reputation and con-
siderable standing in his profession, Doctor
Snook scarcely seemed the type of person
to be a murderer.

He received Detectives Phillips and Mc-
Call cordially when they called at his
home, and grew properly solemn when
they explained their mission.

“L knew Miss Hix,” he admitted then,
“I have known her for about three years,
since we met at the university. I confess
that I was fond of her. I greatly admired
her ambition and her capabilities. At
times I have even helped her financially.
Her father was able to give her only a
few hundred dollars a year. She earned
the rest of her way herself, and sometimes
found it a little hard.”

Snook said that on Thursday he had
worked around the yard at his home at
348 West Tenth Avenue. At a little be-
fore eight o'clock, he said, he went to his
office on the campus, where he worked for
an hour upon an article of a sportsmen’s
publication, an article on pistol shooting.
From his office he drove to the Scioto
Country Club to pick up a pair of shoot-
ing glasses. He returned to a drugstore at
Tenth Avenue and High Street where he
bought a newspaper. Then he went home.

~ During Snook’s recital, Detective Phil-

lips fixedly studied the doctor’s right .hand.
“You want to know about this, of
course,” Snook said, bringing the bandaged
hand up into plain view. “I was working
on my car. Let's see, it was the day after
the pistol meet, Wednesday, that would
be. A wrench slipped. I cut my hand.”

Mrs. Snook, a quiet, calm woman, sub-
stantiated her. husband’s account of his
activities for Thursday evening. At a lit-
tle after nine o'clock, she said, she saw
him in the kitchen eating a snack from the
icebox.

Phillips and McCall got up as if to leave.
“You'd better accompany Us, Doctor,”
Phillips said. ‘Phere are still, a couple of
things to clear up, and we can do this more
easily down at headquarters.”

There they accused the professor as
Theora Hix’s paramour, the man who had
rented a love nest on Hubbard Avenue.

Snook pondered the charge a moment.
“Yes,” he said then. “I might as well tell
you the truth. After a time we became
lovers, Theora and I. But I did not kill
her. There was no reason for me to harm
her. Our little arrangement was con-
tinuing smoothly.”

“On Friday,” Phillips said, “you turned
over the keys to the Hubbard Avenue
apartment to Mrs. Smalley?”

“Yes,” Doctor Snook said. “As soon
as I heard of her death 1 thought it best
to cut off all possible connections between
Theora and myself.”

McCall and Phillips questioned Snook
extensively, not satisfied with the explana-
tions he had given of his association with
the 24-year-old coed. After a time the
doctor led his interrogators around to
Marty McMahon.

Snook said the younger professor was

_intensely jealous of Miss Hix. He, too,

Snook contended, had helped Theora
financially and, because of this, believed
he had a right to her exclusive company.

McMahon was brought in for question-
ing. He was at first confused when the
detectives pointed out that he had given
the name of a shut movie house when try-
ing to explain his whereabouts on ‘Thurs-
day afternoon.

“1 did lie about that,” McMahon admit-
ted. “EL wasn't in a theater. Twas with
another coed, but I didn’t want to drag
her name into a,scandal like this. If you'll
promise that she will remain unidentified,
I'll tell you now who she was.”

“If she has no connection with the
murder,” McCall offered, “you've nothing
to fear about her being touched by scan-
dal.”

‘The girl backed up McMahon's story.
While this explained the horticulturist’s
falsehood about attending the movie it
did not, however, give him an alibi for
Thursday night.

From Toledo the Columbus detectives
learned that McMahon had arrived in
Bono at around one o'clock Friday morn-
ing. He could have been in or near Co-
lumbus as late as nine o'clock Thursday
night.

The cops went over McMahon’s sedan
with care, but found nothing suspicious.
Next they turned their attention to Doctor
Snook’s dark blue Ford.

On the deck behind the seat they found
a bloodstained cap. Snook laughed off this
discovery.

“if ['d killed Theora,” he scoffed, “do
you believe I'd be so stupid’ as to leave
such an obvious piece of evidence in plain
sight? The blood came from a dog I ex-
amined and cut open over a week ago.”

A hunt through the doctor's wardrobe
revealed no other bloody garments, but in

going thy
noted tha
one cleani
there.

On Friday
shown up at

Tt bore dark s:

were other
the linings of
were turned o
Long.

PURRED t
suit with
stains on it, tr
coupe again.
This time }
looking for.
strip sealing |
door to its jar

“That,” he
“explains one
from the firs’
three fingers 0
door was slar
escape from °

The police
ing up loose
building again
day they acc
Theora Hix.

He denied
of the blood o
ist Long's rep
lining of his
of Miss Hix’s
that his wife,
had backed c
alibi for Thur
she had not s
nine o'clock, t
a door slam
was made by

Still S
of Theo!

“It’s no-go
“You gave yo
talked with y
two keys tha’
Smalley .. -

They solvec
of the rest .
murder = scence
killer, in rippi
been secking
key she carri

“That was t

preferring to
silent meditat:
with a decisiy
“I do know
admitted. ‘Hi
here. My car
the shape it’s i
fully. “We c
He address
“Not tonigh
body is using
now or any ¢
a hundred mi
“What's th
scared?”

. no diary,

But they
for a quiet,
d-fashioned
xing order;
alibre cart-

d. “About
f these any
collection.
been doing

ss. Neither
wre the of-

heir atten-
n, a young
ie fame in
tion of the.
to farmers
»,
McMahon
ic was out
g his work
set out, his
hursday on
1 to Bono,
ar Toledo,
oster, near
“ntally, was
Columbus;
Marty

workmen
Detective
de division
‘eds in the
ad.

refully re-
oot-by-foot
ing circles
iin.

ré was no
ureen Clasp
way from
f bore no

f an auto- -

come away
1 him back
ding three
des.

few yards
id,” he re-
rently torn
semi-circle,

ment. An-
university,
d one was
own. This
the detec-
ed merely
¥ personal
ivestigators
onservative
L it.
he murder,
the detec-
r taken the
ring from
of a dozen
ad he done
some-
ice to

call to the
norgue the
cops.
,

“I'm inquiring about Theora Hix,” the
man on the phone said. “Is she really dead,
or just hurt?” j

“Dead,” the morgue attendant replied.
“Who is this?”

“Professor McMahon.”

“And your relationship to the deceased?”

The answer was a click as the caller
cut off the connection.

No sooner had Saturday morning’s news-
papers appeared, with the story of the
brutal murder and a photograph of Miss
Hix, than a witness arrived at police
headquarters to say he believed he had
seen the man who killed the coed.

A factory employe who lived almost
next door to the victim’s apartment house,
he had seen her frequently in the company
of a man,

“A guy about forty, I'd say,” he re-
ported. “Tall, wore horn-rimmed glasses.
He used to park his new, dark-blue Ford
coupe in front of my place. I saw this
girl getting into the car with the guy sev-
eral times.”

The girl’s companion, he added, looked
like a professional man, a doctor, lawyer
-—or a college professor.

In mid-morning another message from
the morgue spurred Detectives Phillips and
McCall to a renewed search for Professor
Marty McMahon. This was after the
horticulturist showed up at the morgue,
asked to see Miss Hix's body, stared at the
‘battered remains for a moment and then
left.

-EANWHILE, as Philips and McCall
returned to McMahon's fraternity
house, other men of the homicide squad
began checking over professors at the uni-
versity under whom the victim had studied,
with whom she was known to have met,
in a hunt for a tall, middle-aged man with
horn-rimmed spectacles, an instructor who
also drove a new, dark-blue Ford coupe.
McMahon surely was not this man,
Barely thirty, he was a sturdy, athletic
fellow, good-looking, with a flair for
clothes. His car was a sedan three years
old. ;

“One of my fraternity brothers tele-
phoned me last night in Bono and told me
about Theora,” he informed the two de-
tectives. “I called the morgue, then hur-
ried back to Columbus.”

“Why?” McCall queried. “You seem to
have a great interest in this case.”

“I was interested in Theora,” the young
professor admitted. “We had a number
of dates, some time ago. Once I asked
her to marry me. She refused, said she
wanted one thing first of all—to become
a physician.

“I could understand that,” McMahon
went on. “Her singleness of purpose
seemed so strong that I lost hope of marry-
ing her. In the last few months we saw
each other only rarely.”

“Just when did you see her last?” i

“About two weeks ago. She was pleas-
ant enough, but seemed absorbed in some-
thing. Her studies, | suppose, though you
never could tell what Theora was think-
ing behind that queer little smile of hers.”

Asked for an alibi for Thursday, Mc-
Mahon said he had attended a movie in
the afternoon, passing the time until he
had to meet a colleague for dinner. Im-
mediately after cating, he said, he had

set off alone for Bono. He drove leisurely,
reaching the hamlet in northern Ohio
early Friday morning.

“Professor McMahon,” Phillips said as
the instructor finished explaining his
whereabouts the evening of the murder,
“there’s one phase of this case we've not
yet talked about. Miss Hix was going

around with another man. Were you aware

of that?”

McMahon sighed deeply. “Yes. An-
other professor here at the university, I
believe. An older man, wore horn-rimmed
glasses. [saw him with her once, coming
out of a restaurant downtown, but he was
no one I recognized. All I know about him
is from stray bits of gossip—which I tried
to disbelieve.”

“Jealousy is one of the strongest motives
there is for murder,” Phillips said. “Don't
try to leave Columbus before this thing is
cleared up, McMahon.”

“I won't. I suppose it is only logical
that you should consider me as a suspect,
but I didn’t kill Theora. I’m the kind who,
if he did turn to violence in an affair like
this, would have put his rival out of the
way, not the girl. It wouldn’t help any
to kill) her.”

There was one hole in Professor Mc-
Mahon’s_ story. McCall and Phillips
pondered it as they drove back to police
headquarters. The motion picture theater,
where McMahon said he had spent Thurs-
day afternoon, had been closed for several
months.

“A crazy stunt, to lie about that,” Phil-
lips said. “We weren't asking where he
was Thursday afternoon. It was Thursday
night we wanted to know about. I wonder
what he’s trying to cover up.”

“It's a nibble, all right,” agreed McCall,
a fisherman. “The prof’s a cool customer.
Like a wise old bass. And with a wily old
bigmouth, you don't try to set the hook
{00 soon, or you lose him. Let’s give Mc-
Mahon a chance to swallow the whole
plug.”

A telephone call to Toledo put Lucas
County officers to work checking the ar-
rival of Professor McMahon at Bono and
his presence and activities there on Friday.
Meanwhile other detectives were assigned
to keep the young horticulturist under
surveillance in Columbus.

It was Saturday night- when Mrs. Smal-
ley came into headquarters. The operator
of a furnished apartment house at 24 Hub-
bard Avenue, she brought with her a
newspaper photograph of Theora Hix.

“I know her,” she told McCall and
Phillips. “She and her husband have kept
a room in my house since the middle of
February.”

“Her husband?” Phillips echoed. “What
name did he give?”

“Howard Snook,” the landlady replied.
“When he rented the room, he explained
that he and his wife were from Newark,
were, working out of Columbus on a sales
demonstration project, and would be in
the apartment only part of the time.

“L saw Mrs. Snook—Miss Hix, that is,
it would seem now—only once. Met her
on the stairs, and spoke. She just said,
Good morning’, and passed on.

“They changed rooms twice, but. still
paid the rent. Then yesterday afternoon
Mr. Snook came to me. He said they
would be giving up the apartment at last.

SUCK EGQyy

SWEEP 10 SENSATIONAL NATIONAL
: POPULARITY

7 Salesmen jamming
eo pockets with
$10°° bills

TAKING ORDERS

* For KEY

; EXPERTLY
2 TAILORED

STYLES AUTO SEAT COVERS

BIG SEASON NOW STARTING

You’ve seen the huge color advertinementa in Saturday Eve-
ping Post on the now seat cover senaution—miracle SARAN

tic, woven like cloth, that has the color permanently “‘locked’’

to pay! No wonder salesmen are making money hand over
fat with thia sensational new Key line. Make big me
daily. Take orders from car owners everywhere. Beat all
competition with covers cut toaccurate patterns like the finest
suit of clothes.,.Slick, smooth wrinkle-free fit adds an accent
ance to any car...just like the original upholstery job!

Rush Name for FREE Outfit

Give MAKE, YEAR and MODEL of YOUR CAR
Anyone Sata, He or spare time can realize big money in
this business. No need to search for Prospecta, Every car
owner is one. Be the firat to cash in... Make aed around
STRADY PROFITS, Don’t put it off--get your Free Selling

it at once for some real money. Actual seut covern given
FREE to producers for OWN USE! Write for full details!

KEY PRODUCTS CORP., Dept. 308
800 N. CLARK ST., CHICAGO 10, ILLINOIS

ILLUSTRATED COMIC BOOKLETS

Sell our ILLUSTRATED COMIC BOOKLETS and
other NOVELTIES. Each booklet size 4/2 x 2% and is
FULLY ILLUSTRATED, We will send 24 assorted
booklets ‘prepaid upon receipt of $1.00 or 60 assorted
booklets sent prepaid upon receipt of $2.00. Wholesale
movelty price list sent with order only. No orders sent
C.0.D. SEND CASH OR MONEY-ORKDER,

REPSAC SALES CO,
1 Orchard St., Dept. 111-J, New York 2, N. Y.

ltch. .. Hoh ‘=

Very first use of soothing cooling, hquid D.D.D,.
Prescription positively reheves raw red iteh—
caused by eczema, rashes, scalp irritation, chaf-
ing -—other itch troubles. Greaseless, stainless.
43¢ trial bottle must satisfy or money back.
Ask your druggist for D.D.D. PRESCRIPTION.

NOSE TROUBLE? SINUS?

HERE IS QUICK BLESSED RELIEF, AT LASTI

It may not be your sinuses at all. If your

nose feels stuffy, drains excessive mucus

constantly, brings on headaches, pains WN
around the eyes, hawking with annoying, A
mucus dripping down your throat, here Mp”
is quick, blessed relicf in a matter of <
minutes with amazing new WEL-NOZE >
NASAL RINSE! The very first time you

use it, your nasal passages open up, ‘
mucus goes in a hurry, and cooling, soothing miracle-
like comfort is yours. And so quick, too. You feel like
living again! Send $1.00 for a generous supply. 3 for
$2.00. No C.O.D. please. We pay postage. Satisfaction
is guaranteed or your money refunded. Act now—
send for WEL-NOZE today; for speedy relief,

DORENE CO. Dept. HD-8 Box 795, Chicago 90, Illinois

New PLATE nours

FROM YOUR OLD

Brand new proc-
ess transforms
your old, broken,

cracked or loose
plates into new lightweight plastic Plates.

NO IMPRESS ON NEEDED

Let us help you enjoy life n, You will marvel at this
revolutionary new method, Usin your own old plates,
we will remake them completely In only 24 hours. Miss-
ing teeth are carefully matched and replaced. Work is
done on an absolute MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.

—Juat rush your yand addrens
SEND NO MONEY to un for Tull Fitts | ETAILS. ita
be

ur teeth are loose, we'll tell you how od tighten them
nm
Tru-Grip Dental Labs.7ih FI.,127 W. Dearborn, Dept. 154, Chicago 2,

fore duplication. Act now, Quit suffer!

55.

—_ me ee

I Saw Doctor Snook Die!

OTE: No crime in recent years has

caused more discussion pro and con
than the brutal murder, by Doctor James
Howard Snook, of Miss Theora Hix, at-
tractive 24-year-old co-ed and medical stu-
dent at Ohio State University, Columbus,
where Doctor Snook was professor of vet-
erinary medicine. The crime was committed
at the New York Central Rifle Range, near
Columbus, Ohio, on the evening of Thurs-
day, June 13, 1929.

Theora ’ Hix was a bashful, athletic girl
with a brilliant goal in life. Due to the
personalities of the principals in this case,
and the circumstances surrounding its per-
petration, nation-wide interest was evinced
for weeks, it being the headline feature in
the press throughout the entire country.

Doctor Snook was indicted on June 22nd,
and on July 24th his trial began. On Au-
gust 14th, two months and one day after
the crime was committed, he was found
guilty of murder in the first degree and
sentenced to death in the electric chair.

The character of this man, his deed, his
actions when under suspicion, after his in-
dictment, and throughout his trial have
been dealt with in previous issucs of this
magasine, by Fred Allhoff, veteran news-
paperman, who covered this case for the
Ohio State Journal, and Detective Olto W.
Phillips of the Columbus Homicide Squad.
Many readers have written in since that
time asking for further information and for
the story of Doctor Snook’s final hours.
This has been written for TRuE DETECTIVE
Mysrertes by an eye-witness of the execu-
tion and herewith follows:

EATH HOUSE at Ohio State Peni-
tentiary on the night of February 28th,
1930, was the scene of one of the most un-
usual meals which criminal history records.
Grouped around a plain wooden table
in a room scarcely big enough to hold
them, bright lights glaring down from a
low ceiling on faces which masked their
innermost feelings, sat four men and two
women eating a plentiful meal spread be-
fore them. At a respectful distance stood
two shadowy figures.

One of the six about the table was a
man just turned fifty, bald-headed, wearing
horn-rimmed spectacles, somewhat profes-
sorial in appearance. As he ate, the shad-
owy figures could not help noticing his
long, thin fingers—steady, deft. Somehow
all the events around the table seemed to
revolve about him in a manner made not
too obvious by the others.

Slowly and with apparent relish, he ate
a piece of fried chicken, two lamb chops,
mashed potatoes, ice cream, cake and two
cups of coffee. By his plate was a cigar
and a package of cigarettes. These he did
not touch. The others ate, too, as they
talked. The whole scene was as if it were
utterly detached from the world.

But just an arm’s length away, on the
other side of a thin partition, stood the
electric chair of the State of Ohio—and

By Karu B. PAULY

of the Ohio State JOURNAL

Doctor Snook. This photograph was

taken in the Ohio State Penitentiary

on August 20th, 1929, four days after
he was sentenced to death

the professorial gentleman toward whom
all looked as the meal was finished was
Doctor James Howard Snook, murderer
of Theora Hix, his 24-year-old paramour.
In an hour the State would take his life
in payment for his crime.

At his last meal, the former Ohio State
University professor of veterinary medi-
cine, had had as his guests, his wife, Mrs.
Helen Marple Snook who had fought val-
jantly for him even beyond the last hope;
the pastor of his church, the Reverend Mr.
Tsanc E. Miller of King Avenue M. E.
church, Columbus; Oscar Roedell, Pom-
eroy, who in his undergraduate days at

Ohio State had roomed with Doctor
Snook; Mrs. Landrum; and Reverend Mr.
K. E. Wall, the prison chaplain.

Earlier in the day the word had gone
around with an apparently authoritative im-
petus that Mrs. Snook had asked Warden
P. 1. Thomas of the penitentiary if Doc-
tor Snook might wear his tuxedo at his
last meal. Later the Warden's office an-
nounced such a request had not been made.

The shadowy figures in the background
of the strange dinner scene which pre-
luded death were two guards of the peni-
tentiary who stayed so unobtrusively in the
background that they could hear nothing
of what was said at the table.

According to the Reverend Mr. Miller,
the repast had all the air of a “normal
meal.” “We all ate heartily; there was no
restraint,” he said, “Doctor Snook ate
heartily. The Warden kindly sent him
cigars and cigarettes but -Doctor Snook,
who never used them, declined = them.
There was no untoward event. It was all
much as if we were on a picnic.”

a the end of the meal, the Reverend

Mr. Wall, Mrs, Landrum and Roedell
bade Doctor Snook good-bye and left Doc-
tor and Mrs. Snook alone with the Rev-
erend Mr. Miller. In a few minutes one
of the shadowy guards came to the War-
den’s residence and asked for a pitcher of
unfermented grape juice. “They are going
to have communion,” he said.

The Warden's wife provided the grape
juice from her generous larder and the
guard returned to the Death House carry-
ing a silver pitcher on a silver tray.

“We knelt—Doctor Snook and Mrs.
Snook and I—and took Holy Communion
together in the manner which our church
prescribes,” said the Minister later in de-
scribing the scene. “Then Mrs, Snook
arose, kissed her husband farewell and
went out. She was not the least bit hys-
terical at any time—even at their fare-
well. After she was gone, Doctor Snook
calmly handed me his spectacles and asked
me to give his sweater to L. W. Irwin,
another prisoner, His cap he left in’ the
death cell.

“Tis last words? I shall never reveal
them. They will never be known, In his
last moments, however, he spoke to me re-
peatedly of his love and affection for his
wife. ‘It’s too bad it took a bump like
this to make me realize how wonderful
she was,’ he said. He told me, too, over
and over again as the end neared, that he
had faith in God and absolute confidence in
future life.”

HILE this scene was being enacted.
another prelude to that scene which
was to be the last in the life of Doctor
Snook was being enacted in the Warden's
office where the witnesses to the execution
were gathering. The hour for the execu
tion had never been announced definitely,
(Continued on page 12)

T had be:
years—t!
called “Pro:
gave it litth
because I fi;
experience :
in life. T
thought it
coming age
up with it.
later, my c
at an alarn

These

My sleep
night. In
a luxury.
and Iegs, a:
I was run «
in mind -4
talked to s«
practically
to listen.
practically

It has tb
jority of 1
number cv
tressing sy
bad as I «
course. B
relicf. I ;
effort to :
learned th
dangerous.
rcbbed me
ened my vr

white, elec, Ohio 11-20-1931

eS) if te Beier eotete
y ov
" é ‘ \ . + g@enege
ox o . ee i 4
: podrwa) Ge " tC qtigs
i 5 \ t liprx: s bf
‘ Ugh: Re Co
‘ 5 vey 9
" - a ote ele ’
BOln . BU 3 .
Pa I e : . e otele . ~ .
. age ate tbe +Qbege e
' / ° 7 . mits
b a no ve . : be
‘ S ? we Ne BI Bd ‘ wishin OSs i
wvoleee Hel ae ew ares | ew ovks Times. | ‘
‘ ‘ git Sarl Pg Re
ees me & : ; 7 1) see ii. B= tthe
. oe ‘ * a i go
DE Tit: a, “well, they © end. of. May, $9,908 , persons, were
aalice : ander sentence Yor violation of the
Beach on 0D 5. She Federal’ laws, “ep? “
e ’ mn OF Ormond e ax ‘ ty
. ,
. * 8 An :
: ] by g ? ra ti ; a : : sme
j were oD ¢ Jury: Finds Slayer
es le 7 Wife Guilty.
500 ¢ spline sta onsen
ve ° °
1 Pa tel ‘ i) hes « id ate 7 iy yf dee ’
; her Bi band
le ’ ry _ 6 tla (etbiila '’ “
. (eo a o)e . ode
Oe ote ebelestdolentde
et adhe eleres . : 7 u oN .
din ° :
e e . < ole
wo ave eye te rs
oghe iy . 1 . aes s u
oe . ‘ e * . | 3 . ro ONE) i S
- os De 0, nd Riehth nue
rj a rue 3 ate . . wape
. < e ms ayy ote Goo ae e . oe e
. ~eege e . . y a ne Ld A °
we . ; : men ° . . * .
¥ 4 e “
e e ‘ e o *
; 4 ’ e e 5 overnmy
o mrt : piled nd dam
velo ' oe ° ee . e ‘ aS ae
. see * . ‘
a rh: fi ete . ° yiLeRc
ate ‘ e oe de .
sen tred-.in z b mo D ’
oe t ae ole e * PY
prytain: ‘ . own scorain
a oo ’ e ele ¢ e ’ e
be, “ i ot te on ale
. eo) e ' ee
otis ve young pil e WOSTOLIIC
ore ee . Ce) ww @ . y e
‘ . epee . ole “ oe ee . :
166 BY ° Deon ‘ ‘ SOGE 6 24u ®
Oe . e ece}e 6 ° hae . vl

Tri The

miss e3

‘

SMITH, Trilby |

(Ohio)
e 4 i
‘ q ‘ |
OMEN @ WHO HAVE COMMITTED MURDER
; ’ Jealous Wife Shoots Husband— Indian Girl Kills—and Gets the Chair |
air bare ThenBegs to SaveHis Life
nen—or 4
» Study In a Jealous Rage, Mrs. Alline Keck,

of Olathe, Kansas, shot her husband.
Then, in quick remorse, she rushed him
d down = to a hospital a ae re) 7 al ay
dying. She be, the police to let
thought her Sine him. But they took her off
to jail, And her husband died
while she was behind bars. The
quarrel started over his attentions
to another woman. “I didn’t
know it was loaded,” she told
the police, when ‘describing
how she had pointed the
gun at him and pulled the
trigger. A jury of twelve
good men and true be-
lieved her story ‘and
acquitted her.

ssions—

The First Woman Sentenced to the Ohio Electric

Chair is Julia Maude Lowther, Indian maiden, shown

above in pensive mood. She was in love with Tildy Smith,

a Cleveland married man, and she thought the best way to

get him was to kill his wife—which she did:' But all she
got was a seat in the electric chair.

Mrs. Margaret

by the Chicago Mother’s
eaths. She was Grief

phew, a boarder,
ged, was collec-
stoner of Cook
en other poison
years.

Strangler

He Done Her Wrong, so Helen Deal, an eighteen-year-old Fighting Against Hopeless Odds, Mrs. Bernice Foley put her two ti
girl from the country, got a gun and shot her betrayer, small children to death. She had made a desperate effort to support i
Nicholas Colantino, to death. He richly deserved death, ac- them and herself with her restaurant in San Francisco. Wearied with i
cording to her story, and the jury let her go.. This hap- the struggle, she snuffed out their lives with chloroform. She was at-

pened in Chicago. tempting to drown herself in the sea when the police rescued her.

43 }

cto

SMDTH, Trilby, white, elec. OH& (Ashtabula) November 20, 1931.

:
Qnack sptabula’s

Holiday bound, a family car sped
down an Ohio highway. Sudden-
ly an assassin’s gun roared in the
murk--an agonizing scream, and a
comely young matron, still clutch-
ing a baby to her bosom, slumped
forward, mortally wounded. Here
is the gripping, official story of how
police trapped the ambush slayers
and brought the state’s most baf-
fling case to a smashing climax.

was rending the rural quiet, west of that city, as
Patrolman Harold O. Shepard and his partner,
Harry Brudapest, careened out South Ridge road, slipping
and sliding on the wet pavement. They were bound for
a lonely spot on Saybrook Center road in answer to the
hysterical call that a woman had been murdered by high-

Te roaring motor of an Ashtabula, Ohio, police car

Preparatory to writing the story of this strange case, waymen. It was the eve of Memorial Day, 1930.

the authors, Jack Heil (left) and Frank Sheldon, The police car skidded to a stop at a gas station near
former Ashtabula county sheriff, discuss its weird

angles as they examine the murder gun.

the intersection of South Ridge, a main highway, and Say-
brook Center, a secondary road, leading south.

“What’s the trouble and where?” shouted the officers.

“My brother’s wife has just been shot and killed by
bandits,” the proprietor explained. ‘“‘Tilby and his wife
had just left the station here headed south on Center road
for the Pierce place when two men stuck him up about a
half mile down the road. His wife, Clara Smith, was shot
through the head by one of the men who fled in a sedan.”

“Where’s your brother?” interrupted Shepard. They
found Tilby L. Smith lying on the ground near the side
of the road, exhausted and apparently oblivious to his sur-
roundings. His two children, Donald, three months old,
and Frederick, three years, were being cared for in the
station.

Brudapest aroused Tilby Smith from his stupor.

“Come along,” he ordered, and with Smith in the back
seat the car raced for the scene of the murder.
’ Half a mile down Center road they came upon a truck,
parked a short distance south of a small concrete culvert,
and on the west side of the road. In the space of about
two feet between the truck and the roadside ditch they
found the body of a woman. It was lying face up with one
arm across the body, parallel to the truck.

Leaving orders that nothing about the scene be touched
the officers tore back into Ashtabula with Smith who hur-

riedly related the story of the killing to Captain H. F.
Stopping his truck at the command of ambushed Bixler.
bandits, the husband of the slain woman said they
were greeted by a murderdéus fusillade from the road-

It was about this time that my office phone rang. It

side at the right. An Ashtabula newspaper woman was Captain Bixler at Ashtabula headquarters.
is shown at the spot, checking the discrepancies “Patrolmen Shepard and Brudapest just brought Tilby
revealed by later investigations. Smith in here,” Bixler said. ‘His wife was shot to death
28 STARTLING DETECTIVE

SOM VOTEE

STARTLING DETECTIVE, October, 1931.

ollice Car
city, as
partner,
slipping
und for
r to the
by high-

on near
ind Say-

officers.
Killed by
his wife
iter road
about a
was shot
2 sedan.”
They
the side
his sur-
nths old.
r in the

the back

a truck,
culvert.
of about
itch they
with one

e touched
who hur-

in H. F.
rang. It

ight Tilby
t to death

TECTIVE

AMAZING SOLUTION OF OHIO’S ILLICIT LOVE RIDDLE

riangle Horror

By Former Sheriff
FRANK SHELDON

of Ashtabula County, Ohio

As told to
JACK HEIL

tonight on Saybrook Center road, half a mile south of
Ridge. That’s out of the city but I’ll meet you there right
away.”

Bixler had but five miles to go so naturally he was wait-
ing for me when I arrived with Deputies Kelsey, Buck and
Ritter.

The first thing I saw was the ramshackle dump truck
parked beside the road. I pushed my way through the
crowd of curious that had already gathered. Bixler played
his flashlight on the body of a woman lying beside the
truck.

“Dead,” Bixler said, as I dropped to my knees in the wet
gravel beside the body.

My hasty examination disclosed a bullet hole at the hair-
line of the right temple. The slug had passed through the
small, black hat the woman had been wearing. Her face
and hair were smeared with blood. There were no other
marks; no traces of powder burns.

Leaving Kelsey, Buck and Ritter to see that the body
remained ec I turned to an examination of the
truck with Captain Bixler.

“There isn’t any doubt but that she was shot while in
the truck,” Bixler said. He pointed out the blood spat-
tered about the inside of the truck cab. “After she was
shot she must have collapsed and fallen to the floor.”

On the floorboards about the opening for the gear shift
lever there was a generous pool of blood. Some of this
had dripped to the ground.

A Murderous Ambush

"WABATs you know about this?” I asked Bixler.
He called Patrolman Brudapest. The officer re-
peated Tilby Smith’s description of the holdup.

“Shepard and I answered the first call about 9:00 p. m.
and found everything as it is now,” he told me. “We
stopped at the gas station down at Ridge and Center and
picked up Tilby. He said two men jumped out of the
bushes right here and held him up. Says they shot his wife
when he didn’t have any money and that after they ran
away he lifted his wife out of the truck and laid her on the
ground.

“Then he grabbed his two kids in his arms and ran back
to the gas station. His brother says he staggered up and
begged someone to call police and a doctor. So they called
us. We've already called Coroner C. C. Webster and
Undertaker E. H. Landon of Geneva, to come and get the
body.”

‘“‘Where’s Smith now?” I asked.

ADVENTURES

Mystery woman in the case, Julia
Maude Lowther, Ohio Indian girl,
made startling disclosures which aided
police in solving the strange slaying.

Waging a brilliant legal battle, Prosecutor Howard
M. Nazor cracked the triangle riddle and secured
Ohio’s most notable conviction.

“He signed a statement at headquarters and was allowed
to return with his father and other relatives,” Brudapest
explained.

“Better bring him in again,” I suggested to Bixler. “Td
like to havea talk with him.” Bixler and his men started
back for the city.

Kelsey was sent up the road to see if he could pick up
any trail of the gunmen. I went over the ground about the
truck very carefully but intermittent showers had covered
any marks that might have been left behind. The soft,
coarse slag of the road offered nothing.

We had made little progress when Coroner Webster and
Undertaker Landon arrived on the scene about 9:30.

“Whoever did this must have been a marksman,” Web-
ster ventured after his examination. ‘She must have died
instantly.”

Webster was instructed to take the body to Geneva and
have a doctor get to work on an autopsy.

The inky blackness prevented a thorough search of the
scene even with the aid of our flashes. Webster and
Landon had left with the body so, leaving one deputy to
stand watch at the scene, I hurried into Ashtabula.

Prosecutor Howard Nazor met me at police headquar-
ters and we went immediately to the chief’s office where
Captain. Bixler, Brudapest and C. H. Blanche, the present
sheriff, were going over the story of the killing with Smith.

“My wife and I left home with the kids about dusk,”
Smith told us. “We were going to spend the holiday with

friends on Center road. We'd both looked forward to
this outing for some time. We stopped at the gas station
at Ridge and Center and chatted for about fifteen minutes.
Leaving there we drove south on Center road.

“Clara was holding the baby, Donald, in her arms and
Frederick was sitting between us, asleep. I had just
passed the culvert, about a half a mile from Ridge, when
two men stepped out of the shadows on the west side of
the road.

“One of the men remained at the front of the car and
the other came around to me and ordered me to ‘stick ’em
up.’ I did. Clara started to get out. The man covering
me told her not to. ‘All we want is your money,’ he said.
My wife answered, ‘We have nothing. We didn’t have
enough money in the house this morning to buy a loaf of
bread.’ The robber wasn’t satisfied.

“Then give me your watch,’ he ordered. I told him I
didn’t have one. I reached down to get the crank on the
floor of the cab. As I did so he fired one shot. The
bullet whistled past my head and struck my wife in the
temple. The man in front shouted, ‘My God, you've
killed the woman,’ as Clara slid to the floor. They turned
and ran south up the hill to where a sedan was parked in a
lane. I was stunned for a moment but managed to get
out and open the door of the cab and lift Clara out. Her
face was covered with blood. I laid her on the ground,
grabbed the kids and ran back to the gas station.”

Conflicting Evidence

Ci BIXLER took down the statement as Smith
related the details. When it was finished the captain
handed it to the truckman who read it slowly and care-
fully.

“That’s absolutely correct,” he said as he affixed his

signature. “I suppose I can go now. I’ve got to take care
of the kids.”

Grilled by the police, Tilby Smith, husband of the

dead woman, told various conflicting stories which

served to deepen the mystery. What did he know
about the ambush slaying?

STARTLING DETECTIVE

ERD hI SOE A

there
llow-
told

d his
Two
en to
esti-
juired
3igler
away
{in it
used
aught

vay?”

t isn’t

itto —
‘igger. {
r two

ent to
after
to a
clerk
e dis-
tuse it

aban-
a bet-
wife;

clerk
neters,
olored
le told
a ther-

Hill a
r spot,
on the
it 6:30
ontified
ing to
Smith
or her

ich we
al case,
is. In
found
ind his
‘reet at

before
T. Sar-
torneys
ction of
ie state
tnesses.
escape
nith on
etence.
st took
a con-
{ in his

profes-
it Ohio
man to
its into
aninion

“ia, la-
2 lowest
‘nosh of

September, 1933

Western Reserve University, rated him
“between a high grade imbecile and _a
low grade moron”. Professor G. T
Barnes of Conneaut agreed with the
others in giving him a mental age of
8 years, 8 months.

he state put on the stand a number
of witnesses who had had dealings
with Smith, who had always regarded
him as normal in intelligence. E. E
Phipps, Sharon, Pa., Justice of the
Peace, who employed Smith as a pro-
hibition undercover man, testified he
was “very clever” in locating speak-
easies.

The defense did not ay that Smith
had conspired to murder his wife, but
asked the jury for mercy that he might
be committed to an institution. Prose-
cutor Nazor declared the murder was
the “well-planned act of a normal per-
son,” and that “Mrs, Smith died so a
cheap romance might flourish.”

The jury stayed out just 35 minutes,
less time than it took Judge Sargent to
charge it, and returned with a first
degree, guilty-without-mercy, verdict.
Judge Sargent sentenced him_to die in
the electric chair August 17th, 1930.
Smith heard him without a display of
emotion.

“What date did he say?” he asked,
on being led away to jail. On bei
told August 17th he_ brightened,
grinned, and asked for a cigaret. +

APPEAL was filed on the grounds
that Judge Sargent erred in not per-
mitting Smith to waive jury trial, and
be tried ty the judge alone. The court
reversed the conviction, and ordered a
new trial. The state carried the case
to the Ohio Supreme Court, which sus-
tained the appellate court ruling on
February 4th, 1931.

This time the case came before Judge
Sargent alone, and on April 29th he
held that Smith was sane, found him
guilty, and for the second time Smith

eard himself condemned to die in the
electric chair.

On November 20th he lost his last
hope for a commutation of sentence
when Governor George White refused
to exercise executive clemency. At 7
p. M. Smith was led into the execution
chamber, calm, but slightly dazed.

“I’m dying a brave man,” he said.

As the guards strapped the death-
dealing electrodes to his head, arms and
legs, the doomed man asked God to
forgive his sins, and take him to heaven
with his relatives, “and my dear wife
whom |...”

At that instant his body shot for-
ward in the chair, stiff and tense; and
that peculiar, sickening odor which
always accompanies _ electrocutions,
filled the room. Seven minutes later the
prison doctor pronounced him dead.

Mrs. Preston E. Thomas, wife of the
warden, later gave out a note written
by Smith in his last hour. At his re-

uest she had shared his last dinner.

‘he note read:

“1 T. L. Smith, trumatally say that
I had nothing whatever to do with the

lotting against or slaying of my be-
oved wife, Clara. I wish everyone to
know that I am innocent of this crime,
and before my God I will be honestly

The

judged and my innocence be proved.
e case against Maude Lowther all
this time had been waiting until. the
fate of Smith was settled. After several
ostponements she went on trial for
er life before Judge James C. Oglevee.

“What force drove you on?” asked
Defense Attorney Frank L. Marvin as
she reviewed the story of the shooting,

“It: was my love for Tilby Smith,”
she answered. “I done what he wanted,
and when | done it I stood there like I
had been hit.”

Marvin, in his plea to the jury, stood
before the court with tears streaming
down his face, asking for sympathy be-
cause his client was a woman and a
mother. -

“| heard before the trial that Marvin
was something of an actor,” Prosecu-
tor Nazor told the jury in his .rebuttal.
“Now I know that report is true. Any
man who can cry at will while the de-
fendant ‘sits there dry-eyed and un-
moved is an actor, and my hat goes
off to him. It is not pleasant for me to
ask the death penalty for a woman.
But if the extreme penalty doesn’t go
in this case you might as well write it
off the books, because it wouldn’t go in
~ case against a woman.”

he jury cast only five ballots be-
fore arriving at a unanimous decision.
The court-room was packed when the
verdict was handed to the clerk for
reading.

Maude Lowther was the calmest per-
son in the room as the words, “Do find
the defendant, Julia Maude Lowther,
ety in the manner and form charged
in the indictment,” were read. The
crowd waited tensely for the additional,
“with recommendation of mercy”, but
they were not added. A dead silence
fell over the negro broken almost
on the instant by an audible whisper in
the rear:

“That means the chair!”

At these words the girl raised herself
stiffly in her seat, but her expression
did not change.

JUDGE OGLEVEE, with the com-
ment, “Any other verdict would
have been a gross nee sentenced
her to die Oct. 2nd, 1931.

The case was carried up to the Su-
preme Court of Ohio, which ordered a
new trial and granted a change of
venue. On December 7th aude
Lowther appeared before Judge George
A. Starn at Wooster, Ohio, waived trial
by jury and pleaded guilty to homicide.

he hearing to determine her degree
of guilt lasted two days. °

Judge Starn took 45 minutes to de-
liver his verdict. He reviewed the wo-
man’s past life with its unfortunate en-
vironment; and concluded that the
prime responsibility for the murder
rested on Tilby Smith; that Maude
Lowther had been susceptible to his
suggestions; and that she had ‘merely
carried them out in an “impersonal”
manner.

As the woman stood before the bench
she hung her head in shame; and as
Judge Starn sentenced her to life im-
prisonment in the Ohio Reformatory
for Women at Marysville, she burst
into tears. So Maude Lowther, who

Master Detective

A FREE BOOK

Develop your personal, creative powerl Awaken
the silent sleeping forces in your own conscious-
ness. Become Master of your own life. Push aside
all obstacles with a new energy you have over-
looked. The ROSICRUCIANS know how, and will
help you apply the greatest of all powers in man's
control. Create health and abundance for yourself.
Write for FREE book, "The Wisdom of the Sages” It
tells how you may receive these teachings for study and
use. It means the dawn of a new day for you, Address,

Friar A.M.H.
ROSICRUCIAN BROTHERHOOD
San Jose (AMORC} California

So you're going

~ BACK
TO WORK @

Twar’s Fine! And more good news is that improved

” conditions are sending many other men back to work.

But don’t let your enthusiasm dim the facts. Busi-
ness today, and from now on, has a new standard
of service, It is a standard of efficiency — of train-
ing — and to ignore it is inviting another long stretch
of unemployment.

For your own sake, man, for your. family’s sake,
do not flirt with this disaster!

Especially foolish when you can acquire so easily
the training you must have . . . when you can make
yourself more valuable on your job by devoting a
small portion of your spare time to study. In years
ae millions of men have come to International

‘orrespondence Schools for this training. Today, with
its unusual conditions, is bringing many of these men
back for additional training, to meet and solve the

roblems of a new day — and many thousands who

ve decided to face the facts and assure their own
futures. Will you face the facts? Do you want to
assure fa future? Then this coupon is a challenge
to you! Why not mark and mai it — right now?
Ij desired, F can arrange to complete the course
of your choice through easy monthly payments.

INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS
“The Universal University” Box 2910-B. Scranton, Penna.
Without cost or obligation petts send me a copy of
your booklet, “Who Wins and Why,” and full prrticulars
about the subject before which I have marked X:
TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRIAL COURSES

Architect O Bridge Engineer
‘Architectural Draftsman © Automobile Work

H Building Estimating Plumbing O Steam Fitting
‘Wood Millworking O Heating O Ven

O Concrete Builder O Sanitary Engineer

O Contractor and Builder O Sheet Metal Worker

O Structural Drafteman O Steam E)

D Structural Engineer O Marine Engineer

O Electrical Engineer O Refrigeration

D Electric Wiring OR. R. Locomotives

D Electric Lighting O Air Brakes

0 Welding, Electric and Gas ( Train Operation

O Telegraph E: OR. R. Section Fi

DO Telephone Work OR. R. Bridge and Building

O Mechanical Engineer Foreman

O Mechanical Draftsman 0 Chemistry 0 Pharmacy

O Patternmaker 1) Machinist Q Coal Mining Engineer

O Civil E O Agriculture

O Fruit Growing D Radio
es O Poultry Farming

BUSINESS TRAINING COURSES

DC Business Management O Advertising

O Industrial M V7 O Busi Corr

O Personnel Management © Lettering Show Cards

O Traffic Management O Stenography and Typing

OD Cost Accountant y

0 Accountancy O English O Signs

and C.P.A, Coaching O Civil Service
Bookk i © Railway Mail Clerk
Secretarial O Mail Carrier

Jalesmanship O High School Subjects

Wallpaper Decorating O Illustrating © Cartooning
Salesmanship OD Lumber Dealer
NaMe.....ccescserseeessessranscseceeseensrensanenneners Age.
Street AMMreCgS.........cesceresereesseesrereerenesesnesensnsnssnerenensananeesesees
City........ State...ccecessccecsserreeeeeeeeceeee
Oceupation.......c.sserseeseseeceseresensarsraereersserensasacsanereresereesorsseress -

If you reside in Canada, send this coupon to the
International Correspondence Schools Canadian, Limited,
Montreal, Canade

80 a

almost became Ohio’s first woman to
pay the“extreme penalty, was saved
from the electric chair.

It may interest the reader to know
who and what she was;<and to. know
about some of the social forces which
contributed to her downfall. ~

Maude Lowther. was’ born
West Virginia ~ Hills;

in the
‘and baptized

Julia Maude Ross, eighth grand niece -:

of the great woman patriot of Ameri-
_ can history, Betsy Ross, maker of the
first American flag.

There ‘is little Canibt that her girl-’
hood, back. in Sycamore. Creek, was:
filled with much more than one girl’s |
share of hard.work, and less. than. her.
share of fun... As the eldest;,of. six
children it fell to her to do most of:
the farm chores. Until she was in her
late ‘teens, ~ books,» amusements” and
“sech foolishness”, as her father put it!
were almost unknown to her. —

What sort of man her. father was.
may be judged from the comment. at-
tributed to him the day before sen-'
tence was passed in. the Ashtabula’
County courthouse at apo ig Ohio...

“Well seein’ as how I cain’t do much.
good here,” he said, “I guess I’ll: go’

Detective

Master

The

back home and tend to the. hayin’.”
Maude Lowther’s first mis-step oc-
curred. when she was fifteen, after her

cousin, came to work on the farm. The.

baby arrived about a year later. She
and her cousin were married, at a
rather grim ceremony enforced by the
family doctor, while she was still in
bed. But the two never lived together,
and soon afterwards, the marriage. was

annulled. From that time on, she says,’
her father never lost occasion 0 fling:

, names at her.

“And so,” she added, “my father ace

cused me, and | thought that if I had
i to have the name, I might as well have
, the. game, too.”

| She left home after the annullment,
'struck up an acquaintance with a
Clarksburg girl, and together they fol-
‘lowed the primrose path. When she
| was eighteen her mother died, and her
father sent for her to come home. He
had heard of her wayward life and
‘concluded that marriage would have
a settling effect. He even picked the
!man, a miner named Lowther, much
older’ than Maude. The marriage, so
yeas wh conceived, lasted just two
; years, when Lowther left her and the

country and went to South America.

They had been living in Ashtabula,
and Mrs. Lowther stayed on_there,
supporting herself and son with house-
work, She was lonesome, she said, but
all the men she met seemed interested
in just one thing. Then she met Tilby
Smith.

“One night I went to a picture show,
a picture about the sea and real in-
teresting,” she said, describing the
event for a newspaper interview sev-
eral weeks after she had been con-
demned.

“A man came in and sat beside me
and we talked about the picture. He
seemed awfully nice. He took me for
ice cream and a car ride after the show.
He seemed different from seateal fellows
] had met.

- “He put his arm around: sity shoulder
in the street. That was the’ first time
anybody had ever done that to me.
After that | saw him almost every
day.

“He knew a whole lot of things ]
didn’t. know, and it. made me sort of
respect him. He was real romantic, and
even now | can’t hate Tilby, though she
did try to put all the blame: on me.’

peradoes pale into insignificance,

everywhere. A great story!

sorbing tale?

inside gray prison walls,

time president both at home and abroad.

Other great cases featured in this issue are:

THE ss grit DEATH OF PRESIDENT WILSON a

A truly amazing revelation that will stir all patriotic American citizens, and open their eyes to the truth about what aciyally
happens behind the scenes between nations and business leaders in their bitter struggle for economic supremacy.
has written this remarkable account of a strange interlude, sinister in its import, and revealing plots against the life of: our war-

If you want to read a dark chapter of world history in the making, don’t miss this
story in the October number of TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES on all leading news stands September Sth. var

‘ &
STALKING “PRETTY BOY” FLOYD—THE MAN OF 100 CRIMES
‘

The saga of America’s most notorious criminal whose amazing exploits outside the law thake the careers of other infamous des-
Hubert Dail, our noted foreign correspondent, who has been touring the United States, digging
into American’ crime annals, has given TRUE DETECTIVE some great stories; but this one tops them all! ;
story de Juxe with a principal character who came out of the West to rob, love, kill, and match wits with law-enforcement officers
Well told.

SOLVING THE WEIRD APACHE MURDER MYSTERY

Here’s a story with a setting exthadedinary,, wherein a crimson trail links a lonely desert cabin in the Southwest with the classic
halls of a great Eastern university: A weird tale of a. brilliant. co-ed who refused ‘to temper enthusiasm with wisdom.. What
was the psychological magnet that drew this brilliant and beautiful girl to ‘the stamping ground of the Apache Indians? Made f
her dress like one of their dancing girls, and join the mysterious ceremonies surrounding ‘their Dance of Death? What grip of
fascination did these barbaric rites hold for this child of-an effete civilization? ' A shrewd U. S. Government sleuth cleared the.
mystery surrounding her shocking death, but not these aeaieoes

THE RED Se BEAUTY. AND THE MAN IN GRAY.

“—-Go to the PE a loi on. Malkey Avenue—you'll find. something | ‘hot? there in the apartment of two, ‘girls:
a redhead.” Such was the gist of a cryptic message that uncoyeréd one of the. most colossal jail-breaking plots’ ever. hatched hi
Here’s a colorful case where a woman loved fiercely but not wisely, and learned through unhappy and :
bitter experience that crime does not pay. Misplaced: loyalties, ‘heart-breaking frustrations ‘play the major roles.in this story °
ofa scheming, ruthless convict and his red-headed paramour. ‘Check it “special” when you get your October TRUE DETECTIVE.
“The Secret of Seattle’s Celebrated Trunk Enigma,”’ another outstanding story by
the eminent criminologist Luke S. May; “Harlem’s Baffling Sidewalk Horror,” recording. some splendid detective work by that -
master sleuth, Felix De Martini; “Snaring the Ambler Bank Bandits;” “My Strangest Detective Case;” “(Who Was ‘The:Kid?’—
A Cleveland Murder Riddle;” “The Bandit—The Nurse—And Sally Ann.”

DETECTIVE MYSTERIES for October. On sale at all news stands phony eee, 5th. Remember the: ‘date, and order ‘
your copy early!

What are your answers as you reach the climax ofthis ab- .

You will find all these and more in’ TRUE

Alan Hynd

A crime-mystery

~ One’ ..

OPPs ie cA

gloomy sky and gleamed on the

red tanks outside the little gas
station. From time to time cars droned
along the highway, homeward bound
from a holiday outing. It was the eve-
ning of Memorial Day, 1930.

As he watched the road from the gas
station window, the proprietor reflected
that the traffic had been light for a holi-
day. The driving rain had kept people
in their homes. And over in Ashtabula,
Ohio, the nearest town, the parade had
been spoiled by the downpour.

Turning from the window, the pro-
prietor switched on the station lights. As

R ‘x. splashed down from the

RO Reese ig

Stan Veet
EL aM

he did so, he heard the sound of feet
pounding across the gravel drive. The
door was thrown open and a man
stumbled into the room. The proprie-
tor saw to his amazement that it was
his brother, Tilby L. Smith. He was
carrying his youngest son, a three months
old child, and half dragging the oldest
hoy.

“What’s happened ?” cried the startled
proprietor.

“It’s Clara. She’s been shot. Bandits
held us up just after we left here.”

Seizing the phone, the proprietor
called police headquarters in Ashtabula.
A few minutes later a police car was rac-
ing toward its scene, carrying Patrol-
man Harold O. Shepard and his partner,
Harry Brudapest.

Frank Sheldon, former
Ashtabula county sheriff
who played an important
part in trapping the killer,
is shown examining the
murder weapon as he dis-
cusses the strange case
with Jack Heil, left, the
author of this story.

The police car skidded to a stop at the
gas station near the intersection of South
Ridge, a main highway, and Saybrook
Center, a secondary road leading south.

“What’s the trouble?” shouted the
officers.

“My brother’s wife has just been shot
by bandits,” the proprietor explained.
“Tilby and his wife had just left here
headed south for the Pierce place when
two men stuck him up.”

“Where’s your brother?” interrupted
Shepard. They found Tilby Smith lying
on the ground near the side of the road,
exhausted and apparently oblivious to his
surroundings, The two children were
heing cared for in the station.

Crimson d
woman W
stepped fr
derous at
key to tt
exposed

Julia Maud
startling dis<
Behind the :
below, a cn
shoot down

place a

d to a stop at the
rsection of South
vy, and Saybrook
id leading south.
?” shouted the

as just been shot
‘ietor explained.
.d just left here
erce place when

er?” interrupted
ilby Smith lying
side of the road,
* oblivious to his
> children were
ation.

Crimson death struck down a beautiful
woman when a ruthless assassin
stepped from ambush to launch a mur-
derous attack. But police found the
key to the mystery after detectives
exposed a drama of illicit passion.

Julia Maude Lowther, Ohio Indian girl, made
startling disclosures when interviewed by police.
Behind the fence rails, indicated by the arrow
below, a cruel killer lay in ambush, waiting to
shoot down Mrs. Clara Smith. The murder took
place at the spot marked by the cross.

oy Aaa

Aca emeeR SI I A RO

I ID AOE Ms ae

344 _ HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.

On the 29th of June, 1865, court ordered prisoners returned to
the jail of this county.

July 1, 1865, leave was given to Smith by court to withdraw plea
of. not guilty, and offer plea in abatement, to which the prosecuting
attorney filed demurrer. Court sustained the demurrer, and bbe
dered that said Smith answer forthwith to said indictment. Smith’.
‘counsel took exceptions to the action of the court in sustaining the

- demurrer, and leave was granted them to file motion to quash in-

dictment ; but motion, after argument by counsel, and exception.
again taken to action in overruling motion. Prisoner, upon being
re-arraigned for plea, plead “Not guilty.” The case was con-
tinued till next term of court, and the prisoner ordered returned to
the Pickaway County jail.

October 30, 1865, F. M. Gray, attorney for the defendant John
Adams, moved that his client, be removed from the Pickaway to the
Fayette County jail, which was so ordered by the court.

March 9, 1866, H. B. Maynard was appointed by court to as-i-t
in the prosecution of the case. The defense was conducted by F.
M. Gray and Mills Gardner. The following named gentlemen
were selected a jury to try the case: Jacob Harper, Robert Gil-
more, William P. Snider, William Chaffin, Robert House, Joseph
Hidy, Jackson Popejoy, Jesse Heagler, Edward Taylor, George
Fullerton, William McCafferty, and Samuel R. Morris.

The taking of testimony was commenced on the 12th of March.
and continued till the evening of the 15th. The case was argued
on the following day. On the 16th day of March, 1866, Adams
was convicted of manslaughter, as set forth in the third count
the indictment. A motion for a new trial was overruled, and the
prisoner. sentenced to ten years in the Ohio penitentiary. Jute
Alfred 8. Dickey occupied the bench during the entire trial.

TRIAL OF WILLIAM G. W. SMITH.

jos aul

The court, on the 5th of June, 1866, appointed R. M. Brig
R. A. Harrison counsel for defendant, and on the 8th, H. DB. May:
nard was appointed to assist in the prosecution. ,

At a special term of court, held August 28, 1866, motion Ww:
made by defendant’s counsel for a change of venue from Fayette

or
>

‘some adjoining county. Motion overruled. A motion to contin
“the case to the next term of court. On the succeeding day th
< .

wer

EXECUTION OF WM. G. W. SMITH. 845

was tried before the following jury : William James, David Lysinger,
John L. Myers, J. R. Venausdal, Jacob Eyman, Joel Wood, John

F. Gregg, I. W. ull, William Kearney, Anthony Coaler, L. R. -¢

Timmons, and Thomas Braden.

On the 31st of August, testimony was introduced. Court issued
habeas corpus for the return of Adams in the penitentiary, to testi-
fv in the case. Adams gave in his evidence on September 3, 1806.
The taking of testimony continued till Thursday, September 6th,
when the case was argued by-counsel. On the next day Mills
Gardner was appointed to assist the prosecution, on account of the
ilness of H. B. Maynard. The case was given to the jury, who
retired.’

At6a.M., on Saturday, September 8, 1866, the jury, after hay-
ing consulted all night, returned a verdict of guilty of murder in
the first degree. Monday, September 10th, a motion by defendant
for a new trial was overruled. “ Whereupon the court does hereby
wljudge and sentence that you, said defendant, William G. W.
Smith, be taken hence to the common jail of said county, from
whence you came, there to remain in safe and close custody until
Friday, the 30th day of November, 1866, and that on said last-
named day you be taken to the place of execution, and between
the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon and three o’clock in the
afternoon of Friday, the 30th day of November, 1866, you be hanged
ly the neck until you are dead; and may God have mercy on you.”

After having received his sentence, and shortly before the exe-
cution, Smith acknowledged the killing to Sheriff Straley. Upon
hwing furnished with stationery by the sheriff, he proceeded to
write a history of his life. On the morning of the execution, a
larze erowd pressed to the door of his’ cell. Ile became very in-
‘lignant at what he called their insolence, and remarked that he
had written “a lot of stuff,’ which'would be eagerly sought after,
but the people should not be satisfied. He then destroyed the
sketch, which he had written with great care. Ile said, “I didn’t
kill John Gray, but could throw some light on the subject.” While
en his way to the scaffold he stopped to say “ good-by” to the
sheriff's family.. He ascended with a firm step, and was brave to
the last, seemingly ready and willing to die. While the noose was
being adjusted, he made a few remarks, saying that this was a
“erin oecasion, but that he was innocent.

- ‘ new scaffold was erected for the execution. It has never been
‘ed since, but can be seen among the old relics of the jail.

Fs atc aac

Apacanctes

mere

ait

348 HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.

time in prayer and reading of the Bible. Ile dressed himself with
a great deal of care, and sat down to his breakfast eating yery little,
During the day few visitors were admitted, except the prisone r’s
family and religious advisers, who remained with him up to the
moment of his execution. At about twelve o’clock, his last meal
was brought to him, but he scareely touched it, and being informed
by Sheriff Straley that his last hour was near at hand, he expressed
his readiness for the sacrifice atany time. At ten minutes past one
o’clock, he entered the enclosure about the gallows, accompanied
by his spiritual adviser, his counsel, Sheriff Straley and deputy, as-
cending the platform at the request of the sheriff, seated himself
in a chair upon the drop. A short prayer was then offered by Rev.
C. T. Emerson, during which the prisoner was kneeling with his
face covered, and when he arose his face showed no sign of agita-
tion, though during the prayer his face could be seen to tremble as
if in some emotion. After the prayer, the ‘death warrant was read
to him by the sheriff, and he was asked if he had anything to say
before taking his departure. He arose, and stepping to the front of
the platform, began:

«¢Gentlemen, I have little to say. It isa solemn. occasion, and
I hope I may be the last man who will have to suffer death in this
way. But I am innocent of the murder of Old John Gray, for
which I must die. The confession I have given to my advisers is
strictly true. Death has no terrors for me—none whatever. We
must all die; it is only a matter of time. Ido not fear death; but
it is the manner in which it comes, and the disgrace it leaves upon
my family. For fifty years I have lived in rebellion against God:
but now, thank God, I have a hope in him.’

“Smith then took fareivell of those on the platform, and if at
any time there could be detected the least trembling in his voice, it
was when he parted with Mr. Emerson, who had been with him
much of the time during his confinement, and to whom he ex:

pressed a wish of meeting him in heaven. Stepping forward 0”,

the platform, he said, ‘ Gentlemen, adieu to you all, then turning
to the sheriff, motioned him to proceed, and the noose was adjust:

ed, the black cup pulled down over his face. At just twenty-eight:

minutes past one o'clock the drop fell, and the prisoner ¥*
launched into eternity. During about five minutes he continue"
to struggle, and then all was quiet. After hanging nineteen mite
utes, the physicians in attendance pronounced that life was extinct

A ye NE: ete ee ema

EXECUTION .OF WM. G. W. SMITH. 349

put the body was not taken down until it had hung nearly twenty-
five minutes. It was thet taken down and placed in a common
varnished coflin, and given into the care of his family.

«Smith met his fate with the stubborn firmness of one who had
nerved himself for the trial. From the time he stepped upon the
platform until the moment the drop fell, there was little or nothing
in his countenance, or the tone of his voice, to betray any emotion
he might have felt, and it seemed as if indeed death had no terrors
for him. He protested his innocence to the last, although there
ean scarcely be a doubt of his guilt.

«Thus ended the Gray tragedy. The law has been enforced, and
William G. W. Smith has suffered the extreme penalty of the law
for his erime,.and his soul has gone to meet the judgment of a
just God, who knows of his innocence or guilt.”

346 - _ HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.

Smith was reared in Hardy County, Virginia. It is said that
prior to his remoyal to this state, he was, on one occasion, pursued
by a constable with an execution for debt. Smith was found in a
mill, which the constable entered. The former was in a desperate
mood, and threatened to turn the water into the mill if the officer
of the law did not acknowledge that the account was paid. The

request was promptly complied with.

SKETCH OF v. G. W. SMITH’S LIFE.

The following brief sketch of the life of Smith was furnished by
him the day before his execution, and appeared in the Herald, De-
cember 20, 1866:

“IT was born in Hardy County, Virginia, on the waters of the
south branch of the Potomac, April 15, 1817. My parents were
not religious—very seldom went to mecting—but yet were of a
moral character. Did not allow their children to use profane
language. Had very few religious influences thrown around me.
Sometimes went to Sabbath-school, but as I had five miles to walk
I did not attend regularly. When quite young committed a con-
siderable part of the Gospel of Matthew to memory. I never at-
tended meeting much; never heard but one whole sermon, and
two parts of sermons. , a an

“JT grew up areckless young man. At the age of eighteen was
married to my present wife. My principal occupation was trading
in and driving stock. My home after marriage was in Hardy
County, Virginia, near my parents. From about twenty years of
age I used liquor pretty freely. I also gambled a good deal; was
generally successful. “It would have been better for me if I had
lost. I cared little for.it; it was spent as freely as though it had
no value.

“After coming to Ohio, which was some ten years ago, I did
not gamble much, as the mode here was different from that to

which I had been accustomed. Still, my companions were of. the

loose, drinking class. Sometimes got into quarrels, but not often.
Never misused my family by harsh abuse, but did much neglect
them; spent too much of my time from home. If I had been
more attentive to the claims of my family, and the advice of my
wife, it would be better with me now.

“In all my wanderings and wickedness I did not entirely forget

‘

EXECUTION OF WM. G. W. SMITII. 347

the future world. I believed in the existence of a God, in a future
state of rewards and punishments, and, in my thoughtful moments,
felt I was not doing right—felt condemned. At such times I re-
solved to reform and lead a different life, but was led off by my
besetting sins.

“T was never arrested for any crime until in 1864. I was arrest-
ed for the murder of John Gray, with which I now solemnly pro-
test before God, before whom I must soon stand, that I had no
connection, and knew nothing of it until after it was committed.
To-morrow I suppose I must hang for a crime for which I am not
guilty. Iam innocent of it, and the world will some day know it.
But I feel prepared for death—it has no terrors—only I feel that it
is hard to suffer innocently. But I believe I have Christ for my
friend, and that my sins, though many, are all forgiven; and I ean
die rejoicing in His pardoning mercy, and in hope of heaven.

“Could I be permitted to address young men, I would urge them
to avoid intemperance, profanity, and the gambling table—all lead
to present and eternal ruin—shun them as you would the deadly
viper. Do not violate God’s day—seck the company of the good,
and avoid all associations with the reckless and the vile, and above
all to love and revere God.

