Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-14
Mystery of Motive
Puzzles Police
Probing Death.
SCRATCHED HANDS
MAY INVOLVE MAN
New Clothes Seen as Pos
sible Clue--Several
Heard Shots.

Identification of the man re-
Sponsible for the brutal murder
of Miss Mary Baker, 28-year-old
Navy Department clerk, whose
bruised and bullet-riddled body
was found under a culvert near
Arlington Cemetery Saturday, ap-
peared just beyond reach of po-
lice today.
Of one thing investigators are
convinced-that the young wom-
an was slain after she had been
criminally assaulted by man she
knew and trusted.
They have established through near
1y a dozen witnesses that she was shot
and her body disposed of on a road at
a time when it was traversed by five
cars a minute, according to a count
made by a Waterman the following
night.
Motive Still Is Mystery.
Inability to establish a definite mo-
tive for the crime has hammered in
vestigators, but many of them believe
the slayer was married man actuated
by fear of exposure. They do not believe,
however, that the crime was planned
in advance, pointing out that murder
er would normally choose more Sc
cluded spot in which to commit such a
crime.
Police are puzzled by a report from
q night Waterman on the Arlington
Memorial Bridge that he heard three
shots and woman'S screams near the
culvert shortly after 2 o'clock Saturday
morning. This was nearly four hours
after other witnesses reported hearing
shots and screams.
Scratches on the hands of a married
man with whom Miss Baker Is believed
to have associated during the last two
years were among the clues police were
running down today.
Miss Baker and the man were seen
Thursday afternoon standing under a
tree near the Navy Department by
Park Policeman Oren Spears, who said
they were conversing amicably at that
time.
The police also asked this man to
explain new suit, new hat and new
shoes which he wore yesterday. He
also is understood to have told lnvestl-
gators he couldn't be sure whether he
had a date with Miss Baker last
Tuesday"
Policeman Knew Girl.
Policeman Spears occupies an apart
ment adjoining the one at Eleventh and
K streets where Miss Baker formerly
lived. He knew the girl we'll and fire.
ouentIy would drive her to and from
work, he said, until she started meeting
the other man about two years ago.
ole
piece together fragments OF a letter
found near the young woman's abandon
ed automobile and turned over to them
by The Star. So much of the letter was
missing that the pieces found were
virtually unintelligible, but police hope
other fragments may be turned up later.
other angles of the case which the
police are running down are reports
from residents of RoSslyn, Va, that
they heard shots and man and wom-
an quarreling in an automobile.
A woman living near Alexandria
avenue and Albemarle street, told OF
hearing a man and woman quarreling
heatedly in a machine parked near her
house. She went to the window, she
said, just in time to see young woman
leap from the car and run down the
road.
Not at any time did she see the man
in the car, but his language, she Sa!o.
was extremely profane. He started the
car In pursuit of the girl and few
seconds later the two pistol shots were
fired. The shots were heard by at
least nine residents of that vicinity.
Search for the slayer seemed def
niteiy centered in Washington today
when Lieut. Edward j. Kelly, chief of
the homicide squad; Commemorative
Attorney William G. Cloth of Arlington
County and two Department of Justice
Agents went to the Bureau of Aero
nautics at the Navy Department, where
the slain girl worked, and again ques-
toned friends there.
Question Baltimore Man.
A headquarters detective also is ex-
pected to go to Baltimore this after
noon to question Jasper L. Harre1 OF
1850 Nichols avenue, who yesterday was
seen about the Baker home questioning
bystanders as to the manner in which
the girl met her death.
Questioned by newspapermen at
Baltimore today, Harrell said that he
had known Miss Baker and that during
the years of 1920, 1921 and 1922 he
called on her frequently.
On learning of her death, he said he
borrowed an automobile yesterday and
with his wife and baby left Baltimore
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