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

Gratis of Cook County. Earlier
Mrs. Bradberry had told news
men her son was a ''no-good.
shiftless bum" Now she asked
him whether he committed the
crime.
Yes. Ma" Bonnie replied. ac-
Icording to reporters and a
deputy sheriff who were stand
ing nearby.
! Saying that she never thought
a son of hers would do such a
thing. the mother turned and de-
parted. Mr.. Bradshaw remained
for awhile to talk with Bonnie.
I Two days later. after the toxi-
cologist had reported that no
meat or alcohol was found in the
stomachs of the two bodies. and
after word had leaked that the
doctors had uncovered no evil
dence of sexual molestation, Ben
ME repudiated his confession. He
charged that he had been beaten.
stripped and threatened. But Mr..
Lehman. probably the only Ph.D.
sheriff in the country, was a
jump ahead. He had called in
two private physicians to exam
inc the suspect after the confess
sion. The doctors certified that
there were no signs Of mistreat-
ment. Post-confession photo
graphs of Bonnie backed them
up.
Inquest Begins
The coroner's inquest had be-
! gun. meanwhile, the day before.
on January 90. And on February
g, the formal report of the pa
biologists was made. After ruling
out all other causes. this panel
tof doctors said the girls died of
exposure to the cold. The cor
oner's jury then ruled on Feb
ruary IL, that the deaths were
by murder.
On March /. Mr.. Adamowski
announced that he was going to
move that the charges against
Bonnie be dropped. He said he
came to this decision after con-
fering with the pathologists a
few days before in the most en-
tightening and informative meet
Ing ] have ever attended,.
The reason he gave was that
the doctors had set the date of
death with such "uncanny GER
Itainty" that Bennie's confession
obviously was false. They had,
in fact. established that the girls
had died several days before any
one placed them in Bennie's
company.
In reaching his decision. Mr.
Adamowski rejected the testi-
mony of more than 20 witnesses
who told police they saw the
Grimes girls alone together or
with Bonnie after the death date
set by the doctors.
Their testimony would carry
considerable weight and would
in sense corroborate' The sordid
details tof Bennie's confession)
II the date Of death was uncer-
tain" Mr.. Adamowski said. 1T is
my honest conviction that these
witnesses are mistaken"
Testimony Hard 10 Reject
Some of the testimony in
question is of a sort not easy to
reject. There is. for instance,
that OF three members of the
Casey Jarzen neutrality-suspicious.
OF a drive-in on the road to the
forest preserves where the bodies
were found--and one Of their en-
ployes. a waiter.
/ All four swear they saw the
Grimes sisters. Bonnie and an
otneT man IN the restaurant
late in the afternoon Of jan
uary IL. They told OF the girls
playing Elvis Presley records on
1.-THE luke box. And the waiter,
who said the girls told him they
were sisters, informed police
that the girl ne identified from
photographs as Patricia had the
letters PAT" sewn on her Jacket.
This fact had not been dis
closed by Mrs. Grimes wnen she
gave police and newspapers a
description Of the clothing the
girls were wearing the night they
disappeared. The sheriff's in
vestigators called her Immediate
Ily. She confirmed that the let
tiers were on the jacket.
Notwithstanding this type OF
evidence. Mr.. Adamowski made
II clear in his statement that he
believed he could not obtain a
conviction Of Bonnie In view OF