Tennessee, O-S, 1819-1992, Undated

tion. “I got it right out of that old log.
And, Sheriff, unless I’ color-blind, it’s
dark brown, the same as Lillie’s.” He put
the paper in Potter’s reaching hand.

The officer had followed the eccentric
old woodsman’s recital with avid interest.
“You found some blood and_ hair?” he
queried skeptically. “Where's the body?”

Broxton looked hurt, shook his head un-
happily. “I don’t know about that, Sheriff,”
he admitted. “And you may think I’m a
fool, but I believe as strong as I believe
there’s a God in heaven that Lillie was
killed and put in there while she was still
bleeding. They must have done away with
her or moved her to another place.”

Thirty minutes later, Potter, Morefield
and Broxton were grouped together near
the ancient log.

“Blood and hair,” Morefield observed in
a tight voice. “Just like you said, Uncle
Jerry. And I believe you’re right. You
can see where the body was shoved in
there. Here’s more of that hair. That’s
how they pulled out so much of it. And,
as I remember, Lillie’s hair was the same
color as this.” Potter agreed with the

deputy’s conclusions; and for a long while
the three discussed the perplexing problem
of the present whereabouts of the body.

Later, by further questioning of Brox-

ton, the officers brought out the point that
by a direct line it was less than a quarter-
mile to the trail on which the purse was
found. While the Preston place was within
the area over which the searchers passed
on the previous day, the fact that the old
log was within their inclosure accounted for
it not being inspected.

The trio followed a beaten path approxi-
mately a hundred yards to the Preston
house, a shabby three-roomed cabin, set
back from a narrow road behind some
dying apple trees: A weathered corncrib
and a half-dozen acres of cultivated land,
over which stunted cornstalks stood out
from a sea of crab grass, was the only
evidence of husbandry about the place. The
house was deserted but from Broxton the
officers learned that Eb and Finley Preston,
father and son, lived there. Potter remem-
bered them from a long personal acquaint-
ance as well as from their periodic brushes
with the law.

“This looks mighty suspicious for them,”
Potter asserted. “That young Finley is a
sort of dandy, you know. I just wonder

‘if he ever tried to court Lillie?”

“We'd better find out,’ Morefield sug-
gested.

“Yes,” Potter agreed. “Even before we
question him. But I’m thinking right now,

Rod, that with all these suspicious circum-
stances, that boy and maybe his daddy,
too, ought to be arrested as soon as we can
find them. This thing is too hot for us to
hesitate very long.”

Persistent inquiry among the younger
element that afternoon and evening re-
vealed some pertinent information. Several
of Finley Preston’s associates recalled him
admitting on numerous occasions that he
had been in love with the missing girl
since before she married Shaw. One
young man disclosed that, only a few days
before she disappeared, he had met the
youth in Mountain City and talked with
him. During their conversation Preston
stated that he had been out to the Arnold
farm several times lately to see the Shaw
girl, and that she always tried to avoid
him. “He was awfully put out,” the in-
formant concluded, “and said that if he
didn’t get her, he would see that no other
man did.” P

The next morning both Prestons were
lodged in the Johnson County jail, charged
with murder. The officers, spurred on by
a demanding public, arrested the men, hop-
ing for confessions that would reveal the
hiding place of the body and bring the
case to an end.

But subsequent events were rather dis-
couraging. The prisoners scoffed at the
charge, vigorously denying any knowledge
of the blood and hair found about the old
log on their premises; then hired an able
lawyer who demanded their release because
the State had no actual proof that a crime
had been committed, and hence, was un-
able to establish the corpus delicti. The
fact that the younger man readily admitted
that he had been deeply in love with the
girl for several years and had recently
been spurned by her ‘made little differ-
ence as the case then stood.

“You may have the right parties,” the
District Attorney advised Potter. “But
under the circumstances, I suggest that you
release them until further developments.”
This was done, but not without a fixed de-
termination on the part of the Sheriff to
keep them firmly in mind as prime suspects.

While during the next two weeks Potter
and his men, as well as a host of volunteers,
spent much time in the woods and other
likely places where a body might have
been concealed, their efforts were fruitless.
Gradually but reluctantly they were com-
pelled to admit failure.

As if inevitable fate was again offering
a helping hand, an event, strange and
singular, intervened to revive the officers’
waning hopes.

One morning in late November, a small,
middle-aged man in backwoods garb slowly
climbed the steps to the office of Dr. Clyde
Butler in Mountain City. When admitted
by the popular physician, the man staggered
across the room to a chair before attempt-
ing to speak.

“Dr. Butler,” he began between gasps,
“Tm Melton Ray. I live over in North
Carolina. I’ve been a-walking all night to
make it here. We’ve got an awful lot of
sickness over there in our settlement—
it’s the children. We’ve got to have a doc-
tor.”

“What’s the trouble, Mr. Ray?”

“The old folks say it’s scarlet fever. It’s
a-taking the little ones mighty fast, Doctor.
At our house we’ve lost our baby and two
others are in a mighty bad fix. We’re
poor people, Doctor, but-——”

“Wait a minute.” The doctor spoke stern-
ly, eyeing the stranger’s drawn, bloodless
face. ‘‘Don’t worry, Mr. Ray. We’ll be
moving in a few minutes; but man, you

look like you need some attention yourself.

Feel bad?”
Ray closed his sunken eyes. “Yes,” he
replied. “I feel sick.”

“What is it?”

Ve as. 4g

punger
Part of
their p
sifting
eyelets
and se\
a piece
crown.
Potter ;
gold b
Lillie.”
“This
nouncec
with a |
dentist,
job.”
Donnell:
fied the
girl’s mc
The §
center o
reached
corpus ¢

REA, W. W., white, hanged at Pulaski, Tennessee, on May 22, 1882,

SCHOOL OF LAW LIBRARY
UNIV. OF ALABAMA, BOX 6205
UNIVERSITY, AL 35486
(205) 348-5925

"Pulaski, Tenn., May 20 - W, W, Kea was executed for the murder of

J. T, Goodman, When the drep fell the knot slipped over his face,
teraring off his beard and sending the blood streaming down his

neck. Thesame luck attended the second attempt and caused the spec-
tators to disperse, ‘he third effort was successful." ARIZONA GAZETTE,

Phoenix, Arizona, May 22, 1882.


.mit failure.

| all these suspicious circum
boy and maybe his daddy,
»e arrested as soon as we Can
nis thing is too hot for us te
le
ne among the younger
a on and evening re~@jm
vertinent information. Several
ston’s associates recalled him
numerous occasions that he}
love with the missing girl
she married Shaw. One
sclosed that, only a few days:
isappeared, he had met thes
ufitain City and talked with’
their conversation Preston |

» had been out to the Arnold’
times lately to see the Shaw)
t she always tried to avoid’
as awfully put out,” the in-3
‘luded, “and said that if hej
r, he would see that no other,

morning both Prestons were
Johnson County jail, charged®

The officers, spurred on by.
public, arrested the men, hop ,
ssions that would reveal the:
of the body and bring the:
id. Bh
juent events were rather dis-©
The prisoners scoffed at they
‘ously denying any knowledge ¥
and hair found about the old]
premises; then hired an able |
{emanded their release because |
i no actual proof that a crime 7]
mmitted, and hence, was un-'
lish the corpus delicti. The
younger man readily admitted ,
been deeply in love with the ~
eral years and had recently
d by her -made little differ-
case then stood.

have the right parties,” the

yrnev advised Potter. “But
cu ces, I suggest that you

u irther developments.”
le, wu. ..0t without a fixed de-

on the part of the Sheriff to i
emly in mind as prime suspects.
ing the next two weeks Potter
as well as a host of volunteers,
time in the woods and other
where a body might have
ied, their efforts were fruitless.
ut reluctantly they were com-

itable fate was again offering
iand, an event, strange and
ervened to revive the officers’
Ss.

ng in late November, a small,
man in backwoods garb slowly
steps to the office of Dr. Clyde
ountain City. When admitted
ar physician, the man staggered
,om to a chair before attempt-

r,” he began between gasps,

Ray. I live over in North
ve been a-walking all night to
e, We've got an awful lot of
er there in our settlement—
ren. We've got to have a doc-

.e trouble, Mr. Ray?” ;
folks say it’s scarlet fever. It’s
little ones mighty fast, Doctor.
© we've lost our baby and two
in-a mighty bad fix. Were
Doctor, but-——”
‘nute.” The doctor spoke stern-
ie stranger’s drawn, bloodless

t worry, Mr. Ray. We'll =
a ‘few minutes; but man, i.

u need some attention yours

ad] nken eyes. “Yes,” he

fe Ke

it?”

saad pores ee

“Well, I was a-getting a little cold and
a-coming down the mountain I seen a fire
off the trail a little piece, so I thought I’d
go over there and warm and rest some.
Ever’body was gone and it wasn’t a-burn-
ing very good. I started to kick in the
chunks and that’s when I noticed some-
thing. It made me feel sick right then,
Doctor, and I thought I’d never make it
here. I believe somebody was burned up
in that fire.”

“God in heaven!” muttered Dr. Butler.
“Could it be possible?”

“Yes, Doctor,” replied Ray, “I’m sure
of it.”

Outside, the doctor made a dash for the
Sheriff’s office. Luckily he found Potter,
related what Ray had said about the fire
in the woods, and persuaded him that the
ashes: might contain evidence of Lillie
Shaw’s body.

Within the hour a cavalcade of men
led by Ray left Mountain City going to-
ward the eastern mountains. Four miles
up the wooded slope, while still on the
Tennessee side, Ray drew his mount to a
stop. For several moments he studied the
surroundings, then turned abruptly to the
left. After winding about for a short dis-
tance, he pointed toward a spread of smol-
dering ashes. “This is the place,” he stated.

Potter and deputies Morefield, Parker,
Godfrey Stout and W. J. Hazelwood waved
adieu as Ray and the doctor rode on. Dis-
mounting, they approached the scene of
what was once an extensive fire. The
odor of burned flesh was still strong and
pungent, but there was no hesitation on the
part of these determined men. Before long
their persistence had its reward. Patiently
sifting the ashes they found metal shoe
eyelets, hairpins, buttons, a dress buckle
and several small bones, among which was
a piece of human jaw still holding a gold
crown. To climax the exciting experience,
Potter picked out of the debris a blackened
gold band engraved inside: “James to
Lillie.”

“This certainly was her ring,” he an-
nounced. “Young John Arnold saw her
with a band ring. Now, if we can find her
dentist, he ought to remember this dental
job.” That was an easy task. Dr. Tom
Donnelly of Mountain City readily identi-
fied the crown as one he had fitted into the
girl’s mouth a few months before. -

The Sheriff and his deputies were the
center of interest when news of their find
reached the people. “Now you have the
corpus delicti,” the District Attorney said,

: ANSWERS TO
WITH “DUE” REASON

(From page 92)
1. DURESS 6. TRADUCE

2. HONEYDEW T. DUPONT

3. DUBIOUS 8. CADUCEUS

4. DEUCE 9. RESIDUE

5. MILDEW PRODUCE

after receiving Potter’s report, “and I’m
betting on your getting the killer.”

The Sheriff said nothing openly but the
Prestons were still prime suspects in the
back of his mind. When he considered
that the pyre upon which the body of Lillie
Shaw was unquestionably reduced to ashes
was within easy walking distance of their
cabin, he was ready to move against them.
But another revealing event turned his
thoughts, for the time at least, in another
direction,

Jim Newt Wills, the tall, aristocratic
owner of “Valverda,” a large plantation
in Laurel Valley, four miles northeast of
Mountain City, quietly contacted the Sheriff.

“Charles,” he began, “I have a fellow
on my place—James Phillips—that I hope
you'll investigate in the Lillie Shaw case.
I understand that you’re looking for some
man named James. Well, Phillips fits into
that much of the picture anyway, and from
what I heard this morning, he may be the
very man you want. He was a good worker
until the day the girl disappeared. Since
then he’s not worked a day and, although
I understand that he still comes in and
out of one of my tenant houses, I haven’t
been able to see him. I believe that some
of my hands have been hiding him. But
one of the men I can depend on came to
me this morning and said he knew that
James had a date to meet Lillie in Grave-
yard Hollow, on the back of my place, on
the morning she disappeared. This man
reported also that Phillips was pretty well
excited when he left to meet the girl at
daylight. He further stated that the boy
said, just before he started, that if things
didn’t go as he expected there might be a
killing.”

Potter had weighed every word. “Mr.
Wills, that boy’s first name certainly fits
in with the engraving in the dead girl’s
ring. Do you suppose he really had a date

/with Lillie, or did he brag too much at the
wrong time?”

The gray-eyed planter looked straight
into Potter’s face. “I don’t know, Charles,
but if I was the sheriff of this county I’d
feel duty bound to question him. I said
he’s been dependable; but, as you know,
a little love affair often seems to change a
man’s whole nature.”

Within an hour deputies Morefield and
Potter had gone to the Wills farm, arrested
twenty-five-year-old Phillips and brought
him before Potter. Phillips was pale, nerv-
ous and apparently scared, a sorry picture
for an erstwhile lover.

“Sheriff, I’ve been seeing Lillie as often
as I could for the past several weeks,” he
admitted when questioned. “I had a date
to meet her just like they said, but she
didn’t come. I waited until after dark,
then went back the next day and stayed
until I had to give up.”

“Where did you see her to make your
date?”

“On the road to McQueen’s.”

“You say you’ve been courting her for
some time?”

“Yes. We were fixing to run away and
get married. I understand that you found
the ring I had given her. We intended to
put the date in later.”

“Why did you keep your love affair so
secret, James?”

“She was afraid, Sheriff. Scared to death.”

“Who was she afraid of?”

“Old man Shaw, for one. She said he
told her that he’d come back and give her
a lot of trouble if he ever heard of her
going with another man.”

Potter hesitated, studying the suspect.
“Who else was she afraid of, James? You?”

He cringed, gulped hard. “No, Sheriff,
not me. There’s another man. She was
afraid to let Finley Preston see us together.”

“Finley Preston!” Potter repeated the
name with vigor, jumped to his feet. “What
do you know about him?”

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108

“Nothing but what she said. She told me
that before she married Shaw, Finley had
tried to go with her. That’s why she and
Mr. Shaw slipped off to Ohio. Finley had
threatened to kill her if she married any-
one but him. That’s why I’ve been hiding
out, Sheriff. I thought that Finley had
done something to Lillie and that if he
found out about us he might do me some
harm. I didn’t want to get into trouble.”

Until his story could be investigated,
Phillips was released on nominal bail to
Mr. Wills, his employer, with the under-
standing that he would be available for
further questioning if wanted.

After their departure Potter paced the
floor a few minutes, apparently in a deep
quandary. Suddenly he turned to More-
field and Parker. ‘“Let’s take another shot
at the Prestons,” he ordered bluntly. Within
ten minutes the three were mounted and
leading two horses with empty saddles at
a sharp canter toward the suspects’ cabin.
Finding both father and son lounging about
the fireplace, they gut them under arrest.

“We'll make you pay for this,” young Fin-
ley stormed as they were locked in the
county jail. “You had to let us out once
before and we’ll make you glad to let
us out again.”

But Potter was convinced that his pris-
oners knew more than they pretended and
he lost no time. Taking Morefield with
him, the two galloped back to their now
deserted house. Then, even to the surprise
of the officers, came the pay-off. In one
corner of the musty, windowless attic, they
discovered a bundle of bloody feminine
garments, among which was a red skirt.
Strands of dark brown hair, which matched
that found in the hollow log, clung to the
clothes. Elated, the officers hurried up
the mountain to McQueen’s. There, after
a few moments of tearful inspection, the
motherly housewife identified the apparel
as part of the garments worn by the dead
girl.

“T guess it'll be a long time before Fin-
ley’s threat to compel us to turn them out
again will come true,” Morefield remarked
ra he and his chief rode back to Mountain

ity.

Potter grinned. “I think this trip pins
it squarely on him.”

It was not an easy task, however, to
deal with these two hard-fisted men. Fin-
ley, questioned apart from his father,
scorned every attempt of the officers to
break him down.

BPeouw

"| don't feel as though | accomplished a
thing today—!I performed seven marriages
but | granted seven divorces!"

“ft domt give a damn what you touna in
our house,” he reiterated time and again.
“You know them mountains are full of
the meanest people in this country. Plenty
of them don’t like me and my daddy. Our
housé is open half the time when we're
gone. Any of them could've put that stuff
in there to throw the blame on us. We
haven’t used that stock pen in six months.
The gate was down and anybody could’ve
got in there to that old log.”

Eb, the father, consistently followed his
son’s denial, bitterly denouncing the offi-
cers at each session they had with him.
“TI can’t say what Finley done,” he kept
insisting, “but I do know that I didn’t kill
that girl or have anything to do with hid-
ing her body in the log or putting the
clothes in our house. I don’t believe Finley
done it, either. It was some of them fellers
that don’t like us.”

But one day the old man weakened.
Sheriff Potter brought some word from the
District Attorney. “He’s going to indict you
right along with Finley and ask the jury
to hang you both,” Potter advised him
sharply. “And that’ll be the end of you
unless you decide right now to tell us the
truth. How are you going to make a jury
believe that you didn’t know that girl’s
bloody clothes were hid in your garret?”

Potter noticed a change had come over
the aged man’s face. A deep pallor had
whitened the skin under his ruffled beard.
Pinpoints of perspiration stood out from
his forehead, although the room was cold.

“’'m not guilty of anything,” he began,
turning his worried eyes apparently to be
sure his son was not present, “and it
wouldn’t be right for me to die on the
scaffold for something my boy done.”

With this explanation, he admitted that
Finley had brought the bundle of clothes
and thrown them into the attic one night
about the time the girl was reported miss-

ing.

“Y asked him what it was and he told
me I’d better keep my mouth shut or both
of us would be in trouble.”

“Did you look at the clothes?”

“Not then. One day when he went off
to Virginia, I climbed up there. And I
told him that night he’d better do some-
thing with them but he got mad—said for
me to keep out of his business. After that,
he said that he was a-waitin’ for things
to cool down a little so he could take the
clothes to a girl over in North Carolina.”

After this Potter questioned the son with
studied concern.

“Finley,” he began quietly, “you don’t
have to say one word unless you just want
to get this awful thing off your heart and
soul. Your daddy’s already told us all we
have to know. It’s too bad you wanted to
wait when he tried to get you to do away
with Lillie’s clothes. You weren’t very
smart, keeping them for another girl, were
you?”

The hard-facéd prisoner blanched, stared
unbelievingly into the Sheriff’s passive fea-
tures. “Did he tell you that?” he asked.
“It’s a lie, Sheriff. Somebody else put
them things in our house, I told you. The
old man’s crazy. He’ doesn’t know what
he’s talking about.” Then he lapsed into
moody silence.

“I think the jury will believe him when
we prove that you’ve been slipping around
the Arnold home, threatening Lillie with
a shotgun,” Potter replied easily, shuffling
some papers he had in his hand, ‘“He’s
your daddy, you know.”

The accused shifted about in his chair,
nervously switching his hands and feet.
He turned to avoid Potter’s eyes, looked
at the walls, then to the floor, but seem-
ingly found no comfort. Suddenly his hands
shook as with palsy and he lifted them,
covering his eyes.

“It was me,” he finally admitted, his voice

.

carrying an air ot abject inisery. Lt puess
I was crazy, Sheriff. I met her on the trail
that morning. She tried to take another
man’s ring off and hide it, but I saw it.
I couldn’t stand her turning me down any
longer. I made her go with-me to that
old log and when she wouldn’t promise to
marry me, I killed her.”

He further confessed that he hid the body
in the hollow of the log until after dark.
Then, after removing her outer garments,
he put the corpse in his father’s crib and
covered it with corn. Later, he noticed the
strong odor coming from the hiding place
and planned to destroy the body. He went
up on the mountain and gathered a pile of
dry wood and that night wrapped the re-
mains in oilcloth and carried them to the
prepared pyre and set the fire.

Finley Preston was promptly indicted
for first-degree murder. Because of the
fact that his confession completely ex-
onerated both his father, Eb Preston, and
his rival, James Phillips, they were both
relieved of all suspicion of any connection
with the crime.

After one death verdict was set aside
by the State Supreme Court, Finley Preston
was convicted on January 3rd, 1905, and
sentenced to suffer death by hanging. The
trial occurred in the circuit court at Moun-
tain City before Judge A. J. Tyler, a dis-
tinguished jurist of his day. A second
appeal postponed the execution until No-
vember 7th, 1905, at which time the sentence
was carried out on a temporary scaffold
erected adjoining the jail. .

By this date, Sheriff Potter’s time had
expired and his successor, William L. Gree-
ver, who still lives to tell the story, was
called upon to carry out the mandate of
the courts, the only legal execution in the
history of Johnson County. Soon after
this time, the electric chair for use in such
cases was set up at the State Prison at
Nashville, the capital.

Old-timers recéll with unabated interest
the stirring events that attended this formal
execution. The day was clear and com-
fortable outside. The little county seat was
filled to overflowing long before the hour
fixed by the Sheriff to spring the trap.

Wagons containing whole families came
from Virginia, North Carolina and distant
sections of East Tennessee. Horseback
riders arrived from every point of the com-
pass. The Virginia and Southwestern Rail-
way, whose terminal was at Mountain City,
brought in more than a thousand persons at
excursion rates from Bristol, Virginia, and
intermediary stations. A detachment of the
State militia was on hand by order of the
Governor. Excited spectators, pressing for
a better view of the scaffold, frequently
came to blows. The roof of a large barn
collapsed under the combined weight of
eager spectators, causing serious injuries
to several small boys and girls.

As was customary at that period, the
doomed man was allowed to address the
assemblage. And he accepted the oppor-
tunity with a stirring admonition against
sin and crime. Just before the black cap
shut out his view of the solemn sea of
faces, he read in a faltering voice:

“A great crowd now, is gathered,

Around the jail today,

To see my execution,

And hear what I might say.

I must die on this scaffold,

For murdering poor Lillie Shaw,

That others might see me die,

And learn respect for law.

Take warning, thoughtless people,

Remember what I say,

If you sin against your Maker,
You’re sure to rue the day.
I’ve begged Him to forgive me,

Upon my bended knees.
And I’m going home to heaven,
Forgiven and at ease.”

them
bus,
back:
bash«
then
hit he
“Tf
he to!
going
your
Tl tic
it afi
The
their «
on Ju
Mrs
down.
tation
a phy
.to hin

: E
W::

maine
basis.
crop, |
all the
stuffs
one y¢«
eighte:
money
Furt
her ip
threats
he had
to shor
with si
in the
brough
She re
. Once
« farm h:
~ onabu
2 have ti
~ . fore he
But w!
she wa
bed, le
“Joh
I did |
forty y:
going t:
he said,
». since h
» buy an)
afraid
The |
and con:
' tal wel:
time h.
that D«
stomach
© develop
> that Mr
f were in
for him
Impe:
e couldn’t
» gun. B
hot Mrs.
» a great
; “He tc
> going to
= ready.”
» OnadA
, ings an
y “TH fi
i if you ¢
© But sh
» by that t
©. she live:
© Soon:



MRS. CATHEY’S SLAYER |

f
;
:
'
t

‘pear-old Negro will die in tne electri¢:

jchair at Ube state's main tentiany,
vet dawn tomorrow for the bal)-bal,
riaying of a young Chattanaogs may!

Mtren.
| ‘The condemned man, Walter
puns interviewer! late txtay ip

| death cell by oy Prentice ~P

the cire 4
do to intert
cision.”

| The Negro,

TO DIE IN CHAIR TODAY

NASHVILLE. July 17 (A a}

gai three days

secure QRoT Ol tree aime ricea#r |
Teechers ‘ation at West Vir-)
gina Ey wilear Institue W Va.,
theit ariithel meeting, July 90. Bi
jand Ati. 1, @nd will return if time to
take charae af the encampment of the
arts

* i$ -
' Another Price
J oR. Prime, 22716 Rosemont drive.

jeald iapt night he 4 pot the J Rr
“Price wheeq name was listed yester~)
.——

traffic law violators.

ing ’ pas when the crime was)

committed. “They also quoted him an
Jeaying he

“peady to go.”
Reed arrested last April 8.
‘r the blondstained body.
| Fowler Cathey, Fi-yenr~ |

f

14

|

4


RITCHIE, Fred, White, elec. TN® (Davidson) Autust 10, 1937

ll i 8 Be aS Soc ee Wi 8S ty

Vol. 7, No. 38 : November, 1937

THE MONTH'S BEST CASES
RENO’S BEAUTY AND THE BEASTS OF DOPE. .

settee eee tees eevee eeeees ss BY Hollis B. Fultz 6
The amazing story of how a lovely girl broke up a vicious narcotics
ring. ‘ .

s BROOKLYN’S MURDEROUS BAR BANDITS AND THE
SONG OF DEATH.............By Joseph Csida, Jr. 14

Cold-blooded murder in a cabaret is avenged by quick police work.
WO long-term convicts, Ezra Daven-

port, 21, and Robert Benewitz, 34, CRIMSON DOOM OF CALIFORNIA’S PASSION BRIDE
snatched a deputy warden’s gun and be- parts stent cece sees eeeeeeess By Ward Winslow 18
gan blasting their way toward freedom The emotions of two young lovers sweep them into the depths of
from the jail at Eddyville, Ky. As they tragedy and horror.
approached the gates, guards shot them
down. They died on the spot. OHIO’S LOVE KILLER AND THE WADING CORPSE....
—eonrer e-e-o——________| Bialik tev bla Gel wig’ ebay oe crG teeeeeeeee... By Jack Heil 22
- Blaming liquor:for his downfall, Fred ebro that seemed to walk in the water reveals'a shocking love
fo Richie, 32, was electrocuted at Nashville, ye
/ Tenn., for slashing his wife, Elsie, to | SMARYLAND’S CLUE OF THE SEVERED FINGER....... 45
death Pie ee SS ++ +.«.By Detective Charles J, Schalter and Joe Massal 26
9 _@ @ ‘s, One of the strangest bits of evidence on record solves a baffling
Sentenced to 40 years for bank robbery mystery.
and facing a murder trial, Clair Gibson .
| dived to his death from the third floor: THE FAITHLESS MISTRESS AND THE FLOATING
of the Ramsey county jail at St. Paul, HORROR ...................By Edward §, Sullivan 32
a iain 22 , A brutal passion murder is solved by brilliant detective work.
@e@8@ MYSTERY OF THE FATAL WANT AD................
The electric chair at Michigan City, +++++++++.By Detective Homer Long and Cary Moran 38
Ind., claimed the lives of John Poholsky, / An innocent newspaper advertisement traps a woman into hideous
Frank Gore and William Kuhlman.. The é death.
three were found guilty of the mutilation.
murder of Harry R. Miller, retired Cin- THE MURDER THAT WAS TOO PERFECT............
cinnati fire captain, Us DEO ee es etl elee aioe ak ...By William Sewell 42 :
ss tee e°@ ,. 3 A slayer’s own cunning betrays and a country sheriff triumphs.
mun ut, paroled convict, was’: s
killed during a liquor store holdup in Chi-. ARCTIC TRAGEDY ...................By:W. M. Meier 46

cago when a heroic.civilian wrested Blut’s
gun from him and shot the bandit,.’ |
wounding him fatally. ‘

Justice cracks down a killer in the frigid fastness of the northland.

pias) ae | SHORT FEATURES
The body of Sam Silverman, 25, Brook-. op |
lyn gangster, was found with a bullet: MATER TRAP Gre ese hire se cloe « cals Waiecaoe eee lecaits 5
sueoas the head, lying. is the pack seat MOONLIGHT ASSASSIN ...:.................. TERRORS *
of an abandoned car. Police said he was ar :
the victim of underworld vengeance. PHOTO FLASHES ................... Nie PEs Os Broa ane 2 30 |
£ f if ts f
polis ete as is ORSON TRAM ois lenis Grads cay nase vesbier viens 49 oR
| , aug y two policemen as he was: ; |
| robbing a service station, Bert Brow on PARENTS MAKE CRIMINALS—Editorial . Roel @ieheteletaetaiiore watt OMe ¢
| Pittsburgh tried to shoot his way out. He~ - j i
was mortally wounded by one of the STRAIGHT FROM HEADQUARTERS. Heid Biedise: WatgSe eee cous oe eee
quick-shooting officers. . ; r j
e@@e@8@ Begs DARING DETECTIVE is published monthly by Country rE ren dns, at 1100 w. Broadway,
eS ig 4 i * secon er at t isvi is act
Steve Locagno, gambler and gangster, in- ; / of March’ 3, 1879, with additional entry at Greenwich Conn, Editorial ‘offices, 1501 Broadwa
| curred the wrath of an unknown New _ | New York City, N! Y. ALL. MANUSCRIPTS AND BICTURES MUST BE SUBMITTED AT
| York mob. Grim vengeance claimed his THE AUTHOR'S RISK, “ACCOMPANIED BY RETURN POSTAGE, ADDRESSED. tO
F24 ed . : - (
life when gangsters took him for a ride SHE EW VOR: OFFICE. * Tee ae cents Fall rclssiseee hon oe United ‘States and
. ep ore: subse: ions, * a .
murdered him and dumped the body into’ i subscriptions, well as notification ‘of tier: of address, mer v7 fe ‘addtoneed to the Gen
the street. Locagno had spent most of | \ Offices in Greenwich, Conn; Printed in US A. Copyright 1937 by County Press, Inc. Adver-
his adult life i : H _tising forms close the 20th. of the third month preceding date of issue. Advertising offices: New
18 adult life in prison, _He was York, 1501 Broadway; Chicago, 360 N, Michigan Ave.; San Francisco, Simpson-Reilly, 1014
convicted burglar Russ Bldg.; Los Angeles, Simpson-Reilly, $368. Hill S&S Ay
gambling games. i) j }

| ae ee “© MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIR E.


ROSE, George W.,y 70-year-old white man, hanged at Nashville, Tenn,, August 26, 1912,

"Mrs. G. W. Rose, who is serving a year in the penitentiary as an accessory to the murder
of James T. Miller in McMinn County about a year ago, will be taken back to Athens, Tenn.,
this morning by Sheriff Hart of McMinn County,.as a witness in the trial of two boys,
Miller and Senter, who are alleged to have been implicated in the mrder, Mrs. Rose was |
brought here in April to begin her sentence, while her husband, George Rose, who was sen= |
tenced to be hanged in January, but who has been reprisved three times, is still at the
Davidson County Jail, ‘he date for his execution is August 26 and unless Gov. Hooper
interferes, he will pay for his crime on the scaffold. Ever since his confinement Rose
-has been nursing a violent hatred for Sheriff Hart, claiming that the officer kept Mrs,
-Rose in jail in McMinn County illegally, several weeks after she was senterced, When it ©
was learned that he was going to bring Mrs. Rose to thepenitentiary last spring, Rose
procured a long knife which he whetted to a razor edge, A few days beforehis wife's
arrival, the. aged man was searched and the weapen taken from him, He said at the time
that he. knew the sheriff would call to see him and that he planned to kill him, Tuesday
afternoon, before going to the prison, Sheriff Hart called at thejail to see “ose, When
the officer appeared Rose went into a fit of anger. He cursed the officer and abused

him until he was breathless, He hegged the turnkey to open the door of his cell so he
could whip theman who had treated him as the sheriff had done, Nothing could stop him,
and finally- the officer had to leave, It had been planned to let Rose see his wife be-
fore she left for Athens, but on account of his behavior Tuesday afternoon it was thought
best not to, s® she will be taken directly from the prison to the train, When seen
Tuesday afternoon Rose said that thetrial at Athens would changehis case completely, as

he was innocent of the mrder, Mrs. Rose, however, stated that her husband struck Miller
over the head and walked off while one of the boys who is now on trial finished him,

The trial begins this morning at Athens," TENNESSEAN, Nashville, B=L-1912 (12/3.)

"Followed by his wife and son, both clad in prison garments, the body of George Rose, the
murderer who washanged Monday morning at the penitentiary for the killing of James Miller,

a prominent farmer of McMinn County, was taken to the prison grave yard and buried with
simple services. Before the casket was closed, the swollen face of the dead man was ex= |
posed to view and Hicks Rose, prisoner No, 2293, serving a 15 year sentence for murder, rea-
ching his manacled hands to. his head raised his cap and getting down beside the coffin kisse¢
his father farewell, Mrs. Rose, stood by, clutching a small bunch of flowers which she had
gathered in the prison yard, dumbly watching the son's devotion, Accompanied by Rev. B. G.
“ecan, the prison chaplain,, and Rev, Arthur Foster, the cortege wended its way to the place
where the grave was dug in a few minutes the mortal remains of the confessed murderer were
laid to rest. With tears streaming down her face, Mrs, Rose, although having been fear-
fully abused by her husband on the afternoontefore his death, laid a small bouquet on the
grave and with bowed head turned back to theprison, Hicks, who was taken to the burial
under guard, broke down and wept copiously, The prisoners were allowed to attend the service
under a special request made by Chaplain Regen, Barly Monday morning as day began to break,
Rose confessed his crime to Rev, Arthur Foster, but exacted a promise that it should not be
made public until after the funeral, When the burial party returned to the prison the
minister was ready to talk to the newspapermen gathered there, He save a long verbal con-
fession which Rose had made. in whitch the man said that he killed the farmer with a heavy
iron bolt, During Sunday night in the death chamber, Rose never closed his eyes. Uy and
down the narrow cell he paced, now and then stopping to talk with his spiritual advisers,
About 11 o clock he professed religion and declared that his threats against the governor,
Sheriff Hart and his wife were noi meant and that he forgave everyone who had everyharmed
him. His earnestness impressé@d everyone in the room Calling Chaplain Regen to his cell,
the condemed man said that he had something to tell thatwould possibly help, something —
that he had never told.another living soul, The crime had evidently been weighing on his
corscience, Mr, Foster was called and the following confession was made: |
"tI can't hold out any longer, I musitell you, No use for an old man with one foot in |
the grave to die without telling the truth, + amme here today determined not to tell any~-
thing regarding it, and wuld have died just thatway had not the Lord changed my hard

hearte The change which has come over me is something I cannot explain at all. All malcie
and hard feelings have gone out of my heart, and I haveno bitter feeling toward anyone. I
do not Bebl as I did toward Sheriff Hart or anyone else, I die with good fe lings to_every=
one, The full truth has never yet been told regarding the crime. never did claim I

had no knowledge of it nor did they ever aske me to state that + did not do it, Attorney

Double execuhon at Marion Arkansas on

6-9-/87/. Smykla's prin Tout reports execution
but does not give the names of the executed men.
Arkansas Gazette. 6-/0-7/ 1:2 rderrtihes Them as

| dohn Rosebrough & Willianr Harrison, both NEGI0ES .

Mercharace))

pirbiads k : pee aes . WORE oa isbn Re ee - ee eg iar : ‘ tie gee a ca

RUTLEDGE, ‘Tom, white, electrocuted Tenne SP (Warren County) on June 15, 1959,

fi
2

op PERERA re . tote Ce ET REY Spas cathe Pate oe Na Bee oe se!
ai °
: N\
oo ‘ad
\ oe
4 ot pea
”,
de Fe Reto PA eae Sena’
SB eRPER OY | u99)  eERSy s : f ERE BRE ST x Sar en oy bs ¢ a a cal ed in a a

Sia G SATUHOAY MOUNING, DECEMBER 37, 1958:

Sourt met pursuant to adjournment, present and presiding Judge Robert S. areey

when the Collowine proceedings wore had and made of recemd to-wit:

3 eRe eee

STAVE OF TENURSSED

TOM f}PL EDGE

| Sy eng
| rt VS CHARGE: MCRDDR
Tha defendant's motion for a newitrial, heretofore filed, by agreement of the
attorney peneral and counsel for the defendant, came on to be heard onthe 27th day
| of December, 1958, and after a consideration of which the court is of opinion that said

motion for oa new trial is not well taken and is accordinrly overruled,
ww . :

Thereupon it is demanded of the said Tom Rutledge is he has anythinre to soy why
the court shall not proceed to judgment and execution thereof apainst him, on the

verdict of the jury, who nothing further saith thanas before ho onth snid,

oO

If IS, THERETORD, considered by the court that the said Tom Rutledre, for the

offense of aurder in the first degree without mitigating circumstances, in-sccordance withh

the verdict of the jury, shall suffer death by electrocution as the law provides and

| eo the date of his execution shall be set for Friday, February 27, 1959,

To the action of the court in overruling defendant's motion for a new trial and ime

se E | posing stntence, the defendant excepts and prays an appeal to tho next term of the

Suprore Cotirt ab Hashville, Tennesse, which appeal is rranted by the court, and the

defendant is allowed thirty days in which to prepare and file his bill of execeptions.
The costs of this cavse shall be paid by the state forall costs acecrved on the part
a _| of the State, and the clerk is directed to make out bill of costs an4 certify for payment.

’ |

,

ie, dst Circuit Court
~ iy’ Go’ ‘heres by scertify that this
é ts a tru2 and center} Copy of the

orifjinal Of this igstrurent filed

Robort 8S. Brady
Circuit Judre

pe

| Dy is A, Sia Nei

pa RH UPON COURT ADJOURNED UNTIL SATU! DAY MORNING JANUARY 3, 2959.

A ws

Se PRT RS

( Pesteentf [ou

Judge

oi ipa ate, Racin Spe . an 3 : \ hai SS cs rigigios tes 1 Nae hay

RUTLEDGE, Tom, white, elec. TN&

Warren) June 15, 1959

Above, State Agent
Shelton, who headed
the probe; at right,
Judson Gann and

Agent Bill Whitehurst
demonstrate lie-detec-
tor techniques they used

wasn't home yet. In vain, Lonnie

Raper tried to put down the concern
he was beginning to feel for his twelve-
year-old daughter. After all, he
thought, it was Saturday and perhaps
Treva had decided to stay later and
have dinner with her grandmother,
Mrs. Rose Raper, who lived only a mile
away.

But soon, Raper knew, it would be
growing dark in the small community
of Campaign, near McMinnville in
Warren County, Tennessee. And the
area through which his daughter would
have to pass was known as “rough
country’” where rowdies often gather
for a week end of revelry. Raper didn’t
relish the idea of his daughter walking
through that section unescorted.

There also were other disturbing fac-
tors to be considered: the child, in spite
of her healthy appearance, was subject
to frequent fainting spells and knew
her parents worried when she was away
from home. For this reason she always
was punctual and she had promised her
mother she'd be back no later than
four.

Raper couldn't help worrying. When

40

|" WAS 5:30 and Treva Joyce Raper

ver the Rails to

Treva Joyce took the short cut to her, grandmother's house in

Campaign, Tennessee, and met an old friend—and a murderer

six o’clock came and Treva still hadn't
returned, he got into his car and drove
to his mother’s home. Mrs. Raper an-
swered his knock and, to his surprise,
said: “Why Treva isn’t here. I haven't
seen her all day.”

Raper fought hard to control the
sickening fear that clutched at him.
Not’ wishing to upset his elderly
mother, he said as calmly as possible:
“Well, there’s no need for worry. I sup-
pose she decided to visit one of her
school chums and hasn’t realized how
late it’s getting. I’ll find her okay.”

But even as he spoke, a nagging
doubt gripped the man as he walked
back to his car.

Raper drove slowly as he retraced his
route, watching the road closely for
some sign of Treva Joyce. Along the
way, he made several stops, inquiring
at houses where the child might have
visited friends. No one had seen his
daughter that day.

Frantic, Raper hurried home. Treva
was not there.

Unable to stand the strain any
longer, the worried father telephoned
the Warren County sheriff's office in
McMinnville and told them his daugh-

ter was missing under rather unusual
and frightening circumstances.

It was shortly after seven p.m. on
June 14, 1958, when Sheriff Eldridge
Youngblood and Deputies Edward N.
Yager and Everette C. Brock reached
the Raper home. Right away, the in-
vestigators realized that this could be
@ serious case.

Treva Joyce, her distraught mother
said, had left home at nine a.m. to visit
her grandmother. She never had
reached her destination.

“Have you tried her friends?” asked
Youngblood.

“Most every one we can think of,”
Raper replied, thoughtfully. Then,
after a pause: “I tell you, Sheriff,
something has happened to that girl.
Something terrible. Her favorite tele-
vision show comes on at four and she
told her mother, specifically, that she’d
be here in time to watch it.”

Turning to Mrs. Raper, Youngblood
said: “Suppose you tell me everything
that happened this morning. What did
your daughter do? What did she say?
How did she act?”

Treva, according to her mother, had
arisen at eight, about an hour after her

father left to drive to his job in Mc-
Minnville. As.she often did on week
ends, she asked to be allowed to visit
her grandmother. When permission
was granted, two of the younger Raper
children—Lonnie, Junior, and Jo Ann
—had asked to accompany their sister.
Treva had refused to let them go along.

Youngblood asked quickly: Why?”

Mrs. Raper wasn't sure, but Treva
had stood firm in her refusal. She even
had gone to a nearby store and pur-
chased candy and soft drinks for the
two younger children to appease them.
Then, at nine, she had left alone for
her grandmother's home.

“The last thing I told her was to be
home early and to be careful,” Mrs.
Raper related tearfully. “She had to
pass through a pretty tough section,
you know, and I’ve told her time and
again to watch out for strange men
around there.”

Watching from a window, Mrs.
Raper had seen her daughter take the
road she normally followed, walking
west. She had waved to her and Treva
had waved back.

There her trail vanished.

Perhaps if Treva Joyce had been a

OFFICIAL

DETECTIBE, April, 1951


General Peace at Athensy in his address to the jury, called attention.to the fact that I
had never denied it. Iwas convicted of killing Miller with a hatchet. Tet hatchet was
Never used nor was it out of my shed loft for 3 weeks before the tragedy. The story told
‘by Senter and my wife that I planned.with the boys to kill Mr, Miller and took them with mee
for that purpose is foolish in the extreme,. You know metoo well to think I would enter in
league with two men, the one an idiot and the other a fool, Mr. Miller was a very strong
and powerful man and just think of Tom Senter holding one arm and begging Miller's son,
Bascom , to hold the other arm while I made ready to kill him, While all that was going
on Miller wuld have doubled them up like a jackknife, for he could have handled than both
with one hand. The boys evidertly told what they were told to say. The motive for the
crime was not anger for the indictment:for stealing corn, that had nothing to do with it.
My wifeknotis themotive and she will not volunatrily tell you the truth as I am telling you,
Theknowledge of the real motive will ever remain a secret with her, & killed him with a
bol’ pin and my wife knows why, God knows I have regretted it, not once, hot a hundred
times, but a million, No one will know what I have passed through this year. In, jail,
surrounded by thieves, thugs, assassins, hearing nothing but the recital of crime, oaths,
curses and vile stories! Tortured constantly by a guilty conscience, I have lived 12
months in the torutres of hell and I am glad today to die, especially since I have made my
peace with God, 1 thoght my end would be one of terror, i had determined to die with
sealed lips, but now that I- have tofid you all, it seems that a sreat load has been lifted
from my mind. am possessed of a strangepeace that-I can in no way explain - except as
your prayer = the Master has touched my soul, Guilty, I know I am, My life has been one
sadly misspent. ‘But, great as my sin has beep, greater is God's love and mercy, I love
my wife and have not one bitter word to say against her, She has bem as good to me
as anybody. She alone knows all the facts, and: if she refuses to tell the real motive
for the crime, I want you to let it remain unknown forever.' He thanked Mr, Taylor for
his many kindnessés, and then, shaking with sobs,-said:'Ih re, I have told you what I
would tell no otherliving pers ns, and what 1 had thought I would never tell even you,'
"at five minutes to 5 o'clock, Hicks “ose was brought into the death house to have a last
farewell with his father, lheman seemed glad that his fatherhad professed religion, He
was glad too, he said, thathis fatherhad forgiven those. who had bee against him, George
Rose told his son hot to harm Sheriff Hart or anyone else, He bade him goodbye after he
~had warned him to live straight after he had served his sentence, and not to follow in his
father's footsteps. Both the son and fatherwept as they parted, A few minutes later
breakfast was served to the condemned man and he ate heartily. “e drank a pint of milk,
‘and, as one of the guards remarked, he was eating as thouch he was going into the harvest
field, Theold man showed wonderful nerve until after breakfast, and then he began to.
weaken, He was escorted to the gallows without a word, As the black cap was being ad=
justed, Rose collapsed, and but for the timely assistanceof Warden Rimmer, he would have
fallen tw thefloor, He washel'd up until the rope was adjusted, At 2216 o'clock, the trap
was sprung, and in 2 minutes his heart ceased to beat, This is one of the ouickest deaths
by hanging on record, ‘Thebody was allowed to swing a short while, & had at first bem
planned to send the remains back to his home at Tellico Plains, but as his daugher was
unable take care of the body, the idea was abandoned, Hicks Rose, when seen Monday
afternoon, stated thathe was glad that his fatherhad rescinded the order to ‘set! Sheriff
Hart, for he surely would have carriedout his father's orders, He said that a Rose
never forgave nor forgot a grudge, Mrs, Rose wuld make no statement Monday afternoons
Warden Rirmer received a telegram from W, G. Miller, son of the victim, askins if Rose was
déad. The message arkived shortly after the execution," TENNESSEAN, Nashville, Tenn.,
8-27-1912 (1/5.)

tunable to read and writeee." TENNESSEAN, 8226/1912 (1/1.)

Photo of Rose on Page One, Column 6 of TENNESSEAN, Sunday 8-29-1912,

eo

Slave, poss. hanged Hawkins Co., TN, for murder of Gambrill family

Jlrocious Deed.-—On the 21st Tust.
a deed of shocking atrocity was
committed in the vicinity of Rogers-
ville, Fen. by a negro bay a-
bout 13 years old, the property of
Mr. Robert Gambill. His master
being from home, he took his rifle,
and shot his mistress through the
Joze of a house where she was weav-
ing. Wo then dispatched as he
thonght, two of Mr, G's: children,
‘and anegro girl of ten years ofd,
withan axe. But little hopes are
entertained of any of them living
Hut the oldest child. The boy, be-
ing secured by the neighbors whom]
he alarmed with the report that):
somebody had done the deed, confess-
etl the fact, and said he bad done the
deed atthe instigation of a white
mati anda negro in the neighbor-
hood.—NVul. nel. age

i,

—<— ——

MISSOURI GAZETTE & PUBLIC ADVERTISER,
St. Louis, MO January 1, 1819 (4:1)

me

ey , ag Se le \ P ~ ry { mcs | Pht)
A IN desi ey ie t & LLG dude § Wily Ln Le Ww @ a dN \ PLL Lay ’]

From -Memphis Police Head-
quarters, in inset at left,
detectives instituted a city-
wide search for the strangler

Given Name,

Residence,

By Fred G. Millette

Special Investigator

: : This man, shown as he ap-
 — peared in his uniform during
World War I, found that police

knew his story better than he

APTAIN WILBUR MILLER’S eyes widened

slightly.

m “Oh,” he said softly. “So that’s the way
it is.

The hotel manager who just had handed him a
guest-registration card nodded and said, “Yeah,
the dead woman came in with a man and they
signed as husband and wife.”

Sergeants Pete Wiebenga and James. Hillen
peered over the Captain’s shoulder to read the writ-
ing on the registration card: .

Harry T. Spiller and wife, Los Angeles, California.

“The record shows that the couple checked in at
9:10 last night,” the manager said. “The man paid
in advance, which they generally do when they
have no baggage.” 7

That was important, Captain Miller knew. People
don’t travel far without baggage of some kind. Evi-
dently the couple was from Memphis. In all likeli-
hood the man had used a phony name.

Miller sighed, turned to view the death room.
An excited maid had entered a short time before
and made the discovery which brought the cops in
a hurry.

Chairs were overturned. The writing-desk lay
on its side. The’ reading-lamp lay smashed near
by. Pillows and bed-clothing had been stripped
from the bed and lay on the floor.

This was in a room of one of-the leading hotels
in Memphis, on Saturday, August 8, 1942.

“What'd you find, Charlie?” the Captain asked
Coroner Miller, who just had finished his examina-
tion of the attractive victim who lay on the floor
near the bed. She was clad only in a slip and that.
had been torn. Her other clothes were scattered
around an overturned chair.

“Death due to strangulation,” the Coroner an-

ID—10


With Only a First Name and
A Phony Signature, How
Could Police Find the Man
Who Lured This Betrothed
Woman to Her Untimely Death?

Marshall—
Memphis

,

In this hotel room
Jewell Roberts was
robbed and slain

“BRING HIM IN!"

swered. “There also are.a number of black-and-
blue marks on her body; the lips are cut and bruised
as if someone had struck her. Evidently the killer
used his belt to strangle her. There’s a plain, wide
circle around her neck that looks like it was made
by a belt.” .

“How long’s she been dead?”

‘The Coroner studied a moment, then answered,
“Td say about fourteen or fifteen hours.” He
glanced at his watch. “Since about 10 or 11 o’clock
last night. She’s about twenty-six. No dental
work to aid in her identification.”

“Nothing else that might help us?”

Coroner Miller shook his head. ‘Oh, yes, there
is,” he added. “I can’t tell whether she has been
attacked. I'll be able to give you a definite answer
after the autopsy.”

Hillen, who had been working with identification
men going over the room, called to Wiebenga and
Captain Miller, i

“Here’s her purse and it’s empty. Not even the
usual paint, powder and stuff a woman carries.”

The Captain grunted. ‘Maybe the motive was
robbery.”

“Could be, at that,” the Coroner agreed. “Look
here at what I just noticed.” He pointed to one of
the dead girl’s fingers. ‘See how it is bruised and
scratched? Just like someone had stripped some
rings off it.”

The police photographer had finished with his
pictures and the Coroner called to two waiting
attendants to remove the body. As he turned to
leave he said to Captain Miller, “I’ll send my
autopsy report to you at the Homicide Squad office.”

Also leaving at this time were the identification
men, who carried off an empty whisky bottle, two
drinking-glasses found in the room and the hotel-

ID 10

registration card. This last might yield finger-
prints and the card was valuable, as it had a speci-
men of handwriting.

The Captain turned to the chair on which he had
piled the girl’s clothes, and began to wrap them up
to be taken to Headquarters. First, he spread out
the dress on the bed and put the shoes and under-
wear upon the dress. Then he picked up the stock-
ings, noted in an absent sort of way that one
stocking was rolled down a little from the top.
ig ae the stocking a little shake to straighten
it out.

From the stocking rolled a tiny white pellet.
Swiftly Miller scooped up the pellet.

Wiebenga and Hillen watched interestedly while
the Captain smoothed out the little ball. Finally
the men beheld a cigarette paper on which was
written a half-dozen numerals.

The first probable meaning such a series of
numerals suggested to the detectives was a tele-
phone number,

Within a few bricf moments Captain Miller, using
the room telephone, had learned that such a num-
ber existed. And when he called it he learned that
a girl fitting the description of the victim lived at
the place but was missing. She was Jewell Roberts.

Hastening to Police Headquarters, Captain Miller
paused just long enough to report to Inspector of
Detectives M. A. Hinds, and to direct Sergeant
Hillen to begin a search of the Bureau of Iden-
tification files in an effort to match the handwriting
on the hotel-registration card. Then the Captain,
with Wiebenga, hurried to a fast police cruiser and
drove to the address of Jewell Roberts.

Wiebenga took the steering-wheel and the Cap-
tain let his mind drift to the telephone number
he had found on the scrap of paper.

Why was this telephone number—her ow: writ
ten on a piece of cigarette paper, and stuilcd int
her own stocking? Why would any girl do that

Had the girl placed it in her stockins ts aid i
identifying her? If so, Captain Miller vcalived, ti
girl knew the danger into which she wo feppin
when she went to the hotel with this man. Lu
how could she? Why would she willingly so 1
her death?

The Captain shrugged his shoulders. No one, ti
realized, ever would know. Unquestionably th:
girl had put that number there herself. And nov
she was dead, unable to explain it. The polic
only could guess, and guessing would not help then
find the killer.

At Jewell Roberts’ home the officers found a titth
old lady waiting for them. She was Mrs. Birdic
Barham, the mother of Jewell Roberts. She wa
taken to view the victim.

ANY doubts as to the vielinv’s identity. quairelly
were dispelled the moment the mother looked

upon the slain girl.

“Oh, my poor darling! My baby!” she sobbed.

Presently Captain Miller led Mrs. Barham into
another room where they would not be disturbed
Tle waited until the grief-stricken mother was over
the worst of the shock before he questioned her.

Mrs. Barham told the officers that she and Jewel!
lived alone, that the girl was 27 and a widow, he:
World War veteran husband having died) severs!
years before, She herself had been married) twice,
she said. Her first husband, Jewell’s father, now
lived in another city.

Captain Miller ked, “When dich you see your
daughter last, Mrs. Barham?”

Stifling a sob, she replied, “About 3. o’clock

7


*

“we

yesterday afternoon, She left here to go downtown
to see her doctor.”

“Do you know,” the Captain continued, “how
much money she carried and if she wore jewelry—
rings or wrist-watch?”

. She had a little over a hundred dollars.
She nlso wore three rings, but no wrist-watch.”
Nha Davhana deseribeck (he viagys One of them,
he said, a diamond of considerable value, had been
fiven to Jewell recently by her soldier sweetheart.

eShe awwas engaged to be married to him the first
of September,” the mother added.

Captain Miller and Wiebenga exchanged a swift
glance at this information.

“What is this soldier’s name?” Wiebenga asked.

Mrs. Barham gave them bis name and told them
the camp where he was stationed. He
was a native of Memphis, she said.
Can you tell us,” Captain Miller
asked, jotting down the name and

Estelle Hill, below: She
turned up the men who
knew the first name of
the killer of her friend,
Jewell Roberts, right

address in his little black — book,
“whether this man is now at his camp
or in Memphis?”

“I'm not certain,” Mrs, Barham re-
plied, “but I believe he’s in camp.”

Once more the eyes of the detec-
tives met. The Captain nodded and
Wiebenga immediately hurried out of
the room to the telephone. To In-
spector Hinds he gave the  soldier’s
name and address. As he returned to
the room he knew that a message
would soon be on the wires to the
Army post.

Mrs. Barham then supplied the in-
formation that Jewell Roberts was
employed as a waitress at a cafe on
Union Avenue in Memphis. “But she’s
been off work the past two weeks be-
cause of a slight illness,” Mrs. Barham
added.

“Now.” Sergeant Wiebenga asked,
“did Mrs. Roberts leave home alone
yesterday?”

The answer sent an electric spark
through the officers. “No,” the woman
replied. “A friend, a man she’d known
several months, happened to be here
and offered to drive her downtown.”

Miller and Wiebenga leaned forward eagerly.
“What is this man’s name?”

“His name’s Benny Nowski,” the mother answered
readily. :

Again Captain Miller scribbled in his little black
book. Nowski, the woman said, was a traveling
salesman. She gave a full description of the
man and the name of the town in which he lived.

“There's something else,” Mrs. Barham continued,
“which I should tell you, Shortly before Jewell
decided to see the doctor, she received a telephone
call from a man, I answered the phone, but I
didn’t recognize the voice.”

rT picture was beginning to broaden, to take on
color, mystery, complication. Three men already
hod appeared in the scene. And their appearance
made the robbery motive less positive and turned
the spotlight on jealousy. And as far as was
known Benny Nowski had been the last man with
Jewell Roberts.

Captain Miller continued to press Mrs. Barham
for further information,

- alled me about 7 o’clock,” she declared.
» didn’t say where she was or whether she had
“1. the doctor. She simply said that she had
stopped downtown to have dinner and would be
home early.”

ain’s ears perked up. Was it possible
girl had stopped to eat at the cafe where
; od? Nothing seemed more likely. If this
; indeed true, then surely some of the employes
had observed the man she was with. If their de-
scription fit Nowski it would place the man with
Jewell only a short time before her death.

Miller wanted to check this right away, but first
he rushed Mrs. Barham home from the morgue.
Then he sped to Headquarters where he informed
Inspector Hinds of the new developments.

“Fine work. men,” the Inspector told Miller and
Wiebenga.

In order to check on Nowski, Miller called the
police of the town where the man lived and ex-
plained the situation. He requested the police to
notify bin. the moment Nowski could be located.

This done, Miller hurried to the Identification
Bureau. where he was told that not a single worth-
while print had been found on any. of the items
from the death room, nor had Sergeant Hillen suc-
ceeded so tar in matching the handwriting on the
hotel-registration card.

“Don't expect too much yet, Chief,” Hillen said.
“T've scarcely got going.”

When Captain Miller returned to Hinds’ office to
pick up Wiebenga and go on to the cafe where
Jewell Roberts had worked, he found that the au-
topsy report just had arrived. It denied evidence
of an attack on the victim. This, added to the
evidence of the missing rings and money, strength-
ened the robbery motive. On the other hand, the

8

This receipt was for a
money order sent the
victim for her wedding
clothes by the man who
planned to marry her

number of men popping up in the girl’s life sug-
gested some sort of triangle slaying.

However, the Captain had no time to puzzle over
this. He and his men had the killing to solve.
Me that was done the motive would be clear
to all.

When Miller and Wiebenga reached the cafe they
saw that it was a small place, with a counter and
a few tables. Just inside the door the officers found
the owner. Captain Miller quickly explained their
mission,

HOCKED at the news of the death of his waitress,
the man said, “I shall be only too glad to help
if I can. What do you wish to know?”

“Did Jewell Roberts come here Friday afternoon
or night?”

“Yes—she did,” he replied. “It was shortly be-
fore 7 o’clock.”

“Did she come alone?”

“I can’t tell you that,” the manager said with a
shrug. ‘When I first noticed her she was seated
at a back table and a man was with her then.”

“You know who he was?” Wiebenga asked eagerly.

“No, I never saw him before. I didn’t pay much
attention to him so I can’t tell you what he looked
like. But Estelle Hill can probably help you. She’s
the waitress who served Jewell and her boy friend.
Those girls—they were great friends also.”

“Is that the girl?” Miller nodded toward a
waitress busy behind the counter.

“No,” the manager (Continued on Page 40)

ID 10

PRESSWOOD, Jolin, white, 18, hanged Smithville, DeKalb Co,, TN< May 25, 1872.
Transcription of faded 3x5 card:

“Our other legal hanging took place in 1872. It was of John Presswood, a young man in his early
twenties. He confessed the killing of Rachel Fowler Certain Billings. She was born in 1833 had
had a daughter about 12-years-old by her first husband who died in the Civil War. She also had
two younger children by her second husband Jim Billings, who was away from home running a
raft down the river. Young Presswood came to the house and made sexual advances to her.

Whe she refused him, he knocked her in the head with an axe and also knocked the daughter in
the head. The woman was killed, but the daughter was only stunned and lived to tell the tale,
resulting in Presswood’s confession and hanging. The hanging took place in 1872 on the square
at Smithville (DeKalb County). I have a picture of the hanging and it shows a vast crowd of
men, women and children down to babes in arms. In fact, at every political gathering down into
the 1960's, the crowds were always spoken of as being ‘the largest in Smithville since the Press-
wood hanging.’ A series of about four articles were done on this haning in The Smithville Review
in the spring of 1948, I believe. I had these articles at one time, but loaned them to someone and
they were destroyed by mistake. At any rate, they are on microfilm at the Tennessee State
University.”-Letter dated January 20, 1977, from Thomas G. Webb, DeKalb County Historian,
Route 1, Box 5, Smithville, TN, 37166.


<<

Sipe “NeVEhale yvuearo ucng, ae

Wirirs G. Carront, you have nlso heen tried, and
found guilty’of murder. You selected a minister of the
Gospel—amiable, inoffensive and credulous.
that he had money, and to make it yours, you thought of his
destrnction You frequented his housc—ingratiated your-
self into hia confidence, and induced him to believe that you
had hid treasures in the river bottom. After much prelim.
inary management, you induced dim to buy your pretended
silver ore—and with this view to take the money with
which he was to pay you, and accompany alone to tho
place you had represented the treasure to be. While you
were going through the river bottum, in an unfrequented
place, as he rode before you, your deadly aim was inken,
your gun waa fired, and he fell dead at your fect.—You ri-
fled his pockets ofthe moncy he had taken with him, to pay
for your intended silver ore, and you fled, You went to tho
vergo of civilization in Arkarans—sold yo ir gun, changed
your name--permitted your beard and hair to grow, and
went without a hat--vainly hoping to clude detection. But
‘your sin funnd you out,’ and you were apprehended, and
brought back to the county of Sumner, where you commit-
ted the murder, and by a jury of that county, you have. been
found guilty. There is no error in the record, and such in
the strength and force of the testimony, that your counsel
have not thought proper to urge a plea for your innocenco.
The law pronounces that you too muat die.

You -fuund:

ZHBADIAN PAYNE, you avers found muny Av the
, William Coltart. inthe county of Franklin, on
pete ay Hg 18-40. ; ‘
Your youth--jost developing into manly beauty, oe Ap-
parently ingenvous conntenance, and your sensibi ily, are
all calculated to excite the sympathies of the court, They
would seem to indicate that you were destined fur better
things, Unfortunately for you, and for tho country, carly
discipline was wanting, hy which to restrain the luxuriant
passions of youth, and industrious habits, by which to aim.
fy ite wants, and (nroinh the means of lawful enjoyment,
ee dissolute habits required the experditure of money—
and you were reckless enough to revul vo upon obtaining it,
atevery hazard. With this view, you joined yourself to
the deceased asa travelling companion. You fonnd he
had money, and you determmed to take his life, and make
the treasure yeur own, While journeying together, and on
hie part, doubtless, in the full confidence of social compan.
ionship, you act upon him with the feruc ity of a beast of
prey, anda ith your knife, mangled his jaw, and finally suc.
ceeded in cutting his throat, so that he died, Having por.
ecrsed yourself of hia money, you fled. In the wilds of
Texas, whero you suppored the murderer would find n ro.
cure refuge, you sought to avuid detection. But justice
overtuok you. You were apprehended there, and brought

_ back tothe county where yuu did tho murder, and have

been tried and found guilty, ‘This court finds no error in
the records, and so plainly was your guilt made to appear,
that the evidence has not been. certified to thi. court.
Your crime ia of the deepest dye. Your victim a youth
like yourself, one would have thought that your natural
Seclings of humanity would have rebelled agninat the horrid
lemptation, and withheld your hand, ‘The Judgment of the
Jaw je that you muat die,

And now, in each of your cases, the most deliberate and
cold blooded purpose wan manifested, without the ‘lenat
provocation or anger, and in every case instigated hy the:
cursed lust for money, ‘To ottain some trifling sum, the
one deagroys an innocent female—the other an inoffensive
minister of religion; and the laste youthful teas elling com.
panion. Coineiding in the charncter of your guilt—tho
hae sc of the Jaw dooma you to a like punishment,

efore your execution the Court will appoint you n short
time for preparation, Let this time be employed with the
most carnest solicitudes. You are soon tu appear hefore a
tribunal, where falechood cannot avail, and Where justice
cannot be eluded. Let penitence and faith, prepare you for
that last awful triel; for enormous as is your guilt, it does
not exceed the mercies of God, in Jesu Chrint, Employ
all the meansto bring your hearts in deep humility, and
hearty confession, to his mercy peat. Engage tho services
advice and prayers of the Reverend Clergy of tho rity, and
ket your remaining days, be days of penitence, and your
nights be nights of devotion and prayer,

Aid now, Archibald Kirby, Willis G, Carroll, and Zeb.
adiah Payne, the judgment of the law is, that you be taken

to the’ pricon from whence you came, there to.remain until.

Friday the 10h day of February, and on that day, between
the hours of 10 o'clock in the morning, and,2 o'cluck in the
evening, you be taken to the publie gallows, within one mile
of this city, and hung by the neck until yuu aro prap, And
may God have mercy on your suule, .


3wooD HANGING IN 1872 - This photograph
the large crowd gathering on the Smithville

:on May 24, 1872, to witness the hanging of John

_Presswood, Jr. Presswood was convicted of the
murder of Mrs. Jim Billings. The scaffold is in the. -
distant. right in front of the. old Webb house where.

‘Smithville City Hall now stands. The old DeKalb
County Courthouse is to the left. (Photo Creme
county historian Thomas G. Webb.) State


A SMITHVILLE TRAGEDY

The year was 1872. Ma Elizabeth Hill was eight years
old, the same age as Jane Billings. Folks all farm around
Smithville and, with so much work in the summer young John
Presswood and his two sisters came down from White County to
help on their Uncle's farm. Relaxing by the creek one da ;
the Presswood teens met their nearest neighbors, the Billings
family. Aside from Jane, the young couple had a baby
daughter and the children soon befriended the White County
visitors. They invited the Presswoods to drop by often for
home baked cookies and games on the front porch.

