Jake Powell Kills Himself; ’36 Series Star
On November 4, 1948 Jake Powell, 39, former big league baseball star, shot himself to death in Washington police headquarters late today while being questioned on bad check charges. Powell had been picked up at the Union Station on complaint of a local hotel after Powell was taken to the check and fraud division of local police headquarters and during the questioning. During the questioning, Powell asked permission to speak to Mrs. Amber privately. Powell and Mrs. Amber walked into an adjoining room as Detectives David E. Higgins, and F. E. Dodson watched from the doorway. Suddenly Powell shouted: “To hell with it, I’m going to end it all.” Fired Two Shots Before anyone could intervene, he pulled a .25 caliber revolver from his pocket and shot himself once in the chest and again in the right temple. His body later was removed to the city morgue.
Questioned with Powell was Mrs. Josephine Amber, 35, an attractive Deland, Fla., blonde who told police that she and the former baseball player were to have been married until she changed her mind. Mrs. Amber, a divorcee, told investigators Powell promised to make good the checks if she would stay here and marry him, “I’m ashamed of you,” she said she told him. “You’ve lied to me and everyone else. You’ve reached the end of your rope, and you might as well face the music. I’m going home.” “Well, If you insist on going,” she quoted Powell, “here’s four dollars you can have. I won’t need it where I’m going.” Seconds later, he shot himself.
Detectives said that Mrs. Amber had known Powell for about four months. Powell was arrested on the complaint of a local hotel which questioned a $25 check he had submitted. In Deland, Fla., police said a warrant had been issued there against Powell, charging that he had cashed at least two bad checks, one for more than $100, and said they had asked Washington police to pick up Powell. In Dayton, Ohio, where Powell often worked as a plant guard. police said he had been “in trouble” numerous times on charges of passing bad checks, but that each time the difficulty had been solved when friends made good the checks. Powell was listed as having a wife Elizabeth, at a suburban Washington address but it was reported that he had not seen her since last summer when he went to Dayton.
Mrs. Powell, said she was still his wife and as far as she was concerned, there had been no separation.
An investigation into the death was ordered today by Acting Superintendent of Police Clarence Lutz.
Hit .435 In ’36 Series
For several seasons Powell, 39, was the “Peck’s Bad Boy” of the American League where he was involved in several brushes with other players on the field and frequently did not follow training rules. He started his career by jumping from the sandlots to the Washington Senators in 1930. In 1936 he was traded to the Yankees. He reached “the peak of his career in the 1936 World series against the New York Giants when he was the leading hitter. He had a series batting average that year of .455 with 10 hits, four of them off Carl Hubbell in one game, and scored eight runs as the Yanks beat the Giants in six games.
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