I can forgive all those who have in any way injured me—yes,
even those who swore my life away. The time with me is short,
but I trust to meet you in a better world. Farewell.”

THE EXECUTION.

We extract from the Herald the following account of the execu-
tion, which took place on Friday, December 14, 1866:
“Although the execution was conducted privately, crowds of
people began to assemble early in the morning, and long before
noon the town was full, and the jail-yard completely surrounded by
«the curious, anxious to obtain, if possible, a last look at the _pris-
ner, and to see whatever there was to be seen. Sheriff Straley
had issued a proclamation requesting that the day be observed
. 2a quiet, orderly manner, and that no liquor be sold, and Captain
Henkle with part of his company, were called out to act as guards
around the jail-yard, and preserve order during the day.
. “On Thursday night, the last night of Smith's life, he slept very
little, and arose early Friday morning, and engaged for a short

Svoolé 7

Scholarly looking Dr. S., 49, was the head of the Veterinary Medicine Department

at Ohio State University. He was also considered one of the nation's foremost

small firearms marksmen and as such had served as a member of the 1920 United
States Marksmanship Olympics team. Because of their mutual interest in

firearms, his best friend was the Chief of the Columbus Police Department, and

they frequented firing ranges together. S. was married, but his wife had long since
lost her charms for him and when TH, a young medical student, became his student
secretary, they soon fell passionately in love (her sympathizers were to claim

that S had induced the relationship by administering aphrodisiacs to Miss H, while his supporters that she was a
nymphomaniac who had seduced him at a vulnerable

period of his life). At any rate, the doctor rented a love-nest where the two would
meet for torrid romantic sessions. One evening in June, 1929, they drove out to a
firing range where they got into a recriminating argument (S was to maintain that it
was because he could not keep up with her sexual demands and that she demanded
that he divorce his wife and marry her or she would harm both him and Mrs. S. The
prosecution maintained that it was over her wish to break off their relationship and
enter into an affair with another man). He bludeoned her unconscious and slit her
throat with his pocket knife. Leaving her body on the range, he retumed the key to
the landlady of their apartment and told her that they were moving out of town. The
body was discovered the next day and identified by her college room mates who were unable to enlighten the police on
anything concerning her personal life. How-

ever the landlady recognized her photograph in the newspaper and notified the police
that she and an older man had rented the apartment, maintaining that they were
married. When officers searched the apartment for clues, the found the hat that

she had worn when she left her college dormitory on the morning of her death as well
as a pair of glasses belonging to Dr. S. When his friend, the police chief, questioned
him, S admitted the relationship, but said that they had terminated it on the day
before the woman's disappearance and that he had not seen her since. The doctor
tried to shift attention to a young graduate student who he knew had been intimate
with Miss H, but the young man withstood a rigorous examination. Then Mrs. S.
became a suspect when it was reported that she had just purchased a new dress.
The speculation was that she had been told of the affair between the doctor and

the woman by the graduate student and that she had surprised them in the love

nest and killed the girl. Finally, it became evident to all of the police involved in the
investigation that S. was the killer and he was interviewed in relays but continued

to maintain his innocence with an icy calm as the evidence against him was laid out:
that bloodstains were found on the handle of his car door; that her hat that she had
worn on the day of her disappearance had been found in the apartment when he had
already said that she had returned her key to him on the day before her murder; that
remnants of her personal possessions had been found in his furnace where he had
attempted to burn them; and that bloodstains were on his trousers. He made a full but selfserving confession and a week
after the murder an indictment charging him

was returned by a grand jury. His trial was set for a month later and it was a most
sensational one. S. took the stand in his own defense and was subjected to a
rigorous cross-examination. There was very little public sympathy for him and he
was sentenced to die. His wife was allowed to stay with him in his death cell until
the end and he went to his death clamly and without flinching.

Saturday June 21,1997 America Online: Wattespy Page: 1

her hand by having a door
nstrated. You'll agree to

‘stigation. I had obtained
e Prosecutor was sprawled
nen around him. He was
that Doctor Snook never
wn. They, however, had
hing—a confession. They
itinue the grilling, and as
vir argumentative gestures
. rising sun. It was 4:30
‘-s and a half since Doctor
ed the room.

hat, knowing the Doctor
g to be helpless? It was
1 to play my final cards
»om for the third time at

ie Doctor. He was pacing
Tears stood in his eyes.
‘rely leaning on the edge
ig silence have the psycho-
had on less shrewd men

ed his pacing and turned

: get angry if I criticize
you?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
| For a full minute he
wounded himself over
lis heart.

“It hurts deep down
here,” he remarked.
“You said that I didn't
care for my own child.
Why should you have
to make such a re-
mark?"

“Well, Doctor,” I
assured him, “when I
talk to a man for hours
and he tells me noth-
ing but lies, I become
damnably disgusted!"

UST then, the Pros-

ecutor entered the
room. On the table
beside mysclf and
Doctor Snook lay
twelve keys.. They
were the ones that had
been found at the rifle
range, and represented
all of the personal
keys of Theora Hix
except the one that
- love-nest—the thirteenth
s, was turned over to him
jed to abandon the apart-
it was the proper moment

‘T asked.
the apartment from her
e answered. “She didn’t

give up the apartment.”
- persistent answer, that I
ly bit of deeply incrimina-

ey from her Monday.

pices

The Mystery of the Thirteenth Key 33

I pinned my fast hope of a confession on a deliberate
bluff, which I let him have in the next sentence.

“Then, how did Theora take Peggy Edwards, her girl
friend, to the Hubbard Avenue apartment Thursday night,

‘if she didn’t have the key? You are telling us lies, Doctor,”’ .

I assured him, praying fervently that he wouldn't see
through my little trap. ;

I was overjoyed at his answer.

“You didn’t go far enough, Phillips,”’ he said. ‘You
didn't ask me whether J gave it back to her.’’

“Did you? When?”

“Thursday noon, at Twelfth and High Streets.”

“Then she had the key Thursday noon, and that night
she was seen with you in your coupe at the country club
just before the murder?”’

“That's right,’ sald Doctor Snook witha smile, ‘but you
are only guessing.’’

“We are not guessing, Doctor. She had the key Thursday
night, she was seen with you Thursday night, and she was
murdered Thurs-
day night!’

The Doctor ex-
tended his hands.

“There you have
everything before
you, Phillipe!’’

‘ you mean
you killed her?”” I
insisted.

“I got the key
from her dead
body,” he an-
swered meekly.

The Prosecutor,
during the uttering
of the last few stac-
aato sentences, had
been leaning on the
mantel of a fire-
place. For a mo-
ment, the admis-
sions seemed to
stun him too much
for action. Then he
came forward, and
said: :

“Let me_ have
him, Phillips!’’

I left the office,
and conferred with
Chief French out-
side. Two minutes

jail, in custody of a turnkey, he shook hands with Bob and
myself, requested us to visit him that afternoon, and paid
me what I consider the finest tribute I ever have received.
He simply said: -

“You're not so dumb, Phillips!”

When I returned to the city prison, I found that despite
the fact that Snook had “kicked in” to me, despite the fact
that a court stenographer for eighteen hours had been wait-
ing outside the investigation chamber, there was no written
record of the Doctor's statements, which were the equivalent
of a confession. I felt discouraged over the fact that so far
as written evidence was concerned, we had no mgre on the
Doctor than on the morning of his arrest.

I couldn't quite coincide in my views with the Prosecutor,
who, apparently, had arrived at some sort of an agreement
with Doctor Snook, whereby the Doctor was to give, later, a
complete and. detailed confession through his attorneys.
Consequently, I answered in a disgruntled negative when
Chief of ‘Detectives Shellenbarger said to me later that
-. Morning:

“We're going
over to the county
jail to get the con-
fession of Doctor

Snook, Phillips.

Want to go along?”

But the confes-
sion was not
forthcoming. Doc-
tor Snook now had
one answer to all
confident questions.
It was:
“Counsel advised
me not to talk,’
Thus, the _ gril-
ling which had
lasted from early
afternoon Wednes-
day until early
morning Thursday,
eighteen hours, was
resumed three
hours before noon
Thursday. About
noon, while city
and county detec-
tives worked them-
selves into a frenzy,
I sat in the detec-
tive bureau. They

later the door
opened, and the
Prosecutor mo-
tioned to my part-
ner, Bob McCall,
and myself.

AKE him back
to the county
jail,” he said, lead-
ing the Doctor for-
ward.
On the way to
the jail—with our
prisoner, haggard

and worn, between us—I did the chest-pounding act .myself.
“It’s in you—and it'll all come out, Doctor!” I told him.
“Will you come over to the penitentiary to see me, Phil-

(Right) Grim
tragedy faces the
heartbroken par-
ents of Theora
Hix, slain uni-
versity student.
They are shown
(with their at-
torney, Boyd Had-
dox, wearing
straw hat) walk-
ing to court to
attend the final
day of trial

lips?” Doctor Snook replied.

We had breakfast, during which Doctor Snook requested
his counsel, saying that when he arrived we would get a coin-
plete confession. As we left him at the door of the county

(Above) Prosecu-

Doctor Snook to
identify a beauty
compact found in
the basement of
the Doctor’s home
among other evi-
dence which had
been placed there
in the . furnace.
Note Snook’s at-
titude of calm in-
difference

tor Chester asking |

were getting no-
where, for Doctor
Snook again was
the cool, composed
man of unflinching
nerve who once had
won the rapid and
slow fire pistol
championships of
the world.
Suddenly Chief

- Shellenbarger

dashed into’ the
room,
“For God's sake,

Phillips," he said to me, ‘‘come back here! Snook won't talk!"
I followed him into the Chief's office again, the scene of the
hectic verbal battle. Doctor Snook’s face was deeply flushed,

and he was obviously in-a highly nervous condition. They

motioned for me to take him over.

“Doctor,” I said, ‘‘you have told me time after time that
if you were charged with the murder, (Continued on page 116)

30 True Detective Mysterves

For four hours Tuesday night, Prosecutor Chester played
hide-and-seek with newspaper -men, finally dodging all but
one enterprising reporter, Gene Fornshell, crack police re-
porter of the Ohio State Journal, who nonchalantly leaned
against a pillar outside the Prosecutor's office and refused to
be shooed away when Constable John Guy, County Detective
Lavely and Prosecutor Chester led Doctor Snook into Ches-
ter's office for a midnight conference that merely resulted in
a stenographic record of the Doctor’s alibi.

It was. with a huge amount of interest that I waited outside
the investigation room at Police Headquarters Wednesday
morning, June 19th, while county officials gave Meyers a
grilling.

That probe was to be Meyers’ last.

At the end of ten minutes, one of the questioners opened
the door, mopped his brow and came out of the room.

“We'll break. him in a few minutes!’’ he announced.

(THE breaking of Meyers would be the breaking of me, I
pondered. A sweet theory would be knocked into a
cocked hat while I sat on a bench assigned for the use of those
chasing down any tips turned in, and while I longed to ask
explanations—countless explanations—from Doctor Snook.

Twenty minutes passed ... an hour, two hours... .
Just before the third hour elapsed, a county man came out of
the grilling chamber. No third-degree strong-arm methods
were being employed, yet he perspired as though he had just
finished whirling Meyers around the chandeliers.

“That man can take more time to say nothing than any-
one I have ever questioned!”’ he said with a sigh.

I suppressed a smile.

A minute later, both questioners and suspect left the room.
But Meyers did not return to his cell at the county jail, to
the nightmare of an uncertain fate with the ever hideous
possibility of the electric chair lurking in the future. His
release had been ordered by Prosecutor Chester.

I felt a tremendous exultation upon the Prosecutor's latest
move—not so much because my theory had been vindicated,
as because an innocent man had escaped the grinding of legal
machinery that might have slipped a cog and destroyed him.

Simultaneously with his release, President Rightmire, of
Ohio State University, wrote Meyers, advising him that he
had been dismissed from the teaching staff because of his
connection with the probe of the murder of Theora Hix.

(Right) County Detective Howard (‘‘Red’’) Lavely, holding

the pocket-knife and hammer used in committing the crime,

which were found, still blood-stained, in a basement tool-box

in the murderer’s home. The slayer, instead of disposing of
them, had held them under a water spigot!

(Below) C. F. Long, veteran crime chemist, is shown examining

blood scraped from the door-jamb of Doctor Snook’s automobile.

“It may have been caused by a dog,” was the Doctor’s
explanation!

Unfortunate, indeed, that a man who had made only human

-errors, none of them malicious, had been the victim of an in-

vestigation into one of the mont brutal murders in recent
history! It is only fair to state that Meyers shared the
sympathy of every investigator on the case.

While one lone wreath lay beside the body of Theora Hix,
a tribute from her sorority sisters of Alpha Epsilon lota, a
medical sorority, and wilted in the intense heat of a June
day, another significant development was announced. I had |
cautioned newspaper men to say that my finding of blood
on the door-jamb of Doctor Snook'’s car was the finding of
“stains resembling blood.’’ Now, the newspapers blared forth |
in scare head-lines the information: ‘Stains Found on Snook’s
Car Are Blood, Chemist's Report Reveals.”

Upon my advice, pictures were made of the injury to |
Doctor Snook’s hand and, finding a moment to spare, I took |
a photographer to the morgue and there had photographed |
what I considered damning evidence: the peculiar wound |
on the murdered girl’s hand.

Closer scrutiny of the body of the girl led to still other dis- ;
closures which indicated that the murder had been even more
brutal, more carefully executed and more cold-blooded than
the public had realized. i

Doctor J. J. Coons, pathologist, pressed into service by the |
county, announced that a deep wound in Miss Hix’s car, a
wound which resembled nothing so much as the hole made
in removing the core of an apple, was caused by a knife, |
and not by the hammer. It evidently had been an attempt
to puncture the brain, done in a way which did not indicate
a lay criminal’s process. i

Coroner Murphy’s final report listed a broken neck
as one of the
causes of the |
girl’s death.

I considered |
carefully;
the action
of Doctor,
Snook’'s counsel. |
Although, by
means of a writ,
they might free
their client, they |
cheerfully had |
announced: ‘We
feel that the in- |
quiry will serve
to establish his —
innocence” — a |
naive statement, |
and one that}
might enlist)
sympathy which
had hitherto not
existed for the}
Doctor. Tf}
thought I saw)
in that announcement more of the “smoke screen’ to!
which I have referred. '

A private detective employed by the defense counsel now
succeeded in digging up a blood-and-thunder yarn of a de-
generate who had on several occasions followed Miss Hix,
once entering her apartment near the campus, where he was
seen by the Bustin sisters. Generally, little credence was
placed in the implication, and the Coroner's finding did not
substantiate the fiend or “ripper” theory. Nor did a motive
suggested by the public, that Miss Hix was about to become
a mother, prove correct. .

eine

At 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon began the final act in
one of the greatest crime dramas that ever unfolded ona
Columbus stage. The sun set, then rose—and a calm man,
with ready answers for questions, still faced the barrage of
the investigators, grimly“intent on a show-down.

32 True Detective Mysteries

one of these was your razor strop. How do you explain the
fact that we found it, not in the furnace, but intact in your
office at the university?”

There was no answer—only a mild stare that might have
said: ‘You're asking the question. Answer it yourself!’

On the desk was an ash-tray, overflowing with cigarette
butts left there by the men who had worked in relays at-
tempting to break down his professorial calm.
It was after midnight. I veered sharply in my
questioning.

“Do you believe in a Supreme Being, Doc-
tor—in justice?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“And, do you want to see justice done in this
case?”’

He refused to answer.

“Doctor,” I pursued, “do you want to see the
guilty person punished?” —

I WAS rewarded with a weak, ‘Yes.”

“There never was a murderer,” I told him,
“who did not possess at least a few loyal friends.
No one is in sympathy with you, except your
wife!”

I let loose, to the best of my ability, a torrent
of invective, of burning scorn.

“You're overbearing, conceited! Even the
man on the street hates you! If you want to
know how you stand
with the press, I'll call
in some reporters and
let you hear what they
think of you!

“Doctor, even wait-
ers and ~ waitresses
avoid serving you.

‘You know that to be
true, and you appre-
ciate the reason for it.
You haven’t the feel-
ings of a decent human
revi I don’t believe
ou even have a spark
of love for your own
two-year-old child!”

He made no com-
ment,

Then I roared at
him: “And, for that
last statement, .Doc-
tor, if you had a spark
‘of real manhood in
your body you'd
smash my face!

“You haven't been
a man at any time dur-
ing this case. You've
lied!. You've refused
to explain things! But,
here is what will happen. You'll be found guilty. For a short
while you will be in a cell at Ohio. Penitentiary, in death
row. On the last day they won’t have to shave your head,
since the hair is already off. You'll begin your last earthly
walk. On one side will be the chaplain. On the other, a
guard.

“A small crowd will be waiting to see Doctor Snook go to
his death. When that time comes, Doc, walk in like a man!
Take your medicine like a man! If you don't, remember
this: I’m going to be in that audience—and I’m going to be
close enough to kick you in the face!”

The Doctor continued his continuous teetering as I talked.
His features registered distaste, but no stronger emotion.

“If we turned you loose to-night, Doctor, you’d be a
ruined man! You've told me that it is ridiculous that Theora

Theora Hix. (Top) Judge Henry

(Left to right) William Howells, Cleveland Plain Dealer correspondent,
Floyd McCormick, Ohio State Journal photographer, and James Fusco,
Columbus Citizen reporter. It was on the testimony of Howells and
Fusco that the State supported its signed confession of the murder of

the murderer in this notorious case

should have suffered the injury to her hand by having a door
slammed on it as we have demonstrated. You'll agree to
that yet!”

Chief French took over the investigation. I had obtained
contradictions, but little else. The Prosecutor was sprawled
in a chair, a circle of newspaper men around him. He was
telling them that it was no use, that Doctor Snook never
would be broken down. They, however, had
minds for but one thing—a confession. They
implored him to continue the grilling, and as
they gesticulated, their argumentative gestures
cast shadows from a rising sun. It was 4:30
A. M., fourteen hours and a half since Doctor
Snook first had entered the room.

Was it possible that, knowing the Doctor
guilty, we were going to be helpless? It was
with a determination to play my final cards
that I entered the room for the third time at
5:15 A. M.

I was alone with the Doctor. He was pacing
a twelve-foot circle. Tears stood in his cyes.

I said nothing, merely leaning on the edge
of the table and letting silence have the psycho-
logical effect it had had on less shrewd men
then Doctor Snook.

Suddenly he stopped his pacing and turned
to me.

“Phillips, will you get angry if I criticize
you?” he asked.

“No,” I replied.

For a full minute he
pounded himself over
his heart.

“It hurts deep down
here,” he remarked.
“You said that I didn't
care for my own child.
Why should you have
to make such a re-
mark?”

“Well, Doctor,” I
assured him, ‘‘when I
talk toa man for hours
and he tells me noth-
ing but lies, I become
damnably disgusted!"

UST then, the Pros-

ecutor entered the
room, On the table
beside mysclf and
Doctor Snook lay
twelve keys.. They
were the ones that had
been found at the rifle
range, and represented

L. Scarlett, the man who sentenced all of the personal

keys of Theora Hix
except the one that
the Doctor had turned in at the love-nest—the thirteenth
key. This, he had told the others, was turned over to him
by Theora because they had decided to abandon the apart-
ment for the summer. I decided it was the proper moment
to play my last card.

“What about the keys, Doctor?” I asked.

“I obtained Theora’s key to the apartment from het
Monday, as I have told you,” he answered. “She didn’t
like to carry it, and we planned to give up the apartment.”

That was the stock answer, the persistent answer, that I

expected to what was then our only bit of deeply incrimina-_

ting evidence.

“All right, Doctor. You got the key from her Monday.
Is that correct?”

“Correct,” he rejoined.

had made only human
‘n the victim of an in-
al murders in recent
t Meyers shared the
case.
- body of Theora Hix,
\lpha Epsilon Iota, a
itense heat of a June
‘as announced. I had
my finding of blood
ar was the finding of
-wspapers blared forth
ains Found on Snook’s
cals.”
ade of the injury to
ment to spare, I took
ere had photographed
: the peculiar wound

cl led to still other dis-
er had been even more
ore cold-blooded than

sed into service by the
1 in Miss Hix’s ear, a
uch as the hole made
3 caused by a knife,
had been an attempt
which did not indicate

sted a broken neck
as one of the
causes of the
girl’s death.
I considered
carefully
the action
of Doctor
Snook’s counsel.
Although, by
means of a writ,
they might free
their client, they
cheerfully had
announced: “We
feel that the in-
quiry will serve
to establish his
innocence” — a
naive statement,
and one that
might enlist
sympathy which
had hitherto not
— existed for the
P| Doctor. I

thought I saw
ie “smoke screen” to

he defense counsel now
i-thunder yarn of a de-
ons followed Miss Hix,
* campus, where he was
lly, little credence was
oroner's finding did not
eory. Nor did a motive
ix was about to become

n began the final act in
that ever unfolded on a
—and a calm man,
faced the barrage of

. show-down,

The Mystery of the Thirteenth Key 31

If this man were guilty, would we break him down? He
was not a master criminal, with assailable mental quirks and
more cunning than brains. He was not an average trans-
gressor. I believe it would be safe to say that he was possessed
of a higher education than any man who was to face him in
the next eighteen hours.

Assuming Snook’s guilt, we were faced with this problem:
Could a college professor, a man of iron nerves, a citizen re-
spected and admired, if not liked—a man with absolutely no
criminal past—get away with a murder? The next hours
were to tell.

It was decided to grill the Doctor in relays, That is, one
official or detec-
tive would ques-
tion him for a
period of time,
then the task
would be taken
over by others
and the first de-
tective would
check up on any
doubtful infor-
mation given
him by the Doc-
tor.

The opportun-
ity that I had
prayed for had
come. For days,
for nearly a
week, I had
worked with lit-
tle sleep, and I
felt that I could
question the
Doctor on vari-
ous suspicious
points for hours,
without repeat-
ing myself once.

‘In the quiz that was to follow were: Prosecutor Chester
and Detective Lavely, representing the county; Chief of
Police French, Chief of Detectives Shellenbarger, Detectives
McCall, Van Skaik and myself, representing the city. Chief
French was to play the fatherly or sympathetic réle, while
the rest of us were to hit Snook with questions, but not our
hands.

1 decided, before ever stepping into that tiny room, upon
the method that I would employ. Once I had Louis Baker,
a stick-up man, on the carpet, for a little robbery job. For
hours I talked to him, impressing him with the fact that he
was a greater bandit than Gerald Chapman ever had been.
Baker puffed up like a balloon—and confessed to fifty-five
boKi-ups. He now is doing twenty-five years in Ohio State
Penitentiary.

UST the reverse of this was the method I had decided upon

to penetrate, if possible, Doctor Snook’s hitherto undis-
turbed shell. My eloquence may not be flowery, but when
lam full to the mouth of a subject, I can find plenty of words
for it. I planned to make Doctor Snook see every fault he
possessed—and to make him feel some of the hostility that
various persons held for him.

At 6 o’clock that afternoon, two small bottles of milk and
a sandwich were taken in to the Doctor. For four hours the
grilling had progressed without results. Outside the railing
of Chief French's office, a score of newspaper men had dragged
flat-topped tables from the detective bureau and were playing
poker.

They looked up expectantly as Doctor Snook was led out
of the office and taken into the wash-room, his first release
from the inquisition chamber. Then they commented upon
how vastly much better the Doctor appeared to be stand-

(Above) Doctor Snook is shown on the left; accompanied by a
bailiff who is returning him from his cell to the court

(Left) Mrs. Snook, wife of the accused college professor, baffles

attempts of photographers to obtain her picture as she leaves

city prison where she had come to explain what had been

burned in the furnace of her home two days after the murder of
Theora Hix

ing up under the grilling ordeal than did his questioners!

My first opportunity had come. The Prosecutor came out
of the room and motioned to me.

“You take him, Phillips,’’ he said. ;

I did not immediately begin to deride him, to lay bare

his faults to him. Instead, I had him recount for me the
story of his whereabouts on the night of the murder—the
hour at which he had worked in his office at the university
on an article for a hunter’s magazine, the hour at which he
had left for the Scioto Country Club, and how he had seen
the locker boy as he was getting his shooting glasses.
I had him tell how he had purchased a paper, had looked over
some clothing for his trip, and how he had seen his wife at
home. :
All of this he recounted firmly, sticking to his story in a
general way. Doctor Snook was far, as far from being a
broken man as he had been upon first entering the room. In
fact, several of his questioners were of the opinion that we
were wasting time, that Doctor Snook never would “kick in.”
However, I felt quite content with the preliminary interview,
and turned the quizzing back to Chester. He had promised
me several more sessions with the Doctor.

T was some time later that I again entered Chief: French's
office, where the grueling ordeal was continuing. I made
him retell the entire story told me at first. I required details,
however. I asked him the exact route he had taken home from
the golf course, the exact time at which he purchased the news-
paper, and just what he did when he gave up the love-nest
and delivered the apartment keys to the landlady.

“You took out all of your belongings?”’ I asked.

“Yes,” the Doctor replied, teetering gently in his straight-
backed chair—a positive sign that he was thinking deeply,
anticipating the questions and framing the answers before
I spoke.

“Did you take out Theora’s personal articles?’’ I shot at
him.

“She had none,”’ he replied suavely.

“All right, Doctor,” I answered, ‘‘we’ll have it your way.
She had no belongings. Is that correct?”

He repeated his assertion.

“Then how, in heaven’s name, Doctor, do you explain the
fact that two pairs of her pajamas and two pairs of her mules
were found, partially destroyed, in your furnace?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“You burned them!" 1 accused him.

For a moment he became too tense to find outlet for his
emotions in the teetering of the chair. Then he answered,
quietly:

“Yes. I burned them.”

“And last Sunday, Doctor, you told me that only a few
of your own personal articles were burned by you. You said

Nook) Weris+ H, Be niente!

‘Too Much Love
or the Professor's Co-Ed

By John Martin |

Who Made a Special Investigation of This Case

who murdered her,” the Chief of Detectives
said calmly. “It’s just a question of hanging
it on him.”

Startled into silence, the reporters at the press
conference in the Chief’s little office stared at each
other in amazement.

They recovered, leaned forward, fired questions:

“You mean the teacher, Chief?”

“You mean, her jilted sweetheart?”

“You’re not running a bluff, are you, Chief?”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before if you’re so
sure it’s the teacher?”

The Chief of Detectives only smiled blandly,
raised a hand to quiet the mewspapermen, leaned
back in his chair. It was nearly dark in his office
this second day after the murder of the dark-eyed
beauty.

The Chief said quietly, “I didn’t tell you it was

Thon never has been much doubt about

the teacher. I just said it’s been plain, almost from
the first, that only one man in the world could have
done it. The clew that fingered him turned up early
in the investigation.” .

“What was it?” a reporter asked eagerly. “Which
clew?”

But the Chief shook his head.

“If I told you now, you’d go off half cocked. But
T’ll say this—I’ll tell you the name of the guilty
man when I have proof, and unless I’m mistaken
that’ll be within 48 hours.”

They kept after him throughout the rest of the
press conference, badgering, cajoling, hinting. But
he only turned their questions aside with a bland
smile, a calmly spoken “Wait and see.”

It was on the bright, warm morning of June 14,
1929, that the crime was discovered—the bestial
crime in Lovers’ Lane which was to shock a nation,

What Was Behind the Mur-
der of This Beautiful Brunet

from Ohio State University?

terrorize the State capital, Columbus, Ohio, and
rock the great State University with scandal.

Two boys, Paul Krumlauf and Milton Miller,
were walking beside the rifle range on the outskirts
of town—scene of a thousand lovers’ meetings—
when they found the body of the beautiful girl.
Her slender figure, clad in yellow blouse and
bright skirt and sport shoes, lay sprawled on the
ground. She might have been asleep—except. that
the back of her head was smashed to a pulp of
blood and bone.

TE8808-STRICKEN, the two boys turned and
fled, called police. Quickly arriving at the scene
were Chief of Columbus Detectives W. J. Shellen-
barger, Coroner James Murphy, Police Chief Harry
French, Sheriff Harry Paul and their assistants.
They gathered in a silent semicircle.
“Looks like a co-ed,” Chief Shellenbarger said.

§ reine

The scholarly slayer (r.) insisted he was innocent right up
to last moment in death house at Ohio State Penitentiary

glasses, then went directly home and retired early.

Shellenberger mentioned the name of Alec Sommers.

The professor nodded gravely. “Theora told me about
him. It seems that they were engaged for a year or two,
then Theora called the whole thing off. Sommers was
very broken up. I know that he has seen her since then
and has begged her repeatedly to keep company with
him again.”

The detective chief’s phone rang at this point. It was
one of his aides reporting on the examination of Dr.
Snook’s car. There were odd stains on the right door
jamb of the machine. Also, a pair of driving gloves bear-
ing suspicious stains were found in the car.

-‘Shellenberger grunted and hung up. “Professor,” he

said, “we’re not taking any chances—we’re holding you:

in a cell at least until we can talk with Sommers.”

Just half an hour later, Alec Sommers appeared volun-
tarily at headquarters. His frankness and apparent desire
to cooperate made an immediate favorable impression on
Shellenberger and Chester.

“I wrote those letters, all right,” he said, “and what
Dr. Snook says is true. I was engaged to Theora and
was pretty broken up when she jilted me. I begged her
to come back to me. But I certainly didn’t kill her. I
spent all of Thursday evening in the company of two of
my fraternity brothers.”

Grilled at length by Shellenberger and Chester, Dr.
Sommers reluctantly admitted that he and Theora had
been intimate during the months of her relationship.

“But she was intimate with Dr. Snook, too,” he de-
clared. “She confessed it to me. Their secret affair, off
and on, continued for years. I always felt it was Dr.
Snook’s fault that our engagement was broken—Theora
seemed completely dominated by him.”

Despite his seeming frankness, was Sommers the
killer—was he accusing the professor to cast blame off
himself? The officers decided to lodge him, too, in the
county jail until such time as they could check up on
his alibi.

Substantiation of Sommers’ charge that Theora and
Dr. Snook had carried on a clandestine affair came when
the operator of a North High Street rooming house, Mrs.
John Smalley, showed up at the detective bureau. She’d
seen Theora’s picture in the papers, said she had known
the girl as Mrs. James Howard.

“She and a man I believed to be Mr. Howard rented
a room in the rear of my place for three months,” she
related. “They claimed they were some sort-of traveling
demonstrators and just wanted the room as a headquar-
ters. They came to the house two or three nights a week
and stayed for only a few hours, never overnight. They
always used the rear entrance and seemed anxious not
to be seen.”

On Friday afternoon, Mrs. Smalley said, Mr. Howard
had come to her alone, turned in two keys to the room

- and settled the bill. He told her he and his wife would

not need the room any longer. Hearing this, Shellen-
berger immediately thought of the broken key chain
found near the body. The key to the room could have
been on this chain.

Mrs. Smalley confronted Dr. Snook in jail and readily
identified him as the man she knew as Howard.

“All right,” the professor told the detectives, “there’s
no use going on any longer trying to protect the reputa-
tion of a dead girl. Theora and I were having an affair.
We were intimate just a few weeks after we first met,
and it continued for years. Alec Sommers was only an
interlude in her life. Theora was fascinated by sex,
wanted to talk about it all the time.”

' Dr. Snook admitted. that they had rented rooms in
other rooming houses before going to Mrs. Smalley’s.

“Theora wanted you to get a divorce and marry her,”
Shellenberger accused. “When you turned her down,
she threatened you with exposure. So you had to kill
her. Is that the way it happened?” _

The professor uttered an angry denial. There had never
been any talk of marriage between them, he claimed;
theirs was “an adult and (Continued on page 89)

a
d: up ‘at
nounced
r life on

a war-
rra pri-
, during
promise
» ch

Perhaps,
ntlemen
yugh the
t. Per-
twenty-
's meant

th, 1908,
ablaze.
too late,
to the

charred
r black-
yas that
e bodies
The in-
ess and
oyed by
natural
ere, who
the farm
f record
i sworn

yssed in
son and
tor was
=. -The
morgue.
Gunness
ispicious
that the
adopted

It cornce

» sta

le Gun-
d teeth.
l-fitting

n order
ce, was
_ trying
heriff of
ne mys-
s other
med his
1em out

pounds
> search

AW B2EAUEARMU EO 2B BERANE

(Continued from page 24)

practical arrangement.” Nothing more.

“Then what is your theory about the
murder?” snapped the detective chief.

“I think Theora must have gone riding
with a chance acquaintance or a complete
stranger. He killed her when she refused
to submit to his demands out on the rifle
range.”

“How about Sommers? I thought you
were suspicious of him?”

“Well, yes. He’s still in the picture, in
my opinion.”

The officers were forced to disagree with
this when they checked Sommers’ alibi
and found it sound. The young horticul-
ture instructor was released, completely
cleared of suspicion.

In the next few days the evidence against
Dr. Snook piled higher and higher.

The only thing in his favor, in fact, was
that his wife backed his story about being
home at the time the murder occurred.
Members of the Scioto Valley Golf Club
who were at the clubhouse on Thursday
night were unanimous in declaring they
had not seen Dr. Snook at the time he
claimed he drove out there. A garageman
came forward with the information that
Dr. Snook had asked him to wash his Ford
coupe early Friday morning, and there
had been some “suspicious splotches” on
the right side of the machine.

The proprietor of a cleaning establish-
ment showed up at headquarters to report
Dr. Snook had given him a suit to be
cleaned the day after the murder. Because
of the week end, the job had not been
done. Laboratory technicians examined
the suit, the car door and the driving
gloves and announced that stains on them
were of human blood.

The most sensational development of all
was the announcement of the results of
the analysis of the victim’s stomach con-
tents. Scientists found a partly digested
sandwich which had been doped with a
powerful aphrodisiac—a drug intended to
induce passion—and a search of Dr.
Snook’s laboratory turned up a bottle of
this same drug!

Was the professor a man of abnormal
desires? Had he given Theora the aphro-
disiac so that she would be more respon-
sive to his advances? The investigators
theorized that he could have picked her
up when she left the hospital, taken her
to a restaurant for a snack, doctored the
sandwich while her attention was dis-
tracted, and then driven her quickly to the
rifle range.

Almost a week after the slaying—after
long, repeated sessions of questioning, and
after being confronted with each bit of new
evidence—Dr. Snook broke down and
made a confession. He admitted he killed
Theora, but claimed he had acted in self-
defense!

March issue of

MASTER
ETECTIVE

on sale at all
newsstands January 29th

“We had agreed to meet on a street
corner near the hospital,” he said. “I picked
her up there around eight and suggested
we go to the rooming house. She denied
my request. We drove around a while
and finally went out to the rifle range and
parked.

“Theora was angry at me because I had
told her I intended to go away on a two-
week vacation with my wife and child.
She wanted me to remain in Columbus
with her. The argument became hotter
and hotter. Finally, after we had parked,
Theora made a move as if to open her
purse. I knew she owned a gun, and I
believed she was going to take it out of
the purse and shoot me.”

In the ensuing struggle, according to the
professor, Theora’s hand was injured when
he slammed the door on her. She opened
the door again and leaped out. Still fear-
ing she would shoot him, he grabbed a
hammer off the shelf behind the seat and
followed her. He also had a knife.

First, he said, he slashed the girl in the
throat and groin, and then he beat her
with the hammer. At last he knew she was
dead. He opened the purse, was surprised
it contained no gun, and took out the key
chain. He broke the chain while taking
off the rooming-house key.

Later, according to his statement, he
disposed of Theora’s purse by casting it
into the Scioto River. Back at his home,
he washed off the hammer and knife and
put them in a tool chest. Detectives sub-
sequently searched for and recovered the
murder weapons.

The professor absolutely denied he had
given his paramour an aphrodisiac.

Much as they doubted the self-defense
story, Shellenberger and the other inves-
tigators could not persuade Dr. Snook to
change his confession in any respect.

James Howard Snook was placed on
trial on August 2nd, 1929. His able attor-
neys, John Seidel and D. O. Rickets,
worked hard to bolster his plea of self-
defense. His wife and his elderly mother
stood by him in the courtroom throughout
the proceedings.

Prosecutor Chester derided the claim
that the professor had killed in the belief
he was saving his own life. He cited the
likelihood that Theora threatened Snook
with exposure when he refused to marry
her, and also advanced the theory that
Dr. Snook could have flown into a rage
when the girl refused to yield to him on
that particular night.

A long parade of witnesses took the
stand for the State to build up an iron-
clad circumstantial case against the de-
fendant.

The trial dragged along for twelve days.
At the end, it took the jurors less than
half an hour to make their decision. They
returned a verdict of “guilty in the first
degree.” Dr. Snook stood unwavering be-
fore the grim-visaged judge to hear the
mandatory sentence of death in the elec-
tric chair imposed.

The professor’s counsel made every pos-
sible petition for a new trial, but all were
turned down. Appeals to the Governor
for clemency went unheeded. On the last
day of February, 1930, Dr. Snook ate his
final meal at the state prison in Columbus.
Then, strangely calm and still protesting
his “innocence,” he was led into the death
chamber and paid the supreme penalty in
the electric chair.

Epitor’s Note:
The name, Alec Sommers, is fictitious.

| y y
eLUU FLAULO} i)
LISTEN and LEARN A

LANGUAGE»
INGUAPHONE |

World's-Standard Conversational Metho<
FRENCH You can step into a whole

world of business and cults
opportunities—double your tr:

SPANISH enjoyment, increase your char
Pv bd hte ered gs in
rmed Services—when you 8
GERMAN another language. 4

ITALIAN No Textbook Can
Teach You To Speak

RUSSIAN bien —_ pre you br
a foreign land right into y:
JAPANESE own home. You learn anot

language the same easy, r |
NORWEGIAN (sural way you learned Engl
as a child long before ;

—any of 29 went to school. It’s like liv
in another country. You

LANGUAGES = ten—you hear native voic
both men’s and women’s. }

understand—you SPEAK! You read and wr

World-Wide Educational Endorsement

Used internationally by thousands of schools, colle
Armed Services, governments, and prominent bust)
firms for employee training. Over a Million Hi
Study Students.

FREE book ‘‘Passport to a New World of Opportuni
gives fascinating facts. Stop wishing—start talk
Write today! Linguaphone Institute, 258-02 R
Building, New York 20, N. Y.

eee
LINGUAPHONE INSTITUTE
258-02 RCA Building, N.Y. 20, N.Y

SEND FOR Send me your FREE book. I war

Address... 2.6... ce eee ee ee ee eee

BOOKLET MOTRY osscciec 5 os 2 otras Zone....State...

Our 50th Year of Up-to-Date
Modern Language Teaching.

DIRECT TO YOU $

Cee ee eg ee OG
Genuine Beautiful Rockdale [4°
Monuments, Markers. Satis-

faction or MONEY BACK, ® EASY
Freight paid. Write for our TERMS
FREE Catalog and compare prices.

ROCKDALE MONUMENT Co.
Dept. 671 JOLIET, ILLIN:

ov. al

NEW CHEMICAL MITT S.
Sensational! DRY Window Cleaner! Uses ““& no wat
messy liquids. Chemically Treated. Simply glide over
dows; leaves glass sparkling clear. No heating wate

heavy buckets to carry. No rags, powders, sponges, c

ois. No mess or muss. No red chapped hands. Dust, dirt, @

fog disappear like magic. Take orders from friends rn m

SAMPLES FOR TRIAL Serpe cer sei

send name at once, Hurry. Postcard willdo. SEND NO MON)

just your name. KRISTEE CO., Dept.406, AKRON 8, O

complete privacy |
a loan made by mail. Employer, relatives and
jiends wil not Know you'reapplying Eyed . loan. A
Kirin cece pation le Sy plication Blank sent
REE in plain envelope. There’s no obligation.
STATE FINANCE CO., 323 Securities Bidg. LOAN PAPE
Dept. K-103, | OMAHA2, NEBRASKA Ji py |
SS SO
Pstare FINANCE CO., Dept. K-103, | ENVELOI
1 323 Securities Bidg., Omaha 2, Nebraska!
Please rush FREE Application Blank.

NAME
ADDRESS
CITY STATE

! Occupation Age

Amount you want to borrow $
OUNCE RI CRA MERE SAAC) LORY, INN) GN REINS UTA, NN ARR! SS) SESE: ANNES: SA

D. O. Rickets, defense attorney, countered with claim that
his client was innocent, had fought in defense of his life

scanned the missives eagerly, then turned to the Bustin
sisters. :

“Your roommate had one sweetheart, at least,” he said.
“Ever hear her mention a chap named Alec?”

The girls shook their heads.

“Well, evidently she was engaged to him some time ago.
Sounds like he was pretty angry when she broke off the
affair.”

Shellenberger came upon an envelope with a return
address: Dr. Alec Sommers, the Gamma Alpha fraternity
house.

While one of the officers set off for the fraternity house
to check on Sommers, the detective chief and his aide
completed their search of Theora’s effects. The only
additional find they made that could have possible signifi-
cance was a pearl-handled .41 caliber revolver and a
quantity of ammunition. Had the girl obtained this weap-
on to protect herself against Dr. Sommers or some other
overly ardent suitor?

Questioning of other occupants of the rooming house
turned up na one with any knowledge of Theora’s private
affairs. However, one girl recalled that on two or three
occasions she had seen the victim escorted home late at
night by a man who drove a blue Ford coupe.

“He never came in with her,” the informant said, “but
I got a good look at him under the street light. I’d say he
was a man of about forty, tall and quite bald. He wore
pince-nez glasses.”

Back at headquarters, Shellenberger received a report
from the detective who had been dispatched to the faculty
house. Dr. Sommers, according to his fellow instructors,
was out of town. They didn’t know where. He was ex-

Amazing twist to case was announced by Coroner Murphy
(above) that girl had been doped with passion-inciting drug

2g as
pe BE
7 TAN

pected to return in a day or two. An instructor in horti-
culture at the university, he was described as being in his
30s, slight of build, with sandy hair. He did not wear
glasses. Obviously, he was not Theora Hix’ nocturnal
escort.

On Saturday, while waiting for Dr. Sommers to reap-
pear, Shellenberger instituted a search for the mysterious
bald-headed man. It was logical to believe Theora had
met him on the campus, so detectives directed their atten-
tion to members of the faculty.

By the middle of the afternoon the investigators inter-
viewed Dr. James Howard Snook, 46, a professor of vet-
erinary medicine. His description fit the one given by the
girl in Theora’s rooming house, and he owned a blue Ford
coupe. Other faculty members said Theora had been seen
in his company.

Yet Dr. Snook was highly respected in the community;

*was married and the father of a young child. Some years
ago he had won the world’s championship for pistol
marksmanship as a member of the United States Olympic
team. He was one of the most active members of the
swank Scioto Valley Golf Club.

“Bring him in,” Shellenberger ordered his men. “At
least, we'll have a talk with him. And I want an exam-
ination made of his car, too.” °

Prosecutor James Chester joined the detective chief in
questioning the professor when he arrived at headquar-
ters. Dr. Snook did not seem the least perturbed at being
called into the case.

“Of course, I knew Theora Hix. Her death came as a
great shock to me,” he said. “But I assure you that ours
was strictly a platonic relationship. I met her first in the
classroom and admired her intelligence and willingness
to work. In fact, she became sort of a part-time assistant
in my laboratory. I contemplated writing a book on
veterinary medicine, and she had agreed to help me with
it. In order to discuss this we had to meet rather fre-
quently. Yes, I did drive her to her rooming house on
a few occasions.”

Dr. Snook insisted he hadn’t seen Theora Thursday
night. He said he left his laboratory around 8 o’clock,
drove to his country club to pick up a pair of shooting

KN Wy
‘,
at RK

»
b

Si wn |

pital authorities that the disposal of his
hody was no concern of hers. “After
all” she said, “I only met him on the
train.”

That callous lie was her undoing.
While she was en route back to Cin-
cinnati, the Denver authorities became
concerned about George Obendoerfer.
They became even more concerned
when a routine autopsy disclosed lethal
quantities of arsenic in his viscera.

Two days later, when Anna arrived
at the Union Station, she was met by
4 reception committee of three grim-
faced officers. There was no brass band.
[he men carried no _posies. Instead,
they held out a “Hold” order for her
rrest for the Denver police in connec-
tion with Obendoerfer’s death.

However, long before the extradition
papers arrived from Colorado, As-
sistant Prosecutor Frank Gusweiller
and a score of detectives had worked
up a powerful case of their own against
the blue-eyed, bosomy Borgia. Once on
the scent it was not hard to follow her
lethal trail from the home of one
wealthy, elderly man to the next. Four
or these men had died. Their bodies
were exhumed and post mortems per-
formed. Arsenic was found in every

case.
Ernest Klauber, the drug clerk, was

also found. Shame-facedly he told how

SECRET OF THE CAMPUS LOVE NEST
(Continued from page 39)

“I had dinner at home,” he said.
“Then I went to my office and worked
on an article for a hunting magazine.
When I left the office, I mailed some
letters, and drove over to the Country
Club. I recall talking with the locker
boy there about my shooting glasses.
From there I drove to the pharmacy
at 10th Avenue and High Street, bought
the evening papers and went home to
my room, where I read the papers for
several hours. Later I went down to
the kitchen and had a snack and went
to bed.”

The doctor spoke with confidence.
He knew nobody could check the time
he worked in his office. He had been
at the Country Club and had talked
with the locker boy. At the pharmacy
the owner couldn’t be sure whether
he was in or not. A lot of people came
and went in that store. There was no

way to check whether he had been in
his room or not. And his wife had
seen him eating the late snack.

The detectives, too, soon found that
the story couldn’t be checked. The
locker boy recalled talking to Dr.
Snook. The owner of the drug store
was evasive, said he couldn’t remember
everybody who came and went in his
Store. Mrs. Snook, whom the detec-
tives now questioned, said she was in
her room which was separate from her

POLICE FILES

he had been seduced into supplying
Anna with her stock-in-trade.

“I thought it was for the rats,” he
said.

HEN Anna Hahn went on trial for

her life before an eleven-woman,
one-man jury in November, she had
only two things to say. “J am innocent.
I have nothing to fear.”

She was wrong on both counts. After
a sensation-packed trial that lasted six
days, she was found guilty with no
recommendation of mercy. Whereupon
Judge Charles S. Bell sentenced her to
die in the electric chair.

Up to that time no woman had ever
died in the chair in the State of Ohio
and Anna’s attorneys fought desperately
to save their client from that fate.
However, all their efforts failed. On
June 20th, 1938, the cold, calculating,
blue-eyed murderess was led through
the little green door at the State Peni-
tentiary at Columbus. Her iron nerve
broke at last and she screamed when
two guards strapped her into the chair.

Justice compels us to record that the
State despatched her to Eternity with
far more mercy than she had shown
to any of the her victims.

Editor’s Note: The name Ernest Klauber
is fictitious.

husband’s. She thought she heard the
downstairs door slam at around nine-
thirty, and at about midnight when she
went to the kitchen she saw her hus-
band having his late snack.

R. SNOOK had remained at head-

quarters while his story was being
checked, and when the detectives re-
turned, they found him entertaining
a number of policemen with a disserta-
tion on how to fire a revolver.

But downstairs, in the very same
building and at that very moment, a
woman was talking to the sergeant at
the desk. She and her husband ran
a furnished apartment house on North
High Street. She was positive, she told
the sergeant, that the picture of Theora
Hix, which she had seen in the papers,
was a mistake, because she had rented
an apartment to Mr. and Mrs. Howard
Snook, and that woman in the picture
was certainly Mrs. Snook.

The sergeant sent her up to Chief
Shellenberger where she repeated her
story, adding: “Mr. Snook came to me
yesterday afternoon and told me he
was giving up the apartment and he
paid me. He said his wife would use
the apartment until Sunday, but he
left all the keys on my table. I couldn't
understand that.”

Dr. Snook had just completed a
demonstration of steel nerve in holding
a gun in his outstretched arm for five
minutes when Chief Shellenberger en-
tered the room, For a moment the

Shrinks Hemorrhoids
New Way Without Surgery
Stops Itch— Relieves Pain

For the first time science has found a
new healing substance with the astonishing
ability to shrink hemorrhoids and to relieve

-pain — without surgery.

In case after case, while gently relieving
pain, actual reduction (shrinkage) took place.
Most amazing of all—results were so

thorough that sufferers made astonishing —

statements like “Piles have ceased to be a
problem!”

The secret is a new healing substance
(Bio-Dyne®)—discovery of a world-famous
research institute.

This substance is now available in sup-
pository or ointment form under the name
Preparation H®, Ask for it at all drug
counters.

.7 oe
—e
an

, ate « IS THE MAHLER WAY!

Thousands of women like yourself, after reading
and . following our instructions carefully, have
learned to remove unwanted hair permanently the
Mahler way. Re-discover the thrill of an excitingly
beautiful complexion — don't delay another day!

Send 10c for 16-page iNustrated booklet ‘‘New
Radiant Beauty”. . . learn the secret for yourself!

MAHLER’S INC. Dept. 195A, Providence 15, R.I.

START SAVING $1,000 with a Perpetual
Calendar Bank. Insert 25¢ a day and watch
date advance, savings grow. Must save daily
or date won't change. Your reward: a new
home, car, college, etc. Free savings chart.
DeLuxe model $2.25 each; 3 for $6.50; 6
for $12.50. Add 25¢ each bank for handling.
Leecraft, suite 507-PF2,147 W. 42 St., New York, N. Y. 10038

OPPORTUNITIES
FOR YOU

For ad rates, write PCD
549 W. Washington
Chicago 6

(MB-Feb.-Mar. ’65)

EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION
FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT. CONSTRUCTION, other work
projects. Good paying overseas jobs with extras, travel @x-
penses. Write only: _Manager, Foreign Service Bureau,
Bradenton Beach, Florida.
a _AGENTS & HELP WANTED

EARN EXTRA MONEY Selling Advertising Book Matches.
Free Sample kit furnished. Matchcorp, Dept. GH-25, Chicago

32, Illinois.
BUY IT WHOLESALE
ALL BRAND NAME Latex products. Confidential wholesale

price list 10c. Distributor Sales, Box 6041-EM, Kansas
City, Mo. 64110.
HYPNOTISM

HYPNOTISM. REVEALED! REE Illustrated Details.

Powers, 8721 Sunset, Holl wood, California 90069.
INVENTIONS

NVENTIONS N ED IMMEDIATEL or manufac-

turers. For additional information write Kessler Corporation,
C132, Fremont, Ohio. :
: MISCELLANEOUS

EXCITING KARATE HOME Trainer. Details Free. Karate

Humanoid, Dept. 1-H, 9720 Fuller, Cleveland 4, Ohio.

|
|

ihn —~ .

doctor seemed to tremble and he stared
glassily at the landlady. Then he quick-

ly gained control of himself, and step-
ping forward, he greeted her cordially
and with smiling equanimity.

“Why,” he exclaimed. “How do you
do?” :

“Is this the Mr. Snook who rented
the apartment?” Shellenberger asked.

She nodded. “Yes, that’s Mr. Snook.”

Shellenberger and his detectives
turned to Dr. Snook for an explanation.
He was doing a lot of trembling inside
and butterflies were flying around in
his stomach, but he faced the officers
with casual unconcern.

“After all,” he said with a smile. “I
am a married man and I have to protect
my reputation. Every man slips once
in a while. And I wanted to protect
Theora’s name.”

“I see.” Shellenberger wasn’t con-
vinced. “But tell us how you happened
to go there yesterday and give up the
apartment—before anybody knew that

Theora Hix was murdered.”

“That’s easy to explain,” the doctor
said glibly. “The last time I saw Theora
was Monday. She gave me her key to
the apartment then. I told them that
Theora would use the apartment until
Sunday to make it look right. I went
there Friday and got my things. Theora
had taken all her things over the
week-end.” .

The officers didn’t ask the doctor
any more questions, but he was kept
at headquarters.

And now City Chemist E. F. Long,
famous in the midwest for his scien-
tific aid to crime detection, entered
the picture. He drove with Detective
Philips to Snook’s home. Detectives
McCall and van Shaik went to the
apartment previously occupied by Snook
and Theora Hix.

Meanwhile, at headquarters, Dr.
Snook was putting on a bold front and
entertaining detectives and cops with
demonstrations on how to hold a revol-
ver and aim. However, even _ this
couldn’t last for hours, and finally, in
spite of himself, he dropped his casual
air and began to look frankly worried.

oa a a
v

He was seated in a chair, nervously
smoking cigarettes, when Detectives
van Shaik and McCall entered.

“Dr. Snook,” van Shaik said, “you
told us that the last time you saw Miss
Hix was Monday.”

“That’s right.” The doctor’s throat
and mouth were strangely dry.

“And she gave you the -key to the
apartment last Friday and had no
other.”

Snook hesitated, but he had to an-
swer “yes” or be caught in a web of
lies. ;

“Then, doctor,” van Shaik said,
“you're lying. If Miss Hix didn’t have
a key, how could she have gotten into
that apartment to leave this brown
hat? We talked with the sisters and
they said she was wearing this hat
the day she disappeared.”

D*® SNOOK stared at the brown
hat with stricken eyes. He remem-
bered now. That hat. Theora wasn’t
wearing it when they drove out to the
rifle range. It was one detail he had
overlooked in his perfect crime.

He didn’t have much time to think
about this mistake. Chief Shellenberger
and Detective Philips walked in the
Toom. They had a shirt—the one he
had worn that night. He had burned
all his other clothes but hadn’t believed
there was any blood on the shirt.

They also were carrying a ball-peen
hammer, the one he had used to knock
Theora unconscious. He had buried
that in the backyard of his home.

Chief Shellenberger said: “This is
enough evidence to hold you for the
murder of Theora Hix.

The doctor stared at him and tried
to speak, to somehow (explain every-
thing away. But his head was swim-
ming and his mouth felt parched.

Then Chief Shellenberger was firing
questions at him and he tried to gather
his thoughts, to’ deny everything, to
back up his lies with logic.

“That . . . blood on my shirt,” he
gasped. “That is rabbit blood. I shot a
rabbit. I was hunting the other day.”

DOCTOR AND THE UNWANTED WIFE

(Continued from page 17)

dusk the night before (Saturday, July
18th, 1959), he had noticed a couple
parked in a small sedan on the road
several hundred feet from young Dr.
Finch’s driveway. It was too dark,
however, to allow him to discern any
particulars as to their appearance. All
he could say was that one was a wom-
an—she was in the driver’s seat—and
the other a man—either bald or with a
crew haircut.

As the search of the grounds con-
tinued, two items were brought to the

“It’s human _ blood,” Shellenberger
retorted. “We’ve tested it and it’s the
same type as Miss Hix’s. The blood on
this ball-peen hammer is human blood.
That is what you used to hit her with.
We sifted the ashes in the furnace. You
burned your coat and trousers there.
But no fire ever burns everything. We
have enough pieces to establish they
were your clothes and these pieces have
traces of blood on them.” j

But Dr. Snook didn’t break at once. ;
Weak and beaten, he nevertheless
fought back with all the steel nerve he
possessed, but he was sick and _ his
head was whirling. He got mixed up in
his lies and he knew he was mixed up.

Then suddenly something seemed to
snap in his brain, and his. whole body
seemed to wilt. He started sobbing and
he couldn’t stop.

Detective Philips brought him a glass
of water, and he took a sip of it.

Philips said: “Tell us the truth,
doctor, and you will feel better.”

He didn’t want to tell the truth. He
fought against it—hopelessly and weak-
ly. But the words began to fall from
his mouth, words he couldn’t control.
And the amorous doctor, who had
achieved so many successes with pretty
co-eds, was blurting out the gruesome
details of his murder of Theora Hix.

The confession of Dr. Snook was a
sensation that rocked Columbus and
the University. The public had been
given no hint of what to expect.

Dr. Snook went on trial July 14th.
He pleaded self-defense, claiming that
Theora Hix had threatened him with
a .41 calibre Derringer he had given
her to practice on the rifle range.

But Jack Chester Jr., the prosecutor,
handled the case with skill. The jury
deliberated only a short time and ae
brought in a verdict of guilty of mur- ee
der in the first degree. Judge Henry . 4%
Scarlett sentenced Dr. Snook to die
in the electric chair.

And on the night of February 28th, ">
1930, the bald-headed Casanova of the |
campus walked into the death room
and three minutes later was pronounced
dead by the prison doctor. *

chief. One was a pair of white shoes,
obviously belonging to the slain wom.
an as she had been shoeless when

‘found, and an expensive tan cow-hide

attache case. The shoes had been found
in bushes along the path, the case near
a huge bougainvillaea shrub at the
edge of the property.

Ryan, who had been going over the
interior of the three-car garage minute-
ly, called Chief Sill in and pointed to
a round, cracked indentation in the
white plaster of the garage wall next to
the door leading into the kitchen.

“Here’s where he banged the Swed-
ish girl against the wall,” the detective
said. Miss Lidholm was brought out
and the hole exactly matched her

{

height and the shape of her head. She
said she was quite sure this was where
Dr. Finch had seized her and pounded
her head against the wall.

“That kid is telling a straight story,”
Sill said, when the girl returned to the
house. “Everything’s turning out just
the way she described it.”

The chief had the attache case
brought into the garage and after the ~ ;
technicians had photographed it and
dusted it for prints, it was opened. It
was a case 18 by 24 inches in size
with two locks. Opened, the lab experts
began removing its contents. ;

It yielded: Thirteen .38 caliber car-
tridges . . . a butcher knife . . . two 10
foot lengths of new clothesline .

POLICE. FILES.

tas

Seg

Theora Hix was a coed at Ohio State.

SECRET

OF THE

CAMPUS
LOVE
NEST

POLICE FILES MAGAZINE.

The doctor should have been
singing the ‘September Song’
instead of ‘Spring Is Here’

by Alan Masters

% NOT MANY OF THE STUDENTS in the School of
Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University ever com-
mented on the dimple in Professor James Howard
Snook’s chin. Even fewer would have suspected the
doctor to be the romantic type. Tall, gangly, middle-aged,
bald and bespectacled, he was just another teacher to the
young bloods seeking an education. But there were two
sides to Dr. Snook that had little to do with classrooms.
The first was well known. The other was not.

Membership in the Columbus Revolver Club was one.
He was champion shot of the midwest, never having been
defeated. His second great passion was passion, which
manifested itself in the seduction of various pretty young
co-eds on the campus. In this latter endeavor, he was
eminently successful, although there were rumors, later to
be confirmed, that much of his success was due to the
discreet use of certain narcotics, secured from the laboratory,
as love potions.

And like many another elderly and aging Casanova,

POLICE FILES

February,

1965.

Dr. Snook was generally known to the community as a
highly respectable married man, interested in the. social
and religious activities of the university. His extra-marital
sexual activities were known only to certain female students,
who had their own and understandable reasons for keeping
quiet, and even the university officials who were aware
of and worried about the mysteriously diminishing supply
of narcotics in the supply room never suspected the
eminently respectable, balding, middle-aged Dr. Snook as
the thief.

On the night of June 13th, a: Thursday, the amorous
doctor was sitting in his blue Ford on a side road near
the New York Central rifle range, some five miles north-
west of Columbus, Ohio. The girl with him was a young,
svelte, and exceedingly alluring co-ed of Ohio State. Her
name, which was soon to be blazoned over the front pages
of papers in every part of the country, was Theora Hix.
She was a second year medical student at the university.

It was, as events later proved, one of the pretty Theora’s
misfortunes in life to have worked, while she was getting
her A.B., as secretary to Dr. Snook.

It wasn’t long before she fell completely under the in-
fluence of the doctor’s charms—and the sex-exciting drugs
he gave her. Soon there was a love nest in a furnished
apartment on North High Street.

So madly in love was Theora that, wishing to humor
her lover’s interest in life, she even went to the rifle range
to practice revolver shooting, an art she never mastered
with any great skill or enjoyed very much.

On this night, however, the doctor wasn’t interested in
rifle range, and at that precise moment he had absolutely
no interest in love, either, despite the fact he had given
Theora a love potion that made her gay and animated.
The doctor had a more sinister interest. It was the delicate
art of murder, and he had a very. practical interest in it.

HE amorous Snook had tired of Theora, and was now
finding it extremely difficult to cut loose from the illicit

POLICE FILES

’ hammer came down again and again on her head.

liaison he had enjoyed for three years. Theora had com-
mitted the unpardonable crime for a girl in such a relation-
ship. She had fallen hopelessly and madly in love with the
doctor and had no intention of giving him up. In fact, she
had told him, she planned to marry him. She added that
she wouldn’t hesitate to tell his wife what had happened
if he put up any objections to her proposéd marriage plans.
Dr. Snook sat alongside of her and decided she was
fully capable of carrying out her threats of exposure. His
arm rested on the back of the seat, his fingers were casually
carressing the handle of a ball-peen hammer that lay there.
A hundred different murder plans had passed through
his mind during these several months. He had discarded
each as too clumsy and too dangerous. Using a revolver
would hardly be the wise thing for him to do as he was
too accurate a shot and everybody knew of his ability as
a marksman.
His final plan was the acme of simplicity. Few persons
knew of his affair with Theora, and those that did were
ignorant of any of the details. The doctor had an implicit
confidence in his standing in the community and his ability
to ward off any accusations—providing they weren’t backed
up by definite clues or evidence. And his plan would take
care of that. They would find Theora’s body the next day
and there would be nothing to connect him with the murder.
Slowly the doctor’s fingers closed around the handle of
the hammer. Theora was chatting gaily, happily. He had
been unusually affable that evening and willing to agree
to anything she asked.
The hammer came up a little, remained posed there,
the muscles in the doctor’s wrist flexing.
Theora said: “Darling, you will never regret... .
She never finished that sentence. There was a dull, and
sickening thud, and she quietly slumped forward as the

”

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Snook stood beside his car.
He was breathing -heavily. The murder itself had gone
off without a hitch. A sharp pocket knife and his knowledge

lll-fated girl shared room in building (above).
Bloodstained clothes and other vital clues (1.).

*O€6T *92 *qag uo (UTTxUeI 7) OTYO peqNoouzoeTe feqTyM SpxeMoy sewer

MOONS

“se lt i so a i cat eR ie lt ice

Ce Ree

of the carotid artery and the jugular vein made slashing
a simple matter. And now the body of the pretty Theora
lay in the grass, and the doctor was wiping the blood
from his hands with a handkerchief.

