Evening star., 1923-03-28
ROW MARKS PROBE
Of HAMMER CASE
M. E. 0'Brien, Husband of
Woman Attacked, Has Ver-
bal Passage With Detective.

Spurred by controversy which oc-
Cured in the anteroom Of Inspector
Grants private room at police head
quarters today between Detective
Jim" Springmann and Matthew E
O'Brien, husband of Mrs. Elizabeth
e. O'Brien, who was murderously as
saulted with a hammer in her home,
1929 Euclid street, early Monday
morning, while she slept. detectives
started out today determined to go
to the very bottom of the whole af-
fair. and seek a real motive for the
crime.
They frankly state that they do not
believe robbery to have been the mo-
tive, despite Attorney O'Brien's in
sistence that this was the case. Mr..
OBrien stated to the police today
that bureau drawer had been tam
pered with and something was stolen.
Pressed by reporters as TO what had
been taken he said. "a piece of
Jewelry.'
Maid In Released,
Following the row at headquarters
today, detectives complained 10 Mr..
cBrien that he was not helping them
in the work. Mr.. O'Brien, they said,
sought to turn suspicion on the color
ed maid. but the police released her
this afternoon.
The disturbance at headquarters
occurred when Attorney O'Brien came
TO Inspector Grants office today and
charged Detective Springmann with
being a sneak" because he had
| t.s hA
further examination of the room
where the murderous assault took
place.
Il do not want any Of this Nick
Carter stuff" O'Brien told Spring
mann, while a score of reporters and
detectives stood around the ante
room. Sprin gmann resented this, and
| told O'Brien that he (Springmann)
knew what he was doing. 1t looked
| for a moment as if there would be
| Grants Office and told him what was
| going on on the outside. He called
Detective Springmann. AS the latter
entered the door, OBrien started to
| follow. when the detective turned on
| him and said:
! Detective Had Key.
The inspector called me-"
| Springmann obtained the. key to the
| O'Brien house in the course of his in
vestigation, and both OBrien and his
son knew that he had 1t, it was
stated. Detective Springmann said
| that he was in the neighborhood
| about o'clock last night, with his
working partner. Detective Darnall.
They decided to go into the house to
determine whether the light from a
nearby street lamp was bright
| enough to throw a beam into the
room where the assault took place,
| which would enable any one to de-
| termine whether a figure in the un-
| lighted room was white or colored
| Before going into the house they
| went to the door OF a neighbor, next
door, and asked him to accompany
| that was all that was done in the
| house, and he found that, while the
| room was light, it might have been
impossible for one who had been at
| tackled to have made out whether the
| assailant was white or colored.
| So far as could be learned, the de-
tectives have not vet been able to
client. described by him as harm
less old woman" 1t is believed that
the detectives. following the release
of the colored maid, will seek to
question this woman. There is no
name in the city directory which cor
responds to that given out by Mr.
O'Brien's secretary as the woman who
| has been coming to his Office for
months.
However. the description of the
woman and the clothes she wore, her
| build and figure, is almost identical
with the description of the woman
| CONTINUED on Page 2, Column 3