Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-07
UNIDENTIFIED MAN
Stays DA|RYMAN
Shoots E. L. Mills at Hunting
Hill, Md, Then Pins ''Con-
fession" on Coat.

While an eighteen-year-old farm
hand watched in terror, an unidenti-
fed man shot to death Edward l..
Mills, prosperous farmer and dairy
man of Hunting Hill, Md. near Rock
vile, at dawn this morning. with a
small-calibered revolver, within a
stones throw of his home. Mills is
believed TO have died instantly, one
bullet piercing his heart. two more his
head. one his wrist and another the
breast.
Satisfied that his victim was dead,
the man then stopped over the body
and pinned on Mr.. Mills coat a
lengthy typewriter document. which
suggested that he deserved to be
shot"
Rockville police are holding this as
the outstanding clue to the identity of
the slayer.
Dated June. 1927. this document. evil
IDENTIFY intended as a confession for
Mr.. Mills signature. would have
tcaused the dead man to admit that he
had been guilty of indiscretions with
the slayer's wife.
Witness Gives Account.
Clarence Miles, who had only been
employed as a farm hand at the Mills
farm for three days, gave the police
description of the killer, but declared
he had never seen him before.
1T was quarter of o'clock this
morning" young Miles declared in
giving his eyewitness account of the
shooting.
Il was at the barn at the bottom of
the hill getting the horses. Mr.. Mills
was up on the side of the hill.
Suddenly / saw a strange man come
out of the woods and walk over to Mr..
Mills. / heard them exchange a few
remarks. Then saw Mr.. Mills raise his
hand in self defense and say: "Oh,
don't do that.
"As l heard that remark I saw the
man whip out a revolver and as he
fired his first shot at Mr. Mills ran
to the house for help. When we re-
turned the man had disappeared into
the woods that he came out of"
Woods Searched for Slayer.
More than a half dozen Rockville
police officers and scores of neighbors
searched the woods today for trace of
ties sent to Baltimore for a detective
to aid them in their search.
Miles said the man sought had thin
mustache, black felt hat, black shirt
with white button and black trousers.
He said that he was a medium man
of average height.
While police cling to the "confes-
sion" as the only present logical mo.
tive for the killing, the victims widow
says she had perfect faith in him
and declares that the placing of the
confession" on her husbands coat
was for the purpose of putting the
authorities ''off the trail"
The Montgomery County authorities
confidently believe that they will be
able to learn the identity of the muir
derer before the day is over. From
the description of the exchange of
salutations between Mr.. Mills and his
slayer it appears to be a foregone
conclusion that his identity was
known to his victim.
Confession" Crudely Written.
The confession" crudely written
ana extremely ungrammatical, con-
talned quantity of unprintable mat
ter. The fact, however, that it was
dated June, 1927, and was carefully
typewriter caused the authorities to
believe the slayer had made prior at
tempts to cause Mills to sign it and
had selected dawn this morning as the
time for the final demand.
The confession" states that the
slayer's wife had been assaulted
while she was on a buggy ride.
The confession also states that the
man who was intended to sign it had
been guilty of a number of indiscre-
tions.
Mr.. Mills. who had lived all of his
life In the Hunting Hill district, which
is miles northwest of Rockville. had
always been held in high esteem by
his neighbors.
The slain man is survived by his
widow and three children. Paul Mills,
IS years old; Sidney Mills, IS, and
Dorothy Mills, Is.
States Attorney Robert Peter and
Chief Of Police Alva A. Moxley are
in charge of the investigation.