Evening star., 1926-07-30
DETECTIVE NAMES
MELLETT SUSPECT
Nation Wide Search Begun
for McDermott, Wanted as
One of Principals.

CANTON. Ohio, July 30.--Country-
wide search was begun today for
Patrick Eugene McDermott, %, Cleve-
land, wanted as a principal in the
murder of Don r. Mellett, Canton
publisher.
Detective Ora Slater, heading the
Stark County investigation, refused to
designate McDermott as the man
sought as the trigger man."
Pictures Of McDermott are to be
broadcast throughout the country to-
day to all police stations and detective
agencies, and to all news picture serv-
ices. The pictures are TO be re-
leased at l O'Clock this afternoon.
Slater said.
With the bare announcement that
McDermott was sought for question
ing, censorship was clamped down
tight by Investigators. in spite of the
fact that earlier in the day they had
declared they had conclusive evidence
against 'the trigger man."
According to information in the
hands of the Investigators, McDer-
mott Is an alleged gunman, has served
sentence in Federal penitentiary at
Atlanta, was in Canton at the time of
the murder. and then dropped re-
marks construed TO mean he was to
have part in some job" evidently a
murder conspiracy.
Dragnet Is Spread.
New evidence received Yesterday
from a source entirely detached from
the other sources of information, the
investigators said, fitted in precisely
with previous information.
Reports from Toledo were that
police there had laid a dragnet
throughout northwestern Ohio for a
man in an automobile who was said
to have confided to railroad ticket
agent at Millbury, Ohio. that an al
legged leader of Canton's underworld
had hired two men TO slay an editor
there.
From Youngstown. to which he took
hurried trip yesterday on a promis-
ing lead, Slater returned to Canton
last night more firmly convinced that
he and his co-workers are "on the
right track.
Movements Of the SLAYER for several
davs prior to the shooting are known
to Slater, he said.
Caution has been the supreme word
in the movements of the investigators.
thew said, because the plot was
cleyerlv laid one which covered up
n,anv important angles even from
those who participated
Convinced Assassin, Was Hired.
The investigators are convinced the
assassin was hired by underworld ieau
ers to get Mellett "out OF the Way. way
because he was menace 10 4;os M.
t,.a fficking in liquor and narcotics
and the "svstem" which supported IT,
slater Yesterday rushed to Youngs-
town with witness to interview Mike
Contos held on a charge of suspicion
~ connection with the murder IN
vastieation. The witness could not
;dentifv Contos, Slater said, but ne
y,ill he held for Pittsburgh authorlties'
working separately to solve the mys-
,erv detective Peter Connors. Pitts'
hurph wired Prosecutor Z. Is. NC
Cl,rtoclx that he had found a man,
who identified Contos and George
ps,lias as the two who offered nlm
and = companion $1,000 to come TO
Canton to "do job" about the time
of the Mellett murder.
McClintock declined to prefer ac-
cessory charges against Psillas or
ContoS, declaring tneTt was .
In the evidence so far as ne Knew
to show that the Job had Deen
carried out or that the JOB was the
Mellett murder.
Youngstown Chief Takes Hand.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, July 80 OP).
-.Declaring that the investigation of
tbe shaving of Don r. Mellett, Canton
nublisher, has impressed him as loose
and running around in circles,
Police Chief Kedgwin Powell today
said he will check up the movements
of Mike Contos since Mellett's death.
Contos, with his wife and Nick
Sistas, is in Jail here at the request
of Pittsburgh authorities, who say
they believe Contos and George
Psilias, in Jail at Pittsburgh, were
accessories in the Staying.