Evening star., 1935-06-29
MIDWEST COMBED
IN ND|CK|NSON HUNT.
Man of HaIf-Dozen Aliases
Connected With Killing
by Taxi Driver.
By the Associated Press.

DETROIT, June 29.-William Lee
Ferris, 26, known to police under half
dozen aliases, was hunted through
out the Middle West today as the
central figure in the death OF Howard
Carter Dickinson. 52-year-old New
York attorney, shot to death and
dumped from an automobile in a park
driveway last Thursday.
Ferris name was injected into the
case by Andrew J. Smygen. taxi
driver, who said Ferris told him he
might need cab for meeting with
a New York lawyer named Dickinson
who had a lot of money"
The Ferris trail was "a hours OLD
before detectives picked it up. Although
an avalanche of tips and clues poured
into detective headquarters all night.
Chief of Detectives Fred w. Frahm
reported that he apparently had
dropped completely out Of sight.
Two Girls Sought.
Also missing from their usual haunts,
police said, were two girl acquaintances
of Ferris, one of them described as
red-headed and freckled and attired
in linen suit. Detectives said they
knew only their first names, "Bobbie'
and Florence"
Frahm and his corps Of detectives
maintained tight-lipped silence on
theories to account for the strange
circumstances of the death of the New
York attorney and nephew of Chief
Justice Charles Evans Hughes. But
developments of the last "a hours
tended to show the Harvard-trained
lawyer may have kept an appointment
with Ferris, known to have an easy
way of making hotel acquaintances.
Ferris. once tried and acquitted on
a murder charge, was reported by
Chief Frahm to have a record of six
arrests, but the record showed no con-
victions.
Councilman Identifies Body.
Dickinson was last seen alive in
Haymarket Barbecue, operated by
Carl C. Oglesbee, a Dearborn council
man. Oglesbee identified Dickinson's
uOuy IIldL Va tllC IAldlA WIZ SoAAAS
into his place about l am. Thursday
with two other men and ordered "a
half a shot of the best liquor in the
house"
The Oglesbee Barbecue is only a
short distance from the territory
where Dickinson's body was found,
and where his coat. vest and hat were
later picked up. The identity Of his
two companions at the time Is still
mystery. Oglesbee did not identify
picture of Ferris as being one OF
Dickinson's companions.
Mrs. Elizabeth Carmichael Wither-
spoon. one of the background figures
in the strange murder, told reporters
here that for all of her experience in
stage dramatics, she was upset by the
bizarre mystery surrounding the
crime.
The former actress in Detroit and
Chicago stock companies, whose pro-
of the estate of the late William
Yawkey, wealthy lumber dealer and
sportsman, brought Dickinson to
Detroit, was interviewed washing
dishes in the home of a friend, James
J. Holland.
when I heard Of Mr.. Dickinson's
murder" she said, Il felt awful, al
though I didn't know him. My
brother (Arthur CarmichaeD, who Is
handling my case, met him lot OF
times and told me what nice gen.
telman he was. I felt so upset, I left
my hotel and came here for a few
days"
Mrs. Witherspoon was adopted by
family of Carmichaels as a baby.
and she said she did not learn of her
relation to william Yawkey until his
death. "I always called Mr.. and Mrs.
Yawkey Uncle Billy and Aunt Mar
garet, not knowing the TRUTH" she
said.
The Yawkey estate was once esti-
mated to be worth $40,000000. He
held extensive timber interests in
Canada, and once had part interest
in the Detroit Base Ball Club.
Milton Hoffman and Max Bern
stein, with whom Ferris worked sew
eral years ago for milk company,
were questioned today, but were re-
leased when they convinced detectives
they could not help the investigation.
HE liked to talk big and impress
people with his Importance" Hoffman
was quoted as saying, 'but he wasn't
so much. He would work until he
collected a few pay checks and then
he'd go off on trip somewhere and
usually end in a jam. But it wouldn't
be much Of a jam, and he'd try to
get out by using the name of some
friend instead of his own. He got
nearly all of the men he knows in
trouble at one time or another be-
cause of this"