The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-08-19
QUIZ CAVALIER
OF OLD SOUTH
ABOUT KILLING
DaShing Figure Who Wooed
Slain AriStocrat 90 Years
Ago Questioned.
MYSTERY IS DEEPENED
Ashes of Romance Glow as
Woman ReCIuSe Murder
Probe Goes On.
MYSTERY is DEEPENED
BIZ United Press

BIZ UHited Press
NATCHEz, Miss, Aug. 19.-Dun-
can Minor, dashing cavalier of the
old south who wooed Jane Surget
Merrill forty years ago, who in
herited her fortune when she was
slain, and who first called police
after her death, has been finger
printed and questioned in the crime.
The revelation that the sheriff
questioned Minor late Thursday
night created a small sensation in
this community, already aroused
over a mystery that had raked the
ashes of romance that burned
brightly in the old south of two
decades ago.
Minor had led in the hunt for the
slayres of Miss Merrill, daughter OF
a former minister to Belgium, a
friend of President Grant and a
figure in the court of st. James and
at Brussels in her day.
He first called police when Ne
groes reported they heard screams
at Glenn Burnne, the tumble-down
old palatial estate in which Miss
Merrill had secluded herself from
the outside world. He offered 500
reward for the arrest of the killers.
He had caused the arrest of many.
Power in Politics
Minor is powerful politically,
financially and physically.
He announced he had no need for
Miss Minors estate, when her will
revealed that she had left her prop
erty, worth about $175,000 to him
because "he knew what she would
want TO do with it,"
Minor frequently denied he had
married Miss Merrill to quiet rumorS
that persisted as result of their for
ty-year-ago romance.
The two, however, lived on adj
joining estates.
He was one of the few neighbors
not f1ngerprinted or questioned in
the early stages of the investigation.
& A local doctor announced today
he had received a Letter from a 81
year-old woman in Indianapolis,
who claimed she was Miss MerrillS
daughter.
The woman's letter said that she
had read newspaper accounts of the
Staying "of my mother whom 1 have
not heard from in years." and she
asked the doctor, who was among
those present when the body was
found, for details.
Letter Given to Sheriff
The doctor turned the letter over
to the sheriff, who refused to reveal
the woman's name.
Two old neighbors, romantic, mys-
ferrous figures in this old southern
community, had been questioned.
finger printed, and finally charged
with murder in the death.
One was Richard Dana, pianist.
cultured, but eccentric nephew of
Charles A. Dana, the journalist. He
retired from the social whirl in the
old south when he believed an in
jury to his hand ruined his future
as a musician.
The second was Octavia Dockery.
daughter of the famous confederate
general, also social figure. a wom-
an who abandoned her old friends
to become Dana'S housekeeper in
an old estate, now known here as
Goats Palace"
Quarrel Over Goat Herd
She and Miss Merrill had quar-
relied often because her goat herd
wandered onto the estate of the
latter. There, too, had been re-
ports Of romano in which Miss
Merrill and Dana figured before
Miss Merrill met Minor.
Both Dana and Miss Dockery are
free today, awaiting a complete
grand jury investigation. 1t will de-
termine if murder charges stand
against them.
Meanwhile, another mysterious
figure, Lawrence PearleS, a Negro.
had been named by investigators as
the probable slayer. A third set of
finger prints found in the slain
woman'S homes were similar to his.
He had gun which might have
fired the fatal bullets.
Pearles was shot dead in a gun
fight in Pine Bluff, Ark. News of
his death recalled to investigators
that Miss Merrill had been threat
ened by former employe a few
days before she was slain. They
investigated his finger prints.