Evening Star Newspaper, November 30, 1930, Page 94

1= THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, B é WOVEMBER 30, m Every Murder Myst So-Called “Perfect Crimes™ Would Be Impossibley Avers Famous Scientist of Fiction, if America Had More Efficient Investi- gators Trained for Their Work and Justice Less Hampered by Haphazard Administration of Crimi- nal Law. : : As Told to LILLIAN G. GENN. 66 HERE is no such thing as & perfect crime,” said 8. S. Van Dine, famous writer of detective stories. “No criminal can be so shrewd that shrewdness can't solve his crime. “A man who commits a crime has to create a perfect piece of work in order that no traces will be left behind to identify him. Now it is much easier for a critic to come along and pick flaws in a plece of work than it is for the crim- inal to create something that is perfect. - As police and detective system. More criminal be unraveled if we had de- a par with other sciences, and those in the are held in great esteem by the public. receive honors and titles as though they members of the diplomatic service. A man W] wants to become a criminal investigator has to devote many years of study to the work, just as he would to any other career. Several of the large universities have a chair of criminology and the instructors are those who have devoted their lives to the subject and who have had practical experience in every branch of the work. That is why Europe has the most highly trained and efficient criminal investigators in the world and has made valuable contributions to the science of criminology. USTRIA, particularly, leads this field. It not only has a very efficient force that is trained to follow up every minute €lue, but it works together with a staff of experts in which each member is skilled in some special branch of crime. They use every resource that science has to offer. The government realizes that this work is of the highest importance to the country, and no expense or effort is spared to perfect the science of criminal investigation. “The registration system that prevails in Europe is another aid in its detection work. Every one must be registered with the police® suthorities, In this way they can keep track of & person’s movements and it is difficult for a eriminal to escape. Of course, such & system could not be possible in America because there is 00 much changing about here. People are constantly moving. Few remain in the same district very long. In Europe people will live & lifetime in one place, 20 that it is comparatively easy for the policeman to know every one in his district and to keep an eye on suspicious out- Siders. “ But the lack of a registration system would not handicap America so much in detection work if the police departments were well organ-- ized throughout the country and if they were completely divorced from politics. A chief of police no sooner gets to know his work than some one else is appointed to take his place. With little prestige attached to the field and with little shance for a man to make any great progress in it persons of the highest mental gifts are not naturally frequently attracted to the profession. And yet since the criminal is becoming increasingly accomplished in his work and has so many subtle weapons to aid him, it is important that we have men of good intelli= gence axd expert training if we are to track him down. “It doesn't mean he need be a Philo Vance, though,” smiled the creator of that famous sleuth. “That would Ye too much to expect of any human being.” Seated in his large library, surrounded by books on every conceivable subject, with an entire section devoted to criminology, Van Dine reminded one of the cultured, artistic Philo Vance himself. He has a sensitive face and wears & Van Dyke beard. The seriousness and suavity of his manner are offset by merry blul eyes and a quick, ready laugh. Dressed in a light blue house-robe and lmok- ing a cigarette from an ivory holder, he pre= one gay note in the most sombere It has the dark, weird appear- that could mlly figure in one Willard Huntington Wright, better known to the readers of detective fiction as S. S. Van Dine, declares few countries carry on the work of criminal investiga- tion in such a haphazard manner as does the United States. €Ty Says study, with the author number of subjects, a criminal is caught in Europe,” the author said, “justice is generally dis patched very quickly. The probability of con« viction after arrest in America is not more than 20 per cent, I believe. With the jungle of laws that we have a criminal can if he has a clever lawyer be released on any number of techni- calities. If he should be convicted he has a good chance to receive life imprisonment rather than the death penalty. In the course of time good conduct may win him commutation or pardon. While he is in prison he is coddled and given all kinds of privileges and entertain- ment. A prison sentence holds little terror for the criminal and is certainly only a slight deterrent to crime. That is why so many criminals after they are released from prison return to their chosen ‘profession.’ “I earnestly believe that if a man is sane and knows what he is doing when he commits a crime then he should receive the death penalty. “But if we are ever going to cope with dan- gerous criminals we will have to get rid of our ridiculous trial system and all those elaborate and absurd technicalities of law which appear to have been invented by imbeciles. I don’t know why any one should suppose that a group e it to tears. It is easily astray by dnmafic incidents. Many news- loit the maudlin, sentimental , and before you know it the public is sympatheticaily regarding the criminal The hideousness of the crime and RIDDLES OF CRIME THE ELWELL MURDER.—Joseph Browne Elwell, internationally known bridge expert, returned to his New York City home for an after-the-theater supper on June 10, 1920. Next morning he was found seated in his easy-chair shot through the head. THE DOROTHY KING MURDER.—She was chloroformed in her New York City apartment on March 15, 1923. Jewels valued at $15,000 were taken. Robbery and the desire to obtain evidence to blackmail prominent male friends of the girl were suggested 8as motives for the crime. THE ROTHSTEIN MURDER.—Arnold Rothstein, “big-time” gambler, was shot just outside his hotel in New York City on the evening of November 4, 1928. He died two days later without revealing the reason for the assault or the identity of his killer. THE LINGLE MURDER.—Alred !.lngle Chicago reporter, was shot to death in Michigan the midst of a crowd of race fans in the Central Railroad on June 9, 1930. Boulevard tunnel of the Illinois Can Be Solved! - S.S. Van Diney Dorothy King ( New York show girl model, was chloroformed in her apartment sevem years ago and the culprif is still at large. Jake Lin- gle, recently murdered il & voracious reader of the - stoflesfl:lnd he had been fase wonde! inductive reasoning -famous detective of fiction. A$ little dreamed he would some dn tive who would share rlock Holmes. While him,” he was primarily inter= € classics, in painting, music and wrir.ing md he entertained a number of ame bitions when he was graduated from college, But none of them had anything to do with the writing of detective stories. He also studied medicine, anthropology and ethnology, and aé one time he deserted them in order to become an orchestra conductor. He finally took up journalism, and under his own name, Willard Huntington Wright, he be« addition to the strain brought on began to undermine his to America and shortly s breakdown. For three years an invalid. Since his physician would to read anything but light | ] : gritifsgigs Hllhthdtowmtonlmoufllnudh- tective novels in order to see whether he could put his knowledge to practical account, But it wasn't until his physician had cautioned him against returning to his serious literaxy work for another year or two that he began $4 think of doing fiction stories based on the owbs lines he made, Under the pen name of 8. 8, Van Dine he wrote his famous detective storles, Van Dine is now working on his last mystery, story. Having won fame and fortune, he s anxious to return to more serious writing and resume his own name. He expects to continué with his studies of criminology. Unlike & good many students, though, he does not belieye %1 Gon't mean the Milings of the bootiegrers (2 and racketeers,” he said. “That is an excepe tional condition brought about by prohibition, I refer to the murders of passion, which spring from anger, jealousy, envy, quarrels, greed and even economic need. . These crimes have (Oo’yrlsht. 1930.)