Summer was drawing to an end and Mr. Billings built a
raft to deliver his farm products sixty miles downriver to
Nashville. The Presswoods would soon be returning home, so
after washing the supper dishes they made the familiar trek
across the fields to the Billings home for a final visit.
Sprawled on the porch sipping cold lemonade, little Jane
suddenly boasted, "Our pa's gone away on a long trip, but
he's left a whole passel of money hid in the fireplace to use
till he gets back."

Farm inhabitants sleep once the sun disappears, yet the
countryside teems with wildlife. Under a milky blanket of
stars crept John Presswood, his quite steps sent small
creatures scurrying away. Robbed of Sleep, his dreams
focused on a "whole passel of money..." a fortune! Ina
trance he moved across fields dotted with fireflies, drawing
Closer to the home of his friends -- the Billings.

Mrs. Billings immediately opened the door when she
recognized the young man who had come by so often. Whatever
could be wrong that brought him out at this time of night?

Had he only asked, Mrs. Billings would have willingly
turned aside to fix him refreshments. He could have easily
Slipped the money into his pocket once she was distracted.
Yet some unseen devil prompted him to assault the young
mother.

Like most count foiks, the Billings kept an ax under
their bed for protection In her desperation, Mrs. Billings
reached for the ax, only to have it snatched from her hands
and used to butcher her. The noise woke the children and as
her eight-year-old daughter entered the room the last thing
she saw was her friend raise the ax above her head and bring
it down with a crack across her skull. John Presswood then
ran to where the money was hidden and stuffed it in his
pockets.

Blood was draining from the body of Mrs. Billings, yet
at her mother's side the child was regaining conciousness.
Unbelievable terror caused her to lay without moving or
daring to breathe. Presswood knelt down and shook her
roughly to see if she was still alive. Then he used the back

Page 1

<trkeminde

and was drowned. She was the oldest daughter of Jeff
Hassler. We were unable to learn the particulars."

As the case developed, it was determined that
Hiram had tried to drown Ida in the well and the third
time he was successful. Actually, he didn't drown her,
but killed her by blows to the head and face and then
dumped her body into the well. The autopsy showed no
water in her lungs.

For days the community had become irate and were
talking of lynching members of the Hall family, but
the efforts of J. E. Burnett and others calmed the
people.

On Sunday, August 22nd, a warrant was issued for
Malinda (Mrs. Sam) Hall and her son Hiram. Dr. W. S.
DeGolia of Crossville testified at the hearing Monday
that Ida Hassler Hall had been murdered. After the
hearing Hiram Hall, at the request of his father, Sam
Hall, admitted to his father and J. E. Burnett that he,
Hiram, had murdered Ida. Ida was 15 years old and
Hiram was 20. Ida was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T.
J. Hassler. The father asked for the confession so that
Malinda would be exonerated.

The murder was front page news in the Crossville

Chronicle of August 25, 1897 and "the reason assigned

for the killing is that the dead woman was the principal
witness against her husband in a pistol case now
pending in court, and that the murderer wanted his wife
out of the way so he could marry another woman."

(MORE )

*Kirkeminde

3

Hall was lodged in the Sparta (White county) jail
because there was still talk of lynching.

Ida Hassler Hall was first buried in the Hale's
Chapel Cemetery, but later moved by the Hassler family
to another cemetery.

By September lst Hiram Hall had altered his
confession and implicated his mother as an accessory.
While Hall was in the Sparta jail, there was a prison
break, but Hall was soon recaptured. Trial for Hiram
Hall began in late April 1898. Tie jury was unanimous

on the first ballot that Hall was guilty of murder in

the first degree. He was sentenced to hang on June 17,
1898. The verdict was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme
Court.

In the meantime T. J. Hassler's wife ran off with
another man, Hassler filed for divorce which was granted,
but when she returned they were remarried. Malinda
Hall left her husband and he published a notice that he
would not be responsible for her debts and he filed for
a divorce which was granted. Hiram's brother John “Coon"
Hall was arrested and found guilty on a pistol case
and for breaking and entering a United States Post Office
ana for store robber. A sister of Hiram named Martha
died of pneumonia.

The Crossville Chronicle reported on February l,

1899 that the Supreme Court had sustained the lower

court verdict and that Hiram Hall would hang March 13th.

(MORE)

nirkeminde

HIRAM HALL

Cumberland county, Tennessee was organized in 1856
and, until 1899 ,only nine of its residents had been
sent to the penitentiary. One of these was Hiram Hall.

His trouble began on September 3, 1896 when the

Crossville Chronicle announced on p 10, ¢c-4:

“BURKE: We have been reliably informed that Hiram
Hall and Ida Hassler, of Big Lick, were married Sunday.
Both persons come from respectable families. We wish
the young people a happy life."

The next news about the couple appeared on August
18, 1897 in the same newspaper, P ae oe

"Word comes that Mrs. Hiram Hall, who lived about

eight miles south of town, fell in the well this morning


Kkirkeminde

4

On February 8th Hall was baptized. Rumors were printed
that there was a chance Malinda Hall, Hiram's mother,
might be indicted in the murder case.

Hall's hanging was delayed by Gov. Benton McMillin

for thirty days because Hall was "...in a pretty bad
fix physically, suffering from an attack of la grippe

and a tendency to pneumonia." (Crossville Chronicle,

15 March 1899, pl, c 3.)

Hall was hanged April 12, 1899 at 6:53 a.m. in
Crossville. This was Cumberland ceunty's only legal
hanging. Although the hour was early, an enormous
crowd was present. They were reported to have been
quiet and orderly. Details of the hanging were reported

in full in the Chronicle that day and the man's

confession was printed. (pl, c 3&4)
"THE MURDERER'S CONFESSION

"The following is a full and true confession of
Hiram Hall, as prepared by me with his full consent
and assistance: A. L. GARRISON

"'7 was born in Cumberland county, February 22,
1879, and am now twenty years old. in September, 1896,
I married Ida Bell Hassler, a girl who lived about four
miles from my home. I had been acquainted with her
only a short time before I married her. She was about
sixteen years old when we were married, and I was very
infatuated with her.

"After our marriage, we went to live with my

parents. From the very first my mother was not pleased

(MORE)


¢ ¢ Bl) Te ac fate
SSR ki hh

SS hid a

ne
37

January 25, 1950

Ast, Mr. Walter Kennedy, 111

- Box 212, Knoxville College
Knoxville, Tennessee

Dear Sir:
an “I received your letter of the 23rd,
| and assure you that these cases give me more
Concern thananything that arises. . I studied
.. the record as close as I could and couldfind
no mitigation whatever. The law prescribes
what my duty is, and I regard ‘it as the action.
of the State insteadof an individual who happens
“to be Governor.’ Your feelings about it'I respect ©
“entirely, and I only regret that I'could not find
some way to justify interference with the course
of the law.

Sincerely, “""

GB:P





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and daughter of Merritt Dilliard, Esq., of Miss., formerly of Raleigh,
N. C. (St. Louis Herald)

September 23, 1846
Departed this life at the residence of Col. C. L. Estill, in. Chickasaw
Co., on the 12th, Mrs. Agatha E. Cook, consort of Mr. John C. Cook,
aged 17 years and 6 months. She fell a victim to typhoid pneumonia.

i October 14, 1846
Married on Sunday morning, 11th, by J. M. Blount, Esq., Mr. Robert
Walker to Miss Rebecca Compton, all of this county.

On the 8th, Mr. John Collins to Mrs. Selina Patrum, both of this
county.

: October 21, 1846
Married on the 15th ult., by the Rev. Mr. Lowry, Mr. John N.
Meriweather to Miss Helen O. Statham, all of this county.

Died in this place, on Tuesday morning, 15th, Samuel H., infant son of
Samuel and Louisa Moore.

November 4, 1846
The funeral sermon of the late William Caperton will be preached at

the Baptist meeting house in this place, on Sabbath next, by Rev. A.
S. Bayley.

2 November 14, 1846
Married in this vicinity, on Thursday, by the Rev. J. R. Lowrie, Mr.
John Ray and Miss Mary Carpenter.

Married on the Sth, Mr. Henry M. Dorsey and Miss Elizabeth Jackson,
all of this county.

; January 13, 1847
Married at Jackson on the 22nd.December by Rev. L. B. Holloway,

James S. Bailey, Esq., of Tallahatchie, to Miss Sarah, daught
Pryor Lea of Hinds. a

January 20, 1847
Married on Wednesday evening, 10th, by J. M. Blount, Esq., Mr.
Joseph M. Dorris to Miss Nancy Jane Powell, both of this county.

February 17, 1847
Married on Wed. evening, 16th, by J. M. Blount, Esq., Mr. Joseph M.
Dorris to Miss Nancy Jane Powell, both of this county.

August 11, 1847

ii in Vicksburg, Col. John MaClellan and Miss Eliza S. Pun-
chard.

136

Married in Washington, John A. Sims and Miss Margaret F. Eskridge,

all of Miss.
2 f Died at his residence in this county, on Wednesday last, Hector
‘a= McNeil, aged 48. He was at the time of his death a member of the

Police Board.
MISSISSIPPI INTELLIGENCER (Pontotoc, Mississippi)

April 17, 1838
Died at his residence at Pontotoc on the 7th, of pulmonary consump-
tion, Mr. John Cary, in the 30th year of his age, leaving a wife and two
children. The subject was born in Hampton, Va. on the 14th Feb.
1809.

July 31, 1838
Died at Little Rock. a few weeks since, Mr. John Measles, well
known as an Indian Interpreter.

September 25, 1838
Died on Thursday morning last, Major Aaron Root, aged about 40
years.

Married on Thursday, the 20th, by the Rev. Samuel Kingston, Mr.
Samuel J. High to Miss Selina E. Earle, both of this place.

a November 13, 1838
$1000 Reward will be paid by the undersigned for the apprehension of
John Step and Solomon Step, who murdered Martin Fraley, Sen’r. on

= — _ the 8th October near Wolf’s Ferry, in Hardin County, Tenn. John Step
. = is about 26 years of age, five feet eight or nine inches high, dark com-

plexion, dark eyes, black hair inclined to curl, and very low forehead.

sid Solomon Step is about 23 or 24 years of age, 5 feet 11 inches high,
stout build, a little inclined to be stoop-shouldered, dark complexion,
- dark eyes, dark hair inclined to curl, and very high cheek bones. The
Steps formerly resided in Cherokee County, Georgia. Signed: Sally
Fraley, Henderson G. Fraley, Jackson Fraley, Samuel Lenox.

March 5, 1839
Married on the 28th February, by the Rev. Samuel B. Harwell, Mr.
Melton Alexander of Marshall Co., to Miss Martha Allen of Tippah Co.

April 30, 1839
Married in Giles County, Tennessee, on the 18th, Dr. John A. Moor-
man, of Salem, Mississippi, to Miss Eliza Ann, daughter of the Rev.
Alexander McDonald.

Also, near Salem, on the 25th, by the Rev. W. L. McAlister, Mr.
Charles Critcher to Miss Bennett.

June 11, 1839
It gives us great pain to announce the death of Gen. Silas Brown, State

137


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MARRIAGES and DEATHS

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SWANN, James, black, 20, elec. Tenn. (Jefferson) for rape-murder, on Feb. 5, 193h.

Rendrrdse Dern,
d lo eee (4 TY


Lirs, Cherlie Smelcer
Dandridse, Tenn, 37725

5 Aug. 1974 tot
Mr. Watt Espy,dJr.
FP. O.2BOx 247
Headland 3 Ala, 56345

I called iirs, Harry Wance here in Dandridve,this is what she
told me by phone. Abbie Rainwater (white) an old maid the dau,
of John Rainwater, Abbie a resident of the Jefferson County
Home-near Dandridce had walked through the feitlds to visit her
stepmother Annie Manning Rainwater on the 25 of Dec, Christmas
day. On her way back to the home late in afternoon she was
raped & killed by John Swann (colored) the son of Billy Swann
and his mother was probably Verse Mays. John's father Old
Billy Swann worked for the Vance's at the time of the IMurder,

firs, Vance could not remember the year of. the murder, but tho-
ught it was in the early 30's, and that Chester Rainwater,Sr.
was Bhe lawyer for the Rainwater's, I saw Mr, Rainwater to-day
and he said that he could not remember the year but Bhat he was
admitted to the Bar in 1933 and it vas after that, I went to
the court house this P.M. but did not have any luck finding the
vol. containing the trial. Will try again when I have time,
This vault where these old records are kept is a mess and not
anything in order so its search & hunt*-hope.

Snelosed is a copy of a case I thought you might be interested
in, All I know about this case is what is in the article enchased,

Sincerely,
co c
Coldr gr Srucleer

Eldridce B,(Mrs.Charlie)Smelcer

hh,’

[eX D ‘


A SMITHVILLE TRAGEDY

Mary Elizabeth Hill's grandfather Charles Hill was the

sheriff of Dekalb County (Smithville) Tennessee in 1870. The

story was passed down from Mary Elizabeth to her grand

daughter Ruby Lee (Cantrell) Conway when Ruby was a child.

Ruby's daughter Carol Ann (Conway) Allen authored and

presented this version of the story for her college "Oral
History" course in 1992. |


A SMITHVILLE TRAGEDY

of the ax to slowly crush her little fingers, one at a time.
The child never even flinched, laying there she heard the
door slam, then she waited for an eternity until she was sure
that he was gone. Then she struggled to her feet and
staggered out the door for help. She ran across the fields,
her long nightgown wrapping around her legs, oblivious to the
pain in her mangled hands. She only knew that she must find
a neighbor who she could trust. When that neighbor finally
arrived at the Billings farm it would be to find a screaming
toddler sitting in a pool of blood alongside her mother's
body.

John Presswood was caught, confessed, and was sentenced
to hang by his neck until dead for the rape and murder of a
woman that considered him a friend. His last night alive was
spent locked in the Smithville County Courthouse with the
chickens and pigs that town folks kept there overnight.

By Lantern light his neighbors from White County milked
their cows and tended their livestock. As dawn turned a dark
sky gray they loaded up their families into mule drawn wagons
to begin the two and a half hour trip across the mountains to
Smithville.

The Hills considered Mary Elizabeth too young to attend
a hanging, but the rest of the family got dressed and set off
for town. Mary Elizabeth stood on her porch watching the
wagons pour down the Nashville Pike. It was a sight she
would remember for the rest of her life. They came by the
hundreds, raising a slow, steady cloud of dust that hung in
the air all morning.

John Presswood was not hanged until after Noon, so the
huge crowd settled down on blankets spread over the entire
Courthouse lawn. It was a lovely, cool autumn day. Mothers
began unloading picnic baskets, fried chicken and homemade
pies were passed from hand-to-hand, like a church picnic.
Children frolicked with kinfolk they hadn't seen in awhile.
Hungry babies were nursed, then laid down for their naps. And
before this crowd of men, women, and children, all freshly
scrubbed and dressed in their Sunday cloths, John Presswood

was marched up the gallows steps and a rope was placed around
his neck.

In 1872, eighteen year old John Presswood sacrificed his
life, as well as the respect of his friends, in order to
briefly possess what a small girl considered a fortune--less
than fifteen dollars. In 1960 Jane "Granny" (Billings) Hayes
died just a few years shy of her hundredth birthday, leaving
behind numerous children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren who still remember the scars on her hands.

Page 2

PEARSON, George

Goerge Pearson was hanged for murder at Jackson
Tennessee on June 18, 1898. oe

Undated 1899 Chicago TRIBUNE sent by Massey &
containing 1898 executions list.

Lushwached San Welter wih a SMoTqusr
on 5/3/95. Both 7e9ro.

Atlanta Cnshhichon, 6/9 IP 3 «7

PETAWAY, Abe, black, hanged at Nashville, Tenn., on July 18, 1901.

"Nashville, Tenney, Septe 26, 1900. = In the criminal court today Judge Anderson sentenced
Lewis Bridges and Abe Petway, both colored, to be hanged November 6th for the murder of
M. Ce tynne' JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, September 26, 1900 (5/he)

"Nashville, Tenn., July 18, 1901. = The first legitimate execution ever witnessed in this
county took place this morning, when three negroes were suspended from the same scaffold.
The hanging took place an the jail yard, and was witnessed by about 200 peoplef The con-
demned were Babe Battise, Ducer Thompson and Abe Petaway, and they calmly mounted the
steps and took their places on the trap without exhibiting the least evidence of trepida-
tioh. Thompson and Petway made short talks in which they proclaimed their innocence

and the pardon of their sins, and Battise spoke rather intelligently for over five

minutes about his hopes of the hereafter and admonished his hearers to eschew his example.
The caps were then adjusted and the trap was sprung at 10:15 by Sheriff Hurt. The fall
was about 5 feet and the men were pronounced dead within 13 minutes. Petaway and Battise
had their necks broken, and Thompson succumbed to strangulation, The bodies were de-
livered to the unddrtakers, There were about 3,000 outside the jail, while the execution
was being conducted, but the best of order prevailed, The crime for which Petway paid the
penalty was the murder of an old white man named Wrenn, on the night of May 31, 1900. The
old man owned a small grocery and was supposed to have accumulated considerable money

and the cupidity of Petway and his pals led to the murder, Lewis Bridges and Eli Webb,
who, with Petway were tenants of old Man Wremn, and occupied rooms in the rear of the
grocery, were arrested as accessories, Petway confessed that Bridge and Webb killed
Wrenn while he kept watch on the outside and that he was to receive $10 as his share of
the blood money. Petway and Bridges were sentenced to be hanged lastM@xKMMEX November,
but appealed to the supreme court. The sentence of the former was affirmed and the latter
was granted a new trial, Petway was respited in order that he might testify against his
accomplices, but the attorney general did not use him for the reason that he refused

¥H to talk and denied all knowledge of the crime, . The case against Bridges and Webb will be
tried at the next term of the courte..." JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, July 18, 1901 (547).

donned his clothing again.

“Take him back to a cell for a
while,” said Caudill soberly.

At that instant an officer poked his
head around the half-opened door.

“Leland Campbell is home,” he said.
“Just got a call from there.”

“Let’s bring him in and see what he
can tell us,” Caudill said. ~

They found Campbell at his home

Given Name -Marshall—“‘Bring Him In!’’ (Continued from Page 8)
b] é

answered. “Estelle is off tonight. She’ll
be at work at 6 tomorrow morning.”

That would not do, the Captain ex-
plained. “What’s her address?”

The restaurant man gave it readily
and the officers left quickly. However,
the girl was not home and would not
be until 11. Miller and Wiebenga said
they would be back then and hurried
to Headquarters. :

There they found.a telegram that
completely cleared the soldier fiance of
the victim. -He had not been away
from camp on the day of the death.
They also found a man waiting for
them.

“I. am Benny Nowski,” the visitor

declared. “When I reached home to-~

night I was informed that you wished
to see me. So I returned to Memphis
at once.”

Miller quietly told Nowski of Jewell
Roberts’ slaying. Nowski visibly was
upset. But he gave readily a specimen
of his handwriting. He wrote “Harry
T. Spiller and wife, Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia.” The detectives saw instantly
that he had not signed the registration
card.

Under questioning the man told all
he knew frankly. He said that he had
driven Jewell Roberts downtown that
afternoon and they had stopped at a
cafe on Union Avenue. There they
drank several bottles of beer. He de-
clared that he left her about 6:30. He
revealed that Jewell had told him that
she had a date to meet a man later.

Nowski, cleared of any complicity in
the case, was thanked for his coopera-
tion.

At a few minutes to 11 o’clock Cap-
tain Miller decided to question Estelle
Hill at Heedquarters and sent Hillen
and Wiebenga to bring her there.

“You know Jewell Roberts?” Miller
asked.

“Oh sure. I know her very well. We
both work «et the same cafe.”

“When cid you see her last?”

es t,” Estelle answered.
cafe for a couple of
230.”

” Miller ‘asked.
th aman. But why
erious questions? Did
Jewell do :-met:ing wrong?”

The Cap:sin tly told the waitress
that a mar. had killed Jewell.

the man who wore the straw hat!”

For an instant absolute silence was
in the room. Young Campbell, his face
a white mask of fury, stood staring at
Green.

“Are you sure of that, Green?”
asked Caudill. . :

“You bet I am,” answered the driv-
er. “He’s the one who ordered me to
stop in the lane.”

“We want you to help us find that
man,” Miller said.

Dumfounded, Estelle murmured,
“Poor Jewell. Of course I’ll help. But
how? What can I do?”

“First, do you know the man who
was with Jewell?” Hinds asked.

Her “face clouded and she shook her
head and moaned. “Oh, why didn’t I
ask Jewell his name!” Suddenly she
leaned forward and spoke tensely,
“That man did it. I’m sure he killed
Jewell.”

“How do you know that?” Captain
Miller demanded quickly.

“Well, just before she left thé cafe
Jewell told me she was going to a room
with him!”

“Now, Estelle,” Inspector Hinds
continued, “what about the regular
customers who came in the cafe while
Jewell and this man were together?
Did any of them seem to know him?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered.
“But there were two men who knew
Jewell and joked with her. They sat
at the next table.”

She did not know where they lived
or worked but she said they came in
nearly every day. Miller jotted down
their names in his small black book.
Estelle promised to call Headquarters
the first time the men came in the
cafe.

It was past midnight and the officers
thanked the girl for her help and
drove her home.

Jewell had telephoned her mother
and promised to be home early, the
Captain remembered. Yet she intended
to stay a while; she had told her friend
that. Why the discrepancy?

Possibly, the Captain realized, to
keep her mother from worrying and
possibly because Jewell had changed
her mind after calling her mother.

Early the next morning, Sunday,
Captain Miller and Detective Sergeant
Wiebenga were the first to reach the
Homicide Bureau. They had been in
the office but a few minutes when Es-
telle Hill called them and told them to
come to the cafe.

As the police cruiser stopped before
the cafe, Estelle Hill ran to the door
to meet them. “It may not mean
much,” she informed them breathlessly.
“But remember the two men I told you
about? Well, one of them says he

diately and denied having made a call
to Leland Campbell telling him that his
wife was in safe hands.

“I haven’t been near the telephone
all day,” he said. “This man is nuts.”

“Now strip to the waist in a hurry,”
Caudill said sharply to Campbell.

Sullenly Leland Campbell stripped
down and Coroner Lowe made his
examination. A few minutes later he

heard Jewell call that man’s first
name.”

Wiebenga wanted to know, “Where
is this guy?”

“Back there,” she answered, indicat-
ing two men seated at a rear table.
“Come on with me.”

The officers found both ‘men there
and eager to be of help.

“We were at the table next to Jewell
and this man,” one declared. “The
tables, as you see, are very close to-
gether. I couldn’t help catching a
word now and then. I distinctly
heard the girl call the fellow ‘Mar-
shall’.”

Sergeant Wiebenga asked quickly,
“Why do you think that was his first
name? It’s a common last name.”

“Sure,” the informant agreed. “But
it wasn’t this guy’s last name because
Jewell didn’t use the usual Mister. She
always said Mister if she called any-
one by their last name.”

Captain Miller thanked the men and
asked them to be available in case a
suspect was picked up.

When Miller and Wiebenga returned
to Headquarters, the Captain ordered
Hillen to give up the work of searching
the files for the handwriting on the
registration card and start checking
on the unknown Marshall.

Miller did not underestimate the
gargantuan size of the task. Hundreds
of men with the first name of Marshall
were listed in directories and else-
where. In addition, last names as well
would have to be considered to be safe.

Captain Miller directed Wiebenga
and Hillen to begin at once to make a
list of all Marshalls, using directories,
motor-vehicle registrations, utility cus-
tomers’ lists and all other available
sources.

Captain Miller then went to the
Identification Bureau. Here, he rea-
soned, was the most likely place to
find the suspect. His deductions were
simple. A man who had robbed and
killed probably had at least robbed
before—perhaps in Memphis.

More men were pressed into the tre-
mendous job of classifying all Mar-
shalls listed in the records.

The monotony of this routine work
was wearing on the Captain. But sud-
denly he paused, stared hard at the
two signatures before him.

trial for killing his wife. After de-
liberating one hour the jury found him
guilty of manslaughter. He was given
a 21-year sentence in the penitentiary
for his crime.

The names Pete Lester, Johnny
Green, Bob Moffitt and Jake Billings

as used in this story are fictitious to —

protect innocent persons.

Then he jumped up and cried, “Hey,
look at this! The writing appears to
be identical.”

Inspector Hinds viewed the two sig-
natures. “They do look alike, all right.
Who is this ex-con?”

“His first name is Marshall and he’s
from Memphis—Marshall Spigener,”
Miller explained. ‘And he went up
for shooting to death his girl friend.”

The-record revealed that on the night
of August 8, 1927, Spigener shot to
death Grace Bennett, his sweetheart,
as she stood on the front porch of her
home. Arrested for the crime Spige-
ner maintained his innocence under
hours of grilling, but finally broke and
admitted that he killed the girl “be-
cause I loved her.” The police, how-
ever, proved he had slain the girl be-
cause she rejected his love. He was
convicted and sentenced to life in
prison.

HE record further showed that at

the time he killed the girl he was an
escapee from the Arkansas prison,
where he had been sent for grand
larceny. And he also had served time
in Mississippi for theft.

Captain Miller immediately called
the warden of the State penitentiary.
And the warden supplied information
that gave the detectives a start. Spige-
ner, after serving thirteen years, had
been released in 1940 to Arkansas pris-
.on authorities.

Within a few minutes Captain Miller
had an Arkansas prison official on the
telephone. From him he learned that’
Spigener had been set free in Sep-
tember of 1941.

“That fellow Spigener,’ Inspector
Hinds said, “according to our records
has relatives here in Memphis.”

“Fine,” Captain Miller said. “Hillen,
you find out and locate the relatives’
present address.” Then to Wiebenga he
directed: “You, Pete, you beat it to
the cafe and hustle Estelle Hill up
here. I'll phone the two cafe cus-
tomers to come here. We'll have them
all take a look at the Bureau’s old
picture of Spigener.”’

A few minutes later Wiebenga hur-
ried in with Estelle Hill.

“Sit down,” Captain Miller said,
handing her the picture. “Tell me if
you ever saw that man before.”

January Issue of INTIMATE DETECTIVE

STORIES on Sale Wednesday, December 2

40

penses,

Sunday passed and waiting officers
Saw no sign of Spigener at the house
they were watching. At 10 o’clock
Monday morning Captain Miller and
Wiebenga were concealed at a point
that-gave them a perfect view of the
home. They had been on watch since
7 o'clock. As they sat there waiting,
they saw the door open. A man stepped
out and hurried down the walk. In-
stantly Captain Miller recognized him.
It was Marshall Spigener!

At Headquarters Spigener was

_. hustled into the presence of Inspector

Hinds and several detectives.
Well, we meet again,” the Inspector

Spigener i.
cafe with Jc
elared. Hov
and the gir!
leaving the «

But when
pert’s expla:
tics of his bh:
registration
ener. welsh:

Who Sent Brother

< “| wonder if there isn’t a connection.”

Hopkinson said, “Looks like we’ve
got a lot of talking to do to Albertson.
It’s a cinch these fellows knew both

> him and Kmetz.”

The Albertson home was a trailer
and an adjoining tent, planted in the
midst of a rubbish-littered, fenced-in
lot, with goats romping all over the
place. . ‘

Oscar Albertson said he would be
glad to help out the officers.

“Okay,” Bowers said. “Just tell us
who might have wanted to kill Kmetz.”

LBERTSON looked at the officers

out of mild, slate-gray eyes. “I
don’t know,” he said solemnly, spread-
ing his hands.

“Now how about those attacks on
you and him on the same night?” Hop-
kinson asked.

“The police were unable to find out
anything at the time,” Albertson re-

lied

. “Well, we'll try to find out this
time,” Hopkinson said. “In case we
need your help we’ll let you know.”

“Why don’t we work from the other
end?” asked Bowers as they drove
back to town. “Let’s try to get a line
on the letterhead by canvassing print
shops.”

They started their rounds. They
spoke to hundreds of printers. Other
officers did likewise. But finally Hop-
kinson and Bowers found the man who
had printed the Herb Specialty Com-

any letterhead.

P His name was George A. Hodge, and
his shop was located in Santa Monica.
“Sure, I remember the customer,
the printer said. “What do you want

of him?”

“What's his
asked.

‘ “He didn’t tell me. He ordered the
stationery under the name of his firm.
The printer chuckled. “That's why I
remember him so well. I thought it
was funny that anyone in business
wouldn’t order more than 500 letter-
heads at a time. I told him I could

name?” Hopkinson

print a much larger order at a better

price, but he didn’t want them.”
“Describe him,” Hopkinson said.

™D 10

(Conti:

“Well, !
fifty, with
the type «
member.
tinctive-al

“He lea.

The pri:
and when
job he sai:
dress. He
when he ¢
it up hims:

“What «

The pi
book. “Se
order. Ox

John K:
October 1:

“Look h
the custon
give us a
lives, whz
Anything’
fort to re:

The pri:
But sudd:
“He asked
graph ser’
Monica \-
Mrs. Ridc

like the «
heads.”
The or
Mrs. Ha:
the cust:
mimeogr:
merits o1
He firs:
about the
to have 4
made. T
in longha
On Oc"
and orde
on letter:
Company
following

ioe

The girl took one look and ex-
claimed: “Why, that’s the man I saw
with Jewell in the cafe.”

The patrons of the cafe arrived and
identified the picture unhesitatingly as
that of the man they had seen with
Jewell the night she was slain.

Now the problem was to find and
arrest Marshall Spigener.

The officers decided against going
to his relatives’ home since, if he
wasn’t there, he might be tipped off.

“There’s but one thing to do,” the
Captain said. “Set a watch on the
house. -Bring him in!”

LAT Sunday afternoon the soldier
fiance of the victim reached Mem-
phis in the hope he might aid officers.
His story was pathetic. He said he was
to have married Jewell Roberts in Sep-
tember. And, he told officers, she was
to have visited him in camp that very
Sunday morning. He had sent her $75
to buy some clothes and pay her ex-
penses,

Sunday passed and waiting officers
saw no sign of Spigener at the house
they were watching. At 10 o’clock
Monday morning Captain Miller and
Wiebenga were concealed at a point
that‘gave them a perfect view of the

. home. They had been on watch since

7 o’clock. As they sat there waiting,
they saw the door open. A man stepped
out and hurried down the walk. In-
stantly Captain Miller recognized him.
It was Marshall Spigener!

At Headquarters Spigener was
hustled into the presence of Inspector
Hinds and several detectives.

“Well, we meet again,” the Inspector

Who Sent Brother John the Death Vitamins?

“] wonder if there isn’t a connection.”

Hopkinson said, ‘Looks like we’ve
got a lot of talking to do to Albertson.
It’s a cinch these fellows knew both
him and Kmetz.”

The Albertson home was a trailer
and an adjoining tent, planted in the
midst of a rubbish-littered, fenced-in
lot, with goats romping all over the
place. . °

Oscar Albertson said he would be
glad to help out the officers.

“Okay,” Bowers said. “Just tell us
who might have wanted to kill Kmetz.”

Fargo ayes! looked at the officers
out of mild, slate-gray. eyes. “I
don’t know,” he said solemnly, spread-
ing his hands.

“Now how about those attacks on
you and him on the same night?” Hop-
kinson asked.

“The police were unable to find out
anything at the time,” Albertson re-
plied.

“Well, we'll try to find out this
time,” Hopkinson said. “In case we
need your help we'll let you know.”

“Why don’t we work from the other
end?” asked Bowers as they drove
back to town. “Let’s try to get a line
on the letterhead by canvassing print
shops.”

They started-their rounds. They
spoke to hundreds of printers. Other
officers did likewise. But finally Hop-
kinson and Bowers found the man who
had printed the Herb Specialty Com-
pany letterhead.

His name was George A. Hodge, and
his shop was located in Santa Monica.

“Sure, I remember the customer,”
the printer said. “What do you want
of him?”

“What’s his -name?” Hopkinson

asked. .

“He didn’t tell me. He ordered the
stationery under the name of his firm.”
The printer chuckled. “That’s why I
remember him so well. I thought it
was funny that anyone in business
wouldn’t order more than 500 letter-
heads. at a time. I told him I could
print a much larger order at a better
price, but he didn’t want them.”

“Describe him,” Hopkinson said.

wD

said with grim irony. “How often,
Spigener, must we arrest you?”

The prisoner shrugged disinterest-
edly and said, “I don’t know what you
mean.”

“Where were you Friday night,
Spigener?” Hinds demanded.

“At home. I didn’t leave the house.”

“You didn’t meet Jewell Roberts,
did you?”

“No, I tell you I never left the house.
I’ve got plenty proof of that, too.”

The Inspector decided to make iden-
tification positive before questioning
Spigener further. .

Within 30 minutes after this deci-
sion Marshall Spigener stood on the
brightly lighted police show-up stage
with several other prisoners from the
city: jail. Out in the dark audience
Estelle Hill and the two cafe patrons
studied the faces in the line-up.

The result was convincing, Inspector
Hinds announced later. Spigener was
the right man. .

Spigener then admitted being at the
cafe with Jewell Roberts, Hinds de-
clared. However, he swore that he
and the girl parted immediately upon
leaving the cafe together.

But when confronted with an ex-
pert’s explanation that the characteris-
tics of his handwriting and that on the
registration card were similar, Spig-

-ener welshed on his last statement,

and admitted that he had accompanied
the girl to the hotel. This, too, was
according to Hinds.

But he insisted that the girl had
been alive when he left her in the
hotel room.

Chief of Police Seabrook, Police

(Continued from Page 28)

“Well, he was a big fellow, about
fifty, with a full face, I think. Just
the type of person who’s hard to re-
member. There was just nothing dis-
tinctive-about him.”

“He leave any address?”

The printer leafed through papers,
and when he found the record of the
job he said, “No, he didn’t give an ad-
dress. He paid the full amount in cash
when he gave the order and he picked
it up himself.”

“What date?” Bowers asked.

The printer again looked at the
book. “September 20 he gave me the
order. October 1 he picked it up.”

John Kmetz had taken his pills on
October 12.

“Look here,” Hopkinson said. “Didn’t
the customer say something that might
give us a line on who he is, where he
lives, what kind of business he’s in?
Anything? Try to make an extra ef-
fort to remember, won’t you?”

The printer pressed his lips together.
But suddenly he snapped his fingers.
“He asked me if I knew a good mimeo-
graph service. I sent him to the Santa
Monica Multigraph Company. Talk to
Mrs. Riddie Harris who runs that out-
fit.”

The officers left to visit the multi-
graph company.

“What do you think of the descrip-
tion?” Hopkinson asked his partner.

“Kind of hazy. I don’t know if you
felt the ‘same way I did. It almost
sounded like Kmetz. He was a full-
faced, big fellow, about that age, just
like the chap who ordered the letter-
heads.” . :

The operator of the typing service,
Mrs; Harris, had no trouble recalling
the customer who had ordered 500
mimeographs ei a letter praising the
merits of the tigor-restoring capsules.

He first had visited her place on or
about the afternoon of September 24
to have a typewritten copy of a letter
made, The letter had been scrawled
in longhand.

On October 2 he showed up again
and ordered the mimeographed copies
on letterheads of the Herb Specialty
Company. He picked them up on the
following day.

Commissioner Boyle and Attorney
General Gerber joined Inspector Hinds
in questioning Spigener.

Nor were Captain Miller and Ser-
geant Wiebenga idle. At that moment
they were hurrying out to the house
where the killer stayed. There they
hoped to find some trace of the one
missing bit of evidence which: they
felt certain would wring a confession
from the killer. This evidence was
the dead girl’s rings.

They finally found the rings in the
custody of a woman Spigener had
known. This woman, of course, did
not know the rings had been stolen.

When Captain Miller and Wiebenga
reached Headquarters with the woman
and she faced Spigener with her story,
he broke down completely and ad-
mitted the slaying, according to a
statement issued by Commissioner
Boyle.

According to police the slayer said
that when he met the girl he saw the
rings and money and decided to rob
her. He persuaded her to accompany
him to the hotel where he grabbed her
and put his belt around her neck and
jerked it tight. When he was sure that
she was dead, officers quoted him as
saying, he stripped off her rings, took
her money and cleaned out her purse
to leave nothing to identify her and
then hurried out of the room.

As this issue of INTIMATE DETECTIVE
Stories Magazine goes to press his
trial is scheduled for an early date.

The name Benny Nowski in this
story is fictitious to protect an innocent
man,

Mrs. Harris stated that the man
was between 30 and 40 years of
age, five feet ten or eleven, slender,
dark-complexioned, sun-tanned, lean-
faced, clean-shaven, wearing a dark

suit.

With a shock the officers realized
that the descriptions supplied by the
printer and Mrs. Harris clashed sharp-
ly. Were two men mixed up in this
murder? Two men had been involved
in the brutal attack on Albertson, they
remembered.

“Are you positive about the descrip-
tion?” Hopkinson asked. As an old
hand he knew only too well how often
eye-witnesses are mistaken in giving
descriptions.

“I’m positive,” the woman said firm-
ly. “If you wish I can call in the girl
who typed the letter.”

T= officers told her to go ahead.
Mrs. Harris called in the girl, Miss
Sue Lightner. The description she fur-
nished matched the one given by her
employer.

Hopkinson and Bowers went on their
way. They had picked up vital infor-
mation and they immediately put it
before their superiors.

“J feel sure,” Inspector Penprase
said, after he had listened to a resume
of the facts, “that the first attack on
Kmetz was not made by an ordinary
prowler, and that it somchow ties in
with the poisoning. Somebody wits out
to get him.” .

“How about the woman angle?”
Captain Kunou asked. “I marked a
few things in my calendar. Kmetz
got married on August 18. Twelve
days later, on August 30, the first at-
tempt on his life was made. Three
weeks later, on September 20, the
killer ordered the letterheads. From
then on he worked at his job pretty
persistently. On September 2+ he had
his longhand notes typed. On October
2 he ordered the mimeographed copies
and on the eleventh he mailed the
package. You see, almost without in-
teruption the killer engineered John
Kmetz’ death. And somehow the whole

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The contents of this purse le dto the strangling of a beautitul girl;

but the rinas in the

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purse put police on the trail of her murderer.

“By

By E. B. MOODY ‘Special Investigator for. SENSATIONAL DETECTIVE

swiftly out of the service en-

trance of the palatial Cla-.
tidge. Hotel’ in Memphis and melted
into the shadows of an alley. He:

pulled his hat down over his face
and dodged into a dimly lighted side
street. :

The man's pace was rapid, his step

light. Opposite a deserted ware-"

house in deep shadow he crouched
over a sewer grating. For a moment

something gleamed i in his hand

as it caught the rays of the August:

moon. Then with a clinking sound the
key, with its numbered and lettered
leather label still attached, dropped
out of sight. The sinister figure
straightened. :
A few minutes walk brought: the
man back to well lighted city streets.
He pushed his hat back, squared his

shoulders, and turned into the main

street with a jaunty step.

: When’ the maid at the Claridge Hotel

went into 1011 the next day at about

two o'clock in the afternoon, she looked |
at the bed and -then fled screaming from’,

the room. In a few minutes she was

back with a bell boy. and the ‘manager. .

In horror stricken silence she pointed
to the gruesome object on the bed.

three hotel employees were fidget-

ing in the corridor outside number
1011 when Captain Wilbur Miller and
Detective Sergeant Pete’ Wiebenga ar-

“What’s the matter here?” the cap.
Se oe ; _- pleased to leave that room of horror.

. tain asked. :

' “The woman in 1011 seems to have
been murdered,” explained the manager.
He flung open the door and the de-

ed

“ & TALL, lithe figure “stepped

the

tectives could see the hard August sun
beating in through the windows. “She
registered last night—August 7th,” he
-continued.: “This is a terrible thing.”
The maid hung back but finally fol-
lowed the sergeant into the room. She

~ averted her eyes from the body on the

bed. The room was disordered,: showing
unmistakable signs of a struggle. A chair
‘lay ‘on its side, the bedding had been
dragged to the floor, and a small table
‘beside the bed had been upset and
broken. The telephone, which had ap-
parently stood on this table, stood on
the floor with its receiver in place. Wie-
benga was rapidly jotting notes on the
condition of the room in a notebook.
He stooped over and looked at the
telephone carefully without touching it.
The instrument. was not’ broken.

Captain Millercame back into the
room. “I called the- coroner and_Ber-
,tillon people from .another room,” he
‘explained. He’ crossed to the young
sergeant’s side and they stood’ looking
down at. the woman on the bed.

Even though her face. was now: dis-
itorted: with the’ death agony, it was
evident that she had been a beautiful
woman. Her hair was dark and curly.
Dried blood showed at the corners of
her full. lips and there was a wide mark
‘round her. throat. Her eyes- started
from her head. be ;

Miller walked over to the hotel man-

“. ager. “I'll want to see the’ registration

‘card. for this room. Also, instruct all
your employees not to discuss this af-
- fair. The less people who know about
“it, the better chance we'll have to catch
‘the killer quickly.”
The manager nodded and. went out.
He left quickly as if he were well

The captain’ wheeled on the maid,
“Did you touch anything in this room?”
- Her eyes widened, “No, sir,” she said

—nt et

(ite
ail, /

*

emphatically. “I just tock one look and
run right out. I wouldn’t touch nuthin’
in here for anything.” ;

Miller smiled a little at’ her. wide-
eyed fear. “You just give the sergeant
your name and address. you can
go along. But remember,” he cautioned,
“you're not to tell anyone about this.
The same goes for you,” he instructed
the bell boy. . ,

“We may want to ask you a few
questions later,” Sergeant Wiebenga ex-
plained as he’ took their names. They
also seemed glad to get away from the
horror that lay on the bed.

“What'do you think, Wiebenga?”

The younger man shrugged: “Looks
as though she was strangled.”

“That’s what I figure, too,” the cap-

‘ tain remarked as he moved over to the’

door to admit the coroner, the pho-
tographer, a fingerprint man, and a
couple of uniformed men from the am-
bulance. :

Captain Miller outlined the situation
to them while the photographer snapped

his flashes. Then: the medical examiner ~

set his case down on the bed beside
the body. “Looks as though she’s been
strangled,” -he said. - 3
The bellboy returned and _ hastily
handed Miller the registration card for
room 1011. He. read it and silently
handed it over to Wiebenga. It read:
Mrs. A. B. Scott, Los Angeles.” ‘

Together the two detective officers ad-.

vanced on the medical examiner. “What
do you make of it?” the captain queried.

*“You fellows are always in such a
hurry,” grumbled Coroner C, W. Miller
in mock irritation. “Never: want to wait
fora ‘post’, Rigor mortis has set: in.

You can’t count: too heavily on that

because it varies with different: individu-

als and ‘conditions. My. guess” is she’s

been dead at least twelve hours.” -
Wiebenga suddenly pointed to some

ted marks on her fingers. “What caused.

that?”

“Looks as though she wore at least
two ‘rings regularly.” ‘

“Wonder where they are now?” the
sergeant speculated. “Wonder if thé kill-
er has them?” ;

“Someone might want it to look like
robbery,” Miller pointed out.

The medical .examiner nodded his
head. “Looks as though there was more
violence in this killing than is usually
involved in plain robbery. She seems
to have been pretty badly beaten before
she was strangled: There are wounds

‘on the head, arms, and neck.”

“Was she strangled with a piece of
rope?” asked one of the patrolmen.

The coroner leaned down, to more
closely observe the mark on the dead
woman’s. neck. “I doubt it. There are
no uneven markings such as rope or
twisted cloth would make. It was ap-
parently done with something strong
and smaoth—possibly a leather belt. I'll
know more after the tests. Just take
the body over. to Gaston Hospital,” he

As soon as the fingerprint man was
through, Wiebenga examined the wom-
an’s. purse. An: envelope addressed to
Mrs. Jewell Roberts, 1335 Latham,

‘directed.

. Memphis, Tenn., dropped into his hand.

The return’ address was a Macon,
Georgia, Army headquarters. The letter ee
mentioned an enclosed money order for

“$75 and was dated several days before.

Captain Miller read the letter gravely.
“She should have received that. money
yesterday.” ;

_ Wiebenga nodded. “Sure. But there
isn’t'a cent in her purse.” He smiled
grimly. “It looks as: though someone not
only tried to steal the soldier's girl but’
also the soldier’s money that he’d sent ’
her. Of course, there’s still a ‘good

‘chance someone is trying. to make it


THERE WAS. BLOOD

ON THE MOON THE

NIGHT THAT JEWELL ROBERTS SMILED

INTO THE EYES OF

look like a robbery. I don’t see .why
a robber would have mashed her up
so badly.” ‘ :

The captain glanced'back at the body
that was just being removed and nod-
ded somberly. “She may have put up
a fight and enraged the killer.”

“Shall I cover the Latham address,”
the younger man asked.

“Yes, we've got to move fast. ‘The
killer has’ had plenty-of tithe to cover
up already. I want to report this thing
to the Inspector and the Chief.”

After Wiebenga left, Captain Miller
walked slowly around the murder room.

His trained eyes did not miss a detail. -
Then he left the hotel and stopped at °

a nearby Western Union‘ office where
he. sent a telegram to Georgia.

QUT on Latham Street Pete Wie-

benga found his errand unpleasant.
He had been ready for trouble and
watchful as he parked in front of - the
1335 address. He only hoped that the
killer would come to the door and elect
to shoot it out with him. Instead, a
pleasant, dignified woman had admitted
him to the neat home.

Now Wiebenga sat opposite the mur-
dered woman’s mother and sparred for
time. How could you tell a woman her
daughter had been murdered in a hotel
room, he kept asking himself: “Your
name, please?” he asked aloud in a
business-like voice. ;

“Mrs. Birdie Talley Barham—but tell
me officer. What’s. wrong? Something
must have happened: or you wouldn’t
be here. Was Jewell in an auto acci-
dent? She didn’t come home last night.”

The detective: moistened his lips.
‘Why, yes. Your daughter has met with
an accident, Mrs. Barham.”

The stricken mother must have read_

che truth in the young man’s face, for
her next words came in a whisper.
‘She’s dead isn’t she?”

Wiebenga was in the presence of ter-
sible sorrow. He could hear the wrack-
ng sobs as he drew a glass of water
n the kitchen. “Please, Mrs. Barham,”
ne said kindly as he gave her the
water. “You'll make yourself ill.”

With a supreme effort Mrs, Barham
‘egained self control though the tears
continued to course’ down her face. “I
—I’m sorry. Jewell was all I had. She

ook care of me. Now just everything ©

s gone.”

The mother took Wiebenga’s second
niece of bad news heroically. When she
earned that her daughter had: been bru-
ally murdered, she askd, “What can I
lo to help?”

“No one.is safe while a killer is at
arge in this city, Mrs. Barham.” The
ergeant leaned. forward and spoke
arnestly. “You must try to remember
verything about your daughter’s re-
ent movements that you can. Even
eemingly unimportant facts can some-
imes give the police a useful clue.”

“Yesterda y—Friday—Jewell left
‘ome about four o'clock. About seven
he called from a restaurant where she
‘sed to work and said she would: be
ome early.” :

“Mrs. Roberts is a waitress?”

‘The woman nodded. “Yes. But she
asn’t’ been feeling well; so she hasn’t
rorked for about two weeks. I imagine
he stopped in at the restaurant to

ee if she could have her job back. .

Vhat she earns as a waitress, together
tith her $30 ‘pension, keeps us both.”

THE STRANGER ....

The sergeant was carefully making
entries in his notebook. “What sort of
pension does your daughter receive?”

“She’s the widow of a World War
veteran,” Mrs. Barham explained. “Her
husband’s been dead four years now.
He died when Jewell was only twenty-
three.”

“Then the last you heard from your
daughter was at seven o'clock last
night?” :

“Yes. Usually I don’t interfere, - but
I did urge Jewell to come home real
early because she hasn’t.been very well
lately. In fact, she stopped at the doc-
tor’s office on the way downtown.”

“She left home alone?” Wiebenga
queried.

“Why, no. A young man drove her
downtown.”

Wiebenga looked up sharply. Here
was a possible lead; a break that he
hadn’t expected. “Who was this man?”

Mrs, Barham shook her ‘head. - “I
don’t recall his name. I only met him
once. He was out on the porch. She’s
_ only known him a couple of weeks.

She’s been, lonesome since Joe left for

the Army and he didn’t want her sitting

at home all the time he was gone.”
“What does this man look like?” the
detective asked quickly.

“I don’t. know exactly.” Mrs, Bar- -

- ham hesitated. “It was night when I
met him and shadowy on the porch. He
had an awfully nice pleasant voice. Af-
ter that he just drove up in front of
the’ house and tooted his horn.”

Wiebenga could see the mysterious
killer fading out again—becoming just
a dark shadow on a porch at night.
“Can’t you remember anything else
about this man? He may be the mur-
derer.”

The woman gasped. “Oh, I couldn’t
believe that. He seemed to be such a
nice young man.”

“Even if he -isn’t,” the sergeant ex-
plained, “he’s still one of the last people
to see your daughter alive. The police
will want to question him.”

“He usually wore a dark suit—blue I
think. He looked fairly tall that night
i-—as I remember it. His car was a
dark colored coupe. It wasn’t very new
—That’s about all I can tell you about
him.”

“Did your daughter have any en-
emies?”

Mrs. Barham spoke emphatically.
“No. Jewell got along with everyone.
She was popular.”

“Are there any family troubles of
any sort. Has she had a disagreement
with a relative lately?” the detective
persisted. i

Mrs. Barham then explained that
Mrs. Roberts’. only relatives were her
parents.: Mrs, Roberts’ father was ‘a
Helena, Arkansas farmer. The parents
had separted in 1928 and Mrs. Talley
and her daughter had come to Memphis
from Independence, Mississippi where
Jewell was born. Mrs. Talley then mar-
ried’ a Mr. Barham who later died.

“Did Mrs. Roberts have much money.

‘or valuables with her when she left
home yesterday?” Wiebenga asked.

“Joe sent her $75. She spent some
of it on clothes, I guess she had about
. $50 with her.”

“Did anyone except you know she
had it with her?” ©

Mrs, Barham pondered this question
for some time. “I think she joked with
some of the neighbors about it when

Pallid with fear, Marshall Spigner

Ss

stands between Cc

aptain

‘ce

Wilb

be

ur Miller

(right) and: Sergeant Pete .Wiebanga (left) following alleged, confession.

21

P AYNE, Zebediah, wh,

fe a gener tat pei ce
; i ; Brom the Nashoitte Banner. hes =
BENTENCE OF THE MURDERERS, PAYNE, CAR.

x OLL, & KIRBY.

The ra Whith Wo present beluw will be read with
painful interost--the firet by an old and highly reapected
member of tho het, delineating the awful scene in the 8Su-
prome Court room attendant on the eannunciation of the

doem of the three above named murderers—the Inst, the

impressive and solemn sontence itself pronounced by Judge
Green on the occasion. _ >

“>To the Editor of the Republican Banner. —_

The room of. the Supreme Court, this morning présented
a scene of unusual interest. The ordinary business of the
Court has no attractions for the crowd, ‘I'he judges and
eome halfdozen lawyers upon en average compose the max-
imum of the persons to be seen in that ordinarily quiet tem-
ple of Justice, This morning however, formed an excop-
tion. Long before the court met. the room was crowded to
overflowing. ‘Ihe murderers, Payne, Carroll, and Kirby,
were taken into the court house by the Sheriff and svon
after the judges xppearod and took their senta upon the
bench, and the rolemn and awful duty the conrt had to per-
form, had produced a marked effect upon their countenan-
cee’ Tt was nothing Jews than as organs of the Law, to say
to three poor, wicked members of our-raco that their days
were numbered; that the law required theie lives for the
innocent blood they had shed. ‘Pha casen of Payno and
Carroll had been previouxly decided, but sentence bad not
been pronounced. ‘The argumence it’ the case of Kichy wan
- concluded. on Monday; and the opinion of the court was
now to be delivered. ‘Vhis was done by Judge Green, jna
‘lengthy and able review of the evidence in the cnse, clearly
demonstrating the guilt of the
with the expression of the unanimous opinion of the court,
approving of the verdict of the jury,
ment of the circuit court. The Judge then addressed hitn-
self to the prisoner, and reminded him of the Atrocity and
enormity of the crime of which he waa convicted --the mur-
der of an innocent and unoffending female, who had never
done him an injury, and that tov fur n pitiful bribe,
like manner addressed himaelf to each of the other prison.
ers, briefly referring to the prominent anid leading fucts and
circumstances of each case, and concluding with pronoun.
cing the sentence of the Law, that they be hung on Friday,
the 10th of February.
The wholo scene was one of unsurprased interest--in-
deod it was sublime. ‘The deep and profound nenstbility of
tho judge, inspired him yvith moréthan hin usual « loquence

and pathos, A death dike stillnesa pervaded the large.

crowd of spectatura, bruken only by an occasipnal righora
sob frum--not the prinoners-—the apectators,

I have been in courts for nearly 45 yenra--1 never wit.
neseed such a scene before, and hope never to withenn eneh
another. Three fellow creatures, murderers, nee bronght
into court tugethor and Kenteneed to be hung on the same
gallows, onthe same day. ‘Vhe court, in. my opinion, de-
servers the highest credit for theie firmness in disregarding
the technical objections that wero made in each ease, not
affecting the merita, And it isto be hoped that the igno-
minivus punishment that awaits these Unhappy men wall
havea salciars influence upon suciety. Their doom in sent.
ed. There will be no pardon. or commutation of putish-
roent, fur the best of all rensona, there is nut the slightent
ground for it in either case. .

- A MEMBER OF TIE BAR.
Jan. 18, 1843,

Prisoner—and concluding |

We in.

hanged Nas

and oflirming the judg.’

ille, TN, 2/10/1843...

SENTENCE. PRONOUNCED BY JUDGE GREEN,

Axcuipatp Kinny, you havo been tried, and found guil-
ty of the murder of Polly Hunter, onthe night ofthe MMith of
May laat, by a jury of the county of White, You haven
pealed to this conrtand have had hero the assistance etnhhe
counsel, We have investigated your case an it in presented
in the record, patiently, and thoroughly. We du not find
that any error was committed inthe a Saab of the cir-
cuit court; and upon na full view of all the circumstances, in
evidence ngainst you, we aso satisfied that
the charge.

Your victim was an unoffending female.—Stimulated, .
moat probably, by a reward bestowed from sume erson
who was intercated in-her death—you were bales to act
the part of ncold blooded: assassin, Soon after dark. on
Wiiiirodie Hight the Tith of May, you appronched her
dwelling, armed with the deadly nile. A light wasin the
room, and you saw her, in the midst of her female friends, |
witting around the candle, engaged in cheerful conversation,
You sad hala nilently, and atealthily, the window near
Which whe ant, and fired your gun upon her through the
ginse.—-Y our nim wan but too sure... Vhe fatal ball hind
dype ite work of death, and ina few momenta, she Wie a
Ufyless corpec, You have shown in thie transaction that
pou havea heart utterly void of social duty, and fatally bent
on mischief Anaterror to others, and amenns of safety
to the commonity, the law pronounces that you must die.
If you were pormitted to go abroad jn the community, no
man's life would be safe, whom you might be tempted to
destroy, or Where destruction would benefit any person wil-
ling to wey the price of blood, It ia not, therefure, fit that
you should go at large, a@ terror to mankind; and the law
deems that itis fit that you suffer an ignominious death, ow
a terror to evil doers who might he tempted to fullow in
four step. And the judgment of the law is, that you be
’

ange by the neck until you are dend,
Wirrrre (i

you are guilty of

aPpmene veven Vance aber % -ty '


149, 150 HUMPHREYS’ REPORTS.

{ig insisted, is the real [150] culprit; and that she {is con-
tradicted by Betty and Nancy, who have no motive to
tell a falsehood. It is further insisted that her manner,
when testifying at a former trial of this cause, and the
discrepancy in her statement before the magistrates and
subsequently before the jury, discredit her testimony.

When this case was before this court at a former term)

' (4 Humph. 289), the decision was placed wholly upon the
ground of, the misconduct of the jury, and but little at-
‘tention was given to the proof in the cause. Now, the
only question is whether the prisoner was thei perpetrator
of the murder.

Although Cindy’s testimony is of a character to expose
her to criticism, -yet, in view of the circumstances, we
think she is entitled to credit. In the first place, she
does not give at this time an account of the transaction
contradictory of her first statement. Then, she with-
held important facts which she now relates. She was
not interrogated as to the matter, and she doubtless sat-
isfied herself for not telling the whole of the facts, on the
ground that she was not asked. This she says was the
reason; and every one who has been conversant in courts
of justice has witnessed like conduct on the part of wit-
nesses much more intelligent than this slave, and who were
entitled to credit. A reluctant witness, anxious to con-
ceal a fact, but not willing to swear to a falsehood, re-
quires often the most direct and searching interrogator-
ies before the whole truth will be told. In this case, on
a former trial, Cindy’s testimony at first was limited be-

fore the jury, as it was before the justices, until inter-

rogatories were put to her calculated to draw out the facts
she subsequently disclosed. The perturbation, confusion,
and sickness that followed these interrogatories were a
natural result of the predicament in which she was placed,
if the facts she felt compelled to disclose were true. She
told Mary she did not wish to destroy Jim for such a fel-
low as Isaac was. She could-but know that her husband,

George, and her cousin, the prisoner, had conspired to

take the life of. Isaac. They had often been at her house

together, shortly before the death of Isaac, and she had

heard them both threaten to take his life. When, there-
142

ere SR ee

JIM Y. THE STATE. 15, 151

fore, she was forced to make a disclosure that would so
deeply implicate them both, she was appalled at the con-
sequences—consequences [151] she had not contemplated
—which came suddenly upon her, and for which her mind
was wholly unprepared. In view of these considerations,
her sickness and irresolution were natural. No such ef-
fects would have been likely to have existed if she were
about to invent a falsehood, to screen George, by the con-
viction of Jim.

In the first place, it is admitted she knew at the trial
before the justices that those who defended Jim alleged
that George was the murderer; and yet her evidence is the
same before the jury that it had been before until she was
specifically interrogated. If she had designed to accuse
Jim falsely, to save George, she would have prepared her
story beforehand, and would have been eager to tell it;
her mind would have been prepared for the state of things,
and would not have been agitated.

We think, therefore, all the facts in relation to her.
manner of testifying rather tend to support and strength-
en a belief of the truth of her present testimony, than to
invalidate it. But it is said she told Mary she would
have given the world if she had come out and told all she
knew; the reason she did not was she did not wish to de-
stroy Jim for such a fellow as Isaac.

The truth seems to be that Isaac had not only excited the
enmity of George and Jim, but he seems to have lost
caste with the other negroes in the neighborhood. He
had combined with the white folks to betray George to
the sheriff, and it was thought he was also engaged ‘to
apprehend him. This was no slight offence in their eyes;
that one of their own color, subject to a like servitude,
should abandon the interests of his caste, and, for hire,
betray black folks to the white, rendered him an object of
general aversion. Hence it was that George and Jim felt.
so little hesitation in the utterance of their threats; and
hence it was that Cindy did not wish to destroy Jim for
such a fellow. ‘

Besides the declaration to Mary, made by Cindy, im-
plies that she had something to disclose she had not told
before the justices; she wished she had come out and told

143


148 HUMPHREYS’ REPORTS.

had been recently made by a person running. ‘At the mud-
hole the water above the tracks had been formed into
ice, but the ice was not s0 thick over the tracks as it was
in other parts of the mud-hole, There was a mark on the
inside of the.right track that showed there was a deficiency
in the sole of the shoe that made it; on examining
the prisoner’s shoes a piece was wanting in the sole of.
the inside of the right foot. The tracks were measured,
and, on applying the measure to the prisoner’s shoes, it
corresponded with the width, but was about half an inch
shorter than the shoe.

David Koger says he has run and seen the track meas-
ured carefully, and found that the tracks would be from
- one-half inch to an inch and a half shorter than the shoe
that made them. The-tracks would be shortest in soft
ground.

Francis L. Boyd arrested the prisoner on Sunday mora-
ing after the death of Isaac, in a cave about half a mile
from William Williams’ Louse. The prisoner denied that
he had any pistol; he said that he had sold his pistol to
Peter Creps, two or three weeks before, for $1.50, and
had paid Cellar’s Mary 50 cents for washing, and Hart’s

~Daphney 37% cents for a shirt-pattern, and still had a
“bit? The prisoner said he had never seen Isaac—was
not acquainted with him, but had heard of such a man.

Peter Creps denies that he had bought a pistol from
the prisoner; and various witnesses saw him with a pistol
within a few days of Isaac’s death. All the evidence shows
that the prisoner had seen Isaac many times, and knew
him well. To one witness he said he had seen Isaac com-
ing from the mill, and could have shot him then, but there
was a white boy along; to another he said he had seen
Isaac in William Williams’ still-house; and Violet and
Rose proved the interview and conversation with Isaae
shortly before the killing.

Both Daphney and Mary deny that they have received
any money from the prisoner. Peter Creps shot a fowl
about half a mile from William Williams’, about ten or
eleven o’clock the night Isaac was killed.

Opposed to all this proof, the prisoner relies upon the»

testimony of S. Williams’ Nancy, who states (in opposi-
d4a

-”

ities tats gs

_ 148, 149

JiM Y, THE STATE.
tion to Cindy’s [149] testinvony) that the prisoner was
in Cindy’s house when the last gith wes fred; that she
was in there with him, was awake, heart the gun fire and
saw Jim in the house, \Beetey “Ebsey’ i:

Becky, SX RBey’s mother, whose
house adjoins Qindy’s,eays dhe heard Jim talking in Cindy’s
house the night of the murdér; she Heard a gen fire shortly
after she lay dywn; she liad Rot béén agleep, but was sox
ing when the gin fired; she heard Jim talking in Cindy’s
hotse; ke and Nancy and Oindy were talking. The pris.
cner also proved that Cindy is the wife of George; thai
at the trial before the comatitting magistrates, she Snake
only of the firing of one gun, and said Jim was at her
house when & fired, leaving the impression on the mind of
the witness that Jim continued at her house during the
night. It was also proved that, at a former trial in the
circuit court, Cindy had made the same statement she
did before the justice, and was about leaving the stand
when a juror asked her if Jim had a pistol that night; she
said he had; and’ being further asked, she then spoke of
another gun having been fired, fattered in her manner,
and was sent out. Next morning she was again exam-
ined, and statq@d the facts as she now states them.

The prisoner also proved by Cellar’s Mary that Oindy
told her she would have given the world if she had come
out before the magistrate and told all she knew, like the
other witnesses ‘had. Te reason she did not, she did not
want to destroy Jim for such a fellow as Isaac was.

The State proved by Sampson Williams, Samuel Wil-
liams, and Gilbert Willams, sons of Samuel Williams
Sr., the owner of Cindy, Nancy, and Becky, that Cindy is
a woman of truth, and they would believe her, but that
Nancy and Becky are ia the habit of telling stories, and
are not entitled to full credit.

Upon this evidence, if Cindy is entitled to credit, the
prisoner is guilty of the murder of Isaac, upon his own >
confession. He returned to her house a few minutes after
the gun fired, and said he had shot at Isaae, through a
crack, as he lay before the fire.

; But it is earnestly argued that Cindy is not to be be-

lieved; that she has a streng motive to convict Jim, that

she may thereby save her own husband, George, who, it
Aa


151, 152 HUMPHREYS’ R2PORTS.

all. When she does come out and tell additional

facts, we are rather to suppose she states that which she,

wished to Mary she had come [152] out and told at first

than that it is a statement invented for the occasion. _
But it said Cindy is contradicted by Becky and Nancy.

Becky does not contradict Cindy; she was not in Oindy’s

house, but was in an adjoining one; she heard Jim talk

in Cindy’s house a little before the gun fired, and then she
- gays she was dozing, but not sleeping.

This statement is very vague and inconclusive, and can
not be relied on for anything. Nancy, it is true, does contra-
dict Cindy; but three of their young masters concur in
stating they would believe Cindy, but could not give Nancy
full credit.

In addition to all this the whole circumstances of the
case support Cindy’s evidence.

It is true that George, as well as Jim, had threatened
Isaac; each had-the means of committing the murder, and
both were in the neighborhood the night the deed was
done, and might have perpetrated the act. But, in the
frequent conversations with the witnesses, when Jim
and George made threats, Jim’s enmity appears most vehe-
ment, and his purpose to ‘kill Isaac ig expressed with less
equivocation.

‘ Sam says Jim said he would kill Isaac; and George said,
if Isaac would betray black folks, he would be none too good
to hurt him, and he “agged” Jim on to kill Isaac. George

equally desired the deed to be done; but, less bold than

Jim, he preferred putting him forward in its perpetration,
and, therefore, he stimulated Jim to kill Isaac.

When they went to Violet’s house, a short time before
the murder, to reconnoitre the ground and become famil-
iar with its localities, and with Isaac’s habits when there,
we see Jim boldly entering the house upon a false pre-
tence, while George stands without.

