344 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
the Indians had acquainted us was the man who whipped him.
with. I was down below when the
Pimer. I saw the man agreement was made, what we
whipped that told them the should Say when we came ashore,
brigantine belonged to New and was abused by Peterson
England. The captain and when I came upon deck, be-
quarter-master ordered him to cause I was not present.
be whipped; Anthony Holding
Mr. Newton. May it please your excellency. We shall now
(though there be no necessity for it) prove, that long before, and
at the time that these several piracies, etc., were committed, her sae-
red majesty and the king of Portugal were entered into a strict
alliance, ete.
Two London Gazettes, dated in the months of May and July,
1703, were produced, and two paragraphs were read, viz.;
“Whitehall, May 24. The Treaty of Alliance, between the Em-
peror, her Majesty, the King of Portugal, and the States General,
which has been so long talked of, was signed at Lisbon the 16th in-
stant, N. S., and is brought hither by an express.
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 345
at the bar, wjth his company, had been guilty of piracy. Kidd was
hanged for robbing the Great Mogul.
Mr. Meinzjes. But may it please your excellency, suppose we
should bring proof, that the gold dust imported in the brigantine
Charles, and pow shown in court, to be Spanish gold dust.
' The Preswpent. Can you prove it?
Mr. Meinzies. We have a goldsmith here, whom I desire to be
sworn.
David Jess. Have seen a great
deal of the gold dust that was
brought in by these pirates, but
hath not so much skill as to tell,
whether it be Spanish or Portu-
guese dust; believes nobody else
can distinguish one from the oth-
er.
The Presypent. You attempt
a very vain thing, for had the
dust been dug in Mexico, yet if
our friends have it in keeping, it
is piracy to take it from them.
Besides, what answer can you
give to all the coined gold shown
in court, with the other things,
which appear plainly to be Por-
tuguese?
Mr. Meinzies. The next thing, in point of law, that I would offer
“Whitehall, July 14. Yesterday the ratification of the treaties,
lately concluded at Lisbon with the King of Portugal, passed the
great seal.”
The Presipent. Gentlemen of the queen’s counsel, have you now
done on the queen’s part?
The Queen’s Counsel. Yes, sir;
of the queen’s evidence against th
we have gone through the course
e prisoner at the bar.
The Presipent. Captain Quelch, this court is now ready to hear
what you have to offer for yourself.
@uelch. My counsel informs me that he hath sundry matters of
law to offer to your excellency on my behalf,
The Prestpent. Mr. Meinzies,
to offer in behalf of the prisoner a
Mr. Meinzies. I have several m
if you have any matters of law
t the bar, we would hear it.
atters of law to offer in behalf of
the prisoner, ete., but before I mention them, I pray that I may not
be thought any wise to justify or extentuate the horrible crimes that
are charged upon the prisoner;
world must needs detest and abho
for they are such, that all the
r. But, as it is equal justice to
acquit the innocent, as to condemn the guilty, so if the evidence
which has been produced against the prisoner at the bar, do not
amount to make him guilty of the several articles he stands charged
with, this court must needs acquit him.
The first objection I make to the evidence, is what was last pro-
duced, I mean the Gazettes.
Mr, Newton. The Gazette is published by authority, and has
been often allowed as good evidence.
The Presipent. The stress of
alliance. Suppose they were not i
this matter does not lie upon the
n alliance with the crown of Eng-
land, yet if there was no war between the two crowns, the prisoner
upon the evidence against Captain Quelch is, that the several wit-
nesses differ yery much as to the places where the several vessels were
taken, and as to the number of persons that were on board those ves-
sels.
The Presipent. That difference is very immaterial; for it mat-
ters not what number of Portuguese there were on board, so there
were any. And as to difference of place, or latitude, two artists may
differ in their observations at the same time; and you have heard the
reason why ong of the witnesses cannot be so positive as to his lati-
tudes, viz. because Captain Quelch eut out his journal; but he, and
all the rest are positive it was done upon the coast of Brazil, in their
very harbour, and in sight of their forts and castles.
Mr. Meinzies. It is plain, that none of the witnesses understand
the Portuguese language; and it ought to be very positive evidence
to take away a man’s life.
The Presipent. I believe her Majesty’s commissioners, now pres-
ent, will think they have very positive proof; however, they are the
judges of that.
Mr. Meinzies. The next thing in point of law, that I would offer
in behalf of Captain Quelch, is, that whereas, in the last article, he
is charged with the murder of the Portuguese captain; it is well
known he was not the man that did the fact. Now, by the civil law,
only he that gives the stroke, wound, or the like, is the murderer: so
says Molloy, ip his treatise De Jure Maritimo, in his chapter of
piracy.
Mr. Newton. But the same book says, that if the common law
have jurisdiction of the cause, all that are present, and assisting at
such a murder, are principals. Now the statute 28 Hen. 8, makes all
piracies, robheries and murder upon the high seas, triable according
340 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
with the rest, he threatened he
would inform against them;
whereupon the major part ord-
ered him to be sent on shore,
giving him a gun, and some pow-
der and shot; he could speak Por-
tuguese very well. This vessel
was taken near the island of
Grandee.
As to the eight article. Pimer.
I was in the boat that took the
gold brigantine, and. commanded
to do it by the captain’s order;
we had found some of the gold
before the captain came on
board; he took the gold and ear-
ried it himself on board the brig-
antine Charles; I saw it weighed
about three days after. I saw
the coined gold taken, it had a
late date, some a year or two
standing. The vessel came from
Spirito Saneto, was taken within
two miles of the land, and under
sail, had on board fourteen men,
all whites, two women of good
fashion. There were ten hands
in the boat with me when we took
her; there was nobody on board
her could speak any language I
understood. We kept them on
board our brigantine till next
day, and then gave them their
brigantine again.
As to the ninth article. Pimer.
This ship was taken by our brig-
antine Charles, the prisoner at
the bar, then our commander, be-
ing on board; the river of Plate
was there six or seven leagues
over. We gave her chase about
two days, she fired three guns at
us before she put out her colors,
which were Portuguese; her en-
signs was not up till with-
in half an hour before she was
taken; I was not on board her,
but Captain Quelch was, though
many of our men had entered
her before he did; she had about
thirty-five men and twelve guns.
When this ship fired upon us, we
had English colors _ flying;
we kept the ship for some time,
and took out of her what is set
forth in the ninth article. This
ship came from a Portuguese cas-
tle, had been out about twenty-
four hours, and was bound for -
Bayes.
The PrestpeENT. Set up the
negro boy who was taken in this
ship.
The Boy swore his name is
Imanuel; he was baptized; lived
in the river of Plate; his name
was Bastian; was a Portuguese,
and captain of the ship that was
taken by the brigantine, in the
river of Plate; he saw one of
Quelch’s company shoot his mas-
ter with a pistol; his master died
immediately of that wound; he
heard him say the words, “kill
him;” there were no more men
killed on board besides his mas-
ter, only two wounded; his dead
master was thrown overboard
immediately after his death; he
saw the prisoner at the bar come
on board the Portuguese ship,
armed with a cutlass and two pis-
tols.
The Interpreters were directed
to examine both the negro boys,
what their negro masters bid
them say of themselves when they
eame to New England; to which
the negro boys made answer,
that their masters bid them say,
they were not Portuguese, but
Spanish negro boys.
The Prestpent. Pimer, have
you any thing further to offer to
the Court relating to the pris-
oner?
Pimer. When we came about
the latitude of Bermuda, the com-
pany ordered my journal to be
taken from me, lest I had writ
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 34]
something that might do them
damage; ang refusing to tear out
myself whgt Captain Quelch
would have kad me, he tore it out
himself, abot five or six leaves,
from October to Feburary 20,
that they egmmitted their pira-
cies. Captain Quelch made a
speech, telling them, what they
should say when they came on
shore; as that we had met with
some Indians, who had got great
treasure out of a wreck, of whom
we had our gold; and whereas we
never had any gold from any In-
dians it being but once that any
of them were on board of us,
and then we, did not trade with
them.
Clifford, the second witness
was sworn, and Parrot removed
out of hearing.
The Pres:pent. You are now
to aequaint her Majesty’s com-
missioners of this Court, of what
you know relating to the prisoner
at the bar, his being guilty of
what is charged within those ar-
ticles which you have heard read.
Clifford. Yes, sir, I shall; and
I will begin with the bolting the
door upon pyr Captain Plowman.
Peter Roach, one of the company,
kept the dopr by order of An-
thony Holding, and some others
that rose up to run away with
the vessel. The prisoner at the
bar was then on shore, but when
he came on poard, did not object
against wha} was done, or what
they were intended to do. Quelch
then at that time had some com-
mand, but Holding was the ring-
leader, and had the majority of
the crew on his side. Pimer and
myself offered to go to the cap-
tain, but the sentinel, that guard-
ed the door with a sword in his
hand, would not let us.
The Presjprent. Let the Ar-
ticles be read, and let the evi-
dence say what he ean to each
. of them.
Art. 1, read. Clifford. The
first prize that we took anything
out of, was a fishing boat, out
of whom we took some fish and
some salt, near Parnebuck, and
that which induced me to think
it was a Portuguese vessel, was,
because it was taken near their
own shore; but I do not under-
stand the Portuguese language.
Art. 2, read. Clifford. This
was the second vessel we took, a
brigantine that we earried with
us during the voyage, Quelch was
then our commander, and went
on board the said vessel himself.
Art 3, read. Clifford. I re-
member well the taking of this
vessel by Quelch himself; we car-
ried a pilot along with us, who
told us they were Portuguese.
John Twiss, who is since dead,
was the linguister’s name. One-
of the prisoners, who was first
taken, understood a little Eng-
lish by this time, and then asked
what was the reason that we, be-
ing English, took the Portuguese.
And one of our men, named Isaae
Johnson, the Dutchman was
whipped for telling them we were
English.
Art. 4, read. Clifford. I re-
member the taking of this vessel
very well, she was taken by one
of the prize vessels; I saw the
earthenware that was taken; we
were all along, during the ecap-
tions, in sight of the shore and
near Mora.
Art. 5, read. Clifford. I re-
member the taking of this boat
by Captain Quelch; the men that
we took were Portuguese, as we
were told by our interpreter. I
do not remember any of the ves-
sels we had yet taken had colors.
342 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
Art 6, read. Clifford. I saw
the bag of money, but cannot tell
how much there was of it. The:
negro boy, Cuffee, was then tak-
en; at first he waited on the whole
ship’s crew, but then was sold at
the mast to Benjamin Perkins.
This vessel was taken by a ten-
der, with about 50 pounds, all
white money.
Art 7, read. Clifford. I <e-
member this vessel was taken by
our tender, near the island of
Grandee; I saw the sugar
brought on board (the brigantine
Charles) and some of the gold;
there was only one Dutchman in
this vessel, who entered himself
with us for the voyage. But be-
cause the company voted he
should not have a full share, he
threatened, when he came on
shore, what he would discover;
upon which they voted to put him
on shore, Captain Quelch being
present at their vote.
Art. 8, read. Clifford. I was
not in the boat that took this
brigantine. I saw the hundred
pound weight of gold dust on
board the brigantine Charles,
which Captain Quelch shared
among us. There might be about
fifteen or sixteen men, with two
women, on board the brigantine
that was taken, she came from
Spirito Sancto, and was bound
for Rivo de Januero, she was tak-
en by our own pinnace, with half
a score men, the prisoner not in
it.
Art. 9, read. Clifford. I was
on board this ship when she was
taken, and so was the prisoner
at the bar. It was thought the
captain of her was wounded be-
fore we boarded her; but there
was some dispute among the men,
which of them it was killed him;
Captain Quelch commanded the
brigantine when we took her. We
took ten or twelve barrels, and
a pipe of beef in her, and sundry
other things. I saw such an en-
sign as that which was shown in
court in the forenoon, on board
the ship. We took also the ne-
gro boy, who was in the court in
the forenoon.
Parrot the third witness for the
Queen was now brought in.
The PrestpentT. Parrot, you
are now to give an account to her
Majesty’s commissioners of this
court of what you know relating
to the prisoner at the bar, his be-
ing guilty, of what he is charged
with, in those articles which you
have heard read. Parrott. I ean
say nothing as to the prisoner’s
carriage towards Captain Plow-
man, but the cabin door was bolt-
ed upon him, and I believe, was
a contrived thing before we went
off of the land; the prisoner at
the bar was not on board till
night. When the captain was
thrown overboard, then he took
upon him the command, and ord-
ered us to sail to sea.
Art. 1, read. Parrot. We were
not in sight of land, but believe
the vessel to be Portuguese; be-
ing upon the Brazil coast.
Art 2, read. Parrot. I saw
the captain of this vessel, which
was a brigantine; she was taken
by the little fishing shallop, com-
manded by Captain Quelch. I
was afterwards on board her, and
saw the sugar brought on board
the brigantine Charles.
Art 3, read. Do you remember
the captain of this vessel Parrot.
J remember it very well; Captain
Quelch was on board the vessel
that took her; we kept her two
or three days.
Art. 4, read. What do you
know concerning the taking of
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 348
this vessel? Parrot. I remem-
per the vessel with earthenware;
it was an open vessel, taken in
sight of land, There was mo-
lasses in the pots; there were men
and women on board her, whom
we took on boayd the brigantine
Charles. We lost the boat’s rud-
der, so that she could not sail,
wherefore we tpok her in tow;
and taking out what we had need
of, we then sunk her. Captain
Quelch and I were in the brigan-
tine that took this vessel.
Art. 5, read, Do you remem-
ber the captair, of this vessel?
Parrot. Yes; 1 had some of the
silk taken in this vessel; so much
as would make me a pair of
breeches. We took all these
prizes after the first fishing boat,
in sight of the ghore, as near as I
can remember.
Art. 6, read, Parrot. I re-
member this caption; the prison-
er at the bar wes at it; they were
Portuguese tha} were on board.
I was put on hoard that boat that
Cuffe was taken out of; and out
of that boat J took about twenty
or thirty pounds of Portugal
money. She had rice and farine
in her, which we took out of
her.
Art. 7, read, Parrot. I be-
lieve this was the brigantine we
took at an anchor before the
town. I went to fetch her my-
self; Captain Quelch went over
with us; we fook four or five
chests of Bragil sugar; all the
men had ran away, and left the
brigantine, only one man, who
at first said he was a Dutchman,
but afterwards we found he was
a Jutelander.
Art. 8, read, Parrot. Quelch
did not take this vessel; she was
taken by our boat, but I was
not in the baat that took he~.
Captain Quelch, the quarter-
master, and carpenter, shared
the hundred pound weight of
gold dust among us.
Art. 9, read. Parrot. I was
present at the caption of this
ship. Captain Quelch was the
commander of the brigantine;
we saw the said ship two or
three days before we took her.
I saw the colors, that were in
court today, first on board our
brigantine. We took beef, sails,
shot, powder, four guns, and an
hundred pieces of eight and
odd; and a negro boy, whom
one George Norton bought. The
captain was thrown overboard
before I came on board; he was
said to be killed by Scudamore,
our cooper.
The Presipent. And was the
prisoner at the bar captain of
your brigantine during all this
time that you took these several
vessels you have mentioned?
Parrot. Yes; and a little be-
fore we came in, it was agreed
that we should say, we took our
gold out of a vessel, that ran
ashore about Port Maranto, but
that the Indians were first at
work upon her; Anthony Hold-
ing first called us upon deck;
Pimer told me they tore out
part of his journal, and _ that
they ordered every one to throw
overboard whatever Portuguese
prints they had.
The PresipENT. Pimer, or
Clifford, have you anything fur-
ther to offer? Clifford. I saw
the captain take Pimer’s jour-
nal out of his hands, and order
it to be torn out, and all Por-
tuguese prints to be thrown
overboard. We were all upon
the deck, when it was conclud-
ed we should say, we had taken
the gold out of some wreck that
346 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
to the rules of the common law, as if they had been committed upon
the land.
Mr. Meinzies. May it please your excellency, T have yet one thing
further to offer-against the queen’s witnesses in this matter: that is,
that they are not competent witnesses, having not had her Majesty’s
pardon. ; : :
Mr. Newton. It has never been thought convenient to give ap-
provers their pardon, until they have actually convicted their aecom-
plices; lest, after having their pardon, they may refuse it; although
after they have convicted those they approve, their pardon is ex
debito justitiae. This is the opinion of my Lord Coke in his Pleas
of the Crown, and so has the practice been since. —
Mr. Meinzies. I have but one thing more, may it please this hon-
orable court, to offer in behalf of Captain Quelch, that is upon the
late act of Parliament made in the late reign, which appoints this
honorable court for the words of it are: “That the proceedings of
this court, in examining, trying and condemning pirates, shall be ac-
cording to the civil law, and the methods and the rules of the Ad-
miralty.” Now, by the civil law, which is founded upon the reason
and custom of nations, no accomplice can be a witness, being equally
guilty with those he accuses. So says Wiseman, doctor of the civil
laws, in his Treaties of the Civil Law, chapter 8, page 73. And in
the same book, touching examining witnesses upon oath, page 114,
and 119. And the same author observes, that among the Romans,
when a man was criminally accused, they were so tender of the lives
and safety of their people, that to convict a man by proof, was no
easy, but a very difficult thing, ete. The allowing these witnesses
will be inconsistent with the act of Parliament itself, whereby the
persons accused have not only the benefit of cross-examining the wit-
nesses, but also of bringing evidences for their own vindication; and
it may be thought as proper to bring some of their own company for
their clearing, as the other evidences for the accusing them. As to
witnesses in piracy, see Coke’s Institutes, part 3, page 24, 25. As to
the admiral’s power of jurisdiction, Coke’s Institutes, part 4, page
134; and Proceedings on Piracy, page 147, 154 and part 3, page
119, 192. _
The Queen’s Advocate. What Mr. Meinzies says, may it please
your excellency, of the civil law, is so far certain, that the witnesses
in eases of piracy, by the methods of the civil law, must be such as
are indifferent, and saw the fact committed, but no ways concerned
in the doing of it, but this method of trying of pirates, the statute of
Henry 8, complains of as too strict, and tending rather to let pirates
escape, than be brought to justice; and’ does therefore perfectly re-
ject it, and does enact, that for the future, all piracies, ete., com-
mitted upon the high seas, shall be tried according to the course of
the common law, as if they had been committed upon the land.
Now it is very well known, that by the common law, accomplices
are many times admitted to be approvers against those that were
partners with them in their crimes; and, indeed, in many cases, there
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 347
happens to be ng pther way to bring criminals to their just punish-
ment, but by singing out some of their company, that may be the
least guilty, and yyake use of them to convict the rest.
Mr. Meinzies. | do not take myself to be thoroughly answered
by Mr. Advocate, gs to what I offered in the last place; for I take the
case of pirates that may be tried in England, upon the statute of
Henry 8, to diffey very much from the case of pirates that are tried
in the plantations, by virtue of the new statute: for, admit that in
the former case azcomplices or approvers may be allowed as wit-
nesses; since pirates that are tried upon that statute are allowed a
jury, yet in the latjer case, those that are tried for piracy in the plan-
tations, being deprived of the benefit of a jury, the statute seems to
design an equivalent:to a jury, by directing the commissioners of
such courts, to progeed according to the civil law, and method of the
court of admiralty,
The Queen’s Adyocate. As to the method of the court of admir-
alty, it is now above 160 years since the statute of Henry 8, was
made; a term long enough to make a method of any court; for ever
since that time hath the court of admiralty proceeded in eases of
piracy according tp the rules of the common law. And then, as to
that other part of the new statute, relating to piracy, that says, this ©
court is to proceed| according to the civil law; with submission, we
understand it to bg of the summary way of proceeding by the com-
missioners, and depriving the prisoner of a jury; for it is most cer-
tain, that the late statute against piracy doth strengthen and estab-
lish the statute of Henry 8. And it would be very odd to suppose
that what the first act of Parliament in these cases had rejected, and
condemned, the method of the civil law, in the trial of pirates, etc.,
the second act of Fiarliament should be reconciled to that method, to
restore and set it yp in the plantations, especially when the title of
the new act is an act “For the more effectual suppression of piracy,”
ete.
The Prestpeny. Captain Quelch, if you have anything
further to offer jor yourself, or if you would cross-examine
the witnesses, the Court will hear you.
Quelch. I desjre Pimer may be asked, whether there was
any bolt upon the captain’s cabin door, when we first sailed.
Pimer. It was fastened with a marlin-spike.
Quelch. Was ] then on board?
The Present, The witnesses have answered as to that
already.
Quelch. I desire the witnesses may be asked, whether they
know the gold dust to be Portuguese dust. .
The Present. This is not material, Captain Quelch.
Quelch. I desire Pimer may be asked, how he knows the
102
HARRY B. CONDON
one member of the theater staff who
was seriously wounded by the killers
when they staged the hold-up at
the Paramount
tigations by city police departments, and
had little or no part in the three distinct
investigations.
Meanwhile, the victims rescued from
the check-room in the Paramount
Theater were taken to Lynn Police Head-
quarters to be questioned and to go over
the photographs in the’ local rogues’ gal-
lery. They found no pictures that any
could identify as those of the murderous
gang that had made the raid and held
possession of the premises for nearly two
hours with such astounding boldness.
ps GROUP of witnesses was then es-
corted to Boston Police Headquarters
by Lynn detectives to go through the Bos-
ton Rogues’ Gallery, Hundreds of police
“mugs” were patiently inspected; it was a
tiresome, disheartening task, consuming
many weary hours. aed
Inspectors John Sullivan and John
Muckian of the Lynn Police were trying
WILLIAM PUTNAM
the unsuspecting mail carrier who de-
livered the theater mail to one of the
bandits
True Detective Mysteries
to facilitate progress with the aid of their
Boston Police colleagues by a painstaking
selection of pictures from the huge collec-
tion in the police files, including those
who might fit the vague descriptions, and
those not positively known to be in dis-
tant places, in prison, or definitely elimi-
nated by proven unwillingness to engage
in similar ruthless crimes of violence.
One of the Lynn witnesses came to a
certain picture, laid it aside after careful
scrutiny, then picked it up again.
““T think,” he began, then hesitated. He
studied the photograph for a long minute.
The detectives waited eagerly, “I think
that fellow is one of the gang,” he de-
cided abruptly. “Anyway, he looks just
like a fellow that shot Mr. Sumner. The
one who shot Condon, too, after Condon
had a tussle with another of the gang and
tried to get away through the lobby. He
looks like the fellow that was willing to
shoot all of us—the toughest one of the
whole gang.”
“I know that fellow,” volunteered a Bos-
ton detective. “He drives a taxicab, but
he’s never been involved before in any-
thing like this. I think I know where we
can collar him.”
“Hadn’t we better wait,” urged a Lynn
inspector, “until some more of our wit-
nesses see these pictures? Let’s see if any
of the rest pick him out.”
Inspectors Muckian and Sullivan of
Lynn remained in Boston that night to
get a line on the suspect and the next day
more of the Paramount Theater staff were
preneat in to go through the rogues’ gal-
ery.
The picture had been returned to
the files, but during the next twenty-four
hours two more witnesses had picked it
out and identified it as that of one of the
Lynn killers.
| igi to locate the suspect at his
home had failed. It was learned, how-
ever, that he was supposed to be workin
for a Boston taxicab concern and was stil
somewhere in the city.
On Friday night, January 5th, De-
tective-Sergeant Arthur Tiernan, an ace
of the Boston Detective Bureau, led a
group of Boston and Lynn officers to an
apartment at 1152 Commonwealth Avenue,
Brighton. The officers staked out in the
apartment. It was the apartment of a
taxi-driver friend of the suspect they were
seeking.
Shortly after 11 o’clock that night, a key
turned in the lock of the small one-room
apartment. A man entered. He was imme-
diately placed under arrest.
He admitted being a friend of the sus-
pect police were seeking, but denied know-
ing the whereabouts of the man they
were after. Police waited.
At 1:30 that morning, someone knocked
on the door of the apartment. Sergeant
Tiernan opened the door. Standing in
the hall, outside, was the man police had
been trying to locate; the man whose
photograph had been identified by wit-
nesses of the Lynn Theater robbery and
murder. The second man was quickly
taken into custody.
Rushed to Boston Police Headquarters,
the attitudes of the two arrested men
presented a curious medley of defiance
and amusement, They laughed and joked
with police and said they had done noth-
ing. *.,
Turned over to the Lynn detectives,
they were hustled to the noted shoe man-
ufacturing city. Chief Inspector Kane was
waiting in Lynn Police Headquarters and
began grilling the captives when they
were delivered to him at 2:15 the next
morning.
It was a dramatic and sensational scene,
but none of those who had a part in it
Detective-Sergeant Arthur Tiernan
of Boston who led the raid to cap-
ture the men accused of the crime
committed in the Paramount Theater
in Lynn
then realized its extraordinary significance,
None guessed the amazing developments
soon to come. Least of all the two pris-
~— who were facing death in the electric
chair.
————
Who are the two prisoners held for
the Paramount Theater murder?
What unusual developments are to
convince the public of their guilt—or
innocence?
What amazing events are about to
occur and to have an extraordinary in-
fluence upon the Lynn investigation?
Is there any connection with the
Fitchburg murder and the Palace
Theatre crime in Worcester, and how
is this to be established?
What fantastic events are to have
an extraordinary influence upon the
fate of the prisoners?
These questions will be answered
and many other facts revealed in the
second installment of this revelation
from the recent crime annals of Mas-
sachusetts.
It will be told exclusively for the
readers of TRUE DETECTIVE Mys-
TERIES by Governor Joseph B. Ely in
the August issue. On sale at all news
stands July 3rd, 1934. Remember the
date, and order your copy now! ‘
C. FRED SUMNER
bill poster for the Paramount. Sum-
ner was shot down without warning
by the marauding thugs
lo the
him jn
by emo
comrad:
With
of Rob
was thr
commun
anger a)
tion by
than ten
and hon
worked;
Both k
ingly, ner
capable oO
Without
tion that
of Rockin,
icer J
bullets fro)
he had he:
of two dif
Tere th
Same mey
Sheriff Shei
Sure they w
ers of Carte
direction th,
of Carter wa,
Obertson al
fugitives why
the conclusi,
prehend the;
other motiy,
obdertson w
men in the «
Possible by
and that they
a dofinite ad
tion in the ea)
AKING th
f had to adm
bility of early
Was no longer
these crue] ki
Assistance; that
mountain fasine
tracks, and prot
in their power,
To understan:
the Officers, it js
thought to the p
tainous section
Some of the ¢
habitants, “
To the West
Mountains, wher
Moonshine whisk
manufactured, Io)
hibition, moonshi)
most profitable pre
regions, and beaj
egitimate proceed
of using firearms j
_ A large number o
Ing manufacturing
others hy running j
and Selling jt. ‘Tj
carried on for many
efforts of the reven|
Overnment to dest
he making of
upon by the mount
engage in it or not
right, and the proc
ave been handed
son through Many ge
he almost fanatic
habitants of mount:
individual freedom is
mountaineers of Nort!
characteristic to a
ey are willing to qj
attempt to curtail it
#enerations yey tives,
armed and un-
to making the
ition. He told
ist the pressure
harshly ordered
vy!’ he sneered.
‘the fellow out-
ht have subdued
.d by the savage,
possession of the
yanked into the
all with the rest,
f agony gathered
his pain-wracked
ist be called when
igrily: “Get into
Get into that
so obey, but with
Jf where she could
ane of terror that
o the office laugh-
ng more amazing
‘e he ever had ar-
ispiring before his
ie of his captors
vise guy,’’ sneere
ther voice coldly
u don’t like him,
let him have it?”
Jaegar, Lynn
10 was slugged
elow) Theater
especially for
(VE, showing
lined them up
e wall
The Truth About the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings 13
But Kane was permitted to live, lined up against the wall
with the rest.
Ford, slight of body and none too strong, had been a soldier
in the Irish Republican Army, and he dared to turn his head.
Something crashed against his jaw—a fist or a gun barrel,
and a harsh voice gritted: ‘You won’t know me again, will
you?” Helpless, seething with rage, Ford could only turn ~
his face back to the wall, hoping for a break, anything which
might give him a chance. He had caught a glimpse of what
he thought was a Thompson sub-machine gun in the hands
of one of the gang who was watching the main entrance. He
heard talk about what would happen to any “bulls” and
“dicks” and “brass buttons’ who might enter the building.
And his military training aided his imagination in painting a
ghastly picture. Police entering from Union Street, eyes
adjusted to the daylight outside, would be helpless targets
at pointblank range for a machine-gun held by an invisible
public enemy in the gloomy foyer.
But Gray, the engineer, had continued to plead for atten-
tion. “There’s no need of killing all of us,” he protested,
bravely risking death by speaking after the brutal scenes that
had just transpired. ‘That burner downtairs will surely blow
up if it isn’t adjusted right away. It isn’t an automatic.”’
His hands were then bound behind his back with
wire and he was forced at the point of a gun
to the boiler room, and compelled to adjust
the heater mechanism with his feet
and teeth.
Bresnahan arrived to meet the
“State Inspectors’’, but his cordial
smile of greeting disappeared
when he found guns jammed
against his body and was
ordered to open the safe in
the theater office.
“But the money is in the
bank,”’ he explained. “We
depasit every night through
the night slot at the bank.”
The masked leader
sneered and urged Bresna-
han to the safe. ‘Must be
around ten thousand in there
sey,
(Above) William Jones,
the only person to see
the bandits leave the
scene of the outrageous
(Left) James T. Demp-
manager of the
Paramount
points to the incriminat-
ing finger-prints left in
the theater by the out-
(Right) Lieutenant
Joseph Coyne, ace de-
tective on the Lynn
Police Force, examines
bandits’ finger-prints left
on a claw hammer
after the big week-end and holiday business you’ve done here.
Open up that safe and give us the money.”
The safe was opened, but it contained only a few small
bills and change needed by the ticket sellers for that after-
noon. Bresnahan had told the truth.
While the theater safe in the office was being opened there
came an interruption. Jaegar of the Item advertising staff
entered the lobby and approached the office. He was im-
mediately slugged’ into submission with blows on the head
and face by gun butts and barrels, and robbed of the money
he was carrying and a wrist-watch. ;
it was after 10 o’clock when the raiders at last left the theater,
having been in complete control of the premises for more
than an hour. They had murdered one man, dangerously
wounded another, and brutally injured two others for a few
dollars and a little small change. Before leaving, there was a
hasty conference. “Why not give them the works and call
it a day?” urged one, enraged over the small haul.
Helpless and hopeless, the theater staff cringed against
the office wall, expecting momentarily a blast of leaden hail
from a machine-gun into their shivering backs. But, instead,
they were herded out of the office and across the foyer to the
check-room, where they were locked in—eleven
still alive, and out in the foyer on the soft
carpet a twelfth, the murdered bill-poster,
sprawled grotesquely in eternal silence.
In the Paramount Theater’s parking
space, off Ireson Street, a motor
suddenly spluttered and steadied
into the even cadence of
smoothly harnessed power, and
was gone.
Within a few moments the
door of the check-room was
forced and the prisoners
were free. News of the
outrage was flashed to
Lynn Police Headquarters,
and Chief Inspector Wil-
liam H. Kane rushed every
available detective on his
(Continued on page 100)
crime
Theater,
laws
us. Bullets
ter. They
fred upon.
ting pistol
ear which
away, but
‘anton act,
. The speed-
y-five miles
jot away as
till, and dis-
n discovered
flattened by
rone through
{| he had to
Lae hee
ark blue oY
(930 or 1931,
first figure of
3a on
Lynn, said he
rackard sedan,
stration num~-
rure a “5,” tear
Jace and swing
ston.
silson, Lincoln,
ecked in every
cuted that the
yr had been the
ous raiders who
heater.
OE aiiaagtts
»3 revealed that
ates for 582-383
; Tighe, a water-
in Boston an
n officers rushe
se numbers had
eoupé which hac
2nd by the truck-
who had an 1roD-
to show that the
se Massachusetts
he Boston water-
“ane forward with
ied the identifica-
of the car usec by
at the same a
ing theory of the
her states, Massa-
rular sequence the
’ registration plates,
ent that discarde
ous year had nine
yus gang that ha
Lynn.
. set otiinan em-
Massachusetts
sterm
a aceiememaciat
you to find
his resort Is
es, from SIx-
y will teach
y physculto-
Write for
Street Railway Company, reported that
on the previous evening, that of New
Year’s Day, he was operating his car on
Jnion Street when he found the tracks
blocked by a Packard sedan, from which
two men emerged to enter the Paramount
Theater, and around 10:30 on the same
evening, again on Union Street, the same
car blocked the trolley again. This time
he noted the registration—Massachusetts
582-383, and got a good look at the driver,
whom he described as a fellow with
smooth face, about thirty years old, of
foreign descent, and wearing a grey cap.
Mrs. Gertrude A. Blethen, matron at the
Paramount, told a story that dove-tailed
perfectly with that of Johnson. She said
that about the time the motorman had
been delayed by the waiting Packard, she
had noticed two young men acting
strangely in the basement of the theater.
They were at the door of the men’s rooms
and appeared to be reconnoitering the
premises. The matron told them: “You
are not allowed here,” and one replied:
“All right, nurse.” And as they turned
toward the stairway to the theater foyer
she heard one say: “Did you get the lay?”
The other answered in a low tone she
could not hear.
All the evidence indicated that the
killers had escaped from the Paramount
through the basement into the Ireson
Street parking space. The matron’s story
suggested that they had spied out the
premises the previous evening, and their
apparent familiarity with the place con-
firmed this hypothesis.
And then two startling ideas occurred
to Chief Inspector Kane and Lieutenant
Joseph Coyne, ace detective of the Lynn
Police Department.
IRST, they remembered that within a
month gunmen had raided the Palace
Theater in Worcester, waylaid the man-
ager, abducted him, and compelled him to
open the safe and hand over several thou-
sand dollars, the entire receipts of the
past twenty-four hours.
Second, they recalled reports of a mur-
der in Fitchburg, where, after an abortive
attempt to abduct at night a clerk in the
establishment of a manufacturer of am-
munition and small arms, the victim had
been riddled with .22-caliber bullets and
left to die in a ditch.
Kane put in a toll call for Police Chief
Thomas Godley at Fitchburg. “Tom,”
said Chief Inspector Kane, “the first thing
we’ve got in this Paramount Theater hold-
up and murder here in Lynn is that some
of them used twenty-two caliber auto-
matic pistols. First time I ever heard
of a twenty-two being used by a gang like
this in a regular stick-up. I understand a
twenty-two was used in your case up in
Fitchburg. It surely seems like a curi-
ous coincidence, at least. Guess we better
check up on the two cases.”
Only one shot had been fired in the
abduction and theater stick-up in Wor-
True Detective Mysteries
cester, and that was a thirty-two caliber
bullet from a revolver, for no empty shell
had been found. But it was clear that the
place had been carefully reconnoitered,
the manager abducted after the theater
had deat for the night, and he had been
brought back and compelled to open up
a deliver the cash receipts from the
safe.
The evidence suggested that there had
been a similar plan in the Lynn outrage,
but for some reason the criminals had
abandoned their plan after visiting the
Paramount on the evening of New Year’s
Day, and had returned the next niorn-
ing to seize possession of the premises,
send for the assistant manager on a flimsy
subterfuge of making a “state inspection,”
and loot the safe, not knowing that the
Lynn playhouse carefully observed the
policy of banking the daily receipts each
evening by means of the modern facility
of a “night slot” for customers at the
local bank.
be VESTIGATION of the Fitchburg mur-
der had been proceeding for three weeks
on the theory that local criminals were in-
volved, and that the motive might have
been an effort to loot arms and ammuni-
tion at the establishment where the victim
had been a trusted employee for years.
There also were suggestions that the vic-
tim might have been “put on the spot” for
some unknown personal reason.
Worcester detectives investigating the
Palace Theater crime had been unable to
find a single convincing lead pointing in
any definite direction. Dems thought that
the perpetrators were possibly local crim-
inals despite the fact that intensive squeez-
ing of stool pigeons had produced no tips
of any value whatever. Others believed it
was the work of an “outside” gang making
a raid from Boston, or Providence, Rhode
Island, or perhaps Connecticut, or even
New York.
Investigation of the Paramount Theater
outrage in Lynn indicated almost con-
clusively within the first twenty-four
hours that the killers had fled toward
Boston, a dozen miles south, and probably
had come from Boston to reconnoiter the
scene the previous evening. If Chief In-
spector Kane and his Lynn detectives were
right in their hunch that the similar meth-
ods employed in the Worcester crime and
the similar unusual weapon—a_ .22-caliber
automatic—used in the Fitchburg murder,
definitely connected the three crimes, then
a careful checking of every detail of the
three crimes might produce vitally im-
portant information.
But this checking was a slow and tedious
process, for three independent police de-
partments were concerned, each primarily
concerned with its own local territory and
roblems; each in a different county with
its own district attorney. And the com-
paratively small force of State Police un-
der the present organization had practically
no authority to interfere in criminal inves-
t me send you my FREE Book. I'll
ROVE in 7 days that I can make you a
man of might and muscle! I changed my-
aot ie rt Aare weet ne tate winning
Cy “*World’s ost Perf
veloped Man.” NOW eeuy Dew
It Prove
YOU CAN HAVE A
BODY LIKE MINE!
I'll put layers of
smooth, poweriul
muscles all \\ y
I'll pare you down
to fighting trim—
FREE BOOK ‘yess eee ounP AS acee ses
2 ;
“Everlasting Health and Strength tells how
my natural method of Dynamic ete quick te Cc ins
Betual photos, valuable body facts. And it's PRIN Writs teday for a,
eopy—NOW!
Charles Atlas, Dept. 96-G, 133 East 23rd St., New York City
RAISE RABBITS FOR US
WE SUF Py STOCK AND BUY WHAT YOU RAISE
i ton c catalog and. ‘ sre, 20Yrs.
10" wi
OUTDOOR ENTERPRISE CO. Ine, Box 42 ooNeW CITY. Ny
ains in Army,
and Sport Goods,
5 ts, Blank-
Splines bates
1) les, etc.
. co ly detoonead oa lows erdere”
Don't be a victim of card
sharps. Professional card
oA 3 secrets exposed.
rite for
FREE INFORMATION
P.O. Box 718, Toledo, Ohio
BE A RAILWAY
RAFFIC INSPECTOR
Railway and Bus Lines Need Trained Men
ci fy/ ACTIVE MEN—19 to 50—earn good pay s+
Passenger Trafic Inspectors. Interesting work—
outdoors; teavel or stay near home. Our home
study course quickly trains you and on completion
you ean start in a position at up to $140 per montt
plus expenses, or we refund tuition, Advance with
; Standard Busi Training
Div. 7107 Buffalo, N.Y.
Be an Expert Criminologist
and Court Expert
With crime increasing there is constant de-
mand for the expert criminologist. He suc-
ceeds where ordinary detectives fail. Qualify
yourself to demand big pay. Study this lucra-
tive profession in all’ its branches at home.
Fingerprints, Legal Chemistry, Microscopy,
Photo-micrography, Hand-writing, Graphology,
Ballistics, Psychology, Blood-stains, etc. ll
in one complete course. Students given atten-
tion and advice after graduation. Write today.
International Criminologist School
Address P. O. Box 343, Seattle, Wash., U. S. A
First Prize: $10.00
Albert W. Barnes
44 Columbia St.
Malden, Mass.
tions in mind?
This contest closes July 5th, 1934.
Prizes for Opinions on the April TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
Second Prize: $5.00
John H. Kamps
Wolf Point
Montana
WVEES you have read this issue of TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES Magazine,
let us know what you think of the stories it contains.
Which story is best? Which do you like the least? Have you any helpful sugges-
Ten dollars will be paid to the person whose letter, in the opinion of the judges in
charge of these awards, offers the most intelligent, constructive criticism; $5 to the
letter considered second best; $3 to the third letter submitted.
Address your opinions to the Judges of Awards, c/o TRUE DETECTIVE Mys-
TERIES Magazine, 1926 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
The three awards will be made promptly. No letters will be returned.
Third Prize: $3.00
Gladys E. Sullivan
General Delivery
Madison, Wisconsin
“Says Henley, N, Y.’* Robb sold
57 in one day, You can make real
money selling this New Electric
Trouser Presser, Puts in knife-edge
crease while you count 10 even while
trousers are worn. This snappy dem-
onstration makes quick sales.
J e
< Profitsin Advance
pre Special Offer gives you FREE
fy Presser and tested selling material.
Ab fp oronen Write today for plan and territory.
Cy INcOT EMPIRE ELECTRIC Co.
SY, Went ote Dept. 166 Cincinnati, Ohio
1UU
True Detective Mysteries
The Truth About the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings
staff out to the scene. Surrounding cities
and towns were notified of the few meager
details then known of the crime.
But valuable time had passed before co-
herent stories had been secured, descrip-
tions obtained, and outside witnesses found
to tell about the waiting car which had
stopped at the curb and been left in the
Ireson Street parking space for the get-
away.
Hud Chief Inspector Kane, an exper-
tenced, capable officer, then had a unified,
co-ordinated, state-wide police force at his
command, the crime history of the Bay
State during the next few weeks might
have been different—very different. Hu-
man lives needlessly saerificed could have
een saved, atrocious crimes might have
been prevented, the tax-payers of the
Commonwealth might have been spared
heavy expenditures.
| er modern crime has been swift to leap
ahead with prompt utilization of all the
advances of modern science which have
annihilated time and space—tbe automo-
bile, the airplane, the radio; while the
forces of law and order, impeded by ineffi-
cieney, indifference, jealousy, political in-
uence, traditional procedure, bave lagged
far behind, in step with the horse-and-
ouggy days of the past.
Whereas news of the outrage should
have been flashed instantly to eve
corner of Massachusetts—of New England,
with additional details as fast as they
could be secured. there was the delay
necessarily entailed through diplomatic
contact with scores of cities and towns,
eacb with its independent police force
each jealously defiant of any suggestion of
outside authority; alJ willing to co-operate
but on their own terms.
“They had a shotgun with a sawed-off
barrel,” agreed the theater staff, “and a
machine-gun, and big pistols as long as
that,”"—indicating with their hands a
length of a foot or so.
But Chief Inspector Kane’s detectives
picked up in the ravaged theater some
empty .22-caliber pistol cartridges of the
“Diamond” brand, obviously fired in au-
tomatic pistols such as are known as
“woodsmen’s pistols” and are used by ex-
perts in target tests of marksmanship. The
slug which had killed Sumner was shat-
tered by contact with the skull. No bullet
was recovered from Condon’s dangerous
wound. The testimony of the medical ex-
aminer and doctors promised to be of little
aid ip the investigation.
The marauders were described as young-
ish, but the descriptions were not: very
(Continued from page 18)
exact. Chief Inspector Kane knew by sad
experience that rarely indeed can an un-
trained citizen furnish an identifying de-
scription of a criminal of whom he has
secured only scanty glimpses during a
terrifying adventure. So all the witnesses
were taken to Lynn Police Headquarters
to go over the photographs in the local
rogues’ gallery, and if that failed a similar
effort could be made at Boston Police
Headquarters and in other cities of the
metropolitan district.
It looked like a clueless mystery, a sav-
age foray of heartless criminals, a ruth-
less overcoming of all resistance, a swift
disappearance into the confusion and bus-
tling selfishness of a densely populated
metropolitan area where some two million
people have their homes.
Thoughts of the recent repeal of the
Eighteenth Amendment were in the minds
of investigators. They knew that gangs
of recent bootleggers, hi-jackers and rum-
runners, of liquor barons’ gunmen, forced
out of the lucrative trade they had fol-
lowed for the past decade or more, had
gone in for hold-ups, extortion, abduction,
and all manner of violent crimes that
might promise to their warped minds a
continued fat income and easy life out-
side the law.
| SRgrvet' developments confirmed this
theory. Sergeant Frederick Gilson of
the Everett Police, riding on a Boston Ele-
vated trolley at the corner of Ferry Street
and Broadway, saw a Packard sedan race
through the intersection, against a red
tiaffie light, driven by a young fellow with
black hair, wearing a dark jacket and
without a hat. He thought there were three
people in the car, a young woman wearing
a brown coat beside the driver. It was
10:50 on the morning of January 2nd,
1934. Gilson, noting the dangerous traffic
violation, jotted down the registration
number of the car, Massachusetts 582-383.
The racing car was coming from the direc-
tion of Lynn and headed toward Boston.
Shortly after 11 o’clock that same morn-
ing, Philip Lincoln, of Revere Beach Park-
way, Chelsea, was driving a Peerless road-
ster owned by Vincent Tureo, of Revere,
toward Boston on Memoria] Drive, Cam-
bridge, with the receipts of their filling sta-
tion for a local oil company. He was ac-
companied by George Lush, a young
friend. As they approached West Bos-
ton bridge, Lincoln swung to the left to
avoid a speeding car trying to overtake
him on his right.
Anger at the other’s recklessness was
changed to amazement as Lincoln and
Lush heard five sharp explosions. Bullets
were smashing into their roadster. They
realized that they were being fired upon.
A hasty glance revealed a spitting pistol
thrust through a window of the car which
had come alongside them.
The other car was speeding away, but
Lincoln, enraged by the wanton act,
stepped on the gas and pursued. The speed-
ometer rose to indicate sixty-five miles
an hour, but the other car shot away as
if the pursuers were standing still, and dis-
appeared in the traffic. Lincoln discovered
that his rear tires had been flattened by
the bullets, one of which had gone through
the top of the roadster, and he had to
abandon the pursuit. But Lincoln hed
identified the other car us a dark blue or
black Packard sedan, model 1930 or 1931.
and he remembered that the first figure of
the six-figure registration was a “5”.
William Jones, back in Lynn, said he
had seen a dark colored Packard sedan.
carrying a Massachusetts registration num-
ber of six figures, the first figure a ‘‘5,” tear
out of the Ireson parking space and swing
away in the direction of Boston.
The stories of Sergeant Gilson, Lincoln,
Lush, Jones, and others checked in every
detail, and obviously indicated that the
Packard sedan of dark color had been the
getaway car of the murderous raiders who
had ravaged the Paramount Theater.
A quick check with the Massachusetts
Registry of Motor Vehicles revealed that
the Massachusetts 1934 plates for 582-383
had been issued to Thomas Tighe, a water-
front truckman operating in Boston and
living in Arlington. Lynn officers rushed
to investigate Tighe.
HEY found that these numbers had
been issued fora Buick eoupé which had
been driven on January 2nd by the truck-
man’s son, James Tighe. who had an iron-
clad alibi and was able to show that the
Tighe car carrying those Massachusetts
numbers had not left the Boston water-
front during the entire day.
Another witness then came forward with
evidence which confirined the identifica-
tion of the registration of the car used by
the theater killers, and at the same time
created’ a more startling theory of the
crime. Like many other states, Massa-
chusetts rotates in regular sequence the
color of its automobile registration plates,
and it seemed apparent that discarded
plates for some previous year had been
used by the murderous gang that had
held up the theater in Lynn.
Charles A. Johnson, a motorman em-
ployed by the Eastern Massachusetts
THE BERNARR MACFADDEN HEALTH RESORT invites you to find
again life's most precious possession—spirited youth. ° This resort is
at Dansville, N. Y., patronized by boys and girls of all ages, from six-
teen to eighty. °If you have forgotten how to play, they will teach
you. *All non-contagious diseases scared to death by physculto-
pathic measures. °A beneficent, non-profit institution. Write for
information.
Streey
On the
Year's
Union
blocked
two mei
Theat;
evening,
car bloc
le Note,
582-3833.
Whom}
smooth
foreign ¢
; Mrs. G
J aramou
Perfeetly
that aboy
been dela
lad not)
strangely
hey were
and appez
Premises,
are not al!
All right,
toward the
she heard 0
Suggested t}
Premises the
apparent far
IRST, 4
Month guy;
1eater in Ww
‘ger, abducted
Open the safe »
Sand dollars.
past twenty-fo
Second, they
€f in Fitehbyy
attempt to abdi
establishment 0
Si i
Were hief Inspec
got in this }
UP and murder hy
of them used ty
matic pistols. F
of a twenty-two 5
IS MN a regular gs
twenty-two was u
Fitchburg. It sw
OUS coincidence at
check up on the t
NY one sh
abduction a
Prizes for Op
First Prize: §
Albert W. Ba
44 Columbia
Malden, M:
let us know
j hich Story is b
tions in mind?
Ten dollars wil] ;
charge of these aw,
etter Considered se
Tess
TERIES Waksagea” if
This contest clos
he three awards
mn
bo
(Left) Hon. Jo-
seph ’B. Ely, Gov-
ernor of the Bay
State, who has
given this out-
standing story of
Massachusetts’
battle with crime
to TRUE DETEC-
TIVE MYSTERIES
True Detective Mysteries
bandit car were traced to Irving and Murton Millen, young
Roxbury brothers who had disappeared with Norma Brighton
Millen, clergyman’s daughter and girl-bride of Murton.
From reports it was feared that Norma had been put on the
spot. In a Back Bay apartment from which the three had
abruptly departed was found a letter addressed to Saul Mes-
singer at Coney Island. The letter was written in a feminine
hand, directing him to destroy previous correspondence.
George Breach, manager of the Criminal Department of the
William J. Burns International Detective Agency’s New
England Division, telephoned his New York office to locate
and investigate Messinger. A few days later Breach was
called from New York. The message astonished him.
“Grab Faber,” he was told. ‘He is the brains of the gang.
But be careful. He is dangerous. The case is busted wide
open.”
—Part Six—
THE Story Conrinugs:
EORGE BREACH had been in touch with the New
York activities resulting from his tip on Saul Mes-
singer. But that startling message—“Grab Faber’’—was
none the less astounding to him. It was relayed from two
of his comrades of the Burns agency, who had been season-
ing long nights and days of hard work with some dramatic
(Below) Three Bay State officers examine the battery
from the burned bandit car, together with a machine
gun stolen from the State Police exhibit in Boston.
Left to. right: Detective John Stokes; General Daniel
Needham, Commissioner of Public Safety, and
Captain Michael Barrett
(Above) The
age (indicate
arrow) at ll}
ley Street
held a_ wealt
evidence again
marauding k:
minutes of
two men wer
W. Smith, s
out of the N
Jim Smith
Boston and
15th, 19384—
terly cold T)
after the Ne
The tip wa
didn’t look
was no evide
Murton and
tioning in
murders and
to New Yor}
found in the
Back Bay aj;
a thing of
Burns men
robbers.
“Or it om
glanced at |}
hunching low
biting cold.
there were 4
ham job,”’
Jim Smith
you are. So
the 21st,
address.
vital ine
d it was
t action.
Station
tive Ed-
k Police.
ise, They
iy official
through
gate the
»n Boston
ns’ aban-
some ten
files con-
2nd an-
»bery and
» pick up
iestioning.
ud within
nutes De-
men were
ied room
Mermaid
ishing of
irmur of
is opened
low. His
1 gripped
oung fel-
ling that
ne Smith
five days.
ed.
Just want
step over
anxlous-
hat’s the
roommate,
hese men
me to go
alk about
O’Brien:
nish shav-
losed the
3 a shoddy
The two
men, quiet
fairly well
Detective
he others.
yan en-
iman” and
Chere also
and some
Messinger
room rent
his land-
leaving.
Vashington
-office in-
10ons found
Messinger
the very
lisappeared
apartment
om at the
yned about
fillens and
m. He was
eous, but
He finally
tters from
destroyed
letters de-
udn’t seem
vere about,
where the Millens were in Washington,
or whether they might still be there.
The Boston letter contained the phrase:
“In case Norma needs any clothes you
can forward.” Some words were carefully
scratched out. Lieutenant Charles H.
Eason, commanding the detective squad,
believed they were “Stick to the vode.”
Messinger said he didn’t know what that
meant. <A postscript signed “30” read:
“When you go to garage to look up car
use this letter as identification but don’t
use envelope.”
Messinger began to open up _ under
pressure of persistent questioning. He ad-
mitted that he had seen the Millens
and Norma in New York. They had
visited various hotels together and
ridden in Murton’s Chevrolet to Radio
City Music Hall, then had supper. Harry
Millen, the musician brothe:, had joined
them. On Murton’s invitation Messin-
ger said he had brought along his own
girl friend, Miss Elsie Rosenblith, as a
guest.
ETECTIVES rushed to a garage on
West 50th Street where Murton Mil-
len had left his Chevrolet in New York,
as revealed by Messinger, and found it
there. It was searched and only one thing
of interest found. Under the rear seat was
a Massachusetts registration certificate
made out to Murton Millen, 1175 Boyls-
ton Street, Boston. A cover was at once
put on the car to detain anyone who
might come to claim it. All the hotels
Messinger recalled as included in the
True Detective Mysteries
Millens’ New York itinerary also were
visited, but nothing found.
The quizzing of Saul Messinger went
on hour after hour. At 2:30 Sunday
morning he was taken to a room on the
7th floor in the Half Moon Hotel at
Coney Island. The detectives. wanted to
keep the new developments away from
newspaper men, and they didn’t want
some lawyer interfering.
The young man’s long reticence was
finally explained. He said he had been
friendly with the Millens—Murton par-
ticularly—since they were boys together
in Boston. Then he had come to New
York to train for the police department
and the friendly relations had been con-
tinucd. But Murton was always trying to
kid him with tall stories and boasts of
startling exploits. So he was_ reluctant
to talk about things that had been writ-
ten or said which he knew couldn’t pos-
sibly be true, and which might get his
friends into serious trouble.
“You just tell the truth, Saul,” one of
the detectives assured him, “to avoid
any trouble yourself, and if your
friends really are in the clear there
won't be trouble for them. What are those
things Murton was telling you here in
New York?”
“Well, he said he had killed two cops.
He bragged about stealing police guns
right under the noses of the cops. He
said they got twelve thousand dollars
on one job and split it three ways. He
said something about another murder in
Fitchburg, and he told about a hold-up
Norma Millen reunited with her father and stepmother after her husband, Murton
Millen, and his brother Irving were taken into custody when they entered a New
York City hotel
91
Did You Ever
Take an
Internal Bath?
This may seem a strange question. But if you
want to magnify your energy—sharpen your brain
to razor edge—put a glorious sparkle in your eye
—pull yourself up to a health level where you
can glory in vitality—you’re going to read this
message to the last line. ,
What is an Internal Bath?
Some understand an internal bath to be an enema.
Others take it to be some new-fangled laxative.
Both are wrong. A real, genuine, true internal
bath is no more like an enema than a kite is lke
an airplane. The only similarity is the employ
ment of water in each case.
A bona-fide internal bath is the administration into
the intestinal tract of pure, warm water, Tyrrel-
lized by a marvelous cleansing tonic. The appli-
ance that holds the liquid and injectsitis the ),B.L.
Cascade, the invention of that eminent physician,
Dr. Charles A, Tyrrell, who perfected it to save
his own life. Now, here’s where the genuine in-
ternal bath differs radically from the enema.
‘The lower intestine, called by the great Professor
Foges of Vienna ‘“‘the most prolific source of
disease,’ is five feet long and shaped like an
inverted U—thus 9. ‘lhe enema cleanses but
a third of this ‘“‘horseshoe,”’ or to the first bend.
The J.B.L. Cascade treatment cleanses it the entire
length—and does it effectively. You have only to
read that booklet ‘“‘Why We Should Bathe In-
ternally” to fully understand how the Cascade does
it—without pain or discomfort,
Why Take an Internal Bath?
Here is why: The intestinal tract is the waste
canal of the body. Due to our soft foods, lack
of vigorous exercise,
and highly artificial civ
ilization, a large per-
gongs of persons suf
fer from intestinal
stasis (delay). The pas
sage of waste is entirely
too slow. Result: Germs
and poison breed in_ this
waste and enter the blood
through the blood vessels in
the intestinal walls.
These poisons are extremely
insidious, and may be an
important contributing
cause to the headaches you
get—the skin blemishes—
the fatigue—the mental
sluggishness—and suscepti-
The lower Intestine, 4 x 6 bility to colds—and count-
feet long, where poisons Jess other ills. They may
generate and are absorbed also be an important factor
into the blood stream. in the cause of premature
old age, rheumatism, high
blood pressure, and many
serious maladies,
Thus it $s imperative that your system be free of these
poisons, and internal bathing is an effective means, In
fifteen minutes it flushes the intestinal tract of impurities
—quick hygienic action. And each treatment tends to
strengthen the intestinal muscles so the passage of waste
is hastened,
Immediate Benefits
Taken just before retiring you will sleep like a child
You will rise with a vigor that is bubbling over. Your
whole attitude toward life will be changed. All clouds
will be laden with silver, you will feel rejuvenated—
remade. That is the experience of thousands of men
and women who faithfully practice the wonderful inner
cleanliness. Just one internal bath a week to regain
and hold glorious, vibrant health! To toss off the mantle
of age, nervousness, and dull care! To fortify you against
epidemics, colds, ete.
Is that fifteen minutes worth while?
Send for this booklet
It is entirely FREE, We are absolutely convinced that
you will agree you never used a three-cent stamp to
better advantage. There are letters from many who
achieve results that seem miraculous. As an eye-opener
on health, this booklet is worth many, many, many times
the price of that stamp. Use the convenient coupon below
or address the Tyrrell’s Hygienic Institute, Inc., Dept
2124, 152 W. 65th St., New York City—NOW!
ene eee OFF AND MAIL AT ONCE * ~~
Tyrrell’s Hygienic Institute, Inc, |
152 West 65th St., Dept. 2124, New York, N. Y. |
Send me, without cost or obligation, your illustrated |
booklet on intestinal ills and the proper use of the
famous Internal Bath—‘‘Why We Should Bathe In- |
ternally. |
DWAGRG . o's bik. nies clv'c ct bigegss fig Hee ce wosocersoeceeesoes |
BH OObasscpecvsicn eee lle ec aeecemneebeoreoe’ .
CH esccverccevccereconrvce State.......ce eeeeees
illen, young
na Brighton
of Murton.
put on the
e three had
» Saul Mes-
1 a feminine
espondence.
ment of the
ney’s New
ce to locate
3reach was
ished him.
f the gang,
rusted wide
1 the New
Saul Mes-
aber’’—was
{ from. two
een season-
ie dramatic
oattery
iachine
3oston.
Daniel
and
53
(Above) The gar- (Right) Mrs. Nor-
age (indicated by maBrighton Millen,
arrow) at 11 Brins- Murton’s bride,
ley Street which photographed with
held a wealth of her father just after
evidence against the her release by
marauding killers authorities
minutes of thrilling adventure. Those
two men were Benjamin A. Hall and James
W. Smith, star Burns operatives working
out of the New York office.
Jim Smith and Al Hall got the tip from
Boston and went to work on it February
15th, 1934—which happened to be a bit-
terly cold Thursday and just thirteen days
after the Needham bank murders.
The tip was only a vague possibility and
didn’t look any too promising. There
was no evidence that the Millen brothers,
Murton and Irving, badly wanted for ques-
tioning in connection with the Needham
murders and other savage crimes, had gone
to New York. Only a name and address
found in the litter of the hastily abandoned
Back Bay apartment. It might not mean
a thing of the slightest interest to the
Burns men hunting murderous’ bank
robbers.
“Or it might mean a lot.’ Al Hall
glanced at his partner in the little car,
hunching lower in the seat away from the
biting cold. “Remember, Breach says
there were at least three on that Need-
ham job.”
Jim Smith nodded agreement. ‘Right
you are. So we got (Continued on page 90)
eit ie
90
True Detective Mysteries
The Truth about the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings
to handle this job with kid gloves, keep-
ing under cover until we know a lot more
than we do now.”
“Breach thinks it was Murton Millen’s
young wife Norma that wrote that name
and address—‘Saul Messinger, 1509 Mer-
maid Avenue, Coney Island.’ If she
wrote there once she may again, or one
of the brothers may. I know a post-office
inspector, Dan Looney, a pretty good
scout. We’ll get him to help us out with
tracers if any more mail comes through.”
“What do you think of the musician
angle?” The car turned a corner into a
frigid gust from the wintry wastes of
the North Atlantic. Both men shivered.
They knew what they would have to en-
dure tailing in that sort of weather,
perhaps waiting around in the open for
hours for a subject to show.
“May be n. g. or might be red hot. I
sure hope it’s good. Who wouldn’t
rather work around town than hang out
at Coney Island a winter like this?
We got good descriptions of Irving
and Murton Millen—Norma, too. If
Breach is right about the other brother,
Harry Millen, he says may be playing in
New York . ... Well, we'll have to
locate him and see what some patient
tailing may lead us to.”
HE friendly post-office inspector was
found in his office and keenly interested
in the situation revealed to him in con-
fidence by the Burns men. He agreed to
co-operate. In our present desperate war-
fare again violent crime, co-operation of
Federal authorities is of great value, and
this was a case where it was clearly in-
dicated. Anv letters addressed to the
mysterious Saul Messinger—as yet only
a name to the detectives—would be
watched for and an attempt made to
trace them. If Harry Millen, the musi-
cian brother of the young fugitives, could
be located, his mail also might be
watched.
But the Burns men were unable that
night to find any trace of the Boston
musician in New York. Inquiries had to
be made with the greatest discretion to
prevent any inkling of interest reach-
ing their quarry. Records of the Musi-
cians’ Union in New York showed that
he was not a member. And if he really
were playing somewhere around New
York City it seemed that he should have
tied in with the local union.
So Jim Smith and Al Hall dropped
that angle for the present and began
their quest for Saul Messinger. The next
morning they were facing the freezing
blasts that transformed Coney Island
from its character of a famous summer
playground into something shiveringly
different.
Their task was to find out if such a
person really lived or had lived at 1509
Mermaid Avenue, obtain a_ sufficiently
good description to recognize him, and
then shadow him day and night until
they knew all about him. And all this
without letting him suspect anything
about their interest and activities.
Anyone who may think that is a
simple sort of job ought to try it some-
time. Information must be obtained by
the most subtle methods to prevent
some whisper reaching the ears of the
subject and arousing his suspicion. Suc-
cessful tailing is a real test of a detec-
tive’s ability even when the subject
is pointed out to him. He must keep al-
ways out of sight, yet move about
naturally and normally. The most inno-
(Continued from page 53)
cent conscience is apt to become sus-
picious when the same person is seen
several times, always in the vicinity of
the subject. But Hall and Smith had to
accomplish much more than that: They
must discover with the greatest secrecy
whether there really was such a man
as Saul Messinger living at the Coney
Island address. And then, still keeping
under cover, they must learn enough
about him to be able to recognize him
before they even begin their difficult
task of day and night shadowing.
Before nightfall that first day they
knew that a Saul Messenger lived at
No. 1509. A discreet inquiry in the
neighborhood by one of the operatives,
his appearance slightly altered, a package
under his arm, revealed this.
“Fellow by the name of Messinger live
here?”
“No,
“Guess I’ve got the wrong address,”
glancing down with an air of puzzlement
at the package. “Say, do you happen to
know if someone of that name lives
around here somewhere?”
“No.”
A voice calling from beyond the open
door. “Messinger? I think there’s a
fellow by that name living at number
1509. He’s the one they say is training
for the New York Police Department.”
“Perhaps he’s the one. Mind telling
me what he looks like?”
“Oh, he’s rather tall and well built,
quite good-looking, and about twenty-
five or -six years old.”
“No, I better try the next block.
Thanks just the same.”
A hasty and unobtrusive departure,
and that was that. Except that particular
person must not be permitted to catch
another glimpse of the inquiring detective
in the neighborhood.
During the next three days Hall and
Smith kept 1509 Mermaid Avenue under
careful surveillance. Three or four
young men seen entering or leaving that
address were patiently shadowed until
some development indicated that the
subject was not the elusive Saul Mes-
singer. An acquaintance might address
him by another name or other incident
reveal a different identity. Continued
hours as weary and disheartening as they
were cold and uncomfortable tempted
the Burns men to think longingly about
more direct action. But experience had
taught them the virtue of persistence
and they stuck doggedly to the original
program.
O* February 19th, they saw a new face
leaving 1509 Mermaid Avenue. It was
a young fellow who seemed to fit exactly
the description they had of Saul Messin-
ger. He was shadowed until he returned
that night, apparently to go to bed.
The detectives saw no suspicious moves;
he met no one in whom they were in-
terested. They continued to cover se-
cretly every move he made outside of the
house until February 23rd. And all this
time they saw or heard nothing to cast
any light on the situation. On the eve-
ning of Friday, the 23rd, they tailed him
to Delehanty’s on East 15th Street, which
they knew to be a training school for
policemen. They were sure now that he
was Saul Messinger.
Early the next morning came a call
from Post Office Inspector Looney’s
desk. He had two tracers showing letters
received by Saul Messinger. Both had
been mailed in Washington, D. C., one
on February 20th, the other on the 21st,
and neither showed any return address.
Those letters might contain vital in-
formation. Smith and Hall agreed it was
about time to start some direct action.
They went to the 60th Precinct Station
and got hold of a friend, Detective Ed-
mond O’Brien of the New York Police.
The Burns men explained the case, They
found there was no record of any official
police request having come through
from Massachusetts to investigate the
Coney Island lead revealed when Boston
officers had searched the Millens’ aban-
doned Back Bay apartment some ten
days previously. But teletype files con-
tained the flash of February 2nd an-
nouncing the Needham Bank robbery and
murders, and that of the 14th to pick up
Murton and Irving Millen for questioning.
This brought the request for aid within
regulations, and within a few minutes De-
tective O’Brien and the Burns men were
at the door of a small furnished room
on the third floor at 1509 Mermaid
Avenue. They heard the splashing of
water and the occasional murmur of
voices. A knock, and the door was opened
immediately by a tall young fellow. His
face was lathered and one hand gripped
a razor. In bed was another young fel-
low. He sat up hastily, revealing that
he was a hunchback.
The lathered youth was the one Smith
and Hall had been tailing for five days.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Are you Saul Messinger?”
“Yes. Why? What is it?”
O’Brien flashed his badge. “Just want
a little talk with you. Let’s step over
to the station.”
The hunchback was watching, anxious-
ly. “What is it, Saul? What's the
trouble?”
ESSINGER answered his roommate,
speaking gently. “Why, these men
are officers. They say they want me to go
to the station with them to talk about
something, George.” Then to O’Brien:
“Do you mind waiting till I finish shav-
ing?”
The detectives entered, closed the
door, and looked around. It was a shoddy
room but reasonably neat. The two
roomers were clean-cut young men, quiet
speaking, and appeared to be fairly well
educated. O’Brien’s partner, Detective
John F. Fitzsimmons, joined the others.
In a dresser drawer they saw an en-
velope with the words “Patrolman” and
“Civil Service Commission.” There also
was sixteen dollars in cash and some
25 and .32 caliber cartridges. Messinger
said the money was for his room rent
and that he would give it to his land-
lady and get a receipt before leaving.
There was no trace of the Washington
letters reported by the post-office in-
spector. But Detective Fitzsimmons found
one that had been mailed to Messinger
from’ Boston on February 15th, the very
day that the Millens had disappeared
from their Audubon Road apartment
after a brief stay.
Taken to the detectives’ room at the
station, Messinger was questioned about
his correspondence with the Millens and
what he might know about them. He was
pleasant, unassuming, courteous, but
obviously reluctant to talk. He finally
admitted receiving the two letters from
Washington and said he had destroyed
them. “Murt always wants his letters de-
stroyed,” he explained. He couldn’t seem
to remember what the letters were about,
where the Mille:
or whether they
The Boston lett
“In case Norma
can forward.” So:
scratched out.
Eason, command
believed they wi
Messinger said h:
meant. A posts
“When you go t
use this letter as
use envelope.”
Messinger bey
pressure of persis
mitted that he
and Norma in
visited various
ridden in Murti
City Music Hall.
Millen, the musi
them. On Murt
ger said he had
girl friend, Miss
guest.
ETECTIVES
West 50th =
len had left his
as revealed by
there. It was sea!
of interest found
a Massachusetts
made out to Mu
ton Street, Bost«
put on the car
might come to
Messinger recal]
Norma Mille:
Millen, and !
rried by this exit. He
lips and a splay nose.
y at McIntosh, he re-
those hands up.”
owly, he added:
‘ound here and you’re
0 die. I hope your in-
seem to occur to him
ter. Keeping McIntosh
; from his pocket with
cross the lower part of
and quietly; so quickly
a the bank noticed it.
the mask had been a
wung open again and
f them had a machine
mself in the center of
n in a wide circle to
companion, revolver in
the teller’s cage where
and covering him with
ud voice:
back against the wall.
not. This is a holdup.”
s and typewriters died
then everything began
holemew, the seventy-
ung the grilled gate of
aetal; Mrs. Mary Gay-
the floor behind a half-
n of the burglar alarm,
The Battery of Doom 9
and the big bell sent its warning clanging through the
streets of Needham to be drowned instantly in the
louder ringing of the railroad alarm as the train went
through the grade crossing. Riordan made a movement;
the desperado at his window fired three times, rapidly,
and the whole interior of the bank was full of the
zipping ricochet of bullets and the acrid smell of
powder.
By some miracle the teller was not hit. The bandit
who had shot at him, vaulting the grill of his cage
with a single athletic movement, thrust the revolver
right against his head and gritted out:
pial. heat you bastard, if you make another move
you’re going to get it. Get the hell out of here.”
Riordan, with hands raised, stepped out onto the main
floor of the bank, pale and shaking, and the bandit
began to sweep up the money in his cage—nine thou-
sand dollars in bills. At this moment, the first robber,
from where he was covering McIntosh, called out:
“Gee, here comes a cop.”
“Spot him off,” answered the man in the teller’s
cage without looking up, and the machine-gunner,
like the first bandit before him, pulled a mask across
the lower part of his face and stepped to the window.
He took deliberate aim, and while the bank employees
stood by in mute horror, calmly fired the shots that
made Mrs. Forbes McLeod a widow, then he turned
around.
“That alarm’s an automatic,” he called, “it’s still
ringing. Hurry.”
They hurried. The man in Riordan’s cage fumbled
for a moment with the door into the next booth, then,
losing patience, lifted his foot and kicked the glass
partition into splinters. In the second cage were more
packages of bills—$4800 worth. He stuffed them into
his pockets and turned toward the vault.
Patrolman Forbes McLeod who was killed in the
performance of his duty on the morning of
February 2nd, 1934, Patrolman McLeod won a
croix de guerre in France during the World War.
“Open it up!” he ordered Bartholemew. The old man
moved slowly, unwillingly. ““Oh, so you want it, too,
do you?” snarled the bandit, ‘All right, take it!” His
finger squeezed the trigger, and two more shots rang
dtada Bullet holes in the Trust Company window through which the bandits fired and killed
hes Patrolman McLeod. Maley Frazetti points them out. ;
Soe EE LENT NE TRS IN eee
iis RTA Mk id al
aD RSP itn nate
‘Abrabani Faber, alleged ‘master mind of the
notorious ‘Millen
New England.’
-Faber gang. which terrorized
At the New York Police Station after the daring
capture at the Lincoln Hotel—reading left to
right, Norma Millen, Merton Millen, and
Irving Millen.
out—the first tearing the seventy-five-year-old vault
attendant’s thumb off at the base, the second disposing
of the middle finger of the hand he had placed on the
lock. Bartholemew collapsed with pain and shock; the
bandit kicked him brutally to one side and stepped over
his prostrate form to open the vault. At that moment,
the first criminal called out:
“Come on, skip it. It’s empty anyway.”
Raa ost and Riordan, their hands still over their
heads, were being shepherded toward the door by
the machine-gunner. The man with the money ran .
after them, dropped a package of bills, stooped to pick it
up, then noticed it consisted of singles, and tossed it
contemptuously away. It contained $400.
As the five men—three crooks and two prisoners—
reached the street, there was a momentary halt while
one of them ran back to where McLeod’s body lay on
the snow, turned it over with his foot, then bent to
pick up the dead officer’s gun.
“Won’t do to have any artillery laying around,” he
explained as he climbed into the big black Packard
that stood before the bank, ‘“Now, you two, listen to
us. You are going to ride with us till we get out of here.
If anything goes wrong, both of you will get it right
in the guts. Get on the running board and take hold
of the doors.”
‘The Packard started with a jerk, McIntosh and
Riordan clinging for dear life to its sides, ran half a
block, and turned sharply to the left. Riordan released
his hold.-at. the turn and went tumbling head.over
“ heels..One of the gunmen ripped out a curse and*sent”
-.a-shot fly
gathering :
again, ran
Chestnut. /
with the ra
‘on the opr
farther on
which stoc
with Firem
that had j
bearing do
criminals.
66 HE
att
about it.”
The ma
‘ the back o
sent out 2
four times
Coughlin,
**Nice s
fully as th
we give it
tosh, cling
that were
‘No, th
the action
bank trea:
(At
gual
(Be
evel
Tall
ifter the daring
‘eading left to
Millen, and
-five-year-old vault
che second disposing
e had placed on the
pain and shock; the
ide and stepped over
it. At that moment,
way.”
hands still over their
toward the door by
ith the money ran ,
ls, stooped to pick it
ngles, and tossed it
d $400.
ind two prisoners—
mentary halt while
cLeod’s body lay on
foot, then bent to
laying around,” he
big black Packard
, you two, listen to
| we get out of here.
you will get it right
yoard and take hold
ierk, McIntosh and
its sides, ran half a
2ft. Riordan released
cumbling. head:,.over «:
out a curse and: sent’
The Battery of Doom
a shot flying after the fallen teller, but the. car. was:
gathering speed and he missed. It turned to the left ©
again, ran a block, and then made another turn into
Chestnut Avenue, and flew down that street, parallel
with the railroad and a few hundred feet past the bank
on the opposite side, at sixty miles an hour. A block
farther on was the Needham fire house, on the steps of
which stood Policeman Frank G. Haddock, talking
with Fireman Coughlin, unaware either of the holdup
that had just taken place or that the black Packard
bearing down on him contained a band of desperate
criminals.
667 THERE’S another damn’ cop,” said the gunman
at the wheel. ‘Give it to him, too, while you’re
about it.”
The machine-gunner trained his weapon through
the back of the car, and as it swept past the fire house,
sent out a sizzling torrent of bullets. Haddock, hit
four times in the abdomen, sank slowly to the sidewalk;
Coughlin, hit twice, fell over him.
“Nice shot,” remarked one of the gunmen cheer-
fully as the car turned into the Providence Road. “Shall
we give it to this louse, too?” and he indicated McIn-
tosh, clinging to the side of the machine with fingers
that were fast losing their grip in the icy atmosphere.
“No, throw him off,” replied the other, and suiting
the action to the word, lifted his fist and struck the
bank treasurer roughly in the face. Luckily: for him
(At right) Walter Bartholemew, bank vault
guard, who was wounded when he protested
against complying with orders from the
stick-up men.
(Below) The largest arsenal of gang weapons
ever found in Washington is examined by Lieut.
Talley and Private Harris. The guns were uncov-
ered at the Union Station in Washington.
It
PI oe ERED Rises Keay eae ot
BILE ole hurr toeiele es
fe
—_ ————
12 American Detective
Stokes: anc
‘Concentrated
| | Tate “time-tal
| | with every ev
‘while trying
‘men.
The deseri
‘employees w
again, but’ ni
| “most general
‘it was the tw
467 OOK
over
‘their time-ta
have about t
from McInt«
“man didn’t t:
‘were utterly
with their pl.
“that-.inner rc
t-in-it,-and tha
eee ,
that, she wou
| etYes.?. “Re
_-even more si
|.: must have kr
‘ing a heavy |
| have ‘been‘in
| SeThe bank.
‘remembered
before.” Ther
‘that; -the-ba
-good many
yi But it was oc
An unusual study of Norma Millen, beautiful wife of Merton Millen, who fell “Do you
in love with the dashing young man at first sight. Ferrari inqui
“Not ac
there was a snowbank at the side of the road; he
tumbled into it to escape serious injury, and the black
murder-car rushed on and away in the direction of
Providence, leaving behind it one of the most cowardly
and vicious crimes in the annals of the state.
There had been a crime wave of major proportions
in Massachusetts that winter, beginning in October
with the mysterious “ghost burglaries” of half the
armories in the state, and working up through the
stick-up of a sporting-goods store at Fitchburg in
December, when one man was murdered, to the stick-
up of a theater at Lynn in January when another was
killed.
i ahi state and city police were at their wits’ end, the
newspapers going wild—but this was the worst of
all. Needham, near-by Boston, the whole state blazed up
over it. The American Legion, of which both Forbes
and Haddock were members, held a special meeting
and passed resolutions of indignation. The American
Bankers’ Association hired the Burns Detective Agency
to trace down the killers. The Needham selectmen had
offered a reward of $1,000 before the sun had set, and
before it rose again the Governor of Massachusetts had
added $2,000 more to this amount, and sent a special
message to the legislature requesting that it be mul-
tiplied by ten. But indignation and rewards are not
much use against three killing gunmen who have fore-
seen everything—even the remote possibility that the
chance-met cop on the fire house steps might remem-
ber them and their car.
There was only one thing they had not foreseen, and
that was the intelligence of the Massachusetts State
Police. When McIntosh limped his way painfully back
to the bank, he found Lieutenant John F. Stokes and
Detective Joseph Ferrari already in possession. Within
an hour, Captain Van Amburgh, one of the world’s
best firearms experts, Lieutenant John Mitchell, who
knows all about motor cars, and Roscoe Hill, the state’s
fingerprint specialist, had joined them.
There was no lack of clues. On the shattered wall
of the glass partition, where one of the bandits had
broken it, Hill developed a set of fingerprints; from
the package of bills the crook had tossed aside he recov-
ered another; and along the window sill where the
machine-gunner had trained his weapon to riddle
McLeod, he found still a third. Van Amburgh painstak-
ingly gathered up the flattened bullets that had been
fired at Riordan and Bartholemew in the bank, and
probed poor McLeod’s body for the machine-gun slugs.
Haddock died that night, after hours of agony, and
Van Amburgh had more machine-gun slugs for his
collection. Half a dozen people had more or less detailed
descriptions of the black Packard for Mitchell; and
Riordan and McIntosh of the bank, Coughlin, the
wounded fireman, the railroad crossing man, and the
proprietor of a store facing the bank had all noted its
number.
-and Clyde Bar-
, at the moment,
-wanted bad men.
‘row is the Dallas
\dlum who, with
sweetheart, Bon-
“Suicide Sal”
ng a gang of ter-
vest for the past
; supposed to have
en who raided the
in East Texas on
guards, and lib-
A prodigious
ries and slayings
against him.
fit was nearly
weeks ago. Oné
ers and national
into the wild
ar Muskogee, Ok-
ysing in on a Sus-
‘he bandits, be-
Barrow, “Suicide
and others, piled
INAP VICTIM
ried to kidnap E. P.
publisher of Daven-
them off in his room
harles Mayo, one of
himself in his cell.
into a car and made a dash for it. Pos-
semen fired volleys of shotgun slugs:at
the machine, but the Barrowites escaped
apparently unharmed.
Barrow, Floyd and Dillinger—catch
them and this will be a safer country
to live in.
NE MORE ITEM about the bad men:
On June 17 of last year federal
operatives and local police stepped off a
train in the Kansas
City Union Station
with Frank Nash, a
highly prized pris-
oner. They were about to enter an
automobile outside the station when
there came a sudden roar of machine-
gun fire. Nash and four of the officers
fell mortally wounded.
Government agents, grimly setting
out to avenge the bloody outrage, an-
nounced that they suspected Ed Davis,
Harvey Bailey, Wilbur Underhill, Bob
“Big Boy” Brady, and Verne C. Miller.
Last MASSACRE
SusPECT CAUGHT
WIZARD'S TROUBLES NOT OVER
Charles Ponzi, recently released from a
Massachusetts penitentiary, is now in line
for deportation to Italy, His loyal wife has
hired a lawyer to try to keep him in the
good old U.S. A.
Today, Bailey is serving a life term
in Leavenworth for the Urschel kidnap-
ing. Miller was put on the spot by De-
troit gangsters. Underhill was killed
when he resisted arrest at Shawnee,
Oklahoma. Brady was slain near Paola,
Kansas. And Ed Davis has been cap-
tured in Los Angeles. Finished!
\X J© OFTEN HEAR of Southern chiv-
alry, never of Chicago chivalry.
All the same, women usually receive
very nice treatment in the Windy City,
as evidenced by the fact that 119 men
have died in the electric’ chair in the
Cook County jail, but not a single mem-
ber of the “weaker sex.”
Of course, no one expected that Dr.
Alice Wynekoop would get the death
penalty for the murder of her daughter-
in-law, Rheta Wynekoop. Few people
even thought she would be convicted,
for, as shown by Harry Read in last
month’s REAL DETECTIVE, the state’s
case against her was full of holes.
ROBBERY VICTIM
Beautiful Frances Dee, motion picture star,
was held up while out driving with her new
husband Joel McCrea, also of the movies.
Miss Dee turned over her purse and McCrea
obliged with his wallet, watch and overcoat.
Dr. Wynekoop is neither beautiful
nor young. She is sixty-three years of
age. The jury
A Prison SENTENCE found her
FOR Dr. WYNEKOOP? guilty; the sen-
tence was
twenty-five years. It is not my inten-
tion to hint that the verdict may have
been unfair, but, in view of Chicago’s
chivalry, it was rather surprising. Let
a good looking husband-killer be put on
trial, let her wear a low-cut dress and
exhibit a shapely knee, and the verdict
will be “not guilty.” Let a withered
old woman stand before the bar of jus-
tice . . . Possibly something is wrong
with our jury system.
The chances are that Dr. Wynekoop
will never serve her term. She is en-
feebled and in poor health. She may
win a new trial. But if she does go to
—
prison, it will be “for life.”
uch a fate is not likely to befall nine-
teen-year-old Norma Brighton Millen,
the minister’s daughter who became a
LEADS GANG OF TERRORISTS
Clyde Barrow with his pal “Suicide Sal”
Parker, have been terrorizing the Southwest
for the past several months. They were
almost rounded up recently, but luck was
with them and they escaped.
37
on
apt SpE <P
tpg EES
a ee
eee oe Penna ee
gunman’s moll. Norma has delicately
chiseled features, a pair of expressive
eyes, dark wavy
Bap, BEAUTIFUL hair, and a figure
Norma Mitten that might even in-
terest Earl Carroll.
She’s well educated, too, and not exactly
hardboiled. Her husband, Murton
Millen, was very much in love with her
—called her “Kittens.”
“Kittens” was with Murton and his
brother, Irving, at the time of their dra-
matic arrest in the lobby of a New York
hotel one Sunday afternoon. Police
clubs were wielded and guns were dis-
charged before the Millens were sub-
dued.
More than a score of holdups, bank
robberies and murders in Massachusetts
were charged to the Millen boys and
Abe Faber, a college graduate who was
apprehended later. Norma and Rose
Knellar, Faber’s sweetheart, reputedly
were accomplices.
“Easy money for easy living” was
the motto of this Bay State mob. The
molls, particularly, had to be supported
in a style to which they were unaccus-
tomed. The authorities said Faber and
the Millens confessed to at least four
killings.
Mob violence threatened when Mur-
ton and Irving were removed under
heavy guard from New York to Ded-
ham, Massachusetts. A large, vengeful
crowd was on hand to meet the train,
but the prisoners were placed behind
iron bars without receiving a scratch.
ENGAGESIN FREE-FOR-ALL
Mrs. Glenyse Barnes, said to be the sister of
Madeline Obenchain who figured in a sen-
sational murder, must answer charges 0
battery arising from her asserted attack on
Edwin C. Ahearn, her former husband.
38
Then they had the nerve to complain
about the jail accommodations!
The Miliens and Faber at this writing
have just been arraigned on the specific
charge of murdering two policemen
during the robbery of the Needham
Trust Company last February 2. Norma
—bad, beautiful Norma—burst into
tears as they pleaded not guilty.
I"; BOTH FUNNY and a little tragic the
way punks try to make themselves
out as big shots.
In Chicago, two young hoodlums en-
tered the hotel room of E. P. Adler,
publisher of a
Hr Wantep To BE string of news-
a “Bic SHoT!” papers, and began
beating him with
blackjacks as the preliminary to kidnap-
ing him, They had a special trunk
waiting in an adjoining room, in which
they hoped to smuggle their victim out
of the hotel.
The publisher fought off the pair and
had them arrested. One was Charles
W. Mayo, twenty-eight, of Birmingham,
Alabama, and the other was James
Lacy, about thirty. Both confessed.
Mayo, in his cell at the Marquette
branch police station, began thinking
about Verne Sankey, the “big time” kid-
naper who had just committed suicide.
“T}] die in a blaze of glory, too,” he
probably told himself. “The papers will
talk about me and Sankey.”
The police had taken away his belt
and necktie, but overlooked a scarf. He
A
‘*SNATCH*’
after he had been held several weeks.
TRIAL ENDS
Manny Strewl, former beer runner, was
found guilty of the abduction of John J.
O’Connell. A large ransom was reported
to have been paid for O’Connell’s freedom,
used it to hang himself, and the keeper © law e
found his lifeless body a few minutes © “perf
later. Big shot! Me and Sankey! ® shod
oLDUP MEN have gone Hollywood! E Bic (
For some time they have been vic- Scot
timizing the stars, threatening to dis- 4
figure them permanently with a dash © the Y
of acid in the face if they report their = ment
losses. em Th
When Mae West went into court and > now
helped convict the gangsters who pur- direc
loined her jewels, missi
Tue Crime WavE she took a healthy . educ:
IN HoLLtywoopD whack at the latest » and1
racket in the film » mont
capital. “They even threaten to kill > pick«
us,” she said in regard to the thugs. ~. man:
“It’s time someone called their hand, not ¢
and if it has to be me, I’! do it.” > inve:
There have been scores of robberies » how
similar to Mae’s case, but the police »- will
have failed to hear about them. For e Be
instance, the lovely Frances Dee and * tion
her husband, Joel McCrea, were driving © forc
out to Pacific Palisades when a masked > brar
man held them up. Miss Dee had to © don
turn over her purse, and McCrea gave > pati:
the robber his wallet, watch and over- B. Is
coat. Then the bandit disappeared, con- 4 erat
fident that the law would not be put on P we,
his trail. } cent
What Hollywood needs, apparently, is » Age
more citizens like Mae West. She gets > hav
her men. peri
B to t
MERICANS ALWAYS THINK of Scot- offic
land Yard as being the perfect oft
aw
WAS TIRED
. OF LIVING
“] am tired and unable to go on,” wrote
attractive Lyle Volck, who died of an over-
dose of sleeping potion. Lyle, who was
twenty-two, was the fifth wife of the well
known man-about-town, Morris Volck.
bl
t
“the alles order suspéndin
; arrest of motorists driving fa ‘
— city without new registrati:
‘ plates on their cars will expirg’
; “taldnight tonight. After that
THREE. ‘OTHERS WOUNDED
‘| Four armed robbers held” up the}.
Loot Meus $13,900—Two ” ‘Bank|
‘Officers Kidnapped—$24, 000
Wg Taken at Coleman, Texas.
/ special to Tux New Yous Trars, ”
“ROCHESTER, N. Y., Feb. 2.—
Union Trust Company branch bank
| today cin Ateeanint hadi about
$12,000
"Rushing in the front ae ae 12: 30
P. M., they: ordered the emplo
to put’ up their hands. and thas
their eyes and forced the two men
Chief: Inspector: Lewis J: Se
tine ‘said yesterday viciato
would be liable to summon?
arrest.
, The five offices of the Bureau
Motor Vehicles which jssue ¢
pees wili close at noon today
; Valentine explained th
. aby police Department's order a
‘plied only within the city’s limi:
A. drop of about 20,000 in +
~ | Ricle registrations, compared «:
last. year, was’ reported by
James Brody, Deputy Comm
sioner at the Bureau of Mor
Vehicles headquarters, 155 Wor
Street. At the close of busine
Thursday, 371,696 passenger ¢a
and 80,284 commercial ven-é
had. been registered in the #
‘boroughs of the city, he said.
fs customers to He on ane poet: te ledsed until the car had gone:
gore of the
er’a cage,
aphea bag con
miles.
As a result he saw the shoo:/n
phe two other bandit. victims a3.:
eedham Heights sectic
There, in front of the alavict: :
tation, Patrolman Frank Hadd:
was chatting with Fireman Timo?
é out, calling a ‘warning for no one| Coughlin.’ Neither was aware t=
move, : it had been a hold-up.
thee bank sat Camille Schoolneester, ;
bank guard, eating his lunch
and unaware of what was happen-
below.
the. cellar ‘washroont was Miss
© employe, who
Suddenly a burst of fire fel
both, Haddock with machine g
bullets in his bladder and groin a
Coughlin: shot through - the: ab.
men. The officer managed to 4-
his revolver and fire one shot
ne upstairs as the hold-up was in| fore he fainted. The condition
fess. She saw. the gunmen, | both men was critical tonight.
“behind. the vault and tele-|. /Pingerprints obtained at +;
| police, the hold- bank by Roscoe Hill, State po.
: Rs g efpert, were found to check Ww:
. spanait | Wanlahed ef before those of Henry Preston and Jc
cars, Carroll, Boston h gangsters,
e "$24,000 Haul Mad Made in Texas,
‘A é 1 ea eS By The Associated Press.
N.Y. Fr —Sta ‘COLEMAN, Texas, Feb. 2.—Th:
me GF alic ol coe 3 Stata masked and heavily armed m
mae hevs Ri ; bandits. took two {robbed the First Coleman Natio:
ee trom State Ex- {Bank of $24,000 today, kidnapp
out ve ‘
arbiters. ihitlintiaa Sie . r y
es " tes
4 ss
te ea st aa ad A lal os
os ©,
ig this afternoon | six employes, but later relea:
from enna them, and escaped.
‘The men worked methodicai
had | going first to the home of a Ne
ie porter ‘Of the bank before davis:
forced him to go to thé ba
Millen Millen and Faber |g
sid warrants against | father tonight voiced his third pu
= alias James’ ¥ | tic appeal
than two.weeks ago... ©
the elder Bremer stood with head
release of the 37-year-old banker.
al for the return.of his son,| ©
Edward: G, Bremer, St. Paul bank-|) ©
|| er, selzed for $200,000 ransom more |
aK | nence—you can," were the words of|
| Adolph Bremer, principal owner of}
“In the living room of his home|
as he pleaded for the immediate|
s| -*Piease—give this—all—the promi-| -
wie
and ease ¢
of other
’“T realize that/I cannot: publish} -
}my choice in making this contact,”
‘Mr. Bremer’s statement said. ‘‘To
Efe
rom | tions:
:
ne regardless of where he may be.
Have Edward write this party a
8.
erford of that tow ferring to this notice in the press
warrant for the man’s ar-| so that I will: know he has read it.
eg A ee Enclose. with Edward’s letter your
ag el 5
nae
ward selects, but be sure to give
sufficient time for th§ instructions
to be carried out. =
“J give’ you my word of honor
ne when this contact is made no one
Wependent «ain, i. : except the parties named by you
eke passengers. r. Stake! ~ | shall have any knowledge of its ex-
wonivn mgave the.order after th ae Seen istence.”” bs
a. os af the / : rep rayiy An intimation that police and
‘entider ’ ‘% , d int Federal authorities, as a last re-
sort, would get the cooperation of
the family in attempting to track
| down the abductors was contained
| in the last paragraph, which said::
_ “If I have not heard from Ed-
ward within three days and three
nights I shall understand that you
iF
Th
ne
3
do not wish to deal with me and I}.
will feel I am released from any /j_
empha ta « he ve-| # hans,
ie, Whee a policeman on obligations as contained in this
ed toward the picket. wae bake ic PY | note.’ - See
» “Edward will have to select some :
letter in his own handwriting rej
_- iggemagemegertmnnenntnme ~ . | prints corresponded with convince you that there is no catch|
ie hy tae 5 HAS ee » fa “by in this effort of mine I can see but;
¢ and - igton . police.. _an-| one way.to.work ou “egotia-| >
‘instructions to the party that Ed-}:
:|-4 Mr; Bremer then stated that city,|]| =
|
|
For reservation
565 Fifth a
ee eee beeen: | a
348 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
first prize was taken the 15th of November. Pimer. I say
it was on or about that day; I set down the very day in my
journal, but it was torn out; I cannot swear to a day.
Quelch. How many ton was the second vessel that was
taken ?
The Present. Captain Quelch, this is not cross-examining
the witness, but rather examining him over again; if you
wish to say anything to the purpose, you should acquaint this
Court, where you took those quantities of gold dust, and coined
gold, those negroes, etc., that have been shown to this Court;
if they were taken from the French, or Spaniards, let us see
some of them here, or some evidence of their being so taken.
The Queen’s Advocate. We are now gone through the
course of the Queen’s evidence against Captain John Quelch,
the prisoner at the bar; and besides what his accomplices
have declared against him, the circumstances of this matter
are so many, as to put it beyond all question, but that the
prisoner at the bar is guilty of what he stands charged with;
for upon his trial, we have seen the King of Portugal’s ensign
flying, his coin current, his servants, I mean his negroes
waiting, his merchandise exposed to public view, insomuch,
one would think that we were in Portugal itself. Upon the
whole matter, we must leave it to her majesty’s honorable
commissioners of this Court to consider whether Captain John
Quelch is not guilty of the several piracies, robberies, and
murder, that he stands charged withal.
The Court was now cleared, and after an hour’s considera-
tion, the Court opened again.
The Presipent. John Quelch, it is now six days since this
Court first sat, by her majesty’s special command to myself,
and these gentlemen commissioners, before whom you have
been indicted upon, or charged with several articles of piracies,
robberies, and murder; and you have been heard thereupon.
This Court hath weighed and considered the several evidences
that have been produced on her majesty’s behalf against you,
and your own allegations for you; and upon the whole, have
found, and adjudged you Guilty of the several articles of
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS — 349
piracy, robbery, and murder, wherewith you are charged,
and have agreed that sentence should be pronounced against
you,for the sqme accordingly.
The Register. Make proclamation of silence.
The Cryer, All manner of persons are commanded to keep
silence while judgment is giving, upon pain of imprison-
ment.
The sentenge of death as the law directs in cases of piracy
was then pronounced by the Presipent upon Captain Quelch.
THE TRIAL OF JOHN LAMBERT AND CHARLES
JAMES FOR PIRACY, BOSTON, MASSA-
CHUSETTS, 1704.
June 20,
The Court was opened, and proclamation made. Lambert,
Wilde, Scudamore, Roach, Perkins and James were set to
the bar, and after some little time spent, John Lambert and
Charles James desired that they two might be tried by them-
selves; upon which the Court ordered the rest to be taken
from the bar; and then the Court proceeded to examine the
witnesses on behalf of the
The Presipent. Pimer, what
do you know as to Lambert’s be-
ing concerned in confining Cap-
tain Plowman, and altering the
voyage? Pimer. I cannot say
that either he or James were con-
cerned in bolting the cabin door,
but they were both on board
when we came to sail; and
though they declared they were
unwilling to go to the southward,
yet after Captain Plowman’s
death, there was a consultation
held, and both Lambert and
James were at it; and I know
nothing to the contrary, but that
they consented with the majority.
The Court. Please to let the
Articles be read to the witnesses,
and then ask, how far Lambert
and James were concerned in all
or any of them.
Art. 1, read. Witnesses. Lam-
bert and James were on board
when we took that vessel, and so
Queen against the prisoner.®
at the second and third, fourth
and fifth.
The PresipEnT. And as active
as any of the rest? Witnesses.
Yes.
Art. 6, read. Witnesses. They
were both on board our brigan-
tine when this was done, and as-
sisted at the seventh and eighth
captions.
Art. 9, read. Witnesses. Lam-
bert was on board the tender,
above a mile off at that time, but
James was one that boarded the
ship. .
The Presipent. Lambert and
James, would you ask the wit-
nesses any questions?
Lambert. I was sick down in
the gun room when they bolted
the door upon the captain, and
hever gave my consent to go to
the southward. What I did, I
was forced to.
The Preswent. Pimer, did
2 Three negroes belouging to Captain Quelch were first put to the
bar and pleaded not guilty to the charges of piracy. It being proved
that they were simply cooks on board the vessel and handled no arms,
the Court, after a short conference, declared them not guilty.
350
LAMBERT AND CHARLES JAMES 351
you ever hear Lambert protest
against any of these piratical ac-
tions, or did he desire to be set
on shore. Pimer. He did desire
to be set on shore; but it was be-
fore the captain went from Nan-
tasket. I never heard any of
them manifest their dislike as to
our going to Brazil, but were as
forward as the rest were.
The Present, Pimer, do you
know whether [Lambert and
James had their share of the
treasure? Witnesses. They had
each of them their shares.
The PresipENnT, What say you,
James?
James. I was constrained
against my will ta go to sea, and
was deluded by false pretenses.
The PresIDENT. Pimer, what
say you as to James?
Pimer. I cannot say that he
said anything of what he pre-
tends he said, but that he was un-
willing to pilot the ship, which I
judged was, because he was
averse to the voyage.
The Presipent. Did you hear
Lambert advise the captain to go
off from the coast of Brazil
against some known enemy? JWit-
messes. No, we never heard him
give any such advice. Pimer. I
have heard him several times de-
clare himself against the voyage,
but never express himself sor-
rowful for, or protest against
any of the piracies, nor James
either.
The Presment. You have
brought in a very considerable
treasure with you, whereof each
of you have had your shares.
Whence had you it? Where are
the French and Spaniards you
took it from? James. It was
the commander did it; and we
were not on board the vessel that
took the gold dust. The reason
we accepted of our shares was,
because otherwise they would
have killed us, or set us upon
some desolate island, where we
should have been starved. Lam-
bert. I was only at the taking
of two of the vessels; and you
may be sure I would never have
come home in the vessel, if I had
thought I had done anything
amiss, or that I should have been
arraigned for.
The Prisoners having nothing further to offer, the Court
was ordered to be cleared, and in some small time after opened
again, and the prisoners sent to the bar.
The Presipent. John Lambert and Charles James; you
have been arraigned upon several articles of piracy, etc.,
committed by you (with others) upon the subjects of her
majesty’s good ally, ete., to which you have pleaded Not
Guilty ; you have been heard thereupon, what you had to say
for yourselves; this Court having considered the evidence
for the Queen against you, and your own allegations for you,
do adjudge each of you guilty of the several articles of piracy,
etc. What have you to say why sentence of death should not
be pronounced against you?
352 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
The Prisoners. We must leave it to God and your honors;
We are as innocent as the child unborn of the things we are
charged withal.
The Present. Harken to the sentence of the Court against
you.
Then sentence was pronounced by the Preswent of the
Court, as the law directs in cases of piracy.
THE TRIAL OF CHRISTOPHER SCUDAMORE
AND THE REST OF CAPTAIN QUELCH’S
CREW FOR PIRACY, BOSTON, MASSA-
CHUSSETS, 1704.
June 20.
Benjamin Perkins, William Wilde, Christopher Seuda-
more and Peter Roach were set to the bar.
It was ordered that Scudamore be tried by himself, and the
rest taken from the bar.
The several articles being read to the witnesses, they all
swore that Scudamore was with them all the voyage; that he
was very active in everything, and that he had his share of
the gold.
The Queen’s Advocate. May it please your excellency, we
shall further prove against the prisoner at the bar that he
was the only man who gave the mortal wound to the captain
of the Portuguese ship.
The PresipENT. Pimer, what
do you know as to that? There
was a controversy on board our
brigantine, concerning who it was
that killed the captain of the Por-
tuguese ship, Scudamore, saying,
it was he, and another said, it
was he that did it.
The Present. Set up the
negro boy who was taken in that
ship.
The negro boy being set up,
was bid to look upon the pris-
oner and say, whether it was he
who killed his master. And the
interpreters reported to the
Court, that the negro boy said
that was the man who killed his
master, and that he killed him
with a petard; that his master
fell down immediately, and did
not speak a word.
The Prestpent. What say
you, Scudamore? Scudamore. I
did not kill the captain of the
Portuguese ship.
The Prestpent. Where is
your gold? Scudamore. I ean-
not tell; what I said upon my
first examination about it is false.
The Presipent. Have you
anything farther to say? Scuda-
more. No.
After this a petition was given into court, signed by several of the
prisoners, viz.; William Wilde, John Dorothy, Dennis Carter, Peter
Roach, Francig King, John Pitman, Richard Laurence, Benjamin
Perkins, Erasmus Peterson, John Carter, Nicholas Richardson, John
King, James Apstin, William Jones and Charles King; praying that
353
354 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
they might withdraw their several pleas of not guilty, and be ad-
mitted to confess and plead guilty, hoping thereupon for the queen’s
mercy, ete.
Upon which they were each of them asked whether they set their
hands to that petition? And they all severally owned they did.
The PresiweNnt. You who have here subscribed this petition, must
be told, that your commander, and some others of your company, have
had their trials, and are found guilty. We do not take your plead-
ing guilty now to be any submission, nor will it of itself entitle you
to mercy. This Court can make no bargain with you. If any of you
can be distinguished as being forced away, professing against the
voyage, sickness or the like, this Court will consider it, so far as is
proper for them.
The Presipent. You must ask each of the prisoners, one by one,
whether they are guilty, or not guilty, of what they are charged with.
The Register. How say you, Richard Lawrence, are you guilty or
not guilty?
Richard Lawrence. Guilty.
So said Erasmus Peterson, John Carter, Francis King, Peter
Roach, ete., the rest of the petitioners.
After this, John Miller was set
to the bar.
The queen’s witnesses being ex-
amined about John Miller, made
oath, that he was on board the
brigantine Charles during the
voyage, and did not protest
against going upon the coast of
Brazil; that he was in health, and
serviceable at the time of every
caption, as the rest were, and
had his share of the gold, etc.,
that was taken.
Miller said he was sick during
some part of the voyage.
Witnesses. He was so, but was
well again before we made our
first caption. (Article 4th read.)
He was at this caption well in
health, and consenting to it; so at
the 5th and 6th articles, and at
the taking of the prize in the
7th article. (Article 8th read.)
He was then on board the tender
that took the gold vessel. (9th
Article read.) He boarded that
ship with sword and pistol.
The Prestipent. What have
you to say for yourself? You
have heard what has been proved
against you. Miller. I was at
the taking of the ship and a
bark; but did not know what they
were, for they showed no colors.
The Presment. Pimer, did
you ever hear any of your com-
pany say, as if Miller was one of
Avery’s crew? Pimer. I heard
some of them say, they heard him
say so himself; so said Clifford.
Miller. I was none of Avery’s
company.
The PresipENT: Set John Tem-
pleton to the bar.
The Queen’s Witnesses being
sworn deposed that John Temple.
ton was on board the brigantine
all their late voyage, and that he
did sometimes bear arms; but be-
ing not above fifteen years of
age, they allowed him but half
a share, which his master was
also to have; that he was for two
months together eook on board
the tender but being but a boy,
he had no vote with the rest of
the company, but was ordered as
every one pleased.
" SCUDAMORE AND keST OF QUELCH’S CREW 355
Henry Franklin. The prisoner
at the bar was his servant and
that he put him on board the
brigantine Char]es as such, upon
Captain Plowman’s request; that
he saw his boy the Sunday eve-
‘ning after the pirates came in,
and that his share of gold was
never in his own keeping, for that
the company would not trust
him with it, but he received it
for him.
The Presip—nt. Templeton,
what have you to say?
Templeton. 1 have nothing to
say but that my master sent me
out, and I knew not whither we
were going.
William Whiting was set to
the bar, and charged with the
same articles of piracy, ete., who
thereupon pleaded Not Guilty.
Pimer and the rest of the wit-
nesses being examined concern-
ing him, informed the Court that
from the first time of their com-
ing upon the coast of Brazil, un-
til their coming home, Whiting
was sick, and never bore arms,
being utterly uncapable of doing
anything.
The Prestpent. Had he any
share? Witnesses. He had six-
teen ounces allowed him by the
company; but they told him it
was not for his deserts, but out
of their generosity that they gave
it to him.
THR JUDGMENTS
The Preswent. Did he ex-
press eny dissatisfaction at what
was done? Witnesses. No, not
that I heard; but he was taken
sick on the beginning of Novem-
ber, and came very sick ashore.
S. Sewall. Whiting, upon his
examination, told me that he had
been acquainted with Captain
Plowman at New York, and that
it was out of respect that he had
for him that he came hither, and
went the voyage.
William Clark sworn, deposed,
that Captain Plowman sent for
Mr. Colman and himself, and
recommended the prisoner to
them as a person fit to be clerk
or secretary on board the ship,
and to take an account of all
their affairs; and that Captain
Plowman’s letters to them were
written by, the prisoner; and
when he came ashore, he was in a
very low condition; but said,
when he was able, he would do
them all the service he could.
Pimer. I know of his writing
letters from Captain Plowman.
The Presipent. Would you
say anything yourself, Whiting?
Whiting. I never was in any ac-
tion, being sick all the while we
were on the coast of Brazil, and
did not discover their piracy
when T came on shore, because I
was then very sick, and like to
die.
AND SENTENCE.
June 21,
The Court being opened, and proclamation made, John
Templeton and William Whiting were set to the bar.
