Ohio, T, 1882-1984, Undated

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Seventh Reprinting

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-29979

(Te Ana Vet WW

~ THREE
HOURS
TOLIVE

William C. Fagal

Pacific Press Publishing Association
Mountain View, California
Oshawa, Ontario

40 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

makes his last confident statement of faith before going
to his death. But Sam was ahead of me, and before
ever I got to read this to him he referred to this verse.

‘“You know,”’ he mused, ‘‘what verse of Scripture
has meant most to me today? I have thought often of
the words of the apostle Paul, ‘I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous-
ness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them
also that love His appearing.’ ’’ Then, thinking back
over his twenty-seven years of life, he added, ‘‘The
first twenty-six years were not so good. I wouldn’t
want to live them over again, but this last year, since I
found Jesus, has been a wonderful year. I would love
to live this one over again and again.’”’ Though this was
the year that he had spent behind bars on death row, it
had been lived with Christ in his heart. This had made
it memorable.

Later, the Protestant chaplain related to me how he
had stopped in to visit Sam in his death-row cell that
afternoon and found him, Bible in hand, lying on his
bed, and looking up at the concrete ceiling. Finally, he
exclaimed, ‘‘Chaplain, this is a glorious place!’’ When
the chaplain inquired what had produced such feelings
in his heart, he instantly responded, ‘‘Because this is
the place where I found Jesus Christ as my Saviour.”’
Sam is not the first man to have found that the pres-
ence of Jesus Christ can change even a dungeon or a
death-row cell into a glorious place.

Men are not allowed to dress formally for their ex-
ecutions. Sam was attired in just a simple white shirt,
without necktie, a pair of blue prison dungarees with a
red stripe on each side, and shoes and socks. In the
pocket of his shirt he had brought a little paperbound

THREE HOURSTOLIVE 41

New Testament which had just arrived in his mail that
day. He gave me that Testament just before he died,
and I shall always treasure it. Together we read many
verses of Scripture which he remembered and which
had come to mean a great deal to him. From God’s
Word we read again the promise of the new earth, the
second coming of Jesus, and many related promises
which mean so much to every Christian anticipating
Christ’s soon return.

One Scripture verse which Sam particularly appreci-
ated was 1 John 5:14, which contains the words ‘‘ac-
cording to His will.’’ As we read this passage together
Sam said, ‘“That is all I want. Whatever is according to
His will, that will be all right for me.’’ He told me then
that in the year since he had found Jesus as his Saviour
he had spent five hours each day studying the Scrip-
tures. As nearly as he could compute, this meant that
he had spent about two thousand hours in studying the
Word of God. It is no wonder that one could hardly
begin quoting a text of Scripture but that Sam could
complete it. Only a year before, this man had held in
his hands his first Bible. But as the result of properly
valuing it, he had now become exceedingly well versed
in its teachings, and its principles had changed his life.

Finally, at 7:25 p.m. Sam stated, “‘I know that you
are going to want to pray with me tonight. Why don’t
we do it now.’’ Once again he was ahead of me—it
seemed to me that it was always this way. I had
planned to pray with him a little closer to eight o’clock.
However, at his request, of course we prayed then.
The Protestant chaplain had joined us by this time, and
the three of us sat side by side. Turning to the chaplain
I requested, ‘‘Chaplain you lead us in prayer; then,
Sam, pray next; and I will offer the last prayer.’’ The
chaplain immediately bowed his head and offered a

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 39

he shook Sam’s hand, ‘‘I wonder if I'll ever meet any-
body else in all the world like you.’’ He then thanked
him for what their friendship had meant to him spiri-
tually. With that, they parted, with no more emotion
than if they were to meet again in but a few more mo-
ments.

Sam and I sat down together then and visited at
length about spiritual things. He explained his attitude
regarding what was about to happen that night: “‘I’m
just going to go to sleep tonight as I have done every
other night. No one should feel sorry for me, and I
don’t want this to be a solemn time for long faces. The
way I look at it, my work is done. Everything is made
right between me and God. The records are clear in
heaven. My sleep will seem but a moment, and the
next voice I hear will be the voice of Jesus Christ wak-
ing me to spend an eternity with Him in the earth made
new. Rather than your feeling sorry for me, it should
be the other way around. I should feel sorry for you,
for you must remain on here to fight the good fight of
faith. The future struggles will be yours rather than
mine.”’

It was inspiring to me to observe how love for Jesus
Christ and confidence in His Word could make a man
reason this way. His thoughts in these final hours were
not on himself but were constantly reaching out to oth-
ers. He seemed to want to tell me about his family, his
wife from whom he was divorced, and his two little
children. He expressed joy that his wife had remarried
and had apparently found a good husband who would
make an excellent father for his boy and girl. He told
me of his other relatives and of his appreciation and
affection for them.

One text of Scripture I had planned to read to him
was 2 Timothy 4:7, 8. In these verses the apostle Paul

42 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

lovely prayer in which he thanked God for the “‘bright
Christian experience’’ of this young man who had been
so transformed by the gospel.

We were still seated when Sam’s turn came to pray.
The chaplain and I were puzzled to see just what he
was going to do when he rose from his chair. But he
only turned around, then dropped to his knees in front
of his chair. No sitting down and talking to God for
him. You may be sure that I dropped to my knees be-
side him.

I wish that I might have had a tape recorder to take
down the exact words of his prayer so as to share with
others the deep faith and assurance which was evident
even in his tone of voice! His prayer went something
like this:

‘‘Dear Father, You know that more than a year ago I
placed my life in Your hands. Nothing that has hap-
pened in this past year has changed that in any way.
Nothing that will happen tonight will change that; my
life is still in Your hands. Do with it as You will. And,
God, I know that You never make any mistakes.
Amen.”’

I must confess that prayer was rather difficult for me
after hearing that moving plea, but I did my best. At
the conclusion of my prayer Sam offered another
prayer, for there was something he had forgotten. This
second prayer reminded me somewhat of that of Ste-
phen, the first Christian martyr. Sam prayed, ‘‘Lord,
don’t hold against these guards what they are about to
do tonight. What I have done has forced them to do
what they are about to do. If it is a sin, Lord, then
charge it up to my account, and forgive it just as You
have forgiven all the rest of my sins. Amen.”’

That was the kind of love, forgiveness, and under-
standing Jesus Christ had placed in his heart. I thought

“a

“BEAUTY AND THE BEAST OF SL

by Leslie Gomez

* TO DAVE and Paul Lawrence, speeding by in their
pickup truck, it looked like little more than a blur of
white alongside the road, They had gone another hun-
dred yards before Paul could brake the truck to a halt
and turn to his brother.

“Do you think it could be? .. .” Dave asked him.

“A body,” Paul finished for him. A woman on the
ground there. That’s what it looked like to me!” :

Paul shifted to reverse and the light truck’s engine
growled as he backed up the country road four miles south

Deputy Sheriff Leroy Bliss, of Sandusky County, points to spot where body was found.

of Fremont in northwestern Ohio.

It was a body, all right, the stiffening corpse of a young
woman in a white uniform which could have been that of
a waitress, or possibly a nurse. Her skull was hideously
cloven, her dark hair an ugly clotted mass. Her face was
so battered that neither man could have recognized her,
even if the brothers had known her in life.

“Nothing we can do for her,” Dave observed. “Let's get
us to a phone.”

It was 8:20 on the Monday morning of May 2nd, when
Sandusky County Deputy Sheriff Leroy Bliss took the call
in the sheriff's courthouse headquarters in Fremont. At its
conclusion he cut the connection, then lifted the receiver

yas ;
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POLICE DRAGNET

again and got Sergeant Robert Boucher at city police head-
quarters.

“Walter Cronin still around?” Bliss inquired.

“He was a few minutes ago,” Boucher Teplied. “What’s
up? Anything on the missing Bradford woman?”

“There’s a dead woman out by the Tindall bridge,” Bliss
said. “What’ll you give me she isn’t Shirley Bradford?”

“I'll get Cronin,” the sergeant said, “and meet you out
at the bridge.”

Speeding out Route 12, then south to the Sandusky River
road and the Tindall bridge, Deputy Bliss reviewed in his
own mind what he knew of the strange disappearance of
pretty, 31-year-old Mrs. Bradford, which had been re-
ported to the city authorities and to his own office only
an hour or so before.

T shortly after 4 a.M., Walter Cronin had arrived at
his new restaurant in West State Street to find it
unaccountably locked and dark.

Cronin himself should have been at the café all night,
but his car was laid up for repairs and he had fallen asleep
Sunday night while waiting for his sister to return with
her auto for him to use to drive to work, and the sister
had not aroused him when she did come in.

However, Mrs. Bradford was on duty from 11 at. night

Why did the all-night waitress lock
the restaurant door at 3 a.m.? Where

had she gone minus her coat and purse?

Divorcee and mother, Shirley’s luck was strictly hard.
POLICE DRAGNET

MARCH, 1963.

until 7 in the morning. Why she was not there at around
4:20 Cronin did not understand, although he had guessed
that perhaps her 10-year-old son, who had been ailing,
might suddenly have become really ill and that she had
locked up the restaurant and gone to his side. Separated
from her husband, Mrs. Bradford lived with the boy in
‘a private home on Howland Street.

Cronin had reclosed the café, had driven to his own
home, then had phoned another waitress, who regularly
worked from 7 a.m, until 3 p.m. in the cafe and had picked
her up and driven her to the restaurant to get realy for
the early breakfast rush.

It was this second girl who had found the two $20 bills
beneath the cash register and then had discovered that the
till was empty.

She also turned up a jacket and purse she said were
Shirley’s, and Cronin found a pack of Pall Malls—Mrs.
Bradford’s brand of cigarettes—on the counter, along with
three dirty dishes.

Obviously the night waitress had departed in haste to
leave her cigarettes, coat and bag behind. That would be
understandable had she been summoned in a hurry to her
little boy’s bedside.

But what had happened to the money in the cash
drawer? The tape showed there should have been around
$115 there, and of this sum all but the $40 was gone.

Could Shirley have taken the receipts with her to keep
them safe, carelessly dropping the two twenties as she
tushed out? Could she herself have decamped with the
cash? Or was there another, a sinister cause for her absence?

Cronin couldn't puzzle it out. At about 7:30 o’clock he
went to the police.

“Mrs. Bradford worked for me only about three months,”
he told Sergeant Boucher. “But I’d have sworn she was as
honest as the day is long.”

Now, less than an hour later, Deputy Sheriff Bliss was
rushing to a woods where a woman had been found mur-
dered and clad in a white uniform such as that which
Shirley Bradford would have worn at work the night before.
And Sergeant Boucher and Walter Cronin were racing along
not far behind.

Cronin identified the dead woman as Shirley Bradford.
He was positive of his identification, he declared, despite
the savage bludgeoning the victim had suffered and the
mutilation of her head and face.

Dr. F. A. Visconti, the county coroner, said an autopsy
would be necessary to determine whether Mrs. Bradford
had died of multiple skull fractures, or had been shot.

“There is one wound,” he pointed out, “which resembles
a bullet hole. Death occurred about four hours ago—some-
time between four and five o’clock this morning, as closely
as I can judge.”

Bliss and Boucher, aided now by Captain Jack McGuire
and Patrolman Joseph Forgatsch of the city department,
combed through the clearing alongside the river for the
lethal bludgeon, but unearthed no weapon. Then, under
the direction of McGuire and Sheriff Ted Paul, the investi-
gation back to the cafe. ;

There was no sign of a struggle, no evidence of blood
in the restaurant.

“It seems plain,” Captain McGuire believed, “that Mrs.
Bradford was held up, the cash register robbed, and then
she was carried off, doubtless at gunpoint, to be killed out
there by the bridge.”

“Most likely by somebody she recognized,” Sheriff Paul
added. “That'd be about the only reason I could think of
for killing the girl—to keep her from naming the robber.”

McGuire turned to Cronin. “Any way of checking on
late customers in the place?” he asked. “Any regulars who
come in around three or four in the morning? We'd like
to know how early the cafe was closed.”

The café owner checked a spike near the cash register.
He removed the top slip and handed it over to the police
captain.

“Ridge Heffner,” he said, showing the signature across
the face of the check. “Drives a cab and runs a weekly tab
here. Ridge comes in every morning around three and eats
his supper, then signs for it as he leaves. This slip shows he
was in this morning.”

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THREE
HOURS
TOLIVE

At twenty-seven, Sam Tannyhill paid his debt to so-
ciety in the death chamber at Ohio State Peniten-
tiary.

But that grim fact does not tell the whole story of
Sam Tannyhill. In this volume the drama unfolds of
a boy tossed between a dozen homes before he be-
came a teenager, his early brushes with the law, and
the tragic events which led to his imprisonment and
the electric chair.

But this story is more than pain, loneliness, and
tragedy. For Sam Tannyhill found God while in
prison and became a powerful influence on his fel-
low prisoners.

The author of this book, an internationally famous
TV speaker, shares with us his personal relation-
ship with Sam Tannyhill and how Sam became a
practicing Christian, able to face execution with re-
markable courage.

The lessons that Sam learned are open to the
reader as the author outlines how anyone can find
the peace and joy that God promises through Jesus
Christ.

Captain Jack McGuire of Fremont police (left) follows confessed slayer, handcuffed to Sheriff Ted Paul, into courthouse for arraignment.

Suspect, standing on bank with Sheriff to whom he is manacled, watches Captain McGuire retrieve murder weapon

ToS EATS UY q
ag ae

HYEEENER, an all-night driver, was asleep at his home
when McGuire phoned his wife and told her of the
murder and that the police wished to talk with her husband.

Heffner voluntarily appeared at headquarters. “The first
I heard of what happened,” he explained, “was when my
missus woke me and told me.”

The young cabbie said he’d gone into the cafe as usual
at around 3 or 3:15 that morning.

“There were five or six people there then,” he said. “They
went out right after I sat at the counter and gave Shirley
my order. While I was eating, a young fellow came in and
got a cup of coffee.

“He got to talking with Shirley-and me. She asked about
a cab fare, and this guy began kidding her, saying he’d
teach her to drive so she wouldn’t have to use cabs. Then
he began talking about being engaged to some girl named
Peggy. After I ate, I asked Shirley for a smoke, but he got
out his pack and offered me one~a Lucky Strike.

“Just as I was leaving at a quarter to four—I had a fare
to pick up—the fellow said he guessed he’d have a ham-
burger, and Shirley started back to the kitchen to fix it.”

“You left this man alone in the place?” McGuire asked.

“Yeah. And about a quarter after four I came back up
West State Street, carrying a fare out to the foundry, and
saw the cafe was dark. ] wondered about that, on account
of it’s never closed. But I knew Walt Cronin hadn’t shown
up last night, and thought maybe Shirley’d had to leave
for some reason. I never suspected anything was wrong.”

“You didn’t recognize this man?” Sheriff Paul queried.

“I drive a cab all night in this town,” Heffner answered.
“I certainly come in contact with most of the nighthawks,
one time or another. I don’t recall seeing this jasper before.”

“You can describe him, I suppose,” the sheriff said.

“Average size,” Heffner replied. “Young, around twenty-

five, I'd guess. Dark hair. Not too bad looking. I'd rec-
ognize him, I’m sure. And he wore a loud sports shirt,
black and yellow and green checkered.”

If a night cab driver in a small city of 20,000 had never
seen the man before, the officers figured, then he probably
was from out of town or a newcomer to Fremont. .

This theory, however, lessened the chances that Mrs.
Bradford would have known him, and her ability to identify
him in an armed robbery appeared the only logical motive
for her murder.

Whoever he was, though, this man was the No. | suspect
at present in the slaying of the pretty waitress. He had been
alone with the victim at 3:45 a.m. and the restaurant had
been dark half an hour later, and even before then, or
Ridge Heffner would have seen Shirley and her captor in
Li vincinity of the cafe as he drove back along West State

treet.

Clues to his identity were few. Heffner’s physical de-)
scription would fit a good many young men. He smoked
Lucky Strike cigarettes. He went around with or was en-
gaged to a girl named Peggy. And he had been Wearing a
sports shirt which other persons who might have seen him
perhaps would remember.

N Tuesday, Captain McGuire was on duty when the

manager of a local supermarket visited police head-.
quarters to complain about a phony check which had been
passed in his store on Saturday.

“I didn’t know the fellow who gave me the check,” the
storekeeper said, “but he was with Peggy Ditson, and I knew
her and figured the check would be okay.”

The name Peggy caught McGuire’s attention. He asked
to see the worthless check. It was signed Samuel W. Tanny-

(Continued on page 56)

—_— ox ‘ea i r ;

Hig?

ee
‘
ra

End of long trail of hardship and heartbreak for night-working divorcee who made fatal mistake

POLICE DRAGNET

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 59

Thus, your Christian life will be a constant one of
praise to God for victories won.

I have always felt that God brought me into contact
with Sam Tannyhill for a purpose. I would like to think
that part of the purpose was to witness the joy and
peace which acceptance of Christ brought to Sam in his
last months of life. But I have also felt that a wider pur-
pose was that I might share his story with others,
bringing to them the assurance that what God did for
Sam, He could also do for them. The truth of the mat-
ter is that if God could so gloriously redeem the life of a
murderer, He can redeem anyone.

Surely He can save you from your sins, great and
small. Have you let Him do it?

rn just who
itside of the
Deputies and
fut and ob-
of customers
e restaurant
morning. It
nan sensibly
be smart to
ad cab com-
f their driv-
since there
mong them,

devoted to
tomers who
ive. An em-
ut Company
a.m., and it
atopsy, that
st. But then
iey had been
ore her body
lite possibly

iurant until

e truck and

from, and
vut. Finally,
e to Harold
lt that with
haps gotten
k had been

Shirley over

when this
‘kin’ bird—”’
efore?” Mc-

at. “I seem
I’m pretty
{ut, though.
very skinny
five-ten. He
looks kind
hy-eyed, he
hat bobbed

scription of
said, sus-
e throwing
take sus-
After all,
been the

ne—such a
as a lady’s

McGuire

1 a mutual
omething—
shirley how
talker, this
where.”
nent, then
for a few
otes, then
he asked:
night at

then said,
cups of

u're clear.
Mrs. Brad-
SS put the
1 were the

next to the last customer.” He smiled as .

he got up, and Davrick also got up.
“You didn’t happen to notice if this
guy came by car, did you?”

Davrick was quick with his answer.
“Yeah. I did. At least, I figure the car
outside was his. I heard the door slam
just before he came in. And when I
went out, I kind of wondered what kind
of car this big-talker had.” Davrick’s
laugh was contemptuous. “A jalopy,
naturally. A beaten-up ’49 Hudson, with
big dents in the front fenders. Green, I
think. A sedan.”

McGuire thanked Davrick, and the
cabbie left. Now the police had a couple
of more leads—a description of the last
customer, plus one of his car. And, as
a remote possibility, a girl named Anne
or Ann who was acquainted with
Shirley.

CGUIRE sent men out to check on

auto sales in second-hand car lots
and pondered the description of Shirley's
last customer. For some reason, it rang
a bell in his mind, as if somewhere, re-
cently, such a description had been
presented to the police in another case,
but he could not identify the hunch.

It wasn’t until Tuesday evening that
Sergeant Boucher, who had been out
all day canvassing the auto lots, came
into McGuire’s office. His face wore the
flush of success. “I think I’ve located the
car—at least, I think I know who the
owner is—”

“Where?”

“Tod Motor Sales on West State
Street sold a Hudson of that descrip-
tion on March 11th to a customer by
the name of Samuel Tannyhill—”

McGuire half-rose from his chair and
slapped the desk. ““That’s the guy I’ve
been trying to place! The guy passing
out bum checks. How did the com-
plaints describe him?”

“Thin—about five-ten—rimless glasses
—dark hair—small moustache—”

“The same. The description we got
from the cabby of the last customer in
the restaurant Monday morning.”

Boucher grinned. “Well, he’s’ regis-
tered on the sales slip as living at the
Colonial Hotel—and we've got, the li-
cense number to use in an All Points
Bulletin in case he’s blown town.”

OUCHER was immediately sent

around to the hotel on Sandusky
Avenue where he spoke to the clerk and
found that Tannyhill had checked out
the night before. The sergeant cussed
his luck, then asked when Tannyhill
had come in—on Sunday night—or Mon-
day morning.

“He came in late,” the clerk said.
“Got in a little after one-thirty, I'd say.
Before two, anyway, that’s for sure.”

Disappointed, Boucher returned to
headquarters and discussed these de-
velopments with McGuire. The police
captain got on the phone immediately
to the FBI in Washington, requesting
any data they might have on Samuel
Tannyhill. He also called the State
Bureau of Investigation, telling them
what he wanted, and sent two officers
over to the Colonial Hotel to get a com-

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“It would ruin my medical reputa-
tion if the manner of death were
learned,” she said. “I don’t know what
got into me. I wasn’t thinking straight.
I decided to fake a robbery. I got the
gun, shot her—she was dead already,
you know—and cleaned up what little
blood there was.”

This confession was a lot closer to
the truth, the police knew, but the
part about the accidental chloroform
death sounded fishy. It was completely
disproved when the autopsy on Rheta
revealed that it was the bullet, not
the chloroform, that had killed her.

Before her trial for first degree
murder, Dr. Alice Wynekoop recanted
her confession, but the prosecution
was able to introduce it, anyway. Her
motives, they proved, were the obvious
ones: The insurance money and the
secondary reason of freeing her much-
loved wastrel son from an unwanted
marriage.

This was what the prosecution
charged and this was what the jury
believed, for they convicted her (Earle,
who has since died, was completely
absolved), and she was sentenced to
twenty-five years in prison.

Yet, ever afterward, Dr. Alice Lind-
say Wynekoop maintained that she
was innocent, and in 1948 (she was
released from jail late in 1947) she
submitted to still another lie detector
test, this one more extensive, and the
man who administered it to her
claimed that she very well might not
have committed the crime.

If she didn’t, who did? Even the
ghosts of that ghoulish house on Chi-
cago’s West Monroe Street can no
longer tell, for two years after the
murder the walls were torn down.

DEATH MARCH OF
THE GRASS WIDOW

(Continued from page 31)

had a brother, Frank Andrews, living
on South Front Street. She was com-
pletely honest, industrious, and thor-
oughly respectable.

The ofhicer asked to look at the cash
register, and when he pulled the drawer
all the way out, he noticed two folded-
up twenties, half-concealed in a back
compartment.

“There—that should prove it!” Wid-
man said. “She always does that with
twenties—says it’s safer just in case of
robbery. A crook might overlook ‘em.
That should prove sne didn’t take off
with the money. I knew it in my bones.”

Suddenly, Widman snapped his fin-
gers. “How stupid can a guy get?” he
mumbled, then walked over and opened
a closet door. He reached out and
touched a tan shorty: coat, pulled it
aside, and underneath hung a_ red
leather shoulder-strap bag. “‘That’s—

that’s her coat—and her bag.”
CRIME DETECTIVE

FFICER
Howlan
lived, and f
been seen by
dents since s
before eleve
the time she
The land!
ment, but t!
Bradford. T
relatives, she
Kindred
more time t
though Shi
Ominous ind
police, as we
office had be
Kindred
ported the
Robert Bou
Station.
“She's not
Boucher sai
You better
Tindall Brid
Forgatsch th:

UT near
arrived,
parked in th
Forgatsch, t!
officer, was
while Dr. F
bent over th:
Sheriff Ted
Myron Bork
Shirley B
down, on t!
edge of the
been brutal
some blunt
of bone stuc
It was Dr
ley had bee
killed, and ¢
nearby. A s
merous detec
the area imn
as Forgatsch
lage casts of
the bloodsoa}
was found.
vised the ren
the Weller-\
her brother,
identified the
Andrews
Stricken at |
ported that ¢
last evening,
cheerful, wit
ticeable nervy
cate that she
someone she
enemies,” Fr
she was on
husband, thc
“Is her hu
Chief Bork »
Frank shoo
last Shirley |
via a post-ca
Bradford mer
Chicago to tr
diately got in
asking them
in the hope t!
were any oth

CRIME DETECT

‘al reputa-

2ath were:

‘now what
g straight.

I got the
d already,

what little

closer to

but the
hloroform
-ompletely
on Rheta
vullet, not
led her.
st degree
) recanted
rosecution
yway. Her
1e Obvious

and the
her much-
unwanted

osecution
the jury
er (Earle,
ompletely
tenced to

Jice Lind-
that she
(she was
947) she
> detector
», and the

to her
might not

Even the
e on Chi-

can no
after the
rn down.

vs, living
vas com-
ind thor-

the cash
1e drawer
‘0 folded-

a back

it!’ Wid-
that with
n case of
look ’em.
take oft
y bones.”
his fin-
get?” he
d opened
out and
pulled it

a ted
That’s—

DETECTIVE

i i i

FFICER Kindred drove over to 508

Howland Street, where Shirley
lived, and found out that she hadn’t
been seen by her landlady or other resi-
dents since she had left for work shortly
before eleven p.m., the night before,
the time she usually left.

The landlady let him into the apart-
ment, but there was no sign of Shirley
Bradford. The boy was staying with
relatives, she explained.

Kindred decided that there was no
more time to be wasted. It looked -as
though Shirley’s disappearance was
ominous indeed, and that the Fremont
police, as well as the Sandusky sheriff's
office had best join in the investigation.

Kindred got a shock when he re-
ported the disappearance to Sergeant
Robert Boucher at the Fremont Police
Station.

“She’s not missing any more, Joe,”
Boucher said. “She’s been found—dead.
You better get out there—out by the
Tindall Bridge. You'll find me and Joe
Forgatsch there by the time you arrive.”

UT near the bridge, when Kindred

arrived, a number of cars were
parked in the picnic grounds. Patrolman
Forgatsch, the records and identification
officer, was photographing the scene
while Dr. F. A. Visconti, the coroner,
bent over the body of the slain woman.
Sheriff Ted Paul and Chief of Police
Myron Bork looked on.

Shirley Bradford was lying, face
down, on the grass, not far from the
edge of the Sandusky River. She had
been brutally beaten, hit so ‘hard by

some blunt instrument that splinters |

of bone stuck through her hair.

It was Dr. Visconti’s belief that Shir-
ley had been lured to this spot and
killed, and that the weapon might be
nearby. A search was begun, the nu-
merous detectives and deputies avoiding
the area immediately around the body
as Forgatsch and Boucher made mou-
lage casts of some vague footprints in
the bloodsoaked grass. But no weapon
was found. Dr. Visconti then super-
vised the removal of Shirley’s corpse to
the Weller-Wonderly mortuary where
her brother, Frank Andrews, formally
identified the body prior to the autopsy.

Andrews and his wife were prief-
stricken at the tragic event. They re-
ported that they had seen Shirley only
last evening, and that she had been
cheerful, with no apprehension or no-
ticeable nervousness which might indi-
cate that she had an assignation with

someone she feared. “She had no‘

enemies,’ Frank said, and added that
she was on friendly terms with her
husband, though they were separated.

“Is her husband still around town?”
Chief Bork wanted to know.

Frank shook his head, saying that the
last Shirley had heard from him was
via a post-card from Indiana in which
Bradford mentioned he was heading for
Chicago to try to get a job, Bork imme-
diately got in touch with Chicago police,
asking them to try to locate Bradford
in the hope that he might know if there
were any other men in Shirley’s life.

CRIME DETECTIVE

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were sporadic “regulars’

he might have been the

Bradford?”

learn just who

was a long list, and Widman sensibly

€ smart to

check with trucking lines and cab com-

cab companies were heard from, and

to Shirley over

my coffee,” Davrick Said, “when this

-lookin’ bird—”

“You'd never seen him before?” Mc-

Davrick thought a moment. “I seem
to have seen him around—I’m Pretty
Sure of that. Not at The Hut, though,

a very skinny

had a little moustache that looks kind

fishy-eyed, he

was. Had an Adam's apple that bobbed

he guy kind of §0t me—such a
jerky guy to be thinking he was a lady’s

McGuire

had a mutual
1 something—
to Shirley how

Ann was chasing him, Big talker, this
guy. I'd remember him anywhere.”

Phoned Widman and talked for a few
Minutes. He made some notes, then

Davrick looked Puzzled, then said,
Soup. A hamburger, Coupla cups of

Just occurred to me to check Mrs. Brad-
ford’s order Pad. The waitress put the

next
he
“Vo
guy
Da
“Yea
Outs)
just
went
of ca
laug!
Natura
big de:
think
Mc¢
cabbie
of mor
Custon
a rem
Or Ar
Shirley

ere
and por
last cus
a bell :
cently,
presente
but he C
It was
Sergeant
all day
into Mc
flush of s
car—at
Owner 1s
“Wher
“Tod
Street so]
tion on }
the name
McGuir
slapped ¢
been tryir
Out bum
plaints des
“Thin-

—dark ha

from the
the restau;
Boucher
tered on ¢
Colonial
cense num
Bulletin in

OUCHE
around

Avenue wh:
found that
the night
his luck, ¢)
had come in
day mornin;

“He came
“Got in a lit:
Before two, «

Disappoint:
headquarters
velopments \
Captain got o;
to the FBI in
any data they
Tannyhill. He
Bureau of In\
what he wante
Over to the Col:

CRIME DETECTIY

THOMPSON, George, white, hanged Sandusky County, Ohio (Fremont) on July 12, 18hh. ’

"George Thompson, Englishman; employed in Exchange Hotel of Bellvue, Ohio; had been a
ssilor on a British ship in the West Indies. Victim was Catherine Hamler, age 18,
Pennsylvania German, also employed by Exchange Hotel. She had repeatedly refused
Thompson's proposals of marriagee May 30, 18);2 - Thompson took gun to hotel and shot
the girl as she was ironing. She attempted to run and he shot her again, killing her.
Thompson was jailed in Fremont in same cell with Sperry Joseph Sperry, white farmer,
under sentence of death for murdering his wife, who committed suicide by cutting open
a main artery with a penknife on the night of Sept. 30, 1842). In September, 18h2, the
Grand Jury indicted Thompson for murder in the first degree. f week later, Thompson
escaped, but was returned to jail. Shortly after Sperry's suicide, Thompson escaped
again. In the Fall of 183, Thompson was found in Ottawa, Tll.e In March, 18h, he
wes returned to the Fremont jail. On June 20, 18), his trial began and the jury
brought in a verdict of "Guilty." On July 12, 18, he was hanged at 11:5 AM by
Sheriff John Strohl. The defense lawyers were Brice J. Bartlett and Cooper Watson,
while the prosecuting attorney was L. B. Otis. The judges were Bowen, McIntyre,

Knapp and Overmeyer, who had also presided at the trial of Sperry. His defense was
temporary insanity and that he could not know right from wrong because he had suffered
extreme sunstroke while a sailor in the West Indies." Informetion provided, September,
1982, by Ruth W. Balsizer, Secretary, Sandusky County Historical Society, 1337 Hayes
Avenue, Fremont, Ohio 320, citing HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY, 1882, pp 372-377 by
Homer Everett, and 20TH CENTURY HISTORY OF SANDUSCKY COUNTY, by Basil Meeks; Chicago:
Richmond=Arnold Coe, 1909, pp 17-175.

SAN

nks

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Bcen

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Hourt
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the
Brabie
also
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Moy}

b
DUSKY COUNTY

tence Coonstick executed by the aid of another
brother named Steel; Coonstick was arrested
by a constable and brought before a magis-
trate in Lower Sandusky charged with murder,
The Supreme Court being in session there at
the time, the question was raised by the defense
for the Indian that the state authorities had
no jurisdiction over the matter. ‘Che Supreme
judges were consulted and gave it as their
opiaion that the Indian tribes had coinplete
jucisdiction in such matters, under their laws |
of government, and that Coonstick was acting
in the capacity of an executioner only. He.
was accordingly discharged... Judge Higgins
is authority for the statement. No court rec:
ord, however, of the case appears, but there is
‘no doubt of the correctness of Judge ‘Higgins’
account, as he was familiar with: the court pro- © ava
ceedings at the time, « It is very probable that...)
no papers were filed in the matter, and. that the “0%.
opinion of. the Supreme Court “judges was.
given more in the way of advice than in’ a’*
rormal decision. ¥ : ake
NOTED MURDER CASES. ta
At the September term, 1842, and on Sep-
termber 14, the grand jury of which Charles
Lindsey was foreman, returned two indict- -.
ments for murder in the first degree; one”
against Joseph Sperry, who lived near Green-
spring, for killing his wife, Catherine, in.a fit.
of jealous rage, April 9, 1842, by striking her
in the temple with a flat-iron” The other in-*
dictment was against George Thompson for’ :.
the killing of a young woman by the name of ii?
Catherine Hamler in the Exchange Hotel at &%
Bellevue, on May 30, 1842, by shooting her.
because she refused his offer of marriage.
Sperry was tried at once.- He was defended
by: Homer. Everett'and' N. B.“ Eddy, the de--
fense being that his:wife had accidently fallen
from a Jadder in the house, which reached the,
garret, and in falling struck her head against...
the corner of a stone inthe lire-place. W, Weis >
Culver was prosecuting attorney and was AS@ 2k at
sisted by Cooper K. Watson. : Judge Bowen):
and associates McIntyre, Knapp aud Overinyer
were the judges. “‘Uhe trial lasted five days
and the jury found:him guilty as charged:'! "He ...,
was sentenced to be hung November 2, 1842, 4.
and remanded to prison to await his execution..
* yi oe Yea vent

a les Ti lt NORE PRA MP Te So iy ae ner
Ra, «get he gh es : ‘ ca

one Fs

ial: ‘ola indiaiaiaas Pe ee © OE OR mee

_ing attorney, and L. B. Ottis.

a. Le date tLe aang gh Leo ru Ce we ee tae ia MS)
: f i tb, py (lt)
2 AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 175

On Sunday, Sestenber 30, his two children,
a little.son and daughter, were taken to the
prison..to see him for the last time, and in
some. way he procured a pocket-knife from the
boy:and. secretly breaking off and retaining

the point of the blade, handed the knife back. 7
With: .the: point of; the-blade thus procured he
committed. suicide . that : might by, seutting an

artery. ‘and bleeding to death: .

"t
é

‘Thompson, his fellow ipricorier - witnessed”:
the tragic end of Sperry’s life, but did nothing
to. prevent it,: saying afterwards he would pre-.
fer* ‘alicountryman of ‘his would kill himself .

rather;than’ to be hung.’ They were both Eng-

lishmen:"". In. Common Pleas Court Journal
Noi4itat pages 600 and 601, will appear, to:

the left, the record of Sperry’s sentence and to
the: right. the probating of. his will, which a
had ‘made before his death.

Thompson effected two escapes from prison, !

and:was finally captured at Ottawa, IJl., and in
March,:1844, brought back, and June 20, 1844,
was tried, the same judges presiding as in the
Sperry | ‘case. He was defended by Brice J.
Bartlett and Cooper K. Watson. The state
was ‘represented by W.: W. Culver, prosecut-
The defense was
insanity.. .Thompson was convicted and _ sen-
tenced to be hung July 12, 1844, which sen-
tence ‘was carried into effect by John Strohl,
sheriff,\\in the rear of the new court house,
which ‘had lately. been built. An enclosure to
screen “the hanging ‘from public view was
erected,’ but just at the time the execution was
to take place, some reckless persons suddenly
tore down this enclosure‘and the sad spectacle
was exposed to the full view of the assembled
crowd.+ The venerable Dr. Beaugrand was
present as one of:the physicians at the execu-
tion, and in a recent ‘conversation with the
author, gave a dramatic picture of the appear-
ance and condition of the prisoner as he saw
him in that barbarous subterranean prison,
with palid face and prostrate form, kneeling
with the priest just previous to the hanging,

a sight, he said, most esestine and never to
be forgotten.

SALARIES OF yuDGES.
From 1803 to 1837 the salary of a Supreme
Judge | was $900 per year and that of the pre-

oe ; - |
eden ‘
. t

. impassible, on wheels.

‘history, relates an instance which

and from thence to Perrysburgh.

_ datter “method,

sident judge of the Common Pleas Court $750.
Judge Tood was allowed $200 in addition, for
going to Sandusky and Wood Counties, for
they were added to his circuit. In 1837 the
salary of each Supreme judge was increased
to $1,500 per year and that of the president
judge of the Common Pleas to $1,200. These
salaries thus remained until 1852. The presi-

_dent judges traveled many hundreds of miles.
“each year upon ¢ircuits in which the best roads

were very poor and the most of them often: ~

Members of the county
bar. traveled with the
thing in those days of wildeiess and swamp.
Judge Higgins, in his “Memories” for Knapp’s

illustrates
ihe difficulties encountered in those itineraries.
They had held court at Findlay;. from thére
their circuit route took them first to Defiance
To go on
horseback was then almost impossible, so they
hired a man to take their horses through the
Black Swamp direct to Perrysburgh, and pro-
curing a pirougue the judge and his party of
lawyers, Rodolphus Dickinson of Lower San-
dusky, being one of them, with saddles,
bridles and baggage, descended’ the Blanchard
and Auglaiz Rivers, a dismal voyage through
an unsettled wilderness of sixty miles to De-
fiance, and from thence down the Maumee
River to Perrysburgh. “The saddle bags car-
ried Ohio statutes, then small in bulk, Black-
stone’s Commentaries, sometimes Cook or
Littleton; -sometimes a volume or two of an
English law or equity report. Such a life made
these judges thinkers. If riding alone each
had ample time and temptation to beguile the
tedium of slow travel by putting to himself
legal cases, question and problems and solving
them upon principle. Out of such a life those
who were blessed with legal ability and judi-
cial minds grew: to he great judges and caused
right and justice to prevail within their juris.
dictions and left behind them, among Jawyers

‘and people high reputations for ability and in.

tegrity.”’

And receiving their positions from the State
Legislature instead of popular vote, they were
to a greater extent, than where elected by the
as at present, relieved from the

judges—-not an easy.

sceful modelp reflecting
A. the early: English cab-

May be=hadain either

snches: high. 39 inches

: WITNESS SAYS

Fait today. frost to:
nights Wie dances day
cloudy: ‘

U-39- 1924 6] CobumbsPp

‘ No: 246. :

OF LUMBERMEN;

Federal’ Trade= Chairman
Gl cstifies Before Daugherty

.. Committees —

CLAIMS ANTLTRUSI
EVIDENCE SECURED

States [acts Jurncd Over

to» Justice Department
Were Ignored=
Cheirman Lyster
<3 the Federal foaneet omnis
ny AY farts 2 ptape othe

;

ponegarrty gnventisaling ss ih
-erpeesfurthes-s Raker es ts
pevtehis soccer nt tla’) ates
Ej gh ek Ses ET eg preperls
preseouls Rema tht eat aerermer
tet seal Danger ca trek facts
rep vad vivour 4 frgal ss Tet had:
~ che’ cloprel bythe IN

“ehiee Ut

Automobile.

OFFICER SENT TO

INVESTIGATE BATTLE

‘Cotumbue: ls: Scene of Des-

perate: Struggle on
Street:

COLUMBUS. Apel

Patrolman 1: FeoStewaniid 1 hear’:

Columbus poler depart
atte: Charlee tots
were probable fatally won
wea gy tied bete terlas
TPatrelinaie Steavart ve

ing ty Police reparts, Wa called cabled theostate department at
tava heuse in the negre district: Washington prornsing out the?
ata uivestigute reports ola trong feelhng of the Japanese

shnaoting affrayos an whie

egress saidte havesfored seve welnsion clans and the ponst-
eral shots ata party ef negrues, ble fusure dctruncental cffcetss"

wan autonrebyte

Thimasi- ¢aid to have becme (mereans reeked ae Japan.
ynrebe when: Of heer Stewart at-

tempted tacatre’s him He
denty whipped ty oor solver
ne his pechete and om red

Ee 5 Bi Fi Re OER

- Point Out Strong Feeling of;
Japanese on Exclusion:
ee
U. S. AMBASSADOR.”
~ CABLES TO HUGHES:

Native Press:ls Now Taking
Calmer’. View of
Situation:

cee

ngs Keace 14 Paster Ligity. News and;
chirega Dany News

paste? RT opprmhs, 19:4 ;

Te cal OLB UD: Aprile Thes
ride] Americas Association of Japan
“and. the American Merchanta!
eord Assncratrn ef Tokio have|
+

mien!

“hoo preaple agaist the jmniigration; |

thee Jegisiation might hase on:

W? EL Fra-eer. presidert of the Mra: Lulton
od" yerchat Aj sceuerien part: Ob- British perham
<ul Vpouedy te canter protest., how-1n order to have

fife gyer. with tae vie vf briaging putured.

steware was shot: there ugh tle ab=pbhcut the beat resaits we cannot
domes.” The negra received aoveral sit idles Therefore. we have cabled
wounds ri H ws Tatre'man the state dc partment ulg:rg that:
hehesbarger, ne accompanted core Seria: consideration he given’

Stewart. was firedeet several Jaya

times, but was-not struck

-- ———

condition hoping that an
PuLUstmen®. satisfactory tu all, will
le seached.” :
t The twelve deadius vernaculat
: : 7 capital have

ay te ee Oe

14 Master

“We can’t explain it,” answered Hornbarger. “We are
just as much in the dark as you are.”

“Could it have been negligence?” asked the Sheriff. “Was
there a gang working along the track, and could some one
have forgotten to put the bolts back in place?”

“Not a chance,” replied Hornbarger. “Such a thing has
never happened.”

“Then what is your answer?” persisted Bennett. “Do you
think it was a man with a grudge against the railroad? Or
do you think there could have been some one on that par-
ticular train that they wanted to kill? You see, what puzzles
me in this, is that there was no attempt at robbery; and as
I take it, when a train wreck isn’t an accident, there is
usually robbery behind it. Isn’t that so?”

The special agents agreed with Bennett as to the truth

_of this, but they had to admit there were peculiarities about
‘this particular wreck that were puzzling them for the time

being. \,

. Unable to get information that threw light on the mystery,
Sheriff Bennett returned to Ironton, where he questioned
the mysterious passenger. In the privacy of the officer’s
‘quarters the young man admitted that he had been riding
the “blinds” between the engine tender and the baggage car
when the wreck occurred. Coming from a good family in
Chillicothe, which he was able to prove, he had felt too
shamefaced to admit the truth at first. Everything about
him was checked, and he was discharged as having no con-
nection with the crime. Thus the case stood without a clue
or a suspect,

Special Agents Hornbarger and Pratt remained in the
neighborhood to continue the investigation on behalf of the
Norfolk and Western Railway. They were joined by A. M.
Richardson, Assistant Chief Special Agent, from Norfolk,
Virginia.

One of their first acts was to post circulars offering $1,000
reward “to be paid by the Norfolk and Western Railway

“Company for information leading to the arrest and convic-

tion of party or parties implicated in the wrecking of Train
Number Four.”

Familiar as were the officials with mysteries of the rails
they were at their wits’ end for a plan by means of which
they might get somewhere. Further study was given to the
possibility that the wreck might have been an accident, but
this theory was again, and finally, discarded as impossible.

Had the fireman or engineer provoked vengeful thoughts in
the miind of some other mailsca man? Was there a passenger
on the train who had incurred the wrath of a gang unscrupu-
lous enough to hazard the lives of hundreds to murder one?
Had robbery actually been the motive, and then had some-
thing happened which prevented the fiends from completing
their work?

Answers to each of these questions would have to be found
before any one of them could be discarded as valueless.

Because of the ingenuity with which it had been planned
and executed, the officers did not believe that local criminals
had perpetrated the crime. They could not credit: any of

Detective

(Left to right) Deputy Shat-
tuck, Special Agents Hyland
and Hornbarger; the mur-
derer; Special Agent Pratt;
Sheriff Monte and Deputy
Schweichart. These officers
played vital réles in the case.
(Below) Rheba Medley
Cleft), whose attempted ab-
duction was to have amazing
results, is seen with her
mother, Mrs. Juna Medley

the known law-breakers of the neighborhood ‘with sufficient
brains to carry out so well-laid a plot.

There seemed nothing they could do other than make
undercover inquiries in the larger cities near Union Siding,
trusting that some underworld or near underv_ -tld character
might become loquacious and dnwittingly telf them some-
thing that would open up the trail.

They began with Ironton. After much undercover probing
they became interested in a name they. ‘requently heard men-
tioned as a reckless character. This was a young man named
Jimmie Thompson. Among the known bad men along the
line of the Norfolk and Western in Ohio, he was the only one
who stood out as capable of being mixed up in a crime of
this nature. And he had been a railroad man.

Richardson, Hornbarger and Pratt discussed him with
Sheriff Bennett. They learned that Thompson had served a
term in the Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield for
burglary in 1927-28. According to the Sheriff he still lived
with his parents on a farm near Hanging Rock, not far
from Ironton. An unofficial call was made at the farm where
it was learned Jimmie was away looking for work. His folks
said they did not know where he could be found.

The railroad investigators obtained his photographs and a
description from Bennett, and listing him as suspect number
one, they began a search for others of his ilk who might have
been associated with him in criminal activities.

A FEW days later Hornbarger, Pratt and Richardson,

after spending many hours haunting the underworld of
Portsmouth, were returning toward Ironton in their car,
when they were hailed by a hitch-hiker. They picked him
up. After driving along silently for a while Hornbarger
asked the stranger if he lived in Ironton.

“Yes,” the tall youth replied. “That is, I don’t live far
from town.”

“What is your name?” Pratt, who was sitting beside the
stranger, inquired. i

“Thompson—Jim Thompson.”

The officers exchanged glances, scarcely able to conceal
their interest. Again they drove along in silence, meditating
how to approach Thompson with the subject uppermost in
their minds. Finally, Pratt said:

“Had a pretty bad wreck up here last week, didn’t they?”

“T reckon they did,” Thompson answered. “I wasn’t up
here but I heard people talking about it.”

“Where were you?” Pratt continued.

a re

Thor
shadow
““ I w

went t
return
“No,
any, al
house.
Whe
ready
They «
on a p
hope \
check,
“Hor
Jimmy
thing c
blotter
further
“Sur
Prat
When
hesitat
police
to the
Thomy
“If }
got a
his des

Pie ee

12 Master

stumbled over bodies and wreckage in their hurry to get
away from, they knew not what. Surrounded by debris a
woman stood staring like an insane person at the screaming
figures that darted by her. Suddenly she began to call a
name frantically.

Members of the train crew, with admirable self-control in
that atmosphere of stark tragedy, forced themselves to talk
quietly as, with consciously restrained actions, they investi-
gated the loss of life and the extent of damage to their once
splendid equipment.

Rescuers, working under the flickering lights of flares, had
already found Fireman J. J. Kemp. He.was from Ports-
mouth, Ohio. He lay a short distance from the hissing,
steam-enveloped engine. They lifted his horribly scalded
body from the ground and bore him away, though they knew
with every step they took how hopeless their errand was.

Others picked up the body of a man lying near a telegraph
pole about forty feet from the train. His head had been
cleanly sliced from his body, apparently by a part of the
demolished engine cab. He was identified as Engineer J. H.
Meyers, also of Portsmouth.

Moans from an overturned mail coach called the rescuers
to its twisted shape. From it they dragged three badly
injured mail clerks: Carl Wright, J. H. Van Hemmert and
D. A. Cole. All were given emergency treatment by doctors
who had been summoned, and were then hurried to a hospital
in Ironton. Apparently no passenger had been seriously
injured.

While the work of rescue went on Sheriff Bennett: began
an investigation into the cause of the wreck. Going back to
where the torn up roadbed indicated the engine had left the
rails, he saw at once that the wreck had followed immediately
after the engine wheels had struck the switch. He examined
this carefully. His first thought was that the terrific impact
of the wheels against the points, with the train moving at
such high speed, had brought about an accident.

The switch appeared to -have been closed, “lined for the

Detective

main” in railroad phraseology, with the circular red and
green lamp on the switch stand showing green toward the
lane of traffic, and the “throw lever” of the switch in its
correct position with the lock still intact.

Bit a closer examination of the switch’s joining rods re-
yealed that four bolts had been removed from these rods,
enabling one switch point to be forced over against the main
line rail, without changing the position of the switch lamp.
There was no possibility of these bolts having been sheared
off by the careening locomotive and coaches, because bolts
and nuts lay undamaged near by, and in such positions as
to indicate they had been carefully placed there.

It was a most cunning mind that had conceived and
carried out so dastardly an outrage; also a mind that knew
something of railroading, thought the Sheriff. This was
evident from the fact that had the other switch point been
moved against the main line rail, the contact would have
effected an electrical connection and caused the light in a
signal tower about one mile west to show red, thus warning
Engineer Meyers that there was danger ahead.

While Sheriff Bennett and Conductor C. J. McCoy were
busy with their inspection of the switch, a rescue train bear-
ing Division Superintendent D. F. Peters and Special Agents
W. H. Hornbarger and E. F. Pratt of the Norfolk and Wes-
tern Railway, arrived from Portsmouth, the nearest division
point, and the town the doomed train had left at 1:05 that
morning of April 21st.

Hornbarger and Pratt joined the Sheriff and discussed the
situation. Together they began a check to determine if an
attempt had been made to loot the mail and express cars, or
to rob the passengers. If the train had been purposely
wrecked there must have been a motive, and this motive
must have been robbery.

Herding the passengers together, the officials began ques-
tioning them as to their experiences, in the hope that some-
thing would be revealed that would give them a start on the

(Left) Guarded by officers, the viciouy young” slayer: points to where
he had removed the bolts to cause the wreck of: the Pocahontas. “We
thought everybody would be killed!” he declared, after he had confessed

case. \
heen n
skulkin
had_ be

myster
seemed
ful a

Amo
who ju
had_ be

curred

why h:
said h
from.”
“Tt
on th
knowle
saw hi
you, &
The
centra
He sti
the of!
finally
to hol
One
that 1}
story
been |
piece «
where
the tr

alar red and
n toward the
switch in its

ning rods re-
m these rods,
inst the main
switch lamp.
been sheared
because bolts
1 positions as
re.

onceived and
nd that knew
ff. This was
ch point been
t would have
the light in a
thus warning

McCoy were
‘ue train bear-
Special Agents
folk and Wes-
earest. division
t at 1:05 that

| discussed the
etermine if an
xpress cars, or
‘een purposely
id this motive

ls began ques-
ype that some-
a start on the

Doints to where
cahontas. “We
ie had confessed

Death Rides

case. Without exception the passengers stated they had not
heen interfered with, nor had they seen suspicious characters
skulking about the wreckage. It was soon disclosed that there
had been no attempt to loot mail or baggage. Thus the
mystery became more baffling the deeper they probed. It
seemed scarcely possible that plotters had concocted so care-
ful a plot for mere deviltry.

Among the huddled group of passengers was a young man
who just didn’t seem to belong. When asked what coach he
had been in and where he was at the time the wreck oc-
curred, he gave evasive answers.

Conductor McCoy called the Sheriff aside and said to him
in a low tone:

eae fellow was not a passenger on my train. I’m sure
of it.”

“That so?” said the Sheriff in astonishment. “Wonder
why he’s mixing with the passengers. When I asked him he
ae he had been on the train. 1 wonder where he came

rom.”

“It looks funny to me,” replied the conductor. “If he was
on the Pocahontas tonight he was on there without my
knowledge. The way he is dressed makes me sure I never
saw him before. I know he’s not one of the crew. If I were
you, Sheriff, I’d bear down on him pretty hard.”

The two men returned to the group and the Sheriff con-
centrated on the mysterious passenger from Number Four.
He still seemed evasive as questions were put to him, and
the officers could not determine just what lay behind. They
finally got a name from him and Sheriff Bennett determined
to hold him for further investigation.

One thing which he offered in support of his contention
that he had been a passenger on the ill-fated train avas a
story to the effect that when the cars rose in the air he had
been pitched clear of the wreckage. He led the officials to a
piece of soft ground near the tracks, and showed them marks
where he contended he had landed. This appeared to prove
the truth of his story, but he was nevertheless brought to Iron-

the Rails 13

ton under suspicion. Questioned again, he stuck to his story.

It was readily apparent that no one man could have
committed this crime unaided; hence, though they now had
one doubtful suspect, they felt they had scarcely nibbled at
the baffling problem.

A canvass of the houses near Union Siding was made, in
the hope that some one might be located who had seen
suspicious characters loitering about the tracks the day
hefore. Witnesses stated that they had seen two strangers
hovering about the switch that day, but they could not give
a satisfactory description of these mysterious men.

“There were two in it after all,” said Bennett as they
made their way back.

Hornbarger and Pratt exchanged smiles. “I’m afraid that
Pratt and I are fast becoming suspicious characters,” replied
Hornbarger. “As a matter of fact we were here yesterday
to examine that switch. One of the trackmen reported that
the switch had been tampered with; that the bolts were
loose. We came here and checked them. When we made the
examination we found nothing wrong; so we came to the
conclusion that the trackman had made a mistake.” ;

“you mean you heard that those bolts were loose,” asked
the Sheriff in amazement; “that they needed attention
yesterday ?”

“That’s right,” answered Pratt. “We went back to Ports-
mouth to get further information on the report, and had
planned to return to the switch today to make another
examination.”

“Well, I’ll be darned!” was all Bennett could say.

This information evidently sent his mind probing along
new channels. Finally he said slowly:

“You mean to tell me that one of your men reported those
bolts loosened; that you examined them yesterday and found
them tight; and then when we looked at the switch this
morning we found four bolts taken completely out? I’m no
railroad man. How do you éxplain all that?”

(Right) The s\4rch pr4jts as they were at the time of the disaster
at Union Siding—a disaster which had been planned and executed

with satanic ingenuity. A dearth of clues baffled officials until .. -

suspect,: who. (:
ill+

‘)
a

Deputy Shat-
Agents Hyland
er; the mur-

Agent Pratt;

and Deputy

These officers
es in the case.
eba Medley
attempted ab-
have amazing
‘en with her
Juna Medley

with sufficient

*r than make
Union Siding,
rid character
£ them some-

reover probing
tly heard men-
ag man named
nen along the
s the only one
in a crime of
1.
sed him with
. had served a
Mansfield for
: he still lived
Rock, not far
he farm where
‘ork. His folks
ind.

ographs and a
uspect number
‘ho might have

d Richardson,
underworld of
in their car,
ey picked him
le Hornbarger

don’t live far
ting beside the
‘ble to conceal
nee, meditating
t uppermost in

, didn’t. they ?”
“To wasn’t up

Death Rides

Thompson gave him a quick, inquiring glance, and a
shadow of suspicion flitted across his face.

“T was in Cincinnati,” he replied resentfully.

Richardson, who was sitting in the front seat, turned
around and studied the young man. He shifted uneasily
under the railroad man’s gaze.

“We're special agents of the Norfolk and Western,” he
said. “We'd like to learn what you know about that wreck.”

“T don’t know nothing about it,” Thompson answered.
“How could I, when I was down in Cincinnati.”

According to the young hitch-hiker, he had gone to Cincin-
nati the day before the wreck, remaining there over night
and returning to his home in Hanging Rock the following
day. When asked if he could prove his presence in Cincin-
nati by witnesses, he replied with much assurance that he
could,

“Where did you stay while you were there?” asked Pratt.
Thompson’s smug and smiling reply startled the officers.

“At the police station.”

Filled with curiosity they questioned him further. He ex-
plained that after wandering around Cincinnati for many
hours, he had gone to the police station at night and asked
for a place to sleep, as he had no money to rent a room.

“You mean to say,” demanded Hornbarger, “that you
went to Cincinnati just to sleep in the police station and then
return home?”

“No, I went to Cincinnati to look for work, and not getting
any, and not having any place to sleep, I went to the station
house. Nothing wrong in that, is there?”

When the three officials reached Ironton, they were about
ready to erase Jimmy Thompson as suspect number one.
They did not believe the man would attempt to bluff them
on a point that could be so easily checked. However, while
hope was almost gone, they decided to make just such a
check, and Hornbarger, turning to Thompson, said:

“How about taking a trip to Cincinnati with Pratt,
Jimmy? We’ll pay your expenses. We have to check every-
thing carefully in this case, and if your name is on the police
blotter down in Cincinnati, we won’t bother you any
further.” ‘C ~

“Sure,” agreed Thompsos, “I'll go with him.”

Pratt took the young-man to Cincinnati on the. train.
When they reached Union Station there, Thompson, without
hesitation, led the ofgrer directly to the Fourth Precinct
police station on a Here Pratt introduced himself
to the desk sergeant and told him of his interest in Jimmy
Thompson and the man’s statement.

“If he was here on that night,” said the sergeant, “we've
got a record of him.” Motioning to Pratt to come around
his desk, he thumbed through his register. Finally he pointed

Mrs. California Rogers (above), bru-
tally beaten to death by the murdering
fiend, in a tragic and mysterious after-
math to the crime at Union Siding

(Right) In this simple little cottage a
acene of incredible horror was perpe-
trated when “Aunt Callie” Rogers was
slain by the man she had befriended

the Rails 15

to an entry, dated April 20th, 1932. It read:

“James Thompson, twenty-three, white, Hanging Rock,
Ohio; transient; discharged April 21st.”

Pratt studied the entry disconsolately. Though he had
been expecting to find Thompson’s story true, he could not
help but feel discouraged.

“Thanks, Sergeant,” he said finally. Then, walking from
behind the desk, he slapped the young man on the shoulder,
saying: as,

“Okay, Jimmy, the book clentt you. That is one night you
can be thankful you were inggil!”

(THOMPSON was returned to Irontom and Pratt reported
the discouraging result of his trip to Cincinnati to Special
Agent Hornbarger, in the office of the last named at Ports-
mouth.

Thus was suspect number one finally removed from _con-
sideration, and as to date they had no others, the officers
were faced with an almost hopeless proposition. Tips came
in or were unearthed from around Portsmouth, Ironton and
even from neighboring states. But they all proved dis-
appointing. Nothing brought before them was passed as
unimportant, for being without a clue, every suggestion was
considered carefully before being discarded.

Sheriff Bennett had not been idle. By the use of informers,
he had endeavored to stir up a lead that would give some
idea of the culprits. But he, too, obtained nothing satis-
factory.

Weeks, months, and then a year passed, and the atrocious
crime at Union Siding which had stirred Ohio and echoed
along the line of the Norfolk and Western into several states,
became little more than a memory.

On October 3rd, 1933, nearly a year and a half after the
mysterious wreck, Sheriff Bennett took a telephone call in his
office at about nine o’clock in the morning. The caller was
sobbing as she said over the wire:

“My mother has been murdered! ‘This is Mrs. McCall
talking. My two boys, Arnold and Ralston, just came from
her house.”

Bennett hung up the receiver and called to his deputies,
Bernard Monte and Harry Shattuck:

“Get ready, boys. Somebody has murdered Aunt Callie
Rogers!”

They were soon driving to the Rogers home, picking up
County Coroner Harry H. Jones on the way.

As they drove they discussed possible suspects. Aunt
Callie, as she was called, was known to almost everyone in
Lawrence County, and was popular in the neighborhood of
Union Siding, near where she lived. She had been the wife
of Colonel Thomas Davidson, but after his death she had

married «a man named George
Rogers. Two years before, Rogers
had been pronounced insane and
committed to the Longview State
Hospital at (Continued on page 65)

Constable Charles Stewart (below). He
intercepted the telltale letter from the
suspect and arrested him when the
man returned to carry out his threats

“THES IS MY TICKET

By KARL W “Money, jewelry, fine clothes, autos—

you watch and see.”

P Suddenly he seemed to snap to life.
KESSLER Reaching deep in his coat pocket he
produced a wicked-looking snub-nosed
gun.

“This is our ticket to prosperity!” he
said. “It’s going to take us anywhere
we want to go—in
style!”

The woman weaved
back to her chair and

HE YOUTH, pasty-cheeked and slight

of build, with a silly little moustache

accentuating the weakness of his

pimply face, grinned stupidly at the
plump brunette who sat across the table
in the dimly-lighted south side beer joint
in Columbus, Ohio, that bitterly cold
January afternoon in 1941.

The two had been sitting there for
several hours drinking steadily. They
had succeeded in drinking themselves
P i into an impending stupor and little of

he what they said made sense. The oily-
skinned bartender continued to serve
them, however, caring, little about his
guests except that they had funds for
their dissipation. Occasionally the
youth pulled a bottle of whiskey from
his lap and drank thirstily. Several
times he passed the bottle to his woman
companion. ‘Tilting the bottle asa man
might, she gulped down the stuff with
evident relish.

“Here’s to you, beautiful,” the youth
said finally, attempting to rise but fail-
ing. “Here’s to crime—and damn the
cops! We'll take this town apart and
make ’em like it. |We're going. places,
babe—we'll see the world through port-
holes !”

He downed the contents of his glass,
lurching across the table. His attractive
and buxom companion smiled in glassy-
eyed approval.

“Attaboy, Wayne,” she said, getting
up from her chair and moving around
to where he sat so that she might hug
him close to her ample bosom. “Now
you're talking like a man! And that’s
what every woman wants—a real man,
someone who will go out and get the
things she wants.”

The red from her lips remained on
his cheek where she had kissed him
wetly.

“Pll get everything, beautiful,” the
youth said drowsily, head rolling.

We produced a gun from his
pocket. “This is our ticket to
‘ prosperity,” he said. “It’ll
take us anywhere in style.”

a ee NS

| Py ee
/ SAL GEYScTT =

A» “a ae AA. L yi fs

ssa eee

Tl ro HELL”

1 j |
il hel
Hi

“Ti

dropped down with a sigh. Then
she reached down under the table
and took the bottle of whiskey
from her companion. She raised
it to her lips and drank, almost
desperately, as if to escape from
some dark fear.

Then the two got up and walked
out, uncertain feet carry-
ing them down the street to
a shabby little room in a
dilapidated apartment build-
ing where for hours they
huddled together in the cold

of a_ barely furnished room—to
sleep off the drunk and dream of
the places they’d see and the things
they’d do as they rode through life
on a snub-nosed ticket to hell.
Within a few weeks that snub-
nosed ticket, in the hands of the
pasty-faced Romeo, started them on
a vicious campaign of banditry that
ended in a murder that shocked
Ohio’s convention city. Months of
mad debauchery were ¢ bout to take
their toll!
Soon now they were to discover
that their “ticket to prosperity” car-
with it another destination.

ried
was to bring them

from the scenes of many crimes. It
was to bring them aching brains
and bodies—and finally it was to
pring them to the chill of steel hand-
cuffs, screaming black: headlines—
and to MURDER!

Tt wasn’t, after all, a. “ticket to
prosperity.” It took them some-
where else—when the Romeo bandit
put the “ticket” to use in his thir-
teenth attempt at riches.

| ae Apri 1, 1941, but it was
no April Fool’s day for mem-
bers of the Columbus police depart-
ment. Both Chief of Police Otto
Kaffits and Detective Chief Leo

Their “ticket”

grim-faced as they

endless nightmares of screaming Phillips were
police sirens, mad and_ reckless issued instructions to the uniformed
flights through crowded _ streets and _plainclothes divisions concern-

Wayne Thompson (be-
low) ended a crime
spree with murder.

Adeline Hampton left
husband and children to
be a thag’s paramour.

ii, : re
: i : ul

387 East Livingston Avenue, reported
the bandit’s appearance and the loss of
$46.50 from the cash register.

Satisfied now that the bandit was
concentrating his activities in the south
end of the city, police established elabo-
rat. plans for his apprehension, stak-
ing out plainclothes men at various

They were ina gay mood
when the officers ap-
peared and seized them.

the hand that
i mistake, for
resisting him.

chain grocery stores throughout the dis-
trict.

But the bandit, either through luck or
cunning, cluded them. Even while police
cars were scouring the East Livingston
Street district following the robbery of
the Kroger store where Pryor was
manager, he appeared in the Kroger
store located at 1696 East Main Street
and escaped with $46.00. Norman Da-
gue, Kroger manager, shouted this in-
formation into the burning ear of Radio

i \ i

Operator Henry Hoye at headquarters.

“You better get this fellow quick,”
Dague yelled. “If you don’t, someone is
going to die, He’s a killer !”

“Ife doesn’t say much,” Manager
Pryor told police. “He just points the
gun and looks at you. You can see
death in his eyes.”

Heavier police details were estab-
lished throughout the south end and
squad cars toured the district constant-
ly. While it was suspected that the
bandit always escaped in an auto, police
were as yet without a description of the
car. Many suspects—pasty-faced, slen-
der youths with silly moustaches—ap-
peared in the police line-up regularly.
But no identifications were made.

“That description,” muttered seasoned
Detective Otto Phillips, “fits about a
thousand young punks in this town.
We've got to get a description of the
get-away car. Maybe he’s got a part-
ner in the car.”

(Continued on page 73)

At 23, Wayne Thompson had
ideas of amassing wealth by tak-
ing it from others with a gun.

BS ye TT
ing the increasing number of grocery register. He motioned to me and I knew > a ..
and shoe store stick-ups during the past what he wanted. There was nothing . $46 <0) fr
four weeks. for me to do but let him have the 4 Botieli

“Tighten up!” Chief Kaffits ordered. money. He didn’t say a word—just Aisin
“All these jobs smack of the same tech- looked at me with those cold eyes. He’s end of th
andit works pretty young but he’s dangerous. pat plat

ing out

nique. The way this’ b

makes me believe that we'll soon have

a killing on our hands if we don’t get get him.”
This was the first report police had

him in cuffs. He’s a young punk and
young punks are dangerous.” on the bandit who for seven weeks
“It’s a one-man crime wave and it’s preyed on the merchants in Colum-
The robbery kad

making us look silly,” Chief Phillips bus’ south side.
been committed about 3 o'clock in

told his men. “Columbus won’t stand
for it and we won't either. So—bring the afternoon of March 5th and the
bandit had made good his escape

him in and make it snappy Y”

But, with all the heat, the bandit con- before squad cars reached the
tinued to operate, with. chain grocery scene.
stores bearing the brunt of his attack. Then on March 11th, a youth
Radio cruisers sereamed through the answering the description of the
south side of Columbus as each stick- — bandit who had robbed the Kro-
up was reported and special details of ger store walked into the E. B.
detectives were assigned to the job of Jaye Pharmacy at 62 South
rounding up the potential murderer. Washington Street and, a snub-

The bandit followed the same proce nosed gun leveled at Jaye, took
dure in each robbery, police determined $87 from the cash register and
from the mounting number of reports fled. Witnesses were confused
received at headquarters. He was de- as to how he escaped—by car
scribed as a slender, pasty-faced fellow, or on foot.
about twenty-three years old, wearing a “Ee was all hopped up on”
jacket and dark trousers and hatless. something,” Jaye told cruiser-

“Te had a little moustache that made men and detectives when
him look kind of funny—only his eyes they arrived. “T thought
and something about him he’d pull the trigger any
7 made you know he’d shoot you down minute, You better catch
without a qualm if, you resisted,” Ralph him quick or someone is

Smith, manager of the Kroger store at going to die.”

1069 E. Main Street, told police. “He The third report on the

just walked in as any customer might pasty-faced bandit reached

and ordered cigarettes. When I turned Headquarters on March
to hand him a pack, I saw the gun in 19th when Gerald Pryor,

his hand and he was moving to the cash Kroger store manager at

Someone’s apt to get killed unless you

were cold

ec, is

Prosecuting Attorney Ralph J. Ba rilett Hoover reached out to touc h the hand that
(shown above) disproved the defense’s claim held the gun. It was a fatal mistake, for
24 that the young murderer had been insane. the bandit thought he was resisting him. P

The Master Detective

The Clue of the Crimson Sweater

Treadway, and he had fought in a few
minor preliminary bouts as “Young
West.”

“The girl’s all right,” he added, a
pleading light showing in his eyes.
“Don’t get her into this. She’s a good
kid and it’s my fault she’s in this
trouble.”

“Don’t you want her to tell her
story? Maybe that would help her,”
asked Mulgrew.

“Sure, she'll tell you the same thing
I did,” he said. “Ill ask her.”

“Marie,” whom Treadway said he
had previously known as “Boots”
Rogers, was sent for. In the presence
of the detectives, her companion turned
to her and said quietly:

“Boots, I've told all | know. Now
you talk to them, too.”

HE girl looked at him with some-

thing of scorn and something of pity
as she answered:

“Well, all right, Norman, if you
want me to.”

Treadway was taken out of the

room, and the girl’s face was serious
for a moment as she began:

“Poor fellow, you cops have got him
all wrong! Honest, ‘Al’ was the guy
that did it. He was crazy with dope!”

She then told how she and_ her
“hubby,” as she called Treadway, went
to Peirce’s apartment at the latter’s
invitation, how all three of them drank
quite a bit, and then how two other
men burst in while they were eating a
late lunch.

“[ beat it and sat in the car out
front,” she added. “I didn’t want to
get in any fight. Norman came out
right after | did, and the other two
followed. They were excited and
drunk.

“We've got to get out of here,’ they
said; so we drove around and picked
up our clothes and beat it!”

Pressed for more details, the girl re-
turned to her flippant repartee.

“Now give me a chance, boys; I
didn’t see everything,” she grinned.

“Do you suppose we'd go back so
easy if we were guilty?” she added
earnestly. “We know we could hold up
the works by making you take out
extradition papers, but who wants to
stay in this dump, anyway? I’m ready
to go anytime.”

The stories told by Treadway and
Boots agreed—much too perfectly.

It seemed unlikely that they would
have made such an effort to escape
unless they were more involved in the

murder than they admitted. Tread- .

way was a big, powerfully built youth,
and could not have been forced into
driving so many miles by a pair of
drunks. And then, there was the blood-
stained sweater to account for!

I soon learned, however, that Tread-
way and Boots were telling the truth—
in one important particular! There
were two other men who escaped with
them to Wheeling after the murder of
Peirce. And these two remained to be

(Continued from page 16)

caught before the murder was com-
pletely solved.

One of the men, answering the des-
cription of the Al Smith named by
Treadway, had pawned a gold stickpin
belonging to Peirce for seven dollars in
a Wheeling pawnshop, and there it was
later found by Mulgrew and Heanley.

Both had stayed in Wheeling on
Monday night, and it seemed certain
that they were the mysterious “Span-
ger” and “Freeman” who registered at
the McClure Hotel.

But a garage man at Sixty-third and
Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, told me
the story which convinced me finally
that Treadway and Boots were not ly-
ing about the others in the mystery.

In a report to me by telephone from
Wheeling, - Mulgrew mentioned that
Treadway told him the party stopped
at a certain garage for gasoline while
fleeing from the city on the night
Peirce was slain. [ hurried out and
found the manager, bending over a tire
which he was repairing.

“QURE, I remember the car,” he said,

straightening up. “A big red
roadster—it shot out of here like a
torpedo. Everybody in it was pretty
happy, from what I could tell—singing
and having a great time. It looked
more like a picnic than a murder to
me!

“When they drove into the garage
a tall young man dressed in dark
clothes and a soft hat got out and said,
‘Fill her up.’ Two other men were
sitting up in the back, and a girl up in
front. One of the men in back looked
quite a bit older than the rest of the

par

“The girl seemed to be in a cheerful
mood, and was singing ‘Down on the
Farm.’ One of the men was singing
‘Mother Machree. I told him he’d
better stop singing in the open air or
he would crack his voice.

“After the fellow had paid me for
the gas, he asked me how I would like
a drink. I told him I wouldn’t mind.
He handed me a brand new bottle of
whiskey. It tasted like pretty good
stuff.

“He then asked my colored helper
how he would like a drink, and he said
he would prefer the tip. He was
handed ten cents and told to take a
drink anyway.

“That was their good-bye. The
driver got back in the car and they
turned south on Sixty-third Street in
the direction of the Baltimore Pike.”

The garage manager’s story, matter-
of-fact as it was, made my blood run
cold. How could four young people, in-
cluding a girl, go singing through the
night in the car of a man whom they
had left murdered, spending money
from his pockets for gasoline and
drinking whiskey which he himself had
bought but a few hours earlier!

It seemed incredible that they could
be so indifferent, especially the girl.
But I was to learn still more amazing

things about Boots Rogers—perhaps
the most astonishing member of her sex
who ever faced a murder charge in
Philadelphia.

The trip from Wheeling to the city
where she was to go on trial, possibly
for her life, Boots turned into a joy-
ride! The journey was made: on
Thanksgiving Day, and even before she
‘left, one of the many friends she had
made from her cell in the Wheeling
jail visited her and gave her two
dollars to buy two turkey dinners.

But the money was not needed, for
Boots wheedled the detectives guarding
her into buying a big Thanksgiving
dinner for both herself and Treadway
when they reached Pittsburgh at noon.
The bill was over two dollars apiece,
and it was paid by the County of
Philadelphia!

While changing trains at Pittsburgh,
the party of prisoners, detectives and
riewspapermen became mixed up in a
huge crowd on their way to the Pitt-
Penn State football game. Boots was
the cynosure of all eyes, and _thor-
oughly enjoyed it. There were many
audible sighs and exclamations of
“Poor little girl! Isn’t it a shame!”
But her only reaction was a scornful
comment to a detective:

“Those poor boobs. If they don’t
stop asking me if I’m ashamed, I’ll be-
gin to really feel that way!”

"THROUGHOUT the daylight ride to
Philadelphia, Boots was in the
height of good spirits, and was easily
the life of the party. Treadway,
moody and silent, smiled once in a
while at her pranks, but the rest of the
group was kept continuously amused.

During the trip, Boots organized a
“theatrical troupe,” boasting cheerfully
that she had at one time danced in a
burlesque show. She even displayed
to privileged ones a pair of dancing
boots tattooed above her knee, which
had given rise to her nickname. The
names “Marie” and “Ross” were tat-
tooed above and below the little boots.

In the cast of the “play” which she
arranged, she took the rdle of “leading
lady,” while Treadway was the “lead-
ing man.” The reporters formed the
“chorus,” While Heanley, who was
guarding her, was “the manager.” She
directed the whole crowd in singing
jazz songs, and at the end of one rol-
licking number in which all had joined,
she exclaimed, almost fiercely:

“l’m a jazz baby from my head to
my toes. I like to see and be seen.
People always know I’m alive and not
a dead one. The bright lights for me,
and the high spots. But, oh boy, I like
jazz best of all!”

Then, growing more serious, she
talked vividly of her life. Short as it
was, it had been full of adventures.
Boots had been born in a little town
in the Catskill Mountains, and her real
name was Sue Snyder. Her father died
while she was still a little girl.

(Continued on page 6)

February, 1938

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16 The Master Detective

“At 2049 Walnut Street, Philadel—phi—ay!” “IT don’t know what to say; I feel about forty now.”

That, recalled the sleuths, was the address of the rooming she said, smiling.
house where Peirce’s car had been seen after the murder! “Did you know Henry Peirce?”

“What was that you said about Peirce being killed?” “Did your” she replied.

“I don’t know. What did I say?” countered “Marie.” “Don’t you feel sorry for him?”

“[ don’t even know the gentleman!” . “I have enough to do feeling sorry for myself right now!”

“Come on now, you just said he was killed in a brawl.” “Where do you live?”

“Oh, did 1?” echoed the girl. “Well, you ought to know. “Oh, wherever | happen to hang up my hat. This is
I’m so flustered | home right now,”
can’t remember a she added, patting
thing I’ve been say- the bars of the cell.
ing.” And she smiled “How does it feel to
sweetly at the non- wear men’s clothes?”
plussed detectives. “Great, I think I'll

“Well, I'll let ‘you get adopt them for keeps!”
dressed, and maybe when Throughout this whole
you find yourself in a cell procedure, the girl sat poised
you'll have more to say,” sug- on the edge of her chair,
gested Mulgrew. The detec- keenly alert and aware of the
tives withdrew while the land- significance of every question
lady of the rooming house helped put to her. Her manner of an-
the girl dress. swering, although it told nothing,
was so good-natured that it was
impossible to be angry with her.
After the questions stopped, she

sang and hummed popular songs, re-
sponding every time a particular num-
ber was called for by her amused audi-

ence. She boasted proudly that she was
“some jazz artist,” and was keenly pleased
when any one praised her singing.

A search of the room which she and
“Williams” had occupied revealed an army

sweater, heavily splotched with blood, and
military papers showing honorable discharges

from various branches of the army to “Norman
Williams” and “Peter D. Treadway.”

Baggage in the room bore the initials “P.D.T.”
The couple had only twenty-five cents between them
when they were arrested, and this lack of money
undoubtedly prevented their escape from Wheeling.
At supper time, the girl at first declined to eat, saying
she was not hungry. Immediately. rumors of a hunger
strike began to spread among the reporters, and Mulgrew

THE party then started back to

the Wheeling City Hall in the
police automobile. On their way, they
stopped at Plant’s garage, where attend-
ants recognized “Williams” as the youth
who had carried on the negotiations. about
the car.

“How about the girl?” asked Mulgrew.
“Was she here?”

“No, there was just two men—still, she looks
familiar,” said Plant.

At this, “Marie” could not keep from bursting
into laughter.

“How do | look in pants?” she giggled. “Did I
make a hit?”

“Well, I'll be——,” grinned Plant. “So that’s who
it was. Well, you certainly had us guessing.” ;

“Thanks, mister, I see you appreciate me even if these:
cops don’t,” grinned the girl.

The prisoners were soon lodged in their cells in the
Wheeling jail, and the questioning began in real earnest.

“Williams” was obdurate and moody, refusing at first to decided to puta stop to her lack of appetite.
give any answers to questions. . “Marie” was evasive in a “Come on now. I'll turn you over my knee and spank
different way, and her flippant attitude toward the charge you if you don’t eat some of this,” he growled, putting
of murder which had been lodged against her continued her tray in front of her. “I’ve got a daughter of my own,
to amaze the newspapermen and detectives who flocked and I know how to handle ‘em,”
around her. “My, you sound fierce,” laughed “Marie.” “All right,

“How old are you?” asked one of her interrogators, I'll eat.”

AFTER that incident, she always addressed the big, kind-
hearted detective as “Daddy”.

After supper, the quizzing of the two prisoners was con-
tinued. “Williams,” who had maintained a surly, defiant
attitude, began to show signs of the strain of silence, and
finally burst out:

“Oh, what’s the use! I'll tell you all I know about it!”
He paused, and then continued sullenly:

“Peirce was killed in a drinking party at his apartment,
and the two guys that did it made me and Marie drive
them here.

“We were all together and these two
guys tried to stick Peirce up. When
they killed him they took his money
and jewelry. The only names [ knew

Above is Henry T. them by were Al Smith and Arch Moss.
Peirce—the victim | don’t know where they went from here,
in the atrocity. At but they got sore at me because | stuck
the left is his home to Marie, and they beat it!”

nie sw aabhigton, His real name, the prisoner admitted.

afashionablesuburb ioe
of the Quaker City was Peter (Continued on page 4)

The ‘junkie’
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Although she insisted proudly that
she had been brought up like a girl
should be, she admitted she had grown
tired of the great mountain country
before she went to Brooklyn to live.
Later she came to Philadelphia, danced
in a show for a while, and finally had
to get a job as a waitress.

“Sure, I ladled ’em off the arm and
jingled the cash register both,” she said
gaily. “I’ve kicked around quite a bit.
and learned a lot—perhaps too much.”
Her piquant face grew grave.

“I met ‘hubby’ at the restaurant. I
thought his name was Norman
Williams, but he says now it’s Tread-
way, and he ought to know!

“He’s a mighty fine fellow. We went
around to lots of dances on Girard
Avenue and out in West Philly. He
always treated me nicely; and, oh boy,
how he could dance!

“Three weeks ago we went to live
at Twelfth and Spruce Streets. We
decorated that place two weeks. Then
we got uppity and moved out in the
society belt. Right across from a swell
church, with big houses all around and

big cars whizzing by the door. That’

was the life!”

Bur as the train neared Philadel-

phia, Boots grew silent, and Tread-
way bit his nails. City Hall drew into
sight and the train chugged slowly into
Broad Street Station. Suddenly the
girl jumped up and flung herself across
the aisle. Throwing her arms around
Treadway’s neck she kissed him
fiercely!

Then, wiping away a tear, she
marched off the car and through the
great crowd which had collected at the
station. Ten minutes later, both she
and Treadway were in cells at City
Hall, less than seven blocks from where
Henry Peirce had been beaten to death
nearly a week before!

But the work of bringing his mur-
derers to justice was only begun! Two
of that gay party who had escaped into
the night in Peirce’s car had_ been
caught. Two remained to be found!

As soon as I learned that Peirce’s car
had been seen in Camden the night its
owner was slain, I had enlisted the aid
of Larry Doran, chief of Camden
County detectives and he soon found
out that a boarder had disappeared
from a house at 330 North Tenth
Street that same night!

The man had boarded with a Mrs.
James Robins, who had known him as
Joseph “Archie” Moss—the name of
one of the men named by Treadway
in his confession at Wheeling.

Mrs. Robins was asked to make a
complete statement, and under close
questioning she told an amazing tale.
She admitted that Moss had boarded
at her home for three years, and that
on the morning that Peirce was killed
he left suddenly under circumstances
which made it certain that he was con-
nected with the murder.

“About half-past two Sunday morn-
ing, I was awakened by someone
pounding on the front door of the
house,” Mrs. Robins declared. “I
went to the window and saw Moss on

The Master Detective

(Continued from page 4)
the steps. He had been drinking and
seemed very excited.

“About fifty feet down the street
was a big red car with a man and a
girl in the front seat.

“I Jet Moss in and he ran upstairs.
He was shaking and could hardly talk.
I asked him what was the matter.

“We've just killed a man in Phila-
delphia!’ he shouted. ‘We've got his
car and we're going to get out of
town!’ He threw all his clothes in a
bag and ran out to the car.”

Mrs. Robins, it developed, also knew
Treadway. She said he and Moss had
been friendly since they worked to-
gether for a scales company on Arch
Street in Philadelphia.

“OE was a good steady workman

y and paid his rent regularly,” she
said. “Treadway was a different type.
He came here to live for a while, and
when he left he still owed nine dollars
for rent. Joe paid it up because he
felt he owed it to me.

Plagiarism

Stories have been submitted to
this magazine which are copies that
have appeared in other magazines.

