The New York herald. [volume], April 08, 1921, Page 4, Image 4

About The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924

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ROY U, i;i<RI-:m,am> <1<>VI6RNMENT
TRAI.'K, itiac-n.
POLICE CHECK UP 1
STORY OF HARRIS
Shadow Women Who Ma,\
Have Bi'en Dtwerihwl l>,\
Alley cm! Khvfll Slu.ver.
WHITMAN INTKRKSTKJ)
!mi?n>vr<l in F.ui Youth
SIicks to !5is Original
M nrder Story.
KKI.ATI > i:s snil'K at I v LK
Kltlifi* a I.iar or Crazy. Thry
S iy ? Never Wj|s Smniy;
Miiul?'<l ;t> r,o\.
Th# statement of Hoy Harris that
lie *vas ope of two meu hired to slay
Joseph Bowne Elwell caused a great
?tlr yesterday among officials who
have been striving to solve the mys
tery of the turfman's death at tha
hands of an unknown nasas-si/i on the
morning of .Juno 11, 1920. Draplte the
fnct tha* the authorities here have
received ?i?ht separate "confessions"
to the Elwell murder, all of which have
been found to he works of disordered
or overimaprinativ.e minds, there wore
'caturoa to the Harrta story which pre
vented them from placing: It in the
cla^s with these other narratives.
Some of Harris's relatives living Ui
New York and in Bridgeport i""onri
whet* Harris wa*' born and where he
lived until he wn.s ilmo?t grown, were
informed by reporters or r?nd !n the
newspapers yesterday of the m;nV< ar
rest. Ml of them declared they did
not V.levp b' -- wtory, and his aunt and
urrle. Mr. and Mrs. Tj. A. Cowen of
t?rld~erort. were particularly emphatic
In insisting that either Harris was
lyinsr or else he was crazy.
"?Roy must be Insane to make such
statements."' Mrs. Cowcn said. "He is
one of the most soft hearted Doys In
the world and wouldn't harm a dog,
much less murder a man. I'll admit he
whs In trouble all the time he was In
Bridgeport, but that was just the result
or running: around with bad com
'?*ar'ons."
Mr. C07?'en, Harris's uncle, also
scoff.'d at the boy's statement that he
was Implicated In the Elwell murder.
"His Imagination had got the b"tter
of him. T guess," he said. "He was never
quite i 'ifiit mentally or he wouldn't have
done the things be was all the time do
ing as a boy. I've recllved letters an^i
post cards from him right along, and
theyvare good examples of his rambling
type of mind. The boy Is given to
romancing, nnd T believe that is ilie
case in the present instance."
Slimlnw Two Women.
With a detective hurrying to Ruff:?io
to questlor the prisoner and definitely
ascertain the truth of bis narrative, It
was stated here that other detectives are
shadowing two women, either of whom?
were Harris's story true?might be the
one referred to oy Hands as "Mr? Falr
chlld," who Is alleged to have hired the
assassins. The man sent to Buffalo Is
Detective Henry Oswald of the Homi
cide Squad. whose famllisrlty with all
of the details of the Klwoll cise would
make It difficult for Harris to Impose
upon him. Oswald Is understood to have
taken with him photographs of such
finder prints as the police were able to
find about the Flwell house after the
murder, although none of these finger
prints is very clear.
The story of Harris seemed to have
suffered a blow early In the day when
ii was learned that ft man named Will
iam Dunkon or Dunktn of Bridgeport
had Just been released from the Con
necticut State Reformatory at Cheshire,
where he had berh pine* December 13.
1919. for the theft of $110 from a res
taurant man. I<ater, however, the
authorities here were advised that Har
ris had declared that this was not the
Dunkin by whom he alleges the fatal
shot was fired.
While endeavoring to check up on
the movements of Harris during his
sUiy in this city and also to gather such
information as they might about the
other persons mentioned by him nroBe
cutors and police officials continued
throughout the day to l:een In touch
with the Buffalo offlcal* by long dis
tance telephone. Charted S. Whitman,
who was requested recently by District
Attorney Swsnn to take over all of the
evidence which the District Attorney'*
office had gathered In the Blwell case,
^as particularly Impressed by reports
which he received from District Attor
ney Moore of Buffalo, who spent tev
cral hours In questioning Harris.
Whitman Interested.
Mr. Whitman raid he was at first
quite sceptical about the Harris con
fession because of the fact thnt ho hed
' received six allged confessions to this
stme crime by mall, and that one crank
had called st his residence for the pur
pose of telling him that he was Klwell's
shiver. Having the greatest confidence
In Mr. Moore, he said, he had personally
requested him by telephone to aee If ho
could breek the Hsrrls story down, and
the apparent Inability of Mr. Moore to
upset the man's tale was regarded by
Mr. Whitman as the strongest thing In
! Its favor.