The Presipent. John Templeton, this Court has considered
your case, and have been very indulgent to you in regard of
your youth, and have adjudged you to be Not Guilty—And
sod,
lam *
set
or
teehee eRe HR FE AN vet
THE ATROCIOUS
KILLINGS |
(Right) The
Needham Trust
Company (in fore-
ground) scene of brazen
robbery. The picture looks
across the railroad tracks in direc-
tion the bandits fled
(Lower right) Walter Bartholomew, elderly
vault attendant, wantonly shot down by the ban-
dits. This picture was posed especially for TRUE
DETECTIVE readers
stick-ups, hold-ups of theaters and business establishments,
raids for weapons and ammunition, wanton murders. Police
arrested Louis Berrett and Clement Molway, Boston taxicab
drivers, as principals in a robbery and murder at the Para-
mount Theater, Lynn, and they were awaiting trail. Another
astounding crime immediately followed, a raid on the Boston
automobile show and the theft of an exhibit of State Police
weapons, including gas bombs, riot guns and a machine gun
of .45 caliber. While police were working desperately to solve
this crime, there came on the morning of February 2nd, 1934,
a flash over the police teletype from Needham. The Needham
Trust Company had been raided and four men shot, two of
them fatally.
The Story Continues:
—Part Four—
UCH valuable time had been lost when the alarm was
flashed through the ether and over waiting electric
lines for this latest murderous outrage. When the
State Police teletype brought the news to the Massa-
chusetts State House of the flaming machine-gun bullets which
were snuffing out the lives of honest men and crippling faith-
ful employees, the marauders were escaping in a fast car. The
As told to FRED H. THOMPSON
Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
The Truth About the Atrocious M assachusetts Killings ‘57
(Below) A Needham newsboy points to the bank window
through which murderous bullets whizzed, bringing death
to Patrolman McLeod
brutally and without warning upon the scene of peaceful
industry. i
‘Arnold Mackintosh, treasurer of the Needham Trust Com-
pany, was in his private office dictating routine letters to his
confidential stenographer, Miss Elizabeth Kimball; and Ernest
R. Keith, the assistant treasurer, was in his office in the front
of the bank, busy with his ordinary duties. They had no
inkling that. the. horrible specters of tragedy and death were
hovering near. They could not guess'that one of the worst
verimes Massachusetts‘ever has known was: about to. break on
the peaceful scene—and to:lead to an astounding dénouement.
Behind ‘the tellers’ windows were John R.-:Riordan and
Robert C. Locer, preparing neat stacks of paper money and
rolls of coin for the day’s financial transactions. Aida M
Powell; the loan clerk, was checking.over her records. Walter
Bartholomew, elderly vault attendant, slightly handicapped
by.a lame Jeg; was limping about, busily intent on the tas of
preparing to serve the bank’s clients.
A STRANGER was noticed as he entered the front door,
‘LX stood just inside for a moment glancing around, then
abruptly turned and went out. None of the bank staff gave
him any particular attention, 4 fact soon to be bitterly re-
gretted. A casual glance suggested that the stranger, later
‘recalled rather uncertainly as youngish and fairly well clothed,
had suddenly discovered that he entered the wrong premises,
that he had forgotten something or abruptly changed his
mind about attending then to some banking business.
It was now around 9:45 in the morning, and the train from
Needham Junction was: due at the near-by railroad station.
Frank Villa, gate-tender at the grade crossing a few yards
from the bank, started to lower the (Continued on page 93)
(Left) Captain Charles
Van Amburgh, ballistics
expert, shown studying
the Needham bank rob-
bery exhibits
(Above) Five officers who investigated the Needham outrage.
Left to right: Assistant District Attorney Fortier; State
Detective-Lieutenants John Stokes, Joseph Ferrari, and
Michael Fleming; and District Attorney Edmund Dewing,
of Norfolk County. (Left) Two officers of the Needham
Trust Company, who miraculously escaped death in the rob-
bery, pose for TRUE DETECTIVE’S camera-man; Arnold
Mackintosh, treasurer (left) and John D. Riordan, teller
dreadful story was slowly pieced together by investigators.
The coldest winter in the memory of the present generation
had sent the mercury to a few degrees above zero in the busy
little town of Needham, a dozen miles west of Boston, on the
morning of February 2nd, 1934, when the bleak winter sun
began to illuminate the rutted ice of the roads and the deep
snow-drifts which obliterated lawns of the neat homes, gar-
dens and fields. At 9 o’clock that morning, nine employees
of the Needham Trust Company had waded through the
snow-drifts and were at their desks in readiness for the open-
ing of the bank.
RS. MARY GAYKAN and Miss Evelyn Johnson, book-
keepers, began their day’s work in the rear office used
as the accounting department, and opening from the main
floor of the bank. A window in this room had been opened
enough for ventilation. After a few minutes the two young
women felt the draft through the open door and spoke about
it. Mrs. Gaykan closed the door to stop the draft rather
than close the window and cut off. the supply of fresh air.
That casual act may have saved their lives two minutes Jater
when stark tragedy, coldly cruel and willfully wanton, burst
—
ee
Ser an
*
THE TRUTH ABOUT TF
MASSACHUSETTS K
(Left) Street
scene in Needham,
Massachusetts, look-
ing toward fire station
(right), location of bank
bandits second murder, on Feb-
ruary 2nd, 1934
(Lower left) Patrolman Forbes McLeod,
World War veteran, murdered by the Needham
bandits, when he answered the burglar alarm set
off at the bank
The Story So Far:
HILE Governor Ely was striving to persuade the State
Legislature to consent to a reorganization of the Town,
City and State Police forces of the Commonwealth into a
co-ordinated and unified body properly trained and equipped
to protect the public from ruthless forays by the worst criminal
gangs Massachusetts ever had known, the crime menace was
terribly intensified by a swift succession of malign atrocities.
Banks were raided and robbed in daylight hours—hitherto
an almost unknown crime in the Bay State; there were payroll
By
OVERNOR OF
MASSACHUSETTS
Captain Michael Barrett of the
Massachusetts State Police inspects
the canvas bag, found in the raided
Dorchester garage, that pointed
clearly to the innocence of Clement
Molway and Lewis Berrett, the
Boston taxicab drivers held for the
Lynn outrage
at the Paramount Theater in Lynn where
a man was killed. I said I had read about
that case in the paper and two Boston
fellows were being tried for murder. Murt
suid: ‘To hell with them. Let them
burn. It will be another load off our
shoulders.’
“One time Murt pulled out a thirty-
cight-caliber revolver and said he had
taken it away from a cop he stuck up.
Of course, I didn’t believe it. But it
scared Norma. She told Murt: ‘Oh, shut
up! You talk too much.’”
“Those Miller. boys had plenty of
money to flash around lately, didn’t
they?” suggested a Burns man.
“Well,” Messinger hesitated, “I guess
they had plenty of money when _ they
were here in New York. But their family
is prosperous. And I think Murt is_in
the radio business with Abe Faber. He’s
another old friend of Murt’s in Boston.”
“XN 7OU said Murt bragged about split-
ting twelve thousand dollars three
ways on one job. Who were the other two
he claimed to have split with?”
“Why, he was just lying to kid me
along. I didn’t believe him. Norma and
his brother Irving were there and he
might have meant them. Or perhaps Abe
Faber. He made some cracks about Abe
getting in on some jobs with him and
making a lot of money lately. They keep
in touch with Abe all the time; send
letters through him in Boston same as
they have through me here.”
The detectives exchanged significant
glances. Messages were flashing quickly
to Boston. To George Breach, weary to
exhaustion after weeks of disheartening
plugging on the puzzling series of bank
stick-ups. To the headquarters of the
Massachusetts State Police detectives,
whence Detective-Lieutenant John Stokes
(just promoted to captain of detectives
as these lines are written to command
his department) was rushed posthaste
for New York.
At 5 A.M. up on the 7th floor of the
Half Moon Hotel, the detectives decided
that they and Messinger better knock
off and snatch an hour’s sleep. But at
True Detective Mysteries
6 o’clock that Sunday morning they were
up and at it again.
Heavy-eyed but alert, Lieutenant Eason
snatched some breakfast and reported for
duty on schedule at the 60th Precinct
Police Station. He ran into a curious bit
of casual information that started him
thinking. A woman apparently of Jewish
parentage who spoke very broken English
had been in and tried to see Saul Mes-
singer. She was excited and said some-
thing that sounded to the man on the
desk like “yellow paper.”
Yellow paper suggested a telegram to
Eason. Messinger had been with the
detectives since Saturday morning and
certainly hadn’t had any chance to send
a telegram to anybody. Might mean a
telegram had come for Messinger, was
at his lodging-house. Both his roommate
and his landlady knew police had escorted
him to the precinct station.
Eason leaped into a car and raced for
Mermaid Avenue. Over in the Half
Moon Hotel, Messinger was being per-
suaded to telephone for his girl friend
Elsie to come over. The detectives with
him wanted her story for corroboration
and perhaps some interesting new points.
She agreed to come.
Eason discovered with some difficulty
that there really was a telegram for Saul
Messinger. It had been waiting for him
some hours. The yellow envelope was
surrendered to the detective-lieutenant
with reluctance. He calmly ripped it
open. The message read:
MEET ME LOBBY LINCOLN HOTEL
SUNDAY 11 AM
ABEL
It had been sent from Washington,
D.C.
ASON dashed for a telephone. The ap-
pointment was for 11 o’clock and al-
ready it was 11:10. He saw a pay station
and sprinted into the booth, grabbing des-
perately into his pockets, hoping to find a
nickel and save the delay of trying to get
change. He found one and got through
to the secret hide-out in the Half Moon
Hotel in moments that seemed like hours.
Detective-Lieutenant Stokes had just
arrived there from Boston, travel-stained
but breathless and eager. Jim Smith an-
swered the telephone.
“Get out!” yelled Eason. “Get to West
17th Street and Surf Avenue.” He
dashed back to his car and raced for the
rendezvous. It was on the way in the
right direction for the fellows from the
Half Moon’ Hotel and would save a little
time.
Messinger was rushed out with his es-
cort of detectives. They didn’t know
what was afoot, but from the way Lieu-
tenant ‘Eason’s voice sounded over the
telephone it must be something red hot.
They had grabbed hats and coats and
scrambled into them any way as they
ran. As they jumped into Al Hall’s car,
and just as it turned to speed away, Saul
Messinger’s friend Elsie showed up. They
had to leave her standing there.
Eason was met at the Surf Avenue in-
tersection and two of the party rode with
him, Hall’s car following. There fol-
lowed a wild ride over eighteen miles of
ice-coated and snow-covered highway to
the Lincoln Hotel. The detectives kept
their hands thrust out the windows wav-
ing their badges, to get through traffic
signals and pacify startled policemen.
They remember it as the wildest motor
trip they ever made.
As they approached the hotel just past
noon, Lieutenant Eason was making
plans. He would enter first, and the
others would slip in quietly and incon-
spicuously, covering all entrances to the
lobby. They believed that “Abel” was a
code signature for Murton Millen, and
Messinger agreed that it probably was.
They hoped to find Murton Millen
waiting in the lobby, and to arrest him
on a charge of murder. For they were
becon ng convinced that he was the most
ruthless and murderous bandit Massa-
chusetts ever had known.
But Murton was not in the lobby, or
anywhere in the hotel. Nor was there
any trace of his brother Irving and wife
Norma. The detectives were bitterly dis-
appointed but not at all hopeless. The
Millens might show up later, or there
might be another message for Saul Mes-
singer. There was more careful plan-
ning.
| gesesy 706 was engaged and Messinger
left there under guard. This also gave
Stokes a chance to talk with him and get
his story first hand. Other detectives
were stationed inconspicuously at vantage
points to cover the lobby. They had
photographs and excellent descriptions of
the two Millen brothers and of Norma.
And Saul Messinger was being held as an
ace in the hole.
The long afternoon passed slowly and
nothing happened. At 5 o’clock another
telegram came for Messinger. It read:
MEET ME LOBBY LINCOLN 5 PM
ABEL
Messinger was now stationed on the
mezzanine where he could watch the
lobby, and instructed to take out his
handkerchief and brush it across his nose
and lips if he saw any of the Millen
party. Another time of waiting.
Stokes saw Messinger take out his
handkerchief and make the signal. He
was looking down at a smiling youth with
dark, curly hair. The detectives were
quietly surrounding him, and as the smil-
ing suspect saw them closing in his right
hand flashed to a pocket. He was grip-
ping a gun. Before he could raise it
someone grabbed his wrist. Blackjacks,
fists and gun barrels swung. He went
down with a swift, sharp struggle, bat-
tered into submission.
Handcuffs were snapped onto his wrists
and he was rushed up to Room 706 so
quickly and quietly that only a few in
the lobby noticed anything amiss.
The trap was again ready. Presently,
another young man entered the lobby
with a handsome girl who was smiling,
and beautifully dressed. He resembled
the first captive, but looked somewhat
older, and he wore a sneering expression
rather than a smile. Again the detec-
tives closed in. They were not taking
chances this time, and one held a re-
volver ready for fast action.
The youth with the pretty girl darted
Saul Messinger (left), key witness in
the Millen case, shown with a
Massachusetts State Trooper
out a hand, gn
wrest it from
struggle it was
went upward in
harm anyone.
of blows and
was another bli
in handcuffs.
But the girl’
entire lobby, a1
excitement as -
were rushed t
HE three }
positively id
names. The |
Norma Millen
younger broth¢
The Millen
dued for a tin
patched up th
rather = chippe
They protest:
outrage. Tol
for, they dem
Needham bau
any other Mas
Captain
Massach\
= to the
1? was a
len, and
iv was.
1 Millen
rest him
hey were
the most
Massa-
lobo, or
| vas there
ind wite
terly dis-
SS. The
or there
Saul Mes-
!
ful plan-
Messinger
also gave
n and get
detectives
t vantage
Chev had
iptions of
xt Norma.
held as an
lowly and
k another
It read:
> PM
ABEL
d on the
watch the
out his
3 his nose
he Millen
out his
ignal. He
youth with
tives were
3 the smil-
n his right
grip-
lc re it
Blackjacks,
He went
uggle, bat-
» his wrists
om 706 so
y a few in
niss.
Presently,
the lobby
as smiling,
resembled
somewhat
x expression
the detec-
not taking
held a re-
girl darted
witness in
with a
ooper
out a hand, gripped the gun_and tried to
wrest it from the officer. In the quick
struggle it was discharged, but the bullet
went upward into a partition and did not
harm anyone. Again there was the thud
of blows and in brief moments there
was another bloody and battered prisoner
in handcuffs.
But the girl’s screams had startled the
entire lobby, and this time there was wild
excitement as she and her fettered escort
were rushed to Room 706.
if tam three prisoners were quickly and
positively identified and admitted their
names. The last pair were Murton an
Norma Millen. The first captive was the
younger brother Irving.
The Millen brothers were quite sub-
dued for a time, but after a doctor had
patched up their sore heads they became
rather chipper and somewhat defiant.
They protested against their arrest as an
cutrage. Told what they were wanted
for, they denied having any part in the
Needham bank hold-up and murders, or
any other Massachusetts crimes.
True Detective Mysteries
Asked about the battery one of them
had had repaired, and which was posi-
tively identified when it was found in the
stolen Packard bandit car discovered
abandoned and burned in the Norwood
woods after the Needham outrage, Mur-
ton explained it was all a mistake. He
said that a man he knew only as “Joe”
and who had a Packard had asked him
to have the battery repaired. He be-
lieved “Joe” to be a dangerous person
and so had consented to perform this
service. That was all he knew about it.
Then “Joe” had appeared after the Need-
ham crime and threatened them all with
death. So they fled from Boston secretly
to save their lives.
Search of the prisoners revealed that all
three were abundantly supplied with
cash. There also was a newspaper clip-
ping listing serial numbers of bills stolen
from the Needham Trust Company.
Murton had a passbook showing a recent
deposit of forty-seven hundred dollars
in the Hamilton National Bank, and a
claim check for a piece of baggage left at
Union Station in Washington, where they
had been staying at Hotel Harrington
Captain Michael Fleming snapped as he took Abe Faber, brilliant alumnus of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and the reputed brains of a vicious gang
(right), to Dedham for questioning
93
DOWN
GOES THE PRICE OF
SHAVING COMFORT
NOW
PROBAK
HAVING comfort hit an all-
S time low in price with the
announcementofProbakJunior
—the remarkable new double-
edge razor blade. Think of it!
You get 25 keen, smooth-shav-
ing blades, uniform in quality,
for only 59¢. You'll wonder
how such fine blades can be
sold for so little money.
Probak Junior js the product
of unequalled manufacturing
methods and matchless skill.
This blade is automatically
tempered, ground, honed and
stropped—gives you wonderful
shaving satisfaction. TryProbak
Junior and see for yourself. Get
them today from your dealer.
Probak Junior fits all Gillette
and Probak razors
Home Study
Accountancy Training
Accountants who know their work
command responsible positions and
poet incomes. And the need for
rained accountants is growing.
About 12,000 Certified Public Ac-
countants in U. S. and many thou-
sands more executive accountants.
Many earn $3,000 to $20,000. We
train you thoroughly at home in your
spare time for C. P. A. examinations
or executive accounting positions. }
Spaces Deeeretars enow edge ae .
nec —we prepareyou rom groun This
up. Our training is supervised by Wm. |
OO eg MOC. A., assisted BookF REE *
by staff of C. P. A.s. Low cost—easy terms. Write for valu-
able free 64-page book describing opportunities in account-
ing field and telling how you may enter it successfully.
LASALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY
Dept. 12306-H Chicago
got stuck
ime,” he
both shm
in a big
d got me
ith them.
{ I hap-
rey never
their ga-
the doors
rough the
they were
signs and
vere prob-
d them—
pretty girl
Vays took
ght. One
to come
d the girl
in a small
and drive
{uring the
he big car
the small
ad grinned.
ck? Mur-
no Packard.
minister’s
“But Tm
aoney bag,
n in Salem
_ynn it now
know any-
is thinking
with Abe
ilk, as soon
{ been care-
d garage in
ll the items
ue the late
Detective-
rk. He re-
inder arrest
ce.
nother flash
claim check
> had recov-
tion the bag-
. Opening it
y arsenal of
‘ed the ma-
State Police
een used in
is of ammu-
) extra’ long
ichusetts In-
range, and a
sign.
x the Millen
» Line-Up at
rs on Centre
lights they
taring detec-
ebruary 26th.
longer smil-
vith scowling
‘aken to New
ioning, broke
She begged
urn home to
he admission
of the Rev-
Natick, Mas-
| been in the
n before the
ysther crimes,
ing anything
, graduate. of
in Massachu-
mt at Cornell
he older Mil-
me the previ-
Beach, New
with him and
5 ine aan Petal! 5 <a abies 2 tesa
they had married in two weeks. Norma
said her marriage was against her father’s
wishes, as the clergyman had ordered her
not to see Murton again and so they had
eloped.
_ Newspapers went wild over the sensa-
tional story, printing some sketchy de-
tails and plenty of misinformation.
Norma’s father got the news and rushed
for New York. He told reporters that he
was hastening to his deluded daughter’s
rescue and expected to bring her home
with him. They thought it was a good
story, but they didn’t believe Norma
would be released to go home with her
father. They were printing stories openly
hinting that the pretty young woman,
who had married while still in her ’teens,
was a “gunman’s moll” and had been the
driver of the bandits’ getaway car in not
a few of the worst criminal forays which
had recently horrified Massachusetts.
ET the Reverend Mr. Brighton proved
to be right. He arrived in New York,
saw his daughter, and Norma was turned
over to him by police. They announced
that there was no charge against her.
Father and daughter returned by train to
Boston together. Ubiquitous newspaper-
men duly interviewed them and photo-
graphed them en route.
Norma confided that she was going
home with daddy to lead the simple life.
She had had her fling and was more than
satisfied; in fact, she was bitterly disillu-
sioned. She had been a trusting, inno-
cent girl—and now look what had hap-
pened to her. All she wanted now was
her darling daddy, the humble home in
Natick, the flowers, the birds, the sun-
shine—and her neglected books. She in-
timated plainly that she was all through
with the Millens—Murton had deceived
her and he deserved whatever he got.
Reporters read between the lines that
Norma Millen knew plenty she wasn’t
telling. ‘hat getting caught and putting
her in a nasty jam was her husband’s un-
forgivable offense. But the joyful father
beamed upon his child and coddled her
endearingly.
Another development that astounded
the public came on Monday morning in
Salem when the trial for murder of Ber-
rett and Molway reopened in the Essex
County Superior Court. There was a
lengthy whispered conference at the
judge’s bench and District Attorney Cregg
asked for a postponement, which was at
once granted. The real reason for this
was that Sunday’s sensational develop-
ments had at last convinced the aggres-
sive district attorney that the men he
had been prosecuting, and against whom
he had been demanding the death sen-
tence, actually were absolutely innocent.
He wanted time to get more information,
round up witnesses, before asking an in-
structed verdict of acquittal from the
jury.
Over in New York, Murton and Irving
Millen were demanding lawyers and an-
True Detective Mysteries
nouncing that they intended to fight ex-
tradition. Someone was trying to frame
them. The mysterious “Joe” who had
deluded Murt into having a battery re-
paired, and whose vicious threats of a
“snot” murder had forced them to flee
Boston for their lives, probably was
mixed up in it.
Here in Boston Detective-Lieutenant
Ferrari was quizzing Abe Faber, who had.
had plenty of time to do a lot of think-
ing behind the bars. The radio engineer
appeared to be quite despondent but still
unwilling to do any_important talking.
The news from New York, the results of
the Brinsley Street garage raid, con-
firmed by the daily papers and patiently
reiterated to him by Ferrari, obviously
worried him, but he continued to deny
having any knowledge of interest to the
police.
Ferrari now knew that mail had been
arriving at Faber’s radio shop on Colum-
bus Avenue from the Millens, forwarded
through Messinger at Coney Island, New
York. He knew that Saul Messinger’s
roommate, George, at 1509 Mermaid Ave-
nue, was none other than George Mes-
singer, Saul’s younger brother, who knew
the Millens as well as Saul did. They
had lived as boys together.
Ferrari knew that information from
the Burns detectives and the stories of
the Messinger brothers clearly indicated
two tremendous coups planned by Mur-
ton and Irving Millen, and the third man
who had been working with them.
HERE was a proposed scheme to raid
the prosperous town of Wellesley, just
west of Needham, and knock off three
banks within a few minutes. When an
alarm brought police to the first raided
bank, the bandits would be hitting the
second. Before police got there the third
bank would be ravaged. In crooks’ par-
lance, that ought to net a hundred grand
in perfect safety.
But most unbelievable was this: that
the Millen brothers had gone to Wash-
ington to look over the United States
Mint and Treasury. That a scheme was
being plotted to loot the enormous wealth
of the United States Government itself.
“No! No!” gasped Faber. You are
all wrong. Let me tell you. Here is the
whole truth.”
0.
Abe Faber’s extraordinary revela-
tions, which were to play such an im-
portant part in the fate of the viva-
cious clergyman’s daughter and the
two Millen brothers, will be told by
Governor Ely in the concluding in-
stallment of his story on Massachu-
setts’ appalling crime wave. It will
appear in the January issue of TRUE
DETECTIVE MYSTERIES. On sale at
all news stands December list. Re-
member the date and order your copy
early.
TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES,
To Newspapermen, Police
If you have in mind any fact case, with actual photographs, deemed
suitable for publication in the magazine, please address the Editor,
and ask for our “Letter of Suggestions,” covering full information
relative to writing the accounts of fact crime cases for this magazine.
Officials and Detectives
1926 Broadway, New York City,
| DON'T WANT YOUR
MONEY-HAVE YOU GOT
SN
MILLIONS DEMAND TUMS
FOR GAS .. . HEARTBURN
’S liable to happen any time—that
dreaded attack of acid indigestion. That’s
why most sufferers keep TUMS handy for
an emergency. No need to be held up by fear
of heartburn, sour stomach, or that nause-
ating gassy fullness, when your favorite
foods appear on the dinner table. Millions
now know that TUMS do not contain soda
or any water-soluble alkali—to over-alkalize
the stomach or harm the kidneys. When
TUMS correct the acid condition any excess
‘ passes off inert and unabsorbed. 10c a roll at
any drug store. The 3-roll package contain-
ing handy metal pocket carrier, only 25c.
1985 Calendar - Thermometer, beautifully de-
signed in colors and gold. Also samples MS
and NR. Send stamp Jor postage and packing
to A. H. LEWIS CO., ept.85TJJ, St. Louis, Mo.
FOR THE TUMMY _
TUMS ARE
ANTACID. .
NOTALAXATIVE
For a laxative, use the safe, dependable Vegetable tR
Laxative NR (Nature's Remedy). Only 25 cents.
Old Leg Trouble
Heals at Home While Working
Viscose Method heals old leg sores caused by
leg congestion, varicose veins, swollen legs
and injuries or_no cost for TRIAL. When
sending for FREE BOOK mention cause and
location. Dr. D. G. Clason Viscose Co.,
140 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill.
“ISYOUR HAIR
GETTING THIEN?
Watch ‘your temples and just back of the
crown for beginning baldness. You can often
prevent loss of your hair, say skin specialists,
by stimulating the scalp and hair roots in time.
Japanese Oil is a real medicine containing
ingredients prescribed by doctors for stimulat-
ing the scalp and encouraging hair growth. If
you use it before your hair roots are dead, it
may help you. Thousands have reported benefit.
Delay may mean permanent baldness. Start us-
ing Japanese Oil today—only 60c at all drug-
gists. Economy size, $1. It may save your hair
if the roots are alive.
FREE booklet “The Truth About the Hair,”
explains baldness, its prevention and
treatment. Write to NATIONAL REMEDY
CO., 56 W. 45th St., Dept. 27A, New York.
JAPANESE OIL
* This advertisement was written by @ registered physician.
Get PAID HOURLY
MAKE BIG MONEY! “Ng
Showing my sensational, new, per- - eens
sonalized Hat and Cap Sample ine fase
—fite in pocket—displays values men \
grab for—rich felts—exclusive styles—
superior qualities.
Priced as low as ‘
$1.95. Nothing to deliver. Just write \F
setae see Gide your, profits. Fit and
Satis! on Guaranteed. mp
Complete Outfit Sent FREE! MADE TO MEASURE
You don’t invest a penny to | Exclusive maker of na-
get this money-making oppor- } tionally famous Taylor
tunity. I even give hats and | Rainproof Caps, the
caps to sincere salemen. Send | classy headwear. Smart
me your head size and name— | new patterns —lower
get the facts. You can start | prices—no experience
pocketing cash in five minutes | needed to make dig
with my plans. Rush name. | cash profits hourly—El-
TAYLOR HAT & CAP MERS. | liot, Utah, took five or-
Dept.15-M, 15-17 WestSixthst. | ders the first 15 minutes.
CINCINNATI, OHIO t J
ornate nee ren nee De ee
94
under the name of Nelson. Another
check was for an automobile he had
bought in Washington and just left at a
garage on 48th Street.
Detective-Lieutenant Stokes reported
at once by telephone on the sensational
New York coup to our Massachusetts
officials in charge of the case, and then
headed for Washington to get the bag-
cage covered by Murton Millen’s claim
check. Stokes had a pretty strong hunch
what he would probably find. He also
knew that the .38-caliber revolver found
in Murton Millen’s possession was identi-
fied by its serial number as that taken
from a Worcester officer in the course of
an abduction and robbery at the Palace
Theater.
Meanwhile, fast action was transpiring
back in Massachusetts, bringing more
sensational developments. George Breach
of the Boston Burns agency had that
amazing tip on Abe Faber from his New
York office. Faber, the brilliant Tech-
nology graduate supposed to be work-
ing hand-in-glove with the police, trying
to aid them all he could and help locate
the missing Millen brothers! But now
pictured through Messinger’s story in a
very different character. Breach hustled
out to contact his friends of the State
Police and see what could be done
about it.
Detective-Lieutenant Joseph Ferrari
was just taking the trail with similar
ideas, developed through the same tip
from New York Police which had sent
his partner, John Stokes, rushing for New
sOrk 60M the Half Moon Hotel, Coney
sland,
REACH and Ferrari joined forces and
soon picked up Faber. He was his
usual affable, polite self. But he saw the
coldly bleak faces of the two detectives and
lost much of his aplomb. They decided
to take him to the Norfolk County seat
at Dedham to do some serious talking.
He had a lot of explaining to do, and his
story would have to be good or there
would be some drastic action. And out
in Dedham it would be convenient for
District Attorney Edmund Dewing and
state Detective-Lieutenant Michael Flem-
ing to sit in and put in a word wherever
it might do the most good.
Faber got more and more shaky as the
grilling got under way. But he stuck to
his denials that he himself was mixed up
in any crimes, or that he knew definitely
that the Millen brothers, Murton and
Irving, were embarked on criminal ca-
reers. But he had to admit that he had
been doing some double-crossing, that he
knew his friends had been in New York
and Washington, that he had been in
touch with them by mail.
Questioned about various details that
jumped abruptly from point to point, he
let slip a hint that the Millen brothers
had used a garage in the rear of a house
on Brinsley Street, Dorchester.
It was decided to lock him up for a
while and let him sweat and think things
over, while the detectives took a run
over to Brinsley Street to look around
and see what they might find. What
they were to find was beyond their fond-
est hopes.
A small garage in the rear of 11 Brin-
sley Street had been rented by the owner,
Mrs. Bessie Racoff, the previous June to
two young men whose descriptions ex-
actly fitted Murton and Irving Millen.
She was able to identify their photo-
graphs. The officers obtained admittance
into the locked garage. and what they
saw was astonishing. There was no auto-
mobile, but there was an amazing collec-
tion of guns, ammunition, explosives,
radio equipment, automobile registration
True Detective Mysteries
plates, highway detour signs, about every-
thing that a strictly up-to-date bandit
gang might need to carry on a thriving
trade.
There were four shotguns, a gas gun, a
dozen gas bombs and as many cases of
assorted ammunition, identified as stolen
in the sensational raid on the State Po-
lice exhibit at the Boston Automobile
Show in Mechanics Building.
But perhaps the most astounding and
important discovery of all was a cheap
and empty cloth bag. The black letter-
ing upen it identified it positively as the
money container taken by the bandits
who had raided Paramount Theater in
Lynn, murdered one man and wounded
others.
Two young Boston taxicab drivers,
Clement Molway and Louis Berrett, were
then on trial for this crime and appar-
ently about to be found guilty and con-
demned to death. Ferrari remembered
a significant remark, Messinger’s quoted
statement about Murton Millen, saying:
“To hell with them. Let them burn. It
will be another load off our shoulders.”
Norma Millen shown with her
father, the Reverend Brighton (right),
and Detective Captain John Stokes
There was more than a hundred pounds
of dynamite in the strange storehouse,
carelessly piled against a radiator, and
identified as stolen from a construction
company at Franklin Park. Captain
Charles Van Amburgh, famous ballistics
expert and Head of the Bureau of Ex-
perts of the Massachusetts Department
of Public Safety, sent for to superintend
the safe removal of the explosive, said it
was enough to blow up the entire neigh-
borhood of closely built multi-family
homes. Several loose sticks of dynamite
were scattered about on the garage floor.
There were also two boxes of detonators
and some three hundred feet of the spe-
cial wire used in blasting.
Another surprising discovery was the
unusual collection of stolen detour signs
and oil torches commonly seen where high-
way construction work is in_ progress.
The detectives figured that this plunder
was to be used in the event of a hot pur-
suit. A hastily tacked up detour sign at
a side road, two or three quickly lighted
torches, and the gang could slip away
down the byway, lights extinguished,
while the pursuing posse would race past
on the main highway, supposing. the fugi-
tives to be still ahead.
Mrs. Racoff, who rented the garage,
said she had no idea of the real purpose
of what it was now shown to have been
used. “They seemed to be very quict
boys,” she explained, “and I wouldn’t be-
lieve that they were doing anything
wrong. They used to come to my house
to pay the rent regularly, but they hadn’t
paid it now for two months.”
Max Rappaport, a neighbor who rented
another of the row of eighteen garages in
the rear of Brinsley Street, remembered
seeing the boys many times. “I got stuck
in the snow around Christmas time,” he
related, “and these two fellows, both slim
and dark-haired, came along in a big
Packard car, gave me a push and got me
out. They had a pretty girl with them.
Whenever they came along and I hap-
pened to be there in back they never
gave me a chance to see into their ga-
rage. They would always close the doors
quickly. But I had looked through the
glass in the closed doors when they were
not there and saw construction signs and
such things, so I thought they were prob-
ably in the contracting business.”
Several neighbors had noticed them—
the two young fellows and the pretty girl
—and recalled that they always took
their big car out only at night. One
woman stated: “They used to come
around at night and usually had the girl
with them. They would come in a small
car, leave it in their garage and drive
away in the big car. Then during the
night they would bring back the big car
and all drive away again in the small
car.”
Breach caught Ferrari’s eye and grinned.
“How’s that for a perfect check? Mur-
ton’s Chevrolet and the stolen Packard.
And dear little Norma, the minister’s
child.”
“Right,” agreed Ferrari. “But I’m
thinking about that empty money bag,
and those two poor devils down in Salem
facing the chair for a job in Lynn it now
looks like a cinch they didn’t know any-
thing about.” Ferrari also was thinking
that. he wanted another talk with Abe
Faber—a real heart-to-heart talk, as soon
as he could get around to it.
By the time all the loot had been care-
fully removed from the rented garage in
the custody of State Police, all the items
listed and photographed, came the late
Sunday afternoon flash from Detective-
Lieutenant Stokes in New York. He re-
ported the Millen brothers under arrest
and Norma in custody of police.
Some hours later came another flash
from Stokes. Presenting the claim check
taken from Murton Millen, he had recov-
ered in Washington Union Station the bag-
gage Murton had checked there. Opening it
he had found an extraordinary arsenal of
lethal weapons. This included the ma-
chine guns looted from the State Police
exhibit, one of which had been used in
the Needham murders, drums of ammu-
nition, .22-caliber pistols with extra long
barrels stolen from the Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology target range, and a
pistol silencer of peculiar design.
FTER an all-night grilling, the Millen
brothers were put in the Line-Up at
New York Police Headquarters on Centre
Street. Under the glaring lights they
faced some two hundred staring detec-
tives on Monday morning, February 26th.
Even Irving Millen was no longer smil-
ing. They glared back with scowling
faces.
Mrs. Norma Millen, also taken to New
York headquarters for questioning, broke
down and wept bitterly. She begged
that she be allowed to return home to
her father. She sobbed the admission
that she was the daughter of the Rev-
erend Norman Brighton of Natick, Mas-
sachusetts, and that she had been in the
company of Murton Millen before the
Needham murders and other crimes,
which she denied knowing anything
about. She said she was a graduate of
an exclusive finishing school in Massachu-
setts, and had been a student at Cornell
University. She had met the older Mil-
len brother for the first time the previ-
ous summer at Hampden Beach, New
Hampshire, fallen in love with him and
they had man
said her mari:
wishes, as the
not to see Mu
eloped.
Newspapers
tional story, |
tails and pl
Norma’s fathe:
for New York.
was hastening
rescue and ex
with him. T!
story, but th
would be rel
father. They :
hinting that
who had man
was a “gunma:
driver of the
a few of the \
had recently }
ET the Re:
to be right
saw his daugh
ever to him b
that there w:
Father and da
Boston togeth:
men duly int
graphed them
Norma con
home with da
She had had }
satisfied; in f
sioned. She
cent girl—and
pened to her
her darling d
Natick, the f'
shine—and_ he
timated plain’
with the Mu!
her and he cd
Reporters 1
Norma Mille
telling. ‘That
her in a nasiv
forgivable off:
beamed upon
endearingly.
Another dc
the public ca:
Salem when t
rett and Mol
County Supe
lengthy whis
judge’s bench
asked for a p
once granted.
was that Su
ments had at
sive district
had been pro
he had been
tence, actuall
He wanted tu
round up wit
structed veri
jury.
Over in Ne
Millen were
To Ne:
If you
suitable
TRUE D
and ask
relative t
68
hands. We'll find they have records from
here to Georgia. Look how calmly they
took that alarm bell business .... Wait a
minute, though—how did they know how
to time the stickup so that the train would
be going through the crossing in time to
cover the bank alarm with the crossing
bell?”
“Yes, and look at the route they took
leaving the bank,” Ferrari chimed in,
“They made four left turns, a complete
circle, and went out of town by the quick-
est route. Those birds know the streets
here like a book. And here’s something else.
There were only two cops on duty in this
part of town and they got both of them.
They looked this town over carefully before
the job, and if somebody around here
didn’t notice them at it, I’ll be sadly mis-
taken.”
But who would the bandits have been
likely to visit? The two detectives started
out on a check-up. At the garages, no
luck; nobody had seen anything of the
black Packard then or any other day. The
stores came next; still no luck. But the
first real estate man they called on, Frank
L. Hammett, had what they wanted.
American Detective
The Battery of Doom
[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13]
Three. young men had called on the
realtor only two days before. They wanted
to rent a house, “Because my wife wants
to live in the country,” said one of them,
and the other two laughed. They were very
particular about the house they rented,
and Hammett had spent the better part of
the day running them from house to house.
One of the young men had a pocket flask
and the trip had been enlivened by frequent
nips from it, so that all the would-be renters
were feeling rather gay at the end of the
day.
HE man with the wife had asked a
good many questions about how many
policemen there were in town and what
districts they patrolled, explaining that his
wife was very nervous and liked to live
where she could see a uniform from the
window. The other two had found some-
thing excessively comic about this remark
and laughed immoderately. Hammett had
also, as he now recalled, stopped at the
bank in the course of the day, and one of
the home-hunters had accompanied him in.
Could he describe them? He could; the
description was excellent, and most de-
Police of Roxbury, Mass., examine new auto parts found in garage in
that ¢ity rented by the brothers Millen.
tailed, but as he came to the end of it,
Ferrari said:
“But you’re making these two look just
about alike.”
“They do; very much alike, enough alike
to be twin brothers,’ answered the real
estate man,
Back at the Needham police headquar-
ters, Ferrari found Stokes and a report
from the fingerprint expert. None of the
prints he had were very good, and he
would have to make a further check with
a microscope to be certain, but one set
seemed at first glance to belong to a man
named John F. Carroll and the other to
one named Henry Preston. This checked;
both men had records, and both had been
members of the gang that worked under
the orders of “Jerry the Pole” Gedzium, an
unsavory gunman, hijacker, and killer, who
had departed this life by way of the electric
chair three years before. Photos of Preston
and Carroll, as well as those of several
other known bank-robbers, were being
rushed out from Boston for identification
by a fast car. Meanwhile, a general call,
with a special accent of emergency, was
sent out to bring in Preston and Carroll.
Ten minutes later an
this time from Captain °
revolver bullets from th:
ordinary .38 bullets, stan
the microscopic examir
nothing extraordinary.
gun slugs that had ki
something different. T!
a new type of machine
only to the U.S. Army
- setts State Police. It w
bandits had bought suc
probable; and only one
known to be missing.
from the Mechanics Bi
week before, where the
exhibit of weapons—stc
a robber who entered th
ly by means of a fake
without leaving the sl
presence.
This piece of news
case up into 1 im)
Mechanics Building bu:
of the series of myst
glaries” on which the s
working since the prev:
them had been perform
—with fake keys—and ;
burglaries of armories
arsenals. In every case
building had been loot
tained, which was neve
every case, also, weap
ing—all kinds of wea)
revolvers to charges «
guns. And yet it was <
one of the most certai:
in criminology is thi
varies his technique; a
buse steps might remem-
rey had not foreseen, and
the Massachusetts State
1 his way painfully back
nant John F. Stokes and
y in possession. Within
rgh, one of the world’s
nt John Mitchell, who
d Roscoe Hill, the state’s
d them.
. On the shattered wall
one of the bandits had
t of fingerprints; from
ad tossed aside he recov-
window sill where the
his weapon to riddle
an Amburgh painstak-
d bullets that had been
pmew in the bank, and
the machine-gun slugs.
er hours of agony, and
hine-gun slugs for his
had more or less detailed
kard for Mitchell; and
e bank, Coughlin, the
crossing man, and the
e bank had all noted its
The Battery of Doom
Stokes and Ferrari, while the specialists were busy,
concentrated on the crime itself, working out an accu-
rate time-tabled account of the killers’ proceedings,
' -with every event, no matter how small, included, mean-
while trying to sift out workable descriptions of the
men.
The descriptions were the weak point; all the bank
employees were sure they could recognize the three
again, but none of them could give anything but the
most general details of their appearance. Just the same
it was the two detectives who struck the first real lead.
eg. CON here,” said Stokes to Ferrari, as they bent
over a plan of the interior of the bank with
their time-table. “I wonder if you’ve noticed what I
have about this business. When Miss Powell ran away
from MclIntosh’s desk into that inner office, the gun-
man didn’t try to stop her, in spite of the fact that they
were utterly ruthless about anything that interfered
with their plans. He must have known in advance that
that inner room hasn’t either a telephone or an alarm
"in it, and that the windows are barred—in other words,
that she wouldn’t be dangerous in there.”
“Yes,” Ferrari countered, ‘“‘and there’s something
even more striking. They passed up that vault; they
must have known in advance that it wasn’t worth mak-
ing a heavy play for and that practically all the money
in the bank was in the tellers’ windows. They must
have been in this bank before.”
- The bank employees were recalled. No, none of them
remembered having seen any of the three holdup men
before. There was nothing specially remarkable about. .
that; the bank is a busy one and near Boston and:a
good many strangers have business to transact there.
But it was odd.
“Do you suppose it could be a home-grown job?”
Ferrari inquired.
“Not a chance. These are regular gangsters—old
[CONTINUED ON PAGE 68 ]
Rose Kneller, of Dorchester, Mass., friend of
Abraham Faber, who was questioned in this
sensational case because of stolen goods found
in her possession.
©
Norma Millen’s mother faints when she hears of her daughter’s implication in the
activities-.of the Millen brothers.
13
aE
— +
co RBs neta eas
7O
roll for a souvenir, but they couldn’t do
that as, when the news of his capture
spread, four other states sent requests for
his immediate attendance to answer other
charges.
“What kind of a case is this?” inquired
Ferrari gloomily, when they had disposed
of the Carroll angle. “Even the fingerprint
system goes wrong on you. Have they
turned up Preston yet?”
The conference was being held in the
office of Brigadier General Needham, head
of the state police force.
“No, but it won’t mean anything if they
do find him now,” remarked that officer.
“Tf Carroll wasn’t in on it, it wasn’t Jerry
the Pole’s mob at all, and Preston is out. I
tell you, I think we’re up against a new
gang on this job, probably a New York or
Chicago mob, and I wouldn’t be surprised
to find that they were behind some of these
other stickups recently, too, like that Poli
Theater case in Worcester and the Fitch-
burg killing. I wonder what will happen
next.”
What did happen next was that the car-
number clues petered out, one after an-
other. Every one of the numbers that the
witnesses had taken down belonged to a
car that was far from Needham at the time
of the hold-up, and not one of the cars was
a Packard at all.
The state police suddenly found them-
selves staring at a blank wall. Like the
other cases in the current crime wave, it
was up against an absolute dead end.
Where there had been so many promising
clues in the beginning there were now none
at all, The whole police force of Massachu-
setts, all of the Burns Detective Agency
operatives, failed to turn up the slightest
indication that any prominent mobster in
the underworld had become suddenly flush
with money, or any track of the big black
Packard.
That is, any trace of the black Packard
that was worth anything, for the case had
been spread across the headlines, and the
state police offices were overwhelmed with
imaginary clues that only turned out to be
the product of fertile imaginations. A news-
dealer at Dedham, for instance, had seen a
man get out of a black Packard the night of
the robbery to buy a Boston paper; when
he saw the Needham Trust Company hold-
up blazoned across the front page, he had
sworn and clutched the paper hard—but
what of it? A CWA worker near Winches-
ter had seen a black Packard being driven
up a pair of planks into the interior of an
enormous moving van, which was _ there-
upon closed and buzzed off in the direction
of Worcester—but a moving van that will
hold a seven-passenger Packard is a suffi-
ciently rare object to make the story not
difficult to discredit. A night-club singer in
Portland, Maine, had seen a black Packard
driven past, headed for Canada at furious
speed; she got her picture in the papers,
and then that “clue” dropped out of sight.
There was nothing real, nothing you could
get your teeth into in all this business, yet
every one of these reports had to be run
down and treated as though it were a hot
tip. Lieutenant Stokes was at his wit’s end.
He remained there until Wednesday the
seventh, going over every detail of the case.
That afternoon, as he was rereading the
crank letters all over again, in the hope he
might find one that led somewhere, the
\
American Detective
telephone jangled with news.
“Police department at Norwood calling,”
said a voice. “We think we’ve found your
black Packard in the woods near here.”
Stokes and Ferrari grabbed their hats
and leaped for the door. Stopping only to
pick up John Marselli, who keeps a store
across the street from the Needham Trust
Company, and who had had a good enough
look at the bandits’ car to be able to iden-
tify it, they hopped the next train for Nor-
wood. A’ police car was waiting for them
at the station and carried them rapidly
through the sparkling winter afternoon to
the outskirts of the little town, where there
is an extensive section of rocky woodland,
a sort of unofficial park. The Norwood man
halted the car. “This is the Lily Pond
Road,” he said, pointing off to the left
where a couple of deep runs in the snow
ran for a little distance, then turned. Just
beyond the turn, half-hidden, the detectives
could make out the black hulk of a car, and
with Marselli between them waded over to
it.
They faced a hopeless wreck of a ma-
chine, the whole top burned away, the cush-
ions destroyed by the same fiery blast, the
metal parts twisted and bent and corroded
in a manner that was rather queer.
“Tt’s in terrible shape,” said Marselli, “but
I’ll swear she’s the same car, or one just
like it.”
“Swear in a court of law?”
“Yes. Do you see this funny diagonal
nick in the left side of the back mudguard?
I noticed one just like that on the car in
front of the bank.”
Stokes and Ferrari approached the
burned-out machine. “It’s been burned
somewhere else and then towed here,” of-
fered the latter. “Look, the snow isn’t melt-
ed around it at all. A fire big enough to
burn that car would melt a space ten feet
across.” ,
“Yes,” agreed Stokes, “and look at the
limbs of the tree, almost touching it. But
the first thing to find out is where it came
from and where the towing car went after-
ward. Any report on a fire that would be
this one?” he inquired of the Norwood offi-
cers.
“Nothing like it,’ was the answer, and
then, as the Norwood man noticed Stokes
gazing reflectively at the rutted road:
“Those tracks are no good either. This bus
was found by the cruising car of our de-
partment. They pass the head of the Lily
Pond Road on patrol once a day, and when
they spotted the car here this noon, they
remembered it hadn’t been there the day
before and investigated. When they found
out it was a black Packard, they got in
touch with headquarters. We've been look-
ing for stray black Packards,” he added
with a smile. “Then they followed the Lily
Pond Road down, but there wasn’t anything
in that line. It goes around a pool up here
and then turns into the main road again
about half a mile away. There have been
several cars pass through before this one.”
But even the finding of the murder car
was a big step in advance. It gave some-
thing tangible to work on once more, and
Stokes and Ferrari, determined not to
waste it, proceeded with caution. A wreck-
ing car was sent out to haul the ruin into
the Norwood police garage; the snow all
around the spot was carefully sifted for any
oddments that might be left behind. Nor-
wood became temporarily the headquarters
of the whole state force, with General
Needham coming down in person, and di-
recting a painstaking search, by a whole
platoon of police, for a hideout where the
black Packard might have been concealed.
before it was burned.
eases is a big tract of woodland be-
tween Norwood and Westwood, most
of which was now under heavy snow, and
the search was a tough job. But though car-
ried through relentlessly’ by the whole
squad of police it failed to yield any re-
sult.
Stokes and Ferrari, however, working
over the ruined Packard, had better luck.
In the sifting of the snow round the car
they had: found one of its license plates,
fire-blackened and bent, but legible. Under
what was left of the front seat, they dis-
covered the other. Both plates bore Massa-
chusetts License 63838. A call to the state
license bureau revealed that the number
had indeed been issued on a black Packard,
but when the detectives got the name of the
owner they groaned. It was a wealthy wom-
an in Newton, and the car had been report-
ed stolen on the night of October 23d—a
date, incidentally, which coincided with one
of the “ghost burglaries.” The information,
though negative as far as getting onto the
perpetrators of the crime’ went, was not al-
together useless; it showed at least that
the ghost burglars were most certainly
mixed up in this case to the neck.
The detectives went over the rest of that
wrecked car with a fine-toothed comb.
When they pried open the bent tool box,
they found a bunch of keys of peculiar
design. Some of them were numbered, but
neither Stokes nor Ferrari could find a
clue to their purpose till General Needham
’ saw them. He blinked at the sight, then
looked up at the two detectives.
“Do you know what you’ve got there?”
he inquired. “Those are Government mas-
ter keys, and they will fit any armory in
the state. No wonder those fellows could
afford to scatter ammunition around. They
could help themselves to more from the
army’s supplies whenever they wanted to.”
“But that must mean one of two things,”
said Stokes, “Either this gang has a finger
in Government circles somewhere, which I
don’t believe, because if they did they
wouldn’t be burgling armories, or else
we're dealing with a bunch of clever
mechanics who got hold of some Govern-
ment keys for a minute and made a set up
for themselves.”
“Probably one or more of them has been
in the National Guard or the regular army,
though I hate to say it,” suggested the
general.
“But there’s more to it than that, sir,”
continued Stokes. “If they made these keys
for themselves, they must have a lot of
machine shop equipment somewhere. You
can take a key around to a locksmith any-
where and get it duplicated, but he can’t
make a master key that will open a lot of
different locks without having a good many
keys to work from. And we know this gang
didn’t go around stealing keys to armories
all over the state. It would take too long.
So they must have a machine shop some-
where.”
“Well, if they’ve got a machine shop any-
where, they’re probably running a garage,”
suggested the gene
done something in
I wonder if there’s
where this car has
“What do you n
“New spare pa!
car has a new crz
wouldn’t be hard t
this part of the
new crankshafts fi
recently and check
Stokes went ov
agency in Boston
morning a motor
intend the work o
at the Norwood gz
the wreck, drew hi
puzzling corroded
it gingerly to the
“Uh-huh,” he s
due to sulphuric a:
the car wasn’t g
have poured acid :
but they ran out
fore they finished
Under his expe:
and acid-rusted w
carefully as thoug
machine—and_ inc
that; it was a $13,
Out of the wreck
came an empty
dispatched to Caj
moment later car
find—an ignition }
ed bit of metal.
“That’s not a P
pert decisively, h
this——” he paus«
the piece of metal
“This,” he said
the end of anothe
cense plate, a }
through a fire an
bath.”
The detectives
then agreed. It w
hand end of the
but what was mo:
that just in from
of a number—a |
“There’s only
part of,” said S
last number on tt
I wonder why tk
rid of it—probab’
one of them. Anc
Leaving the «
man, he hurried
of license plate.
at the first locl
charge glanced i
ber on it, and he
a Pontiac car,”
much by itself.
Stokes return
Packard had bec
The weather hac
been a little thav
was surrounded
whom he notice
Stokes had a br
Without waitir
he hurried off a;
he was talking
Norwood Boy S
for your boys,”
about the findin;
plate and the im
of it. “Now if
Sa Pe a eee eas
end of it,
look just
ough alike
id the real
headquar-
a report
one of the
nd, and he
check with
ut one set
> to a man
e other to
is checked ;
lh had been
rked under
edzium, an
killer, who
the electric
of Preston
of several
vere being
entification
eneral call,
gency, was
Carroll.
Ten minutes later another call came in,
this time from Captain Van Amburgh. The
revolver bullets from the bandit’s gun were
ordinary .38 bullets, standard sizes on which
the microscopic examination had revealed
nothing extraordinary. But the machine-
gun slugs that had killed McLeod were
something different. They had come from
a new type of machine gun, thus far issued
only to the U.S. Army and the Massachu-
setts State Police. It was possible that the
bandits had bought such a gun, but hardly
probable; and only one gun of the type was
known to be missing. It had been stolen
from the Mechanics Building in Boston a
week before, where the state police had an
exhibit of weapons—stolen in the night by
a robber who entered the building apparent-
ly by means of a fake key, and departed
without leaving the slightest trace of his
presence.
This piece of news at once flung the
case up into new importance. For the
Mechanics Building burglary had been one
of the series of mystifying “ghost bur-
glaries” on which the state police had been
working since the previous October. All of
them had been performed in the same way
—with fake keys—and all of them had been
burglaries of armories and National Guard
arsenals. In every case the treasury of the
building had been looted of what it con-
tained, which was never very much, and in
every case, also, weapons had been miss-
ing—all kinds of weapons from ordinary
revolvers to charges of T.N.T. for field
gtins. And yet it was a trifle puzzling, for
one of the most certainly established facts
in criminology is that a crook seldom
varies his technique; a sneak thief remains
Magistrate Harris gives preliminary hearin
England brothers show signs of struggle which accompanie
American Defective
a sneak thief forever, and.a bank, bandit.
cannot be made out of a. second-story
worker overnight. It looked almost as
though two gangs were at work, one to get
the weapons, the other to use them. —
HE night of February 2nd will be long
remembered in Massachusetts, espe-
cially in the Massachusetts underworld. It
was a hectic evening. All over the state,
city and state police cracked down in a
rapid-fire. series of raids on every known
haunt of the underworld and some that
were not so well known, and the heavy
patrol wagons clanged through the streets
till dawn in Boston, Worcester, Lawrence,
and half a dozen other cities, dragging in
tough characters for questioning.
It was a hectic night for another reason
too. When Lieutenant Mitchell had gath-
ered up the various witnesses’ accounts of
the number of the Packard murder car, he
was heard to swear, audibly and with ener-
gy. No two sets of numbers were alike !
But such as they were, he carried them off
to the state motor license bureau, and was
tusy long after dark looking up the names
and addresses of the owners and phoning
all over the state to send local officers out
to check up on the movements of the cars °
in question.
In Needham, a line of people sat on a
bench in the police station, conversing in
low tones—the bank employees, the rail-
road signalman, and the real estate dealer—
everyone who had seen the bandits, waiting
his turn to go into the room where the
photos of Carroll and Preston were on ex-
hibition.
“Ts this one of them? Is this the man?”
g to Irving Millen (left) and Merton Millen. The New
d their capture in New York ‘hotel.
69
the detectives asked each witness in turn.
And. the answers were distressingly simi-
lar:
_ “Tt looks rather like him..... I can’t
quite be sure ....He seemed a little
heavier in the mouth. ... His eyes were
not like that; perhaps it’s a bum photo.”
When it was all over, one detective looked
at the other in despair.
“We can’t get a conviction with identi-
fications like that,” he said.
The other shook his head and turned to
the phone, which was ringing. A moment
later he put it down. “They’ve got Carroll
in Mattapan,” he announced, “but he’s
got an alibi.”
Stokes. laughed. “They always have,”
said he. “Well, we'll take McIntosh and
Hammett in there in the morning and see
whether that alibi is any good after they
have a good look at him.”
But the alibi was good. When the real-
tor stared across the table in the Boston
police station into the face of John Carroll
the next day, he shook his head. “I never
saw this man in my life,” he declared posi-
tively, and McIntosh, admitted separately,
was equally decided. “No, this certainly is
not one of the men who held up the bank,”
he declared.
The police stuck to it and brought in
Riordan the next day, and then more of the
bank employees, but it was simply no go;
none of them could identify him. At the
same time his alibi had been checked, and
it proved absolutely unbreakable; he had
been seen by half a dozen people, a hun-
dred miles away from the scene of the
crime at the time it was committed. The
only thing police could do was keep Car-
48 The Master
“On one occasion, they appeared elated on observing a
machine following the patrol. They expressed disappoint-
ment on discovering, however, that it was the police car
with Chief James H. Broad and a squad of officers armed
with riot guns.”
No wonder everybody had us tabbed as guilty.
I learned later that we took a roundabout way going to
the Essex County Jail This, | suppose, was to fool Al
Capone and John Dillinger and Robin Hood in case they
decided to hide on their little white horses somewhere along
the regular route between Lynn and Salem and attempt
to set Molway and me free.
We finally pulled up to the jail and I was glad to see
that there wasn’t a big crowd waiting there like the one
that had been outside the Lynn lock-up, The newspaper
lads were there with their cameras and’I had to take an-
other push at a cameraman. This time, I understand, it
was a photographer from the Salem News.
Our escort, armed with riot guns, marched us inside the
jail. All thirteen of our guards hiked us into the guard
room and then turned around and marched out, leaving us
alone in the guard room with two unarmed guards.
We were booked and our outer clothing was taken from
us. Then we were assigned to cells. We were given separ-
ate cells some distance away from one another. And right
here, I'd like to say that those cells were not in “murderer’s
row” as the newspapers later printed it. They were just
ordinary cells, no different in location or anything else
from any of the other cells in the place.
The cells were in four tiers. None of the other prisoners
said anything to us. I guess they had been told they were
not to talk to us. But they kept looking at us curiously.
None of those other prisoners who were in then were in
for murder, as far as | know. They were doing time for
Detective
misdemeanors and burglaries and rape and things like that
They seemed to figure that Molway and me were pretty
big guys, because they thought we'd bumped a fellow off
The cells were very small. Each cell had a little cot with
a mattress, That’s a lot better, of course. than a pine
board for a bed. At the same time. I’ve slept on softer
mattresses.
My cell was at one end of the bottom tier. Molway’s
was at the other end, on the second tier.
Around noon that day, all.the cells were unlocked and the
prisoners were marched out. All, that is, except Molway
and me. They were going to the dining room. | began to
wonder if Molway and | were going to be put on a diet of
nothing again. But pretty soon one of the jail attendants
came around with some food for us and | asked him and
found out what it was all about.
T seems that the regular prisoners all went to the dining
room to eat. But when fellows were in the jail on
charges of first-degree murder they had to eat alone in their
cells. They weren’t allowed to have knives or forks. That
was so they wouldn’t try to commit suicide.
All the time I was in the jail, | had nothing but a spoon
to eat with. Nor did I ever eat off a plate. I had to eat
off a little tray similar to a pan you use to bake bread in.
There was a little shelf in the cell that you could put the
tray on to eat.
I was hungty that first noon. | had liver, cocoa and all
the bread I wanted. Did you ever eat liver with a spoon?
The bread was pretty stale. | learned later why that
was. When men are in jail they don’t get much exercise
Their stomachs naturally get upset and they don’t digest
their food as well as they would if they were on the out-
side. So the bread they feed the prisoners is always a couple
(Left to right, seated) Louis Berrett, Herbert Molway (Clement’s brother); Clement Molway,
Thomas Molway (nephew). Standing, Louis Cantelmi (friend), Herbert Molway, Jr. (nephew);
Robert Molway (brother), and Richard Taylor (friend)
one
3
SNKKKA.
ke that.
pretty
low off.
ot with
a pine
softer
olway’s
nd the
lolway
gan to
liet of
ndants
m and
dining
ul on
1 their
That
Spoon
to eat
id in.
It the
1d all
on?
that
TCIse
ligest
outl-
buple
4
Facing the Electric Chair 49
Clement Molway reunited with his par-
ents after his most tragic experience; his
hair-breadth escape from death in the
electric chair for a crime of which he was
entirely innocent
of days old to keep them from getting indigestion. There
was no butter for the bread,
You miss little things like that more than you might im-
agine. | know I| missed butter. And I could have used a lot
more milk and sugar than we got. But the food wasn’t bad,
I guess, as jail foods go. It was the same stuff, though, over
and over.
We had two-course breakfasts. The first course was oat-
meal; the second, coffee. Both with very little sugar. The
next day, in place of the oatmeal, we’d have cornflakes.
Then the following day, just for variety, we’d have oatmeal.
For dinner we’d have spaghetti or liver or beans, or on
Fridays, fish. On Sundays, we always had beans,
Supper was a light meal. We usually had a small por-
tion of applesauce or apricots, Usually it was applesauce.
Applesauce! That reminds me of some things, now I think
of it. Tea, with very little milk, and some of the two-days-
old bread, rounded out the meal. On Sundays, though, we
had chocolate pudding without the bread or tea,
We were allowed one hour of exercise each day in the
runway outside our cells. Molway and I weren’t allowed to
walk at the same time, however.
The cells had no toilets, only a bucket,
No one came to see Molway or me the first day we were
in the Essex County Jail. Now, with lots of time on my
hands, | was worried about things outside. I was separated
from my wife. I hadn’t been living at home. And | was
no angel. But, just the same, you begin to wonder about
people you do love or have loved. And | couldn't help
worrying about Irene, my little daughter, and Jenny, my
Wife. This thing, with all the nasty publicity it brought,
J re 0 CME ees TRL ere age
was a hell of a thing for both of them to put up with.
The lights went out at 8 o’clock that night. They went
out at 8 o'clock every night. But I didn’t mind it that
night, because I figured that here was my first real chance
to get a good night’s rest since the week before. And this
jail had been quiet all day. It wasn’t full of drunks, like the
Lynn jail had been over the week-end | was imprisoned
there. And nobody was pestering me with questions.
I stretched out on my cot mattress and it felt good. I’m
not accustomed, though, to going to bed at 8 o'clock and for
about half an hour or more—I didn’t have a good idea of
time—I just lay there. All sorts of thoughts went through
my head and some of them were pretty uglv. I was still
remembering the cracks some of those Lynn dicks had made
about sending me to the hot seat.
I wondered what it felt like to die in the electric chair.
Someone had told me once that death was instantaneous.
They said that so much juice went through your body that
the blood in your brain reached a boiling point. I felt
scared, lying there alone in the dark and realizing that they
Were going to try to send me to the chair for a crime |
hadn’t committed.
I couldn’t even figure out what had made thei pick Mol-
way and me up that night we were arrested. We were
identified by five people. That made it look \ ery bad for
us. But neither of us had criminal records, so how had
anybody picked us in the first place in connection with the
Lynn Paramount murder?
I was puzzling about that and a dozen other things when
I finally slipped off to sleep. And then, suddenly, I was
sitting up white and shaky in the (Continued on page 50)
2S$
oe
it
it
September, 1934
The Master Detective
Facing the Electric Chair
(Continued from page 49)
darkness of my cell and sweat was 002-
ing out of every pore in my body.
Somebody had screamed!
I was just about convinced that |
had had a nightmare, when it came
again. It was a man’s scream. It
seemed to be right at my elbow. He
Was in the cell next to me. And then,
after that second scream, he started
babbling at the top of his voice.
“Look at ’em burn!” he shrieked.
“Look at ’em burn!”
My last thought, before going to
sleep, had been of the electric chair.
When he yelled “Look at ’em burn!” |
figured he meant Molway and me. No
wonder [ was sweating. He kept on
yelling and [ finally got it figured out.
“One alarm!” he shrieked. ‘Two
alarm!” Then he seemed to listen,
while he said, “dong, dong, dong, dong,”
over and over. ‘“Four-alarm!” he
yelled louder than ever. “It’s a four-
alarm, boys. Come on, let’s go. It’s
a four-alarm, by God!” I could hear
him moving around. He was leaning
over and looking back over his shoul-
der. od
“Why in the hell,” he shrieked,-“don’t
the water come through the "hose?
Water! Water! Why don’t the damn
water come through?”
Lights came on in the corridor be-
tween the cell tiers and a couple of
jail attendants hoofed it to the cell
next to mine, unlocked it and went in.
The drunk staggered around and
glared at them.
“Get off that hose,” he yelled. “How
in the hell can the water come through
the hose if you stand on it?”
One of the attendants grinned and
took the drunk’s arm.
“Come on, fireman,” he said, “the
battalion chief wants to see you a
minute.”
HE drunk belched and staggered
away from the man that held him
and leaned over and banged his head
a good one against the bars. The two
jailers got him between*them. The
drunk seemed pleased.
“The chief, huh? The chief wants
to see me, huhP”
“Yeah,” they told him. ‘Come on.”
They led him down a couple of cells
and put him in a padded chamber where
he couldn’t try to break through the
bars with his head.
There were fires all that night. And
this drunk went to every one of them,
yelling, “One alarm! Two alarm!” He
must have thought the whole damn
town of Salem was burning down. And
when the water still wouldn’t come
through the hose, he raised merry hell
at the top of his voice.
Nobody could sleep. The drunk
raved without stopping until 5:30
o'clock in the morning. Five-thirty it
was when he decided to pass out and
sleep off his “horrors.” And five-thirty
was the hour, each morning, when we
had to get up if we expected to have
our oatmeal and coffee for breakfast.
It all should have been very funny,
but my nerves were crawling like a
bunch of ants by the time daylight
arrived.
Charlie Barrett, my lawyer, came
down to see me in the morning. This
was Tuesday, January 10th. We had
quite a chat and I learned, for the first
time, how the dicks originally had
hooked up Molway and me with the
Paramount murder.
Some months before we were ar-
tested, Molway had been out in his
cab. He’d picked up three fares. Two
of them were sailors. One was a well-
dressed guy. [| think they were pretty
well looped. Anyway, they piled into
his cab and gave him: some drunken
directions and the drunks, in the course
of things, started “rolling” the well-
dressed fellow.
A police cruiser came along just then
and everybody was taken to the station
house. They found the stolen re
that had been taken from the well-
dressed fellow in the pockets of one
of the sailors. Everybody was finger-
printed and mugged, or photographed,
including Molway.
NOTHING was ever done to Molway
in the matter, there was no convic-
tion and he was not even held. After his
release, | guess the authorities were sup-
posed to destroy his finger-print card
and Bertillon picture. But, apparently,
they didn’t.
After the Lynn Paramount murder,
several of the theater employees came
to Boston to look over the Rogue’s
Gallery pictures. And there was Mol-
way’s photograph. A couple of them
said that it looked like the picture of
one of the men that had pulled the
hold-up in which Sumner was mur-
dered. So they started looking for
Molway, learned | was a friend of his
o came to my place trying to find
im.
That’s how we happened to be linked
in with the thing in the first place,
Then followed the line-up identifica-
tions and all that,
While Charlie and I were talking, I
put the question to him that had been
bothering me a lot since his first visit.
“Charlie,” I said, “you really don’t
think I was mixed up in this thing, do
you? You know me better than that.”
“It isn’t what you and I think,
Louie,” he said. “I know that you have
been,a good-living fellow and that |
you're not mixed up in this crime, but
the newspapers are playing it up heavy
and practically everybody in the State
of Massachusetts thinks that the police
have the right two fellows when they
have you and Clem.”
I guess | looked pretty dejected.
“Is it as bad as that?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Louie, you're in a bad spot. But
just keep still. Don’t say anything to
anybody and tell me the truth about
everything. Now, suppose you give me
your whole story.”
I did. I talked for two solid hours,
while Charlie took notes. I covered all
(VEN THE
FLEAS FLED /
HE fleas have gone to another cat.
The poor cat has gone to a flea-
less heaven where smelly pipes and
devilish tobaccos are not admitted.
Here’s a recipe for keeping kittens
and your companions purring: Scrape
the debris out of your briar, run a
cleaner through it, get rid of tobacco
too strong and odorous for this fragile
world—and replace it with mild, fra-
grant, considerate Sir Walter Raleigh.
It’s a gentle blend of the choicest
Kentucky Burley leaf. It’s well-aged,
burns slowly, emits a mild and de-
lightful aroma. Thus you and your
pets will live happily together. Sir
Walter Raleigh (strange as it may
seem) costs only 15¢ a tin, wrapped
fresh in heavy gold foil to keep it fresh.
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
Louisville, Kentucky. Dept. B-49.
ae | Send for this
FREE
BOOKLET
SIR WALTER |
RALEIGH |
y
It’s 15 €_-aNp IT’S MILDER
s
, : .
SEs pe
60
the movements I could remember mak-
ing at the time of the Lynn crime.
We spoke about money. I had very
little, but we both discussed possible
ways of raising a defense fund.
“You boys,” Charlie told me, “prob-
ably will be indicted by the Grand
Jury.”
That was all Greek to me. I didn’t
know what being indicted meant. But
| know I wasn’t in favor of it.
“Why should we be,” I argued.
“Neither of us have criminal records,
neither of us ever carried guns or did
anything seriously wrong.”
I knew I was innocent and | couldn’t
understand why it shouldn’t be plain
as day to everybody else in the world
that we were innocent. Charlie ex-
plained to me the legal angles of the
thing. He told me that witnesses had
identified us and that it was possible
to build a case on evidence like that.
But I still couldn’t see why they should
want to do things to us, when we were
innocent. That was all I could think
about—that we were innocent and they
were trying to make us suffer. I guess
that’s all anybody in my place would
have thought about just then.
THAT night, when I finally talked
myself out of worrying about things,
] got a grand sleep. The drunk who
thought he was a fireman was gone. |
slept from about 8:30 until 5:30 in the
morning. . | woke up feeling better. I
had breakfast. Bread and oatmeal and
coffee. It tasted pretty good.
After breakfast, everybody cleaned
up his cell. Then he had an hour or
so to sit around and after that each
prisoner had to empty the sanitary pail
he had in his cell for a toilet.
At about 10 o'clock in the morning
the prisoners would have their hour ex-
ercise period. All of them, that is, ex-
cept Molway and I. We would have
our dinner after the other prisoners had
their exercise period. Then I would be
let out of my cell to walk for an hour.
After I was put back in my cell, Mol-
way would get his chance to exercise,
Molway and | didn’t get an oppor-
tunity to talk to each other much. They
wouldn’t let us. But when we walked
we did have a chance, now and then, to
talk to the other fellows who were in
their cells. We got better acquainted
with the fellows in jail and got along
all right with them. They seemed to look
up tous. The worse the crime was that
a guy was in for, the bigger shot he was,
Almost all of those other fellows were
tougher fellows than Molway and_I.
Some of them probably had been in a
dozen jails. They figured that the only
smart people in the world are those
that are in jail. I guess that made Mol-
way and me practically a brain trust
because not only were we in jail, but we
stood a good chance of going to the
electric chair to boot. I never could
figure out where they got that dopey
idea. All I know is that they had it,
to a man.
When | was exercising, the fellows
used to come to the doors of their cells.
“Good luck, Berrett,” they’d say. “I
hope you beat that rap.”
I'd just laugh it off. Charlie Bar-
The Master Detective
rett had told me not to talk and |
knew I’d better listen to him. _
One prisoner, who used to deliver my
food to me, whispered to me one day
out of the side of his mouth,
“Come on, Louie,” he said, “tell me
the truth. Did you really kill that
uyr”
“Of course not,” I said. “Gee, | never
Was mixed up in any hold-ups or any
easy money rackets,”
He seemed disappointed. He was a
little thin fellow, in for larceny. But
the next time he brought me my ap-
plesauce, he was cheerful again. I
guess he figured that I really had com-
mitted the murder but that I was too
shrewd a gunman to admit it, even to
him. So Molway and | were heroes to
these fellows. And either Molway or
myself would have given anything in
Two More M. D. Line-Up
Captures Since Last
Month
Number 3
NOTE: In point of date of capture, Chip-
man actually was first. Because of delayed
verification of his identification through our
Line-Up, he is formally entered as Capture
Number 3.—Ed.
MAX CHIPMAN, wanted for kidnapping
and murder by Boston authorities. Captured
in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 25th, 1934,
by Detective Lieutenant George Augusta
and Detective Joseph Decker of the Boston
Police Department acting upon letter re-
ceived from Kansas City reader who recog-
nized Chipman’s Lamtay gh in the April
1934 Master Detective Line-Up. Our $100 |
reward pending, awaiting claim. See capture
story in this issue.
Number 2
CHARLES C, COATES, convicted robber
and escape from Missouri prison. Captured
in St. Joseph, Mo., 5-19-34 by Detective R. G.
Chrisman of the St. Joseph police, who recog-
nized Coates’ photograph in May 1934 Master
Detective Line-Up. Our $100 reward paid to
Detective Chrisman. See capture story in
this issue.
Number 1
H. B. (BUNN) MULLEN, convicted
bank robber and escape from Tennessee State
ae: Mullen’s photograph was
recognized in May, 1934, Line-Up of Master
Detective by Chief Deputy Sheriff J. E.
Decker of Dallas, Texas, who arrested Mul-
len on May 24th, 1934. Our $100 reward
paid to Chief Deputy Sheriff Decker. See
capture story in this issue.
the world to be on the outside, bein
just plain taxicab drivers. Neither o
us wanted to be that kind of a hero.
Wednesday and Thursday sailed by
and we had been under arrest a week.
But I still had hopes. I thought the
cops would be sure to oe up somethin
that would show that Molway and
hadn’t been in that Lynn shooting and
that any time’they would be around to
tell us we could go home. I was wrong
as usual,
“ On Friday, January 12th, Molway
and I were indicted, just as Charlie
Barrett had predicted. Somebody got
me a newspaper and | read it and got
a hazy idea of what it all meant. |
still wasn’t clear on the thing, but |
do know that it looked plenty terrible
at the time in print.
The newspaper said that an indict-
ment had also been returned by the
grand jurors against a Joe Doe, alias.
This was because a third man had been
mixed up in the hold-up and they
didn’t know who he was. Neither did
Molway or |. We didn’t know anything.
The indictments they had against
Molway and me made a list that would
have been enough to scare the pants off
a hardened criminal. That list looked as
long to me as a life sentence. Accord-
ing to the paper, Clem and | were in-
dicted for the following:
Armed robbery.
Assault to murder.
Armed assault to rob and murder.
(Ten counts.)
Conspiracy to murder.
Conspiracy to rob. ;
Carrying revolvers without a permit.
The little guy who was in for larceny
brought me my supper while I was
reading the paper. | pointed to the
list of fifteen counts and six different
offenses on which we had been indicted.
“Did you see this?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, “I seen it” He
seemed quite proud of me. “They got
you for everything but moprey. Well,
that’s the way it goes.” What that
moprey is you'll never get out of me.
He leaned over and patted my shoulder
with one hand and stuck the grub pan
at me with the other.
“I got you a double order of apple-
sauce tonight,” he whispered.
* * *
The fellow that said you can get used
to hanging if you hang long enough
knew what he was talking about.
When I first went into the Essex County
bang I thought I’d never get used to it.
ut I did. I forced myself to take a
different attitude. I was in jail. It
didn’t look like I was going to get out,
so I made the best of it. I adopted a
panpy-ao-lucky attitude and found that
helped me more than continual worry.
The prisoners got to like me and all
the attendants around the jail got to
like me, I couldn’t honestly make the
smallest kind of a kick about the treat-
mept | was receiving.
JN the meantime, preparations went
ahead for an early trial of Molway
and-me on the murder charge. And we
began getting one bad break after an-
other.
Both of us had filed bills saying that
we did not have money to employ law-
yers. Mr. S. Howard Donnell, Essex
county criminal lawyer, was appointed
by the court to defend Molway. We
had a lot of faith in him. But he took
sick and had to leave for the south
under doctor's orders.
Mr. James Thomas Pugh, of Boston,
Was appointed to defend me. He was
to be my chief defense lawyer. He
slipped at his home and hurt his back
and was sent to bed by the doctors.
The newspapers came out with head-
lines saying: “Lawyers refuse to serve
as counsel in murder case. Trial of
alleged theater bandits may be delayed
by reluctance of attorneys to act for
defense.”
On the 18th or 19th of January,
Charlie Barrett came to see me. He
was worried.
“Louie,” he said, “things still look
bad for you. They look so bad that
] think it’s even going to be hard to get
a lawyer for you.”
_I couldn’t understand, of course, why
in
Ing Oo
jail.
me ol
what
One
in. the
later,
about
assist:
moun!
been s
wounc
or m\
I BA
line
spect
deput
to m\
would
Ly
“Thes
the ne
identi
easily
“Lo
would
were |
mixed
vou s¢
"1
who <¢
the ju
would
his ju
you n
change
prison
feel ar
Rest
sander Cumings, the
and when Cumings
: to give the two men
she had agreed. As
re, Spooner was as-
‘ar no public disap-
f Brookfield because
cooks were deserters
were planning to go
heir families.
1e men in grudging
rd a few details of
Buchanan, it ap-
rgeant and Brooks a
f General Burgoyne,
cer at Saratoga. But
ul to point out that
m the British before
1 that they had long
the American cause.
revelations, Spooner
1ough he did not of-
finite hospitality, he
ey might stay on a
vever, a considera-
e than patriotism to
nely, his purse—
o revise this benign
Cooley’s Tavern, he
. whopping bill for
athsheba for the ex-
ed home and found
unded by the sight
‘oss, Buchanan and
linen and plate
d and consum-
Pm of the pantry,
variety of vintage
an ultimatum. “You
thanan and Brooks
mee!”
seded for them and
igreement that they
charity and amity
absent from the
aster arose early, to
hat Buchanan and
varture, and more-
pating some reluc-
enlisted the aid of
en Old, to stand by.
3 left, but with very
1 they did not lay
er, they were heard
s against him and
of our way.”
household resumed
course. During the
hua continued to
aking moments at
e in his absence
Ezra Ross, to the
on of the towns-
also some curious-
round the Spooner
a day, Ross, Bath-
servants was seen
‘n with food-laden
two other figures
and going across
ye of this activity
er himself was on
h 1st. As usual,
day, repaired to
oning he bade the
1at tipsy goodnight
However, he was
than was usually
at Cooley’s thought
safely.
ey and his pa-
be told that
missing. Their
Cumings, the
ing up to the tav-
1 opened Monday
tidings from Bath-
sheba. He was out of breath, excited.
“The mistress,’ Cumings announced,
“says Mr. Spooner didn’t come home last
night. She fears he may have had too
much to drink and fallen somewhere in
the snow. Will you please to come and
help us look for him, the mistress begs?’
With the lack of logic typical of persons
acting in the stress of excitement, Ephraim
Cooley and several of the tavern habitues,
including Dr. Jonathan King, set out for
the one place Joshua Spooner was not sup-
posed to be—his home. But the random
move proved unconsciously prescient.
As soon as the search party entered the
Spooner yard, they found a pattern of foot-
prints criss-crossing the white blanket of
snow on the lawn. At one point along the
trail of footprints, Dr. King picked up a
fur cap which he recognized as having
been worn by Spooner the night before.
Near where the cap lay, the snow was
packed hard, as though several persons
had milled about the spot. Then, to em-
phasize the potentially ominous signifi-
cance of the setting, the snow there was
stippled with the dark red of blood.
From this point of departure, a further
trail of footprints—it appeared that three
sets of boots had made them—led across
the yard and terminated at the brink of a
well near the side of the house. Ephraim
Cooley peered down the well, straightened,
and turned a face devoid of color toward
the others.
“Go fetch Constable Hamilton,” he di-
rected. “Joshua is down the well, and it
looks like he’s been murdered.”
Bathsheba, who by now had been at-
tracted to the group moving about her
yard, heard Cooley’s lugubrious announce-
ment. She uttered a cry of distress, swayed,
and might have fallen if the strong arm
of Ezra Ross, who had appeared from the
house with her, had not reached out to
support her.
In view of what apparently had hap-
pened to Bathsheba’s husband, some of
the onlookers felt that she and Ezra could
not have picked a more inappropriate
time to demonstrate, however fleetingly,
that a “friendship” existed between them.
About half an hour later, Dr. King in-
itiated a performance that reflected this
prevailing feeling of disquiet.
By that time, Constable Elisha Hamil-
ton had appeared and aided in the re-
moval of Joshua’s body from the well to
the parlor of his home.
Spooner had been severely dealt with.
He had been mercilessly belabored over
the head, and his face revealed copious
contusions, probably inflicted when he was
unceremoniously thrown down the well.
Having laid out the corpse on a sofa,
Dr. King demanded that Bathsheba enter
the room. She did so, reluctantly, and then
the physician subjected her to the ancient
ritual of “ordeal by touch.” This required
Bathsheba to place her hand on her hus-
band’s forehead. If her touch brought color
to the dead flesh, then, it was believed, the
woman had guilty knowledge of her hus-
band’s murder.
Bathsheba did as she was required. She
stepped up to the body, stretched out her
hand, said, “Poor little man, I hope he is
in Heaven,” and pressed her fingers
against the cold forehead.
Dr. King stood by to observe the re-
sult. Afterward, he looked at Bathsheba,
and nodded. The color of Spooner’s skin
was unchanged.
Bathsheba had passed the test.
She was permitted to retire to her room,
and then Constable Hamilton set about
dealing with the crime in a manner he
considered more realistic than Dr. King’s.
He had already heard some vague talk of
the two British ex-soldiers, and when
Reuben Old described their truculence at
being ordered from the house by Joshua
Spooner, Hamilton believed the pair would
bear looking into.
He summoned Alexander Cumings, de-
scribed as the cousin of one of them, and
asked the servant if he had seen anything
of the two men recently, or if he knew
where they might be located. Cumings was
as inarticulate a witness as could be imag-
ined. He trembled, paled and reddened,
in turn, and was able to do little more
than shake his head, and utter scarcely
comprehensible sounds which the con-
stable interpreted to mean denials of any
knowledge whatsoever. Hamilton attribu-
ted the man’s behavior to inherent slow-
wittedness, intensified at being involved
in a matter of such high moment as a
murder.
From others in the house, however, Con-
stable Hamilton was able to obtain de-
scriptions of the two soldiers, along with
the information that coincident with the
murder, Joshua Spooner’s cashbox had
been broken into and a considerable sum
of money taken.
A servant who had viewed Spooner’s
remains declared, “The master was wear-
ing a pair of new silver buckles when he
left the house yesterday. They are not on
his shoes now.”
By courier, Hamilton disseminated an
alarm for Buchanan and Brooks through-
out the area, including notification to the
Sheriff of Worcester, the largest town
within a considerable radius. The Wor-
cester sheriff, in turn, set his roundsmen
to checking at the places most likely to
have been visited by a couple of ex-
soldiers and suspected murderers—the
town’s taverns. It was a procedure which
soon produced some intriguing results.
Buchanan and Brooks, it developed, had
indeed been slaking their thirsts in a man-
ner which approached the monumental.
Beginning early that morning, they had
been making the rounds, and as police
officers trailed them from place to place,
it was apparent that the pair were well
supplied with money—a condition without
precedent with them in the knowledge of
the tavernkeepers.
Late in the afternoon, the chase was
over. The pair was taken as they sat some-
what the worse for wear over glasses of
rum in a saloon on the road to Brookfield.
In bonds, they were escorted back to
Brookfield and brought before Justice of
the Peace William Young. They were
searched, and the breeches of one yielded
a pair of silver buckles which bore the
initials “J.S.”
At first antagonistically uncommunica-
tive in their attitude, they sang a slightly
different tune when their interrogators
impressed on them that their prima facie
guilt of Spooner’s murder appeared over-
whelming.
“We know nothing of it,” Brooks de-
clared finally. “The money and the silver
buckles were given to us by Buchanan’s
cousin, Alexander Cumings. He rode to
where we were staying in Worcester at
dawn this morning, and told us to start
at once for Canada.”
Cumings was promptly fetched before
the Justice of the Peace, informed of this
statement and asked for an explanation.
The groomsman was even more petrified
with fright than before, but on this oc-
casion, realizing perhaps that a noose was
almost around his neck, he was able to
express himself with force.
“It’s all lies!” he insisted. “I never saw
the money or the buckles. And Buchanan
is not my cousin! This is truthfully what
happened. . .”
Cumings went on to explain that while
Spooner and Ezra Ross were away in Bos-
ton, his mistress had instructed him that
if he noticed any wandering British de-
serters near the house, he was to invite
them in, Therefore, when he saw Buchan-
“NOW I'M MY OWN BOSS
at Double My Former Salary”
Paul M. De Vita, Former Low Paid Mechanic
Steps-Up Earnings to Over $100 a Week
As A CUSTOM
UPHOLSTERER
“I can nardly believe how quickly I’ve gotten
ahead in this interesting and profitable trade. I
was a mechanic making about $55 a week. Now
I operate my own shop and make more than $100
a week doing mostly contract work. UTS training
has been invaluable.’’
WHAT DO YOU WANT? Your Own Profitable
Business—A Steady Job—Substantial Sparetime
Earnings—A More Secure Future? Ming Nd all
waiting for You in the Big-Homecraft Field of
Custom Furniture Upholstery.
AT HOME you can use your spare time, to do
what Paul M. De Vita and hundreds of UTS grad-
uates have done—easily, quickly! Trained up-
holsterers are scarce. YOu can earn as you learn
to make good money all year ’round at home, in
we own shop, or in a well-paid job. The practical
. Y. State-approved UTS course teaches you
professional custom furniture upholstery, reuphol-
stery, furniture finishing, slip covers, repairs,
window cornice, cushion and drapery meking. You
get—FREE, All tools, complete frames, fabrics
and materials you use. Special lesson ‘‘How To
Start Your Own Upholstery Business’ and Whole-
sale Supply Service privileges.
Write Today for Big FREE Book
""Your New Way to A Successful Career’ tells
TEA ow you prepare at home
for this fascinating big pay.
big opportunity trade. Train-
ing n_N. Y. school avail-
able. WRITE TODAY!
UPHOLSTERY TRADES SCHOOL
Dept. CO-6305, 721 B’way, N.Y. 3
| UPHOLSTERY TRADES SCHOOL |
Dept. CO-6305, 721 Broadway ]
New York 3, N. Y.
4 Send me FREE book on: |
4 ©) Home Study (1 In School Training |
Clty. csccceuces Zone... .State....
i fel Sheck_here if Korean, Veteran:
WORK HOME OR TRAVEL |
I DETECTIVE Particulars FREE |
I Write GEORGE T. D. WAGNER |
1125 West 86th St., New York
SRP 5 Sa cme sleie s co exo we ns i
Ei Address. .econescccccvcccccees Ba
LOOSE DENTAL PLATES
RELINED AND TIGHTENED AT HOME $1.00
Nees
)
« yy
Sraes or wax, Contains no rubber or gum. Neu-
tral pink color, Sold on MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Not
sold in stores. Proved by 15 years of Consumer Use. Send
$1 plus 10c handling charge (stamps or coin). Charves
extra on C.O.D. orders,
DENDEX COMPANY sept. #-52
2024 West Sixth Street ¢ Los Angeles 5, Calif.
Wake Up
To More Comfort
Without Nagging Backache
Nagging backache, loss of pep and energy, head-
aches and dizziness may be due to slowdown of kidney
function. Doctors say good kidney function is very
important to good health. When some everyday con-
dition, such as stress and strain, causes this im-
portant function to slow down, many folks suffer
nagging backache—feel miserable. Minor bladder
irritations due to cold or wrong diet may cause
getting up nights or frequent passages.
Don’t neglect your kidneys if these conditions
bother you. Try Doan’s Pills—a mild diuretic. Used
successfully by millions for over 50 years. It’s amaz-
ing how many times Doan’s give happy relief from
these discomforts—help the 15 miles of kidney tubes
and filters flush out waste. Get Doan’s Pills today!
ig
BROOKS, BUSHMNAN, ROSS & SPOONER (F), hanged Worcester, MA, Euly 2, 1778.
approaching «motherhood had ‘been a true claim, (
‘J against. further executions of. females in the state, Perhaps.
pped ‘and crackled? across ? the. heavens, ‘Massachusetts ie ane many are there to, doubt it — the veneer of civilization
‘carried out her last execution of a - n — by the rope os grew a little thicker with the years. -At any rate, the fate of the
lat Worcester — in the presence ‘of five thousand id pesca! "hapless Bathsheba was & matter of occasional contre. fora
Bathsheba Spooner, comely. young wife of. nearby Brook- . . century and more.
field, who had become enamoured of @ youth of sixteen, was It is indisputable fom the reccrds that prejudice ran high.
hanged. with him: and two British. Army. deserters for the. against Bathsheba because her father was of the Royal, or’ |
‘murder of her: husband, a retired trader considerably older. Tory Party and, as such, had been rompeliee to flee. to Nova | :
than ‘she. Never since that baleful afternoon 171 years ago, Scotia. | yh
when Bathsehba crept on hands and knees up.to the stage on But that. the Sinughtasing of abe reportedly impotent:
the scaffold — a woman five months gone with child — =e the Joshusa ‘Spooner, however, ill-suited he might have been as.a
old Commonwealth put another wat nee ace todeath: ...-:._ mate, was particularly atrocious, and seemingly not -at all -
“necessary, is also indisputable in. the light of the record. There.
is nowhere any indication that the prepossessing Bathsheba, in
ut te her lusty rompings with Ezra Ross of Ipswich, Massachusetts —
ETE opine. OA SES, -.. or -with sundry other males — had ever been chided for her.
extra-martial affairs by the meek and mild Spooner —’ “ify, ee
SAprtly, 1970 indeed, he was. bright enough to suspect them.. Nevertheless)
‘Joshua Spooner was thoroughly done in by ambushing ruffians-
and was stuffed ignominiously into his own well, to’ become *
_.. immeasurably more famous in batered and bloody death than,
.- he had been as a Casper Milquetoast in troubled life. ~ ° -
-. Bathsheba shite — ‘sometimes written ‘as Bethsheba and
- Bathshuba — was born February 13, 1745, or 1746, t
\ “Sandwich, onCape Cod, the sixth child of seven in her family
. This was about 4 decade before her. father, Timothy Ruggle:
_ who had begun the practice of law at Rochester, left’ Sandwi
_.4with- his wife and their brood to ostabliahi; at. Hardwic
- Worcester County, Massachusetts.
_. Ruggles, “‘a distinguished lawyer of that. day, sho had h d
some of the most honourable’ and important offices in the
“> provinee,”” was elevated to Chief Justice on the Court/o
- Common. Pleas,‘remaining in that post until . he fled © the
" country, somewhat hurriedly. because of his tee toaningt, at
which time his estates were confiscated. “a
Bathsheba - ‘Ruggles. for: some © “unknown. ‘reason moariad
" Joshua Sppoper, and: as the time / (Continued on page | 2
out quite openly and
or the commission of
Tr,
vn principle, founded
\ argued, “that the
ss, the incentive to
impunity. But what
sected, what hopes of
ave had? Was it pos-
matter, considering
3 engaged, their char-
their profession—no
al it, no story agreed
2 to—the matter en-
with no evidence of
she gives the mur-
’s watch, buckles,
id shirts, to be worn
ld, where they were
‘ooner’s clothes, and
nd fashion might be
o the persons wear-
nd vulgar. Was this
son in the exercise
have been less ra-
. on their foreheads
erers of Mr. Spoon-
in behalf of Ross,
were equally novel.
is A, B and C, and
t was apparent that
had committed the
conclusive evidence
three was the re-
t they had acted in
‘~~ rovisations and
ust have known
1e had a losing
public mind at the
‘yism alone might
d Brooks’ and Bu-
: British army was
them favor. As for
’ asked themselves,
associating with a
alist renegades?
ial was over, the
regone conclusion:
sentenced all four
ir execution for a
Tuesday, June 4th.
ever, none of the
appointed day, and
earned ‘them the
»xecution, the con-
he Worcester jail,
ishment he could
vere visited regu-
eat Massachusetts
.e Reverend Thad-
one of Maccarty’s
sheba again con-
in greater detail
he told why she
1 out of the way:
ud, she had found
ace Ross was re-
on, she feared the
er would become
ature of the con-
accarty was even
ight of its further
ba were hanged
‘coming a mother,
ald be taken, and
in spite of the
as innocent of all
ba’s claim, the
le an immediate
etts Council. His
four of the con-
ieve, during
‘ed the sher-
as follows:
»presented to us
athsheba Spoon-
id we being de-
pr sage em a 2
sirous of knowing the truth of said repre-
sentation, do command you therefore that
taking with you two men midwives and
twelve discreet lawful matrons of your
community, to be first duly sworn, you in
your proper person, come to the said
Bathsheba Spooner, and cause her dili-
gently to be examined by the said ma-
trons in the presence of the said men
midwives, and certify the truth whether
she be quick with child or not; and if she
be quick with child, how long she had
been so, under your seal, and the seals of
the said men midwives, unto the Secre-
tary’s Office of Massachusetts Bay afore-
said, at or before the said 25th day of
June next.”
But the effort was a vain one. On re-
turning the Council’s writ on June 11th,
the sheriff of Worcester attested: “I have
summoned two men midwives, and twelve
lawful matrons, and caused the said ma-
trons to be under oath, and in my proper
person, with the said men midwives and
matrons attended on the said Bathsheba
Spooner, they have made their examina-
tion as required. The verdict of the ma-
trons is that the said Bathsheba Spooner
is not quick with child.”
Even so, the Reverend Maccarty con-
tinued his fight. On June 27th, he had
three men midwives and three women
midwives examine Bathsheba independ-
ently—with divided results. Two of the
men and one of the women pronounced
her pregnant, while the remaining two
women branded Bathsheba as a liar. The
Council refused to grant another reprieve,
and so Bathsheba and her three confed-
erates prepared for death.
“But this much I do ask,” Bathsheba
wrote the Council, “that my body be ex-
amined, after I am executed, by a com-
mittee of competent physicians, who will,
perforce, belatedly substantiate my claims.
I have borne three children and am surely
able by experience to perceive when I
am ‘with child.”
The hangings were set for July 2nd. In
anticipation of them, crowds poured into
Worcester all the week before—such
crowds as to alarm the town selectmen.
At the time, a smallpox epidemic was
raging, and the selectmen feared that with
so many of the citizenry. assembled about
the gallows the epidemic would spread to
uncontrollable proportions. As a conse-
quence, the selectmen ran lengthy adver-
tisements in the local papers which ad-
monished all doctors and nurses who had
recently attended smallpox cases and all
persons “lately having had the smallpox
not to appear among the spectators un-
less sufficiently cleansed. Otherwise your
attendance may prove fatal to many, and
render the execution, which is intended
for the warning and benefit of all, a public
. detriment.”
The threat of smallpox notwithstanding,
persons converged on the gallows as
the time of execution—2:30 in the after-
noon—drew near. Of the 5000, four at
least had no worries whatsoever over
smallpox: the four condemned.
Ross, Brooks and Buchanan went to
their deaths without a word, but Bath-
sheba had a parting sally for the sheriff.
As she stood on the trap, with the noose
about-her neck, she told him, “My dear
sir, I am ready. In a little time I expect
to be in bliss, and a few years must elapse
when I hope I shall see you and my other
friends again.”
The four bodies hung an hour and were
then cut down. That night, in accordance
with Bathsheba’s request, a panel of sur-
geons P ronewtoseg an autopsy on her body
and discovered within her what they
termed “a perfectly developed male foetus,
its age possibly between five and six
months.”
Seemingly, the vast majority of the male
midwives and “discreet lawful matrons”
who had examined her had been either
grossly incompetent or politically preju-
diced. In any event, the terrible fate of
Bathsheba’s unborn son has left its mark
on Massachusetts jurisprudential tradition.
Many women have since been sentenced
to death in the state, but Bathsheba—the
first—was the last on whom the sentence
has actually been carried out. THE END
CASE OF THE UNLUCKY BUCKS
(Continued from page 53)
Miller’s next question, as to whether there
was any romance in her life, Hines said
he didn’t know.
“Then how come you’re so concerned—
you're all broken up—about this disap-
pearance?” Miller prodded.
Hines unclenched his hands and looked
at the palms. He wiped them with his
handkerchief. “I was in love with her,” he
said softly. “I asked her to marry me on
Wednesday night.”
“And she refused?”
Hines nodded, looking down. Miller and
Speece exchanged glances. They went back
over the timetable of the last few days
with Verna’s employer. He gave Speece a
list of Verna’s friends he knew of, regret-
ted that he had no picture of her, but gave
: vivid description, colored by his love for
er.
“I think she’s beautiful,” he said simply.
Both police officers later remembered this
use of the present tense in regard to the
missing girl, and it was to be a point in
Hines’s favor.
Hines was dismissed, and Captain Speece
called in Detectives Patrick Hylan and
Oscar Blough and assigned them to Troop-
er Miller in the investigation. The three
men went directly to Verna’s apartment,
searched the rooms thoroughly, and found
nothing in the way of clues. There were no
letters to point up the elopement possibil-
i
ty.
They questioned the landlady, who knew
Verna as a good, religious girl who never
entertained men in her rooms. She had
seen Verna stop near the door with a tall,
dark man, whom Miller guessed to be
Hines, on occasional nights after work.
“But a couple of times recently,” the
landlady said, “a shorter man—I didn’t see
his face, but he was heavy-set, chunky,
kind of—saw her to the door. I remember
4 night she ran upstairs sobbing after he
e Rg
“You have no idea what he looked like?”
Miller said.
“Just by the silhouette of his figure
against the street light. She never men-
tioned him. She was very quiet, didn’t talk
about herself much.”
They next called on Ellen Varga, the
blonde waitress. She testified to Verna’s
good character and said she would be sur-
prised if Verna had run off with any man.
‘She’s too level-headed. She was wrapped
up in the business. She’s been acting kind
of funny lately, like she had something on
her mind, and I thought it was a man until
she came in with the money the other
night. Enough to choke a horse.” She
NIGHTS AT HOME!
LL.B. DEGREE
LA
LaSalle’s famous Law Library—used as refer-
ence in many Law libraries and Law offices—
has enabled thousands to master Law sur-
prisingly fast, in spare hours at home, for busi-
ness and professional advancement.
These 14 remarkable volumes, compiled by
leading professors and lawyers, cover the whole
basic field of Law in condensed, orderly, sim-
plified manner, ,
You advance rapidly with ite gross library,
plus special lectures furnished. We guide you
step-by-step with personalized Problem Meth-
od of instruction .. . you learn by doing—han-
dling legal problems—not by memorizing rules.
Send for two FREE 48-page booklets, ‘‘Law
Training for Leadership,” and ‘‘Evidence,”
answering questions about Law and its value
to you, and telling how LaSalle Law graduates
are winning rapid advancement in business and
public life. Mail coupon below. No obligation,
LA SALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY
A Correspondence Institution
417 S. Dearborn St., Dept. 9306LB, Chicago 5, ILL.
Send me your two FREE booklets described above,
without obligation.
@ YOUR HIDDEN POWERS @
Like Yoga, hypnotism, telepathy, psychology—combined.
Accomplish ‘‘tomorrow’’ what seems impossible today.
(Details—10c), KRISHNAR INSTITUTE, Box 842-D8,
Escondido, Calif.
Investigator Training
Experience unnecessary. Many oppor-
tunities. Send for Free particulars,
Free credentials.
Exchange Secret Service System
4360 Broadway Chicago 13, Ill.
} Love, wealth, happiness may be
* yf yours. Carry the alleged Lucky
“7 Talisman of the Orient. Try this
amazing charm for one week. Satis-
faction guaranteed or money re-
funded. Send only $1.00 in’ cash
or money order, we pay postage.
ORDER TODAY!
DEL MONTE
21-72 2ist St.
Suite 57-D, Long Island City S$, N. Y.
FREE SALES KIT
Rush your name and address today for
amazing new sales kit. It’s absolutely
FREE. Gives you startling money-making
information. Tells you how to make big
money fast and often by be vem us take
orders for magazine subscriptions in your
neighborhood. Shows you how to do it.
= kit works like magic to put dollars
in your pocket! You don’t invest a penny
of your money now or any time. We sup-
ly everything you need free. Act now.
No experience needed. No obligation.
Paste this ad on a post card and mail
today to: Subscription Agents Division, c/o
Master Detective, 205 East 42 Street, New
York 17, N. Y.
81
80
an and Brooks sauntering along the road
past the Spooner property, he had obeyed
her instructions.
“She wined and dined them, and, I
think, offered them other pleasures. Then,
on the day the master returned, she
glanced out the window and saw him ap-
proaching the house. Her face looked as
though she had seen a ghost, and she
hastily said to me: ‘Cumings, when the
master asks about the two soldiers, you
are to say that one of them is your
cousin.’ I did not know what else to do,
so I obeyed her.”
Once again, it became Buchanan’s and
Brooks’ turn. They were confronted by
Cumings, who repeated what he had said,
and were then required to refute it, if
they could, or acknowledge that it was
true, Neither of the ex-soldiers had the
mental dexterity to falsely cope with the
situation. After a blundering attempt or
two to do so, they gave up the pretense
and blurted out their story. It was a story
which, in spite of the prevailing war and
revolution, racked the Eastern Seaboard
with its sensationalism.
What Cumings had said was true, they
admitted. On being invited into the Spoon-
er house, Bathsheba baldly informed them
that she no longer could tolerate her hus-
band’s existence and bargained with them
to help put him out of the way, if the act
had not already been accomplished.
“Spooner was away at the time, with
Ezra Ross,” one of the deserters asserted.
“Bathsheba told us later that Ezra had
gone with her husband on purpose. Dur-
ing the trip, he was to put an ounce of
poison into Spooner’s food—but she was
afraid he would lack the courage to do so.
She proved to be right.”
After Spooner’s return and their evic-
tion from the house, Buchanan and Brooks
continued, they actually had not left the
neighborhood during the two-week period
which followed. Instead, they were
secreted by Bathsheba in the barn, and
she had seen to it that their meals were
brought to them.
“We were waiting for an advantageous
tine in which to kill the old man,” they
said.
On the previous morning, they went on,
Bathsheba had held counsel with them
and with Ross. Ezra was reluctant to have
a hand in the murder, but finally agreed
to participate. Bathsheba insisted that
Joshua was to be dispatched on his re-
turn from Cooley’s Tavern, and plans had
been laid accordingly.
At about the hour that Joshua might be
expected, Buchanan and Brooks took up
hidden positions near the garden gate.
Joshua came along, opened the gate and
both men hit him over the head with
clubs. Then Ross joined them, and the
three carried the body to the well and
dumped it in—after removing the silver
buckles from the shoes.
They went inside the house, broke open
the cashbox and Bathsheba parcelled out
the spoils. Buchanan, Brooks and Ross
burned those pieces of their clothing which
had become bloodstained, and then the
two former soldiers, attired in some of
Spooner’s garments, took themselves off
for Worcester.
“We were supposed to start for Canada
at once,” Brooks concluded, “but we began
a a and I fear it has led to our down-
‘a ths
Footnotes to this bizarre tale were pro-
vided by the pair while the constable
hurried to the Spooner house to arrest
Bathsheba and Ross. The particular method
selected to get rid of the unwanted hus-
band, it appeared, had been adopted after
several alternates had been considered
and rejected. Brooks had procured some
calomel, which had been placed in Spoon-
er’s food. But Spooner tasted the foreign
substance, threw the contents of his dish
away and complained bitterly to the cook.
Then Brooks had got hold of some nitric
acid which he mixed with Joshua’s toddy.
Again, the intended victim’s taste buds
protested, and this scheme was abandoned.
Lastly, Buchanan had suggested that they
use a brace of pistols, procured by Ross,
to shoot Joshua; but Bathsheba, at the
crucial moment, had vetoed the plan be-
cause she feared the sounds of the shots
would alert the neighbors.
The dreadful drama _ involving the
murder of Joshua Spooner reached a final
stage before the night was over with the
appearance before the Justice of the Peace
of Ezra Ross and Bathsheba. The youth
suffered from a pitiable state of nerves,
and eloquently indicated that he was in
currents of experience far too deep for
him to ford. Wringing his sweating palms,
he confessed to his participation in the
murder, but said that he had become in-
volved only because of the orders of Bath-
sheba, who wielded over him the most
powerful of influences—the influence of
sexual domination.
For her part, Bathsheba, who remained
cool and collected, accepted this responsi-
bility and with some nobility attempted to
absolve her lover. Whatever troubles of
conscience beset her, were derived, it ap-
peared, not from the untimely death of
her husband, but because she had im-
portuned young Ross to take part in the
crime.
“If it were not for this aspect of the
thing,” she told the Justice of the Peace,
“I could meet my Heavenly Judge. It all
happened by means of Ross being sick at
our house.”
October issue of
MASTER
DETECTIVE
on sale at all
newsstands August 31st
The Judge that Bathsheba and her three
hirelings were next to meet was not a
Heavenly one, but Chief Justice William
Cushing of the Massachusetts Supreme
Court of Judicature, sitting at Worcester
in April, and the proceedings had the dis-
tinction of being the first trial of a capital
charge in the new American republic. But
there were other distinctions: a few years
later, Judge Cushing was promoted to the
Supreme Court of the United States. A
signer of the Declaration of Independence,
Robert Treat Paint prosecuted the four,
and they were defended by Levi Lincoln,
who afterward became attorney general in
the cabinet of President Thomas Jefferson.
Ross, Brooks and Buchanan answered to
indictments of murder, and Bathsheba to
the equally serious charge of being an ac-
cessory before the fact, since she was “se-
duced by the instigation of the devil, and
had incited and procured the aforesaid
Ross, Brooks and Buchanan to commit
the aforesaid felony.”
In spite of their confessions before the
Justice of the Peace, all four defendants
pleaded not guilty at their trial, and Levi
Lincoln put in a special plea for Bathsheba
—that she was insane. No sane person, he
contended, could have been so indiscreet as
.
she, to have gone about quite openly and
brazenly arranging for the commission of
her husband’s murder.
“It is a well known principle, founded
in nature,” Lincoln argued, “that the
source of wickedness, the incentive to
guilt, is the hope of impunity. But what
hopes of being undetected, what hopes of
ew could she have had? Was it pos-
sible to conceal the matter, considering
the number of persons engaged, their char-
acter, their situation, their profession—no
plan formed to conceal it, no story agreed
upon, no place to flee to—the matter en-
trusted to strangers, with no evidence of
their fidelity?
“After the murder, she gives the mur-
derers her husband’s watch, buckles,
waistcoat, breeches and shirts, to be worn
in the eye of the world, where they were
well known to be Spooner’s clothes, and
from their goodness and fashion might be
known not to belong to the persons wear-
ing them, being low and vulgar. Was this
the conduct of a person in the exercise
of reason? Would it have been less ra-
tional to have written on their foreheads
in capitals: ‘the murderers of Mr. Spoon-
er!
Lincoln’s arguments in behalf of Ross,
Brooks and Buchanan were equally novel.
