Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-13
NEWT DEFENDS
JESS SMITH VERDICT
Declares Suicide Was SO
Patent No Exhaustive
Probe Was Needed.

DR.. J. Ramsay hewitt, coroner for
the District of Columbia. confirmed
today the recent charges made by
Senator Hefiin. Democrat. of Ala
bama, that no exhaustive investiga
ton had been made into the death OF
Jess w. Smith before he issued a
certificate of suicide. The evidence
indicating suicide was so patent
however, Dr. hewitt said, that no in
quest was necessary.
Smith, close friend of former At.
torney General Daugherty and of the
Harding administration, was found
dead in his fashionable hotel apart.
ment on the morning of May 80. 1928
His hand still clutched a pistol and
a bullet hole was through his head.
Senator Hefiin declared from the floor
of the Senate yesterday, however,
that he was not satisfied with the
suicide verdict
Il reached Smiths apartment prob
ably half an hour after the police
were notified" Coroner hewitt ex-
planned, land it was evident imme-
diately that suicide had been com
mitted. Smiths body lay on the floor
A bullet had entered his right temple
and come out at higher point on the
opposite side of his head The bullet
was lodged in a door jamb, having fol-
lowed an angle indicating that Smith
had sat on the side of his bed.
Believed Suicide Certain.
His right hand still clutched the
pistol, a .32-caliber automatic. 1t is
quite true that it would have been
possible for person to shoot
Smith and then force the pistol into
his hand. But the murderer would
have had to know something about
anatomy. In violent deaths there Is
an anti-mortem spasm that takes
place just before death ensues. This
spasm causes the muscles to become
clenched. and they remain so until
the more familiar postmortem con.
traction sets in.
Il say it would have been possible
to have forced a pistol into Smiths
hands Immediately after he was shot,
but 1t would scarcely seem likely.
Smith left no note, except a sort of a
will, written in lead pencil on a piece
of paper. The will left $25, 900 to Sec
rotary Daugherty's children, l believe,
and 1t was dated very shortly before
Smiths death occurred. Everything
seemed 10 prove suicide-it was
patent.
THE room was filled with people.
l can't remember who was there.
There were several detectives, but /
can't even remember their names.
Yes, ] recall seeing quite a few Off
Gals of the Government, but ! do not
remember their names at all. Sergt
Marks, who is now lieutenant
at another precinct, seemed to be i'm
charge for the police. 1t was he who
pointed out the bullet hole in the door
jam.
THE same morning Lieut.. Comdr.
Boone called me up and said he had
played golf with Smith the day before
He told me Smith was then in splendid
health and high spirits. My experience
as a coroner has led me to believe,
however. that after the mental con-
fiict has passed and the victim de-
termines upon suicide, he becomes
absolutely calm and self-possessed be.
fore he steps into the gas chamber or
pulls the triggers
Scrivener Sent to Scene.
Under the District code, ! am not
expected to call for an inquest over
the body of a person where suicide is
evident. / could find no reason for
believing that Smith was victim of
any OInef imam MS OWN mana. lHGTe-
fore I issued a certificate on the spot
and informed the detectives there was
no need for an investigation. Nor
was any made"
DIR. hewitt added that he had been
visited several times since by an
operative for the Department of
Justice, who each time asked him If
he would be willing to appear before
Congress with his explanation. 1t
appeared that the Justice Department
agent was conducting an investigation
for the Department. DR.. hewitt said
he assured the man each time that
he would be glad to explain the situa-
ton to Congress.
Police records, too, show that the
was carried no further
so far as the District authorities were
concerned Ironically enough, it was
Arthur Scrivener, popular headquar-
tiers detective, who himself was shot
to death recently under circum-
stances that are being questioned,
who was dispatched to the hotel when
headquarters was notified that a man
had shot himself" Scrivener re-
turned shortly with the message that
the coroner had declared 1t a suicide
and said no investigation was neces-
sary.