Burnham/Wayne Killings
Arthur J. Burnham.
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A. Burnham & Family
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Henry & Blanche Wayne
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Blanche Wayne
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September 21, 1911
Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado
SIX KILLED IN WHOLESALE MURDER
MAN, TWO WOMEN, THREE CHILDREN MEET DEATH AT HANDS OF FIEND WITH AX
Two Whole Families Almost Completely Annihilated; Henry F. Wayne, Wife and Infant; Mrs. Alice Burnham and Two Babes
the Victims; A.J. Burnham, the Surviving Husband, Taken Into Custody.
The most fiendish murderer this city has ever known stalked red-handed in Colorado Springs Sunday
night, and all his victims, six in number, were killed as they slept, their heads crushed with an ax.
The dead:
Henry F. Wayne, aged 30 years; his wife, Blanche McGinnis Wayne, aged 26, and their baby daughter,
Blanch, 2 years old, 743 Harrison place.
Mrs. Alice May Burnham, 25 years, wife of Arthur J. Burnham, a yardman at the Modern Woodmen
sanatorium, and her two children, Alice, 6 years, and John, 3 years old, of 321 West Dale street, but a few steps
from the Wayne house.
Little Alice Burnham, judging from the position in which her body was found, was awakened and
tried to escape. But the murderer struck her down and she fell partly across the body of her mother. With the exception
of the little girl, all the victims were evidently killed either before they awoke or before they had a chance
to move.
Burnham was brought to Colorado Springs from the sanatorium an hour after the wholesale murder
was discovered, shortly before 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, and is being held at the county jail.
He is not charged directly with having committed the brutal crime, but the authorities are working
on clews that may make it extremely difficult for him to disprove their theories.
At the county jail last night Burnham declared to newspaper men:
"You will have to look elsewhere for the murderer."
In the absence of any clews Burnham will be called upon to tell where he was between 7:30 o'clock
last Sunday evening and 5 o'clock the following Monday morning.
The crime, committed Sunday night, as nearly as can be determined, was not discovered until
about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Nettie Ruth, 931 South Sierra Madre Street, a sister of Mrs. Burnham,
and Miss Anna Merritt, 730 North Pine street, were the first to find the bodies in the Burnham home.
An odor of decayed flesh greeted them as they opened the back door of Burnham's house with a
key secured at the home of Miss Merritt, half a block away.
"Oh, suppose we find May and her babies dead in the house," exclaimed Mrs. Ruth as
she and Miss Merritt neared the Burnham home. "It would be terrible, terrible!"
Together the two women unlocked the door in the rear of the house. The lock caught and it was
a minute or two before they could turn the key. On a table in the little rear room, used jointly as a kitchen,
dining room and bedroom, were the remains of Sunday evening's supper, "just the same," Mrs. Ruth declared
last night, "as when I left my sister's house Sunday night about a quarter after 9."
The bed in the rear room had not been disturbed. The women pushed open the door leading to the
front bedroom half expecting to see some signs of a tragedy, but little suspecting the shocking sight that confronted
them.
Over on the bed there appeared to be a pile of bed clothing, but Mrs. Ruth declared she did
not at once see the dead forms upon it. She first ---- the great splotches of blood on the wall and then the body
of her little niece, lying on the edge of the bed with her skull crushed.
The women did not look further, both ran screaming from the house. Two men who were passing
the house went in while the women waited. - moment later they rushed out and the story of the triple murder spread
like wild fire.
AUTHORITIES NOTIFIED
The coroner, police and sheriff's office were notified by telephone and officers were rushed
to the house of death -- automobiles. Almost immediately after the arrival of Coroner Jackson at the scene, neighbors
remarked that no one had seen about the Wayne house, just a few steps from the Burnham's back door, since Sunday
last.
Assistant Police Chief Springer and --her officers forced an entrance into the house and found
Wayne, his wife and baby lying dead in the same bed. Their skulls, as was the cause in the house next door, had
been beaten in with some heavy instrument. A blood-stained ax was found at Wayne's backdoor. It had been borrowed
from Mrs. J.R. Evans, a neighbor, by Wayne, a few days ago to chop wood. Hundred flocked to the scene of the wholesale
murder. Men cursed and swore and threatened lynching if the murderer could be found, women and children with faces
white and tear stained formed in groups and talked in whispers of the terrible tragedy.