Anyone submitting a plagiarized
story through the mail and receiving
and accepting remuneration therefor,
is guilty of Federal offense in ucing
the mails to defraud.

The publishers of MASTER DE-
TECTIVE are anxious—as are all re-
putable publishers—to stamp out
this form of literary theft and piracy
and are advising all magazines from
which such stories have been copied
of such plagiarism and are offering
to co-operate with the publishers
thereof to punish the guilty persons.

Notice is hereby given to all who
submit stories that the same must
be the original work of the author.

“The only fault Joe had was drink-
ing, and that was what got him into
this trouble. When he first came here
he had a small fortune left him by
th ee but he foolishly squandered
it all.

“He had been drinking before he left
here last Bajurday night. He said he
was going out to buy a hat. That was
the last I saw of him until he came
home and told me he’d killed a man!”

A close watch was thrown about the
Camden rooming house; and when
Mrs. Robins received a letter from
Pittsburgh a few days later it was
turned over to the police. It proved
to be from Moss, who said he was
broke and gave a Pittsburgh hotel as
his address.

I wired to the police there to arrest
him, and took a midnight train for
Pittsburgh myself.

Upon my arrival the next morning,
Moss was in custody. He was a
brokenhearted, despairing man and

was eager to tell me his story. I had
not been with him twenty minutes be-
fore he wrote and signed the following
confession:

“On Saturday night (the night
Peirce was murdered) about ten thirty,
I] met a man known as Al (the Al
Smith of Treadway’s confession), on
Filbert Street in a poolroom, and he
took me to 2049 Walnut Street, where
Treadway roomed. The three of us
Started out to get a drink, when we
were stopped by Peirce. Treadway
went with him.

“Al and myself went to a saloon and
bought a quart of whiskey, and when
we came out again to Market Street,
Treadway, a girl and Peirce were just
getting out of an automobile and were
starting upstairs. Treadway motioned
for us to come up too.

“Al went ahead, and when we
reached the room, he shouted ‘Hands
up. I thought he was only joking
until he struck Peirce. Peirce fell. The
girl screamed and | said to her: ‘Come
on, let’s get out of here.’ I then took
her back to the room, and in about
thirty minutes Al and Treadway came

in.

“I asked them what they had done,
and Al said: ‘We’ve killed him. We’ve
got to leave town!’

“Treadway and I then went back to
my room in Camden and I got my
suit-case and came back to the Walnut
Street house. Al was there. We went
on to a friend of mine in Baltimore,
on Penn Avenue. I intended to leave
them there and go on to New Hope,
where I was to rebuild a scale, but |
didn’t have any money.

“We left after I paid the lodging. In
Wheeling | pawned my watch to get
enough railroad fare to come to Pitts-
burgh, where I got a position with the
Howe Scale Company!”

Moss’s version of the murder of
Peirce put an entirely new light on the
slaying!

According to him, it was Treadway
and the missing Al who had stayed in
the apartment while Peirce was beaten
to death, while Treadway had named
him as the one who assisted in the
actual murder. -

EN told of the accusations made
by the boxer, his former pal turned
white with anger.

“T’ll jam his lies down his throat,”
he shouted. “I didn’t have anything
to do with the hold-up, and I was too
drunk to know what was going on.
I’m not going to be a sucker in this
game!”

I was eager to bring the two.men
together and learn which one was tell-
ing the truth, so | arranged for an im-
mediate return to Philadelphia.

But that very day, while I was in
Pittsburgh, something happened in
Boots Rogers’ cell which was to bring
about a dramatic change in the entire
case! The amazing girl, whose cor-
roboration had made it possible for her
lover to stick to his story of the mur-
der, received a visitor.

To appreciate the effect of the visit,

(Continued on page 8)

February, 1930

BITTER ¢
cherished :
rapturous
Her youns
him more cruel]:
have done. Yeta
to hope? She h
kind—but never

And then slow
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thick, well-grox
hinting of course
But now—he k:
how gifted a m
matter how inte
influential—no |
he never quite :
miration due hi
on the top of hi
is to place the
bald head!

So many thor
spectre come b
things in life.
destroys self-c:
success! These
moments in life
tragic because
ness can be pre
are taken in tip

Dort

Don’t think
out to be part:
that unfortunat
rest of your life
For it make
kinds of tonics
matters not ho:

Macfadden Pv
Desk M.D.-2., 19
Send me by ret
I will deposit $2.'
postman when t
that if for any r
days, my $2.00 »

Address

City. ;

| Name.

1 If you care

\ will of course be
book not meet ¥

I and foreign orde

it is necessary to go back a few days
to the time when Treadway and Boots
were first placed in cells. I had put
the pair near each other, figuring they
would probably try to communicate
and so betray themselves. In this I
was quite right, for only two days
later, the girl sweetly called a turnkey
and asked him if he would please hand
a magazine to Mr. Treadway, so he
could see a picture.

The turnkey, struck by the picture,
which was that of an almost nude
young woman, casually turned the
pages, and in the advertising section
came across an amazing message!
Scrawled in carmine lipstick across the
width of two pages were the words,
“Stick to your story all through. You
know what tomorrow brings. (Two
more)”! And on another page, in the
text of one of the stories, the words,
“Dead men tell no tales,’ were heavily
underscored with the same red mark-
ings!

In addition to this bold attempt to
bolster up her companion’s courage,
Boots resorted to other means, princi-
pally love songs which she flung into
the unresponsive atmosphere of the
jail almost every hour of the day.
Then there were also little winks and
nods whenever one was taken out and
walked past the other’s cell on the way
to the office to be questioned.

But with the unexpected visit which
came on the day I was away in Pitts-
burgh, all this was brought to a sudden
and unexpected stop!

The visitor, a brown-faced, husky
young man, walked into the Detective
Bureau with him arms full of bundles
and demanded:

“Where’s Boots?”

‘What’s that to your” asked one of
the detectives.

“Why, I’m ner husband!” explained
the youth.

“NY7ELL, who’s that guy locked up

Wis there then?” Nmaten the
officer.

“1 don’t know; I’m her husband and
] can prove it,” responded the brown-
faced young man, who did not seem a
bit embarrassed by the question.

And then, to the astonishment of the
detectives who quickly gathered

around, he set down the bundles and .

ulled out a marriage license purport-
ing to show that Ross Rogers had mar-
ried a Sue Daniels in Brooklyn in 1918.

SLRS urge others te aa A ere at A

The Master Detective

(Continued from page 6)

Ross Rogers, he explained, was none
other than himself, while Sue was the
winsome Boots, who had retained her
marriage name! And he had just come
back from a voyage as a sailor in the
Merchant Marine and would like to
talk to his wife!

Still laden with packages which
peeped out of every pocket, the smiling
young man was led to the cell where
Boots was sitting moodily. She jumped

up with a scream of delight, and thee~

resulting scene not only proved the
truth of Rogers’ claims, but thoroughly
convinced him that he was lucky to
find his Boots, even in a jail cell!

The whole jail knew of the reconcili-
ation almost at once. Boots shrieked
joyously as she opened package after
package, containing silk stockings,
underwear, candy, food, oranges and
other dainties. ith each one she gave
her long-lost real hubby a resounding
po 9 which could be heard in every
cell,

But the reunion also had its serious
results. Captain Souder, who was my
superior in the Detective Bureau, took
the young husband aside and told him
that it was believed Boots was not tell-
ing the truth about Peirce’s murder in
order to shield Treadway. He asked
Rogers’ co-operation in getting her to
tell the real story, as she knew it.

Rogers agreed, and found that Boots
was willing to amplify her account of
the murder if he promised to stick by
her. He assured her heartily that he
would, and the two were then taken
in to see the captain.

As Boots was led past Treadway’s
cell, the boxer, who had been almost
beside himself with jealousy when he
learned Rogers had returned, whis-
pered to her: ‘

“Stick, kid! He threw you down
once and he’ll do it again. Remember
what I told you. Yow’'ll be sorry if
you don’t!”

But his message went unheeded.
Boots’ attitude toward her one-time
hubby had undergone a definite change
with the arrival of her sailor-husband,
whose willingness to forgive and help
touched even her fickle heart.

In Captain Souder’s office, Rogers,
patted Boots on the arm and said
coaxingly:

“Sue, you tell the whole truth just
as you know it. Let’s chuck the past.
I have a fine little home for you down
South. I’m going to stick by you and

get you out of this. See if | don’t.”

The girl flung her arms around his
neck, and sobbed, “I’ll do just that! 1
was scared, because Treadway said
he’d kill me, or else his gang would,
if I didn’t tell the same story he did.”

“Don’t you be afraid of Treadway
or his gang,” advised her husband. “I
guess I can take care of my wife.”

“All right,” agreed the girl. “But
I can’t tell it all now. Give me until
tomorrow, and | will be able to talk
better. I’m all choked up inside!”

When I arrived with Moss_ that
night and was informed that Boots
was ready to talk on the morrow, | de-
cided on a rather dramatic. move in
the hope of taking a short cut to the
core of the mystery. [| decided to
bring Boots, readway and Moss
together!

So, late the next afternoon the stage
for the little drama was set in Captain
Souder’s office. Moss was sent for first.
He walked in, wearing a nervous smile.
I motioned him to a seat, without say-
ing a word. I then sent for Treadway.
When he entered the room, he started
at the sight of Moss, then regained his
composure.

“Hello, Arch,” he said to Moss, at
length. “I see they’ve got you, too.”

“Yes,” replied Moss. “I wonder why
they’re trying to pin everything on
me?”

“Because you did it,’ shot back
Treadway.

“Come on, now,” I said, “let’s have
the truth!”

Those words were my signal for
Boots Rogers to enter the room and a
moment after they were uttered the
door of Captain Souder’s office opened
and in walked Boots. The door closed
behind her, she stood very still, a burn-
ing gaze passing from Treadway to
Moss and back again... .

Who killed Peirce?

Was Boots Rogers in the room when
the crime was committed?

What vital information is Boots
holding back?

Where is the vanished “Al Smith’?

What strange trick of fate will bring
him before the bar of justice?

The answers to these questions will
appear in the thrilling concluding in-
stalment of this amazing masterpiece
of fact, to appear in the March issue
of THE MASTER DETECTIVE, on sale at
all news stands February 23rd.

Ru
of Co

The face at the
man, whose ide:
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The Master Detective

had reserved some of its most cruel
blows for this light-hearted child of
destiny.

But Treadway, eating his youth
away in prison, was the victim of a
tragedy which seemed even more iron-
ically cruel. After entering the peniten-
tiary, he had quickly earned a reputa-
tion for being a model prisoner, joined
the prison choir, and entered the pros-
perous, ship-model business in which
many favored convicts were allowed to
engage.

Soon he was making more money
than he ever had on the outside, and
was living in a well-furnished special
cell next to the warden’s office, with
running water, radio, victrola, a real
bed instead of a cot, and other com-
forts.

But all of these advantages could not
help the prisoner when the time of his
greatest need came. In November, 1922,
two years after Peirce had been mur-
dered and more than a year anda half
after Treadway had entered the peni-
tentiary gates, his mother called for her
son as she lay dying in a little Ohio
town near Cleveland—and he could not
go to her.

She did not know that he was in
prison, for that had been purposely
kept concealed from her. She thought
he was at sea, and her calls were cries
for him to come home. They were
never answered, and she died without
seeing her boy again.

As for Moss, the third member of the
trio, he served his sentence and then
went West, a broken man, to attempt
to resume his mechanic’s trade.

Up in Fort Washington, Mrs. Peirce
continued to go about her household
duties, caring for her five little boys
and attempting to put the past behind.

Then, in July, 1927, nearly seven
years after the murder, something hap-
pened which shattered all their efforts
to forget, and plunged them all back
once more into the atmosphere of those
terrible days of 1920 and 1921.

Marion Elliotte was captured. in De-
troit!

Living in the Michigan metropolis
as Thomas Marshall, the man sought
by every police department in the
country had for years worked obscurely
as a mechanic.

His arrest came as the result of a
jealous woman’s anger, combined with
the tireless efforts of Jim McGettigan, a
county detective who had continued to
follow his trail’ throughout the seven
years.

Back to Philadelphia he was brought,
and with him were gathered all his old
companions—Treadway, now _ thirty
years old, and still straight and athletic
in spite of his six years in prison; Moss,
who had been found working as a dish-
washer in a St. Louis restaurant; and
Boots herself, now turned into a prim
and rather plump matron of twenty-
five, mother of two fine young children.

It was a strange and dramatic re-
union—one which I shall never forget!

The captured fugitive blustered
wildly, but it was obvious that he
feared the cold glances of the three who
had already stood trial. Most of all
did he cringe before the steady glance
of Treadway, who was brought from

prison that he might testify once more
concerning the seven-year-old murder.

Taking the stand, Treadway swore
dramatically that Elliotte alone had
killed Peirce, and that he had been an
unwilling witness, held on the scene at
the point of a pistol!

It was the first time he had ever
made such an assertion, and the state-
ment was immediately challenged by

,-both the defense attorney, Jay Bos-

sard, and the Assistant District Attor-
ney, Eugene Alessandroni.

TTPREADWAY, however, clung to his

new version, declaring that he had
been surprised when Elliotte, his eves
shining madly, broke into Peirce’s
apartment with the gun and blackjack
in his hands.

“| made the other statements, impli-
cating myself, so that Marie could go
free,” he asserted earnestly. “I knew
someone had to take the rap, and |
would rather it was me than her.”

Moss and Boots repeated, almost
word for word, the narratives they had
given at the earlier trials.

Then Elliotte, himself, was led to the
witness chair. Almost immediately a
shiver went through me. There was
something uncanny about the actions
and appearance of the defendant which
caused an involuntary ripple of fear in
the hearts of all the spectators.

His booming bass voice, his defiant,
bold manner and his apparent confi-
dence, contrasted strangely with his
cringing eyes and almost waxen fea-
tures. It was as though the ghost of the
half-forgotten murderer of Peirce had
arisen to confront the court.

The story which he told differed in al-
most every particular from those of the
other three, and reached its climax in
the most dramatic action [ have ever
witnessed in a court-room—his demon-
stration of how Peirce was murdered.

He said he had met Treadway for the
first time on the night of the murder,
and had admired him because he was
a boxer. He walked out Market Street
with him, he declared, and met Moss
and Boots at Twentieth Street.

“A few minutes later Peirce showed
up,” he continued. “He had been drink-
ing and was very happy. He invited
us all up to his apartment, and [| fol-
lowed the others up.

“IT sat down on the couch. Mr. Peirce
asked me if [ would have a drink, but
I refused as [| was not well. I have no
use for whisky.

“T was sitting there wondering how |
could get away from the party, when
I heard a terrible sharp ‘click’, and
heard Mr. Peirce fall to the floor. [
turned around and saw that Treadway
had hit him on the head with the butt
of a long revolver.”

Al this point, Elliotte raised his
voice and continued in loud, dra-
matic tones:

“I said to Treadway, ‘Why are you
hitting him? He hasn’t done anything!’
Then he hit him another lick, so hard
it would jar a steer off its feet!

“Treadway turned to me and said,

“Shut up. Stop interfering or I’ll do
the same thing to you. Stand over
there.’

March, 1930

“I got s
over. | 4
seemed lik:
kind who °
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“Then |
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Snatching i
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Suddenly
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nd said,
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March, 1930

“T got shaky and was quaking all
over. I was nervous anyway. He
seemed like a man plumb crazy, the
kind who would kill me. [ knew one
punch from a prize fighter like him
would knock me out; so I stayed where
he told me and turned my back to the
wall. Peirce had fallen right back of
me, and when I looked down at him, |
got so nervous I was afraid my knees
would jump out of their sockets!”

The prisoner halted, and wiped his
forehead with a handkerchief. His hand
was trembling, and his eyes were start-
ing from his head. As hé resumed, his
voice rose until it became almost a wail:

“Then I heard another click,” he
cried, leaning out toward the jury box.

Seemingly unable to bear the strain
of sitting still any longer, he jumped
down and stepped in front of the jury.

“This is the way he beat him,’ he
half shrieked, lifting his right hand far
above his head. He paused, feeling in
the air for a weapon. His eyes fell upon
the exhibit table, where lay the wrench
used to kill Peirce seven years before.
Snatching it from the table he swept it
earthward with gruesome force:

“He did it with this. It was worse
than you would treat a dog. The licks
were so hard they would knock the
head out of a beer barrel!”

Suddenly recollecting he pulled him-
self, up short, panties from his exer-
tions. Staring about him wildly, he laid
the wrench down again and resumed his
seat in the witness chair.

“Then he made me go with the rest
of them in the car,” he gasped, breath-

The Master Detective

ing hard. “I tried to get away at Balti-
more but they wouldn’t let me. When
we got to Wheeling I watched for my
chance and beat it. Believe me, t was
glad to get away!

“There is no murder in my heart,”
he concluded, in a ringing plea. “If this
jury finds me guilty, | want the electric
chair—I want to die!”

But Elliotte’s request was not to be
granted. On the morning of September
17th, 1927, after deliberating all night,
the jury announced their verdict.

Elliotte was found guilty of murder
in the first degree, with a recommenda-
tion of life imprisonment!

Accordingly, Judge McDevitt called
him before the bar and read him the
sentence with which the Peirce case was
at last brought to a close:

“Marion A: Elliotte, the jury that
tried you has found you guilty of first-
degree murder and fixed the penalty of
life imprisonment. The court sentences
you to be confined the_balance of your
natural life in the Eastern Peniten-
tiary at separate and solitary confine-
ment at hard labor, as the J--y pre-
scribes.”

Members of the jury revealed that
they had ponsienad a second degree
verdict until Elliotte, by his dramatic
accusation of Treadway and his demon-
stration of how the murder was com-
mitted, virtually convicted himself.

They also declared, that had Tread-
way and Elliotte been on trial together
before them for the crime, the evidence
being the same, they would have sent
them both to the electric chair.

But the moment when Elliotte leaped
to his feet with the murder wrench in
his hand was not the only spectacular
scene in that most dramatic of all mur-
der trials.

There was another scene for which |
was watching with keen interest—
the flash that | was sure would come as
the eyes of Boots Rogers and her old
lover met once more after their long
separation.

WoLd it show that the old love

was dead—or merely suppressed,
a sleeping passion which might break
out in the very court-room where they’
now sat near each other for the first
time in so many years?

But the greeting for which | was
waiting never came. The plump young
mother and the hardened convict
seemed scarcely to know each other—
and they made no attempt to revive the
emotions of the 1920 jazz baby and her
boxer hubby who had been lovers when
they became implicated in the murder
of Henry Peirce.

Yet, sitting there watching them so
carefully avoid each other’s eyes, it
was impossible for me to believe that
some message was not passing between
them—not a message of eyes or words,
but one which flashed from soul to soul.

It would not be a very happy mes-
sage, I thought, but it might be a tri-
umphant one—a message once more
linking the lives of this man and woman
who had worked out their own salva-
tion from the clutch of misery and
sordid circumstance.

The Unholy Riddle in the Catacomb

and heavy profits. He took an excep-
tional risk to get them.

The broker shrugged when Lepine
took his leave.

“It’s too bad, Monsieur,” he said,
“but we had no choice except to follow
orders.”

“Doubtless,” Lepine muttered, “you
advised him—and then seized his in-
terests when he could not cover. And
regard, my smooth young man, if you
let one syllable of what has happened
here today escape your lips, I dealt hire
you in prison quicker than you imag-
ine.

When he departed, Lepine knew that
the broker’s silence was a thing guaran-
teed. With this new information, he
soon discovered by making joint in-
quiries that Carara had taken mort-
gages on his farmhouse.

“At last,” sighed the tired young
sergeant, “we have something. Now
we shall arrest Carara, eh?”

“TOOL!” exclaimed Lepine. “Arrest
him for what? Have you La-
marre’s body in your pocket? Can you
prove that he is dead? No, we have
very little. We have something that
looks like a working motive. We have
something to suspect. It is what Scot-
land Yard would call a master theory.
But, my dear fellow, it is just a theory.”
“Well then, where do we go now?”
“We go. to the offices of the Urbain

— e

(Continued from page 25)

Insurance Company. But remember
this: The time has not yet come for
action. We have shown motive and
op peuoly for Lamarre’s death, even
before we have proved him dead. Thus
far we have acted along routine lines.
Now, sergeant, we practice a little de-
ception.”

So off they went in the police ma-
chine to the Urbain agency. There, the
superintendent was called aside and af-
ter a brief conference with Lepine.
agreed to call in the company’s attor-
neys.

rivately, the sergeant was wonder-
ing whether Lepine suspected Carara
exclusively. Was it possible that the
insurance superintendent had_ killed

emarre and taken the money for him-
self—or that some other employee of
the firm had?”

Lepine probably had thought of that
long ago, he concluded, but almost im-
mediately after the attorneys had ar-
rived, the sergeant realized that Lepine
was not interested in such a possibility.
As soon as they were seated in the offi-
ces, a messenger was sent to the Carara
farmhouse. The request that he took
to Papa Carara and Madeline was in-
nocent enough. They were asked to
pay a visit to the Urbain agency.

t had been arranged that as soon
as the couple appeared, they were to
be informed that the company be-
lieved Lamarre an absconder. Then the

attorneys were to pretend they wanted
the money more than Lamarre, and
since they knew Carara to be an old
friend of the collector, was it not pos-
sible that Papa Carara could get a mes-
sage to Lamarre--a message telling
him if the money were returned. he
would not be prosecuted? Neither Le-
pine nor the sergeant remained there
until the Cararas appeared. Nothing of
consequence came of the visit, of course.
Carara swore he did not know how to
reach the old man, vowed he hadn't
seen him since the night of his disap-
pearance.

Madame Carara said the same thing.
Their children, even were questioned.
The attorneys seemed, perhaps, a bit
thick-headed. They asked foolish and
silly questions. Even the children may
have wondered. And they seemed re-
luctant to let the Cararas go home.
The inquisition was exceedingly long-
drawn.

But it had to be if Lepine and his
subordinate were to carry out the Brig-
adier’s plan.

And the plan was simple enough.

Lepine had summoned a dozen gen-
darmes, and at their head, he sped to
the Carara farmhouse. Down at the
bottom of the catacomb shaft, they dis-
covered first, the remnants of an old
fire. The damp soil was covered with a

eculiar white ash. All about the cham-

er, the rays of their lanterns glistened

COLD December drizzle set in about noon on the

next to the last day of 1932 and convinced Joseph

Novak, who had been tramping the woods all

morning, that better days for rabbit hunting were

to be had. He shouldered his gun, went back to his
car, and started home.

His way led through a number of exclusive little suburbs
on the southeastern rim of Cleveland, to the end of Shaker
Boulevard. There he stopped his car and settled down to
wait for a man with whom -he had made a tentative ap-
pointment the day before, and to whom he hoped to sell
some contractor equipment. He filled and lighted his pipe.

After he had been sitting there some time smoking his
pipe and listening to the pattering rain, a young man in a
dilapidated Model T Ford truck pulled up beside him and
asked if trucks were allowed on the boulevard. Novak told
him he didn’t know but thought it was all right. The
young man drove on. .—

About ten minutes’ later, or at 1:40 Pp. M. as near as he
could guess when police prodded his memory afterwards, he
decided that the man whom he was to meet was not com-
ing, and he too went on. ;

In the course of five miles he passed from Pepper Pike
Village into Beechwood Village, where the north roadway

BY SERGEANT

BERNARD J.

ermal eel

, arn
NM. tke A

WOLF

CE
A

ome time smoking his
ain, a young man in a
Jed up beside him and
oulevard. Novak told
t was all right. .The

{0 p. M. as near as he
memory afterwards, he
to meet was not com-

ised from Pepper Pike
ere the north roadway

OLE

Above) On this
orofare, a pass-
motorist came
a mysterious
parked (as
ketched). on the
tee lawn. Investi-
ating, he was
fartled to find the
pdy of a young
roman, lying face
up in the car

of Shaker Boulevard traverses a particularly deserted section. At a point where an
arm of the woods bends in toward the road Novak came upon a maroon sedan driven
up over the curb on to the tree lawn. He halted opposite it.

“Hey, there,” he shouted, rolling down his window. “Are you in trouble?”

No answer came back. He noticed the rear wheels had just cleared the curb and
were sunk in the rain-soaked turf. Curious as to why a car should be left in such a
strange position he got out and went over, glancing through the misty windows and
walking around to the front. The radiator was still warm.

Novak looked up and down the road but saw no one. Then he peered through the
car windows, and recoiled. There, in the rear of the car, partly on the floor and partly
on the back seat, was the body of a young woman lying face up.

‘She was blindfolded; a trickle of blood showed on her forehead; a silk scarf was
wound tightly about her neck and her clothes were in disarray. The cramped, un-
natural position, and the pallor of her face told Novak she was probably dead.

CHIEF OF THE CLEVELAND, OHIO, HOMICIDE SQUAD
As told to LAWRENCE J. HAWKINS

Police Chief William Eierman of
Pepper Pike Village was one
of the first at murder scene.

bankbooks, an envelope of checks and
left.

It was six short blocks from the so-
ciety’s building to the Cleveland Trust
Co. branch bank, where the society had
a commercial account. Ruth got there
at 1:10 p.m. She was well known there,
because every Thursday she went there
to get the society’s pay roll. On such
occasions she rode in a police car. She
generally returned on Fridays, alone, to
cash employees’ pay checks and to make
deposits. That was what she was doing
on this fateful Friday of December 30,
1932,
When she arrived at the bank, she
spoke cheerily to J. C. Parch, assistant
manager. At a teller’s cage she cashed
pay checks totaling $191.75, and told the
teller she was going on downtown to the
Guardian Trust Co. She left the branch
bank at 1:15 p.m.

No one noticed her as she walked out
the door. No one knew where she had
parked the car, though presumably it
was near the bank. No one saw her get
into the car.

Anyway, she never arrived at the
Guardian Bank downtown—two and a
half miles from the branch bank.

At 1:30 p.m. Miss Warriner phoned
the Guardian Bank, leaving word that
Ruth was to call the society. But Ruth
never got the message.

T WAS STILL RAINING, a little after

2 p.m., when Joseph Novak was
driving along Shaker Heights Boule-
vard, in the outskirts of Cleveland. Be-
cause of the rain he was driving slowly.
He whistled to himself, happily and
contentedly, for he felt refreshed,, just
returning from a hunting trip in Geauga
County where the hunting was good.

David C. Cowles of Cleveland fe
Identification Bureau looks *
over gun used in the killing.

Coming around a bend
in the boulevard, be-
tween Pepper Pike Vil-
lage and Beachwood Village, both
Cleveland suburbs, he suddenly noticed
a black sedan, its front wheels sunk in
mud between the curbing and the side-
walk and its rear wheels protruding into

Superintendent : } : a bet a A woman's searfi had
; ; ee been knotted tightly

Bureau of Identification ey ae ca -— wah What i about the throat of
sae ie 5. Stake We" the girl by the man
who had attacked her.

fiat fh
WHENCSS

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get away

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Ruth s:

got mome
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ou

‘s searf had
tted tightly
e throat of
by the man
ttacked her.

WANT TO TELL YOU the
story of a crime that was just
about as near perfectasany | have
ever investigated—so near perfect

that the guilty person was the State's

wtiness at the trial of an innocent man.

IT want to tell it, because it illustrates
better than any criminal case in my
knowledge the utter futility of trying to
get away with crime.

Strangely enough, though I have been
a police officer for a good many years,
I still continue to be amazed by the stu-
pidity of criminals. It isn’t their stu-
pidity in performance of crime that's
surprising; it is true that some of them
hatch some pretty nifty schemes. Rather
it’s their stupidity in thinking they can
get away with it.

The story Iam going to tell you in
detail illustrates the point. We solved
it because we adhered to two fundamen-
tal principles of criminal detection: pa-
tience and attention to trifles.

RR ELIZABETH STEESE WAS dis-
gruntled as she stood looking out
at the cold, miserable rain. She was in
bad humor because her coat felt damp
and uncomfortable as she put it on, and
her mouth was pouty as she turned
around and looked into the adjacent
room.

The soft sound of Christmas music
came from the room and she could see
the sightless men and women of. the
Cleveland Society for the Blind sitting
around a brightly lighted Christmas
tree, listening to the music. The men
and women were being entertained at a
pre-New Year’s Day party.

Ruth smiled at the homey scene, for-
got momentarily her “blues,” until the

Ruth Elizabeth Steese (at
right) was robbed, shot
and criminally assaulted
on a Cleveland highway.

-IN FOR

MURDE

beating of the rain reminded her. She
frowned again as she thought of going
out.

But at that moment, Violet Warriner,
another employee of the society, came
in from lunch, and Ruth’s face suddenly
lighted up.

“Look, Vi,” Ruth said, “I’ve got to go
to the bank. Can I borrow your car?
The rain—”

“Why, sure you can.” Miss War-
riner handed over the keys to her black
Hudson sedan. Ruth gathered up some

Peter Treadway (right) told a
story of having been held up
and shot on way to the bank.

The murder ear yielded few

left the bank
and started to get into the
vehicle she faced a gunman.

the lane of traffic. The car was pointed
east, though it was in the westbound
trathe lane.

Novak assumed someone had skidded
on the wet pavement, so he stopped to
help. He could see no one outside the
mired car, but he noticed the windows
were misty and assumed someone was
inside. He got out of his own machine,
walked to the sedan and opened the
right rear door.

A stream of blood trickled out upon
the ground and Novak saw what at first
appeared to be a bundle of clothing on
the floor of the car.

He was frightened now. He opened
all four doors, not yet sure what he’d

The forged check shown at the
left brought about the undoing
of the slayer of Ruth Steese.

Dies hense e
ae Ree

A policeman points to spot on
roadside where bloodstains
marked seene of the crime.

and
face

he reached in-

His

discovered. Then
touched the pile of rags.
blanched.

It was a woman. Dead!

She was seated on the back seat, but
was slumped forward so far that her
head, hanging between her knees, rested
on the floor.

The seat cushion was tilted forward
by her weight. On the floor beside her
was a pink silk undergarment.

Even yet Novak was unable to fully
comprehend the horrifying extent of
his discovery. He reached in again,
timidly and cautiously and touched the
woman’s body. It was still warm!

He felt ill, He felt like running

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 29

could still be saved in God’s kingdom.

It was a privilege for me to assure him that God did
have such a plan. I explained how Jesus Christ was
baptized, not for remission of sin, for Christ was sin-
less. Christ’s baptism accomplished two important
things: First, He set an example for all of us; and, sec-
ond, this portion of His life, His baptism, covers the
sins of anyone coming after who was denied this privi-
lege. The thief hung next to the Saviour on the cross
when he first expressed his faith in the Lord Jesus. No
baptism could or did follow, and yet Jesus assured him
of a place with Him in His kingdom. I informed Sam
that this was the only place in the Gospels where an
individual is definitely promised salvation without hav-
ing been baptized. I expressed my own conviction that
only one of these experiences has been recorded in the
Bible so that no one might presume too much upon the
mercies of our Lord, and yet no one might feel that his
case was hopeless.

This thought seemed to bring great comfort to Sam.
In our very last visit together he referred to the fact
that not only was he dependent upon Christ’s death on
the cross to cover his sins, but that he also was depen-
dent upon Christ’s baptism to suffice for his own.
However, he firmly believed that if by any act of God
his life were to be spared, and he were released from
prison, he should present himself for baptism. Four
days before his execution he wrote me expressing this
thought and adding that he still hoped someday it might
be his privilege to present himself at one of our
churches and have me baptize him.

In our very first visit Sam told me that he really was
resigned to whatever the future held. He stated, of
course, that any person clings to life and that he surely
would like to live. He expressed a great longing to be a

30 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

minister, using his life and strength now for good in-
stead of evil. For one personal reason he hoped his life
might be spared a little longer. As he expressed it, ‘‘I
would so much like to have my mother find Jesus
Christ and His truth, which has meant so much to me.
She never really had a chance to discover these things
which have so changed my life. I would love to be able
to live to help her become a Christian too.”’

I suggested, ‘‘Sam, let’s both pray about it. You
write to her, expressing your hope for her conversion,
and I will write her also. Perhaps we can enroll her in
the same Bible course which has so changed your life.
Who knows what might come of it.’” Upon my return I
wrote his mother and received a good reply from her. I
realized that Sam was also writing to her on many oc-
casions. At a later visit Sam shared with me the good
news that his mother and stepfather were studying the
Bible three times each week with a consecrated Ad-
ventist layman. This was most encouraging to him.

Before our first visit was concluded Sam and I
prayed together. God seemed very near as we renewed
the dedication of our hearts and lives to the service of
Jesus Christ.

After I finished praying with him and prepared to
leave, he asked, ‘‘Aren’t you going to talk with Earle
while you are here?’’ He pointed to a cell, the third one
down from his, in which was another young man con-
demned to die. Through Sam’s influence Earle had en-
rolled in the Faith for Today Bible Course but had not
mentioned to us the fact that he, too, was on death
row. I asked my guard if I might speak with Earle also,
and he granted this permission. A few moments of con-
versation revealed that he, too, seemed to be enjoying
a happy Christian experience. He told me that he and
Sam spent many hours together talking through their

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 27

the sweet sleep of those whose consciences are clear.
From then on, for the first time he could remember, he
was able to sleep “‘like a baby’’ every night. He experi-
enced the peace which only Jesus Christ can give to a
man, the peace that comes with canceled sin and the
removal of all guilt feelings as a result.

We Discuss Christian Doctrine

I was amazed in that first visit to discover the depth
of Sam’s understanding of the Scriptures. He had been
eagerly devouring the Word of God, and God had
opened his alert mind to a rapid comprehension of its
great truths.

‘*Sam,’’ I stated, ‘‘I told our folks in church this
morning that while we were keeping the Sabbath there
you were keeping it here in your cell on death row.”’

‘*Yes,’’ he smiled back at me. And pointing behind
him to something hanging on the wall of his cell he
said, ‘‘There’s my sunset calendar.’’ Then looking
meaningfully at me he added, ‘“The Sabbath began at
6:21 last night. They were just cleaning the cell block
prior to that time. I called out to them and said, ‘Make
sure that you get mine done before 6:21, because that’s
when the Sabbath begins, and I want to make sure that
I am keeping it properly.’ They did, and I was able to
observe the Sabbath right from the very beginning of
the holy hours.”’

Sam shared with me how he had often longed to at-
tend just one church service. He said how much he
would have enjoyed meeting with God’s people in the
fellowship of worship. He mentioned that often he had
tried to visualize what it would be like to meet on the
Sabbath day with others of like faith. Often he tuned in
his radio on church services and tried to imagine him-
self a part of the worshiping congregation. He volun-

28 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

teered that he looked forward to meeting with-God’s
people in the earth made new, when, according to the
Scriptures, we will all worship God each Sabbath day.

His earnest words made me think of how lightly some
prize their opportunities to fellowship with God’s peo-
ple from week to week. Hearing him speak of the privi-
lege of church attendance with such reverence, awe,
and longing to participate made me wish that every
church member might see this young man and hear him
tell what worshiping with God’s people would have
meant to him. He had often thought of requesting the
privilege of attending just one Protestant service held in
the prison, but knowing that this would have been a fa-
vor difficult to grant an occupant of death row, he de-
cided not to request any special consideration.

He also talked to me that day about a matter we had
discussed before in our correspondence—the fact that
he had never been baptized by immersion. He had re-
quested baptism, but no facilities were available on
death row to make this possible. The Protestant chap-
lain had one day offered to baptize him on the spot. In
answer to Sam’s incredulous inquiry as to how this
could be accomplished, the chaplain answered that he
would simply sprinkle a few drops of water on Sam’s
head. Sam told me that he had assured the well-mean-
ing chaplain that in his belief this would not be suffi-
cient and could not be considered as baptism. How-
ever, so desirous was he of fully accepting the Lord
Jesus and participating in all that might be available to
him, that finally he agreed to allow the chaplain to
carry out the ritual. But the experience brought no sat-
isfaction to his heart, and he discussed with me his
conclusion that he had not been truly baptized. He in-
quired if God did not have some plan whereby individ-
uals like him who had been denied this opportunity

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 43

to myself that I was witnessing under most unusual cir-
cumstances the fruits of the miracle of conversion.

When we arose from prayer, Sam walked to the bars
to talk to a guard who was outside. Busy for a moment
talking with the chaplain, I did not listen until I heard
the guard having difficulty quoting to him Paul’s words
in 1 Corinthians 15, ‘If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.’’ Sam had
been expressing his firm conviction that this was not
the end and that we have hope beyond this life. The
guard himself was a Christian, and responded with this
wonderful promise of resurrection. It was good to feel
the spirit of faith present in our hearts in that hour.

One of Sam’s last concerns was for another Earl
whom he had brought to Christ and who was to die just
a week later than he. Several times as we sat together
in the anteroom awaiting the signal of death at 8:00
p.m., he discussed Earl and the fact that just a week
from that time Earl would be in that room. He ob-
served, ‘‘This will probably be the hardest week of
Earl’s life, because I will not be there to encourage
him.’’ He had thoughtfully made arrangements with a
number of persons to contact and encourage Earl dur-
ing the ensuing week so that his faith would not fail at
the end.

A half hour before eight o’clock a heavy knock came
on the door from the death chamber. The door was
opened and two guards were admitted to the cell. With
them they brought a little box containing barber equip-
ment. Apparently Sam had not realized that it was nec-
essary for them to cut his hair so as to leave the crown
of his head bare for the electrode. They explained this
to him, and though it seemed to disturb him somewhat
to think of his hair being cut in a strange way, he
meekly sat down in the chair. They used the scissors to

44 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

cut off large portions of his hair, and then with a pair of
electric clippers they made the crown of his head ready
so that an electrode could make contact with his skin.
At the same time that this was being done by one
guard, the other was slitting the right leg of Sam’s trou-
sers so that an electrode could be placed on his leg just
below his knee. The whole procedure took about five
minutes, and then these two guards left.

Another guard explained that when eight o’clock
came Sam was to leave his glasses on the table where
he had eaten his last meal and we were then all to enter
the death chamber together. Sam told the guard that
since he did not see well without his glasses, he would
appreciate it if he might keep them until the last
minute. The guard thought a moment and then an-
swered that while it would be all right with him person-
ally, his instructions had been to request Sam to leave
his glasses on the table. He added, ‘‘You wouldn’t
want to get me into any trouble about this, would you?
It would be a help to me if you would leave them ac-
cording to the instructions given me.’’ Sam immedi-
ately agreed.

Many times during that last half hour Sam asked me
what time it was, and I kept checking on my watch to
give him this vital information. At just one minute be-
fore eight he made another of his frequent and thought-
ful attempts to relieve our tension by saying, ‘‘Not
many men in the world know that they have only one
more minute of life. I guess I’m in quite a unique posi-
tion.’’ We were amazed at his ability to make state-
ments like this at a time when many would have com-
pletely disintegrated in fear. To the very end his
attitude was one of Christian thoughtfulness of us who
were with him at that desperate time.

Promptly at the stroke of eight a heavy knock came,

THREE HOURSTOLIVE 45

and in a moment three guards appeared. The Protes-
tant chaplain led the way toward the door of the cell.
The events then took place so rapidly that it was hard
for me to believe it was really happening. After having
placed his glasses on the table, Sam followed the chap-
lain and then I brought up the rear. Two guards took
positions on either side of Sam, and we passed through
the heavy wooden doorway into the death chamber.

I do not know exactly what I expected to see.
Though I had thought I was emotionally prepared for
anything, I fear the three wonderful hours we had
spent together, with the Spirit of God so near, had
made me somewhat forget the reason for our presence
there. In the death chamber seventeen men solemnly
watched as we entered. The electric chair was to our
left on a slightly raised platform. We had to step up on
this platform and cross by the ugly electric chair in or-
der to get down into the area where we were to stand.

The Protestant chaplain stepped down in front of the
electric chair and turned about to face it. Sam was
seated in it, and guards immediately began to strap him
in. I brushed by them in order to step down and stand
next to the chaplain.

The chaplain always conducts a short service on
such occasions, reading the twenty-third psalm and
then reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The electrodes were
fastened to Sam’s head and leg, straps were placed
around his neck, arms, and legs, and over his face was
placed a mask resembling a black welder’s mask. Then
the guards stepped back. Though the chaplain had not
yet completed the Lord’s Prayer, he stopped, for it was
evident there would not be time to finish it.

The warden nodded a signal. His associate, standing
at Sam’s left, pressed a button on the wall which rang a
bell in an adjoining room. The next instant a light went

46 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

on over the chair, and the current surged through the
body. There was no outcry from the man in the chair.
It was evident that the first shock of electricity merci-
fully brings unconsciousness. The only sound in the
room was that of straining as every muscle in Sam’s
body was made taut by the current. Even though a man
is unconscious, the human body apparently reacts in
this way to electric current.

We stood, tense and silent, for what seemed an age
before a doctor finally stepped up and placed a stetho-
scope on the bare chest of the man before us. After lis-
tening for a few moments he stepped back without
comment. Then another jolt of electricity was sent
through the strapped body before us, and once again it
strained in reaction. Two or three more minutes passed
by, minutes that seemed again like an eternity. Then
the doctor stepped forward once more and placed the
stethoscope on Sam’s chest. After listening intently he
straightened up and looked at the warden, saying
tensely, “‘Warden Alvis, sufficient current has passed
through the body of Tannyhill to cause his death at 8:12
p.m.”’

The warden said, ‘‘Thank you.’’ The doors of the
room opened, and all who had been present left
quickly.

After returning to the cell to get my coat and Bible, I
acted on impulse and re-entered the death chamber.
All had gone at this time except Sam. He was still
seated in the chair. With the straps released and the
mask taken from his face, he looked just as if he were
asleep.

The sight brought to mind some of Sam’s last words
to me, spoken just before eight o’clock. Grasping my
hand and looking earnestly into my eyes, he had said,
‘*Pastor, I’m going to be looking for you over there.’’ I

then some more. Then I got in the car
and drove away.”

Tannyhill said he drove through Fre-
mont, north on Route 19, to the Mus-

kalunge Creek on the Oak Harbor road. ~

There, he continued, he threw the
bloody iron bar and Mrs. Bradford’s
glasses into the ‘stream.

He drove back to his hotel, clam-
bered back into his room and washed
the blood from his hands and arms.
Some time later he went out to ask
for the aspirin to cement his alibi of
having been in his room at the time of
the slaying.

On the following day. Tannyhill took
the officers to the creek where he
had disposed of the murder weapon
and it was recovered, an iron bar 32
inches long, an inch thick and weighing
four pounds.

QAM Tannyhill was indicted for
first-degree murder and his trial
set for the fall term of court. He spent
a month, from Aug. 2 to Sept. 2, in
the Lima State Hospital, under psy-
chiatric observation. On October 3, he
was brought to trial before Visiting
Judge Arthur D. Tudor.

Prosecutor Tom’ Dewey told a jury -

of nine women and three men that he
would demand the death penalty. De-
fense Attorney Henry G. Stahl entered
pleas of not guilty and not guilty by
reason of insanity.

As Dewey presented his evidence
during three and a half days, cross-
examination by Attorney Stahl strong-
ly indicated that he would base his de-

fense upon Tannyhill’s low mentality,
despite the testimony of two psychia-
trists that, while the defendant had a
personality problem, he was legally
sane.

In his innings before the jury, Stahl
brought out that Tannyhill had had a
pitiable upbringing. His parents had
been bootleggers, had fed the child
whiskey at an early age. They had
separated when he was very young
and his mother had refused to care
for him. He had been shunted from one
relative to another, and for a time,
when he was about nine or ten, had
lived in a chicken coop on a river bank.

He had been refused admission to
a religious home for boys because
blood tests indicated he had congenital
syphilis. He had not gone through the
seventh grade in school.

While in the army, he had suffered
a heat stroke and had spent some time
in a mental ward. A chronic AWOL,
he had been discharged as unfit for
service.

Then Tannyhill himself took the

stand, and a new and surprising defense
was offered in his slaying of Shirley
Bradford.

He repeated his story much as he
had told it to Sheriff Paul and Captain
McGuire until he came to the moment
of the actual assault with the gear-
toothed jackstaff.

“I opened the trunk,” he said. “I
saw the jack post there. I decided to
scare her. I got hold of the front of
her dress, and I said: ‘Now will you
forget this Mathilda stuff?’

FARMER’S WIFE
(Continued from page 27)

Katner put a few brief questions to
her and managed to get a sketchy
account of what had happened since
she came home at 4:30.

Jurko was in the barn when she
got home, she said. She did some
chores and began milking the cows.
Jurko was in and out of the barn.
Then, she said, he had told her he
was going to a neighbor’s to borrow
clippers for the cows.

“T didn’t see him again,” she moan-
ed. “What can have happened?”

“Perhaps you heard something,”
Katner suggested.

“Heard something?” She looked at
him questioningly.

“Noises, Mrs. Klymiuk,”
said. “Or shots, maybe.”

“I don’t know,” she wailed hesitantly.
“When I have six cows yet to milk, I
do hear a ‘boom, boom.’ I think maybe
something fall, but I am too busy with
the milking to go look.”

Her chores completed, she went on,
she quit the barn by its front door which
faced the house.

The woman was so hysterical, the
sheriff and his colleagues thought it
58

Katner

“She grabbed my arm and told me Na

I wasn’t going to hit her. We tussled.

We tripped, and she fell and I fell on
top of her. Then I saw she was getting
up. I felt for my gun (he claimed it
had fallen from his pocket) and then I

seen her hand on the pistol. I thought ;

she was going to shoot me.

“I don’t know how to describe it.
As soon as I saw she had the gun, I
hit her with the jackstaff.”

“Certainly I’m sorry. If she hadn’t
got the gun, it never would have hap-
pened.” . :

Tannyhill’s plea of _ self-defense
amazed the spectators in the crowded
courtroom, few of whom believed it
would have any effect upon the jury.

It did not. On Wednesday, October
12th, the jurors returned a verdict of

guilty. There was no recommendation

for mercy. A sentence of death in
Ohio’s electric chair thus became man-
datory.

Attorney Stahl appealed the verdict,
citing both his client’s claim of having
killed in fear he himself was about to
be slain, and his own contention that
Tannyhill had a 10 to 12-year-old
mentality.

Stahl’s efforts were to no avail, and
on October 26, 1956, Samuel Woodrow
Tannyhill went cringing and weeping
to the electric chair at Ohio Penitent-
iary, snuffing out a career of murder,
rape, assault, and army desertion. %*

Editor’s Note: The names Ridge Heff-
ner, Peggy Ditson, Kitty Rollin and
Blacky Cochrane are fictitious.

better to still withhold the news of
her husband’s death. A deputy was as-
signed to drive her to Bath to wait.
With the woman on her way, the offi-
cers plunged into the probe.

The county cars were maneuvered
so that their lights could be focused on
the spot where Jurko Klymiuk lay. As
the officials approached the corpse,
Katner’s keen eyes spied pellets of shot
embedded in the soil around the dead
man’s head.

“Be careful,” he warned. “That shot
in the ground is mighty important.
Jim, get busy with that camera.”

Deputy Grimm, the photographer
for the Sheriff's Department, shot the
body from every angle. He was careful
to take closeups that showed the pel-
let-pocked soil. When he had finished,
the others approached gingerly.

First, Dr. Robinson took a quick
look at the body. “The way it seems to
me,” he said finally, “Klymiuk was
shot twice. Once in the back of the
neck, once in the back of the head.”

Katner nodded. “Once at long renoe,
once almost at point-blank range.”

The coroner smiled grimly. “1 see
you’ve spotted the pattern, too.” He
went on. “The shot in the neck covers
a pretty wide area, right down to the
shoulder. The shot scattered more. The

wound in the head is concentrated and

deeper. The range was too close for the a

shot to scatter much.” .

“And that second, close-range shot,”
the sheriff said tightly, “was fired while
Klymiuk was lying on the ground.”

DA Peltz, who had been an interest-
ed listener during this exchange, nodded.
“That explains the pellets that went in-
to the ground. The killer stood right
over the poor guy and blasted him as
he lay there.”

pp ican out one of the pellets that
had lodged in the soil, Katner and
his fellow officials scrutinized it closely.
Shotguns were common in that rural
area where thick woods still offered
haven for deer and other game, and
most people in the county were tho-
roughly familiar with them. Hardly a
household or farmstead didn’t have at
least one shotgun. The officers had no
difficulty in identifying the pellet as
birdshot, No. 6 size.

“It never rains but it pours,” Katner .

muttered, as he gazed at the dead man.
“The second murder this month.”
His companions knew to what the
sheriff was referring. Murderous vio-
lence seldom erupted in Steuben Coun-
ty with its solid, hardworking farming
folk. Yet, only three weeks before,

POLICE DRAGNET

joe a eae =

ess

IVE

ow. Sometime
you report it
Thy, until a few

ight. Give me
Begin at the

t the restaurant
intending to re~-

ack. The Hut’s
tered, the lights
in the urn. But
jradford nor any

ym her husband,
4 Street. Widman
found the restau~
taken a turn for
i home to attend
ybserved that the

For a moment, he was worried, but he quickly evolved
an optimistic theory. At the side of the register was
a note, presumably written by Shirley Bradford. The
message asked Widman to call Chuck Patterson’s service
station, some two blocks away. Patterson was a close friend
of Widman.

Widman now decided that the waitress had been called
home to attend her sick child. She hadn’t wanted to leave
the cash unguarded in the register, 80 she had left it at the
service station. He thought of calling Mrs. Bradford to
check his story, but he didn’t like to disturb her landlady
at that hour. Patterson's garage was closed and would
not open till 7 o'clock.

Widman locked up The Hut, returned home and told

his wife what had happened. Then he drove over to |

Croghan Street and aroused his day waitress. As he waited
for her to dress he drove to Howland Street, past the
house where Shirley Bradford lived. Since no lights
xhowed, he decided against going in.

At 5 o'clock he reopened the restaurant and at 7 A.M. he
called Patterson’s place and asked for his night’s receipts.

Patterson said, “Shirley didn’t leave any money here.
I didn’t see her at all last night.”

“But,” said Widman, puzzled, “she left a message that
I was to call you.”

“That was for the soft drink guy,” said Patterson. “You

Handcuffed to Sheriff Paul, self-confessed killer directs Capt.

McGuire’s ooure

know, when he fills my coke machine, he usually gets your
order from me. I just wanted to know how many
cases you wanted me to order for you.”

Now William Widman began to worry in earnest. When
he got back to The Hut he went into the ladies’ room and
opened the locker where Shirley Bradford customarily kept
her belongings. Her:coat was on a hanger. Her purse lay
on a shelf. A man who hated to believe the worst, he now
began to feel forced to do 50. No matter what emergency
had called Mra. Bradford from the restaurant, it was moat
unlikely that she would leave her coat and pocketbook
behind, he reasoned. Reluctantly, he came to the conclu-
sion that something most unpleasant had occurred. First,
he called the waitress’ landlady and learned that the girl
had not been home all night. Then he called the police.

Captain McGuire sipped the last of: his coffee. He said,
“How much is missing from the register?”

“According to the spool, about $115. There was $40
stuffed in the back of the drawer. That’s still here.”

“So,” said McGuire, “only what was plainly visible is
missing. If she was held up, she didn’t hand over all
the money.’ [’ll talk to you again after I’ve done some
checking. In the meantime, don’t you do any talking.”

McGuire first checked with Shirley Bradford’s landlady.
She had last seen her tenant at 7:30 on Sunday evening,
May Ist. That was almost twelve hours before Wid-

h for murder weapon, staff section of car jack

Ne KOON VA
Tener aita 267d ot
RS EX

BEAUTY & THE BEAST
(Continued from page 31)

hill, and under Tannyhill’s endorsement
on the back was the address—a new
hotel.

At the hotel, officers discovered that
Tannyhill who had stayed there only
four days, had checked out on Monday.

“He talked about taking a trip to
Texas,” said the clerk on the desk, the
husband of the manager of the hostelry.
“He'd been talking about it a couple
of days before he left.”

When McGuire said that Tannyhill
might possibly be a suspect in the Brad-
ford murder, the clerk said he doubted
that.

“The papers say Mrs. Bradford was
killed around four or five o’clock in the
morning,” he said. “Is that right?”

Captain McGuire assured him that
it was.

“Well, Tannyhill came in areal
two o'clock Monday morning,” the
clerk said. “He went to his room—on
the ground floor, rear—and he didn’t
come out again till about seven in the
morning, when he showed up at the
desk and wanted some aspirin.”

The clerk’s wife said this was true.
Tannyhill had come to the lobby in
his undershirt, his hair rumpled as if
he had been asleep, complaining of a
headache. She had been unable to sup-
ply him with the aspirin as he requested,
and he returned to his room, leaving a
call for nine o’clock. He had paid his
bill and left around 10:30 a.m.

“There was one strange thing,
though,” the hotel manager said. “When
I went in to see about cleaning his room,
I saw spots on a damp hand towel that
looked like blood. I just didn’t think
anything much of it, because lots of
men cut themselves shaving and bloody
up our towels,”

_ This particular towel already had gone
to the laundry and could not be re-

_ trieved to match the bloodspots on it

with samples of Shirley Bradford’s
blood.

McGuire turned back to the clerk.
“When Tannyhill came in at two
o'clock,” the police captain asked, “how
was he dressed? What kind of shirt
did he have on?”

The clerk could not remember clear-
ly, but said he was doubtful it had been
a checkered shirt of black and yellow
and green.

Sam Tannyhill had a married sister
living in Fremont. From her the in-
vestigators learned that he had recently
been engaged in an unsuccessful road-
side restaurant venture about 15 miles
west of Fremont. They discovered, too,
that he had been in trouble for car
theft as a boy and, about a year earl-
ier, had served a prison term in Mis-
souri for forgery.

He supposedly had left Fremont in
his second-hand Hudson sedan ac-
companied by Peggy Ditson, with whom
he had been keeping steady company
despite the fact that she had a husband
in the army.

At the address of Mrs. Ditson, the
cops were informed that she had gone
away the previous day, and that her
roommate. Kitty Rollin, had gone with
her.

“We'd probably be barking up the
wrong tree,” Sheriff Paul believed, “fig-
uring Tannyhill for the murder. Ap-
parently he’s got an alibi of being in
his room at the time Mrs. Bradford was
killed. And there’s nothing strange
about his skipping out of town. He
knew the check would bounce.”

McGuire got in touch with Missouri
penal authorities to check on Tanny-
hill’s record there, and meanwhile
combed through his own department’s
files on thieves and bandits.

He got nowhere there, but he did
come up with a flyer from Toledo, 35
miles away, on a gas-station stickup
suspect who interested him.

The man was Blackie Cochrane—
and one of his marks of identification,
as listed on the wanted bulletin out on
him, was a tattoo on his right forearm, a
heart encircling the name Peggy.

Cochrane was wanted by the Toledo
police for a long series of filling-station
robberies. He had a record as a gun-
toting bandit.

“He could easily have turned up down
here in Fremont,” McGuire said. “Only
the Toledo cops don’t know where he
is now, and neither do we.”

An autopsy by Dr. W. J. Hartung,
Jr., pathologist at St. Charles Hospital
in Toledo, revealed that Shirley Brad-
ford had died of massive cerebral hem-
orrhages and a number of skull frac-
tures. There was no evidence that she
had been shot.

Attention of the investigators was
redirected to Sammy Tannyhill two days
later when another of his bad checks
was reported. And then the Fremont
authorities learned that, in addition to
his record for auto theft and forgery,
Tannyhill also had served time for
assault and rape.

“A guy like that,” McGuire said,
“might turn to robbery—if he had a
gun, or could get one.”

He put out-orders for his men to
check on all recorded gun sales in
Fremont in recent months, and or-
dered Rogues’ Gallery photos of Sam-
my Tannyhill from the state peniten-
tiary in Columbus.

When the photos arrived, McGuire
summoned young Ridge Heffner to
headquarters. The taxicab driver was
handed a sheaf of 17 photos of young
men.

“See if there’s a familiar face any-
where among them,” Captain McGuire
said.

Heffner studied the pictures, one by
one. He laid one aside, examined the
rest, then picked up the lone print.

“There’s the man who was in the
Hut,” he declared. “The guy in the
checkered shirt.”

The likeness was that of Tannyhill.
Heffner said he was sure of his identi-
fication. “I’d know him anywhere,” he
asserted.

Within hours after the cabman’s se-

lection of Tannyhill’s photo, police dis-
covered that on April 29th, two days
before the murder, Samuel W. Tanny-
hill had bought a .32-calibre Italian-
made Astra automatic pistol at Tex’s
Trading Post, a sporting goods store
on North Street in Fremont.

And Peggy Ditson had entered the
store and joined Tannyhill just after
he entered his name on the register
as the purchaser of a pistol, as required
by Ohio law. He also had bought a
box of 50 cartridges for the weapon.

“What about his alibi?” Sheriff Paul
said. “How could he have been in his
hotel room and in the Hut at one and
the same time?”

“He lived on the ground floor of the
hotel,” McGuire reminded his colleague.
“It’s a three-foot drop from the window
to the ground. He could have gone out
and come back without being seen.”

A pickup alarm was flashed across
the country for Sammy Tannyhill and
his car. Three days later a long dis-
tance call from Rolia, Missouri, in-
formed the Ohio officers that the auto
was in the hands of the police there.

Tannyhill had not been found. The
machine had been in the possession of
Mrs. Ditson and Kitty Rollin, both of
whom were working as waitresses in a
roadhouse.

HERIFF Paul and Captain Mc-

Guire went at once to Rolla. There
they were handed a bloodstained sports
shirt, checkered in black, yellow and
green. The garment had been found
in the trunk of Tannyhill’s sedan.

“He left us in Missouri,” Peggy Dit-
son said. “He told us, that he was
going to Kansas City.”

Mrs. Ditson said that on the Sun-
day before Mrs. Bradford was murder-
ed, she was awakened with a sickening
hangover, that Tannyhill had taken care
of her during the day and that night
took her and Kitty to a couple of night
spots and to a diner, driving the girls
home around 2 A.M.

She next saw Tannyhill—she called
him “Woody” from Woodward, his
middle name—around 11:30 Monday
morning, Peggy related. It was then
they planned the trip west.

“Woody drove us to the Zoo in
Toledo that Monday afternoon,” Mrs.
Ditson said. “On the way back, I no-
ticed a box of Kleenex he’d bought
and put up over the sun visor—it was
all bloody. I kept asking him about
it. He finally got sore and threw i out
of the car, up near Elmore.

“We all packed up and left town
around half past ten that night. I
haven’t heard from him since he left
us in Rolla.”

Kitty Rollin’s story matched Mrs.
Ditson’s and, back in Ohio, both young
women took lie-detector tests which
indicated they were telling the truth.
In addition, Mrs. Ditson guided Sher-
iff Paul to a spot beside the highway
near Elmore, and the sheriff found the
box of tissues, still bloodstained, in
undergrowth near the road.

The hunt for Sammy Tannyhill now

POLICE DRAGNET

was pressed in earnest. But it was not
until nearly three weeks later that he
was located—in the state penitentiary
in Kansas, where he was serving a term
of from 10 to 21 years for armed rob-
bery.

He had held up the operator of a
liquor store / in Wellington, Kansas,
and robbed him of $250. Then he had
gone out with a local girl for dinner
and a night on the town, and the local
cops picked him up through her, and
he was speedily tried and convicted.

Sheriff Paul and Captain McGuire
made a second fast trip west. On Sun-
day, June 5th, they returned to Fre-
mont with their prisoner, handcuffed
and chained, in the back of, their car.

They had his gun, the .32-calibre
Italian-made Astra automatic pistol he
had bought in Fremont and which he
had used in the liquor-store stickup in
Kansas. Even more important, they
had the bloody checkered sports. shirt,
taken from his car.

“I told Peggy to get rid of that,” he
said morosely when it was shown to
him. “I don’t know why she didn’t.”

He made oral confessions to Sheriff
Paul and Captain McGuire of his rob-
bery of Mrs. Bradford in the Hut,
and of her slaying.

S McGuire had suspected, Tanny-

hill had gone to his hotel room at
2 AM., stopping to chat a moment
with the clerk to set up an alibi. Then
he had dropped out his window, had
gone to the cafe, had waited outside
in his car until there was but one cus-
tomer left in the place and then had
entered and stayed until the customer
—Ridge Heffner—departed.

He said he had followed the waitress
into the kitchen and had pulled his
gun, She made no effort to resist, even
when he ordered her out to his auto-
mobile after turning off the lights and
locking the cafe.

“I was going to take her a few blocks
away and let her out,” Tannyhill said.
“I figured I didn’t dare leave her in
the restaurant, or she’d have the cops
on me before I could get to the hotel
and grab my clothes.

“There, just as I was going to let her
go,” the killer went on, “she said to me:
‘What will your sister Mathilda say
when I tell her you held me up?’ That
was the first I even guessed Mrs. Brad-
ford knew who I was.

“She told me her husband and my
sister’s husband used to work together.
I decided to drive her out in the country
and get her to change her mind about
telling my sister on me. But she
wouldn’t listen.

“So I decided to slap a little sense in
her. We went to this place by the
bridge. I hit her a few licks. Then I
figured I could tie her up and have time
to get away. I had some extension cords
in the back of the car, and so I took
her back there, holding her by the front
of the uniform, and opened the trunk.

“Then I saw this jackstaff lying
there. I picked it up. I hit her, and she
went down. I hit her some more and
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HE COULDN’T LET HER LIVE

For a whole month Ohio police and the FBI

hunted the suspect throughout the Midwest,

until they discovered his “ perfect hideout”

by JACK D’ARCY

morning of May 2nd, 1955, when the telephone
in the station house rang. The desk sergeant
sighed, put down his container of steaming coffee
and reached for the receiver. “H ello,” he said. “Fre-

mont Police Headquarters.”

“This,” said a puzzled voice, “Gs Bill Widman. I
run The Hut Restaurant on West State Street. I
think I’ve been robbed and maybe my waitress has
been kidnaped. You'd better send someone over.”

Now in Fremont, Ohlo, a peaceful town of some 20,000
population, robberies don’t happen very often and kid-
napings are as rare as five-leaf clovers. The sergeant de-
cided that this was no routine matter for the beat police-
man, He promptly communicated with his direct superior,
Captain Jack McGuire.

McGuire, who was breakfasting at his home, attended
to the matter personally. At half-past seven, he strode into
The Hut. William Widman, its owner, was nervously
rubbing a cloth over an already shining counter. “Well,”
said McGuire, ‘‘what’s this about a kidnaping and a rob-
bery? When did it happen?”

& WAS SHORTLY AFTER 7 o’clock on the

[vk

Widman shrugged. “I don’t exactly know. Sometime

before four o’clock this morning.”

“phat's three hours ago. Why didn’t you report it
before?”

“I just realized something was wrong. Why, until a few
minutes ago, I thought—” ,

McGuire sat down on a stool.
a cup of coffee and tell me all about it.
beginning,” he ordered.

Widman related that he had arrived at the restaurant
from his home at 4 o’clock that morning, intending to re-
lieve Mrs. Shirley Bradford, his waitress, who had come
on duty the previous evening at 8 o'clock, The Hut's
doors were unlocked when Widman entered, the lights
were on and fresh coffee was bubbling in the urn. But
there was no one there, neither Shirley Bradford nor any
customers,

Mrs. Bradford, who was separated from her husband,
lived with her 10-year-old son on Howland Street. Widman
knew that the boy was ill and, when he found the restau-
rant deserted, he assumed the lad had taken a turn for
the worse and his mother had returned home to attend
to him. Then, a few minutes later, he observed that the

cash register was empty.

“All right. Give me
Begin at the

The hich schoo! orectiestra

the. overture from tie ern, “Car
~~

Mo Wonderful! achievement fir jiuis
oung Musicigns ‘he busio net driim i
i

“Acbave sort of w family interest (h{s 9 £ a iS

Lplayi oneemusivalcorganizAtions, here and sexslon dé

WAL? TA. see ate Maistehl har, ats
Dri bet honor hefate Fo leire
the work “ dintesitihe declared see

rps which will make tt sin tel myiter lay

ae OF

THOMA PAS

FROM FIRST PAGE

Tapping his arcs Sth

“ehait
The *rigtt ttoliser
2 Ree td tefore

Denth oianiber al <n
tT sthit had been made at
¢ his lirad mheré gs

Abe Hale.

ate: ice

Wanten Thoiiasoxte:
in \fronyeef the eh aic,
ost ‘amnaticns hte sige
yed $F a gusrdt
ood: at devern Bein:
ee ;

USC Gor Sea tras 2

sel jog anf
made their war ta the cell ins
& youthfal. slerk-halre:
tepped forward <4
ned thee bods. Tere
resseg “Thamar:

te thie: magn

éath ocistter
Lib set 4

In Marked Contre
Taeras Peat wae &
rast ts that ae
TPR CRA Re SFr TH Wes,
cath: ccar
BAe Pt ock
ered the doripos
(eH)? bet weer
idere grin the

ot waar

a eats

We. wast hrte eo. etebe
tared fheowerser es: ler 10 gee
Se punta’ vetore
ater tlie uetinre!
hroggh.the «n.«
adler heavy gut

Re glared eins

ting applied.) Fins;
echgpleed ofr pigts
Adelman, Of “Hur
delman whi «pe
§ceGrath =m hen the

y Lyons boilets

(lero hem by
Mlenred ta div:
Withe hie tende —e
atred Ke wilaressec

sein

edded Rie esignal: She carretera

MAG yo Préieasod And. “what

> Thee gun Fan's bods. Pie

h PAlor that had been ag netic
he entered the reem gato]
TaeR rep ted wiioh ins kesond
rbolike bie: ape eur:
Fae}: ar 533 ” 2.5¢
1 S439e tise the filer
i oimeinced if n dead
Marden Readé Letter,

een Oiegts eq fter Thorn’ fad:

i Vatiens Thomas “met ~ mith
As paes ttn ty Pte afte. There
a contents ef OP hamiti"s
roswnteh phy tiny hes

enimistel te Upapinin

Go Pring wae A

:
Pn These after he

Been Rete n Shoes
Sy testainont and #pent Jon

: He tFledhes
res efound< Feligton

ist hae 248 NERSHOGES ge

ma OAs tea inte
the teraity. for

IGSLOW AS

Siete Henne nrinyy
elt her

TERE ree tay
oe ey +

cotern fi ete

i final iftys Onearth
Was the testament? whi@h had veen

é ; was Feiv are ebb, A nes ‘s
whos wae Hhenged:in the. old county
iil nt Fnst Third..snd- Frankia

Ars. 1:¢ Wiltatine, 10 Pogkait Ht Bao on May 31.187

Weat Park dvise, and whi aN he rend |
‘Ai SE oko! pate

= yite Friis
the hon eUicrdile thy
¢ ie ehateot gerd vee iris
inake sitfe? magdetiac tro Chaplets
Heeler gti! die tas rorting 46
“ok, atien Thine. hie Avi in A fe
iid escape the” chtifr ) yoaneding

aid hetaise ot ihe knowl rdcoiot Hitn| i

pian) the wea pen ke st AL WATE quar’

‘ 4 wept
intiatisly. « stutignedeed Len seed

History of Cripie, a "

evening ont Ro tbaity rit

‘tha buordad a fe wath. Main

atreet Jocure ate Majn@ gui Fourth

steeei gol tie mde to Chaptnutes rect.

{ the Renunindor of}

hie GtevGaw a! d Rome

ae ee ie the: jinn ce i eis }e lowes

peters’ he wer za sed 2 Mrs. Nettia

Cpe vebuin ald tk on “ers fi TA few

ieards were apparently gickeny anth.
tieewere Jitervahle iH develop,

ACh AO LAibioor ge nd a shert

: avoods Thomargttacked the

Romane. Fine abd opaln he}

As her jife-
ody Sank to the fagr he grasned
ns museiar si carried

ro tiwhere he
it Toor.

na thensrapidty Trude he. way
be ren jent of the §starp, ata
. Setrering 9 Wes if behind
T Beat alted the. rH urd-et Ben
Geet Ateniadetetioy §he tarn- AS
stepped DEe the cellar
dietins Sha spies At the
ely Thera

deta.
Had ato the
Repleme ¢-£
Tie on the

Te Reet ely biperedtbete
Rompeoshe nee Pe

ero dhe Greens

¢ later that
Wares and

in gee Late
fnedfctinent
‘fire cae hiry
Bink eetitence
TES rcllewed
tyilited.
ates
Isties# Ly dn
Pright was
Heong
Poh. our
fargo dS.

petal agent
RES Exprese
+f ete To
he San heey!

Fig cB {ata

rebing nnd {

i
4
if
t

et ier, 6f“Afr and = M

Laep fins foc Pirney-oaf their oofar

ledinfheasd of the cttw,

Attbe present tine Wittlam Fc
Weer of Urieu AViifond. aged O}
strte refer atory gard, cecuples
wipein tath res HE 4Le wtate py
iBitia hss 42 ailing Sevechtion on J
fe Gian tece with the death &
ihe piso Sie Bie. by dade. G

heat tt 6 coinplérion of hig -tr!

palit thaeverdict of aut!

ry hich ovade- eimpere:
ha. : y : e j :
Services Private
Wihtiam. Thoma “was to
> S03 and: sy»
He ia survis
uy his father, Sareuel Thoma of ti
felts ¢ two Hkethecs) Toward: Her
of Newark end Samuel Thoma,
of Manstield, aha ‘three sisteras. My
lieselgperstick Casten, and MM
Rola. Therne end Mrs: Ge. W, He
Selden, Mansfe}

Strictly private. funeral eerste}
are: ta ta held atthe teense ofoM
Hissé}ten: 219 Hedves et,
dar aftastoen, abs 'elick. “Th
are to be conducted by the Rer-J-
Uisdall, pastoraif the First <bristi:
eburch°and interment owSlk be ine
fy the Mansfeld. eaetery =

his entice life here:

soolidge arid VWaeee® Sriit
‘and Donahey Will be the
4 ) Candidates.

Republican:
1 93ey

Democratic.
ffastdant> > at

Nath: bryatay Age df
decltes oe. sald Fe
and srbieh. Rett hn ted
FATaS af the

POLICE HAE BUSY
TIME DURING NIGH

Nat uney nitht<preivelio ts
Live ¥ fer teat opitive.s Aa!
fro ing Hicre Tadortant Ww The f:
rRaos of; futernt: aticp and twooe!
Ryoteriate Were eharget with oe
vile tote were of the bowk: at
a TH, ave ; 2 5

eet Millér, Yeeis Finzelt0
Witian eit isabs tte’ Greene t
inst tei ee réa tere ehutget «
ne Wipe
tut hah @

futaxton

eh Reon

ale

eBAt3 Pee aunize
ERY gas Sih hin

Suet
BSN R855
hy a

Helestes ST

Doe aie Ket,
GTELEKEAES

ha. counutrs:

pol ‘petit iff es thir

ts ra

entinge ihe ingtris,

sted anfiraisentk: bes
n Sea nvessare

a recethy ‘set Aside #108.,

o fnstrumenta) music

tiie pehoolsThis avast In
athe taltien fate. ‘s
striting. to rete ir. ie:
Aeverat Ses re.

eirtiat afambis!
ni organizations “here, and | sess

They

ntereat in

ee the Marnefelt heed nt
zal chonare heferee thea
Hales be gee gred $8.

pee nate om te Ana tpg

seein sees seine

B agnak The Corest, wes.

iy released

ana

“shot

he ttergan man's hodsy Tie

ler that had Iwen: eo
he @ntéred thé reore

netic.
gate

inep red, whith in a peer dt

a death like f de
atch

ehutoot

ant oe We Ga.

2 fy

‘

The fut,
ter it

e eter te €

“pte ye

+ aes
egaards jiicedaup: aed down “on he:

DAE re Fyre Hieciustiiution,
ine ah Whe Bots mht,

stops
46 enter the
yeore Shirpéd

Saker in charge}
“grim of Dopolgali
i Sogpa Saturday ;
sbinped: -to. diiron

Body. Retarned: Here,
Harte -Pins ’fthe Pitofrock
PATS age of enemas
satils Stastranped.- ft
hte WARS returns md to
ht ateace: taken. to 1h e mort-

ey tepred fof hurried

how Nas being wnstrapped
fantipieriéan fae Was Te-
#5 the. aheste ‘Phoma had
Lei affnirs. wos a “niefh-
: V Ani. while tno

{rocky

thar:

Brother Weeps..
i some distance front the
chamivr: Leonard > Lroh wept
erty fs fin news “that somehow
es ihretig frisons. reached him
his brether twas, paring the sit
vo Leonard is servings
t for the murder of Alc
Grath Bad*daring the last’ dass” of
a peather’s life had heen permitted
Fist [ie cel lrin death TOW,
Safirtayocinorning: Warden Thom
aa ceteniod rae bron had plotted {6
piake dis ife with a bnite inchs
Set ane, the seleetric énair
vEiing. tO Thorne, Lyon
brarhe o heitig.

fe sai tence

Fuutitateace
pleaded with tts
Lint achnife

Aw tictaphoene in the a at th Louse,

the warden xald. warned officials

sithat Tren mMeaded with Leonard to

Lring-him: his mess kbife, ora piece
Af sharp siech from the power’ plant
where le is employed. This. Leonard:
r AD te do. Themas said, pointing
Hit. sant tha tine screen which sepa,
rates déath row prisoners from thelr

threngh efssuch & plap<
Hac Hearty: Méal,
Accérding ta. prison: officials
hia ate n hearty ehteker
day evening. He talked ©
pith Chaplain Rcetoawhe Seu much
WAY vith hint end was in ood
: most rherished pes

at Aim fre Mrs, Peck
arise, amid | Whig bh he: read
almiont “enntinuonsls.

~ Lyba ate Uiitie Friday < Gri bing aid
atu fare thes dry a for file tHp
larttl> cheater tHrhed. over his
Imaidaln to, Chrplets
tho tasty near diig tp
‘ime he aria. PnMen pte
iyoniiierl ing

<bart!
tuys the
t makecshift

fiewd, “Vat
Warden The
2 iy earn 4 the ehnty
atid Pecerae ght Whats
AR oatae werd H a Nese. guard

visitors ‘wold’ prevent they carrying

{
¥
}

{
}

pescapecfrom . tLe’ Huron county

Vat the,

“LO. eo y 4
inner Frise} ®
nt length

; faring bis final days.on earth who
waa the testiinent:. whieh bad been | 3
Ballatine, 16

oe ts) fy a

MY inns:

held: ik the hands of Jim bine
5 fA) them down, stairs, irhey.
at on reaching the firat ad
McGrath: Jumped “for “Lyon's.
‘She weapons oblazed- forth | ‘od
strenke "6? fire Kped across the fiter-
} vening spice. McGrath -fello stead
with twodnillet wound# in MMs dey
ei through his Deaths the. ther
othrotigh. his: neck. :
fhe. two Lyon brothers leapett into
an authmobite which the < offfelale

had “driven! té.the. place and feg. A’

Country’ Wevseareh was started and
thee chase. ted ‘to Alpenay *Miek.,
Where on Mirch 8 <Police™ Ghict
Deugel MeKenile> answered ai call
that i twa sien had abandoned! an
automobife at the outskirts of worn,
Mehenzie located the two fen,
ordered theni to stop and: adgagiced
In thelfedirectlon’> Jim: Lyon whirl
ed in-bistracks and fired *two shots,
the xecopa’ bullet striking ‘the pelice
vhietiin the: nak.
mobile thé pair fled but at Laghine
A onsktable tan bis automobile agross
the road silready blocked: with
drifts. “Outnumbered by police owho
were secreted at? the: roadside: the
ino brothets. surrendered: cwithobt &
vhet helur fired:
pe Chiek. McKenale was one of tie AT
S epresents Friday. night fo
the execution, 2 = a
*ALyon Gets Away. be
Cn Apri’ 32 Jim “Lyon: mader his
: {i
#: the lock of “his” cert geith
a fol Opening another tour
rikey be found in a pile
: a he search for him réach-
“but after, being: at
: Ev hours’ he appdhred
uit: at §:30 o'clock at ight.
Smillne and with rap In-hang@ ke
addressed: the sheriff's daughter® and
gute hinixelf- up. He sald he. cs ped
in, order {Hat he niight “sec: @ gvirl.
Jim went oy trial Aprike22: and 7was
fond gmity of murder in’ the first
ing sentenced to deaths. ”
if -iso"t anymore than I
eX; ected he told°his attorney. # ©.
Tteathing: the penitentiary,
everi Lyon fought for his life
pealing lds-ense to the supreme
trn he lost and F
ite. penaltyefor his

Low:
ap
Surt.
day
life

‘Rerppat fe: Die. :

“Thoma was the second met
demneds te dia’ tn. Richland co

On:
ntys
ZrO,

n the: old: cainty
Hrd”

irene,’ 3
for the: ¥

mnt ot the alee

reheat Wifes aged

TMAOr Ey. RUA occuy

death yaw At the wtate

pe aa niting execution an
reel bial cet velth: the én tie sen
fuged bin by Jude Gab
Bik et Lhe Bem vied om of hist®rial
ity tthe ver dictate aint

swt oe: Was culpa peed

rae

fei? Fe

In-a@ stolen ess :

: “tyhe “eehate hak.

Fad B
NEW DIFFERENCE

i hak ct

‘}Republican , Conservatives

and Vice President Now.
at W ar;

senate MAN
OPPOSING NEW PLAN

Dawes Points Out Supreme
‘Court Ruling to Uphold
Hig Step.

WASHINGTON, April o—The
split.between rige president harles
4G: “Dawes and’ the ‘conservative
regular wing of the . Republican’
‘party, which started “wit nh Dawes"

successful pilotége- -of the. MeNars:
Haugen gill through™ the

troversial statug* of the Reed cam<

Dawes, a fey “days ago ruled
that ‘the commiftes of which Sena-
tor dim” ret Deimdcrat of Mis
sourl:.is. chairmjib, is°.a continuing

sétiate 10, specifically authorize 4t
te continue during the recess and he
appointed Senator. Fess, Republican,
por Ohio to sueceed Senator Gott,
jtepublican of West: Virginia. as a)
member. . Senator: Reed, “Repudlican, |
of Vebna, took jsadie with. the vice
president. tonight cahd® tn -2 “long
$tatinient: dispufed nat: only. Dawes’
conclusions, tmtichallenged his right
to apnoint Fess a member, ‘of the}
‘gommittes.Roed and Senator Moses
Republican of “New Hampshire, at

«| rected the fitbbstee tn the’ closing +7

days of ‘the last -senate which pres
ventéd a “yotej on . the) resolution,’
giving : specific |reritsson for: the
campaign: fund!
tinue -its work!
?Maintalning «that the committee
Lis “dead Reediof Yenna ‘declared
that “even: if (qo were alive Dawes
pad po Aiithority to fill a Vacancy,
not giveu the vice

t# ato more than
tiginal: tite mem:
oimittec’ said the
"Auy ¥aeagcles
leation bY

president authatit
to desixnate the
heta df, The
“Aube ita nian.
tpt be ited! py
wenale itself —Linibetmsre,
siding - cfttier he the wenate muet
act when. presi fiat pol on .seyate nes
ior) rey 1 tekatd the ab
Tei prodes haar fihent . of “Senator

Pheri fe

me i
NGS UP

paign fund investigating ~ committee.’ bi

committee deapile the fatiure of the %

committee to con: | 5

Kin

“senate fo
yvas widened .today over the cou<ju.

an}
22th
ehidy
sena

THE be
thy
The pre}

Killer.
and, ena Hammer to.

m ten mes over
suark’6 i

bye itee it on
ald Fags

Hour above & ott wait
the foster dabghteh

ouple, who reath
t 6:45 -0'clo
n 3 entered the d

Stuinbled over:
; ok ohn

“the hoaht oO doa
DTS. South mee street

RENNY. WILL NOT
BE PROFESSION L
Hikes in ebarge.

SAV DAT con Tne te ;
and Thoma we

pha Waa Poke OS hoa :
gael que-tloue 4

lire \s the
Fouietta Shera.

pee

ta\Potest Against Sentence
of Ratieat Ki

Members. of Paritament . Cable To
‘Masechusetis Governor Pame

= Boston: Apriit 8 (A. oP _Demasa
by 84 members of the British Parite-
meat, meetiy Labor members. that
Mieola Gaceo and Bartolomeo ‘Vensett!
Be released came by cable te Govern:

i al Alvan —. Fuller today.

Another cablegram to: the Rinna
brought. @ regucst fromthe Rote Frise

& Deutechiand. ‘underatood to be & raal-

: Barich, @witserland, These cablesr aA
o

cat workers’: organization— sa. Ger-
quany. . for pardon. for: the two men,
be pentensed \ to. pasate

ent anoihe: cablegram: cama from

| etaphasised anew. the. internat!

agitation . aroused. by ‘the convietion
im 2921 of thet mitted: radicals.
fer the murde paymaster ané
hie guard in “South” ‘Braintree fn 1920.

bas broadeast © ‘appeale: for: protests
agetnet eects ‘gentence to the: pelectstc

wat ‘prow ince sentence.
. The cablegram from Engiand Tone:

emphatically: protes th

a new trial: for Bacco. end: Vansettt

1 We view with alarm the violation of
“| guetion committed_in this case and de-
Jj mand withdrawal of the death sen-

tence ané their immediate release."
* Fhe signatures were: Wheatley, wil-
—— -Lansbury, Buchanan, - Brom-
fey, Becket, Wallhesd.- Mexton, Gren-

ton; Campbell, Stephen. Thorne, Hugh }-

Dalton, Griffiths, Hayes, Stanford.
Gideca, ‘Hirst, Smith, Halland Broed.
‘Right ‘Hosorable: 4- Wheatley was
Raister. of Health in. former Premier
Remesy ‘MacDonald's Labor Govern-

moot... Miss Ellen: ae
Geerge™ Lanabury.: G. Buchanan. J.
Bromley. 3 ‘Bock t, RC. Wallhead
of

Lyon Shouts Curse at Deputy shor. é

de Pomaetticletemetyoge

che electric shair as the/Onte Peat-
tentidry. ae

Ané. these two men bee 6 re-
gmarkable centrast as they went to
their death. One chose to enter the
Great Beyond without religious cen-

lation. His last words were igusses
shouted at an officer whom be ieoies
in the death chamber. ‘

The other, ® youth, was. peaceful
and ‘contented. wes

* James Lyen( a7 years old, of Nor-
walk, Oblo, was the vengeful... Lyon
was executed for the muréer._of Bragk
McGrath, « police offeer. Freak
Adelman, who was with. “MeGrath
when, Lyon kilie@ him,: Fad the éep-| j
uty) upon. vies Lae vented: bis
wrath tonight. - ..

