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EXTRA 36/00 Death penalty / Legal concern 14 April 2000

USA (Arkansas) Christina Marie Riggs, aged 28, former nurse

Christina Riggs is scheduled to be lethally injected in Arkansas on 2 May 2000. She has waived her appeals and
said that she wishes to be executed.

On the night of 4 November 1997, Christina Riggs killed her two children, Justin Dalton Thomas (age 5) and
Shelby Alexis Riggs (almost 3). Having sedated them with an anti-depressant, she planned to inject them with
potassium chloride (the chemical used to stop the heart in US lethal injections), which she had got from the
hospital where she worked. She did not realize, however, that it should be diluted before use. When she
injected Justin, therefore, he awoke in pain. She then gave him morphine and smothered him with a pillow.
Not wanting to inject Shelby, she proceeded to smother her with a pillow also. She carried both children to her
bed and lay them in it.

She wrote a suicide note to her mother explaining her actions: ‘I feel as if a dark cloud has hung over my life
for many years...It seems that no matter how hard | try to better my life and the kids, | did nothing but make it
worse... | hope that one day you will forgive me for taking my life and the life of my children, but | can’t live
like this any more and couldn’t bear to leave my children behind to be a burden on you or to be separated and
raised apart by their fathers and live knowing their mother killed herself”. She then took a large quantity of
anti-depressant pills and injected herself with potassium chloride concentrate. Not being diluted, however, it
ate a hole in her arm, collapsing her vein and never reaching her heart. The pills, enough to kill someone on
their own, rendered her unconscious.

She was discovered on the morning of 5 November and taken to hospital where she was stabilised in intensive
care and kept under police guard. On the night of 5 November her family, who had still not been allowed to see
her, hired a lawyer. Before he arrived, however, the police took an eight-minute taped confession from
Christina Riggs early on the morning of 6 November. Much of her statement was inaudible as she was crying
throughout, and towards the end appeared to be hallucinating.

Christina Riggs was charged with two counts of capital murder. A pre-trial motion to suppress her hospital
statement was rejected, and her trial began on 23 June 1998. She pleaded “not guilty by reason of mental
disease or defect”, that is, that at the time of the killings she was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of
her conduct or to conform her conduct to the law. For the defence, a psychiatrist and a psychologist testified
that her actions were the result of severe depression. They gave their opinion that, to her, the children’s
deaths were an act of love and an extension of her own suicide. The psychologist said: “The pathological
suicidal depression that she was in.... effectively precluded her from being able to do something more
reasonable, something more appropriate. From the outside looking in, the death of two children like this is
pretty horrible. From the inside looking out, it looks like an act of mercy.”

For the state, a psychiatrist and a psychologist did not dispute that her suicide bid was genuine, but testified
that they did not believe that she was sufficiently depressed to justify the defence of not guilty by reason of
mental impairment. The jury agreed and convicted her of capital murder after less than an hour of
deliberation. At the sentencing, Christina Riggs refused to have any evidence presented on her behalf and
asked the jury for a death sentence: “I want to die. | want to be with my babes. | started this out seven
months ago. And | want you to give me the death penalty. | don’t want you to feel guilty.” The jury voted for a
death sentence.

Christina Riggs, who was sexuaily abused by a stepbrother between the ages of eight and 13, comes from a
family with a history of mental illness and suicidal tendency. Reportedly, her mother, sister, and a cousin all
attempted suicide, and another cousin committed suicide. Her grandmother was twice committed to a mental
institution, and her great-grandfather committed suicide in such an institution. Her mother and siblings have
been treated for depression. Christina Riggs’ own depression was reported to have been exacerbated by
financial difficulties. She was a single mother working long shifts as a nurse.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In the past two years about 20 people have been executed in the USA after giving up their appeals. For some,
the decision to consent to their execution appears to be as a result of mental illness, and some had already
attempted suicide. For others, the reasons may stem from physical illness, remorse, pessimism about their
appeal prospects, or a wish not to live under the harsh conditions of death row. Whatever the reason, it does
not change the fact that the state is engaging in a human rights violation and deepening a culture of violence.
The most recent “consensual” execution was that of 62-year-old James Hampton in Missouri on 22 March 2000.
He had shot himself on arrest, and suffered from serious brain damage as a result.

Since the USA resumed executions in 1977, it has executed 626 prisoners, twenty-eight of them this year.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send e-mails/faxes/express/airmail letters:

- expressing concern that the state of Arkansas is planning to execute Christina Riggs on 2 May 2000;

. = noting the evidence that she was suffering from severe depression when she killed her two children, and the
history of mental illness in her family;

- stating that the fact that a prisoner gives up their appeals does not absolve the state from its responsibility in
this human rights violation;

- urging the Governor to stop the execution of Christina Riggs;

- urging the Governor to impose a moratorium in Arkansas on this cruel and outdated punishment and to work
towards abolition in line with the majority of the world’s countries.

APPEALS TO:

The Honourable Mike Huckabee

Governor of Arkansas

205 State Capitol

Little Rock, AR 72201

Faxes: 1 501 682 1382

Emails: mike.huckabee@state.ar.us
Salutation: Dear Governor

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

Sonia eee niremnetamban ueuithls Le cennetamin atk meeeE TE

4 (Ark.) 7 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 24 SERIES ROBINSON v. STATE (Ark.) 5

Pera ae

The jury was told in other instructions to
acquit appellant, unless convinced of his guilt
beyond reasonable doubt. It was unnecessary,
therefore, to give appellant’s requested in-
struction No. 5. Martin y. State, 163 Ark.
103, 259 S. W. 6,-33 A. L. R. 183.

[6] Requested instruction No. 6 related to
the character of circumstantial evidence nec-
essary to convict one charged with crime.
This instruction was not appropriate, be-
cause the state did not rely upon circum-
stantial evidence alone for conviction. ‘The
testimony relied upon by the state for a con-
viction was positive and direct to the effect
that appellant was one of the men who was

. discovered at the still and ran away, and who

later returned and claimed to be the owner
of the still, mash, and whisky.

No error appearing, the judgments are af-
firmed.

W. M. SWILLEY & SONS v. GOODWIN et al.

(No. 31.)
Supreme Court of Arkansas. -June 11, 1928.

Appeal! and error @=>502(2)—Record showing
of filing new trial motion is necessary to au-
thorize review of judgment, where bill of ex-
ceptions sets out oral testimony.

Where bill of exceptions in record set out
all oral testimony upon which cause was heard,
but record did not show motion for new trial
was filed, and error complained of did not appear
on face of record itself, held that there was
nothing for appellate court to review, since
motion for new trial was necessary in order to
enable appellate court to review judgment of
trial court.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Union County;
W. A. Speer, Judge.

Certiorari by Asa and Hugh Goodwin
against W. M. Swilley & Sons to quash a
judgment rendered in favor of defendants in
justice court. From a judgment declaring
the justice court’s judgment null and void,
the defendant appeals. Affirmed.

John Carroll, of El Dorado, for appellants.
Pope & Jennings, of El Dorado, for appel-
lees.

WOOD, J. This action was instituted in
the circuit court of Union county by the
appellees against the appellants for a writ
of certiorari to quash a judgment rendered
in favor of appellants against appellees by J.
H. Lee, a justice of the peace of El Dorado
township, Union county, Ark. It was al-
leged, in substance, that the judgment of the
justice was void because no service had been
had upon the defendants, against whom the
judgment was rendered in the justice court.
It was alleged that the defendants in the

action before the justice were not indebted to
the plaintiff in that action in any sum, and
that they each had a complete and perfect
defense to the action.

The writ of certiorari was issued, and the
docket of the justice judgment was brought
before the court. Among other things, it re-
cites that a summons was issued against the
defendant and delivered to the constable of
the township in which the defendants resided:
The justice recites that the plaintiff appeared,
but that the defendants did not appear, and
the judgment was rendered against them by
default. The judgment of the justice does
not recite that the defendants in the action
before the justice were seryed with process.

A demurrer to the petition for certiorari
was overruled. In the answer to the petition
for certiorari it was set up, in substance,
that all the papers in the original action be-
fore the justice, in which judgment was ren-
dered against the petitioners, had been Tost,
except the docket entries of the justice show-
ing the judgment that was rendered against
the defendants in that action, petitioners
herein. Said docket entries of the judgment
are set forth, and they recite, in substance,
that the plaintiffs filed an action on account
before the justice in the sum of $139.22, that
Summons was issued against the defendants,
and that on the day set for hearing the de-
fendants did not appear, and judgment was
rendered against them by default. The judg-
ment, as above stated, does not recite that
summons was served. The docket of the jus-
tice also shows that writs of garnishment
were issued on the judgment agains the Chi-
eago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Com-
pany, and that the defendant filed their sepa-
rate schedules claiming that the amounts due
them by the railway company were exempt.

The judgment from which this appeal
comes contains the following recital:

“Whereupon, this cause coming on to be heard
on its merits, after hearing all. the evidence
introduced by the parties herein, the court finds
that the judgment rendered on the 18th day of
December, 1922, by J. H. Lee, justice of the
peace of El Dorado township, in Union county,
Arkansas, in the above-entitled cause, is void
for want of jurisdiction on the part of said
justice of the peace, J. H. Lee. It is therefore
ordered and adjudged by the court that the
aforesaid judgment entered as aforesaid is
null and veid,” ete.

There is a bill of exceptions in the record
setting out all the oral testimony upon which
the cause was heard. . This bill of exceptions
shows that the trial court found that there
was no service of process upon the petition-
ers, Asa Goodwin and Hugh Goodwin, and
that the judgment rendered on the 18th day
of December, 1922, by J. H. Lee, a justice of
the peace of El Dorado township, Union coun-
ty, Ark., is void for want of jurisdiction on

For other cases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes

7 S.W. (2d)

the part of said justice. The record does not
show that a motion for new trial was filed.

“Where a case is heard on evidence before the

court which it is necessary to bring into the

record by a bill of exceptions, there must be a
motion for a new trial, setting up and assign-
ing the grounds of error upon which the motion
is predicated in order to give the court which
tried the case an opportunity to review and
correct those errors. Where the record ‘before
this court on appeal does not show that a mo-
tion for a new trial was filed and passed upon
by the trial court, there is nothing that this
court can review.” Kromer y. Central Coal &
Coke Co., 129 Ark. 86, 195 §, W. 370, and
cases there cited.

The error complained of on this appeal
does not appear on the face of the record it-
self. Burns y, Harrington, 162 Ark. 162, 257
S. W. 729. Therefore, under the doctrine of
the case of Kromer y. Central Coal & Coke
Co., supra, a motion for a new trial was nee-
essary in order to enable this court to re-
view the judgment of the trial court for the
errors of which the appellants complain.

The judgment of the trial court is there.
fore correct, and it is affirmed.

ROBINSON v. STATE. (No. 33.)
Supreme Court of Arkansas. June 11, 1928,

|. Indictment and information 33 (1)—Fail-
ure of prosecuting attorney to sign indictment
for murder did not render it demurrable,
Failure of prosecuting attorney to sign in-
dictment for murder did not make it demur-
rable, though it is customary and better prac-
tice that he should do so.

2. Homicide €=>137—Indict ment, charging de-
fendant “did kill and murder one J. H. Brock,”
Sufficiently alleged death.

Indictment for murder, charging that de-
fendant “did kill and murder one J. H. Brock,”
held to sufficiently allege death of person charged
to have been killed.

3. Homicide €>137—Indictment for murder
held not defective for failure to specifically al-
lege death within a year and a day after
wound,

Indictment for murder, charging that de-
fendant did kill and murder deceased, held not
defective for failure to specifically allege that
deceased died within a year and a day after in-
fliction of wound.

4. Criminal law 448 (2)—Evidence deceased
had been dragged 16 feet from pool of blood,
Statement of physical fact, held not error.

_ In prosecution for murder, admission of tes-
timony to effect that deceased had been dragged
a distance of 16 feet from place where pool of
blood was found, being a statement of a physi-
Cal fact, held not error, though there could be no
Prejudice, even if it were a mere opinion,
re Pam Ass

5. Criminal law ©=736(2)-—Confession held
Properly admitted under instruction reguir-
ing jury to find statements were freely and
voluntarily made.

In prosecution for murder, admission of con-
fession claimed to have been voluntarily made
held not erroneous, in view of instruction prop-
erly requiring jury to find that statements were
freely and voluntarily made.

6. Criminal law C=731 (5)—~Instructisn requir-
ing statement or admissions in confession to
have been frecly and voluntarily made held
proper.

Instruction, in prosecution for murder, rel-
ative to use of confession, and requiring state-
ment or admissions therein to have been free-
ly and voluntarily made, held proper.

7. Homicide €=>234(10)—Confession, together
with other testimony, held to sustain convic-
tion for murder (Crawford & Moses’ Dig. §
3182).

In prosecution for murder, defendant's con-
fession, taken in connection with other testi-
mony, held sufficient to sustain conviction with-
in Crawford & Moses’ Dic. § 3182,

8. Homicide €=>309(3)—Refusal of instruction
on manslaughter held not erroneous, in ab-
sence of testimony on which to hase it.

Refusal, in proseeution for murder, to give
an instruction defining the crime*of manslaugh-
ter, held not erroneous, in absence of testimony
on which to base it.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Union County;
L. 8. Britt, Judge.

Pete Robinson was convicted of murder
in the first degree, and he appeals, Atiirmed.

Stewart & Oliver, of El Dorado, for ap-
pellant.

H. W. Applegate Atty. Gen., and Darden
Moose, Asst. Atty Gen., for the State.

SMITH, J. Appellant was tried upon an
indictment charging him with the crime of
murder in the first degree, which was alleged
to have been committed by striking and beat-
ing J. H. Brock with a certain blunt instru-
ment, the true nature of which was to the
grand jury unknown, and he was found guilty
of the crime charged, and from the judgment
of the court imposing the death penalty is
this appeal.

For the reversal of the judgment, it is
first insisted that the indictment was de-
murrable because it was not signed by the
prosecuting attorney.

[1] It is customary for the prosecuting at-
torney to sign indictments, and is certainly
the better practice that he should do so, but,
in the case of Watkins vy. State, 37 Ark. 370,
it was held that:

“An indictment need not be signed by the
prosecuting attorney. It is sufficient if found
by the grand jury and indorsed by their fore-
man’’—citing authorities.

€=>For other cases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes

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{2] It is next objected that the indictment
does not allege that Brock was dead. The
indictment does charge, however, that defend-
ant “did kill and murder one J. H. Brock,”
and this allegation sufficiently alleges the
death of the person charged to have been
killed. Fisher y. State, 109 Ark. 456, 160 S.
W.:210. >

{3] It is next objected that the indictment
did not allege that deceased died within a
year and a day after the infliction of the
wound, but, in the case of Fisher vy. State, su-
pra, it was said:

“Neither was it defective in failing to spe-
cifically allege that the deceased died within a
year and a day after the infliction of the wound.
Jt is true our statute (Kirby’s Digest, § 1774)
provides that in order to make the killing mur-
der or manslaughter, it is requisite that the
person injured die within a year and a day after
the wound was given, but under other statutes,
requiring what indictments shall contain and
providing that none is insufficient for ‘any de-
fect which does not tend to prejudice the sub-
stantial rights of the defendant on the merits,’
it is immaterial that no specific allegation is
made of the death resulting within such time
after the mortal wound, since murder has a
technical meaning, and when it is sufficiently
alleged in the indictment the defendant is put
upon notice that death resulted within the time
specified by law to make the offense of that
grade’”’-—citing authorities.

Error is assigned in the admission of cer-
tain testimony of witness Carl Buriey. This
witness testified that he was the night fire-
‘man at a sawmill at which he and deceased
were employed; that deceased was a clock
puncher or night watchman, and was re-
quired, as such, to punch 12 clocks, one each
hour; that, after making his rounds punch-
ing the clocks, deceased was accustomed to
return to the boiler room, where witness
was employed. Deceased made one of these
rounds shortly after 10 o’clock p. m., and
failed to return. Witness knew that de-
ceased usually earried considerable money
with him, and a night or two before the kill-
ing witness saw deceased count his money,
which amounted to $310. After waiting
awhile for deceased's return, witness took a
Jantern, and went in search of him. He
found, ou the tram, a pool of blood, and
ebout 16 feet away he found deceased’s body.
Deceased was not then dead, but was groan-
ing in agony, as he had been struck twice
over the head with some blunt instrument.
Deceased was not conscious, and did not re-
gain consciousness before his death, which
occurred at the hospital, where he was tak-
en after an alarm was given. Witness testi-
fied that the appearance of the tram indicat-
ed. that deceased’s body had been dragged
along the tram about 16 feet to an opening
betyreen two piles of lumber, where the body
was thrown off the tram.

{4] There was no error in the admission of

7 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

this testimony. The statement that the body
had been dragged from the place where the
pool of blood was discovered was not the
expression of an opinion, but the statement
of a physical fact, but, if it were a mere opin-
ion, there could be no prejudice in it. De-
ceased was struck and killed. Some one mur-
dered and robbed him. The pool of blood was
at one place, and the body was 16 feet away,
and it could not be material whether the
body was dragged from one place to the oth-
er. The witness Burley naturally suspected
that robbery was the motive of the crime,
and a search of the body by him disclosed
that the roll of money which deceased was
known to carry was missing.

{5]. Error is assigned in admitting a confes-
sion which appellant is said to have volun-
tarily made. In this confession the details of
the revolting crime were told. Shortly after
the killing, appellant was seen spending mon-
ey freely, and, when arrested, he gave a false
explanation of his possession of the money
he had on his person. In his confession ap-
pellant told where he had hid the balance of
the money, which was found at the place
named by him, and among other bills there
were found two $20 gold certificates of the
kind deceased was known to have had on his
person.

The testimony on the part of the state was
to the effect that the confession was freely
and voluntarily made, and there was no tes-
timony to the contrary, except that of anoth-
er negro who had been arrested along with
appellant, but who was later released. This
witness testified that he and appellant were
separately questioned by the officers at the
jail, but he did not testify that he or appel-
lant had been threatened or coereed or other-
wise intimidated, or that a promise of any
kind was made to him or appellant. Appel-
lant himself did not testify.

[6] In regard to this confession, the court
charged the jury as follows:

“(1) The court instructs the jury that, before
any admissions or statements made by the de-
fendant can be used against him as evidence,
such statements or admissions must have been
freely and voluntarily made, and where such

statements, if any, are induced by threats of
harm, promises of favor, or show of violence,
or inquisitorial methods are used to extort a
confession, then the same is attributed to such
jufluence, and cannot be used against the de-
fendant, and, if the jury shall believe that any
such threats or promises were made, or vio-
Jence shown or manifested, or methods used,
the jury will not consider or give any weight to
such admissions or statements of the defend-
ant.”

This was a proper instruction, and con-
forms to the correct practice in such cases,
Spurgeon y. State, 160 Ark. 112, 254 S. W.
3876.

[7] This confession, in connection with the
other testimony in the case, is sufficient to

MATHENY v. PATTON

(Ark.) 7

7 8.W.(2d)

sustain the conviction. Section $182, C. & M.

Digest.

[8] It is finally insisted that the court erred
in refusing to give an instruction defining the
crime of manslaughter. No error was com-
mitted in refusing this instruction, as there
was no testimony upon which to base it. In
the case of Clark v. State, 169 Ark. 717, 276 S.
W. 849, it was said that this court has re-

peatedly held that, where an indict
charges murder in the first degree, an
undisputed evidence shows that the accused,
if guilty at all, is guilty of that crime, that
it is not error to refuse to give an instruc-
tion authorizing the jury to return a verdict
of guilty of any of the lower degrees of homi-
cide, and the reason there stated was that:

“If there is no evidence to establish a lower
degree of homicide than murder in the first
degree, the court in properly giving the law
must of necessity determine upon whether there
is any evidence at all to justify a particular in-
struction, and it is the duty of the jury to take
the court’s exposition of the law’—citing au-
thorities. ys

As no error appears, the judgment must be
affirmed, and it is so ordered.

MATHENY v. PATTON. (No. 41.)
Supreme Court of Arkansas. June 11, 1928.

1. Appeal and error €=302 (6)—Assignments
of error in motion for new trial that verdict
was contrary to law and evidence were insuf-
ficient to present question whether corpora-
tion could maintain action.

8 Assignments of error in motion for new
trial that verdict was contrary to law, to evi-
dence, and to both law and evidence, held in-
sufficient to present question whether corpora-
tion alone had right to sue on note and whether
it could not maintain action on ground that it
was foreign corporation transacting business
in state in violation of laws.

2. Bills and notes €=443(3)—Assignment by
indorsement constituted indorsee valid “hold-
er” of note, with power to sue in his own
name (Crawford & Moses’ Dig. §§ 7761, 7817).
_ Even if assignor was foreign corporation

doing business in state, in violation of law, as-

signment by indorsement to plaintiff, being yal-

id indorsement, constituted him a valid “holder”

of instrument under Crawford & Moses’ Dig. §

761, with power to sue in his own name, under

section 7817, and therefore he could maintain

action on note.
{Ed. Note.—For other definitions, see Words
and Phrases, First and Second Series, Holder.}

Appeal from Circuit Court, Independence
County; §. M. Bone, Judge.

Action commenced in justice court by R.
H. Patton against I. J. Matheny. Judg-
ment was rendered for plaintiff, and, on
appeal to the circuit court, plaintiff re.

covered judgment, and defendant appcals.
Affirmed.

Coleman & Reeder, of Batesville, for ap-
pellant.

J. Paul Ward, of Batesville, for appellee.

McHANEY, J. On June 18, 1926, appel-
lant purchased from the Moore Motor Com-
pany an automobile and executed his note

ment for part of the purchase price, payable in
d the monthly installments of $26.45 each.

This note was assigned by indorsement by
the Moore Motor Company to the Kirkpat-
rick Finance Company of St. Louis, Mo.,
without recourse. Payments were made on
the note from time to time, leaving a bal-
ance of $132.31. The Kirkpatrick Finance
Company assigned the note to appellee by
the following indorsement: “For value re
ceived, pay to the order of R. H. Patton,
([Signed] Kirkpatrick Finance Company.”

Appellant failed to pay the balance due,
and appellee brought this suit in the jus-
tice court, where judgment was rendered
gainst appellant and an appeal taken to the
circuit court where it was tried de noyo,
before the court without a jury, and judg-
ment again rendered for appellee. The only
defense made to the note in the court be-
low was that it is usurious. He testified:

“Q. You are-not much interested in any phase
of this case except just beating it, are you? A.
That is all; just beating it right squarely on
usury here. I trusted them to put their in-
terest in there at 10 per cent., and any amount
over that was not understood nor agreed to by
me; that is all. I knew they told me in plain
English that I had to pay 10 per cent. interest
and insurance; that is all,”

This issue was found against appellant by
the circuit court, and he does not raise the
question here.

The only question presented for our con-
Sideration is whether appellee was a proper
party plaintiff. He insists that the note
was assigned to Kirkpatrick Finance Com-
pany which is the real party in interest, and
that it alone had the right to sue upon the
note, and that it could not maintain the
action because it is a foreign corporation
transacting business in this state, in viola-
tion of the laws of this state relating to
foreign corporations. But the question was
not raised in the court below.

{1] Appellee was the only witness who tes-
tified in this case, and, if there is any: evi-
dence in the record showing that the ‘Kirk.
patrick Finance Company is a Missouri
corporation or a corporation of any kind
there is nothing in the abstract presented
by appellant to show it. Neither is any
such assignment of error contained in the
motion for a new trial; there being only
three assignments—that the verdict is con-
trary to the law, to the evidence, and to

>For other cases see same topic aud KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes

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WORKING GIRLS —
WHETHER
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There are a number of reasons why
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quite all the little luxuries a young
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So we urge on all working girls— if
you're not buying U.S. Savings Bonds
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word for word as Mrs. Jack Beaver
i had told it.
' Just at midnight Herbert Sease was
arrested. He offered no objections,
but laughed good naturedly as he was
taken to the Baxter County jail. The
next day he as good naturedly denied
everything and even when Jack
Beaver’s Winchester was found in his
house he laughed and claimed a
frame-up.

He sat in the sheriff’s office, chair
tilted back and feet on a table. His
broad hat was pushed to the back of

his head. He grinned disarmingly.
“Jim,” he said, “do I look like a
killer?”

He didn’t and Martin said so and
the people of Northern Arkansas said
so. They couldn’t believe it. Never-
theless Herbert Sease was indicted
for the murder of R. H. Davison and
a sensational trial was begun.

Davison was killed the night of
May 3, 1922. On May 25 Herbert
Sease went on trial for his life. The
jury was selected from sixty special
veniremen. He was prosecuted by
John C. Ashley and the Beavers were
principal witnesses for the State.

Evidence was brought out that
proved Herbert Sease a Jekyll-Hyde
who had fooled even his wife. He
owned dozens of stills up and down
White River.
boats,
these stills to various markets. He
brooked no opposition and decreed
death for spies or suspected spies.

At the end of three days the trial
ended. The jury went out, returning
a short while later. They had a ver-
dict and it was that Herbert Sease
was guilty of first degree murder. No
recommendations were made. ;

On May 29, Circuit Judge Walter
L. Pope passed senten Herbert
Sease was to die in the fAlectric chair
. Es acta Penitenti on August
15, 1922.

death—a cultured
as tools dozens #f native Ozarkans;
but who learned, too late, that his
tools have cutting edges.

TOO SMART TO LIVE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

For a moment, Harrison said noth-
ing. Then he reached for his hat and
buckled on his holster. :

“We'd better get on that lead fast—
the rest of this stuff can wait.”

Fifty-eight seventy Estrella Avenue
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house in a medium class, though not
fashionable district. The officers drove
past the house, parked two. blocks
away, and posing as insurance investi-
gators began a cautious inquiry among
tradesmen and neighbors.

The Crains, they were told, had re-
sided there for the past two years.
Mrs. Crain had said her husband was
a truck driver; apparently he worked
on a night shift, for he had been fre-
quently seen around the house during
the day in the recent past. What did
Crain look like? He was in his for-
ties, about average height, and

weighed perhaps 150 pounds. The de-

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| -younger boy said.

die AGU Wadiked VUl LIIe DACK UVOr
and ran to his home, changed his
clothes and telephoned for a_ taxi
which took him to the Gardiner
street party. |

Booked on a murder charge, Reddy
appeared before Judge B. Sears in the
Salem District Court on February 17,
1948, and pleaded not guilty. Judge
Sears found probable cause and or-
dered Reddy held for the May ses-
sion of the Essex County grand jury.
He was taken to the Salem jail to be
held without bail pending grand jury
action. ;

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evidence to the Essex grand jury and

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—
Note: The names Roy Larsen and

Mrs. Larsen, as used in this story, are
not real but fictitious’ for obvious
reasors.

_. “IF YOU WON’T KILL HIM’’

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

later he rolled into Yellville, county

seat of Marion County, and stopped
the jail.

like anybody else,” he

Be Vell walk

e.
littfe breathing spell—

e Beavers locked in the
Marion County jail, Sheriff Martin
started to work on them, but didn’t
get far. With a river and twenty-
eight miles between them and imag-
inary mob danger, their confidence
returned. They had nothing to say.

Discouraged, the sheriff returned
to Mountain Home. He found a dif-
ferent situation there. The murder
of Davison, the arrest of the Beavers
and the flight from the pseudo mob
had attracted people from all over
the county. Hundreds filled the
square and the streets. They stood
about in groups and there was much
speculation.

The Beaver women were waiting
for him, scared to death. “You're not
going to let a lynch mob get them,
are you, Mr. Martin?” was the first
question he was asked.

Solemnly, Martin shook his head.
“Tll do all I can,” he said. “I got
them hid out now, but can’t be sure
somebody didn’t trail me. And the
ferry tender knows where I took
them. I told him not to talk—and
maybe he won't.”

The town had practically adopted
the Beaver women and children. Irl
Paul, newspaper man and a member

| of the State legislature, had two of

Jack Beaver’s children in a drug
store, feeding them ice cream, pop
and leading questions. Martin joined
them.

Irl Paul winked at the sheriff and
went on talking about lynch mobs
and lynchings. “I’d sure hate to see
that happen to your pa,” he declared.

“Pa, he ain’t kilt nobody,” the
“He war going to,
but he backed down and Uncle Al
he...”

“You better shut your mouth,” his
brother put in. “You'll bell-clapper
Pa to the pen.”

“Pa, he never kilt nobody,” the
other insisted, but he clamped his lips

' went to Mrs. Jack Beaver.

and refused to talk further.

Martin had what he wanted. He
He said,

“Mrs. Beaver, I'd like to help you and

Jack. I sure would. But you’re mak-
ing it hard for me. I know a lot and
what I know the town knows. We
know Jack went over to Davison’s to
kill him and -we know he -backed
down; but we don’t know why. And
we don’t know he didn’t build up his
courage and go back and finish what
he started. You’ve got a chance to
save your husband—a fighting chance.
But you’ve got to tell the truth and
a lot of it. Of course if Jack did it,
maybe you hadn’t better talk. On the
other hand, if it was Albert, you bet-
ter talk—that is, if you care anything
about saving your man and keeping
your family together. How .come Jack
ee down and let Albert do the
jo Y cid

‘The woman didn’t want to talk—
and that was sure. The code of her
people was too much against helping
the law. But more than the fear of
breaking that code, she feared for her
man and the mental struggle between
these opposing points did not last
long.

“Albert he didn’t do it,” she said,
“and Jack he didn’t do it either. It
was Herbert Sease.”

“Herbert Sease!” Martin exclaimed.
“Now, Mrs. Beaver, you don’t want
me to believe that. Why should Her-
bert Sease kill Davison? He lives
here in town.”

“Herbert Sease done it,” she de-
clared. “Herbert’s got a heap of stills
over that-a-way and he’s got men
a-runnin’ them. Davison he. moved
in there and the revenoors come in
and raided a lot of stills. They was
Herb’s stills. Herb he says to get rid
of Davison and Jack and Albert went
over to do it. They took Jack’s gun
and Jack he got drunk and Albert
knowed that wasn’t the time to do it
so he went and got the gun and brung
it home and I went after Jack. Then
Herbert Sease he come in and asked
was the job done and they told him
what happened. Herbert he said, “If’n
you won't kill him, I will,” and he
took Jack’s gun and went and done it.
Leastwise, I reckon he did.”

This turn in events was like a
blow to the jaw. ‘Herbert Sease, col-
lege bred, wealthy, good fellow. to

the poor, a leader in all things—a .

moonshiner and a killer! It didn’t
make sense, but Martin told Ashley
and they hurried to Yellville. The

two Beavers were separated and the ..

gist of the story was laid before them

carefully. They had no chance to.
and they had no.

comparc notes

Ree ae
;

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acest

Ww
IN ]

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Whe
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aes A

(

the center of a splotch of
eat was a small hole we
a bullet. This slug had

ve probed this hole and
yreak among a series that
‘liber lead slug was found
f the seat back.

‘les were discerned, we
that the person shot—
it was anyone else but
unded more than once.
‘erent places on the seat

pped carefully in cotton,
d sealed; the date, hour,
ery being written in ink
ook care to prevent de-
markings, as well as pos-
llistie experts could de-
and trade name of the
1 weapon was found, we
volver that had produced

ound also a white flannel
ome from the victim’s
‘ which bore mute testi-
car. Although a careful
steering wheel, the glass
’ surfaces of the car, no

at the right side of the
> (Continued on page 106)

”

Pn Page

Pao

Hiding in the blankets is
Mark H. Shank, once bril-
liant Arkansas attorney.
Shank landed in the death
_cell when he poisoned four,
and was tater executed

0
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5 deed
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pro d
ay

SHANK , Mark, White, elec, Ark, (Saline Co.) 3-8-1935
45. ~years—old

RULE SHANK’
‘MUST DIE AS
yl OF4
- wr YO
1928
fart P pple on"

Death sat behind the steering wheel as the coupe,
carrying a family of five, careened into a HitCt
).§ and stopped.
Death rode, too, in the rumble seat of that ill-
Jated car.

Here, for the first time, is revealed the sinister .
secret of the amazing picnic murders that baffled
, all Arkansas!

passengers passed along the con-

crete highway between Malvern
and Hot Springs in Arkansas last Au-
gust, weaving drunkenly from one side
of the road to the other. A child in the
rumble seat screamed in anguish.

The car continued its erratic move-
ment down the highway for perhaps half
a mile, then careened into a ditch and
stopped. And there passing motorists
came upon a gruesome spectacle.

A dead man sat at the steering wheel,
his face distorted and his hands clutch-
ing the wheel as though he would wrench
it off. A woman.lay dying on the seat
beside him. On her lap writhed a four-
year-old boy, violently ill. In the rumble
seat an eight-year-old boy was still in
death, and beside him a seven-year-old
boy moaned faintly as convulsions seized
and wracked his small body.

The mother and the two living chil-
dren were rushed to Malvern, five miles
away where she and the eldest boy died
soon afterward in a hospital. Physicians
worked frantically over the four-year-

A SMALL automobile loaded with

old and announced hours later that he
would live.

He was the only survivor of a family
of five. The other four lay on slabs in
an undertaker’s morgue in Malvern.
There they were viewed some hours later
by the operator of a boarding house in
Hot Springs, health resort city of the
South,

“They’ve been staying with me,” she
said. “The man told me his name was
Roy Fetty, and these are his wife and
two of his children. There was another
child, the youngest.

“K tall, thin man came to see them
two days ago,” she continued. “They
went away with him, but I expected them
back. They left their things.”

Here was a mystery such as the South
has seldom known. What strange, sinis-
ter secret lay behind the horrible fate
that. had overtaken four members of this
family of five, a family about which so
little was known? Authorities went to
work at once in an effort to fathom the
mystery.

A traveling bag found in the death car

“ SOLE SURVIVOR

Four-year-old Clyde Colley,

lone survivor of a family of. five,

was too young to know what all
‘the commotion was about.

By JOSEPH
B. WIRGES

was opened by Sheriff Tom Fisher. The
only object of interest he found was a
small, round pasteboard box about half
full of strychnine and bearing the label
of a drug company in Akron, Ohio.

Meanwhile, Chief of Police Joe Wake-
lin and Detective Charles Buckalew of
Hot Springs, Garland County, who were
on a mission into Hot Springs County,
learned of the unusual tragedy and went
to the scene, where they were joined by
Sheriff Virgil Rucker of Saline County,
and Sheriff Fisher.

A, C. Murray, a farmer living on the
highway, gave them their first clue and

STARTLING DETECTIVE

OLE SURVIVOR

year-old Clyde Colley,
ivor of a family of..five.
young to know what all

ommotion was about:

JSEPH
IRGES

ciff Tom Fisher. The
‘rest he found was a
oard box about half
ind bearing the label
in Akron, Ohio,
‘of Police Joe Wake-
-harles Buckalew of
nd County, who were
fot Springs County,
ial tragedy and went
they were joined by
er of Saline County,

‘armer living on the
their first clue and

'NG DETECTIVE

EVIDENCE!
This jar, containing viscera of two
of the victims, together with the
five paper cups and the small paste-
board box of Poison, proved damn-

ing evidence against a diabolical
killer.

increased their suspicion that the mys-
terious deaths were the results of a
heinous murder plot.

Murray told them of seeing a man
jump from the weaving car just after it
passed his home half a mile down the
highway. The man had stumbled,
dropped his hat, recovered it and plunged
into the underbrush beside the road.

“That is the man we must find,” the
officers agreed.

Their first move was to call Deputy
Sheriff Sol Godwin at Hot Springs to
ring his veteran bloodhound, “Donnie,”
to the scene.

ADVENTURES

rs
BROADWAY
os

CROWD SURROUNDS SLAYER
Officers, determined to move their prisonér to 4 Safer place,
forced to drive this crowd back before their car could be m
The scene is in Benton, Ark. Aine

The dog arrived, but before she could
pick up the trail a messenger came with
information that a Stranger, whose
clothing was torn and whose head was
bruised and bloody, had asked for a drink
of water at an isolated farmhouse a mile
and a half away, and was still in the
vicinity.

The officers hastened to the farmhouse,
and the bloodhound was released at the
edge of a thicket into which the mys-
tery man was said to have vanished.
Donnie soon picked up a trail and in a
very short time led the officers to a clump
of underbrush deep in the thicket.

There lay a tall, thin man, who
scrambled to his feet and confronted the
posse who had surrounded the under-
brush with drawn weapons. He sur-
rendered quietly,

The stranger identified himself ag

Mark H. Shank, attorney from Akron,
Ohio. He did not attempt to deny he
knew the ill-fated Occupants of the small
automobile, nor did he deny that he had
jumped from it before it came to a stop
in the ditch.

In the undertaking parlors in Malvern
he identified the four bodies without
emotion, giving them their correct
names, They were Alyin Colley, his
wife, and two children, Clement and
Clarence. The surviving child) was
Clyde, he said, They were from Akron,

But he had no idea what caused the
four deaths, he said. They had all been
on a picnic, and one of the children had
become ill. While they were rushing
him to a doctor, the other members of
the family became sick. He saw the car
was going to be wrecked, and jumped
out. He was trying to find his way to

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64 Tuank You

and had never before resisted arrest, his
action was deemed significant. -

A little later two Akron detectives,
working with the Toledo officers, trailed
Wop English’s car to his hiding place in
a lavishly-appointed apartment. rash-
ing into the suite, they were confronted
by a pajama-clad woman who denied all
knowledge of the fugitive’s whereabouts.
The detectives took one look at her bed
and another under it. There was Wop,
shivering with fear.

Ralph Carsello was the next to fall
into the hands of the Akron police.
Looking for a girl friend, he forced his
way into the wrong apartment. The oc-
cupants, an aviator and his wife, pro-
tested.

“I'm one of Licavoli’s rods,” the
gangster blustered.

Whereupon the flyer smacked Signor
Carsello on the nose, knocked him down
and sat on him until the paddy wagon
came.

On Monday, November 13—an unlucky
day for the Licavolis—Wop English went
on trial for his life in the common pleas
court of Judge Roy R. Stuart. The jury
picked to decide the fate of the ex-pugilist
was equally divided as to sex.

The state’s star witnesses were
Schwaite and Craig, of course. The de-
fense offered an alibi—but not the alibi
claimed by the gangster when he was
first under investigation. He now main-
tained that he had been at the head-
quarters of the slot machine racket on
Milburn Street the night of Kennedy’s
death.

Both the attorneys for the state and
the defense had announced that they
would call Audrey Ralls to the stand, but
though she appeared at the trial several
times she did not testify. Prosecutor
Reams said he was satisfied that she had
no knowledge of the murder that would
add to the weight of evidence against
English.

After a night of deliberation, the jury
returned its verdict at the opening of the
court on November 18.

Slowly Judge Stuart read the ominous
words: “We, the jury, find the defendant
guilty of murder in the first degree, with-
out recommendation of mercy.”

Under the Ohio laws the verdict made
mandatory a sentence of death in the
electric chair. :

Wop English, victor in a hundred
battles of the ring, had lost the decision.
While the spectators, half underworld
plug-uglies, half social leaders, watched
breathlessly, the hard guy of the Licavoli
gang turned a ghastly white and flopped
from his chair'in a faint.

Five days before his trial these incrimi-
nating instruments were stolen from the
office of Prosecuting Attorney Critch-
field.. Their theft failed of its purpose,
for Critchfield had wisely had photostat
copies made, and on the last day of the
trial Braucher changed his plea to guilty
and was sent to prison. :

From various sources Critchfield ob-
tained information which caused him to
obtain a warrant for the arrest of Alvin
Colley, whom he knew to be a sort of

“undercover agent” for Shank, on a

, “bt ' »

A deputy sheriff, to. whom he’ was *
chained, dragged him to the ' judge’s™
chamber and placed him on a couch.
There he revived, raised himself on. an*
elbow and screamed’ for Judge Stuart.
The grey-haired magistrate bent over.)

me about it the next day,
They'd cut out my
They'd gouge out my eyes. They'd
rip out my innards and feed them to dogs.”

His fear of gang vengeance equalling
his fear of the electric chair, Wop fainted
again. It was a half hour before he could
be removed to the jail.
called the prosecutor to his cell and they
had a short conference.

What the doomed killer said has not
been revealed, but there are many who
believe that he will drag the entire gang
to the chair with him. But whatever the
outcome may be, the power of the Lica-
volis has been shattered.

Mirabella and Syracuse are fugitives,
bound to be caught sooner or later.

Yonnie Licavoli must soon start serving
a two-year term in Leavenworth prison.
Carsello is held without bond as a ma-
terial witness.

Miss Ralls hailed the death verdict in
the case as a vindication for her sweet-
heart and herself. The defense lawyers
had pictured her to the jury as a pub-
licity-seeker and Jackie as “the most
vicious man who ever walked the streets
of the city.”

“T am not. ashamed of my love for
Jackie Kennedy,” Audrey said.

Nor has she need to be.
less defiance of gangland and sacrificial
death, the boy had roused Toledo to
action. In the months between his mur-
der and the opening of Wop’s trial, juries
condemned two gunmen to the electric
chair and five to life imprisonment—a
record surpassing that of the courts for
any two preceding years. -

The slot machine racket was smashed.
The city administration was swept out of
office. Solon T. Klotz, social reformer
and idealist, became mayor.

To him the city’s vice-lords, allies of
the Licavolis, if not actual members of
the gang, brought an offer of $1,000 a
week if he would act to obstruct justice
in the police department.

An aged man, with a background far
different from that of Kennedy, he
answered the proposal with all the spirit
of the slaughtered boy.

“Go to hell!” said he, and threw the
gang’s emissary out of his office!

charge of stealing the incriminating docu-

ments from his office on the night of
May 17. :

This warrant was issued in the latter
part of July but before it could be served
Colley and his family disappeared from
Kenmore. There was little doubt in
Critchfield’s mind that Shank had ar-
ranged and financed this disappearance

He was equally confident that Colley
had stolen the documents at Shank’s
instigation, and while officers hunted
vainly for Colley, he set about obtaining

For MENTIONING STARTLING DETECTIVE ADVENTURES

By his reck-

¢ ,

‘

y information uj;

“. rant for the at
-he would have

Colley if it sh«
accessory to t!
Then, ¢
Shank dis;
his wife, |
news came of !
charge of mu:
three member:

N THIS ch:
ficers diss
crime. Colle:
weak characte
him, so he ha
still could not
would be cau:
he envisione:
would talk, w
career in Ak
as long as Ce
hiding, he +
financial reso
economic del
On this tl
Wakelin of |
tives, backed
quantity of st
the viscera
Shank contin
And, on t!
Shank, in th
D.‘D. Glove:
others, confe
He had co:
mined to ge
portunity pre
he had purch:
in Kenmore :
But when
in Hot Sprin
used assumed
sembled his
comed by the
friend, in fact
at that time.
looked to fc
help until the
Thus the (
picions, °
to go fi
isolated
they stopped
in Saline Cor
Here is S'
pened then:
“We purch
cold drinks a:
a quiet place
The propriet
road about a
to the left an
road, and the
yards, where
“After ge
Colley sprea
fect on the o
where I was

asked if we
water. Coll
spring. He

after I had «
a stewer an
strychnine in
were five paj
cup. I gave
the Colley fa
“One of t.
caused us to
drug store «
screaming.
After we ha
the car whic!
weaving. Si

Benton, the county seat of Saline County,
when the officers found him.

He denied any knowledge of the
traveling bag and the significant box of
strychnine it contained,

“Take us to the picnic grounds,” said
Sheriff Fisher.

So Shank guided the officers to the
isolated spot a few miles off the main
highway and over the line in Saline

County where he and the Colley family
had picnicked that August day.

The remains of the meal were scat-
tered about, just as they had left them
when they rushed away with the sick
child. There were watermelon rinds and
scraps of food. There was a jug partly
filled with grape juice.

And there were five paper cups and a
coffee cup, each containing a little grape
juice. Tiny, white crystals were visible
in the paper cups.

One of the officers poured out some of
the grape juice into the coffee cup.

“Will you drink this?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Shank, reaching for the
cup.

But the officer changed his mind and
suddenly withdrew the proffered drink.

Order Chemical Analysis

7] = jug and the cups with their rem-
nants of the beverage, as well as the
vital organs of the victims, were sent to
Little Rock for chemical analysis.

Shank was sent to Hot Springs for
safekeeping, for there was that in the
attitude of Malvern citizens—who had
made shortcuts to their own conclusions
—which portended trouble if the Yankee
lawyer were left in Malvern.

Meanwhile, the undertaker had turned
over to officers a note which he found
pinned to the underclothing of the dead
woman, It added to the mystery, but
at the same time gave the officers some-
thing tangible to work upon. The note
read:

“T enclose $6, and there is nothing
new but arrange to stay around Hot
Springs, and it may be that I will
come down and give you all of the
dope. Just use your heads, get
something to do if at-all possible and

<«& |

The tall, thin man who was described as having
leaped from the death car just before it crashed,
is pictured here. He is identified in the story.

Deputy Sheriff M. J. Elliott, left, and Sheriff V. A. Rucker, who were active
in helping solve the Arkansas enigma, are shown examining the paper cups
of death and the jar containing viscera of the victims.

everything will work out O. Ke Vl.
have all the news and keep you

posted. I am about sick and may.”

have to go to a hospital. You know
how that is. But don’t worry and
don’t lose your heads, for we will
beat them and believe it ‘is the
chance of a lifetime, for I am sure» :
Alvin can make a fortune and is
smarter than they are. Just stick
and put her over.”

It had been written by Shank. in
Akron, Ohio, a week before the tragedy...”

It wasn’t much, but it shed some light

on the previous relationship of. these

strangers from the North. It was ap-

parent that Colley and his family were’ |

fleeing from something in Ohio, It was
equally apparent that Shank had been
befriending them and that they trusted
him.

But all the circumstances surrounding’

the deaths. pointed to the suspicion that
Shank, welcomed by the Colleys on his
arrival from Akron as a benefactor and
friend, had tried to wipe out the entire
family.

Why?

Seek Answer To Riddle

HE officers wasted no time in learn-
ing the answer to this question, for
the solution of the mystery seemed to
depend upon it. In this connection, it
should be pointed out that no one officer
can be singled out as the man responsible
for clearing up the quadruple death mys-
tery. The peace officers of three counties
worked together on it, and they were
given the able and valuable cooperation
of Lyman Robt. Critchfield, young prose-
cuting attorney of Wayne County, Ohio.
It was Critchfield who supplied the
bizarre background of a murder plot that
had its beginning in Ohio and its culmi-
nation in Arkansas. From him the
Arkansas officers learned the following
pertinent facts:

Shank had been practicing law for
twelve years in the Kenmore suburb of
Akron. He had been a justice of the
peace and a candidate for mayor when
the community had been a_ separate
municipality. He had been fairly well-
to-do and was a member of numerous
clubs and lodges. He had been suspected
more than once of practices bordering
upon the shady, but except for one sus-
pension from the practice of law, his
official record was unblemished. He was
an egomaniac, who considered himself
far too clever ever to be involved ‘in
questionable practices,

But in May, 1933, he had overreached
himself. He had represented one Ken-
neth Braucher in a civil suit involving
$275 brought in behalf of M. W. Kauf-

man, deceased, A receipt purporting to -

bear the signature of Kaufman was in-

troduced as evidence that the debt had’

been paid. Eleven other documents pur-
porting to bear Kaufman’s signature

were introduced as supporting evidence.:
As a result of this civil suit, Shank’s-

client, Braucher, was indicted for forging
the documents introduced as evidence.
[Continued on page 64]

SIMMONS, Ronald G., white, leth. inj. Ark 3P (Pope) 6-25-1990

@ @ ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT e WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1990 e 13A

two counts of capital murder for the deaths

Chronology “iiss perce te sum

. : oo date for Simmons on two counts of capital
The following is a chronol- __ murder, four counts of attempted capital

i murder and one count of kidnapping
ogy of events in the case of stemming from the shooting rampace

convicted mass murderer March 24: Simmons pleads innocent
Ronald Gene Simmons: . - ) toll ¥ ainda Sparen

try _ 2. : yas be. @ May .12: Simmons is convicted and
19867 « .. + ¢ Sentenced to death for charges stemming

the murders of Kathy Kendrick, 24, and : will not appeal. eu

J.D. “Jim” Chaffin, 34, during a cross-town : May 16: Patterson sets a June 27 ex-

shooting th ad “ in Russelitville. Four oth- | : og siete Pad sacle

ers were injured. “SS --- @ June 6: , a

' Later that day, authorities find five bod- attorney, representing Arkansas Churches

ies in Simmons’ house north of Dover. |” For Life, files a petition with the state Su-

They are: Simmons’ daughter, Sheila -, Preme Court asking it to stay Simmons’ ex-

McNulty, 24; her husband, Dennis rraggerw * @tution and to rule that appeals of death

33; Simmons’ son, William Henry “Bill” _; Cases are mandatory.

Simmons 1, 22; his wife, Renata Simmons, >; . @ June 20: The Arkansas Supreme

au and Sheila's daughter by her father,’ | Court issues a temporary stay of execution.
Me Deo. 2e Aidhuitis find seven bod:' __ ‘® July 11: The state Supreme Court

are: Sinwnone’ lie, Boni 46, ores iio 7

are: Simmons’ wife, , 46; a :

their daughters, Loretta, 17, Marianne, 11, ee hie cae oh cay with

Simmons, 14° ard Ronald Gene Sinmons ; prea i Court ‘Seeking @ mandatory re- tn hen 14: Justice Harry BiackweZ?

Jr., 26; and Ronald Jr.'s 3-year-old daugh- 2 US. Pew tetar od bees i baci — the — request to the ahs

® Dec. 28: Simmons is arrested after : from the shooting rampage. He states he
®

obese ETS ae et tee asked to stay the execution.
= more bodies found -; ‘5, @ Aug. 3: Eisele issues a execu- —_ stays Simmons’ execution 12 hours
Pe cn, Sandoned cars. They are 20-"' “én and orders atiomeys to suomi briets he is scheduledtodie. 4...
month-old William H. “Trey” Simmons Jr.,.. on the issue of mandatory appellate review. © March 17: Clinton sets an April 5 exé-
son of William Henry “Bill Simmons II and e@ Aug. 23: Eisele rules Arkansas cutiondate. &: ary We
Renata Simmons, and 21-month-old Mi- | Churches for Life does not have legal © March 28 — Simmons’ April 5 execd!
chael McNulty, son of Sheila and Dennis standing to intervene. ri tion date és indefinitely stayed by a threg:
McNulty. : Sy dik § ged with *:t_ © Sept. 29: Eisele orders Simmons — member panel of the 8th U. . Circuit Coust
© Dec. 30: Simmons is el |" Sansterred to the Medical Center for Fed- of Appeals in St. Louis, Mo., subject to kat
two counts of el ator for on eral Prisoners at . Mo., for an- ther proceedings before the U.S.
COMMAS Of ainneaeT? een “other evaluation. The also appoints Court. TTT eT.
\.Wohn Wesley Hall Jr., a GMOS ages cra bi 1900 erty He Lok
to the “ney, to review the trial and advise" @ Jan. 10: Oral arguments are pre-

@ Hospital for evaluation. He ts. transcript - 10°
a rossoulriy’ Ateriey pee Bynum ‘of | ‘ Sirmons of any legal issues that could be —_sented before the U.S. iy Seopa ;
on fe : 4 "Y . : d
— announces he will seek the |: © Nov. 29: The federal faclity | tll Whitmore, has. slang 10 appeal
¢ ns: os , Eisele iners were unable jer- immons’ behalf...

_@ . 31: Newspapers report that ’ enone neu —_— :

Prosecution after being cerned with sexu- .

ally assaulting his daughter, Sheila, in New

Mexico. Authorities in that state said Sim-
~ mons was suspected of impregnating his

e Jan. 16: Simmons is charged

with

cir. ek Fr

Church’

cog. 7 Sa Jon

two executions

. . a Ms fos aes
By James Scudder — oasatiogs
Gazette Staff = 9 - isi: yobs

HOT SPRINGS — The Little
Rock Annual Conference of the

saatentl

Ne ‘ mae Es ae
me ry:
‘debate:
Lie: Bedi Fw

poe ah SE te Soe

¢ * ‘
RT Me
eae | *
rt gir

half of the state, are attending.’ -

The 8.9-million United Method-
ist Church historically has opposed
capital punishment and the ‘two

United Methodist Church today. ; annual .conferences in Arkansas

will consider a proposed resolution’$” both have approved resolutions af-
asking Gov. Bill Clinton to stop the : ; firming that position. The resolu-

\planned executions: of John’ ‘Ed-“

jward Swindler and Ronald Gene
Simmons. ~~ * "80° 0 S*
The resolution also says that, if

Clinton should refuse and the exe- ;

icutions take place as planned June
'18 and 25, “We declare the days of
‘execution, should. they occur, .a8
days of repentance, fasting and
prayer for the sins of our people,

“tion introduced Tuesday cites the

United Methodist Book of Disct-
pline, which is the official laws and
policies of the denomination, “We
oppose capital punishment and.
urge its elimination from all cfimi-
nal codes.”'s)"° 7 TS Fae
The Rev.:: William’ O.' “Bud”:
Reeves, pastor of the Lakeside and_
Montrose.‘ United | Methodist;

both the criminals and society.” Churches .in‘Chicot County, spon-:
The resolution’ was introduced. sored the-resolution Tuesday.
Tuesday but won't be debated andy, A similar resolution is expected:
voted on -until today because ¥ to be introduced to the North Ar-}
‘church law requires that a resolu~* kansas Conference of the denomi- ;
tion introduced on the floor.of the nation when ‘it meets next week at.
,conference be tabled for 24"hours .-Hendrix College and First United.
before it is‘considered.-. stants, “Methodist. Church in Conway.
7 Today ends the Little Rock con-- That Conference includes about:
ference, which began Sunday — 87,000 Methodists. !~+ :° “eg
night. About 600.delegates, includ-"",'. Also today, the Little Rock Con-i
ing an equal number of clergy and_:,,ference, will yote on -a resolution :
lay people and representing 73,000° * eee Mes i elie 2
United Methodists in the southern , see METHODISTS/2B He

‘Methodists _

conference delegates referred the.

Continued from Page 1B

issue to the conference Council on:
Finance and Administration for,

_ additional data, with the vote com-

introduced Monday that would call

Smith College at Little Rock.

Smith. ,

for the two conferences in Arkan- ~
sas to provide equal support to -
Hendrix College and Philander

Both are United Methodist
four-year liberal arts colleges, but
Hendrix is historically and pre-'
dominantly white while Philander
Smith is black. Hendrix receives»
almost four times the support from
the two conferences as Philander

: After lengthy debate Tuesday,

ing today. . ac
Tuesday, the conference ap-.

proved, on a vote of 123 to 100, a.

resolution commending the Rev.

‘Donald Wildmon, a Tupelo, Miss.,-

pastor who" heads the American:
Family Council, which opposes.
pornography and television pro-,

‘gramming it finds offensive* * *«

The conference will resume at.
8:30 a.m. today and conclude at
noon, when the Rev. Richard B.
Wilke, Methodist bishop of Arkan-,
sas, reads the appointments of pass.
tors to their assigned parishes.- *.

BorH ARricces:
ARKANSAS CAZETTE
WED. 6-6°90

“ git bhatt 9 sed di hy uid 7 gat

Simmons still can change mind

ee
BY MAX PARKER:: kin
As long as convicted mass “occur. - :

PAE Mies ple a

= __ Execition¢ could be halted if killer decides to, ‘appeal

murderer Ronald Gene Sim- .;. Simmons, 49, has remained ©

one appellate review of the” mind.” — ‘
tyne Case before a conviction can ”'. As the execution date

4-25 -9o

ie
eg
Ee

ot a

tone
Pd

" neared, Clark said, Simmons

mons remains: conscious; - ot w steadfast in his desire to be ex- as to whether he had changed

can change his. mind . an

pouted, arequest he oe made

dodge the lethal injection hate in May 1988. after being con. 4218 mind and wanted to erate

apparently awaits him. .44-,: eo victed. of killing ess Russell.
Simmons, 49, of near Dover Ville: residents and injuri

| appeals. ** Lato cate Oe

uring
(Pope County) moved one step‘ . #four ‘others.* He. received }keep sheen Sepnens: Hae

closer to his wish of prevtoor id -* death sentence for that rind

duced death Tuesday when the “* In February 1989 Simmons ¥ State Department of Correc-

U.S. Supreme Court ruled an-
other Arkansas death row in- .
mate did not have legal stand-
me to intervene in Simmons’

“Once the first injection oc-

said Tuesday. “In good con-

execution) go forward if he
changed his mind (in the death . .

faculties.”

The high court never ad-
dressed the issue of whether
|Arkansas, unlike the other 32

ates that have a death pen-
alty law, must require at least

received a second death pe

-tion’s Cummins Unit to the

Governor’s Mansion. Clark
mires boing convicted of said Gov. Bill Clinton would

» All 16 deaths occurred in De- '
cember 1987.

On March 16, 1989, eer pen

nee ay He never wavere
m his desire to “let the pain ©

science I wouldn't let it (the and suffering” end. He had

just finished eating what. was
“to be his last meal when the

chamber) as long as he had his: ;; Word was. received that the “

‘US. Supreme Court had stayed “
’ the execution.

Clark on Tuesday reiterated
the precautionary steps the
state took in March 1989 in

case Simmons changed his

= have the authority to stay the
* process long enough to allow .
Simmons’ attorneys to file the

curs, the process goes on," At- ."¢ame within 12 hours of being ‘* necessary petitions to halt the |
torney General Steve Clark. :

+ process, ~ ~
The state had even arranged |
for Simmons to have one of his
9, two Russellville defense attor- |
ty, DEYS present during the hours
., preceeding the execution, just |
case. Nye
* “This is oak a rush to the
death chamber,” Clark said, |
“but a recognition that if one |
occurs the procedures are es-
tablished;” ‘

12A @ ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1990 'e «
' prt

IN-DEPTH REPORT: RONALD GENE SIMMONS

pd Hae oar) A?

Summer: J MM) The family of Ronald Gene Simmons
executions (if ‘Chart shows the'»t#id [1

family of Ronald *’*”.' | a?