Nancy, the prisoner’s own witness, says Jim had a pistol
the night of the murder,:and-she saw him trimming bul.
lets that night in: Cindy’s house. Her supposition that
they were larger than those shown her on the trial is
entitled to no weight. But the tracks that were seen, as if

made by one running from the kitchen where Isaac was

iid

JIM V, THE STATE. 2 152,153 -

killed, are conclusive to show that Jim was at or near
the kitchen late on the night on which the [153] murder
was done. Those tracks which were in the mud-hole near
the kitchen had ice formed over them, but not so thick
as the ice in other parts of the mud-hole. This fact re-
pels the supposition that they had been made at some
previous time. They were unquestionably made the night
of the murder, and so late that night that the water over
them did not freeze so thick ice as that which had not been
disturbed. That these tracks were made by Jim is so
certain, upon a comparison of a peculiar print of one of
them with his shoes, that no effort has been made to evade
this conclusion. The conclusion is irresistible that he eith-
er fired the pistol himself, or was present aiding and abet-
ting George who did it. But no tracks are seen that cor-
respond with the size of George’s foot; all the witnesses
say George had a large foot, much larger than Jim’s. If
he was present at all, he was in such a situation as to

~ escape over ground so hard with the frost as that no tracks

were left. When these facts are considered, they con-
clusively fortify Cindy’s testimony, and as conclusively
overthrow Nancy’ 8.

_ Jim was unquestionably absent from Cindy’s house ata
late hour the night Isaac was killed., Cindy’s statement,

therefore, of this fact is true. He ran from the kitchen

where the murder was done. This comports with Cindy’s
statement, that he fired the pistol at Isaac himself. Her
testimony is supported by all the facts and circumstances
of the case, and is weakened by none of tbs evidence re-
lied on to attack it. We, therefore, entertain no doubt of
the guilt of the prisoner, and affirm the judgment.

445



——.~

HIRAM H &i b

by

Patricia B. Kirkeminde (1)

oO. BOX es
Crossville, TN 38555


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ee | [Si v ns |
» Morning Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee. Thursday, Nov. 18, 1897
, ft | |

|

i
i Jonesboro, Ve Ls

The second execution by law. in the history of Washington County
took place here today when Robert, alias Isham Sims (Black) walked
upon the scaffold laughing in the very face of death and was hanged

till he was dead. )

Sheriff Prickett had concluded in his own mind to have the drop
fall at 11 o'clock, yet he had not announced the fact. At ten
minutes to eleven he told Sims to get ready and they slipped him
through the window onto the scaffold. Sims spoke to the crowd
briefly saying that he hoped to meet them all in heaven and then
stepped down to the trap door. As the black cap was being adjusted
someone asked Sims if he felt exccited and he laughed pleasantly

| and said no, he saw nothing to be execited about. His last words

: were: "I think it pretty hard to have to hang for something I didn't
intend to do, but may God have mercy on my soul."

Scarcely were these words uttered before the sheriff cut the rope
and the body shot downward about four feet. It was fourteen minutes
before the physicians pronounced him extinct. Sims died hard and
while the physicians say his neck was broken, it appeared that he
slowly strangled to death. The remains were taken inside the court-
house and later removed to Bluff City for burial today.

Robert Isham Sims had shot anc killed Walter Galloway who was
courting Miss Effie Boring. he was probably around 20 years of age.)
(Ms

4 pon thio Me remains were taken inside the courthouse and later removed to

. the Bluff City for burial today. The crowd was estimated at from five
hw pe, to seven thousand people. Sims was dressed in an $8 black suit of
hal clothes and was buried in a $10 coffin.

Several years previous. to t hanging of the Deakins negro, a white
man was executed for murde#3) In the early history of the State
several men were hung for other offences. In August, 1792, three
men were hung in Jonesboro on the same day for horse stealing WOE)

Although it has been considerably over a hundred years since
Washington County was organized and its increase of population has
been rapid, there have been but three instances of capital punish-
ment for murder as, we have been informed by those who searched the
records. The othgm case was that of a colored man, a slave, who
killed his master DWilliam Deakins four miles from Jonesboro. This
murder and execution occurred in 1848, near fifty years ago and there
are few living who have a personal knowledge of the occurrences.

The list of men killed in Washington County would be a long one, if
a complete one could be furnished. Some of the slayers were never

brought to justice, others were acquitted, and the rest, except in

the cases. cited, served in the penitentiary. There have been some

murders where the perpetrators escaped detection mtirely.


January 24, 1950

- Mrs. J. O. LeFlore
903 Campbell Avenue | as af
Knoxville, Tennessee tae Be ie?

Dest Mrs.: LeFlore: a ee ae te a

re I received your letter last: night and note your fz
an interest in Steele. Many people feel as you “do about ~
. matters of this kind, and I respect their ‘feelings.
» My problem is the obligation under my oath to .en-
force the law. I did the best I could. to study this
record and I could find no mitigation whatever. I
do not feel that anybody's blood is on my ! hands. of. ”
Whatever is being done in these cases is by the ~° ~~"
State of Tennessee of which all of us are a part.
‘. Det r me thank you for writing me. Iam always

troubled when cases of this kind are presented. to. me."

we

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Cae? bat 4% 2 ¢ =
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January 24, 1950 |

Mr. R. O. Biggs, Principal
Beaumont School |
Knoxville, Tennessee

'.»Dear Mr. Biggs: — | .

I received your letter of the e0th
with ‘enclosure and assure you that these cases. hye

give me more concern than anytlfaethaterises ; |
I studied the record as close as I could and could
"find no mitigation whatever. The law prescribes
what my duty is, and I regard it as the action of

» the State instead of an individual who happens. to!

be Governor. Your feelings about it ‘ respect :
“entirely as well'as that of all those who signed |
the petition. I only regret that I could not find

some way to justify interference with the course |
of the law. a

’ ;

Most sincerely,

GB:JC

BEAUMONT SCHOOL
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

R.O. BIGGS, PRINCIPAL

January 20, 1950.

t

Hon. Gordon Browning
Governor of Tennessee
Executive Mansion

Nashville, Tennessee

Dear Governor Browning:-

All persons whose names are affixed to the enclosed petition
are white teachers in this school. In order to avoid the
possibility of publicity these names were not sent in with
other petitions.

You will recall that young Steele's father is head janitor
in our school. I might add that this was done without the
advices, knowledge, or consent of Steele.

Sincerely your friend,

AO. Oye?


We, the undersigned law-abiding and peace-loving citizens of Knoxville
and Knox County are moved by the injustice and cruelty to which two
local boys, Clyde &teele and Herbert Bearden, have been bubjected.

Both boys were brutally and mercilessly treated while in jails; and

the trial was so manipulated that justice could not prevail. Believing
that the Governor wants to see justice done, we urge that he commute the
severe penalty imposed upon the two boys. .

Signature Address

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322° = “ HAYWOOD’S HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. ~

Long Island village without receiving an injury. On-the other
hand the fire was returned, and two Indians were wounded. A

‘ large party of a hundred and fifty Indians then collected, head- -

- ed by Unacala, the same who was wounded at the attack upon
Buchanon’s Station in September, 1792, and they pursued the
boat to Muscle Shoals, where they overtook it. They killed all

the white people who were in it, made prisoners of the negroes, !
and plundered the boat of its lading. The white people, in mak- *_
ing resistance, killed three Indians and wounded a fourth. It is’ —

. here to be.remembered that the free and*unmolested naviga-

tion of the Tennessee River by the citizens of the United States |

was secured to them by the treaty of Holston.

On the 24th of July a party of Indians killed John Ish at his
plow in his field, within one hundred and eighty yards of his
own block-house, and scalped him. Ish lived eighteen miles be-

low Knoxville. He left a wife and eleven children, the eldest :
not more than eleven years of age. Maj. King and Lieut. Cun- °

, ningham, with John Boggs and ten other Cherokees, sent by
“The Hanging Maw” ir. pursuit of the offenders, returned a few
days afterward with a Creek, whom “The Hanging Maw” wished

, to scalp, but was dissuaded from his purpose and took only the

war lock, with which they danced the scalp-dance all night. But

the Cherokees apprehended for’this act the resentment of the

Creek Nation. Maj. King, in the pursuit, came upon the trail

of the murderers leading into the path that was traveled from

Coyatee to Hiwassee, which he kept toa point within two miles

of Hiwassee. He there received information that those he was

in pursuit of passed with a fresh scalp about the middle of the -
afternoon, and would, it was supposed, tarry all night at Woco- ,
cee, eight miles ahead. The pursuers went. to Wococee, and —

finding. the murderers still ahead, they continued the pursuit
till they were overtaken by a runner from Hiwassee with infor-
mation that one of Ish’s murderers was behind, stopped ata lit-
tle village two miles from Hiwassee. Despairing to overtake

the main body, they turned back and found the Creek as the ©

runner had reported, in the house of a Cherokee. After some

consultation as to whether the Cherokees or white people should

kill or take him, “The Maw’s” son, Willioe, with three others,

seized and tied him: . Having tied him, four warriors took him in

charge, who were particularly careful that he should not escape
wae fella

HAYWOOD’S HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. 553 923 sae

until le was delivered, confined in cords, to the Agent of tho
United “States, Mr. McKee, at the Tellico block-house, ‘on the
evening of the 2Sth of July. The Governor issued a commis-—
sion of oyer and terminer for the trial of this Indian, pursuant

to the stipulations contained in the treaty of New York. A

court was held by Judge Anderson, an indictment was found by
the grand jury against Obongpohego, of Toocaucauges, on Oak-

‘ fuskee. When charged, he confessed the fact. He said the up-
per towns had thrown away the peace talks made in pursuance | ;; ..

of the treaty of New York, and had taken up the hatchet, and
justified the fact charged to him. But the court permitted him

‘ to withdraw his plea and to plead not guilty, which bejng done,’

the trial proceeded and the petit jury found him guilty of the
murder of John Ish, as charged in the bill of indictment. Being

-. asked what -he had to say why the sentence of the law should —

not be pronounced, he replied that he had not any thing to say;
that he came out with an intention of killing and stealing or of’

being killed; that he had killed the man for which he had been’

tried, and that it had been his misfortune to fall into the hands
of the whites; that he should have escaped from them had it not
been for the Cherokees; and that should he now be put to death,
there were enough of his nation remaining to revenge hais death.
He was sentenced and executed on the 4th of August—whether _

‘lawfully or not depends more upon the decision of the jurist,

who is versed in the law of’ nations, than of the casuist, and much ~
perhaps upon the figurative allegation made by the prisoner
that his nation had taken up the hatchet; For, by the general
understanding of all mankind, the intervention of war suspends
all prior treaties so long as it shall continue. ea
Two days afterward eight Creeks were seen twenty-five miles
below Hiwassee, on their way to the settlements south of the .
French Broad; nine of them soon afterward crossed Hiwassee
below Chestuee, and inquired whether the Cherokees who took
the Creek warrior that killed Ish were at home; and about the
same time another party of Creeks, a hundred in number, crossed |
the Tennessee near the mouth of the Chiceamauga, injending to
fall on the north-western parts of Knox or Hawkins. Counties. .
The war-whoop was raised at the camp of “The Hanging Maw,”
and twelve of the Cherokees turned out to pursue them, headed
by “The Maw’s” son, Willioe, and with them five of the Federal. ©


CVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY

_ STATE OF TENNESSEE. ©

$

FROM ITS =

_ EARLIEST SETTLEMENT UP TO THE.YEAR 1796,
_ INCLUDING THE aoe

BOUNDARIES OF THE STATE,

af oes

y

- *.. BY JOHN HAYWOOD, >

at

~

ee,
EXACT REPRINT OF THE EDITION OF 1823, PUBLISHED BY
W. H. HAYWOOD, GREAT:GRANDSON OF THE AUTHOR;

_ WITH. A BIOGRAPHICAL. SKETCH OF JUDGE JOHN HaYwoop
Oe BY COL, A. 8. COLYAR, 9) ty fy

Ssesseuue],

“6,

~~

+ NasuvI.ur, TENN.; Datias, Tex.; RicHmMonp, Va. ooo.
* Pustisaine House Metnovist Eriscora Cuurcn, Sout «.

oo  Sartn & LAMAR, AGENTS ae $
: °1915.>>


187 HUMPHREYS’ REPOR'S.

administrators, and guardians, on the other, we think this
law is admirably adapted. But we do not think it was
intended to apply to any ease where a final settlement
had been made, according to the law as it existed at the
time of such settlement, or to be continued annually, after
a final settlement of all the estate in the hands of the
party shall be made under this act.

We, therefore, think there is error in this record, and af-
firm the judgment.

PILLOW vy. ALDRIDGE et al.

NASHVILLE, DECEMBER, 1843.

BILL OF INTERPLEADER—Dvty or court. The court should not, upon
a bill of interpleader, actively interfere to dispose of the fund
in controversy, and paid into court, except in favor of one who
appears, either from proof taken or a pro confesso judgment
suffered, to be best entitled. (See State Ins. Co. Gennett, 2
Tenn., Ch. 100.)

CASE IN JUDGMENT. Where one creditor of the common debtor filed
a bill to reach a fund, and another creditor filed an attachment
bill attaching the same fund, while a third person claimed it by
assignment, the person entrusted with its collection filed a Dill
of interpleader against all three of the claimants, under which
the fund was paid into court; afterwards the first creditor died,
and his suit abated; the second creditor’s bill was dismissed be-
cause of a defect in the attachment; while the third claimant
filed his answer exhibiting his assignment, but producing no
further proof. The chancellor ordered the fund to remain for
the present with the clerk and master. Held, correct. upon ap-
peal by the last-named claimant.

This is an appeal from am order in chancery at Columbia,
Bramlitt, chancellor, presiding.

Nicholson, for complainant.

Dew, for defendant Aldridge.

Reese, J., delivered the opinion of the court.

Harrington, as the creditor of Wood, filed a bill to re.
cover the amount of a note due from Winston to Wood.
William K. Hill filed an attachment bill for the same pur.
pose; and it being known to G. J. Pillow, who had the
collection of said note, that Aldridge also claimed the
proceeds of said note by assignment, he filed a bill of inter-
pleader, making Aldridge a party defendant, who an-

a

287, 288

JIM Y. THE STATE.

swered, exhibiting his deed of assignment. But the rights
of the parties were never adjudged or decreed upon; for
Harrington died, and, having no administrator in time,
his bill abated. Hill’s bill being an attachment bill, and
the affidavit defective, was dismissed on technical grounds,
[288] and Aldridge produced no further proof to show
his title to the proceeds of the note than the mere deed
of assignment exhibited with his answer. Under these
circumstances, Pillow having paid the funds into court,
the chancellor ordered that they remain for the present
with the clerk and master. Aldridge has appealed.

We afiirm the decree of the chancellor, because it was
not made to appear to the chancellor that Aldridge had
the better right, and the court should not actively inter-
fere to dispose of the fund, except in favor of one whe ap-
pears, either from proof taken or from a pro coufesso judg:
ment suffered, to be best entitled. The latter was the
case in Richards and Slater, 6 J. C. R. 444. One defend-
ant averred and proved his title; the other defendants per-
mitted the bill and the answer of the co-defendants to be
taken pro confesso. Upon this state of the facts on the
record, a final and conclusive decree as [to] the ppd te
dispute will be rendered, But far otherwise here. ane
rights of the parties to the fund could not be conclusively
determned in these cases.

Let Aldridge’s appeal be dismissed, and such decree as
has been rendered be permitted to stand, and the case be

remanded.

JIM, a slave, v. THE STATE,

NASHVILLE, DECEMBER, 1845

EXPERIMENTS BY THE JURY IN A CRIMINAL CASE. Where the life of an
: _individual is at stake pon an indictment fer murder. the court
ean not permit a verdict to stand which bas been obtained, not
by -calm. deliberate examination of the nroof, but by Bucertaih
experiments, such as sending the constable out of the Fone
and talking to him through the door, with a view to test the
transmission of sounds, and running to ascertain whether the
tracks would be sherter than the shoes with which they were
made, (Cited in the same case, 5 Humph. 151.)
[Cited in: 5 Hum. 150.] vey
om tw

*S'QT

‘euuey, SoTTTAyyTuUsS peZuey Seaets ‘utp *aNT¥d

August, 1937

himself and parried questions either sul-
lenly or-lightly. “You’ve got me wrong;
youve got me wrong!” he repeated over
and over.

The trial was set for December 19th,
and on the 12th, Shaw, was returned to
the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis.
Next day he sent for detectives, with the
announcement that he wished to tell the
truth. They were amazed and then in-
credulous. It was hardly likely that he
would admit his guilt now.

Nor did he. is new story was that
on the night of November 2/th he had
visited the home of Hunky John, an Al-
banian. There he had drunk some white
mule, and fallen asleep. When he awoke,
hours later, and left the house, he found
the radiator of his car warm, indicating
that it had been driven a considerable
distance. Hunky John had used the car
while he was peacefully asleep.

This weak defense was shattered when
Hunky John asserted that he had not
oe seen Shaw on the night of the mur-

er.

“HEYENKY’ Jim John’s imperfect com-
EX mand of English made it difficult for
him to understand or answer questions.
Shaw might have considered this an asset
when he tried to throw the blame on Hunky.

The trial opened on December 19th.
Two days before that, Shaw’s attorneys
sought a pT which was denied.
On the day the trial began, W. S. Henry
and J. K. Brown, colored attorneys, re-
tained by Shaw’s sister, filed a motion for
a change of venue and this too was denied;
a denial that was to prove of tremendous
importance. With feeling so high against
the accused, his attorneys claimed that
he could not have a fair and_ impartial
trial in Indiana. Judge James Collins was
the presiding Judge.

One of the star witnesses against Shaw
was his former friend, Ape-face Kelly, He
told the court how Shaw had asked him to
sell the jewelry, saying that it belonged
to his sister.

“You can’t tell nothing about me,” Shaw
boasted when Kelly was skeptical of the
origin of the watch and ring. This, Kelly
asserted, was on the night of November
28th, and the two were talking in front
of the Washington Theater. Shaw had
the diamond cluster ring on his little fin-
ger, and Miss Cora Lee Smith, walking up
just then, caught sight of the ring and in-
sisted on seeing it. She soon walked off
with the ring, though Shaw warned her
that he might want it back any time.

John Johnson, another of Shaw’s
friends, caused the courtroom to be rocked
by laughter when, in his nervousness, he
tried to seat himself on the Judge’s bench
beside the dignified Judge Collins.

Miss Cora Lee Smith, when called to
the stand, added another interesting con-

Master Detective

tribution. She stated that on Thanks-
piyiag Day. Shaw. took her to his sister's
ouse for dinner and, when he took her
home that evening, asked fora date that
night. This she refused, saying that she
needed some sleep.

“Oh, you don’t need sleep!” Shaw re-
plied in effect. “Why, | never had any
sleep Tuesday, and I never got any until
five Wednesday.” yaa

The State produced a surprise witness
in Andrew Parker, who worked with Shaw
at Kingan’s Packing Company. Parker
stated that the morning after the murder
he had asked the time, and Shaw had
pulled out a’ woman’s small watch cand
announced it was five minutes of eight.
Parker was positive that the watch was
an Elgin, like Helen Whelchel’s. He fur-
ther added that later in the morning he
had observed Shaw with a diamond ring
in his hand. He was ‘rubbing it with the
finger of his glove, Parker asserted. Shaw’s
lawyers made desperate efforts to break
down this testimony, without avail.

Shaw took the stand in his own behalf.
He stated among other. things that he
had never been in trouble before. His
defense was simple: he had gone to
Hunky John’s house, drunk white mule and
fallen asleep while: John used his car. And
later he had purchaséd the ring and watch
from John.

Hunky John was placed’ on the stand in
rebuttal of this evidence. Through an in-
terpreter, Hunky. ‘denied he had seen
Shaw either Tuesday. or Wednesday. On
Tuesday night he swore’ he had taken a
lady to a show,’ after. which he accom-
panied her home and “spent the night.
Asked the name of the lady, he replied,
to the amusement of ppectaters “Harry.”

“Don’t you mean ‘Harriet?’ ” the law-
yer patiently asked. 5

The lady’s name was Harriet, and she
followed him on the stand to deny that
she was his sweetheart, but she admitted
that she and her mother, afraid to spend
the night alone, had asked him to remain.

ON the afternoon of December 24th, the
case went to the jury, which, after a
deliberation of one hour and forty-three
minutes, filed back with the verdict—
Guilty!’ Shaw was sentenced to die in
the electric chair at sunrise of April 7th,
1924. And the “man in the street” ex-
pected that this execution would be car-
ried out.

Shaw was taken to Michigan City to
the condemned row.

On January 12th, through his lawyers,
he filed a supplementary motion for a new
trial and was overruled. He was, however,
given sixty days in which to file his Bill
of Exceptions. This was filed January 22nd,
1924, and the assignment of errors was filed
January 28th. ,

He was granted a stay of execution to

magazine.

To Newspapermen, Police Officials
and Detectives

| If you have in mind any fact case, with actual photographs,
| deemed suitable for publication in this magazine, please address
_ the Editor, MASTER DETECTIVE, 122 East 42nd St., New York
| City, and ask for our “Letter of Suggestions,” covering full infor-

mation relative to writing the accounts of fact crime cases for this

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and kept everything valuable.

There was of course the possibilit of
attempted criminal assault. Had Helen
ridden home with someone she knew, or
had she been kidnaped on her way home,
the fact that she screamed from the car
might indicate struggles with a would-be
rapist. Defeated in his attempt and
alarmed by a realization that the neigh-
borhood was being aroused, he may have
driven hurriedly off, and in his anger at
her resistance thrown her body over the
High School Road viaduct.

This theory received some substantia-
tion from information furnished by a
motorist, who told the, officers he had
seen a man in a car with a woman on
the Rockville Road, about four-thirty on
the morning of November 28th. ith
three companions he was on a hunting
trip. They had noticed an old car, which
they thought was a Ford, pass them. It
had only the left head-lamp burning. As
it passed they saw a woman lying on the
back seat, with her head in the lap of
another man. They had believed she was
asleep, but after reading the description
of ilelen Whelchel’s clothing, they had
come to the conclusion that it was she
who was lying in the old car that passed
them.

DETECTIVES Irick and Giles, who
worked on the mystery from the be-
ginning, were now joined by Detectives
‘Allen and Rademacher. As days passed
without any apparent solution in sight,
an aroused public demanded more
activity. 3

Again the death scene was visited and
gone over carefully, as was the neighbor-
hood of lowa and South East Streets,
where Mr. Oberting had seen the auto-
mobile. They discovered nothing.

The detectives again interviewed scores
of Helen’s friends and acquaintances; they
once more talked with the young men who
had danced with her at the Lyric Ball-
room that night, and carefully checked
their alibis. They obtained no more val-
uable information than they had already.

As usual, scores of_ tips poured into
Police Headquarters. They had to be run
down, but nothing came of them.

A search was instituted among the mo-
tormen of the Garfield Park street cars, to
learn if any of them had seen Mrs. Whel-
chel, but they were unsuccessful. The in-
definiteness of the time at which the enig-
matic widow started for home on the
street car, if she did so start for home,
was a stumbling block.

Efforts were now made to trace the mys-
terious car which Mr. Oberting had _ seen
zigzagging down lowa Street. The detec-
tives again questioned him in the hope
that he might recall something about it
that would distinguish it from: the thou-
sands of other cars in the city.

Mr. Oberting believed it was an old
Ford, and he now remembered that. the
lights on the machine had become bright-
er as the motor was raced, and then
dimmed as it slowed down. This indi-
cated a. single unit electrical system,
such as was used on old model Ford cars.
All Ford vehicles were carefully checked,
endless as the task seemed to be, and
nothing resulted,

Pursuing the theory that Mrs. Whelchel
had gone downtown after she left her
father's home, the police made a canvass
of all the moving picture theaters in the
hope that a ticket seller or usher would
recall having seen her that night. Leav-
ing home shortly after seven, she should
have reached the heart of Indianapolis
bv eight, in time for the moving picture
shows. But this hope of accounting for
her activities between eight and ten, dis-
appeared when no employees of any thea-
ter recalled seeing her.

Master Detective

The day following Thanksgiving, a man
named Ray Cobb found Helen helchel’s
purse, set with blue stones, in a clump of
weeds about two miles east of the High
School Road. He took it to the Police
Station, but there was nothing in it, not
even the torn stub of a moving picture
theater ticket.

An intensified search for a motorman of
a Garfield Park car that_had carried Helen
Whelchel, was made. The ordinary rou-
tine on the street-car line had been dis-
turbed by the Thanksgiving season. There
had been scores of substitutes used in
manning the cars, and this added to the
difficulty. But the investigators kept at
the hopeless task. They had figured that
if Helen Whelchel had gone directly home
from the ballroom, she woul have
boarded a Garfield Park car at Illinois and
Washington Streets, between eleven-fifteen
and eleven-thirty that night. They ham-
mered this fact home to many motormen
they interviewed.

inally, in Benjamin Riche, they found
the man they sought. He told them that
a woman, or rather two women, had
alighted from his car at lowa and East
Streets, shortly before midnight, on the
Tuesday evening in question. He had
not connected either of these women with
the disappearance of Mrs. Whelchel. One
woman was young, he said, and one old.
Yes, he admitted, the younger one might
have been the Mrs. Whelchel he had read
about in the newspapers. He could not
be certain which woman left the car first,
nor had he noticed whether they had
talked together, as if ac uainted.

Careful questioning, however, brought
out several facts which seemed to indicate
that the younger woman had been Mrs.
Whelchel. Then suddenly he thought of
something peculiar that had happened on
that trip. That night, while at the con-
trols of his car, he had noticed an auto-
mobile following him in rather an unusual
way. “As you know,” he said, “most car
drivers try to pass a street car when it is
in motion, and they usually speed up be-
tween crossings so as to rid themselves of
this obstruction in their path.

“AAHIS automobile driver did not follow
the usual procedure. He seemed con-
tent to keep behind the car all the time.
“When | stopped the car at lowa Street,”
he concluded, “I watched it carefully in
my mirror, not only because of the pe-
culiar way he had been following me, but
to be sure that he had slowed down be-
fore | opened the door. The car was cur-
tained.”

This story of Mr. Riche indicated that
someone who knew Helen Whelchel was
on that car might have been following her.
There were only two passengers, and it
was unlikely that he would be following
it on account of the motorman or the
elderly woman.

Renewed efforts were now made to track
down the mysterious curtained car that
had puzzled Motorman Riche. It was
not found.

Then appeals were made through the
newspapers for the older passenger to come
forward. But nothing was ever heard
from the woman who rode with Helen
Whelchel on her last street-car ride.

The more the mystery was investigated,
the more tangled it a peared and the
more resentful the people of Indianapolis
became at the official failure to find the
solution. | Families who believed that
Helen Whelchel had been attacked by a
marauding rapist would not permit their
wives and daughters to be out late at
night. These precautions only added to
the resentment of the general public at
what it called the inefficiency of the
police.

Chief of Police Herman Rikhoff and

73

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74

Supervisor of Detectives John Mullen,
took personal charge of the case, putting
the main responsibility for its solution on
Jerry Kinney, Captain of Detectives. They
assigned additional men to work under
him, selecting detectives with the finest
records to work night and day on the
case.

Always they were continuously baffled
by their inquiries into the mysterious
widow's private life. As far as her friends
could help them, she had none. Hence,
it was not possible to develop any lead
through contacts she might have had that
were unknown to her family and friends.

While the investigators inclined to be-
lieve that jealousy or a lovers’ quarrel
was the motivation, they did not rule
out the robbery theory altogether. In
fact, they kept every avenue of investiga-
tion open and pursued each with unrelent-
ing vigor. And about this time the rob-
bery theory was given impetus by a story
told by a Mrs. Hannah Schubach.

SHE told detectives that on the murder

night she was a passenger on a South
Meridian Street car. She left the car at
lowa and South Meridian Streets, and as
she did so she observed a man in an auto-
mobile at the rear, who seemed to be
watching her intently. When she turned
east on Iowa Street, the car followed and
passed her. The driver stopped at an
alley intersection, and got out of the ma-
chine, apparently waiting for her to ap-
prcees, Frightened, she turned and ran
ack to South Meridian Street. This was
about twenty minutes before Mr. Oberting
heard the screams, and the place but a
short distance from lowa and South East
Streets where he had_ picked up Mrs,
Whelchel’s hat.

Pawn-shops and jewelry stores were be-
ing continually checked in the hope that
if robbery had been the motive, sooner or
later an attempt would be made to dis-
pose of the watch and ring, the only two
pieces of jewelry of any value that were
still missing. It seemed scarcely likely
that anyone would attempt to sell or
pawn these two articles, since both of
them had been described many times in
the newspapers. But even the cleverest
criminal slips at times, and the detectives,
worn out and discouraged by their vain
investigation of blind alleys, hoped this
would be one of those times.

Mrs. Whelchel’s grandfather had pur-
chased the watch as a gift ten years be-
fore. It had the word “grandpa” engraved
on the back of it. He supplied the inves-
tigators with the name of the store where
it had been purchased, and the proprietor
in turn was able to furnish the detectives
with the number.

Indianapolis is plentifully supplied with
pawn-shops and jewelry Stores, and the
task of continuous checking of these re-
quired patience. But the discouraging re-
sults obtained were to have an ending. One
day Detectives Allen and Rademacher
walked into a store at 510 Indiana Avenue.
This street is in the colored district; a sort
of amusement center for black folks. It is
encumbered with numerous poolrooms,
“clubs” and drinking places, about which
hang groups of loafing young colored men.

The detectives examined the watches on
the trays displayed for sale. At first it
seemed that the search would be no more
successful than all their previous quests.
Then suddenly they spied a small, open-
faced watch. Snatching it up, Detective
Rademacher turned it over. The word
“grandpa” was engraved on the back. With
trembling fingers the detective opened the
back ant found that the numbers inside
the case tallied with the numbers in their
note-books; the numbers of Mrs. Helen
Whelchel’s watch!

This was Sunday morning. Investigat-

"

Master Detective

ing the pawnbroker’s record they found
that the watch had been brought in by
someone by the name of Jerry Sikes, who
gave an address on North West Street,

‘his being in the colored section, the
matter of investigating it was turned over
to two colored detectives, who began a
hunt for Jerry Sikes. They finally found
him in a poolroom, but when asked about
the pawned watch, he showed no uneasi-
ness. He readily admitted that he had
pawned it, saying that it had been given
to him by “Ape-face” Kelly, who had paid
him fifty cents for doing this.

Chief of Police Rikhoff recalled “Ape-
face” Kelly and made a personal, search
for him. When found, Kelly, like Sikes,
betrayed no concern. His story was that
the watch had been given to him by an-

John T. Shaw

other negro who had asked him to have a
crystal put in it and then sell it. Before
he had a chance to do this, he got in a
ool game and lost all the money he had,
ather than quit playing he handed the
watch to Sikes and asked him to pawn

it.

_ “Where did you get the watch?” detec-
tives demanded.

“From John Shaw,” Kelly answered
promptly. He added a piece of informa-
tion which was startling. Shaw, he said,
also had in his possession a diamond ring,
and he had, the previous Wednesday night,
ge it to his “girl,” Cora Lee Smith, in

elly’s presence, telling her that he wanted
it back.

John Shaw was unknown to the police;
he had no criminal record, but from that
moment he was the most badly wanted
man in the city. A check on his move-
ments was begun, since, in that crowded
colored district, the task of tracing a
wanted man they had never seen vault be
equivalent to digging in a haystack for a
needle. Toward evening detectives dis-
covered that their quarry was on Indiana
Avenue, and Supervisor Mullen, with the
two colored detectives, Sneed and Tra-
bue, sped there. At the Golden West
Café they halted. Parked near by was an
old black Ford touring car which an-
swered the description of the murder car.
They examined it cautiously, then waited
patiently for the appearance of the man
who, they felt, held the key to the riddle
of Helen Whelchel's tragic death,

It was about eight-thirty when two
negroes sauntered from the Washington
Theater and walked toward the parked
car. Both were short, but one was a
stocky, muscular youth, the other slighter
and_ thinner. he larger of the two
laid his hand on the car, opening it with
the assured air of the owner, but he never
climbed in. Supervisor Mullen and_ his
aides seized him. In a few seconds Shaw
was on his way to Headquarters, his com-
panion, Moses Box, being taken along.

Shaw was hurried to the Bertillon room

and subjected to a long questioning. He
denied all knowledge of the crime, saying
that he spent the murder night at home,
and that he had never seen the watch or
ring.

Upon being confronted by Kelly and
Cora Lee Smith, who stated emphatically
that he had been in possession of the
ring and watch, he changed his story to
the declaration that he had bought the
ring and watch from a white man in In-
diana Avenue for twelve dollars the
night of November 28th. Cora Lee. who
had surrendered the ring to detectives, said
he had told her he had paid $150 for it.

Shaw’s car was ,taken to Headquarters,
where it was inspected, and the cushions
of the front seat noted to be covered with
large brownish spots which appeared to
be blood.

The next day six acquaintances of Shaw,
including his girl friend, were taken into
custody, They were not held because
of any suspicion of complicity, but be-
cause they had all seen Shaw with the two
articles in his possession.

There was wild excitement in the city
on Monday when it was learned that a
negro had been arrested on charges of
murdering the beautiful young white wo-
man. There had never been a lynching
in Indianapolis, but the city seethed with
indignation and it was thought advisable
to rush Shaw to the State Prison at Michi-
or? City, 150 miles away, until public
eeling became more rational.

Shaw was spirited out of the city, and
once behind the dreary walls of the prison,
he was again questioned in the hope that a
confession would be forthcoming. Though
he was already enmeshed in a net of cir-
cumstantial evidence, the officials wanted
an admission of guilt in the hope of sav-
ing the State the expense of a trial.

haw, however, continued to assert that
he had been home on the night of the
murder, and that he had bought the watch
and ring from a white man. The blood
on his car he explained by saying that a
friend, riding in the machine with him.
had cut his finger. When discrepancies in
his story were pointed out to him. he only
shook his head dolorously and wailed.
“You've got me wrong; you've got me
wrong!”

THe detectives who had accompanied
him, questioned him for days, assisted
by deputy wardens at the prison, but were
unable to wring any confession from him.
Meanwhile, back in Indianapolis, the
police force was working hard to gather
evidence_to be presented to the Grand
Jury. Their slate had been wiped clear
for Wednesday morning, December Sth.

Shaw was employed at the Kingan Pack-
ing Company, as a member of the ice
gang. He lived with his sister and her
husband, in a three-room house at 1418
East Maryland. At first they had tried to
help him by asserting that he had been at
home on the night of November 27th. but
later they admitted they did not know
when he had come in.

The City Hospital pathologist who ex-
amined the discolored back and cushions
of Shaw’s car stated that the stains were
human blood. Another important link
was forged when Mr. Oberting inspected
ae partially identified Shaw's automo-

ile.

On December 5th, the Grand Jury probe
began. Two days later Shaw was indicted
for murder, on two counts; murder, and
murder while engaged in robbery.

All efforts to wring a confession from
him failing, detectives returned to Indian-
apolis with the report that he was sullen
and morose. Several times they had
thought that he was weakening; that a
confession would be forthcoming. But
every time. he had taken a new grip on

; MIMI

[

. — 1 FOOT EMER wha Nera RC | RRM He SG TT A aE 5 ae
© oy or gro Sa a ee | ™ m ee oa


72

left hand was a white gold wedding ring,
bearing the inscriptisn: “R. W. to H. H.”
If the Indianapolis detectives had had
any doubts about the dead woman's iden-
tity before, the ring removed them. They
had found the body of the young widow,
Helen Hager Whelchel, for whom the
police had been searching during the early
hours of that morning.

While the body was being removed to
an undertaker’s, the detectives searched
the bridge itself, and the tracks below
the bridge, but found no clues to what
had happened. They found no trace of
the missing left shoe, and made a note of
this as a possible lead if it should ever
be found.

Mr. Francis Hager was notified and
visited the mortuary. As the police had
expected, he identified the body imme-
diately. Staggering from the room, his
face lined with grief, and his hands clench-
ing and unclenching in their helplessness,
he cried:

“| just want one chance with my rifle;
one chance, that’s all. Oh, God, if | can
lay my hands on him!”

Thus, in less than twenty-four hours,
the detective problem of finding a miss-
ing girl had been changed into one of
finding a missing murderer, and the check-
up that had begun at midnight became
more thorough and persistent.

BRIEFLY the police record read: Helen
Hager Whelchel, widow, twenty-two.
Mother dead several years. Husband killed
in accident, March, 1923. Had not worked
since her marriage. Enrolled six weeks
ago as a student of hair-dressing at Rain-
bow Beauty College, North Illinois Street.
Fond of movies, theaters and dancing.
Wore at time of death a platinum-set dia-
mond cluster ring; white gold weddin
ring; heavy gold chain, wound severa
times, around left wrist; earrings; string
of pearls; old-fashioned gold watch in
black leather case on right wrist. Carried
gray leather purse decorated with blue
stones.

Checking, the officials noted that the
wedding ring and the gold chain were still
on the body; one earring was picked up
in lowa Street, where Mr. Oberting had
found the hat. This left the string of

pearls, one earring, the diamond ring and -

the watch, missing.

The disappearance of these pieces of
jewelry suggested that robbery might
have been the motive; yet the fact that
all the jewelry had not been taken, and
the strange circumstances in which the
girl’s life and death seemed enmeshed, in-
dicated motivations were remote. And
the further the police inquired, the more
baffling became their problem, because
they were unable to learn anything defi-
nite of the slain girl’s private life.

According to Mr. Hager, the girl’s
father, she had left home between seven
and eight on that fateful evening. He
stated that shortly before she left she had
received a telephone call. The police
traced this call to a Miss Edna Uphaus, a
close friend of Helen Whelchel. Miss Up-
haus stated that she had called Helen at
six o'clock that Tuesday evening, and
asked her to meet her downtown to go
to a theater. Helen refused rather hastily,
Miss A ig recalled, with the words
“Sorry, | have another engagement.”

From the time Helen Whelchel left her
home at approximately seven-fifteen until
she was seen to enter the ballroom of the
Lyric Theater in downtown Indianapolis,
all trace of her was lost. Thus, there was
a hiatus of two hours’ time in the girl’s
life on Tuesday evening that remained in-
explicable.

here was the mysterious widow be-
tween the hours of eight and ten that Tues-
day evening? With whom did she have

Master Detective

the engagement? Certainly, the police
argued, if this person could be discovered
the mystery of her activities between eight
and ten would be solved. And it seemed
to be the general impression that what had
happened during that time would prove
to have a direct bearing on the enigma of
her strange death.

The detectives searched her room for
clues. Her father told them. of having
seen a bundle of letters in his daughter's
bureau drawer, the day before her death.
They had vanished when the police
searched.

Had these letters been received from a
lover who was now being discarded? Had
the engagement between eight and ter
been with this discarded lover for the
purpose of returning his letters to him,
and breaking off the relationship? These

Chief of Police Elkin Lewis. He

brought the slayer of Helen Whelchel

back to Nashville, Tennessee, to stand
trial for his second crime

were thought provoking questions. But
they could not be answered until this per-
son came forward, as the detectives were
unable to find anyone who knew who he

was.

Mrs. Whelchel had kept a diary, and the
police thumbed it eagerly in the hope
that in it they would find the missing link.
The diary was filled with incidental ac-
tivities. If there was anything of an
emotional nature in the young widow’s
life, she had kept it as ee sag A from
the pages of her diary as she had from the
knowledge of her friends.

In it was constantly recorded her deep
affection for her father and grandfather.
On July 2nd, of the previous year, she
had written in her little private book that
she had attended a small party where she
had met Bob Whelchel, whom she called
a “regular fellow.” Thereafter his name
appeared often. Sometime after meeting
him she confided to her little book that
she had burned Bill’s pictures and letters.
In October she became engaged to Mr.
Whelchel and on December 9th, they
were married.

That was all.

Who was Bill? And could he possibly
have had any interest in Helen after her
marriage and quick widowhood? But no
one knew who Bill was, and the little
book didn’t say. »

_ The officials sought by every means pos-
sible to persuade the person with whom

‘Mrs. Whelchel had had an engagement

to come forward, but no one admitted
having had such an appointment with the
attractive brunette. His or her silence

added one more sinister touch to the
mystery.

As had been said, it was easy for the
police to pick up the victim’s trail at
ten o'clock. There was no doubt about
the girl having entered the Lyric Ballroom
at that time. It was significant that she
entered alone. The matron of the hall.
as well as a member of the Dolly Gray
orchestra that furnished the dance music
stated positively that they had seen her
dancing with several young men. Other
employees of the ballroom were just as
confident. Helen Whelchel’s radiant person-
ality was such that she stood apart at
any gathering, so there seemed no chance
that these people could he mistaken. The
girl, it was said, remained in the ballroom
until the last dance at eleven o'clock. And
it was at this point of time that the police
again found the trail broken.

Had Helen Whelchel walked from the
ballroom to obtain a Garfield Park street
car to take her to her home? If so, some-
one who knew her must have seen her
either getting on the car in the center
of Indianapolis, or observed her on the
car itself. But here again no one came
forward with information that would en-
able the detectives to feel positive that
this was the route the girl had taken.

Thus there remained the possibility that
the person with whom she had had the
ck ee up earlier in the evening; prob-
ably the discarded lover, had waited until
she came out of the ballroom and had
accompanied her or followed her on the
journey that ended in her murder.

The police requested that all young men
who had danced with her that Tuesday
night at the Lyric Ballroom, come for-
ward and give such information as they
might have, which would be enlightening.
The men who did make themselves known
were unable to contribute helpful infor-
mation. All had alibis for their activities
after eleven o'clock that night. Naturally,
the police reasoned, any man who did not
have an alibi would not come forward, so
little was gained from this avenue of
investigation.

HE detectives interviewed the girls at

the Rainbow Beauty Parlor, where
Helen had worked. Again they were con-
fronted by the veil of secrecy under which
the murdered girl had moved. Helen
Whelchel, they all said, had to them an
atmosphere of mystery, which was  in-
creased by her reticence about her person-
al affairs. In the weeks she had been there
no man had ever called for her, nor had
she received any telephone messages. One
of these girls, Miss Babe Weisenberger,
stated that only once had Mrs. Whelchel
ever dropped her reticence with her and
that was a few days before the murder,
while she was dressing Helen’s hair. Mrs.
Whelchel, she said, made the statement
that every man she had ever known was
either supremely selfish or supremely jeal-
ous. And, she added:

“Helen said that she knew a man who
was insanely jealous of her, and that she
was afraid of him.”

This conversation tended to support the
theory the police had begun to form that
the attractive young widow had been slain
by a jealous or rejected suitor. There
was no doubt that the girl’s attractiveness
and personality must have fascinated
many of the men with whom she came
in contact; and that her estimate of their
jealousy or selfishness indicated that she
had not received their attentions to her
with any degree of sympathy.

This theory was further emphasized
when her string of pearls, stained with
blood, was found in a lane running west
from the north side of the bridge; for
it would seem that if robbery had been
the motive the thief would ‘have taken

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gRiP

tht was dim in Room
Memphis, Tennessee.
igh cocktails to warm
an exhilarating glow.
her ‘slip, on a lovely,
side her.

ree suitors because he
He said just the right
dearment sent shivers
d crown all previous

short time ago didn’t

erts, played a reck-
instead of shopping
ezvoys that left her
k around her neck.

It was a repeat performance for smooth-
talking slayer, above. Once before he had,
loved and killed. His finale was hot seat.

disturb her; nor did the knowledge that he was the sweet-
heart of a former co-worker make any difference.

Later Jewell closed her eyes. She was so cozy and warm
she was almost asleep. But she must have his kiss again first.
She reached out for him. He was sitting, now, on the bed
beside her. She felt for his back and pressed him close to
her for his kiss.

But what she felt instead was a sudden jerk. A belt tight-
ened around her throat. Her eyes popped open and she
tried to scream, but could not. Her breathing was cut off.
She struggled desperately—in vain. Her last thought could

have been, as she glared into the mania of his eyes: How

could I know he was a killer? ...

Marsha Armstrong, another attractive young woman in
Memphis, a brunette of 32, was awakened by the) persistent
buzzing of her doorbell. It was midnight. She threw a robe
over her shapely figure and stumbled to the door. She opened
it an inch and peeked out. When she saw it was her lover,
she threw open the door. ;

He stepped in quickly, breathing heavily. They embraced.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” ; }

“Nothing,” he lied. “Sorry I woke you. I wanted to give
you a present.” _,

He reached into his pocket, pulled out three diamond
rings, put them in her hand and closed her fingers over
them. She opened her hand and stared at them, horrified.
She looked up, her eyes a study in terror. There was some-
thing familiar about the jewelry; she had only recently ad-
mired settings like these on the fingers of her friend and
former co-worker, Jewel Roberts. Her lover had been pres-

Death weapon—the murderer’s belt—used to snuff life
from the pretty young woman who had sought affection.
Below, fingers from which killer stripped three rings.

ent at that time; in fatt, she had introduced him to Jewel!

She handed the rings back. “I can’t take them. You prom-
ised me you’d never hurt anyone again... . Take them away
—I’ll get in trouble.”

He pushed her hand back, saying petulantly, “T, got them
especially for you.”

She fell against the door and cried, dropping the rings to
the floor. He picked them up, put them in her hand again and
ordered angrily:” “Keep them!” He opened the door and
stomped out.

“Oh, no!” Marsha Armstrong cried aloud to herself. ‘Please
God, no! Tell me he hasn’t killed another woman!”

It.was at 2 p.m. the next day that a maid in the hotel—
situated, ironically, only a block from police headquarters
in downtown Memphis—found Jewel Roberts’ half-nude
body, lying across the bed. The blood-red inch-wide welt
around her once lovely throat and the glassy stare of her
eyes gave the maid.to know that death had embraced this
guest. With a scream, she took flight and ‘summoned the
room clerk.

The Memphis ‘police dispatcher immediately sent a squad
car to the hotel. The uniformed officers shooed the hotel
employes and the curious out of the murder room and closed
the door. Two mintites later, homicide detectives arrived.

This contingent consisted of Captain Wilbur D. Miller and
Detectives Pete Wiebenga (pronounced Wee’ben ja), Bruns
McCarroll, James Hillin and Ernest V. Johnson. They were
under the direction of Detective Chief M. A. Hinds.

Captain Miller sent Hillin and Johnson to question the

. bellboys and elevator operator on duty during the night,
'

aN

=


Jewel Roberts, left, entered hote
tall building, above, in a gay an
auticlpatory modd. Her escort spoke
of things she liked to hear. It was
‘in the privacy of their room, below,
that he ay from sweetheart to

slayet. Fate had turned the tables.

and any guest w
Wiebenga and M
and obviously up

“T’m the hotel r
is terrible.” He b
that a couple had
evening—August
Los Angeles, Cali

Detective Wieb:
closet. Nothing w
panties and bra a
pers were on the

“No suitcase,” °
asked the hotel e

“Did they have

The manager st

Miller then tu
He and his ace ir
body on the bed.
tween 25 and 30.
her neck was in
of the garrote, the
by strangulation.

“All right, men
can find any ident:
used to finish her
a belt.”

The three dete
room, They start:
black dress and
Identification Bur
and then continu
shot photographs «
The fingerprint m
the door to the }
dresser and a big |

He also dusted s
half-pint whisky |
he disdainfully sh:

“Only blurred iu


4)

ean

and any guest who might have information. Then he and
Wiebenga and McCarroll confronted a- small man, nervous’
and obviously upset.

“Lm the hotel manager,” the man identified himself. “This
is terrible.” He held out a registration card which showed
that a couple had signed for the room at about 9 the previous
evening—August 7, 1942—as Mr. and Mrs. Joe Thomas of
Los Angeles, California.

Detective Wiebenga stepped over and examined the clothes
closet. Nothing was in it. He found the dead woman’s dress,
panties and bra across a chair. Her black high-heeled slip-
pers were on the floor beside it. :

“No suitcase,” Wiebenga reported to Captain Miller, who
asked the hotel employe: "

“Did they have any suitcases when they checked in?”

The manager shook his head, “No. They paid in advance.”

Miller then turned to other phases of the investigation.
He and his ace investigating team scrutinized the slip-clad
body on the bed. The woman was an attractive blonde, be-
tween 25 and 30. The body was rigid. The red welt around

- her neck was in the stage of swelling. Despite the absence.

of the garrote, the sleuths knew that she had been murdered
by strangulation. /

“All right, men,” Captain Miller instructed, “see if you
can find any identification for this woman and what the killer
used to finish her off. Could have been a cord, rope, wire,
a belt.” ‘

The three detectives began a methodic search of the
room. They started with an examination of the woman’s
black dress and underthings. These offered no clue. The
Identification Bureau men arrived. Miller admitted them
and then continued his search. The police photographer
shot photographs of the body and room from several angles.
The fingerprint men dus the door facing the bathroom,
the door to the hall; the telephone, the glass top of the
dresser and a big black purse that stood upon it.

He also dusted several empty soft-drink bottles, two empty
half-pint whisky bottles and two glasses, When he finished,
he disdainfully shook his head and reported:
“Only blurred impressions. Not a clear print.”

“The strangler who did this was pretty slick,” Captain
Miller observed. “He didn’t leave the murder weapon around,
either.” He, Wiebenga and McCarroll had even closely
checked the venetian blind cords, but they were intact. Nor
could they be pulled as a garrote to reach the body from
the window.

Miller picked up the purse and examined the contents.
There was a compact, ‘lipstick, a cigaret case,.a small locket
and six pennies; Not a shred of identification.

Detectives Hillin and Johnson returned and reported they
had located the elevator operator who took a couple to the
tenth floor at about 9 p.m. He had never seen the man or
the ‘woman before. A bellboy said that at about 10 p. m. the
man ih 1011 had sent him for a half pint of whisky, some ice
and some bottles of soda.

But'the bellboy did not get a good look at the guest’s face
because it was almost darkin the room. No one in the hotel
could be located who had seen the man leave.

Captain Miller handed Hillin and Johnson the registration
card. | [Continued on page 62]

Above, Atty. Patrick Johnson fought
for justice. Left, Det. Chief A. M.
Hinds, seated; standing 1. to r.:
Dets. P. Wiebenga, E. V. Johnson,
Capt. W. Miller. They solved case.


ee Se ais Fa

SPIGNER, Marshall, elec. TN (Shelby) July 15, 1943

She had selected him as her lover . ; - too late she

asked herself: How could | know he was a killer?

nthe |

ANGLER’S

BY ELTON WHISENHUNT

i
i
ny
A
i

| i on as a

; Te set-up was perfect for love, The jlight was dim in Room
1011 of the fashionable hotel} in dpwntodn |Memphis, Tennessee.
Beautiful Jewel Roberts had: enjoyed eniough cocktails to warm
her body and sharpen her sensuousness to an exhilarating glow.
And now she lay on the bed; clad ‘only in her ‘slip, on a lovely,
warm, summer night—her chosen’ lover beside her.

Jewel Roberts had selected. him from’ three suitors because he
was suave and knew how to make love, He said just the right
thing. His soft words of adoration and endearment sent shivers
down her spine. Yes, with‘ him it: would. crown all previous
thrills. ies ‘

The fact that she had met him only 'a ‘short time ago didn’t

we

The fun-loving widow, Jewel Roberts, played a reck-
less game of hearts. Tragically,’ instead | of spepping
for a trousseau, she kept a rendezvoys that left her
cold and dead, a ,strangler’s mark around her neck.

}

It was a repe:
talking slayer,
loved and kille

ce

Mec mae

disturb her; nor c
heart of a former
Later Jewell clc
she was almost as]
She reached out {
beside her. She fe
her for his kiss.

’ But what she fe]
ened around her
tried to scream, b
She struggled des;
have been, as she
could I know he w
Marsha Armstrc
Memphis, a brunet
buzzing of her doo
over her shapely fi;
it an inch and pee
she threw open the
He stepped in qu
“Darling, what’s
“Nothing,” he lie

you a present.”
He reached into
rings, put them in
them. She opened
She looked up, her
thing familiar abou
mired settings like
former co-worker,

TRUE POLICE CASES,
July, 1956

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‘

contacted Jewel and that she would be
down in a short while. :

About 45 minutes later, Miss Chumith
related, Jewel came in, dressed up and
smiling and happy. She sat beside the man
at the counter, then the couple moved to
one of the back tabled where, at intervals,
Miss Chumith served, them cocktails.
| Between 8;30 and 9 p.m., the waitress
‘related, the stranger paid the check and
he and Jewel left the café together. As
they were leaving, Jewel turned and
waved to Miss Chumith and said: “I’ll be
seeing you...” then took the man’s arm
and they walked out the door onto the
street.

The detectives reflected. Jewel was so
unaware of death! She left with the killer,
thinking him a lover.

Wiebenga and McCarroll thanked’ Miss

Chumith and the café proprietor and drove
‘0

the short distance { the hotel which the

victim’s mother ha igen as the stopping

place of Jéwel’s salesman friend. ey

found Robert K. Crawford, a ladies’ hat

Se, in his sample room on the fifth
oor, ‘

The officers showed the handsome out-
of-towner their badges and asked him
to accompany them to headquarters.
Crawford’s protests did little good. Down-
town, Wiebenga arid McCarroll put Craw-
ford in an interrogation room.

“You were with Jewel Roberts last
night, weren’t you?”

“No,” the suspect wered firmly, as
sweat popped out over his: face. He
was, the detectives noticed, the type
women would go for. :

“You’ve been dating Jewel,” Wiebenga
pressed.

“Yes, but I didn’t see her last night.
I swear it. I had to show some samples to
a buyer from Mississippi last night. I
couldn’t get away. I took her to town
yertarday, but that’s the last'I saw of
ner 4

“What time was that?” ‘

“About noon.” ;

“She say where she was going?”

- “Shopping. She said she had to buy
some clothes.”

“Did she tell you about her coming
marriage?” «

This startled Crawford. “No, no. She
didn’t say a word to me about it. Who?”

“Never mind. at’s the name of the
Mississippi buyer ahd where \ does he
live?”

The ‘detectives put Crawford in jail to
check out his story. A call to Clarksdale,
Mississippi, confirmed that the buyer was
with Crawford in Memphis the previous
evening. To rule out an complicity,
however, the pair of sleuths drove to Kay’s
Café and got waitress Rose Chumith. They
ran Crawford into a line-up and ‘took
the young woman into. the darkened

show-up room. She, shook her flaming.

locks negatively as’she viewed each face
closely.

“He's not in there,” she said. *

The detectives released Crawford and
reported to Captain Miller and Detective

‘Chief Hinds on developments. Hinds fur-

rowed his brow and said: '

“Who cari say her fiancé didn’t catch |

her stepping out and ih a fit of jealous rage
strangle her? You've got to, talk to him.
Where’s he stationed?”

“Camp Wheeler, Georgia.”

“Get some. sleep tonight. But get on
a plane first thing in the morning.”

Bright arid early the next day, Wie-
benga and McCarroll landed at Macon,
Georgia, rented a car and drove to near-
by Camp Wheeler. Soon they were con-
fronted with Corporal Harold Jamison.
They asked when he had last been to
Memphis. ;

|

“It’s been a month, I guess,” he an- |

swered, “Why? Anything wrong?”
“Plenty. Can you prove you weren’t in
Memphis on August 7?”
“Sure. I’ve been on duty here all month.

Plenty of people around here can back :

me up. Come on, give. What’s going on?”

The detectives told him of Jewel
Roberts’ tragic end. The soldier was so
stunned he could not speak. Soon he
snapped out of it. ~

“We were going to be married,” he said, ©

almost inaudibly. “If you think I killed
her, you’re crazy.”

The detectives left the distraught sol-
dier and checked with his platoon leader
and company commander. Both confirmed
that he had been at the base on the night
of the crime. The detectives returned to
Memphis that night.

Next day, Los Angeles police reported
they had no record of a Mr. and Mrs.
Joe Thomas. The autopsy report also came
in. It was of no help. It reported that
there were no poisons in the victim’s sys-
tem; she died of strangulation. There was
no hairs, blood or skin under her nails.
She had not struggled with the killer—she
had been killed quickly. There was evi-
dence that she had been intimate with
her slayer shortly before her death.

’ Wiebenga got up and turned to his
partner. “Looks as if we’ve got to start

‘all over again.”

The detectives drove to see the victim’s
mother again. What they wanted from her,
the detectives explained, was the name
of anyone she could recall of whom Jewel
saw a great deal.

Hone or women?” Mrs, Bingham asked.

“Bo id

“Well, she had an occasional date before
she got qrenged, But she gave up all that.
She had a few girl friends besides the
girls at the café. She spoke only casually
of them to me and I don’t remember their
names. Only one she was close with was
Marsha Armstrong. Marsha could tell you
who the others are.” Mrs. Bingham fur-
nished the sleuths with the woman’s ad-

_ dress.

At Marsha Armstrong’s apartment,
Wiebenga and McCarroll rang the bell
but got no answer. They stepped across
the hall and rang the bell there. A young
housewife came to the door with her baby
in her arms.

“Sorry to bother you; we're looking for
Miss Armstrong.. We're police officers. We
need to get in touch with her.”

The young woman’s eyes suddenly
widens but she breathed relief at the
same time. “Oh, I’m glad you're here. I
was worried for a minute it might be
somebody else. I’m not supposed ‘to tell
where she is. But I don’t mind telling you.
You should know..She’s at her brother’s
house.” The, matron gave the detectives
his name. From the phone book they got
his address and set out in their car.

They found Marsha Armstrong a
shocked and nervous young woman. She
burst into tears immediately. The officers

explained that they wanted to talk to her '

and were led into the living room.

“I loved him,” the forlorn woman said,
her head down. “I’ve been scared, scared
sick.'He said he’d kill me if I told and
I've been hiding out from him. Thank
—, he hasn’t found me or I. wouldn't be

ere....

“Just a minute,” McCarroll cut in. “Who
are you talking about?” ‘

“My boy friend, Marshal Spigner.”

“Well, Miss Armstrong, we came here
to talk to-you about Jewel Roberts. Of
course, if you want to unburden your
troubles to us, we'll be glad to listen. And
if you need police protection, we .can

_ supply that. But . . .” McCarroll let the

word trail off. He was,

All police officers hear

problems such as this but
ure why she had launche
so hysterically, or why sh
and furtive.

“I should have brougt
sooner,” the distraught
continued. “But I was jus
tionally to do anything. I
inside. When he made me
I knew...”

“Rings?” Wiebenga aske

“Yes, he made me keep
him »

“Where did he say he g

“He didn’t say. He threa
if I said anything to tt
them.”

“Get them,” Wiebenga i

The young woman left
returned with three dian
handed them to Wiebenga
them and handed them to
Carrroll scrutinized them
his pocket.

“Was Jewel Roberts you
Carroll asked.

The woman nodded. “W
together. I introduced he:
never dreamed she would

“Are these Jewel’s rings

She nodded again, her |}

“Where does Marshal S

“He lives with his siste
in-law on Carr Avenue.”
detectives the name and
couple.

Marsha Armstrong walk
with the detectives. At
Wiebenga turned and c
“Tell me,” he said, “wh
afraid? Many men threat«
it usually doesn’t mean any

She stared icily at him.
him. He killed a girl once.
told Jewel—I’d never told
his past. Maybe if I’d t
wouldn’t be dead now!”

Back at the office,
checked the Identificatior
found a file on Marshal Spi;
several photographs. The
that in 1927, Spigner had ki
heart, Grace Bennett, a p
because she spurned his
then 28, had armed himself
and had hidden in the bus
girl’s home. When the
brunette had returned fron
held the weapon to her hx
the trigger.

egog : out a confessio:
told the late Captain Fran
tell you all about it if you
the electric chair!”

But Spigner got life imr
served 14 years and seve:
was paroled in the fall of
year had elapsed since hi:

. prison.

With the pictures of Sp
pockets, McCarroll and V
to see the waitress at Kay’:

, room clerk at the hotel

Roberts had been strangled
the man who had spent
drinking with Jewel and wh
into the hotel with her.
The detectives made a tr
home of Spigner’s sister an
law. No one was in.
Secluding their car in an
tectives took up a watch
away. Shortly after midnig]
saw a lone figure approa
Quickly the lawmen closed
“What’s your name, fello.
asked.
“Nelson. Frank Nelson,”


admitted the crim-
» Baumann, whi

d, and he said that y

irder weapon, not

dred two Minne-
for the gun. They.
sht where Johnson -
it. Ballistics tests
at-it was the mur-
\
, March 22, 1949,
red a plea of guilty.
ard sentenced him
ve life terms in the
ntiary. Under Wis-
+e meant that John-
id 50 years in prison

82 before he would |

stigation and prose-
triumph for the law
sd the major burden
,ompson hadn’t been
he crucial final days
ise he was so deeply

tigation. On election |

n in the! state and
iself because he was

Johnson back from °

other voters in Eau
_ and did iget to the
ected the sheriff who

ampaigning to solve a .

Harold Knudsen and
1d in the foregoing story,
eal names have been
identities of the persons

Aarroll: “I’m putting. :

1 time. You can crack

ebenga the| purse. He |
ve and went to their »

ing office and began a
yn of the bag., They
aker, then the Frage
it, and from ‘him the
it it, to establish posi-
of the corpse.
-d the articles out, and
‘ttled on the glass des
jut the trinket intrigued
-en of love? Wiebenga
a tiny piece of paper

sicked it up. On it was .

ne number.

the telephone company

umber was registered to
1335 Latham Street.
the number. A woman

sberts live there?”

not here. This ,is Mrs. ~

_ her mother.”
expect your daughter?”
, Ym terribly worried

ft home yesterday after- |

ing and hasn’t come back
about 5:30 saying she’d
to worry, but I haven't
since.”

ught the conversation to
ind McCarroll hurried to

he woman’s home, they |
ham to let them see some

her daughter, J ewel
yman brought out several.
ne pictures and the corpse ;

*srroll told Mrs. Bingham
5. When she had recovered
, the shock, the officers |

y

ities, but he made ~}

4

yer but into Dell’s “|

<

guestioned the ‘héartsick ‘mother’ about
her daughter’s associates and activities.’

Slowly they learned that Jewel, 27, had ,

been a widow for a yea and had lately
been friendly with two different men. One
was a soldier stationed at Camp Wheeler,
Georgia, Corporal’ Harold. J amison, to
whom she was: engaged. The other was
a salesman from the East who spent a
large part of his time in Memphis. His
name was Robert K. Crawford, and he
stayed at a local hotel—not the one in
which Jewel had been killed.

Further questioning brought the infor-
mation that Jewel had worked as a wait-
ress at Kay’s Café until she became
engaged, recently, and had quit.:The de;
tectives, thinking of the hotel registratio:
—Mr. and Mrs. Joe Thomas—thought: it

¥

strange that an éngaged woman would -

date a man other than her fiancé, but said
nothing about it. She was the type,’ they
reasoned, who no doubt enjoyed an oc-
casional amour and considered that. it
added zest to her life. | : '
“She received a $75.money order from
her fiancé yesterday to buy, some clothes,”

the mother continued. “She went to town ° ,

yesterday afternoon |to sh yp, She some-
times goes to Kay’s to visit the. girls she,
used to work with. I guess that's where
she called me from at 5:30.”

McCarroll asked: “How did she get to

Oo ? ” + yi v !

“Oh, Mr. Crawford took her. He’s been
in town a couple of weeks or so and has
been seeing her a lot; She called him and
he came by and got her.” :

The detectives cast stern glances at each
other. The woman saw this.

“Why, you don’t think\Mr. Crawford
did it, do you? Why, he’s the nicest man
I ever saw. He wouldn’t harm a flea.”

“We'll talk’ to him just the same,” Mc-
Carroll declared, rising. | \\ {

In the patrol ‘car Wiebenga suggested
that they first check, Kay’s Café to get a
line on Jewel’s last known movements be-
fore death. The café, in the heart, of ‘the
downtown aréa, was bustling with bus-
iness asithe detectives strode in.

