The Washington herald., 1921-10-08
Eastlake Prosecution Will
Probably Pay for In
formation.
LONE CELL PLAN
SHOWS EFFECTS
Murdered WOman's Hus.
band and Miss Knox
Both Depressed.
by J. HAROLD KEEN.

cdsn reward for information or
evidence leading to the complete
solution of the brutal murder of
Mrs. Margaret L. Eastlake at
Colonial Beach last Friday will
probably be the next step taken by
the prosecution.
ms plan was made public today
by Watt c. Mayo, commonwealth
attorney for westmoreIand County
| and prosecutor in the case against
Roger d. Eastlake, husband of the
murdered woman, and Miss Sarah
E. Knox, his so-called sweetheart
the HifcEed slayers who are now
confined in the city Jail here. Mayo
who Is the originator of the reward
plan. explained that this move hao
pot been made before because the
numerous details connected with the
case and resulting from the meru-
| dramatic situations which followed
the murder had consumed 80 much
of his time"
Advised subscriptions.
When the residents OF Colonial
! Peach volunteered to give mn every
assistance possible in arranEinp the
| prosecutions case, told them | be.
| ileVed the greatest assistance thev
| could render would be to solicit sub.
scriptiOns to be used as cash re-
wards for persons giving us addI.
tional information regarding the
murder" said Mayo. Then came
| the pressure Of events which oc-
| CURED soon after the murder. MAX
ing 1t impossible for me to do any
| thing further in this direction.
| However. the plan may be put into
| operation in the near future"
Mayo indicated that the prosecu-
tion Is in possession Of evidence
not yet made public. when he said
Il cannot go into too much detail
regarding the crime at this time,
hut there will be plenty Of evil
brought before a court for trial"
Underwear Important Clue.
He also refused to state whether
the blnod-stained underclothing
found stuffed into a sock in the
Potomac River had been Identified
as Eastlake's. Police here believe
that when it is definitely estab-
lished that the underclothing was
worn by Eastlake, they will have
sufficient evidence to convict both
the prisoners, as. they claim. they
now have enough damaging evil
dcnce against Miss Knox.
First evidence of the effect OF the
solitary confinement plan put into
effect by the local police yester-
day. which they believe will result
in a complete confession by one or
both within the next few days. was
| given today by the apparent at
| f1rl< nf Dnnla a N n hnlio h.
prisoners were suffering. Little or
no sound issued from the cells
which they occupy and neither
spoke to anyone nor did anyone
address them. They sat on their
iron cots during the greater part
of the day.
stops Writing.
Miss Knox, who Immediately
after her arrest, was a prolific let
ter-writer, has not written a line
since her removal to the city jail
here. At 1880 o'clock this after
noon, when an attendant brought
the second and last meal to East
lake, consisting of baked beans
and bread, the alleged slayer was
seated on the edge of his cot, head
bowed and hands clasped, as in
prayer. No sound. however, came
from his lips.
No one called at the Jail to see
the prisoners today. nor would any
one have been admitted, according
to the authorities, who are rigidly
enforcing the solitary confinement
orders. The melancholia from
which the prisoners were evidently
suffering today is part of the plan
of the, local police authorities to
force the suspects to tell what
they know of the crime"
They have been too near each
other since their arrest" said De-
tective .SergI Toler. the investiga-
tor assigned to the case by Gov,
Westmoreland Davis, and it is our
plan to keep them separated so
they will have no chance to col,
| laborate on the stories which they
are bound to tell of the crime.
They know a great deal about the
murder. / am certain, and we plan
to keep them alone and without
the dainties that they have been
accustomed to during the earlier
days of their arrest, so that they
will soon be in the proper frame
Of mind to tell what they know.
The prisoners are given the same
| treatment accOrQeQ all other In
mates of the prison, except that
they are denied callers and that
attendants are forbidden to talk TO
them. Their meals and sleeping
arrangements are the same as all
of the others. No one in the In
stitution Is forced to wear prison
lgarb. and the alleged murderers
are wearing the clothing they wore
on the trip here from the Fred
ericksburg jail-sNiss Knox being
clad in blue coat-suit and East
| lake wearing his naval uniform.
Hears ChiIdren's Voices.
This afternoon an incident oc-
Cured which may have a phycho-
logical effect toward the bringing
of a confession from Eastlake. al
though police had not counted on il.
On a lot next the side of the iail
on which is Eastlake's cell a crowd
of colored children gathered, and
with shouts and laughter spent sew
eral hours at play. The sound of
their voices was carried into the
cell of the man whose two children.
one Z years old and the other q.
were made motherless by the muir
der of which he has been accused
by a coroner's jury.
Whether this incident will have
any effect is matter of conjecture
When Detective Toler mentioned
the children Wednesday afternoon
| Continued on Page Three.