Evening star., 1940-11-26
Sniper Suspect
Is Identified by
CoIored Girl
i John Eugene EkIund
Is Singled Out at
Coroner's Inquest
BULLETIN.

John Eugene Eklund, as, OF the
3i00 block Of r street NV, was
held by coroner's jury today for
action Of the grand jury as the
Districts sniper killer.
The coroner's Jury decided to
hold the youth after he had been
identified in the hearing room
Z by Mildred Washington. II, COL
ored. companion of Hvlan Nc
elaine IT. colored, the mad
(, sniper's last victim.
John Eugene Eklund. 25, of the
2100 block of F street NV was
identified by a 17-year-old colored
girl at an inquest this morning as
sthe man who shot Hylan McClaine,
II, colored, designated by police as
one of four victims of the Districts
sniper-killer.
Eklund was singled out in the
hearing room Of the District Morgue
by Mildred Washington, the only
person who ever saw the sniper in
action and lived to tell Of it.
She was with the McClaine youth
! when he was shot down from be-
hind on the night of October Is on
Rock Greek Parkway near Virginia
avenue NV.
Arrested on Tip.
1 Eklund was arrested 10 days ago
! on the basis of tip given to police.
Investigators have woven a chain of
: circumstaAtial evidence, the outline
j of which was presented at the in
quest this morning into the deaths
Of three of the snipers victims.
Following the Washington girl to
the stand was Wilbert Tew, 1414
! Twentieth street NV, a waiter at
a drive-in-restaurant near the
Washington Airport Mr.. Tew
testified that Eklund worked at the
restaurant during the late summer. :.
I Early one morning he was with
! Eklund. Mr.. Tew testified, when the
suspect drew pistol and fired
several shots into tree and a.
piece Of goard in a wooded area
behind the restaurant.
1t. Fowler Tells of Tests.
1t. John Fowler, police firearms
expert, testified he had made tests
on the bullets recovered from the
tree near the airport and had COM
pared these slugs with others re-
moved from the bodies of the
sniper's victims 1t was his opinion.
the detective testified. that the
bullets had been fired from the
same .38 caliber gun.
Mildred Washington testified at
first about the circumstances sur
rounding the killing of the McClaine
youth. She said that she had been
walking with him from Georgetown
and that as they crossed a temporary
bridge over Rock Creek at K street
NV. she noticed a white man fol-
Lowing them.
HE looked suspicious" she testified.
SHis coat collar was turned up and
his mands were in his pockets. I
said something to Hylan about him
and he said I was crazy, the man
wasn't paying any attention to us.
They had walked only a short
distance when the man suddenly
leaped out of the bushes behind
them and fired five shots in quick
succession. She ran. she testified,
turning to look back over her
shoulder. She said the man fired
twice at her.
She at first faced the suspect
in a lineup at the third precinct
on November 16 and singled him
out of group.
Asked by Coroner A. Magruder
Macdonald if she saw him in the
room, the girl unhesitatingly pointed
to Eklund.
Eklund Is Composed.
Slim, dark haired and we'll
dressed, Eklund sat through the
whole proceedings without any show
of emotion He was handcuffed
+ to a uniformed policeman and has
been under close guard since his
arrest. Police say he served time
in an Inliana prison and that he
once attended a university here.
He has rooms in Baltimore ano
worked In an airplane factory
there. He came to Washington
often to visit mis- mother, a Gov
ernment employe.
Z District Attorney Edward M. Cur
ran was present at the hearing
this morning, indicating the seri-
business with which the authorities
are regarding the case. Eklund
was represented by Attorney James
Kirkland.
Eklund's name was entered on the
blotter at police headquarters yes
terday for the first time-with the
notation held for the coroner"
Under constant questioning since
his arrest, Eklund has remained
calm and collected and has stead
fastly denied any connection with
the sniper Slayings.
The sniper began his operations
here late in summer, shooting down
from behind two colored men who
were walking on North Capitol
street. Three more colored men
were killed and at least one other
wounded in the weeks that fol-
1Au,aI