His mind was working clearly and rapidly.. He was
amazed that there was no nervousness, no sense of fear,
although there had been that moment, as he raised the
hammer, when doubt and panic had seized him. But that
was gone now, and in an amazingly short span of minutes,
he had changed from an average individual to a killer.
Nature was coming to his aid, giving him a cunning and
a brazen brutality he had never known before.

He didn’t worry about the bloodstained handkerchief
or the bloodstained coat and trousers. They would be
burned in the furnace. There was some blood on the car,
but he knew enough chemistry to be able to remove this.
None of these things worried him as he looked down at the
dark outline of the girl’s body at his feet.

He took the flashlight he always carried. in the car and
sent a beam over the body and the ground to make sure
that no small, unforeseen clue was left behind.

It wouldn’t take much, just one little detail, to make his
perfect murder a confession of guilt. The light stopped on
Theora’s pocketbook. He picked it-up. He had oftert handled
it and there were fingerprints on it. He threw it on the
seat of the coupe. Then, satisfied that everything had been
taken care of, he got in the car, started the engine and
drove away. A few minutes later he was alongside the
Sciota River.

He slowed down and threw the pocketbook in the river,
and drove on toward home, toward safety.

But now, oddly enough, a nervous reaction set in and
other things began to worry him. Had he overlooked any-
thing? Had he left some small clue that would tab him as
the murderer? He tortured himself, tried to relive the
whole scene again. But it seemed to him he had forgotten
nothing. And the rest was easy. His wife would be in
bed. He could slip down into the cellar and burn his
clothes in the furnace. He could have all the time he
needed in the garage to get the blood stains out of the car.

T WAS eleven o’clock the next morning when two
twelve-year old boys were playing in the tall grass near
the New York Central rifle range.

The taller boy stopped suddenly and gasped, “Jeepers,
ain’t that the body of a girl lying over there?”

And thus was the lifeless body of pretty Theora Hix
discovered.

Sheriff Harry E. Paul, Constable John Guy, Coroner
Joseph Murphy, and City Detectives Larry van Shaik and
Robert McCall were the first officers to arrive at the scene.

Coroner Murphy made a preliminary examination and
said that the girl had been dead from twelve to fourteen
hours. He added that the slashed carotid artery and the
jugular vein had caused death and that the blows on the
head had merely knocked the girl unconscious.

Identification of the body was the first problem the
officers faced and it wasn’t an easy one. There .was no
pocketbook and all the labels in the clothes had been cut
away—a chore Dr. Snook had attended to during his last
visit with Theora in the love nest apartment just prior
to driving out to the rifle range.

Murphy had the body taken into the morgue for an
autopsy. Detectives van Shaik and McCall remained at
the rifle range, searching the ground for some clue. The
only thing they found, and it was at that moment of only

District Attorney John Chester (r.) showed important evidence to the doctor (seated).

POLICE FILES

vague value, was a set of keys to an apartment.

Identification came two hours after the news of the finding
of the body hit the newsstands. A woman reported that she
and her sister shared an apartment on Neil Avenue with
Theora Hix, a medical student, and that Miss Hix had
not returned to the apartment and they were afraid that
the body might be hers.

She and her sister were taken to the morgue, took one
look at the face of the dead girl, and announced, in
terrified voices, that it was Theora Hix.

ITH the identification of the body, Chief of Detec-

tives W. G. Shellenberger entered the case. He as-
signed Detectives van Shaik, McCall and Otto Philips to
assist him. Their first move was to question the University
authorities and the students about Theora Hix.

The information they got was that she was a good
student, a hard worker, and a girl with an excellent reputa-
tion. Her father was a professor at a university in New
York City. She was known as a quiet girl, she had a few
intimate girl friends and she seldom went out on parties.

It was through a young research instructor in the
horticultural department that the three detectives learned
about Dr. Snook and his interest in Theora.

When questioned by the detectives he not only admitted
knowing Theora Hix, but said bluntly he was in love with
her and had wanted to marry her. He added that they had
been practically engaged several years before, but that
her interest in him had faded. He had no hesitation in telling
the officers that the reason for this was her love for an-
other man. A married man, he added.

It wasn’t until he was pressed for the name of this
married man that he blurted out that it was Dr. Snook.
The three detectives eyed him with amazement.

Dr. Snook was known to them, not only for his reputa-
tion as a professor and a respectable married man, but
because as a member of the Columbus Revolver Club he
had defeated the Columbus Police Club, scoring a high of
264 points, 44 points better than any individual policeman.

‘However, these detectives were hardboiled veterans and
a lead was a lead to them, no matter where it led. So
they got'in their car and drove to the home of Dr. Snook
on West Tenth Avenue.

Dr. Snook, meanwhile, was seated in his living room
enjoying a feeling of complete relaxation. He had followed
every line in the papers about the finding of the body
and the identification of the dead girl as Theora Hix.

And he knew he had nothing to worry about.

It was probable that somebody would tell the police
that he had known Theora Hix and he would be questioned.
But that didn’t worry him. He had taken care of every-
thing, and Theora Hix, dead or alive, would never bother
him again. He had burned his clothes and cleaned the
car and the police could search the house as much as they
wished.

The ring of the door bell broke his pleasant reverie.
He got up, walked to the door and opened it.

The three detectives standing there was something of
a shock to him. If it had been one detective, he wouldn't
have given it a second thought. That would have been
mere routine. But three—that was unusual.

Nevertheless he smiled pleasantly and said: “Come in.
gentlemen.” The officers walked into the living room. ‘

Detective Philips said: “We'd like to have you accompany
us to headquarters. I think you can give us valuable in-
— and it might be better for you to be questioned
there.”

Dr. Snook didn’t miss the meaning of the suggestion and
he realized immediately that somebody had told them
about his friendship with Theora Hix. He smiled easily
and answered: “Of course.”

i. a the auto trip to headquarters, Phillips noticed
that the doctor’s arm was bandaged. And, in fact, this
was the only thing that worried the doctor. He had cut
his forearm -while slashing Theora’s throat and the cut
was deep enough to need a bandage.

However, he had a glib explanation for the detective;

POLICE FILES

Dr. James Snook was a respected member of the faculty.

he had cut his forearm while tightening a bolt on his car.

The officers seemed to accept this story and the doctor
felt better. '

At headquarters he was taken to Chief Shellenberger’s
office. Here Philips put the question bluntly to him.

The detective said, “We have reason to believe that you
had a relationship with Theora Hix which might have
been more than mere friendship.”

Dr. Snook felt a funny twinge at the pit of his stomach,
but outwardly he was unperturbed and he regarded his
questioner with disarming unconcern.

“You're very much mistaken,” he said. “I met Miss Hix
when she was a stenographer in the Veterinary School.
I took an interest in her and her work, and several times
I helped her financially. Our association was perhaps closer
because of her interest in revolver shooting. She had great
enthusiasm for this and we practiced together. But if you
think it was anything else, you have been badly misin-
formed.”

The speech made an impression on Chief Shellenberger
and the detectives. Shellenberger took up the questioning,
passed over his relations with Theora Hix, and asked. him
about his movements the night of the murder. Dr. Snook
had a ready answer. (Continued on page 47)

Over
$5,000 in
prizes

Awarded Monthly

Draw “Spunky”

Let “Spunky” help you test your talent.
You may win one of five $795.00 Commer-
cial Art Scholarships or any one of one
hundred $10.00 cash prizes!

Draw “Spunky” any size except like a
tracing. Use pencil. Every qualified entrant
receives a free professional estimate of his
art talent.

Scholarship winners get the complete
home study course in commercial art
taught by Art Instruction Schools, Inc., one

. of America’s leading home study art

schools.

Try for an art scholarship in advertising
art and illustrating, cartooning or painting.
Your entry will be judged in the month
received but not later than May 31, 1973.
Prizes awarded for best drawings of vari-
ous subjects received from qualified en-
trants age 14 and over. One $25 cash
award for the best drawing from entrants
age 12 and 13. No drawings can be re-
turned. Our students. and professional
artists not eligible. Contest winners will be
notified. Send your entry today.

MAIL THIS COUPON TO ENTER CONTEST
ART INSTRUCTION SCHOOLS, INC.
Studio 3A-1600
500 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, Minn. 55415

Please enter my drawing in your
monthly contest. (PLEASE PRINT)

Name

Occupation. Age
Address. Apt.
City. State
County Zip Code

aN Telephone N

3 Accredited by the ease niienl el ompetl
“af the National Home Study Council.

with the murder, but admitted taking
rides with Miss Hix.

Dr. Snook, by far, presented the
cooler and more innocent appearance.
Meyers had said at the morgue that he
didn’t care about the girl but wanted to
do what he could for her parents. He
said that he had been well acquainted

with her and had proposed marriage’

several months before. She had refused
him, saying that she wished to finish
school.

Meyers admitted seeing her 15 days
before the murder, and in response to
questiong said: “I wanted to see her
Thursday night but was afraid to. I was
afraid that something would happen.”

In an account of his actions on the
afternoon of the crime, Meyers told of
going to a Columbus theatre. Unfor-
tunately, he chose the name of a theatre
which had been closed for several
months. For a short while things looked
damaging for the nervous professor.

Both Coroner Murphy and Constable
John Guy established the time of the
murder as between 8 and 10 p.m.,
Thursday. Constable Guy said that
members of a shooting team had been
using the range until 8 p.m., and would
have seen the murder had it occurred
before that time.

Guy himseif had Leen near the field,
waiting in hiding for chicken. thieves
from 10 p.m., until after the heavy rain.

It was, so far, the city’s case. City
detectives had made the arrest and now
were questioning suspects. With the
time of the murder definitely estab-
lished, the stories of the suspects con-
cerning their movements on the night of
the murder assumed paramount
importance.

In explanation of his movements on
the night of the murder, Dr. Snook said:
“School is out now, so I have been
doing work about the yard. I fixed the
gate Thursday and the yard.

“IT went to my office at Ohio State
University about seven-forty-five Thurs-
day night. I was there a while, and then
went to mail some letters. After that I
went to the Scioto golf links to get my
shooting glasses. I went back to the
pharmacy at Tenth and High Streets. I
got there right after the night papers
came out. From there I went directly to
my home.”

When Dr. Snook was brought to
headquarters, he explained that his right
hand had been hurt when a wrench
slipped as he was tightening a bolt on
his automobile Wednesday afternoon,
the day preceding the murder. Police
Surgeon Pickering examined the wound
and pronounced it “not new,” thereby,
for a moment, blasting the surmise that
the injury had some bearing on the case.

Meyers, in his account of his actions,
stated that he had been in the company
of Summerbell until 9 o’clock Thursday
night, when Summerbell left. Meyers
then claimed he went to his room and
wrote several letters. Later he went out
to mail.them, and then went to bed.

Meyers said that he had not seen the
girl during the past 15 days.

Dr. Snook admitted seeing her at the
Neil Avenue entrance to the university
on the night preceding the murder. He

also told us, without much questioning,
that he had for some time financed part
of Miss Hix’s way through college, but
had discontinued it lately. He said that
he had been considering employing the

girl as a stenographer in his office until -

she told him she had obtained another
job. He had known her for more than
three years, he concluded.

The admission that he had helped her
financially would have been classified
even by an unintelligent suspect as
damaging evidence. I wondered at the
doctor’s frank acknowledgment of the
thing. Was that frankness inspired by a
clear conscience, or was it the beginning
of a smoke screen? He was quite unper-
turbed as he made the statement—an
entirely different man from the nervous-
ly laughing Meyers who, when confront-
ed with a photograph of the murdered
girl’s body, taken at the rifle range, ap-
peared overcome, and cried: “I suppose
I'll be charged with murder! I’ll tell you
the whole truth!”

Yet Meyers did not at once tell the
“whole truth.” When pressed by further
questions, he was evasive, frequently
contradicting himself.

But his alibi, excepting the admission
of attending a theatre which was not
open, seemed air-tight. His fraternity
brothers voluntarily appeared at the city
prison to tell the police that Meyers had
spent all of Thursday night except
“about half an hour” at the fraternity
house.

With two prominent men under ar-
rest, the investigation began in earnest.
It may have been a hunch that made me
incline to a belief in Meyer’s innocence.
Or, perhaps, it was merely that the
deeper, more intriguing and more baf-
fling nature of the doctor interested me.

“Bob,” I said to McCall, “‘we’ve got
to know Dr. Snook intelligently before
we can hit him with intelligent ques-
tions. We’ve got to know the kind of a
man he is, and, when the time arrives,
make him see himself as others see
him.”

I went to headquarters,and, for two
hours in. the matron’s office, talked to
Dr. Snook to probe his depth. We talked
about Theora and the type of girl she
was. We talked about dogs and shooting.

“Doctor,” I said, abruptly shifting
the conversation, “‘wouldn’t the way in
which Theora was killed, wouldn’t the
fact that her jugular vein and carotid
artery were severed, imply that her mur-
derer was in possession of more than a
layman’s knowledge of anatomy?”

“Not at all,” he replied with a smile,
intuitively sensing the drift of my ques-
tion. ‘Place your hands to your throat,
as in the act of throttling, and you'll
quickly locate your jugular vein.”

That, had his answer entirely satis-
fied me, would have been Dr. Snook’s
point. Doubts as to his potential guilt
flooded my mind at that moment. My
spirits sank.

We talked on, of his attitudes, his
mode of living, his likes and dislikes, his
beliefs in justice and a Supreme Being.
All of this gave me an insight into the
nature of the man, but added not one
whit to the slender thread of circum-
stantial evidence that linked him with

$
'
:

You ma
this large a
ular job wh
in Brooklyr
many relati
in 28 years

I'm not
fronting fc
sports car
system wr
klunker a
family say
plenty of
studious |
night oil.
serious re
see what
after many
the pot of

I've hit
that | feel
the tail, 2
into a spi:
back issu
winning se
express t
the sense
SECURE.

If 1 didr
to pull a
enjoy my
if my fam
if | weren
parents \v
low the
figured |
$20 bets.
What to «

I] need
ple? I’ve

READ
ARE

1 can't thar
has prove
through di

Hollywood
Aqueduct
Saratoga
Belmont P
Golden G
Del Mar
Bowie
Santa Ani!
Aqueduct
Longacre:
Longacre:

1 can just
C.M., Sec

i % (Operator 38)

EXCITEMENT, SECURITY
GOOD PAY...All yoursasa

CRIME INVESTIGATOR
FINGER PRINT EXPERT

Train at Home—Spare Time
There’s a thrill in helping to bring a
crook to justice ee Scientific
Crime Detection or Finger Print
Identification. With crime figures ris-
ing, men and women trained in this
exciting work are needed everywhere.
The pay is good... the security un-
matched and opportunity for ad-
vancement is assured. We have taught
thousands of men and women to step
into this important, profitable, excit-
ing profession. Let us teach you at
home in spare time to fill a responsi-
ble, rewarding, well-paid position.
Low cost, easy terms. Tease Investi-

ation, iy 3 Hed Print Identification,

irearms Identificatidn, Police Pho-
tography, Handwriting Identifica-
tion. Our graduates .are employed
world-wide by hundreds of leading
bureaus and private firms. Cash in,
now, on the vital need for trained

experts in this uncrowded field.
G.|. Bill Approved

Trom FREE!

American Bureaus of The famous BLUE

Identification employ
1AS Graduates BOOK of CRIME

Packed with thrills and money
epee information about this
important job ip tebe ye
Reveals startling ‘behind the
scenes” facts of actual crimi-
nal cases. Tells how trained
investigators solved them
through the same methods
you learn at IAS. Explains
exactly how you can get started
in this thrilling work, ox"!
pe Don't wait... it’s
REE... mail coupon today.

INSTITUTE OF APPLIED SCIENCE
(A Correspondence School Since 1916)
Dept. 7843 1920 Sunnyside Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois 60640

CLIP AND MAIL COUPON NOW
Institute of Applied Science
1920 Sunnyside aa Dept. 7843 |

Chicago, Illinois 6064
Without obligation, rush me the Blue Book of Crime |
and list identification bureaus i oul

real ng your stu-
dents or graduates. Include all information on IAS
training and easy terms offer. (No salesman will call.)
Name Age.
Address,
eee
ps oa as SR “aa
60

an atrocious crime.

That Saturday night, a short, rather
stout woman, of apparently moderate
means, came to the county jail.

“I am Mrs. Smalley of North High
Street,” she said. “I run a furnished
apartment house at 24 Hubbard Ave-
nue. Several months ago a man rented a

room from me. He looks like the pic- ,

tures of Dr. Snook that have appeared
in the papers. The woman he said was
his wife resembles Miss Hix.”

At last, perhaps, we had something,
an opening wedge that might shatter the
doctor’s professorial calm! A tumkey
was dispatched to Snook’s cell to bring
him into the jail office.

“Have him wear a hat,” Mrs. Smalley
requested. “I’ve never seen him without
one.”

A moment later Dr. Snook, accom-
panied by the turnkey, walked into the
office. Wearing a puzzled frown, Dr.
Snook stepped forward.

“Good evening, Mr. Snook,” the
landlady said.

“Good evening, Mrs. Smalley,” the
professor answered, and smiled.

“Did you ever see this woman be-
fore?” I asked the doctor.

“Yes,” he replied simply.

Later, from information voluntarily
offered by both Mrs. Smalley and Dr.
Snook, we pieced together the amazing
story.

On a Monday morning, February
11th, 1929, Dr. Snook, whom Mrs.
Smalley that night charecterized as “an
awfully nice man,” “btained a single,
meagerly furnished room facing Hub-
bard Avenue in the annex of her apart-
ment house.

“T shall come back Wednesday night
and take it,” he informed her. “It is for
me and my wife.”

Only once did Mrs. Smalley meet
Miss Hix. That was on a day when the
landlady went to their apartment early
to attend to her weekly task of cleaning
the room. During the week, the doctor
had explained, his “wife” would care
for it.

Coming upon the girl alone in the
room, she had said: ‘“You’re Mrs.
Snook, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Miss Hix answered briefly.

“This is the first time I’ve met you,”
Mrs. Smalley said, hoping to start a con-
versation.

“T guess so,” retorted the girl a bit
abruptly.

On Friday, June 14th, the day after
the murder, between 2 and 3 o’clock in
the afternoon, Dr. Snook had come to
the apartment and had said to Mrs.
Smalley: “My wife will want the room
until Sunday, but I must leave now.”

“Well, I surely hate to see you go,
but you will know where to come if you
get back to Columbus,” said Mrs.
Smalley.

After paying the landlady, Snook left

- both keys to the apartment, and the one

Miss Hix was accustomed to carry on
the library table of the room they had
occupied. This, a check on the time
element disclosed, was at least two and
one half hours before the body of Miss
Hix had been identified.

We had first learned of a possible

liaison between the doctor and Miss Hix
when a reporter for the Ohio State Jour-
nal told us that Miss Hix regularly, in
the evening, visited a downtown restau-
rant. Invariably she would seat herself in
the second booth, and five minutes later
aman resembling Dr. Snook would walk
in and sit beside her. They would leave
together. .

I talked to the doctor after Mrs.
Smalley had left. He readily admitted
his relations with Miss Hix, relations
that extended over a three-year period.
He even volunteered more detailed in-
formation than I had requested.

The following morning Chief of De-
tectives Shellenbarger, Robert McCall
and myself took the doctor to the rifle
range, the scene of the crime. As we
reached the spot where the body had
been found, I commanded: ‘Doctor,
look down here!”

For a fraction of a second his facial
muscles tightened. Knowing of his daily
experiences with blood in operating up-
on dogs and horses, I wondered at this
sign of emotion in a sphinxlike personal-
ity. But, on the other hand, its associa-
tion with a person who, at one time, at
least, had been dear to him, might read-
ily explain the slight display of emotion.
Upon a second request he failed again to
look down.

We next took the doctor to the uni-
versity campus, where he showed us the
exact spot at which he had parked his
car before the veterinary clinic on the
night of the murder. After that we went
to the Hubbard Avenue love nest. Dr.
Snook readily identified it.

I summed up the results of the inves-
tigation. The total was not encouraging.
Snook still maintained the calm that he
had exhibited upon his arrest. He still
denied the murder. And, as nearly as we
could determine, he had told the truth
in everything. ,

For every point we had against the
doctor he had a thorough and logical
explanation.

On Sunday night I held a conference
with the reporters from local papers and
representatives of the United and Asso-
ciated Press. I was interrupted by a tele-
phone call and a voice informed me:

“Friday morning Dr. Snook took a
gray suit to the Brown Dye House, 1100
North High Street. The suit is now at his
home. If you get it, you will find on the
lining, inside the sleeves, and on the
trousers at the knees, traces of blood.”

There was a clicking sound as the
connection was broken. Unable to trace
the call, I was able to verify the report
after City Detectives Oscar C. Loos and
Albert A. Knappenberger brought the
suit to police headquarters.

Here was valuable information! The
cap and glove might have become blood-
stained during an operation, but a man
accustomed to cutting animals scarcely,
in a quiet moment, would remove a coat
from over his work-soiled hands, leaving
stains! .

Monday morning saw the murder
taken over in its entirety by the county,
with Prosecutor Jack Chester, Jr., in
charge.

In the furnace of the Snook home
were found the charred remnants of

And i
Power,

Yes, 2
liant psyc
$0 power
to you,
streak o/

Yes, h
your livi
instantly
Or give
find a bi;

Now,
POWER
how it cz
Reese P
makes t!

“Grea

Admit
complet«
man knc
moment
that I w
to show

- @ “How
seeming!
use of t'
e “How
of mone
e “How
® “How
e “How
to her,
e “How
lost you
& “Hov
the gro
® “Hov

murder of Mrs. Joyce Ann Tuggle also
was used against him in the case of
Frederick Bodnar. This was the .38 cali-
ber revolver found in Fullwood’s car
and the .38 caliber bullet removed from
Bodnar’s head. The same _ ballistics
specialist testified that the gun which
had fired the bullet that was fatal to
Mrs. Tuggle also had fired a bullet that
had killed Frederick Bodnar.

The jury took only a short time to
return a verdict of guilty against Full-
wood on November 30th. Judge Samuel
Brezner, who had been hearing the case,
set December 7th as the date for impos-
ing a penalty.

On that date, he sentenced Fullwood
to serve 66 to 99 years and he urged
that Fullwood should never be consider-
ed for parole, even though he became
technically eligible.

In passing sentence, Judge Brezner
had this to say to the defendant:

“You are a vicious, cold-blooded,
scheming murderer. You are bouhd to
kill again and again. You are a positive
argument for capital punishment. For
you, there is no chance of rehabilita-
tion.

“You are more animal than human.

“Originally you were charged with
first-degree murder, but that was re-
duced when an examining magistrate
found no direct proof of premeditation.

“That was unfortunate.

“This evidence shown before me
proved beyond a shadow of a doubt
that your crime was well planned and

. executed within that framework.”

As the convicted killer was led away,
there was no evidence that anyone in
the courtroom, unless it was the unsuc-
cessful defense attorney, disagreed with
the judge. :

As this was written, Charles Full-
wood was serving his sentences in the
State Prison for Southern Michigan at
Jackson. But it isn’t clear that legal
action against himis atanend. .

On a frigid Surday, January 31,
1971, two teenagers, Jack Keyes, 19, of
Northville, and his girl friend, Kathy
Radke, 17,.had planned a dinner party

_ for some of their teenage friends. A

short time before the party was to be-
gin, Jack and Kathy, riding in Jack’s car,
drove to a nearby filling station to buy
some soft drinks. They failed to show
up at the party and a widespread search
was made.

It was not until early the next morn-
ing that Jack’s car, with Jack inside, was
found in a snowy gully similar to the
gully in which Joyce Tuggle’s body had
been found., Jack had been shot with a
.22 caliber rifle. ,

An intensive search went on for
weeks, and Kathy’s body was not
found. About six months after she had
vanished, two boys who were fishing on
Crothed Lake discovered her body float-
ing in the water. Later, skin divers learn-
ed that she had been weighted down
with a cement block. The rope that held
it had slipped and her body had floated
to the surface.

She, too, had been shot by a .22 cali-
ber rifle bullet. Ballistics tests showed
that this bullet had been fired by the
same: gun that fired the bullet fatal to

Jack Keyes. Both bodies had _ been
found in the vicinity of the ,house
Charles Fullwood rented.

He was picked up as a suspect, but he
denied any knowledge of the crime.
Officers obtained a search warrant and
checked a shed on the property. Full-
wood admitted he had used it for a rifle
range. Scores of .22 caliber bullets were
imbedded in one wall. But Fullwood
was given a lie test and he passed it. No
charge in that case was made.

But Detective Sergeant Jack Grubb
of the police in Novi—Kathy’s home
town—who is in charge of the investiga-
tion, knows that many guilty criminals
have beaten the lie detector. He has not
given up.

Sergeants Grubb, Maniaci and Bran-
demihl all say they consider Fullwood
the prime suspect in the case. They are
checking out all leads very carefully be-
cause now they have some time. The
earliest Fullwood will become eligible
for parole is 10 years.

The three detective sergeants, all
dedicated police officers, hope to have
the killer of Jack and Kathy long before
then. ooe

Doctor Who Killed...

(Continued from page 35)

bureau at the time, and we went to the
field immediately.

_ There we found two uniformed men
guarding the body while the’ coroner
made his examination in the midst of a
curious circle of spectators.

Coroner Joseph Murphy said that the
girl had been dead for about 18 hours.
Her body probably had been placed in
the field a few minutes before a heavy
shower that had started at 10:22 the
previous night, he stated, and had bled
profusely from the deep wound in the
left side of her throat. He gave a verdict
of murder.

The back of the girl’s dress had been
slashed to ribbons with a knife, indicat-
ing that she had attempted to escape her
assailant and had commenced to run.

When the police photographer had
finished the necessary pracedure of tak-
ing pictures and the victim had been
removed to the Glenn L. Myers under-
taking establishment, we had a long talk
with Coroner Murphy.

“T believe,” said the coroner, “that
the wounds were inflicted with a ham-
mer, probably of the ball-peen type.
You may have noticed,” he continued,
“that sixteen of the fractures on her
head left imprints of the /acet marks of
the hammer’s face. A single deep frac-
ture on her forehead seemed caused by
the ball point of the hammer.”

As we were talking, county officials
arrived. The .crime, since it happened
outside the city limits, came under their
jurisdiction. It was decided, however,
that we of the city police department
were to continue our separate in-
vestigation.

I questioned persons living near the
place. They had seen and had heard
nothing on the night of the murder,

about the time we assumed it took
place, before the rainfall at 10:22.

With my partner, I returned to town.
I learned that Constable John Guy, a
county official, had gone to the morgue
with Miss Ruth Wycoff in an attempt to
identify the body. I, too, went to the
morgue to take further look at the vic-
tim. There I noted that the brutal man-
ner of her murder had extended to her
right hand. Three of her fingers were
crushed across the third joint. That
point puzzled me. It hardly could have
been done with either hammer or knife.

At 4:45 that Friday afternoon, the
telephone on the desk of record clerk
Helen Custer at police headquarters
rang. A feminine voice spoke:

“T wish to report the disappearance
of my roommate, Miss Theora K. Hix.
She is twenty-four years old.”

The girl making the report, Miss

Alice Bustin, lived in an apartment with’

her sister, Miss Beatrice Bustin, and Miss
Hix at the south edge of Ohio State
campus.

The record clerk drew a sharp breath
as two descriptive points of the missing
girl were tabulated by her roommate.

“She has long, brown hair,” Miss
Bustin said, “and wears her father’s
watch on her right wrist.”

Mrs. Custer immediately instructed
Miss Bustin to go to the morgue and see
if the dead girl was her roommate. At
5:30 p.m. the murder victim was identi-
fied positively by the Bustin sisters and
by Mrs. Alice Moran, secretary of Neil
Hall, a girls’ dormitory on the campus,
as Theora Kathleen Hix, a sophomore in
the pre-medics department at Ohio
State University.

The girl had been a resident of
Columbus since entering the university
six years before. She was the daughter
of an instructor in medicine at Braden-
ton, Florida.

Now, assigned by Chief of Detectives
W. G. Shellenbarger to the case, I had
something to work on. Bob McCall was
assigned to it with me.

I had another talk with Coroner Mur-
phy, my curiosity aroused by the pecu-
liar injury to Miss Hix’s right hand. He
was unable to shed light on it, although

sharing with me the belief that it had

been made by neither of the instru-
ments used in the girl’s brutal slaying.

“You may have noticed,” the coro-
ner said, “that the end of the wound on
the left side of her throat is very deep.
The murderer was careful to sever her
jugular vein to ensure death!”

The question that was brought up by
this announcement raised the entire af-
fair from the run of ordinary murders in
my experience. Would a layman have
had the skill and knowledge to find and
sever his victim’s jugular vein?

That point strongly brought forward
into the field of likely suspects, fellow
medical students—or instructors.

I immediately left headquarters with
McCall for an interview with the Bustin
sisters. I learned from them that she had
left the apartment at 7 o’clock on the
night of the murder, and that she had
seemed in good spirits. She confided
nothing to them of any private affairs
that she may have had.

Not until 11
morning, a half-ho
been found lying «
no other means of
weeds, did the sis
At that time Miss
retary to the de:
university and a
telephoned conce
pointment with T
had not returned
Alice Bustin called

By this time
not on the homic:
had been detailec
officials likewise
it. Nevertheless,
girl’s room a thor:

There were no
indicate a love af
conversation wit!
ceived this inforr

“My experien
like that of all th:
Theora was ver
nothing of her |
knew any men, |

But out of |
Bustin sisters a:
room, four poin'
important in th
the crime, were |

1. In a draw
old-fashioned det
of .41-caliber car’

2. We learned
carried a brow!
clasp, and had t
she left the apar
although she wor

3. She had ¢
with a man, an i
sity, whose nam

4. She was in
apartment each
o’clock, usually
in the evening.

The Bustin s
the unusual we<
dresser drawer.
it hidden, but ;
sessing it.

I wondered
purse. Perhaps a
had been so 2
owner lay the
the motive, beh’

In explainin
had gone out wi
the girls told m
with him sever
name and univ
notebook.

Leaving the
Miss Bertha !
operator at Un
duty. I immec
so far as was |
last person, be
Miss Hix alive.
tions concerni)
tion, the girl h
Dillon said.

At 7:45 p.
Miss Hix had
Dillon, ‘I’m la
going now. I’!
nine and nine-!

“It was the
her smile in |

ad it took
10:22.
1ed to town.
john Guy, a
) the morgue
i attempt to
went to the
k at the vic-
brutal man-
nded to her
ingers were
joint. That
could have
ier or knife.
ernoon, the
‘ecord clerk
eadquarters

sappearance
ora K. Hix.
”

‘port, Miss
‘tment with °
in, and Miss
Ohio State

‘harp breath
the missing
ommate.

hair,” Miss
ier father’s

instructed
‘gue and see
»mmate. At
was identi-
sisters and
ary of Neil
he campus,
phomore in
at ~Qhio

ent of
iversity
ie aaughter
at Braden-

Detectives
case, I had
McCall was

yroner Mur-
y the pecu-
it hand. He
it, although
that it had
the instru-
| slaying.

” the coro-
» wound on
very deep.
) sever her

vught up by

.e entire af-

murders in
yman have
to find and
)

tht forward
ects, fellow
ors.

iarters with

1 the Bustin

hat she had
ock on the
iat she had
e confided
vate affairs

serriahe 2 ieGed

Not until 11:30 o’clock. Friday
morning, a half-hour after the body had
been found lying on the rifle range with
no other means of concealment than the
weeds, did the sisters become alarmed.
At that time Miss Peggy Edwards, a sec-
retary to the dean of women at the
university and a friend of Miss Hix’s,
telephoned concerning a luncheon ap-
pointment with Theora. When Miss Hix
had not returned late Friday afternoon,
Alice Bustin called the police.

By this time other city detectives,
not on the homicide squad, temporarily
had been detailed to the case. County
officials likewise had been working on
it. Nevertheless, I gave the murdered
girl’s room a thorough search.

There were no letters in the place to
indicate a love affair. Further, in a later
conversation with Miss Edwards, we re-
ceived this information:

“My experience with Miss Hix was
like that of all the others who knew her.
Theora was very quiet, and told me
nothing of her personal affairs. If she
knew any men, I never heard of them!”

But out of the interview with the
Bustin sisters and the search of the
room, four points, destined to become
important in the ultimate solution of
the crime, were brought to the surface.

1. In a drawer, we came across an
old-fashioned derringer pistol and a box
of .41-caliber cartridges.

2. We learned that Theora habitually
carried a brown purse with a green
clasp, and had taken it with her when
she left the apartment Thursday night,
although she wore no hat or coat.

3. She had gone out several times
with a man, an instructor at the univer-
sity, whose name was said to be Meyers.

4. She was in the habit of leaving the
apartment each afternoon at about 5
o’clock, usually returning by 10 o’clock
in the evening.

The Bustin sisters could not explain
the unusual weapon found in Theora’s
dresser drawer. They said that she kept
it hidden, but gave no reason for pos-
sessing it. ;

I wondered at the absence of the
purse. Perhaps among its contents which
had been so zealously guarded by the
owner lay the explanation, or at least
the motive, behind the crime.

In explaining that Theora recently
had gone out with a man named Meyers,
the girls told me that she had had dates
with him several times, and I jotted his
name and university connection in my
notebook.

Leaving the apartment, I learned that
Miss Bertha Dillon, the switchboard
operator at University Hospital, was on
duty. I immediately sought her, since,
so far as was known, she had been the
last person, besides the murderer, to see
Miss Hix alive. While receiving instruc-
tions concerning the switchboard opera-
tion, the girl had been rather quiet, Miss
Dillon said. ‘

At 7:45 p.m. that Thursday night,
Miss Hix had smiled and said to Miss
Dillon, “I’m late for a date, and must be
going now. I’ll try to be back between
nine and nine-thirty.”

“It was the first time that I had seen
her smile in the two days that I had

been teaching her to operate the switch-
board,” Miss Dillon told me.

Again reporting to headquarters, I
learned that an employee of the Federal

Glass Company had called to tell detec- .

tives that a fellow employe had said he
knew who murdered Miss Hix. The man
lived near the residence of the murdered
girl, and we lost no time in visiting him.
I was told that the man she had been
going out with lately was middle-aged,
wore glasses, and drove a new, dark-blue
Ford coupe. The man wore hom-
rimmed glasses.

I endeavored to get in touch with
Meyers, whose full name was Marion T.
Meyers. He was a 35-year-old instructor
in the horticultural department of the
university, and did research work on
corn borers, dividing his time between
Wooster, Bono and Columbus. I was un-
able to reach him.

In the meanwhile, the newspapers
had taken an intense interest in the case
and were feverishly busy. I found that
they had sent reporters to Gamma Al-
pha fraternity house where Meyers
lived. There they talked to Robert Sum-
merbell, an instructor at Northwestern
University, who was on the Ohio State

faculty for the summer, and a fraternity

brother of Meyers.
Summerbell said that Meyers had
told him of a man with whom Miss Hix

had lately had dates, but would not

disclose the name to reporters unless
police were present.

The next morning the Ohio State
Journal printed the following descrip-
tion of the wanted man:

_ Somewhere in Columbus there is a
man who is heavily built, wears horn-
rimmed glasses, is about forty, and
drives a Ford coupe.

Be sure to read

OFFICIAL
DETECTIVE

ON SALE NOW!

ae _ aa —
OPFICIA =
DEME:. .WIME
Comblued with Actual Dettcio® PRE S
thn. <0

HE SPREAD: si

This man holds the secret of the mur-
der of Theora Hix. ;

This man, name unknown, has been
seen frequently with Miss Hix, recently
by friends of the murdered girl.

If you know of such a man, you may
hasten the solution of one of the most
gruesome crimes in the history of
Columbus by informing police of your
knowledge or suspicions.

Such was the man that had been de-
scribed to us previously by the employe
of the Federal Glass Company, who
promised to try to learn the man’s name
for us.

Saturday morning the Columbus Citi-
zen, an afternoon paper, sent its star
reporter, James Fusco, with a represen-
tative of the Police Department, City
Detective Larry Van Skaik, to question
Summerbell once more. In the presence
of police, Summerbell now told the
name of the man who, Meyers had said,
was a constant companion of the mur-
dered girl, and who was the hunted man
in the blue coupe.

It was Dr. James Howard Snook.

The investigators lost no time in hur-
rying to the doctor’s home at 349 West
Tenth Avenue.

The former world’s pistol-shot cham-
pion greeted them calmly on his front
porch. He agreed to accompany them to
police headquarters, asking permission
to drive his automobile. His right hand
was bandaged and in a splint. Van Skaik
ah him permission to drive his new

‘ord coupe, and aided him in getting on
his coat.

While this was being done, I paid a
second visit to the morgue. The injury
on the girl’s right hand still troubled me.
There I found Coroner Murphy, who
had just completed a second autopsy. It
shed no new angle on the crime, but the
coroner informed me that during the
autopsy a man had applied at the
morgue and had been granted permis-
sion to see the dead girl. Thoughtfully,
the coroner had taken his name and
address.

The man was Marion T. Meyers.

I immediately went with McCall to
the fraternity house. Meyers was on the
front porch with some friends.

“‘Well,”’ he said to us, “‘you fellows
are a little late. I’ve talked to one man
already!”

We told him who we were, and that
we wanted him to come with us. He
looked frightened, and_ evidently
thought we were associates of the girl
seeking vengeance and about to take
him for a ride. He made us display our
badges and, still not satisfied, conferred
with some of his fraternity brothers,
then accompanied us.

At headquarters I found that Dr.
Snook was being questioned, and I told
his interrogators that he answered the
description of the man given me by the
alert employe of the Federal Glass Com-
pany.

There was nothing “on” either of the
two men, other than their relations with
the girl, but they immediately were
placed under arrest pending investiga-
tion and then brought into a private
conference. Both denied any connection

SNVOOK

Columbus, Ohio

“She said
she’d murder
us both,

° - my a : aS Wife (above) tc
if I left her 4 j “a y Bet to return. Vict

and above drug st

went back

fo my. TOO HC

She was a |
girl, some t!
At first, he
tered by her
he began tc
stant attenti
him. He beg
more for th
fortably qui
wife who w
his young gi
go. Further,
threats. Tho
doctor made
action, It is
concerned,

thought of a

By Ral

Murder Mixed The Love Potion

(continued from page 19)

tectives on another search, of drug
stores and apothecaries, in an effort to
get a lead on the mysterious love po-
tion. The questioning of the slain
woman’s associates also continued.

The detectives learned that Theora
had. once worked as a private secretary
to Professor James H. Snook of the
School of Veterinary Medicine. She
had spoken glowingly of him, telling
friends, ‘‘Professor Snook is the nicest
man I have ever known.’’

A school custodian recalled once
having seen Theora going into Pro-
fessor Snook’s office late at night. Pro-
fessor Snook, 48, was well known in
the academic community. He had an
attractive wife, several years younger
than himself, and a two-year-old
daughter. An expert on guns, he held a
number of marksmanship titles, and he
had participated in pistol competition
at the 1920 Olympic Games.

“‘Let’s go have a talk with the good
professor,’’ McCall said. ‘‘Perhaps he
knew who else she chummed around
with, and can add to our list of people
to question.’’

‘The chief wants us to leave no
stone unturned,’’ replied Phillips.
‘*But don’t forget, Bob, the chief and
Professor Snook are on good terms.
The professor is an expert shooter, and
he and the chief have a lot in com-
mon.”’

__ It was the second day after the body
was discovered before police got
around to queston Dr. Snook. A quiet,

-bald man with round, wire-rimmed
eyeglasses, he came down to police
headquarters immediately.

“Could we make this brief?” he
asked politely. “I have another ap-
-_pointment, and I wouldn’t want to be
late.”
the detectives pointedly asked whether
he knew anything that might help solve
the murder of Theora Hix.

_ ‘Of course I knew the girl, for
several years,’’ he said. ‘‘So did a lot
of other people on the campus.”’

At the same time McCall and Phil-

Please give generously
American Heart Association

lips were questioning Professor Snook
as diplomatically as possible, a woman
named Margaret Smalley walked into
police headquarters. ‘‘I believe I might
have some information about this poor,
young thing who was murdered,’’ she
told the desk sergeant.

Mrs. Smalley, who operated a room-
ing house in downtown Columbus, was
ushered into the office of Detective
Chief Shellenbarger.

“‘T read about the murdered girl in
the newspaper, and I recognized her
picture as Mrs. Snook,”’ she said.

*“*Mrs. Snook?’’ the detective said,
grasping the arms of his chair. ‘‘I’m
sorry, but the victim has already been
identified as Theora Hix.”’

“I tell you, I recognized her,’’ the
landlady insisted. ‘‘I know her as Mrs.
Howard Snook. She and her husband
rented a small room on the second floor
of my place several months ago when
they came here from Newark. The
gentleman said he was a salt salesman
and traveled a lot.’’

*“When is the last time you saw Mr.
and Mrs. Snook?’’ Shellenbarger
asked.

‘Well, the gentleman asked me to
see that his wife was made at home,
because he wouldn’t be home too
often,’’ Mrs. Smalley continued. ‘‘But
I don’t think I ever saw her there when
he wasn’t around. Then yesterday this
Mr. Snook came and packed up every-
thing and left. He said his wife was in
the hospital and they were giving up the
room. I don’t know how he happened
to forget his wife’s hat.’’

‘*What kind of a hat was it?’’

*‘Oh, asimple little thing; brown felt
with a rolled brim.’’

Telling Mrs. Smalley to wait a min-
ute, Shellenbarger went to the room
where McCall and Phillips were talk-
ing to the professor, and introduced
himself.

*‘James H. Snook, eh? What does
the *H’ stand for?’’ he asked curiously.

**Howard,’’ the professor said.
**But I don’t use it.’’

Taking McCall aside, Shellenbarger
advised: ‘‘Keep the professor here a
little longer, Bob. We might have
something.’”’

Police returned home with Mrs.
Smalley and obtained the brown felt
hat, identical to the one that friends

said Theora Hix always wore. Mrs.
Smalley also produced her records,
which indicated that one Howard
Snook of Newark, Ohio, a town just
east of Columbus, had rented the room
in February. Next police took the land-
lady to the morgue, where she viewed
the body of Theora Hix.

‘‘That’s her! That’s the young
woman I knew as Mrs. Snook,’’ she
said.

Mrs. Smalley was then brought back
to police headquarters, where
Shellenbarger led her down a hallway,
past the open door to the room where
Professor Snook was waiting.

‘‘That’s him,’’ she said without
hesitation. ‘‘That’s the Mr. Snook who
rented my room.”’

Faced with the identification, Pro-
fessor Snook admitted that he was the
man who had rented Mrs. Smalley’s
room. He said he and Theora had been
having an affair for about three years.

‘““My wife suspected something,”’
he said, shamefaced. ‘‘I think she was
going to file for divorce, but then she
decided not to. She is expecting an-
other child.”’

Chief French showed Professor
Snook the brown felt hat found in the
rented love nest. .

‘*Professor, this hat tells us that
Theora Hix went to the room at Mrs.
Smalley’s after she left the hospital on
the night she was killed. Do you care to
tell us what happened that night?’’

‘‘T wish I knew, Harry,”’ he told the
chief. **I worked in the laboratory until
8 o’clock that night. From there I went
to the Scioto Country Club to pick up a
pair of glasses which I'd left there dur-
ing the afternoon. I got back home
around 9:20 p.m.”’

‘Well, Jim, before we go any farth-
er, I think you had better talk to your
lawyer,”’ the chief urged the professor.

Attorneys John Seidel and E.O.
Ricketts came to police headquarters
and talked with their client. ‘‘Don’t
hold anything back from us, Jim,”’
Seidel emphasized. ‘‘We have to know
everything that happened if we are go-.
ing to help you.”’ .

Professor Snook admitted having
been indiscreet with the slain college
student, but emphatically denied being
involved in her murder. He convinced .
both lawyers he was merely an un-
fortunate and highly embarrassed vic-
tim of circumstances.

‘“We could get you out on a writ of
habeas corpus,’’ Seidel said. ‘‘But if

(continued on next page)

you are indeed innocent, it’s. best for
you to remain available for questioning
so you can convince police of that fact,
the sooner the better, so they can get
about the business of finding the girl’s
killer.”’

Professor Snook agreed. ‘‘I’m here
as long as you think you might need
me,’’ he told Chief French. He made
himself comfortable, and food was
brought in while the detectives set out
to check his alibi.

Mrs. Snook told McCall and Phillips
that she had retired early on the night of
the murder, and at around 9:30 p.m.
heard a door slam. Several hours later
she had occasion to go downstairs, and
found her husband there. She admitted

that she had contemplated divorce be-

cause of his infidelity, but had post-
poned taking legal action after finding
she was pregnant.

Meanwhile, as Professor Snook was
dining in the interrogation office at
police headquarters, detectives ex-
amined his blue Ford coupe which he
had parked outside. Going over the car
in the police garage, detectives found a
stained, gray glove, containing several
hairs, in the trunk along with a round-
head hammer. Behind the driver’s seat
they found a cap which also appeared
stained. Also found were a hairpin and
a woman’s umbrella.

A follow-up search of the pro-
fessor’s home turned up a stained shirt
and jackknife, with what appeared to
be blood on the tip. All of the items
were turned over to an analyst, to de-
termine whether the stains were human
blood.

The professor was asked about the
woman’s umbrella, and admitted that
he had taken Theora for rides in the
auto. He had once made her a present
of arevolver, the gun-collecting educa-
tor volunteered.

The detectives also learned that Pro-
fessor Snook had sent one of his suits to
a cleaner the day after the body was
found. The suit was retrieved, and
found to have contained bloodstains.

In further going over the professor’s
car, police technicians found what later
proved to be bloodstains on the door
jamb.

‘‘T’m beginning to fear something
horrible happened in that car,’’ the pro-
fessor’s friend, Chief French, sighed.

Both Professor Snook and Marion -

Meyers remained in custody as the in-

vestigation continued.

On June 16, Shellenbarger, accom-
panied by Detectives McCall and Phil-

lips, took Dr. Snook to the rifle range
where the victim’s battered and slashed
body had been found. From there the
group, more like four businessmen on
an inspection trip than three lawmen
and a murder suspect, visited the
Scioto Valley Country Club, then went
to the downtown apartment that Dr.
Snook had rented for his young mis-
tress...

The university professor was ques-
tioned throughout the trip, but main-
tained a cool and almost cheerful atti-
tude as he continued to insist he knew
nothing about the woman’s death. By
contrast Meyers, who had also been
taken to view the murder scene, was
the picture of dejection.

On June 17, detectives backtracked,
making the tour without Dr. Snook. In
the professor’s locker at the country
club they found several bottles of ether
and a number of unidentified medical
capsules, along with what appeared to
be coded messages similar to some
found in Theora Hix’s safe deposit
box.

With news of the latest discovery,
university officials ousted Dr. Snook
from his job as professor in the college
of veterinary medicine. A terse bulletin
issued by Dr. George W. Rightmire,
Ohio State University president, said:
‘*The connection of Dr. Snook as a
professor in the college is hereby ter-
minated in view of his moral de-
linquency, of which we have had suf-
ficient verification. ”’

Questioning of Dr. Snook and young
Meyers, the graduate student, contin-
ued throughout the day but neither
would crack.

That there was indeed jealousy be-
tween the two men over Theora Hix
became apparent when William North,
a university policeman, told detectives
that Dr. Snook had asked him to try to
find out the name of a girl whom Mey-
ers had taken to Cleveland one
weekend. :

‘‘Is there a drug ring on campus?’’
police wanted to know.

**T don’t know anything about it,’

. Meyers insisted.

‘*Those items you found mean noth-
ing,’’ Dr. Snook asserted. As a doctor
of veterinary medicine, he naturally
had access to various types of drugs
and medications.

On June 18, police tried a new
tack—bringing the betrayed wife in for
questioning. The demure Helen Snook

‘was grilled for four hours by the de-

tectives and County Prosecutor John J.

Clester. She disclosed that she had
known about her husband’s infidelity
for about six weeks, and decided to
divorce him but was prevailed upon by
friends to drop the case.

‘Tell us exactly what happened on
the night of June 13th,”’ the prosecutor
said.

‘‘T went to a neighbor’s house until
about 8:30 p.m. I stayed in the house,
then I went to bed at 9:30 p.m., and
while I was preparing for bed I heard
the door slam downstairs and the sound
of clothes hangers rattling. I presumed
that my husband had come in and was
hanging up his clothes,”’ she said. ‘‘I
did not go downstairs then. At 11:30,
after the rainstorm, I went downstairs
and saw him there with his hat and coat
off, eating lunch. I had been upstairs
between 9:30 and 11:30 p.m.”’

The detectives and the prosecutor
agreed that three people had motives
for killing Theora Hix: Meyers, the
grad student who admitted having been
intimate with her, could have slain her
in a fit of jealousy after she admitted
seeing another man, whom she would
not identify. Dr. Snook might have kil-
led her to break off the affair that was
threatening his marriage. Helen Snook
could have eliminated the competition.

Prosecutor Chester decided to put it
to the housewife directly: ‘‘Mrs.
Snook. You have admitted that you
knew your husband was being unfaith-
ful to-you. We think you killed her. Did
you?”’

With that Helen Snook became hys-
terical and fainted. After being revived
she was escorted home.

Through it all, Dr. Snook’s lawyers
said they would make no attempt to
obtain their client’s release until police
were satisfied of his innocence. ‘‘A
thorough and honest investigation will
clear Dr. Snook,’’ Seidel declared.
‘And so we will not impede the in-
vestigation.”’

But police, instead of satisfying
themselves of Dr. Snook’s innocence,
were tightening the noose of evidence
around his neck. On June 20 the results
of the chemical tests came back, show-
ing that all of the stains found on Dr.
Snook’s clothing, his pen knife, and in
his car, were human blood. Further-
more, impressions of the auto tire
tracks at the murder scene matched the
tires on the professor’s car.

Also, the coroner’s report concluded
that the aphrodisiacs found in the dead
woman’s stomach were similar to those

(continued on next page)
47

Murder

Dr. Snook had access to as a veterina-
rian. And finally, the ballpeen hammer
found in his car matched the blunt-
instrument wounds found on her body.
_ Prosecutor Chester and Detective
Chief Shellenbarger, along with
McCall and Phillips, confronted Dr.
Snook with the mountain of evidence
against him, but he still held his
ground. Phillips then zeroed-in on the
broken keyring found at the murder
scene. .

‘“Someone broke the keyring in pull-
ing a key off,’’ he reasoned: ‘‘Theora
carried the apartment key with her, and
you had to take it in order to return and
clean the place out, didn’t you, pro-
fessor?”’

‘‘Absolutely not,’? Dr. Snook in-
sisted. “‘I carried the key to the room at
Mrs. Smalley’s. Miss Hix did not have
one.”’

‘‘That’s not what Peggy told us,”’
the detective bluffed.

“Peggy?”

“Yes, one of her girlfriends. Peggy
told us about going up to the apartment
with Miss Hix on the day she was kil-
led. Where did she get the key?”’

“IT had given her the key. Yes, I
remember now, I had given Theora the
key on Thursday,’’ the professor said,
contradicting his earlier statement.

‘“But Mrs. Smalley told us that after
you cleaned out the apartment you
turned both keys in,”’ Phillips bore in.
‘“When did you get it back?’’

' There was an uneasy pause as the
professor looked around the room.

‘*Dr. Snook. Where did you get the
key?’’ Phillips insisted.

Finally trapped, the professor hung
his head and said meekly, ‘‘ You know
where I got it.’’

““From the body?’’

**Yes.”’

As the detectives had originally sus-
pected, Theora’s killer removed the
duplicate key from her ring, fearing
that it might betray the illicit relation-
ship.
Sobbing intermittently, Dr. Snook
told authorities he had met Theora
three years earlier, and an ‘‘intimate’’
companionship had existed ever since.

“Ihave been living with my wife all
during this three-year period and re-
gard my wife very highly and respect
her very much as a wife, but she lacked
some of the companionship afforded
by Miss Hix,’’ he said. **During the

Mixed The Love Potion

(continued from page 47)

three years that I knew Miss Hix I did
assist her in many ways toward an
education, but I found it wasn’t
appreciated as much as I thought it
should be. Our association was not a
love affair in any sense of the word, but
in time Miss Hix developed a more
determined attitude in regard to dictat-
ing my movements.

‘The final culmination of this oc-
curred on the 13th of June of this year
when I met Miss Hix at the corner of
12th and High Streets.”’

After picking her up in his car when
she left the hospital, he said they drove
to the clandestine apartment at Mrs.
Smalley’s, and then drove out to the
rifle range on the edge of town. During
the drive he said he told her that he
would be leaving town with his wife
and daughter for three weeks to visit his
mother.

‘“She remonstrated with me against
leaving the city, and threatened that if I
did go that she would take the life of my
wife and baby,” he related. ‘‘During
this quarrel she grabbed for the purse in
which she sometimes carried the .41-
caliber Derringer, which I had given
her. In the struggle she was hit on the
head with a hammer with the intent to
stun her..She continued desperately,
and an increased number of blows was
necessary to stop her,’’ he continued.
‘Realizing then that no doubt her skull
was fractured, and to relieve her suffer-
ing, I severed her jugular with my
pocket knife.’’

After the killing, he said, he picked
up around the murder site. Then he
cleaned out the apartment, took
Theora’s belongings and their pajamas
home and burried them in the furnace.
In his haste he had overlooked her hat.

Dr. Snook was indicted for mur-
der, and Marion Meyers, the other
boyfriend, was released. At his own
request, Dr. Snook was brought to
trial quickly before Judge Henry Scar-
lett in Columbus.

Defense lawyers argued that Dr.
Snook had been rendered temporarily
insane by the love potions given to him
by Theora Hix. The prosecution coun-
tered with the autopsy report, showing
that the aphrodisiac found in the dead
woman’s stomach had been injected
into a beef sandwich she ate shortly
before her death.

The concotion consisted of two
drugs, one found in Dr. Snook’s office,

and the other in the narcotics room at
the veterinary building at the univer-
sity. City chemist Charles F. Long tes-
tified that he administered a portion of
the substance taken from the victim’s
stomach to a dog, and the animal show-
ed ‘‘extreme symptoms of excite-
ment.”’

Dr. Snook’s version of how and wh
the killing occurred was shattered by

another prosecution witness, Clarence
Murphy, who testified:

‘‘T was driving with my boy past the
rifle range on the night of June 13. I
Saw aman and woman near a blue Ford
coup at the east entrance of the range.
He had his arms around her waist and
she had her hands on his breast.’’

Prosecutor Chester introduced into
evidence a packet of torrid love letters
to Theora, signed ‘‘Mabel’’ and
‘‘Jane,’”’ which described an extremely
torrid sexual relationship in lurid de-
tail, affirming the adage that there is
nothing new under the sun. Professor
Snook admitted writing the letters.

The defense lawyers, caught off
guard, now drew from Dr. Snook a
new version of the slaying, in which
they claimed self-defense: Theora,
aroused by the love potion, had at-
tempted to maim the professor by bit-
ing him while performing oral sex, and
he was forced—while in excruciating
pain—to resort to the hammer to save
his manhood.

On August 14, the jury of 11 men
and One woman took just 28 minutes
before returning a verdict of guilty,
with a mandatory death sentence in the
electric chair.

The ‘‘dinner party’’ held on the eve-
ning of Feb. 28, 1930, in the Ohio State
Penitentiary was one of the strangest in
history. Professor Snook, the host and
master of ceremonies, had requested
permission to wear his tuxedo, but the
warden turned him down. Four chefs
prepared the gourmet dinner for four.

Seated at the table sharing the repast
was his wife, Helen, who had stood by
him during the trial; her cousin, Mrs.
Frank Landrum; and Oscar Roedell,
the professor’s closest friend.

The Rev. Issac E. Miller joined the

group immediately after dinner and
walked Dr. Snook back to his cell,
where he removed his shoes and slip-
ped into a pair of golf slippers.
Then, wearing his blue business
suit, he walked down the short corrider
to the death chamber thinking back per-
haps of Theora Hix, for whose love he
had killed and was about to pay with his
own. *

of the

ill Mil-

ifternoon,
vered by
askatoon,
ish, a .38
- hand, a
t temple.
cheat the

ster was
< with a
kets was
1. On his
dunds, in
let hole

hots

September, 1933

had smashed a bone above the ankle of
the left leg; the other:-had torn a
large gaping wound: in‘ the lower ‘part
of the abdomen. It: was’ believed that
the abdomen wound ‘was «received by
Miller durin the -exchangé of shots
with Constable Joe Parsons; ‘and that
the bullet that splintered a bone in the
left leg had come ffom the rifle of
Louis Altringer, » -

It was later learned that on Thurs-
day evening, Miller had called at the
home of Tony Gulash, and after eating
retired for the. night. Early Friday
morning, he ‘stiaved: off his mustache;
and obtaining: a chahge of clothing
from Gulash, paid him some money to
drive him: into: Kelvington; This was
the reason,. why. . the pursuers” in’ the
automobile had not recognized the gun-
man on.sight from the description they

had been given:: -- ~-°

BUT the finding of ~Millér’s dead

body did not ‘mean: that: the work of
the Royal Canadian: Mounted Police in
connection .with this -particular case
was finished. Charges of murder were
laid against’ the two Kurulaks, and the
detectives and police officers involved
in unravelling the tangled skeins of
evidence,‘relating to the death of Cor-
poral Ralls, worked “day~and: night in
order: that - necessary’ ‘details: of the
crime: might .be -placed--:before the
court.” - > Ye Sa
Investigation brought to'light that
Miller and> Bill -Kurulak had become
acquainted while. serving sentences in
the Prince “Albert ‘Penitentiary, and
that Miller had‘ arrived on foot at the
Kurulak farm, near ‘Canora, early in
June. © coer ie

Two days later he departed, ac-

companied by Bill Kurulak. When the:

air returned they were driving a blue
lymouth‘car. Two. girls were found,
who on Tay 22nd were in the com-
any of Bill Miller and Bill and Mike
Kuralak: While riding in the stolen
Plymouth, which Miller said belonged

The. Master >Detective

to him, they saw a revolver ‘and a rifle
in the car. ; G4

Ralls was killed by a bullet. fired

from a‘25-20 Marlin rifle. The two
Kurulaks stated that on the ‘night. of
the shooting Miller had fired a volley’
of shot from two revolvers, then picked
up the rifle, which was lying beside him
in the front seat of the car, and fired
several more shots at the policeman.

On September 27th, the sensational
trial of the two Kurulaks opened at
Yorkton. Witnesses were called who
identified the Marlin rifle as one that
belonged to Bill Kurulak; while other
Crown witnesses, who had seen the trio’
after the murder had been committed,
identified the Kurulak brothers, and
swore that the older was in possession
of the rifle.

Frank Lucky, a seven-yeat-old boy,
so small that he was obliged’ to stand
on a chair in order that he might be
seen over the edge of the witness stand,
told of finding a piece of nut and bolt
beside a culvert on the peaway over
which the murder car had travelled on
the night Ralls was shot down ‘This
— of nut and bolt, fitted a broken

olt on the’ left running board of the
stolen Plymouth, and had been broken
off when the car skidded off the road
and struck the culvert.

In the rear seat of the stolen car was
found a piece of lead slug, which ballis-
tic far nigh claimed, had been fired’
from the .45 revolver of the murdered

policeman. And so, link by link,’ the’

chain of evidence was forged around
the Kurulak brothers.

On October Ist, Bill Kurulak, the 23-
year-old clean-cut young gun-man was.
found guilty of murder, and sentenced
to be hanged in Regina on December
29th. His seventeen-year-old brother,
Mike, convicted of manslaughter, was
sentenced to fifteen years in the Prince
Albert Penitentiary,

Thus finis ‘was written to the story of
one of the most cold-blooded murders
in the history of Saskatchewan.

The Mystery Killing in Saybrook Road

(Continued from page 45)

“Last Wedneseday I met Maude, and
she asked me what I was going to do
the next night. I told her we were go-
ing to play cards at John Pierce’s on
Saybrook Center Road. We started
out about dusk, and stopped at my
brother’s gas station for five minutes.
Just as we were going up the first hill
after leaving there, Maude came from

the east side of the road and said, -

‘Stick ‘em up’. I got out of the truck,
“She had a gun pointed right at me.
My wife said: ‘We have no money.’
Then my wife started to get out of the
truck. Minde said: ‘Don’t get out.’
She walked around the truck to my
wife’s side and shot her. I don’t know
what became of Maude then.” _
After a little more questioning he
told us where the girl worked as a
servant. Prosecutor Nazor and Lieut.
Albert C. Snow of the Ashtabula police,
went to get her while Sheldon and I
stayed with Tilby Smith to put his

new story into written statement form.

The girl’s full name was Julia Maude
Lowther. She was 22 years old, and a
more or less familiar figure around
town. Everyone who saw her sup-
fee she was a quarter-breed Indian.

er features suggested Indian blood
though whether she had any or not I
cannot say. She was wearing a black
raincoat and knitted cap. Nazor ques-
tioned her on the way to the station.
#She denied that she knew Tilby
Smith, but declared that she had been
at a picture show that night.

“What was the name of the picture?”
Nazor asked. é

“The ‘Song of the West’,” she an-
swered promptly.

“What was the name of the com-
edy?” Nazor went on.

“I don’t remember,” she said.

“Well then, what was it - about?”
Nazor pressed her,

The girl sulked for a moment; then

POSITIONS FOR HUSTLERS &

l* BUSINESS
REVIVAL

‘ AGREAT OPPORTUNITY made poasib:
A AREAT Law, doin the Cariton Ameen | amie
Ings with Caritan's Neti kn aranteed
SHIRTS-TIES-UND WEARAL H
HOSIERY. Take adver hf dba

ca MUSES @; if
refit sharing. Join the gold rush now!
ARLTON Mi -7 9 Fifth Ave., N. ¥.Dept. 702-J

Make money taking pictures. Prepare quickly during
spare time. Also earn while you learn. No experience
necessary. Now easy method. Nothing else like it.
Send at once for free boo! portunities in M.
phy, er full piers
jOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Dept, 3116, 360% Michas ave. Chicago, U. S.As

or SCIENTIFIC + /a@:

MURDER INVESTIGATION/ **

PEea detection the scentine, specnets nak erent ethos
concise!

of investigating mysterious murder cases — ly explained in
A PRACTICAL MANUAL by LUKE S. MAY
The author is a criminologist of i jonal n, Direct-
Inottate of Scientine Critnategn Teri Caren ot te
Association of Sheriffs and Police. In his book, Me. May shows yo

extra, stamps with order.—Write today, to Book Dept. G ;

INSTITUTE OF SCIENTIFIC CRIMINOLOGY

614 1274 Ave. NORTH SEATTLE WASHINGTON

No Need to be Fat!