Inside the houses of death the corner, the police, the sheriff and his --des and Deputy Attorney
Burns of the district attorney's office and his assistants were searching for clews and probable motives of the
crime.
ROBBERY NOT OBJECT
That robbery was not in the mind of the murderer was shown in this-old bracelets were upon the
arms of Mrs. Wayne; a gold watch lay on a dresser in the Burnham home. Nothing was molested in either house, the
midnight intruder was content when he saw the bodies of his six victims stretched out before him.
The doors of both houses were locked with keys, showing the murderer, for reasons not yet brought
out, made his exit in each instance from a window. The authorities have arrived -- the conclusion that at Wayne's
home the rear door was opened with a skeleton key made of twisted wire. This was close to the door sill. A part
of the screen door, sufficiently large to allow the murderer to reach through and raise the hook that fastened
it, had been cut away. The murderer left the house, it is believed, by a window.
At Burnham's home entrance was made through a window on the east side of the house. A bottle
of ink, standing on the sill, was overturned, some of it spilling on the floor, and an attempt had been made to
wipe it away.
Where is Burnham? was the question that at once suggested itself to the officers. Where is the
only survivor of two families?
BURNHAM IN CUSTODY
"Find Burnham," was the order, and deputies and detectives shot away
in an automobile toward the Woodmen sanatorium, 12 miles away, where the man is employed as a yardman.
Burnham already was on his way to town, having been notified by telephone that his wife and
children had been murdered, and the officers met him a few miles north of the city. He was riding in a laundry
wagon.
"My God!" he exclaimed, "how did it happen? Did they get killed in a railroad
accident?"
He joked and talked with the officers about other matters on the remainder of the trip back
to the city, the party reaching his home about 3 o'clock. With police on each side, he was taken into the house
and up to the bed where his wife and babies were killed.
If the officers and newspaper men present expected to see the man break down at the sight, they
were disappointed. Burnham to all appearances, was the least affected of any of those who stood in the little room.
If his face blanched at the sight, it was not detected. If a tear dropped from his eye, it fell unnoticed, if his
hand trembled or an eyelid twitched, no one saw it.
APPEARS UNMOVED
Burnham was unmoved, outwardly, at least, and he betrayed no sign.
He moved about the room, making a clucking sound with his mouth, and occasionally murmuring
"It's terrible, it's terrible."
"Nothing's torn up around here," he remarked as he glanced about the room.
"This is where one of the little babies lay." said Deputy Attorney Burns, pointing
to a crimson spot on the bed.
"God, but it's awful," said Burnham, scarcely above a whisper.
"I don't see how a man could commit such a crime and sleep over it." one of the officers
remarked, to which Burnham shook his head from side to side and made the clucking noise with his tongue.
Asked if he wanted to see "them," Burnham replied that he wanted to see his "children."
Stepping into the other bedroom, which had not been occupied Sunday night, Burnham noticed a
little pile of ashes in front of a stove.
"How did that get there?" he asked
The officers said that they did not know.
Burnham's demeanor was the same when he was taken to the Wayne house, and he did not display
any unusual interest when shown the ax with which the six murders had been committed.
SEES WIFE AND CHILDREN
From the two houses Burnham was taken to the morgue, where the bodies lay. Here, too, those
who may have expected to see the man break down or give way to emotion were disappointed. The few words that he
spoke in answer to questions were in a voice that had no tremor; his face was its natural color and his eyes were
dry.
Burnham Cottage, 321 West Dale St. Tragedy took place in the front bedroom, the window
which shows behind the hammock
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The Wayne Home, 742 Harrison Place
The family were killed in the front bed room, show to the left of the picture
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As he was led up to the bodies in the morgue, he said:
"That isn't my little child. My girl's got lighter hair than that." Afterward, however,
he recognized his child. He made no comment as he stood looking at the body of his wife. While he was still at
the morgue, Burnham declared that he had done nothing.
