Evening star., 1941-11-30
love|ess Case
Complete, Says
Prosecutor
Harrison Declares
Evidence Ample
For Grand Jury
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES,
Star Staf CnrreSDondent

LEESBURG, Va, NOV. 29.-Pe0ple
are asking, in this little county seat
in the foothills of the Blue Ridge
and in many other communities,
what they are like, those l6-year-old
boys charged with killing Ward
Loveless, Washington attorney.
whose battered and bullet-pierced
body was found Monday in a china
closet of his country home near here.
How. people ask. do Paul Hoback
and Herbert Porter impress you?
Are they tough, surly, mean kids?
A man who has observed them
constantly and talked to them hours
since their arrest at Appalachia. Va
early Thursday, answered the ques-
ton yesterday. He is Charles F.
Harrison, Loudoun County Common
wealth's attorney, and he said
why, they're very gentle, quiet
boys"
Displayed No Brutality.
And the prosecutor gave in more
detail his impression of the lads
against whom he has woven a tight
web of circumStantial evidence; the
boys who are said to have confessed
to him virtually every detail of the
crime, the pair of youthful itinerants
whose indictment he will ask of the
grand jury convening one week from
Monday. Mr.. Harrison said:
II would never have supposed
that either of those boys could have
become involved in such a brutal
crime as this murder. merely judg-
ing from their manner OF speech
and general demeanor. They gave
me the impression from my con-
verSations with them that they are
very gentle. quiet boys There was
nothing about them to indicate such
brutality as is very distinct in this
murder"
The prosecutor pointed out that
the early theory that marauders
were ranSacking the LoveleSS home
and fired in panic when the owner
surprised them was not borne out
by the boys alleged confession to
officers.
Waited Long Time.
They lay IN wait" he commented
grimly, in the Loveless garage for
hours. Afterward they broke into
the house and waited a long time
Waited for what? For the mid
dle-aged lawyer to return from the
dinner party in Washington that
kept him out late Sunday night
According to the boys reported story
and to corroborating circumstance,
they had plotted the robbery before
they left LeeSburg together that
afternoon. Hoback. who had worked
as a farm hand for Mr.. Loveless
and knew the house and his habits,
had told his companion, according
to the confession attributed to the
boys, that the attorney often car
ried several hundred dollars in his
wallet.
There was the terrific struggle,
over several downstairs rooms, that
left furniture overturned and dishes
broken. the scene of death and
desolation that greeted terrified
servant at 8 am. Monday. Re-
peated shots fired, a man struck
again and again with whatever came
to hand-these wanton things the
gentle. quiet boys are charged
with doing.
It's all a paradox to the quiet
hammered, country lawyer who is
called on to prosecute this spot
lighted murder case.
Treated as Adults.
What the court and the jury will
decide to do with Hoback and Por.
ter, assuming the overwhelming evil
dence against them and their ad-
missions stand up at the trial, Mr.
Harrison will not hazard a guess
That's not his job. he explained
it's his job to present the evidence
What he will recommend. if any,
thing, he is not ready to say.
But the boys, meanwhile. will be
treated, as Virginia law requires
exactly as if they were adults. Their
indictment for murder will be asked
There is nothing in the Virginia
statutes to stop their execution
should jury, judge and Governor
so decree.
The prosecutor indicated he had
no plans to dig deeper into the case
at the moment. He has no idea
he said, of taking the bows to the
Loveless estate to check their story
and he did not seemed concerned
with whether the two pistols that
figured in the killing ever are found
Nof does ne care particularly
whether the check with a message
on it every is found.
Guns Still Missing.
This check was taken from Mr.
Loveless wallet and the boys said
they wrote on it thai the lawyer
mad been robbed and needed helr