Murder Probers Checking Man Arrested in Illinois
Murder Probers Checking Man Arrested In Illinois
Area police agencies investi-
gating five murders which have
occurred here in the past two
years are probing the back-
ground of an itinerant laborer,
now in an Illinois jail, who
claims to have stabbed a Mex-
ican girl near Ann Arbor in
The man, who gave Rock-
ford, 111., police the name of
Paul Evans when arrested yes-
terday on a drunk and disorder-
ly charge, told officers he want-
ed to "clear his conscience."
Evans then told police a story
of being with a girl about five
miles outside Ann Arbor in
October or November of 1967.
He said he and the girl became
involved in a dispute and he
whipped out a knif e and
stabbed her several times.
"T1--" ' rushed her down into
a ravine and I started running
away from there," Evans told
Rockford police. "I just kept
on going."
However, State Police Sgt.
Carl Freeborn, Ypsilanti post
commander, and Undersheriff
Harold J. Owings Jr. of the
Sheriff's Department say
checks of their files for the fall
of 1967 do not reveal a record
of a stabbing of this nature.
Officers at the Brighton post of
the State Police say they know
of no such 'incident, but are
making further checks of their
records.
"With the description and the
location of the incident so
vague it's almost impossible to
pinpoint anything," Owings
said. "But we're still interest-
ed."
Rockford police believe the
man they hold has only assum-
ed the name "Paul Evans."
They say he is of Mexican xle-
scent and they are attempting
to ascertain his true identity
through fingerprints. They say
he can give no direction from
Ann Arbor as to the location of
the stabbing and can not pro-
vide the name, age or address
of his victim.
Officers say the man appears
to be a "drifter" anc' "1";— to
have been working ( iht-
enaw County apple farm oil the
time of the stabbing. He was
arrested in a second-rate hotel
in Rockford on the drunk and
dis.-"-'-—'" charge.
developments in the
investigauon of the five mur-
ders, Ann Arbor police say they
have been unable to place a
Bay City man, charged with the
stabbing of a woman, near Mid-
land, in this area for many
years. Frank J. Anderson, 31, "•
charged with stabbing, slash i
and r""" "f a 34-year-uiu
divorce weekend. Ander-
son supposedly lived in Ann
Arbor as a youth but has been
in prison for 11 years, having
been released only three
months """ "olice here say he
appare; > not returned to
this ared omw his parole.