4 possibility, v4 ‘Gene Simmons and!

thelr ages whe they, :

Recent court actions? “dled

glear way for state s),| - oti

BY MAX PARKER »
Dérhocrat Bureau

is fae goats

at Capitol }
wiRecent events in cas6e ba.
two Arkansas death-row i
mates may result in two execu’; ¥
thy s this summer. ae
st week, a_three- udge
anel of the 8th U.S. Circuit’
Seurt of Appeals at * Louis
swore an appeal of Barry.
e Fairchild. Fairchild faces
execution after being con-#,
vieted of capa murder in thé*
, P983 abductiqn, beating, rape’}'

| Shella Simmons Wittam Her |] Loretta sr
ry iv "Bil" Simmons II, | Simmons, | wtih:

nee | 22 “ 17

d murder of 2nd Lt. Ma Tie
| “Greta” Mason, a nurse at Lit-
} tle Rock Air Force Base. "4
' On Tuesday, the U.S. Sus: 4
Ryeme Court ruled 7-2 that an?'*;| |...

ther Arkansas death row Me
mate did not have legal stand-
| ing to intervene in the case of:
nvicted mass murderer
ald Gene Simmons.
immons, 49, of Dover (Pope ‘

ion occur without delay. He ¢!
been twice sentenced to
th — in two separate trials
or the December 1987 mur- 4,
8 of 16 people, including 14 3,
is family members. ‘
he nation's high court al-
s 25 days to file a petition

wey ihe

|) to» ah | Where bodies

a k Aa tt 1. Rebecca Simmons, shallow grave

im Families

f a ge iasoniare chon “ were found:

| 2. A. G. Simmons Jr., shallow grave
Bath Ait 3. Shella McNulty, in house
Nomen in 4. Bill Simmons, in house
ny win 1, | 5. Loretta Simmons, shallow grave
6. Eddie Simmons, shallow grave

$ pent

ny
Ls

nty) has asked that his exe-"* | Ment, 39, sy ny. 0 wo | Semen,

et 2 ©.
Beige chy ei be Se is
chiid by F ©

+P einer 7. Marianne Simmons, shallow grave
4 8. Becky Simmons, shallow grave
ie Cac setae 1) 9 Barbara Simmons, shallow grave
, :? 11140. Dennis McNulty, In house
y 11. Sytvia McNulty, in house
“Trey” Simmons 1112 Michael McNulty, In car funk
i, 20 mos. 13. Renata Simmons, in house
v | t 14. Trey Simmons, In car trunk

{ ij

ae me
, iG Arkansas Democrat / Michael Storey

rehearing, Arkansas Attor- ‘
A General Steve Clark said,
Bill Clinton, who would
igh the vera for Simmons’ |

deaths, #4

overnor will set a date

his 0 days of receiving the

er from the high court. The

te will be within 30 days of |

the deaths of a Tatty ‘hem: \,'

ater,” said Mark Cambiano, a
sa (Conwa ay County) at- ij rehearing.
toérney, representin;

Lee

Hall Jr. said Tuesday he has — kansas.

¢ the ‘Rev, aft

if until May 2 to
; petition the fed- “ le pro-
‘¥“Our! case is’ dead: “in the 4% eral appellate cou rt ne ; ce fei th~ gl ad ae ap |

ap before an execution date
. “L assume it will be acted of . is set.

a Lin: ?'s ¢ ” id.) - ;
time, anid ike Gacldin, Soin County rant, Cahollc fC acces. dacied ind Uti whe. contend. |
Clark said Simmons could Br thather eri saete Le eree ong “eetok 3 ee ty se ly lnecteliy ter
e€ before May 24, depending 4 first to attempt to tetvene on 4 fasue. “ wo ® 4.) tarded was not introduced at
i events surrounding the first « Simmons’ behalf. sw": i 8th Circuit’ d tt the trial, also over the years
gnviction. ’ “I anticipate aud ‘tabe ‘being ? th Lip ll cedesiaiie stay.” he «nas asked that all appeals be °
An appeal relating to that { dismissed,” Cambiano ‘ said. tg “We'll petition Justicé stopped.
or eahinrcpbiated je pong tp by wishes to bowed toon have .. Harry Blackmun but the L mergh Hall said his client will not
he 8th U.S. Circuit Court of | hiswish™ , hae 8 Haw Soeeat ees ene es
‘ppeals until the Supreme In dismissing the: “appeal, ¢ * Court. Fairchild could theoret- have the execution. ate set
TE alte) Remy Catal AG © Fa Asien he | a
i reme ou ave

id capital murder conviction, +. the way for a potenti i; os } ea to hear the case)." up can come up; with eridency of
he second ¢convicton was for § execution date, * ‘+ Blackmun -is-the' 8 mb is in innocence.” _

atte Pg :
In; “ Fairchild’s case/ Fikes ’ Court justice assigned to the |
bers; the first for the two piher j rk Rock attorney John Wesley . 8th Circuit, which covers Ar-

“ee

PCR D AE oh POOL ARAL A LALA

JHA, ALC

n4 é& lan ~ ‘
Lic , WL CK

NEGRO. WHO HALLED :

D:
WHITE MAN HANGED.

Arch Shepard Exbitel’ at “aaa
sas City for Murder’ ‘of August a e
Tesch at Walnut Lake ines:

7 March of Lak. Year. es ‘ 8 ‘

MADE NO SPEECH, ON ycauiows:,

Crime of whiten Shepard Was convicted 4
_# Drutal One—Killed Tesch With’ 8) if

i ie

‘Giud Without: Provocation, * tage

* meet . ‘ , ve en } ¥ ao,
Sacmhogesslhoe® ae “3 He
Ny Me A, 2

Special to the Qasetta toto) ’ “vag

/Atnafindes Cily, Apel utAteh shop
ard, A BeyTe, Ke pn uyorl acre cat sO

4. re.ch, Lists oles Urns Vou ono” daar ‘of ve
Augort | ‘Keay, & Wise” jinn” ‘pag’ ayer *
Uv nei Wie: swanvd Uy, tae Leecut'd
jac he deesruy tO Bay’ muni vobtgesge: om pare: "
tephed that all he fa ve may Waa bone S
he wile pendy, wie We saetiny ww. pay “tne at
penalty dor ine ene, wt. Meh: head! had: ie
been convicted. os, mt
Hacpard wee cool and peomed yealgned™ “ke
to his tate. Meath pped aw tho: earner
of the ceatfole-witheut m quivers, Jb its
Surat 10. o’eivew “when, Sheriff: “Tow nsend.52)
pulled the, loves. wuieh ovat Bhepard- se

nin’ glenth,, ‘Dhe ‘Regto: wis, § sooeper: re
and thirteen smlnutes Jatet.. aan en
The dx ce rans was wit uenaed by. the xt

marimum number of ‘Wituvseus, Be 0 qwedi
hy the law, which’ fa BB. Ss Sy

}gamb

Tateaioa + Te wl ities i
oe Ji ston’ us te wan” tate?

Ahepard killud Tevseh at Walnut:
In March, 105,. Jt wae nm brutal mare f,
Tesch was a forclynce, a’ etranger whe
had arrived in Wainyt Lake only: afew ©
jhoura before he was killed, At nightfall,
the entored an old: seanet: shop. or: oad
houre,- whieh..dome .negroeg used £6 -,.@77
ling den. Jle'sat down. on’a bos i?
near the stove, the weather being some-'s
what cold, Here Teach fell avleep, -:Ax
number of negroos were present, pla ine
cards and shooting raps: Fivally
ard came In with a'elub, m standard irom. ait
aA Wagon frame, about aw ine in dlames
eter, and upon seeing Toeely behind thd:
atove, proceciled to. arayeg,: him, ' orders
ing him to get up and yo- oat, x. Reach
made no. resistance and was is he act:
of obéying the negra, but did not move‘!
{abt enough to suit the pleasure of Bhepats
aril,.vo he déalt Tesch # blow in thé back
with the eluby cursing him andsorderin oy
him: to move faster, ..Tese Ith ‘fall
to move fast evojgh to Bult hepards » whe: |
then dealt a’ second. blow on er te

Killed While dan With Onin ts uate

Tesch’s' head, who, then fell) fnee. fers
waril, to the "sound ri Bhanat took hold’
of a, bo? and tried: vn makd' bins’ risa,’
re i st Get ver Ratio not dead,’

- app(chedded y in *- pli ves i iad:
broek t hack. for.triaty “Je wae ovate

at the recent aeoaiage term: © Pans
ia ‘ourt in Arkanane: City. "Whenat ’
that’ irre, he was asked. by “the eourt ie.
he had anythin to say why the bales tye: $
of the law should: ‘not be passed. ppon hime
ha replied, ‘!Nothing, deat only. Ly
would like for yon to give: me about $i;
or £2 years over. the rond,*! va EAN

—— mar gee Se pe Om

wwe Mas coulpieted nis earthly journey
and has gone home to God,” said Joseph
Zwilling, spokesman for the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of New York. “The
cardinal died very peacefully with his sis-
ter, Mary Ward, and other family mem-
bers, clergy and co-workers at his side.”
The cardinal was a familiar figure to
devout Catholics as well as average New
Yorkers. He blessed

passed St. Patrick’s on Fifth Avenue; pro-
A oo | AP voked a firestorm by recommending
Cardinal John O’Corinor fagns as nis congrega- excommunication for Catholic politicians
tion sings “Happy Birthday” to him, towards the who support abortion rights; and he used
end of Mass Sunday, Jan.16, at New York’s St. his pulpit to weigh in on controversies

Patrick’s Cathedral. large and small.

INFAN
SESAA

Arkansas woman’s dying words |...:
were for the children she killed | §

By JAMIE STENGLE =

Associated Press Writer —
a Sizes ¢
VARNER, Ark. — A former Chr istina a
nurse who asked for the death Mar le SAV
sentence after Riggs is y
smothering her escorted BRICK,
two young chil- from a CANDLE.
aren said, “I courtroom —_
ove you, my at the —
a pinse |
by injection. County | - 4
Christina Court 4 ; MEN'S NI
Marie Riggs, 28, House in oo
was the fifth Little Rock,
woman executed in the Unit- Ark., after sa
ed States since the Supreme a hearing
Court lifted a ban on capital in this July
punishment in 1976. It was 1998 file | TIGER WO
Arkansas’ first execution of a photo. ELECTRON
woman in more than 150 Reg

years. .
Riggs had maintained that
she wanted to die and her last I can be with my babies, as |

AP : Bsa

Riggs’ lawyer, John Wesley

words reflected her grief. _ always intended.” Hall Jr., today criticized her VALUE GUAI
“There is no way no words She had withdrawn all execution as a state-assisted Snel ioe)
can express how sorry I am for appeals and chose not to seek suicide. “It started out as a Wine
taking the lives of my babies,” clemency from Gov. Mike suicide and ended as a sui- _ Minimum 42,006
she said Tuesday night.“Now Huckabee. cide,” he said.
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WNT2 RLS 1158444

eureeoremmmeanraseumamescmacan

Mother who

killed 2 kids

is executed ©
U5 Jamie Stengle a cy. =

y) ASSOCIATED PRESS 2°C0CO

VARNER, Ark. — A former
nurse who asked for the death sen-
tence after smothering her two
young children said, “I love you,
my babies,” as she was executed by
injection. .

Christina Marie Riggs, 28, was
the fifth woman executed in the
United States since the Supreme
Court lifted a ban on capital pun-
ishment in 1976. It was Arkansas’
st first execution of a woman in more

/ than 150 years.
\f Riggs had maintained through-
“~ out that she wanted to die, and her
3 last words reflected her grief.

CX ANIA

“There is no way no words can
express how sorry I am for taking
Va) the lives of my babies,” she said
Tuesday night. “Now, I can be
with my babies, as I always intend-
ed.”

She had withdrawn all appeals
and chose not to seek clemency
from Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Riggs told authorities that she
had intended to use potassium
chloride — the same heart-stop-
ping drug used in executions — to
kill herself and her children, 5-
year-old Justin and 2-year-old
Shelby Alexis, in 1997.

She gave the children an antide-
pressant in hopes it would make

ASSOCIATED PRESS/1998
Christina Marie Riggs: “Now, Ican
be with my babies ...”

them drowsy, then injected Justin |
with the potassium chloride but
did not administer it properly.

When Justin began crying,
Riggs told police, she injected him
with morphine left over from a
hospital patient and smothered
both children. Riggs then took 28
antidepressant tablets, intending
to commit suicide.

The children were found dead in
Riggs’ bed. Riggs was found on the
floor.

Initially, Riggs’ mother and at-
torney said she had suffered post-
traumatic stress after working as a
nurse in the aftermath of the Okla-
homa City bombing. The assertion
was dropped soon and never came
up at her trial.

Riggs worked at the Veterans
Administration hospital in Okla-

-homa City from 1990 to July 1995.

A6 San Francisco Chronicle seers ee

NATIONAL REPORT peRerere

Nurse Executed
For Suffocating

Her 2 Children

CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICES

VARNER, Ark. — A former nurse
who asked for the death penalty for
drugging and
suffocating her
two children
was executed by
injection yester-
day in Arkansas’
first execution
of a woman in
more than 150

years.
Christina Ma- 5 ae
Christina
ne Riggs, 28, =. ys
was the fifth Marie Riggs

woman executed in the United -

States since the Supreme Court lift-
ed a ban on capital punishment in
1976.

Riggs maintained she wanted to
die, and her last words reflected her
grief. “There is no way words can
express how sorry I am for taking the
lives of my babies,” she said. “Now I
can be with my babies, as I always
intended.”

She had withdrawn all appeals
and chose not to seek clemency
from Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Riggs told authorities that she in-
tended to use potassium chloride —
the same heart-stopping drug used
in executions — to kill her children,
5-year-old Justin and 2-year-old
Shelby Alexis, in 1997. She gave the
children an antidepressant in hopes
it would make them drowsy, then
injected Justin with the potassium
chloride, but did not administer it
properly.

When Justin began crying, Riggs
told police, she injected him with
morphine left over from a hospital
patient, then smothered both chil-
dren. Riggs took 28 antidepressant
tablets, intending to commit sui-
cide, but survived.

Man’s Death Sentence
Overturned a 2nd Time

For the second time in two years,
a federal appeals court overturned
the death sentence of a San Francis-
co man yesterday because a state
judge overstated to jurors the gover-
nor’s ability to release a convicted
murderer on parole.

The 2-to-1 decision by the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco may reignite a long-run-

ning battle between the circuit |

court and the U.S. Supreme Court
over capital punishment.
The ruling came in the long-run-

ning case of Russell Coleman, |
which became a campaign issue in —
last year’s district attorney campaign |
between incumbent Terrence Halli- |
nan and challenger Bill Fazio, who |

had prosecuted Coleman. Cole-
man, now 48, was convicted of the
1979 rape and murder of Shirley
Hill, a 28-year-old student and
mother. He has been on death row
since 198] ”

Pittsburgh

Suspect’s history: The man

arrested in a killing spree that
left three immigrants, a Jewish
woman and a black man dead
had a history of mental illness
and irrational fears that he was
being watched, a former friend
and his attorney said Sunday.

Police searching the home

where Richard Scott Baumham-
mers, 34, lived prior to Friday’s
attacks also found a three-page
manifesto indicating he was
trying to form a political party
opposed to immigration, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette re-
ported.

Vamer, Ark. ear se

Woman's execution: Arkansas
officials are preparing for the
first execution of a woman in

[ —

their state in over 150 years and

the fifth nationwide since the
death penalty ban was lifted
nearly a quarter-century ago.

Christina Marie Riggs, 28, is
scheduled to die on Tuesday.
Like the son she was convicted
of killing 24 years ago, she will
be given a lethal injection.

io i Ree A RENEE at ane eaten ne

ee Hee EEE PONS Aeritedt | wore array tretiees .

Per yekee de CUNO Ghee Mba Wineloeg 8, 1) ea ame 4 In the aiale dropped below Thin ales sen euher wf the anon hat had on hhabl evdise.
oer eoeoe® 8.08 a) a Ty Weather [during the week onding bday, accord: te Menty, | Ta ; - on
‘ate Bo Goreme: -Temperatures, nave Se rlesan alate ae Ing 0. the weekly report of the Arkan Bite & dof an es - -
vent aovering| CRleage, July 14——Caon; Moet stations tn ine Sed waren | 882 Cotton Trade Assuciation, issued 1, tt Waematn
via the mare | Ped, H1.¥0t@ 1.00; Need ward Teel era lle ne mecain Monday, a¢ fellowes ' te ti, ULM siker
savanna mi. © Ne i mined, bat @s Meelly the entire evesiry Atack on 4 Viwpiree—-Wiittaine and eewan. .
‘@ 34 painis veilew, 0G dee mornint ever resity, coatral yesterday iukiew heecived. Bdipped. Mend tne 310 ‘
“ ofteria : panda” 2 Tle, 43@ ibe: Mo. b wppite,| wera and te ai\epaed ay ease res ones Rateevitie oe ? '* tie | Nashville, —-Neehsilie piled wu
shapes eftea Market. . [Oe from the upper Miesiseipps eaeimart | ilytheville ...... r) ane doer] five rune in the fires
@ athe afte} | Now York, July f—coltee opened 9 tol tere, geeeeiie Eucept for a few ovat: {Camden .. H ae pies lead the Tan, Netee able te eve
ro wore die-|2 Pointe higher today September, 1-100 | Atinutionncans, Neel (Me Gull and South |Cunway - 7 RLS rreeeiriart ty ¥
conse te het | ¢; maber, 1.30@23; Maren, 1.01 @ié ‘ te and ac @ fow stations eiee- | Kudura ee r te ag | Sloane evening
sae caused aj May, 1,03 @ 08. . ° idl Bd a Pale her prevaile ia ether see- Berle , ce e 3 sae WIth & double, gaa later Rit @ homer.
! Ocetoder te , New . bra ed warm woather ada ...eee e oe o Beure,
ito owieh the witty Oviesan py Pe Rice | '* tadleated ter Arhan : Yorroet Vr wees e ‘ ATIANTA. wow roa E
te-49-potata + MOminal,-ae- caicet milters receipts: 1.8817 |———— + ott. Helena artes 3 5 + eo 8:6
Tesag wires} | Cleaa Rico—Quiet; sales, 96) pockets| Stations food Height Ch bene ee eee ‘ W 2
a en tae ey haley a T-lee; 360 poekets second | A : ‘ : : ‘ 7 ;
th fer Ae. i Peco! pt . .
» s Drew ane Peltse menses, Dormete red Gibeoa , 7) Have by 234 bia 7 @ 8 @ 6 |
strode tecet| Raneas ipessehy freteee | Fort Srnith He : : H oe tase ° ‘ : .
° —Eses, try} Derdaneii : e 8 : ee b h
roe ae ln bron ¥ Deaville et Wi " Moreton e ua «. 8 ® e e ¢ 1S co n tri u t! n 1 ts S !
Prev. | packing, Ite ot’ SFeamery, G1eitey head ern es 4 Newwurt r) ry) Nee: @ s © : 4 ‘ ‘ |
. Fine Divt ; : Ine Mutt " 16 ; we. es ee 6 8 d B ld ! , :
thee. 34.56] Stuttgart sei fee Niaew WR « - RN Pes ; ; See ee to war Ut Ing : conc
- . x ¥ Hise oe coon 26 . ; ; Mearcy vee e e “ and 2 (Ss
Win HH ie astest eaioa 806 White— #1 —:8, 0.08 Tesarkana e tne tireie 6 pe eae ‘ ' |
is Hitt tage Quotations, } ‘e v1] 1.6 ~—0.9 0.00) Ven tturen .. ° iT’ Vo foe Meettoun tm otert
19:10 $9.16 | Pvemeta Lie a es od ‘ i) ae “seu fe N THIRTY YEARS the coat
. ses 6 - — -- tee. rARS
a3 1.6 —@) @ Vives Ve.aor 4 5 ’ 4 ® ty t t
sottom dull; se 488 . Oban e003 soa) 8 we .t0 the publle of moat com.
6.40; fwil » «at H d.bay son one s ' 6 he 6
, ee : ‘
#4; kaw aude eek ; * 2 t 0 8 modities has risen. Inthire
14.195 ordic | ere -neminall n we one ouinginne eee 88 tee eo| MEN, RNOWN TO : 7 ; Fo ee 8 :
“& Including inneeeeee Cubes, ayant to 6.91 fer com-| Cumberiand— : WEIN, IN, ‘ Eilteet. #6 1 8 @ e@ years coal and labor, the two
ef ‘ LD yuryt = Onesie,
+ Dales, tas] Am itregviar opening im raw Neaneiie veces 48 Bb Od O08 POLICE, ESCAPE Foothe ye +e ee 8 vies¢t cos¢ Items In the man-
_ + | tare waTtellowed bra finmar | AFTER SHOOTING a ee |
| 146.38 eovertng and scattered jh ibe —e.r e ‘ sae 8 Nha | Totate oo... . 030 8 is ar ae acture of cement, have risen
et) buyiag, prompted by re mee Soh 8 (Continued feom Page 1.) Meere by Innings :
| 33.38 day Cae fee; ae oid oe aod iloctore worked iy vatu to alaunch | Atiante ... : price. But ATLAS Portland
: dea. ’ e336 —ep the tow of bhod Plot alea poured | Neonsitte
art There wae ne change tn refined sugar Hn HH i 1 7 Pie from the woud in bie aletomen, and kare “itene ee ment sells for less buday than
— e with fine gameentes went . » reparled Wes ak ; ac 1 Lasbaial an sant Let Ms ueath leat ytd ters Mace Vuier 7 et, fe did thirty years ago,
T 9.00, Refined Cururee nominal. ° t einden te 68 0.1 6.0% hie heals wlisiaat iy. w ul ' Nava tanaed tent oon oan atte raeaeeran I bulldl !
vy eoeee —6. : vate vole oe y e eet ” ,
@ prices In| Bt. Leute, Jul Woe Wheat—iee seh ravapes' Henthh had the choctoem been macermelis iis de Monae tae H EUMGINE ine average hanve
[reterderve Ln Co 8 be @ Mend, duly, vere ET Od 088 Ly steppin the flaw of tleud dhe died BM by Mitenee ie the coat of the cement used ts
; eee i Rivey Yoreract, WiTbOUL Pegulining CouMctouMnese, Wasted Witt bite . ee
° improved. | tow, hein. July, ites eciece! val tea ewer ATsamoes wie fell the neat May May Mecuwver abt Hees ie rornne only rn of the Cotal cost of the
sterred an6| @te al Teal de Be White will not emenee! fire WoO Math) MOB MeCaskllt, and Guthet ci | See bullding. Even In the bullding
neiok cee inoter st Towhite, ¢4¢; No. 2 white, COTTON RFAION NOLIN Grover Co Pebolt and J. 1h Beegiuecn, WAMONA ATOM LOOKOL TH
ai duly, éihe. Blationa Hittle Mork Disisit. the Intter two huuee pliymicnene worked | CRettanwge, Suiy 14 ttteming ham of the averago reinforced con-
oening with Clty Oreia (Obaervetivus tae . fi ! its | Woolen e erase sinning ee
’ ry om at pre i nee . hae win . a ove
bara, bee Heras fm nea * w einpeteture hen Lia thet Temple ‘his sla wounde, Itag tscld and neve tee Me dees ey ee crete. factory the cost of the
: . . is ¢ . yeather. 2 : wl . * tetd aad Teeame foe 14 pune ter gut « ie
stiotie 3 yellow, &¢; Nob mised, Ci isae s tee a lees weight eee Ai ma? ad ee peer, ts anus endo duuble wut uf cement used Is only 6", of the
seto—Nea : wit . eer cce + ) cations pe n. td ry arty 6). .
White, ¢Oide: Ned igen? out No, ’ Calis poets 6 1% r) Wnewles arrived at the heapital june nrawenaeane® ick Moro oA oK total cost,
Colienssed ‘tin Saltes clear teas we ° before Detective Moore dled anid ated de er) ‘
New Yor, Juiy 3 . ‘ den, clear .. se r : * ) eo 4 8
4 steady, ‘Frtme ensues Fotinw 6 tou [ine eh mS cn orcs ches tose en ent. oh a In aplte of the tremendous
0.98; prims . ‘ fi abies : Py ee bs net, shoe bmorn ; ra é Kin a
a we 0 bb; Boptombennny 16 Cetawer Tide Roam, oe ME a ee When the men fled froin the hauae | teeta. - 5 ba 8 demand for cement, ATLAS, be-
ovember, 8.33; December, & 10: | Malvern. clear’ . : they Jeaped Info a Pernt coupe parked |e * 3b 6 &» 4 6 . y
worry, Bits Veorwety, bene tion’ sit! lear’... Oe PRE lia vemih atscel amd aces be (at eae cause of bts economy, hus
| Now Yer Predvee Martore. fe he groee tn the mretghiverioonl mall chatinne | yee, tho tp t & @ & remalned uvallable for all work,
Yorks, July HereWNeet- Necher ‘ 1 ° of the men acted aa ll womederd th Miluer oe seas ’ r n o ‘ . bl Hieel !
Trecember, $1 Ot; Mar Ot meg HF if H one leg. Tt hal wot been eatab Wiettateete ge ‘ ° e a ‘ « tg or (tle -— no ather type of
p 16 a ow
emer wpene te, Herta (ae ag ell Teeeratt. ries ‘ a) ; Hntely whether he wae wounded | oo), tis a a product the reaule of a com-
hate ew bt the Wynne, ole ; : eee PHMATNOOIA AW ne be “
-ela, eaulp- ate ts Pyle aeeive nue, clear, ns Deter ‘ Meteo manufacturing process
: ? a pettew, _ oul elevtive Moore had been a member [i tertun of 6 © + § » 6 J J -
demer parte | isa? No 2 white, $1098; Nod mined, | Avereae w.ccccceee.. OOD Tb D Of the putiee force atnee TTT In pee | iatee 40 it iu ft? sells at so low a price
ay Contral Oate—Mernet « ady. Vaney white eit ry 4 oguition af bie efficient mervive ae a Lewneva te i . ' i i : ° ,
ped, bengar ery white alippedt, ify ithe weie acuenent’ to eae [UMEEElAN Lo wae tranaferred tu the craun it a) * 8 wo If you have any problem af
we #: Ne. fy) a 3 bee Nef Mermal oncom iacina wore {ieteetive funee da WWE wad Cape ptt “ ; 4-3 2 tf 8 sonseruction-- Uf you desire
bef Me wine " . ole 4 au “ o- ¥ 9 ” a c)
. prunes ‘ ; ra Marwet ener ™ 2 Western, Yee res in erin “ on Ngatle dick aera oe { Liew tent ae : 7 : 3 . ' 7 Information onany phase of
* wrerte Ab 1, Rene stleedy ating, GOb@styc a | tent snpwere: ie Sa cee] Mente te eucvived by hia wife hte : ee ee eee Atlas yor used
; 4 New ore eaport lon elites seat Se Ss aed th tele the ol ~ Bao set e your serve,
sini ad | ar Ton vibes ountey—uarnet yin (NE oo mat ippettytnice fis the whtess mer | pevaie tee in toe either dicet or thiouth Ws
Nea, 3, ‘ 3b. . o tise: “f. A Wee cove bey Innings ;
es amet antes tess, 1a peunde)—Meruet steady. [te sri8. Cotlon, 18 te 16.8 hante, give Himen atreet, ble was miwut GS yemee | Mlemingnen st ‘ ot?D Oto 46 dealers.
tle buvia Po . % ht of nar. : 4 ae * : saa tnge s
Vatereatn quiet, Mpring patents, tt sige tos nn Chleaga —— Hreteetive Hay joined the fore on ‘icles, Mate “titheae waaa ite T : : ’ iE .
sous stocks | §5 169 8.36; nett wan when oo “ = . pointe, 25. Negust 1 wid wae tine a detective aN 1 Andefeon Mone Mun HE A TLAS PORTLAND CEME!
: herd winter otra: TY Nahe cu alles werying iw fate Be om patted eo Nann Mule Maane . > , ow les :
<—c ate, $6.460@ 6.45; . voatl aa ae ahd Hebe a ae COMP, OF j SA,
coda mar- yBost—Marwet wenn veh’ pounde averegse.” Wig fan oe ‘We peate ms mae . Me tivee Wine tana a MM OMPANY ( MK ANSAS)
follewie. : i edie 386 to 286 pound nuteh wt LLIN Pine street) where Mie dla . 6. off Write. ¢
‘: marker rk—Mor'! Mess, $35,.9¢@125.66.|7 86: packing sume, Sineuth: ’ 666, [ 40m reached by phone and advised ag {DME 8 Mtrae me tout Wiogtiett booty Independence, Kansas
y eit pavai 9 U Ueene 6 by Whitent Hite ore Ww
gaint aes . . Ebbe, imar- a F rye eeeh tb lbge hitting tia hee husband's Mitt new after teresa ag tune Loinatng — lostng itohes
” _pthe shooting Accompaniod by thete Wing f ott freube a Mtieuee ”
4 tte ee oak eae tis [2 ypearald eon, abe hueeled te the any he { myieee 5 iewlie ead 'Wwinsun ‘Time
beef heifers steady to} huspital, where fire. Met ‘uekill, ep 2? wn ne ee
Di twatthons set ateiee Ibolt and Perguaon were Working Over | Maem Track co.cc c ieee cece cee ees 119
is, y 0911.06, bulls. dhe ta [the wounded officer M wd Mt
e Ue gear edayi 1 bolugnee Many Offer Ald. . ree : 1H
“ packers bidding pile te tL be. ee: The death of Detective Sergeant . a
1.400; bale atwa (ty demand foe at coders nar, | Georke Moore and the secivun weed a an
a rp. Blookers and feeders nar
ve Basak Charter: row; peter sredea fic here dull ing of: Mergeant F.C. Day ‘Tuesday ia
#5 * Oo Koceipte, eroiig, cast « pall over yulice head (
. *t quiet, =| mootty 2b : iy ‘ | i 106
— ‘ : Crude Pena oat, Testy native’ sects quarters aud the city ia general aud | Nouethern Pecits th
hanges steady; feeders sleady to the city hall wae crunded all morning ‘chia ol ay ae Pe et
1-16; eae Oo Sveeseing around 66 pounds, | with people, volunteering their services Peubashcel. |
e joce XX} 18.0%; fat ewes generaliy stoauy, metium in any W th th jahe 1 1 ee eee “a
aad andy weight, 600@6 b8 fb ! y ay that rey snbabet be teeslesdl | beupiee tae ‘ aay
. $2.86 4.38; Nabtevtens pupae y The telephones were constantly busy | Vroducere and a)
, Mt. Lewis Livesterk. Fi with offers from people who kuew Necuigen filles " .
sheers | Bast Bt. Louie, July 24 —Cattle—Ro.| neither of the officers but who desiral| nenusrte iran and Mtool ....sse es, 48
& + mI Optiened opened soins. iced tobe ve Beet steers; Woeat-| to ansist if they cunld. Ld Roebuck ees teeee “ou Atlas Portland Cement Is Sold In Little Re
e eteere, cy @ and o c i 4
‘ He Ne _ SP 9PON! nigher undertone ea Ment yoarit Motorists with every make of car He a Tecitie ie
©’ Demestic, s@te,{884 Relfere; belogna bulls came to hemiquarters, offering their ry
e)—Market steady, od and choice light v care for pursuit, The place was a ry) Mm
te os-foney, 399 66¢; dieck strap, higher at he FSi early bulk | veritable arsenal, ranging from repeut- 4 es arrag O pa
Te ate oleh pao AY fe; ng rifles to small calibre pistole, ¥oues eed Pacific. is
erte Ricos, 6.3}, ~—in—many cases the offers were ac-| Tuwacce Products A a .
ene cepted and several private cara now Tegneventinentel ou “,! : -
7 ‘ nion ac tee nee
A ae: = being used bey bed gery Lewle| nied, Retail Rioers nt
. 13.800 packers soon ae Municipal Judge Tewls NH Industrial Aloohol 415
ML 16 6 6.25; ameots91.466 4 bale learned = ie shooting, he called off the mate eso Smee .
pe el rg * session of 1 :
Wr opened steady, bulk, | oft coceg and Weare cartiel over “If thoa shouldat lay up even a little, and shouldst do thls o
ay morning. He this beco: t."
000; market stow; | actively assleted the police In idiseeim- oven (hie ne GF eat: >
thoice Jambe inating news of the shooting to nearby oO
Batives, §13.6¢, hera, lowe. 4 s
medium top goot Bouth- °
weetern jambe, $11.60@15.75; evile moot- e e
reece EL owen TE, Rearion | NEW YOM BTOOKA-LAST BALE. - . al y aving at
M * (July 6.)
1 Allied Chemica

City Livesterk. :
July 24.—attlo—Receipts, | American ana pre
9,300; be deel | American

Betive; strong te 8 Ameticon
jacgee Billing steers stead American
tean--Bmelting aod

“isi | Ammortone “gegieee, one Betising “wom 9h (UU LE UN: FOR!
sia ie eteateecens Oo 44) -FIVESTATES COMPLETED) ©

Looms Big in a“*Year

« Heslod was a wise man, a philosopher whose

been handed down through no less than 80
“He, lived 2,600 years ago, 700 years before t
"era. Yet he knew less about the auto tha
*°10-year-old boy of today. , But his ideas on t

Alatleee seecnee cscs oon sacha aire nth meen anctiewigethd abomergiagarinenn
| Ally Gull aad W. iadi “Dallas” Tex., July 24--Fatimates of
Rateiia, _lenoomnets the cotton prodaction and sereage of
five cotton producing states ijn the

trot ee iif | Southwest - were! announced “last -night * good. The autolst who uses his car to drive

oom, plas “atondy | on — S Pv ns yk ee ee + business perhaps does not realize that it cost
imee, generally | Ch * : tou Committee, - ‘The board estimates - Cents a mile to operate it. Street car fare co
Eg Ahad p tot § , 6 bap fehee vg a Boon we eeeees by eked : regardless of distance. If he lives four m
es nll tan Serr Pr --Oblaboma-end--Tesea. {~~ two trips daily cost_him_56 cents, Using th

would save 44 cents a day, or $138.60

ed = PORTO si BS oan Chteng,
Ae Chine Copper oie
FORM monselidaced : pie -working days a year. If he lives five miles
% “Ing would be $182.70," If six.miles out.the

ent Baveterseatt | Reta p ited Biatoy fale: | > be $226.80-4:In’ addition he lessens

1 The satimate for ¢
t ? le 11,412,000

S DEMOCRAT [&

Papo Sages eae LITTLE ROCK, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 25,1922 — : rane

bheow?

DIES DURING OPERAT

ANG BATTLES OFFICERS OEE

|
WOIN | ara ONLY POSSE’ | UMIBERS —*y 4 it
JLTIGHT WITH SLAVER OF OFFICER

‘tutte with: eDkamnii Toe" Shaw ane
Hdoes, died on the operating Gable at
| Woeeine sadayoas Dro Wook. Saath was
pattermpt Co save his hfe.

me ne nee ae _ Arrest of Arthur Lange, second of the two desperadoes re-

id teens atin sponsible for the killing of Detective George W. Moore to be tak:

esult of a pitched en into custody Tuesday by a large posse of Little Rock officers
‘ captives near West and volunteers and officials of adjacent: counties, contained

by
~
Q
mH

Lome
T
T

{ Clatgiene sifection ta the alfieer as
[famed cantemend bea thee cape tert tenes Vetta et 5
joel Vey Lee Pesatbert woertneeie. tenaele cate tive A
fareebtater oe Cheete thewemenmey, bee Wg
| ssancnet Ce eT it
. Sn Peer |

today.

the int of death te
rews, brether of the au-

of the Weet Point Ju
acd the dry agent is
‘The Identity of the al-
er, who was shot through
wot yet been learned ut
sarters,

every element of the dramatic.

met death or injury.

On the slope of wm small knoll boo
yerde tu the left of the Mpeing Lane
tow ancl SOO varile bevemed the tater
mestion with ite Miecbdion vem mt tle

The size of the posse atone kept

Lange from stayitiy another fight in whieh several would have

FUND FOR FAMILIES.

Oa) mail ete tbe nn

vee tow great
watchs a

ebinbertebeneed

wins uel

' Offle

os firant enwnty line, the event agra weombty ht thatten ol the tet ;
oo we ns boo tow clone at RE wetoek, wn day | Hat We pout tot he entve | Hel
rushet to West Point ve Hd beeen Filles with one Meient, thaw | “Vhor Pevitet) wiltbe te wneteced Pt tentive her
wiuient uainerlintely “alt Mere Iw the tat : ik inate 7 Tent [REE aid aluest super human efteat toe | Vinee deft sbevsititers bon
‘ i va wtogruph of be . lots | ined tse ea wtned bel
‘g, and physictana an-| ward W. Mok of Vhiludelphia, whe hae the large luwly of men ae tee Woe eeeeh Letty tunes modo

t] u al Te 4 ‘ omtst eee 00, oessee Veter at wae te .
he condition of Audrewe|uffered a prize of $100,000 fue the Mork alticer ee | H , : Ay feceed ta, te eek — , ten
Cobb te at the News) Aiwerioan citizen whe beige forward “Piiminetid Tee Shaw. elder of the) ' Dretle biecal tebday pret he
where he will umderwo af the beet Practical plaw for the evw-oper- pair, who hod heen caught at PL aw elork Veniteatiany © Cetad Ebete The tuse adele ifticoen will be queen i.
‘today, The dry agent,| ation of the United Mtates with the Vuemlay tecening Ove aetles Crome Mhere | 4 ‘ "PO Lwenaed doe’ Nae Wo fotet polio funeral we the city halt utes
vy Andrews, had gone] other nations ln attaining wud presery- dan theugl the proupt mand effberent | toh sb ceo bese by Pe teteny wl bee teecerns, cern Oe

‘ i
ri rad to destroy ating woeld peace. Uuadreda of letters] work of Mbenff kal Fo Melhautt of Rewards Offered for Capture tHeeeted try the Mee Pbaery Ge Deane ten tt
the report to Director] are prories tote Me. Dela office My. | Grant county, aud Deputy Cheasde bhai . F ro r teeters of thee bareg Chertetian etaret 8
aud a(ter destroying the ‘util ning various ) plane for world veare, ite, saitsinitte : homely tte : | of Slayers, Fotalling $1,500, Fmaemtend tee the Mee doch Po Deewens

ing to, Weet Point when arwed whet at, ayel woe take Muy Be Added to Fust-Swell- A felion gustel of bene will eect the

cur speeding bu the op. Mhertdan, where fee cofied te a ! ews sbte es Fteeeee Chee cetyl db tee thee Blewe
. loaded, the agent said, Nin identity. Battle Hoek officials weer] fig Total. i ie ae eetertons

notified, mud Meath Mamer Mt. AY ; OO Soo © oH we OO Sw Lovable Ctsverandy Deemed ter Bane,

Ca . ! e . ‘ Creedie Crise tet eo Maeg tig needed equated

the road and commani- Hain of Detertives: A : .
te of the auepectel car ad a large tnnly uf Iewal aeffirr wit Olen ere rob ae _ Jeera ated Lange, ceturned by the ba
One of the two men in the pely tea Mbectdan whtte bbe ® ' = Maren an nohe . AY ‘ rad corsty garnered dusy Viewsday, weir
tl, and je sald to have dell, negew Cari durver, aceiving mbwut Qe" nari Ou wat (eed te the pate Weduendny ier tied
— at Cobb and An- a a. fdeasitied ‘haw, she sae Ii Whar ame ws | stmteniat sina M Aeltue at the
2 7 . ¢*, thutieus eo esatee Ct ere ers ot Yoos . an is e . 7 : .

tha baller through] (RT eer ee een het Spo ‘ae oe. I; lie Keinues CU Rye Ewe) Wabbaseka Itenidental vat a ee oe oe
Seats oho" ets RC lg Tec as oo eigen fy] Wounded During Affray, bugga, torie oon ateinere oe a
silan wit a ullet 10W alfivera P 2 s : tig eet tg : oj Aten tne ye mgeprecdsnbers oy Oh =
athe 33 Miss May Wilkinson, 17, Hurled — abhirn, Lenicde ee rgah a P aly oe way ey iar | Not Serlously—Both Are Arg aoe, Fe ung of the two, polled
( the suspectad automns ‘The posse then moved back alow 1 : n aie a . , \ Uub net kiaw aly alineneye |
rh the snehias, rth Over 175-Foot Cliff While on —, road fe toe Janatinn, iii 10 2 Wiiilerest tee Crean Col, Mots Ss in wk At wanted “the beat money could | fr “ee,

ttle, be revere the ring Tt. . maseatad LS ! we Ue Puli Ww ..” | baa may
were wars cot mee = ——— ” oad gel ral sy on lane oo. eeeecer . mie WoL TD Paev yy peteninient nie Khaw said he had heard of Mobert | nage»

. 1 Wallaaseho, node nenites betes iD f ne 4
rado Springs. el officers that the revel Hlesperadoe Funds ta mesieg the families of Die: tudtay uct ae tlie raileonal a eaniig it ore ael ‘wand Wee to veune teo-L teen

~ Colorado Kpeings, Col, July 25.—A} would probably die fighting, an he had [tectives George W. Moura wid Luther | Wab'aseka mui chet nat @ grudde Of
Joose rock, dislodged by a imeimber vl] both their guns aud plenty of amin | c, Slay, who gave thete lives ta ow bat. | obl standing, Hothy inen are wercaetead

wey, word weld Whe te petutt bem. | the wa
When told that Me. HMogers wae crit: | itellace
fomlly GUD ted would wot be able tuo ele Fell

‘ of tourists while climbing Mock | nition. He with two demperate crouke, will be lant bave Seen placed uiailer arrest Shee. i ; whi
ot Medan neue bere, Veeterday vty Vudler the leadership of Hye a raleed, Withoue any concerted efforte (et sana BS Vay reeetved a hurry call —— Wi we ca ie ae Hee anu
ernoon, struck Miss May Wilkinson kine of Lulaski and Sheriff hi derwaniete Wunationa have begun ta come in, dao! ts Wabbuscka to forestall further tran ioe wan (Vhord Terral. be mala he fat tot

by Aaughter oPJudge and Mrs, 4, A. wilt of (raat, the posse of some mad atuore, Ratloas will be reeeived at pullew bead. | ule which threatened ated lala Mr Terral could wot be at the
Binson of Mempuia, Tenn, and threw | rberilfs, police ettioss pat vol manner’, quarters ve through the Arkaneas Necording te Deputy Mheei(f Layer | ‘ " Pare tegenoster wat | withs §

“tip hee over @ 175-(oot cliff into the cans] pread out In a skirwieh = lees Deaingeat, Camtsibuliyus up to noun) (arrett of Wabba-ska, ear was an Porucer ide tae 1 ba ens “Teper tee he | at app

r ne, KiUag~ herr instant pore ons em the loot. of the aad quietly ¢ Weduemlay totalled $1,215, fyewitness te the ahootit gs. Lévy wan] W8s eld to have told amoviates eT a

rethe. bikers’ were necending a-steep| in toward the top, The Little took tleartug Moure hae | teeted on the pecel of a ontore in the | 848 fou good @ Erlend ta Movre mad 1" pe
Capt, Joba Hl. Nteward, head of the contributed $1,000, half of whieh os] fen when Weat, on the other aide oe [Har the murdered officers, te accept j

inelineg «with an extremely dangerous

slope without a foot trail when the ac- Arkansas Veterans’ Kerrice Mureau wid | | Ke ty each of the two widows, ‘Phe | the cullrosd, iounted tie hore and {the employment, unless required to de —_

( the World tarted Ne cronsi by the court
ent. occnrred, . ._ aud uverseas veterans 2, | SU check given for Mee. Slay was! tlarted toe the cronsing, Levy walked [so by BAD ul
MN aobeaine to J. F. Mouck, aleo of} War, who was in (he y Bony neut before it way known that he had | land the cresting. The two men met Lewis Praises Potlee. The rf
Memphis,:a member of the party, une| was the first tu spy Lange's ha died, “We thought the SiO inight be | atl Lew drew an army mutomatie, Wheo the crlusinatl division of mu- Lense

he {| bag, containing the jewels and clothing phe helping to bring hum back to | Splyiog beat Went, nicipal court opened Weduesday morn: =~

+1 gf = Wilkinson eridentiy dislodged the atolen from the Kenyard home is ee | Lei ies said i wrriat ni gg ge West's horse wan shot foun ander |ing Judge J.awle sonounced that be ‘ie pas
ee aeeey be ny Wae Concealed | Couthern Trust Cumpany, und a tepre: oe Me pote < * mented, lrew hia | was pleased to announce that the ace | ed pis

and saw] Under a clump _ pentatics of the clearing hone, pinot and euptled it at Levy, When }tton of the grand jury in indicting | ig th

* ig He curned a he lrard a e77 and the Surrenders When “Covered.” Mon, pulfered am a part of the ce- | the shooting started Garrett rushed to- Lange, Nhaw and Waddellwho fig: “The
elilt-~ Jt Is believed here that the boul-| - Knowlag that the crippled desperado | ward 4cr the arrest of the murderers | Word the two men aud placed them uae lured in. the shooting of Detectives | that an
der whieh struck Miss Wilkinson bruke| would be close at band, Captain Ntews | will be curned into the relief funde fur | dee arrest after Levy had drawn biel Soore and Hay would make jt uuel were 4
her ‘neck and Biled her before she was] acd gaye<a bird whistle sign agreed | the dead officers’ families, II arresting | second gun and fired three more shote|peceasary to hold» preliusnary hear: | suse 4
buried ovee tee cliff upon, send the line of officers, armed | officers cheerfully dunated any part they | at West, ing in the examining court, He con- | Hloom
Mem of the party: went ‘e the with shotguns and heavy = revolvers.| might have claimed. . ‘Ihe rewards total Hote men ave wounded, Garrett said, Sratulated the police an thelp qiuek
mala roa nd tried to stop. passing | closed around the indicated spot. As the | 81.40, of which £00 was offered in| but whether erticully he could pat atate, work and alm the provecuting attr
motoristy, .Bome'drivers went by with-| line moved closer and cluecr and pratee, Mepulpa, Okla, for the arrest of Lange |The shouting tulay ta suid to have hey'a office (or lia promptness in take
outs stopping, « while..others- would not} Lange wan.disclowed stretched full tur che murder of a Hapulpa offierr, rbot ng outcome of a srulge of long ting the matter before the grand jury.
belleve.the story of. the accident and Nj length behlod the crown of the kaoll, Mherliff bal M. MeDonald of trance | standing, Tncteatice Captain Pitcock said Wed | twe ca

ldero..3-.0.4°°

ins,..¥n€ | county js. evtitied. to claim part—ul
; 7an~hour- befere-one- motor} with ‘two automatics. before .h ¢ | county “|nestay morning that during hi tire | IED.
‘was nearly”, ald - them * at, 1 aden on bis Jett Sees ready for ac ibe rowers, pe goi poy $3. 26 MISoOURI PADS connection with the ew Palertoment taken
lonneritt {eDonald, “Deputy* Hheriff 000, Contributions should be sent Co = hod =e never known of an
Blake ‘Winkie Captain Bleward _ the Demnerat attics or Acting ston | iat veh i arg ig —
ie o co f Police Crow, Lista of the donations
3 gl ag C: ng ond gerne oto te will te seus in the Deinverat Gh ~PROSTRATED BY HEAT eager vf criminals aa wag the case
" hia ode, ch he did, rolling | lay, Sai! re ; fu thie jnetance, And*that interest
aj put on hia Darks (ma Little Hack fw did not wane, he said, until long after

icema friend_of the alain
coma selon the group around |-

wit asion a8
fants fead ecoiayer, end was
witiraieieaty ret err from. violence
amet ce

ee artes ata ate

; Te sre Record Temperatures, Reported |{,¢-not wane, he sa er Aa ig
HREE a “In Louisiana, Texas and . were safely bebind the bare at the
“* ae to ee a} atate penitentiary, 6 ;

= Oklahoma,- cia seed © Captain Piteock recelved a stele: | confine

Nevada, Mo. "July “26,—Twenty-ola | atam Wednestay fron >a - ental ernar

M Neva muAntemen were nti La officer anying that Lange’ real name | vinced

the heat at Camp Clark, neat here tu Charles Connetl, that he hae a long Lam
forilage The Aewsperature, wan 106 dee e |eriminal record and that bin home ia at fof J,

grees, Bs : | Chippewa. Falls, Wis, >. ah yeur-al

a “Meat Iecord | Brok : se 3

> en. St Bee. 2 | denee 4
Bhreveport, J.a., Jul Bo.--Heat rece Ae | rulae 0
: second : “jords here fae ~) ann: w broken POSSES SEARCH ea ET to =
iets $ yenterday wheo ¢ aoe sensat ic
lekeor td aes tered wot degres, - AG Oi "eet MeSy, FOR: BANDITS dey an
a Jay 3 Aighest’ Kinew = i92t: ed ek Sete July zm(By FN, | Peres
idvaachanee Tes., July 25,—- max: R)awAlt ene -provines; especially
mun tenperature. h gp eeetoener wee that. part bordering United Ntaten,
OL, deg igheat: revurded bee | acpured.tnday_ for: the:bandita who held
nate pete, bank menengergyeut erday,” ea:
{eaping with: 185,00. KIA w five
rte thet the spobbera--got“on
at bree; the “ba bank per
we * as gel na

M0
the”
aie aslo

ASSOCIATED PRESS”
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FULL WIRE REPORTS

PUL IN Creates Little Hoek, Be
bdoomnere, Se. Aundare, Se ererpmetora

> OFFICERS

: ‘NUMBERS
SEL att

‘end pa —]
a al al al
7 hn

second of the two desperadoes re-
tective George W. Moore to be tak-
large posse of Littl Rock officers
of adjacent counties, contained
*. The size of the posse alone kept
fight in which several would have

: FUN FOR FAMILIES
‘OF SLAIN OFFICERS
:, CLIMBS TO S1295

ut|Rewards Offered for Capture|
“| of Slayers, ‘Totalling $1,500,
0) May Be Added to Fast-Swe el!
se! ing Total,

“leeeeseseareeseeaevreeeee “|
Ki? DONATIONS TO FUND :
se L® Clearing Hlvuse ........ Sling ®
ag} ® Myron Daeker ........, we

© VWeewn (iroewry ('o...,. ae
o-|? Kirby, Flore Bogs
«| °° Arkaneae Democrat .... “ef
te]® Ike Kempner .......... fay
to]? Judge Troy Jowlw,...e., tay *
(t]® Allerman [else .,..... faye

* SA Thee Company ve fy?
we}? . Me, Munlth .,.. ae
vo {* Mallerest dee Cream, Co! ju
ele .
a e °
wle® @ ee © oe °

'o} Funds to avsisg the families of De-
“ll tecttves George W. Moora and Luther
w1C, May, who gave their lives in a bat-
tle with twu desperate crooks, will be

Southern Trus (umpeny, and a vepre-
eentativ; of the eleariug Louse,

. raised, -Withoug. ang concerted efforts,
“' } donations have begun to‘cuaie iu, 1a:
4 nations will be received a police bead.
| + deme ag or har the Arkansas
= Poratied $1706,

e The Little Mock Cfleariug Mouse has
“a contributed $1,000, half of which ww
id | '@ 88 to each of the two widows, ‘The
“ $00 theek given for Mr. Ilay woe
j. | seat before it was knowa that he hail
ig | died. "We thought the $/4x) inight be
q| weed Inihetpiug to bring him back to
og | health.” said. J. Currun Couway, uf the

¢Slom, goflered au @ part of the re-
'@} ward- ray Be the arrest of the murderers

es} with be corned jote the relief funds fur
dt} the dead officerw families, All arresting
4 | officers cheerfully donated any part they

% | might have claimed. The rewards total
4 | 93,500,- of whieh $500 wan offerel in
mea for os arrest of Lange
puipa olfierr.
<Melonald of tiranc
to. etalon - partut.
be pron teed for r epiat Bhaw, 5
‘ wh at lenst $i
jbations peel be sent fa
often: or ta Acting Uhiet f
iste of the donations

-im the De ‘

ses

MAN HELD FOR
MOORE’S MURDER

Penitentiary Oficial Phote
“Pwned Joe Nhe,

JEFFERSON COUNTY
MEN AN GUN DUEL

ETEGINE,

Lae |

battle woth "Diamond Joe Sha
does, died on the operating tub
Wednesday as Dro Wooo Sith
| Merce to suave his bife.

Clatewietie tivfes Chem tae the officer
Feet. covtemedd bey the ctee ibe ttees epi ead
HE Uy twee tetbet Weetvenae duende sete die
Hester cpertton teeemmnny, bee Pr
Ce fo ee ee eo tent
fates of Pretec tive Phe os geretab ves
bites abies tee tte ste ho frei bee tee
Wye hyetee Weetettels, Ff wet tetegeee cited tee
welietinbeten eathere a tee ab cr we etal wee
te tbetie see am ptted eee stl mow
Val tntatenend

"Vee mivere Wo pererverd tree Ktent beware. |
ved abe sponter ne etberte by cere
Ce CeO Me Me eT
ert Pe ceiver OV jealanate wise ceed
Pa) ee TT | Piveie wae
te mbbg let bette eh tbe Pte ee teen
Hert Leer pessrtel dteet leer newtve d

“Vhee Teritet wlth le entered Petes tive
Whee Lett stevsedelee tanegeed tle rew need
fereteeel Dette Tue mid bodtged
Cy Sc ee Td rr
Beervend bey hi Meith

DDdorrslede Biseeee al baby

Whe tae er ee eT ee oe eT
Wo feotnnd prdele fumeval wt et Wty deel
Cy et ee
sbeteck bey the Hey Dba €6 Dyin des
Prurton of the bere OC heeastian ote
wretetond bey the ber deli 1 beens
LN peebtee gered of Werte will a eee
p Devente sft eeres Chee thy death tee Chee Tle ee

van hte

Stam ee tetens

Levalic Crrreardy Bemel to Mare,
Uavebin Cases tet eee yong teeede te umgatiet
Javon wted Paatege, retuttiod ley the a
brad comety geatd pty ‘Dieeedae, were

toy Mbereotf Pheer ME Nebr ad the

| OVER OLD GRUDGE ese

jpetetentiany "walle

Two Wabbaseka Residents! (My stite ten ef duatge Wale ster

Wounded During Affray, but.
Not Seriously—Both Are Ar-}
rested,

mth WOE TS Pieve petertanett aie ol
Wablatecha, a few ninutes bets HEU peenenne
Vediny tibet tone thee rinttneneed Chosaing ptt

We Som BL Vauly received a hurry call
te Wabbaseka to forestall further trou.
ble which threatened

Aecording tu Dequty Sheriff Laver

triludigue.up.- te poo fiarrett ul Wabbawka, who was on

eyewliuens te the rhuclltfy, Lavy wan
seated on the perce of no mtere in the

the rallrousd, mounted hte lueee mood
blartet fur the crossing, Levy walked
tuwatd the cresatug. The two men met
and Levy drew wn uemy automatic,
emptytog it at Weat,

Weat's horee was ahot frum under
him. He relled te the ground, drew bis
pinto} and emptied it gt Levy, Whe
the shouting started Clarrett rushed to
ward the two men and plmced then ana-
‘lee nerest: after Levy liad drawn his
second gun aod fleed thice more shuts
at Weat,

[otis mien are wounded, Garrett “salt,
but whether ertically he could pot wtate,
“The phowtipg today is sald to have
been the outouue ofa Laisa of jong
ateading. .

Ih MISSOURI GUARDS
~~ PROSTRATED BY HEAT

ecord Temperatures Reported
~ din Louisiana, Texas and -
Oklahoma, °:*>- rete

Nibeda Moa., July” 25,—<T wer ante
sibesvan muariamen were proatrated hy
the heal at Camp Clark, neat here —
torday, The lew perature Ladera Tob 4

se vf

Heat’ Record 1 Ee BA

rs st ibreveperte Ta. July Seite. tte

orda “here {ac>the season were broken

yesterday when the therinometer regis: | -

tered lol graves mat Ff AL ae
Jighest “Binee: 1921,

a, Tex: July 2a-—THe i 1

fara of nels yeaents mad

; chet fe eys
sient Es

09, s.Ala

Wiab'arekn nnd shot out 4 Reade OF LW hen told tuut Me,
od standing. Hoth ten are wencsted |
aul have Seen ploced wader warren Sher- |

tuwn when Weat, on the other mide oe Tias, the mucdered officers, te meceyt

[AEE Netbitee wsbeed Cbeene 80 they clestae ed
Von te ttigeleny Utena vente nlteoonegm oe
| wanted sol ern tee ye epegrerteetent bey the
lwtute Dietege the vege of the twee
mitch te bid thet hinew mie atterie ys
Phete, beet wareteed the bent tsemey coated |

Vine Vbaf ft, duly 25 WW ow, West [retain -

Bhuw eatd he dad beard of Mobert
f.. Moyers, former prosecuting wbter
trey, mark Werbeh tbe tee tetaee beens
Mogere wae conte
teatly tb mid wold uot be able to cle
fend hig, he asked if he unl a part:
wer, Whew told that Mal Megera’ part:
nee owes Bloyd Verral, be paid he
waated hin, Mer. ‘Verret evuld wot be
Parnied by @ Deaucrat. seperter, bat

wae onid tu have told aasociates he |

wae toe geend w friend to Mewre mod |

the ftinploy it, Udlese required to de
ao by the court.
Lewls Praleea PAlee.

When the erlminal division of mu-
nicipal court opeoed Weduesday morn:
ing Judge J.ewle wtinounerd that be
Was pleaned to sihounce that the ar-
Non of the grand jury tn imdicting
Lange, Shaw mid Waddell. who fig-
red In the alwetinug of Detectives
Moore and Hay Sweald make jt ume
veceasary to hold ao preliminary bewe-
ing in the examining court, He con-
Sratulated the police ow thete qinek
work and alee the prveecuting attur-
Heya office for lie promptness in take
at the matter before the gram jury.

detective Captain Piteuck said Wed.
“pnemtay mornlug that during hin entire
connectlon with the law euforcewent
machinery he had: never known of an
aatahce where the public as a whole
took such an interest ja the appre:
hension of criminals as wan the case
Inu this lustance, Aad that Interest
did not wane, he anid, until long alter
the men had been apprehended and
were safely behind the bare at the
state penitentiary, .