The detectives sought out John Kay,
the owner, and talked with him. Yes, he
said, Jewel used to work for him. Nice

girl. She frequently came ‘in now for lunch ©

or supper and to visit with the girls. ,
“Yes,”, Kay ‘said, “she came. in, yester-
day all dressed tp and wearing her, dia-
monds.” - Pit
The detectives made a.mental note of
this. It confirmed their suspicion that a
ring or rings had been removed from her

finger. nt

“She talked with me a few minutes,”
Kay , continued. “Then: she chatted. with
the girls and drank some beer. She was
joined in a few minutes by a mah whose,
namie I don’t know. But hé has been in
here two or three tirnes before.” :

The detectives questioned the waitresses
one at a time. From Rose Chumith, 21, an
attractive, curvaceous redhead, ‘they
learned that the stranger referred to by
her employer had come in between 2 and
3 p. m. the day before, and had ordered
some beer and food. i

Miss Chumith waited on, him.'He sat, at
the counter and began talking with her. He
said his name was Sparks’ and he was
from Nashville. A short time later he
asked her if she knew a girl by the name
of Jewel Roberts. The waitress said she
did, and when the man asked for Jewel’s
phone. number, she told him that she
didn’t have that information. Miss Chumith
went about her work and the stranger,

wHen she next passed him, told her, “I. got ,

it.” He was heading for the telephorie and
he placed a call. On his. return to the
counter, he told the waitress that hehad

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I guess,” he an-
g wrong?”
ve you weren't in

ty here all month.
id here can back
What’s going on?”
him of Jewel
ie soldier was so
speak. Soon he

married,” he said,
‘ou think I killed

he distraught sol-
his platoon leader
er. Both confirmed
» base on the night
sctives returned to

les police reported
of a Mr. and Mrs.
sy report also came
». It reported that
in the victim’s sys-
tulation. There was .
in under her nails.
with the killer—she
ly. There was evi-
seen intimate with
ore her death.

and turned to his
we've got to start

2 to see the victim’s
ey wanted from her,
red, was the name
call of whom Jewel

Ars. Bingham asked.

-casional date before
she gave up all that.
friends besides the
spoke only casually
on’t remember their
was close with was
farsha could tell "ate
Mrs. Bingham -
ith the woman’s ad-

strong’s apartment,
arroll rang the bell
They stepped across

: bell there. A young .

e door with her baby

ou; we’re looking for
‘re police officers. We
with her.”
an’s eyes suddenly
reathed relief at the
1 glad you're here. I
minute it might be
not supposed ‘to tell
\on’t mind telling you.
3he’s at her brother’s
1 gave the detectives
phone book they got
out in their car.
arsha Armstrong a
is young woman. She
nediately. The officers

wanted to talk to her ”

ae living room.

e forlorn woman said,
ve been scared, scared
kill me if I told and
sut from him. Thank
d me or I wouldn’t be

McCarroll cut in. “Who
ut?”

Marshal Spigner.”
istrong, we came here
sut Jewel Roberts. Of

nt seat

ee

siemens

rere

nt to unburden your -

1 be glad to listen. And

te protection, we can _

_ ” McCarroll let the

word trail off. He was, frankly, baffled.
All police officers hear many personal
problems such as this but he couldn’t fig-
ure why she had launched into her story
so hysterically, or why she was so scared
and furtive.

“T should have brought them to you
sooner,” the distraught young woman
continued. “But I was just too sick emo-
tionally to do anything. I was all torn up
inside. When he made me keep the rings,
I knew...”

“Rings?” Wiebenga asked, with interest.

“Yes, he made me keep three rings for

“Where did he say he got them?”

“Fe didn’t say. He threatened to kill me
if I said anything to the police about
them.”

“Get them,” Wiebenga instructed. .

The young woman left the room and
returned with three diamond rings. She
handed them to Wiebenga, who examined
them and handed them to McCarroll. Mc+
Carrroll scrutinized them and put them in
his pocket.

“Was Jewel Roberts your friend?” Mc-
Carroll asked.

The woman nodded. “We used to work
together. I introduced her to Marshal. I
never dreamed she would date him.”

“Are these Jewel’s rings?”

She nodded again, her head bowed.

“Where does Marshal Spigner live?”

“He lives with his sister and brother-
in-law on Carr Avenue.” She gave the
detectives the name and address of the
couple.

Marsha Armstrong walked to the door
with the detectives. At the threshold,
Wiebenga turned and confronted her.
“Tell me,” he said, “why are you so
afraid? Many men threaten women, but
it usually doesn’t mean anything.”

She stared icily at him. “It does with

him. He killed a girl once. But I'd never |

told Jewel—I’d never told anyone about
his past. Maybe if I’d told Jewel she
wouldn’t be dead now!” |

Back at the office, the detectives
checked the Identification Bureau and
found a file on Marshal Spigner. In it were
several photographs. e file refletted
that in 1927, Spigner had killed his sweet-
heart, Grace Bennett, a pretty brunette,
because she spurned his love. Spigner,
then 28, had armed himself with a shotgun
and had hidden in the bushes beside the
girls home. When the unsuspecting
brunette had returned from work, he had
held the weapon to her head and pulled
the trigger.

ie, out a confession, Spigner had
told the late Captain Frank‘Glisson, “I'll

tell you all about it if you'll send me to.

the electric chair!” :
But Spigner got life imprisonment. He
served 14 years and seven months, and

| was paroled in the fall of 1941. Only one

year had elapsed since his release from

prison.

With the pictures of Spigner in their
pockets, McCarroll and Wiebenga went
to see the waitress at Kay’s Café and the
room clerk at the hotel where Jewel
Roberts had been strangled. Yes, that was
the man who had spent the afternoon
drinking with Jewel and who had checked
into the hotel with her.

The detectives made a trip next to the
home of Spigner’s sister and brother-in-
law. No one was in.

Secluding their car in an alley, the de-
tectives took up a watch half a block
away. Shortly r midnight, the sleuths
saw a lone figure approach the house.
Quickly the lawmen closed in.

“What’s your name, fellow?” Wiebenga
asked.

“Nelson. Frank Nelson,” the man re-

gat Fe Senco and keeping his head down.
“ y »”

“We're police officers. Want to talk to
you.”

The man offered no resistance as the
detectives, taking him by each arm, led
him back to their squad car and put him
in. At headquarters, they sat their pris- -
oner in a chair in the homicide office.
McCarroll studied the face of the dark-

‘haired, olive-skinned man before them.

He was now pale and nervous. McCarroll
looked at the photographs of ex-convict
Marshal Spigner before him.

“You're not Nelson,” he gaid. “You're
Marshal Spigner.” ;

The man swallowed hard. “Yes, I’m
Spigner. I guess you’ve o mie.”

The detectives searched the prisoner
and found $32 in his wallet. They removed
his narrow brown leather belt. It could
well be the murder weapon, they rea-
soned.

A stenographer was called and Spigner
began this confession:

“T went to Kay’s Café about 5:30 Friday
afternoon. It was raining awful hard. I
got Jewel’s phone number and called her
or a date. She remembered me as

Marsha’s boy friend, but she seemed
pleased to hear from me. I told her I
had fallen for her, that she was the pret-
tiest gir] I had ever met. I fed her a line
of sweet talk. She agreed to meet me at
the café.
“Jewel showed up in a little while and
I saw those diamond rings she was wear-
ing. Right away-I figured I’d have a-good
time with her and also get those rings.
We sat around drinking. I held her hand
and kissed her a couple of times. When
om got ready to close the café, Jewel
and I left and went across the street to
the whisky store. She bought a half pint.
A Yellow cab came along and we flagged
it and went to the hotel. I paid the tab-
man.

“We walked up to the desk and Jewel
registered, I think under the name of
Thomas from California. A tall, thin bell-
boy took us to the room, which was 1011.
After we got into the room, Jewel called
down and ordered another half pint, some
soda and a bowl of ice.

“I went.to the door when the bellboy
came and took the tray. I paid the boy and
set the tray on the dresser. He asked for
the tray back and I went and got it and
gave it to him.

“We finished both bottles of whisky.
Jewel took off her clothes. I took off mine,
leaving on my shorts and undershirt. . . .
We were lying there in bed talking and
I got to scuffling with her with my belt
and I put the belt around her nec and
took my hand and twisted it and held it
for about five minutes.

“T took the belt off of her and she was
dead; I believe she was. I removed three
rings from her finger. I got 4 and dressed
— came on out and caught the No. 6

us.” ¥
‘ Q. Marshal, Miss Roberts was seen with
several $10 bills in Kay’s Café. On ex-
amining her purse after she was found
dead, it was discovered she had no money
except six cents. Did you steal any money
from her purse?

A. I don’t remember.

Q. At the time you were arrested you
had $32 in currency and some odd cents
‘in change on your person. Where did you
get this money?

A. [had some money—about $20 of my
own. If I had more than that, I don’t know
where I got it. -

Q. After you had been arrested and!
brought to police headquarters, we re-
moved a belt from the waistband of your
trousers which you are wearing. Is this

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62 ras

_ so I shot her in the chest. She went down

and continued to scream.

“The boy tried to get up, so I shot him’
two or three more times.”

He told how the 400 came thundering
across the countryside just at that time,

how he became frightened and ran away. °

That night, he said, he returned to the
murder scene. He grabbed young Ray-
mond Smith by his shoes and started to
drag him toward the river. The shoes

- came off. Then he grabbed the pants, but

in the dragging they,. too, came off. Fi-
nally, he seized the corpse by the heels
and pulled it to the edge of the river, and
in this final dragging, the shirt came off,
This explained the almost nude state of
the boy’s body when it was recovered—
a detail that from the first had puzzled and
baffled investigators.
_ After getting young Smith to the river-
bank, Johnson said, he had returned and
started to drag the girl’s body away. But
just at that moment Sheriff Thompson’s
ecale car had passed nearby and the

eams, of its powerful searchlight had
startled him again into flight. .

On only one detail of the story was
Johnson vague. That concerned his dis-

_ posal of the murder weapon. He aban-

doned his fabrication that he had sold the
gun, and, in a new version, said he had
‘thrown it into the Eau Claire River. The
river was dragged again and again, but
without success.

Johnson was charged with the murders
and held for trial in Circuit Court. His
wife, A®wever, refused to believe his guilt
and demanded that he be given a truth-
serum test. This was, done. Under the
influence of the drug, Johnson told sub-
stantially the same story as he had in his

4

two vital additions. He admitted the crim-

, confession to-the authorities, but he made .| :

inal assault on Gertrude Baumann, which | q

he had previously denied, and he said that .
he had thrown the murder weapon, not |
into the Eau Claire River but into Dell’s
Pond.

Sheriff Thompson hired two Minne-

‘apolis divers to search for the gun. They.

found it in the pond right where Johnson .
said he had own it. Ballistics tests
proved conclusively that-it was the mur-

, der weapon.” \

Brought to trial on March 22, 1949,
Marshall Johnson entered a plea of guilty.
Judge Clarence Rinehard sentenced him
to serve two consecutive life terms in the

Wisconsin State Penitentiary. Under Wis- —

consin law, the sentence meant that John-
son would have to spend 50 years in prison
and that he would be 82 before he would
be eligible for parole. '

The successful investigation and prose-
cution was a double triumph for the law
officer who had carried the major burden
in the case. Sheriff Thompson hadn’t been
able to,campaign in the crucial final days
before election, because he was so deeply
involved in the investigation.
day, he wasn’t even in the| state and
couldn’t vote for himself because he was
bringing Marshall Johnson
Seattle. But a lot of other voters in Eau
Claire County could and did |get to the
Saco they re-elected the sheriff who

ad abandoned his campaigning to solve a
murder case. ;

(Note: The names Harold Knudsen and
Richard Hackers, as used in the foregoing story,
are fictitious. The real names |have been

+ changed to protect the identities of the persons

concerned.)

‘Girl in the Strangler’s Grip |

[Continued from page 33]

“Get back to the office,” Miller in- .

structed, “and call the Los Angeles police.
Tell them what happened and see if they
have anything on a Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Thomas. This is probably a phony regis-
tration, but let’s check it out.”

_As the detectives feft, Miller picked up
the phone -and called the coroner to in-
form him of the findings. The coroner in-
structed Miller to have the body sent to.
John Gaston Hospital for an autopsy.

Miller next called the police dispatcher
for an ambulance. While waiting for it
to arrive, Wiebenga and McCarroll ex-
amined the body again, and in studying
the hands noted that the ring finger on
the woman’s left hand was bruised. It ap-"
peared that a ring or rings had been re-
moved by the strangler. They made this
observation to their chief.

“Could bé she was a married woman,”

-Miller . replied.” “Maybe her husband
caught her here with another man. But,
on the other hand, imagine a guy bring-
ing a woman.to a hotel, making love to

. her and then giving her the rope! I don’t
. get it, What kind of man is it who can

‘ switch from love to hate in a few min-
utes? Looks as if we might be after a
sex maniac or a psychopath.”

The ambulance men arrived and placed
the corpse on their roll cart and pushed
it on its first journey toward the grave.
The detectives ‘searched the sheets and
under the mattresses, but found nothing.

The three sleuths left, carrying the
purse, At the Homicide Bureau _at head-
quarters, Captain Miller said to Detectives

‘Wiebenga and McCarroll: “I'm putting
you two on this full time. You can crac
it. Get to it.”

Miller tossed Wiebenga the| purse. He
and McCarroll rose and went to: their
desks in an adjoining office and began a
minute examination of the bag., They
hoped to find its maker, then the retailer,
the clerk who sold it, and from ‘him the
woman who bought it, to establish posi-
tively the identity of the corpse.

Wiebenga dumped the articles out, and
the small locket rattled on the glass desk

‘ top. Something about the trinket intrigued

‘him. Was it a token of love? Wiebenga

pried’it open and a tiny piece of paper
fluttered out. He picked it up. On it was
written a telephone number.

n election *

ack from °

Wiebenga called the telephone company |

and learned the number was registered to
Jewel Roberts, 1335 Latham Street.
Wiebenga called the number. A woman
answered.

“Does Jewel Roberts live there?”

“Yes, but she’s not here. This ,is Mrs.
Bernice Bingham, her mother.”

“When do you expect your daughter?”

‘“T don’t know. I’m terribly worried
about her. She left home yesterday after-
noon to go shopping and hasn’t come back ’
yet. She called about 5:30 saying she'd
be late and not to worry, but I haven't
heard from her since.”

Wiebenga brought the conversation to
a close and he and McCarroll hurried to

\

their car. At the woman’s home, they |

asked Mrs, Bingham to let them see some
photographs of her daughter, J ewel
Roberts. The woman brought out several.
The woman in the pictures and the corpse
were the same.

Detective McCarroll told Mrs. Bingham
the terrible news. When she had recovered
somewhat from the shock, the officers

ry

.

questioned the heartsick
her daughter’s associates
Slowly ‘they learned thz
been a widow for a year
been friendly with two dif
was a soldier stationed at
Georgia, Corporal Haro
whom she was engaged.
a salesman from the Ea
large part of his time i:
name was Robert K. Cr
stayed at a local hotel—
which Jewel had been kil
Further questioning br:
mation that Jewel had wc
ress at Kay’s Café un
engaged, recently, and hi
tectives, thinking of the f
—Mr. and Mrs. Joe Tho
strange that an engaged
date a man other than he:
nothing about it. She wa
reasoned, who no doubt
casional amour and cor
added zest to her life.
“She received a $75. mc
her fiancé yesterday to bu
the mother continued. “S)
yesterday afternoon |to s
times goes to Kay’s to vi
used to work -with. I guc
she called me from at 5:3
McCarroll asked: “Hov
town?”
; “Oh, Mr. Crawford tool
in town a couple of week
been seeing her a lot; She
he came by and got her.”
The detectives cast sterr
other. The woman saw tl
_o “Why, you don’t think
did it, do you? Why, he’s
I ever saw. He wouldn’t
“We'll talk to him just
Carroll declared, rising.
In the patrol ‘car Wiel
that they first check Kay
line on Jewel’s last known
fore death. The café, in :
downtown area, was bus
iness as.the detectives str
The detectives sought
the owner, and talked w:
said, Jewel used to wor.
girl. She frequently came
or supper and.to visit wii
“Yes,” Kay ‘said, “she
day all dressed up and v
monds.” :
. “The detectives made a
this. It confirmed their ;
ring or rings had been re
ger.
“She talked with me
Kay ,continued. “Then s
the girls and drank som:
joined in a few minutes |
name I don’t know. But
here two or three times |
- The detectives question:
one at a time. From Rose
attractive, curvaceous
learned that the strange)

-her employer had come i:

3 p. m. the day ‘before, <
some beer and food.

Miss Chumith waited o
the counter and began tall
said his name was Spa
from Nashville. A shor:
asked her if she knew a ;
of Jewel Roberts. The v
did, and when the man a
phone number, she tok
didn’t have that informati:
went about her work, a
when she next passed hin
it.” He was heading for t)
he placed a call. On hi
counter, he told the wait

-


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the belt you used to choke Miss Jewel
Roberts to death with?

A. Yes, sir, that’s the belt.

The detectives returned the cold-

' blooded killer to. jail. In due course, he

was indicted. Spigner told the court he
did not have funds for an attorney, and
Public Defender Patrick Johnson was
called in to defend him.

Johnson reviewed the case, checked the
file on the 1927 murder and concluded
that Spigner was a psychopath. The attor-
ney went to County Attorney Frank
Gailor and asked for $500 in county funds
to employ two psychiatrists to examine
the accused and to testify as defense wit-
nesses. ,

“I’m not going to let Spigner go to the
electric chair like a lamb being led to
slaughter,” Johnson declared. “I’ve got my
conscience to think about, as well as the
best possible defense under the law for
the accused.”

Gailor agreed and went to one of the
county commission officials for the money.
But the committeeman adamantly refused
to FE dae a single penny for the cause.
“Why waste money on a guilty man?”
he aa sewag A said. .

The issue became a political matter and
Public Defender Johnson resigned rather

than go to trial without a proper and.

adequate defense. ‘

Another attorney replaced Johnson as
public defender, and represented Spigner
at the trial. Spigner was found guilty and
sentenced to death. On July 15, 1943, less
than a year after the slaying of the fun-
loving beauty, the strangler who had got
away with murder once before, was
electrocuted.

(Note: The names Harold Jamison, Rose
Chumith, Robert K. Crawford and Marsha
Armstrong, as used in the foregoing story, are
fictitious. The real names have been changed

to protect the identity of persons innocently
involved in an investigation.)

House of Dark Passions
[Continued from page 23]

life and Rheta and Earle had had a happy
marriage. “I loved the dear girl like my
own child,” she said. “She was a fine, sen-
sitive, talented person.”

The woman Socies was allowed to go
home after a couple of hours at the police
station, but detectives were busy through
the night and into the following day;
Wednesday.

The telegram delivery notice turned out
to be an important lead.

A check with Western Union showed
that Earle had wired his mother at
3:47 p.m, Tuesday from Peoria, Illinois.
The telegram said he was safe and driving
on to Kansas City. ,

A messenger attempted to deliver the
wire an hour and 10 minutes later, and
left the notice on the door knob when no-
body answered the bell at the Wynekoop
mansion. The messenger returned at
7:55 p.m. and Miss Hennessey accepted the
message, signing a receipt for it.

Now, Peoria is only about a four- or!
five-hour drive from Chicago. If Earle had
left the Windy City eight days earlier, how
come he had reached only that distance?
“He could have walked it in less than eight
days,” Lieutenant Erlanson remarked.

Captain Stege’s men managed to reach
the manager of the Sky Ride concession
at the fair. Through him, they contacted
employes—both men and girls—who had
worked with Earle Wynekoop. All of them
agreed that Earle had been a gay fellow
indeed. L

“I went out with him a few times,” said a
stately blonde. “He said he loved me, asked
me to marry him and gave me a diamond
engagement ring. I found out later that he
was married and that the ring belonged to
his wife.

“He tried to tell me that he didn’t love
his wife and that she was cold and didn’t
return his affection. I gave him back the
ring and told him never to ask me for an-
other date.” :

Others of young Wynekoop’s friends.
were reluctant to talk about his amours,
but they broke down upon learning that
murder was involved. They revealed that
Earle carried a date book and boasted of
haying the names and telephone numbers
of 50 girls. ‘

Captain Stege did some checking on
whether Earle might have been back from
Peoria and at the Wynekoop mansion at

the time of the murder. It seemed unlikely,
unless he had another person send the
wire for him; but the possibility was far
from ruled out.

An inquest convened on Wednesday at
the county morgue, but was recessed to
allow more time for the detectives to in-
vestigate. Dr. Alice appeared at the in-
quest and then spent two hours at the
Fillmore police station. During that time
the mansion was searched, with her per-
mission. ,

In a bundle of letters and papers in a
bureau, Lieutenant Stewart Moss and
Sergeant Walter Kelly made a major find.
The documents included two life insurance
policies—with a total value of $6,000—
taken out on Rheta within the past month.

The policies were a direct contradiction
to Dr. Alice’s statement that there was no
insurance on the murdered girl’s life. One
policy, for $5,000, with double indemnity
in case of accidental death, made Dr. Alice
beneficiary. The other, for $1,000, was in
favor of Earle and Dr, Catherine.

There was also a strange love letter
written in the elderly woman doctor’s
spidery hand. It read:

“Precious. I’m choked. You are gone—
you have called me up—and after 10 min-
utes or so I called and called—I would
give anything I have to spend an hour in

- real talk with you tonight—and I can not

—Goodnight.”

What was the meaning of the letter?
Was it possible that Dr. Alice was engaged
in a romance, at her age?

Lieutenant Moss and Sergeant Kelly
did some checking on the insurance poli-
cies. They learned that an agent for the
New York Life Insurance company had
sold the larger one to Dr. Alice. During
negotiations for the policy, the agent said,
he land never seen or interviewed Rheta.

Meanwhile Dr. Dwyer, the coroner’s
physician, issued an official report on his
autopsy of the body. He reported that
chloroform had been administered to
Rheta. There was first-degree powder
burns about the wound, indicating that the
shot had been fired within a range of a
couple of feet.

Of great importance was a finding by
Dr. Dwyer that Rheta had swallowed
blood, which was found in her stomach,
in addition to the blood in her lungs. That
meant she had been alive, and not dead
from chloroform, when the shot was fired.
A dead person does not swallow, since
death closes the throat.

Captain Stege concentrated on ques-
tioning Dr. Alice about the hours before
discovery of the crime. He held back the

information about
the telegram from
ter.

The woman phys
with her pretty d
old mansion on Tu
out separately, Ri
chops for supper <
for a walk.

They met again
o’clock, Dr. Alice s:
meeting their nex
Veronica Duncan,
mentioned that Mr
her for a walk, but
because she was g:
violin sheet music
movie.

“T went out for a
and came home a
went on. “I prepa
Hennessey arrived
wasn’t there, so we

“About 7 o’clock,
Mrs. Duncan, and ;
where Rheta was. £

Miss Hennessey
the drugstore, rei
books for a while
Rheta’s coat and h
the hall.

“I thought nothin
might have worn a
Dr. Alice said—and
rupted her.

Q. Did you look i
if a coat and hat we

A. No, I wasn’t ree

Q. But you callec
for Rheta?

A. Well, I was curi
worried, really.

About 8:30 o’cloc}
Hennessey complain
She suffered from h

“I went down to
some medicine for }
ing room,” Dr. Alice

Q. (By Lieutenan
been to the basemen
ing the afternoon or

A. No.

Q. Are you certai)

A. Iam.

Q. Had Miss Hen

A. I’m sure she ha

Erlanson nodded

tinue. He did not me
the fact that somebo:
knob delivery notic
office.

“T turned on the |

“and I saw poor, dez
I knew she was dead

-about her. I was con

She made the d
o'clock, Dr. Alice w:
phoned Dr. Catherin
Hospital to come hor
and daughter notifiec
then the undertaker

“I know I should h:
Dr. Alice said, “but
numb with grief. I
own.”

The woman doctor
ness at that point. S
go home to rest for tw
gators had other m:
anyway.

Kansas City police
watch for Earle W
missed him. However
companion, Stanley
made a startling disc]

Young said he and
Chicago on Tuesday
day of the murder
earlier, as Dr. Alice }

Furthermore, Your


A CRIME CLASSIC.

Beautiful Jewel Roberts’ night
of love climaxed in a brutal
blood mark around her neck.

her chosen lover beside her.

Jewel Roberts had selected him
from three suitors because he was
suave and knew how to make love. He *
said just the right thing. His soft words
of adoration and endearment sent
shivers down her spine. Yes, with him
it would crown all previous thrills.

The fact that she had met him only
a short time ago didn’t disturb her;
nor did the knowledge that he was the
sweetheart of a former co-worker
make any difference.

Later Jewel closed her eyes. She was
so cozy and warm she was almost
asleep. But she must have his kiss again
first. She reached out for him. He was
sitting, now, on the bed beside her.
She felt for his back and pressed him
close to her for his kiss.

But what she felt instead was a
sudden jerk. A belt tightened around
her throat. Her eyes popped open and
she tried to scream, but could not. Her
breathing was cut off. She struggled
desperately — in vain. Her last
thought could have been, as she glared
into the mania of his eyes: How could
I know he was a killer?...

It was at 2 p.m. the next day that a
maid in the hotel — situated, ironi-

’ cally, only a block from police
headquarters in downtown Memphis
— found Jewel Roberts’ half-nude
body, lying across the bed. The blood-

red inch-wide welt around her once

eqg6t Skaenageg *SHSVO TATIOWIAC |

on Rha

is first step was to invite a beautiful
woman fo a hotel room. Once she lay
naked in bed beside him, he liked to pour.
‘ sweet nothings in her ear while
3 tightening his belt around her neck.

he set-up was perfect for love.

cocktails to warm her body and sharp
And now she lay on the bed,

by KEN CARPENTER

i

The light was dim in Room 1011 of the fashionable

hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Beautiful Jewel Roberts had enjoyed enough
en her sensuousness to an exhilarating glow.

clad only in her slip, on a lovely, warm summer night —

The killer’s belt was used to
snuff life from pretty young wo-
man who sought his affection.

lovely throat and the glassy stare of
her eyes gave the maid to know that
death had embraced this guest. With
a scream, she took flight and sum-
moned the room clerk.

The Memphis police dispatcher
immediately sent a squad car to the
hotel. The uniformed officers shooed
the hotel employes and the curious out
of the murder room and closed the
door. Two minutes later, homicide
detectives arrived.

This contingent consisted of Captain
Wilbur D. Miller and Detectives Pete
Wiebenga, Bruns McCarroll, James
Hillin and Ernest V. Johnson. They
were under the direction of Detective
Chief M.A. Hinds.

Captain Miller sent Hillin and
Johnson to question the bellboys and
elevator operator on duty during the
night, and any guest who might have
information. Then he and Wiebenga
and McCarroll confronted a small
man, nervous and obviously highly
upset.

““’m the hotel manager,’’ the man
identified himself. ‘‘This is terrible.”’
He held out a registration card which
showed that a couple had signed for
the room at about 9 the previous

Hotel bed in which maid came
across victim’s cold corpse.

Strangler choked his victim un-
tilher eyes popped.

evening — August 7, 1942 — as Mr.
and Mrs. Joe Thomas of Los Angeles,
California.

Detective Wiebenga stepped over
and examined the clothes closet.
Nothing was in it. He found the dead
woman’s dress, panties and bra across
a chair. Her black high-heeled slippers
were on the floor beside it.

“No suitcase,’’? Wiebenga reported
to Captain Miller, who asked the hotel
employe:

“Did they have any suitcases when
they checked in?”

The manager shook his head. ‘‘No.

(continued on page 32)

25

fi

Nee @Oals Detective FILE Hau. 1)" |

*ENé6L St AtTap-uc—¢Aqunoz

They paid in advance.’’
Miller then turned to other phases

of the investigation. He and his ace-

investigating team scrutinized the semi-
clad body on the bed. The woman was
an attractive blonde, between 25 and
30. The body was rigid. The red welt
around her neck was in a stage of
swelling. Despite the absence of the
garrote, the sleuths knew that she had
been murdered by strangulation.
‘‘All right, men,’’ Captain Miller
instructed, ‘‘see if you can find any
identification for this woman and what
the killer used to finish her off. Could
have been a cord, rope, wire, a belt.”’
The three detectives began a me-
thodic search of the room. They
started with an examination of the
woman’s black dress and underthings.
These offered no clue. The Identifi-
cation Bureau men arrived. Miller
admitted them and then continued his
search. The police photographer shot
photographs of the body and room
from several angles. The fingerprint
men dusted the door facing the
bathroom, the door to the hall, the
telephone, the glass top of the dresser
and a big black purse that stood upon
it.
He also dusted several empty soft-
, drink bottles, two empty half-pint
whisky bottles and two glasses. When
he finished, he disdainfully shook his
head and reported:
’ ‘Only blurred impressions. Not a
‘clear print.’’
‘The strangler who did this was

‘Lie Back And Die, Darling’

(continued from page 5s

pretty slick,’’ Captain Miller observed.
‘*He didn’t leave the murder weapon
around, either.’? He, Wiebenga and
McCarroll had even closely checked
the venetian blind cords, but they were
intact. Nor could they be pulled as a
garrote to reach the body from the
window.

Miller picked up the purse, and
examined the contents.. There was a

compact, a lipstick, a cigaret case, a »

small locket and six pennies. Not a
shred of identification.

Detectives Hillin and Johnson
returned and reported they had located
the elevator operator who took a

couple to the tenth floor at about 9

p.m. He had never seen the man or
the woman before. A bellboy said that
at about 10 p.m. the man in 1011 had
sent him for a half pint of whisky,
some ice and some bottles of soda.

But the bellboy did not get a good
look at the guest’s face because it was
almost dark in the room. No one in
the hotel could be located who had
seen the man leave. —

Captain Miller handed Hillin and
Johnson the registration card.

“*Get. back to the office,’’ Miller
instructed, ‘‘and call the Los Angeles
police. Tell them what happened and
see if they have anything on a Mr. and
Mrs. Joe Thomas. This is probably a
phony registration, but let’ s check it

out.”’

As the detectives left, Miller picked
up the phone and called the coroner
to inform him of the findings. The

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coroner instructed Miller to have the
body sent to John Gaston Hospital for
an autopsy.

Miller next called the police dispat-
cher for an ambulance. While waiting
for it to arrive, Wiebenga and McCar-
roll examined the body again, and in
studying the hands noted that the ring
finger on the woman’s left hand was
bruised. It appeared that a ring or rings
had been removed by the strangler.
They made this observation to their
chief.

**Could be she was a mgevied
woman,”’ Miller replied. ‘‘Maybe her
husband caught her here with another
man. But, on the other hand, imagine
a guy bringing a woman to a hotel,
making love to her and then giving her
the rope! I don’t get it. What kind of
man is it who can switch from love to
hate in a few minutes? Looks as if we
might be after a sex maniac or a
psychopath.’’

The ambulance men arrived and
placed the corpse on their roll cart and
pushed it on its first journey toward
the grave. The detectives searched the
sheets and under the mattresses, but
found nothing. ’

The three sleuths left, carrying the
purse. At the Homicide Bureau at
headquarters, Captain Miller said to
Detectives Wiebenga and McCarroll:
‘*I’m putting you two on this full time.
. You can crack it. Get to it.”

Miller tossed Wiebenga the purse.

He and McCarroll rose and went to

their desks in an adjoining office and

began a minute examination of the

(continued on page 34) .

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"Lie Back And Die, Darling’

(continued from page 32) .

bag. They hoped to find its maker,
then the retailer, the clerk who sold it,
and from him the woman who bought
it, to establish positively the identity
of the corpse.

Wiebenga dumped the articles out,
and the small locket rattled on the glass
desk top. Something about the trinket

* intrigued him. Was it a token of love?

Wiebenga pried it open and a tiny
piece of paper fluttered out. He picked
it up. On it was written a telephone
number.

Wiebenga called the telephone com- -

pany and learned the number was
registered to Jewel Roberts, 1335
Latham Street. Wiebenga called the
number. A woman answered.

‘Does Jewel Roberts live there?”’

“*Yes, but she’s not here. This is
Mrs. Bernice Bingham, her mother.”’

‘“*When do you expect your daugh-
ter?”’

“I don’t know. I’m terribly worried
about her. She left home yesterday

afternoon to go shopping and hasn’t
come back yet. She called about 5:30
saying she'd be late and not to worry,
but I haven’t heard from her since.”

Wiebenga brought the conversation
to a close and he and McCarroll
hurried to their car. At the woman’s
home, they asked Mrs. Bingham to let

‘them see some photographs of her

daughter, Jewel Roberts. The woman
brought out several. The woman in the
pictures and the corpse were the same.

Detective McCarroll told Mrs.
Bingham the terrible news. When she
had recovered somewhat from the
shock, the officers questioned the
heartsick mother about her daughter’s
associates and activities.

Slowly they learned that Jewel, 27,
had been a widow for a year and had
lately been friendly with two different
men. One was a soldier stationed at
Camp Wheeler, Georgia, Corporal
Harold Jamison, to whom she was
engaged. The other was a salesman

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from the East who spent a large part
of his time in Memphis. His name was
Robert K. Crawford, and he stayed at
a local hotel — not the one in which
Jewel had been killed.

Further questioning brought the
information that Jewel had worked as
a waitress at Kay’s Café until she
became engaged, recently, and had
quit. The detectives, thinking of the
hotel registration — Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Thomas — thought it strange that an
engaged woman would date a man
other than her fiancé, but said nothing
about it. She was the type, they
reasoned, who no doubt enjoyed an
occasional affair and considered that
it added zest to her life.

“She received a $75 money order
from her fiancé yesterday to buy some
clothes,”” the mother continued. ‘‘She
went to town yesterday afternoon to

shop. She sometimes goes to Kay’s to _

visit the girls she used to work with. I
guess that’s where she called me from
at 5:30.”’

McCarroll asked: ‘‘How did she get
to town?”’

“Oh, Mr. Crawford took her. He’s
been in town a couple of weeks or so
and has been seeing her a lot. She
rary him and he came by and got

er.”

The detectives cast stern glances at
each other. The woman saw this.

‘Why, you don’t think Mr. Craw-
ford did it, do you? Why, he’s the
nicest man I ever saw. He wouldn’t
harm a flea.”’

‘‘We’ll talk to him just the same,”’
McCarroll declared, rising.

In the patrol car Wiebenga sug-
gested that they first check Kay’s Café
to get a line on Jewel’s last known
movements before death. The café, in
the heart of the downtown area, was
bustling with business as the detectives
strode in.

The detectives sought out John Kay,
the owner, and talked with him. Yes,
he said, Jewel used to work for him.
Nice girl. She frequently came in now
for lunch or supper and to visit with
the girls.

“*Yes,’’? Kay said, ‘‘she came in
yesterday all dressed up and wearing
her diamonds.”’

The detectives made a mental note
of this. It confirmed their suspicion
that a ring or rings had been removed
from her finger. ‘

“She talked with me a few minu-
tes,’’ Kay continued. ‘‘Then she
chatted with the girls and drank some
beer. She was joined in a few minutes

(continued on next page)

by a man whose name I don’t know.
But he has been in here two or three
times before.”’

The detectives questioned the
waitresses one at a time. From Rose
Chumith, 21, an attractive, curvaceous
redhead, they learned that the stranger
referred to by her employer had come
in between 2 and 3 p.m. the day before,
and had ordered some beer and food.

Miss Chumith waited on him. He
sat at the counter and began talking
with her. He said his name was Sparks
and he was from Nashville. A short
time later he asked her if she knew a

_ girl by the name of Jewel Roberts. The

waitress said she did, and when the
man asked for Jewel’s phone number,
she told him that she didn’t have that
information. Miss Chumith went
about her work, and the stranger,
when she next passed him, told her,
“I got it.”? He was heading for the
telephone and he placed a call. On his
return to the counter, he told the
waitress that he had contacted Jewel
and that she would be down in a short
while.

About 45 minutes later, Miss
Chumith related, Jewel came in,
dressed ap and smiling and happy. She
sat beside the man at the counter, then
the couple moved to one of the back

‘tables where, at intervals, Miss

Chumith served them cocktails.

Between 8:30 and 9 p.m., the
waitress related, the stranger paid the
check and he and Jewel left the café
together. As they were leaving, J ewel
turned and waved to Miss Chumith
and said: ‘‘I’ll be seeing you...”’ then
took the man’s arm and they walked
out the door onto the street.

The detectives reflected. Jewel was
so unaware of death! She left with the
killer, thinking him a lover.

Wiebenga and McCarroll thanked
Miss Chumith and the café proprietor
and drove the short distance to the
hotel which the victim’s mother had
given as the stopping place of Jewel’s
salesman friend. They found Robert
K. Crawford, a ladies’ hat salesman,
in his sample room on the fifth floor.

The officers showed the handsome
out-of-towner their badges and asked
him to accompany them to headquar-
ters. Crawford’s protests did little
good. Downtown, Wiebenga and
McCarroll put Crawford in an inter-
rogation room.

“You were with Jewel Roberts last
night, weren’t you?”

“No,”’ the suspect answered firmly,
as sweat popped out all over his face.
He was, the detectives noticed, the
type woman would go for.

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“*You’ve been dating Jewel,’’
Wiebenga pressed.

“Yes, but I didn’t see her last night.
I swear it. I had to show some samples
to a buyer from Mississippi last night. I
couldn’t get away. I took her to town
yesterday, but that’s the last I saw of
her.”’

“‘What time was that?”’

**About noon.”

“‘She say where she was going?”

“Shopping. She said she had to buy
some clothes.”’

“‘Did she tell you about her coming
marriage?”’

This startled Crawford. ‘‘No, no.
She didn’t say a word to me about it.
‘Who?’’

“Never mind. What’s the name of
the Mississippi buyer and where does
he live?”

The detectives put Crawford in jail
to check out his story. A call to
Clarksdale, Mississippi, confirmed that
the buyer was with Crawford in
Memphis the previous evening. To rule
out any complicity, however, the pair
of sleuths drove to Kay’s Café and got
waitress Rose Chumith. They ran
Crawford into a line-up and took the
young woman into the darkened
show-up room. She shook her flaming

hair negatively as she viewed each
face closely.

“*He’s not in there,’’ she said.

The detectives released Crawford
and reported to Captain Miller and
Detective Chief Hinds on develop-
ments. Hinds furrowed his brow and
said:

“Who can say her fiancé didn’t
catch her stepping out and in a fit of
jealous rage strangled her? You’ve got
to talk to him. Where’s he stationed?”

“Camp Wheeler, Georgia.”’

“*Get some sleep tonight. But get on
a plane first thing in the morning.”’

Bright and early the next day,
Wiebenga and McCarroll landed at
Macon, Georgia, rented a car and
drove to nearby Camp Wheeler. Soon
they were confronted with Corporal
Harold Jamison, They asked when he
had last been in Memphis.

“It’s been a month, I guess,’’ he
answered. ‘‘Why? Anything wrong?”’

“Plenty. Can you prove you weren’t
in Memphis on August 7?”

“Sure. I’ve been on duty here all
month. Plenty of people around here
can back me up. Come on, give.
What’s going on?”’

(continued on next page)
35


291, 292 HUMPUREYS’ REPORTS.

different point of view trom what it is; but this was not
done. Instead of weighing the credibility of these wit-
nesses by the legitimate mode of general weight of char.
acter and probability of their statements, they have
chosen to shut themselves in their room, send out the con-
stable, talk to each other in a louder tone than common,
and then enquire of him if he heard them; and, upon his
reply in the negative, they have considered it as conclusive
that Beck and Nancy could not have heard the prisoner
talking in Linda’s house. This mode of arriving at the
truth of testimony can not be permitted; it is too vague
and uncertain. A different intonation of voice, a differ-
ence in the structure of the rooms, would destroy its
virtue as a test; and, besides, they had to take the word
of the constable as to the fact whether they were heard.

The circumstances of the case, with the exception of
the tracks from the place where this murder was com-
mitted, and the shoe of the prisoner which was produced
ou the trial, in comparison therewith, apply nearly, if not
guite as well, to George as the prisoner. Both were ap-
prehending that the deceased had been employed to arrest
them; both had threatened to kill him; both were in the
neighborhood, and had plenty of opportunities to carry
their designs into effect.

The shoe which was produced on the trial against the
prisoner was half an inch longer than the tracks; this was
another difficulty the jury found much in their way; but
supposed that in running a track might be shorter than
the shoe, they and their constable again try an experiment
by running, and then find their own tracks half an inch
shorter than their shoes; and a verdict of guilty is re-
turned.

[282] Independent, then, of the doubtful and uncertain
character of the proof introduced to establish the guilt
of the prisoner, we can not permit verdicts which have
been obtained like this, upon uncertain and dangerous ex.
periments, instead of a calm, deliberate, and philosophical

xamination of the proof, to stand where the lives of in-
dividuals are at stake. The judgment is, therefore, re-

versed, and the case remanded for a new trial. j

Note._-See Kirby v. The State, 3 Humph.

282

WHITE V. BROWN, nae i 2, 993

WHITE vy. BROWN.

NASHVILLE, DECEMBER, 1843.

SURETIES—ORIGINAL SURETY AND STAYOR SURETY-SHIP MAY Br SHOWN
AT LAW. Under the acts of 1820, 24, and 1825, 82 (Code, sees,
1973, 3061, 3062), which make the stayor of a justice’s judgment
liable before the original surety unless the latter specially joined
in procuring the stay, the original surety may, if the fact of
suretyship does not appear upon the face of the instrument sned
on supersede the execution, and show his relation to the debt in
any controversy betweén him and the stayor. (Citirg Elders v.
Johnston, Peck, 204, which see.)

White recovered four judgments before a justice of
the peace of Giles county, against W. R. Brown and I. FE.
Brown. These judgments were obtained on obligntions
made to White by the Drowns. Both appeared as prin.
cipals on the face of the instruments. W. R. Brown pro-
cured Harris to stay execution; Ira did not join in this
appplication to Harris. It does not appear that Harris
yas aware of the fact that lL. E. Brown was only a surety.
The stay expired, and White procured the issuance of exe-
cutions on the judgments. W. Brown had by this time
become insolvent. Ira EK. Brown applied for and obtained
writs of certiorari and supersedeas, returnable to the cir-
cuit court of Giles county, on the ground that he being a

surety and the judgments having been stayed without his

having joined the principal in procuring the stay, he was
thereby exonerated and discharged.

The cause came on for trial at the August term, 1843,
Dillahunty, judge, presiding; and was submitted to a jury.
The defendant, Brown, offered evidence to show that he
was a surety in the obligations, and not a principal. This
was rejected. The jury rendered a verdict in [293] favor
of the plaintiff, White. A motion for a new trial was made
and overruled, and judgment rendered, from which defend-
ant appealed. ,

N. 8. Brown, for plaintiff in error. The principal ques-
tion in this case is as to the right of the defendant to ob-
tain the redress sought by him in a court of law.

In other words, had the cirerit court fhe power under

the acts of 1825, ch. 82, sec. 1, and of 1842, ch. 156, see.

os

148, 144 HUMPHRBYS’ REPORTS.

the streets in the view of the citizens, it would not be in-
dictable on the grounds stated by Russell, to wit, because
“it openly outrages decency, and is injurious to public
morals?” So, repeated acts of private [144] fornication,
amounting to living in adultery, constitute a distinct of-
fence and is indictable (2 Humph. 414,) no matter with
what privacy such adulterous intercourse is carried on.
This offence is grounded. on different considerations from

that of public fornication; so the frequenting, privately, |
bawdy-houses is not indictable, though the offender is”

liable to be bound over to keep the peace by statute of 4th
Edward. Yet if such frequenting be open, public, and
notorious, it becomes indictable. 2 Ld. Raym. 1197; 2

Yerg. 483. This offence is a nuisance. 1 Hawk. ch. 74.

See 8 Humph. 208.

Chief Baron McDonald atic. “Whatever place he-
comes the habitation of civilized man, there the laws of.

decency must be enforced.” 1 Russ. 271.

Although the legislature may have legalized a single

act of private drunkenness, it is contended that repeated
acts of open, notorious, public drunkenness constitute a dif-
ferent offence, of a higher grade of- criminality, which
does not come within the words of the statute. In the
ease of Tipton vy. The State, 2 Yerg. 542, Judge White
states that an allegation that the defendant was openly
and notoriously drunk on a given day, and on divers other
days and times, is in effect an allegation that the defend-
ant was a common drunkard and a nuisance to society,
Is not open, public, habitual drunkenness grossly injurious

_to public morals and an outrage on decency? AJ] mankind.

would agree that it is.

It is insisted that a statute intended to repeal a at
of the common law shall be so construed as to repeal it
no further than its express words indicate the clear in.
tention of the law-makers. 3 Tomlin, 524. Bac, title,
Statute. :

By the Court. There is no offence against the laws of
Tennessee charged in this case. Let the-judgment be ar-
rested and the defendant discharged.

186

JIM V. TH STATE, : ee

‘JIM, a slave, v. THE STATE,

NASHVILLE, DECEMBER, 1844.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. A person may be convicted of a capital
offence by circumstantial evidence alone. (See Bill v. State, 5
Humph., 155, and Phipps v. State, 3 Coldw., 349, the last siting

this case.)* \ s

[145] Jim, a \glave, was indicted in the circuit court of
DeKalb county, for the murder of Isaac, a slave.

He was tried by Judge Caruthers and a jury of DeKalb
at the April term, in 1848, and convicted. He appealed,
and the judgment was reversed. See 4 Humph. 289. He
was again tried, at the April term, 1844, by Judge Cuar-
uthers and a jury, and condemned to be executed.

He appealed from this judgment.

8S. Turney, Bryan, and Haynes, for plaintiff in error.

Attorney General, for the State.

Green, J, delivered the opinion of the bokie:

It appears, from the bill of exceptions, that Isaac, a
slave,, the property of William Avant, was murdered in
the kitchen of William Williams, in the county of DeKalb,
on Saturday night, the 14th of January, 1843. The plain-
tiff in error, Jim, also a slave, has been indicted and con.
victed for said murder, in the circuit court of Dekalb

county, and sentence of death has been pronounced upon °

him; from which judgment he has appealed to this court.
No question is made as to the regularity of the proceed-
ings, nor was there any exception to the charge of the

court to the jury; but the evidence is all set out in the

bill of exceptions, and it is insisted that the proof did not
authorize the verdict of the jury.

The proof shows that a negro named George, aks
whose owner executions were in the hands of the sheriff,

and the defendant, Jim, against whose owner an attach-
ment had issued, were both [146] in the same neighbor-

hood, concealing themselves in the woods, and were har.

*This case and the succeeding one, to-wit, Bill v. State, are deem-
ed worthy of preservation, as illustrating the principles of circum-
stantial evidence, and exhibiting the state of facts on which the su-
rreme court have felt themselves bound te affirm cenvictions in
bases of capital felony.—Rup.

ras 437


28), 290 HUMPHREYS’ REPORTS.

[289] Isaac, a slave, was shot in his cabin, in Dekalb
county, about twelve o’clock, whilst asleep on the floor,
and died of the wound. Jim, from his previous threats to
commit the deed, and other circumstances, was arrested
as the perpetrator, indicted, and at the April term, 1843,
of the circuit court of DeKalb county, Judge Caruthers
presiding, was found guilty by a jury. A motion was made
for a new trial, on two grounds: Ist, that the evidence did
uot justify the verdict; and, 2d, on the ground of miscon-
duct on the part of the jury.

The defendant offered the affidavits of the jurors to
sustain the alleged impropriety of conduct. It had ap-
peared in evidence that the shoes of Jim were about half
an inch longer than the tracks which left the house where
Isaac was shot, and which were discovered next morning
after he was shot. These affidavits stated that the jury
believed that the tracks of a man running were shorter
than when walking; and for the purpose of ascertaining
the truth of the assertion they went out and measured
the tracks of a juror walking and running, and found the
fact to be so; and that this experiment, confirming their
previously-entertained opinion, removed the diflicuity they
felt in reconciling the discrepancy between the length of
the tracks and the shoes of Jim. |

The witnesses, Beck and Nancy, swore that at the time
the gun fired which killed Isaac, Jim was in a cabin which
adjoined the cabin in which they were; that they neard
him, before the firing of the pistol, talking and knew his
voice, and that one of them went into the room and found
him there. |

The jury disregarded their testimony, and one circum.
stance which induced them to disregard it was the be-
lief that, when the door of the adjoining cabin was ciosed,
the talking of Jim, in [290] an ordinary conversational
tone, conld not be heard: and, to test the truth of this
opinion, they sent out the constable, closed the door, and
talked iouder than the usual conversational tone. The
coustable came in and reported that he could not hear
them. This experiment gave strength to their convictions;
and, after a disagreement of several days, they returned a

verdict of guilty.
230

——o |

JIM V. THE STATE. 290, 291

The court refused to set aside the verdict, and judgment
of death was entered up against the defendant, from
which he appealed.

Samuel Turney, for plaintiff in error,

Attorney General, for the State.

Turley, J., delivered the opinion of the court.

The prisoner was indicted, in the county of DeKalb, for
the crime of murder; convicted, and sentenced to death,
and he prosecutes an appeal to this court.

The question of reversal rests upon the character of the
proof adduced on the trial, and the conduct of the jury
in the mode adopted by them of arriving at the result of
this verdict, as it is exhibited in affidavits of three of the
jurors.

The testimony is, most of it, entirely circumstantial, per-
haps all of it, except a portion of negro Linda’s, who says
the prisoner told her he had shot the deceased, which we
think, upon the whole view of the case, entitled to but lit-
tle weight.

It appears that the prisoner and a negro named George,
the husband of witness Linda, were lurking in the neigh-
borhood, both armed, both having threatened to kill the
deceased, who they suspected of being employed to arrest
them. On the night the murder was committed Linda
swears that the prisoner came to the place of her residence
early; stayed there till bed-time; she asked him if he
would lie down, which he declined; that she went to bed
and left him there; that she waked several times during
the night and always saw him.

In addition, two other witnesses, Beck and Nancy, both
belonging to the master of Linda, swear positively that
the prisoner [291] was in the house of Linda at the time
the gun was fired that killed deceased; that they heard
the gun, and Beck says that she afterwards heard prisoner
talking with Nancy in Linda’s house; and Nancy says that
after the gun was fired she went into Linda’s house, found
prisoner asleep, waked him, and conversed with him: pow-
erfiil proof; conclusive proof, if true. But the jury chose
to believe Linda, and to disbelieve Beck and Nancy. If
they had done this upon a proper exercise of their judg.
meut, the question would have been presented in a verp

4 ©


146, 144, - , HUMPHREYS’ RDPORTS,

bored and concealed by: persons living near the place where —

Isaac was murdered.

The persons having the executions against George had
employed Isaac to catch George, that their executions
might be levied. Both George and the defendant, Jim,
- hud heard and believed that Isaac had engaged to be-

tray them, and they both made frequent threats that they

would take his life. Both were armed; Jim had a large
rifle-barrelled pistol, and George had two large smooth-
bored horseman’s pistols.

Jim and George were well acquainted—were connected
—George’s wife being Jim’s cousin; and while concealing
themselves, to elude the service of process, they were
much together, and ‘were both heard, several times when
thus together, to threaten the life of Isaac. On one oc-
casion, shortly before the death of Isaac, Sam, a slave,
heard the prisoner say he intended to kill Isaac, and en-
quired whether Isaac would be passing next Saturday night.

George was present at this time, and said, “If Isaac was -

one of the sort that would betray black people, he would

be none too good to hurt him.” George “agged” the pris-

oner, Jim, to kill Isaac. George and the Eprower both
had large pistols at this time.

Violet says he heard Jim say he intended to “lay for
the deceased, if he froze, the next Saturday night.” This
. was some time after Christmas. Rose and Violet say that
some time before the murder, and after Christmas, Isaac
was at their house, and Jim and George came there to-
gether; Jim came in and called Isaac up and talked with
him some time, and then told him to go to bed, when he
was done with him. During this conversation between
Jim, the prisoner, and Isaac, George remained out of the
house at the door. Jim said, when he came in, he was a
traveller and had seen the light. Jim staid at their house
on the night before the murder was committed. Isaac
was killed in their house.

Nancy, a slave, says she was at Cindy’s house the night
of the murder, and saw Jim there trimming two bullets.

Cindy says George is her husband, and Jim is her cousin,
She has heard both George and Jim threaten Isaac. They

were [147] both at her house the night of the murder. ©
ee 333

JIM VY. THE STATR. 14 —=—s 8

=

They came there about night, and both went out together.

Jim returned alone. She heard a gun fire abeut eight
or nine o’clock. The prisoner was in her house at that
time, She heard another gun fire about midnight, in the
direction of William Williams.’ The prisoner was not
at ner house when the last gun fired. -Some time before
the last gun was fired, she and the prisoner saw a light
in William Williams’ field, and prisoner said he thought
it must be Isaac, and then remarked, “Oh my Ikey, if you
only knew what was depending.” After the last gun fired,
the prisoner came into her house again, and told her that
he had shot the damned rascal through a crack at William
Williams’, and that he was lying on the floor before the
fire when he shot at him.

Violet, a slave of William Williams, states that Isaac
was in her house the night he was killed, sleeping on the
fioor with his feet towards the fire; that the shooting of
the gun waked her, and Isaac asked, “who did that?” she

_answered, she did not know. Isaac died in about an

hour.

William Williams states that Isaac came to his house
about dark, on Saturday, the 14th January, 1843, the
night he was killed; that the witness was waked by the
firing of a gun or pistol; that he immediately went into
his kitchen, where his negroes sleep, and found Isaac on
the floor, rolling about in great pain, and that he soon
died. There were two bullet holes in his belly.

There is a crack in his kitchen near the door, through
which a gun might be fired so as to shoot a person lying
on the floor by the fire.

Dr. Freson examined the body of Isaac after his death,
and found two bullet holes in the body, one powder and
the other lead; one was a cut bullet, and smaller than the
other. They entered the body about four inches apart;
the wound produced by either was sufficient to cause
death.

William Williams ona William Avant found tracks, fif-
teen or twenty steps from the kitchen where Isaac was
killed, the next morning. The night had been cold, and
the tracks were only visible at a mud-hole near the
kitehen and at the spring [148] branch. These tracks

3

~ A GRUEL BL MURDER” *

‘DEPUTY SHERIFF SHIPR~ SHOT BY
i HICKS CARMICHABL.

te ee a ak ay

He aps Once or Twice and is
| Dead.

4

¢

Details of the Tragedy---Re-
wards Offered---The Coun-
try Being Searched for
the Murderer.

e

ae of the crneiest murders ever com-
mitted in East Tennessee oceurred near
Fiat Creek churea, on the Powell's Val-
lev railroad. about dfteen miles north of
this city, Sunday morning at 11] o'clock.
It was the killing of amefficer of the law

in the dis-harze of hie duh. $-2
For the past few days Deputy Sheriff

D, A.shipe has tadin his possession a
SarGEr or ie arrest of a colored man
naned Hices CermisPacvvbarged with
pronnery io Morran COMaty.

ee sane Mitte H bent: vation the offi-
rn oeated Lis mig du Coo tian & Fos
we rea Ns elley rail-
Prous, nuwincours: dfeocstruction. Kat.
Par ay 2ternoon pe. who hal been

!
ury 3nd the erim-

Pitt SO ee

PB Ne VO hie eras

uote in the
Wersl vuiles above
HeMtlon fo wo over
ERudaw an | make

mung Le started to |
t ee CUMp aril thd@way os cured ex-
Constan.e Wl A Coffim to go with him
as an avi. i

Fe ra:.ros.) wark@
t

(Me arrest. That

iowere fenced at ll
which the outlay.
ne deouty sheriuf |
me door andinguired
mere bunting. He
>. rather pleasynt
AcLarge there was
Bthe officer.

ant’? was the de-
bael. who was ait-
a; garment.
eded to do, but |

4

Cn AT tie ten

Wer Pv Os here, _
Pie COrets eats re :
fie the oman 1)
Was there and iua
MiwQo-r asked w
agaldr* Tae

oD

oe,
= ae

; er
bers.” Tepit

lung ona bed ‘mendi :
This eos cticer py
it proved hi
O'UN DEATHOWABRANT
2a: he neverce mpiéter ft,
Shi ipe, in going ov the authority of
| arrest given him by Maw, hesitated in u
perctence ae it be didifpot- fully compre
head the mraning. Qnram stepped up
ratnerto bis side and behind him to as
sist in the completion of the paper.
Carmict.ael no dosbt thought of his
past record and the erjarcs he had com-
vated, @al xuew Ut captura meant
Wiprivmiuent an perlaps deatb. He
hsv. te take pu chance aad find: pg
Peta She meo had coue to make him
[their weorer, he, witha dare devil de-
ermnnatior, sriz-s4a pistol in each hand

ant with theacity spt a tiger Bprang at
ptsemen. WW.r., & t hacd he place |
the pistol acanst Qrnipe'e breaes and

fred. An ner pb instant later

aith hia other pimiol: a ball was sent
thronch Coram'’e at. In a partielle


erin nauec, seized a pistol i in each hand
and with the agiiity of a tiger sprang at
the men... W.1.. isa lett hand he place:
Bi the pigiol azainst Snipe’a breast and
fred. An inapprec ‘ianle inatant later
arth bis other pistol. a ball waa sent
‘hrouch Coram’s coat, ‘In a partially
i itids state thefend Pe
LEAPED FROM THE TENT
and fled with the speed of'a hound to
De forest uear oy. As the murderer
rarned to go Coram sgapped his pisto!
several times, but it failed to go otf. The
} deputy sheriff grasped twice and died,
tae bail which wag a large one hav rixg |
i Secrel his breast just téthe right chy
‘the heart,
| The exuitement created by the killing
“WAS 20 Intenge in that eeetinn that the
it-euple ao tar forgot tLemsae! ves ag n0f. to
(vive immediate poranit, and.it was some-
tine afterwarda wheu “Dee” Myzxatt and
us son had armed seen cs ‘and were
/ oo the trail.
The officer's sad fate was soon noise!
“Araughout that vicinity ad a- con-
Der of

ABMED MEN ,
-Vare soon scouting in every direction.
iniormation reached the city eboat the
ere ofthe afternoon aud excitement
ere Wag intense. Men and boys in
lirge nutnovers secure? all kinds: of fire
arms and by eight olclock Snnday night
iaily one hundred persons were ia pur-
suit.

THE ibe “EST,
An inquest was béld over Mr, shinee
2

remains at the reghternce of Mr.:
Ault, near oy. In the aheence of Coro-
ner Burkhart, “Sanite 3. J. Tarver offici-
ated in that capeciffp. He summoned
as & jury, G. 8. Bcderson. J. W. C.
| Zackery, R. KE. Rut 4 rfor i, M. H. Rath-
perford, G. A. Zacke#}, James Graves and
PH. L. Caldwetl
| W.A. Co-am, Fpenk Diasmore and
| Price = Lockien ‘ere examined = as
| witnesses, and relate d suivetantially what
| ia aie above,
he verdict wag Ԥfhat Deputy Sheriff
| Shipe came to his dgath by a pistol shot
from the hands of oe Hicks Carmichxé
co:ored.”’ t
A coffin was take? from ne city and
the remains efter fen rly cared
ft 6 home of

}church yesterday ¢
of men, women ang

Deputy Sheriff &

haps,
tion w Bich he held
lat the time of his th b ‘Sheriff Loves

sterling character
6 wherever he wus
ypularity as a trast-


renders bis death: tlo
| that be leavesa wi‘e/onr smafl children,
@ mother and invaljA sister, all more or
leas dependent upoa him for a liveli-
' hood.
STILL AT LARGE. © Z

Nothing definite was learned from the
pursuing parties Sunday night, and yee :
terday morning the interes: in ths _trag-:
edy had increased so that more men!
started heavily armed to hunt the fugi-
tive from justice,’

The first positive information tha treach- |
| ed the city about Carmichal's course alter |
} che killing was received yesterday alter: |
Inoon. He went! aevera!l miles further

up tke road, sold his t.me to a friend |
and disappeared, going in the, direction

| of Cumberland Gap.

H Sheriff Lones and his aa passed |
| that way several hours afterward and |
were last night no doubt on the rght |
trail.

Upto alate hour last n. ‘ght rone of |
the purauing parties had returned to the |
city, and it waa impossible to ascertain |
any detinite information avout the mur- |
derer.

CARMICHAKL, THE MURDERER,
is a rather inteilivent looking bright
miulato,t woes clean shaved, is perkaps
twenty-live years of age and weighs
about two hundred pounds; bas a |
rireckled face and rather tine features for
Fone of his disposition. He ia eaid to be
wanted in Alanbama for murder and ip
P Morgan ceunty, this state, for robbery.
iis heme is near Rankira’s cvpot
neke cuusty, or hia peopie vive there,
ie ner, Some Lime siagee Caroichas
Wag iu Hickory vonaty, Nv. ail
Peaid to bave left there because he had
vinwated the law, Reeent'y he has been
Working In a marble quarry near Straw-
berry Piains, aud en the Powel s Valley
road.

A brother of Cs hael ja reported
a3 naving been eee ior cee abd he
fearing a iike fate, a3 determined not to;
vet taken alive.

The tullowing ofticia!

REWARDS
Have been otfered for the rmurderer’s ar-
reet, Which wilin all probatilty be du-
plicated by the governor:

‘T wil! pay one buadred dollars for the
arrest and delivery tc anv :jail in Ten-
nessee of Hicks Carmichae', colore i, who
murdered [D. A. Shipe. deputy. sheriff,
May 20th, INSS J. K. Loses,

Sheriff Knox County.

Knox county will pay two hundred
and fifty dollars tor the arrest and deiv-
ery to the sheriff of said county Hicks
Carinicheal, who murdered D. A, Snipe,
D S.,in thie couaty or the 20:n day of
May, 15S$s.

T. A. Raun», Chairman.


RL OTR. SARTRE oF MARIA APIA? FR PSH

76

November 2lst. After this, all briefs, in-
cluding his reply brief, were filed. Pending
decision of the Indiana Supreme Court, he
was granted two additional stays of exe-
cution.

Finally, on March 18th, 1925, over
fifteen months after the crime, the case
reached the Supreme Court judges, who
reversed the conviction and death sen-
tence and ordered the criminal court to
grant a new trial.

The Supreme Court decision was based
alone on the refusal of Judge Collins to
grant a change of venue.

Shaw was returned to Marion County,
where his lawyers again asked for a
change of venue. This was granted and,
on May 19th, the second trial began in
Morgan County Circuit Court, in Martins-
ville, Indiana, thirty miles from Indian-
apolis.

There had not been such a sensational
trial for years. Though it was “corn
planting time” and some talesmen asked
to be excused from jury service for that
reason, hundreds of people from the ad-

joining countryside thronged the court- °

room and streets, bringing toys for chil-
dren and baskets of lunch. espite the
length of time that had elapsed, the case
was still front page news all over the state,
and Shaw had become the most discussed
man in Indiana.

HE was no longer nervous and _ill-at-
ease as he stood at the bar of justice
for his second trial. Rather he seemed
conscious of his importance. He bore him-
self with the air of an injured man who
believes that justice may yet be his.

Shaw chewed gum rhythmically and
slowly, listening with composure to the
witnesses. Occasionally he made nota-
tions on a copy of the Supreme Court
brief which he carried in his pocket.

His lawyers brought out the story of
the men who had seen an old Ford car
with two white men and a woman in it,
on the Rockville Road the night of the
murder. The matter was not investigated,
since, as Attorney Remy said, the police
had run down and _ investigated stories
about all the old Fords in Indianapolis.

Witness Andy Parker now added to the
testimony he had given at the first trial.
He said that Hunky John had come tc
Kingan’s plant on Saturday, December
Ist, and asked Shaw what he did with the
watch and ring, saying, “They’re on the
trail of that damned watch.” To this,’ he
said, Shaw replied, “Well, let them be on
the trail, you gave it to me.”

Asked by a lawyer if he had ever been
in jail, Mr. Parker answered, “Yes, once,
for shooting.”

“Shooting, eh?” the lawyer remarked.

“Yes, sir! Shooting craps,” the non-
chalant witness replied.

Only once did Shaw betray nervousness.
That was when a picture of Mrs. Whelchel
was shown to the jury—a picture taken
after death. He averted his face hastily.

Shaw again took the stand in his own
defense. His story was the same as it had
been at the first trial. He was confident
that he would be acquitted.

Finally the case went to the jury. It
was Memorial Day, and Saturday. In
Indianapolis the great 500-mile auto race
was making the city blaze with excitement
and color. Hours passed. When the jury
did not return by afternoon, Shaw slumped
dejectedly in his chair. .

“| thought for awhile I was going to
et to go to the races,” he lamented, “but
i guess all the racing I’ll get will be rac-
ing around the <jail.” e mopped his
head in the almost unbearable summer
heat which had made May a broiling
month that year.

Finally, after nine hours’ deliberation,
the weary jury filed back. It was dead-

Master Detective

locked. Back to the county jail went Shaw
to languish for almost eight months. Then,
for the third time, he went on trial for
the murder of the lovely girl whose name
still represented a vivid personality to
Indianapolis people.

The third rial lasted ten days. Again
the weary witnesses told their stories, again
Shaw persisted in his innocence, again a
fiery prosecutor demanded the death pen-
alty and again Shaw’s lawyer made a val-
iant fight to throw the blame on a jealous
or crazed lover. It was pointed out that
Mrs. Whelchel’s absence on the night of
her death might have something to do
with the murder; that no one had seen her
from eight to ten that night, and that the
old woman who alighted from the car with
her might have had some connection with
the case. Shaw was pictured as the inno-
cent victim of circumstances.

