Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-11
OFFICIALS DOUBT
DAYTON HAD PLANNED
MURDER AND SUICIDE

Continued From First Page)
friends of Daytons who wished to re-
main anonymous had engaged counsel.
He declined further to identify the
person.
Members of the homicide squad. in
investigating the theory of premeditated
murder, are seeking to determine just
what Dayton had in mind when he
registered at the Roosevelt for u. H,
and j. c. Burton of Baltimore" The
hotel clerk on duty at the time said
Dayton, when he came to the desk
carrying a handbag, told him he was
expecting his brother later in the dav.
Dayton. confesSing the crime to
police, die not say If he engaged the
room for the purpose of bringing the
girl to It, At the time he was rooming
at 1918 H street, in third-foor bed
room which he rented about a week
before the murder.
His story of his movements after hir-
ing the hotel room is haZy. He said
he had been drinking heavily and could
scarcely remember when he dressed in
a tuxedo and went to the girls Six
tenth street apartment about 8 o'clock
Monday night to keep dinner engage
ment made Saturday.
That the girl herself expected to go
out to dinner was evident from her
dress, a lace-covered dark orange eve
ming frock. Dayton said while the
two were out together he bought more
whisky, two pint bottles of bonded"
rye, and they went to the hotel room
some time after IL that night, following
a meal somewhere downtown"
Gun Story Is Questioned.
The police are not satisfied with Day.
of nf
the gun. He told them he bought it at
a secondhand shop, either on Ninth
or D street. Dayton explained he was
a former prison guard at Leavenworth
Penitentiary, and had grown accuStom-
ed to having a revolver with him.
Dayton had no difficulty getting a
room at the hotel, the clerk said, be-
cause he was well dressed, apparently
sober, was carrying luggage and gave a
satisfactory explanation of why he re-
quired a double ROOM
Police have encountered considerable
difficulty in establishing the time of the
girls death. Dayton believes it must
have occurred sometime Tuesday morn
ing. he told officers, adding that the
period between that time and when he
finally decided to call police was spent
IN drunken stupor.
Dayton had temporary periods Of
lucidity, he said, during which he sat
beside the dead girl and tried to steel
himself to commit suicide with his re-
volver.
This story is borne out by hotel at
tendants, It was learned today. The
maid detailed to the eighth-floor rooms
on Tuesday morning called three times
during the day with the intention of
making the beds and cleaning up the
room. at 1890 am. and 2:30 and
$3.50 pm.
Each time, the maid told the man.
ager Of the hotel, she received no re-
spouse to her knocks Believing the
occupants of the room out, she said,
she opened the door and looked inside
three times.
Saw Two Forms OH Bed.
On every OCCASION according to the
maid, she found the shades drawn and
could see in the dim light two notion
less and silent forms beneath the cover
let on one of the twin beds.
Whether Dayton was lying in a
drunken stupor beside the body of the
girl he had strangled or whether some
spark of life remained in the girl Is
matter Of speculation.
It was further learned, however, that
Dayton ordered two matted milkS and
two ham sandwiches brought to the
room at 5 pm. Tuesday, one hour ana
a half after the last visit of the maid.
The order was delivered from the
pharmacy on the ground floor of the
hotel. The boy who made the delivery,
Max Swales, colored, was met at the
door by man clad in a dressing gown
or bath robe, which he pulled tightly
about his body as he paid the bill.
Swales said all the shades were
drawn. and in the dim light he could
not see anything within the room but
the man standing in the light of the
half-open door. He said the man gave
him dollar bill, telling him to keep
The 20 cents change left from the bill.
The call came into the pharmacy
over the house telephone, and was re-
ceived by the manager. DR.. Harry Ken
ner. DR.. Kenner said mans voice
mumbled incoherently into the trans
mitter. and that he had TO assist him
to make up his mind as 10 what he
wanted The pharmacist said he formed
the opinion at the time that the other
was very drunk or very i'll.
BODY IN PITTSBURGH.