The Washington times., 1922-08-28
WRECK|NGN NE v Clue
Of TRA|NS||N BERG|N
{ / HARGE D s | AY | N c
Blond Girl Who Visited Cline
Home Sought as Key in
Killing Mystery.
by international New. Service.

by international News service
Z NEW YORK, Aug. GA mys-
terry girl, who is described as a
beautiful young blonde and who
is believed to have been in the
home of George A. Cline at Edge
water, N. j.. when John Bergen,
handsome film actor, was shot
and mortally wounded, was being
sought by the police Today ~, ,
Taxi Driver Supplies Clue.
In addition TO the new element Of
mystery injected by the reported
presence of the girl, the case has
been further complicated by rumor
that Cline had been living apart from
his wife. After his arrest Cline as
serted that Bergen had tried to break
up his home by attacking his wife at
a hotel at Saranac Lake. N. Y.
A taxicab driver told the Edge
water police he had driven the
mystery girl to the Cline home a
short time before the tragedy. 1t
was while the Edgewater authorities
were investigating the movements OF
Cline and Bergen on Friday night
that they unearthed the girl clue.
1t is believed now that all three
Cline, Bergen. and the girl, whose
name is unknown-arrived at the
Edgewater ferry station from New
York city about the same time, but
that they lived separately.
About Eighteen Years OF Age.
Owen Langdon. a taxi-cab driver.
whose stand is at the Edgewater
ferry station, told the police he drove
a girl to the Cline home answering
the description of the mysterious
blonde. He said she was about
eighteen years old, dressed in a dark,
summer frock.
The girl is believed to have left
the Cline home in an automobile
after the shooting.
Bergen, according to the police,
was the last Of the trio to leave the
Edgewater ferry station on the night
Of the tragedy. He stopped in n
nearby drug store and telephoned to
the Cline home.
he had returned to the ferry station
from driving the girl to the Cline
home, Bergen hailed him and gave
directions to drive to the Cline cot
tage.
the police by Langdon. Bergen asked
him to wait twenty minutes for him
outside the Cline home. LanSdon
said that after waiting five or ten
minutes, he heard a shot and he.
coming frightened, drove away.
Reported Living Apart.
Police and detectives who visited
the Cline cottage said that dust was
lying thick upon the furniture and
that there were other evidences that
the place had not been occupied for
some time.
Mrs. Cline was reported to have
been living with her parents next
door, while Cline himself was said
to have been living in a hotel. The
whereabouts of the two Cine children
are unknown.
Hurting the lie at Cline. confessed
slayer Of Bergen, District Attorney
Hart at Hackensack today declared:
1T was n case of cold blooded Inur.
der and I shall have no difficulty in
proving first degree case"
Cline, who Is in Jail. asserts the
tragedy in his home Friday was the
result Of a pistol duel in which
Bergen had every chance to defend
his life. He said he shot Bergen
TO defend his wife's honor.
That statement Mr.. Hart char
acterizes as a deliberate lie." lie
added:
Charges Death Plot.
my inquiry of two days makes me
certain that Bergen was summoned
to the home Of Mrs. Cline for the de.
liberate purpose of killing him.
"Cline's statements that he gave
a revolver to Bergen to defend him.
self in duet Is not true. In my
iopinion, Bergen never had revolver
in his possession that night, and he
never had n chance for his life. After
hearing his wife's story and what
Continued on Page 2. Column ~