Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-12-21
LATEST THEORY is THAT
AMATEUR CROOK
SLEW MOT0RlST
SAW MURDER CAR?
THREE MEN TELL OF SEEING A
STRANGE MACHINE SPEED
AWAY FROM SCENE AND RACE
MADLY TOWARD THE WEST.
GIVE KELLY SPECIAL
INVESTIGATOR.

The board of supervisors this af-
ternoon voted to employ special
investig gator, at a salary Of SIPS
month and expenses, TO work out
OF the states attorneys office. The
investigator will be employed at
once and probably will be put to
work on the Esmond murder case.
Mr.. Kelly went before the board
and asked for such a measure, tell
ing Of the need of special sleuth
to work on the Esmond case.
Piece by piece the states attorney
and sheriff are gradually evolving a
chain Of circumstances they nope
will eventually result in their obtain
ing some tangible story that Will
place them on the trail OF the killers
who, on last Saturday night, slew
Ralph Esmond, the La Sale motor
list. for the few paltry dollars he
carried on his person, and left his
lifeless body lying on the concrete
road at the crest of8Dimmick hill
Hunt Shifts TO La Sale.
Today the man hunt took a veer
toward La Sale. In covering every
possible phase of the murder theory
has been reached that Esmond was
killed by novitiates In banditry. who,
recognized by their intended victim,
ruthlessly slaughtered the lone mo-
torst to conform with the vicious
killers slogan, dead men tell no
tales"
This theory is gaining momentum
in official circles on the ground that
the revolver found alongside the road
is an old and almost impractical one
for smart bandits to deal with, The
average run Of stickup men. travelling
the roads in there times Of A-No.
highway robberies. carry only the
best tools with which to do their
work. Had Esmond been killed by a
1922 style of automatic with high
powered strength, then the search for
the slayers would have been along
the we'll defined lines OF looking into
police records for old and well sea
soned offenders.
But an old liver Johnson. of small
bore, it is claimed would not be to-
lerated by crook used to the hold
UP game. His weapon would have
been the finest made and deadliest
in appearance and effectiveness He
would not need to have gone to with
in an arms length of the victim and
then scorch his coat to kill.
For these and many other reasons
best known to themselves the ottl-
GERS are turning their attention to-
ward La Sale and Peru. Rendez-
yous for louts and olafers will be
carefully searched for possible sus-
meets and II the trail ever gets hot
there will be confessions in rapid
fire order. This kind of squawk ls
easy when driven III a corner. And
the trail indications are, is getting
hotter and hotter every minute.
Trio Sees Strange Auto.
Another new development came to-
day when a trio who passed up the
hill at 6:10 O'Clock Saturday night
said they saw the Dodge coupe stall
ed at the top, but no indications Of
the driver anywhere Opposite Z
stood another auto, which as they
came up hurriedly shifted gears and
sped away toward the west The
murderers, it is now thought, were
in the machine that raced madly
down. the road. The three occupants
of the car are unable to tell whether
the machine ahead had come up the
hill. or whether it had been stalled
there.
Brothers Join Search.
The murdered mans two brothers,
Wright and Harold Esmond, of Utica.
ioined forces with the states attor-
ney yesterday. in making search for
the slayer OF their brother.
The two brothers, States Attorney
II. F.. Kelly, Assistant States Attor-
ney f. II. Pool, Deputy Sheriff Ras-
mus Benson and Ernest Ashley, the
man who was one of the first two TO
discover the body, and who phoned
the police the news of the murder,
went carefully over the scene of the
crime yesterday afternoon.
The investigation started at the
Harbeck farm, where Ashley on Sat
urday night left his truck which was
out of gas. A slight discrepancy in
Ashlev's account and information
brought to the officials by the mem
hers of the Harbeck family earlier in
the day caused Ashley to be called
in for further check on his story.
Given Lift by Marseilies Man.
Ashley left his stalled truck at the
Harbeck farm and started walking to