Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-21
BAKER SUSPECT
UNABLE ! TO READ
Medical Men Deny Brewster
Learned Crime Details
From Papers.


the man who confessed" to the murder
of Mary Baker, Navy Department clerk.
Is sane, another angle In the web of
| contradictions, admissions and denials
of which Brewster Is the center came
to light today with the announcement
that Brewster Is incapable of reading,
and therefore cannot have cleaned his
detailed knowledge Of the circumstances
of the crime Of April IL from newspaper
| accounts
The table hostler of the Headquarters
Company has been declared incapable of
! making q connected story from any
piece or reading matter with which he
| Is confronted, of pronouncing words
correctly, and of being able to piece
| together the elements of a story in such
manner as to make sense Of the article.
This development came today as
by Army doctors in q closely guarded
room at the Munitions Building, re-
| quested by his commanding officer IN
| an effort to prove or disprove the mans
| sanity. Authorities agree that the as
| sault and murder of Mary Baker prob
ably would have been committed by an
insane person or person Of the GRIM
| inal moron type.
| While he was being examined by
| Majs. Charles L. Maxwell, Patrick s.
| Madigan and William G. Porter, the
grey suit he said he wore on the night
! of the tragedy was undergoing
microscopic scrueiny at che laboratories
| of the Public Health Service to de-
| termine whether 1t contains human
| blood stains. Another new clew, which
was minimized by headquarters detec-
| tiyes, cropped up today as investigators
examined q red and blue striped necktie
which belonged to Brewster, which Is
stained with q substance which might
be blood. Investigation has developed
that Brewster has not had the gray
suit cleaned since April IL, although
1t has been pressed once since that time.
Detectives claim that the substance on
| the necktie, II 1t Is blood. would have
| soaked through the tie onto the mans
| shirt, but other investigators claim q
| few spots of blood would not SOAK
| through the fabric of a tie in sufncient
| quantity to stain the shirt. "BreWsters
| shirts have no stains.
Oficials today regarded the inability
| of the soldier to read print as one OF
| the most significant Developments In
| the chain of circumstances which nave
| involved Brewster as the main fgure
! in the tragedy since the afternoon OF
| May IA, when he broke down under
| grlllng py Ills Supcitoi umScA "a
another matter and confessed" to the
| Baker crime.
In radical disparity to his previous
| willingness to talk, Brewster now has
become sullen and obviously unwilling
| to discuss his actions on the afternoon
and evening Of April IL. Where he
was willing, few days ago, to discuss
| all the details of the assault on Mary
Baker, with the exception of the shoot
| ing, he now answers questions IN
suhly fashion and appears unwilling
| to talk. His newest angle OF where he
obtained the gun, which he admits he
had when he said he struck Mary
! Baker, is that "I reached down in my
pocket when I needed a gun and found
| one there" Two nights age, with de-
Electives and Department Of Justice
agents, he was taken on trip through
/; Georgetown in an attempt to locate
the place where he had said he pur-
chased the pistol, but no success at
tended this excursion.
Identifies Girls Picture.
He Yves confronted early today with
pictur, of Mary Baker and Olga Skin
nsr. her close friend, and without hest
;atlcn he placed his finger on the fg-
ure wearing the coat which Mary Baker
wore en- the day she was slain.
The mental examination to which
! Brewster was being subjected today was
| due to last the entire day, and the ind
| ings may not be made public for week
or 10 days The man is to be kept I'M
| der constant observation after the ques-
| tioning he undergoes today.
| Brewstcr's knowledge OF the details
| of the crime, coupled with the revela-
| ton that he could not have obtained
| them from the newspapers, because OF
! his inability to read, have convinced
some who have examined him. including
1 Horfva rf
| that If Brewster did not commit the
| crime, he knows something about 1t.
| To bolster these theories is his identif1-
| cation by at least two other persons,
| including a woman whom he accosted
near Seventeenth and streets, pre-
vious to April IL.
| Majs Madigan and Porter are psyche
logists detailed at Walter Reed Hos
pital. Mai. Maxwell, head of the ex-
amining board, Is an Army physician.
| Search still is going on in nearby
| States for a veteran of the World War
| who lived for time in tent in near
| by Virginia and who is said to have adj
| mitted knowing Mary Baker. The man
was said to have been traced to town
| in Pennsylvania and later to have been
seen at Harpers Ferry.
Meanwhile authorities investigating
! the murder were called upon today by
| Representative S. o. Bland of Virginia
| to issue "ioint. definite. positive and
| conclusive statement" generating Miss
Baker from any reflections that have
been made on her character.
Bland wrote to officials Of the three
agencies working on the case-the
Metropolitan Police Department, the
Department of Justice and Arlington
County Notwithstanding out that
information had been given him to the
effect that Miss Baker was Of good
moral character and criticizing news
paper reports to the contrary as
wholly unjustified and absolutely with
out any foundation"
MY understanding Is that those In
vestigating the crime" Bland said, have
in their possession evidence of the purity
of Miss Bakers character and that the
circumstances of the trip to Baltimore,
of which so much appears to have been
made, were such as to absolutely mega
tive any improper relation. Those con-
nected with the investigation owe 1t to
the girl and her family to make b,ist.
ment generating her from any refiec-
tons that have been made on her char
acter. She cannot be brought back to
life, but her character can be indicated
and preserved"
Superintendent Of Police Pratt and
Chief of Detectives Shelby both an
nounced they would reply to BANDS
request with statements that the Wash
ington police had found nothing In
their investigation of the murder case
which would reflect on the character of
Miss Baker.
FRENCH PRESS FOLLOWS