Inspector John Coughlln. head of the
Detective Rurtau of the Police Depart
ment; Copt. Arthur Carey of the Homi
cide Squad and Assistant District At
torneys John T. Doollng and James K.
Smith all took the same view of the
matter that Mr. Whitman did. While
they were not disposed to accept the
story na true until it had stood a mora
rlsorous tret, they were nevertheless In
tensely Interested In the developments
en"1 were 'eavlr.g no stone un'urned as
far as the local end of the matter was
concerned.
M'- Whitman stated that all persons
Who ic'gM he r?*ar.|eij In tbe suspect
? claas would he kept under surveillance.
I'- ? .se.Mtt end detective/' made in
qui* I e yesterday f.t the office building
i at r'iftli avenue, where Harris
: worked under the alias of "Penny l?i*on
?rd " nrd at the house on West Kighty
fou'th etc et. where he boarded, snrt
i found nothing at either place to refute
I hl? ntory.
V"un* Harris Is the son of the lata
K"tv Harris, a clothier of Bridgeport,
snd was loft an orphan when a child
Ha ran through the money left him by
his father and was constantly gutting
Into trouble. Finally lie was brought
Into rourt on November t>, litis, und
se'H <n the (i orgi Junior Rapubtia In
t.lirbfM'l He was then l.r> year* old
ard a ns plseed on probation for p. J ear.
i He s-'s changed with fnrser.v. Soma
time !?t?r lie ren away to go on the
[ itege M^si cf his relatives live now lii
' Bridgeport, but a brother nnd s sister.
, Delmer K Harris and Mrs. Sylvia Wine
man, live in New York at iao Centra!
I Pari. Soutii.
f? ? ? >
Roy Harris, ElweU's Confessed Slayer |
k . .. >
HARRIS TELLS HOW WOMAN
HIRED ELWELL ASSASSINS
from First Page.
i
, b< '?((>!' 30 and 85 years old,'" Harris
?j1<1. "and welahs about 130 pounds.
She has a!) the appearance of .wealth?
N-ta of diamonds and an expensive ruby
J avalliere. She is of (lie blonde type, but
t ot the yellow blonde. She looked as If j
I her hair might be natural, I should
saj she had every evidence of refine- !
I nitnt. except that she cursed and usvd I
; hnd language. She Is of medium build, |
nl-out five feet five inches tall, and In- I
ellred to ho plump. The threo times I
saw her she wore a loud fawn colored
coat, three-quarter length, and a turban
hat with a black top and a dull red
; 1 rim. Her skirt was dark. She wore
j 1 igh heeled French pumps and black
i silk .stockings."
The first time he saw her was on the ,
i evening of June 9. She was pitting In j
: her black ltmousine In front of the York
Hctel, Seventh avenue at Thirty-sixth
j utroet.
Strolling up from the l'enr.-ylvanla
i Hotel, where he had met a friend, Har>
rls ran Into Duncan, leaning against a
I railing of the Mil's Hotel at Thirty-sixth
? street and Seventh avenue. A man came
I cut of the Mills Hotel who proved to be
| "Mrs. Falrchlld's chauffeur, Jerry"?
| l.tst name unknown to the narrator.
> orry glanced up and down the avenue
' ;nd then told Duncan, whom ho knew,
i >at he knew how some easy money
i ruld be made.
"Jerry pointed nt the woman In the
limousine and said: 'You can see for
yourself If she looks any good,' " con
tinued Harris. "She was not looKltn;
our way. Jerry took us over to the
limousine and introduced her :ls Mr*,
t'alrchlld arid lis as friends o hie. She
oi>ened the door and Invited us In. Then
Jerry drove the three of tie up to the
west drive of Central PurU and stopped
about opposite the reservoir. Some men
tion was made of a party who was to be
'got,' but nethlng was said then about
who the party was. Jerry did all the
talking. Pointing at Duncan, he said,
i 'I know 1311.' and then pointing: a me,
'Hut I don't know this fellow.' Duncan
i vouched for me.
"Then Jerry said: 'You've got to
have murder in your hearts even to
j listen to her.' Then Jerry pointed at
1 Mrs. Fairohild and said that 'this party'
, wanted to 'switch off a guy.*
"Mrs. Falrchid said, "Yes. here wa.f<
one who trifd to do
me. and the bird Is going to the
place ho did '
Harris sal dthis sounded good to Mm.
and they agreed to meet the next night,
June 10.
