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Show TELLS WHY HE GAVE POLICE CRIMEJTORY Feared Mrs. Phillips Was Menace to Community Because Insane 1 PROBE PAST LIVES Sister Says Pair Mentioned Slain Girl in Recent Quarrels ) TUCSON, Ariz. July 15 The wom-,an wom-,an who gave hor name to police of-iflclals of-iflclals here last Thursday night as 1 Clara McGuyor after she had been ; taken Into custody Whlll aboard an ,eastbound Sunset limited, admitted today to-day that her real name waa Mrs. jClara Phillips. Tho woman was plac-ied plac-ied under arrest on advices from Los (Angeles, which statod that sho waa wanted in connection wUh tho killing ;of Mrs. Alberta Meadows. The admission of the prisoner as (to her identity was made aftor she hail been closeted In her cell for three I hours with John L. Van Busklrk, lo-jvial lo-jvial attorney who has been engaged to jact as her counsel Sheriff W. E Traeger of Los Ange-!les. Ange-!les. who arrived in Tucson Friday I night to take Mrs. Phillips to Los An-igeles. An-igeles. declared the return trip to the coast would be made tonight Mrs. Phillips agreed to accompany the officer of-ficer voluntarily. LETTER IS MEDIUM. A letter brought here by Shorlff ! Traeger addressed to Mrs A L. Phll-jllps Phll-jllps and claimed by the sheriff to have been written by Mr Phillips, her hus-I hus-I band, was the medium through yvhlch the admission as to her Identity w obtained When Sheriff Trueger appeared at the police station this morning and confronted the woman In her cell with the letter, she refused to accept It. She Insisted that she was Clara Mc-Guyer. Mc-Guyer. Immediately aftor rejecting tho I epistle, she requested permission from authorities to consult with her attorney. attor-ney. After being closeted for three Inours with her lawyer, tne latter came out of the cell and said ' we're now ready to see tho sheriff. She has confided everything to me SHERIFF IS CALLED. The Los Angeles sheriff was summoned sum-moned und Attorney Van Busklrk ac-jcompankd ac-jcompankd by Traeger, police officials Jand 1..P Angeles and local newspapermen newspaper-men led the way to the basement cell where the prisoner was held "Sheriff Traeger. meet Mrs. Phil-Hps. Phil-Hps. ' Bald the attorney In the way of introduction. "Well, that's over. " remarked tho sheriff "We will leave tonight at 1135 for Los Angeles" "I'm tickled to death." Mrs. Phillips Phil-lips replied. Traeger then tore open open tho envelope addressed to Mrs. A L. Phillips and handed the prisoner prison-er a sheet of folded yellow paper, apparently ap-parently written on only one side. Mrs. Phillips mov ed u ..r to a corner cor-ner of the cell, while those present turned their backs In just a 1 1 1 ' BSC 6ndS, not long enough lor more than la cursory glance, sho turned a smi. log face to the newspapermen and of-flclal of-flclal "You may talk to me all you want 'now. was her next remark. But all 'questions in regard to the slaying wore i barred by her attorney." "Oh. yes.' I will tall you that," she I replied in answer to a query as lb how I long she had been married. 1 was married nine years ago. 1 h-,v no children." she contin ued. "Yea, I was married to A. L. Phillips Phil-lips in Houston, Texas.' sho said. DOESN'T TELL NAME. I One of the newspapermen asked if she would consent to tell her maiden name. On advice of her attorney, she declined She declared tho reason foi refusing this request that she has a good many relatives (lying in El Paso and other cities near here. The basement cell, where tills Interview In-terview took place, was hot In spite ot being underground. Mrs. Phillips used her handkerchief freely, wiping i her forehead and sometimes twitching jit nervously between her two hands. I Her winning smile however, w as n- -er lacking. I Rings found upon the person of I Mrs. Phillips, when she was arrested 'aa Mrs. McGuyor. have been the sub-jjoct sub-jjoct Of considerable speculation among local officials. Three diamonds an 1 one pearl rlnp, and two cameos, are Included in the ollecl ion. "Are these your rings?" ahe was asked t "You bet they are mine" she re-I re-I plied LOS ANGELES. July 15 - - A L I Phillips husband ol Mrs. Clara Phil-Hps Phil-Hps alleged hammer slaver, today Is-I Is-I sued a statement In which he de- (Continued on Pago Two.j 1 PHILLIPS SAYS WIFEISINSANE Sleuths Probe Past Lives of Principals In Hammer j Case (Continued; From Pace One) elared that ho thought his wife was! Insane and a menace to the commun-' lty and it was because of this belief; that he told police about her killing I Mrs Alberta Meadows. Th husband's story to the police! Thursday brought about his wife's ar-; rest In Tucson. Arizona on her way to El Paso and later resulted tn an! (Indictment by the prand Jury in Ijs j Angelas charging her with murder, Officers assigned to the case spent most of the day Investigating various angles of the storv told before a county I grand Jury Frldav by Mrs Peggy Caf-'l fee, who said sho had seen Mrs Phil-' I lips heat Mrs. Meadows to death with i hammer. The officer-, isserted there were several discrepancies in Mrs i Caff, e's story They refused to make, known the result oi iro ir InTMtfaatlon oerore the Inquest Monday morning I The v-,. a heinc lifted from tho life! 01 1 I" '' I'hllllps. former mov .