Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-13
SENATE PLANNING
SWEEPING POLICE
PROBE THIS WEEK
Subcommittee to Take Over
Inquiry-District Attorneys
Office Also Cited.
SENATORS IN TILT
OVER INVESTIGATION
Justice Department Agents Expect
to Exhume Mrs. McPher-
sons Body Soon.

While Government agents seek to
wrest from the grave clue that will
help them solve the mystery of the
death of Virginia Mcpherson and guide
them in the prosecution of her hus-
band, charged with murder, the Senate
this week will lay plans for sweep
ing probe of claims that local authori-
ties bungled the case.
The scope of the Senate investiga-
ton into the police department and dis
trict attorneys ofice, and the question
Of when various phases of the probe
should be undertaken, will be decided
this week by the police subcommittee,
to which the entire subject was referred
yesterday at the close of lively ses-
sion of the Senate District committee.
To Reopen Grave Soon.
The body of the strangled wife of
Robert A. Mcpherson, jr., bank book
keeper, may be disinterred at any time
from the quiet resting place in China
grove, NJ c., to which it was consigned
three weeks ago, dispatch from a staff
correspondent of The Star indicated last
night
BY this drastic move the Department
of Justice will test the Soundness of a
physicians opinion that Mrs. Nc
Pherson may have suffered a fractured
skull, in addition to strangulation in
duced by a tightly drawn and knot
ted pajama belt looped around her neck,
The original autopsy report failed to
mention such fracture, although DIR.
Edward A. German, first physician to
view the body when 1t was found in
bedroom at the Park Lane Apartments
exactly a month ago tomorrow, has told
Justice agents he saw some evidences
of conclusion.
Dr. German was convinced the girl
had been murdered when first he ex-
reported finding it. He formally pro-
nounced the woman dead.
Passed Up at Inquest.
T DR.. German naturally expected to be
summoned TO testify before the cor
oner's jury bat the summons did not
come. The jury concluded Mrs. Nc
Pherson had committed suicide after
hearing the testimony of surgeons who
performed the autopsy and Lieut. Ed
ward J. Kelly, then head of the homi-
eide squad
A grand jury reopened the case and
heard many witnesses. DR.. German
would not have had an opportunity to
give his testimony to that body had not
The Star published the fact that he had
never been asked to testify. Then he
was summoned as the last witness and
members of the grand jury have de-
clared his testimony helped them decide
the girl had been murdered.
Called as routine witness in the
special inquiry launched by the Depart
ment of Justice, Dr. German provided
the Federal investigators with a real
sensation. He told them he thought it
possible that Mrs. McPherson's skull
was fractured. This opinion was re-
garded so important that j. Edgar
Hoover, chief of the Bureau of Investi-
cation. conferred at once with John E.
Laskey. special assistant to the Attor-
ney General, and the decision was
reached to eXhume the body from its
grave in China Grove, N. C.
May Strengthen Murder Theory.
If Mrs. McPherson's skull was frac-
tured. the murder theory must gain in
strength. The fracture would explain
several points raised against the homi-
eide hypothesis. Lieut.. Kelly, in ad-
herring to the suicide supposition, had
reasoned there would have been signs
OF struggle had the woman been
strangled to death by some one other
than herself. If, however, she had been
hit over the head first she could have
been unconscious when the pajama belt
was tied about her neck There would
have been no struggle A skull fracture
also might explain the blood stain on
the bathroom floor, as a nasal or mouth
hemorrhage might have ensued from
the blow and-from the strangulation.
Police who visited the Mcpherson
apartment shortly after the body was
found were interrogated again yester-
day. 1t Is known the Government
proberS are endeavoring to obtain a
definite picture of the death scene be-
fore 1t was disturbed. They must de-
pend on the memory of those who were
there for this picture. An important
point to learn now, as a result of DR..
Germans opinion. is whether there was
an instrument in the apartment that
might have been used as a club.
Shelby Again Questioned.
Inspector William S. Shelby, who,
with Lieut.. Kelly. was criticized by the
grand jury for their handling of the
case, again was questioned by Federal
agents yesterday A police private
whose name was not divulged also was
examined. Inspector Shelby was among
police officers who first viewed the body.
Continued on Page 2. Column IL