Police After Second Inquiry Stick to Original Theory of Children's Fall
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WORKMEN TELL OF TRAGEDY
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Describe the Mother's Frantic Efforts to Save Sons---Norris Investigation to Go On
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The second police investigation into the deaths of Terrence Waldman, four and a half years old, and his brother, Benjamin, fourteen months old, heirs to the Benjamin Guggenheim fortune, who were killed last Friday afternoon in a fall from the roof of the sixteen-story Hotel Surrey, 20 East Seventy-sixth Street, was virtually closed yesterday. Again the detectives characterized the tragedy as an accident.
However, Dr. Charles Norris, Chief Medical Examiner, announced yesterday afternoon that he had issued subpoenas for seven witnesses and would question them this afternoon in his office in the Municipal Building. Dr. Norris emphasized that he was conducting the investigation without any theories as to how the two children met their death, but merely with a desire to find out the truth and place the facts on his records.
Mother Not Questioned
The detectives have been unable as yet to question Mrs. Milton S. Waldman, mother of the children, who is in a state of collapse under the care of a physician. They plan to do so later. Dr. Norris said Mrs. Waldman would not be among those he would question this afternoon. He said he would interview Mrs. Waldman when she had improved sufficiently to be able to make a statement.
Dr. Norris said that the circumstances of the deaths of the children made a complete investigation imperative "in justice not only to the public but to Mrs. Waldman as well." He also explained the police were not to be blamed for the quick removal of the children's bodies after they had fallen from the roof, saying they had acted with the permission of a clerk in his office.
Workmen Tell Tragedy
The conclusions of the detectives were largely based on statements made yesterday by a woman and two men to Deputy Inspector Arthur S. Carey and Detective William I. Jackson of the Homicide Squad. Those making the statements were Ann McCormick, a maid employed by Mrs. Cornelius B. Love, occupant of the penthouse on the Hotel Surrey roof, cousin of Mrs. Waldman; Liberator Maceri of 73 Merritt Street, Long Island City, bricklayer's helper, and Alexander Hill of 33 Atlantic Street, Jersey City. The two men were working on a scaffold on the fifteenth floor of the Professional Building, directly across from the Surrey.
They saw Mrs. Waldman and the children on the Surrey roof. Maceri told Inspector Carey he saw Mrs. Waldman with the youngest child in her arms near the roof parapet, and the other child's head appear above the top of the stone coping. He said he then saw the children plunge downward, saw the mother's frantic efforts to save them and heard her screams. He said he turned and shouted to Hill.
Hill corroborated Maceri's recital. Both told of hearing Mrs. Waldman shout to the maid: "Get my child. He has fallen over the roof." They quoted the maid as replying, "Which child?" and Mrs. Waldman's reply, "Both---both have fallen over." They said the women then screamed and Mrs. Waldman collapsed.
At the Hotel Plaza, where Mrs. Waldman has an apartment it was said she had been removed to a sanitarium. Dr. Newton B. Waller of 53 East Eighty-second Street, who is treating Mrs. Waldman, said last night that Dr. Norris had been invited to take Mrs. Waldman's statement whenever he was ready. He said Mrs. Waldman was still very hysterical and extremely nervous.
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WORKMEN TELL OF TRAGEDY
---
Describe the Mother's Frantic Efforts to Save Sons---Norris Investigation to Go On
---
The second police investigation into the deaths of Terrence Waldman, four and a half years old, and his brother, Benjamin, fourteen months old, heirs to the Benjamin Guggenheim fortune, who were killed last Friday afternoon in a fall from the roof of the sixteen-story Hotel Surrey, 20 East Seventy-sixth Street, was virtually closed yesterday. Again the detectives characterized the tragedy as an accident.
However, Dr. Charles Norris, Chief Medical Examiner, announced yesterday afternoon that he had issued subpoenas for seven witnesses and would question them this afternoon in his office in the Municipal Building. Dr. Norris emphasized that he was conducting the investigation without any theories as to how the two children met their death, but merely with a desire to find out the truth and place the facts on his records.
Mother Not Questioned
The detectives have been unable as yet to question Mrs. Milton S. Waldman, mother of the children, who is in a state of collapse under the care of a physician. They plan to do so later. Dr. Norris said Mrs. Waldman would not be among those he would question this afternoon. He said he would interview Mrs. Waldman when she had improved sufficiently to be able to make a statement.
Dr. Norris said that the circumstances of the deaths of the children made a complete investigation imperative "in justice not only to the public but to Mrs. Waldman as well." He also explained the police were not to be blamed for the quick removal of the children's bodies after they had fallen from the roof, saying they had acted with the permission of a clerk in his office.
Workmen Tell Tragedy
The conclusions of the detectives were largely based on statements made yesterday by a woman and two men to Deputy Inspector Arthur S. Carey and Detective William I. Jackson of the Homicide Squad. Those making the statements were Ann McCormick, a maid employed by Mrs. Cornelius B. Love, occupant of the penthouse on the Hotel Surrey roof, cousin of Mrs. Waldman; Liberator Maceri of 73 Merritt Street, Long Island City, bricklayer's helper, and Alexander Hill of 33 Atlantic Street, Jersey City. The two men were working on a scaffold on the fifteenth floor of the Professional Building, directly across from the Surrey.
They saw Mrs. Waldman and the children on the Surrey roof. Maceri told Inspector Carey he saw Mrs. Waldman with the youngest child in her arms near the roof parapet, and the other child's head appear above the top of the stone coping. He said he then saw the children plunge downward, saw the mother's frantic efforts to save them and heard her screams. He said he turned and shouted to Hill.
Hill corroborated Maceri's recital. Both told of hearing Mrs. Waldman shout to the maid: "Get my child. He has fallen over the roof." They quoted the maid as replying, "Which child?" and Mrs. Waldman's reply, "Both---both have fallen over." They said the women then screamed and Mrs. Waldman collapsed.
At the Hotel Plaza, where Mrs. Waldman has an apartment it was said she had been removed to a sanitarium. Dr. Newton B. Waller of 53 East Eighty-second Street, who is treating Mrs. Waldman, said last night that Dr. Norris had been invited to take Mrs. Waldman's statement whenever he was ready. He said Mrs. Waldman was still very hysterical and extremely nervous.
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