- Lath -Ing girl an, I u Phillips, oil promoter, promo-ter, by detectives seeking to uncover jthe chain of circumstances leading to the hammering to death of Mrs Al- ; perta Meadows, 20-year-old widow, last Wednesday afternoon on a Iondy hlllelde road in the horthea it tlon of Los Ajigolea Police say all doubt as to their conviction con-viction that th.- widow was beaten to death by Mrs. Phillips was removed by th graphic tale of horror recited j before the grand jury Friday by Mrs Peggy Caffee, chum of Mrs. Phillips This was the story of eve witness participation par-ticipation ln tho tragedy, which led to Indictment of Mr. Phillips upon s charge of murder, Her storj Is await-ed await-ed by the authorities, she being expected ex-pected to be returned here tomorrow J I from Tucson. Ariz. In custody of Sheriff Sher-iff W. I. Trneger. MORI-; LIGHT ON CASE Among statements being weighed by authorities Is that of Ola Weaver, j sl-stor of the woman accused or the hammer murder, and in whose home i Phillips and his wife lived. "I have heard tho name 'Alberta I Meadows' in ipiarrels between my sis- 1 ter -ind her husband, and I havo also heard gossip about my brother-ln-law and the dead girl ' said Miss Weaver. 1 "Clara often accused him of Infidclitv I Just before tho terrible dav Clara asked ask-ed him If he had not given the young ........ ,v ntui Miiien. ne a"niu even ev-en thing and they had another quarrel quar-rel " PHILLIPS w Vl BED While not under arrest. Phillips a held in surveillance bv a deputy sher iff "I will stand by her. love and help 'her forever' said Phillips today, in jdistusslng his wife's predicament "I (have received offers of help from friends in Texas and I have engaged attorneys to defend her. There will! be money available for tho best pos-J slble defense. "She always wanted to give herself up and she will not resent It because I made up my mind flnall to tell the sheriffs office about the killing." THREE RINGS RECOVER ED, CUOBON, Ariz.. July 15. Three diamond dia-mond rings were found In potk-ession of the woman arrested here as Mrs Clara Phillips, wanted in connection with the murder of Mrs Alberta Meadows at Los Angeles, July 12, a -cording to Chief of Police D. S Ford The Icx-h 1 authorities aro said to have been advised today that Los Angeles I police were told by Mrs Peggy Caffee, Caf-fee, in her admission that sho had been an eye-witness to the slaying, that the rings were taken from Mri Meadows' body by the assailant. In addition to the three diamonds, a cameo ring was taken from the su-I spect by the Tucson police. The rings have a value of about $$00 the local authorities said si I I . NT ISSUED. mac u i nuiipa. w.uueu III jo Angeles for tho murder" t.t Mrs 1-Ibcrta 1-Ibcrta Meadows, today Issued a signed 'statement proclaiming her innocence jof tho brutal hammer murder. The statement was authorized by th i lawyer who w as a ild to have been engaged en-gaged by A. L Phillips of Los Angt igeles to protect the intcrestii of his iwlfe. Indicted by the Los Angeles I grand Jury for the killing, j The following is the statement which the prisoner signed In the pri B-once B-once of peace officers and aewspaper-! aewspaper-! men I "What Is It all about? That is the question I ask myself as I sit ln this ,xlrange place which they call a Jail, walling for Sheriff Traegei and hit wife to take me buck to Los Angeles I am eager to return to Los An- geles. for It Is unbearably hot here. 'and tho little plaza with Us lazy Mex- 1 leans lounging in front of my window, win-dow, Is not an Inspiring view I hj am I here. I don't know 1 was on the way to visit relatives in ;K1 Paso. When the train from Los Angeles stopped In Tucson, a roatloss man ( burley figure pushed his way I through the car and came to my berth , CI ms SHE IB INNOCENT. "He said ho was a detective and ,told me I was wanted. I didn't know what it was all about, but I went with him to the city Jail. T was locked In thl;, mom. whore 1 (slt looking out through the screen at my one window, still wondering what lit Is all about. I "I have been well treated In tho I Jail The army cot on which I try to slecp while the desert heat tortures :me day and night c without a mut-tresa. mut-tresa. The blanket is laid only on SPrlngA. But I suppose It is the I,. ;,t (the Jail affords and I have no com-JWaint com-JWaint to make Here is the message send back to Los Angeles: "'I am innocent of any crime But when Sheriff Traeger calls for me 1 will be glad to go back an.rface whatever what-ever the unknown holds In storo for mo. " |
