Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-21

her apartment. at the Park Lane, al
noon on Saturday, September IA.
The discovery was made by McPher.
son, who returned to the apartment
after an eStrangement of several days
He found the body of his wife, partly
nude. on the floor of the bedroom with
pajama belt wrapped several times
around the neck and knotted.
Mcpherson broke the news of the
tragedy to Mrs. Sue Thompson, desk
clerk, and to Wilmer C. Ruff, manager
OF the apartment house. Mrs. Thomp-
son said the husband gave her the inn
preston he had been inside the bed
room to satisfy himself that his wife
was dead. Ruff quoted Mcpherson as
saying he had thrown a dress over the
form. t5
Ruff went with the husband to the
bedroom and says he had to shove the
door open with both hands because the
body rested against it, feet foremost
He thought this strange and told po-
lice so.
DR.. Edward A. German, house phvsi-
clan OF the Park Lane, was called to the
scene and he pronounced the girl dead.
Police of the third precinct were mott
fed and an investigation was launched,
under the personal direction of Lieut..
Edward J. Kelly. then head of the
homicide squad. The detectives Ques-
toned the husband relatives and
friends of the couple. occupants of the
apartment house and others
Thirty witnesses were on hand at the
inquest held at the morgue on the MORN
ing OF September II. Three testified.
They were Lieut. Kelly, DR.. Joseph D.
Rogers, deputy coroner and DR.. A. Ma
gruder Macdonald, who performed the
autopsy. The jury decided that Mrs.
Mcpherson committed suicide.
Robert j. Allen, at that time a no.
liceman attached to the third precinct,
in which the death occurred. didn't like
the verdict He had conducted an I'M
authorized and independent investiga-
ton and was convinced Mrs. Mcpherson
was murdered. He SO advised The Star
and offered to convince representatives
OF the editorial department that the
coroner's jury had erred.
Several members of The Stars news
staff accompanied Allen to the Park
Lane, inspected the apartment and
talked with Manager Ruff, The latter
expressed surprise that he had not been
asked to testify at the inquest. and he
indicated dissatisfaction with the YER
dict OF the jury. He repeated his ac-
count OF the finding of the body and
reiterated that he was puzzled over the
TACT he had found the body against the
door after the husband had said he had
covered the corpse with a dress.
Attorney Investigates.
The circumstances seemed to warrant
The Star in taking the matter to the
district attorneys Office. Assistant Dis
trlct Attorney William H. Collins agreed
to accompany The Star representatives
70 the apartment. After interviewing
Manager Ruff, Mrs. Lillian Conway
telephone operator, and Howard Tenn
certain angles" which should be
cleared up, and he announced his in
tention of having an analysis made OF
blood stains on the bathroom floor.
Later Collins conferred with In
spector William S. Shelby, chief of
the Detective Bureau, and Lieut.. Kelly.
The assistant district attorney then an
nounced he was satisfied there waa
nothing irregular" about the case,
but would suggest, nevertheless, that
the blood be analysed. The sugges-
ton was made to the police. and
Lieut.. Kelly dug up a section of the
the stained blocks to the District
chemist. The latter said a satisfactory
analysis was impossible, due to the
dried condition of the blood.
Failing to get the action he desired
from the district attorneys Office, Allen
conferred with Senator Overman or
North Carolina, home State of ViI-
ginia Mcpherson. The Senator was
be Aliens story and wrote
a letter to District Attorney Rover,
urging that a further investigation OF
the death be made. Rover placed the
matter before the grand jury, and that
hnHU hn0an o cancoft0Nol iVnntt4pu
only into the strangling mystery, but
into charges that the detectives ans
coroner's Office had "bungled" the pre-
liminary investigation.
Widespread interest was aroused by
Aliens announcement. just prior to the
beginning Of the hearing, that he had
two surprise" witnesses who would tell
the grand jury they saw a man emerge
from the window of the Mcpherson
apartment early on the morning Of
10. Pressed for the identity
of these witnesses, Allen declared they
were himself and his beat partner. Po-
liceman Lawrence Bolts. Allen hadn't
told any one Of this prior to his public
which created quite a
sensation. Bolts denied Aliens claims
when questioned by his superiors.
When questioned by the grand jury
Bolts is said to have developed a bad
memory of events that night.
Allen ."Star" Witness.
The grand jury proceedings were
probably the most lively ever conducted
in Washington. Approximately 10 wit
nesses were questioned. the star" wit
ness being Allen. Allen appeared at the
hearings in plain clothes, having been
suspended for his unauthorized activi-
ties in the case. The atmosphere was
surcharged with tenseness and excite
ment. Allen was permitted to suggest
questions for the grand jury to pro-
pound to witnesses, and at the close OF
the hearing was allowed to sum up"
the evidence, over the protest OF AS
sistant District Attorney Collins.
On September 80, date of expiration
of the grand jury term, the questioning
of witnesses was halted abruptly and
the court was notified of the grand
jury's readiness to report. Foreman M.
o. Chance then presented to Judge Pey-
ton Gordon of Criminal Division / an
indictment charging Mcpherson with
numbering his wife "willfully and with
premeditated malice" by tying around
her throat "a certain strip Of cloth"
But that was not all. In supple
mentary report the grand jury made
scathing charges against Inspector
Shelby and Lieut.. Kelly, characterized
the ,oroner's inquest as proceeding
held only as "a matter of form" and
criticized the handling of the case be-
fore the grand jury by the District at
torney's Office.
Mcpherson was taken to jail at once.
Transfer Detective Heads.
The Commissioners ordered Inspector
Shelby and Lieut.. Kelly transferred
from the detective bureau to other du-
ties and a committee was appointed to
investigate the accusations made
against the officers by the grand jury.
All members of the grand jury were
invited to appear at the District Build
ing to testify before the committee.
Most of the members refused the invi-
tation. and the Commissioners decided
to postpone their probe indefinitely.