Evening star., 1938-05-15
TRIAL Of LANGDON
IN LIMERICK CASE
!. OPENS TOMORROW
Battling Murder Mystery of
Girls Death to Be Told
Again in Court.
OVER 20 WITNESSES
ARE CALLED BY u. S.
Former Cop on Beat Accused Of
Staying Girl Here Seven
Years Ago.
Former Policeman Robert F. Lang

Former Policeman Robert F. Lang
don will 60 on trial in District Court
tomorrow in one Of Washingtons
most battling murder mysteries-the
staying seven years ago of ls-year old
Beulah Limerick.
Assistant United States ATTORNEY
John J. Wilson will parade between
20 and 30 witnesses before jury and
Justice Daniel w. O'Donoghue in an
effort to prove that Langdon, the "cop
on the beat" entered the Limerick
home during the early hours of De.
cember 81. 1880. and fired a .25-caliber
bullet through the brain of the pretty
theater uSherette.
At the other end OF the counsel
table will be J. Russel Kelly, appointed
BY the court to defend Langdon, and
his brother. William Kelly.
No Eyewitnesses.
Only by piecing together bits Of
evidence gathered over the years can
the Government hope to present a
convincing case against the ex-ofhcer,
since there were no eyewitnesses to
the crime. Since the grand jury re-
turned the indictment two months
ago and Langdon was brought here
from New Haven. Conn, Mr.. Wilson
has labored assiduously to place in
logical array the great mass Of evi.
dence.
Mrs. Rose Langdon, wife of the
defendant, who was located last wear
by police in New York City and
brought here amid the greatest secrecy
and was expected to be the principal
prosecution witness
1t. John H. Fowler, ballistics ex-
pert Of the Police Department, will
be called upon to testify whether the
fatal bullet, which was taken from
the slain girls skull. was fired by
the cheap Spanish automatic which
was found four years later under an
ash heap in the Limerick yard at la
Nineteenth street Sc.
Escort to Be Witness.
Other witnesses will include William
Edward Paddy, Beulah's escort dur
ing the night before she was slain;
Richard Reed, roomer in the
Limerick home. and Vernon Limerick,
her brother, who, together with Lang.
don, were held by coroners Jury
for the grand jury on the ground
they had guilty knowledge Of the
crime.
The inquest lasted five days and
brought out sensational testimony,
which covered 700 typewriter pages.
The 10 witnesses who testified at
the inquest were put before the grand
jury, but that body failed to report
an indictment.
A few months ago, the investigation
OF the mystery. which had dragged
along for years, took on new life
after Langdon was arrested in New
Haven on charge of placing an OBJ
struction on railroad track.
Beulahs death was discovered about
$50 am by her brother Vernon, and
at 1890 am. a Casualty Hospital in
terne pronounced her dead of natural
causes. It was not until she had
been laid out on table in the Deal
undertaking establishment that after
noon that the undertaken, Fred T.
Byrne, discovered blood seeping from
bullet wound above her right ear.
Other witnesses expected to testify
for the Government include 1t. John
Flaherty, chief Of the homicide SQUAD
at the time Of the tragedy; Inspector
Edward j. Kelly, then chief OF detec-
tives; 1t. Alden c. Kefauver of the
fire rescue squad; It. Robert c. Pearce.
fifth precinct; Pvts. Carl P. Paul,
Joseph M. Bell. William B. Satterth-
waite, Arthur G. Coates and Michael
j. Engle: former Policeman Frank S.
Marshall and David r. Thomson;
Ira N. Gullickson, police photographer;
Gregor MACPHERSON. stenographer at
the inquest; Edwin R. Donaldson.
technical expert Of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation; Donald E. Boyer,
Mrs. Julia Frances Mason, Beulah's
sister; Mrs. Dora Limerick, her
mother: William Henry Limerick, her
other brother; Carl E. Anderson. Mr..
Byrne's assistant. and Coroner A. Ma
grauder Macdonald.