Take off 5 to 10 Pounds a week!
Easy Way—No Medicine—
No Starving

Fat enters the body when fat-making food
is consumed in excess of one’s needs; it can
be removed by lessening the fat-making food
intake. . There is no other way for. it to get
in or get out. Therefore, to lose fat, eat less
food that makes fat. Just follow one simple,
easily-understood law of Nature.

But above all, remember there is no ques-
tion as to whether the treatment will work
or not. All other ills of the body may some.
times fail to respond even when the best
known methods are ope, Not. so with
obesity. The cause and elimination of obesi-
ty is a matter of mathematics and there is
no argument about it. If you draw out more
from your bank account than you put into
it, the amount will be reduced—and in like
manner so will -you, ,

The famous Eugene Christian Method is
given you fully in his method called

**Pounds Off’’

Although you would probably be glad to
pay ‘many dollars for such a simple, safe
and certain method’ of obtaining normal
weight, we have made the price as low as we
can, because we want every sufferer from
excessive flesh to secure its benefits,

Write Today—Send No Money

Send no money, just write your name and
address on the margin, or send a letter if
you ay The method will be mailed to
you in PLAIN CONTAINER, and $1.39
(plus postage) to the postman will make it
yours. -You may remit with order and save
the cost of postage as we prepay charges on
all orders sent with cash in advance.

CORRECTIVE EATING GUILD,
MD9

1926 Broadway New York City

him

tently all
ime: The
ints. No
t leaving

ig here?”
ter some
ie truck;
her than

er in the

aid any-
1, letting

vorry

soon

said
any

You
€ till
too
Tell

iybe

Maude Lowther, the Southern mountain girl,
whose amazing story astounded the authorities.

She is sitting in court with attorneys. Second
' from the left can be seen the man who was
executed for the crime

wouldn’t believe. me. I feel sure of it.”

“Why” said Sheriff Sheldon. “I think |
would believe you.”

“Well then, if these other two fellows leave
us alone I'll tell you right.”

Nazor and I went out. In a short time
the Sheriff called us back. Smith’s new story
was a complete repudiation of the robber
story he had been reiterating for the past six

Prosecutor Howard Nazor who represented the state in the fight to hours.

bring the killers to justice

I didn’t see it good. It was dark, and I might be mistaken.”
“You were sure enough before,” Nazor cut in contemp-
tuously. 4
“Come on Tilby,” Sheldon said after a pause? “We'll find
out the truth sooner or later. It will be better for you to
tell us yourself.”

“I told you robbers shot her,” Smith said stubbornly.

“you told us lies,” | said with a show of impatience.
“Every road was watched. We would have got them
by this time if there.were any.” .

For an hour or more we continued hammering at him in
this -vein. At about four o'clock he began weakening per-
ceptibly. His answers came with less and less assurance.

“If I told you the truth now,” he said suddenly, “you

“About two weeks ago | met a girl by the
name of Marie,” he began.

“You know her name is not Marie,” | said.

“No,” he answered, “it is Maude. I don’t know her last
name. She was sitting next to me in a picture show. We
got to talking about the picture and when we came out |
said: ‘How about a date’. ‘Okay, kid,’ she said; so we
went out, ‘

“Since that time I’ve met her four or five times in the
park. She said she loved me and wanted to run away with
me. She told me she would get me.

“Sometime ago I bought a .32 caliber revolver of Dr.
Bigler, a dentist. I put it in my truck and told Maude |
had it. She wanted to see it and | told her where it was.
I came over to the City Hall for something and left her
alone in the truck. The next night I went to get the gun
and it was gone. (Continued on page 171)

44 The Master

was able to tell us a fairly complete and coherent story.

“I had slowed down for a big sedan parked on the hill,”
he related. “Two men stepped into the road. | stopped.
One of them pointed a gun and told me to ‘stick ’em up and
keep ‘em up’. Clara, that’s my wife, began to unfasten the
door which was tied with a sash cord. The taller man told
her not to get out.

“We want your money,’ he said.

““We haven’t any money,’ my wife said. ‘We didn’t even
have enough money to get a loaf of bread this morning.’
Then he told me to give him my watch. I said I didn’t have
any.

“I had been thinking what | would do, and thought of
the crank in the bottom of the car. I leaned over to get
it. Just then the robber fired and hit my wife in the head.
She fell over and her head hit .the wind-shield.

“One of the robbers said, ‘My God, you’ve shot the wo-
man.’ Both of them ran down the road where
the sedan was with another man waiting, and
got away before | could see the number. It
was a big, dark blue Buick with three cluster
lights on the back.”

Smith then related how he took his wife out
of the truck and laid her on the ground;
grabbed the baby, who had been sitting on
his mother’s lap; got the boy who was sit-
ting between them; and ran to the gas sta-
tion owned by his brother, Wilbur.

S INCE it was to be a county case Sheldon

called Prosecutor Howard Nazor. While
police were taking a formal written statement
from Smith I drove to Geneva to learn the
result of the autopsy. Sheldon and Nazor
atrived soon after.

Dr. E. H. Merrill performed the post-
mortem and reported that Mrs. Smith had
been shot once in the head with a .32 caliber
revolver. The bullet lodged in the center of
her brain.

The three of us then returned to the police
station and took Smith into the city council
chamber, in the same building, for’ further
questioning. It was then about II p. Mm. The
mysterious blue Buick had not been. seen,
although a close watch had been kept for it
on all surrounding roads, .

We questioned Smith closely, not only on-
the crime itself, but on his whole past history
and associations. His murdered wife was a
little older than himself, 28; and they had
been married about four years. She was the
woman named as co-respondent in his - first
wife’s divorce petition.

Smith himself impressed us as too easy
going to have made any bitter and dangerous
enemies. He had been at times, an under-
cover agent for a liquor-raiding justice of the
peace; a gas station attendant; and for the past several
years had been making an uncertain living with his truck.

It was absolutely incredible that three gun-men, travel-
ing in a high-powered car, would select such an obviously
poor robbery prospect as a truck driver taking his family
for a ride. We didn’t believe the stor , and we told Smith
so. Nevertheless he stuck to it without a single variation.
He couldn't be tripped. He described the robbers with fair
detail, and also their car.

At about 2:30 a. mM. I suggested that Smith go back with
us to the scene, and again point out exactly where every-
thing occurred.

He showed us once more where he had stopped his truck,
and pointed up the road to where the robbers had parked
their car, a little off the gravel. We walked up there.

Detective

“Are you sure this was the spot?” Nazor asked him

“Right along here some place,” Smith said.

It will be recalled that rain had fallen intermittently all
day, but it had not rained since the time of the crime. The
ground was soft and would readily take footprints. No
car could possibly be driven off the road without leaving
a tire track. :

“Then why are there no tracks any place along here?”
Nazor asked.

“Seems like there ought to be,’ Smith said after some
hesitation.

He next showed us where the robbers stopped the truck;
but we could find no footprints at that spot other than
those made by policemen, who had been there earlier in the
evening.

On the way back to the station none of us said any-
thing. We just sat there in the car without a word, letting

Frank Sheldon, former Sheriff of Ashtabula County, who

directed the hunt for the mystery slayer

Smith wonder what we were thinking: letting him worry
over what we would do next.

“What's the use of lying, Smith?” Nazor asked, as soon
as we were all seated again in the council chamber.

Smith didn’t answer at once.

“You'll feel better if you tell us the truth,” Sheldon said.

“IT told you already,” Smith answered. “There isn’t any
more to tell.”

“Look at me Smith,” | said angrily. “You're lying! You
know it and we know it. We're going to sit right here till
we get the truth, if it takes all night and to-morrow too.
What kind of a car is it that doesn’t leave tracks? Tell
me that.”

Smith slouched in his. chair, truculent and sullen.

“Must have kept on the road,” he said weakly. “Maybe

with a hadght 1
and a disdainful sni ae tagtted ‘.
“Tam not in the habit’of discussing
movies with every stranger I meet,”
Before they arrived at the station
Nazor told her Tilby’s stor
her for the murder of his wife.
When she. was brought in, officers.
who had been to the scene early in the
evening, recognized her as the woman
in a-black raincoat, they, had--seen
walking toward Ashtabula. +" 3:
‘Sheldon and I had finished taking
Smith’s new statement by the time
Nazor and Lieut. Snow walked in the
door with the girl. Smith, tired after
his long grilling, sat slouched in his
chair when they entered, He nodded
dully to the question, “Is this the girl?”
“You dirty rat,” the girl lashed’out:
angrily. “I’d never have broken down:.
I don’t love you now, | hate you'.’.:
you... . you double crosser, You're
just like all men—trying to hide :be-
ind’a woman’s skirts.” BORE jackie ia
The girl was so angry over Smith
putting all the blame on herself, that
she seemed actually anxious to tell us’
everything. We kept Smith in*-the
council chamber, and took Maude
Lowther into the Chief’s office. ©

‘T MET Smith May 19th at the Pal-

ace theater,” she said:». “After the
I also talked’

show we went: for a ride. l :
to him the next day. Hevsaid hevdid’

not ‘want to go home because his:..wife:

quarreled with him all the time. He said
he was leaving this part of the country,
and wanted me to go with him. | He,
said several times, ‘Let's go, south? '~ |

“Last Tuesday he told me he had a’
revolver. He brought it‘down*where |
was working and said: ‘Here, use.this.’,
He had been talking about using poison
in pop, but decided it was not quick
enou : ne VES, fexe oa te Ska j
i t}oumet him «Wednesday:

bo:

night~.and).
he asked‘ me what night“I"was"going’to)
e;

do-it; I. told:him ‘I didn’t-:know;<H

said, ‘Well. make it ‘Thursday night”.

and told me where they: were ‘going.
On Thursday night he-met me’ with his,
truck, We drove out the South Ridge’

shrug of her-shoulders °

blaming

Road and turned on a dirt road:to. our} :

left; He stopped on top of. a hill and’
I got out. He said he would be back:
between 8:15 and. 8:30 with. his’ wife.)
I hid onthe left side of the road and
waited. i beity
. “It was agreed between us that when
-he returned | was to stick:him up. He,
was to get out of the truck: and go
back, and I was to shoot-his wife: |
“He came back between 8:30. and
8:45. I walked out and stuck him up.
He got out of the car and’ 1 walkéd
around on his wife’s side of the car and
shot her. He said: ‘Now get to hell out
of here.’ I walked across the field to
the paventent and back to Ashtabula.
“After the shooting I .was “supposed
to stay around here a month or.two.
Then we were both to leave for the
South. He told me if I. would..kill his
wife I would not have to work."**"
The girl recited her whole story in a
cool'and matter-of-fact voice:"~ |
“Weren't you afraid, waiting : there
ie the bushes all alone?” Sheldon asked
her. wi tee

Detective

The

“Why -no, of course not,” she an-

Master

_ swered, surprised. “What was there to

be afraid of?” p
“Where is the gun now?” | put in.
“At the house, where I work,” she

Said. “It’s in the children’s: play-room

in the bottom of a box of toys. It isn’t

loaded any more.”
Lieutenant: ‘Snow went to the house

and returned shortly with an old .32

caliber revolver. Maude Lowther ma

» have thought there were no-more shells

in it, but there were—two full car-
tridges. . nite
Smith at first, denied everything as
to his part in the crime. The girl was
then brought in, and, point by point,
went over her story in Smith’s pres-
ence. Gradually he:admitted more and
more of her confession until he finally
saw it -was:useless to deny any of it.”
“Then you and this woman deliber-
ately planned the murder of your wife
for at least:three.or four days prior to
the shooting,’ did you not?” Nazor
asked him,» ad
“Yes,” Smith answered simply. *~
“You got the gun and gave it to her,
didn’t You?” - sl kay
“Yes, I did,” came the answer, -
“And then you took this woman to
the scene of the murder and ‘planted
her there?”
“Yes, I took her there.” i
“Then, knowing this woman: w:
waiting there to kill your wife, you
took -your wife. and two children in
your-truck and. drove them to the
spote”. vic lion
“That’s right,” said Smith,
.‘Nazor then told Smith that a: third
statement must be made. ..«'. . hy
“You've already got two signed state-
ments from me,” Smith objected. « «
“Yes, but they weren’t all.the truth,
and. we will have to have a signed
statement from you telling the truth.”

™<:us were tired out from the long night
of grilling and investigation. We were
hungry and decided that we would
lock up the two,:and go to breakfast
before winding up the .affair.. As we
started to take them.away, ‘Maude

Lowther said in a matter-of-fact voice, »

and as dispassionately as though com-
menting upon the state of the weather:
*“Myr. Nazor, if you will give me that
gun.and leave me here alone with that
man, for a minute, I’ll guarantee you'll
have a. double funeral on your hands.”
She nodded toward Smith, .and hesi-
tated a moment as though. believin
she had made a reasonable offer..;
We were gone for breakfast about an
hour, -When we got back we found that

an attorney had been in to see Smith, *

and had instructed him to say. nothing
further, and to sign no more papers...

During the next two. or three days
we dug up enough circumstantial. evi-

.dence to have at least put Smith in-

prison for life, I believe, even though
we had not obtained the girl’s signed
confession, nor his own verbal confes-
sion, 2 A @ tm
We discovered that Smith had made

| inquiries of several persons as to the
| effect of poisons. Emil Koski, a barber,

‘ said Smith had been:in his shop for a

Smith’s eye.
_ Smith aske

tit ba baa
[T'was then ‘about’? Ay'Moand’all”of ©

shave about May 25th. While. there
Smith asked him what effect swallow-
ing mercury. would have, Koski told
him to see a doctor. ;
The day before, Smith had had_his
teeth cleaned by Dr. S. H. Bigler.. Two
days later, and after he had been to
Koski, Smith came back for an esti-
mate on dental.work. He also inquired
of Dr. Bigler about poison. Dr. Bigler
had some junk he wanted hauled away
and showed: it to Smith, Included in it
was the old .32 caliber revolver used
in the killing. It immediately caught
“Are you eins to throw that away?”
im.
“Yes,” Dr. Bigler told him.. “It isn’t
much good.” she
. “I'd like to buy: it if you'll sell it to
me,” Smith said, snapping ithe trigger.
Dr. ‘Bigler sold it to:him for two
dollars.
That same afternoon Smith. went to
a hardware store, probably right after
getting the gun. He showed it to. a

clerk and asked for shells. This clerk ©

did: not remember Smith, but he dis-
tinctly remembered the gun because ‘it
was such an old type... -.

Smith evidently had not yet aban-
doned the idea of poisoning, as a bet-
ter means of doing away with his wife;
and his mind. clung tenaciously to the
thought of mercury.. ‘

HE ‘asked the hardware store clerk
to.show him :some thermometers,
and wanted to know ifthe colored
liquid. in them:was poisonous, He told
a story about a child breaking a ther-
mometer and tasting the liquid.

A lady who lives on Munson Hill a
short.: distance from the. murder, spot,
redalled seeing a truck parked -on -the
west side of the road from about 6:30

¢ P.M. until about 7.p.M..She identified
the truck as» the..one belonging.to _

Smith. That: was'the ‘time*when Smith

brought out Maude Lowther. for her "

ambush. eee

Such was the evidence on which we
would have built a circumstantial case,
had; .we “gained no confessions... In

.\addition .to these’ witnesses, we’ found

two men who had seen’ Smith and his
movie show sweetheart on the street at
about 6 P.M... .. ot;

: Smith went to trial July. 15th before
Common Pleas :Judge, Charles T. Sar-
ent: He dozed while his attorneys
ought with Nazor over the selection of
a jury; ‘and all next day as the state
brought forth its parade of witnesses.

The defense, hoping only to escape
the chair, attempted to excuse Smith on
the grounds of mental incompetence.
As one after. another psychiatrist took
the stand to testify, that he was a con-
genital: fool, ‘Smith sat slouched in. his
chair regarding them all dully.

-, Dr.. Henry, Herbert Goddard, profes-
sor of abnormal psychology at Ohio
State University, and the first’ man to
translate the Simon-Binet. tests into

English, testified. that in his opinion

Smith was too dull to plan such a
crime alone: —., :

.- Dr. John Tierney of. Cleveland, la-
beled Smith as “a moron of the lowest
order”; while Dr. Louis J, Karnosh. of

Septei

We
“be
low ,
Barne
other:
8 yea
hi
of w
with
him
Phip
Peace
hibiti
was
easies
Th

had 4
asked

sort of:a weird story Smith was going to
caok -up.

- “T don’t know her’ name but I think it:

is Marie,” he continued. “I can’t tell you
where she lives now but she used to live
on Amsden avenue. She has-been married
and is part Indian. It was about ten days
ago that I met her in a theatre. I saw her

after the show and met her several times.

after that, We sat in the park or in my
truck and talked. . : 4a
“She fell desperately in love with me,”
Smith went on. “She.knew I was
married but that didn’t make any differ-
ence to her. She was ‘violently jealous of
my wife, and made no effort to conceal
her hatred. She boasted of -her Indian
blood and threatened me. by

-“ "You're either going to get rid of your

wife or I'll get rid of you,’ she told me
a couple days after I’d met her, ‘because
if I can’t have you no woman will’.”

Smith then described how he had
visited the.office of a dentist in Ashtabula
and had seen an old. gun lying. on the
table which he bought for $2.

“We lived over the humpbacked bridge
on' the east side,” continued Smith, “and
I wanted the gun for protection. A day
or two later the Indian woman came
over and climbed in my truck which was
parked near city hall, I happened to men-
tion that I’d bought'a revolver and she

. immediately wanted to see it. I told her

it was too much bother.to get it out from

under the seat. A few minutes later I went

Waging a brilliant legal battle, Prosecutor Howard M. Nazor cracked the

triangle riddle and secured a swift conviction.

)

into city hall: She must have taken the
ls then because it was gone the next
ay. ;
“A day or two later she met me and
while we were talking she wanted me to
make a date with her for Thursday night.
I told her I was going to take my wife
to the country. She wanted to know when,
where and so forth. I was dumb enough
to tell her. :

“By this time I was sorry that I had
ever monkeyed around with her but she
kept telling me about her Indian blood
and Indian vengeance and, sheriff, she
had me scared.”

Smith then related how his family had
gathered in the cab of the old dump truck
and started for the country.

“We had turned down Saybrook Center
road and left my brother's gas station

- about-half a mile behind,” Smith went on,

“when she dashed out of the bushes on
the east side of the road. In her hand she
had a gun. It was light enough to see and
that gun was. pointed right at me. I
stopped. She ordered me out of the truc
and around to the rear. "

“TI heard a shot. I was so excited that
I don’t know what she did after that.”

Officers Locate Woman

aan repeated the story of run-
ning back to the gas station for help.
- “I didn’t know what to say,” Smith
said. “I was afraid that if I mentioned
her she'd kill me. So I made up the story
about the robbers.” :

The story sounded like a fairy tale.
_ “Are you sure you didn’t have a hand
in this?” Sheriff Sheldon demanded.

“Absolutely not!”

“Ever have any ‘trouble with your
wife?” : : :

“No, sir!” he fairly shouted. “My wife
was a good woman and I loved her but
this woman came.into my life and this
is the result.” - ;

The sheriff called in Lieutenant Snow.

, Briefly he outlined Smith’s story of the

woman.
“Is that the woman I saw you with,
Tilby?” Snow asked. “Down by the depot

.a few days ago?” Smith nodded. The ©

sheriff told Snow that Smith said she
formerly lived on Amsden avenue,

“I don’t know where she lives but I.

think I can find out where she works,”
the lieutenant answered. .

Nazor, Kelsey, Webster: and the other
police officers came in. Smith repeated
the story. Again it was letter perfect.
Nazor, Snow and Sheriff Sheldon left
Smith in the council chambers and went

out to the chief's office.

“I think we can find this girl over
on Vine street,” Lieutenant Snow said.
“Unless I'm mistaken she’s employed
there as maid and a nurse girl.”

It was only a few minutes before they
were knocking at the door of the home
where. she was employed. Prosecutor
Nazor briefly outlined their errand. |

The officers were shown to the girl's
room. She awakened as they entered and
sat bolt upright in bed trying to rub the
sleep out of her eyes. :

“Who are you?” she démanded.

The stolid look never left the girl’s
face during the ride back to the station.
She refused to talk. The detectives had
learned from her employer that her name
was Julia Maude Lowther and that she
had been married, Her employer had also
told them of her movements the night
before. ©

“She left late in the afternoon.” he

oan seman

salle.

told Nazor, “and
10:30. I didn’t :
come in and late

The officers le
the police stati
chamber where
Webster and ot
the big table. Tr
room carelessl;
paused for an in
Smith. So far «

‘ from her expres

perfect strange:
Sheriff Sheldc
table directly in
eral minutes sh
cold and emotio:
appeared cast
But not so Til!
agitated.
“Is this the
words echoed t
The question
a lash. He squi
“Yes,” he fir
Sheriff Sheld
“Do you knc
“No,’ she re
“Haven’t yo:
“Oh, I might
lessly. “But I «
“This man :
wife last n
tinued. But nc
murder could
“Killing his
words. “I don’

* his wife.”

The detectiv
room to allov
Smith’s new
Then Smith w:
the. girl took
in the council
gan. Prosecut:
ster, Deputy
and the sherif
rapidly.

Re:

ATROLM

repeated tl
seen her with
casions and g
times.

“Smith absc
dering his w:
him,” Sherif
“That’s seriou
he’s trying to
ing you. If 5
better get bu

“I went to
she spoke up
“at Ashtabulz

“What pic'
broke. in.

“Song of t
instantly.

“What wa
cutor deman:

Her India
sneered.

“I don’t k
tell you wh<
she answere
Julia Maude
versation.

The officer
strategy. Sm
brought face
to repeat his

“Tf it has tl
up,” Sheriff £

Hesitating!
But the Indi:

Have you seen the magazine

For MEN ONLY?

OORT repens a

There's: nothing. else ‘like ‘jit.
Men buy it and women steal
it, if you don't keep an eye
on them. ;

-- Twenty-four full page car-
toons in color. All of them by
nationally known artists.
Provocative, tantalizing and
so.funny you have to show
them to your friends.

: Included are twenty stories
} and articles of genuine inter-
est to men by America’s best
known humorists and
authors. Included are Leon-
ard Hall, Lyon Mearson,
Georges Surdez, Stanley
Walker, Gilbert Seldes, Wiil
Cuppy, Bob Considine, and
many others. ea

NOW ON SALE

‘years and described sever,

\
8 AT ALL NEWSSTANDS

and shoot her. He told me he’d say rob-
bers did it.

“‘T’ll be back between 8:30 and 8:45,’
he said as he left me. I made my way
across the field,” she went on. “A light
rain was falling. I was wearing a black
raincoat—the one you found in my room,
In the right hand pocket I had the gun
which he had given me. I crouched in the
shelter of the rail fence and the bushes
near the culvert and waited.”

“At last I saw the headlights in the
haze,” she continued. “I ran down into
the road. Pointing the gun at the cab
of the truck I ordered him to halt. He
down out of the truck and I told
-him to get in the rear. I could see his
wife but not the baby in her arms.

“TI fired once. I saw her ‘slip from the
Seat. I didn’t know what to do so I stood
there in the road with the smoking pistol
in my hands, Tilby came running up.

“ ‘Get out of here!” he shouted. ‘Beat
it.’ I-ran back across the road, climbed
over the rail fence and started for Munson
Hill road. On the way I ‘took off my
rubbers, the same ones which you have
rete on the table. I walked all the way
ome.” |

Dazed By Accusation
SHE looked at Tilby like a tigress at
bay,

“If you go out to the house you'll find
Tilby’s gun in a hat box on a bookcase
in the parroom," she concluded.

Smith seemed to be in a daze at the
conclusion of the story, At last the police
had the truth of the diabolical murder
plot. Nazor shook Tilby vigorously.

“Isn’t it a- fact that you and this girl
planned the killing for three or four days?”
he asked. Smith nodded in the affirmative,
apparently unable to speak.. :

Patrolman Coates returned in a few
minutes with the gun. It contained two
32 caliber, rim fire shells, The officers
could still smell the odor of burned
powder. Nazor tossed the empty gun
down before ‘Smith. That finished him,

He admitted that he had engineered
the whole plot and had deliberately taken
his. wife for a ride and i her on the
spot.” Not only that but he had allowed
her to be shot with their infant son in her
arms.

But the case wasn’t finished yet. While

_ the officers were out for a cup of coffee °

Smith conferred with his attorney, Carey

' §. Sheldon, Jr.,.and then refused to sign

a statement. “ ;

The detectives checked up with the
dentist from whom Tilby had obtained
the gun and he not only verified Smith’s
story of getting the gun but also informed

’ them that Smith had appeared very much

interested in the qualities of yond as
a poison and had questioned him about
it, ° ‘

“ay told him it probably would act as
a cathartic rather than a poison,” the
dentist said. “Perhaps that’s what made

him want the old gun.” ’ |

The officers canvassed the hardware
stores of Ashtabula and found out where

’ Smith had bought his shells. The hard-

ware man had known Tilby Smith for
“g of Smith’s
visits to the store a few days prior to his
wife’s death.
‘“He came in here and asked me
about mercury being a poison,” said
the dealer. “He asked about the liquid
in a thermometer. I told him I didn’t

know anything about it.

“Later the same day he came back with

the cylinder of an old gun and asked me
to find some shells to fit it. It was so
different from the modern guns that I re-
member it distinctly. I sold him a box of
.32 caliber, short rim fire cartridges for it.”

Sheriff Sheldon showed him the two
shells taken from the fun.

“Same ones I sold him,” he remarked
after examining the shells,

Tilby Smith was tried twice and sen-
tenced to die in the electric chair each
time. The first time a jury found him
guilty and after the Supreme Court
granted him a new trial he elected to take
a chance with Common Pleas Judge
Charles R.
Sargent found him guilty and sentenced
breel to die in the electric chair Aug. 17,

Maude Lowther’s trial followed on the
heels of Smith’s second conviction. She
had been in jail at Jefferson for more than
a year and a model prisoner. ;

he slim, dark girl who traces her an-

. Sestry back to Revolutionary Americans

on her father’s side, took little interest in
the court proceedings as the. trial got
under way. As the parade of witrresses
passed before the: juty revealing all the
sordid incidents of her affair: with the
Ashtabula truck driver she exhibited a
stolidness and a stoicism similar to that
of her Indian ancestors.

Against this array the Indian girl pitted
herself, She was her own sole witness,
Her confession had been introduced in
evidence when she took the stand. Her

life was in the balance. She bared her °

soul to the twelve men who held her life
in their hands. She admitted everything.

Hardly a spectator stirred from his seat
when the jury went out. The atmosphere
seemed electrified, awaiting only a. spark
to set it off. ‘

Not since 1844 had the state of Ohio
executed a woman. The tradition ‘had

grown up that a woman couldn’t be sent °

to the chair. New York?. Yes. Pennsyl-
\vania? Yes, But never in Ohio.

The minutes passed. The Indian in Julia |

Maude Lowther was dominant. She ap-
peared to be the least concerned person
in the courtroom. Reporters crowded
about her. To them she smiled wanly.

“Cheer up,” they urged, “you'll never
get the chair.” :

“I'd rather go to the chair than spend
the rest of my life in prison,” the Indian
gun girl drawled. “ life has. been a
failure but I’m not afraid to die.”

The jury did not keep her waiting long
Business was suspended in the little

county seat town as the word spread that _,
the jury had reached a verdict, The drop-

ping of a pin in the courtroom would have
sounded like:an explosion as the jury
filed in and filled the box.

The only calm person in the room was
the Indian girl. She turned her dark eyes
on the jurors but her long lashes never
quivered.

“We, the jury, do find the defendant, °

Julia Maude Lowther, guilty of murder
in the first degree—” -

There was a pause as the clerk stopped
reading. The spectators leaned forward
expecting to hear a recommendation for
mercy.

But it never came, ;

“The chair!” The murmur surged
through the crowded room. The baliff
rapped for order. :

The Indian girl who killed for the love
of her paleface sweetheart was confined
to the Ohio State Penitentiary at Colum-
bus, doomed to-be the first woman in
Ohio to die in the chair. Date for the

58 é; Accrrr No Susstrturis! Atways INsist on THE Apvertisep Branp!

Sargent without a jury.-

execution wa
she won a ne:
16. Again s
time the jury

Sar

of his experi
told us why !
to be some s:
’ She suppli
her lodger—:
itary bearing
and rimless
“He is vai:
said. “He a
of fashion.
maroon-colo
“He spend
in his room
hours or ev
in advance.
a trip to Po:
Captain L:
room toawa
back to hea
important n
* Captain J:
Morse Det
service, was
“T heard y
Blanther,” |
come over
about him.”
“By all m:
eagerly. “W
Langfeldt c:
murdered w
as though h
T’ve just co:
and I’m not
quiet, respe
lot of dec

from respec
he was livi:
rowed an e>
Tebbs, the f
him once or
he was wea
“He didn’
nfany excus
us to get it |
shop on K
mitted that
He pleaded
needed the
Tebbs decic
“We inves
ly. before v
that he ow
lodgers in °
had given s
“From wt
He liked to
that he wa:
tance from
living from
from every
from his occ
Captain |
information.
“He's our
‘antly. “Tha
much attent
thought she
been countin
from her an:

ve taken the
one the next

met me and
vanted me to
ursday night.

ake my wife-

» know when,
lumb enough

y that I had
her but she
Indian blood
sheriff, she

is family had
1 dump truck

brook Center

gas station
uith went on,
ie bushes on-
her hand she
zh to see and
nt at me I
: of the truck

excited that
ter that.”

oman

story of run-
tion for help.
say,” Smith
I mentioned
up the story

airy tale.
have a hand
manded,

: with your
ed. “My wife

oved her but
life and this

tenant Snow.
story of the

aw you with,
i by the depot

nodded, The ~
aith said she
venue,

e lives but I
2 she works,”

and the other
nith repeated
letter perfect.
Sheldon left
vers and went

this girl over
it Snow said.
1e’s employed
zirl,” d
es before they
¢ of the home
\. Prosecutor
r errand.

1 to the girl's
Ly entered and
ing to rub the

smanded.

left the girl’s
to the station.
detectives had
that her name
- and that she
dloyer had also
ants the night

afternoon.” he

cinta ~eeilteasesin Sa nian

told Nazor, “and I heard her return about
10:30. I. didn’t see her but I heard her
come in and later heard her in her room.”
The officers led the Indian girl through
the police station and into the council
chamber where Smith, Kelsey, Coroner
Webster and others were seated aroun
the big table. The girl glanced around the
room carelessly. Her dark eyes never
paused for an instant as she noticed Tilby
Smith. So far as the officers could tell

' from her expressionless face, Smith was a

perfect stranger.

Sheriff Sheldon marched her up to the
table directly in front of Smith. For sev-
eral minutes she stood there like a statue,
cold and emotionless. Her comely features
appeared cast in a mold of unconcern.
But not so Tilby Smith. He was visibly
agitated. :

“Is this the woman?” The sheriff’s
words echoed through the room.

The question seemed to cut Smith like
a lash. He squirmed in his chair.

“Yes,” he finally managed to falter.

Sheriff Sheldon turned to the girl.

“Do you know this man?”

“No,” she replied calmly.

“Haven't you ever seen him before?”

“Oh, I might have,” she answered care-
lessly. “But I don’t remember him.”

“This man accuses you of killing his
wife last night,” the sheriff con-
tinued. But not even the accusation of
murder could ruffle her.

“Killing his wife?” she repeated the
words. “I don’t even know him, -let alone

’ his wife.”

The detectives escorted her out of the
room to allow Kelsey to finish taking
Smith’s new statement of the killing.
Then Smith was brought down stairs an
the girl took his place at the big table
in the council chamber. The grilling be-
gan. Prosecutor Nazor, Coroner eb-
ster, Deputy Kelsey, Lieutenant Snow
and the sheriff popped questions at her
rapidly.

Refuses To Talk

pAteolni. COATES and Snow
repeated their charges that they had
seen her with Tilby Smith on several oc-
casions and gave the specific places and
times. :

“Smith absolutely accuses you of mur-
dering his wife and threatening to kill
him,” Sheriff
“That’s serious even if it isn’t true.
he’s trying to save his own hide by blam-
ing you. If you have an alibi you had
better get busy and start talking.”

“J went to a picture show last night,”
she spoke “P after a moment’s thought.
“at Ashtabula Harbor.” oe

“What picture did you see?”
broke. in.

“Song of. the West,” the girl replied
instantly. .

“What was the comedy?” the prose-

Nazor

*, eritor’ demanded.

~Her Indian blood was up again. She
sneered. ;

“J don’t know why I should have to
tell you. what. I see ‘at picture shows,”
she answered: testily. And that ended
Julia Maude. Lowther’s part of the con-
versation, ys

The officers decided on a new. line of
strategy. Smith and the girl were to be
brought face to face and Smith was asked
to repeat his charges. pee ‘

“Tf it has the effect I expect she'll burn
up,” Sheriff Sheldon told Nazor. .

Hesitatingly, Smith repeated his story.
But the Indian Woman might have been

Sheldon told the girl. -
aybe .

- Wan Answeninc ADVERTISEMENTS,

a statue as he heaped the entire blame
for the murder on her slender shoulders.
He painted her as a cruel, calculating

killer.

Into her eyes came the flame of hate.
At last she was convinced that her erst-
while paramour was giving her all the
blame. All of the officers sensed the
change. She wavered for a moment.

Then only the lightning action of Nazor
and Kelsey prevented her from snatching
up a police gun from the nearby desk.

“Give me that gun,” she snarled. “Give
me that gun and leave this:room for a
minute, You'll have another murder case.”

The blood of savages was boiling in her
veins.

Accuses Paramour Of Murder Plot

B REATHLESSLY the detectives
waited for the next move, momen-
tarily. expecting her to spring at Smith’s
throat and tear him to pieces with her
fingers. Her eyes were its of fire and —
they seared the soul of Tilby Smith.

“You rat,” she went on, “you talked.
If you hadn’t.talked I never would have.
You told me you’d never bring me into
this. You men are all alike. You can’t keep
your mouths shut.” She was biting her
words in her rage. “Now you are trying
to hide behind my skirts to save yourself.”

The Indian‘ girl turned to Nazor and
Sheriff Sheldon. :

“T’l] tell you what happened,” she said, .
“and I'll tell you the truth. I’m not afraid

“to die. But before I do I’ll see that that

rat goes first.”

Beads of perspiration stood out on
Tilby Smith’s forehead.

“Pye been working here as a maid,”
she said. “I know Tilby Smith. I’ve known
him for about ten days. I met him in a
theatre. He came in, sat next to me and
started to talk to me. He followed me out
after the show and insisted upon seeing
me. He begged to see me often. Then I
learned he was married. He told me of
his troubles at home and worked on my
sympathies. He promised me everything.

“One day he told me he’ was: going
to poison his wife to get rid of her so
that he could take me to Florida with
him,” the Indian girl raged, “He prom-
ised me that he’d take care of me and
that I’d never have to work any more.
He kept begging me to run away with

him. cn 1) :
“He told me that he was going to
use mercury to poison his wife and
then I guess he lost his nerve.” Smith
squirmed under her lashing. “He told
me he didn’t think the method was sure
enough and besides it was too slow.
“Last Tuesday night he came down

to the place where I have been workjng. .

He handed me a gun and said, ‘Use this.’
At first I didn’t know what he meant.
Then he told me he had bought the gun
for me so that I could shoot his wife. .

“What night will we do it?’ he asked. .

I told -him I wouldn’t do any such thing.
He pleaded and begged and at last I
listened. He told me that if anything hap-,
pened later he would take all the blame
and keep me out of it. He told me that he

would take his wife to the country Thurs-

day night and then asked me to meet
him at the Main street subway about six
that night. He picked me up there in his
truck and drove me out Ridge road to a
dirt road. We stopped by the road and
he told me to walk across the field and
follow the ravine until I came to a cul-
vert:at the next road. I was to hide in the
bushes along the road until he drove by
. with his wife. Then I was to*jump. out

‘

fk
ie

Pie en Sh

can travel round the world hae the most dar-
"

customs of the red, white, brown, black and yellow races.
You attend their startling rites, their mysterious practices.
They are sll assembled for you in these five huge volumes
of The Secret Museum of Mankind,

WORLD'S GREATEST COLLECTION oF
SECRET PHOTOGRAPHS

Here is the World’s Greatest” Collection of Strange and
4 A Photos, To

Fotos. there are almost 600 LARGE PAGES of photo- -
graphs, each pace being 62 square inches in size!

FIVE IMMENSE VOLUMES

ist in eve : et Africa
UrOpS, via, America Vetume 1
Oceanian. You’ see Oriental tor- Secret Muse
tures female slavery * Ane of Africa
nem, Bhutan, 1. iy Gtaees Yoly me
wi othe. foot a wees the of crt aawees
intimacy ‘of eS camera you Velume 3
sight-seeing in China and Sanat, The Seore t piusoum
in India, and in a thousand other As
places. ‘These five immense vo’ Velume 4
mes (conveniently M
in © A THOU, of America
AND LARGE Rng Oe RA ous Volume §
beauty of F530 full-size photos in The Soret Museum
color, each one over 37 square an
inches in sixel a :

HUNDREDS OF SHORT STORIES

Specimen Photos
Nwape Love ny Joureship tear _yourse
Witcheratt in_ Me! ja You will be bewildered at
these startlin

Harem Life and Types graphs, al in the
jurder by Cannines Magic short stories that accom:
Female-Slave Hunters pany You actually
Mystery Rituals itness Cannibal Rites.
Givin Love vs. xe ysterious Orgies. Female
wak Natives of Nature au the World.
nda Beauties of F cM jcodoo , Religions, ‘Weird
tom! i
Lares Rives and Undress, etc. There
lai pages

will, give
Mints of thrilling entor-

SEND NO MONEY

Fach yolume of 5S-volume set 9% inches high, and
ned, over & ‘oot ‘= in expensive ‘‘1 'e-time’’
wit

wide
finen. Whole set identical with former $10 edition. Send
no money. Just mail coupon name and address today.

For THE ComPLETE
VoLUME $ET
Bounbd Tose THER es,

yas ae et 4
-S METRO PUBLICATIONS, °
70 Sth Ave., Dept. 3410, New, York a
Bh Gentiemen: |
me wena : secret Museum of Mankind’? (5
leras volumes together). I will pay | |
a $1.98, plus posta: ‘on arrival. If in 5 days Tt am not
more than Esch “er aura, eng Dok oa
Bi will refund my “98. ‘(No foreign orders accep’ atg
this price!)

. ¥ : my
BNeme ---- ence wenn nwwsesoenseserrnn= a
H Address coenennnn--------eeneereeee cabecese 4
Potty ..----.----------------"- State .-------- P|

fo Qheek fire xen are enclosing $1.98, thus saving |
oe oe oe

Piease Mention Octoser Dynamic Detective 57

ind asked me
it. It was so
uns that I re-
him a box of
ridges for it.”
him the two

he remarked

‘ice and sen-
c chair each
y found. him
reme Court
ected to take
Pleas Judge
out a jury.
ad sentenced
lair Aug. 17,

lowed on the
iviction. She
or more than
rT. 7

‘aces her an-
v Americaits
le interest in
he trial got
of witrresses
aling all the
ur with the
exhibited a
nilar to that

an girl pitted
sole witness,
itroduced in
‘ stand. Her
e bared her
held her life
| everything.
from his seat
atmosphere
only a. spark

ate of Ohio
-adition had
ldn’t be sent
es. Pennsyl-
40.

dian in Julia
int. She ap-
rned person
rs crowded
2d wanly.
you'll never

than spend~
‘ the Indian
has. been a
ie.”
vaiting long
a the little
| spread that ,
t. The drop-
would have
as the jury

1 room was
er dark eyes
ashes never

e defendant,
y of murder

lerk stopped
ied forward
endation for

aur surged
The baliff

for the love
as confined
y at Colum-
woman in
ate for the

Se ESTEE

° ot fire

execution was set for October 2, 1931, but
she won a new trial, which began October
16. Again she was convicted, but this
time the jury tempered the sentence with

a plea for mercy. ‘She is now serving out
her life in the reformatory for women at
Maryville, Ohio.

To her, that is worse than death.

San Francisco's Fiend in the Scarlet Gloves:
[Continued from page 17) spate:

of his experiences in the wars. He never
told us why he left Austria. There seems
to be some secret about it.”

She supplied a complete description of
her lodger—a man of 40, with erect, mil-
itary bearing. He wore a curled mustache
and rimless glasses.

“He is vain about his appearance,” she
said. “He always dresses in the height
of fashion. He wears a pair of spotless
maroon-colored gloves night and day.

“He spends’ quite a bit of time writing
in his room but he often goes out for
hours or even days without telling me
in advance. He has just come back from
a trip to Portland.”

Captain Lees posted a detective in the
room to await Blanther’s return and went
back to headquarters. There he found
important news awaiting him.

Captain John Cullenden of the Harry
Morse Detective Agency, a private
service, was sitting in Lee’s office.

“I heard you were looking for a Joseph
Blanther,” he said, “and I thought I'd
come over and tell you what I know
about him.” .

“By all means,” Captain Lees assented
eagerly. “We're looking for him in this
Langfeldt case. He was a friend of the
murdered woman. It looked for a while
as though he might be the murderer but
I’ve just come from searching his room
and I’m not so sure. He seems to be a
quiet, respectable man. He really has a
lot of decorations from the Austrian
army.”

Captain Cullenden laughed grimly.

“He may be quiet enough but he’s far
from respectable. About a year ago, when
he was living at Haight street, he bor-
rowed an expensive camera from Charlie
Tebbs, the photographer. Tebbs had met
him once or twice and had the impression
he was wealthy.

“He didn’t return it and he made so
ntany excuses that Tebbs finally hired
us to get it back. We found it in a pawn-
shop on Kearny street. Blanther ad-
mitted that he had pawned it for $75.
He pleaded with Tebbs, told him he had
needed the money for food and clothes.
Tebbs decided not to prosecute him.

“We investigated him pretty thorough-
ly. before we were finished. We found
that he owed money to all the other
lodgers in the: Haight street place. He
had given some of them rubber checks.

“From what we learned, he was a faker.
He liked to impress people with the idea
that he was a wealthy man, on a remit-
tance from Austria. But he was actually
living from hand to mouth, borrowing
from everyone. He made very little
from his occasional writing.”

Captain Lees leaped avidly on. this
information.

“He's our man!” he declared triumph-
antly. “That explains why he paid .so
much attention to the old woman. He
thought she was rich—he might have
been counting on borrowing some money
from her and flew into a rage when she

stalled him off. He: was desperate for
money and killed her to get those rings!

She came to her death because she was -

an innocent fraud in the same way
Blanther is a guilty, one!”

Captain Cullenden nodded sagely.

“You're probably right. But you.
haven’t caught him yet, and. you haven't
definitely placed him at the scene of the
crime.”

“Don’t worry, we will!”

The vital clue to link Blanther with
the crime was not long in coming. Late
that afternoon, a newsboy who sold
papers across the street from the Kleine-
burg house came forward with the in-
formation that he had seen a military-
looking man with scarlet gloves emerge
from the house shortly after 11 o’clock
the night before.

Search For Blanther

W ITH all the other suspects elimi-
nated, the manhunters concentrated
on the search for Joseph Blanther. Though
there was little likelihood that he would

return to his Geary street room, Captain |

Lees posted a squad of detectives in and
about the establishment. .

Then George Dodge, a well-known
architect, appeared at Crowley’s’ office
with the final incriminating evidence.

“IT met Joseph Blanther, whom I knew
quite well, on the very afternoon of the
murder,”* Dodge said. “He was despon-
dent. He told me he had just pawned
his overcoat and did not know where to
turn next for money.”

Many weeks ago, Dodge told Chief
Crowley, Blanther had come to him and
asked him if he could arrange a loan
on some: diamonds that, belonged to a
widow named Genevievé. Marks, whom
he had met at the racetrack — where,

incidentally, Blanther had squandered ,

most of the money that ever came into
his hands. ; 2
Dodge had told him at that time that
he could arrange such a loan, provided
Mrs. Marks gave Blanther an author-
ization to borrow for her. - .
“Early this morning,” Dodge said,
“Bianther came: to my office with two

unset diamonds, He handed me this .

note—”
Chief Crowley examined_ the slip of
paper. Dodge handed him. It read:

Mr. J. Blanther: I hereby author-
ize you to borrow money on collateral
security given to you by me, consist-
ing of diamonds.

Dodge took Blanther to a money lender
who loaned him $100 on the diamonds.

“Blanther didn’t go into the office with
me but stayed. outside,” Dodge said. “I
had business in Alameda and Blanther
told me he was going to Oakland to
give the money to Mrs. Marks, so we
rode across the bay on the ferry to-
gether. He left the local train at Seventh
-and Broadway and told me he'd see me
tonight at my home.”

Chief Crowley dispatched a detective

| Name

“TL Repuceo My Watt |

EIGHT INCHES’

WRITES CLORGE BANEY

|
|

for 10 Days
At Our
Expense!

NO DRUGS, DIETS %
OR EXERCISES
e
SUPPORTS FALLEN
ABDOMINAL
MUSCLES

Be ja?
|

If You do not REDUCE
YourWaist 3 INCHES in10 Days

ee it won't cost you one penny!

“FT OST 50 POUNDS” says W.T. Anderson...

“ My waist is 8 inches smaller” writes
W. L. McGinnis...“ Felt like a new man”
claims Fred Wolf..." Wouldn’t sell my belt
for $100 writes C. W. Higbee. So many
wearers are delighted with the results
obtained with the Weil Belt that we want
you to test it for 10 days at our expense !

Greatly Improves Your ‘Appearance !

@ The Weil Reducing Belt will make you appear
many inches slimmer at once, and in 10 short days
if roe waistline is not actually 3 inches smaller—
3 inches of fat gone — it won't cost you one Cent
@ Don’t be embarrassed any longer with that

corporation’’ for in a short time, only the
admiring comments of your friends will remind
you that you once had a bulging waistline.

The QUICK SAFE way to, REDUCE!

@ You will be completely comfortable and entirely
unaware that the gentle pr an like
eil Belt is working constantly

action of your
while you walk, work of sit... persistently and
surely eliminating fat with every move you, make!
It immediately gives you an erect athletic carriage.
oer enthusiastic wearers write that the Weil
elt not only reduces fat but it also supports the
abdominal walls and, with the digestive organs re-
turned to mote normal position, indigestion and
constipation are greatly relieved. ‘

Don’t Wait — Fat Is Dangerous!

@ Fat is not only unbecoming, but it also endangers
your health. Insurance companies know ‘the danger
of fat accumulations. The best medical authorities
warn against obesity, so don’t wait any longer.

in ten days, it won't cost you.one penny!

THE WEIL COMPANY, INC.
7010 HILL ST.. NEW HAVEN, CONN.

Send me FREE, in Far: envelope, your illustrated
folder describing e Weil Bele and full details
of your 10-DAY FREE TRIAL OFFER.

Address
City State

Use Coupon or Send Name and Address on Penny Post Card
ERLE LEE SP ET

- Wuen ANSWERING ADVERTISEMENTS, PLEASE Mention Octoser DyNAMIC DETECTIVE 59

‘

We repeat—if you do not take off 3 inches of fat

‘

118

TROUBLES
Deny You Life’s
Thrilling Moments

Poslam Often Ends
Pimples in 24 hours

Pimples, black heads, eczema, rashes and

other blemishes cleared up + uickly and
paral by Poslam. Used success-
RELIEVES fully forall skin troubles fortwenty
ECZEMA years. It must be good. Thousands
INSTANTLY | of unsolicited letters from delight-
Booklet with] ed users tell of amazing success, Buy
each package—| Poalnm at your druggist, penly 60e, or be!
atyour druggist} us prove to you free that Poslam wi
wavenls Resaty clear and beautify your skin,
secre n-
, FREE PROOF SAMPLE
dere pedi pelt rt See amazing improvement within 24
and heal itching poves: 1 ihe Doeoet: Noctigaron. sein
jay for generous trial oo ‘oslam.
burning skin. Simeiy mail your namo and addross,
Sample Desk G, Postam Co., 254 W. S4th St., New York, N.V.

Atyled On Fifth Avenue-

SHIRTS PAY BIG

MAKE STEADY MONEY

weokly solling this combined line, Public Service offors
vin heat mnoney-maker in the sountry for full time of apare
me wor
Holendid, Fifth, Ave, “Heylod ahirta, enutiful tabelon to
ne infy every tanta, Hell on alaht to men @
netory prioes, Biggest apeortment in the business, Col-
lect your commissions in advance, Finest new Sprin Bayt
‘REK, Start oarning more money at once, Write T TOD DAY
PUBLIC SERVICE MILLS, Inc.
617 M—-30th Street, North Bergen, N. J.

Canadian Offloe, 110 Dundas Ab, London, Ontarlo, Ounade

PHOTO ENLARGEMENTS

Size 16x20 inches ce
erin Peoria yee nme

orenlatwemente 6 re 4
of group picture. ate iy
turn of your own origh fy
photo guaranteed.

SEND NO MONEY Just mall hota o
nd within a week you will receive your beautle
ullife-like Cg teapot size 16x20 in., g@uarane
hood | fadolens. plus

$1.00 OO with ocder and | we ney postage,

Special Offer winoniscnigen ate

tlonal cont n hand-tinted min inture reproduation of photo wents Take ad-

vantage now of thin ninnning offer anid mend sheote Corday,
UNITED PORTRAIT COMPANY
1682 Oydon Ave., Dept. B-930 Chicago, tll,

A few months before
she had wondered if the

joy of being married to the
man of her choice would ever come to her. But
thanks to a wonderful book a girl friend ad-
vised her to read, ehe learned certain secrets
about the way a man’s mind works —and her
dream became a reality. We have prepared
a 28 page booklet outlining the contents of
“Fascinating Womanhood” and telling much
interesting information you would like toknow.
vv If you wantit, write namo and address on
margin and mail with ten conta to

THE PSYCHOLOGY: PRESS

1814 Franklin Ave..St. Louisa, Mo., Dept.25-B

omen ab +

True Detective Mysteries

sessions, and women fainted in the torrid
room, were carried out, regained conscious-
ness and immediately fought their way
back in.

The State rested its case carly on the
afternoon of August 6th, after having
called upon twenty witnesses. Chief among
these were William C. Howells, the news-
paper reporter, who related how the Doac-
tor had told a story similar to that con-
tained in the signed confession; and Chief
of Police Harry E. French, who denied
that any third-degree methods had been
used in the eighteen-hour grilling.

The next morning, the Defense brought
Doctor Snook’s wife and mother to the
stand in an attempt to gain sympathy for
their client. Then followed the big mo-
ment.

Doctor Snook took the stand.

ROM then on the packed, sultry and

perspiring court-room was regaled with
a story that dripped blood and shook with
horror—a_ story whose filth touched the
utmost depths of depravity.

During the trial, ten hours of direct
examination by Defense Attorney Max
Seyfert and seven hours of cross-examina-
tion by County Prosecutor Chester caused
transcription into an open book of one of
the most sordid stories ever told.

Doctor Snook, finally, told how, after
they had been parked on the rifle range for
some time on the night of the murder, he
had told the girl that he was leaving town
for the week-end with his family. It was
in the ensuing quarrel, he said, that Theora
had cursed him and his family, and had
threatened to kill them. She attacked him,
he said, and he tried to choke her and to
push her away. All of these precautions
failing, he reached for the hammer and
struck her on the head with it.

Continuing his account, the Doctor said
that he remembered only the first four
blows. Very conveniently his mind became
a blank so far as the throat slashing was
concerned, and he denied having told of
this premeditated act in the confession.

When he came out of the mental coma,
he said, he found himself doubled up
agony on the running-board of the auto.

Dr. Snook, who earlier in his testimony
had admitted the implications contained in
a letter he had written to Theora to the
effect that he had performed an operation
upon himself to relieve a discomfort
caused by mumps, was forced to submit, at
the morning recess, to a bodily examination
by State and defense doctors, to determine
whether his person was injured as he had
claimed it was when Theora attacked him,

Before the recess, Prosecutor Chester
lined up two straight-backed chairs, imper-
sonated Theora and made the Doctor re-
enact the murder as he said it had occurred
in the coupe that night.

“Handsome Jack” Chester, as the news-
papers dubbed him, handled the entire
trial in a masterly fashiom His cloquence
in the closing argument brought tears to
the eyes of his large audience, disturbed
the emotions of even hard-boiled reporters,
and amazed veteran lawyers who were at-
tending the trial. Such was his wonderful
handling of the State’s share of the case
that his name, immediately following the
trial, became mentioned in connection with
Congress and other political laurels,

During his plea, which was brief, he
reenacted the murder with Detective

Lavely as the victim, demonstrated the
way in which he believed Miss Hix had
died, and showed how the various wounds
had been inflicted. He even required his
assistant to lie face downward so that the
jury could see how Miss Hix’s nose had
been pressed to one side as she lay on
her face.

Here are his own words in addressing
the jury on that memorable occasion:

“Members of this jury, there is just one
thing that I ask of you; that is, that when
you return that verdict, you extend to this
man, that fiend, the same kind of mercy
that he extended to that dead girl after
she was gone, after she was dead. If you
will do that, the State of Ohio will be
satisfied; the same type of mercy, that is
all that we ask im this case.”

After he had led up to the point of the
murder, Chester said:

“Then it was that he starts and he tells
his story; and God, what a story it is;

‘the most despicable story that I have ever

heard from a witness on the stand, The
girl is dead and gone and she cannot refute
that story. She can't come in here and
tell her version of that story.

“Flow FE would love to have her here and
put her on that witness-stand and let her
testify to you as to what happened out on
that rifle range! Tf we could just have her
testify here, it would be an entirely differ-
ent story; [ wouldn't have to stand here
for a minute after you had looked at that
girl and after she had told you what hap-
pened out on that rifle range. It would be
over just like that.

“The State of Ohio has not attempted
to show a motive here, and we do not
intend now to force any motive upon you,
L don't know the motive, Nobody else
knows the motive but this man sitting over
here. He is the only one in the world.
Theora Hix knew the motive and he shut
her mouth so that she could not tell it,
and now he comes in here and tells what
he pleases,

"NO compare that girl right there, the
girl that is dead and gone, the girl
that TP cannot bring before you, the girl
that cannot tell her story, compare that girl
with the features that you see over there
(in her last portrait) and then put them in
the balanee and see where they land, My
God, there can’t be any comparison!

“Here is a garment that Theora Hix
wore, There is a garment that Theora
wore at the time she was murdered. Back
in the back part of this room there are
three hundred women, and I will gamble
something pretty right here and now that
that is the most modest garment that any
woman in this room has on, I don’t care
how many of them there are here, There
can't be anybody to dispute that.

“It is a garment that comes down,
fastens around the legs, comes ap the sides
and start at the top and doesn’t end until
it gets to the bottom, and you won't find
half a dozen more like that im this room
to-day. It is the most modest garment
that there is, and it tells the story of that
girl, just as well as anything possibly could.
There is the story of the girl right
there. ...

“Just take that little suit of underwear
and put the whole story right there. The
little suit of underwear: the girl on the one
hand and Doctor Snook on the other; and
the girl is dead and can’t tell her story....

the house after wear
three weeks. We hc:
fifty-seven thousand «

30 DAYS’

We will proveits valu
is no reason why y
offer. The photogrs
elastic and easily ad
the Philo Burt Apr
is —how different fro
old torturous plaste:
ther or steel jackets
Every sufferer w
weakened or deforme:
owes it to himer
investigate thoroi
Price within reach «
Send For Our Free
Describe your case; |
nid usin giving deft
formation at once,

PHILO BURT MFG
136-2 Odd Fellows T:
JAMESTOWN, N.

PAT.

Time counts in ap:
tisk delay in prot
rh or model for
ZE book, “How
"Record of Tnventic
formation on how
tions strictly confi:
efficient service, Cl
tered Patent Attorney, 34
reeUly merose etreet fromm |

Acc

FExeeotive Acecontan
of
enta jn the United States. nig &
for U.P. A. examinations
Whee upnecossary tein
Nem \xmapeenon a ‘ALM
ina members of th
Wiite if free book, “Accountan:
LaSalle Extension Unive
The Workd's Largest &

Sell no:
during

telle he
order Be

Hadwil, 28A-74 Cc

Eullow The & or

Whitegold effect ence guaranteed
model, famous regulator, stem
metal dial with raleed oe
eupensive watches, A real
guarantee by Million Dollar Poe
tion to this magnificent wateh y+
your choice of any of the eis art
ercow, Juet cheek mark the o
ue your name and addres
TODAY belore thi

Hend no money—pay postman ?
tage oF Prepay your order a
poetage, D'ORO C BOX
STAN NEW YORK, DEPT.

cds the
ix had
wounds
cd his
hat the
se had
lay on

ressing

ist one
t when
to this
mercy
1 after
If you
vill, be
that is

of the

ie tells
it is;
e ever
1. The
refute
re and

‘re and
let her
on
er
re
d here
at that
it hap-
nuld be

empted
do not
nm you.
ly else
i over
world.
ve shut
tell it,
s what

ere, the
he girl
he girl
hat girl
r there
them in
id. My
!
ra Hix
Theora
1. Back
ere are
gamble
ow -that
lat any
rt care
There

down,
ie sides
id until
a't. find
Ss room
rarment
hat
id.
rht

lerwear
The

the one

2 ory ated

Deformities
of the Bac

J in, Thousands of
) Remarkable Cases

An old lady, 72 years of
age, who aulfered Jor many
ror and was absolutel
relplesa, found relief.
man who was helpless, un-
lable to rise from bis chair
wan riding horneback nnd
Playlog tennis within a
year, A little child, para-
yeed, was playing about
the house after wearing a Philo Kurt Appliance
three weeks, Wo hive ruccenfully tronted over
Uilly-reven thousand cnses in the past 25 yours.

30 DAYS’ TRIAL FREE

We will prove its valuein your own case. There
is no reason why you should not accept our
offer, The photographs show bow light, cool,
elastio and easily adjusted
the Philo Burt Appliance
is—how different from the f
old torturous plaster, lea 4
ther or steel jackets, {

kivery sufferer with a
wenkened or deformed apine
owes it to himaelf to
investigate thorouchly.
Price within reach of all.
Send For Our Free Book
Deneribe your caso; it will
nid us in giving definite in-
formation at once.
PHILO BURT MFG. CO.
136-2 Odd Follows Temple
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.

| PATENTS

Time counts In applying for patents, Don't
tink delay in ANd Pebriehy your ideas, Send
shoor model for instructions or write for

2 book, “How to Obtain a Patent’ and
“Record of Invention” form, No charge for in-
formation on how to proceed. Communica-
tions strictly confidential. Prompt, careful,
efficient service, Clarence A. O'Brien, Regis-
tered Patent Attorney, 347-K, Security Bank Building, (di-
recUy acrvee etreet from Patent Othoe) Warehingtun,D. C.

Fouly 8,000 Ceruned Fublle ascount:

der the personal supervision of
vi As a larwe stat of Cc. P,
merican fnetitote of Agcountants,
« the Mrofesmion that Pays,
LaSalle Extension University, Sept. 4-H. Chicago
The Worki's Largest Business Training Institution

7, A newly created Perfume from the “Land of
* Romance” where beautiful women and hand-
gome men of Hollywood Film Studios have
learned

etl

the secret of enhancing their charm and
veness, An enticing NEW odor that

ete everyone with ite myetic, eeductive ira-
- grance. ‘Order NOW, use at once, and get the
thrill of your life when you captivate the one
you love, Our $5 sise now only $1.00 (C.O.D, $1
) ) blue low coute 0).

Screen Stars Perfume Co., Dept.?, 323 S.Western Ave., Los Angeles,Cal.

Start Little
Business Evenings

Sell novelties by mail anywhere,
during spare time, My Free Book
tells how; also describes my mail
order Beginner's Outfit.

ake Your Choe,

Whiteeold effect anse guaranteed 28 yearn RR Ofterling silver
model, famous reaulator, stem wind and set, Horseshoe = Ning
metal dial with raised numerals found only ia =O) Scout Knife with
expensive watches, A_real time piece. Written Four Bladea

guarantee by Million Dollar Factory. Inaddi- [) Imported French

tion to this magnifieent watch you get GRATIS Briar Pipe

your choice of any of the eix articles pointed by Chain and Knife

arrow, Jurt cheek mark the square and send . Cinete
and adrirons. youp order 0

mw thie Powelal Chas be withdenwen ‘
aka Oe ee

way fostinan eer Tee with bip-

piepey

cub andes pad we wor thy
Wiad, D'ORO CO. BOX $0, VARICH mond Cut) brile
STA., NEW YORK, DEPT. T.0.2. ante

True Detective Mysteries

And he got up here on the witness-
stand and told the most damnable, rotten
story that I have ever heard in my life!”

A the end of Chester’s plea to the jury,
a precedent in Franklin County court
history was established when the court-
room burst into a sweeping round of ap-
plause, Court bailiffs, for a moment, were
unable to maintain order.

The jury filed out of the reom—and
deliberated for only twenty-cight minutes,
Imperturbable, iron-nerved, the deposed
college professor listened that afternoon,
Wednesday, August 14th, to the verdict
they brought back with them. That ver-
dict was:

“Guilty of murder as charged in the
indictment.”

Snook was sentenced to death in the
electric chair—a sentence the execution of
which he is, at this writing, awaiting.

Three Shadows
(Continued from page 40)

all right—and how! Toward the end of his
first six months’ probation period, Cohn gave
us a frantic ring and announced that Percy
had left for parts unknown with Cohn’s
machine and a load of clothes. Percy was
arrested in San Jose and returned for trial.

Just six months later, lacking one day,
Percy Randolph returned to Judge Ward's
court to have his probation revoked—and
Percy went to join his ill-chosen pals at San
Quentin State Prison.

The Judge was right!

Catching Crooks
by Radio

(Continucd from page 50)

common desire to make a living by defying
the law and preying upon society?

I am convinced that in police radio we
have found the weapon. The psychological
effect of quick capture acts as a powerful
deterrent to crime. The actual effect is
being recorded daily on the log of our police
radio in Detroit. We are catching and con-
victing more stick-up men, robbers and
other vicious criminals than ever before.
Prosecutions have increased fifty-four per-
cent, All of which is discouraging the
criminally inclined parasite, who will soon
find it best to adopt honest employment as
his means of livelihood.