"Don't waste time with me." he said to the officers, "but get busy with someone
else. Whoever did this must have been an enemy of hers (Mrs. Burnham) -it couldn't have been of mine."
He made no protest, showed no sign of concern or alarm, when officers and Deputy Attorney Burns
informed him that he would be held for further investigation.
At the county jail, where he was taken from the morgue about 5 o'clock, Burnham again declared
that the authorities would have to seek elsewhere to find the murderer.
Today Coroner Jackson will swear a jury over the bodies. The inquest will be held this afternoon,
probably at 2 o'clock.
TRIED TO FIRE BURNHAM HOME
That the murderer tried to set fire to the Burnham home with a view to burning the bodies of
three of his victims is a feature of the case brought out yesterday afternoon.
Officers found part of a Sunday newspaper, crumpled and partly burned, lying close to a window
curtain in Burnham's home. The bottom of the curtain was charred, and the theory is that the murderer, after crushing
out the life of his last victim, sought to fire the house.
With the exception of Burnham, no arrests have been made in connection with the crime. No one,
so far as police hase been able to learn thus far, saw anybody enter or leave either the Wayne or Burnham home
Sunday night.
So far as been discovered, Mrs. Ruth, a sister of Mrs. Burnham, was the last, with the exception
of the murderer, to see the members of the little family alive. This was after 9 o'clock Sunday night.
From the condition of the bodies, as well as from the opinion of physicians and the statements
of neighbors, the authorities are proceeding on the theory that the murder was committed last Sunday night or very
early Monday morning.
BOY CALLS AT HOUSE
A grocer's boy, whose name is not known to the police, called at the Burnham home Monday morning
to collect a bill. He rapped on the door a number of times, but received no answer. He supposed that the family
was asleep and returned to the house again Tuesday morning. Again he received no reply and for the third time,
yesterday morning, the boy went to the house. He attached no significance to the fact that the house was closed
and had been so far two days, supposing that the family was away.
Relatives and friends of Burnham were united last night in expressing the belief that he is
innocent of any connection with the crime. His sister in law, Mrs. Ruth said that the man had always been on the
best of terms with his family and that here were no enemies known to her. His thoughts, she declared, were always
of his two little children, and the day, twice a month when he had a holiday at the Woodmen sanatorium was always
spent with his family. His day off heretofore has been on Sunday; last week he changed to Wednesday, and that day,
Mrs. Ruth declared, he was at home with his wife and babies.
Burnham and his wife had been married for seven years and there were only two children. It was
learned at the examination of the morgue yesterday that Mrs. Burnham was in a delicate condition.
WELL KNOWN HERE
Burnham, his sister in law says, is about 40 years old. He has been a resident of Colorado Springs
for about 16 years, and is known to many here. He has been employed at the Woodmen sanatorium for the last two
years, and for five years was a cook and a baker at Tucker's restaurant. Before that time he conducted a candy
store at different times in various localities in the downtown district. He was a member of the Colorado Springs
camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Ruth, nearly prostrated with grief, said last night that there had been no family discords.
She was unable to throw any light as to the probable cause leading up to the crime or why the murders had been
committed.
NO LATE DEVELOPMENTS
Early this (Thursday) morning there were no special developments in the case.
But little is known here about the Wayne family, except that they had lived on Harrison Place
for about a month. Wayne, who was a Modern Woodman, lived at the sanatorium north of Colorado Springs for several
weeks as a patient. Recently he brought his wife and baby here from Indiana. The couple were married August 29,
1908.
Burnham and Wayne were acquainted and apparently both men and their families were on friendly
terms. Burnham, it is said, told Wayne of the vacant house near his own home a short time ago and Wayne subsequently
rented the place.
An examination of Wayne's personal effects disclosed the fact that he had deposited $55 in the
Colorado Savings bank, August 31, soon after his arrival in Colorado Springs from Indiana. This money, Mrs. Wayne
is said to have told neighbors, was received from the sale of furniture at their home in the east.
