Evening star., 1946-03-03

But Private Allen was not the sort
OF policeman to give up easily On the
contrary, he was spurred to unbeliev-
able heights of energy, enthusiasm and
action. Even his suspension for un-
authorized activities did not dismay him.
Noting that Mrs Mcpherson had
come to Washington from North Caro-
lima, Allen went to the Capitol and
sought the aid of Senators and Repre-
sentatiVes from that State. One of the
Senators urged United States Attorney
Leo A. Rover to make thorough investi-
cation of Aliens charges Rover there
upon opened a grand jury Investigation
that was to end in findings so sensa-
tlonal that the police department. the
Commissioners and the public at large
were aroused as they had seldom before
been aroused over police case.
The grand jury heard Allen not once,
but many times, in addition to about 10
other witnesses. Many of the witnesses
were summoned at Aliens request. The
suspended policeman was even permitted
to suggest questions to be propounded
to witnesses in the grand jury room
and to sum up the evidence as he saw
1t, over the protest of Assistant United
States Attorney Collins, conducting the
proceedings.
AS the proceedings were about to close,
Allen announced to the press that he
was ready to produce two surprise"
witnesses who would testify they saw a
man emerge from the window of Mrs.
McPherson's bedroom on the night of
the murder" The surprise witnesses"
proved to be Allen himself and a fellow
patrolman, Pvt. Lawrence Bolts of the
third precinct. But the chief surprise
was Bolts denial of Aliens claims.
On September 80 the grand jury ap-
peared in court and Foreman M. O.
Chance presented an indictment charg-
ing the husband with first degree mur-
der and supplemental report excoriat-
ing Shelby and Kelly for "bungling" the
investigation. Mcpherson was taken to
the District Jail and Shelby and Kelly
were transferred from the Detective
Bureau, pending trial by a special board
Meanwhile, because of the unprece-
dented public interest in the affair, the
Attorney General, upon request of Dis.
trict Attorney Rover, ordered the Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation to make
its own investigation of the Mcpherson
case and the police departments han
ding of it. John E. Laskey was appoint
ed special assistant to the ATTORNEY
General to supervise the investigation.
A corps OF experienced agents was as
signed to the inquiry. More than 800
persons were interrogated. scores of
pieces OF evidence were examined and,
when reports were circulated in North
Carolina that Mrs. McPhersons skull
mad the appearance of being fractured
when the body arrived for burial, FBI
agents exhumed the corpse at China
Grove, N. c., and had a second autopsy
performed. Although the body was
completely x-rayed, the tissues anal
yzed and the skull examined carefully,
no marks of violence other than stran-
gulation were found.
AS the FB1 was preparing to close its
investigation after six weeks of inten-
slve work that had failed to produce
proof that murder had been committed
another 1lth-hour surprise witness an.
peared. This time it was a streetcar
conductor who volunteered the belated
claim that he had seen Mcpherson on
his streetcar early on the morning of
the fatal night. This tended to contra
dict the husbands assertion that he had
spent that night in Petworth Laskey
decided. that this development warrant
ed PRESENTATION of the case again to the
grand jury.
Then Came Another
Startling Sensation
AS if there had not been sensations
enough, it was suddenly announced at
the district attorneys Office that the
grand jury which previously had heard
the case had been declared invalid be-
cause OF the presence on the jury of an
Ineligible member. The murder indict-
ment was declared void, as we'll as the
report condemning Shelby and Kelly.
Laskey then resubmitted the case to
a second grand jury, which, after 10
days, reported an "ignoramus," the ef-
feet of which was to exonerate the hus-
band and free him from Jail FBI agents
later told reporters the weight of the
evidence tended to support the suicide
verdict, particularly since they had
found that Mrs. Mcpherson previously
had made attempts to end her life dur
ing periodic spells of depression.
Shelby and Kelly were tried by a spe-
cial board which not only cleared them
of charges made by Allen and the lille
gal" grand jury. but commended them
most highly for their handling of the
Mcpherson case.
The final act of vindication was the
expunging by court order of the grand
jury report criticizing the pair.
Allen not only departed from the
police force, but from Washington as
well.
The strain of the Mcpherson case left
its mark on both Shelby and Kelly,
There can be little doubt that their mu-
tual ordeal contributed to the failing
health which later led to their retire.
ment and to their recent deaths from
heart complications.