Captain Viteock received ~ tele.
gram Wednemlay from a Stienlesieal
alficee anylug that Lange's real nome
la Chatlea Counell, that be hae a loug
criminal reeard and chat bin hoine te at
Mepews Falla, Wha: ‘ie

POSSES SEARCH ©
FOR: BANDITS

1-4 ¥oronto, Ont,.*July 2.—(Ny VN
Rll. sOnteckes pene ines, gat ally
that’ part. bordecing United “Htaten, was
O¢¢ | scoured | today: for. the baodita who beld
apgl4 : bok - 7p Moasangers ‘Angeten ge ot

tha Bmoushe

ORE DIED, SUCC

Detective EL. Co Hay, whe was wounded in Tuesday's ran

ESCAPE.GAUGHT ~

caplng with $195,000, Tt fan. tient Nes
ported ‘that bbe ie uF:
Rinvarhree of therben omni i aa

were. wednie i ti Bema
SS einen
Poles gered. wi nd rnist fe

woun
CN W

| |
t

Wont Arthur Lange, despera
Te wt the City Vengettual tt neon
Wore daperprtactinig dite dege in aan

“wr OHAW AND LANGE
> BLAMED FOR MANY
PINE BLUFF CRIMES

Offlcers in’ Down River City
Helieve Lou Series of Rob-
berles and Holds Ups Baded

by ‘Theiler Arrest.
Vine Wb baie oy Wath oon.

at
COE Pest tee ho Dbeatereenel bee stony
ted Ne thee bieege foe the ti cede of
Pte etter Coren Mee of bot Vita
weed Dee bette te al thee Men mick becca

stored thea the ft of twee ae

Vy thee dees ae
“Whe Geet eh the tabtenie ss na wie a
te ee Dette tee annette te bebe eed bee
Nave Pigneed hete wae wt ged at the
Vverier ef Vince Dili nt Paes ba lth ave
trae, Whe tenes aid gers. valued at
Mppieeadtnitels SOMME wet boheue
han Meptenetee Chive eutered tha

Whelecale chore of Niberumgle Con
pevsen Cdeeereegly a feeder
Vie hee wsdl Phere tase

wlete dy heey nave

the ey witty greets
Hem ef geeut value, tat dares cegigel
CC a 0) Yd
Fiewrs, Whee thaed tee deed (hess fee dee Peel
votemel Steere alt the Salles

Femwle geben y, thee eter ot Phatey piace
prem ot Weet shar gue wae citer boca
er OY PP

thellare taken,

Pollowing the Drelty rattery twee
Masked meen Wit Were wattiag vn tlie
darkened tee of fre Marey Waettaiees
Bt TOES Olive street held bi. Wollianie
wt the tyrint of w gun gol giahe away
with dlaitivuds, inenee aud pune valued
et appresiumtely $4.000) after tus, bad
Hoeheed Wiltlesee tow clothes rent

fre the latter part of Drevetber thieves
hoving the nthe eptered the bet chane
ber af Deo Wor, fine atl made away
witle m abiareneenid ring Valued at 82.00.
"The fing was in the peeket of lier,
Lowe's trotnere,

‘The robbery wae not disenvered until
the fulluwing morning when Lawe taiias-
eu hin troweers, Phe, were later fouad
fu the gactge of the hone,

The fn val ofirers are of the opinion
that all the “jete mentioned aleve
were planed atl engineered by the
sate nau, ‘The ruolibers whe pulled the
Hlowm and Pe. Williams robberies are
the marie description as that of Langs
and Shaw wha optrated here Mouwlar
night in the tubleed of the Menyart
home and wha mate thele getaway in
two cata stolen from J. 1. Ward and
11. 1). Wuruharm, Moth care and the lout
taken from the Meuyard home were re-
cuveredl yesterday nial last night

“INNOCENT MAN”
IS FREER AFTER
SERVING 20 YEARS

Thomastun, Me, July .—Heury
Lambert le a free man after Nb sears’
confinement foe a crime which the guy.
trier and his council now are cane
vineced he iid not enminit,

Lambert wae convigted of the munler
of 4, Wepley Allen, hie wife and 1a.
yearauld daughter, Alice, In Toad, Hyi-
dence of foul play found among the
rulng of Allen's burned furm house, led
to the conylition of Lambert. after a
“sensational trial, Ie was (reed sester-
day and given an offic! duement ex-
pressing lief in hie Innocence, ,..

z: conta 32 YEARS -

Freeh
laremont iS
[ape

ars agocs
Hentlary. whe

ee a ed SA ies ads, BIO

sion ia eich Stat

Bt Manet Seite pete Te, kecaree

te Melts

pet eo.

wtauranine ara oavaienve, we Seok] PEE OLUPT UME:
oid oavgen nilisioletered Pl »( Officers in Down-River Cit
wo owllght (latter vol the olflewe eo beaed, | Relleve Long Series of Rot

but be pould net be revived
beries and Hfold-Ups Ende

\S fateh orate FUND FOR FAMILIES
| eter yh tee raat

a, eta to a clowe at A:U5 a'eloek, a day ¢
Rec et We ROK, caecad had ae ioe with fxetiowent, ‘
Pn 9.) eet and alo super-human effort fur
won peg a ppd the large buy of mea determined to
vd ap 100,000

j
The bullet which entered Detertive |
Havin _ shoulder ranged downward, | by Their A
Pecoed Iaetty Iutee mond lelgest tm tite ’
rise of 3% for ‘the| cantare the murderers of the Little : Fimht mene pit, fives here ‘ Was rd | - nd i tres. 7
rican citizen who brings forward | 'Ock tae Shi moved By Toe, Nath { Nyse yet a “tiianomed te ahs
best-practical pteofor-the con per: =~ Dlamand oe" _ Shaw, elder_of_ ihe} ___ ; : : Double Puneral Friday. lead Aribat Laws tar te ees
a of the United Star ith the air, who had been caught at LL o'clock 2 ~-Venitentlary (ficial hate The two alain officera will be given | Mtb Arthur Lange for the uurder
oo Ww y worniug five miles frum Nhert- 4 “Dianwud Joe’ Shaw, & Joint public funeral at the ety helt} Lorie Cieorga Moute uf Little tine

| t nations ia attaining and presery:
an throughs the prompt aod efficient 8 an'etane ry ‘aa von | Stel the robbere of the Ms th heey
| world peace. Hundredy of tera 4 8 } web clerk Friday afternonn va, wid the Mett wl twee eri Ala Mew

rork of Mheriff kad FF. Melina! of Rewards Offered for Capture| irre AT Taieest
| pourlog lute Mr. Hok's office dally, | 7°" ‘tau J ; Mueted be the Mey. timers GK day doval wfliwes ‘aie al ct
| ining verious plana for world peare. fitone pen (Se eer ia ee oe of Slayers, Totalling $1,500 aelor of the Firs Cheimtian ee taal of te wf th

' nesietesl by the Mew. Joh it + rebberive whe

arwned wheu stopped, aysd was taken into nut @ | A padtce guar of tener will esourt th re pe

c . ' Sheridan, where be rvlumd to admit May Be Added to} ast-Swell ues itm the city ball tw the Ge Hae TS teetethee wills a ee

he his ideniltr, Little Mock officials were ing Total. { rane hee, © feed in the calibers.

Lo e notified, and Sheriff Homer Mo Adkias, CO Hinlletiments Mead to Pave, hete ta Hatters aNewer Areuemt
A ; ‘ ,

trots,
| Piet thee pease

.
ts Captain of Detectives James Hitcurk : aa Ludictuivnte bern weder against 8 the dbeeriptinns of Maw ated bong
: and » lerge body of local officers inady : Pema ort TO FUND. : | wie — Teesgnr esi neces - Ri -_ Vhe (iret of the tobberioe in whe
the wip ta Mberidan with “Iube’ Wad. * M pita wee vitesse haa . bral commnty grand jury ‘Tueadey, ween CMe er Teeth the pen mee betteved
j r dell, pepe taal driver, arriving about |, Slinwes iaimees a — (IGE to the pate Weddenday inernien wate ie Frio oe eee m"
3 o'clock. . | Mi viewers . ic sha . ’ , je Netter oe “ue see ct Diaet Palth aes
Wardell tdentifiel Shaw, . pre- : pant Lame ~ ss my areas 2 © t ert ell i nails M Acthine auf Woe when stetees miel geine, valued «
{ ly bad given hie uamwe ae 2. t', ansas merrat oo... . 2 da ; . . Oy pereraanuetels (mmr mere tabew
iT SUMMER RESORT eet ame wae i" grilling al the hands : yi sg sc cece eee _ to o° | Two Wabbascky Residents Pag eee : pee ia ia : i I an = pele tebe e ie Sem entered ot
{ ee a ee vr ° Allerman telee. : on 3| Wounded During Alfray, but te cules them ewe at we jane Wniseghe aa hee Es eae
+ May Wilkinson, 17, Hurled| lage bien veanle the voad 1 Sih lee Company... 0. bn 21 Not Seriously—Hoth Are Are (yar mune, shewints fd Com cles ie hae
‘The posee then me Me, Oe ere ee en ’ = : ‘soe a “ eaeay at
‘ver 175-Foot Cliff While on Mherilen road to the Junction with the] * Plillereat fee Crewu Co ., teoe! Posted, tah Me wow ow Heb teaete tate fight wort bee ol
i le el fhete, but wasted “the beat evull | teers, when at shed ah . “a 3
Mpring Lake road, where Mhaw fuddi —— (Une Matt daly wow. ow oh re, whee mast te ecled Chen fa tee Ob
like With Tourists in Colo- cated he had lett Lunge concealed | % Total cece ec eceee ee SELIM & Trot Walt dey » West jretmen. . jp hee wate tem Meth after the Salles
h € a small knoll, Phe waen- |e © © 8 6 ee eee Se ee we ow Are Phemnent ines of Blaw raid he led hen of Mobert : wagle selbens, the stare vt Dhalley Discos
do Springs at the top of a | Watdaehi, @ ten taimates be fave mews | y !
\ prings. . ed officers that the crippled desperady Funds to ausiot the Cunilies of pre. | Mogens, farmer poomentiog atten [een on West iaers Wie wae sitentd vote

Heehay tenet ce tlhe Hutlveitel etemmeng ye]

lorade Springs, Col, July 25.—A | would probably die flighting, aw he hud | tectives ficorge Wo Mowe and Lather | WabSaseie amd whet nt on pevishge at |
rock, dislodged Ly a member of} both thelr guue aud plenty of amu | Hay, Whe gave theie dives ing bat | ohd sHaneling. Motth uien nae wesecstesd
ty of tourists while cilinbing Hock} nition. He with twee demperate erocke, will be lat lb bave Seen Ptteedd wider werent Steer
§ canyun, neve bere, veeterday aft. Vuder the leadersiip af Khect(€ Ad> | pained, Without any concerted offerte (Ut tu Ee

ey, mal Wervebl Vile tee netanan lets | thee mates debe ee ee ee
When told that Me Mogens wie cent) dellanm tebeu,

ytemlly st teed wortebed tert te alte tee cle ' bethowing the Preiby petterry tw
fem bias he mslesd if de hued ow par | inaebed men wie were wattiedg om ib

f Vain reeetved mn tiuery cml ors .

m, struck Mise Say Wilkinson, 17,] kina of Valaekt wad Sheriff Mebouahl | dountiwne Wave begun te come in pie ft Wattbueekin ta Cone stall bavtlivic tare jure Wires tolet Veet Ve Hrgere) pout ee tote aati at “4 ey wee
| nter of Judge and Airs, A. AA. Was ot Urant, the posse of rome i deputy | aiiioae will be Feeeived mt police head | lle whieh threatened joer eas hed oa a at Uae pie : : i. teal
| "of Mempais, Tenn, and threw) pheri(fa, police afficure ath volunteers. | vusriera ang Wrough the Arkunees | Aciotding ty Depaty Nheriit Lav waited hint Me. ‘Terral coubl mut be at the petit of a gun aid peace

i . ‘ 7 Itty Maiousds, tener tel guns vals
w Th toot cliff intu the can-}epread out In a skirwirh line around Dewowsat, ¢ (iwtiett of Wabbacek he , a ported by @ bdeniesad sepeerton feat ,’ ‘ uns
Tekin ipostasbansinn con. enw} the foot of the Will, aad qasetip chow \Weduoniey tebation "gs ttn mp te neue Thaw the sheeting. Lave was wae cald tu have tuhd asnccuetes he pe mepenlutatels SLi a Mteg tues te
e bikere were secemdiug a ateep| in tuwand the to Vhe Dattle teek et pn Nee Wiln ed lathes Bren

Toewiitewe fo the freotitg ‘
c ddho Ol Siteward head af the Por the batters poeet of Prvenher thiees
@ with an extremely slangerous apt, dha Tf. y contributed $1,000,

eeuted on the

was

| wae te

\
' '
' 4 ‘ hall wf j tenner ow th the ather mele we FEARS, the aedeced officere te aveegel ', . : , he
without a fout (rail wheu the ac-| Arkansas Veterena Sh fdeid so te ge te each of the two widewe Phe | the balliol iiennted Ite tetas mid ithe entplay ment, udlere ceqaulred tu de we “ ‘i wer eis aa — ne
t occurred. . . aud vversean yeterane " hia ilies MM eheck given for Men. Hay wae | Matted fer the crowing. Levy wathed joo by the cones | eoth eo ltttasend hia Valnest at Sine
cording to J. F. Houck, alao of| War, who waa in the Maneee baud: seul before it wae knewa that de heed Ce aed the cee esting Dh twee men niet Lewle Pralsew tAlce | ‘ =

obia, a member of the party, une| was the fret tu spy Lange's died, @ thonght the Sot aight te [el bees ateew enemy utente, | When the eriutnwt divteen af iia. | ne fi wes ie Che pecker of bb

he jewels aud clothing miaasel Ww > . ; + | Farwere teaneeee
ur other grtls who were elirad of | beg, containing | pe ured in helping to beg bias bak te | CHEECH Lat Wot Metpal evant opeued Weduesdey iors ae: «a cstetie 06 iit dlimweeresd uae
Wilkloseu evidently dislodged the Ne rie alate te ee health.” patel J Curtan Conway, of the Westy leer wae het fron under tug Jul Owls anon that be | sive fallen tia ‘amtulivg “ hew twee a
" MO . ‘

The tewarde fated A

. Bouthece Trust Coupmny, ond a reper J hla Phe delled to the geonid, adeew hie ld wae Pleased to anteater tbat the we yy vatyee Thee, ;

‘tarned ne he beard a ery and saw| Under a clump of ohh . ” pentathes af the clemelig lise ' j ptsdeed mtd eanget lect Moat Pevy Whe ttiou of the grand jury in taheting | ie i eat ine tions, =e
it's body being carried down the Nucrenders When “Covered. Mons pulfered am a pet uf the ce | ter cheeting started Gaerett ainehed) te Hange, Mhaw wad Wasilell whe fie tthe hewn wl licens are of the opiniess
ft ts believed here that the bout. Knowlug that the crippled despermdo | ward “Gr the arrest uf the auuscdereen | ated the tio vets aed [else Chena ie Tied ti tbe slewing nf bbetestivem | that nll thee yecten” nivulhened “aleas,
hich struck Miss Wilkinson broke} would be close at hal, Caplan Aloe | will be carted tute the rele funda tor Jrler mirest often Lavy tat dean hte Moore and Diay Swecnbd anwhe nt une ee CLC) ee a ee
eck and killed ler befure she wae] ard gaye a bird whintle olgn ageeed [the dead officere’ Cauiiien AL wetesting | cones — Wiel fired theee incre stole Wecearacy to belt wo preliminary bene | “Phe tethers whee pontbedd ete
t ovee the cliff, wysin, ‘aud the tine of officers, aemed | officers cheerfully teel miey pomeg they | wt os Hg ba the emai ceed Ve von eocrten meted PP) WN inte telbertes ane

7 “ heavy revolvers, | might have elated | gtatulated the pusliee on ie sivase a a oe va % a
— pel Argan poping oo Bee seat 208 ae pil oynit Ne the | st ua0, uf whieh BAM) wae ulfered taf hat whether eetically ho eonbl wet atate lock oe i Tete pre tbe wa Ise tptton me that of baeng
iste. Some drivers went by with-| line moved closer and closer and higher, | Mepulpa, Okla, for the arcest of | wre | Phe shoating fetes ne mand te have (Mev a office for ie pretuptness ta tek
topping. while others would not} Lange wan disclosed stretched {wll} tur the nrder of a Mapripm oftions. | been the auteouie of a grudge of beng Hig the eather before the aren jure Heese med wher tnatte thete getaway ie

t (th ident and {i} length behiud the crown of the ball, Mheriff bal Mo Mebbomabd of tera | stm Prete thee Captian Pitch emit Waal [bier cate stolen foen Do PP) Wael tn
e the story o wich ent ain eh two automation befure hia ene} county te cwtitled te clatnn part of! Nene Hinnatug the ‘i a” dice 1th U6 Vuentwitt itl: cas < wind tice ‘Eas
Necmtek Wi aur “rate i ith pillawed oo hile left arm, ready fur ae the seward for emphasing haw | \ (| re ey venir the Tau eintecs cent Hubeus Crem the Seva lene were oe
+ girl amd her mother were here| tion ma fund mbeald geome at deaet Se Mmehinery he did never bien of wi Oo e EE veste relay cad laet night

summer camp, Hheriff MeDonald, Deputy Mheriff Ceontettationm eheuabl be ent tee

har Che ppeeeenting mtten Wheel Mba whe ph ratesl here Mette
teed tte thee pebbe er ol thee Meneue

Hemtntee where the porllie aay a wlecde

Make Williams, Captaln Kteward 0d | ihe Democrat office or

word Nun [at Haute trum, Lieto thee sentir | jth sate aw antics tw tte ae “TN NOCENT MAN”
CTMENTS AGAINST | Tne ihcle guna anal grrr bine te wll tr pubilched ie the Livuwrvat se PROSTRATED BY HEAT tite: luslemet Gok teen eine 1S FREED AETER

put up hia heads, whieh he dbl. rollld | day, He thie besten Nid that taterest

over on bla back, (ine Litthe Mock par Web et wine te wet uted Leng after

-—JANWELL ARE DROPPED Sse le! ASS Tuner aceTED DCAD. ""wrhatmttamtet Soy ci | SERVING 20 YEAS
‘ seh Lange, Was overcuing with pusaiva we Cie Tee |

Liatabent tm om free nim alter oo years’

|
: Oklahoma Captain Pitenek peeved 4 . 5: :
| bin frlead's slayer, wid wae ; . i PoE recerved adele. | eomtinement fee a erie whieh the gow
‘ges That He Was Author ae tiieulis reateained Laer] 7 Nevialn, Mo, July fh. ‘Pwentey eta (en W ented le « Wir atensienl j voce ey re moaned a wee 5 006
H (diay, chairman of the joo Missouri guardsmen were promtrate d by Cflece sev tog thee wig a ced neve | watered bee edtel teeet s cotnvease

( “Polson Letters” Dis- ae ye 2 the city giengr a the heat nt Cunp Clark, mene bene. yen iis ie is tee Cat he has a tong | , Bante rt ary eee oe r

. “Taye wade The tcuperatuce ‘ hn) Ce Creted tee tty beeen te cD oley wu tte wale te .

missed by Court. Jehe Keen's, captain of the fire dey Entire Town Threatened by — The tooperature was LO ad ‘ Soe ds oe Wey bette te at | vous all Meggan. Vice i ee ne
‘ — = page an A geal " Trio at hdoealg oaga SP party ire, Mengre Reports Heat elarRig? sidae | tet - at pas nes anno Med
charging George Maxwell, prea- fenced officers in th , Kheeveport, lav, duly 2% eat cee. | ~ ” tits Of Nien e buried Carty beer deol
of the Lucrtena sAcsesiation of Pi tle thenanelves that lunge Say, onde here for (he aeaean were broken POSSES SEARCH Pte the comstetion of Lanhert after a
ca, Composers and Publishers, bad evidently fulluwel a vole secu? Lake Charles, Lie. July 25.—-Three Joestecday wheu the theraemeter regis | FOR BANDITS sermational tetal Pf) wae treed Vesteee
| forging and sending to Allan A. thought and refenined from the use persane were reported buried. ty death [tered LOL degre. | Huy mel given an offictal ducweat ex:

| and others™ ploson pen = letters hie guns, ae bis position, end the lay today inom fire whlel woe raging tn Wighent Mine 1921. : | “orente, Cit duly to ? :
| ing the eharacters of Mra, Hyan @ ground made \t casy for hin tu y : su rial Vounrkana, Vea, duty 25. The mae Mob AML Cintarte perewtiee poner
a other women. were dis- tet ted several members te the sonen panrdreee peat of Vernullion pecish, |i i Iempermture here ye vedas 8H tat purl inirdorlng: Cited "Resdn, pale [ESCAPE CAUGHT
Prgaiewerel, Senalons Judge Ac- | betore himself being pinay ie og that] According to meagre peparte received ia the Wighest revurded sipre i eed tulay foe the tndits whee held | AFTER 32 YEARS
ietays =: 4. : p fused to talk, but. wt the posse und here the fire originated mbeut toa in eimai Oklahoma Nuffers . fup 14 bank messengers desterdtay. es a
, te hell oeen Tbe eltuatin, aud tin the reac of the First National Haak Oklahoma City, dub 2h. —Pent ree (Cele wilh BILDO00 Te wae fest Newton, n ) 0 duly 25. Weil
BBERY: CASE IS hed yrmener eee “hls first mtention of /gnd, fanued by @ bigh wind, rapidly jorde Cur the summer were winaahed Piles that ~ ig oon aetonty &Nq. | renee madd aneistieeusts iu Pes prenesnes
" the poss gained headway through wenden xtence ‘ey 4 yemteriday, ‘Temperutucens Thee of the bank employes who | etd claiming to have travehel all ovee
T FOR TUESDAY ee a ed ia saunreneie peg but folie Ity 10 "ak tes eanite Ile elena iol nate ew gata ew wounded wee tn cittiemt cand the woes eke “— baie ar tentest
M ingle hostile Weve Thad been wiped out and the Maines At Raid the merepey rizated up to a) ten, at Clacemont, near here, yesterday, ae
Searpedouithtelticg ep tne nt esce'n pas would imave inesit ers were gaining headway in another block | new Feverd of Lom, MNluk mee had 10%! Police arined with rifles nit revolve | yaa gi wt. Ihe
wt ei Pet -fIMing station -at| hia body would bave beew riddled Will | Mire apporatiue was on itm _way to the jaud ut ‘Tulsa the wack of 104 woe ce: loca ae mooring all the comlwithe while Vecurinrs whese he was serving a bee
W aad of son the nigh scciy from Lafayette, . sorted foe the fourth time thon SUIINET. | meee nee reurching othe mountame il , anttet hue
eT. pF, gona trial es —. Adkina, . Bheriff McDonald Sertlesville reportesy TOR and Oreniat- and focents, (yeu terts for robbery, Te adinitted ty
os r’ «

Za recreate bp tee Wines | and. ouber Traders of the parts, cacticd | BODIES OF MANY |, tiatl it bee with OMe City] sa teed we the pealaaainry te Tage

wom: were: Indic tgg - nd ~-with ble -brokea aud k-cagotes oe < Y --—~---— tememennrenenaeneneis ans

sh iting taster egrets |i es ore ead! 240 We tes DETROIT NEGROES’ MOTOR BANDITS ~ |MINE PARLE | The Weather
: : % . iy :

riving. before 7 o'cluck. lange NOT IDENTIFIED SMASH SAFE UNDER WAY |

. *walla,” ? - 4 Atlantic Cliy, No Jo: dul Uy i .
wau’ taken. te the penitentiary ‘wa Detroit, Mich, July 25.—Mo many Philadelphia, duly 2a—-ebty J. ley . fe s8e Sy yom otty Foe Udttle Rock and Vieinity—Part
where be ae ating 3 —— oor ne friendlesa’ aod uoknuwna Nouthern ne-| H.)—Motur hendita curly teulay heoke| in lt dar tte nD chal haley y cloudy toulgit and ‘Thursday, contin-
Khaw was rt ,

; groew have died, been taken tu the linto » Uranch postoffice near Filty- ; . nia ; ved warm.
for. qaestioning pd i rise oe morge and failing identification bave [eighth and Market streets, sinashed the ste pein ow Por Arkansae—Tonight and Thurs
Welnesdng vated it.was said Lange, | been buried in the potter's field here, | mle cumbination, and escaped with began today. Suppocted by the rapid oo, vartly cloudy and somewhat unset-

thy PON. preening feliel fn hie benocon e,

worn beg sak that ecivie~ authorities, together with | $1400 in stamps and cash. epproach of the dat hich fae | Ched. -
‘|Mhaw. ead “the negro,” W addell, were negro ministers are taking steps to pro- mene? TOE ninere have suncineed they Nill all Ce ee ee MW @. M....... RY
all at the “wells, ‘tocetber by officers | vide, oer immigrant Moutheru negro BRITISH DOCK a strike unless their demann are grant. | % Be Meee es hh 12 wea,
-— Kvidence neo duew who | *ith an identification card, giving the veh, the Joint comminsilun of eight bas} 2 2 Move nee eM Jp. m..
TE Oe teen ting at Tenth |@ddrexs of his nearest Mouthern rela- STRIKERS RIOT loegun holling twa vewsiogs @ day, ee re
tives, or ‘white folka” 200008. “Tandon, duly 25.—(bby LN. sy] The pro C increased acti : .
- ptreet, Tween. o mag . an is aly eo. yo &. 3p t gramo peren activily waa 7 ' .
a drove at pyeerry sare Heventy-five per cent of the yniden- | ricting brake out in the dock strike tus | andounced uu the heels of the operator’ bento — ac er
ond tg get ese pike te the cat- tified dead in the Detroit morgue 8°? | day when 5000 strikers attacked imeat | denial of publisied charges that they |i Loom 2... Tag i. 4s
Sys paneer rect hm the left-hand —e* var on —- trucks to prevent them from anlosding. | oh net making a sincere effort to Tp ow we tT 35
ings a ' ma jor of these are newly t t ler, . P trike, . - : . ceocereves ‘S s
ta & potst where .tbe had hiddea oceived frees the Houtb, TabsreuleolG Mounted police rratered onler avoid a strike: Matimum yesterday ts,

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returned to Malvern and confronted
the suspect with their find. ‘

“You are making a bad mistake,”
the Akron attorney said, frowning at
the officers. “Murder is a very grave
charge. You had better be prepared
to support your charge. I have been
lodged in’ jail merely because I was
found walking alone in the country.
I know my rights gentlemen, I...”

“Did you go on that picnic with
Alvin Colley and his family?” asked
Sheriff Fisher.

Mark Shank’s mouth parted in a
crooked smile. “I haven't said I did,
have I? I was to join them on a picnic,
but I became lost in the woods. I
never did reach the picnic spot.”

At this point, a deputy entered the
room with the landlady of the room-
ing house where the Colley family
stayed in Hot Springs. Sheriff Fisher
told Shank to stand up, then said to
-the woman:

_ “Is this the man who left your place
in the car with the Colley eng Sil

The woman surveyed Mark Shank’s
hawk-like face and turned to the
sheriff.

“Yes, that’s the same man. I’m sure
he is the one,” she said.

“She’s right,” Shank said. “I did
leave her place with Alvin and his
family. I don’t intend to deny that
but,” he added earnestly, “I didn’t
go along for a picnic. I was supposed
to join them later.”

Sheriff Fisher snorted. “If it wasn’t
a picnic—and murder—then what
was it?”

“You have no proof,” said the
smooth lawyer unmoved. “You will
need proof and a motive to back up
your charges against me.”

The officers took the suspect to the
fatal picnic spot and openly accused
him of the crime. The lawyer only
grinned crobkedly at the men and re-
peated, “You still need proof and a
motive, gentlemen.”

Sheriff Fisher and the other officers
realized they were without clues to a
motive for the mass poisonings. But
they were sure that Mark Shank was
the sixth person present at that fatal
picnic. They knew he had mixed the
deadly strychnine in the grape juice
and poured the contents of his own

PAS Me

DerisGvinis

them to the house. “There were
no shots fired in this house this
morning,” she flatly told them.
“Someone is trying to make trouble
for me. You are welcome to look
around,” .

They looked but found no sign of

bullet holes either downstairs or up.
There was the blood on the stairs wall,
however, and Mrs. Nott gave them her
previous explanation of this.
* Back in headquarters the pair told
Flanagan, “Mrs. Nott is very cooper-
ative. We still think there was a good
family brawl, but haven’t any evi-
dence there was anything else. You
don’t want us to bring Mrs. Nott in,
do you?”

Flanagan threw up his hands.
“Heavens, no!” he fairly shouted at
them. “We’ve got to have more than
hearsay and suspicions. But it might

AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES

cup upon the ground while he watched
his five victims drink the potion that
threw them into horrible convulsions
and caused the death of four. But
what was the reason? Why did the
Akron lawyer wish to wipe out the
entire Colley family? .

i an effort to establish a possible
motive for this wholesale crime
Fisher telephoned Robert Critchfield,
district attorney of Wayne County,
Ohio. He outlined the crime to the
busy district attorney.

Several days later, Critchfield tele-
phoned ‘Sheriff Fisher.

“tT have been’ hdc psensy | the
case,” he told Fisher.. “Mark hank
is a lawyer in Akron, Ohio. He was
mayor of Kenmore, a suburb of
Akron, when it was a separate town.
Alvin Colley was Shank’s assistant.
Had been working for him several
years. He worked on a small salary
and did most of Shank’s work for
him, Colley was a weak character
and was more of a flunky than an
assistant.

“Shank recently represented a man -

in a lawsuit involving several hun-
dred dollars. During an investigation
it was discovered that much of the
money could not be accounted for.
Colley disappeared soon after a war-
rant was issued here.”

Fisher rm, * up the phone and
thanked him. Here was the necessary
motive in the case. Alvin Colley had
fled into Arkansas to escape from the
lawsuit which would result in his ex-

osing the crooked practices of Mark

hhank’s office.

A week following the fatal picnic
party Sheriff Fisher again faced the
Ohio lawyer in his cell. He reviewed
the crime and described the motive
which the smart Shank had demanded
along with proof in the case.

The lawyer arose from his cot in
the cell and mopped his forehead ner-
vously. “That’s the way it was,” he
said soberly. “I killed them. I was
faced with disgrace and disbarment.
I knew Alvin was a weak person and
would talk. His talk would have
ruined me. I sent him and the family
to Arkansas so they wouldn’t catch up

with him. I followed to kill them. I
decided to poison them all. I didn’t
know poison worked like it does
though. I thought it worked faster.
I thought it would kill them on the
spot. They all got sick and started
for a doctor. Of course I had to go
along. I saw my chance to jump out
of ey car and escape. You know the
rest.”

After signing his witnessed state-
ment, Mark Shank, the confessed mass
poisoner was immediately formally
meson, with the murders of the four
members of the Colley family.

Shank, when he realized the state
was going to do its best to send him
to the electric chair, used every trick
of his lawyer’s trade in an effort to
win an acquittal.

7 was two years later that the case
was closed -in the courts of Ar-
kansas. The case against the Ohio
lawyer attracted nation-wide atten-
tion. The jury brought in a verdict
of guilty and Mark Shank was sen-
tenced to die in the electric chair.

And now Shank went to work in
earnest. He won several stays of ex-
ecution and he escaped the chair for
two more years. ‘

But justice finally came to Mark H.
Shank, the crooked lawyer of Akron,
Ohio. He cringed in his cell at the
penitentiary death house and let his
Hoy meyer grow more than an inch
in length, while waiting to walk the
last few steps to the chair.

At last, in the summer of 1937, Mark
Shank was making his peace with
his Maker. He mumbled a few prayers
in his death cell at the Arkansas state
penitentiary, then stepped out to meet.
his doom in the electric chair a short
distance away.

The executioner quickly adjusted~
the arm and leg straps. Shank com-
menced his prayers anew, stark terror
in his eyes. The ‘switch was jerked
and Shank stiffened as the electricity
ag through his body.

The cowardly poison murders of
Alvin Colley and three members of
his family had been avenged.

(A. J. Homer is a fictitious name to
save an innocent person from em-
barrassment.)

PASSION’S HENCHMAN

(Continued from page 23) sues

be a good idea to have the man on
that beat keep an eye on_ the
house.”

cerguacs was told by Flanagan that
the place would be watched. The
man left, again hunted Nott vainly
at his usual haunts, then went and
sat in the social club, debating the
mysterious absence of his partner and
the baffling, contradictory events in
the Judson Avenue house.

Then he reached an inevitable con-
clusion. “If one of the neighbors heard
shots,” he said to himself, “then some
of the others must have heard them
too. Pll go back and ask some ques-
tions.” -

It was early in the evening when
he reappeared on Judson Avenue.

Eyeing one of the houses not far
from the Nott house, Ferguson decided
to make some judicious inquiries.

This was a two-family house, the
lower floor being occupied by a family
named Horlick, the upper by Mr. and
Mrs. Louis Swanson. :

Catherine Horlick, nineteen, an-
swered his ring.

“Yes, there were some shots at the
Nott house this morning,” she told
him. “I heard them plainly and
looked out of the window to see what

-was going on.. After a while I saw

two men sneaking out the. Nott back
door.” The hour, she added, was just
about eight o’clock.

“Did you recognize the men?” Fer-.
guson asked her. ° rane

“One of them—Mr. Wade. He’s
the son of the milk dealer. Every-
body around here knows he’s sweet
on Mrs. Nott and has been coming

‘to the house when Mr. Nott was

away.”

SS dks

ternoon
Mrs. Sv
three 0
and ca!
that Nc

A tn

” believe

trunk?

The >
jecture
quarter

Flan:
“Okay,
be som:
Mrs. N:

Ferg.
George
this mc
away i)

He g
the nar
lick ha
with a

“Wac
must b
case ™
all.
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He’s b
nectior

“We’

. matter

This
panied
H. Fic
Holbr«

“Th:
of thi:
aftern:
“T war

The
well-fc
them «

“Sin
she re}
tion, “.

rror and death.
‘ drew to a stop.
reriff Tom Fisher
: in the first car.

. the large crowd
the scene. He
the ground. He
s he knelt. down
1p.

car and listened
's find.

artment and re-
car which bore
vas licensed to

y envelope. It
‘marked Akron,
now August 10.
1 Colley in care

Ny
was desperately

“He just died.

The two oldest boys were dead when

we reached them. The woman will

die also. I think the youngest lad
will live.”

“What seems to have been the
matter with them?” asked Sheriff
Fisher.

“They’ve been poisoned. Looks
like. strychnine,” the doctor an-
swered grimly.

The doctor and Sheriff Fisher
carried the woman and the four-
year-old boy to a waiting ambu-
lance.. The lad had ceased vomit-
ing and was crying.

“Where’s mommy and daddy?”
he asked faintly.

The sheriff smiled at the boy
and patted his head. “Where had
your mommy and daddy been?” he
asked softly. ;

“We went on a picnic,” the child
whispered.

Sheriff Fisher closed the ambu-
lance door and it sped away toward

‘ee # t

Mal-
vern. The
sheriff re-

mained with the
three dead members of
the fatal picnic party.

As he helped remove the
bodies from the ground he
noticed a striking resem-
blance in the faces of the
children to the adults. The
poison victims were father,
mother and their three children,
he concluded as he turned to face
the task of solving the poison
mystery.

When the three bodies of the poi-
son victims were on the way to
Malvern, Sheriff Fisher and Tom
Steadman drove to the latter’s
house.

The sheriff telephoned Chief of
Police Joe Wakelin at Hot Springs.
He explained the mystery poison-
ings and asked Wakelin to check on
the address on the envelope found
in the dead man’s car.

“I believe that is a rooming
house,” said Chief Wakelin, repeat-
ing the address. “I’ll go by there
myself and see what I can find out
about the family.”

The sheriff thanked him and
hung up the receiver. He walked to
his car, his mind filled with thoughts
of the strange poison deaths.

“There’s no use staying out here,”
he muttered to his deputies. ‘“We
don’t even know what this is all
about. Tom Steadman found a fam-
ily of five, dead and dying, in a car.

They had been on a picnic and were
poisoned. That’s all we know. We
better get busy and find out where
they went on the picnic. That’ll be
a start.” .

F[THE coupe carrying the stricken

family had been traveling
toward Malvern. Malvern, Ar-
kansas, was about five miles away
from the place the car and its
poison-tortured cargo was found.
Hot Springs, the direction from
which the car had come was 20
miles.

Sheriff Fisher headed his car
towards Hot Springs. The beauti-
ful lakes in and around Hot Springs
and Malvern were favorite picnic
spots for tourists.

About five miles from the Stead-
man farm a small stream flowed
into the end of Lake Catherine.
Sheriff Fisher stopped at the wooded
tract near the lake and walked in
the cool shade of the tall trees sur-
rounding this sylvan picnic spot.

Before he had taken many steps
along the bank of the stream he
knew his search for the fatal picnic
spot was ended.

There, in the shade of a tree, was
an unopened picnic basket. A
blanket was spread out on the cool
grass. Near the blanket was a large
bottle containing a small amount of
grape juice. Six paper cups were
scattered around the edges of the
blanket.

The. sheriff tried to picture in
his mind the story of this fatal
outing.

Two paper cups lay on _ the
ground at each side of the blanket.
One cup was at each end of the

' blanket.

That was a total of six cups. But
the poison- (Continued on page 46)

bis

That the missing woman was jeal-
ous by nature could be seen in a
pocket-size diary which she kept dur-
ing the year 1934 and which was now
found tucked away in her closet. The
entry for January 4th of that year
read:

“Found two girls’ addresses in
Eddie’s pockets. Went to see them but
found only one and she was with
some guy she said was her husband.

“January 14th—Looked in the car
and found address of a girl in Ohio.
We had an awful fight. Came back
at four am. Said he had to work.
He must think I’m dumb. I guess I
am or I wouldn’t be with him. I really
think he has someone else. I am so
lonesome.

“February 26th—Had a fuss. I
called him at the garage and they
called me Bertha. I guess that’s the
girl E. is fooling around with.

“May 11th—E. bought me a lot of
clothes. He sure is sweet and I love
him so much it hurts.”

There were more entries in the
book telling about fights and recon-
ciliations and it ended on the day
when she and Eddie were married.

The case appeared stronger.

A man showed up at headquarters
and said that he was standing across.

AAU

VASVTISIGVIWS |

stricken family in the Ohio car num-
bered only five!

The sheriff turned his attention
from the bottle of grape juice and ex-
amined the waxed-paper cups. He
dropped to his knees and searched the
ground around the blanket as he
closely scrutinized the six cups. Each
cup, he found, still contained some
dregs of grape juice.

At one end of the blanket, the
sheriff noticed a purple stain on the
grass. He ran his hand over the spot.
Tt was dry but some of the purple
stain clung to his fingers. Someone
had poured his or her cup of grape
juice out on the ground. ;

This fact and the sixth cup quickly
changed Sheriff Fisher’s views on the
mysterious poisonings.

He had formulated a theory that the
unfortunate family might have fallen
victims to accidental poisoning. In
spite of the physician’s statement
that it was strychnine, he had felt it
might be due to eating spoiled canned
food.

When he learned the family had
been on a picnic he was certain this
was the case, and that the father was
trying to get them all to'a doctor
when the farmer found them on the
highway. whist

But his discovery at the picnic spot
threw an entirely different light upon
the case. He knew now he was look-
ing for a murderer. Someone had
deliberately planned the deaths of the
family of five. ;

Sheriff Fisher examined the con-
tents of the unopened picnic basket.
He found a stack of sandwiches,
cakes, pies and some pickles. Also in
the basket were six forks and six
plates!

The picnic had been planned for
six, but only one person expected to
return! Some member of this fatal

AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES

the street from the Nut House at two-
thirty on the morning of the murder.
A man and a woman came out of
the night club and almost immedi-
ately began to quarrel. The woman
scratched at the man’s face, screamed:
“Damn you! I'll get you both!” With
that she climbed into a car and drove
off. The pair resembled the night
club proprietor and his wife.

Despite the most intensive search
neither of the Freeds could be located.

On the fifth day after the murder,
the night club proprietor, accom-
panied by his attorney, walked into
Captain Barry’s office. He volunteered
no information despite the official’s
urging. He admitted that he knew
Annabelle but said that he knew her
only because she used to visit the
Nut House. He denied that he was
the Eddie who was mentioned in the
diary. There is no proof that he
actually was.

To most of the questions he an-
swered: “I have no comment to make
and, until I have a chance to talk to
my wife, I have nothing more to say.”

He was ordered held as a material
witness, but three days later he was
freed on a writ of Habeas Corpus.

For weeks an intensive search was
made for his wife. It was fruitless.

The police were unable to locate her.
Finally, when the police despaired of
ever seeing her, she surrendered her-
self to the authorities.

She made a complete denial of the
charge leveled against her. She swore
that she was not the woman who had
been seen in Annabelle’s apartment
building on the day of the murder
and that she was in no wise connected
with the crime.

The apartment house employes
were called in to view her but they
failed to identify her..

The case was handed to the Grand
Jury and that body, on the basis of
the evidence presented to them, re-
fused to indict. She was freed from’
custody forthwith. .

After days of anguish occasioned
by the suspicion cast upon her, she
was once more a free and innocent
woman.

But with the Grand Jury conclu-
sively establishing her innocence,
what other suspects were there to
work on? Barry found none. In fact
the work of the entire Chicago police

* department went to naught insofar as

the investigation into the murder of
Annabelle Blake is concerned.

And the question still remains:
Who killed Chicago’s pleasure girl?

"THE DEVIL GOES ON A PICNIC

oo (Continued from page 13)

picnic party planned wholesale mur-
der, The poisoner had sat at one end
of the blanket atc his victims
drink the deadly potion he had mixed
in the grape juice for them. Un-
observed, he had poured his cup, con-
taining the poisoned grape juice onto
the ground. Who was the sixth person
who plotted this cowardly crime?

ice pl a deputy to guard the
picnic spot, Sheriff Fisher hurried
back to Tom Steadman’s farm.

At the farm Fisher put in another
telephone call for Chief of Police Joe
Wakelin at Hot Springs.

“l’ve found the fatal picnic spot,”
Fisher said. “The tamit y were not
victims of accidental poisoning as I
first thought. It was deliberate
wholesale murder.”

He quietly told Wakelin of what he
had discovered at the picnic place.

“J think I’ve got something hot
here, Sheriff,’ Wakelin said. “I
checked up on that address you gave
me. It is a rooming house where ‘this
family was staying. The landlady said
that Alvin Colley and his family left
here this morning going on a_ picnic.
The family numbered five. Father,
mother and three young boys. They
left with another man. The landlady
did not remember his name, but said
the Colleys mentioned they had in-
vited him to attend the picnic. She
got a look at him in the car, but said
he was a stranger to her.”

“That stranger was the sixth person
who was present at the devil’s picnic,”
Fisher answered grimly. “He is the
murderer. If he left riding in the car
with the family, he and the family
must have known each _ other—a
friend who repaid a picnic invitation
with murder. Regardless of who the
killer was, he must have departed on

foot. Chances are we can pick him
up if he hasn’t caught a lift. Wish
you would send a patrol car out from
Hot Springs to search the highway.”

“P]] start one out now,” Wakeli
replied. “I’ve got a meager _descrip-
tion of the man we want. He is
and thin. T’ll meet you at the picnic
place as soon as possible and bring a
fingerprint man, Perhaps that grape
juice bottle will have the killer’s
prints on it.”

Leaving the farm, Fisher again re-
turned to the picnic scene. A half
hour later, Chief Wakelin and Chief
of Detectives Herbert Akers of Hot
Springs arrived at the spot.

They took pictures of the place and
dusted the grape juice bottle for
fingerprints.

“There’s not a single print on the
bottle,” Akers reported shortly. “It’s
been wiped clean. We'll take samples
of the +g juice from the bottle and
cups and have it analyzed.”

As the investigators prepared to
climb into their cars, Tom Steadman
and another man came _ running
toward them.

“Wait a minute, Sheriff,” Steadman
called to Fisher. “This is A. J. Homer,
a neighbor. He has something impor-
tant to tell you.”

As the two farmers stood beside the
car, the officers could see Homer was
plainly excited.

“T think I can be of some help,”
Homer began nervously. “I just heard
about the murders from Steadman.”

Sheriff Fisher turned toward him
eagerly. “Tell us,” he urged.

“T saw that Ohio coupe pass my
place,” Homer continued. “It was
weaving from one side of the highway
to the other. I figured that the driver
was drunk. It slowed down and a
tall, thin man jumped out and ran
through a field. I thought he was

“¢

scared of ti
driving anc
he had an
the spot w
“Good!”
provingly.
person at t
He is undc
woods son
track him.’
Sheriff “
afraid no:
Chief W
abruptly tc
“Go telep!
‘hunter at
have him

attempting
the aid of
where the
from the «
a bloodhot
-A short 1
charge of
to lead thc
The’ ani:
few mome
was off,
Arkansas’
fighting t!
swamp bz
were on {
feat. It :
vanished :
The off
and sat dc
Some tim:
ing or se
rose and °
approache
speculatil
the dog a
A wom:
farmhous:
“If you
passed h
Seemed t
something
hound an
»ficers. It \
pointed t
woods.
The inv
approache
a field. T.
spot whe
bays from
man dash
and ran
Todhun:
officers ri
A tall, i
eyes was
He heavec
hound an
as he ran
Sheriff
ran quic}
He. yellec
“Stay 3
At the
fugitive
the offic:
him.
“Who <
want?” |.
“We'll
Fisher. ‘
As he
displaye
“So y:

remarke

oR SS oe we

locate her.
‘espaired of
ndered her-

enial of the
-, She swore
an who had

apartment
the murder
se connected

employes
er but they

> the Grand
the basis of
o them, re-
freed from

1 oceasioned
.on her, she
nd innocent

ury conclu-
innocence,
re there to
one. In fact
iicago police
\t insofar as
» murder of
rned.
ll remains:
asure girl?

an pick him
a lift. Wish
car out from
ae highway.”
w,” Wakelin
ger descrip-
it. He is tall
at the picnic
» and bring a
os that grape

the killer’s

her again re-
cene. A half
lin and Chief
Akers of Hot
pot.

the place and
ce bottle for

print on the .

shortly, “It’s
take samples
the bottle and
zed.”

prepared to
om Steadman
ime running

ff,” Steadman
; A. J. Homer,
thing impor-

od beside the
Homer was

‘ some help,”
“I just heard
n Steadman.”
toward him
urged.
yupe pass my
ied. “It was
f the highway
chat the driver’
down and a
out and ran
vuught he was

ces Amps:

‘he ha

scared of the way the other man was
driving and got out of the car before
an accident. I can show you
the spot where he got out.”

“Good!” Chief Wakelin said ap-
provingly. “That man_was the sixth
person at the picnic. He is the killer.
He is undoubtedly hiding out in the
woods somewhere. Maybe we can
track him.”

Sheriff Fisher shook his head. “I’m
afraid not—the ground is too dry.”

Chief Wakelin nodded and turned
to Chief of Detectives Akers.

abruptl
L. Tod-

“Go telephone Captain S.

‘hunter at Tucker Prison farm and

have him send a bloodhound out

_here.”

The officers realized the futility of

attempting to trail the man without

‘the aid of a dog and went to the spot

where the suspect. was seen to jump
from the car to await the arrival of
a bloodhound. |

A short time later the dog arrived in
charge of Captain S. L. Todhunter
to lead the chase.

The’ animal sniffed and growled a
few moments. Then with low bays it
was off, yn oe a manhunt for
Arkansas’ wholesale poisoner. After
fighting the thorny underbrush and
swamp barriers fruitlessly the men
were on the verge of admitting de-
feat. It appeared the fugitive had
vanished into the dense woods.

The. officers. turned the dog loose
and sat down for a much needed rest.
Some time passed without their hear-
ing or seeing the bloodhound. They
rose and renewed the search. As they
approached a farmhouse they began
the dog and their quarry.

A woman came to the door of the
farmhouse and Sea to the men.

“If you're looking for a dog, one
ste here a few minutes ago.

eemed to be hot on the trail of
something. I figured it was a blood-
hound and I guess you men are of-
ficers. It went that way.” The woman
pointed toward a dense growth of
woods. ;

The investigafors thanked her and
approached the woods cutting through
a field. They had barely reached the
spot when. they heard a series of
bays from the dog. Then suddenly a
man dashed from a clump of brush
and ran madly through the woods.

Todhunter | gi a signal and the
officers rushed forward.

A tall, thin man, stark terror in his
eyes was trying to flee from the we
He heaved a heavy stone at the blood-
hound and bounded away, stumbling
as he ran. Sais

Sheriff Fisher, ,holding his pistol,
ran quickly toward the fleeing man.
He yelled as he ran:

“Stay right where you are, buddy!”

At the sound of Fisher’s voice, the
fugitive whirled around and faced
Pek officers who were closing in on

“Who are you men and what do you
want?” he asked nervously.

“We'll ask the questions,” said

‘Fisher. “You just answer them.”

As he spoke, the sheriff quickly
displayed his badge.

“So you guys are
remarked the tall, thin man.
what do you want of me?” | .

“Plenty,” said Fisher slapping a pair
of handcuffs on the man’s wrists.
“You’re wanted for murder—whole-
sale murder.” :

The tall, thin man shook his head.
he answered finally. “You
must be mistaken. I don’t under-

olice officers,”
“Well,

i yt over the whereabouts of .

- FROM AUTHENTIC POLICE RECORDS

stand what you are talking about.”

“Just the same, you’re coming along
with us,” said Fisher.

The suspect’s eyes flashed angrily.

“This is an outrage!” he blustered.
“TI have committed no murder. I was
taking a stroll in the woods and be-
came lost. I know my rights... .”

Chief Wakelin, interrupting, asked
the suspect: “Why are you taking a
walk in such an_ out-of-the-way
place? Why didn’t you avoid that
swamp instead of getting yourself all
mudgy, if you were merely walking
for your health ”

The man looked speculatively at
the officers surrounding him. After a
short pause, he drew himself up with
dignity.

‘My name is Mark H. Shank of

JUDGE THOMAS E. TOLER pronounced
sentence on the man who planned four
deaths and watched them slowly happen.

Akron, Ohio. You’ve evidently con-
fused me with someone else. I am a
lawyer, gentlemen.” :

“Now we seem to be getting some-
where,” said Fisher. “You are from
the same city as was the poisoned
family. I think you are the same man
who lett Hot Springs with them this
morning. Well, we'll all go to Mal-
vern and talk it over.”

At the sheriff’s office, Mark Shank
glared at the officers with cold con-
tempt as they pressed him with ques-
tions.

The Akron attorney was visibly
shaken when they showed him the
grape juice bottle and the six paper
cups, found at the picnic place, but
he quickly recovered his composure.
“Surely,” he smiled, “you gentle-
men don’t think I’d be craz, enough to
leave an extra cup behind if I HAD
posenet, those people? And of course

DIDN’T poison them!”

“Then how did the sixth cup get
there?” asked Fisher.

“How should I know?” the suspect
replied hotly. “A person would cer-
tainly have to be insane to leave such
a thing behind him.” .

Sheriff Fisher, narrowly eying the

glib-tongued lawyer, quickly put in: ©

“Okay, Shank,” he said quietly.
“Come with us. We are going to take
a little drive.” :

A short time later the sheriff's
car pulled up in front of a_hos-
pital. Shank, accompanied by Fisher
and the other officers, alighted.

Shank gasped audibly when they
entered a room in the hospital.

“My God!” he cried. “That’s Mrs.

Alvin Colley. Why 1...”

Sheriff Fisher held up his hand for
silence. He eyed the attorney as his
head dropped to his chest.

With. taut faces the men stood
around the bed on which Mrs. Alvin
Colley had been placed. The officers
hoped that she would regain con-
sciousness and identify Mark Shank
as the sixth member of the fatal pic-
nic party.

Do hid com hour passed, and the wo-
man’s eyelids fluttered weakly.
Her lips began to move, soundlessly
at first, and then formin muttered
words. The investigators drew closer,
and stood tense and silent.

“Poisoned .. .” she gasped. “We
were poisoned .. . poisoned . . ad

Her lips moved on, soundlessly

‘again, The woman suddenly relapsed

in unconsciousness, AGQTAEINS groans
escaping her lips. he shuddered,
stéffened and lay still.

-“She’s dead,” the doctor whispered
after a long pause.

Sheriff Fisher nodded. Silently, the
group stepped out of the room and
ay cae

heir car again braked to a stop.

.“Some more people I want you to

identify,” Fisher said icily as he led
Shank into the morgue.

Shank’s face turned a pasty white
as. the officers removed the rubber
sheet from the face of the dead man.

“That’s Alvin!” he shouted. “Alvin
Colley, he’s . . . he’s the husband of
the woman that just died in the hos-
pital.”

“Yes, we know that,” Fisher said
tonelessly.

The sheriff led Shank to two other
slabs which were across the room.
The sheets were removed from the
bodies of the two boys.

Shank looked up and his eyes were
deep-sunk. He gestured toward the
two still figures of the small boys ly-
ing in the morgue. “Good heavens!”
he muttered to the sheriff. “The boys
are Clarence and Clement Colley.
They are Alvin’s sons.” ” ‘

Sheriff Fisher drew the rubber
sheet back over the small bodies and
turned to the Akron lawyer. He
nodded as though reaching some men-
tal decision. i

“Only the smallest child lived,” the
sheriff said. “I’ll trouble you to tell
me his name.”

“The baby is Clyde Colley,” an-
swered Shank. “He is about four
years old, I believe. Clarence and
Clement are seven and eight. This is
a terrible thing.”

“Okay,” interrupted Fisher, “we're
through here. Better come along.
You've still got more explaining to
me We think you know more about
this.”

Shank stared at the sheriff, then
with a shrug pulled on his hat and
followed the investigators to their car,
in which he was swiftly taken to be
lodged in a jail cell.

A report was awaiting the officers
when they reached the sheriff's office.
It was the findings of the state chem-
ist. “Strychnine in the cups and
bottle,” the report said. “The con-
tents of the bottle and cups was ordi-
nary grape juice to which strychnine
had been added.”

The officers sped to Hot Springs
and searched Mark Shank’s hotel
room. There in the room where the
lawyer had registered the night be-
fore the Colley’s fatal picnic, the men
found a package of strychnine. They

Arkansas Gazette

11/29/89
LRM Y A

Petition’seeks.

to_halt death:
of ‘Simmons «; ;

‘ is (: eevee! 0 is a

Associated Press ¢: vigitags re SEEMS ,

«The U.S. : Giiahie Cut is to

hear arguments in the‘ Ronald
Gene Simmons case on Jan. 10, the
office of Attorney General Steve.
Clark said Monday. ° aes
‘The court has before it a petition
ie by another death row inmate,
Jona’ Whitmoré,‘Asking that Sim:.
‘mons’. execution be stopped, th,
.AlThe case will be the third heard
on Jan.° 10, said James Lee,. an’
assistant to Clark. ¥-yi02" 7.
Simmons was cobalt in May
1988 of capital murder for the
shooting deaths of two Russellville
residents in December 1987. He’
was sentenced to die and asked to
be executed as'soon as possible. *
In the same trial, he was con-
victed of four counts of attempted
capital murder and of Pongiully
detaining & Woman; "sie yer".
In‘a later trial, he was Roavieied
of a second charge of capital mur-
der for the deaths of 14 relatives,
whose hodies were found at hie
house, including seven in a shallow
grave, after the Russellville slay-.
ings. This verdict also resulted i ina
sentence of death. > ©" =
Simmons was scheduled to die
March 16, but the Supreme Court
issued a stay based on a petition
from Whitmore, who argued that-
there must be an appeals court
‘review of any case which results in’
a death sentence. :
Simmons waived his right to ap-
peal in order to expedite the date of
the execution.

Thursday, April 26, 1990 Arkansas Gazette 3B

~ Simmons’ last appeal targeted

~~ Attorney general asks for dismissal so execution can proceed *}°

By Scott Bowles %
Gazette Staff

- Attorney General Steve ‘Clark, fresh off a
favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court,
filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the last

pending appeal of condemned killer Pppald

Gene Simmons. °

On Tuesday, the scart ruled that fellow death

row inmate Jonas Whitmore lacked the legal

standing to challenge Simmons’ death sentence. .
The ruling apparently cleared the path for the -

execution of Simmons, who was convicted in
separate trials of killing 14 family members and
two Russellville residents. ;

Whitmore appealed the conviction for the

family slayings, asking the Supreme Court to .

require appellate review of all death row cases,
regardless of the wishes of’the condemned

LP. H. ia mene

killer.

Simmons has waived all appeals and said he
wants to die.

Whitmore was foiled Tuesday when the Su-
preme Court said he had no standing to inter-
vene on Simmons’ behalf.

Whitmore was not the first person to appeal
for Simmons.

The first appeal came from the Rev. Louis
Franz, a Catholic priest, who appealed the
conviction‘ for the Russellville murders. That
case remains in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in St. Louis.

Clark asked that the Franz appeal be dis-
missed because it was based on the same
argument as Whitmore’s appeal.

James lsee, spokesman for the attorney gener-
al’s office, said Gov. Bill Clinton cannot set an

execution in the case involving the deaths of

Simmons’ family members until late May,.§

meaning Simmons’ execution could not take
place probably before late June. z

“If we can get the court to go ahead and

* dissolve the stay in the first case, an execution

date could be set a lot sooner,” Lee said. Clinton

could set the date almost immediately and the.

execution could take place by late May, he said..
Michael Gans, deputy for the appeals court,
said Wednesday that the three judges reviewing

the case have received Clark’s motion, but have §

not made a ruling.

“I expect the court will act fairly promptly, n

Gans said.
No one has been executed in Arkansas since

Charles Franklin Fields, 32, was electrocuted!