It is gratifying to know that the world is
awakening to the tremendous importance
of this applied use of radio. I have received
letters from police officials throughout the
United States and abroad, requesting in-
formation concerning our equipment and
its cost. Police departments from all over
the world are now sending representatives
to Detroit to inspect our radio equipment,
Even far-famed Scotland Yard has re-
quested information, with a view to instal-
ling such a system in England.

There is a great deal more that I might
tell on the subject of radio in police
work which would be of interest, but space
does not permit. I do wish to emphasize
however, that T have shown the possibilities
of radio not ana Cheorlat, or from the atand-
point of an idealist; 1 have dealt with facts.

119

Muscular Marvels

Men with Iron Muscles, with strength of
steel and endurance of bronze—with vitality,

pand power. It is easy the Breitbart way.
The method used by the world’s great Cham-
pions will also do it for you. Quick—Iasy—
Suref Get this wonderful new book Now!
It’s Free! It has revolutionized the phys-
ical culture world and gives Results when
all other methods fail. It will make a new
man of youl = It's a gold mine of priceless
information and inspiration, gives you the
secrels and new methods of physical de-
velopment and _super-strengll
showing such Champions as
Dempsey, Sonnenborn,
Schmelling, Delaney,
Steinke, Corbett, we

Stecher,
Londos,
Carpentier,
Gardini

Travis and
many others,

HOT OFF
THE PRESS

POWER”

New 84 Page Book |
Over 200 Photos 3

The secrets of
champions of
the world—
There’s a thrill
on every page—
Punch in every
paragraph.
Just pee the
coupon to

Do i Now! “Get
your copy while
the supply lasts.
Don't be a
weakling—

CLEVIO
MASSIMO

Famous
athlete and
strong man,
using the
Breitbart
Muacle Build-
ingApparatus
to keep fit—
just like hun-
dreds of other
Champions
who train ex-
clusively with
the Breitbart
System and
Apparatus.

You toocan put big solid muscles on your
arms and legs, have a big chest, strong back,
a man’s neck—red blood, muscles, strength,
endurance and vitality. It’s for young or
old, for weak or strong, for JJealtihy or
Sick. It is guaranteed to do the trick for
you. Don't be without it. Jt’s Freel

BOOK and MUSCLE METER FREE

This exclusive Breitbart device tells you
how strong you are and whether your mus-
cles are properly developed. Send for this
FREE book and get a Muscle Meter FREE!
— — CLIP THIS COUPON AT ONCE — —

Breitbart Institute of Physical Culture
3 E. 14th St., New York. Dept. M-20

Please send [without obligation, your NEW
84-page book ‘**MUSCULAR POWER” and a
“MUSCLE METER’? absolutcly FREE!

Name coccccccccccccccccccccccccccccscecscece

Street secscsccrccccvcrccccccncceransveseceses

Cle rvcvesreceeeeereveeee ss AAL® sereevrereee
Please write or print plainly.

1 do two things. I correct ovory dofoct. £
dovolop hidden beauty. My startling resulta
with more than 100,000 womon provo that
any one can be given beauty. No mattor how
hopoless, write me. My, way of making women, a
ovor completely is amazingly different. Thou- {

sands write moe that rosults aro almost bayend .
bolief. Yot evory Lucille Young beauty aid is sciontifio—known
to act for all alike. That is why I can guarantee your absolute

gatisfaction, Not a penny to pay unless I give resulta you
Bay aro marvelous.

mn Pays to AMAZINGLY QUICK
Black raul hitel i No long waiting, In 2 few days cloar
Coarse Pores your skin. End pimples, frecklos,
Wrinkles .blackheada, whitcheads, muddy skin,
Muddy Skin oily akin; dry skin, liver epots, rough-
‘Sallewness noss, Inons, sallow appearance,
‘Thinness Banish wrinklea, Reduco fat logs, arms,
Fat ankles, your whole body. Or build
IMPROVE Sereny, figure to beauty. Grow ‘eye
yer hair. Beautify come
Exglashes pletely.
ehrows
fie FREE TRIAL

You oan try all of my bonuty alda—oo
just the ones you n most—absolutely
without risking a penny. I want you to
make me prove that I can take any sleqres
of homeliness and impart beauty instead. ..
or take some prottiness andimpart stunning
good looks, I willsond you ever: thing to try
my boauty alda full two weekn. here are no
conditions, strings, oxcuses, You are tho aole
fudge, If not dolighted, you just say so—and
your word és final,

And TI Teach You Fascination
Your physical beauty ta not all, I five att. too,

the innermost ta of f t Lino

this pricoloss artin my nonsational book “Tlow
to Faacinate Mon.” In an hour you will learn
marvoloun things you could not ¢ lncover youre
aolf in a Lifetime, You willlearn how the work's
airone make mon thelr hel plow alaves, learn to
win love, bo control men, to plok and choose ab
will, ‘hone aecrets are free to every woman with
her free trial of my beauty nida, Remember, you
havo everything to gain—absolutel thing to
lose. So TODAY—

Send Coupon. For Free Trial Offer

pr —— oe oe ome
LUCILLE YOUNG, 5412 Lucille Young Bldg., Chicago, We 4
‘Absolutely without obligation on my part, send your

wonderful FREE OFFER and_Booklet. This coupon |
only tells you I am interested. It does not commit me
in any way.
Name, ..06
Btroot......06
DF, soccccsccccveer sree tees ee Btato. sees

en pilin wah cel

Pome eeeeresesereresereeeeee

Send Them Back If You Can Tell Them From
$500°°2 DIAMONDS!

T © has crented the

world’s te roductions of GEN» 98
UINE DIAMONDS: Oseoho ae atand the

fire and wold tent, We ohallongs experts to Two
tell these from $500.00 Diamonds. Living fire

plays over their dinmond-out fanete—dazz iene for
Sparnens scintillating! Instant beauty for

the handal Choloo $2.98, i $5. 50

GIRLS! MEN! Do not confuse CZRCHO ”

Goma with ecinary “imitations.” Nothing has been found to compare
wit! ! eauty. lv atone set in famous DEAUVILLIG

eo
stood 4U yours, t your faith in w ring that won't dis

postman $2.98 plus fow conta postage when
$5.50 if ordering two.) Choice of 3 rings
more to ‘pay. Order by humber. Ri: No. 6 oan be had Ta
fy around Anger for eis, (Cash with Canadian
1 Aot NOW! Honutiful Ring Hoe FREI
Wakelleld Jewelers, Dept. K, 800 W. Adams 8t,, Chicaxo, Ill,

BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT

Enlargements

from Any SNAPSHOT
or PHOTO YOU HAVE

Now {s your chance
to get a life-like
Bromide photo en-
largement at an
unusual bargain.

ment comenan fjuatrated olreular ny et py alee
rurnee rom thie-cireular you ean choose the frame w can bi
are wiving FREE with every enlargement ordered in colors, On
arrival of onlargement, pay poatman only 490 plus a few pennies
postage or send b0c wh erane ung wo will prepay wines.

Vv enutifu ‘arved Frame - Ax a special inducement

a beautiful rn ffemtre that wit

G to acquaint you with the high qual ity of our work, we
will frame every enlargement dong in Pastel Water & jors Absoe
tutoly Given. Don’t put it off. Mail your photo now.

NEW ERA PORTRAIT COMPANY +
Dept. 322

10 E, Erie St. Chicago, IIL

True Detective Mysteries

to be correct, for DeSaro was picked up
by detectives in a notorious section of the
Sicilian capital.

Italian law docs not permit extradition
of its own nationals for a crime committed
in another country. And that is the only
reason why DeSaro escaped the electric

chair at Sing Sing. New York authorities
went to Palermo, where DeSaro was tried
for the West End Bank job. Ele was con:
victed, and sentenced to life imprisonment
in Italy.

And thus was written the final chap-
ter...

The Mystery of the Thirteenth Key

(Continued from page 33)

you would not plead insanity. You should.
I believe you are crazy.

“There was something that aroused your
wrath that night, and made you beat that
girl to death, What wag it?”

“Counsel advised me not to talk,” he
answered.

“You can tell me that,” I said.

“If she had had a gun, couldn't I have
taken it away from her?” he parried.

“But why did you kill her?” I persisted,

“Miss Hix was after cocaine each day.
I wouldn't give it to her, Do you believe
me?”

I didn't believe him, and the stomach
analysis later was to brand that as a lie;
but L answered neither in the affirmative
nor negative.

“Didn't you tell me all this stuff about
the murder this morning?”

“Yes, sir,” Doctor Snook replied.

i ELL then, Doctor, what's the

trouble?” I asked. “We want to
be your friends—and God knows no one
else does!”

Then Doctor Snook asked both Chester
and myself to describe Theora Hix as she
had been described to us by people who
knew her.

As we finished our descriptions, he said:

“Well—that’s her!”

Then he asked us if we would believe
his story if he told it. After that, he told
us a ‘fairy-tale of how he said the affair
occurred,

Suddenly the door opened, and a man
handed a piece of paper to Chester, It
was the further report from Chemist
Long on the blood stains found on the knee
of the trousers Doctor Snook had sent to
the cleaner.

The note read:

“The stains on the knee of Snook’s
trousers which he sent to the cleaners
Friday were caused by blood.”

Without a word, the Prosecutor handed
the note to Doctor Snook.

The beating of voices died down,

The man of iron nerve collapsed, and
for three-quarters of an hour wept like a
baby.

Then the cornered man began parrying
again. He asked many hypothetical ques-
tions, chiefly along the line of what would
happen if he made a confession, Then the
court stenographer was called in, and Doc-
tor Snook made a rather doubtful con-
fession, which later he signed.

It read:

“I met Theora Hix about three years
ago. The friendship continued in a very
intimate way ever since, inasmuch as she
was a very good companion, IT have been
living with my wife all through this three-
year period, and regard my wife very
highly and respect her very much as a

wife, but she lacked some of the com-
panionship afforded by Miss Hix.

“During the three years that I knew
Miss Hix, I did assist her in many ways
toward an education, but found out it
wasn't appreciated as much as | thought
it should be. Our association was not a
love affair in any sense of the word, but
in time Miss Hix developed a more de-
termined attitude in regard to dictating
my movements, and the final culmination
of this occurred on the thirteenth of June
of this year, when T met Miss Hix at the
corner of Twelfth and High Streets in
the city of Columbus, Ohio, when we both
got into my Ford coupe and proceeded to
drive to Lane Avenue and then west out
to the Fisher Road and to the Columbus
Rifle Range of the New York Central
Railroad Company, during which she re-
monstrated with me against leaving the
city with my family for the week-end, as
I had previously planned to do.

“She threatened that if I did go, she
would take the life of my wife and baby.
During this quarrel, she grabbed for the
purse in which she sometimes carried a
forty-one-caliber derringer which IT had
given her. In the struggle, she was hit
on the head with a hammer with the in-
tent to stum her.

“She continued desperately, and an in-
creased number of blows of | increasing
force was necessary to stop her. Realiz-
ing then, no doubt, that her skull was
fractured and to relieve her suffering, I
severed her jugular with my pocket-knife.

“I then proceeded to pick up the things
that had been scattered during the struggle,
and hurriedly left the scene of | the
struggle, leaving her body at that point.
The instrument which I used to quict her
was a hammer which was laying on the
back of the seat of the Ford.

“After leaving the rifle range, [then
proceeded to go home, tossing the purse
from the quarry bridge into the Scioto
River on my way. After the struggle was
over, I discovered the gun was not in the
purse.”

HIE confession had its fishy aspects.

There was the motive—a glorious one
calculated to bring tears to the jurors’
eyes! protection of a home, a wife, a
child. Too, the hammer blows, with one
exception, were made after the girl’s throat
was slashed, according to the Coroner.
Then, too, could not a muscular man of
some weight have stopped a girl—even an
athletic girl—before she could extricate a
revolver from a hand-bag? 9 Further, the
hand-bag never was found, despite the fact
that county officials dragged the river, in
the spot indicated, for weeks,

Of more impressive worth than the con-
fession was the substantiating evidence.
Doctor Snook told us where we might find
the hammer and knife with which the

a* >.
="

s@ =
tes

<
.

ro* +
PICS oe |
Cope’

Get Started at
Once in This
Big Paying
Business! |

A $1.50 In-
vesttme ne
Pays You
$1.75 Clear!

A Lifetir
Aw

One amacing sellin.
Rew yan tame

ul mabing be
ney oelling ¢
dealere outright ¢
on consignment. Yo
mn iy lace 2
tarde with dealer
every da care

$2.00 per card. yo
make 100% profit «

rample card of |

Maater Key Cas

You make $1.7!

to take orders
1 GUANA

1 guarant:

or refund

ios

Cc
Dent, 1)

Get
Stron

Bimply :
om delivery. $2.00,
a few conte postage.

Sirgetandhvend

York City

and natural co
Madde of fine lin
cuppert!, This pee
ty At gives Rem a
Amase your frien
Voetpakd on reesipt
Guaranteed,

La
10S East 13th

Fs naiteiintiainiieimeienndl
>

York authorities
eSaro was tried
bo He was con-
fe imprisonment

the final chap-

Key

ne ot the com-
Sy Ilix,.
rs that [knew
‘yin many ways
it found out. it
chan TD theo ht
ation Was not a
of the word, but
ped ao more de-
ard to dictating
final culmination
urteenth of June
Miss Hix at the
High Streets in
io, When we both
and proceeded to
id then west out
to the Columbus
w York Central
w which she re-
ainst leaving the
the week-end, as
to do.
if I did go, she
ww wife and baby.
bbed for the
ies carried a
which I had
agle, she was hit
imer with the in-

‘ately, and an in-
ws of increasing
stop her. Realiz-
at her skull was
» her suffering, I
1 my pocket-knife.
pick up the things
uring the struggle,
i oscene of — the
ody at that) point.
used to quiet her
was laying on the
: Ford.

ifle range, I then
tossing the purse
e into the Scioto
‘r the struggle was
run was not in the

its fishy aspects.
ive—a glorious one
irs to the jurors’
home, a wife, a
‘+r blows, with one
ter the girl’s throat
to the Coroner.
muscular man of
ed a girl—even an
» could extricate a
hag? Further, the
ind, despite the fact
agged the river, in
weeks,
worth than the con-
tantiating evidence.
vhere we might: find
‘ith which the

I'll Start You ina Big Paying

Steady Repeat Business °Ov7,""
‘OVERNIGHT

You Collect $20 A DAY
PROFITS

Yoo, $200

day ever:

day--814
woek

clear profit— that's
what you or any
live wire can earn
HA simply placing
there astonishin
new “A

same ition. Comes
whine Jonthor in ate
o

Cane a linplay onre

Not re nly dbo and
ou make 100 per cont profit sell-
ine to dealers, and over 200 per-
cent profit selling to consumers in
full or spare time,

It Sells Everywhere
IT’s NEW!

Auto owners ond every one who
has keys to carey BOY ON HIGHT,
You nan place the Master Key Case
Dinplay with auto=

i auto

ir oe

Get Started at
Once in This
Hig Paying
Business!

A $1.50 In-
vesqme nt
Pays You
$1.75 Clearl

ent placer wher
the dealer le alec
to aevept your une
For Pocket = unual offer.

A Lifetime Opportunity With This
Automatic Profit Maker

ry
money eel
dealers outright of
on eeheigament. You
mn easily pla
tarde with de *
every day—O0 carde
every 3 daye. our
coset in love ie
waly $1.00 per card.
Kelling to deslers at
$2.00 per card, you
o

“The MASTER
“KEY CASE
Heide win tame n eneh bow

fterany # bes marten gras eitanees
Bas vont un bat

to take orders from denlern,
I GUARANTEE YOU SALES—YOU CAN'T LOSF!
I guarantee that you will sell these Key Canoe and make $20.00 a oy
or refund your money absolutely, You will receive full details and sell
plane with your order for single sample or sample display card of 13.

GORDON MANUFACTURING CO.
Dept. KB-65, 110 E, 23rd St., New York, N. ¥

G @ t Giant Chest Expander

Za, 2F.,
Strong 743 bist

aront
strength by wel this
¢. heavy tonrion 'RO-
3 GRESSIVE EXERCISER
adjustable from 20 : 200 Iba,

co oO lete in

ronle structions

108,
each asorulner,

Cet sr a, tnllgen-

in
thon, eunntiy end build

of
ratipation, hensdaah: “0
up your body and look like «real He inaul

SFND NO MONEY!

otnsl ene 5.
Si etandlronaway

GYDANUS

New York City
comes this
New Idea

Srom
Cup MouULD

©” BRASSIE

antyY S$ 00

PAID

A TRIM AND
STYLISH FORM—
Flabby, flat chested
forme are given youthful

and natural contours, ag if by magic,
ade of fine linen meah, trimmed with beautiful Ince (with pocket
support), Thie new Paria sensation will be your secret of beauty, Tailored
to ht—alvee frnt and graceful shape without binding.
Amase your {riendsa. | Hhow them how lovely your figure can be, Bent
Yostpaid on receipt of $1.00 (3 lor $2.60). State bunt siac, Satisfaction

Guaranteed,
MARY TITUS
108 Enet 13th St., Dept, B-225, New York, N.Y.

_ ey nt a ELT en
—————————__

True Detective Mysteries

crime had been committed. They were in
a tool-box with other tools in the basement
of his home, he said.

The home had been searched, but the
tools, hastily washed, had escaped detection,
County Detective Lavely now went to the
place mentioned by the Doctor, and found
both a ball-peen hammer and a_pocket-
knife bearing blood stains.

A. still stronger link was forged in the
chain of evidence when the same story as
that contained in the signed confession was
told by Doctor Snook to William Howells,
Cleveland Plain Dealer correspondent, and
James Fusco, of the Columbus Citizen, at
the county jail Thursday shortly after
midnight.

In repeating the story of the gruesome
murder, the Doctor talked to the newspaper
men from his jail cot as calmly as if he
were Jecturing before a class on some
phase of veterinary surgery.

He said that the girl had died fighting
and cursing him,

He added that the injury on Miss Hix’s
hand was suffered when she had attempted
to get out of the automobile, following a
quarrel, and he had slammed the door shut,
striking her hand.

N June 22nd, Doctor Snook was in-

dicted by a_ special session of the
grand jury and formally charged with first-
degree murder.

Arraigned in) common pleas court, he
pleaded not guilty. His trial was set for
July 22nd.

In the week to follow, Doctor Snook
was examined by psychiatrists employed
by the State to forestall an insanity plea,
and by specialists retained by the Defense.
A separate hearing on an insanity plea was
held, and dropped by Doctor Snook’s coun-
sel on the date for the trial. Thus the trial
was delayed for two days.

On July 24th, one of the most sensational
trials in the history of the country got
under way. For six days prospective jurors
were examined, three panels being called.
On August Ist, the jury was completed.
It consisted of eleven men and one woman.

Representing the defense were: John F.
Seidel, E. O. Ricketts and Max C. Seyfert,
the latter a veteran of more than four
hundred criminal court cases,

The State lined up with Prosecutor
Chester, Assistant Prosecutor Paul Hicks
and Attorney Myron B. Gessaman,

Briefly, the State based its case on pre-
meditation in the slashing of the girl’s
jugular vein by Doctor Snook, the con-
firmation of the signed confession in an
interview with newspaper men, the finding
of the tools used in the killing, and the
signed confession itself.

The Defense sought to prove that the
confessions had been obtained under duress,
that the cause of the girl’s death could not
definitely be proved by the slashed throat,
that Doctor Snook was the victim of emo-
tional or medical insanity as opposed to
legal insanity, and that Doctor Snook acted
in defense of himself and his family.

In the questioning of prospective jurors
by the Defense, it was apparent that Doc-
tor Snook’s relations with the girl would
play a large part in the trial. Consequently,
the court-house steps were crowded with
the curious in the wee hours of the morn-
ing, Mr. and Mrs, Melvin T. Hix were
barred from the court-room, children under
cighteen were not permitted to attend the

ey?

wndber

1% you long for beauty, for the divine
glow of youth that comes only with
erfect health? Juse try Dr, Edwards Olive

ablets, fora few nights. Thousands have been
delighted with the way color returns to the
skin when pimples and blotches vanish, with
the joy of feeling full of life, tireless and ener-

etic from morning till night. ‘These tablets, a

ne substitute for calomel, and far easier to
take, were for 20 years prescribed to folks
bothered with liver trouble and constipation.

Gentle in action—wonderfully effective

Dr. Edwards Olive Tablets assist nature in re-
storing to normal the liver and bowels by
sweeping away the poisons that harm the skin,
ravage health and hurry old age.

A tested compound of vegetable ingredients.
You can tell Dr. Edwards Olive Tablets by
their olive color. From now on, don’t endure
sallow skin, headaches, or listlessness—take
Dr. Edwards Olive Tablets and get quick
relief from the ills due to clogged intestines,
Get a package from your druggist, 15¢, 30¢,
60¢. Get the large size so that you'll always
‘have them handy.

PAY with Rell
QUAKER FREE OUTFIT

Marn big monoy right from tho
ntart. Lot Quaker help you, Won-
derful free Sample outfit gets

GHIRTS
TIES

CASH orders everywhere. Men’s Shirts,
BONUS Ties, Underwear, Hosiery, Un-
GIVEN matchable values. Unique selling

Yeatures, Ironclad guarantee. You
can’t fail with Quaker, Write for

: your Free outfit NOW.
QUAKER SHIRT CORPORATION
Dept. G-2 1107 Broadway, N.Y.

ous Manufacturing
ov ECIALTY

Men_and women, operating
our Orij andy Fac-
t We teach

Frene
lin Bis

SALES \ ote

pe mer

Corpse of the victim: being carried into the
burial vault in Columbus, Ohid. The mystery
of Theory Hix’s death cloaked a greater on

One of the bits of evidence that damned Dr.
Snook, The arrow points to the lit
he registered with T

At
wh:

of C

with sr
sisted.
lands t
events
credibi’
Toda
shrug «
an eler
written
legend-
annals
It is
wilderi
seven r
a man °*
chair i
It we
Krumle
traps o:
Fisher ~
They
den fro

rurtreom after he
ounced. He stated .
A mystery arese. |

see her at all!”
was. ‘
i his story quickly
om to question his.

by | went

orrected.
wmethere. After -
pretty late.”

the more mixed up
jered him held for
of the autopsy ar-
had struggled with
been overpowered.
the skull, made by
mmer. Her throat

Detective Shellen-
medical examiner.

chellenbarger said.
vements last night, ee i

h her killer. :

2”

: French said, “who
how

First he said’

The
hand were her own

Arrow points to the leve-nest where Theora Hix and
Decter Snook carried on their illicit affair. Only
strong evidence could make the Doctor admit to it.

did? She had no other boy-friends and everything we
have learned about her shows she was mostly interested
in her work.. A sex crime’s out. The body probably
was taken there in a car.”

“I have sent Detective Van Skaik out to the rifle
range with orders to have every weed cut within a
ten-yard radius of where the body was found,” Shellen-
barger answered. “He may find a clué there.”

Out at the rifle range, Detective Van Skaik had ten
trusties from the city-jail, armed with scythes, cutting
weeds. At the same time Detective Philips and McCall
were at the room over a drugstore where Theora Hix
had lived with her two roommates.

The two.detectives searched through papers and let-
ters, but found nothing in them that would give. any
clue to the murder of the medical student. But they did
find two things which added mystery to the case.

One was a double-barrelled revolver, which the two
roommates told the detective Miss Hix always carried
with her. They couldn’t offer any explanation why she
carried it. The second find was a key to an apartment
which didn’t fit the room where she lived nor any locker
she had at the university.

. “We don’t~know -what that key fits,” Beatrice said. |

‘Theora has had it here for several weeks. When we
asked what it was, she passed the question off with a
joke and didn’t seem to want to talk about it.”

Qu at the rifle range the trusties had finished cutting
the weeds and Detective Van Skaik searched the
ground. About ten feet from where the body lay he
found a broken key-ring, with two car-keys and a
-number of others.

* “This auto-key and the broken key-ring,” Detective
Shellenbarger said, “tell us.that Miss Hix went auto-

affairs.

This newspaperman was not satisfied with the way
in which the case was being investigated. Acting
independently, he dug into obscure facis and won.

she had very modern ideas about love. If she had the
same ideas with Brown, she would have had them with
other men. She was a medical student and we know
that whoever killed her knew something about surgery
because of the neat way her jugular vein was severed.”

‘Which means,” Chief French added, “that we better
start checking the medical students at the University.”

“That’s about where we better start,’”’ Detective Shell-
enbarger answered.

This investigation started with every available detec-
tive working on the vague and remote lead. It didn’t
get anywhere, and when night came, the mystery was
still as baffling as when the body had been found.

It would perhaps have always remained such a
mystery—and the strange legend of the “Ghost of the
Death House” would never have developed—had not a
young and ambitious newspaperman decided he could
solve a case where the police failed.

Today Sam Fusco is one of the well-known newspaper
men of the Middle West. In 1929 he was only a cub
and nobody took him seriously. He had certain definite
theories about the murder of Theora Hix. Not that he
had any idea who did it. But he reasoned, being young
and just out of college, that any love-affair Theora Hix
might have had, would be more or less clandestine.
Love to her was merely a second interest to her work as
a medical student.

So Fusco didn’t limit his investigation to the medical
students who might have known Theora Hix. Medical
students, Fusco knew, didn’t bother about clandestine
He made the rounds of the fraternities. His
action was unknown to the police or to the public.

At the end of five hours he had a pretty good idea
about the men in the fraternity houses who knew
Theora Hix. The number wasn’t great, and those that
did know her had only a casual acquaintance with her.

HE legend of the “Ghost of the Death House” wasn’t
much of a legend at midnight, February 28th, 1930.
_/} At the time, there were a few whispered words
“EL which seemed too fantastic for belief. Then citizens
_&> of Columbus, Ohio, shrugged and forgot about them.
“+. For several years the whole thing was dismissed
with smiles, yet the words of a few newspapermen per-
sisted. As time passed, stories came out of distant
“Jands to confirm a weird belief. There were bizarre
events happening in Columbus -which added to the
credibility of the legend.
Today there are many Columbus citizens who will
shrug off the story. Yet somehow there seems to be
“an element of doubt in that shrug. Much has been
writtenof the-murder mystery, but the story of the
legend—one of the weirdest mockeries of-justice in the
annals of crime—has never before reached print.
It is a strange, unbelievable story, the most be-
‘wildering crime classic of ‘all time!
“seven months before that certain February night when
aman was supposed to walk to his death in the electric
‘thair in Columbus.
© It was on the morning of June 14, 1929, when Paul
Krumlauf and Milton Miller, on their way to the gun
traps of the New York Central Rifle Range, turned off
Fisher Road to cut across the lots to the traps.
“’ They didn’t walk very far—only toa lonely spot hid-
ten from the highway by dense shrubbery and woods

It gets its start

—when they stopped suddenly
and stared in dazed amazement
at the body of a woman. The
body was bloody; the head mu-
tilated and the throat cut. The.
severed jugular vein was exposed.
The corpse was sprawled on
its right side, one hand was
_ clutching a handkerchief, and the
other clenched strands of hair.
Krumlauf and Miller turned and
ran for the nearest telephone.
Within twenty minutes, Chief of
Detectives Phil Shellenbarger,
accompanied by Detectives Larry
Van Skaik and Bill McCalls, ar-
rived at the scene. |
_ They followed the usual rou-
tine of searching the area around
the body. Nothing of any im--
portance was found. The body
was taken to the morgue where it |
was identified as Theora K. Hix,
a student of medicine at the
University of Ohio. Her former
roommates, Beatrice and Alice
Bustin, made the identification.
“Theora was a brilliant stud-
ent,” Beatrice said to Detective
Shellenbarger. “Her one in-
terest was her studies.”
“Did she have any _ boy-
friends?” Shellenbarger asked.
“She had one. Jim Brown,”
Beatrice answered. “They did
go together quite a bit.”
“Was she with him last night?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t come
back to her room, but often she
would be out late at night.”
“Did she have any trouble of

any kind?”
“None I ever heard of.”
ETECTIVE Shellenbarger

didn’t waste further time
questioning the two roommates.
Detective Philips was sent out
to pick up Brown. He was found

in his room and twenty minutes later sat in Detective

Shellenbarger’s office. Brown was a small, inoffensive-
looking youth, with a pallid complexion and watery blue
eyes. He squirmed nervously in his chair.

“Are you a student at the University?” Detective

Shellenbarger questioned. ;
“J graduated two years ago,” Brown replied. “I took

a general college course and I have been looking for
work.”
“You were a friend of Theora Hix?” ;
“Theora and I were good friends, but I'wasn’t with

eae ee

Pee 8 gs

*
haa?

Cy tea
rom om at ole
oP Bae : “chee te VIER
, a 4
0 . eg: oa the -
ee Pm ¥
re eg be yi a
= " ‘ mg
sees Neg ee
coe en, Pe ee D
, 4 " a Pa Pierce aidlaatine neentomnrns
a RO rt ys iF ij een o-~
meee ‘ S y feiss reeonaes SE
ee ae Sg tn eee oi
tals
:
A
‘4
om
% ‘
i
Ys
e
hans
a ren(PROOS - Lt
2 Ne
by os
aN
a: r
9.
. SE
Ste
eas i:
aa
5 oe 2
cS ion my
: 4
i
, are
et a
i
se a *:
ais,

The murdered ce-ed once shared a reem with a pair
ef classmates In an apartment above this ancient-
type drug store. Theora apparently lived quietly.

‘Doctor Snook being led from the courtroom after he
‘had heard his death-sentence pronounced. He stated

Cede bs

tee tee

that he weuldm’t die in the ehair. A mystery arose.

her last evening. I did not see her at all!” 3

‘Where were you?” ba
Brown wasn’t quite sure where he was. First he said

he was in his room; then he changed his story quickly fF

when he saw a detective leave the room to question his
landlady. ee
“I went to a picture show,” he corrected. “I went®
alone and I don’t know if anybody saw me there. After}
the show I took a walk and got home pretty late.”
The more Brown was questioned, the more mixed up}
he got. Detective Shellenbarger ordered him held for
further investigation. The-report of the autopsy ar-|
rived. It stated that the dead girl had struggled with}
her assailant, but apparently had been overpowered. |
There were a number of fractures of the skull, made by
a weapon that left marks like a hammer. Her throat

‘ had been slashed after death. ;

Chief of Police Fred French and Detective Shellen- |
barger discussed the report of the medical examiner. |
“Pm convinced of one thing,” Schellenbarger said.
“Brown didn’t kill Miss Hix!” _ ' ;

“But we can’t account for his movements last night,”
the Chief protested.

“He’s scared and jumpy and when a guy is that way,
he gets mixed up. Brown is a weakling. This report
shows Theora Hix -was. killed by a powerful man
Miss Hix herself was no weakling physically. Brown
simply couldn’t have killed her. The examination shows
that she struggled some time with her killer. The}
strands of hair found in her right hand were her own).
and so aren’t of any value as a clue.”

“If Brown didn’t kill her,’”’ Chief French said, ‘who

A camera study of the slain co-ed. Miss Theora Hix
had “modern ideas” concerning love and marriage a1

Cee we

_ Arrow poi)
+ Deeteor Sn

strong evi:

did? She]
have learne
in her wor:
was taken ‘

“EF have
range with
ten-yard ra

barger ans\

Out at tI
trusties fro
weeds. At
were at th:
had lived y

The two
ters, but fc
clue to the:
find two thi

One was
roommates
with her.
carried it.
which didn’
she had at t

““We don’
“‘Theora ha
asked what
joke and di

UT at th
the we
ground. A’

' found a br
«number of
~ “This aut
_ Shellenbarg

most acquaintances hastened te assure each sleuth.

-mobile ridir

““Who with?”’

‘I’m not sure. But probably with
Professor Taylor.’’

‘‘Professor Taylor. Who’s that?”’

Professor Ray Taylor was a visiting
instructor at the university. Theora,
who had graduated from the university
two years previously and who had now
completed her second year of medical
studies, had been seeing Professor
Taylor for the greater part of the year.

‘*Were they serious about each
other?’’ Phillips wanted to know.

Both girls just nodded.

Detective Phillips hustled over to ffie
university and learned that Professor
Taylor, who was engaged in scientific
research, was not at the university but
in his rooms on the edge of town.

Phillips kept his finger on the buzzer
of the front door of Professor Taylor’s
rooms until the door opened. There
stood a smallish man, dressed in
professorial tweeds, despite the hot
weather. The professor had rumpled
hair and guileless eyes that regarded
the dick from behind horn-rimmed
glasses. As Taylor invited Phillips
inside, Phillips noted that the professor
walked with a limp. ‘“‘You have a fall
or something?’’ Phillips asked.

The professor looked puzzled. Then
he laughed. ‘‘Oh, this limp. I always
walk this way. It’s a permanent
injury.’

‘I’m here about Theora Hix.

The professor blinked. ‘‘Yes. What
about Theora Hix?”’

*‘She’s been murdered.”’ et

The professor just looked at Phillips

for a little while, then sank into a chair.
He didn’t say anything for a while.
Then he looked up at Phillips and
asked, ‘‘Do they know who did it?”’

Phillips shook his head sideways. “‘I
figured maybe you could help us out.”

‘“‘Me? How?”’

‘*You’ve been going out with
Theora Hix.’

‘‘Not for some months.”’

‘“‘She didn’t meet you last night?”’

‘Certainly not, sir.’’

‘“Where were you last night — be-
tween 7 and 10 o’clock?”’

The professor | had a fast answer.
“At the movies.’

‘“‘What movie?’’

“‘The Palace.”’

‘Sure it was the Palace?”’

‘*Certainly.”’

‘The Palace is closed for repairs?”’

The professor just sat there, blinking
at the detective.

‘‘Look, Professor,’ said Phillips.
‘‘There’s no use in our kidding each
other. This is very serious business and
the truth’Il come out sooner or later.
Where were you last night?”’

“Right here in my room most of the
time.’

‘And the rest of the time.”’

**T took a walk.”’

“*You say you haven’t seen Theora
Hix for several months. Why did you
break off with her? Have a quarrel or
something?”’

“She prefers somebody else.”’

*“Who?’’

The professor shrugeed. ‘*She

" would never tell me and I never took

the trouble to find out.”’

‘How close were your relations with
Theora?”’

‘Just how do you mean that?”’

‘*T mean did you ever have sexual
intercourse with her?”

‘Certainly not.’

‘Well, somebody did.”

“‘Well, it wasn’t me. Maybe it was
this new man she found.”’

*“*Were you in love with the girl?”’
‘‘Enough to want to marry her.”’
‘“‘And what did she say about

marriage.”’

‘‘She said she wanted to think it
over.”’

‘‘And while she was thinking it over
she met this other man?”’

‘‘That’s about how it was.’’

Phillips, a great man for getting to
a point, got back to the question of
Theora’s virginity. ‘‘Would you take
the stand and swear under oath that
you never had intercourse with that
girl?”

“Certainly. »

‘*How often did you see her?’’

‘‘Maybe three or four times a
week.”’

‘Three or four times a week — and
you never had intercourse?”

‘*Absolutely not.’

‘You married, Professor?’’

‘‘Of course not.”’

‘‘How can I believe you when you
lied to me about where you were last
night?’’

‘*T only lied to you about going to
the movies because I thought if I told
you the truth about where I was, with
your being suspicious and everything,
it might sound fishy.”? ~

Detective Otto Phillips didn’ t now
quite what to think when he left
Professor Ray Taylor. Did the man
have guilty knowledge of the murder
of Theora Hix, or was he completely
innocent? Was Professor Taylor the
man who had surmounted or outwitted
the garment which has been compared
to a chastity belt?

‘Phillips was still shaking his head.

sideways about Professor Taylor

when, a few hours later, he learned

at the university that Miss Hix’s closest
friend there, aside from Professor

Taylor, was Dr. James Howard .
Snook, a professor of veterinary
medicine. Next stop for the sleuth, |

then, would have to bes at Dr, Snook’s
home.

Slashed and bludgeoned body ...3°-
of Theora Hix is borne to its

final resting place, a gruesome
end to a bizarre double-life.

re,

ner See eee ee
Pg ees ee

there... He never did explain my bit of

string.
The boys finally turned up the auto-
mobile, too. Uhere was a garage. slip

among Iightower’s effects; Jim Adam and
George Lynn went to the garage, got an-
other identification, plus rental records
setting the exact time when the model “T”

had been rented to Hightower under an °

assumed name the evening of the kid-
naping. And what is more, they found
the missing upright tent-poles.

Handwriting evidence, linking High-
tower to the ransom note, played as vital
a part as the tent-peg evidence linking
him to the priest’s grave. Experts Kytka
and Heinrich gave indisputable proofs.
Exemplars of Hightower’s admitted hand-
writing were plentiful—and in them, he
even misspelled “unconsious” several
times!

It was all a circumstantial case. Any
single clew taken by itself might have
been explained away. But added together
they made a total of guilt that could not
be shaken,

There was lumber in the case against
Hauptmann, too. The lumber of the lad-
der was traced by a Federal timber expert
to a mill in California and back across
the continent again to the Bronx. In that

Bronx tumber yard, Beano Hauptmann
had worked, and from it he had purchased
lumber not long prior to the Lindbergh
crime,

And there were handwritten documents,
separate ones, to be linked together, too.
There was the possibility that the letter
left in the nursery might have been writ-
ten by one hand, and the later letters re-
ceived by Colonel Lindbergh and Jafsie
by someone else—in which case the second
writer would be guilty only of chiselin
in on the money and not necessarily 0}
the kidnaping. But eminent handwriting
experts have declared the original letter
was from the same hand; moreover, the
laf@ letters make intimate cross-refer-
ences, and the double-circle signatures
with the perforations are identical.

So there seems no room for doubt that
the person who corresponded with Jafsie
and got the money was also the kidnaper
—or, at least, wrote in advance the letter
which the kidnaper left.

The .22 pistol hidden in the lumber of
Hauptmann’s garage may correspond, if
you like, to Hightower’s .22 pistol. Haupt-
mann was a machine-gunner during the
War in the German army; Hightower only
tried to invent a machine-gun. It was
only in the latter’s:imagination that he
“shot down thousands of men.”

Sterilization—The Mutilating

erotic stimulation. They had habitually
bitten, lacerated and whipped each other.
In this she had been the extravagant and
demanding partner. They had made ex-
traordimary uses of mechanical. devices.

Specific quotations of any pungency

from the Snook record would be censor-
able and might hurt the feelings of per-
sons now living. I can best convey the
idea by showing what eminent scientific
authorities have reported on this dark sub-

ject.

“Lust in the infliction of pain and lust
in inflicted pain,” writes octor Von
Krafft-Ebing, “appear but as two differ-
ent sides of the same psychical process, of
which the primary and essential thing is
the consciousness of active or passive sub-

jection, in which the combination of cruel- '

y and lustful pleasure has only a secon-
ary psychological significance. Acts. of
cruelty serve to express this subjection;
first, because they are most extreme means
for the expression of this relation; and
again, because they represent the most in-
tense effect that one person can exert on
another.”

Doctor Iwan Bloch, in The Sexual Life
of Our Time, declares that morbid prac-
tices of the sort were known in antiquity
and are still common among certain prim-
itive peoples. They are an_ inheritance
from an age when human beings were

close to the beasts. Young and healthy
civilizations have no taste for excesses.
But when a civilization becomes over-ripe,
there is danger that neurotic individuals
will revert to the old bad ways. It should
be understood that Doctor Bloch is not
referring to the disease of homosexuality,
but to sadistic and unbridled lust.

In hk the males wear sheaths consist-
ing of strips of fur with the hair outwards.
In. the East Indian Islands, among the
Masai of Africa, the Tauni Islanders and
the natives of the Island of Ponape simi-
lar devices are used to the fur-sheaths of
the Javanese—but in these cases, instead
of fur, the Sadistic practice employs stone
rings, bristles, bodkins, et cetera.

Doctor James Howard Snook, on trial
for his life, claimed that savage manias
like the above had played a part in his
extra-conjugal intimacies with Theora Hix.
It is unbelievable that the young girl
should have been the one, as te said, to
launch them on this course and to insist
upon wilder and wilder abnormalities.
When they started their affair, Snook was
in his middle forties and she was barely
twenty-one. The man had the knowledge
and the experience. He must have been
the initiator.

Regarding the murder, Snook swore
that at the climax of their quarrel in the
car parked on the rifle range, Theora be-

And so we come to the haunting final
questions of alibis and of accomplices,

‘There never was any real evidence about
accomplices. Still—as in the Lindbergh
case —there was throughout the haunting
feeling, almost the proof, that Hightower
had had accomplices! It reasoned thus:
If the kidnaper had left the priest in the
tent, then come back into town to mail
the letter, surely he had not have left
him there alone?

The original kidnaper (Marie Wendell
identified Hightower, largely by his voice)
hit the priest over the head and left_him
stunned. Yes—but had he shot him? It
always seemed quite possible’ to me that
Hightower had taken the priest out there,
left him injured, guarded by a partner;
and the priest later had made an outcry,
and partner had shot him dead. ‘Shot him
and fled. That Hightower had ‘come out
at some still later time; found the dead
priest in the tent, buried him, and after
a few days claimed the rewards. He was
guilty of eer ae in the kidnaping,

ence legally of the murder, whether he
or Partner did the actual killing.

And | have wondered whether a similar
situation might not oe develop as to
Bruno Hauptmann. The question will not
down: Would a man try to kidnap a
baby single-handed? Who would hold
the child as the kidnaper drove the car?

Who would care for the child in captiv-
ity’ Che item of caring for the baby
must have been arranged in advance, for
I do not think anyone believes the child’s
murder was premeditated, Ut looks as
though the Lindbergh baby was killed as
Father Heslin was killed—because he was
hurt and made an outcry—and was buried,
like Father Heslin, in an impromptu
grave. Then the kidnapers collected—as
Hightower tried to collect—and the greed
for money, as in Hightower’s case, too,
betrayed one of them at least. .

A jury in Redwood City, California,
convicted Hightower of the kidnap-mur-
der of Father Patrick E. Heslin. uring
the trial his fertile mind absorbed every
bit of circumstantial evidence against him
and wove it all into an amazing new lie,
explaining everything, but contradicting
all_his previous lies.

The jurors gave him life imprisonment
instead of- hanging!—partly because the
evidence was circumstantial, but more on
the very sensible theory that if left alive
he might some day tell his missing part-
ners’ names! He is in San Quentin today.
But he has never talked.

1 wonder if the Hightower-Heslin case,
so prophetical of the later Lindbergh mys-
tery, may yet, despite Hauptmann’s con-
viction and sentence to death, prove pro-
phetic in these respects, too.

Professor (Continued from Page 23)

gan to torture him phsycially. The pain
he suffered was so intense that he lost
control of himself. He tried to subdue
her by choking her, then reached for the
hammer and struck blindly. When he
came to, he was writhing in agony on
the running-board of his Ford coupe.

In an effort to escape the consequences
of his earlier confession, he now maintain-
ed that he had not deliberately cut her
throat in order to put an end to her mis-
ery. He said that his mind had been a
pene while he was using the pocket-

nife.

Before the conclusion of the trial Hand-
some Jack Chester uttered words which
have been much quoted. -Holding up a
suit of female underwear, he said:

“Here is a garment that Theora Hix
wore. There is a garment that Theora
wore at the time she was murdered. Back
in the back part of this room there are
three hundred women, and | will gamble
something pretty right here and now that
that is the most modest garment that any
woman in this room has on, I don’t care
how many of them there are here. There
can’t be anybody to dispute that.

“It is a garment that comes down, fas-
tens around the legs, comes up the sides
and starts at the top and doesn’t end un-
til it gets to the bottom, and you won't

find -half a dozen. more like that in this
room today. It is the most modest gar-
ment that there is, and it tells the story
of that girl, just as well as anything pos-
sibly could. There is the story of that
girl right there...

P pe take that little suit of underwear
and put the whole story right there. The
little suit of underwear; the girl on the
one hand and Doctor Snook on the other;
and the girl is dead and can’t tell her
story ... And he got up here on the wit-
ness-stand and told the most damnable,
oe story that 1 have ever heard in my
ife!

As if the length or thickness of a wo-
man’s clothes are any proof of her funda-
mental morality! I wish it were as easy
as all that to test the somber impulses of
a sick and deluded brain.

How much better it would have been if
Prosecutor Chester had warned the State
of Ohio that we must prevent sexual de-
linquents from being born! How much
better if he had pleaded for a law to de-
tect and sterilize the Doctor Snooks of
the future!

The jury stayed out for only twenty-
eight minutes, and returned with a verdict
of guilty as charged. There was the usual
appeal. It failed, and Snook paid the pen-
alty in the electric chair.

Secret of the Redwoods (Continued from Page 19)

and terrible alarm. “I may need this
one.”

“The stain”. She saw my _ purpose
swiftly. “His nose had bled, he said. |
couldn’t get the stain out, washing it.”

“V'm from Eureka, California,” I told
her as I left. “Your husband may be there
in a day or two. He is in custody in
Portland now. If you want to come to
Eureka, I’ll do what I can for you.”

On I went to Portland, a scant sixty
miles, before light was in the sky that day.
Clarence King was in Captain Thatcher's
office when I reported there shortly after
six o'clock. I had telephoned the Captain
from a restaurant where black coffee
warmed me and shook off what lethargy
| may have felt after the sleepless
hours.

Bold, square-jawed, my suspect was. His
~ da squinted against the hard light from
the ceiling. He was clad in a sheeplined,
leather coat.

“All ready for the trip,” big bluff Cap-
tain Thatcher smiled at me. “He hasn’t
sung his song, but I believe he will as you
travel southwards. He’s the singing type,
I think.” . : j

“Sing?” Clarence King looked at me
with wider eyes. “What’s he mean ‘to
sing?”

“To tell what you know,” I informed
him. “But before we leave there is one
thing I’d like you to do.” I handed Captain
Thatcher a paper bundle. “Something in
there | wish you'd pass through your
lab,” I begged, “as quickly as you can.”

“It’s done.” The bulky Captain rose
from his chair. “Talk to this chap awhile.
I'll be right back.”

But there was little I wanted to talk
to Clarence King about right then. |
had another plan, and miles must be
driven before I could see if it would work.
One question only I asked him:

“Did you know Mary McCoy, Mickie
McCoy, whose mail you called for today?”

“Didn’t know her,” he blustered. “An-
other guy asked me to get that mail. A
short guy with a twisted smile——His
nose was broke, too, and——

“We'll let it pass,” I said, but I saw
him move uneasily in his chair. His eyes
were slits against the light again. His
forehead furrowed, and deep wrinkles
formed above his nose.

When the Captain returned some min-
utes later he handed the package to me,
still wrapped tight but wound with rub-
ber bands where string had been. With it,
he gave me a slip from a memorandum
sheet. “Human blood,” I read, just two

small words; but they held for me a moun-
tain of conjecture and of hope.

In the: hours that followed, Clarence
King sat at my side in the automobile,
steel bracelets on his wrists, and talked
of trees and sky and sea and other things.
But not once did he ask why I was taking
him so far southward. Not once did he
offer a word about the crime of which |
suspected him. Did that give away the
fact he already knew?

But when at last we came to the red-
wood grove where Mickie. McCoy had
died, I stopped the car, Clarence King
was trembling when he got out. In si-
lence | walked him between those tower-
ing trunks in the-soft light of early dusk.
In silence I stood beside the fallen log
and bade him pause...

“The gun went off,” he volunteered. His
voice was an ugly murmur.

The forest seemed then to cease its own
soft whispering, as if the rough giants all
about were bending aged ears to hear
again proof of man’s weakness and of his
brutal, empty passion.

“It went off accidentally. I pointed it
at her—it went off— an accident.”

Lies—the breeze again was stirring up
aloft!les from the mouth of man.

“Why did you not take her farther on

—to the gorge beyond?” I asked him
then. “Tell me that, Clarence King, I’d
like to know. It makes no difference now,
but I’d like to know.” :

“Because,” his eyes were full on mine
at last, “because it seemed so peaceful
here, and calm and—and everything. |
laid her there. |. thought somebody would
find her. She was entitled to a burial. |
— her once. You see—I thought a
eithenca

He went to court in the city of Eureka
a full month later. His bride, Eunice
Turner King, was in the courtroom—
crumpled, whipped oe the tragedy that
had struck so ruthlessly and so soon after
she was wed.

A jury heard the evidence | had_as-

- sembled. We brought the car from Cor-

vallis, but we found no slug in its up-
holstery. Blood was there aplenty—but
of scant value to the case in view of King’s
admissions.

And because a dead girl lay with hand
beneath her—because the mighty redwood
forests brought a shade of pity to a slay-
er’s heart—because an active policeman
finger-printed a_ pretty girl arrested for
a petty cause—Clarence King went to San
Quentin penitentiary for the rest of his
natural life.

SNOOK, James Howard, white, electrocuted Ohio (Franklin) February 28, 1930.

(ETE g EER TES SELLE g ESED STATES ES RET ELGG EEE REEEDOE DEB IUEODS ESTERS SE STY DETER ETT

DEADLY ROMANCE
OF DOCTOR SNOOK

Hepeaaa benny ARS OBERSESSCRELISGSS2 SSEz SR AL IR Baa) ERSPUUTARTEUEREI PEPER EES
STARTLING DETECTIVE MAGAZINE, by KEN CARPENTER way, 198).

here was, in a desolate stretch of terrain five miles outside of the fine city of Colum-

bus, Ohio, in the year of 1929, a lovers’ paradise known as Shirt Tail Alley. Many

a coming young man used to go there nights and, in the back seat of an automobile,
addressed himself to the pleasant pastime of boy woos girl.

‘“‘Now don’t you be going near Shirt girl and a boy friend left the girl’s she was warning her daughter about.
Tail Alley!” a Columbus mother was house in that period’s version of ahot She knew that a gallon of gasoline,
apt to admonish her daughter, as the rod. Such a mother sure knew what — used to make a car carry a girl to Shirt

To her friends and family, Theora Hix was a Dr. James Snook laughed when detectives
repressed puritan, but to her killer she was 2 arrested him, but he had been caught in a
' a perverted tramp. . ac trap of his own making.

ty) he
.

$ Vee pet |
Sie od DFU

aati

cg aaa a Se afin init

Rag Bis Dean ster iae tla

ARCHIVES

OF CRIME

Tail Alley, was far more dangerous to
morals than a bottle of whisky that
was consumed in a downtown speak-
easy.

It was in that isolated lovers’ lane
that Detective Otto W. Phillips of the
Columbus police department might
have been found on the steaming
morning of Friday, June 14. He was
looking down at the corpse that had
been discovered by two boys. ‘‘She
was pretty,’’ Detective Phillips was
saying to coroner Joseph Murphy.
‘*Beautiful face. Beautiful legs.
Beautiful body.’’ The sleuth looked
away from the corpse and directly at
the coroner. ‘‘But good God,’’ he went
on, ‘‘what an end to come to!’’

The girl, who was a brunette,
apparently in her early 20’s, had
literally been hammered and slashed
to pieces — hammered on the back of
the head and slashed about the thighs.
Her killer had administered the fatal
touch by severing her jugular vein.
‘*My guess would be,’’ Coroner
Murphy was saying to Detective
Phillips, ‘‘that the murderer had a
pretty good knowledge of anatomy.
He could be a doctor or a medical
student.”’

The girl’s clothing was damp. But
the ground beneath her body was dry.
**It started to rain last night. a few
minutes after 10 o’clock,”’ Phillips said
to Murphy. ‘‘She was lying here before
it started to. rain.”’

There was nothing on the body to
identify it. The girl, though, had not
been robbed: she was wearing some
fairly valuable jewelry. Nor had she
been raped. Not the night before, at
any rate. But at the morgue it devel-
oped that the girl had, sometime
before coming to her untimely end}
lost her virginity. Coroner Murphy
fixed the time of death as between 8
and 10 o’clock the night before.

One curious thing about the girl who
had been found in Shirt Tail Alley was
the fact that she had worn not panties
— the thin, co-operative kind worn by
girls of the era — but a discouraging
One-piece suit of underwear. The

whole business. Non-virgins didn’t
usually wear such underwear. Here is

the way-the prosecutor was later to

describe the intimate apparel: ‘‘It is a
garment that comes down, fastens
around the legs, comes up the sides
and starts at the top.and doesn’t end
until it gets to the bottom...’’ In other
words, the thing was a veritable
chastity belt!

This kind of one-piece garment that
the murdered girl had worn, was,
needless to say, highly unpopular with
the wolves of the era. There was, in
fact, a standing joke about a fellow
who went into a department store,
bought a hundred such garments and,
when the salesgirl asked him if he was
taking them with him or wanted them
sent, replied: ‘‘No, keep’em and

' burn’em. I hate the damned things!”’

Detective Phillips — a chunky,
mild-mannered fellow in his middle
30’s, at the threshold of a notable
career — established the murder vic-
tim’s identity in a matter of hours. The
girl had been Theora Hix, a 24-year-
old medical student at Ohio State
University. Theora had lived with two
other girls in a tiny but cozy apartment
over a drugstore at the edge of the
university campus. Close-mouthed,
studious, Theora Hix had been a Mona

Lisa type — a girl with mystery play- .

ing about her face.

‘“When did you last see Theora?’’
Phillips asked the girls.

‘“*Last night about 7 o’clock.’’
Theora had left the little flat to go to

Mrs. Snook walks out of the

death house after bidding her

- husband farewell a few hours
before his execution.

the University Hospital to see about
working as a fill-in switchboard
operator during the summer vacation
period. Phillips stopped questioning
the girls, picked up their phone and

. Called the hospital. ‘‘Theora was there

last night, all right,’’ he said when he
hung up. ‘‘She left around a quarter
to 8. What I want to know is who she
met after she left the hospital.”’ -

The girls just looked at one another.
Then one of them said, ‘‘I think she
had a date.”’

(continued on next page)

STR AE ehhatuearias seSGLNEGeEtinscenrarasteneretaseaests fd

tay

tea

EES ite

i
+

time to get out...
bUsssabtsaa feast is sae ettes Rie iscaagesassetisa ts aaah

bs
a

Tieete sensssatst :

a
St

srteiey

4
<a

—s
on

ye
BE Rses sae

»
PE ets Re

MARKET PLACE

For ad-rates write Classified, 100 E. Ohio, Chicagoz

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
ome impor a er Business. Start without
* Setar: Free Report. Mellinger, Dept. G1764, Wood-
land Hills, California 91364. .
ade $40,000.00 Year by Mailorder! Helped others
make money! Start with $10.00—Free Proof. Torrey, Box
318-MT, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197.
NEY M NI

M « Details 10¢.

K Lindbloom Brothers, 3636 Peterson, Chicago, Ill. 60659.

MEW 00. K' ADDRESSING for
firms. Begin immediately. Details—send stamped, ad-
dressed envelope. Hamilton, 272-TH4, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235,

iM
STUFF ENVELOPES. $25.00 Hundred. Immediate earnings
Beginner's kit, $1.00 (refundable). Lewcard, B392Q
Brea, California 92621.
SALESMEN WANTED

IN BI MMISSIONS soliciting delinquent accounts.
No collecting or investment. Metropolitan Finance, 1129
West 4lst, Kansas City, Missouri.

FREE Selling Outfit! Office Supplies, Machines, Fur-

niture and Equipment. Oseco, 3505:MC Elston, Chi-
cago, Illinois 60618.

’

ATION—HOM

DETECTIVE COURSE. Free Information. Universal Detec-
tives, Box 8180-C, Universal City, California.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA for adults. Earn State Di-
* ploma. Accepted by Civil Service, business, colleges.
Low cost. No tedious rare Money-back guarantee. De-
tails: H-S Program, Suite 2532, 1221 Avenue of Americas,
New York, New York 10020.

OVERSEAS JOBS—Europe South America, Australia, Far
East, etc. 2000 openings all trades. Construction, Office,
Eingineenng: Sales, etc. $700 to $3,000 month. Expenses
paid. Free Information. Write Overseas Jobs, Interna-
tional Airport, Box 536-C, Miami, Florida 33148,

WORLD-WIDE... U.S.A. Jobs Now!! $700.00 to $3,500.00
monthly. Transportation Allowance, Overtime. Free In-
formation. Send age, occupation. Write: Global Employ-

. ment, Box 706-A137, Orinda, California 94563.

OVERSEAS JOB JOURNAL—World's largest international
employment monthly. All countries, occupations. Guar-
anteed. Year $12. Subscribe today. Box 25488-H, Phoenix,
ACEO SO002 os ue
AUSTRALIA!! Government Paid Transportation! Free In-
formation. Send age, occupation. Write: Associated, Box
17-W-137, Lafayette, California 94549. aici aiees
OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT . . . Australia, Europe, Asia,
South Americal All Occupations! $700-$4,000 monthly!
Write: Employment International, Box 29217-RP, India-
napolis, Indiana 46229.
REAL ESTATE

IDEAL 5-ACRE RANCH. Lake Conchas, New Mexico.
* $3,475. No Down, No Interest. $29/mo. Vacation Para-
dise. Money Maker. Free Brochure. Ranchos: Box 1244B,
Conchas Dam, New Mexico 88416.

SLEEP LEARNING—HYPNOTISM
STEEP-LEARNING—HYPNOTISM! Strange catalog free!
Autosuggestion, Box 24-MX, Olympia, Washington.

ISM LED! Free Illustrated Details: Powers,

12015 Sherinan fioad, North Hollywood, California 91605.
FISH

WATER VEGETATION PROBLEMS? Cure with white

* amur, delicious plant-eating Chinese fish. Free infor-

mation. Malone Farms, Box 158K, Lonoke, Arkansas 72086.

INT M

VACUUM IMPROVES measurements immediately. Illus-
trated, $1.00 (Refundable). Aspira, 210 Fifth, NYC 10010.
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN
$500 MONTHLY possible addressing, stuffing envelopes
(longhand-typing) at home. $500 monthly Clipping news
items from your newspaper. Information: Send stamped
self-addressed envelope. American, Excelsior Springs,

Missouri 64024.

SONG POEMS—MUSIC

RECORDINGS. Publishing Contract. Songs, Poems. Talent
Searchers Music, 6311 Yucca, Hollywood, California 90028.

ONAL—M LLANE

BLANK DIPLOMAS!!! CERTIFICATES! For Sale! Cata-
logue 10¢. Filforms, Box 1808-NA, Albany, New York 12201.
ADVERTISERS—AGENCIES

FIED ADVERTIS-
* ING’’ tells short-cuts to bigger mail response and
Profits, includes copy-hints plus where to Blacs your ads
and why—and much more. $2.00 postpaid. Refundable.
Free Details about millions-of-prospects for your ‘‘offer.””
Write S. Omessi, Dept. SO-M4, Classified, [nc., 100 East
Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FIGHT CANCER WITH A

CHECKUP AND A CHECK
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

BOATING - FISHING - ALL OUTDOOR SPORTS
eam stvol0s
e pi . P.O. BOX 777
uke ya x - tee = CALION, OHIO 44833

FUP UP
POLARIZED
LENSES

SHIPPED POSTPAID (INOCOD'S! |*

GREAT TO FINO LOST GOLF BALLS diieg

rubbish, clothing and a vanity case.
These, Mrs. Snook explained, had been
burned by her Saturday morning when
she cleaned the house.

She further told police that she had
seen her husband come home about 9
o’clock on the night of the murder, had
found him eating in the kitchen, and
then had retired. She said she was able
to account for all of his subsequent ac-
tions until the day of the arrest.

She told me that she did not know
the Hix girl, or of the affair, but that
her husband had mentioned knowing
the girl while reading a newspaper ac-
count of Theora’s death.

The most significant discovery of the
day was made by City Detective Larry
Van Skaik, who was detailed to superin-
tend the mowing of the tall grass and
weeds on the rifle range, and to inspect
the grounds thoroughly.

In his search he came upon a bunch
of 12 keys. All but three had been taken
from a broken key ring that was found
nearby, and had been scattered about
the murder scene by some person. They
were found in a semicircle, upon the
range, five to eight feet apart at more or
less regular intervals.

The 12 keys always had been carried
on the ring in Miss Hix’s pocketbook.
The latter invariably had been in her
possession and had been zealously
guarded. There were keys for rooms,
luggage and safety deposit boxes.

The 13th key, that had been kept by
her for admission to the love nest, was
not among those found.

As these problems demanded an an-
swer, and these bits of evidence tended
to involve the doctor more closely in

- the girl’s death, Snook’s attorneys, E. O.

Ricketts. and John F. Seidel, the latter a
former police-court jud*e, prepared a
petition to be filed in Common Pleas
Court should they be prevented from
having a private interview with their
client. The petition, which was granted,
sought a mandatory writ requiring Chief
of Police Harry E. French, Sheriff Harry
T. Paul and Prosecutor Chester to per-
mit them to hold such an interview.

Pointing out that no formal charge
had. been placed against the doctor,
Seidel and Ricketts said that upon ex-
piration of the “reasonable length of
time” during which it was considered
legal to hold him (four days), they
would not seek his freedom. Rather,
they said, they would let his innocence
be established by subsequent events.

More than 20 witnesses were ques-
tioned in the office of Chief French by
county officials while city detectives
were assigned to run down every new
tip, valuable or worthless, that ap-
peared.

Snook’s cap and glove, and a shirt
which had been found at his home, all
bloodstained, were turned. over to
Chemist C. F. Long by the county.
Long told officials that it would take
several days to make an examination,
including an analysis of the substance
scraped off the door jamb of Snook’s
car, to determine whether or not it was
human blood. Then it would be neces-
sary, if it were found to be so, to make
further tests to learn whether it was of

the type possessed by Miss Hix.

In the meanwhile, Marion T. Meyers,
instructor at the university, was put on
the carpet. For three hours various
members of the county and city detec-
tive departments fired questions at him.

Meyers, who, until the girl’s expose
by Snook of her relations with him, had
protected her reputation, endeavored to

‘lighten the odium of her guilt with the

statement:

“I wanted to marry her—and I’d mar-
ry her yet!”

And so, as the investigation contin-
ued, I found still further support for my
theory that Meyers was the “‘fall guy.”
He seemed tremendously afraid of the
doctor, was evasive and insufficient in
his responses to questions shot at him
and, as one detective admirably put it,
“seemed the kind of a man, who, if
pressed for an answer as to why he had
gone into a drugstore for a malted milk,
would be at a loss for a reply.” The
shock of Theora’s death, to be sure,
might explain these aspects of his be-
havior. It had completely unnerved him.

