Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-15

charge OF grand jury tildI I1lC OS
tectiVe Bureau had bungled the case.
The Detective Bureau had labeled
both of these cases suicides. A cor
oners Jury supported the suicide theory
In the Mcpherson case, only to nave IL
overturned later by the grand jury. In
the Scriyener case, however, the cor
oner's Jury returned verdict OF muir
der without attempting to name the
asSailant.
Mystery Since 1925.
Scrivener's death has remained a
mystery ever since his body was
found stretched full length on its back
near the mouth Of an alley on N street
east of Wisconsin avenue, shortly aIter
/ o'clock on the morning of october IL,
1926. He had been shot through the
heart at close range, and his dead right
hand clutched silk and wool, wrinkle.
proof gray necktie, which 1t was flrSt
believed he had jerked from the neck
of his assailant. The four-tn-hand knot
was still neatly tied, but the neckpiece
had been parted in the middle OF the
back. Near his feet was q .38-canber
revolver, with one discharged shell IN
its chamber, the bullet from which mad
pierced his heart.
These clues we're unmistakably tndlca-
tive of q murder, it was first believed.
Scriyener's colleagues at the Detective
Bureau also recalled his oft-repeated
remark that If anybody ever gets me
I'll grab something from him to give the
boys q lead to work on. It may be only
q button, but I'll get something"
The necktie appeared to be that
Something" But in the days OF in
vestigation that followed the necktie
he had clutched in his outstretched
hand as lead for the boys to work
Eas1 60 fQn0ihlp
The gun which had taken his life also
failed to produce a useful clue, even
though a prisoner at the District Jail
identified it as one he had thrown away
in an ash can after committing rob-
berry.
Position of Body.
The possibility of suicide was then
suggested and facts brought out by the
Detective Bureau to support It, The
body, it was explained, reposed upgrade
in an alley. with a steep grade on the
back, face upward, whereas the nat
ural way for man to fall from q
standing position on a steep grade Is
downgrade. The bullet, 1t was con-
tended, was fired at short range and
there were no signs to indicate that
Scrivener had been in q struggle.
Neither were there any marks on his
hands and knees to indicate a turning
of the body after it fell. The question
raised was, How, in the event OF
murder, could the body have fallen in
such position?"
In Scrivener's locker at detective
headquarters also were found more than
a score of bullets of peculiar make that
fitted the pistol with which he was slain.
And tests on the necktie were made to
demonstrate that 200 pounds OF jerking
weight suspended to tie of the same
grade ana age as that found in SERVE
ner's hand failed to part It at the neck
band. Further tests also showed the
difficulty to tea a tie of good quality,
as that one, when around the neck OF a
person, cushioned and supported by the
collar and neckband. 1t was diScov-
cred, however, that such tie could be
cut by passing the loop over the top of a
door and producing knife effect with
its rough edges.
In the very midst of the discussion of
the suicide theory, however, tests were
made with the gun, under the direction
OF Coroner j. Ramsay hewitt, which
tended to support the murder theory.
These tests, made on the dock in the
rear Of the District Morgue, indicated
that the pistol from which the bullet
was fired was held at distance OF 10
inches from the body.
Firing Is Tested.
The tests consisted Of firing the pistol
found at Scrivener's feet at the scene
of his death into the light overcoat
which the detective was wearing when
he died. Six bullets were fired into the
coat at ranges varying from TO IL
inches. A comparison of the smudges
and powder burns with the powder burn
around the hole in the garment where
the fatal bullet penetrated showed that
the burn at 10 inches resembled in its
coloring the burn In the coat from the
death shot
The coat was then tried on persons
of about the same stature as Scrivener
and attempts were made with the I'M
loaded weapon to hold its muzzle 10
inches away from the body in a di-
rect attempt to test the facility or
difficulty with which a person could
infiict such a wound on himself. This
experiment, it was said, showed 1t was
physically impossible to hold a pistol
10 inches fTcm the body and send a
bullet into the body from left to right
through line crossing the heart. the
path that the bullet took through
Scrivener's body.
The detective bureau, however, later
made similar tests and concluded that
despite the findings in the experiments
conducted under the direction OF Coro-
ner hewitt, it was possible for man
to hold pistol in his left hand 81
10-inch range from target ana place
bullet within an inch OF the center
OF that target even though the weapon
be inverted and the thumb used 70 pun
the trigger. go.
kkaat that fh(