New Britain Herald Newspaper, May 5, 1927, Page 5

—_—ee GRAY STANDS IN | COURT ROOH SCENE (Continued From First Page) blow, and how he yelled to the wom- an as Snyder was gaining the upper hand in the struggle. “I dropped the sashweight and I. eried ‘Momie, Mon help me." If she hadn’t come he would have got the better of me. But she picked up the weight and hit him from behind. Then she threw chloroiorm in his face and got his hands behind him Where she tied them. “And then he lay still. She said, ‘Is he dead?" and I said, I think s0." Then she asked me to strangle him ‘with the picture wire and I tried to, but I couldn’t.” Gray, who took the stand Tuesday afternoon a few m’.utes after it had been vacated t, his co-defendant, Ruth Brown Snyder, was still un-| dergolng his direct examination when court adjourned last night. ‘When that is concluded he must submit to cross-examination by both the state and by counsel for Mrs. Snyder. While she was on the stand, Mrs. ! Snyder placed the entire blame for the murder on Gray. She said he planned the murder to get her hus- band’s insurance money and that he carried it out alone and over her protest. Did’Not Deny Guilt. ) suggested a sash weight. 1 got the sash weight and the loroform and some cotton yuste d some picture wire. I gave them 1 to her and she begged me again to help her. I said: ‘No, you will have to go through with this alone’.” Worked On. Later, however, he testified, she! worked 50 on his feelings and he had got into such a state of nervousness that he tentatively agreed to help her. He went to her house on the night she had set, March 9. She had told him that she would leave a package of cigarettes on the hall table if it was all right for him to, £0 upstairs when he got to the house, and he mentioned as an indication of his condition that when he saw the cigarettes he could not remem- ber whether it meant to go upstairs or to stay down. But he went up. He hid in the darkened room of Mrs. Snyder’s ab- sent mother and drank deeply from a bottle of whiskey that had been left for him. Once he decided to leave but as he went down stairs a car drew up to the house, and he| knew it was too late. “I hid in the room again,” he said, “and after Mr. Snyder and the little girl were asleep Mrs. Snyder came to me, *‘You will go through with it for me, won't you? she asked, and I said *Momie, I'll try" “She took me by the hand and led me to the room where her husband was aslecp. 1 had the sash'weight and she had the chloroform and waste and a duster I had brought. “*Now is the time' she Gray, on the other haad, did not!and I went into that room and hit deny his own guilt. He said he was ! Alvert Snyder on the head with the | drunk. He said he was in thrall to |sash weight. He grabbed me by the | He | necktie, and I think I hit him again. her more powerful personality. said she begged and threatened him [He was still full of 1 fight and in her efforts to force him to ntur-|jumped up on top of him and tried der her husband. But he admitted he gave way and struck the first blow. Through his first hours on the stand he told in monotonous detail of his relations with Mrs. Snyder, of their many meetings and of-#ueir al- most constant conversations the best method of getting rid of a husband. First He Refused. At first he said he rejected the proposal altogether but at length he began to weaken. First he aided only so far as to ask a doctor he knew about poison. Then gradually he said he began to give ground un- as to| der constant persuasion and at last | agreed to procure chloroform. to choke him with my hands.” He then told of his appeal to her for ald and how she responded by picking up the sash weight and striking her husband down from be- hind. Objects to Recess. Gray had got hardly beyond this point when Samuel Miller, his attor- ney, suggested adjournment, and Justice Scudder agreed. “Not yet,” the witness sald in a loud voice. “I've got a few matters to clear up yet.” And he went on to tell of burning the blood stained clothing, of planning a burglary 2libi and of tying up Mrs. Snyder in according with this plan before he left the house and fled back to Syra- *“I told her I would not aid in the | cuse. murder,” he said. “But I got her things to do it with. She asked me and”one that what I thought about beating him | courtroom. unconsclous and then giving him chloroform, and I said it sounded plausible. Ne, feasible. She as what sort of an instrument would | mother was present wit It was a session tense {n drama thrilled the jammed As Gray talked tear streamed Snyder convulsively, His h his sister they too sobbed and brother-in-law and told me | down his face and Mrs. | © NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1927 | When court was adjourned both the ! principals were in a stats bordering on collapse and had to be helped | trom the“room. The crowd was so unruly today that opening of court was delayed 10 | inutes as the spectators struggled | | for vantage points. Gray resumed the witness chair, | and Mrs. Snyder went to her seat at the defense counsel table. Both were very pale but seemed to Fave them- selves well in hand. 1 Gray immediately took up his | story of the Kkilling of Albert Snyder. | Wore Dead Man's Shirt, After Snyder was murdered, Gray | said, he put on onc of the dead | man’s shirts which Mrs. Snyder | gave him, and they then went down | stairs where they sat in the living | room. This testimony was a repetition of i the last of yesterday's narrative and counsel for Mrs. Snyder objected. | Justice Scudder said Gray might | | double back on his story ii he had additional details, i Gray continued to tell of disposal | in the furnace of bloodstained cloth- | {ing and of hiding the sash weight. | | “Then we went upstairs,” he said, | “and into the room where Snyder | lay. | | “I think it was at this time 1 put | the revolver on his bed. “She asked me if he was dead, | |and 1 said I did not think so. | | Strangled Prostrate Man. | | “She asked me to help her twist® wire