The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-08-29
BODY VIRGINIA
TURNER ISLAID
FOREST TODAY
Strong Guard Escorts
DR.. Belcher To Clear
water Jail From Tampa
Following News That
Attempt Might Be
Made To Wreak Ven
geance fer Girls Un-
timely Death

Tampa. Fla. Aug 29-Furneal ser
vices for Miss Virginia Turner. whose
body was found in Booker's Creek
near Clearwater Saturday. are being
held in Clearwater today, while COun-
~ officers are nearing the west coast
town with DR.. l. j. Belcher, of Tarpon
Springs. arrested in connection with
the crime He was to he placed in
nil at Clearwater pending a prelimi~
nary hearing set for tomorrow
Every precauton is being taken to
prevent any attempt to take the pris
0nHr from the officers by an armed
force. following reports that such an
attempt would be made somewhere
h@tw"cn Tampa and Clearwater.
Bclch"r was arrested after il was
learned that he had visited the spot
where the body with the knife wound
in the heart and broken shoulder,
was found
Story of the Tragedy
To to noon the latest development
"a ~" strange and tragic death OF
NirHiIiH Turner, twenty-une year
n'd, eldest daughter of Arthur G
Turner Of Clearwater whose body Wa
uoa,inE in the waters of Booker
creek northeast OF Clearwater lac
Saturday afternoon. WIS the arrest o,
Dr. |. j. Belchcr Of Tarpon Springs
It an car.y hour this morning and hi'
incarceration in he HillsborougF
county Jail at Tampa The arrest
was made by Detective Fred ThOma
V no has Eecn employed by the Turner
family to run down the murderer. TIL,
"rimc has created tremendous excite
mont and Indignation Throughout all
hat section of Florida.
According to the Tampa Tribune
he arrest of DR.. Belcher was the re
guit of Information obtained by De
'cctive Thomas that the doctor had
lmo'Crcd out of Tarpon Springs to tn"
vicinity OF the bridge over Booker
'reCk early Saturday and that his car
had become stalled in the sand on tn
return trip. Miss Turner had LEFT
home last Wednesday to take the bua
TO Tampa but the police are seeking
To establish that instead of going to
Tampa she visited Tarpan Springs
physician that afternoon and that this
or some other physician performed
criminal operation which ended in the
girls death. The surmise is that the
physician then Eroke the shoulder Of
The dead girl and inflicted knife
wound in the heart. The autopsy
showed that the girl did not die from
drowning nor from the knife wound
Giving details of the case the Tri-
bune says:
The detective, as he rccounted his
activities last night, stated that fol-
lowing Il checkup at Clearwater with
Sheriff lindsey he proceeded at once
to Booker Greek bridge. located on
the road leading to Tarpon Springs
from the Tampa Clearwater road
"On the left hand side of the bridge.
facing toward Tarpon Springs" said
the detective, there were stains on
the railing apparently made by blood.
This was at the center of the bridge.
The body was located just a short
distance below this point. Just be-
yond the bridge, on the Tarpon side
of the bridge, there were auto wheel
ruts which showed that a car had
backed into the dirt at the lake side
of the road and had apparently been
stuck
The detective, from the position of
the wheel-ruts, decided that the car
had come from the direction of Tar
pom Springs and had probably run
onto the bridge and in order to back
off had turned into the roadside.
Further investigation in nearby
towns resulted in the locating of w.
l.. Ballard, proprietor of garage at
Oldsmar, who told Mr.. Thomas of
being called out of bed at 2 a. m. Sat
urday to assist a motOrist who had
gotten his machine struck in the sand
near the Booker Creek bridge Bal
lard described perfectly, the locality
the officers had already visited. He
stated that he, his father and his
mother had accompanied the stranger
to the bridge and had finally gotten
his machine out of the sand after
making a trip back to Oldsmar for
equipment The man, who Ballard
said gave the name of j. j. Clark, st.
Petersburg. had bargained from the
first to leave his spare tire with the
garage man until his bill was paid
claiming that he had no money with
him.
Physician Denied Knowledge
Earlier in the day, Detective Thon~
as stated, he and Sheriff Lindsey had
visited the home of Dr. Belcher in
Tarpon Springs, while investigating
the statement of the coroner's physi-
clan that the dead girl had undergone
an operation. Belcher, the detective
said, stated at that time that he had
a call "Wednesday from girl giving
the name of Miss Davis" This
young woman, he is alleged to have
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