A weird attempt now was made to
get some admission from Meyers. At
midnight, Prosecutor Chester and Coun-
ty Detective Howard Lavely escorted
him to the morgue.

Hesitating at the doorway of the
room in which the slain girl lay, Meyers
was brought forward to meet the primi-
tive ordeal. Standing beside the body of
the girl he loved, he was made a target
for a barrage of questions. Cajolery, de-
mands and threats all failed to bring out
any knowledge he had of the latest
phase of the case: that Dr. Snook had
been furnishing Miss Hix with cocaine
and other drugs, obtained from his
laboratory in the university clinic.

The report, upon the heels of which
followed an. investigation at the univer-
sity by U.S. Assistant District Attorney
William Bartels, originated from our
knowledge that Snook had been impli-
cated in one other drug case, and that
on Miss Hix’s arm was found a bruise, at
first mistaken for marks left by a hypo-
dermic needle. Following a_ second
post-mortem by Coroner Murphy,
Chemist Long was asked to conduct a
stomach analysis to determine the truth
in the matter.

Meanwhile, Snook was informed of
his dismissal from the university faculty
by President George W. Rightmire of
Ohio State University.

It was with a huge amount of interest
that I waited outside the investigation
room at Police Headquarters, Wednes-
day morning, June 19th, while county
officials questioned Meyers. That probe
was to be Meyers’ last.

Twenty minutes passed. An hour;
two hours. Just before the. third hour
elapsed, a county man came out of the
investigation room. No third-degree,
strong-arm methods were being em-
ployed, yet he perspired as though he
had just finished whirling Meyers
around the chandeliers.

“That man can take more time to say
nothing than anyone I have ever ques-
tioned!” he said with a sigh.

A minute later, both questioners and
suspect left the room. But Meyers did

%& Newspap:

Pick

not returm |
to the nigh
with the ev
electric che
release had
Chester.

At 20
began the
with ready
the barrag«
intent on a

It was ¢
relays. Th:
prayed for
nearly a ws
sleep, and
the doctor
for hours,
once.

I had h
of his whe
murder-—th
worked in
an article
hour at w!
Country C
locker boy

‘ing glasses

purchased
some clot!
had seen h

All of t!
ing to his
Snook w:
man—as f:
entering t!
questioner
were wasi
would “ki

T. Meyers,
yas put on
rs various
city detec-
ons at him.
‘l’s expose
h him, had
eavored to
it with the

id I’d mar-

on contin-
sort for my
“fall guy.”
‘aid of the
ifficient in
iot at him
ibly put it,
n, who, if
vhy he had
ialted milk,
eply.” The
o be sure,
of his be-
nerved him.
as made to
Meyers. At
¢ and Coun-
y escorted

vay of the
lay, Meyers
‘t the primi-
the body of
ide a target
‘ajolery, de-
‘> bring out
e latest
20k had
iu cocaine
{ from his
‘linie.
ls of which
the univer-
ct Attorney
from our
been impli-
se, and that
{a bruise, at
t by a hypo-

a second ,

‘ry Murphy,
» conduct a
ine the truth

informed of
rsity faculty
tightmire of

it of interest
investigation
‘rs, Wednes-
vhile county
. That probe

1. An hour;
e third hour
1e out of the
third-degree,

being em-
is though he
ling Meyers

‘e time to say
ve ever ques-

estioners and
t Meyers did

ORVILLE PIERCE
(LaPuente, Calif.)
“While in training |
earned $200 and | now
have a mobile unit
which | operate in my
spare time . . . on
joyed the course and
think it was the best
instruction one can get
in this field."*

LOCKSMITH

3x Newspaper headlines tell the story. % Earn

Pick up a paper any day. Burglary. house-

a breaking, vandalize pb — no wore’
2_=—="=}/ america is locked up tighter than ever be-
RoReEeS SoA fore. And there are wore homes, more stores

and factories, more hotels, more cars, and
more people. And that means more keys
and locks.

x The fast way to success... independence.
From the start you get practical experience

dence of bosses, low wages, layoffs, small
retirement income

Don't you owe it t yourself to get the facts
today? The card Below won't even cost you
postage. No salesman will call. You and you
alone can make your decision based on the
straight-forward facts you will receive

doing real jobs on car locks, home locks, citing, acti

padlocks, and safes Within six months you below will bring you full details about the

can be on the road to complete indepen- fast, easy course that trains you by “doing”
y

LOCKSMITHING INSTITUTE

HORACE H. ALBRIGHT W. M. RAGSDALE
(Brookhaven, Miss.) (Conyers, Ga.) “I think
, average about the Lochsmithing Insti-
$4.00 per hour. I think — tute is doing a fini

the whole course was training people for the
the greatest, the best locksmithing trade. 1
instructor and when | now do all the lock ‘re-
retire . am going to pair for the County High
do locksmith work full School, with.a pleasing
time. Thank you.’” increase in salary."

Today a trained locksmith can just about munities.
write his own ticket. Earn as much as he
wants to work. Earn in his spare time, ina
business of his own, or in a shighly-paid
position with someone else. Earn in almost
any part of the country he wishes to live

for this highly-paid profession See how you oe

YOUR OWN BURGLAR
FIRE ALARM BUSINESS

@ job LEARN ALARM/SECURITY INSTALLATION, Train in your own home, at the hours
SERVICING & SALES AT HOME QUICKLY!

A recent FBI crime report showed that a tions, alarms, electric eye, protecting win-
burglary is being committed every 15 dows with foil, hidden switches, all the
seconds in the United States. Right now, “trade secrets" of the industry. All include
one of the most rapidly-expanding indus- clear, easy-to-understand illustrations. You
trics in the U.S.A, is the home and business have available, as needed, personal help
security field, As crime increases, demand from a skilled instructor. You will learn by
for home and business protection expands doing, and will receive a kit of professional
with it, The necd has never been greater. tools, supplics and materials, with which
Yet, surprisingly, you need no particular
mechanical abilities or even electrical knowl-
edge, Alarm systems operate on very low
voltages which are not dangerous and do not
require an electrician’s license.
Profitability is high! An average $450 job
can cost just $80 for parts and take just 16
hours of labor (your own or that of a helper
whom you pay about $5 per hour). Similar
businesses are bringing their owners gross MANAGEMENT SCHOOL

as much as $10 an hour—or more. incomes of $15,000 to $30,000 in many com- 7494 G43 Little Falls, N. J. 07424

you choose. Lessons—clearly written for
study at home—cover all types of installa-

you can put theory into practice. You will
be trained in estimating for profit, and in
how to get business,

For full information on all the opportuni-
tices in this expanding field, mail coupon
today. No salesman will call, ever.

SECURITY SYSTEMS

Division of Technical Home Study Schoole

can learn at home, in your spare time, even
while you hold down your present job. See | TECHNICAL HOME STUDY SCHOOLS

how the key-making machine and complete
set of tools included with the course can
put you in busines ~ -arning money right
while you are learning

Little Falls, New Jersey 07424 Dept. 124-043
Please send me without cost or obligation complete details regarding your
practical Home Study Training. lam especially interested in: (check one only)

O Security Systems Management School

(PLEASE PRINT)

q pune. KEY MACHINE |
Pe 4 plus your tools, locks, Division of Technical Home Study Schools
eS * icks, supplies Dept.4 124-043 Little Falls, New Jersey 07424 Name
a & 4 fncluded with course Locksmithing Institute 15 Licensed by State of New Jersey. Accredited Member |
Be, te Natvonal Home Study Council. State Approved Diploma. Approved for Veterans Training | Ma
dress.

State. Zip.

‘S MAIL COUPON TODAY! No Salesman will call |<» 7
ear | © Veterans and Servicemen: check here for G. 1. Bill Information for Locksmithing Institute

not return to his cell at the county jail,
to the nightmare of an uncertain fate
with the ever hideous possibility of the
electric chair lurking in the future. His
release had been ordered by Prosecutor
Chester.

At 2 o’clock Wednesday afternoon
began the final act, and a calm man,
with ready answers for questions, faced
the barrage of the investigators, grimly
intent on a showdown.

It was decided to grill the doctor in
relays. The opportunity that I had
prayed for had come. For days, for
nearly a week, I had worked with little
sleep, and I felt that I could question
the doctor on various suspicious points
for hours, without repeating myself
once.

I had him recount for me the story
of his whereabouts on the night of the
murder—the hour at which he had
worked in his office at the university on
an article for a hunter’s magazine, the
hour at which he had left for the Scioto
Country Club, and how he had seen the
locker boy as he was getting his shoot-
‘ing glasses. I had him tell how he had
purchased a paper, had looked over
some clothing for his trip, and how he
had seen his wife at home.

All of this he recounted firmly, stick-
ing to his story in a general way. Dr.
Snook was far from being a broken
man—as far as he had been upon first
entering the room. In fact, several of his
questioners were of the opinion that we
were wasting time, that Snook never
would “kick in.” However, I felt quite

content with the preliminary interview,
and turned the quizzing back to Ches-
ter, He had promised me several more
sessions with the doctor.

It was some time later that I again
entered Chief French’s office, where the
grueling ordeal was continuing. I made
Snook retell the entire story told me at
first. I required details, however. I asked
him the exact route he had taken home
from the golf course, the exact time at

‘ which he purchased the newspaper, and

just what he did when he gave up the
love nest and delivered the apartment
keys to the landlady.

“You took out all of your belong-
ings?”’ I asked.

“Yes.” the doctor replied, teetering
gently in his straight-backed chair—a
positive sign that he was thinking deep-
ly, anticipating the questions and fram-
ing the answers before I spoke.

“Did you take out Theora’s personal
articles?” I shot at him.

“She had none,” he replied suavely.

“All right, doctor,” I answered,
“have it your way. She had no belong-
ings. Is that correct?”

He repeated his assertion.

“Then how, in heaven’s name, do
you explain the fact that two pairs of
her pajamas and two pairs of her mules
were found, partially destroyed, in your
furnace?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“You burned them!” I accused him.

“And last Sunday, doctor, you told
me that only a few of your own person-
al articles were burned by you. You said

one of these was your razor strop. How
do you explain the fact that we found
it, not in the furnace, but intact in your
office at the university?”

There was no answer—only a mild
stare.

“Doctor,” I pursued, “do you want
to see the guilty person punished?”

I was rewarded with a weak, “Yes.”

“There never was a murderer,” I told
him, “who did not possess at least a few
loyal friends. No one is in sympathy
with you, except your wife!”

He made no comment.

Chief French took over the investiga-
tion. I had obtained contradictions, but
little else. The prosecutor was sprawled
in a chair, a circle of newspapermen
around him. He was telling them that it
was no use, that Snook never would be
broken down. They, however, had
minds for but one thing—a confession.
They implored him to continue the
questioning, and as they gesticulated,
their argumentative gestures cast shad-
ows from a rising sun. It was 4:30 a.m.,
fourteen and a half hours since Snook
first had entered the room.

I entered the room for the third time
at 5:15 a.m. I was alone with the doc-
tor. He was pacing a 21-foot circle.
Tears stood in his eyes.

I said nothing, merely leaning on the
edge of the table and letting silence have
the psychological effect it had had on
less shrewd men.

Just then, the prosecutor entered the
room. On the table beside me and Dr.
Snook lay 12 keys. They were the ones

x | UG igh

| ( | owed $12,000 |
i and no way out!

Interstate
\ : Acceptance

| -~ showed me
; the EASY way!

Send your name and address
and we will send you our

th NOBODY REFUSED HELP

APPLICATION up to $20.000.

i NOT A LOAN COMPANY
t

WE CAN HELP YOU

| RETURN THIS COUPON
T-O-D-A-Y-!

| IF COUPON IS-CUT OUT, SEND NAME & ADDRESS TO:

|
i | , INTERSTATE ACCEPTANCE |

].139 MATHEWSON ST K-04 PROV., R. |. 02903 |
[on ee
|

(COUPON) PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY (COUPON)

| NAME

1 ADDRESS

Jcity

| STATE zip

that had been found at the rifle range,
and represented all of the personal keys
of Theora Hix except the one that the
doctor had turned in at the love nest—
the 13th key. This, he had told the
others, was turned over to him by
Theora because they had decided to
abandon the apartment for the summer.
I decided it was the proper moment to
play my last card.

“What about the keys, doctor?” I
asked.

“TI obtained Theora’s key to the
apartment from her Monday, as I have
told you,” he answered. “She didn’t like
to carry it, and we planned to give up
the apartment.”

That was the stock answer, the per-
sistent answer that I expected, to what
was then our only bit of deeply incrimi-
nating evidence.

“All right, doctor. You got the key
from her Monday. Is that correct?”

“Correct,” he rejoined.

I pinned my last hope of a confession
on a deliberate bluff which I let him
have in the next sentence.

“Then how did Theora take Peggy
Edwards, her girl friend, to the Hub-
band Avenue apartment Thursday night,
if she didn’t have the key? You are
telling us lies, doctor,” I assured him,
praying fervently that he wouldn’t see
through my little trap.

I was overjoyed at his answer.

“You didn’t go far enough, Phillips,”
he said. “You didn’t ask me whether I
gave it back to her.”

“Did you? When?”

“Thursday noon, at Twelfth and
High Streets.”

“Then she had the key Thursday
noon, and that night she was seen with
you in your coupe at the country club
just before the murder?”

“That’s right,” said Snook with a
smile, “but you are only guessing.”

“We are not guessing. She had the
key on Thursday night. She was seen
with you on Thursday night, and she
was murdered on Thursday night!”

The doctor extended his hands.

“There you have everything before
you, Phillips!”

“Do you mean you killed her?” I
insisted. ;

“I got the key “:om her dead body,”
he answered meekly.

The prosecutor, during the uttering
of the last few staccato sentences, had
been leaning on the mantel of a fire-
place. For a moment, the admissions
seemed to stun him too much for ac-
tion. Then he came forward, and said,
“Let me have him, Phillips!”

I left the office, and conferred with
Chief French outside. Two minutes later
the door opened, and the prosecutor
motioned to my partner, Bob McCall,
and myself.

“Take him back to the county jail,”
he said, leading the doctor forward.

“Will you come over to the peniten-
tiary to see me, Phillips?” Dr. Snook
asked.

We had breakfast, during which
Snook requested his counsel, saying that
when he arrived we would get a com-
plete confession. As we left him at the
door of the county jail, in custody ofa

turnkey, he shook hands with Bob and
me, requested us to visit him that after-
noon, and paid me what I consider the
finest tribute I ever have received. He
simply said:

“You’re not so dumb, Phillips!”

When I returned to the city prison, I
found that despite the fact that Snook
had “kicked in” to me, despite the fact
that a court stenographer for 18 hours
had been waiting outside the investiga-
tion chamber, there was no written rec-
ord of the doctor’s statements which
were the equivalent of a confession. I
felt discouraged that, so far as written
evidence was concerned, we had no
more on the doctor than on the morn-
ing of his arrest.

I couldn’t quite coincide in my views
with the prosecutor, who, apparently,
had arrived at some sort of an agree-
ment with Dr..Snook, whereby the doc-
tor was to give, later, a complete and
detailed confession through his attor-
neys. Consequently, I answered in a dis-
gruntled negative when Chief of Detec-
tives Shellenbarger said to me later that
morning:

“We're going over to the county jail
to get the confession of Snook, Phillips.
Want to go along?”

But the confession was not forth-
coming. Snook now had one answer to
all confident questions, “Counsel ad-
vised me not to talk.” .

Thus the grilling which lasted from
early afternoon Wednesday until early
morning Thursday, 18 hours, was re-
sumed three hours before noon Thurs-
day. About noon, while city and county
detectives worked themselves into a
frenzy I sat in the detective bureau.
They were getting nowhere, for Snook

again was the cool, composed man of

unflinching nerve who once had won
the rapid- and slow-fire pistol champion-
ships of the world.

Suddenly Chief Shellenbarger dashed
into the room.

“For God’s sake, Phillips,” he said to
me, “come back here! Snook won’t
talk!”

I followed him into the chief’s office
again, the scene of the hectic verbal
battle. Dr. Snook’s face was deeply
flushed, and he was obviously in a high-
Vy nervous condition. They motioned
or me to take him over.

“Doctor,” I said, “you have told me
time after time that if you were charged
with the murder, you would not plead
insanity. You should. I believe you are
crazy.

“There was something that aroused
your wrath that night, and made you
beat that girl to death. What was it?”

“Counsel advised me not to talk,” he
answered.

“You can tell me that,” I said.

“If she had a gun, couldn’t I have
taken it away from her?” he parried.

“But why did you kill her?”

“Miss Hix was after cocaine each
day. I wouldn’t give it to her. Do you
believe me?”

I didn’t believe him, and the stomach
analysis later was to brand that as a lie;
but I answered neither in the affirmative
nor negative.

“Didn’t you tell me all this stuff

web.

to the
Wit
hande«
The
the n
three «
Th

Eeraweae 't

sob and
afte. ANDLE THE KIND OF FREEDOM
ider the .
vas THIS JOB GIVES YOU?
1» .
preon,! Top income, plus benefits so big they add up to
tha tact 50% to the value of your paycheck! }
eenee This job. It’s amazing. ; :
ten ree- You stop by the office once a cial insurance
s which week. Pick up the work and take plans for you and
a on off. In a new company car, with the family. Profit
‘ssion. I air and power. With company sharing and retire-
written credit cards in your pocket to pay ment. Personal use
had no the way. of the oomenny ot
e morn- From then on you never see the (a very big item).
; boss. You’re on aur own. Sure, It’s a lifestyle MAIL NOW FOR
ly views | you have places to go. People to you can’t find any- FREE BOOK OF FACTS
varently, ; see. Work to do. But you decide where else. A fine, free a
i agree- the going. life. Full of movement, i pl me i a ee eee sen, tem Se = ; 7
the doc- { You decide when and where to _ variety and change of (. smat Dept. 1244
jlete and | break for lunch—and how long. _ scene. , | hay tik #3 a ept. 4 |
‘is attor- i You decide when to start or when If you want to iry for a job like | Des A tama al 50308 |
iin a dis- | to knock off for the day. A long _ this, there’s room. Even if you have | ; |
f Detec- i weekend? It happens. _ no college or experience. Because | OK, I'll look — but no promises! Send the |
ater that ; And you are not selling. Instead __ this job is part of one of the world’s | Free Book on Careers in Insurance Investiga- |
‘ i of trying to get money away from largest, richest businesses. With tion. But no salesmen — right? (Right!) |
es people you’re actually handing it constant growth. A constant need |
unty jail out. Part of your job is to write for more trained men everywhere. | |
. Phillips. checks for people who need and de- To find out more about it, just | Age |
4 serve the money. People who have mail the coupon. Universal Schools | |
ot forth- 4 had losses. of Washington, D. C. will send you | Address : |
nswer to : You're an Insurance Investigator a free booklet of information. About | '
insel ad- i and Claims Adjuster. Your job the business. What’s in it for you. | Ci |
4 comes as close to personal freedom How you can get started by train- | ily ~ |
ted from i as you can get and still draw a_ ing at home in spare time. | : |
itil early { regular paycheck. And you won’t have to go | State Zip Code <i
_ was re- 4 And he a good paschesk. px pene’ wr drag org io | A Home-Study Institution a |
nT ” 4 better than it looks because of a salesman. e don’t have any. 5o APPROVED F ,
inty F the benefits you get. Like big, spe- mail the coupon. What’s to lose? \_APPROVED FOR VETERANS’ TRAINING §
to a 4
__yreau. i about the murder this morning?” A still stronger link was forged in the Briefly, the state based its case on
»r Snook % “Yes, sir,” Snook replied. chain of evidence when the same story premeditation in the slashing of the
{ man of | “Well then, doctor, what’s the trou- as that contained in the signed confes- _girl’s jugular vein by Dr. Snook, the
had won 4 ble?”” I asked. “We want to be your sion was told by Snook to William confirmation of the signed confession in
hampion- friends—and God knows no one else Howells, Cleveland Plain Dealer corre- an interview with newspapermen, the
: does!” spondent, and James Fusco, of the finding of the tools used in the killing,
‘+ dashed Suddenly the door opened, and a Columbus Citizen, at the county jail and the signed confession itself.
man handed a piece of paper to Chester. Thursday shortly after midnight. The defense sought to prove that the
ne said to It was the further report from Chemist In repeating the story of the murder, confessions had been obtained under
1k won’t Long on the bloodstains found on the the doctor talked to the newspapermen _— duress, that the cause of the girl’s death
knee of the trousers Dr. Snook had sent from his jail cot as calmly as if he were could not definitely be proved by the
1s office to the cleaner. lecturing before a class on some phase __ Slashed throat, that Dr. Snook was the
ic verbal Without a word, the prosecutor of veterinary surgery. He said that the victim of emotional or medical insanity
s deeply j handed the note.to Dr. Snook. girl had died fighting and cursing him. as opposed to legal insanity, and that he
in a high- ; The beating of voices died down and _He added that the injury on Miss acted in defense of himself and _ his
motioned the man of iron nerve collapsed. For Hix’s hand was suffered when she had _ family.
three quarters of an hour he wept. attempted to get out of the automobile, The state rested its case early on the
: told me Then the cornered man began parry- _ following a quarrel, and he had slammed afternoon of August 6th, after having
e charged ing again. He asked many hypothetical the door shut, striking her hand. called upon 20 witnesses. Chief among
not plead questions, chiefly along the line of what On June 22nd, Doctor Snook was these were William C. Howells, the
e you are would happen if he made a confession. indicted by a special session of the Newspaper reporter, who related how
Then the court stenographer was called grand jury and formally charged with the doctor had told a story similar to
t aroused in, and Snook made a rather doubtful _ first-degree murder. Arraigned in com- that contained in the signed confession;
nade you confession, which he later signed, admit- mon pleas court, he pleaded not guilty. and Chief of’ Police Harry E, French,
is it?” ting the murder of Theora Hix. His trial was set for July 22nd. who denied that any third-degree meth-
; talk.” he Of more impressive worth than the In the week to follow, Snook was ods had been used in the 18-hour
, confession was the substantiating evi- examined by psychiatrists employed by grilling.
id. dence. Dr. Snook told us where we the state to forestall an insanity plea, The next morning, the defense
t I have might find the hammer and knife with and by specialists retained by the de- brought Dr. Snook’s wife and mother to
arried, which the crime had been committed. _ fense. A separate hearing on an insanity testify. Then followed the big moment
her?” They were in a toolbox in the basement _ plea was held, and dropped by Snook’s when Dr. Snook was called to take the
ine each of his home, he said. counsel on the date for the trial. stand. —
r. Do you The home had been searched, but the On July 24th, one of the most sen- During the trial, 10 hours of direct
tools, hastily washed, had escaped de- ational trials in the history of the coun- examination by Defense Attorney Max
e stomach tection. County Detective Lavely now _ try got under way. For six days prospec- Seyfert and seven hours of cross-exami-
at as a lie: went to the place mentioned by the tive jurors were examined, three panels nation by County Prosecutor Chester
.ffirmative doctor, and found both a ball-peen ham- being called. On August Ist, the jury caused transcription into an open book
mer and a pocketknife bearing blood- | was completed. It consisted of eleven of one of the most shocking stories ever
this stuff stains. men and one woman. told.

befo:
unde
from
Sh.
ficult
succe
hair
gray
ing a
just a
had s}
She
cared
at this
more
Lisa.
It cl
the en
the en

N J
in
begun.
her sec.
spendin
her fat}
She f
but—an
She was
at the u:
her duti:
Theor
one of t
Avenue,
the city.
tucked a

whe

PN its Say)

‘e’s not your

‘d. “I loved
'o get away.
it cock-and-

ped, taking

“Because,
about you!”
*ifteen min-
e might as

car in that
Prosecutor
ey just saw
you coppers
ine and me
and Winnie
ple I men-

attiesburg.” |

‘nt on that
brusquely,
he woman,
‘laine For-
n Jackson-
ree weeks
he driving,
one of the
is years in

a, Mobile,
‘ally, New
to commit
raded
itties-

here,” he
for me in
> bust in.
street.”

and drove

ever got
larply, “I

ory. But
larris re-
that Phil
in South
ume.
sulpwood
north of
ews. He
d over a
don a
i,

3, Harris
e of his
raced to
e effects
ced with

inition, ©

t Elaine
led once
nts that
; and a

money

ce chief

it hap-
e of the
rR. B.

directed. “She told the bellboy that she
wanted a taxicab to take her to New
Orleans, and that the price doesn’t mat-
ter.”

Aultman blinked in astonishment, From
Hattiesburg to New Orleans is a 120.
mile drive—a hacker’s bonanza. But
bonanzas don’t often originate in second-
rate hotels. Aultman Was suspicious. He

tered the hotel room and eyed the fat
brunette who called herself Mrs. George
Comstock.

Plainly nervous and suffering from a
bad hangover, the woman ate her break-
fast of ham and eggs, while he Sparred,
trying to learn the score, .

“Look!" she snapped at last. “I’m in
serious trouble. That’s all you need to
know. I'll Pay you a hundred and fifty
dollars to take me to New Orleans.”

Aultman noticed for the first time that
her legs were badly scratched, as if she
had been walking through brush, and the
gears Suddenly meshed in his brain,

“It won't be near that much,” he Stalled,
quoting the standard mileage rate. “But
I'll have to get my cab greased and gassed
before we start. Pll call you as soon as
I can get ready.”

“Well, make it snappy,” the woman said.
“I'm in a hurry!”

Aultman knew just how much of a
hurry, too. “Mrs. George Comstock”
really was Elaine Forman. Racing down-
Stairs, he explained the situation to Duke.

“Okay,” the dispatcher said, after a
moment's fast thinking. “The thing’s to
get her out of the hotel and into your car
so the cops'll have a chance. Go right
ahead as if you were really making the
trip, and leave the rest to me.”

An hour later, Patrolmen Bob Reasor
and Patrolman w. N. Johnson had the
satisfaction of springing the trap on the
slayer’s fat moll. In response to telephoned

man’s cab as it rolled leisurely out one of
the city's boulevards, and arrested Elaine
Forman.

Informed at police headquarters that
Wheeler had already signed a written
confession, she soon gave a similar state-
ment that varied from his only in minor
details, but added her own story of an-
other 36 hours of horror. :

FPLEEING from the scene of the battle,

she said, she had driven blindly north
on the old highway routing until she be-
came lost and more panicky than ever.
It was panic that had led her to discard
the two bags. Finally she had abandoned
the car, too, and trudged back to Hatties-
burg through the rain, taking six hours
for the trip, and registered at the hotel,
hoping to hide for a few days.

With plenty of money, she had pur-
chased three fifths of whiskey and tried
to drown her fears in a drunken stupor for
the next 24 hours. When they refused to
drown, a desperate impulse to run had
again seized her,

It was that impulse which had betrayed |
her.

With confessions from both Wheeler |
and Elaine Forman, Sheriff Payne whisked
the couple out of Forrest County -to an-
Other jail for safe keeping.

Fingerprints and comparison of bullets
taken from the bodies of the slain officers
with the rat-faced ¢x-convict's pistol cor-
roborated the two confessions. The of-
ficials were convinced that they had the
true story of the crime that had shocked
the entire Gulf Coast. County Attorney
Currie filed first-degree murder charges
against both Luther Carlyle Wheeler and
Elaine Forman,

The mad-dog killer and his unlovely
paramour were hurriedly taken into court
at Hattiesburg on March 17th to hear the
accusations read. Then they were hustled
back to jail. As this is written, both are
held without bond, awaiting the action of |
the Forrest County grand jury.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The names Phil and
Winnie Woods used in the foregoing Story

MONA LISA SMILE

(Continued from Page 17)

are fictitious. |
|

Seeing it, and not a single member of the
gun club had noticed it.

At ten o'clock Constable John Guy, ‘on
the trail of chicken thieves who had been
active in the neighborhood, had set him-
self in hiding not far from the rifle range,
remaining at the Spot until midnight, and
no car had been driven into the range dur-
ing those two hours.

However, the condition of the victim’s
clothing and the ground beneath her body
indicated that she had lain in the field
since before heavy showers Thursday
night. According to the weather bureau
these had begun at 10:22 p. M.—and there-
fore the crime must have been committed,
or the dead girl transported to and left
in the weedy field, between eight o'clock
and ten.

In the morgue, examination disclosed
sull other injuries besides those which
Coroner Murphy had found at the range.

The girl’s back and abdomen had been
Sliced, her neck was broken and there
was a deep knife wound through the right
ear drum, as if the killer had been trying
to reach her brain with the thin blade.

Missing Persons reports were checked
for a young woman in her late teens or
early twenties, a slender girl with long
dark brown hair. |

On Friday afternoon several people
viewed the body on the morgue slab, but
all turned away with shaking heads, Then,
a little before five o'clock, Alice Bustin
Phoned Helen Custer, the record clerk
at police headquarters,

Her roommate, Theora Hix, had failed
to come home Overnight. At first both
Alice, Miss Hix's classmate, and her sister
Beatrice, a medical lab technician, figured
Theora had spent. the night with a Co-
lumbus family whose daughters she had
attended as a companion at times.

FIND OUT

stuoy Send for free IAS
— Qualification Question-
- naire. If in our opinion
stag your answers indicate
~ that you “have what it
WILL 10 takes,” then you will
WIN receive absolutely free
the famous “Blue Book

ay of Crime”, , , Plus full
oe details on how to train
at home in Crime De-
{ tection and Finger
: Printing! IAS gradu-

} ACTER ates are key men in

HOW DO YOU
MEASURE UP?

INSTITUTE OF APPLIED SCIENCE
1820 Sunnyside Ave., Dept. 376-C Chicago 40, iN,
SURI em me ee

INSTITUTE OF APPLIED sc. NCE
8 1920 sunnyside Ave., Dept-37e-c Chicago 40, m, > I
Gentlemen: Without obligation < <xpense on my purt, send me

Ht yo you wilt ‘ dvi it ° wth nthe a
w y advise me if you thin! oy
indicate that I have a to succeed in criminal h tion
a or finger print work, Then I will receive FREE the! Bhae eat of

BName. |
Add RFD or Zone____
City. Btat A a

with PUREL BUST

CREAM v4, Woman
PUREL lous. If you improy ur bust *
| BUST Tine "YOU "Tos reve Your, bust

40.000 Unite Lal bowed 60 day supply $3.00
jo

Estrogen
Hormones

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

PURELON LAB. P. 0. Box 612-HD-8

Mount Vernon, N. Y,

MAKE EXTRA MONEY

EVERY BUSINESS EVERYWHERE
- USES UNION LABEL BOOK MATCHES

Glamour Girls, HIMbiliien,
scenics and dozens of other
atyles—Double Books — Jumbo
Books—nearly 100 color combi-
nations. New, bigger portfolio g
makes this fastest selling line [f
a real profit maker for you.
Write TODAY for full details.

_ REGULAR
G//Poousit ap
ONsPLay

(tenaeey

SUPERIOR MATCH CO.

_= Dept. H852, 7528 s. Greenwood Ave., Chicago 19, 111,
West Coast Salesmen, write Box 1087, San Jose, Calif.

AMAZING DISCOVERY!!
STARTLING NEW
BUST CREAM

Each jar of this amazing
bust cream contains 30,000
Int. Units of Estrogenic
Hormones; the ’ remark-
able, ingredient that may
be absorbed by the skin
of the breasts, and these
hormones, it is believed,
are responsible for well-
rounded breasts. Simple
and easy to apply! If you
yearn for a shapely bust and admiring glances,
try WALLACE BUST CREAM.

SEND NO MONEY!
lus postage for 30-day supply or enclose $2.98 plus
Soop ed. Excise Tax, we Pay postage. Use ten days,

WALLACE COSMETICS
5306 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago 30, in.

The odd romance of the mysterious coed ended in stark tragedy.

VISIT to the beauty parlor, a day at the modiste’s and

she would have been beautiful, but Theora Hix was a

serious, single-minded girl with little time for fripperies.

For six years, since she first enrolled in Ohio State Univer-

sity at eighteen, the path to her goal had lain straight
before her and, so far as those of her fourteen thousand fellow
undergraduates who knew her were aware, she had never strayed
from it.

She meant to becqgme a doctor, like her father. It was not dif-
ficult for anyone, at first glance, to suppose that she would
succeed, or to question her ambition. She wore her dark brown
hair long and combed plainly down over her ears. Her grave,
gray eyes were wide-set beneath uneven, unplucked brows, lend-
ing a measure of severity to her mien. Her clothes were always
just a little dowdy, although she had the money for chic raiment
had she desired it. :

She was, however, young and therefore attractive, whether she
cared to be or not. And those who gave more than a passing look
at this tall, slim girl remembered a curious, thin, disturbing smile,
more querulous than merry—the mysterious smile of the Mona
Lisa. :

It cloaked as dark and strange a secret as any ever ascribed to
the enigmatic face on DaVinci’s canvas in the Louvre. And in
the end it drove a man to murder.
O’ JUNE 13TH the regular term classes at the huge university
in Columbus were finished and summer school had not yet
begun. Theora, a bachelor of science who had just completed
her second year as a medical student, was staying on inssead of
spending the long vacation with her parents in Florida, where
her father was a professor of medicine.

She had a job in the office of the dean of the graduate school,
but—and this was like the frugal young woman—it wasn’t enough.
She was also learning the mechanics of the telephone switchboard
at the university hospital, where she meant to work at night, when
her duties with the dean would leave her with time on her hands.

Theora shared an apartment with two girls who were sisters,
one of them a classmate in the medical school, at 165842 Neil
Avenue, at the edge of the campus in the northwestern part of
the city. At seven o'clock on that Thursday evening Theora
tucked a brown purse beneath her arm---she carried it wherever

CARLOS LANE

she went—and left the flat. “I’ve got to go over for another
session at the switchboard,” she told her roommates.

It was the last time that either Alice or Beatrice Bustin saw
her alive.

The next morning two boys, hiking through the weeds to
practice with their rifles on the Columbus Rifle Range along
Fisher Road, about five miles northwest of Columbus, stumbled
upon the body of a girl. She lay face down, her left arm beneath
her body, the right hand outflung, clutching a handkerchief. Her
head was a gory pulp, her features were battered and caked with
blood.

Detectives Robert McCall and Otto Phillips of the homicide
squad took the alarm relayed by the patrolmen first dispatched
to the scene. It was plain to them, even before Coroner Joseph
Murphy examined the body, that the victim had been brutally
murdered.

Coroner Murphy counted sixteen fractures of the skull bearing
the imprint of a hammer’s head and another deep wound in the
forehead which he said had been inflicted with the rounded
end of a ball-peen hammer.

In addition the throat was cut, the jugular vein severed, and
the back of the girl’s black dress was cut; in fact, it was slashed
to ribbons.

“As though she were trying to escape and the killer came at
her from behind,” the coroner explained. “And, here, look at
this.”

The little finger, and the fourth and index fingers on the victim’s
right hand were cut dnd broken. The handkerchief could well
have been wrapped around them as a bandage.

There was no purse on the body or near it. The dead girl’s
garments bore no identifying label, no laundry or other markings
which might lead to her identification. Her face was so battered,
the detectives noted, that recognition, even by a close friend or
relative, might prove difficult.

The coroner said the girl. had been dead from twelve to
eighteen hours. Detective Phillips was soon able to fix more
exactly the time the body had been left in the field.

A gun club had been shooting on the range until eight o’clock
Fhursday evening, when the gathering dusk had ended the sport.
The dead girl was not there then, for her body lay too near the
east target for the shooters to have missed (Continued on page 53)

The man shown In photo at right wan convicted of
murder in the first degree and wan electrocuted.

FAST ACTING

FROM THE
CRIPPLING PAINS OF

ARTHRITIS
RHEUMATISME

AMAZING NEW
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY

Now you too can have blessed relic! Hi
from the tortures catuned hy the

crippling inflamed joints of arthritis and rheumatiem. Not
only does Arthron relleve the pain but also roduges joint
swelling and inflammation, Why suffer the agontes of tortur-
ing pains when you too can enjoy blessed relief, Fast acting
new, safe relief from pain—you will feel better from the first
day. SEND NO MONEY! TEST AT OUR RISK! Send for Arth-
ron today—don’t wait. For best results, treatment should
start at ONCE! Price only $2.98 for a 30-day supply. Cash
with order and we pay postage. Sent C.O.D. Postage extra.

FOSTER CO. Dept. SOHW
2522 W. MONTROSE AVE., CHICAGO 18, ILL.

WRITE for FREE COPY of
‘ bf \
ORUGGISTS MANL AL

S1Or Why continue to suffer? Get complete
BLEEDING, details of amazing, different, inexpensive,

therapeutic method of home treatment for
hemorrhoids, fissures and many other
disorders. DON'T DESPAIR if ordinary
ointments and suppositories have failed to help you. Here's
new hope...QUICK, SOOTHING RELIEF,..WITH SATISFACTION
GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK. Don’t delay, start on
the road to comfort today, Simply mail a postal card with
your name and address to:

REcTONE, (Dept. 8-H ), 2112 Gaylord, Long Beach, Calif.

POKER |:
CHECKS

est Game Check, Cut and Stack

FREE CA T A L 0G Expose: ae Open Book.

Sealed Book, Scientific Betting, Master Key System,
Runup System, Plastic Playing Cards for Club Use.

“The Old Reliable”
K. C. CARD Co., 804 S. Wabash, Chicago 5

thrills, romance and pas-

sion. Over 250 pages of good
Ha reading. 2 BOOKS, both differ.
ent, sent prepaid for $1.00 in

HYPNOTISM

learn to apply this tremendous POWFR. Develop will
powe/, self-confidence, self-control, ANYONE can master
this lb © profitable profession in short time by
training at home, with GUARANTEED RESULTS. DON’T
DELAY . . . Write to America’s oldest Hypnotic school
for free Information now-—today!
INSTITUTE OF APPLIED HYPNOLOGY
120 Central Park So., N. Y. 19, Dept. 3

o~ >
gforen
) CROWN LPS OWLY (Nest Pocket Size)
sGios ANEW, DIFFERENT LINE of COMIC BOOKLETS
| for Adults. Loaded with FUN HILARITY. Good

=77 Clear Illustrations, 20 Booklets all different
TERRY & Sent Prepaid for $922, Wo COMs pros
THORNE Box 15535 Crenshaw Sta. Dept. HG Los Angeles 8,Calif.

SONG POEMS WANTED
TO BE SET TO MUSIC

Send your Poems today for Free Examination to
J. CHAS. McNEIL
A. B. MASTER OF MUSIC

510-HD So. Alexandria, Los Angeles 5, Cal.

“Then,” Miss Bustin told Mrs. Custer,
“about noon, Peggy Edwards—she’s the
dean of women's secretary—phoned to
ask where Theora was. ‘They had a lunch-
eon date, and Theora is always so punctual.
My sister and I began to worry. We're
afraid something may have happened—
an accident perhaps.”

An hour later Alice Bustin and Mrs.
Alice Moran, secretary of a girls’ dormi-
tory where Theora had lived one year,
looked at the body in the morgue. ‘Though
now gruesomely masked with bruises and
blood, the enigma of Theora Hix’s pecu-
liar smile was on its way to being un-
raveled.

ETECTIVES McCall and Phillips lost

no time in seeking information about
the dead girl. The latter’s roommates,
however, actually knew little about Theora.
She had come to Columbus from New
York City, where her father was teaching
at Columbia University, and had _ re-
mained in the Ohio capital city all the
time since. She had not visited her family,
even after her parents moved from New
York to Florida.

She was studious, a heavy reader, and
an athletic girl besides.

“Almost every afternoon, till she took
the job in the dean’s office, she'd go out
and she'd return usually about ten o'clock
at night,” Alice Bustin said. “She never
said where she went or what she did: but,
because she was so fond of sports, we as-
sumed she was riding, or swimming, or
playing tennis, or walking. She often went
for long walks, and Bea and I thought
that was how she spent her evenings.”

“Any men?” Phillips queried. “Surely
she had some kind of social life.”

“We knew of only one man she ever
dated,” the murdered girl’s roommate said.
“Marty McMahon. He’s a professor—in
the horticulture department, I believe. But
I'm sure there was nothing serious in her
occasional dates with him. Theora had
her mind on just one thing—getting her
medical degree.”

The detectives traced Miss Hix to the
university hospital where she had, indeed,
shown up Thursday night to resume in-
struction at the switchboard. -

“She was here a little more than a half
an hour,” said Bertha Dillon, the regular
operator who was teaching Theora to op-
erate the board. “Then, around a quarter
to eight, she fooked at her watch and said,
‘I'm late for a date. I’ve got to go now,
but [ll be back at nine or nine-thirty.’ She
smiled-when she mentioned having a date.
It was the first time I'd seen her smile in
the two days she’d been with’me here at
the switchboard.” :

Of course, after leaving the hospital
shortly before eight o'clock, Miss Hix had
not returned. :

“That watch,” Detective McCall said as
the officers left the hospital. “Remember
it? A man’s watch, and she wore it on
the right wrist, not the left. There might
be some significance in that. It could have
been the boy friend's watch. We'd better
have it traced.” :

Other detectives set about to determine
the origin of the wristwatch on the dead
girl’s arm while Phillips and McCall went
to Theora’s living quarters in a gabled, old-
English style building, and searched them.

They found no love letters, no diary,
nothing to indicate a romance. But they
came upon a strange possession for a quict,
studious coed. It was an old-fashioned
derringer pistol, in good working order;
and there was a box of .4l-calibre cart-
ridges to fit its twin chambers.

“Peculiar gun,” Phillips said. “About
the only place you find one of these any
more is in some _ hobbyist’s . collection.
What could Theora Hix have been doing
with it?”

Her roommates could not guess. Neither
had ever seen the weapon before the of-
ficers showed it to them.

The homicide men turned their atten-
tion next to Professor McMahon, a young
bachelor who had gained some fame in
his field for work in extermination of the
corn borer, a serious menace to farmers
in an agricultural State like Ohio.

At the fraternity house where McMahon
lived, the cops learned that he was out
of town on a mission involving his work
with the corn borer. He had set out, his
Greek-letter brothers said, on Thursday on
a journey that would take him to Bono,
on the shore of Lake Erie near Toledo,
and then across the State to Wooster, near
Akron. Bono, McCall noted mentally, was
about a four-hour drive from Columbus;
he would later check the time of Marty
McMahon's arrival in that village.

EFORE dusk on Friday, workmen

under the supervision of Detective
Larry Van Skaik of the homicide division
had completed mowing the weeds in the
field where the body was found.

The cut vegetatién was carefully re-
moved and Van Skaik made a foot-by-foot
search of the ground in widening circles
from where the dead girl had lain.

He found no weapon. There was no
sign of the brown purse with a green clasp
which the victim had carried away from
her apartment. The grassy turf bore no
imprint of a human foot or of an auto-
mobile tire.

However, Van Skaik did not come away
empty-handed. He brought with him back
to headquarters a key-ring holding three
keys, and nine other keys besides.

“The ring was in the grass a few yards
from where the body was found,” he re-
ported. “The other keys, apparently torn
from it, were scattered in a semi-circle,
five to eight feet apart.”

One fitted Theora Hix's apartment, An-
other was for her locker at the university,
others were for her luggage and one was
for a safe deposit vault downtown. This
held nothing of importance to the detec-
tives. Indeed, since it contained merely
an insurance policy and a few personal
effects of no great value, the investigators
wondered why a girl of such conservative
and economical habits had kept it.

The keys yiclded no clue in the murder,
except to raise a question in the detec-
tives’ minds. Why had the killer taken the
trouble to extract her key ring from
Theora’s purse and scatter nine of a dozen
keys in the weeds? And what had he done
with her handbag? Had it contained some-
thing which would have led the police to
her slayer?

At 3:15 Saturday morning a call to the
university hospital, in whose morgue the
victim lay, was reported to the cops.

“Em inquirin,
man on the phor
or just hurt?”

“Dead,” |
“Who is th
“Professo=—-

“And your rel:

The answer \
cut off the conn

No sooner had
papers appeared
brutal murder a:
Hix, than a w
headquarters to
seen the man wh

A factory em
next door to the
he had scen her ¢
of a man.

“A guy about
ported. “Tall, w
He used to park
coupe in front «
girl getting into :
eral times.”

The girl’s com
like a profession:
-—or a college pr

In mid-mornin
the morgue spurr
McCall to a rene
Marty McMaho
horficulturist she
asked to see Miss
‘battered remains
left.

EANWHILE,

returned to
house, other me:
began checking o
versity under whe
with whom she \
in a hunt for a tz
horn-rimmed spec
also drove a new

McMaho q
Barely thir
fellow, goo }

clothes. His car
old.

“One of my
phoned me last ni
about Theora.” h
tectives. “I calle:
ried back to Col

“Why?” McCal
have a great inte

“ET was intereste
professor admitte
of dates, some ti
her to marry me
wanted one thing
a physician.

“T could) unde
went on. “Her
seemed so strong t
ing her. In the |
each other only 1

“Just when did

“About two we
ant enough, but se
thing. Her studie
never could tell
ing behind that q:

Asked for an
Mahon said he h
the afternoon, pa
had to meet a co
mediately after ¢

bula newspaper
: checking the site
der of Mrs. Smith.
‘ation below shows
aurder rendezvous
gedy. 1. Parked
received final in-
me of witness who
3. Where killer
xading to murder
ne where officers
md footprints of
yer.

about the opening
t there was a gen-
Some of this had
\.

now about this?”
ixler. He called
and the officer re-
description of the

dit Attack

answered the first
. and found every-
2 officer said. “We
ion down at Ridge
ed up Tilby. -He
out of the bushes
im up. Says they
e didn’t have any
they ran away he
the truck and laid

Valuable information was dis-
covered by Deputy Sheriff L. C.
Kilsey who worked on the road-
side mystery with Sheriff
Sheldon and other officers.

Questioned by the police, Tilby Smith added to the
mystery surrounding the case when he told of the
murder of his wife at the hands of a brutal killer.

“Then he grabbled his two kids in his
arms and ran back to the gas station, His
brother says he staggered up and begged
someone to call police and a doctor. So
they called us. We've already asked Coro-
ner C. C. Webster and Undertaker E. H.
‘Landon of Geneva to come and get the
body.”

“Where’s Smith now?” Sheriff Shel-
don asked.

“He signed a statement at headquar-
ters and was allowed to go home,” Bru-
dapest explained.

“Better bring him in again,” the sheriff
suggested to Bixler. “I’d like to have a
talk with him.” Bixler and his men
started back for the city.

Kelsey was sent up the road to see if
he could pick up any trail of the gunmen.
The sheriff went over the ground about
the truck very carefully but intermittent
showers had covered any marks that
might have been left behind. The soft,
coarse slag of the road offered nothing.

The officers had made little progress
when Coroner Webster and Undertaker
Landon arrived on the scene about .9 :30.

“Whoever did this must have been a
marksman,” Webster ventured after his
examination. ‘She must have died in-
stantly.”

Webster was instructed to take the
body to Geneva and have a doctor get to
work on an autopsy.

The inky blackness prevented a
thorough search of the scene even with
the aid of flashes. Webster and Landon
had left with the body so, leaving one
deputy to stand watch at the scene, the
sheriff hurried into Ashtabula.

Prosecutor Howard Nazor met him at
police headquarters and they went im-
mediately to the chief’s office where Cap-
tain Bixler, Brudapest and,C. H.

Blanche, the present sheriff, were going
over the story of the killing with Smith.

“My wife and I left home with the
kids about dusk,” Smith told them. “We

were going to spend the holiday with
friends on Center road. We'd both
looked forward to this outing for some
time. We stopped at my brother’s gas
station at Ridge and Center and chatted
for about 15 minutes. Leaving there we
drove south on Center road.

“Clara was holding the baby in her
arms and my other son was sitting be-
tween us, asleep. I had just passed the
culvert, about a half a mile from Ridge,
when two men stepped out of the shadows
on the west side of the road.

“One of the men remained at the front
of the car and the other came around to

-me and ordered me to ‘stick ’em up.’ I

did and Clara started to get out. The man
covering me told her not to. ‘All we
want is your money,’ he said. My wife
answered, ‘We have nothing. We didn’t
have enough money in the house this
morning to buy a loaf of bread.’ The
robber wasn’t satisfied.

“Then give me your watch,’ he

[Continued on page 54]

He slipped a shoe on one foot, then
snatched it off. “All right,” he snarled.
“They're mine! You've got me. I’ll talk.”

Canuel made and signed a confession. .

passing the buck to Vaillancourt, who,
he knew, was already accused of the
crime,

He claimed Vaillancourt suggested

robbing Miss Gauthier when they met’

casually after he had left a friend’s

house. Vaillancourt, he said, took, a

iece of rope from his pocket and attacked

arianna while he, Canuel, was spending

a convenient 10 miriutes in McBride’s bed-

room prowling for plunder and changing
shoes.

He came out and found the unfortunate
woman on the floor, expiring, Vaillan-
court astride her and pulling the ends of
the rope. So they hid the body in her bed,

; %

a away, divided the money and sepa-
rated. ‘

The fact that Vaillancourt could not
have been there’ at the time of the crime,
now shown.to have been around 11:15 or

11:30 a.. m., made no impression on

Canuel. He stuck.to his final story, mak-
ing Vaillancourt the killer and himself
merely an accessory, and repeated his
statement that night in New Bedford jail
in Vaillancourt’s presence.

Both men were indicted by the grand
jury for first degree murder and went to
trial in Superior Court March 1, 1932,
Testifying as the first government wit-
ness, Medical Examiner Barnes admitted
frankly that he believed Miss Gauthier a
suicide until August 8, 1931, when he
learned that police had captured Canuel

and obtained a confession.

Ten days after the trial began, Canuel’s
lawyers realized that’ he was headed
straight for the electric chair, and they
made a trade to save his life. He would
testify as a government witness against
Vaillancourt if ivan a chance to plead
guilty to second degree murder. The new
plea was permitted and Canuel did his best
to send an innocent man to fry in the hot
seat.

The jury was out long enough for one
ballot. and found Vaillancourt not guilty.

Victim of circumstances, an innocent man .

had been wrongly accused, later to be
completely exonerated by his fellows.
Judge Frederick.W. Fosdick thanked the
jurors for their intelligent verdict and
good service.

ae then he sent Canuel to prison for
ife.

Ohio's IMicit Lovers and: the Phantom

. [Continued from paye 25}

Marksman

ordered. I told him I didn’t have one. . I
reached down to get the crank on the floor
of the cab. As I did so he fired one shot.
The bullet whistled past my head and
struck my wife in the temple. .The man
in front shouted, ‘My God, you’ve killed
the woman.’ as Clara slid to the floor.
They turned and ran south up the hill to

where a sedan was parked in a lane. I .

was stunned for a moment. but I managed
to get out and open the door of the cab
and lift Clara out. Her face was covered
with blood. I laid her on. the ground,
grabbed the kids and ran back to the gas
station.” .

Smith Questioned Again _

APTAIN BIXLER took down the
statement as Smith related the details.
When it was finished the captain handed
it to the truckman who read it slowly and
carefully. , ’
“That’s absolutely correct,” he said as
he affixed his sighature. “I suppose I
in go now. I’ve got to take care of the
ids.
. Bixler, Naxor and Sheriff Sheldon left
the room. .

“Hold him on some pretext until we

run over to Geneva and see what the au-
topsy shows,” Navor suggested. “We

haven’t anything on him but I’d like to.

talk to him again later on.’ Bixler and the
sheriff agreed.

It was near midnight when the autopsy
was completed. The slug which had en-
tered the woman’s head had flattened out
but it was easy to determine that it had
been a .32 caliber bullet.

Immediately after the autopsy had been
completed Prosecutor Nazor, Coroner:
Webster, Deputy Kelsey and the sheriff
returned to the Ashtabula police head-
quarters. For two hours they questioned
Smith with Captain Bixler. He told and
retold a straightforward story. There
wasn't the slightest discrepancy.

Dawn was an hour away when Prose-
cutor Nazor suggested to Smith that he
accompany the officers out to Center road

and show them how it all happened. Smith °

pita Heaps to the suggestion. By the
time they were started the eastern sky was
streaked with red.

The truck had been moved, but in the

half light of the rhorning Smith showed

them exactly how the attempted robbery
had been staged, where the bandits stood

‘and where they parked the car in which

they made their escape. :

Siartie brightened things up consider-
ably, but even in the daylight the officers
could find no definite trace of the robbers
and their car. Here and there along the
road was an occasional footprint but these
probably had been made by the members
of the crowd that had milled about the
place for hours. The rain, had obliterated
~~ tire marks the bandit car might have
eft.

When the search of the west side of the
road had netted nothing Sheriff Sheldon
turned his attention to the other side. The

bank rose off the road and a little way |

back an old rail fence angled along parallel
to the ditch. Thick bushes topped the.

‘rails and formed a natural hedge. The

grass of the heavy sod was still compara-
tively short, and springy from the recent

‘rains. .

The, sheriff followed the fence back to-
ward the culvert to the point where it

made. a right angle turn to the east. Close .

to the fence and beside a large. bush he
noticed that the grass appeared trampled.
Careful examination of the ground dis-
closed several small twigs which appar-

ently had been recently broken from the

bush.

The sheriff called Prosecutor Nazor
and pointed out the spot.

“Tt looks to me as though someone had
stood around here for some time,” he said,

“Perhaps last night. They were crouching

under the bushes for shelter from the rain.
It looks as though they might have be-
come nervous over something and broken
the twigs off. later dropping them to the
ground.”

Nazor agreed. Together they made
a minute examination of the ground
and the bushes to the point where the
fence turned to the east.

The sheriff called the other officers and
suggested that they follow the log fence

. and the ravine east to Munson Hill road

about a mile away. He instructed Kelsey
to drive around there with Smith after he
finished looking around on Center road.
Nazor and the sheriff continued: the
search. ;

A few minutes later they came to an
open spot. The top rails of the fence
seemed to have been. moved recently.

Close examination disclosed that something
appeared to have been dragged over the
top rail, something that had caught the
splinters of the split rail and broken off
weather-beaten portions. Nazor took one
side of the fence and the sheriff took the
other.

But the search for footprints seemed
hopeléss. It was a tedious task to which
they had set themselves and just as they
were about convinced that they were
wasting time the sheriff stumbled across
a pair of rubbers, old rubbers but still very
serviceable, More important, however,
was the fact that they had been but re-
cently discarded. ‘The officers examined
them.

“They are a woman’s rubbers, not much
question about that,” Nazor commented.
“Now what would a woman be doing out

. here?” The sheriff couldn’t answer that,

but a little beyond they found something

important: In a soft bare spot was the

clear print of a woman’s shoe. The sharp

heel had burrowed into the ground. In

spots they were able to make out the
rints of both shoes. They led toward
funson Hill road.

“We know that there was a woman in
this gully recently, probably last night,”
Sheriff Sheldon ventured to Nazor, “Rut
what of it? What’s that got to do with a

robbery by two men? Maybe we're wast- .

ing our time after all.”
Tells Amazing Story

“TT’S the best lead we have and we

might just as well follow it to the
end,” he replied. A few minutes later they
came out on Munson Hill road.

They were within 1,000 feet of South
Ridge and near a neighboring house, so
they dropped in to make a few inquiries
regarding the mysterious footprints.

The mistress of the house said that
she hadn’t seen anyone in the ravine
although she had an excellent view from
her house.

“But I’ll tell you what I did see,” she
told the officers. “It -was last night, be-
tween six and seven. I saw a car parked
down there near-the ravine on the west
side of the road. I didn’t see anyone get
in or out of it. Finally I noticed that it
was gone.”

They questioned the woman but she
could tell them nothing further.

ey Jen ‘

“I don’t
with the r
cause the)
8:30 and t
fore that,”
gone befor

Sheriff
the house
Then they

‘was waiti:

Tilby’s fa
the truck
her death.
When t
took Smi:
city hall
table. Til
“You're
“a womar
Smith su:
him. ~
“Are you
“T don’t}
The sher
table in
“Ever
He loc
remainec
“IT sup
they’re
“Want 1
“You .
Buick se
continue
lane.”
“You
ecutor >

better s
telling.”
Tilby
turn, va
emotior
face. C:
“Was
the pai
. sheriff
Coates
pared 1
various
in her «€
Smith.)
The
cringed
he trie:
tage, th
of que
under :
ness to
Brag
the she
“She
truth |
others
with 5

eer

Brudapest aroused Smith from his
stupor.

“Come along,” he ordered, and with
Smith in the back seat the car raced for
the scene of the murder.

Half a mile down Center road they
came upon a truck, parked-a short dis-
tance south of a small concrete culvert
on the west side of the road. In the space
of about two feet between the truck and
the roadside ditch they found the body
of a woman. It was lying face up with
one arm across the body, parallel to the
truck. ‘

Leaving orders that nothing about the
scene should be touched, the officers tore
back into Ashtabula with Smith who
hurriedly related the story of the killing
to Captain H. F. Bixler. Bixler im-
mediately called Sheriff Frank’ Sheldon
at his office.

“Patrolmen Shepard and Brudapest
just brought Tilby Smith in here,” he
told the sheriff. “His wife was shot to
death tonight on Saybrook Center road,
half a mile south-of Ridge. That’s out
of the city but I’ll meet you there right
away.”

Bixley had but five miles to go so na-
turally he was waiting for the sheriff
when he arrived with Deputies Kelsey,
Buck and Ritter.

The first thing Sheriff Sheldon saw
was the ramshackle dump ‘truck parked
beside the road. He pushed his way
through the crowd that had already
gathered. Bixler ‘played his flashlight

on the body of a woman lying beside the
truck.

“Dead,” Bixler said, as he dropped to
his knees in the wet gravel beside the
body.

The sheriff’s hasty examination dis-
closed a bullet hole at the hairline of the
right temple. The slug had passed
through the small, black hat the woman
had been wearing. Her face and hair
were stained with crimson. There were
no other marks; no traces of powder
burns.

Leaving Kelsey, Buck and Ritter to
see that the body remained untouched
the sheriff turned to an examination of

_the truck with Captain Bixler.

“There isn’t ‘any doubt but that she
was shot while in the truck,” Bixler said.
He pointed out the blood spattered about
the inside of the truck cab. ‘‘After she
was shot she must have collapsed and
fallen to the floor.”

Left, an Ashtabula newspaper
woman is shown checking the site
of the crimson murder of Mrs. Smith.
The graphic illustration below shows
the scene of the murder rendezvous
preceding the tragedy. 1. Parked
auto where killer received final in-
structions. 2. Home of witness who
saw murder tryst. 3. Where killer
climbed fence leading to murder
scene. 4. Ravine where officers
found rubbers and footprints of
slayer.

On the floorboards about the opening
for the gear shift lever there was a gen-
erous pool of blood. Some of this had
dripped to the ground.

“What do you know about this?”

the sheriff asked Bixler. He called
Patrolman Brudapest and the officer re-
peated Tilby Smith’s description of the
holdup.

Told Of Bandit Attack

“@ HEPARD and I answered the first

call about 9 p, m. and found every-
thing as it is now,” the officer said. “We
stopped _ at the gas station down at Ridge
and Center and picked up Tilby. He
said two men jumped out of the bushes
right here and held him up. Says they
shot his wife when he didn’t have any
money and that after:they ran away he
lifted his wife out of the truck and laid
her on the ground.

Valuable i:
covered by
Kilsey who
side myst
Sheldon a

began, Canuel’s
e was headed
chair, and they
life. He would
witness against
hance to plead
irder. The new
auel did his best
o fry in the hot

enough for one
ourt not guilty.
n innocent man
:-d, later to be
y his fellows.
ck thanked the
it verdict and

‘| to prison for

that something
gged over the
ad caught the
nd broken off
Yazor took one
heriff took the

prints seemed
task to which
d just as they
at they were
umbled across
$ but still very
ant, however,
| been but re-
zers examined

ders, not much
commented.
1 be doing out
t answer that,
ind something
spot was the
ve. The sharp
e ground. dn
make out the
»y led toward

$s a woman in
ly last night,”
» Nazor. “Rut
t to do with a
ve we're wast-

Story

have and we
low it to the
ates later they
oad,

feet of South
‘ing house, so
few inquiries
rotprints.

use said that
n the ravine
nt view from

did see,” she
ast night, be-
a car parked
: on the west
‘e anyone get
oticed that Jit

man but she
ther.

“T don’t think it had anything to do
with the murder over on Center road be-
cause they tell me that happened after
8:30 and this car left here two hours be-
fore that,” she said. “I’m positive it was
gone before seven.”

Sheriff Sheldon borrowed a paper at
the house and wrapped up the rubbers.
Then they returned to the machine which

"was waiting and drove to the home of
Tilby’s father to give Nazor a look at
the truck in which Clara Smith had met
her death,

When they returned to Ashtabula they
took Smith into the council chamber of
city hall and gathered around the big
table. Tilby told his story again.

“You're sure one of the robbers wasn’t
a woman?” Sheriff Sheldon turned on
— suddenly and fired the question at

im. : , -
“Are you trying.to kid me?” he countered.
“I don’t know what you're talking about.”
The sheriff tossed the rubbers onto the
table in front of Smith.

“Ever see these before?”

He looked at the rubbers but his face
remained a blank.

“T suppose you'll be saying next that
they’re mine,” he said after a pause.
“Want me to try them on?”

“You told us you'd show us where the
Buick sedan‘was parked,” Sheriff Sheldon
amt “There wasn’t a track in that

ane.” :

“You might as well come clean,” Pros-
ecutor Nazor said, “Who was the wo-
man?” :

Smith said nothing.

“T know you're lying, Tilby,” the sheriff
said.

For the first time the man showed
signs of nervousness. His head drooped,
He looked from Nazor to the sheriff.

“If I told you the truth,” he began, “you
wouldn’t believe. me.” .

“We'll believe.you if you tell the truth,”
Nazor said, “but you'll have to tell a
better story than the one you have been
telling.”

Tilby looked at each of the officers in
turn, vainly seeking a way out. Conflicting
emotions struggled for mastery in his
face. Captain Bixler tried a final shot.

“Was it the woman I saw you with in
the park the other day?” (While the
sheriff and Nazor had been out, Bixler,
Coates and Lieutenant Snow had com-
pared notes and recalled seeing Smith at
various times with a dark-haired woman
in her early twenties. And it wasn’t Clara
Smith.)

The chance accusation told. Smith
cringed as from a physical blow. Too late,
he tried to cover up. Seizing the advan-
tage, the officers plied him with a barrage

of questions; and suddenly, cracking”

under the strain, he signified his willing-
ness to talk.
Braggadocio gone, the man turned upon

the sheriff desperately.

