OCR Text |
Show SUICIDES TO ESCAPE PURSUERS Murderer of Mrs. Woodill Ends Life Rather Than Stand Trial. St. Michaels, Md. In the midst of a fusillade frpni pursuers who had surrounded him after a thrilling chase, the man who was sought as the slayer of Mrs. Edith May Thompson Thomp-son Woodill Lyman Gage's ward killed himself early Saturday morning to evade capture. A letter found upon the suicide's body revaled, first of all, that he was not Emmett E. Roberts, journalist and author, as he had been known hereabouts. He was none other than Robert Emmett Eastman, broker, swindler and bail jumper, who had been missing from New York, his home, for almost a year after he had got away with about $200,000 of his client's money. Then another letter written by himself him-self declared that he was the innocent inno-cent victim of circumstances and was not the beautiful young girl's slayer. There had been a party of men and women aboard his launch Saturday Satur-day night, ' this missive said two other couples beside himself and Mrs. Woodill. They had been drinking. Everyone, save the two, became intoxicated. in-toxicated. One of the other women, jealous of the attention that was paid to Mrs. Woodill, of her youth and beauty, struck (her over the head with a champagne bottle. The guests fled, leaving Eastman alone wiith the body. He weighted it and let it sink to the bottom of the creek. Then realizing that he, her friend, would naturally be accused, he wrote this letter, placed it In his pocket and determined de-termined to Mil (himself if he could not escape. It is believed possible, though scarcely probable, that Eastman's explanation ex-planation of the lulling may be true. |