Evening star., 1955-06-26
Who Killed Teen-Agers?
Clues Yield No Answer;
TireIess Hunt Goes On

examiners, off1cially listed the
time of death at 9 am. in their
report to the county. But. they
added. it could vary an hour
either way, making death pos
sible between 8 am. and 10 am.
Police theorize that the girls
were shot as they emerged from
a clump Of trees along a path to
a rustic footbridge across North
west Branch. They did not reach
the footbridge.
Detectives searched for wit
Inesses who may have heard shots
in the park that morning. Sew
Ieral teams of two-by this time,
Washington police, at the re-
quest Of Maj. Panagoulis, had
Joined the search-knocked on
doors in the neighborhood, ques-
tioning nearly 500 persons.
There were reports that a truck
driver, on his morning rounds,
heard a burst of shots. then ST.
lence, then another burst of
shots. Later, Capt. Vincent Free
confirmed that police had a Wit
ness who heard shots as he stood
on University lane to the ncrth
Of the murder area.
VH1n~no- VVmn.L CL~A-
Last Thursday, after police
had appealed publicly for infor-
nation from anyone who may
have heard shots, Mrs. Doris
Stadler. 1925 Twenty-flfth ave-
nue.. Lane Manor, said she had
heard shots at 8:15 am.
Mrs. Stadler's home is on a
street parallel to West Park
drive, where the victims lived,
and farther from the park. Mrs.
Stadler said she was virtually
certain Of the time because she
was following her normal days
schedule as a busy housewife.
She was in the midst Of wash
ing dishes. When she wandered
down to the area after the mur-
ders were discovered, and tried
to tell police, she was rebuffed.
Later. she dismissed It from her
mind because she thought po-
lice believed the slayings hap
lpened around 10 am. When she
heard Of the public appeal. she
told her story.
Earlier. police had listened to
the story Of a 42-year-old man
and his 38-year-old wife, who
live not far from the neighbor-
hood. Both, after what police
described as flour days Of hesi-
tation." told police that they,
too. had heard shots. They also
fixed the time ut 8:15 am.
Police have made an exhaus-
tive search for the murder
weapon-on the ground, in lakes
and streams, in the trees in the
sewers. from the air and on
horseback. Mine detector crews
and demolition squads from Fort
George G. Meade helped.
Maj. Panagoulis insisted firmly
last week that the murder weapon
was a .22-caliber Marlin repeat
ing rifle. He discounted reports
that 1t may have been another
make with similar rifiing.
The police theory that q rifle
was used Is based on the accuracy
|of the shots and their number.
Firearms experts have said that
1t would be virtually impossible
to group the shots 30 closely with
q sidearm.
Branch Drained
In the weapon search, the
Chillum-Adelphi Volunteer Fire
Department, using chain saws
to fell trees, damned and drained
Northwest Branch from which
the park gets its name. Before
that, policemen wearing hip
boots and armed with garden
rakes, had searched the streams s
bed.
The mine detector crews
searched the immediate vicinity
for a possible buried rifle. then
turned their attention to a five
acre lake bordering University
lane not far from the scene.
The demolition squad from the
10th Engineers set off q dyna-
mite blast to rip out a four-foot
section of concrete wall in a
man-made lake on the nearby
Christian Heurich estate. When
the water drained out the mine
detector crews searched the
oozy bottom, without success.
Detectives looked through
likely trees, both in the park and
on the estate.
Last Monday Prince Georges
County Detective Sergt. Donald
Forsht. accompanied by WASH
ington Detective Sergt. David
Gould. took to the air. Sergt.
Forsht, a Civil Air Patrol wing
commander, flew over the area
for an hour, scanning rooftops
and open areas.
The next day the same pair,
this time on horseback, went
once more over the park area
and the Heurich estate.
Detectives thumbed through
sales records of .22-caliber rifles
here. in Maryland and in Vir-
ginia. and preliminary results
indicated 1t would be a NAM
moth task to check them all.
Washington police said their
search Of records indicated that
of % caliber Marlin repeaters
alone, $50 had been sold in the
District in the past year and a
half, principally new guns.
Reports that a rifle was miss
ing from the Northwestern High
School rifle squads room-the
squad uses 20 caliber Reming-
ton bolt-action rifies-caused a
Temporary furry Of excitement,
but school officials said the
squads store was intact. Police
searched the school, too, but