-- George: W. a, 33 years old, of
Mansfeld, was: the eeconé to die.
Thoma muréereé Mr, and Mrs. Benja-

min_Greenwalk,: of ausfield,.Novem-
ber 18, 1925, because they objected to
hie attentions te-Mrs. Bopsetta Sher-
man, their foster Gaughter:

adr was pronounced to ba dead at

“after the cocitle
Thomas sald to newepap “men in nie
office: “Now, boys,: if. there-is no

hereafter and there is nothing to this}

religion, it was worth. something in

the peace of ming which it gave that ie

cendemned man... The. two: meertalely.
were a contrast.”

ed to co-operate with oF
eanvernsd in presenting"
motes to the Chinese @
setting forth that the lives #
erty ef fereignere | ‘
guarded aghinot acts of”
“Up to today France had:
shat) cto eee eee
Chine, should take the

wart w

iil

dies,
ORLA BS ww

te fact. Foreign. “Minteter fi :

Briand 10 reported to Bayo ‘And:

/ im connection: with...
nouhcement st was:

‘there. je ne intention. at thie i

j Joint, punitive action ia China,’
no artnen eresch sreees b wii Py’

events oti ‘the: lest tows Gaye:

eonvinced France that thy tae
anited front. Beane arriveé,. ~

Washington, April. 8 (A. P.
tary Freak B. Kellogg and
j Fo tue mate Devereneet Ae

The. men: left a statement, Tinea

by Thome,. butt prepress them:
both. See i

In his ‘statements Thoma sent a eoki
ings. to the men.in. the: death: cells

pret bat eto pout ae

Peking ..Governmeat- ever-
ment of foreign nationals te C

don't want to ‘take up so much time. |?

My friend, James: D.- Lyon,: always
was considered ~ a man. withput.a
smile: 1 could back. that. statement
up to @ ‘certain: degree. to let his

representations is ssh ‘ “

CL tice at

Ss cael

prema

oo)

cae Re hip Sas Lane hate ey

Me ay 4

imate

374

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

Thompson, who had paid considerable attention to
the girl (whoat that time was but eighteen years old),
had finally approached her with a proposal of mar-
riage, but was refused by the girl, who emphatically
told him that she entertained nothing but friendship
toward him. Instead of taking this hint, Thomp-
son kept up his love proposals in a still more per-
sistent manner, until finally, seeing all his efforts
crushed to pieces, the thought of murdering this girl
entered his mind. The 30th day of May, 1842
was destined. to become reddened with the blood of
his victim.- On this day he took a gun, loaded it
properly, and so armed, he proceeded to execute his
terrible deed. In order to get up the proper cour-
age and strengthen his nerves, he took several drinks
of whiskey, and then went to the hotel, into a back
room, close to the stairway leading to the cellar
kitchen. Catherine Hamler, who was in this very
room, busy with ironing, upon noticing Thompson
with a gun in his hand, became frightened at once,
ran out of the room and down the stairway. She
was followed by Thompson, and before she had ar-
rived at the last step of the stairs she received the
unlucky discharge of Thompson's gun into her back,
in the upper part of the shoulder blade, killing her
instantly. The hotel keeper's wife, who had been
busy in the cellar kitchen, hearing some one coming
Gown stairs in such a hurry, ran out to learn the
cause of it, and arrived just in time to catch the girl,
who exclaiming: ‘'I'm shot!” expired in her arms.
The medical examination proved that the wound
was half an. inch wide and ten inches deep. We
may well imagine what kind of an uproar and gen.
eral consternation this foul murder created. Thomp-
son was immediately arrested and brought to Fre-
mont, where he was taken ‘to jail and locked
in the same cell where Sperry was then awaiting
his trial. This was in the summer of 1842, and
in September of the same year the grand ‘jury,
whose foreman was Mr. Charles Lindsey, found an
indictment against Thompson for murder in the first
degree. Shortly afterward Thompson made his es-

cape from jail, but was retaken in Woodville town-

ship and brought back to jail.

He remained in jail until shortly after Sperry’s
suicide, when he and several other prisoners again
made good their escape. Before we proceed any
further, we will give our readers a detailed account
of Thompson's escape, which was furnished us by Mr.
Michael McBride, of Woodville, to whom, and also
to Mr. Stephen Brown, of Woodville, we feel greatly
indebted. Mr. McBride's letter to us reads as fol-
lows:

"On the first oczasion of Thompson's breaking
jail, in his journeying to escape, he reached a house
abouta half-mile to the westward of my place, then
owned and occupied by Juhn P. Elderkia, sr., now
2 resident of Fremont, and, in knocking for admis-
sion, he was met at the door by Mr. Stephen Brown,

——_.

of Woodville, who at that time was a boarder at Fi.
derkin’s. Thompson then told Mr. Brown that be
was hungry, and would like to get something to eat,
and then disclosed the fact that he was Thompson,
the murderer, and at the same time expressing him-
self as lacking in hope in the prospect of making
good ‘his: escape; in consequence of which he
quested Brown to be instrumental in returning hin
to jail, telling him at the same ume that a reward.
without doubt, would bes offered for his arrest, and
therefore he might as well obtain the same as anv-
body else. After listening to this conversation,
Brown remarked that he was oaly a boarder at sax
house, (Elderkin being absent at the time,) therefore
he had no rightfui authority to give him anything
to eat; ‘but,’ said he, ‘I will accompany you to
Woodville, and there you can obtain eatables, and
the matter of your return to iail can be settled also.
This proposition was accepted and carried out, and
it was arranged, when at the village, to have Mr.
Wood return the prisoner to jail, which he accori-
ingly did. From the [reported] fact of Wood having
expected a reward for the return, and failing in tha
he was so chagrined that he told Thompson, ux
separating from him in Fremont, that if he ses
ceeded in escaping again, he desired him to mas:
for his (Wood's) home, and, if he reached it in safets
he would use his endeavor to further his escape
letting him have one of his horses in order to aced-
erate the same. The two individuals then bade a&
other good-bye, Thompson at the same time telling
Wood that he might expect him with him again ics

- one week from that date, and this he-fulfilled to the ver

day. So much for Mr. Stephen Brown's information,
and now the thread of this story is followed still fe> _
ther by what I elicited from a conversation with Gp
tain Andrew Nuhfer, of Woodville, who says t
Thompson, when making his second escape, arnvet
in Woodville in the night and entered a blacksmt=
shop belong to said Nuhfer, and there cut the feties
from his wrists by means of tools in the shop. Neb
fer plainly discovered traces of some one having u¥¥
his forge and tools when he entered his shop pee
morning. ‘It seems that the prisoner, after havew
rid himself of his fetters, carried the same, with Gf
connecting chain, and threw them behind 2
belonging to Wood, and soon after, having procure
a horse from Mr. Wood, he set-out on horseback

make good his escape. The horse, upon proving ™
he

lack endurance, was soon abandoned, and ©
unt &

cape continued, otherwise successfully,
stage-driver informed on him. The chain and
cuffs, lying behind Wood's barn, were subsequr”
appropriated as the property of Mr. Wood,
Nuhfer says that Mr. Wood conceived the We”

ts
ure

. ee
putting the same to some use he had in view. *?
; 1
the first place, having the same remodeled ™
This idea *”

complete chain by the blacks:nith.
carried out and Nuhfer did the work of remodesss

ote oe

+ ROR atielh eo bOI

Sighs

SAAR ah Hf oO ade.

HISTGRY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

377

ne at all, other boards followed until finally the
thereoy exposing
After prayer

anether he

thompson simply shoo

regs were then tied, the fatal noose laid around his _
neck, the white cap drawn over his face, and upon
a given signal the trap was sprung and Thompson
dingled in the air between heaven and earth. Thomp-
éyn’s neck was not broken but he died of strangula-
non, the knot of the noose having slipped under the
He still breathed after a lapse of fifteen min-
ates, and the moving of the muscles of the different
parts of the body gave sufficient proof of the dread-
ful death agony that was taking place in that man.
In twenty minutes Thompson was pronounced dead
by Drs. L. Q. Rawson and Peter Beaugrand,and fifteen
minutes before 12 o'clock the body was taken from the
gallows, put into the coffin, and given in charge of
Rev. J. McNamee, who had it taken to Tiffin and
buried in the Catholic cemetery, thus keeping the
solemn pledge he had given to Thompson. Itis
said that after the crowd had dispersed certain
rumors went afloat that Thompson had not been
dead at the time he was cut down, and that on the
way to Tiffin Father McNamee had made successful
attempts at bringing Thompson back to life again.
These rumors found their culminative point in the
statement that Thompson had been seen near Fort
Seneca. Of course these were only rumors, based
upon the stupidity and sickly imagination of some
foolish people, and certainly must have added greatly
tothe amusement of the above-named and certainly
well-learned and skilful physicians.

chin.

In the early history of the practitioners at
the bar we find a peculiar class of men, of
which the present day does not furnish a
correct likeness. From the date of the or-
ganization of the county in the year 1820
until as late as 1840, or thereabouts, the
larger portion of the litigated cases in the
courts of the county were conducted by law-
yers from other and sometimes remote lo-
calities. They were chiefly men who had at-
tained a wide reputation for talent and abil-
ity in the profession, and whenever plaintiff
or defendant retained one of such a repu-
tation the other side was sure to employ
another of similar acquirements and ability
to match him.
were poor, and there were in fact no law
libraries worth noticing, and they of course

The early local lawyers

|
|
‘

could not refer to authorities on many:
questions which arose. But attorneys
from older towns and cities had access to
law books and could therefore make a
better display in arguing cases to court or
jury; hence they were preferred by liti-

-gants in the early times of the jurispru-

dence of the county. For such reasons,
at every term of the earlier courts there
came to attend court such men as Picket.
Lattimer, Ebenezer Lane, Phillip Re
Hopkins, Ebenezer Andrews, of Huron ~
county, and later, Charles L. Boalt, and -
Samuel T. Worcester, Cortland Lattimer, -
Thaddeus B. Sturges, Francis D. Parrish,
John R. Osborn, E. B. Saddler, and Joseph
M. Root, of the same county. Though F.
D. Parrish and E. B. Saddler were resi-
dents of Sandusky and placed: outside of
Huron county by the erection of Erie
county, they were, at the time spoken
of, within the limits of Huron county.
There were, at every term of the court,
John M. May, of Mansfield, Richland
county, Orris Parrish, of Columbus, Ohio,
Andrew Coffinberry and John C. Spink,
of Wood county, Ohio, and occasionally
such menas Thomas Ewing and Willis
Silliman were found in the court-room,
though not often in this, to them, remote _
part of the State. Excepting Ewing and
Silliman, in their early practice here, all
travelled on horseback’ with the common
pleas judge from county seat to county seat,
and during their stay made a home at the
best tavern at the, county seat. They all
travelled in company on horseback and
carried copies of pleadings, briefs, and a’
change of shirts in saddle-bags or valise.
When on the road or off duty at the tav-
ern they were a social, often a convivial
collection of talented men away from
home. In court they were as earnest and
talented on behalf of their clients as any
lawyers of the present day can be. Cards,
whiskey, story telling, and dancing and

Peers eines ined tases

NE Tree ee tT

encase nn

Leese

eeu

meen ym sey oy areata oS am

no sees

376 HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

of guilty; you have tried to show that you were —
afflicted with temporary insanity, but for the sake of .

humanity, it has been clearly proven that on the 30th
day of May, 1842, you wilfully, maliciously and

knowingly killed Catharine Hamler. The laws of this —

State for the crime of which you have been found
guilty punish with a dishonorable death on the scaf-
fold; but the lawin this is more merciful than you have
been toward your victim, and gives you ample time
to repent of your terrible crime. Do not resort to
any vain hopes of pardon but use your short time
for repenting, for which purpose you may have the
religious consolation of a minister of your own free
choice. And now there remains nothing else for
me to do but to pronounce sentence upon you ac-
cording to the laws of our commonwealth. Thus
reads the sentence: ‘That you George Thompson,
prisoner before the bar, be taken back to jail, whence
you came, and there remain under close confinement
until. Friday, the r2th day of July, 1844, on which
day, between the hours of to o'clock A. M. and 2
o'clock Pp. M., you shall be taken to the place of exe-

cution, and there hung by your neck until you are ,

dead, and may God have mercy upon your soul.’”
Thompson, who was quite overcome with emo-
tion by the reading of his death warrant, was
then taken back to jail. What a change had taken
place in this maa, for it was but two years pre-
vious, that this very George Thompson had stiown
and proved himself such a perfect brute, deprived
of all human affection, at the time of John Sperry’s
suicide, and henceforth he became an entirely
changed and repentant man. There were many
persons who visited bim during his last confinement,
to whom he talked and conversed freely about the
murder and its victim, poor Catharine Hamler, who,
he said, was constantly before his eyes and troubled
his mind considerably. Once upon being asked by
Mr.-David Betts whether he sincerely repented of
his terrible deed, he answered: ‘‘I have loved this
Catharine Hamler more than any other person in the

world, and since she srejected my love I concluded

to make certain that no other person should have
her.”

Thompson was a member of the English Protest-
ant Episcopal church, but he refused to see any

Protestant minister and demanded a Catholic priest,
His wish was complied with and he received occa-
sional visits from a French priest by the name of
Josephus Projectus Macheboeuf, the present apos-
tolic vicar at Denver, Colorado, ana also from
Father McNamee, of Tiffin. Rev. Macheboeuf at
that time had charge ‘of several parishes, as Peru,
Sandusky, and several other places. At the begin.
ning of the year 1880 he was in Rome, where he
had av interview with Pope Leo XIII., who, accord-
ing to the London Tablet, is said to have expressed
very favorable comments on the ministerial efforts of
this Rev. Macheboeuf.. The day of execution
drew near, and Sheriff Strohl made the necessary
preparations for the same. Mr. John Sendelbach
took the measure and made the coffin, and
Mrs. Sarah Barkimer,. zee Parish, who still resides
here in Fremont on Elliott Street, on the east side of
‘the river, made a white shroud, to which a white cap
was attached. Thompson was hung in this very
shroud: Shenff Strohl, who himself was a carpen-
ter by trade, erected the gallows, enclosing the space
(twenty by thirty feet) with a board fence, twelve
feet high. :

The-day before the execution Rev. Macheboeuf
held holy mass in the prisoner's cell, on which oc-
casion Mr. Ambrose Ochs assisted, who at that time
was learning the wagormaker's trade with Mr. Balt.
Keefer. Thompson expressed great fear that after
the execution his body might come under the eager
hands and knives of science-hungry physicians, and
he therefore begged of Rev. J. McNamee, who
lived at Tiffin, to see to it that.his body was
laid in consecrated earth, which was solemnly
pledged to him. The 12th day of July, 1844, the
day set for the execution, had finally come. The
prisoner awoke early and after partaking of a light
breakfast was visited by Rev. J. McNamee, who
administered the holy sacrament, after. which
Thompson put on the white shroud, of which we
have spoken already.

In the mean time a great crowd of people had con-
gregated around the outside enclosure (the very

_ place where now stands the new addition of the

court-house) and some desperate fellows, eager to
become eyewitnesses of this sad spectacle, tried their
best to break down the enclosure. Sheriff Strohl,
after having become aware of these facts, concluded
to.have the prisoner executed in the morning instead
of in the afternoon, as had been his first intention.
Shorily after 11 o'clock he led Thompson, accom-
panied by the priest, out of bis cell to the fatal plat-
form of the gallows. All at once some one cried:

’ «Heis coming!”’ and at that moment, Mr J. R. Fran-

cisco, from Ballville, who was stationed inside the
enclosure as a custodian and armed with a gun, ob-
served that some one was trying to cut a hole through
the board fence, and before he could prevent it, one
of the boards had been torn off, and in less than no

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY. 375

Mr. I. K. Seaman's information upon this subject
wiacides in the main with that of Mr. McBride.
sir, Seaman was, during the years of 1842 and 1843,
wi-gate keeper near Woodville, and remembers
aystinctly that Thompson had beea seen close to an
cid oak tree, about half a mile north of Wood-
vile. Seaman says that he and Amos E. Wood
sad taken the prisoner to the jailin Fremont A
week later Thompson again came back to Woodville,
where he met Wood and Seaman, whom he begged
to stick to the promise they had made to him and
further his escape. Mr. Wood told Thompson that
bis promise should be kept, whereupon he and Sea-
man went with Thompson to Nubfer’s biacksinith
shop, where Thompson. got rid of bis fetters.
Thompson staid at Seaman’s house over night, and
the next morning, sufficiently provided for with eat~
ables and other necessaries, he went on his journey.
A part of the distance from Woodville to Perrys-
burg he made in a sleigh... From Perrysburg be
travelled west until he reached Ottawa, Illinois. Mr.
Seaman is of the opinion that the name of the stage-
driver who finally discovered Thompson, was Jack-
son. He also says that Thompson after this last
cpture never attempted another escape. He had
free access to Sheriff Strohl’s yard, where he split
wood and made himself generally useful, and that
Thompson, had he chosen to do so, could have es-
caped very easily, especially where nearly all the

farmers in the neighborhood rather syropaibized and .

pitied him and would have furthered his escape; but
Thompson was prepared to die, and continually
thought of his victim, poor Catharine Hamler, whora
be never could forget and whom he professed to love
up to his death.

We now proceed to acquaint our readers with the
fnal capture of George Thompson. It was ip the
fail of 1843 when a certain stage-driver left this
vicinity in order to take mail matter to the far West
In the fore part of October this stage-driver came to
Ottawa, county seat of La Salle county, [illneis,
and stopped, with some of his passengers, at the same
hotel where at that time George Thompson was
employed as hostler. As chance would have it,
cre of the passengers had a conversation with the
Stage<lriver about what time they intended to go
back home. George Thompson, whe happened ta
Stand near by, became au attentive listever to their
conversation from the fact that he heard the names
of Bellevue and Lower Sandusky mentioned. The
stage-driver, although acquainted in Ottawa, still
did not know Thompson personally, and when he
houced the sudden change in Thompsen’s face from
a living red to a deathly pallor, he exclaimed, “Weil!
what is the matter with you?’ Thompson, finding
it hard to control his emotion, begged the stage-
driver not to betray him, teiling bim at the same
time that he was the murderer of Catharine Hamier.
The stage-driver, astonished over the discovery he

had made, immediately sent this information to
Sheriff Strobl, who, after receiving the same com-
municated it to Prosecuting Attorney W. W. Culver.
In consequence of this, the county commissioners,
Messrs. Paul Tew, Jones Smith and James Rose, (A.
Coles was auditor at that time,) oa the 8th day of
December, 1843, ordered the sum of one hundred
dollars paid to Sheriff Strohl to enable him to go
and get Thompson. In the neantme the necessary
papers of requisition had been made out by Gov-
ernor Thomas W. Bartley, whereupon Thompson
had been imprisoned in Ottawa until the arrival of
Sheriff Strobl, who finally returned with his prisoner
in the fore part of March, 1844 His trial com
menced in June before a jury composed of the follow-
ing persons, to-wit: Joseph Reed, James P. Beny,
Benjamin Inman, Archibald Rice, James A. Fisher,
William Boyles, Abraham Gems, Washington No-
ble, Michael McBride, Stephen Lee, John Weeks,
and Amos K. Hammond. Thompson was defended
by Brice J. Bartlett (father of Colonel Joseph R. Bart-
lett) and Cooper K. Watson. The State was rep-
resented by W. W. Culver and L. B. Otis. The
presiding judge was Ozias Bowen, assisted by the
Messrs. Isaac Koapp, Alpheus McIntyre, and
George Overmeier. During the trial the counsel
for the defendant tried their best to show that
Thompson, at the committal of the murder, was not
in his own mind and not capable of distinguishing
right from wrong. This was corroborated by the
testimony of a young Irishman, who said that he and
Thompson bad once been employed together as
sailors upon the same ship, and upon landing on a
British isle in the West Indies, Thompson there

‘bad had a severe case of sunstroke, the effects of

which, in his opinion, Thompson never could bave
overcome. The theory of temporary insanity was
prepared and skilfully worked upon by the able coun-
sel for the defense. The State, on the contrary,
proved ‘by sufficient testimony, that during his stay
in Bellevue Thompson never had shown the least

signs of insunity, and had not only talked good

common sense but had proved himself an upright
and industrious man. Mr. Robert O. Pier, the keeper
of the Exchange Hotel in - Bellevue, testified that
while in his employ Thompson had behaved admir-
ably, and had fulfilled promptly ail. duties require
of him, and that in his opinion Thompson knew
perfectly weil to tell night from wrong. After the
arguments on both sides were conchided Judge.
Bowen instructed the jury, who then retired about
noon. They remained out about four hours, and at
their first ballot the jury stood ten for guilty in the
first degree; one, William Boyles, for acquittal, and
Michael McBride for guilty in the second degree.

Boyles kept hanging back for several hours but finally -

consented, and shortly after three o'clock on the 20th
day of June, the jury brought tn their verdict of
guilty in the first degree. The defense fled a mo-

payee

Boers

raettss

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‘ A. ; pia
THOMPSON, James, wh, elec. OH (Lawrence) April 25, 1936.

through the hills of the Ohio river

valley and brought additional
color to the tanned faces of the two
youthful brothers who approached the
quaint old cottage of their grandmother,
Mrs. Callie Rogers.

Practically all the corn had been cut
and shocked in Lawrence county, O.,
and the boys at last were free to bale hay
for the kindly old lady who was past 70
and lived a dignified but lonesome ex-
istence in her four-room dwelling.

Noting the front door slightly ajar,
the boys knocked and called cheerfully
for Mrs. Rogers. Mildly alarmed when
she failed to answer they circled the house
H but caught no sign of their grandmother.
Hae The older boy tried the back door but, to

Hie. his amazement, discovered something was
propped up against it inside.

The two youths hastened back to the
front and entered the living room. Im-
mediately they noted the house was cold.
A moment later, at the entrance to the
4 dining room, they froze in their tracks,
: speechless with horror. i

Lying on the floor was the form of the
frail old lady. Her arms and legs were

A SOFT October breeze whispered

LguNO erin

. ee rrnetag z “
= — =
r e
m os —

Ne
cass

i j twisted grotesquely, mute evidence that
HME she had done all in her power to fend off
fat the blows of a brutal attacker.

One of the brothers stood guard while
the other frantically sped to a neighbor’s

reaE I
elie,

Sika telephone and managed somewhat inco-
Dy herently to convey the story to the sher-
fi iff's office at Ironton. Deputies B. R.
i Monte and Robert Brammer, with Coro-

ner H. H. Jones, sped to the scene. It was
still early in the morning of Oct. 3, 1933.

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By J. Hoyt Cummings
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DARING DETECTIVE,
February, 1942.

:
a
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4
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;

ing them out of the little cottage while
the investigation proceeded.

Monte and Shuttuck at once noted one
significant clue. Two places were set on
the kitchen table. Untouched was a stack
of roasting ears, a plate of bread and sev-
eral other items of food.

“Somebody she knew pretty well,”
Monte decided. “She invited him to eat
with her.” To the victim’s grandsons
he queried, “Did Mrs. Rogers often en-
tertain visitors?”

Both shook their heads emphatically.
Mrs. Rogers, while far from being a re-
cluse,'had few callers. These were con-
fined to a small circle of old friends.
For many years she had made a rule of
permitting no one in the little cottage
except close friends ; not because she was
cagey or high hat, both boys declared,
but merely because in her lonely exist-
ence she distrusted strangers.

A chair was propped against the out-
side kitchen door. It was evident that
the killer had had plenty of time to com-
mit his crime. He had even taken pre-
caution against a surprise entrance.

Painstaking search of the four rooms
gave forth no further clues until Shut-
tuck discovered finger marks across the
dusty organ lid in the living .room.

, Though slightly smudged, it immedi-
' ately was apparent those marks had been

made by a long-fingered individual. The
chief deputy ordered them photographed
with faint hope that they might point
eventually to the killer.

Outside the house the officers noted
with sinking hearts there was not a sin-
gle footprint. Lack of rain had caused
the ground to harden.

“But here,” announced Monte, point-
ing to a slight cavity near the dining
room window, “is where that big rock
came from. The killer must have beaten
her unconscious with the poker and flat-
iron, then came out here looking for
something heavier to finish off the job.”

PRESENTLY the youth who owned
the hay baler was led into the house.
.The officers watched him keenly as he
viewed the body of the old lady. The
sight apparently so unnerved the man
that he could barely talk. .

“What happened?” he asked, barely
above a whisper.

“That’s what we'd like to find out from
you,” Monte said quietly. “What time
did you leave your hay baler out there in
the yard?”

The’farmer regained his composure
with’ an effort. “It was right before
dark,” he said straightforwardly. “Mrs.
Rogers came out of the house and we
talked for a few minutes about the
weather and crops and such things, then
I went home.”

“Anybody else here then?” Monte de-
manded.

“Not that I know of,” the man an-’

swered readily. “At least there wasn’t a
car parked outside. If there was anybody
in the house, Mrs. Rogers didn’t. men-
tion it.” :

Coroner Jones completed his grim
task and announced .briefly that ‘the vic-

ee ee RY BAN SERRE Re ee

tim had been dead perhaps 12 hours. This
seemed further verified by the fact that
the coal ‘in the dining room grate had
burned down to barely discernible
embers. With the aid of others, the cor-
oner carried the body to a waiting under-
taker’s vehicle, and Deputy Monte made
a last survey of the room.

Sudderily he stopped, picked up an ob-
ject which he examined closely in his

_ hand.

“At last we’ve got something,” the
officer exclaimed. It was-a small cloth
tobacco sack. Inside were a few pinches
of fine-cut tobacco. Attached toa short
string was a label, “Buffalo.” Monte
carefully placed it in his pocket.

Delicately the officers gathered up
every item on which there might be
latent fingerprints, wrapped and placed
them in a big sack and rushed them across
the Ohio river to the Huntington, W. Va.,
police identification department.

Later they conferred at the office.
Shuttuck summed up their common
theory. ?

“It might be just a case of robbery and
murder,” he said, “but the signs seem to
be against it. I can understand a man
coming in here just to rob, but I can’t
figure him doing such a vicious job of

killing for that alone. I think he tried to’

cover up his real motive by making it
look like robbery.”

But what, the officers wondered, could
the real motive be? Mrs. Rogers had
been, on the surface at least, a univer-
sally respected and well-liked figure in
those parts. Her ancestors had migrated
from their aristocratic New Eng-
land home to that picturesque sec-
tion of the Ohio river valley in
1809 and, in her modest, cultured .
way she had.carried on the family
traditions,

Her first husband, Thomas Da-
vidson, had: built the cottage 56
years ago, only a stone’s throw
from the fine old residence of her-
parents. -

Several years after Davidson had
died after a lingering illness, leav-

ing the widow to shift for herself and
manage the big farm, she had married
George Rogers. Shortly thereafter, Rog-
ers had been afflicted mentally and sent
to a sanitarium at Cincinnati. Since
then, with prideful independence inher-
ited from her New England forebears,
she had refused aid from all relatives and
friends and managed to make a living
from rentals of her acreage and the big
mansion,

Callie Rogers had held her head high
but had harmed nobody. Her neighbors
had seemed to regard her with mingled
respect and sympathy. Who, then, had
hated her enough to commit such a cruel
murder ?

The officers readily agreed their im-
mediate task lay in checking up every
close friend of Callie Rogers. The fact
that the killer obviously had sat down
to eat with his frail, helpless victim cer-
tainly branded him as more than just a
casual acquaintance.

After first securing a list of the victim’s
known friends, Monte turned to the two

grandson:
“We'll w:
‘he said bi
to stay ne
, The of
® known fa
B.. wise fro
through :
country t

Cummings

After unbolting the switch, the
fiendish saboteur fled. The flyer
rumbled on to its doom.

The story of what they saw was to
bring shudders to thousands of indignant
natives along the Ohio river. The digni-
fied but friendly little woman had not
weighed more than'90 pounds. A ten-
year-old child could easily have beaten
down the helpless woman.

In a desperate effort at defense she had
wedged herself between the dining room
table and oil stove,. but her heartless
attacker had rained blows on her head
with some heavy instrument.

The crtiel weapons of death were soon

‘discovered not far from the body. Dep-

uty Monte picked up the handle of a stove
poker, then almost immediately spied
the other end lying on the floor near the
body. The killer’s blows had broken the
slim poker in two.

Even this had not been sufficient to
accomplish his vile purpose, for it soon
became apparent that a flatiron also had
been used. Still more amazing’ was the
presence of a large round rock, also ap-
parently used as a weapon.

“This killer either was a wild maniac
who murdered just for the love of it,”
Monte said hoarsely, “or else he was a
very weak man. Anyone of those three
weapons would have killed her in-
stantly.”’

“He didn’t come just to murder,’
Brammer said grimly. But the deputy
knew he need not have said that. The
whole room was a picture of disarray,
bureau and cupboard drawers pulled out,
clothing and other articles scattered on
the floor. So were the bedroom and
kitchen.

O N THE living room mantelpiece lay
20 cents in change. Thorough search
of the house uncovered no more cash.

“But,” stammered:Mrs. Rogers’ older
grandson miserably, “everybody around
here knows grandmother didn’t keep any
money at home.” ,

The three officers eyed the two youths
and demanded a full accounting of their
gruesome discovery. Neither had much
to tell. Several days before, they. had
agreed to bale hay for their grandmother.
She was well and happy and apparently
unworried, they declared.

On this morning they had brought a
bottle of molasses to the old lady. They
indicated a container which stood on
the dining room table.

“Anyone here yesterday or last eve-
ning you know of?” Monte queried.

“Well, yes,” Arnold answered quickly.
“A fellow from over at Dempsey’s Cross-
ing must have been here some time during
the afternoon. I notice his hay baler is
out there in the yard.”

Other officers began to arrive, in-
cluding Chief Deputy Sheriff H. M.
Shuttuck. The latter ordered a deputy
quickly to seek out the Dempsey’s Cross-

ing man, whom he knew as a young hard- :

working farmer. Soon the yard was filled
with grim-faced neighbors and only with

difficulty did the officers succeed in keep-

¥
THIS CASE IS LOCATED IN LAWRENCE COUNTY

\ 39

[SOT pA Mio sci acta i SE a

ov |
B.+.

a aaeee we EE.

Bie

vie

w to shift for herself and
ig farm, she had married
's. Shortly thereafter, Rog-
afflicted mentally and sent
um at Cincinnati. Since
ideful independence inher-

New England forebears,
d aid from all relatives and
lanaged to make a living
f her acreage and the big

rs had held her head high
d nobody. Her neighbors ,
regard her with mingled
‘mpathy. Who, then, had
gh to commit such a cruel

readily agreed their im-
ay in checking up every
Callie Rogers. The fact
obviously had sat down
frail, helpless victim cer-
him as more than just a
ance.

curing a list of the victim’s
Monte turned to the two

grandsons and the owner of the hay baler.
“We'll want to talk to you some more,”

“he said briefly. “So I'll have to ask you

to stay near your homes.”

The officers hurriedly reviewed the
nown facts and agreed to spread fan-
wise from the scene of the tragedy
through the hills and into the rugged
country that fringes the Ohio river in

80 Wet tag
Bi pet bide
is 5 kcal

Lawrence f¢ounty. None of them looked
forward to the task.

Back in those hills, folks still live in
the tradition of their ancestors—an un-
spoken rule handed down through gen-
erations of tight-lipped silence. Even in
1933, the officers knew there still were
hundreds of rugged hill folk who looked
upon law and order with deep suspicion;
even right there in southern Ohio, on
the very fringe of one of the most ad-
vanced and prosperous sections in the
whole world.

A half mile up-river, Shuttuck stopped '

at the home of a farm
owner. The man, out-
raged at the crime, im-
mediately. became
cooperative and offered

ae \

a possible clue. “Along about nine o'clock
last night,” he said, “my dogs started to
bark. I woke up, and looked out. Just
then an automobile came by and in the
headlights I could see a tall man walking
across the front of my property. He was
headed over that hill toward Callie Rog-
ers’ place.”

“Ever see the man before?” Shuttuck
queried,

“Well, maybe I did, but I couldn't tell,”
came the disappointing answer. “I just
caught sight of him for a minute or so.”

The farmer added that he thought the
man was somebody from across the river,
who might have tied-a skiff to the bank
and was visiting friends on the Ohio side.

“I figured,” he added significantly, “he
must have known this country pretty well
the way he was walking so fast. To get
to my place from the river he had to cross
a lot of fences and gates and he had a lot
more ahead of him.”

Shuttuck thanked the man and went
on. Monte, meanwhile, with the aid of a
local hill resident whom he. knew, headed
back into the wild country through
briars and over steep hills to cabins near
Hanging Rock village. By noon he had
interviewed half a dozen hill folk with
discouraging results. Nobody could or
would offer a clue.

A? THE deputy and his guide ap-
proached a ramshackle cabin, the
latter said with an air of significance,
“That’s where Jimmy Thompson lives.”
Monte eyed the man questioningly.
Then it suddenly dawned on him, Jimmy
Thompson a year or so before had been
released from Mansfield reformatory.
where he had served a sentence for rob-
bing a hardware store at Ironton. He
had confessed to the crime.

The youth himself answered the door
and stood silently with Gl expression-
less face. Monte stared hard at that face.
It was pallid, weak, and stamped the
youth as a lazy, purposeless individual.
Apparently undisturbed by the officer's
scrutiny, Thompson slowly leaned his
gangling form against the door frame.

“Jimmy,” the deputy said at length,
“somebody killed Callie Rogers last night.”

If the news affected the youth he did
not show it in the least. He merely nod-
ded, almost imperceptibly.

“You knew Mrs. Rogers pretty well,
didn’t you?” the officer queried, stabbing
in the dark for a method to begin ques-
tioning this odd character,

“Yes, I knew her,” came the expres-
sionless answer.

“Been over to see her lately ?”

“Nope. I haven't seen her in several
weeks,”

“Where were you last night ?”

“Right here in the cabin.” Thompson
turned his head slightly. “Hey, Maw,”
he called, “where was I last night ?”

The woman, who evidently had heard

[Continued on page 70]

The sheriff sprang to his feet and

grabbed the tobacco sack. “Fellow,”
he said harshly, “I always thought you
were a killer. Now I know it!”

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14. The Master Detective

Street bridge. But she did not know their destination.

A policeman, too, remembered seeing the red car out-
side the Walnut Street house. He had chased away a boy
who was trying to steal a tire from the back, and when
several young people came out and got in the car, a tall.
athletic looking youth gave him a dollar tip for watch-
ing it so well.

A search of the room which had been occupied by the
young couple who vanished in Peirce’s roadster revealed
a picture of a young boxer in his fighting togs, with the
name “Young West” scribbled across the bottom.

No one prominent in Philadelphia boxing circles knew
“West”, so I concluded it was an assumed name. Other
names were found on scraps of paper around the room,
but these conflicted strongly and led to no definite clues

to the actual identity of the couple who occupied the room.

By this time, every police department within 500 miles
had been notified to be on the lookout for a pretty girl
and a young man in a big red roadster.

In addition to the telegraphed fliers, 400 postcards were
prepared showing a picture of a car resembling Peirce’s,
and these were sent to all of the larger cities in the East
within twelve hours after Peirce’s body was found!

But the postcards were not needed... . .

The very next day, while | was going over the evidence
already accumulated with other members of the murder
squad, my office telephone rang. It was a long distance
call from Wheeling, West Virginia.

“A big, red car with Pennsylvania license plates, 22206,
was brought to a garage here by two men at nine o’clock
last night,” came an excited voice from the other end of
the wire. “We are checking up, but you had better send
some of your men down!”

Within twenty minutes, Jim Mulgrew and Harry Hean-
ley, were on their way to Wheeling. [ remained behind in
active charge of the investigation in Philadelphia.

THE fact that two men had driven the car to Wheeling
puzzled me. I was almost sure a girl was in the car,
and at the time I was undecided as to whether there were
lone or more-men accompanying her. But this apparent
discrepancy was cleared up by later developments.

My men arrived in Wheeling early on Wednesday morn-
ing, two days after Peirce’s body was found. They went
directly to the garage of W. G. Plant, where the car was
held, and identified it positively as the familiar roadster
of the murdered Philadelphia business man.

Plant told them that two men—one tall and slender,
the other shorter and smooth-faced—had brought the car

‘to the garage for the first time about 6 o'clock Monday

night. They wanted the battery charged that night. They

‘ were told this was impossible, but that a new battery

could be installed.
The tall youth
said they would
think it over, and
the two went
away without the
car.

At 9 o'clock,
they returned.

“We've ‘talked it
over with our
wives and _ have
decided to stay
here,” declared the
taller youth. “You
can go ahead with
that battery.”

There was some-
thing unusual
about the couple
which attracted
the attention of
the garage atten-
dants. The taller
youth seemed to
do all the talking,
the other remain-

Another picture of
Boots Rogers, the
scintillating charmer
who wheedled de-
tectives into buying
her a turkey dinner
de luxe while she was
under arrest!

ing completely
were the travele
communicate wil
might be stolen.
That same nig!
Hotel in Wheell:
and “O. Freemat
morning the two
not seen again.
Plant’s garage.
Mulgrew and
tives, decided to
houses of the ci
the garage. As
phone rang and
Frazier picked

“What's that
“All right we'll
right over!”

“Better go rig
and Main Str
turning to the ¢
Smith says two
men just came
in there — las’
night that loo!
suspicious!”

Smith was
private detec
tive who co-op
erated with th
Wheeling police
A squad of de
tectives jumpe
into an aut
mobile an
sped to. th
rooming house
the curb, the
out stepped a
hair brushed
forehead and
athlete.

It was “Yo
whose picture
in the roomin
Street, in Phil

ON the side,
he is,” he
of the new fel
The youth
and his face
later each of
by the Ste
‘handcuffs.
“All rigt
young fellow
guess you kn

why we
here,’ sa
Mulgrew
“No, | don
answered
youth, suller
“What's y
name?” snap}
Heanley.
“Norman \
liams.”’
“Did you
Henry Peirc
The you

12 The Master Detective

it was best viewed by a person reclining on the couch. The
picture of the pretty girl, smiling down voluptuously upon
the scene of murder and violence, furnished a startling
study in contrasts.

Peirce had apparently been robbed, for there was no
money or jewelry left on his person. It was known that
he usually carried good-sized amounts of cash, and he was
fond of wearing expensive jewelry. Among the pieces he
always wore were a gold love knot in his tie, and a
diamond-studded: emblem of the Lulu Temple, Knights of
the Mystic Shrine, of which he was a member.

The murderer, or murderers—for.there must have been
several people in the room when Peirce was killed—prob-
ably turned on the gas in order to make sure of Peirce’s
death, although

there was no
need for this
extra precau-
tion.

Word of the
murder spread

quickly through
the — neighbor-
hood, made up
of business of-
fices and whole-
sale houses.
Such a_ large
crowd soon
gathered in
front of the In-
sley office that
police reserves
had. toacbe
called out be-
fore we ‘were
ready to leave.

The murdered
man was well
known in Phila-
delphia _ busi-
ness circles, and
was a member
of several fra-
ternal _—_ orders.
He was a 32nd
degree Mason,
a Shriner and
Knights Temp-
lar. He was
married and
had five young
sons.

E was best

known about
the city, how-
ever, for the big, red twelve-cylinder roadster in which he
commuted between his office and his home in Fort Wash-
ington. The car was known to every traffic policeman and
park guard in Philadelphia, for its flashy colors and _tor-
pedo-shaped body made it stand out vividly in the stream
of traffic. i

Peirce was proud of his car, which was the only one of
its kind in Philadelphia. It could attain a speed of ninety
miles an hour, a terrific rate for pleasure cars even in these
days.

But although Peirce always drove the big red car wher-
ever he went, it was nowhere near Twentieth and Market
Streets on the morning his body was found!

Who had driven it away?

I was convinced that the answer to this question would
solve the dark mystery of Peirce’s death.

Where a life was taken! The upper arrow points to the room fronting on Market

Street where Peirce’s butchered body lay for two nights and a day before it was

discovered. The lower arrow points to the offices of the Insley Manufacturing
Company, of which Peirce was an executive

My first move was to question everyone in the neighbor-
hood who might have seen Peirce’s car on the night that
he was killed.

My search met with almost immediate success when |
walked into a garage a few doors away and found a young
attendant named Arthur Deveney.

“Sure, | remember Mr. Peirce driving up in front of his
office,” he said. “I didn’t want to say anything at first,
because I was afraid it would look bad for him, but |
guess I ought to tell you about it.”

“What do you mean?” [ asked him excitedly.

“Why, when Mr. Peirce drove up and went in his office,
there was a pretty, dark-haired girl with him. She was
riding in the front seat of the car, and I just caught a
glimpse of her
as she jumped
out and ran in
the door.”

“Was there
anyone else with
them?”

“TM not sure;

there may
have been. |
didn’t look very
closely, but |

saw the. girl,
and I _ recog-
nized Mr.
Peirce.”

I whistled
under °° my
breath. So
there was a girl
in the case!

But no. girl
in the world

could have
killed Peirce—
the way he was
killed. It would
have taken a
man’s arm, and
a strong man at
that, to swing
that huge
wrench with

such _ terrible
force.
The. girl

whom Deveney
saw running
lightly in the
door of Peirce’s
office must have
been the lure
which his. murderers used in their grim plot of robbery and
murder, I decided.

I resumed my search through the neighborhood, but
found no one else who recalled seeing Peirce with the mys-
terious girl.

One man, however, was. able to help me determine
the exact time when Peirce was killed. James Breslin,
a. bartender at a near-by saloon, told me. that he had
seen Pierce’s car standing in front of 2009 Market
Street as late as 11:30, but at 12:20, when he was
walking home, the car was gone. He remembered dis-
tinctly that it had not been standing at the curb as he
walked past. :

With those two hours firmly fixing the time of Peirce’s
murder and the escape of those who killed him, | imme-
diately sent out a police flier, reading:

“Pick up gi
ber 22206. V
tioning in the
Meanwhile, |

ments before he
haired woman
standing illness,
morning, saying
trip. He calle
promising to be
that afternoon
which he told
Officials of the
turn Sunday, hi
continue her ho
Sunday night

The murd

only to learn
lying murder
I was unab
near collapse
with her husb
would kill he
five young so!
Peirce had
urday aftern
on that day

E did not
near Six

He was seen
office of a dc
physician was
come back or
At 5:30,

one in the neighbor-

ir on the night that

late success when |
and found a young

g up in front of his
y anything at first,
xad for him, but |

excitedly.

d went in his office,

vith him. She was

nd | just caught a
glimpse of her
as she jumped
out and ran in

the door.”
“Was there
anyone else with
them?”
‘‘T’M not sure;
there may

have been. |
didn’t look very
closely, but I
saw the girl,
and I _ recog-
nized Mr.
Peirce.”

I whistled
under my
breath. So
there was a girl
in the case!

But no. girl
in the world
could have
killed Peirce—
the way he was
killed. It would
have taken a
man’s arm, and
a strong man at
that, to swing
that huge
wrench with

such _ terrible
force.
The girl

whom Deveney
saw running
lightly in the
door of Peirce’s
office must have
been the lure
lot of robbery and

neighborhood, but
irce with the mys-

Ip me determine
1. James Breslin,
me. that he had
of 2009 Market
0, when he was
remembered dis-
it the curb as he

e time of Peirce’s
led him, I imme-

The Clue of the

“Pick up girl in a big, red roadster, license num-
ber 22206. Wanted with her companions for ques-
tioning in the murder of Henry T. Peirce.”

Meanwhile, | began a further checkup of Peirce’s move-
ments before he was slain. From his wife, a pathetic gray-
haired woman who was almost an invalid from a long-
standing illness, | learned that he had left home Thursday
morning, saying he was going to Baltimore on a business

trip. He called her from that city and Washington, -

promising to be home Saturday night, she said, but when
that afternoon came, she had another call from him in
which he told her he was going on to New York with
officials of the Insley company. When he failed to re-
turn Sunday, her fears grew until she was scarcely able to
continue her household tasks.

Sunday night she spent in a sleepless torment of worry,

Crimson Sweater 13

Nineteenth and Market Streets, and on his way out, bought
fifteen evening papers from a newsboy at the corner. It
was his custom to distribute these to park guards while
driving home through Fairmount Park.

At 6 o'clock a traffic policeman at ‘Nineteenth and Mar-
ket Streets was asked by a party of motorists to arrest
Peirce, who, they declared, was driving his big car reck-
lessly. The officer said he saw no signs of reckless driving,
and did not make the arrest.

N hour later Peirce was seen near his office in his car,
and several hours later was seen again by Deveney,
with the mysterious girl. That, so far as I could learn.
was the last time he was seen alive by any but his
murderer.
Although Peirce dropped out of sight when he and the

The murdered man’s specially-built, twe]ve-cylinder red roadster. This machine, which swept through Philadelphia and
environs like an apparition immediately after the crime, gave sleuths their first clue to the mystery

only to learn the next morning that her husband had been
lying murdered, miles away. all during the day.

I was unable to learn much more from her, as she was
near collapse from the terrible revelations which had come
with her husband’s death. At the time, I thought the blow
would kill her, but her courage and desire*to care for. her
five young sons sustained her. e

Peirce had not called his wife from out of town on Sat-
urday afternoon, as he told her, for shortly before noon
on that day he was seen in the neighborhood of his office.

E did not go to work, but drove his car out of a garage

near Sixteenth and Market Streets and disappeared.

He was seen again about 3 o’clock, when he went to the

office of a doctor at Nineteenth and Market Streets. The

physician was not in, and Peirce left a note saying he would
come back on Tuesday.

At 5:30, Peirce ate an oyster stew in a restaurant at

girl walked into his apartment shortly before midnight, his
big red car continued to be seen in various parts of the
city and its environs for several hours,

People saw it going across on a ferry to Camden, New
Jersey, and later in the vicinity of Tenth and Penn Streets
in that city. Others saw it near Eighth and Spruce Streets
in Philadelphia, while still more had marked it as it
drove the few blocks between Twentieth and Market
Streets to a rooming house near Twenty-first and Walnut.

It was at the latter place, 2049 Walnut Street, that the
trail of the big car grew warmest. The proprietress, Mrs.
Daisy Ashford, recalled that a young couple who had
renfed rooms there a week before had. returned home
shortly before | o’clock on Sunday morning, riding in a big
red car.

They had stayed only a short time, during which she
heard a number of voices from their room. Then they
left, and she last saw them speeding west over the Walnut

occupied the room.
t within 500 miles
t for a pretty girl

400 postcards were
esembling Peirce’s,
cities in the East
was found!

over the evidence
ers of the murder
as a long distance

ense plates, 22206,
len at nine o’clock
1 the other end of
u had bette: send

and Harry Hean-
emained behind in
iladelphia.

e car to Wheeling
cl was in the car,
vhether there were
But this apparent
elopments.
Wednesday morn-
uund. They went
vhere the car was
familiar roadster
in.
tall and _ slender,
brought the car
o'clock Monday
‘hat night. They
a new battery
suld be installed,
he tall youth
id they would
ink it over, and
le two went
vay without the
r.
At 9 o'clock,
ey returned.
“We've ‘talked it
ver with our
ves and have
cided to stay
re,” declared the
ller youth. “You
n go ahead with
at battery.”
There was some-
ing unusual
out the couple
uch attracted
attention of
garage atten-
ats. The taller
ith seemed to
all the talking,
other remain-

other picture of
ts Rogers, the
‘tillating charmer
) wheedled de-
ives into buying
a turkey dinner
‘uxe while she was
under arrest!

‘handcuffs.

The Clue of the

ing completely in the background. In fact, so strange
were the travelers’ action that Plant thought it best to
communicate with the Wheeling police, thinking the car
might be stolen.

That same night, two strangers registered at the McClure
Hotel in Wheeling as “A. G. Spanger, Marion, Indiana,”
and “O, Freeman, Morgantown, West Virginia.” The next
morning the two were gone from the hotel, and they were
not seen again. Meanwhile no one called for the car in
Plant’s garage.

Mulgrew and Heanley, together with Wheeling detec-
tives, decided to make an immediate search of the rooming
houses of the city for the couple who had left the car in
the garage. As they were starting on their search, the tele-
phone rang and Chief of Police
Frazier picked up the receiver.

“What’s that?” he shouted.
“All right we’ll send somebody
right over!”

“Better go right up to Eighth
and Main Streets,” he said,
turning to the detectives. “Dave
Smith says two -
men jist came
in there last
night that look
suspicious!”

Smith was a
private detec-
tive who co-op-
erated with the
Wheeling police.
A squad of de-
tectives jumped
into an auto-
mobile and
sped to the
rooming house. As they drew up to
the curb, the front door opened, and
out stepped a tall youth with blond
hair brushed straight back from his
forehead and the springy step of an
athlete.

It was “Young West”, the boxer
whose picture had decorated the wall
in the rooming house at 2049 Walnut
Street, in Philadelphia!

N the sidewalk stood Smith. “There
he is,” he whispered. “That’s one
of the new fellows. Grab him!”

The youth at the door started back
and his face went white. A moment
later each of his wrists was encircled
by the © steel

“All right.
young fellow, 1
guess you know
why we're

Crimson Sweater 15

lips tightened, at this question but not a word came from
them.

“Come on, we're going to get your pal,” said Heanley
and the group made for the door.

The prisoner started forward, and lifted his shackled
hands pleadingly:

“Don’t go up there now! Let me go first!” he exclaimed

The detectives looked at him in surprise,

“Nothing doing,” said Heanley, “We're not taking any
chances!” ‘

Carefully guarding their prisoner, the four detectives
mounted the stairs and pounded on the door toward which
“Williams” nodded sullenly. There was no reply. Fear-
ing a trick, Heanley and Mulgrew put their shouulders
to the door and crashed it in.

An astounding sight met their eyes! On the bed, her
head buried in a fluffy pillow, was a pretty dark-haired
girl, who looked ho older than eighteen. She looked up
sleepily, and her pert features and saucy black eyes went
dark for a moment as she saw the men with badges .and

drawn pistols. An instant later, how-
Pn ever, she recovered her poise.

as: “Hello, what’s all this?” she asked
cheerfully.

The detectives were com-
pletely taken aback. Their
astonished features underwent
a dozen changes of expression
before they could answer.

“YOU'RE under arrest,”
said Mulgrew, a. trifle
doubtfully.

“No kidding! What for?”
the girl shot back.

“For the murder of Henry
Peirce,” replied the detective
evenly, his eyes searching the
girl’s features.

For a moment, she struggled
for self-control. Then, for
what was to be the first and
last time during weeks of in-
sistent questioning, her steel
nerves gave way.

“Ob, you've got us, I sup-
pose. The old fool was killed
in a drunken brawl anyway!”

“Williams” started forward
with an oath of protest, but
the girl had already recovered
_herself.

“Come on, let’s go to jail,”
she said, with a toss of her
head.

“Just a min-
ute, young
lady,” inter-

grew. “Who are

here,” said you anyway?”
Mulgrew. “Mrs. Marie
“No, | don’t,” Williams,”
answered _—'the ; grinned the
youth, sullenly. girl, looking at
“What’s your her companion,
name?” snapped who hung his
Heanley. head sheepishly.
“Norman Wil- “Anything — else
liams.” you want to
“Did you kill Peter D. Treadway, known in pugilistic circles as “Young West.” Treadway, an know 2?”
Henry Peirce?” intimate friend of Boots Rogers, was seen in the murdered man’s car shortly after the “Yeo ' where
¢ # slaying. Just what was the boxer’s connection with the case which set Philadelphia Oe ase
The youth’s agog? do you live?

Serre ee Cee se

rupted Mul- -

: about reconstructing
Society for the Blind
or less by persons of
er reported that about
d her and Mrs. Steese
nade the banking trip

regular banking days,
outside of a few per-
‘se Was going to the.

d have seen her park

gding there for money ,

ch was actually carried
could have climbed in

the fact that the rain

that supposition. The
out of a corner of the
, the street. He slips
3s, When the girl opens
ses the door, the killer.
a blow of his fist, pulls
ikes the wheel himself.

of what had actually
riven the car away be-
1 a few hours after the
int pages. The women
Nollet, neighbors living
Nn.

that day they started
dismay a sedan reck-
n a-complete half circle
y remembered the inci-
d to swerve sharply to

a recklessness, glowered
vhich they passed. Both
- could not describe him
the fogged windows of

irs. Nollet recalled her

3 rei
_ gkFe

The

Scarlet

(Right) Forty minutes
after Mrs. Ruth Gil-
more Steese left a
Cleveland bank, her
lifeless, bound body
was found. Her mur-
derer might have
escaped, but he
trapped himself by
being too clever

(Below) The get-away
scene on the bank
corner from which the
murdered girl was ab-
ducted. The black lines
show how the slayer
backed into Euclid
Avenue traffic and
forced another car to
swerve recklessly

The most logical reconstruction of the crime there-

fore held that the killer had either knocked his.

victim unconscious as soon as she entered the car,
or that he had put his gun on her and she had
fainted.

After placing some miles between himself and the
kidnapping scene it is possible that he stopped,
blindfolded Mrs. Steese before she recovered con-

sciousness, and tied her hands behind her. Did the .

blindfold mean that the victim knew her abductor?
Or did it mean that he was a smart, careful criminal
whose plan was to mask his victim instead of
himself? ;

And if Mrs, Steese was so prevented from
the possibility of later identifying him, what inci-
dent arose later to impel the murderer to his final
course of action? The most trivial happening, a
sudden movement on the part of the girl, an outcry,
or the sight of an approaching automobile, may have
shattered the killer's emotional control and inspired
a resolve to bring the crime to a fatal conclusion. :

A careful check-up on the movements of all of
Mrs. Steese’s acquaintances during the preceding
twenty-four hours indicated that the slayer was a
stranger to her.

While we were in the midst of this routine task
of eliminating possible suspects and interviewing bus

Crime on Shaker

Boulevard Il

drivers and residents in the vicinity of
the murder scene who may have noticed
suspicious characters leaving the neigh-
borhood, Detective Inspector Cornelius
Cody received a telephone call from
Chesterland, Ohio.

It came from the unknown young man
who had stopped to ask Novak whether
trucks were allowed on Shaker Boule-
vard, and who had preceded him by ten
minutes toward the murder scene. His
name was William .Hodgeman, twenty.

E was driving into Cleveland that

afternoon to pick up his father who
was attending to some business on the
West Side. He described meeting No-
vak on the top of Gates Mills hill five
miles east of the murder scene, of asking
him whether trucks were permitted on
the Boulevard, and then driving on. Ten
minutes later he came upon the murder
car mired in the tree lawn.

“I thought someone was in trouble and started slowing down

about 150 feet before I got opposite the car,” he said.
_ “A man was standing on the left side of the car as if he had
just alighted from the front seat. As I approached, slowing down,
he walked to the back of the sedan, which was hanging over the
road. The back wheels had just cleared the curb.

“The man was right at the back end of the sedan when | stopped.
I was about fifteen feet from him. I opened the truck door and
said: ‘Do you need any help?’

“He looked straight at me but did not make any answer. He
just waved his hand as if he meant for me to go on.

“T thought it was funny for a car to be up on the curb like that,
and I hesitated. Then I went on slowly and when about 100 feet
further, I looked back.

“The man had got around to the left side of the car. That was
the side I was on again, because | had passed it.

“The left front door of the sedan was opened and the man was
standing as a man would who had just opened it. 1 saw him put
on a cap such as chauffeurs wear. It was black with a shiny visor.
The man was looking at me pretty hard. He waved again for me
to go on.”

Hodgeman placed the time at about 1:45 p.M., checking it by
recollection that about thirty minutes after passing the murder
car he had looked at a clock in Cleveland. We took him to the
garage where we had driven the death car and he recognized it.
We took him—or rather he took us—to the exact spot on Shaker
Boulevard where Novak, following him several minutes later, had
discovered the body.

HE man he had seen beside the murder car, the man who was

beyond question the murderer of Ruth Steese, had been wear-
ing a dark-colored lumber jacket, dark trousers, was about six feet
tall, weighed 190 pounds, had dark hair, combed back, and was
about 30 years old.

This description immediately eliminated a half dozen suspects
we had been holding, and allowed us to abandon the hunt for a
former employee of the Society for the Blind whom we had learned
once had words with Mrs, Steese. It threw into the discard a

whole batch of those confusing and conflicting “tips” that every

big murder case inspires.

We had the utmost confidence in Hodgeman. He impressed me
as being an absolutely open, honest and likeable lad, and every-
thing he told checked perfectly with the other known facts. For
one thing, his information about the chauffeur’s cap bolstered our
deductions that the murderer was connected with the automotive
industry. He achieved anonymous fame as “the police secret wit-
ness” and his identity was not disclosed publicly until fifteen
months later.

With Hodgeman’s hot lead the department worked like mad for
a quick clean-up of the case, but all we got were disappointments

(Above) Joseph Novak, who, while
returning from a rabbit- -hunting ex-

pedition, stumbled upon a blind-_

folded lady, mysteriously murdered in
an abandoned car

(Below) The old Grasselli house at
2275 East 55th Street, Cleveland,
home of the Society for the Blind,
where the murdered girl was book-
keeper, and from where she started

on her fatal ride

The

Master

Detective

As he. walked back across the road to his own car, won-
dering what. municipality he was in and whom he should
notify, a florist’s truck appeared. Novak flagged it and
asked the driver to get in touch with the nearest police.
Two girls drove by a few minutes later and he asked them
also to get help.

_ The Beechwood Town Hall happened. to be only a mile
away and officers from that village, after telephoning the
Sheriff’s office, were on the scene a few minutes later,

Such was the beginning of a murder case which was
dumped. into the laps of the Cleveland police because of the
license number on the death car.

THAT number was listed ‘as being issued to Miss Violet

A. Warriner, manager of the Society for the Blind, which
is housed in the old Grasselli House at 2275 East 35th Street,
a landmark in that district.

The victim was Mrs, Ruth Gilmore Steese, twenty-six,
bookkeeper at the Society. Mrs. Steese was an attractive
young woman, a graduate of Flora Stone Mather College
of Western Reserve University. She had been married two
years before to Herbert Steese, graduate of Case School of
Applied Science, the campus of which adjoins Western
Reserve.

The couple were living temporarily with. the bride’s

parents at 13817 Woodworth ‘Road, East Cleveland, until-,

the depression lifted, and Steese could connect in the en-
gineering profession for which he had been well educated.
For the time being he was employed at. a gasoline station

‘and was on duty the day of the murder.

Miss Warriner said she had loaned. Mrs. Steese her car
to go on a banking trip because it was raining. Mrs.’Steese
left the Society headquarters at | Pp. M..and arrived at the
Cleveland Trust Company branch bank at East 57th Street
and Euclid Avenue, about six blocks away, at 1.05 p. M.

There she had deposited $1,398.13 in checks and cash to
the Society’s commercial account, and had cashed her own
and fellow employees’ pay checks totaling $191.75.

Those transactions
took’ about five minutes.
She left the bank at 1:10
p.M. and Samuel Stew-
art, the teller who had at-
tended to her needs, said
good-bye and _ wished
her’ a Happy: New Year.

nie ini ence

carric
her v
and t
vanis
actua

M Is
an hi
Posits
Was |
closec
posit

road to his own’ car, won-
s in and whom he should
‘d. Novak flagged it and
-h with the nearest police.
es later-and he asked them

appened to be only a mile
lage, after telephoning the
a few minutes later.

a murder case which was
‘eland police because of the
r.

being issued to Miss Violet
Society for the Blind, which

use at 2275 East 55th Street, .

Gilmore Steese, twenty-six,
s.Steese was ‘an attractive
‘lora Stone Mather College
She had been married two
graduate of Case School of
of which adjoins Western

nporarily with .the bride’s
Road, East Cleveland, until:
‘se could connect in the en-
he had been well educated.
ployed at.a gasoline station
: murder, '
loaned Mrs. Steese her car
» it was raining. Mrs.’Steese
t | p.M..and arrived at the
ich bank at East 57th Street
blocks away, at 1.05 p. M.
‘98.13 in checks and cash to
at, and had cashed her own
*ks totaling $191.75.
Those transactions
took about five minutes.
She left the bank at 1:10
p.M. and Samuel Stew-
art, the teller who had at-
tended to her needs, said
good-bye and_ wished

her a Happy: New Year. —

MISS WARRINER had not expected

The Scarlet Crime

Just torty minutes later Novak found her body on. that
lonely stretch of Shaker Boulevard ten miles away.
It seems incredible that in that short space of time a

pretty young woman could have been abducted from a

busy business corner without attracting anyone’s attention,
carried ten miles away mostly through city traffic against
her will, robbed, blindfolded, tied up, and finally killed,
and that her slayer could have completely
vanished from the scene. Yet all that had
actually occurred in those forty minutes.

Mrs. Steese back from the bank for
an hour or so, for after making the de-
posits at the Cleveland Trust branch she
was to have driven downtown to the now
closed Guardian Trust Company to de-
posit $60.00, receipts of a Christmas party
play given by the Bradley Players for the
benefit of the Society. Miss Warriner had
called the Guardian at 1:30 hoping to
catch Mrs, Steese there to send her on an-
other downtown errand. :

At that very moment the girl and her
slayer were speeding through the out-
skirts of the city, and an hour later Coro-

(Below) The cheese- (Right) Inch by
cloth blindfold clue inch detectives ex-
from which | detec- amined the murder
tives were enabled to car after it had been
arrive at the mur- taken to the Police
derer’s occupation. Department garage.
The hemp rope which A .32 caliber bullet
bound the victim’s was found embedded
hands is also shown — in the cushions

on Shaker Boulevard 9

ner A. J. Pearse was pronouncing Mrs. Steese dead from a
bullet wound in the head.

The bullet, found later imbedded in the cushions of the
car, was proved by David Cowles, Cleveland police ballistic
expert, to have been fired by a .32 caliber revolver, prob-
ably a Remington.

Coroner Pearse’s verdict was murder for robbery. All

the money, approximately $200, which Mrs. Steese was

had been bound behind her.

ends were pulled.

10 The Master Detective

With this question in mind we set about reconstructing

known to have carried, was gone except $5.19 in an envelope _the crime. The district in which the Society for the Blind poral
in her pocketbook, Part of the victim’s undergarments had- is located is one frequented more or less by persons of more
heen removed, and the coroner also reported that a criminal questionable tendencies. Miss Warriner reported that about Clevela:
attack had been attempted but not accomplished. a year previously a man had followed her and Mrs. Steese ener =
Two clues in addition to the bullet immediately attracted to the bank and thereafter whoever made the banking trip dever
attention. One was the cord with which the victim’s hands had a police escort. escap:
It was a piece of ordinary However, this was not one of the regular banking days, trapped
hemp bundle cord four feet long, tied in a curious sort of and no escort was asked. No one, outside of a few per- sean
knot which drew the hands tighter together as the cord sons in the office, knew Mrs, Steese was going to the. (Below
bank that afternoon. scene
The second clue was the blindfold cloth. This was iden- Any loiterer about the bank could have. seen her park corner {
tified as an automobile cleaning cloth,’of a size and of a__ the car outside, take a chance on her gding there for money | a :
soft material especially manufactured and sold for that . and attempt the bold abduction which was actually carried show h
purpose. This type of cloth is widely used by garages and out. As soon as she left the car he could have climbed in backed
gas stations and this appeared to stamp the slayer as a and awaited her unobserved, due to the fact that the rain —

man having some connec-
tion with the automotive
industry.

Too many persons had
been around the death car
before police arrived to
hope for any identifying
footprints, and no: finger-
prints were found any-
where. The position of the
car indicated that the slayer
in the excitement of the
moment might have had a
wild idea of driving across
the wet fields to dispose of
the body in the near-by
woods. That purpose was
foiled -by the car wheels
sinking in the turf as soon
as they hit the tree lawn.

(Below) Miss Violet A.
Warriner, manager of the
Society for the Blind, and
owner of the death car.
She had loaned it to Mrs.
Steese to make that fatal
trip

All the surrounding territory was explored and
no footprints found, thus forcing the conclusion
that the murderer had boldly escaped by walk-

ing along the pavement.

The most puzzling aspect of the whole busi-
ness was the blindfold. Did it mean that the
murderer was known to the victim and that the
hunt was narrowed to acquaintances, or was it
the precaution of an accomplished criminal?

jae
+ &

Wicrus
ee

had so fogged the windows. Let us make that supposition. The

slayer, crouching low in the back seat peers out of a corner of the The mos
window and. sees Mrs: Steese coming across the street. He slips fore held
quietly to the floor and huddles there motionless, When the girl opens victim unc
the car door, settles behind the wheel, and closes the door, the killer. fF that he
rises from behind, knocks her unconscious with a blow of his fist, pulls fainted.
her to the other side of the front seat and takes the wheel himself. After pl:
' kidnapping
HIS seemed to be a logical interpretation of what had ‘actually blindfolde.
happened. We knew that the killer had driven the car away be- SCIOUSNESS,
cause of information given us by two women a few hours after the _Dlindfold r
discovery of the body hit the newspaper front pages. The women OF did it n
were Mrs. Wilhelmina Stewart and Mrs. Eva Nollet, neighbors living Whose pla
a. few blocks east of the scene of the abduction. himself?
They reported that shortly after 1 o’clock that day they started And if
downtown along Euclid Avenue. To their dismay a sedan reck- the possib:
lessly backed out of East 57th Street, swung in a complete half circle dent arose
in Euclid Avenue and raced eastward. They remembered the inci- Course of
dent clearly because of the fact that they had to swerve sharply to sudden mo
avoid being struck. . or the sigh
Both of them, angered and amazed at such recklessness, glowered Shattered '
at the driver in the fraction of an instant in which they passed. Both a resolve |
were positive a man was at the wheel but they could not describe him A carefi
in detail. They saw him vaguely through the fogged windows of Mrs. Stee
both cars. . twenty-for
' “Well! For once it was a man driver,” Mrs. Nollet recalled her ‘Stanger t
caustic exclamation, While
of elimina’

du know?”

He was
make me
he identity

seemed a

I know
dn’t think

d the per-
though he
3 it?” he

arely, and
inced sim-

ald I have
stance you
he water?
ing a seri-

Griffin re-
her wings.
1 might as
v her body
ou’re very

‘hat makes
vater?” he

with mock
she could
f say, she
> you were
| powerful
r that dis-
2 rest. The
-ucian, and
even lifted
one throw

» aré other
napkin. It
ry test that

for a long
‘as perspir-
s when she
tish. That

been back
> eft Shaf-
¢ body was

would have
the napkin
i, even one
isn’t apt to
ief, even an
in reach of
|, she never
with you.”
e found her

prints and
n made by
»meone else

left off, the .

have been
fference in
, plus your
quarrelled
iced me you

ry said so-
just what I
atting would
it’s the only
ome. I was
1 I left her.

water—not
is sorry, but
e, and left.”
idicted on a
r.
y in Salem,
nd John W.

Ey aa gata Pe eae

Diack ch tia

Paras

REAL DETECTIVE

ay DETECTIVE

Besides these concrete things, we had
many unanswered questions.

What was the motive for this ghastly as-
sault ?

Robbery? But if so, why had the jewels
and the $5.19 cash been left behind?

And if the crime was one of passion
alone, why had the $191.75 been taken?

Perhaps, and likely, we thought, it was a
combination of both. There had been cases
before with dual motives; why not this
one? Perhaps the killer had intended rob-
bery, but had been attracted by Ruth’s
loveliness and had decided to satiate a sav-
age lust at the same time.

Perhaps, too, lust had been the primary
urge and the fiend had taken the money only
when he discovered it accidentally. :

Every detective of an augmented homi-
cide squad was hurled into the manhunt,
concentrating in two areas—near the bank
where Ruth had last been seen alive and
near the murder scene. I call it the mur-
der scene, but we weren’t even sure of that.
Perhaps she’d been slain in the car and
driven to the spot.

We arrested hoodlums by the scores.
Hitchhikers, tramps, even casual passers-
by; if they couldn’t explain their presence
at either place, were picked up and ques-
tioned.

The results were nil.

Meantime, at headquarters, other detec-
tives questioned Miss Warriner, owner of
the death car. She was the first to offer us
any information. She told of being ac-
costed on several occasions by men on street
corners near the society’s offices.

“Just one week ago,” she said. “I caught
a man trying to open a door of my car.
Two weeks ago the janitor drove away
another man he saw doing the same thing.
I don’t know if it was the very same
man.”

Miss Warriner was asked about the
cheesecloth and the twine. Neither, she
insisted, had been in the car when she
loaned it to Ruth Steese.

“That means,” Coroner Pearse pointed
out, “that whoever killed her brought the
twine and cloth along with him.”

“And that the crime was premeditated,
and wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing,” I
interposed. “Right?”

Other officers agreed.

“That,” I went on, “makes it look more
like a robbery than a sex case.”

The one thing that kept coming back to
our minds was the fact that.the mysterious
piece of cheesecloth was traceable in one
vague sense: it was the type of cloth used
in many gas stations.

We requested oil companies and inde-
pendent dealers to inform us of the names
of any recently discharged employees.

We also realized that a good many
wealthy persons were in the habit of driv-
ing to the Blind Society to make charitable
contributions, and we asked such people to
inform us if they had recently discharged
chauffeurs who might have, through their
trips to the society, come to know of Ruth
Steese’s trips to the bank,

Through the newspapers, at the same
time, we appealed to all citizens who might
have been driving past the murder scene
between 1:30 and re the day of the

crime, to come to us with any information
they might have.

Two days passed fruitlessly.

On the third day, January 2, 1933, we
received a long-distance call from Ches-

RAVISHED BRUNETTE

terland, Ohio. The caller was William
Hodgeman, 20. He told us he was a truck
driver and had been driving along Shaker
Heights Boulevard just before 2 p.m., three

days earlier, and had noticed the mired car ©

at the roadside.

A police car was speeding toward Ches-
terland within minutes, and when Hodge-
man finally was brought to Cleveland we
knew that our newspaper campaign request-
ing information had paid rich dividends.

He had noticed the mired auto, he said,
and had seen a man standing beside it. As-
suming, as Novak had done, that someone
might need assistance, he had slowed down.

“But the man just waved at me and yelled
that he was all right and to go on, so I did.
I didn’t think a thing about it at the time,
but then when I saw the papers I figured
I'd seen the same car.”

“What did the man look like?” Every
detective present uttered the words as one
man,

Hodgeman gave us this description: a
man about five feet eleven inches or maybe
six feet tall. Weight about 180 or 190
pounds, He was wearing a gray lumber-
jack, windbreaker-type of sweater and a
stiff-visored cap. He was about 30 years
old, and of medium complexion. He wore
dark trousers.

“And I think,” Hodgeman concluded,
“that he had black hair, but I’m not sure
about that.”

The completeness of this’ description was

amazing, considering the circumstances, but °

when we did get the murderer, it fitted him
almost to a T. : ,

We took Hodgeman out to Shaker
Heights Boulevard and asked him to pick
out the spot where he’d seen the man and
the car. He went straight to the murder
scene, without hesitation,

Then we took him to the police garage,
where there were several score cars parked
in a dim light, and asked him to pick out
the car he'd seen. He picked out Miss
Warriner’s black Hudson.

Then we knew without doubt that Hodge-
man had seen Ruth Steese’s killer.

The fact that the killer had been wearing
a visored cap gave strength to our hunch
that the man we wanted was a chauffeur or
a gas-station attendant.

We appealed to the public again, asking
that motorists report to the police if they’d
given a ride to a hitchhiker anywhere
within two miles of the murder scene. We
assumed, of course, for lack of evidence in-
dicating otherwise, that the killer had
walked away between the time Hodgeman
saw him and the time Novak drove to the
scene,

Another break in the case came Janu-
ary 3, the day after Hodgeman had phoned
us. This time Clarence Jackson, of Kirt-
land, Ohio, had information to offer. He
said he’d been driving on Shaker Heights
Boulevard the day of the murder, about
1:45 p.m., and near Brainard Road, which
isn’t far from the murder scene he had
noticed a hitchhiker wearing a visored cap
and a gray windbreaker. Jackson was driv-
ing toward Cleveland and the hitchhiker
was headed away from Cleveland, so Jack-
son hadn’t seen him more than just to no-
tice him. He described him as a man about
five feet ten inches, 160-170 pounds, maybe
32 years old. The description tallied with
Hodgeman’s about as much as such de-
scriptions generally do, and we felt now
that we had two witnesses who'd seen the

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31).

Steese assassin, It gave us a littleconfidence.

And we also now felt sure that the killer,
after leaving the murder scene, had headed
east.

We spent many valuable hours searching
for a_young man who had been friendly
with Ruth Steese and who had disappeared
on the day of the crime. When he finally

showed up he proved to have an airtight

alibi.

While all this was happening, Hodgeman
was in our rogues’ gallery, poring over pic-
tures of criminals matching the killer’s de-
scription,

And at the same time officers were ques-
tioning Steese, members of the Gillmore
family and employees at the Blind Society,
hoping to uncover in Ruth’s background
some clue that might aid us in tracking
down her assassin,

And seven detectives. spent three days
arduously raking a large area around the
murder scene, hoping to uncover, some-
where, the murder gun, if the killer had
thrown it away.

It is to emphasize the painstaking, tedious
work involved in criminal detection that I
go into all these details, It is necessary to
show how every Cleveland detective was
trying, by every means at his command, pa-
tiently and piece by piece, to work out the
jigsaw riddle of Ruth Steese’s death.

B: WE WERE LICKED for the time being.

Days lengthened into weeks, and.

weeks into months, and our rigorous, per-
sistent investigation got us nowhere.

If ever there was a perfect crime—
whether perfect by design or by accident—
this one seemed to be it.

And then, as if to taunt us for our
failure, the killer struck again!

On July 24, 1933, 32-year-old Peter
Treadway, bleeding profusely from wounds
in scalp and leg, stumbled up the steps of
the town hall at Mayfield, another Cleve-
land suburb, and collapsed. He was weak
from loss of blood and only semiconscious.

Town Marshal Nick Wright rushed him
to a hospital, and it was there we found and
questioned him.

The story he told made us suspect im-
mediately that he was the victim of the
same killer who had so wantonly taken the
life of Ruth Steese. That Treadway had
escaped alive seemed miraculous.

He had, he said, been driving to the
Guardian Trust Co, with the day’s receipts
from the filling station where he was em-
ployed, when a man had leaped into his car
at a stop light, and forced Treadway at
gunpoint to drive out Shaker Heights
Boulevard to within a half-mile of the spot
where Ruth Steese had been found mur-
dered. There, Treadway had been robbed
of between $200 and $300, he said, beaten
over the head with a blackjack and shot.

The bullet, obviously intended for his
head or heart, luckily had plowed into the
calf of his ‘leg, inflicting a very painful
but not serious wound,

The similarities between this case and the

_ Steese mystery were striking. Of primary

importance were the facts that both crimes
had occurred in the same area, that both
victims had been carrying funds. to the
same bank when kidnaped, and that both
had been shot.

But the similarity ended there. Instead
of blank walls, as in the Steese case, now
we made almost immediate progress. For
Treadway went into our rogue’s gallery,

sy eSATA RATER STE

“This is the bullet,” he said. He had
found it on the floor of the car, beside
the body.

I immediately took it to my labora-
tory and examined it under a magnify-
ing glass. By the marks on it I was
able to deduce that it had been fired
from a German Luger pistol, .38 caliber.

Meantime, Alan Gillmore, Ruth
Steese’s brother, a construction com-
pany executive, came to the morgue,
He was pale and his chin quivered as
Dr. Pearse spoke to him.

Joseph Novak (right), returning
from a hunting trip, found the
body in the car by the roadside.

“I’m sorry but it’s a necessary for-
mality. The body has to be identified
definitely.”

Gillmore identified the body as Ruth's
and claimed it. Then he left for the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Gill-
more, Ruth’s parents, with whom Ruth
and her husband lived.

i you WAS THE PICTURE of the crime
as we saw it, when the first quick
preliminaries were over and our rigor-
ous investigation was beginning.

We had four articles, one of them a
faint clue.

First, the bullet. Second, the filmy
cloth used as a blindfold. Third, the
binding twine. This was common
hemp, utterly untraceable and virtually
worthless in our investigation.

The fourth item was the silk scarf
that had been knotted like a garrote
around the girl’s throat. This was later
identified as her own.

We also had a flat piece of cardboard,
such as might have been torn from a
suitbox or shoebox. Novak said he'd
found it on the floor of the car, beside
Ruth’s body. He said he thought it had
been over Ruth’s head when he first saw
her, but he wasn't sure about this. At
any rate it seemed to be of no value to
us.

(Continued on page 73)

Soe

sen tn ee

Found living in Newark, N. J., with his wife after a two-year search
that led to. Haiti and back, Arthur Renna (above) was taken into
custody on charges -of starting a fire in the Bronx, N. Y., in which
Rose Celetano and Louise Viviani died. Renna allegedly confessed.

and after examining hundreds of pictures,
finally came to one that made him cry out
instantly :

“That is the man!”

It was a picture of Benny Zeck, of Pitts-
burgh, a man with a minor record that in-

. cluded no previous cases of armed robbery

We asked
He said he

or no cases of a sex nature,
Treadway if he was positive.

was.

So the well-oiled wheels of law’s machin-
ery hummed, and within hours Zeck had
been arrested.

We took Treadway to Pittsburgh, where
he identified Zeck again, face to face. This
enabled us to get a quick extradition order
from Pennsylvania’s Governor, despite
Zeck’s persistent claims of innocence, He
was returned to Cleveland.

He was tried, first, for the attack on
Treadway, for in that case we had a posi-
tive identification. And he was convicted.

During the trial we naturally made ef-
forts to link Zeck to the Steese case. Our
best bet here, of course, was young Hodge-
man who had seen the Steese killer. But
Hodgeman couldn't identify Zeck! ©

Perhaps, then, the Treadway attacker was
not the Steese killer?

We could tell, probably, if we had the
bullet that had torn into Treadway’s leg.

But we couldn’t find it.

Or we could tell if we could find a gun,
owned by Zeck, and could prove that the
Steese bullet had been fired from it. But
Zeck insisted he had no gun. :

And neither could we find, contrary to
our expectations, any evidence that Zeck
owned or ever had owned either a visored
cap or a gray windbreaker !

Zeck was tried in August, 1933. Sen-
tence was deferred, pending our renewed
investigation of Ruth Steese’s assassination.

ND THEN, ON December 5, a gasoline

station was robbed of $22 by a gun-
man who escaped. Shortly thereafter we
had a phone call from Louis Sharpe, who
operated a filling station down the street
from the one that had been robbed, and
who told us he thought he knew who the
robber was. ’

He informed the detectives who were sent
to investigate, that several days earlier he
had cashed a check for a friend, and the
check had proved to be a phony. It had
been forged,

Then, shortly after the gas-station rob-
bery, the forger had returned and paid
Sharpe off—$15. The money had been ob-
tained, Sharpe was convinced, in the rob-
bery down the street. He gave us the name
of the man he suspected,

Peter Treadway!

Tt’s funny how an investigation will drag
along for months, with no progress being
made, and then, prodded by some slight un-
related development, will suddenly begin
to move with rapidity. That’s the way it
was with the Steese mystery. It now began
to race toward a solution with a speed that
took our breaths away.

Treadway was picked up. He admitted
the forgery at once. He also admitted rob-
bing the gasoline station. He was finger-
printed.

And then, what’s even more startling, a
check of FBI files in Washington disclosed
that Treadway had a long record for rob-
bery—and murder !

He had been sentenced in Booneville,
Missouri, in 1913, for robbery. He had
been sentenced in Hutchinson, Kansas, in
1917, for armed robbery. In 1921 he had
been sentenced in Philadelphia for murder
in connection with robbery. Those three
sentences had totaled forty and a half years,
yet Treadway had served only eleven years
altogether.

We learned that he had once been a
prizefighter. This was about the time he
see involved in the murder in Philadel-
phia,

A further quick check disclosed these
facts: :

That Treadway owned a gun—a German
Luger pistol; that on the day of the Steese
murder, when he was due to report for
work at Ralph Petre’s gasoline station, he
had phoned Petre, stating he would be late
because his wife had met with an accident;
that on the day Treadway was late for
work, his pistol had been removed from the
desk drawer in the filling station, where he
usually kept it; that he owned, and wore
while at work, a visored cap and a gray
suede windbreaker jacket.

A’ THIS PART of the investigation, Benja-
min Rattay, who had been Zeck’s at-
torney during his trial, became suspicious
that Treadway had faked the attack he
claimed had been made by Zeck, had beaten
and shot himself, and then had falsely ac-
cused Zeck. All this, Rattay suspected,
was done to cover up embezzlement of the
sent to $300 Treadway had claimed Zeck
stole,

Attorney Rattay, in his client’s behalf,
had even hired a private detective to in-
vestigate this possibility.

Our suspicions, naturally, now were the
same. The facts we had uncovered seemed
to weave an incriminating net around
Treadway as the Ruth Steese slayer.

The clincher came when H. Clay Folger,
the private detective, found what we had
failed in an earlier search to uncover—the
bullet with which Treadway had been shot.
It had been imbedded, under a spare tire,
in a fender well of Treadway’s car!

It proved to have come from the gun that
had killed Ruth Steese. And it had come
from Treadway’s gun!