He referred to them as A, B and C, and
contended that while it was apparent that
either A, or B or C had committed the
crime, there was no conclusive evidence
to show which of the three was the re-
sponsible party or that they had acted in
concert. But for all his improvisations and
all his strivings, Lincoln must have known
from the beginning that he had a losing
battle on his hands.
In the state of the public mind at the
time, Bathsheba’s Toryism alone might
have convicted her, and Brooks’ and Bu-
chanan’s service in the British army was
hardly inclined to win them favor. As for
Ross, the jury probably asked themselves,
what was he doing associating with a
Royalist and two Royalist renegades?
Long before the trial was over, the
ar verdict was a foregone conclusion:
guilty. Justice Cushing sentenced all four
to hang, and fixed their execution for a
Tuesday six weeks off—Tuesday, June 4th.
As it happened, however, none of the
four was to die on this appointed day, and
it was Bathsheba who earned ‘them the
respite. While awaiting execution, the con-
demned languished in the Worcester jail,
where, for what nourishment he could
bring their souls, they were visited regu-
larly by one of the great Massachusetts
clergymen of the era—the Reverend Thad-
deus Maccarty. During one of Maccarty’s
sessions with her, Bathsheba again con-
fessed her crime, but in greater detail
than previously. Now she told why she
had wanted her husband out of the way:
in early February, she said, she had found
herself pregnant, and since Ross was re-
sponsible for her condition, she feared the
day when Joshua Spooner would become
aware of it.
Shocked at the very nature of the con-
fession, the Reverend Maccarty was even
more shocked at the thought of its further
ramification. If Bathsheba were hanged
while in the process of becoming a mother,
not one life, but two, would be taken, and
the as-yet-unborn life, in spite of the
stigma of illegitimacy, was innocent of all
wrongdoing.
Championing Bathsheba’s claim, the
Reverend Maccarty made an immediate
appeal to the. Massachusetts Council. His
protestations won for all four of the con-
demned a four-week reprieve, during
which time the Council ordered the sher-
iff of Worcester to proceed as follows:
“Whereas it has been represented to us
in Council that the said Bathsheba Spoon-
er is quick with child, and we being de-
sirous of knowing
sentation, do com
taking with you
twelve discreet
community, to
your proper
Bathsheba Sp
gently to be ex:
trons in the pr
midwives, and c
she be quick wit!
be quick with «
been so, under y
the said men m:
tary’s Office of !
said, at or befo
June next.”
But the effort
turning the Cou:
the sheriff of W«
summoned two n
lawful matrons,
trons to be unde:
person, with the
matrons attendec
Spooner, they h:
tion as required.
trons is that the
is not quick wit
Even so, the
tinued his fight
three men mid
midwives exam:
ently—with divi
men and one o
her pregnant, \
women branded
Council refused
and so Bathshel
erates prepared
“But this mu
wrote the Coun
amined, after I
mittee of compe
perforce, belatec
I have borne thi
able by experi
am ‘with child.”
The hangings
anticipation of
Worcester all
CASE 7
(Continued fron
Miller’s next qu
was any roman
he didn’t know.
“Then how cx
you’re all brok
pearance?” Mil’
Hines unclen
at the palms.
handkerchief. “
said softly. “I :
Wednesday nig:
“And she ref
Hines nodded
Speece exchang
over the timet
with Verna’s e:
list of Verna’s
ted that he had
a vivid descrip:
her.
“T think she’:
Both police off
use of the pre
missing girl, a
Hines’s favor.
Hines was di
called in Det
Oscar Blough :
er Miller in t
men went dir:
searched the r
12 True Detective Mysteries
(Above) Assistant Manager
Stephen Bresnahan, forced at
gun-point to open the theater
safe, shown holding switch in
circulating fan-box, that Walter
Gray, the engineer, closed with
his teeth
that he was walking into a trap.
The assistant manager remembered
afterward that Donahue had seemed
strangely excited, the voice coming over
the telephone had sounded oddly strained
and tense, yet no thought of danger had
entered Bresnahan’s mind. Was it fortunate
that his intuition did not warn him of danger,
cause him to call the Lynn Police as a precautionary
measure? The answer to that question may be surprising.
We will come back to it later.
Meanwhile, Sumner, the elderly bill poster, returned to the
Paramount for his forgotten ladder, entering by the stage
door. He came to the foyer and a cold, menacing voice spoke
to him from the shadowy stairway. Did Sumner guess what
frightful business was afoot in the empty, half-lighted theater
where ominous silence had succeeded the scene of brisk ac-
tivity he recently had left? Was he bravely attempting to
get away and give the alarm?
[J SEEEDING the voice from the stairway, Sumner has-
tened into the lobby, toward the Union Street entrance.
There was a flash from a gun muzzle, a spitting explosion.
The old bill poster had finished his work forever. He dropped
dead as a slug of lead smashed through his brain. One of
the marauders strolled into the lobby and calmly dragged
the dead body of the old man into the foyer and across to the
water fountain, where it could not be seen from the entrance.
Condon, who had been brought up from the basement and
ordered to join the rest of the staff in the office, made a sudden
dash toward the lobby, hoping to gain the freedom of Union
Street and call police to the rescue. A gun barked again, and
Condon dropped as a bullet tore through his back, passing
through his left shoulder, a bit too high to pierce the heart.
William Putnam, letter carrier on the Union Street route,
entered the theater with the Paramount mail. For some
reason, perhaps because he wore & Federal uniform that is
respected throughout the land, perhaps because any inter-
ruption of his schedule might arouse inquiry and excite sus-
picion, Putnam was not shot down. Instead, a gunman, his
weapon hidden, stepped forward to intercept the letter carrier
entering the lobby, and received the theater’s morning mail.
Putnam walked out and went on his way, unharmed and un-
suspecting that he had been hoodwinked into making the
delivery to a red-handed killer.
Gray, the engineer, was pleading for attention. He told
the gunmen that he must go at once to adjust the pressure
gauge on the oil burner. The masked leader harshly ordered
him to keep quiet. ‘You are 4 wise monkey!”’ he sneered.
“Tf you fellows get fresh, you will get what the fellow out-
side got.”
That grim warning by 4 ruthless killer might have subdued
any ordinary unarmed man. And it was backed by the savage,
merciless action which the gang now in full possession of the
big theater had just demonstrated.
Condon, despite his serious wound, was yanked into the
office and compelled to stand against the wall with the rest,
arms above his head, while the chill dew of agony gathered
on his pallid face and blood dripped from his pain-wracked
body.
re A Dutch had shouted that a doctor must be called when
Sumner was shot, but the killer barked angrily: “Get into
that office and shut your damned mouth. Get into that
corner and don’t look around.” She had to obey, but with
feminine perversity Mrs. Dutch placed herself where she could
stare into a wall mirror and watch the scene of terror that
was being enacted behind her back.
Kane, the stage manager, came into the office laugh-
ing, unbelieving that something more amazing
than any stage make-believe he ever had ar-
ranged was actually transpiring before his
eyes. “Shut up,” one of his captors
snarled. ‘He is a wise guy,” sneered
another. And another voice coldly
suggested: “If you don’t like him,
why don’t you let him have it?”
(Left) William W. Jaegar, Lynn
newspaperman, who was slugged
by the killers. (Below) Theater
employees posed especially for
TRUE DETECTIVE, showing
how the bandits lined them up
facing the wall
But Kane was pe
with the rest.
_ Ford, slight of b
in the Irish Repul
Something crashe
and a harsh voice
you?”’ Helpless,
his face back to tl
might give him a
he thought was a
of one of the gang
heard talk about
“dicks”? and “bras
And his military t
ghastly picture.
adjusted to the d
at pointblank ran
public enemy in tl
_ But Gray, the «
tion. ‘“There’s n
bravely risking de:
had just transpire<
up if it isn’t adju
His hands were
wire and he was |
to the boiler room
the heater mech:
and teeth.
Bresnahan arri\
“State Inspectors’
smile of greetin;
when he found g
against his bod)
ordered to open t
the theater office.
“But the money
bank,’’ he explain:
depasit every night
the night slot at tl
The masked
sneered and urge
han to the safe.
around ten thousa:
‘ unbelievably brutal and
tion of the nation boasted
alth in the entire United
tic that one hardly could
red. And yet they had.
walking distance of the
toric Beacon Hill, where
campaign to exterminate
wealth and to make the
fe and profitable.
the conventional manner
» and mystery fiction; for
id uncertain, the body of
seemingly unrelated epi-
appears clear. There is no
he confusing episodes, and
Where there was real team
‘ies of the Commonwealth
ere was not, the law failed.
ied and respected veteran
on his own doorstep in
the autumn of 1930, after
vhich he was manager and
» his wife and two children
e why the leg of lamb he
yped in brown paper was
vay; why his money and
raids on National Guard
ition, the payroll stick-ups,
icking of great truck-loads
ssination of the Cape Cod
through the illegal liquor
ing’’ his criminal associates,
aged Cambridge inventor
rge sum he had just with-
iful picture which startled
| morning of January 2nd,
n stalking other cities and
if horror and death; setting
life that might be rejected
The Truth About the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings 11
as too ridiculously impossible by an
average motion-picture impresario.
Employees of the Paramount
Theater in Lynn were preparing
this largest of the noted shoe-
manufacturing city’s motion-’
picture houses to open for
another day’s business. The
holiday trade of New Year’s
Day and a special midnight
show had left the premises
littered. The cleaners, Leo
Donahue, Michael Ford,
Mrs. Mary Cleary and Mrs.
Hazel Dutch, were hard at
work. Walter Gray, the
engineer, was checking up
the mechanical equipment.
John Harvey, an usher, and
Arthur Murch, a member of
the general staff, were attend-
ing to other routine duties, under
the supervision of John Kane, the
assistant stage manager, and Harry
B. Condon, janitor of the building.
C. Fred Sumner, a theatrical bill poster
who was sixty-five years old, finished his
work in the lobby and went away, leaving
his short ladder, forgotten, behind. William
W. Jaegar, member of the advertising staff
of the Lynn Daily Item, was on the way to
the Paramount to solicit advertising space
for the coming week. The manager, James
J. Dempsey, and his assistant, Stephen Bresnahan, were stil]
at their homes following an all-night tour of duty. It was
not yet 9 o’clock. Motor trucks were rumbling through
Union Street, on which thoroughfare the theater fronted, and
sleek automobiles glided past, grey vapor drifting from mutter-
ing exhaust pipes to disappear in the frigid winter air. Pedes-
trians hastened along the sidewalks, tingling fingers and numb
toes stimulating the eager desire to find shelter and warmth,
One sleek car pulled up at the curb, the motor still idling.
with a quiet throbbing that meant. terrific power and speed
The theater safe whose contents
proved such a bitter disappoint-
ment to the murdering gang,
after they had compelled the
assistant manager to open it
to be unleashed at the touch of the
throttle.
Several men left the car and en-
tered the theater through the
unlocked lobby. And suddenly
there were guns in their hands,
threatening, menacing, as they
stepped through the theater
portals and began rounding
up the amazed, unresisting
staff. Men and women
employees alike were herded
to the theater office, be-
yond the stairway leading
from the foyer down to
the lounge, beside the or-
chestra entrance, and lined
up facing the wall, trem-
bling hands up-stretched
toward the ceiling.
“We are State Inspectors,” an-
= nounced the leader of the in-
i >» truders, his voice muffled somewhat
ts by a handkerchief mask that covered
the lower part of his face. He forced
Donahue to the telephone, prodding him
into submission with a gun, after discovering
that the safe was locked and neither the
manager nor his assistant, who knew the
combination, had arrived on the premises.
One gunman was covering the front en-
trance, a few feet from the box office, guard-
ing the central doors into the lobby from
Union Street. The others, walking on the thick, soft carpet,
had entered the foyer without a sound, surprising the em-
ployees and gaining complete control of the entire theater
without encountering the slightest resistance.
Donahue, prodded to his task with a gun muzzle, telephoned
Bresnahan’s home at 24 Laurel Street, and the assistant
manager agreed to hasten to the theater office. Disturbed by
the news that “State Inspectors” had made an unexpected
early morning visit to the theater and required his immediate
presence, Bresnahan lost. no time in getting there, unsuspecting
. ‘é The parking space be-
hind the theater where }
the killers’ car waited jgey
for the getaway
TO ESSEX sT™
,
i “ raees Sees apatite At tai
vuse of our customary , <a
Only necessity could
nild interference with
would be blind—yes,
recognize that modern
| for present methods
ituation which makes
end upon this change
a complete home rule. ee ae eee
lature that in submit- ‘ é SIN an
which, in itself, was an ats
state Governor—every
\s far as it was possible
to which we give our
should be left, except mS ve ‘pur PRL
he choice of the city. ee * ns
t of life’s service to the
e protected under the
1ajor portion of the ex-
e protection of a city
iat city. The purpose
ssachusetts Legislature
- various police depart-
tion, so that with its
force, the state would
rn criminal.
issachusetts Legislature
vhich set up in place of
ifety a commission of
s, each of an organized
The ordinary routine
es in towns and cities,
ad promotion of mem-
ibject to the provisions
|
DEPARTMENT OF POLICE
LYNN
i 4— a) ee
Scene of brazen hold-up
and murder, the Para-
mount Theater, in Lynn,
noted shoe-manufactur-
ing town
iblie emergency might
e commission of armed
kidnapping, criminal
diate control and direct un- Warren, which organ-
icide or other crime of
‘iolence, the newly cre-
ated Commission I
proposed could
assume imme-
hampered the police activities
of the entire Commonwealth,
The police chief of any city or town
might, in his discretion for any special emergency or
exceptional circumstance, require assistance from the Com-
mission of Public Safety. Such Commission could also dele-
gate additional police aid, assistance and protection to that
end. The Commission would be required to establish and
organize a division of police training, to which any member
of the regular or permanent police force of any city or town,
or the Metropolitan (Boston) District Commission Police,
or the State Police might be assigned to attend.
The act I proposed further provided that promotions, there-
after, should be based in part upon a certificate of qualifica-
tion obtained by following the course of training prescribed
under the rules of the Commission.
This Commission, 1 recommend, shall also set up a Bureau
‘of Investigation—a “Scotland Yard’’ for Massachusetts, if
you wish to eall it that.
This proposal recognized, so far as it is possible to do so and
yet accomplish the object of the bill, the local authority of
the present police force. It did not detract from the possi-
bility of advancement already held, but rather added to that
possibility. When this act was in force it was thinkable that
a young man might rise from the position of patrolman in a
small city, by assiduous performance of his police duties and
a show of unusual skill, through the various grades of his own
city to the Central Department and the Commission of Public
Safety. Formulated to protect the people of Massachusetts
in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property, it also tended
to protect the life of a law-enforcement officer,
No Federal system of police, which does not tend to wipe
out completely the sovereignty of the state can become ef-
fective in this nation unless the various states where these
crimes .are common are properly organized to meet the situa-
tion and to co-operate intelligently and effectively with such
a Federal Police system.
Public safety is a foundation of all government. Without
it, justice, education, and all other functions would speedily
collapse. The very phrase “public safety’? has for Massa-
chusetts a deep historical significance. It was the Committee
of Public Safety, under the leadership of Doctor Joseph
ized the Minute Men and
precipitated the Revolution. The
public safety of Massachusetts has
been challenged. From every part of the state
comes the urge for drastic action and pledges of firm support
to such a policy.
In matters of public safety there can be no parties, nor
any private interests. The bill that I left with the Massa-
chusetts Legislature last March embodied many of the recom-
mendations of the Crime Commission I created one year ago.
It had had the detailed study and approval of competent
minds. It had the support of a vast and growing number of
earnest citizens who looked to us for action.
The principles of the bill I advocated are few and simple:
complete protection of the dignity and rights of present police;
preservation of local police control in matters that are local:
careful training for all, and promotion on approved merit;
adequate modern equipment effectively coordinated and con-
stantly inspected; and the right of the Commonwealth, through
the Commissioner of Public Safety, to intervene instantly in
all crimes of violence, and to take and coordinate the control
of every police force in the Commonwealth,
M* special message, directing attention to the urgent neces-
sity of prompt consideration of the measure I advocated
to meet a serious public emergency, was given to the Common-
wealth’s senators and representatives in joint convention in
order to emphasize the importance of the subject discussed.
This procedure I adopted that I might urge in person the speedy
setting up of a coordinated State Police. A draft of the pro-
posed law accompanied my message and its enactment I
recommended to the State Legislature. The swift progress
of recent events and the consolidation of public opinion was
demanding action along these lines.
The fact that this message was presented while the contents
of my annual message advising unification of police organiza-
tions within the Commonwealth was still before the Legis-
lature had no significance, except to show a desire upon my
part to ask and receive legislative co-operation in this movement
for better police protection for the people of Massachusetts.
Appalling events had occurred during the few brief weeks
that intervened between those two messages, They followed
cectalten va so sistema
10 True Detective Mysteries
Stage entrance of the
Paramount Theater. Ar-
row points to the door
through which the bill
poster passed to his
death
a ghastly succession of mysterious crimes, & frightful scourge
of murder and robbery terrorizing the public and involving
banks, theaters, industrial establishments and commercial
institutions. State Police detectives were brought into the
picture to have a prominent part in the extraordinary mystery
which during recent weeks has at last been solved.
Even today, with intimate details of the astonishing and
sinister story revealed to the searching eye of the law as stark
and sordid facts, one may sometimes awaken at night to
discover that he is still pondering certain perplexing angles
of the puzzling enigma—a mad phantasmagoria of wanton
murder and love, of ruthlessly violent robbery and romance,
_ of blazing guns and wild infatuation, of incredible folly and
cunning intelligence that long defied the shrewdest detectives.
ND through the terrible and tragic skein of mystery and
violence and death there runs one bright thread: the fact
that when there was unified and coordinated effort by all
police forces, even to some limited degree, the law triumphed
over crime.
Much of the time and thought of local police officials are
fully occupied by executive and routine duties, and they are
apt to give rather scant attention to crimes that do not appear
to affect directly the welfare of citizens in their own territory.
Hence the recent astounding revelations have been as aston-
ishing to police authorities as they will be to the general public.
Those bold and brutal crimes which inspired reporters to
fill many columns of newspaper space scarcely distracted at-
tention from the pressure of onerous routine duties, during
the time a local department’s own community was not con-
cerned. And then came the recent holocaust which aroused
the public to frenzy bank employees sprayed with machine-
gun bullets, bank after bank raided, unresisting citizens slain
while submitting to armed robbery, police officers wantonly
assassinated while attempting to protect the tax-payers con-
tributing to their modest wages, payroll stick-ups, theater
hold-ups—an appalling orgy of violence, plunder, bloodshed
and death. :
Residents of Massachusetts in general, of the metropolitan
area of Greater Boston in particular, may pride themselves
on culture and sophistication; may be inclined to speak con-
descendingly about the “Wild West” and the Middle West
where desperados are supposed to be tolerated. And then
came this astounding succession of unbelievably brutal and
callously cruel crimes in a small section of the nation boasted
to be the richest in per capita wealth in the entire United
States. Crimes so bold and fantastic that one hardly could
credit that they had really occurred. And yet they had.
“Wild West’? crimes within brief walking distance of the
Massachusetts State House on historic Beacon Hill, where
for months there had been talk of a campaign to exterminate
criminals throughout the Commonwealth and to make the
paths of peace and righteousness safe and profitable.
This is a story not easily told in the conventional manner
of the brilliant writers of detective and mystery fiction; for
the real beginning is still vague and uncertain, the body of
the tale is a complex composite of seemingly unrelated epi-
sodes, and only the grim ending now appears clear. There is no
one detective ace who figured in all the confusing episodes, and
who can be dramatized as the hero. Where there was real team
work of all the law-enforcing agencies of the Commonwealth
the law was successful, and where there was not, the law failed.
We might begin with the wounded and respected veteran
of the World War shot to death on his own doorstep in
Falmouth on a Saturday night in the autumn of 1930, after
closing the chain grocery store of which he was manager and
plodding wearily to the home where his wife and two children
were sleeping. We might speculate why the leg of lamb he
was carrying under his arm, wrapped in brown paper was
found in a field some distance away; why his money and
watch and ring were unmolested.
Ok there are the bold midnight raids on National Guard
armories for weapons and ammunition, the payroll stick-ups,
the swift series of hold-ups, the hi-jacking of great truck-loads
of cigarettes, the cold-blooded assassination of the Cape Cod
man tempted to seek quick wealth through the illegal liquor
traffic and accused of “double-crossing” his criminal associates,
and the deliberate murder of the aged Cambridge inventor
after he had been robbed of the large sum he had just with-
drawn from his bank.
But-let us begin with that dreadful picture which startled
Massachusetts on the bitterly cold morning of January 2nd,
1934, when the terror that had been stalking other cities and
towns struck Lynn, leaving a trail of horror and death; setting
the stage for a tragic drama of real life that might be rejected
as too ridiculously
average motion-pictu
Employees of — the
Theater in Lynn wer
this largest of the n
manufacturing city's
picture houses to o
another day’s busines
holiday trade of New
Day and a special mi
show had left the pr«
littered. The cleaners
Donahue, Michael
Mrs. Mary Cleary and
Hazel Dutch, were h:
work. Walter Gray
engineer, was checki
the mechanical equi
John Harvey, an us}
Arthur Murch, a mc
the general staff, wei
ing to other routine di
the supervision of Jo}
assistant stage manag
B. Condon, janitor
C. Fred Sumner, a tt
who was sixty-five v«
work in the lobby an
his short ladder, forgo
W. Jaegar, member o
of the Lynn Daily / te
the Paramount to so!
for the coming week.
J. Dempsey, and his
at their homes follow
not yet 9 o’clock.
Union Street, on whic
sleek automobiles glid«
ing exhaust pipes to d
trians hastened along |
toes stimulating the e
One sleek car pullec
with a quiet throbbir
a
sim, IRESON
e
nee ye
4¥h 1. i MA Me iN bed 3 W a) 7 5 i = GS Cc 7} C Kf 3 f “sop
Vi =
q
THE TRUTH ABOUT
GOVERNOR OF
MASSACHUSETTS
As told to FRED H. THOMPSON
Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
50
.
a
>
=<
+o,
>
imD
a
pw
¥
rs 5
(Top) Norma’s mother, Mrs. Margaret
Brighton, faints on steps of Dedham Court
House. Norma is shown left. Behind her
is ‘the Reverend Norman Brighton (Above) °
Abe Faber as the camera caught him after
a night in the Dedham Jail
IVE DET3ECHUE My s7ERIES A &8 ZAE
JAWUARY, Z9ZS57 >
THE ATROCIOUS
KILLINGS
The Story So Far:
WHEN a series of appalling crimes, including robbery and
cold-blooded murder, roused the Bay State, Governor
Ely appealed to the State Legislature for a thorough reor-
ganization of all police forces in the Commonwealth, to com-
bat the menace. While the State law-makers were considering
the Governor’s plan, a swift succession of startling atrocities
followed with no clue to the perpetrators. Finally, a Packard
answering the description of the getaway car used in crimes
committed in Lynn and Needham, was found in the Norwood
woods, partly destroyed by fire. The car was equipped with
a short-wave radio set, and had a special attachment for
picking up police signals without interference. This attach-
ment was traced to a radio-parts dealer whose shop was on
Pe
cennenenn ieee tba
.
(Top) Miss Rose Knellar,
whom circumstances drew
into the Millen case.
(Above) Part of the crowd
that milled around Faber’s
home, watching the of-
ficial inspection
=
ROSS
aseecre aaapeanenne guarearmmemnncnemem een —
eran
52 True Detective Mysteries
Columbus Avenue, near Boston Police Headquarters. He was
a brilliant young engineer, and a graduate of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Repairs on the battery of the
burned ‘car were traced to Irving and Murton Millen, young
Roxbury brothers, who had disappeared with Norma Brighton
Millen, clergyman’s daughter and _ girl-bride of Murton.
In a Back Bay apartment, from which the three had abruptly
departed, was found a letter addressed to Saul Messinger at
Coney Island. - The letter directed him to destroy previous
correspondence. George Breach, manager of the Criminal
Department of the William J. Burns International Detective
Agency’s New England Division, working in the interests
of the American Bankers’ Association, telephoned his New
York office to locate and investigate Messinger.
EFORE this could be accomplished, Breach received an
astonishing message from the metropolis, telling him to
“orab Faber, the brains of the gang.” .
In the meantime Burns operatives shadowed Messinger,
and finally took him into custody on February 24th, 1934.
Under persistent questioning, the young man admitted a
lifelong friendship with the Millen boys, and said he had seen
them recently when they visited New York City. Through
further information given by Messinger, detectives found
Murton Millen’s Chevrolet car in a West 50th Street garage.
When pressed about the criminal exploits of the Millens,
Messinger said that the boys had told him about some of:
them, mentioning the outrage at the Paramount Theater
in Lynn which had included robbery and murder. But
he said he felt they were just bragging. On Sunday, February
25th, officers intercepted a telegram sent to Messinger’s
rooming-house from Washington, D. C. It directed him
to meet “Abel” at the Lincoln Hotel, in New York City,
at 5 p.m. Officers escorted Messinger to the hotel to meet
his friends, and that evening the two Millens, and Murton’s
bride Norma, were taken into custody. In the meantime,
Faber was picked up in Boston by George Breach and State
Detective Joseph Ferrari.
Through his statements, authorities located a garage on
Brinsley Street, Dorchester, whose contents proved a rev-
elation. It turned out to be a veritable arsenal, and def-
initely connected the Millens with several atrocious, unsolved
crimes. °
Evidence uncovered in the garage definitely branded them
as the perpetrators of the Lynn robbery and murder, for
which Clement Molway and Lewis Berrett, Boston taxicab
drivers, wete about te be convicted.
While all this was taking place in New England, a claim
check, taken from Murton Millen for baggage left in the Union
Station at Washington, D. C., was instrumental in yielding
weapons stolen from Massachusetts Tech, and a pistol si-
lencer of peculiar design, which had been used in an attempted
hold-up of the Oriental Theater, in the Mattapan section of
Boston.
Meanwhile, Norma Millen was allowed to return to her
father’s home while the two Millen boys, in jail in New York,
were demanding Jawyers and making wholesale denials of
incriminating statements given out by their friend, Abe Faber.
When Detective Ferrari finally faced Faber with the stag-
gering line up of facts unearthed by the authorities, including
a scheme to loot the United States Mint and Treasury, he
denied everything flatly and said, ‘You are all wrong. Here
is the real truth.” .
(Below) The Millen brothers, Murton (left) and Irving—inscrutable and still confident—as they looked while being held
in New York, where they calmly defied the State of Massachusetts to prove Abe Faber’s story true
The Truth about the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings
(Above) The camera catches the jubilant smile on Detective Joseph Ferrari’s face (left) just after he had secured a state-
ment from Abe Faber. Ferrari is shown in front of the Dedham Jail with two lawyers for the Defense—George Douglas
(center) and George Harvey Stanley
The Story Continues:
—Part Sreven—
OR two weeks the slim and dapper Abe Faber had been
posing as the secret confidant of the friendly detectives.
The brilliant Tech graduate, a champion pistol shot
commissioned on his fine college record a lieutenant in
the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the United States Army, had
confided that he was a talented amateur detective able to
solve vexing mysteries with his keen deductive reasoning.
Holding himself proudly. erect and tenderly caressing his
natty eyebrow mustache, Faber had languidly given the
officers neat suggestions in their quest for his erstwhile friends,
the missing Millens. .
And now the authorities knew that the suave electrical
engineer thought he had been cunningly double-crossing
them. He had been in secret communication with his missing
friends from the first.
And Detective-Lieutenant Joseph Ferrari of the State
Police, now ready to grill Faber in grim earnest, knew some-
thing else—news which had been telephoned from New York
City and was being held from the clamoring reporters. When
the thrilling raid at Hotel Lincoln netted Murton and Irving
Millen, they had defiantly denied any part in the Massachusetts
crimes, demanded Jawyers, and told a strange story about a
mysterious “Joe’’ whose threats of a “spot” killing had caused
them to flee from Boston. But Mrs. Nornta Brighton Millen,
Murton’s girl bride of a few weeks, later released to return
with her father, the Reverend Norman Brighton, to their
home in Natick, had sobbed out a damning “confession.”
It was the girl’s admissions that had been held seeret to confute
the erudite Abe Faber.
Norma had tearfully confided’ that she knew about the
wanton murders and ruthless hold-ups. She sobbed denials
of any part in these frightful crimes although some of the
- loot was in her modish hand-bag and more had been expended
for her luxurious: living. She said she had learned of these
crimes after they were perpetrated, when fear for her life
forced her to keep her dreadful secret. The guilty killers
who had committed them, she confided, were her own youthful
husband and young brother-in-law—and Abe Faber.
So Ferrari eyed Faber with a bleak, cold stare. He re-
membered the tip Faber had dropped, even as the Millens
were being captured in New York City, and which had led
to the raid on the Brinsley Street garage and the seizing of an
amazing private arsenal and bandit equipment.
“Abe,” he said, solemnly, “you don’t have to talk unless
you want to. But if you do talk, tell the truth. Will you
tell us where you got all the guns, the shotguns and stuff,
the gas bombs, the machine gun, and how you got it, and
where you got it?”
THE ramrod back of the young engineer and army officer
bowed and sagged. His finger dropped away from the
neat little mustache. His eyes sought the floor. His lips
were twitching. He didn’t look like a brilliant analytical
detective now. He looked like a broken man, writhing in
terror, horrified by the doom he knew was confronting him.
“Yes,” he whispered. “But Rose had nothing to do with
it. She couldn’t even have suspected anything wrong.”
Ferrari knew he meant Miss Rose Knellar, the sweetheart
he planned to marry in June.
And then came a story of wholesale plunder and murder—
a narration so shocking as to stagger the imagination—a
story of armory, theater, and bank hold-ups, of wanton murders
ruthJessly committed in cold blood and with no consideration
for human life. A story of how the (Continued on page 100)
idquarters
1 General
a, and di-
- a whole
where the
concealed .
sdland be-
‘ood, most
snow, and
aough car-
the whole
id any re-
‘, working
etter luck.
ad the car
nse plates,
ble. Under
, they dis-
ore Massa-
o the state
he number
‘k Packard,
yame of the
althy wom-
een report-
ber 23d—a
ed with one
nformation,
ng onto the
was not al-
t least that
st certainly
ock.
rest of that
tthed comb.
at tool box,
of peculiar
~ «mbered, but
ould find a
‘al Needham
sight, then
got there?”
rnment mas-
y armory in
ellows could
iround. They
re from the
wanted to.”
two things,”
has a finger
iere, which I
ey did they
‘jes, or else
h of clever
some Govern-
nade a set up
them has been
regular army,
suggested the
ian that, sir,”
ide these keys
ave a lot of
newhere. You
ocksmith any-
_ but he can’t
open a lot of
zx a good many
snow this gang
ys to armories
take too long.
ne shop some-
chine shop any-
ling a garage,”
suggested the general. “They seem to have
done something in the auto-lifting line, too.
I wonder if there’s anything that will show
where this car has been since it was stolen.”
“What do you mean?”
“New spare parts. If we find that the
car has a new crankshaft, for example, it
wouldn’t be hard to get a list of garages in
this part of the state that have ordered
new crankshafts from the Packard factory
recently and check up on them.”
Stokes went out and got the Packard
agency in Boston on the phone, and next
morning a motor expert arrived to super-
intend the work of taking the wreck apart
at the Norwood garage. He stepped over to
the wreck, drew his finger across one of the
puzzling corroded places, and then touched
it gingerly to the tip of his tongue.
“Uh-huh,” he said. “That corrosion is
due to sulphuric acid. When they found out
the car wasn’t going to burn, they must
have poured acid all over it to eat it away,
but they ran out of acid and patience be-
fore they finished their job.”
Under his expert direction that scorched
and acid-rusted wreck was taken apart as
carefully as though it were a new $10,000
machine—and indeed, it was more than
that; it was a $13,800 and two-life machine.
Out of the wreckage under the back seat
came an empty cartridge case that was
dispatched to Captain Van Amburgh. A
moment later came the second important
find—an ignition key and a jagged, corrod-
ed bit of metal.
“That’s not a Packard key,” said the ex-
pert decisively, handling the object, “and
this——” he paused and frowned, then took
the piece of metal to the light.
“This,” he said finally, turning back, “is
the end of another license plate, a 1934 li-
cense plate, a new one, that has been
through a fire and been treated to an acid
bath.”
The detectives bent over it with him,
then agreed. It was a piece from the right-
hand end of the plate, as the rim showed,
but what was most interesting, was the fact
that just in from the rim was a fragment
of a number—a little +.
“There’s only one number that could be
part of,” said Stokes, “and that’s 4. The
fast number on the license plate was 4. Now
I wonder why they were so anxious to get
rid of it—probably because it was issued to
one of them. And where is the rest of it?”
Leaving the others with the Packard
man, he hurried off with the key and bit
of license plate. The key was not difficult ;
at the first locksmith’s shop the man in
charge glanced it over, looked at the num-
ber on it, and handed it back—“Belongs to
a Pontiac car,” he said. But this was not
much by itself.
Stokes returned to the place where the
Packard had been found for another look.
- The weather had turned slightly; there had
been a little thaw, and the now cleared spot
was stirrounded by a curious crowd, among
whom he noticed a boy in a scout suit.
Stokes had a brain wave.
Without waiting to look over the ground,
he hurried off again. Twenty minutes later
he was talking to the scoutmaster of the
Norwood Boy Scouts. “Here’s a big chance
for your boys,” he told him, and explained
about the finding of the fragment of license
plate and the importance of getting the rest
of it. “Now if we can get this, we'll be
American Detective
pretty close behind one of the worst gangs
of criminals Massachusetts ever saw. Do
your boys want to do some real detective
work? I want them to comb every inch of.
that woodland, find the place where the car
was burned, and get the rest of that plate.”
HE scoutmaster gave an energetic as-
sent, and by the middle of the after-
noon, the state police were supplemented by
a hundred or more inquisitive and enthu-
siastic allies. By evening they had found
two more pieces of the plate on the Lily
Pond Road; and in the morning they re-
ported the discovery, deep in the woodland,
of the place where the Packard had been
burned and more fragments of the plate.
Stokes and Ferrari, patiently working
out the jigsaw puzzle of the pieces, man-
aged to establish that the last four numbers
of the missing license plate were probably
2534, There was another quick call to the
motor license bureau, and the work of
checking began over again, with high hopes.
And then came disappointment. The
check showed that there were only eighty
cars in the state bearing license numbers
ending in 2534, and none of them were Pon-
tiacs. Nevertheless the state police followed
down each of the cars, but when they had
finished the job, three or four days later, the
mystery was still a mystery. All the eighty
cars were located, none of them lacked li-
cense plates, and the eighty owners were
above suspicion.
This check in the work of detection was
somewhat compensated by another call
from Captain Van Amburgh with the news
that the cartridge case found under the
back seat had almost certainly come from
the missing state police machine gun. That
tied it up; the wrecked Packard was cer-
tainly the gunmen’s car, as well as the car
of the ghost burglars.
Meanwhile, the man from the Packard
agency was busy over a fragment from the
sadly smashed battery of the burned ma-
chine. “This plate,” he said, “never came
from a Packard car battery. There’s a
spare part you can trace, if we can find any
more of it. It must be a new battery they
put in the car.”
They worked at it half the night, separat-
ing the fragments from the wreckage into
three piles, now that the battery had be-
come a matter of the first importance. One
pile contained pieces that .were certainly
battery parts, one what were possibly bat-
tery parts, and the third pile pieces that
were certainly not battery parts. When they
got through, there was perhaps a half-peck
of pieces of lead and rubber. A battery man
was called in to help in the task of identi-
fication, and with the first touch of day,
the telegraph wires were carrying a notice
like this to every police department in the
state:
“To all state police posts and police
departments:
“Please check all garages and battery
stations in your jurisdiction for the fol-
lowing battery:
“A 19 (thin) plate battery with a Hood
rubber case, with Prestolite plates. One of
the end cells was recently separated with a
‘J’ type separator.
“This battery was installed in a black
Packard car, believed used in the Need-
ham murders and robbery. Also please
check all garages in your jurisdiction for
71
car to which ignition key P-397 will fit.
Locksmiths say this is a key to a Pontiac
car.”
It was a thin clue, that poor smashed
battery, but the best the detectives had,
now that the 2534 license plate had gone
dead on them like all the earlier clues in the
case. They waited for two days, wondering
whether this, like all the rest, would sud-
denly give out just when victory was in
sight and drive them back to make a third
fresh start. And while they waited, every
state and city police official in the whole of
Massachusetts was sending officers out to
inquire about a 19 (thin) plate battery in a
Hood rubber case — from door to door
among the garages and battery service sta-
tions. Patiently, up and down the street;
census work; uninspired, slow dogged
plugging. Would it be another washout?
It would not. On the evening of the sec-
ond day, a flash came over the state police
teletype from Dorchester, up near Boston.
A battery service man recalled having rent-
ed out just such a battery. He remembered
it very clearly; it had not been paid for.
Remarking that this case was beginning
to resemble one of those old-fashioned
movies where the policemen jump into the
air and then run in all directions, Stokes
and Ferrari boarded a train for Dorchester,
with the fragments of the battery in a
suitcase.
“Yep,” said the battery man, when he
saw them, “that’s my battery all right. You
say the car burned up? Tck, tck, too bad.
But I s’pose them young fellers is good for
it.”
Stokes leaned across the counter, his
eyes alight. “Who did you rent it to?” he
asked.
“Why, the Millen boys, over on Adams
Street,” said the battery man, as though he
thought it the most natural thing in the
world. “I told the other feller that.”
Stokes and Ferrari hurried to the Dor-
chester police station.
“Yes, we have the names,” said the desk
sergeant, “and we’ve got a man watching
the place now, but it looks as though there
was nobody home. We wanted to wait for
you before we went in, to make sure we
had the right parties.”
“What do you know about these Mil-
lens?”
“Nothing. They’re a couple of tough
young mugs, brothers, about five years
apart—look very much alike. One of them
married last fall. They keep a little radio
store in Boston.”
It was puzzling and indefinite and not
what the state detectives had expected.
They were looking for a garage man or a
machinist, and here they drew two radio
men, one of them a newlywed. But half an
hour later they piled into the riot wagon
with half the Dorchester police force,
armed with everything from gas bombs to
machine guns, and made for the Millen
house through the dimness of a cold Feb-
ruary evening. It didn’t pay to take chances
with killers as vicious as those who had
shot down the Needham policemen.
ILENTLY, the officers drew their cor-
don around the house, which sat a little
back from the street. All dark. The machine
guns were set up to sweep the exits, the
bombing squads posted, and then Stokes,
Ferrari, and another detective strode up to
aE on ee ey es
Se ea
Wee eae Re wighie ae Fe She Age:
74
that Irving Millen had been armed,
whipped out his gun, and shoving it into
the second Millen’s face, said suddenly,
“Stick ’em up, Millen!” just as Stokes pin-
ioned the girl’s arms from the rear. In-
stantly there was furious action once more.
With a flicker of lightninglike movement,
the hunted man struck down the detective’s
gun with one hand and with the other
whipped out his own.
“Give it to him! Kill him! Let him have
it!” shrieked the girl, struggling to free
herself from Stokes’s grip, and flinging her
body round to block O’Brien out of the
struggle. There was a quick report, sound-
ing like a cannon shot in that quiet lobby ;
women screamed and fainted, men leaped
to their feet, and Fitzsimmons felt the hot
breath of the revolver along his leg as he
threw himself at the bandit’s gun-hand.
There was a momentary struggle, another
report, and he was tossed violently back-
ward by some trick of leverage. Millen’s
coat ripped, but he tore free, and in two
steps was through the door and away.
But not quite away. As luck and the ar-
rangements of the New York Police De-
partment would have it, Patrolman Pas-
quale Amoroso was walking his beat just
in front of the hotel at that moment, He
had started at the first shot; when the sec-
ond came, he covered the distance to the
door in two giant strides. And now as Mil-
len burst through it, hat off, coat awry,
half-turning to take one more shot at the
fallen detective and make his escape cer-
tain, the patrolman arrived, club in hand.
The club went up and then down. Socko!
Millen staggered on rubbery legs, trying
to turn to face this new foe. Socko! went
the club again, and down went Murton Mil-
len to the sidewalk, losing all further in-
terest in the proceedings. Amoroso stuck
his head in the door.
“Down in two,” he remarked. “Do I get |
a cigar?”
“You get a whole box of them,” panted
Fitzsimmons. “All you did was save my
life.” He bent and applied the steel brace-
lets to the unconscious Millen, then scru-
tinized his own leg, where the bullet had
slashed a long tear through the cloth.
The two men and the girl were taken
round to the nearest station, and to round
out a thoroughly satisfactory bit of detec-
tive work, the five officers, in spite of their
all-night vigil, proceeded to tuck in all the
loose ends. The revolver they had taken
from Irving Millen’s pocket was a Massa-
chusetts policeman’s weapon. Stokes got on
the wire at once with the number of it, and
although it was Sunday he was assured
before evening that it was the same gun
with which Forbes McLeod had tried so
valiantly to defend the Needham Trust
Company. In the pocket of the same pris-
oner’s coat was discovered a check calling
for several packages at the luggage room
of the railroad station in Washington.
There was another phone call over that ‘
the capital police force went round with a
requisition for those packages, and when
they got them to headquarters and opened
them, they gasped. For they had lighted on
one of the most complete collections of
lethal weapons in American criminal his-
tory. There were a dozen tear-gas bombs,
powerful enough to put a thousand men out
of commission, four or five riot guns, a
sawed-off shotgun, five or six revolvers, a
huge quantity of ammunition, and last and
me
bi ali nti A ee sede f "
PTR sg “adanthar a I a nied j
CR a ek utc on ak
American Detective
most important of all, the missing Massa-
chusetts State Police machine gun.
That last find went up to Boston by air-
plane and Captain Van Amburgh took it
ever for his microscopic researches. Before
the end of the week, he had established it,
beyond any possible doubt, as not only the
weapon that had been stolen from the Bos-
ton Mechanics’ Building, but also the one
that fired the slugs that slew McLeod and
Haddock.
That evening there was a jubilation
meeting in the New York. station house,
where two very badly used-up citizens
named Millen remained sullenly silent on
all subjects. Norma Millen, however, was
made of less metallic stuff. At first she was
pert and carefree, munched a bar of choco-
late, kidded the policemen, and posed so
the reporters could photograph her. Then
she began to realize the seriousness of the
position,
“He’s innocent! I know he’s innocent!”
she cried, when they told her of the terri-
ble charge against her husband, and then, a
moment later, “No matter what he did, I
still love him.”
But that mood did not last, either. Nor-
ma Millen is only nineteen; when they be-
gan to ask her about her home, she broke
down and a very much chastened little girl
finally began to talk.
She told a strange story. She was the
daughter of a prominent and fashionable
clergyman at Natick, the Reverend Nor-
man Brighton. Her parents had been di-
vorced, and her only sister had run away
from home five years before, never to be
heard of again. When she wanted the
amusements most young people have, she
had to go out and seek them for herself.
And it was thus, at a dance at the beach,
that she met Murton Millen on August 23d.
She fell in love with him at first sight.
They eloped a month later, and had since
moved frequently from place to place, as
she was a minor and feared her father
would have the marriage canceled. Yes, she
knew Murton always had plenty of money,
but she supposed it came from his radio
business; she had no idea there was any-
thing wrong.
Meanwhile, up. at the Dedham headquar-
ters of the Massachusetts State Police,
there was another jubilation meeting, with
a very calm and immaculate citizen named
Faber playing the star part. He displayed
none of the Millens’ aversion to conversa-
tion—in fact his tongue seemed hung on a
swivel in the middle so it worked at both
ends, and he took a peculiar pride in re-
counting the misdeeds of “his” gang. By
evening he had dictated and signed a full
confession. At seven o’clock on Monday
morning he sent for an officer and a stenog-
rapher and confessed all over again, and
perhaps spurred on to more splendid ef-
forts by the effect he saw he was produc-
ing, he wound up his performance with a
third and even more elaborate confession
on Tuesday. And as his tale went on, the
wonder of the officers who heard him in-
creased,
For he told a story unrivaled in the an-
nals of American crime. The three of them,
he said, he and the two Millens, had decid-
ed more than a year ago, to go in for crime
in a big way. They formed a criminal asso-
ciation, a sort of Robbery Club, Inc. At
the start of operations they swore to divide
all proceeds equally, and to perfect them-
fe ha tt eS
selves in the technique of committing un-
traceable crimes. Every robbery or holdup
was-coldly and dispassionately planned like
a military campaign, and carried through
to the letter. If anyone attempted to inter-
fere with their operations, they were to be
shot down ruthlessly. But before they be-
gan, they set out to perfect themselves in
the technique of their new profession.
They began by purchasing a couple of
.22’s and some ammunition and establishing
a target range near Weston, where they
practised with rifle and revolver until all
three of them became dead shots who could
hit a mark at a hundred yards from any
position. All three were powerful men al-
ready; they developed their strength by
careful exercise, and spent months studying
and working out jiujitsu tricks and rough-
and-tumble fight tactics, till they could
qualify as experts. To their knowledge of
how to drive cars was added a course as
auto mechanics. Faber was a graduate of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
where he had been an honor student. He be-
came the key and lock expert of the band,
buying, taking apart, and learning to pick
every type of lock they were likely to meet
with. A safe deposit box was rented in the
vault of a Boston bank, as a place to hide
their gains. And not until they had com-
pleted all these preliminaries did they em-
bark on their first crime.
Te was the holdup of an army officer,
Captain Lodge, from whom they took
the keys to the Cambridge armory, on Au-
gust 23d, the very night that Murton Millen
met the minister’s daughter who was to
become his bride. At the time it had
seemed to police a small and rather pur-
poseless crime—who would want a set of
keys? But Faber, as a reserve officer, knew
that the Government locks on all the ar-
mories and arms chests in the state had a
family resemblance, and with the keys ob-
tained from Lodge, he proceeded to build
up a set of master keys that would let them
in anywhere. With this equipment, they
soon had an unlimited supply of weapons
and ammunition available, and a few
weeks later the mystifying “ghost bur-
glaries” had begun.
But these were only small fry, in which
the minor amounts of cash they secured
from the military chests were merely to
cover the fact that they were really under-
taken to supply the gang with weapons. In
October, they really began operations on a
large scale with the holdup of the Poli
Theater in Worcester. The ground was rec-
onnoitered for three weeks in advance, and
at the chosen moment the three bandits
swooped down on the theater, hijacked it
for $35,000, and made a swift and safe get-
away. It passed off like clockwork, and the
proceeds were locked away in the Boston
safe deposit vault.
There followed a series of other rob-
beries, more than thirty of them, which
Faber described with evident relish at his
own skill. In December, he continued, they
committed their first murder — that of a
clerk in a sporting-goods store in Fitch-
burg. The robbery had gone off according
to plan, but the obstinate clerk had re-
fused to open the case where the shotgun
they wanted was kept, and in a burst of
bad temper, Faber declared, Irving Millen
had “let him have it.”
But this did not deter them a moment;
they ‘had counted
through crime
Throughout Dece
cn; sometimes st
faked keys, somet
January and anotl
poster at the Par:
said Faber——
And at this poi
listening to his s
at one another. 7
left the room to ;
that very mome:
scientist of crime”
it, up in Salem,
courtroom under ;
men were on tri:
very case. Louis h
rett were cruisin
who: supposedly
some of the thea
the holdup. They
the hour of the c
cruising in quest «
five days they h
cuffed in the pris
rible sinking feeli
ness ‘stepped up
who held me up
the man who shot
When that pho:
there was a bustle
The district attc
passed a note up
judge, putting o:
toward Molway a:
“T declare this
“in view of eviden
me, and which ter
ous miscarriage o!
tate fan
72
the door, their guns out. There might be
nobody home, and then again it might be a
trap. They pressed the bell.
Stokes, his ear against the door, could
hear it ringing hollowly within.
“Empty, I'll bet,” he said. And as the
other two crouched, he set his foot against
the lock and kicked vigorously. The door
gave, in a torrent of sound, and the detec-
tives leaped in, followed by the machine-
gun squad. Silence.
They switched on the lights and went
through the place from garret to cel-
lar. A woman’s powder puff was found in
the bathroom, an old pair of trousers in a
closet. Under a table in the living room lay
a receipted bill for the rental of a garage.
But the only other thing in the house was
a set of installment-plan furniture. Of the
well-fitted-out machine shop, of the arsenal
ef weapons, of the loot from the Needham
or any other stickup, there was not the
slightest sign. Another disappointment.
“Wait a minute, though,” said Stokes,
with the garage bill in his hand. “Where is
this? I wouldn’t be surprised if this were
the place where they had that Packard.
Let’s go see.”
The garage was barely a block away, the
owner more than a little surprised when a
police car full of armed men pulled up at
his door. “That garage?” he said. “Sure, I
rented it to the two Millens, Murt and
Irving. What’s the matter with it?”
“Never you mind,” said Stokes grimly.
“Just let us have the keys.”
It was a standardized, one-story struc-
ture, like a million others. At first sight it
was as clueless as the house. Empty—no
machinery. At the back was a pile of waste
and rags; Stokes kicked it idly aside, to
make certain that he was missing nothing—
and then gave a cry of delight. For under-
neath that pile of rags and waste, tossed
carelessly into a corner, lay three .38-cali-
ber revolvers and a dozen clips of ammuni-
tion. Two of the revolvers were of the state
police type, the third an army weapon.
Whether the Millens were the Needham
murderers or not, it seemed certain that
they were the ghost burglars. Stokes hur-
ried off with his treasures to Captain Van
Amburgh.
The guns were measured, photographed ;
bullets fired from them and the microscope
record of the minute scorings the barrel
imparts to them, as individual as a man’s
fingerprints, were set down. And when it
was all over, the state police knew that the
Millens were in the Needham case up to
the neck. For the bullets that had been
fired at Riordan and that had torn through
the hand of the old vault guard in the bank
unquestionably came from one of those
three guns.
But where had the owners gone to? They
must have received a warning either from
the newspaper stories of the finding of the
Packard and the general call for its battery
that followed or from some inside source.
There was a conference at police head-
quarters that night and it was decided the
first of these two hypotheses was the more
likely. Very well, the mistake should not be
repeated. The case dived underground with
great speed. Reporters asking for informa-
tion .were told blandly, “We are making
satisfactory progress,” the usual polite eva-
sion employed when no progress at all is
being made. The case disappeared from the
Oh sales aN Retna ds a,
ay ae ibe,
American Detective
front pages, then from the inside pages.
The story was dead.
But behind the scenes the state and the
Dorchester police were feverishly busy. A
photographer was found who had pictures
of the two brothers. Everybody who knew
them was rounded up and _ questioned,
gently, probingly, for some clue that would
indicate where they had gone. Jewelers and
auto dealers were sought out—for crooks
in the big money are prone to invest their
wealth in one of two things—cars or jew-
els. It was four days from the finding of
the Packard and nearly two weeks from the
holdup itself before the first hot lead
showed up. An auto salesman recognized a
photo of Irving Millen as that of the young
man who had bought a new car, paying for
it in bills.
“What kind of bills?”
“Big bills. Twenties and fifties.”
The detective took the license number of
the new car and put out wires for it all over
New England. Again the clue was perilous-
ly thin, and again the luck, which had run
with the pursuers since the discovery of the
Packard, held. The new car had been noted
at Quincy, and had been warned for over-
parking in Hartford, Connecticut. Quincy
and Hartford are on the road to New
York.
At the same time, the state police had
been working backwards from the matter
of the auto purchase. It had been several
days since the car was bought, but on the
off chance that it might turn something up,
the bank where the agency deposited its
funds was asked to check over its stock of
twenty- and fifty-dollar bills. Sure enough,
among them were some of the bills from
the Needham Trust robbery. There was no
positive proof, of course, that they were
among the bills Irving Millen had paid for
his car, but the coincidence of events was
striking, to say the least.
And now once more the tale dives under-
ground, this time deeper than before. All
along, the Burns Agency men had been
working with the state and local police on
this case, unobtrusively but helpfully. The
work so far had been department work, the
sort of thing the police can do better than
any private agency, because of their organ-
ization, but now came a spot where the
agency had it over the police. A Burns
man can interview underworld characters
who would shut up like so many oysters if
they were talking to the official police, for
the underworld is fully aware that private
detectives mind their own business.
Thus it came about that a week after
the discoveries at Dorchester the Burns
agency mysteriously “got information” that
the much-wanted Millens were living in a
little house at Coney Island, on the out-
skirts of New York. :
IEUTENANT STOKES left for New
York at once, and there was a grand
conference of detectives in the Coney Island
station house—the Massachusetts men,
Lieutenant Eason and Detectives O’Brien
and Fitzsimmons of the New York force, as
well as the two Burns operatives, Smith
and Hall. :
“We've had two men on the house all
day,” reported the. New York lieutenant,
“and there hasn’t been any sign of life. But
we'll throw a raid if you say the word.”
Stokes groaned inwardly. Was he to be
always a day or two behind the slippery
brothers? “All right,” he said, without op-
timism, “Let’s go.”
They surrounded the house at sundown,
and as the first electric lights were winking
on, closed in on it as they had the Dorches-
ter place. Same result. An’ empty house, a
broken cigarette lighter, discarded news-
papers. The birds had flown once more.
Another dead end.
But you cannot stay in New York City
long without being seen by someone, espe-
cially if you have money to burn. That is
where many criminals make their mistake.
They imagine New York is a good place to
hide. Hide, my aunt—New York is the
place where you are under the constant sur-
veillance of six million pairs of eyes and
ene of the most sleepless police departments
in the world. Before Lieutenant Stokes
could catch a train back to Boston, he had
been handed a report that two men answer-
ing the description of the Millens, accom-
panied by a woman, had boarded a bus for
a Baltimore & Ohio train connection sev-
eral days before. The Baltimore & Ohio
runs south, but the New York men advised
Stokes to stick around.
That was on Friday. By Saturday noon
more details began to come in, each a tiny
sand-grain of information, but each some-
thing that added up with the other sand-
grains gathered by the antlike patience of
the New York police and their allies of
the Burns outfit to make a complete picture
of the movements of two crooks and a lady
in the big city. They had been seen in night
clubs, where they danced with verve and
grace and spent money freely. They had
been to the theater; they had bought a cou-
ple of bottles of rye. Then the car turned
up—the new car they had bought for cash —
in Dorchester. It had been sold to a second-
hand auto agency after having been used
only for the trip down. Evidently they real-
ized that the pursuit was close at their
heels and were cutting all the connections
possible.
Friday — Saturday. Saturday night,
Stokes, weary with hope deferred and fruit-
less labors, went to his hotel and climbed
into bed. It seemed he had hardly closed his
eyes before he was awakened by the ring-
ing of the phone. He glanced at his watch.
One-fifteen.
“Hello,” he said into the phone in a sleepy
and slightly cross voice, “Stokes speaking.”
“Hello, Stokes. This is the Coney Island
precinct station. We have information that
the parties you’re interested in are at the
Lincoln Hotel—Eighth Avenue and Forty-
sixth Street. Will you meet us in the lob-
by ° ie
Lieutenant Stokes was wide-awake at
once. “Be there in ten minutes!” he caroled
into the phone, in spite of his sleepiness,
pulled on his clothes, and without even
pausing for a cup of coffee, hopped into a
tax1.
Lieutenant Eason was waiting for him
there with Fitzsimmons, O’Brien, and the
two Burns men. “They arrived in a new
car with Maryland license plates,” one of
the private detectives offered, “parked it in
a garage near here, and came in and reg-
istered. All three of them went out again,
but I’m pretty sure they’re coming back.
They left their baggage and the car.”
Stokes felt a momentary sinking of the
heart. For the third time he had run the
Needham killer
gone when he :
men appeared 1
“All right,” s
you go and co.
chance they go
can wait here.”
“While we’r:
“why don’t we
The manager «
and when he :
the errand the)
to let them ex
O’Brien was
the word up if
detectives wer¢
to the suite on
Millens had en
offered nothing
two suitcases <
detectives wen
skeleton keys,
them opened
carefully folde
he proceeded t:
denly his hanc
more solid tha
drew it out, <
package of tw«
middle of the ;
bills with a p:
and on that |
superscription,
Company.”
There was
shakes in that
in the mornin
gratulating t
chimed sharpl
guns and_ ste
snapped out °
picked up the
But the ca
“Long distanc
setts,” sang t!
this Mister 1
“Right her
then, holding
piece, he flur
long distance
the light aga
“All right-
tor’s voice, a!
lowing, “Hel!
Fitzsimmor
his handkercl
to alter the t
“Yeh, Abi
tioning to the
ceiving insta:
silently into
the receiver
“There’s a
through on t
he said soft
Police; give
“Listen,”
mons’ ear.
you bought
over that W
said?”
“Yeh, Abi:
simmons bri
voice too far
“Okay, T’)
end of the
Norma,” anc
“
UT not «
A? works \
which is the
lippery
ut Op-
ndown,
inking
orches-
ouse, a
news-
more.
‘k City
» espe-
That is
nistake.
jlace to
is the
int sur-
res and
rtments
Stokes
he had
answer-
accom-
bus for
on sev-
& Ohio
advised
ay noon
ha tiny
h some-
or sand-
ience of
allies of
> picture
da lady
in night
‘rve and
hey had
it a cou-
r turned
for cash
. second-
een used
hey real-
at their
anections
night,
ind fruit-
i climbed
closed his
the ring-
is watch.
na sleepy
peaking.”
iey Island
ation that
ire at the
ad Forty-
1 the lob-
awake at
he caroled
sleepiness,
hout even
ped into a
x for him
a, and the
in a new
s,” one of
arked it in
1 and reg-
out again,
ning back.
car.”
ing of the
ad run the
Needham killers to earth only to find them
gone when he arrived. But the New York
men appeared more sanguine.
“All right,” said Eason. “Smith, suppose
you. go and cover the car, just on the off
chance they go there first. The rest of us
can wait here.”
“While we’re about it,” offered Stokes,
“why don’t we have a look at their room?”
The manager of the hotel was summoned,
and when he saw their badges and heard
the errand they were on, readily consented
to let them examine the room.
O’Brien was posted in the lobby to pass
the word up if the birds came in while the
detectives were at work; the rest mounted
to the suite on the third floor that the two
Millens had engaged. At the first glance, it
offered nothing striking; a hotel room with
two suitcases and that was all. One of the
detectives went to work on them with his
skeleton keys, and after a moment, one of
them opened up to reveal a collection of
carefully folded masculine garments, which
he proceeded to remove piece by piece. Sud-
denly his hand struck something that was
more solid than a garment; he gripped it,
drew it out, and found he was holding a
package of twenty-dollar bank notes. In the
middle of the package was a ‘little bunch of
bills with a paper band still around them,
and on that paper band was the printed
superscription, “$500 — Needham Trust
Company.”
There was a moment of silent hand-
shakes in that hotel room at three o’clock
in the morning, but just as they were con-
gratulating themselves, the phone bell
chimed sharply. Eason and Hall drew their -
guns and stepped to the door; Stokes
snapped out the light; and Fitzsimmons
picked up the receiver.
But the call was not from the lobby.
“Long distance from Wellesley, Massachu-
setts,” sang the voice of the operator, “Is
this Mister Millen?”
“Right here,” said Fitzsimmons, and
then, holding his hand over the mouth-
piece, he flung quickly to Stokes, “It’s a
long distance call from Wellesley; put on
the light again.”
“All right—go ahead,” came the opera-
tor’s voice, and then a masculine voice fol-
lowing, “Hello, Murt. This is Abie.”
Fitzsimmons, thinking fast, snatched out
his handkerchief and held it over his mouth
to alter the timber of his voice.
“Yeh, Abie, what’s up?” he said, mo-
tioning to the other detectives. Stokes, per-
ceiving instantly how affairs stood, tiptoed
silently into the next room and picked up
the receiver of the instrument there.
“There’s a long distance call coming
through on the phone in that next room,”
he said softly. “I want it traced quick.
Police; give that tracer priority.”
“Listen,” said Abie’s voice in Fitzsim-
mons’ ear.
you bought here. Ditch it. Did you look
over that Washington proposition, like we
said?”
“Yeh, Abie, looks good,” answered Fitz-
simmons briefly, not daring to trust his
voice too far.
“Okay, I’ll be: seeing: you there:-at ‘the
“T hear they got onto that bus -
end of the week. Give my regards’ to -
Norma,” and he hung up quickly.
BU not quickly enough. The telephone
1) works with the speed of electricity,
which is the speed of lightning. At the same
American Detective
moment, in the next room, the Massachu-
setts operator was saying, “The call came
from a phone listed under the name of
Abraham Faber, at Wellesley, Massachu-
setts.” And five minutes later, Lieutenant.
Stokes was calling Massachusetts back on
long distance and routing a state detective
named Joseph Ferrari out of bed at the un-
seasonable hour of three in the morning
with the news that he was to make all pos-
sible speed to Wellesley and pick up a man
named Abraham Faber. Then the five de-
tectives at the Lincoln, having completed
their work in the Millens’ room, returned
to the lobby to take up their vigil.
It was a long, uncomfortable wait, with
very little to relieve it. Five men, groggy
with lack of sleep, disposed in chairs
around the lobby of a big hotel, now and
then glancing at a newspaper, NOW and then
tasting a cigarette, unable to draw close
enough together even to talk to one an-
other for fear that the quarry would spot
them on entrance and lead them into the
intricacies of a street chase that might
turn out badly. And Stokes kept wondering
all the time whether the birds had not flown
again. A strain.
Up in Massachusetts, Ferrari, amply
recompensed for having remained behind
while Stokes went to New York, was driv-
ing a car along skidding midnight roads at
sixty miles an hour in the direction of
Wellesley. At four o'clock in the morning,
he strode into the police station there to tell
a bored desk sergeant that he wanted the
entire duty platoon with a vanload of ma-
chine guns to aid in the capture of Abra-
ham Faber.
The sergeant gazed at him.
have a hole in your head. There’s nothing
wrong about him. He’s a college man, an
officer in the army reserve corps.”
“Oh, an officer in the reserve, huh?”
said Ferrari. “That makes the cheese more
binding. And what does this officer do for
a living?”
“He runs a garage and machine shop.
He’s a technical expert...- Well, for
the love of mike, I would have sworn he
was all right.”
The last sentence came as Ferrari
gripped the edge of the desk with a sud-
den light in his eyes at the words—“ga-
rage,” “machine shop,” “technical expert.”
“Well, he may be all right,” the state de-
tective answered, “but I’m just going up
there and pull him in on a charge of. being
concerned in two murders and the ghost
burglaries, that’s all. Turn out the wagon
and the duty squad. T’ve got three men
here with me now.”
In the unearthly light before the sunrise,
at five o’clock in the morning, they closed
in on the residence of Abraham Faber, col-
lege man, gentleman, reserve officer, honor
student, and mechanical expert. This time
there was no waiting for the doorbell; just
a lightning charge, a smash of broken wood,
and three detectives. dashing upstairs with
weapons ready.
They might have spared themselves the
trouble, As they rushed into his bedroom,
Faber, a tall, good-looking man with’ a’
sat ‘up ‘in’ bed, :
toothbrush mustache,
yawned, and then gave one swift glance at
the stern faces and gleaming weapons.
“So you caught up with me at last,” he
remarked amiably. “All right, you win. If
you want a cup of coffee while I’m dress-
“Abraham .
Faber!” he exclaimed, “Why, you must —
73
ing you'll find some on the kitchen stove.”
But it was not until the garage was
searched that the state officers knew by
how large a margin they had won. In it
they found not only a small arsenal of
weapons, including some of the National
Guard’s tear-gas bombs and a tasteful se-
lection of riot guns, but also a Pontiac car,
into the ignition switch of which key num-
ber. P-397 fitted perfectly, and a fake set of
license plates for the same machine. In an-
other corner of the machine shop was a set
of tools for making keys; in still another a
beautiful radio set, obviously built by Faber
himself, but otherwise a state police radio
set in every detail, with the dials set to the
low wave-length which is the exclusive
property of the Massachusetts State Police,
and which is used for the broadcast of all
police information. And when the Pontiac
was looked up in the license records, Fer-
rari discovered that its true number ended
in 25134, and uttered a sigh when he re-
membered how near they had been to end-
ing the case that day in Norwood, when
the boy scouts had gathered up the pieces
of the missing license plates. But that in-
formation was not to come till later. What
he already had was big enough, and by
noon he was calling the Hotel Lincoln and
reporting victory at all points on the Mas-
sachusetts front.
At the Lincoln Hotel it was noon and
still no sign of the return of the Millens.
The detectives went out, one by one, for
something to eat, then returned to their
vigil. One o’clock—two o’clock—and then
Hall, seated nearest the door, suddenly
lifted:-his..hand to take off his hat—the
agreed-upon. gesture of warning. The other
detectives rose and closed round the single
figure advancing jauntily toward the ele-
vators—a big man in a new overcoat, with
thick lips and a splay nose. ,
He gave one quick glance round, saw the
figures about him, and in an instant there
was furious action in the palatial hotel lob-
by. The suspected man swung sharp round,
striking O’Brien a terrific pivot blow in the
face with his left hand, and with his right
diving for an inner pocket. Eason whipped
out a blackjack; Fitzsimmons, the farthest
of the detectives, reached for his gun;
Stokes flung himself onto the fellow’s right
arm. They went down, and rolled over to-
gether with the suspected man raining blows
on the detective’s head with his free hand.
Then Eason’s blackjack rose and fell twice,
and the man went limp, with blood gush-
ing round his face. It was Irving Millen,
the younger of the two brothers.
i igeorne took him up to the room, and
left him there, handcuffed arm and leg
to the bed, with Eason to watch him, while
the rest returned to wait for his brother,
and the excitement in the lobby died down.
It was no extended wait. Half an hour
after the capture of Irving Millen, Hall’s
arm again gave the warning signal, and the
four detectives in the lobby looked up to
see a man they could have sworn was the
one they had just captured if they had not
known otherwise. “They look enough alike
to ’be_ twins,” ‘Stokes~ remembered ~ the
Needham. real estate man’s words. Arm in
arm with him was a beautiful brunette in a
caracul coat, and the two were laughing
and talking together as they entered.
O’Brien and Stokes closed in on them
from behind. Fitzsimmons, remembering
Stunned by-this news, the two willingly sign a statement
giving their movements on the day of the murder, feeling
sure that this will explain everything and they will be
quickly released. However, the very facts are damaging
and seem to incriminate them,
The next afternoon, worn from lack of sleep, unwashed,
unshaven and in wrinkled clothes, Berrett and Molway are
placed in a line-up where, as Berrett says, they “stand out
like a couple of sore thumbs” among the other neatly
dressed men. About fifteen people are brought in one by
one to try and identify the men concerned in the Lynn
hold-up and murder. Five out of the fifteen pick Berrett
and Molway. Knowing that they are innocent of the crime,
the two are besides themselves with indignation and worry
Back in their cells, more questioning follows. Then another
almost sleepless night.
Berrett begs the detectives to get in touch with a young
lawyer, Charles Barrett, whom he has known as a boy, and
the following day Barrett comes down to see him and lis-
tens to his story. “You're going to be arraigned in district
court this morning,” says Barrett, “and I'll represent you
In court Berrett and Molway plead “not guilty” and are
{5
46 The Master
taken back to their cells for half an hour. Then they are
handcuffed, and escorted by men with riot guns out of the
back door. A battery of cameras face them, which so an-
gers Berrett that he pushes one of the cameramen in the
face. A huge crowd of people waiting outside surge to-
ward the two prisoners as they head for the patrol wagon.
Then a man yells, and the crowds take up the words:
“Lynch them!” they cry, “lynch them!”
Part II1I—ConcLusion
BELIEVE that if. I hadn’t had that big detective
shackled to my right wrist, | would have been flying
into that patrol wagon. Nobody ever was so anxious
to get into a patrol wagon in his life as I was right
then!
Maybe | had that mob outside the Lynn lockup figured
all wrong. But you never can figure crowds like that. I’ve
Detective
Dan Callahan, former bodyguard of President
Theodore Roosevelt, is assigned to investigate the
alibis of Berrett and Molway
galloped around in a taxicab long enough to
realize that. Mobs are dynamite. ‘All it
takes istone guy to yell something and the
fuse starts sputtering.
I'll néver be able to tell you how scared |
was'when that first guy yelled, “Lynch ’em!"
And then, when a couple of others took up
-. the cry, I must have been green in the face.
I didn’t know which way they were going
to jump.
I suppose I should have remembered those
"cops with riot guns and figured that no mob
Was going to walk into a stream of hot lead.
But I didn’t. And, | suppose, when they
moved forward towards us a little, they were
only moving closer to get a better look at
the two guys they were convinced had mur-
dered Sumner.
But all I could think of was the newspaper
and magazine accounts | had read of lynch-
ings. And a photograph I once saw. It
hadn’t been used in any newspaper, because
it was too gruesome. It showed some poor
black boy—or what was left of him, rather—
after a lynching mob had got in their work,
I forget’ what he’d done, but it couldn’t have
been bad enough to rate him the kind of
treatment he received.
The picture showed this colored fellow
lying on the ground. His legs were spread-
eagled and the skin on them had blistered
District Attorney Hugh A. Cregg, who
labored faithfully for the State to seat Ber-
rett and Molway in the fatal chair
ent
he
1ough to
‘All it
and the
scared |
ch ’em!”
took up
the face.
re going
ed those
no mob
10t lead.
en they
ley were
look at
ad mur-
wspaper
’ lynch-
iw. It
yecause
@ poor
ther—
work,
t have
nd of
fellow
pread-
stered
Facing the Klectric Chair 47
and busted from the fire. What had happened was
this: A mob had taken this colored boy away from |
yahoos standing around looking liké®a
scouts that had just done their gooi
day. a
I figured Molway and I were/up against some-
thing like that when that crowd began yelling,
“Lynch ’em!” That’s why I made such a dive for
that patrol wagon.: I believe ‘if that wagon had
been an electric chair on wheels, I’d have clam-
bered into it just as eagerly. Anything to get away
from that crowd! BRAUN Se bi
Molway and | finally got inside the patrol wagon
and crawled way up front and satefacing each ~—
other. I don’t know which was making the: most
noise, my heart pounding or my knees knocking
together. We must have sounded like ‘a couple of
guys playing a duet'on a xylophone. You’veegot to
go through an experience like that to know just
how scared it’s possible to get. It’s.a horrible, help-
a SB
gS
ee
The Essex County Jail where Berrett and Molway under-
went the mental tortures of the damned for a murder
that they did not commit
less feeling of fright that can’t possibly be exaggerated.
The patrol wagon finally honked its horn a couple of
times and pulled away. | didn’t know where we were going,
but the farther we went the better I was going to like it.
The man beside the driver in the front seat was armed
with a riot gun. Molway and | were each handcuffed to
dicks and two more plainclothes men with riot guns sat on
each side of us. At the back end of the patrol wagon were
two coppers in uniform. That made eight of them guard-
ing us altogether,
The crisp air felt good. It seemed fine to be out of a cell
once more and | took deep breaths. I began to feel a lot
better and my heart and knees were behaving, now.
There was a Chevrolet sedan following us and after a
while, when | began to feel normal again and even in
Louis Berrett, who penned this story of his own
and Molway’s experiences on the road of doom,
is seen here with ‘his attractive daughter Irene
pretty good spirits, | leaned over and looked out of
the back of the patrol wagon at the car following us.
The sedan behind us belonged to the Lynn Police
Department. Chief James H. Broad was driving it. A
man sat beside him with a riot gun. Three men were
sitting in back and at least one of them had a gun.
Scared as I was, I still got a laugh out of that as |
leaned over to stare out.
THIRTEEN men were escorting Molway and me
to wherever we were going. It must have looked
like a parade, Molway leaned over to look at the car
behind us and then grinned at me. | said something
to the fellow I was handcuffed to, but he didn’t an-
swer. The detectives kept their eyes on us.
That same day, one of the newspapers carried a
story of our trip. It seemed we were going to Essex
County Jail at Salem. The newspaper story made tough
guys of us and if you still think you can believe everything
you read in a newspaper, listen to these paragraphs which
I quote word for word from the newspaper account of our
ride in the patrol wagon: »
“Authorities are convinced the unprecedented guard
thrown around the pair during their conveyance to the
county jail at Salem following their arraignment in district
court was justified.
“It became known that during the trip in the police
patrol containing the prisoners and six officers, Berrett
and Molway nudged one another and glanced toward the
highway as if preparations had been made by mobsters
to set them free.
The Story Thus Far:
HEN Louis Berrett, a Boston taxi-driver, reached his
one-room apartment, at 1152 Commonwealth Avenue
in the Brighton section of Boston, he was set upon and ar-
rested by six detectives, who had been concealed in the
room and who had been awaiting his arrival. Astounded
by the experience, he is taken to the Lynn, Massachusetts,
Police Headquarters, without being advised as to the rea-
son for his being picked up. His buddy, Clement Molway,
also a taxi-driver, is arrested, too; apparently for being
concerned in the same crime. Berrett had married and was
the father of a girl, Irene. Owing to temperamental differ-
ences, he and his wife were living separately. Molway lived
with his father and mother.
The two young men are questioned at length by Chief
Inspector Kane as to their whereabouts and their activities
during January Ist, 2nd and 3rd, 1934 the Inspector being
particularly interested in what they had been doing on Jan-
uary 2nd, from midnight on, The astonished taxi-men are
wholly in the dark as to the meaning of it all and as Berrett.
in telling this Story, says, they had no inkling that these
questions were for the sole purpose of “weaving a net of
evidence around us.”
Finally, Inspector Kane says: “Don’t you know that
there was a hold-up at the Paramount Theater here in
Lynn on the morning of January 2nd and that one man
was murdered and a second man shot? (The man killed
was C. Fred Sumner and his slaying was one of the most
brutal in Lynn crime history). “That's what you're being
held for,” continued the Inspector, “suspicion of murder.”
44
MASTER DETECTIVE, September, 1934
THE TRIAL OF CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH
AND OTHERS FOR PIRACY, BOS-
TON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1704.
THE NARRATIVE.
The Pirate was the enemy of mankind, and was subject to
capture wherever found and the Courts of every Nation and
State had jurisdiction to try, convict and punish him. Though
Captain Quelch and his crew did their work in the Southern
Seas, it was a New England ship which captured them and
to Boston they were brought for trial. The whole proceed-
ings were very like those on the trials of Major Bonnet and
his men in South Carolina fourteen years later (see 4 Am.
St. Tr. 652) ; they were just as brief and to the point as were
the trials at Charleston.
THE TRIAL.'
In the Court of Admiralty, Boston, Massachusetts, June, 1704,
Hon. JosepH Duptey,? President.®
The Court being met and opened the following articles of
_ Piracy, Robbery and Murder were exhibited against Captain
John Quelch and others as his accomplices.
1* Howell’s State Trials.
2 DupLey, JosePpH. (1647-1720.) Born Roxbury, Mass. One of
the Commissioners for the United Colonies 1677-1681. Colonial Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts 1686-1687; 1702-1716. Colonial Governor of
New Hampshire 1716-1728. Graduated Harvard 1665. Freeman
1672. Deputy 1673-1675. Was sent to England to renew colonial
charter for Massachusetts; was unsuccessful, and on return favored
submission to the king, and was dropped as assistant by the General
Court in 1684. Appointed President of New England by James IT.
in 1685. Chief Justice Supreme Court 1687. Arrested as friend of
Andros and sent to England in 1689. Returned as Chief Justice of
New York. In 1693 went again to England and became Deputy Gov-
ernor of Isle of Wight and member of House of Commons. Returned
to Roxbury, Mass., in 1715 and remained there until his death. :
3 The trial was not before a jury but before a Commission appoint-
ed by the Government. The following besides the President com-
330
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 33}
You stand here accused of piracy, robbery and murder.
Imprimis. That yotwithstanding a brigantine Charles was fitted
out by several worthy merchants of Boston, good and loyal subjects
of Her Majesty (agajnst the French and Spanish Kings, their vessels,
subjects and allies, the declared enemies of her most sacred Majesty,
Queen Anne) with Captain Plowman, the said Plowman falling sick
and dying, you Captain Quelch with divers others neglecting his
orders and those of his owners, did not return, refused to set on
shore Matthew Pimer and John Clifford, two of your company who
(dreading your piratical intention) desired the same, but bore to sea
to the coast of Brazi] for murder and piracy as follows:
Article 1. You took near Cape Augustine, on the high seas, a fish-
ing vessel belonging to subjects of the King of Portugal, ber Ma-
jesty’s good ally, and took from it fish and salt.
Article 2. You seized near Cape St. Augustine another Portu-
guese boat and took from it sugar and molasses.
; Article 3. Another, the same, and took from it molasses, rice and
arine.
Article 4. Another, the same, near Mora, and took from it earthen-
ware, rum and linen e¢loth.
oe 5. Another, the same, and took from it pieces of clo:h and
silk.
Article 6.. Another, the same, and took from it Portuguese coined
money, rice, farine and a negro boy valued at twenty pounds.
Article 7. Another, the same, and took from it Brazil sugar,
Portugese money, gold and silver.
Article 8. Another, the same, and took from it gold dust and gold
coin.
Article 9. Another, the same, and took from it beef, guns, small
arms, shot, powder, a new mainsail, a negro boy valued at forty
pounds and Spanish money.
With Quelch werg arraigned Matthew Pimer, John Clifford
and James Parrott, and they all pleaded not guilty.
It was ordered that Matthew Pimer, John Clifford and
posed it: Thomas Poyey, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of the Province
of the Massachusetts Bay; John Usher, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of
the Province of New Hampshire; Nathaniel Byfield, Esq., Judge of
the Vice-Admiralty foy the Provinces aforesaid; Samuel Sewall, Esq.,
first Judge of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay aforesaid and
one of the Council; Isaac Addington, Fsq., Secretary and one of the
Council; Jahlael Brenton, Esq., Collector, ete., of Her Majesty’s Cus-
toms, ete., in New England; Elisha Hutchinson, John Phillips, John
Foster, John Wally, Joseph Lynde, John Thateher, Eliakin Hutehin-
son, Penn Townsend, Edward Brumfield, Samuel Legg, Isaac Wins-
low, Samuel Appleton, Esqrs., members of Her Majesty’s Council in
the Province of the Massachusetts Bay.
“MRTIIN ‘TURaNVI
fog oun uc *sqq,esnyoessey
*H0LT.
SMIONVAONOS CNY HOVOU SHOTHND * NaSuaLa
Suoqsog ye Loearrd azoxy pos
The “Old Colony” of New Plymouth
-UNCAS AND MIANTONOMO
‘5 THE FirsT disturbing event was the reprehensible murder
and robbery of a peaceful Narragansett by a Plymouth vet-
eran of the Pequot War, Arthur Peach. Being “out of means
and loath to work,” and also having got a maidservant into
trouble, he decided to seek his fortune at New Amsterdam.
He enticed three nenservants to flee from their masters and
go with him. While on their way, in the present town of
Seekonk, they met an Indian named Penowayanquis who
was returning frorn a trading trip to Boston, carrying wam-
pum and woolen cloth to make matchcoats. Peach and his
pals, after sitting down and smoking with the Indian, ran
him through the body with a rapier, robbed him of his
wampum and cloth, and went their way, leaving him for
dead. But Penowayanquis was tough. He managed to crawl
to the nearest village where he told his story before he
died.
This cold-blooded murder aroused the Narragansetts to
fury. A body of them came to Providence, told their friend
Roger Williams <="! about it, and threatened to go on the
warpath unless justice was done, and quickly. Williams,
after checking on the story from Penowayanquis himself just
before he died, caught the four culprits and turned them
over to the New Plymouth authorities. One escaped, but
Peach and the other two were tried for murder by a jury at
Plymovth, found guilty, and hanged. Some Narragansetts
were present at the hanging, “which gave them and all the
country good satisfaction,” says Bradford; but “some of the
rude and ignorant sort” among the whites “murmured that
any English should be put to death for the Indians.”
213 ©
More trouble arose in 1643. Miantonomo, nephew of Ca-
nonicus who had sent the rattlesnak= skin challenge to the — ae :
Pilgrims, was now sachem of the } arragansetts. He was
furious because his chief rival, Unces, sachem of the Mo-.
hegans, had been allowed to incorpcrate large numbers of
the surviving Pequots into that tribe His entire force—al-
most a thousand pinses (warriors )—made a surprise attack
_ on the Mohegans. They were badly beaten and Miantonomo
was taken prisoner.
The usual Indian acticu ia such a case was to torture the
prisoner with exquisite cruelty until he died. Uncas, fearing
Narragansett revenge if he did that, put the case into the
hends of the New England Confederation. They knew that
_if Miantonomo was not killed he would escape, and that
' Unceas, as faithful an ally of the English as Massasoit, would
never be safe while Miantonomo lived. So they advised him
to put Miantonomo to death without torture. Uncas’s brother
did so, with a hatchet.
€:%
NARRAGANSETTS PACIFIED
‘65 THE NARRAGANSETTS now complained to the New Eng-
land Confederation that they had pa’ i Uncas a ransom for
Miantonomo, and demanded permission to take revenge.
The Confederation (with Edward Winslow and William
Collier representing Plymouth) heard both sides, decided
thet this story was false, and ordered the Narragansetts
to keep the peace. Nevertheless, Pessacus, Miantonomo’s
brother and heir, defied them, attacked the Mohegans “and
slew many,” besides capturing a lot of muskets which Con-
necticut had given to her ally. Roger Williams warned his
Gime —s_._____ PROPERTY OF
- ~* =: Ss a
— - 4
Spee — = : fee
07 " *
Fe 5 RI apt RR: st Ree Poiptepern OP Ts leg |
ree er iia 4 pas a i
JACKSON, PEACH and STUMMINGS, hanged
Summer 1995
The Quaker Abolitionist Page 3
God who led them into danger would use their deaths to
advance the truth more than their lives could advance it. It
was plainly in this faith that they came.”
Just before they were marched to the gallows on
October 27, 1659, Robinson and Stephenson worshiped
with other Quaker prisoners. A “heavenly cheerfulness”
was manifest in them, a fellow prisoner wrote. “It was a
time of Love, for though the world hated us and
despitefully used us, yet the Lord was pleased in a
wonderful manner to manifest His supporting Love and
kindness to us in our innocent suffering.”
The three Quaker missionaries were led from the
jail by a detachment of 100 soldiers armed with muskets
and pikes. Drums beat loudly so that the spectators could
not hear when the prisoners tried to address them. On the
way to Boston Common to be hanged, Dyer held her head
high, holding hands with Robinson and Stephenson as she
walked between them. “Are you not ashamed to walk thus
between two young men?” the Puritan marshal asked her.
“No,” Dyer replied. “It is the greatest joy I ever had in this
world. No ear can hear, no tongue can utter and no heart
can understand the sweet incomes and the refreshings of the
Spint of the Lord which I now feel.”
When they reached the gallows, which was most
likely a tree, Robinson climbed the ladder, and the
spectators drew close to hear his final words. “I suffer for
Chnist, in whom I live and for whom I die,” he said. “This
day shall we be at rest with the Lord,” said Stephenson. The
ladders on which they stood were turned. They hung in the
air until they strangled.
Dyer, her arms and legs bound and her face
covered with a handkerchief, was then told to climb the
ladder. At the last moment, with the noose already around
her neck, she was granted a “reprieve.” In reality, there had
been no intention of hanging her. The court had ordered
that she be brought to the gallows but freed after the
execution of Robinson and Stephenson. Dyer stubbomly
objected to having her martyrdom taken from her if the law
against “the suffering seed” (Friends’ freedom) were to
remain in place. Nevertheless, she was taken from the
gallows and returned to prison.
Meanwhile, the ropes from which Robinson and
Stephenson hung were cut and their lifeless bodies fell to
the ground. Their clothing was removed (clothes were a
valuable commodity at the time) and they were dragged,
naked, to a hole and buried.
Dyer was again banished from the colony. But she
could not stay away from Boston. She was led to return, to
witness once again on behalf of Friends’ suffering. Upon
her arrival in May 1660, she was again sentenced to die.
Once more, as she stood on the gallows, she was offered
her life, if she would leave the colony. “I cannot,” she said.
“In obedience to the will of the Lord God I came and in His
will I abide faithful to death.” And so, on June 1, 1660,
near the frog pond on Boston Common, Mary Dyer was
hanged.
The last Quaker martyr to be executed in Boston
was William Leddra, who had been banished on pain of
death before returning to the city, where he was chained to
a log and kept in an unheated prison during the winter of
1661. The charge against him was sympathy with the three
who had been executed, refusal to remove his hat, and the
use of “thee” and “thou.” Leddra, too, was offered a
reprieve if he would be willing to leave the colony and live
in England. “I have no business there,” he replied. On
March 14, 1661, he was hanged. Those who witnessed his
death claimed that “the Lord did mightily appear in the
man.”
‘Six montks after Leddra’s execution, the death
penalty for Quakers was abolished. English Friends,
alarmed by the executions in New England, appealed to
King Charles II to intervene. “There is a vein of innocent
blood opened in thy dominion which will run over all if it is
not stopped,” Edward Burrough told the king. “But J will
stop that vein,” replied Charles and immediately prepared
a mandamus ordering the executions of Quakers to cease.
Samuel Shattuck, a Friend who had been banished
from the colony upon pain of death, was appointed the
king’s royal messenger. Shattuck arrived in Boston with the
“king’s missive” in hand and, wearing his hat, demanded to
see John Endicott, the governor. In anger, the governor
ordered one of his servants to remove Shattuck’s hat.
Shattuck displayed his credentials as a royal messenger and
showed Endicott the missive. The governor immediately
ordered the Quaker’s hat to be returned to him and
announced, “We shall obey his Majesty’s commands.” He
then ordered all Quakers who were in prison to be released.
Had the king’s missive not arrived, the Puritans
likely would have abandoned the death penalty anyway
because public opinion against it was increasing. With each
public hanging, more and more citizens of the colony began
to speak out against the brutal treatment of Quakers and
rallied to provide Friends with food and clothing. The
martyrs may have provided one of the first successful
examples of the power of nonviolent action to move the
hearts of a people against oppression.
“For what is life compared to the witness of truth?”
Mary Dyer had written in a final epistle to the magistrates
of Boston. “But if one of us must die that others may live,
let me be the one; for if my life were freely granted by vou
I could not accept it so long as my sisters suffered and mv
brothers died.”
Page 2
The Quaker Abolitionist
Summer 1995
Martyrdom, Quakerism and the Death Penalty
(second in a series on Quaker history and the death penalty)
By Kurt Rosenberg
Maryland state coordinator for FCADP
For more than 300 years, Friends have witnessed
on behalf of the condemned. They have entered filthy jails
to lend spintual comfort to those whose outward lives have
been shattered. They have contended with an equally filthy
political system, lobbying on Capitol Hill for reform of
senseless criminal justice policies. They have stood outside
prison gates in silent prayer and protest as the state has
killed a fellow human being.
Such witness reflects Friends’ profound faith in the
sacredness of life, in the Seed of God in all of us. It also
reflects an empathy deeply rooted in Quaker history, an
almost instinctive understanding of what it means to endure
terrible suffering at the hands of the state. Just as Friends
have learned their way around the corrections system and
the political landscape as advocates for criminal justic
reform, they have a rich heritage of being oe
viewed as criminals in need of reform.
Though three centuries have passed since
Friends were sent to the gallows simply for
being Fnends, the legacy of Mary Dyer,
Wiliam Robinson, Marmaduke
Stephenson and William Leddra remains
with us, especially when we consider our
witness against the injustice of the death
penalty. For while these brave souls have
been viewed primarily as witnesses for
religious freedom, they also served
implicitly as witnesses for the abolition of
the death penalty.
to banishment, upon pain of death.”
The law was not popular among the citizens of the
colony. In the House of Deputies, it passed by a majority of
one. And while the law rested on a much different
foundation, it was just as absurd as today’s political
thetoric, just as misguided as today’s death-penalty
legislation.
Robinson and Stephenson were English Quakers
who had come to the New World infused with Fox’s
passionate teachings. Leddra was one of a small group of
Friends who had settled in Barbados. Dyer, the most
remembered of the Quaker martyrs, as they came to be
known, had settled with her husband in Boston in the 1630s
and became close friends with Anne Hutchinson.
Dyer and her husband later established a settlement
in Rhode Island where they spent many
peaceful years. But they returned to
England in 1652 and it was there that
Dyer met Fox. She became convinced,
attended gatherings of seekers, traveled
throughout England with the First
Publishers of Truth and became a Quaker
minister. She returned to Boston in 1657,
just as anti-Quaker sentiment was
becoming furious.
In September of 1659, Dyer,
Robinson, Stephenson and Patience Scott
were apprehended as Quakers. Scott, an
ll-year-old girl, had walked from
It took less than a decade for
George Fox’s radical vision to spread from
the north of England to North America. Almost
immediately, the Puritan rulers of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony proved determined to do whatever was necessary to
extinguish this strange new Light. Ultimately, of course,
they failed. But not before Friends endured a series of
torturous punishments. The “cursed sect of Quakers,” as
the Puntans called them, were whipped, imprisoned, kept
constanuy at work and prevented from speaking with
anyone. They were banished from the colony, and if they
returned, their ears were cut off or their tongues were
pierced with a hot iron.
Such barbarities seemed only to encourage the
Quakers’ fervor. They spread their vision into areas that
would later become Rhode Island, Connecticut and New
York, but they refused to be deterred from sowing the Seed
of Light in Massachusetts. Nevertheless, in 1658, in an
early attempt to use capital punishment as a deterrent, the
authonues in Boston declared: “And the said person, being
convicted to be of the sect of Quakers, shall be sentenced
Providence to Boston under a “moving of
the Lord to bear testimony against the
persecuting spirit.” She was released to her family, but the
three adults were banished “on pain of death.” It did not
take them long to challenge their sentence. In a letter to
Fox, Robinson wrote, “The Lord did lay it upon me to try
their law.” They soon retumed to “the lion’s den,” as they
called Boston, “to look their bloody laws in the face and to
accompany those who should suffer by them.” Again, they
were seized. The court sentenced them to hang.
“There are persons, or at least there once were,
who find all their life-values altered by an inner impulsion
which says irresistibly, ‘thou must!’ ” writes Rufus Jones in
The Quakers in the American Colonies. “These Friends
loved their lives and their homes as much as others did--
. they would have preferred the life of comfort to the hard
prison and the gallows rope if they could have taken the
line of least resistance with an inward peace, but that was
impossible to them . . . there can be no question that thesc
banished Quakers who came back believed that they were
‘moved’ to do so, and were convinced in their minds that the
="
Guide to title page illustration
1. Spindletop oil gusher—p.130
2. Jefferson Davis—p.372 . oe:
3. Ulysses S. Grant—p.378 ° Art Editc
4, Edgar Allan Poe—p.16
5. Pocahontas—pp.116-117
6. Hernando de Soto—p.262
_ 7. Dolley Madison—p.368 ° a
. 8, Theodore Roosevelt—pp.390-391
9. J. P. Morgan—p.134 .
10. Abraham Lincoln—p.84 :
11, Edward H. White—p.306 +H
12. Aircar—p.343 Be Editorio
13, Shipwreck Kelly—p.247 | $8 Editoria
14. Tom Thumb—p.218
15. Benjamin Franklin—p.56
16. Carry Nation—p.234 ahi
17. Dwight D. Eisenhower—p.400 ~..
18. Thomas Edison—p.333 :
19. John Dillinger—pp.192—193 ©
20. Teddy bear—p.95
- CONTR
: Busines
Military
Editoric
STRANGE STORIES, AMAZING FACTS
OF AMERICAS PAST
Art Rese
: Illustra.
The acknowledgments and credits that appear on pages 1-408
are hereby,made a part of this copyright page.
“It's a Crime” was excerpted from The Trenton Pict '»tinance, by Dick Hyman.
Copyright © 1976 by Dick Hyman. All rights reserved. Reprinted ty permission of
The Stephen Greene Press, a wholly owned subsidiary of Viking Penguin Inc.
, “Eisenhower at Ease” was condensed from At Ease: Stories | Tell to Friends, by
. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Copyright © 1967 by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Used by permission
- of Doubleday, a Division of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc.
Copvright © 1989 The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. wae
. Copyright © 1989 The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd. , a
Copyright © 1989 Reader's. «| Association Far East Ltd.
Philippine Copyright 19s: -. -:-» < Digest Association Far East Ltd.
‘All rights reserved. Unaut?- »,oduction, in any manner, is prohibited.
~ Library of Congress Catalogiug jn Publication Data
Strange stories, amazing facts of America’s past.
At head of title: Reader's digest.
Includes index
. : s. 1, United States—History—Anecdotes. |... Jer’s
ov ., digest. an "
E1726 -*96 1989 ~ 973 88-11515 ;
ISBN 8. <1677-307-4 : : Reader's Digest Fund for the
Blind is publisher of the Large-
Type Edition of Reader's Digest.
READER’ [oxiest and the Pegasus colophon For subscription information
i about this magazine, please
are registered trademarks of in, contact Reader's Digest Fund
The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. : for the Blind, Inc., Dept. 250,
Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570,
Printed in the United States of America
LAWS AND OUTLAWS
‘Hiding the King Killers -
_ Accused of regicide for Charles I’s execution, they found refuge in New England
A ong, futile-manhunt in 17th.
-- century New England involved
three men who were no ordinary
~ criminals: John. Dixwell, William
_ Goffe, and Edward Whalley were
wanted by British authorities; offi-
cers in the army of Whalley’s
cousin Oliver Cromwell, they
were among the 59 signers of the
death warrant for King Charles I,
who was executed in 1649.
When the Stuart monarchy was’
restored in 1660, Charles II de-
clared amnesty for all except
those who had helped behead his
father. Just before the new king
was crowned, Goffe and Whalley
sailed for Boston. Dixwell eventu-
ally took off for Prussia.
New World welcome
Warmly received in New England,
Goffe and Whalley—who did lit-
tle to hide their true identities—
remained proud and unrepentant
for the rest of their lives. The king,
The Eccentric Governor
He was often seen “wearing a hoop skirt and headdress”
Queen Anne appointed her cousin Edward Hyde, Viscount Corn-
bury, to be governor-general of New York and New Jersey in 1702.
At his welcoming banquet he paid tribute to his wife's ears, inviting
the men present to feel them. One evening not long afterward,
a woman rushed up to a watchman and pulled his ears. “She”
turned out to be the royal governor. Thereafter Cornbury would often
parade in his wife’s dresses and, shrieking with laughter, pounce
on other men’s ears. He even wore a dress to his wife's funeral.
In 1708 the queen finally relieved her luxury-loving cousin of
his post. He was promptly thrown into debtors’ prison, but his
father’s timely death made him an earl, immune to prosecution.
The man credited with doing more harm to the English cause in
America than anyone else immediately sailed for London.
All the time, Cornbury had claimed that he was simply trying
to represent the queen by resembling her “as faithfully as I can.”
The elegantly attired governor (right) was “a frivolous spend-
thrift, an impudent cheat and a detestable bigot.” A crony of his
named Hyde Park (later the site of FDR's home) after him.
156
not about to let them mock him
by living freely in the colonies,
posted a handsome reward for
their capture. By the time an_ar-
rest warrant was issued, however,
the men had left Massachusetts.
Fleeing to New Haven, they
were again welcomed and given
shelter. But the refuge was tempo-
_rary, for they were being sought
by two royalist zealots. The hunt-
ers had difficulty convincing the
deputy governor of the need for
speed and secrecy, and the delay
gave the pair time to escape to a
nearby cave, where a sympathetic
farmer left food for them daily.
Royal troops search Boston
Strangers all along the way took
grave risks for Goffe and Whalley,
but when they offered to surren-
der, their new friends objected ve-
hemently. By 1664 the enraged
Charles II sent troops to Boston to
snare the elusive men, who
-promptly fled to Hadley, Massa
chusetts. There they lived in free.
dom, secretly communicating with :
their families back home, and en- }
joying a visit from Dixwell, who
had settled -in Connecticut. Di
guised as a retired merchant, he
lived there until his death in 1688, 4
The bearded savior
The hunt for Whalley failed; he Saga.
died peacefully in Hadley in 1674. agimame
But Goffe made one more appear- ‘4
ance—one that helped save the
community. Legend has it that
while the townsfolk, including fama
some of the king’s men, were ate
church, Indians attacked. Seem?
ingly out of nowhere an elderly:
bearded man appeared. He ral-.
lied the town’s defenses and the
just as suddenly disappeared. Lat
er, he was spotted in Hartford an
reported to:local officials—wh
refused to arrest him. Goffe di
of natural causes in 1679.
Oe sees SF EES deo
The first time Mary Dyer was sentenced to death, she stood
with a noose around her neck and watched her two com-
panions hang before she was spared. One by one the
-
The Martyrdom of Mary Dyer
Puritan persecution of “a cursed sect of heretics” PSee eet tae Fie
“It a crime in
Quakers climbed the ladder and—as a corps of drummers
drowned out their attempts to speak—were “tured off” it.
Mary later became the first woman to die on the hanging tree.
Although the Puritan founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
fled from persecution in England, it didn’t stop them from passing Puritan New England
Strict laws in the very place where they sought religious freedom. :
Thus in 1656, as members of England's scorned Society of Friends for ministers to perform
(Quakers) arrived in Boston, some were whipped, jailed, and wedding ceremonies
hanged. When it became a capital crime for them even to visit the
(marriages, considered to be
colony, the Quakers saw themselves as God’s instruments, sent
secular, were conducted
to strike down injustice. Members of the pacifist sect—among by magistrates until the
them Mary Dyer—fought with their only weapon: their lives. law was changed in 1692)
Neither prison nor torture imposed by the legislature were to dance in a tavem or at
deterrents as protesters from other colonies flooded into Massa- a wedding
Chusetts worship services. Then in 1659 Quaker activists William to celebrate Christmas
Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson, jailed in Boston, were for theatrical performances
Offered their lives if they would leave the colony. The men refused or sports events to occur
and, by staying, dared the authorities to impose full punishment. to practice blasphemy,
' was then that Mary Dyer, a Rhode Island mother of seven who'd idolatry, or witchcraft
€en exiled twice for her activism, returned to Boston to support fo question the word of God
€se two. Such audacity forced the court to detain her as well. for religious music to be
e three were found guilty and banished, but since they performed
‘emained in Boston, they were rearrested and sentenced to death. to smite your parents if you
© men were hanged, but Dyer was spared. Banished again, Dyer were over 16—or simply to
efiantly returned to Boston and was arrested yet again. On June 1, be a rebellious son
eg right at the hanging tree, a judge offered to spare her life if above the same age —
1 © swore to stay away. “Nay I cannot,” were the proud martyr's _ for the poor to adopt “ex-
‘ast Words. “For in obedience to the will of the Lord God I came cessive dress” such as lace,
Nd in His will I abide faithful to the death.” frills, or shoe buckles.
tenant Graff. This surprised us some-
what as we had not known of a third
party. Printz, alias Kelly, explained that
he was the driver of the car and that he
had driven away after blowing his horn
as warning when he noticed the police
car drive up to the store.
John Snezck, alias Brown, was identi-
fied by the clerks of the Saylor Drug
Store, Lieutenant Graff, and Sergeant
Powers ag the thug who had walked out
so_carelessly with a “So long, fellows.”
However, the manager of the drug store
instantly identified Robert Meyers, the
dead bandit, as the man who had preyi-
ously held up his store and taken away
fifty-five dollars in cash and a watch, But
he stated that Meyers’ two companions
on that first robbery were neither Snezek
nor Printz.
Printz and Snezek admitted — that
Meyers oftentimes went out on jobs with
other associates, but maintained they
were ignorant of their identities, They
admitted participation in eleven drug
store hold-ups with Meyers, and were
recognized by the clerks in the eleven
stores as the men who had accompanied
the slain thug on those visits. Both
denied any implication in the Weiner
slaying and were sustained by Captain
Gilbreath and Ted Malm.
Ou search for the two remaining kill-
ers of Weiner grew more intense. On
the day after the confessions of Snezek
and Printz, a new development arose, At
5:15 p.m., while standin on the corner of
Lafayette and East Grand Boulevard,
Patrolman Percy VanConant, age twenty-
nine, and residing at 4535 Lillibridge Ave-
nue, was approached by a man giving his
name as William G, Neely, of 7266 East
Jefferson Avenue. Mr. Neely informed
Officer VanConant that on September
12th, he was held up and robbed at the
corner of East Grand Boulevard and
Kercheval and that he had just recog-
nized the man walking on the Boulevard.
The officer immediately took after the
stick-up man. The man soon noticed the
In the scuffle that followed, VanCon-
ant’s grip on his pistol was loosened and
the gunman leaped for the gun and fired
a shot into the abdomen of the officer,
who sank to the ground with a groan.
The officer painfully injured, was picked
up and rushed to Receiving Hospital by
Mr. and Mrs. William E-. Skinner of
10410 East Jefferson Avenue, as the gun-
man fled.
While other officers were making a
search of the vicinity for the thug, De-
tective Albert J. Carter of the Narcotic
The Truth About the Atrocious
Massachusetts Killings
(Continued from page 55)
who were questioning him had remem-,
bered something. :
The battery in the now definitely iden-
tified bandit car was not a regular Pack-
ard battery. It looked like a makeshift
affair suggesting a rented battery, perhaps
recently repaired. That battery check in
Castanini’s pocket—an innocent-seeming
True Detective M: ystertes
Division, who was on his way home with
Patrolman Schaldenbrand, received infor-
mation from a citizen that the thug was
Seen entering a garage in the rear of 1451
Baldwin, near Agnes. Several officers in-
vestigated, and Detective Carter entered
the kitchen of this house. He noticed a
man, evidently a roomer, open the door
of a kitchen closet slightly, turn pale, and
then gesture silently, pointing toward the
closet.
Detective Carter, gun in hand, suddenly
threw open the door, saw the thug make
a quick grab for his gun, and fired point-
blank at the man. The gunman pitched
forward ublcring a piercing scream; then
lay writhing upon the floor moaning—
“Mother—Mother.”
At the hospital, he gave his name as
Joe Subko, nineteen yoars old, and _ his
address as 229 James Street, Akron, Ohio.
At 3:25 p.m. the next day, he died of his
wounds. Patrolman VanConant’s wound
was not serious and he recovered fully,
At the morgue, Captain Gilbreath and
Ted Malm identified the body of Subko
as the man who had wielded the fatal
pistol butt upon the defenseless head of
Edmund Weiner,
One other fact I thought rather curious.
Pinned inside the caps of Meyers Snezek
and Printz we found notes directing the
reader whom to notify in case of death.
Printz and Meyers gave their addresses
as Pennington Gap, Virginia. Snezek
gave as his home address, Pinconning,
Michigan. Snezek said they had decided
to carry: the notes because all expected to
be_killed sooner or later anyway,
The third member of the Weiner mur-
derers was never determined. Both Snezek
and Printz pleaded guilty to eleven drug-
store hold-ups and were Sentenced to
serve twenty-five to fifty years each in
the Michigan State Prison at Jackson, by
Judge .W. McKay Skillman, of the Re-
corder’s Court,
R4YMonp SHOCKER, we learned,
was innocent of any complicity in the
Weiner killing.. He: was however, a mem-
ber of the gang of desperados living at a
west side hotel among which were Gus
Winkler, “Killer” Burke, Ted Newberry
and the vicious Nugent. We learned that
Detroit’s Purple Gang had planned to
massacre the entire mob named above be-
cause of disagreement over & previous
agreement made between the two mobs.
hrough a slip-up, Shocker alone was
attacked—and he recovered. After his
recovery, Shocker’s father, a farmer, came
after his son and took him back home.
George Shore pleaded guilty to charges
of holding up four drug stores and was
also sentenced to Jackson Prison for from
twenty to forty years,
With the destruction of Meyers and
his mob, the backbone of Detroit’s
threatened crime wave was broken. The
cost? Only the sorrowing widow and her
two children can possibly know. As Mrs.
einer murmured sadly: “All for two
nickels, a ring and a battered dollar
watch, .
bit of paper—might develop possibilities,
Castanini suavely explained the bat-
tery check by stating that the battery in
his car had run down because of the cold
weather, and that he had to get a substi-
tute pending recharging. But the officers
were not satisfied. They located the bat-
tery dealer, whose records were carefully
103
What SHE TOLD
WORN-OUT HUSBAND
GHE could have reproached him for
his fits of tem
plaints. But wise
quent colds, his “‘f:
condition the ve
had whipped. C
Rowning after
Reme y
he felt li
Sen i re a A ,
stam eR HR WIS CO. N2?.TO-NicuT
St. Louis, Missouri TOMORROW ALRIGHT
ick relief for acid indigestion,
“TUMS” ae etoanath, heartburn, Only 10c.
RUPTURE 22035,"
; entirely uifferent, No leg straps,
elastic belt or cruel springs. Improved soft velvet
pad. Does not gouge or enlarge opening. Elimi-
nates severe pressure. Holds Rupture UP AND IN.
Cannot slip. Easy to wear, Comfortable. No harness,
ight in weight. INEXPENSIVE. If you want
something better investigate. Costs nothing to try.
DR. A, KAISER, 9953 Koch Bidg., 2905 Main, Kansas City, Mo.
No JOKE To B
~Every deat erson
Mr, Way made bineelt ne
“af ictal Ear Drum,
See let on Deatn a5 Arty
ous THE WAY CUMPANY
736 Hotmann wide
MAKE M
A
ONEY.
t Home !
