Show AGED COUPLE ARRESTED Grand Larceny Charged and a Graver Offense Suspected IT IS A SINGULAR CASE I TUB PARTOES ARE JOHJf 31OITNT FOR HIS WIFE II James Tucker Died at Their Home Under Pcullar Circumstances Was HI From Four to Eight Weeks and No Physician Was Summoned They Claimed He Had Xo Money But I Was Proven He Had Over o The air of deep mystery which surrounds sur-rounds the arrest of John and Annie Jlountford an aged couple living at 404 West North Temple would seem to indicate In-dicate a suspicion in the minds of the authorities au-thorities and those persons interested of something far more grave having been committed than grand larceny the charge booked against them and upon which they were herd to answer to the district court James Tucker a railroad engineer well known in this city rlroa the residence of the Mountfords on October 30 and was burled the subsequent day by Mystic lodge No 22 of the Odd Fellows Undertaker Joseph William Taylor who performed the last services for the dead was Informed I In-formed by the Mountfords that the deceased de-ceased had died from alcoholism and the 111eha g terrible and indescribable condition of the room the bed and the body of the dead man convinced Mr Taylor such was the case andthat the deceased had been suffering suf-fering from delerlum tremens He accordingly ac-cordingly entered alcoholism In his record recor A day or so after the funeral the Mountfords called upon Mr Taylor and asked who was to pay them lor having cared for the man during his last days They were directed to apply to the lodge if Odd Fellows and called upon Secretary William Campbell of Mystic No 2 Had they not done this they might never have been apprehended on a criminal charge Mr Campbell had known the deceased to have been a man who had drank to excess at one time but believed him to I have straightened up and likewise had the impression he had some money He therefore was somewhat skeptical when I the Mountfords came to him with the story that Tucker had come to their I house som weeks before had been taken f sick had no funds and that they had nursed hm and had borne the expense I tr medicines etc themselves until his I death I Mr Campbells skepticism led him to bring the matter to the attention of the I lodge with the result that a committee wasjappointed to make an investigation I of the case That Investigation had for its result thus far the arrest of the Mountfords yesterday This Is what wag brought out by the examination County Attorney Whlttemore made Into the case yesterday He had the Mountfords summoned sum-moned before him together with Ir Bagley whom they claimed had nursed the deceased through his last Illness and it was developed that Tucker came back to Salt Lake after having been absent at DeLamar Nev for an extended period That upon his return he went at once to the home of the Mountfords who were old friends and with whom he usually lived when In the city that a few days later ho was taken sick and that he never again got up That is as far as the definite facts a admitted by the defendants goes because both of the Mountfords and the Mrs Bas ley tell conflicting stories They all say the man was taken sick but differ as to the nature of the illness When Undertaker Under-taker Taylor was called In they said i wa alcoholism but now declare he had some kind of a fever What kind they do not undertake to say They did not call a doctor during all the mans illness which they admitted and when asked why they did not said It was because he refused to the last to permit them to call one Then too their statements differ as regards the time the deceased lay ill At first they said i was about four weeks but now i varies from that to eight weeks according to the one asked But that is not what did most to arouse the suspicions that all was not right nor what went farthest toward their being be-ing held to answer I was the money matter They said at first that he had no money when taken sick His reputation reputa-tion for aiways being abe to support himself led to an Investigation by the Odd Fellows which showed that he came back from Nevada with a check for 8 another an-other for 30 or thereabouts and that he had considerable cash when he went to the Mountfords When it came to the examination yesterday yes-terday i developed that the smaller check had been lost that the one for 1S3 had been indorsed by Tucker and that John Mbuntford has cashed It at McCornlcks bank Then the defendants admitted the deceaseds having had some 20 5n money when he came to their house but said he spent i for things which they could not afford to provide for him ConcernIng Concern-Ing the check Mountford finally admit ted cashing It but said it was spent In liquor Uoon the showing thus made Secretary YIlllam Campbell of Mystic lodge cwore out a complaint charging both the Mount fords with grand larceny and they were held before Judge Wenger to the district court In bonds of 0 The authorities and the Odd Fellows who have been engaged in the case are very reticent about it but there is no disguising dis-guising the fact that they all believe a far more serious crime has been committed com-mitted but at so late a day it would be useless to exhume the body The Mountfords are both In the neighborhood neigh-borhood of 60 years old The husband is a boiler maker by trade hut is too feeble to work at his trade and the family fam-ily Is supported by taking In washing hes to Utah many years ago from England When seen yesterday both husband and wife appeared to be feeling very bad over their arrest They said it wg absurd ab-surd that they should be suspected of such a crime and telling their version of the case said that Tucker had always lived with them when a resident In Salt Lake and that when he Came in from DeLamar he asv usual took up his abode with them They said he was taken sick shortly after his arrival and that though they Insisted on sending for a physician he would not her of It They saidhe Had about 20 when he was taken sick which he spent for liquor wine or other things they could not afford to provide They denied ever having seen any of the 183 which they are alleged to have aleged to appropriated |