Evening star., 1941-06-16
Informant SAYS
He Saw Suspect
Early yin Day
Fiunce Identifies
Victim; Abromowitz
Staying Recalled

murder of Miss Jessie Elizabeth
Strieff, 23-year-old War Depart
ment stenographer, whose nude
body was found in a @ street
garage this morning, came late
this afternoon.
The proprietor Of a delicatessep
near her home told The Star she
had been in his place yesterday
afternoon to buy butter. A colored
man who lives near the garage
where her body was found said he
saw colored man emerging from
the place early today, before the
murder was discovered.
Meanwhile. Coroner A. Magruder
Macdonald, who conducted an au-
topSy this afternoon, announced that
death was due to strangulation
with something about one-half-
inch wide and said the post-mortem
examination established positively
she had been criminally attacked.
The store proprietor said the girl
jumped out of an automobile which
was doubled-parked outside the
store-With man at the wheel
and entered the place to buy butter.
The store proprietor is Peter Dun
can. and his place is at 1910 Florida
avenue N.W-just a block and a
half from Miss Strieff's home at
2ll0 Nineteenth street NV.
Said Girl Seemed Calm.
Mr.. Duncan said that it was rain
ing hard when Miss Strieff entered
the store She seemed quite calm,
he said, and said:
Give me stick of butter"
She paid for it and left hurriedly.
re-entering the automobile. There
were two small boys in the store at
/ the time and he turned to wait on
them, paying no further attention to
/ the girl, ne said.
There is no doubt about the iden-
tification, he insisted, after being
shown several pictures of the muir
dered girl Miss Strieff did not own
an automobile and as far as was
known, she intended to walk to the
store when she left her apartment.
Benjamin Brent. colored, of 1925
Corcoran street NV, whose house
has back entrance on the alley
opposite the garage, told The Star
he had seen a coloed man emerge
from the place this morning.
Brent. former Government
worker, said he was leaving his home
by the back gate and was passing
the open garage when he saw a COL
ored man walk from behind the car
and leave the garage.
II spoke to him and he spoke
back" Brent said. He went one
way down the alley and I went the
other. I know that he came out Of
this particular garage and I can
identify him
Brent knew nothing of the murder
until he returned from his fishing
trip this afternoon.
Her body was discovered about 9
m. today, stripped of all clothing
She had been strangled and police
said she had been criminally at
tackled.
The pretty girl had been missing
since 2:30 pm. yesterday, when she
pushed a pie crust into the oven
in her apartment at 2110 Nineteenth
street NV. and left to get the but
ter-telling her roommate that she
would be back before the pie could
burn
Dressed in a bright blue rain
coat and hood. she skipped out into
the driving rain.
Miss Strieffs fiance, Stanley lie
Blanc, 26. of 1926 Twenty-first street
NV, who had been invited to the
apartment for dinner and for whom
she was baking the pie arrived about
an hour and a half after she had
departe& on her errand.
Fiance Identifies Body.
He waited in the apartment for
her for a few minutes. then set out
to search the neighborhood. His
search ended shortly after 9 am.
today, when police summoned him
to the old tin garage to identify
the body of the girl he was to have
married.
James Fairfax. IS, colored janitor
of the apartment in which Miss
Strieff lived, was taken into custody
a short time after the body was dis
covered Police questioned him at
headquarters and then took him to
the District Morgue to undergo
chemical tests.
The circumstances of the murder
were similar to those of the mysteri-
Gus Staying here three months ago
of Mrs. Rose Simon Abramowitz,
%, who was strangled and Grim
inally assaulted in her apartment
within four blocks of the scene of
this crime.
Police speeulated on the possi-
bility that both crimes may have
been committed by the same man.
The girls body was found BY
Frances Williams, colored, 1896 w
street NV, a maid at the home of
De Witt c. Croissant, professor
emeritus of English at George
Washington University.
Prof. Croissant lives in the house
at TIT @ street NV. and owns the
garage in which the body was
found.
The garage is built to hold two
cars, but only one had been in 10
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