Treadway went on trial in April, 1934,
Hodgeman, who saw the Steese killer, defi-
nitely identified him. So did Clarence Jack-
son, who had seen a hitchhiker near_the
Steese murder scene, and Mrs. Lina Hud-
son of Lyndhurst, who had boarded a bus’
not far from the murder scene and who had
been graciously helped onto the bus by a
man with a visored cap and a gray wind--
breaker,

Robert Kberdle, the bus driver, also re-
membered Treadway as the man who had
offered a $20 bill for bus fare. We estab-
lished, then, that the $191.75 Mrs. Steese
had withdrawn from the bank, had con-
sisted of nine 20-dollar bills, a ten and some
change.

Treadway steadfastly maintained his in-
nocence, but on April 5, 1934, three judges
sitting en banc at his juryless trial, and
citing Treadway’s “improbable and unbe-
lievable alibi”’—that he was with his wife
at the time Ruth Steese was killed—con-
victed him with these words:

“The court finds the defendant guilty of
the murder of Ruth Steese while perpe-
trating a robbery, as alleged in the indict-
ment, the evidence showing also that the
killer perpetrated rape, although that was
not charged in the indictment.”

On June 1, 1935, Treadway was put to
death in the electric chair at the Ohio State
Penitentiary. in Columbus.

Zeck, long before, had been released—the
innocent victim of as cold-blooded a frame-
up as ever was hatched in the brain of a
killer who thought he outsmarted the law.

With the soft
etching the grues
relief, the central fi
is easy to discern.
the Penitentes ha
the part of Chris
holy role to whicl
aspired, an honor
Penitente youth pr.

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of the huge woode
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top. His eyes gl:

| body is a veritable

by the heavy whi
which other meml
painful, and often

Behind him sil:
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bizarre night brol
of bare feet scuffi
the swish of the to:
crash against yield
the parade comes
rest, but to allow
ber to pick a clun
mutilate his naked

Having stood a
pain on the jours
even greater ago:
reach the mounta
this true of the \

’ Nearly dead from

he is thyown on a
huge cross he ha:
ground.

Then, to the sin
tente hymn, he i
he is wired or tied
his fellow cult me
ical, huge nails 3
hands and feet, as
Penitente crucifix:
this is finished, th:
amok, flogging ea:
to the ground unc

With the comin
move the bleeding
the cross and carr
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when death has
him. The cross i
was placed for all
are more than 30
ing on Hermit’s
New Mexico, mut:
of Penitente orgi

Vv HEN THE N

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the first time and

articles posthumot
read about the

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there were others
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Among the latt
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“Tt works this

sto ORS AR MRI RE

away, yet he seemed riveted to the spot.

He touched the woman again, in an
awkward, nervous, one-handed effort to
lift her head so he could see her face.
The pressure made the corpse tumble
over grotesquely onto the floor.

Now, in her left temple, Novak could
see a small round hole.

Around the woman’s throat a silk
scarf was tightly knotted, and over her
eyes was a piece of cloth, something like
cheesecloth or the filmy cloths gas-sta-
tion attendants sometimes use to clean
windshields.

The woman’s hands were tied behind
her back with stout binding twine. The
cord had cut deeply into the flesh.

Beads of perspiration stood out on
Novak's brow as he stood there, aghast.
Then he saw an auto coming down the
road. He waved at it frantically, flag-
ging the driver to a stop.

“You must help mc; there’s a woman
dead in there, a murdered woman!” he
shouted.

The man in the flagged car ground his
gears and yelled back:

“T can’t stop. I’m a doctor and I’m
on an emergency call. Matter of life
and death. I can’t stop.” And the doc-
tor’s car fled away with a roar, down
the ribbon of concrete. ‘

In a minute another car came along
and Novak again gasped out his story.

“Pll drive to Pepper Pike and get the
police,’ the motorist said. The car
roared away and again Novak was left
alone with the body.

The next car had Louise Hayden, 17,
and her brother, Jack, 16, of Shaker
Heights, in it. They sped off to tell the
Shaker Heights police, while Novak
stood in the drizzle and waited.

He walked around the car timidly,
keeping his eyes averted from it. Once
he accidentally touched the radiator. It
was hot!

It was a lonely spot. Novak was
fearful and he wished he hadn’t been
the one to find her. He wished he hadn't
stopped in the first place.

Qs SHATTERED HIS REVERIE and
police autos skidded toa stop, Of-
ficers came from all directions quickly;
from Pepper Pike and Shaker Heights
and Beachwood Village, and from
Cleveland.

The first thing they did, after listen-
ing to Novak, was to check on the se-
dan’s license tags. It was soon learned
that they had been issued to Miss War-
riner, and she told briefly, on the phone,
of loaning the car to Ruth Steese. She
promised to meet detectives at the
Cleveland police station.

Other officers looked for fingerprints
in the car. There weren’t any. Not
even on the steering wheel. The only

Grimly hiding their grief, the
brother, mother and father of
the victim are seen at funeral.

ones found were outside the car and
they were Novak’s.

The body was not removed until Cor-
oner A, J. Pearse arrived and made a
cursory examination. He ordered it
taken to the morgue.

There the police found three rings on
one of her fingers. One was the band
Herbert Stecse had placed there July
19, 1930, Another was the engagement
ring he’d given her. ‘The third was an
expensive cameo ring. On her wrist
they found an expensive, jeweled watch,

In her purse they found $5.19 in cash,
six checks totalling $35, a pay check for
$55.12 and a Guardian Bank passbook.

There was no trace of the $191.75 she
had obtained by cashing checks at the
Cleveland Trust Company branch.

Aiter these things had been exam-
ined, Coroner Pearse examined the
body. His report to the police came
shortly afterward.

“The bullet entered her head just
above the left temple,” he said, “and
emerged behind the right ear. She was
killed instantly. I believe that an at-
tempt was made to attack her.”

“The tight scarf around her neck did
not strangle her,” he went on. “I don't
think robbery was the motive. It looks
to me like the work of a lust-crazed
fiend.”

He then handed me a small pellet.
No one heard the girls screams

as the lust-driven man with the
gun overpowered her in the car.

lanai ts

“This
found it
the body.

I imme |
tory and |
ing vlass |
able to
trom a ¢

Meant
Steese’s
pany exe
He Was
Dr. Pear

Joseph
from a
body in

The Path to Death Row

Twelve minutes had passed since we entered the
grim death chamber at Ohio State Penitentiary in Co-
lumbus. It had seemed like an eternity. The silence was
finally broken by the soft voice of the tense prison doc-
tor as he removed his stethoscope from the bare chest
of the man seated before him, took an official form
from his pocket, and hesitantly said, ‘“Warden Alvis,
sufficient current has passed through the body of
Tannyhill to cause his death at 8:12 p.m.”’

At the age of twenty-seven Samuel Woodrow
Tannyhill’s debt to society was thus paid in full, and
his vibrant voice and ready pen were forever stilled.
But I dared to hope even then that the influence of his
converted life would live on, for I considered it a most
powerful example of the transforming grace of Christ.
To me, Sam Tannyhill, after his spiritual conversion,
was a moving example of the change that takes place in
a man’s life after he truly becomes acquainted with his
Saviour.

Sam could never look back on a pleasant, happy,
and carefree childhood such as most boys enjoy.
Though both of his parents thought a great deal of him,
when he was only five years old they broke up their
home and separated. These circumstances cast the lit-

6 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

time ‘‘The Hut.’’ This restaurant remained open all
night, employing one lone woman, Mrs. Shirley Brad-
ford, to cook the food and serve the customers. De-
serted by her husband some time before, twenty-nine-
year-old Shirley supported herself and her little
daughter working nights.

Intending to rob the restaurant, Sam entered ‘‘The
Hut’’ at about two o’clock in the morning. Unfortu-
nately for his purposes, he found a cab driver inside
getting something to eat. Hoping that shortly the cab
driver would leave, Sam sat down and dawdled over a
cup of coffee. The cab driver, however, noting his sus-
picious actions, decided to stay around awhile. Finally
Sam, unable to think of logical reasons to remain
longer, left. But the cab driver, his curiosity and suspi-
cion aroused by Sam’s nervous actions, jotted down
the license number of the car Sam drove. He also noted
the peculiar paint job on the Hudson car, a brown top
with a black body. The next day the taxi driver was
able to supply this information which ultimately led to
Sam’s capture.

Not long after the cab driver had left the restaurant
Sam returned. Threatening Shirley Bradford with his
gun, he took all the money in the cash register. Then,
realizing that if he left her, she would quickly tele-
phone the police who would shortly be on his trail, he
forced the waitress to accompany him. His intention
was to take her to a lonely place several miles out of
town and leave her there, hoping that it would take her
several hours to walk back. He would then make use of
this time to pick up his girl friend and put many miles
behind him before the police were even aware of what
had happened.

His plan, however, misfired almost from the start.
While riding in the car, the waitress startled him con-

4 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

tle fellow adrift among well-meaning relatives and
friends who offered to care for him.

Sam lived in a dozen different homes before he be-
came a teenager. His needs were seemingly under-
stood by no one. As a result, he grew up maladjusted
and starved for normal affection. Looking back on
what his experience did to him, various members of his
family later wished that they had realized his needs and
given him a permanent home and loving guidance in
their family groups.

But by the time understanding arrived to any, it was
too late. In some of the homes where Sam lived he was
treated almost cruelly by those who thought they were
teaching him obedience. Their harsh and unloving
methods could do nothing but arouse his keen resent-
ment.

When Sam was in his early teens, his father, ill with
a heart condition which soon would prove to be fatal,
invited Sam to make his home with him. By that time
Sam was associating with a very rough crowd and fre-
quently would be away from home until all hours of the
night and early morning. His father would lie in bed,
struggling to get his breath, and worry about where his
boy might be. Even though unable to get around very
well, he would laboriously get out of bed, go outside
and walk up and down the nearby streets, trying to
catch a glimpse of his son. When Sam was only fifteen,
this good and wholesome influence was cut short by
the father’s untimely death. Once again he was set
adrift.

Sam’s childhood insecurity and frequent moves so
adversely affected his schoolwork that, although he
had a brilliant mind, he never satisfactorily completed
a single grade in school. However, he was always
passed on to the next grade even though he had not

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 5

really finished the prescribed work. When he reached
the sixth grade, his formal schooling came to an end.
His limited education showed up in inaccurate spelling
and occasional grammatical errors. However, during
the last year of his life, when he made a close and daily
study of the Scriptures, his letters showed a rather
amazing change. His spelling greatly improved, and his
letters assumed the culture and refinement of an edu-
cated person. The gospel truly makes revolutionary
changes in men.

It might be said that Sam’s criminal life really began
when he reached the age of ten or eleven and had his
first brush with the law. At that time, because this inci-
dent was considered unimportant, no one showed
undue concern. It was generally agreed that he would
surely ‘‘outgrow’’ any antisocial tendencies then dis-
played. As the result, no positive action was taken to
guide him along better lines. At no time was Sam given
any moral training; he never stepped foot inside a
church in all his life.

As time went on, instead of outgrowing his poor hab-
its and attitudes, Sam became more deeply involved in
theft and crime than ever. Minor infractions of the law
ultimately became major ones. No punishments or jail
sentences in any way checked his rapid decline. Fi-
nally he was convicted of forgery and was sentenced to
Missouri State Penitentiary. After serving five and a
half years of his sentence he was released, but within
only two weeks he was again committing crimes. This
time, as the result of his prison associations, he felt
that now he was smart enough not to be caught. Need-
ing money just a few weeks later in his home town of
Fremont, Ohio, he decided to “‘pull his last job’’ before
leaving with a girl friend for another state.

In the town of Fremont is a restaurant named at that

36 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

him to telephone me if he had any word prior to that
hour. He assured me that he would, but indicated that
probably he would have no word by that time. When I
asked what he would counsel me to do in view of the
circumstances, he expressed his feeling that this time it
would be best for me to come.

Since no call came from the warden, I boarded the
plane the next morning. Upon my arrival in Columbus
it was snowing, and it continued to snow throughout
the rest of the day. The bleak day quite matched my
mood. A telephone call to the warden brought me the
disappointing news that the governor had just
announced that, after considering the life of Sam
Tannyhill, it was felt that no useful purpose could be
served by giving him life imprisonment. As the result
the execution would take place that night as scheduled.
The warden asked me to arrive at the prison about five
o’clock, and told me that I would be allowed to be with
Sam for the last three hours of his life.

That afternoon in my hotel room I spent my time
reading the Bible and gathering together texts of Scrip-
ture which I felt might be encouraging to a doomed
man. Not wanting to refer to notes, I committed to
memory the Bible references I wanted to bring to Sam.
After all, I realized that I was to have no second
chance to make up for any of our visits’ deficiencies.

About 4:30 I started to walk through the snow to-
ward the prison, not far from the downtown section of
Columbus. I was startled to see newspaper headlines
screaming out the news, ‘‘Tannyhill to Die in Chair To-
night.’’ I purchased one of the papers, taking it back to
my hotel room to read it later. Knowing, however, of
the strong faith and spiritual confidence of Sam
Tannyhill and of the tremendous change which had
taken place in his life, I could not help comparing the

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 35

For two hours I listened while my mother and stepfa-
ther talked about Jesus, His soon coming, and the ne-
cessity of obeying Him. It seems that they were just
waiting for light, and they have been eagerly devouring
the truths that have come to them. I was amazed to see
the change that all this has made in them.”’

‘*Sam,’’ I assured him, ‘‘you are going to have stars
in your crown in heaven as a result of souls who have
found Jesus because of your conversion.”’

Sam dropped his head and responded, ‘‘Pastor,
don’t say anything like that about me. I am not worthy.
You see, I came in here with blood on my hands. There
is nothing good about me.”’ Then he added as he smil-
ingly raised his head, ‘‘But I have a wonderful
Saviour.”’

Sam/’s Last Hours

Each date that was set found me ready to go to be
with Sam, but always there would be the telegram tell-
ing me that the date had been postponed. But each time
before the telegram came a letter from Sam, stating his
conviction that this was not it. He seemed to have a
strong conviction each time that God still had a little
more time left for him to work. Finally, the date of No-
vember 26 approached. Sam’s execution was set for
that night at eight o’clock.

On Sunday, since I still had not received the usual
telegram stating that the execution had been
postponed, I decided to telephone the warden of the
prison. When I reached him, he told me that the gover-
nor had just announced that he was considering the
whole case and would make his final decision the next
morning. I told the warden that in order for me to be
sure to be there it would be necessary for me to take a
plane from New York City at 9:30 a.m., and I asked

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 37

world’s attitude toward him with what I knew regard-
ing him. To them, a justice was about to be done. A
killer was about to die, paying the penalty for gross
misdeeds. In my heart I knew that the man who would
die in the chair that night was not the same man who
had taken the life of a waitress a year and a half earlier.
Jesus Christ had made such a tremendous change in
him that this man was completely different. The killer
was no more, he had truly been “‘born again.”’

When [ arrived at the prison, I found that the warden
had left a pass for me permitting me to go immediately
to the death house. A guard was assigned to guide me
to this place, the building to which Sam had already
been brought. I was to be on my own inside the prison,
needing only to present my pass at the prison gates
when leaving. This time when we came to the point
where persons are frisked, my guide received this at-
tention but no attempt was made to search me. In re-
sponse to my guide’s astonishment that I was being
overlooked, the one in charge simply stated, ‘‘He’s a
minister; I know he is all right.’’

So I passed on through the heavy steel doors once
more and into the now familiar courtyard. This time
instead of heading for the gray building containing
death row, we went in the opposite direction and
approached a low brick building. The guard explained
as we walked that Sam had already been moved from
his cell to this place, and was now being served his last
meal. He counseled me to join Sam in eating his meal,
explaining that it would be helpful if I acted as noncha-
lant as possible to make the occasion seem like a happy
social event. This, he stated, would relieve the tension
which probably would exist. I answered that I would
do my best to cooperate in every way possible.

When we stepped through the door of the death

38 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

house, we found ourselves in a large room divided in
the middle by a row of thick bars. Several guards
milled about in the outer portion of this room, and be-
yond the bars Sam and a prisoner friend sat at a table
covered with a white linen tablecloth. A prison chef
was serving the food. A hasty glance to my right as I
entered revealed a heavy wooden door, which I cor-
rectly presumed led into the death chamber.

As soon as | arrived I was allowed to go right into the
same inner room with Sam and his friend. This was the
first time that I had been face to face with him without
bars separating us. We shook hands, the first time we
had been permitted to do that, and sat down side by
side, also for the first time.

The dining table looked cheerful and festive, as if ev-
eryone had gone out of his way to make the occasion a
happy one. While I came in with full intention of join-
ing in the meal, I must confess that the realization of
why we were there robbed me completely of my appe-
tite. Since I was able to find an excuse just to sit at the
table and chat, I weakly chose the easy way out. The
best I could manage was a dish of ice cream for desert.
I was quite a failure at relieving tension I am sure.
However, Sam ate well, and he did everything in his
power to make us all feel at ease.

There apparently was no fear in his heart, nor was
any expressed in his conversation. He ate a leisurely
meal and visited cheerfully as it progressed. He and the
friend seemed to know each other well, and their con-
versation was cheerful and light, with no mention be-
ing made of the reason for this gathering and the terri-
ble conclusion to which it would come. When the meal
was completed; Sam’s friend left, apparently realizing
that he might be in the way were he to stay longer. I
was quite touched by his statement as for the last time

56 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

my Father which is in heaven.’’ Matthew 10:32. Paul
wrote, “‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ Ro-
mans 10:9, 10. Telling others of your new faith in Jesus
will actually give you strength to live the Christian life.
This personal witnessing is the natural and necessary
outgrowth of a true conversion experience. No one
who has really found Christ can keep silent about his
discovery. Sam witnessed to everyone he could talk
with on death row.

Have you taken these steps? Do you see yourself as
a sinner needing the salvation of Christ? And do you
recognize what Jesus did for you at Calvary? Will you
receive Him as your own Saviour as you repent of your
sins? And will you confess to others the fact that you
are trying to live a Christian life for Him?

How to Go About It

Sam Tannyhill was not converted in a great religious
meeting with hundreds of others joining him in going
down the aisle to the front. In fact, he had never at-
tended a religious meeting of any kind and had really
little concept of what a church service or an evangelis-
tic meeting would be like. Sam found Jesus Christ as
his Saviour in a lonely prison cell as he read the Scrip-
tures and helpful Christian literature.

The truth of the matter is that anyone can accept
Christ as his Saviour at any place he may choose. You
need not wait until you can attend some great religious
service where a public invitation is given for individ-
uals to accept Jesus. You can make Him your Saviour
in the privacy of your own home or office just as Sam

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 55

It is not easy to spell out the steps which follow in
leading a Christian life, for God’s Spirit does not lead
everyone in exactly the same way. However, the ulti-
mate result in a converted and changed life is the same.
Similarities appear in all conversions, of course. Let us
list a few of the things present in a genuine experience
of ‘‘new birth.”’

1. You will recognize that Jesus died on Calvary’s
cross for you and for your sins. Since conversion is not
possible without the Lord Jesus Christ, a converted
man will want to become thoroughly acquainted with
the Saviour who died for him. ‘‘For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso-
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life.’’ John 3:16. You will accept what Christ
did for you on Calvary and receive Him in your heart
as your very own Saviour and Lord. This is a personal
application of the events of Calvary to your own life.
You will then feel that ‘‘Jesus died for me.’’ “‘But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to be-
come the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’’ John
112 13:

2. You will feel genuinely sorry for all your past sins
and will repent of them, turning your back on them in
your desire from now on to lead a truly Christian life.
To a group of New Testament believers who asked,
‘‘What shall we do?’’ Peter replied, ‘‘Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins.’’ Acts 2:37, 38.

3. You must tell others that you have given your life
to Christ and in His strength are attempting to live a
Christian life. Jesus said, ‘‘Whosoever therefore shall
confess me before men, him will I confess also before

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 57

did in the privacy of his cell. You could do it right now
as you read these words. The outer circumstances of
your environment are of no consequence in getting
right with God. You do not need to be in a church or at
a great public meeting where others are praying for
you. Giving your heart to Jesus is a personal matter
which you can care for no matter where you may be.
You can do it right now, if you will.

Do you wonder how to go about it? Your words and
method are really not important. The only thing which
really matters is the sincerity of your heart.

Permit me to offer a specific suggestion for those
who may appreciate this. Bow your head right now and
pray this simple prayer: ‘‘Father in heaven, forgive all
my sins, for I sincerely regret every one of them. I ac-
cept Jesus Christ as my Saviour, and I hereby make
Him the Lord of my life. From now on I want to live for
Him. Help me do so, for I pray this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.”’ God will always hear and answer such a
prayer. If you have prayed it in simple faith, be confi-
dent that He has heard you and that all heaven is now
rejoicing that another sinner has come ‘‘home.’’ You
are now achild of God in every sense of the word.

Now that you have given your life to Christ, be as-
sured that God has forgiven you all of your sins. This
includes the very worst of them, the ones you hardly
dare remember, for their memory brings you such bit-
ter pain and remorse. They are completely forgiven.
Right now you are cleansed, and the page representing
your life is clean and white in the book of heaven.
Never question whether or not this is so, but rather,
remember that the Bible promises, “‘If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’’ If you have con-
fessed, He has forgiven; and He will not remember

58 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

these mistakes against you anymore. Your sins are
gone forever. You may believe it because He has
promised it, and He always keeps His promises.

You are now a Christian. In a special sense you have
become a son of God. You have been adopted into the
heavenly family, ‘‘that we might receive the adoption
of sons.’’ Galatians 4:5. As an adopted son you are
now a joint heir with Jesus Christ of all the glories of
heaven. You now have something to which you may
look forward, even as did Sam. You can look forward
to a home in God’s kingdom where you will enjoy eter-
nal joyous life with Jesus and the redeemed ones.

Of course, there will come times when Satan will
tempt you and attempt to make you fall. At times, he
might even be successful, but this must not discourage
you. Remember the promise, ‘“‘There hath no tempta-
tion taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’’ 1 Co-
rinthians 10:13. When Satan brings his temptations, al-
ways look for the way to escape. You will find that
God always keeps His promises and that the escape
route will always be there.

The Bible does not teach that a Christian ceases to
have any struggle with sin. That struggle will go on un-
til we are all ultimately redeemed in God’s kingdom.
But the Bible does teach that we Christians are to have
divine strength by which it will be possible for us to
escape sin’s domination.

If perchance you fall into sin, ask God for immediate
forgiveness, and then pick yourself up and continue
your journey to His kingdom. He will give you grace to
conquer the evil one and power to overcome sins that
you thought could never be conquered in your life.

(Continued from Page 12)

the investigators learned that Tanny-
hill had checked out on the evening of
May 2nd—the night of the very day on
which Shirley Bradford was murdered!
But that, it soon developed, was ap-

- parently no more than a coincidence,

for the hotel clerk quickly and volun-

tarily gave the missing: man an alibi.

- “If you’re thinking of. tying Tanny-

hill in with the killing of the Bradford
girl, you’re wasting -your time,” he told
the two law men. “I was on duty Sun-
day night through to early Monday
morning. Tannyhill came in about 1:30
_in the morning, went to his room, and

didn’t come out again until around
eight.” ‘

So that seemed to be that.

Nevertheless, Sheriff Paul fretted
when he got back to his office.

“I never like taking an alibi at face
value,” he told McGuire. “Particularly
one that seems too good. I still would
like to know more about this Tanny-
hill. More to the point, I’d like to talk
to him.”

As a result, a routine request was
_ put through to Ohio’s central police
bureau, on the off chance that the man
might have a record.

That request brought rich results.
For Samuel, Woodrow Tannyhill did
indeed have a record—one as a forger,
-a robber, a rapist and, just for good
measure, an army deserter. He had
served prison terms in both Ohio and
Missouri.

At once Paul tad a six-state alarm
sent out for the man‘so conveniently
missing, including in the description
the license number and model of the
1949 Hudson.

Not until May 16th, two full weeks:

after the murder, did this move bear
-results, however. Then a report came
in from the, sheriff of Rolla, over in
-Phelps County, Missouri, that the Hud-
son sedan had been.spotted. It was be-
ing held, along ware its driver and one
passenger.
But the driver wasn’t Tannyhill. It
was a girl, as was the passenger.
Nevertheless, Sheriff Paul and Cap-
tain McGuire immediately drove over
to Rolla. There, first of all, they ques-
tioned the two attractive young women
who were being detained in the county
jail. Both tearfully protested they had
done nothing wrong. They identified
themselves as Mary Jane and Sue Ann
Brown. Both had worked as waitresses
in Fremont until May 2nd, they told
the investigators. They had both been
out with Tannyhill on Sunday night,
May ist. He had driven them home
about midnight, then met them late the
next morning. In the afternoon they
had spent some time in a tavern drink-
ing and then Tannyhill had suggested
they leave Fremont with him on a trip
_ west.
But he had left them just two ye
before in Waynesville, Missouri.

“He gave us the car,” ’ Mary Jane

went on plaintively, “but he said it’
would be better for all of us if we™

split up. He said he needed to get some
money quick, and women would only
be in the way.” Then, as an after-
thought, she added casually, “He had
a gun”

“Did a say anything about killing
Shirley Bradford?” Paul asked bluntly.

“Oh, no!” Mary Jane protested. “He
wouldn’t do anything like that!”

A search of the Hudson was then
made. In the trunk there was a bloody
shirt and several blood-stained tissues.
‘ Now a nationwide alarm was sent
out for the wanted Tannyhill, and since
it was now definite that he had crossed

a state line in fleeing from justice, the

FBI could be called into the case.

While the kunt was still going on _

there was one other small matter to be
cleared up. That was the alibi.

Paul and McGuire returned to the
hotel where Tannyhill had lived in
Fremont and once again interviewed
the clerk. He was as definite as before

that Tannyhill had gone to his room at
1:30 and not appeared again until
around eight.

Now Sheriff Paul asked another

question. “What floor was his room

; on?”

“The ground floor,” the clerk said.
“Why?”

Paul snorted. “Then he could have
gone in and out of his room by the
window without you being able to see

him. Right?”

’ “T suppose so,” the clerk admitted.

But the knowledge of-the faulty alibi
brought the capture of the wanted man

no nearer. Despite the fact that Ohio
and surrounding states were being sat-
urated with handbills and fliers, there
was no trace of Tannyhill. He seemed

‘to have vanished into thir air.

Two more weeks went by before on
May 3lst, Sheriff Everett E. Baumgar-
ten of Sumner County, Kansas, hap-
pened upon a handbill of the wanted
man in his mail. He studied the cir-
cular for a long moment, then picked
up the phone and put through a call
to Sheriff Paul.

“T’ve got this Samuel Tannyhill. that
you are after,” he announced tersely.

“Good! Hold him for us and we'll
be right over.”

“Tll hold him,” Baumgarten said.
“T’ll hold him for a long time to come,
looks like. Right now he’s serving 10
to 21 years for a robbery he committed

-here a couple of weeks ago.”

That meant the beginning of compli-
cated legal steps. In the end the Ohio
governor, Frank Lausche, had to re-
quest extradition of Tannyhill from

._Kansas~ Governor Fred Hall. It was

finally granted with the proviso that a
“holder” be placed on Tannyhill, as-
suring his return to Kansas in the event
he was acquitted in Ohio.

to boast about.
_serve the 10 to 21 years over in Kansas.

On the trip back to Ohio, Tannyhill
seemed curiously unconcerned with
what the future might hold for him.
Most of the time he spent boasting to
the officers accompanying him of his

' prowess with women.

Finally McGuire had all he could
stand. “Was that why you killed Shir-

'ley Bradford?” he demanded. “Be-

cause she wouldn’t give in to you?”

For a moment Tannyhill seemed
stunned. Then he demanded, “Who says
I killed her?” °

“We do.”

Again Tannyhill: was silent for a
moment. Then he said slowly, “Sex
didn’t have anything to do with it. I
had to kill her, because she recognized
me and I was afraid she would talk.
I'll tell you this now, but I won’t sign
any written confession.”

He went on to tell how a had
planned to rob The Hut that Monday
night so that he would have cash to get
out of town with the two girls he had
picked up with. He had gone in and
out of his hotel room window, hoping
to give himself an alibi. He had sat in
his Hudson, waiting until The Hut was
empty of customers. Then he had gone
in, flourished his gun in Shirley Brad-
ford’s face, demanded the cash from
the till.

He had taken her with him -when he
left so that she wouldn’t be able to call

the police immediately, planning to!

drop her off somewhere outside of town.
Then, suddenly, she had said to him,
“What will Sunshine say about this
when I tell her?”
“So | had to kill her,” he told Mc-

Guire and Sheriff Paul. “You can see
that, can’t you?” -

“No,” McGuire said. “What about
Sunshine?”

“She’s my sister. This Bradford girl
evidently knew her and had seen me
with her. So I had to shut her up. I
picked up the jack from the floor of
the car and let her_have it. Then I
dumped her off where they found her

- later.” He paused, then added regret- -

fully, “She’d been alive now if she’d
only known enough to keep her mouth
shut. Some women never do learn.”

“Some men never learn, either,” Mc-
Guire reminded him. .

Back in Fremont, Tannybill was in-
dicted on two counts by a grand jury:
murder during commission of a rob-
bery and murder with deliberate and
premeditated intent.

On October 12, 1955, a jury end
him guilty of first-degree murder, with
no recommendation for mercy.

The death sentence was She! manda-

_tory.-

On Neveraher 26th, 1955, he went to
the electric: chair.

In the end he had just one thing left
He’d never have - to

THE END.

_ (Continued from Page 10)

separated from her’ hushai and_ he
knew, too, that her young son had been
ill recently. Perhaps the boy had taken
a turn for the worse and Shirley Brad-'
ford had been advised of the fact.
‘ Widman figured if that was the case,
then-she had taken the money from the
cash register with her for safe keeping.
That, at any rate, was what he now
told Captain McGuire. He added that
the early. morning rush _had_kept him
busy until well after eight o’clock. Then
he had locked up, driven over to
Croghan Street to ask the waitress. who
worked days to come.in before her
usual time, and finally. had tried to
reach Shirley Bradford by telephone to
discover what was wrong. i?
‘He hadn’t had any luck. Shirley
Bradford’s landlady had informed him
that she hadn’t seen Shirley since 7:30
the night before when she left for work.
She hadn’t been home since then.
That was when Widman began to
‘worry and ended up: by calling the
police. Aten : wil
“You say there was over $115 miss-
ing from’ the till,” Captain McGuire.
mentioned. “Think there is any chance
she might have decided to skip town?”
“Not Shirley!” Widman was definite
in his answer. “I’d trust her with any-

thing I have. Besides, she was all
wrapped up in that youngster of hers.’

“What about her husband?”

“They’re separated. I think he lives
over in Indiana some place.”*

Captain McGuire had then started
,out on a routine investigation of his
own. He had rechecked with Shirley
Bradford’s landlady, received the same
information that Widman had given
him. However, he did learn that Shir-
ley had a brother, Frank Andrews,
living on Front Street. He tried to con-
tact him but found he was at work.

That was when McGuire decided to
visit the office of the Sandusky County
sheriff,

Sheriff Ted Paul was just hanging
up the telephone when he entered. )

, “I think I’ve got a missing persons
case for you, sheriff,” Captain McGuire
started. “A young woman named Shir-

_ley Bradford—” ;

“Not any more,” Paul interrupted
‘him. “She’s no longer missing.”

“You mean she’s turned up?” |

“She’s been found,” Paul corrected
heavily. “Out by Tindall Bridge. That’s
what the phone eall was about just

12 : "9

”

now. By all accounts it looks like she
was murdered.”
A few minutes later McGuire, along

‘with Sergeant Robert Boucher from

his department and Sheriff’s Deputy
Lee Bliss were driving out towards
Tindall Bridge. There they discovered
the body of a young woman, face down
in the coarse grass at the edge of a
clump of bushes. Her brown hair was
matted with blood, and there was more
blood on her neck and one exposed

. cheek. ;

Near by was an open pocketbook
containing ‘letters and cards identify-
ing her as Shirley Bradford. But there
was no money in the pocketbook.

In due course the body was taken in
to a funeral home in Fremont. Sheriff
Paul put through a call to Dr, W. J.
Hartung, Jr.. a Toledo pathologist, ask-
ing him to come to Fremont to per-
form the autopsy.

Now it was no longer just a simple
missing persons report that had to be
investigated, but a matter of murder.
Fremont Police Captain © McGuire.
working in close cooperation with San-

-dusky- County sheriff Ted Paul, im-
mediately went into action. -

There were certain routine moves
that could be quickly made. Frank An-

_ drews, the murdered woman’s brother.

was finally contacted. He came in, of-
ficially identified the body in the fu-
neral’ home /as that of his ‘sister, and
gave what information he could to Mc-
Guire and Paul. His sister had no ene-
mies that he knew of, including the
husband ‘from whom she was separated.
He was able to give the latter’s ad-

~ dress in Indianapolis.

“I know Shirley had no premonition
of this.” he further added. “I stopped
in The Hut about 2 o’clock this morn-
ing. on my way home. She was as cheer-
ful as ever. particularly as her boy
Ricky, seemed to be improving in
health.” j

As soon as he had left, Sheriff Paul
put through a call to the Indianapolis
authorities, requesting them to run
down and question Shirley Bradford’s
estranged husband.

Then he went into conference with
Captain McGuire as to the next move.

“Frank! Andrews may have inadver-
tently given us a good line of investi-
gation.” McGuire suggested. “He told
us he saw ‘his sister about two this
morning: when he stopped in at The
Hut. We might try’ to pin-point the ac-

‘tual time she left the place by running

down all the late night customers.”

Paul nodded. “It will take time, but
for the moment we haven’t any other
possible lead. Right now, it looks like
a case of robbery and murder, but if it
were as simple as all that, why wasn’t
the Bradford girl. shot in the restau-
rant? Why did the killer take her with
him?” ; :

McGuire had a tentative answer to

that. “It could have been robbery, rape
and murder.” 4
“Most likely,” Paul agreed. “It be-
gins to shape up that way.”
' That was late Monday. Throughout
that night, and the following two days,

Paul and McGuire, spelled by ‘their ©

various deputies, haunted The Hut, ‘in-
terviewing all the regular clients of the
place. They were able to find several
that had been in as late as three o’clock
in the morning and :served by Shirley
Bradford, but none had noticed any-
thing out of the way. After that hour
there was a complete blank.

Meantime Dr. Hartung, the Toledo
pathologist, had completed his autopsy.
Shirley. Bradford had met death as the
result of a brutal beating about the
head with some sharp instrument. There
was no positive evidence to indicate
that she had been raped by force.

By Wednesday, the Indianapolis au-
thorities were finally able to contact
Shirley Bradford’s estranged husband.
He professed shock and grief at the
news of his wife’s murder, but claimed
to have been on a fishing trip with
friends at the time it occurred. His
story was speedily checked and as
speedily substantiated.’ ©

By Thursday, a full three days after
the discovery of the crime, no lead had
developed. eae

Then a Fremont taxi driver appeared
at the sheriff’s office. “I don’t know
whether what I’ve got to say is im-
portant or not,” he told Sheriff Paul
hesitantly. “And I don’t want to get
some innocent guy into trouble. But it’s

_ about this Bradford murder.”

He went on to say that around three
o’clock on ‘Monday morning he had

. stopped in The Hut for a cup of coffee.-

Shirley had served him and he had
been the only customer there. When he
left, however, he had noticed a man
sitting outside in a 1949 Hudson sedan.

“When I get into my cab,” the taxi
driver went on, “this guy slid out of
his car and went into The Hut. It was
almost like he’d been waiting for me
to leave.” saree |

“What did he look like?” Paul asked.

“TI didn’t get too good a look at him,
But he was tall, thin, and I think he
wore glasses.”

“How about the car?’

“There I can really help you! You
see, I recognized it. Matter of fact, I
started to buy it myself about three
months ago. It was on sale at a used-
car lot on West State Street.”

Some fifteen minutes later Sheriff
Paul and Captain McGuire were at the
used car lot. There a quick check of
the records revealed that the 1949 Hud-
son in question had been sold for $298
on March 11th. The buyer had given
his name as Samuel Woodrow Tanny. -
hill, with a small local hotel as an
address. RS,

- The hotel was the next stop. There

(Continued on page 44)

singenctes

4. THOMA, George We, white, 23, electrécuted Ohio (Richland) B-190f.

pee JOURNAL Sunday, April 10, 1927. Page 1

roe =

:
> els
gira apart Spee)

aut Port :

At Peace ° With » World ay Rested to His Fate Youth-|t [En er ia
ful Killer Watched Guards Put Electrodes in Places (T | “Exch wes
Meets His: Maker With Smile, and cere Rene od erie a

idavit Signed ue Supt.

JIM ILYONC CURSES DE EATH Mc Causes Arrest

of J H. Darling.

5 ee 1S ae Be |
JUSTICE AT “$1000

wo (Cl m Defendant Has Been |
lling: Eggs With In-»
tent to Defraud. =

Buds H+ Darling, ’ Olivesburg

With ‘a smile on n his face: aa & priser on. his lip
William Thoma; 23, brutal:slayer of Mr. and Mrs. Reniamin|
Greenawald, foster parents of his sweetheart, Bonnetta Sher-|-
‘~ man, paid the extreme penalty Friday night in’ the eae chair

of the state penitentiary at Columbus.

Just two minutes after the current. had pears

. prison physician’ pronounced him dead. ‘Thoma w
to his fate and. in’a note which he left with ‘War en P. eB.

Thomas declared he had accepted God and urged.o
ers in “death row” to:follow his example. -

“ning at the big state ‘prison James-D.
-.» slayer of Detective Frank McGrath, “preceded. him in, the: chair,
Lyon died witha curse ‘on his

lips : and’a defiant- air that

from the “outset challenged
Chaplain: TO. Reed, who for

«! weeks sought to prepare. him

to meet his Maker.
~~ No Recognition. a
No sooner had‘the body -of|
yon been removed from the) =

chair. and. carried from the

execution room than came the
steady tread of feet.- ;
«Down the passage way that

leads-from death row, throu
“the little green door” to the
execution chamber,.came Tho
~ ma between two guards.

He was clad in the sa
blue suit, with the silver gray
pin stripe that he wore “during
the days of his: trial in Jud

oo dames Wey Galbralth’s 7 Wehle
“> @onaty court. oom”

Riowly he stepped hefore th }
and ent doen. From. his head he
took. the cap he was wearlig «abd
panded 4 to-ape of the guards,

Watches the Strapping:

“Momeptatily he 1o0ke’ aroand the:

“Sysom,’ SSN SSRI! aeelig Wo one he Z

wea

fs poultryman at>the Ohio State fy

Billion: 2

Bel rmatory was arraigned at one i?

‘lereibck - Saturday afternoon. before

Tugice. ‘of the Peace Robert J. Nich-
ols: ton. charge of selling public. prop-
with intent.to defraud."

arling yas arrested: Saturday

g by Sheriff Ralph A. Schad

on in affidavit signed by: Supt. Tot.
Jenkins of > the reformatory; -who,
th County Prosecutor! George H.

Bidbker, bas been inves gating: the

case for several days. .°:
‘Phe reformatory employe, it ts al-
by: the prosecutor, is ‘guilty of
a jJarge number ot cases of
| and ‘pocketing the berate The
eonneanemennnell

; (Page ‘Thirteen, ‘ Thirteea, Colaba He?

|eQULONT FINO WERK,

PASSES FAULTY GHEDK

Tad, April 9—Charles

peer Ohio, paroled. pris-

of: the federal y iettiace at
‘Leavenworth, Kansds, wrs sen:
ail to serve from two} to fourteen
in the Tudlatha state reforma-
‘today when do splendid guilty to
Wing pasaed a fraudulent Theckeos
hank.” Thability t Keep tobs

if hie prison record betanie know a

+ tae pass ye: check, he

mtn erat ro NN

eer E

will be unadia
in the mifiion
ult for anct

The riotor
ments in his
near his Des
ago, It was i

aby. latter
most “Ot Wer

THREE Dl
CRASK

MARION,
bher twa dav
[the hushs re
iiared here t
js ‘He owas
losninet! ania
Crodsin gy =

Wee AD peat ee. ott

THE MANSFIELD JOURNAL Sunday, Apr!1 10, 1927 Pege 8,
FINAL PLEAS FAIL

Eleventh hour pless to Governor A.V. Lonahey's office and to
members of the state clemency board, made by relative of the condemned
men failed. Counsel for Thoma tried the last resort as did his sister
and brother-in-law. Lvon'ts mother and sisters were likewise unsuccess-~
ful being told that interference on the part of the governor or the
clemency board members was impossible,

Many who sought to witness the execution failed in their attempt.
The corridor of the penitentiary started to fill up at 7 o'clock. ;
Thirty minutes later it was jammed and when Warden Thomas appeared at
the grated door shortly after 8 o'clock there were more than one iundred
seeking admission to the double execution,

ATTACKS GIRL

Thoma had no sooner entered the living room than Bonnie “nerman
entered, de told her the Greenawalds, her foster-parents were down-
town. Then he dragged her to another room, assaulted her and soon
after left the house,

Police were successful in tracing his movements to the home of his
Sister on Hedges Street where he remained for a short time, saying little
and apparently i11 at ease,

It was a few moments later that he entered police hesdauarters and
confessed he had killed the aged couple. Late that night he gave further
statementsand his indictment by a grand jury, trisl before a jury which
found him guilty and sentence to die in the electric chair, followed
as qwickly as the law permitted,

SECOND TO’ DIE (Last part of column)

eoey 2Waiting execution on June 10 in compliance with the death
Sentence pnassed upon him by Judge Galbraith at the completion of his
trial and the return of the verdict of guilty by the jury which was
empaneled for the case,

SERVICES PRIVATE

. George William Thoma was born in Mansfield, Hay 25, 1905 and spent
his entire life here. He is survived »y his father Samuel Thoma, of this
city; two brothers, Howard iienry of Newark and Samuel Thoma, Jr., of
ansfield, and three sisters iirs. Rose Dunerstick, Canton, and Mrs. Rollie
Thorne and Mrs. G.W. Hesselden, Mansfield.

Strictly private funerel services are to be held at the home of Mrs,
desselden, 219 dedges St., Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock. ley are to
be conducted by the Rev. J.J. Tisdall, nastor of the first
chureh and interment will be made in the Mansfield cemetery.

Ty
Christian

PRT Ae A RGRe MS SP TE

Cee

ee rege ae
. .

THOMPSON, George, hanged Reamont, Ohio, July 12, 18lh.
Hl aie HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

were defined and punished by legislative
enactment and not according to the com-
mon law.

The Constitution of 1851 organized a
probate court for each county, and took
away from the court of common pleas

jurisdiction over guardians, wills, and all

testamentary matters, and conferred them
exclusively on the probate court, except
that petitions to sell real estate of deceased
persons may be filed either in the common

pleas or probate court, and appeals are |

provided for from the decisions of the
probate, in some instances, te the court
of common pleas.

. NOTEWORTHY TPIALS.

There have been many _ interesting
scenes and trials in the courts of the coun-
ty, and many displays of logical power
and eloquence, as is the case in almost
every county inthe State. But our readers
will not expect all these to be placed in
history. Weselect, however, two remarka-
ble trials which took place in the county,
and the incidents attending them, which
are rather extraordinary and interesting.

The accounts of these murders were
published in the Fremont Courier (Ger-
man) and translated by Mr. L. von

Schloenbach for publication in the Fremont.

Journal, from which they are compiled:
THE MURDER OF MRS. SPERRY.

The year was 1842; the place was the farm of
Joseph Sperry, an Englishman by birth, and it was
situated between Green Spring and Clyde, Sandusky
couaty, about one and one-half miles northeast of
Green Spring, on the rcad leading to Clyde. Here
Joseph Sperry lived, together with his wife, Catharine
Sperry, and two small children (a boy and a girl},
seemingly in the best kind of harmony and happi-
ness. Sperry always had been a hard-working, in-
dustrious man, and in course of time had succeeded
in gaining a comfortable home for himself and fami-
ly. In the fall of 1841 he concluded to build him-
self a better and more comfortable dwelling-house,
for which purpose he entered into a contract with a
certain young and skilful carpenter, who, aside from
having a rather prepossessing appearance, and being
a captain of a militia company, was also counted as

one of the prominent young men in thar ,_..

Mrs. Sperry, the farmer's wife, was very inidaegeics
and alsoa good looking woman. In Mare: ...
certain rumors with regard to criminal interas,

between Mrs. Sperry and _ this young c-,,

’ gained considerable publicity, and finally rea ceys a

earsof Mr. Sperry. At that time, the young Cen
ter had begun the work on Sperry’s new houg pre,
from casual observations, Sperry mistruste: stag
there might be good cause for these rnmozs: jag
doubting his wife, he began to suspect her, arc ey
Jed to very frequent family quarrels, which fro zug
time on became an aimost daily occurrence. Tey
quarrels, inspired by the ominous poison of jeasagy
and misplaced confidence, reached their climz: »
the goth of April, 1842, when Sperry took up z é&
iroa, with which he infiicted a fearful wound sim
two inches long and one inch deep upon the bus ¢
Mrs. Sperry, near the tempie, from which she sey
almost instantly. This bloody deed took plore
the kitchen of the old house, near an old-fashscoes
fireplace; near by stood a ladder, leading up te as
garret. Gazing upon the dead body of his wile, sx
casting his eyes upon that fireplace and the irtae
close by, this picture must have become transftur «
his mind like a flash of lightning, for it was in tes
moment in which he formed the combination of wt
afterward proved the entire basis of his defense. fr
ran at once for a neighbor, informing him of 2 tar
ful accident that had befallen his wife, and whict bay
resulted in her death. Hus story was, that she sed
fallen off the ladder, and struck her head agains: sw
corner stone of the fireplace, and had _ died from t
effects. The news of Sperry'’s wife's death spenm
like wildfire through the vicinity, and the nes: om
the coroner of Sandusky county, who then iwc «
Lower Sandusky, convened a jury and held a: »
quest.

Among the jurymen (all residents of Fremont»
find Mr. Charles O. Tillotson and Judge O!mset
The verdict of this jury was, that Mrs. Sperry ate
to her death by a wound caused by her hustassé
whe had struck her with a flat-iron. Upon
Sperry was indicted for murder in the first degre.
but the prosecuting attorney, Mr. W. W. Come
effected Sperry’s release upon a bail of two thocsent
dollars for his appearance at the next term of a4
Sperry’s counsel, the Messrs. Homer Everett at
Bishop Eddy, tried their utmost to circulate the
lief that there had been no murder committed +: -
and that Mrs. Sperry had been the victim of 2 =
unfortunate and terrible accident. Prosecuting *
torney W. W. Culver and his assistant, Mr. Coot
K. Watson (afterwards Judge of Common Picas
the counties of Erie and Ottawa) were satisfied ie

‘it was a cool-blooded murder, and left nothing *

. . oT
done to have Sperry convicted. The defence ri
sistently kept up the theory of accident just 4 - oe
come from the lips of the accused at first. The ©

sae

shat wR IN Sp BOLT Bei PSA SA a ANE GP i ZS. a Ri a

HISTGRY OF SAND

__—_—-—_——
HNowed until finally the
theresy exposing
After prayer
reriff. Stroll

i
iy

t all, other boards fo
fence bad disappeared,
le to the entire public.
asked by St
say, to which
His arms and

oye a
ple
rut gad spectac
+, Rev \IcNamee, he wis
“other he had anything more to
jhompson simply shook his head.
gs were then tied. the fatal noose aid around his.
neck, the white cap drawn over his face, and upon
ignal the trap was sprung and Thompson
air between heaven and earth. Thomp-
é en but he died of strangula~
yon, the knot of the noose having slipped under the
chin, He still breathed after a lapse of fifteen min-
ces, and the moving of the muscles of the different
f the body gave sufficient proof of the dread-
that was taking place in that man.
Thompson was pronounced dead
er Beaugrand, and fifteea
body was taken from the
and given in charge of

a given 5s
d inyled in the
:yn's neck was not brok

’
\

parts ¢
ful death agony
In twenty minutes
by Drs. L. Q. Rawson and Pet
minutes before 12 o'clock the
gallows, put into the coffin,
Rev, J McNamee, who had it taken to Tiffin and
buried in the Catholic cemetery, thus keeping the
colemn pledge he had given to Thompson. It 1s
caicdd that after the crowd had dispersed certain
ent afloat that Thompson had not been
as cut down, and that on the
IcNamee had made successlul
on back to lite again.
inative point in the

rumors W
dead at the time he w
way to Tiffin Father »
pts at bringing Thomps
These rumors found their culm
statement that Thompson had been seen neat Fort

Of course these were only rumors, based.
ity and sickly imagination of some
ainly must have added greatly
med and certainly

attem

Seneca.
upon the stupid
fjolish people, and cert
tothe amusement of the above-na

could not ret
questions which arose.

317

USKY COUNTY.
er to authorities on many
But attorneys

from older towns and cities had access to

law books and could therefore
arguing cases to court or
jury; hence they were preferred by lith-
gants in the early times of the jurispru-
dence of the county. For such reasons,
at every term of the earlie
such men as Picket

Ebenezer Lane, Phillip R.

Ebenezer Andrews, of Huron

ter, Charles L. Boalt, and

r, Cortland Latumer,

Thaddeus B. Sturges, Francis D. Parrish,

R. Osborn, E. B. Saddler, and Joseph
e county. Though Le
B. Saddler were resi-
dents of Sandusky and placed outside of
Huron county by the erection of Erie
they were, at the time spoken
ts of Huron county.
There were, at every term of the court,
John M. May, of Mansfield, Richland
county, Orris Parrish, of Columbus, Ohio,
Andrew Coffinberry and John C. Spink,
of Wood county, Ohio, and occasionally

make a

better display in

r courts there

came to attend court
Lattimer,
Hopkins,
county, and la
Samuel T. Worceste

John
M. Root, of the sam
D. Parrish and E.

county,
of, within the jimi

well-learned and skilful physicians.

Inthe early history of the practitioners at

find a peculiar class of men, of
t day does not furnish a

From the date of the or-
1820

the bar we
which the presen
correct likeness.

vanization of the county in the year
e as 1840, OF thereabouts, the

the litigated cases In the
conducted by law-

until as lat
larger portion of
courts of the county were
vers from other and sometimes
ere chiefly men who had at-
itation for talent and abil-
and whenever plaintiff
yf such a repu-

emote lo-
calities. They w
tained a wide rept
ity in the profession,
or defendant retained one ¢
tation the other side was sure to employ
another of similar acquire
The early loc al lawyers

ments and ability

to match hun.

were poor, and there were In fact no law

libraries worth noticing, and they of course

men as Thomas Ewing and Willis

in the court-room,

such
Silliman were found
though not often in this, to them, remote _
part of the State. Excepting Ewing and

Silliman, in their early practice here, all

travelied on horseback with the common
seat to county seat,
ade a home at the
‘They all

pleas judge from county
and during their stav m
best tavern at the county seat.
travelled in company on horseback and
carried copies of pleadings, briefs, and a
change of shirts in saddle-bags or valise.
When on the road or off duty at the tav-

often a convivial

ern they were a social,
of talented men away
a3 earnest and

collection from

In court they were
\f of thetr cents as any
Cards,

home.
ratented on beha
ent day can be.

lawyers of the pres
ing, and dancing and

whiskey, story tell

—_——

Pe ee Te VENT TT eee

bt 3

RRR IRT EAT TIONED ET ona nice tis hia ell ide Ta a
< 7" > et Ag paeuctacedee i :
? : ' : ?

eR emmene ent

See
re :

ay;

— nom ~ peoaraeares
haat ’ as

Fs ote 5p SPSL ETOP

Crs

TS
iw

—
xt

setae see pae=ks
ede ve s

Bl
i M F 4
NSS He fod
Aa ay
he
Tg gt
ee in
a *

\ as

a
q

came

Sobre 8

Wat

Be
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ake te

4 pees
See:

ait tate eae

“ re ; =e
5 RF FL

ooo

a
eth

Saki
» sia

MT oe SN

SERRE OE RE

STE REE a ORE EE.

> AEA is

> <

SB LP

oat hates és
SRS
ee

iw m-th vim wie)

oo SE
Spt RE tebe

—

: Se st

Seed eeu Su

Ste £ ewes!

SPM AMEE Sea LIS

>
Nese,

SSSR

Oe LE &* ><
tener a = ai

Midis aad pa Sis Som aa
CAPA, CORBY SOT Te

gel

ere, Seren’

SRSA ee eS
Eee pete Sap

co ee

Stor ag me

aes Se etc

a Sm th hn

376

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY,

tion for a new trial, but the judges overruled said
motion, whereupon the accused was asked to arise,
and when questioned whether he had anything to
say why judgment should not be passed upon
him, Thompson answered that he had nothing more
to say. Then Judge Bowen addressed the prisoner
as follows: ‘George Thompson, you have been ac-
cused, tried, and found guilty of the greatest crime
known in the annals of the law in this State. You have
been tried by a jury of twelve men, chosen by yourself;
you have had a decidedly impartial trial; you have
been defended by the most able counsel, who have
tried ‘the utmost on their part to withhold a verdict
of guilty; you have tied to show that you were
afflicted with temporary insanity, but for the sake of
humanity, ithas been clearly proven that on the 30th
day of May, 1842, you wilfully, maticiously and
knowingly killed Catharine Hamler. The laws of this
State for the crime of which you have been found
guilty punish with a dishonorable death on the scaf-
fold; but the law in this is more merciful than you have
been toward your victim, and gives you ample time
to repent of your terrible crime. Do not resort to
any vain hopes of pardon but use your short time
for repenting, for which purpose you may have the
religious consolation of a minister of your own free
choice. And now there remains nothing else for
me to do but to pronounce sentence upon you ac-
cording to the laws of our commonwealth. Thus
reads the sentence: ‘That you George Thompson,
prisoner before the bar, be taken back to jail, whence
you came, and there remain under close confinement
until Friday, the rath day of July, 1844, on which
day, between the hours of 10 o'clock A. M. and 2
o'clock P. M., you shall be taken to the place of exe-

cution, and there hung by your neck until you are

dead, and may God have mercy upon your soul.’
Thompson, who was quite overcome with emo-
tion by the reading of his death warrant, was
then taken back to jail. What a change had taken
place in this man, for it was but two years pre-
vious, that this vety George Thompson had shown
and proved himself such a perfect brute, deprived
of all human affection, at the time of John Sperry’s
suicide, and henceforth he became
changed and repentant

an entirely
men. There were many
persons who visited bir during his last confinement,
fo whom he talked and conversed freely about the
murder and its victim, poor Catharine Hamler, who,
he said, was constantly before his eves and troubled
his mind considerably. Once upon being asked by
Mr. David Betts whether he sincerely repented of
his terrible deed, he answered: ‘I have loved this
Catharine Hamler more than any other person in the
world, and since she rejected my Jove I concluded
to make certain that no other person should have
her.”

Thompson was a member of the English Protest-

ant Episcopal church, but he refused to see any

aw ae

Protestant minister and demanded a Catholic Priest,
His wish was complied with and he received ocea.
sional visits from a French priest by the name of
Josephus Projectus Macheboeuf, the present aApos.
tolic vicar at Denver, Colorado, ana also from
Father McNamee, of Tiffin. Rev. Macheboeuf at
that time had charge of several parishes, as Peru,
Sandusky, and several other places. At the begin.
ning of the year 1880 he was in Rome, where he
had au interview with Pope Leo XITI., who, accord.
ing to the London Tablet, is said to have expressed
very favorable comments on the ministerial © forts of
this Rev. Macheboeuf. The day of execution
drew near, and Sheriff Strohl made the necessary
preparations for the same. Mr. John Sendelbach
took the measure and made the coflin. and
Mrs. Sarah Barkimer, xee Parish, who still resides
here in Fremont on Elliott Street, on the east side of
the river, made a white shroud, to which a white cap
was attached. Thompson was hung in this very
shroud: Sheriff Strohl, who himself was a carpen-
ter by trade, erected the gallows, enclosing the space
{twenty by thirty feet) with a board fence, twelve
feet high.

The day before the execution Rev. Macheboevf
held holy mass in the prisoner's cell, on which oc.
casion Mr. Ambrose Ochs assisted, who at thei time
was learning the wagonmaker's trade with Mr. Balt.
Keefer. Thompson expressed great fear that after
the execution nis body might come under the Pager
hands and knives of science-hungry physicians, and

he therefore begeed of Rev. J. McNamee who
lived at Tiffin, to see to it that his body was
laid in consecrated earth, which was solemnly

pledged to him. ‘The rath day of July, 1844, the
day set for the execution, had finally come The
prisoner awoke early and after partaking of a light
breakfast was visited by Rev. J. McNamee, whe
administered the holy sacrament, after which
Thompson put on the white shroud, of which we
have spoken already.

In the mean time a great crowd of people had con-
gregated around the outside enclosure (the very
place where now stands the new addition of the
court-house) and some desperate fellows, ener to
become eyeve tnesses of this sad spectacle, tried ther
Sheriff Strohl,
after having become aware of these facts, concluded
to have the prisoner executed in the morning instead
of inthe afternoon, as had been his first intention.
Shorily after 11 o'clock he led 1 hompson, uccom-
panied by the priest, out of his cell to the fatal plat-
form of the gallows.

hest to break down the enclosure

All at once some one cried>
“‘Heis coming!"" andat that moment, Mr J. R. Pran-
cisco, from Ballville, who was stationed inside the
enclosure as a custodian and armed with a gun, ob-
served that some one was trying to cut a hole through
the board fence, and before he could prevent it, ane
of the boards had been torn off, and in less than no

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY. aE

—_——— _

ener's )UTY had neglected to give an exact and de-

euiled description of the wound, and the prosecuting
yrrorneys in order to avoid any doubt whatever,
-gused the body of Mrs. Sperry to be taken from the
grave and brought to Fremont, where it was sub-
jected to amedical examination by Drs. Rawson and
Anderson. Dr. Rawson's office at that time. was near
vse old Dickinson dwelling (northwest commer Arch
and State streets). Said physicians made a thorough
examination and revurns to the proscuring attroney,
yho could now explain and satisfy the jury of the utter
ampossibility of an accident. The grand jury, which
arthat time was composed of the following gentle-
men, to-wit: Messrs. - Warren H. Stevens, John
Houts, Hugh Overmeier, .Hugh Bowland, Michael
Fought, Joshua B. Chapel, Dsvid Engler, Stephen i
Tenny, Orson Bement, Peter McNit, John Reed,
George Donaldson, John Betts, Charles Lindsey,
and Thomas Ogle, on the rath day of September,
1842, found an indictment against Sperry for murder
in the first degree, and on the next day the trial
commenced before Judge Ozias Bowen and his assist-
ants, Alpheus McIntire, Isaac Knapp, and George
Overmeier. Dr. L. Q- Rawson at that time held the
position of clerk, with B. F. Fleccher as his assist
ant. Mr. Joho Strohl was sheriff, and Peter Burgoon
deputy sheriff. A jury, composed of the Messrs.
John Bell, Michael Reed, Henry Havens, Daniel
Tindall, Samuel - Rose, David Chambers, Michael
Overmeier, sr., William McGormmley, Joseph Kelley,
Lewis E. Marsh, Levi Marsh, and Samuel Skinner,
was duly sworn, and upon the defendant's plea of
“Not guilty” the trial commenced. The prosecu-
tion had no direct proofs, but the very strongest kind
of circumstantial evidence, proving by their wit-
nesses (especially the Drs. D. Tilden, L. Q. Rawson,
and Anderson) that the theory of accident had abso-
lutely no foundation whatever, and came not even
within the reach of possibility. The defence had
substantially nothing else to counterbalance this tes-
timony but the defendant's good character; and,
strange as it may appear, the question of jealousy
was raised on neither side. Certain, however, is the
fact that the young Adonis of a carpenter left the vi-
cinity shortly after the trial. The trial lasted five
days, and on the zoth day of September, 1842, the
jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first de-
gree. A motion on the part of the defence fora new
trial was overruled by Judge Bowen, who thereupon
sentenced Sperry to be bung on Wednesday, No-
vember 2, 1842. Sperry received his sentence with
perfect calmness, and Sheriff Strohl took him to jail,
into a cell already occupied by George Thompson,
aiso a murderer. The jail at that time was where
now stands Rev. Mr. Lang's house, and here Sperry
was given ample time to brood over his crime and
repent, but all to no good, since he rejected all
religious consolation, and remained the hard-hearted
man he was up to the time of his death. Sperry had

i re hn I

made several attempts to take his own life, but was
frustrated in this by the constant vigilance of Sheriff
Strohl and Deputy Sheriff Burgoon, but it was des-
tined that he should succeed after ail. It was
on Sunday, October 30. (he was to be hung on
the following Wednesday) when Sperry’s children,
Jefferson and Mary Ann (a boy seven years, and a-
girl eight years old), were brought into his cell to
take a final parting of their father. The children
were too young to comprehend the situation, and
their father was too reluctant and hardened to give.
way to any emotional feelings whatever, and so of
course their conversation was turned entirely upon
minor affairs. Sperry, who had noticed a small pen-.
knife in the boy's hands, asked. to look at it, and
then returned it again with a part of the blade broken’
off, but which was not noticed by the boy at that time.
After taking leave of their father, the children were
then taken to what is now called the Kessler House,
where for the first time the boy noticed the broken
blade. This soon became known, and the sheriff
made a most thorough search fur the missing part of
the blade, but all in vain, since Sp erry had concealed
it in the lining of his coat. This broken off blade it .
was which cheated the gallows of its prey, for that
very night Sperry cut open some main arteries, and
was found dead in his cell the next morming. But
we are told that his death was 2 dreadful one, and in
the presence of such a fiend as George Thompson,
whom he had begged repeatedly to kill him, So as to
end the agony of nis sufferings, but waich Thompson

refused to do, and aoswered only with mocking laugh-
ter; When Thompson was asked why he had not

tried to prevent Sperry from killing himself, Thomp-
son (who also was an Englishman) answered, with
the air of a bravado, ‘I rather see a countryman of
mine kill himself than see him hung.” ‘Thus ended
the life of a once good and industrious man, and it
goes to show that the terrible fangs of jealousy will
sometimes nettle around the best of human kind, and
drag them down tothe lowest degradation.

THOMPSON MURDER IN BELLEVUE, 1842.

Almost daily we read accounts of some brutal mur-
der, when the motive was nothing else but an unohap-
py love affair. Thirty-eight years have rolled by since
this murder took place at Bellevue. \/e have under-
taken to acquaint the public with the facts of these two
murders, that appear like two dark and ominous spots
in the history of our county- It was on the 3oth day
of May, 1842, when the inhabitants of Bellevue were
thrown into a fearful state of excitement by the news
that a murder had been committed rigbt in theit
midst. :
The victim was 2 Pennsylvania German git, by
the name of Catharine Hamler, and the murderer
was an Enghshman by the name of George Thee
sun. Both parties were in the employ of Robert oO
Pier, who at that ume kept the Exchange Hotel i
Bellevue (built by Chapman & Amsden). This

Sc SutK
2;

See

ihe

To aero
7 senna

Set
eres

Se pares

ess

Te:

got in jail under my name, to give me
un alibi.’ He looked at Pratt. “That's
why I didn’t mind going down there with
you. I knew my name was on the books.”

The simplicity of his “perfect” alibi
stunned us for the moment.

“Where’s Smith now, Jimmy?” Horn-
barger inquired.

“f don’t know,” he answered, “TTe left.”

When we finished questioning him, I
asked him to sign the confession, which
he did—without argument, this time.

Hornbarger and his men left imme-
diately for Thompson’s home, a few miles
west of town. There, on the pretext of
wanting to write to Jimmy’s sister for him,
they tricked Mrs. Thompson into reveal-
7 Frank Smith’s address in Columbus,

hio.

Back in Ironton, they obtained a war-
rant for Smith’s arrest, and dispatched it
by registered railroad mail to Columbus.
Next morning at nine o'clock, Special
Agent G. W. Stiff, at Columbus, wired
Hornbarger that he, together with Special
Agent G. E. Payne and Columbus police
officers, had arrested their man. Stiff and
Payne then took Smith to Portsmouth ;
from there IHornbarger and Pratt brought
him to Ironton, arriving here that after-
noon.

KANWIIILES, To had discussed ‘Thomp-

son’s confessions with Sheriff Monte,
and we had decided to substantiate them
with further evidence. So, before Horn-
barger and Pratt arrived with Smith,
Monte had induced Thompson to promise
to go with him and the other officers to
the scenes of his crimes. Smith was locked
up, on his arrival, and the Sheriff and spe-
cial agents, with Judge Helen Clarke, took
Thompson out to the Rogers home. There,
in minutest detail, as remorseless as a
robot, Thompson went through what he
claimed were his actions’on the night of
the murder.

When he had finished his grisly reenact-
ment of the crime, they took him down to
where the Pocahontas had been wrecked.
Here again he reenacted his activities with-
out showing any remorse.

The officers then returned him to the '

county jail, and the questioning of Smith
began. Suave, polite, a convincing talk-
er, this man scoffed at the charge when
he was questioned.

“Why, gentleman,” he said smilingly,
“Jimmy must be crazy if he said I know
anything about that wreck. His story is
preposterous! I was in Kentucky when
that happened, and all I know about it
is what I read in the newspapers.”

“Get Thompson,” Hornbarger suggested 5
and a deputy brought the confessed wreck-
er in to face his brother-in-law.

“T told them, Frank,” Thompson said.
“T couldn’t stand it any longer. I kept
seeing that man that got his head cut off.
I couldn’t sleep. Every night that head
without the body would come out of the
darkness and stare and grin at me. It
was awful!”

Smith eyed him pityingly. “You must
have lost your mind, Jimmy. You've told
the craziest story L ever heard!”

Thompson was returned to his cell and
the grilling went on. But as hour after
hour passed, one officer after another,
wearied or hungry, left the room. At
cight-thirty, Elmer Pratt was the only one
left. Smith’s ready smile had long since
vanished. His face was becoming haggard
from the long hours of parrying accusa-
tions; his eyes were taking on a desper-
ate, trapped look. Pratt’s voice grew
softer. “Are you going to let yourself be
the goat, Frank? Thompson is sitting you
in the electric chair. He’ll case out of it.
Think of yourself.”

At a few minutes past nine, Smith flung
himself back in his chair. “or God’s

Master Detective
sake, stop ith TP ean’t sland any more!
L helped him. Tl tell you why-—we were
broke. We nceded moncy. .. .”

A few minutes later I took Mrs. Hack-
worth to the county jail, and heard Smith’s
confession. If anything, it was more
shocking than Thompson’s, because Smith
was of a far higher type of mentality. It
was evident, from his story, that he had
been the leader in the diabolical plot.

His confession, it would .seem, should
have ended our labor. Instead, we soon
were to learn that our work was far from
finished, despite the fact that when both
men were arraigned next day, August 16th,
before Justice of the Peace Peter
Burke, they pleaded _ guilty, and were
bound over to the Grand Jury, which
was then in session.

Murder indictments were returned
against both, and Thompson’s trial, for
the slaying of Engineer Meyers, was set
for September 30th. Being without funds,
he was permitted. State counsel, and

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Attorney F. A. Ross was appointed by
Common Pleas Judge Dan C. Jones to
represent him.

Attorney Koss entered a petition of in-
sanity for his client, and, on September
25th, a jury was impaneled and a hearing
was given Thompson, with Doctors F. R.
Stewart and George Hunter as defense
alienists, and Doctors O. E. Vidt and
Major W. I’. Marting for the State. The
jury deliberated only ten minutes before
returning a sanity verdict.

Speculation was high when Thompson’s
trial opened on September 30th before a
packed courtroom, with Judge Jones pre-
siding. I had obtained the assistance of
former Judge E. E. Corn, intending to
do my utmost to obtain a first-degree mur-
der verdiet—the death sentence, ‘There
had not been a first-degree verdict in Law-
rence County in over thirty years.

From the first, Attorney Ross fought
the admission of ‘Thompson’s confession,
and objected to any reference to it be-
fore the jury, claiming it had been ob-
tained under duress and was not permis-
sible evidence. In order to refute this,
I took the stand and testified to my
knowledge of the confession. Judge Jones
ruled against Ross.

The big surprise came when Thompson
took the stand in his own defense. He
was a different person entirely from the
weak, emaciated specter he had been at
the county jail. Everything he had said,
he claimed, had been uttered because
he was afraid of us; all he knew about the
wreck was what he had been told.

On the evening of October 5th, the case

Was given to the jury, whieh after an hour
and a half of deliberation returned a ver-
dict of guilty, with no recommendation
of mercy. This made a death sentence
mandatory.

Standing sullen and_ resentful before
Judge Jones, on October 11th, Thompson
heard his death sentence pronounced, to
take place at the State Penitentiary at
Columbus on February 5th, 1936.

On October 1th, Smith went on trial in
the same court, before Judge Jones. He
was represented. by former Judge A. J.
Layne and Attorney David E. Crow.
Again I was assisted by Judge Corn.

So able was the defense lawyers’ hand-
ling of the case, that the outcome looked
dark for us. Smith took the stand. Talk-
ing earnestly to the jury, he blandly re-
pore his confession, and suavely swore
he had been in Kentucky the night of
the wreck. The trial lasted ten days be-
fore it was presented to the jurymen.
They, after deliberating more than twelve
hours, reported they were unable to reach
a verdict, and Judge Jones discharged
them.

As seven other murder cases were pend-
ing. I decided to dispose of some of them
before re-trying Smith. Later, the trial
date was set for January 20th, 1936.

Before that date arrived, however, Judge
Layne and Attorney Crow suggested on
form of trial which, so far as Tenn learn,
was without precedent in Ohio courts: 2
three-judge tribunal to hear the evidence,
instead of a jury; the members to be se-
lected by the Chief Justice of the Ohio
State Supreme Court. In this instance,
the evidence would be the reading of tes-
timony at Smith’s former trial, After con-
sulting with Judge Corn, I agreed to the
defense attorneys’ plan.

We notified Chief Justice Weygandt;
and Judge White of Gallipolis, Judge
Jones of McArthur, and Judge Kimball of
Portsmouth, were selected to preside. On
January 25th, the reading of evidence and
the arguments by attorneys were con-
‘eluded, and the case was presented to the
Court. The Judges retired to their homes,
with no announcement as to when a ver-
dict would be rendered.

N January 30th, the Court again con-

vened, Smith smiling confidently, was
brought. before them. His young wife,
James Thompson’s sister, sat in the court-
room with friends.

Judge Kimball, who was the presiding
Justice, said:

“Frank Smith, it is the verdict of this
Court that you be found guilty of first-
degree murder as charged, with a recom-
mendation of mercy.”

At the word “guilty” a shrill scream
shattered the deathly hush of the court-
room, und Mrs. Smith collapsed in’ her
seat. As friends and attendants quicted
her, Judge Kimball asked the prisoner,
“Have you anything to say before sen-
tence is pronounced?”

Smith. white-faced and shaken, shook
his head.

“Then.” the Judge pronounced, “vou
are hereby sentenced to the Ohio Sinte
Penitentiary for the remainder of your
life, without hope of pardon or parole.”

While Smith was awaiting commitment
to the State Penitentiary at Columbus,
Thompson was granted a stay of exccu-
tion by the Ohio State Supreme Court to
allow a review of his case. But in this
review the highest State tribunal refused
to reverse the findings of the trial court.
And on April 25th, 1936, Jimmie Thomp-
son was escorted through the “little green
door” to the execution chamber, while
suave, wily Frank Smith sat only a few
hundred feet away, locked in’ his cell,
gratefully looking forward to the long. drab
years of a “lifer.”

July, L938

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July, 1938

the furnace! Why?”

Balint protested vehemently that this
Was not so; that he had not killed the
girl, He did admit, however, that he
had wanted to make love to her and that
she had repulsed him. He also confessed
that he had lured other girls to his den
for similar purposes.

“What about Juliska Iomlos and
Mrzsi Pantlikas?” demanded Posztos.
“They also disappeared mysteriously. Did
you burn them in the furnace, too?”

“I did not even know them,” insisted
Balint.

He was led away to jail, still protesting
his innocence, and before night was
aig on the charge of murdering Ilonka
Toth.

Not satisfied with his protestations of ig-
norance concerning the other two. girls,
the police made a careful investigation
and established the fact that Balint had
known them. Further than this they could
not go, for they uncovered no direct evi-
dence that enabled them to charge him
with their disappearance.

Additional work on the part of the police

Master Detective

officials into the mysteries of Balint’s
life, disclosed the amazing Jekyll-and-
Hyde existence the old caretaker had led.
At home with his friends he had been
admired and loved. One and all insisted
that the murder charge was preposterous.
They did not know, until the police
proved it, that with the coming of night
the kindly Balint was often transformed
into a sinister beast who haunted the un-
derworld.

He had lured young girls to his den on
several. occasions and attacked them. It
was his attempt to do this with TIlonka
Toth that was her undoing and his. When
she resisted him, the police believed he
had strangled her and, cutting up her
body, thrown the pieces into the fur-
nace,

A final examination brought out the
fact that Balint’s den had been freshly
whitewashed after Ilonka’s visit on the
night she was slain, This was the reason
there were no traces of this horrible buteh-
ery.

Balint was convicted and condemned to
life imprisonment.

Death Rides the Rails

(Continued from page 15)

Cincinnati.

By the time the officers had covered the
four miles to the Rogers home, they had
about arrived at the conclusion that the
erazed husband had exeaped from. the in-
stitution, retured to Tronton, and slain
his wife.

They found her body on the floor of
the kitchen, her head lying in a pool of
blood. She was fully clothed and wore
a light cotton house dress. From her po-
sition in the room, it looked as if she had
toppled full length from a standing po-
sition, indieating that she had been sud-
denly and brutally attacked. Her head
had been cruelly battered, apparently with
a large flatiron which lay near the body.
There was also a large stone, and a stove
soker that had been broken in two picces.
They lay beside the body, encrusted with
blood.

HE officers found on the kitchen table

several dishes of food in course of prep-
aration, us if the doomed woman had been
engaged in getting a meal ready at the
time of the attack. If was Coroner Jones’
opinion that she had been dead about
fifteen hours, and that she had been at-
tacked in a fit of rage by some one with-
out a great deal of strength. Perhaps a
maniac, he suggested, or at least a person
in a weakened condition.

“George Rogers, her husband!” ex-
claimed the deputies.

“Maybe,” said Sheriff Bennett; “but I
haven’t had any news of his escaping or
being released from Longview. We'll check
that as soon as possible.”

The three officers made a careful exam-
ination of the house. An oil lamp on the
table caught their eyes. Deputy Monte
removed the globe, disclosing a freshly-
trimmed wick. Evidently the lamp had
not been lighted after it had been cleaned,
which appeared to prove that the mur-
der had taken place in daylight.

The house had been completely ran-
sacked. Trunks and dresser drawers were
in disorder, and, in the hunt for loot, even
the beds had been disturbed,

Soon after they had agreed that rob-
bery had been the motive for the crime,
however, another search of the house
brought evidence to refute this theory.
A pocketbook containing $13 was found
in a wardrobe closet; there was a cache
of valuable old coins hidden in the kitch-

en; and $600 in bills was discovered
pinned on a window shade high up near
the roller.

The presence of these valuables caused
the Sheriff's thoughts to revert to George
Rogers, the woman’s insane husband,
While a fingerprint expert went over flat-
iron, broken poker, stone, and other arti-
cles in the house, in the hope of finding
an identifying print, Sheriff Bennett drove
to Cincinnati to check on Rogers. He
found that the man was still confined in
Longview, and therefore could not have
murdered his wife. On his return to Tron-
ton, he learned that no fingerprints had
been obtained.

As in the case of the railroad wreck at
Union Siding, Sheriff Bennett was with-
out clues, and he was forced to resort again
to checking individuals who, by their past
misdeeds, made themselves possible sus-
pects. He felt sure that the killer must
have been some one living close enough
to Union Siding to have knowledge of
Aunt Callie’s habits and possessions.

These finally simmered down to a half-
dozen. They were questioned and. rigidly
investigated. Hach one of them had an
indisputable alibi. Weeks fled by, then
months, ‘and the trail became older and
colder.

More than a year passed, and then a
comparatively insignificant crime that was
to have startling effects was brought to
the Sheriff’s attention. During that time
Bennett had relinquished the office and
been succeeded by Bernard R. Monte, his
former deputy, as Sheriff of Lawrence
County. Monte appointed Harry Shat-
tuck as his assistant.

On Monday evening, August 12th, 1935,
Constables Walk and Stewart, of Hanging
Rock, appeared in Sheriff Monte’s office,
bringing with them Jimmy Thompson—
the same Jimmy Thompson whom Horn-
barger and his associates had questioned
about wrecking the Pocahontas, and who
had furnished the perfect alibi three years
before.

This time he had been arrested on lar-
eeny, and assault, with intent to kidnap,
charges. The. larceny warrant had been
issued at the request of a girl who had lost
a suitcase containing valuables. She ac-
cused Jimmy of stealing and selling the
contents. The kidnaping warrant was
sworn to by a Mrs. Juna Medley, who
stated Thompson had tried to kidnap her

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seventeen-year-old daughter, Rheba.

The Sheriff questioned the man closely
about the charges, but got no satisfaction,

“They’re just a pack of lies,” he said.
“Those two people are trying to frame me.
I don’t know anything about the_girl’s
suitease and IT never tried to snatch Rheba
Medley.” .

It was at this point that I had my first

opportunity to study Jimmy Thompson.
For a long time he had had a record that
was somewhat off-color, and though his
alibi in the matter of the train wreck
could scarcely be disputed, it was natural
for me, as Prosecuting Attorney, to take
an interest in him. men of his type
must be studied by officials seeking to
stamp out lawlessness, because the solu-
tion of crimes to come may often hinge
on knowledge previously obtained of the
thoughts and reactions of men in the
habit of breaking the law.

The story we were told by Mrs. Medley
was about as follows:

She said that one day while her daugh-
ter, Rheba, was walking up a hollow away
from their home, Thompson had tried to
force the girl to accompany him. Rheba
fought him off and escaped, but Mrs. Med-
ley became so afraid of him that she
swore out the warrant.

WHEN Constables Walk and Stewart
visited the Thompson home, Jimmy
was absent. They decided to watch the
house, and about a week after he had at-
tempted to carry off Rheba, they inter-
cepted a letter he had written to Mrs.
Thompson. It was postmarked in Ken-
tucky, and among other things, he wrote
asking his mother to send him money so
that he could return and carry off Rheba
Medley. “I’m going to come home and
take her and leave, whether she wants to
go or not,” the letter said.

The officers kept the missive and waited.
When Thompson appeared at his home
Monday night, they arrested him and
brought him into Sheriff Monte’s office.

The man I saw before me was a sunken-
cheeked, hollow-eyed individual who ap-
peared to be suffering from tuberculosis.
He looked pale, ill and wasted. His fore-
head was hot as if with fever, and when I
felt his pulse I noted it was abnormally
rapid.

Sheriff Monte decided to confine him in
the hospital cell on the third floor of the
jail; and after he had been put to bed
in the cool, light, airy room, Monte
gave him some cigarettes and pulled up a
chair to his bedside.

“Jimmy,” he said confidentially, “you
remember the murder of Aunt Callie.
We never did get any one for that, and
I felt all along that if you had wanted to,
you could have put us wise to the person
who did that job.”

“J don’t know anything about that,
Sheriff,” he answered.

“That surprises me, Jimmy. I thought
you knew everything that went on. I al-
ways believed that you must have heard
something about those fellows who pulled
that wreck of the Pocahontas. You must
have picked up some information, Jimmy ;
and I’d like you to tell me what you
know.”

Monte watched the sick man closely
as he spoke. He thought the patient
turned a shade whiter when they talked
of Aunt Callie, so he looked him
straight in the eyes. Thompson moved
uneasily. Then suddenly he sat up, and
with his head thrust intently forward, and
his shifty eyes staring at those of the offi-
cer, he said desperately:

«T didn’t do it, Sheriff. Honest to God,
I didn’t do it!”

“| didn’t say you did do it,” Monte
countered. “But I thought that as you’re
not likely to live long, you’d be willing to

Master Detective

tell me what you know about that crime.
If you don’t want to tell me, Jimmy, it’s
all right) with me.” With those parting
words, the Sheriff walked out.

Hours passed ;. then ‘Thompson sent for
Monte to come back. The latter returned
immediately, accompanied by Deputy
Shattuck. Thompson's. first words were:

“Do you think Pm going to dic, Sheriff?”

“No telling, Jimmy. You look pretty
bad to me. But is that why, you sent
for me?”

Beads of perspiration rolled slowly down
Thompson’s forehead. His face seemed
to have become even more haggard and
drawn.

“No,” he stammered, sitting up in bed.
“J wanted to tell you I killed Mrs. Rog-
ers.” He sank back, breathing heavily.
For a few minutes this was the only sound
heard in the room; then he whispered:

“I wanted to tell you, because you've
been so good to me, and I’m afraid.”

“All right, Jimmy,” said the Sheriff. “I
know you'll feel better to get the story off
your mind. Start at the beginning and
tell Harry and me all about at.”

“I needed money awful bad,” he began
tensely, “and I knew Mrs. Rogers kept a
lot hidden around the house, so I went to
get it.” He hesitated ; his eyes were down-
cast and seemed to be watching his bony
hands as they picked nervously at the
bedelothes. ‘Then he gave the two officers
the gruesome details of the murder; de-
tails which horrified them.

When the man had finished, Monte said
to him: :

“You'll have to get all this down on

aper, Jimmy, before—before—any thing

appens to you.”

Thompson held up a hand in protest.

“Tt will be just the same as you've al-
ready told us,” continued Monte, “and
won't make any difference as far as youre
concerned.”

A few minutes later the Sheriff tele-

- phoned to me, telling me that Thompson

had just confessed to killing Aunt Callie
Rogers.