The police are convinced that robbery was not the motive in the murder of either family. Jealously
or revenge, perhaps both, forms the theory on which the investigation hinges at present.
It was long after midnight when the investigations of a crime which for cold-bloodedness and
brutality has never been equaled here.
TERRIBLE TRAGEDY A MYSTERY TO ALL
Close Friends and Relatives Talk Details of the Discovery. Dr. Rutledge of M.W.A. Sanatorium Believes Burnham to
Be Innocent. Wild Rumors Are Circulated.
It was at the suggestion of her murdered sister that Mrs. Nettie Ruth, 931 South Sierra Madre
street, gathered a few of her sewing articles and started for the Burnham home yesterday afternoon.
The story leading up to the occasion of the visit and of her discovery, which gave residents
of Colorado Springs the first inkling of the worst murder in the history of the city, is best told by Mrs. Ruth.
"I was over at sister's house Sunday evening," Mrs. Ruth said between sobs, as she
sat on the porch of an adjoining house, amid a throng of sympathetic and curious women. The sister referred to
was Mrs. Burnham. "We had a good time talking with each other.
"I was just getting ready to go home when she told me that she had a lot of sewing to do.
That I told her I was in the same fix.
"Then, why can't you come over Monday afternoon and we'll work and talk together?"
she asked. "I had other work to do on Monday and Tuesday, but said that I could come over Wednesday afternoon."
The two sisters agreed upon the time, Mrs. Ruth said, Very little preparation was necessary
on her part to carry out the engagement.
BLINDS WERE DRAWN
"I wasn't in any particular hurry," Mrs. Ruth continued, "knowing that we had
all afternoon to sit and talk and sew. But I never felt that anything was wrong when I tried the door and found
it was locked. I started around the house to try the other door, when I noticed that the window blinds were drawn.
"She's gone over to Anna's, was the first thought that entered my mind. So I started over
there to find her."
The Anna referred to is Miss Anna Merritt, 730 North Pine street, who was a particular friend
of Mrs. Burnham, and who was with Mrs. Ruth when the murder was discovered.
At the Merritt home, Miss Merritt had not heard of nr seen Mrs. Burnham for several days. Then
it was that a suspicion entered the mind of the sister and friend, Miss Merritt, that something was wrong.
But before going further, Mrs. Ruth called the Modern Woodman sanatorium over the telephone
and asked for Mr. Burnham. He had not been to town since the preceding Wednesday, he said, and could give them
no information as to his wife's whereabouts. But there was a note of worry and anxiety in his tone, ending with
the query if anything else was wrong.
OPEN DOOR WITH ANOTHER KEY
It was with a rush that the two women found a key-it was Miss Merritt's house key, and started
for the Burnham home, hoping against conviction that there was a note of explanation in the house that would allay
all fears. It was Miss Merritt who turned the key in the door and started in.
At this point Mrs. Ruth broke out anew, and found refuge for her sobs and troubles on the shoulder
of her friend Miss Merritt.
She had reached the point in her story where the two women pushed through the door, and were
met with a stench that almost overcame them although they were in the kitchen. With but little hope left, but bound
to know the worst, they advanced to the half open door and led into the combined bedroom and sitting room, Miss
Merritt leading the way.
"We first saw the red blotches on the wall," Mrs. Ruth managed to life her head up
and say, "and then and then we saw a form on the bed. It must have been little May."
Mrs. Ruth was unable to proceed. Her grief was uncontrollable. It was Miss Merritt who
hinted, through glances, for the questioner to leave.
MISS MERRITT'S STORY
The statement from Miss Anna Merritt, 730 North Pine Street, corroborates in full that by Mrs.
Ruth concerning the discovery. Although completely unnerved and forced to find refuge in bed from the nervous shock
and grief, she was able through a friend to go further and explain how the news was spread.
Miss Merritt and Mrs. Burnham were friends for years. It was at the home of Miss Merritt that
the murdered woman and two children stayed in the latter part of last winter and during the the early part of spring,
while Burnham was working at the sanatorium. So firm was her friendship with Mr. and Mrs. Burnham and the children,
that Miss Merritt was almost considered one of the family.
