New Britain herald., 1917-07-28
INDICTMENTS SOON
in .CRUGER CASE
Report Of Grand Jury May Be
\ Made Next Week.

! New York, July 2S.-Several in
| dictments are likely to be found next
week by the extraordinary grand jury
! which is investigating the police
failure in the Cruger case. The grand
jurors have asked that no sessions be
held in August and that evidence
against the accused policemen and
| police officials be rushed next week.
The grand jury will probably adjourn
| through August and resume the gen.
/ eral investigation of the police de-
partment in September At least one
official at police headquarters is in
danger of indictment, an assistant
district attorney said yesterday.
Detectives and policemen who were
accused of "atrocious boneheaded-
ness" by Commissioner of Accounts
Wallstein have testified before the
grand jury and made it clear, it was
said, the responsibility for their mis-
takes was shared by their superiors
The district attorneys office is anx-
ious to have the grand jury, after
finishing with the Cruger case, in
vestigate other typical cases for the
purpose of ascertaining whether the
trouble is not chiefly administrative
and whether the blunders in the
Cruger case have not been paralleled
in other cases. This supplemental in
vestigation cannot be held next week,
because of lack of time, but may be
taken up either by the extraordinary
grand jury or by a. new grand jury in
September.
The district attorneys office is max
ing a careful study of "wilful negli-
gence," the charge on which indict-
ments, it is expected, will be based.
1t is held that man charged with a
public duty can incur guilt by gross
neglect of duty, whether through dis
honesty, laziness or an arrogant be-
lief that only his own opinions are
worth considering.
The testimony before the grand
jury next week will be kept as brief as
possible and will deal solely with the
alleged criminal aspects of the police
failure, so that the grand jury may
indict or dismiss charges in as many
has offered to assign supreme court
justice to sit in August if further in
dictments are found.
No indictments are likely to result
from the investigation of the vague
charges that policemen or others
helped Cocchi to escape or had guilty
knowledge of his plans to escape. A
thorough investigation will be made
next week as to the origin Of the story
that Ruth Cruger was seen to enter a
taxicab with a young man on the day
of her disappearance. While con-
WINGED that this story was started for
the purpose of diverting suspicion
from Cocchi, the evidence thus far
produced agains tthe men who circu-
lated this tale is said to be con-
siderably short of proof of a crimi-
nal conspiracy. Several witnesses will
be questioned before the grand jury
next week, however, in relation to this
enne to report it as an esta blished fact
that the girl had eloped, which was
generally accepted by the police as the
solution of the case until. the body of
the murdered girl was found. Regard
ing the search for the men thought to
have helped Cocchi to escape, Assist
ant District Attorney Talley said yes
terday:
''It is absolutely necessary that AL
try to stand trial as the murderer of
Ruth Cruger if we are to find out the
whole truth about him. His confess
sion SO far has been incomplete and
contradictory, and has been of no as
sistance in dealing with the question
of who helped him to escape and why
they helped him. The answer to these
questions is one of the most important
objects of our present investigation.