Taking Mrs. Anna Hackworth, Com-
mon Pleas Court stenographer. I hur-
ried to the county jail. Sheriff Monte was
waiting and we all went up to Thompson's
cell. He was at first reluctant to talk,
but after kindly questioning, he swept in-
to his story.

“I ASKED her for something to eat,” he

said. “And she went in the kitchen to
fix it. I waited in the front room. There
was a poker there by, the fireplace, and
I picked it up and went in the kitchen
and hit her on the head with it. She
tried to dodge and run away, and I hit
her some more. ‘The poker broke and I
took a flatiron off the stove and hit her
with that. She fell and'I hit her some
more. Then I went out and got a rock
and hit her with that. She didn’t move
then, and I went ahead and searched the
house. But I didn’t take anything. There
was twenty-three cents on the mantel, but
I left. it) there.”

“What did you do then?”

“T just went away. Went up to Chilli-
cothe and stayed there awhile. Then I
came back home. That’s all.”

“Ts that all you want to tell us?” I
asked.

He gave me a quick, startled glance.
“That’s all there is. I don’t know any-
thing else.”

“Have you made this confession—tolid
us these things—of your own free will,
without promises of reward or aets of co-
ercion?”

“Yes,” he said, “I told you because I
wanted to—to get it off my mind.”

But then, to our astonishment. he re-
fused to sign his name to Mrs. Hack-
worth’s shorthand notes.

“T don’t know what you've got down
there,” he said. “I won't sign it!” And no
amount of perstiasion. could induce him
to change his mind, However, we did) not
insist too strongly. He intimated he
would sign his statement when it was put
He legible form. And with that we left
vith,

Sheriff Monte and I discussed) the ense
later in his office, and decided to) wait
until after Thompson signed his confes-
sion before we arraigned him in Magis-
trate Court.

It was a great satisfaction to us to
have stumbled on the solution of the
strange crime in Aunt Callie’s house more
than a year before, for we had given up
all hope of finding the perpetrator of that
horror. Naturally, Jimmy’s confession of
murder threw Mrs. Medley’s charge into
the background.

PSCUSSING the case, we began to hope
that if such an old mystery could be
solved by an unexpected chain of events,
there was still a possibility that we might,
one of these days, turn up the men who
had wrecked the Pocahontas at Union
Siding. We did not know then just how
closely our hopes were treading on the
footsteps of facts.

While officials of Lawrence County had
for x couple of years been more or less
marking time on the railroad wreck mys-
tery, Specinl Agents Hornbarger and Vl
mer Pratt had continued: investigation of
this case whenever they had a chance.
From time to time, as they ran across
people who knew of other crimes, they
would talk to them, apparently mention-
ing the disaster casually ; but always with
the thought in their minds that some-
thing might be said that would disclose
the trail of the wreckers.

While we knew this, it was with a cer-
tnin amount of surprise that we saw
Hornbarger walk into Sheriff Monte’s office
while Jimmy Thompson’s confession was
being transcribed.

After greetings had been exchanged,
Hornbarger said:

“T understand you have Jimmy Thomp-
son under arrest here. I'd like to ques-
tion him again on that railroad wreck, if
it ix convenient.”

“You don't mind waiting awhile, do
you?” asked Monte. “Jimmy Thompson
has just confessed to the Rogers murder,
but he hasn’t signed the statement: yet.
It is being transcribed now. Why don’t
you come back after six o’clock?”

Shortly before six, Thompson's confes-
sion was ready, and, with Sheriff; Monte
and Deputies Shattuck and Karl Schwei-
chart, I entered his cell. When the con-
fexsion had been read, the siek man signed
it wearily, as if he were glad_ to dismiss
the whole affair from his mind.

About eight o’clock, Hornbarger_ re-
turned, and with him were Elmer Pratt
and Louis L. Hyland, another young Nor-
folk and Western special agent assigned
to the Ironton district. Sheriff Monte,
his nides, with Hornbarger, Pratt and Hy-
land, went up to the hospital cell, Thomp-
son Was Walking around taking a little
exercise.

“Jimmy.” began Hornbarger, “did you
and your mother go out picking greens
with Mrs. Medley and Rheba last spring?”

The prisoner kept his eyes on the table.
“Maybe we did. I don’t remember.”

“Didn’t you go down along the railroad
tracks where Number Four was wrecked,
and wasn’t Mrs. Medley talking about her
grandfather, ‘Devil-Anse’ Hatfield, and the
Hatfield-McCoy feud?”

“Maybe she was. She was always brag-
ging about the Hatfields.”

“And.” Hornbarger went on casually,
“when you were near Union Siding, didn't
you get tired of her bragging and say,

July, 1938

‘You |
ever ki
here m
Thompson
around at tl
lips with h
didn’t say 1
n liar if she >
“What dic
“DT snid---l
killing any!
killed there.
“Did you
the switch t
Little dro
on Thomps:
moved abo
trembling.
“No!” he
switch was
did it.”
“Did you
ing about }
in the pen
“T was J
Mrs. Med:
“Then vy
wrecked th:
“No—I v
This sts
aimed at
hour, durit
.7to admit
Finally |
er and w
with: "Ys

HUSH

iff M
telephone.
son has J
Pocahonta
The tho
oner must
had studic
spoken lik

“Keep |
there in te
Due to
Tbe” ‘
ent
ing
non wuvr

quested 1
be presen
When v
almost mW
ning and
Thompso!
trapped
brother-it
helped hi

In an
son said:
day in C:
on the s
knew hov
work the
and my
because >
with it—
up home
on doing
and won
waited t)
then I fi
over in |
and wre
utes. I ¢

WhY
asked.

“T fign
there \
couldn't

“Didn
would b

“No.

afraid t!

down
nd no
e him
dd not
‘dhe
as put
ve left

ie CASe
» Wait
vonfes-
Magis-

us to
of the
ce more
ven up
of that
sion of
ze into

to hope
suld be
events,
might,
en who
Union
ist how
on the

nty had
or less
‘k mys-
and El-
bi nes of

ce,

oss

ev
nention-
ivs with
{ some-
disclose

h a cer-
we saw
o's office
sion Was

changed,

Thomp-
to ques-
wreck, if

vhile, do
hompson
: murder,
nent vet.
‘hy don’t
on
's confes-
iff Monte
‘| Schwei-
the con-
ian signed
-o dismiss

varger re-
mer Pratt
yung Nor-
t assigned
ff Monte.
t and Hy-
1. Thomp-
ig a little

“did you
Ing greens
st spring?”
. the table.
mber.”
he railroad
s wrecked,
’ sbussat her

d the

brag-

no casually,
ding. didn’t
x and say,

July, 1938

‘You Hatfields ain’t the only ones that
ever killed a man—lI killed two men right
here myself’?”

Thompson — started, glanced wildly
around at the other officers, moistened his
lips with his tongue, and shouted: “I
didn’t say that! I didn’t say it. She’s
a liar if she said I said it.”

“What did you say?”

“LT suid-—I didn’t say anything about me
killing anybody. I said two men got
killed there.”

“Did you show Rheba how you fixed
the switeh to wreek the train?”

Little drops of sweat were starting out
on Thompson’s forehead. | He constantly
moved about in his chair to hide his
trembling.

“No!” he exclaimed. “I told her the
hare was fixed, but I didn’t tell her 1
did it.”

“Did your mother tell you to stop talk-
ing about it—that you would get yourself
in the penitentiary?”

“J was just joking with them—to get
Mrs. Medley to stop bragging.”

“Thon you did tell them you had
wrecked the train?”

“No—I was just joking about it.”

This staccato fire of questions was
aimed at Thompson for more than an
hour, during which he steadfastly refused
to admit: anything.

Finally he raised his eyes to Hornbarg-
er and) unexpectedly startled them all
with: “Yes, 1 wrecked it.”

HUSH fell over the group. Then Sher-

iff Monte arose and walked _ to the
telephone. Calling me, he said: “Thomp-
son has just confessed he wrecked the
Pocahontas.”

The thought came to me that the pris-
oner must have gone insane. Yet when I
had studied him he had neither acted nor
spoken like a lunatic.

“Ikeep hin talking,” I said. “T'll be
there in ten minutes with a stenographer.”

Due to ‘Thompson’s physical condition,
1 believed it best to have a physician pres-
ent during his confession, and after call-
ing Mrs. Haeckworth, I asked Dr. Ver-
non Woods to necompuny Us. T also re-
quested Probate Judge Helen Clarke to
be present.

When we arrived at the jail, it was an
almost unbelievable story of greed, cun-
ning und cruelty that we heard from
Thompson’s lips. Hornbarger had already
trapped him into admitting that his
brother-in-law, Elbridge Frank Smith, had
helped him to commit the crime.

In an unemotional monotone, Thomp-
son said: “Me and Frank planned it one
day in Covington, Kentucky. I’d worked
on the section as a track repairman and
knew how to fix the switch so it wouldn’t
work the signal block. So I left, Frank
and my sister—don’t bring her in this.
because she didn’t have anything to do
with it—down at Covington and I came
up home. _ The night before we’d planned
on doing it, I tried taking the bolts out
and working the switch, Next night. I
waited till it was about time for the train,
then I fixed the switch and waited. I got
over in the weeds to wait. When she came
and wrecked, I waited about twenty min-
utes, I guess, then T left.”

“Why did you want to wreck it?” I
asked.

“JT figured on robbing the mail cars, but
there were so many people around,
couldn’t.”

“Didn't you know beforehand that. there
would be people around when it wrecked?”

“No. We thought everybody would be
killed.”

“Where was Smith while you were
there?”

“He was in jail in Cincinnati. We was
afraid the law would suspect me, so Frank

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THOMPSON, Robert F., white, elec. Ohio (Coshocton) Jan. 9, 1927.

"MURDERER STUMBLES TO HIS DHATH: CHILD SIAYER GOES TO CHATR WITH
HIS EYES SHUT TIGHTLY: LIPS MIVE FERVENTLY AS HE BS HELPED INTO
SEAT FOR EXRCUTION, BUT NO SOUND IS HEARD: BEEF LAST MEAL:
Dressed neatly in a black suit, his neck encased in a clean,
stiff collar and adorned with a white four-in-hand tie, Robert
F, Thompson, Sh, Coshogton, last hight was helped by two men tn to
the electric chair at Yhio penitentiary and there paid with his
life for the murder last July of B 10-year-old Yertrudé D'Ostroph.
whom he 2 ttacked before he killed.
"Thompson's eves were tightly shut as if to ward off a ghastly
vision, His lips moved feverishly, but no sound came from them.
He stmmbled slightly and on either side.of him a penitentiary
attendant held him under the arms to aid him in keeping his
feet. Hesat down cautiously and clenched his fists, Thompson
entered the death chamber at 7:31 pem. At 7:32 p.m. he ws plxed
in the chair; at 7:3) o'clock the current was turned ons at
7:35 it was turned off. He was pronounced dead by Prison Physician
Merrill at 7:36 p.m. His last statement was made earlier in the
day, when he said: 'My peace with God is made, and I would not
accept a computation to life imprisonment now if it were offered
me.* No relatives called to see him during the day, and effotts
to save his life were of no avail. He spent his last day quietly.
Prosecuting “ttorney C. 0. Turner of Yoshocton County ws at the
governor's office to block ahy attempts at clemency. 'The people
of Coshocton County,' he told James W. Huffman, executive secre-
tary to the governor, demand that this man be executed, and I am
here to Le ca any efforts to obtain clemency for him.& for his
last meal Thompson ordereda large beefsteak with potatoes and
gravy, bread and butter, coffee and desert,"
OHIO STATE JOURNAL, Columbus, Ohio January 9, 1927, omge one,

”

F e killed was

rt supposed
iother mans
Kk."
in testifying
_ Shuman, on
Reles amazed
ig that, after
asked Lepke

vt even know
attorney de-

lied, evidently
Lepke ordered
ne

killed any of

jlied. “A lot
7?

but can sing,”

the police, was
nan song-birds
Coney Island.
ctives day and

han pleased by
protected him
felt sure would
sid haunts. His
x for him. Here

here were two
as in particular-
rese was Lepke
—urder of a
yegun, and
je principal

ticed that as the
he became more
itable. He had
rming of Strauss
them toward the
Sut he seemed to
ier in the court-
n who had been
ie of the biggest
+> known.
1 of Albert Ana-
ader of the Dock
-ason, Anastasia
{e was a fugitive.
{ to get word to
rarked for certain
on Reles referred
iy to the missing
he handwriting on
the lam before it
ciless Dock Gang
his mind. The
sed their vigilance.
uring the point of
ypeared to be, fre-
That would throw
he legal machinery

CLOCK the morn-
1941, an employe
arriving for work,

z from a sixth floor
Uerk, who gave an
ed into Kid Twist’s
, open. He looked
sof of the extension
wo feet below, lay
4 been detailed to

ctives hurried down.
urs. were confirmed.
fall had broken his

officers exclaimed.
es hadn’t taken
t it through an
'to escape, The
ym on the fifth floor
the story. It showed
ith one hand on to

{EADLINE DETECTIVE

a rope of knotted sheets, the other end of
which had been affixed to the radiator, Reles
had struggled frantically to raise this window
in order to let himself into the unoccupied
chamber. Once he had accomplished this,
it would have been easy for him to walk
down through the hotel and escape.

There was other mute evidence to support
the conclusion that the death had not been a
suicide. If he had wanted to take his own life,
he would simply have thrown himself out of
the window of his room. He couldn’t have
hoped to let himself down to the roof below
on the sheets, because they were not nearly
long enough. One can picture him on the
swaying makeshift rope, tugging desperately
at the partly-opened screen and window as
he realized the sheets were gradually giving
way under the pull of. his hundred and
sixty pounds—the chilling fedr which clutched

at his heart as the ominous ripping noise
told him the end was a matter of seconds—
his death-like clutch on the torn bed covering
as the concrete roof seemed to flash upward
to meet his plummeting body... .

Officers who had come into contact with
him were amazed that he had endeavored
to get away. If ever there was a marked
man, he was it. ‘The only conclusion they
could reach was that, with his usual extraor-
dinary vanity, he believed he was smart
enough to “cross up” his old associates and
either get out of the country altogether or
find some secure hideout.

The day following his attempted getaway,
two patrolmen and three detectives were de-
moted, and were notified that they would
have to stand police department trials. It
was a sardonic finale to the life of Kid Twist.
Even in death he had given headaches to
the cops he hated! . -

3 FOR A DIME

(Continued from page 31)

to do with the wreck. Then I caught a ride
with the ambulance that brought the fire-
man’s body into Ironton.”

The sheriff realized that the youth’s story
might well be true; he surely could be crossed
off as a suspect if there was any way of
proving he had been on the train.

“Well, I think I can prove it,” Carr said,
when this was explained to him. “When I
sneaked through the yards at Portsmouth to
get on, the engineer and fireman of another
train just pulling out saw me and laughed.”

Sheriff Bennett bundled the youth off to
the Portsmouth jail, where he would be held
until railroad detectives could check the
rather slim alibi.

Meanwhile bad news came from the finger-
print expert. The bolts, nuts and cotter
keys were so badly rusted, he reported, that
they would not yield prints.

Exploring the angle he had suggested,
Deputy Monte, along with Deputies Rucker,
H. M. Shattuck and Bob Brammer, began
an intensive canvass of houses along U. S.
Route 52 between Ironton and Portsmouth.

Several score of river valley residents were
interviewed. Every man among them who
had the slightest criminal record was forced
to account for his whereabouts between 10:30
p.m., April 20, and 1:37 a.m., April 21.

“Pipelines” into speakeasies and houses of
prostitution along the river were pumped
industriously, but they produced no leads.

Railroad officials located the trainmen who
remembered seeing Carr sneaking across the
tracks in the Portsmouth yard on the night
of the wreck. The youth was released.

Officially the sabotage-murders of the
engineer and fireman on the Pocahontas Flyer
“went into the icebox.” Unofficially, how-

' ever, the shocking crime never left the minds

of the many investigators who had worked

FEBRUARY, 1942

eileen ORIG STS RN

on it. Each kept alert for any clue, no
matter how slight.

There the case remained until October 3,
1933,

[7 WAS ON that crisp autumn morning that

Arnold and Ralston McCall paid a visit
to their grandmother, seventy-four-year-old
Mrs. California Rogers, known to her neigh-
bors as’“Aunt Callie.”

Aunt Callie, a diminutive woman who
weighed only eighty pounds, lived alone im a
tiny, spotless cabin between U. S. Route 52
and the Ohio River—in the same vicinity as
the .scene of the railroad wreck eighteen
months earlier.

Young Arnold McCall had a jar of mo-
lasses.under his arm’as he mounted the steps
of his grandmother’s home and. pushed open
the door. The jar fell unheeded to the floor
and the boy’s throat constricted in horror
at the shambles that met his eyes. He turned
and fled. His brother, after one look, fol-
lowed him.

“She’s dead!” Arnold cried.
blood everywhere!”

In response to the summons of the chil-
dren’s parents, Coroner Harry H. Jones and
Deputies Monte, Shattuck, Rucker and
Brammer soon were at the cabin, stepping
carefully into the combination kitchen and
dining room.

Jammed in the crevice between the table
and the stove was the horribly battered body
of Aunt Callie. The boy had been correct—
there was blood everywhere, on the floor,
the table and even on the walls where
apparently the force of the blows had driven
the old woman’s head.

An oath escaped the coroner’s lips as he
picked up two sections of.a poker. “He
must have broken it on her!” he exclaimed.

“There’s blood and hair matted on these,
too,” said Deputy Monte, handing the coro-
ner a piece of jagged slag rock and an old-
fashioned flatiron.

The enormity of the crime was such that
the officers, hardened as they were, spoke in
low tones as they reconstructed the events
that must have led up to it.

“Here are some dirty dishes in the sink,
and: yet there are several ears of corn and a
sliced. apple on the table,” mused Deputy
Monte. “Looks as though she had fed some-
one after she herself had eaten.”

The old woman’s trunk stood open, and its
confents were scattered wildly over the floor.

“T’d say robbery was the motive,” sug-
gested Coroner Jones. “Probably some tramp
came here on the pretext of getting food,
then killed her when she offered resistance
to a holdup.”

“Then we'd better shake down all the hobo
jungles between Portsmouth and Hunting-
ton,” said Monte.

“Better look up her husband, too,” put in
Rucker.

“Husband?” Monte’s brow creased. “I
thought she lived alone.”

Rucker nodded. “She has lived alone for
two years. The husband was pronounced in-
sane and sent to the Longview Sanitarium at
Cincinnati.”

A message was rushed to the Cincinnati
institution, and simultaneously the officers
began a thorough search of hobo jungles.

Both efforts proved fruitless. The few sus-
pects they found had air-tight alibis, and the
husband was safely under lock and key.

Once more the Lawrence County officers
made a painstaking canvass of the river
people—and once more they failed to find a

logical suspect. The murder of Callie Rogers
went on the shelf along with the mystery of
the two deaths in the Pocahontas Flyer
wreck

This time, however, the authorities were in
possession of tangible evidence—the broken
poker, the flatiron and the rock which had
been used as a weapon.

Deputy Monte put these objects on a win-
dow sill in the county jail, opposite the

“There was

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CITY STATE

* 59

Sheriff Bennett’s
thin line as he
»rocession feeling
ark back to the

e,” he told Super-
don’t forget that

he let the sheriff
ration which had
ow.

» this Wednesday
ily, a work crew
cain came through
e. We had track
our-hour lookout
do any good.”

n their investiga-
f Thursday morn-
Vith the time of
A.M. by Engineer
they turned their
operation sched-

ound for William-
1:45 PM., and a
» switch without
Jetective Hyland.
‘erer nearly three
bolts,” computed

’ added Detective
ore than a fifteen-
rt—and the killer

for footprints or

ADLINE DETECTIVE

Deputy Biff Rucker (left) stands beside
Smith following the latter's trial.

other traces of the slinking saboteur? All
along the right-of-way were scattered
foodstuffs—even including a consignment
of fish from the first two express cars!

Discussing what angle to take, the
officers narrowed down their field of pos-
sible suspects to two distinct categories.

“Fither it was a former employe of
the railroad intent on revenge for a real or
fancied wrong, or it was someone bent on
robbery,” the sheriff said.

“And if the latter is correct, it was a
man who lives right around here,” put in
Deputy Monte. .

“How do you figure that?” asked one
of the railroad investigators.

“Because, the murderer chose the best
possible spot for his purposes between
Portsmouth and Huntington,” replied
Monte. “This switch is at least 300 yards
from any house, and that’s farther away
than any other switch he might have
picked.”

The others were forced to agree with
the reasoning of the deputy, who knew
the hill and river country like the palm
of his hand.

The detective work now was divided.
The railroad men followed up the tech-
nical angles and checked among company
personnel, while the county officers began
a thorough quizzing of everyone in the
district and sought suspicious characters
who might have been seen near the tracks.

Before Thursday noon work crews had
cleared the westbound tracks, and com-

FEBRUARY, 1942

It was a sudden inspiration
which led to the cracking of
the train wreck murder mys-
tery. Bernard Monte (right),
first a.deputy and later sheriff,
became suspicious of what
seemed a "perfect" alibi.

pany officials had tallied up damage in
the amount of $300,000, in addition to
the tragedy of the two deaths.

And in Ironton, seat of Lawrence
County, the city police turned over to
Sheriff Bennett the first of the scores of
suspects he quizzed in the -case.

The suspect was Lee Carr, a seventeen-
year-old boy from central Ohio, who ap-
peared in an Ironton restaurant and began
telling too-accurate details of the disaster
long before anyone had time to get to the
scene and back.

“How do you know so much about the
wreck?” demanded Sheriff Bennett.

“Why, I was on the train!” the youth
exclaimed.

Sheriff Bennett ran his finger down the
passenger list. “Your name isn’t here,”
he said.

Carr grinned. ‘You bet it isn’t! I was
‘riding blind’ on the tender!”

The sheriff gasped in surprise. The
tender had been hurled some distance
through the air and into a field! Carr
quickly explained that through some freak
of the crash, he had been thrown free and
was lucky enough to land on a patch’ of
soft earth and was merely stunned.

“TY hurried back, along the tracks and
found the fireman,” the boy related. “I
could see he was dying, so I kept out of
the way—lI didn’t want anybody to think
I had anything (Continued on page 59)

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courthouse on top of the hill sloping away
from the river. “Let’s just leave ’em there,”
he suggested. “One of these days it may be

. worthwhile to have them handy.”

Following the Callie Rogers murder, de-
velopments were even slower in coming.
Sheriff Bennett went out of office and his
place was taken by Monte. The staff of
deputits was virtually the same.

But the officers were not forgetting.
Lawrence County is known in. Ohio as
“Bloody Lawrence,” and violence is common-
place. And every suspect in new cases of
lawlessness was grilled thoroughly on the.
two unsolved mysteries—and treated to the
shock of seeing the implements of death.

A typical example of the sheriff’s method
of investigation occurred on the night of
Tuesday, August 13, 1935. Among the pris-
oners in the jail was James Thompson,
twenty-six, whose home was at. Hanging

Rock.

A girl hitchhiker had been robbed of her
suitcase, and her description of the thief fit
Thompson perfectly. The Hanging Rock
marshal, Bert Fraley, picked up the young
man who had been working on a farm.

“What do you know about the murder of
Callie Rogers, James?” Monte’ inquired.

“Not a thing, Sheriff!” he exclaimed.
“Maybe I did steal a suitcase, but I never
killed anybody!”

Sheriff Monte let the matter rest for a
while. Then he suggested that Thompson be
moved to, an upstairs cell which was better
ventilated. The prisoner had shown some
signs of illness.

“ll sure appreciate it, Sheriff,’ Thomp-
son beamed.

On the way upstairs, Monte prodded him
again with questions. “You went off to get
that farm job the same day we found Callie’s
body, didn’t you, James?” he inquired.

“Sure,” Thompson admitted. “But that
doesn’t make me a murderer.”

At the top of the stairs was a window. On
the window sill were three things—three
things with dull brown stains. They were
the broken poker, the flatiron and the rock.

Thompson stopped short. No sound
‘escaped his lips. :

Sheriff Monte lifted the poker. “Ever see
this?” he asked innocently, handing it to
Thompson.

Thompson shied away, his face pale. “I
killed her?” he cried. “It’s been on my
mind day and night. My conscience won’t

let me sleep!”

‘Thompson was hurried to the Rogers cot-
tage. He readily agreed to re-enact the
crime. It proved to be exactly as the
officers had reconstructed it, with Thompson
filling in the detail that he had snatched
Callie Rogers’ keys from a string around her
neck after bludgeoning her to death.

Using the keys, he opened her trunk and
searched it in vain for money or valuables.
His net gain from the brutal killing of the
woman who offered to feed him, Thompson
admitted, was but ten cents!

Leaving the Rogers cottage, the sheriff
piloted his car back towards Ironton. He
passed the scene of the Pocahontas Flyer
wreck en route, and a sidelong glance con-
vinced him that Thompson was displaying
more than usual interest in the spot.

“Did they ever catch the guys who wrecked
that train over there in 1932?” Thompson
asked quietly.

“Nope. Never did. Those saboteurs must
have been pretty sharp workers. Never got
even a trace of them.”

With Thompson back in his cell, the
sheriff called in Deputy Rucker for confer-
ence.

“We've got the Aunt Callie case solved,”
he said, “and now I'd like to wind up the
Pocahontas Flyer case, too!”

Rucker’s eyebrows lifted. “Got a lead?”

“James Thompson showed a mighty strong
interest in the place where the wreck occurred
while we were driving back today.”

_ dropped with this announcement.

It was plain that Deputy Rucker’s hopes
“You're
on a bum steer there,” he said. “Remember,
we had Thompson in for questioning then.
I investigated his alibi myself.”

“Air-tight ?”

Rucker spread his hands. “Absolutely. He
was in jail in Cincinnati at the time of the
wreck—he was locked up all night!”

Sheriff Monte’s hopes dropped, too. “What
was he in for?” he asked.

“Nothing. He signed himself in as a
vagrant just to get a night’s flop in the
Broadway police station. I saw his name on
the register myself.” - .

Monte got a sudden inspiration.
Thompson in here!” he snapped.

When the young man again faced the
sheriff, it was acro8s a desk. On the desk
was a long, yellow legal pad and a pen.

“Sign your name on there, James,” Monte
instructed.

Thompson complied, the lines around his

“Bring

" eyes screwing into a puzzled frown.

“Do it again,’ commanded the sheriff.
Again and again he made the suspect write
his. name.

“What's this all about, Sheriff ?”” Thompson
demanded.

Monte ripped the top sheet off the pad.
“Pm taking these samples of your signature
to the Broadway police station in Cincinnati
to see whether or not. it was really you. who
registered there as a vagrant on the night of
April 20, 1932!”

“You don’t need to go,” Thompson said

quietly. “You'd find out anyway, so
might as well tell you. . . . I.wrecked that
train!”

‘Sheriff Monte turned to Rucker. “You
know the rest of that quotation? ‘A rose by
any other name would smell as sweet.’ . . .
All of a sudden, that alibi smelled pretty
strong to me!”

The sheriff threw another question at
Thompson. “Who did sign your name and
spend the night in jail in Cincinnati?”

“My brother-in-law went to Cincinnati
for me that night to give me an alibi.”

“Why did you wreck the train?”

“We intended to rob the mails,” Thompson
said. “We thought everyone on the train
would be killed and that I could rip open the
registered letter sacks before help arrived.
We knew the train highballed at that point.”

The barriers were down now and the
gruesome story tumbled rapidly from the
youth’s lips. He told how he hid in the
woods adjacent to the N. & W. tracks until

after the 10:30 freight passed; how he then

removed the bolts, opened the switch, and
turned the light until the green showed again.

Meanwhile, the railroad detectives picked
up Thompson’s ~brother-in-law, Frank El-
bridge Smith, in downtown. Columbus, Ohio,
and rushed him back to Ironton. He, too,
denied any connection with the wreck until
his handwriting samples were taken. Then
he confessed to his part.

Both men were bound over to the grand
jury, Thompson on three murder counts and
Smith on two. At a speedy trial Thompson
was found guilty of murder in the first degree.
There was no recommendation for mercy;
death in the electric chair was mandatory.

Smith’s first trial resulted in a disagree-
ment. A second trial ended in his conviction,
but the talesmen recommended mercy. He
was sentenced to life in the Ohio penitentiary,
where he is still confined.

On April 25, 1936, Thompson sat in the
ugly wooden chair and “rode the thunder-
bolt,” as convicts call the electric chair, to
eternity. The death of Engineer John
Myers, Fireman James Kemp and Aunt
Callie Rogers—the three murders for a
dime—had been avenged!

Editor's Note: To spare possible embar-
rassment to an innocent person, the name Lee
Carr, used in this story, is not real but
fictitious.

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i : », white, elec. OH&S (Cuyahoga) June 1, 1935. (Original crime)
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eer]

The CLUE of the CF

COLD and starless November sky looks down
upon a sleeping city. Through the streets, like a
blood-colored monster of doom, a great red motor

car roars along the deserted ways at sixty miles
an hour.

A monster blood-colored
auto, roaring through the
streets of a deserted city—
its occupants singing gay
jazz songs as they raced

from the scene of a heinous .

crime!

Here, for the first time,
Belshaw, the master detec-
tive, reveals how he solved
the murder of Henry T.
Peirce—Philadelphia’s
astonishing seven-year

mystery !

Where the trail grew warm! Within a few hours

after the body was found, the Quaker City’s

keenest detectives followed the scent to this

door at 2049 Walnut Street (left). What clue
did they discover behind its portals?

Between those opening and closing scenes, there lies a
drama of passion, crime and tragedy, which furnished me
with some of my most thrilling experiences as head of
Philadelphia’s murder squad.

Out of the sordid tale of murder and retribution, there

forn

ROGE

A mysten
burlesque
who was

Pennsylvania

“V’m worn
day morning
to locate hin

Within the car, a party of young people are singing rose, like a phoenix spreading its unfurled wings, a love “Certainly
blithely the jazz songs of 1920, led by a laughing, light- which redeemed the lives of a man and a woman! The let you know
hearted girl whose eyes dance with the enjoyment of life. one, his dreams shattered by the realization that the girl Something

Behind them, in a darkened apartment at the center of he loved must leave him, told the truth that she might hensions. A
the city’s huddled mass, lies a figure which none of them go free, although his act meant that they were to be been in the
wish to see—a dead man sprawled across the floor. A shat- separated forever. apartment ¢

tered glass lies near his outstretched hand, and blood flows
unceasingly from terrible wounds in his head... .

Seven years later, in a crowded summer court-room, a
young man with ashen lips and burning eyes squirms. in
the witness chair. All eyes are on him. He is on trial
for his life. Suddenly with a motion which is damning in
its revelation, he jumps from the chair and snatches from
a table a huge pipe wrench. It is rusty, stained with

THE girl, with an aching heart and a mind numbed by
tragedy, turned from the life she had been leading and
became what destiny had intended her to be—a good wife
and mother.
Only once after that parting did they meet, and then
with averted faces which told nothing. But that is part
of the story which follows... .

sometimes s

AS he stey

filled the
and gas was
ran to the
broke down
fumes drove

blood and is seven years old. At half past ten on Monday morning, November 22nd. the floor nec
“He did it! He did it!” he cries, pointing at another 1920, the telephone rang in the office of the Insley battered in °
young man who stands straight and silent across the table. Manufacturing Company, 2009 Market Street, Phila- ing at the c.

“He did it like this!” and, with a sickening swing, the delphia. died.
crazed man brings the great wrench down heavily on some A salesman who answered recognized the voice of Mrs. The polic
form which his burning eyes see on the floor, but which is Henry T. Peirce, wife of the manager of the office. She squad, and
not there! was telephoning from the Peirce home in Fort Washington, ina eid fe
seven block:

MASTER DETECTIVE, February, 1930

-olored
gh the
city—
iS gay
raced

einous .

time,
detec-
solved
ry T.
‘hia’s

-year

i few hours
ker City’s
it to this
What clue
tals?

there lies a
furnished me
s as head of

ibution, there
wings, a love
voman! The
that the girl
at she might
were to be

{ numbed by
1 leading and
-a good wife

et, and then
that is part

‘ember 22nd.
the Insley
reet, Phila-

oice of Mrs,
office. She
Washington,

By
Detective
Lieutenant
WILLIAM J.

BELSHAW

formerly head of the
Philadelphia
Murder Squad

As told to
RoGeR P. BUTTERFIELD

A mysterious enchantress—Boots Rogers, former

burlesque dancer (right). Was Boots the girl

who was seen with the wealthy Peirce shortly
before his murder?

RIMSON

Pennsylvania, a very fashionable suburb of Philadelphia.

“I’m worried; my husband hasn’t been home since Thurs-
day morning,” Mrs. Peirce said excitedly. ‘“Won’t you try
to locate him?”

“Certainly, Mrs. Peirce,” answered the young man, “I'll
let you know as soon as | find out where he is.”

Something about the woman’s voice aroused his appre-
hensions. After making sure that his employer had not

been in the office all morning, he climbed the stairs to an’

apartment on the third floor where he knew Mr. Peirce
sometimes slept while in the city overnight.

AS he stepped into the hallway, a strong odor of gas

filled the air. The door of Peirce’s apartment was locked,
and gas was seeping under the sill. The horrified salesman
ran to the street and called a policeman. Together they
broke down the door of the apartment. A rush of gas
fumes drove them back, but not before they saw, lying on
the floor near a couch, the figure of Henry Peirce, his head
battered in with a dozen vicious blows! His hands, clutch-
ing at the carpet, mutely testified to the agony in which he
died,

The policeman saw that it was a case for the murder
squad, and notified me immediately. I was on the scene
in a very few minutes, for the murder room was less than
seven blocks from my office in City Hall.

SWEATER

The gas had cleared, and it was possible for me and
two members of my squad to step through the door and
turn off the jet from which it was still escaping. Then
we turned to look at the terribly battered figure on the
floor.

PEIRCE lay sprawled lengthwise, just as he had fallen
under the murderer’s blows. A pool of blood had
flowed from his wounds and collected near his head.
One of the weapons with which he had been slain was a
heavy pipe wrench, which lay, crusted with coagulated

-blood, on the.couch beside him. One blow from the pon-

derous wrench might easily have fractured the man’s skull.

In a corner of the room, I also found a fragment of the
butt of a revolver, which was stained with blood. The
gun had apparently broken in the hands of the murderer,
as he rained blow after blow upon the head of his helpless
victim.

The room where the wealthy business man had been so
brutally slain contained only the couch, a couple of chairs,
a table and clothes closet. Several whiskey bottles and
glasses containing liquor stood on the table, indicating
that the murder had interrupted a gay party at which four
or five persons were drinking and making merry.

A picture on the wall was the only decoration. It was
that of an alluring blonde, placed in such a position that

ee ’

“79 JANUARY TERM, 1925. 113 0. §.

Opinion Per Curiam.

der in the first degree with a recommendation of
mercy, one for guilty of murder in the second de-
gree, and one for not guilty.

The evidence above quoted may not have been
sufficient in the composite mind of the jury to
raise a reasonable doubt as to the premeditation
and deliberation of the plaintiff in error, but it
was sufficient to make homicide without premedita-
‘tion and deliberation an issue in the case, Man-
slaughter having thereby become an issue, the duty
of the court to charge the jury with reference
thereto was not different from his duty to charge
the jury with reference to the issues of murder
in the first degree and murder in the second degree.

The plaintiff in error made no request of the
court to charge upon the subject of manslaughter,
or upon any other subject. A general exception to
the charge as given was taken by him, but no
exception was taken to the failure of the court to
charge upon the subject of manslaughter.

The charge of the court was correct upon the
subjects covered.

An exception to the error of the court in not
charging upon the subject of manslaughter was
not saved by ‘the general exception, and this court
may not reverse the judgment of a trial court for
error in failure to charge to which no exception
has been taken. State v. McCoy, 88 Ohio St., 447,
103 N, E., 136. |

Finding no error in the matters properly here
for review, the judgment of the Court of Appeals
is affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

Marsuaty, C, J., Day, Auten, Krnxape and Ros-
INSON, JJ., concur.

113 O. §.]J LUFF v. STATE, 379

Opinion, per Day, J.
Lurr v. THE State oF OHIO.

Criminal law—Sentence to be imposed under law existing
when crime committed—Sentence under indeterminate sen-
tence law increasing maximum beyond original statute—
Accused to be resentenced under statute in force when
offense committed.

1. A person convicted of a criminal offense has a right to
be sentenced under the law as it existed at the time of
the commission of the alleged offense, and is not required
to submit to a sentence under the law as subsequently
amended.

2. A sentence under an indeterminate sentence law, which
may have the effect of increasing the minimum punish-
ment beyond what might have been inflicted under the
original statute, which the amended statute supersedes,
should be set aside, and the accused resentenced under
the statute as it existed at the time of the commission
of the offense.

(No. 18700—Decided October 20, 1925.)

Brror to the Court of Appeals of Cuyahoga
county.

The facts are stated in the opinion.

Messrs. Hogan, Hogan, Hogan & Hogan; Mr.
Geo. B, Okey, and Mr, R. J. Fitzgerald, for plaintiff
in error.

Mr. \C. C. Crabbe, attorney general; Mr. Edward
C. Stanton, prosecuting attorney, and Mr. James T.
Cassidy, for defendant in error.

Day, J. The sole question for consideration in
this case is that of the right of one convicted of a

[1.] Criminal Law, 16 C. J., Sec. 3206; [2.] Id.

eal

TRACEY, Frank, white, elec. Ohio (Franklin) 3-3-1939

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Cleveland Society for the Blind. Lipstick and similar
feminine equipment. Six checks, totaling $35.00. Cash,
$5.19. A Guardian Bank savings account book belonging
to the Society. That’s it.”

Chief Cody watched the slain girl’s body being removed
to the county hearse under Coroner Pearse’s direction;
he saw the emergency truck back up to the death car and

the crew begin to fasten the chain to tow the Hudson ,

to the police garage in Cleveland. That was it. A car
being towed, a girl going home in a hearse—and, some-
where, a killer on the run.

How long he would be free to run depended on Cody,
on the men and equipment of the police system, on the
mechanics of crime detection. ,

“Put out a general pickup on all known sex offenders,”
Cody told his aide, Potts. “Check with Chief Eierman’s
patrols on suspicious characters seen in this area today.
Give the newspapermen anything we know. We can beat
their editions to the relatives, break the news as easy as
possible.”

Returning to headquarters, Chief Cody put through a
telephone call to the Society for the Blind. ‘This is Chief
Cody, Detective Bureau. You have a Ruth Steese work-
ing there, as bookkeeper?”

“Yes, sir,” the operator responded. “Miss Steese is not
in at the moment.”

Cody glanced at the articles on his desk top—the blind-
fold, the scarf, the twine. “I know. Can you connect me

Twine used to bind helpless girl was too commonplace for clue, but blindfold cloth exposed a killer

with someone in charge there, your office manager?”

A few clicks later, the cultured voice of a young woman
was on the wire, inquiring with suppressed curiosity as to
just what the police wanted. Cody gave it to the office
manager bluntly, heard a gasp, then tried to weather a
sudden flood of words.

“No—not Ruth! It can’t be! She left here just a few
minutes ago—what would she be doing way out near
Pepper Pike?”

Cody calmed the office manager, gave her the descrip-
tions of car and victim and listened as the girl haltingly
agreed that the dead woman must be Ruth Steese. “It has
to be true,” the girl said heavily. “That Hudson is my car.
I loaned it to her just a short time ago.”

‘The detective got what information he could via a tele-
phone conversation. Ruth Steese, he learned, was a
graduate of Western Reserve, an accomplished pianist;
she had been married for léss than two years. Cody
secured the name and address of the victim’s husband, as
well as her parents. When he hung up, he immediately
dispatched Detectives Roy Ahrens and Roy Heisley to the
husband’s place of employment.

“Notify him his wife has been murdered,” Cody in-
structed. “Then take him to the morgue for identification
of the body.”

He pressed a buzzer and called in Detective Sergeant
Bernard Wolf and Captain Potts. These: two officers were
sent to interview the manager of (Continued on page 60)

SHE FOUGHT DESPERATELY
TO FREE HER HANDS AS A

KILLER RAISED HIS GUN

BY CRAIG S. MORTON

Detective Sergeant Wolf holds gun which had
amazing crime career: was used to murder Ruth
Steese, wound holdup victim, provide an alibi

& HEADLINED STORIES each murder
case has a victim, those close to the victim
who are stricken with grief or fastened with
suspicion, plus a few insignificant items sud-
denly in the limelight as important clues,
and, inevitably, a considerable number of
large, impersonally inquisitive men known
to press and public alike as “cops.” The
public is fed third-hand information about
the case by sob-sisters, columnists and police
reporters, who in turn depend upon the
hard-boiled Homicide men for news releases.
Those on the inside, the detectives assigned
to the case, view at extremely close range
the shocking drama of a human life taken by
violence, and accept it as all in a day’s work.
Perhaps, after hours, they allow themselves
the luxury of emotional expression—con-
demnation for the killer, sympathy for the victim. The
face they turn to the public, however, is expressionless.
By law, a man is innocent until proved guilty. The
cop’s job is to find that man, then the evidences of guilt:
the motive, the weapon, the opportunity to kill. He must
remain impersonal, unbiased, because he knows that
quirks of fate can often arrange motive, weapon and
opportunity so that they point guilt in the wrong direction
—at the innocent. ‘
The men of the Cleveland, Ohio, Detective Bureau and
the officers of the smaller suburban forces of Pepper Pike
and Beachwood were acutely aware of theirresponsibil-
ities, but absolutely without forewarning that the investi-
gation they were about to launch would place the life of
an innocent man in jeopardy. They stood huddled in
small groups around a new, maroon Hudson sedan,
pulled about ten feet off to the side of busy Shaker Boule-
vard. Red lights flashed on several squad cars as uni-
formed officers attempted to move the heavy traffic
3round the numerous official cars parked hurriedly by
detectives responding to the emergency call at 2:30 that
afternoon, Friday, December 30th, 1932. The bleat of
horns and the traffic officers’ whistles came dimly to the
men gathered about the Hudson, oblivious of the steady

rainfall, aware only of the girl crumpled awkwardly on
the back-seat floor.

Heavy wrapping twine bound her wrists behind her
back. A strip of white cloth had been tied around her
head, blindfolding her and covering most of her face.
Above the blindfold were two bullet holes.

Cleveland’s Chief of Detectives, Cornelius W. Cody,
wiped the rain from his glasses and peered at the body
of the slender brunette. The girl obviously had put up a
tremendous fight for her life. Her purse was on the
floor, open, its contents strewn haphazardly. Nearby lay
a silk undergarment, ripped from her body by brute force.
Her clothes were torn and disarrayed. Everything pointed
up the terrible tragedy of a helpless woman battling
desperately against the superior strength of a man. It
was a sight to anger the mildest soul. Cody, aware of
arriving newsmen, gave no indication of anger. He simply
pointed a finger toward the dead girl’s throat, said, “Isn't
that a scarf tied around her neck?”

Chief William Eierman of Pepper Pike nodded. ‘Looks
like the killer wanted to be sure she was dead. Shot her.
and tried to strangle her, too.”

Cody touched the girl’s arm. “She’s still warm.”

“So's the car motor,” Eierman said. “That means the

killer isn’t too far-off. I sent some of my officers out to
patrol the highway and search the entire area for sus-
picious men as soon as we got here. We'll have to wait
for them to check back in. Meanwhile, maybe you’d
better question the fellow who found her.”

Eierman indicated a husky.man wearing a hunting jacket,
who stood nearby. Cody acknowledged a terse introduc-
tion by Eierman and edged the hunter away from the
auto, away from the noise and the hustle. Behind him,
the machinery of crime investigation was in motion.
Superintendent David Cowles, of Cleveland’s crime
laboratory, was going over the murder car with Captain
Emmett J. Potts. Coroner A. J. Pearse was examining
the victim’s body. Cody shot a glance back at this activity,
then, “Give it to me in your own words,” he told the

witness. “When you stopped, and exactly what you saw.”

The man nodded. “I was driving along, returning from
a hunting trip, when I saw that Hudson stuck in the
mud over there. I didn’t see anyone around, so I stopped
and got out to investigate.”

“You opened all the doors?” Cody asked.

“No. They were all open, that’s what made me stop,
I guess. Well, I glanced at my watch and saw it was
exactly 1:50. This girl was sitting straight up in the rear
seat, with a cloth over her head. I saw the wounds, all
right, then touched her to see if she was still alive.” The
hunter paused, his face hardening and growing pale. “She
fell over. I knew she was dead so I hurried off to notify
Chief Eierman. That’s about all I can tell you.”

Detective Chief Cody thanked the hunter, then walked
over to join Coroner Pearse. Chief Eierman remained
behind to take down the witness’s name and address, and
to brief him on what would be expected of him in the
course of the investigation into the murder.

Coroner Pearse gave the essential information to Chief
Cody in crisp terms. “She was raped,” he said. “Her
wedding and engagement rings, as well as an expensive
watch, have not been touched. Potts has the stuff that was
in her purse. Cowles has one of the bullets, a battered
.38 we found on the floor. The other slug must still be in
the corpse.”

Cowles came over, holding a small paper envelope.
“We'll give the bullet lab tests but there’s nothing else
to work with,” he said. “The killer wiped his prints com-
pletely. Not a single latent for us.” .

“What about the purse?” Cody shot at Captain Potts.

The detective captain checked off the items, one by
one. “Driver’s license in the name of Mrs. Ruth Steese,
26. Papers indicating she worked as a bookkeeper for the

Clever suspect (/.) was seen leaving murder car, parked at
spot indicated by officer (below), but still fooled police

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 9

mony were untrue. I did not feel it necessary to find
out, and he did not volunteer to go into the whole dis-
mal story in our talks together.

Though the trial jury decided that his crime had not
been committed in self-defense, it seemed reluctant to
see Sam given the electric chair. After deliberating
many hours the jury asked the judge whether this man
would ever again be released from prison if he were
sentenced to life imprisonment. The jury members
seemed anxious that he never again be a menace to so-
ciety. The judge declined to answer their question, tell-
ing them that they must consider whether the defen-
dant was guilty as charged and whether they could find
reason to recommend leniency or mercy. Another long
period of deliberation brought them back with the find-
ing that he was guilty as charged and that they could
find no reason to recommend mercy. Accordingly,
Sam was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Ohio
State Penitentiary.

Autobiography Before Christ

When first imprisoned in the Fremont County Jail
for the murder of Shirley Bradford, Sam wrote a brief
story of his life, replete with all the pride and braggado-
cio of the accomplished criminal. The story was re-
leased to the newspapers by the sheriff only after
Sam’s death. As I read it I could scarcely believe that it
had been written by the same man whom I had come to
love and appreciate. When I knew him, his whole con-
versation revealed his deep sense of humility, his
thankfulness to God for His willingness to forgive sins,
and his certainty of the Christian’s hope of eternal life.
Actually, comparing the criminal recital with the expe-
rience of the man I knew showed the extent of the
change Christ had made in his life.

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 7

siderably by calling him by name and informing him
that she was well acquainted with his sister. Fresh
from prison, Sam did not know his sister’s friends. It
so happened that Sam idolized this particular sister,
and Shirley immediately saw that she had touched him
in a soft place. Thinking quickly and attempting to play
upon any fears she might have, Sam promised her that
no harm would come to her if she would just assure
him that she would never tell his sister of his crime.
But Shirley was in no mood to make any such prom-
ises. She played up her advantage to the hilt, goading
him as they drove on, describing to him in detail just
how she would inform his sister as to what a ‘‘lousy
brother’ ’she had.

Things were not working out at all as Sam had fore-
seen them. He had no idea that this waitress would rec-
ognize him, and surely he had not thought that she
would be able to identify him by name not only to the
police but also to the only one in the world who meant
anything to him.

Finally, when they reached a secluded place near a
creek, he ordered the waitress out of the car. What
happened after that is not entirely clear. Sam testified
at the trial that Shirley reached for his gun, which had
slipped out of his pocket, and fearing that she would
take this opportunity to shoot him, he picked up the
car’s jack from the floor and bludgeoned her with it.
Her badly mutilated body was found next to the creek
the following day.

The people of the community were shocked and
outraged at what appeared to be such a brutual and
senseless murder. When the cab driver reported what
he knew regarding the suspicious actions of the man in
the restaurant, a great manhunt was on for Sam
Tannyhill.

10 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

Here are excerpts from Sam’s account of his life just
as he wrote it before his conversion:

‘*T was born June 20, 1929, in Marion County. Was a
pretty good boy the first ten years. Just minor trouble,
such as breaking into the schoolhouse, lifting a little
cigarette money from the cash box where my dad
worked, lifting a couple of guns from a neighbor, and
taking the money that Vick Hayes had put away.

‘* After I was ten years old, my little crimes began to
grow up with me. During the next six years I stole six
cars, getting caught twice, but successfully disposing
of the other four cars.

‘* After a while I decided the car business was not so
good, so I started leaving checks here and there. I left
them in Marion, Dayton, Akron, Lima, and Louisville,
Kentucky. Some were personal, some were payroll.

‘*Things were getting pretty much out of hand by this
time. Every place I went the cops tried to coop me up.
Also I was getting plenty of pressure for not being in
school. Well, I went to work for Cole Brothers Circus.
Then I worked with George Sweet’s Wild West Show.
From there I went with Clyde Beatty’s Animal Act. I
finally tired of that, once the law got wise that too
many people were getting hit in the head and being re-
lieved of their money.

‘‘Later I went to Cleveland, where I enlisted in the
Army. I didn’t enlist because I liked it. The pay wasn’t
what I expected, but at least John Law was off my
back for a little while. I was sent to Fort McClelland,
Alabama, for training.

‘*Well, sir, I decided I wasn’t cut out for that kind of
life pretty fast. So I got me a heat stroke and went to the
hospital. I was there about two months, and I got my
first weekend pass. Two checkbooks later and a merry
chase by John Law, and I returned to the hospital.

8 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

However, because Sam had covered his tracks fairly
well, no one could be positive that he had actually
committed the crime. He had been living for a few days
in a hotel in Fremont, and when he had gone to his
room the night before, he had been careful to say good
night to the desk clerk so that the clerk would notice
him and later supply the alibi that Sam had retired at an
early hour. Then, slipping out of his room through a
window, he had gone off to commit the robbery. After
doing away with Shirley Bradford, he entered the room
again by the window, meticulously cleaned up, and left
a rumpled bed to give the appearance that he had slept
there throughout the night. Leaving again through the
window, he had made his final getaway.

The next morning when the authorities came to the
hotel to find their suspect, Sam was gone. However,
the night clerk remembered clearly that he had seen
him go to his room the night before, and was just as
certain that he had not left all night long. This left ev-
eryone in a state of considerable uncertainty as to
whether they were searching for the right man. No
trace of a trail indicated Sam’s whereabouts.

After murdering Shirley Bradford, Sam traveled
with his girl friend to Kansas, where he immediately
resorted to armed robbery to get money to live. When
he was caught several weeks later, the discovery was
made that he was also wanted in Ohio for questioning
regarding a murder. Back in Ohio, he was taken to the
scene of the crime, and he readily confessed to his guilt
in the whole affair.

At his trial Sam pleaded self-defense. In later talks
with me, however, after Christ had entered his heart,
he told me earnestly that at the trial he had not been
entirely truthful regarding all the events that had taken
place. We never discussed which portions of his testi-

12 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

** After several months of this I met my first wife. We
courted a couple of weeks and went to Fort Worth,
Texas, and got married, using her name instead of
mine. We lived together for about two months, and I
decided I’d had enough. I left and came back to Kansas
City. As far as I know she is still there. I haven’t seen
her since.

‘*I then ran into my second wife. She was a good girl
and couldn’t understand why we had to move around
so much. I stole a payroll, and we left for San Antonio,
Texas; then in a few weeks for the Rio Grande Valley.
When we left there I cleaned out the motel cabin, but
we got stopped not five miles down the road. I gave my
wife a call-down for packing the motel’s property, and
talked my way out of that mess. We even got the motel
cabin for one more night. I was pretty well broke by
then. We had been eating fruit for a week, and I needed
some steak, so I decided to hold up a small restaurant.
We left that night at 11:00 p.m. with about four hun-
dred bucks.

‘‘After a two month’s vacation in Old Mexico we fi-
nally ended up in Austin, Texas, with thirty-six cents
and two dogs to feed. (The dogs lived on pink grape-
fruit for thirty days.) I got a job driving a dump truck,
and we made out pretty well. Then I cleaned out a gro-
cery store one night, and things got pretty hot. I
dropped a few checks on the man I was working for,
and we left for Kansas City. (During the time in Austin
my wife got in the family way.) I then went with Frank
S., but the heat was on him pretty bad, so I worked for
Jake G., delivering bootleg around the city. I also
worked at the Democrat Club collecting overdue
debts.

‘Well, I got tired of all these rackets and decided to
get me an honest job. The baby would be around in

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 11

‘‘The wheel over at the hospital got pretty sore be-
cause I was twenty-seven days late on my weekend
pass. So he told me he was taking two thirds of my pay
for six months. He decided I should be shipped to Fort
Dix, New Jersey. He gave me a train ticket and my en-
listment papers. I saw that they would have a hard time
finding me if the papers were missing, so I went
AWOL again.

‘‘Many checkbooks later I was in jail, and the MP’s
came again. This time they took me to Fort Hayes in
Columbus, Ohio. Finally one day I picked up a car and
headed for good old Marion, Ohio. The law was on the
ball, and caught me that afternoon. I gave them a hard-
luck story, and they put me in a home for kids. When
the MP’s came, they found me almost out a hole I had
dug under the sink, so back to Fort Hayes.

‘**The people at the Fort were pretty mad, so they put
me in the blockhouse for fourteen days. Then they
shipped me to Fort Knox, Kentucky. They put me in
the guardhouse and gave me a job at the motor pool
under shotgun guard. I worked there about two weeks
and ran across some hacksaw blades. That night seven
of us sawed out the bars in the window, but they got us
about thirty-six hours later. They got real mad, and
told me that since my records were missing and I had
no pay to tap, they were giving me a discharge. That
was music to my ears. So in September, 1947, I was
out of the Army.

‘‘Well, I returned to Marion for a while and used a
couple more checkbooks so John Law will have some-
thing to do. The law is on Marion’s side and tries to
make a pinch. Two shots later and one broken window,
I get to a friend’s house. Within thirty days and a few
checkbooks later, Iam once more on the run. I pick up
a car and dispose of it outside the city.

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 13

four or five months, and I was thinking of getting set-
tled down for that. We moved to where my wife’s peo-
ple lived, and I got ajob on a farm, $120 a month. After
a couple of months I saw I was getting nowhere fast.

“So I got me a couple of checkbooks, and we left
there for Iowa, $1100 richer. I went to work for a
farmer in Polk City, and that lasted till they caught me
taking the tires off my employer’s car and about to put
them on mine. The law told me to leave or go to jail, so
I went. I then went to work for a farmer in the next
county. He was acheapskate and only paid me ninety a
month and wanted a man to work like a horse. So I
decided when payday came I’d leave and take my own
wages. So when I left I took a new refrigerator, a bed
and springs, a table, four chairs, three rugs, one radio,
two hundred chickens, and a cute little baby pig.

“*T then went to work for a farmer named Fritz K. He
paid me $135 per month but talked too much; so we
decided to leave one day while he was away at the fair.
I took his new pickup truck, three fishing rods and
reels, a 410-gauge shotgun, and two new books of trav-
eler’s checks and wrote a few personal checks on his
account. And off we went.

““We then went through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and
back to Missouri. My wife wanted the baby to be born
in her home State. I was stopped outside Kansas City
for speeding, and I knew my car title would get me
caught, but there was no way out. I was put in jail. My
wife was given a room in a hotel.

‘*They laid everything on the table. I took a ride for
forgery, or my wife would get a charge for being an ac-
cessory before and after the fact. Not much choice, so
I accepted. So I went to Jefferson City with a seven-
year sentence on September 8, 1949.

‘‘I was due for parole in twenty-seven months. Some

14 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

way the wife managed to keep the baby and get me a
parole in seventeen months. I still don’t know how she
managed it. I was sent to Carrolton on parole, but un-
der a Kansas City parole officer. Finally I had had
enough of him, and leaving the wife and baby with her
grandparents, I went to work with the checkbook.
Eleven checks later I was on my way to (you guessed
it) Marion, Ohio.

‘I was in Marion just twelve days when the law
caught me in the Triangle Bar, drunk, and taking
potshots at the liquor supply behind the bar. They put
me in the cooler with seven charges against me. Things
didn’t look so good, so I got me some hacksaw blades.
I was caught in the act, and jail breaking was added to
my charges.

**T still had a few days until grand jury when Sheriff
Ray Retter caught me warming some water to pitch on
him when the door was opened. He said he would
make sure I got some time. He did—thirty days for car-
rying the gun and ninety days for sawing up the jail. I
was then returned to Missouri to finish my time. I was
divorced a year later, after my second child was born,

and was released from the Missouri Pen on February
12, 1955.

*‘Mother was working in Enid, Oklahoma, at the
time, so I went out there. I was there one week and
decided to go to Indianapolis. I worked at the Holland
Furnace days and cashed checks nights and pulled two
robberies. Things were getting pretty hot, so I came to
Fremont on March 5, 1955. You know the story here.

‘* After I left Fremont I went to Kansas City. I saw
my two children and pulled a robbery. That’s where I
locked the man in the cooler. I then went to Springfield
and met a friend. We pulled a robbery there, and I went
to Wellington, Kansas. I was looking for a friend I had

16 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

die for a crime of murder. Now, before I go any fur-
ther, I want to say this: I am in no way asking for help,
nor do I expect any sympathy from anyone. This is
solely for the glory of God, who made it all possible.

‘*Some will say, ‘This doesn’t interest me, I am not
going to end up in there.’ That, my friend, is where you
may be fooling yourself. I had the same opinion once.

“‘This didn’t start with just a crime of murder. No,
far from it. This started back in my hometown, when I
was just a lad. My first brush with the law was at the
tender age of ten or eleven. ‘Nothing too bad,’ they all
said. ‘He’ll grow out of it in time.’ That was mistake
number one.

‘*As the years went by, so did all chance of decency
in me. I didn’t grow out of it; I grew more sly, and my
wrongs grew in size also. Until 1949 none of my crimes
had been of a vicious nature.

‘‘My first real big brush with the law came when I
was found guilty of first degree forgery and sent to the
Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, Mis-
souri, for seven years. That, you may say, was my fin-
ishing school in crime.

‘‘While there, I came into close contact with every
nature of man and crime. In such a place you find ev-
erybody willing to help you make the so-called ‘big
time.’

‘‘Sure, there were chaplains who were more than
willing to help you. In my case there were three chap-
lains to serve three thousand five hundred men. Sure, I
heard of them and their God, but I had never been in a
church and was in no frame of mind to attend one then.

‘‘After serving five years and a half, I was dis-
charged as a well-adjusted, reformed, and sincere hu-
man male, ready to take my place in society. That was
a joke. I had passed all the tests and was ready to ad-

THREE HOURSTOLIVE 15

done time with in Missouri, but he was in the pen in
Kansas. I met his brother, and we planned a bank job. I
had spent every cent I had getting everything lined up
for the job, and the day it was to come off he backed
out on me.

‘‘T was at the place where I needed money. The
room rent was due, and I had a date for the night. So, I
saw a liquor store open, and pulled the robbery. I
changed clothes and took a cab to see the new flame,
Phyllis. Her old man insisted I use his car. So we went
about twenty miles to the next town and got us a steak.
The flame, her daughter, age two, and I got back about
11:00 p.m. Everything looked OK, so we went into the
house. I no sooner sat down than in walks three city
police. I found out my friend in Missouri had an old
man who put the finger on me.

‘*That’s about all. I have always said: ‘If I am for
something, right or wrong, I am with it all the way.’ I
hide behind no one, and I am man enough to take what-
ever I get and hate no one for it. If I said I’d change my
ways, I would have to break my vow to my friends. Ill
never break my word.”’

Autobiography Rewritten

But a bad vow is better broken than kept, and sev-
eral months later, after Jesus Christ had entered his
heart, Sam did, indeed, change his ways. After this ex-
perience he once again wrote a brief autobiography of
his life, but this time there was no pride in relating his
crimes. His new attitude was as opposite from his old
as day is from night—his emphasis this time being on
what God had done for him in changing his heart and
life.

‘*T write this little story from a cell in death row at
the Ohio State Penitentiary, where I await my turn to

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 17

vance, but not as a good member of society.

‘*My first crime came two weeks after my discharge.
I went to Indianapolis, Indiana, but had to leave be-
cause of a number of crimes that sooner or later would
have been placed on my doorstep. My next stop was in
Ohio. I had a few dollars in my pocket and a head full
of ideas—all bad. I found a job in a respectable busi-
ness concern and was doing all right. I bought a car and
found me a girl friend, and you might say had every-
thing going my way. Within one month I found legiti-
mate means of buying out a small restaurant and ser-
vice station. I gave up my job and moved in, ready to
make a mint.

‘*Soon I found myself running around all day and all
night. Oh, yes, a nice crowd, but no time left for the
business. The next thing I knew, I had more checks out
than I had money to cover. That is where I made my
big mistake. I bought a gun and decided to put some of
my former schooling to a test. I pulled arobbery, anda
waitress was killed. Things had not gone as planned at
all. It didn’t work as I was told it would. I was on the
run.

‘*After a number of robberies I was caught up with in
Kansas for a local robbery. I was sent to the State peni-
tentiary for ten to twenty-one years for that. That is
where I was a few weeks later, when Ohio found me
and brought me back to stand trial for first-degree mur-
der.

‘While waiting for trial, I broke jail, and after a wild
ride, with two cars wrecked and seven people scared
half to death, I was caught and returned to jail covered
with cuts and bruises. Then came the trial, and facing
all the innocent people who were made to suffer be-
cause of my wrongs. It lasted eight days, and I was
sent here to die February 1, 1956.

18 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

‘‘That is where I remembered all those sleepless
nights in fear. All those times I had come so close to
death, but somehow, had made it, without catching
that little death slug. During my time in jail I was vis-
ited by a number of preachers and Christians. One
went so far as to bring me a Bible belonging to his nine-
year-old son. It was given me after I made a promise I
would read it. After I ran out of other books, I read it to
help pass my time away.

‘I found a place where a man named Jesus sent
some of His gang to bring Him a mule. For this I
thought Him a horse thief. Then I ran across a place
where He made wine. For this, I called Him a bootleg-
ger. Then I found a place where He raised the dead,
healed all manner of sickness, and cast out evil. Now I
wondered, What manner of man is this? So I started at
Matthew, and I read all the part called the New Testa-
ment. By that time I found Him, not a horse thief or
bootlegger, but the Son of God. I knew of people who
prayed and served that God and who lived up to His
law, but that wasn’t me. I was an ex-con, a murderer,
but yet I read where people in the Bible were also out-
side of the law. Then I was troubled; I wanted that
peace of mind this God was giving away, but how
could I get word to Him? Can He really hear you when
you pray? And will He answer a man who has never
heard of Him?

‘‘To these questions and many more I wanted an an-
swer. So I tried praying. My prayers never got out of
my cell. I prayed for help, but hung on to the world
with both hands. After I was brought here I got mail
from a number of Christians. I read it all, and even read
it to my buddies next door. There was one lady who, I
could tell and feel by reading her letters, had just what
I wanted. I decided to follow all her directions and give

22 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

ise. His little. boy had just been given a new Bible for
his birthday, and the boy finally suggested that his fa-
ther take this new Bible to Sam. The delighted father,
Keith Collins, headed back for the county jail with the
Bible in his hands.

This time he had exactly the same difficulty gaining
admittance. The sheriff, who felt that he had broken
the rules the night before in allowing the men in, now
did not see how he could possibly relax the rules again.
However, once more, after quite a bit of deliberation,
he allowed the visitor to enter. Handing the Bible to
Sam, Keith Collins related the fact that it was a gift
from his nine-year-old son. This made a lasting impres-
sion, causing Sam to read and study this Bible to find
what was there for him. And his life was never the
same after that.

Our First Meeting

My first meeting with Sam was in April, 1956, at
Ohio State Penitentiary to which he had been moved.
Originally scheduled to die in February, he had been
granted a stay of execution till a later date.

On Sabbath morning the Faith for Today male quar-
tet and I conducted the service in a beautiful church in
Columbus, Ohio. As I looked out over the congrega-
tion worshiping God under such favorable circum-
stances, I could not resist telling them that while we
were in that place dedicated to the service of the Lord,
I knew of one other in that city who in heart was wor-
shiping with us. I told them that I knew he would have
rejoiced had he been allowed to be in our midst at that
time. I told them that I had a letter in my pocket grant-
ing me permission to call on this man in the prison.

Immediately after the close of the church service I
hurried off to the penitentiary. After presenting my let-

20 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

‘*Man can have my body, they can burn it or chop it
in little pieces, I don’t care. Jesus has promised me a
new body, and my soul is in my Lord’s tender care.
Yes, I was a man with a heart of stone. I was up to my
chin in sin, with blood on my hands. God kept His
word as He always will. He forgave my sins. The blood
of His Son covered them, and now I am ready to meet
God on His own terms. I am ready to take Jesus by the
hand and stand before that mighty Judge. I can truly
say there is no sin too black that the blood of Jesus
Christ can’t wash as white as snow.

‘*T ask every child of God who reads this to pray it
may help some lost soul to find the peace of mind and
blessed assurance one can only find through the love
and mercy of God.

‘*May it be my testimony for Him and all glory be
given to Him. My reward is not of man, but from God.

‘*By the grace of God
Sam W. Tannyhill’’

First Step Toward Christ

Sam’s interest in spiritual things began with the dedi-
cated concern of two Seventh-day Adventist laymen,
members of the church in Fremont, Ohio. They de-
cided to try to visit Sam just after they had read in the
newspapers that he had been found guilty of murder
and had been sentenced to die in the electric chair.

Making their way to the sheriff's office, they re-
quested permission to visit Sam in his cell, explaining
that they were not ministers, but that they felt a special
burden to help this needy man. Their request at first
was denied. Sam had not proved to be a very cooperat-
ive prisoner in the Sandusky County jail. He had even
broken jail and had given everyone a hard time. As a
result no one was very anxious to allow these strange

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 19

it one more try. Also our chaplain here told me the
story, so I tried praying. For three days there was no
more miserable soul on this earth than I. I prayed, I
cried, I prayed, and the longer it went on the more mis-
erable I became.

‘‘On November 4th I made one more try to reach
that God who could give me that peace of mind. I got
on my knees and truly confessed every wrong I could
think of, and asked that God please help me. I told Him
if I had forgotten any of my sins to have mercy on me
and add them to the list, because I was guilty of them
too.

‘*Let me tell you, I never had such a wonderful feel-
ing in my life. I wanted to shout it to the world. Yes, I
felt the Spirit of God as He truly brought His love into
my heart. After I settled down to bed along about
morning, I slept peacefully for the first time in my adult
life. The next morning when I got up, I prayed my
thanks to God before I even put on my clothes. That
day I testified to my fellowmen here. Also I was
overheard by a guard. He told me that by reading my
outgoing mail he could tell I was searching for Christ. I
didn’t know what he would do about me telling my fel-
low inmates about my Lord, so I told him, ‘You can
lock me in a cell, but if you don’t want to hear about
God’s love for a sinner, you’!l have to pump the air out
of me.’ He told me he too loved my Saviour and would
never try to stop me of such talk.

**My chaplain came to see me, and we had prayer
together, my first prayer with anyone around me. I
never tire of telling my love for my Jesus. Every letter I
write I testify for Him. I am in a cell in death row, but I
am more free here than I ever was in the streets. I have
no fear of death whatsoever. To me death is one step
closer to my Jesus.

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 21

men, not even credentialed ministers, to visit the pris-
oner. The officers attempted to dismiss the visitors
with the explanation that Sam had had spiritual coun-
sel. A clergyman had stopped in to see him once, and
they felt this was sufficient.

The two men were so disheartened that they just sat
there, hoping and even silently praying that God would
change the ruling of those in charge. After quite some
time the sheriff spoke again and said, ‘‘Oh, well, I
guess it can’t do any harm to let you go in to see him,”’
and he escorted them to Sam’s cell.

Their approach would not be considered the perfect
one to alone man in a jail cell. Standing just outside his
cell they delivered a sermon as if to a large congrega-
tion. In it they emphasized the love of God and His de-
sire to save everyone. God used their simple and ear-
nest message. After the ‘‘sermon’’ was ended they
visited with Sam and asked if he would be willing to
accept a Bible. One of the men explained that he had
an extra one at home which he would be glad to bring
over and give him. He asked only that Sam would
promise to read it. The two also suggested that they
would like to enroll Sam in the Faith for Today Bible
Correspondence Course, which, they assured him,
would help him understand the Bible.

There was something about these men that seemed
different. Though they were not educated or trained
for Christian witnessing, their sincerity was evident,
and Sam’s heart responded. He assured them that he
would accept the Bible, and would promise to read it.
Furthermore, he also agreed that he would welcome
the Faith for Today Bible Course.

The next day one of the men returned. He had not
been able to locate the extra Bible that he had prom-
ised and had been in quite a dilemma to fulfill his prom-

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 31

bars about the things of God and happily discussing the
things being learned from our Bible course.

‘*Under the Blood of Christ”’

In one of Sam’s letters he wrote, ‘‘There are just
four of us on death row at present, but I am glad to tell
you that three of us are under the blood of Christ.
Please pray that we will be able to get the fourth one
before it is too late.’’ Later, I discovered that “‘too
late’’ has a special connotation on death row. It was in
April that I first visited with Earle, but when I returned
several months later, he was no longer there, having
gone to his death in July. But, I found he had spent his
last hours with a Christian layman, who has shown a
real interest in prison work and helped many to a closer
walk with the Saviour. Sam assured me that Earle died
strong in faith and in the certainty of resurrection. He
described their parting to me as being a very hopeful
experience. Only new Christians, both expressed their
confidence in the soon return of the Lord and the re-
union which they anticipated then.

Presence of Jesus

I must admit that when I left Sam, I felt hist as a
minister I had been somewhat of a failure. My purpose
in visiting him had been to bring him cheer and spiritual
encouragement. However, in retrospect, I felt that he
had brought me more cheer and spiritual encourage-
ment than I had brought him. On death row I felt the
presence of Jesus in the changed, converted life of a
condemned criminal.

Soon after I returned home I wrote Sam, expressing
my joy at having been able to meet him personally and
visit with him. This is his reply:

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 33

again. Tell all my friends at Faith for Today that I am

praying for them daily. May God bless you, ‘my pas-

tor,’ and keep you ever safe in His tender love and
care, tis my humble prayer.

‘“By God’s grace,

Sam’”’

The word ‘‘grace’’ means ‘“‘unmerited favor.’’ Sam
evidently understood this and loved to think about it,
for his letters always ended with, ‘‘By God’s grace,
Sam.”’

Sam’s Execution Stayed

Sam is in a grave today awaiting the call of the Christ
he served. Six dates were set for his execution. Five of
them passed by. Those of us who knew him hoped that
the sixth would pass by also. We even dared dream
that perhaps he might have the privilege of living for
Jesus Christ under sentence of life imprisonment. At
times we allowed our hopes for him to include the idea
that he might even be released so that he could give his
life in wholehearted, full-time service to the cause of
Jesus Christ. While Sam also hoped this, he recognized
that his life was in the hands of Another, who would
have to work out His own plans. Sam was ready to fit
into those plans, no matter what they might be.

The first date set for Sam’s execution was February
15, 1956. Had he died then I would not have had the
privilege of meeting him, for my personal contacts
came later. The next date was May 15. My first visit to
him was in April when he did me the honor of asking if
he might call me his pastor. Explaining that he had
never had one, he hesitantly asked if I would object
were he to consider me as his pastor. Something about
the way he asked made me feel that he feared I would

32 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

‘*April 22, 1956
Columbus, Ohio

**Dear Pastor Fagal:

‘‘Received your letter and was so very glad to hear
from you. I pray this note will find you and yours well
in body, and ever happy in Jesus’ tender love and care.

‘*One more wonderful Sabbath has just closed, and
my, the blessings brought forth! It seems as if our
heavenly Father left the throne and spent the day right
here in my house. Of course we know His loving Spirit
is ever present but never as near as when a body rests
as God rested. You said you were happy to find I had
found so much peace in the blessed Lord. Pastor
Fagal, this will sound strange but nevertheless true. I
am more happy here than I ever was in the street, and I
am ever thankful to God for striving with me. There
just wasn’t any other way to wake me up, so here I am.

‘“Moses was driven to a wilderness before he be-
came of service. The beloved Paul was so far off he
was struck down in the road and blinded. Well, Sam
was a hardhead too. My case may look much different,
but it’s not. We all have the same God, we all need for-
giveness, and in the end we respect our God, pray to
Him, and look forward to spending an eternity in the
same place.

‘*Yes, Jesus is coming soon, out of the east with all
His glory. Sam wants to be ready for that day. I may be
here, I may be in a grave, but either way, I want to be
ready. This world just doesn’t have any pretties any-
more to catch my eye. I want to go home, and I am
looking forward to finding many of our faith there.

‘‘As I close I again thank you for coming to visit me.
I surely did enjoy that visit from ‘my pastor,’ and if I
am real, real good, the Lord may give me the pleasure

34 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

object because of who and where he was. I assured him
that I had never been more honored by anyone. Then
he asked if, as his pastor, I would be with him on May
15 when he was scheduled to die. Wondering if I would
be equal to such an experience, I nevertheless an-
swered Yes.

Two or three weeks later he seemed to have the as-
surance that God had some reason for sparing his life a
little longer, and so he wrote to me saying, ‘‘I surely
want to thank you for being willing to be with me on
May 15, but it will not be in May. I have a little more
labor for my Master before my time comes. For feeling
this way some might call me crazy, some silly, but time
will bear me out. So let’s wait and see, God willing.”’

I must confess that his optimistic attitude concerned
me, for we had no reason to suspect at that time that
his execution would be postponed. I was disturbed
lest, in being wrong, he might become discouraged at
the very end. However, my fears were quite un-
founded. Two days before May 15 I received a tele-
gram telling me it would not be necessary for me to
come, as Sam’s execution was being postponed. His
faith apparently had not been misplaced, for Sam had
been right and I wrong. I watched this same thing hap-
pen again, month after month, through the summer and
into the fall. Various dates were set, and then at the
last moment postponed. God surely seemed to be spar-
ing Sam’s life for some good cause known best to Him-
self.

The following October, when I visited Sam again, he
was aglow with some wonderful news. During that
very week his mother had visited him. ‘‘A real miracle
has taken place,”’ he asserted. ‘‘Mother sat right there
where you are sitting. My stepfather was along, and
also a lady who had been studying the Bible with them.

54 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

give his sins and give him power to live as he should in
the future. This is what is often referred to as a ‘‘saving
faith’? which obviously leads to salvation. It is a full
trust in and acceptance of Jesus as one’s Saviour and
Redeemer from sin.

Conversion, then, very simply, begins with a per-
son’s recognition of his own sinful nature and utter in-
ability to effect a permanent change in himself. Con-
version becomes a reality as the person reaches out in
faith to Jesus, asking Him to effect the change in him
that obviously cannot be wrought in any other way.
Christ then makes the miraculous change. And Christ
has been doing this for men and women through the
centuries. It is as true today as it ever was that ‘‘If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.”’
2 Corinthians 5:17. Thus, conversion involves a per-
sonal encounter with Jesus Christ who only can perma-
nently change men’s hearts.

How to Begin the Christian Life

How does a person become a new creature in
Christ? How did this experience come to Sam?

First, Sam saw his own need and wanted his life to
be different from what it had been. He felt a genuine
sorrow and remorse for his sinful life and wanted to be
done with that forever. There is no doubt but that this
is the way every Christian life begins. A person feels a
great sense of his own inadequacy and is completely
discontented with his past failures. Realizing that there
must be a higher Power who can help him lead the right
kind of life, he reaches out in simple faith for divine
help. When a man does this, God is always there to
perform the miracle of conversion in his experience.
He discovers then that he is a changed person.

52 THREE HOURS TOLIVE

new life from Him coursing through our bodies makes
our whole world new and lovely. Then we know from
experience the truth of Paul’s exclamation that with
Christ in his heart, a man is a new creature. To his de-
light, Sam found that to be true.

Sam discovered, as every man must discover, that
the important thing is to come to Christ just as we are.
We must not try to change ourselves first, but rather
must allow Him to do this otherwise impossible task
for us. How important it is for us to remember that
only God can change us.

When a man’s life is miraculously changed as was
Sam’s, we say he has been converted. What do we
mean by this rather technical theological word? Let us
try to analyze it and apply it to our own personal expe-
rience.

Were we to try to analyze conversion, we would
rightly conclude that it contains two main elements—
repentance and faith. Both of these primary elements
are of the utmost importance to a changed life.

Repentance is vital to and must precede conversion.
Jesus taught that a man cannot possibly be saved with-
out it. He exclaimed, ‘‘Except ye repent, ye shall. . .
perish.’ Luke 13:3.

What did Jesus mean by this command to repent? In
simple terms, repentance is the experience of recogniz-
ing what we really are and feeling a genuine sorrow for
our failures. Actually, what this amounts to is that we
come to see ourselves as God sees us, and, as the re-
sult, are almost overcome by our own inadequacy and
need of His help. Job summed it up when he wrote,
‘‘Now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor my-
self, and repent in dust and ashes.’’ Job 42:5, 6. When
a man gets a “‘God’s-eye’’ look at himself, he cannot
help but see his pitiful spiritual state and his need of

THREE HOURSTOLIVE 51

step which will ultimately lead him to a place in God’s
kingdom. No man can buy his way to heaven, and no
one can ever earn it by his good works. Salvation is a
free gift of Jesus Christ to every soul who accepts Je-
sus as his Saviour.

It is important also to realize that one is not expected
to straighten out his life before he can accept Jesus as
his own Saviour and Lord. The truth of the matter is—
that people cannot change their lives with their own
strength. Though Sam had tried on numerous occa-
sions, he was never able to change his life. He made
many excellent resolutions, but he always slipped back
into the same old wrong ways of doing things. Sin
seems to get too great a hold upon a man for him to
break it in his own strength.

Surprising though it may seem, we are never told in
the Scriptures to straighten out our lives, give up our
sins, and then commit our ways to Christ. The fact of
the matter is that such a course of action would be ab-
solutely impossible. The order is reversed. We are
commanded first to come to Christ, with the assurance
that the rest will logically follow after.

As a boy, I remember hearing the church congrega-
tion sing that wonderful hymn, ‘‘Just as I am, without
one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that
Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come,
I come.’’ The only way anyone can come to Christ is
just as he is. We cannot change our own sinful natures.
All of us are utterly dependent upon Christ to work out
the character transformation which we so desire.

In the spring of the year have you ever noticed how
the tree’s new life causes any clinging leaves to drop to
the ground? When we come to Christ in our sinful
state, He gives us the miraculous new life which makes
our old sins and habits fall off like lifeless leaves. This

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 53

help from heaven. As Paul expressed it, ‘‘Now I re-
joice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance... . for godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation.’’ 2 Corinthians 7:9,
10. There can be no repentance without a godly sorrow
for sin.

But if a person stopped with godly sorrow and did
not take the next step of ‘‘faith’’ in the conversion ex-
perience, he would be most miserable indeed. A per-
son cannot live long with sorrow, even godly sorrow,
without it adversely affecting his whole life. God in-
tends that our sorrow for sins should simply be a step
on His ladder to heaven. The next step is labeled
‘‘faith.”’

Faith is a good strong word, and yet if it stands alone
it approaches being meaningless. For faith to have
meaning, it must be connected to something else—in
its highest form, a person. I can have faith in you, in
my friends, in my wife, my family, my children, et
cetera. So Christians are not simply instructed to have
faith, but they are told to have faith in Jesus Christ,
who died for them and in their place on Calvary. Chris-
tian faith is, therefore, commitment to a Person, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who first loved us and paid the price
for our sins on Calvary’s cross.

Here is Christian faith in action: “‘He that cometh to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him.’’Hebrews 11:6. A
Christian, then, is one who not only has felt guilt for his
own wrongdoing, but has realized his need of a saving
Power greater than himself. In simple faith he has been
willing to accept the fact that Jesus died on Calvary’s
cross to pay the price for his sins. He has applied this
to his own life by believing that Jesus has accom-
plished this for him. And he has trusted Christ to for-

k, fashioned to hang
m steel cot and mop.

a lovely looking
ps, a soft and de-
iquid brown eyes
endliness. Her hair
se, as neat as her
sply-starched uni-
sted rather than
f her full-bosomed
lininity itself, and
yad-weary truckers,
irists who stopped
reet, near Fremont,
the tired hours.
much thought to
it a point to be
t—the stick-up men.
oking at it sensibly,
an all-night res-
man, but she didn’t

get scared?” her
a Andrews, once

head. “I don’t think
guys stick up the
it. At least, I don’t
s never more than
, the till—so that’s

orld.”

CRIME DETECTIVE

It never occurred to Shirley that
money wasn’t all a thug might be in-
terested in. Real danger, faced in the
open, was one thing, and,. Shirley: reck-
oned, it was far better than the appre-
hensions and worries of a lonely woman
in a dark bedroom.

bebo the time came, when danger .

actually threatened her, she might
have reason to change her mind, of
course. And the time came on the morn-
ing of May 2, 1955, for it was on that
day that the cash register was robbed
and Shirley was kidnapped—or did she
just take off with the money?—right out
of the well-lighted diner.

Whichever it was, it was a deep mys-
tery to owner Bill Widman and the
police for a while. It was a Monday
morning, and Widman always arrived
at four a.m. at the start of the week
to help with the breakfast trade, as well

as figure out his food orders for the .

week.