"I was naturally worried about Mrs. Burnham from the first," Miss Merritt gave out.
"We were always intimate and I thought it rather strange that she had not been over to see me. It just happened,
I guess, that I didn't go over to see her. But I just naturally concluded that she was off, visiting with some
of her folks or out at the sanatorium.
SURPRISE BY MRS. RUTH
"I was greatly surprised when her sister came and asked me where she was. It was then that
I got the key and went with her to the house.
"I didn't want to think of it, but I could not help but feel that something awful had happened,
when I first entered the house," Miss Merritt continued. "I nerved myself, and had hold of Mrs. Ruth's
hand. I was certain that we would find something in the other room that would be awful, but we couldn't help but
keep right on.
"The room was dark, owing to the window blinds being down, and we could not see very much
in the bedroom. The first thing I noticed was the blood on the wall. We got to the door and saw the form of one
of the children lying on the bed. We didn't wait to see any more, but went right out."
Across the street at the Collins grocery store, two telephone calls were made by Mrs. Ruth and
Miss Merritt. One was to the police and the other was to the coroner. This was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
AT THE WAYNE HOUSE
News of the murder spread like wild fire, but not until several minutes after Mrs. Ruth and
Miss Merritt told of what they had seen in the Burnham home, and some of the officers had arrived on the scene,
was their attention called to the Wayne cottage, a few yards away.
But more than one neighbor had wondered during the last day or two prior to the discovery of
the murder, why the house was so silent? Why were the window blinds drawn? Why the strange disappearance of the
girlish looking wife, the happy father and the laughing little baby?
Almost all were of the same mind-would they find, upon investigation, another scene just like
the one that confronted the officers when they entered the Burnham home?
There is a probability though that the murder in the Wayne home would still be undiscovered,
had not Mrs. F.E. Campbell, 315 West Monument street, told of her fears.
It was to F.H. Springer, assistant to Acting Police Chief Himebaugli(?), that she first told
of her feelings that there was a horrible solution to the quiet that had reigned about the Wayne home for so long.
Other neighbors gave voice to the same misgivings.
FEARS CORROBORATED
It took just a minute for Springer to act. He rushed to the front door of the Wayne home and
almost broke the door down in entering. He was followed by other officers and authorities, and the fears of the
neighbors were corroborated at the first glance.
Everything was in plain sight. The bed on which were found the almost nude and hardly recognizable
bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne and their little baby was but a step or two from the door. The light from the open
door was sufficient for the officers to take in all the details of the horrible scene. Little variation from the
manner in which the Burnham murder took place, was found at the Wayne home. There were the bodies of father
and mother, with their faces and heads crushed, and there was the form of the little baby, with gashes, cuts and
bruises over its facial features and head.
"I don't believe that I felt any different than any other of my neighbors," Mrs. Campbell
said last evening. "I just couldn't help but think that something was wrong, when I found out what had
happened at the Burnham home. I was hoping, but what was the use? But why did they want to kill that poor baby?"
The finding of the bodies in the separate homes followed in quick succession. In fact, almost
as soon as it was generally known that there was a murder at the Burnham home, the second wholesale killing became
public.
NEAR NEIGHBOR TALKS
No one was more surprised at the murder than Mrs. C.L. Brown, colored, living at 317 West Dale
Street. She was the closes neighbor to the two families.
A narrow street, almost like an alley, separates the Brown and Burnham homes. South on the street,
about 40 feet, is the Wayne home. Mrs. Brown was probably the only one in a position to hear a noise, if there
had been any at either home.
"We were never over neighborly," was the statement made by Mrs. Brown, "but the
Burnhams and the Waynes were always nice to me, especially the Burnhams. I did not know the Waynes very well. They
came here only a week or two ago.
"I never had an idea that anything was wrong. I know that Mrs. Burnham and Mrs. Wayne visited
each other quite often and they seemed friends and nice to each other.
"I left home Sunday afternoon-went to church. I remember seeing someone on the back porch
of the Burnham home when I left, but I never paid any particular attention, other than to know that it was one
of the members of the family. I was gone until late, returning about 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening.