The jury, after an hour’s deliberation,
returned a verdict of “Not Guilty.”

“There was cheering in the courtroom,
which the judge ordered suppressed. Sev-
eral people shook hands with Shaw. He
was elated, but, he said, not surprised.
He had known he’d be acquitted. The
jury evidently believed the defense coun-
sel’s contention that Helen Whelchel had
been slain by a jealous lover.

Naturally there was the greatest indig-
nation in Indianapolis over Shaw’s acquit-
tal. Had he returned to that city, he
might have had to face a mob.

“It’s an injustice and a disgrace!” cried
Helen’s father, when told of the verdict.
And many there were who agreed.

Six years passed. In Nashville, Ten-
nessee, a new resident and his family
moved into the neighborhood where lived
little Mary Lee Foster. Mary Lee was
only eight years old, but she was an ex-
pert “hand” with babies, and within a few
days she was on friendly terms with the
small youngster of the new family.

On the afternoon of December bth, 1931,
Mary Lee’s mother went downtown, leav-
ing her alone in the house. It was three-
thirty when she returned, and in a few
seconds she was out on the street scream-
ing for help, half crazed with grief and
shock.

FU MERGENCY Officers J. T. Pettus and
Allen Murray, the latter now a mem-
ber of the Detective Division, were first on
the scene. Detectives A. T. Inman and
Ed Burgess followed shortly. Used as they
were to death in many violent forms, they
were sickened and horrified by the tragedy
within the little home. The child’s neck
had been broken; there was evidence of
choking; and she had been assaulted.
Neighbors said that a negro wearing a
woman’s red raincoat had entered the
Foster home that afternoon. One neigh-
bor had gone to the door and knocked.
and had seen a colored man, wearing
a red raincoat, jump from a window and

ee.

The child’s mother was taken to De-
tective Headquarters and there questioned
by Chief of Police Elkin Lewis. When
asked if she knew a man who wore a red
raincoat — she romptly named John
Thomas Shaw, the newcomer.

*The criminal file at Police Headquarters
showed no record of Shaw, and as a re-
sult officers were handicapped by lack of
a etebbe or any dessmptice of him.

etectives who combed the negro sec-
tions of the city learned that his home was
in Tullahoma, about eighty miles south-
east of Nashville. Belief that, he might
try to reach his relatives led Chief Lewis
to contact authorities there and ask them
to apprehend Shaw.

Though Shaw had certainly left the
city, the hunt for him continued in Nash-
ville as indignation among whites and
negroes alike mounted to a boiling point.

The cruel ferocity of the murder and the
age of the pitiful little victim, aroused
the wrath of all the city.

Two days passed and then word came
from Tullahoma that Shaw had been ar-
rested there. Chief Lewis, with Police
Inspector Eugene Dillard, left Nashville
for Tullahoma, and on December 12th
pins Shaw back to Nashville. They
timed their ride back in order that they
might arrive before daybreak and _fore-
stall any attempt to lynch the suspect.

Shaw denied the crime, blaming it on
a friend whom he knew only as PE set the
Rock.” He said that with this friend he
had started to go and get some whisky,
and then John the Rogk had asked him
to wait while he went inside “that little
girl’s house.” Shaw stated that he waited
ten minutes, then went inside and found
the child dead. Hearing a knock at the
door he jumped out of the window and
ran. He admitted that he was wearing
the red raincoat.

Detectives shattered this weak alibi by
proving that no one had ever seen or
eard of John the Rock save Shaw him-
self, but despite the fallacies of his story
he refused to admit his guilt.

On the 15th of December the Grand
pury returned two indictments against
im, one for murder and the other for
assault, either calculated to result in a
sentence of death for Shaw.

EYEN after a check of his finger-prints
told officers that he had stood three
trials for murder in Indiana, Shaw clung
to his assertion of innocence.

On December 16th, 1931, the trial on the
murder indictment was begun. On De-
cember 18th, nine days after the crime,
Shaw was found guilty of first-degree mur-
der and sentenced to die in the electric
chair. His attorneys made a motion for
a new trial on the grounds that they had
not had time to prepare a defense, and
he was granted a new trial on December
21st, 1931.

The second trial brought the same ver-
dict, and Shaw was again sentenced to the
electric chair.

There followed a long wait while his
attorneys carried the case to the Tennes-
see Supreme Court, Governor Hill Mc-
Alister was deluged with letters from in-
terested citizens demanding that no clem-
ency be extended in the case. The State
Supreme Court finally affirmed the con-
viction of the lower court on March 23rd,
and Shaw’s last day on earth was set for
July 3rd, 1933. Last minute appeals to
the Governor being fruitless, Shaw went
to his death on July 3rd, as scheduled.

He shuffled into the execution room with
no sign of weakness or faltering. Years
before, he had dwelt in the shadow of that
chair back in Indiana, often it had haunted
him, but this was the first time he had seen
it. For a moment he looked at the chair,
then seated himself.

As Warden A. W. Neely and his assist-
ants were strapping him in, he made ref-
erence to the current about to snuff out
his life. “I hope’s it’s enough,” he said.

Two minutes later he was dead.

Though legally Shaw was innocent of
the Indianapolis crime, police and other
residents of that city felt that he was
guilty of the murder of Mrs. Helen Whel-
chel and that his execution in Tennessee
was a long delayed payment for his Indi-
ana murder.

Chief Elkin Lewis, of Nashville, Ten-
nessee, writing to the Indianapolis Chief
of Police, after the electrocution, said:

“Shaw has at last met the fate he should
have met in Indiana years ago.”

The case of John Shaw is a classic ex-
ample of the ease with which desperate
criminals evade justice through legal tech-
nicalities.

lilies.

August, 193

The T.

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The detectives told him of Jewel
Roberts’ tragic end. The soldier was
so stunned he could not speak. Soon
he snapped out of it.

“‘We were going to be married,’’ he
said, almost inaudibly. ‘‘If you think
I killed her, you’re crazy.”’

The detectives left the distraught
soldier and checked with his platoon
leader and company commander. Both
confirmed that he had been at the base
on the night of the crime. The
detectives returned to Memphis that
night.

Next day, Los Angeles police
reported they had no record of a Mr.
and Mrs. Joe Thomas. The autopsy
report also came in. It was of no help.
It reported that there were no poisons
in the victim’s system; she died of
strangulation. There was no hair,
blood or skin under her nails. She had
not struggled with the killer — she had
been killed quickly. There was
evidence that she had been intimate
with her slayer shortly before her
death.

Wiebenga got up and turned to his
partner. ‘‘Looks as if we’ve got to start
all over again.”’

The detectives drove to see the
victim’s mother again. What they
wanted from her, the detectives
explained, was the name of anyone she
could recall of whom Jewel saw a great
deal.

‘‘Men or women?” Mrs. Bingham
asked.

“Both.”

*‘Well, she had an occasional date
before she got engaged. But she gave
up all that. She had a few girl friends
besides the girls at the café. She spoke
only casually of them to me and I don’t
remember their names. Only one she
was close with was Marsha Armstrong.
Marsha could tell you who the others
are.’’ Mrs. Bingham furnished the
sleuths with the woman’s address.

At Marsha Armstrong’s apartment,
Wiebenga and McCarroll rang the bell
but got no answer. They stepped
across the hall and rang the bell there.
A young housewife came to the door
with her baby in her arms.

“Sorry to bother you; we’re looking
for Miss Armstrong. We’re police
se a We need to get in touch with

er.’’

The young woman’s eyes suddenly
widened, but she breathed relief at the
same time. ‘‘Oh, I’m glad you’re here.
I was worried for a minute it might be
36

- ‘Lie Back And Die, Darling’

(continued from page 35)

somebody else. I’m not supposed to
tel where she is. But I don’t mind
telling you. You should know. She’s
at her brother’s house.’’ The matron
gave the detectives his name. From the

, phone book they got his address and

set out in their car.

They found Marsha Armstrong a
shocked and nervous young woman.
She burst into tears immediately. The
officers explained that they wanted to
talk to her and were led into the living
room.

**T loved him,’’ the forlorn woman
said, her head down. ‘‘I’ve been
scared, scared sick. He said he’d kill
me if I told and I’ve been hiding out
from him. Thank God he hasn’t found
me or I wouldn’t be here.’’”

**Just a minute,’’ McCarroll cut in.
‘*Who are you talking about?’’

**My boy friend, Marshal Spigner.’’

‘‘Well, Miss Armstrong, we came
here to talk to you about Jewel
Roberts. Of course, if you want to
unburden your troubles to us, we’ll be
glad to listen. And if you need police
protection, we can supply that. But...’
McCarroll let the word trail off. He
was, frankly, baffled. All police
officers hear many personal problems
such as this but he couldn’t figure why
she had launched into her story so
hysterically, or why she was so scared
and furtive.

“*T should have brought them to you
sooner,”’ the distraught young woman
continued. ‘‘But I was just too sick
emotionally to do anything. I was all
torn up inside. When he made me keep
the rings, I knew...’

‘‘Rings?’’ Wiebenga asked, with in-
terest.

“Yes, he made me keep three rings
for him.”’

‘“Where did he say he got them?”’

He didn’t say. He threatened to kill
me if I said anything to the police
about them.”’

“Get them,’’ Wiebenga instructed.

The young woman left the room and
returned with three diamond rings. She
handed them to Wiebenga, who
examined them and handed them to
McCarroll. McCarroll scrutinized
them and put them in his pocket.

‘‘Was Jewel Roberts your friend?”’
McCarroll asked.

The woman nodded. ‘‘We uséd to
work together. I introduced her to
Marshal. I never dreamed she would
date him.”’

‘*Are these Jewel’s rings?”’

She nodded again, her head bowed.

**Where does Marshal Spigner
live?”’

“*He lives with his sister and brother-
in-law on Carr Avenue.” She gave the
detectives the name and address of the
couple. :

Marsha Armstrong walked to the
door with the detectives. At the
threshold, Wiebenga turned and
confronted her. ‘‘Tell me,’’ he said,
“‘why are you so afraid? Many men
threaten women, but it usually doesn’t
mean anything.”

She stared icily at him. ‘‘It does with
him. He killed a girl once. But I’d
never told Jewel — I’d never told
anyone about his past. Maybe if I’d
told Jewel she wouldn’t be dead now!”’

Back at the office, the detectives
checked the Identification Bureau and
found a file on Marshal Spigner. In it
were several photographs. The file
reflected that in 1927, Spigner had

killed his sweetheart, Grace Bennett, a
pretty brunette, because she spurned
his love. Spigner, then 28, had armed
himself with a shotgun and had hidden
in the bushes beside the girl’s home.
When the unsuspecting brunette had
returned from work, he had held the
weapon to her head and pulled the
trigger.

Sobbing out a confession, Spigner
had told the late Captain Frank
Glisson, ‘‘I’ll tell you all about it if
you’ll send me to the electric chair!’’

But Spigner got life imprisonment.
He served 14 years and seven months,
and was paroled in the fall of 1941.
Only one year had elapsed since his
release from prison.

With the pictures of Spigner in their
pockets, McCarroll and Wiebenga
went to see the waitress at Kay’s Café
and the room clerk at the hotel where
Jewel Roberts had been strangled. Yes,
that was the man who had spent the
afternoon drinking with Jewel and
who had checked into the hotel with
her.

The detectives made a trip next to
the home of Spigner’s sister and
brother-in-law. No one was in.

Secluding their car in an alley, the
detectives took up a watch half a block
away. Shortly after midnight, the
sleuths saw a lone figure approach the
house. Quickly the lawmen closed in.

‘*What’s your name, fellow?’’
Wiebenga asked.

‘*Nelson. Frank Nelson,’’ the man
replied, turning and keeping his head
down. ‘‘Why?’’:

(continued on next page)

(

|
{
saehaniuseitinanibemaeeeeel

_ “We're police officers. Want to talk
to you.” ;

The man offered no resistance as
the detectives, taking him by each arm,
led him back to their squad car and
put him in. At headquarters, they sat
their prisoner in a chair in the homicide
office. McCarroll studied the face of
the dark-haired, olive-skinned man
before them. He was now pale and
nervous. McCarroll looked at the
photographs of ex-convict Marshal
Spigner before him.

“*You’re not Nelson,’’ he said.
**You’re Marshal Spigner.”’

The man swallowed hard. ‘‘Yes. I’m
Spigner. I guess you’ve got me.”’

The detectives searched the prisoner
and found $32 in his wallet. They
removed his narrow brown leather
belt. It could well be the murder
weapon, they reasoned.

A stenographer was called and
Spigner began this confession:

“I went to Kay’s Café about 5:30
Friday afternoon. It was raining awful
hard. I got Jewel’s phone number and
called her for a date. She remembered
me as Marsha’s boy friend, but she
seemed pleased to hear from me. I told

. her I had fallen for her, that she was

the prettiest girl I had ever met. I fed
her a line of sweet talk. She agreed to
meet me at the café.

“‘Jewel showed up in a little while
and I saw those diamond rings she was
wearing: Right away I figured I’d have
a good time with her and also get those
rings. We sat around drinking. I held
her hand and kissed her a couple of
times. When they got ready to close
the café, Jewel and I left and went
across the street to the whisky store.
She bought a half pint. A Yellow cab
came along and we flagged it and went
to the hotel. I paid the cabman.

‘“‘We walked up to the desk and
Jewel registered, I think under the
name of Thomas from California. A
tall, thin bellboy took us to the room,
which was 1011. After we got into the
room, Jewel called down and ordered
another half pint, some soda and a
bowl of ice.

‘*I went to the door when the
bellboy came and took the tray. I paid
the boy and set the tray on the dresser.
He asked for the tray back and I went
and got it and gave it to him.

‘*We finished both bottles of
whisky. Jewel took her clothes. I took
off mine, leaving on my shorts and
undershirt... We were lying there in
bed talking and I got to scuffling with
her with my belt and I put the belt
around her neck and took my hand
and twisted it and held it for about

five or six minutes.

“I took the belt off of her and she
was dead; I believe she was. I removed
three rings from her finger. I got up
and dressed and came on out and
caught the No. 6 bus.”’

‘‘Marshall, Miss Roberts was seen
with several $10 bills in Kay’s Café.
On examining her purse after she was
found dead, it was discovered she had
no money except six cents. Did you
steal any money from her purse?”’

“IT don’t remember.”’

‘*At the time you were arrested you
had $32 in currency and some odd
cents in change on your person. Where
did you get this money?’’

“T had some money — about $20
of my own. If I had more than that, I
don’t know where I got it.

“After you had been arrested and
brought to police headquarters, we
removed a belt from the waistband of
your trousers which you are wearing.
Is this the belt you used to choke Miss
Jewel Roberts to death with?”’

“*Yes, sir, that’s the belt.”

The detectives returned the cold-
blooded killer to jail. In due course,
he was indicted. Spigner told the court
he did not have funds for an attorney,
and Public Defender Patrick Johnson
was called in to defend him.

Johnson reviewed the case, checked

the file on the 1927 murder and
concluded that Spigner was a psycho-
path. The attorney went to County
Attorney Frank Gailor and asked for
$500 in county funds to employ two
psychiatrists to examine the accused
and to testify as defense witnesses.

‘I’m not going to let Spigner go to
the electric chair like a lamb being led
to slaughter,’’ Johnson declared. ‘‘I’ve
got my conscience to think about, as
well as the best possible defense under
the law for the accused.”’

Gailor agreed and went to one of
the county commission officials for the
money. But the committeeman ada-
mantly refused to provide a single
penny for the case. ‘‘Why waste
money on a guilty man?’’ he re-
portedly said.

The issue became a political matter
and Public Defender Johnson resigned
rather than go to trial without a proper
and adequate defense.

Another attorney replaced Johnson
as public defender, and represented
Spigner at the trial. Spigner was found
guilty and sentenced to death. On July
15, 1943, less than a year after the
slaying of the funloving beauty, the
strangler who had got away with
murder once before was electro-
cuted.

*

Miami’s Strangest Sex Murder

(continued from page 23)

‘‘distinguished”’ only in name. It was
hushed up, naturally. But a brief entry
back in 1980 showing Hagendorf when
drunk, lewdly exposed himself near a
private swimming pool. ‘‘He pulled
down his shorts,”’ said the police
document. ‘‘Arrested for indecent
behavior.’’ Two other entries noted he
had once been hospitalized for drug
addiction — and unlawful possession
of heroin.

Just the opposite was true for Elaine
Rosenthal. She drank nothing stronger
than seltzer water. And no trace of
alcohol had been found in her blood
shortly after killing Hagendorf.
Medical Examiner technicians found
a .09 percentage of alcohol in Hagen-
dorf’s corpse. Under Florida law .10
indicates legal intoxication.

Two detectives assigned to trace the
activities of Elaine Rosenthal found
evidence she was a perfect lady, a
loner, playing a few games of back-
gammon at the Jockey Club with other
women, taking piano lessons, culti-
vating exotic flowers.

. One police report noted: ‘‘She

stayed in her apartment after her
divorce. She was in deep grief,
witnesses said. Once she did not come
out of her apartment for three
months.”’

Then came startling revelations
about those final 12 hours before she
killed Hagendorf.

In mid-morning of the fatal day,
Elaine Rosenthal moved around the
fashionable areas of Miami in a
puzzling way.

“We got the clear impression that
some of the stuff we found in the dead
man’s apartment linked perfectly with
what this lady was doing,”’ said one
officer. ‘‘Driving all over town she
made stops that looked routine. But
when we visited occupants of each
house — one of them her nearest of
kin — we believed we were lawfully
on the way to getting a first-degree
charge.”

The officers picked up this infor-
mation:

At 9:20 a.m., Elaine Rosenthal

(continued on next page)
37

Asm sys pee pepe mE DST on


Mr. R. 0. Biggs!
Beaumont School

“K fnoxville,

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‘Tennessee

This acknowledges your letter of the 7
12th, and 1 note your feeling with regard to the

. Facial question in the state. Personally, I find en

an entirely different attitude ‘among me white |

. disappeared and I know of Ro ‘occasion,

sah,

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PAPER 8

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of it and if the Board of Pardons. and Paroles has
the record I will ask for a report. ‘Further, Iam
placing your letter with them that they may have
the benefit of your feeling and your judgment on
this and other cases of similar nature. I do not

believe that I heve the right as Governor to extend

clemency as a Christmas gift, or on any. grounds
except justice to the individual case involved.

hearing from you, I am

With assurance of my appreciation for

Sincerely your friend,

CC: MR, PRIESTLEY MILLER


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TRIAL

APPEALS

LAST WORDS

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= LBENHA1AS SER PD= WUX KNOXVILLE, TENN 23 Hs

Amie HONORABLE GORDON BROWNING:

Se eee gen

sah 1950 HE 1s A eats EMPLOY EE OF ouR FIRE

r= ee ee ee ee ee ee

what my ie is, and 1 cegued it as the action cara
the State instead of an individual who. happens - to.
Your feelings about. it I respect
‘entirely as well as that of all those who signed
I only regret that I could not find

some way to justify interference with the. course =
of the law.

be Governor.

the petition.

Most sincerely,

GB: JC


(Need confirmation)

"In 181 slave Peter murdered the wife and two daughters
of John McMahan, He was hanged, but I believe this was
by a mob instead of officers." Letter dated 21 July
1981 from Mrs. Reba Boyer, P. 0, Box 416, Athens, Tenn,
31303.

Slave PETER TENNESSEE [Pater]

Aegally executed ov MARES $Y)
She Ldyehield (Sc J Adbverttstr, [-5-G2 3-2.


EON ‘wena

Tragic fate of popular Lillie
Shaw (right) shocked everyone in
the Mountain City community

At spot indicated above, smoldering Mountain City,
ashes revealed evidence of a crime after Lillie Shaw came from the Blue Ridge hills to make it her home

LL, (96

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Nashville

PICKERING, Jacob and THRONTON, Stewart W., whites, hanged RXNGOUCRRK GOMRKK Ternes

1810 or 1811,

"Clarksville, Tenn., June 2, 1810=-Committed to the jail of this county on Monday
evening last, Jacob Pickering and Stewart W. Thornton, for the murder of Elijah Gar-
ner, The circumstances which led to this horrid deed are as follows: Garner had
been confined in Springfield jail for stealing a bank note, and Pickering (the
jailor), took him out to work, which he did for some short time, but getting dis-
gusted with the treatment he received, and probably fearing the effect of the law,
he made his escape. He was, however, apprehended in this county, and lodged in

the jail of this place, On last Monday week Pickering and Thornton came for Garner,
& started with him for Springfield, handcuffed and a rope round his necks after
going 8 or 10 miles, the prisoner complain d of being weary, upon which they beat
him unmercifully, and in a manner dragged him after them for several miles far-
ther, where they murdered him 4n a most barbarous manner, by beating and stabbing
him, Under a dread of its being found out, they reported that Garner runaway, for
whom they pretended to be hunting. On a supposition that Garner was killed, the
citizens adjacent to the place hunted for him, and found him about two hundred
yards from the road mangled in a cruel manner, No doubt can exist of their being
euiltye" COURIER, Charleston, SC, July 31, 1810 (3/1.)

",.ePrevious to the organization of this (Robertson County Circuit)
court, however, two citizens of the county paid the death penalty

for murder, They were Charles Pickering, the jailer at Springfield,
and Thornton, a tailor, One of the prisoners, named Gardner, who was
placed at work outside of the jail, escaped to Montgomery County. He
was followed by Pickering and Thornton who captured him, and having
pinioned his arms and fastened him to their saddles, compelled him to
walk behind. They then increased the speed of their horses until Gard-
ner was thrown down and dragged to his death. They were arrested and
ta ken to Davidson County, where they were tried, convicted and hanged.
Their bodies were brought back to Springfield for burial,"

HISTORY OF TENNESSEE; Nashville, Tenn.: Goodspeed Publishing Co.,

1886, pages 818-819 (Robertson County section, )


90 SOUTHWESTERN 856
PRESTON, Finley, black, hanged, at Mountain City, Tennessee, on November 7, 1905.

"(Special to the TIMES DISPATCH), Bristol, Tennessee, Nove 7, 1905-Hurtley Preston, a
mulatto, twenty-seven years of age, was the first man to wear the hangman's noose in
Johnson County, Tenn., was hanged today at Mountain City. Five thousand people were
present, but only a few were permitted to witness the execution, It was thought Preston
would confess the murder with which he was charged, but he died game and made no
reference to the matter, He had previously denied his guilt. Preston was charged with
the murder of Lillian Shaw, a mulatto woman, After being shot to death, the body of the
woman was cut into pieces and an effort was made to burn the mutilated remains under a
log heap. It was ten days after the crime before searching parties succeeded in locating
the remains, which had been carried into the mountains,."" TIMES-DISPATCH, Richmond, Va.,
November 8, 1905 (10-6)

"(Special to the Times-Dispatch.) Bristol, Tennessee, November 9, 1903. - Finley Preston,
the young negro who was arrested near Mountain City, Tenn., a few days ago, charged with
having murdered Lillian Shaw, a mulatto woman, and with afterwards burning her body, has
confessed, implicating Jonah Tilley and MWXXMEEERZEBBERBR America Phillips, the latter a
mulatto woman. Preston tells that he and Tilley shot the woman through the head, having
been promised a hundred dollars for the deed by America Phillips, who felt that her hus-
band was on too intimate terms with the Shaw woman, After the body had lain for 2h hours,
Preston and Tilley cut it into quarters and carried it in a barrel to the spot where it
was burned under a log heap. Preston tells that they moved the body four times before

it was decided to cremate. They were engaged 3 nights in burning the body. Busied with
the work of concealment, Preston and Tilley failed to get the reward which Preston says
the woman had promised, All the implicated parties are in jail," TIMES-DISPATCH, Rich-
mond, Virginia, November 10, 1903 (7/1=2.)

"(Special to the Times-Dispatch.) Bristol, Tenn., Nove 2. = Two weeks ago Lillian Shaw,
the young mulatto wife of Melvin Shaw, colored, suddenly disappeared ffom the mountains
of Johnson County, Tenn., after she had made preparations to go to her husband in Illi-
nois. It was suppected from the start that she had been murdered by Finley Preston, a
negro twenty-five years of age, who was desperately in love with her and who was en=
deavoring to persuade her to remain with him, That he was overcome by his jealousy and
murdered the woman is now considered as confirmed. Today, after searching the mountains
for 10 days, the woman's body, burned to a crisp, except a portion of the face and head
was found under a partially consumed log heap at a remote spot in the mountains, a few
miles from Mountain City. Finley Preston, and his father, Elbert Preston, are under
arrest, charged with murdering the woman and burning her body." TIMES-DISPATCH, R,ch-

mond, Virginia, November SPAUMAIKKAAAT Lh, 1903 (1:1.)


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TRUE DETECT

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hall, wh, elec. Tenn. ( Shelby ) on 7/15/1943...

Janury

“You heard a party going |
“on in that room after six
this morning?” maid at
Hotel Claridge was asked

a Ga WAS Aibiarenitly in her middle twenties,
. a comely little figure even in the stillness of

death. She lay on the bed in Room 1011 at:

the Hotel Claridge, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Her dainty pale-blue street dress was torn
and disarranged. There were bruises on both
arms and on the right leg above the knee. On
her face and breast little crimson lines, hav-
ing the appearance of fingernail scratches,
criss-crossed each other. Her wealth of ‘hair
was a tangled black mass which accentuated
the pallor of her face, while it. cushioned her
head on the pillow. It was 2:30 p.m. on Sat-
urday, August 8th, 1942.

Chief of Detectives M. A. Hinds studied
the surroundings with minute attention to
detail, his keen dark eyes moving slowly
about the room. Captain Wilbur Miller, the
tall, robust head of the Homicide Department,
moved about methodically. He opened the
dressing-table drawers, looked inside the
clothes closet and bathroom, but found them
all empty. In‘a corner of the room‘he noticed
a pair of white oxfords, which apparently
had been pulled from the woman’s feet and
thrown aside. ‘He picked up an expensive
purse which he had discovered under a large
upholstered chair. It, too, was empty, insofar
as money was concerned.

He turned to Hinds who was leaning over

1949.

pat

. the: dead ‘woman, examining her left hand.

“It looks like robbery,. Chief,’ Miller ob-

. served. “There’s not a dime in this purse.”

Without answering, Hinds motioned for the
captain: to come closer. “Look at this third
finger. Her rings have been torn off.’ He
turned to see the purse in Miller’s hand. “I
think you're right, Captain,” he agreed. “She’s’
undoubtedly been robbed. But, of course,
other motives may have been involved. She.
was a very attractive woman—refined, too,
judging by what we can see here; so, for the
present, at least, we:’must not overlook the
love and sex angles.”

Detective Sergeants Pete Wisbedae . and
James Hillin, of Homicide, who had arrived
with Chief Hinds, were also engaged in the
search for clues. Wiebenga stood at the foot
of the bed and lifted the rumpled counterpane.
Suddenly he and Hillin bent forward, tracing
black marks on the white sheet. :

“Footprints,” Hillin observed, claiming the
attention of his chief. - “It looks like a man

.has been standing‘on the bed with his shoes

on. ”

Hinds studied the clearly outlined footprints.
“What strange business! I believe you’re right,
Jimmy,” he exclaimed. ‘We'll borrow this
sheet. It may be worth something later on.”

The officers stood aside while Shelby County


recognized the photograph of Jewell
Roberts.

“She’s been in here lately with a
regular customer of mine," he explain-
ed..“A fellow who lives down at the
Ashland Hotel, He’s a nice fellow, Been
soming in here for years.”

“I guess we're on Mr. Killer’s trail
now,” Wicbenga , exulted as they
climbed into the car.

Miller only smiled. “Funny,” he said
slowly, “they all mention this chap as
a ‘nice fellow.’ Usually several people
aren’t that far wrong.”

At the Ashland Hotel they were again
balked. The man they sought was out.
Wiebenga called headquarters and in-
structed Sergeant Hillin and Detective
McGee to join them at the hotel. When
the two officers arrived, they were given
instructions to wait for the wanted man
and bring him to headquarters. . .

“Meanwhile, I want to have .a look
through the files. I have a hunch the
absence’ of _ fingerprints—other
those. of .the victim—may mean the
killer’ is a repeat offender wise in the
= the police,” Captain Miller ex-

The captain had no opportunity to
check the files, however, for Hillin and
McGee arrived at headquarters less
than five minutes after. Miller and Wie-
benga. They brought with them a tall,
lighthaired young man. - :
The group assembled in Captain Mil-
ler’s office. The man about to be ques-
tioned looked the part of the “nice fel-
low” described by the cafe owner. There

was nothing about him to suggest a

crime of violence.
“Would you gentlemen mind explain-
ing why I’m here?” he asked.
Captain Miller glanced at a sheet of
paper that Hillin handed him. Mr.
Hampton, do you know Mrs. Jewell
Roberts?” By GAT Sat
The young man nodded: “Yes. I’ve
known her.for about two weeks or so.”
“Did you see her yesterday—Friday?”
“Yes. We had dinner together.” Con-
cern showed on his face. “Is Jewell—
Mrs. Roberts—in any difficulty?”
The captain ignored the question.
‘When did you leave her last night?”
The young man considered for a few
seconds. “Why,. I ‘guess it was about
sight o’clock—maybe°8:15.”

A puzzled expression :showed in the °

captain’s eyes. He took off his glasses
and carefully polished them. “Can you
prove that?” he asked ‘evenly.

Young Mr. Hampton proved con-
clusively that he had returned to his
place of employment to take an in-
ventory at 8:15 on the previous eve-
aing. A number of employees, including
the head bookkeeper, recalled ‘that he
was one of the last to leave—iong past
nidnight. He was obliging but could

give the police little help. Mrs. Roberts ©

had known him only a short time and
had not mentioned other men friends,
except her fiance, to him. Mrs. Roberts
had told him she was going home early
but said she might stay downtown for
a movie, That was all he knew.

“The killer: fades again,” complained
Wiebenga after Hampton had left.

Captain Miller said wearily, “It’s
about time we all knock-off. Tomor-
row’s another day and this is no case

for a groggy brain to cope with. It’s.

discouraging to’ find that the man Mrs.
Roberts left home with is not the man
she was seen at the. hotel with, but
we'll track him down yet.”

Wiebenga yawned. “Track him with
no description? That woman may have
gone anywhere in the town after she
left Jackson. And will the newspaper
boys razz us when they do- break this
case. We tell ’em to hold off because
we're on the verge. of an arrest and

‘of copies of Mrs.. Roberts’

than

ph-t-t! the arrest blows up in our faces,”
Miller's voice was certain—confidence

“inspiring, “We'll brenk this case, I’m

going to ask the photographer to work
tonight,” he glanced at his watch and
smiled, “or rather this morning, I’m
going to ask him to get out dozens

He leaned forward and smiled at the
young sergeant. “Did it ever occur to

you that Mrs, Roberts probably went

right on looking for a job after she left
young Hampton? From ‘8:30 to about
1:00 would be the best time to see
these restaurant and cafe proprietors.
That’s their busy time. They’d be much
more apt to think of needing a new

“ waitress‘ when: the place was full.”

The sergeant straightened up in his
chair, “Say, she could kill a couple of

_ birds with one ‘stone, too. She probably

knew a lot of the people who spend

their evenings in those places. A sociable

evening and a new job.” :

The captain nodded and handed the
photograph’ to McGee. “Tomorrow
every man we can spare will be armed
with. a copy of: this: photo. We'll cover
every place on that list Mrs, Barham
gave us. If we don’t’cross her trail in
any of the places where she. formerly
worked, we'll try others.” He banged his
desk with his fist. “We'll. cover every
eating and drinking place in ‘this city

if we have to, But we'll find out where -

Jewell Roberts was from. 8:30 on and

“who she was with!”

In pairs the men detailed to the case
covered the list of restaurants and cafes
the next. day. They all kept in touch
with headquarters by telephone at in-
tervals. In this way, any: information
discovered by one team could be quick-.

‘ly relayed to the others.

The day wore on and the list sup-
plied by Mrs.’ Barham was covered
without result. Once this list was check-
ed, the detectives divided the town into
sections, covering all places that em-
ployed waitresses. So extensive was the
hunt for the brutal killer that many of
the officers used their own automobiles
after all available police cars had’ been
assigned. | ;

It was not until 9:30 P. M., that
Miller and Wiebenga received instruc-
tions to return to headquarters. The
proprietor of the Cafe had been brought
in for questioning.

Miller faced the man whe seemed to
be: reticent. “So you’ recognized this
photograph?” In his hand Miller held

. the picture of ‘a- laughing brunette.

The man nodded but said nothing.

“Did she ask you to employ her as
a‘ waitress?” :

“Ves,” ws

“Did you employ her?”

The man “merely shook his head.

“What time was she in your cafe?”

“Ten o’clock—maybe ten-thirty.”
* Miller confronted. the man. “How
Jong was she there?”

“A little less than an hour, I guess.”
The man looked away. ‘

The captain’s voice sharpened. “Did
she leave with ‘anyone?”:

“Well,” the man hesitated, “in a way
I figure it’s none of my business, see.
But she did leave with a fellow that
comes in regular. They got to talking.
He bought her a couple of dirnks.”

“Who is this man?” the captain quer-

ied. . :
. "he man shook his head. “I don’t

know his name. He’s an ex-convict. He
had the pallor on him when he first
came into my place about ten months
ago. Besides, another fellow ‘that knew
him came in one day and they were
joshing about it.” ;
“What’s he look: like?” Wiebenga in-
terrupted. le
The man considered. “Tall dark fel-

picture.”

low, Good looking ina hard way, Can't
tell much about his age. Could be any-
where from thirty-five to forty-five, I'd

nay. a

The fact that the cafe owner’s regular
customer was an ex-convict was the tell
ing clew. It was nearly: eleven o'clock
when the cafe proprietor picked a set
of photographs out of the police files.
“That’s the fellow.” His voice was em-
phatic, leaving no doubt. int

Captain Miller’s face was grim as he ~ |

jotted down the man’s latest known
address, for the photographs were of a

man with a long criminal record in « «*

three states and a man who was once
convicted of murder. . eat

The cafe owner was returned to his
place of business but was instructed
to return the following morning to. pick
his customer out of a. line-up. The man
also supplied the names ‘and ‘addresses
of others who would be able to identify
the man who left with Mrs. Roberts
the night before. f seats

Captain. Miller warned his men to
use caution in apprehending the ‘wanted
man.’ “He is dangerous.” The captain
then gave a brief-digest of the record.

’ “Name: Marshall Spigner. Sentenced to

two years' in the Arkansas Penitentiary
for grand larceny. Escaped from Tucker
Prison Farm in 1924. Tried for murder
of Mrs. Bennett, this city, in 1927.
Reason for killing—jealousy and un-
requited love. Sentence: Life.,He serv-
ed thirteen years of the life «sentence.

Finished a term in Arkansas. He’s been -

in Memphis a little less than a year
according to ‘the parole records,”: he
concluded. “This man may not want to

(Continued on page.31) 4

Above is Marshall Spignor, who once
served time for another killing and:
whom police accuse of stealing. into
Jewell Robert's room in the dead
of night. Below is a view of the
respectable Claridge Hotel, in the
heart of Memphis, where the play-
girl checked in because it was so

convenient.

yer.

a stl
\>

"In this pleasant room

«> *

where Jewell Roberts chose to spend the night, two

rough and hairy hands reached out to encircle her throat like a vise.

she was showing them her new outfit.
I know she was over at Grahams. “They
live in the trailer that’s parked in. the
lot next door.” 4
.. Before he left,’ Wiebenga secured a
photograph of Mrs. Roberts and a list
of the places where she had worked
from her mother..

The detective stood on the front steps
of the murdered woman’s home and
looked up and down the street. It. was
a neighborhood of small, neat homes.
There were a few trailers in vacant lots
like the one next door. Wiebenga lit
a cigarette and rapidly. reviewed the
. facts in the cage.

If some one on the hotel register was
the man in the dark coupe who called
for Mrs. Roberts, they were still far
from having an adequate description of
him. Since Mrs. Barham told ‘of the
neighborhood talk of the money, a new
possibility came into’ thé case. Could
it be. possible that one 6f these clean
little houses was even now sheltering
the killer? Who was the man ‘who en-
tered the Claridge and walked, out,
leaving a bloody lifeless form on a bed? ©
Was ‘he peering even now at the de-
‘tective from behind a window curtain?

Wiebenga crossed to the Graham
trailer and knocked. A man flung the
dcor open and the investigator showed
his badge in his palm. “I’m from head-
quarters. I’d like to ask you a: few
questions about one of your neighbors.”

“Sure. Come on in,” the man re-
plied. eee :

The sergeant noted that the man who
stood in the narrow doorway above him
had an open, kindly face. His eyes met
the officer’s frankly. As he followed the
. man into the cleverly compact sitting-
room end of the trailer, Wiebenga de-
cided he -had come to the right. place
for information about the neighborhood.
Here was a man who would help if he .
could—an alert man who would have
noticed anything out-of-the-way in the
vicinity. © : ;

22

Wiebenga sat on the edge of a built-
in seat indicated by Graham. and said
abruptly, “Your neighbor, Mrs, Jewell
Roberts, has been murdered.”

Disbelief followed by consternation
showed in the man’s face. “Jewell Rob-
erts murdered?” he said slowly.

“She was killed at the Claridge on

’ Friday night. I thought you might be

able to help out with some informa-
tion:” 3 *

.’“That’s terrible. It must be .awful
for Mrs. Barham. My wife and I’ll do

anything we can to help.”

“How. long have you known Mrs.

‘Roberts and her mother, Mr. Graham?”

The man thought a moment. “I don’t
recall exactly. It was last’ winter some-
time that they mioved in next door.”

“Do you know any of Mrs. Roberts’
friends?”

’ Graham shook his head and unravel- .

ed a thread from‘the seam of his work
pants. “No. ‘She used to come over
here pretty often and visit with me
and my wife. But we didn’t know any
of the young folks she ran around with.”

Eagerness showed in the detective’s

‘voice when he asked, “Could you de-

scribe the young man she went out

with ‘on Friday afternoon?” .

“I didn’t pay much attention, Officer.

’ There’s a light haired fellow about my

height come for her in a green coupe

“ lately.”

“Ts that the one she left with yes-
terday,” Wiebenga asked.

Graham rubbed his neck in irrita-
tion. “I’m sorry I didn’t pay more at-

‘tention. I was home, but it wasn’t any

of my business really. I didn’t notice.
She was over here right after lunch
and she didn’t mention going out. then.”

The sergeant smiled at the man’s
concern. “Don’t blame yourself, Mr.
Graham. You had :no way of knowing
that rubber-necking at your neighbors

‘might suddenly become a virtue and be
‘a -help’ to the police.” The younger

man’s light tone shifted to a serious

oo

one, “Did she mention having any mon-
ey with her when she was here yester-
day?” nie : fi

“I guess most everybody around here
knew Jewell. got a money order from
her fiance, She was a friendly sort of

person you know—not a bit secretive. ©

She bought some new clothes and show-
ed them around, Said she had around
$50 left. over.” — ’

“Do you think she had that money
with her?”

Graham nodded. ‘I suppose so—unless
she left it with her mother. She wore
three nice rings too,” he volunteered.

“Can you describe them, Mr. Gra-
ham?” ,

“Sure. I’ve seen ’em often. There
was a trick one she was particularly
fond of. She took it off once and
showed me how it worked. It was re-
versible. There was an on one
side and on the other one of those
heads—cameo, I guess you call it. Then
there was a diamond and a sapphire—
three in all.” s

Wiebenga chose his words carefully,

“Mr. Graham, I know this is a touchy

thing to ask. But is there anyone in the
neighborhood you. would have reason
to suspect. Remember, this ig murder.

And remember, too, that no innocent ’

person has anything to fear from the
police. If you can think of anyone who
might have hated’ Mrs. Roberts—any-

one who might have robbed her. Is there.

any eccentric who might have. done
this thing?”

Graham considered for.a lcng. mo-
ment. Then he shook his head. “No.
If there was anyone, I would tell you.
Murder is a terrible crime. I would
tell you if it was my own brother I
suspected.” He glanced out of the win-
dow at the- houses of his neighbors.
“The folks around here are quiet and
hard. working. I’m sure there isn’t a
one of them that would do Mrs. Rob-
erts harm.”

As the detective stood up. and moved

| toward the door, Graham remarked, “I
guess I'll go on over and ace if there's’
anything I can do for Mra, Barham,"

“She says they haven’t any relatives
in town, Maybe you and your wife
could bring her down to view the body.
That’s pretty tough on the survivors
usually,” Wiebenga suggested as ‘he.
swung out of the trailer.

Wiebenga drove rapidly to the near-
est drug store and called Miller. He
reported his findings briefly and sug-
gested the captain meet him at the
restaurant - from which Mrs. Roberts

~ had telephoned her mother on that fatal

Friday evening. ;

He had only a couple of minutes wait
in front of the restaurant before the
‘captain came across the street. and
climbed into his car. Wiebenga reported
more fully, stressing the discouraging
fact that there was no adequate descrip-
tion of the young man that Jewell Rob-
“at home with. ;

captain regarded the photograph
of Jewell Roberts somberly. “This case
certainly isn’t long on clews,” he ad-
mitted. “We've got one break. The vic- -
tim was a striking woman. Anyone who
saw her Friday should remember her.
While you were out on Latham, I had
a talk with the Inspector and the
Chief..They want quick action. The ©
newspaper boys have agreed to give us
time, but: not too readily. The mystery
angle makes it a good story from their
viewpoint:” He pulled a gram from
an inner pocket. “I also checked, the

‘Georgia angle. The woman’s fiance has

been right there doing his duty ac-:

cording to the commanding officer.” -
“Yeh, and while he’s doing his duty, ©

some civilian. kills his girl,” cut in

. Wiebenga. “It will be a pleasure to
‘ solve this case,” he added grimly.

“We'll never solve it here talking,”.
the hac ‘warned. “That the restau-’
rant ” cat ; .

Wiebenga was already half out the.
car door. “That’s it.” :

**You the owner?”. Captain Miller
asked the man behind the counter as!
he flashed ;his badge. : :

“Sure,” the man replied. ;

“Know a woman by the name of
Jewell Roberts?” ~ .

Again the man answered briefly,
“Sure.” -

The captain Jeaned his powerful body
against the counter. “Was she in here

Friday evening?”

“Sure.” ‘ ;

Wiebenga was beginning to wonder
if the man knew any other word when
he answered the captain’s next question
differently.: :

The restaurant man explained at -
some length that Mrs. Roberts ‘had’
‘come to see’ him about re-employing

her. He told her he didn’t need another

waitress, but would call her as soon
as he did. He also ‘explained’ that he
invited her to have a cup of coffee with —
him but that she refused, saying some-’
one was waiting for her outside.

“Did you see the’ person who was
waiting for her?” asked the captain
eagerly,

The man shook his head. “No. She
said they’ might go over to the Black
Forest for dinner and a drink.” .

“Nobody ever seems to get a good
‘look at this mysterious killer,” Wie-
benga snorted in disgust as they left
the small restaurant. , .

“There is something pretty shadow-
like about him,” Captain Miller ad-
mitted. “But if we keep after him long
enough—” He didn’t finish the sentence,
but his grim tone showed clearly what
was in his mind.

The two detectives had better luck
at the Black Forest. The proprietor

ie

+. (Continued. from page 23)

=

be taken alive,” the captain again warn- ,

ed. :

“Marshall § ener. was taken - by sur-.

prise in—his Lamar Street home. The
gun battle -anticipated by the captain

' did not materialize. He was brought into

headquarters around. midnight. Miller
immediately summoned Commissioner
Boyle, Attorney General. Gerber, Chief
Seabrook, and City Attorney John Ex-
by.. oe wooars
The questioning continued until morn-

ing without result. Several people, in-

cluding the cafe-owner, identified Spig-
ner in a line-up as the man who left

the Cafe with Mrs. Roberts on Friday
night. Yet, the prisoner still stubbornly |
maintained that he did not know the

woman. .
‘The questioning by veteran detec-
tives continued through the day. In mid-
afternoon an anonymous telephone call
sent Miller and Wiebenga out to 1887
Netherwood to question’'a Mrs. Evelyn
Weible about several rings left with her
by Spigner. — aaa: ;
The young woman told_ the - officers

she had met Spigner at the home of his ..

half brother where she went to play

cards. Since her husband worked out:

of town and she was alone, Mrs. Weible

often played cards with the. prisoner’s

~ half brother’s wife. She showed the of-
“ficers the three rings Spigner had left

with her on Saturday. She. had. not
known he was involved in any crime.

At first, she had refused to -take the -

Tings and asked him why he ‘didn’t

-leave them with his sister-in-law. But

he bulliéd. her into taking them. As

~ she becamé more suspicious, Mrs. Wei-

ble went to the half brother’s home and

. discussed the matter.

The Memphis authorities declared

‘that Mrs. Weible was “innocently in-

volved” and merely held her as a ma-
terial witness. She was, of course, ab-
solutely innocent of any wrong-doing. ©

The three rings left with Mrs. Weible -

were identified as the property of Mrs.
Jewell Roberts. In the face of these

developments, Spigner agreed to confess -

early Monday evening. Apparently, this
confession was a ruse to gain time, for
the prisoner then refused to sign it and
repudiated the whole story. _ =
At one o’clock on. Tuesday morning
he “again agreed to confess. This time,
three prominent citizens were summon-
ed to witness the confession. They were
Dr. ‘Vincent: King; Leslie. Thornton,
vice president of the National Bank
of Commerce; and Steve Turnbull, of-
ficial of the New York Life Insurance

2

Co. Dr. King was invited to examine

Spigner so that he might later testify
as. to whether or not the prisoner had
suffered physical: violerice . during the
grilling. A scratched place near the pris-

oner’s neck was the only. mark found.
This is supposed to be a scratch in-.| ~
flicted by the victim in her courageous

struggle for her life. :
On Tuesday morning the - following

official statement was issued by -Attor-.

ney General Will Gerber and Commis-

"sioner of Public Safety Joe Boyle:.

: “The murder of Jewell Roberts in
Room 1011 of the Claridge Hotel .on
Friday night, August 7, 1932, has been
solved.
“Marshall Spigner, ex-convict, has
confessed to the murder. A warrant
~ charging him with murder in the first
degree has been issued against ‘him and
the case referred to the action ‘of the
- Grand Jury.” eee
The Grand Jury indicted Spigner on

_ two counts on Tuesday, August 18,

_1942. Spigner has denied signing a con-
fession and issued statements saying
that he, did not know Mrs. Roberts,
through the public defender. —

NOTE: The names Graham and Hamp- |B piace” and

ton are fictitious to save innocent per-
sons embarrassment. __ - ne

THE MYST

(Continued from page 26) 2 he

ERY OF "LOVER'S LOOKOUT"

your
troubles! In “Yeu and Yeur Treubles—A Wartime
Guide for Everybedy” the author shows you, point
by point, how to overcome the difficulties which .
‘may be ‘

for a way out of trouble. ©
YAb PLY

m9 VE 5
Je) Zé TROUBLES

Yes, many people have real troubles—serious problems
sad difficulties that have to be solved somehow. In,
such eases, ‘a “‘pollyanna’, “let's forget it attitude
is dangerous. You can’t laugh off real troubles—
you must do something about them, The author of -
“You and Your Troubles” lists numerous real troubles
—and shows you exactly. how ether people, suffering
from the same miseries, banished their troubles and
found happiness. sees : :

of )
“hf IF YOU

@ Eraggcral \ROUBLES§

Some people who do have real treu' les, imagine such —
i troubles to be more serious than they really are. The

sh
6M rapiner, TROUBLES!

eryone
= real—but actually m


Wiebenga and Hillin returned to the

‘death room, accompanied by a neatly

dressed middle-aged man whose round
face reflected a feeling of deep concern.
Wiebenga addressed Hinds. “Chief, this
gentleman is the clerk who was on duty
yesterday afternoon. The register shows
that a couple from Los Angeles was as-
signed to this room at four o’clock. They
registered as Mr. and Mrs. James Alsup.
He thought he might remember this
woman.” |

“That’s the lady,” the clerk declared,
after a quick glance at the body. There
was a noticeable tremor in his voice as
he made the identification. x

Hinds asked: “Do you remember what
the man looked like?”

He shrugged slightly. “I didn’t pay
much attention to him, Chief Hinds,” he
replied. “I remember the woman be-
cause I thought she was afraid of some-
thing.”

“The man?”

“Well, I’m not sure. It could have
been that she didn’t want to be seen.
While he was registering, I noticed that
she was very pale and nervous. Then,
as they went toward the elevators, he
held her arm while she seemed to pull
away.” :

“That’s all very good about the wom-
an,” Hinds stated earnestly, “but right
now the man is the important figure in
this case. Can’t you put some kind of a
tag on him?”

The clerk hesitated. “Well,” he finally
decided, “I remember him fairly well.
He was wearing a light gray suit and a
Panama hat. I’d say he was in his early
forties—much older than the lady—

medium height and build and dark com-
plexioned. And now I recall that he:

had strange blue eyes.
pale—washed out.” ;

“Had you seen either of them before?”

“Not that I remember.”

“Would you know the man again?” .

. “I might if I had a good look into his
eyes. Set in his dark face, there was
something about them.. .”

' “We. didn’t find any baggage in the
room,” Wiebenga stated. “Did they have
any?”. ij

“All I recall was a small package un-
der the man’s arm. He paid in advance
and I didn’t check on his luggage.”

Sergeant Hillin now stood over the
bed, studying the dead girl’s features.
“Chief Hinds,” he said with sudden
‘assurance, “she may have come here
from California yesterday, but I’m sure
I’ve seen this girl working as a waitress
in one of the downtown cafes—recently,
too.”

Hinds directed him to explore that
angle at once.

The ambulance attendants now ar-
rived and Coroner Miller ordered the
body removed to the John Gaston Hos-
pital.
toxicologist and instructor at the Uni-
versity of Tennessee Medical College at
Memphis, performed the autopsy and
made a complete report that night.

“She died from strangulation not later

They looked

Dr. R.:H. Ridgon, well-known.

‘

than six o’clock this morning,” the’
medical man advised the officers. “The
larynx showed the result of sufficient
external pressure to produce death. It

ds a clear case of murder. There is no

evidence of criminal assault.” ss
_. Back at headquarters, Hinds gave the Sie
eager press representatives the best de-

scription available of the ‘murdered
woman and her male companion.’ By.
giving such wide publicity to the bizarre, \
case, the experienced officer hoped ‘for —
an early identification of the victim and _
some information on her cold-eyed male -
companion. A general alarm was also eee
sent out over the radio and teletype sys-
tem.

While Hillin was making the rounds
of important eating places in an effort to
confirm his belief that the victim was a
local woman, Captain Miller and Wie-
benga, the wiry little detective whose
reputation as a successful sleuth was
already well established, remained at
the hotel, questioning the employees.

The buxom tenth-floor maid was
asked. why she waited until two o’clock
in the afternoon to enter the murder
room.

“Because, every time I passed the door,
there was a lot of talking and laughing
going on in there. So, J just waited
until I thought everyone had gone.”

Miller eyed the sleepy-eyed woman
with an incredulous gleam in his deep-
set eyes. “You mean you heard a party
going on in that room after six o’clock
this morning?” he demanded sharply,
remembering the autopsy report.

“I most -certainly did,” the maid re-
torted. “Even as late as eleven o’clock.”

The officers exchanged puzzled glances.

Spaniel ANSE. aS ERT

se. Did they “She’s either (Continued on page 67)

venga (left)
very of the
verts (above)

Captain Wilbur Miller (above): “I can
understand why she wanted to avoid him.
| He's dangerous to cross in a love affair”

- an intensive
is crime was

us, Captain,”

ig the bands

“These wrap- ;

came off the | : “I didn’t, leave on that account,” girl sus-
veatre. They pect told Chief M. A. Hinds (above).

to catch those “A man was threatening to kill me!”

yond a possi-
sath grew out

“Looks like a man has been on the bed
with his shoes on!” observed Sergeant

‘s right,’ he
Hillin (above). “What strange business!”

wn too much.”
23


ee a

sh iy 5 si MD IEE is TE 5 ck, BERT

ised me that she would never have any-
thing more to do with him.”

“Did you ever see Peake?”

“No, and I guess it’s a good thing. All I
know is that he’s about forty, drinks
heavily on parties, and that he’s been mar-
ried. Jewell told me that he had an ex-
wife and two children in Fort Wayne, In-
diana.”

Chief Hinds sat for several moments in
silent meditation. “Eugene,” he finally
asked, “have you any idea who that young
couple might be who went to the hotel
room last night?”

The soldier squared his strong shoulders.
“I noticed that in the papers,” he recalled.
“And it’s one of the things that has me
puzzled. That very night Jewell was sup-
posed to meet a couple of her friends and
stay with them until they caught a bus for
Hernando, Mississippi. They were going
there to be married.”

Hinds referred to his notebook. “Was
the girl’s first name Martie?”

Shadden drew a letter from his pocket.
“The names are here,” he remarked, scan-
ning the missive. “George Gober and
Myrtle Pope. Jewell says here that after the
wedding, they were going to Waco, Texas,
to live.”

The chief was perturbed. “If they’re
the same people, it is mighty important
that we find them,” he stated.

A few minutes later he had directed one
of his men to locate the couple if possible
and have them held for questioning.

Meanwhile, Wiebenga and Hillin had
spent many hours seeking out and inter-
viewing the known friends of the victim.
As the result of dogged persistence, they
finally decided that they had found the
opening to a worth-while lead.

Gertrude Smalley, a bright-eyed book-
keeper just past her ’teens, gave the sleuths
the hint that stirred them to action.

“Saturday evening I was having supper
in the restaurant where Jewell Roberts
used to work. A girl named Billie Jo
Murphy came in and sat down beside me.
I knew of Jewell’s murder but she didn’t.
When I told her about it, she nearly passed
out. I knew that they were the closest of
friends, but I didn’t expect her to act like
she did. She turned as white as a sheet
and got to shaking so that she couldn’t
hold her cup. I asked her what was the
matter. She said, ‘Oh, my God, Gertrude,
I can’t tell you but I’m afraid. I’ve got to

get out of here.’ With that she left her
food on the table and dashed out.”

“I'd like to know more about that,” Wie-
benga remarked to Hillin, “and I believe
that we should question her.”

A few minutes later they entered the
modest Murphy home where they were
greeted by the elderly great-aunt of Billie
Jo. She was rather hazy as to the girl’s
present whereabouts.

“All I can tell you,” she said with an air
of deep sincerity, “is that Billie Jo came
running in last Saturday night, went up
to her room, packed a bag and left in a
Yellow Cab. I followed her outside and
she called back to tell me that she would
be out of town a few days and not to
worry. I’ve been worrying ever since.”

Hillin asked, “Have you heard anything
from her?”

“Not one word,” she replied tremulously.
“I can’t imagine what the girl means.”

Wiebenga asked, “Do you know where
Billie Jo was on the night of the murder?”

“Yes, sir, I do,” she replied promptly.
“She took me downtown to a picture show.
We got home about eleven-thirty and went
to bed.”

“Could you be positive that she didn’t go
out later that night?”

“No, not positive. I wouldn’t have heard
her. But I don’t believe the girl did any-
thing wrong.” She remained silent a few
moments, her eyes on the floor. When she
spoke it was apparent she was deeply
moved. “Tell me, gentlemen, in heaven’s
name, is Billie Jo in trouble?”

“We don’t know,” Wiebenga answered.
“But for your sake we hope she isn’t.”

“I believe that old lady told the truth,”
Hillin commented, as the detectives drove
back to headquarters. “But, even so, Pete,
I’m sure there’s something in the wind. We
ought to contact this Billie Jo and find out
what her sudden departure was all about.”
Wiebenga agreed instantly.

Chief Hinds was of the same opinion
after he heard their report. “That girl isn’t
acting normally,” he declared. “She’s
afraid. She knows something about that
murder. Keep on her trail and bring her
in here as soon as possible.”

Locating the taxi driver was simple
routine for the sleuths. August Lampkin,
a middle-aged man, stated that he had an-
swered the call for the Murphy girl.

“T’ve known Billie Jo for years,” he said.
“But never have I seen her so upset.”

ZSTIAMATY ’

“Darling, the judge said I’d be with you ‘in not less than 40
and not more than 60 years. Wait for me, kid”

tthe Kedar
(e3 Uae "e,

68

“Did she tell you anything?” Wiebenga
queried.

Lampkin shrugged, “Nothing except that
she was afraid to stay in Memphis and was
going to Arkansas for a while.”

“Did she tell you why she was afraid?”

The man grinned knowingly. “I tried to
pin her down on that, but all she did was
to ask me a question. ‘August, listen,’ she
said, ‘why does a woman usually run away?
Can’t you guess?’ By that time she was out
of the cab and hot-footing it into the bus
station.”

From headquarters Hinds and Miller
were making an intensive drive to locate
the murdered girl’s erstwhile escort,
Jerome Peake. With slight difficulty, they
confirmed the report that he was a Sales-
man for a well-known jewelry house in
Chicago. According to the firm’s sales-
manager, the wanted man was scheduled
to be working Kansas City for the next
week or ten days. An immediate request
was transmitted to police there, asking that
he be picked up and held for the Memphis
authorities.

While awaiting the promised action of
the Kansas City officers, Captain Miller
questioned the proprietor of the restau-
rant where Jewell Roberts had been for-
merly employed.

E said that he had known the jewelry

salesman for several years and that he
was a regular patron there when in
Memphis. Peake had been very attentive to
the victim until a few weeks previously,
when she met and apparently fell deeply in
love with a corporal from Camp Wheeler.
Soon after that, she gave up her job and
began preparations to marry the soldier. It
was rumored that the jilted salesman had
taken with very bad grace the girl’s de-
termination to avoid him.

“When did you see him last?” Miller
queried.

“Wednesday night before Jewell was
killed. He was drinking and in a foul
temper. When my cashier started to kid
him about his old sweetheart having an-
other fellow, he cursed her and rushed out.
I haven’t seen him since.”

A disquieting report from the Hernando
police stated that an examination of the
records there failed to show that.a couple
fitting the description of George Gober and
Myrtle Pope had married there since the
Jewell Roberts murder.

Quite a stir was created at headquarters
when Wiebenga and Hillin, after cleverly
trapping her at the home of relatives in
Arkansas, brought petite Billie Jo Murphy
in for questioning.

Hinds studied her for several moments.
“Jewell Roberts was a special friend of
yours, wasn’t she?” he asked evenly.

She nodded. “Yes, Chief,” she replied
brokenly. “And her murder was an awful
shock to me.”

“Then why did you leave town the min-
ute you heard that she had been mur-
dered?”

She remained silent several moments, a
painful stare in her wide gray eyes. “I
didn’t leave on that account,” she finally
declared uneasily. “God knows I didn’t.
A man was threatening to kill me—I had to
get away.” ;

“A man?” he questioned with heavy
sarcasm. “Why didn’t you come to the po-
lice?” ‘

“T didn’t dare, Chief Hinds. I didn’t have
time. I—”

“Well, we'll protect you from now on.
Who is this man?” He waited. “Come on
—who is he?”

“Oh please, Chief Hinds,” she begged.
“Don’t make me tell. Just let me go back
to my people in Arkansas.”

“No. We'll not do that, Billie Jo,” he
declared sternly. “Now, you listen to me.


22

Coroner E. W. Miller, who had now ar-
rived, examined the victim. In a few
moments he turned to Chief Hinds, a
puzzled expression on his face.

“I don’t find any marks on her throat,
but she must have been strangled,” he
reported. ‘None of those bruises or
scratches is serious enough to have
caused death.”

Hinds pondered the medical man’s
statement. “Could she have died a natu-
ral death?” he queried.

“That’s a possibility, of course,”’ the

coroner replied. “But under the circum- ,

stances, I think it more likely that she
was suffocated.”

“But you say there are no marks on
her throat.”

“That’s right; Chief,’ Miller agreed.
“But that doesn’t remove the possibility
of strangulation. The autopsy will show
just what happened. By using a garrote
of soft material, a criminal can kill with-
out leaving external marks—an old
Spanish custom,” he concluded grimly.

A eareful search of the room and bed
failed to reveal anything in the nature
of a garrote. Nor was there in the purse
or about the dead woman’s clothing any-
thing touching upon her identity.

While the fingerprint technician and
police photographer began their work,

a ee ie eee

gts

Hinds sent Wiebenga and Hillin to the
hotel office to examine the register and
question the clerks. “We must know
who this woman is before we can £0
very far after her killer,” he emphasized.

In setting up his tripod, the photogra-
pher turned up an edge of the rug. Hinds
noticed that the ends of several lengths
of brown paper were uncovered. He
pulled them out and tensed with interes!
a moment later when he found that they
were money bands, on which was printed
the name of a local theatre.

The detective chief called Captain
Miller’s attention to his find. That offi-
cer expressed a special curiosity regard~-
ing the printed bands. In the late eve-
ning of May 31st, two bandits had en-
tered the theatre, trussed up the three
employees still on duty and escaped
with $2,500 which had been wrapped in
the concern’s private binders ready for
the night depository. In spite of the fact

9 ARTA Nae LARS 4

“We didn’t find any baggage. Did they

have any?” Sergeant Wiebenga (left)
asked the clerk, after discovery of the
body of attractive Jewell Roberts (above)

é

that the police had made an intensive Captain \
drive for the robbers, this crime was understan
still unsolved. lies dang
“This may be a break for us, Captain,”
the chief remarked, folding the bands
for careful preservation. ‘These wrap-
pers, in all probability, came off the
money taken from the theatre. They
’ could be the lead we need to catch those
fellows—and it is not beyond a possi-
bility that this woman’s death grew out
of that robbery.”
Miller nodded. “That’s right,” he
said. ‘She may have known too much.”

Pe

in the shape of
Czarevitch had°
ised to play at

“red wax from
)lsk which had
Imperial Fam-

a finger with a

Identified by
1 a middle-aged
to the Empress.
nents of human
i by acid, with
or sharp-cutting

of relics the truth,
cror, was gleaned.
stripped of their
ves, treated with

TECTOQUIZ

asoline, and the
ine shafts.
ion many of the
nooting were ar-
di. From the lips
Yurovsky and
e verification of
iuced from phys-
1en the amazing
ist hours of the
“hlished, Lenin
had been in-
nies to throw
To prove his
it of his enemies
m for the crime,
m five, who were

ov reached Paris
d that which the
) forever hidden.
shes of the Rom-
311 items which
sir murder, rests
Bank of England.
of turning on the
er of the revolu-
{ terrible illness
a bullet fired by
vithout a_ trace
OW.

ied in an insane

Us,

Ambassador to
ated in the War-
a White Russian

Lenin and Sverd-
hing that hap-
vas liquidated in
ist sympathizers.
d since the night
‘ing murder, and
> transpired since
nent on the Ro-
erensky, now in
remains a3 true
“But although
f their greatness
rts of men with
deur in the eyes
ourney down to
e, their journey
trandeur in the
th.”

Murder in Room 1011

(Continued from page 23) lying to cover

up her laziness, or she has a distorted im- .

agination,” was Wiebenga’s opinion. “We'll
have to double-check on that story.”

Only one of the numerous bellboys. re-
called having had any contact with the
occupants of the murder room.

“I answered two or three calls to™1011
before twelve o’clock last night,” he, re-
membered. “They ordered cigarettes and
the late papers.”

“How many persons did you see in
there?” Miller asked.

“When I delivered the cigarettes, there
were two men and the lady they later
found dead. Then, later on, when I got
the papers, a young couple got off the
elevator with me and went in the room.”

“Did you hear any of these people say
anything that might help us?” :

The boy hesitated, scratching his beard-
less chin. “Yes, sir, I heard something.

When that couple went in ahead of me, the.

other lady jumped up and said, ‘Martie,
God knows I’m glad to see you. You’ve got
to get me out of this awful—’ I didn’t hear
any more because when the man saw me—
the guy that ordered the papers—he put
his hand over the lady’s mouth. The other
guy took the papers and shoved me out of
the room.”

The description of the visitors offered by
the bellboy was too general to be of much
value; but the careful officers did not fail

‘Sure I love her,”

he_ said __ihotly.
“She never left
on my account”

to make note of the meager information.

From an observant elevator operator, the
sleuths obtained more revealing facts. His
statement bolstered the theory already
formulating in the minds of the officers;
that the attractive victim had been forced
to accompany her killer to the death room.

“When they got to the elevator,” the
short, clear-eyed operator remembered,
“the lady turned aside as if she didn’t want
to get on. But the man had her by the arm
and pushed her inside. She was almost
erying. He told her not to worry because
they were just going to the room to wait
for some friends.”

Within a few hours after the murder had
been headlined in the Memphis papers, the
victim was identified at the morgue by her
mother, with whom she had been living at
1335 Latham Street. Until recently, as de-
clared by Detective Hillin, she had worked
as a waitress in a downtown restaurant.

