Evening star., 1924-09-04
POLICE SEIZE NEGRO
ACCUSED Of HAVING
KILLED POLICEMAN
LegIess Man Declared to
Have Fired Fatal Shot Slay-
ing.R. c. Leisinger.
"DEATH CAR" FOUND
WITH 3 BULLETHOLES
Discovery in Garage Leads Quickly
to Arrest of Suspect and Five
Others as Companions.

My stcry surrounding the murder
ono week ago today of Policeman
Raymond c. Leisinger. who was Shot
to death as he clung to the spare tire
of a suspected liquor au,omoDile. was
cleared up today with-the arrest OF
a colored man, who will be charged
With the murder, and with the recov-
cry Yesterday of the. death" car.
The prisoner is James Theodore
Holmes. so years old. said by the po-
lice 10 be a we'll known bootlegger
who has frequently boasted that ht
would shoot any one who tried to in
terfcre with his business He de
nies any connection with the case
but Inspector Clifford l.. Grant. chic
of detectives, is certain that Holme:
is the murderer of the policeman.
y mass of evidence against tn,
prisoner. who has two cork legs, is O
heavy build and has dark. scowling fea
lures, will be placed before d coroner:
jury at the morsue Monday afternoon
by the detective bureau. The inques
was to have been held today, but wa:
postponed.
Five Others Arrested.
-Four coIored women and one Other
colDred man also are under arrest IA
suspected occupants of the car. One
of the women is believed to be the
woman in the pink dress who was
seen in the car as il sped away from
North Capitol and l. streets with
Leisinger cIutching the spare tire. II
was a few moments later that another
policeman found LeiSinger's body or
the street in front of ~ | stree
northeast.
Holmes was arrested this morning
By headquarters Detectives Brodie
ana Livingston as he walked dowr
the stairs at 1926 Seventh street ar
old suit and other belongings thrown
over his arm. He had told friends h.
was going to leave the city toaay
and the detectives got him Just in
time, they said. They had had Holm es
under suspicion for several days, In.
spector Grant explained today, but
not until the finding of the bullet
riddled touring car late yesterday aft
ernoon in a garage in the rear OF
1877 kingman street, near Fourteentt
and + streets, did they have def.
hlte clue to connect Holmes with the
crime The police have i'm their DOS.
session the large-calibered revolver
6
shooting.
Second Bullet Failed to Penetrate.
The alleged murder car. now a,
NO precinct station, presents a srue-
some reminder of the policeman's death
III the rear OF the car are three
bullet holes placed vertically. The
Jagged edges of the holes, originally
sticking outward, were hammered in
Few hours after the shooting by the
prisoner, police say. There are plain
powder marks on the back cushion
indicating that the gun was placed
flush with the cushion. The upper
most hole, detectives believe, was
made by the bullet which passed
through Policeman Leisingers sleeve
The hole directly underneath is not
bored completely through the tin and
it is expected the f1attened bullet will
be found in the car, behind the up
holstery. The lower hole is just
about the, height necessary to have
sent the fatal bullet into the body OF
the policeman.
The story OF the unraveling of the
mystery, while not fully divulged
by the police because of the fact
that there are other occupants of
the car still to be apprehended. bears
testimony to the determination of
killers. The denouement came quickly
and after a week of apparently fruit
less investigation, during which more
than score of suspected persons
were arrested and released
Says Holmes Brought Car.
Inspector Grant assigned six de-
tectives to work on the case and,
with every precinct cooperating, a
city-wide search was made Of yir-
tually every garage where it was
thought the wanted machine might
have been taken. During this search
detectives on at beast two occasions
entered the -~ef~ la n,e in which
the car for which they were looking
was housed, concealed from view be-
hind a number of other large auto
mobiles. Yesterday afternoon Po-
ncersdh J. a. NJ. McKimmie, one of
the headquarters men on the case,
made a more thorough search of the
garage in the rear of kingman street
and finally discovered his quarry.
The proprietor of the garage said
he had not taken particular notice
of the car. He said that Holmes
brought it in last Thursday, shortly
after the fatal shooting, and bor-
rowed a hammer from him with
which to hammer on the holes. He
expldlHcu ne tnOuSnt nothing OF this
as cars with bullet holes often" come
into his garage and repair shop.
Holmes also changed the license
tags, using dead" ones. He left the
machine with the remark that he
wouldn't be back for it for some
time"
Car Owner Arrested.
The car was taken to No. precinct
station and with the fresh clue, the first
definite one of the investigation, to work
upon. a visit was made Immediately
to Holmes home, at 2139 Fifth street
where it was found he was absent. A
woman who lives at the same address
was arrested and is being held at the
house of detention.
Her name has not been made pub
lie. Three other women and a man
were taken into custody late last
night or early today. They are Lulu
Mabel Frost, colored, % a domestic
of 2412 Seventeenth street; Ada V.
Proctor, colored, 21. of Melrose, Nd. /;
Martha Brown. tcolored, 81. of 1872.
Fifth street, and James Edward Will
liams, colored, 10, 226 Brooks court.
Martha Brown is said to be the own
er Of the captured car. What connec-
tion the others have with the case, if
any, is not known.
Holmes at the time of his alleged
participation in the murder was out
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