MAYFAIR FLAT MYSTERY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 801, 23 October 1929, Page 11

MAYFAIR FLAT MYSTERY

MURDEROUS ATTACK ON RICH AMERICAN

A murderous attack on a wealthy young American visitor in his flat in Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, earlyon a recent morning, has developed into one of the most mysterious cases with which Scotland Yard has had to deal.

The man, Mr. Fliillip Eaton, aged 27, was found almost insensible, bleeding from severe wounds on the head, face and neck. He became unconscious later, and was taken to St. George's Hospital, where' he was put on the danger list. Detectives were remaining at his bedside. At first it was stated that nothing was missing from the flat, but it was later found that about £St)t> and three suits of clothing had been stolen. The assailant had even exchanged his own suit for the oue Mr. Eaton was wearing. On a recent night the Flying Squad was combing London for a dark, thickset man of medium height in connection with the attack. The flat, which Mr. Eaton had occupied since May, is in a four-storey building, painted a deep red. He arrived at his flat in evening dress about 11 o’clock on a Monday night. A neighbour saw him entering. Nine hours later his landladyfound him lying in his underclothing semi-conscious on the floor of his bedroom. She telephoned to Dr. H. S. Turner, who lives a few doors away-. The doctor, on seeing Mr. Eaton, at once communicated with Vine Street Police Station, Divisional Detective-Inspector Bradley and other officers went to the scene. It was evident from the nature of Mr. Eaton’s injuries and the wildly disordered state of the room that a desperate struggle for life, had taken place. He had been slashed across the right cheek and neck with a razor, and knocked almost into insensibility by. a blunt instrument. His hands and arms were badly bruised. Chairs and a table were overturned and blood bespattered the walls and the ceiling. Superintendent Cooper, of the “Big Five,” and Sergeant Thomas waited at the injured man’s bedside in the hospital and were able to obtain a disjointed account of what happened. Mr. Eaton, it is stated, said he met a stranger outside his house and invited him inside to have a drink.

Mr. Eaton gave a fairly complete description of the man. Inquiries later last night showed that he insisted that he saw two men in his room. The landlady of the house heard Mr. Eaton and his visitor enter the flat. She is positive that another visitor was admitted a few minutes afterward. A puzzling feature is that no one appears to have heard a sound coming from Mr. Eaton’s flat. A conference was held at Scotland Yard at which Inspector Bradley and Superintendent Cooper considered the case.

Few clues had been left, except several finger-prints and the suit the man left behind. The police are trying to trace the missing £BOO. Inquiries are being made to discover the denominations of notes recently passed through Mr. Eaton’s account. One of the problems is that of Mr. Eaton’s identity. There is some doubt as to whether he is one of the rich Eatons from Canada, or whether he comes from Philadelphia, where there is also a very wealthy family of the same name.

According to a cable received in London he is the son of a professor at Harvard University. Miss Alma Jones, who was employed as a housemaid in the building in May, told a reporter: —“I understood Mr. Eaton was the son of wealthy Philadelphia people. He was rather peculiar and reserved. When he first came he had a young woman friend who visited him on one or two occasions, but she has not been seen for some time.”