Evening star., 1915-02-07
SUSPECTS DENIAL
Of CRIME ALLEGED
Statement by Nota Mckinley,
Held for the Shooting Of
Mrs. Meagher.
OFFICERS STILL MAKING
SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE
Tracks in Snow Regarded as Clue
Injured Woman's Condition Re-
ported as Improving.


ported as Improving.
Nota Mckinley, forty-two years old.
IA bricklayer. arrested yesterday as a
suspect in the, case of Mrs. Constance
| Meagher, wife of Artilleryman John w.
Meagher. who was shot at the family
home on Chestnut street, near Court
| land station. Va, Thursday night, was
still held in the county jail at Fort
Myer Heights last night. He entered
vigorous denial of the allegation of
his probable connection with the shoot
ing.
L was at my parents home, 1893 SD
street, Thursday night" he declared.
when talking with Commonwealth's
Attorney Crandall Mackey and Dep
uty' Sheriff Harry T. Palmer.
DR.. Farden, who has charge of Mrs.
Meagher at Georgetown University
| hospital. said last night that the pa
tient was doing as well as could be ex-
pected The bullet has not been ex-
| tracted. he said, although it's removal
| would be but a slight operation. There
is danger that the wound will become
I infected from the bullet passing
through Mrs. Meagher's right lung, it
is stated. and it may be several days
| before her exact condition is known
I Mr.. Mackey last night arranged to
| visit Mrs. Meagher today and hear her
| version of the shooting. He is not of
! the opinion. however, that she will be
| able to tell as much Henry, or
| Buster" Hayes, her fourteen-year-old
| son. has already disclosed.
Traced by Tracks in Snwo.
The arrest of Nota Mckinley was
| brought about by tracks in the snow
| leading from the shack of Edward
| Minis. near Fort Myer Heights sta
tion. to the Meagher premises, the
tracks, it is declared, being similar
to those traced from the Meagher
premises to the vacant house on Beach
street-where hole was shot through
a glass panel in the front door-and
from there to the vicinity of the band
hall on the Fort Myer military reser-
| vation.
Sheriff Barbor. Deputy Sheriff Palmer
and Commemorative Attorney Mackey.
who examined the tracks referred to
and took measurements of them, re-
ported that they were made by No. s
| shoe. a small one for a man to wear,
and there was worn place near the
toe of the right shoe that made pc
authorities that McKinley's right shoe
was worn In manner to make such a
depression.
When Mckinley reached the county
|
were removed and another pair loaned
him. Mckinley accounted for his
| movements the early part of the week,
denying that he was in Virginia the
night of the shooting. 1t is stated that
| he was a frequent visitor to the shack
of Edward Minis, who is said to spend
much of his time on the Fort Myer
dump, where he is employed.
McKinley's Arrest.
| Minis was not at home yesterday
morning when the Alexandria county
officers visited his shack. Mckinley
was found not far away. He had spent
some time at Minis place, it is stated,
and was returning in that direction
when Deputy Sheriff Palmer and the
| commemorative attorney met him and
| placed him under arrest.
After the prisoner was placed in Jail
the deputy sheriff and Mr.. Mackey Wis
tied his parents house in the city.
| They conversed with his parents, broth
! er and siSter-in-laW and obtained
| statements from them as to Nota's
wherea bouts Thursday night.
| The authorities are anxious to obtain
| the pistol with which the shooting was
done They failed to learn that McKin-
| ley was the owner or possessor of such a
weapon, they said last night, and if Nc
| kinley did the shooting, it was admitted.
| it must have been with a borrowed pistol
| Search of the woods and roads about the
military reservation failed to discover the
weapon, and arrangements have been
made for another search today.
| 1t is believed by the Alexandria
county authorities that the man who
shot Mrs. Meagher threw away his
weapon before going into hiding He
mad the weapon when he reached the
vacant house. a distance of several
| hundred yards from the scene of the
shooting, and on his way over a path
through the woods he discarded four
| empty shells.
Mckinley. it is stated. wore a long
overcoat the past week whether the
man who did the shooting had on such
a garment, it is stated, Buster" Hayes
was unable to determine.
Gets View of Assailant.
| The boy got a good view of the
| assailant as he was shooting at the
| house from across the ravine. He was
| able to see that the man who fired the
shots had a number of khaki shirts
that had been taken from a line at the
foot of the hill in rear of the house,
but did not know whether or not he
wore an overcoat of the kind described.
Buster" was in the yard locking the
chicken houses when he first saw the
man mentioned. His mother appeared
at the rear door, it was explained, and
1t was possible for the man on the
other side of the ravine to see her in
the light that shone through the open
door from the electric light in the
basement of the house. It is believed
tracted to the house when Mrs.
Meagher opened the door. She called
her son, desiring him to come into the
lhouse.
The officers at Fort Myer responded
to every request made by the common
wealths attorney and sheriff. A whole
| sale search of lockers, ordered by
| them, was made, but no shoes that fit
| ted the tracks in the snow were found.
| Men in the service at the fort, and
| there are more than 1000 of them, in
sist that the shooting was not done by
| one of their number.
| 1t is stated that there is a public road
| through the reservation, and that it
was possible for civilian to have
passed through there after doing the
| shooting. The shots were fired. the
authorities believe, by an individual
who was familiar with the surround
| ings. 1t was an exceptionally dark
night when the shooting was done, it
is stated. but the man who did it was
able to follow the beaten path all the
| fn ha