The first major break in the case came on July 4th. That day, a Philadelphia detective received word that Carey had fled to a farm in Warsaw, Virginia. Det. Jackson arrived at the farm the following morning, but Carey had once again eluded capture. The residents of the farm told the investigator that Carey had indeed been there, arriving on June 30th, the day after Officer Mathews was murdered. However, Carey had asked the farmer to drive him 60 miles to Richmond on the evening of July 1st. Before being dropped off, Carey handed the farmer a letter, requesting that it be forwarded to Beatrice. The farmer instead turned the letter over to Det. Jackson. In part, the letter said, "I'd rather be dead than go to prison." A short note Carey wrote to another acquaintance contained the words, "...if I am caught, I'll get the chair...you see, I have killed a policeman."

Unable to locate Carey, Det. Jackson enlisted the assistance of the Virginia State Police in Richmond. Major W.C. Thomas readily agreed to help, and Virginia troopers were alerted that the fugitive might be hiding within their jurisdiction.

On July 8th at 8:15 P.M. Trooper L.F. Payne of the Virginia State Police observed a man walking west on Route 130. The trooper noticed that the subject was carrying two suitcases. At 9:30Trooper Payne again spotted the man, who was sitting on the side of Route 291, just north of Monroe, Virginia. When questioned by the trooper, the man produced a Pennsylvania driver's license, identifying himself as John Thomas View, of Baring Street in Philadelphia. The man told the trooper he was looking for work on a farm, and that he was waiting for a bus to Lynchburg.

Abington remembers his sacrifice.
Officer Mathews is among those
honored at the Police & Fire Memorial.

Not convinced, Trooper Payne left the man by the side of the road. Suspecting that he might be the fugitive wanted for Officer Mathews' murder, the trooper contacted his headquarters for a more detailed description. Armed with the additional information, Trooper Payne returned to Route 291. The man, however, was gone. Witnesses said he had boarded a northbound bus. This information elevated the trooper's suspicions even more, since Lynchburg, where the man said he was heading, lay in the opposite direction. Calling Trooper F.A. Bradley for backup, Trooper Payne overtook the bus, stopping it near Amherst, Virginia. The suspect was taken into custody, protesting loudly that he was "John Thomas View," not Ollie Carey.

The man taken from the bus was driven to the Lynchburg Police Station, where his fingerprints were rolled and compared with those submitted by the Abington Police. After Virginia State Police Sergeant C.E. Rives determined the prints matched, the man admitted that he was in fact Ollie Carey, but maintained innocence in the shooting of Officer Mathews. Investigators, however, would later discover that, during his stay in the Amherst County Prison, Carey admitted to a fellow inmate that he "killed a cop in Philadelphia."

Carey subsequently waived extradition proceedings, and was returned to Abington to face charges on July 13th. The following day, Carey admitted to burglarizing the Hauptfuhrer estate. But the Hauptfuhrers weren't Carey's only burglary victims. Items recovered at Carey's home and from a Philadelphia Pawn Shop linked the suspect to a series of burglaries in Abington Township. Even the suitcase Carey was carrying when arrested in Virginia was found to have been stolen from the Hauptfuhrer home.

Continued