The Washington times., 1938-03-25
Boy BareS Death Pact
In Sweetheart Staying
Admits He Lacked
NcrUc to End
Ou,r1 Life
BY PAUL CALICO

u SlIk1, HAuuSOLue UOyB DdISIy 10,
N h blond hair and fine blue
ey g. stood today in the glare of
The lineup at police headquarters
with thieves and gunner and
murderers. His name was Donald
e. Carroll, jr.
Later he was to be charged with
murder, the murder of the lovely
1S-year-old Bavarian-born girl. the
little "backfisch" named Charlotte
Matthiesen, whom he loved, dear.
", intimately, tragically.
He loved her so much that for
all his precociousness he could no
longe rthink, or live life on any
terms but those of the waking
dream in which he walked with
this girl who had become his. exist.
ence. Together. the two made all
the rules, and with their fright
ened immature minds tried to
solve the tragedy that suddenly
enmeshed them.
The thing that brought him
back to everyday life and made
him a normal, frightened boy was
the cracking explosion of q AS
Army service gun. He found him.
self standing in his upstairs bed
room with the gun in his fingers
and his ears splitting from the
report.
The girl died almost before the
echoes of the shot in the close
room.
BULLET PIERCES BREAST
Under the corsage of artifici.l
lilies Of the valley that she wore
on the left breast of her best blue
dress was the powder-stained hole.
The green stems of the cloth flow
ers were beginning to change their
color.
But this was only half of the
dream as they had seen and
talked and lived 1t for the last
two days. The other half was
that he would turn the heavy ris-
tol upon himself and never hear
the roar as he pressed the trigger
for the second time.
And then there would be an
end to all, to Charlotte Matthiesen,
to himself and to their unborn
childl
Thoughts and dreams end with
deeds and acts. A thing had been
done.
PHONES FOR HELP
He picked up the telephone in
its little cabinet over by the win
dow and called for the police and
heard himself say, Send help
over. think someone has been
shot,"
The police ccme. They went
upstairs and found Donald, jr., sit
ting with Charlotte's head in his
lap. His gray coat was stained
because he Tad bent over to kiss
her,
TWO FAMILIES SHATTERED
This was the surface evidence
Of the catastrophe that shattered
the lives of two farntlies-'that OF
Donald Carroll, retired United
States Army lieutenant, certified
public accountant and his wife,
Helen, and that of Fred Metthie'
sen, unemployed bartender living
two blocks down the street, and
his tall, gray.haired wife, Chris
tina.
The note Of their suicide pact
read
please bury us together.
please collect Charlotte's
salary and my Bowery Bank
savings account and pay off
/. Charlotte's Arnold constable
bill; 2. Charlotte's dentist bill"
SIGNED BY BOTH
This section Of the note was
written by the boy. He had signed
''Don. F. Carroll" The girl had
added her signature-"Charlotte
Matthiesen Carroll"
Only. they were not married. To
It she had added in her own
handwriting:
Dear Mother and Daddy: I
love you both and I am sorry
for this, but love him more
Charlotte.
They were not married, but the
last thing the girl had done was
sign herself the wife of the boy.
They had discussed marriage as a
way out of their dilemma; but
young Donald had no money and
no means Of getting any. And so
in the unrealities in which they
lived, marriage was considered i'm
possible.
Behind the tragedy was the
simple story Of two neighborhood
kids running around together see-