RECALLS NO NOISES
"I went out again after supper, but returned home about 8 or 8:30 o'clock. I didn't pay
any attention to either one of the two homes, and do not recall if there was anyone around the places, or if there
were any lights. I was home the rest of the evening and not recall any unnecessary noises during the whole night.
"I noticed that the blinds were drawn at the Burnham and Wayne homes on Monday, and I thought
they were away on a visit. I never gave it a second thought until today, and even then I did not have a suspicion
that a crime had been committed."
None of the roomers at the Brown home recall any noises or cries at the Burnham or Wayne homes
on the night the murder is supposed to have been perpetrated.
LAST SEEN SUNDAY
One of the last persons who saw the victims alive was Grant Collins, who runs a grocery store
diagonally across the street, east from the Burnham home. This was on Sunday afternoon, when every member of the
two families but Burnham was at the store.
"Wayne was a friends sort of fellow, and I liked him very much, although we had only been
acquainted a little more than a week." Mr. Collins said. "They all came in here Sunday afternoon about
2 o'clock. I was loafing and we went in the back part of the store and stayed until about 4:30 o'clock."
"We talked on several things and were getting well acquainted. Wayne told several good
stories, and I was sorry when he told me that he had to go home. I thought it was kind of funny that I did not
get to see him either Monday or Tuesday. It was the same way with the Burnham family. Someone from one of the two
houses was in the habit of visiting the store and buying something almost every day."
NEWS SPREADS QUICKLY
With almost the same breath, seemingly, that broke the news to the police and county authorities,
the public in general was told the fearful facts. As if it had been carried by the wind, the crime was the talk
in almost every home and store in the city, within a short time after it became known.
People were talking about it on the streets. Business men would stop each other, and ask: "Have
you heard of the awful crime?" Even in Colorado City and Manitou it soon became a matter of general conversation
and many were the telephone calls made to The Gazette, police headquarters and sheriff's office, asking for further
information. There was no cessation during the day of inquiries made by persons wishing to follow the advance of
the authorities in their efforts to obtain some clew that would lead to a motive for the crime. And late last night
and at an early hour this (Thursday) morning, calls kept coming in at The Gazette office, asking for the latest
news.
It would be hard to describe the scene on West Dale street in front of the Burnham home, and
at the Wayne home. People in automobiles, buggies, motorcycles and bicycles began arriving almost simultaneously
with the officers. Later they were followed by persons afoot, and the street car company did a good business hauling
men, women and children on the Tejon and Spruce street lines to Dale street.
CROWDS TO RUSH TO SCENE
In the crowd could be found some kindly, sympathetic friends of the murdered families, but the
majority was composed of what one officer termed "the morbid curious." Two hours from the time
when the crime became known the street in the 300 block on West Dale street was filled with automobiles, vehicles
of every description and pedestrians.
Seemingly, the greatest delight of those called to the scene through curiosity, was to follow
the coroner, policemen and officers from the sheriff's office as they went about their work, looking for clews.
They gathered at the windows and it was difficult to keep the crowd back, when a door leading to one of the homes
was opened.
Mrs. Ruth and Miss Merritt came next in serving to appease the curiosity of the visitors.
Then came the men and women who had stories to tell of incidents touching upon the lives of
member so the two murdered families. One man could not recall whether it was last Saturday, or a week ago last
Saturday, that he had seen Wayne standing in the doorway of his little home, but the story served its purpose.
He was the center of a group of men, women and children, who were anxious to gather any kind of gossip that might
pertain to the crime. Darkness alone dispersed the throngs. Then they apparently moved their headquarters to a
place in front of the morgue, where the bodies are held. There was a big crowd in front of the place until late
last night.
SAYS BURNHAM INNOCENT
"The idea is preposterous," is the comment made by Dr. J.A. Rutledge, superintendent
of the Modern Woodman sanatorium in regard to the theory held by some that Burnham is responsible for the six murders.
