Case of
the Widows
By WILLIAM T. BRANNON
Wh
hen detective Ser
geant David Harris was as
signed to investigate the
murder of Mrs. Florence
Helka, a 72-year-old Detroit
widow, the case looked hope
less, with no clues and no
apparent motive.
Mrs. Helka owned a small
bungalow in one of the older
residential sections of De
troit. Her only income was a
$60 monthly welfare check,
which was supplemented by
donations of food and cloth
ing from her church.
When Mrs. Helka was hos
pitalized for a minor heart
ailment, the church paid the
bill. The neighbors were fond
of the friendly widow and
helped her , in many small
ways. She was last seen alive
about 10:30 p.m. Friday, June
25, 1954. She had been visit
ing next door, but hurried
home to close the windows
because of a sudden rain.
Mrs. Helka was not seen
the next day. When nothing
had been heard from her by
6 p.m., the neighbors decided
to look in. When she couldn't
be roused, they forced the
front door and found her in a
negligee, lying on top of her
bed. The covers hadn't been
pulled back.
Police made a quick in
vestigation and could find no
signs of a struggle; nor was
there the usual evidence of
a prowler.. The bed clothes
were not disarranged, the
rugs were not rumpled, no
drawers hung open, no fur
niture was out of place. The
only fingerprints were those
of the victim.
The back door was closed
18
Family Weekly, April 7. J957
and locked, but there was a
small hole in the glass panel.
A hand could have reached
through and unbolted the
door. But there were no fin
gerprints, not even smudges.
An autopsy revealed that
Mrs. Helka had died about
midnight Friday and that
death was due to an internal
hemorrhage caused by heavy
fist blows about the head.
The neighbors. were certain
that the widow had little if
any money. She kept her
savings in a metal box on the
dresser, where police found
it. The only fingerprints were
those of Mrs. Helka, and the
box contained $55 in bills.
The neighbors thought that
was about what she might
have saved.
Questioning of dozens of
the victim's friends convinced
Sergeant Harris that Mrs.
Helka had no enemies. If this
were true and if robbery
wasn't the motive, why had
she been killed?
Detectives came up with two
leads: an iceman had been
seen entering the back door
of the Helka home about 1
p.m. Saturday. The church
had recently given Mrs. Helka
a new electric refrigerator;
why would she be getting
ice? Others recalled that an
elderly man had quarreled
with Mrs. Helka some months
before.. Most of the neighbors
had turned out when the
body was found, but this man,
who lived across the street,
hadn't. Why?
rPHE iceman was found and
explained why he had taken
ice into Mrs. Helka's home.
She felt she couldn't afford
the $4 a month it would cost
to operate the refrigerator and
had kept the old-fashioned
box. Nearly every day, the
iceman had some ice left over
and he brought it to her,
making no charge.
. When he arrived at the
bungalow Saturday with a
large chunk of leftover ice,
the back door was open. He
put the ice in the box, as he
had done many times, think
ing the widow was out shop
ping and had left the door
open for him. As was his cus
tom, he closed the door, which
had a spring lock, when he
left He had worn gloves and
that accounted for lack of
fingerprints. The iceman was
not held.
The neighbor across the
street admitted the quarrel. .
"It was silly and I apol
ogized," he declared. "I've
been to see Florence many
times since then to help her
with small chores."
He said he had been at a
movie when Mrs. Helka was
killed and hadn't returned
home until late; he hadn't
learned of the murder until
the following day. A lie test
cleared him.
Without any leads, Sergeant
Harris sent five detectives
into the area to ring doorbells
and ask questions. One thing
still puzzled him: Mrs. Helka
undoubtedly screamed when
she was assaulted; why hadn't
anybody heard her?
Questioning hundreds of
people, the detectives found
nobody who had heard a
scream or a call for help.
They came up with only one
name that of Frank Hunt,
who rented a one-room apart
ment in the next block.
The records showed that
Frank Hunt was an ex-convict
who had been paroled in
November, 1953.
Sergeant Harris knew that
all elderly widows are reputed
to keep money hidden and
that many of them do. He
reasoned that this was the
work of a professional crim
inal: he had been careful not
to leave his own fingerprints
and he had made no effort
to wipe up prints, as an
amateur might have done.
Only someone living in the
area would have known about
Mrs. Helka.
Though there was no proof
of robbery, Harris believed
that was the motive. A clever
professional criminal, finding
a good hoard, might have left
the $55 behind to confuse
the police investigation.
Frank Hunt seemed to fit
this pattern, and an order
She was poor and didn't have
an enemy in the world, yet she
had been beaten to death. Why?
was sent out to pick him up
for questioning. While de
tectives were looking for him,
Sergeant Harris did some
quiet investigating on his
own. First, he checked the
weather bureau, then he
talked to Hunt's employer and
his landlady.
After that, the search for
Hunt was intensified. He was
found in a tavern, and after
he had failed a lie test he
confessed the murder. .
He had broken in and
forced Mrs. Helka to open the
metal box, which contained
$285. He had taken all but
$55, which he had left be
hind puiposely. Then he had
beaten Mrs. Helka to death
because she recognized him.
Asked why he had been so
certain that Hunt was
guilty, Sergeant Harris ex
plained: the killer had struck
during the storm when the
widow's screams would be
drowned out. But this couldn't
have been planned ahead, be
cause the storm broke sudden
ly. So the prowler had to be
someone who lived close by.
Hunt had made two mis
takes which convinced Ser
geant Harris he was the
killer. He had left his room
only a few minutes before
the storm broke and hadn't
been back since. On Monday
morning, he had failed to re
port for work. Hunt hadn't
informed his parole officer
that he had moved or quit
his job. Both were parole vi
olations, and Sergeant Harris
felt Hunt wouldn't have jeop
ardized his freedom without
a very strong reason.