Evening star., 1924-12-09
VETERAN IS SLAIN;
INSANE PAL HELD
Body of Patient Found Under
Cot at st. EIizabeth'S
Hospital.
STANDARDIZATION is CAUSE
Man Seized Said to Have Been
Washing Bloodstains From
FELLOWSHIP.

The body OF Alberto Medeno, for
mer soldier in the United States
Army, was found early today stuffed
beneath a cot in a ward Of st. Eliza
beth's Hospital, with a tapestry table
runner tightly knotted around its
neck. Death had resulted from
strangulation.
\ few minutes later excited at
veteran OF the United States Navy,
washing bloodstans from a pillowsip
that was later found to have been
stuffed into the mouth of the dying
Medeno in a desperate effort to stop
a hemorrhaGe.
MurJer Theory Accepted.
That Medeno was murdered was ad-
mitted by hospital authorities, and.
although they are unwilling as yet
to accuse Banaski OF the crime. the
latter has been placed in confinement
under heavy guard to prevent him
from attempting to commit suicide
before he has been restored to a suff1-
ciently calm mental condition to per-
NIT him to tell the story of the trag
edy that occurred in the hospital
about an hour before dawn.
The last time Medeno was seen
alive was shortly after o'clock this
morning. At that time he was stand
ing in the door of his ward talking
to Banaski. Both men had been
friends since entering the asylum and
had slept together in the ward. No
one ever knew of either harboring a
grudge against the other.
PiIIowslip Gives Hint.
An hour later an attendant noticed
a FELLOWSHIP missing from a bed in
the ward. always regarded as a seri-
Gus harbinger in institutions for the
insane. Quickly investigating, the
man found Medeno's body crumpled
and crushed beneath the cot. The
tapestry table runner was tightly
knotted about the throat. Death,
physicians declared, must have oc-
Cured within a few minutes.
The alarm was sounded and guards
were sent hurryinE throughout the
institution to find Medenos slayer. 1t
was apparent Immediately that the
man could not have slain himself in
such a manner. Within a few min
utes a guard rushed into the lavatory
of the ward and there found Banaskf
feverishly washing out the missing
Fellowship, literally covered with teii-
tale stains.
NO Evidence OF StruEEic.
Seized by two guards, Banaski
crumpled and was in such highly
nervous state that he could talk only
incoherently, and any hope of getting
from his lips facts about Medeno's
death was abandoned after a few
minutes of questioning.
1t is the theory of the doctors at
St. Elizabeth's Hospital that Medeno
was seized from behind and strangled
with the table runner, stolen from
waiting room last night, before he
could make an outcry. No evidence
of a struggle was found in the ward,
except that two of the beds were
mussed where Medeno apparently had
made a feeble fight for his life.
Victim From Mexico.
Medeno was a Mexican and was
sent to st. Elizabeth's from Columbus
barracks of the Army in 1920. He
is not known to have any relatives
in this country. Banaski's home is
in Bay City, Mich. He has a sister
living there.
Last February Banaski attempted
to kill himself by hanging, and was
saved just in the nick of time by hos
pital guards. 1t is believed that his
particular form of insanity had given
him a predispostion toward strangu-
lation, and that in moment when he
did not know what he was doing he
leaped upon the helpless Medeno and
killed him.