Sensat:onal
earnings easy
for iamond
p & Mfg. Co., 131 Tron St., Akron, Ohio
Be Your Ow
MUSIC
Teacher
LEARN AT HOME
to play by note, Plano, «%,
Violin, Ukulele, Tenor ;
Banjo, Hawaiian Guitar, |
Piano Accordion, Saxo- a
phone or any other instrument
er sing. Wonderful new
method teaches in half the time.
Simplo as A BC. No “numbers”
or trick music. Cost averages
only » few cents a day. Over
700,000 students,
FREE BOOK Write today for Free Booklet and Free Dem-
, 5 onstration Lesson explaining this method in
geal Tell what your favorite instrument is and write name and ad-
I
US. School of Music, 42011, Brunswick Bldg., New York City
a en ee in
The Truth about the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings 55
Discovery of the stolen and abandoned car seemed to be a clue of first
importance, but interest abated when swift investigation disclosed
through dependable witnesses, who had been in the vicinity the previous
day that it was not there then. It must have been abandoned and set
afire on the night of February 6th, four days after the Needham crime.
It is the known practice of armed robbers who operate in stolen cars
to ditch their getaway car quickly in a pre-arranged spot, usually not
far from the scene of the crime, and transfer to another car which is not
under suspicion to complete their escape. So it was argued that if this
were the car used by the Needham bank bandits it would have been
abandoned before noon on February 2nd. That they should deliberately
return in the murder car more than four days after, to within a few miles
of the scene of their wanton killings to dispose of it, seemed at first glance
too incredibly fantastic.
And then followed the amazing discovery by the trio of detective-
minded Boy Scouts, Charles Parsons, Philip King and John Moloney,
who patiently searched for clues in the snowbanks and found the pieces
of the missing registration tags, broken up and hidden in the snow. This
discovery quite definitely linked the car with the Lynn raid and also
with the Needham crime.
HIE news was flashed to the weary State Detectives, still hard at
work in Needham. But for the moment they decided to let the
burned Packard, on which their interest was again keenly centered,
wait; for another flash from Newton Police brought word that Castanini
had been picked up at a relative’s home in that city. Inspectors I'rancis
J. Feeley and Patrick King, of the Newton force, rushed their captive
to Needham, where he was given an intensive grilling that continued
throughout the night.
_ Castanini withstood every attempt to break him down. He refused
to be trapped into making any damaging admission of guilty knowledge
of the ruthless Needham crime. He insisted again and again that it
was ridiculous to hold him under suspicion.
Just one thing finally remained to hold the interest of the State De-
tectives in the pool operator, one thing that might tie in directly with
the burned Packard car on which they now were eager to center their
investigation.
When Castanini was searched,
the officers found among his
belongings the check for an
automobile battery. Lieutenant
Stokes’ eyes brightened with a
sudden gleam. He exchanged
a significant glance with [errari
and Ileming. The three veteran
sleuths (Continued on page 103)
(Left) Six poses of Murton’s
fascinating bride, Norma
Brighton Millen, daughter of a
clergyman
(Left) Abraham
Faber, brilliant radio
engineer who played
a major réle in this
case
(Left, opposite
page) Saul Messin-
ger, who was to play
a leading part in the
capture of the killers
vunting
ost eX-
2 radio
shop on Columbus Avenue in which Mur-
ton Millen was now reported to be a part-
ner.
Keen. interest was becoming sinister
suspicion. But even at that, coincidence
might explain everything. Suppose young
Millen-had sold a Lynch suppressor to
some casual customer of whose criminal
activities he knew absolutely nothing, and
suppose, happening to learn that the same
customer wanted a battery, he took the
opportunity to’ make a little extra profit
by disposing of the one he had had _re-
paired by LaVierge. Or perhaps it might
have been the customer’s battery which
young Millen had had repaired for him,
thriftily seizing the chance to pick up an
extra dollar or so. ‘
So late Sunday evening, Stokes, Ferrari
and Fleming arranged to meet the first
thing Monday morning at the radio shop
on Columbus Avenue. The Millen
brothers were not at home and the shop
seemed to be the obvious place to look
for them. The same radio shop, also, was
the obvious place to seek information
about the rather unique electrical attach-
ment used on the bandit car to insure
clear police signals without interference
coming in over the short wave radio set.
The State Detectives hoped to ascer-
tain the identity of every person who had
purchased a Lynch suppressor during the
critical weeks intervening between the
theft of the Packard car in October, 1933,
and the hold-up of the Needham Trust
Company nearly four months later. And
they hoped that a careful check-up of this
list would lead them directly to the atro-
cious killers who had been terrorizing
Massachusetts,
br aga was one other thing, besides the
clue of the battery and the radio device
I already have mentioned, that intrigued
the interest of the man-hunters in the Mil-
len boys. And it was the very same rea-
son—their ultra-respectable family back-
ground, that made them seem such im-
probable suspects. Police and private de-
tectives keep a close watch on all known
criminals, and have them under continual
surveillance through stool pigeons and
other agencies. Remember that all efforts
had failed to connect definitely any known
criminal with the long series of savagely
executed robberies and wanton murders
that had astounded the entire Common-
wealth. Even Berrett and Molway, the
Boston taxicab drivers then on trial for
their lives, charged with the Lynn Para-
mount Theater murder, had never pre-
viously been accused of any serious crime.
So there clung insistently in the minds
of veteran detectives working on the mys-
tery a latent thought which recently was
quite aptly expressed by Assistant Chief
Inspector John D. Sullivan of the New
York Police Department:
“It is the person, generally a youths who,
without any apparent reason, suddenly em-
barks on a criminal career, that we find
most difficult to cope with. He has no
record, so that his methods and fipger-
prints are alike unknown to us. We ‘can
tell he is an ‘amateur’, of course, and ‘we
generally halt him before he ranks ag a
real ‘professional’, but his early jobs are
apt to puzzle us. The modern detective
can always keep the ‘professional’ criminal i
in check.”
So we come back to the opening of this
installment of my story, when Detective- °
Lieutenant Ferrari, arriving first at the
Monday morning rendezvous, approached
a clerk in the radio shop and was referred
to Abraham Faber, the proprietor, a dap-
per young man in his middle twenties.
Ferrari, then more intent on the battery
angle than the suppressor, asked for Mur-
‘ton and Irving Millen.
True Detective Mysteries
“They’re not here,” Faber told him.
“Expect ’em soon?”
“They might drop around, although,
come to think of it, I believe they were
planning to go somewhere today. Any-
thing special? Something I can do for
you?”
Ferrari took the Lynch suppressor from
his pocket, the one removed from the
bandit car, and placed it on the counter
before Faber. “Know where I can find
one of these?”
“Surely. It’s a Lynch suppressor. I
handle them here in Boston. In fact, this
is about the only place you could find
one.”
The detective, who happens to be some-
thing of an all-around mechanic himself,
was able to hold up his end of a conver-
sation with Faber about the operation of
the special type of suppressor and how to
install it most efficiently. He was partly
after information that might aid the in-
vestigation, and partly stalling for time
while awaiting the arrival of Stokes and
Ferrari, who had one or two things to at-
tend to before keeping their appointment. '| ¢
It was during this chat that he noticed
Faber’s pallor and nervous shoulder
twitching, and felt the sudden thrill of ac-
tive suspicion, just before Stokes and
Fleming arrived.
But suspicion was lulled by the young
radio engineer’s frank and honest manner,
his attitude of cager willingness to do
everything in his power to co-operate with
the authorities and aid the investigation.
The detectives learned that at least one
other radio shop, a dealer on Cornhill in
downtown Boston, might have sold the
Lynch suppressor in which they were in-
terested. Faber admitted that he had not
sold very many of the devices since the
previous October. He said he had no
record of persons to whom he might have
made cash sales over the counter, and
that it was impossible for him to remem-
ber them, or in what particular cars in-
stallations might have been made.
His manner indicated that he had no
suspicion of the Millen brothers, and that
he would be quite willing to let the State
officers know if or when Murton and Irv-
ing came in.
Peo POUGE disappointed that the clue
of the Lynch suppressor had not yet
led to more tangible results, Detective-
Lieutenants Fleming, Ferrari and Stokes
left Faber to continue their quest at the
Cornhill Radio Shop, satisfied for the time
— with his frank and co-operative atti-
tude.
Nothing new could be learned at the
Cornhill establishment, and the three
officers concentrated on finding out quietly
all they could about the Millens. They
were anxious to avoid stirring up publicity
and to prevent their inquiries from reach-
ing the ears of the brothers, in whom they
were becoming more keenly interested
every hour as additional information came
to light. ’
Boston Police also were following up
this lead which had come to them first as
the yesult of the State Police teletype
broadcast to all stations Saturday after-
noon, and the battery description given
to the newspapers.
Operatives of the William J. Burns In-
ternational Detective Agency, led by
‘George Breach, in charge of criminal in-
vestigation in New England, also jumped
into the quest. Representing the American
Bankers Association, the Burns men had
been working frantically since the daylight
robbery of the Brookline Trust Company
the previous October to run down the
bandits who thereafter stuck up bank after
bank and got away with close to a hundred
and fifty thousand dollars.
105
rvvvvyvvYYVYTYVYTVYTYTVYTVYVYTVYVYVYTVYVYYYVYY?Y?Y
*“Fugitives”’
THE INSIDE STORY OF
CLYDE BARROW
BONNIE PARKER
Mrs. Emma Parker and Nell Barrow Cowan
(Mother of Bonnie) (Sister of Clyde)
Read about their crimes as they them-
selves told them—sensational revelations
unknown, even to the police, concerning
murders, jail breaks, and kidnapings —
human interest — love element — crimi-
nal code — daring risks of death — more
thrilling than. fiction — MORAL. .There
is no vindication, The story of their life
is the greatest indictment known to mod-
ern times against a life of crime.
256 pages, cloth binding - - + $1.50
De Luxe Edition, actual pictures 2.00
At your favorite bookstore, or
send your name and address
with cash, check, or M. QO. to:
THE RANGER PRESS, Inc., Box 263, Dallas, Tex.
Blinn dlinallncllbaadliandhian hada dntinnthinadinndirncdindindinadinchnadh
rvvvVYYYYYYYVYVYYVYVYYVTYVYVT"T"7"""7"7""7717177"
ad hh hhh hhh hhh hh hhh h hh hd
ferred, a
our valuable 64-page °* w Training
Leadership’ ‘EB
books free. Send for ‘them NOW. -~ bin peed
LaSalle ty, Dept 113061 Chi
Learn Public
Speaking
At home—in spare time—20 minutes a day.
Overcome “‘stage-fright,” gain self-confi-
dence, increase your salary, through ability
NorthAmerican Institute, Dept, 1498
3601 Mict A Chi » Ait,
igh School
haCOurse in
2 Years
You can complete our
simplified High School
Course at home in 2 years.
Meets all requirements for col-
loge en ce, business, and the
i or
subjects if desired.Send tor Free Bulletin TODAY. No obligation,
American School, Dpt. H-869 Drexel at 58, Chicago
THIS SECRET SERVICE BOOK
an 30 Days Reading =
No Money Down’
Actual Crime Cases
If You Act Quick!I—We will
cials, Nothing like it ever before. Send no money.
you decide to me only $1.00. If not, return it.
9 ft fier i; ithdrawn.
Haat ‘3 Teese tobe —be' igre iw o 4 3 hy ai
T..G. Cooke, Book Dept. 14-38, 1920 Sunnyside Ave., Chicago, Ill.
FINISH
REFOs Rane
ys
ro in HOUR
A new, miracle-like refinisher for ANY
COLOR AUTO. Covers old finish with
brilliant, tough, elastic coat. Trana-
parent, self leveling, self polishing. Kar-
Nu instantly restores beauty and gloss of
original factory finish.
JUST WIPE IT ON ! No rubbing, waxing,
‘organ,
Mass., earned $10.61 in a single hour. Write for Free Sample
and details NOW! Send no money! Write KAR-NU Co.,
I
104
checked, and also inspected Castanini’s
car This resulted in complete substan-
tiation of Castanini’s story. The battery
check had no connection with the bandit
car. The man was definitely in the clear,
so far as any real evidence was con-
cerned, and after a very hectic night he
was adjudged entirely innocent and was
released.
Their faces pasty-grey with fatigue, eyes
bloodshot from lack of sleep, Stokes, Fer-
rari and Fleming went into an early morn-
ing huddle to decide the day’s program.
The result of that huddle was to bring
new revelations.
Three lines of investigation were im-
mediately initiated: Mrs. Clara Hartigan,
of Newton, from whom the bandit car
had been stolen the previous October,
while she had left it parked in Boston,
was asked to give a detailed story of all
repair work she had done upon it during
the time it was in her possession, and to
list any new equipment she had had in-
stalled: The Packard Motor Company of
Boston, who had serviced her car, was
asked to go over its records with the most
scrupulous care for similar information. A
skilled Packard mechanic was employed to
take the car down and list any and every
item that varied in the slightest from the
original equipment and mechanism.
6 Sore object of this patient and pains-
taking investigation was to discover
any, and exactly what, work that might
have been done on the car between the
theft in October of 1933, and its recovery
as a burned wreck on February 7th, 1934.
If anything was discovered, an attempt
could be made to trace the work to some
garage or service station, and perhaps re-
sult in identifying the persons who had the
stolen car in their possession.
Only one angle of this quest brought
tangible results. After a very strenuous
day, the automobile mechanic reported
his findings to the three State Detectives
the following evening. He had found three
things that indicated changes after the
theft. A new condenser that was not regu-
lar Packard equipment: was installed on
the motor. An attachment known as a
Lynch suppressor had been inserted in the
electric system to prevent interference
with radio reception. The original battery
had been removed and replaced by a nine-
teen thin-plate battery with Prestolite
plates contained in a Hood rubber case,
and one of the end cells had recently been
re-separated with “J” type separator.
Police themselves, aiding in the inves-
tigation of the car and combing the scene
of its discovery in the Norwood... woods,
found other things. . ‘i
Beneath the car was a key holder with ©
six keys, three of them bearing the imprint
“U.S.”, and in the chink of the running-
board was another key marked “P-397”
which a locksmith thought might be that
of a Pontiac automobile, | ;
The appearance of ‘the bunch. of six
keys suggested to Lieutenant Stokes that
they might have been stolen from some
armory or arsenal, and might be the
property of the United States Government. —
A detailed description of the battery
and of the keys, with complete technical
nomenclature, was broadcast by teletype
at 4:01 p. M. on Saturday, February 10th. :
All cities and towns were urgently re-
quested to check all battery repair shops
for any information about the peculiar
battery described. An equally intensive
investigation was desired in the case of
the keys, listed with their maker’s number.
A description of the battery also was
given to the papers. .
The State Detectives were hoping for
the best. They believed they had at last
a hot lead. But they would not relax
True Detective Mysteries
their efforts in other directions. After
snatching a few hours of badly needed
sleep, they rushed back to their job,
questing for other leads.
Startling news soon came from Cam-
bridge. The keys had been taken from
the custodian of Cambridge Armory. He
had been abducted and robbed by a trio
of bandits who had staged a raid for
arms and ammunition. They were par-
ticularly anxious to get hold of machine
guns. This had occurred before the Auto
Show raid to seize the State Police exhibit
of equipment. And the Cambridge Armory
was within a stone’s throw of Massachu-
sett’s Institute of Technology, whose
shooting gallery had been robbed of the
long-barrelled ‘“Woodsmen’s” .22-caliber
pistols used in the Lynn, Fitchburg and
‘Needham murders, also in the theater
hold-up at Mattapan.
Detective George Breach, manager of
the Criminal Division of the New Eng-
land Branch of the William J. Burns
International Detective Agency. De-
tective Breach played an important
part in solving this case
Then came an even more startling de-
velopment. A Roxbury battery shop pro-
prietor notified police that the newspaper
description he had read was exactly that
of a battery he had repaired recently for a
young fellow by the name of Millen. A
Boston officer was sent to the shop to
check up with the proprietor and look
over the battery records.
The battery dealer was Alfred La-
Vierge. The officer was Patrolman John
MacDonald. LaVierge went over his
records and produced the one he was seek-
ing. It was listed as repair job number
K-29. MacDonald reported to his superior
and the news eventually reached Need-
ham. The effect was electrifying. On the
bottom of the patchwork battery removed
from the burned bandit car was chalked
the identifying symbol “K-29”.
5 petra Police Headquarters plunged
into the investigation hours before the
news reached State Police detectives, now
intent on other lines of inquiry. There is
no intent of criticism here. This is the
inevitable result of lack of co-ordination,
of scores upon scores of city and town
police departments working independent,
of state and county authorities, althoug
-with the best intentions in the world.
And just as inevitably the news leaked
from Boston Police headquarters to news-
papermen. Reporters learned that the bat-
tery in the bandit car had been serviced
for a young fellow by the name of Millen;
that he lived on Lawrence Avenue. They
rushed to the Lawrence Avenue address,
secking news for their eager editors. All
hope for secret action was wrecked then.
On Sunday night, February 11th, the
State Detectives had more information.
They. had learned about LaVierge’s story
and also knew something about the Millen
family on Lawrence Avenue. They knew
about -the activities of newspapermen.
Stokes telephoned Boston editors he knew
and persuaded them to withhold publica-
tion of further revelations until after the
week-end, when re-opening of business es-
tablishments would give the State Detec-
tives a chance to check up certain details
before premature disclosures alarmed pos-
‘sible suspects into flight.
The young fellow who had had the bat-
téry repaired, the Boston Police in-
quéry revealed, was Murton Millen. He
enjoyed a good reputation, it was found,
and police records showed nothing what-
ever against him. His father was Joseph
Millen, a well-to-do contractor. There
was a younger brother, Irving Millen, and
a sister, Miss Frances Millen. The family
stood well in the community. Murton
Millen was reported to be a partner in a
prosperous radio business on Columbus
Avenue.
NDER these circumstances it was nat-
ural for police to show some degree
of discretion. Assuming the information
secured through LaVierge’s battery shop
to be entirely correct, and no mistake
made in identity, some quite simple and
entirely innocent explanation of the repair
job on the peculiar storage battery found
in the stolen bandit car was too much of a
possibility to encourage any rough ham-
mer-and-tongs methods. The idea that
there could be any criminal connection
between a respectable young business man,.
the son of a well-known, successful con-
tractor, and a ruthless gang of murderers
and robbers, seemed on the face of it to
be somewhat grotesque.
Yet the apparent facts were too serious,
the case too vitally important, to justify
anything less than prompt and thorough
investigation, and a request that Millen
explain.
Neither Murton Millen nor his younger
brother, Irving Millen, was found at the
Lawrence Avenue home of Joseph Millen’s
family when detectives called there Sun-
day, February 11th, to request an inter-
view. Miss Frances Millen, who came to
the door, explained that they were away
for the week-end. She said that her
brothers would probably be found at the
radio shop Monday morning. She ex-
plained the location of Murton’s place of
business on Columbus Avenue and said
that his business partner was Abraham
Faber, a former schoolmate.
Leaving word for the Millen boys to get
in touch with the station when they got
home, as a little matter had come up on
which they might be able to help the
police, the officers departed to talk things
over.
A check-up of the situation to date soon
brought a very interesting and rather pe-
culiar fact to light. The radio shop with
which the Millen boys were said to be
associated was the same one Lieutenant
Ferrari was to visit Monday morning to
make inquiries about the Lynch suppres-
sor.
If this were merely a coincidence, it
surely was a most extraordinary one. A
direct and definite connéction apparently
had been established between young Mil-
len and the unusual storage battery found
in the abandoned bandit car. And _ the
Lynch suppressor, the other lead on which
the State Detectives were counting
strongly, was reported handled almost ex-
clusively in Boston in the very same radio
Es we a ae Ce eS oR ee Bie |
oo?
‘ American Detective
POUCE
Diagram show-
ing scene of the
holdup and
murder; and
route taken by
elusive crim-
inals in their
sensational get-
away.
MAPLE STREET
Seem e
The intruder appeared unworried by this exit. He
was a burly ruffian with thick lips and a splay nose.
Keeping the gun pointed firmly at McIntosh, he re-
marked calmly:
“No fooling about this. Stick those hands up.”
As the treasurer’s arms rose slowly, he added:
vd a anything goes wrong around here and you’re
part of it, you’re going to die. I hope your in-
surance is all right.”
Only at this moment did it seem to occur to him
that he might be recognized later. Keeping McIntosh
firmly covered, he drew a mask from his pocket with
the other hand and pulled it across the lower part of
his face. It all happened quickly and quietly; so quickly
and quietly that no one else in the bank noticed it.
But as though the placing of the mask had been a
signal, the door of the bank swung open again and
two more men came in, One of them had a machine
gun on his hip; he stationed himself in the center of
the bank, swinging the weapon in a wide circle to
cover the whole interior. His companion, revolver in
hand, stepped quickly over to the teller’s cage where
John D. Riordan was on duty, and covering him with
the weapon, commanded in a loud voice:
“Stick ’em up everybody and back against the wall.
Anybody that moves will get shot. This is a holdup.”
The click of adding machines and typewriters died
in a moment of frozen silence, then everything began
to happen at once. Walter Bartholemew, the seventy-
five-year-old vault attendant, swung the grilled gate of
the vault shut with a clash of metal; Mrs. Mary Gay-
kam, the bookkeeper, ducked to the floor behind a half-
partition, her finger on the button of the burglar alarm,
Scene outside the Needham Trust Company, Needham, Mass., after
holdup and: murder on February 2nd, 1934.
‘and the big |
. streets of N
louder ringir
through the ;
- the desperad:
|
|
|
|
{
}
]
{
|
!
and the wh
zipping rico
powder.
By some 1
who ‘had sh«
with a sing]
right against
66 OW
ink you
Riordan, wit
floor of the
began to sw
sand dollars
from where
“Gee, her:
“Spot hir
cage withou
like the firs:
the lower p:
He took del
stood by in
made Mrs.
around.
“That al:
ringing. Hu
They hu
for a mome
losing patie
partition in
packages of
his pockets
Sean Bee
Ws atte
AEN
Pe
9
4
a
p> Je = eg
Pe ES ae
120
tone, said, “He didn’t throw his arms
around me. Most of the affection came
from me.” Faber, slumped in his corner,
did not stir. She told of the package of
money he had given her for their wedding
in June, identified as loot from the Need-
ham bank. “ ‘This is a present,’ he said.
‘That’s nice,’ I said. ‘What kind?’ He
said it was a wedding present. I asked
him from whom and he said, ‘I’d rather
not tell you.’”
Striving against the overwhelming evi-
dence of guilt the prosecution was building’
up, defense lawyers were dividing their ac-
tivities between the state court in Dedham
and the Federal courts in Boston. Al-
though refusing to grant an immediate
stay of proceedings in the state court,
Judge James M. Morton, Jr., of the United
States Circuit Court of Appeals warned
Massachusetts officials that they were pro-
ceeding with the trial at their peril; that
the safe course to pursue while habeas
corpus proceedings were pending in the
United States courts was to stop the’
trial.
HE trial went on, and the defense tac-
tics, now clearly revealed, astounded
some of the spectators. It was demanded
that any and all reference to Faber’s con-
fession, details of which were told in the
last installment of this story, admissions
made by Irving Millen in New York, and
the boasting about crimes by Murton Mil-
len to Saul Messinger, must be excluded
from the trial and could rot be considered -
by the jury. This was on the ground that
a confession made by an insane person was
without legal standing, and that it was
improper to admit into evidence a con-
yersation with an insane man.
But Judge Brown permitted Messinger
to tell his story, allowed Detective Lieu-
tentant Charles Eason of New York to
repeat statements made by Irving about
the Needham crimes. The big fight came
when the district attorney was ready to
call State Police officers to repeat Faber’s
astonishing story. Attorney Scharton
contended that his client was not guilty
by reason of insanity, that any alleged
confession must be barred until this issue
was determined as to Faber’s sanity.
Judge Brown ordered the jury excluded
and a procession of alienists, relatives
and friends came to the witness-stand.
The Mitlen brothers snickered their
’* amusement and sneered their scorn as
Faber’s motiier took the stand to save her
son by proving him abnormal from birth
despite his brilliant scholarship and scien-
tific skill. She swore that her grand-
father died in a hospital for the insane,
and that her Abe had always been peculiar,
moody, never showed affection, flew into
violent rages and raised his hands to strike
her, had a hard fall and injured his head
wher a baby, didn’t believe in God and
had little use for the synagogue.. She
and her husband had made every sacrifice
to give Abe a wonderful education, but
he showed no appreciation and cared little
for his parents. Her own mental condi-
tion was such that she thought of com-
mitting suicide and actually made at-
tempts to do so before her son’s birth.
Doctor A. Everett Austin solemnly
swore that Faber was a victim of hyper-
thyroidism, a condition imbuing him with
false courage, tremendous daring, and
made him indifferent to his acts and
totally unconscious of the predicament
into which these acts might thrust him.
The expert testified that many of the
world’s most daring fighters and war heroes
were afflicted with this condition, which
made them the daring type, imbued with
false courage, like leading World War aces
who were highly daring and unconscious
of danger.
a
True Detective Mysteries
If Faber was playing a part he did it
well. He sat with his eyes closed, indiffer-
ent, not even recognizing his mother when
she passed him and whispered words of
endearment. Doctor Evelyn G. Mitchell,
a woman psychiatrist, testified that he was
suffering from schizophrenia and a moral
imbecile. Others swore that from his
youth he had been completely dominated
by Murton Millen and biatan Norma be-
cause she shared Murton’s affections. State
alienists swore that Faber was sane and
Judge Brown admitted his confession.
The remaining prosecution witnesses testi-
fied, including Captain Charles Van Am-
burgh, famous ballistics expert.
It was just as the district attorney was
closing his case that Irving Millen made
_a sensational attempt to escape. Taken
back to jail and unfettered from Murton
and Faber, Irving suddenly snatched for
the holstered revolver of a state trooper.
He failed in his attempt by an eyelash,
and quit the struggle only after rolling on
the floor in a desperate battle and being
beaten into subjection by two officers.
The trial had been under way for a
Rose Knellar, whose life was darkened
by the criminal exploits of her fiancé,
shown with attorneys John Daly (left)
and Samuel Alexander
‘month when the defense swung into real
action. And now the defense disclosed its
hand fully. The state accused the three
defendants of brutal, wilful murder with
a robbery motive. The defense went
much farther. It sought to prove that
Murton and Irving Millen and Abe Faber
were thieving killers so ruthless and con-
scienceless they could not be sane human
beings. Medical experts, schoolmates,
friends and relatives were called as wit-
nesses in this effort. Irving was pictured
as a grinning, stupid moron. Murton was
a wild barbarian subject to fits of jungle
dancing and suicidal moods of melancholy,
to whom his younger brother looked up as
‘a great hero like a mechanical robot dead
from the neck up.
Their father took the stand and pictured
himself under oath as a vile, vicious brute
who had abused his sons from babyhood
and made them ‘what they were today.
This story was en bn by the testimony
of his wife and other children, who alleged
that he beat and starved them.
While this was going on Irving Millen
smuggled a note to a prison trusty offering
him five thousand dollars from a secret
hoard of cash for a gun and ammunition.
The message was intercepted and another
escape plot frustrated.
Faber, testifying in his own defense, was
alleged to have been drugged to aid him
in playing the part of a crazy man. He
told of his own part in the slayings and
suavely placed Norma in the plot, swear-
ing that she was present as the robbery
plans were developed. .
The case went to the jury at 6:50 on
the evening of June 8th. The day before
the Massachusetts Legislature defeated my
unified police bill which I knew would
curb such terrible crimes in the future.
The jury took only three ballots and at
twenty minutes after midnight reported its
verdict. Thousands had gathered around
the court house to await the result.
Murton and Irving Millen and Abraham
Faber were found to be sane and guilty of
murder in the first degree, carrying a man-
datory sentence of death. The verdict was
flashed from a window by a pre-arranged
signal and the crowd greeted it with a
tremendous outburst of cheering.
Taken back to jail, whimpering like a
baby, Faber collapsed. Murton snarled,
“We got a tough break.” Irving grinned,
his eyes fixed on a trooper’s gun.
Newspapermen claimed that they had
discovered a plot to lynch the three de-
fendants that night if the verdict of the
jury had not found them guilty.
Noes was placed on trial on June
20th, and her own letters, secured by
the detectives, proved to be her undoing.
Pictured as a childlike person who enjoyed
playing with paper dolls even in jail, her
own letters gave her the character of a
shrewd woman who got her share of the
loot and knew what it was all about. Yet
she was only an immature, eighteen-year-
old girl when she fell into the influence of
the criminal who married her. Her cross-
examination was a maze of contradictions.
The case went to the jury on June 27th,
and after many ballots they found her
guilty on all counts, reporting just before
1 o’clock the next morning. District At-
torney Dewing recommended mercy and
on September 26th Judge Brown sentenced
her to serve one year in Dedham Jail, say-
ing that she should not be released until
after her husband paid the supreme pen-
alty, so that she might not be exploited by
the public if freed on probation too soon.
The maximum sentence he could have
given her was twenty years at hard labor.
The death sentence of the Millen broth-
ers and Faber was delayed by an appeal to
the Massachusetts Supreme Court for a
new trial and the pending proceedings in
the Federal courts.
On November Ist, the Millens were
once more in the newspaper headlines
when another escape plot was frustrated.
Murton was found in possession of a
metal button which he had sharpened to
a razor edge. A message written with a
burnt match in a magazine that he tried
to send to his brother was intercepted.
The evidence suggested that Murton and
Irving Millen were to attempt to break
out of Dedham Jail, leaving Faber, their
former pal, behind.
The appeal was argued before the Mass-
achusetts Supreme Judicial Court from
November 7th to 10th, 1934, and a de-
cision by the full bench was expected
within about one month. Attorney Schar-
ton alleged that the jury was influenced
by racial and judicial prejudice and by
the hostility of the entire community to-
ward the defendants. District Attorney
Dewing pointed out that all rights of the
defendants had been safeguarded as re-
quired by law, and that a fair, impartial
and orderly trial had resulted in convic-
tion. Also that after the trial had started
and while it was still in progress Congress
had amended the law to provide that
proceedings in the State courts should be
void only if actually stayed by order of
a judge of the United States courts, where-
as such an order had been refused to the
defendants and their appeal was. still
pending in the Federal courts.
Anticipating on the basis of the facts,
the law and justice that all appeals will
shortly be denied, tentative plans as these
lines are written are for the Millen broth-
ers and their one-time pal Faber to be
sentenced to death during February, 1935,
and executed soon thereafter.
Tue Enp
Mone
tuniti
Hundrec
ee ad
Be eee
FABER and
the MILLEN brethers
, ee ee eee
7 43 ,
Brig. General Daniel Needham (left) and State
Detective John Stokes shown with gas mask and
munitions seized in Washington, D. C. Top of
page shows scene inside Needham Trust Com-
pany after sensational robbery and murder. ©
The inside story of the
Millen bank robbery and
murder case . . . Men who
made a science of crime
and succeeded until —
HE morning of February 2nd, 1934, was clear
and bitterly cold in the little city of Needham,
Massachusetts. The remains of the last snow lit-
tered the sidewalks and there was ice between the rail-
road tracks a few paces from the post where Policeman
Forbes McLeod stood, swinging his arms and clapping
his ears in an effort to keep warm. The morning train
puffed down the tracks, and the alarm bell at the
grade crossing burst into a frenzied clamor of warning.
Patrolman McLeod turned to gaze idly at the train,
then cocked his head—there was something out of
order with that warning bell; it sounded as though it
were ringing twice as fast as normal. The train had
only six coaches; it drew past and gathered speed into
the distance, but the ringing kept on, then changed its
tone. McLeod felt a sudden wave of excitement—it
was not the railroad’s bell ringing now but the burglar
‘alarm on the building of the Needham Trust Company,
just across the tracks, and it was crying, “HOLDUP!
Help!”
McLeod hesitated not a second; drawing his revolver,
he charged toward the bank, bent low, as he had
charged the Hindenburg Line when he won the croix
de guerre in France. As his feet touched the tracks,
there was a sudden spurt of flame from the window of
the bank he wa
felt as though s
iron through hi
tried to go on,
the bank windo
and the man th
the tracks in a
snow a terrible
ITHIN -
urer, hac
ments before, a:
moned his sten:
rapher, Miss A:
notebook, and °
boss—in time ti
For the busi:
urer looked as
his veins and fr
open mouth an
his head, he w:
Powell swung
scream. She fo
muzzle of an a
a man who was
tarily, she leap«
a crash, then
private office at
BR Tae
AMERICAN DETECTIVE, May, 1934
See ee oe
ry
of the
ry and
en who
F crime
ntil —
d, 1934, was clear
city of Needham,
f the last snow lit-
e between the rail-
st where Policeman
arms and clapping
The morning train
alarm bell at the
clamor of warning.
idly at the train,
something out of
unded as though it
nal. The train had
gathered speed into
yn, then changed its
of excitement—it’
ow but the burglar
hm Trust Company,
rying, “HOLDUP!
rawing his revolver,
nt low, as he had
n he won the croix
touched the tracks,
rom the window of
Fletcher Pratt
the bank he was trying to protect; Patrolman McLeod
felt as though somebody were trying to drive a red-hot
iron through his middle. He stumbled, tried to recover,
tried to go on, tried to get his gun up for a shot, but
the bank window spat flame again and again and again,
and the man the Germans couldn’t kill sprawled across
the tracks in a crumpled heap, his blood tinging the
snow a terrible vermilion.
ITHIN the bank, Arthur McIntosh, the treas-
urer, had taken his place at his desk a few mo-
ments before, at the fashionable hour of 9.30 and sum-
moned his stenographer to take dictation. The stenog-
rapher, Miss Ada Powell, found a chair, adjusted her
notebook, and with her pencil poised, looked up at her
boss—in time to receive the shock of her life.
For the businesslike countenance of the bank treas-
urer looked as though the cold wave had penetrated
his veins and frozen his face to a mask of horror. With
open mouth and eyes that seemed about to pop from
his head, he was staring right past her shoulder. Miss
Powell swung round sharply and then gave a little
scream. She found herself looking squarely into the
muzzle of an automatic revolver, held in the hand of
a man who was leaning over the rail. Almost involun-
tarily, she leaped to her feet, upsetting the chair with
a crash, then disappeared into the partitioned-off
_ private office at the side to have a case of hysterics.
Mrs. Norma Millen, nineteen-year-old wife of Merton Millen.
This beautiful girl is the graduate of several fashionable finishing
schools. She was arrested with her husband as a suspect in i
the Needham bank robbery. Top of page shows gun with
silencer found in Millen hideout.
LZ
were shot into place, it shut me off from more than the sun went past my door, I could feel their eyes upon me as they
of freedom. It shut me off from all my life, an impenetrable passed. And then I was aware of someone standing at 1m)
barrier between the woman I had been and the woman I had side. A husky voice spoke to me.
And it
m. Some-
euilty of become. I had lost everything. Left to me was only horror “Don’t Iet it get you, kid. It’s always much harder the
vs behind —hideous horror at the thought of being pent up with women first night than any other time.”
I had never thought of as women but only as unclean creatures I looked up and saw a woman of about thirty-four. She
oe of the underworld. pe was small and dark, Her face was lined and hard. Her hair
Tae, I shall never forget the first night I spent as a convicted straggled about a sallow face. Her eyes were tired-looking,
Tot panes prisoner. I sat on the edge of my narrow cot and stared but as they looked into mine they contained understanding
this thing ist Be, dully at the clean barrenness of my cell. But I could not sit. and kindness. In spite of my need for a friend, | was not
ikful that Mie se we still. Restlessly I got up and paced the floor of the narrow -prepared to accept sympathy from one of these women. \With
+» slightly Aa ee cubicle. Feverishly I leaned my body against the cold bars
a put the . Roe cd until I could feel their chill through the flimsy fabric of my =
cf prison dress. The iciness penetrated my skin and oozed. into
‘ ; my heart, I_4elt terribly alone, completely friendless. And BR NO RMA MILLEN
‘rible that ae worse than that, 1 was desperately afraid. y
_ snatched fo ae In that place with me were other women. I could hear P ;
through a’ st Ree the rustle of their movements from the darkness of other cells (Wid ow of Murton M illen,
in cell. ae like mine; they were the women I dreaded meeting. I feartt Electr ocute d ‘Kille r)
ic tabloid’s them, feared any contact with them. Even though I was
the dock ee tainted myself, I did not want their companionship. Through
Stunned - that first night of horror I was alone, dreading the daylight
‘ering me, ee because it would mean that I would have to leave the isola-
' had held a tion of my cell and mingle with the other inmates. SHE TELLS
oe Morning came finally, and with it the unlocking of cell What queer things go
» took my 27 a ae al doors and the call to breakfast. But I did not move from on behind the bars of
dly goods I : my cot. I felt as though ] could never eat again. I didn’t awomen's prisons?
ett « : Pretty Norma Millen,
band’s life. spe Sd want to live. ; . : ; herewith tells what she
is its bolts: an hed I heard the other women leave their cells. Their footsteps saw, heard and
ae 5 fell: aw
ay ¢
¥ 1 ers 2 : aN
a e. ¢
c. pe A
dpuL . = VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE!
i UA &\
BIG HOUSE:
47° shall newer, forget.
Sug amy first night in pris:
Sow, "pea up. with
strange’ women who
avere creatures of the, i
; <umdewavorld AY
sprees wraiararmeT SE PEE
ee CN at Fe
1g un-
holdup
ed like
nrough
» inter-
> to be
‘ey be-
lves in
ym.
iple of
lishing
e they
ntil all
» could
m any
aen al-
sth by
cudying
rough-
could
sdge of
arse as
uate of
nology,
He be-
e band,
to pick
to meet
{in the
to hide
d com-
ey em-
officer,
ey took
on Au-
. Millen
was to
it had
er pur-
. set of
r, knew
the ar-
e had a
-eys ob-
to build
‘et them
at, they
veapons
a few
st bur-
na which
secured
erely to
- under-
pons. In
ms ona
he Poli
was rec-
nee, and
bandits
acked it
safe get-
and the
Boston
rer rob-
1, which
h at his
ied, they
hat of a
n Fitch-
ccording
had re-
shotgun
burst of
g Millen
moment ;
they -had counted on the road to. riches
through crime being a _ bloody one.
Throughout December the robberies went
cn; sometimes sneak-thief entrances with
faked keys, sometimes holdups. Then came
January and another killing. It was the bill-
poster at the Paramount Theater in Lynn,
said Faber——
And at this point the officers who were
listening to his story started and glanced
at one another. Then one of them silently
left the room to go out and phone. For at
that very moment, as the “professional
scientist of crime” was calmly telling about
it, up in Salem, Massachusetts, in a little
courtroom under glaring electric lights, two
men were on trial for their lives in that
very case. Louis Molway and Clement Ber-
rett were cruising taxi-drivers of Lynn,
who supposedly had been recognized by
some of the theater employees present at _
the holdup. They could not prove alibis for
the hour of the crime; said they had been
cruising in quest of fares. And for the last
five days they had been standing hand-
cuffed in the prisoners’ cage, with a hor-
rible sinking feeling, as witness after wit-
ness stepped up to say, “That’s the man
who held me up in the theater,” “That’s
the man who shot the bill-poster.”
When that phone mesage came through,
there was a bustle in the Salem courtroom.
The district attorney turned pale, then
passed a note up to the judge, and the
judge, putting on his spectacles, turned
toward Molway and Berrett:
“T declare this trial adjourned,” he said,
“Sm view of evidence which has just reached
me, and which tends to show that a griev-
ous miscarriage of justice has been averted
American Detective
by the hand of an almighty Providence. If
it should prove that you are innocent and
injured men, I can only regret that the
state makes no provision that I know of to
reimburse you for the suffering you have
undergone ‘by reason of this situation, and
offer you the apologies of the state.”
In the courtroom there were cheers, for
there was no one present who could not
foresee the result that arrived with mathe-
matical certainty the next day, when word
came through that Captain Van Amburgh’s
researches showed that the bullets which
had killed the Lynn theater man had been
fired from one of the guns found in the
Washington station—and checked there by
the two Millens. But how had the mistake
been made?
The question was answered the next
morning when the pictures of the bandit
brothers reached Salem. For by a freak. as
extraordinary as anything ‘in this queerest
of cases, the two cruising taxi-drivers, ©
Molway and Berrett, who were personal
friends, were discovered to be almost per-
fect doubles for the Millen brothers, who
themselves looked so much alike that they
might have been twins!
_...In the headquarters at Dedham
the voice of Abraham Faber droned on,
telling of his more than thirty holdups and
burglaries, almost the whole of the crime
wave for which the Massachusetts police
had been drawing criticism during the past
five months. Down in New York, when the
statements were reported to the Millens,
the younger brother said nothing, but Mur-
ton Millen curled his lip:
“Let him talk,” he said, “I’m not getting
behind that eight-ball any farther.”
73°
When they did open their lips, their de-
fense was quaint. A car stalled in front of
their home in Dorchester one night, de-
clared the elder Millen. The battery had
gone dead. Millen, according to his story,
played the good Samaritan and traded bat-
teries with the driver. The next night the
man was back, saying that he had been in-
volved in a holdup, and the battery might
be traced. He gave the Millens $1,000 and
told them it would be healthy for them to
get out of town. So they went, obediently.
“What was the man’s name?”
“Joe,” said Millen, patly.
“Joe what?”
“I dunno—just Joe.”
“Ah, yes, and what were you doing at
the time of the Needham holdup?”
“Playing checkers in the Y. M. C. A.”
With difficulty the officers suppressed a
snicker. “And what about that machine gun
checked in the Washington station?”
“J ain’t saying a thing,” declared Millen.
“I refuse to answer.”
UT the brothers Millen were destined
to say a great deal more. For they were
returned to Massachusetts where they now
face murder and bank robbery charges. The
pretty young wife, Norma, has also been
drawn into the criminal picture and is being
held as an accomplice. As this issue goes
to press there are many who believe that
a lynching party is far from an impossibil-
ity; and that would be news in New Eng-
land. But the chances are that the wise old
heads of Massachusetts will let the law
take its course and give the brothers Millen
and Faber a fair trial.
== Se
ar
° =
ea
= >
\\
|
|
|
|
i
Pasar t MiutéW Fyre
EDITOR’S NOTE: Beginning in December, 1933, Massa-
chusetts was writhing in a red net of terror spread by one
of the most daring outlaw mobs ever to arise in the United
States, Arsenals were raided for guns and anumunition, banks
and business houses were plundered, and murder struck re-
peatedly,
In February, 1934, the police caught up with the mob. The
young bandit killers who had run like mad dogs through
the New England countryside—Murton Millen, Irving Mil-
len, and Abe Faber—were all convicted and sent to die
in the electric chair.
But one other person belonged to the mob, or at least she
traveled with it—Norma Millen. Wooed and won by Murton
Millen before she knew he was a thief and a slayer, she was
held to him to the bitter end of the trail by the fear he exerted
over her,
Part of her story has been told to the world. But there ts
another phase which is not known. What did this girl, the
product of a minister’s home, a shielded and protected young
woman—awhat did she experience during the months she
served in the House of Correction at Dedham, Massachusetts,
following conviction as an accessory to murder?
Norma Millen’s own story follows—the intimate recital of
what she felt and what she saw in prison.
YOU are sitting at breakfast. You pick up the morning
paper—a tabloid. Under a blazing headline on the front
page is the photograph of a woman. TTer face is buried in
her coat collar, as if she had vainly tried to escape the prob-
WHAT MY JAIL TERM TAUGHT
WOMEN
ing lens of the camera. But you can see her eyes. And it
seems to you that there is something hard in them, Some-
thing hard and defiant.
The theadline screams that a jury has found her guilty of
a crime; that a judge has sentenced her to spend years behind
the cold stone walls and grim bars of a prison.
She has broken the law.
She is an outcast, a pariah.
And she must pay!
In the security of your own home, you feel that this thing
could never happen to you. You feel smugly thankful that
you are a respected member of society. You shudder slightly
and turn the page. With that simple gesture you put the .
female felon out of your life.
I felt that way—once. ‘
Then something happened to me. Something terrible that
reached into my life and dragged me from my home, snatched
me from those who loved me and dragged me through a,’
nightmare of shame to the steel and stone of a prison cell.
Suddenly, devastatingly, J was that creature on. the tabloid’s®
front page. Unbelievably, it was / who stood in the dock
and J upon whom the judge was passing sentence. Stunned
by the terrible swiftness of this blow life was delivering me,
I helplessly saw myself stripped of all the things I had held
dear. ;
Scandal took my good name. Society’s censure took my
friends from me. Counsel fees took what little worldly goods I
possessed, The electric chair waited to claim my husband’s life.
A prison door clanged shut behind me. And as. its bolts.
THE SENSATIONAL CONFESSION OF A BEAUTIFUL
WAITING DEATH
Doomed tothe chair,
Murton Millen’ (left)
and his brother Irving
are shown being taken
tothe déath house.
wert
of f
barr
beco
—hi
Tha
of tl
I
prise
dulis
still
cubic
until
prise
my
wor
I;
the
like
the:
tan
that
bec:
tion
7
dN
doo
Mis
Wat
Mora
INSIDE DETECTIVE
an effort I forced back the tears, lifted my chin, and somehow
achieved a steadiness in my voice. ;
“It’s all right,” I said stiffly. “There’s nothing wrong with
me.” I remembered a phrase | had heard while awaiting trial.
{ assumed an air of hardness that I did not feel as [ said,
“My short stretch is nothing. I can do it standing on my
head. I—”
Then my self-control went. Something beating in my heart
hammered my defenses to pieces... Uncontrollable sobs shook
my body. I buried my face in my hands.
“No, I can't! I can’t!” I cried. “Ill die in here. I'll never
be able to stand it. Oh God, why has this happened to me?”
The words were choked in my throat. Hot tears seared my
cheeks. The panic of my aloneness swept over me. Desper-
ately I wanted my mother, Never had'I felt the need of a
friend as I did at that moment.
Then I felt Alice’s arm about my quivering shoulders. I
heard her voice soothing me, and suddenly I found solace to
my heartache. My head rested against her as she sank
to the edge of the cot beside me.
“Keep your chin up, Norma,” she said. “It’s not as bad as
it seems. But you’ve got to hold on to your courage. Once
that goes, you’re done. There’s no one to help you but your-
self in here.”
The simple words comforted me. I tried to smile at her.
Here,” she said. ‘‘Take this.”
She held out a handkerchief. ‘Thanks,” I said. “And I
think a cigarette would help, too. Have you got one?”
She shook her head. “That’s one habit you’ll have to
break,” she told me. “Cigarettes aren’t allowed. The war-
den is okay, but he’s old-fashioned about women.”
A girl with a pleasant Irish face suddenly appeared in the
doorway. In her hand she held a cigarette. “What the hell,
Alice!’ she said. “The kid’s upset. It won’t hurt for her
to break a rule this once.”
She handed me ‘the cigarette, produced a match from her
stocking and lit it for me. Then she sat down on the other °
side of me on, the cot.
The smoke tasted cool in my mouth. Alice began to talk
across me to the Irish girl, whom she called Margie. They
UNDER WATCHFUL GUARD
Says the author, at right: “I found to my surprise
that there actually were women in prison who were
gentle, kind and human.”
24
talked of their plans for the day. The soothing tobacco and
their calm, friendly conversation quieted me. For the first time
in days a feeling of warmth swept over me, and the cold sick
sensation in the pit of my stomach began to melt.
“You'd better eat some breakfast, kid,” Margie advised me
finally, ‘“‘It’ll help a lot.”
Just then a heavy footfall sounded in the corridor, Margie
snatched the cigarette from my mouth. Hastily she put it
out and thrust the butt into the bosom of her dress. A mo-
men later a guard stopped: before the cell door.
He sniffed the air suspiciously. “Who’s been smoking?” he
demanded. ‘“Who’s got the cigarettes ?”
Neither Margie nor Alice answered. I waited for some
sign from them as to what I should do.
“I don’t want to have to call the matron,” he went on, “but
you know the rules. If you don’t tell me who has the smokes,
I'll have to get her to search you. And you know it’ll mean °
solitary for the one that’s got ’em.”
Margie stood up and walked to the cell door. “It was my
pill,” she said quietly. “I was smoking it.”
The guard nodded slowly. It was obvious that he was re-
luctant to report her.
“T’'ll have to tell the matron,” he said. “I don’t want to
do it, but this is your third warning about smoking. If you
don’t turn the cigarettes over you'll get the Pit.”
I didn’t know what the Pit was then. But I understood
quite clearly that Margie was taking the blame for something
I had done, and I thought it was time to interfere.
“What she says isn’t true,” I told the guard. “She’s shield-
ing me. I was smoking that cigarette. If it was wrong, I’m
sorry. But I was very upset and I needed it.”
“All right,” he said. “In-your case it’ll be just a first warn-
ing.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
“Thanks,” I said to Margie. “That was awfully nice of you.”
“Forget it,” she smiled. “You'll: probably do as much
for me some day.” :
During the first few weeks I settled down to the prison
routine. We sewed and mended the clothes of the *men pris-
oners and the guards and warden’s family. We ironed them
‘also, as well as our own things. Had it not been for this
work, the utter monotony would have been unbearable.
The one bright spot in a day of drab dullness was the re-
creation period we spent in the prison yard. There was a
high brick wall about the yard, but at: least we were outside
‘in the air and sunlight, and it was freedom of a sort. But
even in the yard there was nothing to do, and after a while
we would wander back into the grayness of the jail, to sit
and read, to listen to one another talk of the past or of the-
future, to manicure our nails or dress one another’s hair.
It was mostly during these rest periods that I became
friendly with some of the other girls. Most of them were kind
to me: Most of them were like the girls I had known all my
life, with whom I had gone to school and to parties. True,
they were harder. But, it was not a natural hardness—it was
a protective crust, built up,in their battles with a life which
had been too cruel for them. When I understood that, I lost
my horror at being forced to mingle with them, I remem-
bered a fragment of Kipling, read in those high school days
that were so far behind me now: s
The Colonel's lady and Judy O’Grady’
Are sisters under the skin.
And as the days grew to months the misery that gnawed
inside me gradually disappeared. It wasn’t a radiant hap-
piness that took its place. Always there were the stpne walls,
“1 WOULD START OUT OF
NIGHTMARE—THEY WERE
_the bars,
‘of things
some fri:
the futur
The ot!
unable t«
much ab:
had an i
what it
many of
Of cou
Some of
I was ti
They we
whose 0:
Neith:
with ev:
girls out
to the re
strong ¢
thought
And i
cases.
heart w
Perhe
this less
On t!
hands h
type of
has fain
both he
instinct
The |!
cubicle
ran dov
When t
The ;
lar time
day Fu:
open P
startled
cat droj
We :
ahead o:
she cam
“Qui
One «
Fuzzy i
“The
prematu
Katie
handled
delivere
did. not «
their mi
Katic
warm 1
milk.
. shiveri
most hz
ing life
Two
as upse
in the }
deress, ;
ful bitte
SLE!
GO:
62
do my best to help you, If you're not
guilty, I want to see you go free.
| told him I was not guilty and gave
im an account of what I had done on
the day of the murder. | could see Dan
Callahan sitting there quietly taking it
all in all the time I was talking. When
I had finished, Mr. Flynn gave me the
first piece of cheerful news I’d had in
weeks,
“You've got a good, strong alibi,”
he said. “I’m going to try to get you
free.” ‘
Dan Callahan, who had been sitting
there, spoke up.
“These fellows are not guilty of that
crime,” he said, “| could tell from the
way they talked that the were never
mixed up in a stick-up, They are good
boys. I know tough guys when | see
them and these fellows have never com-
mitted a crime like that one.”
COMING from a fellow of Dan Calla-
han’s reputation, that sounded like
a million dollars to me. For Dan Calla-
han used to be one of the personal
bodyguards tt
period of years during which he had
been with’ the Secret Service of the
United States Government.
We went back to our cells and | was
feeling better than | had at any time
since bei I had an after-
noon exercise walk and while I was
walking a drunk began getting tough.
He wanted to fight everybody in the
jail,
An attendant came
unlock the drunk’s cell
and the drunk picked up
the sanitary bucket and Started to swing
j here wasn’t anyone
around but the one guard, and he was
a rather elderly fellow that I liked a
lot, and the drunk had him buffaloed
with that bucket, [t was an embarrass-
ing situation.
We finally worked it out between us.
The guard got a long pole and opened
the adjoining cell, which
and poked the drunk with the
soon as I saw him drop the ucket, |
pushed into his cell and tied up his
We put him in the padded cell
ole, As
~ ee
came back with the empty bucket after
a while and grinned at me. ,
“That was a close
Molway’s folks came down every
Sunday ‘and brought us steak and
chicken. It tasted swell, after all the
apple sauce. My wife and father ‘sent
us down some home-made cakes, Every-
thing we got. Wwe ate with a spoon, but
iggest excitement in the jail
Was a radio that one Prisoner had jn
his cell. I made arrangements with
him and he plugged Molway and me
. tators,
Was empty,
The
Master Detective
tling matches at Boston Arena each
Wednesday night, especially when Jack
Washburn was one of the grapplers on
the Wednesday night card. ;
From a few real friends, like my pal,
Dick Taylor, I used to get letters.
These helped a lot. Dick used to write
to me every day.
On February 12th, 1934, Clem and |
Went On trial for the murder of C. Fred
Sumner at the Lynn Paramount The-
ater on the morning of January 2nd.
€ Were dressed in our best clothes.
Charlie Barrett got me some more
shirts and ties and things from my
apartment. My friend, Dick Taylor,
who had worked with Charlie in help-
ing check out every point of my alibi,
took care of my belongings and closed
the apartment for me, since | had no
money and no means of making any
money to keep Paying rent, which was
$8.50 a week,
We were taken in an automobile to
the Salem court-house. It was about
half.a mile from the jail. Clem and |
were handcuffed to two deputies. Two
State cops and the sheriff rode with us,
We went into the court-room. It was
full of men. | thought they were spec-
They later turned out to be
Prospective jurors, Everything seemed
crazy to me,
People read
up and said something about this case
being the case of the Commonwealth of
assachusetts
Clement F, Mol
The clerk read something to us and we
said “Not guilty” and then everybody
I couldn’t make much out
FUNALLY they be
jury. Everybo
court-room except the lawyers and the
quis and Clem and me.
an picking out the
Molway and | were. kept in the
Prisoners dock, a cage in the center
of the room, € were handcuffed to-
gether,
The court clerk had a little barrel on
a desk and he picked names out of it.
hese were the names of different men
ft Jury duty and as each
name was Picked a court officer would
call that man in, ait wl
he man would then take his place
on a stand by the judge’s bench and
give his name, address and answer
questions. asked” by | the judge, ~ The.’
judge. always ‘wanted
to know of each
man if
he was‘related: to us or ‘to’ any
weren’t.
ment,
“What have you ever done toward the
abolition of capital punishment? Have
you ever signed any Papers or joined
any of the associations against itp”
f they said they hadn’t, then the
judge would hold’ them for further
questioning,
One of the questions
the judge
always asked sent a shiver
down’ my
_ line-up, But
of our lawyers ‘and: they “all said they : |
Segtem }
spine every time I heard him ask it. I
“Would ‘you find a man guilty of a 2
crime punishable by death,”” he would ere
ask, “providing the evidence satisfied « mh
you beyond a reasonable doubt of the pith =
guilt of that defendant?” . the hus
€n the jurors would answer “ves, oe al "
that hurt. I was beginning to get the hed s
heebie-jeebies again. That “punish- ‘old nasa
able by death” business scared me, hold 0
Molway was white and nervous-look- stant
ing, too. edna ay.
ater the judge had challenged the Ae wt
jurors, he would turn them over to the : mh
istrict Attorney. District Attorney Stoaey tip
Hugh A. Cregg’ was Prosecuting the ie
case. He was being helped by Assis- er
tant District Attorneys John E. Wilson oe 4
and John H. Ryan, in He ss
The District Attorney and our law- ; while
yers had large papers with the name, rat he
address and occupation of each pros- » sth, as
ective juror. Both sides could chal- pags tks
ane Or pass any of these men. Our tee! a
side, naturally, didn't want i res- hid a ay
idents on the jury because public sen- f ak
timent against Clem and me was bad Two of
in Lynn. I wanted all young men on 4 tene
the jury. I was young myself and | mais ep
felt that young men would feel kindlier ‘aad -
toward me, but my lawyers insisted on a - Pe
a few older men. ita m
On the second day, the jury and the didn’t oh
District Attorney and our lawyers went : ae
to visit the theater in Lynn where the for anytl
murder had taken place. It was about fo ener
ut miles from the npr: ar in mee oeare:
alem. I wanted to 80, too, but my
lawyers advised against it and I figured 4 ot Rind
they knew better than | what was right. dis Bail,
None of the witnesses who were to He had ex
testify was allowed to be in the court- otic.
room during the trial except Molway’s is
father, so I did not get to see any of x}
my ens. ly aceite
n February 15th, the first actual one of the
witness that was held up, took the lobby in |
stand, This was Michael Ford, an as- found afte
sistant janitor, He had picked Mol-
line-up, but not me.
hen asked, however, if he could make
an identification in the court-room, he
got up and pointed to us in the cage.
I'll never forget that moment. It’s bad
enough to be accused in private of
something you didn’t do. But when
that happens in a crowded, public
court-room, it’s terrible.
“WES,” Ford said. “They - are the
two. The one on the right is Mol-
Way. The one on the left, Berrett,”
I didn’t think at the time that it was
fair for him to pick me out then, when
he had been unable to do so in the
after all, he was sincere
in' What: he said,
thought was right.
examined Ford for three and a half
said he had been “unshaken,”
And the jury looked like they felt
too.
€ven thought t
Was against us, (
were so long. From 9:30 in the morn-
What do yo
ing until 5 or 6 o'clock at night,’ It
as Irving an:
September, 1934
my case wouldn’t be a good one for any
lawyer. bee?
There were three more line-ups dur-
ing our first week at the Essex County
jail. In the first one, one man pointed
me out. I didn’t know who he was or
what he pointed me out for.
One of the men who looked us over
in the second line-up, a couple of days
later, was Harry Condon. He was
about fifty-five years old. He was an
assistant janitor at the Lynn Para-
mount. During the hold-up, he had
been shot in the back, but not seriously
wounded. He didn’t pick either Clem
or myself,
I BALKED at standing in the third
line-up, which was in charge of In-
spectors Sullivan and Muckian. The
deputy in charge of the jail came down
to my cell and wanted to know why I
wouldn’t go in this line-up.
“1 don’t think it’s fair,” I told him.
“Thesé people have seen our pictures in
the newspapers and if they’re here to
identify us they'll know who we are
easily enough.”
“Louie,” the deputy said, “they
wouldn’t dare to point you out if they
were not sure. You say you were not
mixed up in this hold-up, so what are
vou scared of?”
“Listen,” I told him, “these people
who are going to look us over respect
the judgment of the Lynn police or they
wouldn’t come down here to look at
us. And the Lynn police have us in
jail here as murderers,
“If I were going to get a pair of
shoes, I’d go to a cobbler and respect
his judgment, so why shouldn’t these
people respect the judgment of the
police who consider us criminals?”
The deputy was very fair.
“TI can’t make you walk in that line-
up. Louie,” he admitted. “Neither can
| stop people from coming down to
vour cell and looking you over. So
you might as well walk.. You can ex-
change your hat and coat with any
prisoner in here, if that will make you
feel any better.”
I still didn’t want to stand in the
The Master Detective
line-up, because | felt that I was an
exceptionally tall man and that I stood
out in any line-up because of my height.
But I didn’t want to be nasty, for they
had treated me fine around the jail, so
I agreed on condition that they would
tell me exactly what the witnesses said
after it was over.
A large, well-built man and an at-
tractive looking girl looked us over. I
think she must have been the box-office
girl at the Paramount. She pointed
me out, I was told later, and said’ she
thought I was one of the men who had
been at the theater the night before the
hold-up, but she wasn’t sure of it and
Inspector Sullivan said they would not
use her partial identification.
The days went on and Clem and |
finally got lawyers.: Clem’s lawyers
were Mr. Tomasello, the one his folks
had brought down that first day from
Boston, and Mr. John P. Kane. ‘Mr.
Kane was one of the greatest criminal
lawyers in Essex County.
I was just as lucky. Besides my
friend, Charlie Barrett, Charles Flynn,
of Saugus, Massachusetts, was on my
side. He’s a neat dresser, a good-look-
ing chap and a smart lawyer.
ONE day, Clem and I and our law-
™" yers talked for a whole afternoon
in a private room at the jail. There
was a stenographer there, too, and Mr.
Dan Callahan,
Dan Callahan is a small man and a
neat dresser. He doesn’t look anything
like an investigator or detective, but
he is a swell one. He has a big reputa-
tion throughout the entire East. He
was investigating the case for both
Molway and myself.
Molway told his story about how he
had been working the day of the mur-
der. They had found it to be the truth
because the Central Cab Company of
Boston had Molway’s waybill. A way-
bill is the record of the taxi for the
day.
When Molway had finished, Mr.
Flynn turned to me.
“Berrett,” he said, “I want you to
tell the truth. If you did this, I will
The detective swore softly. ‘‘Whatif..... vd
|
| of True DerectTive.
| ‘Mother!”’ she screamed, ‘‘Mother!”
THE REAL STORY OF LOS ANGELES’ GETTLE CASE
“I know,” his partner interrupted, as he adjusted the receivers of the dictograph on his ears. “I know
exactly what you’re thinking.”” He frowned in silent contemplation. “God! What a break for us if
| we'd find out that these guys are the ones..... "
| Were they? If so, the detectives are on the eve of the solution of the amazing Gettle snatch. It is a
| detective case that promises to become historic, with Chief of Detectives Joseph F. Taylor of the Los
Angeles Police Department revealing hitherto unpublished facts. Don’t miss this in the October number
THE WEIRD ENIGMA OF RINGTOWN VALLEY
“Outside a great pine sighed over the house-top, and rain pattered mournfully upon the roof. From
the darkness without came a stream of flame. It burst through the window with a loud explosion that
reverberated above the crash of glass. The room plunged into inky blackness. Tavilla shrieked.
Thus opens the strange mystery that hovered over the life and déath of ‘Old Suss.’”’ It is a startling
story, haunted by the unquenchable belief in witchcraft, of the enigma that baffled detectives seeking a
solution of the mysterious and tragic happenings in Ringtown Valley on the eerie night of March 17th,
1934. A detective case that “gets” you.
THE CLUE OF THE WET OVERCOAT
“James Green, aroused from his bed by a knock that shook the rafters of his house, opened the door.
A black figure confronted him, and ignoring his “What do you want?” pushed past him. Green ex-
postulated. A gun blazed in the darkness, and Green fell. The intruder entered a bedroom. Shrieks
of horror from the girls within, echoed through the house. The gun of the black figure spat five times, the
explosions accompanied by wild, triumphant laughter.”
What was the meaning of these awful midnight happenings in the Green house of horror? That was a
question that was not to be easily answered. But a wet overcoat hanging in a closet gave a clue to the
ghastly situation; and when the capture killer of three confessed, with the statement “I went there to
make peace or have peace forever,” the detectives started back appalled. An extraordinary story.
Other unusual fact detectives cases which will appear are: “(How I Trapped the Murderer of My Sister-
in-Law;” “The Case of E. Morgan Dix—New York ny Se Most Fantastic Crime;” ““The Mystery of
the Missing Trapeze Artiste;”’ “Smashing Washington’s Carnival of Crime;”’ etc. All to be found in the
October issue of True Derective Mysteries, a Macfadden Publication, on sale at all news stands
September Sth.
61
--- that’s all I need to
PROVE I Can Make
You a NEW MAN!
By CHARLES ATLAS, Holder of the Title:
“The World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man.”
Won in open competition in the only national and
international contest held during the past 15 years
NE week! That’s all I need to PROVE
I can make you a new man of vitality
und power. I was once a 97-lb. weakling,
with a sickly, flabby body. How I became
“The World’s Most Perfectly Developed
Man” is told in my book, “Everlasting
Health and Strength,” which I will send
you absolutely free.
Now I offer you a 7 days’ trial of my famous method,
Dynamic Tension, to PROVE that I can and will put
firm layers of muscle where YOU need them most, tone
up your whole system, and banish constipation, poor
digestion, bad breath, pimples, joykilling conditions.
I've got no use for tricky contraptions that may strain
your heart or other vital organs. I don't dose or doctor
you. My Dynamic Tension is the natural tested method.
it builds powerful muscle, gets rid of surplus fat, gives
you vitality, strength, pep that win the admiration
and respect of every man and woman.
F R E E B (e) (@) K 1 Send for your free copy of
bf ay book, illustrated with
many actual photos. Learn how I
changed from a weak, no-muscle
“runt” to the physique you see here.
Gamble a stamp to mail my coupon—
learn how YOU can now win life's
biggest prize—a handsome, healthy,
husky body! Address CHARLES
ATLAS, Dept. 96-J, 133 East 23rd
St., New York, N. Y.
CHARLES ATLAS, Dept. 96-J,
133 East 23rd St., New York, N.Y.
1 want the proof that your system of Dynamtc-Tenston
will make a New Man of me—give me a healthy, husky
body, and big muscle development. Send me your free
book, ‘Everlasting Health and Strength.”
FORA 5 5 ibs MeZROR DS Ged cr bg We ve mas) cess eves ccecges
(Please print or write plainly)
Address... seeereeee PRA eed soccer ooendtscatatipe 56
3.) | Sees ore. Pu myn Tan eer ri State... ..-.06
©1934 C, A, Ltd.
him ask it.
guilty of a
” he would
ice satisfied
oubt of the
iswer “yes,”
: to get the
t “punish-
scared me.
‘rvous-look-
llenged the
over to the
t Attorney
ecuting the
d by Assis-
n E, Wilson
id our law-
the name,
each pros-
could chal-
men. Our
Lynn res-
public sen-
e was bad
ng men on
self and |
eel kindlier
insisted on
iry and the
wyers went
» where the
s about
use in
~, Jut my
id I figured
was right,
O Were to
the court-
Molway’s
see any of
irst actual
took the
rd, an as-
cked Mol-
it not me.
yuld make
-room, he
the cage.
It’s bad
yrivate of
But when
d, public
are the
ht is Mol-
2rrett.”
lat it was
hen, when
30 in the
iS sincere
what he
‘TS Cross-
1 a half
‘ke down
Wwspapers
they felt
is afraid
like they
\air soon,
ation. |
"™\e he
sions
10rn-
ignt. It
September, 1934
seemed to me that they couldn’t «wait
to get Molway and me into the electric
chair. teal
Ford's identification was only the
start of it. One after another those
Witnesses took the stand and described
that theater murder.. They told how
brutal and contemptible the murderers
had been from start to finish, They
told how besides killing Sumner, the
hold-up men had shot Condon, the as-
sistant janitor. All that was true. 5
| felt sorry for Clem when Miss
Hazel Dutch, a nice-looking woman,
stood up and pointed at Clem and said
So sincerely that I almost believed it
myself for a second:
“Mr. Molway is the man on the
right. He shot Mr. Condon.”
| knew how Clem felt, being pointed
to while he sat in the prisoner’s cage,
as a criminal who had deliberately shot
another man—and an unarmed man—
in the back, re
And on the witnesses came. It was
hideous. It was a nightmare. Three
of them identified both Clem and me.
Two of them identified Clem singly
and four of them identified me singly.
I began worrying again. | got so
that I couldn’t sleep at night when
they'd take me back to the jail. I was
Sure we were going to the chajr. I
didn’t see how Clem or I cquld hope
for anything else. My lawyers tried
to cheer me up, but it was ‘po go. I
was scared, worried sick.
ON the 18th or 19th of February,
Captain Charles J. VanAmburgh,
State ballistics expert, took the stand.
He had examined the .22 caliber shells
found at the scene of the Paramount
murder.
| thought his testimony was extreme-
ly interesting because he testified that
one of the shells found in the theater
lobby in Lynn was identical with one
found after a murder in a Fitchburg
The: .Master Detective
eM goods store on December 11th,
1933,
He testified that none of the shells
found at the theater was identical with
any found after the Needham (Massa-
chusetts) bank hold-up on “hyp
26th in which two men were killed and
one wounded, but that one of the Need-
ham shells corresponded with another
found in the Fitchburg affair.
This, it seemed to me, linked the
Paramount Theater job and the Fitch-
burg job and the Needham job all to-
gether. I didn’t see why, since those
jobs obviously were committed by a
gang of gunmen, Molway and | should
be held. After all, it should have been
pretty well established that we were
just taxi drivers, not professional gun-
men. But no one seemed to make much
of. a point-over this. testimony.
Hox Wi Peta!
I FINALLY. went on the stand myself.
I was the first defense witness. It was
an awful experience. It seemed to me
that District Attorney Cregg was rid-
ing me every time he got a chance, |
suppose that’s how it seems to every
witness who is a defendant.
On _the day of the murder, I had
seen Eino Sironen, as I’ve already men-
tioned. But | also saw Lynch, the
bookkeeper at the garage and, while
leaving the garage, saw a friend, Louis
Cantelmi, a barber at whom I waved
my hand. But in my statement to
Lynn police | hadn’t thought much of
having seen Lynch or Cantelmi and
had neglected to give Lynn police their
names. Cregg made a point of this,
“Did you see anybody when you got
to the garage?” he asked.
“Yes. Sironen and the bookkeeper,
Lynch,” I answered.
“Who else did you see that morn-
ing?”
“Cantelmi, the barber.”
“You didn’t tell that to the police?”
What do you think? Several witnesses identified Berrett and Molway (extreme left)
as Irving and Murton Millen (with Abraham Faber) seen in center handcuffed together
.- Without drugs
..without dieting
..or Your Money
Refunded....
“I wore the Director Belt and reduced
my waistline from 42 to 33 inches. Prac-
tically all adipose tissue can surely be
eliminated by its faithful use. I have
recommended it to many of my patients.”
(Signed) R. A. LOWELL
Physician and Surgeon
How DIRECTOR Works
D/REcToR Js fitted to your individual
measure without laces, hooks or buttons.
Its elastic action causes a gentle changing pressure on
the abdomen bringing results formerly obtained only
by regular massage and exercise. Now all you have to
do is slip on Director and watch results,
Improve Your Appearance
This remarkable belt produces an instant im-
provement in your appearance the moment you put
it on. Note how much better your clothes fit and look
without a heavy waistline to pull them out of shape,
. Restore Your Vigor
“T received my belt last Monday,” writes S. L.
Brown, Trenton, N. J. “‘I feel 15 years younger; no
more tired and bloated feelings after meals.”’
Director puts snap in your step, helps to relieve
“shortness of breath,” restores your
vigor. You look and feel years
younger the moment you start to
wear a Director.
Break Constipation Habit
“I was 44 inches around the
waist—now down to 3714—fcel bet-
ter—constipation gone—and know
the belt has added years to my life,”
D.W. Bilderback, Wichita, Kans.
Loose, fallen abdominal mus-
cles go back where they belong. AYA. bp Reduce
The gentle changing action of ON dé Like This
Director increases elimination Letus
prove our
claims.We'll
8end a Director
for trial, If you
and regularity in a normal way TRIAL
without the use of harsh, irri-
tating cathartics,
. don’t t It
Mail Coupon Now! Y i2r.es% 32"
“Ltt ttt P PTT TT tit ttt]
LANDON & WARNER Dept, R-17
360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill.
Gentlemen: Without obligation on my part
please send me the complete story of Director
Belt and give full particulars of your trial offer.
2 SEA teen eres
64.
What could I do. | had to answer
no, that I had forgotten to give that
to the Lynn police in my alibi state-
ment. And that didn’t put me in a
good light with the jury,
Then, too, Sironen had forgotten
when he had seen me and had to come
into court and testify that he had first
told police he had not seen me on the
day ot the murder and now wanted the
jury to believe that he had, which was
true but didn’t look so good.
Lynch and Cantelmi both were per-
sonal friends and_ District Attorney
Cregg brought that fact out and that
didn’t look so good, either. All the
witnesses I had were personal friends.
Too, | could place myself both before
and after the time of the murder, but
not at the exact time when it happened.
And Cregg worked along the lines that
| had committed the murder’in Lynn
and then hurried back to Boston and
nit friends in order to establish an
alibi.
Lr went just about as bad with Clem.
He had worked the day of the mur-
der and had his waybill, but the way-
bill didn’t show any specific hours at
which Clem had hauled his fares and
District Attorney Cregg reasoned that
Clem had parked his taxi in an alley
somewhere and had gone off to Lynn
and helped stick up the Paramount
Theater employees.
he newspapers came out with the
headline: CREGG SMASHES MUR-
DER ALIBIS!
On Saturday, February 24th, our
lawyers rested their case. Court had
lasted until seven o'clock that night.
The newspapers called it the speediest :
murder trial-in the history of Essex
County and predicted that the whole
thing would go to the jury Monday.
I was convinced that we didn’t have
a chance. Our alibis had been truth-
ful, but vague. We had been positively
identified. The jury looked as solemn
as a cage full of outs. I wouldn’t have
given a plugged nickel for Clem’s or
my chances of living another year.
The next day, Sunday, was one of
the langest days of my life. Clem and
I sat in jail, so close to the electric
chair that we could almost imagine
how our flesh would smell when the
electrodes began burning into it. The
jury went for a bus ride,
Clem was listening to the radio, Sun-
day night, in his cell. Suddenly I
heard him yelling at me. He’d been
listening to some news bulletins,
“Louie,” he yelled. “Louie, they've
caught a_ fellow named Abraham
Faber!” ;
“What of it?” | shouted back.
Clem was excited, elated. He was
dancing up and down, holding the
headphones,
“They’ve got him in connection with
the Needham and Fitchburg hold-ups!”
For a moment, | think, my _ heart
stood still. I remembered Captain Van
Amburgh’s testimony in court. The.
Needham and Fitchburg jobs must
have been tied up with the Paramount
stick-up. 1 was ready to go into a
dance myself, when the awful thought
struck me,
The Master Detective
Faber was merely the third man
police had been seeking all along. Now
that they had him, they’d be all the
more certain to tie us to the Para-
mount murder. Instead of being a
help to us, this new development
merely furnished police with the Joe
Doe they had been after.
They'd tie us to a gang now and all
it meant was that three of us would
die in the chair where there had only,
been two before. It didn’t have the’
sound of good news to me at all. Clem
thought differently. He was yelling and
singing and whooping it up until at last
a jail attendant came around and asked
him if he wouldn’t pipe down.
- 1 wanted to believe the way Clem
‘did.’ But I couldn’t. All I could think
of was that so many weird things had
happened that this was just another
boomerang twist that looked like a
break for us and that merely fastened
the electric chair’s straps that much
tighter around us. I had a hard time
sleeping that Sunday night.
Monday morning came. We didn’t
go to court as we were supposed to.
Clem was tickled silly. 1 couldn’t see
it that way. We were still locked’ up.
That night we were in jail. The next
day, Tuesday, February 27th, we were
in jail. If they found that this Faber
and somebody else had done it, I rea-
soned, we wouldn’t still be in jail. We
were to go to court that afternoon. |
was almost silly from the suspense. |
thought of what my mother used to say.
“BE a good boy, Louis. And remem-
ber that God will always help you,
if you ask Him and have faith,”
I got down on my knees in my cell
and prayed. | asked God to help Clem
and me. I prayed to my mother to
ask God to help us.
The morning dragged on. Nothing
happened. They came around with
beans and apple sauce. I wondered if
God had run out on me, after all,
That afternoon we went to court.
The attorneys congratulated us, They
said we were going free right away! ‘I
didn’t ‘believe it. | motioned the
deputy that had brought me there,
handcuffed to him. I said:
“We've still got bracelets on, haven’t
we? And we're still eating apple sauce.”
Flynn, my attorney, laughed at me.
“You won't be eating it much longer,”
he said. “Keep your chin up.”
I wanted to believe him. God, how
I_ wanted to believe him. But | was
afraid to. If we got thrown back in
jail again, after being told we were
walking right out of the death house
shadow, I felt I would go stark mad.
And then, through a window, | saw
“Dick Taylor, in a car he’d borrowed,
ulling up to the court-house. Then |
new it was so. Dick was coming to
take me home. Good old Dick!
Home! I didn’t have a home. I'd
given up the apartment. I was sep-
arated from my wife. But it didn’t
matter, just then. I was sure I could
fix up those things, if | only got out.
And we did get out. There was a
lot of ceremony. Everybody shook
hands with everybody else. The only
one | wouldn’t shake hands with was
Cregg. He came over to me and held
out his hand. But I wouldn't take it.
“No, thanks. Not with you,” I said.
I realize, now, that he had only been
doing his duty. But he’d done it too
efficiently to suit me.
Molway had nineteen cents when
they let him out. | had thirty-six.
Clem’s folks took him home. “Dick
Taylor and I rode away from Salem
together and on the way he explained
to me what had happened.
Faber and the Millen brothers, Irv-
ing and Murton, committed the Para-
mount Theater stick-up and other
crimes that resulted in four cold-
blooded murders and a score of bank
hold-ups. Police arrested them, after
catching Faber, and found a Lynn
money sack that had been stolen from
the safe in the manager’s office of the
Paramount theater, Irving Millen con-
fessed to the crime and implicated his
brother and Faber.
A lot of people, since, have said that
I look more like one of the Millen
boys than Clem. Yet it was Clem’s
picture that originally was picked by
the witnesses, you will recall. Per-
sonally, | don’t think either Clem or
I look anything like either of the Mil-
len boys, There are pictures of all four
of us with this instalment of the story
and you can check them yourself,
I lost my cab and my home and went
through hell because of this awful ex-
erience. But, as I rode home beside
ick that night, I was happy. I'd lived
to beat the chair. Not many men do
that after being in the spot we were in.
One of the newspapers polled the
jury, after our release, and found that
the jury had stood 10 to 2 for our con-
viction. So you see what our chances
would have been.
£
DIcK drove through Malden on the
way to Boston, so that I could see
Jenny and Irene. It was good to see
my wife and my child. It was like
being born over again. And | think
that, maybe, by the time you read this,
Jenny and | will have smoothed out
our affairs and will be back together
once more. If that happens, then the
awful experience I went through will
.almost have been worth it.
On our way, too, Dick and | passed
the State Penitentiary at Charlestown.
“That's where they keep the hot seat,
Louie,” he said, nudging me. “That’s
where they were going to send you.”
I nodded, without once looking at
the damned gee ;
“Ten of the jurors were ready to
send me there,” I said slowly. “All
they had to do was out talk the two that
weren’t so sure. Then Clem and |
would have fried sure.”
“Yes,” said Dick. “I hate to think
what might have happened to you if
they hadn’t caught that. Faber guy
when they did.”
“Yes,” I answered. “Why think of
it?” So we talked about the guys that
wrestle at the Boston Arena on Wednes-
day nights. I said I thought Jack Wash-
burn was a top-notch grunt-and-groan
artist. Dick held out for Bull Martin.
And that’s the way it went all the
way into Boston,
356 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
you also, William Whiting, the Court has considered of your
ease, and have adjudged you also to be Not Guilty.
Upon which each of them upon their knees thanked the
Court.
Christopher Scudamore and John Miller were set to the
bar.
The Present. Scudamore and Miller, upon hearing the
Queen’s evidence against you, and your own allegations for
yourselves, this Court doth adjudge you both to be Guilty
of what you have been charged with. What have you to say
why sentence of death should not be passed against you?
Scudamore. I had no hand in altering the voyage, nor kill-
ing the Portuguese captain. Miller. I was never active
after the voyage was altered.
The Presipent. Attend to the sentence of this Court against
you.
Then sentence was pronounced by the President of the
Court, as the law directs in cases of piracy, ete., against the
said Scudamore and Miller.
The PresipENtT. Set seven of them to the bar.
Then William Wilde, John Dorothy, Dennis Carter, Peter
Roach, Francis King, John Pitman and Richard Lawrence
were set to the bar.
The PresipenT. You, and each of you, have been arraigned
upon several articles of piracy, ete., to which you have sev-
erally pleaded guilty. What have you to say why sentence
of death should not pass upon you? The Prisoners. Nothing.
The PresipeNtT. Then attend to the sentence.
Then sentence was pronounced by the President of the
Court, as the law directs in cases of piracy, etc., against the
said seven persons last named.
The PresipenT. Set the rest to the bar.
Benjamin Perkins, Erasmus Peterson, John Carter, Nich-
olas Richardson, John King, James Austin, William Jones
and Charles King were set to the bar.
The PresipEnt. You, and every of you, have been arraigned
upon several articles of piracy, robbery, and murder, unto
SCUDAMORE AND REST OF QUELCH’S CREW 357
which you, and each of you, did plead guilty. What have you
to say why sentence of death should not pass against you for
the same.- The Prisoners. We leave ourselves to God Al-
mighty.
The Presipent. Attend then to the sentence.
Then sentence was pronounced by the President of the
Court, as the Jaw directs in cases of piracy, etc., against the
eight persons last named.
And then the prisoners were all remanded to prison, and
the officer charged to take great care of them.
THE EXECUTIONS.
On this Friday, June 30, 1704, John Quelch, John Lambert,
Christopher Scudamore, John Miller, Erasmus Peterson and
Peter Roach, were executed in Charles River, between
Broughton’s warehouse and the Point.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE BEHAVIOR AND LAST DYING SPEECHES OF THE:
SIX PIRATES THAT WERE EXECUTED ON CHARLES RIVER, BOSTON
SIDE, ON FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1704, viz. CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH,
JOHN LAMBERT, CHRISTOPHER SCUDAMORE, JOHN MILLER,
ERASMUS PETERSON AND PETER ROACH.
On Friday, the 30th of June, 1704, pursuant to orders in the dead
warrant, the aforesaid pirates were guarded from the prison in Bos-
ton, by "forty musketeers, constables of the town, the provost-mar-
shal and his officers, etc., with two ministers, who took great pains to
prepare them far the last article of their lives. Being allowed to
walk on foot through the town, to Searlet’s wharf, where the silver
oar being carried before them, they went by water to the place of exe-
eution, being ergwded and thronged on all sides with multitudes of
spectators.
At the place pf execution, they then severally spoke as follows,
viz.
1. Captain John Quelch. The last words he spoke to one of the |
ministers at his going up the stage, were: “I am not afraid of death;
I am not afraid of the gallows; but I am afraid of what follows. I
am afraid of a great God, and a judgment to come.” But he after-
wards seemed to brave it out too much against that fear; also when
on the stage, first he pulled off his hat, and bowed to the spectators,
and not concerned, nor behaving himself so much like a dying man
as some would have done. The ministers had, in the way to his exe-
cution, much desired him to glorify God at his death, by bearing a
358 IV. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
due testimony against the sins that had ruined him, and for the ways
of religion which he had much neglected. Yet now being called upon
to speak what he had to say, it was but thus much: “Gentlemen, it
is but little I have to speak. What I have to say is this, I desire to
be informed for what I am here; I am condemned only upon cireum-
stances. I forgive all the world. So the Lord be merciful to my
soul.” When Lambert was warning the spectators to beware of bad
company, Quelch joining, “They should also take care how they
brought money into New England to be hanged for it.”
2. John Lambert. He appeared much hardened, and pleaded
much on his innoceney. He desired all men to beware of bad com-
pany; he seemed in a great agony near his execution. He called
much and frequently on Christ for pardon of sin; that God Almighty
would save his innocent soul. He desired to forgive all the world.
His last words were: “Lord forgive my soul. Oh, receive me into
eternity. Blessed name of Christ. Receive my soul.”
3. Christopher Scudamore. He appeared very penitent since his
condemnation; was very diligent to improve his time going to, and
at the place of execution.
4. John Miller. He seemed much concerned, and complained of a
great burden of sins to answer for; expressing often, “Lord, what
shall I do to be saved?”
5. Erasmus Peterson. He cried of injustice done him; and said:
“Tt is very hard for so many men’s lives to be taken away for a little
gold.” He often said, “His peace was made with God; and his soul
would be with God;” yet extreme hard to forgive those, he said,
wronged him. He told the executioner, “He was a strong man, and
prayed to be put out of misery as soon as possible.”
6. Peter Roach. He seemed little concerned, and said but little,
or nothing at all.
Francis King was also brought to the place of execution. but re-
prieved.
. be OA
FAWSEPL, HOLMES and ROSEWAINE, Eacuted,
*
t Ay , “a : oie
tise” ue eg! stages g " f
of & + ar . Ghali wy ‘as ‘
¢ . i (
ws ‘ rb B® I aa
"p . i Wy ev a _ te
‘MA a i
Si “ laa Beye ngtonid +t e
wc re t J wi
‘ mikes
* nt ™* .
ey
‘+,
& ‘
“fe, Ry
be. dy By ae
eh *
ieee wa ip mate w
€ »
eae Ot ct eee Sa
seealhthes OBST? Lo gt dh de
apblghede + ga.
ARP. Sa hie Aare
4 ,
NO RE ‘Ween octet’
¥ esto trie a
* as Pinon. WR.
ne ‘ ke ~ gut tee. ni i
ce ig a ?
am agile my ee
'SLLO
perenive it ty neni,
@ yy ey gay tema eaboatitee ‘offi | tbat
a
ayia Be
bia he
ape .
#4 ew ad a
cc ae ee
—
3 SA
;
; 4
Ee sit
*
* ay ed rn
as
ith
‘a live
aries ie vy
Boston, Mass., on June 15, 1820
< a a ty: ! % mi ot mK sy m ey i
ve ete x ; ae rs “54 we y, an MG is wis mt
oy i 7 , sae * ‘
< x fs Je: “we ~f A Chareh ed toll ' iy ‘ Y. & v4 i yes 9s pagenrs
f ly ee pes ae
Ay
° Ashe “es Brea Seth OT EERO
wr vate eal poten Ate nekiaekbersty >: :
ran intabins Wa Vics ame 9 at piel the Mees
gear SI” es bobs ears Stee ne : pat Rye hE le 8
“gh A oh y rede me tH Nd 3 3 Prager hye ae: a ah ppb hier
HR
pe
alls These offenders had been |’: tr a warty. of prmart .
time, a berat t partion of which pepe dpe é.
ng time, a gree
zn ste: apirehension fot their: Aves: the Ges. Wve ay, aby
thele-gonfinenent.their conduct: was
nha] y and their: whole, atecrtnent a
ris the feclings of this Of -
he never shrinks from avy dv-}
=A ha k
She Satie
ft Eich th pray
€: Bey: Parity Pak ssetes
e, wet er it is, merry ht heme cneetianks sin aibeseaai ele 9
faith; ireaeh repensanee oe =e keh she save ss
HE A} f
troubled, ; Fo bende arty: hewed downs
tiya-My strength faileth wea ae ee Of am -
ly
‘ oa the peal in and et) se eayl rs
; Or ¥.
psig 8 Lord, ‘my salvation?
| Bele at rite, In theg alone io th Dee fy
streets, ye adore: wth’ ‘submission the: decree a Ag Peennc er’
thence | dence s ‘they t Diode tear tbat a
South- foie merc
in thid. world “Yor: eit? ally
chains and the enticipanion of om.
snd | nave preached tothew thy Tabinmintea:
sthetr | have & et hombled, and have Warts. 4) aah he
e (1 dént) within this District,, to
yaeg?to be | aticred cst highest of all: huinen f7)
ia ¢ ortals, 7 oe VR,
119% ud
And tow, With conctite hearts, curt. we
ging She per
Fence te ills
+ theme the: go doe to one “+ : ee. » vad
o basioces dx the greet win te PH) ies
a thy WUbile rh ia The ewe, ‘oe 4
: rc fe wed The ds, Nor ion. Meecha The roe
‘1 the segs ine to the. sbrveka af te te tools
Mts
imma bw wn i Soh sca ets» ie
1 Wh & Ruane, 12 Lal 84 enor
b eied Phy rs-gan! wihconstll yh pene
¥ hed, Ce IKy., ok oA Dept nee!
ar) ah at oat Peni elt ad
delinhed ogetrm,
vo tmaen mi <i herlanmaues we
ie ttiat. thes Uses riage haves ton Dearepet te
Bass is sre Ps the fair, the: Sip les Sa ive th carts our bee
J loved country, for Ramat nite andthe Vietues of ci-
villeation, has tot been a by any oe pa of
¢o Axheirs toward them sabe avery) act. of tender:
Aim nese ahd compassion (which arts iolic “palety
‘Bolst<.1 would’ Permit} fo, their cuiifurt’ j conivcntence
fired af inthis -w has been. exerciacd towards thew,
duahe prov-| and all: the holvet and .comsolation,. Reviened a
a Wis, bousid to. priate bow stuight: Sid their ho ard
righten thei prospects, in relativti to t t future
La a | bey ‘price. eee on rege bre. a0 toon to enter!)
er to Keep in co— sucrifice of personal feeling, tam sensi f :
SO i he chaeed ‘yim ship ‘duc 00 this Seo piel a8 be, og}
fp a heF witit case.
angel
Mane,
Hn “S800
‘ tafter,* be: ‘touch. a thie forbidden! ne fae
Sel, jmoreal taste Urowght death into the world with all
ees
leat Bixee: yesterday, to-day and fore. er’t= mm Went. forth |’
‘place be- 1 From the hand of every jman's brother, will, I
rat sustehot pon ascuttes and = "a blocd by tian shull Nis: blood he shed...
va hp pedi etn eee edgment therefore tu be executed on these
ely’ ont te leh: the crew ie | Pronounced fromm at eatthly tri-
aod
oe aed that:
8 though
eda con ort ity. wit
t the: next.
oe ‘of Hy, uod a sherk
i from’ the stain: of b *,
d with fhe sites and gel
5 thla momentoes occasion, |
i acetal yoor Officers, s
pe ution ta the f3
est Snat he would. be
m carne te
: Eee
nice with the Bi
to tak 2 otalty nd pect
=| eogute ih empl
oe Beko the pame oft ir cruci§ed
pray ae eek: abi Nie auld fw shee
oR.
: eye isu theny,’
“ha the opyremade'e the shrieks of the dying, aad wi
ind At: the
ress, | ect Re
the wer 0 and caacity, lest we should
: Bee
1 toss he t is COvetousness which plans the barla:!
‘Jour woe’—thé Decree of Him, “ wha is the, same |
require for th¢ life of ‘man whosotver: sheddeth
oe ‘net ie oh ¥
-mpectacle of bed or ‘a
bod sesame Saharcainree cradeaia
b
eee cour inese.
oy oe baelded, a and have leat thy ealbee,
a bratty ly
thejr
‘but: coe th Region
fe: Pray shay, their =
‘many
aiate ee
sen bo Sate
a us eee Mh at ;
th ater aa Nae to sconble Ret thy.
y “that sce be the gronne of}
atcnge ae rng
it bo many
with, Deve “Rother, O hoster ia High:
but! 19 us confusion of our. sc08,/d. at
adder, O Lotd? we iremble, |
| Humenity:s give; placé to.
become barbe-
O Lard, wash away thisistain ftom this
Covetowenras from: the
we. ats
oh We
rous: deeds and executes them through ite ered
or or deluded agente. Deliver our, county frm
‘those covetous men who have cast away theie bows
els and sold ‘thelr souls to work iniquity s ON
would thank thee, O: Lord, that thou hast presers©
ed this town from auch monsterg of bei ity ated
that our ships have never becu aént to ensiaed, to
genes to dgcaae sand bseahn & my eee
tures,.
Pegtethy oe Gols porld without ud. “Ane
2 Péalma 3852 can
vBY: spavels bontrbel: some ‘eleget
NIACRE, ge aeegieds conaiing of meperbice:
stn pe
et, had carched sy a dae coluubid velvetiand alk
pardish { A Nett. of. sbrewing oom fanc Tatars rhage
‘with carved backs wad sth ocala: green:
| Covers: <0 the curthing aint cheire.! : Rs
Tae aire Furnitate was made. froin dengan atl.
} Seagutactory of, Fhee FS George ie tare
WCiit west g cle gabet, and pertrenincs wth gtsids,
ur. Dj1 nor, he Bhd) de orem, Sind the bord Recee,
ond ~—e otrcetae a et pa he
od ieee ‘Wsnttcas, bala tbe ee
REX &, Bratiarpap, andl bias tak we 5 art
oy jen gscen Wee teaciven, thal
We Mesnst Len aitention: ae
Peak Sore. a vars yo ly
coh
4 Loxpase yea SS ae
Curtains, hith@ed) WAR gull ee is
at the dtore air, 1. pain hr, We corner tx ah asad a
eitby the late Nr. O: Cann oy tine eS i
th. deceaned was 4
régat
Be wa at cOmte
shirt, thors | or
4 ator. bels an
ee
Wien, Hogere Ds
A ithe doube) Bak
(| Fintayont Phits
{ners Inquest gre
‘}death by causes
Kamstances M4
gr handed ’
two pie tems, whl
rab eto s fm
articles, iy. Ube in
‘tnt, in Mon ter¥s
fore the dwetliog
Jester ipticn thers
ee Oe 5
bench el justhers
at oe be '
BON A
Hip Genres:
, pal
Selesaroon nat
sage to the tan
Deale,. ot) thelt:
arene of dingeu te
lasing @ laws
He tycomme
peruaa tht pune
nts avastéhe ci
‘Ulett be. «hae
prenoeer ita m t gte
T4Anee ‘for the
ceaegry. pare
sf alec mVOrY
weld: to..e pi
1 for Le Wee terenad,
At ropig n amt a
tistactoty ftw)
ast cubleetiom af rats
td Nawe.
Kew, order
crease; aavaring.
H Beiak ‘ta, Bis mel
“| Heo eanle
mS Age, ra THE,
(Awardee aan
; pet etery
A) Sat tong
ti * Well, Kes
hat © rev :
tei WNot Aes
i patieas
ne om Rintegi, ve
ah
Nev Mneg
liters ,
th si
tows :
Rex aihieca seem shewte
% aay, Oy ©
‘
La ~ YK (- \ NT Rr) SS “hale PHOT R'E mh oa hanced es
a4 SnOOKS 4 5 i) UCHANAN 9 RO Pere] al d ide OONER 5 W hi US wo + nanege wa t
ae /
WOYCEStEr, MASS oy T/EL UPC hasiir'< wk vb cca whidacc cd@ibe welceeees
ara ae
‘ue
og 4.
Ba
‘ wt ¢ Fos 5 , ‘iy
: / \ : : Time has almost erased the memon
A a of the .crime of Bathsheba Spooner
? Poe Yet this beautiful, wilful woman’:
: ry tempestuous career survives today ir
ae "p iors ; weth} We ca ees: the sketchy court records and labori-
: ae i a” r ously handwritten notes kept from the
turbulent days of the War for Amer-
ican Independence, ae
The trial of the alluring Bathsheba
her conviction and execution, made an
ineradicable impression upon the
minds of the men who were the
founders of the American judicial sys-
tem—and upon the minds of female
transgressors of this current period.
For even today many a murderess fight-
ing for her life, many a woman pitting
herself against the majestic strength
of the Law for the cardinal crime of
murder, thinks of one possible way
out when every other desperate way
has failed—the way tried by Bathshe-
ba Spooner, Revolutionary murderess,
Ruth Snyder brandished Bathsheba’s
plight at the State of New York. It
was darkly hinted that she was goinf
to bear a child. And many persons
believed that Charles Becker, con-
victed murderer in the Herman Rosen-
thal case that shook the- great me
lis—the case that made a fighting Dis-
trict Attorney a Governor and, under
other conditions, might have made him
@ President—would be pardoned be-
ene _ ye Rr ao bed to bear her
t's estate Into which his slayers dumped his body ed husband a child,
The actual well on Joshua Spooner's Judges and Governors know and
fear that situation. They know and
fear the potential triumph of sentiment
and hysteria over Justice. They re-
alize that, even though a. murderess
‘ may be guilty, there is always a strong
OO I : e r reaction in the public mind against the
/ : death penalty tor @ woman who may
become a mother in the shadow of the
gallows or the electric chair.
There were no finger-print records,
no methods of scientific crime detec-
* tion in the days of Bathsheba Spooner,
f Yet without these, Ephriam Curtis,
CVO { | : who had detective ability of a high
order, managed to reconstruct Bath-
sheba’s terrible crime, managed to es-
tablish motive by re-enacting the
drama of her sordid and pathetic love
affair with an eighteen-year-old Revo-
lutionary soldier,
And you who read this exclusive
story in the following pages of AcruaL
Detective Storms oF WoMmMEN IN
By Russell Banford
Cre will feel that although this
ppectal investigator, OF : crime was perpetrated in 1778, when
ACTUAL DETECTI VE STORIES of Women in Crime the American colonies were still en-
gaged in a bitter struggle to throw off
the galling British yoke, women’s emo-
were, of course, the same; and
the Law—personified in Ephriam Cur-
tis, with his patience and righteousness
and hard-headed Yankee shrewdness
——was the same. And that then, as
now, crime could not pay. - In >
that, so far as its basic elements are
concerned, this revolting murder might
have happened not well over 150 years
ago—but yesterday!—The Editor.
od i I wasn’t in my own home I'd
think someone was ing to
poison me,” said Joshua Spooner.
He was sitting before the fireplace
in his big farmhouse on Main Street,
Brookfield, Massachusetts, sipping a
hot toddy. He wasa small, elderly man,
well past 60, and, in spite of the roar-
ing fire before him, he felt chilly.
Spooner spat the hot toddy into the
fireplace. “Tchah! That’s the worst
a, I’ve ever tasted. © Alec! Hey,
lec!
’ Bea er ee ‘ we A ie ete re oy : ¥ Alexander Cummings, who served in
me ANG hd ; pts ' fy i . etch So ae cate the dual role of manservant and
aban ee 1 ’ i ; groom, lumbered in from the kitchen.
; chi ha ES etre 2 " We : c 2 “Yes, sir. What can I do for you, Mr.
? : ‘ Spooner?”
“You can bring me the stuff to make
‘a decent toddy. Who made this drink,
hy A It’s the worst thing I’ve ever
“Mrs. Spooner and young Mr. Ross
made it, sir.. And they took particu-
lar _ with it.”
“Humph, I thought so. Trust Mrs.
Spooner to make some such vile éon-
coction as this, All right, Alec, bring
e@#ee4eo3o#e#ee#e#reeeee**#e
wrath of patriots was General Timo-
thy Ruggles. He was one of the most
Prominent mén_ in Massachusetts, a
graduate of Harvard College in 1732, a
Chief Justice of the Court of Com-
mon Pleas and a brigadier general un-
der Lord Jeffrey: Amherst. He had
also been Speaker of the House in the.
provincial assembly, and was elected
President of the first Colonial Congress
assembled to protest against British
taxation, .-°
General Ruggles’ sixth child was
Bathsheba Ruggles, a ‘high-spirited
beauty. At the age of 20 she married
Joshua Spooner, a wealthy, retired
trader whose big manor-house was in
Brookfield. When her father fled from
Massachusetts at the outbreak of the
Revolution, Bathsheba Spooner re-
mained an ardent Tory—constantly at
social swordspoints with the lesser
ladies of Colonial rebel society. She
was a member of a very prominent
family, but they were all in disgrace
because of their sympathies for the.
Crown,
Ts case of Joshua Spooner and his
Tory wife was the “talk” of the vil-
lage of Brookfield. Spooner was the
town’s wealthiest citizen—and his wife
the town’s most beautiful matron. it
In this barn unwanted guests of
Joshua Spooner hid and ate his
bread—and Planned his murder
was no secret that Spooner and his roads, highway robberies—and here’s a
wife quarreled constantly. Spooner ' woman sheltering th
went his own placid way, carrying out our own communi : ig
“What good is it going to do to talk
tral and western Massachusetts, while’ to Spooner?” said Doctor King.
Mrs. Spooner went her way at their er is a little mite old to handl
man like Bathsheba.
It was of Spooner and his wife, and order his own servan
of the youth, Ross, that Ephriam Cur- .at the manor.
his business dealings throughout cen-
home.
tis, chairman of the Brookfield .Com-
mittee of Safety,.and Doctor Jonathan
King were talking at Curtis’ home the
night of March 1, 1778.
stopped. Those lobsterbacks are re-
sponsible for all the crimes that we
have had recently. Burglaries, horse
thefts, attacks upon men on lonely
26
» ‘I am going to go ahead
er what hap-
nfessed to Reu-
Spooner was plan-
em right here in my. plans no matt
* pens.’ And Spooner co:
ben Olds that Mrs,
ning to leave him.”
Both men wagged their heads.
started to their fee
knocker thumped o
He can’t even
ts around up there
They are all Bathshe-
ba’s servants. I’ve talked it over with
all the influential men in town. I know
for a fact that Spooner knows British
-., deserters have been there at his house
“I’ve sent for Spooner,” said Cur- while he was away
tis. “Doctor, I don’t like what’s going Reuben Olds told m
on up there at Spooner’s house. I’ve two ruffians lurk
heard rumors that she’s harboring the other night
British deserters. It has got to be begged him to sta
said he didn
t as the big brass
m the front door.
be Spooner,” said Cur-
“Now, you let me do
Tl let Spooner know w
criticism of him,
er must not harbor any British
ers. This is a community loy;
Congress.”
but that Mrs,
on _ business trips.
Sow ee a
aroun e plac
and _ that Spec POONER was ha
trembled violen:
the snow from his fee
Spooner was a sma
bundled up in his grea
ggard and pale. He
as he stamped
’t want to be left alone. t,
Reuben Olds tells me that he be-,
ll, frail figure
er is going to go to me
teoat with sev-
of woolen scarf wound
lieves Mrs. Spoon
-Nova Scotia to
The grave at the right Is of Mary
Walker, who testified against
Bathsheba. (Beneath the “stones
with metal markers lie the bodies
of Revolutionary soldiers who died
In the cause of liberty)
around his neck. He glanced appre-
hensively from Curtis to Doctor King,
and finally spoke in a hoarse voice,
“You sent for me, gentlemen? What
can I do for you? I'll be glad to be of
service.”
“It’s this way, Mr. Spooner,” said
}- Curtis. ‘We are members of the Com-
mittee of Safety. There have been a
[DON'T understand why you send
for me, then,” said Spooner,
“We are not criticizing you in any
way, Mr. Spooner. We understand
perfectly that you are in an unfor-
tunate position. But we can’t let these .
blackguards prey on us any longer,
Now, are you aware that any of Bur-
goyne’s men have been at your house?”
“I will be honest. with you,” said
ental soldier. He’s on his way to re-
inforce the Northern Armies now. I> °
understand he is going to join Wash-
camp at Yorktown. You know young
Ezra Ross. There’s no question about
his loyalty. I’ve had letters from his
father and mother in Ipswich.. But as
to the others, I don’t know whether
they are our men or lobsterbacks,
“One of them is a former Army
sergeant. He’s a ‘big, bold fellow.
The other is not so big. They call them-
selves Buchanan and Brooks. Now, as
to harboring them: I have ordered
them. away from the manor-house.
They have made themselves: scarce,
d I have ordered the servants to
report to me immediately. if any more
of their stripe appear at the house,
You may be certain, gentlemen, Ill re- °
praeeres a wei ete bi a
iinet
Sere
7-2-1778
Mr.
ae
QO. Box 277
BROOKS, BUCHANAN, ROSS and SPOONER, hanged Worcester, Mass., on
DANIEL ALLEN HEARN
M. Watt Espy
Capital Punishment Research Project
Headland, AL 36345
De
ar Watt:
11 January 1990
For your records I send herewith some personal information regarding
Bathsheba Spooner and Ezra Ross who were executed at Worcester Massachusetts
on 2. Judy 17/8.
The children of Jabez & Joanna Ross of Ipswi
Abner
Lydia
David
Ruth
Joanna
Kneeland
Martha
Jabez
Timothy
Lucy
Jedediah
Huldah
Lucy 2nd
Ezra
born 08-01-1740
born 07-24-1742
born 01-20-1744
born 12-30-1745
born 11-30-1746
born 04-03-1748
born 03-12-1749
born 03-03-1750
born 07-30-1751
born 12-30-1753
born 03-16-1755
born 12-24-1757
born 01-16-1759
born 07-20-1761
Susan
born 06-05-1762
As this will show, Ezra Ross was the second youngest of fifteen children
of Jabez & Joanna Ross of Ipswich MA. From his date of birth it is seen that
he was sixteen years old at the time of his crime, sixteen years old at the
time of his execution and sixteen years old when he knocked up Mrs. Spooner.
Given the notoriety of this case, (Bathsheba Spooner was probably the most
socially prominent female to be executed in American history), it is nothing
short of shocking that Prof. Streib has omitted Ezra Ross from his list of
juveniles.
Bathsheba Spooner herself was the daughter of General Timothy and Bathshua
Ruggles of Hardwick Mass. She married Joshua Spooner on 15 January 1766 and
had four children by him. viz.
Elizabeth
Joshua
John
Bathshua
born 04-08-1767
born 02-21-1770
born 02-26-1773
born 01-17-1775
the rum and milk and spice. I’ll make
my own toddy.” > a
Spooner grumbled to his fellow
townsman, Loved Lincoln, seated op-
posite him on the fireplace settle.
“Hanged if I know what’s wrong now-
adays, Lincoln. Everything at sixes.
and sevens. The country’s full of ruf-
fians.‘ You take your life in your
hands going out at night. Business is
at a standstill. Servants are lazy. No:
one pays their bills. I’m going. to
Oakham. and Princeton’ tomorrow to
see if I can collect some money. I’ll
bet you my best dog to the best horse
you've got that I won’t get a penny.”