Jan. 24, 1964,

pre ARK DEA OCRAT

ans: as

shits Prorswms

Behe

ee fang hee

Yad omit
BY MAX PARKER { #!*ictti Hott’:
Democrat Capitol Bureau * °° ar hie ty

“Attorney General. Steve:

Clark on Friday denied poli-

to ‘execute, (

; -yeien yo. a

sr we PEGE

> pgeaieg

: iN.

‘tce,” Clark said. “Ronald Gene ©
Simmons wants to die and the
state is trying to see that the
‘sentence is carried out.” —

tits is playing any role in his: Simmons, 49, of Dovet (Pope *

efforts to expedite the execu-

tion of mass murderer Ronald

Gene Simmons. Share be
Clark, who is not running

for re-election, said his -

ednesday request to the U.S.

upreme Court to waive a 25---

day waiting period allowed for

any petitions. to rehear the:::
case was aimed at countering “ qd

more delays by those trying to
block Simmons’ execution.
“They just want us to move
at a snail’s pace,” Clark said.
**The nation’s high court on
Tuesday ruled 7-2 that Jonas
Whitmore, another Arkansas
déath row inmate; does not
have the legal standing to in--.,

tervene on Simmons’ behalf: ra 14 family members whose bod- -

County) has twice been con-
. \vieted and sentenced to death |
for the December 1987 mur- -
ders of 16 people. He has re-
mained steadfast in his desire
to be executed.

His first death sentence was
handed down for the shooting

ents. «

That case is on appeal to the -

8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals at St. Louis. It was ap-
pealed by a. Catholic priest ,
from Star City (Lincoln County) *

“and a group of death tow in- .
.' mates. ~

» hast year, ‘gimmons was or- |
dered to die for the murders of

Whitmore contended a manda: AG les were fotind in and around
tofy review of all capital cases ; s* his home. -

should be required.

aie That was the case appealed .

Art Allen of Littlé” Rock, Yvby Whitmore to the nation’s.

-- Whitmore’s: ‘attorney, said 5
Thursday he believes the re,"

high court. :*

quest to waive the rehearing.; it ‘motion asking the 8th Circuit!

riod was madé so the execu-

oe ion would occur, ‘before the; ‘sidering for a stay of Simmons 2 :
”. May 29 primary: ¥4¢/ "> % Rad pak se?
' “Mr, Allen needs to be rem-);;’ ‘

- Clark has aloo ‘filed c fprised‘if'there was not a|

to dismiss‘a motion:it: is con-

i, execution, + Foe i". k
However, the cou was; ; lawyers wil

lark’says

‘Morrilton lawyer representing
‘the group trying to intervene

‘ing with the nation’s high court

‘deaths of two Russellville resi-_

AL at [fo

sorties dal?

No politics behind push|

the stay...Mark Cambiano, a

in Simmons’ case, made that
request: ~~~ -

Cambiano argued that dis-'
solving the stay would be “pre-
mature” because the time has
not elapsed to file for rehear-

in the other Simmons case.

“The- U.S. Supreme Court
did not address the standing
issue with regard to taxpayers

or other death row inmates
who, unlike Whitmore, have
not yet had a direct review by

‘the state Supreme Court and

would therefore be entitled to
have Simmons’ sentence in

_ that group of capital cases

- against which their sentence is
comparatively reviewed,” he
said. “Most importantly, based
on Whitmore’s lack of stand-
ing, the court did not address
the devs isgue of es ap-

Pea art asia: he" would be

'Mast-minuté effort to te Sim-

‘mons’ execution. | ‘;
ry) He'said he’s heard rumors

at.& atc 4 of death penalty

meet soon to “see

4nded I’m not running for‘ pffs. ‘+ yasked. Friday not to dissolve-: what,if anything, they can do.”

,
od

ot
. * vee
‘ ee

ves

‘ near eon
wie ee

id
vo eee g

va tge
eye

« Sates
vee

ates

oe By
hee Gazette Staff

sic he OO

- + Thursday, April 26, 1990: Arkansas Gazette 5B

es bas. I

ate for Sim

4
we wh
Op PUFED Stay

mi
Scott Bowles |

. ‘
gree gs ty = «oli

‘1g AB whew oF Noilics
oeedragw" sopbulory
‘ “? if

Attorney General Steve Clark, fresh ‘off a

one

: ee * favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court,

ee filed a motion

Wednesday to dismiss the last

ee pending appeal of condemned killer Ronald

Gene Simmons.

::; On Tuesday, the court ruled that fellow death
“." row inmate Jonas Whitmore lacked the legal
standing to challenge Simmons’ death sentence.

The ruling apparently cleared the path for the

‘b execution of Simmons, who was convicted in
Separate trials of killing 14 family members and
» two Russellville residents.

ve ea

oe family slayings, asking the Supreme Court to
° Fequire appellate review of all death row cases,
’. regardless of the wishes of the condemned

ns ex

af iF a9

.s° Whitmore appealed the conviction for’ the” ‘missed’ because “it'*

fine ari rir ae ian eh oS
Rant +f aaa | atte Cosi Rtg

or dismissal

] “

eg . %, oh gn %

“an id tye as
Pee

May*"3

Swhtewe ee.

motion f

“tk oa 1% 2 8s 4 :
roan ti ee a, lc { b fe es he d
Reet beg ubroen® tas aotaclianeg
killer. -, SR ee rt se
__, Simmons has waived all
wants to die. iy

EA EP Ra dg
ed by late

iP 44 eas

Ow Mes fee e-4 - . ve ~ eves ' , eg
[tue ove voit os} ai: execution in the case involving the death
appeals and said he . members until late Ma

' meaning Simmons’ execution could not take

Sat ee we hie henthin ed sate ee ee

Simmons’ family

aie ety

Whitmore was foiled Tuesday when the Su: 7 place probably before late June. , Jee
preme Court said he had no standing to inter- . ; “If we can get the court to go ahead an

vene on Simmons’ behalf. _. Fe bee cag eng
_ Whitmore was not the first person to appeal
for Simmons. Me rtae cele Ys feed Mand boat
The first appeal came from the Rev. Louis
Franz, a Catholic priest, who appealed the
conviction for the Russellville murders. That
case remains in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of |
Appeals in St. Louis. .. .. - Site i OG aga
Clark asked that the Franz appeal be dis-
was ‘based on
. argument as Whitmore’s appeal. ° . a
‘James Lee, spokesman for the attorney gener-
al’s office, said Gov. Bill Clinton cannot set an

dissolve the stay in the first case, an executiofi
date could be set a lot sooner,” Lee said. Clinto
could set the date almost: immediately and the
execution could take place by late May, he said.
» Michael Gans, deputy for the appeals court,
said Wednesday that the three judges reviewin
_ the case have received Clark’s motion, but have.
mot madearulingg «| Pit ee
“I expect the court will act fairly promptly*
% ‘the’'same™ Gans said. PR Rre ir Fees. Ele eS RT NTR ete he tS ye 2@ *
: ..._ No one has been executed in Arkansas since}

Charles Franklin Fields, 32, was electrocutédg
Jan. 24, 1964. =

sev eee pe

Voy mem y

argued before high court

- 7@ @@i>. 25

jaet at? JP~ Dba wwe io
‘aste . ee: eb.”
By Jeffrey: Stinson’: ay wae “ eeemelade)
Gazette Washington Bureau : agsity a ee

WASHINGTON — Although mass sacaleaes Roe-
ald Gene Simmons wants a quick execution, an
attorney for another Arkansas death-row inmate
urged ‘the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to
ignore those. wishes ane onvet a review of the killer’s
case. | =<

“This may, in fact, ity a person whet is not eligible for |
the death penalty under the law,” Arthur Allen of |
| alk Rock said of Simmons, the convicted killer of 16 |
| a i "3 a 4? 7
¢ W "Bust because Ackemahe extuslagal taw dose net require
_ ani dutomatic review of all capital cases by a higher
' state court and Simmons refuses to appeal, Allen said, —

‘ there is no guarantee that the death penalty was |
_ properly imposed on Simmons for killing” ‘14 of his
- victims. Sir ame

| “The absence of that feature renders the Arkansas

; death penalty unconstitutional as it applies to Mr.

. Simmons,” Allen said.

' : Attorney General Steve Clark told tee delat, “Mr.
Simmons has said, ‘I want to die,’ Jonas. Whitmore
has no right to interfere.” .- Seaeta?

As relatives of Simmons’ victims: ed Clark -
accused Whitmore of trying to “frustrate the death
penalty process and slow it in Arkansas” because he
may very well exhaust all his appeals soon and be

ready for the death chamber himself. -

Seven of the nine justices, including ‘Chief Justice
William Rehnquist, kept pressing Allen to explain
what right Whitmore has to stick his" nose into

bce PENALTY/3A

Penalty’ not freakish, Clark says

Continued from Page 1A

Simmons’ execution and why they
should stick theirs in.

“A mandatory appeal doesn’t
seem to help Whitmore very

much,” said Associate Justice By-
ron White.

Arkansas is the only one of 37
states with the death penalty that
doesn't require an appellate review
of every capital-punishment case.

“Death,” Allen argued, “‘is enti-
tled to higher safeguards to make
sure it is not unfairly imposed.”

If the court were to rule that
Whitmore lacks the proper legal
standing to challenge the state’s
death penalty law in this case, the
way would be cleared for Simmons’
execution.

Such a decision, in practical
terms, would insulate any state’s
death penalty law from legal chal-
lenge in a case in which the defen-
dant chose not to appeal.

‘The court’s decision is expected
by July.

Simmons — convicted in sepa-
rate trials of slaughtering two Rus-
sellville residents and 14 members
of his family in a two-day spree in

outa

passin 1987 — has aiiwed all Bs will be slowed to a_

rights to appeal.and insists he
wants no more delay in his rende- -

vous with a needle that will pump a ve

deadly chemical into him.

His date with death on March 16,
1989, for killing the Russellville
residents was postponed when the
Rev. Louis Franz, a Catholic
priest, appealed that conviction a
day before. And now Whitmore is
contesting the conviction for the
family murders.

Whitmore’s own conviction and
sentencing already have been up-
held by the Arkansas Supreme
Court and are on appeal in federal
court.

Seven other death-penalty states
— Missouri, Alabama, Idaho, New
Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and
Virginia — wrote a friend-of-the-
court brief supporting Clark’s ar-
gument that Whitmore has no
business interfering in Simmons’
execution.

They are afraid that if the Su-
preme Court rules that death-row
inmates can legally intercede in
other killers’ cases, the pace of

snail’s- walk and they will con-
* stantly be in court.

Clark predicted later that if Sim-

* mons revoked his waiver and ap- -
:pealed his cases, he could likely

postpone his execution 20 to 25
years.

Although Simmons last week
called Clark incompetent and said
he didn’t want him arguing on his
behalf Wednesday, the families of
his victims were pleased with the

‘attorney general's courtroom per-

formance.
“I think he did a great job,” said

‘Patrick McNulty of Camden,

whose son Dennis, his wife and two
children were murdered by Sim-
mons.

He rejected any idea that by
supporting the death penalty, they
had vengeance in their hearts.

“We're not a vindictive family,”
McNulty said. “It’s the law in Ar-
kansas. Remember, he killed 16
people, and three were children.”
— The Associated Press contributed

to this report.

ARKANSAS GAZETTE THURS. /-I/-90

Firearms section. under Capt. Paul R.
McDonald came up with solid evidence
that linked suspect to the slaughter

through the glass. ‘‘I could see him, but
he couldn’t hear me. I motioned to him to
come out and he came out of the inner
office and asked, ‘What do you want?’ *’:

“I said, ‘I want your damned gun’.’’

The man who had coldly murdered
two people and wounded four others in a
30-minute ‘shooting spree handed over
his lethal weapon, a still-loaded .22-cali-
ber pistol. Chief Johnston was later
awarded the aye medal for this act of
bravery. : Ao Hs

The woman hostage was ‘unhiatted!
She told officers'that she had never seen
the man before he grabbed her. He had
told her he wasn’t going to hurt her. He’d
said to her, ‘‘I’ve come to do what I

wanted to do. It’s all over now. I’ve

gotten everybody who ‘wanted to hurt
me.”’ The phone call she had been forced
to make was to the Russellville police,

Witnesses on the scene identified the’

gunman as 47-year-old Ronald Gene
Simmons, who had worked part-time at
the freight company until he had quit

abruptly without notice only a few days _

before this rampage. It was later revealed
that he had‘also worked briefly at the ee
company and at-the mart.

The brown Toyota that Simmons bad
been driving was impounded and
searched. Officers found two fully load-
ed .22-caliber pistols in it. One was a

10-inch Ruger and the other was a 3-inch ©

. H. and R. The car was registered in the
name of.Ronald Gene Simmons Jr., son
of the arrested man.

Officers also found 90 long-rifle, hol-

low-point .22-caliber bullets in the car.
This type.of bullet is twice as deadly as a

regular bullet, because it explodes into
fragments on impact with a solid material

“such’as bone.

‘In the back seat of the car lay a cowboy
hat that fit the description of the one the
gunman had been wearing at his first two
stops. Somewhere along his route, Sim-
mons had switched from the cowboy hat

. and dark overcoat to a light jacket and
“white baseball cap.

“Chief Johnston took Simmons to the
city jail. He grilled him hard for two

- hours, but Simmons never spoke a single

word, He refused even to state his name.
When he was put in his cell he lay on the
bunk with his face to the wall.

News of the shooting rampage, the two

murders, and four wounded citizens had
blazed through Pope County and Arkan-
sas like wildfire. But no family member
had come in or called about Simmons.
When Chief Johnson asked Simmons

_ if he had family he wanted contacted, the
-prisoner’s lower lip trembled slightly. It

pom? wil ae |

. Two people lay dead
‘and four were wounded,
but, these attacks were
- only the tip of the
“real homicide horror...

-was the only sign he ever gave that he had

heard a word the chief had uttered.

-Former employers told the chief that
Simmons lived at Dover, a tiny commu-
nity of 948, just seven miles away. Chief
Johnston; Pope County Sheriff James
Bolin; and several state police investi-
gators headed for Dover. They located
Simmons’ residence.

“The house sat atop a slight hill at the
end of a rutted, muddy driveway. A high
cinder-block fence screened it from

view, isolating it from its neighbors. It
was basically a mobile home to which .
‘several rooms had been added, making a

total of eight. Near the entrance of the
driveway was a warning sign: ‘‘Post-

ed—Keep Out—No Trespassing.”’

MD BLOCKBUSTER STORY!

42 Master Detective

Sher. James Bolin, experienced sleuth,
carefully analyzed evidence, offered a
grimly accurate theory about massacre

. It was about 3:00 p.m. now,:The
house was shrouded in darkness,. no

_lights showing anywhere. Officers blew

their car horns loudly. Only eerie silence

‘greeted them. Yet they had good reason

to believe that some family members
must be there.

The front door was locked. There was
no back door. Sheriff Bolin found an
unlocked window, crawled through and
opened the door.

Ghastly carnage assailed the officers’
senses. Two adults—a man and a woman
dressed in outdoor clothing—lay on the
living room floor, dead from multiple
gunshot wounds, ‘Through the open
doorway the officers could see two more
adults, also dead, also heavily clothed.
Blankets and quilts had been tossed casu-
ally over the bodies.

Rapidly the horrified officers searched !

the rest of the home: A fifth victim was
found—a six-year-old girl dead of stran-
gulation lay face up on one of the beds.

Sheriff Bolin immediately posted his
own ‘‘No Trespassing’’ sign and sealed
the area with yellow police tape.

Positive on-site identification of the
five victims couldn’t be made immedi-
ately. Nevertheless, it was almost a cer-
tainty that they were. members of the
Simmons family who had come home for
the holidays.

The ‘sheriff obtained warrants to
search the: grounds and anything found
on them. This included two cars parked
near the house. ~

One bedroom had blood-spattered

‘walls and a handprint outlined in blood.

a es

ea ee ras

sa erie

Marianne Simmons, age 11

Sheila McNulty, 24

came out just as the first shot was fired,”’
she said. The bullet struck the manager
- in the chest, seriously wounding him.

Chaffin, sitting a few feet away, was
shot point-blank in the face. The petri-
fied witness dived behind some crates as
the assailant fired again and again. *‘I
-ducked. I could feel the heat of the bullet
by my hair,”’ she told officers.

She couldn’t see the gunman’s face
because he was wearing a cowboy hat
pulled down to his eyebrows. The gun-
man sped from the scene in a Toyota, the
woman informed detectives. When she
felt it was safe to come out, she checked
on Chaffin. He was dead. The manager
was still alive, but critically wounded.

As the second team of investigators
aided the victims and questioned the wit-
nesses, the rampage continued. At 10:39
a small service station and food mart just
2.9 miles east of the oil company : fell
victim to the berserk. gunman. ‘

The store manager was drinking cof-

fee with a friend at the back of the store -

Dennis McNulty, 33

Rebecca

Michael McNulty,

when a man entered, spoke briefly to the
cashier, pulled a gun from under his coat
and shot her in the jaw. The 46-year-old
cashier screamed and fell to the floor.
The manager reacted quickly. “I did
the only thing I could think of—I grabbed
a chair and started toward the man,
screaming at him to get out. I threw. the
chair at him.”’ i
The gunman shot at the manager at
least twice. One shot fired from near the
cash register missed. The assailant ‘ad-
vanced, firing from three feet away. The

bullet was deflected by the flying chair

but it still struck the manager in the fore-
head over the left eye. ‘
The visitor had ducked and hidden be-
hind a display. The manager screamed
and threw pop bottles at the gunman. The
assailant fled in a brown Toyota.

A fourth business came under attack at

10:48. It was a freight company 4 short
distance from the mart. A woman cus-
tomer was grabbed and hustled into the
manager’s office. Through the thick

As fast-moving lawmen pursued the

shooting spree,

- find when they b

they had yet tos

Simmons, 8.

21 months

witnesses outside could

glass window,
-see, the gunman
hostage’s head. - ;
\ The gunman could be seen speaking to
the woman. She picked up the phone and
‘spoke. briefly to someone before her
trembling fingers dropped the phone.
Moments later, a half, dozen police
- “ears careened into the parking lot. The
officers jumped out, their weapons at
“ready. ges Bs : .
o« Just then, Russellville: Police Chief
Herb Johnston arrived at the scene, out
‘of uniform and unarmed. He’d been
off-duty when he heard about the shoot-
ings. He took immediate control of the
situation:. recs ‘| NE
‘, Johnston, a 42-year veteran of law en-
forcement, has a reputation for being a
gutsy cop who is willing to take a risk if
necessary, but he prefers the cool, ‘calm
-approach. He does. not: meet. violence
swith violence. REY ay as?

holding a gun to the

He entered the outer room. alone, still

unarmed, and talked to the gunman

ose Fy
4

wacko on th

bad

wild

suspect what they'd
acktracked on his bloody trail!

““Master Detective 41

Horror of Fatal

Family Reunion!

been seen byfmieighbors carrying: the: :

heavy concrete blocks up the hill to form :

the wall.
Friendly neighbors had called on

them, but after repeated hostile rebuffs.

from Simmons, they, had stopped: call-.
ing. Only one lady visited Becky:Sim- ©

mons semi-regularly—a neighbor who °
would watch for Simmons to leave, then

‘slip over to visit her friend.

"The: neighbor told. investigators that ®-
Becky was frequently covered with
bruises, She had difficulty moving “

‘around sometimes, walking stiffly, as if.

she’d had’a bad fall.”

The woman felt that Becky was a vic-
tim of wife abuse but was too ashamed to
admit it or to ask for help. She. called
Becky a ‘‘saint,’’ a kind and loving
mother whose.children adored her...

-This neighbor, who lived nearest to
the Simmonses, said she’d heard several
shots on the day the slayings took place
but had thought little of it. Deer hunters

frequent the area and it was the Decem- .

ber season...

She had gone to.the house that after-
noon—on the slaying date—after seeing
Simmons leave, to bring a small gift to

_her friend. No. one had answered: her

knock, which had surprised and dis-
turbed her. She had seen no one leave
cRrept Simmons.

The family,;members were virtually
prisoners. -The: four ‘children still at
home—Loretta, Eddy, Marianne, and
Rebecca—rode):the -bus to school and

- back. They were not allowed to partici-

pate in sports or any school activity. On-
ly once in her short life did young Loretta
experience the normal part of school.
Loretta, a straight-A student, was a

Startlingly beautiful girl with dark flash-

ing eyes, long, dark hair and a captivat-
ing smile which was rarely seen.

- Loretta had been elected to the Valen-
tine Court at school.. Somehow she’d
persuaded her father to let her take part.
Her grandmother on her mother’s side
bought her a red dress. It was her one
moment of glory.

The three older Simmons. chil-
dren—Ronald Jr.,,Sheila, and Wil-
liam—had escaped ‘their’ hideous home
environment at the earliest opportunity.

The house had indoor plumbing, but it -
wasn’t connected. Neither was the
phone. Mail was received at a post office _
box and Simmons had the only key. He

48 Master Detective

censored all mail, incoming and outgo-
ing. No one was allowed to have postage
“stamps.

Wife and daughters were all forbidden
to wear make-up or style their hair.

Becky was not allowed to shop, even for
- groceries. They were allowed to go to
church only. on very rare occasions.
Simmons was a retired military staff
Vebcgeant. After retirement he had held a

‘series of low-paying clerical jobs in the
Russellville area. One of these jobs had
been at the same oil.company where

Kathy Kendrick had worked. Simmons
had developed an obsessive infatuation
‘ “with Kendrick. He had tried to force
himself on the divorced mother of a
~ small child.

“Kendrick had been sexually harassed
“by Simmons to the point that she had
been forced to report it to her supervisor.
The supervisor had talked to Simmons
and warned him to stop. Simmons had
suit that job a few days later... .

He got another job at the freight com-
pany where he stayed briefly before quit-
_ting nastily and telling | his boss to ‘‘take
this job and shove it.’

’»-His alleged motive for killing Ken-
drick was her rejection of him. He went
to her new job at the law firm and shot her
there. Then he went to the oil company.
The woman he shot in the chest and head

and critically wounded was the supervi-

sor who had chastised him.

‘Apparently he had gone to the freight
company to kill the manager, whom he
seriously wounded. Chaffin was an inno-
cent bystander who happened to be in the
path of the berserk gunman, who by now
had_ nothing left to lose.

. The question of motive was daiwistial
to the investigation, but it remained a
puzzle until a relative revealed a letter
she had received. Becky had seldom
complained about her life, but on a cou-
ple of occasions she’d guardedly admit-
ted to a relative that she would leave her
husband if she felt that she could ‘take

‘care of her children.

, . The letter, written by Becky, was giv-
“en to Sheriff Bolin by the relative who’d

received it. It had been written and smug-

gled out only a few days before Becky’s
2 ag

«. The letter said that her life was now so
einbesrsble that she must escape and free
’ herself and her children. She longed to

“have the simple pleasure of shopping for
“groceries, to visit with her children, to go

to church.
“The Christmas reunion was the first

time in four years that the whole family

could be together. Her joy was bound-
less. But she had made. secret plans to
leave with one of her sons when the holi-
days were over. ~ .

. Authorities speculated that ‘Simmons
had learned of his wife’s plans to leave
him and take the children, and he had
made some lethal plans of his own.

Arkansas neighbors described Sim-
mons as a hostile recluse. He had moved
to Arkansas on August. 1981, from
Ortero County, New Mexico; The family
had lived there in ‘an*isolated fortress
much like their Arkansas home.
~The move from New Mexico to Ar-
kanSas had been made. in the dead of
night only hours before. Simmons was to

~ be arrested by the Ortero County Sheriff.

The charge had been incest. Simmons
was to be charged with having sexual
relations with his 16-year-old daughter
Sheila. This depraved relationship had
climaxed in the ultimate horror. Sheila
was pregnant and both she and Simmons
said that Simmons had fathered her child.

Sheila had hysterically confessed her
unbearable condition to her only friend.
That friend had contacted social services
in,Ortero in April 1981

Both Sheila and her father admitted
they’d had sexual relations twice at home
and twice on a trip to California. . -

‘Simmons told the social services
workers that his reason for. sexually as-
saulting his daughter was to teach her
about sex and prevent her from being
hurt! He readily acknowledged that the
unborn child must be his. _ -

On April 28, 1981, a social services
report requested legal action, but -ac-
knowledged that Sheila might not testify
against her father. They. wanted to re-
move Sheila before her child was born.
They also requested custody.of Sim-
mons’ other daughters for two years.

The Simmonses countered by swear-
ing that they no longer had family or
marriage problems. Ronald Gene Sim-
mons swore that he was no longer having
intercourse with his daughter, nor would
he ever again.

Simmons and his wife’ ‘wanted Sheila
to remain at home. They said they would
tell the new baby the truth when it was old
enough to understand. This. was in direct
opposition to the recommendations of the
agency.

A compromise was reached. Simmons
was placed on pre-prosecution probation.
This means that a perpetrator admits
abuse and agrees to counseling.

Counseling continued from April to
June of 1981.: At that time, Simmons
learned that the statements he’d made to
the counselor were not considered privi-

sleuth,
fered a
assacre

wv, The
288, no
rs blew
“=Ce
on
2rs

ere was
und an
igh and

fficers’
-woman
7 on the
nultiple
e open
vo more
clothed.
| 2d casu-

earched
tim was
of stran-
ie beds.
sted his
1 sealed
1 of the
mmedi-
st a cer-
; of the
1ome for

—~

‘ants to
| g found
| 3 parked

pattered
n blood.

The room was furnished like:a teenage
boy’s room. The Simmonses had a 14-
year-old boy who lived there;

Sheriff Bolin compiled a list of the

‘Simmons family members. There were
. nine more,, none of whom: ‘had been lo- |

cated.

Appeals ‘were made over television
- and in newspapers, but no one in the .
. family responded. The headlines blazed,
‘‘Seven Dead in Killing Spree Makes .

One of State’s Worst Mass Murders.”’
There was‘a large, deep pond 100

“yards behind the house. Sheriff Bolin |
; chs, oF to have i it dragged the following eM

day. :
‘Barly. on Tuesday morning, dragging

C Operations began on the pond. Then a -
group of searchers found a freshly dug *

excavation covered with shéet metal..

__.) Officers stopped dragging and started ©
‘digging. Very ‘carefully the pointed ©

shovels pierced. the December frozen

~ earth. The grave was shallow—only four «
‘feet deep—and, small—only three feet
.. wide, seven feet long. It proved to be big”

enough to hold nine bodies.
- The bodies had been just piled i in, their

. heads all pointed i in the ‘same direction.
_ -All the victims were wearing night-
- clothes.. There were two adults and five

children. The grownups had died of mul-

‘tiple bullet wounds. The children still
_- had cords: wrapped around their necks,
. instruments of their vicious strangling.

The horror compounded, In the trunk
of each of the cars in the yard, sickened

officers found the bodies of two babies,
‘each less than two years old. They had

been strangled and placed—dead or
alive—in heavy plastic garbage bags
sealed with tape.

These discoveries brought the tally of
corpses found on the property to 14. This

made the total body count 16, by far the ©

largest mass slaying in Arkansas history.
It was one of the largest in the history of
the entire country.

Ronald Gene Simmons had appatently
killed.every living member of his fami-
ly—his wife Rebecca, 46; his sons and
daughters—Ronald Gene Jr. 26; Loretta
17; Eddy, 14; Marianne, 11; Rebecca, 8;
and Sheila McNulty, 24. = -

He had also allegedly killed Sheila’s

‘husband, Dennis, 33. Four of his victims
had been his four grandchildren—Sylvia .

McNulty, 6; Barbara Simmons, 3; Mi-
chael McNulty, 21 months; and William
H..Simmons Jr., 20 months.

Arkansas crime-lab personnel broughi:
in several ambulances to transport the.

victims to the medical examiner’s office.
Items removed from the crime scene
included a package of starter rope, a bul-

Russellville Police Chief Herb Johnston, 42-year veteran: lawman, was: ‘summoned to

scene of apical s final anes ee cop. walked in unarmed and arrested ‘suspect

let, plastic garbage aie rifle shells; ;
rolls of tape, bedclothing and blood sam-
ples from scrapings on the bedroom wall. :

Simmons was arraigned on Tuesday
morning. The 47-year-old prisoner was a
graying, balding man who sported a
short-cropped goatee. He still had not
spoken a word. The judge read him his

‘rights and asked Simmons to acknowl-

edge his understanding with a nod. The

Ronald Gene Simmons, retired staff ser- a
geant, was described as recluse who'd
kept his family under absolute control

Aha

prisoner nodded h his head only once, then

stood quiet with his eves focused on
the floor.
Simmons was charged with two

counts of capital murder in the deaths of —

Kathy Kendrick and Jim Chaffin, and
four counts of attempted capital murder.
No other murder charges were filed at
this time.

He was held without bail. He was sent
to a psychiatric unit for a routine 30-day
mental evaluation. Throughout the pro-_

ceedings, Simmons was heavily guard-

ed. Numerous threats had ‘been made
against his life... 10%

Reporters: descended:t on. the” small
town from all major news media in the
country. Sheriff. Bolin and Chief John-

. ston got calls from Japan; Australia, En-

gland, France, and Italy. The question:
most frequently asked: What kind of man
would slaughter his own entire family?

Investigators developed the following

scenario after anh intense. Pend | in-..

vestigation... Moi 9

Simmons a his family had lived in
Arkansas for about six years, in the Do-
ver community since. 1983. He had

bought 13.6 acres, puta mobile home on’:

it, added rooms, and built an impregna-
ble fence around it. The children had
Wes N) ‘(Continued on page 48)

Master Detective 43

by the authority of the State of Arkansas, accuse Robert Rose,
of the crime of Murder in the First Degree committed as follows,
to-wit: The said Robert Rose in the county and state aforesaid,
on the ——day of January A. D. 1935 did unlawfully, wilfully,
and with specific intent to kill, and with malice aforethought,
after premeditation and deliberation, kill and murder one Everette
Wheeler, by shooting him with a certain pistol, which he, the
said Robert Rose, then and there held in his hand, which said
pistol then and there being loaded with gunpowder and metallic
bullets, against the peace and diginity of the State of Arkansas.
(Signed) Roy Richardson
Prosecuting Attorney
On the back side of the indictment are these words:
No. 153
STATE OF ARKANSAS
VS
ROBERT ROSE
A TRUE BILL (Signed) Jno. F. Grammer, Foreman
Indictment for Murder in the First Degree.
Witnesses:
John Curtis
Alfred Curtis
Jake Engles
Geneva Crump
Norine Burns
Mrs. Everett Wheeler
Filed in open court in the presence of all the Grand Jurors
this 17th day of January, 1935.
Loyd Allen, Clerk
By: Dean E. Lindsey D. C.

The next day, January 18th, 1935, Rose having been
brought into court waived his 48 hour time before he
could have been forced to trial. When asked by the
court if he had an attorney, he replied that he had none
and no money to employ one. Judge Bone then appointed
W. K. Ruddell of Batesville and S. C. Knight of Newark
to defend him. We then proceeded to select the following
parties to make up the petit jury to try the defendant:
J.C. McCall, J. D. Moore, R. C. Chamberlin, Frank Chism,
Harlan Brodie, C. B. Ford, Walter Hix, Doc Wayman,
Duck Wycough, Sam Moore, Deck Lindsey, and W. O.

Boles.

Although Rose had indicated he would enter a plea
of guilty, which he did, 1t was necessary under our
state laws to empanel a jury to set the punishment for
the crime of murder in the tirst degree. ‘here were few
peopie in the courtroom when the trial started that morn-
ing, aS Many did not think the trial would be held until
later, but betore 1t was completed there was standing
room only. All the testimony and arguments of attorneys
was finished by noon and the jury was taken out to
dinner. About 1:30 P.M. they returned into court with
the following verdict: “We, the jury, find the defendant,
Robert Rose, guilty of murder in the Ist degree as
charged in the indictment.”

(Signed) S. D. Lindsey, Foremen

This verdict meant that Circuit Judge S. Marcus
Bone would have to impose the death sentence on Rose,
which he did the next morning in open court. The de-
fendant’ had been brought into court that morning more
closely guarded than at any previous trip. Judge Bone
said to the defendant: “Stand up, Mr. Rose.” He then
reveiwed all the various legal steps that had been taken;
the indictment by a grand jury; his trial in open court
before a petit jury, and the judge then asked Rose if
he hand any statement to make before sentence was
pronounced upon him and he replied “No”. Judge Bone
then, in the following words, pronounced the sentence
of death:

“It is therefore the judgement and sentence of the court and
the law, that you, Robert Rose, the defendant herein, be and
and you are hereby remanded into the custody of the
Sheriff of Independence County, Arkansas, and that you
be by him immediately delivered to the Superintendent,
Warden, and Commissioners of the State Penitentiary at
Tucker, Arkansas, where you shall be safely kept and
confined in the State Penitentiary until the 23rd day of
February, 1935, and that on said date between the hours
of sunrise and sunset you be put to death by electroucution
in the electric chair in the Death Chamber within the
confines of the State Penitentiary, by the Warden, or
Superintendent or someone designated by him, causing to

I would get them out of that jail right away and they
thanked me. As soon as 1 got out o1 the jail and to a
telephone I took the matter up with city officials, to
the end that we could use the city jail for the women
and if there were any men in the city jail to have them
moved to the county jail. This was quickly attended
to by special ofticers. 1 might puint out here that by
early morning of the 3rd of January several sherifts
from adjoining counties as well as some former sheriffs
had arrived in Batesville to give their assistance. We
did not have such a large state police force then as
we have now and that accounts for the large number
of officers from other parts of the state.

On the morning of January 4 a few men sur-
rounded an old barn and calied out to Rose to throw out
his gun and come out. These men had received a tip
late in the afternoon of the 3 as to where Rose might
be found hiding. In this party were former sheriff Gray
Albright of Jackson County; former sheriff Tatum Plant
of White County; Independence County deputies O. C.
Cook and M. F. Presley; three trusty convicts and an
officer over them from the Tucker Prison Farm to-
gether with several bloodhounds they had brought with
them. In short order Rose threw out his gun and came
out of the barn with his hands up asking if he was in
the hands of officers of the law or mobsters. He was
assured he was in the hands of officers and promised he
would be weil protected. The countryside was swarm-
_ing with possemen and these men who had captured the
- murderer realized that for his safety they would have to
rush him out of the county. After handcuffing him they
had him lie down on the floor of one of the cars and
they drove swiftly out of the danger zone passing, among
many others, Sheriff Engles, finally ending their fast
ride at the Tucker Farm. As they were well known to
the other possemen they were not stopped and they were
away from the area before any one else knew the man
hunt was over.

A special term of the Independence Circuit Court
was convened January 17, 1935, to investigate the murder
and several other law violations which came to light

during the days of my investigation of the parties held
in jail. These are the names of the people who served
on that special grand jury: J. F. Grammer, foreman;
Madeline Shaver, clerk; D. V. Hickerson, J. Fred Max-
field, Fred Fitzhugh, J. M. Gray, W. B. Menard, Chas.
Shelpman, Bernard Talley, William Walker, C. E. Pur-
celley, Eddie Campbell, Boyce Evans, William J. Tay-
lor, Arch Jones, and Luther Jenkins. The main inci-
dent of that day of grand jury work was the appear-
ance of Rose before them. The prosecuting attorney,
Roy Richardson, of Walnut Ridge, decided that we should
have him to try to substantiate the testimony of others
concerning burglary and grand larceny charges we had
against some ot the cther parties we had in jail. When
1 notified the officers waiting on the grand jury that we
wanted Rose to be brcught before them, they forthwith
brought him, under heavy guard, and handcuffed to
Sheriff Jim B. Harris cf Izard County. When they reached
the door of the grand jury room the officers told me they
would have to handcuff him to me as they were afraid
he might make an attempt to escape. So he was hand-
cuffed to me and we entered the jury room. Two chairs
were arranged side by side so we could sit down facing
the jury. After telling of several crimes having been
committed and naming those who were present at each
crime, I then asked him if he had any statement he
wished to make concerning the killing of Mr. Wheeler.
The statement he signed, prepared by the grand jury
clerk, does not show that he made any although I re-
member he answered me by saying he had nofhing to
say. The grand jury completed its work that day by
indicting Rose for murder in the first degree and eight

or nine other parties for other crimes.

The indictment of Rose reads as follows:
INDICTMENT
Independence Circuit Court
State of Arkansas)
Against )
Robert Rose )
Indictment

The Grand Jury of Independence County, in the name and

SOUGHT
on
ia, Arkansas

I learned of your
families. My great
af Independence
mile of where Mr.
iill stands. It must

«» Lebannon, Tenn.,
{ Morgan Magness,
‘ny descendants of

iistory, my hope is

lie
_fy the relationship.
or)

:ormed in Arkansas.
aation are:
13,

15, 1818
15, 1818
15, 1818
1, 1820
1, 1820
18, 1820
. 20, 1820
and their dates of

27, 1825

r 5, 1829

23, 1835

18, 1868

21, 1873

20, 1883
ne state.

istory of Arkansas

THE MURDER OF DEPUTY SHERIFF WHEELER
AND TRIAL OF HIS KILLER, ROBERT ROSE

By VIRGIL BUTLER

Mr. Butler was born in Batesville, May 10, 1896. He at-
tended Batesville High School and Arkansas College, and was
admitted to the bar in 1928. He was a veteran of World War
I, a member of the state legislature in 1931 and 1933, and
served as deputy prosecuting attorney in 1934 and 1935. In
1939 he withdrew from practice of law and served as post-
master in Batesville for over four years; he was then trans-
fered to a rural route, serving until his retirement December
31, 1958. Mr. Butler’s father, Paul Butler, was prosecuting
attorney in the 1890's and his paternal grandfather, James
W. Butler, was judge of the Third Judicial District, and a
member of the Constitutional Convention from Independence
County in 1874, and was one of the five members chosen to
stump the state, speaking in behalf of the Constitution. Mr.
Butler’s maternal grandfather, V. Y. Cook, was the second
president of the Arkansas Historical Association and was
on2 of the first two life members of the Association.

The Arkansas Territorial Legislature on October 20,
1820, created Independence County and since that day
there has been an uncounted number of killings, many
of them unsolved. But the one of which I have the most
personal knowledge was the killing of Deputy Sheriff
Everett Wheeler on the late afternoon of January 2,
1935. It was a cold day with an overcast sky, 4 dreary
winter day. The people of Batesville and Independence
County were going about the even tenor of their ways
until early evening when the news spread rapidly that
the popular deputy sheriff had lost his life in the per-
formance of his duties. They then came to life with
the anger and excitement of a disturbed nest of hornets.

Sometime that morning George Wyatt, who was tax
assessor of Independence County, came to me, as the
deputy prosecuting attorney for the county, asking for
a warrant of arrest for one Woodrow Crump and Robert
Rose. The day before these two men drove up to a fill-

—29—

ing station belonging to Mr. Wyatt at Rosie, and asked
for ten gallons of gas. After the gas was put in their
car, they started the motor and drove hurriedly away
without making payment. After filing charges against
Crump and Rose in the Justice of the Peace Court of R.
B. Evans, I received 2 warrant for the arrest of these
men and personally gave it to Mr. Wheeler. I well re-
call that Mr. Wheeler told me the car involved would
likely prove to be a stolen one. This later proved to be
true and it was clainied by its owner from Shreveport,
Louisiana.

It was late in the afternoon before Sheriff J. R.
Engles and his chief deputy, Mr. Wheeler, left town
heading for the Brock Mountain area to serve the war-
rants on Rose and Crump. Before they reached the neigh-
borhood where they believed the two men might be, they
picked up two more deputies, John and Alfred Curtis,
and sent them to the house in question to try to ascertain
if either of the wanted men were there. While these two
men were making their investigation, Mr. Engles and
Mr. Wheeler drove cn toward Heber Springs to give
time for the investigation to be made. After turning
around and starting back they mei an old car with two
men in it. One of them Woodrow Crump. They took him
into custody and Mr. Wheeler told Mr. Engles they had
better be getting on with the job of searching the house
before it became too dark to see. Mr. Engles remained
in the car with Crump, and Wheeler and the two Curtis
men started toward the house where Rose was thought
to be.

It was testified at the trial that Mr. Wheeler went
to the front door and when he could not arouse no one,
he walked around to the back of the house. On a back
porch were three women: Nora Ivy, Geneva
Crump and Norine Burns. Rose was asleep in the house
at the time the sheriff’s car drove up but he was imme-
diately awakened by the women and told the law was
coming for him. Rose started out the rear of the
house and came out on to the porch just about the
same time that Wheeler stepped up. Wheeler called
on Rose to halt, but instead of doing so, he started

back into the house, pushing Geneva Crump ahead of
him and dragging Norine Burns behind as a shield
against possible fire from Mr. Wheeler. The deputy
stepped through a door into the kitchen and followed
Rose and the two women who had moved on into another
room. Just before Mr. Wheeler reached the door to the
secor:d room Rose wheeled and fired over the shoulder
of Norine Burns, hitting Wheeler. I do not recall how
many times he fired into the body of Wheeler but there
were marks of more than one bullet. Mr. Engles, when
he heard the firing, left the car and hurried to the
house. He found Mr. Wheeler down and in a dying con-
dition and the house empty of people. They had all made
a break for the safety of nearby woods. The sheriff,
with the body of his chief deputy, drove back to Bates-
ville.

The news of the killing spread like wild fire and
many men offered their services as possemen. No actual
count was possible but there must have been at least
one hundred men during that first night of the search.
That they were on the job was proven because they
filled the jail with suspects of aiding or abetting Rose,
not only in the commission of the crime, but in helping
him make his escape. Early on the morning of January
3rd was the first opportunity I had to talk to Sheriff
Engles. He told me about the killing so far as he knew
at that time and also told me that the jail was full and
that it was up to me to weed them out and try to get
some clear description of this man Rose. At that time he
also told me that Governor J. M. Futrell had called
out the local Nationai Guard company under the com-
mand of Captain Lucian Abraham to assist in the search.

I went to the jail and the jailer, Bill Headstream,
let me in with the prisoners. Locked in with them, my
first reaction was astonishment that the “run-way” and
the cells were full of people with several women among
them. I told them who I was and that I wanted to talk
to anyone who could give me a good description of this
man Rose. After getting more information from the
women than the men, it dawned on me that there
was little privacy in the jail, and I told the women that

—31—

PIES Fn

SSS

of the dope. Just use your heads,
get something to do if at all possible
and everything will work out O. K.
I'll have all the news and keep you
posted. I am about sick and may
have to go to a hospital. You know
how that is. But don’t worry and
don’t lose your heads, for we will beat
them and I believe it is the chance
of a lifetime, for I am sure that
Alvin can make a fortune and _ is
smarter than they are. Just put her
over.

The letter was signed “Mark Shank.”

I went through it again, seeking for
something to make fast to, that would give
mea lead. It was apparently the letter of
a close friend, warning of trouble, even
danger. Had that danger overtaken the
family in the roadster despite this tip-
off? And what could it be?

“Colley must be this dead man,” sug-
gested Buckalew, indicating the corpse.
“And he must have been in Hot Springs
recently. Akers has gone to check up.”

“We'll go through this baggage thor-
oughly after while,” I said. “Just now I
want to prepare for hunting down that
tall, thin man Murray saw. How many
will help?”

oe was a sizable gathering by now
—police officers and deputies from Hot
Springs, Malvern and other towns, as well
as several armed citizens. All were eager
to take part in the manhunt. When the
bloodhound arrived I was greatly en-
couraged, for Donnie had a record of
which any detective might be proud. Mur-
ray, the farmer who had seen the man
jump from the roadster, led us to his
home.

We ascertained the exact spot where
the man had jumped to the pavement,
and Donnie’s master put her on the trail.
She quartered to and fro for a moment,
then’ seemed to pick up the scent. She
bayed once, sniffed loudly and _ headed
from the road into the fields. Ranging
ourselves in open order, with Sheriff
Fisher and myself as leaders, we followed
her over fences and through pastures. She
led us straight for a big patch of timber.

“Our man will be hiding in those trees,”
I said confidently. “Two of you go in
with Donnie. The rest of us will surround
the place and close in toward the center
from all sides.”

Eagerly the possemen spread out and
encircled the patch of trees. After a cou-
ple of minutes we heard Donnie baying
triumphantly.

“She’s found him,” I yelled to my com-
panions at my left and right. “Close in,
quick!”

They passed the word along. We con-
verged on the central clearing from which
Donnie’s barking came. There, among the
green brush, lay a man—a tall, thin man,
face down and motionless, his head in his
arms. Donnie stood proudly over him.

I approached the prone figure. “Get
up,” I ordered, and he rose. His clothes—
they were good clothes—were torn and
his forehead was skinned and bloody. He
was slim and his lean, seamed face was
not bad looking. His exceptionally large,
dark eyes had a direct expression,

“What’s your name?” I asked.

He only looked at me, as if dazed.

“Answer me,” I commanded sharply,
but still he was silent. I looked deep into
his eyes, wondering if he was suffering
from shock or only shamming.

“He’s our man,” I said at last. “Prob-

True Detective Mysteries

(Continued from page 49)

ably he barked his forehead and tore his
clothes when he jumped from the car.
Let’s take him back to Malvern and’ lock
him up. He'll get to talking later.”

At Malvern, I checked up at the hos-

pital. Medical care had come too late for
the woman and the older of the two re-
maining boys. They were both dead. The
youngens of them all, the little shaver who

ad been in his mother’s arms when the
car went into the ditch, had apparently
had too little poison. He had taken medi-
cine cheerfully, prattling gaily to nurses
and doctors. Four, then, were dead. I
favored the theory of murder.

A harmless-looking man, his young wife,
his little, innocent boys. And what could
be the motive? How could the most cruel
monster justify such an act. I chilled
with horror and rage as I mused. When I
returned to Malvern Police Headquarters,
word came that Akers was calling on long
distance.

He told me of the results of his quest.
The letter he found had come to Alvin
Colley at General Delivery, which be-
tokened a stranger in town. And the dead
man and his family wore shabby cloth-
ing—strangers in reduced circumstances.
Then they would be staying at a cheap
hotel or boarding-house, he figured. Since
Hot Springs has no more than twenty-five
thousand population, the rest was easy.
He made inquiries in one boarding-house
district, then another, until he found that
a landlady by the name of Mrs. C. C.
Costello had recently rented a suite of
rooms to a man, his wife and three boys.

Locating Mrs. Costello, Akers checked
with her the descriptions of her tenants
and was convinced that they were the
poisoned family. The man had given the
name of Roy Fetty, and Mrs. Costello
spoke highly of him and his wife and
children. Questioned further by Akers,
she told how, the evening before, a
stranger came to rent a room. The Fettys
seemed to know that stranger, she said,
and he had driven away with them in the
morning.

“The stranger must be the man you
found,” concluded Akers.

“DIGHT,” I agreed. “And listen, the

family apparently went by two names
—Colley and Fetty. Reasons for assumed
names aren’t very often good ones. They
may have been mixed up in something
pretty serious, something that might even
end up in murder. I’m going to talk to
the prisoner again.”

I found that he had already been ques-
tioned by Millard Halbert, the Prosecut-
ing Attorney at Malvern. I went to Hal-
bert’s office. “What did you find out?” I
asked.

“The man’s too close-mouthed to be
innocent,” he answered. “I asked him if
he knew the Colleys, and he wouldn’t an-
swer one way or the other. When I
preweed him for answers he replied that

e was Mark Shank, an attorney from
Akron, Ohio, and that he knew enough
law to be sure of his rights when placed
under arrest.”

“Mark Shank, did you say? That’s the

name signed to the letter we found. And
that proves he knows these people. It’s
more of a lead than he intended to give
us.”
“IT went with Halbert to confront the
man again. He had broken his silence
and now appeared willing to talk, was
even genial. When I told him that the
letter proved his connection with the Col-
leys or Fettys, he nodded agreement.

The Clue of the Crystals

“Of course I know them. Alvin and
Elsie Colley are the parents, and the boys
are Clement, Clarence and Clyde. But I
don’t know how they died any more than
you do.”

“Don’t stall, Shank,” I said. “If you're
really a lawyer, you know the value of a
straight, honest account of any happening.
You were with the Colleys today and you
Jumped out of the car. Why did you do
it? What was happening to them?”

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I’ve
been a little dazed, and I’ve only kept
quiet to collect my wits. I jumped to
save my own life. It’s all very vague.
Something they ate, perhaps—”

“What do you mean, something they
ate?” I interrupted. “Start in at the be-
ginning, Shank. I know the law, too, and
Pll give you any consideration you're en-
titled to.”

“ ALL RIGHT,” he began with a sigh.

“We had a picnic lunch, the Colleys
and I, at a little grove just off the high-
way. We were eating and having a good
time together when one of the boys—Cle-
ment or Clarence, I’m not sure which—
took sick. We got into the car and set off
to find a doctor. Colley, who was driving,
suddenly went crazy, as if_from pain. I
thought that the car would be wrecked. As
we came to a curve I jumped. I fell down
and hit my head, stunning myself.”

He fell silent,

“And then?” I prompted him.

“T don’t know anything that happened
after that—either to myself or to the Col-
leys. I must have wandered about half-
stunned till you found me. I’m not com-
pletely clear in the head yet.”

“Can you take us to this picnic spot?”
I asked.

He nodded silently, and I marched him
out and put him in my car. Sheriff Fisher
and several others joined us.

We passed the place where the Colleys
had been found; passed the point where
Shank had jumped from the car; passed
the grove of trees to one side where Don-
nie had tracked him to his hiding place.
Some distance farther he showed us a side
road, and we turned off the pavement ‘to
find ourselves among shady trees, and we
noticed a little spring as we got out of
the car.

Remains of a meal were spread out be-
side the spring. China plates and silver
lay here and there, evidence that the pic-
nickers had left hurriedly without finish-
ing their meal or gathering up their be-
longings. The plates held half-eaten sand-
wiches of bread and meat. A tempting
ripe watermelon had been sliced. Beside
each plate stood a cup—five of them
paper, one of china—each | containing
dregs of grape juice. We examined bits
of the food, but could see no evidence . of
any foreign matter.

“I told you it was a mystery,” reminded
Shank, -his. voice almost triumphant.

“Wait,” said Fisher. “If anything is
poisoned, it would be a liquid, something
that would dissolve poison easily. This,
for instance.”

He stepped to the edge of the spring
where, half-submerged in the cool water
stood a stew pan full of grape juice.

Shank smiled and shook his head.

“But there’s nothing wrong with that
stuff,” he assured us almost airily. “I
drank plenty of it myself. ‘Here, I’ll show
you.”

He reached for the pan. As he did s0,
a sudden crafty look came over his face,
banishing the smile. I stepped quickly

’

forward and tool

“Never mind,
“Gather up thes
want chemists tc

Shank stared a
more, then or o
vern.

As we entered
a sizable crowd
It milled restless
murmur of angry
held a conference

“These people
killings,” said Fis
to handle you }
isn’t regarded ve
tion hereabouts,
women and little

“WOU'D have
Akron,” I ac
subject’s been bi
doing so far awa:
“T told you I
Shank, forgetting
of the menacing
“T came down |
and I were well
The prosecuting
ter was robbed o
to the trial of a «
Colley was sus}
papers. I came a
warn him and gi\
Fisher sniffed i
to me. “Better t
with you, Wake
strong jail there,
mob will come al
But I wouldn’t a
stayed here tonig
Before we left
chemist’s report 1
four dead Coll
demonstrated to
that each of the
the picnic grove
solution of the di
Cooper also told :
nounced the deat}
poisoning “at the
persons unknown.
I drove Shank
my car. He had !
and I was willing
ing softens crimir
inal? It seemed
man being could
preparing to lay
Once behind th
Springs Jail, Sh:
possession. He pi
tion him. “I kno
kept saying. “If ]

Deputy-Sheriff
Springs, owner
that tracked do
]

Alvin and
1 the boys
le. But I
more than

“If you're
value of a
happening.
y and you
lid you do
em?”

wly. “T’ve
only kept
jumped to
ery vague.

thing they
at the be-
v, too, and
you're en-

vith a sigh.
the Colleys
ff the high-
ing a good
boys—Cle-
ire which—
- and set off
was driving,
om pain. I
wrecked. As
I fell down
vself.”

im.

it happened
‘to the Col-
about half-
‘m not com-

ricnic spot?”

marched him
Sheriff Fisher

» the Colleys

point where
» ear; passed
» where Don-
hiding place.
wed us a side
pavement to
trees, and we
e got out of

pread out be-
es and silver
that the pic-
vithout. finish-
up their be-
f-eaten sand-

A tempting
sliced. Beside
five of them
‘+h «containing
examined bits
10 evidence of

ery,” reminded
umphant.

(f anything is
uid, something
1 easily. This,

of the spring
the cool water,
ipe juice.

his head.
‘ong with that.
ost airily. “TI
Here, Ill show

As he did so,
> over his face,
tepped quickly

forward and took the pan out of his hand.

“Never mind, Shank,” I said shortly.
“Gather up these things, you others. I
want chemists to look at them.”

Shank stared at me stonily. He said no
more, then or on the trip back to Mal-
vern.

As we entered the town again we saw
a sizable crowd gathered outside the jail.
It milled restlessly and we could hear the
murmur of angry voices. We stopped and
held a conference.

“These people have heard about the
killings,” said Fisher. “They’re in a moo
to handle you roughly, Shank. Murder
isn’t regarded very highly as an occupa-
tion hereabouts, least of all the murder of
women and little boys.”

“*7OU’D have done better to stay in

Akron,” I added. “And, now that the
subject’s been brought up, what are you
doing so far away from home?”

“T told you I was a lawyer,” mumbled
Shank, forgetting his surly silence at sight
of the menacing throng around the jail.
“Tt came down here to help Colley. He
and I were well acquainted back in Ohio.
The prosecuting attorney’s office at Woos-
ter was robbed of some papers pertaining
to the trial of a client of mine for forgery.
Colley was suspected of stealing those
papers. I came all the way down here to
warn him and give him legal advice.”

Fisher sniffed incredulously and turned
to me. “Better take him to Hot Springs
with you, Wakelin. You've got a good
strong jail there, and I don’t think this
mob will come all that distance after him.
But I wouldn’t answer for his safety if he
stayed here tonight.”

Before we left Malvern, we heard a
chemist’s report that the stomachs of the
four dead Colleys had been quickly
demonstrated to contain strychnine and
that each of the paper cups brought from
the picnic grove had contained a_strong
solution of the deadly substance. Coroner
Cooper also told us that his jury had pro-
nounced the deaths of the quartette due to
poisoning “at the hands of a person or
persons unknown.”

I drove Shank back to Hot Springs in
my car. He had lapsed into silence again,
and I was willing to let him brood. Brood-
ing softens criminals. Was Shank a crim-
inal? It seemed impossible that any hu-
man being could do the things we were
preparing to lay at his door.

Once behind the secure bars of the Hot
Springs Jail, Shank recovered his self-
possession. He put off my efforts to ques-
tion him. “I know my rights at law,” he
kept saying. “If I talk at all, it will be as

Deputy-Sheriff Sol Goodwin, of Hot
Springs, owner of the dog detective
that tracked down the slayer of four

people ;

True Detective Mysteries 75

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ke, let

onfess.
at and

e. He
last he

a con-

-ailable
ity-five
resence
Walter

nine in
id give
ad wife
lling all
of the
; of the

hen he
immedi-
3 I have

the full

for him
ink, had
senmore,
llies. In
e, Shank
ents con-
ession of
it Colley

aid, Col-
ind tried
1, fearing
Solley to
o Arkan-
riendship.
» to hush

he lonely
ore to do.
serving of
vw spring
sliced the
ies. Only
; idle, and
vehind the

ik stealth-
inine and
en he dis-
3. Return-
china cup
ghing, the
a seventh
waited in

rt develop-
oophole in
Shank had
> strike the
ie, but na-
‘qually sus-
ement and
d went into
terror, the
che car and,
ooard, they
Solley, sick-
car, Shank

eemed to be
d. He still
hat ominous
falvern. We
and Prose-
decided that
ong, modern

trial should
The plot to
conceived in

Hot Springs, and death had undoubtedly
occurred at the very moment of the dis-
covery of the roadster by Buckalew and
Akers. However, it was agreed that, inas-
much as the poisoned drinks had_ been
prepared and administered in Saline
County, midway between the two cities,
the trial should be at Benton, the Saline
county seat. Shank was brought to Ben-
ton, pleaded not guilty on four counts of
murder and one of assault with intent to
kill. His trial was set for November 28th.

E waged a hard and unceasing fight

for life and liberty. His wife came to
him from Ohio and, after consulting with
him, issued a statement that her husband’s
confession was false and had been wrung
from him by third-degree methods. He
also engaged a staff_of defense attorneys,
headed by Nathan McDaniel, one of the
ablest of Arkansas criminal lawyers. The
Benton Prosecutors’ force_was augmented
by Prosecutors Millard Halbert, of Mal-
vern, and Houston Emory of Hot Springs.
Among the state witnesses were Congress-
man D. D. Glover, who had seen the con-
fession signed; United States Commis-
sioner Huff, who had interviewed Shank;
and peace officers and citizens of all three
counties concerned.

Shank appeared in court and was quiet,
almost stupefied, as the five indictments
were formally pronounced. At times dur-
ing the trial, he rested his head on the
shoulder of his faithful wife. Not once
during the proceedings did he glance up
at anything or anybody. Several times,
as I stole a look at him from where I sat
with the other witnesses, I saw tears trick-
ling down his thin, pale face. Was he
thinking of the little children he had so
fiendishly murdered? Of the mother and
father who had been his close friends? Or
was he simply pitying himself?

I could only wonder.

The prosecution exhibited the paper
cups which had contained the poisoned
grape juice and the box of strychnine
from Shank’s baggage. Witnesses from
Ohio, including Mrs. Elsie Fox, mother of
Mrs. Colley, gave testimony about the
trouble between Shank and Colley. I was
called to the stand to tell of Shank’s ar-
rest and confession and became a target
for sharp attacks by the defense attor-

neys.

‘Why was Shank taken to the Hot
Springs Jail?” challenged McDaniel.

“We were afraid that there might be
violence at Malvern,” I replied.

