Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-06-18
GIRL IS DONE TO DEATH
WITH HER own SKATES
Proved Conclusively to Police BY
Evidence Dug From Beneath
Repair Shop.
OFFICIALS WORK 'FEvER1sHLY
Three Persons Held in Connection
With Revolving Murder OF High
School Girl, and Subpocnas Are Is
sued for Thirty More.


ycar-old Ruth Cruger, the wadlcigh
High School girl. whose partially de-
composed body was dug from the dark
cellar Of the bicycle repair shop OF
Alfredo Cocchi. fugitive in Italy. yes
terday afternoon. was done to death
with her own newly sharpencd skates.
This fact was proved concluslvcly in
tho belief of the police and tho dis
trict attorneys Office to-day when la
borers. digging beneath tho basement
hooH around tho spot where tho body
had lain since her disappearance on
February Is. brought up the skates
and shoes and found that they were
covered with matted hair and blood.
WORK FEvERIsHLY
To CLEAR UP CASE
Tho police. district attorneys Office
and various other official agencies were
working feverishly in their efforts to
clear up the case and apprehend the
actual murderer. after four months of
unsuccessful work. Three persons
Mrs. Marie CocchL wife Of the shop
owner. and two acquaintances-were
held In heavy bail this afternoon rs
material witncsscs. and at a late hour
subpocnas were served on more than
thirty other persons wanted as Wit
nesses. Police Comm issioncr Woods
made II clear that he intended to leave
no stone unturned in ascertaining why
the police themselves. and not n yo-
man lawyer. Mrs. Grace Humiston. were
not mainly responsible for the work
leading up to yesterday afternoons
ghastly discovery.
Insinuattng themselves through the
whole tragedy are seen the claws Of
white slavery. There were intima-
tions tonight. vague. but sinister. that
before tho whole matter is threshed
out Il will be found that other young
and pretty girls, some probably dead.
figured In the meshes OF the sordid
business. 1t is known that the cxca-
vators OF the cellar Of death were
seeking other bodies. Just how far
Cocchi is involved in the death OF Ruth
Crugcr has not yet been determined
But tho authorities arc. through Cover
nor Whitman and the State Dcpa rtment
at Washington. determined that the
bicycle repair man shall be returned
to this country TO explain everything
in minute detail. The persons detained
in the case to-day were. besides Mrs
Coccht. wife OF the fugitive and the
mother OF two children, Victor Blady
and Joseph Charles Palumbo. The two
men were sent 10 the House OF De-
tention, and the woman to a Police
Court precinct. Mrs. Cocchi took her
one-ycar-o(d daughter with her. The
thirty persons summoned as witnesses
arc to appear tomorrow morning
when the district attorney will lay the
whole matter before the grand jury.
40 as 10 obtain an indictment on which
to base e1tradition proceedings.
AUTOPSY Is PERFORMED
on BODY OF VICTIM
An autopsy was performed on Puth's
body this afternoon in the dark con-
rnes OF the morgue In addition to
the fracture OF the skull. which was the
Immediate cause OF death. the physi-
clans discovered that tho girl had suf-
fered long wound in the left thigh
Among those present ut the autopsy
was Mrs. IIumiston. who Is prepared to
do everything TO clear the name OF the
slain high school student
The suggestion OF ripper" In the
case was furnished late in the day upon
the conclusion Of the autopsy on the
body OF the girl by DR.. Otto II. Schultz,
medical examiner of the district at
torneys Office. He said the wounds
seemed to indicate the work of a
maniac, such terrorized the entire
city and suburbs year or more ago
by fatal attacks on young children
DR.. Schultz gave II as his belief the
assassin had no accomplices.
While the proceedings incident to the
detention OF three persons, serving of
subpoenas and autopsy were proceed
ing. gang of laborers dug IN the cell
lar Of death They found in addition to
the deal-dcaIing skates a steel ice pick
with a long. thin handle and fanlil1e
steel chopper with saw edge. Then
they came upon a small tonnei struc-
ture of mysterious nature. leading back
toward the rear OF the cellar. The
passage was inspected to see whether
or not this was the way the body was
carried to the hole. Ever since the dis
covery of the body the police have
been at loss to establish the manner
in which the murdered body was low
cred from the floor above.
The prongs of the ice chopper be-
trayed scraplngs OF a nature to indicate
that 1t was used in digging up the
earth under the cellar. The work OF
exploring the basement will continue
through the night 1t least with detec-
tiyes in readiness to trace any and all
clues unenrthed.
DETERMINED TO PREVENT
ESCAPE OF MRS. COCCII
The police are determined to pre-
vent Mrs. Cocchi from gaining even
temporary freedom. as they fear she
will lose no time in fleeing this juris-
diction The police say she has been
in communication with her husband in
Bologna, Italy, and that they are in
possession of n communication from
Cocchi to her arranging for her TO
return to Italy and join him. The
woman sold her husbands shop a few
hours before Ruth CruGer's body was
discovered.