All the lights. were on in The Hut, and
the door was open when Widman ar-
rived. The coffee was bubbling in the
big urn. He thought perhaps that Shir-
ley had gotten a rush call to go home
to her son, who'd been sick lately. When
he saw the cash register empty, he was
momentarily worried, until he saw a
note telling him to call Chuck Patterson
in the morning. Chuck ran a garage
nearby, and Widman figured that Shir-
ley had left the money with him.

But still, the door open? No one at
all around to check on things? It must
have been a real emergency. Widman
had plenty to keep him busy the next
couple of hours, and it wasn’t until a
little after seven that he remembered to
call Chuck. He did so, and then his

: fears returned. Shirley hadn't left’ any

money with Chuck. All the note referred
to was Chuck’s phoning the night be-
fore, around eleven p.m., asking: Shir-
ley to have Widman call him in the
morning about ordering soft drinks for
the garage.

Then Widman called Shirley's apart-
ment, got no answer, and called the
police. Before seven-thirty arrived, Offi-
cer Joe Kindred was in the restaurant,
getting the sparse facts from Widman.

HE restaurant owner described the

scene as it was when he had arrived’
in the morning. Then he went on to
give Kindred details about Shirley's
background. She had come to Ohio
seven years before from South Carolina,
had recently been separated from her
husband, and (Continued on page 58)

CRIME DETECTIVE

[o> St. ee ereersierteeennem anette

f -
ih

William Widman, owner of diner- where Shirley worked, found his cash
register empty, his diner unattended at four a.m., and his waitress missing.

“What could | do?”
“These doggone wo

killer (left) tells Sheriff Paul as he is marched into jail.

men—they talk too much. That’s why | had to kill her.”

i EE

sheriff Paul (left) and Deputy Smith hold weapons found in Tannyhill’s cell after he broke jail. Sheriff has a hook, fashioned to hang
from window, strong enough to lift items like saw-blades. He also holds wooden gun. Smith has clubs, made from steel cot and mop.

Tannyhill, on the bank of creek with Sheriff Paul, watches Captain McGuire retrieve
murder weapon, part of an auto-jack, from creek into which the killer had thrown it.
Even after lengthy submersion in water, the victim’s hairs still adhered to jack post. -

though. Shirley was a lovely looking
gitl with ripe, full lips, a soft and de-
lectable skin, and liquid brown eyes
that were full of friendliness. Her hair
was dark, curled close, as neat as her
spotlessly clean, crisply-starched uni-
form, which suggested rather than
flaunted the sexiness of her full-bosomed
figure. She was femininity itself, and
an eye-opener for road-weary truckers,
and cabbies and tourists who stopped
off on West State Street, near Fremont,
Ohio, for coffee, in the tired hours.

Shirley didn’t give much thought to
the men who made it a point to be
widest awake at night—the stick-up men.
She fully realized, looking at it sensibly,
the vulnerability of an all-night res-
taurant run by a woman, but she didn’t
dwell on it.

“Don’t you ever get scared?” her
sister-in-law, Patricia Andrews, once
asked her.

Shirley shook her head. “I don’t think
about it. If some guys stick up the
place—I won't fight it. At least, I don’t
think I will. There’s never more than
a hundred dollars in the till—so that’s
not the end of the world.”

CRIME DETECTIVE

It nev
money
terested
Open, was
Oned, it wa

hensions ar

in a dark

have reasor
course. An
ing of Ma
day that
and Shirley
just take off
of the wel!

Whichex
tery to ow
police for
morning,
at four
to help wit
as figure
week.

All the ligh:
the door was
rived. The
big urn. He
ley had gott
to her son, w
he saw the
momentari]\

note telling
in the
nearby, and
ley had left
But still,

all around ¢
have been
had plenty ¢
couple of |}
little after s
call Chuck
fears return
money with (
to was Chuck
fore, around
ley to have
morning abo
the garage.
Then Wid
ment, got
police.. Befor
cer Joe Kind:
getting the sp

HE restau:

scene as it
in the mornir
give Kindred
background. S}
seven years bef
had recently
husband, and

CRIME DETECTIVE

left photo, center,
break. With him is
nd Sheriff Fred Paul.
who was slugged by
recovers in hospital.

the wolves
juy—he was

tnd live...

Ia ia

With her ripe, full lips,
silky skin and soft brown
eyes, Shirley was an eye-
opener for the truckers
who stopped at the all-
night diner for her coffee.
She was also too much
temptation for the mad-
man who closed her eyes
for good—and left her
body, below, in the blood-
soaked grass near bridge.

Deputy Paul Ziegler, the other pri-
son official who was almost killed
when Shirley's murderer escaped.

ER nights at home were long and
filled with little fears, and so it
was no hardship at all for Shirley Brad-
ford to take the night-shift at The Hut.
In the all-night restaurant, at least, the
inevitable loneliness caused by her re-

by WALTER RINGE

were replaced by time passing swiftly

in the brightly-lit restaurant as she filled

orders and talked to customers.
Shirley worked as a counter-girl,

cent separation from her husband was doubling as short-order cook and wait-
less acute. And the endless nights of ress on the shift that ended at seven
worrying in a darkened bedroom about a.m., when owner Bill Widman came

future, and that of her young son
CRIME DETECTIVE

on. It wasn’t exactly the way she would

chee heemnonpeemannnemenees i

have liked things, but it was better than
loneliness. It also gave her a chance to
see her son by day. As for a social life,
she was far happier working than
spending the evenings turning down
dates and fighting off the wolves that
had suddenly started flocking around,
as soon as they knew she and her hus-
band had separated.

You couldn’t blame the wolves,

Shirley's fishy-eyed killer, left photo, center,
is returned to jail after break. With him is
‘Captain McGuire, left, and Sheriff Fred Paul.
Above, Deputy Halbeisen, who was slugged by
killer before the escape, recovers in hospital.

cana.

A girl like Shirley gets experience handling the wolves

, who start up with lonely women... But this guy—he was

different...No woman could fight him off and live...

Deputy Pa
son officia
when Shir

was ni
ford t
In the
inevitat
cent se]

less ac
worrying
her fut

CRIME DE

en.

on pee sa ae

oo, Sra

ST OLEAD

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TRIAL

FRANK NEWTON OFFICE SUPPLY<DOTHAN

, + THOMAS, Charles, black, 2h, electrocuted Ohio (Franklin) spoT

eWatitse a

mated bersuse ¢m-
fiat anbwitlss

< SNVSNTIONS BOLD GU
-- ODBLS= DSVB

Quay ot the angels
“2 & degree: 0

‘porial ccetractem
ep between the employer and
; pec ta aut oridge
ts Fe: pe

grows

copal church south died

Brgrl Gachsopontent
ene R4—Pollyasna,}
'isdy world CHAU | ann

x,
ceoach’ ripen 4

govcraments,

Sational cohzenttin is. Fentraciatir
woider dust in the ayes, He makes |
tite look ‘brighter. It -taaKes yea
eure Lega BEGAN comethisg you!

inésa,. arrived tn Hevw \COS
1 st once proceeded | 25
‘al view of the whole,
eation situation, thus!
in oppesiticoa to that
red literary obaractor
Vhito of Kansas, who
ar the papers is de-
orprion ef this ¢on-
matters &3 rum and

eid Pollyanna, in he-
the Building of the

ne seciety,. “that the}look at Mr. McAdoo’s own pr

1@ Protestants in thia
showlpg a most com-
{ rard eseh other,
f ermdeavoring to'
into a postition of!
alatively to itself.”
1 make that out?”
sorter.
y clear,” sald Paolly-
smith ie elected pres-;
e scared to death tuo
lic to-any office any-
shington. Look xt
1 Chicaguv. Being 2
wnot give any of thy
6 in the Chicago city
s, Alo bas to appoint
wague, a Protestant,
niesioner of public
to-appoint young F.
estant, to be his cor-
1. Those gre the two
o his cabinet. +
inows it will be the
Nr. Bmith if he is
at. Not one really
1 Washington will ‘n
nees go to a Catholic.

“Rt ragkes Fes think yon,

ae petting gomewhers where yao f

n't getting. , . Rt makes tag gub
shine while the rata is Bou down.
kt makes yos know i¢ fua't .

raiu today, it’s ratalas tlolats, it'a
8 beautiful tribute to me, * I take. it
43 8 pereonal compliment. F cau
it @ real true, sweet, tender, genuine,
Pollyanna plank, All eonventions
yos know ore fallofthem. .
“The ant+Klan resolation to era.
bayrass Mr. McAégoo 4s an f}iustra-
tion. It is pure blue aky. Aad eit

plank about railroada. The! veaity
princtpal critical convention {a rall-

terrupted a reporter.

Pollyanna. “His vailroad trade
unicn convention will meet in Cleve-
laad rext week. The Democratic
party, last time it carrisd the coun-
try, in 1916, carried {ft because it
had the support of the ratlroad trade
unions in consequence of the pas
sage of the eight-Bour AdGamsoa law
by a democratte congrees. This year
the demecrats ebeolutoly have to
have the big railroad trade union
vote. But LaFollette is out to steal
{ii from them. They have got to get
it back so Mr. McAdoo bas a railroad
plank. Have you read it® It is
beautifol.”

“Repeat tt,’’ sald the reporters,
aubmisaively,

“Well,” said Pollyanna, ‘in this
plank Mr. BMeAdoo announces
sort of railrqad transportation law
which he would have congress pass

on, being a Protesiant.

tnt a Catholic—Joo |

hig private secretary.
ws that Al Smith fn
36 would dara to do

pe would have a

{ or Seven-Doy,

Detatacy. He
nei Harmony

8 between a Catholic i
wilt cultivate
@ Protestant
call

stancea J your

, swectly and consid- 1 H

;costs, cat freight rates and insure
Ithe operation

the |
presi-,
itivate the Catholics.

if he were prosidont. Me defi .
simply end suecinetly. He

Slinply and perfoctly that the Pets
ent Jaw is a bedi one and that if he
ig lected president he will have a
new law, the msthod of which he
keeps to himself, but the resalt of
which will be, as he reveals, to elim-
jnate waste, reduce c.ransportation

‘f the railroads for

the benofit of tua country.” . .

Plank Pleascs Pollyanna -

“Are you” satisfied with that
plank?’ sg2id the reporters.

“T ain.” said Pollyanna. “Mr.

“Where did you beara that?” fa; oh elected to the newly created position

“By looking at LafPoliatte,” eald |-

the;

' questioned.

PP. B.

Mebhdainn had me tin mind whan ha

, .
jak
‘ Ate s
7
“
eu

» Seg ae a0 ky oe

a Lt 4, 5 we
eS pine a a ek
eke Ae ie

3 ay “eX
n teat. eyny a Sips
ta sf:

* we ~ ater. tha 3 Sho 4. 3." by “al my NE :

9 think. o ‘PQs yt stele
oe oy "tha -awoetes? .

sae ai. 3i~peyisg|” i ‘
lage + eg ef an :

i - Vinganeo’

t Sabanvie, wee

Gaparra, 33,

clestroctited at poatientiary . \ PBIING, ‘June 54
:theostly aQ@er + 9° this ime geertoam misstosar:
The body waa 46. vemcved BS and a reg: ail
‘Btoubsnrille today for burial. beaa under sedge at Kye!
Boog Taras, 84, daa oviored, the fighting between ¢!
@ poll in Geath row th Obias,
peniteatiary here follewiag hin eps ar abatrahighs ei

wiction last sight on a charge of

slaying Patrolman Froy Cc. Atewert, in Peking from the Rev.

April a3 law, rane Americaa missionary

: to lade te
rd reset ation. Pr, |
Chief Of Engineers | feu etn hie Slee a

widow of one of the Az
Jalonarios’ kitted during
& fortnight ago, the Re
Bland, the Rev. and Mrs
Misa Bentler. All the ©
bere of the missionary |
report to be safe, r-
city rémains under sel;
returned missionaries <
Cunsingham are Wagtiis
Meanwhile the Amer
Mr. Spiker, is investiga‘
port that B. C. Hawley, :

. Acquires New Title

_CLOVELAND, June $4.—Warren
8, Stong, for many years grand chief
of the Brotherhood of omotive
Dugincsrs, has teen wusanimously

f president of tho organization by
thé Gslegates mesting {nu triennial
conveition here.

William B. Préater weds elected
first vice .president .and Marry P.
Daugherty, second vice president,

FELT LIKE GIVING U!

SAYS CHARLESTON 1

rte ee ee

But Tanlac Brought Com-
- plete Helisf Prom Stom-.
ach Trouble.

Ps eee ae

—

If the testimony of ‘more than
169,000 well-known men and wo-
ian of unquastione4 Luegrity {fs to
be ragardod as proof, the wonder-
{nl health giving end health pre-
serving powers of Tianlac cannot be

It js on this assurance of merit,
which {gs betng strengtheneti by
scores of new witnessos daily, that
any One who fcels tha need of ani
upbuilding tonic may buy Taplae.
~A great many of Tantac's most
ardent advocatus are residenta of
West Virginia, among. them boing
anley, woll-known gforer,
1437 Seventh street, Charleston.
| Mr. & nley soys:

“Four years ago I lost my appe-
titea,- My stomach and wae wae nn

® 3.

iat ; 3
£m

| Sea tite

> up
aus
vho
itis -

mg
was
thile
3 an
2rec-
“the
arry

son
anks
. the
aight
icent

a
the

udg -
t+ Te-
the
rable
also
a iddle

at of
‘yues-

BO.

. Su-
rcell,
‘ this
s be-

fe the
a the
ere fs
had
culty
Som-

a his
2 ex-
r law

SAN DUSKY COUNTY

the >

a. OU. -
es

Pourt |

‘at he -

. gene.

5 !
{
H
{

‘ >
iP - pig
v gio :

tence Copmstick executed by the aid of ariatliees es
brother named Steel; Coonstick was arrested. ce
by a constable and brought before a magis-

trate in Lower Sandusky charged with murder.

The Supreme Court being in session there at ae,

the time, the question was “raised by the defense.
for the- Indian that the state authorities had
no jurisdiction over the matter. The Supreme

judges were consulted and gave it as their. nat

opiaion that the Indian tribes’ had complete

jurisdiction in such matters, under their laws...
of government, and that C oonstick was acting Ge
in the capacity of an-eéxecutioner only. »He 3.0 *'

was accordingly discharged. Judge. Higgins:

is authority for the statement. .

NOTED MURDER CASES. hh
and on sae Rare

tember. 14, the grand. jury. of which Chatles saree
Lindsey was foreman, returned two indict-.... *.
ments for murder in the first degree; one.

At the September term, I 1842,

against Joseph Sperry, who lived near Green-

spring, for killing his wife, Catherine, in-a fit.
» by striking her »

“The other. in-°*~
dictment was against George Thompson for:
the killing of a young woman bythe name of.
Catherine Hamler in the Exchange Hotel: at

of jealous rage, April 9, 1842
in the temple with. a flat-iron.’:

Bellevue, on May-30, :1842, -by- shooting her

because she. refused his offer of marriage.)

Sperry was tried at once. He was defended
by: Homer Everett’and N.: “BY “Eddy, ‘the ‘de-

fense being that his: wife had accidently. fallen’.
_ froma ladder i in the. house, ‘which -reached the...

gatret, and’ in falling struck’ her head against

the corner of a: stone: ‘inthe fire-place. W. W.
Culver was prosecuting: attorney and was: as-
“Judge Bowen

‘sisted by Cooper’: K. -Watson.:
and associates McIntyre, Knapp and Overmyer
were the judges. -

+ pene 2 pepe

“TIVE Cc CITIZENS

“No court’ rece hn :
ord, however, of the case appears, “but there is >.
‘no doubt of the correctness of Judge ‘Higgins’ “
account, as he was familiar with.the court pro-.*)

ceedings at the time, It is very. probable that. _
no papers were filed in the matter, and that the“.
opinion of. the Supreme. ‘Court. judges was Oe
given’ more in the. Way OF: a ice ees in ae
tormal decision. aae aes tee 8 TERN

*The: trial lasted five days -
and the jury found. him ‘guilty.as charged:''He .
was sentenced to be. hung ‘November 2; 1842, 3
and remasied to prison to await me execution.. ae

dent ieee of the Gates Pleas ‘Court $75

-idge Tood was allowed $200 in addition, F
‘ting to Sandusky and Wood Counties, f.
“ley were added to his circuit.‘
“flary of each Supreme judge was increas¢
-| $1,500 per year and that of the preside:
“|dge of the Common Pleas to $1,200. . The:

“In 1837, t]

laries thus remained until 1852.. The pres
nt judges traveled many hundreds of mil
ch year upon circuits in which the best roac
pre very poor. and the most of them -ofte
\passible, on wheels: Members of the count
ir. traveled with. the. judges-—-not. an. eas

ing: in those days of wilder ness and swam;
Hdge Higgins, in his “Memories” for Knapp
» story, relates. an -instance which illustrat<
_e difficulties encountered in those itinerarie
“hey had held court at: Findlay ;. from: the:
‘pir circuit route took them first :to Defanx
‘Id from thence to Perrysburgh.: To go o
~{rseback was then almost impossible, so the
:fed a man to take their horses through tt
“pack Swamp direct to Perrysburgh, and pre
“> ing a pirougue the judge and his party «
“ <wyers, Rodolphus Dickinson of Lower Sai
Sky, being one of them, with saddle
-Idles and baggage, descended the Blanchai

d Auglaiz Rivers, a dismal voyage throug
unsettled wilderness of sixty miles to. Di
nce, and from thence down. the Maumc

ver to Perrysburgh. ‘The saddle bags ca:

jd Ohio statutes, then small in bulk, Black
ne’s Cornmentaries, sometimes Cook c
ttleton; -sometimes a volume or two-of 2
ielish law or equity report.. Such a life mac
tse judges thinkers. If:riding alone eac
d ample time and temptation to beguile’ th
ium .of’ slow travel by putting to himse

lal cases, question and problems and solvin
}m- upon principle. Out of such a life tho:

o were blessed with legal ability and jud

il minds grew to be great judges and caus
tht and justice to prevail within their juri
itions and left behind them, among lawye

people high reputations for ability and i

bP]

nd receiving their positions from the Sta

ea ~gislature ‘natead of popular vote, thev we
“ia greater extent, than where élected ‘by t}

ber “method, as at present, relieved from u

co “AND REPRESENTA TIVE CITIZENS

On Sinday, ‘Septcnber 30, his two children,
a little.son and daughter, were taken to. the
prison..to see him for the last time, and in.
some, way he procured. a pocket-knife from the
boy ::and, secretly ~ - breaking off: and retaining

the point of the blade; handed. the knife back...

With: the: point of: the-blade: thus procured he '

committed | ‘suicide ‘that: hight. by. Cutting: an

artery and bleeding to. death. :

the: tragic end of | Sperry’ s life, but did nothing |
to prevent it, saying, afterwards he would: pre-.
fer <a countryman of “his would: kill himself:
rather: than to be: hung” 2

lishmen: **In. Common’ ‘Pleas Court Journal”
Nowa

the: right: the’ probating of. ‘his: will, which he
had: tiade before his death.

‘Thompson effected: two ‘escapes Pitom prison, u

and was finally captured at Ottawa, ‘Ill, and in:
March; 1844, brought back, and June 20, 1844,
was: ‘tried, the same judges presiding as in the
Sperry ‘case. He was defended: by- Brice J.
Bartlett and Cooper K. Watson. ‘The state
was represented by W.: W. Culver, prosecut-
ing attorney, and L. B. Ottis. The defense was
insanity.’ Thompson. “was. convicted and sen-.
tenced | to be hung -July-12, 1844, which sen-
tence was carried into. ‘effect by John Strohl,

sheriff,,in the rear ofthe new court house,

which: had lately. been built. . An enclosure. to
screen-the hanging» ‘from. public’: view was
erected, but just at ‘the time the execution was
to take: place, some reckless persons suddenly
tore down this enclosure‘and the sad spectacle
was exposed to the. full view of the assembled
crowd.:..The. venerable Dr. Beaugrand was:

present. as one of-the ‘physicians at “the execu-.

tion, and in a recent’ conversation with the
author, gave a dramatic picture of the appear-.
ance and condition of the prisoner as he saw
him in that barbarous subterranean prison,

with palid face and’ ‘prostrate form, kneeling”
with the: priest just previous to. the hanging,

a sight, he said, most aifecting. gud never to:
be forgotten. aM

SALARIES OF JUDGES. :
From 1803 to 1837 the salarv of a Supreme.
Judge-y was we 6 ied and that of tied pre

they were added to his circuit.

‘at pages 600. and’ 601,. will. appear, to-.;,
the left,'the record of Sperry’s sentence and to

River to Perrysburgh.

- stone’s a
Littleton; sometimes a volume or two-of an *

. these judges thinkers.
had ample time and temptation to beguile’ the. .
_ tedium .of slow travel by putting’ to: himself.“ :
‘legal cases, question and problems and solving”

them upon principle. .

sident tates of the CEiifean Pleas Count $75 50." Pe
Judge Tood was allowed $200 in addition, for:
going to Sandusky and Wood Counties, for: ke
“In 1837 the Be
salary of each Supreme judge was increased |
to $1,500 per year and that of the reridath

judge of the Common Pleas to $1,200. : These «
salaries thus remained until 1852. .
- dent judges traveled many hundreds of miles. .
‘Thompson, his fellow: . ‘prisoner, “witnessed

The presi-”

each year upon Circuits in which the best roads -
were very poor. and the most of them often™

. impassible, on wheels: Members of the county’
bar, traveled with the judges—not. ‘an easy.
They were both Eng- “thing in those days. of. wilderness and swamp.

Judge Hig

gins, in his ‘ ‘Memori ies” for nape e : 7
history, : relates. an instance which. illustrates fs
the difficulties: encountered: i in those itineraries.

Pit & had held court at Findlay ;, from: thére ~

their circuit route took them first to Defiance...

and from thence to Perrysburgh.’ To go on‘

horseback was then almost impossible, so they. 6

hired a man to take their horses through the -

Black Swamp direct to Perrysburgh, and pro~
curing a pirougue the judge and his ‘party of
lawyers, Rodolphus Dickinson of Lower San- =
dusky, being one of them, with saddles,

bridles and bag ggage, descended the Blanchard.
and Auglaiz Rivers, a dismal voyage through

an unsettled wilderness of sixty miles to. De-5 ae

fiance, and from thence down the Maumee =:
“The saddle bags car-
ried Ohio statutes, then small in bulk, : ‘Black-
Commentaries, sometimes | Coole or

English law or equity report.’ Such a life made
If:riding alone each.

Out’ of such a life those:
whe were blessed with legal ability and judi- .
jal minds grew. to be great judges and caused

Pach and justice to prevail within their juris-: ©

dictions and left behind them, among lawyers

“and people high FEPURRONS, for ability and in-
jteETItY: ‘ APS

» And receiving their eitions from the State:
Legislature instead ot popular vote, thev were
to:a greater extent, than where elected ‘by the
la teer “method, as at present, relieved from the

Ei eeietee a endinekanehatiedtatbcanitng easier ia aekeehaganeel

2 TIN g

wl LS 5

ee ees

pyre eae OF

_—s"
Po

disnsiitie

HE Pocahontas, palatial passenger train of the Nor-

folk and Western Railway, on its way from Cincin-

nati, Ohio, to Norfolk, Virginia, was running behind

time. Engineer J. H. Meyers looked at his watch.
It was a little after one o’clock in the morning. Opening the
throttle, he put on more steam and the giant engine bounded
forward with renewed energy. A glance out of the cab win-
dow and he knew he was approaching Union Siding, at a
speed of approximately a mile a minute.

Behind him glowed the lights of the train as it wove
through the gloom. Most of the Pullmans were dark. Pas-
sengers were asleep in their berths, confident in the train
crew to which they had intrusted themselves. Lights gleamed
from mail and baggage cars, into the darkness. Clerks could
be seen busily sorting letters. Up front in the engine cab,
Fireman J. J. Kemp shoveled more and more coal to meet
the demands for additional steam, as the speed of the steel
monster increased.

secuting Attorney

Lawrence County, Ohio

Pulling his cap down more securely over his eyes, Engineer
Meyers put his head out of the cab window and, with one
arm on the sill, followed with alert eyes the glow of head-
lights down the gleaming track ahead.

The green lamp atop the switch stand at Union Siding

- pushed toward him at terrific speed to meet the oncoming

train.

Meyers hunched his shoulders farther out of the cab
window. Everything appeared as it should be. The green
light indicated his lane of traffic was clear.

He felt the engine hit the switch. As it did a steely screech
-rent the air. It struck his ears with almost savage intensity.
A feeling of horror swept through his frame; but only for
an instant. Then he lunged for the air-brake valve and threw
on the emergency stop. That was his last act.

With s crash and a roar that resounded for miles the
engine lifted itself up bodily from the rails, hovered for a
moment in mid-air, and then plunged down the embankment,

ie
4
~
’
s
soe

carryil
Pullm:
Slee
rubbe:
needs
at his
ON
over t
a lot
screar
OW
from
speak
felt
voice
way.
eT
He

WEE

eyes, Engineer
and, with one
glow of head-

Union Siding
the oncoming

it of the cab
xe. The green

i steely screech
.vage intensity.
; but only for
alve and threw

for miles the
hovered for a
e¢ embankment,

RIDES the RAILS

AT UNION SIDING

ROY L. HENRY

As told to CHARLES P. JENKINS

carrying with it heavy steel mail and baggage cars .and
Pullmans.

Sleepers in the neighborhood started from their beds and
rubbed their startled eyes. Some one, quickly alive to .the
needs of the situation, telephoned Sheriff Ernest W. Bennett
at his residence in Ironton.

“Number Four has been wrecked, Sheriff,” came the voice
over the wire. “She’s all piled up down here. It sounds like
a lot of people are hurt; maybe killed. They’re crying and
screaming for help.”

“What’s that?” exclaimed Bennett as he shook the sleep
from his tired body. “Where is the wreck? Who is this
speaking?”

“It’s right here near my house at Union Siding,” said the
voice excitedly. “It’s near Haverhill. You turn off the high-
way... 2”

“I know where it is,” interrupted the Sheriff. “Thanks.”

He hung up and looked at his watch. It said 1:40. He

rl 4 ‘kt

4A
im. ay.
”) ya nd *

called two of his deputies, told them what had happened,
and ordered them to follow him to Union Siding at once.
A few minutes later he was speeding west to the scene of
the wreck.

Even though his informant’s voice had carried feelings of
horror over the wire, the Sheriff was hardly prepared for the
sight that met his gaze when he hurried from the highway
and reached the railroad right-of-way. The various units of
the train were jammed and jumbled together as if they had
been but a child’s plaything. Steel mail and baggage cars
were twisted into grotesque shapes. Up ahead the mammoth
locomotive, pouring forth great spumes of steam against the
blackened sky, Iay on its side in a ditch.

Bewildered passengers were running to and fro; some
shouting; others mumbling to themselves like demented
beings. Men staggered blindly backward and forward search-
ing for loved ones. Moaning and shricking children, dazed
by the black horror and the hissing of escaping steam,

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The old lady invited him in and pre-
pared a meal. Thompson sat in the
kitchen watching her. Suddenly, he said,
he thought how easy it would be to kill
her and take her valuables. Nobody would
be the wiser. So he went into the dining
room, got the fire poker, stole up behind
the helpless woman and struck her over
the head. Immediately she ran into the
dining room, screaming for help. Thomp-
son followed, raining blows on her head.
The poker broke. He grabbed a flatiron,
but still the old lady continued to scream
in agony as she lay bleeding on the floor.

“So I went outside, picked up the big
rock, ran back in the house and then I
finished her off,” he completed the tale
without emotidn, as- though he was de-
scribing a movie plot. Before a stenog-
rapher he repeated the story and signed
the confession, then accompanied Monte
and his deputies to the scene and re-
enacted the crime.

“All I found,” he said sullenly, “was
ten pennies!”

“Now,” said the sheriff, when the
drama was at an end, “Let’s have the
story of how you wrecked the train and
killed two more innocent people.”

Thompson stared at the officer, “Isn’t
one killing enough for you?” he asked.

Soon, however, Monte convinced him
that one more crime of murder would not
add to his jeopardy and, with sudden de-
cision, Thompson admitted this crime.
“You never could hang it on me if I didn’t
tell you though,” he bragged. Then he
told the amazed officers that his “perfect
alibi,” his registration at Cincinnati police
headquarters for lodging the night of the
wreck, actually had been done by his
sister’s husband, Eldridge F. Smith.

Smith, he declared, plotted the train
robbery and journeyed to Cincinnati to
provide the alibi by registering Thomp-
son’s name on the police blotter!

Thompson stood at the tracks until a
preceding train went by, then went to
work, After unbolting the switch, the
fiendish saboteur fled. The flyer rumbled
on to its doom.

However, he lost his nerve, he said,
when he heard the screams of the dying
and injured, When several score of crew
and passengers ran forward he ducked
back through the hills and went home.
As to his mother’s story, giving him an
alibi the night of Mrs. Rogers’ death,
he said he had left their cabin and com-
mitted the deed after she had gone to
sleep, '

Smith soon was located at his home,
at Columbus, O., and brought to Ironton.
fe loudly protested his innocence but
after several hours grilling he confessed
his part in the train wreck, verifying
Thompson’s story.

Jimmy Thompson went to trial before
Common Pleas Judge Dan C. Jones on
Oct. 1, 1935. The jury listened to damning
evidence for eight straight days. Thomp-
son changed his first plea of guilty to not
guilty. It did not take the jury long, how-
ever, to agree with the state. He was,
found guilty, without recommendation of
mercy.

Smith’s trial struck a snag when the
jury, after endless debate, disagreed. At
his second trial, however, he was found
guilty and sentenced to life imprison-
ment.

Jimmy Thompson, after futile appeals,
walked stolidly down the path to the
death house in Ohio penitentiary on the
night of April 25, 1936, and sat mutely
in the electric chair as guards strapped
lethal bands about his head and legs.
Minutes later, a prison physician pro-
nounced him dead.

(To protect the identities of innocent men the
names Caleb and Bud Devonshire and Tom Ansley
as used in this story are fictitious.—Ed.)

Passion Death!

[Continued from page 13]

detached house. It was dark but.Nolan’s
electric torch picked out the - name
Lehman on the downstairs bellplate.

“Cover the back,” Nolan ordered. “I'll
ring the bell.”

His ring was answered after what
seemed an interminably long time by a
lanky man in flannel pajamas.

“Lehman, we’re the law. We want to
talk to you,” Nolan told the suspect,
pushing him back into the house.

Before he could question the man, how-
ever, Sergt. Ryan came around from the
backyard.

“There’s a Ford car standing out there,”
he reported. “It has no radiator cap.”

Nolan looked at Lehman. “That’s
enough,” he snapped. “Get your clothes.
We're going downtown.”

At headquarters James Lehman made a
confession. He named his companions in
murder as McGee, John Malia, 29, of
Gilligan street, and Andrew Tomko, 22, of
Charles street. McGee, who was 29, lived
on Charles street in Luzerne borough.

Malia and Tomko were promptly taken
from their beds. Confronted with the
statements of McGee and Lehman, they,
too, made confessions. Tomko had been
the youth with Lehman at the cafe when
the ride for more 'liquor had been sug-
gested. , .

Malia had been the man picked up at
the Parrish street dive, because he knew
places where more liquor could be bought.
- However, since a bottle was obtainable

at the Parrish street place, the four men
and their drinking companion went
directly toward Ashley, seeking a lonely
spot for their rendezvous.

There, the whisky consumed, Lehman
made proposals to the woman. Then,
physically bested he seized a large rock
and crashed it brutally against the side of
her head. She fell and lay still.

Placed in police cars, the four men were
taken over their Saturday night route.
McGee pointed out. the hotel and the
taverns. The proprietor of the last place
identified three of the men as having been
with the victim just before closing hour
Saturday.

On Ashley mountain the quartet re-
enacted their ruthless crime. Then they
were: returned to Wilkes-Barre, finger-
printed and locked up.

On the following day, assembled in the
office of District Attorney Leon Schwarts,
at the Luzerne county courthouse,
McGee, Lehman, Malia and Tomko
amplified their admissions on paper. Then
they signed the confessions in the
presence of the prosecutor and state police
representatives. - «

Later in the day, before Alderman
Miles Barber, sitting as a magistrate, the
quartet was-arraigned on charges, of
murder. Prompt trials loomed when the

_ law would demand punishment of the men _
who turned into horrible tragedy the care-',

free party which lured the attractive |

_ Playgirl widows i ee a |

Sunday night?” t!

“Yes, he was he
we went for a
around ten.”

Will Gardner co
ment that he ha
Bennett on the tr
had walked a shc
He said that Cu
about the fist fig
best of terms. H«
to mention this m
talked with him e

This developm
Custer Gardner °
suspect, but the s
be helpful in run:
went to see the
asked him if he
reporting anythi
clue. .

“T certainly wil
do anything I ca:
up. Remember,
those shot and |
want the murder

Sheriff Isacs v

cabin once mo
squire’s letters. |
he had intendec
indicate any Ss
family feud. It \
sheriff started.
riding his favori
_.. He had reac!
grade that led

when Tex rear«
seating his rider
the path direct
sheriff had seen
shadow, but it
been any of the
in the Kentucky

a stray mule, he

had made no n

would have cra

but the thing
across the path
cat.

His mount w
spot and the st
a strange fee
followed.

The next mo
a further_inves
scene, he disco
man on the tr
distance of mo:
and then lost
spection of th
pedestrian hac
that point and
the direction
been riding at

Hoofprints |
places, but be
horse had shi
top of the ho
the wayfarer |
sheriff caught
back into the -
had passed-on

The sheriff
posely have

fellow had bec

did not wish

there had be

avoid the she:
Isacs meas’

Then in a pa

a perfect imp

three hobnai!

same mark t
‘killer beneath
» cabin'! ;

THOMPSON, James, wh, elec. OH&P (Lawrence) April 25, 1936

WAYING GENTLY with the motion

of the speeding train, Expressman

E. A. Cole paused in his work and
stole a glance at the long metal box at
the other end of the baggage section. In-
side the box was a dead man—not exactly
the type of companion Cole would have
chosen voluntarily for his night-long job
of sorting packages in the lonely com-
partment of the combination coach.
Shrugging off the vagrant chill that was
so out of keeping with the soft April
night, Cole squinted into the blackness

outside and then consulted his watch., He

felt the train gain momentum. gageee:

“Must have passed Franklin Furnace,
he guessed. It was 1:35 a.m.—the Nor-
folk & Western’s Pocahontas Flyer had
pulled out of Portsmouth, Ohio, at 1:05
—and the engineer liked to “highball it”
on the straight stretch between Franklin
Furnace and Hanging Rock, on the north
shore of the Ohio River.

From the clicking of the trucks over
the rail sections, Cole guessed the train’s
speed to be about sixty-five miles per
hour. He slipped the timepiece back in
his pocket and turned again to his work.

Then it happened.

There was no warning. He lurched
drunkenly forward as the air brakes were
thrown on. Filailing his arms for sup-
port, he heard the ghastly wail of agonized
steel ahead; there was an awful crash as
the engine left the rails and the leading
cars were snapped along behind.

Then Cole’s own little world went

HEADLINE DETECTIVE,
February, 1942

crazy. The baggage compartment rocked
in a wild, frenzied dance. Before he
threw his hands over his face, he saw
packages and trunks tumbling toward him
in an avalanche. The coffin at the end of
the car lurched menacingly, like a thing
come alive and seeking vengeance. A
hoarse cry escaped the expressman’s
throat. ...

Up in the locomotive, Engineer John H.
Myers was killed at his post, literally
ground into the wreckage. The engine
had cleared the parallel westbound tracks
ind was lying on the abandoned interurban
rails@ehundred feet away,cThe tender
had been catapulted through the air and
had fallen in a nearby field.

The next two units of the train were
baggage cars, fortunately unoccupied.
They jackknifed across the track and
absorbed much of the shock to the
remaining coaches—a mail car, the com-
bination coach-and-baggage unit and the
pullmans carrying nearly one hundred
passengers.

Beams of light pierced the night as
trainmen hurried forward toward the
engine and tender. They found the fire-
man, James A. Kemp, lying along the
right-of-way, but there was nothing they
could do. He died within a few minutes.

Pending the arrival of aid from the
closest towns, Dr. A. E. Rutherford of
Welch, West Virginia, a passenger, dis-
regarded his own bruises and rendered
first aid to the most seriously injured,
including his own wife. Cole was one of

MURDERS >

the persons he treated; miraculously the
expressman escaped with a few bruises.

Soon the nervous wail of sirens was
heard, and ambulances and doctors from
Portsmouth and Ironton arrived. Close
behind them came county and railroad
officers.

D. F. Peters, superintendent of the
railroad’s Scioto division, took command
of the situation, aided by Chief W. H.

.Hornbarger of the railroad detectives and

two of his assistants, Elmer Pratt and
Louis Hyland. Also aiding were the
Lawrence County sheriff, E. W. Bennett,
and Deputies Bernard Monte and Biff
Rucker.

“Tt’s sabotage, all right,” decided Su-
perintendent Peters grimly when he saw
the open switch that had caused the dis-
aster. “And it probably was done by
an expert.”

The high speed of the engine had
caused it to hurtle some distance beyond
the Judas-green switch lamp before it left
the roadbed. But the bolts that had been
removed from the switch lay on the
ground, and the nuts and cotter keys
rested undisturbed on the cross tie.

“The man who did the job no doubt
expected the wreck to scatter these bits
of evidence so we’d never find them,”

‘guessed Pratt, the railroad detective, as

he gathered up the nuts and bolts care-
fully. “I’ll rush ’em to Charles Clowe,
the fingerprint man at Portsmouth.”
By then the horribly mutilated bodies
of Engineer Myers and Fireman Kemp

THIS YOUNG CRIMINAL KILLED
TWO MEN BY WRECKING A TRAIN
IN OHIO, THEN HE BEAT AN

OLD WOMAN TO DEATH—
FOR ONLY TEN CENTS: LOOT!

BY JULIAN HARTT

HEADLINE DETECTIVE

The rema:
this and
snapped +
killer, wa:
and an e
fession.

kneeling 5
in remorse

FEBRUARY, 19

Soon after their arrest, James Thompson
(left) and his brother-in-law, Frank El-
bridge Smith, posed for this photo. Smith
thought he was providing the actual killer
with an airtight alibi when he signed
Thompson's name on the blotter of a police

station in Cincinnati.

Deputy Biff Ruck.
Smith followin

were being removed. Sheriff Bennett's
lips compressed into a thin line as he
watched the macabre procession feeling
its way through the dark back to the
ambulances,

“This may be sabotage,” he told Super-
intendent Peters, “but don’t forget that
it’s double murder, ‘too!”

Peters agreed. Then he let the sheriff
in on a piece of information which had
remained secret until now.

“Someone tried to do this Wednesday
night,” he said. ‘Luckily, a work crew
discovered it before a train came through
and repaired the damage. We had track
walkers on a twenty-four-hour lookout
since then, but it didn’t do any good.”

Thus the officers began their investiga-
tion in the early hours of Thursday morn-
ing, April 21, 1932. With the time of
the disaster fixed at 1:37 a.m. by Engineer
Myers’ crushed watch, they turned their
attention to the railroad operation sched-
ules along that section.

“Passenger train 24, bound for William-
son, went through at 9:45 p.m., and a
freight passed over the switch without
trouble at 10:30,” said Detective Hyland.

“That gave the murderer nearly three
hours to remove the bolts,” computed
Sheriff Bennett. :

“Plenty of time, too,” added Detective
Pratt. ‘That wasn’t more than a fifteen-
minute job for an expert—and the killer
seems to have been that.”

But where to seek for footprints or

HEADLINE DETECTIVE

other traces of the sli
along the right-of-»
foodstuffs—even incl
of fish from the first

Discussing what
officers narrowed dow
sible suspects to two

“Either it was a
the railroad intent on 1
fancied wrong, or it w
robbery,” the sheriff s:

“And if the latter ;
man who lives right a
Deputy Monte.

“How do you figur:
of the railroad investi;

“Because the murd
possible spot for his
Portsmouth and Hv
Monte. “This switch j
from any house, and 1
than any other switc
picked.”

The others were for
the reasoning of the «
the hill and river cour
of his hand.

The detective work
The railroad men follc
nical angles and checke
personnel, while the coi
a thorough quizzing o:
district and sought sus
who might have been se

Before Thursday noo
cleared the westbound

FEBRUARY, 1942

iiraculously the
a few bruises.
of sirens was
d doctors from
arrived. Close
y and railroad

tendent of the
took command
y Chief W. H.
d detectives and
Imer Pratt and
iding were the
E. W. Bennett,
Monte and Biff

it,” decided Su-
ly when he saw
caused the dis-
y was done by

the engine had
distance beyond
np before it left
ts that had been
ch lay on the
ind cotter keys
cross tie.
ie job no doubt
catter these bits
ver find them,”
vad detective, as
and bolts care-
» Charles Clowe,
Portsmouth.”
mutilated bodies
Fireman Kemp

. KILLED
A TRAIN
BEAT AN
DEATH—

‘§ LOOT!

HARTT

‘ADLINE DETECTIVE

The remarkable spot-news photos on
this and the opposite page were
snapped when James Thompson, triple
killer, was harangued: by his mother
and an evangelist following his con-
fession. His face (below) and his
kneeling pose (opposite) are studies
in remorse. But he repented too late!

FOR A DIME!

9 Baaag!

? ae ERIW TERS “NO ©
DIN. DEA TH CHAMBER *

em icaipinniea Wise. des
Led: to’ Chairs Eves. Ct Mani ina Dream—Face Is
mathe with itch Ts: Thrown—Relatives,

; in’ * Columbus—Chaplain Says.
n Was: pa liaaee Had No Fear
* ow esta, Dapacintrai!

4 Mask, eyes ‘closed,
death ‘in’ the-eleétric
Btrtight ats? 37 pay:

{ Getirude: N'Oitroph: ‘

jedsinto the feat chamberyat 7:32 by two >.
and. never. opened Ise yes’ in ithe ‘five minutes:

; from-thatitime-antit het Iwas pronounce

Fincay Physician? Willis Merrell There was. at
Big) ment of it muscle an his Tace, which was

\ . & am Chins.
Hike ener Harold! Marquind anct!s a ‘Eribune re-
Fy Ghosh) e4- in theegray, prim: death? chamber,
ae Hhout* 8 ae 30 feats igh coihret: and “with a
hey ‘stood about
Pwas' ted in by" the
Lar bilteat ‘in the! chair, « Tio other guards “ad-
font! (DY OAT Ci : eine, find. straps ‘around each “of his ankles
cle ine ine hat HegHhel arity) fads foas hischest, completing this task
Hh Shaded Se 4 Liptay. 9 mick Ways putiover:Tbompson's tace.
E atneér.of the. room, behind a séreen and invis-
able ‘10: eieitaiek, most of whom: ‘were. newspapermen,
vere. three tr Ty fe ath stationed, beh Bwitch,-66-none-would
fitheir number had turned on the electricity,

Sudi nity. Ureaking the denthitke Wendt there be- -
"ean o ‘steady hum,-folléwed by ue crackling. The body. irt ia:
Sia aterey: tthe chairdid-not move.” There’ was no. visible reaction thi.”
tefln a clared was the eurrentia The fice wus’ niisked, and one could not.
inot noingto fight) are elermiyenwhether theoxpreskionless Conntenanee Chahg--
“Ware for special WAtoreata Wy Rode magico rere xe is Rp nara

oe be

ame

BOY
/

i) he a pets
Sy é

be ag

Aa tani

thet cc j House let yea st t up bap da ct + he B woutd,’

iether or not
reached.”
ind a deputy
to the jury
er the jurors
any of their
iggard as a
eration.

to reach an
was asked.

n Charles T.
tically.

that a dis-
entered upon

v still, when
e bench.

n the case of
ist Hoppe,”
at the defen-

iother in as-
ippened?
seemed to
the indict-
‘isoner. For
nning of the
OUS,
in the cage.

rder in the
a low tone.
‘t Attorney

in Charles-
apparently
teel cell en-
l, under the
med guards,
ing out his

‘e he became
rolesale jail-
> take place
t the state
were to be
cluding sub-

automobiles
d carry toa
s who man-
to freedom.
ind was al-
arles Trippi
received his
at delay, he
ions and on
ver Ith, ate
» shoot his
ig his flight
‘vy Frederick

ippi died in

ed because
evealed the
So Stephen
a cell with

aced in the
yrison arch
most fam-

ined in soli-

arricade the
wiring pre-
yaching the
le occupant
he remains
‘or the fu-

March, 1930

The Clue of the

Crimson Sweater
(Continued from page 38)

‘What are we going to do in Baltimore?’

“Moss replied that he had a friend
in the city where we could get rooms
and some rest. We went to the house,
and all had some drinks before we went
out and had something to eat at a Chi-
nese restaurant. When we returned to
Mrs. Benjamin’s home we told her to
call us at five o’clock and went to sleep.

“We got up and had dinner and then
Treadway and Elliotte took a ride
around the city. About eight o’clock
they came back, and we all got in the
car and went direct to Cumberland.
Something went wrong with the car
there, and we had to call a repair man.

While waiting for the repairs, Elliotte
pawned Mr. Peirce’s watch.

“After the car was fixed we drove on
to Wheeling. All the way down Elliotte
kidded me and said if we were caught
they would say, ‘Marie killed Peirce;
she's the guilty one!’ It was raining
when we got there. Moss stayed in the
car with me and Elliotte, while Tread-
Way went to a pawnshop with Mr.
Peirce’s bag. We got rooms in a hotel
and took the car to a garage.

“Early the next morning, Elliotte
went out and got a newspaper and came
back into our room shouting excitedly,
‘We're caught! We must split up and
leave town at once if we hope to make
a get-away.’

“T SAID, ‘You three fellows stick to-

gether if you want to, but I’ll go id
myself and take the train back to Phil-
adelphia.’

“Elliotte had his hand on the door
knob, and I didn’t have time to ask
where he and Moss were going. I
pleaded with Treadway to go with the
other fellow; but he said we would stick
together. He put his arm around me
for a moment, and then we started out
to go to the station. I naturally thought
we were going back to Philadelphia.

“But he turned back, and said it
would be best to stay until things blew
over and then go back. I asked him
how we would manage to stay, and he
said he would pawn Mr. Peirce’s suit-
case and a suit.

“We stayed in Wheeling that night.
We didn’t dare go out. The next day
we went out and looked the town over.
Treadway was afraid he would meet
the policeman who had seen him when
he left the car at the garage. He said
the policeman had looked sharply at
him. We stayed in the same room
alain that night, and the next day we
were arrested.”

After telling her story, Boots sat
back and rested, before Assistant Dis-
trict Attorney Speiser began to ply her
with questions again. One query of his
brought a reply which made those in
the court-room gasp.

“What did the men in the car say
about the affair in Mr. Peirce’s apart-
ment?” Boots was asked.

“It was passed off as a joke, all dur-
ing the trip,” was*the flippant reply.:

In’a gruelling hour ‘of cross-éxamin-

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{| not the Com-
verdict of the

Treadway was
e fortress on
tate turned to
lsoners.

» court March
sven an oppor-
iS an accessory
ye with a light
charge of mur-
vith the risk of
anced agafhst

t in his cell at
lected to stand
he reached the
n seemed unde-
testimony, his
and the case
the jury when
hispered to his

ward and spoke
is in the act of
the jury. Spei-
lenreid that the
{ his mind and
to the lesser in-

the Judge in-
uit Moss on the
ordered the de-
ntence two days

d-clapping _ fol-
ement, for most
nyself, felt that
rcumstances and
and had no ac-
laying of Peirce.
he long awaited
newspapers had

Boots Rogers

ay in critical in-
ho were to take
ads and decide
s guilty of mur-

Her method of

np these jurors?”
lawver, Robert
of them!”
» of eyes during
crossed nonchal-
ely to catch the
and display her
sible advantage.
visibly embar-
to gain their at-

own what was
tives were mys-
ossaclue....

iST “SILENT”
CRET CODE;
ca’s leading de-

s on sale at all

March, 1930

tention, and their efforts to avoid her

gaze provided much amusement for .

others in the court-room.

As Boots entered the court-room the
next morning, she was astonished to see,
not only her sailor husband, but her
mother, Mrs. Julia Planovzky, of New
York, who had at last consented to
come and see her wayward daughter.

Their smiling greetings left no doubt
that the reconciliation was genuine.
Boots, seeking for some way to express
her emotions, snatched up a piece of
paper, wrote hastily on it, and at-
tempted to pass it to her husband, but
a court orderly intercepted it.

The message was:

“Give me liberty or give me death!”

Boots did not testify in her own de-
fense, and Treadway was already a con-
vict. So the testimony was brief, con-
fined to the statements which had been
read at the previous trials and the story
of Moss.

After it was heard, a conference was
held between the attorneys and Judge
Audenreid, and it was decided to once
more drop the murder charge, and
charge Boots only with being an ac-
cessory in the slaying.

The Judge so instructed the jurors,
and they withdrew.

Two hours later they brought in a
verdict of “not guilty!’

“T could see it in their eyes,” grinned
Roots, flippant even in the moment
when she was free for the first time in
four months.

Her husband and mother rushed to
her, but not before she had met Moss
on his way back into the court-room.

“I’m free!” she cried to him, but he
failed to reply.

A few minutes later he plodded out
the door through which she had gone
to freedom, under sentence to spend
eighteen months in jail for the crime to
which he had pleaded guilty.

It must have seemed ironic to him
that the girl, who had refused to plead
to the lesser indictment, should go free
on the same day he was sentenced.

Boots’ acquittal, however, was more
than a piece of luck. An amusing story
of how it came about reached the news-
papers the next day.

It appeared that as soon as the jury
had retired one of the members de-
clared himself for acquittal, and called
for a vote. He found that he was all
alone in his decision.

“I'M good for a month,” he told the
others, and flopped down in a chair
to take a nap.

After more than an hour, all the
other jurors had changed their minds—
except one. That was the one that
Boots had so confidently picked out to
vamp. It took another half hour of ar-
gument to fetch him around before
they could bring in their unanimous
verdict.

I turned from the trials of Treadway,
Moss and Boots Rogers with a feeling
of frustration. Certainly, if there was
ever a murder which deserved the se-
verest penalty of the law, the slaying of
Peirce, with the robbery and brutality
associated with it, was-such a. murder.

But in spite of all my efforts, one of
the men who actually killed Peirce was

al a

The Master Detective

still free, the other had escaped with a
second degree sentence; and their two
companions had not even been tried on
a first-degree charge.

The verdicts in the three trials made
me more determined than ever to cap-
ture Elliotte, who, I felt sure, was lurk-
ing somewhere in the district west of
Pittsburgh. I kept up, constant com-
munication with police in various cities
who captured men they thought might
be Elliotte, but they were invariably
wrong.

EANWHILE, tragedy continued to
overwhelm the principals in the
spectacular Peirce case:

Boots, self-styled jazz baby that she
was, appeared to be taking life more
seriously. She and her sailor husband
went to Texas, and rumors seeped back
to Philadelphia that she had become a
prosperous store-keeper’s wife and a
member of the local Methodist church.

Not five months had passed, however,
before a new and equally terrible trag-
edy came into the life of this spectacu-
lar figure in the Peirce case!

In October of the same year that she
was acquitted, Boots Rogers was in
New York on a short visit to her

Arch Moss, victim of circumstances,
and one of the principals in the in-
famous murder of Henry T. Peirce

mother, whose second husband was su-
erintendent of an apartment house at
25th Street and Lenox Avenue, Harlem.

One night, a short time before Boots
was to return to Texas, her step
father went suddenly insane and killed
his wife, his son, Julius, Jr., and himself
in a mad frenzy. Only the screams of
Boots, who was in an adjoining room,
prevented him from killing her and her
four brothers and sisters, all of whom
were in the house.

Planovzky had been superintendent
of the apartment for three years, and
was known as an expert mechanic,
though a bit eccentric in his behavior.
The boy he killed was the only child
born of his marriage to Boots’ mother.

After the funeral, Boots returned to
Texas once more, a pitifully saddened
figure.

“Tragedy always seems to follow
me,” she sobbed.

Indeed, it did seem as though Fate

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38 The Master Detective

of his death as they had been portrayed in the court-room.
About noon of the second day, Boots herself was brought

to the witness stand. She slipped quietly through a side.

door and appeared suddenly in the front of the court before
the crowd realized she was near.

Never,.even during the trying moments when she was
first grilled about the murder, did the amazing girl display
keener wit and resourcefulness than during her five-hour
session on the witness stand that afternoon.

She sat straight and dignified, in strong contrast to her
attitude at the preliminary hearing and inquest, and she

“spoke clearly and confidently as she went over the many

startling details of the crime,

Her face was averted from
Treadway, who sat at a table
with his arms folded across his
chest, leaning forward to catch
her every word. Not once, so
far as I could see, did their
eyes meet.

FTER Boots had given her

name and admitted living
at the Walnut street rooming
house with Treadway as his
wife, she plunged directly into
the events of the fatal Satur-
day night when Peirce was
killed:

“About ten-thirty we came out of a movie
near Thirteenth and Market Streets,” she be-
gan. “Treadway left me and went to a pool-
room to see Elliotte for a moment.

“Then we walked out home, after buying
some Sunday papers and some crackers and
fruit at the corner. As soon as we went in,
we took off our coats and started looking at
the papers. Then Elliotte came in with Moss,
Moss was drunk. He said he didn’t know
where he lived, and would we tell him.

“After a lot of discussion we started
out toward Market Street, because
Moss wanted to buy a drink. He got
in an argument with another drunken
man on the way, and Treadway and
Elliotte went back to get him.

“As soon as we met Peirce, I told
Treadway I wasn’t going on any
party. I said | was with three men
and it looked bad enough. I insisted
on leaving and went back to the
apartment. In about fifteen minutes
Treadway came in and said!

““Come on, put your things on; we
are going out.’

“I asked where we were going and
he said:

“Don’t bother to ask any ques-
tions. Hurry up. I’m going down-
stairs and I'll wait.’

“When I went out, I saw the red
car, with Mr. Peirce at the wheel. He
was drunk. As soon as I walked to
the door, Treadway opened it and or-
dered me to get in beside the man. I
asked who he was and Treadway told me not to ask ques-
tions. Mr. Peirce wanted to know if I was the girl. Tread-
way said,

“ “Yes, this is my wife.’

“Mr. Peirce had trouble starting the car. It seemed about
fifteen minutes before he got it going. As soon as the car
started, we went up Twenty-second Street to Market, and
Mr. Pierce stopped the car almost directly opposite a garage.

Peirce, the victim, and the scintillating
Boots tions to Baltimore. As we started

“I asked Treadway why we stopped, and he answered,

“‘This man has an apartment here.’

“Mr. Peirce went in first. I followed, then Treadway. Mr.
Peirce had trouble opening the door at the top of the stairs
and | helped him. He went to a closet, took out a bottle
of whisky and poured some into three empty glasses on the
table. I told Mr, Peirce | didn’t drink; but Treadway told
me I must drink to be sociable. So | took the glass and
tried to drink.

“Mr. Peirce stepped out of the room, and I said to Tread-
way: 7
“‘Come on, let’s get out of here. He’s drunk. I don’t
see any sense in staying here. There won’t be any fun.’

“Treadway said, ‘Don’t talk
so loud; he can hear you.’

“As soon as Mr. Peirce
came into the room, Treadway
said, ‘You’d better lie down;
you can’t drive a car now.’

“Mr. Peirce said, ‘No, I'll
go with you; but before we go
let’s have another drink.’

“But Treadway refused.
saying he’d had enough.

“Mr. Peirce was taking an-
other drink when Moss and
Elliotte came in. Elliotte had
a blackjack and a_ revolver.
Then the trouble started.
“By this time, my only thought was to get
out of there; so I ran from the place into the
street, leaving all three of them there. Moss
followed ‘me out soon and we went back to
my apartment; but Treadway and Elliotte
did not come back for a half hour. As soon
as they came in, Treadway told me to get
dressed, as we were going out. I asked where,
and he said:

“‘Never mind, don’t ask so many questions.
You’ve got to go with us.’

“By the time I was dressed they
had everything packed, and Moss was
finishing a bottle of whisky. As we
came out of the house, we met a po-
liceman who said someone had tried
to steal our car, and we thanked him.

“We took the car and drove to
Eighth and Spruce where Elliotte got
out. From here we went to Moss’
lodgings in Camden. Treadway told
me to stay in the car; so I didn’t get
out.

“WWPOss went in for his things and
when he came back he was drag-
ging a woman in night clothes. He
tried to drag the woman into the car,
but she pulled away from him. Then
Moss put his grip in the car and we
drove back to Philadelphia, where we
picked up Elliotte.
“We got gasoline out at Sixty-third
and Walnut Streets, and asked direc-

south, Moss opened his grip and took

. out another bottle of whisky,”

Boots’ story of the ride to Baltimore and on to Wheeling
revealed a new and hitherto unknown chapter in the Peirce
case the story of the inevitable bickerings among the four
fugitives which came with “the morning after”, and which
eventually led to their parting.

“When we got near Baltimore,” she continued, “Tread-
way turned to Moss and said, (Continued on page 77)

Here,
doubt,

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ation which followed C. Stuart Patter-
son, counsel for Treadway, was unable
to shake Boots’ detailed account of the
murder. When he had finished his at-
tempts, Mr. Speiser asked her to ex-
plain why she had lied in her first con-
fession, which had exonerated Tread-
Way.

“He told me if we were caught and
told different stories, we would never
get out of it,” she replied. “So when |
heard his confession through an open
transom. I simply agreed with him,”

Mess. pale and serious, took the

stand immediately after Boots, and
corroborated her story in nearly every
detail. He said he had heard no
threats against Boots, such as she had
described to her husband in Captain
Souder’s office, but that Treadway had
jokingly said he would shoot her if she
said anything.

The following day, Treadway took
the stand in his own defense. Boots
was not in court.

The young boxer, his face anxious
and his lips compressed, denied _ flatly

that he had handed his gun to Elliotte

at the door of Peirce’s apartment, and
also denied any knowledge of a plot
to rob the murdered man.

Both of these admissions had been
made to me when he made his second
confession, and I was later called to the
stand to refute him.

His description of the murder scene,
though less incriminating than that of
his confession, was no less vivid:

“When Elliotte came in and hit
Peirce, | was too surprised and dum-
founded to realize what was going on,”
he declared. “I told him to stop, but
he shouted, “Shut up, or you'll get the
same.’

“I could see his eyes bulging out of
his head from drugs which he took. | told
him not to do it again. I pleaded with
him. But with each word I uttered he
only gave Peirce another blow on the
head with the blackjack or wrench.

“After Peirce fell, I looked down at
him. It almost made me faint. I saw
a towel and I leaned down and put it
over his face. I couldn’t stand the sight.
That’s how I got the blood on me.”

Asked why he made the second state-

nent if he now denied it, Treadway re-
plied that he had done so to save Boots.

“They were telling me all the time
that the statement I had made was
wrong, and I said I’d do anything to
save the girl, for | knew she was inno-

The Master Detective

cent,” he declared in a voice that car-
ried a ring of sincerity.

On Saturday morning, four days
after the trial opened, the closing pleas
were made by the prosecutor and
defense attorneys, and at 1:15 p.m. the
jury retired. At 4:28, more than three

ours later, they filed back into their
seats.

“Gentlemen, have you reached a ver-
dict?” inquired Levi Hart, the court
crier. bat

“We have,” responded the foreman,

Ross Rogers, sailor husband of the

scintillating Boots, who made a dra-

matic appearance at the time when

Boots was embroiled in the Peirce
mystery

“Guilty of murder—in the second de-
gree!”

Treadway’s face paled and his arms
twitched. The verdict meant that he
would escape with his life!

“I’m satisfied; the odds were against
me anyway,” he said to reporters as he
was led from the court.

The following Monday, the young
boxer who had lost everything, includ-
ing the girl he loved, stood before
Judge Audenreid and heard himself
sentenced to spend the next twenty
years of his life in the Eastern Peniten-

tap

he Judge plainly showed his opinion
of the jury’s verdict by cutting short a
plea of the defense attorney for leni-
ency.
“Don’t ask me what I think of the
guilt of this man!” he exclaimed. “Let

me congratulate him and not the Com-
monwealth upon the verdict of the

Jury.

hat very same day, Treadway was
led away to the huge fortress on
Cherry Hill and the State turned to
dispose of his fellow prisoners.

Moss was brought into court March
30th, after having been given an oppor-
tunity to plead guilty as an accessory
to the murder and escape with a light
sentence, or to face the charge of mur-
der in the first degree, with the risk of
heavy punishment balanced agaihst

_ possible exoneration.

After hours of thought in his cell at
Moyamensing he had elected to stand
trial, but no sooner had he reached the
court-room than he again seemed unde-
cided. Boots gave her testimony, his
statement was read, and the case
seemed about to go to the jury when
Moss leaned over and whispered to his
lawyer. ,

he latter stepped forward and spoke
to Mr. Speiser, who was in the act of
beginning his address to the jury. Spei-
ser informed Judge Audenreid that the
defendant had changed his mind and
wished to plead guilty to the lesser in-
dictment.

A few minutes later, the Judge in-
structed the jury to acquit Moss on the
charge of murder, and ordered the de-
— to return for sentence two days
ater.

A ROUND of hand-clapping fol-
lowed the announcement, for most
ersons, among them myself, felt that
oss was a Victim of circumstances and
his own habit of drink, and had no ac-
tual part in the actual slaying of Peirce.
The following day, the long awaited
event for which the newspapers had

‘been thirsting, began. Boots Rogers

was placed on trial.

She spent the first day in critical in-
spection of the men who were to take
her fate in their hands and decide
whether or not she was guilty of mur-
der in the first degree! Her method of
approach was typical.

“Ts it all right to vamp these jurors?”
she whispered to her lavever, Robert
Hagen. “I’m after one of them!”

hen began a battle of eyes during
which Boots, her legs crossed nonchal-
antly, strove desperately to catch the
glances of the jurors and display her
charms to the best possible advantage.

The jurymen were visibly embar-
rassed by her attempts to gain their at-

| Behind Drawn Blinds!

At the Brandon home in Annapolis,«Maryland, neighbors noticed that the blinds were down—but had they only known what was
transpiring back of those drawn blinds! Later, when beautiful Mrs. Brandon was found, brutally murdered, detectives were mys-
tified as to who had committed this dastardly deed—and then Lieutenant of Detectives Joseph F. Dougherty ran across aclue... .
You will be held spellbound by Lieutenant Dougherty’s own story of this amazing case, told exclusively in

March TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES

—and in this same issue you will find The STRANGE RIDDLE of the “MYSTERY SHIP”; The CASE AGAINST “SILENT”
COLSON; The STRANGER, the DOG and the WOMAN; HOW I “BROKE” THE UNDERWORLD’S SECRET CODE;
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TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES—The Magazine of Fact. A Macfadden Publication, The March issue is on sale at all
news stands February 15th. 25c—30c in Canada.

March, 1930

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“Did he give you a description of the
bandit?” Cody asked Wright.

The Mayfield chief nodded, picked out
a report from his files, and read aloud:
“The assailant was tall, heavy build, with
black hair slicked down. His clothes were
rough, those of some sort of workman, and
he wore a dark, visored cap.”

Cody exchanged a glance with Captain
Potts. “That’s almost a repeat of the data
we have on a suspect in the murder of
Ruth Steese. I think we’d better have a
talk with this Treadway fellow.”

At the hospital where Treadway was re-
covering from his gunshot wound, the de-
tectives were surprised when the holdup
victim not only confirmed what Chief
Wright had told them, but volunteered to
accompany them, despite his injured leg,
to the Cleveland Detective Bureau where
he could go through the rogues’ gallery
photographs.

“If this guy killed a girl,” Treadway said,
“I figure it’s my job to try to pick him out
of your identification files, if I can.”

Treadway’s determination impressed the
officers, and they escorted him to the De-
tective Bureau, where he tackled the same
task the youthful motorist had failed to
make pay off.

Within three hours, the wounded service
station attendant picked out a photo and
said to Chief Cody, “That’s him. There’s
the man who shot me—or his. twin
brother!”

Cody examined the photograph and the
suspect’s record, which consisted of minor
charges and no convictions. The photo was
that of Frankie Carlori, of Pittsburgh.

“We'll have to go to Pennsylvania,”
Cody said. “This fellow’s record shows no
previous theft attempts, no violence of any
sort. I’d want you to see him in person, in
a line-up, before making any charge or
pickup order out on him. Think you can
make it?”

Treadway nodded, and within a few
days was seated beside Cody in the dark-
ened line-up room at police headquarters
in Pittsburgh. Six men were brought out
on the stage and each answered routine
questions as to age, residence, occupation,
but were requested not to give their
names. A soft-drink vendor, young, dark-
haired and extremely nervous, caught

Treadway’s eye. He stared at the man.
“That’s the guy,” he whispered to Cody.
The man Treadway had picked out,

Cody knew, was none other than Frankie

Carlori.

The identification confirmed, Carlori was
held on the charge of robbing and shooting
the filling station attendant. Grilled about
the attack, with Cody present but in the
background, the suspect repeatedly denied
that he had been in the Cleveland area at
the time of the crime. “I’ve never been in
Cleveland at all,” he insisted. “If you can
find any person, outside of this Treadway,
who ever saw me there, I’ll plead guilty to
everything in the book.”

Nevertheless, on September 25th, Carlori
went on trial in Criminal Court, with Peter
Treadway the State’s star witness. On-the
following day, despite Carlori’s plea of not
guilty, he was convicted of armed robbery.
His lawyers, on September 28th, filed a
motion for a new trial. This was overruled.
The court suspended imposing the sen-
tence on Carlori, at the State’s request, to
give the police time to investigate his pos-
sible involvement in the murder of Ruth
Steese.

Pressing this investigation was Chief
Cody, who already had learned from Su-
perintendent Cowles of the crime lab that
the bullet taken from Treadway’s leg was
a .38, the same caliber and type ammuni-
tion used to murder Ruth Steese.

“That makes too many coincidences,”
Cody told his men. “Same caliber weapon,
same location, same modus operandi and
in each case some connection with a filling
station.”

“You think Carlori killed Mrs. Steese?”
Captain Potts asked.

Cody shrugged. “A jury has convicted
Carlori of the filling station holdup,” he
said. “They considered the facts and hand-
ed in a verdict. Our job is to go out and
get some more facts, not turn in a verdict
on Carlori.”

The facts Cody sought were elusive.
Somewhere, he was personally convinced,

' there was a link between the gas station

holdup and the murder of the pretty
housewife. But it was a link that was
missing for weeks—with Carlori in jail
awaiting sentence—before Cody dredged
it up and pulled it into the limelight.

On the night of December 5th a gas sta-
tion only a few blocks from police head-
quarters was held up by an armed bandit.
Cody, deeply interested now in any crime
pertaining to such establishments, checked
over the reports turned in by detectives
assigned to the robbery, but found noth-
ing to add to his investigation of the Steese
killing. Nothing in this new theft tied in
with any of the known facts of the murder,
or the holdup of service station attendant
Peter Treadway. However, it was on
Cody’s mind when he stopped for gas the
next day at a station across the street from
headquarters, and he mentioned it cas-
ually to the proprietor.

“I got a hunch I know who pulled that
job last night,” the proprietor said.

Cody had a horde of friends and ac-
quaintances who now and then came to
him and claimed they knew “whodunit” in
cases not solved quickly. He had long since
learned not to discredit these theories, no
matter how far-fetched. Now, he said,
“Okay, let’s hear about this hunch of
yours.”

“Well, it’s probably crazy,” the man be-
gan, “but about a week ago a guy cashed
a check here for $12. It wasn’t any good
and I threatened to go to the police if he
didn’t make good on it. He came in this
morning, flashing a big roll of bills, and
paid off.”

onats all?”

youre. It adds up like two and two, don’t
it?”

Cody was aware that it didn’t necessari-
ly make four, nonetheless he refused to
dismiss the proprietor’s hunch without
further questioning. “This man, what name
did he sign to that worthless check?”

“Treadway,” the man said quickly.
“Peter Treadway.”

To Cody, things suddenly added up—to
murder. This was one coincidence too
many. Peter Treadway was a filling sta-
tion attendant. He claimed to have been
robbed and shot at a spot near where Ruth
Steese had been murdered, with the same
caliber gun. Now, the day following an-
other gas station holdup, Treadway was
flush with cash.

“You think Treadway might come back
here today?” he asked the proprietor.

“He might.”

“Good,” Cody said. “I’m going to post a
policeman in a window of the police sta-
tion across the way. If Treadway comes in,
signal that officer.”

After posting the officer, Cody briskly
strode into the office of Chief George
Matowitz and outlined the new develop-
ment. Assistant Prosecutor Hart was also
in the office, as Cody revealed his latest
plan of action. The first step was to wire
the FBI in Washington for a check on
Peter Treadway’s possible criminal record;
the next was to comb their own files for
his name. Superintendent Cowles got on
this latter assignment, while Cody called
in Captain Potts and Sergeant Wolf, filling
them in on the signal arrangement with
the service station owner across the street.

It was late in the afternoon when the
proprietor waved nonchalantly to the offi-
cer in the headquarters window. Treadway
was at the gas station. Word was relayed
to Cody instantly and within two minutes
he and Wolf barged into the station, where
the suspect sat comfortably in a chair.

Peter Treadway, who had pointed the
finger of guilt at Frank Carlori, was
amazed when Chief Cody deftly pointed a
service revolver at him and said, “You’re
under arrest!”

Treadway’s mouth was still open when
Sergeant Wolf’s handcuffs closed around
his wrists. “What’s this all about,” he sput-
tered.

Cody ignored the question. “The .car
outside, the Chevrolet, that’s his, Wolf.

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38 CALIBER ALIBI

(Continued from page 47)

the Blind Society and obtain full details on
the victim’s movements up until she had
left the office, as well as other pertinent
information about her background. Cody
himself then huddled with David Cowles,
superintendent of the crime lab. The ob-
jects of their curiosity were the blindfold,
the scarf and the twine. It was the blind-
fold that Cody was most interested in.

“Obviously, the scarf is her own—so no
lead there to the killer’s identification. The
twine is a common type binding that could
be obtained any place. Too many places
for us to follow it to the guy we want.
That blindfold, though, what do you make
of that, Dave?”

Cowles studied the white fabric, a strip
2 feet 4 inches long and 8 inches wide.
“Offhand, {’d say that it looks like a pol-
ishing cloth, the kind they use on autos.”

“Sold mostly at filling stations,” Cody
mused. “Unless this cloth was in the car,
and belongs to the office manager, then the
killer had it with him. Odd sort of thing
to carry around, unless he’d just bought it
or maybe it was a part of his working
equipment. We'll check all local filling sta-
tions for recent purchases of polishing
cloths, and for attendants who might have
been missing from their jobs early this
afternoon.”

Cody assigned the canvassing job to his
men, also sent out a group of officers with
rakes to the death scene, to comb the
ground in search of clues the killer might
have accidentally left behind him. With
more than 100 men actively engaged in the
murder investigation, Cody leaned back in
his chair and sighed. “All we can do now,”
he said, “is wait for the reports from Ah-
rens and Heisley, and from Wolf and
Potts.”

“I’ve got another little tidbit for you,”
Cowles said. “The bullet we found on the
car floor was a .38—a .38 Remington auto-
matic.”

“It might tie in with something,” Cody
mused. “If my men can dig up anything.
I'm going to see the girl’s parents.”

Detectives Ahrens and Heisley had al-
ready found the victim’s husband at work
and had told him the facts they knew
about Ruth Steese’s death. The informa-
tion he was able to give them, as they pro-
ceeded to the morgue to identify the
corpse, was meager. Brokenly, he told the
officers that he had had a date to pick Ruth
up at 5 o’clock that afternoon, having
dropped her at her office that morning. His
movements during the day were given to
the officers in detail, and they made a
memo to check out the husband’s alibi as
soon as they could.

Meanwhile, Cody had arrived at the
parents’ home and disclosed the purpose of
his visit. When they were able to resume

the interview, the parents could offer no
possible leads to the detective. Ruth Steese
had gone steady with her husband from
college days, there were no other suitors,
no one at all who might have wanted to
harm her. Cody returned to headquarters,
where he conferred with Detectives Ah-
rens and Heisley.

“No doubt of the identification,” Ahrens
reported. “She’s Ruth Steese, all right. Her
husband checks out as clean as a whistle,
too. He’d been on the job all day. Hear
anything from Wolf or Potts?”

Cody consulted his watch. “They should
be checking in pretty soon—unless they’ve
run into something big that’s holding them
up.”

Captain Potts and Sergeant Wolf, when
they arrived some minutes later, had run
into nothing important enough to detain
them. “Ran into some heavy traffic,? Wolf
explained.

Potts nodded. “The girl down at the
Blind Society filled us in on the victim’s
movements during the day, but instead of
narrowing down the field, it broadens it.”

“What'd she have to say?” Cody asked.

“Ruth Steese came to work on time this
morning, was around the office during the
morning, had lunch and then left to go to
the bank on Society business. She was
carrying $1398.13 in checks and cash, for
deposit at the Cleveland Trust Company
at Euclid and East 57th Street,” Potts said.
“In addition, she had salary checks to cash
for the amount of $191.25. From there, she
was supposed to go downtown to the
Guardian Trust Company.”

“How about the deposit at the Cleveland
Trust?” Cody wanted to know. “Did she
make it?”

“She made the deposit, all right, so all
the killer got was the salary money,” Potts
said. “But she never arrived at the down-
town bank. The office manager called for
Ruth at the Cleveland Trust, but she had
just left. The girl then telephoned the
downtown bank but Ruth hadn’t reached
there yet—and she didn’t call back, as the
office girl left word for her to do.”

Potts reported that they had interviewed
the teller who had handled Ruth Steese’s
deposit that afternoon and he had verified
the story told by the Blind Society office
manager. Ruth had left the bank at 1:10,
and she had not appeared worried or tense,
had in fact been quite cheerful. He had
given her $191.25, including nine $20s.

Cody digested this information, and add-
ing it to what he already knew, had a fair-
ly complete picture of the murder case as
it now stood. Ruth Steese had gone to the
Cleveland Trust, Cody figured, and while
she had been inside, someone had entered
her car, either hiding there until she
reached a lonely stretch of road on the
way back to the Blind Society office or
forcing her to drive, at gunpoint, the 14
miles from the bank to Pepper Pike Vil-
lage. She had left at 1:10. Forty minutes
later, the girl’s body had been found by
the hunter, bound, gagged, blindfolded.

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“That ride, in the usual heavy traffic,”
Cody said aloud to his assistants, “must
have taken at least thirty minutes, leaving
the killer about ten minutes to bind, as-
sault and kill the victim before fleeing.
The big question is: what was the killer
after? Did he know that she’d have money
on her after leaving the bank? Did he have
only a sex motive? Was there something
else, some other reason, driving him to
commit murder?”

With the element of motive vague—even
though the $191.25 had evidently been
stolen—and with the .38 automatic that
had fired the two death shots missing—it
was impossible for Chief Cody to push the
investigation in any specific line. Routine
detective procedure, consisting mainly of
legwork, was the only seeming hope.

“We'll concentrate on filling stations,”
Cody told his men. “Even after the can-
vass on the polishing cloth is ended, we’ll
keep our eyes open to any angle involving
filling stations. We'll check out all the sex
criminals we can round up, and we'll pub-
licize this case, ask the public to be on the
alert for any suspicious man who tried to
spend $20 bills, particularly in the Pepper
Pike area this afternoon. Maybe some-
where along the line we'll get a break.”

As reports came across Cody’s desk in
the next few days it seemed no break was
in sight. Chief Eierman’s patrols had found
no suspicious characters without alibis.
None of the rounded-up sex offenders
could be placed near Pepper Pike at the
time in question and the canvass of gas
stations had brought in no results. Early
Sunday morning, however, Chief Cody’s
home phone rang insistently. The caller
was a bus driver whose route was along
Shaker Boulevard near Pepper Pike.

“I just read the papers, Chief,” he said,
“and that business about a guy with $20
bills hit home. Just last Friday, the same
day that dame was killed, some fellow has
the nerve to flag me down and then hand
me a $20 bill for fare. I remember, because
I had to go to the bank to cash the bill.
What makes it important to you, I guess, is
that he was right near the spot where the
paper says this girl got killed.”

“Do you remember what this fellow
looked like?” Cody asked tensely.

“Sure. He was about 30, maybe a few
years older. He was wearing a gray jacket
and had on leather puttees.”

Cody put in the big question and held
his breath. “Where did this man get off the
bus?”

“Somewhere downtown, I can’t tell you
where what with all the traffic headaches,”
the driver said. “I’ll stop down at head-
quarters, Chief, as soon as I can get there.”

While Cody awaited the bus driver’s ar-
rival, the newspaper publicity paid off in
another way. A youth entered the station,
explained that he had read the papers and
wanted to tell the police that he had, most
likely, seen the man who killed Ruth
Steese only a few minutes after the murder
occurred.

“J was driving along Shaker Boulevard
last Friday at about 1:35 in the afternoon,”
he told Cody. “I came upon a man sitting
in a parked car and stopped to ask direc-
tions. He was the same man whose picture
is in the paper—the hunter who found the
body. I left him and drove about five miles
and I guess it was about 1:45 when I saw
the Hudson, the murder car, stalled in the
mud, I slowed, and a man got out of the
back seat, smiling at me and waving me to
go on. Thinking it out today, I guess the
guy I saw was the killer, because I reached
that spot before the hunter did.”

Asked to describe the man, the youthful
motorist stated that he had taken a care-
ful look due to the odd circumstances. “He
was tall, about six feet, and maybe around
200 pounds in weight. In his 30s, I’d guess,

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This description, though more detailed,
tallied closely with that phoned in by the
bus driver and Chief Cody was inclined to
place confidence in it. He was even more
convinced when the young witness was
able to take him directly to the exact spot
where the murder car had been parked,
and when, at the police garage, the youth
quickly pointed out the maroon Hudson as
the automobile he had seen.

Cody passed on the killer’s description
to the press, as well as to law agencies
throughout the state, hoping that the re-
sults of this publication would be as good
as those of the earlier news releases. The
youthful motorist who claimed to have
seen the killer meanwhile was taken to the
Identification Bureau, where he went
through dozens of books of criminals’
photographs. By Wednesday, when Ruth
Steese was buried, no lead had paid off.
Days, then weeks, passed without further
progress in the case.

The chief of detectives continued to re-
view the case with his men, continued to
inquire about the mysterious killer at
other law agencies, all to no avail. He
summed up the situation bluntly to the
officers of the Cleveland Detective Bureau.
“We have had hundreds of men assigned
to this investigation. All we have is a de-
scription of an unknown man, a polishing
cloth and a couple of battered .38s. For the
moment, we'll have to consider it an ‘un-
solved case—but I want each of you to
bear this Ruth Steese murder in mind con-
stantly while on duty. Some day we'll get
the lead we need to crack this case wide
open.’

That day did not arrive for seven months,
and the officer of the Detective Bureau
who found the vague lead in a small news-
paper item was Chief Cody, himself. On
July 24th, 1933, Cody read of an assault
and robbery at a filling station in suburban
Maytield. What grabbed Cody’s attention
was the fact that the station attendant had
been on his way to a bank to deposit $300
when a 2unman got into his car at a stop-
light and forced him to drive out along
Shaker Heights Boulevard. The bank was
the Guardian Trust Company—the same
one Ruth Steese had been headed for when
she was killed—and the spot along Shaker
Boulevard where the attendant was
robbed, blackjacked and shot was within a
quarter of a mile of the point where the
maroon Hudson had been found with its
grim cargo.

Cody at once called in his close assist-
ants, Detective Captain Potts and Sergeant
Wolt, and showed them the news story. se |
wouldn't want to say for certain,’ Cody
began, “but I’ve a hunch that this might
connect with the Ruth Steese killing. In
addition to the location and some similar-
ity in modus operandi, there’s the fact that
a filling station attendant is involved. It
seems to me that this is more than coinci-
dence. From that auto polishing cloth, we
deduced that the killer was somehow con-
nected with a gas station. What more natu-
ral a spot for him to case for his next job?
He probably knows a lot about such places,
figured he could make a quick strike. Any-
way, we'll see what this wounded attend-
ant can recall about the attack.”

Checking in at Mayfield headquarters,
the three Cleveland detectives learned
from Chief of Police N. Wright that the at-
tendant, Peter Treadway, had been left for
dead but had managed to start his car and
drive to the police station. He had been
shot in the calf of his right leg, and Wright
had rushed him to a hospital. Upon regain-
ing his senses, Treadway had gasped out
the story of the holdup and attack in
which he had been shot.

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“the riddle

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CLIFTON, N. J.. DECEMBER 16, 1954
* HE WAS AFRAID OF GIRLS—When he got up nerve enough

to kiss a woman, he was afraid she would tell on him. In panic he

stabbed her to death.

BRINKLEY, ARK., DECEMBER 12, 1954
* CLUB-MURDER OF THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN TOWN

—Hunger drove him into Sue Fuller’s home. A mad urge impelled him

into her bedroom where she lay asleep. She never woke up.

HUNTSVILLE, ALA., DECEMBER 6, 1954
* THE POSTMAN RANG THE WRONG BELL—The

blonde war bride had been on the living room floor ten days. Who had

carried her into the house—dead?

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Wolf.

Give it a quick frisk and let me know
what you find.”

Within a few minutes, Wolf returned to
the station, a .38 caliber Savage automatic
in ‘his hand. “He had this in his car, Chief.
Maybe Cowles won’t be eager to get his
microscope on a slug from this baby!”

Shortly later the crime lab superin-
tendent had such a slug under his lens.
When he had satisfied himself that his tests
were complete beyond doubt, Cowles gave
Chief Cody his report. “This test bullet
was fired from the same gun that shot
Peter Treadway in the leg.”