“Didn’t you say that you’d make him
aa McDaniel persisted.

“No.”

True Detective Mystertes

“Shank asked for an attorney, didn’t
he? Who was sent to him?”

“He said he wanted—” I began.

“I asked who was sent,” cut in Me-
Daniel.

“Houston Emory.” ase

“Ah,” said McDaniel, “the prosecuting
attorney was sent to him when he asked
for legal advice?”

“But Shank asked . for him,” I ex-
plained. “He said that he wanted to know
about Arkansas law.”

McDaniel shifted to another line. “Isn’t
it true that you beat Shank with a rub-
ber hose?”

“That’s not so,” I told him.

The judge. admitted the confession as
evidence, despite the defense’s emphatic
objections, and the state rested its case.

The defense opened the next day, but
dropped all talk about a beating or a
forced confession. Its entire plea was
based on the claim that Shank was in-
sane, had been morbid and irresponsible
for months. Half a dozen relatives and
friends from Ohio told of Shank’s former
position as a respected, successful attor-
ney, a police magistrate and a candidate
for mayor of Kenmore, and of his lapse
into melancholy moods. Once, it was tes-
tified, he tried to kill himself. Shank
wept as this testimony was presented.
His counsel’s plea to the jury was for
mercy upon a sick, insane man who did
not know what he was doing.

Te jury of twelve farmers i ho for
divine guidance in their room. They de-
bated an afternoon and a night and on
December Ist they returned a verdict of
guilty of murder in the first degree.

On December 2nd, Shank, apathetic and
expressionless, heard himself sentenced to
death in the electric chair on February
2nd, 1934.

His lawyers gained him a stay of sen-
tence and, still pleading insanity, fought
for Shank’s life before the Supreme Court
of the State of Arkansas. The battle and
the consideration of evidence lasted for
weeks. But on May 11th, the Supreme
Court upheld the jury’s verdict of guilty
and the district judge’s sentence of death
as pronounced at Benton, on December
2nd.

The date of Shank’s execution was set
by the Governor of Arkansas for July
27th, 1934; but again his lawyers won a
stay of sentence, pending a final appeal
for clemency, till the next session of the
State Supreme Court. The latest indica-
tions point to life imprisonment rather
than death in the electric chair for the
murdering lawyer.

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ALEIGH | |

a sworn witness in court, and in my own
defense.”

Akers showed up and called me into
conference. He had received a telephone
message while I was driving back. Little
Clyde, the sole surviving Colley child,
though only four years old, had added to
the growing heap of evidence.

He had described the picnic to officers
at Malvern. In lisping sentences he told
of eating with his parents and brothers
and “another man”, under shady trees.
That other man, he said, had “put some-
thing in the grape juice.”

“T saw him,” he babbled. “I told papa
and mamma not to drink it.”

E they could have heeded that wisdom
out of the mouth of a babe!

I received this information with mingled
feelings of pity for the victims and tri-
umph for my verbal battle with Shank.
Akers and I returned at midnight to the
prisoner’s cell. He received us coldly.

“Shank,” I said, “you're in a hot spot.
Up to now you thought that you didn’t
have a single witness to testify against
you. Well, that isn’t so. Little Clyde
Colley is still alive.”

“And,” added Akers, “he has told how
you put poison in the grape juice.”

Shank did not even blink an eye.
“Clyde is only a baby,” he retorted glibly.
“He doesn’t know what he is saying.
What kind of a witness would he make in
a court of law, do you think? Listen, let
me state my case clearly for once. You
have an entirely wrong idea of me. I’m
a respected citizen back home—a practic-
ing attorney and a police magistrate.
Once I ran for mayor in Kenmore, the
Akron suburb where I live. As for Colley,
he and I were close friends and I never
approached him except to try to help
him.”

“J don’t know what you’ve been in the
past,” put in Akers, “but I think that
you're guilty of this crime—the most
cruel, heartless murder I’ve ever gone up
against in fourteen yéars as & peace
officer.”

“Yes, Shank, we know you're guilty,” I
added. “Better talk.”

“T}] do my talking to a lawyer,” replied
Shank. “Get me somebody who can give
me full information on Arkansas criminal
law.”

Guilty or not, he was entitled to legal
counsel, and we knew it. But it was late,
and the only attorney we could locate was
Houston Emory, Prosecuting Attorney at
Hot Springs. I prevailed on him to talk
to the prisoner, and give him the desired
information on Arkansas law.

They conferred for some time. At last
Emory came back to us.

“Pye done what you asked,” he said.
“J’ye given him the law as it reads on the
statute books. Beyond that I won’t go.
I’m a lawyer, but I’m also a prosecutor. I
wash my hands of Shank—he’s guilty.

In the meantime, Sheriff Tom Fisher
had telephoned us a new piece of infor-
mation from Malvern. The baggage from
the Colley roadster had been thoroughly
searched and one suitcase, the best of the
lot, identified as Shank’s. In a bottom
corner was hidden a box containing
strychnine crystals.

We confronted Shank with this evi-

dence. He was still calm and unshaken.

“P}] neither affirm nor deny,” he said.
“A]l I’m interested in is instructions con-
cerning the laws of this state.”

Houston Emory had already announced
his stand. We found United States Com-
missioner C. Lloyd Huff and sent him ia
to talk to Shank. Huff, too, chose to con-
fine his activity to mere definition of
Arkansas law.

“T feel that we’ve done our duty,” I

True Detective Mysteries

told Akers as Huff came back. “We've
given him experts to define the law. Now
you and I will do a little talking to him.”

We went into Shank’s cell once again.
Hitherto, he had been silent, vague, sneer-
ingly good-humored and sly by turns.
Now he was gruff.

“I’m tired,” he growled. “Let’s delay
this business till morning.”

“Nothing doing,” I replied definitely.
“We're just as tired as you are. But we're
going to stay awake, all three of us, till
we get to the bottom of this. How about
that box of poison in your suitcase?”

“I don’t know anything about it,” he
persisted doggedly.

“You're guilty,” I accused flatly. “Make
up your mind that you're going to tell us
the story. We’ve been mighty consider-
ate’ up to now. We brought you away
from Malvern, where a mob was gathered
that might have hung you higher than
the top peak of the Ozark Mountains. We
got a doctor out of bed to dress your
skinned knee and sore head. We dug u
attorneys to define the law as you asked.

An extraordinary photograph of a

murderer, showing the poisoner of

the Colley family on trial for his life.

Note the apathetic posture as he

leans on the shoulder of his faithful
wife

But we didn’t do these things because
we're in the charity game. We're holding
you for murder. Stop this foolishness and
come clean.”

He nodded and dozed as I talked, but
we shook him awake. He repeated his
story of the picnic, reiterating that he
knew nothing of the cause of death, but
his voice grew shakier. I saw that he was
weakening. I grew more insistent.

“Since you won’t tell me, I’ll tell you,”
I threw at him. “You hated Alvin Colley,
or were afraid of him, so you decided to
put him out of the way.”

“T tell you I came down here to help—”
he began.

“Oh, forget that guff. I’m doing the
talking now. You bought poison, enough
to kill a ay peo All the time you made
sure that he considered. you a friend—a
good friend, one that he would invite to
a family picnic.”

“Colley wasn’t so friendly,” he burst out
unguardedly. “He had plenty to answer

or.

“He did? What?”

Shank saw his mistake and fell silent.

“You might have had a reason to kill
him,” I pursued. “His wife may. have been
your enemy, too. But what about those
little boys, Shank? What excuse did you
have for killing them?”

“T swear, I didn’t!” he almost shrieked,
eyes wide and face contorted.

“And I swear you did. You were afraid
they’d tell how you killed their father and
mother. So you gave them poison, too.
You're guilty, Shank. You know it, and
you know I know it. Fourfold murder—
and hanging four times over would be too
good for you!” ’

“No!” he wailed. “For God’s sake, let
me alone!”

“T’ll let you alone when you confess.
When you make a written statement and
sign it.”

He was almost ready to collapse. He
fell silent, looking at the floor. At last he
spoke, in a mumbling voice.

“All right. You win. I’ll make a con-
fession.”

Akers and I called in every available
witness. There were some twenty-five
officers and citizens. In their presence
Shank dictated to Stenographer Walter
Ebel the following brief statement:

“I, Mark Shank, did place strychnine in
grape juice August 15th, 1933, and give
said grape juice to Alvin Colley and wife
and children for the purpose of killing all
of them; and I alone am guilty of the
murder of the four dead members of the
Colley family.”

H® signed the statement. Then he
stretched out on his cot and immedi-
ately fell into as peaceful a sleep as I have
ever seen.

The next morning he told me the full
story.

Colley had been an investigator for him
some time before, when he, Shank, had
been a justice of the peace at Kenmore,
Ohio. The two had been close allies. In
defending a man in a forgery case, Shank
learned that incriminating documents con-
cerning this man were in the possession of
the Prosecuting Attorney. He sent Colley
to steal those documents.

Colley did so. Later, Shank said, Col-
ley was threatened with arrest and tried
to blackmail him. In desperation, fearing
exposure and ruin, he induced Colley to
leave Ohio, then followed him to Arkan-
sas on an errand of pretended friendship.
The picnic gave him the chance to hush
Colley’s threats forever.

After the party had reached the lonely
aig he saw that each had a chore to do.

rs. Colley superintended the serving of
the lunch. Colley went to draw spring
water. The two older boys sliced the
melon and arranged the dishes. Only
Clyde, wee and bright-eyed, was idle, and
only he saw Shank crouching behind the
car, pouring out grape juice.

Into the five paper cups Shank stealth-
ily dropped crystals of strychnine and
mixed them into the liquid. Then he dis-
tributed the cups to the Colleys. Return-
ing, he filled the unpoisoned china cup
for himself. Chatting and laughing, the
six sat down to the feast, while a seventh
picnicker—Death—grinned and waited in
the shadows.

Then came the unlooked-for develop-
ment that caused the first loophole in
this apparently perfect crime. Shank had
expected the powerful poison to strike the
entire family dead at one time, but na-
ture had not made them all equally sus-
ceptible. The older boys, Clement and
Clarence, were stricken first and went into
convulsions. Jumping up in terror, the
father loaded the family into the car and,
with Shank on the running-board, they
drove away to find help. As Colley, sick-
ening, lost control of his car, Shank
jumped.

The rest we knew.

Shank’s chief concern now seemed to be
where he would be confined. He sstill
trembled at the memory of that ominous
mob that had gathered in Malvern. We
conferred with Sheriff Fisher and Prose-
cutor Halbert. Together, we decided that
he should be kept in the strong, modern
jail at Little Rock.

The question of where his trial should
be held was next brought up. The plot to
murder the Colleys had been conceived in

Hot Springs, a:
occurred at the
covery of the

Akers. Howeve
much as the

prepared and
County, midw:
the trial shoul
county seat. S)
ton, pleaded nc
murder and on:
kill. His trial y

E waged a
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him from Ohio
him, issued a st
confession was
from him by
also engaged a
headed by Nat
ablest of Arka:
Benton Proseci
by Prosecutors
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Among the sta
man D. D. Glo
fession signed
sioner Huff, w)
and peace offic
counties concer
Shank appea:
almost stupefic
were formally
ing the trial, }
shoulder of hi:
during the pro
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as I stole a loc
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ling down his
thinking of th
fiendishly mur
father who had
was he simply
I could only
The prosecu
cups which ha
grape juice al
from Shank’s
Ohio, including
Mrs. Colley, ¢
trouble betwee:
called to the s
rest and confes
for sharp atta
neys.
“Why was
Springs Jail?”
“We were a
violence at M:
“Didn’t you
talk?” McDani
“No.”

Here at |
trail of the
off. It is a:
for it in th

SOLVII

“How m
Charlie, be
then tell th
detectives
You’ll be k

the solutio:

A sure-fi
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was one th
vestigation
then the dc

SNA

A fascin
Mrs. Robe
six hours h
covered at
the glamou

Be sure
THe Mas

In photos at right. No. 1 shows Mark Shank (arrow) at pre-
liminary hearing before Justice J. P. Carter. Sheriff Virgil
Rucker stands at left. No. 2: Shank sat as if dozing, his head
on the shoulder of his pretty wife, through most of the trial.
No. 3: Found guilty, Shank (in black overcoat) walks to his
cell with head bowed as several Arkansas officers look on.

while great tears poured down his pinched white face.

The other boy was contorted in a convulsion, his eyes
rolling frightfully as the sheriff parted the group of helpless
bystanders. ‘

The woman lay still upon the blanket, face upwards, the
froth still moving at the corners of her mouth. Across her
wide, terrified eyes the glaze of death was already creeping.

Another car arrived, and the gaping crowd of autoists
scattered as a man raced across the road carrying a small
professional bag in one hand. The doctor’s practiced glance
swept the trio on the blanket. He ripped his bag open with
a jerk at the slide fastener. He pulled out a stomach pump,
knelt down beside the smallest child, and began to work.

The doctor labored at top speed, turning a red and per-
spiring face towards the sheriff as he moved from the baby
to the young boy and then to the woman. “Strychnine,” he
muttered hoarsely.

The sheriff heard him but did not reply. He was listening
to Tom Steadman’s account of the weaving coupe and the
glimpse of death he had had as it passed.

“The woman will die,” the doctor said when the sheriff
joined him. Together they began to carry the poisoned trio
to the former’s car. “The older lad may die; too. The
smallest one—the baby—will live, I think.”

Three snapshots of a mass

PICNIC PLACE
Left: In this sylvan spot (arrow) at
Lake Catharine, Alvin Colley. his
family and one other sat down for
a holiday luncheon. Who was the
missing sixth person at the picnic?

The doctor was carrying the four-year-old boy as he gave
the sheriff this information. The child had ceased vomiting.
He was rubbing a weak little fist into his eyes. From his
lips a single word came, and the sheriff pressed closer to
catch it.

“Mummy,” the little one said weakly. “Mummy.”

When the doctor had settled the dying woman and
older boy in the rear seat of his car and the small
child in the front, the sheriff took one of the baby’s hands
in his and asked quietly: “Where had Mummy and you
been ?” ,

“Picnic,’
picnic.”

The motor roared. The sheriff slammed the door, and the
still living members of this frightful picnic party were speed-
ing towards Malvern. The sheriff was left on the hot Arkan-
sas road with the dead.

While the doctor had worked, the officer had observed the
features of the man in the coupe, the woman and the children.
Contorted as were their faces, he saw a resemblance in the
children to both adults. As he faced the problem of solving
the mystery of five poisonings, the sheriff concluded that
the victims were. father, mother and three children.

The boy whose body lay in the rumble seat would be
about eight years old, he thought. The oldest of the two
living children was -less than seven. The youngster who
repeated the word “picnic” with such childish puzzlement as
his vomiting ceased, was about four years old.

The sheriff reached past the staring corpse in the driver’s
seat and wrenched the identification card from the steering
post. The car, he saw, was licensed to Alvin Colley of
Akron, Ohio. Before the coroner's ambulance received the

”

’

the little fellow whispered, brightening. “On a

eae

two bodies,
rear.

The only ;
envelope add:
Hot Springs,
but it was |
now August

Upon the :
the Steadmar
receiver more
before.

Connected
talked at len;
the chief the

“A rooming
“T know the
family. I'll
get and join

Sheriff Fis}
theory on the
as they were
walked from
busy with the

The first v
wipe out the «
also, either b:
the father to «
and a doctor’
the murderess

The second
nine into the ;
Fisher would
for it was fro

Hot Spring
coupe with its
roadside. Ma
other direction

The coupe
direction fron
Catharine offer
four miles fr:
small stream
two of open \
been a favorit
and from Mal\

The sheriff
for the Hot S$
the city.

PLACE

an spot (arrow) at
Alvin Colley, his
ther sat down for
on. Who was the
son at the picnic?

boy as he gave
ceased vomiting.
eyes. From his
rressed closer to

Mummy.”

ng woman = and
and the small
the baby’s hands
fummy and you

zhtening. “On a

he door, and the
arty were speed-
n the hot Arkan-

had observed the
and the children.
semblance in the
‘oblem of solving

concluded that
hildren.

seat would be
Idest of the two

youngster who
sh puzzlement as
old.
se in the driver’s
rom the steering
Alvin Colley of
ince received the

murderer vainly fighting to escape Little Rock's wired chair

two bodies, the officer had searched the car from front to
rear.

The only article of any significance he found was a soiled
envelope addressed to Alvin Colley in care of an address in
Hot Springs, Arkansas. There was no letter in the envelope,
but it was postmarked in Ohio, August 1, 1933. It was
now August 10.

Upon the arrival of the ambulance, the sheriff walked to
the Steadman farmhouse. There he removed the telephone
receiver more calmly than its owner had done a few minutes
before.

Connected with the Hot Springs police department, he
talked at length to Chief of Police Joe Wakelin. He gave
the chief the address he had taken from the envelope.

“A rooming house,” the Hot Springs official said promptly.
“T know the address. Somebody’ll be there who knows this
family. I'll come right out with whatever information I
get and join you.”

Sheriff Fisher thanked him. Neither officer had offered any
theory on the poisoning. The sheriff had given the details
as they were without elaboration or opinion. But when he
walked from the farmhouse back to his car, his mind was
busy with the only two theories possible.

The first was that one of the parents had attempted to
wipe out the entire family and had swallowed the lethal dose
also, either by accident or design. The evident attempt of
the father to drive his sick wife and children towards a town
and a doctor’s service, would indicate that the woman was
the murderess if this theory were upheld.

The second possibility was that an outsider had put strych-
nine into the picnic foods. If this were the case, then Sheriff
Fisher would need the aid of his confreres in Hot Springs,
for it was from that city the family party started.

Hot Springs was twenty miles from the place where the
coupe with its freight of dead and dying had stopped at the
roadside. Malvern, Arkansas, was five miles away in the
other direction.

The coupe had been traveling towards Malvern. In the
direction from which the stricken family had come, Lake
Catharine offered the most attractions to picnickers. Less than
four miles from where the tragedy had been revealed, a
small stream wound into the end of the lake. An acre or
two of open woodland, where this stream flowed, had long
been a favorite place for picnic parties from Hot Springs
and from. Malvern.

The sheriff drove to this sylvan beauty spot while waiting
for the Hot Springs officer to conduct the investigation in
the city.

LTHOUGH the sun was almost directly overhead and

the blistering August noon was close, it was cool beneath
the trees at the picnic place. The sheriff walked in the shade
of sprawling oak and towering hackberry. He came to the
bank of the stream and proceeded along it for a score of
paces. There, spread on the sod, he found a thin blanket
upon which were scattered half a dozen paper cups. Nearby,
in the shade of a bush, was an unopened picnic basket. At
the edge of the blanket was a large bottle containing an inch
or two of purple grape juice.

Here, beyond a doubt, had started the fatal picnic party.

The grape juice was of the commercial kind sold in every
drug store. The sheriff did not touch the bottle. His in-
terest lay in the waxed-paper cups. Each cup still contained
the dregs of grape juice.

As if an open book lay before him, the sheriff read the
story of this outing. On one side of the blanket two cups
lay close together. The mother must have sat there, her
smallest child close at hand. A third cup lay alone on an-
other edge of the blanket, and just off the cover, a fourth
rested on its side in the grass. The two grown: boys could
have sat there, one using the blanket and the other sitting
on the sod, as boys will. The third and fourth sides of the
blanket also bore a paper cup.

Six cups in all. But the poison-tortured family in the coupe
numbered only five!

From one cup to another the sheriff passed, dropping on
his knees beside each place where a member of the picnic
party had flattened the grass as he or she sat around the
blanket.

Near one of the cups which stood alone on the edge of
the blanket, the sheriff thought he saw a stain on the sod.
He touched the spot with the tip of his finger. The grass
roots were dry, but the green stems were tinged with purple.

Sheriff Fisher straightened up and mopped the sweat from
his forehead with a handkerchief. In this spot, he felt sure.
a diabolical murderer, who schemed the deaths of five persons,
had sat only a scant hour before. Sitting here, the. poisoner
watched his victims quaff the lethal draught he had _pre-
pared for them. His own cup, filled from the same deadly
bottle, had been poured out on the sod unobserved by his
victims.

In the picnic basket which the officer next examined were
a neat stack of sandwiches wrapped in a clean, moist napkin.
and six paper plates. A cake, wrapped in another napkin,
had been cut in six pieces. There were six forks wrapped
in oiled paper.

A picnic for six, from which only one expected to return

SHANK, Mark H., wh, elec. AR (Saline) March 8, 1935

Se remem}

ARKANSAS’

DEATH'S

ARMEI
Fe fer
prehen

a small co
ing crazil
“Drunk
habit of 1
“Drunks }
Steadm:
abreast of
were tur!
clutching
in front
was a WO!
stifled Fa:
the dirty |
staring st
Tom S:
trembled
hastily hit
wide, incr
with the
road, ther
The fa:
coupe had
The smal]
a foot on
He obs
yards or
plate bor:
man felt <
travelers
There wz
to the sidk
ly eviderc
might ha»
A sour
inside the
came alo:
inside an:
shot out z
The m:
But now
open and
shield me
him, her
lips a fro
short, fai:
The w
frozen ar
hoarse, c

Though he became dangerously ill, . Shown above as they were introduced at the trial
four-year-old Clyde Colley escaped are the five paper cups from which the Colley family
the death that wiped out his kin. drank grape juice poisoned by a deliberate killer.

INSIDE DETECTIVE, May, 1938

By Jack De Witt

the fence which skirted his field and looked ahead ap-

prehensively. Along the road toward him was coming
a small coupe, its rumble seat open—and the car was weav-
ing crazily from one side of the highway to the other.

“Drunks,” the farmer murmured to himself after the
habit of men who spend long hours in the fields alone.
“Drunks from Hot Springs. They'll be wrecked—”

Steadman did not finish his soliloquy. The coupe came
abreast of him. It was slowing down, and the front wheels
were turned towards the ditch. In the driver’s seat,
clutching the steering wheel with arms stiffened straight
in front of him, was a man, Huddled against the driver
was a woman. It was a glimpse of the driver’s face which
stifled Farmer Steadman’s words. The face was gray with
the dirty pallor of death. The eyes were glassily fixed and
staring straight at the windshield.

Tom Steadman had seen death before. But his hands
trembled and he felt a moist chill along his spine as he
hastily hitched his mules to the nearest fence post. With
wide, incredulous eyes he watched the coupe bump along
with the two right wheels on the rough shoulder of the
road, then stop as the sputter of the engine ceased.

The farmer climbed over the fence. The engine of the
coupe had choked itself off, his practical.ear informed him.
The small vehicle had come to a halt without pressure of
a foot on the brakes.

He observed the car closely as he walked the dozen
yards or so that separated him from it. The rear license
plate bore the name “Ohio” above the numerals. Stead-
man felt a sense almost of relief when he saw this. These
travelers were apparently strangers from another state.
There was something less terrifying about walking up
to the side of a car in which a stranger sat with the ghast-
ly evidence of death already upon him. An Arkansas car
might have contained a neighbor or a friend.

A sound like someone fighting for breath came from
inside the coupe. The farmer quickened his pace. He
came alongside the open left hand window. He stared
inside and then stepped back as if an invisible arm had
shot out and struck him in the face.

The man in the driver’s seat still clutched the wheel.
But now his head was thrown back, his mouth sagged
open and his glazed eyes stared at a point where the wind-
shield met the roof. The woman was propped against
him, her face as gray as that of the man. On her pale
lips a froth was bubbling as her breath came and went in
short, faint and uneven jerks.

The woman’s hands were rigid and seemed to have
frozen around a small boy, who was vomiting fitfully,
hoarse, choking sobs coming from his throat.

Fie fence TOM STEADMAN stopped his mules near

MYSTERY OF WHOLESALE MURDER—

PICNIC PARTY

On the far side of the front seat another lad of seven or
eight sat with his feet stretched out, his little fists clenched
and his face contorted and strained in what the farmer
recognized as the effect of a violent convulsion.

Steadman turned his head away from the terrible sight.
He was sickened. His brain refused to function. He
jerked his eyes to the open rumble seat to shut out the
scene of death and suffering. On the cushion of the rumble
seat a third young boy lay stretched on his back. His
eyes were wide and unwinking. Death had stiffened his
little body until it was rigid as a board.

For a moment Steadman’s brain reeled with horror.
Then he turned and raced towards his house, whose white
walls showed through the shining green leaves of a wind-
break 300 yards down the road.

He plunged headlong into the kitchen and seized the
receiver from the wall telephone. His startled wife stood
wiping her hands on her apron, gazing alternately
through the window, where she could see the mules still
standing calmly by the fence, and at her husband, who was
jiggling the telephone hook frantically and bellowing in-
coherently into the receiver. °

Farmer Steadman was soon connected with police in
the town of Malvern by a puzzled rural telephone opera-
tor. He braced himself ‘against the wall and controlled
his nerves when a masculine voice came-over the wire.

“There’s some people dead and some dying in a car,”
he managed to shout. “A woman, a man and some young-
sters, dead and dying.”

He clattered the receiver back on the hook after yelling the
location of his farm on the Hot Springs-Malvern highway.

HEN SHERIFF Tom Fisher brought his car to a
stop with a heavy foot on the brake lever, Stead-
man had already removed the woman and two children
from the coupe. The trio was lying on a blanket spread
on the road shoulder. A group of autoists had stopped
their cars and were clustering around. One man was
holding a second blanket which threw a square of shadow
over the forms upon the ground. The August sun was
streaming with all its fury over the Arkansas countryside.
The sheriff glanced into the front of the coupe. The
man there had fallen sideways. His rigid arms were still
stretched out in front of him. His'head rested against
the side upholstery. In the rumble seat the boy lay as
the farmer had found him.

The sheriff touched neither of these bodies. Death was
written plain enough for the dullest layman to read in the
twisted faces of adult and child. The officer glanced
quickly down the road in the direction which he expected a
doctor’s car would shortly be coming, and turned his atten-
tion to the woman and the two children on the blanket.

The youngest child, a boy of three or four, was sitting
up with his hands flat on the blanket at one side, bracing
his pain-racked body. He was retching uncontrollably

Last words cryptic

By Karen Rafinski
Gazette Staff

Ronald Gene Simmons, the worst mass murderer in
Arkansas’s history, was executed at 9:02 p.m. Mon-
day.

He was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m. after three
injections into his ' :
arms of lethal chemi-
cals. Simmons, 49, did
not resist the execu-
tion and gave a brief,
confusing final state-
ment:

“Justice delayed fi-
nally be done is justifi-
able homicide.”

He was executed for
the slaying of 14 mem-
bers of his family and
two Russellville resi-
dents in December
1987.

Since Simmons had File Photo
not appealed his death Ronaid Gene Simmons:

sentence, Simmons ie etiam?
sould have stopped He talked of ‘justice.

the execution merely by saying he wanted to appeal
his death sentence.

Simmons was executed in front of 14 witnesses. Two
of them — Attorney General Steve Clark and one of
his assistants, Leslie Powell — were added at the last
minute,

Department of Correction spokesman David White
said there “9s no conversation when Simmons was
mov 4 from his cell to the death chamber shortly
before 9 p.m. ‘He was very quiet,” White said.

Bill Simmons, The Associated Press bureau chief in
Little Rock, and Scott Bowles, an Arkansas Gazette
reporter, who witnessed the execution, described it
this way:

The curtains on the witness room were opened at 9
p.m. and Simmons was lying on a hospital gurney with
a leather strap across his head. He was only a few feet
from the executioners’ closet. A sheet covered Sim-
mons from his gray beard to his toes. His blue eyes
were open and he blinked a few times.

Bill Simmons said there was no noticeable change in
Simmons’ demeanor throughout the execution.

“Mr. Simmons appeared to me to be as natural as

See SIMMONS/6A

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ON HH

Continued from Page 1A

any other time I ever saw him,”
Bill Simmons said.

Prison director A.L. “Art”
Lockhart made two phone calls
before giving the order to begin the
execution. One was to the prison
attorney and the other to a repre-
sentative of Gov. Bill Clinton’s
office. Both were to ensure there
was no legal reason to halt the
execution. Ronald Gene Simmons’
two arms were strapped to arms of
the gurney and his legs, chest and
waist were strapped to the gurney
under the sheet. :

As the chemicals were injected
into Simmons’ veins he looked
around furtively a few times but
mostly just looked straight up,
Bowles said. Once Simmons ap-
peared to look at John Byus, medi-
cal administrator.

At 9:03 p.m. Simmons appeared
to “nod off.”

At 9:05 p.m. Simmons called out
“oh, oh,” Bowles said. Then Sim-
mons began to cough.

He coughed about 20 times in the
three or four minutes, rapidly at
first but then tapering off, accord-
ing to Bowles. The coughs were
visible as Simmons’ stomach
heaved under the sheet.

Bill Simmons said Ronald Gene
Simmons wiggled his toes once
under the sheets. But after a few
minutes all movement and noise
stopped.

At 9:07 p.m. Simmons’ fingers
and face began turning blue. The
color began to get darker until
eventually “he became very dark
and purply in his pallor,” Bill Sim-
mons said.

At 9:15 p.m. medical administra-
tor John Byus fiddled with the
intravenous tube in Simmons’
right arm several times. Byus was
wearing a radio headset that al-
lowed him to communicate with
the executioners, who stood in the
closet behind one-way plass. Lock-

@ Condemned begins last
meal at 3:07 p.m.

@ Condemned finishes last
meal at 3:47 p.m.

@ Execution team arrives at
8:47 p.m.

@ Condemned removed from
waiting cell at 8:48 p.m,

@ Arrival of condemned in
death chamber at 8:48 p.m.

M Condemned is tied down at
8:51 p.m.

@ Catheters placed in arms at
8:51 p.m.

@ Death Chamber Viewing
Room Door locked at 8:57 p.m.

The official account of his last hours

@ Curtains of Viewing Room
opened at 9 p.m.

@ Last words at 9:01 p.m.

@ Warden advises “the offi-
cials are ready to proceed with
the execution” at 9:02 p.m.

@ Lethal injection adminis-
tered at 9:02 p.m.

@ Medical authority (coro-
ner) enters chamber at 9:18 p.m.

M Pronounced dead bypMedi-
cal Authority (coroner) at 9:19
p.m.

@ Order of court read at 9:19
p.m.

hart walked in a small circle and
then stood about three feet from
Simmons where he remained dur-
ing the rest of the execution.

Byus subsequently tried to find
Simmons’ pulse several times at
the neck and wrist and at 9:18 p.m.
Lincoln County Coroner Keith
Griff stepped in. Simmons was
Pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m.

One of the witnesses, Ivan Quat-
tlebaum, a Searcy music store
owner, said, ‘I think he got what
he deserved.”

The witnesses could not hear the
last words of Simmons, but here is
what his final exchange was as
recorded by the State Correction
Department:

When Simmons was asked by
Lockhart if he had any last words,
Simmons asked Lockhart,
“Shouldn't the proclamation be
done first?”

Lockhart replied, “No.”

Simmons stated, “I want to say
just a few words, justice delayed
finally be done is justifiable homi-
cide.”

Simmons’ body was delivered to
the state medical examiner's office
fora cense of death determination,

No family members have claimed
the body and Simmons did not tell
prison officials what his wishes
were. If the family does not claim
the body the state will pay for his
burial in the paupers’ section of
Star City cemetery.

After the execution, Simmons’
attorneys John Harris and Robert
“Doc” Irwin of Russellville said
Simmons remained steadfast in his
desire to die.

Harris interpreted Simmons last
statement as meaning Simmons
accepted his punishment but that
he wanted it carried it out without
delay. “We have respect for his
decision.” Harris said. “Many fine
things about him haven’t been
said. For example, he is a firm
believer of capital punishment be-
fore this even came up.”

When asked if Simmons told
them why he committed the mur-
ders, Irwin said, “The man who
knows why just died. Except one
day, we might shed some light on
all this.”

They said Simmons answered all
the questions they put to him but
did not elaborate. Harris said they
had ne plans to write a book

mmons is first to di€ by injection

Irwin downplayed reports that
attributed the murders of 14 of
Simmons’ relatives and two other
people in Russellville to an incestu-
ous relationship between Simmons
and his eldest daughter, Sheila.
Simmons reportedly felt he was
losing control of his family.

Harris and Irwin visited briefly
with Simmons Monday night.

“We were there to let him know
that our services were available,
but he said he didn’t need them.
which is what we expected,” Irwin
said.

Simmons’ surviving relatives
have been waiting for him to tell
them why he murdered his family
members since the crime occurred.
But he refused to see any of them
in his last days and never gave
them an explanation.

The murders have been de-
scribed as the largest family slay-
ing in the United States the largest
mass slaying in Arkansas history.
He shot. clubbed, shot at or stran-
gled 21 peuple during the 1987
Christmas holiday season. Sixteen
of them died. The victims included
14 members of his family, includ-
ing several voung children. He
lived in a rural area near Dover,
north of Russellville in west-cen-
tral Arkansas.

When arrested at the end of his
killing spree. a woman held hostage
by Simmons said he told her, “I’ve
come to do what I wanted to do.
It’s all over now. I’ve gotten every-
body who wanted to hurt me.”

Wilma Simmons of E] Paso,
Texas, a former daughter-in-law,
told the Fl Paso Times this week
that she has learned she is to
receive one of three letters Sim-
mons wrote and asked to be mailed
after his execution that explain his
reason for the killings. She said the
letters evidently have to be put
together to give the whole story.
— Gazette reporte; Phoebe Wall
Howard cortobitad +» thie article

I AT RE es
. “ey

ecution'of Ronald

The ex mons;

pos 7 POEM ETT Ie pe ny
H A 8 ‘
Sim

Cell blocks
FA)

weabd: C oh °° Kitchen |

Si]
,

Thea

DEATH
E ?

og RD
. 2g Say

2 < a

Peya Rey ;

: Le

Simmons ~
mere
black at co
curtains

vee Kl
“<B

Clerk/recorder

“Death Chamber |

3 8, Ronald Suet VECUT {CON PAPERT 6-25-1990

The National Execution Alert Network is a project

of the National Coal
For more information,

ALERT

90-5 ;
*KKEXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERTX*XEXECUTION ALERTX*EXECUTION ALERT**

ARKANSAS *KSULCTIDEX*

{tion to Abol

contact:
1325 G St. NW, L

Washington DC 20005

25 JUNE 1990

igh the Death Penalty
Pamela Rutter, NCADP,
ower Level B,

(202) 347-2411

June 20, 1990

LETHAL INJECTION

RONALD GENE SIMMONS,
He was convicted
and two Russe
he wante to die

In this pas
does not have to
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:

age 49, has been on
in two separate

torture and guffer

provide mandatory rev
Gov. Bill ©

death row eince 1988.
trials for murdering 14 family members
December 28, 1987. Simmons has eaid

ing in me.”
Court ruled that Arkansas
death row prisoners.

S. Supreme
jew for
Linton

State Capitol

Little Rock
(501) 682-2345

TEXAS KKSUICIDEX*

26 JUNE 1990

AR 72201

FAX: (501) 682-1382

LETHAL INJECTION

JAMES SMITH, (Black), ag¢ OTs
convicted of the robbery/murder
consistently
rest of hie Life in prison.
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:
Attorney
State Capitol
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-2100

VIRGINIA *KKSUICTDEX*

hag been on death row since 1983.

wanted to be executed because he doesn

General Jim Mattox

29 JUNE 1990

He wae
Smith has
“t+ want to epend the

of a white male.

Gov. William P. Clements Jr.
PO Box 12428

Austin TX 78711

(512) 463-2000

FAX: (512) 463-1849

ELECTROCUTION

JOSEPH SAVINO, (White), age 30,

He was convicted of the robbery/murder of his homosexual lover.

pled guilty, has had his direct
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:

Richmond

(804) 786-2211
FAX: (804) 786-3985

TEX

Gov. Douglaé Wilder
State Capitol

11 JULY 1990

death row eince June 1989.
Savino

hag been on
appeal and wante to be executed.

Atty Gen Mary Sue Terry
Supreme Court Bldg

102 N 8th St.

Richmond VA 23212
(804) 786-2071

VA 23219

LETHAL INJECTION

AS
KENNETH GRANVIEL, (Black),
1975. He was convicted of
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:
Attorney Gene
State Capitol
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-2100

; ALABAM

age 39, has been on
the murder of 4 2-year old white female.

ral Jim Mattox

13 JULY 1990

death row since November

Gov. William P. Clemente Jr.
PO Box 12428

Austin TX 78711

(512) 463-2000

FAX: (512) 463-1849

ELECTROCUTION

A
WALLACE NORRELL THOMAS, (Black),
July 1982. He was convicted of
two codefendant’6& received life
circumstantial evidence, and one
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT: © Gov. Guy

af
.

VIRGINIA 19

pedbes Fy S Union St.
* Montgomery
A (205) 261-7100

age 36, has been on death row since
the murder of a white female. Thomas”
sentences. Thomas was convicted on
of his codefendant 6 confession.
Hunt

L 36130
(205) 261-4017

JULY 1990 ELECTROCUTION

RICKY BOGGS, (White),
He was convicted of the
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:

Richmond

(804) 786-2211
FAX: (804) 786-3985

age 27, ha

murder of an elderly white female.
Gov. Douglas Wilder
State Capitol

§ been on death row since October 1984.
Atty Gen Mary Sue Terry
Supreme Court Bldg
102 N 8th St. .

Richmond VA 23212
(804) 786-2071

VA 23219

23 pla

+ AEE yecke we ARKANSAS DEMOCKAT
of am way, - ea subscr’ e :

; .. 4 oh tie kena othe soos hs lout Entertainments
‘Fe é ~ . ba Mr. Conway addressed the ful-

¢ 3 a ‘ lowtog letter to Mra, Moore;.,

At the Palace, *

-“

“We desire to eapress to you! and
yOur family our deep surruw io yvar
greet loss, Ase a slight tuken of our
appreciation of the courage and brave-

“THO ACCUSED

ry dleplayed by your busteand, we are

No masculine beart vould wish for

more viewtty ond puneh thaa there le:
oft Tbe Girl Loved,” and ne woasau:

‘ tuuld thagle with Beenet beart fesjwnne

than je jwootble in ibis pomauce tbat te,

bic 4 vending you berewtth our check for
. $600. *

“Uue deep sympathy goes to you in

o % - ‘ Youre alfilction, SMMay the memory of

Shaw, Lange and Waddell Face |'»- lite fet — oe Aud comfort
yOu and youre family,”

Jury Monday—Funds Start-|> ‘the letter aud check were forward:

Sy ed to Mew, Mowre by Acting Chief
ed for Family of Detective Crow with the fullowing message:
Moore. .

LAWRENCE LEARNS zs eye

ae tu lees of aoa part uf the ideal
Ags . ver, tr) Maya role te that of a
Nation Pessimistle Over Birth} Ou nos wud young wan of utd-
, ‘ Millana in the ant eeukare, whease
Rate and Feels Germany Will) (nie" adapted a bewutifur ged Wath
Re Able to “Come Back’ | tis tester sister he gruwe up to sung
z . , thimtibennl, teneonee wise that ee hae wos
Within 20 Years. eu aw yell of romance with his bene
Hy DAVID LAWRENCE, aisings When mw cival wppeate. baw
(Copyright, Pat wit a shee Ait
USpecial Cable Paspatep.) i a burete forth Vhe
Pratis, duty 2h Phew tent be Birvnece’s | MOG doee nut de all the acting, "ibe
fear of another invasion by Germany? | @teb” Patsy Much Miller” (a not mereds
Ta Mivetioe Che average imanite inetined | #l eaeeptional bewuty, but te capable
le shrug bie shonklers and aay “there 190 slintog in ung eumpahy ae we ae
je het going te te anather war fur | em Muew theee te Iasueey Wallace. |
moe tlie, becauve the peuple ane tue | & atecthas idayes, Edythe Chapman, aed
[eat te Hight again Tet in Barepe | eae others Valwee News, “Rue Meron

]

“We regret very wuch the «disevter
of todey and extend the heartfelt sym-
pathy of myself and the eutire depart-

I ~ Shaw, Afthue lange and Arthur) ent, Although your buebaud caunol
| “ g lube ) Waddell, accused of =the jin recurued, | ans handing you here-

Piss deiscreesetauer

*“ Speedy trial for “Diamond Joe"

GQ purder Tuesday uf City Detective lettwe and chev from Mer, J.

g birorge WwW, Moore and the wounding president of the Ldttle
of Detective I. C, Mey, loomed Tues | lock Glearing House Amoovtation, the

S day afternoon when Circust Judge |oneck being lor $CAN.

® Wade set thelr trials oo charges of
Cie degree murder fur Monday tn

“Wei kouw that this can in no way
repay you fue your great louse but we

: i k i ' besvpn’® ’ :
; ~~ circuit court, Cunvietion will carry |aing know it can be used tu a great the average than has an algogether ait j the Vereee” and News Fubles coin
@ death in the electric chair or life iim: ladyantage by you and your family. ferent lea of what constitutes the reo) biete the yeogran t
. ie, the Jucy to Ux the puns [dup demice ia that this will be the start’ cuperative pawer uf in wath, At the Capitol,
@ labment, of a handsome fuad from the cittsens Vi fuct, the whole quacrel about rep! phew Mughes, whe wae Mary Pek
bs ‘runecuting Attorney Donhain sald [of Ltltle Mock foe your benefit.” ‘ Weations te net a dinpate aver WhaU | fords leading mou ie Pees of the Mtoe
emphatically that he Inteude to pual Captain Crow responded to Me, Con- ce oplee ow fabio ondvantoge uf a eneh dation can yar, but what ewels Lcroutes,” ated Mostge Wellanny, where
% the prosecution of th trie, The three |way's letter expresang lis personal age | necudent Wennee eonspatiy ote Ered RanbS te pane foe there meeue te be twee Bisbee packed ae the babel
were indictest Tuesday vu charges of {pteclation and that of the department | pick wh elite oon ow geeerat beet that in a@nether 10) Niyertonn bemiute, age ew starred bao Nie
ee first degree murder, (ne the check and fue the apie in Phere givat pejoleny | 6 beeebhe TS comes alt the Burepe@ yg a Partuee Poa Perenuann -toee
2. A wubecriptiog for th slain officer's which It wae sent, iret Nanee Clay, where Prag | ewes wall be Baek on thete feet ere et a sag nena eteale be evenes ne
f am widow alrercsly haa been started by the Widow Uoete Insurance. Bete, Fitter, podted Wp oan went after | Hear ally spewbiig, wad ceady Ce 69 (8 | the wembiese of Ciaiditiy whiten choses
*¥ # Little Rock Clearing House Asmociae | -In addition tu any fund raised by |e ack a ei meal an returned war aga ; ; ‘A Litem. epeegenet oat the Cngeited tt t
tien, ‘The association, in seasion ‘ues. [Che cltisene, Mere. Moore te the beue Macviwtt te the theaght oo _ et AN cdnne wel hom sere fete bees
day, parsed resulutions depluring the |(ciary under the blanket police aud [Ae theatre, “Tuemlay afternoon placed wae in Vo venee that uleeudy ee ene Hl rr el dy that makes geed acrect
3 tragedy an authorizing } (. Cone | Ctemen’s insurance fund o ocellection teea ga the fobby of the (ee begining tev “a the u'b vutertas neue
hg Khe will receive $2,000 from thie | fbewtre with the discription, “baa the j that whe wee thes will be Phe featuee for the last half of the
* source and will aleo be eligible ae a Nteerken OM fieee a Warhew | Die ten pe ttaiabered te ie pemes by eens sy Werk, wtarting tomercaw. wall be) tees
« Denelelary under the pension — fund | SE be left ta the debts all week and (Maes twa te ene Phe Penneh ate tLe how Parnimenyt, ee
~¥ . pared by the legislature Under thie [the fund then will be tuened over tu ihe seers tly thee can ta bere dee 7 | (eine Viewidre Kosteft, Meant hu«
. ect ol Ty 5 . Mire. Mowe Pbith pate, Phes sentire that because Of 1A ¢¢) Tica Corter, Hubert (Cutie mid
: hersel( and Wane ie fe cece Chia ; Neving Mayor lente GG Veter fe the bewss Veomees toe teen shine deed Se delleen Vevey.
‘ “ ve cack chit : : hii been an)
bs : i faistites that weobkt bave
bof uuder I years uf age, stent the: follwing sateen! pee’ Want haves fapitebiead Crepe fe AM the Muval
° Hleney Prpta, iannger of the Dal Ht wae with the piewtent regret the veies begun HIN) oe Eereabente Jarek Pholt's CON Geettlensen of fete
\ bd LAST TIMEN TODAY S eee rel | i ee a {hat I aerate a tee et te sang tert estet fer Keane. Been | ure, revise ms Wat atest, chore
toesee pneu, tte wlete de tetee tine jeurge | iit whe Fs ly baeth cate wae | enmegemaent at phe ove eens «
j ba | trong ands Helped Mewee wine balled ait les qactner bu i seh lower tt wn vthe een Yo Varcdee ed, | ove el "Ehee tow tepheal Pbelt vetoee
. by ° ther © Dhwe, ware leet ato dt wae! . n omit NE Wy theede | firth cl reste meted ecient wba tes
i ° J k H lt Dempsey Win le Mth Werenel have been puesto gee Balam
oe’ ° a ; e deplorable tnewbear bat umawvelda tae, secple tee geen mated f pevates enter ve big: Basset New ‘
| ‘ . Cc (@) Dr WAL Memdy, fame health put lite on the officers jract ae eae ‘Vtedueed victaconcl | aaat AMthaetie (tbe. | Megas Dbede geese
| ‘ > in Hewat sald before the Dreupmey Carpeu “Pe belatt of the city government, | tyes oe senrtiees Fron cer tnga tages, | te Che demiliog wesc iced Ve mange of
} ‘ pg fier fight, "The wan with Che atewugent | f eaten te Mie Mosee not Canty oue fund other Wenente tien been et | tg cunt te well pe bee Ganl cuik al ce
} > a claws will mie: < arue repeninn sheeqeret evinputley mid nto Tfevesl ter etieelate the saleing off lacwee | ad ee fee ake ae \ a : ttine-
e | » wae ever tae. Not only ba the portae | wie vee thee the Mee of heed ‘ft lows wee “we ve Derleteney erode .
A e ‘
i i ry A Gentleman ching, loud te every bsauemn me tivity, “CM Crcr en Mevce wot bbee were true | nen if the woe Pak tet beeen aut pane laos Mate nt, seetueett Mieete ee ‘i
\ - atrong glaude mean aupremacy, BUS] Liem mteed mtd Herre | de veted olf . Peep d wtate tee ates Daed tld fegnedd | Maenee verted be te sane
‘ : ‘ ' teere with ite » fert Cnsgeater and
+. Pa se trem courage, ambien. jaa cuvimdelis tee cl Phe bee ef thete peat that the population of Faauee werd | Disbaeend Meeeer, Mees i"
H y e ? 1, atl threleas energy, Whenlaceyter will be heen) telt fy qhhe pe 1 tut frei SEER fo JE OO OOH IN) Cennge Rawentt
: of eisure the glande slow down, weakinera audi iy, departavent ' Inca Phe loes vl DCAM net AL the Gem
* pad old age ate in. Neting Chie® Crow's statement: fol [aust he taken tite vetestde ratte aaa Thies de [Cnrnival Week at the ica
* ¢ Phyelein «and eclentinta, knowing |pown permanent Getoe ra the wet “0 vieat. and wt the close of cach taatinen aad
E , . ” that luactive glands are often the cause RANT Nisavew ; we well as the fact that while penctret he alee, fevered vetre sk
be Camedy “Wlae Crackers of trouble wid weakucases, ace cothual vera Monee ated Hay were two | ° Penns were at the Creut (reat eee Seaeahe the matediene
“ Of the West mad est oflegee alfienre | by abt nen ia mente gee dieterbuted ta the ow
a notice about glunt trratineut for pervena 4 the Pneth pete deetited se mach thac es ; Juvers, Whos ore Appr ting
. 4 : fay thee be jene tenvenet Although thebe te bart te liatie. 6 by the Crem plavers,
bd Fox News, Continuous Muse. and cundowa permoinm Cilaned tremtinene tigines. Ute dod Merk \ finiates today nee Veee persiiniatie toe t veg anneical comedy vaudevilie veya,
w is now offered in the foru of Claude papers cent a ted ny yhe BOP Li pene ly wea pinisee mlatuntie tans Mtg Widen Day Avate wud bet
« " : : cen, in tablet form, whieh be prepared WE OT ise that the baemely wold tee muabte 7) oy © (eatucedl, aml a yedhag
So. ¥ 1 q a “ ° " al okher of
¢ COMING THURSDAY from the glaucde of healthy young ani- hee, eae. ek Noe ae aati than foo poet bay the tebd bo veare hen fone number by ‘Soumy Peet ta preeyiter
. OF ethers Ntaee there apport { the were able to Phe Cire gerne
a 4s ’ mals and other valuable ingredlenta, . : . the uamber of ten y yopular, Art Acoed tn 1e re
ia BURN EM UP compounded ta highly concentiated nent ne - wrelioe departinene they | uaatice in UE , et in the ptetaire femtute, din adde-
* t tave Upheld the hawe of the city and for the Givens, ther alwys aid | : lave Hen ‘Taryn
» ” oe atate font } As for the & : ition ta whieh there isa )
ns BARNES Glandogen ja obtainable at Sowlarana alist a oe Mg hue thet apperntaene tot aye an eaeese ta peplation bee aur tomedy nod a Weatern thetlier, Pheer
a & encv Drug Ntere, 120 Main street he ce weee Chetr activities were | thes lnve teheved clght along be caine WIL be a change of program ‘Thursday
: Little Rowk's leadiog druggiats, Stad ony ie Jarge families. Laces dian ei c ee eo
_ hk > ordera given prompt attention.—Ady, ‘at i. a ene ake huning a war hie sacl Ppt ve LOCKS JAILER
idee on vnrlens wie teematoy bars we ome ae .

IN CELL AND

4 obedient, wud whee will be hard to re: tant wat, the Frenet elatin, has terecdeet
j ~§ ‘ THIS IS THE as te . ee atabiline Cieriaty Pahl at oe

: wth acting Mavoe Letser and WoT | prewen, Lemay hag renin thee Deed wen: c
: + itn Wes LAST DAY OF | e 7 Chiel Crow ecpreased — thele Heepeat | ienees af averpepulation fo whi aie MAKES ESCAPE
{ ‘ : _ Ce wa wateatley fur the wilow und the fan- | many hes teen seeking wn outlet for the Poplar Wulf, Mo, diuy 23.— kal og
H ; - Mies, » ve cleotide, f vher, made @

i , CARNIVAL - . —__- os Alt thie be predicated, of course, on | HOE cluaning ta be a preacher, in

{

, Pn

son ° t that the ware of the future senaativaal cacape —_ ere _— ate

. a " ‘ Hi t aripaie

E : scape ie te Th 5 rane MANY EVENT. . a ne coal, wilt pocigaheer ian a hae Maan hhedtt e fa Broke

3 2 a , i i ize wf the lat armies ae we “. 1 bded the keys from the officer

; 2 SIC : Praying = Week PLANNED FOR tieyeud sither on naval or aie mugprenias pear Yael him sal tke witaated wil
bo hen

<= MUSICAL *. ;
. COMEDY

flel, He was cupturet shortly after
ward, about IN niles cliptant, It wae
nevessary to get a blackamith to knock
the lock off the Jail in anler to release
the officer. ’

HARDING PARTY | 2 wtiasy sin'igve tr tt tom

Reattle, Wash. July 25.—Pive funch-| thinkiag dn) teri of furta, git

ean
~:VAUDE- cour Friday for members of the purty | trench ayatene, They da not
OC President Harding, ue te arrive] be as fearful of the use of w

Charles
ate: VILLE. . that morning from Alaska vin Vancou-| ons of wartare as Pra

ree ae ver, 1. , have been authorized i a} Foe instance, there is a a
es AL80 Ra rable communication with George Cheia agitation in the press jurt
m ot ‘ (lan, the president's secretary, The| ihe gradually increaring *
Art Accord J . \ presi ‘ ‘ mM ize

aor t- IN ‘

“OREGON 4:

IN= . peecient bs . oe tunch at the Meattle| Meitian ale feet, white ee alter. AD CAMPAIGN
: P ‘rene Club; Necretar f the Interior) F ‘a supremacy in . . a as ¥
5 ” bat) E GIRL ] Work will he tbe peincipel siete. at iy the Freweh have succeded in eseimpt: rte a cv
St TRAIL, ; the Arctle (lub; Mecortary Wace ofling frum the Woebingtea naval roster iy 7 < wt goheianaae has been de-
“Sartre ees tbe nts Aan a: : ” Tl the (hamber of Coinmerte aud Mecre-| tions treaty, reatrictlous ut submas}roud grong in Congrese aa T. ‘
LOVED v pp tery Wallace, the Kanier Club. ‘The Hut nothing Yeema to have been [rided pun by the Ateblous, Topebs

“hax Mh. b
ores h

;
a Ateg cae
te"

Ow i ead
7

Sos

s rines, : i
= Ae 2 women of the party which left ‘T’ bout chemical warfare. & Noata Ke railroad, it waa sanounced
pot 2 “THE GUN ‘ Makes Charles Ray the Screea's July & and weet We Ataaes a thir wavy eMmrricon experts have figured out [inst night by 8. ‘T. Bledeoe, general
ie *' RUNNERS” Bupreme Lever, _- teonapert Henderson wit be enter-| that a whole cily “ people pce prance hod gO ig he it be eee
= ES fg ha Macho v5 ~ =< tained at lunch at the Sunvet Club, | wiped owt in a few hours by Ori) of publicity, aoe Stic, w He
« Sek tage “ ; with the exception of Mra Harding. { an feom airplanes, that If worl ried ja a series of advertivements in
Es Foe | 2z*BRIGHT Short Sublects ]/ ce eligi annncl ili Sed etme ye peer ee tec
‘ i £4 perce em eae ae 2" ea PXeept to 5 ao _& 4
VE. wie YES, tg oat a Ty >Palace News er’ In @ parade with her husband and te st ea be the aillen through the use OC lihrodgh which the Hanta Fe operates
| > aoa GREAT : é hae aE . 2s ]] sit on the platform from which he will| these new joventions, ‘To all this ye Announcement of the publicity pro
= : Soo SENNET - 2 ¢ _“Fua From the Press” make hie principal address, . | Freneb-do not sce to have risen. - 4 gram was made after an ~ executire
he Ba Ser 00 MEDY 5h <orer77 Aceep’a - Fables. —]} - rriday” hae been procialmed a holl-| aay it ie ax yet unproven (hat chem 7 *} mecting of 175 solicitors, local counse}
% a7, ME oe ne te SEE ‘ . Licance day by Mayor Edwin Hrowy, are as deadly as claimed. They say and traffic men of the road Ia Mie-

gas bombs

> Henderson, rdi } var did not prove (ha "{sourj, Kansaa, Oklahoma and lowa,
Fi p received ben Seward, yall .". hilled aa many men As shells a : ra = : - a ed
a here only two — boars, -after| leta, so they will stick to thoes a0 Vie) gy sys cd OL inotrtian ie
3 ‘La a, leaves here gnd is| pralcipal weapows aud will lg waslee , ssl
. Fg ‘ r Ban Diegd, where ‘he is] in terme of another Goreas ry gee
= ei - expected to re-embark. to.ga to Vorto| by Infantry_and artillery, There Seb
To : Rico -thronghy the. I’anama canal, ...| doubt .that-.the Germans _are_sely of bt gras te Woe aes 7
i : vig” prseear “ “cae | 10 some oy bry Ligh at Fakausan te er eer ae Ae pe,
5 : ts Cras * tend p LUReer |
j WOMAN:TO GIVE <3 | tartare for 2 Sch apprehenddon | “tore tye si ore Bee
2 =COMPANION TO - {e- the: Ingralned fer oe (he (iermm ani. ee =,
: 4 : os capers {ur Tere Wedel head ry | Eeorstecaeta mane
Rg 4 “TAD e -of “the vk Bel | ian etnceey leave!
’ Beene 3 Tee LADDIE BOY": myer oierict, there are »-facatious | [Lo Bead |
; ¥ ww BY) = Vancouver, Th C.} July 23-—A rom-| Frenchmen. whe pay t 898208 Ne bel Sod og 3 all vee 4 LE
: z 5 1} panion:for:“T.addie..loy”: is awaiting SOL. course, -the- Valted Atates- a 1 oe ee af
By es +1] President: Harding here,.2ai 203557 iar sox) pot) De drawain-—that la, pot foe, th pie | Rasa r
- : F oe ad ; “| LeAnn old =wouan >with <a 4 Yiretstwo7yeare terre : Sead | earetel apy
3 ; iy. apse 27 ‘ fei 6 yeeee oe |} puppy: having traces of ‘alredale, .vlatts bs cove me ae: Ae 3n: ey
1. ne, 3 ‘Hy ed the eity ball, Her dog, she aid, looks i ate : "9 aa tes oS ¢
, ; abe tenia cal UTthy 2) | Chicago | yah
s : food ote Sesas bresre “ by = te a srs Sega 3.20 Ah ee Ses eo <3 i Q
’ m st} the ented executive ‘ A I; % m 3 a! . rs
Y pelea Potent) to ; ae eer aU AU. A | Pixs AIF
‘ i ; goed Sfp : ae, Sebago toga a | Bao ‘
7 | reueecpet on i Gat Mental Con EH Bee
, ay) aapryers Of, Horo ‘400
9

‘

e 4
h

m9
®

sk 4
Fare |

af
oe

gp.

iol

*
x?
o

Ree - Batered at the Postalfice at Little Nock, Ark. as Se-ond-Clase Maitec
@
| ated

> ptill had his freedom.

-
-

s-ahowed that the plan,
features, goes a long way

«°- 3 P : ; .

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT

/ bas
oA he en

“9 @
RAY

~, ok eee eh Ya pt ‘
#, eh ns s 3 +
i ee ;

ARKANSAS DEM

WEDNESDAY EVENING
FIFTY-SECOND YEAR _
Published Daily and Sunday

“ LITTCE ROCK PUBLISHING COMPANV—Elmer BE. Clarke, Publisher

BUDSCRIPTION: RATES.—Dally and Sunday, by Carrier in Luka Itoca, aoe
per week. Outside of Little Mech, 20¢ per week, of Bc per month,
Ly Mall to Arhansan Addresses, Payable in Advance:

Along Life’s Detour

By Sac Hill

Muh!

