Evening star., 1937-08-23
Colored Man Tells of Beat.
ing Mrs. Henrietta Ander.
son to Death.
FURNACE SHAKER USED
IN L STREET KILLING
Major McAfee Says He Was
Threatened With Ice Pick
in Apartment.
Pictures on Page AL

vi AllliIlS DAOdOAy hllu APpAIcEIly
mistaken by an all-night grilling,
Major McAfee. 7o-year-old janitor.
today confessed the Staying Of Mrs.
Henrietta Anderson. 36, Veterans
Bureau clerk and widowed mother Of
three children, according to Capt.
Ira E. Keck, assistant chief Of de-
tectlves
Mrs. Anderson was beaten to death
with furnace shaker in her apart
ment at 1888 L street yesterday after
noon. McAfee, befuddled with drink,
was arrested in his quarters In the
basement of the building.
Keck and Lieut. George E. Darnall,
chief of the homicide squad said de-
tectives fastened their suspicious on
McAfee when they found the newly
washed and spotless shaker on the
furnace, which was covered With dust.
In the drain pipe of the sink in the
janitors quarters. the detectives said.
they found human hair. Behind the
sink, they added, was a blood-stained
handkerchief.
McAfee, according 10 detectives. was
charged with the murder OF his COM
mon-law wife several years ago. He
was acquitted Of this killing, however,
he told police
Killed BY Three Blows.
Mrs. Anderson, an attractive bru-
nette, was killed by three vicious blows
which crushed her skull. police said
Her body was found by her niece, Miss
Roberta Lucas, 20. hat-check girl at
the Mayflover Hotel. who shared the
small apartment with her.
McAfee, according to detectives, said
Mrs Anderson threatened him with
an ice pick when he called at her
apartment under the influence Of
whisky. He fed to the basement, the
janitor said. obtained the shaker and
forced his way into Mrs. Anderson's
apartment. When she threatened
him again with the ice pick, McAfee
told detectives he struck her.
Detectives pointed to the similarity
between the murder Of Mrs. Anderson
and the Staying of Mrs. Florence
Goodwin, 1902 Sixteenth street-less
than block from the L street address
last September
Mrs. Goodwin was beaten to death
with furnace shaker by her janitor.
Norman Robinson. 81. colored. who has
been sentenced to death in the electric
chair
Ironically. McAfee was a witness in
the Goodwin murder case. He rented
a room on U street in which Robinson
had lived and found the killers blood
stained clothing.
Mrs. Anderson had planned to move
from the L street address at the end
OF this month into larger apartment
in the 100 block of M street. Her
l0-year-old daughter. Barbara, who
has been in the Childrens Tubercu-
losis Sanitarium at Glenn Dale. Md.
for the last year. was going to retoin
her mother when she moved.
Husband Died Last December.
Mrs. Anderson's husband, Linwood
Anderson. a World War veteran, died
Of tuberculosis in Mount Alto Hospital
last December.
When her husband became Ill Mrs.
Anderson went to work in q restau-
rant to support her children, Barbara.
Linwood, jr,. IA, and William, 2 After
her husbands death Mrs. Anderson
was appointed a clerk in the indexins
section Of the Veterans Administra-
ton
When detectives learned Of Mrs.
Anderson's death, they took into Gus
tody all occupants of the building in
which she lived. Among those ques-
toned was John Moran OF Cathedral
Mansions, Veterans Bureau attorney,
who was the last person to see Mrs.
Anderson alive.
Moran left the apartment shortly
after pm. The murder was dis
covered at $50 pm
Denied knowledge Of Crime.
From the beginning. Detective
Sergts. Joseph W. Shimon, Harry Brit
ton, William J. Christian and John c.
Dalglish concentrated their attention
on McAfee. The janitor at first de-
MED any knowledge of the crime and
told the detectives he had seen two
strange men enter Mrs. Andersons
apartment shortly before her body
was found.
Throughout the night the dertec-
tives talked patiently to McAfee. Capt.
Keck said McAfee confessed after the
detectives told him they had found
his blood stained handkerchief and
strands Of Mrs. Anderson's hair In
his sink.
After signing q confession. McAfee
emerged from the ONCE Of Inspector
B. w. Thompson. chief Of detectives,
grinning broadly and posed for waiting
photographers.
McAfee told them. detectives said.
that he shot his wife In 1925.
Mrs. Frances Clausen Of 1905
Seventeenth street. sister -in-lAv of
the murdered woman, said Mrs. Ander-
son was gay and happy over the pros
poets Of being reunited with her
daughter when she called at her apart
ment at pm. yesterday. Earlier in
the day, Mrs. Anderson had planned
to visit her son Linwood at q boys
camp near Manassas, Vs., but can.
celed the trip because she had . cold,
Mrs Claussn said.