Evening star., 1953-07-11
Police Believe
Taggart Killer
ProW|ed Hotel
Is States Join Hunt;
200Women Residents
CuImed at Meeting

gart prowled Scott's Hotel for
Women before creeping into the
Government Secretary's room.
Meanwhile, last night 200
alarmed woman residents Of the
hotel attended a mass meeting
and were told not to be dis
turbed about the prospect Of fur
>ther prowlerS since police are
keeping a close guard on the
building.
Capt. Richard Felber, chief Of
the Homicide Squad, told news
men today he is now convinced
the. murderer entered the room
through the unlocked door,
killed and robbed his 45-year-
old victim and escaped through
the window.
Lists Some Reasons.
He did not give all the rea-
sons behind this theory, but here
were some Of them:
/. Miss Taggart'S door was
ajar about l am. Sunday morn
ming when a woman friend
passed by. It was seen to be
closed about 8 am. Sunday. It
was locked when a maid came
to clean the room Monday morn
Ing and found the dead woman
on the floor of her small room.
The door can be locked auto
matically from the inside but re-
Quires a key, which the prowler
wouldn't have. to lock it from
the outside.
2. Fourth-floor residents of
the women's hotel spotted a
prowler on the fourth floor of the
building about 4::30 am. Sunday.
Police are inclined to believe this
is the man they're hunting.
3. Miss Taggart's room gave
easy access to escape. The half
screen was easy to remove and
the window was only 4 feet
above the roof of the adjoining
coffee shop.
PrOwler Found Door Open.
Ordinarily, prowlers leave by
the same path as they enter in
a housebreaking, unless they are
scared off and have to gamble on
any means of exit that they can
find. This prowler, once spotted
on the fourth floor. could have
run down the stairway and crept
through the hall until he found
the open door of Miss Taggart's
room, police theorized.
Police believe that the fourth
floor prowler was the murderer
was underlined yesterday when
they issued a 15-State lookout
describing him as best they could
and detailing his method of
operation. In case the killer has
left town they want police of
other cities to let them know Of
any similar tragedies in their
VicinitieS.
Jarvis Catoe, the murderer of
Miss Jessie Elizabeth Strieff,
Mrs. Rose Abramowitz and 9TH
erS, was caught in New York
after committing a similar crime
there.
The lookout notice in the
Taggart case described the sus-
pect as being a light-skinned Ne
gro or dark skinned white man,
feet II inches to s feet tall.
slender. wiry, well-dressed and
from Is to 80 years of age.
Jittery ROomers Gained.
The jittery residents of Scott's
Hotel were called together in
the auditorium of the building
at 2131 o street NV. last night
to calm their fears, urge safety
precautions and appeal for their
assistance.
Ralph Scott, owner of the
women's hotel, said he decided
to hold the meeting because
"some of them sit around and
talk about this so much they
make the others nervous" He
said they have been so fearful
that the backf1re of an auto
mobile will have them leaning
out the windows and calling
newspapers to report they heard
a shot.
Capt. Felber told them there
were Al detectives working on
the case. that the back of the
building was f1oodlighted, cars
are barred from parking in the
alley and lightning rarely strikes
twice in the same place.
Full Precautions Urged
The women were urged to take
certain precautions. They we're
advised to give the front door
an extra tug to be sure it was
locked when they came home at
night. They were told to make
sure nobody followed them
through the opened door, to lock
their room doors at night, to pull
the shades when undressing, to
keep off the streets in shorts
and halters and to report any,
thing suspicious.
Mr.. Scott said about a dozen
women had left the hotel, two of
whom have returned and two
more are planning to depart.
Some mothers, he said, talked
about moving their daughters
out of the hotel, but he con-
vlnced them it was the safest
place in town at the moment
with detectives stopping any one
remotely suspicious in the vi
cinity.
Some of the women told about
their own experiences. One said
she had once wrestled with a
prowler and frightened him
away while she was living at
home. Another talked about the
hazards of living in Paris. After
the meeting, the women talked
to the detectives about the case.