In early life

‘The famous artiet met his death
Heeduse. ‘tia anand,

Ile never tirew a sober breath,

(beervations of Oldest I[nhabitant.

Some poopie tiave aa iach
hacking the car out of the gurage aa

Deily aad Sundaes, 1 Deity, Onis. { feadey Only.

Hhete temrents vemeed tee tay ieee tag

One ment .., £8 BN One month "8 63 Une meant. .cees. aa | le heeeae Into the shnfte

Three wonthe 200] Taree ines TL eS} theese monthe , elo. The ANnantan Club,

ots meaine.. 4 owl sia uwntne .. + Bowl mia manta veces “plant “Ne Tobi seid bie wife “we wan't
BO FOR. cee ceceese Twilirne yoot ... 6. cee aeee Ow LUMe peal cocci eee eeee Bwlhus acer cern if everstenly elme tn the

Tne Avevetated Mrese te eaciwaivery emtitiod tu
al cee Cheviot ta It Of Net etNatw oe feu:
we publroted berera. Ail righte of feyrodus-
feortven

Member of the Aseuriated iree
(Re Wee fur repubricet wn uf ath hem
fted In IRia paper. att alow the pat
flonm of epecini dispaiches herein are alev

TELEPHONE ALL, DEP ARPMENTS

a SL

CATCHING CRIMINALS.

Oklahoma bandits, Kansas bank robbers and ‘Tcxas had
men will learn, one of these days, that Arkansas has become an
unhealthy retreat. For years Arkansas was a fuvorite vacation

“haunt for hunted men, but in recent years 1 good many of the

recognized Jeaders of the bad men of the Southwest have learn-
ed, to their sorrow, that Arkansas is tired of them,
Joe Shaw and Arthur Lange, murderers of
George W. Moore are the latest to learn of the resourcefulness
of Arkansas peace officers, Lange had “hulled” numerous Kan-
sas bank robberies and had killed an Oklahoma peleemuan, and
Just what hind of a criminal record

Detective

Shaw has is not vet known,
to Arkansas to replenish their
at Pine Bluff Monday night was easy, But they

They came store of stolen

loot. A robbery

did not consider that Little Rock police Inew they were coming

here, and knew Where they would be when they yet here.
Apparently believing that he could repeat. his

tragedy, Lange, azsisted hy Shaw, killed Detective Moore, badly

wounded Detective L. C. Hay and fled. ‘Phe pair wats clever
enough: to flee in one type of auto, only te abandon it and get
{nto another machine which they had hidden in
near the city. :

But despite their cleverness they were not clever enough t

prevent their capture, and their return to the city of their cold-

blooded murder before 12 hours had expired.
Lange and Shaw, before they came to this state,

have taken the trouble to look up the fate of a few other men of

thelr kind in thiv state during the last few yours. They woul

have found that several met sudden death when they were Iry-|

ing to perpetrate daring crimes. Others eseaped temporarily

only to be caught and given awift punishment.

Despite that Lange and Shaw had every advantage over
Detectives Hay and Moore, giving them virtually no opportu.
inity, it was the grit and nerve of Detective Hay that indirecty
* Jed to the speedy capture of the two desperadoes,

~ With bullets striking him from two directions, Detective

—

re certain,

odes Swift justice to these two murderera will increase the re-
» spect criminals are learning for Arkansas laws and Arkansas

peace officers. -
Ses DEMOCRATIZING CHARITY.
Discussion of the community chest plan to finance a char

{ty organization, at the Board of Commerce Tuesday night

toward the democratizing of charity

affords every person an
rsons who are not reached by individual campaigns.

jot: mean that the plan, or any phase of it

thee

maak

eThe,

unity ‘chest plan. 2.20.

¥} Fp ich-Zwould <benefi

$2 ee oe

gramunity.
sf}

Ined-to oppose lt, or.t

should NOT cediir.2One ot th

Oklahoma

the country

should

Hay put his own revolver into action and crippled Lange.
io wound; a shattered leg, made the capture of the pair

‘In addition to its many other excellent

opportunity to do his bit. It reaches

x; Little’ Rock, in the opinion of the Democrat, should enter

“whole-heartedly into the community chest plan. By that we do
n should be adopted

the plan are universal in ap-

it.their full moral sup-

ports, are: ' B.A, Ort
a’conduct thelr:individual financial

Wei uce
the bawe

We ghterhod dere owie ene,
{ ceing Fee jeeae cred jteerener yo ane
mid wrve ot for me rineny obey”

She Coulla't Stand for That.

i Whaks “Phew did vem persuade
hyvewe wife ta give up wearing hideh-
jerse’

{ oderkes TP felt hee To theaght they

Wlte very beemmne, ted they made her
‘fork wt feast tem veers older®
Hts mate BPelewt Mypot,

i Vb tike te bve
fie Werraneee
Bee there vere teed
\ Ne clothe oe chewgh

; Anyway, She Maccied Ulen.

i
' othe Mt Dicctnts GCebeetee Ptenieecrat tease cm him way te Aten ‘Phat
Tier cage Wy Cree colin we pea, Ware net quite 2 years ugo, thie fath
i ae hep owaeu Netth of Peetand farmer and
| ts ew wn fete serte cbeteret a thee Ween. chan he bterend
j Bivdetennthe eter Gavecte feveie, Gees fog Celt feok Phe faintly aeon re
' ae Prowl Tie nis Haened tee Teetmid fiene the bite
a ; Wels BE oven find out states wad Che ad cet@ined a Meatiat
ten the bapey stutistrctan Tee Gn tye t
taveinen af the enut « Ww
. Nhe comnts ohe te the Toe eae Wae Woeddiet Cheta.
vopettore Vdoat me qeveties ee sere teense Fr Yack :
“ene, ' Hetty Bev brett fie beeuieed of the
‘ ust seins he 7
; Monthly Hable With He ee le ie ene hn |
| Pa rend Charen! whe wunde the yea aud made lie way to Japan |
test) Oates elem ce listens 2" acelly tare Chau wohl he tweed |

oe cee OA) ee a ated thes
haht estapany mghes the geet chinsiget irteet tenople at Wyote, the Newt
Ve few ogee (levee ange Hi etehitertuee amd des
j She Can't S a or Med Mave mete the felagele de one of the won
Vened Brow Ulee jlits 7 ee Oe TT |
CPrerecnal ty New Verh Times t Vit be the fementog retool of the bighest
Webb EERE NP AV VOT up Mebitieee Gate Young Metieveri nuh
Ot ee
Niese Piatti Mer ede Cts teerin bree eet wid mphehen the unleariable §
Mivtetenetred Stapqeeme (1 Ear gute wud The all cultivated Jap

ne Open b
" Athambee Oba,

eo dee ney

{Vinee

| Different Wind Veen Leave
Phew teres ath se thet the ea UC hewe”
! Niveb tm fet ny fen,

be
Tbiw wilev. tee

Hut ruse hee oe
Peedenally

“theod enengt!

thighe lela a bene,
oe ee
Phitlowsspolry

atnowen the pur

feat oun wal

tay

[ese Est ame te
Lever with a dee mtye
‘Phes d Mahe
th, the
elt
Nee thene

| With

vietwry
Nugels Weep
waildess weeds, Bana,
tootta,
ae eee
feed

Carver) Mordemeovidle

Peebecrsdly U'teilersegetey

Tf ovens cde tert peeteneet tee Covtete
tach, abe not stuet matoat
tee Mieh ates rivet tee tte phere ee ty

meted tees

Veteal geo 1

went ou dong bear

Nhe Wise cee tee
wit

whet the qetlie tee te Wee

trouble

the:
|

tebern, WOES,

Vere trey betes y

than voursetf frou aecmnobihang a ate

ohoan

‘Young Irish

i}
'
|
'
{
\
’
'
|

As Buddhist Preist,
Visits Thibet Llama

man Poses

Tn Jule of lest veer tousle-haired. | Miesion wae formed, with Dro McGov-
shin, gentlemannered Triah iwan of; eru’s wee ehmente ad ite povelpal | Pan
only 2b vewre left England with the | eect Wholly ache yaad non jae | nies
[Beitieh Mavtdbiat Mission fo ‘TMbat. | Hleal tte acemitenm ruined to pene- lon

INpeahing Chinese fluently and readtug

iWietdbist tevte ta Manaecript easily, he | teh .
ite

woe caliod Uintecpeeter’ fa the ite

aien. ON few weeks ago he returned, |
the useest talked of PMertiah mtabyeet ite |
‘Nels. tthe only inember of the little |
Bioup ote crack ate objective More!
wver, uu uneasy cabiuet minister had,

jt fuce the anger of the eutire Weitiet |

J pubic fe to the young man's fate, but |
yuu of i all Ae, already known ae the |
leading Cuientalet of bis race, emerged

pworld faumun, seve a Londen dispatch |
in the New Yor Weeld |
1 Phe is ene of the moat Interesting |

phen bn the waortd thin \y vung De W
MO Me tieveru Iomance began with
btw bath, fee he wae born oo the high

fee pet welrttedd wea papal deo the great

ee) es the onties
ny owite, | ” dapanese leugueae, i peeeeas took place tne bitiog Ditielavan

Gee be wtdierd the Cltteene eluates
Phe bee aie perme tice tan Mardebdeeet pet
fee cepeiey peed set deny tte bee farce bee eae
Pa le peammet the degiee dn the borate |

Federal ww dte ty tale

Voduy

hi ow
he ta the
Lectemt tteuee ww tee fetta Che mustere tithe

Noveat und a half age the

wenest only

; Proves qattisbed a doug. deacued review
pet a beet tema nied treed ob trarcdwe tren
tee Matinyattew Utero! by bee WwW

NE Mia teevennr ‘The review wae reigned

bee bending: Croentaliat, whe pre
treed veung Metioveru the ablent
{Oriental sehetee alive Tu hte beng

pueblo ree nt mpepremticealingy ta th Merde
Here getter these le daed set only meguie
eh the Seyeiese and Chitose laiguages
tes Chee legtce of practioe

highert atl

eo wielatship, be ie a omehelac tn Man
cert ated Vall, the dead languages of
Asian

Speake and Weites Thibetan
Tle spemks nnd weiter Phibeten, that
Btetent wil iiveterioum couutey

Where

shaven (asce? j the termod Dla dwells eacerting a

Phe Ebbw wife ttemtmte soperna fe cang haw) shige, Te niateretond pawer, fait

| | week tes j relates wie hwdf polttient, ower ae
Kather Te Prisoner at the Mar i reut mil cultivated people

Chinwge bas a law tiem eonipesed Te hin beoke De, Metrovern-—he pub-

of mother, ren und daughter. Nowe Vebed suether, Modern Japan,” two

tru deate age showed himself not only a

He's a Poor Prune af That, Wutater of dead aad living Orlental

Before mareage he wants ta helt) languages, not to apeak of Feeneh and

her diane, aoe afterwards he weld) ¢ win, Which he apeaka fluently, dle

Conetanate Kaequieer.

— Sane DEN,
1 wed, he said twas geen

fefore ghey

vather whe world suat hold hee tongue. | ©

wats alee a powerful, supple, ana-
Istieal, etergtic style In Maglish.
pie ble te write au eplgrammatic ben

Tf he cchd onty tal bee devi; gbeut a comples subject-—a qual
Hut now he fects that 2e woe stung, | very care dn savants,
And wihes ashe would hail her Ile bas always been curious a
tongue. Thibet, tts capital, hava, in ulmon
1° —J. TE. Mew. possible of accean, Phe Urittel
Te Tt Fits, eroment in Tidia has never enco

"la lot of friends, but frieads have ruine

inere men than enemies evee have,

the arm thought
sleeveless ilresren

but since the
thee had been ecarred nomewhere pea

er the knee.

Of coure it is a fine thing to have

Docing tne shortakiet, roll-dowp-how
+} period greta who_hadl been vaccinated
they were lucky,
have
come into fashion they begin to wish

Englishineu to enter the bur
aj) City, wary of stirring up t-ouble
the northern bordes. Yet nome years
ago, Dr. Metlovern, somewhat aguinat
the wishes of the autborittes, attached
himeelf to a caravan of Laimulst pil:
grime from Mongolia and
to hardly more than a
from J.hana,

ts
: Finally Starts for Lhasa

able ta boast of having
beard in the world,
some bird out Went Ia doing,

considered ultra modest,

S| heart balm or alimony, - g.
g} Old married people dan't see an
thing startling In the news that the:

ple, elther, soy 2253 hope
t -Owning an atta’ may. wree

a earl of, the twa: ¢vile,
a awnlug One 23> ,
= We don't know ‘hye
a-dlary,
ton’s be

Our iden of zero in fame is ta be
the longest
which we notice

A benighted, heathen country {a one
where a girl enn wear lesen than ao
Atlantic City bathing girl aad still be

- $t may not be the moat pleasant Px
tLperience in the world to be Jilted. but
at lenst a fellow escapes being sued for

ia no kissing among the Fakimos, You
don't find jt among old married peo-

ene. It wrecks yours elites hapelness
+ We. guess,
ae, i Me RG
woman’ keepa
big we know “the reaeog men
becw ura they ilon't care To herp

A year agu the Hritieb

nrvund where their wives might fin
ie.

TLeumatism cures are ways for
= to reduce,

thaw they deserve. -

y-|to advance notices is a husband.
re
faci

haw 4 will finally strike @
wake them happy. sucesso 04.2.
-223 8 Dally’ $ a,
TNothing can= travel” faster

PUTO 6 2. Oa a et on an =
mel oma ot the Namea Ctab. =

deyila we “are”

[trate to the Partideen City,

Fpretaberree Ceipe

‘ peevante

Shae adie uns

Warcbeltacnt
Livtog favetiing the Phibetgn tent hoses for

Vfeac of sleteetoo

Vocnedone |

tthe fanwtioal Thibetone,
| oP hey proceeded Grwact Thana Ac
Thihetun custom, thes wet

ite |

penetrated
day's march

Mudhdbfat

a record of the things they do es |
The only thing more numerous than
the
Vomen-may nut be perfect. but we
vurmise moet gnea get better wives
Another thing that seklom comes up

a springs eternal, and rome wo-
eey on marrying in hopes that
man who can

Next the: wer get=a: bad case of blue
a eT of -Tatta
Comfort af Oakland, a Cale eRe)

Phe Hrit- 4

ih tablelaud

the
the minsten cached Cue Thite- | grias

ng
loot alasan
winter
tan fromtiee and wae turned back bry,
the ‘Thiletan authorities
did not want ta see the kinglieh. tor
lens come from the Grand Llema hii
self ta tell them mm, H

Metiasvern resalved, then and there, ta |
He wae a Puddhint priest and |

goon

thie status, be bellewed, would insure:
him on Welcome among the priesily |
Hierarchy ot Dasa. Without watt |

Ing for the perrtntaston of hie own ger
erptnent te bade Lie Celene goed by
and uaele pewret prepatativns fr the |

fon Janusev U2 of leat year with four
fe lett Darjeeling, the lant
town oan whieh there wan a Pitiel uf
ticval, Meter butting wath sauwetorine
Poy Metieveen woe faged, wha he bad

leone a fortnight cut, with ao oteke of
setrvanta, tle forest then te wai
j wabde teow fiat Phen, wn the desulate !

pussief Kann dn the upper Mmalryas
he pevenled te them hiv detecuminatros
fe cree Ede

fuok Hole df a Coole,
Hiere was a man whose onlers were
‘,! the nt least foe the asement
for Met ne pecivtary consented te

ne the master of the party
atlhew the [rial scholar tu cunet
{ vimbie neatatant ated cork
dived nd parted hes
«ta avold detection tn
sped in @ aeeiels ‘The

Tor Me Cae
wilieeter Lede

care the wae at

\vrieed mand the cleetee dremeed ta the thie
gerients of a coutte fa the ould frou H
tier winter \

thn bebeoare DT, at euneliae, the little
Patty crossed the frontier bevel Che |
teneh of the Inet Hritteh officral bee '
Mitiovesn war foc alecping ta the epen,

The servanta fefuset |
Phe yetsteg Poostovan at length cotacnt
web, Leet ote Chee brates livesl outader the
leonatunt fear of dincuvery with ita pos
sible consequeiecce of quick death frow

cording to
faut meghtly at cham, withont bieek
fat, walking atsral 1 tallea before eat-
Lhe firet meat of the day, at
iw, wae frosen invent anal
woebed down with

ae ee
ttoa

hiasles

| mboersat
peated
, tte tee
were covered Urfere night

Hebi Pisctpline Wika Fbsta. |
1 of the second baigert: town uf Take
bet, Shigatee, bre. MeQorera had mora!
trestle wath seevantn, who threatened)
Sto desert Yhese difficultles occurred |
at intecvala theeughoul Che trtp fu
thie matter the Ervehman’s ultimate cee,
tmouree Was the handy uve of bbe fimta |
were not sure of the trail!

She party |
| hist shana und eventually hud te tole |
‘ow the oiver ta ite source in Luke

ta oh, dn the center of the county,
i Phi unmapped territory, and, wa Dr.
TAhidiovern did not trust hie servant He
drew imape from memory fur the ben-
efit of future mop makers after his!
hitde varavan were paleep.

orbldden City, De. MeGovern dis
ed that his own government in

ent—via the Thibetan governuient 4

installed telegraph service—that
. XteCavern having een refuned ad-
mittance at the frontier, was tu be in-
tercepted and sent back, ‘Trusting to
hie dingulee, the young scholar lintened |
and said nothing, determined to keep

on,
Rickness Follows Hardahip,

Immediately the ‘Ihibetan officials
were inatructed to watch all travelers
proceeding to Lhasa. Kedoubled caw
tion wae necessary. Ur. Metiovern
overheard a discussion between hia
landlady and a traveler In which one
assured the other that the spiritual
omniscience of the Grand Jama would
be certain to penetrate the foreigner’s
disguise,

Then came disaster—an attack of
dyzentery, which lald every member of
the party low. Der. McGovern waa by
thia time within'a inile of I.hasa. ‘The
date was February-15. . ‘Too {ll to
walk, the young Irishman hired local
porters to find him a lodging and carey
him there. faickily a room was found
In the center of the Forbidden City,
and to Dr, McGovern’s joy his hoat

ba. Habu, the only

_’.>} proved -to be oe 9

JU fe Thiberan who bad ventured far beyond

thana

Pumor, “nor anytbing spo faster than
nA Ae Ak

his omnes st borders, recently appoint-
ed head the —e wervice, The
Babu _trehted his visitor. kindly, re
sented:to the eeviesiastical and political
authoritieam-the former_are more pow:
erfulethat De, MeQovern was q duly
ordained Hudhist-privet and eventually

went in Todin gaee a hentia
nt. After weeks of traveling We dec
Jatohie ¢

Later, bo ee 2 piece helen
‘

Stef

the village of Juve, 4 miles from |“

stta had wired the Thibetan rov-|!

hohe

The Uihetane | clase

a
sel
the
wal
s

ned
Mts
off
ey
dix

ar
ec
In
bry
m
th
tic
cu

Ke ;

PR Tg ee eae ety eee

aT TPT eer

eid

community i¢ fie,elfm
aris; drives;ta sane “40

Bee Fp BIER cen

hen at sW Re ¢

WORS THE FISWING?:
HEYER WAS a ay :

We ARE:

ite will rather that public force ia
-to international peace.

é “padlie- will, not publle force,
t makes for. enduring . peace,” he
| hte audieuce of Cavadiaus gathered
4tanley Vark.-“And le is not a grati-
\6, clrewmatance thatsit had fallen
the’ Jog.ef us North Amerienns, living
cably for more than a century under
‘ecoat ,Qfagu, (@ present the most
aiag example yet produced of that
1@- feet) If only Huropean countries
skd eed ‘the lesson conveyai by
sod@-and the Wulted Heates, they
ikl etrike at the ruot of disagree-
ts, ead im thelr own prosperity for-
to jastigh cunsantly at vura”
Vith Ale emphasis upoa the tong
rai ‘e

neda—ed—the Foss of soar ae 28,-1043,—

ted States, Mr. Harding coupled ad-
+ to the people of the dominion to
ord agaiuse giving encouragement
any enterprise looking to Canada's
esation to the United States.”
Let us go vur own gaits aluug paral.
roeda, yue helping us and we helping
* he aided.
Ir. Hacding at the outoet alluded to
vivit being the first ever made by
resident of tha I'mited Htates to Can:
— a teem of office and with
thon of vinite of lresidenc*Wil-
- Kurope, the first og any fureign
and then cotinued: :
Camada (heed Neighbor, x
But erceptivons are required to ve
‘os and Canada is an exception, a
-t notable exception, frem every view:
it of the United States, You are
valy ove neighder, but a very good
sbiwe and we rejolce Im your ad-
semeat and admire your Imlepend-
» no lese alncerely than we value
e friendebip. We thiak the same
ighta, five the same livew sod cher-
tre same aspirationa of service ta
a other ia _ of need. Thousands
your brare. lads periabed jm gallant
| generous setion for the preserva:
1 vt owe unbow, Many of our young
a follewed Cunadian-gelare tu the
Hefletda' ol Yreace o we enters
the war and left thelr propwrtion of
wi to share the gravee of your In-
id soma,
What aa object lesson of peace {o
sa today by our (wo froutiors. Ne
.> battleships patrol our dividing wa-
+p no mtealthy epies lurk iu our tena
( border hamleta. (ioly a acrap of
ot, recomiing hardly more than @
ple understanding, safeguada lives
properties on the (hreat lakes nud
y humble mile jaste mark the ja.
able boundary Hne for thousands o
» through farm and forest.
ue protection je in our fraternity,
armer je aur faith, the thee that
1 more firmly year by year In ever
easing acquaintance aud comrade
» thruugh Interchange of citinens,
the compact is not of perishable
chment but of fale and honurable
(Contineed oa Page 11.)

INTER'S LEG CRUSHED
IN ROCK ISLAND YARDS

aputation—to- Be Necessary
as Result of Accident in
~~ East Side Yards.
. D. Beaker, aget 57, G15 -Aeott
| a ry Me employed by the Itock
raihway, ha: 3 hie left leg so badly
= that egaration will be neces-
y, in am-mecident pear the lock
iad freight warehouse in Fact J.jttle
bag fara Thureday
ning. * by
toulder wad passing bélween two
ngs eof cars on a siding, unaware
C @ switch engine was attached to

string. “As he passed between the
1, the ewiteh engine gure one string
ash. ° Boulder ped, but hie Jett

wee caught under the- wheels. -- It
| be ampetated as soon as he recov-
sufficieatly from the shock, it was
aging iho k Co
+ ts ee [+
y ambulance: * ef she

{OYD- GEORGES”
RAPS’ POINCARE

‘Yagiand, Yuly 2f.—-(Hy the
Fs }~Fermer Premier ies a dees
te @ Beenie attack on ry i Pvincat

‘erday, varnaciie: ra ee M. ele

i — Fd mak hes om Rune
Printed wat was a . day
secraneds¥0 good. will, and hardly
tay. Linders—af.
folly. tied be will

ager amoeg the nations,”

“rhe tolegrara waa mt from Whiladed.
phla while Mayor lirickbouse wae ew
mute from New York ta Little. ites,
where he will arrive Briday morning,

‘The mayor instructed the city attue
vey (od process] at once under author
Ity granted by the City Council, ta ae
quire the park site located west of the
Diate gg for’ Nervous Diseases,
hetween rkbam and Tenth streeta,
Condemnation proceed:ogs will be in
atituled where nectusary, ihe telegram
teald, toa insure that unfale pricee ate

Eulos Sullivan,

DINT FUNERAL FOR

not pald for-tenete in the propused site, U
which le agned by nearly 400 reparate
owners,

‘The mayor's telegram, in full, fel-
lows: ;

“Heary (1. Leiser, Acting
“P.ittle Rock, Ack,

“All matice pertaining to financing
park alte completed,

“[natruct city attorney to proeeed at
Once under cunocil authority with eva-
demaation procecilings, in casee where
neceesary, under instructions from com-
mittee in charee Gf purchasing laud.

"After continued qalercuces wih
attorneve aud bankers we suceeded In

ayer,

CITY HALL, FRIDAY

while a Heufenant and purvmanter a be brought te the emy hall at neon awd

the Naval Department at Washington. | will He dn atate unt Sf ooeloel) when
Tn aw statement Hennett adinttted his Loby the Mev

Identity and said he left Washington) ceevices will be comsdacted by Ue

ahoctly after the alleges ehoctage. com: | diares Go Knowles, pastoc of the Firet
{ug te Kun Antonio, ‘he money fe eaid| Christin chureth ated chaplain wl the
ty have been taken In December, UID Jolice depmetinent, wosiateal by the Mev

While here he haa Leen interented in J. OU. banwry,

oll promotions, belong meacclated whth Pallbenrers for detective Maouwre wall

army officers inn field at Laredo mod) yp ieat, DT Mneed, Detective Mer

alea having operations tu the Mreekin- te Charles Prewitt, OT Motenber

ridge field. Pe tol the agents of the) HO80'® " Dy Powter, wed Pateohuen

Department of Justice that he had luaty 5 amt alt it Ilackler ,

all af the $75.000 In bia oil investinents, $.0. McCall and F.. Tue .

and that he ja now “broke,” For Petective Tiny: Lieut 0. 0.
. —_ Minart, Jetewtive Mergeania O) N. Mar

RAISE SOUGHT tin, DE ML Willen wid NA, Wright

Wathen aed O.
buried do
Ibe tevtlye |
‘Thuradar

and Patrolmen $0.
K. Johnson, oth

Moseiawn Memorial
Hbes'a bendy Will be resoverdt

will be
Vrach

BY -TELEGRAPHERS

Chirago, July

26.—'Telegraphera an
the Chicago, Hock Island aud Pacific} aiternoon to hie late rvenienee, LLNS
and Chicago, Kock faland and Gulf] iine ateeet, by I UN Muebel & Com:

railroads have filed submissions with

any,
the Hailroad J.abor Hoard, aeking an Munleipal Judge Lewle announced tn

Increase of 10 centa an hour foe all| court Thuradav morning that there
ee covered by the telegraphera’| would be mo seseion of hie court on
reement. The amount, If granted by| Friday, All cases entled (ur that date

@-board, will be diptributed by a
pene ‘representing the telegraphers
and g committee representing the. car-
vlers, according ta the pet hea

JACK PICKFORD
~. WILL TESTIFY

~Taon Angeles, July 20.—Jack Piekford,
Motion picture artor, has been aub-

will be called up Maturcdey morning.
City Mall to Close,

Acting Mayor Henry ¢i. Leiser Wert:
neaday afternoon teaued a proclamation
closing all affiera in the city hall at
noon Friday, Ile proclamation follows:

“Whercas, two af one moat efficient
and valuable officers, (ieorge W. Moore
and Luther €! thay, wulfered death
while fcaclesely performing there duty;

poenaed by the federal grand jury now! aud
said to be investigating charges of ria- “Whereas, services prior to taying
lation of the Volatead act against Dave] then to reet will take place Friday,

July 27, at the city hall;

Lerner, J, GU. Irving and athera arrested .
“Now, therefore, J, Lienry 8. Lelaer,

last March, it was said by federal of-

fieiale. -At the time of the arrests two
checks, one for $60 and the other for
110,-bath—bearing—what-is- said tm be

,_ ware | "ickfard'a signature; were _taken. from

:the-twe suspects. ..

ORMER KAISER'S SON SAID.
TOBESM

wer," Beth sides bad prope
| wae:
i tivities, the << communis to © protest
;4 seainet fature wars snd the monarch feta

BVO eo po
Mrathons bw eneneciion with the ninth
aaiverse of mabitinns for the great

red for ae-

the opirit of nant
VE trina Superted That’ the preacnt week
fil pact papreme toot of saat,

sree SAYS

led “forthe families of the two slain

3 Serre Chari.

acting mator of the city of Little lock,
hereby order all city departments and
city ‘offices elosat hetween the hours
of noon_and 3 o'clock p. m., upon said
dete, in orler that proper rrapect may
be paid to our formner savociates and
out cr sympathy fur thele families.”
8 Mace te Give Benefit.
Loatributions to tbe fund being rain

officers continued 19 come into the
Diemecrat office and police headquar-
tern Thursiay, among the largest being
a check for $100 sent to ee Demo-
erat by Pfeifer Rros, ~~.

management of the Palace thea-
tre amnounced thet a bevefit would
be given at the theatre Sunday, at
fwhich @ free-will offering will be takea
for the fund, - ‘The film “Im the Name
ef tha Law,” : which is conaidered espe-
eially appropriate, has been donated by
Jova i. Franconi of the Vilm Hook,
tng .Lempany

-J'alace manege-
meets hae yor the thealew and the
greretor's ond’ “mudielead.-serviore will

donated. “5 Ec eeee oe here
SSMITH TO.
BE E NOMINATED |

aly Aon fitence te
weiney ot. Sererery i tanita” id
then Wes gir
Famer

|
|

City Offices to Clone Out of) any
Respect to Memory of Detec- | |
tives Killed In Fight WIth! tracks.

!
'

'
{
{
|

the tloattenide fatten to teltew the
Arallivin tm teamibevlteot mtd steae dev,

and unlewe he hae wentnagedd i sme |
Memstrr ti Frew tsbemel se tmtile ter |
walk caghily or run. bbie progeens ie
doubt te slow uimder these coe

The wile of the Kev,

Mr. Metiehee, |
Waptint iminlater,

repmortest te bi Pb
that she was awakened by a nore near
her home at 2 o'clock thie neering. |
Mhe said che looked out the witelaw |
nid maw a nian hein peat hee tener,

but gave little ttereght to it veaeat |
eheort thie later whew che heard wf tt |
emapoe of Kullivan.

Neon unm Kallway.

At davbeenk Mullivat wan reported
ta have been seri eeveral miles south |
of Kenectt ae he crossed the Missourt |
Vache right of way. Vhe report saya|
he wan hoz yelog beiskly over the snag |
nid soon disappeared lity the tnahes
Actling on thie tnfuriatiec, trbeccmd leven ccd
which arrived this anerning eons bagtte |
Moek, acevmpatiot be a nuaper of of
' teres, were aliapatehed te the enna |
poutl of Vin ate effet
ate ke up the
eget

teow, te

j whthe wl freee bee Neon sbeeee thon

convincing then thet in additing to| Desperadoes. jing vm veyed Chat Meslduwey teasd belt
the legal obligation, the keen seuse of] eo oe 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 oe 8 oo oo Keiinelt in mm meeterily vitnentivn, ba:
henor of the people of Little Hock | oe; wards Nearey, !
stands back of the teen, which enabled | FUND TOTAIS $1,753.65 oe} Mullivan te tall, with black hate, aud |
We to aecuce a favorable opinion from! eo The following adilitians te the | welgls ateout [Mb poate ie ware ee,
the atlornervs ane a joer rate of Inter.) « futd for the fanithes of Detec hi wlatet aed Cavmoere aud
rot, amounting to AG per cent. © tives Moore and Hay were made ¢! @ cap or hat when he vecuperk ‘There
Cittsens of Little Hock have a right] > yw ednenday night: oe te a ecu down one cide of hie cheek, ay
ta be proud of the city's reputation for! eo perey lwusly nebnonledg- ef tly off one cur mud a onal seme at
honesty and rquare dealing, which fa] e et cece nuaucens SLMS age] the top of tibe forehend The is about |
accepted by the Now Yurk money inar-| © Jute bP. Moyle. a Miinp 8 | eh ypeareeht Mhert(f Mobert Ahad wt
hee ae lending ndditwoual otrengih tafe ag cy Welch, valioe. nO :| Herne cenenty ie tepertecd here te
the loan. Wo were asesrvl by lank: | © Arhannas Cineelte fariad @] atfered mo reward al £500 for Mutlivus,
vem and attorneys that cithes mined coun! pteet Marion .o....6 foome 8 dead or alive
tiee of Arhanene will he saved many ie A ts, Ilabely ...... Lontme ¢ | Matthys teat fee Jersenge dew the atege
thensands of dellare ananaily If the) © jtownevitie, Mo, bank feeme & fet Che Hewllle hotel the priate of Ine |
Proposed amendinent to the ennatitue) © ab Eb plallo se. cee eee ete) 8 ghueg being plaboly vient tn the melt |
tion te adopted authorizing citles apd | © [elace theatre patrone 12. + loarth, Vile route of abepattuse wae
cvunties 10 jaeue buude to La d O10 @a-) oe Pfeifer Wroe, oc... TOO 8 traced: by thee patute oe he Treopaesd |
loting Indebtedursa and ah wg them) © Capital Luan Co. ao # | along, hath (eg lensing wt the sume |
on @ cash basia by prohditing vapendl-|¢ (), 18, Owene .. $00 Sl thu. One report had le thet Mullivan
tures (fh eschwa*uf annual revennew. -|° Comrpett Itrus. WOO FP auecestead in freeing biimeet( of hie
“We assured them that to nga pag © ‘Rrra Lem Mervet DT twckles, returned ty the hotel aud alate |
ment the amendment te popular and wilh] Cash oo... c eee cee Te ures belonging to Jeee Cowman. mink |
be adopted ju the Wreh eleetion. e WO Adaines wee? Shing Lis escape on hetaeback Thie re
“HEN D. BLICKTHOUSK,” © Mewtt Mayer ts “ ono fiecel ia qivea Wtlte Walgil, baweser, in
e 1 M. Puanes ws chan STalficers .
AAU Pe ial UM Mhertff Mhaddow baa offered a Scam:
‘ eo Wereina Cale cece eee levemo if j ‘i tat {
© Mab deohd Kee 2fap 0 cower ee the capture of the mwa, |
© Mee WOW Haars ae oj dened vy altyr ated 6 be mmied the tte
‘ il WO Dtalt wiap 8 ets of Pree teen mre iembieg tepe te
HELD FOR CHORT CE: Hermwunel, Navy Me Pa bch $100 ta te pat fer Mea te i
or fempes
es ane tin Cree ks Sates =| tities: Uw MbesKll Hom Sitesile: exer |
Claima He Loat All of $75,000,+ ” bi ftean Menten were City Masstat Jt
be oon . Lid by 8 hentai Meeeheh Mien af iver
In ‘Texas Ol V’ro- ° tials : Sherlt Mayor Abani Mosel af teen
motions, eee we eo eww eo 8 6 OO 8 Minott Night Mavatal Walter Dene ef i
Jett fimerel mereteee Gor Dbetes thee | Mowers, Prqeitten bot Baa MON Cte, |
Kan Antonie, Vos., duly 20 Chacgedt whe io Vomeh Me well seed ThE Cenines
with abeconding with $75,000 and Mewes | Revaewuta Cenege Macon aul tate Phe dleepecmiir as beteg taken te
thon fram the navy, Co P. Hennett, who] Haye, elatn by dee Mullivan, altae POTD Atthe Mere ty Mee EEE MS tvardteee mand
ae ay living here under the name of Bhaw,” aid Arthor bange, wall be bebt | tyes tepeaties Nreising te were thet
XL 1E. Lane, wae arrested yentersday by . . . carn wt the | Missed sued Neatly Nehatesne panleeaed
Agenin ol the Departinent of Juatiee | *! db atelark Petdoy a vith | WeRt ight thes uibsmed coneettone fon
Oftieera state that he took the money | city hall, Medies of beth officers w Littte Meh, necesentuting wa lay uses

of several huis here
Watley there pertmenee,
Cuffed wid ebuekbot, they
the frend pened of the
accrues the street frome the
Peay the weetvad wl thee
Hruti feos battle Mek. VU there etfs \
cers fell asteep mod beallevan deft. '
No Westen wae dte thee eeeleenael
Ptatten enw Sotlivan whee he cepa
woh med Weerieed coven tee thee bended saened 1
awihened the offices Phe abi wae)
piven wid Meritt Mea Able of Meares |
Wag Heabified, No peamme of olfiewie dinnie |
diately wan fooriecd wt Meaney ared |
Jetnedd ti the menceh. Pbeputy Mherit
Nhee weed af Wetemert, wath tere tiled |
heels, was stensneonedt, Hort the chage |
failed ta pie. tye a trash pratecbely clave |
to the warn diy weather of the pout |
mionth AM nemetig teow were uelitted |
te be ot the bookewt for the aio, asd j
Hype the bellef that Mullivens say have |
lasl oevetgelicee near, oe bad bi sense !
way ublained possession af aw enuvey: |
ance, officrrn were inaleucterd te stop |
atl search all vehicles aloug the rome, |
Nullivan a little more than a week
ago shot and killed J. Walker Casey, |
tleputy United Ntates marehal and well
known Elercison business man, whe
was about te levk Mullivan in a cell at
the Harrison jail, (allowing hie escape
there. Ile ina desperate character and
hea inade numerous escapes frow jails
and peuitentias

whee wan tated
Were erated
To ee

caiteormed

on
tel,
mbit terns,

whe

duly 2—Euloe Mulli-
Van.

Hot Kprings,

van, couviewed slayer of Depaul
ed Ntaten Marshal J, Walter t'uvey of
Harriecon, who (eseaped from Moone

county officers early tixlay while be:
fog transported to the Arkansas peni-

tentiary, has a long line of peniten-

{ frst ye twee perenne treoetee mend

lem

Elee beevteee

Finmether bad taken the

i tet fertee heck the

Tmtsvneh bey Tigtetaeteg vereterelas

WCAG TTT CW TUN

/DAREA'S SON AGAIN
INDICTED BY JURY

Investigation Ordered by Gov-
ernor Smith Results in
Chargesn Against Walter 3.
Ward, Accused of Slaying.
Ww me Vhaine, N.Y. duly wa - culty

rN, Walter 3. Ward, aon of the
viene es baker,

wan today vetoudiotad

foe the slaving of Ulatence l'etere,
p former ierine whoee ledly wae faund
Fea the Weneiwo temervote cond a year
fg inet Mav,

Vhe inet tient
PULP aelinnny
tee

wae returned he the
atoned uty
Le lad heen comdbwetlog an tnee ob.

whieh fer ow

get of the nader
Wave tines ONG ee ed Mace

Upon enters

Wiast wae betht without bau by ordee
of Justice Wagner
Vital wae at) for Meptember,

BOLT KILLS CHILO, SHOCKS
‘MOTHER ANO BURN It

'Famlly of George Hu
Fayetteville, Hard
Ing Storm.

ur-

Pianvettesille duty IN Plghtaiig
steel ved pemtuqtly bollet ditthe bea
gene udaan, Uhree poms ald
aml Mere. George Iliudeen, ¢

creon the place of Judge Bineot btow-
el, nene here Ht beutoed stow the
left) Mie

Vbieedmerte ite a deeerd mined meedenie eesti

[ew late vestenden alternoon during. a

punmer thinderntorie

Wliveleow

child wae sitting near an open
whee wttinek. weed lecpeped over
Phie cletheong: aut the took of the
VWerteme terssenediatods
Cleves whe de
of nemeby
one \

lees wane etrvebergeord tne
witracted the atteniten
faviees, whe te te the ree.
te
attone ted

were elethen Thee nitac herd

te Uheabt to hae

Fighitrteg te the adawelling

Mies Vbevetecsy whee te venee tal
Wm aber witty been dawee Chatteris nee tlie
Veevtrme Peon Teeemben ted Leen at we rae
Cate fete inthes mwas Five chalitee
i Dae weed aw bitte pret ta vere td
Were te ete teen ane the nether aee
Vee hee eebbeteeteng tere ow tier the ae
i lent cooueced win helpoetived the

Vitthe geal aut of

jlere mtd faed placed ie cinbeedia wee
Rhee bad

let ter preetent hee Cron rane

Suave meemned to bg muifeting fre
Vhie demel co trtbel were cereeuedd
Nwngeerty juntas the too foal the tee
Feb tae bee tvensed teen

Povst ting Che sie stern eevernt work
Meet were mhoeherd mil ow nile wae
Willesd cn the (rel G@wirabey fart. whale
thew fron here

Hen Ceo Walter Burecheckt and
“Retell Nichelle, wll farinens wele

aflericen
Le LY
half

CO a eo ee
the CiiMett fant note
from Bpeetgedale mod eight aittes foo
here. A opeeesbe lente breed the wagon
satstlege wlttedy plve nosecce tial eeeraghe
teeth from the stern wae tastantts
killed by the felt that burned one of

vtoowe
ntl oa

pre

the nen from his neck te hie ankles
ane tajured ane of hin eves
Cine of the men wae sectouste loart,

Yue wll three mre wiulfering freon mtr
The Vehtning stenek rhe ninte fren te
shed hoof ae dt reared, followin @
thunder chap,

'U. S. RECEIVES

OVER SUPPLY
OF BEDBUGS

Washington, July 20 - N poublie apar-
Hed respeonme te the peemnt aiinertiee o
went oof the insectile jaberatery af the
Dreguertinent of Nariculinen thot it
would pay une cont eneh for L200 bed
Dosge li mui comdition baa osersup
plied the slemand. ‘The departinent ag
nounced that it had received) incre than
enough epecimena te cucey on ile testa

: of various Insectides, whieh apparently
tary and jail escapes to his reeued to have vet some fielis ta conquer
Gklahuma, weeurding to files uf the lu -.

cal yelice department,

=e ee et ee hee Read Demorrat
Want Ads

Before Buying

tiacy at MeAlester, where he waa verv-
ing a Mbyear sentence § for rovbery,
Vrioe to that time Sullivan had made
two other eacapes from the Ukiaboma
penitentiary aut bad also breken out

of jaile eat (iurdy, Okla, and Littl
Mac Wig fleet eerape frum the jenl- “4 ‘
tentiary occurred early in 1irts. Ua S Memetitehing and Sewing.

“ Kivetrical Work,
-Ss Sewing Machines. :
= Auta Kepairing and Palating.-
Masleal and Iancing.
‘Gemeral Kepairing.’ ,-

Mareh 16, Ie2, he was wounded oe a
hattle with officers at «Mount

Moatgomery enuaty, Ark., whe he
him with @ stolen Tittle Jtnck cer tn
hia preseseion. Muliivan was brought
here and atified aa escaped (k-
laboma convict, Ile sawed hie way ont
of jail at J.ittle Mork, but sas recep
tured and returned to Oblaboma where
three dase later he again eacn and
wae recaptured im Kanean, © fel-
Wee Rulltvan’y “thirt veeepe fren -the
(thiaheme | chi tee J a hie appre
benaian st lisrrisan on @ wre pnd
at oy, the local Hertil:
t.1@ asalet the Valaheme

x
gees

:Ruataess Kaelpment.
> Artleles ~ Male,

Apartoret vives

FEES A RE i a ed

DR neat Pele pe oe ieee Ay

Silnee ak aat

Bie A earn ea iaa boned pS ae ee

ee eee ww a

ee aa

Poed heey

PS a nae ala Cee os

ine CWE

oS tele 3
Rate

oo e

q STENT TOL |
GOD WOULD STAY DEATH

: Sebaed with @ religious fervor bordering on fanaticlam and
> ‘confident to the last that a miracle would save him, Ierbert
Sease, Baxter county man, died In the olectric chair at 5:50
O'clock Friday morning for the murder of P. H. Davidaon. On
the way from the death call to the chalr he was baptized In tho
‘,"Catholic falth by the Reverend Father A. L. Fletcher of Little
+: Kock College, and ag the strapa were belng adjusted he declarod

Is
ae
t

NEAT ET TAD AG KF y.

eee Soe

slope eoamely

“apr teadiihe
Se beard LB pumerel, “You may put)

me ia the e

: jm

sagure ef an
- thét. oe. w
ace.” ,.

Paen te: bid Ale wife a ‘fina!
rend reed

“rps a ile jasle-
iat posvred

lev cand

wan.ta

— ~he was “the happlest man In the walls,”

oo + To

“Wow fa evorzbunls thie seaculug >”
wee Roase’s cheers greeting ae he on
torent the death vhinedioe, whose alwont
11 witnescce wore necsemblel, Ae he:
was being elrayyel too the chale, he
aald: “Vou raime hove tu ere mo ole, lovee
Um not guing to alle, The ame (ol
(hat 1 Denlel will verve me.”
Appareuily Deranged,

Thle statenent wee fulluweld ty a
laud laugh, bike that of @ mam mentally
deranugel, Ae the leather wack wee
prullest taut arroee hie face, ehuttlrgy wus
the ilght of day fucover he mavileged.

“Have you get bt ose all eight, Veyor”
Lhe atteudlaute steyerl bach, ated @ tere
ment Jatoe the facternluge elerhed gant
lle heavy frame atillenct in a single
vouvulolve mureumcnl,

The electrudee made @ thin, singing
couml which sade a wherd arcennje nt
ment fe the Catbolle “prayer fue the
dying” read by Father Pletcher ae the
elevicle ewrrent did tte deedie work.

“Jute thy bande, (9 Bard, 3 ernment
hie epirtt,” do the priest, SO) Sant
Jrous Chel uae bia sylets, 60
Mary, Makar of Urace, Netber uf Mee.
ey, protect him from the enewmy, 4!
receive him in thle hewr of bie desik ”|

Tre awileh bealad the ecrevn ciici i
ator ene minule, and the form in ins
chalr relased anl crumpled, ide, Jie
el Usnn placed @ oteihrecupe ever the
heart cod melded. Ilerbert Brase was
Re. more, Jile long _—, foe Ule aud

freelem wae over,

it at saat uards fred

re bie pores barvia of botiow laugh.

“age eoaedide ical pc that the

ma *demce ate.

wy 3% coctineally: spelotred to the saving
aT | gee oied, bie bearers ints
meeod < belore owrit howl

Prhares Sie sbleed was. -ensmy.

walls 2:30 ofeieck Yriday
en, Warden H

hale, bet I'm mot going to
the warden, “I wae wever
hing 1a my life as 3 om
eave me t gh a mire

she Wit ale eet) at 4
that be would “nee
rungwed the erewd that

Echoes: esecuileon,> The
ol. rapt. adetractina

pected mauaterings

erate:

me ‘all my. iors
bas. forsirye apps

J(;Het. fas ag 6 oaibyl oh

SDenl ¢ itn

violently against the dash Panel ‘and lay quite still.

With no hesitation, Steadman lifted the unconscious
woman and child in his arms and placed them upon
the ground.

He turned his eyes to the open rumble seat. He
gasped, and quickly turned his head. Two more small
boys lay on the rumble seat. Their eyes were. wide
and staring into space. Death had already stiffened
their little bodies. They were about seven or eight
years old.

With slow reluctance Steadman turned and removed
the woman and the smallest child to the shade of the
tree where he had placed the man.

Without waiting another moment, he turned his
back on the terrible scene and ran toward his house.
As he entered the yard he called to his wife in the
doorway.

“IT found some people dead and dying,” he said,
“There’s a car parked on the Hot Springs-Malvern
highway—down by the field. Call the sheriff and a
doctor, will you? I got to go back and help those
who are still alive.”

Without waiting even a minute for his wife’s an-
swer, Steadman raced from the yard and sped back

Se ee

ah aeeatiry wenn

toward the ghastly scene of horror. and death.

A short time later a crowded car drew to a stop.
Another car was close behind it. Sheriff Tom Fisher
and his deputies from Malvern were in the first car.
A physician was in the second. ;

The doctor pushed his way through the large crowd
of motorists who had gathered at the scene. He
approached the still forms lying on the ground. He
noted the agonized, contorted: faces as he knelt. down
and began work with a stomach Pump.

Sheriff Fisher examined the death car and listened
to the story of farmer Tom Steadman’s find.

The sheriff opened the glove compartment and re-
moved an identification card. The car which bore
Ohio license plates, he discovered, was licensed to
Alvin Colley of Akron, Ohio.

Searching further he found a dirty envelope. It
contained no letter, but it was postmarked Akron,
Ohio, August 1, 1933. The date was now August 10.
The envelope was addressed to Alvin Colley in care
of an address in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The sheriff joined the doctor who was desperately
working over the stricken group.

“The man is dead,” the doctor said. “He just died.

THE DEVIL IN HIS mi
DEATH-CELL: Having »..%
watched five people <
writhing in the agonies —s ¥.
of death, he was ter. .<
tified of dying himself,

The t
we rr
die a
will |
“WY
matte
Fishe
oP)
like
swer
Th
carri¢
year-
lance
ing a
rwUyy

whe as

The
and |
your
asked

“WwW
whisry

Shx
lance

noms

41Le
ey
ink’s
ited
yong

information upon which to seek a war-
rant for the attorney. Under Ohio law,
he would have been equally guilty with
Colley if it should be proved he was an
accessory to the theft.

Then, about the middle of August,
Shank disappeared and no one, not even
his wife, knew where he had gone until
news came of his arrest in Arkansas on a
charge of murdering Alvin Colley and
three members of his family.

Establish Motive

N THIS chain of events Arkansas of-

ficers discerned a motive for the
crime. Colley, the lawyer’s tool, was a
weak character. Shank could not trust
him, so he had sent him away. But he
still could not rest. He was afraid Colley
would be caught, and in that eventuality
he envisioned his own ruin. Colley
would talk, would implicate him, and his
career in Akron would be ruined. And
as long as Colley remained alive and in
hiding, he was a drain on Shank’s
financial resources, now depleted by the
economic debacle.

On this theory, Chief of Police Joe
Wakelin of Hot Springs and his detec-
tives, backed up by the report thata large
quantity of strychnine had been found in
the viscera of the victims, questioned
Shank continuously in the city jail.

And, on the morning of August 16,
Shank, in the presence of Congressman
D. D. Glover of Malvern and a dozen
others, confessed the murders!

He had come to Arkansas fully deter-
mined to get rid of Colley, if the op-
portunity presented itself. To this end,
he had purchased a package of strychnine
in Kenmore and brought it with him.

But when he joined the Colley family
in Hot Springs, where both he and they
used assumed names, he successfully dis-
gembled his real feelings and was wel-
comed by the Colleys as a friend, the only
friend, in fact, that they had in the world
at that time. Shank was the man they
looked to for protection and financial
help until the trouble in Ohio blew over.

Thus the Colleys had no fears, no sus-
picions, when they agreed to his proposal
to go for a drive and a picnic in an
isolated section of the state. On the way

they stopped at a filling station and store.

in Saline County.

Here is Shank’s story of what hap-
pened then:

“We purchased two watermelons, some
cold drinks and candy, and inquired about

.a quiet place where we could have lunch.
The proprietor directed us back up the
road about a quarter of a mile and then
to the left and about a mile down a side
road, and then on a small road about 150
yards, where we stopped.

“After getting out of the car, Mrs.
Colley spread the lunch about 15 or 20
feet on the opposite side of the car from
where I was. A farm boy came up and
asked if we didn’t want some spring
water. Colley went with him to the
spring. He took the grape juice jug
after 1 had emptied the grape juice into
a stewer and at this time I put the
strychnine into each of their cups. There
were five paper cups, and I used a coffee
cup. I gave a paper cup to each one of
the Colley family. They all drank it.

“One of the children got sick. This
caused us to leave hurriedly to go to a
drug store or doctor. The child was
screaming. I didn’t try to delay them.
After we had driven about four miles
the car which Colley was driving began
weaving. Some of the other children

started to scream. I jumped out of the
car before it left the highway and I ran
into the woods. I didn’t see the car go
off the road.”

In this matter-of-fact manner Shank
told of administering poison to Colley,
his wife and their three children to seal
forever the lips of the man he had used as
a tool. He dared not poison Colley alone,
leaving the others to bear witness against
him. He had to wipe out the entire
family.

Overlooked One Point

Hé MIGHT have succeeded in his
diabolical plot and returned safely
and unsuspected to Ohio, except for one
miscalculation. He had not counted on
the variety of individual reactions to the
strychnine. He had expected to see the
poison take effect upon them all simul-
taneously, and to drive off in the Colley
car, leaving his five victims dead at. the
picnic ground.

Instead, the poison struck first at one
of the children, and the frantic parents
put the screaming boy into the car and
started to rush toward Malvern for medi-
cal aid. Shank had no choice but to go
along, for he could not be sure the doses
would serve their deadly purpose. If he
stayed behind, or tried to delay them, he
could not escape suspicion in the event
they survived. If he went along, there
was a chance the poisonings might be
attributed to ptomaine.

So Shank dissembled to the end, and
the four members of the Colley family
died in agony, unaware they had been
betrayed by their benefactor, the man
they had trusted so implicitly.

The only survivor, little Clyde Colley,
was too young to understand what had
happened, or to bear witness against
Shank.

Shank went .on trial November 27,
1933, in the Saline circuit court at Ben-
ton for the murder of Alvin Colley, on
one of the four murder indictments re-
turned against him by the Saline grand
jury.

His defense was insanity. Witnesses
and depositions were brought from Ohio
to testify to Shank’s erratic behavior dur-
ing the year prior to the murders, and to
a hereditary strain of insanity in his
family.

But it was all to no avail. On Decem-
ber 1, a jury of twelve farmers, after
deliberating several hours and praying
for Divine guidance, returned a verdict of
guilty, and fixed punishment at death in
the electric chair.

Originally sentenced to die on Febru-
ary 2, Shank appealed and, four days be-
fore he was scheduled to walk to his
death, was granted a stay of execution
pending review of the case by the state
supreme court.

Killer Escapes!

At the moment of going to press, a
news flash carries the startling informa-
tion that John Dillinger, who has piled
up an amazing record of violent crimes
in the last few months, has escaped
from the jail at Crown Point, Ind., where
he was held on a murder charge follow-
ing his recent capture in Tucson, Ariz.

Using a dummy gun, which he had
fashioned from wood, Dillinger forced a
deputy to unlock his cell and, with a
negro prisoner, made his way to the
office where he obtained machine guns.
With the deputy as hostage, the des-
perado and his negro companion es-
caped in a car.

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ADVENTURES 65

inaudibly

(Left) OFFICERS examining the poison package
and paper cups in which it was served. The jor
contains vital organs of the victims. (Above) the
five paper cups used to wipe out an entire family.

SIX PERSONS WENT ON A PICNIC
BUT ONLY ONE EXPECTED TO RETURN!
WHO PLANNED THIS MASS MURDER?

T. S.. FISHER, SHERIFF OF MAL- Bg
VERN, : ARKANSAS, ‘found «an, un-
opened basket af the picnic site
and came to a:startling conclusion.

said. “I’ve
the statute
I'm a
I wash
guilty.”
Fisher had
tormation
trom the
roughly
of the
Shank.
hidden
stals.
> paper
rove had
deadly

vidence.

he said.
tions con-

nnounced
tes Com-
sent him
chose to
nition of

‘TI told
ve given
iw. Now

to him.”
again.
sneer-
is. Now

delay

éfinitely.
iow about
he said

“Since

I threw
or were
put him

to kill a
ide sure
a good
to a

urst out
answer

1] silent.
to kill
e been

vut those

did you

shrieked,

low you
So you
guilty,
know I
hanging
od for

emained
a mo-
ght. You

Vailable
venty-five
presence
Walter

nine in
d gave
and wife
of killing
lty of the

“pretended friendship.

murder of the four dead members of the
Colley family.”

The next morning he told me his full
story.

Colley had been an investigator for
him some time before, when he, Shank,
had been a justice of the peace at Kenmore,
Ohio, the prisoner said. The two had been
close allies. In defending a man in a
forgery case, Shank learned that incrimi-
nating documents concerning this man
were in the possession of the prosecuting
attorney. He sent Colley to steal them.

Colley did so. Later, Shank said, Colley
was threatened with arrest. Colley then
came to him and told him he was going
to tell the authorities the truth. In des-
peration, fearing exposure and ruin, Shank
The picnic gave
him a chance to hush Colley forever.

After the party reached the lonely
grove, Shank saw to it that each member
had a chore to do. Only Clyde, wee and
bright-eyed; was idle, and only he saw
Shank crouching behind the car, pouring
out grape juice.

Into the five paper cups Shank stealthily
dropped crystals of strychnine and mixed
them into the liquid. Then he distributed
the cups to the Colleys. Returning, he
filled the unpoisoned china cup for him-
self. Chatting and laughing, the six sat
down to the feast, while a seventh pic-
nicker—Death—waited in the shadows.

Then came the unlooked-for develop-
ment that caused the first loophole in this
apparently perfect crime. Shank had
expected the powerful poison to strike the
entire family dead at one time; but Nature
had not made them all equally susceptible.
The older boys, Clement and Clarence, were
stricken first, and went into convulsions.
Jumping up in terror, the father loaded the
family into the car and, with Shank on the
running board, drove away to find help.
When Colley, sickening, lost control of his
ear, Shank jumped.

The rest we knew.

It was agreed that, inasmuch as the
poisoned drinks had been prepared and
administered in Saline County, the trial
should be at Benton, the Saline county seat.

Shank appeared in court and was quiet,
almost stupefied, as the five indictments
were formally pronounced. At times dur-
ing the trial, he rested his head on the
shoulder of the faithful wife, who had
arrived from Ohio.

The prosecution exhibited the paper cups
which had contained the poisoned grape
juice, also the box of strychnine from
Shank’s baggage. Witnesses from Ohio,
including Mrs. Elsie Fox, mother of Mrs.
Colley, gave testimony about the trouble
between Shank and Colley.

The judge admitted Shank’s confession
as evidence, despite the defense’s em-
phatic objections. .

The defense opened the next day. Half
a dozen relatives and friends from Ohio
told of Shank’s former position as a re-
spected, successful attorney, a _ police
magistrate and a candidate for mayor of
Kenmore, and of his occasional lapse into
melancholy moods. His counsel’s plea to
the jury was for mercy upon a sick, ir-
responsible man.

The jury of twelve farmers prayed for
divine guidance in their room. They de-
bated for an afternoon and a night, and
on December lst, they returned a verdict
of murder in the first degree.

His lawyers gained him several stays of
sentence, but on March 8th, 1935, the
murdering lawyer was executed at the
Tucker State Farm, Tucker, Arkansas.

Ep1tor’s NOTE
Pictures of Mark Shank appear on
pages 48 and 49.