Sergeant Wolf whistled. “You mean to
say Treadway shot himself in the leg and
knocked himself on the head—then pinned
the rap on Carlori, a completely innocent
man? What some guys won’t do for $300!”

“Not just $300,” Cody said. “I’ve said all
along that the murder of Ruth Steese and
the shooting of Treadway were linked. It
never did set well with me that the killer
of Mrs. Steese—a guy who covered his
tracks like a real professional—would
make the mistake of using the same gun to
shoot Treadway, as well as the same loca-
tion and modus operandi. Treadway had
more than $300 in mind when he faked
that holdup and shot himself. He was
looking for a fall guy for the Steese mur-
der rap—and he fingered Frank Carlori, an
innocent man. What holdupman with any
sense would almost duplicate the circum-
stances of one crime, linking it to another
more serious one, unless he was doing it
deliberately?” ;

Potts nodded. “That figures. It wouldn’t
be worth a wounded leg just for a $300
haul. Treadway was scheming to get out
from under that murder charge—and he
nearly got away with it.”

While arrangements were being _has-
tened to speed up the freeing of Frank
Carlori, and while Treadway was detained

on a charge of armed robbery, the FBI
came through with a crime report on Peter
Treadway that read like an underworld
saga. He had served terms at prisons in
Missouri, Pennsylvania and Kansas, one
conviction being for auto theft and mur-
der, for which he had served nearly 20
years.

Fast on the heels of this character dis-
closure, the Detective Bureau called in the
bus driver who had accepted the $20 bill
from a passenger near Pepper Pike, as
well as the youthful motorist who had
seen the killer leave the death car. Tread-
way was placed in a line-up and the two
key witnesses instantly identified him as
the man they had seen on the day of the
murder.

Shaken by the overwhelming evidence
against him, Treadway admitted the filling
station holdup in which he had shot him-
self for $300. Asked why he had fingered
Frank Carlori, the suspect grinned and
said, “I didn’t even know Carlori, but
somebody had to be the fall guy.”

Driving for even more evidence in the
murder case against Treadway, Cody’s de-
tectives checked at the bandit’s place of
employment at the time of the slaying. The
proprietor recalled that Treadway had
been due to report for work that day at 12
noon, but had called up and said his wife
was sick and had not come in until 6 that
night. The suspect’s wife, contacted later,
revealed that she had not been sick on that
date.

Other facts piled up against Treadway.
His employer identified the polishing cloth
blindfold as an item sold at the filling sta-
tion, and also told police that Treadway,
owner of a .38, had asked him not to men-
tion it if the police came around to the
station asking questions about absent at-
tendants, as they had at that time.

So strong was the case against the for-

mer filling station attendant that on the
morning his trial was to get under way,
February 23rd, 1934, he escaped from jail
by making a rope from bedsheets and
climbing down from the fourth floor. The
bars of his cell had been sawed apart with
a hacksaw.

Captain Potts, who told Chief Cody of
the escape, was downcast. “After all our
trouble lining up facts against him, he gets
away free!”

Cody shook his head. “Not free for long,
V’H wager. We got the facts against him last
time by watching filling stations—and
that’s just what we'll keep our eyes peeled
for now. This Treadway has a one-track
mind. He'll go right back to sticking up gas
stations—and we'll have police all over the
Midwest alerted for him.”

Within two weeks an armed bandit was
picked up by police in Hannibal, Missouri,
after the stickup of a filling station. Fin-
gerprinted, he was identified quickly as
Peter Treadway and was returned to
Cleveland to stand trial for the murder
of pretty Ruth Steese.

On April 5th, 1934, three judges, sitting
in lieu of a jury, found Treadway guilty of
murder without recommending mercy. The
sentence, mandatory under the circum-
stances, was death by electrocution.

Peter Treadway, resident of Ohio State
Penitentiary’s Death Row, acted as though
he was in extremely good humor, flashing
his even white teeth at interviewing re-
porters and boasting, “I’ve still got the old
smile.”

Whether he retained that smile after the
hood was placed over his head is not
known.

Epitor’s Norte:
The name, Frank Carlori, is fictitious.

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26 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

accept Him, Sam decided to ask God for the help he
needed. He wanted to start all over again, he felt, and
so it had become most important to him that he get out
of prison and live the kind of life he now wanted to live.

His very first prayer, he told me with a smile, went
no higher than the roof of the prison, for it was based
only on his former experience and knowledge. He
asked God to give him a pistol so that he might shoot
his way out of the prison and then ‘‘go straight’ on the
outside! After relating it Sam laughed, observing that
all of us are inclined to conclude that if we can just
have one more chance, we will do what is right! But in
answer to his first prayer, no pistol dropped from the
heavens.

Within an hour God caused him to realize that es-
cape was not his primary need nor was it the solution
to his real problems. During the next several days he
continued under great conviction to consider the
claims of Jesus Christ on his life. Finally he concluded
that he must dismiss thoughts of attempting to extri-
cate himself from the situation that engulfed him, giv-
ing first attention to making things right with God.

His second prayer, he told me, was offered after sev-
eral restless days of pacing back and forth in his cell. It
was offered just about at sundown on Saturday night.
He told me that he had dropped by the side of his cot
and prayed, enumerating his sins as he could remem-
ber them. In simple language he told me how he had
prayed, ‘‘God, forgive me for this sin, and for that one,
and that one.’’ Finally he ended his prayer by asking,
‘*And God forgive me for every sin there is because
I’m guilty of all of them.’’ He radiantly told me that
when he arose from his knees it seemed to him that a
great weight had been lifted from his life. When later
that night he was finally able to go to bed, he fell into

THREE HOURSTOLIVE 23

ter at the front office, I was told to wait while a check
was made to be certain that I was the one to whom the
warden had written, and that the letter was not a coun-
terfeit. Finally, a special guard was assigned to take me
to Sam and to remain with me throughout the visit.

I counted the steel doors as one by one they clanged
shut behind us—five in all. After passing through two
of them, we came to a desk where an officer must make
- out a special pass for us to proceed farther. At this
point both my guard and I were searched to make cer-
tain that we carried no concealed weapons. Then, with
only my Bible in my hand, I accompanied my guard
across a large courtyard and into a gloomy-looking
gray stone building.

Prisoners were marching across the court and into
the various buildings that adjoined it. We entered one
of the buildings and walked down a long corridor on
the side of which were cells, each containing four men.
The cell block was six tiers high. But this was not our
destination. Down the corridor we walked, approach-
ing what looked like a small gray steel closet protrud-
ing from the wall. A uniformed guard sat in front of it.
When we gave him our special pass, he rose to his feet,
unlocked the door of the ‘‘closet,’’ and my spécial
guard and I entered. With a terrible finality the door
clanged shut behind us.

For just a moment I wondered what we were doing
in that tiny place. Still puzzled, I finally noticed a peep-
hole in the back of this enclosure and realized that it
was another door. I could observe an eye at this open-
ing, and realized that a guard watched us from there. In
reality the ‘‘closet’’ was a small steel corridor with
locked doors attended on opposite ends by two differ-
ent guards. As soon as the inside guard was certain that
the outer door was safely locked behind us, he opened

24 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

his door and we passed through.

I found myself in a large room containing a number
of cells along one of the walls. This was the place of
maximum security, in the innermost part of the prison.
I was now on ‘“‘death row.”’ As I examined the situa-
tion and looked down the row of cells, the guard in
charge pointed to a chair placed outside of one of them.
He said, ‘‘That is for you. Go and sit down there.’’ As I
sat in the chair my special guard pulled up a chair about
eight feet away and sat down also. He was courteous
enough to make believe he was falling asleep, but I
knew that he was there to listen closely to every word
that passed between us.

I observed that the cell ahead of me was occupied by
a young man, slightly built, pleasant appearing, whose
face bore a look of real expectancy. I was separated
from him by two rows of bars. The row nearest me had
screening placed just inside to make certain that noth-
ing could be passed through by a visitor. The second
row of bars was separated from the first by about three
feet, and the cell was beyond that. Five feet wide by
nine feet deep, the cell was lighted by just a little elec-
tric bulb suspended by a wire from the ceiling.

My eye quickly took in the cell’s contents: a cot, lav-
atory facilities, and one or two pictures taped to the
otherwise bare, concrete wall. The only outside light
reached the cell from a window behind me and high
over my head. A little later during our visit the prisoner
was allowed to come through the row of bars farthest
from me and sit in a chair directly in front of mine, still
separated from me, however, by the remaining bars
and screening.

As I looked at him I queried, ‘‘Are you Sam?”’ to
which he replied, ‘‘I am Sam.’’ He then proceeded to
call me by name even though we had never met. I

THREEHOURS TOLIVE 25

think, however, that we instantly felt quite well ac-
quainted, for we had corresponded so much. As Sam
had proceeded with our Bible lessons, we had thought
we could observe a tremendous change taking place in
his life. I was eager now to meet him personally to try
to ascertain whether or not the change was as genuine
and as complete as his letters had indicated. On this
and subsequent visits I became thoroughly convinced
that in his Christian experience there was no sham or
counterfeit. This conversion was genuine! Prison offi-
cials who associated with him every day recognized
‘ this fact even as did I.

As I looked into his cell that day, I wondered just
how to begin our visit. What could I say under those
circumstances? Probably I began rather badly, for I
simply stated, ‘‘Sam, it is hard to find you here and to
meet you in this place, realizing why you are here and
what lies in store for you.”’

He instantly replied, ‘‘Pastor, don’t feel sorry for
me; I am the happiest man in the world.”’

‘*What makes you say that, Sam?’’ I asked.

His answer was, ‘‘When I was out there in the street
(and he pointed vaguely to the outside world), I had no
hope. But since I’ve come here, I have found Jesus
Christ as my Saviour. Now I feel that what happens to
me in the next few days doesn’t matter; it is what hap-
pens to me over there that counts. And I’ve got all the
' hope in the world for ‘over there.’ ”’

We settled down and became completely absorbed
in discussing the subject closest to his heart—his new-
found joy in his friendship with Jesus and his accep-
tance of the Saviour. He wanted to share with me the
story of his first attempt at prayer. Having discovered
from the Scriptures that there is One who offers to for-
give sins, promising peace and assurance to those who

50 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

even reversed, through the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Bible enumerates the details regarding sev-
eral of them.

For instance, a jailer at Philippi, in the grip of fear at
seeing God’s power open his jail, cried out to Paul,
‘‘What must I do to be saved?’’ Paul’s simple reply is
an immortal classic: ‘‘Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’’ Acts 16:31. The
Scriptures indicate that the jailer believed, and Paul
baptized him on the spot. Immediately after this man’s
conversion, he showed concern for the wounds of his
prisoners and set about ministering to their physical
needs—a sure indication in his outward life of his in-
ward change of heart. And Paul recognized these con-
version symptoms, for he himself had passed through
this same spiritual experience on the road to Damascus
long years before. He could never forget, nor did he
even want to, what it had meant to him to have Jesus
take control of his life. He could state authoritatively
that a man with Christ in his heart becomes a new crea-
ture, because he knew that this is what the gospel had
done for him.

The Philippian jailer’s question, ‘‘What shall I do to
be saved?’’ is asked again and again today. People
imagine now, even as did this man in New Testament
times, that salvation in heaven depends upon some-
thing which we can and must do.

Many conclude that a person who leads a good life
will be saved. But in the Scriptures we never find any
authoritative command to lead a good life and thus
earn salvation. Paul’s answer to the jailer was brief and
unequivocal: ‘‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved.’ It is as simple as that, according
to the Scriptures. If a man really believes in his heart
on the Lord Jesus, he has taken the great all-inclusive

THREEHOURSTOLIVE 49

Though Nicodemus was a good man outwardly, and
a spiritual leader of his people, he was yet quite
unprepared for Christ’s directness in dealing with him.
Jesus struck at the root of the problem when He flatly
stated, ‘‘Ye must be born again,”’ or ‘‘Ye must be born
from above.’’ Unwilling just then to admit his spiritual
need and submit his life to the sweeping and even revo-
lutionary changes of conversion, he sadly left the Mas-
ter. But he could not forget Christ’s appeal to him nor
his own inner desire to respond. Gradually in the next
three and a half years his life did change until he was
indeed born again. And at Christ’s death he changed
from a secret disciple to an openly committed one who
used his wealth without stint to aid the infant church.

Sam’s changed life bore silent testimony to the re-
ality of his spiritual experience. His new outlook and
changed goals indicate that conversion is just as real
today as it ever was. In fact, the Bible states that this
new birth from above must come to every man if he is
ultimately to be saved in God’s kingdom. As the result
of this dynamic spiritual experience, Sam became
completely different from what he had been before;
and everyone who knew Sam could plainly see the
change. He was motivated by different desires, affec-
tions, ambitions, goals, and objectives. This was ob-
servable by everyone who associated with him. He
was, in reality, a new man with new objectives, new
ambitions, and a new will. Like every converted man,
he was a new creation, a literal fulfillment of the Scrip-
ture’s bold assertion, ‘‘If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.”’ 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Someone has descriptively observed that conver-
sion is a U-turn on the highway of life. History has
seen countless examples of lives completely changed,

THREE HOURS TOLIVE 47

had responded, ‘‘Sam, I know that you’re going to be
there, and by God’s grace so am I.’’ Then he con-
cluded, ‘‘Good-bye, then. I'll see you in the morning.”’
Thus we had made an appointment to meet, as real as
any appointment I have ever made in my life. We
agreed to meet on a better shore, in ‘‘the morning,”’
when all sin, sickness, death, grief, and pain are for-
ever ended.

Then Sam had simply requested, ‘‘Go back and tell
the folks at Faith for Today never to grow weary in
what they are doing, never to become discouraged in
their work for souls. There are so many in the world
like me who need the gospel and who will accept it if
only it is brought to them. By all means tell them never
to give up their good work for God.”’

As I stood there looking down into his still and ashen
face, I bowed my head and offered a silent prayer that
God would richly bless the now silent testimony of this
converted life. Remembering his admonition, ‘‘Never
grow weary....Never become discouraged... .
There are so many in the world like me,’’ I vowed to do
my best to continue to spread the message of Jesus
Christ. And I prayed that I might find the many more
like Sam, who, in the prison house of sin, so much
need the gospel even as did he.

Before I left the prison, the Protestant chaplain
joined me and requested the privilege of introducing
me to the warden. Later, in visiting with the warden, I
told him that I had not found it easy to watch the pro-
ceedings of that night, but that I had been glad to real-
ize that Sam’s life was completely dedicated to God. I
added, ‘‘I suppose you have seen many of these and
probably are not affected as I have been.”’

I will always remember the warden’s reply: ‘‘While
I have seen many, none of them are easy. I think
this was the hardest one of all.’’

48 THREE HOURS TO LIVE

Leaving the prison, I walked the streets of Colum-
bus in the falling snow for two hours that night. Going
at last to the hotel, but unable to think of sleep, I
prayed and read most of the night. Again and again I
recalled the way Sam ended his letters, and I rejoiced
that his whole hope of eternal life could be contained in
his few words—‘‘By God’s grace, Sam.”’

Some might conclude that Sam’s brief life-span, so
full of violence and unrest, at last met a just end. But I
know that he died triumphant, looking forward to eter-
nal life through the merits of the shed blood of Jesus
Christ. His voice is stilled, but the marvelous change in
his life will long be a witness which will draw men and
women to the Saviour of us all.

What Makes the Change?

What brings a completely changed attitude to a man
who admittedly has spent almost his entire adult life in
pursuit of evil? What force or motivation could turn
him about and change his entire attitude and outlook
on life?

Such an accomplishment demands more than a re-
solve to do right. Many individuals have done this
much, making good resolutions each New Year’s Eve,
only to break and forget them before the first week is
past. When man tries to reform himself, sad experi-
ence has shown the result to be temporary at best.

Sam’s reformation of character resulted from a mi-
raculous experience which Christians have witnessed
in themselves and in others for centuries. We Chris-
tians call it by a term both biblical and highly descrip-
tive, “‘the new birth.’’ Jesus used this figure as He
talked one night with a Jewish ruler named Nicode-
mus.

ng handed in his report.
ultiple skull fractures in-
nstrument. She had not
ped to the home of her
Carolina.

igating officers had not
instaking search for the
iling. The Indianapolis
te the estranged husband.
non Bentley, walked into

nurder,” he said. “I was
‘o that night. Then this
asing the joint.”

1] me all you know about

xi driver. He had stopped
‘lock on Monday morning
‘ered two other customers
ater a car drove up and
Vhen the other customers
shirley Bradford alone in
he parked car and strode
e when Bentley left.
d Paul.

But I can describe him.
or six feet and weighed
r and wore horn-rimmed

iow him?) Did they greet
fee. That’s all. He was

su describe that?”
“Even better than I de-
It was a two-tone Hud-
del. I know it because
February. I first saw it
i Motor Sales Company,
‘aybe they can tell you
bought it from them.”
rmation to Captain Mc-
2 Tod Motor Sales Com-
t. the Hudson had been
3. It had been registered
ww Tannyhill, whose ad-
‘remont.,
el. There the desk clerk
yhill had occupied a rear
for several months. He
day evening.
e, ‘is the same day that
aq
+t. “If you want to talk
ath,” he said, “you’re on

vy?”

she must have been killed
and four in the morning.
nday. Tannyhill came in
> me for a while. The
round half-past nine.”
McGuire. “I suppose it’s

it over, but they found
l’s name and description
ies at Columbus, to the
to the FBI, to ascertain

{1 McGuire had collected
iyhill. He had been an
tions for check forgery,
i time in both Ohio and

orwarded to the sheriff's

office, along with a more detailed description of the fugitive.

He had been a laborer, a salesman and a carnival worker.

A number of women’s names were tattooed on his arms.

On May 18th, the slain girl’s ex-husband, arrived in
Fremont and heard for the first time of his wife’s death.
He reported immediately to the sheriff. Paul questioned
him closely,.then checked his alibi. It held up. He had
been in Gary, Indiana, at the time of the killing.

In spite of the apparent alibi provided by the clerk at
the Colonial Hotel, the sheriff and McGuire were most
anxious to talk to Tannyhill. Teletype messages were sent
to six states, asking for the apprehension of Tannyhill and
listing the license number of the Hudson sedan,

On May 16th, a telephone call came to Sheriff Paul from
Rolla, the seat of Phelps County, Missouri. ‘This is the
Phelps County sheriff,” came the voice over the wire.
“We've just picked up that Hudson sedan you guys are
looking for. We’re holding the driver and a passenger.”

“Good,” said Paul. ‘Does the driver answer the de-
scription we sent out?”

“Not at all. It’s a woman. So’s the passenger.”

Sheriff Paul, Deputy Bliss and Captain McGuire piled
into a county car and set out for Rolla. There they found
not only the missing Hudson but two extremely attractive
women. These weré 25-year-old Mrs. Rose Belden and
30-year-old Mrs. Josephine Woods. Both were waitresses,
they said. More important, both were good friends of
Samuel Tannyhill.

Bliss remained outside the jail when McGuire and Paul
entered to interview the women, It was Bliss’ intention
to give the Tannyhill car, which was parked at the curb,
a thorough going over. He did so. In the trunk com-
partment he found a bloody shirt and several crumpled,
bloodstained tissucs.

In the meantime, McGuire and the sheriff were ques-
tioning the women.

“We'd heard of that girl’s death when we left town,”
said Josephine Woods. “But we never connected it with
Tannyhill. We were with him that night until around
two in the morning.”

The girls talked freely, anxious to clear themsclves of
any complicity in a murder charge. They had both
been out with Tannyhill on Sunday night. He had
taken them home at 2 o’clock, then presumably returned to
his hotel. At 10 the following morning he had called
at the rooming house of Mrs. Woods and taken her to a
dentul appointment. ‘Then he had picked up Mrs. Belden
and taken her on a trip to the Toledo zoo.

Later that night the trio had been drinking beer in
a tavern, when they suddenly decided to leave town. They
had packed their things and left in Tannyhill’s car. In
Waynesville, Missouri, the women had obtained jobs as
waitresses.

Tannyhill had said, “Good. You kids stay here. I’ve got
to get some money and it won’t help to have a couple
of dames with me. Keep the car. I’ll get another one.”
Tannyhill then left them. Where he had gone, neither
of the girls had any idea. Mrs. Belden and Mrs. Woods
made no protest against extradition. They were re-
turned to Fremont, where Prosecutor Tom Dewey ordered
them held in the county jail as material witnesses.

On May 18th, the two women were escorted to Toledo,
where they agreed to take a lie detector test. The test
demonstrated that they had told the truth. Dewey then
released them on their recognizance, after they had prom-
ised to remain in Sandusky County in order to testify
against Tannyhill when he was captured.

During the interrogation of the girls, the officer had
gleaned an additional important item of information.
Tannyhill was armed. He was carrying an automatic
pistol. This detail, along with the warning that Tanny-
hill was dangerous, was forwarded to all law enforcement
agencies. Since it was now established that Tannyhill had
fled the state of Ohio and was a fugitive from justice, the
FBI was legally able to enter the (Continued on page 68)

“1 wanted to slap some sense into her,” he said.
“I guess I lost my head. She didn’t struggle much.

He Couldn't
Let Her Live

(Continued from page 19)

case. The federal agency also prepared sev-
eral fliers bearing Tannyhill’s photograph,
fingerprints and description. State, county
and local officials throughout the Midwest
were alerted.

Three weeks went by and Sandusky
County received no news at all of the
wanted man. By this time both Paul and
McGulre were certain Tannyhill was their
prime suspect. The only testimony in his
favor had been given by the clerk at the
Colonial Hotel.

But, after further consideration, the offi-
cers decided that the clerk had provided
Tannyhill with a rather weak alibi. Tanny-
hill’s hotel room had been on the rear of
the ground floor, its window facing an
alley. It would have been a simple matter
for Tannyhill to have left the room by that
window and to have returned the same
way.

Another five days elapsed and no report
came in concerning Samuel Tannyhill’s
whereabouts. It was obvious that he was
hiding out in a remarkably secluded spot.
And he was, indeed. Tannyhill was lying
low in the one place where the police
never thought of looking for him.

On Tuesday morning, May 31st, Sheriff
Everett FE. Baumgartner of Sumner
County, Kansas, sat at his desk in the town
of Wellington and read his mail. From
one envelope a flier fell out. Under the pic-

ture of a bespectacled young man, a cap-
tion announced that Samuel Tannyhill was
wanted in Ohio on suspicion of murder.

Baumgartner studied the photograph for
a long moment, nodded thoughtfully and
reached for the telephone. He put through
a long distance call to Sandusky County.
“Sheriff,” he said to Paul, “do you still
want this Tannyhill guy?”

“We sure do. Do you know where he is?”

“Yes. He’s right here in Kansas.”

“Good. Can you pick him up and hold
him until we get there?”

“He’s already being held,” said Baum-
gartner, “in the state penitentiary at Lan-
sing. He’s serving 10 to 21 for armed rob-
bery here in Wellington. IT can't surrender
him to you any more, ‘This is a matter for
the governors of Ohio and Kansas.”

An hour later Paul, McGuire and Prose-
cutor Tom Dewey set out for Columbus.
There, they laid their problem before
Ohio’s Governor Frank J. Lausche. Lausche
communicated with Governor Fred Hall
of Kansas.

Governor Hall was quite willing to sur-
render Samuel Tannyhill to Ohio, provided
a “holder” was granted. That meant that if
Ohio failed to convict Tannyhill of mur-
der, he would be returned to Kansas to
serve out his term for armed robbery.
These terms were agreeable to Governor
Lausche. Late that evening the sheriff, the
prosecutor and Captain McGuire set out
for the penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas,

When Tannyhill was picked up at the
prison, he seemed amiable enough. On
the long ride through Kansas and Missouri
he did not speak of the death of Shirley
Bradford, nor did the officers. But ‘Tanny-
hill wasn’t silent. He spoke at great length
of his prowess with women. He consid-

"My wallet's been stolen!"

ered himself quite a ladies’ man. He ex-
patiated on his conquests, sounding rather
like an illiterate Casanova,

When they had arrived in Fremont and
Tannyhill was seated in Dewey's office
Paul brought up the murder charge. “You
know why you’ve been extradited, don't
you?”

Tannyhill smiled and nodded. “I yuess it
has something to do with that waitress who
got killed the day I left town. But I got
an alibi, Didn't you check at the hotel?”

“We heard your alibi,” said Dewey. “We
know you went to some trouble to set it up.
We also checked the fact that it would
have been very easy for you to enter
and leave your room by the window which
faces the alley.”

Tannyhill asked for a cigarette. He said
nothing.

“We'll level with you,” said McGuire.
“We have considerable evidence against
you and we have a witness who will swear
you were in The Hut shortly after two
o’clock that morning.” He mentioned Bent-
ley's textimony, the evidence of Mrs, Woods
and Mrs. Belden, the bloodstained tissues
and shirt found in the trunk compartment
of the Hudson.

Tannybill listened intently. When Mc-
Guire paused, he said, “All right, I'll tell
you about it, but not here.”

Dewey spoke then. “What do you mean,
not here?”

“Not in this bullding. Or In any other
building. I'll give you guys a confession.
But an oral confession, not a written one.
Let’s go down and sit in the car.”

“Do you think,” asked Paul, “that these
buildings are wired?"

“Never mind what I think. If you want
to hear me talk, let's go down and sit in
the car.”

“Well, why not?” said Paul,

They trooped down the stairs and
climbed back into the car in which they
had come from Kansas. Samuel Tannyhill
then began to talk in a low voice.

It was true, he admitted, as the two
waitresses had said, that he had_ taken
them home at 2 o’clock Monday morning.
He had reached the Colonial Hotel a few
minutes later and engaged the desk clerk
in conversation. He then went to his room,
put his gun in his pocket and climbed out
the window. He drove to The Hut, parked
outside and waited until the customers had
left. However, he hadn't seen Simon Bent-
ley. Bentley was still there when ‘Tanny-
hill entered. He had ordered coffee and
dawdled until the taxi driver departed.

Alone with Shirley Bradford, Tannyhill
pulled his gun and ordered her to re-
move the money from the cash register,
put it in a hamburger bag and hand it to
him. He put the cash in his pocket and
ordered the girl, at pistol point, to ac-
company him to his car,

“But why?" asked Dewey. “Why did you
take her with you?”

“I wanted a chance to make a getaway.
Tf I'd left her in The Hut she would have
called the coppers right away. To intended
to take her out to some lonely section, then
drop her. That way it would take her an
hour or so to report the robbery to the
pollee,”

“Al right,” said Paul, “that makes some
sense. But why did you kill her?”

“Because,” said Tannyhill, ‘just as I was
about to put her out of the car she said to
me, ‘What will Sunshine think of this?’”

“Who’s Sunshine?”

“Sunshine’s my sister. I didn’t recog-
nize this Bradford girl, but when she men-
tioned Sunshine I knew she had _ recog-
nized me. Then she told me that her hus-
band and my sister used to work at the
same plant.”

When he recovered from his surprise,
Tannyhill said, he decided to take Shirley
out to a grove near Tindall Bridge, where

he used to ;
and try “to
wanted to
would not ¢
would not te
“But then,
my head. I g¢
jack and I b
it.” Tannyhi
“She didn't
After the
found Mrs.
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with the aut
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to the hotel
sill into his
following da
that it would
of Ohio. On
Missouri wit!
“I left the
dough,” he s
with them h
car with the
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friend whom
the Missouri
he reached |
had been un:
the town anc
store operate
tered the stor
himself to §
forced Robin:
“He was i
said, “and it
him out at tl
called a girl
He bought
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home. At If
deputy sherif}
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a precise desc
lice had chec
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left with a gir
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was that. A w:
found guilty
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On Thursda
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Don W. Mor:
committed du:
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On June 15
by Common I
indicted Tann.
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to give Tann
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Tt is possible
nyhill knew jr
he promptly p
and abductior
weighed the ¢
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possible death
he was trying
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}

The names,
ine Woods, «
story, are not
sons concert
been given fi
protect their

man's call had come into headquarters. The landlady
promised to take care of the Bradford boy, Ricky, until his
relatives were notified of his mother’s disappearance. She
gave McGuire the address of Mrs. Bradford’s brother,
Frank Andrews, of South Front Street.

Before calling on Andrews, McGuire stopped in at the
office of the Sandusky County sheriff, Ted Paul, and re-
lnyed Widman’s story to the sheriff. He had just con-
cluded and the clock on the wall registered 8:20 when
the door opened and Deputy Sheriff Lee Bliss came into
the room.

“A call just came through from the Gilmore place,”
he announced, “out by Tindall Bridge. A couple of guys
stumbled on a body out there.”

McGuire looked at him sharply. “A woman’s: body?”
he asked. “A rather pretty woman about 30 years old?”

“Right,” said Bliss. “How did you know?”

McGuire told him. He added, “It’s no doubt the body
of Shirley Bradford. Who found it?” ;

“Two brothers, Chester and Joe Rhodes. They’re work-
ing in a field out that way.”

Deputy Sheriff Bliss and Police Sergeant Robert Bouch-
er drove out to Tindall Bridge. They found Shirley Brad-
ford lying face down at the edge of a wooded area. Her
face, neck and arms were covered with welts. Her head
was bloody and battered. There was a hole directly
above her left eye which might have been caused by an
edged bludgeon or a bullet. A search of the immediate
terrain revealed no clue to the identity of the killer.

Dr. F. A. Visconti, who had been summoned by the
sheriff, arrived and examined the body. He was uncertain
whether death had been caused by a gun or by a club-
bing. There was no indication of a sexual attack. The
doctor ordered the body removed to the Weller-Wonderly
funeral home in Fremont, for an autopsy.

In the meantime, Sheriff Paul and Captain McGuire
were not idle. McGuire called on Frank Andrews, the
dead girl’s brother. Andrews stated that he had stopped
in at The Hut shortly after 2 o’clock on Monday morning.
He had chatted briefly with his sister, who most certainly
was very much alive at that hour.

Sheriff Paul now attempted to communicate with the
slain waitress’ husband. His mother lived in Fremont,
but she told Paul she heard only occasionally from her
son. His last letter had arrived two weeks ago from In-
dianapolis. In it, he had stated that he would be in
Fremont some time in June to see Shirley and. make
arrangements for the support of his son, after the final
divorce decree had been granted.

As a matter of routine, the officers checked up on. Bill
Widman’s story. It proved true in every detail. Dr. W. J.
Hartung Jr., a Toledo pathologist, was sent for to perform
the autopsy. :

On Monday evening, McGuire and the sheriff met with
Prosecutor Tom Dewey in the county attorney’s office. They
discussed certain aspects of the case.

“I don’t understand why she was killed,” said Dewey.
“Apparently this thing began as a simple holdup. If the
girl screamed, or made some outcry, it figures that the
bandit would kill her on the. spot. Evidently he didn’t,
since there are no bloodstains in The Hut.”

“Maybe,” the sheriff suggested, “she recognized him.
So he abducted her and killed her out by the bridge, where
there would be no chance witness to the murder.”

“But,” interposed McGuire, “if she knew him, he must
have known her. In that case, why didn’t he stick up the
place when the other waitress, or Bill Widman, was on
duty?”

No one came up with any convincing answer.

The Indianapolis authorities were asked to talk to the
dead girl’s husband, if they could find him. The local
police were instructed to bring in all vagrants, itinerants
and suspicious characters. By Wednesday, May 4th, a
score of unsavory individuals had been questioned. None
of them provided any helpful information.

Late the same day, Dr. Hartung handed in his report.
Shirley Bradford had died of multiple skull fractures in-
flicted by a sharp and heavy instrument. She had not
been shot. The body was shipped to the home of her
parents at Spartansburg, South Carolina.

Up to this point, the investigating officers had not
uncovered a single clue. A painstaking search for the
murder weapon proved unavailing. The Indianapolis
police had thus far failed to locate the estranged husband.
Then, on Thursday morning, Simon Bentley, walked into
the sheriff’s office.

“T’ve been reading about this murder,” he said. “TI was
in The Hut around half-past two that night. Then this
guy came in. I think he’d been casing the joint.”

“Sit down,” said Paul, “and tell me all you know about
it.”

Bentley said he was a local taxi driver. He had stopped
in at The Hut shortly after 2 o’clock on Monday morning
for a cup of coffee. When he entered two other customers
were at the counter. A little later a car drove up and
parked outside the restaurant. When the other customers
departed, leaving Bentley and Shirley Bradford alone in
the place, a man stepped from the parked car and strode
into The Hut. He was still there when Bentley left.

“Did you recognize him?” asked Paul.

Bentley shook his head. “No. But I can describe him.
He was about two inches under six feet and weighed
around 140. He had brown hair and wore horn-rimmed
glasses.”

“Did Mrs. Bradford seem to know him? Did they grect
each other?”

“No. He ordered a cup of coffee. That’s all. He was
drinking it when I left.”

“What about the car? Can you describe that?”

“Sure,” said Simon Bentley. “Even better than I de-
scribed the guy. I know that car. It was a two-tone Hud-
son sedan. Four door, 1949 model. I know it because
I was thinking of buying it last February. I first saw it
on the used car lot of the Tod Motor Sales Company,
over on West State Street. Maybe they can tell you
something about the guy who bought it from them.”

The sheriff reported this information to Captain Mc-
Guire. Together they visited the Tod Motor Sales Com-
pany. There they learned that. the Hudson had been
purchased on March 11th for $298. It had been registered
in the name of Samuel Woodrow Tannyhill, whose ad-
dress was the Colonial Hotel in Fremont.

Their next call was at the hotel. There the desk clerk
informed them that Samuel Tannyhill had occupied a rear
ground-floor room at the hotel for several months. He
had checked out the previous Monday evening.

“And that,” remarked McGuire, “is the same day that
Shirley Bradford’s body was found.”

The desk clerk evinced interest. “If you want to talk
to Tannyhill about that girl’s death,” he said, ‘‘you’re on
the wrong track.”

Paul asked, “How do you know?”

“Well, according to the papers, she must have been killed
sometime between half-past two and four in the morning.
I was on the long night shift Sunday. Tannyhill came in
a little after two. He talked to me for a while. The
next morning I saw him go out around half-past nine.”

“What about his room?” asked McGuire. “I suppose it’s
been cleaned and rented again.” '

It had. The officers looked it over, but they found
nothing incriminating. Tannyhill’s name and description
were sent to the state authorities at Columbus, to the
police of neighboring states and to the FBI, to ascertain
if he had a criminal record.

Within a week the sheriff and McGuire had collected
quite a dossier on Samuel Tannyhill, He had been an
army deserter. He held convictions for check forgery,
assault and rape. He had served time in both Ohio and
Missouri.

Tannyhill’s fingerprints were forwarded to the sheriff’s

f quite a ladies’ man, He ex-
his conquests, sounding rather
erate Casanova.

y had arrived in Fremont and
was seated in Dewey's office
it up the murder charge, “You
you've been extradited, don't

smiled and nodded. “I wuess it
1g to do with that waitress who
ne day I left town. But I pot
In’t you check at the hotel?"

{ your alibi,” said Dewey. “We
ent to some trouble to set it up.
ecked the fact that it) would
very easy for you to enter
sur room by the window which
ley.”

asked for a cigarette. He said

el with you,” sald MeGuire.
considerable evidence ayainst
have a witness who will swear
a The Hut shortly after two
morning.” He mentioned Bent-
ny, the evidence of Mrs. Woods
‘Iden, the bloodstained tissues
ind in the trunk compartment
Qn.

listened intently. When Mc-
1, he said, “All right, I'll tell
. but not here.”

‘ke then, “What do you mean,

is building. Or in any other
give you guys a confession.
confession, not a written one.
noand sit in the car,"

iink,” asked Paul, “that these
* wired?”

nd what I think. If you want
talk, let's go down and sit in

- not?” said Paul.
ped down the stairs and
< into the car in which they
»m Kansas. Samuel Tannyhill
o talk in a low voice.
ie, he admitted, as the two
ad said, that he had taken
it 2 o’clock Monday morning.
1ed the Colonial Hotel a few
> and engaged the desk clerk
on. He then went to his room,
n his pocket and climbed out
He drove to The Hut, parked
vaited until the customers had
+, he hadn't seen Simon Bent-
was still there when Tanny-
He had ordered coffee and
1 the taxi driver departed.
Shirley Bradford, Tannyhill
un and ordered her to” re-
»ney from the cash reyister,
imburger bag and hand it to
the cash in his pocket and
girl, at pistol point, to ac-
to his car.
‘asked Dewey. “Why did you
you?”
i chance to make a getaway.
- in The Hut she would have
ppers right away. I intended
it to some lonely section, then
at way it would take her an
o report the robbery to the

said Paul, “that makes some
y did you kill her?”
said Tannyhill, “just as IT was
her out of the car she said to
ill Sunshine think of this?’”
shine?”

my sister. I didn’t recog-
iford girl, but when she men-
ine I knew she had recog-
en she told me that her hus-
* sister used to work at the

-ecovered from his surprise,
d, he decided to take Shirley
e near Tindall Bridge, where

he used to go “to listen to the crickets,’
and try “to slap some sense into her.” He
wanted to make her promise that she
would not expose him as a robber and
would not tell his sister of his crime.

“But then,” he continued, “I guess I lost
my head. [I grabbed the staff section of my
jack and I banged her over the head with
it.” Tannyhill paused, sighed and added,
“She didn’t struggle much.”

After the murder, Tannyhill said, he
found Mrs. Bradford’s cyeylasses on the
floor of his car. He had thrown them, along
with the automobile jack, into the waters
of Muskalonge Creek. Then he went back
to the hotel and climbed over the window
sill into his room. Sometime during the
following day he came to the conclusion
Chat Gh well, poeebuagon, doe rat to pet out
of Ohio. On Monday night he drove into
Missouri with the two girls.

“T left them there, because I needed
dough,” he said. “ET couldn't pull a stickup
with them hanging around. So I left the
car with them and went to Wellington.”

Wellington was the home town of a
friend whom Tannyhill had met while in
the Missouri penitentiary. However, when
he reached the Sumner County seat, he
had been unable to find his pal. He cased
the town and decided to hold up a liquor
store operated by R. G. Robinson. Ile en-
tered the store at 8 in the evening, helped
himself to $250 from the register and
forced Robinson into his car.

“He was a real nice guy,” Tannyhill
said, “and it was raining hard, so I let
him out at the house of a friend. Then I
called a girl I knew and made a date.”

He bought her a corsage and the best
steak dinner in town. At 10:30 he took her
home. At 10:40 a policeman and two
deputy sheriffs came and took him to jail.

It seemed that Robinson had furnished
a precise description of Tannyhill. The po-
lice had checked the restaurant and the
manager recalled that such a man had just
left with a girl well known to the manager.
He furnished her home address and that
was that. A week later Tannyhill was tried,
found guilty of armed robbery and sen-
tenced to 10 to 21 years.

On Thursday, June 7th, Samuel Tanny-
hill was brought before Justice of the Peace
Don W. Morris on a charge of murder
committed during a robbery. Tannyhill re-
fused to enter any plea and waived a pre-
liminary hearing. The judge ordered him
held without bail for grand jury action.

On June 15th a grand jury, instructed
by Common Pleas Judge A. V. Baumann,
indicted Tannyhill on two counts: murder
during the course of a robbery and mur-
der with deliberate and premeditated in-
tention. Arraignment was set for June
22nd, but on that date Judge Baumann
postponed pleading indefinitely in order
to give Tannyhill an opportunity to be
provided with counsel and be advised as to
his legal rights.

It is possible, however, that Samuel Tan-
nyhill knew just what he was doing when
he promptly pleaded guilty to the robbery
and abduction charge in Kansas. If he
weighed the odds, it no doubt seemed to
him that a 10-to-2l-year penitentiary sen-
tence in Kansas was a better bet than a
possible death sentence in Ohio. If, indeed,
he was trying to avoid arrest for homi-
cide, where could he feel more safely out
of circulation than behind the bars of a
state prison? e$e¢

Epitor’s Note:

The names, Rose Belden and Joseph-
ine Woods, as used in the foregoing
story, are not the real names of the per-
sons concerned, These persons have
been given fictitious names in order to
protect their identities.

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plete line on the layout of the hotel,
with particular attention to be paid to
rear and side exits, and their availability
to the room Tannyhill occupied. Then,
he and Boucher called it a day.

ARLY the following afternoon, an
air-mail package arrived from
Washington, containing the FBI's dos-
sier, complete with pictures, on Samuel
Tannyhill.. The suspect had served a
seven-year term for torgery in Missouri
State Penitentiary, from which he was
discharged on February 12th, 1955, and
reportedly had gone to Sandusky
County, where his folks lived.
McGuire had Davrick, the cabby,

‘brought in, and he instantly identified

the pictures of Tannyhill as those of the
man he had seen in The Hut. McGuire
sent out a general alarm for the green
Hudson then, and requested State Po-
lice to check on the home of Tannyhill’s
parents to find out if he had shown up
there. Police, armed with Tannyhill’s
picture, made a canvass of local bars
and restaurants, and though he hadn't
been’ seen around in some time, prog-
ress was made when a bartender said
that one of his frequent women com-
panions was Anne Chase, a waitress
living on Sandusky Avenue.

However, when the officers came to
check on her, the police discovered that
she, too, had apparently left town.

Days went by, with no word of
Tannyhill, Anne Chase, or the Hudson
car. And then, on the evening of May
10th, a police officer in Rolla, Missouri,
spotted the car and immediately tele-
phoned Sheriff Ted Paul, who relayed
the information to Captain McGuire. It
was too hot to await news on, and so
the two officers got into a car and
raced to Rolla where the police had
taken the owner of the car into custody.

UT Tannyhill wasn’t there. It was

Anne Chase who had been appre-
hended, together with a waitress friend
of hers, She told McGuire and Paul
that she had left Fremont with Tanny-
hill, who had told her he was on his
way to Kansas City to visit his divorced
wife and two children.

“When we got to Waynesville,” Anne
said, “he told me he thought he’d take
the train—and he left the car with Mabel
and me and asked us to drive it back
to Fremont. We were kind of broke, so
we stopped at Rolla and got a job for
a few days as waitresses—and that’s it.”

The police looked through the car,
and in the trunk compartment they
found a man’s shirt, stained with blood.
McGuire noticed, too, that the handle
of the jack was missing, and speculated
as to whether that might have been
used as the weapon which crushed
Shirley's head so horribly.

Now the picture seemed clear. An in-
vestigation by Boucher, Forgatsch and
McGuire at the hotel had shown that
Tannyhill could easily have gotten out
of the place without the desk clerk’s
noticing. As a matter of actual fact, an
open window, its sill recently scraped
of dust as though someone had clam-
bered over it, was a handy first-floor

CRIME DETECTIVE

exit and entr
clerk’s desk

And now t
But where wa
And more im}
hill?

So far, ther
the bulletins
by Sheriff Pa
McGuire wa
with Tanny!
well as a fu
the crime for

One of
office of She:
of Sumner ‘
he saw the |
staring at the
ance. This
under an alias
a little while t
his car at the
driven off int
the man out
him. Baumga
to the home
Tannyhill, kr
sas as Rodne
tenced to a t&
in the state

Baumgarte
iff Paul on
whole story
nesday morn
cleared by
McGuire, 4
County Pros«
to Kansas to

N June
back t
charge of n
ment, and w
The strange,
was in good
to talk abou
He had
Ist, he said
went back
two. He ha
hello to the
his room. Bi
sight behind
open windov
and then d:
thoroughly
it for easy
tary waitres
outside in h
then came
the cab-dris
to Shirley,
until after |
Then he
to hand 0,
register, Sh
to take it, :
the boss s:
friend of
money?”
Then it
suddenly
cinch for tl]
Anne, even
his name,
“So I ha
hill said. °
me. I mar
then I drov

CRIME DETEC

e to
that
1 of
idson
May
sour,
tele-
layed
re. It
id so
and
had
stody.

was
._ppre-
friend
Paul
anny-
n his
orced

Anne
1 take
Mabel

back
ke, SO
ob for
t’s it.”
e caf,

they
blood.
handle
culated
e been
rushed

An in-
ch and
yn that
ten out
clerk’s
fact, an
scraped
1 clam-
rst-floor

TECTIVE

exit and entrance out of sight of the
clerk’s desk. qo

‘And now there was the bloody shirt.
But where was the missing jack-handle?
And more important, where was Tanny-
hill?

So far, there had been no, replies to
the bulletins sent out, so the next move
by Sheriff Paul, Chief Bork, and Captain
McGuire was.to have dodgers printed
with Tannyhill’s picture on them, as
well as a full description of him and
the crime for which he was wanted.

One of these circulars reached the
office of Sheriff Everett E. Baumgarten,
of Sumner County, Kansas, and when
he saw the picture, he realized he was
staring at the face of a recent acquaint:
ance. This was the same man who,
under an alias, had entered a liquor store
a little while back, forced the owner into
his car at the point of a gun, then had
driven off into the country where he let
the man out, after taking $250 from
him. Baumgarten had traced the crook
to the home of his girl friend, and
Tannyhill, known in Wellington, Kan-
sas as Rodney Allington, had been sen-
tenced to a ten-to-twenty-one year term
in the state penitentiary.

Baumgarten straightway called Sher-
iff Paul on the phone, giving him the
whole story. And so the first thing Wed-
nesday morning, after the way had been
cleared by Ohio officials, Paul and
McGuire, accompanied by Sandusky
County Prosecutor Tom arte § drove
to Kansas to extradite Tannyhill.
O* June Sth, Tannyhill was brought

back to Fremont to answer to a
charge of murder, after due arraign-
ment, and was popped into the city jail:
The strange, thin, and awkward man
was in good spirits, and perfectly willing
to talk about his crime.

He had spent the evening of May
Ist, he said, with Anne Chase, and then
werit back to his hotel, a little before
two. He had made it a point to say
hello to the clerk and proceed toward
his room. But as soon as he was out of
sight behind a wall, he made for the
open window at the rear, scrambled out,
and then drove to The Hut. He had
thoroughly cased the place and figured
it for easy pickings, what with a soli-
tary waitress as its guardian. He waited
outside in his car until the place cleared,
then came in. He was surprised to see
the cab-driver there, but began talking
to Shirley, not making his big move
until after Davrick left.

Then he pulled his gun and told her
to hand over the money in the cash
register, Shirley pleaded with him not
to take it, and then added: “What will
the boss say when I tell him that a
friend of my girl friend’s took the
money?”

Then it dawned on him. Tannyhill

suddenly realized that it would be a
cinch for the cops to trace him through
Anne, even though Shirley didn’t know

his name, if he let Shirley talk.

“So | had to take her along,” Tanny-
hill said. “I coulda’t let her squeal on
me. I marched her out to the car, and
then I drove down to the Tindall Bridge,

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—— neem

and 1 marched her out agains and then

I hit her a lot of times with the jack-

handle.” :
“And where did you get-rid of that?”

‘Sheriff Paul asked,

“About a mile outside Fremont. |
chucked it into the Muskalonge Creek.”

Captain McGuire personally corrobo-
rated this part of the story, because later
that afternoon he went into the creek
in waders and found the weapon. De-
spite its month-old ‘immersion in water,
some of Shirley's hair’ still clung to it,
so forcefully had the killer struck. ©

“But it had to be that way because,
as the killer. heartlessly said at the end
of his confession: “What could I do?
These doggone women—they talk too
much.”) oes eae

N: June 15, 1955, “Fannyhill, was
indicted: on. counts of murder dur-

ing the course of robbery and murder
with deliberate and premeditated in-
tention. He pleaded innocent on grounds
of insanity.

While in the County Jail in Fremont,
awaiting trial, Tannyhill and a fellow-
prisoner slugged Deputies Bernard Hal-
beisen.and Paul Ziegler with weapons
they managed to obtain, and broke out
of jail. Tannyhill’s freedom was short-
lived, however. Before he was returned
to jail, he was injured in an automobile

“wreck.

On the 12th of October, Tannyhill
was found guilty of first-degree murder,
after experts ‘declared him legally sane.
The conviction carried a mandatory
death penalty. On November 26, 1956,
he was executed in the electric chair.

Note: The names Anne Chase and
Harold Davrick are fictitious.

THEY DRIVE THEIR
LOVERS TO KILL

(Continued from page 27)

NINE LOVE-LIVES AT ONCE

A case in point is that of Mary Cal-

lahan. Mary ‘was a kind of cat-woman
who could lead nine love-lives at once.
And men went for her. Mary thought
she was being discreet. She had three
children, a house and, a husband to take
care of. But as a housekeeper, she was
a whiz. She got her work done fast—and
then went out on the prowl, and was
still going under a full head of steam
when she met her lovers.

Mary and her husband sort of under-
stood each other. He liked to stay home
nights and rest after a day’s work. But
he was a nice guy. He used to tell Mary
to go out with a girl friend if she wanted
to, and he would stay home with the
kids. That's all Mary needed. She could-
n’t stay home one minute after the din-
ner dishes were washed. As soon as her
chores were finished, she would barely
say a word to her husband before she
was scooting out the door on the way to
one of the, many Kansas City. bars.

Mary was one of those who thought

‘her sins would never catch up with her.

She told a girl: friend, once, “Anyone
can get away with murder if they hide
the murder. weapon.” She also told her
friend that if she ever wanted to murder
anybody, she would get her old boy
friend Ray Tipton to help her. “Ray
would do anything in the world for me.”
It turned out Mary was right—about
Ray. But she was dead wrong about get-
ting away with murder. Ray was one of
those characters that goes so. crazy about
a- woman he can’t think. Mary plann
this great murder of her husband and
Ray just did what she told him to do—
which was to shoot John. while he was
sleeping in the double-bed with Mary.
But as for getting away with it—police
found the gun soon after John Joseph
Callahan had died—found: out who it

, belonged to—and nabbed Mary and Ray
’ before they had a chance to congratulate

each other on a job well done. They

were each sentenced to life imprisonment
at the Kansas State Penitentiary.

“WHEN I KISS HIM, YOU SHOOT
HIM IN THE BACK”

Georgia Steiner is another one of
those devil-may-care, live-for-the-moment
type women. She married young to a
very loving husband who could give her
everything but the thing she wanted most
—more men. Like Mary Callahan, she
was troubled by a mighty discontent,
which she took care of in her own way
by traveling to nearby. cities for short
vacations, where she could dispel it.

When her husband went off on short
business trips, Georgia saved herself
some trouble by having her men friends
visit her in her own home. Things got
a little rough when Ed came home un-
expectedly late one afternoon and found
all this going on in his own bedroom.

Georgia had to leave Ed’s home, then.
In spite of the fact that Ed was pretty
crazy about Georgia, he felt they should
separate. After Georgia got over her
shock, she left Ed’s house and went out
into the world. It was not easy for her
to have to change her base of operations,
but she had some consolation in the fact
that Ed promised if she needed anything
she would get it—from him.

Three years later, when .Georgia was
comfortably shacked up with Al Epper-
son, a lunchroom pick-up, who could
give her everything Ed was weak on,
but none of the money Ed had, Georgia
had a wonderful idea.

It was Christmas Eve and she and Al
were down on their luck. She decided
to call Ed and ask for some dough. Ed
was only too happy to oblige. He even
invited her to come back to him—with
her friend, if necessary.

Georgia took Ed up on the offer, and
brought Al along. How these three lived
in the same house together without an
explosion is a mystery, but they did. And
both men seemed happy. When Georgia
and Al finally left, Georgia had another
great idea. She had found out that she
was still the beneficiary on Ed’s insur-
ance policies. After talking things over
with Al, she returned to her old hus-
band. What her husband didn’t know
was that’ Al was with her—only he, was
hiding outside.

When Ed saw Georgia come through

CRIME DETECTIVE

HE COMIN‘

multi-milli
the auto repa
thing is hapy
pliance field.
difference: a’
tools can get
work. No bi
equipment is

The applia
ing — becaus
booming. On«
other. In add
pliances alr«
see sales of
For example
ers, almost *
ditioners, 1.:
A nice stea
who can se
And I want
can be you
volt from ar

A Few E>
Now here
Thompson, ‘
approximate
I work only
jump out t

CRIME DE

Py
¥

TANNYHILL, Samuel,

If Shirley Bradford had a fault, it}

was too: much courage.

Living in a comparatively small town,
perhaps Shirley had q right to feel
freer from danger than if she had lived
and worked in New York, for instance.

_ Nevertheless, a girl as pretty as Shir-

ley, who works alone in an all- night
restaurant, is always taking a chance.

And when danger arose, Shirley
made one serious miscalculation. For
her, it proved to be fatal.

HE two reports came in to the-
office of Sandusky County Sher-
iff Ted Paul at almost the same
time.

It was shortly before noon, on Mon-

—day, May 2nd, that Captain Jack Mc-

Guire of the Fremont, Ohio, police de-

10 a7

whi % e 5

at Abe hee Lipe : ve

elec. Ohio (Sandusky) July 26, 1956.

we Sey

The Chime, dette.) 14eF

“Some women never learn,” complained the veteran
ex-con as they strapped him in the electric chair.

partment, sought out the county sher-
iff.

For the past two boars McGuire had
been busy on what at first had seemed
only a minor and routine matter but
now was one that had disturbing over-
tones of mystery. It had started around
9:30 that morning, when Bill Widman,
operator of The Hut Restaurant on
West State Street, had called the police
station with a story about a missing
waitress.

McGuire had taken the call, then
driven around to The Hut to see what
it was all about. : ae

.Widman’s story was bleakly factual.
He had arrived at his restaurant at 4
a.m., his usual time, to take over from

Shirley Bradford, the 29-year-old: wait-

ress and counter cook who ran the

‘place alone during the late night and

pre-dawn hours.

He found the restaurant doors wide
open. The cash register drawer was
open—and empty. A quick check with
the register tally tape indicated that
there should ne been some $115.45 in
the till,

In the putoratie toaster there were
two slices of bread that had been burnt
to a crisp, indicating that Shirley Brad-
ford had left hurriedly.

At first Bill Widman figured that it
was an emergency of some sort that
had caused Shirley Bradford to leave
so hurriedly. He knew that she was

(Continued on page 12)

SERRE oA:

eet

Aexates Men.

MOK ee Sates

Sn EE
ee av deren

Spor psa eee.

en Bete ter

EE ADR ET pp ue Sg

22.

FRETS

372

were detined and punished by levislative
enactment and not according to the com-
mon law,

he Constitution of 18st organized a
probate court for each county, and tuok
away from the court of common pleas
jurisdiction over guardians, wills, and all
testamentary matters, and conferred them
exclusively on the probate court, except
that petitions to sell real estate of deceased

persons may be filed either in the common

pleas or probate court, and appeals are
provided for from the decisions of the
probate, in some instances, to the court

of common pleas.

NOTEWORTHY TPIALS

ane

There have been

many interesting
scenes and trials in the courts of the coun.
ty, and many displays of logical power
and eloquence, as is the case in almost
every county inthe State. But our readers
will not expect all these to be placed in
history. Weselect, however, two remarka.
ble trials which took place in the county,
and the incidents attending them, which
are rather extraordinary and interesting.
The murders were
published in the Fremont Courier (Ger-
man) and translated by Mr. L. von
Schluenbach for publication in the Fremont

accounts of these

Det ue el CRY eco fo ON * AiG regat eh rep 8
t VULPES of Rest « ct
ide ven: was it heowiste w e feo

é SR os Veclnees oy
Seer nt shman ‘

(rT

1 oh
USED

rl 1 ii was
situated beiween Green Spring and Ciyde, Sandusky
county, about one and one-half tiles northeast of
Green Spring. on the read leading to Clyde. Here
Joseph Sperry lived, together with his wife, Cathatine
Sperry, and two small children (a boy anda girl},
seemingly in the best kind of harmony and happi-
ness. Sperry always had been a dardsworkine avy
tlusthons man, andon course of tie dad speemened
in gaining a comfortalle home for himself and fami-
lv. Inthe fall of 1841 he concluded to build bim-
self a better and more comfortable dwelling-honse;
for which purpose he entered into a contract with a
certain young and skilful carpenter, who, aside from
having a rather prepossessing appearance, and heing

a captain of a mintia company, was also counted as

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY,

one of the prominent v< noe men

MM. tbat

Mrs. Sperry, the farmer's « ife, was 4 ery
and also a pood looking woman. in

certain rumors with regard to crim}

Rote

Nal tre.

between Mrs Sperry and this

SOuUnS
gained considerable publicity, and finaly oe
ears of Mr. Sperry.

At that time, the veure
ter had begun the work on Sperry’s nes hea
from casual observations, Sperry misirusie:

there might be yood cause for these rame-;

fis

doubting his wife, he began to Suspect her, are ui
led to very frequent family quarrels. whiet free

e : 5 ~ OT oi

time on became an aimost daily Occurrénce +.

¥ . i

quarrels, inspired by the ominous BOSON OF jess iny

and misplaced confidence, reached their chins «
the oth of April, 1842, when Sperry took
iroa, with which he inficted a fearful x,
two inches long and one inch deep u
Mrs. Sperry, near the temple, from w

S Up 2 te
round Piss

pon the bay. ¢

GICT thee deg
This bloody deed toi
the kitchen of the old honse, near ar Old-fashs
fireplace; near by stood a ladder, lead
garret,

almost instantly.

Ging up te um
Gazing upon the dead body of his wife
casting his eyes upon that fireplace and ihe |
close by, this picture must have heegme transtar
his mind bke a flash of Hivhtoing, for it was im wz
moment in which he formed the camino tone! wie
afterward proved tle entire hasis of his uefon:

ran at once for a neighbor, mMYorminyg hin of 2 ter
ful accident that had befallen his wife, anil whit tum
resulted in her death. Wis SLOTY Was, that she ta

failen off the ladder, and struck her head again ue

Oped foe te

corner stone of the fireplace, and had
effects.

The news of Sperry's wife's deci ce-w
like wildhre through the Vicinity, and the pec: ae
the coroner of Sandusky county, who they circ @

Lower Sandusky, convened a jury arc beid aon

a me mts nf § we
~ - «2 watery,
ae ~Y ® E £ a

=< Spr es G capes sein
w AG Sy Vast \ rs ss
Sperry aS nd ite ‘ acthe- hrs cco
but the prosecuting ‘attorney, Mr. WW. Core

ay ? m theowraamret
effected Sperry's release upon a bail of tvg those

* . erty f Mee oe
dollars for his appearance at the next term of 4
Sperry’s counsel, the Messrs. Homer Feerent aw

Bishop Eddy, tried their utmost to ciresiam ite i
Hef that there had been no murder comnnie ta $4
andothat Mfrs. Sperty had been whe toda of a es
nofortunate and terable accident Vr 4
torney W. OW. Culver and hi. assistant, ip tance

: by

K. Watson (afterwards Judge of Common P=
: =e A eaiehed (oe

the counties of Erie and Ottawa) were t

and Jeft noibirg

it was a cool-blooded murde:.

Geen 4

done to have Sperry convicted. The

- Peay fuels
sistently kept up the theory of accident tusta
The «

“

come from the lips of the accused at frst.

3° fhe 5 ee

= en a —— -=

ers jury bad neglected to give an exact and de-
iijled description of the wound, and the prosecuting
atorney, in order to avoid any doubt whatever,
czused the body of Mrs. Sperry to be taken from the
grave and brought to Fremont, where it was sub-
jected to amedical examination by Drs. Rawson and
Anderson. Dr. Rawson's office at that time was near
the old Dickinson dwelling (northwest corner Arch
and State streets). Said physicians made a thorough
examination and returns to the proscuting attroney,
yho could now explain and satisfy the jury of the utter
impossibility of an accident. The grand jury, which
arthat time was composed of the following gentle-
men, to-wit. Messrs. Warren H. Stevens, John
Houts, Hugh Overmeier, Hugh Bowland, Michael
Fought, Joshua B. Chapel, David Engler, Stephen
Tenny, Orson Bement, Peter MeNit, John Reed,
Geurge Donaldson, John Betts, Charles Lindsey,
and Thomas Ogle, on the 14th day of September,
1342, found an indictinent against Sperry for murder
in the first degree, and on the next day the trial
commenced befure Judge Ozias Bowen and his assist-
ants, Alpheus Mclntire, Isaac Knapp, and George
Overmeier. Dr. L. Q. Rawson at that time heid the
position of clerk, with B. F. Fleccher as his assist-
ant. Mr, John Strohl was sheriff, and Peter Burgoon
deputy sheriff. A jury, composed of the Messrs.
Joha Bell, Michael Reed, Henry Havens, Daniel
Tindall, Samuel. Rose, David Chainbers, Michael
Overmeier, sr., William McGormley, Joseph Kelley,
Lewis E. Marsh, Levi Marsh, and Sarnuel Skinner,
was duly sworn, and vpon the defendant's plea of
“Not guilty” the trial commenced. ‘Lhe prosecu-
tion had no direct proofs, but the very strongest kind
of circumstantial evidence, proving by their wit-
nesses (especially the Drs. b. Tilden, L. Q. Rawson,
and Anderson) that the theory of accident had abso-
‘ely no foundation whatever, and came not even
wihin the reach of possibility. The defence had
substantially nothing else to counterbalance this tes-
timony but the defendants good character, and,
the question of jealousy
Certain, however, is the

strange as It May appear,
was raised on neither side.
fact that the young Adonis of a carpenter left the vi-
cinity shortly after the trial. The trial lasted five
days, and on the 20th day of September, 1842, the
jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first de-
gree. A motion on the part of the defence for a new
trial was overruled by Judge Bowen, who thereupon
sentenced Sperry to be hung on Wednesday, No-
sembor 2, 1842. Sperry received his sentence with
perfect calmness, and Sheriff Strobl took him to jal,
intu a cell already occupied by George Thompson,
aiso a murderer. ‘The jail at that time was where
how staads Rev. Mr. Lang’s house, and here Sperry

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

373

made several attempts to take his own life, but was

rastrated in this by the constant vigilance of Sheriff
Strohl and Deputy Sheriff Burgoon, but it was des-
tined that he should succeed after all. = It was
on Sunday, October 30, (he was to be hung on

the following Wednesday) when Sperry's children,

Jefferson and Mary Ann (a boy seven years, and a

girl eight years old), were brought into his cell to
take a final parting of their father. The children
were too young to comprehend the situation, and
their father was too reluctant and hardened to give
way to any emotional feelings whatever, and so of
course their conversation was turned entirely upon
minor affairs. Sperry, who had noticed a small pen-
knife in the boy’s hands, asked to Jook at it, and
then returned it again with a part of the blade broken
off, but which was not noticed by the boy at that time.
After taking leave of their father, the children were
then taken to what is now called the Kessler House,
where tor the first time the boy noticed the broken
blade. This soon became known, and the sheriff
made a most thorough search for the missing part of
the blade, but all in vain, since Sperry had concealed
it in the lining of his coat. This broken off biade it
was which cheated the gallows of its prey, for that
very night Sperry cut open some main arteries, and
was found dead in his cell the next morning. But
we are told that his death was a dreadful one, andin
the presence of such a fiend as George Thompson,
whom he had begged repeatedly to kill him, so as to
end the agony of nis sutterings, but waich Thompson
refused to do, and answered only with mocking laugh-
ter; When Thompson was asked why he bad not
tried to prevent Sperry from killing himself, “Ehomp-
son (who also was an Englishman) answered, with
the air of a bravado, “I rather see a countryman of
mine kill himself than see bim hung.” “Thus ended
the life of a once good and industrious man, and it
goes to show that the ternble fangs of jealousy will
sometimes netue around the best of human kind, and
drag them down to the lowest degradation.

THOMPSON MURDER IN BELLEVUE, 1842.

Almost daily we read accounts of some brutal mur-
der, when the motive was nothing else but an unhap-
py love affair. Thirty-eight years have rolled by since
this murder took place at Bellevue. \Je have under-
taken tu acquaint the public with the facts of these two
murders, that appear like two dark and ominous spots
in the history of our county. It was on the 3oth day
of May, 1842, when the inhabitants of Bellevue were
thrown into a fearful state of excitement by the news
that a murder bad been committed right) in their
midst.

‘The victim was a Pennsylvania German gil, by
the name of Cathanne Hamler, and the murderer

was given ample time to brood over his crime and
repent, but all to no good, since he rejected all
:tlivious consolation, and remained the hard-hearted

sian he was up to the time of his death. Sperry liad

| was an Enghshman by the name of George Thomp-
son, Both parties were in the employ of Robert O.
Pier, who at that ume kept the Exchange Hotel in
(built, by Chapman & Amsden). ‘This

Bellevue

i hompson,
wressing him

eg tof making
vhich he me

at a reward

bei S$ arrest, and
Me | 4 Sine as any.
* conversation,
“oatder at sad

pan. PAT tr

miriech Out, and

ue to have Mr
4 oo th he accord
<u 4 \ cod having
a fasting in the

9m pson, uypee

him to mai
red} at in safers

his escape b

' a order tu aces

Wethen bade eax

ac: re
te re time telittes
“3 ind again ioe

AYed to the very
> S informatio

Sy Howed st fs

jation with Cap
Aer who says thet
a escape, arrive
Gd a blackseuth
gare cut the fethett
abe shop. Ss

i “r é ‘gone having us
‘a Lohis shop pei

ger, after havey

‘ss same, with GF
behead a len
roeutrt

vate

hie reels u

oe py wo hregeey teeta
ere sulseg?

HISTOR. OF SANDUSKY

Mtr. LK. Seaman's information upon this subject
coincides in the main with that of Mr. MeBPnde.
Mr, Seaman Was, during the years of 1852 and 1843,
iegate keeper near Woodville, and remembers
adinetly that Thompson had been seen close to an
ad oak tree, about halfa mile north of Wood-
: Seaman says that he and Amos [. Wood
had taken the prisoner to the jail in Fremoot. A
peek later Thompson again came back to Woodlvilie,
ehere he met Wood and Seaman, whom he begged
to stick to the promise they had made to hit and
further his escape. Mr. Wood told Thompsoa that
his promise should be kept, whereupon he and Sea-
mia went with Thompson to Nuhfer’s biacksinith
shop, where Thompson got rid of bis fetters.
Thompson staid at Seaman's house over night, and
the next morning, sufficiently provided for with eat-
ables and other necessaries, he went on his journey.
A part of the distance from Woodville to Perrys-
burg he made in a sleigh. From Perrysburg be
travelled west until he reached Ottawa, Illinois. Mr.
Seaman is of the opinion that the name of the stage-
driver who finally discovered Thompson, was Jack-
He also says that Thompsen after this last
He had
to Shenff Strohl’s yard, where he split

son.
cipture never attempted another escape.
free access
wood and made himselt generally usetul, and that
Thompson, had he chosen to do so, could have es-
caped very easily, especially where nearly all the
farmers in the neighborhood rather sympathized and
pitied him and would have furthered his escape; but
Thompson was prepared to die, and continually
thought of his victim, poor Catharine Harrler, whom
be never could forget and whom he professed to love
up to his death.

We now proceed to acquaint our readers with the
tinal capture of George Thompson. It was in the
fail of 1843 when a certain staye-driver Teft this
vicinity in order to take mail matter to the far West
In the fore part of October this stage-driver came to
Ottawa, county seat of La Saile county, Wlneis,
and stopped, with some of his passengers, at the same
hotel where at that time George Thotmpsoa was
employed as hoster. As chance would bave it,
one of the passengers had a conversation with the
Stagealriver about what time they intended to go
back home. George ‘Thompson, who happened to
Stand near by, became an attentive listener to their
conversation from the fact that be beard the names
of Bellevue and Lower Sandusky mentioned. The
stape-driver, although acquainted in Ottawa, still
dit not know Thompson personally, and when he
hoticed the sudden change in Uhompson’s face from
a living red to a deathly pallor, he exclaimed, “Well!
Whatis the matter with you?) Thompson, finding
itthard to control his emotion, beyged the stage-
driver not to betray him, telling bint at the same
lime that he was the murderer of Catharine Hamler.

The Stage-driver, ustonished over the discovery he

TC ELITE
) +,

COUN EY.

this information to

Sheriff Strobl, who, afler receiving the same comi-

nad wade, immediately sent

municated it to Prosecuting Attorney WW. Culver.
In consequence of this, the county commissioners,
Messrs. Paul Tew, Jones Smith and James Rose, (A.
Coles was auditor at that Hime.) on the ain day of
Dea mber, 1843, ordered the sum of one hundred
dollars paid to Sheriff Strohl to enable him to go
and vet Thompson. In the ineanume the necessary
papers of requisition had been made out by Gov-
ernor Thomas W. Bartley, whereupon Thompson
had been imprisoned in Ottawa unul the arrival of
Sheriff Strobl, who finally returned with his prisoner
io the fore part of March, 184, His tnal com
menced in June before a jury composed of the [ollow-
ing persons, to-wit: Joseph Reed, James P. Berry,
Benjamin Inman, Archibald Rice, James A. Fisher,
William Boyles, Abraham Gems, Washington No-
ble, Michael McBride, Stephen Lee, John Weeks,
and Amos K. Hammond. ‘Thompson was defended
by Brice J. Bartlett (father of Colonel Joseph R. Bart-
lett) and Cooper K. Watson. The State was rep-
resented by W. W. Culver and L. B. Otis. The
presiding judge was Ozias Bowen, assisted by the
Messrs. Isaac Knapp, Alpheus
George Overmeier.

Melntyre, and
During the trial the counsel
for the defendant tried their best to that
Thompson, at the committal of the murder, was not

show

in his own mind and not capable of distinguishing
This was corroborated by the
testimony of a young Irishman, who said that he and

right from wrong.

Tbompson had once been employed together as
sailors upon the same ship, and upon landing on a
British
had had a severe case of sunstroke, the effects of

isle in the West Indies, Thompson there
which, in his opinion, Thompson never could have
evercome. The theory of temporaiy insanity was
prepared and skilfully worked upoo by the able coun-
sel for the detense. The State, on the contrary,
proved “by sufficient testimony, that during bis stay
in Bellevue Thompson never had shown the least
signs of insanity, and bad not only talked good
common sense but had proved himself an upright
and industrious man. Mr. Robert O. Pier, the keeper
of the Exchange Hotel in Bellevue, tesuhed that
while in his employ Thompson had bebaved admir-
ably, and harl fullled peeroptly all duties require
of him, and that in bis opnion Thompson knew
After the
conchided Judge.

Bowen instructed the jury, who then retired about

perfectly well to tell night from wrong.
arguments on both sides were
noon. Thev remained out about four hours, and at
their first ballot the jury stood ten for guilty in the
first degree; one, William Boyles, for acquittal, and
Michael Metbide for puuty in the second degree.
Doyles kept hanying back for several bours but finally
consented, and shortly after three a clock on the 2oth
day of June, the jury brought tn their verdict of

guilty in the Arst degree. ‘Tine defense fled a mo-

{ PO os

“

is th Mi. tc Bcd a NS i i a!

iy ¥

£ qc Si naan, iG Mai ts

Paget

j
si,

374 HISTORY OF SANDUSKY C OUNLY |

aX ao aes Bieta &
canis ies ined ae Sinaia bree aaa

eI Thompson, who bad paid considerable atiention to | of Woodville, who at that time was a boarder at FE,
fe i ie the pad Ovhoat that time wee hat eighteen sears old) derkin’s. Thompson then told Mr. Brown tiath Q
4g 1s had taally approached her with a proposal of maz was hungry, and would like to eet something to eat ‘
: fl he riage, but was refused by the girl, who emphatically and then disclosed the lact that he was Lhempox. %
gf ' i told him that she entertained nothing but friendship | the murderer, and at the same time express Fe
‘ ¥ Gor ii wy toward him, Instead of taking this bint, Thomp- , self as lacking in hope in the prospest of maki "
pa ¥ f Ait ae rt son kept up his love proposals in a still more per- | good ‘his: escape; in consequence of which he wx %
4 8 ; af Hy ix sistent. manner, untul finally, seeing all his eflorts quested Brown to be instrumental tn returning hin, ki
; 5 : 4 pe i) qh crushed to pieces, the thought of murdering this girl to jail, telling Jin at the same time thet a reward be
4 iy Hi } i ; } i entered his mind. The 30th day of May, 1842 | without doubt, ould bese offered for his arrest, a:
: i y Ee # 4 was destined to become reddened with the blood of therefore he might as well obtain the same as ans. a
He : his victlin. On this day he tock a gun, lauded it body else. After listening to this conversalion 4
4 ie. ; properly, and se armed, he proceeded to execute his | Brown remarked that be was only a boarder at sa “
f f terrible deed. Inorder to get up the proper cour- house, (Elderkin being absent at the time,} therefore ad
ee age and strengthen his nerves, he took several drinks | he had no rightful authority to give fem anythar
:} ia of whiskey, and then went to the hotel, into a back | to eat; ‘but,’ said he ‘Twill accompativ you i
\ by : room, close to the stairway leading to the cellar Woodville, and there you can obtain catebies, ans
Ht kitchen. Catherine Hamler, who was in this very the matter of your return to jail can be settled ais.

room, busy with ironing, upen noticing Thompson ‘This proposition was accepted and carivd out, and

Said HO

ran out of the room and down the staimvay. She Wood relurn the prisoner to jaal, which be accor

ARS EOL TE ARE OT TEES

ingly did. From the freported] fact of Wood have

\
with a gun in bis hand, became frightened at once, | it was arranged, when at the village, '9 neve Mi
was followed by Thompson, and before she had ar- |

tived at the last step of the stairs she received the expected a reward for the retuto, and failing in th

\
unlucky discharge of Thompson's gun into her back, | hewas so chagrined that he told Vbompsen, uyea .
;

in the upper part of the shouider blade, killing her separating from him in Fremont, that. Wo he $9

to hig PAE es

instantly. “Vhe el keeper's wife, who had been ceeded in escaping again, he desired him to mas

busy in the cellar kitchen, hearing sume one coming

for his (Wood's) home, and, if he reached i tn 57778

he would use, his endeavor to further his escape &

gown stairs in such a hurry, ran out to learn the

aN
Sabena

4
' }
a ; Hi 4 cause of it, and arrived just in time to catch the girk, letting him have one of his horses in order to Aree
A iy) 1 who exclaiming: ‘‘I’m shot! expired in her arms. erate the sane. ‘The two indis iduats then bade eat
go af ‘| The medical examination proved that the wound other good-bye, Thompson at the same time teunge
me q i was half an. inch wide and ten inches deep. We Wood that he might expect him with hint < a
i or may well imagine what kind of an uproar and pen, ; one week frorn thai date, and this he fulllied to the v7
it i, y eral consternation this foul murder created. Thurnp day. So much for Mr. Stepben Brown's informatie ik
i son was immediately arrested and brought to Fre- and now the thread ef this story is Yoliowes: SHH fs e
mont, where he was taken to jail and locked | ther by what | elicited from a conversaivon with Cam ‘
in the same cell where Sperry was then awaiung tain Andrew Nuhfer, of Woodville, who says tht
his trial. This was in the summer of 1812, and | Thompson, when making his second escape, arr om. F:
in September of the same year the grand jury, | in Woodville in the night and entered 2 placksmat ¥
whose foreman was Mr. Charles Lindsey, found an shop belong to said Nuhifer, and there cut ue fetiet
indictment against Thompson for murder in the first from his wrists by means of tools in the shop. St
nik degree. Shortly afterward Thempson made his es- fer plainly discovered traces of some ore having w* %
a iy i cape from jail, but was retaken in Woodville town- his forge and tools when he entered his shop o* gf
Ys a “| i i ship and brought back to jail. morning. It seems that the prisoner, ater le a
Ah He remained in jail until shortly after Sperry’s rid himself of bis fetters, carried the same, wees x
4 i suicide, when he and several other prisoners again connecting ebain, and threw them be} x ae
3 ly made pood their escape. Before we proceed any belonging to Wood, and seon after, having pret res
: further, we will give ont readers a detaved necount a horse from Mr. Wood, he set out ou horseback ™ 4
' of Thompson's escape which wie: frnished us by Mr. | wake good his escape. “Pe horse, por pr el oes
: Michael MeBrids, of Woo leille, ta whom, aad also lack endurance, Was soon abandoned, and ibes
fo Mr. Stephen Brown, of Woodville, we feel greatly ' cape continued, otherwise succes | ty, unl ®
re indebted. Mr. McBride's letter to us reads as fal- stage-driver informed on him, ‘Phe caain ; nd ee
ae lows: cuffs, Iving behind Wood's barn, were subeeq?’
4 } “On the first oczasion of Thompson's breaking ‘| appropriated as the property of Mr. Weed
‘ : jail, in his journeying lo escape, he reached a house | Nubfer says that Mr. Wood conceived [5 es *
i Ke about a hali-mile to the westward of my place, then putting the same to some tse he had in view.
i: owned and occupied by Jobn P. Elderkin, sr, now ! the first place, having the same remoduln! nen
; a resident of Fremont, and, in knocking for admis- . complete chain by the blackemitt, SPE

sion, he was met at the door by Mr. Stephen Brown, ‘carried out and Nulifer did the work of vemnudo™

cael
Tae ee Sate the EH

a RR

25
ay

mote Re sae gS a

Ta
oe

popegereearere z

ae a at

‘ee the story of the year! Trapped

by the Nazis in occupied France,
a beautiful girl suffered tortures be-
> yond belief . . . tortures inflicted upon

‘body and spirit. In a French con-
centration camp, controlled by Nazis,
=... She saw her friends commit suicide,
a watched lovely women transformed
~* almost overnight into broken hags.
Bs 3 “Now, after paying a shocking price for
bi. freedom, she is able to tell the amaz-
ing story of her experiences. Look for
ae > this outstanding TRUE feature, in the

= February issue. This is only one of the -
aa many “factual stories of adventure, -

9 66

CAP,

“FRITZ DUQUESNE—MASTER SPY,” and
_

ed
Pps dy

many other thrilling features.

I SAW TNE IDOLS OF SIN,”

ON SALE
EVERYWHERE

.. crime FE.

ound’phere Ratli@'had purchase! by

“ shot in town-on the afternoon before the
oh hat precfeamee teehee ay

the guilty man’s shoes to the tracks found
beneath Winfred Frazier’s window. Even
then, Ratliff refused to admit his guilt.
The sheriff found that Isham’s story

|, Was. true, He had: spent the night, as
he at last admitted, oe gambling group.

Both he and Nielson were released and
absolved of any participation in the crime,
spre, eviderice against Ratliff was com-
plete. AT Ure re
Ratliff went on trial in the criminal
court of Carroll county on Aug, 4, 1921.
He pleaded not guilty, but later changed
his plea to guilty. “But he refused to tell
how the crime was committed. He was
found guilty and sentenced to die for his
crime. ;

On the day before his execution, Rat-

nally-confessed the brutal-murder.
“T thought she had a lot

said, “so I broke the>window, climbed
into the house and started to look for it.
But. there. wasn’t any. She came home
from town before I got out, so I hid be-
hind the dresser till she got to sleep.
, When I started to slip ont'she woke up.”

about for the source of the noise which
had awakened her. Deliberately he had
raised his-gun and fired.

There, was no appeal from the sentence
and no reprieve. On Sept. 30, 1921, Ratliff
was executed in the stafe’s electric chair
at Little Rock.

: €ro protect the identities of innocent persons, the

names, Tom Isham and Bob Nielson, as used in this
story are not real but fictitious.—Ed.)

‘Ohio’s Murderous Train Wrecker

[Continued from page 41]

the conversation up to this point, came
forward and said that her son had been
home all evening. Again Monte stared
at the youth. i
_ “Just the same,” he,said, “we want to
talk to you in the sheriff’s office. We're
questioning everybody around here. I’ll
have to_ask you to come along.”
Thompson, to the officer’s surprise, of-
fered no resistance, Without so much as
bidding his mother goodbye, he silently
accompanied the deputy back to the lat-
ter’s car and thence to the county. jail.
Meanwhile Deputy Brammer had not
been idle, Soon after. leaving the murder
scene he was questioning Caleb and Bud

-Devonshire, farmer brothers both in
_ their early 20's. - 3

Both youths seémed sincerely as-
tounded at the ghastly crime and readily
offered to cooperate in tracking down the
killer, or killers, but could offer not a sin-
gle clue. Then suddenly the deputy, with
fascinated gaze, watched Caleb reach in
his pocket.and pull-out a small tobacco
sack and cigaret papers. aE

The label which dangled from’ the tiny
sack bore the head of a buffalo!

“You roll your own, I see,” Brammer
said, barely able to hide his increasing ex-
citement, “Do you always use that brand

.of tobacco?” :
Caleb nodded. “Yep,” he said, “Can't

afford tailor made cigarets.”

“Where were you bovs last night?” the .

deputy asked, trying to speak casually.
Caleb said he had gone over to Ironton
after eating his supper early jn the eve-
ning. He had stood around the streets
for awhile, watched some-youths play pool
in a downtown billiard parlor and finally

had come home shortly before midnight.

Bud declared he had spent the whole
evening ‘after supper hunting for coon
with his dog. o*

“Anybody with you?” Brammer asked.

“No, I was all alone—just me and the

dog.” j 4

Both youths eyed the officer nervously.

“Certainly: you don’t think we did it, do
- you?’ demanded Caleb, ~ . :

nty jail, with:
GE has

As to Bud’s tale of coon hunting, there
was no possibility whatever of verifying
this. Bud admitted he met no one during
the hunt; ;

Sheriff E. W. Bennett was away on a
trip, but’ hastened back to Ironton..He
had barely reached his office to hastily
review the known facts with Monte,
Shuttuck and Brammer. when a close
friend called him on the telephone,

“Sheriff,” said the voice on the wire
“there’s an old guy nobody knows much
about who’s been loafing around Hanging
Rock village here. On the night. of the

ing he started talking about it before
hardly anybody. in Hanging Rock knew
it happened.” © :
The sheriff thanked his informant, who
requested that his name be withheld, and
dispatched a ‘deputy to’ the tiny village.
Soon the latter returned with a tall, wil-
lowy man of about 60. His patched cloth-
~ ing hung over his ill-nourished body like
burlap sacks. His deep brown furrowed
skin was parched dry like that of a desert
“rat” and clung to bones which protruded
grotesquely. Deep set*in his face were
small, beady dark eyes which burned like
coals of fire. . :

As the strange suspect was led into the
sheriff’s office, the latter watched him

“cast furtive glances in all directions, like
a-hungry hunted.coyote. -If ever, thought
the sheriff, there was a perfect model of
what a cruel murder suspect should be
like, here-he was right in the office.