. “Sheldon,” he began, “I’ll tell you the

truth but only on the condition that the
others leave the room. I want to talk

with you alone.”

Threatens Lover With Death
cS
6 Ble others in the room made a hasty
exit. When the door had slammed be-
hind them, Smith began his story.
“Sheriff, I’ve been lying to you,” he
said. “Now: I want to tell you exactly
what happened last night. This woman
ty mentioned here is the person who
illed my wife.”
Sheriff Sheldon began to wonder what

Don’t Miss the Big, New
“MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY”

Section in the October issue

Whether you are a “snap-shooter” or expert, you will find useful, helpful
ideas in the special camera department in the October issue of MODERN
MECHANIX, now on sale at all newsstands, There is an article on
home portraiture, by Jacob Deschin, noted expert; a description of a
Hollywood-power floodiamp you can assemble yourself in an evening;
data on developing tanks made from glass bottles; and numerous “kinks”
that will save you time and money when you take pictures.

Also in the October issue of America’s most popular

mechanical magazine—

Where Playing With Fire Pays—The
Underwriters’ Laboratories is the place,
but the fires are made deliberately to
test safety appliances for your pro-
tection.

Stunt Flying—How It’s Done—Have
you ever watched the stunting at air
meets and wondered how the pilots do
it? Two full pages of drawings,
with explanations by MM’s own
aviation editor, reveal their secrets.

Cc a copy a
atall
| newsstands

How to Sell Inventians—Thinking up
& new idea is only half the battle in an
inventor’s life., This interesting and in-
formative article tells how he can make
some money from his brain-child.

Also—numerous shop projects—science
experiments—home repair notes—radio
ideas—stamp review-—news of science
and industry.’

5 WHen ANSWERING ADVERTISEMENTS, PLEASE Mention OcroRER DyNAMIc DETECTIVE 55

ae
ie

—"
ee

may ee EP cg

SNOOK, James H.g white, elec. OHS (Franklin) February

State University co-ed,
who, after an illicit love
affair with Doctor James
Howard Snook, a pro-
fessor at the college,
was killed by Snook.
The erstwhile professor
went to the chair.
(Right). Dot King,
the ravishing Broad-
way butterfly and
gold-digger de luxe, -
whose mysterious’:
murder in March,
1923, just about
ruined several repu-
tations. Dot was
found strangled and
chloroformed in her
luxurious apartment
and the resultant in-
vestigation brought
big names to light.
But the case remains
unsolved

(Above) Mary
Baker, whose body
was found Apr. 12th
last in a_ culvert
near Arlington Na-
tional Cemetery. At
this writing, there
are several suspects
—but no © indict-
ments. (Left)
Alberta Meadows,
beaten to death in

California several
years ago'by Clara

Phillips. Motive: jeal-

ousy. (Right) Elsie

Sigel, aristocratic soc-

ial service worker, mur-

dered in New York’s

1909, Slayer never
caught

(Left) Theora Hix, Ohio —

Chinatown in June,

4
,

1930

‘would get another
party. So, Dorothy
me and introduced
evening together—
jarden here in the
together and then,
{ me to marry him.
on, they say a woman
cause I know you

is very nervous. I
- wouldn't be over-
id lagreed. Then
: hold-up men, and
obtain medical aid
reteen from cancer.
<x, that his wife had
ith a beautiful boy
n baby show. Joe
he told me what he
I was amazed, and
ut when he gave so
the bank messengers
ve him.
and down like an
ped suddenly, fell
vegged me to marry
slept a wink for
if I would marry
er again. Just then
and I said to
er tells me that
{that you killed two

: and said, ‘Did he
that was what Joe
that his brother's
nd was affected and
at arrangements
‘re being made to
ve him treated by a
scialist.

‘OSEPH sent im-
' mense bouquets to
2 stage at-every per-
‘rmance. Morris
owed me two rail-
id tickets for Cleve-
id, saying he had
en trying to coax his
other to go West,
it that Joseph had
fused and wanted
go back to New
ork.
“Why doesn’t he
»?’ T asked.
“Because he is
3.
how about Joseph's
vughed, and said he

iad her share of good

ny the detectives to
repeate1 their story
sked the girls if they
‘thers had caught to
The Cleveland

o look over the
race of the Diamond
New York police if
ntinued on page 108)

, ——
f o
Seca frases ras

THE

MYSTERY of the

HIRTEENTH KEY

Every notorious crime case, accounts of which are eagerly followed by

millions of readers, has its “other side’—heartache, stark tragedy—

ruined lives! Here is the pitiable tragedy of one girl—and a man who
was willing to sacrifice all to save himself—at her expense

THe story so far:

_ The outstanding murder case in 1929 in
this country, the Doctor Snook-Theora [ix
tragedy, in Ohio, Pied weeks gripped the emotions
of the entire reading public. Most of its high
points, however, were enacted behind the scenes.
Most of its finest detective work, as well as some
of its most amazing aspects, never got into the

news pa pers.

The man who “broke” the case by obtainin
the murderer's confession, was Detective Oto
Phillips; the man who prosecuted the case with

masterly force and
shrewdness was
“Handsome Jack"
Chester—and to
each of these men
great credit is due.
Here, for the first
time, and exélu-
sively to readers of
Trug DETECTIVE
Mysteries, De-
tective Phillips tells
the “‘inside’’ of thts
notorious case, as
he knew it.
Briefly, here are
the facts:
Lying, appar-
ly, just as her
murderer had left
her, on a rifle range
north of Columbus,
the body of Theora
Hix, medical stu-
dent at Ohio State
University, was
found on June
I4th . . . throat
slashed, shockingly
beaten and mult-
lated. Theora was
studious — attrac-
tsve —athletic. Sus-
prcion pointed to a
man well-known
on the campus—
Doctor James H.
Snook, professor of
teterinary —medi-
cine. A “‘love-nest”’

was discovered. Cornered, Snook admitted his liaison with the girl —-

By Detective OTTO W. PHILLIPS
Homicide Squad, Columbus (Ohio) Police Department

As told to FRED ALLHOFF, of THE CLEVELAND PRESS

as he claimed? ‘On that point, now, hinged the en-

be avenged.

Here is the girl (top), and here the man, lying on his back, who are referred to in the
subhead under the story title above. Snook is taking a “rest” in the Sheriff's office,
during a recess early in his trial, while a physician sits near, observing him

but steadfastly denied his murder-guilt.

One point puszled Detective Phillips: Theora’s key to the love-nest,

lire case, and the chances that the hellish deed would
Detective Phillips continues:

Part Two—ConcLusIon
HREE days after the battered and
I mutilated body of Theora Hix had
been found on the rifle range northwest

of Columbus, a middle-aged, grief-torn
couple arrived in the city from Bradenton,

Florida. They

_were Mr. and

Mrs. Melvin T.
Hix, parents of
the murdered girl.

Refined and
quiet, these per-
sons who were
unable to find
solace in tears
gained sympa-
thy the nation
over. Their
only child, their
baby whom they
had not seen, ex-
cept for brief
visits, for six
years, was best
portrayed to
them in. the
prophecy of her
class in the high
school year-
book. It read:

On a platform in
a city square

Theora Ilix
did stand

And from her

mouth did come

The words, “Down with man!”

Bae scar een kor bat i : tue tantitady. of Theora, to them, was a bashful, athletic girl with a brilliant
which she always carried with her, had been returned to the landlady o, Peer The ree a «lac eres
the apartment house by Doctor Snook the day following the murder, gonl in life, They had helped her in the selection of a college,
2% hours before Theora's body was identified! Jad he taken the
key from her dead body? Or, had she given it to him a few days before,

2 Mitte Meyloriss Kohnen ff 30

picking Ohio State University because they believed Colum-
bus to be the safest city in the world for her. Fach year,

lve the Doctor more
g unearthed, Doctor
| John F. Seidel, the
‘ preparing a petition
Id they be prevented
reir client. The peti-
datory writ requiring
ff Harry T. Paul and
old such an interview.
d been placed against
that upon expiration
ing which it was con-
ey would not seek his
uld let his innocence

:estioned in the office
e city detectives were
‘aluable or worthless,

a
iy

ors daily brought their
from 2 A.M. until the
court-house, in order to
xcked a nation. As the
wt was limited to 200
was forced to wait on
1 in the above photo

days to make an ex-
scraped off the door-
iether or not it was
f it were found to be
determine whether it

instructor at the uni-
e hours various mem-
partments fired ques-
yns on which he had

These occasions, I
ned to us by Doctor
id him.

estigators were con-
ternity brothers and
lice Headquarters to
s alibi.

y Doctor Snook, had
o lighten the odium

ry her yet!’’

. TI found still further
+ the “fall guy.” He
tor, was evasive and
‘shot at him and, as
d the kind of a man

whe had gone into a
loss for a reply.”
ight explain these

Lhe Mystery of the Thirteenth Key 29

aspects of his behavior. It had completely unnerved him.

A weird attempt now was made to force some admission
from Meyers. At midnight, Prosecutor Chester and County
Detective Howard (“Red”) Lavely escorted him to the

morgue.

Hesitating at the doorway of the room in which the slain
girl's body lay, Meyers was shoved forward to meet the primi-
tive ordeal. His recucet for D. N. Postlewaite, his attorney,
was disregarded. Standing beside the mutilated body of
the girl he loved, he was made a target for a barrage of ques-
tions. He was made to touch the body, as cajolery, demands
and threats all failed to make him state that he had knowledge
of the latest phase of the case: this was, that Doctor Snook
had been furnishing Miss Hix with cocaine and ‘other drugs,
obtained from his laboratory in the university clinic.

The report, upon the heels of which followed an investiga-
tion at the university by U. S. Assistant District Attorney
William Bartels, originated from our knowledge that Doctar
Snook had been implicated in one other drug case, and that
oa Miss Hix's arm was found a bruise, at first mistaken for
marks left by a hypodermic needle. The girl's stomach and
kidneys were turned over to Chemist Long for analysis fol-
lowing a second post-mortem by Coroner Murphy.

Such was the status of the case when a new development,
startling in its implications, came to light. After all, we had
established no motive sufficient to pin the case on either of
the two sus pects—Snook or Meyers—now being held.

THE city editor of a Columbus newspaper obtained in-
formation that Mrs. Snook had been seen a few hours
before the body of Miss Hix had been identified, purchasing
a new dress in an exclusive down-town store. Linking this
finding with the statement of Mrs. Snook that she had started
the fire in her home ‘‘to burn accumulated rubbish,” suspi-
Gon naturally was diverted to a third channel.
The question implied was, ‘‘Did Mrs. Snook buy the dress
te replace one which had become stained with blood?"

Detective Robert McCall (/Jeft) returning
Marion T. Meyers, agricultural research
worker and college professor, to the county
jail from city prison, following a three-hour
griling. Let it be said here that Meyers
absolutely cleared himself

Hlere was a

triangle convert-
ing itself into a
quadrangle
and—from the
theoretical
standpoint—
offering a splen-
did possible so-
lution to the
crime!

Having talked
to Doctor
Snook’s wife, I
had sized her up
fairly well and
had placed her
outside the
realm of persons
capable of the
crime. Never-
theless, innocent
as she might be,
it was my duty
to work on this

angle of the case. In view of the favorable opinion I had
formed of her and the theory I had constructed, the task was
distasteful, but a necessary bit of routine work. '
“Meyers, disgruntled at Doctor Snook’s place in the af-
fections of Miss Hix, has squealed of the love-nest to the
Doctor's wife. She has gone there, found them together, and

has bashed in the girl’s skull,”’ I was told.

“Both Doctor Snook and his wife found themselves in deep
water and worked together the night of the murder, to dis-
pose of the body! That would explain the attitudes of all

those implicated in the case.”
Thus the crime wan explained to me,

It was an excellent

‘ solution, perfect theoretically, but incorrect and dangerous

to an innocent person, in my belief. That belief was upheld
when Mrs. Snook, brought into conference with Prosecutor
Chester and his cohorts from 11:10 A.M. until 3:20 P. M.
without pause, early in the week after the murder, completely
exonerated herself, and prqved that she had inspected, but
had not purchased, a new dress.

One important fact was brought our during her grilling,
however. Mrs. Snook now admitted that she could not say
definitely what her husband’s moves might have been the
night of the murder, as they occupied separate sleeping rooms.
Too, she admitted, she could not say positively that her
husband had come home about 9 o'clock on the night men-
tioned, since she merely had heard a door slam at that time
and had assumed that it was he.

GHE had gone downstairs at 11 P. M., she said, and had

found him eating lunch, a statement, in contradiction to
that issued by the Doctor, to the effect that he had been
sorting vacation clothes.

When Edwin J. Schanfarber, attorney, took Mrs. Snook
from the investigation room at the end of the questioning,
the pair were followed by Mr. Hix, who stared fixedly at
them, a procedure that-he had employed whenever coming
into contact with Doctor Snook.

While investigation of the blood stains in the coupe was
being undertaken by Chemist Long, whose disclosures Doctor
Snook expressed anxiety to learn, Snook was informed of
his dismissal from the university faculty by President George
W. Rightmire, of Ohio State University.

Still more incriminating evidence was piled up against the
Doctor when Charles Lang, former night watchman at the
Columbus Y. W. C. A., told officials that Miss Hix early in
the year had maintained a room at the Y. W. C. A. and that
Doctor Snook and the girl frequently had returned there
‘between midnight and 2 o'clock in the morning.

Lang said that the girl would caution him to say nothing
of her late returns, and that Doctor Snook would tip him,
with the understanding that he was to keep quiet.

Lang identified the body of Miss Hix at the morgue, and
picked Doctor Snook from a group of men at the county
jail. ‘
In the meanwhile, Meyers’ standing was jbeing bolstered
by telegrams from a girl friend sent to him at the county
jail. One of them said:

“Shall I'come? Let me know if I can do anything. Love."

(Below, left to right) Chief Deputy Sheriff Harry T. Paul, Doctor

James H. Snook, Defense Attorneys John Scidel and E. O. Ricketts;

and “Handsome Jack’? Chester, 31-year-old County Prosecutor.

It was the eloquent plea to the jury by the “boy” attorney that

startled veteran lawyers and set a precedent in Franklin County

court history, by arousing a frenzied burst of applause from the
packed court-room

28 True Detective Mysteries

The city’s acesin The Mystery of the Thirteenth Key. Left to
right, they are: City Detectives Otto W. Phillips, who gave the
story to this magazine, Robert McCall and Larry Van Skaik

by diligent saving, they had managed to send her $600 for
ter medical education.

Cultured and courteous, his face made suddenly grim by the
aorrible crime that had spread its tentacles into the quiet of
his modest Florida home, Theora’s gray-haired father haunted
the corridors of Police Headquarters in the days that followed.
He insisted upon attending the investigations and, with this
in mind, obtained the services of Attorney Boyd Haddox.

Monday morning saw the hammer-knife murder taken over
in its entirety by the county, with Prosecutor Jack Chester,
Jr., acting as master of ceremonies.

"THOUSANDS of curious, upon some pretext, had wedged

their way into the Glenn L. Myers funeral home, where
the body of Miss Hix lay. Other thousands drove gapingly
by the rifle range, the home of Doctor Snook and the Hub-
bard Avenue love-nest. Upon request of the girl’s parents,
the doors of the morgue were guarded against unofficial
visitors,

In the furnace of the Snook home were found the charred
remnants of rubbish, clothing and a vanity case. These, Mrs.
Snook explained, had been burned by her Saturday morning
when she cleaned the house.

She further told police that she had scen her husband come

home about 9 o'clock on the night of the murder, had found

him eating in the kitchen, and then had retired. She said
she was able to account for all of his subsequent actions until
the day of the arrest.

She told me that she did not know the Hix girl, or of the
affair, but that her husband had mentioned knowing the girl
while reading a newspaper account of Theora's death.

The most significant discovery of the day was made by
City Detective Larry Van Skaik, who was detailed to super-
intend the mowing by a group of penitentiary convicts of the
tall grass and weeds on the rifle range, and to inspect it
thoroughly.

Obeying orders, he came upon a bunch of twelve keys. All
but three had been taken from a broken key-ring that was
found near-by, and the remainder had been tossed by some
person away from the body. They were found in a semi-
circle, upon the range, five to eight feet apart at more or less
regular intervals.

The twelve keys always had been carried on the key-ring
in Miss Hix's pocketbook. The latter invariably had been in
her possession and had been zealously guarded. They were
room keys, luggage keys and keys to safety deposit boxes.

The thirteenth key, that kept by her for admission to the
love-nest, wasnot among those found. Why had it been
turned in to the landlady by Snook the previous Friday?

As these problems, which demanded an answer, and these

bits of evidence which tended to involve the Doctor more
closely in the girl's death, were being unearthed, Doctor
Snook's attorneys, E. O. Ricketts and John F. Seidel, the
latter a former police court judge, were preparing a petition
to be filed in common pleas court should they be prevented
rom having a private interview with their client. The peti-
ion, which was granted, sought a mandatory writ requiring
Chief of Police Harry FE. French, Sheriff Harry T. Paul and
Prosecutor Chester, to permit them to hold such an interview.

Pointing out that no formal charge had been placed against
ithe Doctor, Seidel and Ricketts said that upon expiration
of the ‘‘reasonable length of time” during which it was con-
idered legal to hold him (four days), they would not seek his
ea Rather, they said, they would let his innocence
be established by subsequent events.

More than twenty witnesses were questioned in the office
of Chief French by county officials while city detectives were
assigned to run down every new tip, valuable or worthless,
that appeared.
For a time it
seemed that the
investigation
was at a stand-
still—that
scarcely enough
evidence could
be produced to
make a first-de-
gree murder
charge more
than a’ mere
gamble on the
part of the au-
thorities.

Snook's cap

and glove, and
a shirt’ which
had been found
at his home, all
blood-stained,
were turned over
to Chemist C. F.
Long, “by the
county. Long
told officials that it would take several days to make an ex-
amination of the blood (including that scraped off the door-
jamb of Snook’s car) to determine whether or not it was
human. Then it would be necessary, if it were found to be
human blood, to make further tests to determine whether it
was of the type possessed by Miss Hix.

In the meanwhile Marion T. Meyers, instructor at the uni-
versity, was put on the carpet. For three hours various mem-
bers of the county and city detective departments fired ques-
tions at him. He admitted two occasions on which he had
had intimate relations with Miss Hix. These occasions, |
might say, had been previously mentioned to us by Doctor
Snook, who declared that the girl had told him.

Hundreds of spectators daily brought their
lunches and waited from 2 A.M. until the
doors opened at the court-house, in order to
hear a story that shocked a nation. As the
capacity of the court was limited to 200
Persons, an overflow was forced to wait on
the steps, as shown in the above photo

As the inquiry progressed, the investigators were con-

fronted by scores of Meyers’ fraternity brothers and
friends who voluntarily appeared at Police Headquarters to
substantiate the horticultural instructor's alibi.

Meyers, who, until the girl’s exposé by Doctor Snook, had
protected her reputation, endeavored to lighten the odium
of her guilt with the statement:

“I wanted to marry her—and I'd marry her yet!”"

-And so, as the investigation continued, I found still further
support for my theory that Meyers was the “fall guy.” He
seemed tremendously afraid of the Doctor, was evasive and
insufficient in his responses to questions shot at him and, as
pne detective admirably put it, “seemed the kind of a man
who, if pressed for an answer as to why he had gone into a
drug store for a malted milk, would be at a loss for a reply."
The shock of Theora's death, to be sure, might explain these

angle of :
formed of
distasteful

“Meyer
fections o!
Doctor's v
has bashe:

“Both I
water and
pose of th
those imp!

Thus th.

Mortuary (top) in Columbus, Ohio, was the end of trail for
Theora, start of tough case for Chief Shellenberger (r.)

BY L. L. ALBERTS

F DR. KINSEY had been conducting his questionnaires
on sex back in 1929, Theora Hix would have made an
excellent subject for an interview—that is, provided she
chose to talk. She had had ample and interesting experi-
ences with men, and yet—among her girl friends, at least
—she never discussed them. Her silence on the topic of
love made her something of an enigma around the campus
of Ohio State University at Columbus.

At the Buckeye seat of learning, noted for its beautiful
coeds, Theora was easily one of the prettiest. She possessed
dark, wavy hair, deep brown eyes, features of a classic
mold and a stunning figure. She was somewhat older than
the average—24—but the added years merely heightened
her allure. In spite of her demure exterior and her schol:
arly airs, members of the oppsite sex gained the impres-
sion that she had’ “been around.”

Theora hailed from Bradentown, Florida, where her
father, Dr. Melvin Hix, was on the medical school faculty
of the University of Florida. It appeared that she was
following in her father’s footsteps. Having earned a liberal
arts degree in 1927, she was now in her second year of
post-graduate work in the Ohio State medical school. She
filled out her allowance by working part time in the uni-
versity hospital and by taking occasional baby-sitting jobs.
_ Although she was a member of a sorority, Theora elect-
ed to live in a rooming house on Neil Avenue. For room-
mates in the spacious quarters she had two pretty coed
sisters, Alice and Beatrice Bustin. Like other of her
acquaintances, the Bustin girls often speculated whether
there was any romance in Theora’s life. :

On Thursday night, the 19th of June, Theora Hix
hummed a popular tune as she took an after-dinner
shower and returned from the bathroom.

“You seem to have gotten over your moodiness,” ob-
served Alice Bustin, looking up from her books. “Big date
tonight?”

Theora laughed and began to slip into her clothes. “I

might be seeing somebody, and then again I might not.
Anyway, I have to put in a little time at the hospital—I’m
due there at seven—and later on I may do some baby-
sitting. So if I don’t get in until late, don’t worry about
me.” : =

Ten minutes later Theora left—never to return.

As the police determined later, Theora showed up at
the hospital promptly at 7. She remained there only
until 7:45. Then, telling a co-worker she had an appoint-
ment, she hurried outside. She promised to try to get back
by 9:30.

When she did not return to her room that night, the
Bustin sisters weren’t overly concerned. Theora had told
them not to worry. Further, there had been a severe
thunderstorm around midnight, and they felt she may
have decided to stay overnight at some home where she
had taken a job tending the children.

On Friday morning, some 16 hours after Theora had left
the university hospital, two youths taking a hike along the
New York Central tracks came to a rifle range on the
outskirts. of Columbus and made a find which sent them
hurrying to the nearest phone to call the police.

Chief of Detectives W. J. Shellenberger, a veteran of thé
Columbus force, quickly arrived at the scene with several
aides and Coroner Joseph Murphy. Shellenberger took
one look at the corpse’ on the rain-soaked earth and
commented grimly, “As vicious a job of murder as:I ever
saw!”

The body was that of a woman who appeared to be in
her early 20’s. Her scalp bore numerous deep wounds
which the officers surmised had been inflicted with a
hammer. Blood clotted her dark hair and covered part
of her face. She was dressed in a brown frock, black shoes
and hose. On her wrist was a watch which had been
smashed. The hands pointed to 10 o’clock—apparently the
time of her death.

‘Coroner Murphy knelt beside the corpse for a closer

SNOOK, James Hey white, electrocuted Ohio a on

: ose ag

LPIA act ia

pay ALKED ‘as’ hover

together “cheeks: touching, and without, And pe ea minutes pelore ‘the a

BE aoe, Both stared fixedly into space, — crowd. ‘of witnesses “was to. he ‘moved. :
backward and forward” in’ the “through the dark: prison yard to the death :

~ guard arrived ‘to escort the woman to ~
if they: heard the: growing, din of | - the -warden’s residence, there to remain

of | with “Mrs. Thomas until after the execu
tion, when she might claim the’ body. picky
ie Outside’ ‘in? “the” “streets” traffic” had i

ee gave no see |

cee

Satcet to wait while death srchet on
% parade. behind the grim gray walls of the.
» prison, - In the. prison lobby. newspaper-

:men in droves. Speake ‘to push” theit -

“turned "yellow. He was bald and his
s -eyes. were ‘like ashes of a dying fire.
But his tread owas firm,” his” ‘shoulders,

ae Mel Mee As
pal ee and a Soe i
faced men. issued into the vant ag
‘The death house was. packed to over=
: '*~ flowing that memorable night, And Dr. *
tbe’ man “was ‘Professor James Snook, = James Snook, uniyersity: “professor and

couricted slayet 0 of his mistress, the Ohio nage famous. fe ‘shot, was per-

cae ‘ ccataucréphe? bhey were strong
as they ‘gripped the soft warm “hands of
yoman wh walked so. quietly, at his

_ appearance “of” a ‘man “whose name had A
been in ee ia pate to coast.

bor WOE ey iste” Calmly he ‘stepped ‘up and seated
BY She! oe es last. few! minutes. ys himself, hands folded in his lap, He sat
é ihe veteran an warden, Preston E. Thomas. earth

to adjust the electrodes. Tn the audience
of © _ ‘witnesses - - there” were men* he’ had .
~known, but there was ae. sign re recog-

= the thin, yellow, ace Re ae

pay

Ped ‘Yife’a ‘dean and’ inspiring thing = But" even ‘in ‘the picture “of. rae aa

Vite,

“and, before the’ man in his weakness had bit

coveted a girl” young. enough’ ‘to be his’ almost courageous. ~
i daughter, ‘This ‘was their: final. fare- lt was the courage of a fine, f faithful

sah

a Usigue in Ohi tory
was this last. scene in the stirring drama
ae the. pau a ae the: curtain falls i in

ey Her strength was in 1 him even as he 4
awaited’ the first ‘terrible explosion of —
a * electricity in his frail body. And there —
yas no strength left in’the body of the

sobbing woman: who ‘sat and waited in: A
, ot

a Peychnan’ s ae ‘and forgivents ‘that’ ‘a
= warden’ s heart had: been. ‘touched, eee $0

- Edgefield.

2 a2 wld 30 e

Blood Feud!

(Continued from page 19)

making several little purchases to kill time.
He had then emptied his gun into his
victim.

Sheriff Allen in Edgefield was notified
at once of this accusation and, together with
Deputy W. L. “Doc” Clark’ and Solicitor
Griffith of Edgefield, he went to Spartan-
burg that Thursday night. Bagwell was

arrested and turned’ over to the Edgefield

officers, who lodged him in the Newberry
County jail late that same night.

Bagwell was positively identified as the
man who did the killing by both Mrs.
Timmerman and Clyde Bledsoe, but he
maintained his innocence until late Satur-
day night. At this time his confidence
seemed to crack and he-announced that he
would tell the truth.

Bagwell named an officer of the Spartan-
burg police force as the man who had se-
cured his services in the killing and “who
had actually accompanied him to the scene
of the crime.

“He was right out in the car all the time,
hidden under a coat in the back seat,” said
Bagwell.

He named this man as Police Officer
Joe Frank Logue. This man was well
known to Sheriff Allen, for he was his own
second cousin, the son of the deceased Joe
Frank Logue, who was the brother of
George and Wallace Logue.

Logue and Bagwell had first gotten to-
gether on the matter of the killing one
morning during the previous summer when
Bagwell met Officer Logue walking his

beat on the Main Street of Spartanburg. .

Bagwell said he thought the officer must
have been joking when he asked him if he
would like to make $500 by killing a man.
He said he was pretty broke at the time
and he had replied, “Sure, I would kill
every man in Spartanburg for that much
money.”

At the invitation of the officer, Bagwell
had visited his home several times during
the following weeks. Drinks had been
served and the men had further discussed
the details of the proposed killing. “Officer
Logue told Bagwell that a wealthy family
wanted the man killed because he had killed
a member of the family and had been ac-
quitted in the courts. He told Bagwell that
they would pay him $500 just as soon as
the man was dead.

Logue and Bagwell visited a pawnshop
in Spartanburg where Bagwell had picked
out a .38 revolver which the officer pur-
chased for him. On one occasion Officer
Logue drove Bagwell down to Edgefield
County to look over the scene of the pro-
posed crime.

Wednesday, September 17, was set by
Logue as the day for the shooting. By
prearrangement the two men met outside
of Spartanburg on the highway leading to
Logue was driving a car that
Bagwell had not seen before and he kept
the wheel until they were within a mile
of the scene.

The officer then climbed into the back
seat of the car and concealed himself under
a coat. Bagwell drove up before the Tim-
merman store. He did not see Timmer-
man in the store at this time. To hide the
purpose of his presence he asked a woman
working in a yard across the road the dis-
tance to Edgefield. He and Logue then
drove on down the highway to Saluda and
killed some time. They “killed” some
whiskey, too, from a quart bottle that the
policeman had brought along.

Near dark they saw that Timmerman
was in his store and the officer again con-

INSIDE DETECTIVE, May, 192.

SNOOK, James H., white, elec, Ohio (Franklin County) 2-28-1930,

MASTER DETECTIVE, 5
February, 195k. q

CTERNITY

A COED’S EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITY INSPIRED ONE MAN TO
A THEORY THAT EARNED HIM A
DEGREE OF—DOCTOR OF MURDER!

Theora Hix (top, I.) had romantic secrets which she
did not share with coed roommates in apartment (l.)

Prosecuting Attorney James Chester emphasizes a point in
testimony that built up circumstantial case against killer

inspection. “Her clothes are rain-soaked, yet the ground
beneath her is dry,” he said. “That bears out the evidence
of the watch. She was slain and left here before the big
rain last night.”

Murphy determined that there was a knife puncture in
the left ear, a five-inch slash in the throat and another cut
in the groin. The right hand was badly bruised and the
skin lacerated.

The grass for several feet around the body was trampled,
mute testimony that the girl had fought desperately with
her attacker. In a bare spot of ground nearby were the
tracks of an automobile which had not been completely
obliterated by the rain. The detectives couldn’t find the
victim’s purse, but not far from the body were a broken
key chain and half a dozen keys.

“No means of identification whatever,’ Shellenberger
observed. “Our best bet will be publicity in the afternoon
papers. I’ve got a hunch she may have been a coed.”

Some of the detectives canvassed the few dwellings in
the vicinity of the rifle range. None of the occupants re-
called seeing a car driving out on the range the night be-
fore. Since there was nothing else to be done at the scene,
Coroner Murphy supervised the removal of the body to
the morgue and Chief Shellenberger and his men returned
to headquarters. The detective bureau head gave re-
porters the complete story and a full description of the
murdered girl.

Soon after the newspapers hit.the streets with scream-
ing headlines about the sensational crime, the Bustin
sisters visited the detective bureau.

“We're afraid that the victim might be our roommate,
Theora Hix,” Alice Bustin told Shellenberger. “The de-
scription fits her perfectly, and she failed to come home
last night.”

The girls were rushed to the morgue. They could
scarcely bring themselves to look at the body on the
marble slab, but when they did, they weepingly identified
it as Theora’s remains.

Theora Hix left part-time job at university hospital (top)
at 7:45 P.M., promised she’d return at 9:30—but never did

“Who could have done this to her?” Beatrice sobbed.

“We're hoping you can help us find that out,” Shellen-
berger said. “Tell us everything you can about Theora
Hix.”

The sisters described their roommate’s background, her
career at the university and her actions of the preceding
night.

“How about boy friends?” asked the detective chief.
“We figure one of them may have done it.”

Both girls shook their heads. “Theora must have had
dates at least occasionally—she certainly was goodlooking
enough—but she never confided in us,” Beatrice explained.
“She never once mentioned the name of any man she’d
been seeing.”

“Did she have any other close friends with whom she
might have shared her secrets?”

“No,” Beatrice replied. “I think we were as close to her
as anyone. She’d more or less lost touch with her sorority
sisters.”

Shellenberger thanked the girls and allowed them to go
home, advising them that they might be interviewed again
later and that a search would have to be made of Theora’s
effects.

Coroner Murphy presently. was abfe to give a detailed
report of his examination of the corpse.

“The girl was struck on the head no less than seventeen
times, apparently with a hammer, causing compound
fractures,” he said. “But as nearly as I can determine this
was done after the jugular vein was cut. She must already
have been unconscious from loss of blood. I think the cut
in the groin also was inflicted before the beating. Another
large blood vessel was severed there. The knife wound
in the ear apparently was made in an attempt to reach her
brain.”

Chief Shellenberger whistled in amazement. “It sounds
like the work of a real sadist.”

“Kither that, or a man completely blinded by rage. By
the way, I’ve decided to have the stomach contents ana-
lyzed.”

Murphy added that Theora had not been raped.

Two detectives went to the university hospital and
checked on the time of the victim’s arrival and departure.
Co-workers declared she had appeared to be in good
spirits. Chief Shellenberger and other aides paid a visit
to. Theora’s rooming house on Friday evening.

Their search through Theora’s belongings failed to reveal
any clues until one of the officers came upon a packet of
letters in the back of a dresser drawer. Shellenberger

a eee ee

tik aie Scarpa init

ected, : *
& Wcrive
fo

| chair)
| _@POSE eTeCTIVE
a

He said he had not seen her in’

some time and was able ‘to provide
an airtight alibi for the night of
the murder. :

But in the late afternoon, while
Dr. Snook was still at Headquarters,
a bombshell burst in the case. This
sensation was provided by a woman
who voluntarily appeared at: Head-
quarters with information she felt
obliged to impart to the police.
She was Mrs. R. G. Rose, of High
Street, Columbus. She said that
with her husband she owned’ a
furnished-apartment building on
Hubbard Avenue and that after
reading the afternoon papers, she
felt that a similarity of names and
descriptions would be of police in-
terest.

In the previous February, ‘Mrs.
Rose said, a Mr. Howard Snook
had rented a one-room apartment
from her, explaining that he and his
wife, who were salt demonstrators
from Newark, Ohio, occasionally
needed quarters in Columbus. “From
the papers,’ Mrs. Rose said, “I
would guess that Dr. Snook is the
man and that Theora Hix was the
woman we thought was’ his wife.”

On the previous afternoon, at
around 2:30, Mrs. Rose ‘continued,
Snook had come to see her to say
that he and his “wife” were giving
up the apartment. He paid her the
rent due, said he had removed their
i and left two keys to the
at.

The detectives who heard Mrs.
Rose determined to take Snook by
surprise. They ushered the woman
into his presence and watched the
result of the meeting. Dr. Snook re-
garded the visitor calmly and said:
“How do you do, Mrs. Rose?”

Naturally, the officers demanded
an explanation from him on two

counts. Why had he obviously lied °

about his relationship to Theora
Hix and why he had given up the
apartment hours before the identity
of the girl found on the rifle range
was public knowledge?

Snook admitted voicing the lie but
coolly declared he had done so out
of expediency. Since he was inno-
cent of the murder, he said, he
saw no reason publicly to admit that
he had been carrying on an -affair
with her. As for giving up the apart-
ment the previous day, he reiterated
that when he had last met Theora,
on Monday, they had agreed to stop
seeing each other and at that time
she'd handed him her key to the
place. But it had not been con- ‘
venient for him actually to give it
up until the previous day.

A flying visit to the Hubbard

street flat caused Detectives Van. -

Skaik, Phillips and McCall to be-
lieve that Snook was still lying—

At trial, killer (reclining in beach
confers with his attorney.

+ ia

probably to cover up murder. For
in the room, they found the brown
felt hat Theora was known to have
~been wearing on the last night of
her life.

Then, at Snook’s home, they un-
covered other incriminating evi-
dence. In the basement was a ball
peen hammer and a penknife, both
of which had been recently washed.
And, in the furnace, the officers
came on the burned remnants of
several feminine garments which
the doctor’s wife declared were not
hers.

Furthermore, in Snook’s car they
found on the upholstery a number
of hairs identical in color and tex-
ture with Theora’s. On the shelf
under the rear window was a blood-
stained cap and pair of gloves. In
addition, the frame of the door: op-
posite the driver showed traces of
blood—as’ if someone’s hand had
been caught in it and crushed.

AT HEADQUARTERS, a battery of
officials confronted Snook with what
they believed was the truth of the
murder. He had met Theora, they
charged, on Thursday night. After-
wards, unknown to him, she had ad-
mitted herself to the Hubbard
Street apartment, and left her hat.
The couple drove to the rifle range,
where, for reasons not immediately
clear, he attacked Theora with a
hammer and then cut her throat. His
‘work done, he had rifled her purse
for the apartment key so ‘that it
could not be traced, and thus his
real connection with the girl ex-
posed. In his.sedrch, Dr. Snook had
‘removed the keys from the ring one
by one until he found the one he
sought. Then, to impede identifica-
tion, he had taken Theora’s purse
and driven home. The next day, he
gave up the apartment.and left with
the landlady both his key and
Theora’s, which he had obtained,
not, as he claimed, on Monday night,

om Raa a ct ee

but minutes after he had killed her.
Faced with this reconstruction of

the crime, Snook doggedly denied -

it and stuck to his position for four
days—until Wednesday, June 19th,
when he confessed in Chief Shellen-
barger’s office. ‘
In his final confession, he de-
clared that while sitting with
Theora in his car, at the rifle range,
she had threatened to harm his
wife if he took her on a planned
vacation. He said she made a mov.
toward her purse and, believing she
carried the derringer in it, he struck
her with the hammer in “self-
defense.” Minutes later, seeing that*
she was suffering, he used the pen-
knife to put her out of her misery.
With Theora Hix murdered, it
was, of course, impossible to get
another version of precisely what
had occurred immediately prior to
her death, Prosecuting officials felt
more inclined to believe that Snook
had killed the girl, not through par-

tial accident, as he claimed, but out .

of some homicidal expression of a
jealous and warped personality
possibly after the girl announced
she would no longer have anything |
to do with him.

‘The jury which listened to. the
evidence in the sensational trial
during the following July and Au-
gust apparently also regarded
Snook’s version of the crime with
considerable skepticism, for they
brought in a verdict of guilty of
murder in the first degree. The pre-
siding justice, Henry Scarlett, sen-
tenced the prisoner to death. On
February 28th, 1930, Dr. Snook was
electrocuted at the Ohio State Peni-
tentiary.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To protect persons
innocently involved in this case, the
names Flora and Louise Gamett and
Mrs. R. G. Rose are fictitious as
used here.

THE END

he Se SED AR ae ee

instructor was led away and locked
in a cell near Snook’s while detectives
hurried out to requestion Summerbell.

The officers who had gone to the
Golf Club returned and reported a
locker-room boy had seen Doctor
Snook there. The Doctor’s wife cor-
roborated his statement that he had
returned home and gone to bed about
9 o’clock the night of the murder, an
hour before the crime was committed.
Stoutish, middle-aged, mother of his
two-year-old daughter, she received
with bravery the news which must
have wrecked her married life. She
had been preparing to leave soon for
a two-week vacation with her husband
and child. Instead, shocked but not
stricken, she went to the police station
and told her husband simply, “I believe
in you, James. You’ll be cleared. Noth-
ing you may have done with this girl
makes any difference to me. Nothing.”

Snook could not reply. He only
gazed at the floor of his cell.

At Meyers’ fraternity house, Sum-
merbell faced detectives a second time.

“Was Meyers with you Thursday
night?”

Summerbell thought hard.

“Yes,” he said. “He was here all
evening—no, wait. He went out for
about a half-hour to mail a letter.”

“Alone?”

“Yes,”

“And he was gone only a half-
hour?”

“About that. I can’t be sure.”

“What time?”

“Ym not certain of that, either.
Sometime near the middle of the eve-
ning, I think around nine o’clock.
Maybe a little later.”

The detectives looked questioningly
at each other. Was that why Meyers
had given a phony alibi first, then
retracted it? Would a half-hour be
enough time?—

|< DIDN’T seem so. Another fraternity
brother corroborated the alibi and
the detectives reported to Chief Shel-
lenbarger.

He shook his head.

“We've got two first-class suspects,”
he said. “But both have alibis. A half-
hour—it’s not enough. What we need
is evidence—concrete evidence and not
theories. If one of those men is guil-
ty—and I’m already positive that one
of them is—he left clews behind him.
It’s our job to find them.”

“But how?” asked a detective.

“We'll search Snook’s house and
Meyers’ fraternity house. I want a
check made of every cleaning estab-
lishment in town. Chances are the
killer got blood on his suit in the
struggle and sent the suit to the clean-
er’s. Let’s get going.”

Detailing half his force to check on
Meyers, Chief Shellenbarger led a
squad to Snook’s home. There he re-
questioned Mrs. Snook, searched every
room of the house—and found nothing.

“It’s not likely he’d leave any traces
of his romance at his own home,”
Shellenbarger said. “We'll try his lab-
oratory.”

To the Ohio State Veterinary Clinic

they drove. The Doctor’s laboratory
smelled of anesthetic and drugs. It
was littered with test-tubes and micro-
scopes and surgical instruments. Chief
Shellenbarger strode to the Professor’s
desk. Methodically he went through
each drawer, scanning every scrap of
paper.

His stubby fingers seized on a
small brown bottle in a bottom drawer.

“Funny,” he murmured, staring at
it. “No label. All the other bottles
are labeled. And this is the only one
in his desk—all the other drugs are
on shelves.”

He pocketed the vial, then resumed
his search of the papers. But none
bore any relationship to the Doctor’s
stolen romance with the slain co-ed.

Yael detectives left and began ques-

tioning employes of the clinic. No,
Doctor Snook had not brought the girl
there at night. No, none of them ever
had suspected a romance.

“Who takes care of the Doctor’s
car?” Shellenbarger asked, and the
stenographer told him William H.
Walker, a groom at the clinic, did.

Shellenbarger found Walker.

“Did you wash Doctor Snook’s car
Friday morning,. the day after the
murder?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Were there any rain-spots on it?”

“Yes, there were. And some mud,

Shellenbarger’s pulse quickened. It
had not rained till after the killing at
10 o’clock, yet Snook had asserted his
car was in the garage for the night by
9 o’clock. Was this an important dis-
crepancy?

Shellenbarger hurried back to his
office and sent the little brown vial out
for analysis. _

His men reported they could find
nothing that incriminated Meyers at
the fraternity house.

But. almost immediately the desk
sergeant brought in a civilian carrying
a gray suit.

“The boys found this fellow,” the
sergeant said. ‘“He’s Newton Fisher,
manager of the Brown Dye House at
100 North High Street.”

“That’s right,” Fisher took up. He
held forward the suit. “Doctor Snook
brought this suit in to be cleaned Fri-
day. There’s some stains on the cuffs
and knees that might be blood.”

Electrified, Shellenbarger seized the
suit. The stains were dark brown.

He said, “Thanks a lot,” and sent
the suit out to have the stains analyzed.

And when Dr. Long’s reports ar-
rived from his chemical laboratory,
Chief Shellenbarger grinned broadly.
He said to Prosecutor Chester:

“Snook’s the one. The blood on his
cap and glove and car and his suit is
human blood. And the brown bottle I
found in his desk contains a love po-
tion—the same drug that Doctor Long
found in Theora’s stomach. Let’s turn
the heat on him.”

They did. For nearly a week they
hammered away at the poker-faced,
watery-eyed professor. Calmly, with
the patience he might have used to ex-

plain a scientific point to a backward
student, he denied his guilt.

But finally he broke. Meeting The-
ora that night, he confessed, he asked
her to go to their secret rendezvous,
but she refused. When they parked at
the deserted rifle range, they quarreled
bitterly over his projected vacation
with his wife and child.

Suddenly, Snook said, Theora
reached for her purse. Fearing she
was going for the gun he had given
her, he seized her arm, bent it back-
wards. They wrestled across the seat
of the darkened coupe. As he pinned
her to the seat and bent over her, his
fingers clutched a hammer. Snarling,
she broke frée, clawed at him. He
smashed at her skull with the hammer
but the blow glanced to her shoulder,
knocked her against the door. The
door flew open and they rolled to the
ground, still locked in a fatal embrace.
He struck her again and again.

Believing her skull fractured, Snook
said, he tried to relieve the pressure
on her brain by piercing her ear with
his jack-knife. But the blade was too
short and, realizing she was suffering
horribly, he slit her throat. She arched
her back, threw back her head,
writhed upward. Her eyes opened and
she stared up at him as he hovered
over her slender body. She died curs-
ing him.

Snook denied having administered
the love potion, declared the gash in
her groin had been inflicted when she
struck the door in the struggle. He
led the officers to the hammer and
knife where he had hidden them.

Before Snook confessed, Meyers had
been released, of course, cleared of any
connection with the crime. No charge
had been placed against him at any
time, although he was dismissed, from
the University faculty because of the
crimson scandal.

Snook was convicted of first-degree
murder by a jury which took only 28
minutes to reject his self-defense plea.
He was electrocuted February 28,
1930, at the Ohio State Penitentiary
at Columbus.

The reporters asked Chief Shellen-
barger:

“Remember that press conference
when you said you were pretty sure
who’d killed her and just needed evi-
dence? Was it Snook you suspected?”

The Chief smiled, answered, “Yes.”

“But how’d you know? You said
you found a clew early in the investi-
gation. What was it?”

“The key. The chain found beside
the body had been broken by the
killer. Why? Obviously to retrieve a
key that might lead to his arrest. Mrs.
Smalley, the woman who ran _ the
rooming-house, said Snook had turned
in two keys—not just one—the after-
noon the body- was found. I knew
that Snook couldn’t have had Theora’s
key unless he killed her. Besides, he
turned them in and checked out at 2
eee The body wasn’t identified until

For another picture with this story
turn to Page 46.

What Every Detective Should Know (Continued trom Page 37)

that the Touhy gang committed the
robbery. He named eight accomplices.
The arrest of this gang solved not only
the Sacramento robbery but several
other major crimes as well. Convic-
tions were obtained all around, al-
though some of the Touhy gang re-
ceived sentences in the eyo Ty 8 cases
before they could be tried for the
mail-car robbery in California.

In the story on page eight of this
issue, “When the Other Woman Had
to Leave,” identification of the victim
depended entirely upon painstaking
tracing of a cleaner’s mark. The sub-
ject of cleaners’ marks has become so
important in many of the more ad-
vanced police departments that the
police are establishing files of cleaners’
and dyers’ numbers, and laundry
marks.

Closely related to laundry and
cleaners’ marks is the subject of man-
ufacturers’ marks, particularly . in

ID—&%

clothing manufacture. Most manufac-
turers have their own marks which
are hidden somewhere in the fabric.
Now, detectives can’t spend their time
studying all these marks, nor even
their location in a specific garment, but
they should know that the possibility
exists of finding such mark or num-
ber and they should know that cloth-
ing found on a victim or on a suspect
always is worth submitting to various
manufacturers for a check-up.
Manufacturers’ marks sometimes are
found in shoes, but one must know
where to look. The first impulse usu-
ally is to look on the inner side of the
shoe where the size number is located.
However, this is of small help and in
many instances, if the shoes have been
worn long, even these numbers no
longer are discernible. This does not
necessarily mean failure. The maker’s
mark or number can be found in the
leather itself, right behind the lining.

So every detective should know that
the mark can be found by ripping out
the lining on the inner sides of the
shoe where it is glued to the leather.

When the mark has been found a
photograph should be made and copies
sent to leading manufacturers. Here
again the mark may not belong to any
of the makers to whom the picture is
sent but they may be able to put the
police on the trail of the company that
did manufacture the shoe. ,

Obviously routine police procedures
of the more skilled type are very im-
portant to the elucidation of criminal
problems. It is true that in many in-
stances it is necessary to call in the
scientific detectives but in the majori-
ty of crimes the police can do the work
themselves if they employ common-
sense methods combined with persis-
tence and hard work. That’s how most
crimes are solved, and that’s how most
of the criminals in jail got there.

Streamline
the MODI

AppearS||Mh

..-ammediat

Tone let your friends poke {
“bay window’’! If the Vito
not make that paunchy belt line appear
it won't cost you a red cent! Whether"N
a fat man” is true or not, it is certain
admires his appearance. If you want :
well-set-up look, just get into a Vito Bc

Safe Girth Contre

No man wants to appear ridiculou:
is more impormt than looks. Take
ugly paunch the safe way... . with :
Excessive exercise may strain your hea:
if you are over 40...dieting and dri
dangerous. The Vito Belt not only gi
military carriage and improves your app
also brings welcome support to strainec
muscles and sagging internal organs.

Support With Com:

The Vito Belt is made in several sty!
illustrated is of pure Para rubber, mo
maximum support. Hundreds of tiny |
allow air to penetrate to the skin surfa
it cool and helping to evaporate the bo:

e speci: ce back permits you to ad
to take care of any change in your si:
same time give you the needed support.

SAGGING ABDOMINAL WALLS MAY CAU

M@ Waistline fat often
stretches and weakens
abdominal muscles,
allowing stomach and
intestines to fall for-
ward and downward.
When these muscles
are comfortably sup-
ported with a Vito Belt
you will feel more like
going places and do-
ing things.

MAKE A 10 DAY TEST... at our

@ You'll never know w!
results are possible unt
the Vito Belt. You owe
self to take advantage o!
T offer,

HAMILTON BELT CO., I
253 Hill Street, New Haven, C
Gentlemen: Send me FREE illus
folder describing the Vito Bel
giving full details of your Trial

spring they'll sell b«
sgl ever, assuring a si
come of profits. NOW

ae tan

wR eR YR OLE OTN TS

,» James H., white, elec. Ohio (Franklin), 2-28-1930,

CORPSE ..

RIFLE RANG

‘She could shoot like a man—

city and its citizens have no
insular point of view. But. its
citizens, like those of many a

os, Geen OHIO, IS a large

- rural town, recognize — sensation

when- they see it—and experience
shock. With the events that began
one warm Friday in July, the city
of Columbus realized it had a sen-

sation on its hands and prepared

to absorb every detail of it.

At 11 that morning, police offi-
cials of Columbus.and Franklin
County were called to the New York
Central Rifle Range, five miles out-
side the city, to view the body of
a young girl, which two. boys at
play had stumbled on.

The investigators took one look
and realized that the victim, who
lay in the tall weeds about 100
feet back of the east target, had
been beaten on the face and head
with a blunt instrument and that
her throat had been cut.

The girl appeared to be in her
early 20’s and, in spite of her bat-
tered condition, seemed, to have
been quite attractive. Her luxuriant
hair was long and brown. She was
fully clothed, except for a hat. In

addition, a usual accessory—a pock-
etbook—was missing.

Before supervising the removal.

of the body for autopsy, Coroner
Joseph Murphy made an on-the-
spot examination and _ declared:
“Dead since some time betwee
8 and 10 last night.” :
An inspection of.the area near
where the girl had lain caused the
officers to draw two conclusions.

. First, because of copious patches

of dried and darkened blood, they

‘believed that she had been killed
where she lay. Secondly, two sets
of tire tracks in the tall weeds, .

leading in and out of the field, sug-
gested that she had been driven to
the scene of her death by her mur-
derer, who had then driven off.
After the investigators had con-
ferred, it was agreed that City De-
tective Larry Van Skaik would re-
main at the rifle range, to oversee
the cutting of grass on the field so
that every inch of the terrain might
be examined minutely. ‘Meanwhile,
county officers under Sheriff Harry
Paul began inquiries in the imme-
diate neighborhood. City Detectives
Otto Phillips and Robert McCall set
out for Columbus in the hope that a

but she loved like a woman!

check of missing persons lists might.

yield a clue to the girl’s identity.
By late afternoon, however, this
question gemained unanswered, but

other elements in the case became .
- known. The coroner reported that

examination of the corpse showed
the throat wounds had been the
primary cause of death and that a
further injury had been inflicted.
Three of the fingers of the girl’s
right hand had been.crushed at the
third joints.

Detective Van Skaik, his scrutiny
of the mown field completed, ap-
peared at Columbus Police Head-
quarters and told his colleagues
that he had found. 12 keys near
where the girl’s body had. lain.

. Three were attached to a key ring

but the other nine lay scattered
about, apparently after having been
removed from the ring.

Then, shortly after five P.M., a
phone call to Headquarters cleared
up the mystery of the young vic-
tim’s identity. The caller was Miss
Flora Gamett, of Neil Avenue, who
was concerned about the disappear-
ance of her roommate, Theora Hix.
“When Theora’ didn’t come home
last night,” Miss Gamett explained,

EXPOSE DETECTIVE

|
4
;
j

ag nse

she ei
—-

—
7

eg 8

' friends.

“T thought she was staying with
But I’ve been unable to
locate her and I’m worried.” ’

Miss GAMETT’S. description of
Theora Hix was strikingly similar
to that of the dead girl. Conse-
quently, Phillips and McCall re-
quested her to accompany them

to the undertaking establishment ‘

where the body lay. There Miss
Gamett made an immediate and
positive identification. :

Back at the Neil Avenue apart-
ment, which was situated on the
edge of the Ohio State University

campus, the investigators talked at

length with Flora Gamett and her

sister, Louise, who also shared the

flat. “We don’t. know too much
about Theora,” the girls said.
“We've ‘had this place only a few
months. Before ‘that Theora lived
in one of the campus dormitories.”
But the Gamett sisters did have
some information.

Theora, they said, was 24 and a
second-year medical student. They
knew, too, that her father was a
retired college professor, living in
Florida. But as for her personal
friends and associates, they de-
clared that Theora had never chosen
to discuss them. ;

Concerning their roommate’s
movements of the previous evening,
the Gamett sisters declared that
Theora had left the house shortly
after dinner, bound for the Uni-
versity Hospital. They understood
that she had obtained a summer job
there as a switchboard operator and
the night before, she was to receive
some pre-job training.

Before leaving the apartment,
the. detectives searched Theora’s
room but it yielded nothing that
seemed a genuine clue. But one
arti¢le, found in a bureau drawer,
intrigued the two detectives. This
was. a loaded, old-fashioned .41
caliber derringer pistol.

NExtT, PHILLIPS AND McCall visited
the University Hospital, where they

talked with an operator who had —

been on switchboard duty the night
before. “‘Theora came here,” the girl
confirmed, “about 7, I gave her in-
structions: at the board until 7:45,
when she told me: ‘Ill have to
leave now, because I’m late for a
date. I’ll be back between 9 and
9:30.’” But Theora had never re-
turned.

By now it was late in the eve-
ning and Phillips and McCall de-
cided to wait until morning for the
pursuit of further inquiries. In go-
ing over what they had learned thus
far, both were struck by the fact
that Theora had been described as
having worn a brown. felt hat and
having carried a brown pocketbook.
Both were missing now.

The next day, Saturday, saw sen-

.Detectives Shellenbarger,

sational developments. Detectives
Van Skaik, Phillips and McCall,
under the instructions of Chief: of
devoted
all their time to the case, inter-
viewed campus classmates of the
dead girl and administrative per-
sonnel. From the latter they learned
that Theora’s record had been a
good one and that her summer job
in the University Hospital was not
the first time she had been employed
on the campus. Three years before,
she’d worked as a secretary in the
School of Veterinary Medicine.
From the girl’s classmates, the
investigators got their first intima-
tion of a romance in the case.

ey,

University co-ed Theora Hix. Police
found her body on deserted rifle range.

Theora, they learned, had frequent-

ly been seen in the company of a _
* young -agricultural researcher and

it was believed the two had once
been engaged. The detectives visited
his fraternity house, only to learn
that the day before he had gone to
one of the university’s experiment
stations, at Bono, Ohio. Machinery
was set in motion for the young
man’s return for questioning. "
’ The name of another man en-
tered the case when the detectives
visited the dormitory where Theora
had lived before moving into the
Neil Avenue apartment. There they
talked with a watchman.

“I remember the Hix girl,” the .

watchman declared. “More than

once I turned my back when she .

came in after hours. She was always

driven up in a blue Ford coupe and

was always with the same man—

Dr. Snook, of the Vet School.”
The detectives were familiar

with the name of Dr. James Howard

. Snook. For, aside from his status as

a member of the teaching staff of

_ glistened

the School of Veterinary Medicine,
the doctor was a crack shot. Dr.
Snook had been a member of the
American Olympic team, had once
been the world’s champion rapid-
and-slow fire pistol shot dnd six
times had been the American
champion. Furthermore, they knew
he had appeared in competition
against the Columbus Police De-
partment team at the» New York
Central Rifle Range. But more to the
point, Snook, a married man, had
been linked to Theora in a manner
which was certainly irregular.
By noon, the detectives had pick-

faa"

ed up Snook at his West 10th ~~

Avenue home and were questioning
him at Headquarters. The doctor, a
balding, impassive-looking individ-
ual of 49, regarded his interrogators
with inscrutable, cold eyes, which
through - steel-rimmed
spectacles.

“I don’t. deny having known
Theora,” he declared, “but our re-
lationship was purely innocent. I
was interested in helping her in
her medical studies. And besides,
she wanted to learn how to shoot.
We did a lot of practicing together
and I even gave her a .41 der-
ringer. I’m distressed to learn that
she is dead—but I know nothing
about it. I haven’t seen her since
last Monday.”

When asked for an account of his
movements on the previous Thurs-
day evening—the night of the mur-
der—Snook readily answered. He

« said that after dinner, he had work-

ed at his office in the university
until 7:45. Then, in his car, he went
to the Greenwood Country Club,
where he picked up a pair of glasses
he’d left. His next stop was a drug-
store near his home to buy some
newspapers. His purchases made, he
proceeded to his house. He worked
in his room, which he _ occupied
alone, for a couple of hours and then
went to bed.

BY MID-AFTERNOON, his alibi had
been checked, with results that
proved -nothing: The only person
who definitely remembered seeing
the professor on Thursday evening
was a locker boy at the country
club, who recalled a conversation
with Snook sometime before 8:30.
The doctor’s wife declared that at
9:30, alone in her room, she had
heard a door slam and assumed it
was her husband, home for the
night. But she did not actually see
him until after 11, when she went
to the kitchen. At that time, he was
fixing himself a late snack from the
icebox.

The next development that Satur-
day afternoon concerned the agri-
cultural expert, who had returned

‘from the Bono experiment station.

He admitted he had been in love
with Theora and had offered to
marry her but had_been rejected.

EXPOSE DETECTIVE

Seen

ee ee

Doctor Snook—The Mutilat

Arrow points to the window of the
love nest maintained by Doctor Snook
with Miss Hix on Hubbard Avenue

STERILIZATION bill was introduced recently

in the New York Legislature, designed to re-

store a State law passed in 1912 and held to be
unconstitutional in 1918, It is altogether too mild a
bill, providing only for the treatment of mental de-
fectives already in institutions. But it is a step in the
right direction. I mention it so that | may quote the
important testimony of its sponsor, State Senator Mar-
tin W. Deyo. After pointing out that cmd half of
the 13,000 men, women and children in New York asy-
lums could be paroled and sent home if danger of
reproduction were eliminated, he said:

“California found that six out of seven sterilized
patients paroled made rota 8 4 readjustments. A
recent survey in Erie arpank N. Y., showed that only
one In twenty paroled (and unsterilized) patients was
able to do this,”

Of course, any law on the subject should be ex-
tended to take in habitual criminals, congenital drunk-
ards and particularly all sexual perverts whose conduct
brings them, even once, into a court of justice. Wher-
ever sterilization is practised, it has been found that
this treatment calms and normalizes antisocial persons
no less than feeble-minded ones.

The type against which we must be most on guard
is the sadist, or monster who associates sex with blood
and cruelty. Doctor Von Krafft-Ebing, the great Vien-
nese psychiatrist, charts sadism as being the vice of
obtaining lustful sensations from bodily punishment,
whether inflicted upon oneself, upon other human be-
ings, Or upon animals. This takes in the flagellant who
uses the whip, and the masochist who wants his lover
‘o torture him, It, readily culminates in murder, with
mutilation of the victim after death as the final display
of morbidity.

EDUCATION and mental brilliance are no safeguards
against crime, if the subject is tainted with sadism.
his was made clear by the Leopold and Loeb case,
which | have already described in this series. But the
two dreadful Chicago boys’ were homosexual, megalo-

20 é

SNOOK, James H., white, elec. Ohio (Franklin) February 28, 1930,

ing Professor

How Ruch Better for the

Doctor James
Howard Snook
when he was
Olympic Cham-
pion pistol shot.
His interest in
the hobby was
maintained to
within a few
hours of his
committing
murder

Bloodstained
clothing, the
hammer and
the knife as
presented in
evidence at the
trial of Doctor
Snook

State of Ohio If Instead of
One Monster's Conviction It
Had Demanded Insurance,
Through Sterilization, Against
Sexual Delinquents Being Born

By Ex-Operative 48

maniac, unwholesomely precocious; they lacked balance,

What can be said about an older man, married
and lately a father, who starts a physically normal affair
with a girl and turns it into an orgy of sadism with
homicide at the finish? Is that not even more terrify-
ing, from the viewpoint of public safety, than the iso-
lated phenomenon of Leopold and Loeb?

UCH a case occurred a few years ago in Ohio, a

State by the way which so far has refused to adopt
a sterilization law. The principals were Doctor James
Snook, educator and authority on veterinary medicine,
and Theora Hix, a twenty-five-year-old student at Ohio
State University. Much of the evidence was so shock-
ing that the newspapers could not print it. Pamphlets
surreptitiously copied from the record were peddled as
obscene literature at fancy prices,

My interest is in unmasking the danger to society
of men like Doctor Snook. ‘Truth always is better
than evasion, and while it would be impossible to tell
every sadistic detail that came to light, | propose to
go as far in that direction as the law permits, furthering
the object I have just stated.

Two boys, aged fifteen and sixteen, went on the
morning of+ June 14, 1929, to the New York Central
Rifle Range, on Fisher Road, five miles northwest of
Columbus, Ohio. They were there to do some target
shooting. But as they were settling upon a spot at
which to stand, they stumbled on a body lying face

downward in tall weeds. A glance was enough to reveal
that it was that of a young woman, and that she was
not only dead but mutilated in a shocking manner.

The boys rushed, terror-stricken, to call the Police.
Officers and the Coroner reached the spot a little after
eleven o’clock.

It was found that the head of the dead girl had
been struck repeatedly with some blunt instrument,
and that the skull was punctured in several places, The
interior of the right ear had been gouged out with a
knife, obviously in an attempt to reach the brain, The
throat had been slashed deeply, and the jugular vein
severed. There was a bruise on the left shoulder. The
back and abdomen had been laid open with murderous,
crisscross slices. Three of the fingers of the right hand
Were crushed across the third joint, the little finger
ai, squashed flat and the flesh mangled.

he body. was clothed in a brown dress, white
stockings and black shoes. The right hand clutched a
bloody handkerchief. It was at once noticed that
though the underwear was pierced over the abdomen,
there were no corresponding holes in the dress, Yet
the back of that same gown was cut to tatters, A man’s
watch on the wrist had stopped at precisely ten o'clock.