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(Continued from page 49) lawyer to his
hiding place. Some distance farther, he
showed us a side road, and we turned off
the pavement to find ourselves among
shady trees. As we got out of the car,
we noticed a little spring.

Remains of a meal were spread out be-
side the spring. China plates and silver
lay here and there, evidence that the
picnickers had left hurriedly without fin-
ishing their meal or gathering up their
belongings. The plates held half-eaten
sandwiches of bread and meat. A tempt-
ing ripe watermelon had been sliced. Be-
side each plate stood a cup—five of them
paper, one, china—all containing dregs of
grape juice. We examined bits of the food,
but could see no evidence of any foreign
matter.

“I told you it was a mystery,” reminded
Shank, his voice almost triumphant.

“Wait,” said Fisher. “If anything is
poisoned, it would be a liquid, something
that would dissolve poison easily. This,
for instance.”

He stepped to the edge of the spring
where, half-submerged in the cool water,
stood a stew pan full of grape juice.

Shank smiled and shook his head.

“But there’s nothing wrong with that
stuff.” he assured us almost airily. “I
drank plenty of it myself. Here, I’ll show
you.

He reached for the pan. As he did so,
a sudden, crafty look came over his face,
banishing the smile. I stepped quickly
forward and took the pan out of his hand.

“Never mind, Shank,’ I said _ shortly.
“Gather up these things,” I ordered the
deputies. “I want chemists to look at
them.”

Shank stared at me stonily. He said no
more then, or on the trip back to Malvern.

As we entered the town again we saw
a sizable crowd gathered outside the jail.
It milled restlessly and we could hear the
murmur of angry voices. We stopped and
held a conference.

“These people have heard about the
killings,” said Fisher. ‘“They’re in a mood
to handle you roughly, Shank. Murder
isn’t regarded very highly as an occupa-
tion hereabouts, least of all the murder of
women and little boys.”

“Tf you are guilty, you’d better tell us
the truth. You can start by telling us
what you are doing so far away from
Akron,” I added.

“I told you I was a lawyer,’ mumbled
Shank, forgetting his surly silence at sight
of the menacing throng around the jail. “I
came down here to help Colley. He and I
were well acquainted, back in Ohio. The
prosecuting attorney’s office at Wooster
was robbed of some papers pertaining to
the trial of a client of mine for forgery.
Colley was suspected of stealing those
papers. I came all the way down here
to warn him and give him legal advice.”

Fisher. indicated that he didn’t believe
the man’s story. “Better take him to Hot
Springs with you, Wakelin,” he said.
“You've got a good strong jail there. I
wouldn’t answer for his safety if he stayed
here tonight.”

At this point, a deputy arrived with a
chemist’s report. The stomachs of the
four dead members of the Colley family
had been found to contain strychnine.
Coroner Cooper advised us that his jury
had pronounced the deaths of the quartette
due to poisoning “at the hands of a person
or persons unknown.”

©... behind the secure bars of ‘the Hot
Svrings jail, Shank put off my efforts
to question him. “I know my rights at

HORROR PICNIC

law,” he kept saying. “If I talk at all, it
will be as a sworn witness in court, and
in my own defense.”

When I returned to my office, I found
Akers waiting for me. He had received
a telephone message while I had been
away. Little Clyde, the sole surviving
Colley child, though only four years old,
had added to the growing heap of evi-
dence.

The youngster had described the picnic
to officers at Malvern. In lisping sen-
tences, he told of eating with his parents
and brothers and “another man,” under
shady trees. That other man, he said, had
“put something in the grape juice.”

“I saw him,” he said. “I told papa and
mama not to drink it.”

If they had but heeded that wisdom out
of the mouth of a babe!

I received this information with mingled
feelings of pity for the victims, and
triumph for my verbal battle with Shank.
Akers and I returned to the prisoner’s cell.
He received us coldly.

“Shank,” I said, “you’re in a hot spot.
Up to now, you thought that you didn’t
have a single witness to testify against

tee

Couple who, with two of their sons,
met mysterious deaths at a_ picnic

you. Well, that isn’t so.
Colley is still alive.”

“And,” added Akers, “he has told how
you put poison in the grape juice.”

Shank did not even blink an eye. “Clyde
is only a baby,” he retorted glibly. “He
doesn’t know what he is saying. What
kind of a witness would he make in a court
of law, do you think? Listen, let me
state my case clearly for once. You have
an entirely wrong idea of me. I’m a re-
spected citizen back home—a_ practising
attorney and a police magistrate. Once
I ran for mayor in Kenmore, the Akron
suburb where I live. As for Colley, he
and I were close friends and I never ap-
proached him except to try to help him.”

“I don’t know what you’ve been in the
past,” put in Akers, “but I think that
you're guilty of this crime—the most cruel,
heartless murder I’ve ever come _ up
against.”

“Get me a lawyer who can give me full
information on Arkansas criminal law,”
was all Shank would say.

Guilty or not, he was entitled to legal
counsel, and we knew it. But it was late,
and the only attorney we could locate was
Houston Emory, prosecuting attorney at
Hot Springs. I prevailed on him to talk
to the prisoner, and to give him the desired
information on Arkansas law. _

They conferred for some time. At last
Emory came back to us.

Little Clyde

“T’ve done what you asked,” he said. “I’ve
given him the law as it reads on.-the statute
books. Beyond that I won’t go. I’m a
lawyer, but I’m also a prosecutor. I wash
my hands of Shank—I think he’s guilty.”

In the meantime, Sheriff Tom Fisher had
telephoned us a new piece of information
from Malvern. The baggage from the
Colley roadster had been thoroughly
searched. One suitcase, the best of the
lot, was identified as belonging to Shank.
In a bottom corner of this bag was hidden
a box containing strychnine crystals.
Fisher also stated that each of the paper
cups brought from the picnic grove had
contained a strong solution of the deadly
substance.

We confronted Shank with this evidence.
He was still calm and unshaken.

“Tll neither affirm nor deny,” he said.
“All I’m interested in is instructions con-
cerning the laws of this state.”

Houston Emory had already announced
his stand. We found United States Com-
missioner C. Lloyd Huff, and we sent him
in to talk to Shank. Huff, too, chose to
confine his activity to mere definition of
Arkansas law.

“T feel that we’ve done our duty,” I told
Akers as Huff came back. “We've given
him two experts to define the law. Now
you and I will do a little talking to him.”

We went into Shank’s cell once again.
Hitherto, he had been silent, vague, sneer-
ingly good-humored and sly by turns. Now
he was gruff.

‘I’m tired,” he growled.
this business till morning.”

“Nothing doing,” I replied definitely.
“We’re just as tired as you are. How about
that box of poison in your suitcase?”

“I don’t know anything about it,’”’ he said
doggedly.

“You're guilty,” I accused flatly. “Since
you won’t tell me, I’) tell you,” I threw
at him. “You hated Alvin Colley, or were
afraid of him, so you decided to put him
out of the way.

“You bought poison, enough to kill a
regiment. All the time you made sure
that he considered you a friend—a good
friend, one that he would invite to a
family picnic.”

“Colley wasn’t so friendly,” he burst out
unguardedly. ‘He had plenty to answer
for.”

“He did? What?”

Shank saw his mistake and fell silent.

“You might have had a reason to kill
him,” I pursued. “His wife may have been
your enemy, too. But what about those
little boys, Shank? What excuse did you
have for killing them?”

“I swear I didn’t!” he almost shrieked,
eyes wide and face contorted.

“You were afraid they’d tell how you
killed their father and mother. So you
gave them poison, too. You're guilty,
Shank. You know it, and you know I
know it. Fourfold murder—and hanging
four times over would be too good for
you!”

“Let's delay

Aitter I had finished, Shank remained
silent, looking at the floor for a mo-
ment. Then he mumbled, “All right. You
win. I'll make a confession.”

Akers and I called in every available
witness. There were some twenty-five
officers and citizens. In their presence
Shank dictated to Stenographer Walter
Ebel the following brief statement:

“I, Mark Shank, did place strychnine in
grape juice August 15th, 1933, and gave
said grape juice to Alvin Colley and wife
and children for the purpose of killing
all of them; and I alone am guilty of the

murder of the
Colley family.’
The ne
story.
Colley
him some
had been a jus?
Ohio, the pris:
close allies.
forgery case, S
nating docums
were in the p:
attorney. He si
Colley did s
was threatene
came to him
to tell the au:
peration, feari:

“pretended frit

him a chance |
After the
grove, Shank
had a chore t
bright-eyed,
Shank crouchi:
out grape juic
Into the five
dropped cryst:
them into the
the cups to
filled the unp
self. Chatting
down to the
nicker—Deat!
Then came
ment that cai
apparently |
expected the
entire family
had not mad:
The older boy
stricken first
Jumping up i:
family into t!
running boar
When Colley
car, Shank jur
The rest we
It was agri
poisoned drin
administere?
should be
Shank 4
almost stt
were formally
ing the trial,
shoulder of
arrived from
The prosecii
which had
juice, also
Shank’s bage
including M:
Colley, gave
between Sha:
The judge
as evidence
phatic object
The defens:
a dozen relat
told of Shan
spected, su
magistrate
Kenmore, a:
melancholy 1;
the jury wa
responsible
The jury
divine guid
bated for a:
on Decembe:
of murder i:
His lawyer
sentence, bi
murdering
Tucker State

Pictures
pages 48 an

SHANK, Mark, white, elec. Ark, (Saline County) 3-8=1935,

by KEN CARPENTER

C. Murray, a farmer who lived about five miles north of Malvern, the county seat

A of Hot Springs County, Ark., was walking along the highway that Tuesday after-

= noon of August 15 and tending strictly to his own affairs. The weather was hot,
as summer weather often is in the foothills of the Ozarks, and Murray, naturally, kept to the
shady side of the road. But shortly he discovered that where he was walking was unsafe
— indeed, that apparently no portion of the road was safe from the automobile which

“a

was approaching from the north.

Murray observed the car, wonder-
ingly, for several seconds before this
conclusion was brought home to him.
Not that the car — a moderate-priced
coupe — was going fast; it was going
very slowly, just crawling. But in its
crawl, the car zigzagged back and forth
across the road, choked, spluttered,
came near to stopping, then coughed
and lurched forward again. As it drew
nearer to Murray, it continued
swerving from one shoulder of the
highway to the other, and he, a
prudent man, gave it a wide berth by
jumping into the bushes. It was well
that he did, for the vehicle passed

Al Colley counting off his last
minutes inside cell on Tucker
. Prison’s Death Row.

precisely over the spot where he had
been standing, before it chugged into
a ditch and halted tilted against a tree.

Murray exclaimed ‘‘What th’ hell!’’
and emerged from his brush retreat.
He walked up to the car, to find it
fully occupied, with a man and a
woman with a small boy in her lap
sitting inside, and two other young
boys in the rumble seat. Murray said
to the man, ‘‘My gosh, Mister, you
ought to watch where you’re driving!”’
— but got no reply.

The man’s eyes were wide open —
abnormally wide open — and his
hands gripped the wheel tightly as
though it alone was all in the world he
had to hold onto. Then Murray
noticed the man’s mouth. It was open,
with one corner pulled down in a
frozen grimace, and the tongue black.
The man was dead, Murray finally
realized, and so was the child in the
woman’s lap and one of the children
in the rumble seat.

Murray started to run, but turned
back at a convulsive move on the part
of the woman and a groan from the

Killer had nothing personal
against Mrs. Roy Fetty but still
felt she had to die.

. a
ee re eee | y

smaller and younger child in\the
rumble seat — a lad of about four. At
least these two were alive, Murray saw.
A minute later, he hailed a passing
motorist, who took him to a phone.

Dessert came laced with arsenic...

: : A CRIME —
CLASSIC —

DETECTIVE CASES, October, 1986

DEATH STALKED

Samer Ohate DUECTIVE FILES; Mow i400)

~ -so0-----@-----i “i
j $ = *
Ls
Sis
$ cs
$
H

ie {When thieves fall out, there’ s|
_ ‘§ often trouble and not a little
bloodshed. This time, a
though, no less than four up flanked ty possemen who
persons all had to die...

Deputy Elliott (left) and Sheriff
Rucker examining the deadly
cups that sent four to the grave.

He called Tom Fisher, the sheriff and
it did not take long for Fisher, several
deputies, a doctor; and an ambulance
to reach the spot.

The doctor knew poisoning when he
saw it, and he immediately determined
that this was a case of mass-poisoning
by strychnine, the symptoms of which
are somewhat similar to lockjaw.

(continued on page 40)

THE POISON PICNIC

648 = Ark. 238 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

for loss resulting from bodily injuries sus-
tained in the following manner, * * *

“Steamship-Motor Buses-Taxicabs. (4)
As a result of an accident to any motor bus
or public automobile stage plying for pub-
lic hire in regular passenger service while
the Insured is riding therein as a fare-
paying passenger, or on a pass, in a place
regularly provided for the sole use of
passengers, <%= = * >*

“Exceptions in Policy. (A) No acci-
dents except those described and set forth
in Parts One and Two of this policy are
covered, and no indemnitics and benefits
provided herein are payable except for
loss or disability resulting directly and in-
dependently of all other causes from bodily
injuries sustained through external, vio-
lent and accidental means and in the man-
ner and under the conditions described in
Parts One and Two of this Policy.”

Appellant alleged in his complaint that
on July 7, 1948, while he was a fare-paying
passenger on a motor bus in regular pas-
senger service from Idabel, Oklahoma, to
Arkadelphia, Arkansas, he suffered acci-
dental injuries at Okolona, Arkansas (with-
in the coverage of the above policy). He
sought recovery in accordance with its
terms and also the statutory penalty and
attorney’s fees.

Appellee denied any liability. Appellant
filed his complaint in equity, voluntarily in-
voking chancery aid, and by agreement the
suit was tried in that court. Davis v. Har-
rell, 101 Ark. 230, 142 S.W. 156.

[1] The cause is here for trial de novo,
and following our long established rule, we
must affirm unless the findings of the trial
court are against the preponderance of the
evidence, England vy. Scott, 205 Ark. 47,
166 S.W.2d 1014.

Appellant was the only witness who tes-
tified as to the manner, or how, he received
his alleged injuries. His version was:

“Q. Tell the court what happened, if
anything did happen? A. As we came
into this sub-stop at Okolona I asked the
bus driver to stop at this place so I could
go by my boarding house. As you go into
Okolona it is downgrade for a good many
yards. He was running pretty fast, and I

asked him to stop there and he said he
would. I told him to stop, so I rose ‘up
and he saw me in the mirror about the
same time, and just then he slammed on
the brakes and I was rising or standing up
and it threw me across the aisle over a
back of a seat and down between the seats
to the floor. I had an injury to my back
and I was partly unconscious for something
like eighteen or twenty hours. * * *

“Q. Do you say that you stepped on the
shoe string and that caused you to fall?
A. No, I will say the stopping of the bus
caused me to fall.

“Q. There was no wrecking of the bus,
was there? A. No, sir, it just stopped
suddenly.”

The policy here, as indicated, protects
the insured against the result of bodily
injuries received during the life of the
policy and caused by external, violent and
accidental means, by any accident to the
bus in which he was riding at the time he
was injured.

[2] We hold that any injury that ap-
pellant may have received was not covered
by the policy.. Under its plain and un-
ambiguous language, appellant could not
recover for injuries unless “as a result of
an accident to any motor bus,” while he
was a passenger. Certainly, the preponder-
ance, if not all of the testimony, shows
that there was no accident to, or wreck
of, the bus. Appellant’s injuries were
caused solely, as he admits, “by the stop-
ping of the bus, * ,* * it just stopped
suddenly,” and not as a result of any acti
dent to the bus.

[3] In so construing the policy, we do
not lose sight of the rule that the contract
was prepared by the insurer and all doubts,
if any, as to its meaning must be resolved
in favor of the insured.

The case of Life & Casualty Insurance
Co. of Tennessee v. Bareficld, 187 Ark
676, 61 S.W.2d 698, relied upon by appeb
lant, is clearly distinguishable. While the
policy in that case contained provisions
similar, in effect, to Part One (4) above,
the stipulated facts were different. There,
a passing car ran over a stick and “flipped
the said stick in the direction of the car ™

2
*
£
4
3
5
=
{

SMITH v. STATE Ark. 649
Cite as 238 S.W.2d 649

which the plaintiff was riding, striking the
said car at the front of the left-hand door.
The stick was hurled into the car and
struck the plaintiff in the right eye, causing
said plaintiff to lose the total and irrecover-
able sight of said right eye.” We there
held that there was an accident to the car
within the meaning of the policy and re-
covery was upheld.

Here, as indicated, there is a total ab-
sence of any injury to the bus in which ap-
pellant was a passenger.

Finding no error, the judgment is af-

SMITH v. STATE,
No. 4654,

Supreme Court of Arkansas.
April 9, 1951.

Rehearing Denied May 7, 1951.

Aubrey Smith was convicted in the Cir-
enit Court, Phillips County, Elmo Taylor, J.,
of murder in the first degree, and he ap-
Pealed. The Supreme Court, Millwee, J.,
held that evidence supported the conviction.

Judgment affirmed,

1. Constitutional law ©=265

Proceeding against defendant on
charge of first-degree murder upon an
information filed by prosecuting attorney
instead of upon an indictment by grand
jury as authorized by amendment to state
Constitution was not violative of defend.
ant’s rights under Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments to Federal Constitution.
Const. Amend. No. 21; U.S.C.A.Const.
Amends, 5, 14.

2. Constitutional law ¢=221
Fairness in selection does not require

Proportional representation of races upon
4 jury. U.S.C.A.Const. Amends. 5, 6, 14,

3%. Constitutional law ¢=221
Purposeful discrimination against a
face in selection of grand jury is not sus-
238 S.W.2d—41%

tained by showing that on the single grand
jury the number of members of one race
was less than that race’s proportion of eligi-
ble individuals. U.S.C.A.Const. Amends.
5, 6, 14.

4. Constitutional law =221

Although defendant is not entitled to
demand representatives of his racial in-
heritance upon a jury before whom he is
tried, he is entitled to require that those
selecting jurors shall not pursue course
of conduct resulting in discrimination in
selection of jurors on racial grounds. U.
S.C.A.Const. Amends. 5, 6, 14.

5. Jury €=38

Mere fact that a person is a qualified
elector does not ipso facto render him eli-
gible for jury service in state. Ark.Stats.
§§ 39-104 to 39-114, 39-201, 39-206, 39-
208.

6. Jury €>120

Testimony of jury commissioner show-
ing that Negroes were called for jury
service at time of court at which Negro
defendant was convicted and for preceding
terms and that there was no attempt to
limit number of Negro jurors supported
finding that racial discrimination was not
practiced in selecting jurors in violation of
rights of Negro defendant, notwithstanding
that number of members of Negro race
was less than that race’s proportion of
eligible individuals. Ark.Stats. §§ 39-104
to 39-114, 39-201, 39-206, 39-208; Const.
art. 2, §§ 3, 10; U.S.C.A.Const. Amends. 5,
6, 14.

7. Criminal law ©3741 (3)

It is within province of jury to de-
termine truth or falsity of all or any part of
the evidence, including a confession.

8. Criminal law ©=781(4)

' In murder prosecution, defendant’s re-
quested instruction that confession in its
entirety must be offcred, if it is to be
considered as a confession, and if only
that portion of statements given by ac-
cused which was adverse to him was in-
corporated, leaving out that which might
appear favorable, jury had duty to dis-
regard entire confession offered by State
was properly modified, so as to provide

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Simms confessed in RAKE TEARHER XM witness room of Prairie County
Court House at DeVall's Bluff when taken back for trial, Said
crime occurred about % AM on morning of 7-26. He was arrested
on same tay and taken to Little Rock for protection from mob
that formed at DeVall's Bluff to lynch him, Confessed that day
but then retracted, Repeated ‘on August 1 in DeVall, saying he
had found the young woman asleep and, putting a quilt over her
head to conceal his identity, choked her unconscious, The
father of victim shot at him as he escaped,

ARKANSAS GAZETTE, August 3, 1913.

Convicted on August by jury which deliberated for 25 minutes,
sentenced to die and promptly taken-to State Prison, ARKANSAS
GAZETTE. August 5, 1913

Nay

UGUST 5. 1913

DEVALLS BLUEF
NEGRO WILL BE
ELECTROCUTED

oe ge ne

FOR CRININAL ASSAULT

‘

Crinsinally » Assaulted. Wes, Shags of
Beassticld, Arkansas
duly 26th,:

ene meen tm ne

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H ‘ hd aoa |
NEGRO ADMEPS HIS6 GUILT

JON

SIMMS, Lee September 5, 1913
Simms, alias Wil
Prairie Co
1913,

He was Placed on
gust 4 and after Mrs,

assailant, he
Olng to the tent for the Purpose of

Taping her and Sald that he ad committed the act, However, he

Claimed by way of Mitigation that he hag 2

at Brinkley the

4nd did not realize what he wa
Y 4 jury that deli y 25

electrocuted at the Ark
became the f

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that manner,

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irst man in the

“S530RO sVeaNING SUN , Jonesboro, Arkansas 8-5-1913

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intention of being unmasked as an em-
bezzler, and you had no intention of losing
out on such an easy flow of money, so
you killed him. That was it, wasn’t it,
Corn?” demanded the police chief, his face
thrust close to the expressionless, unper-
turbed visage of the. accused man.

A slight smile crossed Corn’s face as he
saw that-the chief was waiting for a reply.
He rubbed a hand over his smooth-shaven
face, said calmly, “No sir, that wasn’t -the
reason so far as I’m concerned. What
you say may have been close to how he
was murdered. Frankly, I don’t know. I

think you’ve got me here simply because .

of my past record. I don’t deny it. But
I’ve tried to live a straight life since then,
and I have.”

“Then you must have had a rich uncle,”
taunted Hanna. “Your salary was never
more than $60 a week, usually around $45,
and yet you own a high-priced Cadillac—
how do you explain that?”

“I told you I messed around with surplus
property, just as Beam did, and I made
some money out of it.”

“Where are the records of the transac-
tions?” demanded Hanna.

“I didn’t keep any.”

“What about the check for $900—how
do you explain this?”

“That was for accumulated commis-
sions,” Corn replied doggedly.

“Why did you tear out and destroy the
white copies of receipts you gave to, your
customers?”

“I deny that I did anything like that.”

Until 3:30 in the morning, Nathan Corn,
his pale blue eyes occasionally flashing with
indignation, denied every accusation and
every implication of guilt thrust at him.
A few minutes later Chief Hanna called
a halt to the questioning, and remanded
Corn to a cell.

On the following day, as the city boiled
with the rumor that personable Nathan
Corn was being held for the mysterious
murder, the officials secured additional in-
criminating evidence. Four cartridges
were found in the glove compartment of

his Cadillac, and a German-made 9 mm...

Luger was voluntarily turned over to the
police by a rélative of the accused man.

Twelve days later, on the evening of -

June 28, an immense throng crowded into
the York County Courthouse at nearby
York. - In frequent stirrings. of unbridled
surprise, they heard the officials recite,
point by point, the mass of evidence
against the well-dressed prisoner. A vio-
lent electrical storm, at one time darken-
ing the courtroom for several minutes,
heightened the drama of the proceedings.

The inquest lasted until nearly mid-
night. The jury, impaneled by Coroner
M. P. Nichols, after 25 minutes’ delibera-
tion delivered a verdict that drew
little visible reaction from the accused
man. In solemn tones, the jury foreman
“We find that George C. Beam,
Jr.,.came to his. death at the hands of
Nathan T. Corn, and recommend that he
be held for action of the grand jury.” An
hour later, Sheriff Moss had served the
formal warrant.

Two weeks later, on July 12, 1948, Corn
was indicted by. the York County grand
jury. At his trial in general sessions
court, Corn was found guilty and sen-
tenced to be electrocuted on January 28,
1949, thus climaxing the slaying that, be-
cause, of the availability of the tools of
destruction, had been labeled “the con-
venient murder case.”

Eprror’s Note: To spare possible em-
barrassment to innocent persons, the
names Howard Pulliam and Ralph Bris-
tow, used in this story, are fictitious.

A AMAL LOOM LILES. SBIR TEE: AR

-he said.

Spurned Love
Lights a Pyre

(Continued from page 37)

the crowd claimed that the dead woman’s
domestic troubles had apparently been
on the verge of mending. Harvey Rorie
still cared for his wife and had been
making overtures for a_ reconciliation.
However Mrs. Rorie had come to no de-
cision, according to the informants, and
had repulsed attentions of other men.

Considering the difficulty of keeping
romantic secrets in a rural community, this
information appeared valid. But could
there be something in the murdered
woman’s background that would account
for a revenge slaying? Peterson wondered.
Harvey Rorie would be the person most
likely to know about this. The sergeant
instructed Sebastian and Wilcox to drive
the 20 miles to the man’s farm to investi-
gate this angle.

“When he’s over the first shock,” Ser-
geant Peterson added, “take him into
England with you and wait there for
Booher and me.”

As the troopers drove away the other
officers returned to questioning the spec-
tators. It was beginning to look like a
fruitless undertaking when Chief Foster
and Perry suddenly strode over to Peter-
son’s car and summoned the others.

“This is along a different line, but it
makes sense,” Perry announced. “The
chief and I heard a story about two strange
men who were in this section most of yes-
terday and the day before in an old Model
A coupe with Texas plates. One was about
50: years old, the other probably 35. They
said they were in search of jobs, but turned
down at least two chances to pick cotton.”

Peterson shook his head. “Gertrude

Rorie knew the man who murderéd her,”
“He came to her house not more
than 30 minutes after her relatives went
home. So she couldn’t have been asleep.
If he had been a stranger, she’d have
screamed or created some kind of commo-
tion. It’s.-my guess that she let the fellow
in.
- “And here’s something else. People in
the country don’t just go calling at 11
o’clock at night. I’m convinced that the
killer had been watching the house for
some time. He may have known that the
boys were gone for the night. Certainly he
knew when Mrs. Rorie’s relatives went
home and waited just long enough for
them to be out of the way.”

“But wait until you hear the rest,” Chief
Foster cut in. “These two men apparently
were drifting south, towards Pine Bluff.
Now just after 9 last night, some car came
back from the south. The driver cut his
lights and pulled up not more than a quar-
ter of a mile from where we’re standing.
About an hour later he moved up to where
a lane cuts through the cotton, a couple
of hundred yards from here, and parked
again. The fellow who saw the car’s move-
ments said he thought he heard two men’s
voices, but he didn’t investigate.”

The sergeant now agreed that this was
a possible lead. But half an hour’s search
of the hard lane through the cotton field
and the gravel road beyond, showed no
foot or tire prints. As the officers started
walking back to their cars, Booher voiced
a new theory as to the motive for their
crime.

“It’s my guess that the key to this mys-
tery lies in Harvey Rorie’s attempted

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against him. The coat and trousers which
he wore on the night of the crime were
found and sent to the state crime labora-
tory. Technicians reported that they were
stained with human blood, as was Rorie’s
knife. However the killer refused to an-
swer when questioned about the knife.
Prosecutor Harris filed three charges of
first degree murder against Harvey Rorie
and brought him to trial on December 6,

1948; in Jefferson: County circuit court for~

the slayings of the two children. Rorie
pleaded guilty before the court, weeping
as he heard Harris demand the death
penalty. .

After only an hour and a half’s delib-
eration the jury returned a verdict setting
Rorie’s punishment at death in the electric
chair. Since prosecution for the murder
of Mrs. Rorie would have meant only
needless expense to the state after that
verdict, Attorney Harris dropped the final
case.

Eprror’s Nore: To spare possible embar-
rassment to innocent persons, the names
Cader Atkins and Blythe Sommerfield,
used in this story, are fictitious.

The Lady and
“‘The Brain’’

(Continued from page 33)

Then he darted into the crowd and deftly
made his way toward the front of the
store. Mrs. Semon was only a few yards
behind him.

The little man reached the doors before
she did and slipped into the stream of
shoppers on the street. But in a moment
Mrs. Semon caught up with him and
grasped his arm. “I’m sure you didn’t
mean to walk off with that razor!” she said
softly.

He looked around suddenly, surprised to
see that he was clutched by a woman. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about,” he
aaa a puzzled smile on his kindly
ace.

“I want you to go back to the store with

me and return the razor,” the lady detec-

tive said firmly.

The man politely refused. They stood
there for a moment, arguing, until Mrs.
Semon signaled the traffic policeman on
the corner, who knew her. He strode over
quickly and soon persuaded the man to
accompany her back into the store, while
the officer accompanied them to make
certain.

There she took her quarry to her boss,
Michael Reilly, manager of the store’s pro-
tective department. For the next 15 min-
utes, the shoplifter was questioned by
Reilly, Mrs. Semon and the traffic officer,
Patrolman James Abraham of the Newark
police.

He pulled out a large roll of bills and
offered to pay for the razor if they would
let him go. He had put the razor in his
pocket on a silly impulse, he said, and
meant to bring it back all the time. But
there was something in his glib manner
that aroused the suspicions of Reilly that
this man might be more than an amateur
shoplifter. At Reilly’s suggestion, the
culprit was taken to Newark police head-
quarters.

In the detective bureau, he told Deputy
Chief Frank O’Neil and Lieutenant John
Strong that his name was John Sommers.
As such, he was booked on a complaint by

oo ee et UC t(ttCCC“‘COCSG

Mrs. Semon, searched and found to be
carrying $150. He said he was employed
as a longshoreman on a New York dock,
but he could produce no_ identification.
Fingerprinted, he began to talk glibly
about his legal rights and the amount of
his bail, which prompted Deputy Chief
O’Neill’ to have the prints. checked with
those of known criminals on file. '

This check was shortened by hours when

it was discovered that the man’s finger=

print classification and his picture were -

reproduced on‘a “wanted” circular issued
by the FBI. .

Chicago Wants Him-

This Santa Claus in mufti was none
other than John Lawrence Sullivan, 51-
year-old ex-convict for whom the Chicago
police had been hunting, along with FBI
agents, for almost four years! ,

O’Neil immediately wired Chicago noti-
fication of the capture and got back an
urgently phrased reply by teletype: “For
God’s sake, hold him.”

It was no wonder the Chicago police
were anxious to get the prisoner. Sullivan
was charged with being the ringleader
and “The Brain” of a 7-man gang. which
staged the Windy City’s biggest holdup to
the tune of $2,100,000 on January 19, 1945.
On that date, the mob had kidnaped the
watchman of the E. H. Rumboldt Realty
Company safe-deposit vaults and driven
him:around town until he agreed to open
the vaults. Their swag was $2,000,000 in
savings bonds and $100,000 in cash.

Three days later, one of the gang, Wen-
cel Urban, was found strangled to death in
a Chicago street. Detectives finally ar-
rested two other mobsters, Peter Quaglia
and Michael Kozar, who turned state’s evi-
dence and were released. A week later,
Kozar was found shot to death in his
home. Three more members of the gang,
Lewellyn Morgan, Willie Neomoth and
Thomas Leahy, all ex-convicts, were con-
victed and‘sentenced to long prison terms.
The bonds were recovered, but not the
$100,000 in cash. And Sullivan, indicted
by a federal grand jury for grand larceny
and robbery, remained at large.

Questioned by Deputy O’Neil, Sullivan

admitted he had a long police record dat- |.

ing back to 1914, but insisted all he knew
of the Rumboldt robbery was what he read
in: the Chicago newspapers. He said that
he had left Chicago in 1945 and joined a
longshoremen’s union in New York. He
got his job after the war, he explained,
so that his fingerprints wouldn’t be taken.
Although he had “palled around with a
tough bunch,” he said, he had been going
straight. ‘ :

“lye been a little boy with a halo,” he
told the chief. “I ain’t done-a thing—well,
since Chicago. I don’t know a thing about
that job, but the Chicago cops will have
murder on me by the time I get back
there. Boy, what a rap that'll be!”

Sullivan was half-joking, but the Chi-
cago police weren’t. In a telephone con-
versation with O’Neil, they said Sullivan
was wanted not only for the Rumboldt job,
but for questioning about the murders of
his two late companions in crime.

Sullivan said he would waive extradi-
tion and go back to Chicago with the two
officers who had been sent to get him.
Meanwhile, asked why he had stooped to
stealing a razor when he had $150 in cash
in his pockets, he replied forlornly: “I
couldn’t resist the temptation. It’s in my
blood.”

With these words, the sandy-haired ex-
convict bowed his head, obviously abashed
to have been captured in-such a trifling
crime, and by a lady cop at that.

in This Frank Collection
of French Stories

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ee with his wife,” the deputy
said.

“Meaning that somebody might have
been interested in stopping it?” Peterson
asked.

“Exactly,” Deputy Booher replied. “Mrs,
Rorie’s relatives say that she gave all
suitors the cold shoulder. Perhaps one of
them didn’t like being rejected.”

“We'll look into that next,” Peterson,
said. Dispatching Foster and Perry to
search for a trace of the two strangers and
their car, the sergeant assigned Wilbanks
to remain at the crime scene. Then he and
Booher walked across to the McElroy
house.

"No Good For Mother!"

Mrs. Rorie’s three surviving sons were
there, and had recovered enough from the
first shock of their grief to answer ques-
tions. They quickly assured the officers

that their mother’s first husband, their .

father, not only was above suspicion, but
that he actually was in California and had
established a home there. The boys denied
firmly that their mother had had any male
friends outside of the circle of relatives.
But it was not until Peterson mentioned
Harvey Rorie’s efforts at reconciliation that
the officers picked up anything of value.
“You didn’t want to see them go back
together, did you?” Booher asked.

“I sure didn’t!” the 18-year-old boy said

coldly. “He was no good for my mother.”

When the youth refused to elaborate,
however, the investigators switched the
conversation and learned that, as they had
. suspected, the oil can found in the burned
house had belonged there. It had been
almost filled with kerosene when the boys
left for town the preceding afternoon. But
the youngest boy revealed that it had been
set in an out-of-the-way corner of the
kitchen, where it would have passed un-
noticed by anyone not familiar with the
house. So far as any of the lads could re-
call, nobody outside the family and a few
relatives knew where it was kept.

Speeding back to policé headquarters in
England, Peterson and Booher found that
Harvey Rorie and Troopers Sebastian and
Wilcox were already there. Sitting
slumped in a chair, the balding farmer
promised to cooperate in every possible
way.

“T thought the world of Gertrude,” he
said brokenly. “I want to do all I can to
help catch the man who murdered her.”

Assuring Rorie that every effort would
be made to do so, Sergeant Peterson
motioned Sebastian and Wilcox into an
adjoining room.

“Have you questioned him?” Peterson
asked the troopers..

“Only routine stuff, Sebastian an-
swered. “He was asleep when we got out
to his farm. When we gave him the news,
he ‘seemed very upset.” .

“How about his movements last night?”

“I was coming to that,” the trodper re-
plied. “Rorie said he drove over to Tucker
after supper last night, and the proprietor
of a tavern there bears out his story that
he had a couple of beers and left about 9
p.m. His daughter and son-in-law, who
live with him, swear that he was back
home by just a little after 10 o’clock.”

Nevertheless, Wilcox added, he and Se-
bastian had searched the farmer’s house for
possible weapons. The only firearm, a 16-
gauge shotgun, had been covered with dust
and lint. They had also examined every
item -in Rorie’s toolbox and even the
kitchen knives.

“None of them was stained,” the trooper
concluded.

Peterson and Booher now took up the

questioning of the widower, but he was
unable to suggest anyone as the possible
slayer of his wife and the two children.
“Okay,” Peterson said. “Were you and
Mrs. Rorie about to patch up your differ-
ences?” =
“I was trying!” Rorie exploded. “Then,
just when it looked like she was coming
back to me, she’d changed her mind. If
only some other people had let her
alone .. .” He broke off suddenly.
“You’ve got to be frank, Rorie, if you
want to help us,” Booher admonished

~ sharply.

The man shrugged. “All right,” he said
slowly. “Gertrude told everyone that we
busted up because I thought the oldest
boy wasn’t doing his part in the fields.

That was part -of it. The rest was that.I

couldn’t turn my back but what she was
playing around with some other man. The
kids didn’t know and she thought she was
fooling me, too.-

“But early last summer ‘she got to meet-
ing some fellow named Tom. I got word
of her going out twice with him in his old
car.” :

Rorie said he knew nothing about the
man except that he had been a migrant
worker on a plantation not far from the
Rorie farm. When Peterson and Booher
described the pair of suspects in the case,
the farmer’s eyes: narrowed thoughtfully.

“The oldest guy could be him,” Rorie
said. “I got word that he’d left the state,
but I reckon there wasn’t nothing to keep
him from coming back. ‘Still, she was up
to the same tricks with other men. It’s not
a month since I seen her in England with
some fellow in a truck.”

Rorie was unable to identify this man,
but he had given enough information
which called for immediate investigation.
Leaving the widower at headquarters, Ser-
geant Peterson and Deputy Booher drove
back to the murdered woman’s neighbor-
hood and began a new round of inquiries.
At first they made little headway. But at
their fourth stop a grizzled sharecropper
suggested that a middle-aged widower
named Blythe Sommerfield might be the
man they sought.

A Jealous Man

“I_ know he took her to town once in his

truck and carried her groceries Home two
or three times,” the man said. “But I
haven’t even seen him over this way in
nearly. two weeks.”
- Following their informant’s directions,
the officers sped on to the southwest and
found Sommerfield working in his yard.
He freely admitted that he had given lifts
to Gertrude Rorie, but insisted that their
relationship had been merely a friendly
one.

“I was at home with my kids last night
and didn’t know anything about the mur-
ders till this morning,” he snapped. “I
don’t aim to get mixed up in this.”

“You’re already in it,” Peterson re-
torted. “Rorie saw you with his wife in
town...”

“So that’s how come!” Sommerfield
broke in sharply. “The last time the
woman rode with me she was upset, and
told me I mustn’t help her out any more.
Wouldn’t say why. But it didn’t mean any-
thing one way or another to me, so I stayed
away from her.”

The man’s story had the ring of truth.
But the officers warned him to keep him-
self available for further questioning. .

“It’s beginning to look like Harvey
Rorie was insanely jealous of his wife,”
Booher said:as they drove away from the
Sommerfield farm. “Instead of going home
from the tavern at Tucker, he could have

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driven to his wife’s place for a showdown.
When she turned him down he became
enraged and murdered her. Then he set
fire to. the house to cover up.”

“Yes,” Peterson agreed. “He knew where
the kerosene was kept and he’s the only
suspect we’ve got with a real motive. Our
best bet is to question his daughter and
son-in-law again. They may have beer
mistaken when they said Rorie got home
by 10 o’clock.” |

Speeding back to England, the officers
stopped at police headquarters long enough
_to hear a report from Foster and Perry.
They had found the two strangers in the
old coupe and the suspects had established
alibis. What. was more, their old car was
without lights and could not have beén the
one spotted near the scene of the murders.
Next, telephoning Coroner Dupree at Pine
Bluff, Deputy Booher learned that a more
. complete examination of Mrs. Rorie’s body
showed that. death was caused by a blow
on the head.. :

Peterson and Booher wanted more in-
formation than that, however, before.ques-
tioning Rorie again. Driving out to the
neighborhood in which the farmer lived,
they quickly learned that they had been
correct in their analysis of his character.
Half a dozen persons with whom they:
talked described Rorie as an extremely
jealous man of violent temper. All agreed
that his suspicions of Gertrude Rorie had
been entirely unfounded.

"Shoot Me!"

“She was as fine a:woman as you'd want
to meet,” one neighbor summarized. “But
‘he treated her worse than a dog.”

Convinced. that their reconstruction of
the slayings was correct, the two officers
continued on to Harvey Rorie’s farm.
Sebastian and Wilcox had found no weapon
there, but Booher thought he knew why.
Rorie apparently was depending on arro-

| gant boldness to outsmart them. Instead
of hiding the weapon, he probably hdd left .

it in an obvious place. -

The guess proved right. Rorie’s pickup
truck was still parked in his yard. The
deputy strode over to the machine and

cushion lay a pocketknife and a ballpeen
hammer. Both showed signs of recent
washing, but stains that could be only
blood still showed on the hammer handle.

Continuing on to the house, the sleuths
laid the objects before Rorie’s daughter
-and her husband. Only a few minutes of
questioning were needed to disclose that
they had not actually timed Rorie’s return
the night before. Instead, the couple had
been asleep: when he came in and had ac-
cepted his word as to the time. _

The girl also revealed that Rorie had
taken an almost sadistic delight in abusing
her stepmother and had threatened to kill
the unfortunate woman if she did not re-
turn to him.

At the officers’ request, the girl located

night before. It was stained with blood.

Taking the hammer, knife and shirt,
Peterson and Boother sped back to Eng-
land. Booher snapped handcuffs on Har-
vey Rorie and escorted him to Pine Bluff,
while Peterson took the three exhibits and
-raced for Little Rock to have tests run
in the state police crime laboratory.

walked into the sheriff’s office in the Jef-
ferson County courthouse at Pine Bluff.
“They’re still working on the knife,” he
told. Booher ‘crisply. “The stains on the
hammer and on Rorie’s shirt are definitely
human blood. Rorie’s the man, all right.”

The suspect however seemed little dis-

inspected the cab. There on the seat .

the shirt that her father had worn the .

Three hours later Sergeant Peterson

turbed by the turn of events. He had
fallen asleep in his jail cell, and when
awakened and brought to the courthouse
for questioning, he denied any knowledge
of the crime. Mixed with his denials were
fervent protestations of his love for Ger-
trude Rorie. ; ‘

. “You can maintain your innocence as
much as you want to, Rorie,” Peterson
finally said coldly. “But we got enough
information from your own daughter to
give you the chair.”

The color drained from the farmer’s
face. He straightened in his chair. “All
right,” he sobbed. “I killed them. Go
ghead and shoot me now!” His voice rose
to an agonized scream. “I deserve it!
Shoot me!”

“No,” Booher returned evenly. “But
we'll see to it that the law takes its course.”

Both officers suspected that it was fear
and the tension of waiting for retribution,
rather than pangs of conscience, that had
unnerved Rorie. Their conviction deep-
ened as they led him through a confession.

Rorie admitted that they had been cor-
rect in surmising that he had driven to the
neighborhood of his estranged wife’s home
after leaving the tavern at Tucker, and
that he had planned for a showdown. Find-
ing that she had guests, he had driven
nearly two miles farther, parking the truck
on another road.

“Then I put the hammer under my belt

"and walked back to the house,” he told

the officers. “I didn’t aim to. hurt her.

But I lied when I told you I didn’t know.

who took her to town. I knew it was
Blythe Sommerfield. I took the hammer
along because I figured I’d find him or
some other fellow there and I'd have to
fight.”

Instead, Mrs. Rorie had ‘been alone ex-
cept for the two sleeping children when
he reached the house. He related that his
wife had admitted him, then spurned his
offers of reconciliation. They quarreled
for several minutes, the prisoner said, but
in such low voices that the children didn’t
wake up.

“Then I slapped her,” Rorie continued.
“She fell across the bed and everything
went black. I jerked out the hammer and
hit her. I don’t know how many times.
Maybe once, maybe two or three times.”

“Then you murdered the children to
silence them!” Booher snapped.

Rorie shook his head slowly. “I didn’t
touch them,” he asserted. “The little girl
was asleep on the bed. The boy was in the
next room.”

“What?” Both officers shouted the word,
scarcely believing. the horrible implication
in Rorie’s words.

“That’s right,” Rorie affirmed. “I went
out to the kitchen and got the coal oil and
poured it on the.bed.”

“You mean you deliberately burned
those two helpless children to death?”
Deputy Booher demanded.

The killer tried to hedge, protesting that
the children’s deaths were accidental.

“Don’t give me that!” the outraged
deputy shouted. “How did you set the
fire?” '

Harvey Rorie suddenly: broke into sobs
again. “I just struck a match to the oil
and ran,” he blurted.

Swift Justice

Rorie made his verbal confession on Sat-.

urday afternoon. On Monday, October 11,
he repeated it for Prosecuting Attorney
Carleton Harris and signed a written con-
fession. As word spread the farmer had
confessed, other witnesses swarmed in to
tell of his jealousy and his threats against
his estranged wife. Evidence’ piled up

against him.
he wr77 71 1)
foun ser
tory. nici
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knife. Howev:
swer when qu

Prosecutor. }
first degree m
and brought }
1948; in Jeffer
the slayings «
pleaded guilty
as he heard
penalty.

After only
eration the jw
Rorie’s punish
chair. Since
of Mrs. Rori
needless expe
verdict, Attor:
case.

Eprror’s Note
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Cader Atkin:
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Michael Reilly
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OCTO BE

UNCENSORED DETECTIVE,

Sax,

DEATH AT DUSK—

he Came to Dick Davison when the “saint”

raised a- rifle and became a killer.

USK had descended upon the
White River bottom lands. It was
time to quit work but R. H. Da-
vison thought he’d set out a few
more cabbage plants before call-

ing it a day. He went to one knee,
scooped a small hole in the loamy
soil and dropped a plant into the
hole. He covered the roots with soil,
packed it with his fingers and poured
water around the plant.

It was a job well done and he
moved on about two feet and started
the same operation. His wife called
him to supper just then and he glanced
up to see her entering the garden.
He started to rise, seemed to stumble
—and fell headlong.

Mrs. Davison heard the shot, but it
is doubtful if Davison ever did. He lay
face downward, his body writhing in
convulsions. Mrs. Davison started for-
ward. She heard a crackle of brush
and whirled. A man with a rifle was
running into the deep timber that
surrounded the garden patch. For a
hesitant instant, Mrs. Davison stood
there, then she dashed to her fallen
husband.

“Dick!” she cried. “Oh—Dick!”’

She fell by his side and reached out
distracted hands, but she seemed
powerless to touch him. She stared at
him, her eyes filled with horror. Then
Dick Davison’s convulsions ceased and
she knew that he was dead. She

clasped him in her arms and burst

WM tentagtw—ct

SUSPECT'S WIFE—
When she thought life of her husband was

threatened by a mob, she fingered killer.

:
H
:
i

ps a pine,

Sheriff Martin

took a long gamble
with a lyach mob to
learn the identity of the

Jekyil-Hyde killer

into sobs. “Oh, Dick!” she cried again.
“Dick, why did you have to leave
me!”

She rose suddenly and shook her
fists at the spot where the killer had
disappeared into the woods. “You
killed him, you coward!” . she
screamed. “Why don’t you come back
and kill me!”

No other people lived near the
Davison home. There was no tele-
phone and the widowed woman was
alone for hours with her dead and
her grief.

She wanted the comforting presence
of a friend; she wanted her husband’s
body properly cared for—and_ she
wanted the law to avenge him. Dick
Davison’s death had to be avenged,
but to leave him alone there in that
desolate spot, to go seeking help
through the dark woods, took almost
more courage than she had. She did it.

Mile after mile she trudged through
the darkness. A heavy rain came up,
making the going harder; but at last
she reached a crossroads store. She
stumbled inside and sobbed out her
story.

The storekeeper cranked the rural
phone—the call for Mountain Home.
In a little while he was talking to
Sheriff Jim Martin of Baxter County,
Arkansas.

‘Davison?” the veteran _ sheriff
questioned. “Never heard of him—

the funeral and I reckon we don’t

need money that bad anyhow.”

“I know you don’t,” Ashley told
him, “but you’ve got ways of finding
out things that we haven’t. You know
everybody and they all like you. Be-
sides, you and your wife have a per-

sonal interest in this. See what you.

can learn about the business, will
you?”

Herbert Sease had said he would
but nothing came of it. Now as Ash-
ley and Martin left the Jack Beaver
home the question of Bud Mansfield’s
death again came up.

“It sure looks like Jack Beaver’s
got his finger into something,” Martin
said.

Ashley agreed. “Only,” he said,
“whatever the’s got his finger into,
we can’t lay a hand on. No Baxter
County jury would convict him on the
little we have. Matter of fact,” he
added, “we haven’t got anything but
a drunken man’s anger and he’s got
an alibi—and so has his brother.”

The alibi was of course furnished
by the men’s own relatives and the
officers knew any native would lie in
such a cause. “But,” the sheriff said,
“his best alibi is the fact that he was
drunk. Whoever shot Davison wasn’t
drunk. That shot was fired from a
hundred and fifty yards—and it took
just one shot. That’s shooting.”

“Tf the Beavers were drunk ...
Ashley suggested.

Of course there was that possibility
—feigned drunkenness for thee pur-
pose of starting a quarrel. But what
was the motive? Also Mrs. Davison
had said the Beavers had no gun
with them.

But in both killings the Beavers
had been mentioned and with only

their single lead Martin and Ashley

decided to try and tie them in with a
.30-.30 Winchester. Hiram Sutterfield
helped them and a cross-canvass of
the county was carefully made. Almost
at once they-learned one thing. Jack
Beaver did own such a gun.

THE STORY OF JEKYLL AND HYDE—
Was anfelded in the Meuntain Home, Arkansas, Court
House before the killer of R. H. Davison was sentenced.

Again Sheriff Jim Martin went to
Jack Beaver’s home. He didn’t beat
around the bush. “Jack,” he said, “I
want that .30-.30 of yours. The
quicker you give it to me, the better.”

“Now, Jim,” the man _ drawled,
“you know I ain’t got no such gun.
If’n I had I’d be plumb glad to loan
it to you.”

“You know what I want it for,”
Martin told him, but he wasn’t sure
himself. It might be, he thought,
that a ballistics expert could prove
by the firing pin mark on the cap
whether the gun had or had not ex-
ploded the cartridge he carried in
his pocket. He added, “I know
you’ve got a Winchester, Jack—and
I want it.” :

“T had one,” Jack Beaver admitted,
“but that was some time back.”

He was vague about what had hap-
pened to it—or when it happened.
“You know how things get away
from a man,” he explained.

Sheriff Martin knew that guns
never get away from a native of the
Ozarks. They regard them as their
proudest possessions. But another
search of the houses and outbuildings
of both Albert and Jack Beaver’s
farms did not uncover the. gun.

The gun could unquestionably be
found. Either it was here, or bor-
rowed or hidden by a neighbor. Mar-
tin knew that unless it had been
thrown into White River, it would
turn up soon or late. He knew further
it had not been thrown into the river
—not by any native. They valued
firearms too highly to destroy them,
even to escape possible imprisonment.
But wherever it was, unless it was
the murder gun, why should Jack
Beaver hesitate to produce it?

Martin said, “Well, Jack, get on
your bib and tucker—you, too, Albert.
I’m taking you in.”

“In whar?” Jack Beaver asked.

“To Mountain Home—to jail,” Mar-

tin said.
The brothers looked at each other,

MOUNTAIN HOME JAIL—
Where Jack and Albert Beaver were imprisoned until a
“lynch mob” congregated. Sheriff's big bluff paid off.

then at their wives and children.
They glared at Jim Martin. Jack
Beaver said, “I. reckon we got all we
need—plenty of spittin’ terbaccer.
Let’s go. But one thing, Jim, you
shore air on the wrong foot.”
'“All-right, I’m on the wrong foot.
Dig that rifle up and we’ll get started
right,” Martin told him.

“I told you we got all the jail fod-
der we need,” Jack Beaver said. “Let’s
get on.”

They’d called his bluff and Martin
now called theirs. He took them to
Mountain Home and locked them up.
He wasn’t bluffing much. Mostly he
wanted to know why Jack Beaver’s
rifle was not where it should be. In
that lay the answer to a lot of ques-
tions. He wanted the answer.

He and Ashley and Sutterfield re-
turned to the Buffalo community and
started trailing that rifle. They also
questioned everyone who had seen
the Beavers the previous day. Only
one person told them anything of in-
terest. An old river rat named Beagle
said he had seen Jack and Albert
Beaver around noon. Jack Beaver
had been carrying a Winchester,
Beagle said, and they were headed
upstream.

“That was before they got to Dav-
ison’s,”’ Sheriff Martin pondered. “And
Mrs. Davison said they had no gun
when they were there.”

“They could have left it in the
brush,” Ashley suggested.

That was right enough, but that
made it a planned killing from the
beginning—and it left the motive as
obscure as ever.

Hiram Sutterfield suggested a pos-
sible motive. “You know we’ve
knocked over a lot of stills out this
way at one time or another,” he said.
“We didn’t get our information from
Davison, but if they belonged to the
Beavers, they’d likely suspect any
newcomer as putting out that infor-
mation to the government. You
know what that means with a moon-

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shiner. They’re quick with a gun.”

“I know—and I’ve thought of it a
lot,” Jim Martin replied. “But where
does that leave us?”

“Nowhere,” John Ashley = said.
“That is, nowhere so far as a case is
concerned.” ~~

“If the Beavers know anything—
and I think they do—I’m going to
make them talk,” Martin said.

He went to both Beaver homes and
told thé women it looked very much
like their men would have to burn
for the killing of Dick Davison. “I
reckon if you want to see them, you
better come over to Mountain Home,”
he said. “They won’t be there long,
that’s for sure. Better bring the chil-
dren. It’s not the right place for them
to see their fathers, but they’re en-
titled to see them once more.. Any
kid’s entitled to that.”

He offered them transportation and
filled his car with the women and
children. In Mountain Home he let
them visit freely with the imprisoned
men.

Night passed and another dawn

broke—a murky dawn. During the
night Sheriff Jim Martin had been
busy. He knew everyone—and every-
one was his friend. He’d got his
friends to help him.

At dawn, Martin rushed into the
jail, loudly jangling the keys. ‘Jack
—Albert!” he. yelled. “Get ready
fast. The mob is here—they’re going
to try and take you.”

Outside the jail a few dozen men
milled around. They shouted, growled,
clashed guns together and shouted
again as though they were a hundred.
The Beavers, barely half awake,
heard those sounds—magnified. Sleep-
ing in their underwear and _ shirts,
they yanked on-trousers and shoes,
dashing for the door with shoelaces
dangling.

“Now wait a minute,” Martin ad-
monished. “Do you want to rush out
into that-mob and be strung up?”

He had raised his voice until it was
easily heard outside. Outside, his
friends set up a howl. Apparently
the Beavers didn’t want any part of
a mob, for they turned to the sheriff.

KILLER’S NEMESIS—
Efficient Sheriff Jim. Martin of Baxter
County, Ark., untangled crime puzzle.

Jack Beaver cried, “What can we do
—there’s only one door!”

“We'll work that out—maybe,”
Martin said. But not to give the
prisoners too much hope, he added.
“At least I hope we can work it out.
I’ve never lost a prisoner yet and I’d
hate to lose you boys now. It’s
mighty bad for a man in public office
to fall down on the job.”

The Beavers were not interested in
the trouble of any politician, but they
were interested in their own troubles.
They said so—fervently and often.

“We ain’t hurt no man, Sheriff,”
Albert Beaver said. “Give us a
chance. We don’t want no lynch mob
to string us up. Get us away from
here, Sheriff.. You know we ain’t kilt

nobody.” Jack Beaver backed him
up.

Jim Martin said he’d see what he
could do.

Because the morning was cloudy, it
was almost dark outside. A few dozen
friends of the sheriff looked like a
million to the Beavers. However, at
the sheriff's command, they became
strangely quiet—with here and there
a mutter, a barely heard curse, a
hiss.

Gun drawn, Martin rushed his pris-
oners to his already running car. He
had no need to urge them. They
flung themselves into the tonneau of
the car and the sheriff climbed back
of the steering wheel and meshed the
gears. As they rounded the corner
and hit Highway 62, many shots and
shouts rose behind them.

Outside the town the road was
rough—and it grew rougher, but
Martin did not spare his car. He
slowed only for the ferry and less
than an hour (Continued on page 60)

UNMASKED—
The Jekyll-Hyde killer received swift
trial, was sentenced to electric chair.

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By
JOHN HALL
HERMAN

FORD roadster wobbled and
swayed drunkenly on a wind-

ing highway in the foothills

of the Ozark Mountains. With
a roar and a rush of wind it brushed
past a police cruiser loaded with
officers and driven by Chief of De-
tectives Herbert “Dutch” Akers, of
the Hot Springs, Arkansas, police
department.

Akers threw a quick look at the
car as it flew by and knew a swift
sense of sickening disaster. The
man at the wheel, he noted in that
momentary glance, had a stony look
of death in his eyes, and his head
was tipped back. A baby boy on the
lap of the woman at his side was
screaming. The tousled heads of
two other children bobbed up and
down in the rumble seat.

“That man at the wheel—” Akers

Alvin Colley and his wife (left)
had ne reason to suspect their
benefactor had plans of murder.

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‘t their
murder.

shouted. “He’s unconscious!”

His voice was half lost in the roar
of the engine as he pushed hard on
the accelerator and fell in behind.
Forgotten was the holdup man they
were supposed to be chasing. That
doomed car up ahead—how could
he save it?

The roadster in front slowed
down suddenly as though the
driver’s foot had slipped from the
gas pedal. Almost simultaneously,
as though a guiding hand had been
removed from the steering wheel,
the car slid to the side of the road,
toppled into a ditch just off the
highway. It turned over once with
the crashing, rending sound of tear-
ing metal, and was still. It looked
like some monster whose back had
been broken as Chief Akers, with a
roar of exhaust and screech of
presen, brought the cruiser to a

alt.

Even as he did so, he caught—or
thought he did—a fleeting glimpse
of a thin, wraithlike figure that

seemed to separate itself from the
wreckage and melt into the thick,
bordering foliage of the woods. He
blinked his eyes rapidly but the vi-
sion was gone. He stared at his
companions, and their set faces told
him they saw only the wreckage.
Imagination, he decided, and rushed
with the others to the roadster. —
Two of the boys had been thrown
from the rumble seat by the impact.
They were curled up on the grass,
twitching convulsively. The driver’s
hands still clutched the steering
wheel. His eyes were wide open,
glassy. The woman hung over the
right front seat. The smallest_of
the boys was clinging to her,
screaming at the top of his voice.
It was the only sound from the
wrecked car in that lonely spot mid-

way between Malvern and Benton.

There were no houses about, neither
village having grown that far out,
and the soil was entirely unsuitable
for farming.

The detectives laid the two older

——
——

children out on a blanket and tried
in vain to straighten their twitch-
ing limbs. Chief Akers tore open
the woman’s blouse and listened to
her heart. She was still breathing.
In the blouse was a letter which
Akers stuffed into his pocket.

