Evening star., 1923-04-05
OFFICIALS TARGETS
IN WARD INQUIRY
Letters Charge MaIfeasance.
Brother of Slayer Hides
BIaCkmaiI Facts.
By the Associated Press.

| by the Assotiateu fTess
| ALBANY, N. Y, April 5.-An offer
| to submit letters accusing West Ches-
! ter county officials of malfeasance in
connection with the Ward-Peters
murder mystery was made at State At
torney General Sherman's investigation
of the case.
Salvatore A. Cotillo, chairman of
| the state senate judiciary committee.
told Attorney General Sherman that
| he was prepared to turn over letters
he had received from the mother of
Clarence Peters charging malfeasance
against former District Attorney
| Frederick E. Weeks and the present
| district attorney. Arthur Rowland OF
| West Chester county; Coroner Ed
ward A. Fitzgerald and Supreme
| Court Justice A. H. S. Seeger.
| Brother Blocks Attorney General.
Ralph Ward. brother of Walter S.
! Ward. slayer of Clarence Peters. eX-
marine, in West Chester county
talmoss. year ago, yesterday blocked
all efforts o. the attorney general to
learn why the gang, of which Peters
is said to have been a member, were
| attempting to blackmail Walter.
| The attorney general, prosecuting
the states investigation of the case,
shot questions at Ward for two hours.
only to be met with firm refusal to
answer whenever the subject veered
tO the talk Ralph had with his ia
! ther in which Ralph admitted he
learned all the details of the case.
He refused to answer, he explain
q
| proceedings in West Chester county
he had been informed by Justice
! Morschauser that anything hts ia
ther had told him was only hearsay
quired to disclose 1t.
Maybe it was hearsay." Attorney
General Sherman said. but this is
not court and we want TO kmo"
Sorry, but can't tell it, ward re-
piled.
h. After a few more futile attempts
No learn what his father had told
| the matter drop.
Walter Ward Borrowed stock.
Wards testimony, however, disclos-
IErother Walter had borrowed several
shares of Ralph's stock in the Ward
/ Baking Company, and put II up as
collateral for loan of 100000 from
York. He was never able to discoy-
er why the loan was sought. but
knew it might have been for betting
| losses sustained on metropolitan race
tracks He had warned his brother
to quit it," he said. and had been
promised that Walter would stop his
| letting.
! The questioning indicated an at
Wards financial embarrassment at
the time of the shooting of Peters
| resulted from his race track losses
! and not from blackmail
| In an answer to direct question to
that effect Ralph declared that he did
mot even know that there had been
losses. There might have been win
nings
| No Money for BlackmaiI.
Ralph Ward told of exchanging ca
| Diagrams with his father, who was
| then in Europe on the advisability of
advancing TO Walter between. $4,000
and 100000 shortly before the killing
! of Peters.
! In response to a cablegram sent by
| Ralph. asking authority to advance
! the money 10 Walter. his father ca
| bIed an Affirmative answer. But the
same day a second cablegram came
1 which said not to give Walter any
money if it we.s for blackmail. Ralph
never gave the money to Walter
| Although he made every effort to
| find out why Walter wanted such
tiarge sum he was unable to do so, he
said, and failing in that decided not
| to advance the money at all
The elder Ward, father of the boys,
| is in White Sulphur Springs. ". Va,
| Ralph testified, but has been in this
state many times since the indict-
ment of Walter. This statement con-
tradicted reports that the father had
never returned to this state since he
left here a few days after the kill
ing.