Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-17
NEW CLUES FOUND
IN CEILINGS CASE
Nature of important Infor-
nation Withheld Pending
Investigation.
By the Associated Press.

HUNTINGTON STATION, N. Y,
September 17.-Assistarf District At
torney Fred ]. Munder of Suffolk
County announced today that the au-
topsy on the body of Benjamin Col
lings, murdered yachtsman, had fur
nished important information, which
would not be made public pending in
vestigation.
The autopsy was completed today
and plans were made for cremation
and funeral services this afternoon In
Brooklyn.
Munder said the autopsy showed
Ceilings skull was cracked in eight
places. Medical Examined Otto Schultz,
who performed the autopsy, later took
some of the organs to New York City
for analysis.
The assistant district attorney said
one Of the witnesses at the inquest
would be Clarence Fairchild, one Of
Ceilings few close personal friends.
Suggests Possibility.
William A. Kelly, one of the attor-
neyS engaged by the Ceilings family,
said today he was gong 10 urge the
authorities to search, not only tor the
two men Mrs. Ceilings says threw her
husband into Long Island Sound, but
also Tor the body of a wounded man
Mrs. Ceilings believes they had with
them when they boarded the Ceilings
cruiser.
Mrs. Ceilings has said that when the
men first approached the cruiser they
offered her husband 500 to take the
wounded man to the Connecticut shore.
Kelly suggested the possibility that
while they were talking the wounded
man died. The men might then have
become frightened that they would be
involved in a murder case and that
| Ceilings might appear against them as
a witness. And so they might have
killed him and thrown both his body
and that of the wounded man into the
water, he said.
Undecided on Inquest.
When District Attorney Alexander
Blue arrived he went into conference
with Munder and the coroner. an
nouncing it had not been decided
whether or not to open the inquest this
afternoon.
In any event, he said, Mrs. Ceilings
would not be called to testify. nor
would her five year-old daughter.
he announced the autopsy definitely
established Ceilings died by drowning
ana not from the injuries to his head
He said salt water found in the lungs
showed the yachtsman was thrown into
the water alive, although undoubtedly
unconscious
Dr. Schulze found that Ceilings had
peen MT on the forehead and back by
Ierrlnc blows. He was then bound so
tightly that ropes cut into his flesh.
/ Insists She Was Kidnaped.
Mrs. Ceilings had told authorities
she hearo her husband cry, They're
lying me and putting me overboardv
/ one mas insisted under repeated uues-
tioning that two men boarded the Yacht
1 ana kidnapped and attacked her in a
small boat after drowning her husband
Mr.. Blue said Mrs. Ceilings would
not be called until tomorrow for cues
tioning n.y.
cannot say whether her story is
! deliberate fabrication or the result
OF a wandering mind" he added. Her
"hoie story is of the most fantastic
nature. l still do not believe it in all
! respects"
District Attorney Elvin N. Edwards
of Nassau County who up to yester-
day had taken charge of the case. only
4 TO lose it on grounds of Jurisdiction to
Mr. Blue, said the finding of the body
/ supported his belief in Mrs. Ceilings
story.
Attorney Backs Story.
/ Homer S. Cummings, attorney for
MIS-. Ceilings, said his client was ready
Tor more questioning, but that he was
/ positive her earlier stories had been
proved by finding of the body. There
are always discrepancies in true stor--
les" he said. 1T is only fabricated
stories that can be made to stand up
Mrs Ceilings was under the care OF
physicians today at her home in STAN
ford, Conn, relieved that her husband
body had been found, since 1t sup
ported her story.
A possible clue to two such men as
described by Mrs. Ceilings deVeAopeo
in Norwalk. Conn. Several persons sald
two men arrived in motor boat last
Thursday, took on gasoline, went llto =
nearby factory to dry their clothes anu
asked the way to New York.
One was described as being 40 10 %,
with a beard. The other was pIoNu
youth about 10. deeply tanned.
Mrs. Ceilings had estimated tne ags
of her husbands asSailantS as II aho
Sc years, respectively.
The men told the gasoline station az
tendant they had slept on the poat
near a mud fiat in Long Island al
night and that they had been soaked
by the spray. They arrived here ABOUT
| 80 and sailed in a westerly direction
| after purchasing SIS worth of gasoline