First Instalment f'nirt.
"She would have It all doped out and
let lis know when she wonted It done"
, so on the following evening Duncan
and Harris met at 8:16 In Broa<iway
! at Rlxt;.-seventh street. Mrs. Falrchlld
appeared In her limousine by way of
Sixty-seventh street. Krom the direc
tion of Central I>*r?i she took Duncan
and Harris into the machine and they
drove up Broadway to the neighborhood
of ISOth street.
Duncan was the business manager.
It wus arranged they were to Bet i?">00
apiece immediately and then j;,000
apiece, to be paid In two Instalments.
She asked Dut\can If he and Harris
had any artillery with them, and Dun
can replied, "Yes, I got a suit case
full. Leave that to me." Then they
drove down to Bretton Hall at Eighty
sixth strevt and Broadway, and she
took Duncan and Harris in for some
thing to eat, Jerry, although he had
a grood English accent, staying In the
limousine because of his chauffeur's
Uniform. Mrs. Fairchild nodded to
three or four couples who sat at tables
in the dining room, Harris said.
She then saiu. according to the lan
guage of Harris, "we're going to do this
thin?: scientific, so there'll be no .come
back. We're KoliiK to have him trailed
so we'll know lie's there."
She said he lived in a little house in
Severty-first streot and then she handed
over the $?";0 to each of tho two men,
"crispy five and ton dollar bills," says
Harris, and said that the next night
sho would know just what the routine
of. the job was going to be.
At 11:30 the following niKht, June 11.
they met at the Seventy-second street
? ntranre of the Broadway subway, lire.
I'alrchlld arrived in her car ten minutes
later. Harris then described the ride to
Van Oortlandt f'ark. where. In the
road about half a mile to the east of
the Broadway entrance, chauffeur Jerry
stopped end dimmed his lights.
"It was a?reed that we would walk
from tho corner at Seventy-first street
and Amsterdam avenue and wait for lier
to Bwln>t her grtn as a sign, in tho
limousine she give each of lis, Duncan
and me. $450 in two bundles with rubber
bands around them. So we went down
town to tho Seventy-tlrst street neigh
borhood. She walked ahead of us and
didn't look back. She went up the steps,
opened the door into the vestibule and
then must have opened the inside door.
She came out almost immediately anil
gave us the wave. Wo walked along
to the house, and as we went up to the
steps sh? came down. We thought it
was all right, for sho had told us In the
park that she would go in the machine
to Central Park West and Seventieth
street and wait for us there, if sho had
to wait ton hours.
"That gets us inside the house," Har
ris said, lighting another cigarette and
reciting his tale evenly and in well
rounded periods. He pictured hlnwelf
anil his pal as stealing through the open
doors, closing them nnd snuggling
..gilnst the Inside <loor In the hall while
they listened for any sound. There was
no sound. The. curtains -on the doors
were throe-fluurtors drawn, and on these
curtains the murderers could sec the
sIhmI 'W of imy one fussing fn the street.
They whispered In ta? ha.ilway for an
ht?ur. .
it hmumU liku a VI'?!?. M liMWW *""??
I iWore KlweH came In. As to tho
of Eiw?.l!'s mrivul ho ia WW*rtH.?. "?
i'?membored, l.e ;:ays, that KlweK, after
going i?*o the r-ception loom, Tor a
lew nnwHli, went uyataira. Harris
judged htm to in evening dress. as
md;caud by Hie slu>M and BowegM <>?
Lbo trousers. which W?r<e a" Harr?
c?ukl ?a- trow W? THMition Uj Hhiob
he lmd moved 'behind th.' stair*. Th?
telephone cati was i-nswared about
twenty nlitutw later, muA ?'weii <**?'*?***?
(town ten miii'iias atte* that In, his
jHijwnw* and slippers.
He opened the door. peered out and
lojivil it. I *i>ulJ - h'" l"!t "n
i tlii- knob. It was then, bright daylight.
i rovget to tell > ou i-?at tiieso h 4(1 been
in'jit* at th>* front door before ttUweJl
a me In?sonic emu whistling---peobabiy
h. miikniiti When Khvcil amo ilown
stairs for the third time it least two
n-urii hail puused Binco the milkman's
| ?lt injnenn was in the reception
r i.f in all the ti'il*. Hlwll went int'.? the
reception room and was there about
.ifteen miiiuuj wyen I heard a !*?ot.
1 Duncan came n .?dng out and beat mo
to the door. The room that he cam#
from was on the right .is voj lo"k out
i,t') t'~.? i.tifet t ran out heh'.nd him.
