Evening star., 1937-03-29
LANCD0N, FORMER
D. c. OFFICER, HELD
|NNEW HAVEN CASE.
Arrested for "IdIeness"
After Stopping Train to
Prevent Wreck.
WAS DISMISSED HERE
AFTER LIMERICK PROBE
Ex.Policeman Not Held in Rail
Wrecking Plot, Authorities
in Connecticut Say.

Robert Langdon, "A, former District
policeman, whose dismissal from the
force in 1881 followed his arrest in
connection with the unsolved murder
of l9-year-old Beulah Limerick, was
taken into custody in New Haven,
Conn, today following discovery of
plot to wreck a crack New York, New
Haven e. Hartford passenger train.
Langdon, who tagged the train to
a stop on the outskirts of East Haven
Sunday night after discovering thick
steel chain tied around the rail, was
arraigned before Judge Edward L.
Reynolds in New Haven on charge
Of "idleness" His case was continued
until next week and he was ordered
held in $4,000 bond.
Railroad Police Chief George Crow
ley, who took Langdon from his home
to police headquarters, said the former
Washington officer is not being held
In connection with the attempt to de-
rail the train.
State Policeman William Murphy
placed the "idleness" charge against
Langdon, explaining he has had the
former policeman under surveillance
for several days after learning of his
past in Washington.
Not Wanted Here.
Inspector Bernard w. Thompson,
chief of detectives here, after learning
Of Langdon's arrest. searched police
files and said the ex-officer is not
wanted here on any charge.
Langdon, poultry dealer in East
Haven, told police he was walking
along the New York, New Haven &
Hartford tracks Sunday night when,
about three quarters of a mile from
town, he saw a man who had been
bending over the rails flee.
AT the spot where the man had been
stopping, Langdon said, he found four
strands Of chain, three quarters of an
inch thick, securely fashioned around
the rail
Realizing that the Merchants Linn
tied" fast flyer between Boston and
New York, was due soon, Langdon
said he ran up the tracks and tagged
the train when it came into view.
Engineer j. Williams applied the
brakes when he saw Langdon and
stopped the train after the locomotive
passed slowly over the chain. Had
the train been going at its normal
speed OF about IS miles an hour it
would have been derailed by the chain,
Crowley said.
Went Home After Event.
After the train departed Langdon
went to his home, where he was awak-
ened later In the night by Chief Crow
ley and four railroad detectives.
Langdon was "the policeman on the
beat" when Beulah Limerick. comely
brunette secretary of the Sky High
Whoopee Club, was killed with 22-
caliber bullet through her head in her
home, at 18 Nineteenth street north
east, on December 81, 1880.
The wound was plugged with hair
and when an ambulance surgeon was
summoned to the house he pronounced
her dead from natural causes" The
fact that she had been murdered was
not discovered until several hours later,
when her body was sent to an un-
dertaking parlor.
Detectives became suspicious when
Iangdon, who had been assigned to
guard the girls house the following
night, discovered new evidence"
which had not been uncovered in an
earlier search. With three other sus-
poets, including a brother of the
slain girl, Langdon was held for a
coroner's jury, which returned a ver-
dict of deaths at the hands of person
or persons unknown"
While Langdon was being held in
connection with the Staying, detectives
searched his home, in the 1900 block
Of Oates street northeast, and found
two stills in basement. This discovery
led to his dismissal from the force.