“Her name is Jewell Roberts,” the heart-
broken parent stated when questioned as
gently as possible by Hinds. She further
explained that the murdered girl was twen-
ty-seven years of age and was the widow
of a World War II veteran.

“When did you see her last?” the chief
asked the mother.

Tears trickled unheeded down her drawn
face. “About two o’clock yesterday after-
noon. She left for town to do some shop-

ping. Oh, Chief Hinds, this is awful. For
the first time in the poor girl’s life, she
was really happy.”
“You mean for some special reason?”
“To her it was, indeed, very special. She
was buying the balance of her trousseau.”
The chief grew tense.

“Fixing to get married?” he inquired.
“Yes, September Ist. She had just be-
gun wearing that pretty ecigagements: ring
her sweetheart gave her.” .... i,

“Did she wear any other jewelry?”

“Yes, two other diamond rings.” : || /

“What were the rings worth?” «..,..;

“She told me that the engagement ring
cost $175. I suppose the others were: worth
$100 each.”

“How much monee, did she have in hae
purse?” A

“I saw $45.”

“To whom was she engaged?” Hinds
asked, his mind alert to the possibilities.

“Corporal Eugene Shadden,. stationed at
Camp Wheeler, Georgia.”

“Has he been in Memphis lately?”

“Not to my. knowledge: It’s been two
weeks since he was here on furlough.
That’s the time he gave her the ring.”

“Did you like Eugene?” he asked .casu-
ally, watching her reaction.

She shrugged. “I don’t want to answer
that question, Chief Hinds. If he, suited
Jewell, it was all right with me.” .

“Has she been going out with, other men
while her fiancé was in camp?”

“No, indeed. After she got her ring, she
wouldn’t go out with anyone. Jewell was
very much in love with her soldier sweet-
heart.”

“Did she and Eugene ever quarrel?”

“Yes, I believe they did at first. Eugene
wanted her to quit going with a traveling
salesman she met at the restaurant. After
she agreed to give the man up, I never
heard of any further trouble.”

“What was the salesman’s name?”

She hesitated. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t
remember... They never did get along.
That’s why she never brought him home.
Ae he lived in Chicago and sold jew-
elry.”

“Do you have any idea who she was with
in that hotel room?”

“Not the least. And, Chief Hinds,” she
asserted bitterly, “I’m positive that she
didn’t go there for any wrong purpose.
The devil who killed her made her go.”

pele at headquarters, Hinds got in touch
with the authorities at Camp Wheeler
and requested a check-up on Shadden. In
the event the soldier had been in camp’ at
the time of the murder, the chief asked that
he be allowed to come to Memphis to aid
the police.

A few hours later a trim, sun-tanned,
thirty-year-old soldier was seated in the
office facing the detective chief. He was
Corporal Eugene Shadden. It was appar-
ent that the shock of his sweetheart’s death
was bearing heavily upon him.

“I don’t know how all this happened,
Chief,” he declared brokenly. “But I’ll
never believe that Jewell went to that
hotel just to be with some man. She was
not like that.”

“It seems that you’re right, Eugene,” the
chief said kindly. “Have you any idea who
the man was?”

Shadden nodded emphatically. “Yes,” he
charged caustically. “A man named Jerome
Peake, a jewelry salesman. He used to go
with Jewell. Then, when I came along
and she dropped him, he swore he’d get
even. She was scared to death of him.”

“Is Peake the man from Chicago?”

“Yes. You’ve heard of him?”

The chief nodded. “Her mother men-
tioned him. Did they have some ‘trouble?”

Shadden clenched his fists. “Yes, the
coward beat her up—blackened her eyes—
the last time they were out together.”

“When was that?”

“Three or four weeks ago. She prom-

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in Los Angeles.”

Miller looked around the room. “No clothing or luggage
here. Mr. Dockery undoubtedly is gone?”

“Yes. The key was left at the desk, but no one seems
to have seen him go.”

“Anybody get a good look at him when he came in?”

“The night clerk checked him in,” the assistant manager
said. “Of course, he’s off duty now.”

Detettive Chief Hinds gave swift orders. He assigned
Detective Johnson to go and interview the night clerk,
while Sergeants Hillin and Wiebenga were detailed to

question occupants of other rooms who might have heard
sounds of a struggle, as well as elevator operators, bellboys
and other hotel employes who might have seen J. A.
Dockery. A call immediately went into headquarters asking
a check with the Los Angeles police on Dockery at the
address given on the register. Then Hinds and Miller once
more turned their attention to the murder room.

“Since Dockery registered alone,” Hinds observed, “ap-
parently this woman came to visit him in his room. She
may be a local woman.”

“They seemed to start out in a friendly way, judging

‘by those two glasses,” Miller said. “They had a drink or

two together, but something happened. It didn’t end up
friendly at all.” _

“Not much.” Hinds bent down and gingerly opened the
white plastic purse. In it were the usual cosmetics, a
handkerchief, a half-used pack of cigarettes and a couple
of department store receipts. ;

“No money,” Hinds said. “Not so much as a nickel. This
woman’s well dressed. She wouldn’t go out calling abso-
lutely penniless.”

“The killer must have rifled her purse,” Miller nodded.
“You'll notice she’s wearing no jewelry of any kind, so he
may have taken that too. Yet it seems strange, if she knew
him well enough to have a drink with him, that he’d
strangle her merely for robbery.”

Coroner C. W. Miller, Photographer Fred Tuttle and
an identification man now arrived. The coroner bent over
the corpse for a preliminary examination, while the photog-
rapher readied his camera for pictures. The “I” man
began dusting smooth surfaces in the room for fingerprints.

“She was strangled, all right,” the coroner said. “The
killer used a noose of some kind, possibly a piece of
rope or a belt. He was careful to make a thorough job of
it. See—he climbed right up on the bed to draw the noose
tight.”

The officers could see two smudged footprints on the
sheets, apparently made by shoes about size 9.

“How long has she been dead?” Hinds queried.

“The body’s cold, so it’s been at least several hours,” the
coroner replied. “It’ll take an autopsy to determine the
time more closely.”

At length the body was carried away and the investi-
gators had the room to themselves. The fingerprint man
continued his work, giving special attention to the two
glasses, the whiskey bottle, the water faucet handles and
doorknobs, but he had no success at all.

“The fellow who did it was hep,” he reported. “He wiped
away whatever prints there were. The tip-off is those two
glasses. They ought to have swell prints on ’em, but they
haven’t even got smudges.”

A search of the room and adjoining bath turned up no
noose of any kind. > .

“Another sign that the guy was careful,” Hinds re-
marked. “He wiped away the prints and he got rid of the
noose. Of course, it might have been his own belt.”

When Sergeants Hillin and Wiebenga returned from
their canvass of hotel guests and employes, they had little
to report.

“Nobody heard any commotion,” Wiebenga said. “Ap-
parently this Dockery fellow didn’t want a bellboy, because
none of them came up here with him. We checked the

Viebenga We believe that you know something about clerk and the elevator operator, stubbornly
the Jewell Roberts murder. Your talk and denied any part in the crime.
rept that the speed with which you ran away the However, after Billie Jo Murphy, at the
iis and was very moment you heard of her death, in- conclusion of a severe grilling, removed all
dicate you haven’t told everything. You doubt as to his guilt, he began to weaken.
as afraid?” are keeping something back.” The chief The girl stated that she had met Spigner
“I tried to rose to his feet. “Unless you’re willing to at lunchtime on Saturday, and that he
he did was give us a truthful explanation of your handed her a package which he requested
listen,’ she strange actions, we’ll have to hold you here _ her to keep for him. Out of curiosity, after
run away? until we discover the truth for ourselves.” they separated, she opened the package and
he was out A change came over her quickly. “All to her dismay discovered that it contained
to the bus right, Chief, on your promise to protect three diamond rings, which she instantly
me, I’ll tell. His name is Marshall Spigner. recognized as belonging to Jewell Roberts.
ind Miller We've been going together and he wanted It was the terrifying knowledge that police
2 to locate me to marry him. I refused and he threat- might connect her with the crime that
ile escort, ened to kill me if I didn’t change my mind. _cauted her to run away.
culty, they I didn’t love him and that’s why I left She produced the rings and gave bond
as a Sales- here.” for her appearance as a witness for the
’ house in Hinds sent the girl home under guard. State.
rm’s_ sales- At the same time, he ordered squad men Spigner made an oral confession, admit-
scheduled to bring in Spigner. The forty-year-old ting that he had strangled and robbed the
r the next tough boy scoffed bitterly when apprised woman after luring her into the hotel
ite request of Billie Jo’s expressed fears. under pretense of meeting friends.
asking that “Sure, I’m in love with her,” he said. Meanwhile, it was clearly ascertained by
e Memphis “So what? And I asked her to marry the efficient officers, with the splendid co-
me. But, hell’s bells, she didn’t leave operation of the hotel management, that
i action of Memphis on my account. I wouldn’t harm — the Saturday morning revelry reported by
tain Miller a hair on her head.” When asked regard- the maid had come from another room.
the restau- ing his acquaintance with Jewell Roberts, Spigner went to trial before Criminal
{ been for- he insisted that he had only known her by Judge J. J. Pleasants on November 16th,

the jewelry

sight.

N his promise to stay away from the

1942. The hard-pressed defendant repudi-
ated his confession, claiming an alibi. How-
ever, two days later, on November 18th,

The Dark Continents

and that he Murphy girl and to hold himself availa- the jury convicted him of first-degree mur-

when in ble for further questioning, if necessary, he der and the judge sentencéd him to death. ‘
attentive to was dismissed. . . An appeal delayed the execution of the of Your Mind
previously, Within thirty minutes after Spigner le sentence until July 15th, 1943. On that g
:11 deeply in headquarters, a message came in from the date, Marshall Spigner died in the electric DO YOU struggle for balance? Are fice
ip Wheeler. Kansas City police. A careful check-up chair at Nashville. forever trying to maintain energy, enthusi-

.er job and
e soldier. It
desman had

showed that Jerome Peake, who was now
in custody, had arrived in that city on
Friday, several hours before the murder,

A few minutes before it was time for
him to take his last walk, he was moved to
speak to Warden W. S. Swafford.

asm, and the will to do? Do your person-
ality and power of accomplishment ebb

e girl’s de- and had called on Goring aha Sewels kept trying to get out of the | and flow—like a stream controlled by
day. Chief Hinds and Captain Miller agree room. I knocked her unconscious and put ? ithi
st?” Miller that the hot-headed salesman was not their her on the bed. I held her until she began some unseen valvei Deep within yok Oe

Jewell was

man and requested his release.
A telephone call to Hernando, Mississippi,

moving. Then I left her long enough to
tear some strips from the bathroom cur-

minute organisms. From their function
spring your emotions. They govern your

i in a foul brought the disappointing news that the tains. I put them around her neck and ats sais
~ to kid Memphis pair had arrived there, said their pulled them tighter and tighter until she | 4 #deas and moods—yes, even your
ing an- marital vows before a local magistrate was dead. Then I took her rings and enjoyment of life. Once they were
red out. and departed without being questioned by money, wiped off all fingerprints and left.” thought to be the mysterious seat of the

e Hernando
tion of the
iat a couple
» Gober and
e since the

police. An urgent request was now trans-
mitted to Waco, Texas, authorities, asking
that the bride and groom be located and
held for the Memphis officers.

During an early morning conference
called by Hinds, some of the officers re-
ported that friends of Jewell Roberts had
declared that on several recent occasions,

With this confession on his lips he died.

It was soon determined that the sweet-
hearts, George Gober and Myrtle Pope, had
made no visit to the death room on the
night of the murder. Hence, they were
completely absolved from any connection
with the crime.

soul —and to be left unexplored. Now
cast aside superstition and learn to direct
intelligently these powers of self.

Accept this Free Book

Let the Rosicrucians, an age-old fraternity of

eadquarters re ad :
‘er psebee ts Marshall Spigner had tried to date the mur- ; — men and ig ert + religion), point
relatives in der victim. She had turned him down. — Epiror’s Note: nr Ea che falle tae pe o ag hohe it
Jo Murph This information caused the alert mind The names Corporal E —by making the est use of these little-un-
J of the detective chief to click. “He claimed Jerome Peake Billie Jo Marvhy dere derstood natural faculties which you possess.
) moments. that he only knew her by sight,” he de- Pope and George Gober, as used in the This is a challenge to make the most of your
| friend of clared. “His name sounds familiar to me. foregoing story, are not the real names heritage as a human. Write for the Free Book,
evenly. aes see o ye got a bien yh ‘ : of the persons concerned. These inno- “The Mastery of Life.” Address: Scribe K.S.O.
she replied poe: TEV EA ROM WAS: BYTE. 4th Carly cent persons have been given fictitious
is an awful life, mir 3d had oo time Ad ae seth a names to protect their identities. Photo- “lhe ROSICRUCIANS
sas an ississippi for grand larceny. In rah Marshall Spign Patt
s Bia Rites 1928, he had been convicted of killing a abe Pa) PSONer appears On | | Raa deen (AMORC) California
been mur- pretty young girl who spurned his ad- "i ; ete
vances. For this crime he had served four- naa rain a
noments, a teen years of a life sentence. Me
y eyes. “I “I can understand now why Billie Jo
‘she finally Murphy wanted to avoid him,” Captain 1949 GOVER PAE T J io |
s I didn’t. Miller observed. “He’s evidently a dan- ;
e—I had t gerous character to cross in a love affair.
ae’ Hinds suddenly came to his feet. He AS HIGH AS $3351 FIRST YEAR
‘ith heavy addressed the circle of grim-faced cape RAILWAY POSTAL Veterans Get
to the po- I admit that I didn’t notice it when he CLERKS t
was here. But now I’m certain that this Special Preference
lidn’t have woman-killer ex-convict fits the descrip- Many other Or eee ne eae ale -
‘idn't have tion of the man who registered with Jewell Government /” ae eee lae + thd hy 9 Y
0 Roberts the night she was murdered.” Jobs. 7 Dept. J90, Rochester 4, N. Y.
n now on. : 1 d City and (Not Government Controlled)
“Come on Heads nodded in agreement all around. Y saeen's hn Sel bik sacdthaat an rie. 00
q i ie ig Rural Car- 7 | pits: Kus e be, By
Thé detective chief ordered that Spigner haga of 40-page bool, ‘How to Get aU. 4
eb 4 d f ioni ‘5 Gov t ”’ list of positions,
ae begged. be brought back for further questioning. P office Clerks— HE eietace aie <I eat, and
‘e go back And bring Billie Jo Murphy in, too, Meat Inspectors /“ them.
he added. “I think we can get the truth a. pencuntantec
ie Jo,” he out of her this time.” Stenographerse—Typ- /° Name :
ten to me Two hours later, Spigner, even in the face ists — etc. Prepare Zw
, of his positive ,identification bv the hotel for 1949 Examinations. * Address . Vet?

ERT TT


@ JEWEL ROBERTS was a smiling, happy, vivacious
woman when she went to answer the telephone. She said
“Hello” into the mouthpiece with a lilt, obviously expect-
ing a pleasant conversation with some friend.

Then something caused a change. Her mother, Mrs.
Birdie Barham, in the next room, noticed it. She couldn't
hear what Jewel was saying, but her voice sounded con-
cerned, anxious. She spoke a few short sentences into the
wire, in tones anything but gay, and then she hung up.

When she appeared in the living room where her mother
Sat reading, she was wearing a summery print dress that
set off her trim figure beautifully, and was carrying a
white plastic purse. An eye-catching redhead, that was
Jewel, but right now her blue eyes were serious.

“T’'ve got to go downtown, mother,” ‘she said.

“Downtown?” Mrs. Barham echoed. “But isn’t it a little
late?”

“It’s only 9 o'clock. A friend just called, and it’s rather
important. It shouldn’t take me long.”

weeds forever. She still had youth, beauty, and an unfail-
ing urge to be doing things and seeing people. During
the past year or more she had resumed connections with
many old friends and also made new ones, and her life
was now a busy one, filled with dates, parties, dances.

Jewel Roberts walked out of the house, and she didn’t
come back .. ,

At 12:45 P.M. on August 8, 1942, Alberta Banks, a cham-
bermaid, entered Room 1011 in the Claridge Hotel in

Jewel Roberts (left)—her last phone call was a puzzle.

downtown Memphis, Tenn. It was her intention to make
the bed and tidy up, but she forgot all about this when
she found. the body of a red-haired woman, fully clothed,
lying on the bed. The woman’s face was contorted and her
eyes were staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Miss Banks let
out a scream as. she fled into the: corridor. A few moments
later a call went through to the Memphis police.

It was not quite 1 o’clock when Detective Chief M. A.
Hinds came up the elevator to the hotel’s tenth floor. With
him were Captain Wilbur Miller, head of the homicide
Squad, Sergeants Floyd Wiebenga and James Hillin and
Detective E. V. Johnson. The five officers saw one of the

“There was a struggle,” Hinds nodded. “She was
strangled. See that welt around her neck?”

The woman on the bed seemed to be in her early thirties,
Her wavy red hair was spread out in disarray, offering a
startling contrast with the whiteness of the pillow. She

Wore a silk print dress, nylon hose and trim white shoes,

On the floor near the foot of the bed lay a white plastic
purse.

Captain Miller spoke to the assistant manager, who was
at the door. “Who was registered for this room?”

“A man named J. A. Dockery,” the hotel man replied.
“He signed in around 8 o’clock last night—gave an address

29


“ TAN . Vis wa eve a | +t ,4 A. ~ 5 ; rn CTY nn ore, ay: 7" ae a mn ete
; MPAGNEN, Marshall, white, elec, Tenn. SP. (Shelby); July 15, 1943

ed ww &

Jewel's date with
death was very neatly
arranged—and it
took some doing to find

the arranger!

HOT KISS-HOT HATE

PAG Deéereerive Case?

s

NUMBER 5 IPS 2


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8 Aug. 1974

Jefferson County Tenn,
state Cases Vol.3—- page 301-302-333-334—336-337-338~-359-340.
State of LeENNeSSee
Vs
James Swann (colored)

Fase 3393 Mareh 27, 1933
Pleads not guilty
Jury (I beleive this was the Grand Jury)
EF. Y¥, Insram; W. A. Stallings; Arthur Kimbrough; Andrew
Stranse; ‘Austin Swift; Reber’ Rodgefs; Leander Holt;
Burl Moore; Will Reneau; Fred Kooch; J. A.| Riddle; and ~
Lon Cox,

Pase 337 March 30, 1933
Found guilty of murder in first degree as charged in the
bill of indietment and the jury upon their oath do further
ait that they fix his punishment at death by Electrucution
Motion made for new trial by Attorney, for defendant. Granted.

Pace 340 May 1, 1933
Therefore it is the judcenent of the court that, the def-.
endant James 3wann (colored) be taken to the state Peni-
tantary at Nashville, Tenn, and there on June 28, 1933
petween the hours of 5 A.M. & 10 A.M. that then be applied |
body of said defendant James Swann (colored) a sufficient -—
amount of electricity to take his natural life in accordance
with law and the rules and regulations made and provided in
such cases in conformity with the verdict of the Jury,etc.
Appealed to the next term of the Supreme Court to be held
at Knoxville, Tenn, which was by the court granted and
allowed. etc. Granted 45 days from this date
It is further ordered by the court that the defendant g
James Swann (colored) be confined in Cocke County jail at
Newport, Tenn., for safe keeping pending the outcome of
said appeal.

Enclosed is 5 pages of zeroxed copies of trial of James Swann (colored).
for rape and murder of Miss Abbie Rainwater an Cld Maid living
at the Jefferson County Home,

If I can be of more help let me know. I hope it will be possible
for you to place a copy of your work in the Dandridze Fublic Library.

Sincerely
Ctdrider frelon

Zldridze B.(Mrs.Charlie) Smelcer
Dandridge, Tenn. 37725

ideal seni 2 Dn de lacie a


io ti q Ss epesre ets, Vl Op vs

CG FEM Coed ben afthbretic. 9 Oh, Wali

Jeff. Co. Tenn,
State @2 Cas6
Vo.3 - 1929

Paze 338

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Pl fice 26° fk, larttl ae te tis xd, Q
aes fowy OY che CortZ4 fhe Cicer, ee: _

LA Qhiarguf 7


Her Grave

By E. V. Aimes

Special Investigator for ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES

few years older, Youngblood would not
have been so concerned. Adults and
girls in their late teens usually turn up
eventually with some plausible expla-
nation for their absence. But this was
a twelve-year-old girl who was missing.
A child who would not, her father and
mother were sure, go off by herself, or
run away of her own volition.

““How was she dressed?” the Sheriff
asked.

According to Mrs. Raper, her daugh-
ter had been wearing a simple cotton
shirt and red shorts. She had been
barefoot and had carried no purse or
other means of identification. The
child's manner of dress, Youngblood
decided, was enough to dispel any
thought that she had been planning
to run away.

Yet, why had she wanted to go off
alone that morning? Why hadn’t she
wanted her brother and sister along?
And why hadn’t she reached her
grandmother's home?

As A matter of routine, Youngblood
instructed Yager to radio their
office and request that an immediate
check be made with all hospitals and
clinics in the area on the off-chance
that the Raper child had met with an
accident. The Sheriff was doubtful,
however, that this line of inquiry would
produce results. It seemed highly im-
probable that a young, unidentified girl
would have turned up for treatment for
any sort of injury without his office
having been notified.

Brock was sent to question neighbors
in the immediate vicinity to see what
he might learn from them about
Treva’s strange disappearance.

When the deputies had left, Young-
blood questioned the parents further.
He was told that Treva Joyce was the
oldest of four children. A quiet, unas-
suming child, she never had been
known to disobey family directives.

In order to reach her grandmother’s
home on foot, the Sheriff learned, she
would have walked westwardly along a
narrow roadway which dead-ends at a
railroad line about 200 yards from the
Raper residence. She would then have
followed the tracks for a distance of
perhaps three-quarters of a mile before
reaching a highway leading to her
grandmother’s farm, a short distance
away and in view of the tracks.

But that particular stretch of track
led through the “rough country”—the
swamp as local residents referred to it
—a dense jungle, grown high with
thickets of honeysuckle and briars. A
hideaway for drunks, hoboes and

The slayer, insert and in cap at
far right, shows officials where

he lured the child to her death

penny-ante gamblers, the swamp was
“off limits” to the youngsters of Cam-
paign. Yet, the stretch of railroad
track running through it afforded the
Rapers the nearest route on foot to the
elder Mrs. Raper’s home. The distance
by road was nearly five times as far.
Raper, in his haste to find his daugh-
ter, had taken the road in his car.

“Do you think it’s possible she wan-
dered into the swamp and became
lost?” Youngblood asked.

Not a chance, Raper said. Treva had
been told never to go into the swamp
under any circumstances. “Anyhow,”
he added, “she’s been scared to death
of the swamp ever since that man
bothered her down there—”

“What man?” ;

The Rapers didn’t know who the
man was. The incident had occurred
about six weeks previously. Treva had
come running home, out of breath and
obviously frightened. While walking
along the tracks, she had told her par-
ents, a big, roughly dressed man with
a scar across one cheek had appeared
at the edge of swamp and called to her.
Treva ran, as she so often had been in-
structed to do under such circum-
stances.

“Did he try to follow her, or harm
her in any way?”

No, replied Raper, that was all that
had happened. Nothing particularly
sinister about it, except that the child
had been badly frightened.
(Continued on page 61)


et in i nae

The following day, he learned that
Edward Mayhue Brewer was the 20-
year-old son of a Toledo philanthropist.
Among his many charities, the senior
Brewer was executive director of the
Goodwill Industries of Toledo.

“TI guess the kid was giving Belle the
straight dope when he told her about
himself,” Cooper told Romer. “His folks
say he attended the music conservatory
and then quit to join the Navy. They'll
aid in every way to try and locate

“I’m still wondering if he killed Little
Joe and attacked Ma Baker,’ Romer
said. “Or whether something else hap-
pened out there. The brutal way Little
Joe was clubbed and bound with that
barbed wire just doesn’t make sense.
They were good to the kid and he
seemed to like them.” ’

“I know,”’ Cooper said. “It’s got me,
too. But it’s a cinch we'll have to locate
him before we can know what really
happened.”

HEN the Navy _ identification

arrived at Sheriff Cooper’s office,
Brewer quickly was identified as the
redheaded kid who had told everyone
his name was Bud Johnson. In the
efficient manner of the FBI, copies of
the identification were made and
a wanted bulletin distributed to law
enforcement agencies across the coun-
try. The hunt continued.

The FBI had determined that Brewer
was in the company of two other youths
when last seen hitchhiking toward Salt
Lake City. Possibly they had been with
him at the time he left Powder River.
He had mentioned expecting a friend
who was to go on with him to Cali-
fornia.

Agents in Norfolk attempted to get
some line on Brewer at the time he
deserted the Navy and to see if he had
any friends who might have joined him.

But the trail was lost in Salt Lake
City. There was no way to tell which
way he had headed from there; it could
have been either to the West Coast or
back east again. No word was received
by his parents, who still offered every
cooperation to the police.

Then, six weeks after Ma Baker en-
tered the hospital, she regained her
strength and consciousness enough to
speak to Sheriff Cooper.

“You remember what happened that
night, Ma?” Cooper asked.

The wan, frail little old lady nodded
sadly.

“Think you're up to telling me about
it?”

“Have they found my bad boy, yet?”
she asked.

‘ i yet, but we will,” Cooper prom-
sed.

“They won't hurt him?” Ma Baker
asked.

“You know he killed Little Joe?”

Ma Baker nodded. ‘“‘He’s a bad boy,”
she said. “But he’s just got one of
those mean streaks in him. I toid him
that. He just laughed at me and said he
wasn't mean. But I guess he couldn’t
help it. He will have to be punished
and taught a lesson.”

After the brutal punishment he had
inflicted upon her and after the killing
of her husband, Cooper was amazed
that Ma Baker showed no anger. He
asked her about it.

“T’ve had stray dogs bite me and stray
cats claw me when I fed them,” Ma
Baker said. “Those wild, frightened
ones just can’t help themselves. Bud
was like that, he had a mean streak he
couldn’t help.” After a moment, she
added: “I'll bet he would like some of
Ma Baker’s cooking right now.”

“What happened?” Cooper asked.

Ma Baker said that Little Joe had
been out in the workshop behind the
house when Brewer, whom she knew as
Bud Johnson, came home. She said he
had walked into the house and looked
sort of wild. She had asked him what
was wrong.

“He said Little Joe came out of the.

workshop and frightened him, as he
went by,” Ma Baker said. “I told him
I didn’t think Little Joe would do a
thing like that. Then, he asked me to
hand him a drink of water.”

Ma Baker had turned in her wheel
chair to get a glass of water from the
kitchen faucet. It was then that Brewer
had struck her on the head. She re-

Over the Rails to Her Grave (from page 41)

Anxiously, Raper had gone to the
swamp in search of the scarfaced man,
but had found no trace of him. The
only description he had was the one
given by the child—a big, roughly
dressed man with a scar across one
cheek. Raper knew of no one in Cam-
paign by that description.

Several times since then Treva had
spoken fearfully of the encounter, her
father said. “That’s one reason I know
she’d never go into the swamp.”

That also was why Mrs. Raper had
been so insistent that the child return
from her grandmother’s at an early
hour. There seemed less likelihood
that the undesirables would be abroad
during the early morning and mid-
afternoon hours.

Even though the case had taken on
sinister overtones, the Sheriff still felt
it was entirely possible that’ the child
was alive and well. In spite of what
her parents had told him, she could
have wandered into the swamp and
gotten lost. Or she might be visiting
some friend Mr. and Mrs. Raper had
not yet thought of in their anxiety. At
the very worst, she might have been
involved in some’ sort of accident or
taken suddenly ill due to her physical
condition.

But there were other possibilities.
Too often, the Sheriff knew, young
and pretty missing girls never show up.
Not alive, at least. Youngblood didn’t
like even to speculate on the grim pos-
sibility that Treva was being held pris-
oner somewhere, or that she had been
slain and her body disposed of in some
desolate spot. Nevertheless, such
things do happen.

The first step would be to try to find
the child.

The accident or illness theory faded
fast when Deputy Yager received an
answer to his radioed message to the
Sheriff's office. Telephone calls to hos-
pitals and clinics in Warren and sur-
rounding counties had yielded nothing.
Nobody answering the description of
Treva Joyce Raper was a patient.

By now, it seemed that everyone in
the neighborhood knew Treva was mis-
sing. More than a dozen men—friends
of Lonnie Raper and his saddened
wife—had gathered in front of the
house. They were natives of the area,
men who knew the swamp like the
backs of their hands, and they were
eager to be of assistance. Without hesi-
tation, they volunteered to aid in a
search for the missing child.

Voorn Oo. his face grim, hud-
dled with Yager at his car. “Let’s
face it,” he declare@. “This thing looks
worse all the time. That girl could be
lying out there somewhere, sick and
unconscious. Or she could have met
with foul play. Why else didn’t she go
on to her grandmother’s as she had
planned? I don’t think we can afford to
wait until morning to start a search.”

Yager nodded his agreement. “The
sooner we begin, the sooner we'll know
what happened.”

Youngblood radioed his office and
asked that the Manchester Rescue
Squad, composed of highly trained men
equipped with powerful searchlights
and emergency apparatus, be dis-
patched to the scene at once. At the
same time, he ordered that all avail-

er coming to as Brewer was choking
er. :

“T don’t know when it was that I
woke up again,” Ma Baker said. “It was
dark and I was on the floor. I could
see Little Joe on the floor, too. Bud
must have dragged him into the house.
I pulled myself over to Little Joe. I
could feel his warm blood and I tried
to help him and then I can’t remember
anything more.”

The nation-wide alert for Brewer
continued.

N TUESDAY, November 29, two

months after the death of little Joe,
an Oakland, California, police officer
was checking on a crew of magazine-
subscription solicitors. One of the
salesmen was a tall, redheaded youth.
The patrolman called in the informa-
tion to the FBI office.

Richard D. Auerbach, agent-in-
charge of the San Francisco area, as-
signed agents to investigate. They
found the youth the following evening
in a hotel. He at first denied his iden-
tity, but when he was told it was merely
a routine matter of checking his finger-
prints, he shrugged and said: “I’m Ed-
ward Brewer, the guy you are looking
for.”

County District. Attorney Leimback
and Undersheriff Bill Romer drove to
Oakland, where Brewer waived extradi-
tion and returned with them to Casper.

Sheriff Cooper announced that
Brewer voluntarily admitted the slay-
ing of Little Joe Baker and the attack
upon Ma Baker.

“J asked him why he did it and all
he could tell me was that she ‘bugged’
him with religion,” Sheriff Cooper said.

Brewer was charged with first-degree
murder and ordered held without privi-
lege of bond to face trial on the charge.
At an arraignment on December 9,
1960, he pleaded innocent because of
insanity at the time of the crime and
not triable by reason of present insan-
ity. He was undergoing mental exami-
nation when this story was written.

The name Belle Frank is fictitious in
this story.

able deputies report to Campaign.
Within the hour, a search party of
more than 50 determined men was as-
sembled at Youngblood’s make-shift
“headquarters,” across the street from
the Raper residence.

The search plan was simple.

They would concentrate on the route
Treva would have followed in order to
reach her grandmother's residence,
paying particular attention to the rail-
road tracks and covering the vast
swamp that stretched on either side of
the tracks. Men with walkie-talkies
would be stationed at strategic points
along the route and were to be notified
immediately if any trace of the child
was found. This information would be
relayed to Youngblood. A deputy was
placed in charge of each group, with
instructions to bring in anyone found
wandering around the swamp.

The searchers, some carrying lan-
terns, others pocket-torches and still
others manning the portable search-
lights, fanned out in nearby fields and
moved toward the railroad right-of-
way which ultimately would lead them
into the swamp. In spite of a full sum-
mer moon, the area was little more
than a black, trackless waste. The
Horr hag promised to be long and perhaps

utile.

Soon after the search began, Deputy
Brock returned from his canvass of the
neighborhood and he had an interest-
ing story to relate.

He had located two men—W. H.
Miller and Bill Lockeridge—who said
they had seen the missing girl earlier
that morning and she had been walk-
ing with an older man.

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Four other roads were open which
could lead them to the killer.

The first was to talk to Martin Croy
and to dig further into his background
to determine what had motivated a
high-school boy to try to force his at-
tentions on a twelve-year-old girl.

The second would be to-start a search
for the scarfaced man who had fright-
ened Treva in the swamp.

The third was to trace Treva if they
could—find out if anyone had seen her
after she waved goodby to her mother,
and in this way come across someone
who had been with her.

And the fourth would be to question
every person known to frequent the
swamp and from these men isolate the
one who might be capable of such a
horrible crime.

HORTLY, an inquiry was being

punched out on the State Highway
Patrol teletype to every police depart-
ment and sheriff's office in Tennessee:
Did their files reveal any information
on a big, scarfaced man with a record
for molesting children? A man who
could not satisfactorily account for his
movements on the previous Saturday?

Early on Tuesday morning, the in-
vestigation split up into its many paths,
with the officers hoping desperately
that one of them would lead to the
killer.

Shelton and Youngblood drove to
Campaign where they interrogated
Martin Croy in the presence of his
mother. He was a well-spoken young
man, blond, husky and looked several
years older than sixteen.

Certainly, he said, he had known
Treva Joyce. She was the cute little
kid from down the street. The one
who'd been murdered.

“How did you know she'd been mur-
dered?” Shelton demanded.

“Why, it’s been on the radio and on
television,” Croy said. ‘‘Everybody in
Campaign knows about it.”

Shelton grimaced. He had hoped the
news hadn’t preceded them.

“Did you see her the morning she dis-
appeared?” the agent asked.

Yes he had, Croy answered. On two
occasions, in fact. The first time she’d

. walked past his home in the direction of

the village. Not long afterward, he’d
seen her come back, and this time a
man was with her.

“Did you speak to her either time?”

Yes, he remembered calling to her
the first time she passed. Treva Joyce
had seemed not to hear.

“Was it because she didn't hear you?
Or was it because she was afraid of
you?”

Croy appeared startled. ‘Afraid of
me? I don’t know what you mean.”

“You should know. She told her
mother you got rough with her and tried
to kiss her.”

A flush appeared at the back of
Croy’s neck and spread quickly to his
face. “I was only funnin’' when I did
that,’”’ he stammered weakly. “Heck, I
didn't mean her no harm.”

Asked to detail his movements during
Saturday, Croy nervously stated that
he had remained home until about 9:30,
at which time he’d walked to Mud
Creek. There he fished until noon. He
returned home for lunch and remained
there until he joined the search for
Treva after learning of her disappear-
ance that night.

Mud Creek, the investigators knew,
was more than a mile away and in the
opposite direction from that which
Treva would have taken to reach her
grandmother's.

“Was anyone with you?” Shelton
asked.

Croy said he had been alone. “I didn’t
see anybody I know except James Lee.
That was down by Brock’s Mill. He
wanted me to go over to the swamp with
him to get some whisky he’d buried
there. I told him my folks would skin me
alive if they caught me down there.”

Shelton studied the youth closely. Ex-
cept for an understandable display of
nervousness, Croy had answered all his
questions in a seemingly straight-for-

ward fashion. Too, the experienced
agent knew he would have to accept all
statements until he could find positive
proof to dispute them.

On the other hand, Croy, by his own
admission, had left his home only 30
minutes after Treva’s departure had
been pin-pointed. The spot where her
body was found had been approximate-
ly mid-way between her residence and
the home of the elder Mrs. Raper. An
obviously athletic lad like Croy could
have overtaken her with ease.

“What time did you meet Lee?” Shel-
ton inquired.

Croy couldn’t say for certain, but he
imagined it would have taken him 20
minutes or more to walk as far as
Brock’s Mill. That would place the time
at around 9:50 or ten o’clock.

It didn’t take the investigators long
to learn that James Lee was 22, mar-
ried, and an employee of a local fac-
tory. Shelton and Youngblood hurried
to his place of employment and asked
about the meeting with young Croy.
Lee’s reply was gruff: “Sure I saw the
kid. Why?”

‘‘He says it was close to ten o’clock.
What time would you say it was?”

“I wouldn't say. Because I don’t
know.”

“You wanted him to walk over to the
swamp with you, he tells us.”

A worried look came into Lee’s face,
then anger. “Now, look here, if you’re
trying to say I had anything to do with
what happened to that little girl, then
you're both nuts.”

Lee, it developed, also had aided in
the search for Treva. And he’d helped
dig the grave where she was to be
buried.

“That’s how much I thought of that
family,” he added, indignantly.

Lee insisted he had not gone to the
swamp after leaving young Croy. In-
stead, he had gone into the village
where he spent the remainder of the
day. At Shelton’s insistence, he gave
the names of several] persons he claimed
had seen him.

THER phases of the investigation,
meanwhile, were moving slowly.
Youngblood’s staff, by necessity, was
small and the bulk of the work fell to
himself, Agent Shelton, Yager, Brock
and a handful of deputies.

Answers to the all-points bulletin on
the scarfaced man were dribbling in
at intervals, but all of them were nega-
tive. A half-dozen habitues of the
swamp had been located and, as one,
they denied being anywhere near the
jungle on the day Treva was slain and
ravished. By the time they normally
would have begun to gather in the
swamp, news of the child’s disappear-
ance had been circulated and they
claimed they had stayed as far away
as possible. This probably explained
why no suspects had been flushed from
the area during the search, the officers
surmised.

Inquiry at the store where Treva had
purchased candy and soft drinks on the
day of her disappearance disclosed that
quite a few persons had been standing
around when the child came in. Offi-
cers looked up those whose names the
storekeeper remembered.

One, Lloyd Allen, a Campaign
farmer, had left directly behind Treva
and his route home would have taken
him along the railroad tracks and
through the swamp. Allen, a slender
man of about 40, was found at his home
by Shelton.

“The last I saw ofthe little girl she
was with Tom Rutledge,” he stated.
“They were walking sort of slow and I
passed them.”

“Did you take the tracks home?”

Allen nodded. “Just like always, 'cept
when I take the truck into town for sup-
plies.”

“Did you see anyone along the way?”

“No one at all.”

Shelton sized up the farmer. It would
take a long stretch of imagination to
visualize Allen strangling even a child
so quickly that she’d have no chance to
fight back, he decided. Still——

Back in Campaign, Shelton learned

that Sheriff Youngblood had found one |

witness who apparently had seen Treva
after the child started for her grand-
mother’s. She was Mrs. Perrila Mc-
Glothen, who lived on the road leading
to the railroad tracks.

Treva had been alone when she
walked past her home, Mrs. McGlothen
declared, and she recalled seeing no
one else in the vicinity at this time.
This had been a few minutes after
nine a.m.

At his laboratory in Nashville, Doctor
Core now had completed his autopsy.
Based upon his findings and a report
from the physician who first examined
the body, Doctor Core made a definite
statement regarding the time of death.

In his opinion, the victim had met
death at about 9:30 on the morning of
June 14, a short time after she last
was seen alive. His examination, he said,
had brought out bruises on the child’s
neck that easily might have gone un-
seen by anyone excepting an experi-
enced autopsy surgeon.

The presence of severe internal rup-
tures bore out his initial findings that
death had resulted from strangulation.
Considerable force definitely had been
used, but there were no other marks
of violence on the body. Minute inspec-
tion of the girl’s fingernails proved
them to be free of any particles of flesh
or traces of blood, further indicating
that Treva had not had a chance to
struggle with her attacker.

As THE days passed, fear gripped the
little town of Campaign and spread
to include all of Warren County. When
would the horror strike again? Where?

Although deputies had questioned
several men who had scars of various
sizes and shapes on their faces, all of
these had furnished alibis which could
not be shaken under the closest investi-
gation. Every person who had been
questioned had been checked out with
the TBI’s vast central-record system in
Nashville and not one of them had
anything in his past to indicate a ten-
dency toward harming young girls or
women.

Unless, of course, Martin Croy’s at-
tempt to kiss Treva could be considered
such a tendency.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Agent
Shelton declared during one of the
numerous conferences he held with
Sheriff Youngblood, “except start all
over. Right from the beginning.”

A week after the slaying, Youngblood
and Shelton returned to the scene, hop-
ing for a break, expecting to find
nothing.

The immediate area was a shambles.
The high wire fence separating rail-
road and private property had been
weighted to the ground by the swarming
curious who had visited the scene of
death. It had been a strong, mesh wir-
ing, Shelton noted, and the three
strands of barbed wire strung inches
apart across the top had been placed
there for the express purpose of dis-
couraging even the most agile tres-

passer.

Thoughtfully, Shelton followed the
broken line of fencing until he reached
a point where it was undamaged.

“It would take an awfully powerful
man to carry a limp body over a fence
like this,” he said softly, as though
speaking to himself. “I doubt that it’s
humanly possible.”

Experimentally, he caught hold of the
top strand and pulled himself upwards.
Only by careful maneuvering and using
both hands was he able to leap to the
other side without coming into contact
with the top strands of barbed wire.

He hit the ground with a thud, realiz-
ing that if Treva had been slain else-
where, brought here and dropped over
the fence her body surely would have
been bruised. He voiced this opinion to
Youngblood.

“Then, how do you figure she got to
the other side?” asked the Sheriff. ‘A
person who could see no better than
that child would have torn himself to
pieces on those barbs.”

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OFFICIAL

63

“Did they recognize him?” the Sher-
iff asked, hopefully.

“Yes. They both said it was Thomas
Rutledge. They think he’s some rela-
tion to the Raper girl."

The two men had been sitting on
Lockeridge’s front porch between 8:30
and nine when Rutledge and the girl
had passed, Brock explained. They re-
membered little else about the incident
except that Treva had been carrying a
paper sack in her arms.

“Probably the candy and soft drinks
she bought for her brother and sister,”
Youngblood surmised. ‘“‘She must have
been on her way home from the store.”

“Do you suppose she might have told
this Rutledge something that would
help us?" Yager offered.

“It's possible,"’ said Youngblood. ‘‘We
ought to talk to him about it as soon as
we can.”

URRYING across the street, the

Sheriff spoke again with Mr. and
Mrs. Raper. Thomas Rutledge, they
said, was indeed a relative. He was
Treva's second cousin and the child was
extremely fond of him. So much so, in
fact, that she called him “Uncle.”

“Where can we find him?” Young-
blood inquired.

Raper answered: ‘He’s with the
searchers right now. Want me to try
to get him for you?”

“I certainly wish you would. It’s very
important that we talk with anyone
and everyone who saw your daughter
this morning.”

Raper left in search of Rutledge, and
the Sheriff returned to his temporary
headquarters. Reports from the men
with the walkie-talkies, he was in-
formed. were few and far between and
all negative.

Soon, Lonnie Raper returned and he
had with him his kinsman, Thomas
Rutledge, a stock automobile service-
man and the father of three children.
From Rutledge, the Sheriff learned
facts which gave Treva's disappearance
a startling new aspect.

“I met Treva as she was coming out
of the store,’ explained Rutledge, “and
she begged me to walk at least part of
the way home with her.”

“Why? Was something wrong?”

Rutledge stroked his broad face
thoughtfully. “I'm sure she was afraid
of something. but to tell the truth I
never did find out just what it was all
about. I think it had something to do
with that Croy kid.”

“Who's he?”

It was Raper who supplied the an-
swer. “That would be Martin Croy,”
he declared icily. ‘Treva had some
trouble with him a few days ago. She’s
been afraid of him ever since.”

Raper, pressed for more information,
said Croy was a sixteen-year-old high-
school youth who only recently had
moved into the neighborhood. Treva
would have had to pass his home twice
in going to and from the store.

“What happened that made her
frightened of him?” asked Youngblood.

“Treva told her mother he grabbed
her and tried to kiss her.”

Apparently, Croy had made no
further advances for Treva had not
said anything more to her mother or
father.

Youngblood then asked Rutledge
what he and the little girl had talked
about during their walk.

Not much of anything, really, Rut-
ledge replied. Treva had mentioned
that she planned to visit her grand-
mother. She had mentioned something
else, too. Something that tended to
answer one big question which was stir-
ring around in the back of the Sheriff’s
mind: Why had Treva insisted on going
off alone in the morning?

Treva told Rutledge she was planning
to go wading in the creek that ran be-
hind her grandmother’s home. That
was why she didn’t want her younger
sister and brother along. If they were
with her she knew she wouldn't be al-
lowed to go wading. And so she had
Sought them a treat to make up for not
‘aking them with her.

62

Rutledge was dismissed and Raper
returned to his wife’s side in the big,
empty house across the street. As soon
as they had left, Youngblood called
Yager aside.

“Check around as quietly as you can
and see what you can find out about
this Martin Croy,” he instructed.

For Youngblood and the other offi-
cers, the hours went by with agonizing
slowness. By midnight, everyone who
had known Treva well, every family she
might have visited, every child who
might have seen her, had been ques-
tioned.

Daylight came and still there was no
trace of the missing girl.

Then, just before 5:30 a. m., Vernon
E. Gillis, a member of the Warren
County Emergency Squad, his eyes
swollen from lack of sleep and his limbs
aching from endless hours of walking
through the dense undergrowth in the
swamp, decided to return to headquar-
ters for a much-needed cup of coffee
and some rest.

He pushed his way through the jungle
of vines and brush and was about to
climb a barbed-wire fence marking the
railroad’s right-of-way when, a few feet
away amid a delicately scented honey-
suckle vine, he saw a splash of vivid
red. Gillis decided to investigate. As
he approached, the red took on the form
of a pair of shorts. And protruding
from those shorts was a pair of legs.

Gillis wheeled, scrambled over the
wire fence and sprinted up the embank-
ment leading to the railroad tracks .. .

Treva Joyce Raper had been found.

The tragic news was relayed to head-
quarters by walkie-talkie and soon a
procession of police and searchers was
streaming down the slope to the spot
where the little girl’s body lay. In the
lead were Sheriff Youngblood, Yager,
Brock and a physician assigned to the
Rescue Squad.

It immediately was apparent that the
worst—the very worst—had happened.
Treva was dead. She lay on her back,
her right arm folded across her chest,
her left arm dangling slightly outward
from her body. Her spectacles were
neatly in place.

HILE the officers and men looked

on in sober silence, the Rescue
Squad physician knelt beside the body
and made a cursory examination. Then,
he pushed himself erect, a puzzled
frown creasing his forehead.

“Strange,” he mumbled in a barely
audible voice. ‘Not at all what I ex-
pected to find.”

“What do you mean?” asked Young-
blood. :

“There’s not a single bruise or any
other sign of violence that I can see.
Offhand, I'd say this child died of nat-
ural causes.”

A murmur of surprise and disbelief
swept through the group of men gath-
ered there.

“Are you positive?” asked Young-
blood.

The doctor removed his glasses, pol-
ished the lenses with an edge of his
handkerchief. “I'll make a more de-
tailed examination under better condi-
tions and see what I can find,” he
promised.

After Coroner Thomas Love arrived
and Lonnie Raper had been brought to
the scene and tearfully identified the
victim as his daughter, Sheriff Young-
blood detailed Brock to have the body
i to a funeral home in McMinn-
ville.

Once the body had been taken away,
Youngblood and Yager made a minute
examination of the immediate vicinity.
They found no signs of a struggle and
certainly the absence of noticeable
bruises or scratches on the girl’s body
strongly indicated that she had not
fought off an assailant.

Then what had happened? Had the
child become ill while walking along
the tracks, stumbled dazedly into the
thicket and died?

Youngblood didn’t think so. “It was
all too neat,” he said slowly. ‘Too pat.
Did you notice how her head and shoul-

ders were under the bush? No one
gasping for a breath of life would have
crawled beneath a bush.”

He stooped and examined the tall
grass, bent close to the ground from
the weight of the girl’s body. For sev-
eral long minutes, he just squatted
there, his eyes taking in the scene.
Finally, Youngblood straightened,
stretching the kink from his back.

“This has me stumped,” he declared
grudgingly. “She sure wasn’t dragged.
There’s not a mark on the ground
around here.”

“Somebody could have carried her in
here in his arms,” Yager suggested.
“She was pretty big for her age but I’ll
bet she didn’t weigh a hundred
pounds.”

That was true, the Sheriff agreed, but
if there had been such a person any
footprints he might have left’ behind
had been obliterated long since by the
mass of searchers who had been mill-
ing about the area.

What next?

“There isn’t anything we can do un-
til we get a more complete report from

the doctor,” Youngblood said. He shook |

his head worriedly. “If this does turn
out to be murder, we’re sure wasting
precious time.”

GHERIFP YOUNGBLOOD and Yager
drove back to their office in Mc-
Minnville in silence, their minds grasp-
ing at details of the events leading up
to the discovery of the girl’s body. As
they trudged wearily into the County
Jail, the Sheriff asked: ‘What did you
find out about the Croy boy?”

The deputy shrugged disconsolately.
“Nothing much. The neighbors all say
he seems like a nice enough sort of kid.
Quiet and studious. Keeps to himself,
for the most part.”

But he had grabbed a little girl and
tried to kiss her, Youngblood thought
grimly.

Shortly after one p. m., Coroner Love
turned in his preliminary report. “Un-
less there’s an autopsy and it turns up
something, this will have to go down as
a natural death,” he told Youngblood
when he was seated in the Sheriff’s of -
fice. “The Doc says he can’t find a
thing to suggest foul play.”

“What does the family say about an
autopsy?”

“They're against it. They feel that
if the child had been killed, there’d be
enough outward evidence to indicate
the necessity of an autopsy.”

Youngblood nodded understandingly.
“What about her clothing? Any rips or
smudges?”

“Not a thing,” Love said. He un-
wrapped a package he had brought and
spread the clothing and the girl’s spec-
tacles on the Sheriff’s desk.

Youngblood examined the shirt and
shorts closely. He found nothing.
Spreading his hands in a gesture of
helplessness, he said: ‘Then I guess our
hands are tied. Without the family’s
permission for an autopsy, we’d have
to get a court order.”

And to obtain a court order, he’d
need evidence.

But they had no evidence. Only a
nagging suspicion.

The body of Treva Joyce Raper was
prepared that same afternoon for bur-
ial. Funeral services, the Sheriff was
notified, were scheduled for two p. m.
Monday at the little Church of God in
Campaign where Treva attended Sun-
day School. Her final resting place was
to be the "Crane Hill Cemetery in the
Rocky River Community.

And there the strange case of Treva
Joyce might have ended. Forever.

Except——

Sheriff Youngblood arose early on
the morning of June 16, after a rest-
less night. He couldn’t put the Raper
case out of his mind. Somehow, he was
positive, the child had been slain. Yet,
how could he prove it?

Later that Monday morning, Brock
and Yager came in. It was obvious
from their faces that they, too, had
been unable to sleep.

Youngblood pushed the shirt and

shorts Treva had worn across the desk.
“Here. Look and see if you can find
anything.”

While they looked, the Sheriff picked
up the child’s glasses, noting for the
first time the curved thickness of the
lenses. Idly, he drew them close to his
eyes. The faces of Brock and Yager,
every object in the room, were blurred,
each melting into the other.

“Hey!” Youngblood was on his feet.

The two investigators stared at him,
questioningly.

“That kid must have been nearly
blind!”

Yager said, “So?”

“Don’t you see? If her eyesight was
this bad, she’d never have been able to
see well enough to climb that barbed
wire fence alone, even with the glasses
on. Not without tearing her clothes.
Somebody had to carry her, or help her,
over that fence.”

And, if this was true—if it could be
established—then Treva Joyce had not
been alone when she died.

Youngblood grabbed his hat. ‘“‘Come
on. We're going to stop a funeral!”

Although the investigators reached
Campaign in record time, funeral serv-
ices for Treva Raper had just been
completed.

Quietly, but with a note of urgency
in his voice, Youngblood drew Lonnie
Raper to one side and told him about
his theory concerning his daughter’s
glasses.

Raper shook his head, sadly, numbly.
“I don’t know. She did have awfully
bad eyesight, all right. Treva could
hardly see even with her glasses. I—
I'll have to ask my wife.”

The pallbearers were placing the
small casket in the hearse.

Raper spoke quietly with his grieving
wife and walked back to where the offi-
cers were standing.

“It’s all right,” he murmured. “We
could never be sure now. Not without

_ an autopsy.”

Instead of to the Crane Hill Ceme-
tery, the hearse was directed to Nash-
ville, the State Capital, and to the
morgue of a large funeral home. An
autopsy was performed at six o'clock
that evening by Doctor W. J. Core, Da-
ae County’s veteran coroner’s phy-
sician.

T= results of that examination cor-

roborated Youngblood’s suspicions:
Treva, Doctor Core announced, had
been strangled to death. Choked. Then
assaulted.

It was what the Sheriff had feared
the most. For this is the type of crime
that, above all others, is the most dif-
ficult to solve. Yet it is the type of
crime which must be solved—as quickly
as possible—before more like it occur.

So, once again the investigation be-
gan moving.

From the funeral home, Youngblood
telephoned District Attorney General
Fred Gilliam at his home in Manches-
ter and asked that an official request
be made at once for an agent from the
Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Inves-
tigation to aid in the probe. Gilliam
promised to make the necessary ar-
rangements with the Bureau’s director,
W. E. (Bud) Hopton.

By the time Youngblood and his of-
ficers reached McMinnville, Agent Ken-
neth Shelton was there waiting.

Shelton, tall, young, crew-cut, one of
the most able and tireless investiga-
tors in the TBI, knew that all the pre-
liminary steps would have to be re-
traced now that the case definitely was
a homicide. With characteristic thor-
oughness, he reviewed all the facts
known by Youngblood at this stage.

One avenue of investigation, he real-
ized, in all likelihood had been closed.
Because of the lapse of time in estab-
lishing the cause of death, he reasoned,
the scene where the body had been
found would be virtually. worthless. By
now, hundreds of curiosity seekers
would have trampled all over the place,
destroying any clues the Sheriff and
his investigators might have over-
looked. i

e

aah
ce

‘

Bait

6)
Tit

Be
te

VE rio Denied

The Negroes, William J. Cc. Tur-

2* veers. Tha trie was tried and con-

A ee res

. rm

eran gate Seashore sink Beals
‘Assault Case

“he Tennessee Supreme Court to-

Rehearing.n

dey denied the petition for 2 ¢e|.

hearing in the case. of three Ne-
groes, convicted df criminal assault
mpon a 19-year-old girl, on the
State Capitel grounds.

ner, James M. Scribner, and. Thom-
as Howard Taylor, were convicted
1947, in Davidson

on. appeal to

heir convic-

and date of

tion to rehear,

ingly denied. i

> At the Criminal Court trial of the
‘Ehree defendants, following convic-
tion, Judge Charles, Gilbert over-
‘yuled motion of defense counsel for
pb new trial, in January, 1948, and
the case was later argued on appeal
“to the Supreme Court, which af-
firmed the conviction. _ Gone -7
> The criminal assault occurred on

San ‘August G, 1947, when two girls andy
“a young white man visited State}.

Capitol grounds at. night. Both
girls were attacked while the Ne-
groes threatened them and their

were’ identified by the victims
shortly after their arrest by offi-

victed in only one assault case, the
 (Gontinued on Page 2, Columa &)

fa

her being still'on the court dock-

Nerd i Pen Le ie 0

eee ees Other Cases ; :

eS Z 4 7
_t The court also handed down two
_ opinions by Associate Justice Pride
oemlinson, and three certiorati

cages, and recessed until the frst], :

“Monday in October, when it) (is

“sp ischeduled; to yecotvene at Knox-!,
Seeyitte, : i

por

‘shel

ae

fet

: is. however.
no competent which to
predicate the couviclion of Sparks.  Jjucs-
med as

of Knoxville vs. Elizabeth FH. Gal-?
etitity, @his ia an

Altin front 2 cecres dif

of his roal estate fer the

y taxes. Autin’s

assessment is void

Endure of the city’ taxy ”
x

is the procedure reeulred
oe i pe’ s9TS ‘i pee well taken. |
ef trey. in. the  decre é
» Chaneeller,  Alfirnred. ut . Re tH
! Certiorari Cazes

‘Jones vs. Moreer Pie Comp
m laws Wet. denied pict tae fy
afred’ Behe Ve.
t i a

escort with a gun, The Wegroes{’

r

«
2
va)
>

he’ electr
State Prison,

Tee de.
"aylor stow
3:42 an Tees 4
ree Ng anes William

fee pe es. CONTE:

ougshout thelr ses ye lent

oO i a ew minutes

Saprde 17 deys ago th renee,
pb Court denied ‘the

ehearsi oft]
owing havik ne

Yiminal C ‘

Dest oversea? Jude Charles Gil
Founsel for 7 Of , defense
1848 al in Epehapady

he crime: cee

when tivo girte ani oeUst 7, 1847,
Man visited & & youne white
night, wed the Cézitol groq +e

whilecde D girls were Pan a f

cir ;

etunersen
& petition
* Case,

a new tri

The arres

urgess, city
en Lihian pon eet
Pugh, “a

Justice,
The bodie

: Ss of 2
aimed by Shale cays


\2/3/bo. Executed the Follosiing day.

Per The Daily Chronicle h Sentinel (Augusta

Ga.) (2-19- (30 UI Ruoting the Jackson
West Tennessee Whig.


A new one —
Negro Sam executed in Henderson County

Tennessee, on 12°4-b0 for murder of his master,
J. Harrison Trice. Resisted a whipping, Knocked
his master down and cut his throat. Crime Com-
mitted om Saturday ; (2/ (/60. Tried on Monday

“She had help. Somebody she trusted
helped her over the fence. Coaxed her
and guided her, and then he killed her.
That's why she didn't struggle. She was
taken completely by surprise and never
had a chance to fight back.”

But who was that somebody Treva
had loved and trusted? And how to find
him?

With considerable effort, Shelton
conquered the fence a second time. He
and the Sheriff then walked the half
mile back to the Raper home. They
talked with the parents of the dead girl
for more than an hour but the couple,
still suffering from shock and grief,
were unable to add anything to what
they already had told.

“We've thought about everybody we
ever heard of in Campaign,” Raper said.
“There just isn't anyone around here
who would do such a thing as horrible
as that. It must have been some
tramp a

UTSIDE, Shelton said: “I think

that’s the key to our whole prob-
lem. Raper echoed what everybody else
is thinking. This is a small community.
The people can’t believe that one of
their neighbors might be guilty. So
they're trying to remember incidents
that involve strangers instead of con-
centrating on the faces they see every
day.”

Now. the officers changed their line
of approach. They purposely encour-
aged those whom they questioned to
think about their neighbors, to tell what
they knew of their movements on that
ill-fated Saturday.

They got nowhere.

Until, finally, on the morning of
June 23, Shelton and Youngblood spoke
again with Mrs. McGlothen who, so far
as was known, was the last person—
with the exception of the slayer—to see
Treva alive.

She re-told her story in precise detail.
After Treva passed her home she saw
no one else go up the road toward the
tracks for perhaps an hour or more.

“How about before you saw Treva?”
Shelton pressed.

Mrs. McGlothen wrinkled her face in
a frown of concentration. ‘Well, there
was that Allen fellow. He comes by
here real often. But that must've been
twenty or thirty minutes before Treva
came by.”

“Anyone else?”

“Only Tom Rutledge. His mother
lives just across the tracks.”

Thomas Rutledge. “Uncle Tom’’—
Treva's second cousin. The man she
loved and trusted so much that she
asked him to walk her home because
she was afraid of a sixteen-year-old
boy.

Thomas Rutledge, whom Treva had
told she was planning to visit her
grandmother.

According to Mrs. McGlothen, she
had seen Rutledge just minutes—no
more than five or ten—before Treva
came along. Rutledge, the officers re-
called, had said he left the child at her
front gate and returned to the village.

Shelton and Youngblood called an-
other conference of all the investiga-
tors and announced that Thomas Rut-
ledge had become Suspect Number
One. ‘‘From what we've learned, he
must have left Treva at her home and
then walked straight to the tracks to
wait for her,’ Youngblood said.

“He could have lured her into the
swamp without a struggle,”’ Shelton
added. She was deathly afraid of
young Croy and there’s no reason to
believe she would have accompanied
Lee or Allen into that jungle. Not
willingly.”

All this was speculation. The point
was that Rutledge’s lie now threw
doubt on his entire story.

Yager and Brock were sent out to
talk with everyone they could find who
remembered seeing Rutledge that Sat-
urday and to question them closely
about the time element.

Shelton and Youngblood hurried to
the home of the suspect's mother, who
lived only a short distance from the

64

point where Treva would have climbed
onto the railroad tracks for her last,
ill-fated journey. They did not tell
Mrs. Rutledge the nature of their visit,
but merely asked if she had seen her
son at any time on the morning of the
fourteenth.

“I sure did,’ Mrs. Rutledge said,
pleasantly. “That was the same mor-
ning I got the letter from my daughter.
The one who lives in Florida. I'd been
to the post office and was walking
home when I ran into Thomas.”

Mrs. Rutledge thought this had been
a few minutes after nine.

“Did you two talk?” Shelton asked.

“Oh, yes. Thomas said he was plan-

mother and Treva had passed while
Rutledge and his mother were talking.

The two veteran investigators ex-
cused themselves and returned to the
Sheriff’s office to discuss the turn of
affairs.

On the basis of what they now had,
Skelton and Youngblood decided to
bring Rutledge in for questioning.
When he was told why he had been
picked up, Rutledge stuck to his story
about leaving Treva at her home and
returning to the village.

Informed of the statements of Mrs.
McGlothen and of his own mother, the
chunky, musculay-"man didn’t flinch.

“They’re just mistaken about which

superior-court jury.

last August.

to five years in Federal prison.

the January, 1961, issue.

maiming of his wife, Fern.

Up to the Minute

B aed songs of barroom-tenor Stanley William Fitzgerald, 40, will
be stilled in San Quentin’s gas chamber, unless a successful
appeal reverses a recent decision of a Nevada City, California,

Fitzgerald was found guilty of first-degree murder for the
robbery slaying of George Bonn and the wounding of Milton J.
Young at Woodchopper Springs, an isolated area near Truckee,

“Trail of the Barroom Tenor,” in the February, 1961, issue of
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES Magazine, told of the police
search for Fitzgerald, via a trail of bad checks, following the dis-
covery of the slain Bonn and his wounded companion.

A LOS ANGELES jury has acquitted Richard E. Loomis, 45,
of murder in the death of Pilot James K. Gibbs, who
went down in flames in a mosquito bomber owned by Loomis.
The same jury, however, found Loomis guilty of destroying
insured property, conspiracy and making a false report in
connection with the fatal crash.

The detective investigation of the incident, which led to
the arrest of Loomis, was described under the title, “Twenty
Percent If You Crash,” in the October, 1960, issue.

Tx? young New Jersey men who picked a hurricane as a cover-up
for a bank robbery have been convicted under Federal] law.
James W. Jenkins, Jr., 24, of Long Branch, has been sentenced to an
indefinite prison term under the Federal Youth Correction Act,
which applies to criminals up to and including age 24. His 30-
year-old accomplice, Edward H. Stone of Red Bank, was sentenced

Their unusual holdup of the Holmdel Branch of Merchants
Trust Company, which briefly netted them some $32,000, and the
storm-complicated detective work which ensued, were the sub-
jects of a story entitled, ‘‘Under the Cloak of Raging Donna,” in

yypaerne and wailing by the women relatives of the ac-
cused heightened the courtroom drama as three men
were sentenced to die for the shotgun murder of Leslie J.
Simpson, Anaheim, California, night-club owner, and the
The men themselves, Joseph
Rosoto, 37, Donald Franklin, 32, and John Vlahovich, 29,
showed little emotion as the sentence was passed, however.
The trio also received prison terms on charges of conspiracy,
kidnaping, perjury, etc., in connection with the crime (“From
12,000 Shotguns,” August, 1960).

I Spned bizarre case of the murder of Wilma Selby in Houston, Texas,
reached a climax with the sentencing of Clarence “Sack” Col-
lins, the actual gunman, to 99 years’ imprisonment. Earlier court
action resulted in life imprisonment for-Joseph Selby, accused
of hiring his wife’s killer, and a death sentence for Maggie Morgan,
a fortune teller, who made the macabre arrangements for him
(“Too Many Hired Killers,” March, 1960); |

ning to go fishing. I told him to let me
know if the fish were biting and I
might go myself.”

Mrs. Rutledge chuckled. Then, her
face clouded as though some distaste-
ful memory had returned. “I’d almost
forgotten,” she said after a pause.
“That was the same morning we saw
Leona’s little girl.”

“Leona’s girl?”

“The little Raper child. Her mother,
Leona, and my Thomas are first cou-
sins. She was on the tracks, just ahead
of us. When we reached the road that
leads to my house, I turned off and
Thomas walked on.”

