The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-05

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 5-At S'oo
o'clock last night Detective Lieut.
Woods dramatically announced In inc
p. City Hall: :.
"The murder of Grace Roberts is
pra ctically cleaned up. Capt. rate Is
out. but will return within an nour
and make a full announcement.
Lieut.. Woods made this ANNOUNCE
ment Just after he had received OIL
cial confirmation from Atlantlc Ivy
of a report that Bernard wesley
Lewis. son of wealthy fNtspui Il
coal mine operator, had killed MIN
self there, as detectives were aooo'
! to place him under arrest.
Lewis shot himself with rifle In
hatht,b at the States Villa at the
seaside resort,
Can't. rtate, Chief of Philadelphia
Detectives. said at 10:40 o'clock last
night:
II am convinced this man Lewis
is the man who did the job-Who
killed Grace Roberts.
II Kaier Freed OF Blame
1;a,+ Woods was asked Immediate
Nv afterward this question:
as Charley Kaier, the wealthy
brewer from Mahanoy City. free from
surveillance 2"
us It certain any one has been
Under surveillance 2" Woods counter
ed.
Capt. Tate was asked:
"Does this suicide automatically ell
inmate Kaier and all the other sus-
meets in Grace Roberts's death 9?
YES" answered the officer.
Lieut.. Woods then was asked: i
..weIl. then, the Philadelphia de-
4ective force is satisfied that the
matter is cleared up?
Woods replied:
..why. quite naturally. Wouldn't
YOU be satisfied II you were going
after a man for murder and ne killed
himself when you got there and were
on the point of arresting him {!
Lewis was the man identified oy
E,wood Powell. taxi chauffeur, as the
one he had driven to and seen enter
the APARTMENT of Grace Roberts In
The early hours Of Friday morning
: the day she YVES slain. A warrant
was issued for his arrest on Poweifs
charge that Lewis had evaded us
taxicab bill.
The Detective Bureau had not
charged the young Pittsburgher with
the murder of Grace Roberts.
81 Am Ruined!'' Said Lewis.
Lewis. the last man seen to enter
the anartment Of the slain model,
only a few hours previous to his sui
eide had called hisAfriends. the Misses
KYLE. and told them over the tele-
phone. =,
"I am ruined. God, I am ruined!
.But.I had nothing to do with the kill
4 ing of Grace Roberts. am innocent
of the crime.
at am in terrible trouble, ana L
don't know what in the world to do'
but I am guiltless of this terrible
4 thing. They are after me-"
Cant. Tate. in a subsequent state
4ment, said:
I'VE have found that Lewis tele-
phoned to the Kyle girls this after
noon. We also have found that he
had been arrested for forgery in New
York two years ago and taken TO
pittsburgh. We learned that he
might be in Atlantic City. We wired
the Atlantic City authorities. They
found that Lewis's mother had apart
1nents near the residence of Judge
Endicott. They located the Lewis
apartments.
.4They smashed in the doors and
rushed in. Lewis ran ahead OF them
into a bathroom. He slammed the
door in their faces, and before they
could prevent him or get access to
him, he had committed suicide.
1--WE have sent four detectives to
Atlantic City in the car in which
Elwood Powell drove Lewis to the
apartments Of Grace Roberts"
So far as could be developed from
questioning Capt Tate, Lieut.. Woods
and other police officials here late
last night, the one fact that changed
their conviction that Lewis was only
an eye witness and not the slayer OF
sthe model conviction they had an
fnounced as late as Z o'clock last
nigft-was the fact that he had com
United suicide.
If they had discovered anything il
1.-THE nature of a confession, any new
evidence which would connect him IL
Ia more certain way than his act Of
eelf-destruction, they concealed it.
At noon Capt. Tate issued an Off
cial warning to his force, that i
would be in for the severest criticism
did it not soon accomplish something
toward solving the murder.
Lewis Phones Miss Kyle.
At 4:05 o'clock yesterday afternoon
with the 1920 members of the police
force of this city securing it for him
armed with excellent descriptions OF
him, eBrnard w. Lewis entered pub
lie telephone booth and rang up his
friends, Miss Mabel and Miss Ethe
Kyle, at their home in Germantown
Miss May Kyle, a third sister of the
9oung school teachers who were
= Lewis's guests on Friday night, anc
after leaving whom he Immediately
TAXED to Miss Roberts's apartment
according to the chauffeur, answered
the phone.
This is Bernard said Lewis.
Then began a remarkable converse
ton which, Miss May Kyle told later
was substantially as follows:
Lewis, after an inconsequential re.
mark or two, said: You have read
the newspapers; you know what trou-
BILE am in?'
why don't you go straight to the
Detective Bureau? asked Miss Kyle.
81 don't know what to do Lewis
answered, oh, God! / don't know
what to do. am entirely innocent OF