Daily Kennebec Journal

PALE AND WAN
Mrs. Burdick Continues Story
of Relations With Pennell.
Visited Her Every Day, Giving Cause
for Divorce Proceedings.
Shameful Tale of Shameful Doings In
Buffalo "Society."

Buffalo, N. Y., March 24. "Have you
received any information as to who
killed your husband?"

"No, sir."

"You swear you have no knowledge
or information as to who killed him?"

"I do."

The above questions were addressed
to Mrs. Burdick, this afternoon, at the
inquest into the death of her husband
by District Attorney Coatsworth. The
answers were returned by Mrs. Burdick
in a calm, clear voice. The questions
came abruptly while the district attorney
was drawing information from
Mrs. Burdick about her relations with
Arthur R. Pennell. She had denied
that Pennell took her key to the front
door of the Burdick home while they
were in New York together, and had
several duplicates made of it. The district
attorney put the question regarding
the key to Mrs. Burdick in a number
of different forms, but the answers
were always emphatic denials that she
or Pennell had ever ordered duplicate
keys made or that the key had left her
possession during her last exile from
home.

Mrs. Burdick was calmer and more
collected while testifying today than
she was yesterday. She left the stand
at 4.15.

To complete the examination of
every one who was in the Burdick
home on the night of Feb. 26 when Edwin
I. Burdick was murdered, the district
attorney called to the stand the
two youngest Burdick children, Carol
and Alice, aged respectively 13 and 10
years. The children displayed no more
sign of emotion than did their grandmother,
or mother, or older sister, while
talking about the terrible death of their
father. Their recollection of the happenings
at the time of the tragedy were
rather hazy.

Mrs. Burdick's testimony covered the
week in which Burdick was murdered
and the name of Arthur R. Pennell was
constantly upon her lips. She trusted
him implicitly in everything. The district
attorney read a number of letters
written to Mrs. Burdick by Pennell in
which he said life was not worth living
without her and that death would
not be unwelcome. She knew nothing
of a document found in her safety deposit
vault bonding Pennell to pay her
$25,000 in the event of his being unable
to marry her. Although it was among
Mrs. Burdick's private papers in the
vault she claimed to have been ignorant
of its existence.

Mrs. Burdick declared that the last time
she saw Pennell was on the Tuesday before
the murder. He left her that night
in Atlantic City, arriving in Buffalo,
Wednesday. She was informed of Mr.
Burdick's death by a message from Mrs.
Hull on the following Friday and hastened
to Buffalo. She reached her home Saturday
morning. A brief note of sympathy
from Pennell came to the house that day.
She never heard from him or saw him between
that time and the day he was killed
by his automobile plunging into the stone
quarry.

Before leaving the stand Mrs. Burdick
took occasion to say in reply to questions
from her attorney that nothing improper
or immoral had occurred between her and
Pennell. At the same time she said her
husband was fond of the society of other
women and for some reason not quite clear
said that Mrs. Pennell was quite familiar
with the dining room and den in the
Burdick home.