The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-22


 i Island. had not seen her husband since Tuesday.
 Mrs Clark, attended by . few close friends. went tQ the district attor- | ney's ofice for asconference In which she told Fitts that she and Clark were to have attended q party last Saturday, but that her husband dis- appeared and went to the Mexican resort. He came back Monday night and disappeared again Tuesday I morning, the district attorney was informed.
 "He was in bad shape when he l came back from Caliente,' close l friend of Clark's told Fitts. His nerves were all frazzled."
 Other friends told Fitts that Clark's campaign had cost much money. They said he was pressed for | funds and felt that lack of proper i financial backing might result in his defeat. 1 might have had in his relations with Spencer and Crawford, Chief Steckel and Fitts could not or would not say.
 | Spencer was interested with Fred | erick Mike" Schindler, former news | Critic of Critics, liberal political magazine.
 l Schifdler denied today that Craw- ford was financially interested in the magazine, which recently started to l expose asserted "rackets" in Los Arl- geles. Clark, it was said, felt that an article printed in the magazine did not benefit his campaign.
 Sudden shifting of suspicion from some unidentified underworld char acter to one of the city's most prom inent young attorneys created a sem sation in the case which already had rocked the city hall and threatened to blow the lid off racketeering in Los Angeles"
 Clark's last big case under Fitts was his successful prosecution Of Daisy de Woe. secretary to Clara Bow. Miss de Voc was convicted or grand theft of $825 from the act- ress.
 Under Former District Attorney Asa Reyes, now in San Quentin, on a bribery conviction, Clark led the state forces which sent Albert Mar co. who was called Los Angeles "vice lord," to prison for a long term after Marco, seemingly inn mune to the law, shot man in the leg during row in Venice Ocean front cafe.
 Additional credit went to Clark be- cause of his work in criminal angles of the $1O,00O,000 Julian Petroleum corporation collapse.
 Last February, with an apparently excellent record of seven years serv- ice under Reyes and Fitts, Clark re- signed to run for municipal judge In the primaries early this month. He amassed enough votes to run in the final election on June 2, although he ran behind the incumbent, Judge Charles B. Mccoy.
 Crawford, the "gray wolf of Spring street." had risen to political prom thence from the lowly position or bartender in a downtown saloon. With several other men he backed the candidacy of George D. Cryer for mayor, and Cryer, a "darkhorse, won, holding office for two terms. He also was a political figure in Seattle at one time.
 During that time, Crawford be- came powerful figure in the politi- cal and gambling world of the city. He announced his retirement from politics several months ago when he joined the church of the Rev MT Griegler, to whom he gave $25,O0O for a church building.
 Crawford and Spencer first met some 10 years ago when the latter was a police reporter for the Los Angeles Evening Express. His inti- mate knowledge of the underworld and political qualifications of the city soon brought Spencer the post of city editor of that newspaper, and later the job of assistant, to the managing editor, which position he held when he resigned last February to become associated with the Critic of Critics. :,
 Tn his capacity as managing edl- tor of the. magazine, Spencer nad exposed vice and gambling condi- tions in Los Angeles larkely through information given him by Crawford.
 Clark entered the picture as a young prosecutor who was forced to meet men of many classes. On sever al occasions, he was confronted with attempts to bribe witnesses. intiml- date others and frame" cases which he was trying. Later through ms of the civil complaint division, specializing in prosecution of defaulting stock and bond houses, he met Crawford.
 Clark telephoned the district at torney's office 20 minutes before his surrender. then drove to a parking space outside the hall of justice and walked slowly inside. , Two witnesses, Miss Fisher and Miss Rohrbeck, were called to the office, after which F'itts declared they had identified Clark as the slayer.
 '.Clark would not talk or make any statements, saying he was in turmoil inside" Fitts said.
 The questioning of Clark. the dis trict attorney said, failed to dis close his whereabouts after he re- turned Monday to Los Angeles rom Agua Caliente, where he spent the week end.
 Scores of newspapermen and for mer associates of Clark met him. He shook hands with many as he went into Fitts' office, nervously fumD- ling with ciraget.
 s. W. "Pinky" Thompson, an at- torney and friend, took message Clark wrote to his wife. Nancy, which read:
 "Dearie. believe in me-" Clark wrote.
 Captain Taylor said suspicion was first directed toward Clark when his brother Al reported him missing yes terday.
 II began to wonder if it was pos sible that Dave could have done the shooting" Captain Taylor said. I cut a picture from his circular and for municipal judge and sent 1t out to three persons who saw the killer. They identified the picture of Clark and we started looking for him..
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