Apparently, Mrs. McGlothen had
seen Rutledge shortly before he met his

day they saw me,” he declared in a quiet
voice.

But he was unable to name the day
he.and his mother had observed Treva
Joyce on the tracks. Under rigid inter-
rogation, he finally offered the names
of four men he'said could vouch for his
whereabouts between the hours of nine
and eleven a. m. on the fourteenth.

These names were relayed by radio
to Brock and Yager. Two hours later,
Youngblood received a reply. Two of
those named by Rutledge had seen him
at about 8:30, and again at approxi-
mately’11:30. Another had seen him
walk away from the store with Treva
and had not seen him again until after-
noon. The fourth recalled seeing him

in the vicinity of the village store early
on the morning in question and the next
time he had seen him was when they
both were searching for the Raper girl.

Rutledge remained calm as he clung
doggedly to his denials.

He was taken to the Coffee County
Jail in Manchester where he agreed to
submit to a lie-detector test. The morn-
ing after his arrest, Shelton and Young-
blood took Rutledge to TBI headquar-
ters in Nashville where Technician
Judson Gann administered the test.

For the first few minutes, Gann asked
the suspect only routine questions:
Name. Address. Place of birth. Parents’
names. Wife’s name. Simple questions,
calling for truthful answers. Then,
gradually, he brought his questions
around to the slaying of little Treva.

“Did you choke the little Raper girl
on Saturday, June fourteenth?”

“No.”

The needle of the polygraph moved
erratically up and down.

“Did you molest the little Raper
girl?”

Rutledge shifted uneasily in his chair
and stared at the wires that linked him
to the strange machine.

“No.”

Again the needle jumped.

“Did you hide her body in the
swamp?”

“No! No! No!”

The needle suddenly seemed to go out
of control.

ANN flicked off the machine, studied
the long sheet of paper and its
peculiar markings. Finally, he shook
his head, slowly but very emphatically.
“You're lying Rutledge,” the techni-
cian said. “This machine says you're
lying.”

Rutledge brushed his hands across
his eyes and moaned: “What a man
won't do when he’s drinking. That must
have been why I did it. I was drinking.”

Rutledge then gave a complete state-
ment to Shelton and Youngblood in
which he admitted killing Treva Joyce
Raper.

He told of meeting the child on the
railroad and luring her into the swamp.
Rutledge said he had been drinking
heavily, but remembered putting one
arm “around her little waist.” He relat-

ed, too, about how she “drew up” in an .

apparent effort to resist him.

“.. , I put my hand over her mouth
and when she stopped breathing I run,”
he was quoted as saying. He left her
there beneath the honeysuckle bush.

Prosecutor Gilliam was notified of the
development and charges of first-de-
gree murder and rape were lodged
against the 32-year-old Rutledge. The
next day, the suspect re-enacted the
slaying in detail in the presence of Shel-
ton, Youngblood, Coroner Love, Yager
and Brock.

Rutledge’s family and friends were
shocked when they learned of his con-
fession. He always had loved children,
they said, and had looked upon Treva
“as one of his own.”

With the mass of evidence accumulat-
ed against him, Rutledge’s trial was
brief. On September 24, 1958, he was
found guilty and sentenced to die in the
electric chair at the State Prison in
Nashville.

Because of the mercilessness of his
crime, Rutledge became known as the
“most hated man in prison” once he
was transferred to the death house at
the penitentiary. On the morning of
June 15, 1959, as he was being led to
the chair, the mournful voices of a
prison quartet echoed hollowly through
the stone corridors:

“Hang down your head, Tom Rutledge
.. . hang down your head ... and die.”

The lights dimmed three times and,
just a year after the finding of her
body, Treva Raper's brutal death was
avenged.

To protect the identity of innocent
persons: who were completely exoner-
ated -in this. case, the names Martin
Croy, James Lee and Lloyd Allen, are
fictitious.

remaaa Wwera4as

wIat4ITG

o*

:

an , ane e e eS :
Assign location 7o Murfreesboro, ex rme wirriam 4, VY Yor Mereld 6/16/63 24
Lyrime Com tled 3/9/63. Peles ee . aes
Torfure-murder of Adan Weaver "SELKIRK, William A., was hanged on the \th; had
been convicted of murder of Adam Weaver of Wil-~

who he & 7o compel) into son County. Weaver's son asked for th ivi
obvalying Aidlhe place of monty. Sie) wee ee coer ieee PU
“he dal Bement odius ting, soparene: (Nashville Dis-

Seliwk was one of Several C.S.A. om
solders who Stole out of herr | OBITUARIES FROM TENNESSEE NEWSPAPERS by Jill —
Garrett; 1980: “asley, S. C., Southern Histori-

rh, jn abit ag Lo wane j cal Press age 3h5
obbing victim. Broke rate A/S Aotae Comme Fe hess attvertes cn A
\ lhiy Whe Shirk ony che te be Woah bad apt hcl. Latte ab bedidelate to, Corfe
authorities. Town Overrun by franks betore tevel, who Found hie tn the fal and transterred bibs Te
Nurkeesbora ter Tre when They Jearned the natore of br’ offence. Condemned by a Yankee
ian Court Marte| tor an offence Cammstted i a Cin fed eraTe _ furcsabichion belause as octup-—

h
nity, jan eobrccncat Lee lad btere nccmbeal jpn Yan aithores.


ae

Arrow indicates the sec-
tion of Indianapolis
where the killer was
snared after the authori-
ties had seemingly
reached an impasse. The
attractive and enigmatic
young widow, Mrs. Helen
Whelchel (right)- The
riddle of her slaying was
jn strange harmony with
the mystery of her life

An
INDIANA ENIGMA

EAUTIFUL as a fifteenth century Italian madonna

was Helen Whelchel. A tall, slender brunette with coils

of jet black hair, and magnificent and mysterious

dark eyes, her presence was an unforgettable picture.

Fascinating as she was to feminine as well as

mascuJine observers she was an enigma to her friends; and

the strange mystery of her death was in cryptic harmony
with the mystery of her life.

Happily married at twenty-one, she had been tragically
widowed within three months of her wedding day. Her
young husband had been killed in an automobile accident
before their honeymoon days were over.

From then on Helen lived with her father and grand-
father, both widowers, at 1854 Applegate Street, Indian-
apolis, Indiana. Always popular, and with an extensive cir-

cle of friends, it was most remarkable that when it became:

necessary for detectives to check closely on her life, there
was not one of these friends who knew anything of the
‘ntimate side of the mystical widow.

On the evening of November 27th, a Tuesday, Mrs. Helen
Whelchel said good-by to her father and grandfather and
left home to go, nobody knew where.

At ten o'clock she was seen to enter the ballroom of the
|_yric Theater in the central part of Indianapolis, unaccom-

32

- TN (Davidson) Muly 3, 1933

i

SOM eal

1 Hahen atege
‘ths

on cane

ao at '

ee NTO |
ay re

panied. She participated in several dances. At eleven
o'clock she left—and according to those who recognized her
—she left alone.

At 11:45 that same night, Frank Oberting, living
at 1729 South East Street at the corner of lowa, suddenly
sat up in bed. He had been awakened. he thought, by a
woman's scream. Listening intently, he soon came to the
conclusion that he must have been dreaming, and nestled
snugly back into the bedclothes. He had no sooner done
go, however, than a second scream came to his ears

Springing from bed he ran to the window of his ro6m
which faced on the north side of the street. He saw nothing.
but as he turned away: bewildered, a | ‘ird scream, followed
by the noise of the slamming of an utomobile door. and
hum of a motor, urged him to further investigation. He
ran to another room having a View O% rlooking lowa Street
and was just in time to see a small car climb crazily over
the sidewalk, narrowly miss a telegreph pole. and then go
zigzagging down lowa Street at hig speed, rocking from
one side of the road to the other.

Mr. Oberting dressed hastily, and, obtaining a flashlight
darted out into the street. There he saw a woman's hat
lying on the walk. He picked it up and began an examl-
nation of the road and walk, in wh: h he was soon joined

At eleven
ognized her

ting, living
a, suddenly
yught, by a
ame to the
and nestled
sooner done

ears.

{ his room

aw nothing.

n. toiowed
door, and

gatic He

Low at street

wavs Over

by a number of neighbors who had also been aroused by
the screams. They found nothing more, and Mr. Oberting
returned to his home.

His daughter, who had awakened and dressed, gasped
when she caught sight of the hat which Mr. Oberting had
in his hand.

“Why, that’s Helen Whelchel’s hat!” she exclaimed. “I
saw her wearing it the other day.”

“I thought it was,” said her father. “1 thought I recog-
nized that hat when I first saw it lying on the ground. |
wonder how it came there? Wonder if anything's happened
to Mrs. Whelchel? Guess I'd better call the police.”

He did so, and in a few minutes an emergency squad from
Headquarters was on the scene making a careful investiga-
ton

Mrs. Whelchel’s home on Applegate Street was only a few
blocks away, and two of the officers hastened there and
awakened her father, Francis Hager. His astonishment was
changed to alarm when he caught sight of the hat which
one of the detectives had brought.

iis identified it immediately as belonging to his daughter,
and he was the more astonished because he felt sure that
ileien was at home and in bed. A quick visit to her room
coor. disabused him of this consolation, however. Helen

By
R. M. JOHNSON

Whelchel was not there and her bed had not been slept in.

Applegate Street is in the southeastern section of Indian-
apolis, a few blocks from Garfield Park. The investigating
officers soon learned that Mrs. Whelchel’s custom when re-
turning home from town was to take a Garfield Park street
car to the corner of South East and Iowa Streets, and, alight-
ing there, walk the three blocks east to Applegate. She had
lived in this neighborhood almost all her life, and was fa-
miliar with all its surroundings.

This is a residential district, of pleasing, well-kept homes,
owned largely by prosperous descendants of German settlers.
It is a neighborhood where one would least expect an ab-
duction to occur,

UNTIL long after midnight the officers searched the
neighborhood, devoting a great deal of time to a caretul
inspection of beautiful Garfield Park. This pleasure spot,
one of the show places of Indianapolis, embraces more than
a hundred acres. It is filled with winding drives and iso-
lated, leafy retreats, such as would furnish ideal hiding
places for anyone who wished to escape observation. No
trace of the missing girl was found.

It was before dawn on a blustery November morning, and
the officers decided that nothing (Continued on pages 1)

33


August, 1937

strained for a-glimpse of the suspect. He
sat with his counsel, J. W. Taylor, his
brawny arm supporting the fair, three-
year-old boy on his knee, his head bent
in evident misery.

The defense counsel asked that Mrs.
Keyes be tried before Aven. He contended
there was not sufficient evidence against
her to convict her. If her case were
disposed of, her testimony could be used
in the trial of Aven. [| then moved to
dismiss the case and the court granted
the motion.

Two different motions by Taylor, which
would have injected the insanity angle
into the trial, were overruled by Judge
Munroe.

The State used Doctors Elliot, Mc-
Cormick and Gooch on the stand. They
gave the details of the autopsy on Mrs.
Aven’s body and reports on the examina-
tion of the viscera.

In spite of defense protests, the court
permitted’ the introduction of the con-
fession as testimony.

THE argument for the prosecution was
opened by Assistant District Attorney
H. O. Dabney. He gave a detailed analysis
of the confession introduced as testimony.

The defense insisted that Aven’s con-
fession had been obtained by force, so the
defense argument consisted largely of a
discussion of the inadequacy of the con-
fession as proof of guilt.

At one o'clock that afternoon of Sep-
tember 23rd, | completed the argument
for the State and asked for the extreme
penalty. At two-thirty the jury, ren-
dered its verdict of “Guilty,” and assessed
the death penalty. Aven stared ahead for
a moment, then dropped his face in his
hands.

The defense motion for a new trial be-
ing overruled, Taylor appealed the case.

For over four more years Aven’s case
was to him a matter of alternate hopes
and fears. The slow-moving higher courts
kept the shadow of death ever looming
before him. If there was a break in
the monotony of his anxious thought for
himself, it could have been only when
Dessie Keyes went to trial on December
12th for complicity in the murder of her

Master Detective
husband. He probably visualized her as
she sat there, pale and tearful, while her
statement, presented as a basis of prose-
cution, was read in court.

And while Dessie wept silently as En-
ineer Fred Brown and Fireman H. M.
erris told the story of Keyes’ tragic
death, Aven was probably remembering
those last hours with his nephew.

Mrs. Keyes’ acquittal came as a surprise
to the State’s attorneys, though we had
not asked for the death penalty, but only
a prison sentence.

The indictment against her, charging
complicity in the murder of the Aven
baby, was dismissed soon after her trial
for the murder of Keyes.

Aven’s case was reversed on a techni-
cality by the State Court of Criminal Ap-

eals on July 16th, 1923. On December
rd, his second tria! for the slaying of his
wife began. The prosecution was con-
ducted by my _ successor, Farmer,
who asked for the death penalty. Aven’s
faint hopes died when, on December 7th,
the jury rendered a verdict of “Guilty,”
and gave him the death penalty. Again
Attorney Taylor filed a motion for a new
trial and, when it was overruled, appealed
the case.

After two more years of anxiety, Aven
learned that the verdict of the trial court
had been affirmed. In mute despair he
heard Judge Munroe, on January 22nd,
1926, sentence him to die on February
27th. So, early in February, Aven en-
tered the death cell in Huntsville State
Prison to await execution.

At the last moment fate intervened. A
priest, interested in the reclamation_of
criminals, appealed to Governor M. Fer-
guson in Aven’s behalf. He persuaded her
to commute the sentence to life imprison-
ment.

The cases in which Aven was charged
with the murder of Keyes and the Aven
infant were dismissed on November 7th,
1925, and September Ist, 1930, respec-
tively.

Aven’s occasional letters to outside au-
thorities, pleading for “another chance,”
meet no response. He continues to be
just a number behind the dreary walls of
Huntsville State Prison.

Payment Deferred

(Continued from page 33)

more could be done until daylight, except
to send several squad cars prowling
through the city in search of a suspicious
black touring car, such as Mr. Oberting
described.

Shortly before seven o'clock that morn-
ing, three linemen of the Western Union
Telegraph Company were speeding along
over the tracks of the Big Four Railroad
on an electric truck. It was bitterly cold.
The sky was heavy with threatening
clouds, and the wind-swept fields on either
side bore all the desolateness of winter's
touch,

As they approached an overpass above
the railroad tracks, known as the High
School Road bridge, about six and a half
miles west of Indianapolis, the three men
were startled ‘to see a strange bundle lying
between the tracks, directly under the
bridge. Slowing down, they saw at once
that it was a human body, lying face
downward on the gravel. Stopping the car
they hurried to it and found that it was
a woman,

One of the linemen, Herchell Miller, di-
rected his companions, William Bristow
and George Cooley to get in touch with
the authorities at once while he watched
the body. They immediately ran back to
the electric car, connected their emergency

equipment with a telegraph wire, and. in
a few minutes were talking to the cor-
oner and county sheriff.

Within a short time, Deputy Coroner
Doctor Walter Given, two detectives from
the Indianapolis Police Department, two
railroad detectives and an officer of the
Indiana State Police, were at the scene.
They found the victim to be a young wo-
man of striking beauty, in her early
twenties. Her hair was matted with blood
from three wounds on the head, made ap-
parently with a heavy, blunt instrument.
She had also been struck a savage blow
on the left eye. Her left leg was fractured
above the knee, and there was an incised
wound below the knee joint.

Doctor Given gave it as his opinion
that the young woman had been dead
about seven hours, although, on account
of the cold weather, it was difficult to be
certain about this. He felt sure that the
leg wounds had been sustained after death,
when the body had been thrown from
the bridge by her assailant, probably in
the hope that it would be cut to pieces by
a train before morning.

The girl was dressed in a brown bro-
cade dress, blue coat, tan stockings, and
had a brown suede pump on her right
foot. The left shoe was missing. On her

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5

with my wife, and was continually trying to corrupt my
feelings towards her. At the end of six weeks we
separated, as a result of the unpleasantness between my
wife and mother. [2 lines unreadable because of age of
the paper.] After she came back, my mother tried to get
rid of her, and wanted me to kill her. She told me
I could throw her into the well. She told me this
several times, and kept urging it on me, but 1 told her
that I could not do it. At last, driven almost crazy
by her persuasions, I was ready to commit the crime, for
which I am soon to die. I made two attempts to Riot
my wife before l carried out the dreadful deed.
"FIRST ATTEMPT

"On August 12, 1897, I hid near the well and
waited for my wife to come for water. When she came,
I tried to knock her in the head, but missed her, and
fled before she saw me. She returned to the house and
told mother that some one had tried to kill her with a
rock. Mother told her that some one was trying to
scare her. But Mother knew that I was the person, and
that I intended to kill her.

"SECOND ATTEMPT

"Two days later I made a second attempt to kill my
wife. This time I followed her to the well and tried
to push her in, but she was too quick for me, and
again I failed. My poor wife thought all the time that
I was only in fun. Looking around, I saw mother behind

me. We then went into the house. When I got a chance

(MORE)

KI-RKEMINDS
6
I asked mother what she was doing there? She said
that she was afraid that Ida, being so strong and
active, might pull me into the well and both of us
drown. I then told mother that I could not, and
would not try it again; but she said that I could do
it if I would try, and that I must.
"THIRD AND LAST EFFORT

"On the morning of August 18, 1897, Ida, my wife,
took a bucket and started to the well. My mother ran
to me and said: ‘Hiram, now is your time." I took
another bucket and followed her. We came to the well
and Ida stooped down to dip her bucket of water. I
threw my weight against her, and pushed her into the
well. She caught with her hands and feet on the sides
of the well, and it seemed that now, for the first
time, she realized that I was going to do her harm. As
she clung there to the walls of the well, looking up
into my face in such a pleading, pitiful way, that
surely I had no heart at all, for such pleading would
doubtless have melted a heart of stone; but it seemed
that I had gone so far that fi had no feeling. IL
stooped down, picked up a large stone and struck her
on the head with all my strength. She quivered for a
moment, and then dropped lifeless into the water. IL
did not wait to see if she sank, but went immediately
to the house. In a minute or two mother came running

into the house and told me that Ida was trying to get

(MORE )


—a

ad ‘

Kirkeminde

7
out, and that she could do nothing. I went back to
the well, and found her floating on the top of the
water, apparently lifeless. I took a plank and struck
her on the head and face several times; then pushed
her under the water with the plank and held it on her
for a few seconds; then she sank. I went to the house
and told my mother that all was ended now, and that IL
was in a pretty fix. She told me to keep guiet, and
it would never be found out. But, alas! Inside of
forty-eight hours I was being guarded by the sheriff,
to prevent a mob from wreaking vengence on me for the
horrible crime which I had just committed.
"SOUGHT AFTER HIS FATHER'S LIFE

"My mother also wished me to kill my father! IL
told her that I could not do it. She insisted that I
could if I would try. She told me that I could shoot
him. One day while my father was plowing in a field
near the house, I took my gun and started to kill him.
I came to the fence, placed my gun Parough the crack,
intending [words blurred on the paper] took my gun and
went to where my father was chopping. I got behind a
tree and took aim at him. Just at the fatal moment,
when I was almost ready to pull the trigger, he
straightened up, placed his hand to the exact place at
which I was aiming, and uttered, audibly, a weary sigh.
That sigh saved my father, and he, thank God, still

lives, and has spent his entire substance in trying to

save the life of his son, who, on two occasions, sought

to kill him.
(MORE )


— |

*Kirkeminde

8

"In view of all the horrible crimes which my mother
has caused me to attempt, and knowing she is the cause
of me doing these horrible things, Il love her still, and
hope to meet her in heaven. HIRAM HALL
Crossville, Tenn., April 12, 1899."

Hiram Hall was buried at Hale's Chapel. Word-of-
mouth has it that his body was dug up one night and
relocated.

No charges were brought against his mother. When
she was on her deathbed, the three women who sat with
her were wondering if she would confess to any part
of the crime. She died September 22, 1925 without
doing so. She, too, was buried at Hale's Chapel. None

of these graves have markers.

# # #


* THE WOMAN STRETCHED out
on the bed was stark naked. She was
also dead, She had been pretty, and
the bruises on her face could not hide
that. The horrified chambermaid who
had discovered the corpse in Room
1011 of the Memphis hotel at
2 o'clock, on that Saturday afternoon,

ran to tell the manager.

The chambermaid ran down the
stairs and staggered to the desk. She
babbled almost incoherently of her
horrible discovery in room 1011. The
desk clerk immediately phoned the
police.

By 2:30 that afternoon Chief of De-
tectives M. A. Hinds, homicide depart-
ment head Wilber Miller and Detec-
tive Sergeants Pete Wiebenga and James
Hillin, were methodically poking about
the room. The corpse lay stretched on
the bed. The pert street dress that she
wore was torn and tattered in severdl
places. Her arms and legs above the

knee were covered with bruises. Sev-
eral small scratches marred the lovely
face and neck. The profuse, raven-
black hair of the dead girl lay tangled
and matted on the white pillow.

Captain Hinds stared intently at the
corpse, taking careful note of its posi-
tion on the bed and it’s relation to other
objects in the room. Then he raised
his eyes and slowly scanned the scene.
Captain Miller moved about the room
methodically, opening drawers and
closets and peering into the bathroom.
He found nothing.

In a corner of the room Miller
picked up a pair of white shoes which
had obviously belonged to the dead
woman. Nearby, under a large uphol-
stered chair he found the dead girl’s
purse. He turned this over on the
dressing table. A welter of typically
feminine items fell out. But the purse
contained no money.

“Might have been a robbery,” he said
to Hinds. “The purse is empty.”

“Could be,” the chief agreed. “Come
here a minute. Look at the girl’s third

The names on the hotel register were, of course, phoney;
clues were few as the cops set out to find the strangler

12

finger. Someone tore a ring off that
finger. She was a beautiful girl though
and I don’t want to discount the pos-
sibilities of a passion motive.”

“Say, Chief,” Sergeant Wiebenga
called, staring intently at the bed sheet.
“Look at those black marks-on the
sheet. What do you make of that?”

“They look like footprints,” Hinds

replied. “Looks like a man stood on -

the bed with his shoes on. That’s cer-
tainly queer.” The sheet was removed
from the bed and placed in a large
envelope.

The technicians and Coroner E. W.
Miller arrived on the scene, and imme-
diately set about their highly skilled
tasks. : :

“No marks or bruises on the throat
and no bullet wounds,” said the coroner
bending. over the still form. “None of
these scratches are serious enough to
have caused death either.”

“How about shock or heart attack?”
Hinds offered.

“Possible, but I doubt it,” the med-
ical examiner replied. “More likely she
died of suffocation. The autopsy will
determine it more accurately. However,
I'm inclined to believe that she was
strangled with a soft garrote which
would leave no marks. That’s an old
Spanish custom.”

A search of the room failed to re-
veal anything that might have been
used to strangle the girl. The ‘police
had no clue as to the identity of the
corpse since all forms of identification
had been removed from the girl’s purse.

DEAD
IN ROOM —
reve LORD

There were few leads to the mystery man
who took the victim (left) to the hotel.

DETECTIVE CASES

'

NAKED |
“AND

:

The technicians moved busily around
the room. A photographer set up his
tripod in position and found that the
carpet threw the legs off balance. He
turned back a corner of the rug and
the first substantial clue was revealed.
Several pieces of paper had been se-
creted there. The photographer called
the chief’s attention to his find. Hinds
picked up the papers and examined
them. The papers were money binders
used by many commercial establish-
ments to sort their receipts. These par-
ticular money binders were imprinted
with the name of a nearby motion pic-
ture theatre.

“This might be a break,” Hinds ex-
claimed. “That theatre was held up a
couple of weeks ago.”

HE detective chief was referring to
a holdup which had occurred at the
movie house on the night of May 31st.

- On that occasion two masked bandits

had entered the theatre, trussed the
three employees on duty and_ had
escaped with $2,500 which was wrapped
with the theatre’s private binders ready
for the night depository. An intense
hunt had been made for the bandits,
but no trace of them had been found.

“Maybe this murder is tied up with
that holdup,” Mikler offered. “Perhaps
the girl knew too much.”

“It’s a possibility,” said the chief.
“But we don’t know how long those
wrappers have been in this room. There
might be no connection at all.”

Sergeant Wiebenga returned to room
1011 with the desk clerk who he had
been sent to get. The hotel employee
was a small, chubby man. He had been
on duty the previous day and Wiebenga
had learned that the clerk had registered

DETECTIVE CASES

Detective Chief M. A. Hinds (left)
found a vital clue in the records.

Captain W. Miller (below) played a
big role in the probe of the case.

the dead girl and a man companion at
four o’clock the previous afternoon.

“Did you bring the register with
you?” Hinds asked.

The clerk extended a thick ledger.
Hinds scanned the entries and stopped
when he reached the name of the couple
assigned to room 1011, Mr. and Mrs.
James Alsup of Los Angeles, California.

“That’s Mrs. Alsup;, all right,” the
clerk declared after glancing at the
corpse.

“Do you remember what her com-
panion looked like?” Hinds asked.

“I didn’t pay too much attention to
the man,” the clerk replied. “I con-
centrated on the woman because she
looked like she was afraid of some-
thing.”

“Afraid of what? The man?”

“Maybe,” was the reply. “Or it could
have been that she just didn’t want to
be seen registering. All the time the
man was signing in she hung back and
seemed pale and nervous. Then when
they went toward the elevators he held
her arm firmly and she seémed to be try-
ing to pull away.”

“O.K., but can’t you tell us some-
thing about the man?”

“Tl try,” the employee said. “He was
wearing a light gray suit and a Panama
hat. I'd say he was in his early forties.
He looked quite a bit older than the
woman. He was of medium height and
build and had a dark complexion. The
thing that I most recall about him were

his eyes. They were a faded blue—almost

washed out. His eyes made a striking
contrast to his dark complexion.”

“Did you ever see either of them be-
fore?”

“No.” .

“Do you think you would recognize

- denly said, “I think I’ve seen this giri re)

”

“I might it I had a good look at him.” &

“We didn’t find any baggage in the
room. Did they have any?”

“I don’t know for sure,” the clerk,§
replied. “The man paid in cash in ad-
vance so I didn’t check on their luggage. i
I think the man carried a small package S
under his arm though.” :

Sergeant Hillin had been studying the 3
dead girl. “Chief,” the sergeant sud- “a-

es
rg
the man again?”
ee

recently in Memphis. If 1 remember cor-
rectly she is, or was, a waitress in one 1
of the cafes downtown.” Rag |
“Check it out, will you?” Hinds asked. ~ *.
A few hours later the homicide squad Pa
was still in the hotel. The body had been
removed to the John Gaston Hospital 1
for autopsy. Captain Hinds spoke to the ey
reporters gathered there and gave them $
the sketchy description of the washed- @
out blue-eyed Mr. “Alsup.” This de-
scription was forwarded to the police i
communications section and a general ‘a
alarm was sent out. Soon after that Cap-
tain Hinds returned to his office.
Early that evening the report on the Of
autopsy performed by Coroner Miller
and Dr. H. H. Ridgon, a noted patho- ry
logist on the staff of the University of ;
Tennessee’s medical college, came om
through. It was immediately relayed to b=
Captain Miller and Sergeant Wiebenga, cr;
who were still at the hotel questioning @ |
employees. ‘ é|
The autopsy report confirmed that i
the girl in 1011 had died of strangula- ae ;
tion. She had been garroted with some-
thing soft which had left almost no
mark on her throat. There was no evi- J
dence of criminal assault. The time of ®
death was fixed as no later than six &@ |
A.M. on Saturday morning.

Te evening the tenth floor maid @ |
who had discovered the corpse was
questioned. She went over the details of @™ _
her horrible find again. E !

“Why did you wait until after twom,
in the afternoon before you entered the :
room to clean it?” Captain Miller asked. f# |

“Because every time I went near the j
door I heard sounds of people having |
a party in there. I went back a few times
and still heard the noises. I waited until €2
it was quiet.”

The two officers looked at each other & +
incredulously. :

“You mean to say that you heard ace
party in room ten-cleven even after sixted |
A.M.?” Miller demanded sharply, re wu#
membering the autopsy report. i

“Yes,” the maid replied. “I heard gy ;
them in there as late as eleven o'clock #§
this morning.”

“She’s either covering up’ for her@y! ‘
laziness,” Wiebegna said, puzzled, “org? |
else she has a wild imagination.” ‘pad

One of the bellboys recalled havingted
brought cigarettes and late newspapers | P
to room 1011 at about midnight thepes |
previous evening. He had nothing signi-Ayy,
ficant to add, stating that only the mare |
and the woman were in the room wher og
he was there. An elevator operator Te- food | '
called the couple who had registered asS\j

(Continued on page 53) =

'

q
{

July, 196)

lot and he’s been married. He told Jew-
ell he had a wife and two kids in Ind-
iana.”

Jewelry houses throughout Chicago
were visited in response to requests by
Chief Hinds. The firm which employed
Peter Ambler was soon located. The
sales manager of the firm told the Chi-
cago authorities that Ambler was sched-
uled to be covering the area around
Kansas City for the next week or ten
days. Hinds immediately notified po-
lice authorities in that city that Peter
Ambler was wanted in Memphis for
questioning.

In the meantime, Detectives Hillin
and Wiebenga were canvassing the cafes
in downtown Memphis following Hil-
lin’s hunch that he had seen Jewell
Roberts working as a waitress in one
of the local cafes. Finally through the
two detectives’ dogged efforts, going
from cafe to cafe and interviewing all
of the murdered girl’s known acquaint-
ances, a significant lead came to light.

Myra Barr, a twenty-year-old book-
keeper and friend of Jewell Roberts,
told Detectives Hillin and Wiebenga an
interesting story. On the Saturday even-
ing of the day Jewell’s body had been
discovered, Miss Barr had been having
dinner at the restaurant where the mur-
dered girl was formerly employed. A
mutual friend of Miss Barr and the
Roberts girl came in and sat down be-
side Myra. The friend’s name was Lor-
etta Green.

“I knew of Jewell’s murder, but Lor-
etta didn’t,” the bookkeeper told the
detectives. “When I told her about it
she nearly passed out. I knew that she
and Jewell had been friendly, but I
never expected Loretta to take it the
way She did. She turned white as a sheet
and started shaking so badly that she
couldn’t hold her cup. I asked her
what was the matter. She said, ‘Oh, my
God, Myra! This is awful. I can’t tell
you about it. I’m so afraid. I’ve got to
get out of town right now.’

“With that Loretta left her meal on
the. table and dashed out,” ‘the book-
keeper concluded.

HE detectives immediately set out

for the address of Loretta Green
which had been supplied to them by
their youthful informant.

“The Green girl was obviously ter-
tified of something,” Wiebenga mused,
“and I’m fairly sure it’s tied up with
the murder of Jewell Roberts some-
how.”

Loretta Green’s great-aunt greeted
the investigators at the door of her
modest cottage.

“Why, I’m afraid that Loretta is not
here,” the elderly woman replied after
the detectives had stated their business.

“Do you know where she is?”

“I’m afraid not,” the relative replied
with obvious concern. “Last Saturday
night Loretta came running in and
dashed straight up to her room. A few
minutes later she came down carrying a
suitcase and got into a cab which she
had phoned for. I went outside and she
told me not to worry. She said she had
to go out of town for a few days and

54

would be back soon. I haven't heard
from her since.”

“Do you have any idea where Lor-
etta might have gone?” Hillin asked.

“No.”

“Do you know where Loretta spent
last pices. night—the night the Roberts

i

girl was killed?” Wiebenga asked.

“Certainly,” the octogenarian replied.
“Loretta and I went downtown to the
movies. We got home at about eleven-
thirty and went straight to bed.”

“Is it possible that Loretta could
have left the house later that night after
you were asleep?” Hillin asked.

“Why, yes, it’s possible,” the great-
aunt replied. “I don’t see why she would
have, though.”

“It is possible that she did leave,
however?” Hillin asked.

The elderly woman nodded.
me,” she said,
trouble?”

“IT don’t know,
“But I hope not.”

“We've got to get hold of Loretta
Green,” Hillin said as the two men
drove off. “I’m convinced that the key
to this case lies with that girl.”

“Yes, Loretta Green is the key, all
right,” Chief Hinds agreed when Wie-
benga and Hillin told him of their day’s
efforts. “Find her. Keep on her trail and
bring her in as soon as possible.”

Captain Miller paid a visit to the cafe
that formerly employed Jewell Roberts.
He spoke with the manager who had
an interesting story to tell.

“Yes,” the proprietor said, ~ “Pete
Ambler was a regular customer here
whenever he was in town. He used to
be sweet on that Roberts girl who work-
ed here. He used to.be quite attentive
to her. Then a few weeks ago Jewell
met this soldier from Camp Wheeler.
She quit her job and was planning to
marry him. Ambler sure took it bad.
He drank hard.”

“When was the last time you saw
Pete Ambler here?” Miller asked.

“On the Wednesday before Jewell
was murdered,” the cafe owner replied.
“He was drinking heavily and was in
a foul mood. My cashier started to kid
him about Jewell dropping him like a
hot potato for the soldier. Ambler be-
gan to curse and shout. Then he rushed
out. I haven’t seen him since.’

“At this stage it looks like Ambler
is our best bet as a suspect. He had
the motive and apparently he was in
town at the time of the murder,” Mil-
ler told the chief in conference.

“Yes,” Hinds said: “Now if only the
Green girl can tie Ambler in somehow
we'll have the case made.”

Just then Detectives Wiebenga and
Hillin came in with Loretta Green in
tow. The detectives had canvassed all
the taxicab companies in the city. It
had been an easy matter to run down
the taxi that had picked Loretta Green
up on that Saturday evening. The hackie
told the policemen he had driven Lor-
etta to the bus station. He stated that
he had known the girl since early child-
hood and she had confided to him that
she was going to Arkansas to stay with
relatives. It had been an easy matter

“Tell
“is Loretta in any

”

Wiegenga replied.

to trace the girl in that state.

Chief Hinds questioned the fright-

ened girl himself.

“You were a very good friend of
Jewell Roberts’, weren’t you?” he asked.

The trembling girl nodded. “Her mur-
der was a terrible shock,” she said.

“Why did you leave town the way you
did?”

For several moments Loretta ‘Green
remained silent. She fidgeted uneasily
in her chair and played with a wisp of
her auburn hair. “It wasn’t on account
of Jewell’s murder that I left,”

kill me. I had to get away.”

“A man?” Hinds said with disbelief.
“Why didn’t you tell the police about
it?”

“I didn’t dare. I didn’t have time—

| ie
“Well, you're safe now,” the chief
said. “You can tell us now. Who is he?”
“Please . . . Don’t make me tell,”
the girl begged. “Just let me go back to
my folks in Arkansas.”

HIEF Hinds grew stern. “Now lis-

ten to me,” he said. “You are con-
cealing facts which may be of vital
importance to us. We know you know
something and we mean to find out what
it is. You can be sent to prison for
concealing evidence. We intend to keep
you here in a cell until you tell us what
you know.”

This changed Loretta’s attitude. “All
right,” she said, “if you promise to pro-
tect me I'll tell you the man’s name. It’s
Marshall Spigner. We’ve been going to-
gether for some time. He wants to
marry me. I refused him and he threat-
ened to kill me if I didn’t change my
mind. I was terrified, so I ran away.”

The frightened girl was sent home
with a police escort and a detail was
sent out to pick up Marshall Spigner.
Within a short time the burly, 40-year-

old tough guy. was sitting in Chief :

Hinds’ office.

“Sure I love Loretta,” he said when
questioned by the chief of detectives,
“So what of it?”

“How come she was so scared of
you she left town?” Hinds asked.

“Scared of me?” Spigner scoffed.
“She didn’t leave Memphis on my ac-
count. I wouldn't have harmed a hair
on her head.”

“Did you know Jewell Roberts?”

“I knew her by sight from the few
times I saw her at the cafe,” the burly
man said.

On-_Spigner’s_promise_to_keep away
from Loretta Green he was released.
Within thirty minutes after Spigner
walked out of Hinds’ office a report
came through from the Kansas City
police. They had picked up Pete Am-
bler and questioned him. Ambler
claimed that he had arrived in Kansas
City on Friday, a few hours before
Jewell Roberts was murdered. He sub-
mitted a list of clients he had called
on covering all of Friday evening and
Saturday. All the names were carefully
checked and all bore out Ambler’s
claim. The jewelry salesman was defin-
itely in the clear. The prime suspect

DETECTIVE CASES

she said
at length. “A man was threatening to ,

i teased ese

had° been eliminated. It ‘seemed .as
though the investigators were up against
a blank wall, back almost to where they
had started from.

Chief Hinds called a conference of
all the men working on the case.
Through the early morning hours the
investigators mulled over the trans-
cripts and records of the case. Notes
were read and re-read. The chief was
reading the transcript of Marshall

- Spigner’s questioning that evening.

“Spigner stated that he knew Jewell
Roberts by sight only,” Hinds read.

Detective Wiebenga’s head shot up.
A light came into his eyes and he started
thumbing rapidly through a notebook.
“Spigner was lying,” Wiebenga said. “I
spoke to practically all of Jewell Rob-
erts’ friends and several of them told
me that Spigner had tried to date Jew-
ell. She turned him down. According to
the friends, Spigner used to call the
Roberts girl on the phone all the time
and bother her to go out with him.”

“It seems I’ve heard the name ‘Spig-
ner’ before,” Hinds said. “Check the
files.”

The records were startling in their
revelations. In his youth Marshall Spig-
ner had done time in both Arkansas
and Mississippi for grand larceny. In
1928 he had been convicted of killing
a pretty young girl who had spurned
his advances. For this Spigner had
served. 14 years of a life sentence.

“I can understand now why Loretta
Green was so terrified of him,” the

chief said. “He’s evidently a dangerous

man to cross in a love affair.”

The chief of detectives paused for
some time. Finally he said, “You know
it didn’t occur to me when Spigner was
here, but now that I think about it he
fits the description of the man who
registered with Jewell Roberts on the
night of the murder. Yes, Marshall
Spigner sounds like the clerk’s descrip-
tion of ‘Mr. Alsup’.”

“Yes,” agreed Captain Miller, “es-
pecially those light, washed-out eyes.”

“Bring Spigner in,” Hinds ordered.
“I want to talk to him again. Bring
Loretta Green in, too. I'll wager she’ll
tell the whole truth this time.”

Two hours later Marshall Spigner
was positively identified by the hotel
clerk as the man who brought Jewell
Roberts to the hotel where she was
killed. Even in the:face of this damn-
ing testimony the burly suspect refused
to admit anything.

Loretta Green was questioned in-
tensely. Finally she told the whole story.
The girl said that she had met Spigner
at about noon on Saturday. Spigner had
given her a package and requested that
she keep it for him. Loretta had been
unable to resist the temptation and she
unwrapped the package after Spigner
had gone. She immediately recognized
three rings which had belonged to Jew-
ell. She was curious as to how. Spigner
had come by the jewelry. When her
friend informed her that evening of
Jewell’s murder she had the terrifying
knowledge that Spigner had committed
the crime and realized how the rings
had come into his possession. Afraid

DETECTIVE CASES

that she might somehow be implicated
in the crime through possession of the
dead girl’s jewelry, Loretta fled.

Loretta Green produced the rings
and agreed to appear as a witness for
the state. When Spigner was confronted
with the girl’s statement he confessed.
He stated that he had strangled and
robbed Jewell Roberts after luring the
girl to the hotel on the pretense of meet-
ing some friends there.

It was determined that the chamber-
maid on the tenth floor of the hotel
where the girl was killed had heard
sounds of a party all through the night
and into the next morning. However,
the maid mistakenly thought the sounds
were coming from room 1011 when in
reality they were coming from the next
room down.

An indictment for first degree murder
was handed down against Marshall
Spigner and he went on trial before
Judge J. J. Pleasants on November 16th,
1942. At the trial the burly defendant
repudiated his confession and claimed
an alibi which could not be substan-
tiated. Two days later Spigner was
found guilty as charged and sentenced
to be electrocuted.

On July 15th, 1943, Marshall Spigner
took his last walk to the steel execution
chamber. Just before he died the con-
demned man made a full confession of
his murder of Jewell Roberts.

“She kept trying to get out of the
room,” Spigner said. “I knocked her un-
conscious and put her on the bed. Then
I went into the bathroom and tore some
strips from the curtains. I put them
around her neck and pulled them tighter
and tighter until she was dead. Then I
took her rings and the money from her
purse. I made sure to wipe away all the
fingerprints and then I left.”

As soon as these last words were ut-
tered, Marshall Spigner was thrust into
the massive oaken chair and the deadly
electrodes strapped to his skin. 2,000
volts ripped through the violent lover’s
body bringing the case to a close. *

Editor's Note: The names, Myron
Gross, Peter Ambler, Myra Barr and
Loretta Green are fictitious.

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55

ee Te


von

ws

He stated that he had strangled and
robbed Jewell Roberts after luring the
girl to the hotel on the pretense of meet-
ing some friends there.

It was determined that the chamber-
maid on the tenth floor of the hotel
where the girl was killed had heard
sounds of a party all through the night
and into the next morning. However,
the maid mistakenly thought the sounds
were coming from room 1011 when in
reality they were coming from the next
room down.

An indictment for first degree murder
was handed down against Marshall
Spigner and he went on trial before

Judge J. J. Pleasants on November 16th,
1942. At the trial the burly defendant
repudiated his confession and claimed
an alibi which could not be substan-
tiated. Two days later Spigner was
found guilty as charged and sentenced
to be electrocuted.

On July 15th, 1943, Marshall Spigner
took his last walk to the steel execution
chamber. Just before he died the con-
demned man made a full confession of
his murder of Jewell Roberts.

“She kept trying to get out of the
room,” Spigner said. “I knocked her un-
conscious and put her on the bed. Then
I went into the bathroom and tore some

KNIFE IN GOLDIE’S HEART
(Continued from page 17)

have been capable of a crime of this
nature.

Welsh telephoned the director of the
hospital immediately. When told that
none.of the patients was known to be
missing, he insisted on a thorough re-
check. He also asked for a list of pa-
tients who had been discharged from the
institution recently.

Then Sergeant Carroll, who had been
searching the house, reported that he
could find no evidence of breaking and
entering.

“And there’s no extensive ransack-
ing,” he said. “But as you can see, the
jewelry box on Mrs. Garb’s dressing
table has been rummaged through. Her
handbag was also emptied onto the
kitchen table and her wallet is missing.
Robbery was certainly part of the mo-
tive.”

Carroll then called the chief’s atten-
tion to an open kitchen drawer which
contained several large knives, among
other kitchen utensils. “The murder
knife could have come from this draw-
er,” he said.

Chief Welsh asked the grieving hus-
band to go through the house and try
to determine what had been stolen.
After examining the contents of the
jewelry box, he said that an engagement
ring, a cocktail ring set with diamonds
and a wristwatch had been taken. An-
other, more expensive watch had also
been stolen from his wife’s wrist, he
said. And he believed that her wallet,
which was missing from her handbag,
had contained about $100.

At this point, Prosecutor Rutkowski
arrived. Welsh told him he now believed
that robbery was the chief motive tor the
murder.

“The slayer was apparently lurking
about the neighborhood and saw Mrs.
Garb drive in,” the chief said. “He fol-
lowed her to the back door, saw that
she had left her keys in it and entered.
He stabbed her in the back before she’d
even had a chance to take off her coat.
Then he took whatever of value he
could lay his hands on and fled.”
62

strips from the curtains. I put them
around her neck and pulled them tighter»
and tighter until she was dead. Then f
took her rings and the money from her
purse. I made sure to wipe away all the
fingerprints and then I left.” H
As soon as these last words were ut-
tered, Marshall Spigner was thrust into
the massive oaken chair and the deadly
electrodes strapped to his skin. 2,000
volts ripped through the violent lover's
body bringing the case to a close. *

Editor's Note: The names, Myron _~
Gross, Peter Ambler, Myra Barr and «
Loretta Green are fictitious. :

IEUTENANT Bloking, who had
been directing the questioning of
nearby neighbors, returned with a house-
wife who lived across the street. She
said she had seen a strange black sedan
parked on Cornwall Avenue in front of
the Garb house.

“I noticed it at about 5:30 and won-
dered who could be calling on the™
Garbs,” she ‘said. “But when I looked
again sometime after 6 o'clock, it was
gone.”

“Can you describe the car?” Welsh
asked.

“Well, it was a late model, all polished
up and shiny, But I didn’t see what make
it was,’

“Did you see anyone near the cart, the newspaper warned.

“No.” 4
“Did Mrs. Garb arrive home in her

Thunderbird while the car was there?”
“I didn’t see her come home.”

Deputy Chief Welsh telephoned his
headquarters and asked that the state
police be notified to watch for a late-
model black sedan driven by a big man
who might have bloodstains on_ his
clothing. But the- description was so
vague and general that the chief expect-
ed little result from this effort.. As soon
as the body had been removed to a mor-
tuary, the officers left.

Welsh and Prosecutor Rutkowski
stopped in at the Trenton State Hospi-
tal, where they were assured again that
no patients had escaped. They were
then supplied with a list of former in-
mates who had recently been discharged.

They returned to the police station,
and Welsh assigned two detectives to
check on the former patients, some of
whom were from the Trenton area. The
deputy chief believed that one of them
might have been watching the Garb
house from the hospital grounds and
planned to rob it upon his release.

Welsh then called in all off-duty pa-
trolmen and assigned them to cruise
the city and check all bars, restaurants
and rcoming houses for a tall, strongly
built man with traces of blood on his
clothing. No progress was made on the
case that night, however.

‘The following morning, Trenton’s
130,000 citizens were filled with horror
and indignation as they read of the
brutal, senseless slaying of a leading

‘no reason to believe the criminal is a3
local man. He could have driven here’ p

citizen's wife. fs

The Hiltonia section of the city, with |
its wealthy families living in isolated 9
houses on dimly lighted streets, had long “9
been a favorite haunt of burglars and ‘
prowlers—in spite of the vigilant patrol 9
system that had been established there — 9
by the police. In past years the area “Hae
had attracted criminals from as far ~
away as Philadelphia and New York ~
City. Several burglars had recently been 3
convicted and sent to jail, but the rob- 3
beries still continued. ae

Now that a murder had been com- 7
mitted in Hiltonia, the Trenton Times ~ =
pulled no editorial punches. “Desperate
criminals are on the loose in Trenton,”
“People are /
afraid to walk the streets at night. They ©
have no sense of safety or security. The . %
death of Mrs. Goldie Garb in a quiet 7
section of the city is another challenge © ma
hurled at law enforcement: authorities =
by murderous marauders. The situation — 3 y
is sO critical that increased vigilance and.
effort are demanded and they must be.
provided if the community is to be”
given adequate protection.” Rey 3

The sudden terror that had gripped , i
the city caused Trenton Chief of Police’ ae
Louis F, Neese to call Deputy Chief 77
Welsh and Prosecutor Rutkowski into.
immediate conference.

“This murder has got to be solved
and solved quickly,” he said. “Every
local officer must be kept on the case 4
till we find the Slayer. And we'll need |
the help of police in other cities. There’s i

from anywhere in the state or from a <4
neighboring state. The people of Tren-
ton have good reason to be up in arms,
and we’ve got to stay on this case 24
hours a day until the slayer is behind ,
bars.” @
Prosecutor Rutkowski assigned Cap
tain Elmer Updike and Detective John ~
Maruk of his own staff to work with the ©
police, and the investigation swung into,
high gear. Local officers continued t
question residents and tradesmen in th

one who had seen the man in the late-
model black sedan. The scene of we

Ce ae ae ee ra


with the $1500?”

me! sheriff in ap-

utter amazement.
oss

ar > repeated.
te dollars, not

2 concerning the
oglish’s story that
5 from the wallet
1.
to a cell and the
e Thompson. As
‘ed two detectives
in the Thompso
atton.
fter hearing that
itement involving
her in the crime,
nade no attempt
1 English had ad-

een sobs she cor-
rsion of the kill-
2 One minor one.
, had struck Pur-
oe plank; English
had wielded the

‘tle Patton was
inglish and Jessie
written confes-
ind murder, But
Mrs. Patton to

cate herself, She
! ‘some sort of

IC \ Tuesday
ht __ighter and
'ven to Norman
c, they were ar-
nurt Judge Rich-
?atton promptly
the murder and

‘hompson plead-
loyd declined to
ice the suspects
Sy counsel. The
d to the county
nd.
ceration in the
prisoners had
consequences of

-es between their
‘ution, the three
d to plead guilty
District Court to
murder, namely
or.

t to be brought
> sentenced. On
D. English was
n prison.

es Patton was
ctober 18th. She
‘ear term.

»y the court was
li-- “hompson.

"en ‘ terms in
itiary. *

4
1ames Harrison
are fictitious.

_ D§TECTIVE CASES

allet and we left.” |.

Ss AE Ae ead went een VE tH 4

a ee iain

i a ait

"

NAKED AND DEAD IN 1011
(Continued from page 13)

Mr. and Mrs. Alsup very well.

“When they got to the elevator,” the
operator said, “the woman turned aside
as if she didn’t want to get on. But the
man held her by the arm and pushed her
in. She was almost in tears. The man
told her not to worry; that they were
just going to the room to wait for
some friends.”

This strengthened the officers’ con-
jecture that the girl had not gone to the
hotel of her own volition, but had been
forced to go there by “Mr. Alsup,”
whoever he really was. They strongly
doubted that the couple had come from
California.

Within an hour after the late editions
hit the streets with the news of the mur-
der the body was identified. At the
morgue, a woman who had recognized

the pictures in the paper came forth. '

The tearful woman identified the dead
girl as her daughter, Jewell Roberts.

Pressed to supply as much informa-
tion about the murdered girl as she
could, the grief-stricken parent told the
detective chief that Jewell had been 27
years old and the widow of a G. I.

“When did you last see Jewell?”

About 2, the previous afternoon, the
mother told the officer, when Jewell had
made a trip into town. .

It had not been just a casual visit, the
officer learned. On the contrary, it had
been a special occasion. As she talked
about it, the mother broke down and
sobbed. After a while she regained her
composure and resumed talking. Ac-
cording to her, Jewell had been about
to be married. In fact, Jewell had come
to town expressly to buy the remainder
of her trousseau.

Hinds questioned her closely about
the wedding plans, and the mother ex-
plained that the ceremony had been
set for September Ist. Jewell had just
begun wearing the engagement ring
which her fiance had presented to her.

Mention of the ring quickened the
officer’s interest. Had Jewell worn any
other items of jewelry, he wanted to
know.

From what the mother said, the girl
had been wearing other valuables. In
addition to the engagement ring, she
had worn two other rings.

The engagement ring had cost about
$175, and the other two about $100
each. Besides the rings, Jewell had also
been carrying about $45 in cash.

Neither the valuables nor money had
been found by the police at the scene of
the brutal murder. Robbery, then, might
well be a factor in the crime.

Hinds now began inquiring about
the man who had been engaged to
Jewell, the man whose ring she had
worn. He learned from the parent that

the man in question was one Myron |

Gross, a soldier stationed at Camp
Wheeler, Georgia, and that he had last
visited Memphis about two weeks before.

It appeared that when the ‘girl and

DETECTIVE CASES”;

the soldier had first started going around
together, Jewell had also been dating
a travelling salesman whom she had
met at the restaurant where she
worked. The young soldier had pressed
Jewell to stop seeing the salesman, and
there had been arguments between the
two about this. Finally, Jewell had
agreed, and the issue had stopped be-
ing a sore spot in the relations between
the couple.

The parent revealed that she had nev-
er met the salesman, and she could not
remember his name, but it was her im-
pression that he was a jewelry salesman
and that he came from Chicago.

Was the salesrnan the man who had
accompanied the hapless girl to her
tryst with death in the hotel room? It
was a distinct possibility, and a search
would have to be undertaken for the
man, a search that promised to be diffi-
cult since his name was unknown.

Hinds asked the distraught parent
more questions, but she. had no more
information of importance. She did de-
clare that she was certain that Jewell
had not gone to the hotel for any il-
licit purpose.

Chief Hinds. immediately got in touch
with the authorities at Camp Wheeler.
They asked Gross’s company officer
to check whether he had been in camp
on the night of the murder. In that
event Gross would be clear and they
asked his commanding officer to give the
soldier permission to come to Memphis
to aid with the investigation.

OME hours later, the soldier, com-

pletely cleared of any implication
in the murder, presented himself at the
office of Captain Hinds. It was apparent
that the soldier felt a genuine and in-
tense shock at his sweetheart’s sudden
and violent death.

“What can you tell us about the mur-
der of your fiancee?” the captain asked.

“Well, I can tell you this much: Jew-
ell never went to that hotel of her own
free will. She was forced to go there.”

“By whom?”

“Tl tell you by whom; by that dirty
Pete Ambler, that’s who. He used to
hang around with Jewell. He’s a jewelry
salesman. When I came around Jewell
dropped Ambler like a hot potato. He
swore he’d get even with her. Jewell
was scared to death of him.”

Hinds recognized that a good deal
of this tirade was just reaction to
Gross’s sense of deep loss. However,
he played the lead for anything that
might be in it.

“Did Ambler ever give Jewell any
trouble after she met you?” the captain
asked.

“Tl say,” the soldier replied. “The
coward beat her up—blackened both her
eyes.”

“When was that?” _

“About a month ago.”

“Did you ever see Ambler?”

“No. All I know about him is what
Jewell has told me. It’s a good thing
I never laid eyes on him or I would have
killed him.”

“Do you know anything about him?”
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John Arnold shows where he stood as a
boy watching a murderer being hanged

farmer hesitated a few moments, then
suddenly raised his voice. ‘“‘And Charlie,
you just mark my words. Somewhere
between here and Jim McQueen’s place,
that poor girl met with some kind of
trouble. What it was, of course, is the
question.” ‘

Potter had followed every word with
rising interest. ‘It looks like you might
be right, Grant. Unless some man has
persuaded her to leave with him—and
from what you say that seems unlikely—
then without a doubt she’s mixed up in
something and we’ll have to see about
it.”

Arnold gripped the Sheriff’s powerful
hand.

“Thanks, Charles, I hope you can
get something done right away. If you
need some extra men, I can furnish a
few from the farm. And if you’ll ex-
cuse me for a little while, Il] be right
back. I want to run out home and let
the folks know that you’re helping us.
It’s really pitiful to see how distressed
they are right now.”

Potter put on his heavy top coat and
hat. “We’ll start now,” he promised.
“About the men—I’ll let you know.” And
within twenty minutes he had located
Ham Parker and Rod Morefield, two of
his best deputies, and the three were on
the way to the McQueen home, each on
his favorite horse.

“We've been a-worryin’ a lot since
Grandma Foster and Grant Arnold come
here yesterday a-huntin’ Lillie,” lanky
Jim McQueen began as spokesman, while
his wife and several big-eyed children
huddled around. “We never thought of
her a-meetin’ up with anything bad till
they said she hadn’t got home.’ He
stopped a few moments, fingering his
dark stubby beard. “I don’t like to say
it, Sheriff, but there’s some mighty bad
people in them woods between here and
town.”

Mrs. McQueen, a motherly looking
woman of middle-age, pushed one of
the clinging children aside. “She told
us as plain as she could talk,” she added,
“and there wasn’t no call for her to tell us
a lie, that she was a-goin’ straight to
town and buy a few things and then go
on home.”

“We thought we might get on her trail
here,” Potter explained, studying the
rugged surroundings. The house stood
at the base of a scraggy wooded hill over
which only the foolhardy would attempt
to cross. Cascading waters out of the Big
Smoky Mountains to the east fed the
turbulent Sawmill Creek that flowed
dangerously near the house on the other
side. “How’d she go that morning?”

The portly housewife pointed toward
the rocky road over which the officers
had just come.
Lillie she was a-goin’ out of sight ’round
that bend. Her red skirt was jist a-pop-
pin’ she was a-steppin’ so fast.”

“She must’ve been afraid of some-
thing,” Potter observed, “walking like
that.” :

“Sheriff Potter, I guess that’s it,” she
agreed. “And to tell you the truth, I
was kinda bothered about her, the way
she had took on that night.”

Potter stiffened. “What made you
feel that way, Mrs. McQueen?” He was
now listening to the woman with new
interest.

She glanced at her husband with seem-
ing reluctance. “I don’t guess Jim no-
ticed ever’thing I did,” she placated.
“Lillie didn’t say nothin’ ’bout any trouble
but I could tell that she was awful
nervous. She kept lookin’ down the road
jist like she was scared o’ somethin’
a-comin’ after her. Then, bless your
soul, after we all went to bed I kept
a-hearin’ her a-cryin’ and a-whimperin’
like a whooped child. I was so sorry
I got up and went to
her. I patted her and
asked what was the mat-
ter, but she jist mumbled
somethin’ about her head
a-hurtin’ and try as I
might I couldn’t get an-
other thing out o’ her.”

Speculative glances
passed between the offi-
cers.

“Was she carrying
anything when she left?”
Morefield asked.

“Nothin’ but a little
red pocketbook a-swing-
in’ on her arm.”

“Did she have any
money?” he continued.

“I didn’t see none, but
she was a-talkin’ ’bout

“The last time I saw.

Sheriff Charles

a-tradin’ some in town, so I guess she
had enough to git what she wanted.”

“How about jewelry?”

“Oh, yes. She had on a new gold
band—like a weddin’ ring. When I was
a-jokin’ her ’bout it, she jist went to
gigglin’ and that’s the only time I’ve
seen her actin’ real happy since that
awful old man took her out of the
country.”

“Wouldn’t she tell you where it came
from?”

“Lord bless you, no. She wouldn’t
even take it off and let me look inside.
But she acted mighty proud, a-havin’ it
on.”

Potter turned to McQueen. “How do
you go when you walk from here to
Mountain City?”

The mountaineer pointed a big red
finger toward the bend in the road. “A
mile or a little better down that road.
Then a trail through the woods back of
the fair grounds.”

“You suppose Lillie went that way?”

He pondered. “She started, Sheriffi—
but I guess she didn’t make it.”

Potter addressed his deputies. “We’ll
walk and lead the horses. Keep your
eyes wide open and if anything hap-
pened between here and town we might
find the signs.”

By following this suggestion the first
clue touching on the probable fate of the
popular young woman was discovered.
After a slow, disappointing search on

‘the road, they came to a worn place in

the fence that paralleled the road. The
top rail was worn slick from long use
by pedestrians between North Carolina
and Mountain City, the-staid little busi-
ness center six miles on the Tennessee
side.

Potter and Morefield slid over into the
narrow trail while Parker remained on
the road, leading the horses.

Approximately a hundred yards
further on, where the underbrush made
a dense passageway, the Sheriff sud-
denly veered to one side. Ten feet from
the path his keen gray eyes had glimpsed
something that instantly drew his at-
tention. Pushing the intervening bushes
aside, he stooped and came up with
a small red leather purse, exactly like
the one described by Mrs. McQueen.
The strap was newly broken and the
purse hung empty in his hand. -

The two officers stared at the mute evi-
dence, with its dreadful
implications. Examining
the surroundings, they
found newly turned
leaves and broken under-
brush, indistinct signs
of a struggle.

Potter continued to
look for clues after dis-
patching Morefield to
McQueen's with the
purse. There it was
readily identified as the
missing girl’s property.
Even in the face of the
biting cold, Mr. and Mrs.
McQueen, now more
fearful than ever that
Lillie had met with foul
play, returned to Potter
with the deputy.

Potter
discovered the red purse


ss she
nted.”

pal a
I
er
e I’ve

> that ee

f{ -the

came
uddn’t
nside.
vin’ it

»w do
are to

g red

id. “A ©

road.
ack of

vay?”
-riff—

‘We'll
your
hap-

might

2 first
of the
vered.
th on
ace in
The
g use
‘olina
busi-
Les!

Lo the
2d on

yards
made
sud-
from
apsed
Ss at-
ushes
with
like
deen.
the

evi-
adful
ining
they
oned
ider-
signs

to
dis-
to
the
was
the
erty.
the
Mrs.
nore
that
for*
tt

The doomed man, whose jealousy culminated in violence,

standing bareheaded in center of sca ffold, exhorts

crowd in rueful verse before paying the penalty for his crime. Sheriff Greever, wearing hat, hands folded

Although the group spent the rest of
the afternoon in the vicinity of the
woods-bound trail, they found nothing
further that threw any light on the
puzzling problem presented by the find-
ing of the red purse.

“Lillie has either been murdered or
kidnapped,” the Sheriff asserted that
evening after ascertaining that nothing
had been heard from her in Mountain
City. “We’ve got to organize and search
the whole county if necessary,” he in-
formed his deputies. “Get the word
out tonight and have
every available man
here in the morning by
daylight.” His men left
the conference confident
that the Sheriff’s call
would meet with a lively
response.

Potter was tired and
worried after the day’s
events but instead of
taking the rest he sorely
needed, he got into his
buggy and drove the
three miles to the Arnold
home in Pleasant Val-
ley. He received an anx-
fous welcome. The whole
family—father, mother,
three young children
ind the grandmother—

Photo of Grandma Foster,
taken vears after tragedy

gathered around him, begging for news.

A shocked silence gripped the gather-
ing after he had exhibited the red purse
and explained the circumstances under
which it was found.

“Poor Lillie,” the graying grandmother
finally said, taking the pensive children
into her arms, “I’ve been afraid that
something would happen to her. Sheriff
Potter, she’s been acting mighty strange
around here for weeks, afraid to show
herself outdoors.”

The Sheriff’s tired face lit up. “Tell
me about it, Grandma,”
he requested, noting the
deep lines of grief on
her kindly face. “You
might put us on the right
track.”

“Well, I’ve kept no-
ticing her standing back,

watching through the
windows. She acted like
she was afraid that

somebody from the
fields or that patch of
woods over there might
see her. Then one day,
a week or ten days be-
fore she left, we were
out in the back cutting
up cabbage for a bar-
rel of kraut. I noticed
that she kept looking

away from the house and that she was
very nervous—she wasn’t the same
laughing, carefree girl that everybody
liked. After awhile she made some
excuse and went into the house. It
worried me so I decided to follow her
and see if I could find out what was
the matter. I found her in this room.
She turned away from the window
when she heard me and her face was
pale as death,”

“Did you say anything to her?”

“No. Not right then. I didn’t think
she wanted me to know. So I just went
back into the room and watched through
the window. Finally I discovered a
man with a shotgun in that pine thicket
on the other side of Grant’s plowed
land. He was standing behind a big
tree, watching the house. I went out on
the back porch and called out asking
him what he wanted. He didn’t answer
but as soon as I started over there he
turned and went over the hill.”

“Could you tell who he was?”

“No, my sight wasn’t good enough,
But I came back in here and asked
Lillie. She was still pale and crying,
and when I pinned her down she ad-
mitted that he looked like a man that
had been threatening her. She wouldn’t
tell me his name because she said she
wasn’t positive that he was the one.”

“Did she say (Continued on page 105)


rp ro

Potter, assisted by

Grant Arnold, soon
arranged the volunt

eer searchers jnto

RIDDLE OF

ps . hud-wok awe es groups with a special deputy at the head of
murderers, e others ha each. Within the hour hardy farm hands
were heading back toward the Hunt THE RED P URSE landed proprietors and experienced woods-
er BoE, 3 j

tided that before he could
i i lf of
st pe: (Continued from page 63)

why some man had been threatening her?”

t off again after the 1 for wad.he had been trying to go with Sawmill Choe ,2t0ot sinto even eoc |
1 a message came through from head her for years and that since she had come and éddy ana” aioe Seo treacherous
rters ordering him to abando back from Ohio, he had given her a lot of cliffs where it Pavia likely that a human
and return to Wyndham. A worry, threatening to kil] her unless she 7

agreed to marry him.”

“ : : ’ wo some task without a hint of success the
safety that the Constabl : meee pega crt age: Pete dedinees officers returned to where they had tethered
las he hit the trail again with horses warmly. “Did any of you see Lillie with the horses.

time, across the flooded rivers and they,
ses, and eventually made Wyndham by:
‘stmas Eve. But that wasn’t the end ‘
he story. Carr was in Wyndham but aa
slant was at Forrest River Waiting for a
and he didn’t consider that the Patrol |

"i

; ou want me to find out?” Morefield
a es ant anagd] use meter pan vane nota oy hs “Pinot his peoote cur an Fete
‘ at ready to go and collect them “What kind of ring was it, John?” Potter “— Pod Fh aes = i" tell me. a
it’s a long way round from Wyndham? pursued. “Did you have & 800d look at it?” m ths ie Rha rie Ny a t y oh ere the
'e Forrest River. You have to cross” “It Was a wedding ring, I guess See cthaty ant a oe rer al eng
ne rivers that run into the Cambridge’: ake Mother's, It had some writing on the hing.” °Y Rave found any-

rma i ight. inside.” . , :

and the ae id at lias saan “Did you read it?” Potter asked sharply, By the time darkness had forced the

S out of th
the Gulf beco

, he would sav.

ecided to do it,
reds of crocodil

e place,

Hgts bright-faceq
“Yes sir, but
wouldn’t tell.”

boy nodded he
she mad

on his gran
t, Grandma?”

