Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-30
ATTACK BY CREECY
|SLA|D TO INSANITY
!. BY MARINE BOARD
Witnesses Describe Officer
"Either Drunk or Crazy"
on Sunday Morning.
MENTAL TREATMENTS
DESCRIBED BY DOCTOR
Formal Report Of Findings Awaits
Outcome of Mrs. Creecy's
Wounds.

1t was fit of insanity that led Lieut..
Col. Richard Bennett Creecy, wealthy
Marine Corps officer, to attack his wife
with a hand ak and then turn a re-
volver on himself, the Marine Corps
board of inquest, investigating the
officers death, concluded today.
Col. Creecy brutally hacked his wife's
head with hatchet and then killed
himself with pistol some time Satur-
day night or Sunday morning in q
room at the Mayfiower Hotel.
The board, it was announced this
afternoon by Col. Louis M. Little, chair
man, heard testimony of two persons
who say Col. Creecy early Sunday
morning and described him as being at
that time either drunk or crazy.
A third witness. Col. Little said, was
a doctor, who testified he had treated
Col. Creecy for years for complaints
tending to insanity.
No Liquor Is Found.
Members of the board are certain
these complaints for which Col. Creepy
had been treated eliminated in a ut
OF insanity which caused him to attack
his wife with the ak and to shoot
himself in the heart. No evidence of
liquor has been found In the case, mem
bers of the board stated.
Col. Little stated this afternoon the
board would make no formal report
at present. II Mrs. Creecy RECEIVERS
from the wounds In her head and is
able to make a statement, he said, the
board VIII include her statement In q
report.
Mrs. Creecy today was reported hold
ing her own In fight with death, her
skull crushed by the ak, blows. She
mas not regained consciousness since
she was found on the floor Of the fifth
floor room of the Mayfower Hotel Sun
day afternoon. Doctors give her a bare
chance to recover.
Testimony offered the Marine board
today revealed for the first time that
Col. Creecy was seen after he retired
to his room Mt the Mayfiower after
visiting his parents with his wife sat-
urday night.
Col Little said the two witnesses
who saw Col. Creecy Sunday morning
were employees Of the hotel They were
shown group pictures In which Col.
in every instance they picked the Ma
rtne of1cer from his associates.
Had ''WiId" Look.
One of the witnesses, colored man.
Col. Little reported, said when he saw
Col. Creecy Sunday morning the ofiicer
had looked wild" and had scared"
him.
The testimony before the Marine
board, however, does not clear up the
details Of the tragedy. It is not yet
known what happened in the room
when Mrs. Creecy received the ak
wounds on her head, nor what hap
pened before Col. Creecy leveled the
new pistol at his heart and pulled the
trigger.
Lieut.. Edward J. Kelly, chief Of the
Homicide Squad of the Detective
Bureau, was one Of the witnesses before
the board. He told the Marine officers
the findings of the police and Deputy
Coroner Joseph D. Rodgers in the case,
IN both instances, were attempted
murder and suicide"
In no phase, the board chairman de-
clared, did the board find any evidence
that would lead them to differ from
the findings Of the police and the
coroner.
Police have discovered that Col.
Creecy last Saturday morning bought
an ak and pistol.
Weapons Traced Easily.
Because of their newness they
were traced easily and quickly yes
terday. Late yesterday Inspector
William 8. Shelby, chief Of the Detective
Bureau, announced that Col Creecy had
been identified as the man who pur-
chased them early Saturday morning at
two downtown stores.
The revolver, according to police. was
purchased at the Sport Mart, GA F
street, between and $50 O'Clock Sat-
urday morning Numbers on the gun
were in sequence with those in stock
at the store, and Edgar Thomas Grigs-
by clerk at the store, identified Col.
Creecy as the man who bought the
weapon. Grigsby told police Col
Creecy remarked, upon purchasing the
pistol, that he wanted ito take this pis-
tol with me to the tropics" He added
that he needed something heavy to
stop those fellows"
The ak, short-handled affair, it
was discovered, was purchased by q man
answering the description of Col Creecy
some time Saturday at the hardware
store of Barber 81 Ross, Eleventh and
q streets. The ak, 1t was found, was
MADE by q west virginia concern OF
which the local hardware store is sole
agent here. Paul Hester, clerk In the
store, said he sold the ak to q man
answering Col. Creecys description.
The ak also bore a mark, store on
cials said, showing that it was sold
at the local store.
Col. Creecy will be buried with full
military honors tomorrow morning at
II o'clock from the chapel ct Fort Myer,
Va, with interment in Arlington Ma
tional Cemetery. Gen. Fuller, Brig.
Gen. John T. Myers, assistant COM
mandant, and other high-ranking ofii-
Gals are to attend the funeral.
The honorary pallbearers will be Brig
Gen. Rufus H. Lane, adjutant inspector
Lieut.. Coils. Walter N. Hill, David M.
Randell, Charles r. Sanderson, Albert
e. Randell and Maj. william F. Bevan.
Capt. Sydney X. Evans, chief of the
Nays Chaplain Corps. an Episcopa-