around his neck. I tried, but I | {was so shaky and so drunk that I | couldn’t do it. | “I started mussing things up to make it seem there had been = burglary. “She asked me if 1 would hit her ! over the head to help the burglary story, but 1 said I could not. “L did tie her up, however, and | Ltook two drinks and then left by the side door.” | Gray then told of taking a bus to Jamaica from Queens Village where | the Snyders lived. From Jamaica he | | went by taxi to Manhattan, where he | !bad breakfast in the Grand Central terminal and then took the §:45 a. m. train for Syracuse. | Could Not Sleep. | | “I tried to read on ih: train wnd ! ! could not,” he said. "I tried to sleep | and could not.” | Samuel Miller, Gray's counsel, who | was conducting the direct examina- | tion of his client, asked at this point | it Gray had .worn any changed his appearance in any way. | Gray said he had not. | Gray then told of throwing from the train a brief case which con- | | tained potsons Mrs. Snyder gave him | atter the kKilling. “I was very dazed when 1 got to Syracuse,” he said, "I went directly | to my room in the Ononduga hotol.” | He was then asked to recount his | | don’s house where | Later I was taken before leaving for Queen Tiecounts His Action “I got yp about 7 o'clock.” he said, “and got'a shoe shine. After break- fast 1 did some errands and then went to the office of my fiiend Had- don Gray and made an appointment for lunch. “I cailed on a customer then, had two or three drinks, and Ha don met me about 1 o'clock. |~ “We had lunch and I told him I had an engagement witn Momie in Albany and asked if he wculd do me a favor by mussing up my bed and mailing some letters and hang- ing out the ‘don’t disturb’ sign. “He said he would and went aw I had some more drinks, took briefcase, stopped at a place to ge scme drinks and went to the station. I had dinner on the train and ar- rived in New York about !¢ o'clock.” Back In Syracuse. Miller next asked Gray to pick up his narrative at the point where he got back to Syracuse after his trip to Queens Village. “I took a ba changed my clothes,” Gray testified, nd called Haddon Gray. He was out but his wife said she would have him call. “Oh, when I got to my room I found a note saving something like: ‘Perfect. Call when ready'” The note was then produced :\ndl identified. ! “Haddon called me about 5:30,” Gray continued, “and ed me to dinner. 1 ed him to come down to got m 1 was in trouble and wanted to see him personally. “He came down wi'h another man. I told them I'd g n a mixup and had got some blood on my: clothes. | “I gave them a black suitcase, the | \clothing. a picture and a brief case. “We took all this to the gentle- man’s cffice and then went to Had- we had some- thing to drink, Got Quite Drunk. “L had supper there and stayed till about 11 o'clock. Then I called on a friend at the Syracuse hotel and got quite drunk. I went to my own | hotel then and was still up when de- | tectives came and got me. Village. | As he told of th at the hotel and|si “I went to police headquarters and after some time was taken to a cell. up stairs and questioned by two men. That was 8 or 9 in the morning. “I asked if I could communicate with Haddon Gray and they said no. After long questioning I was asked to make a statement as to my whereabout on the day I had been in New York. Gray remained perfectly calm as hhe spoke and Mrs. Snyder sat calmly with her chin in her hands boldly ng takea by Syra- cuse police to the station, however, and of the crowds that surged around him with the booming of flushlights, his eyes grew misty and be wiped a team from his cheek. Begins To Weep. n the train,” he id, guddenly beginning to weep, “they told me I'd better come acro: That they'd like to treat me like there were way they had to be used. “They showed 1 a newspaper with a headline that said Mrs. Sn. der had confessed. “I'irst one questioned me and then a janother. Finally I was so confuscd 1 m 1 had been in Queens V lage that night. I don't remember hether 1 told them the whole story % that time or not.” No Sleep In Four Days. He waid he was taken to the Queens county district attorney's of- fice where he was told to tell his story in his own words. This was gentleman, but | to make me talk if | once 1 think S 89 Intont Gray then d tive to tell of | telephone bills and I ner personally so t wo ome suspic [¢ ssion v [ duced and he read it i parts as ke O He omitted ¢ littie w e, His v 1 like a testimony on t onitting su tha sounde s As e recountal began to ery choked - with emo seemed o 1 came in 1 | control and nd he said he had no sleep | iday night. Next he told of his arraignment and his appearance at the police “line up,” where he had i0 stand on a platform while dozens of masked ' detectives looked him over. Miller frequently asked C i he had his glasses on at various times during these days. State wit- nesses have previously testified to re- membering him by his horn-rimmed glasses. Gray was then asked to tell about a conversation with Mrs. Snyder be- fore the Killing. Wanted to Elope. | > had read about the divorce | mill at Elkton, Maryland,” he said, “and suggested we elope Gown there, get divorced and then marry. “I told her the idea was ridiculous and she kidded me about it. brought it up several time later and KUPPENHEIMER She | One point i on wh Gray read as truth not inelude the stand, de Ly Mrs It we that Mrs. Sny that it he did husband, b ich ¥ in his spokea stor alt with & tirea Snyd all This statement ¢ : true in a loud clear voi Miller then d in his amination. Cross-Examination, Wi . Cou . hegan cross- imped right to the murder. “You say you | at the timn 2" “Where did yon take them off?” “In Mrs. Sayder's mother's room “How long dic them off Lefore hitti T don't “Did you t mind you we sol for Mrs, Dana Snyde ross-cxami 1tion hour of ¢ glasses off e them off having out 1o use . |sociate in the defense of Mrs. Snyder tuned to th made all p joining the chorus. 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