"When it first became known that Burnham was suspected," Dr. Rutledge continued, "I
started an investigation, and so far as I have found, there is no possible way to connect him, although the investigation
was made with a view to spare no one. Wayne is a Modern Woodman as well as Burnham, and we are deeply interested
in trying to find out the guilty person or persons.
"Inmates and workers at the sanatorium are in the habit of getting one day in every two
weeks for themselves. Burnham is a laborer and Sunday was his regular day off. He made arrangements so that he
could get away Wednesday last week. This he did, but he was back at work Thursday morning.
CAN ACCOUNT FOR MOVEMENTS
"I can account for him from his co-workers for every minute of every other day up to the
present time. Sunday, on which evening the murder is supposed to have happened, he was at work in the kitchen as
usual. He peeled from 200 to 250 pounds of potatoes during the day. He quit work about 7 o'clock.
"I have the word of J.C. Shriver, the man who occupies the same cottage with him, as to
his whereabouts Sunday evening. One or two other men were at the house. Although Burnham works here, he is a sick
man, and they tell me that they heard him coughing and working about his part of the cottage until after 10 o'clock.
At different times during the night Shriver says he heard him, and he was up at the usual hour Monday morning.
He always is one of the first ones up at the sanatorium.
"Then we must take in consideration the distance between the sanatorium and Colorado Springs.
It is almost 12 miles. I am positive that a man in his condition could not walk the distance and be back the same
night. Inmates say that he is not strong enough to walk from the kitchen to the barn without stopping every few
feet to get his breath.
CITES OTHER POINTS
"I have accounted for every horse, buggy and vehicle of every description on the place
Sunday evening. There was no chance for him to catch a ride at the road. The probability is small that he could
have hired an automobile and had it meet him near the grounds for a ride into the city. There is a night watchman,
and he would have heard the noise of a man leaving the grounds at any time of the night. Furthermore, I doubt if
Burnham has the strength to life an ax and perpetrate the crimes that were committed.
"Then they remark about his actions, appearances and apparent indifference after the sheriff
arrived, and when he was taken into the house. The man was in a dazed condition, and I doubt yet if he realizes
in full the crime that has deprived him of his wife and children."
"Burnham and Wayne were friends for weeks prior to the murder. They first became acquainted
when Wayne arrived in Colorado Springs from Indiana several weeks ago and entered the hospital as a patient. When
Burnham went off on his vacation Wayne took his place in the kitchen.
Friends of Burnham at the sanatorium say that it was the accused man who got Wayne to take up
his home near the Burnham residence on West Dale street. The two men were friends ever since, they say.
RUMORS THICK AND FAST
Stories, some with merit and others without any foundation, were flying thick and fast yesterday
regarding the murder. A man would whisper some theory, or repeat a rumor in the ear of a neighbor, and almost in
an instant it would sweep over the crowd gathered in front of the homes, and revert back to the man highly magnified.
And if the same man, after telling the tale, would start for the city, he would be met with the same story, going
from mouth to mouth on the streets.
It was evidently from such a wild source that it became rumored that there was a former husband
of the late Mrs. Burnham, and that he had been arrested for the crime. Before the story stopped, rumors had it
that the alleged former husband had confessed to the crime. Then, when the report had been told to persons who
were in a position to know the real facts, it was found that there was no former husband, other than Mr. Burnham,
now under arrest.
The police had a hard time dodging those anxious to advance theories. Then there were other
men who had heard of certain rumors, accepted them as facts, and were willing to give the police the "full
benefit of their knowledge."
LETTER FOR WAYNE
There is a letter in the postoffice addressed to Henry Wayne, sent from Rensselaer, Ind. It
arrived Sunday.
"I went to the Wayne home Monday morning with a letter and a paper," said M.E. Butts,
letter carrier No. 23(?) who delivers mail at the Burnham and Wayne homes. "I left the paper and took the
letter back to the postoffice, after finding that the door was locked and that no one answered the knock. I took
the letter back Tuesday and this morning and found the paper there. I asked Mrs. Brown what had become of them
and she said that she thought they were visiting. I have --- had -- mail for the Burnham home for some time. I
think they must have ------ at the postoffce or at the -----."
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