Star Circus Clown Murdered

Apr. 21, 1965 - A star circus clown who had brought laughter to millions was found murdered in his hotel room this morning a block from Madison Square Garden, where the circus is playing.

The clown, 65-year-old Paul Jung, was found at 11 a.m., 30 minutes after the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus went on without him before a packed house of more than 18,000. While the police were searching for clues and a motive to the fatal beating, the Garden audience was roaring with laughter at a Jung production, “Fireman, fireman, save my chee-ild.”

About 30 clowns were chasing a midget fire engine, which Jung designed, around the arena to a burning house. The act reaches a climax when a midget clown climbs to the roof of a burning house and leaps into a net, only to crash through to the floor.

Today, instead of Jung, a substitute was inside the burning house handling the “fire” and props and making sure the act went on with its split-second precision.

Backstage, as troupers entered and left the three-ring arena, there was distress and tears at the death of Paul Jung.

“He had nothing to give but happiness,” Bobby Kay, a clown, said. And over and over again the question was asked: “Who would have done such a thing to our Paul?”

Police found a three-cell flashlight in room 1211 of the Forrest Hotel at 224 W. 49th St., where Jung had been staying. It was taken to the police laboratory for tests to determine whether it was the “blunt instrument” used in the murder.

The body, covered with a blood-soaked bed spread, was stretched across a narrow entry way into the room. It lay face up.

The bed had been pushed from the wall at an angle, and large patches of blood stained the wall near the door, the bed, and the rug beside the bed. Eight cans of unopened beer were found in a cardboard container on a bureau.

Friends said that occasionally Jung had a beer. They said he sought his moments of relaxation in his room seeing old films on television or viewing a film in a theater.

Inspector Leo Murphy, who listed the death as a homicide, was unable to explain a possible motive “pending an intensive investigation.” The room had not been ransacked, and there was no sign of forced entry. Robbery, however, was not ruled out as a motive.

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