Evening star., 1943-10-27
Address on Insurance
Policy Led 10 Solving
OF Murder Case
Continued From First Paae,)

came as result OF an insurance pol
Icy found in the room of the slair
secretary at 325 East Capitol street
The policy bore the address O
Mergner's home at 1923 Universit,
avenue NV, in the Spring Vale,
section.
Mrs. Robinson, q divorce VIII,
came to work at Recreation Services
Inc, the operating agency of tn
War Hospitality Committee, il
August, had been housekeeper il
the Mergner home for a year, In
spector Barrett said.
Mrs. Robinson's husband, whom
she married and divorced twice, wa.
Brown Wiley Robinson. now serving
l0-year term in Leavenwortf
Prison for a jewel robbery in Texas
She won her second divorce from
him in January. Robinson's crimi-
nal record. according to police, goe.
back to 1924.
Police were stymied on the mur.
der, which occurred Monday night
until lis pm. Yesterday, when Mrs
Robinson's landlady made a positiv,
identification of the slain woman
The landlady, Mrs. Nonnie Schroe.
der, was asked by police to visit the
moreue after Recreation Service
officials reported the victim seemed
to fit the description of Mrs. Robin.
son, who had not reported for work
Room COmbed for Clues.
The slain woman's room imme-
dlately was combed for possible clues
and police interviewed Miss Verna
Harrison, assistant photographer at
the Of1ice of Strategic Services, who
had roomed with Mrs. Robinson
since she came to live at the room
ing house several weeks ago.
Detective Sergts. Walter D. Perry
and Bernard Crooke, dispatched to
the Mergner home, said their sus-
plcions were aroused when they no
ticed blood on a newspaper near
where Margner was sitting.
Sergt Perry said he excused him.
self on the ground that he had left
something in his car and went out
to Mergner's car. where. he said,
he found shoe to match the one
found on the dead woman's body.
woman's umbrella and blood
stains.
Inspector Barrett said that when
Sergt. Perry returned to the house
and started to telephone. Mergner
drew gun on Sergt. Crooke, who
knocked it out of his hand. The
inspector said Sergt. Perry grabbed
the gun and found on examination
that it was unloaded.
Il think he wanted the men to
shoot him. Inspector Barrett said.
Pieces Story of Crime.
The inspector told this story of
the events leading up to the crime
as pieced together from the stories
OF Miss Harrison and Mergner's
alleged confession:
Last Saturday night. Mrs. Robin
son had a date, not with Mergner.
He kept calling her on Sunday.
offering her $4,000 to come back to
him. Reticent until then. Mrs.
Robinson broke down and told her
roommate about Mergner.
Phone Call From Daughter.
That night, Mergner's 17-year-old
daughter, Elizabeth, called Mrs.
Robinson to make an engagement
in the name of her father for the
following evening. Mergner knew
that she wouldn't talk to him so he
asked his daughter to make the call.
Mergner picked Mrs. Robinson up
at the corner Of Fourth and East
Capitol streets. A block north, he
shot her in the car and drove to the
corner of Seventh and A streets
NE. with the intention of dropping
the dying woman down a manhole.
He had removed her from the car
and had lifted the top off the man
hole when he noticed a woman, Mrs.
Robert Lucas Of 63l A street NE.
watching him. Just as Mrs. Lucas
had told police, Mergner asked her
what she was staring at She fed
to neighbor's to summon help
Mergner dropped the body on the
street and rushed off in his car.
Called "Clear-Cut Case"
Inspector Barrett said he had a
@clear-cut case" citing as evidence
bullet hole found in the car; what
he believes to be the death gun-a
.32-caliber revolver; Mrs. Robinson's
pocketbook, which, he said, was
found in a dresser drawer in Merg-
ner's bedroom; blood in the car and
on Mergner's clothing and slugs
from Mrs. Robinson's body, which.
he said, matched bullet found in
Mergner's pocket.
Police records revealed that in
March, 1899, Mergner and DR.. Fred
P. Deming were charged with Grim
inal abortion after the performance
of an illegal operation on the for
mer's wife, Mrs. Agnes Mergner,
but the grand jury subsequently
ignored the charge against Merener
while Deming was sentenced to
three to nine years in prison.
Mrs. Mergner. a bakery heireSs
was brought to Providence Hospital
March l, 1899, suffering from shock
AS a result of the operation and
died at the hospital four days later.
Called Model Father"
According to an assistant cashier
of the National Bank of Washing
ton, which is acting as guardian of
the mothers estate for the Mergner
children under court order, Merg-
ner suffered from persecution
complex after his arrest in connec-
ton with the death of his wife. He
believed the world was against him,
the bank official said.
The reaction to this was that of
model father in his own home
where he bent over backward" in
an effort to make the children COM
Portable and happy. He was