“That’s what I came to see ‘you’
about, Spooner. If you are going to
Jakham, I wish you’d collect a bill for
ne there. There won’t be any trouble
jetting the money. I’ve had word that
the money will. be waiting.”
“Glad to do it, Lincoln, Glad to do
t. Young Ross is going with me, and
your money will be safe.” :
Lincoln fell silent and stared into,
he fire. He folded his arms across his
thest and“sat back in his chair.
“Look here, Spooner,” he said. “It’s
tone of my affair, of course, but I
ought you’d ought to know that peo-
e in town are talking about that.
ung Ross. How much do you know
out him? Not that there’s anything
cong, you know, but he’s seen around
ling with Mrs. Spooner everywhere
e goes, and there’s bound to be a
rtain amount of talk.”
POONER pursed his lips and stopped
stirring the toddy he was mixing.
Lincoln,” he said, “I’m aware of
iat people say, and it doesn’t con-
m me. Ross is only a lad, eighteen’
so, and he’s a sound young fellow.
und as a nut. Served in the Army.
iat’s how we happen to know him.
cs. Spooner found him out on the
ad, day after New Year, I think it
1s, and he was all in. from a bout of
mp fever. I reckon I don’t have to
1 you what Mrs. Spooner thinks of
mtinental soldiers. Lord knows,
everyone knows she’s a Tory, and it’s
‘embarrassing sometimes. : But she took
quite’a fancy to young Ross. He comes
from a nice family in Ipswich, and she’
nursed him back to health. I insisted
on that.”
“Well,” said Lincoln, “perhaps it’s
just gossip, I shouldn’t have men-
tioned it.”
“Not at all, Lincoln, not at all,” said
Spooner. “I’m a plain-spoken man,
and I keep my troubles to myself. I
admit that things haven’t been so
leasant here at home between Mrs.
Boocase and myself. She’s the daugh-
ter of General Timothy Ruggles, you
know, and like her father she’s an
ardent Tory. This war has caused a
lot of trouble here in my home—but
Mrs. Spooner: can’t be blamed. Her
father’s in exile in Nova Scotia—”
He stopped speaking. Out in the
kitchen a woman raised her voice.
et
“What’s Old Bogus — complaining
about now?. The toddy! Well, let him
mix his own toddy. I wasn’t edu-
a to be a barmaid for an old rum-
pot.” .
It was Mrs. Spooner talking, and be-
fore she had ceased speaking a tall
young man loomed in the doorway of
the living-room. He was blushing
violently. .
u [™ SORRY, Mr. Spooner,” he said.
“Mrs, Spooner is in a temper about
the toddy.”
‘ “It’s all right, Ross,” said Spooner.
“Sit down here by the fire. I was just
telling Mr. Lincoln that you and I are
going to Princeton tomorrow.”
“That’s right, sir,” said Ross.
“Well,” said Lincoln, embarrassed
by the tense scene, “I guess I’ll be
running along home.”
And the curtain may be drawn at
Joshua Spooner had his last drink
at this inn (exterior shown at left)
on the night he was murdered
this point upon the troubled scene in
the home of Joshua Spooner, in Which
a love triangle as modern as the min-
ute after next was forming. An aged
and wealthy trader, his 32-year-old
wife, the reigning beauty of her time
and an eighteen-year-old Continental
soldier, veteran of the Battle of Tren-
ton, formed the triangle.
It was February 1, 1778, as the
prologue to the drama was‘ staged,
bringing into play the. services of
Ephriam Curtis, a sagacious town offi-
cial of Brookfield, whose .talents are
an example for the best of modern
detectives to study.
Massachusetts was filled with wild
and lawless men. They were mainly
deserters from the Army of General
Burgoyne, who had surrendered | at
Saratoga, New York, on October 17,
1777. As the Continental Army escort-
ed the disarmed British soldiers across
Massachusetts to Cambridge to intern: -
them in a military stockade awaiting
transportation to England, hundreds of
deserters left the ranks and began to
prey upon the Massachusetts country-
side.
Here and there through Massachu-
setts were people sympathetic to the
British cause—Tories. Almost all of
the wealthy Tories had abandoned
their property and fied with what for-
tune they could transport to Nova
Scotia., Among those who escaped the
Time Has Almost Erased the Memory of This Heinous Crime—Yet Every Ainerican e
SECS
it
“Murderess Has Felt the Effect: This Colonial Jezebel Had Upon American Law
25
-
— A Aaa Soy ge SSE REET ryote nara
velield, and that he had a oremedy hand and she said: ‘Damn the hand- Spooner gave such oa. start that he wanted to ride te Worcester to meet
the child, kerehief! 1 won't fouch if. TD never Nearly dropped the eash- box. Then he those twe soldicrs, ‘They went to Wore
Teheard Mrs. Spooner siy lo Ser- heard tatk like that from a lady.” gol up and went to the kitchen and cester on a little pleasure, and she
Ht Buchanan once, ‘When do you Curtis felt a vague surge of triumph. talked to this big fellow who looked said she had. te see them. She asked
sect to go?’ He said that he didn’t He hadn't found the evidence he hoped in the Window,” Mr. Spooner to order a horse for her
wv When he would go, and then she for, but he had discovered that Mrs, “Did you hear what was said?” and he wouldn't. Se she just) went
! that she was Soing to visit a Mr. Spooner had been active in harboring “Spooner said, Thaw enme you herez? down lo Captain Welden's place and
ro, and that she would write a let- and aiding: the enemy. Tle wasn't cone And the man said to Spooner ‘lL want borrowed a horse from the Captain to
from there, ‘At the same time,’ lent. ‘There were people in the town — to get warm,’ And then Spooner said, Shame Spooner. You ought to talk to
sud, “EL can send a letter to my who had intimate glimpses of the ‘You may sit by my fire to morning’ Alce Cummings about the goings-on
ier, It wouldn’t hurt any,’ Spooner houschold, and they could pu, you must not let me sce you after. there. He’s got it all straight what’s
Last Saturday Mrs. Spooner was probably tell him more, wards.’ Later on I heard the big man Wrong up there.”
' lo see the Sergeant. He was up Curtis sought Reuben Olds. Olds grumbling, ‘If Spooner turns me out While Curtis probed into the hidden
he bedroom. He said he was sick. had transacted considerable business of doors tonight I’ll have his life before truths about the Spooner establish-
went into the room with him and with Spooner, and Curtis sought him morning.’ Jesse Parker, one of the Ment, the whole community — was
‘ed a little while, and then left him. at his counting-room, hands employed at Spooner’s, sat in fused. Spooner had been an influen-
she was going I heard her say, ‘To- “I want you to help me, Mr, Olds,” the kitchen ‘and listened {o ‘the big tial citizen for a great many years and
row night at 11 o’clock; remember, he said. “Spooner is dead—and I be- soldier grumbling about Spooner’s Was a staunch Supporter of the Revo-
seant’.” lieve he has been murdered. Can you treatment of him.” lution. Brookfield had raised two com-
itis was eager for more of this. tell me anything that might help iden- “Did you talk to Mrs. Spooner at Panies of men to fight under General
at did she mean by that?” he tify the men who killed him?” that time?” Horatio Gates, who had compelled
d. Olds closed his ledger with a snap. “No, she stayed away from us. She Burgoyne to surrender. The anti-Tory
do not know what she meant. He “There’s been two renegade British was very angry about something, and feeling ran high in Brookfield, but it
e in a low tone and said, ‘To- soldiers up around that place,” he said. glared at Spooner,” was centered upon one person—beauti-
a ght at 11 o'clock.’ That ‘wnat more do you need?” Curtis felt that he was getting closer ful Bathsheba Spooner.
'd mean last night. Brooks and “That doesn’t prove anything.” .
‘anan were together here yester- “This may throw some light on it, ad THE manor-house, with Spooner
and they had that young Ross then. I was up to see Mr. Spooner a : 7 laid out in death in the luxuriously
them. Ross just mooned around, fortnight or so ago. We had a business furnished east room, Bathsheba
vas leaning against the side of the deal. As I started to leave, he begged Spooner gave way to alternate fits of
e out there plucking at his lip, and me to stay the night. His exact words | “paractnee! grief and shrill passion. The
sed him why he seemed so dull. as] remember now were, ‘Tarry with everend Nathan Fiske, D. D., pastor
ie said was, ‘Reason enough.’ me, Olds. I do not trust those fellows of the Third Church in Brookfield, vis-
hey ‘went off together Sunday yj have sheltered,’ I agreed to tarry ited the house to read prayers for the
t, and came back later. They there the night, and after a while he dead. He had long deplored the man-
off to bed quietly. But they got asked me to go out into the kitchen i
ery early this morning, and as I and see what the men were doing.
giving them breakfast Buchanan “They were sitting there by the
he didn’t feel well. He said that hearth with noggins in their hands
and a bottle beside them, drinking,
The big man looked up and growled,
‘What is the old fellow about? He
better not come and say much to me.
It won’t be healthy for him, for I’d
exponent of the surviving Puritan in- -
stincts. His favorite text was “Pride
goeth before a fall.” No doubt the
careless generosity of Bathsheba and
the wealthy upper class she repre-
sented galled the humble Parson,
whose living was largely dependent
upon the gifts of persons of quality.
The Reverend Nathan Fiske stood
beside the dead man. A few of the
Prominent citizens of the town were
with him. Bathsheba, her face covered
by a veil, stood with her children, two
daughters and a son, and with her
that.” loyal servants,
“Anything more said that you can 1 And clear and cold, the words of
remember?” Ezra Ross, eighteen - year - old the gentle minister echoed through the
“No,” said Olds, “I can’t recall any- Soldier of the Continental Army, manor. “This awful catastrophe,” he
thing more. But-I should think that | Who was with Bathsheba Spooner said, “reads a solemn lecture upon the
would put you on the right track.” ° insufficiency of wealth or elegant ac-
“You have helped me more than you commodations or of gaiety or gaudi-
know. Please say nothing of this until ,, ness of dress to make people secure in
I give the word,” and closer to the motive for Spooner’s their persons or contented and happy
“You might have a talk with Loved murder, although in the light of what in their minds. Did safety, peace and
Lincoln,” said Olds. “Lincoln goes up he later learned the sensational truth ‘felicity always reside with elegance
to see Spooner once in a while on of the matter was only beginning to and plenty, this family would never
business. He might know something.” dawn. He found Jesse Parker, farm- have been’ Overspread by such a
It was Lincoln who sat chatting with hand at the Spooner Place, drinking in cloud.”
old Spooner the ni ht before he 4 tavern, : His words were in the elaborate
old woodcut of Bathsheba started ons his business trip to Prince- “I want to talk to you, Parker,” said style of the times, but the minister
‘rer catches some of the rare ton, when Spooner complained about Curtis. “I want to know if you remem- couldn’t have drawn a more damning
ty of the old-time murderess the taste of the toddy given him. . ber the night Spooner returned from indictment of Bathsheba. And Bath-
: tis coupled that go tgard the hes his trip to Princeton with young Ross.” sheba knew it. She retired to her
told by Mary Walker of Buchanan at “I remember it—and I‘ remember chambers with her maid and wept in-
work mixing powders. Poison? Could Mrs. Spooner was in a blazing temper,” consolably,
he got up he had bled himself there have been a monstrous plot to “What did she say at that time?” Curtis was there watching her every
‘ve his sickness. He asked me kill Spooner, repeated attempts against “It wasn’t so much what she said as movement, every gesture of her
uld rip the ruffles off his sleeves the life of the old man? the way she acted. I was there when hands, and when the Reverend Mr.
his shirt. I ripped the ruffles ~ “Did Spooner specifically mention - Spooner walked into the door. When Fiske had closed his prayer-book and
1 while I was doing so Brooks poison when he tasted the toddy?” she turned around and saw him stand- turned away from the dead man, Cur-
to me. He said that he didn’t asked Curtis, _ ing there, she staggered back three or tis approached him.
'y repairs on his clothes because ‘ “I think his exact words were ‘If I four paces and turned white as a spec- “For the sake of Spooner,” said Cur-
pooner had given him a shirt wasn’t. in my own home I'd think ter. And then she said, ‘Spooner?’ And tis, “I feel that this mystery should be
oair of socks, fit for the finest someone was trying to poison me.’ He Spooner said, ‘Of course it’s me! Were cleared up. I desire to question one of
ian,” threw the toddy into the fireplace, and you expecting someone else, Madam?’ the menservants in this house, and I
where are these men now?” called for materials to mix ancther, And then she said, ‘I was never so feel with the other members’ of the
they went off in a hurry, in- His man servant, Alexander Cum- stumped in all my life?” committee that a record should be
They said that the guard from mings, was there and heard it.” “What did she mean? Have you any made of his responses. Since none of
eld was out hunting for strayed “Did you at any time see Buchanan, notion?” —- us have skill in writing will you
and that they were afraid they the soldier, at the house?” “That’s all she said. ‘T was never so_ consent to take down his responses?”
e found. ‘'hey didn’t want to stumped in all my life!’ And she “I will do anything to assist in clear-
ted as deserters. So they went LINCOLN stroked his chin, cocked a glared at him as if she could strike ing up this catastrophe,” said the Rev-
great hurry,” reflective eye at Curtis, him down dead. But she didn’t say a erend Mr. Fiske,
‘ had something to work on, “You mean the Regular (Continen- word about the two soldiers she had Alexander Cummings was sum-
went to work with zest. “Now, tal soldier) who was there?” hidden in the barn, moned before the members of the
alker, say nothing of this to “I mean the lobsterback, the big “Two ‘soldiers hidden in the barn!” Committee of Safety. The hulking
until I give the word,” he said, man, \ : Curtis was aghast. There seemed to be serving man was frightened. His air
the track of something.” “I think you must be mistaken about soldiers everywhere in the Spooner oF bravado and defiance that he had
nee, the Negro servant at -the him being a lobsterback,” said Lincoln, mystery. Now let me ask you, when he had first inquired for Spoon-
’, lurked at the doorstep with “Mrs. Spooner referred to them as Parker, were these the men known as ey at Curtis’ home early that morning
3 as big as overcoat buttons, Regulars. Every time she spoke of the Buchanan and Brooks? was gone.
‘ere, Mister Curtis,” she said. soldiers who stayed there she called “That’s the pair! They were hidden “How long have you lived in this
rs. Spooner you’s been talking them Regulars,” out in the barn and Alec and me had house, Cummings?” ‘asked Curtis.
‘ saw her up in the bedroom “Did you see them there?” to take the victuals out to them. I “I have been in service here since
t Sergeant Buchanan, and she “Yes, on the Tuesday that Spooner didn’t like the business at all. That’s the time that Burgoyne’s troops came
arms around him. And I came back from Princeton I went up why I quit the place yesterday morn- down.”
er talking to him once, No to the house to get some money he col- ing. There were more squabbles there “And when did Brooks and Bu-
: for a lady I can tell you. lected for me at Oakham. Someone than you’d find in the Continental chanan, the men Mrs, Spooner calls
lier offered ‘her his handker- looked in at the window at Spooner Congress. Mrs. Spooner ' was always the Regulars, come here?”
d she knocked: it ‘out of his’ and me’ as ‘he counted the money. blazing out .at’ her husband. -She : “I would say it was about a fort-
47
Te,
der Miss Ackert for her diamonds.
The only thing that saved her life the
night she went riding with Allen and
Walker was the fact’ that she wasn’t
wearing them.”
“As the case stands now,” said the
Inspector, “you’re stalemated until
you can locate Walker, Well, you'd
better find him.” ‘
While Davis continued to pile up
circumstantial evidence against Allen,
he had Walker’s picture and descrip-*
tion broadcast all over the North
American continent, On January 5,
1923, word was flashed from Indiana-
polis that Walker had been arrested,
Davis sped across the country. To his
surprise, Walker talked freely,
“Allen got me to drive him to Los
Angeles a couple of ays before he
knew Dabelich was going to arrive on
the train,” Walker said. “While we
were waiting for Dabelich, we called
Bathsheba Spooner,
the way back to Spooner’s home. He
answered Curtis’ questions in mono-
syllables,
“Are you sure you have told me
everything, Cummings?”
“All that Mistress told me,” he an-
swered,
“Is there nothing on the road to the
Manor?” ,
“Not that I saw,” answered Cum-
mings.
fd any British soldiers?”
“ 0. ”
“See any footprints where he might .
ge wandered off the road?”
“ (o) ”
Fr “Why did you come to my house for
im?”
“Mistress said he was there.”
The Manor was on a high hill, over-
looking the Quaboag Valley. it is a
Spacious building, solidly constructed
of wood, with eighteen rooms in its
rambling structure. A huge clump of
lilacs screened the massive barn from
the house. Back of the house ran a
brook that whispered eternally over a
gravel bed.
“Where is Mrs. Spooner?” asked
Curtis, who advanced to the front door,
leaving the other members of the Com-
mittee of Safety in the dooryard.
Mrs. Spooner, dressed in an elabo-
rate gown and with a lace cap pinned
on her dark curls, appeared at the
door. She gave Curtis only a scantly
courteous greeting, and her eyes were
hostile as ‘she said:
“What brings you up to the Manor,
Mr. Curtis? Another hunt for Tories?”
“I came to inquire if Mr, Spooner
has reached home safely,” he said.
“Cummings said you believed him to
be at my home,”
“Well, if he didn’t stay there he
probably has gone off on a business
rip.”
“That’s quite impossible, Mrs,
Spooner. His horse is at the inn stable,
He said he was going to walk home.”
“Something has happened to him,
bpet said Mrs. Spooner, “He isn’t
ere,”
SH lifted her apron and covered her
face and wept.
“I have brought some of the Com-
mittee of Safety with me,” Curtis said.
“Do you mind if we make a search?”
“No. No. | Search if you must—but
something has happened, I am sure,”
The Committee of Safety scattered
up and down the road leading to the
village center, They kicked through
piles of fluffy snow. They probed
thickets. Finally Curtis kicked through
a snowpile near the gates of the Manor,
and discovered a tri-cornered hat,
buried beneath the snow.
With the hat in his hands he re-
turned to the Manor, and Mrs. Spooner,
still weeping as she leaned on the
shoulder of Sarah Stratton, the house-
keeper in the Spooner establishment,
appeared at the door.
“Do you recognize this hat?” Curtis
asked.
46
that he could call on Mrs. Dabelich
and provide an alibi for himself.”
urned to Los Angeles with
he two men went on trial
murder of Dabelich,
To the chagrin and dism
Walker repudiated the con
the trial became a legal ;
monumental proportions. But the evi-
dence Davis had carefully gathered
seemed overwhelming and a conviction
pated, even by the defense
took her for a
ght Allen acted peculiarly
mber he asked her about
onds. The next night we met
at the station and I drove
f them around Los Angeles.
they had some sort of a deal
‘on Miss Ackert and
once I heard two shots and
en was stripping the
off Dabelich’s finger. Da-
lumped over with blood
his head and chest. I was
t did as Allen told me. I
onely spot on Mes:
we reached the bri
reek he pulled the man’s
of the car and hid it under
e. Then, after we drove on
ew out Dabelich’s
ined floor-mat,
‘belich was s
The jury disagreed!
ven Superior Judge McCormick ex-
surprise when he dis-
urors and set a new trial
er it was learned that the
ot disagreed over Allen’s
ad deadlocked, by a count
to 1, for the death
ecame known, Allen quick-
a deal with the District
hat and the blood-sta
“Then we turned around an
a fast, all-night drive to Oakl
his scalp about an inch
d the body out
ast room Doctor
with Spooner the
spurred a horse up the
pooner place. He jumped
se and ran into the house.
een afraid th:
ould happen,”
who was also the
He made a lon
was a cut on
and a half long.
As the committee lai
“It’s his,” she said.
Spooner’s beaver,”
weep and make a 1.
fainting in the arms
“Come, come,” said Curtis.
ize with your natural a
adam. But this may not be
nm the other hand, somethi
ave befallen Mr. Spooner. T
are dangerous at night. Britis’
ers and blackguards from B
camp following are in this vi
your help. Can y
if there have been
Ss here within’ the
, Mr. Curtis?” cried Mrs,
e determined to make
father’s politics,”
And she began to
oud outcry, falling
of Sarah Stratton.
who had been
road to the S
8 and careful ex-
“This man died of those
his head,” he said. “There
in his lungs, Therefore, he
wn. We must now deter-
at manner he received his
Spooner. “You ar
me suffer for my
“Nothing of th
ut your husban
ill you answer me?”
ve been none here,” she
Mrs. Spooner was hysterical, but she
er after Doctor King had
The physician questioned
D you hear any noise during the
ere is young Mr, Ross, who,
“e
has been living in your No, there wasn
“What do you
“I think,” she said,
believe happened to
“He went away,” she said.
heard that the Regulars
field are searching for all
He was afraid that he
military trial for desertion,
join Washington’s
“it is quite plain
He had taken
S an open well, as you may
: said Doctor King, “
Northern army.” I was with him unti
Curtis and the hal oe gg
started for ho
having taken only two tod
walked home, and that
would tend to clear his head, if any-
“Why . do you cross
Doctor? I know nothi
for a woman who has
“We must arrive
have to call a
“Do what you
prefer to have you make
dentification of
“No, no, I cannot do th
not look at him.”
into a storm of w
“IT must insist.”
Mrs. Spooner was
room and led u
the body was gs
Coroner’s jury.
quickly,” she said.
She stood at the
in the dooryard, a
with rough cut sto
huge sweep was poised.
The stones ar
spattered with bl
into the house
Safety gathered
the bottom, dim]
light that filtered
was a huddled for
few minutes they had
ly to the surface and
into the big east room of
It was Spooner,
t for his elegant
s tri-cornered hat,
s and the outcries
dren filled the big
taken to the east
ip to the table where
tretched out under a
King pulled back the
aled the battered fea-
margin of the well
eep well rimmed
Over which a
sheet and reve.
tures of Spooner.
For a long time Mrs,
into his dead face. Th
gesture, she stretch
and touched th
Nae te away
‘ound the well were
ood. Mrs. Spooner ran
and the Committee of
around the well.
YyY seen by the faint
wn into the depths,
Spooner looked
en, in a timorous
ed out her hand
e bruised forehead.
she said. And she
and put her face
of the Commit-
watched this dramatic
his mind busy with
tis was a patriot. He
ed a distrust and dis-
In the wealth
Curtis, the chairman
tee of Safety,
scene silently,
speculation. Cur
had long cherish
like for Mrs, Sp
and rising arrogance of ti
holders, her father had
sented for him the deteste
of the court of the decade
Curtis busied himself
fully dressed excep
calfskin shoes and hi
of her three chil
in a group, staring at the
late master. Spooner’s fa
temple was severely bruis
Get the Every-Other-Wednesday Habit at Your News Stand
‘ Attorney, He promised to #0 into court
and plead guilty in exchange for a
life sentence. He is in Folsom Prison
today, while Walker, who was cleared
of the murder, received a long term
for perjury because he had repudiated
his confession to Sergeant Davis,
Today the case is nothing more than
musty records, buried in the files of
the Homicide Squad and in court an-
nals, But just as much of a mystery
as the day it left the curio store of
Jose Blanca is the yellow diamond,
the saffron gem steeped in blood. It
was never found. And there is one man
who would like to know if the curse .
still burns deep in the gleaming facets
of the Brazilian stone.
Revolutionary Murderess (Continued from Page 27)
tigation while the Coroner’s jury was
being assembled from the highways
and byways of Brookfield. Curtis was
determined to crack the mystery of
Spooner’s untimely end,
Mrs. Spooner had a few loyal friends
in the village—women of her own age
who had been educated with her—
who had known her when she was the
belle of Hardwick Hall. One of these
was Mrs, Mary Walker.
Mrs. Walker was shocked by the
news of Spooner’s death and as her
tongue—long leashed by the loyalty
she felt for Bathsheba—began to wag
she’ disclosed many matters that were
not generally understood by the people
of Brookfield,
“Have you ever seen British soldiers
in company with Mrs. Spooner?” asked
Curtis.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Walker. “I have
seen two men who were British
soldiers. They were at my mother’s
home last Thursday. One of them, a
huge man, gave the name of James
Buchanan, He is a man about 30
‘years old and he came from Canada
with Burgoyne’s army. He was a
sergeant, and he had a great, roaring,
bawling voice. The other man gave
the name of William Brooks. He is
about 27 years old, and he was a
grenadier in Burgoyne’s army.”
“When did you see them last?”
“They were here at this house this
morning. But I saw them first last
Thursday.”
“Tell me about that,”
“Mrs. Spooner sent them to my
mother to stay a few days. Last
Thursday night Mrs. Spooner came to
the house, Young Ross was with her,
Bathsheba wanted to know if Ser-
geant Buchanan was here. She had
a letter for him, and while she was
talking to him she gave him some
cloth that she said was his. It was a
piece of very fine silk. I said to her
that I would like to have some cloth
like it, and Bathsheba said, ‘I can’t
sew very well any more, My eyes
seem to be going back on me. But if
you like I will knit something for you,’
“She stayed about two hours at the
house talking with the two British
soldiers,
“But since that time she made sev-
eral visits. ‘Once I walked into the
sitting-room and Mrs. Spooner was
there with Brooks. He had put his
head down on her shoulder and he had
his arms around her waist. When I
came in she sprang away from him,
and she laughed. ‘You must not won-
der,’ she said to me, ‘Billy has lived at
my house and he is as fond of me as
of a mother,’
“Sergeant Buchanan was always
busy at some niysterious occupation.
I came upon him once and he was
dividing powders into little papers.
There were eighteen Papers spread out
on the table before him, I asked him
what the powders were for, and he
said that there was a sick child in
AD2
hand and she gs
okfield, and that he had a remedy
the child, }
i heard talk lik
Mrs. Spooner e that from a la
“Did you hear what was
uben Olds, Olds
siderable business
+ had. transact
‘wi Curtis sought him
Spooner, and
S Counting-roo
more of this,
tell me anythin
€ mean by that?” he
tify the men w
Olds closed his I
T
soldiers up around
‘What more do yo
“That doesn’t pr
T
lis was eager for
id
d, with ‘a snap.
9 not know wha y Penesenn any
in a low tone
Vv night at 11
mean last night,
jan were together
t she meant. He
and: said, ‘To-
ove anything.”
e light on it,
aning against th
ind came back la
f to bed quietly, B
early this mornin
ing them breakfas
didn’t feel well,
“Anything more said that you can
“No,” said Olds, Continental
Bathsheba S$
Soldier of the
who was with
ight have a talk w,
‘Lincoln goes up
in a while on
OW something,” He found Jesse’ Pa
the Spooner place,
It was Lincoln who s
Spooner the nigh
ess trip to Prince-
pooner complai
“I want to talk
woodcut of Bathsheba
catches some of the rare
* the old-time murderess
t up he had bl
er specifically mention -
€ tasted the toddy?”
fit for the finest
8 someone el
en she said, ‘I w
all my life!’ »
id she mean? Have you any
called for ma
His man _ ser
_Mings, was th
e are these men now?”
as Out hunting
'Y were afraid t
NCOLN stroked his ch
reflective eye
something to wo ‘You mean the Regular (Continen-
© werk with zest, E
I mean the lobsterback, the big
man,” \
“T think you must be mistaken about
gro servant at the m being a lobster
the doorstep with
ercoat buttons,
rtis,” she said.
‘ooner you’s been
her up in the b
feant Buchanan,
d him. And J
Parker, were these
Buchanan and Br
he pair! The
y that Spooner
Princeton [ went up
t some money he co]-
can tell you. ae
TAIRA
3
to the kitchen and
low who looked
said?”
ame you here?’
pooner
nd then Spoon
Spooner’s
talk to Mrs, Spooner at
YY from us. She
Something, and
that he was getting closer
eighteen - year - old
me! Were
se, Madam?’
as never so
den in the barn!”
There seemed to be
the Spooner
ask
known as
aii
probed into the hidden
rson—beauti-
Sheba Spooner,
N THE manor-
ke, D. D., pastor
upon the gifts of perso:
Reverend Nath
the dead man,
Prominent citi
Army,
pooner
ds were in the elaborate
» but the minister
Couldn’t have q i
indictment of
sheba knew it.
chambers with he
ing to assist in clear-
rophe,” said the Rev-
you lived in this
asked Curtis,
have been in service here since
me that Burgoy
oe
y Som
» 8 %,
*everend Nathan Fiske sleeps here. He took
The grave
the confessions of the Spooner servants
of a murderess. Arrow points
buried on
the grounds of the
© you immediately if there are
leserters around, ‘and you may
hem with a company of regulars
ne them up before a firing squad
said Spooner.
.a fine brisk night
for a stroll.”
“With
perfect boniface.
want.” “The groom says, sir,” the innkeeper backs abroad I’d rather be on a horse,
‘or King and Curtis exchanged said, “that your horse was chilled Spooner,” said the Doctor,
s of approval. Standing at the hitchin Post, and he “Never fear,” said Spooner. “I can’
it’s the sort of talk we wanted to has put him in a box stall in the barn.” take care of myself. I'll walk.”
Mr. Spooner,” Curtis
y. . at
ner fished in his fob pocket and
d out a big Swiss watch, . ;
t eight o’clock, gentlemen,” he
‘T’'m going to stop at the tap-
octor. Perhaps you'll join me.”
i to, sir,” said the Doctor.
ther Doctor King and Spooner
ttis’ home, looped the bridles of
lorses over their arms and
down the snow-packed road to
room of the New Inn.. On the
2y chatted about the latest tid-
the War, about business, but
* all about Spooner’s physical
n.
said “Better keep the nag for the night,”
A few minutes
ven’t been feeling well'since I
hat trip to Princeton,” said
“It was a good thing I took
‘oss along. Several times I al-
1 from my nag. There seems
something wrong with _my
4E congestion of some kind,”
{ the Doctor.
‘ps that’s the trouble,” said
“Then,. it-may be I have
luly disturbed over those lob-
ruffians hereabouts, I carry
ms of money at times, and
lways the danger of a high-
stopping a traveler on the.
can’t tell you how pleased
t those two who were hanging
t the Manor have cleared out.
Ss my mind considerably.”
r and Doctor King lingered
t hot toddies in the taproom.
eeper hovered near the two
> villagers deferentially, and,
‘usual tombstone of Joshua
* indicts four persons who
‘er a century and a half ago
to Where Bathsheba,
Green estate in Worcester—now a public park
“It’s a good beast, and
I’d_ as soon walk up to the Manor. | It’s
all these renegade lobster-
later he set out afoot:
the beautiful, lies
for the Manor, leaving his horse in the
stable of the New Inn, Doctor King
watched him go. His short legs moved
against the moonlit: snow. He scuffed
up powdery snow with. his elegant
calfskin boots. The silver buckles on
his shoes twinkled as he walked. And
that’s the way Doctor King saw Joshua
Spooner walk out of life.
© a man possessed of the deductive
talents of Curtis there always comes an
Opportunity to employ his sagacity—
and Curtis didn’t have long to wait
after his interview with Spooner. The
sun had scarcely risen the next morn-
ing when Alexander Cummings, the
manservant and groom employed by
Spooner, was hammering on the ‘back
door, Pee
“Begging pardon, . sir,”
mings, “but Mrs. Spooner
down to inquire if Mr,
the night here.”
_ “No, indeed, Cummings,” said Cur-
tis. “He left here shortly after eight
o'clock last night with Doctor King.
Is anything wrong?” :
“Mr. Spooner didn’t come home, sir;”
said Cummings. ‘
“Have you been to the inn?”
Curtis. “He was going to stop there
for a toddy. He may .have decided to
spend the night.” :
‘No, I haven’t been to the inn, yet.
Mistress said’ as I should after I had
been here, if I didn’t find him.” .
“I'll go down to the inn with you,
Cummings,” Curtis offered. _
TP bewildered innkeeper showed
Curtis to the box stall in the stable,
where Spooner’s horse was munching
Oats. : :
after nine last
said Cum-
has sent me
Spooner spent
asked
“He left here a little
night,” said the innkeeper.
he would walk home. The horse was
chilled and he didn’t want any harm
to come to it.”
“T'll go up to the Manor -with you,
Cummings,” said Curtis,
harm had befallen Spooner.
fy a few members
Safety and then
Manor.” 3
Cummings was silent and sullen’ all
(Continued on Page 46)
27
ORDEAL BY TOUCH
(Continued from page 35)
depredations by protesting his loyalty to
the cause; and if they were British, he
could send out his wife, Bathsheba, to deal
with them, since Bathsheba, if only for
reasons of heredity, was a Tory.
Aside from being a Tory, Bathsheba was
an attractive, stunningly beautiful woman,
and in 1777, when she was 32, she was less
than half her husband’s age. She was
black-haired, flashing of eye, full-bosomed.
There were those in Brookfield who won-
dered how Joshua, in his declining years,
could keep so young and lovely a wife.
Bathsheba’s Tory sympathies were
largely attributable to the influence of her
father, Timothy Ruggles, who before the
revolution had been a brigadier general
under Lord Amherst in the expeditions
against the French in Canada, and later
Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court
of Common Pleas. But with the revolu-
tion, Ruggles had remained a Royalist,
and had been forced to flee Massachusetts
for Nova Scotia, leaving behind him his
wife, his family and vast estates which
included a stable of 40 horses and a 20-
acre deer park. Bathsheba’s mother, on
the other hand, had never held the pro-
King George views of her spouse, and to
this day New England legend has it that
she speeded the departure of Ruggles by
serving him up, as his last meal at his
Brookfield hearth, the roast haunch of his
favorite hunting dog, a setter named Vir-
ginia.
Bathsheba and Joshua Spooner had
been married in 1766, ten years before
the revolution, and their union, in short
order, had produced three children. But
with the conception of the third, Joshua
found more pleasure in the bottle than in
any other of life’s delights, and he most
often partook of the bottle at a nearby
tavern presided over by Ephraim Cooley.
Before and during the revolution, there
were bitter arguments at Cooley’s place:
whether it was the better part of valor
to appease the British or give some sem-~-
blance of appeasement or fight them open~-
ly, tooth and nail. Predominant sentiment
favored the latter course, and quite often
in Cooley’s bar there were nasty looks
cast in Joshua Spooner’s direction be-
cause of his Tory wife. Was he a patriot
or wasn’t he, and if he was, how could he
continue to abide with a woman whose
sympathies were with the redcoats?
In the fall of 1777, both happily and un-
happily for Joshua, Bathsheba made a
move that for a time served to remove
from her some of the stigma of the col-
laborationist. Ezra Ross, a handsome 20-
year-old soldier from Ipswich, Massa-
chusetts, had fought gallantly at Bunker
Hill and then had joined the armies of
General Washington to the south. Wounded
and invalided out of the service, he had
attempted, afoot, to make his way back to
Ipswich only to fall exhausted and fever-
ish to the point of delirium in the highway
before Ephraim Cooley’s door. Joshua
Spooner, emerging, found him, took him
home and Bathsheba assumed the burden
of nursing him back to health.
Not that the burden was too heavy; in
the maintenance of her household Bath-
sheba had three servants to help her: a
groomsman named Alexander Cumings,
a “boy-of-all-work” called Jesse Parker,
and Sarah Stratton, the cook. For three
days, Ezra Ross lay abed at the Spooners
without knowing where he was, but then
his senses began to return to him. Within
a couple of weeks he could walk about,
and within a month he could ride a
Spooner horse.
This beneficial treatment was not lost
on the Brookfield pomene. While Bath-
sheba Spooner might have expressed pro-
British leanings, when it came right down
to it she had gone all out to restore to
health and vigor one of the defenders of
the Declaration of Independence!
Ezra Ross’ vigor was such that by
Christmastime he was able to continue on
to his parents in Ipswich. The climate, the
family aura, or some entity there must
have palled on him, however, for soon he
was passing back through Brookfield
again, with the announcement that the
Colonial Army had reassigned him, when
he felt able to make the junket, for serv-
ice at Fort Ticonderoga.
Once more the Spooners entertained
him—at greater length, perhaps, than
Joshua had at first anticipated. But Joshua
didn’t mind. Indeed, he told his cronies
at Cooley’s Tavern, he was proud to have
in his home a veteran of the struggle
against the British and surely the soldier’s
presence proved, didn’t it, where Bath-
sheba’s real political affections lay?
“Political affections?” repeated the other
habitues about the bar, and snickered be-
hind their hands. For the word was
spreading around Brookfield that the bond
between Bathsheba and her erstwhile
patient had its roots in a human urge more
basic than politics.
The month of January, 1778, found Ross
still a guest of the Spooners, and Bath-
sheba’s frequent companion on long horse-
back and sleigh rides across the country-
side. By now the gossips were discussing
the situation openly and often. Old Joshua
Spooner was being cuckolded, they said,
and was the only person in the township
who didn’t know it. In discussing Bath-
sheba, the gossips were more vicious than
PIAA IIIISIIAIS AAAI AAAI SAAISISSSAA
BUY U. S. SAVINGS BONDS
AND INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE
HII IA AAADAIAAAIISISSASASSAI AIA.
they might have been in recounting a
similar tale about another woman, for
they were yet to forgive her for the sins
of her Tory father. Again, the gossips saw
in Bathsheba’s actions a crime worse than
adultery: she was importuning young
Ezra Ross to malinger, they contended,
and though he now was fit, to refrain
from rejoining his comrades-in-arms.
During the first week in February,
Joshua Spooner found it necessary to
make a trip to Boston to look after his in-
vestments. When he announced his inten-
tions at Cooley’s Tavern, there was much
wise nodding of heads, for it was immedi-
ately pointed out that during his absence
Ezra Ross and Bathsheba would be alone.
But the hangers-on at Cooley’s were in
for a surprise. When Joshua Spooner left
for Boston, young Ross left with him. In
the awesome state of the highways, with
soldiers of one army or the other lurking
everywhere, a man_ traveling alone was
pag to? safe and old Joshua felt he needed
a bodyguard.
Spooner and Ross made their trip to
Boston and back safely. They were away
ten days and returned on February 15th,
to find that during their absence the popu-
lation of the house in Brookfield had been
increased by two.
Joshua took one look at the newcomers,
saw that they were dressed partly in the
uniform of the British army, and put some
sharp questions to Bathsheba. What she
had to say appeased Joshua’s ire some-
what, but did not entirely dissipate it.
The names of her two “guests,” she said,
were James Buchanan and_ William
Brooks. Buchanan, she explanied further,
was a cousin of Alexander Cumings, the
Spooner groomsman, and when Cumings
had asked his mistress to give the two men
temporary sanctuary, she had agreed. As
for their military attire, Spooner was as-
sured that he need fear no public disap-
proval from the rest of Brookfield because
both Buchanan and Brooks were deserters
from the British and were planning to go
to Canada to rejoin their families.
Spooner engaged the men in grudging
conversation and heard a few details of
their recent history. Buchanan, it ap-
peared, had been a sergeant and Brooks a
private in the army of General Burgoyne,
which had met disaster at Saratoga. But
both men were careful to point out that
they had deserted from the British before
Burgoyne’s defeat, and that they had long
been sympathetic to the American cause.
In the light of these revelations, Spooner
was mollified, and although he did not of-
fer the two men indefinite hospitality, he
tacitly agreed that they might stay on a
few more days.
That afternoon, however, a considera-
tion which meant more than patriotism to
Joshua Spooner—namely, his purse—
caused him radically to revise this benign
attitude. On visiting Cooley’s Tavern, he
was presented with a whopping bill for
liquor purchased by Bathsheba for the ex-
British soldiers.
Furious, Spooner sped home and found
his indignation compounded by the sight
of Bathsheba, Ezra Ross, Buchanan and
Brooks eating off the best linen and plate
that the household provided and consum-
ing the choicest viands of the pantry,
washed down with a variety of vintage
wines.
Spooner laid down an ultimatum. “You
two,” he ordered Buchanan and Brooks
“_get out of here at once!”
But Bathsheba interceded for them and
finally won Spooner’s agreement that they
might stay the night.
The next morning, charity and amity
were conspicuously absent from the
Spooner house. The master arose early, to
see to it personally that Buchanan and
Brooks took their departure, and more-
over, apparently anticipating some reluc-
tance on their part, he enlisted the aid of
a burly neighbor, Reuben Old, to stand by.
Buchanan and Brooks left, but with very
ill grace, and although they did not lay
violent hands on Spooner, they were heard
to mutter dark threats against him and
warnings to “stay out of our way.”
Life in the Spooner household resumed
its presumably routine course. During the
next two weeks, Joshua continued to
spend most of his waking moments at
Cooley’s Tavern, while in his absence
Bathsheba entertained Ezra Ross, to the
increasing scandalization of the towns-
people. But there were also some curious-
ly tive movements around the Spooner
property. Three times a day, Ross, Bath-
sheba or one of her servants was seen
slipping out to the barn with food-laden
trays, and occasionally two other figures
were observed coming and going across
Spooner’s acres. But none of this activity
transpired while Spooner himself was on
the premises.
Came Sunday, March lst. As usual,
Joshua, early in the day, repaired to
Cooley’s. At 9 that evening he bade the
tavernkeeper a somewhat tipsy goodnight
and set off for home. However, he was
no more full of liquor than was usually
the case, and everyone at Cooley’s thought
he would reach his bed safely.
But 12 hours later, Cooley and his pa-
trons were astonished to be told that
Spooner was among the missing. Their
informant, Alexander Cumings, the
groomsman, came running up to the tav-
ern as soon as it had opened Monday
morning with alarming tidings from Bath-
sheba. He was
“The mistress
“says Mr. Spoon
night. She fear:
much to drink
the snow. Will
help us look fo:
With the lack
acting in the str«
Cooley and seve
including Dr. J
the one place Jo:
posed to be—hi
move proved ul
As soon as th:
Spooner yard, th
prints criss-cros
snow on the lav
trail of footprin
fur cap which
been worn by
Near where th
packed hard, a
had milled abou
phasize the po
cance of the se
stippled with t)
From this po
trail of footpri:
sets of boots h
the yard and te
well near the :
Cooley peered «
and turned a f
the others.
“Go fetch C:
rected. “Joshu:
looks like he’:
Bathsheba, \
tracted to the
yard, heard Co
ment. She utte:
and might ha
of Ezra Ross, °
house with he
support her.
In view of
pened to Bat!
the onlookers
not have pic
time to demo
that a “friends
About half ar
itiated a per*
prevailing fe
By that ti
ton had app-
moval of Josh
the parlor of
Spooner ha
He had been
the head, anc
contusions, pr«
unceremoniou:
Having laid
Dr. King dem
the room. She
the physician
ritual of “ord:
Bathsheba to
band’s forehe<
to the dead fic
woman had g’
band’s murde
Bathsheba «
stepped up tc
hand, said, “)
in Heaven,”
against the c
Dr. King «
sult. Afterwa
and nodded.
was unchang
Bathsheba
She was pe
and then C:
dealing with
considered m
He had alree
the two Br
Reuben Old
being ordere
Wel ae. Ep, Spooner had Sone off to the lobsterback, who sad al Mi. have them? They were the silver “Did she pive you any money?”
“
Princeton with Ross, and Mrs. Spooner Spooner had bene down to see you, buckles that Mr, Spooner always wore, No, I wouldn’t accept anything. I
told me to Watch the road and to call Mr, Curtis, Brooks then told me ti BOOT! told her Usate ty didn’t. want the took her up to bed and she slept with
Many British soldiers who passed into the house and fetch Mrs, Spooner, buckles, me. During the night she sighed a
along, These two came along and ] “I refused to: call her, for | was “Sarah Stratton: went With me to sreat” deal, and was wakeful. She
suUMMoned them in, They stayed all afraid of What he would do. Brooks the Well and we let down the bucket, tumbled about a great deal.”
that day and the following night and. said, ‘Where is Spooner?” | replied that but it Would not bring up any water, “Did you see her give any money
dined with Mrs. Spooner,” ) he had gone to the Center, ‘Then, he. There was something in the well that fo the men?” .
“Did: you hear iny of the conversa- will not come home a living man this would not let it bring up water, “Buchanan had wads of Continen-
lion that they had together?” night!’ Brooks said to me. “There was a Suspicion in my mind tals (paper money) in his hands when
“No,” “Mrs, Spooner Was in the kitchen, —and when J returned to the house I [ looked into the parlor, [| spoke to
“You are running a grave risk, and I told her what Brooks had said. Said, ‘We were not able to get water Brooks sharply and asked him what
Cummings, in withholding anything. She tolq me that Brooks was maudlin, from the well, | believe that Mr. he had been about and he said, ‘His
A man has been murdered, There is that he had been drinking and that Spooner jis in the well.” Mrs, Stratton time has come. That is all’.”
always the gallows tree,” there was no harm. to him.) Mrs. began to Cry and wail and she ran to Mrs. Stratton was placed with Cum-
“Oh, sir, I wish I could tell you all.” Spooner said if I had My chores fin- get the Bible, mings in detention, and the committee
“Do not fear anything, Cummings, ished J] could go up to bed. Accord- “Mrs. Spooner Said to me, ‘That is immediately took a vote. Bathsheba
If you are not concerned in this, your ingly, I went to bed,” not true, Alec. Do not talk like a fool,’ Spooner was to be arrested for mur-
rights will be protected, for we believe j Mrs. Stratton continued to cry out, and der. It was Curtis’ task to place her
you are a good man,” UMMINGS cracked the knuckles on Mrs, Spooner took her by the hand. under arrest. She had remained in her
“Then, sir, I will] tell you, Matters his work-worn hands and stared At that Buchanan and Brooks and Ross chamber, Sitting at the window and
between Mr, Spooner and Bathsheba— - around at the committee, left the house, and Buchanan said, looking out over the peaceful, snow-
mean Mrs, Spooner—have been in a “Ts that all?” asked Curtis, “Did you ‘You may expect to see me in a fort- covered Quaboag Valley, where,
bad state. About a month ago Mrs, sleep the night through?” night or more.’ After that Mrs, through many happy days, she had
pooner came to me and asked if ] “T only slept about two hours,” Cum- Spooner went to bed, but she slept ridden with young Ross,
would do something for her. She said mings replied, “7 smelled’ burning with Mrs. Stratton,” Curtis knocked’ at the door of the
if I would heed her she Would make a cloth and J] got up to see if the manor With grave faces the members of the chamber,
man of me. I asked her what I could was afire. There was a blaze in the Committee of Safety heard Cummings’ “What is ity said Mis, Spooner as
do and she said that she wanted Mr. fireplace | in the parlor © ang Mrs. story, and when he paused they ‘ex=.) she Opened the door,
Spooner put out of the way. I told her Spooner, Ross, Brooks and Buchanan changed significant glances, “That “In the name of the law I arrest you,
that I Couldn’t think of such a thing, seems to make the murder plot quite Madam!”
and she laughed and said she was clear,” said Curtis, “Tel us, if you “For what crime, may I ask?”
making a jest. can, Cummings, did you ever see poi-~ “For the Murder of your husband,
“It was this Ross boy, I think, who Son in this house, or do you know if I warn you, Madam, that your servants
troubles her. She spent all her time any effort was made to use Poison, We have confessed the plot.”
With Rogs, While Ross was away with ave information that Buchanan pre- Bathshoba Spooner’s eyes flashed
t. Spooner she talked for hours with pared poison,” With anger, “Servants!” she said.
the British Soldiers. I heard her say “Not Buchanan, sir, It was YOUN : “They are all liars. This is a plot to
Once, ‘I cannot live with him an
Mr. Ross, The night before Mr. ruin me because of my father. You
longer, | Wish he was out of the way.’
Spooner went away to Princeton with should be ashamed, Ephriam Curtis,
Ir. Ross, the young man was in the to oppress a women Widowed by a
Surprised to see him, Mr. Spooner was toddy for the master. They put nitric “You are under arrest,”
angry when he found the British so]- acid into it, but the master Spat it out “What would you do with me?”
clers here, Broo S Was a sullen man, and refused to drink it, en Mrs. “You will be taken to Worcester
and he drank a great deal. J heard pooner gave young Ros¢$ g bottle of But first where are your accomplices?”
them talking together, and Buchanan nitric acid, and Said that he must put “I do not know what you mean.”
: hat night Mr. Spooner asked me
if I would stay up with him, He Said
Doctor King had been sitting silently UNDER 8uard by members of the
all during Cummings’ recital, matching committee, Mrs, Spooner was taken
is fingertips and listening intently to by sleigh to Worcester to be placed in
€ bald account of the plot to murder the custody of the High Sheriff, The
ner, : i sleigh flashed through the Scenes of
> that would account for him feeling her sirlhood and her youth, but as fast
ill,” said Doctor King, “He Confided to as the horses traveled the news of
from this house or J will notify the with aqua fortis,” a Tory—hated by all the eople com-
Ommittee of Safety that ey are “I believe that Cummings’ story mitted. to the Revolutional> cause
ere. And it wil] not go wel] with you Clears up a Sreat deal of the mystery The Committee of Safety calleq for
1 Tory, toh ve them ta en here,’ and Mrs, Stratton Should be able to volunteers to Mount fas horses and
‘They disappeared after that, but corroborate some of it.” : meet at the New Inn. Curtis addressed
ater in the day ] Saw them hiding in M. S.—Mike—Connor, then Gov. Cummings was taken into Custody the posse at the steps of the Inn,
e barn, They were there two nights ernor of Mississippi, Pardoned a and detained in the adjacent dining- “We seek three ruffians,” he said.
nd two days, Once Mrs, Spooner car Slayer in the Sensational Ken. room, while Mrs. Stratton, who was “Last night they _foully murdered
led victuals to them and Placed them nedy - Dean case, See Page 16 attending her mistress, was summoned Joshua Spooner, They ‘have many |
to)
sar the hayloft, and nce, by her rom the chamber, Mrs, Stratton was hours’ start, but so far as we can learn
‘der, I carried victuals to them. ] trembling with fear and stood before they are not mounted, unless since the |
idn’t see them, but they were there, the committee wringing her hands. murder they have stolen horses, i
aiting to snatch the victuals aS soon were there. Mrs, Spooner was throw- “It will do nO good now to be un- will detail] you men in parties to ride
‘I left, ing clothes into the fire. Ross _ stood truthful, Mrs, Stratton,” Curtis stateq as far and as fast as Possible along al]
“The Jobsterbacks left on Thursday apart from them, bluntly, “Cummings has told us of the the roads from this Place, and warn
ter hiding in the barn two days, “As I came into the room I was murder plot.” everyone that they are at large. They
ley went to Worcester, or they said astonished to see them there. Brooks must be captured,” |
i ‘h ‘Massachusetts countryside {
°Y Were going to Worcester, On last cursed and said to me, ‘What are yoy ! 'O I am undone!” cried Mrs, e mid-
turday night Mrs, Spooner came 80 sullen for, Cummings?’ Mrs, Stratton, rang with the thunder of galloping i
me from a visit in the Center, and Spooner told Brooks to be silent and “You must tell the truth,” said Cur- horses, and the alarm spread by ‘fast H
Ing Ross was hiding in the milk- Said to me, ‘Go fetch Mrs, Stratton, | tis, “You must put aside your natural couriers. The hunt Spread _five, ten, |
m. Mrs, Spooner went to him, and and tell her to bring Mr, Spooner’s feeling of loyalty to your mistress, fifteen, twenty miles from Brookfield,
leard them talking, Ross Said, ‘I clothes here to me.’ The three men in Now, on Sunday night, when you went spread in an ever-widening circle, And {
“t face him, Bathsheba, for I have the parlor were shifting Clothes, Ross to the well with Cummings and re- the hardest rider of all was Ephriam |
ed his horse, and he will be angry. was putting on Mr. Spooner's jacket turned to tel] Mrs. Spooner that her Curtis, the nemesis of Spooner’s |
H
j
ave been waiting here for you all and _ breeches, Buchanan had on a husband was in the well, was there Slayers,
. ae shirt of Spooner’s and I heard Mrs. anything said to you?” The sleigh bearing Mrs, Spooner
she said, ‘Poor boy’ and she held Spooner Say that she had Siven a shirt “Mrs. Spooner took my hand and Mrs, Stratton and Alexander Cum.
in her arms. Then she said, ‘I and a handkerchief to Brooks, said, ‘I hope that he is in Heaven’,” mings to jail in Worcester Was passed
hide you_in my chamber, and you “Mrs, Stratton brought down a Pair “Did you make any reply to that?” by the bosse, riding hell-for-leather in
é with me,’ Ross was hidden in of black-knit breeches that belonged “I said I must 80 and tell the neigh- quest of the escaped murderers, Mrs.
chamber aj] through Saturday - to. Mr, Spooner, and I was with her. bors,”
, and Sunday, J believe, for 7 I caught a glimpse of Mrs, Spooner, “Did Mrs, Spooner make any re- roads, “It_ seems like Christmas
t see him leave the house. She had Opened the big mahogany Sponse to that?” day,” Mrs, Spooner murmur
'n Sunday night—that is, last chest and taken out the tin box with “Yes, she Said, ‘Sarah, if you will Stratton wept Continuously,
—I went out into the dooryard to all the money in it, When she Saw us keep this a secret I wil} Bive you a “Do not fear, Sarah.” said Mrs,
at the Weather, and J] saw a man standing there she said, ‘Cummings, great deal of money, so much money Spooner, ‘T’'d die ten deaths before
Ing near the Bates. ‘Is that you, fetch some water from the well and that you will not have to remain in you will suffer harm, I know you are
Spooner?’ he said. It was Brooks, wash these shoe buckles, and you may service’,” innocent, both you and Alec,”
Tee
a3
tthe
Obadiah Rice, driving the sleigh,
leard them talkings,
“Be silent,” he said. “There must be
10 more conspiring.”
In Worcester, at a tavern, three men
vere drinking. They had a lot of
loney—and everyone who came into
i¢ laproom was accosted. “Come and
ave a drink! Drink up! The devil
ike the hindmost!”
Strange guests, indeed, thought the
‘ndlord, who, because of the condition
' the times, because of the shortage
_money caused by the war, was un-
‘customed to guests who could fling
oney around like chaff. One was a
uth with a_ silent, brooding face.
nother was a man with a red, drink-
otted face and a great roaring voice.
le third was a truculent bully, who
agged of his strength in a loud
ice,
The tavern-keeper felt disturbed at
> show of wealth. He was used to
‘n having a pint pot for a couple of
opers and going on their way. But
‘se men drank steadily, flinging Con-
entals at the boniface. It was dark
en the landlord went out to pur-
isc tallow dips and provide his three
inge guests with a blaze of light
y demanded. They wanted light,
re light.
Get more candles, landlord!” the
man roared. ‘‘We want no shadows
e tonight. Light this boozing ken
like day. Take some money and get
ow dips. There’s too many
dows.”
\nd there were too many shadows.
‘re were shadows of men searching
ms and: buildings all over the coun-
side. There were shadows of files
soldiers tramping along the roads in
‘anhunt. There were shadows of an
imous murder,
\N HIS way to the candlemaker’s
shop the ates was halted by a
a who rode a latHered horse.
Halt! You, wearing the apron!”
1 the rider. “I want to talk with
- I’m Curtis, chairman of the
okfield Committee of Safety. By
r clothing I’d say you were a tav~-
-keeper. Have you seen anything of
oF amt as a little more than
id?”
That I have,” said the landlord. be) 4
on my way now to buy candles
them. They demand that I light up
tavern like a booth at a fair.
y’ve been drinking all the day at
inn,”
urtis was at the end of the trail.
t the candles as they have or-
:d,” he said, “and go back to your
™m as if nothing had happened.
sé men are murderers. We will
ound the place and take them. If
‘attempt to use their firearms, hide
‘self behind the bar.”
ie posse was gathered silently. In
ce_ the tavern was surrounded.
le the manhunters could hear a
‘se voice bawling the vulgar words
camp song, “Gentleman Johnny
soyne Loves the Ladies,”
1e slayers of Joshua Spooner were
aware of the gathering of the
2. Brooks ladled hot buttered rum
his gullet. Buchanan roared out
‘amp songs. And Ross, the youth,
wed his head in his arms and slept
table,
ddenly, out of the darkness en-
ng the tavern, they heard a sharp
aand: “Surrender in the name of
aw!”
chanan’s song turned into a bab-
of curses. Brooks floundered
id trying to pour powder into the
ing pans of his flintlock pistols.
g Ezra Ross sprang up, white and
dling, and fled to the attic of the
n to hide behind a pile of casks.
it down your weapons, we have
surrounded!” Curtis said.
»0ks and Buchanan threw down
pistols, and slowly raised their
On his rough army boots
‘s wore a pair of silver’ buckles
the letters J.S. engraved upon
Buchanan had an expensive
watch in his pocket, and he tried
to slip it to the Negro charrirl at the
inn oas he surrendered. Ross was
dragged from his hiding-place, and the
three were escorted to the jail.
Joshua Spooner would be avenged!
But this was not the last act of the
drama of Bathsheba Spooner. She had
relatives and friends who were weal-
thy, influential and able. to provide
funds for a desperate fight for her life.
Her brother-in-law was Doctor John
Green, whose descendant, Andrew H.
Green, became the wealthiest man in
Worcester County, and later the father
of Greater New York through the plan
for the greater metropolis that he fos-
tered with the result that the boroughs
were consolidated.
There was a trial at the First Meet-
ing House in Worcester. It was the
only building in the town big enough
sions obtained from all four prisoners
while in jail, he put up an amazing
fight for their lives. It was futile. The
populace cried for Bathsheba Spoon-
er’s life.
And then, when they had been con-
demned to die on the sealfold, and
July 2, 1778, had been set as the day,
Levi TGincoln raised a legal question
that for many, many years saved
murderesses from the gallows.
“My client is pregnant,” he said.
“It is against the principles of human-
ity and justice to take two lives where
the law demands but one. I ask a
postponement of the execution in or-
der that the child may be born.”
The claim that Bathsheba Spooner
was to have a child caused a furious
discussion. The Reverend Thaddeus
Maccarty, who had spent a great deal
Neighbors became suspicious when the Hebners refused to let them
take water from this well during the Summer months. Turn to Page
2 and read details of “Cora—and Her Husband With Nineteen Wives”
to stage the spectacle of Bathsheba
Spooner’s trial. The public interest in
her trial was the sensation of the day,
even more thrilling than the news of
Washington’s campaigns after the Win-
ter at Yorktown. Bathsheba was a
symbol of the Tory faction, and the
hatred of the colonists for Tories was
all directed at Bathsheba Spooner. It
didn’t seem possible that she could get
a fair trial. :
But the evidence was overwhelming.
The fatal course of her love for Ezra
Ross was too plain in the information
gathered by Curtis.
H=® trial became a public spectacle.
It brought together men who were
founders of American jurisprudence,
On thé third Tuesday in April, 1778,
Judge William Cushing, later a 'mem-
ber of the United States Supreme
Court, led his associates, Jedediah Fos-
ter, Nathaniel Peasley Sargent, David
Sewall and James Sullivan, to an im-
provised bench in the old church. Rob-
ert Treat Paine was attorney for the
State. He was Massachusetts’ most
able lawyer. He was drafted for the
task of prosecution because of the im-
portance of the issue—whether a Tory
and two British soldiers could get a
fair trial in the midst of the hot temper
of the times,
Levi Lincoln, later Attorney General
of the United States, was counsel for
the defense. And despite the confes-
of time with Bathsheba giving her
spiritual comfort, was in the fore-
front of the fight.
“I am going to have a child by
Ross,” said Bathsheba. “I do not want
my child to die with me on the scaf-
fold. I am resigned to punishment, but
I cannot contemplate the destruction
of an unborn child to pay for my sins.”
From his pulpit the Reverend Thad-
deus Maccarty demanded that a jury
of midwives be assembled to examine
Bathsheba’s claims. Those opposed to
any consideration for the unfortunate
Bathsheba asserted with as much em-
phasis that she was seeking to escape
the gallows by a ruse,
At last, however, the midwives were
assembled. There were ten women and
two male accouchers Officially named
to conduct the examination. In the
gloomy jail they examined Mrs,
Spooner. Doctor John Green, the
brother-in-law of Bathsheba, was per-
mitted to take part in the examination.
The two male accouchers, one midwife
and Doctor Green declared on oath
that Bathsheba was with child. The
rest declared she was a fraud.
Bathsheba had to die. It was to be
a great public occasion, with thousands
journeying from all over Massachu-
setts to see her swing. For days in ad-
vance people flocked to Worcester to
get accommodations and to obtain
Places close to the gallows,
Smallpox was ravaging Worcester,
and on June 24, 1778, William Stearns,
town clerk, placed an advertisement
in the Worcester Spy: “Because of the
great danger from pox, it is requested
by town authorities that those re-
cently allieted with smallpox renin
away from the execution of Bathsheba
Spooner and three others.”
July 2, 1778, was a sweltering day,
The gallows had been erected on’a hill
near the present site of Worcester
Union Station. Four nooses swung idly
in a hot breeze. The crowds pressed
closer and closer to the gallows. Fret-
ting babies, jolly gentlemen swigging
from bottles, women of fashion and
everyone of consequence in the coun-
try surged in the crowd.
Black clouds were rolling up behind
the hills, and above the clouds flick-
ered heat lightning. In the trees ci-
cadas shrilled long, nerve-tearing notes.
And finally, out of the jail marched a
file of 100 soldiers, arrayed in the buff
and blue of the Continental Army, led
by the High Sheriff with his sword
and mace of office. In the midst of the
file of soldiers walked Ross, Buchanan
and Brooks. They kept. their eyes
turned to the ground. The stifling dust
from the streets hung like a cloud over
the column of men. Behind them all
Bathsheba rode in a chaise. The
drums beat a slow “Rogue’s March.”
HER long dark curls were hanging
from beneath a bonnet. There were
little jewels of fine perspiration on her
lips. And somehow she managed to
give the crowd a gentle smile.
As the procession turned down the
street to the gallows, a new file of men
appeared and fell in before the chaise.
They were carrying the dread symbols
of what was going to take place—four
open coffins with the lids ready for
nailing.
Bathsheba smiled. Fighting through
the crowds, the soldiers pushed the
condemned close to the scaffold, thrust
Brooks and Buchanan and Ross up
to the hangman. Ross’ lips moved si-
lently. He spoke only when he stood
above the heads of the crowd. They
heard a clear, young voice uttering a
prayer. The crowd fell silent, while
_ the hangman trussed the arms and legs
of the condemned men.
Bathsheba smiled. She sat in the
chaise, elevated above the crowd,
wearing her best satin frock. There
were people close to her whom she
knew. She nodded and smiled.
The hangman beckoned. Bathsheba
alighted from the chaise, bounded
lightly to the ground disdaining the
offered hand of the Sheriff.
“Look! look!” muttered the crowd.
“She couldn’t do that if she was with
child!”
“Which way?” inquired Bathsheba.
“You must climb the ladder,
It was a long ladder with widely
spaced rungs. It was placed at a low
slant against the gallows. Bathsheba
went up to the gallows across the lad-
der on her hands and knees, like a
penitent approaching a shrine.
Suddenly the storm broke. Peal
after peal of thunder echoed over the
hills. The rain came down furiously,
pelting the huge crowd. The noise of
the sudden thunderstorm drowned out
the roaring of the crowd. It became
dark as night. And by the fitful light-
ning flashes the crowd saw the nooses
go taut, the drop of four bodies
through the traps—and saw the Rev-
erend Thaddeus Maccarty, his face
turned up into the bitter lash of rain,
shouting a text from Deuteronomy.
“Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and
divide the coasts‘ of thy land, which
the Lord thy God giveth thee to in-
herit, into three parts, that every
Slayer may flee thither.” :
The crowd saw four bodies, drip-
ping with rain, hanging from the scaf-
fold. But five had died that day—for
Bathsheba Spooner’s child and the
child of Ezra Ross, had been hanged in
the noose that killed its mother,
Get the Every-Other-Wednesday -Habit at Your News Stand
49
BROOKS, William; BUCHANAN, Jemes; ROSS, Ezra & SPOONER, Bathgsheba,
whites, hanged Wercester, MA on July 2, 1778
ORDEAL
|
TOUCH |
THE NEW NATION’S FIRST
- MURDER-MYSTERY HAD AN
‘ ANCIENT MOTIVE: WOMAN
BY LEWIS THOMPSON
if DE A een WAR and revolution there is no shortage of
private passions. On the contrary, the argument
stands that in such troubled times people give way to
impulses and plunge themselves into situations which
they would avoid in normal circumstances. It may be that
the first murder perpertrated in this republic, that which
transpired in the Brookfield, Massachusetts, household of
Joshua Spooner in the late 1770s, would in time inevi-
tably have occurred. But it is obvious that these happen-
ings were given tremendous impetus because of the
revolution in the land. .
The revolution, of course, was the American one, and
the citizenry of Massachusetts was in it up to their necks,
with British and Colonial troops sweeping back and forth
across the countryside and living on whatever they could
“liberate.” Along with all the rest of the townships in the
state, Brookfield, too, had felt the pinch. But curiously
undisturbed—at least economically—was the Joshua
Spooner .ménage. The reasons for this were several.
Spooner, an aged, retired merchant from nearby Wor-
cester, was a rich man, and therefore capable of buying
off foraging parties with that scarcest of all commodities:
gold. Again, if the- foragers were American, he could
claim exemption from their (Continued on page 78)
Illustrated by LEO SUMMERS
35
MASTER DETECTIVE, September, 1954
On PTR SSE MNT SWRA NAS HLT
rks
September, 1935
lyk ARENA
arfimeé |Detectihre
Ait Fact Stories prom Official Sources
=
a ea,
- Who's
THROUGH
in America
ea an end to the murderous
careers of MURTON and IRVING
MILLEN and ABRAHAM FABER,
youths who set out to make a fortune
through banditry, the State
of Massachusetts, on June
7, put the trio to death in*
the electric chair. They
were convicted of slaying
a policeman during a bank
robbery at Needham,
The first white woman
to be hanged in Delaware,
MRS. MAY H. CAREY,
preceded her 27-year-old son, HOWARD,
to the gallows at Sussex county jail on
June 7. They paid for the insurance mur-
der of the woman’s brother, Robert
Hitchens.
Murt Millen
© At Huntsville, Texas, a Houston negro,
ALBERT CARR, went to the hot seat
on June 7—he criminally attacked a white
woman. ;
THURMOND HARRIS, negro, sat
down in the chair at Columbia, S.C., June
7. Just before the current was switched
on, he confessed to the criminal assault for
which he was convicted.
@ FRANK ITALIANO, alias Frank
May, Brooklyn racketeer, was the tar-
get for underworld guns June 26 as he
walked in a crowded Wil-
liamsburg shopping district.
EVA COO, blonde road-
house proprietor who was
convicted for thé insurance
murder of a crippled
handyman, went to the
chair in Sing Sing prison,
June 27. A few minutes
later LEONARD SCAR-
Eva Coo
NICI, notorious New York killer-for-hire, .
sat down in the same chair.
e@ A father and son, FRANK TEMPLE,
52, and FRED TEMPLE, 21, were
hanged on the same gallows at St. Thomas,
Ont., June 27. They killed a policeman
rather than face arrest for theft of a
bicycle.
4
CONTENTS
ARKANSAS’ GUN MOLL AND THE PRISON LOVE
TUB cciee dvinni se ota ate eles Robert Barton
Murder followed murder in the career of this amazing girl
whose death at the hands of a convict guard rocked Arkansas
and the nation.
THE CHICAGO BLUEBEARD’S TEN DEAD BRIDES
oo arg ceeeeeeee «es. RObert Faherty
He was a notorious lover—and a notorious poisoner. This
is the dramatic story of a man whose very touch was death!
TRAPPING ST.. PAUL’S MURDER MASTER—
F ae iene $3 Larry Marshall
A wave of violence swept the Northwest until determined
sleuths cracked down to unmask a cold-blooded outlaw and
solve a death-chain mystery.
SEATTLE’S LOVE BANDIT AND HIS 75 GIRL
VICTIMS 6 6s bee ae Horace Heffern
The amazing story of a fiendish attacker whose depredations
terrorized a city for months until police ran him to earth.
CUT-RATE MURDER .............. Jerry E. Cravey
Kansas residents were horrified at the brutality of a crime
which sent detectives after a ruthless death bargainer.
HARMONICA NELL—The Gun Girl Who Came Back—
Gee a i Ciiieve 0. e's «gaa CE Ae Robert Sothern
“You can’t keep me in prison!” declared California’s most
notorious woman jailbreaker'as she attempted to prove her
defiant statement.
KILLERS’ WOMEN—New York’s Taxi-Dance Death
FRO 06 v0 ccs dite ..Earle R. Buell
Grim detectives crack a baffling enigma and bring two des-
perate gunmen to the chair in Sing Sing’s death house.
THE BEARDED GIANT AND THE DOOMED WIFE—
«aie wed ...... Herbert Rudlin
Illicit love becomes the motive in one of the most astounding
crime mysteries in the history of Virginia.
SHORT FEATURES
STRAIGHT FROM HEADQUARTERS .............
The editor comments on the crime situation in America.
PHOTO FLASHES ........... Pi tawas ¥'see + ees
The Camera Sleuth presents the latest news pictures.
DARING DETECTIVE’S SHOW-UP ...............
Photos and descriptions of notorious fugitives.
CLARA PHILLIPS STEPS OUT............... iy
x short short story on California’s “Tiger Woman”.
14
20
26
30
36
40
46
DARING DETECTIVE is published poonthly by Graphic Arts Corporation at Louisville, Ky.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post
BE SUBMITTED AT
ice at Louisville, Ky., under the act of March 3,
HOR’S
1879. Editorial offices, Graphic Arts Corporation, 529 South Seventh Street, Minosapolie, Minn.
MUST THE AUT
ALL. MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTO
RISK, ACCOMPANIED BY RETURN POSTAGE AND ADDRESSED TO THE MINNE-
APOLIS OFFICE. Price 10 cents a copy, $1.00 a year in the United States and possessions
Printed in U. S. A. Copyright 1935. A vertising forms close the 20th of the third month pre-
ceding date of issue. Advertising offices: New York, 1501 Broadway; Chicago, 360 N. Michigan
Ave.; San Francisco, Simpson-Reilly, 1014 Russ Bldg.; Los Angeles, Simpson-Reilly, 536 S. Hill
St. General business offices, 529 S. 7th St., Minneapolis.
DARING
FABER, Abraham, and MELLIN, Irving & Murton, whit tes; elec. Mass. (Norfolk) 6-7-1935
Me: CES ARAL NDN Siete HS 3, %
» FGA shed emamaactnine Bursts Sh SS
r ers
iia rae
ahenes
ie ng
toes a He ip tet Oi
“opine: “s
>
igo yta PS PRAT) ned =
MS Ee = DAB Y
eaten fiber eT
nha ps 18
~
eliateereal teniionet aes pe ae cineca
CH Rom cue | Wedneatiey, mugeree 1981
|
t
The day murder and chaos shook tov
NEEDHAM — It was the
middle of the depression, 1934.
People pandered about selling
apples on street corners, eke-
ing out a living brewing up
bathtub gin and subsisting on
bread-line nourishment.
But what long-time residents
of Needham remember most
about that year is a daring
daylight bank robbery that left
two policemen dead and one
firefighter injured in the first
machine-gun gang slaying in
thestate.
On Thursday, Feb. 2, 19398
Elizabeth (Kimball) Whitirg
made her way through the cold, .
snow-covered streets to her job
as a secretary at the Needham
Trust Company Bank (now the
Norfolk County Bay Bank) at
1055 Great Plain Avenue. At the
age of 27, she was thankful to
be bringing home a paycheck
while so many others we, out
of work.
For Whiting, ‘there: was
nothing unusual about this day
— nothing which would set it
apart from any other. But when
the 9:34 morning train pulled
into the Needham Center sta-
tion, things soon changed.
“I was sitting there taking
dictation,” Whiting recalled
almost 50 years later, ‘‘when
the front door to the bank open-
ed and someone said ‘this is a
stickup.’ ”’
Whiting, used to practical
jokers, ignored the threat and
continued with her work. But
when she looked up from her
notepad, a. Thompson sub-
machine gun told her that these
jokers meant serious business.
Murton and Irving Millen
who were brothers, and
Abraham Faber, an MIT.
graduate who invented a
machine gun silencer, were
bandits who had planned
things carefully. The robbery
was timed so the Boston bound
» which passed through
town, would block police and
muffle the sound of the bank
alarm.
But on that February morn-
ing, things didn’t go exactly as
planned.
The Brink's armored truck
arrived at the bank early that
day, picking up most of the
-previous day’s deposits.
Tellers, who would usually
wait until later to put their ex-
cess money in the vault, had
deposited their cash under
time lock by 9 a.m. The bank
alarm, activated by the bank’s
bookkeeper, went off just as
the train was leaving the sta-
tion.
“They were horrible,’’
Whiting said of the swarthy,
dark-haired trio. ‘“‘They were
yelling and shouting and in that
confined space, it made for ut-
teryohaos..
frustrated because they ex-
pected to get the Brinks money
and when they found out that
the truck was early, they were
just furious.”’
Within seconds, the trio had
scooped up about $14,000 in
cash that had been left in the
bank tills. :
Officer Forbes MacLeod was
chatting with a resident in
front of the A&P store, (now
Allen’s Hardware) when the
alarm first sounded. Since it
often went off by accident,
MacLeod, in no hurry to get to
the scene, strolled toward the
bank where he was spotted by
the thugs. A burst of machine
gun fire shattered the bank
windows and MacLeod, at the
age of 26, lay dying on the
railroad tracks. It was the first
.time a Needham police officer
had been killed in the line of du-
. BANKROB - see page 6
They were.
FORBES ALEXANDER McLEOD
FRANCIS OLIVER HADD
HAD Dock
gaoediii-- -
Le a
MeedbA® »
Nt
..)
“When she looked
h rted,”” said Whiting, explaining
eal horror erp the bank interior Bullet holes Thompson submachin
* from that ro ble on the bank’s vault. . jokers meant serious bus
* Harold ‘“B ar-old DPW employee at the time,
live whenI saw tha’
id the injured office
edan, taking two
* lugar po
car sped Plain Avenue,
and Ches heading — Ni
verts
hoveling snow to
The officer,
direction, drew his gun refrained from firing
the car’s running bandits,
- mowing Haddock and Coughlin in the process. Co’
_ later recove wounds but Haddock died, ia, | ke
* second police the line of duty. No other police officers a Bat ae
” have been kill . :
News of the daring bank n flashed across
_ the state but police eph Dineen of
= Needham and Larry xy the battery Although Whiting does not recall any
ar toaB it had been left by Faber remember being frightened by the
“J was more frighterted at the trial than I was
t information along with information from letters written confessed Whiting. “J thought ‘what if they aren’t con
brothers to a friend in New York, police were able to ar- put out on par fter me for testifying.” |
> range apture. Whiting ha nvicted and
“The police were able to get this friend to talk the Millen brethers in- sentenced to death by 1
to meeting him at a hotel in New York,” Vincent explained. “When They died in the e ectri
they came in, he was to pull out his hankerchief and blow his nose. That wife, Norma, was
was the signal for the police and that’s how they were caught.” bery.
n easier target for capture. He had been questioned The trio’s trial and subseque
rous occasions prior to his arrest and was later biggest robbery and murder cas
the Millen brothers for robbery and murder. the electric chair. The cabbies,
and Whiting testified at the month-long trial, held at theater owner, were freed after the Mill
Dedham Superior Court in April, 1934. crime. ‘
“All during the t Now,
Louis Roman
3 that they were going t i and a plaque to the two offi
daylight robberies but Faber, he never sa a his who were killed in the line of
head during the entire trial. 7 the Police Department headquarters.
¢
ceag@savanak ree
ang
a
grates
+ re ee ge
8m ee
: ‘
oo a sh ©
i
i
FOR BE
RAID!’ MADE
ny
pe
‘
IN
ie
att
iz)
‘nt
baa be ‘ Rob gS ey gs
“4 hed fi K ’ ret he |
it ‘ tone ' ee 4
ee i
ub \ i i
Se Foe Pager fr tie neae tt a
bi: bi adbl food ge bE ied ald OB : .
THE ATROCIOUS
KILLINGS
ported in the Lynn murder were discovered hidden in the
near-by snowdrifts. The stolen car was equipped with a short-
wave radio set, and it had a special attachment for picking
up police signals without interference. This attachment was
traced by State Detective-Lieutenant Joseph Ferrari to a
radio-parts dealer, a brilliant young graduate of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, whose shop was on Colum-
bus Avenue, near Boston Police Headquarters.
The Story Continues:
—Panrt Five—
“ W NYTHING wrong?” State Detective-Lieutenant Joseph
Ferrari’s keen glance centered on the face of the
young radio engineer and noted a growing pallor.
One shoulder was twitching nervously. An astound-
ing thought—a fantastic possibility—had flashed into the
mind of the detective ace. He was remembering that wit-
nesses of the Paramount Theater robbery and murder in Lynn
had spoken of a spasmodic shoulder twitching of one of the
bandit trio. And victims of the Needham bank hold-up and
murders had mentioned the same thing about one of the
three killers who had taken part in that brutal outrage.
“What’s the trouble?” he pressed. His quiet voice expressed
courteous concern.
“W-why, nothing. .N-nothing at all.”’ The radio dealer’s
eyes met those of the detective in a steady look that seemed
Burned interior of bandit
getaway car found in
woods near the town of
Norwood. The charred’
wreck revealed a start-
ling clue
(Above) The storage battery found in the burned bandit
car which proved a clue of vital importance in the ap-
prehension of the killers
54 True Detective Mysteries
(Right) Murton Mil-
len, catapulted into the
mystery of the Bay
State’s atrocious
killings
(Right, opposite
page) Irving Millen,
Murton’s younger
brother, who was also
implicated
frank and honest. If he had felt
some alarming emotion he had
mastered it. Of course, he had
been reading the newspapers,
and perhaps it was natural that
he would be disturbed—even
shocked—when one of the famous
State investigators he had been
reading about in the sensational
stories of the Needham crime
suddenly appeared in his little
shop and began asking questions.
And there were other things,
too, that had been in the news-
papers, some garbled and dis-
torted information which had been published despite the wishes of official
authorities. But Ferrari was not quite satisfied. A tiny seed of sus-
picion had been sowed in his mind.
His partner, State Detective-Lieutenant John Stokes, also State De-
tective-Lieutenant Michael Fleming, attached to the Norfolk County
district’s attorney’s office, were on the way to meet him at the radio
shop. Keenly alert, watchful, he chatted along while awaiting their
arrival. Stokes, Ferrari and Fleming had snatched few hours for sleep
during the fortnight since the raid on the exhibit of State Police weapons
at the Boston Automobile Show by three unknown bandits. Late the
night before they had had a long and vitally important conference, care-
fully checking every development, every detail of the case. Certain
facts looked promising. They believed that they were beginning to see
faint rays of light ahead to illuminate the dark enigma of the Needham
hold-up, and other recent major crimes.
| ree esp of the frantic rush of the first few days to pin suspicion on
any known criminals, to get any promising information from under-
world contacts, had concentrated attention of the State Detective vet-
erans on patient spade work right in the town of Needham. Was there
some little clue to be found there which had previously been missed?
Was there some finger-man at the scene who had furnished the inside
information that enabled the bandits to work so swiftly and efficiently?
Interest, eventually, became centered on the bank janitor. He was
the only person to be found even remotely connected with the institution
that could be shown:to have any underworld contact whatever. The
janitor admitted that he was a pool enthusiast, and that he got his
lottery tickets from an Italian operator whom he knew as Joe Castanini.
But the janitor denied having furnished any inside information about
the bank, or that the pool racketeer had betrayed any undue interest
4 in that direction.
The officers were not satisfied. A secret general alarm was rushed
out for the apprehension of Castanini for investigation and questioning.
Meanwhile, as his past record and activities were being carefully checked
| came the fresh development of the discovery of the fire-damaged Packard
car abandoned in the wooded section of the adjoining town of Norwood.
— .
casts
ae
the Lily Pond woods, Norwood, about a
mile from the Providence Highway, no-
ticed a big sedan partially burned. They
notified the local police. Through the
serial number on the motor and other fea~
tures, the car was identified as a Packard
sedan which had been stolen October 23rd,
1933, from Mrs. Clara B. Harrigan of 97
Gardiner Road, Newton, when she had
tr it in Boston. Police Chief William
ullivan of Norwood instantly suspected
that the car had figured in the recent
murderous crimes which had astounded
Massachusetts. He suggested that the no-
torious Blackstone Valley Gang, well
known for criminal adventures in Rhode
Island and Connecticut, had done the
Needham bank job and abandoned and
burned their stolen car in Norwood, during
their escape over Route 128 which leads
through Norwood. But Chief Sullivan’s
colleagues in other cities did not agree
with Rin. No attention was ‘given the
burned car.
Ba two days later, on February 9th,
came a fresh development which cen-
tered attention of the entire Common-
wealth on the stolen and burned car. Some
young boys, Philip King, John Moloney
and Charles Parsons, were tramping
through the woods around Lily Pond when
they began discussing detective stories ©
they had read in True Detective Mys-
vEREs, and the possibilities of scientific
crime detection. The argument resulted in
heading toward the place where the stolen
car had been discovered after it had been
partially burned. The lads began combing
the scene for the sort of scientific clues
which they thought police detectives might
have missed.
Fantastic although it may seem, these
young boys searched among the snow-
drifts until they discovered several pieces
of metal which they matched together and
discovered to be fragments of the 1932
automobile registration plates issued by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Able to read the number at last, they
found that it was the same as that re-
orted used by the bandit car which
had raided Lynn on January 2nd, a crime
for which the two Boston taxicab-drivers,
Berrett and Molway, were now on trial in
Salem and about to be sent to the elec-
tric chair.
But they were not thinking about Lynn.
The boys were thinking about the sensa-
tional crime in. the adjoining town of
Needham on February 2nd. And they
had been mighty careful not to leave any
finger-prints on the fragments of metal
or to obliterate any which might already
be there. These lads were Boy Scouts as
well as amateur detective fans.
They took their discoveries to Norwood
Police Headquarters, holding each bit of
metal carefully by the edges in a hand--
kerchief; and turned them over to the.
officers at the desk. And when the officer
picked up the fragments carelessly
the young lads made excited protest.
True Detective Mysteries ©
“Finger-prints!” the lads protested.
“Don’t rub off the finger-prints!”
But it was too late. The officer on the
desk had matched the fragments together
and handled all of them. Any latent fin-
er-prints had been obliterated or blurred
eyond recognition. . )
The composite number was that of the
Lynn bandit car. And it agreed with the
few figures remembered by Needham wit-
nesses. rt
“Then.we can get the reward!” yelled
the jubilant Norwood lads. “There’s
twenty-two thousand dollars offered by
Needham and the State! We’ve found that
the burned car is the one used in the rob-
bery, and if you now get the men who
did it we'll get the twenty-two thousand!”
“Or we ought to get some of it,”
amended one of the Norwood Boy Scouts.
The desk officer was not very enthusias-
tic, but the news got to Chief Sullivan
and he lost no time in contacting the
State Police detectives at the Massachu-
setts State House.
Detective Lieutenants Ferrari, Stokes
and Fleming dashed to Norwood and dug
with all their skill and experience into
investigation of the partially burned
Packard that had been stolen from a
Newton woman in Boston,
Two interesting facts immediately at-
tracted their attention. The storage bat-
tery in the car was peculiar and bore a
curious mark, and there was an unusual
“dingus’—as Detective Ferrari aptly
terms it—connected with the radio circuit.
That discovery was to condemn two
men to death and convict a beautiful
young woman for a heinous crime.
TOKES, . Ferrari and Fleming dis-
cussed their discoveries. They agreed -
to keep certain details secret from the
newspapers for a few days, but to utilize
oe aid of the newspapers in certain de-
tails.
The “dingus” they had discovered in
the electric circuit of the now acknowl-
edged bandit car had been removed and
was shown to the principal radio dealers
in Boston. A few recognized it and re-
ferred police inquiries to a dealer on Co-
lumbus Avenue, Boston.
The State detectives hurried to that
man, He was a graduate of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, a bril-
liant radio engineer fully qualified to fur-
nish advice or technical assistance.
“T'l] be glad to help you,” he agreed.
“[]l do anything’ I. can to solve. these
terrible crimes.” att
Detective Ferrari had a sudden inspira-
tion. He slipped his’ hand into a pocket
where a gun was nestling and made a
pregnant remark. ta!
What had suddenly stirred the State
detective’s interest? Read in next
month’s TRUE DETECTIVE of the
startling events that quickly followed
in this sensational case. The’ Novem-
ber issue will be on sale at all news-
stands October Sth. . eae}?
ty Pie 5
The Weird Enigma of Ringtown Valley
(Continued from page 25)
examination about it. The boarder made
a vehement denial.of.any connection with .
the crime. He said that although he and
“Suss” sometimes had some “words,” they
were, on the whole, good friends.
“Do you suppose she would have let
me stay here if she had disliked me so
much?” he asked, his eo eyes darting
furtively about as he talked.
“No, me and Susan got along all right.
She had her ideas and I had mine. I
always liked Toddy—that’s Tavilla—we
call her Toddy. Susan never had much
romance in her: nature, .She used to kick
about my attentions to the girl but it
didn’t amount to anything.”
Buono asked him about the old woman’s'
ability to “hex” people. And then Jake
tried to get off the subject.
Rice didn’t want to talk about it. Any-
body could see thatthe matter worried
him. He gave.a simple recital about the
facts leading up to the time of the trag-
edy. He had come home from work early
UT before you cut the coupon
out, here’s our offer. If you
want the most amazing surprise pack-
age you've ever received, we will
send you booklet and
ILLUSTRATED brochure FREE
Mysrertous UNDERWORLD EXPOSES
Horror EXPERIENCES
CRIMES OF PASSION
Curious ADVENTURES
ORIENTAL TORTURES
CONFESSIONAL SECRETS
STRANGE DETECTIVE TRAPS
Now cut the coupon out
and mail at once!
Dept. 210
ROBIN HOOD HOUSE, 2 West 13th St., N. Y.
Send me your most amazing package on the
above FREE.
MAKE MONEY
At Home !
ARN steady {ncome each wi working at hom
colo! photos and elcintares fe oil. Learn famous
NATIONAL ART SCHOOL, Inc.
3601 Michiaan Avenue, Dept. 1497 Chicago, Illinois
rRCnOMnls =
EARN iS utes
v
0 day. Selling on = ‘ou veil foc oaly
10 -~ Housewives buy on sig! Ip,to 150 per cent profit
you, about
pe Pag me go gt bgp eas
VICTOR SOAP CO., Dept. TD-104, DAYTON, OHIO.
complete our
High (School
years.
H le lo -]
subject {f desired.Send i allan TODAY. No obligation,
erican School, Dpt. 4-769 Drexel at 58, Chicago
BE A DETECTIVE |
I
| WORK HOME OR TRAVE
| DETECTIVE Particulars) FREE |
|
Write GEORGE D. C. WAGNER
2640 Broadway, New York
| NGM... cccccccccccesscccccsosocess I
| Address ..ccscvccccccccccccsoscscce ]
STEERER RENE EN new eurrmmeremenatamemenmeme ee te
a
Samet oe
= an
seein actg
TRUE DETECTI VE MYSTERIES,
Sea
Seems
pon hacen
aap AEG renee SE Ae = =
elec, Mass, SP (Norfolk Co.) June 7, 1935,
THE TRUTH ABOUT |
SACHUSETTS
(Above) Governor Joseph B. Ely presents a medal to Detective-Lieutenant John. Stokes of the Massachusetts
State Police, in recognition of his outstanding work on this case. The presentation was broadcast by radio
mobile Show was raided and
robbed of weapons, includ-
The Story So Far:
A SERIES of alarming By ing a machine gun. Then,
crimes, including rob- on February .2nd, the Need-
bery and brutal murder, ham Trust Company was
roused the Bay State and held up and robbed of fifteen
caused Governor Ely to ap- thousand dollars. In mak-
peal to the State Legislature ing their getaway from Need-
for a reorganization of all ham, the criminals killed
police forces in the Common- é - Patrolmen. lorbes. McLeod
wealth. While the State’s ° and Frank Haddock, and
lawmakers’ were considering abducted two bank officials,
the situation, a swift suc- whom they permitted to
cession of startling atrocities \ T escape alive. Later, a Pack-
followed, with no clue to GO ERNOR OF ard answering the descrip-
the perpetrators. One of tion of the getaway car
the worst of these was the ; used in the Lynn and Need-
brutal murder of C. Fred ham crimes was found in
Sumner, a bill poster M ASS ACHI ISE S the Norwood woods,
at the Paramount partly destroyed by
‘Theater, in rey on ; fire, and Coie of a
January 2nd, 1934. set of 1932 Massa-
hernia a Pee As told to FRED H. THOMPSON ahueete pcenes
tate Police exhibit r R ates, bearing the
Rtthe Boston Auto. Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES — Same’ iumbers re-
52
November, 1934,
100
retreated. A few minutes later one of
them walked along the street, carrying
a brief case so as to look like a sales-
man, and entered the vestibule of the
house. He saw two mail boxes. The
one for the lower floor bore the name
“Rauch.” The second box carried the
lettering “Hauptmann.”
From that moment on, the home of
Bruno Richard Hauptmann and its occu-
pants was covered like a blanket. Night
fell, and there was no sign of the sus-
pect. But someone was in the second
floor of the stucco house, for the lights
were switched on at dusk and weren’t
switched off until after, midnight.
‘In the meantime, the machinery of the
law began to, grind slowly but surely, as
do the mills of the gods. Within twelve
hours after Hauptmann. first came under
surveillance, the Department of Justice
had obtained a picture of his background.
He had been married for nine years, and
lived with his wife and baby son, Man-
fried. He was a carpenter by trade,
(shades of the kidnap home-made ladder!)
but neighbors said that he hadn’t worked
True Detective Mysteries
at it for more than two years. Neverthe-
less, he seemed plentifully supplied with
money. Close-mouthed, he was a man
who kept very much to himself and had
few friends. He was thirty-five years
old, a German, (“Jafsie” had said the man
who accepted the ransom money was &
German) and had been a machine-gun-
ner in the German Army during the war.
R. C. Farrar, handwriting expert of the
United States Treasury Department, came
to New York and compared the writing
on the ransom notes with the penmanship
on Bruno Hauptmann’s application for
an automobile license, obtained from the
Motor Vehicle Department.
“The same man wrote both the appli-
catioh and the ransom notes,” Mr. Far-
rar said, simply. “There can be no ques-
tion about it.”
For three days, sleuths, concealed
at near-by vantage points, watched the
house.: There was no sign of Hauptmann.
A woman whom they thought to be Mrs.
Hauptmann appeared frequently, and was
trailed to a near-by market. The watchers
also observed that in the afternoon, Mrs.
Hauptmann stood out in front of the
house, anxiously awaiting the carrier who
passed by with the Bronx Home News.
J. Edgar. Hoover cautioned his men to
go easy. Mr. Hoover himself had come to
New York secretly from Washington to
personally direct the search. It was his
plan to trail Hauptmann to see who he
contacted, in the hope that others in-
volved in the kidnapping (there was no
doubt in Hoover’s mind that Hauptmann
was involved) might be uncovered.
On the fourth day, Hauptmann ap-
peared late in the afternoon. He walked
to a ‘garage in the rear of the house and
presently backed out in his black Dodge
car. ‘He started out, the detectives fol-
lowing #t a distance.
——_9—_——_
The-next installment of this inside
account on the Crime of the Century
will appear in the February issue of
TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES. On
sale at all news stands January 4th.
Remember the date and order your
copy now.
The Truth About the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings
real criminals permitted two men _ to
stand in the very shadow of the electric
chair for a crime of which they were
innocent. This story, perhaps the most
astounding ever told to Massachusetts
Police, came from the twitching lips of
Abe Faber, honor graduate of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, who now
pictured himself as the master mind of
the most sinister gang that ever had
operated in our state.
It was a story so astonishing as to chal-
lenge the credulity, except the the fact
that it checked exactly with many facts
which our police already had learned. It
was a story which came just in time for
two men, Clement Molway and Louis Ber-
rett, youthful Boston taxicab drivers who
stood in the Superior Court at Salem
branded as the murderers of a harmless old
bill-poster in the Paramount Theater hold-
up at Lynn. Witness after witness had
positively identified them as the wantonly
murderous bandits, and they were about to
be sentenced to death.
ND in a few hours, due to the thrill-
.ing developments in New York, the dis-
coveries in the Brinsley Street garage,
rented by the two Millen brothers, and
Faber’s astounding story, Berrett and Mol-
way were to stand in a scene without
precedent in Massachusetts jurisprudence
—were to stand in the same courtroom
freed on the testimony of witnesses who
admitted that they had made a
terrible error. Berrett and Molway were
innocent men, trapped by circumstances
stranger than fiction, and freed by the
admissions of a brilliant young scholar
who claimed to have conceived the biggest
and most terrible criminal plot in Massa-
chusetts history.
Faber’s story accounted for at least four
(Continued from page 53)
presence of the pretty young daughter of
the Natick clergyman, and that on at least
one occasion Norma accompanied them on
a reconnoitering trip to the scene of a
crime carried through the next day! The
Paramount Theater robbery in Lynn that
led to the murder of an aged and un-
armed man and the wounding of unresist-
ing citizens.
It was a story that dumfounded police
. by its scope and horror. It named Faber
: and the young Millen brothers as the
unsolved murders. He named Murton and .
Irving Millen as his accomplices and co-
partners. He implicated the youthful, at-
tractive and cultured Norma Brighton
Millen as fully aware of the vicious gang’s
criminal operations. Faber said they dis-
cussed in her presence criminal plans which
resulted in murder. He made it plain that
he intensely disliked Norma, while de-
fending his own sweetheart, the fair Rose.
Faber said that plans for hold-ups which
ended in murder were discussed in the
murderers of the two Needham policemen
during the bank hold-up there. It placed
them as the killers of a Fitchburg sport-
ing goods store clerk who failed to co-
operate in their plot for more arms and
ammunition. It told that they were the
slayers of the Lynn bill-poster shot to
death as he lay unconscious in the lobby
of the Paramount Theater. It admitted
the abduction of two theater managers as
the prelude to robbery, and the wanton
attempt to murder a girl cashier who
laughed at a demand to hand over a
theater’s evening receipts. ‘
Faber’s astounding story, told haltingly
and prompted by leading questions as his
twitching lips hesitated, revealed amazing
‘plans for robberies on a wholesale scale,
with shrewd schemes for safe getaways.
It included astonishing details—down to
Faber’s skillful instruction of the Millen
brothers in marksmanship so that they
might kill surely and quickly, shooting
practice carried on in a cellar with im-
provised targets on a home-made range.
It told of stealing and carrying dynamite
to be used in blowing up roads if pursuit
pressed too close. It admitted the plan-
ning of unbelievable crimes to secure
plenty of money for a life of ease and
luxury. Frightful plans now never to be
carried out.
HE gigantic criminal plot recited by
the scholarly Faber in a dull monotone
whose very hopelessness seemed to assure
his truthfulness, at last casually mentioned
as a master coup the holding up of three
banks in quick succession in one town.
As police rushed to one bank after a
hold-up, Faber said that he with Murton
and Irving Millen would enter a second
and then a third bank, their blazing guns
flaming death for any who dared resist
their swift rush for quick wealth. The
place selected for this terrible foray was
the peaceful college community of Welles-
ley, Massachusetts, home of world-famous
educational institutions for young women
and boys.
Faber’s story is so extraordinary, per-
haps without precedent in criminal annals
of the world, that it may be well to give
it in its entirety, omitting only unessential
repetitions and occasional interruptions
by the horrified officials who heard it.
Whether it was true we shall learn later
as more startling events occurred.
“T have been a close friend of Murton
Millen,” Faber confided, “for many
ears. I also have been a close friend of
is younger brother Irving.” Faber hesi-
tated, and then he added, as if making a
sudden decision: “We feel the same way
about many things in life and about cer-
tain ways of living. We shared the be-
lief that we needed money to be happy
and contented, and we knew the difficul-
ties in getting such money.” Again he
hesitated, but continued after a brief pause
to touch his scanty mustache and hitch
around in the chair.
“About a year ago we got together and
discussed forming a business organiza-
tion of three for the sole purpose of getting
plenty of money together and taking life
easy. We talked it over carefully among
ourselves, and we agreed to form a busi-
ness organization. Murt and Irv Millen
agreed with me that if we did certain
things the right way, and took no chances,
we couldn’t miss getting what we wanted.
We figured that if certain things were
done, and done in just a certain way, no
police force in the world would be fast
enough or clever enough to keep up with
s.
“We all knew how to take care of our-
selves. We decided that in order to make
a success in our plans we would have to
share everything three ways. No matter
what had to be done, or how it had to
be done, we agreed that each one of us
would do his share without hesitation.
That was the only way we could hope
to succeed, we agreed.
“So we drew up an agreement among
ourselves, and decided to stick to the
agre:
the
We
with
we 1
rem:
cow
wou
www in
en ee
rPrVl Oo
-
agreement no matter what happened in
the future. That was our understanding.
We decided that if we came face to face
with anything that might upset our plans,
we would not hesitate a single minute to
remove that menace. That meant, of
course, that if anyone got in our way we
would kill him no matter who it might
be, policeman, detective, man, woman, or
anyone else who got in our way.
“The next thing was to get the guns we
would need. We decided that it would
not be practical to buy any guns. That
might lead some day to our identification
as the persons involved in a crime, if we
happened to lose the guns or weapons
used in any particular crime. So we made
a study of certain firearms stores and
armories for the purpose of getting these
arms together. We made up our minds
that we would get together the greatest
collection of equipment for every sort of
crime before launching upon our plans to
rob many of the big banks in the larger
communities outside of Boston proper.
“On August 22nd (1933), we got into a
stolen car and drove to the Cambridge
Armory. We parked the car a short dis-
tance from the armory and made a study
of the place. We found out that there
was a flock of machine guns there. There
were some .45-caliber automatics avail-
able with ammunition. We found out
that on the following evening at a certain
hour the captain of the outfit in charge
of the armory would be leaving the place.
HE next day we drove back to the
armory. We waited and at the right
time we grabbed the armorer—I think it
was a fellow named Lodge—and dragged
him into the car, We told him we would
kill him if he didn’t deliver to us the keys
to the armory. He was scared to death,
and was afraid he was going to be killed.
He turned over the keys to us and we
threw him out of the machine near the
Technology buildings. Then we started
back to the armory. But we changed our
minds and decided it would be silly for
us to try to get those machine guns and
automatics that night. We kept the keys,
however, and we returned to my radio
shop on Columbus Avenue, dropped them
there, and then went on to our homes.
We did no talking to anyone.
‘tion of the Clark murder in Fitchburg.
Amburgh, ballistics expert of the Massach
Three Bay State officials confer on Abe Faber’s
True Detective Mysteries
“The next day we had another meeting.
We were partners in the radio store on
Columbus Avenue and that was to be
our blind. We then planned that we had
to get hold of machine guns. Before all
this, we had made three other raids on
armories in our search for machine guns.
We had been to one in the South End
of Boston, and to other parts of the city,
but we didn’t have any luck in getting
any guns from any of these places.
WE also had gone to the Lynn Armory
some time back in January and then
for the first time we got some guns. We
drove to the armory in a stolen car the
day before we entered the place. We
watched the habits of the man in charge
there, and managed to get into the build-
ing after the guard had left. We got
enough guns out of there to go to work
right away. All we needed was ammuni-
tion. This we were able to purchase at
a number of places out of town.
“The next place we went to was the
Quincy Armory. That was in August, a
couple of days after we went to Cam-
bridge. In sticking up the Cambridge
armorer and the Quincy place we used
the guns we had grabbed off at the Lynn
Armory.
“What we were looking for all the time
was machine guns. We knew we needed
plenty of equipment if we were going to
carry through our plans to rob banks and
do that effectively. That’s why we wanted
plenty of stuff, and that included machine
guns. And plenty of ammunition.
“At the Quincy hold-up of the armory
we stuck guns at two soldiers there and
were ready to shoot them down. They
didn’t seem very frightened about it all,
but they did do what we told them to
do. They convinced us, however, there
were no machine guns there that we could
take and use. We checked what they said
and were satisfied that they were telling
the truth. We didn’t hurt anyone there
and decided to go back and try some other
place.
“Then we decided that we might have
to buy machine guns. We heard that you
could purchase them pretty cheap. There
were a lot of sub-machine guns used in
the rum-running trade that were now be-
ing offered for sale, and we figured we
admissions which pointed to a solu-
Left to right: Captain Charles J. Van
usetts State Police; Police Chief Thomas
Godley and Mayor Greenwood of F itchburg
OPEL
UA
tertiding
tandard 4-row mey boant, backspacer, auto-
matic ri
8!
bon reverse, shiftlock key, 2-color ribbon, etc.
The perfect all eee ose t pewriter. Completely rebuilt
and FULLY G ARANTE 'D. Lowest terins-10c a day
Money-Back Guarantee
Send coupon for 10-day Trial
Learn Touch Typewriting}
Complete (Home Study)
Course of the Famous Van
Sant Speed Typewriti —if you decide to keep it
qe tae Hteatod, py only $3.00 a month until
ing this offer. 44.90 (term price) is paid.
Limited offer—act at once.
Pincemarionan vveeweren excnaner j
IN
2
Send Underwood Ni
trial. If I am
lect. If I keep it I
t (term price) in full,
Name
E A PASSENGE
refund tuition, pe Tey is rapid with e: i d
parning more. Active Men—19 to b0—elisible. Healthtul,
16-yr.
experience.
STANDARD BUSINESS TRAINING INSTITUTE >a
~. 7101, Buffalo, N. Y,
Vy ey }
od
LEARN z
Piano, Violin, Cornet,
Trumpet, Mandolin, Guitar, P Pk
Banjo,Organ,Accordion,Saxophone,Clarinet
EASY HOME METHOD—new, fast way for beginners,
Makes you lished in ingly short time. 300,000
enthusiastic students. Low cost; easy terms, Satisfaction
guaranteed. Free Catalog gives full details,
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC
1525 East 53d Street, Chicego
Dept. 608
MAKE $50 TO $100 a WEEK!
Our simple, proven methods make it
easy to learn Commercial Art, Car-
fooning and Designing quickly, AT
HOME, in spare time. New low rate.
Big new book, for Pleasure and
Profit”, sent free. State age.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF ART
Studio 411, 1115 15th St., Washington, D.C.
SAV-AN-UPPER completely
covers scuffed, discolored and
faded uppers of any shoes with
a wear-proof, highly polished coating
and makes them look like new. | Quick,
easy, economical, Takes only a minute.
Just brush it on! Moro than a polish;
nore than a dye, Absolutely new and different, Guaranteed,
FREE SAMPLE: Write today for free sample which
proves all claims, Send no money. Act now!
SAV-AN-UPPER CO., Dept. E-248, Cincinnati, Ohio
ihe ee
102
better get together plenty of money and
go after these guns. We made up our
minds that we had to have machine guns
to operate with.
“By October, we had enough stuff to-
gether from the many raids we staged
on stores and other places to get going.
We also had enough money to get a
strong-box in a Boston bank. On Octo-
ber 16th, we went to the First National
Bank in Boston and hired a box. We
were going to use that box for money
and other papers. We gave different
names when we applied for the box.
“All this time we were making the most
elaborate plans for getting plenty of
money and living easy. WV
for going into pretty near every commun-
ity within a radious of twenty-five miles
of Boston and holding up the banks there.
“Our plans called for showing no one
any quarter who might interfere. We
would blast our way in: or out of the
place, if we had to. We would blow up
roads if we were chased. We had the
dynamite and we had the necessary plung-
ers to set it of. We had everything by
this time that would help us do the jobs
we wanted to do.
“What we wanted was plenty of money
and then we could live easily. We figured
that there wasn’t anyone smart enough
to stop us, or catch us. We figured out
everything. Everything—maybe—but the
battery that was fixed in the car we used
in Needham, and which gave the police
the first clue to us. That was the one
mistake we made.
E were meeting in Murt Millen’s
apartment in the Back Bay. We
would always sleep at home, however, We
told none of our people anything about
ge we were doing, or what we planned
to do.
“On December 8th, we decided we would
have to get some more guns. We also
wanted .22-caliber and some .45-caliber
ammunition to fit the bigger guns we were
using. The .22-caliber guns were better
to shoot with when you wanted to be
sure to hit someone.” Faber was recover-
ing some measure of his suave self-con-
fidence. He seemed to be proud of the
amazing plans he was quietly unfolding,
to betray some vague resentment that
such a clever scheme should be thwarted
by fate and the dumb police—or were
they so dumb after all?
And the officers listening to the extra-
ordinary story exchanged _ significant
glances. They were remembering that
the target range at Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology—Abe Faber’s alma
mater—where he was always welcome and
trusted—had_ been looted of its long-bar-
relled .22-caliber “Woodsmen’s” automatic
pistols months before the recent outbreak
of savage crime. Faber went on: .
“We drove in the stolen automobile w
later used in the Needham hold-up, which
we got in front of the Statler Hotel in
Boston, to the sporting goods store in
Fitchburg that we planned to rob. We
parked the machine a short distance from
the store. We entered the store and got
talking with those employed there. We
looked over the place carefully and
studied the lay-out of the gun racks and
the gun cases on counters. We found out
who the manager was. His name was
Clark. He was the fellow, we learned,
who would lock up the place. We waited
around to make sure that he did lock up
the place.
