Evening star., 1950-09-12
Ex-FBI Expert
Backs Girl in
Letter Denidls
Different Writing,
He Tells Court
In WiiIioms Case


A former Federal Bureau Of
Investigation handwriting expert
today insisted Miss Evangeline
williams, daughter of a business
man convicted in a morals case,
was not the writer Of two anony-
nous letters confessing the crime.
Under vigorous cross-exami-
nation by Assistant Corporation
Counsel Clark King, Charles A.
Appel, jr., repeatedly denied dur
ing a Municipal Court hearing on
a motion for a new trial for Rob-
ert Snead Williams that writing
of the 18-year-old daughter of
the defendant was in any way
similar to that on the confession
notes sent earlier this summer to
Mr.. King.
Mr.. Appel. who for many years
directed the FBI handwriting
analysis laboratory, told Judge
Aubrey B. Fennell he was con-
yinced the writing was not that
Of the blond Wilson High School
graduate because:
/. Her writing slants to the
right, and even if she had tried
to disguise it, some characteristics
of that would have crept into the
three and four page anonymous
notes. ..
2. The writer of the anonymous
notes tried to disguise the writing
through the formation of certain
letters not by changing the slant.
Mr.. Appel was the second hand
writing expert called by attorneys
for Williams to refute the fiat
assertion of police Handwriting
Expert Ira Gullickson that Miss
Williams wrote the confession
letters.
Indications were that Mr.. Ap-
pei would be on the stand for most
OF the day. Mr.. King said he
planned to call three Government
experts in rebuttal. The contro-
versy over the identity of the let
ter writer has complicated hear
ings on a motion by Williams for
a new trial.
Handwriting Expert Harry F.
Cassidy Of Hanover County, Va,
also testified the writing OF Miss
Williams was not similar to that
in the anonymous notes.
He said he doubted if she could
have written the three-page note
in a disguised hand, without some
traits Of her natural handwriting
making their appearance.
Mr.. Cassidy and Mr.. Appel fol-
lowed Miss Williams to the stand.
The girl repeatedly denied to
Judge Fennell that she wrote the
letters or had any knowledge of
who wrote them.
Appearing to be close to tears
several times, she insisted over
and over, II didn't do it. just
didn't do it"
Miss Williams, who is PLAN
ming to leave Sunday to enter
college, was asked by Mr.. King
to write down his dictation of the
first paragraph of one of the let
ters. He then asked her to write
the same paragraph with the let
tiers slanted in reverse to her nor
NAL way of writing.
She insisted several times she
could not write that way. Judge
Fennell sharply ordered her to do
the best she could.
Mr.. King then ordered her to
write the passage with. her left
hand. She complained she was
unable to write left-handed and
again was ordered to try by the
judge.
After she awkwardly and labor
iously wrote the paragraph, she
was questioned by Judge Fennell
as to the meaning of several words
which appeared in the anonymous
letters.
The Governments handwriting
expert. Mr.. Gullickson, pointed
out that the word counsel" as
in corporation counsel, was spelled
council In both confession let
tiers received by Mr.. King as well
as in the sample of Miss vii.
liams' handwriting.
At the conclusion of the hear
ing. Williams, a trustee Of the All
Souls Unitarian Church and a
former District school teacher,
asked reporters to print an appeal
to the letter-writer to come in
and identify himself.
II have no bitterness against
this person" he said. won't he
please come forward and admit
it. to help my young daughter, not
to help me?"
At the time the letters were re.
ceived last June, Mr.. King public
ly promised immunity to the let
ter-writer If he would identify
himself. No one appeared, al
though defense attornies ran ads
in the Washington papers, asking
the writer to make himself
known.