Evening star., 1941-06-17
Police Uncover
New Leads in
Strieff Murder
Two Bundles Found
In Hunt for Girls
Missing Clothes
pictures on Page BID

tiers today pointed strongly toward
an important break before nlghtfau
IN the murder of Miss Jessie Eliza
beth Strieff, %, pretty War Depart
ment worker. whose nude body was
found in garage yesterday morn
ing.
In their search for Miss STREETS
missing clothes and raincoat detec-
tives brought in two bundles late
this morning and went into imme-
diate conference behind closed -
doors, but refused to comment on
what had been found. Several other
bundles had been picked up last
night and earlier today.
AS another strong indication Of
new development in the next few
hours. the reward customarily Of
fered in such murder cases was held
up at the request of Capt. Ira z.
Keck, acting chief OF detectives.
Officials Hold Conference.
During the morning, Capt Keck
conferred for some time with Maj.
Ernest w. Brown, superintendent OF
police. and with 1t. George Darnall,
head of the homicide squad. Earlier.
Capt. KeCk conferred with Mrs.
David Strief, mother of the mur-
dered girl, and with Stanley lie
Blanc. 25, Farm Credit Administrs-
ton clerk. her fiance.
After talking with Mrs. Strict,
Capt. Keck said. She is as much in
fog as We are.
On leaving police headquarters,
presumably for the War Depart
ment, Mrs. Strieff was accompanied
by Detective Sergt. Fred Rawlinson,
attached to the homicide squad, and
by two Army intelligence men.
The first 24-hour period after dis
coyery of Miss Strieff's body III ?
garage in the 100 block of @ street
NV, ended at o'clock this morn
ing apparently without clue
to the identity of the. person who
attacked and strangled her and then
carried or dragged her down an
alley to the garage.
Janitor Still Held.
Police still are holding James
Fairfax, SIS. colored janitor of the
apartment house where Miss Strieff
lived. His statements as to his
Whereabouts Sunday proved to be
true, they said, but he was kept in
custody pending the outcome Of
physiological examination.
Capt. Keck conferred with three
military intelligence officers from
the War Department in midnight
session last night. He announced
only that the department had Of
fered its support.
A coroners jury was to be sworn
in over the girls body today.
Died of Strangulation.
An autopsy late yesterday revealed
Miss Strieff died from "strangulation
by some object being placed around
the neck" DR.. A Magruder Mac
Donald, District coroner. said a half
inch marks was left around her neck
and that it could have been caused
by small rope. a bathrobe cord
necktie or handkerchief.
The coroner estimated the young
woman had been dead not less than
eight hours. but he could not sav
how long she had been in the ga
rage
DR. Macdonald reported that there
were scratches on her neck, on the
front part of her shoulder near the
neck and that a deep fingernail
cash was on the right side of her
;hin. Her back and legs were bruised
and dirt had been ground into them,
indicating she had been dragged.
Test May Yield Clue.
Police were hopeful a clue would
develop from tests to be made on
scrapings taken from the victims
fingernails. Several days NAV be
required to conduct these analyses.
Miss Strieff last was seen alive, so
far as police have been able to learn.
around 2:30 pm. Sunday when she
hurried into the delicatessen Of
Peter Duncan at 1910 Florida ave-
nue. NV, two blocks from her
apartment at 2110 Nineteenth street
NV. and asked for the butter
which had drawn her out into the
violent thunderstorm. An automo-
bile, doubled-parked and driven by
man, waited for her while she
made the purchase, the storekeeper
said.
The delicateSsen is between her
home and the garage in which her
body was found. AS a Weather Bu-
reau report revealed that the heavi-
est part of the storm came about
the time she might have been on
her way back to her apartment,
police were working on the possibil-
ity that she may not have returned
all the way in the car. that she
lodged into a doorway to avoid the
rain and was there seized by her
attacker.
May Have Accepted Ride.
The strongest assumption appears
to be that Miss Strieff accepted a
ride from an acquaintance or a
passing motorist who offered to
take her to the store in his car and
that she accepted to get out of the
rain. That she would have ap-
preached a stranger for informa-
ton as to the nearest delicatesSen
appeared likely, since she had been
living in the neighborhood only
since June l, and she and her ROOM
mate, Miss Christine Tankersley,
bought their food supplies from
nearby stores that we're closed on
Sunday.
Another angle that puzzled pohce
(See MURDER, Page A-30