Chicago (IL) Day Book, July 25, 1916, p. 7. NOTE: A digital image of the
item below is available online at www.
Chroniclingamerica.com.
BOY IS HELD IN MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF GIRLFRIEND
Olney, Ill., July 25-Curious features involved in the death of Elizabeth
Radcliffe (consider Ratcliffe a spelling variant), 17, daughter of wealthy
parents at Paoli, Indiana, resulted in the arrest yesterday of Roy
Hinterliter who is held without bail pending the result of the coroner's
jury investigation today.
Hinterliter, who is an Olney boy, drove up to the Olney sanitarium at 11
o'clock Friday night with the body of the girl lying across his knee. He
said they had spent a pleasant evening together but, coming home, she had
suddenly fainted.
Attempts were made to revive the girl, but it was soon discovered that she
had been dead before Hinterliter reached the sanitarium with the body.
Autopsy performed by Olney physicians disclosed the fact that the girl was
about to become a mother. The first theory that she was a victim of an
abortion was dropped when her organs were found in healthy condition.
The affair is surrounded with much mystery. Plans made to send the stomach
contents to the University of Illinois for analysis were suddenly abandoned.
Hinterliter was placed under arrest and the offer of his relatives to bond
him out refused.
State's Att'y Morris declared: "This case is most remarkable from a medical
standpoint and presents a feature in crimes of this kind that, as far as I
know, has never before appeared."