C : ; a “ by-yard search of the neighborhood of the |
oree-quarters of a mile to the other She gripped his arm. “Yes, honey, It suspected assault, the leaders reported that |
. might help Mr. P otter to find her. If she’s any further efforts in that locality would
‘re he calmly dressed himself and Still alive, Lillie will understand.

the walk of thirty-odd miles to For- “It Said ‘James to Lillie,” he revealed.

a

‘The Steady Pay Pr

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) “Well, Rod, that let’s old Melvin out,
tiver Mission to join his boys. And- But neither young John nor any member thanks to your 800d work,” Potter com-
rival at the Mission, he found that of the family remembered any man by that mended the deputy during a conference
wi ther murder that needed his name se whom the missing girl had been that night with his enlarged force. “Frankly,
ior associated. en,” he contin ; i ,
vut nt and collected the body, the « During the evening Grant Arnold made “thie is the ina eh ‘to figere eo
rer and some more witnesses, and a statement that drew a ready response I've dealt with in many a day. Outside

rode back to Wyndham, which he. from the Sheriff, “T've heard Lillie say of extending our search Over wider terri-
don January 11th, just eight months that old man Shaw has been t ying to scare tory tomorrow, I honestly don't know what
.e had left on the original patrol. He her into coming back to Ohio. wonder to do.” ,
vered eight hundred miles on horse. if he’s back here?”

and three hundred miles on foot. “I’ve had him in mind,” Potter admitted, UT the next day it seemed to the dis-
et his report on the whole business “If he’s back he’s certainly keeping out of couraged Sheriff that the Great Avenger

just three and a half pages of type-
Is that go on for months through
nd difficult country are routine to
n of the North-West p

came home.”
Grandma Foster
dren away from h

clice force.

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wasn’t Melvin Shaw over there with the “Sheriff,” he began, panting from his ex- developreraissiectonic
gun, if that’s what you’re thinking ” she ertions, “I’ve come to tell you something, | Kc. Permanent Magner :
asserted. “He got out of my Sight a whole t's about Lillie Shaw, | think I know Pointer BAN atidiok oe Handsome
A N S W E R S T rt) lot quicker than old worn-out Melvin where she was hid after she was killed.” iwalout of Ivory enc ane pee pr Benes § |
could’ve dene nee h “Good heavens!” Potter's deep-set gray Sea seed $8.00 dente oct
His min urdene wit conflicting eyes flashed, “gs eak up, Jerry. Tell me eRe ee ior balance plus clivery charges,
thoughts, Potter drove back to town, recon- about it.” . ° age er ee. ake m po Mel
( G o A M E H U N T ciled now to take a little rest, The old man nodded, wetting his lips, | 4 Fecord changers. Write for Agents plan, 0,P.A,
The sun was just rising behind the tower- “Ip. like this, Charles,” he began. “I can’t TONE-A-LUX RADIO & TELEVISION Co
ing peaks of -the Blue Ridges when the get around very good you know, and I | emm@Pt.QMc. 303 W. 42nd ane Now York 1 NY.
(From page 98) Sleepy-eyed Sheriff looked out from his couldn’t join up with them fellows looking
living quarters in the jail the next morn- for Lillie yesterday. But I wanted to help J
ing. He Swelled with Pride at what he the girl if I could and I got out a little
‘OUND 6. CANARY Saw. The men of Johnson County, repre- by myself. I left my house over there and |
Senting in their Social background and went up that old timber road that passes
present mode of living, one of the last by where the Prestons live They've got a Tracked Into The Home Can
1. FALCON citadels of the true aristocracy of the Old place fenced in above the house where Infect Your Whole Family!
iON . outh, had turned our practically as one they used to keep stock Lose no time! If feet itch, or skin be-
son cine a Lage of aed backwoods “I noticed that the gate was down and tween ‘toon is cracked « y.
waif whose life among them had reached went in there to rest awhile on an old Foot, from Athlete's 7 ra
ICE 8. WOLF deep into their hearts, hollow log that S been on the ground Solvene heey Scholl's _
* * . ‘ cn.
Wheeled vehicles occupied the streets and ever since I was a boy. When J Sot to it, | ing at once, kills fungi
filled the spaces adjacent to the jail. The the first thing I saw was a lot of drieq | on Tnetct, aids rapid ~~~ ~
iGER 9. GOOSE hitching rack in front of the courthouse blood. Then, when I looked inside where | Oealing. hiagid, at* 5
was crowded with stamping horses, Saddled the hollow is, there was more bl6od and! der. 50c at Drug,
} and impatient in the morning chill. Grim- Something else.” He pulled a folded Paper | | Shoe, Dept. Stores.
UCk 10. APES faced men, garbed for duty in the woods, from his pocket and opened it with trem- |
milled about in humped-up, shivering bling ~ fingers. “You see this hair?” he |

crowds awaiting official orders, questioned in a voice softened With emo- |


years
home

i pn tN ta hi "cn oP CESE hi: HARA i is ta 6 wernwewn rm sara dhe: 1. ansaid sass a ban Sab

‘(QHERIFF CHARLES POTTER of John-

son County, Tennessee, threw a log
into the wide fireplace, stirred the slum-
bering coals into a burst of sparks and
flames, then sat down with his booted
feet propped high on his office table. It
was mid-morning of October 22nd, 1903.
Outdoors the sun was shining through
a deep blue haze which had drifted into
the valley from the surrounding moun-
tain; and a cold raw wind was dashing
intermittently against the red brick jail,
rattling the windows.

A few minutes later, while Potter was
absorbed in the local county paper, the
slim, dignified little figure of Grant
Arnold, a well-known farmer of the
county, entered without the ceremony
of knocking. Observing the troubled
frown on his caller’s face, the Sheriff
threw the paper aside and jumped to his
feet.

“Good morning, Grant,” he saluted.
“You’re looking mighty serious. Any
trouble out your way?”

Arnold pitched his dark gray Stetson

‘on the table and stood before the fire,
stamping his feet.

“Charles,” he began earnestly, “I may
be premature, but my folks simply drove
me out of the house a while ago, insisting
that I come here and tell you that Lillie
Shaw is missing. She’s been gone three
days and we ¢an’t find a trace of her any-
where,” :

The Sheriff studied Arnold’s coun-
tenance thoughtfully. He knew him as
a man of dependence, one who: moved
only on strong personal conviction.

“Lillie Shaw.” Potter repeated the
name of the twenty-two-year-old girl
who was known to practically everybody,
including the children, in the thinly

populated county. Always, she had been
regarded as a child of mystery, her an-
cestry a matter of unsettled speculation.
Born somewhere in a remote section of
the county, with a noticeable strain of
foreign blood in her veins, she matured
and grew up quickly,

While yet in her early teens, she dis-
carded the shackles of her backwoods
environment, trudged out of the piled-up
hills to Mountain City, the county seat.
Here she asked for household employ-
ment and readily obtained it. Strong and
vivacious, appreciative of her new com-
forts, dressed always in a gay splash
of color suitable to her brown exotic
skin, and blessed with a perpetual smile
and a deep love for children, she soon
won an enviable place in the hearts of
the people, making her a wanted visitor
and servant anywhere she chose to stay.

But there had been one period in the
young woman’s life that now flashed
across the Sheriff’s memory and gave
him concern. While she developed into
robust maturity during her early years
in. the Mountain City community, her
marked alien beauty had attracted many
men, giving her a troubled outlook at
times.

Finally, as if to escape the dangerous
net of complications into which she was
being drawn, she married Melvin Shaw,
a swarthy old man four times her age,
and ran off with him to Ohio. Three years
later, divorced and much wiser, appar-
ently, she returned to Mountain City.
Here, her former friends and employers,
with confidence unabated, welcomed her
back; and from all outside appearances,
she quickly settled down into the routine
of contented young womanhood.

“Men have always been crazy about

What terror lurked in the pine thicket Joreshadowing
the girl’s disappearance? The answer lay in the clue
of a gold ring and the grim secret of a hollow log

By JUDGE L. D. MILLER

The night before she disappeared, Lillie stayed at the Jim McQueen house
(above) where she seemed nervous and fearful and was overheard sobbing

Lillie,” Potter declared pointedly. “Don’t
you suppose that old Melvin or some
younger man has persuaded her to run
off again?”

Arnold shrugged. “No, Sheriff,” he
replied with vigor. “We @on’t think that
any man’s fooled her this time. She’s
been with us, you know, for months.
And while she doesn’t say much about
her personal affairs, it’s my honest opin-
ion that ever since she got away from
Shaw she’s given very little attention to
other men. In fact, I’ve got the impres-
sion that she’s afraid to trust them any
more. It seems like she tries to avoid
them.”

The Sheriff kicked at the fire. “Well,
what do you think has happened?” he
asked querulously. “You don’t figure
she’s been killed or anything like that,
do you?”

“I don’t insist that it’s that bad, Sheriff,
but it’s bound to be something pretty
serious. She left our house three days
ago—said she’d spend the night with
Jim McQueen’s family over on Sawmill
Creek and return the next morning. But
she didn’t come back. By noon yester-
day, we were getting mighty anxious out
home. In fact, Grandma Foster, my wife’s
mother, couldn’t stand it any longer. She
made me hitch up the buggy and drive
her over to McQueen’s place. Lillie had
spent the night there, all right, but that
was all. According to them, she left
early the next morning, saying she was
coming here to Mountain City and then
out home.”

“Have you inquired here?”

“Yes, indeed. I’ve been to every
merchant in town and asked dozens of
other people. No one has seen her. She
just didn’t get here, Sheriff.” The little

A red skirt flashing around this bend
in the road was the flast seen of her


She described Conley as close to six
feet tall, weighing perhaps 160 pounds,
and a snappy dresser with a likeable
personality. He was a traveling sales-
man with a clothing firm, she believed,
but she did not know the name of the
company that employed him.

“How about a fellow named Mack
who knew Mrs. Roberts,” Wiebenga
inquired. “Does that name ring a bell
with you?”

‘The waitress said it did not. She had
seen Mrs. Roberts around town on
various occasions with several different
escorts, but she could not identify any
of them. ;

The detectives thanked her and
moved along. “So far,” Hillin grumbled,
“both Mack and Jim Conley fit the
general description of the killer, but
we can’t even learn a whisper about
Mack.”

“Except that he lives in the south
side of town, like thousands of other
people,” Wiebenga agreed. “Anyway,
we've got a good line on this Conley
fellow. We ought to be able to locate
him.”

They began making the rounds of
the larger men’s clothing stores in
downtown Memphis. At their third
stop, the store manager*nodded. He
knew Jim Conley—a fine fellow, too.
Conley was a traveling representative
for a large clothing firm having its
headquarters in Atlanta. _.

Wiebenga and Hillin hurried back to
Chief of Detective Hinds with this in-
formation. Hinds immediately put in a
call to the office of the Atlanta concern.
He was informed that Jim Conley was
then in Little Rock, Ark.

Hinds telephoned the Little Rock po-
lice and briefed them on the case. He
asked them to take Conley in custody
and question him as to his whereabouts
at the time of the murder. A, post-mor-
tem performed on the body of Mrs.
Roberts had now definitely set the time
of death as around midnight of August 8.

Three hours later, the Little Rock
authorities called back. They had lo-
cated Conley and questioned him.

“On the night Mrs. Roberts was ;

murdered,” they reported, “Conley was

at the theater here with a local cloth-,
ing merchant and his wife. He ‘was’

their house guest that night—stayed
with them until morning. He’s innocent
as a lamb.”

m HINDS PUT THE telephone down
thoughtfully. “That lets out Conley,”
he remarked. “And it leaves us with
only one shadow of a suspect—this fel-
low known as Mack.”

He swung around to Wiebenga and
Hillin. “We've got to identify that man.
Go back to the Barham house. Talk to
Mrs. Barham again—ask her to rack
her brain, see if she can’t remember

(Continued on next page)

ATOMIC COPS

rs aac Nt

. ™ WITH: THE possibility of atomic bombing being emphasized by civil defense
officials, ‘big-city police throughout the country are taking steps to meet this
new menace. In New York, for example, 3,000 of the city’s 19,000 cops are
taking special courses in radiation detection. They will carry instruments
similar to Geiger counters in their squad cars and in other ways will be
prepared to meet the needs of stricken areas. The policemen shown at top
are being trained in the use of Geiger counters, while those below are con-
sulting an oscilloscope, a gadget used to show the individual impulse passing
through the counter.

Though many people are not yet aware of the fact, the chances are that if
you live in a large city, your police department has already made elaborate
plans to meet the atomic possibility. It’s likely that every patrolman knows
just what to do should a bomb land in the middle of Main Street.

79


HOT KISS, HOT HATE

(Continued from page 31)

may have taken whatever money and
jewelry she had just to make it look
like a robbery killing.”

m™@ WHEN SERGEANTS Wiebenga and
Hillin reached the Barham cottage on
Latham Street, they told Mrs. Barham
the truth as gently as possible. It was
some minutes before the stricken wo-
man recovered her composure, and then
the officers questioned her about the
events of the preceding evening.

“We understand your daughter got a
telephone call last night,” Wiebenga
said. “Can you tell us who it was that
called her, or anything else about it?”

Mrs. Barham well recalled how
Jewel had answered the telephone
around 9 o’clock. She didn’t know who ©
the caller was, nor what the conversa-
tion was about, but it seemed to sober
Jewel noticeably. It was immediately
after that that Jewel had left, saying
only that she was going downtown.

“Did your daughter know a man
named Dockery,?”

The mother shook her head.
that I ever heard of.”

“Was she carrying any considerable
amount of money, or wearing valuable
jewelry?”

“Well, I think she had around $75
in cash. And of course she was wear-
ing her diamond engagement ring, quite
an expensive one. She wore a couple
of other rings, but they were only ,cos-
tume jewelry.”

“Your daughter was engaged?” Wie-
benga asked, surprised.

“Oh, yes.” Mrs. Barham related that
Jewel Roberts had recently been en-
gaged to an Army corporal who was
stationed at Camp Wheeler, near Ma-
con, Ga. The corporal’s first name was.
Malcolm, but for the life of her Mrs.

“Not

Barham could not remember his last .
name. Naturally, in her distraught con-

dition her memory was not function-
ing too well.

Sergeant Hillin was already thinking
of the jealousy angle. “Camp Wheeler’s
quite some distance away,” he re-
marked. “I suppose your daughter
didn’t see her fiance very often. Were
there other men here in Memphis who
called her up, took her out for dates?”

There were, Mrs. Barham agreed.’ .
Jewel Roberts had been attractive and
popular, and had received a lot of phone
calls. There were two men in particular
who pestered Jewel for dates, and oc-
casionally she went out with them.
Here again the mother’s memory failed
her. Jewel had called one of the men
Mack and the other Jim, but Mrs.
Barham had never seen either of them
and could not recall whether Jewel had

ever mentioned their last names.

With the mother’s permission, the
two officers scrutinized the murdered
woman’s correspondence. There were
numerous letters from a man who
signed himself “Malcolm” or “Mal,”
undoubtedly the corporal at Camp
Wheeler. The envelopes were missing,
however, so it was impossible to learn
the man’s last name. Malcolm invari-
ably addressed Jewel Roberts as “Dar-
ling” or “My Dearest,” and his letters
were written in terms of closest affec-
tion.

There were five letters from a man
who signed himself simply as “Jim,”
all of them written on the stationery
of various hotels in southern cities. Jim
was inclined to be more slangy than
Malcolm, addressing Mrs. Roberts as
“Dear Redhead” or “Dear Kiddo.” His
letters were breezy in style, telling of

travels from one city to another, but |

now and then he grew more intimate.
In one passage he admitted “I miss you
terribly,” while in another he told of
planning to visit Memphis.

“TI ought to get there around August
8,” he wrote in a letter dated July 17.
“I’m sure looking forward to seeing
you, Kiddo.”

“August 8,” Wiebenga muttered to
Hillin. “That was yesterday—the day
she was*murdered.”

“There aren’t any letters from the
fellow named Mack,” Hillin said. “Evi-
dently he isn’t. the writing kind. He

_just telephoned.”

As the investigators were about the
leave, Mrs. Barham recalled another
detail.

“Jewel was going ‘to leave tomorrow
morning for a visit to Camp Wheeler,”
she said. “Her fiancé sent her a money
order a few days ago by telegraph to
take care of her expenses.”

Mrs. Barham sadly accompanied the
officers to the morgue, where she wept
as she identified the victim as her
daughter. After they drove her back to
her home, Wiebenga and Hillin dis-
cussed their progress so far.

“As I see it,’ Wiebenga said, “the
case is wide open for a jealousy motive.
She was engaged to this soldier at
Camp Wheeler. At the same time, a
couple of other fellows—Jim and Mack
—were’ very attentive to her.”

“It could be,” Hillin agreed, “that
her fiance at Camp Wheeler learned

‘about one or both of the others. He

-had given her an expensive diamond
ring. He had even sent her $75 so she
could visit him. Maybe he saw red.
Maybe he decided to. come here to
Memphis and have it out with her.”
(Continued on next page)

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78

“Then you can look at it the other
way. It’s possible that either Mack or
Jim are of the jealous, possessive ‘type.
One of them found out she was engaged
to this corporal, and it made him burn.
He rented the hotel room, then called
her up and arranged a showdown.”

“We’ve got no dope on Mack at all.

As for Jim, it’s pretty clear that he’s.

a traveling man of some kind.”

“Which isn’t of much help,” Wieben-
ga sighed. “Dozens of ’em come into
Memphis every day. I think our best
starting point is the corporal. We ought
to be able to locate him through that
money order he sent.” .
m AT HEADQUARTERS; they report-
ed to Hinds and Miller and reviewed
every aspect of the case thus far. After
a half-hour conference, it was agreed
that Wiebenga and Hillin should leave
next morning for Macon.

“We'll work from the known to the
unknown,” Hinds said. “We’re almost
certain we can locate the corporal, and
it may be that when we find him our
case will be solved. If not, he may be
able to give us other leads.” .

Wiebenga and Hillin were in Macon.
by noon the next day. They made the
rounds of the telegraph offices, and in
one on Cherry Street they found what
they sought. On August 3, five days be-
fore the murder, Corporal Malcolm
Silliman had sent a $75 money order to
Jewel Roberts in Memphis, the trans-
action being recorded in a duplicate
receipt at the office.

“So we’re looking for Corporal Mal-
colm Silliman,” Hillin said as they
drove out of town in the direction of
Camp Wheeler.

They quickly located Corporal Silli-
man at the Army post. He was a
bronzed, powerfully-built man of about
30, and the investigators watched him
keenly as they broke the news about
Mrs. Roberts’ death.

Silliman sank into a chair. “Jewel
dead—murdered!” he gasped. “I can’t
believe it! Why, she was going to visit
me here today . .. JI had a two-day
pass all arranged so I could be ‘with
her.”

He seemed staggered, and yet the
investigators could take nothing for
granted. They told him how Jewel
Roberts had been summoned by tele-
phone to the hotel room where the
slaying occurred.

“That doesn’t make sense,” the sol-
dier muttered, as though in a daze.
“Jewel wouldn’t go to some. strange
guy’s hotel room.”

“But it wasn’t a strange guy,” Wie-
benga corrected. “It was someone she
knew. He telephoned her, and what-
ever it was he told her seemed to give
her a jolt. She went to the hotel and
had a drink or two with him before he
murdered -her.”

>

The sergeant paused, then looked
straight at Silliman. “In fact, we were
wondering if that man might have been
you.”

Silliman leaped to his feet. “Me!” he
cried furiously. Then he sat down again.
“I suppose you've got to suspect every-
body,” he said. “No, it wasn’t me. I was
right here at the’post. My command-
ing officer and my buddies will tell. you
that.”

He said he had known Mrs. Roberts
for three years, first becoming ac-
quainted with her when ‘he operated
a filling station in Memphis and she

worked as a waitress in a nearby res-.

taurant. After he joined the Army the
friendship continued, and he had re-
cently bought her a $160 engagement
ring. They had already started to make
plans for their marriage, though the
date was not yet set.

“Mrs. Roberts was an_ attractive
woman,” Hillin said. “With you away
in the Army, there might have been
other men who called her and tried to
date her. Do you know anything about
that?”

Silliman shrugged. “Jewel told me
there were a couple of guys who
wouldn’t give up. The name of one of
them was Mack something or other—
can’t remember his last name.”

Once again the mysterious Mack
cropped up—a fact that did not escape
the officers.

“Let’s look at this another way,” Wie-
benga urged. “Maybe you used to go
with another girl before you ‘became
interested in Mrs. Roberts. Maybe this
other girl didn’t like being beaten out
—developed a hatred for Mrs. Roberts.”

The corporal looked at. him queerly.
“Sure, I used to go with Amy Parsons
—she was a waitress too. But if you
think Amy would kill anybody, you’re
badly mistaken.”

That wasn’t exactly what Wiebenga
was thinking. He knew the slayer was
a man, but it was not impossible that
he had been hired by a woman. He
jotted down Amy Parsons’ Memphis
address just to make sure.

At length the. two investigators
thanked Corporal Silliman for his help.
They took the precaution of checking
with his commanding officer and
friends, and learned that Silliman un-
doubtedly had been at the post at the
time of the murder. The corporal was
definitely out of the picture, and that
left only two of the most nebulous
of suspects—a man named Mack and
another man named. Jim,

m@ HILLIN AND WIEBENGA headed
back to Memphis. There they learned
that Captain Miller had assigned other
detectives to interview every friend
and acquaintance of the slain woman
that Mrs. Barham was able to name.
They had worked out this line of in-

-but could not

vestigation without real result. One of
the friends had a vague recollection
of the man known as Mack. She was
quite sure that this was a nickname,
recall his real one.
Mack, she said, was rather tall and
slender, and she thought he lived some-
where on the south side of town.

Another of Jewel Roberts’ friends
had once met Mrs. Roberts downtown
in the company of a man she had
introduced as Jim. The friend could
not remember Jim’s last name. About
all she could recall about him was
that he was fairly tall, good-looking,
was smoking a cigar, and had made
some mention of just arriving from
New Orleans. This seemed to leave lit-
tle doubt that it was the same Jim who
had written Mrs. Roberts from various
southern cities, addressing her as “Dear
Redhead,” but it brought the detectives
no closer to learning his real identity.

“We’re running around in circles
trying to get next to Mack and Jim,”
Wiebenga said to Hillin. “Let’s check
with Corporal Silliman’s former girl
friend, Amy Parsons.”

Miss Parsons was not at home, but
they found her at the downtown res-
taurant where she was employed. A
big-eyed, red-lipped brunette, Amy
Parsons met them quite calmly.

“I read in the paper about Jewel
getting murdered,” she said. “It’s a sad
thing, but I wasn’t really surprised.”

Wiebenga’s eyebrows arched. “You
weren’t surprised? And why not?”

Miss Parsons shrugged. “Well, Jewel
wasn’t wise about men. She wasn’t
really bad, I don’t mean that, but she
was full of nervous energy and had to
be on the go all the time. She got en-
gaged to Malcolm Silliman, but he was
away at camp and she kept running
around with two or. three other men
here in Memphis. That kind of thing
can be dangerous.”

“You mean Silliman might have
gotten jealous?”

She shook her head. “I know Mal-
colm Silliman very well. He wouldn’t
hurt a fly. But they aren’t all that
way.”

“Let's lay the cards on the table,”
Hillin urged. “Just what are you get-
ting at?”

“Well, I know for a fact that when-
even Jim Conley came into town, she
went out with him. They came into this
restaurant many a time. I could tell Jim
figured he was making real time with
her. I’m sure he didn’t know she was
engaged. Well, maybe somebody put
him wise. Or maybe even Jewel told
him herself.”

“And maybe he went off his rocker
and killed her?”

Miss Parsons shook her pretty head.
“I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is
that some fellows take it hard when
they think they’ve been cheated.”


up no

4Js re-
of the

{ from
d little

“ Ap .
yecause

sed the

elevator operators. One of them remembers letting a man
off at the tenth floor around 8 o’clock last night, but he
can’t recall what the man looked like. None of the cham-
bermaids or other help saw Dockery.”

“It seems that Mr. Dockery didn’t want to be seen,”
Hinds replied. “I'll wager we’ll find his name and address
is phony. Now how: about the woman victim?”

“Nothing for certain,” Sergeant Hillin said. “Another one
of the elevator men is pretty sure he took a red-headed
woman up to the tenth floor around 9 or 10 o’clock Iast
night. He can’t remember what kind of dress she wore, or
whether she carried a white plastic purse. That’s about it.
Nobody else seems to have seen her.”

™ WHEN DETECTIVE JOHNSON returned a few minutes
later from his talk with the night clerk, Detective Chief
Hinds and Captain Miller looked at him expectantly, but
Johnson’s expression was glum.

“The night clerk says Dockery registered around 8 P.M.,”
he reported. “The desk was pretty busy at the time, and the
clerk didn’t get a good look at him. All he can remember
is that Dockery was rather tall and slender and was wear-
ing a straw hat. Not much help there.”

“Not much,” Hinds agreed. “Just about every man in
Memphis wears a straw hat in August.”

“And we still have no idea who the victim is,”
sighed. “Well, let’s look around some more.”

Under the bed he found a paper book of matches adver-
tising a large Memphis cafeteria. On the inside cover,
scrawled in pencil, was a number—9-3516.

“Must be a telephone number,” Hinds said. “Check with
the hotel telephone operator. She may remember if there
were any outgoing calls from this room.”

Miller went to the phone and spoke with the operator.
When he had finished, he looked more hopeful.

“She remembers an outgoing call from this room around
9 o'clock last night,” he said. “She’s not positive, but she’s
pretty sure the number was 9-3516.”

“Then the chances are that’s the red-headed woman’s
number,” Hinds nodded. “Dockery checked in around 8,
and no sooner got settled in his room than he telephoned
her and asked her to come up. You'd better call that
number.”

Captain Miller called 9-3516. In a moment he was con-
nected with a woman who identified herself as Mrs. Birdie
Barham. When Miller told her he was a police officer, Mrs.
Barham grew highly agitated.

“I knew something must be terribly wrong,” she cried.
“Jewel left here last night saying she would be back early,
and she hasn’t returned at all!”

“There’s been an accident,” Miller admitted cautiously,
“but we aren’t sure it’s your cannehaer. Can you describe
her, please?”

Jewel Roberts, Mrs. Barham said, was ani attractive red-
head. She had worn a silk print dress and carried a white
plastic bag when she left her home at aed Latham Street
the previous evening.

Captain Miller was now almost certain ‘that the victim
was Jewel Roberts, but he tried to soothe the anxious
mother. “We still can’t be positive,” he said. “We’d better
go over there and talk to you.”

Detective Chief Hinds assigned Sergeants Hillin and

Miller

‘

Wiebenga to go to the Latham Street address and talk
with Mrs. Barham. The murder room was then sealed and
the investigators took their leave. When Hinds, Miller and
Johnson returned to headquarters, the.Los Angeles police
had already replied. The address J. A. Dockery had given
in the California city was fictitious, and so undoubtedly
was the name.

“A mighty careful customer,” Hinds mused. “It looks like
he rented that hotel room for the sole purpose of murder-
ing Jewel Roberts.”

“It does,” Miller agreed. “People don’t use phony names
unless they have dirty work in mind. On top of that, he

sneaked in and out so quietly that no one got a good look >

at him, and he took time to get rid of the fingerprints.”
“He went about it so systematically you’d almost think
he was an experienced criminal,” the detective chief
nodded. “It’s my hunch he had some powerful motive—
jealousy or hatred—against Mrs. Roberts. The brutality
of the crime indicates that. He (Continued on page 77)

Inspector M. A. Hinds, who headed the probe, said,
"The killer worked like one experienced in crime."


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his full name, or something more about
him, Check Mrs. Roberts’ mail again.
Shake down her room. Maybe there’s
a snapshot of Mack, or a note from him,
or a gift of some kind with his name
on it.”

He paused a moment. “It won’t hurt
to tell Mrs. Barham, Jim Conley’s full
name. The mind has peculiar associa-
tions. It might be that when she hears
Conley’s name, she’ll remember Mack’s.
Also, tell her Mack is believed to live
somewhere on the south side. That
might stir her memory.

Wiebenga and Hillin drove to the
Barham residence. By this time Mrs.
Barham had ‘had sufficient time to
recover from the first full force of the
shock and also to search her own
memory a bit. Nevertheless, she re-
gretfully told the officers that she still
remembered nothing more about the
elusive Mack.

“I never saw him,” she explained.
“Jewel mentioned him a few times, but
only by that name.”

- She freely gave the investigators per-
mission to search the house for possible
clues to the man. Wiebenga and Hillin
went over Jewel Roberts’ room with a
fine-tooth comb, but found nothing.
They peered into drawers, bookcases,
poked into the attic, even went through
waste-baskets. After two hours of
steady searching, they had to give it up.

Wiebenga reported back to Hinds by
telephone. “No luck,” he said. “But

ere’s another possibility we might

| work on. Mrs. Roberts apparently had

a lot of dates and she must have
visited downtown restaurants and night
spots’ with her escorts. How about

checking there?”

“Go to it,” Hinds said.

After dinner, Wiebenga and Hillin
began making the rounds of the eating
places and entertainment spots. They
talked with waitresses, bartenders,
girls. Though Memphis is a big city,

‘Mrs. Roberts’ vivacity and bright aure-

ole of red hair made her noticeable.
The officers found several persons who
remembered. her.

One, a bartender, recalled that Jewel
Roberts occasionally came into his place
with the same escort. His description
of the man, however, made it plain
that he was Jim Conley, who had al-
ready been cleared.

Another, a waiter captain at a night
club, likewise knew Mrs. Roberts. “But
she came here at various times with
several different men,” he said. “I re-
member her, yes, but not the men.”

By 1 a. M,, Hillin and Wiebenga had
covered all the larger and: better-
known places without success.

“Tm fagged,” Hillin yawned. “Let’s
sleep on it and see if we can come up
with an inspiration in the morning.”

“A good idea,” Wiebenga grunted.
“This Mack business is getting me

down. I'm beginning to think that when
he and Mrs. Roberts went out together,
they didn’t go to public places.”

They met again in the morning at
headquarters. “Any _ inspirations?”
Wiebenga asked his partner.

“Not exactly an inspiration,” Hillin
admitted. “But it struck me _ there’s
one possibility we overlooked. We
checked the Barham house from cellar
to attic. We looked at the phone book
to-see if any names or numbers were
jotted down there. But we didn’t actu-
ally go through the phone book page by
page.” ° %

“Right,” Wiebenga said. “It’s\ worth
trying. Sometimes people will mark
or circle a name or number.”

@ ONCE MORE they drove to the Bar-
ham place, apologizing to Mrs. Barham
for interrupting her again. Hillin
grabbed the phone book and began
leafing through it.

By the time he had gotten halfway
through it, he had found three tele-
phone numbers underlined. One was a
dry cleaner’s number, one a drug store,
and the third a woman friend of Mrs.
Roberts who had already been inter-
viewed. —

“A dead end so far,” Hillin growled,
handing the book to Wiebenga.

Wiebenga continued the page-by-
page canvass. He had gotten well along
in the “S’s” when he suddenly emitted
a low whistle.

“Look at this!” he exclaimed.

Hillin looked. He saw the name of
Marshall Spigner underlined. “Spig-
ner!” he breathed.

“Remember him?”

“How could I forget him? And come
to think of it, his nickname was Mack!”
* Wiebenga shook his head in wonder-
ment. “This is one for the books. Once
before, he killed a girl, and under very
similiar circumstances too!”

Every veteran officer on the Mem-
phis. force had good reason to remem-
ber the name of Marshall Spigner. In
1927, 15 years earlier, he had shot and
killed his sweetheart, Grace Bennett,
a 25-year-old drug store employe, as
she entered her home at 194 South
Somerville Street. Spigner was cap-
tured the following day at Lambert,
Miss., and returned to Memphis, where

he made a full confession of the crime

to Captain Frank Glisson.
“I loved her,” Spigner said, weeping
bitterly. “I'll tell you all about it if

you'll promise to send me to the chair.” .

“That'll be up to a judge and jury,”
Glisson replied, “but I'll certainly do
my best.” ’

Spigner then related how he had ac-

-costed his girl friend and demanded

that she reject all her other suitors and
be his “steady.” When she refused, he
aimed a shotgun at her and shot her
dead.

Spigner, hx
the chair, He
prisonment b
his case, “life
was paroled i
fore the murc

“Spigner m
told his partn
quarters. “E
member, the
from the cari
ated, you’d t!

“Not only tl
also explains
advertise the
fellow, or run
lic places. S
fact that he v

When the;
with their nev
and Captain :
huddle.

“This look:
“We'll pick S}

Hinds, Milk
Detective Jot
car and drove
and Johnson,
to the door wt
outside exits.

They learne
home. A relat
ber shop on Le

The officers
man seated in
shaved. A fe
Marshall “Ma:
the door, he
knew what w

“What’s this
the cuffs click.

“We just wa
Hinds replied
away.

Spigner, a ta
man of 42 who
jobs, stoutly w
hours that he
Roberts’ murc
claimed that }t
with Mrs. Rok

Detectives m
witnesses who
company of the
Cafe on Union
fore the slayiz
saw the futility
nified his willir
sion.

“Sure, I kne
“I was crazy :

Like +
detective
DETECTIV
Only all-st


o-

SPIGNER, Marshall, white, electrocuted Tennessee (Shelby County) on 7-15-1913.

@ SHE WAS young. She was beauti-
ful. Even the chambermaid letting her-
self into Room 1011 at 2 p.m. that
Saturday in the Memphis hotel could see
the woman’s beauty through the veil of
her own horror. For she lay stretched
out on the bed, nude. And she was dead.
The maid hastily backed out of the
room and ran to notify the manage-
ment. Though dismayed by the fact
of a murder on the premises, they
notified the police.

The chambermaid ran down the
stairs and staggered to the desk. She
babbled almost incoherently of her
horrible discovery in room 1011. The
desk clerk immediately phoned the
police.

By 2:30 that afternoon Chief of De-
tectives M. A. Hinds, homicide depart-
ment head Wilber Miller and Detec-
tive Sergeants Pete Wiebenga and James
Hillin, were methodically poking about
the room. The corpse lay stretched on
the bed. The pert street dress that she
wore was.torn and tattered in several
places. Her arms and legs above the

knee were covered with bruises. Sev-
eral small scratches marred the lovely
face and neck. The profuse, raven-
black hair of the dead girl lay tangled
and matted on the white pillow.

Captain Hinds stared intently at the
corpse, taking careful note of. its posi-
tion on the bed and it’s relation to other
objects in the room. Then he raised
his eyes and slowly scanned the scene.
Captain Miller moved about the room
methodically, opening drawers and
closets and peering into the bathroom.
He found nothing.

In a corner of the room Miller
picked up a pair of white shoes which
had obviously belonged to the dead
woman. Nearby, under a large uphol-
stered chair he found the dead girl’s
purse. He turned this over on the
dressing table. A welter of typically
feminine items fell out. But the purse
contained no money.

‘Might have been a robbery,” he said
to Hinds. “The purse is empty.”

“Could be,” the chief agreed. “Come
here a minute. Look at the girl’s third

finger. Someone tore a ring off that
finger. She was a beautiful girl though
and I don’t want to discount the pos-
sibilities of a passion motive.”

“Say, Chief,” Sergeant Wiebenga
called, staring intently at the bed sheet.
“Look at those black marks on the
sheet. What do you make of that?”

“They look like footprints,” Hinds

replied. “Looks like a man stood on
the bed with his shoes on. That’s cer-
tainly queer.” The sheet was removed
from the bed and placed in a large
envelope.
' The technicians and Coroner E. W.
Miller arrived on the scene, and imme-
diately set about their highly skilled
tasks, ?

“No marks or bruises on’ the throat
and no bullet wounds,” said the corner
bending over the still form. ‘None of
these scratches are serious enough to
have caused death either.”

“How about shock or heart attack?”
Hinds offered. , .

“Possible, but I doubt it,” the med-
ical examiner replied. “More likely she

“PLL RILL ANOTHER WOMAN”

a

NN

Sachy,
*&

~“

by Alan -Masters

The convict’s grim prediction |
after fourteen years in prison.

Was her constant terror due to knowledge of boy friend’s violent past?

AMAZING DETECTIVE, February, 1963.


ink that when
t out together,
rlaces.”

e morning at
inspirations?”
er,

cation,” Hillin
k me there’s
tlooked. We
se from cellar
ie phone book
aumbers were
ve didn’t actu-
: book page by

1. “It?s\ worth
le will mark
ber.”

ve to the Bar-
1 Mrs. Barham
again. Hillin
‘k and began

‘otten halfway
id three tele-
od. One was a
e a drug store,
friend of Mrs.
- “pen inter-

1 growled,
benga.
the page-by-
-ten well along
ldenly emitted

laimed.
, the name of
lined. “Spig-

m? And come
1e was Mack!”
ad in wonder-
e books. Once
nd under very
Q!”

on the Mem-
on to remem-
ul Spigner. In
: had shot and
trace Bennett,
e employe, as
at 194 South
ner was cap-
7 at Lambert,
emphis, where

n of the crime»

L.
said, weeping
all about it if

2 to the chair.” .

dge and jury,”
1 certainly do

ow he had ac-
ind demanded
--~ suitors and
refused, he
d shot her

Spigner, however, was not sent to
the chair. He was sentenced to life im-

prisonment by Judge Tom Harsh. In

his case, “life” meant 14 years, for he
was paroled in 1941, about a year be-
fore the murder of Jewel Roberts.

“Spigner must be our man,” Hillin
told his partner as they sped for head-
quarters. “Everything fits. You re-
member, the chief said that judging
from the careful way the killer oper-
ated, you’d think he was an ex-con.”

“Not only that,” Wiebenga agreed. “It
also explains why Jewel Roberts didn’t
advertise the real name of this Mack
fellow, or run around with him in pub-
lic places. She was conscious of the
fact that he was a jailbird.”

When they reached headquarters
with their news, Detective Chief Hinds
and Captain Miller went into a quick
huddle.

“This looks hot,” Hinds snapped.
“We'll pick Spigner up right away.”

Hinds, Miller, Wiebenga, Hillin and
Detective Johnson got into a police
car and drove to Spigner’s home. Hinds

and Johnson, their guns ready, went

to the door while the others covered all
outside exits. :

They learned that Spigner was not at
home. A relative said he was at a bar-
ber shop on Lamar Avenue.

The officers went there. They saw a
man seated in the barber’s chair, being
shaved. A few minutes later, when
Marshall “Mack” Spigner walked out
the door, he was nabbed before he
knew what was happening.

“What’s this all about?” he snarled as
the cuffs clicked over his wrists.

“We just want a little talk with you,”
Hinds replied, and they drove him
away.

Spigner, a tall, slim, rather handsome
man of 42 who worked on construction
jobs, stoutly maintained for almost 12
hours that he knew nothing of Jewel
Roberts’ murder. In fact, he even
claimed that he had no acquaintance
with Mrs. Roberts.

Detectives managed to scrape up two
witnesses who had seen him in the
company of the pretty redhead at Key’s
Cafe on Union Avenué two nights be-
fore the slaying. Spigner eventually
saw the futility of his demials and sig-
nified his willingness to make a confes-
sion.

“Sure, I knew Jewel,” he growled.
“I was crazy about her, and I didn’t

want her chasing around with anybody
else. With me, it’s all or nothing, see?
Well, I had a few drinks with her that
night at Kay’s. That was when she told
me she was engaged to some soldier.
and was going to be married.”

He puffed nervously at a cigarette.
“That almost floored me. I guess I
blew my top. I couldn’t stand the idea
of her turning me down and teaming
up with some other guy. I had some
letters from Jewel—pretty sweet letters
they were, too. I knew if she was going
to marry this guy, she wouldn’t like to
have letters like that in the possession
of someone else.

“So two nights later I rented a room
at the Claridge. I telephoned Jewel,
told her if she wanted the letters she’d
better come and see me. I really put
on the heat—scared her a little—and
she came right up.” He shrugged. “Well,
you know the rest.”

m@ SPIGNER admitted he had used his
belt to strangle his former girl friend.
He had taken her money and diamond
ring, giving the ring to a friend to hold
as security for a loan.

The ring was recovered. Two*hotel
employes viewed Spigner in a lineup

.and picked him out as the “J. A.

Dockery” who had rented the room.
The case against the killer who had re-
peated himself was complete.

But from that point on, history didn’t
repeat itself. In 1927, Spigner had
begged to be sent to the chair and had
been sent to prison instead. When he
went to trial for the murder of Jewel
Roberts on November 16, 1942, he
sought to escape the chair through. a
plea of insanity.

The jury didn’t believe he was in-
sane. Perhaps they thought it was a
mistake that Spigner had not been
granted his wish to die in the chair for
his first murder. They found him
guilty, and Judge J. J. Pleasants con-
demned him to be electrocuted.

The man known as Mack walked the
last mile on the morning of July 15,
1943. As he entered the death chamber,
he groaned, “I did it. I deserve this!”

He never spoke truer’ words.

Eprror’s Note: To prevent embar-
rassment to innocent persons, the
names Corporal Malcolm Silliman, Jim
Conley and Amy Parsons, as used in
this narrative, are fictitious.

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Investigation into strange homicide was led by Captain Wilbur Miller (I.) and Inspector Michael Hinds, Memphis.

died of suffocation. The autopsy will
determine it more accurately. However,
I'm inclined to believe that she was
strangled with a soft garrote which
would leave no marks. That’s an old
Spanish custom.”

A search of the room failed to re-
veal anything that might have been
used to strangle the girl. The police
had no clue as to the identity of the
corpse since all forms of identification
had been removed from the girl’s purse.

The technicians moved busily around
the room. A photographer set up his
tripod in position and found that the
carpet threw the legs off balance. He
turned ‘back a corner of the rug and
the first substantial clue was revealed.
Several pieces of paper had been se-
creted there. The photographer called
the chief’s attention to his find. Hinds
picked up the papers and examined
them. The papers were money binders

-used by many commercial establish-

ments to sort their receipts. These par-
ticular money binders were imprinted
with the name of a nearby motion pic-
ture theatre.

“This might be a break,’ Hinds ex-.

claimed. “That theatre was held up a
couple of weeks ago.”

HE detective chief was referring to
a holdup which had occurred at the
movie house on the night of May 3st.
On that occasion two masked bandits

- had entered the theatre, trussed the

8 a

*

“Aah,

three employees on duty and had
escaped with $2,500 which was wrapped
with the theatre’s private binders ready
for the night depository. An intense

‘hunt had been made for the bandits,

but no trace of them had been found.

“Maybe this murder is tied up with
that holdup,” Miller offered. “Perhaps
the girl knew too much.”

“It’s a possibility,” said the chief.
“But we- don’t know how long those
wrappers have been in this room. There
might be no connection at all.”

Sergeant Wiebenga returned to room
1011 with the desk clerk who he had
been sent to get. The hotel employee
was a small, chubby man. He had been
on duty the previous day and Wiebenga
had learned that the clerk had registered
the dead girl and a man companion at
four o’clock the previous afternoon.

“Did you bring the register with
you?” Hinds asked.

The clerk extended a thick ledger.
Hinds scanned the entries and stopped
when he reached the name of the couple
assigned to room 1011, Mr. and Mrs.
James Alsup of Los Angeles, California.

“That’s Mrs. Alsup, all right,” the
clerk declared after glancing at the
corpse.

“Do you remember what her com-
panion looked like?’’ Hinds asked.

“I didn’t pay too much attention to

“the man,” the clerk replied. “I con-

centrated on the woman because she
looked like she was afraid of some-
thing.”

“Afraid of what? The man?” _.

“Maybe,” was the reply. “Or it could
have been that she just didn’t want to
be seen registering. All the time the
man was signing in she hung back and
seemed pale and nervous. Then when
they went toward the elevators he held
her arm firmly and she seemed to be try-
ing to pull away.”

“O.K., but can’t you tell us some-
thing about the man?”

“Tl try,” the employee said. “He was
wearing a light gray suit and a Panama
hat. I’d say hé was in his early forties.
He looked quite a bit older than the
woman. He was of medium height and
build and had a dark complexion. The
thing that I most recall about him were
his eyes. They were a faded blue—almost
washed out. His eyes made a striking
contrast to his dark complexion.”

“Did you ever see either of them be-
fore?”

“No.”

“Do you think you would recognize
the man again?”

“TI might if I had a good look at him.”

“We didn’t find any baggage in the
room. Did they have any?”

“I don’t know for sure,” the clerk
replied. “The man paid in cash in ad-
vance so I didn’t check on their luggage.
I think the man carried a small package °
under his arm though.” Se

Sergeant Hillin had been studying th
dead girl. “Chief,” the sergeant sud-
denly said, “I think I’ve seen this girl


' bler

. “Why did you leave town the way you
did?”

For several moments Loretta Green
remained silent. She fidgited uneasily
in her chair and played with a wisp of
her auburn hair. “It wasn’t on account
of Jewell’s murder that I left,’’ she said
at length. “A man was threatening t
kill me. I had to get away.”

“A man?” Hinds said with disbelief.
“Why didn’t you tell the police about
it?”

“I didn’t dare. I didn’t have time—
Pega

“Well, you’re safe now,” the chief
said. ““You can tell us now. Who is he?”

“Please . . . Don’t make me tell,”
the girl begged. “Just let me go back to
my folks in Arkansas.”

HIEF Hinds grew stern. “Now lis-

ten to me,” he said. ‘““You are con-
cealing facts which may be of vital
importance to us. We know you know
something and we mean to find out what
it is. You can be sent to prison for
concealing.evidence. We intend to keep
you here in a cell until you tell us what
you know.”

This changed Loretta’s attitude. “All
right,” she said, “if you promise to pro-
tect me I'll tell you the man’s name. It’s
Marshall Spigner. We’ve been going to-
gether for some time. He wants to
marry me. I refused him and he threat-
ened to kill me if I didn’t change my
mind. I was terrified, so I ran away.”

The frightened girl was sent home
with a police escort and a detail was
sent out to pick up Marshall Spigner.
Within a short time the burly, 40-year-
old tough guy was sitting in Chief
Hinds’ office.

“Sure I love Loretta,” he said when
questioned by the chief of detectives,
“So what of it?”

“How come she was so scared of
you she left town?” Hinds asked.

“Scared of me?” Spigner scoffed.
“She didn’t leave Memphis on my ac-
count. I wouldn’t have harmed a hair
on her head.”

“Did you know Jewell Roberts?”

“I knew her by sight from the few
times I saw her at the cafe,” the burly
man said.

-On Spigner’s promise to keep away
from Loretta Green he was released.
Within thirty minutes after Spigner
walked out of Hinds’ office a report
came through from the Kansas City
police. They had picked up Pete Am-
and questioned him. Ambler
claimed that he had arrived in Kansas

City. on Friday, a few hours before

Jewell Roberts was murdered. He sub-
mitted a list of clients he had called
on covering all of Friday evening and
Saturday. All the names were carefully
checked and all bore out Ambler’s
claim. The jewelry salesman was defin-
itely in the clear. The prime suspect
had been eliminated. It seemed as
though the investigators were up against

a blank wall, back almost to where they E

had started from.

Chief Hinds called a conference of
all the men working on the case.
Through the early morning hours the

investigators mulled over the trans-
cripts and records of the case. Notes
were read and re-read. The chief was
reading the transcript of Marshall
Spigner’s questioning that evening.

“Spigner stated that he knew Jewell
Roberts by sight only,” Hinds read.

Detective Wiebenga’s head shot up.
A light came into his eyes and he started
thumbing rapidly through a notebook.
“Spigner was lying,” Wiebenga said. “I
spoke to practically all of Jewell Rob-
erts’ friends and several of them told
me that Spigner had tried to date Jew-
ell. She turned him down. According to
the friends, Spigner used to call the
Roberts girl on the phone all the time
and bother her to go out with him.”

“It seems I’ve heard the name ‘Spig-
ner’ before,” Hinds said. “Check the
files.”

The records were startling in their
revelations. In his youth Marshall Spig-
ner had done time in both Arkansas
and Mississippi for grand larceny. In
1928 he had been convicted of killing
a pretty young girl who had spurned
his advances. For this Spigner had
served 14 years of a life sentence.

“I can understand now why Loretta
Green was so terrified of him,” “the
chief said. ‘“He’s evidently a dangerous
man to cross in a love affair.”

The chief of detectives paused for
some time. Finally he said, “You know
it didn’t occur to me when Spigner was
here, but now that I think about it he
fits the description of the man who
registered with Jewell Roberts -d& the
night of the murder. Yes, Mazstiall
Spigner sounds like the clerk’s desorip-
tion. of ‘Mr. Alsup’.”

“Yes,” agreed Captain Miller, ‘“es-
pecially those light, washed-out eyes.”

“Bring Spigner in,” Hinds ordered.
“I want to talk to him again. Bring
Loretta Green in, too. I'll wager she'll
tell the whole truth this time.”

Two. hours later Marshall Spigner
was positively identified by the hotel
clerk as the man who brought Jewell
Roberts to the hotel where she was
killed. Even in the face of this damn-
ing testimony the burly suspect refused
to admit anything.

Loretta Green was questioned in-
tensely. Finally she told the whole story.
The girl said that she had met Spigner
at about noon on Saturday. Spigner had
given her a package and requested that
she keep it for him. Loretta had been
unable to resist the temptation and she
unwrapped the package after Spigner
had gone. She immediately recognized
three rings which had belonged to Jew-
ell. She was curious as to how Spigner
had come by the jewelry. When her
friend informed her that evening of
Jewell’s murder she had the terrifying
knowledge that Spigner had committed
the crime and realized how the rings
had come into his possession. Afraid
that she might somehow be implicated
in the crime through possession of the
dead girl's jewelry, Loretta fled.

Loretta Green produced the rings
and agreed to appear as a witness for
the state. When Spigner was confronted
with the girl’s statement he confessed.

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61

recently in Memphis. If | remember cor-
rectly she is, Or was, a waitress in one
ot the cafes downtown.”

“Check it out, will you?” Hinds asked.

A few hours later the homicide squad
was still in the hotel. The body had been
removed to the John Gaston Hosptial
for autopsy. Captain Hinds spoke to the
reporters gathered there and gave them
the sketchy description of the washed-
out blue-eyed Mr. “Alsup.” This de-
scription was forwarded to the police
communications section and a general
alarm was sent out. Soon after that Cap-
tain Hinds returned to his office.

Early that evening the report on the
autopsy performed by Coroner Miller
and Dr. H. H. Ridgon, a noted patho-
logist on the staff of the University of
Tennessee’s medical college, came
through. It was immediately relayed to
Captain Miller and Sergeant Wiebenga,
who were still at the hotel questioning
employees.

The autopsy report confirmed that
the girl in 1011 had died of strangula-
tion. Sheshad been garroted with some-
thing soft which had left almost no
mark on her throat. There was no evi-
dence of criminal assault. The time of
death was fixed as no later than six
&.M. on Saturday morning.

HAT evening the tenth floor maid

who had discovered the corpse was
questioned. She went over the details of
her horrible find again.

“Why did you wait until after two
in the afternoon before you entered the
room to clean it?” Captain Miller asked.

“Because every time I went near the
door I heard sounds of people having
a party in there. I went back a few times
and still heard the noises. I waited until
it was quiet.”

The two officers looked at each other
incredulously.

“You mean to say that you heard a
party in room ten-eleven even after six
A.M.?” Miller demanded sharply, re-
membering the autopsy report.

“Yes,” the maid replied. “I heard
them in there (as late as eleven o’clock
this morning.”

“She’s either covering up for a3
laziness,” Wiebegna said, puzzled, “o
else she has a wild imagination.

One of the bellboys recalled having
brought cigarettes and late newspapers
to room 1011 at about midnight the
previous evening. He had nothing signi-

ficant to add, stating that only the man
and the woman were in the room when
he was there. An elevator operator re-
called the couple who had registered as
Mr. and Mrs. Alsup very well.

“When they got to the elevator,” the
operator said, ‘the woman turned &side
as if she didn’t want to get on. But the
man held her by the arm and pushed her
in. She was almost in tears. The man
told her not to worry; that they were
just going to the room to wait for
some friends.”

This strengthened the officer’s con-
jecture that the girl had not gone to the
hotel of her own volition, but had been
forced to go there by “Mr. Alsup,”
whoever he really was. They strongly
doubted that the couple had come from
California.

Within an hour after the late editions
hit the streets with the news of the mur-
der the body was identified. At the
morgue, a woman who had recognized
the pictures in the paper came forth.

“She is my daughter,” the tearful wo-
man sobbed, “Jewell—Jewell Roberts.”

Asked to supply as much information
about the murdered girl as she could,
the grief-striken mother told the police
her daughter was 27 years old and a

_ widow of a G. I.

“When did you last see -your daugh-
ter?” the chief of detectives asked.

“About two P.M. yesterday after-
noon,” the parent answered. “She came
into town to do some shopping. Oh,
this is awful. Why did this have to hap-
pen now—now when for the first time
in her life Jewell was to know some
happiness?”

The mother broke down and sobbed.
After a while she regained her com-
posure and resumed talking. ‘Jewell was
about to be married. She came into
town to buy the remainder of her trous-
seau.” .

“You mean your daughter was plan-
ning to get married?”

(Continued on page 59)

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was fixed but the DA and the cops
never mentioned confiscating Lou’s
address book along with the packing
cases filled with obscene photos and
movies. Somebody obviously got to
somebody. At the trial none of the
‘names of our important clients was
mentioned.

Lou was sent away for three years.
Harry and a half dozen other men
employes got a year. The court was
easier on the girls. We drew an average
of ninety days.

Gracie, of course, got nothing. She

KILL ANOTHER WOMAN

(Continued from page 9)

“Yes,” the elderly woman answered,
“the date was set for September First.
She just began wearing the engagement
ring her fiance had given her.”

“Did she wear any other jewelry?”

“Two rings and the engagement ring.”

“How valuable were they?”

““Well, the engagement ring was worth
about a hundred and seventy-five dol-
lars and the other two cost about one
hundred apiece.”

“How much money was your daugh-
ter carrying when she left the house?”

“Forty-five dollars.”

“What is. her fiance’s name?”

“Myron Gross,” the mother answered.
“He’s a soldier stationed at Camp
Wheeler, Georgia.”

' “When was the last time he was in
Memphis?”

“About two weeks ago.”

“You're sure he wasn’t in town since
then?”

“As sure as I can be.”

“Did Jewell ever go out with any other
men while Gross was in camp?”

“I should say not.”

“Did Jewell and Myron ever quar-
rel?”- Hinds asked with a view toward
the obvious possibility.

“Well, they did,” the mother ans-
wered, “when they first started going
~together. Jewell had been going around
with a traveling salesman she met at
the restaurant where she worked. Myron
wanted Jewell to stop seeing him. Fin-
ally Jewell agreed and the arguments
ceased.”

“What was this salesman’s name?”

The woman thought for some time.

~~At- length she said, “I’m sorry. I guess

it just slipped my mind. I never met the
man. Jewell and he never got along
very well and I guess that’s the reason
she didn’t bring him around to meet
me.

“Can you remember anything about
him?” ;

“I think he was a jewelry salesman
and I think he came from Chicago.

That’s about all | ever knew about him.”

“Do you have any idea who your
daughter was with in the hotel?” |

“No, I'm afraid not. But I do know
this. My daughter was a good girl. I’m

was praised as having been courageous
enough to break up a vice ring. Some-

times, the dumber you are the better it ©

pays off.

I’m living in a lousy cell along with
a bunch of ten-dollar prostitutes. I’m
wearing a crummy prison dress and
the food I get I wouldn’t feed to a
poodle.

But I'll be out of here in a couple
of months and there are other Lous
around, other men who appreciate a
pretty girl who is willing to do anything
provided the price is right. ¢

positive that she didn’t go there of her
own accord and I’m sure she didn’t go
there for any illicit purpose.”

Chief Hinds immediately got in touch
with the authorities at Camp Wheeler.
They asked Gross’s company officer
to check whether he had been in camp
on the night of the murder. In that
event Gross would be clear and they
asked his commanding officer to give the
soldier permission to come to Memphis
to aid with the investigation. \

OME hours later, the soldier, com-

pletely cleared of any implication -

in the murder, presented himself at the
office of Captain Hinds. It was apparent
that the soldier felt a genuine and in-
tense shock at his sweetheart’s sudden
and violent death. “A,

“What can you tell us about thesmir-
der of your fiance?” the captain asked.

“Well, I can tell you this much: Jew-
ell never went to that hotel of her own
free will. She was forced to go there.”

“By whom?”

“Pll tell you by whom; by that dirty
Pete Ambler, that’s who. He used to
hang around with Jewell. He’s a jewelry
salesman. When I came around Jewell
dropped Ambler like a hot potato. He
swore he’d get even with her. Jewell
was scared to death of him.”

Hinds recognized that a good deal
of this tirade was just reaction to
Gross’s sense of deep loss. However,
he played the lead for anything that
might be in it. oe

“Did Ambler ever give Jewell any
trouble after she met you?” the captain
asked.

“I'll say,” the soldier replied. “The
coward beat her up—blackened both her
¢yes.”

“When was that?”

“About a month ago.”

“Did you ever see Ambler?”

“No. All I know about him is what
Jewell has told me. It’s a good thing
I never laid eyes on him or I would have
killed him.” :

“Do you know anything about him?”

“Well, he’s about forty; he drinks a
lot and he’s been married. He told Jew-
ell he had a wife and two kids in Ind-
jana.”

Jewelry houses throughout Chicago
were visited in response to requests by
Chief Hinds. The firm which employed
Peter Ambler was soon located.’ The

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sales manager of the firm told the Chi-
cago authorities that Ambler was sched-
uled to be covering the area around
Kansas City for the next week or ten
days. Hinds immediately notified po-
lice authorities in that city that Peter
Ambler was wanted in Memphis for
questioning. '

In the meantime, Detectives Hillin
and Wiebenga were canvassing the cafes
in downtown Memphis following Hil-
lin’s hunch that he had seen Jewell
Roberts working as a waitress in one
of the local cafes. Finally through the
two detectives’ dogged efforts, going
from cafe to cafe and interviewing all
of the murdered girl’s know acquaint-
ances, a significant lead came to light.

Myra Barr, a twenty-year-old book-
keeper and friend of Jewell Roberts,
told Detectives Hillin and Wiebenga an
interesting story. On the Saturday even-
ing of the day Jewell’s body had been
discovered, Miss Barr had been having
dinner at the restaurant where the mur-
dered girl was formerly employed. A
mutual friend of Miss Barr and the
Roberts girl came in and sat down be-
side Myra. The friend’s name was Lor-
etta Green. ‘

“I knew of Jewell’s murder, but Lor-
etta didn’t,” the bookkeeper told the
detectives. “‘When I told her about it
she nearly passed, out. I knew that she
and Jewell had been friendly, but |
never expected Loretta to take it the
way she did. She turned white as a,sheet
and started shaking so badly that&she

couldn’t hold her cup. I asked’sher,

what was the matter. She said, ‘Oh, my
God, Myra! This is awful. I can’t tell
you about it. I'm so afraid. I’ve got to
get out of town right now.’

“With that Loretta left her meal on
the table and dashed out,” the book-
keeper concluded.

ia detectives immediately set out
for the address of Loretta Green
which had been supplied to them by
their youthful informant.

“The Green girl was obviously ter-
rified of something,” Wiebenga mused,
“and I’m fairly sure it’s tied up with
the murder of Jewell Roberts some-
how.”

Loretta Green’s great-aunt greeted
the investigators at the door of her
modest cottage.

“Why, I’m afraid that Loretta is not
here,” the elderly woman replied after
the detectives had stated their business.

“Do you know where she is?”

“I’m afraid not,” the relative replied
with obvious concern. “Last Saturday
night Loretta came running in and
dashed straight up to her room. A few
minutes later she came down carrying a
suitcase and got into a cab which she
had phoned for. I went outside and she
told me not to worry. She said she had
to go out of town for a few days and
would be back soon. I haven't heard
from her since.”

“Do you have any idea where Lor-
etta might have gone?” Hillin asked.

“No.” ’

“Do you know where Loretta spent
last Friday night—the night the Roberts

girl was killed?” Wiebenga asked. ~°

“Certainly,” the octogenarian replied. —
“Loretta and I went downtown to the —
movies. We got home at about eleven- ~
thirty and went straight to bed.” é

“Is it possible that Loretta could —
have left the house later that night after _
you were asleep?” Hillin asked.

“Why, yes, it’s possible,” the great- —
aunt replied. “I don’t see why she would -
have, though.” +

“It is possible that she did leave, —
however?” Hillin asked.

The elderly woman nodded. “Tell
me,” she said, “is Loretta in any |
trouble?” %

“I don’t know,” Wiegenga replied. -
“But I hope not.” - —

“We've got to get hold of Loretta ™&
Green,” Hillin said as the>two men |)
drove off. “I’m convinced that the key
to this case lies with that girl.” ‘a

“Yes, Loretta Green is the key, all
right,” Chief Hinds agreed when Wie-
benga and Hillin told him of their day’s
efforts. ‘Find her. Keep on her trail and
bring her in as soon as possible.”

Captain Miller paid a visit to the cafe
that formerly employed Jewell Roberts.
He spoke with the manager who had
an interesting story to tell.

“Yes,” the proprietor said, “Pete
Ambler was a regular customer here
whenever he was in town. He used to
be sweet on that Roberts girl who work- F
ed here. He used to be quite attentive
to her. Then a few weeks ago Jewell
met this soldier from Camp Wheeler.
She quit her job and was planning to
marry him. Ambler sure took it bad.
He drank hard.” x

“When was the last time you saw ==
Pete Ambler here?” Miller asked. oa

“On the Wednesday before Jewell
was murdered,” the cafe owner replied.
“He was drinking heavily and was in
a foul mood. My cashier started to kid
him about Jewell dropping him like a
hot potato for the soldier. Ambler be-
gan to curse and shout. Then he rushed
out. I haven’t seen him since.” .

“At this stage it looks like Ambler “7
is Our best bet as a suspect. He had ©
the motive and apparently he was in
town at the time of the murder,” Mil-
ler told the chief in conference. no

“Yes,” Hinds said. “Now if only the —
Green girl can tie Ambler in somehow
we'll have the case made.”

Just then Detectives Wiebenga and 9
Hillin came in with Loretta Green in | 4
tow. The detectives had canvassed all 3"
the taxicab companies in the city. It
had been an easy matter to run down. .
the taxi that had picked Loretta Green
up on that Saturday evening. The hackie
told the policemen he had driven Lor-
etta to the bus station... He stated that
he had known the girl since early child-
hood and she had confided to him that ©
she was going to Arkansas to stay with = 7
relatives. It had been an easy matter. ~~
to trace the girl in that state. : jas

Chief Hinds questioned the fright-~
ened girl himself.

“You were a very good friend of ©
Jewell Roberts’, weren’t you?” he asked. |

The trembling girl nodded. “Her mur-.
der was a terrible shock,” she said. |.

. ze
i iad,


ARRESTS FONE > 0 ee ~ = TSeiT = DET PE, ET SL AF RS ETT Oe 2 TP AO Sgt SE Thy me we ow

. LSA 19.33,

i,
arn flr rule wear why fo sat Pas Bn tod foe Safi
een PRE A CAS (arens  he net Lief Pi
th Peeve AAAN wi cts Sad Cel
Tracks ee he tes paw ik ecg ey Og dlc an PPatehin
With a drcken wie8 , whit bef art ola ar way |
Wha, fA wen Hie of 9 kann Gblencnacs Pigmeh tats tek |
Fur pord Maetr Fae J2dtluen LV CAR. : ee wor 4 L Lec, ou f |
ded ufc Vv : : | .
Te Ce cl Dae’ * Ak ee ona a , ova tta BG pa Poe =
i lefrcnd covtt fe oe OU ae ey 2 Oe AO, See aa, SEE |
(dnd Srauic dheean an rare REY Mile Te able af
Bee ee te oe i ay Pee fi he wee arty
deed ae aN ane Cink, Flea W Oc. Lerma Car ehiiniowim aad)
een tty | aeree Jf Phat Che lent sneeft Fee of
E 0 ee to Ft. asthe Fh Coen we tt aol
ctl: at Be Lids iv Piapice oe eer a ale Pt

aad poe Wa! Bat ah cz bat aa Shan daze Ge

De ce JOE oh ee ota ae eee pn

fe pa AL Cortucein, 5th tee 000d Jt eC Saree ee ey oy
dasa ree OHM LenS Wren, snc eS Ole ae fiat Ke wun

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