1 didn't l?ok Into the roceptUw rnom.
-Pur,ran said: 'Walk like hell. Don t
; ook around.' We went to Amsterdam
[ .venue, then south one block to
Seventieth street mI <>>ir to Central
l ark Wcot. Mr*. Falrchlld was not
there. Duncan said ? 'I think 1 vt bevn
iiyi'j'td.' On the walk over he bawled
hip out and said 1 had plenty of op
portunity to ?h'>ot Klwell and 1 had
turned out to b? an pwful oil can. 1
gave him my gun in Seventieth street,
under the ColUmbUK avenue elevated
road. Duncan continued to give me
hell r
? Uaucan" im Italian.
Harris mbId that he never had any
intention of shooting Klwetl, but went
i into tii- thini, "Ju.it to stall and collect
the money, because 1 needed money.
After waiting a long time for the van
ished Mrs. Palrehlld lie and Duncan
parted, find Harriet went to the room
where he wan then living in West
THghty-fourtli street, according to his
story. X-ater they looked for Jerry
around the Mills Hotel and Harris
called up all the garages between Co
lumbus Circle and Thirty-third street
without getting trace of the chauffeur.
He described Duncan aa being 5 feet
XI inches or 6 feet tall and said his
name couldn't really bo Duncan, be
cause he is an Italian. Duncan, he says,
Is smooth ghaven, has Jet black, neatly
trimmed hair, has a cap on ujvper right
tooth, habitually wears dark clothe*.
Harris rays he first met Duncan at
Thmnm's bowling nlleys, near the Marl
borough Hotel. He asserts that he and
Duncan were not Intimate friends, but
merely saw each other a good deal
around Times scjuare. Duncan told him
a day or two after the murder that
.Jerry had been found and that all
would be made right on the following
Monday, but ho never saw Duncan
;;gain, and was told two days later
(hat Duncan had been seen In the
Grand Central station, all spruced up
and with several handbags, rtarting for
ii two months' vacation, "up north'' to
eeol off.
Duncan, says Munis, swore mighty
oaths as to his treatment of Mrs. Kair
chlld and Jerry when they should be
found. Duncan said: "There are two
more shots In this old horse piatol, one
for Jerry, one for old Kid Fatrohild."
The ntpn who told him about Duncan's
departure for the north was one Giles,
whose first name Harris could not re
call. Giles told him the man's name
was not Duncan, but was known to him
as "Big Bill." "My impression Is," said
Harris, "that bird Duncan collected the
money and beat it."
Harris described correctly the furni
ture in Swell's reception room and the
position of the pieces. Any one who
had read the newspripors could do this,
Harris said, however, that he nover
read the newspapers, althougn In his
two months In New York after tho mur
der he looked every day at the head'ines
and the pictures to see if any one was
after him.
Characterising Duncan finally he said,
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I "tfcat bird would commit murder like
I you ?iud i ?ftt ule" Harris S?tV-* tl>v--u
I as the oiiiiretf jo* at which he. Harris,
hud iivvil in N** York: 127th street,
I ?aet of K.ghth avenue; Us Weft Si*?y
eighth ?tr*?t; 33 West Eighty-fourth
1 street.
I ll? sa.?S that lie has a sister in BrM?e
i pcvirt, whoute naUVts h?' w(ll not mention,
i because lie wants it "loft out;" that he
Iwas born in Bridgeport, and after the
death of both parents, went to New
YurU at the age of 14
tu- -i i mm tm -i.-1 -j .. aa ? ? -t-'
Harris;-* wife to-day told two stories
to the polk'*, one before sl}u Jiad ap
opporti|iuty to discover what hsr hus
band had ruvoaltij uiylar examination
and another after thp'hgd loarupd his
3tory.
First 11 is. Harris i-aiU she una not in
New York *t the time, but lr? St. Cath
arines, Ont., her home, on June XO last.
"C can't understand it at all; hs never
told me anything gbBUt this murder."
she said. "I -iv??s in St. Catharines with
ipy fulka at tV time of the killing. I
. ? * ? ' ' I
vvmi under the impression that he was
in. New York." <
This afternoon, after a long grilling.
Mrs. Hairs changed her *tgry and
denied st:e wss in St. Catharine*. Sh ?
?laid she was in New York at the tlm*
and that they were In bed ill thstr home
in 178th street by 1 o'clock the night of
the murder. She wss unable to give
her authority for making the povitivo
statement, contenting herself with tfce
a seer Ion "she knew" Itarrij was wft%
her.
i
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