“Three days later we drove back to
Fitchburg. We knew that we could get
the guns we wanted in that store. We
also knew that we could get plenty of
ammunition there. Our plan was to grab
Clark, the manager,.and kidnap him. We
e made our plans -
True Detective Mysteries
would make him come back to the store
_ with us and open the place. Then we
would clean it out, while some of us kept
him under cover in case anyone came to
the store.
“Everything seemed to work out all
right. We waited around the store until
closing time. We didn’t park where any-
one would see us. We just kept moving
around from place to place, but watching.
the store. We cruised up Main Street
about the time that Clark started to lock
the store. Murt Millen was driving the
car. He was the best one to handle the
wheel of the machine. He can drive any
sort of car and he’s fast and good. * His
brother Irv sat beside him. I was in the
rear seat. Murt’s wife was not with us
at the time. But she knew that we had
gone to Fitchburg, and she had a pretty
good idea what it was all ‘about. She
often drove the car when we weren’t using
it, but she didn’t come along with us on
these jobs.
“Then Clark started to come up the
The old Norfolk County Court House
at Dedham where murder indict- ,;
ments against the Massachusetts
killers were sought
street. He was walking alone at the time.
It was dark. The street was practically
deserted except for him and _ ourselves.
We pulled up slowly alongside of him and
stopped him. We asked him for an ad-
dress near by. He seemed afraid at first.
He started to shy away. We grabbed
him and told him he’d have to come along
with us, or else we would kill him. We
told him we wanted the keys to the store
because we needed some guns and ammu-
nition.
“Instead of doing what we told him to
do,” a note of angry resentment crept in
Faber’s voice, “he started to fight. He
wouldn’t get into the car and started to
‘swing at us. He wouldn’t give us the
keys. Then we just gave it to him. Irv
opened fire on him first. Clark dropped
to the street and we drove away. At the
end of the street we decided to come back
and finish the job. We figured that there
was one fellow who had got into our way,
and so we had to finish him. We got
back to the spot where Clark was shot.
We saw another man with him. This
man was helping Clark to his feet.”
Faber’s eyes flicked furtively around the
cold stares hemming him in. The detec-
tives saw a gleam of resentment, of anger,
as he went on: “Then we gave it to both
of them. But we made sure to give it
to Clark. We were sore at this fellow
because he didn’t do what we wanted him
to do. Both Irv and Murt let go at him
and they hit him. It was easy.
“We knew that when we opened fire
on anyone we wouldn’t miss. We had
spent plenty of time in Sharon and at
Weston practicing to shoot. Afterward,
when we got hold of the machine gun we
used in Needham, we also practiced with
this gun, We not only spent a lot of time
learning how to shoot, but we spent a
lot_ of time studying how to take down
and assemble guns. I knew how to do
that all.the time. The Millen brothers
had to be taught how to break and put
together the large caliber guns.
_ “After we finished off Clark, we turned
_ Tight around and went back to Boston.
We didn’t hurry especially. We just took
our time, but made sure that we wouldn't
*pull any boners on the way back, such
as getting caught for speeding and hav-
ing the police find guns in our car. We
had made a secret compartment in the
can we were using for our guns, but we
didn’t want to take any chances on any-
thing going wrong.
“We got back to Boston easy enough
and went to our homes. We didn’t say
anything to anyone and kept quiet. The
only ene outside the three of us who knew
we were going to Fitchburg to get guns
and ammunition was Mrs. Murton Millen.
She remarked to her husband the next
day that someone had been killed in
Fitchburg. ‘I hope that you fellows didn’t
have to kill that manager up there,’ she
said to Murton.
“I don’t know whether Murton said
anything to her about it. I didn’t. I
didn’t tell anyone anything. That was the
agreement we made when we decided to
do the things we did. The Fitchburg
shooting sort of brought us three closer
together. It proved that we were. going
to act like real partners and do our share
of work on a job, no matter what it led
up to.
“We read the stories in the newspapers
the day following the Fitchburg killing
very carefully. We made sure that we
read all the details. After reading the
police version of the killing of Clark, we
made up our minds that the police were
up in the air about the murder and would
never be able to solve it.
“We spent the next few days taking
things easy and working at our radio
plant on Columbus Avenue. That was a
sort of blind for us, and a perfect one, too.
We took things easy until the day before
New Year’s. Then we drove down in the
car we used in Fitchburg to the Lynn
Paramount Theater and studied the place.
We decided we would stage a hold-up
there that ought to get us quite a sum of
money, taken in over the holiday week-
end. We looked the place over and it
looked easy to us. On the night of Jan-
uary first we went back to the theater. We
bought tickets and entered the theater and
took seats in the rear. We didn’t pay
much attention to the show. We were
studying the lay-out. We watched to sce
how many persons were employed there
and made mental notes of the position of
the office of the theater, the cashier's cage
and the dressing room. Then we waited
until the place closed, saw the manager
go to the office and lock the place, and
decided that the next morning would be
the best time to stage the robbery there.
OX the morning of January second,
with Murt and Irv Millen, I left
Murt’s garage in the rear of Brinsley
Street, Dorchester, in the large sedan at
approximately eight o’clock. We went to
Lynn. Murt was driving. I had a sawed-off
shotgun. Murt had a 22-caliber woods-
man’s pistol, and I think a revolver. Irving
had a similar pistol. We stopped in front
of the Paramount Theater. I don’t know
the time. I stayed in the car.
“Murt and Irving entered the theater
by way of the front entrance. I left the
car and walked across the street.
“I heard a shot inside. A few minutes
later one of them told me to drive around
to the back. I did so, going to the park-
re Om He eee en OL.
we ed
op pS
case.
ot of time
' spent a
ike down
ow to do
brothers
and put
ve turned
2 Boston.
just took
- wouldn’t
ack, such
and hav-
car. We
at in the
s, but we
3 on any-
y enough
didn’t say
juiet. The
who knew
get guns
on Millen.
the next
killed in
ows didn’t
there,’ she
uton said
didn’t. I
at was the
decided to
Fitchburg
ree closer
vere. going
» our share
vhat it led
newspapers
~ illing
b we
the
wiain, We
olice were
and would
ays taking
our radio
That was a
ct one, too.
day before
‘own in the
the Lynn
1 the place.
a hold-up
ea sum of
iday week-
ver and it
ght of Jan-
theater. We
theater and
didn’t pay
We were
ched to see
loyed there
position of
ishier’s cage
1 we waited
he manager
» place, and
i would be
bbery there.
lary second,
illen, I left
of Brinsley
ge sedan at
We went to
1 a sawed-off
liber woods-
‘olver. Irving
yped in front
{ don’t know
ir.
the theater
I left the
eet.
few minutes
around
2 park-
ing space in the rear. I left the car and
entered the theater by a rear door. I
had the shotgun under my coat. I went
into the office. Murt and Irv were there.
My best opinion is there were five other
persons there. Some of them were wo-
men. The men and women, strangers to
me, were standing facing the window. I
sat down beside the candy counter and
acted as lookout. There was a light in
the theater section made by portable
lights. I saw no other lights lighted.
“A few people came in. I told the boys,
Murt and Irving, that somebody was com-
ing. An oil man came in and was al-
lowed to go out. The mailman came in
and was allowed to go after he handed the
mail to one of the boys. It was quiet
for a while.
“Then they started to look around for
other people. I heard a shot fired, a
second shot fired, and then one of them
came over to me. Somebody said: ‘I got
him with a twenty-two.’ It was either
Murt or Irving.
“T then took my seat again by the candy
counter. I saw a man lying near the sofa
on the floor, directly in front of me on
the floor, It was pretty dark.
SAT there for at least an hour. After
a while a few more people came in.
One szid he was an usher. Another said he
was the manager. One of them opened
the safe.
“T was outside the office. When I came
in I carried the shotgun. I think I left
the gun near the office, leaning against
the wall. A cloth bag containing silver
and nickels in rolls was taken out of the
safe by either Murt or Irving. Then
Murt and Irv escorted the employees,
about eight or nine, into the check room.
“Then Murt went out. I went out im-
mediately after him. Irving came out.
We all went out of the exit door to the
parking space. Murt got into the driver’s
seat. We drove away. We were in the
theater about two hours. We went
through Everett Square to the Memorial
Drive. On Memorial Drive a car was in
the road. Irving shot at the tires. We
drove through the Fenway and back to the
garage on Brinsley Street. We left the
guns in the car. We got into the smaller
car and drove to 39 Lawrence Avenue,
Dorchester, Irving’s house. There was
about a hundred and eighty dollars in the
bag. We divided the money into three
different parts. I did not take all my
share.”
Faber claimed that Norma, Murton’s
girl bride, had accompanied the Millen
brothers on a reconnoitering trip to Lynn
on an evening preceding the crime and
had lost a ring in the theater. Before that,
he said, she had been present in Murton’s
Back Bay apartment on an occasion when
he was there discussing the-plans with the
two brothers, who “decided that would
be a good place to take, that there would
be money there.” There:was a note of
distaste in his quiet voice when he men-
tioned the pretty woman, against whom he
scemed to bear some strange*resentmeng.
“We read the newspapers carefully after
the holdup,” the dapper Tech alumnus
went on in response to insistent question-
ing. “That was part of our plan. We
kept sort of files of the different news-
paper stories. We wanted to see what
headway the police were making on the
case. We were satisfied that the police
wouldn't. get. anywhere on that, too. Of
course, that all filled into our program.
“All this time we were telling nothing
to any member of our families, and we
were moving about town just as though we
were going to work in the morning and
getting back from work in the evening.
When we had to go out at night, we
True Detective Mysteries
simply said we were going to the theater
or toa dance. No one, I’m sure, suspected
us of anything—with the exception, per-
haps of Mrs. Murton Millen. She was
always asking questions. She was driving
the car when we weren’t using it. She
seemed to be worried about her husband
being mixed up in all these affairs, Maybe
he was telling her. I don’t know.
“On January 25th we decided to go to
the Automobile Show in Mechanics Build-
ing. We learned that the State Police
exhibit was there. We wanted to look
over the guns there. We went there and
strolled around, acting natural and arous-
ing no one’s suspicions. We saw the gun
exhibit. We saw the radio set-up. It
looked easy to us. All we had to do was
get inside after closing hours and_ stick
up the watchman there. There wouldn’t
be any trouble. We could easily kill the
watchman and no one would know about
it.
“While the Millen brothers were poking
around, looking at different things there,
I went down stairs and picked out a win-
dow through which we could make our
entrance that night. All I had to do was
unlock the window and loosen the screen
outside. It was easy. Then we left the
building and went to a restaurant and
ate. Then we went to our garage in
Dorchester and got out the big car we
had used in Fitchburg, Lynn, and other
places, and drove to Mechanics Build-
ing.
“Just as we planned, it was easy, Every-
one was gone and there wasn’t anyone
around. We parked our car right on the
driveway outside the right end of the
building. We walked to the back of the
building. Irving entered through the win-
dow we had picked out. We followed him.
We took with us picture wire, which is
the best stuff to use in tying up people,
and drew our guns.
“We were using the heavy .45-caliber
guns. We stuck the guns into the faces
of the two watchmen, and we soon had
them tied up. The rest was easy. We
just cleaned out all the guns and the am-
munition and made sure to take the ma-
chine gun. That was the one we were
after. We planned to use all the guns
some time in the future. We knew we
couldn’t be stopped, by this time. We
also dismantled the police radio and took
that with us, too.
WE piled all the stuff into the big
sedan and drove away from the place
just as a small cruising car came up.
Maybe there were some police in it. I
don’t know. Anyway, we kept going and
no one came along to stop us. If anyone
had come near us, we would have killed
them.
“We got to the garage in Dorchester
which we were using, but we decided we
better take the guns elsewhere until things
quieted down in the newspapers, because
of the raid on Mechanics Building. We
figured that there would be a lot of pub-
licity, and we wanted to play safe. So
we took the guns to the Millen home in
Roxbury and hid them in one of the rooms
upstairs. _No one knew where we hid
them, or knew what we had, except Mrs.
Murton Millen. She was there waiting
for her husband. She wanted to know
where we had got the guns. We just told
her that we had bought them. We said
they were samples. That's all we told her.
“The next day the newspapers carried
big slorics about the raid on the State
Police arsenal at the building. Mrs, Mil-
Jen asked her husband if those were the
guns that we brought in that night. I
didn’t tell her anything. Maybe her hus-
band did. But she found out soon enough
that the guns came from somewhere.”
103
KIDNEYS cause
muck TROUBLE
THIS
CITY
HEALTH
DIRECIOR
Successful Prescription Helps Remove
Acids—Works in 15 Minutes
D®. T. J. RASTELLI, famous English scientist, Doctor
of Medicine and Surgeon, says: ‘You can’t feel well if
your Kidneys do not function right, because your Kidneys
affect your entire body.”
Your blood circulates 4 times a minute through 9 million
tiny, delicate tubes in your Kidneys
which are endangered by drastic, irri-
tating drugs, modern foods and drinks,
—worry, and exposure. Beware of Kid-
ney dysfunction if you suffer from
Night Rising, Pains, Nervousness,
Dizziness, Circles Under Eyes, Acidity,
or Loss of Pep.
Dr. Walter R. George, for many
years Health Director of Indianapolis,
says: “Insufficient Kidney excretions
are the cause of much needless suf-
fering with Aching Back, Frequent
Night Rising, Itching, Smarting, Burn-
ing, Painful Joints, Rhcumatic Pains,’
Headaches, and a run-down
body. I am of the opinion that the
prescription Cystex corrects such functional conditions. It
aids in flushing poisons from the urinary tract, and in freeing
the blood of retained toxins. Cystex deserves the endorsement
of all doctors. If you suffer from Kidney and Bladder dys-
function, delay endangers your vitality, and you should not
lose a single minute in starting to take the doctor's special
prescription called Cystex (pronounced Siss-tex) which helps
Kidney functions in a few hours. It starts work in 15 minutes.
Gently tones, soothes and cleans raw, sore membranes. Br
new energy and vitality in 48 hours. It is helping millions of
suffers and is guaranteed to fix you up and make you feel
like new in 8 days, or money back on return of empty package.
Get guaranteed Cystex from your dru,
CYSTEX
The Modern Aid to Kidney Functions
REDUCE—You Can EASILY
In this book ‘‘How to Reduce Weight,’’ Bernarr
Macfadden gives you the complete regime for weight
reduction including full dietary instruction, actual
menus, food classifications and reduction exercises.
By all means send for it today. Price 50c postpaid.
N BOOK ANY, Inc.,
Desk T.D.-1 1926 Broadway New York City
STOP Your Rupture
Why worry, suffer with that rup-
s
ture? Learn about my perfected |
invention. It has automatic Air orr es
Cushions which bind and draw s
the broken parts together as
ow would a broken limb. No obnoxious springs or pads.
o salves or plasters. Sent on trial to prove it. Beware o!
imitations. Never sold in stores. Write today for full infore
mation sent free in plain, sealed envelope.
H.C. BROOKS, 186 State St., Marshall, Mich.
No JOKE TO BE DEAF
~Every deaf person knows that—
Mr. Way made himself hear his watch tick after
being deaf for twenty-five years, withhis Arti-
Fear Drums. He wore them day and night.
je, now!
no batteries. Satisfaction
FaGetoktet Alsat
let on Deaines Artifictal Ear Drum
THE WAY COMPANY
736 Hofmann Bidg. Detroit, Michigan
*BALD? Give Your
Scalp a Chance
Japanese Oil is the name of the remarkably
successful preparation that thousands are us-
ing to get rid of loose dandruff, stop scalp itch
and grow strong, healthy hair on thin and
partially bald spots where hair roots are not
dead, This famous antiseptic counter-irritant
stimulates circulation in the scalp, brings an
abundant supply of blood to nourish and feed
starved hair roots—one of the chief causes of
baldness, Get a bottle today at any druggist,
The cost is trifling, 60c (Kconomy size, $1).
You have little to lose and much to gain.
FREK, valuable book, ‘““The Truth About the
Hair,” if you write to National Remedy Co.,
56 W. 45th St., N. Y., Dept. 27B.
OIL
JAPANESE
* This advertisement was reviewed and
approved by a registered physician,
we 4
w York’s
are she is
Norman
1 student.
urthouse.
= RbeEre
*
ww
}
>?” ‘
eee
ever want to get anywhere, forget that Norma Millen ever
existed, in person or name. Re-christen yourself and I'll get
you a job.”
O I became Arlene Wright. I didn’t like it. T didn't want
to masquerade. But I did get the job.
[It was pleasant work in a congenial atmosphere. | made
friends with the staff and within two weeks I was supremely
happy. Those dark days at Dedham prison seemed very far
behind. Following my sponsor's advice, I said nothing of my
past to my employer or to any of the people with whom I
worked.
I had new friends, new clothes and a decent income every
week. I felt as though a ‘burden had been lifted from my
shoulders. The things that I had dreamed of in my cell were
coming true.
Then came that dark disastrous day when I was to begin
my realization of how I, erred in my judgment of people.
I returned to the office from lunch a little
after 1 o'clock. | thought that everyone
looked at me a little queerly. And no
one spoke to me as I passed through the
main office and went to hang up my hat
and coat.
The boss’ secretary came over to me.
“Miss—Wright,” she said in a funny,
distant tone. “Mr. R— wants to see
you in his office right away.”
Her tone struck me as peculiar, but |
had no idea of what lay in store for me
in Mr. R—’s office.
He glared at me as | entered the room.
“You've got one hell of a nerve !” he
said bitterly. “You and—(here he
mentioned my sponsor's name). I’ve
just called him up to tell hin what !
think of him. Now I'll give you my
opinion of you,” 7
I don’t know whether I was more
afraid or astounded at that moment.
“Me?” I gasped. “What—what have
I done?”
“What have you done! Well, for
the first time since you’ve been here.
T can answer that question. You've
lived with a murderer who's been
sent to the chair. You've been in
prison for a year. God only knows
what else you've done, you dirty little
jailbird! And to think I’ve let you
mingle with those decent girls out-
side. Now, get out of here! Get
what money's coming to you from
the cashier and get out!”
Now, as I write this, I can think of
all the things I could have said to
him when he said those unfair
things. But then I was too over-
come to talk, Tears were in my
eves and there was a terrible sick-
ness in my heart. Blindly |
stumbled from the room.
I walked through the office with my
face averted. I could not look
those people in the eye. 1 was
branded before them. They all
knew I was Norma Millen, the jail-
bird. My friends of yesterday put
me beyond the pale today.
I got my money and left the office.
As I was waiting for the elevator,
one of the salesmen came out of the
showroom. He was a_middle-
aged man who had always been
polite to me.
“Listen, kid,’ he said as he patted
my shoulder. “Don’t let this get you down. Everything’l]
work out all right.”
I smiled at him through my tears. It was comforting to
know that at least one of them still had a kind word for me.
“Now, listen,” he said hurriedly. “T haven’t time now, to
talk, They might miss me inside. But if you will meet me in
the restaurant around the corner tonight, at 7, I'll help you out.
I can get you a little room in a place I know. You're too pretty
to have to work, anyway. I like you, and I'd like to do things
for you. Understand me, kid?”
I understood him only too well. What I had mistaken for
a simple decent action on his part was merely a filthy prop-
eosition. When I had been Arlene Wright, such a move on his
part was unthinkable. But now that I was branded as a
gangster’s moll, I was fair game. He immediately assumed that
I was his for the taking. I was to learn later that a great many
men assumed the same thing. As soon as they knew that I had
been in prison, had been married to Murt Millen, they came to
the conclusion, through some obscene process of distorted logic,
that I could be had for the asking.
. 73
nonneoeeee
ROMANCE
Left: Norma Brighton
Millen and her new
husband, Hal Clement,
smiled happily when
love bloomed, but
tragedy soon followed
when Norma found
that she could not out-
live the past.
STEPPED outside the grim gates of prison and
inhaled the glorious air of freedom, For a year
I had been caged behind the sombre walls,
f cramped and disciplined, living with a sense of
shame.
Now the past was gone. Dead.
Before me was freedom—a chance to start anew. I had
broken the tenets of the law, a jury decided, when my hus-
band, Murton Millen, his brother Irving, and their pal, Abe
Faber, had committed murder in a bank holdup. They went
to the chair.
And now I, too, had paid the price for a crime about which
I had known nothing at the time. But the sordid past was
over and a new life was before me. I felt re-born.
That is what I thought that sunny day when I stood on the
4 steps of Dedham prison in Massachusetts. It was to occur to
BEAUTY
Using an assumed
name, Norma
studied to be a
beautician. A
woman customer
recognized her and
won $2 for tipping
off the newspapers.
Above: a study of
Norma when she
was arrested.
me much later that Jean Valjean, in the story “‘Les Miserables”
undoubtedly had thought the same thing.
We were both wrong, of course. It was a bitter, deluding
lie, and it did not take me long to find out. Yet it all seemed
gloriously true at the time.
My first suspicion came in New York, where I had fled to
hide among that city’s teeming millions. An influential man
was interviewing me regarding a job. This man was the good
friend of a newspaperman who had felt sorry for me and tried
to help me.
“T’ve got just the thing for you,” he said. “An acquaintance
of mine is in the garment business. He needs a model. He
told me so only yesterday. You've got the looks and the figure,
and he can teach you how to walk, and things like that. in no
time at all. J’ll call him up at once.”
I was delighted. I had been out of prison less than a week,
and already I was well on the way to a job and a chance to
regain my place in society.
My friend reached for the phone, then stopped.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “What name are you going to
use ?”
I looked at him in surprise.
“Why, my own name, of course,” I said quickly. “Norma
Millen.”
He shook his head. “No, Norma. That won't do.”
“But why not?”
“No one would employ you as Norma Millen. You've been
in prison. You've heen associated with a murderer. To be
71
ee ee See eee aS aa
Ae Ene (Vad ane AS foi
brutal, you've been that murderer's wife. I think I can get you
a job. But not under the name of Norma Millen.”
I felt a little sinking in my heart when he said that. It didn’t
seem fair. I had served a year as an accessory to a crime,
although, as Heaven is my witness, I had no idea of the things
my husband was doing. It is true that a jury had thought
differently and T had served time for something they thought I
had done.
But I had taken my punishment. I had paid my debt to
society. Surely no one would hold the past against me now.
But this man could not see it my way.
“No, Norma,” he said. “What you say is logical enough.
But you're young. You don’t know people. They'll hold your
record and your name against you the rest of your life. If you
72
Ss"
Maly : *
> ~¥ & ef
hi hse ani Stes
nm #4
%
i,
SANCTUARY
Unable to lose herself among New York’s
millions, Norma fled to Boston, where she is
shown with her father, the Rev. Norman
Brighton. Circle: Hal Clement as a student.
Right, Norma leaving Dedham courthouse.
gut meter
as
—
ever Wal
existed, 1
you a jol
O I be
to nik
[t was
friends \
happy.
behind.
past to
worked.
I had
week. |
shoulder
coming 1
Then
my reali
BLISS - T OSING that job was the first real blow to my} » and intr
Norma cuddles her pup, new start in life. I learned much later that a% » never ac
Snoox, who greeted her friend of Mr. R—'s was a detective. He had been! | understa:
after her release from jy to see Mr. R— that day and had seen me in the discussec
psandiphny a jer office just as I was going out to lunch. The detective : bi 3 Sp
had lost no time in informing my employer of my / p it. Duri
her husband, Murton identity. _ satis Yq T wid aln
pe sng a pret 8 yg The bitter tirade Mr. R— had hurled at me and_ » Igrewa
bank stickup which the behavior of the people in the office did far | p for me,
erided in murder. more than merely hurt my feelings. It developed / } But he
a frightening self-consciousness within me. As I | p day have
walked down the street the thought kept recurring ) things w
to me that people recognized me, that they were% the coure
sneering at me, avoiding me as respectable people 4 F myself tc
avoid the worst woman of the streets. ; But w)
My self-respect was at its lowest ebb. My§ a ‘I would
dreams were in fragments. I could no longer be-
lieve that happiness and a new life lay before me, b pure
It seemed as if the grim specter of the past would } ; rece!
forever rise to haunt me. At this time I received | » No one
some money from my father. I had 4 r headway
met, too, a girl who was an assistant 4 Gradu:
to the newspaper man who had been | the Jave
so kind to me. This girl knew who 4 F. press, ca
I was—knew all about me. But she © We w
remained one of the few people to 7
whom my past made no difference ’
whatever.
She took me to live with her in an 4
apartment in Greenwich Village. |
On her advice I retained the name
He
He
He,
i
,
i
i
4
H
of Arlene Wright. She realized that I was miserable and
lonely and she could understand why.
She introduced me to her friends and gradually I began to
forgét the bitter blow that I had received that day at the office.
It was about this time that I met Tom. He was a young
man of good family who worked in a downtown brokerage
office. I liked him from the first night I met him, and as time
went on I grew to like him more.
He belonged to a circle with which I had lost contact. He
was educated and refined. He took me to dinner at his home
aly Inflicted
on ‘Tro of Tg
Mure fers This Morning, =
' ! < =
.
rhich they” have’ been named. and
iHounced dead jintil a similar verdict
eé Chinamen, Hom Waon, Min
‘and Leong Gong were put
e electric ‘chair at, the. state }
arlestown between midnight
-k this morning for the murderof
“of their | fellow countrymen
town. on the night of Aug 1, 1907. \
condemned men: died ini the order
walked the few steps from the }
‘to the-electric chalr with the stoic-
hich ig characteriatic’af thety race
: thandate of the law wiis carried
ane decorum .and precision, and
> was neither delay nor accidents in
>xecution of the sentences. 5
m the time wien. Hom Woor was
been pronounced in the case of
AY’S GLOBE CONTENTS.
of ‘Page 16.
tish ‘America as threaten to, boit re-
ticket, this fall. ;
ity of Ex-Judge Déwey’s nomina-
era’ disputed by secretary of
ependence league namination
ted. | :
@he.
WEATHER.
| WASHINGTON, '
“Qet ll—Forecast.
‘fpr New England:
# ine
asing southeast
uth winds.
‘ Eastern New
Raitt: Lues- |
probably
y: colder
Bhift-.
tried and_cinvicted the acomed mer,
| general; Deputy Bhprif? John Reardoa.-
_prlgon. physichan sa phy clan: fron Ver-
_ the death. chamber.
-mhon wodden chairs whieh faced the
‘instrument of death, and were briefiy
‘admontéhed by the warden not to maka
: seated. .
| the cell room and rapped, Fr, Ma’
rout, and.after him cdme two big
tthe ‘onate without ahow, of heat
; fear. es :
we ong Gong, < sat the hast to die,
“Os minutes’ hud elapsed, oy
Witnesses Start.at /12:07,a m.
On Sunday Rev_ Fr Augustine D.
Malley, Catholic chaplain of the prison,
baptized and ‘received the three Chinn-
ner into the Catholic Sehurch. and be- |
ore midnight last night Ir Malley: ad-
inistered communion: ‘to. the con-—
ined men in: thelr cells and gave
the last. rites. .Hé chanted ’the
réxs for the ‘dying ‘pefore their cells
2 wardén “and? the witnesses
cani to\varry out the decreé of the law.
"+ Warden Bridges and ,the . _Witnessep,
Askt Dist Atty Michael J. Dwyer, who
BE, representa! ve of the a jet attor-
mey's office 5: \Albert (C Aron of
Soumeryille; . reptesenting : the - Bpurgeon
representing Sheriff Sehvey of Suffolk |
ctunty;. Dr George BR. Magrath, mevdi- |
cal examiner; Dy Josekh I. Mclonghiin, |
mont, Whose name was ot an ounced, .
and W iam Carroll Hiv) \rep senting
the prefig, left. the wardens office at |
12:07 o'clock, and two by twy marched |
along the narrow walk ‘south of the |
verth wall of the .prison, until’ they
came to the jron door which ad
Hom Woon First'to ‘Appear. ee
te he ‘witnesses were directed tg.
any comments or move, ’ whatever hap-
pened, . }
he’ electrician of: the prison’ and.
Frank B. Davis, state electrician of
New, York, and tested. the death. chatr:
and its connections: and pranoinced
everything. in readiness, so there -was
no delay after the witnesses had een
“Warden: Bridges and Deptty. Ward
Nathan D. Atien stepped to the door
carrying 4 cross in his hand, “Ste
hee one an either aide of Hom .
Woon,
Sing Die a
’ : y
harlestown. i
Fr Malley Faithful to End. /, | |
Fr Malley knelt:in front | the death,
chair: and with the cross” praised! be-*
fore the face. of the man about: to dite,
and. the’ other o they calf ‘ot his lett
red from the J
back | in the apa 3
Th reparations it) the keocen swere
cam ted as t er was finished,
Ithes (Keepers hep back,. Warder:
‘Bridges. paige’ ‘hie’ staff. of. office, and,
‘as he saw. Hom Woon. extiate, the'-elec-
-triclan turned. on the cyrrent: ‘ot 10)
jive ron | tot amp Se
hi stra mt ;
bes be hoary. en tbe pre 1 Sate pe. .
thinute nd then shut
‘ware grab oe Pete
ie: although there ‘we rah
:
:
|
3 ans
ef *% 2
g:2 Zs
Mt a aan
1 NORTHEASTERN (2nd) 189; 8 NORTHEASTERN (2nd) 923s 11 NORTHEASTERN (2nd) 799; Certe Dene,
58 SUPREME COURT 50, 370,
DiSTASIO, Frank and Anthony, white, electrocuted Mass, St. Pe (Middlesex) on 1/18/1938,
"Boston, May 7, 1935=District Attorney Warren L, Bishop tonight announced that Anthony di
Stasio, 23-years-old, had confessed that with his father Frank, 50, he had plotted the
death on an unknown man found dead in Hudson last night in an attemt to swindle insurance
companies, Police, who at first had been led to believe that a body found charred beyond
recognition in a flaming automobile was that of the father, said the son, who subseouently
was charged with mrder in the first degree, had told them that the body was that of a many
unknown to him, whom his father had picked up on a street in the south end of Boston, Bis=
hop said the wife of the elder DeStasio, 50, had died more than a month ago and that the
father had taken out a marriage license on May l, planning to marry Miss Ellen Reilly, 39,
of Boston on May 19, A widespread search was begun for the father, a Revere candy dealer,
in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He was described as being five feet, 11 inches in
height and weighing 200 pounds, He was grey around the temples, The weight of the elder
DiStasio first caused policeto suspect that the body found was not his, the latter being
that of a man of medium build," TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La, 5-8-1935 (1/3.)
"Cambridge, Mass., May 9, = The victim of a brutal torch mrder of which Frank di Stasio,
51 years old, Revere candy storeproprietor, and his son, Anthony, 23, are accused, was i-
dentified today by state detectives as Daniel M, Crowley, 50, part-time railroad freight
handler. Because of the charred condition of the body, found Monday in the elder DiStasio's
burned automobile, it was admitted the identification might not be accepted in a court of
law, and District Attorney Warren L. Bishop adhered to his plans to prosecute the DiStasios
under indictments charging them with murder in the first degree of 'John Doe, an unknown,'
Earlier in the day the father and son, manacled together, entered pleas of not guilty, and
were held without bail by Judge Nelson P, Brown, At the arraignment Bishop described the
slaying as 'without parrallel in American jurisprudence - the most revolting crime,' The
victim's skull had been crushed and arms and legs broken, but a medical examiner said he
believed life was not extinct when the man was saturated with oil and the torch applied,"
TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La,, 5-10-1935 (1/6.)
332
James Parrott, be received into the Queen’s mercy, and be
declared witnesses in behalf of the Queen, against John
Quelch and company, for their several piracies, robberies, and
murder.
The Prisoner wished to know whether he might not have
counsel allowed him, upon any matter of law that might hap-
pen upon his trial.
Tur Court. The Articles upon which you are arraigned
are plain matters of fact; however, that you may have no
reason to complain of hardship, Mr. James Meinzies, attor-
ney at law, may assist you, and offer any matter of law in
your behalf upon your trial, and it is ordered that the prisoner
at the bar have a copy of the articles exhibited against him,
and that he prepare for trial on Monday next.
June 19.
The Court being opened and Captain Quelch set at the
bar, it was ordered that his irons be taken off during the
trial. .
Paul Dudley, Attorney General, and Thomas Newton,>
Queen’s Counsel, for the Government; James Meinzies® for
the prisoner.
4Dupiey, Paun. (1675-1751), Born Roxbury, Mass. Son of Gov.
Joseph Dudley. Graduated Harvard 1690. Entered Temple, Lon-
don, and returned to Massachusetts 1702 as Attorney General of the
Province. Represented Roxbury in the General Court for several
years. Naturalist, and Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and,
contributed to its transactions. Died in Roxbury. .
5 Newron, THomas. (1660-1721.) Born and educated in England
and came to New England about 1688. One of the founders of King’s
Chapel, Boston. Member of its Vestry 1698, and Warden 1704.
Judge in Admiralty, Justice of the Peace, and prominent lawyer for
many years. Was employed by the government in the Witcheraft
prosecutions. (See 1 Am. St. Tr. 523.) Of high integrity and ex-
emplary conduct. At time of his death was Attorney General and
Controller of Customs for Massachusetis Bay. A mural monument
was erected to his memory in Kings Chapel by his grandson. H's
library is said to have been the greatest and best collection of books
that had ever been offered for sale in this country. (See New Eng-
land Hist. and Gen. Reg., Vols. 17 and 31, 1863, 1877, Washburn Ju-
dicial History of Massachusetts.)
6 Menzies, JAMES. (1650-1728.) “Nathaniel Byfield was suc-
ceeded by James Menzies. Judge Menzies brought his commission
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS — 333
When the Prisoner was brought into Court the Present
ordered that his irons be taken off during the trial.
Mr. Newton (of gounsel for the Queen). May it please
your excellency, and the honorable commissioners of this
Court: The prisoner at the bar stands charged, for that he,
the said John Quelch, late of Boston, in the province of the
Massachusetts-Bay, ete., mariner, lieutenant of the brigantine
Charles, whereof Daniel Plowman, mariner, deceased, was
late commander, notwithstanding the said brigantine, ete.
Which articles when we have proved upon the prisoner at the
bar, we doubt not your excellency, and the rest of the honor-
able commissioners gf this Court will do him, our nation, and
the whole world that justice, and to condemn and punish him
for the same.
Paul Dudley, Attorney General. May it please your excel-
lency and the rest of the honorable commissioners of this
Court: The prisoner at the bar stands articled against, for,
and charged with seyeral piracies, robberies and murder, com-
mitted by himself arj\d company, upon the high sea (upon the
subjects of the King of Portugal, her majesty’s good ally),
the worst and most intolerable of crimes that can be com-
mitted by men. A pirate was therefore justly called by the
Romans, hostis humani generis. And the civil law saith of
them, that neither faith nor oath is to be kept with them;
and therefore if a yaan that is a prisoner to pirates, for the
sake of his liberty: promise a ransom, he is under no obliga-
tion to make good his promise; for pirates are not entitled to
law, not so much as the law of arms. For which reason it is
said, if piracy be cammitted upon the ocean, and the pirates
in the attempt happen to be overcome, the captors are not
with him when he carpe to Massachusetts, and arrived here on the
ship Samuel, December 24, 1715. Was a native of Scotland, and a
member of the Faculty of Advocates. He settled in Roxbury, but
soon removed to Leicester where he lived for many years, being an
early proprietor of that township. Represented the town in the Gen-
eral Court 1721 and sjicceeding years. He died at Boston.” (Wash-
burn Judicial Hist. of Mass.) The name is spelled both ways in the
records of the day. He probably had returned to Scotland from
America before he was made Chief Justice.
334 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
obliged to bring them to any port, but may expose them im-
mediately to punishment, by hanging them at the mainyard;
a sign of its being of a very different and worse nature than -
any crime committed upon the land; for robbers and mur-
derers, and even traitors themselves, may not be put to death
without passing a formal trial. And if the fate of the pris-
oner at the bar, with his company, had allowed them to have
been overcome in their piracies, ete., and immediately hung up
before the sun, it had been very just upon them. But being
then suffered to live, and now brought into a court of justice,
they are to be used, treated, and tried, as the laws of Eng-
land, and our own country do direct. Hereujon I must ob-
serve, that until the statute of the 28th of Henry the 8th, all
piracies, robberies and murder committed upon the sea, were
tried before the admiral, his lieutenant, or commissary, after
the course of the civil law; the nature whereof was, that be-
fore any judgment of death could be given against the offend-
ers, either they must plainly confess their offenses (which
they will never do without torture), or else their offenses be
so plainly and directly proved by witnesses indifferent, such
as saw their offenses committed, which was next to impossible
to be had, therefore that statute enacted, that the said crimes
should be triable in any county in England, by such and such
commissioners, and the trial to be according to the course
of the common law. This act continues in England in force
to this day; and until very lately served for all piracies that
were committed in the plantations, or any ‘parts beyond the
seas. For Kidd, the last pirate that went from this country,
was tried upon the statute; but it proving very troublesome
and chargeable to transport pirates and their witnesses from
the several plantations, there was another act of Parliament
made in the eleventh and twelfth years of the late King Wil-
liam, that provides principally and particularly for the trial
of all pirates that are seized in any of the plantations. It is
by virtue of this act of Parliament, and a commission pur-
suant thereto, that your excellency, and this honorable Court,
are now sitting in judgment upon the prisoner at the bar, and
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 835
his vile accomplices; and though it may be thought by some a
pretty severe thing to put an Englishman to death without a
jury, yet it must be remembered, that the wisdom and justice
of our nation, for very sufficient and excellent reasons, have
so ordered it in the case of piracy; a crime which, as I before
observed,, scarcely deserves any law at all. Besides, the late
statute hath appointed such commissioners, as will take care
to do equal justice to the prisoner on the one hand, and to
the crown and allies of England on the other. The English
word ‘“‘pirate’’ is derived from a word that signifies ‘‘roy-
ing;’’ for pirates, like beasts of prey, are seeking and hunt-
ing upon the ocean, for the estates, and sometimes the lives
of the innocent merchant and mariner. His character and
description is thus; a pirate is one who, to enrich himself,
either by surprise, or open force, sets upon merchants and
others trading by sea, to spoil them of their goods or treas-
ure, and oftentimes sinking their vessels, and bereaving them
of their lives; and it is no wonder if piracy be reckoned a
much greater and more pernicious crime than robbery upon
the land, because the consideration of the general navigation,
and commerce of nations, is far beyond any man’s particular
property. Besides, whereas robbery upon the land is most
commonly from particular persons; piracy is from many, and
oftener attended with the death of others. Thus it was in
the case now to pe tried; one of the captains of one of the
Portuguese vessels being unfortunately, if not basely killed
and murdered in the action. But before we proceed to the
several articles upon which the prisoner is to be tried, I beg
leave a little to set forth the aggravating circumstances of the
crimes committed by these vile men. And to begin with their
mutiny, their rebellious, inhuman, I wish I might not say,
their murderous jsage of their worthy commander, Captain
Plowman; God knows how far their treatment of him might
hasten his end; however, that must be answered for at a
higher tribunal. The next thing I would observe in this mat-
ter, is, their commission which they obtained from her
majesty’s government of this province, a sword to fight the
336 V. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS
open and declared enemies of her sacred majesty ; but, in-
stead of drawing it against the French and Spaniards, they
have sheathed it in the bowels of some of the best friends and
allies of the crown of England at this day; the Portuguese
being confederate with her sacred majesty against the French
and Spaniards, for the peace, rights, and liberties of Europe.
This was the baseness, the treachery, and cowardice of this
matter, that instead of fighting for honor with the French,
or money with the Spaniards, they must go and surprise a few
honest and peaceable men, and our good friends, in their law-
ful occasions, that neither thought, nor meant any harm.
Thus a man falls before wicked men. The third thing I
would observe, is the perfidious impudence of these men, for
as they sailed along the coast of Brazil, they put in at one
of two places, and assured the Portuguese of their friendship
and kindness that their designs were against the French
and Spaniard; and yet at the very next port, a few leagues
distant, they robbed and plundered some of the neighbors
and friends of those they had seen the day before. The
fourth and last thing that I would mention is the number of
their crimes; for it was not once, twice, nor thrice, that
would serve their turns, but they go on in the repetition of
their wickedness, till they were glutted, and thought they
had enough of it. And as to the prisoner now at the bar, as
his share in just and lawful prizes would have been at least
double to any other, no doubt but the same measure will be
of his guilt in all this matter. We shall now, may it please
this honorable Court, proceed to prove the several articles
charged upon the prisoner; and our proof will be partly pre-
sumptive, partly circumstantial, and partly positive and
downright. The presumptive part of the proof is the manner
of their coming to this place, being in that sort as renders
them suspicious to everybody ; but especially I would observe,
their not being able to give any tolerable account from whence
they came, or had their treasure. This was what induced their
owners to give an information to the government of the mat-
ter; and our own law in this country against piracies, is very
plain in this point of presumption.
CAPTAIN JOHN QUELCH AND OTHERS 337
The second proof that we shall offer, will be what we call
circumstantial]; and indeed the circumstances of this matter
are so many, that render it undoubted, but that the prisoner,
with his company, have been guilty of the articles charged
upon him.
Then in the third place, there is that which we call posi-
tive and downright proof, viz., the confession and evidences
of their accomplices, who are now the Queen’s witnesses.
THE EVIDENCE.
John Colman and William
Clark produced Captain Daniel
Plowman’s commission, which
was read, as also his instructions,
and then his owners’ orders; as
also the said Plqwman’s letters
from Marblehead to his owners;
then a copy of the owners’ letter
was read, which they sent to the
several islands, with his excel-
lency’s letter to the several gov-
ernors, ete.
Mr. Colman made oath to their
being true copies of their orig-
inals. Mr. Clark brought into
court several loag spadhas, a
Portuguese ensign, two skins full
of sugar, upon ong of which was
a direction, thought to be in Por-
tuguese. Edward Lyde and Sam-
uel Frazon, interpreters acquaint-
ed the court, thaj that skin of
sugar was directed to a person in
Lisbon; adding that if it had
been Spanish, it would have been
“al Signior,” whereas it was
“Para,” ete. Whereupon the skins
were opened, and full of what
was adjudged to be Brazil sugar.
Mr. Lyde also swore that hav-
ing been at Maderas, he had seen
several hundreds of those seroins,
or skins of sugar sent from Bra-
zil, and that he verily believed,
that what was now produced was
Brazil sugar,
The ensign, or colors, were ex-
posed also in court, and plainly
seen te be Portuguese; and John
Colman and William Clark made
oath that the spadhas, skins, en-
sign, and other things, were tak-
en out of the brigantine Charles,
since her arrival here.
John Noyes, goldsmith, testi-
fied that he had received of the
prisoner at the bar, since his ar-
rival in the brigantine Charles, a
considerable quantity of coined
silver money, and saw many of
th2 pieces to be Portugal money,
and judged the rest to be so too,
but he cannot swear it, the pris-
oner at the bar being then in his
shop, and melting them down
himself.
After this, Mr. Treasurer, with
his deputy, came in with a bag
of gold and treasure brought in
the brigantine Charles, which be-
ing seized, was committed to the
custody of the treasurer of the
province and others, by order of
the governor and council.
Jeremiah Allen swore that the
bag he had now in court econ-
tained the treasure that was com-
mitted to the treasurer and oth-
ers.
Mr. Colman’s parcel of gold
being opened, and he being asked
whence he had that gold? made
“
338 V. AMERICAN
STATE TRIALS
answer that he received that, and
all the rest of the owner’s shares
from the prisoner at the bar:
upon viewing the coined gold,
they were all found Portuguese
gold, and several of the pieces
were found to be coined in 1703,
The PresmpDENT observed, that
the money being coined so lately,
it was very improbable it should
eyer have been out of Portuguese
hands, inhabitants of Brazil.
After this, some prints that
came in the brigantine Charles
were examined, and found to be
in the Portuguese language.
A young Nzcro Boy, brought
in by the prisoner at the bar, and
company, was set up by order
of the court, was examined, and
the interpreters acquainted the
court that he was a baptized ne-
gro, his name Joachim; that he
lived with a Portuguese, his mas-
ter’s name Joseph Galeno; that
he lived in the bay of All Saints
in Brazil; that he was taken by
an English brigantine, and that
the prisoner at the bar was then
on board the brigantine that took
him; and that when he was taken
he was pretty near the land in
an open boat, with fish and other
things in it; and that there were
two Portuguese men in the boat
at the same time.
The Court ordered the inter-
preters to try the negro boy by
Spanish and French questicns:
but it was found he understood '
neither.
Mr. Newton. May it please
your excellency, and the rest of
the honorable commissioners, we
_shall now proceed to an higher
proof of this matter, by examin-
ing those that have been allowed
to be the Queen’s evidence against
the prisoner at the bar, and the
rest of his company. We shall
begin with Matthew Pimer, a
skillful mariner, who was shipped
by Captain Plowman himself, to
go against the French, ete.
The Presipent. What reason
had you to believe they were Por-
tuguese that you robbed? Can
you speak, or understand Portu-
guese?
Pimer. No, sir; I do not un-
derstand the language, but believe
them all to be Portuguese, be-
cause we took them upon the
coast of Brazil; their lading and
ensigns made me conclude they
were Portuguese,
The Queen’s Counsel. If your
excellency please, we will exam-
ine the witness upon each of the
articles and matters the prisoner
at the bar is charged with; but
before we come to the articles, we
will examine him as to the pris-
oner’s behavior towards Captain
Plowman.
Pimer. Anthony Holding was
the man that bolted the door up-
on the captain, the prisoner was
then on shore, but came on board
that night, and resolved to go to
sea, and after the captain’s death
took command of the brigantine.
The Queen’s Counsel.” If your
excellency please, we will now
read the first article of piracy,
and see what the witness ean say
to it: which being read. Pimer.
There were five Portuguese on
board that vessel.
Was the prisoner then in the
command of the brigantine? Pim-
er. The prisoner was command-
er of the brigantine during the
whole voyage.
Did none of them you took,
ask the reason why you took
them? Pimer. No, not that I
know of; our interpreter, John
Twist, had a great deal of dis-
CAPTAIN JOIN QUELCH AND OTHERS — 339
course with the mey, we had tak-
en, and said they were Portu-
guese that were taken now, and
so afterwards: this first vessel
was a small fishing vessel, out of
which we took some fish and
salt.
What do you knpw as to the
second article? Pimer. I re-
member the taking of that brig-
antine, much in the same latitude
with the other, hut nearer the
iand; three white men, and two
negroes were on hoard of her.
This brigantine ha¢| some Brazil
sugar and molasses, two white
men and a negro gntered them-
selves to go with us, our inter-
preter telling them we intended
for the river of Plate, and to
take the Spaniards; but after-
wards as we took prizes, the two
white men hid themselves, that
their countrymen might not see
them.
As to the third ayticle? Pimer.
I remember the taking of that
vessel, the prisoner was then our
commander, and went on board
of her himself, she was taken in
sight of land, ajd bound to
Parnebuck.
Did not these people seem very
much troubled thaj you should
take them, you being Englishmen
and at peace with them? Pimer.
They were told, to the best of my
knowledge, that we were French-
men.
As to the fourth article? Pim-
er. I remember the taking of this
earthenware vessel within three
leagues of the shore, she had
three men on board her, came
from Bayes, and bound to some
neighboring port; we gave the
men their boat again, and they
went to Bayes, the prisoner was
then on board the tender that
took her.
What tenders do you mean?
Pimer. We made use of one or
two of the first vessels; we took
and put some of our men on
board of her, and kept her the
greatest part of the voyage.
As to the fifth article? Pimer.
Remember the taking of this boat
within three leagues of the land,
saw the flag of the castle at that
time she was taken by the tender,
Quelch and about twenty-four of
our men on board her; we took
two prizes this day; the boat we
took at this time was staved by
some of the company, as they
told me, and afterwards sunk, the
men we took on board the boat
were all Portuguese, to the best
of my knowledge.
As to the sixth article? Pimer.
This vessel was taken with the
tender and Queleh on board her;
the negro boy Joachim was taken
out of this vessel, and about fifty
ponnds in money. It was a ean-
vas bag, to the best of my knowl-
edge; there was some rice and
farine, which we took out of her,
and then let the men go away
with their vessel after we had pil-
laged it.
As to the seventh article? Pim-
er. This vessel was taken near
the tropic by Quelch, in the ten-
der; but I was then on board the
brigantine Charles, the quarter-
master had the money that was
taken out of her, being some
coined gold and some silver; this
vessel was taken very near the
shore, about two leagues from the
place whenee she came, and was
bound to Regineer. I saw her
when they brought her out of the
road, there was but one white
man on board her, he said he was
a Dutchman, and afterwards of
Jutland. Beeause the captain
would not give him a share equal
8 True Detective Mysteries
adventures, and conclusively pointed to the necessity of a
modernized police force.
Men will not commit such crimes as were perpetrated in the
Needham bank robbery, the Brookline, the North Easton, the
Wollaston, the Turner’s Falls bank robberies; the Lynn and
Worcester theater robberies, or the Fitchburg murder, if
they are convinced that such flagrant and cold violations of
the law will be detected and the perpetrators of them brought
to justice.
Massachusetts will be comparatively free from the opera-
tions of such a criminal element when she sets up a force
equipped, trained and competent to cope with the cunning
and the daring of the modern criminal. Escape after the booty
is acquired is a prime consideration in the plotting of all such
crimes. Unless, from the criminal viewpoint, a successful
outcome is reasonably possible, I, for one, should not expect
the crime to be committed.
Gus a criminal is modern in his methods. He coldly
plots and plans with his confederates. He studies the
point of attack. He marshals his forces; and he goes armed,
and trained in the use of his arms. He adopts the speed of
the automobile. He covers his retreat by a change of vehicles.
He takes advantage of a divided authority within the ranks
of those whose duty it is to apprehend him; and he has no
regard whatever for the life of anyone, not even an innocent
bystander, and the police are his easy target.
This is not a situation peculiar to Massachusetts. The
same lawless experience has befallen almost every section of
the United States. The Federal authorities have spoken of
the necessity of more adequate police protection, and the en-
largement of the Federal Police powers. Nor is the experience
new. For a long time now it has been the subject of discus-
sion, of investigation, and of recommendation. I believe that
the time has arrived when the discussion, investigation, re-
search and recommendation should crystallize into
definite action. The time has arrived to
reorganize the police force of Massa-
chusetts into a coordinated
body, capable of mobili-
zation into effective
action against the
criminal forces.
We have ar-
Inspector William R.’
m Wallace of the Lynn
Police, pointing out for
® murder victim’s body
was found. Note telltale §
: stains on carpet
rived at the conclusion reluctantly because of our customary
regard for local control of local affairs. Only necessity could
persuade us to sanction even such a mild interference with
the ancient practice of home rule. We would be blind—yes,
almost stupid—however, if we failed to recognize that modern
crime and the criminals’ cold disregard for present methods
of police protection have created a situation which makes
the preservation of law and order depend upon this change
from our previously conceived notion of a complete home rule.
I informed the Massachusetts Legislature that in submit-
ting a specific bill for their enactment—which, in itself, was an
almost unprecedented action by a Bay State Governor—every
precaution had been taken to preserve, as far as it was possible
to do so, that principle of government to which we give our
theoretical approval in all instances.
The personnel of the force of a city should be left, except
as to certain basic requirements, to the choice of the city.
Those who have given a substantial part of life’s service to the
police work of a city or town should be protected under the
Civil Service and Pension Laws. The major portion of the ex-
pense in maintaining the routine police protection of a city
should be borne by the taxpayers of that city. The purpose
of the law which I urged upon the Massachusetts Legislature
-last March should be to coordinate our various police depart-
ments through a centralized organization, so that with its
state-wide powers and carefully trained force, the state would
be in a position to cope with the modern criminal.
To that end, I submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature
last March a draft of a proposed bill, which set up in place of
the existent Department of Public Safety a commission of
five, three of whom shall be police chiefs, each of an organized
police force within the Commonwealth. The ordinary routine
management and control of police forces in towns and cities,
including the power of appointment and promotion of mem-
bers, to remain-with local authorities subject to the provisions
of the act I proposed.
But whenever a public emergency might
arise, from the commission of armed
robbery, kidnapping, criminal
homicide or other crime of
violence, the newly cre-
ated Commission I
proposed could
assume imme-
diate control and dir
hampered the poli
of the entire (
The police chief
might, in his discret
exceptional circums
mission of Public S
gate additional poll
end. The Commis
organize a division
of the regular or pe
or the Metropolita
or the State Police ;
The act I propose
after, should be bas
tion obtained by fo
under the rules of
This Commission
‘of Investigation——a
you wish to call it
This proposal rec
yet accomplish the
the present police fi
bility of advanceme)
possibility. When t
a young man might
small city, by assid
a show of unusual sl
city to the Central |
Safety. Formulated
in the enjoyment of
to protect the life «
No Federal svste1
out completely the
fective in this nati
crimes .are common
tion and to co-opers
a Federal Police s\
Public safety is a
it, justice, education
collapse. The very
chusetts a deep hist:
of Publie Safety. u
eo
HOLLYWOOD DEATH RIDDLE
Mystery shrouded the death of beautiful
Thelma Todd, Hollywood film star, found
dead at the wheel of her car in a garage
near her home. A coroner’s jury returned
a verdict of death by monoxide poison
but recommended further investigation.
»
Leap Year maidens are not casting out
their nets into the sea of matrimony—
they're wearing them, if the distinctive
fish net bathing suit worn by pretty
Margaret Chittum, Miami mermaid, is
any indication of current trends.
20
Seeking to forget her marriage into
the underworld and the husband,
‘Murton Millen, who died in the chair
for a holdup murder, Norma Brighton
beauty school to begin life anew,
ki OTL4
Millen (right) enters a New York
—_— nies.
Brought to San Fran-
cisco after serving a
year’s term in a Mich-
igan prison, Helen
Gillis (left), 22-year-
old widow of “Baby
Face” Nelson, pleaded
guilty to harboring
her husband and was
granted release on a
year’s probation.
DARING
SeReeteieereet
FABER, Abraham & MILLE
maguad
oe
ae
‘wee eeeae ®
a
Photo y Courtesy of
The Christian Scien& Monitor, Boston, Mass
*
\
Irving and Murton, whs, elec. MASPN (Norfolk)
As told to FRED H. THOMPSON
Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
F this chronicle of Massachusetts’ dreadful experience with
a series of bold, brutal, ruthless crimes may serve the ends
of justice, may arouse even a few to see the urgent need for
remedial action, then I am glad to co-operate with the
publishers of Trus Derecrive Mysrerigs in accomplishing
a worthy purpose.
“Massachusetts! There she stands!”’ orate the spell-binders,
setting forth eloquently the marvelous claims to fame of our
9)
va)
ge
TRUE DETECTIVE
P ee ae bg
grand and glorious Commonwealth, and I enthusiastically agree
that the historic old Bay State is well worthy of all these forensic
encomiums. But I also admit that some equivalent areas of
this world’s surface have not known more mystifying and
terrifying crimes than has Massachusetts during the last-few
years.
By the summer of 1933 the situation had become so serious
that I appointed a Special Crime Commission to study the
problem and recor
interest. Unsolve:
last straw was the
witness against ga
Boston Police Det
brink of an aband
bullet-ridden body
the crime.
In my annual ad
Representatives of
first. of last Januar
reorganizing the \
wealth. Jevents w!
make a course of a
ies
- |
a ey,
gn ie ;
\ OVERNOR OQ
A A
|
| problem and recommend what should be done in the publie necessity on March 14th, when | addressed the Massachusetts
| interest. Unsolved crimes were becoming too frequent. The Senate and House in joint assembly. The people were in fear
last straw was the amazing abduction of the star prosecution because of the cold, heartless and deliberate methods employed
witness against gangsters who had attempted to assassinate a by desperate criminals in accomplishing their unlawful ob-
Boston Police Detective, and his callously brutal murder at the jects. A series of murders associated with bank robberies.
brink of an abandoned Quincy granite quarry into which the theater hold-ups, the stealing of guns and ammunition, had
enthusiastically agree bullet-ridden body had been plunged in the stolen car used in greatly weakened the sense of security which the citizens of this
hv of all these forensic the crime. Commonwealth have a right to feel in attendance upon their
1e equivalent areas of In my annual address to the Honorable Senate and House of daily affairs.
more mystifying and Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the While the fortunate apprehension, skillfully carried out, of
during the last: few first of last January, I directed attention to the advisability of | some of the apparent perpetrators of these crimes had served
reorganizing the various police forces within the Common- as some manner of reassurance; nevertheless, the slim thread
iad become so serious wealth. Hvents which had transpired since that time served to upon which that solution hung tended to illustrate the dire
mission to study the make a course of action, which was advisable then, a practical possibilities of successful escape in these most daring of eriminal
‘
A
3
Governor Ely at
his desk in the
State House
106
With ubiquitous reporters who had got
the tip-off on LaVierge’s story in Boston
also racing about, scrambling for pictures
of the Millen brothers and digging among
relatives, friends and neighbors for every
bit of information to be picked up about
them, all this strenuous activity quickly
brought about the very thing which the
State Detectives handling the Needham
investigation had hoped to avoid. The
fact that they wanted the Millens for
questioning became generally known, and
was certain to reach the ears of the
youths being sought.
Throughout Monday and Tuesday the
intensive search went on. Murton and
Irving Millen could not be found. No
friend or relative would admit having seen
either of them for several days. More and
more information about them was being
picked up, however. Further checking
with LaVierge indicated that it was the
younger brother, Irving Millen, who was
twenty-one years old, rather than the elder,
Murton twenty-five, who had arranged for
the battery repair on January 24th. The
battery was for a Packard fitting exactly
the bandit car burned in the Norwood
woods. LaVierge said he had: delivered
the repaired battery, fully charged, for re-
placement in the Packard car, three days
later. which made it January 27th, a few
hours before the bandits’ night raid on the
Boston Auto Show for the State Police
exhibit of weapons.
Records of the Registry of Motor Ve-
hicles were examined and revealed that
both of the Millen brothers had opera-
tor’s licenses. The license applications
supplied the detectives with detailed de-
scriptions of the wanted youths and speci-
mens of their handwriting. Also another
bit of information that was to lead to a
sensational dénouement. While Irving
Millen was recorded as living at the family
home, 39 Lawrence Avenue, in the Grove
Hall section of Roxbury, the residence of
Murton Millen was listed as 1175 Boyls-
ton Street, in the Back Bay district of
Boston.
Detectives rushed to the apartment
house at the Back Bay address to keep
the place under surveillance and watch
for the missing pair. But they were
too late. The apartment Murton Millen
had been occupying with a dashing, fasci-
nating young woman known as his wife
had been hastily vacated. The couple had
departed with a youth who exactly fitted
the description of Irving Millen a few
hours after newspapers and radio had an-
nounced details of the identification of the
bandit car. They left no future address
and took their belongings from the fur-
nished apartment.
T was now certain that the Millen
brothers knew they were wanted by the
ro for questioning. The newspapers
vad seen to that. “The battery found in
the automobile used in Needham was
probably repaired in a Roxbury battery
shop January 27th,” announced the Bos-
ton Post on Monday morning as the State
Detectives were on the way to interview
Abraham Faber. “The proprietor of the
battery station reported to the Dudley
Street Police that, on January 24th, a 19-
plate storage battery for an automobile
answering the description of the Needham
murder car was brought to his Roxbury
shop for repairs. Three days later, he said,
it was called for by a Roxbury man,
whom he named. The battery shop pro-
prietor declared that he read of the Need-
ham murders and robbery and of the find-
ing of the big murder car burned and
abandoned on Lily Pond’ Road, Norwood,
several days later, and from. the descrip-
tion of the car satisfied himself that this
was the car whose battery he repaired.”
True Detective Mysteries
Other papers went even farther in iden-
tifying the Millen brothers except for
actually naming them, and broadcasting
the fact that police were looking for them.
“That tears it,” Lieutenant Stokes
agreed with his colleagues, after discovery
of the hurried departure from 1175 Boyls-
ton Street, which had all the appearance
of guilty flight. “The quicker we get out
a general alarm. to have them picked up
the better now.’
General Daniel Needham, Commissioner
of Public Safety, agreed, and at 10:51 titat
Tuesday evening, February 13th, the
broadcast went out over the Five-State
hook-up of police radio, signed by
Michael J. Barrett, the Massachusetts De-
partment of Public Safety’s acting Cap-
tain of Detectives.
“Wanted for questioning,” the message
flashed through | the ether to police
far and near, “in connection with the
robbery at the Needham Trust Com-
pany on February 2nd, 1934, and the mur-
der of Officers Forbes "McLeod and Frank
Haddock of the Needham Police Depart-
ment, Irving Millen, 21 years, five feet, ten
inches, 155 pounds, slim build, address 39
Lawrence Avenue, Roxbury, and _ his
brother, Murton Millen, 25 years, five
feet, nine inches, 160 pounds, slim build,
address 1175 Boylston Street, Boston. Irv-
Three prominent Massachusetts of-
ficials confer during the search for
the Millen brothers. Left to right:
Michael J. Barrett, Acting Captain
of Detectives; General Daniel Need-
ham, Commissioner of Public Safety,
and Detective - Lieutenant John
Stokes
ing Millen is operating a 1931 Ford road-
ster, Massachusetts registration 585-891.”
The newspapers now lost no time in
rushing the names into print, and re-
porters scurried madly for more details
about the Millens and their recent ac-
tivities. Detectives were scurrying just as
madly to find the lost trail. The men
watching the apartment were on their
toes, on the possibility that the Millens
might return. Another day passed without
bringing any news of the missing men.
But a lot of interesting facts about them,
particularly Murton Millen and the girl
with whom he had been living, had come
to light.
Murton really was married, and his
pretty, dashing bride was-the former Nor-
ma Brighton, nineteen-year-old daughter
of the Reverend Norman Brighton, a na-
tive of London, England, and Margaret
Smith, who had come from Loggieville,
Canada, according to the Boston Bureau
of Vital Statistics. Murton and Norma
had filed marriage intentions on October
4th, 1933, two days after the Brookline
Trust Company hold-up, and were mar-
ried on November 18th. Norma Brighton
Millen’s birthplace was listed as Des
Moines, Iowa.
While an intensive search was under way
to locate the girl-bride’s parents, in the
hope that this would lead detectives to
her and thus to her husband, it was dis-
covered that Murton had registered a 1933
four-door Chevrolet sedan, which he had
described as purchased in September of
.
.
.
that year from the Auto Salvage Con-
signment of Boston and insured under the
Massachusetts compt'sory law with ‘the
Massachusetts Bonding Company.
These and other newly discovered facts,
including a detailed description of the
Chevrolet, Murton Millen’s operator’s li-
cense number, his birth in Roxbury,
Massachusetts, on September 8th, 1909,
and a revision of his personal description
to six feet, one inch, black hair, brown
eyes, was flashed over the police radio
just before 1 o’clock on Thursday after-
noon, February 15th. “Will you please see
that this is sent as far over the country
as possible,” asked the broadcast message
to all police radio operators, “by using
such stations as WRDS and .any others
‘that you have at your command?”
:The manhunt was now on in grim earn-
est, and the State Detectives were trying
to cast their wide dragnet from cvast
to coast and from Mexico into Canada.
Newspapermen were told that the Mil-
len brothers were wanted only for ques-
tioning and cautioned to be careful what
they published, but the detectives in their
secret conferences went much further than
that. The obvious flight, the continued
disappearance despite all the intensive
newspaper publicity, and certain other
facts, convinced them that Murton and
Irving had Jaunched from a comfortable,
respectable home into a career of vicious
crime and become a dangerous menace to
the public. Regarding the pretty girl-
bride they were doubtful. Was she a
gunman’s moll, or was she herself an inno-
cent victim in grave jeopardy?
HAT same Thursday, Boston Police
decided to gain entrance to the vacated
apartment at 1175 Boylston and make an
intensive search for possible clues which
might have been overlooked by the fugi-
tives in their hasty flight. They found
plenty of litter, but nothing that looked
really promising.
One thing picked up_was a letter writ-
ten in a girlish hand. It contained a few
lines of the usual] chit-chat of no apparent
consequence, but across one margin had
been scribbled: “Please destroy Murton’s
letters.” Then it had been crumpled and
thrown away.
George Breach, the’ New England Burns
manager, had been given a friendly tip-
off by connections at Boston Police Head-
quarters, and he dashed to the apartment.
“Find ‘anything good?” he queried as he
rushed in. He was desperately eager to
solve the bank hold-ups on which he had
been working for weeks.
He was shown the letter. “That may be
red hot,” he agreed. “How about any
names and addresses on all that stuff in
the waste basket?”
The Boston officer in charge of the
search showed him an envelope that had
been found among the litter. It was ad-
dressed in the same feminine handwriting
as the letter, and then had been crumpled
and discarded. The address read: “Mr.
Saul Messinger, 1509 Mermaid Avenue,
Coney Island, New York.”
“Say-y-y!” rumbled Detective Breach.
“That may be the break we’re looking
for. It looks mighty good to me. I want
to flash that to our New York office and
get a quick check-up. You don’t mind?”
“Sure not. Go ahead. But we'll have to
hold the originals and turn them over to
Chief Bliss out in Needham. The case is
in his town, you know.”
That was okay with Breach. He hur-
riedly made a few notes and dashed off
to get on the wire to New York. He re-
ported the facts, emphasizing his hunch
that it looked like a real break at last,
and also mentioned that Murton and Irv-
ing Millen were .understood to have a
tyes
PYtac ees
Con-
ier the
ch the
{ facts,
of the
or’s li-
xbury,
_ 1909,
ription
brown
radio
after-
ase see
ountry
lessage
using
others
a earn-
trying
1 cvast
nada.
1e Mil-
r ques-
il what
in their
er than
ntinued
itensive
other
on and
ortable,
vicious
ce
nake an
s which
he fugi-
y found
, looked
er writ-
da few
ipparent
‘gin had
\Viurton s
led and
id Burns
adly tip-
ce Head-
vartment.
ied as he
eager to
h he had
t may be
yout any
t stuff in
e of the
that had
t was ad-
ndwriting
crumpled
ad: “Mr.
| Avenue,
e Breach.
e looking
ie. I want
office and
~ ’t mind?”
‘ll have to
m over to
‘he case 1S
. He hur-
dashed off
rk. He re-
unch
last,
| Irv-
w maave a
brother, Harry Millen, said to be a musi-
cian then playing somewhere in New York
City or vicinit :
A few i ake later, Benjamin A. (Al)
Hall and James W. Smith, Burns opera-
tives working out of the New York
office, were furnished with flimsies on the
Needham bank robbery and the Millen
quest, given the details of Breach’s mes-
sage, and ordered to “cover” Messinger
discreetly until the subject was definitely
eliminated as a promising lead or had put
them in touch with the missing Millens.
Hall and Smith took the trail, wondering
if they had been started on another of
the wild-goose chases which is too often
encountered by hard-working detectives.
Back in Boston, weary officers were
still combing the city and its environs,
not yet entirely satisfied that the Millen
brothers actually had eluded them.
It was Friday, February 16th, that the
next break came. Hugh Murphy, janitor
of the apartment house at 117 Audubon
Road, a few hundred yards from 1175
Boylston Street, telephoned Boston Police.
He reported that a Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Clifton who had been occupying an apart-
ment at his place less than a week fitted
exactly the description of Mr. and Mrs.
Murton Millen.
ERGEANT JAMES CROWLEY and
Detective Thomas Conaty of the
Headquarters Detective Bureau were
rushed there to check up. They found
that “Mr. and Mrs. Harry Clifton” had
rented an apartment at 117 Audubon Road
shortly after Mr. and Mrs. Murton Millen
had vacated their apartment at 1175
Boylston Street. But once more it was too
late. The “Cliftons” had departed just
before the Boston detectives arrived. In
fact, it was their haste to get away in ap-
parent secrecy which had aroused the sus-
picion of the janitor. Murphy said that
they had paid sixty-five dollars in advance
for a month’s rent of suite 11. Then, ac-
companied by a young man whose descrip-
tion fitted Irving Millen, they had sud-
denly announced that they were giving
up the apartment and going away.
Murphy said that he had told them
that his car was at the curb and that he
would be glad to drive them wherever
they wished to go in the city. But they
had promptly declined the offer and in-
sisted on calling a taxicab to take them
away with their baggage. This surprising
refusal of’ a free ride had aroused his
close attention. and he had suddenly
realized that “Mr. Clifton” looked exactly
like the pictures of Murton Millen news-
papers were publishing. So he had tele-
phoned police headquarters,
Such reports are constantly coming to
big city police departments, and most of
them prove to be false clues. ,But Crow-
ley and Conaty were not missing any bets
and so they went to work on'‘the job
methodically. They patiently chetked up
taxicab drivers until they found the man
who had driven the party from 117 Au-
dubon Road. The taxi man said he had
taken them to South Station. This is the
principal Boston railroad terminal ‘for
points west and south, principally for
New York. .
Both the taxicab driver and the janitor
picked out a picture of Murton Millen
and furnished an accurate description of
him as the “Mr. Clifton” who had led the
party on its hurried departure. The news
was flashed eventually to the State De-
tectives working on the Needham crime.
The fugitives had once more eluded the
net police had spread to capture them.
At the Millen home on Lawrence Ave-
nue all knowledge regarding the where-
abouts of Irving and Murton Millen Was
True Detective Mysteries
denied. They had not been seen or heard
from for at least a week, their parents and’
sister insisted. Faber also reported heat-
ing nothing from the friends with whom
he had grown up as a boy. Continuing to
co-operate with the police with apparent
willingness, the young radio engineer
seemed to be greatly distressed over the
situation.
Two days after the disappearance of the
Millen brothers and the pretty daughter
of a clergyman from 117 Audubon Road,
police in North Egremont were searching
the countryside for the body of a young
woman believed to have been slain by
gangsters. She had been seen in a car
with men of sinister appearance, and
later they had been seen driving away
without her. Then a woman’s hat and
pocketbook had been found near by.
Newspapers announced that descriptions of
the young woman by the few persons who
had seen her fitted closely the broadcast
description of Norma Brighton Millen.
A gentle, tired-looking man with a sad
face walked into State Police Headquar-
ters in the State House and asked for the
detectives in charge of the search for the
Millens. He introduced himself as the
Reverend Norman Brighton, father of
Murton Millen’s girl-bride, and explained
that he now was living in Natick,
“I have just read in the papers the news
from North Egremont,” he said, “and
I fear that my little girl, Norma, has been
slain, Five years ago my elder daughter,
Thelma, then eighteen, also disappeared
under mysterious circumstances. She went
out to meet someone while we were liv-
ing on Ivy Street in Brookline, and never
came back. I have never heard a word
from her since. I have spent all the
money I could trying to find her, but
without the slightest success. Last October
Norma brought this Millen man to our
home and introduced him to me. I did
not like him; and that is the only time I
ever saw him. He told me he was a radio
man. The next month they were married.
Norma has not communicated with me
and I am greatly worried. I fear the
,
worst.’
Ts father’s distress aroused sympathy,
but the detectives had no definite ine
formation they could offer to console him.
They could only promise to do their best,
while enlisting his whole-hearted co-opera-
tion. But it was an opportunity to obtain
information, and the state officers utilized
it. They were told about Norma’s inter-
ests, her friends, her cultural background,
her eagerness for pretty clothes and ex-
citement. The anxious father was willing
to furnish photographs which might aid
the search. “She was a devoted daughter,”
the clergyman confided, “and I cannot
understand—I can’t believe that she would
remain away this way willingly without
communicating with her father.”
More days passed without bringing en-
fouraging news. Then George Breach re-
ceived a telephone call from New York.
“Grab that man Abe Faber. He's the
brains of the gang. But you better be
d— careful. He’s a crack shot. Won prizes
as a marksman with pistols while he was
a student at ‘Tech’, We've got this case
busted wide open.”
—_Oo—
What had become of Murton and
Irving Miller and the girl bride? It
appeared from Breach’s terse message
that Detectives Hall and Smith had
come upon something most important.
Next month’s installment of this story,
filled with exciting developments
which now followed thick and fast,
will appear on the news stands Novem.
ber Sth. Order your copy early,
pu until you learn about CE
o re) POSTAL LIFE’S
ft ..:.. POLICY
Only POSTAL LIFE of NEW YORK gives
you an insurance value like this, for Postal sells direct
and has NO AGENTS, That is why Postal’s low pre-
mium of only $1 a month buys $1,221 of insurance at
age 20; $1,086 at age 25 3 $948 at age 30; $813 at age
35,etc.; all ages, 18 to 50, men and women, Send coupon
to find out amount at your age,
Real “Old Line’? LEGAL RESERVE life insurance
that offers you lifetime protection with cash -loan values
and standard provisions and benefits printed in the policy
and guaranteed. This 29-year-old safe company, operating
under the rigid New York State insurance laws, has paid
out over $40,000,000 to policy holders and their families,
Mail coupon today, No obligation,
= oe oe ee ee eee oe es et Geet tee ees cee
POSTAL LIFE INSURANCE CO.—Anrraur Jonpan, Pres.
Dept. 690, 511 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.
Please mail details of your $1.00 policy,
Exact date and year A BIT eee cece eens
Full address
BUY DIRECT AND SAVE a
EEE
_
ry Bean ARTIST
Au! 9 = MAKE $50 To $i00 A WEEK!
ur simple, proven methods make it
g Yi easy to learn Commercial Art, Car-
we he fooning and Designing quickly, AT
== HOME, in spare time. New low rate.
Big new book, “ART for Pleasure and
Profit”, sent free. State age.
ge.
Studio 4111, WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF
ART, 1115 15th St., Washington, D. C.
TOP Your Rupture
s
ture? bout rected |
Ear iemeaceaes: Worries
Gashions which bind and draw g
ate would a broken limb. No obnoxious springs or pads,
lo salves OF prasters. Sent on trial to prove it. Beware of
ever sold in stores. Write today for full infors
mation sent free in plain,
H.-G. BROOKS, plain, sealed envelo
pe,
186 State St., Marshall, Mich,
Scientific sales out- b=
fit, presenting com-
plete haberdashery
line, FREE, Write for
it NOW! Dept. L9.
Public Service Mills
West New York, N. J.
? Do you use just your thinking mind? If you do, ?
you are missing 90% of your possibilities» Those
? occasional hunches are the urges of a vast sleep. ?
ing force in your inner mind. Learn to develop
and directit. Push obstacles aside and master ?
life with an energy you have overlooked. Send
for FREE SEALED BOOK. ‘It tells how to ob- 2
? tain these teachings. Address Scribe Q.2.c. ?
ROSICRUCIAN BROTHERHOOD
2 SAN JOSE (AMORC) CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Fun! Good times! Popularity;
Boy! You'll live in a new world
of happiness when you learn to
ya P-A Sax’. We've madeit so
easy to blow, so easy to finger—
almost like humming a tune.
4 Master itin notime. Writenow
‘ terms, .
PAN.
. te today.
AMERICAN
1148 P-A Bidg., Elkhart, Ind. 1121
Molorite Drece
=
THE Strory So Far:
HEN a wave of violent crime overwhelmed
Massachusetts, Governor Ely sought to
stem the criminal tide by persuading the State
Legislature to consent to reorganization and uni-
fication of the police forces of the Commonwealth
into an efficiently-trained, equipped and co-or-
dinated body to combat the frightful menace. <A
swift succession of even more malign atrocities
followed while certain powerful political influences
combined to checkmate Governor Ely’s efforts for
police reform. After Louis Berrett and Clement Mol-
way, Boston taxicab drivers, were arrested as two of
three men who held up the Paramount Theater in Lynn
and were placed on trial for murder, more sensational
hold-ups and murders followed, apparently committed by
the same gang with identical weapons. The ruthless methods
of the marauders and their wanton killings were astounding.
The Boston Automobile Show was raided late in January and an
exhibit of the State Police looted of sawed-off shotguns, machine
guns, ammunition and other ordnance. A few days later the Need-
ham Trust Company was robbed of fifteen thousand dollars, two
policemen killed, a Needham fireman and a bank employee shot. Two
bank officials were also abducted, but they escaped without serious injury
from the bandits’ getaway car. A partially-burned Packard sedan was later
found in the woods of the near-by town of Norwood and identified as the car
used in both the Needham and Lynn crimes. An unusual appliance attached to a
short-wave radio set for intercepting police signals was traced to a radio shop on Co-
lumbus Avenue, Boston. The shop was operated by Abraham Faber, graduate of Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and champion marksman on his college pistol team, who
agreed to aid police in solving the crime. Repairs on the automobile battery of the abandoned
$1
FABER & THL MILLEN BROTHERS
A portion of the loot
cached by the Millen me
brothers, photographed ;' :
just as it was found in .
a rented garage on
Brinsley Street, in
Dorchester
DAYAR
(Right) The two Millen boys taken after the Law
had caught up with them. Irving, the younger, is
shown with bandaged head. (Upper right, oppo-
site page) Authorities inspect loot found in raided
garage. Left to right: George Breach, representing
the William J. Burns International Detective
Agency; State Detective-Lieutenants Joseph Fer-
rari and Michael Fleming; District Attorney Edmund
Dewing, and General Daniel Needham
By
GOVERNOR OF
MASSACHUSETTS
As told to FRED H. THOMPSON
Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
50
TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
de 9
December » 1934
The fate
the balance.
in Dedham
n which he
I get out of
‘ou. Don’t
‘othed.
ie law was
rip. Ques-
fouse, Mrs.
was taken
vil for com-
ibery. Still
srupted, she
. cell clanged
own Boston
arge of Abe
wits with
his client
no outward in-
lar heard herself
y and receiving
.d in a cell with
‘wo young girls?
han a gunman’s
s in her quest
1e stories of Saul
to suggest? Or
The Truth About the Atrocious Massachusetts Killings 65
was she the innocent, unsophisticated daughter of a
clergyman enmeshed in a fantastic web of strange
circumstances, as vehemently asserted by her frantic
father and mother? Was Rose Knellar the naive,
trusting maiden pictured by herself and her family
and the Boston jeweler who employed her as his
bookkeeper? Or had she known the astounding
story of robbery and murder told police by the
brilliant Tech’ graduate she was pledged to wed?
Even investigating officials were in some doubt.
And the general public was stirred to wild specula-
tion. Garbled accounts of the apprehension of the
Millens in New York and their statements were being
published. Equally extraordinary reports concerning
Faber and the astonishing statements which he had
(Above) Judge Nelson P. Brown who warned Norma’s
lawyer against contempt of court proceedings in
connection with the publication of her life story before
or during the trial
made were being circulated. And detectives were probing,
delving, digging from Boston to Washington to ascertain the
real facts.
Attorneys were coming into the case to represent the various
‘defendants. John Daly and Samuel Alexander appeared for
Miss Knellar and procured her release on bail. Attorney
George A. Douglas and an associate appeared for Norma and
demanded a reduction of the fifty-thousand-dollar bail in-
sisted upon by District Attorney Edmund Dewing to a sum
which her father and friends might be able to raise. Several
(Above) Abe Faber’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Faber.
Broken-hearted over their boy’s actions, they made every
effort to save him
attorneys, one of them a woman friend of the Millen family,
were brought into the case for the Millen brothers and Faber;
but, eventually, it was agreed that George Stanley Harvey, a
former assistant district attorney, should be chief of counsel
for the Millens, and William Scharton, widely known Boston
criminal lawyer, should be in charge of the defense of Faber.
HE insistence of the Millens that Faber’s astounding
“eonfession’”’ was the creation of a diseased imagination and
that he was crazy hastened the routine examination required
by Massachusetts law of murder defendants by skillful alien-
ists. Doctor Winifred Overholser, Commissioner of the
Department of Mental Diseases, assigned Doctor Vernon L.
Briggs and Doctor Earl Holt, Superintendent of the Medfield
State Hospital, to make the examination. The eminent
experts went to Dedham Jail and were ushered in to Faber’s
cell. He turned his back upon them and walked to the far
end of his cell. “I’ve done all the talking I’m going to do,”
he yelled. “I don’t care who you are or who sent you. Vl
talk only when my attorney is here from now on. You're
wasting your time trying to get me to answer any questions.”
For an hour or more the famous psychiatrists matched wits
with the brilliant engineer. They got exactly nowhere.
Faber met all their thrusts with a steady refusal to say any-
thing more than that he would not talk. He even refused to
admit that his name was Faber. Finally, the experts appealed
to the Norfolk County sheriff and he referred them to Faber’s
chief attorney. They telephoned Scharton and he shouted
vigorous objections. “I forbid you to bother my client or to try
to force him to answer any of your questions,” he asserted. ‘You
aren’t rushing this boy any more. I’ve told him not to answer
a single one of your questions and that’s final. I don’t need
any co-operation from you and neither does Faber. He’s
already got all the co-operation he’l] ever want from the police.
You're not going to question him until (Continued on page 117)
ry, with the
‘ing in Cali-
Back he
exactly as
Marquette
ais time, on
velve years.
punishment
» course of
t-back, and
the Michi-
roles.
vee County
an, was be-
Prison.
| the guard,
murdered a
es to point
> guard re-
igainst tell-
‘gins is em-
en they ar-
ly twenties.
in singling
Lafayette
ible bower.
flashed in
glass en-
M. Higgins
le perfume
Same ibilities
@..:
{ The home
and rob.”
rises dwin-
hand that
once proud
lighted by
ght of the
| expended
ts to main-
ns; Michi-
ssuance of
1 its neces-
of John M.
tly echoed
zadd, lover
ngrels, on
re you do-
eme
hat the
never
True Detective Mysteries
The Truth About the Atrocious
Massachusetts Killings
(Continued from page 65)
I’m there, and my own doctor is there
and that settles it.”
The alienists tried to explain that they
were there in official capacity as required
by Massachusetts law. Faber’s chief coun-
sel snapped back, “Oh, is that so! What’s
this, another Sacco-Vanzetti case up in
Norfolk County? You can’t make my
client talk unless I agree, and he isn’t
going to talk to you or to anyone else
from now on until I give the word. I'll
hold you responsible if you try to make
that boy talk against his wishes. I’ve
already appointed Doctor Myerson to ex-
amine Faber and he’s at work on the case
this very minute. He’s got the family his-
tory assembled and he’ll be at the jail any
time to assist in the examination of Faber.
But he’s going to be present. We'll be
there at two-thirty o’clock sharp on Tues-
day afternoon (March 6th), and we'll see
to it that Faber answers all the questions
that the doctors want to ask him.”
A NEWSPAPERMAN was in Schar-
ton’s office as he spoke over the tele-
phone and turning to the reporter as he
slammed the receiver on the hook, the
skillful attorney who had saved not a few
criminals from imprisonment or death
made a significant statement. He said: “At
the right time I’ll reveal something to the
public in connection with this case that
will cause a tremendous sensation and rock
the whole state. I can’t say a word about
it now because it would be unethical. But
it’s there and I’m going to bust it loose
next week. All I care to say at this time
about Faber—and I’ve talked with him
and made a study of him together with
Doctor Myerson—is that he is a psycho-
pathic case. As a matter of fact, two of
these three men charged with these crimes
are psychopathic cases. We've already
established that and we have plenty of
evidence available to support this claim in
a court of law.” :
Questing detectives were digging out
interesting facts. Some of the guns used
in the ruthless robberies and murders
were .22-caliber “Woodsmen” automatic
pistols with exceptionally long barrels
stolen from the target range at Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, where
Faber had been a distinguished student
and a crack shot on the pistol team.
Stool pigeons of the underworld began
to talk.. Sure they knew this guy Murton
Millen whose pictures were in all the
newspapers. He was just a punk who had
got a job at fifty dollars a week working
for a rum-running gang down on .Cape
Cod. What gang? Why, the gang look-
ing after things in New England for Owney
Madden, the New York gangster, and his
Boston partner, King Solomon, knocked off
by a gang of killers in a South End night
club, .Sure, that was right. Repeal of
prohibition had disrupted the gang.
Murt Millen? Well, that wasn’t the
name he had used in the rum racket. He
was nothing but a punk, anyway, trying to
get a “rep.”
Deprived of her liberty for the first
time in her life, Norma lost her debonair
gaiety after a day and a night behind the
bars. She broke down and wept when the
Reverend Norman Brighton came to the
jail to comfort her, and had to confess
that his frantic efforts to raise the heavy
bail demanded had been futile.
Attorney Douglas launched charges
through the newspapers that authorities
were attempting to “railroad” his young
girl client, and that more than an hour
of “battling” was necessary before he was
permitted to interview her. He intimated
that it was a frame-up to coerce Norma
into talking, whereas she was remaining
steadfast in denying any guilty knowledge
and, therefore, refusing to make the de-
sired “confession.”
Rushed by train from New York back
to Boston on March 5th, Murton and
Irving Millen were guarded by heavy de-
tails of police throughout the journey.
No chances were to be taken of possible
attempts at rescue or escape on the trip
to Dedham Jail.
At this time, because of the tremendous
newspaper publicity, there was little doubt
among the general public of the guilt of
Faber and the Millen brothers. Feeling
was running high, particularly among
friends and relatives of numerous victims
of robbery and murder. Danger of some
attempt at reprisal or even a lynching
was actually feared. Hence the elaborate
precautions taken, under the personal com-
mand of General Daniel Needham, Massa-
chusetts Commissioner of Public Safety,
and Superintendent Martin King of the
Boston Police Department.
The same day I sent letters of com-
mendation to the New York Police Com-
missioner calling attention to the excellent
co-operation given us by Lieutenant
Charles Eason and Detectives John Fitz-
simmons and Edmund O’Brien of the New
York department. I was later advised that
this action was to bring to the three offi-
cers advancement of a grade with an
increase in pay. The excellent work of
Detective Lieutenant John Stokes of our
Massachusetts State Police was rewarded
through General Needham with promo-
tion to the rank of captain in command
of the entire detective division.
EANTIME Murton Millen was
angrily demanding that his wife be
released and that he be permitted to see
her. Norma was equally insistent that she
be allowed to talk with her husband. They
were refused, and prevented from exchang-
ing any confidences except through their
lawyers,
The government psychiatrists reported
officially that Murton and Irving Millen
and Abraham Faber were absolutely sane
and fully capable of knowing the differ-
ence between right and wrong, and ap-
preciating the consequences of any acts
they might commit.
Convinced that this definitely disposed
of any suggestion that Faber’s extraordi-
nary “confession” involving the Millen
brothers could be merely the figment of
a diseased imagination, and that Murton
Millen’s amazing boasting to Saul Mes-
singer—assuming Messinger’s story to be
true—was only tall lving to “kid” his boy-
hood chum, District Attorney Edmund
Dewing pressed for an early trial. But
defense counsel fought for delay. At-
torney Scharton, in behalf of Faber, con-
tended that it would be impossible to
obtain a fair trial while public feeling was
so greatly inflamed.
Saul Messinger twas brought to Boston
as a material witness and held under bail
in Dedham Jail. His admissions already
had wrecked his aspiration to become a
member of the New York Police Depart-
ment.
Aroused by reports that his pretty nine-
teen-year-old wife had lost her love for
him and didn’t care whether she ever saw
A FREE BOOK
Develop your personal, creative power! Awaken
the silent sleeping forces in your own conscious-
noss. Become Master of your own life. Push aside
all obstacles with a new energy you have over-
looked. The ROSICRUCIANS know how, and will
help you apply the greatest of all powers in man's
control. Create ‘health and abundance for yourself.
Write for FREE book, "The Wisdom of the Sages” It
tells how you may receive these teachings for study and
use. It means the dawn of a new day for you. Address,
Seribe R. P. H,
ROSICRUCIAN BROTHERHOOD
San Jose ({AMORC}) Colifornia
ARE YOU JUST HOPING
TO LAND IN A GOOD JOB?
Hope without foundation is pretty futile in
this competitive age! But hope lus training
is a winning combination—and all over this
country today, in all kinds of professions
and trades, men are getting ahead —land-
ing in good jobs—earning more money —
because of serious and systematic study
of International Correspondence Schools
Courses. These courses are giving them the
training they need to succeed! As for you,
investigation will not put you under any
obligation. Mail the coupon!
INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS
“The Universal University” Box 2902-C, Scranton, Penna.
Without cost or obligation, please send me a copy of
your booklet, ‘‘Who Wins and Why,’’ and fall persicae
about the subject before which J have marked X:
TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRIAL COURSES
hitect O Bridge Engincer
O Architectural Draftsman © Automobile Work
O Building Estimating O Plumbing 0 Steam Fitting
O Wood Millworking O Heating ( Ventilation
O Contractor and Builder O Air Conditioning
O Sanitary Engineer
O Sheet Metal Worker
O Steam Engincer
E ing O Marine Engineer
0D Welding, Electric and Gas ( Refrigeration
017 i OR. R. Locomotives
Oo O R. R. Section Foreman
0 Inventing and Patenting OR. R. Bridge and Building
O Mechanical Engineer Foreman O Air Brakes
0 Mechanical Draftsman OR. R. Signalman
Patternmaker 1) Machinist ( Pharmacy
Reading Shop Blueprints O Chemistry
Heat Treatment of Metals © Coal Mining Engineer
Civil Engineer O Navigation OC Agriculture
Highway Engineering O Textile Overseer or Supt.
Surveying and Mapping O Cotton Manufacturing
Gas Engines () Toolmaker O Woolen Manufacturing
O Diesel Engines O Fruit Growing OD Radic
0D Aviation Engines O Poultry Farming
Industrial Oo Corr d
Traffic Management O Lettering Show Cards
D Cost Accountant © Stenography and Typing
0 Accountancy and O English O Signs
C.P.A. Coaching O Civil Service
OD Bookkeepin, O Railway Mail Clerk
O Secretarial Work O Mail Carrier
O8 D French O Grade School Subjects
DO Salesmanship O High School Subjects
OV paper Decorating 0D College Preparatory
Salesmanship O First Year Coll:
a Mentine Mat hip O Il ing CO Cart
Name. Age
RCO DOUBT sb oasesscecsssssarsasssrosssvscnnsoscscsseesastesesseeceseeribeveee
City. State
oO ion
If vou reside in Canada, send this coupon to the
International Correspondence Schools Canadian, Limited,
ontreal, Canada,
118
him again, Murton Millen broke the cold
silence he had maintained since his return
from New York, and lashed out bitterly at
the Reverend Norman Brighton, whom he
blamed for the stories.
On the eve of the arraignment in the
Dedham Superior Court on March 10th
of the Millens, Faber and Norma, detec-
tives broke with startling suddenness the
mystery surrounding the whereabouts. of
the loot the three young men were alleged
to have gathered in a career of violent
crime. They had evidence that Fuber had
invested some fifty thousand dollars in
communications stocks, in behalf of him-
self and his partners. Also that the trio
had heavily insured themselves shortly
before the Needham bank atrocity, Faber
taking out fifty thousand dollars in
policies, Murton Millen ten thousand and
Irving Millen five thousand dollars,
URTHERMORE, the theory was ad-
vanced, supported by certain evidence,
that on the very day that the Millen
brothers and Norma were arrested in New
York, at the Hotel Lincoln, Murton and
Irving had planned to slay the confidant
who had become the chief witness against
them—Saul Messinger. The boyhood friend
to whom Murton had boasted and to whom
he had sent insistent telegrams to come to
the trysting place was apparently to be
taken for a last ride to New Jersey to still
him forever. The heaviest police guard in
the state’s history was recruited to guard
the court house during the arraignment,
both inside and outside, and to cover the
transfer over the half mile between jail
and court.
Meanwhile, there came a development
that was to have startling repercussions.
A Boston newspaper announced that it
had arranged to publish exclusively Mrs.
Norma Brighton Millen’s own “inside”
story of her life and her experiences since
her marriage. A sum of money reputed
to be ten thousand dollars was to be paid
to the young woman, either directly or
through some unnamed third person. Judge
Nelson P. Brown closely questioned her
lawyer concerning the sale of Norma’s
life story, and warned that contempt of
court proceedings would quickly follow
publication before or during the trial.
But Judge Brown consented to reduce
Norma’s bail to twenty-five thousand dol-
Jars, a sum which her lawyer said he
might be able to furnish the next day.
Resembling a frightened little girl being
brought before a teacher to be punished,
pale and shaken after a temporary collapse
in an anteroom, she answered “not guilty”
in a small, weak voice when asked her
plea to an indictment charging her with
being an accessory.
Of all the principals in the drama pres-
ent, including the saturnine-browed, black-
jowled Murton, the round-faced, boyish
Irving, and the slim, wan Faber with his
brusa-like, mouse colored mustache—of
all these the pretty, white-faced girl was
the dominant figure. She was not brought
into the courtroom, however, until her
husband and his two companions had been
arraigned on murder and armed-robbery
charges, pleaded not guilty, and been taken
back to the county jail. There was to be
no meeting of the separated husband and
wife.
While counsél were wrangling in court
about newspaper publicity and charging
that officials had made it impossible for
them to secure a fair trial, Judge Brown
sternly interrupted. “Speaking of pub-
licity, Mr. Douglas, may I ask you if
you know anything about this? I have
a newspaper here announcing that ‘I,
Norma Millen, will write my life story
every day during the trial.’ What per-
sonal knowledge have you of this?”
True Detective Mysteries
“Well,” said Attorney Douglas, “I—I—
the little girl has sold her story. She
is—
“Who sold it? You are her attorney.”
“Well, the offer of a newspaper has been
accepted by—the party connected with the
case.”
“What do you mean by the party con-
nected in. the case?” demanded Judge
Brown. “Do you think that’s an answer?”
“I refuse to answer,” was the reply of
Norma’s attorney. Then he _ hurriedly
added, “I don’t mean that I refuse to
answer, but I prefer not to answer at
this time.” :
“T don’t want to embarrass you, Mr.
Douglas,” announced the judge, “but let
me say that all those concerned with the
publication of such a story will be brought
before this court on due process of law
and cited for contempt.”
The newspaper containing the first in-
stallment of the story of Norma’s life,
under her signed name, appeared on the
Saul Messinger (left) shown with a
guard. His co-operation aided
authorities in breaking up the Mass-
achusetts murder trio, and landing
all three in the Law’s drag-net
streets and news stands that very evening.
Judge Brown had been called to another
city on official business after announcing
that he would decide after the week-end
whether or not to postpone the trial.
Attorneys for the various defendants were
conferring in an effort to get together and
agree on one chief of counsel who could
reconcile the conflicting interests and be in
full charge of the defense battle. The out-
come was a demand for separate trials of
the Millen brothers and Faber.
Judge Brown decided that the trial must
start on the date set—March 26th—and
that the three men must be tried together,
Norma to stand trial alone later. With-
out waiting for the outcome of the trial,
the United States Army notified Faber in
jail that he was dishonorably discharged
from his commission in the Officers Re-
serve Corps. The vigorous tactics of de-
fense counsel finally persuaded Judge
Brown to grant a delay of three weeks,
and they continued to clamor for more
delay.
Doctor Abraham Myerson, noted psy-
chiatrist retained in behalf of Faber, now
chucked a bombshell into the case by
announcing that he had withdrawn from
all connection with the trial and did not
intend to testify. He admitted that he
had completed his examinations and made
a report, but he refused to make any ex-
planation of his withdrawal.
A peculiar thing then happened. The
mother of the Millen brothers was brought
to Dedham Jail to see them, but as soon
as she was inside she began screaming
hysterically and finally was carried out and
sent home. A doctor was called by her
family and she was committed to the
Boston Psychopathic Hospital for obser-
vation.
Claiming that their clients were without
funds, defense counsel got the court to
provide money for hiring experts and other
expenses. One of the new alienists brought
to jail a complicated apparatus termed a
“truth detector” for the examination of
Faber. The next move was a demand for
a jury-waived: trial—that the defendants
go on trial for their lives before Judge
Brown without a jury. This was. denied,
also a motion for a change of venue on
the ground that newspaper publicity and
radio broadcasts, some of them garbled or
false, had made it impossible to get a
fair trial in Norfolk County. °
The announcer for a radio news service
was brought into court and forced to ad-
mit under oath that some of the “ex-
clusive news” which he had broadcast was
a fake, and that he had made no retraction
under instructions of the district attorney.
Attorney Scharton, thereupon, made a
sensational demand that District Attorney
Dewing be cited for contempt of court.
EANWHILE, Norma’s father and
lawyer had succeeded in arranging
for bail of twenty-five thousand dollars to
free her, but learned that she would im-
mediately be arrested again on a capias
under another indictment. “I intend to
keep her in jail,” announced the district
attorney. He did not want to see her ex-
ploited, or tampered with as a possible
witness.
On Monday morning, April 16th, 1934,
the Millen brothers and Faber were
brought into court to stand trial for their
lives. Dedham was like an armed camp.
Heavy details of police held back the
crowds which flocked from: miles around
in spite of the announcement that only
certain newspapermen and officials would
be admitted to the courtroom while the
jury was being selected from the large
panels drawn. The court house and its
vicinity bristled with uniformed State Po-
lice and deputy-sheriffs, all carrying
weapons in readiness for any contingency.
Faber, pallid, his downcast eyes staring
at the floor, pursed his lips and licked
them with his tongue. Murton Millen
was sullen and defiant. Irving Millen
grinned at his surroundings, jerked his
shackled wrist and whispered wisecracks
to his brother, whose usual response was
the jab of a hard elbow into Irving’s ribs.
Talesman after talesman squirmed and
explained to avoid service. Fifty-one men
were examined to get two jurors. Three
lists of veniremen were called before
twelve. jurors were finally selected and
qualified on the fifth day of the trial. The
scene of the murders in Needham was
viewed, the raided garage, the woods where
the abandoned car was found, the homes
of the Millen brothers and of Faber. Came
the ninth day, and District Attorney Dew-
ing was ready to make his opening ad-
dress to the jury and begin the actual
taking of testimony at last:
Then the coup planned by defense coun-
sel was sprung. It was a double-barrelled
attack in the Federal courts. A writ of
habeas corpus was demanded to get the
Millen brothers and Faber out of the
jurisdiction of the
perior Court. 1T
asked to order J)
trial at Dedham
defendants were b
rights and their ca:
It was further argi
were entitled tc
court on the groun
for them to get
County.
While these pro
courts were mov)
Brown ordered tl
state court to con
ment objections «
He refused to pe
ponement or dela
the trial was a \
tax-payers’ mone\
courts would surels
no impression «
jurist.
HEN Judge I
States District
titions. Defense :
his decision. Mean
Dewing was calli
nesses to the star
mony which he be
and the two Mill
the electric chair.
cluded in her cell
The drama sta:
torney marched 0)
a picture of utter
eager crowds thri
to get into the cou
the bullet-scarred
Trust Company, }
of a machine gu)
Patrolmen Forbe
Haddock, the ridd
Coughlin, the w
vault guard and
its officers.
Defense lawyers
of evidence swift
three young me
hemmed in a §
tions were most
nation that swer
the savage seem:
on the stories of
There was En
treasurer of the
story. “A man ¢
room where my d
I rose and faced
over the railroad
poked a gun in
away from the w)
say, ‘Here comes
lobby of the bank
I heard the bla
window. I heard
and another gun
of the bank. Is
»
“Did you see |
gun in your ribs?
“Yes.”
“Where is he p
“He’s sitting u
the middle.” K
Millen. The olde:
face twisted into
There was th
Bartholomew, eld
story of being sh
“T heard shouts
‘Throw up your h
lobby of the ban
room. The next
words of vile cha
Deliberate and }
man displayed |!
to the judge, a
along the jury |
jurors the scars ¢
hdrawn from
and did not
itted that he
ms and made
nake any ex-
ypened. The
: was brought
. but as soon
in screaming
rried out and
‘alled by her
itted to the
al for obser-
were without
the court to
‘rts and other
nists brought
tus termed a
amination of
. demand for
e defendants
before Judge
s was denied,
of venue on
publicity and
m garbled or
le to get a
news service
forced to ad-
of the “ex-
sroadcast was
‘etraction
attorney.
made a
rict Attorney
ot of court.
father and
in arranging
nd dollars to’
1e would im-
on a Ccapias
‘I intend to
1 the district
o see her ex-
is a possible
il 16th, 1934,
Faber were
trial for their
armed camp.
Id back the
miles around
nt that only
ficials would
im while the
m the large
ouse and its
ied State Po-
all carrying
contingency.
eyes staring
s and licked
irton Millen
rving Millen
jerked his
d_ wisecracks
response was
Irving’s ribs.
quirmed and
‘ifty-one men
irors. Three
‘alled before
selected and
the trial. The
‘eedham was
woods where
d. the homes
Faber. Came
ey Dew-
ning ad-
e actual
defense coun-
uble-barrelled
s. A writ of
d to get the
out of the
jurisdiction of the Norfolk County Su-
perior Court. The Federal justice was
asked to order Judge Brown to stop the
trial at Dedham on the ground that the
defendants were being denied their civil
rights and their case was being prejudiced.
It was further argued that the defendants
were entitled tc a trial in the Federal
court on the ground that it was impossible
for them to get a fair trial in Norfolk
County.
While these proceedings in the Federal
courts were moving ponderously, Judge
Brown ordered the murder trial in the
state court to continue despite the vehe-
ment objections of the defense lawyers.
He refused to permit any further post-
ponement or delay. The argument that
the trial was a waste of time and the
tax-payers’ money, because the Federal
courts would surely take jurisdiction, made
no impression on the Massachusetts
jurist.
iy eoe Judge Brewster of the United
States District Court denied all the pe-
titions. Defense attorneys appealed from
his decision. Meanwhile, District Attorney
Dewing was calling a procession of wit-
nesses to the stand and presenting testi-
mony which he believed would send Faber
and the two Millen brothers to death in
the electric chair. Norma was kept se-_
cluded in her cell at Dedham Jail.
The drama staged by the district at-
torney marched on, relentlessly presenting
a picture of utter brutality. Those of the
eagor crowds thronging to Dedham able
to get into the courtroom could almost see
the bullet-scarred interior of the Needham
Trust Company, hear the vicious rat-a-tat
of a machine gun, vision the murder of
Patrolmen Forbes McLeod and_ Frank
Haddock, the riddling of Fireman Timothy
Coughlin, the wounding of the bank’s
vault guard and the abduction of two of
its officers. :
Defense lawyers fought to stem the tide
of evidence swiftly mounting against the
three young men shackled together and
hemmed in a steel-barred cage. Objec-
tions were mostly overruled. Cross-exami-
nation that swerved from the suave to
the savage seemed to have little effect
cn the stories of witnesses.
There was Ernest R. Keith, assistant
treasurer of the bank, and his unshaken
story. “A man came into the conference
room where my desk is. He said, ‘Get up.’
I rose and faced the window looking out
over the railroad tracks. He came over,
poked a gun in my ribs and pushed me
away from the window. I heard the man
say, ‘Here comes a cop!’ Someone in the
lobby of the bank yelled, ‘Get him!’ Then
I heard the blast of the gun at the
window. I heard a gun fired in the lobby
and another gun fired on the other side
of the bank. I stayed there a minute or
“Did you see the man who poked the
gun in your ribs?”
“Ves,”
“Where is he now?” 4
“He’s sitting in the prisoners’ cage, in
the middle.” Keith pointed to Murton
Millen. The older Millen stared back, his
face twisted into a sardonic smile.
There was the solid, stolid Walter
Bartholomew, elderly vault guard, and his
story of being shot in the bank hold-up.
“J heard shouts and hollering. Then,
‘Throw up your hands!’ It came from the
lobby of the bank toward the customers’
room. The next thing I heard was some
words of vile character addressed to me.”
Deliberate and postive, the short, gray
man displayed his wounded right hand
to the judge, and then walked slowly
along the jury box, showing the intent
jurors the scars of his great adventure.
True Detective Mysteries
Arnold MacIntosh, the bank treasurer,
swore that Murton Millen was the man
with a machine gun wno had ordered him
to “come along” after the hold-up. He
said that Abe Faber “strongly resembled”
the bandit he had seen carrying out the
boxes of money looted from the bank.
And he similarly identified Irving Millen.
The drooping eyelids crowning Murton’s
long face blinked rapidly and a grimacing
quirk curved his lips. Irving, seldom still,
wriggled his shoulders with a peculiar
weaving motion and made a smiling com-
ment to his brother. Faber, eyes down-
cast, appeared oblivious of what went on
around him.
Attorney Scharton, cross-examining for
Faber, startled the courtroom by produc-
ing Louis Berrett, Boston taxi-driver re-
cently absolved in the Lynn Paramount
Theater robbery and murder at a trial
taken out of the jury’s hands because of
mistaken identity that threatened a grave
miscarriage of justice. Every eye in the
court was on Berrett as he stood in the
rear of the room and Scharton demanded
of MacIntosh if he did not recognize him.
The banker’s reply was a vigorous denial.
He then told how he was forced to cling
on the running-board of the bandits’ car
as they escaped, the bank teller, John
Riordan, clinging on the other side.
How there was a burst of gunfire as the
car passed the Needham Fire Station, the
chatter of a machine-gun, the banging of
a shotgun from within the car, killing
Officer Haddock and wounding Fireman
Coughlin. How Riordan escaped by
throwing himself into the snowdrifts, and
he did the same, the bandit volleys miss-
ing them.
IORDAN told a similar story, and
could not be shaken by all the wiles
and shrewdness of the veteran lawyers
fighting for the defendants. Cool, alert, he
matched wits with Attorney Scharton, in-
sisting on his identifications and refusing
to be shaken by any traps set for him.
The widow of one of the murdered
policemen was there, patiently waiting and
watching. The father of the Millen broth-
ers was there with his daughters and
musician son. Faber’s mother was there,
her face tortured by the emotions in her
aching heart. There was emotion and
drama and tragedy, stark and naked.
