Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-04-25
MoroI Issue

The question as to when the
Grimes sisters died is an emo
ltional one; 1t involves more than
1.-THE matter OF Bennie's guilt or
Innocence. 1t involves, to put it
bluntly. question as to what
sort of girls these pathetic
victims were.
Mrs. Crimes, 48. divorced her
husband six years ago after a
lengthy separation. Although
Mr.. Grimes contributes $50 a
week to the family. she has had
to work to support herself and
five children. She even has
worked a night shift at an in
dustrial plant. 1t has been diff
ficult for her to give the chill
dren the care and attention they
may have needed.
my girls were good girls.
They never were on West Madi-
son street. they had too much
upbringing for that. =. They
never even knew where skid row
was" Time and again. since
Bennie's confession. Mrs. Grimes
has made statements like these.
Bonnie had stated, in the con-
fession. that he had sex rela-
tons with Patricia over a period
OF days. and implied that his
friend had been similarly
favored by Barbara.
1t was natural. then, that one
OF the most controversial points
in the medical examination of
the Grimes sisters should be
the question as to whether they
were sexually molested. This is
sue was not involved in establish
ing the cause Of death. But 1t was
obviously important in the police
investigation.
Samples Sent to Lab
The three Psychologists who
conducted the autopsy were
very firm on the subject. They
said they had found no indica-
ton that the girls had engaged
in sexual intercourse. The coro-
Iner told the press. in fact. that
the autopsy had indicated that
the Grimes sisters were virgins.
/ But then an odd thing hap
pened. DR.. Jerry J. Kearns. one
of the coroner's pathologists.
sent samples taken from the
bodies to the Chicago Police
Crime Laboratory for q "cour-
tesy" examination. The iabora-
tory received three walls, two
marked Barbara Grimes" and
the third. oddly, unlabeled.
There apparently was a fourth
vial. but 1t never got to the lab.
The police technicians, one of
whom is the president Of the
Illinois State Society of Micros-
copy and a man who has
worked on scores Of rape cases,
consider that they have estab-
liShed beyond doubt that Bar
bara had had sexual relations in
the days before her death. They
have shown the evidence to this
reporter. and, they assured me
to the doctors who handled the
autopsies. Scientifically speak
ing. they assert. there is no pos
sible doubt about the matter.
I When DR.. Edwin F. Hirsch
one of the Psychologists. was
asked by me whether he had seer
the police slides. he said: II can't
comment on that. That's a
moral question"
The fact that the crime lab
had sex evidence was first dis
closed officially when Harry Clos,
the coroner's chief investigator
and the only non-medical man
to witness the autopsies. called a
press conference February Ia to
blast "cover-ups" in the case.
The doctors and Mr.. McCar-
ron, however, were adamant. Mr..
Clos was fired. The doctors took
the position that they would
not engage in a controversy with
"technicians," Their studies did
not show evidence Of sex activity,
they insisted.
Medical Inquiry Closed
Mr.. McCarron rejected sugges-
tons that other Psychologists be
brought into the case and an
nounced that the medical phase
of the inquiry was closed.
Mr.. McCarron the coroner
says, Like all Irishmen. l think
with my heart instead OF my
head" He dislikes even to talk
about the possibility that sex
figured In the Grimes case. He
becomes evasive and annoyed
when questioned about IL.
Back in February. after the
doctors set the death date. Mr..
McCarron asserted: 1.-THE scien-
fists took the girls off Madison