Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-01-22
Chicago Detectives Are
Working on New CIews
in Mystery.
WEBB ISON WAY SOUTH
Slayer of Officer Reported to
Have Left Last Night for
st. Louis.

cetved an anonymous telephone mes
sage stating that Robert Webb, slay- |
er of Detective Hart, left .ast night |
for st. Louis. The police are GER
tain the real story of Harts murder !
has not yet beeA told.
Although Chicago yesterday was
the scene of the most desperate man |
hunt in the history of the city, Robert /
I Webb. auto bandit and murderer of 1
Detective Peter Hart, found it as easy
to elude the police as in his previ- |
Gus brushes with them.
Every policeman and detective in
the city carried orders from Chief Nc !
/ Weeny to shoot the fugitive bandit |
and shoot to kill on the slightest eff
/ fort to resist arrest.
( Had the murderer been caught il
1 Is almost certain that he never would
/ have reached police station alive
Practically every member of the force
! had announced that his cold-b CODED
killing of Hart had proved him too
dangerous a man to parley with and
that nothing short of a bullet would
make him good"
STORY OF TRAGEDY TOLD.
Meanwhile the truth about the trag-
edy enacted in the dark, foul-smell-
I ing fiat on South Wabash avenue,
where Hart was killed in the trap he
had set for Webb, began to come out
piecemeal
The story as told by Mrs. Belle
! Hastings, sweetheart of Frank Nadia,
convinced the police that Michael
Casella, tenant Of the fat where Hart
was killed, had not told the truth about
the affair His statements that he
was helping the police in their efforts
to arrest the fugitive bandit were dis
credited when it was discovered that
Webb had spent hours ia the fat to
Casella's knowledge and Casella failed
TO tell the police that he was there.
Moreover, Casella made numerous
conflicting statements, admitted that
he had been arrested on several oc-
casioas and had had numerous deal
ings with thieves and criminals gen
orally.
CLAIMS COUGHLIN As FRIEND.
= He concluded by saying that he was
a close friend Of "Bathhouse John"
Coughlin of the First ward and ex-
pressed implicit faith in the politi-
clans ability to get him out of any
trouble into which he might fall
Of still greater importance, from the
J police viewpoint, was the knowledge
, that Casella had been arrested as
suspect during the investigation of the
murder of'John Raven, an aged mon
ey lender and broker on South State
street, who was killed at his desk
: nearly two years ago.
r Casella is said have owed the man
= between $4,000 and $4,000, for which
: Raven held notes.
= After the killing of the money lend
er all of these notes were stolen from
: his safe. Although Casella was not
2 directly connected with the case at
D that time, the police now believe that
r these facts may well be considered.
t Another discovery was that a man
e known only as ben" was in the Cas-
) ella fiat within five minutes of the
+ time Hart was killed He is now
being sought.
MRS. HASTINGS NERVOUS.
Mrs. Hastings refused to admit that
! she possessed any information not
: already given TO the police when she
!. was questioned first yesterday morn
7 ing. When taken from her cell later
. in the afternoon, however, she ap-
!, peared more nervous. She evidently
;, :. was afraid that she might be charged
with completely in the crime. When
questioned by reporter for The Rec
ord-Herald she broke down complete
ly and admitted that Webb had been
concealed il the fiat and that Cas-
: elias elaborate statements. as con.
: sequence, could not be true.
The woman said that she had as
: sisted Webb to pull a piano from its
:. usual place in .the parlor and place
!. ii near a closet door. He then con.
\ cealed himself in the closet aad she
h blocked the way with the piano, which
Il she dragged before the door
It Immediately after doing this she
n vas arrested by two detectives who
n were knocking at the door Of the fat
Il while Webb was being hidden.
DETECTIVES KEPT IN DARK.
The detectives were not informed
either by Casella or his wife thai
l. Webb was in the fat although Mrs
1. Hastings says that both of them knew
N OF his presence there. Moreover. she
d said. It would have been impossible
e for Webb to have freed himself from
the closet IA which he was a yolun