The gaunt man still shifted those beady
eyes as. Sheriff Bennett demanded his
name. At length he said it was Tom Ans-
ley. As to why he was in Hanging Rock
village, he stammered out an unconvinc-
ing tale that he was looking for work as
a farmhand. ae .

When he finally gained some semblance
of composure he declared he had been a

“4

of money,” he

He described the scene, The girl turned -
up the Jamp and looked apprehensively -

+ “How do you

about. this Callie

* sheriff demandec

Again the b
though looking {
“I just heard a
else,” Ansley sai:
in a cell for furt
sheriff and his th
their review of t

“This is the t
to crack in this «
“There are no Vv
Callie Rogers cr
must have screa
have got to go:
walking toward
nine p.m.”

Locked in jz
Jimmy Thomps
who recently h:
robbery; Caleb
farmer boy whc
-very slim and
now Tom Anslc«

“First,” bega
you make of th

Brammer spc
pretty bad for
“T checked out !
around Ironto1
there, not ever
he said he hung

“Not only th
nificantly, “but
borrowed some
a couple of we
was pretty fri
would lend him
she would fee
Also, he smoke
the killer does.’

HE sheriff
anything d:
son?”

“IT wouldn't
plied. “But I
lady had bee:
Sometimes shi
do and he had
a»bad one, She:
only the word «
home the nig
doesn’t amour
this.”

Monte open
to a farmer wa
the deputy sa
walking over |
lady’s cottage.

At the sher
man was led b
cell where he
ing. Then in °
onshire boys
Ansley.

“Recognize
anxiously.

The farmer
too dark,” he :
a tall man.” R
witness was 0!
. fallen officers

Monte turn
to-qne-shot,”
the -killer in
one is he? T
as if a sudde:
the deputy sn
> “What abo.
“he eet ecit
iarium for sc
he has delusio

the brutal murder,
| a lot of money,” he
1e- window,: climbed
tarted to look for it.
y. She came home
sot out, so I hid be-
| she got to sleep.
p out she woke up.”
ene. The girl turned

ked apprehensively -

of the noise which
poibeeninly he had
“ed.

ul from the sentence
ept. 30, 1921, Ratliff
state’s electric chair

of innocent persons, the
Nielson, as used in this
tous.— Ed.)

ecker

oon hunting, there
atever of verifying
met no one during

ett was away on a
*k to Ironton. He
is office to hastily
acts with Monte,
ler when a close
he telephone.

voice on the wire,
body knows much ©
‘g around Hanging
a the night of the
g, but next morn-
x about it before
nging Rock knew

us informant, who

e be withheld, and
> the tiny village.
‘d with a tall, wil-
His patched cloth-
ourished body like
> brown furrowed
ke that of a desert
s which protruded
in his face were
which burned like

*t was led into the
ter watched him
all directions, like
'. If ever, thought
perfect model of
suspect should be
in the office.
lifted those beady
tt demanded his
‘it was Tom Ans-
in Hanging Rock
ut an unconvinc-
king for work as

1 some semblance
ed he had been a
W. Va., for some
recent employers
vhich the sheriff
3 scarce, he said,
back to farming.
its the night of
was hazy. Finally
a drunk close on

‘mountain dew.’
down, Sheriff. I

1 been sleeping
ywhere I happen
—in barns, hay-

“How do you come to know so much
about this Callie Rogers’ murder?” the
sheriff demanded.

Again the beady eyes shifted, as
though looking for an avenue of escape.
“T just heard about it, like everybody
else,” Ansley said finally. He was locked
in a cell for further investigation, as the
sheriff and his three ace deputies resumed
their review of the mystery.

“This is the toughest nut we ever had
to crack in this county,’ Monte declared.
“There are no witnesses. Nobody heard
Callie Rogers cry for help, although she
must have screamed. The only thing we
have got to go on is that a tall man was
walking toward the old lady’s home about
nine p. m.”

Locked in jail were four tall men:
Jimmy Thompson, the pallid hill youth
who recently had served a sentence for
robbery; Caleb Devonshire, the lank
farmer boy who, with his brother, had a
very slim and uncorroborated alibi; and
now Tom Ansley, the strange itinerant.

“First,” began the sheriff, “what do
you make of these Devonshire boys?”

Brammer spoke up. “I’d say it looks
pretty bad for Caleb, Sheriff,” he said.
“T checked out his alibi story about being
around Ironton, but nobody saw him
there, not even in the poolroom where
he said he hung around.”

“Not only that,” the deputy added sig-
nificantly, “but I just found out that Caleb
borrowed some money from the old lady
a couple of weeks ago. That shows she
was pretty friendly with him. If she
tvould lend him money it stands to reason
she would feed him if he asked her to.
Also, he smokes the same kind of tobacco
the killer does.”

HE sheriff turned to Monte. “Got
anything definite on Jimmy Thomp-
son?”

“I wouldn’t say definite,” Monte re-
plied. “But I found this out. The old
lady had been taking pity on Jimmy.
Sometimes she gave him odd chores to
do and he had the run of the house. He’s
a bad one, Sheriff. As to his alibi, we have
only the word of his mother that he stayed
home the night of the murder. That
doesn’t amount to much in a case like
this.”

Monte opened the door and motioned
to a farmer waiting. “This is the fellow,”
the deputy said, “who saw a tall man
walking over his property toward the old
lady’s cottage.”

At the sheriff’s direction, the nervous
man was led back to Jimmy Thompson’s
cell where he peered through the grat-
ing. Then in turn he looked at the Dev-
onshire boys and finally at old Tom
Ansley.

“Recognize any of them?” Monte asked
anxiously.

The farmer shook his head. “It was
too dark,” he said. “All I know is he was

a tall man.” Realizing their only p&sible.

witness was of no use whatever, the crest-
fallen officers dismissed the farmer.

Monte turned to the sheriff. “It’s a ten-
to-one-shot,” he declared, “that we have
the killer in jail right now. But which
one is he? That's the question.” Then,
as if a sudden thought had struck him,
the deputy snapped ‘his fingers.

“What about Callie Rogers’ husband?”
he cried excitedly. “He’s been in a san-
itarium for some time and I understand
he has delusions that Callie put him there
just to get rid of him. Maybe, he got
away and came back!”

Sheriff Bennett rushed a long distance
call to the institution at Cincinnati, the
name of which was on record in the pro-

bate court. Almost immediately, how-
ever, he discovered this theory worthless.
Rogers had neither escaped nor had he
been temporarily released. He had been
in the sanitarium the night of the murder.
Since Cincinnati is well over a hundred
miles distant, there was no chance what-
ever of the man sneaking out briefly to
commit the deed.

Coroner Jones’ autopsy told a cruel
tale. The gray-haired 90-pound woman
had been slugged brutally six times over
the back of the head. Her hands, arms and
shoulders had been badly battered, ap-
parently in an attempt to fend off the rain
of blows. Just behind her left ear, her
skull had been bashed in by a final blow.
This, the coroner said, was the fatal
wound.

“I figure,” Coroner Jones told the sher-
iff, “that the killer was a weak man.’

“What makes you think that?” Bennett
demanded.

“Just from those wounds on the old
lady’s head,” the coroner answered. “A
strong man could have killed her right
off after he got her down, badly hurt,
with that stove poker.

“The killer obviously ran into the
kitchen and got the flatiron, In the hands
of a strong man—even an average man—
that would crack a tougher skull than
little Callie Rogers had. But this killer
had to go outside and pick up a big rock.
And that’s what did the trick. It was the
rock that hit her behind the left ear.”

The officers involuntarily shuddered at
this obvious logic. They were looking for
a man without a shred of human feeling.

Next morning, as his deputies were
scouring the countryside, Sheriff Bennett
carefully examined photographs of
Jimmy Thompson’s fingerprints and stu-
diously compared them with another fin-
gerprint photo, the dusty prints on the
old organ lid at the murder house.

But even the sheriff, who admittedly
was not a fingerprint expert, saw they
were totally unlike. “Which,” he mut-
tered to himself, “leaves us without a
single thing to go on.”

By the end of the day, Deputy Monte
dug up one more significant fact. The big
mansion which Callie Rogers’ ancestors
had built overlooking the placid Ohio
river, had been rented for some time by
a prominent Ironton insurance man. This
man enjoyed living with his family dur-
ing the summer months in the big house,
but now was back in his home at Ironton.

The tireless deputy, who spent the
whole day going over the Rogers prop-
erty searching for clues in an ever-widen-
ing circle about the murder cottage, at
length decided to look over the big house.
To his amazement, he found the front
door unlocked and slightly ajar. Entering.
he discovered that the whole house had
been ransacked.

Summoned to the scene, the insurance
man made a hasty inventory and reported
missing a valuable Paisley shawl, several
articles of clothing and odds and ends of
bric-a-brac, all of which he listed with
adequate description.

Monte raced back to his office with
mounting enthusiasm and reported the
theft. “It’s a cinch,” he declared to the
sheriff, “that the man who killed Callic
Rogers also robbed the . big house.
Maybe,” he added, “he was careless
enough to leave that stuff from the big
house lying around some place.”

At once, deputies rushed to the homes
of Jimmy Thompson and the Devonshire
brothers and conducted a thorough search
of both. But they were doomed to disap-
pointment.. Not a single item of loot
could. be found. As for Ansley, the beady-
eyed pence he apron had no home.

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girl had become
1other briefly and
he said to the girl,
t the onty ones
yple. I killed two
on that spot.” He
switch where the

ell us that story
isked the woman.
answered logically
any stock in that
on is such a liar,
I don’t think he
ing to show off in

y decided to take
sught the pasty-
headquarters for
apson met the ac-
SEL

alk,” he drawled.
they’re so smart
‘Ids, I thought I'd
v could.” Hours of
‘nate threats and
e, and Thompson

sped by with dis-
ily two years had
Monte still clung
on that somehow
ed with either or
nurders, he could

in August, the
the known facts
sandth time when
itered his office,
irrant for the ar-
hen quieted, she
vat she had been
vy aman driving a
; of Ironton, she
efore she had a
grip, containing
thing, the trucker
‘d the vehicle and
er be arrested.
of the minor nui-
‘ke the monotony
onte, by long dis-
iway patrol, soon
ved at the Ohio

told a plausible
red the itinerant
k a mile or so out
zx to lose time by
-t it on the edge
ew, believing she

disgust Monte,
drove to the spot
. The grip was not
house of several
up his interest. A
a few minutes be-
the same descrip-
road and headed
toward Hanging
1, said one of the
iy Thompson!
itinerant at his
through the hills
The youth was
e cabin failed to
. Jimmy’s mother
away for a few
- where.
nte stopped in to
had informed his
ose conversation
erhaps she would

have,” thewoman
z ire. “That dirty
‘ith my daughter
her scream and

ee MEET

ran out. He beat it over that hill there.
So next day I went prowling around and
I discovered he’s got a hideout. It’s a cave
and he’s been sleeping there lately.”

Monte could not hide his excitement.
The woman led him through briars and
underbrush to a secluded hillside spot
and pointed to a cave which extended
several feet back. All about was evidence
that someone had been living there. But
what was more important was a cheap
grip, just’ inside the entrance.

The latter item soon was identified by
the itinerant woman at the jail and Monte
forthwith issued a warrant for Thomp-
son’s arrest. With difficulty, he was found
next day by a deputy well versed in hill
geography.

The pasty-faced hill youth readily ad-
mitted picking up the grip, but drawled
that there was nothing criminal in find-
ing something.

“I’ve got you on another charge,” the
sheriff said quietly. “You attacked a girl.
That’s serious.”

Thompson stared at the officer’ but

Sheriff Bern-
_ ard R. Monte,
' left, avenged
the death of
Engineer John
H. Meyers, be-
low left, vic-
tim of a train
wreck at the
hands of the
grim slayer,
below right.

After a’ kindly old lady was murdered in this cottage investigat

made no comment. Somewhat nervously,
however, he reached in his pocket and
after fishing about brought out a tobacco
sack and began rolling a cigaret. Monte
stared with fascinated disbelief. Dangling
from the sack was a label bearing a big
buffalo head!

The sheriff sprung to his feet and
grabbed the tobacco sack. “Fellow,” he
said harshly, “I’ve always thought you
were a killer. Now I know it!”

If the dramatic accusation had any
effect on the youth’s nerves he failed to
show it. Without so much as a quiver of
an eyelash he stared back at Monte, then,
calmly but emphatically denied the
charge. For two solid days under a con-
tinuous gruelling fire of questions and ac-
cusations he continued placidly to shake
his head.

INALLY, ina last desperate effort, the

weary sheriff faced Thompson alone in
his office. After a long period of silence
he said quietly, “We're swearing out a
warrant charging you with the murder of
that old lady, Jimmy. It’s going to go very
hard on you because you won’t cooperate
with us. You’ll go to the chair for sure.”

The sheriff had slight hope his words
would have any effect on this callous man
of the hills, but a minute later was
startled almost out of his chair.

“Yep, I done it,” were the words
he thought he heard. Yet Thompson’s
lips had scarcely moved. But, in the next
few moments there was little doubt left
in the officer’s mind. Thompson com-
pletely and vividly described how he had
appeared at Callie Rogers’ door that ill-
fated night two years before and asked
for food.

ae eee.

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A hasty checkup at Hanging Rock vil-
lage failed to uncover anyone who had
seen him with any of the items.

More days of frantic investigation dis-
closed no additional clues. With reluc-
tance, Sheriff Bennett released Jimmy
Thompson, the Devonshire boys and old
Tom Ansley, after first unsuccessfully
grilling them for hours.

Was this cruel murder to be relegated
to the “unsolved” file? In spite of tire-
less work on the part of all the investi-
gators, many months, and then a year
passed without a clue. Sheriff Bennett
retired from political life and Bernard
Monte, his deputy, was elected to suc-
ceed him.

ONTE took office with two out-

standing murder crimes of Law-
rence county unsolved—the Callie Rogers’
case and the wrecking of the crack Nor-
folk & Western passenger-mail train just
outside the bounds of Ironton on April 21,
1932, more than a year prior to the old
lady’s death, Monte’ s first act in his new
role was to review all the known facts of
both cases. In neither did he have a single
helpful fact to go on.

In the train wreck, the engineer, John
H. Meyers, was decapitated. J. J. Kemp,
the brakeman, was instantly killed.
Others of the crew and passengers were
injured, Railway detectives and postal of-
ficials established beyond doubt that the
flyer had plowed into a tampered switch,
going 65 miles an hour. Four bolts and

nuts to match, were discovered on the-

roadbed near the switch.

But what baffled railway and county
officials. was the apparent lack of a
logical motive in this crime. The bag-
gage and mail car, which carried a cargo
of several hundred thousand dollars in
value, was untouched, If robbery were the
motive, apparently the criminals had
weakened at the screams of injured and
hasty scurrying of others about the
wreckage, immediately after the tragedy.

Monte always had been satisfied in his
own mind the wreck was caused by one
or more amateurs of Lawrence county.
Professional saboteurs would have done
a neater job; certainly they would not
have left the telltale bolts on the right of
way. Only one suspect had been arrested.
That one man had been on Monte’s mind
ever since. He wondered if others shared
his thoughts.

“Say,” he remarked to a deputy one
day. “Do you remember who we picked
up for the train wreck job? And right
away he proved a clean-cut alibi?”

The deputy did remember. “Sure,” he
said. “It was. Jimmy Thompson, that
lanky hillbilly from over near Hanging
Rock.”

“And that’s the guy,’ ‘ exchimiail Monte,
“who also wag a pretty good suspect in
the Callie Rogers’ case, I can’t get him
off my mind—and I’m not going to try!”

Monte assigned his chief deputy, Harry
Shuttuck, to conduct a thorough investi-
gation into the movements of Thompson
for the past two years. “Go back in those

; hills,” the sheriff ordered, “and talk to

everybody you can.’

After more than a month of this pains-
taking method, Shuttuck suddenly
thought he struck pay dirt. A woman who
was well known in the Hanging Rock
neighborhood as a descendant of the
famous feuding “Devil” Anse Hatfield
family of the South, reluctantly related
an incident which had occurred while she
was picking dandelion, greens’ one morn-

ing after the train wreck. Helping her’

was her 17-year-old daughter and Jimmy

. Thompann:

Lae mae Ni Rat MERA ast

Thompson and the girl had become
separated from the mother briefly and
with an air of bravado he said to the girl,
“You Hatfields aren’t the only ones
famous for killing people. I killed two
men myself, right over on that spot.” He
pointed to the railway switch where the
flyer had been derailed.

“Why didn’t you tell us that story
before?” the deputy asked the woman.

“Well,” the woman answered logically
enough, “I didn’t take any stock in that
story. Jimmy Thompson is such a liar,
nobody’d believe him, I don’t think he
did it. He was just trying to show off in
front of my girl.’

dfonte and the deputy decided to take
no chances. They brought the pasty-
faced hill youth to headquarters for
thorough grilling. Thompson met the ac-
cusation with a slow grin.

“That was all just talk,” he drawled.
“Those people think they’re so smart
being kin of the Hatfields, I thought I'd
tell one bigger than they could.” Hours of
questioning, with alternate threats and
pleadings, got nowhere, and Thompson
was released.

Month after ‘month sped by with dis-
couraging results. Finally two years had
passed and, although Monte still clung
tenaciously to the notion that somehow
Thompson was connected with either or
both of the unsolved murders, he could
not prove it.

On a hot afternoon in August, the
sheriff was reviewing the known facts
of the case for the thousandth time when
an excited woman entered his office,
loudly demanding a warrant for the ar-
rest of a trucker. When quieted, she
blurted out a story that she had been
picked up on the road by a man driving a
truck, At the outskirts of Ironton, she
decided to get out. Before she had a
chance to retrieve her grip, containing
$10 in cash and some clothing, the trucker
sped away. She described the vehicle and
demanded that the driver be arrested.

The case was purely of the minor nui-
sance variety, but it broke the monotony
of the torrid day and Monte, by long dis-
tance phone to the highway patrol, soon
had the trucker stopped at the Ohio
river, The man readily told a plausible
story. He had discovered the itinerant
woman’s grip in his truck a mile or so out
of Ironton. Not wishing to lose time by
driving back, he had set it on the edge
of the road in plain view, believing she
would pick it up.

Wie a mutter of disgust Monte,
with the woman, drove to the spot
described by the trucker, The grip was not
there. Inquiry at the house of several
neighbors soon perked up his interest. A
tall man had been seen a few minutes be-
fore carrying a grip of the same descrip-
tion. He had left the road and headed
back through the fields toward Hanging
Rock village. The man, said one of the
farm women,.was Jimmy Thompson!

Leaving the. woman itinerant at his
office, Monte journeyed through the hills
to Thompson’s cabin. The youth was
not there. Search of the cabin failed to
disclose the missing grip. Jimmy’s mother
said her son had been away for a few
days; she did not know where.

On the way back, Monte stopped in to
call on the woman who had informed his
deputy of Thompson’ s loose conversation
about the train wreck. Perhaps she would
have more information.

“You're darn tootin’ I have,” thewoman
exclaimed with mounting ire. “That dirty
rat tried to get rongh with my daughter

the other day. I heard her scream and

ran out. He bea
So next day I w
I discovered he’s
and he’s been s
Monte could
The woman led
underbrush to
and pointed to
several feet bac
that someone h
what was mort¢
grip, just inside
The latter ite
the itinerant w«
forthwith issue
son’s arrest. Wi
next day by a '
geography.
The pasty-fa:
mitted picking
that there was
ing something.
“T’ve got you
sheriff said qui:
That’s serious.
Thompson s

Pan aa aaa eee

After a kinc
that |

related his discovery and was told to wait
at the spot while squad cars were des-
patched for the raid.

Within three minutes the first squad car
raced up and Officers Bernard Shoaf and
Fred Williams alighted, guns drawn and
ready for action. They were followed im-
mediately by Cruisermen W. E. Gardner
and‘E. Smith.

While Foley mounted his camera for ac-
tion shots, Officers Shoaf and Williams
moved cautiously to the side door of the
beer joint while Smith and Gardner walked
to the front door. Then the four officers
walked in, guns ready.

Foley stood tense outside expecting all
hell to break loose any minute!

Would the killer shoot it out with the
cops—or would he turn yellow as most
punks do in the pay-off?

r THE DIMLY-LIGHTED room the officers
did not at once see the man they sought.
Moving cautiously, prepared for fierce. re-
sistance from a bandit who had shown
himself to be a ruthless killer, the officers
met in the center of the room. For the
first time they glimpsed the pasty-faced
youth sitting at a table with a plump bru-
nette. Unaware of the officers’ approach,
the two sat drinking beer and joking. They
were in a gay mood—yet only two hours
before this youth’s gun had exploded and
a man had died!

They still believed in their “ticket to
prosperity !”

Suddenly the police were upon them,
guns flashing in their faces and handcuffs
clicking on their wrists. From the ban-
dit’s coat pocket Officer Shoaf snatched the
nickel-plated .32—‘“the ticket to prosperity”
—and then relieved him of $13 in bills.
From the woman’s pocketbook Shoaf took
$25, In the Ninth street Kroger. store
robbery $35 had been obtained.

Identifying themselves as Wayne Thomp-
son, age 23, and Mrs. Adeline Hampton,
age 26, a married woman with three chil-
dren who admitted she had been Thomp-

REAL DETECTIVE

son’s sweetheart for some time, the two
were taken at once to a police station for
questioning. Neither displayed any emo-
tion at their arrest and ‘Vhompson calmly
smoked cigarettes while Photographer Bill
Foley climaxed his “scoop of the year” by
shooting endless pictures.

At Headquarters Chief of Detectives
Leo Phillips took over the questioning of
Thompson and Mrs. Hampton, with De-
tectives Otto Phillips, W. D. Austin, C. A.
Carpenter, Ed Mathias, Sergeant C. C.
Cole and Sergeant Clem Owens sitting in.

Thompson promptly admitted that he had
robbed all of the Kroger and Schiff ‘stores
as well as the cafe and pharmacy. Wear-
ing a striped shirt and dark trousers and
sporting a thin moustache, Thompson said
he had been drinking on the afternoon of
the Hoover shooting and that he had es-
caped in a roadster which he had parked
in Wilson Avenue.

Mrs. Hampton, who wore a shabby pink
dress, told police she sat in the car while
Thompson robbed the Kroger store on
Ninth Street and knew that he had been
robbing various stores to get the money
which provided them with many gay par-
ties.

“T guess I knew it was wrong all the
time but I loved him and that made it
seem all right,” she said. She told police
she had deserted her husband three years
before and had been living with young
Thompson most of the time.

“He said we’d see the world through
portholes,” she said a little wistfully.
“Now I guess that’s all over. This looks
like the pay-off.”

From Thompson police drew this ob-
servation:

“It looked pretty easy and I guess I
figured I was smarter than the cops. I
didn’t mean to kill the grocer—I thought
he was going for a gun and I wanted to
scare him.”

County Prosecutor Ralph J. Bartlett,
one of Ohio’s most aggressive and able law
enforcement officials, moved quickly to
bring both Wayne Thompson and Adeline

Hampton to trial. Within 24 hours after
Carl Hoover had been slain, Thompson
had been indicted on a charge of first de-
gree murder by the Franklin County
Grand Jury which also returned twelve
other indictments of robbery against the
youth who-thought he carried a “ticket to
prosperity” in the form of a cheap but
deadly nickel-plated snub-nosed gun.

The same grand jury returned an in-
dictment against Adeline Hampton charg-
ing her with being an accessory in the rob-
bery of the Ninth Street Kroger store, it
being claimed that she had acted as look-
out for Thompson and had kept the motor
of the get-away car running while he staged
the robbery.

When Wayne Thompson was arraigned
for preliminary hearing before Common
Pleas is e Cecil J. Randalls, Defense
Counse oward Gillard sought to show
that the bandit-killer was insane at the
time Grocer Hoover was slain, but Prose-
cuting Attorney Ralph J. Bartlett, hard-
hitting nemesis of the underworld in Frank-
lin County, had anticipated such a move
and was ready with the testimony of ex-
perts to prove that Thompson was per-
fectly sane.

On May 29th, after deliberating three
hours and forty-five minutes, a jury com-
posed of seven men and five women fe-
turned a verdict of guilty of first-degree
murder against Wayne Thompson, refus-
ing to recommend mercy.

Judge Randalls then pronounced sen-
tence. Wayne Thompson will die in Ohio's
electric chair.

“As a blunt warning to the underworld
and its rats,” said Prosecutor Bartlett,
“that Columbus knows how to deal out
justice swiftly and effectively.”

On June 4th, Adeline Hampton, Wayne
Thompson’s drinking companion who ac-
companied him on his thirteenth and last
stick-up, received a sentence of from ten
to twenty-five years in the women’s re-
formatory, at Marysville where Velma
West, Ohio’s hammer murderess, is con-
fined.

REAL

DETECTIVE

several residents in Campbellsville informed
the officers that it was general gossip Inman
Turner had heen madly in love with Lillian
Lamme, that he had proposed to her on
occasions, and that she had put him
off.

The mystery seemed to be cracking wide
open beneath their feet when the officials
learned that ‘turner was the owner of a
new Buick coupe—which undoubtedly had
twin tail-lamps !

A police alarm for Turner was immedi-
ately broadcast over the entire State.

rom Cynthiana came an official report
which completely absolved the husband.
Lamme, the detectives had ascertained, had
been in Cynthiana throughout Sunday, and
had easily proven his whereabouts from 3
o'clock until several hours after the time of
the murder.

EANWHILE, Orricrers Paul ‘thompson
and Bob Gordon, after fruitlessly
checking the theatres in Lebanon, finally
picked up the trail of the beauty. Charles
Webb, proprietor of the West End Tavern,

SINISTER TRYST

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 168)

located just outside of Lebanon on the
Campbellsville road, told them that Lillian
had been in his place from 5 until 8 o’clock
Sunday evening. “Mrs. Lamime is a good
friend. of my _ wife,’ explained Webb.
“We've known her for several years. She
ate with us, then left. I don’t know where
she went, I think she said something about
a movie.”

Detectives in Campbellsville soon report-
ed that they had found a witness who had
observed the slain woman boarding a bus,
bound for Lebanon, on the main street of
the town. Taking up the trail from Webb’s,
Thompson and Gordon sought to trace the
girl from there on, only to meet with com-
plete failure. :

Throughout Monday, while Kentucky
newspapers blared out the news of the mys-
terious killing of the well-known beauty,
the corps of investigators continued a re-
lentless probe through an area of nearly a
hundred square miles. Efforts to trace the
shells found at the scene proved fruitless.
Nor could Chief Garrison secure any clear
prints from these or from any portion of

the expensive clothing worn by the victim.

Early Tuesday morning Lieutenant Blue
contacted Chelf and Garrison and told them
that he and his men had dug up a new an-
gle on Inman Turner, the missing suitor.
“The State revenue men think Turner is
more than just a prosperous advertising
man,” Blue told them, “They claim they've
had him under suspicion for a long time as
being the actual head of a powerful bootleg
ring operating around Campbellsville., In
fact, to force a break they charged him
several weeks ago with transporting liquor.
His preliminary hearing comes up in the
Federal building at Louisville today.”

On the possibility that Turner might,
with concealing urbanity towards a more
diabolic crime, be awaiting his hearing in
Louisville, the officials sped to that city.

However, there was no sign of Turner
at the Federal building. Aid of the Louis-
ville detective bureau was immediately en-
listed, and a corps of detectives began a
city-wide hunt.

Shortly before noon Detective C. S.
Trotter arrested Turner less than two

blocks fron.
Turner, thir
soft voiced, s
faced = Leban
Showing unco:

. cions of the «:

denied any gui)
“When LT he
was grieved |
“How could |
with my wife :
“What wife
attorney. “I |
Lillian Lamm«
“T wouldn't
quietly. “I a
times—that wi
Here, then,

‘appeared signi!

ingly infatuate:
carrying on a
common gossip
Five minutes
Sheriff Roy H:
an immediate ¢
to question Mr:
mored marriag
In response t
Inman Turner
to a paraffin t:
ly, he was til
where Licuten
ately got to w
Less than ai
port. The tes!
powder grains
on Turner's h:
decided to hol
suspicion of m:
evidence of his
Hurrying }:
Garrison conti
sheriff report:
sworn her hus
March 9, the «
with her. “TI;
with Mrs. *
could hav:
any man, t
that he haa «:
her. I questi:
tinued the shx
they heard the
ning and saw *
ing room until
cidentally, Mr
Turner’s, acc
parked in fron
imate time of
Chelf and
disappointme:
“Inman Tur
mused Chelf,
until Monday
could have sti!
and left for L
ing. On the o
in front of hi
But why show
“A man in
shrugging.
“Yeah. Tt v
Turner. Te:

N WEDNE
days and
gation, Sheri!
Hugh Mann
though the s
recovered ani
in the investi
Late in the
turned from
county attorn
“What is t!
face that [ 1
refuses to tall!
Chelf start:
a second bet:
“Get out your

‘f the ignition.
ere out of gas.
tt the gas tank,
i; om. IT saw him
untain, into the

before the tight
| rnered Charlie

3 rom the Callo-
omembered the
‘ote's: farm and*
en the baying

and wild-eyed
| county officials
a revolvers and
sed the empty,
ud, “You guys
sy if'fn I'd had

asked Charlie
him and Fred

lie. “I thought
| says t’myself,
‘ore ’thout any
ll get plenty

arlie told about
aught to’ve killed
. Ul get out of
when I do, Tl
her down. This
,ood-time Char-

c's capture, Es-
‘ete, and disap-
parted, she took
1 her. She has

| eterson was tried
| ing of Deputy
| nue in Warsaw,

hand-rolled
iced it had
vvdam’s apple
stood and heard

‘s Peterson, to
wal life in the

a side door,

i on the wood

He hummed a
h, bury me-e-e,

it his voice was
is his mind was

mes of Estelle,
rton, and Pete
Hlowever, these
story as herein
statements,

ad I address this
trained to check
ts—let’s make a
i friendliness and
‘and fear.
cords, statistics,
ipeutic measures,
| remember in our
| thing—that this
& ced, longing for a
is in dire need of
ling.
) in captivity, let’s
d learn, however

pat A

tats a ne

}

REAL DETECTIVE

DETECTIVE

ND THEN, with little lull, other rob-

beries came screaming over the tele-
phone wire to police headquarters. Always
the description of the lone bandit was the
same. He worked fast—and always his
victims warned:

“You better get him quick of someone
will die.”

Finally the police report showed:

March Sth, Kroger store at 1069 East
Main Street, $40.00.

March Ith, E, B. Jaye Pharmacy, 625
East Washington, $87.00.

March 19th, Kroger store, 587 East
Livingston, $46.50.

March 19th, Kroger store, 1696 East
Main, $46.00.

March 22nd, Schiff’s Shoe store, 208
East Main, where Erwin Lieberman, the
manager, was forced to turn over $200.00.

March 29th, Schiff’s Shoe store, 168
South Fourth Street, Ralph Lurie, man-
ager, $100.03.

April 3, Kroger store, 738 South High,
P. M. Stewart, manager, $55.36.

April 5, Kroger store, 302 East Main,
Jack Coles, manager, $50.00.

April 15, James Feidner, clerk at Kro-
ger’s, 980 East Livingston, $59.00.

April 21, Clem’s Grill, 51 South Wash-
ington Street, Milton Scherr, manager,
$25.00.

This was something new and. startling
for Columbus, a city whe mobs have
never been allowed to gain a foothold and
where citizens boast of one of the finest
police departments in the country. Here
was a challenge to an outraged public and
it was accepted! A potential murderer was
on the loose... .

Police activity in the south end was
tripled. Squad cars were stationed at stra-
tegi¢ points, extra officers were assigned
to patrol duty, store managers were in-
structed concerning the bandit’s appearance
and method of operation and told what to
do in event he appeared.

“Get a description of the get-away car!”
these merchants were told. “This punk
looks like too many others—we've got to
get a description of his car or actually
catch him on a job.”

Safety Director Roy Weed, Police Chief
Kaffits and Detective Chief Phillips con-
ferred with Mayor Floyd Green.

“It’s time for the pay-off?” Mayor Green
told the officials. “This man is dangerous,
The only reason he hasn't turned killer al-
ready is that he has met with no resistance.
Soon now he'll encounter someone who
won't be so discreet during a robbery—
he'll meet someone who will resist him.
That’s when he’ll kill. Boys, we don’t
want any citizen to die. You've got to get
this man before he turns murderer !”

Then the heat really was turned on!
Every known rendezvous for crooks was
combed by special details of, officers. Stool
pigeons were sent scurrying about the
capital city urged to covtact all their
sources of underworld information.

But before either the police or the stool
pigeons uncovered the slightest informa-
tion, the pay-off came in murder !

It came with staggering abruptness at
$ o'clock on Tuesday, April 22nd, in a
Kroger grocery store at 1260 Oak Street,
in Columbus’ south side.

It came in the explosion of a snub-nosed
32 and in the life blood of a store manager

“MY TICKET TO HELL”

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25)

who proved less “discreet” than those who
had met the pasty-faced bandit on eleven
other occasions during the past seven
weeks.

Eight customers and six clerks were in
the Kroger store when the bandit saun-
tered up to the counter. The store man-
ager, Carl Hoover, aged 33, of 510: Hill-
tonia Avenue, father of two children, stood
behind the cash register. He was_ busy
makine change when he heard the voice of
the newcomer commanding him to “stick
fom up and get away from the register.”

Surprised, Hoover merely gaped. ‘Then
he saw the snub-nosed gun and heard the
frightened, choked scream of a woman
customer.

Momentarily stunned, Hoover watched
as the bandit reached out and pressed a
key of the cash register. It stuck and
Hoover reached to touch the hand that
held the gun. It was a fatal mistake, for
the bandit apparently thought that resist-
ance had finally come.

Stepping back quickly, the youth, a thin
sneer on his lips, pressed the trigger of
the cheap nickel-plated gun and a chunk
of hot lead melted into the manager’s body.
Hoover slumped to the floor behind the
counter and women screamed in’ sudden
hysteria.

Turning hastily, the bandit menaced the
women and clerks with the smoking gun.

“All right,” he rasped, “take it easy, all
of you. That guy was gonna be smart,
eh? Well, this is my ticket to anything I
want, see? I always said I’d kill ’em if
they tried to stop me. Cops, too—see ?”

Ile walked over and calmly studied the
inert body of Hoover behind the counter.
Then with a shrug he turned to the cash
register and attempted to open the drawer.
His back was to the customers and clerks
but they stood spellbound.

“Well, if I don’t get no dough I at least
got a little shootin’ practice,” the bandit
said coldly as he turned and walked to the
door. There he paused.

“Now get this.” he gritted, gun still in
hand and pointing. “Don’t get nosey when
T leave. Just stay where you are and be
healthy.”

Then he ran from the store, colliding
with a woman passer-by. Mrs. Bessie
Cottrell, a store clerk, followed closely
behind him as far as the street. She saw
no getaway car and told police when they
arrived in squad cars that the bandit had
raced two blocks, disappearing into Wilson
Avenue.

arborea Times the pasty-faced bandit had
ridden on his “ticket to prosperity” and
on this trip he had brought murder as a
companion !

The warning of his other victims—“get
him quick or someone will die’—had not
been without basis.

With a killer at large—a ruthless, grin-
ning killer who practiced shooting when
he failed to obtain loot—Columbus police
flocked to the south side and squad cars
raced through every street and alley. Even
now they knew little more than they had
for seven weeks. The description meant
little or nothing. “It will fit a thousand
other punks” took on more significance as
the mad search continued.

And then—

Photographer William Foley, of the Co-

lumbus Dispatch, busy at work in the pho-
tographic department dark-room, was
called suddenly to the phone at 4:15.

“Hop out to 510 Hilltonia Avenue and
get a picture of Carl Hoover,” the voice
of the city editor was saying. ‘Hoover's
just been shot in a stickup at the Kroger
grocery on Oak Street—may be dead by
now—and we'll need his picture for to-
morrow.”

Foley drove rapidly to the home of the
bandit victim where he told Mrs. Hoover
that her husband had been injured and
offered to drive her to Grant Hospital.
Just then a police cruiser arrived and Of-
ficer Bernard Shoaf advised the grocer’s
wife that he had been sent to take her to
the hospital.

Foley then returned to the Dispatch of-
fice where he called Grant Hospital and
learned that Hoover had died at 5:10, a
little more than an hour after the stick-up.
It was now 5:45, so Foley decided to go
to police headquarters to check on police
activities in the bandit chase. At head-
quarters he was told that another Kroger

‘store on South Ninth Street had just been

stuck up and he rushed upstairs to the ra-
dio room to check with Operator Henry
Hoye on the newest development.

As he entered the radio room he heard
Hoye broadcasting details of the robbery
and giving a description of the car used
in the getaway.

For the first time since the pasty-faced
bandit had inaugurated his baffling one-
man critne wave, police had something tan-
gible to work on, something in which they
could sink their tecth. Two witnesses to
the latest Kroger store robbery had seen
the bandit run from the store and leap into
a car parked at the curb. In the seat of
the car, they told police, sat a plump woman
who had kept the engine ruming while
the youth entered the store and obtained
$35 from Manager Edgar Withrow.

These witnesses—Mrs. Frank Greel and
Ernest Berger—told officers the bandit es-
caped in a 1931 Ford roadster with a home-
made top of orange and green canvas, Car-
rying license number EL-860.

“Good Lord,” Photographer — Foley
shouted as Hoye completed the police
broadeast. “That car will stand out like

a sore thumb—it’s sure to be spotted.”

With the car’s description and license
number fixed firmly in his mind, Foley
raced downstairs and was off in his car
to the Ninth Street Kroger store, scene of
the most recent robbery. He headed down
Front Street, along the Scioto river, turn-
ing east on Fulton to High Street. He
turned west off High and into an alley
south. His eyes constantly searched for
the bandit car.

Finally he turned cast on Beck Street,
then down another alley and back to South
High—for no reason at all! It was then
that he saw, through unbelieving eyes, the
Ford roadster, with the gaudy orange and
green canvas top. Foley’s foot slammed
down hard on the brake and his car
groaned to a stop behind the roadster which
stood parked at the curb in front of.a beer
joint.

Foley tumbled out of his car and raced
to a nearby garage where he found a tele-
phone. Quickly he called police headquar-
ters and was connected with Officer Hoye
in the radio room. To Hoye the newsman

[113 O. §

Ge
=)
lop)

JANUARY TERM, 1925.
Opinion, per JONeEs, J.

became the duty of the insurance company under
the opportunity clause of the policy to secure
other means whereby the widow and beneficiary
should be informed of the demand. In view of the
fact that the son refused to make this communica-
tion to his mother, and so apprised the agent, there
was no sufficient demand for an autopsy made
upon the plaintiff below before burial. She
had no notice of the demand until three days after
burial, and no reasonable excuse for the delay
was shown.

It is the judgment of this court, therefore, that
the demand for an autopsy was not seasonable,
since it was not communicated to the widow and
beneficiary before burial. The order of the trial
court, made seven months after burial, requiring
the widow to assent to the exhumation of her hus-

band’s body, was, under the circumstances devel- ~

oped by the testimony, erroneous.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals, affirming
the dismissal of the action by the trial court, will —

be reversed for the reasons stated, and the cause
remanded to the trial court, with directions to re-
instate the action, and for further proceedings
according to law.

Judgment reversed.

Matrutias, Day, ALLEN, KinKkapE and Rosrnson,
JJ., concur.
MarsHa.u, C. J., dissents.

Stat te 2
ae &

tad = - ~

113. O. S.] TODOR v. STATE. 377

Opinion Per Curiam.
Topor v. THE STATE oF OHIO.

Criminal law—Charge to jury—First degree murder—No re-
quest to charge jury upon manslaughter—Error in omis-
sion to charge not saved by general exception.

(No. 19011—Decided October 20, 1925.) —

Error to the Court of Appeals of Cuyahoga
county.

Mr. Edward C. Stanton, prosecuting attorney,
and Mr. Henry J. Williams, for defendant in error.

By rue Courr. The plaintiff in error was in-
dicted under Section 12400, General Code. The
indictment, in a single count, charged him with
purposely and of deliberate and premeditated
malice killing one Kate Danialas. A plea of not
guilty was entered. Trial was had to a jury.

The plaintiff in error at the trial testified, in
part:

‘‘T pulled a gun and shot, but I didn’t intend to
shoot her. * * * I went there, but I didn’t in-
tend to kill her. * * * I went down there, but I
didn’t intend to shoot her.”’

The court charged the jury upon the subject of
murder in the first degree, recommendation of mer-
cy, and second degree, and did not charge upon
the subject of manslaughter. Four forms of ver-
dict were submitted to the jury, one for guilty of
murder in the first degree, one for guilty of mur-

Criminal Law, 16 C. J., Sec. 2516, 17 C. J., Sec. 3345.

*CZz6T/oz/TT (e2ouekng) dso *oete feitum ‘anong “yor OF

149 NE 326

TODOR, Bucor, 39, white, electrocuted Ohio S, Pe (Cuyahoga) on November 20, 1925,

"Snatched from death in the electric chair a few hours before he was to be electrocu-=
ted, Bucor Todor was granted a 15-day reprieve by Gov. A. V. Donahey in Columbus last
night upon representations of Chaplain T. 0. Reed of the Ohio State Penitentiary, To-
dor was to have died at 1 a.m, today for the murder of his divorced wife, Katie Dan-=
ialas, in her home at 5117 Herman Avenue, NW, for which he was found guilty in March
192). Common Pleas Judge Walter McMahon sentenced him to the chair, Chaplain Reed
represented yesterday to the governor that the motive for the crime had not been
sufficiently inquired into and asked for the reprieve in order that further investi-
gation may be made to ascertain whether there were extenuating circumstances which
prompted Todor to slay his former wife. Evidence at the trial showed that Todor,

who was working in Lorain, bought a revolver there, came to Cleveland, and remainéd
in the vicinity of Miss Danialas' home until he found her eating supper one night,

He fired through the window from outside the kitchen, shooting her, and she died a
few hours after, Chaplain Reed said he had asked for a reprieve after he had had
many conversations with Todor and had found that there were no statements from the
common pleas judge or the county prosecutor, There is no statement bearing on evi-
dence shown in the trial on orecord at the penitentiary, he declared over the tele-
phone late last night. There was no commutation of sentence requested, he said, He
merely wants time to question Judge McMahon and Prosecutor Stanton, All he has to

go by now, he siad, is Todor's story, Todor feels sure he will not die, Chaplain
Reed said, He hopes that new evidence will save him from the chair," PLAIN DEALER,
Cleveland, Ohio, November 6, 1925 (1:6.)

le burlesque
man

re arrested, and
liom seen a man
iring those few

Treadway and
ick in his chair
le he seemed to
his eyes opened

‘ssion. When I

she respond-
turned against
Seeing he was
from the room.

ned broken and

irmured.

I asked. I did
» the youth had

med to say, “I
ur supper, and
back here and
uth!”

‘readway wrote

dnut Street, do

| o'clock, I was

CRIMS

SWEATER §

There were four strangers
in the murder chamber—
three men and a beautiful
girl. Which one perpe-
trated this heinous
atrocity? Here’s how
Belshaw, Philadelphia’s

master detective, found

out!

cee amp

in my apartment reading the Sunday papers when Arch
Moss and a man whose name | gave at first as Al Smith, but
whose real name is Marion A. Elliotte, came and knocked on
the door. Marie opened the door and let them in.

Elliotte was sober, but Moss had been drinking. They

were laughing and talking loud, and they suggested that we -

go out and get something to drink. I was tired, so Moss
said:

“We'll call a taxi.’

“They called one but it never showed up. I pulled out my
watch and said:

“If you are going to buy a drink, you will have to hurry;
it’s almost midnight now.’

“ALL four of us left the apartment and walked north on
Twenty-first Street to Market. We were walking east
on Market, when Moss stopped and began to argue with
another fellow that was drunk. Elliotte, Marie and myself
waited for a while and then went on. Moss followed us.

“Near Twentieth Street, I noticed Mr. Peirce, who was
drunk and speaking to everybody who went by. I told
Marie to go back home. Moss was loaded and I was afraid
there might be trouble. Moss, Elliotte and myself crossed
over and turned north on Twentieth Street on the west side,
entering McCall’s saloon.

“All of us said something to Mr. Peircg in a joking way.
He followed us and asked us if we wanted something to
drink. At first we payed no attention to him, and then
Moss went on ahead, leaving Peirce, Elliotte and myself
alone.

“Peirce took hold of my arm and Elliotte said:

“‘Let’s take him for what he has.’

“1 said, ‘No, wait, he has a car. All of us can go with
him, because he just said the car was right around the
corner.’ ‘

William J. Belshaw, formerly head of the Philadelphia
Murder Squad—who penetrated the cloak of mystery which
enveloped the Quaker City’s astonishing seven-year riddle

“We could not get into the saloon, as it was too late.
Peirce then grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me
toward Market Street: He said he had plenty of whisky
and he would give it to me.

“He also said for him and me to get two girls and have
a-party, and all the while he was pulling me toward Market
Street. Looking back over my shoulder, I didn’t see Moss,
but I did see Elliotte about thirty feet away, and I said:

“?’m going with this man.’ He followed me.

“Peirce and I went to his room on the third floor of 2009
Market Street, where he and I had two drinks. He again
asked me about the two girls, and I said:

“No, I’m married. The little girl you saw on the corner
is my wife. We will get her and pick up a girl for you, and
have a party!’ He said all right, and we went down to the
car.

‘T DON’T remember seeing Moss around, but Elliotte was
hanging around the corner when we came out. Peirce
and I got into the car and went after Marie. When we
came back from our room, I saw Moss and Elliotte at the
corner of Twentieth and Market Streets. When we were
entering Peirce’s apartment, | motioned for Moss and Elli-
otte to come on. They arrived at the door just as I was
going in. :
“Peirce went in first, then Marie and I followed. I be-

As told to ROGER P. BUTTERFIELD

Nees a

Vitam

mop

LADWAY, Peter, wh, elec. OH&P (Cuyahoga) June 1, 1955.

PSS 4 & i

MA
2

(Original Crime.)

CALLED TO ANSWER!

This unusual photo shows Peter D. Treadway, “palooka” pugilist (Jeft), Arch Moss and Boots Rogers, erstwhile burlesque
queen, when they faced the law following the inhuman butchering of Henry T. Peirce, wealthy business man

HLENRY T. PEIRCE, wealthy Philadelphia business man,

is found mysteriously murdered in a room above his
office at 2009 Market Street. The time is Monday morning,
November 22nd, 1920. A heavy pipe wrench, found at the
crime scene, has been the instrument of death. Peirce’s
twelve-cylinder red car, one of the sights of the Quaker
City, has been seen near a Walnut Street rooming-house
shortly after the murder. Detectives go to the house in
question and find clues which result in the apprehension of
two men and a girl in Wheeling, West Virginia. Marie
(Boots) Rogers, former burlesque dancer, is the girl and
the two men are Peter D. Treadway—a boxer—Boots’ al-
leged lover, and Arch Moss. Further sleuthing reveals an
army sweater, splotched with blood. This is identified ‘as
the property of Treadway.

When grilled, Treadway blames Moss and another man—
one “Al Smith’—for the murder. Boots also blames the
mysterious Al. Moss denies that be had a hand in the kill-
ing. He accuses Treadway and Al. While in jail, Boots at-
tempts to pass the following message, written in lipstick on
a magazine, to Treadway. “Stick to your story all through.
You know what tomorrow brings. (Two more).” On an-
other page are the words, “Dead men tell na tales.” Mean-
while, Boots’ husband, a sailor, appears on the scene and
professes faith in his wife’s innocence.

At length, sleuths bring Moss and Treadway together and
then send for Boots. When Boots enters the room, she shoots
a burning glance at Treadway, then at Moss and then back
to the boxer again. .. . :

PART TWO—Conclusion

READWAY leaned forward pleadingly and at-
tempted to speak to Boots, but the girl ignored
him. She went over and sat in a chair with her
face turned away from the boxer.

His reaction was immediate. It was the first time

the two had met face to face since they were arrested, and
she had turned away from him! I have seldom seen a man
change so utterly as Treadway changed during those few
moments.

I began to read Moss’ statement accusing Treadway and
the mysterious Al Smith. The boxer sat back in his chair
and looked at mé narrowly. Once in a while’ he seemed to
nod his head in agreement. At other times his eyes opened
wide in astonishment.

Boots listened without a change of expression. When |
had finished, I turned to her.

“Do you agree with this?” I asked.

“Yes sir, that’s just the way it happened!” she respond-
ed in a low voice.

Treadway seemed stunned. The girl had turned against
him! He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Seeing he was
about to speak, I had Moss and Boots taken from the room.

“Well?” I said, waiting for him to begin.

The boxer leaned forward. His spirit seemed broken and
his eyes were dull.

“All right. I did it. Let them go,” he murmured.

It was a tensely dramatic moment.

‘‘ ARE you going to tell us all about it?” I asked. I did
not want to be too harsh, as I could see the youth had
suffered a tremendous shock.

“Yes,” he answered, in a voice which seemed to say, “I
don’t care what happens now!”

“All right,” I told him. “You can eat your supper, and
maybe you'll feel better. Then you come back here and
tell the whole story—and be sure it’s the truth!”

And here is the amazing confession which Treadway wrote
and signed that very night:

“I, Peter D. Treadway, living at 2049 Walnut Street, do
relate the following:

“On the night of November 20th, at.11:30 o’clock, I was

By Detective WILLIAM J, BELSHAW

crm

Aw 1 JON

DETECTIVE, Merch, 1930

cc.

The CLUE of the

CI
~)\,

There 1
in the }
three mr
girl.

tratec

atrocii
Belsha

master

in my apa
Moss and a
whose real 1
the door. |
Elliotte \
were laughi
go out and
said:
“We'll ¢
“They ca
watch and s
“Tf you
it’s almost

“ALL fou

Twent
on Market
another fell
waited for :

“Near 7
drunk and
Marie to gc
there might
over and tu
entering M

“All of u
He followe
drink. At
Moss went
alone.

“Peirce t

“‘Tet’s

“T said,
him, becau
corner.’

i a

36 The Master Detective

lieve Elliotte was right behind us, and then Moss. Peirce
did not know they were in the place at all. He, Marie and |
went to the second landing. Moss and Elliotte came in
and stayed out of sight so Peirce would not see them.

“I stood on the top step with my back to them and handed
my gun, a .32 long, to Elliotte, who was nearest me. Marie
and | then went into the room. I did not look back. Peirce
had a glass of whisky in his hand. He had not drunk any
of it when Elliotte and Moss entered the room—Elliotte
came first, with my gun in one hand and a blackjack in the
other. He pointed the gun at Peirce.

“Throw up your hands,’ he said, or something like that.
Peirce says, ‘What does this mean?”

“Elliott says, ‘What the hell does it look like?’

“Mr. Peirce says, ‘Have a drink?’ Then Elliotte knocked
the glass of whisky from his hand with the blackjack and
hit him over the
head as hard as he
could.

“T don’t remem-
ber if Mr. Peirce
said anything or
not. I had not ex-
pected anything to
happen the way it
did. Elliotte com-
menced hitting
Peirce and Marie
ran out. Moss
stayed in the room,
watching Elliotte,
until the blackjack
flew out of his
hand. Elliotte then
began to hit him
with the butt of
my gun, but it
broke off.

“Peirce was still
on his feet, and
says, ‘Well, are you
satisfied now?’

I] believe it was
then Moss said, ‘I'll
take Marie home.’

“PIS is a hell

of a gun you
bought. Why didn’t
you buy a good one?’ Then he saw a wrench lying on the
floor, picked it up and hit Mr. Peirce three or four more
times until he fell down.

“I took the towel hanging on a rack and put it over his
face, and it covered his head. In kneeling down, I got blood
on the left knee of my. pants and underwear—also on my
sweater. When I raised up, he groaned, and Elliotte says,
‘I guess I'll finish him. Dead men tell no tales.’

“So he took his left hand and held it over Mr. Peirce’s
mouth and pinched it together until Mr. Peirce was dead.

“When we came into the room at first, | didn’t know any-
thing like this would happen. All that was intended at first
was to-rob him of his money and yaluables.

“I took the whisky, two quarts, while Elliotte went
through Mr. Peirce’s clothing and piled up the money,
which amounted to thirteen dollars. He gave it to me, with
the pocketbook containing Peirce’s driving license. He kept
the tie-pin and watch. I also took a suit of clothes and
playing cards, while Elliotte took the brushes, and we put it
all in a grip which was there.

2 This message, scrawled in lipstick by the ever-alert Boots Rogers, was inter-

said: cepted when the girl attempted to pass it to Treadway, her boxer friend in an

adjoining cell, just before he was scheduled to go on the police mat in connection

with the Peirce murder. Two pages farther on in the magazine—also written
in carmine—were the ominous words, ‘Dead men tell no tales”

“When we were putting the last things in the grip, I said:

“ ‘Marie and I will be blamed for this, for we were the
last ones to be seen with Mr. Peirce.’

“Elliotte said:

“We will all leave town together in the car, for nothing
will be found until Monday, and. we can be a long way off
by then.”

“I turned on the gas, and we went down to the car,
Elliotte carrying the grip. I drove the car over to my place
and we went upstairs. Moss and Marie were in the room.
Marie was resting on the bed and Moss was standing in the
middle of the room. He asked how things came out, and |

_ think Elliofte said, ‘He’s dead.’

“I said: ‘Come on dress, Marie, while I pack up, for we
were the last ones to be seen with Mr. Peirce.’ She didn’t
want to go, but I said ‘Come on,’ so she got ready.

“Moss and Marie
were not in the
room when Mr.
Peirce died. Elli-
otte and | were the
only ones with him.

“Moss and Marie
did not have a
hand in the murder.

“T did not either.

“BLLIOTTE was

the man who
killed Peirce, and |
was the eye witness.
Marie did not
know that Moss,
Elliotte and I were
going to rob him
until she saw them
coming in behind
her, Mr. Peirce and
me, when we were
entering the front
door. She is inno-
cent. She did not
have a hand in any-
thing.”

The young boxer
was sobbing open-
ly as he finished
those last lines, ex-
onerating the girl
who had so plainly
showed a few hours
earlier that she no
longer loved him.

Treadway was an ignorant and violent man, a confessed .

participant in a brutal murder for gain, but that last para-
graph in his confession showed that he had one redeeming
trait—his unselfish love for the vivacious Boots.

On the same day that Treadway had confessed to his part
in the slaying of Peirce, a warrant was sworn out for Marion
(Al) Elliotte, the fourth member of the party who escaped
in Peirce’s car, and the man. accused of striking the actual
blows which killed Peirce.

Elliotte had fled alone after the party reached Wheeling,
and was believed to be somewhere in Ohio. His traveling
bag, which had jolted out of Peirce’s car in the flight to
Baltimore, was found along the highway in Delaware
County.. In it was a photograph of him, which was copied
and sent to all cities in the Middle West.

-A pathetic letter was received, addressed to Elliotte at
his Arch Street rooming-house, on the very day that the
warrant for his arrest was sworn out.

It came from his mother-in-law in Poughkeepsie, New
York, and friends who opened it brought it to the Detective

Bureau. It
hope that
sage for M
both be hc
By Chr
charge of
wife was 1!
Formal
place in (€
were all h:
William R
The pe
livened by
seemed de!
onism of
arms tilte:
bulging ot
flapper st
powdered,
up the ai:
slouch.
Throug!
tained ar
which gre
Not until
delighted!
phers, dic
proceedin

WHes

wipec
the world
“Tf she
the most
fore me!
After
companic
mensing
to await
into Pei
This too
cember
days be
mas.
The si
of the
Peirce, t!
of the tt
and the
their c
once mo
and as
Coroners
followin;
“We
death ¢
Peirce w
injuries
inflicted
Rogers.
Treadw:
Moss, a!
liotte, n
at 2009
The {
as the ¢
oners.
unshave
alert, cl
Boots
spirit.
to “Hor
being h

s in the grip, I said:
iis, for we were the

the car, for nothing
n be a long way off

‘ down to the car,
ar over to my place
2 were in the room.
was standing in the
1gs came out, and |

e I pack up, for we
Peirce.’ She didn’t
sot ready.

“Moss and Marie
were not in the
room when Mr.
Peirce died. Elli-
otte and I were the
only ones with him.

“Moss and Marie
did not have a
hand in the murder.

“T did not either.

“ELLIOTTE was

the man who
killed Peirce, and I
was the eye witness.
Marie did not
know that Moss,
Elliotte and I were
going to rob him
until she saw them
coming in behind
her, Mr. Peirce and
me, when we were
entering the front
joor. She is inno-
cent. She did not
lave a hand in any-
hing.”

The young boxer
vas sobbing open-
y as he finished
hose last lines, ex-
nerating the girl
vho had so plainly
howed a few hours
arlier that she no
onger loved him.

man, a confessed .

out that last para-
ad one redeeming
3001s,

ifessed to his part
tn out for Marion
arty who escaped
triking the actual

reached Wheeling,
io. His traveling
r in the flight to
ay in Delaware
which was copied

ed to Elliotte at
ery day that the

vughkeepsie, New
t to the Detective

The Clue of the

Bureau. It was full of homely chat, and expressed the
hope that Elliotte was working regularly. A loving mes-
sage for Marguerite, his wife, and a hope that they would
both be home for. Christmas, concluded the letter.

By Christmas, Elliotte was a fugitive, sought on a
charge of murder in half a dozen States, while his young
wife was in a hospital.

Formal arraignment of Treadway, Moss and Boots took
place in Central Police Court December 6th, when they
were all held without bail to await the action of Coroner
William R. Knight.

The perfunctory hearing was en-
livened by the behavior of Boots, who
seemed determined to arouse the antag-
onism: of Magistrate Renshaw. With
arms tilted akimbo, huge puffs of hair
bulging out from each ear in the 1920
flapper style, and heavily rouged and
powdered, she sauntered indifferently
up the aisle with her best chorus-girl
slouch.

Throughout the hearing her face re-
tained an air of amused unconcern
which greatly nettled the Magistrate.
Not until afterward, when she posed
delightedly for newspaper photogra-
phers, did she show any interest in the
proceedings.

WHEN she was gone Judge Renshaw
wiped his brow: and declared to
the world:

“If she isn’t insane, she is certainly °
the most brazen prisoner I ever had be-
fore me!”

After the hearing Boots and her
companions were removed to Moya-
mensing Prison, where they were held
to await the inquest
into Peirce’s death.
This took place De-
cember 2Ist, four
days before Christ-
mas.

The sordid details
of the murder of
Peirce, the statements
of the three prisoners
and the accounts of
their capture were
once more gone over,
and as a result the
Coroners returned. the
following verdict:

“We find that the
death of Henry T.
Peirce was caused by
injuries to the head,
inflicted by Marie
Rogers, Peter D.,
Treadway, Joseph A.
Moss, and Marion FI- aii :
liotte, now a fugitive, during the perpetration of a robbery
at 2009 Market street.”

The feature of the inquest was not so much the verdict
as the changed attitude and appearance of the three pris-
oners. At the Magistrate’s hearing, both men had _ been
unshaven and unkempt in appearance, but now they were
alert, clean-cut and confident looking.

Boots was fairly bubbling over with fun and Christmas
spirit. The reason for her happiness seemed to be the change
to “Hotel Moya”, as she termed the prison where she was
being held.

Crimson. Sweater 37

“That’s the best place I’ve found yet to stay,” she chat-
tered. “The food is splendiferous, the bed comfy and the
boys in charge all treat me fine. Why, I read in the papers
about the crime wave and people being held up everywhere
and there I am all locked up safe and sound, a place to
sleep and three meals a day, and no burglar can get to me!”

She flashed a joyous smile when asked about her sailor
husband.

“Sure, he’s been to see me twice and brought me some
things,” she said proudly.

Above is Marion A. Elliotte, alias Al Smith, vanish-
ing man of mystery in the murder enigma. At the
left is Arch Moss, who passed the buck to Elliotte

Another of her interrogators asked her teas-
ingly if she still loved Treadway. A shadow
crossed her face, but when she saw she was being
kidded, she replied in the same teasing spirit:

“Sure I do. Doesn’t he look right swell?”

Nothing could stump the scintillating Boots.

ITH the inquest over, the three prisoners

faded from the public eye until a month later,
when they were indicted for murder in the first
degree, pleaded not guilty, and counsel was ap-
pointed for their trials.

Not until March 15th, however, nearly four
months after Peirce’s death, was Treadway brought into
court—the first to face trial for the murder. His trial
opened, as the later ones also did, with the testimony of
Peirce’s widow and brother in identifying the articles stolen
from the murdered man.

Mrs. Peirce was a pitiful figure as she sat in the witness
chair, clothed in heavy black, and peered at the jewelry,
hair brushes and other articles which she knew so well.

On that first day of her many ordeals in court, she went
to a florist and ordered Easter flowers for her husband’s
grave—an act which doubtless softened the terrible details

“~

or so from the gas station
t Avenue, of which he was
light two men approached
in and commanded him to
1 then east. One man sat

stors he violated all traffic

point in the country on

was ordered from the car
vers then ordered him back

in their original positions.
point Treadway noticed a
a block away and thinking
he brakes. Whereupon the
punching him and the one
ted the gun at him. He
nt off, shooting him through

he hoped to receive help,
plice, who stopped and as-
s him. The next thing he
unconsciousness beside the

ing to seek help. a

tke’s Hospital where it was
1 only a minor flesh wound.
as the same man who had
ew months before and ob-
was done in that case be-
ition. The man Treadway
a gallery, was Benny Zeck,
‘gger with minor political

itical argument in the steel
sland for a few months to
» had been picked up once

: police business until Bal-
| his report on the bullet

It had passed through the -

10bile door and. embedded
s carried on a well fender.

illet might have fired the.

‘olution all wrapped up in
ickage—so we thought. I
Pittsburgh and on August
‘eck.
Treadway and our “secret
‘man, came down together.
t Treadway would identify
idup and Hodgeman would
ir the murder, although he
igeman’s description of the
urately. Treadway picked
ine-up but Hodgeman did
the ballistic comparison of
had not been exact. It
-ase flat again.
*k was extradited for the
-up and in September was
and sentenced to from 10
A Pittsburgh detective,
ch, gave Zeck an alibi but
believe him. ° ,
2y Leo J. Rattay, who was
; boxing commissioner, did.

; for an appeal of the case, .

rching investigation of the
ness,

- station where Treadway
the Vacuum Oil Company
ay wWaS manager on a-com-
Rattay had once been at-

Crime

The Scarlet

(Above) While awaiting
trial the accused murderer
of Ruth Steese sawed the
bars behind this ventilator,
slid to the ground and
escaped. The Cuyahoga
Grand Jury looks over the
scene of the jail-break

torney for an oil company
and knew how gasoline sta-
tions were run, Though
Treadway had first reported
he had been robbed of $300
he boosted that figure to
$800 in testifying to the
Zeck grand jury. He said»
he had taken $300 home on
a Friday, went on a trip
with his wife and returning
Sunday night had _ been
given $500 more by his sta-
tion assistant as the week-
end proceeds,

That was a good deal more money than such a station

would ordinarily take in. Rattay went to company offi- .

cials and learned that a few days before the alleged: hold-up
a company auditor had been to the station on a check-up
and Treadway had put him off with. an excuse. It was

later learned that he was then $1,200 short in his accounts,:

having accumulated the shortage by manipulating the in-
ventory account.

Rattay was also suspicious of. Treadway’s abduction
story. He said he had stopped way out in the country be-

on Shaker Boulevard 13

(Left) “A man was stand-
ing on the left side of the
car. ... He just waved his
hand as if he meant for me
to go on.”’ So reported the
“secret witness’? who had
seen the murderer face to
face

cause he thought he could
get help from an approach-
ing automobile. What made
him so brave? Why hadn’t
he stopped somewhere ‘in
the city where he must have
passed dozens of cars? The
story did not make sense
to the attorney.

Digging into Treadway’s
past, Rattay learned that
he had once served nearly
eleven years in a Pennsyl-
vania prison for a murder
in Philadelphia, for which
he had been paroled on naming an. alleged accomplice as
the actual triggerman.

Rattay got the then seemingly wild hunch that Tread-
way bimself was a logical Steese murder suspect. He went
to County Prosecutor Frank Cullitan with all his facts and
suspicions.

Treadway was a convicted murderer and a crook.

He was short in his accounts and desperate for money.

The route which he said his abductors took him over was
the same probable route taken by (Continued on page 73)

to rest
iway.
red or
iformed
were
protect
. He
‘om the
) a wait-
ice. car
d with
is and
guns,
whisked
away to
youthful
ce in the
fail.
eptember
Jelinski
n trial
Fulton
Superior |
as speed-
cted, and
{ to serve
imum of
ne years
labor on
ia Chain

He could -

tried in
ed States
cue to the
hed not
> re-
icted
si kid-
s law,
iakes kid-
ie mail is
es to the
: victim is
o another
appers.

ed better.
:t that he
’s witness
because of
-r, and his
nteen—the
is case bé
kidnap, a

Humphries
nths in the
jth, a little
» he entered
on parole.
yr his home
, had been
county Jail,
w trial, de-
and left the
chain gang.
Delinski re-
sweetheart,
yroken heart

en, his debt
‘nt one way
in the eye;
-kled, walked
louse which

twenty-one
re voices of
ed nearby,

lat lone-

Uibs

Siac

The Master Detective

The Scarlet Crime on Shaker Boulevard—
A Cleveland Mystery

(Continued from page 13)

the slayer of Ruth Steese, and the scene
of the alleged robbery shooting was
near the scene of the Steese killing. It
is natural, though stupid, for a
criminal to retrace old steps.

There was that similarity in the mur-
der bullet and the bullet which
wounded Treadway.

Treadway answered the general de-
scription of the man seen at the death
car by Hodgeman.

Finally, Treadway was a_ gasoline
station man and all the early police de-
ductions from the blindfold clue and
Hodgeman’s description, identified the
murderer with that or a similar busi-
ness.

Rattay wanted Cullitan to assign a
couple of detectives to continue the
investigation on the fantastic theory
that Treadway had faked the hold-up,
shot himself, and falsely accused Zeck!

Cullitan pointed out that Hodgeman

-had ridden all the way to Pittsburgh
with. Treadway and had not identified
him as the “man in the windbreaker,”
and that the similarity of the two bul-
lets was not absolute.

IN spite of those logical objections

Rattay decided to play his hunch

through and hired H. Clay Folger, a

private detective, to pursue the inves-

tigation.

Rattay and Folger told me the re-
sults of their investigations and
thought they looked pros sing: There
was no case against Treadway yet. |
figured out the only thing to do was to
keep on working under cover without
letting Treadway know he was under
suspicion. When we got some kind of
lever we could try making him talk.

Why hadn’t we city detectives who
had been on the case suspected Tread-
way? I think we would if it had not
been for that trip to Pittsburgh with
Hodgeman. If our star witness could
spend a whole day with him and not
identify him as the “man in the lumber-
jacket” seen beside the death car, why

should we have been suspicious?

That fact did not prejudice me after
petting Rattay’s facts. Nine months

ad elapsed between the time that our

farm boy witness had seen the murderer
beside the death car, and the day he
first saw Treadway. On that Pitts-
burgh trip Treadway was in. street
clothes instead of a windbreaker and
visored cap, and he walked with a cane
and a limp due to his leg wound.

As a matter of fact we learned some
weeks later that the boy had said to his
mother when he got home, that “that
fellow I rode down to Pittsburgh with
looked awful familiar.” Such testi-
mony, of course, would have been use-
less before a jury.

» Treadway had lost his job with the
oil company because of the irregular-
ity in his accounts. Folger thought up
a ruse, which, if it ‘had worked, would
have gone down in detective history as

_a masterstroke. He got someone to “tip

off’ Treadway that the Folger Detec-
tive Agency was looking for an opera-
tive. Treadway actually made out an
application and was to have come. in
for an interview on December 5th. Fol-
ger would have hired him and informed
him that all his operatives had to fur-
nish their own guns. If Treadway had
really shot himself and brought in that
pun we would have soon tied him in a
not on the hold-up case.

That plan fell through but we got
him the next day.

The gas station man, John Sharp,
located across the street from Police
Headquarters, had told me a few days
before that Treadway—whose name
was prominent in the newspaper be-
cause of the Zeck case—had given him
a bad check for twelve dollars.

I suggested that he swear out a war-
rant for his arrest and then telephone
Treadway to come in and make the
check good. We posted a man at the
station to arrest Treadway when he
came in. We got him on December 6th.

He had nineteen dollars on him. |
asked him where he got it. He said
that he won it betting on strikes and
spares in a bowling alley. On a hunch
I looked over the recent reports of rob-
bery cases. A gas station had been
stuck up for twenty-two dollars the
day before. The description of the
robber fitted our man. I called the
station attendant and he spotted Tread-
day without hesitation.

“You've got me all right,” said
Treadway. “I stuck him up to make
good on that check.”

“You have a bank account some
place, haven’t you?” I asked.

“Sure, a small one,” he answered.

“Where is it?”

“Cleveland Trust.”

“What branch?”

“Euclid and East 57th Street.”

TPHERE was something I hadn't
looked or hoped for. That was the
bank from which Ruth Steese was ab-
ducted. Strange, how inevitably every
movement of Treadway floated back to
the Steese murder geography!

We checked his account. Six days
after the murder he had deposited $20,
the biggest deposit he had made in
months!

On the second day of our question-
ing, we learned for the first time that
he had driven down in a car. On
searching the car his overcoat was found
and in the pocket was a .38 Savage.

Cowles made a test of the bullet it
fired. It matched perfectly with the
bullet shot through Treadway’s leg.

“You've got me again,” he said. “TT
come clean. | shot myself to make the
hold-up look good.”

That was what Rattay wanted.
Treadway was brought before Common
Pleas Judge Arthur Day and _ testified
that he had perjured himself in Benny
Zeck’s trial. The sentence against
Zeck was dismissed and he was set free

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aa , mee,
We s

74, The Master Detective-:

robbery. The grateful deputies at the is es
County Jail paid the Missouri Officer . a
$100 reward from their own pockets, }

and he was returned to be kept ‘under

to go home and see his new son, who
had been born to his wife while he was
held in jail under a wrong conviction.

Treadway had just picked out Zeck’s

picture from the Bertillon, because it double guard until his trial Starting * ried
Was as good as any, and picked him out April 2nd. Sl op
of the Tise-up in Pittsburgh from the _ His attorney, Henry Du Lawrence, “pul
picture and description. The whole invoked a privilege seldom utilized in _Pul
piece of duplicity was inspired by the a criminal case, that of going to trial a | driver
fact that his sister had gone on his bond before a tribunal of three ane rather. Pn el
at the gas station and he was afraid she than before a jury. Judges Walter Mc- eG plussec
Would lose her property when his short- Mahon, Alva R. Corlett and John P. ete
age became known. Dempsey sat on the case. © : smiled.
I recalled that in the first few days His peaepal defense was the alibi =) his rig!
after the discovery of the murder, a testimony of his wife, who said that cushion
| bus driver on a line two miles east of her husband had remained home until and fire
' the murder scene had reported that a | P, M. on the day of the murder, Office
man answering Treadway’s description ; Treadway’s own Story of his move- motorc\
had boarded the bus and offered a Peter D. Treadway, a gasoline sta- ments on the murder day was as fol- pinned .
; : tion attendant, who staggered into lows: gathere:
twenty dollar bill for his fare that lice headquarters and pemeted thee " é
afternoon. The driver was Robert an hed oka kidnapuat “ ; ‘I stayed home until two o’clock be- himself
ped on his way to ; :
Kevredle. work, robbed and shot cause | wasn’t feeling so good. I arm ani
| He distinctly remembered the inci- started for downtown then to get a pair volver.
| dent because at that time a warning had underestimated his daring and re- of shoes and had some trouble starting An ex
Was current concerning counterfeit sourcefulness, At the count Jail where _ the car. After getting the shoes I went sciousne
j twenties. For that reason he had looked he was awaitin trial he had become to a bowling al ey and bowled several the shot
{ at his passenger with extraordinary in- the “judge” of the kangaroo court, and games, ; t + bullet r:
| tentness. We called Kevredle in’ and was hailing down “laws” relative to When I came out | had trouble with year-old
| he picked Treadway from a line-up, prisoners standing in front of windows, the car again. A fellow gave me a chunk f;
A woman Passenger on the bus, Lina and about the Proper care of bed push but it didn’t do any good, | got - ; A secon
| Hudson, also distinctly remembered blankets, out and worked over the engine for a blocks .
| | seeing Treadway board the bus on the while to get it started,” went wil
murder afternoon. She had had to run ON this particular night Deputy Sher- He said the day was wet and Sloppy
to catch the bus and Treadway, who iff Herman Hoag, in charge of the and that Passing automobiles had HE
had been standing behind a pole said sixth floor where Treadway’s cell block splashed mud on his shoes and trousers, ‘ peace
to her, “You just made it.” Because was located, left the floor between 8:30 Prosecutor James Hart so tangled him street in
she thought he was so pleasant she in- and 8:50 a. M. to take a sick prisoner in questions concerning the location of . to the s:
tended, when they both got off at the to the jail hospital. When he returned engine parts on which he worked that lapsed a
same stop, to invite him under her um- he observed that a radiator under a Treadway elaborated his testimony to ment hes
brella, but she noticed that he wore a corridor window was pulled out, the make It necessary for him to work on As they
windbreaker and did not need the bars had been sawed and bent back, both sides of the engine. stricken «
shelter, and a rope of bed blankets hung to Treadway exhibited a scar on_his TI
From then on the case shaped up the ground eighty feet below. Wrist to “prove” that he had been sub. con:
beautifully. We looked up Treadway’s Prisoner Treadway and three boys in jected to “police brutality” in a third t
old assistant at the 8as station, William for delinquency were missing. It was degree session, He named myself and officer ac
Petrie. He told us that on the murder then recalled that Treadway had been Detectives Emil Musil and Orley May broad st
‘ afternoon Treadway did not get back joining with unusual fervor in the sing- as the inquisitors. He claimed that | John K.
to the station until five o'clock: that ing of late, burned his wrist with a cigar, The table Kn:
he had mud on his shoes; and that the The three boys who accompanied charge was, of course, a fabrication. moved:
gun had been missing from the station Treadway on the break foolishly went ; ; Doc, c
drawer. He said later Treadway told directly “to their homes and were "THE judges recognized it as such in for this a
him that if the police ever asked him prom ntly captured by police pickets, their opinion, in which they observed
Whether or not he had a gun to tell but there was only bad news of their that a man who would shoot himself
them ‘No.’ leader. . He had stolen a car and robbed in the leg to make a false robbery look
a gasoline station after his escape, plausible, would scarcely hesitate to

“LIKE hell I will,” Petrie said he told That was the last heard of him until burn himself in an attempt to substan-
Treadway, “If they ask me any- March 2nd, 1934, when Missouri State tiate a claim of undue police pressure.

thing I am going to tell them thetruth.” Police captured him near the town They agreed. also that the alibi de-
The Savage automatic which we had of Hannibal after another gas station fense was ,Wholly improbable and un-
found in Treadway’s car was the gun believable. .

Involved in the fake hold-up but it was
not the gun used in the Steese murder.
That gun was never found; but we
found a man, Harry. Richardson, who
had sold Treadway a .38 Remington
automatic some time before the murder.
Richardson informed me that a week or
so after the murder Treadway asked
him to forget that he had ever sold him
that gun.

Still another former friend of Tread-
way’s, Lester Joy, told us that the day
after the murder he had dropped into °
| Treadway’s gasoline station and saw
| him cleaning a gun.
| On the basis of these and other dis-

The tribunal retired and in fifty min-
utes brought back a verdict of guilty
without mercy,

It was the first Cleveland verdict in
years in which the supreme penalty was
Imposed in a case based upon circum.
stantial evidence; and one of the rare -
cases in which a murderer who did not
kill a policeman got the electric chair.

Treadway’s features were set in a
hard immobile mask as judge Mc-
Mahon read the verdict. Onl a mo-
mentary twitching of the eyes betrayed
the fact that he understood its import.

Treadway got his wish. On the eve
of his trial he had said to reporters:

: by! - % ih -“T’ve had i jails. If they
the grand jury on December [5th in- . can’t acquit me, let them give me the
dicted him for the Steese murder, fang Sy Heo J. Rattay, former Cleve ‘

A land Boxi Cc issioner, wh chair.” ;
On the night of February 24th, 1934, halncll ot ce cuhutiod or the baffling And that’s what they gave him. He

Treadway demonstrated that even we Steese case was sentenced to die’ August 8th, 1934.

closures tending to corroborate them,

Two of th:
hidden m¢

P 7 2 mY . EAS OR Te A mS aN SY Nae, SS he ie
fd a a NR TEN Sh “mA lhl Ke ae et NW _ —

12 The Master Detective

and the usual batch of screwy tips that come on the heels
of every big murder case. A Kentucky astrologer sent us
a zodiac chart from which he figured the murderer was a
short, fat man; a couple of women said they saw the murder
enacted in a dream, and some other “nut” wanted to know
the exact hour of the birth of the victim for a numerology
solution,

We picked up two suspects on phony tips which turned
out to be wife-troubles; an insane war veteran was held
in Columbus for us; a blood-stained suit was reported in a
Geneva, Ohio, cleaning shop; two or three vagrants were
investigated; and even a prisoner in the city jail came in
for much scrutiny. The Society for the Blind posted a
$1,000 reward and the County put up $5,000. . :

Inspector Cody put every member of his force on long
hours for a couple of weeks, and no one worked harder than
the Skipper himself. That is the name he is affectionately
called. Hard work is what solves crimes and nothing else,
the Skipper says, and that formula usually does work. But
we got to the point in the Steese investigation where every
line ran into a wall. :

The case had long since dropped out of the newspapers
when on July 24th, almost seven months after the crime, an
event occurred which re-opened the investigation and led
to a solution so bizarre as to sound more like fiction than
fact.

Peter D. Treadway, thirty-seven, a gasoline station at-
tendant, staggered into a suburban police station and re-
ported that he had been kidnapped on the way to work,
robbed of $300, and shot in the leg. This was his story:

At about 6:30 a.m. he was driving to work and stopped
for a traffic light at East 22nd Street and Carnegie Avenue,

(Right) Detective Ser-
geant Bernard J. Wolf,
Chief of the Cleveland
Homicide Squad, who
tells this story. He is
examining a gun once
suspected of having’
been used in the Steese
murder

which is only a couple of blocks or so from the gas station
at East 21st Street and Prospect Avenue, of which he was
manager. While halted for the light two men approached
his car, brandished a pistol, got in and commanded him to
drive toward Euclid Avenue and then east. One man sat
in back and the other in front. ,

At the command of his. abductors he violated all traffic
regulations and drove on to a point in the country on
Gates. Mill Boulevard where he was ordered from the car
and his money taken. The robbers then ordered him back
in the car and got in themselves in their original positions.

. At some distance beyond this: point Treadway noticed a

car approaching. It was about a block away and thinking
he could get help, he put on the brakes. Whereupon the
man in the’ front seat began punching him and the one
in back leaned over and pointed the gun at him. He
knocked the gun down and it went off, shooting him through
the left leg.

The other car, from which he hoped to receive help,
proved to be that of an accomplice, who stopped and as-
sisted the other two in beating him. The next thing he
remembered was awaking from unconsciousness beside the
road, getting in his car and going to seek help. "

Treadway was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital where it was
ascertained the bullet had caused only a minor flesh wound.
He identified one of the robbers as the same man who had
held up his gasoline station a few months before and ob-
tained forty dollars. Nothing was done in that case be-
cause of uncertainty of identification. The man Treadway
picked, on reviewing the Bertillon gallery, was Benny Zeck,
twenty-five, a Pittsburgh bootlegger with minor political
connections, :
Zeck had had some sort of political argument in the steel
town and had moved into Cleveland for a few months to
let it blow over. While here he had been picked up once
on suspicion and finger-printed,

Now all this was just routine police business until Bal-
listic Expert ‘Cowles handed in his report on the bullet
which had wounded Treadway. It had passed through the
victim’s leg, through the automobile door and. embedded
itself in the spare tire, which was carried on a well fender.

The gun which fired that bullet might have fired the
bullet that killed Ruth Steese!
There was the Steese murder solution all wrapped up in

a Christmas. package—so we thought. |
went down to Pittsburgh and on August
10th arrested Zeck.

The next day Treadway and our “secret
witness,” Hodgeman, came down together.
We believed that Treadway would identify
Zeck for the holdup and Hodgeman would
identify him for the murder, although he
did not fit Hodgeman’s description of the
slayer very accurately. Treadway picked
him out of a line-up but Hodgeman did
not. After all, the ballistic comparison of
the two bullets had not been exact. It
left the Steese case flat again.

However, Zeck was extradited for the
Treadway hold-up and in September was
tried, convicted and sentenced to from 10
to: 20 years. A Pittsburgh detective,

. the jury. didn’t believe him. - :
Zeck’s attorney Leo J. Rattay, who was
then Cleveland’s boxing commissioner, did.
Seeking grounds for an appeal of the case,
he began a searching investigation of the
prosecuting witness, ;
. The gasoline station where Treadway
worked was in the Vacuum Oil Company
chain. Treadway was manager on a.com-
mission basis, Rattay had once been at-

Nathan Averbach, gave Zeck an alibi but -

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Metadata

Containers:: Box 32 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 1
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Samuel Tannyhill executed on 1956-11-26 in Ohio (OH)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: July 3, 2019

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