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GRAND JURY FAILS TO FIND EVIDENCE
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No Indictments Returned In Lynching Probe And The Grand Inqdest Further Reported That It Found No Evidence Of Communist Organizations In Wicomico County.
Salisbury, Md., Mar. 19 (JP) —Bringing' its four-day investigation of the lynching of Matthew Williams, negro the Wicomico grand jury reported "we find that there is absolutely no evidence that can remotely , connect anyone with the instigation or perpet ration of the murder."
No indictments were returned and the grand inquest farther reported it found no evidence of communist organizations in Wicomico county.
Brought together almost exactly 100 days after Williams had ¦ been dragged from a bed in the Peninsula General Hospital here, hustled across the street to the green in front of the courthouse and hanged in the presence of 2,000 persons, the grand jury heard the story from the lips of peace officers, ('-octors, nurses, business men and members of the negro section of Salisbury. One hundred and twenty two witnesses were examined.
He was lynched for the murd«r ear. lier that da-" December 4, of Daniel J. Elliott, his empljyer with whom he had argued over a question of wag?* Elliott was a lumber dealer and was shot in his office, in the heart of the community.
In his instructions to the jury-Judge Joseph L. Bailey urged that in quiry be made not onty into the lynching, but into events leading up to the shooting, with reference to aerlv". ties of "outside organizations." In the report made public late yesterday afternoon, Levin C. Bailey, State's Attorney, the grand jury said:
"After a through and complete investigation of all the evidence, direct and indirect, resented to us by Attorney-General William Preston Lane Jr., and assistant attorney general G. 2. A. Anderson in reference to com-nunistic activities, we find that while ;tich organizations do exist in other .jarts of the state there is no evie'en •e to justify the belief that such or-;anizations exists in Wietmrico county-
"After a throughly enegetic and completo investigation of all the evidence, direct and indiredt, rumors and every lead indicated by the evidence given by more than 100 witness es produced to us by the attorney-general, the assistant attorney-general the state's attorney for Wicomico county and members of this grand jury, we find that there is absolutely no evidence that can remotely connect anyone with the instigation or pre-petration of the murder of Matthew Williams."
The actual taking of testimony wa.-= completed-- early.in the day yesterday and a short recess taken. The jurv reassembling later and arriving at ;ts conclusions'.
Pew people were in the courtroom when the report was delivered to the bench. Judge Robert F. Duer thanked the jurors on behalf of the b?nch and the people of Wicomico county for their ;'prompt and energc-tic action r'-ivring the session."
He then warned the members they still comprised the county's grand jury until their successors were named in the fall and permitted them to go home.
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