Informant In Arson Case Disappears

Informant In Arson Case Disappears

Officials Insist They Do Not Know Where Miss Zelda Clarkson Is

The whereabouts of the slim, reddish-haired Zelda Clarkson, tip-off woman in the Haven Hall arson case, remained a deep puzzle today as the bizarre affair went into its third day.

Miss Clarkson, who said earlier that Robert H. Stacy, 30, had told her he set the $600,000 blaze as a “relief from tension," could not be located at her Pontiac address.

Prosecutor Douglas K. Reading said this morning he does not know where Miss Clarkson is. Ann Arbor police said they do not know either, but that they believed they could locate her “if it was necessary.”

Meanwhile, Joseph B. Hooper, local attorney who was appointed to represent Stacy yesterday afternoon, bowed out of the case this morning on grounds that he is vice-chairman of the First Methodist Church board of trustees, a position which might prove embarrassing later in view of Stacy’s admission that he set fire to a davenport in that church last March.

Excused By Breakey

Circuit Judge James R. Breakey, jr., excused Hooper and appointed Leonard H. Young as Stacy’s attorney shortly after noon today.

The switch eliminated Stacy’s scheduled arraignment this morning. Prosecutor Reading said he "seriously doubted” that the arraignment could be held this afternoon.

Sheriff's officers said Stacy, a former teaching fellow at the University, had a quiet night. He had tried to take his own life twice on the day before.

Judge Breakey, Reading, Police Chief Casper Enkemann, and Hooper were closeted in the judge’s chambers most of the morning.

The only statement forthcoming at noon was the change in attorneys.

Fires Brought Relief

Police said Stacy, under questioning yesterday, told them he had set the Haven Hall fire and three other minor blazes because the "excitement” gave him relief from the tension brought about by Miss Clarkson’s rejection.

The other three fires were at Alumni Memorial Hall, the University's General Library, and the First Methodist Church. None caused any major damage.

Police said Stacy told them that he became concerned over possible, injury to others in the fires he set, after the initial excitement subsided.

Miss Clarkson was described as slender, intelligent and reddish-haired. She completed a two-year course in painting and ceramics at the Cranbrook Academy in Detroit in May.