Policeman's wife strangled

International News Photos (New York, N.Y.) · March 28, 1948

Blonde Mrs. Sarah Donahue, (above) was found strangled in a vacant lot, here today. Her black satin blouse ripped, her skirt disarranged, and her face and body bearing severe bruises, she was discovered lying in the rain and mud by Charles G. Hentzen, Sr., 65, of 199 Illinois Ave., a railroad gateman, who said he has used the vacant lot as a short cut to work for almost twenty years. The husband, patrolman Timothy Donohue, 39, who was found sleeping in their home at 268 Vernon Ave., about two blocks away, said he hadn't seen his wife since Saturday night, when she left to visit a cousin. Mrs. Edna Derose, of 67 Dundee Ave., Mrs. Donahue's cousin, said she did not visit her on Saturday night. In photo above left, Corp. B.J. Ryan, of the N.J. State Police, prepares to take a plaster cast of tire tracks on the lot where the body was found, while officer William Vellekoop looks on. Assistant Prosecutor Diamond said he took the husband of the slain woman into "protective custody for questioning," but emphasized there were no charges.