LTHOUGH a great deal of blood must have poured

out of the wounds, only a coagulated pool under
the head remained visible. There had been rain the
Previous night, and most of the blood had been beaten
into the soil or washed away.

The general impression was that of a girl about
twenty years old, with long brown hair. But there was
no immediate way of identifying her. No purse or
handbag had been discovered. The wrist-watch did not
carry initials, Laundry marks were strangely lacking on
all her garments, as well as on the blood-soaked hand-
kerchief,

Clearly an automobile had played a part in the
tragedy. The weeds had been crushed by wheeltracks
which entered by the south gate to the rifle range, de-
scribed a semicircle passing the spot where the body lay
and departed through the north gate. This trail, how-
ever, had been rendered indistinct by the rain. The

car might or might not have been parked at the scene

; the murder. The tracks of other machines were

sible here and there across the field, for the location

as a favorite one with petting parties, and was known
to the residents of Columbus as “Shirt-Tail Alley.”

After the usual official routine of taking photo-
graphs, et cetera, the body was removed to the cit
morgue and a check-up of missing girls was ordered.
The early editions of evening papers spread the news,

false alarm or two resulted. Then, at
4:45 in the afternoon, a girl telephoned to
report the disappearance of her roommate,
Miss Hix. The latter had left home at 7
p. m. the preceding night, to make inquiries
about a Summer job as a telephone operator,
and had not returned. She had unbobbed
hair and wore a man’s watch, her father’s,
on her right wrist.

LICE BUSTIN, the girl who telephoned,

her sister Beatrice and another woman,
were ordered to come to the morgue. These
three identified the victim promptly as
Theora Kathleen Hix, twenty-five, a sopho-
more in the pre-medics department of Ohio
State University.

Miss Hix was the daughter of Melvin T.
Hix, an instructor in medicine at Bradenton,
Florida. She had lived in Columbus for six
years, the first four as a regular student at
the University, and since her graduation in

The section of the New York Central Rifle
Range, showing the spot where the body of
Theora Kathleen Hix was found and, below,
a portrait study of the Ohio State University
student murdered and horribly mutilated

le a.)

1927 as a medical student. She was described by her
friends and teachers as a hard-headed, studious girl,
very ambitious to be a doctor, fond of athletics and
apparently disinterested in men. She even had the
reputation of being a feminist who sneered at love,
who occasionally let boys take her out but laughed
at them behind their backs, who would not discuss sex
impulse except in terms of scorn,

Ho” deceptive was this view of Theora Hix, will

.., soon become plain, The dead girl had learned the
trick of wearing a mask to hide her real self. She had
a wide thin-lipped mouth, which gave her a
| Say oo cryptic expression and had earned
or her the nickname of “the girl with the
Mona Lisa smile.”

The Columbus city detectives, headed
by Chief W. G, Shellenbarger, understood
from the beginning that her murder prob-
ably was a sex crime. The shrewdly saw a
connection between her medical interests and
the expert manner _in which her body had
been mutilated. They doubted whether a
layman would have had the technical skill
to locate and sever the jugular vein, or the
knowledge that the brain easily could be
reached by puncturing the ear-drum.

They considered it likely that Theora
had been having an affair with a man who
worked in the same field of study as herself.
Therefore, they regarded all her fellow medi-
cal students as suspects. And her instructors
were not immune,

It was supposed by the detectives that a
postmortem examination would show the
girl to have been an expectant mother. That
proved not to be the case, and a strong pre-
sumptive motive for the killing fell through.
But the a did furnish a startling piece
; of evidence. There were traces of an aphro-
disiac in the stomach. Theora Hix not only was not a
virgin, but she had indulged in artificial means of stim-
ulating sexual passion.

The solution of the mystery was fated to depend
upon strange and unexpected clews. An interview with
the Bustin sisters at the apartment they had shared
with Theora revealed that the dead girl always carried
a brown purse with a green clasp, which contained
among other things a bunch of thirteen keys. She had
taken this purse with her when she went out Thursday
night, though she had worn neither a hat nor a coat.
It long had been her habit to leave every afternoon at
five o'clock and not to return until about ten in the
evening. It was not known what she did with herself
during these hours. The name of a thirty-five-year
old instructor in the horticultural department of the
University, Marion T, Meyers, was mentioned in con-
nection with her by the Bustins. He had taken Theora
out several times, She had owned a revolver, and this
was found undisturbed in a drawer. The gun was re-
arded as significant, but the bot tip proved in time to
= the information about Theora’s thirteen keys.

Cyess were given to question Meyers. It tran-

spired that he had appeared at the morgue, and
the Coroner had allowed him to look at the body. But
Meyers then had gone to the University’s agricultural
station at Bono, Fle was to return shortly, and in the

meantime detectives talked to a friend of his named

Summerbell. The latter declared that not Meyers, but
another member of Ohio’s teaching staff, was the man
who really knew the secret of Theora’s end. Meyers
had been jealous of this man, because Theora had
shown a preference for him. After considerable urg-
ing, Summerbell brought out the name.

It was that of Doctor James Howard Snook, pro-
fessor of veterinary medicine and one of the most re-
markable personalities connected with Ohio State.

BY Saturday evening, less than thirty-six hours after
the mutilated body had been discovered, both Snook
and Meyers had been brought to Police Headquarters
for interrogation. Physically they bore a certain re-
semblance to each other, They were scholarly-looking,
they were stocky, they were almost totally bald. In
other respects they differed utterly. Meyers was timid
and evasive; of the two, he seemed by far the more
Jikly to be guilty. Doctor Snook remained from start
to finish as cool as the proverbial cucumber.

The Police hoped for several days that they would

Mrs. Snook, wife of the con-
victed orgy-murderer, mother of
his child

be able to incriminate Marion T.
Meyers. But as nothing came of this
and Meyers presently was discharged,
there is no point in going into the
false leads concerning him. Snook
was the man against whom: the evi-
dence piled up slowly and ‘remorse-
lessly, until he stood revealed as a
psychopathic criminal, a monster fit
to be listed among the gruesome case-
histories of Doctor Krafft-Ebing’s
Psychopathia Sexualis.

E did not commit the error of
denying an intimate and clan-
destine friendship with Theora Ilix.
He had admired the girl, he said, and
believed that she had a future in
medicine. Since he was married and
had a baby, it had not been politic
for him to see Theora too openly.
But he had taken walks with her, dis-
cussed her problems and even had
given her money to finance her way
through college. There had been
nothing wrong in their relationship;
he held to this assertion blandly and
persuasively. On the night of the
murder, he said, he had talked with
Theora for a few minutes at one of
the gates of the University, had
visited the Scioto golf links to re-
trieve a pair of spectacles, had called
at a drug store to make a purchase,
and then had gone home.
Snook seemed to be on the level.
His wife and other witnesses con-
’ firmed his alibi, though vaguely. His
release was being contemplated—
when suddenly three or four damning
facts came to light.
It was learned that he had sent
a gray suit to be cleaned on Friday
morning, and had been observed
washing his car, a blue Ford coupe.
The suit was seized. On the lining
inside the sleeves, and on the trous-

ers at the knees, traces of blood still could be found.
An examination of the car revealed bloodstains on the
right pig ores This. last_was considered significant in

view of Theora’s crushed fingers. Such an injury read-
ily could have been suffered by the slamming of the
door of the coupe on her hand. Samples of the blood
from both suit and car were sent to an expert for analy-
sis.

Before a report could be obtained, a surprise wit-
ness volunteered in the person of a Mrs. M. M. Smalley.
She declared that she ran a furnished apartment house
on Hubbard Avenue, and had rented a room the pre-
ceding February to a strange couple. The man. had
given his name as Snook, and he resembled the pictures
of the Professor which lately had appeared in the papers.
The woman he had said was his wife resembled Miss
Hix. She agreed to look the prisoner over, but asked
that he be brought in wearing a hat, as she never had
seen him without one.

The moment he arrived, accompanied by a turnkey,
the landlady greeted him: “Good evening, Mr. Snook.”

To Save His Life Doctor Snook Gave Testi-
mony, True or False, Among the Most As-

tounding—Certainly the Most Cowardly—
Eyer Presented in An American Courtroom

_ The detectives were amazed to see the doctor smile,
his nerve unshaken. “Good evening, Mrs. Smalley,” he
answered steadily,

Asked whether he knew the woman well and had
been a tenant of hers, he nodded. There was no longer
any sense in denying that Theora Hix had been his

- mistress, he went on to explain. He had tried to shield

her name, and surely no one would criticize him for
that. But now that Mrs. Smalley had been dragged
into it, he might as well acknowledge that his relations
with Theora had been going on for three years. The
Hubbard Avenue place had been an attempt at perman-
ency. They had met there most days of the week be-
tween 5 and 10 p.m. It had been indiscreet of him to
sign the register with his correct name, but he had done
so without reflecting. In her dealings with the landlady,
the late Miss Hix had perforce called herself Mrs. Snook.

The Professor's candor was helping him. But Mrs.
Smalley now threw a bombshell. On Friday, June 14,
the day of the discovery of Theora’s body, Snook had
gone to the Hubbard Avenue house, had paid some back
rent and had turned over to Mrs, Smalley both his own
and Miss Hix's key to the apartment. He had said:
“My wife will stay on until Sunday, but | must leave
at once.” The hour was then between 2 and 3 in the
afternoon, at least three hours before the body found
on the rifle range had been identified. :

NOOK naturally denied that he had known Theora
was dead. But he could not account satisfactorily
for the fact that her key had been in his possession.
Had it been one of the bunch of keys which she always
carried? If so, where were the other keys? And where
was her handbag, in which they doubtless had reposed?
fresh search was made among the tall weeds
where the body had lain. This time it was successful.
he key-ring was picked up, broken. Scattered in a half-
circle were twelve keys, one to the flat she had shared
with the Bustin girls, and others that fitted trunks and
safety-deposit boxes. The key to Mrs. Smalley’s furn-
ished apartment building had been the thirteenth on
that ring. Snook had taken it from her, and he could
only have done so immediately before or immediately
after her death.

The Police and the County authorities hesitated no
longer. An indictment for murder in the first degree
was drawn against Doctor James Howard Snook, He
pleaded not guilty in common pleas court, and the trial
was set for July 22, the earliest possible date. He pre-
viously had signed an evasive “confession,” which read
in part as follows:

_ “On the thirteenth of June of this year, | met Miss
Hix at the corner of Twelfth and High Streets in the

Doctor Snook as he rested during a
forced recess at his trial when his strength
threatened to give way in collapse

city of Columbus, Ohio, when we both got into my
Ford coupe and proceeded to drive to Lane Avenue and
then west out to the Fisher Road and to the Columbus
Rifle Range of the New York Central Railroad Com-
pany, during which she remonstrated with me against
leaving the city with my family for the week-end, as |
had previously planned to do.

“She threatened that if I did go, she would take the
life of my wife and baby. During this quarrel, she grab-
bed for the purse in which she sometimes carried a 41-
caliber derringer which | had given her, In the struggle,
she was hit on the head with a hammer with the intent
to stun her. .

“She continued desperately, and an increasing num-
ber of blows of increasing force was necessary to stop
her. Realizing then, no doubt, that her skull was frac-
tured and to relieve her suffering, | severed her jugular
with my pocket-knife. ‘

“I then proceeded to pick up the things that had
been scattered during the struggle, and hurriedly left
the scene of the struggle, leaving her body at that point.

What Greater Menace to Society Than the
Middle-Aged Man, Married an Lately a

Father, Who Starts an Affair with a Girl and
Turns into An Orgy of Sadism and Homicide?

The instrument which | used to quiet her was a hammer
which was laying on the back of the seat of the Ford.

“After leaving the rifle range, | then proceeded to
go home, tossing the purse from the quarry bridge into
the Scioto River on my way. After the struggle was
over, | discovered the gun was not in the purse,”

To prepare one’s mind for the grotesque revelations
which Snook made latér on the witness stand, it is neces-
sary to know something about the man’s background
and his peculiar character.

He was regarded as an excellent veterinary surgeon
and teacher of the subject. But in another field he was
actually a genius. One of the best revolver marksmen
ever developed in the United States, he had been the
world’s champion rapid and slow fire pistol shot, Amer-
ican champion rapid and show fire pistol shot six times,
and a member of the American Olympic team in 1920,

>" the afternoon .of ‘June 11, 1929, two days before

he murdered Theora Hix, he had made one of a
team of five from the Columbus Revolver Club which
had competed against the Police Revolver Club of the
same city. The meet had taken place on the ver rifle
range which was soon to be a scene of tragedy. Stand-
ing a few yards from the spot where he parked his car
with the doomed girl, Snook had run up the second
highest score of the day, 264 points. Without his aid,
the team of business ‘and professional’ men probably
would not have defeated the policemen, as they. did.

Returning to: the range by himself on Thursday,
June 13, he practised with light, and heavy bullets from
the same revolver, in order to study the way in which
precision was affected by the heavier load. He went
straight from this pursuit of a hobby to his last ren-
dezvous with Theora.

1 do not mean that his revolver shooting had any-
thing to do with the form of homicide that followed,
But it takes cold and steady nerves to make a marks-
man, nerves that would. be unlikely to flinch at. the
mechanics of butchery with no matter what weapon,
Doctor Snook was fond of demonstrating that he could
stand for five minutes with his ‘index finger pointing at
the wall, and no one could detect the slightest wavering
of the finger.

That a man with such powers of physical control
should Jet himself go in orgies of perverted lust, how-
ever, was decidedly odd. It argued a double personal-
ity, many times more dangerous to society than is the
weak moron whose vices are all on the surface.

In eee relationships Doctor Snook was dom-
ineering, selfish and arrogant. He was not popular.
Underlings who had to serve him at clubs and restaur-
ants complained of his brusque, conceited manner to-
wards them. :

His ancestry was not suspect. Nor was that of

Theora Hix. Short of some culmin-
ating deed of violence, such as occur-
red in this case, it was unlikely that
Doctor Snook would have come into
contact with the law, Yet he could
have been ferretted out by an alert
Police in a State wise enough to pro-
vide for the sterilization of men of
his type. A simple little operation,
harmless to the sex life of the individ-
ual, but sobering in its effect upon un-
natural impulses—and the tragedy of
the Columbus rifle range almost cer-
tainly never would have occurred.

Despite his confession, Snook put
up a determined fight for acquittal,
or at least a mild sentence on the
grounds of insanity. Ile was defend-
ed by attorneys John F. Seidel, E. O.
Ricketts and Max C. Seyfert. A sep-
arate hearing on the insanity plea re-
sulted in psychiatrists declaring him
to be perfectly normal. The verdict
was dubious, yet from the legal point
of view hé could not be called men-
tally incompetent. This line of de-
fense was voluntarily abandoned by
the professor.

He went on trial july 24, two
days late, with Jack C ester, known
as Handsome pack, as the chief prose-
cutor. It took six days to get a jury,
which finally was composed of eleven
men and one woman,

i IE State submitted that the blood-

Stains on the lining of the sleeves
of Snook’s gray suit, as well as on the
door-jamb of his car, were of human
origin. The penknife and the ham-
mer used to kill ‘Theora were offered
in evidence. The accused identified
them. The knife was still smeared
with human blood.

Yet if a first-degree conviction
were to be obtained, it was necessary
for the State to prove premeditation.
It was argued that although Snook
might have struck with the hammer
in a moment of passion, his cutting
of the girl’s throat had been premed-
itated. His own version of this rose
up to damn him. He—the expert
veterinary surgeon—had said that he
had severed her jugular vein in order

Even after full confession and conviction, this man could find
it in his heart to be gay. Underlings called him “brusque,
conceited, domineering, selfish, arrogant”

“to relieve her suffering.” After realizing that he had
injured her mortally, he had finished her off as he would
have finished a maimed horse or dog in his operating
theater..

The argument was perfectly clear. And the routine
evidence, as | have already outlined it, remained fool-
proof,

If Snook was to be saved, he would have to save
himself by going on the witness stand.and revealing new
facts. It is an axiom of English Jaw that no accused
murderer can be forced to give testimony one way or
the other. He may choose to stand or fall by what the
State can prove against him. In other words, the State
may not call him. But he may elect to call himself.
In that event, he lays himself open to cross-examination.
The peril is very great, unless the man is innocent. But
there have been cases in which it was the only possible
resort of a guilty man, and this was such a case.

§ Nook took the stand, for ten hours of direct testi-

mony and seven hours of cross-questioning. The
result was far more sensational than any one had dream-
ed it would be. Snook, who up till then had posed as
a man of honor, threw all reticence to the winds. He
was no longer squeamish about the reputation of his
dead mistress. He told the story of their sex relations
in every revolting detail, with the object of showing
that the dead girl’s sadistic aberrations had undermined
his senses, True or false, it was one of the most. as-
tounding, and also one of the most cowardly, pleas ever
made in an American courtroom.

Briefly, Doctor Snook claimed that he and Theora
had practised weird cruelties upon each other, because:
she had required them as an (Continued on Page 38)

Three Columbus, Ohio, officials who aided
the state’s case materially: From left, Otto
Phillips, Robert MeCall, Larry van Shaik

BY LEWIS THOMPSON

‘Be weeds grew tall back of the targets on the New York
Central Rifle Range, five miles northwest of Columbus,
Ohio. The range fronted on Fisher Road, and its convenient
proximity to the city caused it to be used by shooting
enthusiasts there, including the membership of the Colum-
bus Police Revolver Club. Periodically, the members of the
club held shoots on the range, to improve their skill.
Shortly after 11, on the morning of Friday, June 14, 1929,
Columbus officers had cause to visit the grounds on much
more serious business—the business of murder.

Earlier in the morning, two boys reveling in the exclusive
occupancy of the field, had found themselves in the tall
grass behind the east target. Their search for empty shells
was abruptly halted when they came across the body of a
young woman. The alarm raised by the boys brought to
the scene representatives of Franklin County, which had
technical jurisdiction over the area, and city detectives
from the Columbus force. Among those who responded
were Sheriff Harry T. Paul, Constable John Guy, Coroner
Joseph Murphy, and City Detectives Larry Van Skaik,
Otto Phillips, and Robert McCall.

No professional interpretation was needed to suggest the
manner of the girl’s death. Her head had been brutally
beaten in, and her throat bore the marks of vicious slashes,
inflicted by a sharp weapon. The weeds and ground around
her were covered with blood, and it was obvious that the
murder had been committed on the spot. She appeared to
be in her early 20s, and, contrary to the bobbed-haired
fashion of the times, wore hers becomingly long. Her anly
adornment was a man’s wrist watch, strapped to her left
wrist. The body was fully clothed, except for a hat, and
the clothing expensive and well tailored. A search of the
area immediately adjacent to where she lay, failed to bring
to light any pocketbook or purse she might have carried,
and in this the detectives saw a significant point.

Of the two possible conclusions to be drawn therefrom—
‘that the girl actually lived nearby, or that the pocketbook
had been remoyed—the investigators chose the fatter when
they observed a swath through the weeds undoubtedly
accounted for by the passage of an automobile. The car
had turned off Fisher Road, inscribed an arc through the
field, and emerged again on Fisher Road. Unfortunately,
the weeds had acted as an effective mat between the car
tires and the impressionable earth, and, therefore, there
were no identifiable treadmarks.

After a tip gana: examination of the body, Coroner
Murphy made a tentative statement regarding the time of
death. “I'd say she was killed some twelve to fifteen hours
ago,” he announced.

Constable Guy listened to Murphy's ‘words with more
than ordinary interest. “I know she couldn't have been
killed here after 10 o'clock last night,” he said positively.
“I know because I was right here myself from then on.” He

in an attempt to apprehend a chicken thief who had been
annoying a farmer whose property adjoined. “At about
10:15," he added, “there was a terrific thunder shower,
and I got soaked.”

With the -coroner’s permission, Detectives Phillips and
McCall stepped forward and gently removed the body. Al-
though the girl’s clothing was damp, they found ‘that the
ground where she had lain was perfectly dry.

Then Sheriff Paul recalled a fact which narrowed down
materially the interval during which the murder occurred.
“It must have been after 8 o'clock,” he remarked. “There
was a shoot here last night, but by 8 the light was beginning
to fade, so they packed up and called it a day.”

After the body had been removed for autopsy, the officers

explained that he had been doing surveillance in the field »

The former world’s, champion revolver shot, right,
_was placed under arrest after the police learned of
his extra-marital affair with the pretty co-ed, left. .

apportioned among themselves the work to be done. The
county men handled the matter of inquiry among the
nearby residents to determine if any of them could provide
relevant information. Of the city detectives, Van Skaik
remained at the field in order to give it a thorough, foot
by foot examination. To implement his effort, patrolmen,
equipped with scythes and rakes were sent for. Phillips and
McCall, along with Coroner Murphy, accompanied, the
body to the Glen L. Myers funeral home, where the
girl’s clothing was removed and handed over to them for
scrutiny.

They found, however, that none of the garments bore
either store label or laundry mark, and, so far as rendering
help toward identification was concerned, were useless.

The two Columbus officers then returned to their head-

‘quarters in the city and set themselves to the task of search-

ing missing-persons files. They worked all afternoon,
fruitlessly.

At 5 p.m., the coroner phoned. His report was long, and
some parts of it suggested that the investigation would lead
down some bizarre paths. In the first place, Murphy de-
tailed, the girl had been belabored over the head with a
ball-peen hammer, for her skull bore the characteristic
impression of both its face and ball ends. But the cranial
injuries were not the primary cause of death. Rather, the
slashes across the throat, which had severed both the carotid
artery and the jugular vein, accounted for her demise.
Strangely enough, the girl's right eardrum had been punc-
tured with a sharp instrument, in what the coroner regarded
as an attempt on the part of the murderer to despatch his
victim quickly by piercing the brain. This fact, taken in
conjunction with the successful severance of the two blood
vessels in the throat, indicated, in Murphy's opinion, that
the murderer was possessed of considerable anatomical
knowledge.

A further minor, but puzzling injury, caused by neither
hammer nor knife, was revealed by the condition of three
of the fingers on the girl’s right hand. These had been
crushed at the third joints. ‘

But the coroner's final disclosure, and its implications,
caused the detectives to believe that the complexities of
human relationships behind this murder were of no ordi-
nary character. The girl, said the coroner, had been
drugged. More to the point, the nature of the drug was
that of a sexual excitant.

Another mysterious element was introduced into the case
when Detective Van Skaik returned to headquarters, his
sifting of the target-range field completed. It had been a
job not without reward. Once the weeds had been cut and
raked away from a wide circle around where the girl had

‘Jain, Van Skaik had found, first, a key ring on which three
’ keys still hung, and then, from that spot as a hub of a

wheel, at intervals of from five to eight feet, as in the spokes,
niné other keys. Although the officers could not assign any
immediately explicable reason for this apparently random
action on the part of the murderer, they nevertheless hoped

| EE PST De SET

that the keys themselves might yield some clue to the vic-
tim’s identity.

Thir concern in this respect, however, was rendered un-
necessary a few minutes later, when a phone call came in
from a girl who identified herself as Alice Bustin, of 1658
Neil Avenue. Miss Bustin, who said: she shared an apart-
ment with her sister Beatrice and another girl named
Theora Hix, was concerned over the whereabouts of
Theora. Her friend, she related, had left the apartment at
7 o'clock the previous evening, and neither she nor her
sister had seen her since. When she described her missing
roommate, the officers asked Alice Bustin to come to head-
quarters, and twenty minutes later, when she had done so,
they escorted her to the undertaking establishment to
view the body.

Miss Bustin’s identification was immediate and unmis-
takable: the dead girl was Theora Hix.

At the Neil Avenue apartment house the detectives talked
at length with the Bustin sisters. Theora, they said, was 24
years old and a second year student in the university’s
medical school, as was Alice Bustin. Beatrice Bustin, too,
had a connection with the university, for she was employed
as a technician in its medical laboratory.

Two years before, the sisters continued, Theora had
received a B.A. degree in Ohio State’s undergraduate
school. Both her parents were now living at Bradenton, Fla.
Prior to that time, the entire
family had lived in New York,
where Theora’s father had been on
the teaching staff of Columbia
University.

The Bustin girls were at a com-
plete loss to suggest any reason
why Theora should have been
murdered. They explained, how-
ever, that they had been sharing
the apartment with her for only a
few months and were not privy to
too many of the details of her per-
sonal life. They described her as
being pleasant and thoughtful, but
quite reserved, and if there were
any men in her life, she apparently
had not seen fit to confide in her
roommates. For what significance
the officers might find in it, the
sisters recalled that Theora fre-
quently left the apartment at 5
p.m., and did not return until after
10. But they did not know how she
had occupied herself during these
absences. If they had thought about it at all, they said, they
assumed she was engaged in one of her several favorite pas-
times—tennis, swimming, or horseback riding.

Alice and Beatrice Bustin, however, were aware that
Theora, to supplement her income, had obtained a part-
time job as a relief switchboard operator at the University
Hospital for the summer months, On the night before,
she’d left the apartment to go to the hospital for some
pre-job training. And at this time, Phillips and McCall
learned, she'd been wearing a brown felt hat and had been
carrying a brown pocketbook with a green clasp, neither of
which, they recalled, had been present when her body
was found. ,

“Last night, Bea and I didn’t worry too much about
Theora,” Alice Bustin continued. “We thought that, be-
cause of the rainstorm, she probably spent the night with
some friend or other near the hospital. But today, when
Peggy Edwards, the secretary to the Dean of Women called,
trying to reach Theora, we began to inquire around as to
where she might be. Well, we put in most of the afternoon
at it. None of her friends had seen her and so we called
the police.” 4 ‘

Phillips and McCall entered the bedroom occupied by

Theora in the apartment and searched it. They found noth-

‘ing they felt was helpful to their purpose, but wondered

at the presence in a bureau drawer of an old fashion .41-
caliber derringer pistol and a box of cartridges to fit it.
On the way out, McCall put a final question to the Misses
Bustin. “Did Theora have any particular interest in fire-
arms?” he asked.

Both girls declared they did not'know.

The officers’ next stop was University Hospital, where
they found at the switchboard, Bertha Dillon, one of its
regular operators, who said she had been on duty the previ-
ous evening.

“Did you see Theora Hix last night?” Phillips in-
quired.

“Oh, yes,” the operator said. “She came here at 7, and I
showed her how to work the board for about three quarters
of an hour. Then she said, ‘I’m afraid I'll have to leave
now, because I’m late for a date. But I'll be back between
9 and 9:30.’ Well, she didn’t return, and that’s the last
I saw of her.”

Because of the hour, Phillips and McCall postponed
further investigation in the Ohio State campus area and re-
turned to headquarters. There they were informed of the
results, or rather lack of them, of the county officers’ in-
quiries in the vicinity of the rifle range. No one, it appeared,
had seen or heard anything untoward out there during the

Important trial witnesses were City Chemist E. F. Long,
left, and the school’s telephone operator, Bertha Dillon,
at right, who saw Theora Hix shortly before her murder.

period in which Theora Hix was known to have been mur-
dered.

The identification of the murder victim and the fact that
her residence had been in Columbus naturally threw the
burden of the investigation on the city police. Early the
next morning, Chief of Detectives W. G. Shellenbarger
entered the case in an active capacity, and assigned Phillips,
McCall and Van Skaik to it until it was successfully con-
cluded. :

The first concern of the detectives was to delve deeper
into Theora Hix's history and habits in order to turn up
a possible clue to her killer. Their first move, therefore,
was to talk with some of her classmates and teachers. Yet
from these interviews, only three concrete facts emerged.
The girl, they learned, some three years before, had been
employed in the University’s School of Veterinary Medi-
cine, as a stenographer. Secondly, before moving in with
the Bustin sisters, she had resided at one of the several on-

campus dori
from severa
frequently «
cultural De;
Eager to
partment, 0
engaged in
versity’s agi
he'd been s
the necessa
city, and
inquiries ©
Willis, it
Gamma Alj
in Columb
terms, and )
field of cor
recently hi
which, it »
the state o
scribed as
good natur
While a\
the investi
School ot °
after cons

demensio
merely h:
and so fa
the instit

The ne
dormitor
were |uc

aman w
watchma
season.
“Ther:
he expla
Manyat
I’m ane
I closed
once in
The «
home 01
the sam:
was al\
his face
his car +
Phill

SNOOK, James H., white, elec. OH (Franklin) February 28, 1930.

The detecti discovered BY LEWIS
that neither {{he janitress
nor the inquipjtive old ten-
ant were awhtte the killer
had used thet »ming house

| he weeds gr

Central Rife

Ohio. The rai
proximity to

enthusiasts th
bus Police Re
club held sho
Shortly afte
Columbus off
more serious

Earlier in tl
occupancy ol
grass behind

was abruptly

young woma!
the scene rey
technical jur
from the Co
were Sheriff !
Joseph Mur

Otto Phillips
No protess
manner of t
beaten in, an
inflicted by a
her were co\
murder had

be in her e:
fashion of th
adornment \
wrist. The |
the clothing
area immedi
to light any

and in this t
Of the tw
that the gir!
had been r¢

they observ:
accounted |

had turned

field, and e1
the weeds }

tires and t!

were no ide!

After a

Murphy ma
death. “I'd s
ago,” he ani
Constable
than ordina
killed here

“T know bec
explained tl
in an attem
annoying a
10:75,"--he

and I got s«
With the
McCall] stey
though the

ich she was involve i, § ground whe

: i Then Sh¢

the Ohio State coretl s saw : materially {
ee a ~ ‘ was a shoot
_only futility and injustice A fit
" _ After the

“It must h

—— Fe

weet sa ts

Dr. Snook finally stated that, after
they had been parked on the rifle range

for some time on the night of the mur- -

der, he had told the girl that he was
leaving town for the weekend with his
family. It was in the ensuing quarrel, he
said, that Theora had cursed him and his
family, and had threatened to kill them.
She attacked him, he said, and he tried
to choke her and to push her away. All
of these precautions failing, he reached
for the-hammer and struck her on the
head with it.

Continuing his account, the doctor
said that he remembered only the first
four blows. Very conveniently his mind
became a blank so far as the throat
slashing was concerned, and he denied
having told of this premeditated act in
the confession.

Before the recess, Prosecutor Chester
lined up two straight-backed chairs, im-
personated Theora, and made the doc-
tor reenact the murder as he said it had
occurred in the coupe that night.

“Handsome Jack” Chester, as the
newspapers dubbed him, handled the
entire trial in a masterly fashion. His
eloquence in the closing argument
brought tears to the eyes of his large

audience, disturbed the emotions of
even hard-boiled reporters, and amazed
veteran lawyers who were attending the
trial. Such was his wonderful handling
of the state’s share of the case that his
name, immediately following the trial,
became mentioned in connection with

‘Congress and other political laurels.

During his plea, which was brief, he
reenacted the murder with Detective
Lavely as the victim, demonstrated the
way in which he believed Miss Hix had
died, and showed how the various
wounds had been inflicted. He even re-
quired his assistant to lie face downward
so that the jury could see how Miss
Hix’s nose had been pressed to one side
as she lay on her face.

At the end of Chester’s plea, the jury
filed out of the room—and deliberated
for only. 28 minutes. Imperturbable,
iron-nerved, the deposed college profes-
sor listened that afternoon, Wednesday,
August 14th, to the verdict they
brought back with them. That verdict
was: “Guilty of murder as charged in
the indictment.”

Two months and one day after the
crime was committed, Snook was sen-
tenced to death in the electric chair at

the Ohio State Penitentiary.

At 6:59 on the evening of February
28th, 1930, Snook began his march to
his execution. At 7:03, he entered the
death chamber. He was a sorry sight.
Though outwardly calm, his eyes-minus
the famous horn-rimmed spectacles—
were red as if from weeping. His face
showed many a line. -Nervously he
looked to his left at the grim, black
chair, passed his hand once over his
eyes, twitched his belt, then swung
swiftly to the instrument. Three steps
brought him to the platform. One step
up and two more forward, and he was at
the chair. He turned and seated himself.
Quickly he was strapped to the chair.

When he had been there a minute,
Deputy Warden Woodard signaled
through a partly opened door at the
right. A red light on the wall just above
the chair flashed on, signifying that all
was ready. It was 7:04 p.m.

At 7:06, Dr. George W. Keil, peniten-
tiary physician, stepped forward as the
guards unloosened the chest strap.
Three other physicians who witnessed
the execution followed him. At 7:09
they agreed that Dr. Snook was dead:

ooo

Murdered by Mistake

(Continued from page 49)

cording to the witnesses, she was alone
at the time and did not indicate that she
intended to make any stops on the way

to Galena.

Presuming that she would take the
most direct route home, police theoriz-
ed that after Mrs. Smith left the restau-
rant she drove east on Fifth Avenue to
U.S. 62, which angles off northeast out
of Columbus toward Gahanna. In re-
tracing the murdered woman’s probable
route home, homicide detectives sus-
pected that Mrs. Smith made a left turn
off of Route 62 at Gahanna onto the
county road which goes to Galena.
Somewhere in that vicinity, police
theorized, the lone female was possibly
pulled over by a following motorist who
comandeered her car at gunpoint to the
site where she was slain.

A motive for the murder posed quite
a problem for police, since there were
no indications that she had struggled
with her assailant and the coroner’s
office said there was no evidence that
the woman had been sexually assaulted.
Although robbery could not be ruled
out as the reason for killing her, unless
it was done to prevent her from making
an outcry. Or unless it was done by
somebody she could identify. After
questioning relatives and acquaintances
about any romantic interest Mrs. Smith
might have had, police set out in search
of two men whom she reportedly had
been seeing.

In talking to newsmen on October
28th, Acting Chief of Police Kelley said
they were not considered “prime sus-

pects” at the moment, but that “we’d

just like to talk to them”’ to see if they
could be helpful in the probe. Both men
were eventually located, but they were

unable to give police any helpful in-
formation. Investigators said both men
were also able to furnish satisfactory
alibis and were cleared of. suspicion.
Also exonerated after quvostioning was
the man who owned the car Mrs. Smith
was driving the night she was killed.

In the meantime, the murder probe
turned to the vicinity of the Olympic
Bowling Lanes in Columbus after ballis-
tics technician Richard Pfau determined
that the .22-caliber pistol found on the
parking lot by Patrolman Miller was the
weapon used to murder Mrs. Smith. The
bowling alley, police said, is located
within five blocks of the state capital
building in the heart of the downtown
district and is fronted on the north by
Broad Street, which is U.S. 62-40.

Consequently, homicide detectives

theorized that the killer returned from
Gahanna to Columbus via the U.S. high-
way and possibly went straight to the
recreation center, where he disposed of
the murder weapon at the rear of the
parking lot. .

Police questioned officials and
hangerson at the bowling lanes in an
attempt to learn who came in the center
after midnight Friday but were unable
to pin down any particular person who
might be considered a murder suspect.

Meanwhile, ownership of the suspect-
ed murder gun was traced to the co-
manager of the Kroger grocery store,
1731 Greenway Avenue in Columbus.
According to Detective Dan Miles, the
gun had been stolen from the store
official during a robbery October 7th,
which netted three knife-wielding
bandits nearly $17,000 and numerous
blank money orders. The store manager
was intercepted by the bandits at an
East Side intersection after closing up
and was beaten unmercifully until he
agreed to return to the supermarket and
open the firm’s safe.

The armed robbery was the first in a

series of nearly a dozen such vicious
attacks on businessmen during October
and November of 1971, believed to have
been committed by a loosely knit gang
of young toughs which on several oc-
casions abducted their victims and
either beat or shot them for no apparent
reason, other than the thrill of it. The
cowardly bandits generally operated in
teams of three or four and on occasion
were known to use as many as a half-
dozen thugs to rob and beat a single
victim. Judging from the descriptions
furnished by victims, police estimated
that the gang consisted of between nine
and a dozen members. One of the
bandits was believed to be no more than
13 or 14 years old, while most of the
others appeared to be in their late teens.
The kingpins, however, were thought to
be in their late twenties, police said.
Fists, feet, knives, guns and clubs were
the weapons used to assault the victims
both before and after the abductions
and robberies, according to investigators
who were plagued by the gang for more
than two months.

Following the $17,000 robbery and
attack on the Kroger store operator, the
owner of Georgeff’s Grill, 1606 East
Main Street, was severely beaten by two
of the gang members after his restaurant
was robbed on October 25th. The cafe
owner had to be treated for his injuries
at St. Anthony Hospital.

Three nights later, a trio of holdup.

men beat and robbed an employe of
Tom’s Steak House, the last known
stopping place for Mrs. Jean Smith be-
fore she was murdered.

On October 31st, a pair of armed

men robbed the Skyline Bar, 736 East —

Long Street, and pistol-whipped a
customer before escaping from the
premises with over $200.

The month of November was only
three days old when a _ 57-year-old
employe of the Clarmont Steak House,

634 South
beaten to d
shotgun whe
didn’t know
firm’s safe.
stitches to c
the man’s he:

The follo
of the ruthl:
year-old ow
3420 Bexvie
their fists as
around in h
later returne:
was robbed
sorted merc!
$150 worth «

The storé
away from
tempted to
and several s
fled on foo!
was kicked
erring bulle
detectives th
gunmen wer
only their p<
life.

The next
armed men

- Dresden Str:

manager of
2781 Eakin
made him |
where they

-the meantim

held the ma
and two vis
the grocery «

The ruth
again exemp
$400 they
with a pist«
form from
street. Hi:
abandoned «

The banc
12-day vaca
November 1
sault-robber
believed to
gang of crir
was the 66
Inc., a gro:
Gilbert Stre
the owner a:
gunmen pisi
for no appa:

The fol!
gang memb
picked on
DeWeese s:
occurred in
Avenue, w
door of a 4:
the night. ‘
at such an |
his front dc
When he di

He let out an enraged yell, then de-
cided to take his chances. He rushed
over to the door, flung it open, and
started out with his gun blazing.

He went down in a hail of bullets.
One ripped into his left leg, another
through his cheek, a third drilled his
brain. Even so, it was a moment before
he died—writhing on the corridor floor
like an animal in death agony.

The aftermath was routine. A cold
body on a cold slab, unburied long
enough to be identified by Ruth Layne
and Sue Jackson, brought down from
their homes.

Then the man who had embarked on
a senseless, vicious ten-week _cross-
country tour of crime took his last
trip. That was to a pauper’s grave—but
the journey lacked the maniacal speed

that had marked Earl Young’s other :

flights. And this time his destination
was definite—even if he didn’t know it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To avoid embarrass-
ment to others victimized by Earl
Young’s ugly brutality, the names Ruth
Layne, Matt Abel, and Sue Jackson
are fictitious. THE END

Dark Alley Of Death

(continued from page 33)

the best that have ever been made pub-
lic. Of all the theories advanced—and
there have been a multitude—the best
three were recently set down by a vet-
eran Atlanta police reporter. He cites
them thus:

1. Garris, after boarding the special
train to have his ticket punched, decided
to take a walk before retiring. In his
stroll, he encountered a prowler who
mistook him for a railroad detective and
shot him. Holes in this theory are ap-
parent immediately — because such a
prowler could hardly have laid the body
down so tenderly and discarded Garris’
coat blocks away.

2. He was killed by a person who fol-
lowed him to Atlanta with such an end
in view. Why, in this case, did the slayer
wait until the last moment for his deed?

3. He arranged beforehand to meet
the person who fired the fatal shot. This
theory doesn’t satisfy police because
they know Garris thought his train
would leave Atlanta at a much earlier
hour.

Speculative and uncertain as those
theories are—they are the best police
have to offer, six years after John Garris’
murder was committed.

Under Franz Gofft’s direction, the
body of John Garris was duly cremated—
the ashes enshrined in a suitable urn
and sent back to Germany for disposal.

Disposing of the strange murder case
of singer John Garris, however, has
been another matter. Now, as in the
early stages of the investigation, the
police are completely baffled, by this
Southern true mystery.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To protect persons in-
nocently involved in this case, the names
Franz and Eva Gofft, William Barde,
and Edith Bos are fictitious as used in
this story. THE END

“That Dame

Was A Nympho!”

(continued from page 47)

on the field so that every inch of
the terrain might be examined minute-
ly. Meanwhile, county officers under
Sheriff Harry Paul began inquiries in
the immediate neighborhood. City De-
tectives Otto Phillips and Robert Mc-
Call set out for Columbus in the hope
that a check of missing persons lists
might yield a clue to the slain girl’s
identity.

By late afternoon, however, this
question remained unanswered, but
other elements in the case became
known. The coroner reported that ex-
amination of the corpse showed the
throat wounds had been the primary
cause of death and that a further in-
jury had been inflicted. Three of the
fingers of the girl’s right hand had
been crushed at the third joints.

Detective Van Skaik, his scrutiny of
the mown field completed, appeared
at Columbus Police Headquarters and
told his colleagues that he had found
12 keys near where the girl’s body had
lain. Three were attached to a key
ring but the other nine lay scattered
about, apparently after having been
removed from the ring.

Then, shortly after five P.M., a phone
call to Headquarters cleared up the
mystery of the young victim’s identity.
The caller was Miss Flora Gamett, of
Neil Avenue, who was concerned about
the disappearance of her roommate,
Theora Hix. “When Theora didn’t come
home last night,” Miss Gamett ex-
plained, “I thought she was staying
with friends. But I’ve been unable to
locate her and I’m worried.”

Miss Gamett’s description of Theora
Hix was strikingly similar to that of
the dead girl. Consequently, Phillips
and McCall requested her to accom-
pany them to the undertaking estab-
lishment where the body lay. There
Miss Gamett made an immediate and
positive identification.

Back at the Neil Avenue apartment,

which was situated on the edge of the
Ohio State University campus, the in-
vestigators talked at length with Flora
Gamett and her sister, Louise, who
also shared the flat. “We don’t know
too much about Theora,” the girls said.
“We've had this place only a few
months. Before that Theora lived in
one of the campus dormitories.” But
the Gamett sisters did have some in-
formation.

Theora, they said, was 24 and a
second-year medical student. They
knew, too, that her father was a retired
college professor, living in Florida.

Concerning their roommate’s move-
ments of the previous evening, the
Gamett sisters declared that Theora
had left the house shortly after dinner,
bound for the University Hospital.
They understood that she had obtained
a summer job there as a switchboard
operator and the night before, she was
to receive some pre-job training.

Before leaving the apartment, the
detectives searched Theora’s room but
it yielded nothing that seemed a genu-
ine clue. But one article, found in a
bureau drawer, intrigued the two de-
tectives. This was a loaded, old-fash-
ioned .41 caliber derringer pistol.

Next, Phillips and McCall visited
the University Hospital, where they
talked with an operator who had been
on switchboard duty the night before.
“Theora came here,” the girl con-
firmed, “about 7. I gave her instructions
at the board until 7:45, when she told
me: ‘I’ll have to leave now, because
I’m late for a date. I’ll be back between
9 and 9:30.” But Theora had never
returned. ;

By now it was late in the evening
and Phillips and McCall decided to
wait until morning for the pursuit of
further inquiries. In going over what
they had learned thus far, both were
struck by the fact that Theora had
been described as having worn a brown
felt hat and having carried a brown
pocketbook. Both were missing now.

The next day, Saturday, saw sensa-
tional developments. Detectives Van
Skaik, Phillips and McCall, under the
instructions of Chief of Detectives
Shellenbarger, devoted all their time
to the case, interviewed campus class-
mates of the dead girl and administra-
tive personnel. From the latter they
learned that Theora’s record had been
a good one and that her summer job
in the University Hospital was not the
first time she had been employed on
the campus. Three years before, she’d
worked as a secretary in the School of
Veterinary Medicine.

From the girl’s classmates, the in-
vestigators got their first intimation
of a romance in the case. Theora, they
learned, had frequently been seen in
the company of a young agricultural

researcher and it was
had once been engag<
visited his fraternity
learn that the day be
to one of the univer
stations, at Bono, Ohi
set in motion for the
turn for questioning.

The name of anot
the case when the
the dormitory where
before moving into
apartment. There th:
watchman.

“I remember the
watchman declared.
I turned my back +
after hours. She was
in a blue Ford coup
with the same man—
Vet School.”

The detectives were
name of Dr. James H
aside from his statu:
the teaching staff «
Veterinary Medicine,
crack shof. Dr. Snook
ber of the America
had once been the
rapid-and-slow fire p
times had been the
pion. Furthermore, |
appeared in compet
Columbus Police De
the New York Centra
more to the point,
man, had been linke
manner which was ¢

By noon, the dete
up Snook at his West
and were questioni:
quarters. The docto
passive-looking indiv
garded his interroge
able, cold eyes, whict
steel-rimmed spectac

“T don’t deny havii
he declared, “but ou
purely innocent. I
helping her in her
And besides, she wa
to shoot. We did a 1.
gether and I even g
ringer. I’m distressec
is dead—but I know
I haven’t seen her si

When asked for
movements on the
evening — the night
Snook readily answ:
after dinner, he h:
office in the universit
in his car, he went
Country .Club, wher
pair of glasses he’d
was a drug store
buy some newspap¢
made, he proceeded
worked in his room,
alone, for a couple
went to bed.

ened to harm his wife if he took her
on a planned vacation. He said she
made a move toward her purse and,
believing she carried the derringer in
it, he struck her with the hammer in
“self-defense.” Minutes later; seeing
that she was suffering, he used the pen-
knife to put her out of her misery.

With Theora Hix murdered, it was,
of course, impossible to get another
version of precisely what had occurred
immediately prior to her death. Prose-
cuting officials felt more inclined to
believe that Snook had killed the girl,
not through partial accident, as he
claimed, but out of some homicidal ex-
pression of a jealous and warped per-
sonality—possibly after the girl an-
nounced she would no longer have
anything to do with him.

The jury which listened to the evi-
dence in the sensational trial during
the following July and August appar-
ently also regarded Snook’s version of
the crime with considerable skepticism,
for they brought in a verdict of guilty
of murder in the first degree. The pre-
siding justice, Henry Scarlett, sen-
tenced the prisoner to death. On Feb-
ruary 28th, 1930, Dr. Snook was elec-
trocuted at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

EDITOR’S NOTE: T'0 protect persons in-
nocently involved in this case, the
names Flora and Louise Gamett and
Mrs. R..G. Rose are fictitious as used
here. THE END

The Crowd
Paid To See Murder!

(continued from page 21)

Blonde Sidney and black-haired Celia
went on and did their turns in top style,
escorted to and from their dressing
rooms by polite but firm security
agents. Nothing happened.

In the small hours. of the morning
there was an incident at Celia’s hotel. A
strange man tried to bribe a janitor to
lend him his cap and let him in the
service entrance. The janitor shouted
for the police and grappled with the
man but the stranger: knocked him
down and escaped in the dark alley.

Col. Sanchez Anaya that afternoon re-
quested that the entire cast and all the
theatre employees be assembled. He and
Davalos appealed to everyone to give any
possible clue, however thin. Had there
been any incident unreported? Had any-
one reason to suspect anyone in particu-
lar? The officers interviewed the cast
and the stagehands one by one.

“T still think that Delcampo girl could
tell us something if she wanted to,”

Agent Davalos told his chief, looking
thoughtfully at the door as it closed be-
hind the girl. “She’s terrified and she
seems to be holding something back.”

“Well, she’d better learn it’s for her
own good to talk,” the chief commented.
“We'll keep up the watch on her. And
we’re going to get busy and check the
backgrounds of all these people—from
the manager right on down. El Vampiro
seems entirely too familiar with the
names and addresses of his victims—he’s
more than a random crackpot! This is
too serious!” ;

Detectives had been posted unobtru-
sively at mail-boxes around the Zocalo.
That same afternoon Agent Juan Dosal
spotted a shifty-looking man, hiding his
face, dropping a cheap block-printed
envelope into one of the boxes.

The detective lunged forward but the
man, apparently on the alert, eluded his
grasp. As Dosal unlimbered his service
revolver, the suspect dashed into the
leisurely afternoon crowd of pedestrians
and the policeman had to hold his fire.
He blew his whistle and the other officers
joined the chase but the nondescript
man was hopelessly lost in the Zocalo
crowds.

A postal agent opened the mail box;
sure enough, on top of the pile was a
letter addressed to Celia Villa. It proved
to be another obscene note of the same
pattern, this time warning that she
would be tortured and “cut up in little

- pieces” if she continued to display her

scantily veiled charms on the stage.

The next afternoon, as Davalos and a
flying wedge of officers were escorting
Celia to the theatre, a shot cracked out
from a loft across the street. The bullet
narrowly missed the actress and creased
Agent Antonio Lomeli on the arm.
Officers sped to the loft but the gunman
had fled and was lost in a maze of back
alleys.

Celia’s hand shook a little as she lit

her final cigarette before going on but
she insisted on going through with the
performance and did so in true tradition,
with no sign that she was bothered by
the sadist’s threat hanging over her.

Reservations for the revue began to
fall off and empty seats were conspicu-
ous, now that The Vampire was slinging
lead in earnest. It was on April 7th, just
a week after Celia Villa’s sensational
debut, with the tension beginning to
relax, that Agent Davalos, returning to
Headquarters from an _ unproductive
morning of inquiry in the suburbs, was
informed that Delia Delcampo was miss-
ing.

Col. Sanchez Anaya concentrated all
his men on the hunt for Delia.

The first break came when Davalos
went to interview a young newspaper-
man, a former boy friend of the actress.
“About a year ago,” the man recalled,
“Delia told me she was afraid of a fellow

who kept bothering her. He was an older
man, ugly, and she had refused to marry
him. She told me he swore to kill her if
she ever gave herself to anyone else!”

Her reporter friend had urged Delia
at the time to-turn the man in to the
police, but she had hesitated. She didn’t
want to get him into trouble, she said.
It seemed the violent suitor held some
dark fascination for the girl; she
couldn’t bring herself to reject him
completely.

“She never told me his name, but she
said he ran an electrical shop in the
Lagunilla Market—and I remember he
used to take her for boat rides among
the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco.”

A corps of agents descended on the
Lagunilla Market area and several hap-
less electricians were brought in. for
questioning. None of these proved to be
the wanted man but through them he
was identified: Benito Lavalden, a
strange, silent, furtive man of 45, sub-
ject to occasional outbursts of violent
temper. He had sold his little shop about
six months ago and his colleagues had
lost him completely.

“Madre de Dios!” Agent Davalos
clapped a hand to his head when he
heard the name. Benito Lavalden was
the gun-carrying stage electrician at El
Teatro Jalisco! That very morning a
report had come in from the routine
check on his background: Lavalden had
been confined for two years in the Fed-
eral District Hospital for the Insane,
diagnosed as a schizophrenic; he was
released when his behavior calmed
down. He was due for further question-
ing along with several other theatre em-
ployees, when the disappearance of
Delia had sidetracked the routine in-
vestigation.

Lavalden had not shown up at work
for two nights and neither had he re-
turned to his room, a cubicle upstairs of
a low dive in the Barrio de San Miguel.
Sadistic pictures, scraps of a diary and
stationery found in the foul den left no
doubt that the electrician was El Vam-
piro himself.

Back in Mexico City the grip of terror.

was lifted from the theatre. Davalos
blamed himself bitterly for letting El
Vampiro slip through his fingers; but
Celia and Sidney pointed out that the
efficient police work had undoubtedly
saved their lives and others—and that
Delia’s journey with the sadist was at
least partially voluntary, since she had
ample opportunity to call for help.

The dénouement was swift and not
unexpected. A few days later some boys
swimming in Lake Chapala found the
nude body of Delia Delcampo floating
among the reeds. She had been shot in
both breasts, Police dragged the sur-
rounding waters and brought up the
body of Benito Lavalden, shot through
the head with his own gun. El Vampiro

had finally ;
twisted life-

Bo
The

(conti

The aree
engines, fire
At first t
rescuing th
fighting the
burned _ wit

American

rocket engi

Santa Susa:

County off

Volney Cu:

that this w

“Smell th

a deputy a:
- Hlackened

monastery.

Even as !
roadblocks
of Box Ca
for the ruin
of dawn,
through the
hymn, “We
“Happy Bir
desolation, «
of clothing,

Coroner
aides were
bodies when
ed the old p
on the front
men probab!
the coroner’s
had been te
cultists and

When the
were played.
ing story of
destroy Kris
the long star
Master held
Brother Eliz!
off had bee:
bers.

The voices
Krishna Ven
risies” and
his wrongdoi

“It is now
voice spoke.
four hours, \
yon, see Kris
right adjustn

Muller bl
trying to br:
former cult
Master of in
of cult fun

Wife (above) to whom suspect planned
to return. Victim lived in apartment
above drug store (r.), near college.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE!

She was a big, healthy, athletic
girl, some thirty years his junior.
At first, he was pleased and flat-
tered by her interest in him. Then
he began to get tired. Her con-
stant attentions started to annoy
him. He began to long more and
more for the solace and com-
fortably quiet presence of the
wife who was his own age. But
his young girl friend wouldn’t let
go. Further, she began to make
threats. That’s when the good
doctor made up his mind to take
action. It is unfortunate for all
concerned, he could not have
thought of a wiser solution.

By Ralph Thompson

OLUMBUS, OHIO, is a large
city and its citizens have no
insular point of view. But its

citizens, like those of many a.

rural town, recognize sensation when
they see it—and experience shock. With
the events that began one warm Fri-
day in July, the city of Columbus
realized it had a sensation on its hands
and prepared to absorb every scandal-
ous detail of it.

At 11 that morning, police officials
of Columbus and Franklin County
were called to the New York Central
Rifle Range, five miles outside the city,
to view the body of a young girl,
which two teen-age boys at play had
stumbled on.

The investigators took one look and
realized that the victim, who lay in

the tall weeds about 100 feet back of -

the east target, had been beaten on
the face and head with a blunt instru-
ment and that her throat had been cut.

The girl appeared to be in her early
20’s and, in spite of her battered condi-

TN:
: votes

tion, seemed to have been quite attrac.
tive. Her luxuriant hair was long and
brown. She was fully clothed, except
for a hat. In addition, a woman’s usual
accessory—a pocketbook—was missing.

Before supervising the removal of
the body for autopsy, Coroner Joseph
Murphy made an on-the-spot examina-
tion and declared: “Dead since some
time between 8 and 10 last night.”

An inspection of the area near where
the girl had lain caused the officers to
draw two conclusions. First, because
of copious patches of dried and dark-
ened blood, they believed that she had
been killed where she lay. Secondly,
two sets of tire tracks in the tall weeds,
leading in and out of the field, sug-
gested that she had been driven to the
scene of her death by her murderer,
who had then driven off.

After the investigators had conferred,
it was agreed that City Detective Larry
Van Skaik would remain at the rifle
range, to oversee the cutting of grass

(continued on page 52)

ie edge of the
impus, the in-
sth with Flora
- Louise, who
Ve don’t know
‘the girls said.

only a few
heora lived in
rmitories.” But
have some in-

was 24 and a
student. They
er was a retired
z in Florida.
ommate’s move-
is evening, the
ed that Theora
-tly after dinner,
ersity Hospital.
she had obtained
as a switchboard
t before, she was
‘b training.
. apartment, the
heora’s room but
it seemed a genu-
‘ticle, found in a
sued the two de-
loaded, old-fash-
-inger pistol.
d McCall visited
pital, where they
itor who had been
the night before.
.” the girl con-
ive her instructions
:45, when she told
eave now, because
‘Il be back between
Theora had never

late in the’ evening
McCall decided to
- for the pursuit of
In going over what
thus far, both were
+t that Theora had
having worn a brown
ag carried a brown
were missing now.
Saturday, saw sensa-
nts. Detectives Van
id McCall, under the
Chief of Detectives
voted all their time
‘viewed campus class-
4 girl and administra-
From the latter they
ora’s record had been
that her summer job
: Hospital was not the
ad been employed on
ree years before, she'd
retary in the School of
icine.
Js classmates, the in-
their first intimation
the case. Theora, they
sequently been seen in
f a young agricultural

researcher and it was believed the two
had once been engaged. The detectives
visited his fraternity house, only to
learn that the day before he had gone
to one of the university's experiment
stations, at Bono, Ohio. Machinery was
set in motion for the young man’s re-
turn for questioning.

The name of another man entered
the case when the detectives visited
the dormitory where Theora had lived
before moving into the Neil Avenue
apartment. There they talked with a
watchman.

“J remember the Hix girl,” the
watchman declared. “More than once
I turned my back when she came in
after hours. She was always driven up
in a blue Ford coupe and was always
with the same man—Dr. Snook, of the
Vet School.”

The detectives were familiar with the
name of Dr. James Howard Snook. For,
aside from his status as a member of
the teaching staff of the School of
Veterinary Medicine, the doctor was a
crack shot. Dr. Snook had been a mem-
ber of the American Olympic team,
had once been the world’s champion
rapid-and-slow fire pistol shot and six
times had been the American cham-
pion. Furthermore, they knew he had
appeared in competition against the
Columbus Police Department team at
the New York Central Rifle Range. But
more to the point, Snook, a married
man, had been linked to Theora in a
manner which was certainly irregular.

By noon, the detectives had picked
up Snook at his West 10th Avenue home
and were questioning him at Head-
quarters. The doctor, a balding, im-
passive-looking individual of 49, re-
garded his interrogators with inscrut-
able, cold eyes, which glistened through
steel-rimmed spectacles.

“J don’t deny having known Theora,”
he declared, “but our relationship was
purely innocent. I was interested in
helping her in her medical studies.
And besides, she wanted to learn how
to shoot. We did a lot of practicing to-
gether and I even gave her a .41 der-
ringer. I’m distressed to learn that she
is dead—but I know nothing about it.
I haven’t seen her since last Monday.”

When asked for an account of his
movements on the previous Thursday
evening — the night of the murder —
Snook readily answered. He said that

after dinner, he had worked at his
office in the university until 7:45. Then,
in his car, he went to the Greenwood
Country Club, where he picked up 4
pair of glasses he’d left. His next stop
was a drug store near his home to
buy some newspapers. His purchases
made, he proceeded to his house. He
worked in his room, which he occupied
alone, for a couple of hours and then
went to bed.

By mid-afternoon, his alibi had been
checked, with results that proved
nothing. The only person who definitely
remembered seeing the professor on
Thursday evening was a locker boy at
the country club, who recalled a con-
versation with Snook sometime before
8:30. The doctor’s wife declared that
at 9:30, alone in her room, she had
heard a door slam and assumed it was
her husband, home for the night. But
she did not actually see him until after
11, when she went to the kitchen. At
that time, he was fixing himself a late
snack from the icebox.

The next development that Saturday
afternoon concerned the agricultural
expert, who had returned from the Bono
experiment station. He admitted he
had been in love with Theora and had
offered to marry her but had been re-
jected. He said he had not seen her in
some time and was able to provide an
airtight alibi for the murder night.

But in the late afternoon, while
Dr. Snook was still at Headquarters, a
bombshell burst in the case. This sen-
sation was provided by a woman who
voluntarily appeared at Headquarters
with information she felt obliged to
impart to the police. She was Mrs.
R. G. Rose, of High Street, Columbus.
She said that with her husband she
owned a furnished-apartment building
on Hubbard Avenue and that after
reading the afternoon papers, she felt
that a similarity of names and de-
scriptions would be of police interest.

In the previous February, Mrs. Rose
said, a Mr. Howard Snook had rented
a one-room apartment from her ex-
plaining that he and his wife, who were
salt demonstrators from Newark, Ohio,
occasionally needed quarters in Co-
lumbus. “From the papers,” Mrs. Rose
said, “I would guess that Dr. Snook is
the man and that Theora Hix was the
woman we thought was his wife.”

On the previous afternoon, at around
2:30, Mrs. Rose continued, Snook had
come to see her to say that he and
his “wife” were giving up the apart-
ment. He paid her the rent due, said
he had removed their belongings and
left two keys to the flat.

The detectives who heard Mrs. Rose
determined to take Snook by surprise.
They ushered the woman into his pres-
ence and watched the result of the
meeting. \

Naturally, the officers demanded an
explanation from him on two counts.
Why had he obviously lied about his
relationship to Theora Hix and why
he had given up the apartment hours
before the identity of the girl found
on the rifle range was made public
knowledge?

Snook admitted voicing the lie but
coolly declared he had done so out of
expediencey. Since he was innocent of

the murder, he said, he saw no reason
publicly to admit that he had been
carrying on an affair with her. As for
giving up the apartment the previous

‘day, he reiterated that when he had

last met Theora, on Monday, they had
agreed to stop seeing each other and

at that time she’d handed him her key

to the place. But it had not been con-
venient for him actually to give it up
until the previous day.

A flying visit to the Hubbard Street
flat caused Detectives Van Skaik, Phil-
lips and McCall to believe that Snook
was still lying—probably to cover up
murder. For in the room, they found
the brown felt hat Theora was known
to have been wearing on the last night
of her life.

Then, at Snook’s home, they un-
covered other incriminating evidence.
In the basement was a ball peen ham-
mer and a penknife, both of which had
been recently washed. And, in the
furnace, the officers came on the burned
remnants of several feminine garments
which the doctor’s wife declared were
not hers.

Furthermore, in Snook’s car they
found on the upholstery a number of
hairs identical in color and texture with
Theora’s. On the shelf under the rear
window was 8 blood-stained cap and
pair of gloves. In addition, the frame
of the door opposite the driver showed
traces of blood—as if someone’s hand
had been caught in it and crushed.

At Headquarters, a battery of of-
ficials confronted Snook with what they
believed was the truth of the murder.
He had met Theora, they charged, on
Thursday night. Afterwards, unknown
to him, she had admitted herself to
the Hubbard Street apartment, and
left her hat. The couple drove to the
rifle range, where, for reasons not im-
mediately clear, he attacked Theora
with a hammer and then cut her throat.
His work done, he had rifled her purse
for the apartment key so that it could
not be traced; and thus his real con-
nection with the girl exposed. In his
search, Dr. Snook had removed the
keys from the ring one by one until he
found the one he sought. Then, to im-
pede identification, he had taken The-
ora’s purse and driven home. The next
day, he gave up the apartment and left
with the landlady both his key and
Theora’s, which he had obtained, not,
as he claimed, on Monday night, but
minutes after he had killed her.

Faced with this reconstruction of the
crime, Snook doggedly denied it and
stuck to his position for four days—
until Wednesday, June 19th, when he
confessed’ in Police Chief Shellen-
barger’s office.

In his final confession, he declared
that while sitting with Theora in his
car, at the rifle range, she had threat-

Metadata

Containers:: Box 31 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 16
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Trilby Smith executed on 1931-11-20 in Ohio (OH)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: July 3, 2019

Using these materials

Access:: The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.

Collection restrictions:: Access to this record group is unrestricted.
Collection terms of access:: The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.