Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-10
ATTACK ON THIRD DEGREE
MENTIONS WAN AND
PERRYGO CASES HERE
Vcontinued FROM First Page

J tC00t10Qed from TdHC.J
ten out. which he signed on the twelfth
day. Four oral confessions were also
made after the seventh day. On the
| thirteenth day he was for the first time
examined by the jail physician, VINO
found him very III and under the cir
cumstances not responsible for anything
| he had signed. He lay Ill for q month IN
bed. Three washington detectives ana
the superintendent Of police participated
| in this process. which all took place De-
| fore production In court"
The report than mentioned the re-
| versal of the conviction and the maj
! release Of Wan.
! The discussion of the third-degree
process In this famous murder case by
| Associate Justice Brandeis, as Included
in this report, follows:
Wan was held in the hotel room
! without formal arrest. incommunicado.
| But he was not left alone. Every mo-
ment of the day and of the night at
! least one member Of the police force
! was on guard inside his room. Three
ordinary policemen we're assigned to this
| duty. Each served eight hours, the
shifts beginning at midnight, at in the
morning and at 1 in the afternoon.
Morning. afternoon and evening tand
| at least on one occsion after midnight
4
| tendent OF police and tori one or more
1 Of the detectives. The sole purpose OF
/ these visits was to interrogate him. Re-
gardless OF VANS wishes and protest,
| his condition OF health, or the hour,
they engaged him in conversation. He
was subjected to persistent lengthy and
repeater crOss-examination. Somstlmes
| 1t was subtle. sometimes severe Always
the examination was conducted with a
4 infn a
| sion Of his own guilt and corr that OF
his brother Whenever these visitors
| entered the room the guard was sta
| toned outside the closed door.
| "On the eighth day the accusatory
questioning took q more excruciating
form. A detective was In attendance
throughout the day. In the evening
Wan was taken from the Hotel Dewey
Ito the mission. There, continuously for
| 10 hours, this sick man was led from
floor to floor, infinitely to examine and
re-examine the scene of the triple muir
| der and every object connected with 1t.
| to give explanations and TO answer ques-
| tons. The places where the dead men
| were discovered; the revolver with which
presumably the murder was committed
| the bloodstainS and the flngerprints
thereon; the bullet holes In the walls
| the discharged cartridges found upon
the floor: the clothes of the murdered
| men; the bloodstains on the floor and
1 the stairs: a bloody handkerchief; the
| coat and pillow which had been found
covering the dead mems faces; photo
| graphs taken by the police, OF the men
as they lay dead; the doors and windows
| through which the murderer might have
| entered or made his escape; photostat
copies OF writings, by means OF which
! 1t was sought to prove that Wan was
| implicated In q forgery incident to the
| murder-an these were shown him
| Every supposed fact ascertained by the
/ detectives IN the course Of their inresti-
| CATION was related to him. Concerning
| every object, every incident detailed, he
was, In the presence of q stenographer
| piled with questions by the superintend-
ent of police and the detectives. BY
these he was engaged In argument
sometimes separately, sometimes In joint
attack. The process of interrogation
| became ever more insistent. 1t passed
at times from inquiry into command
1 From o'clock in the evening until 5
O'Clock in the morning the questioning
| continued. Before It was concluded
LII, who was again in attendance, had
! left the mission about midnight worn
/, out by the long hours. The superin-
tendent OF police had returned to ms
home, apparently exhausted. One OF
! the detectives had fallen asleep. To
| Wan not moment Of sleep was allowed
"On the ninth day, ut 20 minutes
past In the morning. Wan was taken
! from the mission to the station house
and placed formally under arrest, There
the Interrogation was promptly resumed
Again the detectives were in atten-
/ dance, day. and evening. plying their
questions, pointing out alleged contra
dictions, arguing with the prisoner and
urging him TO confess. lest his brother
be deemed guilty OF the crime.
Report Of Physician.
still the statements secured failed
| to satisfy the detectives craving for
evidence. On the tenth day Wan was
bundled up., was again taken to the
mission was again questioned there for
hours, and there the whole thing was
again talked OF and enacted On the
eleventh day q formal interrogation OF
| Wan was conducted at the station house
by the detectives in the presence OF a
| stenographer. On the twelfth day the
verbatim typewriter report Of the in
terrogation (which occupies IL pages
of the printed recordl was read to Wan
In his cell at the iail. There he signed
the report and initiated each page. On
the thirteenth day. fer the first time,
| Wan was visited by the chief medical
of1icer OF the Jail in the performance OF
| his duties. This experienced physician
and surgeon testified. without contra
diction, to the condition of the prisoner
He found WAN lying In
a bunk in the cell very weak, very
much exhausted. very much enaciated
he complained Of abdominal pain, which
was rather intense. He told witness
and witness afterward saw. that he
vomited II he attempted to take food
/" witness thought he was very
seriously Ill; concluded he was
suffering from spastic COLTS.
The result would be almost
constant pain. witness knows
defendant was in bed at least a month
after hts treatment was prescribed
From witness observation and medical
experience, Judging from the defendant'I
emaciation and history he gave witness
and his condition generally, would say
that when witness saw the defendant on
February IS he had been III for q mat
ter Of weeks He told me he
had been talked to all one night and
had not received any medical attention
and had been in constant pain all OF
this time and had been unable to cal
for days, and considering all those facts
I came to the conclusion that he wa
80 exhausted that he was really des-
perate-he told me also that he had
signed q confession
In It's discussion and description Of
the third degree" in this report the
commission gave credit to the late Maj
Richard Sylvester, who was superintend-
ent Of the washington police for Q
number Of years. for the origin of the
phrase third degree" It quoted from
this famous police oficials views or
methods OF obtaining evidence and con
fessions In the solution Of crime The
report. however, made # clear that the
commissions ideas regarding the third
| dm0reA Y4fqferad fforyn Maj Qvlyeetay',