Norma’s clergyman father was there, and
his divorced wife, Norma’s mother, who
awaited her chance to meet Mrs. Faber
and whisper words of sympathy.
New York and Washington officers and
Massachusetts state detectives told of the
capture of the Millen brothers and Mur-
ton’s wife Norma, the seizing of the stolen
State Police weapons, the recovery of
money identified ag stolen from the Need-
ham Trust Company, the raiding of the
rented garage in Dorchester. And on the
very day that defense counsel were per-
mitted to take their appeal for a writ of
habeas corpus up to the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals, Saul Messinger,
star witness for the prosecution, was called
to the witness-stand.
Murton half rose to his feet as Messinger
assed the prisoners’ cage, strained at the
andcuffs on both his wrists, focused his
burning gaze on his one-time friend and
snarled between clenched teeth, “You dirty
rat!” Irving Millen, the younger brother,
glared his hatred. Messinger hurried past,
his face flushed, his eyes averted.
And then Rose Knellar was called to
testify against the man she had loved.
There was something in her attitude, some-
thing about the simple candor in her tell-
ing of her ruined romance, that brought
a lump in the throat. She looked across
the courtroom at the pale youth with the
bowed head, and in a wistful, whimsical
ell
Learn to Make
°40 560.575 a WEEK
SM tram you at
home un Apane Wwme
Get my FREE book about the op-
portunities in Radio, Mail the cou-
pon now. Get the facts about this
field with a future. N.RI. training
fits you for jobs making, selling,
servicing short and long wave Radio
sets, to have your own business; to
operate Radio apparatus on board
* pare ‘ ships, in a broadcasting or com-
Po. yo spare time Radio mercial land station; for television,
only, 1 have aver-
aged about $500 a year Viation, police Radio, and many
in addition to _my reg- other branches. My FREE _ book
por income. Full time gives re 4 aeeogtrg and tells how
st you quickly learn at home in spare
per elon a time. Stop struggling along in a
Fawcett, Slough Rd., dull job with low pay and no future.
Ladner B. C., Cunnda. Start training now for the live-wire
Radio field. I have doubled and
tripled salaries of many.
Many Make $5, $10, $15
a Week Extra in Spare
Time While Learning
Hold your job. I’ll train you in a
Sd nae of YOU share time a week.
o ¥ e day you enro "ll send you in-
FF sce Nog Prat structions which you should master
sion started, I found quickly for doing 28 Radio jobs com-
myself without a job, mon in most every neighborhood. I
but I was well protected give you radio equipment that
$500 A Year in
Ss Time
I swung right to fuli teaches you to build and service
time lio servicing practically every type of receiving
_ Frit oot set made. Fred J. Dubuque, 19
William Rcakiank Church St., Oswego, N. Y., wrote:
Bparty Radio Service, 93 I have made about $1200 in a little
Ww
ay, Newark, N. J. ever two years’ spare time Radio
work.’”
Get My Book—FREE—Now
My book has shown hundreds of
fellows how to make more money
and win success. It’s FREE to
any ambitious fellow over 15 years
of age. Investigate. Find out
what Radio offers; about my Course;
what others who have taken it are
doing and making; about my Money
Back Agreement, and the many other
N.R.I. features. Mail coupon NOW.
J. E. SMITH, Pres.
National Radio Institute
Dept. 5BF4
Washington, D. C.
150
Brooklyn N. Y.
MAIL
NOW
or FREBeroo
& SMITH, President
‘ational Radio Institute
| Dept. SBF4
| Washington, D. C.
| Dear Mr, Smith:
Without obligating me, send
] free book about spare time
and full time Radio opportu-
| nities, (Please print plainly.)
NAMB,.....-ceeee qemmanenes coe se veces ceees
| ADDRESS.......04-cserrenesesesesereeeneeeeeeenes
| CITY .cecsccceseevece gececrserectees STATE,.....-
big 2 1 Netba , he aRRRE ARIT ARI |
HUSH MONEY!
In a New York hotel room a baby-
faced blonde twines herself about
an elderly playboy befuddled with
liquor. Her caresses make him for-
getful of danger, heedless of ‘the
trap set for him...
Suddenly, the door flies open, and
a man strides in..“So you're the
blackguard who has ruined my
sister!’ he shouts...
And two hours’ later the aged play-
boy léaves’ for his home in the
West, poorer by $50,000.
This is but one of the many true
incidents related in a sweeping ex-
pose of the blackmail racket in the
October FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE.
You have read part of the truth
about recent cases in the news-
papers—Now read the whole truth
in America’s biggest :fact-detective
magazine!
Don’t miss the: October ‘issue, 130
pages packed with true stories of
headline detective thrills!
FRONT PAGE
DETECTIVE
OCTOBER NOW ON SALE EVERYWHERE
oven 5O LESSON §
JJRAWING COURSE”
Covad
LEARN NEW EASY S6Q
Nothing like it. Jified, ensy method, originated by former
Nothing like Miructor, enables you, right at home without
lene to analyse your and make cor i
joes sctly. You enjoy unbelievable progress the Sight-Cor-
recting way. You start drawing the first day. Great fun.
[lustrate magazines, draw gurceour As, landeseper, animale,
interiors, anatomy, ete. Artiste make BIG MONEY. | Com-
inte 150 lemsona, including 40 beautiful figure posoe, drain
paper, 00. Guaranteed. Nothing more to buy. Limit
iler. Rush $1.00, today to
Artists & Models Studios, Dept. 1D-8, Memphis, Tenn.
Za, NOW YOU MAY POSS ES$
SELF -~CONTROL
_ Don't let over-excitement carry you away. Be calm
and collected. Possess the control every man wants and
every woman admires. DEE-LAY—2 new, proven achieve-
ment, is guaranteed to give you remarkable POWER OF
CONTROL or costs you nothing. Used externally. Harm-
less. Undetectable, Full size package $1.00 postpald
(C.0.D. 15¢ extra). Satisfaction guaranteed or money
back. Order yours today!
POSITIVE PRODUCTS co.
6609 Cottage Grove Ave. Dept. 101-AA Chicago, Ill.
PATENT YOUR rion. ie
WHAT IS YOUR INVENTION?
Send Sketch or Write for FREE Inventor's
Recording Blank. Confidential Advice.
Z. POLACHEK::: Pent Auer cw YORK
HISKEY HABIT
NO teed harmless home
ALCO, 4 guarante .
treatment. Can be given secretly in food or drink to
anyone who dnnks or craves Whiskey, Beer, Gin, Wine,
etc, Your request for Free Trial brings trial supply by return mai
and full $2.00 treatment which you may try under day refund
guarantee at our risk, ARLEE CO . BALTIMORE. MD.
50
INSIDE DETECTIVE
must have been very pretty. She was tiny
and well built, and had naturally curly
black hair and large gray eyes.
Alice had come of a poor French fam-
ily. By the time she was twenty-three’
she had five children. During those
years her husband had constantly neglected .
her for other women. Alice had been
terribly unhappy, but had stuck it out be-
cause of the children. After the fifth child
was born, the husband deserted her. Des-
perately Alice fought to keep her chil-
dren with her. By working as a domestic
she tried to earn enough money to keep
them in food and shelter. But as they
grew older and made more demands on
her slender wages, she decided to try for
a factory job in New York. She left the
children with a friend and hitch-hiked
her way to the city.
It was at this time that her husband
decided to return to her. He found the
children, and heard what Alice had done.
He went immediately to the police and
asked them to arrest. Alice for deserting ©
her children.
The police found her working in a fac-
tory outside of New York City. They
took her into custody and returned her to
Boston. They also arrested her husband,
but he obtained a lawyer and was ‘released.
Alice had no money for a lawyer, and was
sentenced to a year in prison. Her chil-
dren were sent to an orphan asylum, Such
was Alice’s story. \
May, another of the girls, was a Lithu-
anian. She was in prison for four
months on a charge of acute alcoholism.
But the real reason for her arrest was
her own mother’s request that she be
confined as an incorrigible. May had
been going with a married man whose
wife had pleaded with her to leave her
husband alone. May refused and the
woman had finally gone to the girl’s moth-
er and asked her to help. May’s mother
tried to stop her, but May continued to
see the husband. When her mother dis-
covered May was going to have a child,
she went to the police and asked them to
confine May for her own good.
May would occasionally receive food
and magazines from outside. Proudly she
would show these things to the other girls
and brag: “They’re from my boy friend,
He owns a beer joint and he’s got ‘in-
fluence with politicians. He’s working to
get me out of here, then he’s going to
divorce his wife and marry me.”
But something went wrong with their
plans, for one day May was informed that
she was to be transferred to Cherbourne.
That day I saw her break down for the
first time. The hardness cracked and she
cried as she got her things together for
the move. We supposed the other wo-
man’s husband was caught sending things
in to May, or that he had decided to give |
up trying to get her out.
Many times I became bitter as I listened
to a girl’s story—I felt that the occasional
injustice of the courtroom is no less cruel
than the injustice of life. itself.
t
T HERE was the story of Ollie. She was
twenty-three years old and of Nor-
wegian ancestry—a big, strongly built
girl with light brown hair and pale blue
eyes. When I first saw her she had just
been brought in for drunkenness and she
looked terrible. She spent her first night
there in the Pit and her screams and
cries kept us all awake.
I was surprised when, several days later,
J heard Ollie talk. Sober, she showed
signs of an education that we had not
suspected. She had been to college, and
that, paradoxically enough, was the chief
cause of her misery.
“My people were poor,” she told me one
day as we sat in the yard.. “They scrimped ,,
to give me an education. -They sent me
to college. When I finished, I tried to
et a job, but I couldn't, They had the - B
idea that all one had to do to make a =).
good living in this world was to get a
college education. They thought tha aot
was lying and trying to deceive them when
I said I could not get 4 job. I tried to
reason with them. Even my brother turned °
against me. : er
“Then my father got me a job as a
domestic. He insisted that I take it. He
beat me unmercifully when I asked him
to wait a while longer, to give me a little |
more time to try and find an office job do-
ing work at which I could make more
money and for which I was fitted.
“He wouldn’t listen. He and my brother
held the threat of brute force over me.
I took the job. They would meet. me
each time I got my salary and take it
alk away from me. I did not leave be-
cause of my mother. She, too, was mis-
treated by my father. He would stay
drunk for days. She would not leave him
and come with mie, so I stayed at home and
on the job to protect her as best I could.
I hung on somehow until one day my
brother came home drunk and attacked —
me,”
Ollie was silent for a long while after
she said that. I didn’t know what to, say
to comfort her. We just sat there, pull-
ing blades of grass from the ground, our
eyes watching our fingers. But she con-
tinued, finally.
“Mother died shortly after that day.
She had been there and had tried to help
me. 1 think it was the shock of that which
made her ill and resulted in her death.
“Anyway, after that nothing seemed very
important. I began to drink. I guess it’s
in my blood anyway, with father being
the sort of drunk he is. At least I wasn't
so miserable when I was drunk, so I stayed
that way as much as I could.
“I've been in jail four times for drunk-
enness and disorderly conduct,” she finished
abruptly. “This. time they gave me a:
year.”
Ollie was naturally good-natured and
had the sort of temperament that goes with
a sunny disposition. But her experiences _
had made her bitter.. When I knew her
she could see no future for herself. Life
seemed empty and pointless. I don’t know
where she is now or what she is doing,
but I hope that someone has helped her
to a new outlook, aroused her from -her
hopelessness. For I feel sure that, given
: a she could lead a normal, happy
ife. :
And myself...
Today, I don’t feel that my months in ~
faba: did me any harm, ‘The experience
roadened my outlook and made me tol- .
erant of human weakness. I see now that
circumstances. can be stronger than the. i
strongest person. I have learned enough ~.
about women-in prison to feel sympathy ~
instead of disgust for those whose pictures ~,
are splashed across the pages of the news-
papers. For I too have despairingly faced
the relentless cameras of the news photog-
raphers. I too have heard a judge pro-
nounce sentence upon me. I too have ™
served time. . . . The doors of my prison
opened to release me one bright, hot sum-
mer morning. For a long moment I stood
on the threshold and breathed deeply of
the air of freedom. The trees were.
_ green, and the summer sun fell warmly on
my face as if to wash the prison pallor
from my cheeks.
_ There was once more the movement of
life about me—people passing by, the rush
of automobiles. felt apart from life,
and a little afraid, but the thought that.
I was once more free gave me courage.
With a prayer in my heart I started out
to find a new life.
ee
tind inle
a
A
ie oy
2h ek a Vi
As
eae Bee
{
have
Bit
myst
and
subu
dow
favor
last
befo:
to t!
best
Yar
dop:
of d
_the bars, the guards,
‘ of things I wanted so desperately to forget.
INSIDE DETECTIVE
the iron doors to bring back memories
But I had made
some friends and at times I was even able to feel hope for
the future.
The other girls helped me. Though once I would have been
unable to believe such a thing could happen, they taught me
much about courage in the face of adversity. Some of them
had an independence, an ability to face the world and take
what it offered without whining, that would have shamed
many of the people I had known in the world ‘outside.’
Of course, not all the women I met in prison were like that.
* Some of those who came and went during the long months
some
“but
.okes,
mean
s my
is re-
int to
{ you
rstood
thing
hield-
r, ’m
_I was there had fallen too far to be able ever to climb back.
They were hard and tough, prostitutes and habitual criminals
whose only thought was to be free again to defy the law.
Neither did every girl act friendly toward or get along
with every other girl there, any more than in any group of
girls outside. There were little cliques that were antagonistic
to the rest. There was pettiness and cattiness, yet there was
strong class loyalty. We presented a solid front when we
thought that one of our number had been mistreated.
And there was kindness and softness in even the hardest
cases. I learned that there is something in every woman’s
heart which adversity cannot kill.
Perhaps it was the incident involving Katie that brought
this lesson home most strongly.
On the outside, Katie had been a dealer in death. Katie’s
hands had performed many an execution ; she was that worst
type of murderer—the abortionist who cuts off life before it
has fairly begun. Yet Katie, who had violated the laws of
- both her country and her church, still possessed that mother’s
warn-
you.”
mach
irison
pris-
them
- this ig by Soa ie
e Te-
was a
} utside
But
while
to sit
of the
hair.
ecame
e kind
ill my
True,
it was
which s
[ lost + :
“mem- sf 3
1 days
instinct which burns in the breast of every woman.
The Pit was at the end of the tier of cells. It was a single
cubicle dug deep into the concrete floor. Damp stone steps
ran down into it. A grilled iron door hinged over the steps.
When the Pit was unoccupied the door was left open.
The prison pet was a cat named Fuzzy. At this particu-
lar time she was about to have a litter of kittens. One warm
day Fuzzy was lying on the cool stones at the edge of the
open Pit when one of the guards, hurrying. down the walk,
’ startled her and made her jump. With a wail of fear the
cat dropped out of sight over the edge of the Pit.
We all raced to the edge of the black hole. Katie was
ahead of the rest of us, and clambered down the steps. When
she came back up the stairs she had Fuzzy in her arms.
“Quick!” she said. “Get a pan of hot water and a towel.”
One of the girls hurried toward the kitchen. Katie carried
Fuzzy inside the cell and laid her gently on the bed.
“The fall did it,’ she explained to us. “It’s brought on a
premature birth of her kittens.”
Katie went to work with the hot water. Her fingers
handled Fuzzy as a surgeon would handle a patient. She
delivered three kittens. They were still and motionless. They
did. not even possess the strength to suck the warm milk from
their mother’s body. :
Katie sent one of the girls for an eye dropper and some
warm milk, She fed: the tiny kittens. little globules of the
milk. Tenderly she washed Fuzzy and placed her aching,
_ shivering body in the sun beneath the window. And so the
awed
hap-
walls,
OF
‘RE .
most hard-boiled woman I met—who was in jail for destroy-
ing life—was now desperately trying to save life !
Two of the kittens lived, the third died. And Katie was
as upset by it as anyone else when. we buried the tiny body
in the prison yard. Only that once did I see Katie, the mur-
deress, relax from her customary outward attitude of disdain-
ful bitterness. Only once—but it proved that she had a heart.
SLEEP HAUNTED BY THAT
GOING TO KILL MURT!"
During my first months of imprisonment a horrible shad-
ow hung constantly over me. Even when I began to
adjust myself to the routine and made friends among the
other girls there was still that shadow. I would start up out
of a sound sleep in the middle of the night, a cold sweat
drenching my body, haunted by that nightmare.
They were going to kill Murt!
I had heard the judge sentence him to death, along with
his kid brother and his friend, Abe Faber. I cannot say |
was in love with him—his deceit as to the means of his in-
come was enough to kill any love on my part—but I remem-
ber what Murt had meant to me when we were sweethearts,
and during our honeymoon, and in spite of everything I
could not help feeling «an affection for him. Even though
I had lived in fear of him toward the end of our life to-
gether, the thought of his dying in the electric chair was
like striking a dagger to my heart.
Early in June the warden sent for me and handed me a
piece of paper to sign. It was a release for Murt’s body,
which the family had to present after the execution so that
they could proceed with the burial. Shakily I scrawled my
signature. When 1 returned. to my cell I was tight-lipped,
numb, chilled with a nameless horror.
My own mother could not have been more considerate of
me that day than were the girls. Even a little Mexican
shoplifter, who was as hard as nails, treated .me with
gentleness.
The guards brought me special food. One of them made
a tiny doll out of a clothespin. He handed it to me silently,
as if he knew words were of no use now. One of the men
prisoners wove a frame for a photograph and sent it over to
me by one of the guards. And the girls saw to it that I did
not spend a moment alone during the day Murton died.
But that night when we were locked in our separate cells
I was alone with the spectre of death. I tried to sleep, but
my eyes would not close, I did not cry. My eyes were dry
and tearless. There are times in life when tears are not
enough, when a numbness creeps into the heart and seems to
paralyze the whole mind and body.
For hours I lay there, tense, (Continued on page 49)
FREE ONCE MORE
Norma Millen is shown here in the garden with her
father, Rev. Norman Brighton, after her release
following the execution of her husband.
25
long every
y was on
es.
- real lead
A private
er Bryon
two other -
e previous -
a man and
hing more
‘lers. The
» and their
sas. City,
killed the
mn of their
ised in the
iselves into
ne of the
Burns and
eek County
ff into the
-abin in the
Gilpin City
» strangers
hrough the
cers were
abandoned.
at the two
departure.
ved a dim
‘ned to the
vere unable
made one
bin jn the
mtaining a
1 entered a
himself
The
litted to
ocence, and
m after this
aunouncing
d wife with
companions
of Denver
sryon wired
it a relative
to him that
os Angeles
t 2841 West
liately com-
‘les authori-
lress proved
over to the
\fter a pro-
he had been
e crime but,
‘, insisted he
the murder.
ad waited in
len Harmon
ight or ten
said Powell.
- to the car,
of here!’ He
tt at me and
rt stop until
tatement in
: drama was
iles away in
‘ked up from
lf staring at
. young man
your dough
sitor. Sun-
give you all
r moved to-
idenly made
ns heard
Sunshine
struggling witn the stranger. He was
all but out of breath but he still had a
‘firm hold,én his man..
Taken to police headquarters, the pris-
oner proved to be Jerry Wolff.
“Where’s your buddy, Jerry?” Detec-
tive Lieutenant A. B. Stromwell asked.
Wolff refused to reply. But when
Stromwell and. other officers went to work
on him, he, too, talked, blurting out an ad-
‘> 7 dress which the detectives carefully noted.
Stromwell waited in a room at the ad-
dress Wolff supplied. Footsteps came
down the hall, slowed at the door, . and
passed on. Had the man been warned?
The officer waited a while, then went out.
He learned that his man had gone to a
beer. parlor up the street. The veteran
detective went there at once. ~
As he entered the place, his gaze swept
the bar and booths, and came to rest on
a slate-eyed man sitting with two girls.
The ‘air seemed tense, electrified with
’ death. Stromwell shouted a warning and
leaped forward. Two shots whined by
his head as he closed in and grabbed the
killer’s wrist. The girls screamed and ran
for safety as the two knocked over tables
in a desperate struggle for the weapon.
Then the man jerked free and raised his
gun again,
But the detective was quicker. His own
gun flashed out and roared—seven times
in rapid succession. The gunman paused
as if in surprise, then pitched forward on
his face. He was Glen Harmon, and he
died clutching the gun that killed Brooks
Van Hoose.. \
That left only one member of the gang
to be accounted for—the mysterious “Joe.”
Checking back on the facts supplied by
Dugan, Sheriff Rogers asked police de-
partments to be on the lookout for a man
with an artificial hand, driving a black V-8
Ford with dents in the right running board,
and beariffg a small sticker on the wind-
shield. ‘
Within a week two officers of the
Kansas City, Missouri, force spotted a car
which answered this description.
“Giwe us a ride to headquarters, will you,
buddy?” said one of the officers.
He drove them to headquarters. They
took him inside, removed his glove. The
hand was artificial.
The prisoner gave his name as William
B. Moors. His record showed two prison
terms for armed robbery, and he had once
been adjudged insane at Kansas City,
Kansas. He admitted that he had driven
three men to Carthage, and that he was
to receive fifteen dollars as fare. He de-
nied knowing Glen Harmon, but a checkup
showed that both had been inmates of the.
Missouri State Prison at the same time.
Less than four months after the crime
the five defendants went on trial. Nap-
per turned state’s evidence, and _ the
charges against him were dropped so that
he might qualify as a witness. Wolff was
convicted of first degree murder and sen-
tenced to life imprisonment without recom-
mendation for parole. Powell got the
same. Lew Harmon won a continuance
and eventually an acquittal in a trial at
, Lamar, Missouri. The following March
29, 1935, Moors was found criminally in-
sane and sentenced to life in the State
Insane Hospital at Nevada, Missouri.
Thus did the glitter of a gem on a
man’s hand lead to his death, the death of
his killer, and severe penalties for three
other members of that profitless expedi-
tion to Van Acres.
.me her story.
INSIDE DETECTIVE
WOMEN IN PRISON
(Continued from page 25)
staring wide-eyed at the ceiling of the cell.
Desperately I tried to force my thoughts
away from Murt, but I could not.
I suffered with Murt in his hour of
doom. Instinctively I’ knew the hour they
pulled the switch. One of the tabloids, x
learned later, published a story saying that
on the night Murt was electrocuted I re-
ceived a love letter from a man in the
men’s prison, That was a lie. I never saw
one of the men prisoners during that
whole year and only the thought of Murt
was in my mind that night.
Dully I went about my work the next
day. It was the day’on which we ironed
the clothes from the men’s prison. Au-
tomatically I began unrolling a bundle of
freshly laundered shirts which someone
placed before me.
Margie grabbed them up suddenly and
said, “These are for me, Norma. Some-
body made a mistake.” '
I looked up at her, then at the shirts
in her hand. And I knew what had hap-
pened. They were Murt’s things.
For the first time the tears came to my
eyes. With that weeping, something tense
and frozen loosened up inside me. The
hard. dryness’ melted as Margie walked
with me back to my cell. She left me
alone after a while and I cried silently
for a long time. Afterwards I felt much
better.
NCE more I resumed the monotonous
duties of prison life. I managed to
forget myself by taking an interest in the
other inmates. I talked with them of
their lives and their plans for the fu-
ture. ‘
Without emotion Margie told me of
her life. One of a large Polish family,
she had known the most abject poverty
during her childhood. She had married
very young. After a son was born to
her, her husband disappeared and she never
saw him again. As soon as she was able
to get up she took a job as-a domestic in
the home of a Boston family, leaving her
child in a nursery.
The husband of her employer seduced
her. When she was about to have a child
by him, she was discharged from the job.
The baby died at birth. From the hos-
pital Margie went to work on a poor farm
as a domestic. It was there that she met
the man who was the father of her third
child. For having a second _ illegitimate
child Margie was sent to prison-—first to
the Dedham House of Correction, where
I knew her, and later to the Cherbourne
state prison.
When I was living the peaceful life of
a minister’s daughter, only a year or two
before, I would have been shocked and
disgusted to meet anyone like Maryic. But
now, sitting beside the worn, faded wo-
man as she told her story, I had only sym-
pathy for her. Now I could recognize her
for what she truly was—not necessarily a
“bad” woman, but a bewildered victim of
circumstance, and a woman whose only
crime was her inability to protect herself
from the world’s brutality.
Alice was another prison girl who told
She had been married at
the age of sixteen—and at that age she
"THE LOVER—AND THE HIRED ASSASSIN"—a thrilling true mystery of
a strange death and a stranger romantic intrigue.
Watch for it in the
NOVEMBER INSIDE DETECTIVE, on sale Oct. I.
wr
AIRFLOW ci
THE PERFECT 5
AIR-COOLED PIPE
GRAVITY
Flow !/
COOL & SWEET
TO THE VERY LAST PUFF!
New, patented design makes a happy smoke a
certainty, Study diagram. Note these features:
1. Generous size bowl. 2. Upper cell for coolness.
3. Lower spiral cell cleans smoke—catches all
moisture and sludge by gravity. Weighing only 1'4 ounces
—Airflow handles with balanced ease. Airflow is made of
Selected Grain, Imported Algerian Briar. Hand Finished —
Airflow is truly a pi pemaker's masterpiece. It has no equal.
Smoke for 10 Days on Trial
We say the New Airflow is the finest pipe man-
ufactured. Our introductory trial offer is a
liberal and positive way of proving that statement for
yourself, Words alone are inadequate. The proof is in the
smoking. So, send for Free details of our no-risk, smoking
trial offer. WRITE TODAY ! coupon below,
MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY
Landon & Warner, 360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 1
Yes—send FREE details on no-risk, no-obligation,
1
1
' smoke on trial offer, Dept, R-50 :
: OE) oi veweanugvepwvounayeesudicnt [outed ceo :
1 1
a i]
: !
Ct a os cn a ee aa H
For 30 Days Reading—No Money Down
Actual Crime Cases — If You Act Quick /
We will send you this stirring book on Crime
Detection, ‘et Service and Identification
Work for 80 daya free reading. Sead no
money, If you decide to keep it, then send
me only $1, If not, return it. WRITE TO-
DAY. Not sent te boys under 17 years of age.
T. G. Cooke, Book Dept. 1187 1920 Sunnyside Ave., Chicage, Il.
[HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Hardened Arteries ~ Stroke
Write for FREE treatise on high blood pressure (written
by a doctor) and booklet describing UTONA, a harmles
vegetable preparation that has been used successfully in a
great many cases, Sold only on a Money-Back Guarantee:
Literature FREE, without obligation. Send your name today
National Utona Company,
783 Insurance Exchange Building, Detroit, Michigan
Physicians please write.
Bee the weirdest pooples who in- '
habit the face of the oxrth. Seo FREE
an read about ¢! io oe
customs, ime lUStrated
their mysterious practices. —
Daring explorers have risked Lleeyaal gg
their lives to obtain those
startling photographs in the strangest corners
of the world where the foot of a white man h»-
rarely trod. Send at once for the FREE illus
’ ; trated brochure on the “Secret Museum «
- — Mankind” containing spectacular camers
reproductiona from Africa, Ania, Oceania, ete.
Metro Publications, Dept. 210, 70 Fifth Ave., New York
SENSATIONAL SALE— BELOW COST
Brand new, guaranteed and tested imported arms
Model 12 Swing out cylinder,
hand ejector, front latch, 6 shot,
double action, Sturdily construct-
ed; fine blued steel; rubber r
stock, 4%”-38 cal. only. Regular price
$9.95, Sale Price—$7.45,
DICTATOR: Mod. {!—with underlug and side
push button; in 32, 32/20 & 38 cal, 3%”, 4%”
& 5” any caliber. Special $8.45.
AUTOMATICS: Model 066 blued steel, accurate, hard
hitting; durable; single safety. 25 eal. vest pocket size:
wt. 14 0z.; 4%” overall--Special Sale—$5.95; 32 cal.—
$6.85. Pearl stocks for automatics $1.50 extra.
HOLSTERS: Automatics 70c; Revolver 95e; Shoulder $1.75;
Cartridges: Automatic 25 cal. 65¢; 32 cal. 75¢; box 25
Revolver 32 sal. $1.00; 32/20 and 38 $1.50 per 50.
$2 DEPOSIT REQUIRED ON COD’S. Clip this adv. ;
enclose M.0.--ORDER TODAY!
Send Se stamp for Bargain. Catalog: Rifles, Colta; 8S & W, Telescopes, etc,
LEE SALES CO. (Dept. IF) 35 West 32nd St, N.Y. City
49
<< "aig: “al
ORR Ee EIN aar Es. Ee LR
~
Cy
Np eA 1
-4
/ K U
©
rae creates = a
forearip down: 4 the a n af:ghe «
the left for¢arm ‘few Ap towarde his
aie “thd vhiss index fimger ‘pointed
oon ifs
- Leong : a ‘the, lust to die, and a
youngert o i ing only about.
pe aad p old, me valien put one Bhotk
of a minute's ion atid. War ‘pro- |
Bing hadi died. “Nat one,of the doomed
Be St Mee” "a word in the. death chgm-
congir with) the ‘crosx upheld as ercn
oomed man took his weat, and the last
hing: € ec #aW on earth was the; Rood
“priest ¥ Pith ‘the emblem of hope extenc-
ed towd “them As Leong Gong died
Fr° Ma ey emitted a groan, and that
Paeeeeny ae
One Woman | in Crewe at Gate
had Bebn' present at: “thie death OF each
‘ot ihe] three Chinaimet named, in. the
r-Warran (ae that thel sentence of thre
} court “ed been carries fout.iu- accord-
ance with the mandate’ éf the Jaw.
- About 150: young men and boys gather
‘front of the ‘eptranc§ to tne
Qi reniaimed wHtt] the execus
(Hed
prAGn
tons:
womngn in. sight from Vie ares of Che
r patson. jhe Was an elderly. woman, who
came OF -a, “house , PBerUsS the. way
con Chapman st.
|
| Sever:
the souite inen anc bor Kk awar {ro}
the yatd, and the gate ook was guard-
éa hy two ptison keepers, who wouldn't
“tet the-feporters inside th rounds, al-
though. ion previous; occasions 7Phey had |
béen al owed to go into- the warden’s
office on exec ution ngs,
THe -a pre for the condemned men
fate es gin made w-formal demand
for: the hoe rates ‘and they will be turned
over thfeugh him. to relatives. or coun:
J irymen jwho wilt s®ecthat they receive
burtal ty their native lund.
held: ee tet
Aig,
Lard: W the “Sarrent ‘atruck. Min /Sing
kt upward... The jand and finger.
dint dq. le until the current. was: at
younced | dead 34 eines: after Mia
Madtiey knelt’ nétore. the death’
‘was the conty’ sonn enn a from
| any of. tHe ‘spectatoks ee
Ath. Yalock thp wh rden amd his wit- |
j nesges ad*returped | 6 ibe office * the
prisen phd) ‘the itnevges were Bi ning.
the? er ific ate w igh ‘set ferth that eden |
ere cover..« Phere was “but one |
i policemen crore ee iy kept |
.
+ STORY OF THE CRIME.
Four ¢ inamen . ‘Shot in: War of the.
* Tong Aug 1," ‘4907—-Two Con-
viated Men Under Reprieve.
nN “aon, Leong Gong and Min
Sing: were convicted of participa fon in
the “mu ders of Chin’ Mon Quinj Chin
Kal | No ae [and Wong! Bite
‘day that ‘han. ae i fin |
temeed to, di¢.in the: wedk be-
IOdt 410, Wanry $. Charles’ and
dorge Guey - were’ also. -con- |
demned a ‘@eath in the hee Dbeginnlg
: oy the 7 unde of their inno-
cence; dnd: Gov Draper. has granted
thent'a itoFor, 60 days.
Warry) 8. @harles. is. an- educated
Chinaman, apeaking and writing - -Eng-
igh -perfertiv, - fe, weare — American
¢tothes, and haa copied, American Ways
th such jan sxtent t at’ he ae ‘cut off.
By we gah he rand regis e a wh woman,
ef ‘Ney
For \\eprs Ww arry., 6. Charles’ ‘colduee:
eda. sgccessful - lauridny . business | in
) ter. Moving. here from) New
ar at the same time he made-a
eG livi ae Maier preter in the cour ts.
Eophea
|
TEs inborn 3S:
echi
iptct: | attorhey,. ‘ered apa nuda. pros:
' Far several vears. there had existe?
jn |the 2 ston Clilnescolony wociety,
«the Chinamen.call it, known
: tong. It is cemposed
, and other: sribstantiat,
miberg-of the colony, ‘‘topsjae China-
the vernacular of the district,
alleged ,> the alice that’
ry Charlea,. Jealous of: the power
daa y the On ong teng. organ
ae a rival sociely chiled the Hep
g, in which the, membership
wai ies rely composed . of laundrymen
‘
he HOM. WOON. S
"Nd tarally, Jealouaick- “develo a ee
twedn the tongs, and jt wag alleged by
ep). Bin Warry Charles_ planned to
establish the supremacy of. his tong by
raking. war.on the On Legng tong, that:
he ‘organized a bgnd of- wine fighting
mej, or “hatchet men,” ae” the
Chinese ‘call professional murdrrers.
pnidion the night of Aug 1, 19¢7, he sent
then® inté Chinatown to KIN as) many
ie df, the, On Lecng tong as
the ‘aia Wa that. aa’ leader e: the
out, sitgec sent! that ring:
armed with revolvers and |
a Oe spddenly appeared in-the Chi-
nese| coloiy or the Might named and.
pag XE; shooting down members of |
the I neg .tong ‘Four were killed |
out ne na-aynumber were wounded.
ashe sins scattered’ quickly efter |
was ddne® but several ar- |
made that night. two of the
Rate npeing captured in Worces- ,
ter aa Udy were tevin ito make their. |
way |bick to. New Yor }
‘ine Chinamen werg arrested, charged |
wirders, and. Warry 8. Uharles *
si¢harged with being (an ad¢cessory |
n¢ fact. * Charles’) defence, was
proving that he: ‘wap} not at.
ene jof the kiliing, but’ the govern- |
hpd) witriesses. (o tdatify. that he.
ad. |for: the anatase , and’ there |
ce onal © ne ha armed gome |
r : Du the t
delendunts ee Wate died. in ‘
rmiaininy mes Ape Unto seavicted
, ito
oon 22-2 tie Boreasory. I urdey 4 apa
yi la ‘motion: for a new) trf y
dict Iwas rehoee as t fa the WP.
Duck, W. & How, ae ok Ning, an
ter J phn ofan, ee dfe-"
in the CBR 20 Yee-J pug a 7 he was re-
a new trial,
pes * a a a ‘Jae
erry C8,
t wie nd hits Shie, Was
dis wei eB - alt sentenced to
ee ne oat anaes cana a
epur Rae ry : am on. Jains
cee Ny ‘Worcester house, the pair:of:deserter™
held clandestine meetings: with Bath-
dhe | never, madé any revelations on the
bject, ahd the statements of Ross are
not worthy. of entire confidence; but it
seems probable she was conscious that’
er conjugal infidelity must inevitably
become known to her ‘husband, and
desired the death of one who must
“«“This accounts for the: inconsis-
tency of her:conduct and the despe-
-tate’.eagerness with which she under-
took to accomplish her purpose. For,
becoming dissatisfied with Ross’ dila-
_. tory proceedings, she resorted to a
*.. course g0 bold and open that her guilt
was placed beyond a doubt, and she
involved herself and her Peder
in a common ruin.” sree ar
“What Bathsheba did was Sea a ser-
vant, Alexander Cumings, out to the
highway with instructions to ‘call in
‘any. British soldiers who might be pas-
we clear. This was while Ross and
Spooner». were: ‘away together on a
sohorseback trip to Princeton, north of
- Worcester, on some sort of business or
“other, ‘It’ fell to the ill luck of Brooks
‘and. Buchanan | to be passing on their
sway from : Worcester to Springfield,
‘where they hoped to find work. ~.
- “James” Buchanan, thirty years old,
-was a Scot and had been a sergeant in
Brooks... was ati.Englishman of thirty-
‘seven; and he had been a private in the
ae E othat than. surprised when invited, into
_. the:house ‘and there dined and‘ wined,
“mot in the kitchen, which was the best
‘they: had hoped for, but in the ee
room.. Even. more. surprised they must .
‘haye been ‘when this lady bountiful
asked them to’ remain. ‘But some of
their. wonder probably was dissipated
‘as ‘she gradually | sounded them out on
the. subject. of murder. This was during
‘quite: idyllic_ period . of ten _to
‘Seven’ days: ‘while. Spooner. and young
Ross remained ‘absent.
was on: February 8: 1778, that
itons were invited. in; and .
' days later. Bathsheba made
rious temark to. them, that her -
because ‘he had Ross with him, and
» Ross had poison. Spooner did return
, intact with Ross, however, Joshua ap-
/ enigpesd accepted the presence of the
“beds aoverezt guests in his house and
sire, it is now impossible ‘to know, as
“sing: Why-she insisted they be British .
‘General. Burgoyne’s. army. William’ |
“They could not have been .
“husband probably would never ane
servant — until dosnua jearned about. ( Sane. in the matter of the three males ..
—-< who had: fellee s aR her, ‘spell so
ah : the bar’ bill at. ‘Cooley’ 8 Tavern, a
‘ “ distressingly, th fi
<2 After the two. Britons 1 were. ait a
fod to leave, ‘they;
to hole in.
‘and at .that casual «
at Mrs.. Walker's,»
_ sheba. And about nine o'clock on Sun-
_ soon ‘have indubitable evidence of her
day night, March’ 1ét,Ross, Brooks,
and Buchanan put down the mugs
from which they had been swilling,
first flip and then raw rum in the
Spooner home when Bathsheba gave
the signal that her husband was ap-
proaching after an evening at Cooley's.
Brooks, who had been smuggled
into the house with Buchanan a couple
-of hours earlier, now stationed himself
at a small gate giving passage across the
yard to the kitchen and, as Spooner
came past, Brooks smote him a mighty
blow in the face with a fist. Spooner,
bleeding, went down and started to
cry out, but the soldier seized him by -
the throat and strangled him.
_ Meanwhile, Buchanan and Ross had
darted forth from behind some shrub-
bery. While: Buchanan removed the
limp victim’s shoes, Ross thoughtfully
possessed himself of his benefactor’s
* watch. Then the three worthies lifted
»
the lifeless Spooner, toted him across
the yard, upended him and dumped
him in the well.
There, the body -was found the next
morning by searching neighbors, after
Bathsheba -had sent a servant to the
tavern ‘with an ego meds for. his
master.” -
It took only “antl that. night. to
arrest the culprits at. Mrs; Walker’s
house. And little wonder, since they
were sporting buckles. and. nicknacks
- known to have been Spooner’s and
given them by Bathsheba immediately
‘ after the murder, Ross, in) addition,
still had Joshua’s watch, On ‘Tuesday,
April 21st, slightly more than seven
weeks following the dark deed in the
back yard, all four culprits ‘were indic-
ted by the Worcester. Grand Jury ona
charge of murder. AB aac
At the same term of ‘court, Mrs.
Spooner, Ross, Buchanan,:and: Brooks
went to trial before Chief Justice
» William Cushing of the Superior Court
of Judicature, and Associate Justices
a
’ Jedediah Foster, Nathaniel Peaslee Sar- _
gent, David Sewall and James Sullivan.
7, Tee prosecutor was State’s Attorney
Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the
Declaration. of . ‘Independence; while
- Levi .Lincoln, later ‘United ‘States At
a "tomey General headed the group of
. defense’ ‘counsel,’ While. .apparently
"there was no defense testimony offer-'
ed at the trial, it is an amazing com-.
mentary on the times that the: trial.
- took only sixteen hours.’
. In his summation for ‘all. four de-:
» intent: The jurors, choosing to believe
_time in finding all’ four guilty as
on Thursday, June 4, 1778.
sO moved: were they, that the two
- Chaise, -
_ broke, to rage for half ati hour. Ross, \
in the chaise until the last moment.
| her place on the stage, ‘with a gentle ..
_ smile she stepped out of. the, carriage’.
-, and knees.”. ‘Nervous. hands ‘fumbled *
“+ her into position, and the faces of the 3
“male factors. were covered.; But ‘just.
‘time that her Punishment was just.” If
ellor is said to:
‘have sttdmpted’ ‘only: to. confuse. the.
‘minds of the jurors, arguing that while”
« murder’: surely ‘had. ‘been committed):
“the jury: cannot infer. from the mur: ‘ |
der itself which one “did.'the act, ‘when of
it might be any oneofthem.”” 0s
Levi Lincoln failed in his saitpoes:
however, if confusion had been his’
ahs
the prosecution's contention that the -
bewitching Bathsheba had egged the
other three prisoners into the, murder,
and that they had been eatially guilty
in. carrying through the act, lost little
charged. With no.further ceremony,
the court sentenced them to be hanged
TT aa ie tite Rab acot 2
Pre a Noa.
. As the date of execution approach-
‘ed, Bathsheba let it be known that she
was ‘‘quick with child,” though with 2
whose child even she, perhaps, could i
not have told with any degree of'cer- - ?
tainty. Her story resulted in a respite
of four weeks, the new execution date
being set as July 2nd: A jury of two’
““men-midwives” and twelve matrons
was summoned to examine the con-
demned woman. This they did, only to
return a verdict that she was not at all
pregnant. Bathsheba replied to this
that she certainly was, and she said her
time would be in about four months.
Twice more during the period of re- -
spite she made the claim — and finally,
WP Ao eked LR MS
Se
“men-midwives” and one of the,
matrons joined in a public statement »
that they now believed Bathsheba was
“quick -with child.” However, the ex-
ecutive council refused to grant a
further respite, and it is noted that.
Bathsheba | received this . bad news
“with great calmness.”’ ‘;
So ‘weak was Mrs. Spooner on the: ee
afternoon of the execution day. that.
she was carried to the public place in a: ©
arriving -as a thunderstorm
Buchanan and Brooks ascended the -
gallows steps to the stage and were
prepared for the drop, Ross praying |
audibly, the others “engaged in private ..
devotions until they were turned off.”
Mrs. Spooner was suffered to. remain .
- When Bathsheba’‘was called to take -
and crept-up the ladder on her hands t
before she and her gentlemen friends
-went on the long journey, she is said.
to have “acknowledged for the first "4
" fendants, Lawyer Lincoln based his
Sakti hak Sele cineih ths ibe aca his penelein ylets ae Pei
uarters in ‘Manhatten’ girth gee
Ses John, O'Connell, He picked’
approached him, ‘outside © ‘his, home,
: headquarters, They. claimed to know
* found. slarge numbers of: firearms, in-
. Cluding. machine guns, in their hhide-
a away at Mt.. Kisco, and they were
charged under.the Sullivan Law. .
It was discovered, too, that during
napped, a steam calliope had played
. for a fair at Mt. Kisco. These and other
sounds heard by O’Connell strongly
supported the police theory that ‘he
“where the Scarnici gang hid out.
“were taken by automobile to: Rens-
‘ selaer under heavily armed escort. The
gangsters gwere quickly brought to
~, trial. The . evidence ‘against them _
‘appeared. ‘Conclusive, and the pro-'
kena: oy be Prsronted its case, but’
Scarnici .and ‘Shore.as the men’ who
Up.
. vieted, getting prison sentences ‘of
‘ ig led ‘the two gang molls into
ase Scarnici.’ But the detectives had
4 the week O’Connell- had been kid- ~
“had been held captive in the house 4
On September 29th, Scarnici, Shore -
‘and: Reino,» handcuffed to officers, .
6 nad come. to its end.”
‘and the local citizens: the jury. acquit-*
: ted ‘Reino and | Shore: and was ‘unable’:
“to agree on™ /Scarnici.” ‘The. judge ©
~ scathingly denounced. the Jurymen be:
‘s fore dismissing them, A
> Re-arrested immediately, Reino and
-. “Bhore were retumed ta New York and.
pulled. _ and forced him into. the
‘there: tried for the Bronx bank hold-
Here, they. were promptly con-
“twenty-five to forty years respectively.
- Searnici, however, remained cocky
and confident that he'would be turned ‘
loose after his’ next’ ‘trial. He ‘was |
destined to be sadly mistaken, It was:
held. in another: county. The jury this
time found him guilty of. first-degree
murder, and he was sentenced to Gath
in the electric chair.
Four times, he mained to win re-
prieves by offering, at the last minute,
to give valuable evidence to law en-
’ forcement officers,, regarding “other
crimes, But, finally, he: ran out of,
‘information, His . lawyer
desperate, last-minute appeal to the
State Supreme Court. It did not work.
Sixteen minutes after he made the trip
back from the courtroom to the death
house, he was taken from his cell and.
ushered into the _ brightly-lighted
“execution chamber.
thrown. The life of Leonard Scarnici,
‘undoubtedly one of the cruelest killers
‘in New York’s violent gang history,
THE END.
Detiod | eing one. ot “dummestic.
credited. ‘Bathsheba ; fwas | ‘following | in =
ithe: footetans of; ‘her shaptpee en the
et @ good example for
‘ehdren tm i their coniughl aii ‘
e “lived unhappily | lant ‘When
ensions and little real affection, the © ‘ina severe fit of sickness beside. the
riage: ) finally ,. deteriorating to. the
| t where she had’ utter aversion for
“Spooner ‘home. There,’ the’ ‘sixteen
~ year-old, who was Ezra Ross, one of’
‘four Ipwich ‘brothers who had fom
G8 ‘Boston he pale on his old: hone:
i “factors, the’ Spooners, ‘Whether or not.
ity any. real . ‘high-jinks awent -on*: ‘during
28 "Ross? first stay in the Spoon !
me ahe once iaited: up, for her husband’ 5
dinner, his favorite dog..’.
=. Joshua and Bathsheba Spooner had
"three children,’ a son-and two daught--
. ers, ‘before the flame died. The daught-..
* ers subsequently. married and one later |
. became insane, and it is. believed, ane ds
“son was lost at sea eis se
‘Some time in; 1776: the: rousing” ne
een: ‘kind heart led him to do.
' - something. that was to prove fata] to.
4 himself. Coming upon a.lad who was”
e road, Spooner placed, the boy. in front
on his ‘horse and rode. ‘him tothe ©
cat, Sateen was ° paar eoaey s
Meee - CU DSL CDaWOn: Ol. tne aULnorities.
es eee: seemingly’ was fell: all Ross’s
tried ‘a:
The switch: was °
~ tongued mite, and for
te Laces naee bet ines ne ie ee. but to
rly restrained, and the tenderness °
‘\-which she ‘might. chave lavished. ‘Upon :
‘husband ‘not quite the ‘small ‘beet thal
oa way. And who was he not to respond A
“to, beauty, to sophistication; to femi-
toa Ley: Bee:
nine wiles and, undoubtedly,
* “stronger will? ~ cy
. However, it is not to be thought aa
that Soldier Ross, now nearly eight- . .
een, was the sole recipient of the fair’:
Bathsheba’ s gifts even if he did hold
_the No. 1 portfolio, There.was sub- °°.
“sequent evidence at ‘the trial that only’
a day or two before Joshua was felled
and throttled and stuffed in the well,
his wife and one of the British deser-
ters by the name of Brooks were at
Mary Walker’s, in. Worcester, which
might have been termed — delicately,
to be sure — a “‘bad house.” >
~ “Brooks often laid his hepa upon -
_ Mrs. Spooner’s neck; and oftentimes
put his hands around her waist.”
: The “witness,” observing | it, Mrs,
, Spooner’said; “You must not wonder; |
Billy has lived at my house and is as .
fond..of meas he. would be of: a
mother,”’-
On the night before Spooner was
slain, another British deserter,
. Buchanan, was moaning at Mrs. _
Walker’s because Bathsheba had ho
appeared — when in she popped “and -
they having been in’the chamibes t to- +
. gether a few minutes, she went away -- a
on the same afternoon.”
The previous day, Februaty 27,
“1778. Buchannan had been at Mrs. yeaa
‘Walker's “when. Bathsheba came in:
“and she went into the chamber to. et
shim.” The opine oy Lae ak
there after a broom and she *
"x together,”” bee ee
At the time of these goings one ‘as 5
two British deserters had been ‘ordered ~~
‘out of the.Spooner. home by: the me
denly truculent Joshua, . who =
angered, :not _because::he ifoun
installed ‘as guests when
“ from a trip, but because he ered ©
“that they had run up a neat Tittle bar =
» bill ‘on his account at Cooley’s Tavern. cs :
This was the principal:place in.
’ Brookfield where. Joshua | ‘had, haven
from the « bickerings of ‘his stormy- sa
conversations - guided by ‘the fervid
hostess who had caused them * ‘to be
age and of., marked .and . » energetic we
eee her passions had. ever’ been.
Fe
YE vy ° v
The Quaker (is) Abolitionist
Summer 1995 Newsletter of the Friends Committee to Abolish the Death Penalty Vol. 1 No. 2
MEETING ACTIVITIES
Meanwhile, York (Pa.) Friends held a silent vigil/worship in their meetinghouse that same night. Their vigil was reported
in the local newspaper with comments by meeting members,
._ *
( Action Ideas
(1) Make your opposition to the death penalty visible. Alexander Cockburn (The Nation, June 26, 1995)
Examples include bumper stickers, buttons, and T-shirts with anti- describes the outcome: “The trial, which culminated in a death
death penalty messages. This may invite response from others, Be Sentence, was a travesty. Mumia was forcibly encumbered with an
prepared to offer your reasons and moral reflections. incompetent, state-appointed counsel.’ The Supposed murder
weapon, Mumia’s legal .38-caliber gun, was never properly tested
(2) Write letters to the editor. These may include facts to see if it had been fired. Ballistic evidence showing that Faulkner
about the death penalty, one’s own personal journey into Opposition —_ was killed by bullets from a .44 was ignored. Testimony from four
to the death penalty, or stories of victims overcoming the spirit of eyewitnesses attesting to a man fleeing the scene was passed over,
vengeance. Invite readers to dialogue with you. The prosecution was allowed to use Mumia’s political associations
against him and to argue to the jury that its determination of death
(3) Wnite to legislators and executive officials on behalf ‘may not be final.’ Selection of the jury was heavily tainted. In a
of death-row prisoners, particularly those facing imminent city that is 40 percent black, there was only one black juror.”
execution.
Please write to: Gov. Tom Ridge/Main Capitol
One prisoner currently needing Support is journalist and Bldg./Room 225/ Harrisburg, PA 17120. Call (717) 787-2500:
radical radio broadcaster Mumia Abu-Jamal, who still faces the fax: (717) 783-3369. Also express opposition to the planned
Prospect of execution by the state of P ennsylvania. On December killing of Abu-Jamal to President Clinton, For more information
9, 1981, in Philadelphia, police officer Daniel F aulkner was beating —_ contact: Committee to Save Abu-Jamal at (212) 580-1022 or
Mumua’s brother. Mumia came upon the scene. Shots were fired Partisan Defense Committee/ P.O. Box 99/ Canal St. Station/ New
from somewhere. Mumia was seriously wounded and F aulkner was York, NY 10013. (212) 406-4252.
killed.
TIAT2 6.5: - Boston. On Tuesday He (2th Instant, abot 3PM; were! 8A f i
executed here -for piracy 1, naurder, ede. three. of the: sicelenntiae
- persons: Seb in our. last. viz Willian. Flue: (Capt) ,. 2
7
ee Cle (Quarter Mester) and - Henry Greenville. athe other,
Viz. Geore Condick , me RS ot the ploce of execution
_ tor a twelve feat’ band rs +o: the recommended =to:
_ Hes Mates: eshy Ss gnce Pe Flye behaved himself Very
unbecoming even to the. last ; be, advised Masters &
3 vessels not +o be- Severe. arch barbarous to ther men, Which
ruil be a reason wht hye ap pirates. The other two
. Seema penitent and others mtgfet be Warned bn cua,
Ther bodies were aH in @ bach toia amr Island calles
*Nick's- Mate” sabaut two hesgues Aroma Hee town where the.
abovesard. Flye. was hung UP In ivons_@s.4 Spectacle Soy tee
warning of ters, sel ae The sthertwo
Were buried lesa: z Ae coheed,
wot )
‘ot Atnp
“9O2ZLT
uo ‘ww Suojysog Sfowertg soy peSueyu *ATTTANTAYD puS WTA ‘WOO
“92lLT ST AtTnep S*ssem Su0ysog “MTLIWISMAN NOLSOP °
94
tonly fired, the clamor of the bank alarm,
shouted orders, coarse oaths.
And then the shout: “Here comes a
cop!”
“Get him!” yelled the gunman cover-
ing the bank treasurer.
The man with the “tommy” gun in
Keith’s office stepped nearer the window
and took quick aim. His finger curled
around the trigger and a burst of shots
smashed through the plate glass and sent
shattered fragments tinkling on to the icy
sidewalk. | Officer. -McLeod _ staggered,
plunged to his knees, collapsed face-down,
fatally riddled with forty-five caliber ma-
chiné-gun slugs. ee
The robber over by ‘the tellers’ cage,
whose automatic was barking intermit-
tently, had grabbed all the cash he found
in sight. He-had-forced Riordan to face
the wall, and thére.the husky young bank
teller had to stand, expecting each mo-
ment that one of the wildly flying bullets
would smash into his exposed back.
The gunman who had stuck up Treas-
urer Mackintosh had now moved out into
the center of the bank where he could -
watch the entire scene and cover all the
employees—except the two women cower-
ing behind a closed door in the rear office
whence the bank alarm had been sounded.
He was cursing and shouting orders.
HE machine-gunner who had deliber-
ately sent a stream of leaden slugs
through the window of Keith’s office to kill
Patrolman McLeod without an instant of
warning, as the officer hastened across
Great Plain Avenue to respond to the
bank alarm, remained there to watch the
approaches to the bank.and guard Keith
and Miss Kimball, who were facing the
wall with upraised arms.» The assistant
bank treasurer had felt the machine-gun
muzzle jabbed into his back a moment.
before the burst of’ shots, and he thought.
that- the bullets had been fired at him.
The cold drops of perspiration might be _
blood trickling down his back. He won-
dered why he felt no pain, why he re-
mained on his feet. He heard. more shots
in the bank, shouts, curses. Each instant
he expected. to drop dead, that the ma-
chine-gun would resume its - vicious
staccato‘ chatter. asia
“Where is the big money?”.yelled the
robber who had stuck up Riordan. : He
emphasized his demand’ with a volley of
obscene epithets, threats and oaths,
Knowing that refusal*to answer would
probably mean death, for others as well
as himself, and that the robbers would
probably get all the bank’s cash in the
end, Riordan motioned toward the: ad-
joining teller’s cage, which was locked.
“In there,” he said?) . ees
“Let me in there,” yelled the gunman,
“or I'll plug you.”, : LACORS An)
“No,” shouted the ~bandit leader out
in the middle of the lobby, who had) al-
ready taken possession of: the first: box of
money. passed. out by his confederate-from
Riordan’s cage. “Keep that ‘big: guy
against the wall. Smash the glass’ and
open the door yourself.” There were:more
unprintable words, but’ this was“the- gist
of the:order. © 1 np wy
The order was obeyed. , The gunman
swung his automatic and smashed ‘the
glass, reached through to spring the latch
and forced open the door to the "stee]-" |
barred cage, .There: he grabbed. andther ~
cash box and seized a!payroll. made. up
that morning with money ‘just: received
from~ the Needham: Co-operativey Bank, ,
next door. “As he left the cage, keeping
Riordan: covered, the leader yelled to:him:
“Take~ along’ the ‘big \guy!°* Bring’ him
with .-youl”’. i i an eh
“Teller ‘Riordan “felt “a ‘gun jammed
against. his .back: and: he. was: forced ‘to
True Detective Mysteries
turn and march out of the bank, his help-
less body a living shield for the ruthless
marauders.
The next instant Treasurer Mackintosh,
too, felt a gun against his back, and he
was ordered to march out with Riordan.
The prisoners realized that they were be-
ing kidnapped to protect the escape of the
robbers with their bank loot.
The machine-gunner was backing out of
Keith’s office, keeping the assistant treas-
urer and Miss Kimball covered, and then
he suddenly -turned and ran out of the
bank. Ran to the curb just outside the
door where a big, dark-colored Packard
car was waiting, where the other two rob-
bers had tossed in their boxes of money
and were scrambling in after forcing
Mackintosh to get on the right-hand run-
ning-board and cling precariously, while
Riordan was made to cling to the left-
hand side.
The motor was roaring. The car shot
away and raced along Great Plain Ave-
nue, headed away from Boston.
Riordan and Mackintosh clung to the
swaying car, their bare fingers nipped by
the frosty air, realizing that within a few
minutes their hands would be too numbed
by cold to maintain a grip. But inside
the car they saw over their shoulders the
muzzles of guns covering them, cruel,
leering faces. If they tried to jump, risk-
ing broken limbs and a smashed head on
the icy roadway, they would-be shot. If
they tried .to hang on, the agony would
merely be prolonged. And at last, when
their bodies were no longer needed as liv-
ing: shields for murderous bandits, they
would probably be riddled with bullets
and left crumpled in the ditch.
They heard a scratching, crackling
sound within the car and then the mur-
mur of a voice. It was a short-wave
radio, switched on in tune with police
broadcasts. And there was something
extraordinary about it. Every word came
through the mysterious ether clearly and
distinctly. That fact was eventually to
become a clue of vital importance, the
fact that the bandits’ short-wave radio
was free from much of the static and
interference that handicaps -police broad-
casting. '
| esthetic suddenly threw himself from
the running-board and fell headlong
into ‘the highway. Instantly, there was a
crackle of gunfire,The bank teller’s body:
rolled behind’ a parked. car, twitched: and
lay «still: « Mackintosh, : looking’ through
the car‘ curtains, ‘saw his subordinate dis-
appear, heard the burst of gunfire, and
supposed that Riordan had been slain in
his apparent attempt to escape.’ He saw
one "oft the bandits watching him closely,
@ gun aimed straight into his face. So
. Mackintosh clung: to the speeding, sway-
ing car and ‘bided'his time. :
Back in‘ the "eer Serle a the railroad
crossing and inthe Needham Trust Com-
_ pany bedlam “had ‘broken loose. Women
attending to their early aon. shopping
in a° chain’ store ‘across. Great’ Plain Ave-
, nue from’‘the--bank: had ‘heard: the fusil~
lade«ofrshots,* andi some’ of. thé machine-
un: bullets: aimed iat’ Patrolman: McLeod
ad«'crashed = through:‘the : store-front ‘to”
| send: bits of. plaster:
and “splinters among’
} y mn satay)
‘the phoppetn.v I ae newt oateay 3)
% Mrs;*
‘ atherine Dugan;'in charge of the”
pastry ‘department, was" startled: by the
ran out into the winter morning and
cradled the dying policeman’s head in her
arms.
“They got me,” muttered McLeod. He
was moaning and gasping for breath. Un-
aware that a bank hold-up was in
progress, Mrs. Dugan tried to lift the dying
officer to his feet. And then James sud-
denly yelled: “Duck!” Mrs. Dugan
looked up and saw the bandits coming
out of the bank, waving their guns to
cover the square.
But the brave woman only clutched the
dying officer tighter and, aided. by two
bystanders, Bud Vincent and Patsy
Miele, lifted him into a town truck which
was parked near by. “Get him to the hos-
pital!” she screamed. Both she and the
two men aiding her were unheeding of
their deadly peril, for the bandits leaving
the bank with their two kidnapped cap-
tives were only a few yards away and
apparently ready to send another fusillade
of shots among the onlookers.
Wee the bandit car raced away from
the looted bank, the machine-gunner
was posted in the rear seat where he could
cover any possible pursuit and also could
fire at pointblank range at either of the
two captives on the running-boards. “You
— — —,” he yelled at Mackintosh
and Riordan, “you’re going to ride with
us while we get out of here. If anything
goes wrong we'll kill both of you.”
The big car roared through the center
of the square, regardless of traffic and
danger to pedestrians, and continued to
pe up speed: as it headed toward Need-
am Heights. It was on this first stretch
of the getaway that the bank treasurer
saw his teller jump or fall from the op-
posite running-board, and the cursing
gunmen send a volley of shots back from
the careening car at the body rolling into
a snowbank,
The machine-gunner raised the ugly
weapon with which he had just murdered
a policeman and glared at Mackintosh
savagely. His finger seemed to tighten on
the trigger. Then he snarled: “Don’t you
try that, you ——”
Mackintosh clung desperately to the
swaying, plunging car as it raced down
Oak Street to Chestnut Street, passing the
Needham Police Station. There was not
a police officer in sight, no indication that
an alarm had been given. The bandits
apparently had boldly and deliberately
gone by’ way‘of the local police head-.
quarters ‘to see if any pursuit was start-
ing, and: to machine-gun any - officers
starting~on their trail. i + REESE
--The racing car tore through Needham
Square, where motorists and _ pedestrians
staréd in amazement at the local banker,
without hat or overcoat, perched. precari-
ously on the running-board, and on along
Highland: ‘Avenue.- The speedometer
needle climbed to sixty-seven miles an:
hour, ae
«They were approaching the Needham
Heights Fire Station at terrific - speed,
when Mackintosh saw three blue-uni-
formed ‘men in front of the fire house:
Two: were' firemen, one with a snow-shovel.
“The third was a Needham ‘police officer,
“whomi' he ‘recognized as Patrolman Frank
, Haddock. They were watching the ap-
eg
‘
proaching ‘‘car, and: the policeman ~ had
® started ‘toward’ the street. °
; “Phere’s ‘a cop!” yelled one of the gun
crashing ‘of ‘glass in the-top'part'of a show: 34men.: “Get: him |”:
window’ ‘as'-a! bullet: which already ‘had
=. © The'machine-gunner swung up’the’squat
shattered a ‘bank window, ‘embedded itself,’ ‘° weapon:“‘and-‘ took’ quick ‘aim. ‘The’ car
| in ‘the! store wall. “She‘glanced‘up and’ saw
' Patrolman “McLeod, fatally ‘riddled, fall-.
_ing’in the street. Without sensing thé
danger, and' followed’ by ‘H. B: James, 'the
meat.. department’‘manager, and* William
’ Mulhern and Edward Scott, Mrs. Dugan
Seemed ‘to’'pick'“up more speed. ’: There’
. was a‘ swift’ clatter of explosions,’above' the:
roating of the wide open motor.“
* When the bandits fled from the Need-
ham : Trust Cope with’ their two ca
tives, leaving Officer McLeod dying in the
©
of wild
eral ©
had th
teleprc
Ther
reachir
lice fc
spread):
becaug
lately
service
city ar
monwe
offices
save |
cost.
radio,
the o1
commit
metroy
But
ly effic
news
them.
Needh
Lieute:
“The
been h
say.
car an
them.
Lieu
downst
remem
dock }
fore,
Cough
that h
tion d
TS
Needh
it v
True Detective Mysteries
The Truth About the Atrocious
Massachusetts Killings
(Continued from page 57)
crossing gates, the warning gong clanging
loudly. The thunder of the approaching
train reverberated through the wintry air.
And now it was that hideous things be-
gan to happen.
Again the door of the bank opened. A
man was there, furtive, crouched, menac-
ing. He was gripping a gun. Mackin-
tosh had finished his dictation and Miss
Kimball was leaving the treasurer’s office.
Her casual glance toward the sound of the
opening door caught a glimpse of the
threatening weapon; but she stifled be-
hind tightened lips the instant impulse to
scream, slipped quickly and quietly into
Keith’s office, and whispered to the as-
sistant treasurer: “There’s a man out
there with a gun!”
Startled and unbelieving, Keith raised
his eyes and looked toward the entrance
to the counting room, and he saw that
already it was too late to do anything.
There was no time to grab the telephone
or leap to the bank alarm.
Another man had followed the first into
the bank. He was brandishing a ma-
chine-gun. The muzzle of the squat, ugly
weapon waved back and forth in short,
vicious arcs, instantly ready to send its
leaden hail of death in any direction.
Aces the door opened and a third
gunman appeared close behind the
other two. They moved forward into the
bank swiftly, yet methodically, as if each
had a definite objective and every move-
ment had been deliberately planned in
advance.
Gunman Number One approached the
enclosure where Treasurer. Mackintosh had
been seated at his desk. Number Two
hastened to Keith’s office, whose windows
overlooked the street and square on
which the bank fronted. The grim
strategy of this move was to appear with
dreadful clarity within a few moments.
Number Three strode to the teller’s cage.
At this stage only two of the bank
employees were unaware of what was
transpiring. They were Miss Johnson
and Mrs. Gaykan, the bookkeepers work~-
ing in the rear office, where the door had
just been closed to cut off an annoying
draft. The others watched the savage
drama that swiftly unfolded, fascinated by
horror, helpless to resist, scarce pone
that such a thing could be in peaceful,
law-abiding Needham. It was like some
frightful nightmare with fiendish creatures
of the darkness gibbering and gloating
around the haunted sleeper who strives to
escape and cannot force his sluggish feet
to obey.
The intruders were barking harsh orders,
shouting threats, curses, obscenities. There
was pandemonium in the hank.
The man with the “tommy” gun dashed
into Keith’s office shouting: “Put up your
hands! Turn around! Face the wall, or
T'll blow your head off!”
Keith and Miss Kimball, who had just
whispered her alarming message to the
assistant treasurer, raised their arms above
their heads slowly. Keith faced the front
window and edged slowly toward it. The
thought was flashing through his mind
that someone might see him standing
there at the bank window, arms upraised,
and give an alarm that would bring
rescue and frustrate a bank hold-up.
But the muzzle of the machine-gun
jabbed cruelly into his back. He was
pushed violently aside. “Keep away from
that window,” snarled the alert gunman.
Keith and Miss Kimball were forced to
face the wall beyond the window.
Mackintosh had looked up from_his
desk to stare into the dark muzzle of an
automatic. He knew that he was face to
face with sudden death, and that he did
not have a chance except to submit pas-
sively. He saw that the gunman con-
fronting him had drawn a mask across
the lower part of his face. Miss Powell
had just entered the treasurer’s office.
Dazed by terror, she turned_and darted
into the adjoining office. The gunman
paid her no attention. He seemed to know
that there was no way of escape from that
inner room, and that there was no means
there of giving the alarm. He confined
his attention to the Needham Trust Com-
pany treasurer.
The third gunman was shouting orders
to the tellers behind their metal grill.
One hand was snatching at the money ex-
posed in the tellers’ tills, The other
gripped a gun, his right forefinger con-
tracting spasmodically and sending shots
crashing here and there from the waver-
ing weapon. These shots apparently were
intended for Teller Riordan, but all
missed him.
An order, emphasized by profane and
obscene oaths, was yelled at Bartholomew
to open the fie barring access to the
bank vault. The aged vault attendant,
crippled by lameness and his more than
seventy years, was slow.in obeying and a
gun barked five times. Two of the bullets
smashed Bartholomew’s left hand.
The bandit with the machine-gun in
Keith’s office suddenly shouted: “Here
comes a cop!”
EANWHILE, Mrs. Gaykan and Miss
Johnson had heard the turmoil in the
bank’s outside office and glanced through
the glass pane of the closed door. One
look was enough. They knew that it was
a hold-up and robbery. The two women
crouched down out of sight, unseen by the
marauders. Mrs. Gaykan reached for the
alarm button and pressed it—hard. The
emergency alarm outside of the bank
building began its strident clatter. If the
robbers heard it they gave no attention.
That signal was the death knell for a
Needham policeman who had been deco-
rated for valor while serving with the |.
Yankee Division overseas during the
World War. .
Patrolman Forbes McLeod, of the
Needham Police Department, World War
hero, heard the bank alarm and recognized
its significance as he stood over by the
railroad grade crossing amid the din of
the passing train. McLeod turned and
ran toward the bank building, reaching for
his service revolver.
Inside the bank, violence and tragedy
were rampant. Treasurer Mackintosh had
started to his feet and the gunman cover-
ing him shouted: “No fooling about this!
Stick your: hands up!” Mackintosh knew
that he was helpless and hé immediately
obeyed instructions. “If anything goes
wrong,” yelled the bandit, “and you're a
part of it, youre going to die here and
now.” The gunman’s glaring eyes, his
tight lips parted in a feral grin, the tone
of his voice, combined to convince the
bank treasurer that the armed intruder
soaronine him meant every word he
said.
Mackintosh heard the crackling of gun-
shots, the groaning of Bartholomew whose
hand had been smashed by bullets wan-
———— menamannaimnemnailell
93
KIDNEYS cause
muck TROUBLE
FHAS
CITY
HEALTH
DIRECTOR
Says. :
Successful Prescription Helps Remove
Acids—Works in 15 Minutes
D% T. J. RASTELLI, famous English scientist, Doctor
of Medicine and Surgeon, says: ‘‘You can't feel well if
ti b your Kidneys
your Kidneys do not f right,
affect your entire ‘es
Your blood circulates 4 times a minute through 9 million
tiny, delicate tubes in your Kidneys
which are endangered by drastic, irri-
tating drugs, pi, po foods and drinks, Lut
—worry, exposure. Beware of Kid- heway?,
ney dysfunction if you suffer from — Cystex
Night , Leg Pains, Nervousness, ps esdtrtes
Dizziness, Circles Under Eyes, Acidity, [%
or Loss of Pep. = ARE er
Dr. Walter R. George, for many ory
years Health Director of Indianapolis, posse
says: “Ingufficient Kiiney excretions = Seed
ere cal muc! suffering aes
with Kenlne Beck, Frequent Night Rising, FS) es. nese om
Tiehing, martings B Joint, f) ™ Scere"
her jaote alan, hes, s generally Pol eee
rwa-dewn body. T am of the that the SHULL,
Eenditiona. It aids in flush the
one os =|
functions in a few I otares work ta 18 rN demty wan,
soothes, and oleans raw, sore membranes, Brings new enerxy
vitality of bones, 3 fo betting pitions of sufferers and. ie
uarant to i yon we make ike new in 8 days, or money
— Feet be ng empty package, Get guaranteed Cystex trom yout
CYSTEX
THE MODERN AID
TO KIDNEY FUNCTIONS
LEG SUFFERERS
Why continue to suffer? Do some-
thing to secure quick relief. Write
today for New Booklet—“THE LIEPE
M D OF H ‘
é
f f
f
t
‘
4 %
pf
% am Eczema, Liepe
walk, More than 40 years of success.
Praised and endorsed by thousands. FREE
84 Green Bay Ave.,
LIEPE METHODS, 320 Meee Wie” Lickel
MENDS sroice a,
\Y :
~ for
ON tee Ser.
, uP In
PIPAYS +5 $222.% HOU
SEW-NO-MORE mends ripe, tears, holes in any cotton,
we or silk fabric—instantl tly—INVISIBLY,
without needle or thread. Matches patterns per-
fectly. Stands boiling, washing, ironing. Anyone can
FER E' E v4 AMP L E a ge
im Thicker:
SEW-NO-MORE CO., Dept. B-775, Madison Rd., Cincinnati, 0.
TarngNidht Air Into
>
a
Light /
Amazing, scientific discovery
revolutionizes home lighting
industry! Totally dark
/ room can now be
‘flooded with 300 Candle Power. of
prilliant, soft, white light, utiliz-
ding 96% free air and only 4%
common kerosene(coaloil). Re- >
places oil wick sarape Gives 20
times more lightat half the cost!
Now Available For
Lighting Every Home
This startling invention has been built into a line
of beautifully colored Art Lamps forthe home, whichare now
ready for general distribution at a price anyone can afford to pay
Write quick for 30 Day Home Trial
1 am willing to send one of these Lamps for 30days’ trial,
or even to
Za
ve one FREE to the first user in each local-
ata me, . in your name today —
you can “ret the Agents Wanted
agency an ‘out experience or capital make BIG MONEY.
J.C. Steese, Inventor, 130 Steese Bidg., Akron, Ohio
street and Bartholomew, the elderly vault
attendant, fainting from loss of blood with
a bullet-shattered hand, they left a scene
of wild confusion behind them. But sev-
eral citizens, including bank employees,
had the presence of mind to rush for a
telephone and give the alarm.
ere was some delay, however, in
reaching-the head of the small local po-
lice force; and still further delay in
spreading the alarm outside of Needham
because of an economy move that had
lately been made. The. police teletype
service connecting Needham with other
city and town police forces of the Com-
monwealth and with all State Police
offices had recently been discontinued to
save local taxpayers its moderate annual
cost. There was no tie-in with police
radio, only the telephone to connect with
the outside world a thriving, wealthy
community a dozen miles from the busy
metropolis of Boston.
But the telephone operators were eager-
ly efficient and they did their best, once
news of the tragic emergency reached
them. One message was flashed to the
Needham Heights Fire Station. Fire
Lieutenant Richard Salamone received it.
“The Needham Trust Company has just
been held up!” he heard an excited voice
say. “The robbers escaped in a big, dark
car.and took two of the bank men with
them. They’ve shot a policeman.”
Lieutenant Salamone immediately ran
downstairs and out of the fire house. He
remembered that Patrolman Frank Had-
dock had been there a few moments be-
fore, talking with Fireman Timothy
Coughlin who was clearing away the snow
that had drifted in front of the fire sta-
tion doors during the night.
“PPHERE’S a hold-up!” he called to
Officer Haddock. “Just got a phone!
Needham Trust Company! They got
away with two of the bank men besides
the money!”
The three men heard the roar of a
wide-open motor, and saw a big, dark car
hurtling toward them at terrific speed. A
man crouched on the right-hand running-
board was clinging desperately to the
door.
“Why, it’s Mr. Mackintosh!” gasped
True Detective Mysteries
Patrolman Haddock. He jumped toward
the street, reaching toward his revolver
holster,
Lieutenant Salamone saw blurred faces
in the car, swift flashes of fire. There
was a strange, loud chatter, unlike any-
thing he ever had heard before. Later,
he was to understand why gangsters
speak of a Thompson sub-automatic, or
“tommy” gun, as a typewriter. et
Patrolman Haddock doubled ‘up and
sprawled grotesquely, face-down, on the
snow. Fireman ‘Coughlin staggered. One
leg twitched and bent. He dropped ‘his:
shovel and clasped both hands across his
stomach, bowed slowly, suddenly toppled’
and was still. The speeding car was gone.
eee aroused by the commotion
‘came running to the scene. Coughlin
was lifted into the Fire Chief’s car and’
Haddock into that of James Anderson and
rushed to Glover Hospital. Doctors found
that Coughlin, although terribly wounded
by forty-five caliber machine-gun slugs in
the leg and stomach, had a chance to live.
But Patrolman Haddock’s wounds were
fatal. The middle of his body was liter-
ally smashed by the heavy bullets, but he
clung to life for several hours.
The bandit car roared on at terrific
speed in the general direction of New-
ton, then swung and headed back to pass
again through Needham Center. Mackin-
tosh begged his captors to let him go,
pleading that he was faint and could not
hold on any longer. The car slowed a little
for a turn and the bank treasurer let go
and plunged headlong into a snowdrift. He
rolled over and over, scrambled to his feet
and ran. If he was fired upon he did
not know it. The bandit car had disap-
peared. Mackintosh found himself upon
his feet, shivering with cold and ‘horror,
but still alive, and some two miles from
the scene of his abduction.
‘It was more than fifteen. minutes after
the bank hold-up when the news at last
reached the police teletype, relayed by
telephone through the adjoining towns of
Norwood and Dedham. Within a few
seconds Boston Police cruising cars were
covering all gateways of the city. State
Police on motor-cycles and in radio-~
equipped automobiles were racing to
The burned car found in the Norwood woods being examined by detectives. Later,
it was linked with the mysterious series of slayings and robberies that were terrifying
citizens of the Bay State
or
On Easy Terms.
10 Day Trial ; Famous
No Money Down™ Refintshed
Positively the Py aheckner paren ever offered. A genuine
late model Underwood No. 5 for only $39.90 (cash) or on
easy terms. Has up-to-date improvements including
standard 4-row pez bord, backs: r, automatic ribbon
reverse, shiftlock key, 2-color ribbon, etc. The perfect
Puy we ee eee
Learn Touch Typewriting | | Money-Back Guarantee
psomnpe (Home Study)
Ba
of the Famous Van | Send coupon for 10-day Trial
nt 8; writin, —if you decide to keep it
Bystem—fully ‘ustrat
easily learned, given dur-
ing this offer,
y only $3.00 a month until
.90 (term price) is paid.
Limited offer—act at once.
a a ee is Sa see en mas ls ts cn fin ets et iin en
TERNATIONAL TYPEWRITER EXCHANGE
NT West Monroe St., Chicago, it ept. 1081 |
Send Underwood No, 5 (F. 0. hicago) at for 10-da:
| trial ie Va mas sapiens: elckea Y urn i ox oe
in
ect: ean return it express l
lect. If I keep it I will pay $3.00 » month until I have paid $44.90
| (term price) full,
Make money taking pictures. Prepare quickly during
spare time. Also earn while you learn. No experience
necessary. New easy method. Nothing else like it.
Send at once for free book, Opportu in Modern
Photography, and full particulars.
Dept. 149736 i Michigan aves ey Chicago, U. $.A«
T! his head
: olen wok invisible
andcomfortable,nowires
' Artifictal
THE WAY COMPANY
736 Hofmann Bldg. Detroit, Michigan
Learn Public
5 NorthAmeri:
ican Institute, Dept. 1497
3601 Michi A » Chi 7
in,
SHOES
LIKE
NEW
6c
PAYS YOU 7 $2.00 % HOUR
SAV - AN - UPPER — Sensational’ new _discovery—
completely covers scuffed, discolored and faded up-
-pers of any shoes with wear-proof, highly-polished
posting. Makes them look new. Quick, easy, econom-
ical, Takes only a minute.
JUST BRUSH IT ON! Absolutely
new and different. Gives glossy, good-
More Than [| Jooking, long - crack = ft
a Polish finish to shoes and leather cles.
FREE pasha lang Aspe and basa
ts making t 4 rofits
More Than! up to 202 per cent. Unitmited de-
a Dye mand. Write today for free sample
that proves all claims. Send no money.
sanchonhat Sav-An-Upper Co. Pn Cincinnatl
Paar ees Sea a
en ts
Be
wt
96
throw a cordon around Needham. Detec-
tive Lieutenants John Stokes and yy a
Ferrari of the State Police, gettin Oe
news over the teletype at the asad
chusetts State House, were racing for
Needham. General ‘Daniel . Nee ham,
Commissioner of the Massachusetts De-
partment of Safety, and Lieutenant Mi-
chael Barrett, acting head of the State
Police Detective Bureau, were rushing
every resource at their command into ac-
tion to aid the Needham town authorities
in apprehending -the -bank robbers. and
avenging the brutal’ murders. '
But it pppeared to sha already too late.
Fifteen minutes ~ leeway for a
modern criminal’ ficein Pe. scene -of_ his
crime in ‘a fast ‘car. ’ every ‘police de-
partment. throughout the Commonwealth,
large or small, were equipped ‘with radio-
connected: cruising’ cars and‘ co-ordinated
with the police teletype{and unified. .with.
well-trained, straight-shooting men, then
the: story of the atrocigus Massachusetts
murders might have been different—very
different.)
Boston’ detectives Jed, by Deputy Super-
intendent, John - Anderson. and --Captain
Stephen Flaherty, commanding the De-
tective Bureau, raced to Needham to aid
in the investigation and search for finger-
prints in the looted bank. Anderson, a
police veteran with years of practical ex-
perience, ordered finger-prints and the
most recent photograph of Charles “Pretty
Boy” Floyd taken along for comparison.
The boldness of the crime and the ruth-
lessness with which it had been executed,
suggested the leadership of “Pretty Boy’
Floyd; that notorious: desperado: of the
Middle West had been reported at that
time as missing from his usual *he had
grounds. it Pe: mumpted that he ha
. He
RB", no’ Bahityine” ‘Gngetprints ‘were’
found-by the experts in the bank, and
none. who /had seen the’ bandits was able:
to make a positive identification: of
et police picture.
ite many false alarms, all of which
nie Be carefully investigated, no further,
trace ofthe bandits” getaway*.car could
be found after Treasurer Mackintosh had
left it and-it had headed back through
Needham, apparently to. make another
bold survey of the scene ‘of the outrage.
Some thought it was a big Packard sedan;
others were positive that it was a different
make of car. No one could: give:-the
numbers on the registration plates posi-
tively.. And in any case, the plates might
be stolen or fraudulent.»Some.-witnesses -
seemed to think’ that the’ bandit car had
carried 1932 registration plates, the scheme
used by the gang which:had stuck up the .
Paramount Theater in Lynn a month pre-—
viously -and murdered:.an elderly bill
poster. 'Massachusetts’"\1932 motor car
tags were the same color“as in 1934, a.
system which’ will be absndoned for ob-
vious reasons, '
Oa hore police dategeves were comb-,
ing tb underworld ‘and squeezing for
ortdation every avai ble informant
they..could contact. Little information ©
was extracted.’ Stool’ pigeons seemed to
be as puzzled by the fresh atrocity as, were
olice,’’ But_there were rumors that-four
oston. ane TS,, all, alleged -gunmen. for; ~
merly “a. with Sete F*The, Pole’. Ged-,
zium,,Wwho had recen y died. in ‘the’ elec-
trie chair’ after. ieroraig Eastern Mass =
chusetts * for’ Several ‘years, » might» know:
something, about’ it: A General alarny was}
broadcast» for rts ;the- appreh ensio of. four)
of these ‘men.:At*léast:one.of them had
been ‘sought by’ ‘Operatives’ of, the bags
J. Burns: :International. Detective Agenc
as ohliee baer ber bank” old='
Ban hey eo + 2908>{
- outrage.
True Detective Mysteries
Another interesting possibility was sug-
gested. The Needham Trust Company
robbery was on Friday and the previous
afternoon some seventy thousand dollars
had been unexpectedly transmitted to the
First National Bank in Boston, controlling
the Needham Bank through a holding
corporation. Except for this unforeseen
transaction the bandits would have got
away with around a hundred thousand
instead of merely some fifteen thousand
‘dollars. The Burns detectives had discov-
ered similar facts in the case of the im-
mediately preceding bank robberies in
Brooklyn, North Easton, Wollaston and
| Turners Falls. Each time the robbers had
| struck at the exact moment to get the
} maximum loot. That they had failed in the
‘case of the Needham ‘raid seemed to be
‘due merely to the chance of the unantici-
‘pated financial transaction of the previous
afternoon. This seemed to suggest some
source of inside information, and Manager
‘George Breach of the criminal department
,of the Burns’ New England division con-
| comtrated 9 on this porsibility as a valuable
ea
ie Manager Breach left. “police to do. the
Spade work while his men quested for
some bank employee or former employee
who might tie in the looted banks with
the world of: crime.’ That quest was to
lead to amazing revelations,
On the night following the Needham
crime, Saturday, February 3rd, 1934, hear-
ing through underworld informants that
the men they were after were ardent. prize
fight fans, Boston, and, State ‘detectives
flocked to the Boston Garden to comb the
crowd. Known gangster hideouts in Bos-
,ton -were under. constant surveillance.
Every, tip, every rumor, every report was
[Being carefully checked in’ the biggest
unt in the history of the state. The
wanted men were not found during. the
‘fights at the Boston Garden, but the next
day two of them were apprehended in
Mattapan.
But Needham witnesses could not iden-.
tify them, and no evidence was found, to
connect them with the murders and rob-
ery., '
Captain Charles Van Amburgh, head of
the Bureau of Experts of the State Police, |
been studying the ballistics evidence.
Bullets had been recovered in the looted
bank and several empty cartridge. shells...
had been picked up.“ With this evidence ~
he was ab)e: to. foake some temerkaple®
findings.) :) ¢: ches
Ax least, one e twenty-two caliber auto-
matic pistol had’ been used in the
Needham Trust Company robbery which
was identical with one used in the murder ~
jof Clark, the. Iver Johnson © Sporting ~
‘Goods - Company ‘clerk slain in Fitch-
‘of. the. murder guns used in Fitchburg
‘also had figured in the Lynn Fara
‘Theater hold-up and mur A
Captain Van Amburgh established, fur-
ther, that the machine-gun used in the
Needham crime was the weapon taken by
the raiders: who had looted the State Po- ~
lice exhibit of equipment displayed ‘at. the —
‘Boston ‘Automobile Show in Mechanics
(Building, a few days. efore the, Nepal
ar | other ‘words, 2
oe i a peer mur er cine pole
ung ef ne Biot storiee: ii a
‘available ‘witnesses resulted in the follow-
ling’ description of the Agen bandits i
pene broadcast). 13h) vd inay tod | eboo
ON umber... One thirives nathirkeefive at
hundred sixty pounds, olive complexion,
dark mustache, grey coat, grey felt hat,
carried a blue steel revolver.
Number two—thirty-five years old, five
feet, ten inches tall; one hundred and
fifty pounds, dark complexion, grey cap,
brown overcoat, carried a machine-gun.
Number three—between twenty and
thirty years old, five feet, seven inches
tall; one hundred and forty pounds, slight
build, dark complexion, short grey over-
coat, very nervous and fired several need-
less shots in the bank, carried a twenty-two
caliber “Woodsman” automatic pistol with
a ten-inch barrel.
Remember these descriptions. They be-
come of considerable interest later.
Berrett and Molway, the Boston taxicab
drivers picked up on identification of their
photographs and later of themselves by
Lynn witnesses, were now on trial in Sa-
lem for the Paramount Theater murder.
They were about to be convicted and sen-
tenced to death. Remember that three
men had figured in the Lynn crime and
two alleged members of the gang had been
apprehended. Three men had figured in
the Fitchburg murder and none were ap-
prehenciass Three men had figured in the
eedham murders and bank robbery and
they were still at large. A gun used in
the Lynn murder—a twenty-two caliber
automatic—had also been used in the
Fitchburg murder. And a similar pistol
used in t the Fitchburg crime also had been
used in Needham.
IGHT. Berrett and Molway be inno-
cent? Might the same three men who
had committed the crime in Lynn, also
have figured in the Fitchburg raid and the
Needham foray? And might they also
be the trio who had raided Mechanics
Building in. Boston to overpower ‘the
watchman and seize the State Police weap-
ons? While the Needham investigation
continued, District Attorney Hugh A.
Cregg of Essex County went on with his
sincere effort to convict Molway and Ber-
rett for murder in the first degree.
Careful checking revealed that some if
not all of the stolen paper money in
Needham could be identified by the ser-
ial numbers on the certificates. These.
numbers were hastily listed and circulated
among Greater Boston banking institu-
tions and larger business establishments.
~ Local newspapers published the serial
“numbers. Reports came in of the stolen
- bills being passed in Wellesley, Stoughton,
and elsewhere. But prompt investigation
proved all the reports to be without foun-
» dation,
More suspects were picked up, but when
lined up before witnesses they were not
identified and had to be released. The
a four suspects already named were among
burg. And he had already shown that one ~
“these putin the line-up at Boston Police
“Headquarters and later exonerated from
ny connection with the Needham crime.
‘Still balked in their search for the ma-
hine-gun slayers, state detectives, state
roopers, and detectives from the cities
nd towns of Metropolitan Boston con-
tinued searching for clues to the identity
_ of the Needham slayers. Scores of raids
were made on various resorts, but all were
nproductive of tangible clues. Most of
peeve sOrAYS were the, result, af tips from
reason that ee never had pate s New:
j See The young woman was a nar-
“cotic“addict.”
The: firstdefinite clue—although it:iwas
» not recognized ‘at the time—came on Wed-
byes old, five feet eight ieesorep tall; one cdnesday, February 7th. Boys playing in
Ci
O
ticed a |
notified
serial nu
tures, th
sedan fy!
1933, fre
Gardine:
parked 1
Sullivan
that tl
murdero
Massach
torious
known f
Island :
Needha1
burned t
their es:
through
colleagu
with hi
burned
UT
cam
tered a
wealth
young |
and
through
they b:
they ha
TERIES,
crime d:
heading
car had
partially
the sce)
which t!
have m
Fanta
young
drifts u
of meta
diggove)
©
found 1
ported
had rai:
for whi
Berrett
Salem
tric ch:
But t
The bo
tional
Needhe
had be:
finger-p
or to 0
be ther
well as
They
Police
metal :
kerchie
officers
picked
the y«
7
examip
a vehe
the cr
“Suss”
UT
THE ATROCIOUS
: Faber was picked up in Boston. When
Detective Joseph Ferrari faced Faber with
the staggering line-up of facts unearthed
GOVERNOR OF
MASSACHUSETTS
As told to FRED H. THOMPSON
Special Investigator for TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
stroyed by fire. The car was equipped with a short-wave
radio set, and had a special attachment for picking up police
signals without interference. This attachment was traced
to a radio-parts dealer whose shop was on Columbus Avenue,
near Boston Police Headquarters. His name was Abe Faber,
and he proved to be a brilliant young engineer, graduate of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Repairs on the
battery of the burned car were traced to Murton and Irving
Millen, young Roxbury brothers, who had disappeared with
Norma Brighton Millen, clergyman’s daughter and girl-
bride of Murton. In a Back Bay apartment from which the
three had abruptly departed, was found a letter addressed to
Saul Messinger at Coney Island, New York. Burns detectives
were put on Messinger’s trail and he was taken into custody
on February 24th, 1934. Through Messinger, the Millen
brothers and Murton’s wife Norma were arrested in the
Lincoln Hotel in New York City. In the meantime, Abe
by the authorities in connection with the
series of appalling crimes, Faber denied
everything, and said flatly, “You are all
wrong. Here is the real truth.’ The gist
of his story was this: He and his lifelong
friends the Millen brothers, had deliberately
planned a career of crime, with easy money
as their goal. After their plans were care-
fully laid, they set about collecting the
arsenal found in the Brinsley Street garage,
in Dorchester. In his recital, Faber ac-
counted for four unsolved murders, and
named Norma, the girl-bride, as an ac-
complice of the trio, and exposed even more
daring crimes that were being plotted when
the Law stepped in. When Faber’s con-
fession reached the Millens in custody in
New York, and Norma in her father’s
home, it was vehemently denied. Faber,
Norma insisted, always had hated her,
and was only trying to make more trouble
for her. However, the State of Massa-
chusetts thought otherwise, and moved
swiftly to indict the three men for murder.
In the meantime, Governor Ely, believing
the time had come for prompt action on his
plan to combat crime, convened the legis-
lature in joint session, and appeared in
person to deliver a special message, urging immediate passage
of the bill on police unification throughout the state. While
the lawmakers gathered, another important development
broke. Rose Knellar, Abe Faber’s sweetheart, came on to the
scene with a story that was to go far in deciding the fate of her
fiancé, the Millen brothers, and Murton Millen’s bride, Norma.
The Story Continues:
Part E1igut—Conc.iusion
ISS ROSE KNELLAR came into the case with a
crash that echoed in all the newspapers. Abe Faber,
she said, had asked her to marry him, and he had
confided to her safekeeping $3,585 as a nest egg
toward their future honeymoon cottage. This modest fortune,
turned over to State Police, was found to include some of the
loot from the Needham Trust Company hold-up which had
THE INFAMOUS TRIO
Their vicious plans to obtain easy money through armed robbery left a red trail of terrorism throughout the State
of Massachusetts. Left to right: Abe Faber, brilliant engineer, and brains of the crime combine, and Irving
and Murton Millen
63
Sees OO a
FABER and the MILLEN Brothers
The Story So Far:
HEN a series of ap-
palling crimes, including
robbery and cold-blooded
murder, roused the Bay
State, Governor Ely ap-
pealed to the State Legis-
lature for a thorough re-
organization of all police
forces in the Commonwealth,
to combat the menace. While
the lawmakers were con-
sidering the Governor’s plan,
a swift succession of start-
ling atrocities followed with
no clue to the perpetrators.
Finally, a Packard, answer-
ing the description of the
getaway car used in crimes
committed in Lynn and
Needham, was found in the
Norwood woods, partly de-
(Right) Dedham Jail where riot
squads, bristling with machine guns,
gathered to prevent rescue or escape
of Abe Faber and the Millen brothers
after they had been incarcerated there
(Below) Boston Policemen on guard at
Dedham Jail, awaiting the appearance of
the three defendants accused of a series of
atrocious killings in Massachusetts
TRUE DETECTIVE,
February, 1935
As to
Special /
stroyed by fi
radio set, an
signals with
to a radio-pa
near Boston
and he prov
the Massach
battery of tl
Millen, youn
Norma Brig
bride of Mur
three had ab:
Saul Messing
were put on
on February
brothers and
Lincoln Hote
i
4
) y
Their \
of Ma
64 True Detective Mysteries
cost the lives of two men, the wounding of two others, and the
abduction of two bank officials.
The demure, attractive young woman visited Faber in
Dedham Jail, running the gauntlet of batteries of clicking
news cameras. The tall, slender, dark-haired girl appeared
completely bewildered by the sudden notoriety which had
befallen her. She was embarrassed by the quizzing of clamor-
ing reporters, distressed by the calamity which threatened to
wreck her glowing romance, and by worry for the fate of the
dashing, generous sweetheart who had been the envy of the
entire neighborhood.
While she was reiterating her faith in Abe Faber, her fear
that he might be the victim of some terrible chain of cir-
cumstances, some horrible conspiracy which might have
temporarily affected his mind, the Millen brothers in custody
in New York sneered, “He’s crazy. Abe’s a good fellow but
he’s always been peculiar and he must be crazy if he ever
told such wild yarns.”’
AX? Norma Brighton Millen, girl bride of Murton Millen,
relaxed, and, regaining her confidence in the shelter of her
clergyman-father’s Natick home, told reporters that it must
be alla mistake. Her husband was good to her, gentle, loving
and kind. He wouldn’t and couldn’t have harmed anyone.
The muddle must soon be explained and then everything
would come out all right.
Over in Roxbury, Mrs. Caroline Millen, mother of Murton
and Irving, now jointly accused with Abe Faber of the atrocious
Massachusetts murders, wept as she related anecdotes of her
sons as little boys, and insisted that all must eventually be
explained and they would come back to her, exonerated.
But eager district attorneys in several Massachusetts
counties and confident State Police pressed ahead with their
(Below) Norma Brigton Millen, named as an accomplice
by Abe Faber, snapped with her father the Reverend
Norman Brighton
plans to send the youthful trio to the electric chair. The fate
of the girl bride and the girlish sweetheart hung in the balance.
On the 2nd of March, 1934, Faber slept peacefully in Dedham
Jail after writing a love letter to Rose Knellar in which he
promised her that they would be “married when I get out of
this. I love you darling. I will always love you. Don’t
give up hope,” the tender message assurec his betrothed.
The same day, with dramatic suddenness, the law was
enmeshing the two pretty young women in its grip. Ques-
tioned for three hours by police at the State House, Mrs.
Norma Brighton Millen denied any guilt, but was taken
into custody and held in fifty-thousand-dollar bail for com-
plicity in the Needham Bank killings and robbery. Still
smiling, still gay, with her unruffled poise not disrupted, she
went to Dedham Jail and the steel-barred door of a cell clanged
(Above) William Scharton, widely known Boston
criminal lawyer, who was placed in charge of Abe
Faber’s defense. Scharton matched wits with
the psychiatrists sent to interview his client
behind her. Calm and cold, with no outward in-
dication of being uneasy, Rose Knellar heard herself
charged with being guilty of larceny and receiving
stolen money. She, too, was locked in a cell with
bail set at five thousand dollars.
What was to be the fate of these two young girls?
Was Norma nothing more nor less than a gunman’s
moll, cynical, hard-boiled, ruthless in her quest
for good times and fine clothes, as the stories of Saul
Messinger and Abe Faber. seemed to suggest? Or
was she the
clergyman ¢
circumstance
father and
trusting ma
and the B«
bookkeeper?
story of ro
brilliant Te:
Even inv
And the ger
tion. Garb
Millens in \
published.
Faber and 1
(Abov
lawyer
connec
made were
delving, dis
real facts.
Attorney
‘defendants
Miss Knel
George A.
demanded
sisted upor
which her i
, Sanepetaieaeeanennete es
rasta
104
Denying taking part in a number of
Savage crimes during the previous year,
Faber coolly placed the finger of guilt on
the shoulders of the Millen brothers. .
“Murton and Irving,” he calmly explained,
“staged a lot of hold-ups that I wasn’t in
on.” And then he added: “For my own
reasons,” implying that he had disap-
‘proved of these particular raids as too
risky or likely to prove unprofitable,
Among them he mentioned the firing of
two shots at the cashier of the. Oriental
Theater, Mattapan, during the evening
show early in 1933 when she refused to
hand out the money in the ticket booth,
and the subsequent abduction of the man-
ager, who was taken from his home to the
theater late at night and compelled to
open the safe. Faber had designed and
attached an ingenious ‘silencer to the
.22-caliber automatic he said Murton used
in this attempted murder.
E languidly admitted the hold-up of
the Palace Theater in Worcester on
an October night in 1933, when the mana-
ger, his wife, and assistant were abducted,
taken back to the theater to open the
safe, and a policeman on guard there was
stuck-up and robbed of his service re-
volver. And he casually asserted that
Murton’s wife Norma had accompanied
the bandit trio on the Fitchburg raid, be-
ing left on watch near the sporting goods
store while the three youthful despera-
dos went on in their murder car to abduct
Clark and get his keys, but killed him
for resisting. Then, related Faber, Norma
was picked up and she rode back with
them to Boston, sitting in the front with
her husband, who was driving.
Hour after hour the questioning went
on, and the awful saga of ruthless crime
continued to come frou Faber’s pallid
lips. At last he came to the Needham
murders, and he told the brutal story in
a quiet, matter-of-fact way that seemed
to the tense listeners to emphasize its hor-
ror. Here it is:
“After getting the State Police gun ex-
hibit and the machine gun, we started to
repare our plans for the bank hold-ups.
We were going to get into Wellesley and
stage three hold-ups of banks simultane-
ously. We figured that this would be
easy and a clean-up. We planned to go
into one place and hold up the bank and
clean the tills out. From there we would
go direct to another bank. While the ex-
citement was at its highest as a result of
the hold-ups, we would go to a third bank
in the same town and stage another hold-
up there.
“We were sure it could be done, and
done without any danger to us. If any-
one was in our way, we’d just kill him—
that’s all. We planned to use the machine
gun at these hold-ups.
“Meantime, however, we had occasion
to go to Needham. We happened to be
driving through when we noticed the
osition of the Needham Trust Company’s
ank. I went inside and looked around.
The Millen brothers poked around town
and picked up a few things. We decided
to rob this place before going into Wel-
lesley. It looked easy.
“Two days before we staged the robbery
at this bank, we went back to this place
and made another survey. We found out
just where everything was located and we
laid our plans accordingly.
“There was no one else with us on
this job. -We drove to the bank early in
the morning and parked our car right
outside the bank door. We had planned
for the passing of the morning train and
for the sounding of the station gong. We
all went inside the bank and we knew
just what positions we were to take. Murt
True Detective Mysteries
carried the machine gun and went right
to the small room on the right which had
two windows that gave a clear view of
the streets in front of and around the
bank. I went to the left’ of the vaults
with a sawed-off shotgun and ordered the
people there to throw up their hands and
face the wall. There wasn’t any trouble
at all with anyone. Everyone there did
just as we told them to. Irving went
to the grill and I kept watch.
“It was timed for nine-thirty sharp. It*
was all over in less than fifteen minutes.
When the policeman started to cross the
street toward the bank after the alarm
went off, the machine gun killed him. We
grabbed two of the men in the bank after
getting the money and marched them at
gun-point to our car. We made them get
on the running-boards. One of the men
either jumped off or fell off. Irving fired
at him and must have missed, because he
got up and ran away. Murton drove the
car and the machine gun lay on the seat
near him. I sat in the rear and kept the
man on the running-board on my side
covered with my gun.
“We headed toward the Worcester
Turnpike. On the way up, we decided to
skirt the town and see what was doing.
We did. There was a lot of commotion .
in the square near the bank. We went
down the main street and as we were
approaching the fire station we saw a
policeman start to the center of the road.
He looked as though he had a gun in
ee hand. We didn’t waste a second on
im.
“Murt poked the machine gun with
one hand over the top of the window on
the right of the driver’s seat and let loose
a blast. He was operating the wheel of
the car with the other hand. The police-
man dropped to the street. So did the fire-
man with him.
“Then we drove right to the Turnpike
and turned on our low-wave radio. With-
in a few minutes we picked up the police
broadcast, warning everyone of the hold-
up. Then we pulled into a side street
and removed the plates on the car and
put others there.
“We heard all about the broadcast. We
just laughed. We drove carefully and
directly to the garage in Dorchester,
parked the car there and took out the
small car. Then we bought the newspapers
and read all about it. We split the money
we got in the bank three ways and decided
to keep quiet for awhile until things got
quiet.
E decided to get rid of the automo-
bile four days later. It was too dan-
gerous to have this car on our hands. It
had figured inhold-ups, in Lynn, Fitchburg,
Needham and elsewhere, and a descrip-
tion was in the newspapers. So we drove
the car to Norwood at night, dismantled
the radio, poured gasoline over the car
and simply ignited it. That was easy. We
left the place in our small car. Norma
had followed us in it and waited up the
road. Murt was kind of angry about her
being so dumb and going away up the
road or something. He was sort of curs-
ing.
“We didn’t say anything to anyone and
kept quict. We watched the newspapers
and when the serial numbers of tiie money
stolen in the bank appeared, we cut out
this clipping and kept it. We didn’t figure
when we dumped the car that the police
would ever be able to trace us through
the battery.”
Faber sighed. His eyes were downcast.
“That was our mistake. I guess it was our
first mistake.” Listlessly, the brilliant
scholar who had found a criminal career
more glamorous than the promise of suc-
cess in his profession went on:
“Then the Millen brothers decided to
go to New York. The rest you know. We
didn’t think for a minute that the police
would ever catch up with us. It all looked
pretty easy.
“We had planned a series of more bank
robberies. But this interfered with our
plans. If we had got away with this, we
would have cleaned up enough money to
take things easy.” J'aber’s voice was sad
and hopeless. He seemed overcome by
bitter disappointment, by the defeat of
his brainy scheming, rather than remorse-
ful over the ruthless crimes he had de-
scribed.
“That was our own reason for doing
what we did. We killed because we
whnted to make sure that no one stopped
us, or broke up our plans. We would have
killed anyone who got in our way. Even
after‘the police identified the battery, we
were sure that they’d never be able to
tie us up with this. But I guess we were
wrofig. The only reason I did what I did
was to get some moncy, so that I could
take it easy.”
Held in New York Tombs for the
Massachusetts authorities, Murton and
Irving Millen furiously denied Faber’s
astonishing accusations, “The _ story’s
crazy!” they shouted. “If he really said
such things he’s crazy.. Perhaps he was
mixed up in those things, but we weren’t.
We’ve been framed and those guns and
the money planted on us.”
EARFULLY indignant denials also
came from Murton’s pretty girl bride
Norma, sheltered in the Natick home of
her father and stepmother, the Reverend
and Mrs. Norman Brighton. “That’s not
true!” she cried. “Abe Faber always hated
me! He lying and he knows it!”
But the State moved swiftly and re-
morselessly. District Attorney Edmund
R. Dewing, of Norfolk County, convened a
special Grand Jury at Dedham to indict
the Millen boys and Faber for murder,
and Norma and perhaps one other as ac-
cessories. Similar action was considered
in Essex and Worcester Counties, scene
of other vile crimes divulged by Faber.
Norma was taken to Dedham for more
intensive questioning. Her own mother,
Mrs. Margaret Brighton, estranged and
divorced from the clergyman father, rushed
to the court house to console and aid her
child, but, overcome by horror and grief,
she collapsed on the steps and was car-
ried away unconscious.
Believing the time had come for prompt
action on the police unification through-
out Massachusetts I long had advocated,
I convened the Legislature in joint session,
and appeared in person to deliver a special
message urging immediate passage.
Meanwhile, there came another sturtling
development. Miss Rose Knellar, the
sweetheart claimed by Faber, appeared
with a story that was to go far in deter-
mining whether Faber had told the truth,
in deciding the fate of the Millen boys
and the unruffled, sphinx-like, mysterious
Norma.
—O—
What is Miss Knellar’s story?
What startling revelations will come
from the Millen brothers?
Has Faber told the truth?
These questions will be answered
and other stirring revelations made in
the final installment of this story by
Governor Joseph B. Ely, of Massachu-
setts, in the February issue of TRUE
DETECTIVE MYSTERIES, on sale at all
news stands January 4th. Remember
the date and order your copy now.
Cain.
troom
nge in
York
it was
id her
but to
ike to
st Mr.
judge
use in
le into
gy had
le was
re met
r been
oria if)
across
ttan to
‘rs, her
3 on all
Bronx
rlesque
of the
ge an-
Garcia
| like a
expert
ed that
oma of
elish a
decided
Telling
an an-
he
10n
e to go
eit was
n killed
onately.
aracter.
I never
I mar-
lington, .
o her in
ted that
ney his
mnly to
he suit.
atement
that al-
me and
a great
of our
in love
Peggy
g by the
ir in the
\ttorney
aced, “I
he lifted
am the
Xocca is
I got
couldn’t
second,
er faint-
in 1925,
anhattan
i license.
Michael
tbli
“a
the intention to wed three weeks before
the ceremony. We lived together for
nine years, till 1934, and then finally we
had a ceremony performed by a priest.
“We lived together then until Septem-
ber 3 of last year, the very day on
which Michael married Peggy Garcia.
The next day he came home and said
that Peggy had volunteered to bring up
our children. He told me they were
married, and I could like it or lump it.”
Kathleen said that since her husband’s
marriage to the hat checking blonde, he
had frequently visited her and the chil-
dren and sent them money.
