Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11

n ELVIN STEVENS. a 28-year ole
M we'll digger OF Dunn Loring
IVY between Falls Church ano
1 ' 4 Fairfax. Va. was mysteriously
shot to death week ago to-
morrow night:
He died from a shotgun wound. in
fiicted by a gun that was fired mot
more than 10 and probably only about 5
feet away" A piece Of shotgun waddtng
was found In his head.
When the shot was fired he was sur
rounded by seven men. They were his
relatives or his friends. and one of them
was a constable.
None Of them saw him killed. None
of them knows who killed him. None of
them knows whether he was murdered
or whether his death was. as the coroner
has decided. an accident.
And according to the belief Of those
who have taken part in the lengthy in
vestigation Of his death none Will ever
know,
About two weeks ago Melvin Stevens
was sitting on his front porch after
dark. He was a we'll liked young fellow,
with no known enemies. Unlike many
Of his friends and his neighbors he had
never affiliated himself with any OF the
cliques of the 1leighborhood. like the
KHAN bunch" which included many Of
his frienC-, As he sat on his porch
after dark he noticed man in the road,
walking up and down, as II trying to
decide whether the Stevens house was
the place he was looking for.
He might want me for well-dlg-
ging job" said Melvin.
And he reached FOR the electric light
that illuminated H., porch.
AS the light flashed on there was the
bark of a rife and a bullet crashed
through a window pane several inches
above MelvinS head. Melvin after
ward told his friends that with the
click of the rife being cooked he
ducked-ducked even before the shot
was fired. And this. he believes, saved
his life. A second after the shot was
fired an automobile swooped down the
road, stopped, picked up the man who
had fired and dashed of down the
highway Melvin ran into the road.
but the tail lights Of the car were
vanishing, and even then had become
tiny red Specks, far away.
Stevens did not tell the sheriff until
the next day. Then he notified him.
and Sheriff Z. P. Kirby OF Fairfax
County arrived in the morning with
deputy. Henry Magarity, and they dug
a bullet out Of the wall in the Kitchen,
where 1t had been tmbeddeo after
crashing through the window pane:
They did q lot of walking about and
talking, but none Of them could sug-
gest where the bullet could have come
from or who was trying to get" Ste
vens.
Hysteria Spreads.
A few nights later another shot was
fred at the Stevens home. And when
the story spread it naturally bred other
reports OF strange shots from the dark
ness, and something akin to hySterla
spread among the folk living nearby.
This feverish excitement was prepar-
ing the stage for the tragedy last Mon
dav night.
About o'clock last Monday night
the mysterious stranger who shot from
the dark was reported In the vicinity
OF the Stevens house again. Arthur j.
ShuRars, who lives in the house next TO
the Stevens home, said that somebody
had fired at him.
He notified Deputy Sheriff Paul Herr
man at Falls Church and Herman came
along in his car. being joined by Con-
stable Ben Runyon and James Runyon.
James wife is the sister OF Melvin
Stevens. James Stevens and his two
brothers, John and Daniel; Charles
SoSirskl. Samuel Baldwin and Shugars
mace up the posse that was organized
on the spot to search the woods around
the Stevens. home. Melvin carried a
double -barreled shotgun and his BROTH
err John had another. Daniel Stevens
and James Runyon had single -barreled
shotguns. Runyon was carrying re-
yolver. Shugars and Sheriff Herman
were armed, as was every member OF
the group.
After a lot of walking around through
the woods and fields, q car drove up
the road andeped away. Sheriff Herr