Body of Eugene Harmon '50 Found In Mystic River; Shot Caused Death

Death by a small calibre bullet was the official verdict listed yesterday after an autopsy on the body of Eugene E. Harmon '50, ex-College Freshman, who was found two days ago in the Mystic River beneath the Chelsea north drawbridge and presumed before the autopsy to be a victim of drowning.

Medical Examiner William J. Brickley of the city police said that the condition of the remains indicated 'long immersion" in the water. the fatal bullet passed completely through the body, piercing the heart and nicking two ribs, and therefore is unavailable for ballistics analysis. No gun has been yet discovered, Brickley added.

Homicide or Suicide?

It is too early, said Dr. Brickley, to state whether the wound was self inflicted, or whether Harmon, a native of Churchville, New York, was the victim of homicide.

Of great importance in determining the answer to this question, declared Brickley, is whether the deceased was right or left handed. If the angle of the slug's entry did not check with a conceivable position of a self held gun, murder will be the only logical conclusion.

Interrogation of Harmon's roommates in Leverett House yesterday could shed no light on this "crucial" problem. Even before his sudden departure from College last December 7, they said that he was "a retiring, soft-spoken follow," and that they could recall nothing about him.

Time of death presents another dilemma, Brickley continued. The dead man's waterproof wristwatch read 7:15 o'clock, but "I'm hanged if I can say whether that means A.M. or P.M.," the Examiner observed. Harmon's four associates from Leverett were also unable to assert whether he wound his watch in the morning or evening.

Left Before first Term

First admitted in August 1943, Harmon enlisted in the Merchant Marine and served until the spring of 1946. He spent the summer on his family farm at Churchville, and began College last fall.

Without warning either to the Dean's Office or to his family, he wrote a note of withdrawal, enclosing his bursar's card, on the night of December 7. Where he resided from this time until the hour of his sudden death could not be learned last night.

Friends of Harmon reported, however, that he had talked about returning to the merchant service, where he left with the rank of ensign. He had previously renounced his ambitions in the direction of medicine.