Ethan Pullman left the world with a sneer.
After murdering his wife and married daughter with an axe, the retired insurance broker fled to a New York hotel, registered under a false name, and spent his final hours writing rambling letters meant to explain, excuse, and even mock the horror he had caused.
Across the pages he scrawled, “the wages of sin is death,” as though the phrase could turn murder into judgment.
But Pullman’s plan to wipe out his family failed. Two daughters escaped only by circumstance, a missing $5,000 raised new questions, and the mysterious woman he expected at the hotel was never identified.
By morning, Pullman had read the newspaper account of his own crime. Then he climbed onto the ledge of his fourth-floor room and jumped.
Murderer Jeers World He Quits
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Ethan Pullman ended an incomplete program to wipe out his family by murder and suicide when he dived from a fourth story window of the Grand Central Hotel, 43rd Street and 3rd Avenue, yesterday morning.
A combination of fortunate circumstances saved two of his daughters from the axe that took the life of his wife and his married daughter, Mrs. Getrude Razell, 12 hours earlier.
The body of Pullman crashed through an awning frame and landed so violently on a stairway leading to a basement that one of the steps was reduced to splinters.
A barber and a half-shaved patron hurried to the street, in the belief that there had been an explosion, then aided in carrying the still breathing man into the store. He died a few minutes later at Flower Hospital.
A search of the room Pullman had taken the previous night as “Jones and wife,” but with no “wife,” revealed incoherent letters in which he had sought to justify the killing of his wife and daughter.
Across each letter was scrawled the caption, “the wages of sin is death.”
Domestic troubles, real or fancied, had worked upon his disordered mind until he imagined himself a martyr.
$5,000 and Woman Missing
Yesterday’s investigation left two mysteries still unsolved — the identity of the woman Pullman had expected to meet at the hotel and the whereabouts of $5,000 he was said to have exhibited before leaving his room at 774 Dawson Street, where the two murders were committed.
Pullman was a retired insurance broker, whose home was in Chicago. With his wife he was on here for a visit. The keeper of the rooming house said she could hear their voices lifted often in violent discussion.
Wednesday afternoon he bought an axe. Later developments indicate that he almost immediately used it to kill his wife.
Then the man hurried out to the home of Mrs. Bazell, at 782 Prospect Avenue, and, by telling her that her mother was seriously ill, caused her to return to the room with him. One blow is believed to have taken her life.
Previous to this, Pullman had visited the home of another daughter, Mrs. Mina Kasinitz, 860 East 164th Street, and left a message for her to call to see her mother immediately. She did not respond.
He also made an unsuccessful effort to reach his youngest daughter, Mrs. Ida Gabbe, of Astoria, Long Island.
Murderer Flees to Hotel
After the double killing, Pullman went to the Grand Central Hotel. He explained to the clerk that his wife would arrive in the evening. At that time he exhibited only $2. The clerk and bellboys say that the expected call from ‘Mrs. Jones’ did not materialize.
One theory of the police is that the woman referred to as ‘Mrs. Jones’ may have gone to Pullman’s room without the knowledge of the hotel employees, received the money and departed before he began writing the eight letters found.
The first letter, addressed to the newspapers, was in a flippant tone and was written in Yiddish. In it he said:
“Goodbye, everybody; ta-ta. I guess I will make good. I am going on a long journey. Ta-ta again, and ta-ta once more.”
Then, in a statement about the murders, he said that his two victims were better off.
“You know, these people were never any good to anybody but themselves,” he wrote. “So be wise, you people, and don’t make too much fuss about things you can’t help. We have seen and heard worse things than this.”
Gives Body to Science
In a letter addressed to”Medical Institution” he said:
“I donate my body to any certified medical institution for the study and progress of science. When I wrote this letter I thought I would not have to jump from the fourth story to die, but I was disappointed. But to make sure, I will jump from the fourth story.”
Pullman’s next letter referred to the discover of letters in his wife’s room in which she had told her daughter, Mrs. Bazell, to “make life a hell for him” He described a supposed interview with his daughter in which she referred to this series of letters and “turned all colors.”
“She began to excuse herself, so I finally saw that she was guilty and finished her, too,” he wrote.
Another note described the supposed arrest of Mrs. Bazell, whom he refers to as “Gertie Pullman,” a shoplifter. The letter said that she was arrested October 8. The records of the Detective Bureau show that a “Gussie Pullman,” a necktie maker, was arrested for shoplifting on that date, but was released later under a suspended sentence.
After completing his letters, Pullman called a bellboy and sent out for a morning newspaper. He smiled as he received it. Evidently he spent half an hour studying the story of his crime. Then he stuck the paper in his pocket, clambered out on a ledge below his window, and dived to the sidewalk.
After reading the letters, Jacob Bazell, husband of one of the murdered women, said that his wife had been so worried about the dangers involving her mother because of Pullman’s actions that at one time she had not been responsible for her acts. It was while in this state, he said, that she had taken an article in one of the department stores and walked out without attempting to conceal it.
Source: New-York Tribune. New York, N.Y. January 28, 1916.