“He went crazy about Peggy,” she
agreed. ‘You should have seen the way
he dressed up. Peggy promised to get
him a job as a model and he liked the
idea,”
Immediately, Finnegan sent out Detec-
tives John Hyde and Charlie Franks to
bring in Peggy and Michael on charges of
bigamy.
Hyde found Peggy in the kitchen of
her Astoria home, having her hair re-
blondined in preparation for her night
club debut. Chivalrously, he waited till
the finger wave dried before dragging
her into New York. Meanwhile Michael
arrived at the apartment, decoyed there
by a frantic appeal from Peggy to come
up and help entertain some company.
He seemed more resigned than an-
With the cameras still clicking, I flung
myself into a taxi and told the driver to
hurry away.
I heard later that a woman customer
had recognized me and had phoned one of
the tabloids. For that tip she received
$2 from that newspaper.
I arrived at the apartment trembling
like a rabbit just escaped from a trap.
My worst fears were realized. My
photograph was plastered all over the
front pages. The whole case of Mur-
ton Millen and his confederates was resur-
rected and splashed over the front page.
I was sick from shame and fear,
I crawled into bed that night to lie
awake staring into the darkness, praying
to God to show me some way to expiate
my past.
T WAS a little after 8 o'clock when
Tom came to the apartment. He
treated me as if nothing had happened.
His manner was so casual that I thought
for a while that perhaps he had not seen
the newspapers.
Then, when he made a passing refer-
ence to the affair, I felt overwhelmingly
grateful to him. He knew and he did not
recriminate! It made no difference to him
who I was! It was the real me that he
cared for!
In that moment I loved Tom. Before
that night was over I hated him with all
the passion of which I was capable.
We went out to a little neighborhood
restaurant for dinner. We sat there, talk-
ing, for several hours. Afterwards he
walked me back to the house. It was his
habit to leave me there. He had never
asked to come upstairs late at night, and
I had never invited him,
But tonight he lingered in the hallway.
noyed to find the detectives the unex-
pected guests.
The next morning, in less than twenty
minutes, the Grand, Jury indicted both
Michael and Peggy for bigamy. But
while they were awaiting their fate, as
Kathleen Murray La Rocca repeated her
story to the jury, both Peggy and Michael
gave this writer their exclusive explana-
tions of that phase of the story. Of the
two, Michael appeared the more bitter
against Kathleen.
Peggy insisted that her knowledge of
her husband's religious alliance with
Kathleen had been recent news.
“T knew they were living together, be-
cause Michael told me that,” she said.
“Then early in 1936, when Michael and I
decided to get married, this woman came
to my house and said she didn’t care if
we married or not, so long as he paid her
$150 every month. If you put together
all the time that he lived with her during
twelve vears, it would come to less than
one year out of the twelve.”
District Attorney Impellateri said that
he had recognized Michael as the man
who on February 20, 1934, accompanied
a woman to his office, to assist her in
making a grand larceny complaint.
The Assistant District Attorney re-
called that at the time, La Rocca had
said he was the woman’s fiance, and
that she was staying at his mother’s
home. He said he had been keeping com-
pany with her for four years.
Why I Chose Suicide
[Continued from page 75]
He put his arm around me and on his
face was an expression I had never seen
there before.
“Darling,” he said, “it’s awfully late.
Suppose I stay down here tonight?”
Knowing him as I did, and never hay-
ing experienced anything but the most
considerate and gentlemanly treatment
from him, I honestly did not understand
him right away.
“Stay here?” I said, “But how can you
—what do you—?”
“T mean I want to stay here, with you,
darling,” he said eagerly. “I want to be
with you—I want you so much!"
My heart was suddenly sickened. It
was the same routine all over again—
and this time, Tom! Men respected
Arlene Wright, treated her as they would
any lady. But Norma Millen—that was
different. Norma Millen was a jailbird,
an accessory to murder, a thief, Any-
thing was good cnough for Norma!
“Well, why not?” he gaid harshly. “You
deliberately fooled me. I thought you
were a sweet kid. And now I find that
you've lived with criminals, and I know
that you couldn't have done that and be
the lily-white kid you've tried to make
me think vou are.”
I didn't say anything to that. I couldn't.
There were no words in my heart, only
a stifling bitterness that my tongue could
give no utterance to.
I never went back to the school. In fact,
I rarely went out of the house for a
week or so. When I did, I got about
half-heartedly, I was dispirited and mis-
erable. I no longer had even the desire
to live. Through the papers, my secret
was out. Arlene Wright was Norma
Millen and now all the world knew it.
The men all treated me now exactly
Eventually, after an indictment was re-
turned for second degree larceny, the case
was dismissed,
EANWHILE, offers to place Peggy
on the stage as a “freak attraction”
continued to pile into the office of her
agent, Edgar Allen, the man who made
a fortune for Peaches Browning after
her sensational marital fracas with
Daddy Browning.
But Peggy was destined for a while at
least, to do all her acting behind the bars
of New York’s model prison for women,
Jefferson Market. Held in $2,500 bail, on
the bigamy indictment, she was refused
release when the Health Department in-
sisted she be held for a physical exam-
ination.
Michael, too, continued to languish in
Tombs Prison, wishing he’d obeyed that
impulse of a few days before to hit out
for Burlington, Vermont.
Then the district attorney threatened
a second indictment against the blonde
from Tobacco Road—this one for perjury.
But let the indictments pile up—Peggy
laughs and thinks it is “a great experi-
ence—except for the terrible cereal they
make me eat for breakfast here in jail.”
And maybe she’s laughing because she
knows that hard-headed New York
jurors are pretty soft-hearted when a
girl gives them that Virginia smile and
just the tiniest peek at trim Virginia
knees. ‘
as had Tom and the salesman. I was no
good to them. I was fair game, to be
taken lightly. I couldn’t stand it. I could
no longer bear New York. It was im-
possible, despite its size, for me to lose
myself, to even have a fair chance at a
new start there.
BUTE and disillusioned, I packed my
things and wrote my brother to come
for me. He drove to New York and got
me, and I returned to my father’s house.
He was the only person in all the world
I could really depend upon; I felt. With
him I would find love and kindness.
As. I watched the lights of New York
disappear behind me, I actually found my-
self wishing that I had never come out
of prison!
I was glad to get home. It was a sanc-
tuary after the things I had undergone.
My New York experience had left a
mark upon me which was not easily
eradicated.
I rarely went out of the house. I was
far too conscious of being Norma Millen,
of having people point at me, of feeling
that they whispered about me behind my
back as I walked down the streets.
Friends. and neighbors of my family
were most considerate to me, I found
after a while. Our nearest neighbor was
a particular friend of father’s, His daugh-
ter had been one of my best friends when
I went to school. And now she was ex-
ceptionally sweet and nice to me.
On a number of occasions she had asked
me to go out with her. But for three:
months I had refused. I preferred to live
with my loneliness rather than risk get-
ting hurt ‘again. But at last, one day, I
agreed to go to a dance with her. After
all, I was young, and I couldn't stay at
113
f
Sa
st
LS
Se
3285
Sis Saoaee
blow to my
\ later that a
He had been
‘en me in the
Che detective
ployer of my
ed at me and
fice did far
It developed
in me. As I
ept recurring
iat they were
sctable people
>.
st ebb. My
no longer be-
ay before me.
he past would
me I received
father. I had
as an assistant
who had been
girl knew who
t me. But she
few people to
no difference
with her in an
wich Village.
uned the name
‘able and
began to
the office.
, a young
yrokerage
id as time
itact. He
his home
and introduced me to his mother and brother. While we had
never actually discussed marriage, there was a certain tacit
understanding that when he earned more money it would be
discussed.
We spoke of the future often, making boy and girl plans for
it. During all this time he treated me with the utmost respect.
I was almost a member of the family, so often was I at his home.
I grew awfully fond of him. His kindness, his complete respect
for me, did a lot to restore my anemic self-respect.
But he did not know I was Norma Millen and I would some
day have to tell him. I suppose I should have told him before
things went as far as they did. But, frankly, I did not have
the courage. When he would leave me at night I would promise
myself to tell him at our next meeting.
But when I would see him again my courage would fade and
I would postpone it.
DURING this time I had spent sparingly of the money
received from my father. I was taking a beauticians’ course.
No one there knew who I was and I was making excellent
headway.
Gradually my confidence was again being restored. Then
the Javert who dogged my life, this time in the guise of the
press, caught up with me again.
We were in the permanent wave room of the school one
afternoon. The class.was about over when we suddenly heard
loud yoices in the reception room outside. One of the girls
went out to investigate, She returned and cried out excitedly :
“There are a lot of reporters and camera men outside. They're
asking to see Norma Millen!”
My heart sank. All the fear and panic that I had gradually
overcome during the past months came back to me in that
moment. The pit of my stomach was suddenly empty.
While the excitement was going on, I slipped out of the
room and ran to the lockers down the hall. I quickly put on
my hat and coat without bothering to remove my white uniform.
I could hear the voices from the reception room. One man was
insisting that Norma Millen was there, and I heard him mention
the name of Arlene Wright. They were refusing to leave until
they saw me.
I tried to slip out the main entrance of the building, but there
was a photographer stationed at the door. I hurried back
upstairs, taking the stairway instead of the elevator. I tried
to find a way out through the rear of the building. But there
was no exit there.
Finally, in desperation, I decided to try to duck past the
man at the door downstairs. But he saw me. He said, ‘Hey.
Norma!” and his camera clicked. Then others crowded about
me, penned me in. Desperately I tried to get away, frantically
I fought my way through them. [Continued on page 113]
DEADLY ARSENAL OF A KILLER MOB
Officials inspect the machine guns, gas masks and other lethal weapons and holdup equipment of the
Millen mob which terrorized Massachusetts. Murton Millen, his brother Irving, and Abe Faber were
captured in a rousing hand-to-hand struggle in a New York hotel, where Norma was honeymooning.
satan *
nese “
: cial
em EPO. CLINI ee
i
HES
nt
iH
ie
The
¥
iS
mess
=
fae
home forever. And now I thank Heaven
that I did go.
It was an unpretentious affair given by
a small social club of which my friend was
a member, The orchestra that played for
the dancing that night was comprised
of.a number of young men from a WPA
musical project. Hal Clement was one
of them, ,
I noticed him early in the evening, He
had noticed me, too. I knew that because
he had smiled at me several times, Then,
during intermisison, he came over with
some one my girl friend knew, and was
introduced to us.
We danced together once late in the
evening, when he left his playing for that
one dance. That was the beginning.
Within a month we were very fond of
each other:
Then one night after we had been to
a movie, Hal proposed to me.
“Norma,” he said gravely. “I want to
marry you. I’m not earning much money,
but we can manage until something better
turns up. I know it’s not fair to ask you
under the circumstances, but I love you
so much.”
My eyes were filled with tears. There
was something almost humble in his tone,
something that implied he thought him-
self unworthy of me, as if he were a
courtier talking toa Queen. It was a long
time since any man had shown me that
much respect.
I clung to him and hid my face in his
shoulder.
“Hal,” I told him, “I love you, too.
Of course I'll marry you. But are you
sure that the past—”
“T know all about it,” he broke in. “I
know, too, that it was none of your fault.
You were a victim of circumstance. And
I love you, no matter what has happened
in the past,”
UR wedding was a very quiet one. We
went to a little town outside Boston.
I had wanted to avoid publicity, but in
spite of our precautions, the newspapers
found me again, and the story of our mar-
riage was front page news. But I was
so happy that even that could not make
me feel very sad.
But though we lived simply, our hopes
for the future were high. Hal was really
a first-class musician who had held some
good jobs before the depression. He had
a number of friends in Boston and his
chances of making a good connection
were not too remote,
Then one day the good news came.
Hal had met an old friend of his who was
assistant musical director for one of the
Boston radio stations. Mr. B had
told Hal that there was an opening in one
of the studio orchestras that Hal could
handle. He told him to come down the
next day for rehearsal,
We were terribly happy that night.
We celebrated by going out to dinner
and the luxury of a movie.
Next day Hal took me with him to the
radio station, I had never seen a broad-
casting rehearsal, and I had never been
inside a big studio, I was eager and curi-
out to go along.
When we got there Hal intraduced me
to Mr. B . As I shook hands with
him I thought he looked at me queerly,
but I was too excited to pay much atten-
tion to him. Then he turned to Hal and
said:
“By the way, if Mrs, Clement needs a
job I think I might be able to do some-
thing for her,’'
“Oh, could you?” I cried. "I'd be very
grateful.”
Although I was working at the time,
it was just a temporary in the mailing de-
partment of a Boston newspaper.
Mr, B——-- said: “Suppose you talk
it over with me in my office while Hal
rehearses in the studio?”
Thrilled and excited I went with him
to his office. He closed the door and
looked at me with a peculiar look that
made me nervous, There was something
about it that was vaguely familiar. It
frightened me.
He sat down next to me on the leather
couch beside his desk.
“You're Norma Millen, aren’t you?”
he asked.
I nodded and felt myself grow cold
inside. There it was again. Even at
the moment when I felt most secure,
when I felt that my future was assured,
the past popped up ready to cast a ter-
rible shadow over my happiness.
“Ves.” I said. “I'm Norma Millen.
And Hal knows all about it.”
“That’s all right,” he said quickly. "It’s
- all right with me.” He smiled at me, and
patted my hand reassuringly,
“But about the job,” I reminded him,
trying to change the subject.
“Oh, the job,” he said. “Sure. Well,
it isn’t quite ready yet. But there'll be
an opening soon. Why not have dinner
with me while Hal is rehearsing tonight
and we'll talk it over?”
I felt sick as I listened to him. He
must have noticed something in my face
—and misunderstood—for he said:
“Don’t worry about Hal, He won't
have to know. I'll have you safely back
in your own bed before he gets home.”
He put emphasis on the word “own”
ever so slightly, but his meaning was very
clear, I was suddenly angry and hurt
at the same time. Why should my life
be at the mercy of men like him? It
wasn't right! It wasn’t fair!
All the pent-up bitterness of the last
year welled Ms and burst inside me in
that moment. I stood up and glared down
at him. Then, before I knew what I was
doing, I had slapped his face.
The sound of that slap brought me to
my senses. I felt suddenly weak and
enervated, I turned and ran from the
office so that he would not see the tears
that were filling my eyes.
WENT home without Hal,
word for him at the studio that.I had
gone so that he would not worry. I sat
alone, cold with fear and dread—feeling
confident that I knew what the outcome
of that scene in Mr, B ’s office would
mean to my husband.
Hal was out the next day when the
letter came. He had come in late the
night before and I had pretended to be
asleep so that I would not have to talk
to him while I felt solow. The letter was
addressed to Hal, but I saw Mr. B s
return address in the corner. So I opened
it. There was a curt note inside telling
Hal that his performance at the rehearsal
had been unsatisfactory, that he could not
have the job.
Of course I had expected something
like this, But now that it was here, it
took the last spark-of fight out of me. I
couldn't go on any more. It was bad
enough that my past should wreck my
own life.
But I was bringing disaster to every-
one with whom I. came in contact.
I am not a writer. It is impossible for
me to describe how I felt at that moment.
Perhaps it is best to say that I was like
a.woman who has learned she has con-
tracted an incurable cancer. She knows
that only death can cure her, I felt the
same way. .
I had Jost all hope. I wanted respecta-
‘bility and the chance to lead a decent,
normal life, just as the cancer victim
wants life. But when these things were
taken from me, there was but one thing
to do.
That is when I thought of suicide, I
was not, of course, thinking these things
out coherently and calmly. I was terri-
bly upset. And I felt so depressed that
there seemed no other way out.
I have a blurred rememberance of tak-
ing poison, of the terrible burning pain in
my stomach. I was dimly aware of Hal
calling my name and knew he was with
me.
I came back to life in the hospital where
Hal had rushed me in time to save me.
I was in a white bed, alive physically, but,
dead in spirit.
Then Hal came to see me. He sat there
beside me and held my hand. His face
was very serious, but I could see that his
eyes were gentle and understanding.
“Norma, I know what happened be-
tween you and B . But you shouldn't
have let it cause you to do a thing like
this. It doesn’t matter to me what any-
one else thinks. It doesn’t matter if I
don’t get this job. We have each other,
and that’s enough for me. And one day
we'll get a break. There are lots of jobs
in the world, and I’ll get one sooner or
later.”
So I lived. I lived because someone
wanted me to live. Perhaps the day will
come when Norma Millen is forgotten
completely. I hope so, even while I
doubt it,
The Doctor and the Tell Tale Corpse
re-marriage, Then a day later, while
Roeder was wondering what step to take
next, a telegram arrived stating that Dr.
Buchanan was returning to New York
and had left a West llth street forward-
ing address,
The following day, May 21, Roeder
114
[Continued from page 89]
paid a visit to the house, a brownstone
structure on a quiet street. On the door
was a polished brass sign: Robert W.
Buchanan, M.D. It was obvious the
man would bear careful handling
He rang the bell and waited, A short
while later the door was opened. Before
him stood a tall, thin man, with an ascetic
face and reddish brown hair. He had a
brown mustache and more prince-nez
glasses attached to the lapel of his coat
by a thin gold chain.
“Doctor Buchanan?”
The man smiled, flashing evenly set
I left #
A FA JUI
SAYS ™M
DIVORCES ARE CAL
BY SEX IGNORA!
@ When a man ;
tually attracted to
other's company s«
misunderstanding.
standing is due to
1§ SEX IGNORA
DRIVING THE ¢
YOU LOVE INTO
ARMS OF ANOTI
@ Learn how co }
wife at the high
Satisfactory sex li
you for all time.
THIS BOOK
NOT SOLD
TO
MINORS
There is no
awful price for
the scientific
bravely by Dr:
venereal diseas:
of this book!
You want to kr
thing about sex. ‘
1c is your greatest
to yourself, to ch:
curtain of hypocri
as
Senior pear re es A
222
eee ae ener eee
2 joe eee me
FABER & MILLEN BROTHERS
pn eee
HEN A MAN like John Dill-
inger escapes from an “es-
cape-proof” jail, you may
be sure that there is a nigger in the
woodpile—to say nothing of several
thousand dollars. The press laid great
emphasis on the wooden gun with which
he is supposed to have terrified keepers
in the modern bastille at Crown Point,
Indiana. That toy weapon was, in my
opinion, merely a
How Mucu DwIrt blind; it offered
Cost DILLINGER? an explanation
which covered up
the real explanation of the break. Des-
perado Dillinger crossed plenty of
palms with silver, and a friend of mine,
well informed on the workings of the
underworld, estimates it cost him at
least $25,000 to get away.
Cheap at half the price, I suppose.
Handsome John can go out in one after-
noon and replenish his money bags by
knocking over a bank and, incidentally,
killing a couple of policemen. At this
EX-MINISTER QUESTIONED
William Henry DuBois, 32, formerly rector
of the Apostolic Episcopal Church of Christ
at North Bellmore, L. I., was questioned
regarding the unsolved death more than
two years ago of Mary Ellen O’Connor.
36
REAL DETECTIVE, May, 1934
ON
aa gj DD \
writing, he is reported to be lying low
in Chicago, which he considers one of
the “safest” cities in the world. He
may be trapped or slain tomorrow. On
the other hand, his cunning and graft
may enable him to remain at large in-
definitely; perhaps he will become a
phantom like “Pretty Boy” Floyd.
Dillinger’s escape is a sad commen-
tary on American law enforcement.
It can be matched only by the exploit
of “Pretty Boy,” who dove through the
window of a speeding train as he was
being taken to prison. The difference
is that Floyd’s break was on the level,
while Dillinger’s was not. Something
stinks in the state of Indiana, where
officials think more about politics and
publicity than keeping murderers behind
bars. The removal of Sheriff Lillian
Holley and Prosecutor Robert G. Estill
ought to help. While they cannot be
accused of taking graft, they certainly
proved themselves incompetent.
BEAUTIFUL GUNMAN'S MOLL
Norma Brighton Millen, nineteen-year-old
daughter of a Massachusetts minister, whose
husband, Murton, has been arraigned on a
murder charge, along with his brother Irv-
ing, and Abe Faber, college graduate.
-
ay 2)
Bice’ FLoyp—and Clyde Bar-
row. They are, at the moment,
the nation’s three most-wanted bad men.
Barrow is the Dallas
BRING THEM IN hoodlum who, with
Deap or AtIvE! his sweetheart, Bon-
nie “Suicide Sal”
Parker, has been leading a gang of ter-
rorists in the Southwest for the past
several months. He is supposed to have
been one of two gunmen who raided the
Eastham prison farm in East Texas on
January 16, shot two guards, and lib-
erated five convicts. A prodigious
string of bank robberies and slayings
has been chalked up against him.
The Barrow outfit was nearly
rounded up just a few weeks ago. Oné
thousand peace officers and national
guardsmen swarmed into the wild
Cookson Hills area near Muskogee, Ok-
lahoma, and began closing in on a sus-
pected hideaway. The bandits, be-
lieved to have been Barrow, “Suicide
Sal,” Charles Cotner, and others, piled
ATTEMPTED KIDNAP VICTIM
Two young hoodlums tried to kidnap E. P.
Adler (above), wealthy publisher of Daven-
port, Ia. Adler fought them off in his room
in a Chicago hotel. Charles Mayo, one of
the pair, later hanged himself in his cell.
into aca
semen fi
the macl
apparent
Barro
them an
to live i:
O'S:
On
operativ:
Last M
SUSPECT
oner, T
automob
there cai
gun fire.
fell mort
Gover
out to a
nounced
Harvey |
“Big Boy
WIZARD’
Charles P:
Massachus:
for deporta
hired a la
tH bs ry
£0 Jout OLA AMD, alee ed chenhoeil ube NL rotwn ea lar ii , eee i | ’ :
a ee » ELEC, Mol WOT folk) 7 UNE ti 1945
! ate tt elt!
| the great big brain
| went blooey
his battery ... and his number!
A genius in crime, yes—but a smart cop got
prosecutor,
in job,” he
nd I think
ir case and
Lon apainst
ud) without
* Stokes
int) resem-
leader of
fairly tall,
rere, My
ars gunned
ist’ coming
k. What’s
hoth jobs,
ich pretty
plicated at
jail, so vit
ong men,’
ch.”
| don't see
rself.”” é
ction,” the
.¢ have a
cr, and a
nce. They’
idn’t have
the street
sing. ‘They
don’t see
Nobody's
ither,”
irply, “A
oul, And
inan isn't
iere were
he third ?”
| all they
Ss Narrow--
d, and a
ey won't
vthing. T
and they
ist cried,
They
vate their
1 them,”
head to
ould you
an?” he
led. “But
in office
ling the
id stood
is,” the
thieves
it word
we had
snything
ernative
bunch
sill, and
unocent
vurders,
will be
id that
his ab-
.a new P
Ryan
vith an
hcense
| been
whiose
arage
. Bos-
ton police were sending riot squads to pick
up every petty gangster in town, Needham
authorities had their eye on a boy who ran
numbers for a lottery racket and was sus-
pected of fingering the robbery, And the
state police were scheduled to raid a house
in Dedham which had been tagged as head-
quarters for a South Boston gang. The
house, however, proved to be empty.
Four} hundred — small-time —shoodlums
crowde@ the Boston jails the next morning
after the roundup, and forty of them went on
the lineup that afternoon. Not one of them
was held. Later that day Needham police
dropped the idea that the young lottery agent
had fingered the robbery, and the authorities
were left without a prisoner—without so
much as a good suspect.
Tension Eased
Tuesday Newton dlton arrested the man_
General Needham believed had fingered the
operation, and tension eased a little at state
police headquarters. Stokes doubted that this
was the alleged finger man, but for once he
made no comments, preferring to participate
in the general happiness. And early the next
day the case began to break.
At 3:30 a.m. Norwood police found a
burned-out car on a lonely country oad
and began to examine it. Convinced that it
had been deliberately set on fire, they called
for help. By the time Stokes,:routed out of
bed by his sergeant, had arrived'at the scene,
most of the facts were known.
The car was the same make, year and
color as the one used in the Needham hold-
up. It had been doused with acid, and
gasoline had been poured over. the uphol-
stery. The resulting fire had destroyed any
obvious clues. Year-old license plates, un-
covered in the trunk, proved the car to have
been stolen in downtown Boston the previous
October.
“They held it half a year, waiting for this
job,” Stokes commented. He stuck his head
into the interior, looked around, and whistled.
“This gang terrifies me,” he. said, “They
took away the gear-shift handle, because th
weren't sure it would burn. And. they took
the radio, too, probably because they if Red
it repaired at a place where hey were
known,”
General Needham, who had driven to the
scene immediately in his own car, was
hovering over Stokes’ shoulder. “You don’t
think we'll be able to trace them?” he asked
unhappily.
“There's just a chance,” Stokes said
thoughtfully. “Call in the factory where the
car was made and see if any of the parts
don’t match‘up with the original. But that’s
the only possibility, and I’ll be surprised if
anything comes of it—we’re up against some
very smart cookies.”
The expert from the factory went over
the car with a microscope the next day and
came up with a hope. “The battery’s been
changed,” he told Needham. “The serial
number doesn’t fit the catalogue description.
Otherwise I can’t give you any help.’
Boston police took a full technical de-
scription of the battery and made up five
thousand circulars, which were distributed to
all garages in the New England area. While
waiting for replies, Stokes removed himself
from the Needham case and went. to Quincy
to work on the $15,000 bank robbery that
had occurred the last week in January. He
reported to Barrett after his second day in
Quincy.
“We've got some rivals,” he said. “I ran
into a boy | used to know on the force—he’s
working for the Burns Agency now, and he’s
been assigned to these robberies. He'd like a
piece of that reward money, too,”
“EL thought Burns. was in on it,” Barrett
said. He pointed to his newspaper, “Here's a
‘3
a ori sai etch
i Re ee ; We ae
a: Night hoe lig a series
been plaguing the com
= =)
fted over and_ over
the but wi
report of a meeting of the American Bankers
Association in. Boston, and the. deputy head
of their protection division told the stuffed
shirts that the Needham killers haven’t been
found because the police and certain unnamed
politicians don’t want to find them. You know
the pitch: ‘If we told all we knew—
“If they told all they knew, the informa-
tion might fill half of a small peanut shell,”
Stokes commented dryly. “But we’re in no
position to talk—we don’t know much more.”
“They released that finger man today,”
Barrett said with a grin. “Seems | he didn’t
have anything to do with the case.”
“T guess it’s back to Quincy,” Stokes said.
“If the General says anything, tell him the
two jobs were pulled by the same gang—
and if he doesn’t believe it, I’m willing to bet
a humidor of Havana cigars against a week’ 8
vacation. That ought to do it.
On February 11 Alfred W. Levigne, a busy
auto repairman in Roxbury, took time to go
through his mail and read the circular from
metropolitan police. The battery seemed
familiar. He went to his files, checked the
circular, and called headquarters. He had put
the battery in a car owned by Murtdén and
Irving Millen, two young brothers who had
been brought up in the neighborhood.
Boston police checked back on the Mil-
lens; they had no criminal record, A ser-
geant was sent to the Millen home a few
t Sorel
been.
lead
ey Waited | for the.
ating rig “You have done well.”
he: culprit: was a tall, Jean fn
black :hair and a swarthy comple:
zzled: frown ppettied = Ally's 4 face
ita abruptly to the o a
“This is, the’ thief?”
you captured tonight?
Yes) sir,” ‘he po policeman ac
he has. already: confessed.” h
“It ds_ incredible,” the
m : He turned to the’ Susy
taken 277) \.0%)..
‘prisoner pooned 5 in con \:
“spoke to him, on arday,’
id Cochet, “in his cell i the “prise
oe ee $s from now |
to at the ore it No wonder Cochet ii
- Sorel 's few dives in vain, athe
ented ;
ors should I? Th
in town.”—-Sam
blocks from the garage and interviewed the
parents, who were not surprised that their.
sons had. béen connected: with the Needham
robbery. They had loaned the battery from
their sedan to a friend whose car had run
‘down, and had’ l@ter been told that th
would be kidnappe® tortured and killed if
they said a word about it to the police. The
senior Millens begged the sergeant not to.
bother their sons, who lived in. downtown, a a
Boston. Whatever information they had could
not be worth the punishment threatened by
the killers. h
Metropolitan police pondered ‘this. story
overnight, then sent men to the apartment
in which Murton Millen lived with his wife
Norma, a minister’s daughter whom he had
married three months before, and to Irving
Millen’s boarding house. They kept Levigne’s
report out of the newspapers to protect the
witnesses, and watched the two houses until
late at night before deciding that the boys
had been warned and had skipped town. The
next’ day a notice appeared in the papers to
the effect that Murton and Irving Miller
were helieved to have information in the
Needham case, and were wanted for immedi-
ate questioning. ‘
Stokes, who had spent the preceding day
with the district attorney who was planning
to prosecute two Salem cab drivers on a
murder charge, saw the notice in the paper
They burned the old car to a crisp
but the ashes held damning evidence.
extradited back to
BY ALAN MERRITT
@ THE 9:30 FREIGHT WAS. ON TIME that cold February
morning, and it chugged into the suburb of Needham, Mas-
sachusetts, As it rolled toward the center of town, an ex-
pensive black sedan roared past it, turned toward the tracks
on Great Plains Avenue, slapped itself around in a narrow
U-turn, and came to a stop before the granite entrance of
the Needham Trust C any.
Fifteen seconds later the first bars went down to Dlock -
automobile traffic across the tracks, and the signal bell rang
loudly over the town. Three young men in dark, double-
_ breasted business suits and black masks stepped briskly
from the car, crossed the ‘sidewalk, and entered the bank.
The tallest of the three carried two automatic pistols, the
shortest rested a submachinegun across his right arm, and
the leader waved them forward with a sawed-off shotgun.
The leader walked over to the desk nearest the entrance
and told Arnold McIntosh, the bank’s treasurer, to turn
his swivel chair toward the wall. The other men went
through the stone interior and ordered the tellers and clerks
from their cages. Before she left her post at the loan win-
dow, Ada Powell pushed her knee against the alarm button,
but any noise it might have made was drowned out by the
. Clamorous ringing of the signal bell half a block away, and
the gunmen ignored it. ;
When the staff had lined up against the far wall, the
_tallest of the bandits ordered the guard, 77-year-old Walter
Bartholemey, to open the grill leading to the teller’s cage,
Bartholemey stared at the gun, took one slow, tentative step
toward the grill, and stopped. The gunman cursed and
his automatic barked; Bart olemey fell to the ground with
a bullet through his right hand. The leader went to the
grill, put his hand through the bars, and opened the cage.
Friday’s freight was a short one—the «xhoose cleared
Great Plains Avenue and the signal bell clicked off. But an
insistent ringing continued over the sounds of tratlic. ‘The
bank alarm had worked. Patrolman Forbes MacLeod ran
across the tracks toward the bank. Standing at the door,
(L. to r.) Norma, Murton and Irving
Millen—after the brawl was over,
The Millen brothers:
killers: threatened to
Captured in New York, the boys were Murton's wife Norma (1): Her husband had
Massachusetts. a rendezvous with the state electric chair.
Their parents said the
“get" the boys.
Widow Norma Millen returned for
counsel to her clergyman father.
the short bandit saw him coming. He knew his job.
“Copper on the way,” he yelled back to his companions.
“Invite him in,” the leader replied, running his skilled
hands rapidly through the drawers behind the teller’s cage.
There was a’ burst of machinegun fire from the doorway,
and MacLeod dropped to the sidewalk, four bullets through
his stomach—he would be dead within the hour. A shop-
per across the street ran to his aid; the gun sprayed the
windows behind her ; she screamed and fled back to the store,
The. leader emerged from the cage, summoned Teller
John Riordan from the assembled employes and pulled
McIntosh from his chair, “You two boys are our protec-
tion,” he said slowly, “and we'll try to take care of you.
But one wrong move makes you as dead as that cop.”
McIntosh started to protest and the leader shoved the
shotgun into his stomach. One captive on either side, the
three gunmen left the bank and ran to the car. Following
orders, Riordan and. McIntosh climbed on the running
boards, but as the car screeched around the corner onto
Oak Street, Riordan jumped off and fell to the pavement -
amidst a hail of bullets. Unhurt he stood up and ran for
help as the car swung again to cross the tracks.
The black sedan shot down Highland Avenue at 70 miles
an hour, Fireman Timothy Coughlin and Patrolman Frank
Haddock looked up from their conversation and saw the
car careen toward them, McIntosh clinging to the running
board. From above the treasurer’s shoulder the machine,
gun spoke again. Coughlin fell with a bullet in his stom-
ach, and slugs struck Haddock in the bladder and the groin;
he would be dead when the sun set on Saturday. The car
turned again, crossed under the tracks on Route 128, and
sped south on the Worcester Turnpike.
The sedan swept past acar driven by a friend of McIntosh,
‘The startled driver shouted and pressed his foot on his ae-
celerator; the machinegun spat bullets at his car, and he
abandoned the chase. Three miles’ out of town the bandit
car slowed briefly. = MeIntosh (Continued on page | 40)
ie
The Great Big
Brain Went Blooey
(Continued from page 29)
jumped from the running board and rolled
in the snow beside the highway as the sedan
resumed its speed and roared away toward
Providence. Less than a minute later his -
‘friend came by, stopped, and picked him up.
By that time Needham police were trying
frantically to reach Boston. As an economy
measure the Needham Common Council had
ordered the removal of the teletype from
headquarters and blocked an appropriation for
radio cars. The nearest teletype was in Ded-
ham, and an excited Needham patrolman
stood impatiently by the telephone while the
operator tried to make a connection with the
beet line in Dedham.
if
teen minutes later a flash from Dedham -
that a policeman had been shot arrived on
the teletype in Boston police headquarters,
but it was not until 10:28, almost an hour
after the crime, that metropolitan police re-
ceived the details of the robbery and tenta-
tive descriptions of the bandits. By that time
state police from the barracks at Dedham
and Framingham were swarming over the
Needham Trust Company.
None of the employes could offer any great
assistance to the investigation, and the
officers soon concentrated their attention on
ob Marsilli, owner and operator of the
eedham Taxi Company. He had been sitting
in his cab just behind) the bank when the
black sedan drove up and disgorged its armed
passengers. He had leaped from the cab in
astonishment and headed for the bank—
then he had heard the gunshot and sensibly
retired to his office to call police. But he had
taken a complete description of the car and
noted the license number : 304 210.
A sergeant went to the telephone to check
the license with the state bureau in Spring-
field while other officers studied the bank. -
Lieutenant Detective John F. Stokes of
state police wandered over to the grill. He
dusted the metal handle and the steel bars
with great care, and grunted when the re-
sults showed up.; He walked gingerly behind
the teller’s cage and dusted the ‘surfaces of
table, drawers and gadgets. hen he was
through, he grunted again and started back
toward his companions. A mark on the floor
caught his attention. Dropping to his knees,
he scattered the fine white dust over a four-
“foot section of stone.
“Smart,” he said. He shook his head. “Too
smart.” He rose to his feet, brushing the
gritty dust from his knees, and looked at the
too smart,” he’ said sadly.
Crooks Were No Fools
away from the excited businessman and saw
Stokes brush his knees. He studied the dis-
gusted expression on the detective’s face for
a moment, then went over to see what had
aroused his friend’s attention.
“What's up?” he asked.
“The bozos who pulled this job were very,
very bright,” said Stokes. “In the first phace,
the timing. ‘They had_ this job perfectly
planned. They hit the bank when the train hit
the crossing, and they’d have gotten away
without any difficulties if the freight had
been a few cars longer.” :
Stokes beckoned his superior to the grill.
“There were fingerprints here,” he said,
pointing to the handle and one of the bars.
“Phere aren't any now, because our friends,
the gunmen, wiped them off. That doesn’t re-
knot of detectives around Hammett. “Much -
Captain Detective Michael! Barrett looked
‘
uire more than sense enough to come out of
the rain, but we happen to have here the
most singular pee of coolness I've ever
‘seen.” He led Barrett to the dusted area
of the floor. “The thug in charge of col-
lections stumbled here, and his hands hit
the floor. There was a machinegun going off
at the door, and women were screaming, and
he had every reason to be nervous. But he
stepped back and rubbed out all but a frac-
tion of the palm mark with his shoe before
he finished his collections: That boy has a
brain—too much of a brain to be caught by
routine hillbilly tactics.”
Fingerprint and photography experts from
Boston headquarters came into the bank and
went immediately to work. “They won't
like you for doing their job,” Barrett told
Stokes.
“There's work for them,” the lieutenant
said. “I didn’t dust the whole building.”
“ “Maybe we'll get something from routine,
after all,” Barrett said hopefully.
“Not a chance. And I hope the boys don’t
pick up any fingerprints. Anything they find
will throw us off the track. I didn’t dust all
the surfaces in the house, but I checked
every single place our robber friends might
have touched.”
For two hours Stokes watched the Boston
experts work over the bank, and at the end
he congratulated them sourly on the thirty-
odd sets of fingerprints they had developed.
The prints were sent to Roscoe Hill at the
state identification bureau, and that evening
a report came from Springfield that they had
‘been tentatively identified. The culprits, ac-
cording to the report, were Joe Cassidy and
Timothy Ryan, well-known Boston thugs.
Stokes snorted at the information and
watched metropolitan police roll out of head-
quarters to hunt up assidy and Ryan and,
supposedly, crack the case.
Meanwhile, information and misinforma-
tion began to pour into headquarters. Patrol-
man MacLeod had died, and Edward J. Sei-
bold, the Boston police ballistics expert, had
gone to work on slugs recovered from the
body. His results were surprising and dis-
couraging: the bullets had been fired by the
submachine gun stolen a week before from
the state police exhibit at the Boston Auto
Show. There was no hope of tracing the gun
to the killer.
Brigadier-General Daniel Needham, state
commissioner of public safety, called state
‘police officers into executive session and read
the riot act. There had been six successful
bank robberies in the Boston area in six
months, and the law had failed to turn up a
single bandit. Speeches in the state legis-
lature had. charged collusion between crimi-
nals and police, and the legislature had passed
a law making the possession of a machine-
gun an offense punishable by life imprison-
ment. The acting governor had offered a
personal $1000 reward for the arrest and
conviction of the Needham killers.
Stokes had asked permission to spend a
day investigating a series of robberies and
murders in Boston suburbs, and when this
‘was granted, Stokes climbed into his car on
February 3, 1934, and made the rounds. In
Quincy he learned the details of a $15,000
bank robbery; Fitchburg police complained
of an unsolved street robbery and murder ;
Brookline authorities were under fire for a
hank robbery that had netted $20,000; a
Worcester sporting goods store had heen
taken for $3500; and an old paperhanger for
a movie theatre had been killed in Salem
during a holdup.
The officers in charge of this last case,
however, wanted no help from the state
police. They thought they had their men. ‘Two
taxi drivers had been arrested and - indicted
for the crime, and the state had almost com-. °
pleted its work for their prosecution, Stokes.
interviewed the two prisoners, and went im-.
mediately to talk to the county prosecutor.
“fm working on this Needham job,” he
said by way of introduction, “and | think
there’s a connection between your case and
mine. You'd better postpone action against
those cabbies.”
“Go ahead,” the prosecutor said without
conviction. “Tell me about it.”
“J don't have anything definite,” Stokes
admitted, “but there are important resem-
blances. The bank clerks say the leader of
the gang was dark and young and fairly tall,
and that matches your leader here. My
bandits were trigger-happy, and yours gunned
an innocent old man who was just coming
into the office for his paycheck. What's
more, three men were involved in both jobs,
and the general descriptions match pretty
well. Your cabbies can’t be implicated at
Needham because they were in jail, so it
looks to me like you've got the wrong men.”
Working A Hunch
“You're just working on a hunch. .
“Maybe,” Stokes replied, “but I don’t see
that you've got any A-1 case yourself.”
“We have enough for a conviction,” the
prosecutor said complacently. “We have a
positive identification by the cashier, and a
good deal of circumstantial evidence. They
were in the neighborhood, they didn’t have
fares, and the killers ran toward the street
on which they say they were cruising. They
ot away clean at the time, and I don’t see
ow anyone else could have done it, Nobody's
come forward to back their alibi, cither.”
“Of course not,” Stokes said sharply. “A
cruising cabbie doesn’t see a soul, And
identification by a hysterical woman isn’t
worth a hill of beans, Besides, there were
three men in this holdup. Where's the third it
“Those taxi drivers haven't told all they I
i
know,” the prosecutor said, his eyes narrow--
ing. “They'll talk before it’s over.” .
“They won't talk,” Stokes said, and a
scowl twisted his long face. “They won't
talk because they don’t know anything. I
spoke to them half an hour ago, and i |
ey
® were so glad to see me, they alhost cri
They were~ honest about it, too. Th
thought I’d been assigned to investigate their
‘case, and they were sure I'd clear them.” ,
- “Stokes looked over the prosecutor's head to
- the law diploma on the wall. “How would you
‘feel after hanging an innocent man?” he
asked.
“Terrible,” the prosecutor conceded. “But
- I don't look forward to removal from office
for neglect of duty, cither.”
“I can’t talk you into postponing the
proceedings ?”
“No. It's my duty to prosecute.”
Stokes shrugged his shoulders and stood
up. “I hope you lose,” he said.
“Let's be reasonable about this,” the
prosecutor replied. “If a gang of thieves
had done this job, they’d have sent word
along the underworld grapevine that we had
the wrong men. We haven't heard anything
from anyone, so I can’t see any alternative |
to prosecution.”
“No,” Stokes said softly, “this bunch
doesn’t care how many people they kill, and
they’re prohably just as happy that innocent
men will go to the chair for their murders.
They're filthy scum, and the world will be
a lot better when they burn.”
Stokes returned to Boston and found that
nothing of value had turned up in his ab-
sence. Cassidy had been arrested and a_new
fingerprint check had cleared him; Ryan
had voluntarily come to headquarters with an
unshakable alibi and a lawyer. The license
number supptgd at the scene had been
traced to a maiden lady in Pittsfield, whose
car and license plate had been in a garag&
all day Friday. cag
There were dozens of plans in the air. Bort
Captain JOHN F. STOKES of the Massachusetts State Police
EVERAL years ago, 1 attended a
press conference held by Captain
John F. Stokes of the Massachu-
setts State Police in the State
House in Boston. He had never seen me
before, twenty other newspaper men
were present, and the conference lasted
only half an hour.
Not until three months ago, at the
new State Police Headquarters on Bos-
ton’s Commonwealth Pier, did 1 see him
again. As I was presented to him in
his office, he looked at me with a puzzled
expression.
“Where have I met you before?” he
asked. Then, before I could answer:
“T remember—you were at a reporters’
conference up at the State House about
three years ago.”
This feat of memory gives some in-
dication of the amazing mind which has
made Captain Stokes one of the foremost
detectives in America. His retention of
details, his knack of storing them away
in orderly “mental files” for future use,
his ability to find the one detail which
eventually leads to the solution of a
crime, have won him fame from coast
to coast. Recently Lewis J. Valentine,
the distinguished Police Commissioner
of New York City, recognizing his
genius, called him “the best cop in the
United States.”
His accomplishments might remind one
of the deeds of Sherlock Holmes or
Thatcher Colt, or some of the other fic-
tional detectives, were it not that his
work is utterly realistic—the protection
of the lives and property of citizens, the
apprehension of desperate and decidedly
non-fictional thieves and murderers.
Yet, like many of these detectives of
the mystery books, he is an unusual per-
sonality—a policeman whose hobby is
flowers; a detective who knows more
criminal law than many a law school
54
ileal
professor; an officer who has captured
hundreds of criminals without having
once been compelled to fire his service
revolver in making an arrest.
In the public schools of the city of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he
was born and brought up, his teachers
remarked with admiration the two out-
standing and somewhat paradoxical char-
acteristics of Johnny Stokes.
First was his quiet, studious nature.
Not only did he grasp fully and quickly
the meaning of a subject, but he mem-
orized minor facts as well, exact dates,
full names of characters, a vast store of
details which even the teachers could not
be sure of without referring to the books.
Second was his strength. Tall, broad-
shouldered, with rusty red hair * and
freckles, he could, if needed, whip any
boy in the school. But he didn’t like to
fight. He disclosed his pugilistic abilities
only when he ran up against the bullies.
They soon learned to stay away from
him—he packed a punch harder than
they knew how to return.
FTER graduation from high school,
he went to work for his father, a
Cambridge business man. During his free
time, he studied criminal law in books
he obtained from the library.
In 1911, only twenty-one years old, he
passed a civil service examination of
the Cambridge Police Department with
such high marks that he received imme-
diate appointment, becoming the young-
est police officer in the state.
Because of his reluctance to talk
about himself, much of the work he did
on the Cambridge force remains un-
known to the public. Yet one of his
first cases is still repeated by Cambridge
BY WILL OURSLER
officials, for ‘inspirational purposes, to
“rookie” patrolmen.
Off duty, he was strolling in Cam-
bridge, near Central Square, when he
noticed two men walking along the street.
There was nothing unusual about them,
to an average eye. But Stokes at that
time was studying a book on criminal
characteristics; he observed certain
mannerisms of the men which recalled
details he had read about in the book.
He foHowed them for several blocks.
They turned at last. down an_ alley,
climbed into a car and were trying to
get the engine started when Stokes came
up to them.
A few minutes’ conversation con-
vinced him that they did not own the
car and were attempting to steal it. He
took them to Police Headquarters.
They declared they had merely in-
tended to “borrow” the car for a ride.
Stokes, certain the men were more than
amateur criminals, subjected them to
lengthy examination. After many long
hours, they finally admitted that they
were members of a ring of auto thieves.
The ring proved to be one of the most
amazing organizations in New England’s
history, composed of trained criminals
who stole hundreds of automobiles
throughout the northeastern section of
the United States. The cars were taken
to various “hideouts” in northern New
England, dismantled, the parts inter-
changed, and the rebuilt cars sold as
“used machines.” Six months later,
every member of the gang had been
captured and sent to jail.
Some years after he joined the force,
Stokes launched, entirely on his own in-
itiative, one of the earliest “auto safety
campaigns” in the United States. A
number of school children had been
killed by autos; city officials were des-
perate for a way to curb the accidents.
TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
Stokes pa
picture he
arranged
his behest
at the st:
“do’s and
crossing s!
in a shar
children s
With ti
in the 30
outfit unt
return, he
State Pol
and in §
State Poli
vin Coolic
At the
assigned
police wo
in variou
quires m¢
ating fact
titude of
interpret«
high offic
Becaus:
little was
Stokes’s
eral of M
office, a
County
moved.
importan
protectin
officials.
They «
ity in on
woman |
Part of
cretonne
ducted
with sca
called in
Realiz
only por:
APRIL, 19
e Police
ial purposes, to
rolling in Cam-
square, when he
- along the street.
sual about them,
t Stokes at that
ook on criminal
hbserved certain
1 which recalled
mut in the book.
r several blocks.
down an alley,
were trving to
hen Stokes came
nversation con-
lid not own the
z to steal it. He
idquarters.
had merely in-
ear for a ride.
were more than
jected them to
\fter many long
utted that they
of auto thieves.
one of the most
New Englandl’s
rained criminals
of automobiles
stern section of
cars were taken
northern New
he parts inter-
It cars sold as
months later,
ging had been
oined the force,
on his own in-
st “auto safety
ted States. A
lren had been
icials were des-
’ the accidents.
‘CTIVE MYSTERIES
Stokes paid a visit to a local motion
picture house where the programs were
arranged largely for the children. At
his behest, the manager agreed to run,
at the start of each show, a series of
“do’s and don’t’s” concerning ways of
crossing streets. The campaign resulted
in a sharp decrease in the number of
children struck by cars.
With the outbreak of war, he enlisted
in the 301st Infantry, serving with this
outfit until the war was over. On his
return, he. took an examination for the
State Police, passed with high honors,
and in September, 1920, was made a
State Police detective by Governor Cal-
vin Coolidge.
At the start of his new job, he was
assigned to the most difficult type of
police work—the investigation of graft
in various public offices. No task re-
quires more care in obtaining and evalu-
ating facts; more attention to the mul-
titude of details which, when properly
interpreted, might disclose corruption in
high office.
Because the probes were confidential,
little was mentioned in the press about
Stokes’s work. A former attorney gen-
eral of Massachusetts was removed from
office, and disbarred. A Middlesex
County district attorney was also re-
moved. The public hardly realized how
important a part Stokes had played in
protecting them from these dishonest
officials.
They did, however, recognize his abil-
ity in one murder case. The body of a
woman had been found, cut to pieces.
Part of it was discovered in a small
eretonne-covered trunk. Police con-
ducted a wide-spread investigation,
with scant results. Stokes was finally
called in to help.
Realizing that the trunk provided the.
only possible lead, he took up the trail
APRIL, 1940
at this point. After visiting a number
of luggage shops, he found that it was a
type sometimes attached to the running
board of automobiles. He then went to
several auto concerns and from them
learned that the trunk was similar to
those used on Stutz cars several years
previous to the crime.
Stutz cars were sold by one large con-
cern on Commonwealth Avenue in Bos-
ton. Stokes obtained there a list of per-
sons who had purchased cars of this
model. Within a week, he had located
from this list one man who owned a
Stutz car of this model with the trunk
missing. Although the man at first
vehemently denied the crime, police,
after days of questioning, finally ob-
tained an admission of his guilt.
His superior officers soon realized that
Stokes had unusual qualifications, and
he-was*promoted to lieutenant.
But it was not until 1934, with the
smashing of the infamous Millen-Faber
gang, that his detective genius was
recognized by the outside world. In the
years between he solved many cases,
but knowledge concerning his investiga-
tions on these (Continued on page 87)
Captain Stokes, at right in picture
above, after his adroit questioning
had led to the capture of Kenneth
Buck, kidnaper (center), State
Detective Sherlock at left. (Below)
Captain Stokes (standing) . with
Captain Van Ambergh examines
bomb mailed to Governor Curley
ry
and hurried to Boston headquarters, where
he closeted himsel! with Deputy Superin-
tendent John M. Anderson of Boston police.
He listened to Anderson's report patiently
and then asked:
“What do they do for a-living 2”
“They’re partners in a radio repair shop
with a young man named Abraham Faber.”
“A radio repair shop,” Stokes said slowly,
“That's very interesting. Have you checked
‘this Faber ?”
“Of course. He’s an M.I.T. graduate, and
he was an honor student. No police record,
and not a thing apainst him.”
“Except that he owns a radio repair shop.”
“What do you mean?”
“They removed the radio from that car be-
fore they burned it. You can trace radio
“Perhaps just a coincidence.”
~ “Sure. Let’s raid Millen’s apartment and
see. ‘
Stokes and a platoon of local police went to
Murton Millen’s well-{urnished apartment
and raided it. In a wastepaper basket they
found a discarded letter Norma Millen had
written to a man named Saul Messenger in
Brooklyn. The postscript was interesting:
“Please burn this letter, because it might
incriminate Murton.”
The wheels began to turn immediately.
Boston police wired New York, and two
hours later learned that Saul Messenger was
clear: he was a candidate for the police
force and had already passed his physical.
But the Coney Island precinct promised to
check further, and before nightfall Lieu-
tenant John Fitzsimmons was talking to
Anderson. Saul Messenger had gone to school
with Murton Millen. Murton had come to
New York a week ago, told ‘Messenger that
he was taking a trip, and asked him to relay
letters to Faber in Boston. Messenger had
been glad to do a favor for a friend, but
after a while he had become suspicious. He
had no definite information, but his suspicions
were growing, and he would be glad to help
the police.
Boston authorities clamped a tight watch
on Faber and began to check the activities
of the Millen brothers. Finding that the Mil-
lens had rented a garage in South Boston,
they set day and night guards on it. All banks
in the metropolitan area were checked, and
. several safe deposit boxes in the names of
Murton Millen and Abraham Faber were
located and moved to safe keeping. Then both
state and local officers rested and waited
for the news from Saul Messenger that
would end the casc.
The trial of the two Salem cab drivers
started with the local_ press howling for
blood. Almost all the jurors impanclled for
the case were ‘disqualified by the court be-
cause of their attitude toward the defendants,
but a jury was finally chosen and the prose-
cution began to present its evidence, Defense
attorneys kept the cashier under cross-
examination for almost two hours, but she
held to her identification. Circumstantial
evidence against the accused was presented
for three days, and on the fourth day the
defense began to call witnesses. The cab
drivers told their stories, and one of them
broke’ into tears under cross-examination,
racter witnesses by the dozen paraded to
the stand before the red eyes of the de-
fendants’ wives, but nobody ‘could he found
to back the drivers’ alibis. Reporters in the
courtroom were convinced that the trial
‘would end in a conviction, and the state an-
nounced its intention to ask for the death
alty.
Ppridny night, Mebruary 23, three weeks
- after the robbery, Fitzsimmons called Boston.
Messenger had received a letter to the effect
that the Millen brothers were returning to
New York. Metropolitan police | informed
Dedham, and Stokes left immediately for
5 bt agahe > tame dees
New York. Tle arrived on Saturday and
talked to Messenger, who had acquired a body
guard. The Millens would kill, and Mes-
senger_ knew too much for safety. At one
A.M. Sunday all guesses were confirmed,
Murton Millen called Messenger and told
him to come to the Lincoln Hotel the next
-day. Police were at the Lincoln before two,
but the Millens had left. Men were stationed
to watch the Millens’ car in the hotel garage,
and Stokes, Fitzsimmons, Patrolman Pas.
quale Amoroso of the West 47th Street
station, and two Burns agents sat down to
keep the vigil in the hotel lobby.
‘They spent a sleepless night and an anxious
morning. Nobody turned up to claim the car,
and the Millens did not return to the hotel.
At noon Fitzsimmons sent word to state
police to watch all roads leading from New
York, and five highly disgruntled detectives
waited in the lobby for the chance that
seemed to have disappeared.
Close In
At two o’clock that afternoon, however,
Irving Millen appeared and went toward
the desk for his keys. He was still five paces
away when three officers closed in on him,
took his gun from its shoulder holster, and
let him away to headquarters. Half an
hour fater Murton Millen and his 19-year-old
bride came into the lobby. Fitzsimmons drew
his gun as he walked toward them. With a
despairing leap, the unarmed Millen grabbed
the lieutenant’s automatic. The two men
wrestled for a fraction of a second, and then
Millen had the gun. He pointed it at the
officer. Patrolman Amorogso’s blackjack hit
Millen across the back of his head as he fired
—the bullet, deflected downward, went
through Fitzsimmons’ trouser leg and bounced
away from the stone floor. Miller fell to the
- Rround and Amoroso placed him under ar-
rest.
At headquarters the Millens stuck to their
story. They had loaned the battery of their
car to a man named Joe, and ‘had been
warned two days later that they would: be
killed if they talked to police. They had left
when they learned from their parents that
police wanted to question them. They had
driven to New York, sold. their car, and
taken a train for the South. After a week
they had returned to Washington by train,
checked their luggage at Union Station, and
gone out to buy the car in which they had
returned to New York. They were wholly
innocent of any connection with robbery, they
insisted, .
Stokes listened attentively to this tale,
and departed immediately for Washington,
leaving all questioning to New York
authorities. In Washington he went like a
‘bird dog to the unclaimed property division
of the public checkroom in Union Station
and found, as he had expected, a valise the
Millens had forgotten to redeem, In the
valise were half a dozen revolvers and auto-
matics and a sawed-off shotgun. Stokes took
the evidence to District of Columbia police,
who packed it carefully for shipment to
Boston. Then the lieutenant began to tele-
phone banks, and at one of them he found
the safe deposit box he was after. The
box contained $4700 in currency, and a sur-
prisingly high proportion of the bills bore
serial numbers from a list MeIntosh had
given Needham police.
A call was waiting for Stokes when he
returned to. Washington headquarters. The
South Boston garage had been raided and the
raiding party had found a small arsenal, part
of which had been stolen from the state
police exhibit at the auto’ show. Faber had
been taken into custody, and was ready to
sing.
Stokes climbed on a train and arrived in
Boston in time to hear most of Faber’s
a : ; petit
* A
amazing confession, The handsome M.LT.
graduate had been the brains of the three-man
gang and had plotted the robberies which had
netted them almost forty thousand dollars in
less than a month.
“It was a business proposition with us,”
he said. “We figured that we could get
Jtich, and we agreed that we would kill any-
one who got in our way. Everything we did
was carefully planned.”
Faber told police that he had hoped to end
his criminal career in a blaze of glory,
robbing three banks in one morniug. It was
his opinion that the last two banks could be
hit with absolute safety while the police were
gathering about the first. Reminded that his
future was no longer in his own hands, he
buckled down to business and told the as-
tonished detectives how he had planned and
executed the bank robberies jn Quincy and
Needham, the street holdup in Worcester,
and the theatre robbery in Salem. At that
point Stokes ran from the room and went to
the nearest telephone.
In Salem, court had already convened,
and the two accused taxicab drivers were
seated at the defense table, talking. to their
lawyer. All the evidence was in, and the at-
torneys were ready to sum up the case. Across
the room the prosecutor and his assistants
were going through their papers, waiting for
the clerk to finish the rollcall of jurors.
Behind the bar, in the first row of seats, two
haggard women watched their husbands,
stared pleadingly at the jury, and prayed
for an acquittal.
The judge called the courtroom to order
and nodded to the prosecutor, who was
talking to an excited court attendant. In-
stead of addressing the jury, the prosecutor
came to the bench and ‘whispered to the
judge. A moment later the defense attorney
was called to the front, and the eonsulta-
tion continued. Fiye minutes later the judge
banged his gavel against his desk and an-
nounced an adjournment. The two lawyers
hurried to another room to call Boston, and
the courtroom buzzed with questions.
Then, by some mysterious process, every-
one knew the answers. The two haggard
women burst through the gate and up to the
defense table, threw their arms about their
husbands, and cricd with relief, The court
attendants separated the two pairs with difli-
culty, but the prisoners went hack to their
cells willingly. The worst of their ordeal
was over,
The Millen brothers were extradited from
New York the following day, and Stokes
was assigned to the detail’ that protected
them from angry crowds along their route to
Dedham.
Boston police meanwhile recovered almost
ten thousand dollars of stolen money from
safe-deposit boxes throughout the city. Saul
Messenger, who had received threatening
letters from friends of the Millens, came to
state police barracks in Dedham and asked to
be held in prison until the Millens were
safely put away. He sat there as a guest of
Norfolk County until the trial ended on
June 8, 1934, and the Millens and Faber
were convicted of murder,
The three convicted killers tried three
times to break jail, and on two of their three
attempts they had outside help. Their appeal
from the conviction went twice to the Su-
preme Court, and twice the Court refused
to hear it. On June 6, 1935, they were elec-
trocuted, but the violence of their short
careers lived after them, Three days later,
at the funeral, there was a riot in which a
policeman was injured. Then the Millen
case was closed.
Enrtor’s Note: To spare possible em-
barrassinent to innocent bersons, the names
Joe Cassidy and Timothy Ryan, used in this
story, are fictitious.
ie
a
told th
had ta!
man up
brunett:
a ably 1}:
. quite dr
and hac
vator.
No «
left the:
turned.
thought
powerin
drunk a
A he
room s|
tered. 7
paid hir
their di:
but poi:
Wich:
' tion he
to head
the sus;
trail mic
real nan
without
give fict:
this cou;
spiders :
that the
an hour «
looking |
evidence
appear |)
might hi
and mig!
actual m:
as a lon:
he incre:
The fi:
tanooga :;
be, a pi
record «
at any (
Nextt
news of |
took it h
husband |
called th«
ing Serv:
had told |
Previous ;
She kney
desponden!
drunk, but
home, cor
closed. TH.
He had
mechanic
as a plun’
said, and
unable to |
family tog
World W
able to ge:
discharge.
No one ,
life, she i:
vantage of
When \\
found the r:
Lakey had
from. stran
parently ha
were no ma
drops had |.
Robbery,
the motive.
stripped, as
to out-
ye. Mrs.
ers and
forward
ow they
but he
id team
length-
k their
seemed
um. The
o miles,
1e reins,
it. They
d, haul-
irderess.
the two
minutes
sight.
or Chi-
3 where
mn their
fleeing
rat the
iat case
fifteen
tracks
ell used
o follow
oadway,
> heavy
? at
ile
ing
o falter
At the
+« would
: long.
lo now:
and set
e widow
t a slow
ige over
noticed
the rail-
in the
it, then
- him in
straight
One of
er water
ig in its
ken, Off
. lay the
vs edge,
ill alive,
the team
her they
‘oad and
ilton re-
od drove
sus Mrs.
doctor’s
{ he re-
it, where
of Ware-
andy man
The in-
like the
learned.
, ig of the
y, fright-
d leaped
7 uich had
| plunged
hat
ater
: t to
hed back
Irs. Fari-
«
{YSTERIES
day could not live. She was conscious,
but refused at first to say anything about
her brother-in-law’s death. But when told
by the attending physician that she could
not live, she confessed that she had poi-
soned her brother-in-law and embalmed
his body. Her reason for keeping it in
the house was, she said, to prevent its be-
ing found in the event a search for the
missing man was made. Finally she could
stand its presence there no longer and had
enlisted the aid of Warehouser, whom
she knew she could trust, and they had
endeavored to dispose of it as far away
from Chicago as possible. It had been
snowing when they dumped the corpse,
she said, and Warehouser had assured her
it would be covered, along with their
tracks, within the hour. But the snow
flurry had let up abruptly.
A State’s Attorney Adamou-
sky hurried to Palatine and heard the
once gay widow repeat her dying confes-
sion that she had murdered her brother-
in-law and concealed his body in order
that she might obtain money with which
to pay her gambling debts. When asked
where she had learned the use of embalm-
ing fluid, she said she had obtained a book
about it and familiarized herself with its
use. The Power of Attorney had been
signed by Fariday two days before she fed
him arsenic in food, she said, She had
later changed the date and signed a fic-
titious name to it, so that it would appear
to have been witnessed in Kansas City.
The once pretty Kentucky belle who had
turned murderess rather than give up her
earthly possessions died an hour after mak-
ing her confession to Adamouski and Con-
stable Griswold, her black deed a haunt-
ing memory for her son.
Whether or not her crime influenced him
in later years, no one of course can say,
but his life was to be marked with vio-
lence, At the age of nineteen he was
committed to the Texas State Penitentiary
for life for the slaying of a bank em-
ployee during a holdup in that state. Re-
ceiving a parole in 1925 he returned to
Chicago and was found slain eight months
later in an alley not far removed from
the home of his boyhood and its once
fashionable neighborhood.
The maid and the butler in the Fariday
household were not prosecuted, for it was
definitely established that they had known
nothing of the crime, which had occurred
one week-end when both were away and
off duty.
And so, through the efforts of Attorney
Ringwood, the mystery of the lighted can-
dles was solved and the perpetrators of
the crime escaped punishment only in vio-
lent death.
fphhkinat hs Ringwood was publicly ac-
claimed for having acted in defense of
the law when he thought a crime had been
committed. At a meeting of the bar as-
sociation held in Chicago on June 15th.
1897, he was pointed out as a citizen who,
in an outstanding manner, had proved that
he had the courage to battle for the forces
of law and order, even though he had
been handicapped from the outset by poli-
tics.
Personalities in Law Enforcement
cases was confined largely to the men
who worked with him.
During those years he had grown a little
heavier, and a good deal balder, and had
been compelled to don spectacles because
of the long hours he spent studying crimi-
nal law and the latest developments in
police technique.
Many regular readers of True DETECTIVE
will recall the story of the two Millen
brothers—Murton and Irving—and_ their
associate, Abe Faber, which appeared in
this magazine under the by-line of Joseph
B. Ely, Governor of Massachusetts at the
time. The holdups and ghastly murders
they committed are well known in the
annals of crime.
Full credit for the smashing of this
gang belongs to Captain John Stokes, al-
though much of the work he did on the
case has never before been told.
As many of you will remember, the
gang had murdered a guard in Needham,
Massachusetts, while making their get-
away following a bank holdup. Residents
throughout the state were demanding that
the bandits be brought in. The police were
stuck. Beyond the finding of the car used
by the murderers—on which were appar-
ently no clues, and which had no license
plates that could be checked—authorities
had nothing to go on.
Again they called in Stokes. He ordered
two crack State Troopers working under
him to take the car apart. “Examine
every nut and bolt—every infinitesimal
detail.”
The men reported back that they could
find nothing unusual—nothing out of the
ordinary at all—except the rather un-
important fact that the battery of the car
appeared to have been recently repaired.
To Stokes’ mind then came a remar
Bertillon is reported to have made: “One
can see only what one observes, and one
observes only things which are already in
the mind.”
To the average person, Stokes knew,
repairs of a battery would seem unim-
portant. But to a battery-repair man,
they might be as distinctive as dental
work to a dentist.
He ordered his men to take the battery
to a Boston concern and have it taken
apart. “I want a detailed report of the
repairs. Tell them not to overlook any-
thing.”
When the report, extremely technical,
was handed to him, he called in the Bos-
APRIL, 1940
(Continued from page 55)
ton newspaper reporters and asked them
to publish it. The newspapermen saw
little in it worthy of valuable space. Only
one, John Noonan, ace_reporter and now
editor of the Boston Sunday Advertiser,
realized its possible value. That next
morning, the Advertiser published the re-
port in a prominent position.
Out in Roxbury, a suburb of Boston,
a garage mechanic read the paper—an
recognized the description of the repairs.
He called the State Police and informed
Stokes that he was the person who had
fixed that battery, several weeks before—
for a man named Millen.
Thus came the definite break that was
to lead to the solution of the case.
The Millens, Stokes found, had left
town. Through neighbors, police obtained
the name of Abraham Faber, Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology graduate,
and the third member of the gang. Placed
under arrest, Faber admitted some facts
but denied any guilt in the holdups.
Stokes, during this preliminary examina-
tion, diagnosed him as an ego-maniac.
Quietly, in a pleasant way, he began to
flatter him, to praise him as the kind of
bandit even the police admired. A big
timer—too big ever to go to jail.
While his fellow officers watched in
amazement, Stokes continued to pour on
praise, and Faber gradually began to
puff up.
Of course, they were big time, the gang-
ster at last declared. Why, they had pulled
some of the biggest jobs in America. That
holdup in Lynn, for instance—that was
one of their jobs. Faber broke after that
and told them the whole fantastic story,
while Stokes stood there before him
smiling, nodding approbation, and the
stenographer’s pencil jotted down the rec-
ord of crime after crime.
From clues found in the Millen apart-
ment, the two brothers were trailed to
New York. There, in the Lincoln Hotel,
Stokes and several New York City police
officers were waiting when they showed
up to keep an appointment with a friend.
The Massachusetts detective was leaning
casually against the hotel desk when the
pair walked in. One of the bandits, recog-
nizing the officers, pulled out a revolver.
Guests in the lobby drew back in terror.
Stokes advanced directly at the armed
murderer. Almost before the others
realized what had happened, he grabbed
the bandit’s wrist and in a lightning jiu-
jitsu. movement forced him to drop the
gun clattering to the floor.
The trail of the Millens and Faber,
which Stokes had found and followed with
such skill, ended forever some months
later, when all three of them expiated
their crimes in the electric chair, <s——————~
It was for his work in this case that
Stokes was made Captain of Detectives
in the State Police, the position he holds
today.
In spite of the difficulties of his de-
tective work, he has never given up his
legal studies. At his home in Belmont.
where he lives with his wife and son.
John, Jr., his two hobbies are his flowers
and his books on criminal law. So well
known is his learning in this particular
field that district attorneys all over the
state call on him to aid_ them in the
presentation of cases. Even attorney
generals have come to him for opinions
on legal technicalities. It is also reported
that every Massachusetts governor for the
past twenty years has called on him for
help in one way or another.
IS character, from his earliest days, has
changed very little. He is still quiet,
reserved, conservative; stall the student,
always seeking new information. Nor has
he lost any of the physical strength of
younger years, as_ those who have wit-
nessed his powerful drives on the Belmont
Golf Club course can attest. But he has
gained in the years a depth of wisdom,
and with that wisdom has come geniality
and understanding. Always, save when he
is on investigation, one can see behind the
rimless glasses, a sparkle of warm humor
in the blue eyes. He has gained such a
knowledge of human nature that he does
not know how to hate, or to bear grudges
—even against criminals.
This good humor is found in him
when he is questioning a suspect, and is
undoubtedly one of the reasons for the
success of his interrogations. Never does
he resort to roughness of any kind, or
even harsh words. There is, of course.
no third degree in the State Police, and
no officer is allowed to ‘‘muss up” a sus-
pect.
Stokes is kindly, but persistent. Over
and over again he will have the suspect
tell his story, catching up every minute
discrepancy. It is done without anger or
coercion, but it is done so thoroughly that
a guilty man has little chance of escape
87
a ESN a SARL SL TCE Ces NDT Va Nien aL a
HE 9:20 N. Y. N. H..& H. fast
freight. roared into the little
town of Needham, Mass., on time
on the morning of February 2nd,
1934. As the hissing engine ap-
proached the community's main thor-
oughfare, automatic safety gates
were lowered, bringing the light mid-
“morning traffic to a temporary halt.
Dee
Yael
” City Patrolman, Forbes A. Me-
Leod, standing on the South side of
Grand Plains Avenue near the de-
‘pot, glanced idly toward the on-
coming train. He saw the gates
coming down, but sensed half-con-
sciously that something was amiss. It
was not until he heard the staccato
clanging of a bell, though, that he
‘realized what it was. =
12
rere |
(fetch sau Bian me vou Soe Bole ae
2.
te
For the sound came not from the
electric warning bell at the street
intersection. The insistent, resonant
clangor Mcleod heard was. coming,
instead, from the opposite side of
Grand Plains Avenue—from the cor-
ner where the main office of the
Needham Trust Company was lo-
cated. It was the bank's recently
installed burglar alarm!
Even as the uniformed officer started
on the run across the intersection he
“was aware of the long black Packard
which had been drawn -up in front of -
the bank—of the stir of excitement just
inside the entrance to the’ two-story
brick and concrete’ building. As he ran
Patrolman McLeod drew his .38 caliber
service revolver, He was heading for
The Needham Trust Company, robbed of $14,500 ina daylight hold-up.
es
the windows on the North side of the
building, windows which he knew look-
ed out from behind the string of tellers’
and cashiers’ cages, ;
For, if this was actually a daylight
hold-up, he realized that his best chance
of frustrating the attempt would be to
attack from any place other than the
main entrance where the robbers would
be almost sure to have one of their
gang posted. ° : :
S Officer McLeod started across the ’
street Ernest R. Keith, the assistant
treasurer, was standing so that he half-
faced the window toward which the
patrolman headed. The bank official’s
hands were raised high above his head.
Standing three feet in front of. him,
his back to the slightly frosted window,
was a man of medium height whose
face was almost entirely concealed by
a black mask. Across the man’s arms
lay a sub-machine gun, poised for in-
stant action. There was nothing in his
manner to indicate that he did not
-have the situation under perfect .con-
trol. The cold gray eyes above his mask
darted swiftly about the interior of the
bank, but always came back to rest
on the man before him. His long-finger-
ed hands were steady. on the instrument
of death he held on his arms,
In the outer room of the bank two
Other masked bandits were holding seven
employees at bay. The man facing
Keith started to speak. He: was inter-
rupted by a shout from one of -his
henchmen: :
“There’s a cop running across the
street!” :
Instantly the robber with the machine
ty
/ THE LATEST FACTS
ABOUT THE MILLEN
- MOBSTER- KILLERS WHO BROUGHT A
ee THREE-MAN REIGN OF TERROR TO THE
- NORTHEAST A FEW YEARS AGO ARE
HERE SET FORTH BY HAL WHITE,
SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR TRU-LIFE
gun swung around and made for the
window: behind the assistant treasurer.
A burst of machine gun fire followed
and as it ceased those inside could
hear the tinkle of shattered glass.’
Outside a powdery snow fell on Offi--
cer McLeod as his six-foot body $lump-
ed slowly toward the icy sidewalk. Dark
crimson appeared and spread slowly on
his blue uniform and the service re-
volver clattered from his suddenly inert
hand to the pavement. sas
Walter H. Bartholomew, septuagena-
rian caretaker of the safe deposit vaults,
heard the shooting as he was about
to obey one of the other bandit’s orders .
to open the. bronze doors leading to
the vault at the left of the front door.
The veteran bank employee hesitated
for only a moment. ;
was the harsh blast of a saw- ,
ed-off shotgun and Bartholomew’s right
hand, the bones shattered under cruelly
tom flesh, fell to his side. The blood
drained from the old man’s face and
he lurched sidewise against the door fo
the vault. : are
A woman employee screamed and the
yandit who had been holding the
‘reasurer at bay turned his machine gun
coward the half dozen employees hud-"
i
‘dled together at the side of the vault:
His voice when he spoke was level and
Controlled, but those who stood there
could clearly distinguish the words above
the clanging ‘of the alarm over the
front door, .- ere a
“All - right, boys, forget the vault.
Gather up the cash in the tellers’ cages.”
Then, to the frightened employees: “I'll
kill the next person who makes a false
move!” ; ‘
In another three -minutes the third
member of. the hold-up trio started for
the front door carrying sacks in which
more .than $15,000 in cash had been
stowed. From the man’s wide leather
belt protruded two black-handled _ re-
“.wolvers.
’ The robber holding the machine gun,
apparently the leader of the trio, step-
ped toward the vault where Bartholo-
meéw lay unconscious in front of his
fellow workers. He, addressed: Arnold
-,Mackintosh, the institution’s treasurer,
and '‘twenty-nine-year-old John D. Rior-
‘dan, a teller. : * f
“Now, you two walk slowly out in
front of me. Each take a place’on one
of the running boards of the sedan
out there.” The words were punctuated
by a short. burst of machine gun: fire,
~~ Patrolman Forbes McLeod, killed’ when he answered the alarm.
ry
Norma, the minister's daughter, leaves jail in custody of Dep. Sheriff Caldwell
directed at the. marble floor near the .
feet of the two men. “ ie
The safety gates guarding the rail-
road tracks across Great Plains Avenue .
were being slowly raised as a score
of persons who had been drawn toward
Needham Square by the sound of
shooting saw the black sedan start from
in front of the trust company. Before
the machine reached the crossing, how- ’
ever, John Riordan leapt from the right
running board and fell sprawling into
the street. : ea ES
Instantly there was another burst of
gun-fire, but the teller rose from the
slushy pavement unhurt in time to see
the heavy car swing south into Maple
Street and head toward the highway
leading to Providence, R. I.
Clinging precariously to the other
running board asthe big machine gath-
ered speed, Treasurer Mackintosh star-
ed into the ugly snout of a run which
he recognized as a .45 caliber police
special. The hand of the masked bandit-
who held the gun wavered slightly as:
he ordered the banker to “keep your
E..eyes from inside the car,” and Mackin--.
tosh knew better than disobey.
The- speeding machine roared down
# Maple Street, turned left onto Oak on
two wheels and headed out’ of town.
Five minutes ‘later it was - careening
along the slush-covered pavement of
Route 128 at 70 miles an hour, ‘straight -
through the main. street of the little:
village of Needham Heights.
Patrolman Frank Haddock of the y
Heights Police Force, stood - in ‘ front _
of the Highland Avenue Engine House
talking with Fireman Timothy Coughlin.
It was 9:30 o’clock and Coughlin. was.
just finishing ‘shovelling snow from the
sidewalk in front of the fire house.
Across the highway’ Otficer Haddock
saw a truck. pull into a no-parking
area and started over to. warn the
driver. As he did so the sound-of a
racing motor reached his ears and he
looked up in time ta see a heavy black
sedan heading directly toward ‘him,
Clinging to the side of the car the
officer saw a man in shirt sleeves,
frantically waving.him out of the way. ~
Automatically he reached for the re-
volver at his hip, sidestepping to the
curbing only just in time to avoid being
run down by the wildly careening ve-
hicle.
A volley of shotgun and machine:
gun fire came from the windows of the
speeding machine and Patrolman Had-
dock felt to the snow-covered strip of
earth at the side of the street.with a
dozen leaden pellets in his body. Cough-
lin ‘dropped at almost the same mo-
ment, his mittened’ hands clutching ‘at
his mid-section. :
A score of bullets crashed through
‘the. heavy plate glass window of the
Heights Branch of the Needham Trust
Company, opposite the fire” house.
Three miles further along Route 128 '
the Packard slowed almost to.a stop
and the white-faced treasurer was’ or-
dered to jump from the running board. -
Passing motorists who picked him up
- Sometime later remembered having been
crowded from the pavement by a speed-
ing black sedan at a point midway
_ between the town of Dedham and West-
wood, Mass, © --
” AN HOUR after the’ bandit’ car. was
last reported seen Officer McLeod
‘died in the Glover Memorial Hospital
back in Needham from half a dozen
machine gun bullets which had pene-
ra) 13..
24
ppected of “being involved in gangster
ivities.”*
Chief’ Bliss’ Informant did not know .
: man’s-name, but said. his daughter
d written from various cities along
: Eastern seaboard informing him
it. she'd married the man and was
veling constantly with her husband
1 his‘ friends. The last message, a
d, had arrived only that morning
m New York City and read as fol-
1S! oe
‘Murt and I staying here. Buying
io-parts. Oh, mee!”
t was signed Norma in the girl’s
dwriting. But there was no return
ress and the Natick minister said he
aimed “Murt” to be a nick name for
man who had eloped with his daugh-
Intil. the week of the Needham bank
fup-the girl had always kept him
med of her whereabouts, the man
.,Chief Bliss.: Frequently she had
ed’ through Boston and there had
1°mention of the purchase of a
automobile soon after the first of
hief Bliss immediately communicat-
this -information to General Need-
: and before the day was out state
ctives were dispatched to Boston,
' York. and other cities from which
girl had written,
he next day a picture of a hotel
the reverse side of the card sent
the preacher’s daughter was identi-
as a Coney Island resort hotel, but
© at. the establishment by the
‘York police failed to reveal fur-
information. If the eloping. girl
stopped ‘there she had registered
t her married name it was con-
2d.
hile this new lead was being traced
1 Captain Van Amburgh’s experts
ed through microscopic examination
1 burned automobile found in Nor-
| that the battery in the car was
of the standard type usually sold
automobiles of that make. Plates
he. battery showed indications of
it repair, and Captain Van Am-
1 ordered photographs and descrip-
broadcast to every garage in the
of Massachusetts.
ithin a week the Boston laboratory
accompanied. by , Superintendent
rson .and Detective Flaherty, were
\eir way to the little town of Dor-
er to interview the proprietor of
all battery repair shop. The man
elephoned that a battery of similar
facture, with variations in the
ators: answering the descriptions
out by the state laboratory men,
been brought into. his shop the
h before to be repaired. -
Dorchester, however, what. had
ised to be an excellent clue, proved
siderable disappointment when the
m officers interviewed the battery
proprietor, -
fellow left it here five weeks ago,
g that he’d call for it in two days,”
ian recalled. “He came back later,
rot, saying that he'd left his car
.the street. and would carry the
ty to it. He had the claim check
iven him; paid for. the repair job
left. I'd never seen him before
aaven’t seen him since.”
2-man was shown. hundreds of
: photographs, but could pick out
ne. who definitely resembled his
ner. On the claim check he had |
1 the name “Mr. Miller” and given
ddress as 39 Lawrence Avenue,
ary, Mass,
‘ore they left the shop the Boston
‘'s obtained a fairly complete de-
ion of the customer, but they left
little hope that this new clue
A bystander points to bullet holes in the bank window through which the bandits killed Patrolman McLeod. sf
would prove of value. The experts them- -
selves’ admitted that it was entirely
possible that the fire-wrecked battery
from the ruined Packard was not the
same as that traced to the Dorchester
shop, and a later check with Roxbury
police showed that no man named Miller
ilved at the Lawrence Avenue~address.
The claim’ check,: along with a full
description of the mysterious “Mr, Mill-
er” -was posted on the Boston Police
Bulletin Board, however, with a request
that all officers study the description.
That same afternoon Edward J. Mc-
Lonnell, a Back Bay patrolman, asked
for an interview with Superintendent
on a “matter of “utmost importance.”
Patrolman McDonnell, a man of re-
markable powers of memory, told the
following story when granted the inter-
view: ‘
“The address 39- Lawrence Avenue,
Roxbury, struck an immediate cord in’
my mind,” the officer declared. “I knew
I'd seen or heard it before. But it was
when I saw. the name -Miller. that . it».
all came back to me. Three years ago
I arrested a man at that address in
connection with an auto theft case. The
man’s name was Irving Millen and he.
was in the auto parts business. Later
he was released and I haven't heard of
him since.”
“His description?
tendent commenced. —
“Almost identically the same as that
- ” the superin-
‘given’ by the Dorchester battery man,”
Officer McDonnell went on excitedly,
“Little younger then, of course; I'd
say about nineteen at that time.”
BAck in Roxbury that night the au-
thorities learned that two brothers,
Irving and Merton Millen, had former-
ly lived in that suburb of Boston, buy-
ing and selling automobile parts for a
living. Neither, however, had. been seen
for several months and it was believed
that they had moved to another city
and gone into business, With the excep-
tion of Irving’s arrest three years be-
fore on suspicion, neither had a known
criminal record.
‘The police talked at length with one
Abtaham Faber, a twenty-four-year-old’
battery shop proprietor who said that
he had formerly been in partnership
with the Millen brothers in an auto
parts shop at 148-B Blue Hill Avenue.-
. He’d neither seen nor heard from them
for several months, however,- Faber
claimed. ‘
The. following morning General Need-
ham called a conference: of all officers
engaged in the case. Boston detectives,
meanwhile, had traced a local safe de-
posit box to one M. Miller, but a
search of the-1ecepticle revealed noth-
ing other than $100 in cash and a few
securitics. The holder of ‘the box, how-'
ever, had not visited the bank ‘where
it was located for..several. weeks .and
his current address was unknown.
“M. Miller,” repeated General Need-
ham thoughtfully. “And the name of:
the man in Roxbury was Merton Millen.
Could well be one and the same man;
the writing on the application for the
safe deposit box is certainly similar to
that on the claim check from the Dor-
chester battery..shop.”
“Yes, and Merton Millen could well
be the ‘Murt’ who ran off with the
missing Natick preacher’s daughter not
~ long before the robbery,” interjected
the Needham chief of police. “All three”
- if three there “are—seem to have.
mysteriously disappeared without trou-
bling to leave forwarding addresses. And
there’s the added fact that the girl
informed her father that her husband
was buying radio parts in New -York
City. Lots of auto parts men have been
sg as
es
ve
Arnold Macintosh, Kidnapped by the
‘robbers and forced to ride the
running board.
15
trated his abdomen, At the same honpi-
tal blood transfusions were being given
Officer Haddock and Fireman Coughlin
in what physicians admitted was a slim
chance to save. their lives.
. Two weeks before .the hold-up the
Needham City Council had been forced
to abandon the town’s police teletype.
system because of insufficient funds, so
it was well toward noon before the
-police ‘of outlying districts could be
warned on the alert for the fleeing bank
robbers. 66 ay site
Meanwhile; a. check-up at the bank
revealed that money had been readied
that morning for local pay rolls. This
was a'ready stacked in the teller’s cages
when the robbers entered, led by the
‘slim man with the machine gun whose
order to the employees to “reach for
the ceiling” had resulted in ‘the setting
off of the burglar alarm by one of the
women stenographers in a side office.
‘Chief of Police Arthur P. Bliss of
- Needham took immediate charge of the
investigation, while a score of state
and tity police officials were being rush-
ed from nearby Boston and other points.
Shortly after’ noon General Daniel
Needham, chief .of the State Police,
j . arrived.. He was followed shortly by
Deputy Superintendent John M. Ander-
son and police photographers, finger~
print men and technicians from Boston;
State Ballistics Expert Charles J. Van
Amburgh, and operatives of the Burns
Detective Agency. -
A hundred newspaper reporters were
soon to invade the community. Schools
were - ordered. closed temporarily, and
every city and county officer within a
radius of a hundred miles was ordered
to arm himself heavily and send to
2
Boston for bullet-proof vests, Highway
and country roads, throughout Massa-
chusetts and adjoining states were. pa-
trolled and the authorities in Metropoli-
tan Boston and other New England
. Cities started rounding up hundreds of
known criminals.
Governor Joseph B. Ely, en route
to the Panama Canal Zone on an At-
‘ lantic’ steamship, radioed for every
available officer in Massachusetts to be
assigned to running down the bandits,
‘Before ‘the’ end of the day rewards
totalling $21,000 were offered for infor-
mation leading to the‘ capture of the
daring gang. a
rr WAS immediately apparent to the
investigating officials that the robbery
from beginning to.end had been plan-
ned and executed with infinite attention-
to detail by members of a gang who
had chosen a day when they knew there
would be plenty of ready cash outside
the vault. Had not a freak of chance
resulted in the failure of the warning
bell’ at the railroad crossing, the job
might well have been accomplished with-
out a hitch, for the bandits had chosen
a moment when‘ the rumble of the
passing freight and the ringing of the
crossing bell would have been sure to
have drowned out- even the burglar
alarm over the trust company’s en-
trance. ; ae,
A thorough going-over of the interior
of the bank’ failed to reveal any finger-
prints which could aid the investigators
and those who had witnessed the crime
were able to give little in the way of
descriptions of the trio. Ballistics ex-
perts meanwhile spent long hours in
recovering scores of shotgun, pistol and
machine gun bullets and hoped soon
to have something concrete upon which
to base their investigation.
The second day after the hold-up
Cfficer .Haddock died-and the search
was intensified. Police were managing -
to keep the details-of their investiga-
tion as secret as possible, although it
was known that numerous suspects were
being held in Norfolk County and Bos-
‘ton jails. ; ‘
A list of the serial numbers of $1,000
in new ten-dollar bank notes, and more
than $500 in ones, was furnished detec-
tives by bank officials and before the
week was out reports started coming
in from several outlying towns where
some of this money was passed. Later,
however, it was learned that there had
been an error in the filing of these
numbers, so it was with little
of accomplishing anything that the po-
lice continued to spend time on that
line of investigation.
It was the ballistics experts, working
under the direction of Captain Van
Amburgh of the State Police, who
furnished the first definite lead when
they discovered that more than half
the spent bullets recovered had origi-
nated from weapons of a type made
especially for police usage. =
With this report at hand, General
Needham had little difficulty in run-
. Ring down what he felt sure was the
source of the weapons used by the
gang. Less than a month before, the
chief of the State Police learned, bur-
giars had broken into the Mechanics
Building at the State Motor Show in
Boston and gotten away with objects
loaned for ‘a special pclice exhibit.
Among the loot from the January
burglary at the Motor Show had been -
a Thompson sub-machine gun of a type
which fired bullets similar to those re-
covered in the Needham benk and from
Officer McLeod’s body. Special police
revolvers similar to that seen in the
hand of one of the men by
the bank (treasurer on his wild rid
following the stick-up, had also been
taken during the Boston burglary.
In addition to these weapons, »
modern police automobile radio had
been stolen and this strengthened the
theory that the bandit car had been
equipped with a receiving set that would
intercept official ‘messages on the hunt
for the missing Packard: ; :°: °
Captain Van Amburgh’s investigation
also’ led to the belief that «weapons
stolen from a. Fitchburg, Mass.,” hard-
ware store hold-up by a single: armed
bandit may have been used in the Need-
ham robbery. On the previous Decem-
ber 11th, Ernest W. Clark, an employee
of the hardware store, had. been‘ cold-
bloodedly ‘murdered by the “stick-up
man. And, as in the bank robbery,. the
killer had worn a black cloth mask that
concealed almost his entire face. ~
As the authorities continued their in-
vestigations it became increasingly. ap-
parent that ‘the methods employed. ‘in
the Needham bank job bore remarkable
similarity to those used in other recent
hold-ups in and around Boston.:At ‘this
point Deputy Superintendent John: M.
Anderson and Detective Captain Steph-
en J. Flaherty of the Boston: Police
were assigned to spend all - their ‘time
on the case. Paton 3
Among the ‘series of © bold «daylight
hold-ups which were eventually laid at
the door of the Needham bank trio
was that of a downtown ‘theatre: in
which the bandits:‘had~ murdered the
manager and gotten away: with more
than $6,000 in cash: At the time that
the search for the trio was at its height
two men were on trial for their lives
in connection with this theatre ‘hold-up-
murder;: Boston authorities, however,
abruptly ‘terminated the trial: when it
- was learned that bullets from one of
the guns used in the Needham job bore
identical markings to those which had
killed the.theatre manager.
Three days after the latest outrage
the police were forced to admit. that
although more than’ 100 persons’ had
been picked up for questioning they
were little nearer toa solution of the
case. Most of those arrested. were re-
6th that General Needham was willing
‘to predict a round-up of the gang in
the near future.
The State Chief’s: prediction came
following the discovery of a burned au-
tomobile on the outskirts of the village
of Norwood, where three days before a
ten-dollar, bill believed one of those
stolen in the hold-up had been passed
at the railroad station.
The automobile, although burned: be-
yond recognition, with motor number
and other identification. marks destroy-
ed by acid, was found to be a Packard
sedan. There was nothing left of the
upholstery and: tires and the metal
framework was a mass of twisted jonk,
but General Needham ordered the
wreckage removed to State Police Lab-
oratories and there a dozen police tech-
nicians set to work.” 4
"THE authorities on February 10th
were still following cut a dozen dif-
ferent leads when Needham’s Chief of
Police Bliss received a call from a
Natick pastor who: said he believed he
had information that might aid in the
investigation. .. 3 x
According to the story. told Chief
Bliss, the pastor’s pretty nineteen-year-
’ old ‘daughter had disappeared several
weeks -before the ‘bank hold-up in the
* company of a Boston man whom. he
INDIANS, Jethro, ONE-EYED JOHN, MALIOMPE and SAGAMORE SAM, executed
MaSSe, 9/26/1676
seeimeiatpiaemnented
il aaeal
ee
ET
emetiameeaeli ee ar
ETS ERNE " SREY
Now the going gets complicated. I will juote the Diary tn extenso and then
follow up with comments:
"Sept. 21st 1676: Stephen Goble
for murder of Indians: three I)
hts house and murder. Four othe
two men and two tmpudent women,
Laughed on the gallows as sever
"Sept. 22nd 1676: Spent the day
with Dr. Brakenbury, Mr. Thomso
& Pemberton, dissecting the mid
executed the day before. One wh
his hand, affirmed it to be the
"Sept. 23rd 1676: Mr. Reyner, in
Sept. 21 hath these passages: '
us. One-eyed John wtth about 45
have. been apprehended since the
They we judge them all of our s
yet heard of damage in the East
Quapaug ts one of the Indians t.
"Sept. 26th 1676: Sagamore Sam
drawn in a cart upon bed clothe.
John', 'Maltompe', (Sagamore of
ter, ete.), & 'Jethro', (the fa
One-Eyed John accuses Sagamore -
at Quapaug and killed Capt. Hut
So now what can we figure out from this
First of all, we know about Stephen Goble
show two other WHITE men (Hoares & Wilde)
no mention of two other white men and it
have omitted such in view of what he DOES
DANIEL ALLI
f Coneord was executed
tans for firing Eames
's sat on the gallows,
one of whtch at least,
L testified."
rom 9 in the morning
» Butler, Hooper, Cragg
Lemost of the Indtan
» taking the heart in
stomoch."
a letter dated at Salisbury
od still ts at work for
of your southern Indians
soldters went eastward.
uthern Indians. And nothing
rm parts. A Sagamore of
ken and sent."
g 28 and Dantel Goble is
to executton. 'One-Eyed
quapaug, General at Lancas- .
her), walk to the gallows.
ohn to have fired the first
hinson."
EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT mess?
on 9-21-1676. However we also
dying with him. Sewall makes
°s hardly likely that he would
say. I would be almost certain
N HEARN
- we must remove Hoare and Wilde from the 1
hile
that the "two men who sat on the gallows' were Hoare and Wilde. However w eee
2cord, we must, at the same time,
‘e of Sept. 22nd confirms morever
IFIED INDIANS. The grisly nc
Ff Tteace iy -- of which we previously knew not.
that Indians were executed the previous «
show only one person execut2d on Sept. 26th -- Daniel Goble.
ee eras the cian of the seccad Mr. Goble but adds that THREE MORE
INDIANS were executed on that date! Hence there were quadruple executions on
both Sept. 2lst and Sept. 26th. He also indentified the latter three Indians
as "One-Eyed John", "Maliompe" and "Old .ethro". As noted, they were cap-
tured near Salisbury on or around Sept. «lst, sent to Boston and eee tities
Sept. 26th. All totaled, we must drop twc from the list but add SIX NEW !
Fron Samuel Sewall's Diary, entrys. Ltr, from Hearn 3/16/1988
se ® ‘ ‘
at 44th Street, tomorrow,” ‘with fura and expensive jewelry pur.
+ Later that morning Detective Fits chased with money stolen by her bride-
simmons, Burns’ Operatives Smith and = groom, es ere
Hall, and half a dozen Massachusetts When, weeks later the Millen bro-
officers in plainclothes were waiting in thers were returned to the scene of
the lobby of the Lincoln Hotel to keep * their crime hundreds of state. police
tman’s appointment with the sus- were on hand to forestall open threats
pects, ’ of lynching. A crowd of ‘more than
“At a-few minutes before noon a man ' 3,000 gathered for’ their trial in the
whom the police ifistantly recognized. county seat at Dedham early in the
as twenty-one-year-old Irving Millen en- . following June. In the meantime several
tered the lobby alone. He was dressed attempts at escape had been frustrated,
in new and expensive clothes and headed and plans were. going ahead :to. bring
straight “for the elevators. _ ~~: Merton Millen’s young wife to trial
As he was about to enter three de- immediately following. the hearing of
tectives rushed him. The man’s hand the case against the. accused trio.:
made .a lightning-like move toward:his . Carl Lederman appeared as the state’s
inside’ coat pock:t, but before he was star witness, along with nearly a hun-
able-to grasp “his loaded revolver he dred police officers and others who had
was overpowered and disarmed. = .-° aided in the apprehension of the group,
‘Millen was taken to an upstairs room - Meanwhile the two men who months
where ‘other officers were already ques- before had been on ‘trial ‘for the mur- °
tioning the dark-haired girl who had’. der of the theatre man in Boston the
been found there. The girl, who had " previous year were freed when witnesses:
given‘ her name as Norma Millen, ad- ‘came forward to identify the Millens §
nitted beifig“the missing daughter of as the actual Slayers, =: > gre
the: Natick preacher, but vehemently During. the- third week in June the
lenied knowledge of the crimes charged . brothers and Faber were found guilty
wainst her companions. She had con- of murder in the first degree and al-
‘inued in her denials even after $700 ..most immediately sentenced to death
n’ money bearing “serial numbers of .. in’ the electric chair by Judge Nelsen
hé loot from the Needham bank was P. Brown. a ie ; :
meovered .in the room. - <sTwo weeks later Norma Millen stood:
Wie ra caves. see trial for complicity in the. crime and
BACK in the hotel lobby Detective after a hearing which required longer
~ Fitzsimmons ‘waited for two hours than that of the other three, was also
refore a man who answered the descrip “found guilty and -Sentenced to a year
ion of Merton Millen stepped - from. in prison. Ba aes :
high-powered coupe in. front of the The girl served her term':and: was”
uiding and made for the entrance.- - freed before’ the _Millens and Faber
As the officer started to meet him, paid for their ‘crime ‘in “the electric
te man suddenly whipped out a Smith’ chair on June 6th of 1935... vee
‘ Wessen police special and pointing None of ithe trio was ever fried for
we weapon directly toward Detective the long of other hold-ups and
itzsimmons’ heart pulled the trigger. » murders /chitged to: them by police,
In that same instant Patrolman Pas- but with tWeir capture ‘crimes| of vio-
uale Amoroso of the West 47th Street lence sudddnly “ceased in that! section
recinct, brought. his buck-shot-loaded of the country and the authorities were
lackjack down across the man’s head.. poe ni he 1d-bldoded et 2, 2, NRRRRLES So aes <a a ee ae cee \ a
he blow. felled Fitzsimmons’ assailant: responsible oy the cold- murder Rey iene nee Siar ipipt igs Pir ea ig aaa bg nae |
id caused the bullet from his revolver of at least half a dozen persons land Above: Ernest Keith and Miss Elizabeth Kimball; employees of sees |i
, into the ceiling of the lobby. the theft of more. than $150,000 in . the bank shown at the phone the vainly tried to use to summon ieee || {
Others PAmioroah: chet hens foro cash, ook aid. Below: The three bandit-killers in the custody of officers; es | 4
ssing on -his beat at the. time, but —°. . A NNGES 2
‘tecting a suspicious-appearing move- ¢ , (For obvious reasons the name Carl
ent bay diary po the man about to" Lederman is fictitious.) ~~. -
iter tel, ollowed and ar- FTG at, Wei OE ES
ved in time to save the detective’s life. Wns
The Millen brothers were consider. ES
ly ‘subdued before their arrival at
anhattan Police Headquarters, but un-:
their extradition to Massachusetts *
eks later continued to deny any im-
cation in the northern robbery.
Meanwhile, however, Abraham Faber ‘
d broken down completely, admitting « *
t.only his connection with the Need-
m bank case, but full responsibility _
* the murder during the month be- ~ j
eof Ernest Clark, the Fitchburg
‘dware store clerk. Guns stolen dur-
‘that hold-up, along with weapons
had burglarized ‘from the State Au-
nobile: Show, had been used by the
>in the later robbery, Faber. con-
While the ‘Millens awaited extradition
Massachusetts, police working’ on the -
€. recovered a suitcase from a check ,
m in the Union Station in Washing-
D.C. This had been forwarded
te by the brothers only the day
ore.their capture. Inside was found
machine gun which had been used
slay. Officer McLeod, along with a
en police revolver and wrappings —
vhich coins taken during the Boston
\tre robbery had been rolled, a
mmediately after the Millens’ arrest, =}
harge of complicity in the crime was
ced against Norma Millens, the state
ging that she had knowingly accepted
ceeds from the bank robbery, along
left to right, Murton Millen, Irving Millen and Abraham M. Faber.
Sigh eke ka tena, eee
Norma holds the hand of her husband, Murton Millen. Right: Irving Millen.
we
*.
taking on a side line of radio parts in
recent years.”
The following day Faber was ‘picked
up for questioning once more, and after:
long hours of continuous grilling ad-
mitted that he had received “an in-
direct message,” from his former busi-
ness partners several days after the
2nd of February. Through a third per--
son the brothers had called him by
telephone from Coney Island, New York
City,; to. ask whether Faber was in a
Position ‘to recommend securities for:
an investment of several thousand dol-.-
lars, Faber declared. :
“They had that kind of money?” ~
countered General Needham. Fe
. “Not when they left here’ several
months ago,” Faber was quick to reply.
“But I ‘understand they've spread out
‘—in'‘a’ business way.” AN
Continued questioning failed to wring
any further information’ out of the bat-
“tery man, and there followed: several
days spent in tracing telephone calls
from New York to Boston, Faber had
denied knowing the name of the “third -
party” whom he: said had called in be-
"half of the. Millens.” ty as
FARLY in the third week of February,
~~ Burns’ Detectives James W. Smith—
and Alfred: Hall; working now in close
conjunction with the State Police, learn-
ed that Faber had actually received a’
series of calls from the’ Coney Island
Hotel during the first part of the month.
Other police officers, continuing their ;
‘investigation in. the small towns lying”
outside of Boston, ‘simultaneously dis-
covered that two brothers named: “Nel-
son” had recently rented a string of
small garages and workshops in the
Vicinity. On the night of the 22nd, a
hundred officers, heavily armed and
ready for instant action,. conducted a
:
series of raids tn these establishment:
© arrests were made and in non
of the places were employees ‘found
Nor did any of them appear to bx
open tor business. But in the rear of ;
garage on Brimsley Street in Dorcheste:
the raiding olficers uncovered a quantity
of dynamite and several detonators, <
complete welding outtit with . acetylene
torch, highway detour signs, several pair
of goggies and biack masks. A quick
check-up proved that parts of a ma-
chine gun and revolver clips found in
the buuding were a portion of ‘the loot
from the burglary at the Motor Show's
Police exhibit. ‘he masks were similar
to. those worn by the thugs who held
up the: Needham Trust Company<and
brutally murdered the: two pohce offi-
cers.
There could ‘no longer be any doubt
but that the police were -on the right
track. Immediately after the raid, ba-
ber, the Millen brothers’ former part-
ner, was formally arrested and charged
with complicity in the robbery. General
Needham ordered state detectives sta-
tioned in the man’s place’ of business
on the chance’ that further calls would
come from the missing brothers and
Chief Bliss issued a tive-state- alarm
for the apprehension of the missing girl
he believed with them. . '
The men stationed in the Roxbury
‘battery shop had not long to wait. On
the -evening of the 24th, a call came
in ‘and the operator annownced that
“New York was asking: for Abraham
Faber.” ie a4
The detective who took the call sig-
is partner to rush to a nearby
store and telephone the operator to
trace its origination. Then he answered
the phone and a man identifying him-
self as “Saul” started speaking.
Hardly had the other commenced,
however, when he seemed to sense someé-
thing wrong. There was a click: at the
other end of the connection ‘and Te-
peated efforts to again contact the New
York number. proved unavailing. “~
officer who had run to a nearby
telephone was having better luck how-
ever. Within ten minutes he learned +
Coney Island number from which: the
call had been made, and less than half
‘an hour later New York City detectives
were’ on their way to a public pay
station in the same resort hotel pic-
tured on the card received more than
two weeks before by the father of the
missing Natick girl. a
During the early hours of the fol-
lowing morning Boston police received
a message from New York that one
Carl Lederman had been picked up in
the hotel and was “ready to talk.” —».
By the time that the Massachusetts
“authorities arrived by airplane in New
York the man identified as Lederman
had admitted acquaintanceship with the
Millen brothers and the nineteen-year-
“old bride of the’ younger brother, Mer-
ton. Arrested immediately as a material
_ Witness, the Coney Island man volun-
‘teered “to turn state’s evidence” and
said that ‘he’d acted as a go-between
for the Millens and_ their Massachu-
setts accomplice for several weeks.
“They'd have me telephone and make
appointments to meet them in’ towns
near Boston,” Lederman told police,
“Frequently there’d ‘be about
places they planned to take over around
Boston, but I never learned what their
real racket consisted in.” vais
. “They- would wait outside while you
called?” asked John Fitzsimmons of
_ the Coney Island: force,
“Naw; they’ve been staying at down-
town Manhattan hotels. Moved away
from here sometime ago, I was to meet |
>’em at. the Lincoln,‘ on Eighth Avenue.
THREE INDIANS, hanged
Now the going gets complicated. I will
follow up with comments:
"Sept. 21st 1676: Stephen Goble
for murder of Indians: three In
his house and murder. Four othe
two men and two tmpudent women,
Laughed on the gallows as seve
"Sept. 22nd 1676: Spent the day
with Dr. Brakenbury, Mr. Thomsc
& Pemberton, dissecting the mia
wecuted the day before. One wh
his hand, affirmed it to be the
~———~ "Sept. 23rd 1676: Mr. Reyner, in
Sept. 21 hath these passages: '
us. One-eyed John wtth about 46
have been apprehended since the
They we judge them all of our s
yet heard of damage in the East
Quapaug ts one of the Indians t
"Sept. 26th 1676: Sagamore Sam
drawn tn a cart upon bed clothe
John', 'Maliompe', (Sagamore of
ter, ete.), & 'Jethro', (the fa
One-Eyed John accuses Sagamore .
at Quapaug and killed Capt. Hut«
So now what can we figure out from this
First of all, we know about Stephen Goble
show two other WHITE men (Hoares & Wilde)
no mention of two other white men and it
have omitted such in view of what he DOES
DANIEL ALLI
that the "two men who sat on the gallows'
- we must remove Hoare and Wilde from the 1
THREE UNIDENTIFIED INDIANS. The grisly nc
that Indians were executed the pgevious «
Our records show only one person execut
Sewall confirms the execution of the secx
INDIANS were executed on that date! Hence
both Sept. 2lst and Sept. 26th. He also :
as “One-Eyed John", "Maliompe" and "Old .
tured near Salisbury on or around Sept.
Sept. 26th. All totaled, we must drop tw
Yrom Dairy of Samuel Sewall, ltr.
Mass., 9-21-1676
ee
juote the Diary tn extenso and then
f Coneord was executed
itans for ftring Eames
»s sat on the gallows,
one of whtch at least,
iL testified."
rom 9 tn the morning
» Butler, Hooper, Cragg
‘Lemost of the Indtan
'» taking the heart in
stomoch,"
a letter dated at Salisbury
od sttll ts at work for
of your southern Indtans
soldters went eastward.
uthern Indians. And nothing
rm parts. A Sagamore of
ken and sent."
g 2s and Dantel Goble ts
to executton. 'One-Eyed
Quapaug, General at Lancas-
her), walk to the gallows.
ohn to have fired the first
hinson, "
EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT mess?
on 9-21-1676. However we also
dying with him. Sewall makes
-s hardly likely that he would
say. I would be almost certain
N HEARN
were Hoare and Wilde. However while
2>cord, we must, at the same time, ADD
-e of Sept. 22nd confirms morever
ry -- of which we previously knew not.
2d on Sept. 26th -- Daniel Goble.
id Mr. Goble but adds that THREE MORE
there were quadruple executions on
identified the latter three Indians
sthro". As noted, they were cap-
‘lst, sent to Boston and executed on
from the list but add SIX NEW ONES!
from Hearn dated 3/16/1988
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted