Evening star., 1951-08-07
ather Clears
Daughter in
Suicide Case
Death Of Couple
In Florida Traced
To Leaking Cos

~ GSONIuS SOS
The desire of Waldemar WEIGH.
brodt. 2370 North Taylor street.
Arlington, to clear his daughters
name of suicide and to prevent
similar deaths has ended in re-
ward.
Mr.. Weichbrodt refused to be-
lieve his daughter and her hus-
band. Mr.. and Mrs. Philip Martin
Moninger, jr., both 81, ended
their lives last March at Winter
Park. Fla.
There was too much evidence
that the young couple, married
only three months, were happy
and looking to the day when Mr..
Moninger would complete his
schooling at Rollins College.
Enlisted Aid of Police Chief.
But there also was the evidence
of four open gas jets on the
kitchen range - evidence that
prompted Coroner E. G. Duck
worth officially to term it double
suicide.
Mr.. Weichbrodt knew this could
not be. He had the support Of
another daughter, Mrs. William
A. Martin. 3940 Glebe road, AR
lington, who had visited the Mon
ingers two days before their
deaths and found them in ex-
cellent spirits.
Mr.. Weichbrodt enlisted the aid
of Police Chief Carl D. Buchanan
at Winter Park. They found cir
cumstances not suggestive of sui-
eide, such as Mr.. Moninger's pa
jamas near the kitchen range,
apparently torn off before he
staggered to the bed and died.
Suspect Carbon Monoxide.
Wasn't it possible that some
other lethal gas. escaping from a
refrigerator, floor furnace or water
heater, had seeped into the room.
and that Mr.. Moninger had
turned on the stove jets with the
notion he was cutting them or?
Mr.. Weichbrodt, an official with
the Federal Housing Administra-
ton, consulted with Robert K.
Thulman, a mechanical engineer /
with the subsidiary Housing and
Home Finance Agency. Mr.. Thul-
man believed the possibility strong
that slow carbon monoxide poison.
ing might have caused death.
Deputy Coroner Richard M.
Rosenberg strengthened that
theory with an opinion that the
nature of death strongly re-
sembled slow monoxide poisoning.
Checked by Gas Chemist.
That sent Mr.. Weichbrodt to
DR.. Edward U. Condor, director
lof the Bureau of Standards. DR..
Condor saw an opportunity for
research in a mounting series Of
suspicious deaths. and sent John
H. Eiseman. an expert in gas
chemistry, to Florida to investi-
gate.
/ Mr.. Eiseman took along some
glass tubes filled with a yellow
chemical. During the war this was
classified material, used by air.
plane crews to test for monoxide
gas in minute quantities. The
chemical is so sensitive when ex.
posed to air that it will easily de-
tect 400th of per cent of monox-
ide gas-enough~ to kill over a
period of time.
The amount of carbon monox.
I ide in the air is determined in i
varying degree by the shade of
green to which the yellow chem
ical turns.
Combustion Not Complete.
Mr.. EiSeman found the room
contained about 2-10ths of l per
cent OF the lethal, odorleSs gas,
Then by a series of eliminations.
he narrowed it to a gas refriger-
ator. He found that a section of
a brass flue. leading from the gas
chamber had become corroded by
the constant expulsion of gases
combining with substances in the
metal. Thus the flame had been
partly smothered and when COM
bustion was not complete, the,
poison gas escaped into the room.
Presented with this new evi.
dence Coroner Duckworth reversed
himself and termed the deaths
accidental
Mr.. Weichbrodt and the Bureau
of Standards are hopeful the con- )
clusions will prevent other deaths
both to future tenants at the
apartment where the Moningers
lived and other places where old
gas refrigeratorS are being used.