Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-11

INSPECTOR JEREM
Washington's "Mr. HOmi
was to have an impact on Wash
ington.
His first big case was tough
one. j. F. Morgan, financial Sec
rotary of the international As
ISOLATION of Machinists. was shot
from ambush as he left home on
Jocelyn street NV. to attend
an evening meeting of the union.
The detective learned that
Harrison Mckinley Kaiser. a
Navy Yard machinist, was under
the mistaken impression Mr..
Morgan was trying to get him
fired from his job. Kaiser dis
appeared from town the night
of the shooting.
Sergt. Flaherty enlisted the
aid of postal authorities. BY
checking mail addressed to
Kaiser's relatives here, he de-
termined that the suspect was
jumping from town to town. The
police couldn't catch UP with
him.
Later they arranged for the
machinists' union to carry Kali
ser's picture in its publication.
Two years after the crime, a
machinist in Point Pleasant.
w. Va, noticed that a fellow
worker resembledl the picture of
the man wanted here. Although
the worker used some other
name, the Washington police
were notified.
Sergt. Flaherty went to West
Virginia and surprised the
armed suspect at his hotel. He
denied he was Kaiser but finger
prints established the identity.
Tried and convicted, he was
sentenced to death. Before the
execution he made q moose from
bedclothing in the death house
and hanged himself.
Cleared 500 Murder Cases.
Inspector Flaherty is credited
with having worked on and
cleared more than 500 murder
cases before he became chief of
the Homicide Squad in July.
1941. The Homicide Squad had
II unsolved murders on its
hands at the time.
Soon after Jerry Flaherty. took
Office as acting lieutenant in
charge, five of the murders and
five criminal assault cases we're
solved with the arrest of one
man. This was Jarvis Roosevelt
Catoe, colored, probably the big
gest crime menace Washington
had ever known.
The Inspector is quick to point
out that others than he deserve
credit for Catoe's arrest. The
man was picked up after two
New York detectives came here
to check on some jewelry of a
rape-murder victim in Manhat-
tan. The gems had been sold at
a secondhand store in the Cap
ital.
When Catoe was taken to
headquarters, he was subjected
to intensive examination and
finally confessed the five MUIR
ders and five assaults.
Two Sensational Murders.
Among these cases were the
sensational murders of Betty
Strict, a Government girl, and
Rose Abramowitz, a housewife.
The pressure was particularly
heavy in the Strict case because
of the victims connection with
the Government,
But 1t. Flaherty, whose squad
had worked painstakingly to pre-
pare for prosecution. decided the
evidence was stronger in the
Abramowitz case. He convinced
District Attorney Edward M.
Curran-now Judge Curran-
that it would be better to try
this one first,
Catoe had given the police a
full confession. Also. he had re-
enacted the crime on request of
1t. Flaherty. To strengthen his
hand. the homicide chief did
this:
For the first time in history,
he had a registered physician ex-
anime the murder suspect after
the confession was obtained.
I'm most murder cases." he
points out, you don't have a
witness to the crime. You must
rely on confessions and the
scientific development of angles
that will stick in court.
You can be sure in murder
case that the defense will accuse
the police of third degree when
ever a defendants confession is
introduced. So the thing to do
Is to get the examination by a
doctor and let him testify at the
trial"
Catoe tried to kill the confess
sion when the trial opened. He