The five victims of the accident
were bundled into the police cruiser
and rushed toward the hospital in
Malvern, while the detectives who
vacated their seats for the injured
persons took out through the woods
after the fugitive.

Now Chief Akers opened the let-
ter. It was addressed to Mrs. Roy
Fetty, 719 Malvern Avenue, Hot
Springs. The postmark showed it
was mailed in Akron, Ohio, on Au-
gust 7, 1933. It was now August 15
of the same year. The letter, signed
“M. Smith,” read, in part:

I enclose $6, and there is
nothing new but arrange to stay
around Hot Springs, and it may
be that I will come down and
give you all the dope. Just use
your heads, get something to do
if at all possible and everything
will work out O.K. I’ll have all
the news and keep you posted.
Iam about sick and may have to
go to a hospital, so use your

best efforts if I am in the hos-
pital. You know how that is.
But don’t worry and don’t lose
your heads, for we will beat
them and I believe it is the
chance of a lifetime, for I am
sure Alvin can make a fortune
and is smarter than they are.
Just stick and put her over.

Physicians went to work with a
stomach pump on the screaming
child. The other four victims were
put on wheeling tables that ap-
peared like elongated baby-cabs,
minus their tops. Physicians and
nurses bent over the still forms with
stethoscopes. Then they pulled
white sheets over the silent figures.

“Dead, all four of them, and not
from automobile injuries,” whis-
pered a doctor to Chief Akers. “The
violent spasms those still alive were
having when you brought them in
indicate poisoning.”

Chief Akers, -hardened officer
though he was, felt a wave of nau-
sea sweep over him.

“What kind of poison, Doc?” he
inquired.

“Can’t tell yet,” came the answer.
“My guess would be morphia, atro-
phine or strychnine. The painful
and distressing deaths of the woman

Miss Marie Wolf (nbove), secre-
tary to Prosecutor, helped fit to-
gether jigsaw puzzle of murder.

and two children indicate that.”
Just then the physician who had
worked the stomach pump on the
baby joined the group. He had with
him a sealed jar.
“The baby has a chance to live,”
said the newcomer. Then, indicat-

. ing the jar, he added, “Strychnine.”

“How long does it take strychnine
to kill, Doc?” inquired Chief Akers,
anxious for some clue that would
lead him to the place where the
poison had been absorbed.

“Oh, three to thirty minutes,
Chief,” said the physician in charge.
“It depends largely upon the resist-
ing powers of the individual, and
the amount taken.”

That, to Chief Akers, semed to fix
the inception of the tragedy within
a radius of 15 or 20 miles from
where the car of death crashed.

“As calculating and cold-blooded
a killer as we’ll ever meet,” Akers
told his officers grimly. ‘““SSomewhere
along the highway that family was
deliberately poisoned. The mur-
derer plotted it well. The accident
would appear the cause of death
and there wouldn’t be anyone look-
ing for poison. But he couldn’t
guess there would be a police car
right behind . . . or that one of the
children would remain alive, and
screaming in agony and terror .. .”

HE investigation started at the

Malvern Street address in Hot
Springs given in the letter. Chief
Akers took personal charge of the
case, and interviewed the friendly,
middle-aged landlady.

Yes, she knew the Fettys. They
had arrived in a Ford roadster, late
in July. Any mail for them? Yes,
during the subsequent two weeks

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Chief of Detectives Herbert
Akers (above) discovered the
death car just before crash,

they had received several letters, all
from Akron, Ohio.

That very morning, the Fettys had
received their first visitor. The
landlady judged he was an old-time
friend from the joyous manner in
which he was received. He was in-
troduced as Mr. Smith, and was a
tall, angular man of about 40 years.
From the mussed condition of his
clothes, she judged he had traveled
considerable distance by bus or day
coach. Along toward noon, Mrs.
Fetty announced that she and her
family were moving.

“We're going on a picnic with
Uncle Mark,” confided Clarence,
aged seven. Soon Clarence was
bundled into the rumble seat of his
father’s roadster with his brothers,
Clement, five, and Clyde, three.

The few belongings of the Fettys
were stuffed into the machine. Fet-
ty took the wheel, his wife got in
next to him, and Uncle Mark sat on
the right.

“There was one peculiar thing
about them,” volunteered the land-
lady. “Sometimes Mrs. Fetty called
her husband Roy, and again she
would address him as Alvin. Mr.
Fetty always frowned when she did
this. Once she took the trouble to
explain to me that Roy was his first
name, and Alvin the middle name.

Chief Akers returned to the hos-
pital and searched the clothes of
the victims. Papers were found in-
dicating the names of the ill-fated
couple were Alvin and Ethel Colley,
and that the three children were
theirs.

The landlady had identified a suit-
case taken from the wrecked road-
ster as Uncle Mark’s property. In
it was a pill box bearing the label
of an Akron druggist. It was about
half full of strychnine tablets.
There were no clues as to Uncle
Mark’s identity.

He thought over the landlady’s

Prosecutor Robert Critchfield
(above) disclosed an incredible
case of dual-ldentity trickery.

description of the mysterious uncle
—a tall, angular man of about 40
years. And in his mind’s eye he
saw once again that thin, wraithlike
figure that had seemed to separate
itself from the car and melt a mo-
ment later into the woods. Maybe,
after all, it hadn’t been his imagina-
tion.

There was no chance of trailing
the man, even if he were right, in
that dense, virgin forest. Only one
possibility: Deputy Sheriff Sol God-
win and his bloodhound. The dog,
already well-known in the area for
following the trail of petty crimi-
nals, Akers reflected, would have a
smell worth following this time—
the stench of a fiendish killer.

Broad-shouldered, burly, the dep-
uty sheriff, came to the office, and
welcomed the opportunity. “We'll
start right from the spot where the
car turned over,” Godwin told him.
“And if any one ran into the woods
from that spot, we’ll turn him out.”

“Good,” Akers smiled. “Better
take a couple of men along. He’s
already a killer, and won’t hesitate
about another life or two.”

Godwin nodded somberly. “I get
you,” he admitted.

As the office door closed behind
him, the chief turned back to a
study of the Colley effects. There
was little of interest, but one small
scrap of paper attracted his scru-
tiny. It bore the simple notation:
“Robert Critchfield, Prosecutor of
Wayne County, Wooster, Ohio.”

The Chief promptly put through
a long distance call'to the prosecu-
tor’s office. It was 1 a.m. Ohio time,
that the telephone bell aroused
Critchfield’s secretary, Miss Marie
Wolf, from her sleep. The prose-
cutor was in Quebec on his vacation,
and the call was transferred to her
home.

“Do you know a man by the name

(Continued on page 92)

Deputy Sheriff Ed Mills (above)
kept an appointment with the
informer who expedited.

The prisoner (above) injured
his kneecap during wild flight (65)
through the mountain woods.

said that the ‘‘other man’’ had ridden
in the car with them, but just what
had the child meant? Before the picnic
— or after — or both before and after?

With deputies off on this mission,
Sheriff Fisher headed for the city of
Hot Springs. He reached there in the

late afternoon and sought out Chief’

of Police Joe Wakelin, who assigned
Detective Charles Buckalew to work
with him. Accompanied by Buckalew,
Fisher visited the Lithia Tourist Cabins
on the edge of town.

The proprietor, an enormously fat
man named Conrad L. Beckwith, sat
fanning himself in front of the cabin-
- Office when the officers arrived.
Questioned about the Fettys, Beckwith
said Mr. and Mrs. Fetty and their three
kids had driven off in their coupe an
hour or so before noon. How well did
he know them? Not too well, although
they’d been renting one of his cabins
for several weeks.

*‘Nice guy, this Mr. Fetty,’’ Beck-
with added guardedly. ‘‘How come
you cops want to bother him?”’

“‘Not bother him,’’ Sheriff Fisher
corrected, ‘‘—find out about him.
What’s his business?’’

**Couldn’t tell you. Ask him.”’

‘“Where does he hail from?’’

“His name is on the register, but
he didn’t bother to put down his
permanent address.”’

“‘Did he have the coupe when he
first showed up here?’’

“Nope. Came in a cab — wife, kids,
bag and baggage. Bought the coupe
later, down the road a piece, from a
used-car dealer.’’

“‘Who was the man with him today
— fellow that smokes cigars?’’

‘*Friend of his, I guess,’’ said
Beckwith, then frowned and became
even less communicative. ‘‘Look,
Sheriff, I ain’t no information bureau.
Like I said, if you want to know Mr.
Fetty and his family, ask them — in
person. They’ll be back because
they’re paid up a couple of weeks in
advance and they got luggage in their
cabin.”’

“They won’t be coming back,”’ said
the sheriff shortly. ‘‘They’re dead —
poisoned. Four out of the five of them
are, at least, all but Clyde, the little
boy, and he’s a mighty sick young-
ster.”’

The tourist-camp proprietor,
normally red-faced, now turned a
bright crimson, and his big-jowled chin
dropped to his chest, leaving his mouth
agape.

“‘Dead — poisoned,’’ he repeated.
“for the love of Heaven, can you beat
that? What could’ve happened? The

Fettys were only going on a picnic, they
told me — they and their friend, Mr.
Samuels — over to South Fork River.
What about Mr. Samuels, where’s he?
He was due to leave here tonight, and
he told me if I had a customer to rent
his cabin.’’

On the threshold of the little cottage
designated as No. 8 — a two-room and
kitchenette affair, and the most
imposing structure in the colony —
Fisher and Buckalew turned to the now
more talkative Beckwith for further
information about.his late guests.

‘“‘The Fettys came here in mid-
June,’’ Beckwith replied, ‘‘but they
never said where from. The kids were
Clement, Clarence and Clyde — all
nice little boys. Mr. Fetty got his
money by mail — in cash — but he
never told me who sent it.

‘*Also, he was close-mouthed about
his business, but once he let slip that
he had done some investigating in his
day, and I got the idea that maybe he
was a private detective working on a
case hereabouts. Once he told me that
if anybody dropped by and started
asking questions about him, I wasn’t
to know anything — nothing.

**A couple of week ago, I likewise
got the idea that maybe Roy Fetty
wasn’t his real name, which made
sense if he was a private investigator.
That happened this way. I was doing
some painting in the cabin next door,
had the window open, and overhead
Mr. and Mrs. Fetty talking. She wasn’t
calling him Roy; she was calling him
Al, and he was answering. Also, when
their friend Mr. Samuels arrived here
Sunday, I heard Mr. Samuels call him
Al.’’

Samuels, Beckwith went on, was a
tall, painfully thin, middle-aged man,
who wore glasses, sported a tooth-
brush moustache, and smoked cigars
— nervously, one after the other. He
had first appeared at the tourist camp
on Sunday, two days before, and taken
the accomodations reserved for him
by the Fettys. He had come without

any luggage except a brief-case, which

he kept tucked beneath his arm.

Like the Fettys, he had appeared to
be a stranger to Hot Springs, and on
Sunday Roy Fetty had driven into the
city to meet him, either at the bus or
railway station. Samuels had not
registered at the tourist camp, since
the Fettys had arranged for his cabin
for him.

‘“‘Mr. Samuels and the Fettys
seemed to be great pals,’’ Beckwith
concluded, ‘‘and I know they were
looking forward to his coming with
pleasure. But he could only stay two

days — was leaving tonight. That’s
why they had the picnic today.

“‘They asked me for a good spot to
have a picnic and I told them the South
Fork River, over in Saline County, and
I guess that’s where they went. Three
adults and three kids in Fetty’s coupe.
Mr. Samuels took his briefcase with
him; he’d paid me, so maybe he didn’t
figure to come back.

“‘Where was he from? I ain’t got
no more idea about that than I have
about the Fettys; I don’t know where
none of them came from.’’

Sheriff Fisher and Detective Buck-
alew entered the Fetty cabin. Certain
articles of clothing bore the labels of
stores in Akron, Ohio., a number of
men’s handkerchiefs were embroid-
ered with the initials ‘‘A.C.’? and a
letter in the pocket of one of Fetty’s
jackets had been mailed from Akron
the week before.

“‘Enclosed is $60,’’ the letter said,
‘‘which ought to do you until I reach
Hot Springs on Sunday, and I’ll bring
more money. Don’t lose your nerve;
everything is going to work out okay.
When I see you, I’ll have more news
about our situation, and I think it will
be favorable. Once again, keep your
head.”’

This letter had been written on a
typewriter and was unsigned — a fact
that Fisher and Buckalew considered
as curious as the text of the letter itself.

Seemingly, Samuels had written the
letter, for Samuels had joined the
Fettys at the tourist camp on Sunday.
But the letter did not have the ring of
a true client-investigator relationship,
since it hardly stood to reason that a
private eye needed to have his courage
bolstered by the man who was hiring
him.

Still, if Samuels was not Fetty’s
employer, why was he sending him
money and promising to bring him
even more money? Again, what sort
of private investigator was it who
would take along his family on one of
his cases?

In the cabin occupied by Samuels
on Sunday and Monday, Fisher and
Buckalew found only ash trays laden
with cigar butts and a great scattering
of cigar ashes. As Beckwith had said,
Samuels had certainly been traveling
light — an indication that he had not
planned to remain away long from his
base of operations, be it Akron or
elsewhere. As the sheriff and the
detective left Samuels’ cabin, Beckwith
called to them from his office. ‘‘You’re
wanted on the phone, Sheriff Fisher,”’

(continued on next page)
41

Death stalked The Poison Picnic

(continued from page 41)

he announced, ‘‘ — long distance.”’

Fisher entered the office, picked up
the phone and found one of his
deputies on the wire. The man
reported that the picnic site had been
located on the west bank of the South
Fork in Saline County and that the
Fetty party had been traced to it by
means of two stops they had made on
their way out from Hot Springs.

Around noon, at a country store,
they had bought crackers and cookies,
sliced cheese, meat spreads, bottles of
grape juice and a supply of paper
plates and paper cups. Further along,
quite near the river, they had purcha-
sed a watermelon at a roadside stand.

“A tall, thin man was with them?’’
Fisher asked his deputy.

“‘Right,’’ the officer replied. ‘‘At the
store he bought a handful of cigars,
and he must have participated in the
picnic, since six plates and six cups
were used. The plates and cups are still
lying about on the river bank, and
some of the cups still contain a few
drops of grape juice. We’re leaving
everything just as we found it, pending
your arrival,’’

““No sign of the tall, thin fellow, is
there? He’s not lying around sick or
dead in the bushes?’’

““Nope, no sign of him. We’ve
searched the area thoroughly. Also,
the proprietor of the watermelon stand
not only saw the coupe on its way to
the picnic, but returning, and he’s
positive the tall, thin guy was sitting
up front both times. It’s hard to figure
just what happened. The rest of the
boys are out now questioning farmers
along the highway.’’

Sheriff Fisher instructed his deputy
to wait at the point from which he was
phoning, a gas station near the South
Fork River, and said he would soon
join him. Then the sheriff and
Detective Buckalew drove east, after
first alerting by phone Sheriff Virgil
A. Rucker, of Saline County.

The case, obviously, was taking on
three-county aspects. The Fettys had
begun their day at Hot Springs,
Garland County; had picnicked to the
east in Saline County, and had then
driven south into Hot Springs County,
to end up in the ditch, most of them
dead. The case was involved juris-
dictionally, but not in its essential
elements; the job was simply to
identify and find the poison murderer.

Buckalew and Fisher met with the
latter’s deputy at the gas station, and
42

Sheriff Rucker and one of his deputies,
M.J. Elliott, soon drove up. In
addition, the doctor who had been
attending young Clyde arrived not long
afterward. Then the entire group
headed for the picnic spot on the river.

By now the August sun was dropping
behind the Ozark ranges to the west.
At the river, Fisher, Rucker and their
men rigged floodlights, for a close
search of the site. Bits of sandwiches
and half-eaten slices of watermelon lay
around, but the objects of greatest
interest were the six paper cups.

‘The doctor examined them and
determined that the drops of grape
juice in five contained crystals of
strychnine, which is not readily soluble
in grape juice. But that the grape juice
in the sixth cup was harmless. In the
opinion of Fisher, Buckalew and
Rucker, this could only mean that the
person who had drunk from the sixth
cup had, poisoned the others — and
that the poisoner was Samuels.

The investigators packed away their
evidence and left the river. Sheriffs
Fisher and Rucker headed for the
latter’s office in Benton, the county
seat of Saline County, while the others
spread out to hunt for the missing
Samuels.

In Benton, Sheriff Fisher put
through a phone call to the police of
Akron, Ohio, to whom, after summing
up the case, he described as best he
could the Fettys and their recent visitor.

‘*We have reason to believe,’’ he said,
“‘that Roy Fetty is an alias — that the
man’s real name is Al something-or-
other, and that his initials are probably
‘A.C.’ Also, it’s possible that he
worked as a private investigator, and
that this lanky, cigar-smoking guy —
Samuels, if that’s his real name — was
somehow connected with him.’’

The Akron detective captain at the
other end of the connection kept
saying ‘‘Yes...yes...yes,’’ as Sheriff
Fisher talked, and at the end of the

narrative, gave an astonished whistle.

“‘Sheriff,’’ he declared, ‘‘I think
you’ve got something — something
that ties in with a case being handled
here, by District Attorney Lyman R.
Cretchfield of Wayne County. I’ll get
in touch with Mr, Cretchfield and have
him phone you back.’’

Not long after Fisher had talked
with Akron, his and Sheriff Rucker’s
deputies began calling in with reports
concerning their hunt for Samuels.

During the afternoon, the man had

o¢een seen al several points aiong tne
South Fork-Malvern highway, first at
around 2 o’clock by a farmer who lived
only a couple of miles from the river.
At that hour, the Fetty coupe had
driven up in front of the farmer’s
house, .and in it were the five Fettys,
together with their cigar-smoking
companion.

“*We’ve been picnicking,”’ the driver
of the coupe shouted excitedly to the
farmer, ‘‘and two of the kids took sick,
and we’re afraid we ate something
poisonous. Where’s the nearest doctor
— we need help fast.’’

The farmer had suggested that they
drive to Malvern, and off the coupe

went in that direction. A few minutes ~

later, however, the car was sighted
farther down the road by another
farmer. He said that, though the car
was traveling around thirty miles an
hour, the door on the right side had
suddenly opened and a tall, thin man
had jumped out, fallen and tumbled
to a stop.

But the car had kept going, while
the farmer hurried to the tall man’s
assistance. The fellow was dust-
covered and his nose was bleeding, but
he paid not so much attention to his
injuries as to a brief case he’d dropped
in his jump. The farmer found the
brief case in a gully alongside the road
and handed it to its owner who
snatched it from him angrily and
dashed across the road to disappear
in the brush.

Lastly, several hours later, the tall
man had been seen still nearer Malvern
— past the point of A.C. Murray’s
macabre encounter with the coupe —
by still another farmer. As darkness
was descending, he had come out of
the woods and approached this
farmer’s house to ask if he might buy
something to eat. His face was bloody,
his hands scratched from briers, and
his clothing dirty and torn. He still

. Clutched the brief case and never for a

moment put it down.

The farmer fed him, gratis, then
offered to drive him to Malvern, but
demurred when the tattered stranger
insisted that they travel only by back
roads. ‘‘What’s wrong with you,’’ the
farmer asked, ‘‘— why don’t you want
to be seen?’’ At the question, the tall
man jumped up from the farmer’s
table, rushed from the house and once
again disappeared into the woods.

Following this report, which con-
tained information barely more than
an hour old, Sheriff Fisher phoned
Deputy Sheriff Sol Godwin of Hot

(continued on next page)

wat Salk} SDN ae grein En al aoe]

Springs to bring his bloodhound
Donnie to the Malvern farmer’s house.

“I'll be there as soon as I can get
there,’’ Godwin replied. ‘‘Have plenty
of men on hand and a lot of search-
lights. Donnie’s good at night tracking,
but she likes company.”’

By means of additional phone calls,
Fisher and Rucker formed a sizeable
posse and were preparing to leave
themselves when a phone call came
from District Attorney Cretchfield of
Ohio. Cretchfield’s story was a
fantastic one that spelled out the
probable motive for the mass-poison-
ing of the Fetty family.

*‘This fellow’Roy Fetty,’’ said
Cretchfield, over the phone, ‘‘sounds
to me like a man named Alvin Colley,
who has been missing from the
Kenmore section of Akron for about
two months. He was married and had
three boys — worked as an investigator
for lawyers.

““Well, when Colley left, taking his
family with him, he was in trouble —
serious trouble — and I see plenty of
reason why he might have wanted to
hide out under an assumed name.
Involved with Colley. is a Kenmore,
lawyer named Mark H. Shank — a
tall, thin, moustached chap who
answers the description of your ‘Mr.
Samuels.’ I’ve checked and have
determined that Shank left here last
Saturday, destination unknown, and
his only luggage was his brief case.

“Like said, Shank and Colley were
mixed up together in a piece of dirty
business, and there’s every reason to
suppose that Shank might have wanted
to get rid of Colley, since Colley could
have been a witness against him.”’

Then Cretchfield went to elaborate.
The trouble had started the year before
when a man named Braucher had
retained Mark Shank to defend him
in a civil suit involving several hundred
dollars brought by one M.W. Kauf-
man. Before the suite came to trial
Kaufman died, so it was Kaufman’s
estate that was suing Braucher.

At the trial, Braucher produced a
receipt marked paid for the money it
was contended he owed Kaufman. This
evidence created a furor in the
courtroom. The attorneys for Kauf-
man’s estate charged that Braucher
had forged Kaufman’s signature to the
paper. Since Kaufman was dead, a
handwriting expert was called in and
he found against Braucher, who was
arrested, and the papers were im-
pounded by the district attorney.

On the night of May 17, 1933,
however — five days before Braucher
was to come to trial on the charge of

forgery — a burglar broke into the
district attorney’s office and stole the
evidence in the case. From an undis-
closed source, Prosecutor Cretchfield
received word that Alvin Colley had
performed the burglary at the insti-
gation of Mark Shank, who, as
Braucher’s lawyer, was going to
remarkable lengths to save his client.

By now, however, Braucher was fed
up with the whole mess, pleaded guilty
to forgery and accepted a prison
sentence, but denied knowing anything
about the burglary. The district
attorney collected further evidence
pointing to Alvin Colley, and was

about to arrest him, when Colley and |

his whole family disappeared.

Without Colley, Prosecutor Cretch-
field had no case against Mark Shank,
who bore a good reputation. Shank
had more to lose than either Braucher
or Colley, and if it was ever proven
that he had hired Colley to steal. the
evidence incriminating Braucher, then
he would be ruined professionally, to
say the very least.

‘‘Therefore, it does not surprise
me,’’ Prosecutor Cretchfield con-
cluded his phone conversation with the
Arkansas sheriff, ‘‘to know that while
Colley was on the lam, Shank was
sending him money.

*‘Shank couldn’t very well have
afforded to do otherwise; he couldn’t

permit financial need to drive Colley |

back home — and into custody. But
again, supporting Colley and his wife
and three children must have been a
drain on Shank’s resources; hence his
decision to at once hush this potential
witness against him and plug the hole
in his pocketbook by murdering
Colley. Yet if he was to murder Colley,
he would have to murder the entire
Colley family to remove any witnesses.”’

The Akron prosecutor promised to
forward to Arkansas photographs of
both Colley and Shank and to send
down a detective familiar with the
relationship between the two men.
Then Sheriffs Fisher and Rucker left
Benton to join the posse and the
bloodhound Donnie in the woods
outside Malvern.

Fisher and Rucker reached the
starting point just as the hunt was
commencing — some two-score men
armed with guns and flashlights
following in the wake of the baying
dog.

The night was hot and nearly
moonless and the members of the
posse sweated and swore as they
crashed through the underbrush.
Within an hour, Donnie’s deepthroated
baying struck a higher note — an

indication that the trail she was
following was warmer.

Further evidence of this came when
the bloodhound halted to sniff at an
object on the ground. Sheriff Rucker
rushed forward and picked up Mark
Shank’s briefcase. It contained papers,
a few toilet articles, a shirt and a
change of underwear, and a small
bottle marked ‘‘Poison,’’ bearing the
label of a Kenmore, Ohio, drug store
and still containing a number of deadly
strychnine crystals.

A few minutes later, the hunt was
over. Donnie had cornered Shank in
a shallow ravine. The lawyer admitted
to his identity and offered no resistance
when Sheriff Rucker handcuffed him.
He was in a pitiable state, his clothes
in tatters, and his bloodied face and
hands were torn by briers and swollen
from insect bites.

At Rucker’s office, Shank alias
Samuels talked freely. Indeed he
seemed even eager to relieve his
concience of its ghastly secret. The
motive for and method of his crime
had been much as the authorities had
reconstructed it, but he had not known
that strychnine is not always instantly
fatal.

“At the picnic, which was my
suggestion,”’ he told the officers, ‘‘I
poured the grape juice and added
strychnine to five of the paper cups
without anyone seeing me. I figured it
would kill all the Colleys the moment
they had drunk it, but I was wrong.

‘With all of them dead, I intended
to strip them of anything that might
identify them, leave them-there, take
the car, return to the tourist camp and
destroy anything else identifying them
that might be in their cabin.

“‘But none of them died right away;
at the outset, only one child complain-
ed of feeling ill. Then another child
got sick, and Al Colley insisted we go
for a doctor. I was in a quandary. I
knew I couldn’t continue with them

~ to Malvern for the doctor would ask

too many questions. When Colley got
so he couldn’t drive straight, I jumped
from the car and ran.’’

A Saline County grand jury indicted
Mark Shank on four counts of murder,
but the authorities elected to try him
for the killing of Alvin Colley alone,
since in this case the motive could be
more clearly shown. The trial was held
in the Saline Circuit Court at Benton,
beginning on November 27, 1933, and
ending on December 1, with a verdict
of guilty. The judge sentenced him to.
die, a sentence which was carried out
in 1935 after various appeal efforts
failed. *

Only Tender Flesh Satisfied Him

(continued from page 39)

were busy putting their case together. A
court order was obtained to get hair sam-
ples and teeth impressions for the purpo-
ses of comparisons.

Deputy County Prosecutor Christine
Quinn-Brintnall announced her intention
to file an aggravated murder charge
against Gallegos, which prompted his
defense attorney to state: ‘‘It would be
outrageous prosecutorial conduct and
abuse of prosecutorial power to permit
an aggravated murder capital punishment
prosecution to proceed.”’

The court sparring and legal motions
continued well into 1985. Gallegos at one
time was charged with aggravated first-
degree murder during that period of time.
However, his attorney had appealed the
State’s right to file such a charge and the
Court of Appeals changed the amount of
evidence needed to support such a
charge.

Quinn-Brintnall knew that her evidence
against Gallegos was damning. The pubic
hairs found on the victim’s rectal/vagi-
nal area matched the suspect’s hair. And
he had signed his grisly deed by leaving
microscopic teeth marks on his victim’s
back--- marks which could be matched
to his teeth impressions. His statements
to police also could be used against him,
a judge determined.

On June 25, 1985 Gallegos decided
he'd be better off to plead guilty, because
the prosecutor still contended that she had
a right to file a charge of aggravated mur-
der against him, and intended to take the
_ Appeals Court decision to the Supreme
Court.

In his statements on pleas of guilty,
Gallegos admitted killing the one girl but
denied the other rapes. He pleaded guilty
to the other rapes only because he belie-
ved he’d be convicted if it went to trial.

‘I had sexual intercourse with Mary
Ellen Forrester by force and against her

will. During this act, and in order to keep

her as quiet as possible, I placed my hand
over her mouth and face. She was on her
stomach and I was on top of her. These
acts caused the tragedy of her suffoca-
tion, and she died as a consequence. I
was highly intoxicated at the time. This

occurred on April 5, 1984 in Pierce .

County, Washington,”’

On Thursday, July 11, 1985, he appea-
red in court again for sentencing. Chris-
tine Quinn-Brintnall called his crimes
‘‘brutal and heinous’’ and called Galle-
gos a “‘fragmented, warped and unwell

individual.’’ She revealed a psychiatric
report that stated that Gallegos would not
be able to prevent himself from commit-
ting another such crime. .

‘’He thinks only of his own satisfac-
tion,’’ she said. ‘‘The state claims that
his psychological structure is such that he
is essentially unsupervisable, essentially
untreatable, and therefore extremely dan-
gerous.”’

Gallegos appeared in court, Bible in
hand, proclaiming his own horror about
what had occurred. In a handwritten sta-
tement he said he had’’... committed a
horrible crime, one that is unspeakable,
even to my own lips.”’

He explained to the judge that some-
thing inside just snapped. He again
admitted killing the four-year-old tot, but

emphasized, as he had done earlier in his
guilty plea, that he’d pleaded guilty to the
other child rapes because of the possibi-
lity that he would be convicted of them
if he went to trial.

Gallegos’attorney told the court that
Gallegos, although accepting responsibi-
lity for the murder, had not intended to
do anything more than rape the child.
“‘There was no intent to do additional
harm to Mary Ellen that night,’? the attor-
ney said. ‘*He (Gallegos) is very remor
seful.”’

Superior Court Judge Arthur Verharen
sentenced Roy Richard Gallegos to life
in prison for the murder, plus three con-
secutive 20-year terms for the child
rapes.

“It is difficult to imagine a more ter-
rible series of events,’’ the judge said in
sentencing the 22-year-old former sol-
dier. Gallegos is currently serving his pri-
son sentences. *

Death Stalked The Poison Picnic

(continued from page 15)

By means of the ambulance, the
doctor rushed off the two still-living
occupants of the coupe, the woman
and the 4-year-old boy, and went to
work on them. The boy he was
successful in saving, but not the
woman, who died within the hour. She
was conscious to the last, but unable
to say a word because of a constriction
of the throat, which is again typical
of strychnine poisoning. From the boy,
the doctor could only learn that his
name was Clyde, and that the others
who had been in the car with him were
his father (driving), his mother, his
brothers — and another man. Clyde
didn’t seem to know what had become
of the other man, but added, in the
few childish words he could employ,
that they’d all been together on a
picnic.

Meanwhile, under Sheriff Fisher’s
supervision, the bodies of Clyde’s
father and brothers were removed
from the coupe, and their clothing
together with the vehicle itself, was
searched. The car bore Arkansas plates
and the registraiton certificate in the
driver’s pocket indicated that it
belonged to Roy Fetty, whose address
was the Lithia Tourist Cabins, on the
outskirts of the city of Hot Springs.
In spite of its name, the city of Hot
Springs is not in Hot Springs County
but in adjoining Garland County.

The sheriff found cigarettes in the
dead man’s pocket, and his yellowed
fingers indicated that he had been an

inveterate smoker. But on the floor
of the car across from the driver’s
seat there was a liberal sprinkling of
cigar ashes; apparently little Clyde’s
mysterious ‘‘other man’’ had ridden
up front, puffing a cigar. For the rest,
neither the car nor the persons of
those who had died within it yielded a
wallet, pocketbook or anything of
further interest to Fisher and his
deputies. | ;

Before the sheriff and his deputies
had finished their scrutiny of the car,
they again heard from the doctor
attending young Clyde, and one
feature of his report interested them
particularly. According to the doctor,
the strychnine had been administered
certainly within 45 minutes — perhaps
as short a time as a half hour — before
the coupe was sighted by Murray and
came to a stop. Sheriff Fisher saw
meaning in the doctor’s conclusion:
the strychnine must have been given
the victims not many miles back up
the road — perhaps at the spot where
they had had their picnic.

Fisher despatched deputies to search
for the picnic site, and to find, if they
could, the cigar-smoking ‘‘other
man.’’ Conceivably, the ‘‘other man,”’
too, might have been a victim of the
poison, since according to the doctor
the severity and rapidity of the action
of strychnine depends on the resistance
of the individual. True, little Clyde had

(continued on next page)

652 Ark.

court was composed of 22 white jurors and
2 Negro jurors. The motion further al-
leged: “The defendant further states that
the jury commissioners, following a prac-
tice of many years standing in Phillips
County, Arkansas, have pursued a policy of
selecting jurors discriminating against the
selection of negroes, because of race. That
during the past several years, it has been
the practice of the jury commission to se-
lect not more than three negroes, and such
selection was done deliberately for the pur-
pose of undertaking to meet the charge of
discrimination, and that such action has
not been done in good faith, but was mere
subterfuge.”

Before this motion was ruled on and af-
ter final sclection of the jury to try the
case, appellant filed a motion to quash and
set aside the jury as finally selected. This
motion alleged that the regular panel was
exhausted before completion of the jury;
that the court instructed the sheriff to sum-
mon a special jury list without regard to
race, color or creed and that of the special
list summoned and used there were 12
white and 2 Negro jurors. It was further
alleged: “That the defendant exhausted
all twelve of his peremptory challenges and
still there were left on the jury as finally
made up 2 negro jurors and 10 white jurors
and that this jury is not an impartial jury
within the meaning and spirit of the Consti-
tution of the State of Arkansas and the
United States, and under the facts and cir-
cumstances as set out in the original motion
and brought forward into this motion; that
under the facts and circumstances as sct
out herein, this defendant cannot have a
fair and impartial trial by a fair and impar-
tial jury as guaranteed to him as above
stated.”

The two motions were heard together
upon the testimony of one of the jury com-
missioners and the following stipulations:

“The Court: It is agreed by and between
counsel for the State of Arkansas and
counsel for the defendant, Aubrey Smith,
that the records in the Circuit Clerk’s office
of Phillips County, Arkansas do disclose
that there have been negroes upon the reg-
ular panels or jury lists for the regular
terms of the Circuit Court of Phillips Coun-

238 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

ty, Arkansas for the past ten years; that
at several terms there was only one negro
on the list; that at several terms there
were two negroes on the list, or panels, and
that at least one term three negroes were
on the panels, the regular panels; and the
that at the present term there are two
negroes on the regular list of petit jurors.

“Tt is agreed by and between counsel for
the State of Arkansas and counsel for the
defendant Aubrey Smith, that the present
panels of petit jurors were selected from
the lists of electors which paid their poll
taxes before October 1, 1949, and that
the regular term of court met and said
jurors were empaneled after October 1,
1950, and that each member of the petit
jury was examined under oath and asked
if he possessed the new, or current, poll
tax receipt before he was sworn in as a
regular juror.

“Mr. Sheffield: It is agreed that after
the regular panel was selected and during
the current term of the Circuit Court a
number of the regular panel have been
excused, at their request, and that vacan-
cies have been filled by the Court from
the list of voters for 1950, that is, those
who have paid their poll taxes between Oc-
tober 1, 1949 and October 1, 1950, and
that the poll tax list of voters for 1950
shows that there were 5144 white voters and
2616 negro voters; Whereas, the ta
books for the period immediately preced-
ing that showed 1477 negro voters and 3200
white voters.”

C. E. Mayer, one of the three jury com-
missioners who selected the jury panels
for the November 1950 term of court, tes-
tified that the commissioners made theif
selections from the current list of qualified
electors containing the names of 320
white electors and 1477 Negro electors;
that 22 white electors and 2 Negro elec-
tors were placed on the regular panel of
petit jurors and 12 white electors on the
list of alternates; that the selections were
made in accordance with the court's in-
structions to select fair-minded, _ intelli-
gent people qualified to weigh problems
arising in law suits; that the sclections
were made without regard to race, creed
or color; that the commissioners consider:

fine tigi

SMITH v. STATE Ark = 653
Cite as 238 S.W.2d 649

ed at least three other Negroes who were
deemed qualified but who were not selected
because one was an undertaker, another a
ginner and farmer who was busy in the
cotton ginning season, and the commission-
ers failed to find the address of the third
elector; that there was no discussion
among the commissioners to the effect that
the number of Negro jurors should be
limited; that the court instructed them to
include Negroes in their selections without
indicating any certain number; that most
of the Negro electors qualified for jury
service were of the professional type and
their number comparatively small; and
that the 1940 population of Phillips County
was about 63 percent Negro and 37 per-
cent white. There was no evidence of the
percentage of white and colored popula-
tion for 1950, probably because such census
figures were not available at the time of
trial,

It was alleged in the motions to quash
and is earnestly argued that the trial
court’s action in overruling the motions
to quash the regular jury panel, and the
jury as finally selected is violative of ap-
pellant’s right to an impartial jury under
Amendments 5, 6 and 14 of the Constitu-
tion of the United States and §§ 3 and 10
of Article II of the Constitution of Arkan-
sas.

[24] It is observed from the stipula-
tion that there has been a systematic in-
clusion rather than exclusion of Negroes
by the commissioners in selecting the jury
panels in Phillips County for the past ten
years. The facts in this case in reference
to the ratio of white electors to Negro
electors are similar to those in Washing-
ton v. State of Arkansas, supra, In that
case no Negroes had been selected as mem-
bers of the petit jury panels in Jefferson
County for thirty years until an adjourned
term of court held shortly before the reg-
ular term at which the defendant was tried.
Three Negroes were placed on the regular
Panel as alternates for the term at which
Washington was tried. In answer to the
same argument urged by appellant in the
Case at bar, we quoted the following Ian-
Suage from the opinion in Akins v. State

of Texas, 325 U.S. 398, 65 S.Ct. 1276, 1279,
89 L.Ed. 1692: “Petitioner’s sole objection
to the grand jury is that the ‘commission-
ers deliberately, intentionally and purpose-
ly limited the number of the Negro race
that should be selected on said grand
jury panel to one member.’ Fairness in
selection has never been held to require
Proportional representation of races upon
a jury. [State of] Virginia v. Rives, 100
U.S: 313, 322, 323, 25 L.Ed. 667; Thomas
v. State of Texas, 212 U.S, 278, 282, 29 S.Ct.
393, 394, 53 L.Ed. 512. Purposeful dis-
crimination is not sustained by a showing
that on a single grand jury the number of
members of one race is less than that race's
proportion of the eligible individuals. The
number of our races and_ nationalities
stands in the way of evolttion of such a
conception of due process or equal protec-
tion. Defendants under our criminal stat-
utes are not entitled to demand representa-
tives of their racial inheritance upon juries
before whom they are tried. But such de-
fendants are entitled to require that those
who are trusted with jury selection shall
not pursue a course of conduct which re-
sults in discrimination ‘in the selection of
jurors on racial grounds.’ Hill v. [State
of] Texas, supra, 316 U.S. [400] 404, 62
S.Ct. [1159] 1161, 86 L.Ed, 1559 [1562].
Our directions that indictments be quashed
when Negroes although numerous in the
community, were excluded from grand jury
lists have been based on the theory that
their continual exclusion indicated discrim-
ination and not on the theory that racial
groups must be recognized. Norris v.
[State of] Alabama [294 U.S. 587, 55 S.
Ct. 579, 79 L.Ed. 1074]; Hill v. [State of]
Texas [316_U.S. 400, 62 S.Ct. 1159, 86 L.
Ed. 1559]; and Smith v. [State of] Texas
[311 U.S),128,..61. S.Ct. 164,85 L.Ed. 84,
61 S.Ct. 164], supra. The mere fact of
inequality in the number selected docs not
in itself show discrimination.”

The facts in the instant case are clearly
distinguishable from those in the case of
Patton v. State of Mississippi, 332° U.S.
463, 68 S.Ct. 184, 92 L.Ed. 76, where sys-
tematic exclusion had been practiced for
thirty years and there were no Negroes
on the venires for the term at which the

ereree ne ion
wwii ws

fal

eo Pati ti

iY OF Ai.s

VERS

650 Ark, 238 SOUTH WESTERN
that if jury should find that defendant made
certain statements at the time which were
not included in the written confession, jury
should consider them as part of the con-
fession offered in evidence, even though
such statements appeared favorable to de-
fendant.

9. Criminal law €=351(3)

Flight of accused is admissible as a
circumstance in corroboration of evidence
tending to-establish guilt.

10. Criminal law €=814(13)

In murder prosecution, instruction on
flight was not objectionable as abstract or
as a declaration of law having no applica-
tion to facts developed in the case, in view
of the evidence.

11. Criminal law C-1144(13)

In testing sufficiency of evidence to
support conviction, Supreme Court must
consider evidence in light most favorable
to State.

12. Homicide €=253(1)

Evidence supported conviction of mur-
der in first degree, where jury was war-
ranted in concluding that defendant will-
fully shot and killed deputy sheriff while
attempting to escape, after deliberation and
premeditation and with malice afore-
thought, or, that if defendant did not ac-
tually fire the fatal shot, he was present
aiding and abetting his companion in com-
mission of such felonious act. Ark.Stats.
§ 41-118.

——_>—_———-

John C. Shefficld, Helena, for appellant.
Ike Murry, Atty. Gen., Jeff Duty, Asst.
Atty. Gen., for appellee.

MILLWEE, Justice.

Appellant, Aubrey Smith, was convicted
of murder in the first degree in the killing
of Ray Campbell and his punishment fixed
by the jury at death.

The appellant, Aubrey Smith, and Peter
Dorsey are Negro residents of St. Francis
County, Arkansas. On the night of August
2, 1950 they stole a cow and calf from
Dorsey’s neighbor, Tom Norsworthy, and
brought the animals to North Little Rock,

REPORTER, 2d SERIES

Arkansas, in the trailer of appellant’s au-
tomobile. In attempting to sell the stolen
cattle the next morning at the North Little
Rock Stock Yards, one of the men gave a
fictitious name and their actions aroused the
suspicions of the manager of the stock-
yards who called the Pulaski Sheriff's De-
partment. Following an investigation by
Pulaski County officers, appellant and Dor-
sey were taken into custody and officers
in St. Francis County were notified.

In response to a call from the Pulaski
County Sheriff, Otis Tatum and Ray Camp-
bell, deputy sheriffs of St. Francis County,
drove to Little Rock arriving about 6 p. m.,
August 3rd. Appellant and Dorsey were
turned over to the St. Francis County of-
ficers. On the return trip to Forrest City
the officers stopped about twenty minutes
at a roadside cafe on the outskirts of North
Little Rock where they ate sandwiches
while appellant and Dorsey remained in the
back seat of the car. At that time appellant
and Dorsey had some discussion about ¢s-
eaping from the officers, On resuming the
journey to Forrest City the two officers
were riding in the front scat of the two
door scdan driven by Tatum and each
carried a pistol in a short strapless holster
on his right side. Appellant was riding
on the left side of the back seat with Dor-
sey to his right and appellant’s right hand
was handcuffed to Dorsey’s left hand.

The evidence on behalf of the state is
that the group had reached a point on
Highway 70 about seventeen miles from
Forrest City when appellant, with his left
hand, and Dorsey, with his right hand,
simultancously reached for and took the
two officers’ guns. Appellant procured
Tatum’s gun and shot the latter in the left
shoulder as he brought the speeding caf
to a stop. In the ensuing melee officer
Campbell was shot in the head and right
chest and died almost instantly. Tatum
was shot twice, one of the bullets being
later removed by a physician and the othef
bullet was still lodged in his back at the
time of the trial.

A bullet found on the floor between the
car seats after the shooting with human
tissue and blood on it was identified by &
ballistics expert as having been fired from

SMITH v. STATE Ark. 651
Cite as 238 S.W.2d 649

Tatum’s gun. The bullet that entered
Campbell’s chest came out about the collar
bone. Campbell’s dead body was lying
across Tatum who was slumped in the
driver’s seat when he regained conscious-
ness. Tatum succeeded in opening the left
door of the car and fell out on the concrete
highway. When passing motorists failed
to stop, he “threw himself in front of the
cars” and a motorist stopped and an am-
bulance was summoned.

After the shooting appellant and Dorsey
fled with the officers’ guns and succeeded
in removing the handcuffs. The next day
they stopped at a house to get a man to
take them to Marianna. Dorsey was there
apprehended but appellant again fled.
When appellant was about to be captured
on the morning of August 5, he shot him-
self twice, the first shot grazing and the
second shot entcring his chest. He was
taken to University Hospital in Little Rock
for treatment. While in the hospital on
August 7, appellant gave and signed a
written statement to officers describing the
shooting and subsequent events. The-state-
ment was introduced at the trial without
objection.

At the trial appellant gave testimony
relative to the shooting not materially dif-
ferent from that related in the. written
statement. However, he testified at the
trial that, while being held in the Pulaski
County jail on August 3rd, the Pulaski
County officers and Tatum subjected him
to severe beating with their fists and a boat
paddle, “stomped” on his legs and burned
his hair with matches; that he related the
burning and beating to the officers who took
his statement at the hospital but the lat-
ter refused to incorporate this in the writ-
ten statement. This was denied by Tatum
and the officers who took the statement
from appellant. A physician who examined
appellant shortly after his capture found
no evidence of beatings or burns. Appcl-
lant also testified that on the return trip
to Forrest City, Campbell threatened to
beat appellant and Dorsey but this was al-
so denied by Tatum.

Appellant was charged with murder in
the first degree by information filed in the
St. Francis Circuit Court. On September

22, 1950 he applied for a change of venue
from St. Francis County on the ground
that the inhabitants of the county were so
prejudiced against him that he could not
obtain a fair and impartial trial therein.
This application was granted and the cause
ordered removed to the circuit court of
Phillips County, Arkansas, where the case
proceeded to trial on November 20, 1950.

[1] Appellant first contends that error
was committed in the trial court’s refusal to
quash the information. Under the proce-
dure authorized by Amendment 21 to our
State Constitution appellant was tried upon
an information filed by the prosecuting at-
torney instead of an indictment by a grand
jury. It is argued that this procedure is
violative of appellant’s rights under the
5th and 14th Amendments to the Consti-
tution of the United States. We have re-
jected this contention in several cases.
Penton v. State, 194 Ark. 503, 109 S.W.2d
131; Smith et al. v. State, 194 Ark. 1041,
110 S.W.2d 24; Higdon v. State, 213 Ark.
881, 213 S.W.2d 621; Brown v. State, 213
Ark. 989, 214 S.W.2d 240. The same re-
sult was reached in the recent case of
Washington y. State, 213 Ark. 218, 210 S.
W.2d 307, 308, which was appealed to the
United States Supreme Court and certi-
orari denied in Washington v. State of Ar-
kansas, 335 U.S. 884, 69 S.Ct. 232, 93 L.Ed.
423. In that case we said: “The United
States Supreme Court has repeatedly held
that a State can—if it so desires—provide
for a prosecution by information instead
of by indictment. Some of these cases are:
Hurtado y. [People of State of] California,
110° US: 2516, 4 S.Ct. HaF2924, 28 ced:
232; Bolln v. [State of] Nebraska, 176 U.
S. 83, 20 S.Ct. 287, 44 L.Ed. 382; and
Gaines v. [State of] Washington, 277 U.S.
81, 48 S.Ct. 468, 72 L.Ed. 793.” It follows
that the trial court did not err in overruling
the motion to quash the information.

Appellant next filed a motion to quash
the regular panel of petit jurors and to
summon a special venire. The motion al-
leged that appellant, being charged with
murdering a white deputy sheriff, was en-
titled to have his case heard by an impartial
jury; that the regular panel of the jurors
selected for the November 1950 term of

wR OF L

wale
rns
Past t+

654 Ark. 238 SOUTH WESTERN
defendant was tried. In Sec. 11 of an an-
notation to the Patton case found in 1 A.
L.R.2d 1291, numerous cases, federal and
state, are digested which follow the hold-
ing in Akins v. State of Texas, supra.
Many of these cases involve factual mat-
ters similar to those in the case at bar and

_ uniformly hold that the fact that there was
not an exact mathematical ratio or balance
between qualified members of different
‘races or classes in the selection of a jury
list is not proof, in itself, of discrimina-
tion.

[5] The petit juror occupies a high
office in our system of jurisprudence. The
quality of his decisions in matters involv-
ing rights of property, liberty and life it-
self is of gravest concern to his fellow men
and the well-being of socicty .in general.
The mere fact that a person is a qualified
elector does not ipso facto render him eli-
gible for jury service in Arkansas. In
making up the jury lists our statutes re-
quire the commissioners to select “persons
of good character, of approved integrity,
sound judgment and reasonable informa-
tion’. Ark.Stats. §§ 39-206, 39-208. The
commissioners are under oath to refrain
from selecting any person as a juryman
whom they belicve unfit and not qualified.
Ark.Stats. § 39-201. Although they may
be eligible, all persons over 65 years of
age and many others who are members of
certain occupations and professions, in-
cluding undertakers, are exempt from jury
service. Ark.Stats. §§ 39-104 to 39-114.

[6] We cannot agree with counscl’s
contention that the testimony of Commis-
sioner Mayer discloses that discrimina-
tion was actually practiced in violation of
the rights of appellant. The witness gave
frank and unevasive answers to all ques-
tions. Viewed as a whole, his- testimony
reflects an honest and sincere effort on the
part of the jury commissioners to select
qualified jurors without any showing of
bad faith or design to limit the selection
of, or discriminate against, persons of ap-
pellant’s race. In our opinion his testi-
mony tends to support his denial that racial
discrimination was practiced in making the
selections. On the basis of this testimony

REPORTER, 2d SERIES

and the stipulations entered into at the
hearing, we conclude that no error was
committed in overruling appellant’s sep-
arate motions to quash the jury panels.

[7,8] Appellant next contends that er-
ror was committed by the trial court in
modifying his requested instruction No, 1.
The instruction as requested reads: “In
this case, the accused says that when he
made the statement which has been intro-
duced in this case as his signed confession,
that he made other statements as a part
of the confession which the officers taking
the statement would not incorporate into
the written statement. You are instructed
that the law is that if a defendant makes a
confession, that the~statements made by
him in explanation of the crime, or other
statements made by him at the time ap-
pearing favorable to him, and intended by
him to be a part of the confession, must all
be included in the confession introduced as
evidence. In other words, the confession
in its entirety must be offered, if it is to
be considered by you as a confession, and
if only that portion of the statement given
by the accused which is adverse to him
is incorporated, leaving out that which
might appear favorable to him, then it is
your duty to disregard the entire confes-
sion offered by the State in evidence.” The
court gave the instruction as modified by
substituting the following in lieu of the last
sentence of the requested instruction: “So
if you find that the defendant made certain
statements at the time which were not
included in the written confession, you
shall consider them as a part of the con-
fession offered in evidence, even though
such statements appear favorable to the
defendant.”

As previously indicated, appellant made
no objection to the introduction of the
confession. At the time of its introduc:
tion there was no suggestion that it was
not freely and voluntarily made, or that it
did not contain the entire statement of ap-
pellant, and it was unnecessary that the
court hear preliminary testimony in cham-
bers prior to admission. Burton v. State,
204 Ark. 548, 163 S.W.2d 160. The in-
struction as requested was misleading in
that the jury could have readily concluded

SIMRAN ae Ben. Welte

- ER ARR MBIT

SMITH v. STATE Ark. 655
Cite as 238 S.W.2d 649

from the language used that they were
bound to accept as true the statement of
appellant that he made certain statements
which were not incorporated in the written
confession. This was a highly disputed
question of fact for the jury’s determina-
tion, which was made crystal clear by the
court’s modification. The jury were told
in the second sentence of the instruction
that the entire statements must have been
included in the confession in accordance
with the decision in Williams v. State, 69
Ark. 599, 65 S.W. 103, relied on by appel-
lant. All of the matters which appellant
claimed were omitted from his written
statement are contained in his testimony.
It was within the province of the jury to
determine the truth or falsity of all or any
part of the evidence, including the confes-
sion. Smith v. State, 216 Ark. 1, 223 S.W.
2d 1011. We find no error in the modifica-
tion of the requested instruction.

[9,10] Although not brought forward
in the motion for new trial, appellant also
objected to the court’s instruction on
“flight” for the reason “that said instruc-
tion is abstract and because the declara-
tion of law, as given, has no application
to the facts developed in this case”. The
instruction told the jury that if they found
that defendant fled from the scene of the
shooting for the purpose of avoiding ar-
rest and trial, they could consider such
fact along with all the other facts and
circumstances in determining guilt or in-
nocence. We have held that flight of the
accused is admissible as a circumstance
in corroboration of evidence tending to
establish guilt. Stevens v. State, 143 Ark.
618, 221 S.W. 186. There was ample evi-
dence of flight in the case at bar and the
instruction is not open to the objection
urged against it.

[11,12] The final insistence for rever-
sal is covered by the first three and the

eighth assignments in the motion for new
trial which challenge the sufficiency of
the evidence to support the verdict. It is
argued that there is no substantial evidence
to establish appellant’s guilt of any degree
of homicide higher than manslaughter and
that the testimony on behalf of the state
is so inconsistent with certain physical
facts as to be unworthy of belief. In this
connection great stress is laid on testimony
relating to a shirt discarded by appellant
shortly after leaving the scene of the
shooting. This shirt was found by officers
the next day but was not offered in evi-
dence by the state. Appellant introduced
the shirt in evidence and testified that the
blood thereon came from his mouth as
the result of beatings administered by of-
ficers at the Pulaski County Jail. He fur-
ther testified that his companion tore the
shirt from his body shortly after they Icft
the scene of the shooting because the white
color of the shirt might more readily lead
to their detection. But the jury could
have reasonably concluded that the shirt
was discarded because it was stained with
the blood of the slain officer or his com-
panion. The distinction between principals
and accessories before the fact in felony
cases has been abolished in this state and
all accessories before the fact are deemed
principals and punished as such. Ark.
Stats. § 41-118. In testing the sufficiency
of the evidence, we consider it in the light
most favorable to the state. When so con-
sidered, the jury was warranted in con-
cluding that appellant wilfully shot and
killed the deceased, Ray Campbell, after
deliberation and premeditation and with
malice aforethought, or, that if he did not
actually fire the fatal shot, he was present
aiding and abetting his companion in the
commission of such felonious act.

We find no prejudicial error in the rec-
ord and the judgment is affirmed.

Wwitwwy

rawr see
=-- -

Ele C ry Ano

Three bodies were hidden in the ashes of the demolished Rorie home.

“OR a night when the moon was
* dark, it seemed strangely light out
to John McElroy.
It annoyed him a little, that weird
‘ht. I shouldn't be able to see those
ees, he thought. They’re a quarter of
mile away. Not until a streak of red
shed across the bedroom wall did he
alize its portent.
Then he leaped out of bed and ran to
> window. Outside the whole world
is red. He heard queer, crackling
unds and above them a cry, high and
im;
“Fire! The house is on fire!”
He thrust his feet into his shoes and
\shed outside. Almost 200 yards away
small frame house blazed from end
end. Even as he ran toward it one
rner sageed, sending flames high into
e midnight sky.
“Gertrude!” he cried. “Gertrude!”
There was no sound save the snap of
rning timbers.
Shielding his face with a lifted arm
tried to reach the door. Intolerable
‘at drove him back. He ran to the
ar, but there the entire wall was a
lid sheet of flame.
Sick with his own helplessness he

leaned against a tree, hiding his eyes
against its rough back.

A neighbor touched his elbow. ‘“She’s
in there, ain't she? Your sister-in-law.
And the little girl.”

“The boy, too!”’ McElroy said thickly.
“The way she locked the house at night
they wouldn’t have a chance of getting
out!”

It was one o'clock on Saturday morn-
ing, October 9, 1948. By a quarter after
one the yard was filled with people.
Broady Bend is a closely knit little
community lying in a turn of the Ar-
kansas River about 25 miles south of
Little Rock. All of its people were
friends of the woman who lived in that
house. Many of them were related
and try as they would, not one could
get close enough to help the three who
were burning to death before their eyes.

“Hit’s nobody’s fault, John.” An old
man cleared his throat huskily. “The
way them flames ran through the place
they’d be dead afore anybody even
knowed hit was a’fire. The lamp blowed
up, that’s what happened, a’scatterin’
coal oil all over everything. That's no
other way as I kin see.”

The patriarch broke off sharply, lift-

ing a rugged head to listen. In the dis-
tance the wail of a siren rose high in
the night stillness, growing louder as a
highway patrol car roared down on the
scene.

Presently the car wheeled into the
yard and two uniformed officers leaped
from it.

Sharply, Officer Sidney Sebastion
asked, ‘““‘What happened here? Is any-
one hurt?”

“We don't know what happened.”
John McElroy passed a shaking hand
across his mouth. “Gertrude Rorie is in
there! And two children! The other
kids were staying in town all night.
Thank heaven for that, or they’d be in
it, too!"

Sebastion swung toward the flaming
house, his partner close at his heels.
They, too, were driven back by the
flames. A second wall crashed, and a
section of tin roofing. The flames were
diminishing, however.

“Doesn't anyone know how this
started?” Patrolman Leo Wilcox in-
quired.

“T reckon not, unless the lamp ex-
ploded,” replied the old man.

“Or the kerosene can, maybe.” That

Below lett, the kerosene can cap that indicated this was murder

In the Country Near England, Ark., Where No One
Ever Locked His Door, Gertie Rorie Kept Her Home
Barricaded Night and Day. Why? How Did Her Killer
Get in to Beat Her and Burn Her Children to Death?

came from a younger man. “She had
one in the kitchen. Nearly full, it was.
I know, for I borrowed some off her
about supper-time last night.”

Wilcox shook his head. “Bad busi-
ness, keeping such things in the house.
Who of you people saw her last?”

“We spent the evening with her,” the
young man declared. “No, it wasn't
any special occasion. We just live close
by and you know how folks gather.”

“What time did you leave?”

“It was ten or after, I reckon, afore
we broke up. She was alone with the
two youngsters, Joyce and Frankie.”
He cringed as the remaining wall fell
amid a shower of sparks. “It’s awful,

watching them go and not being able to -

do a thing to help!”

The two officers moved closer.

“It had to start on the inside, to
sweep through the way it did.” Se-
bastion declared. “An overheated stove
could have done it.”

“Or a defective flue, maybe. We
should know when things cool off a
bit.” Wilcox turned to the crowd,
which had advanced with them. “You
people should stay where you are. We
called the police chief as we came

The bloody pocket-knife
found in a bloody truck

Evidence of murder was this farmer's suit-coat, bloodstained,
uncovered in the very last place the investigators thought to look

intact. This lamp at least had not ex-
ploded. Nor had the stove.

Booher said heavily, “Either the
woman spread the oil, killing herself
and the two children, or she let into
the house the person who did. In that
event we look for the killer among
people she knew and trusted. If she
was as nervous as they say, she’d never
have unlocked her door to a stranger.”

“We've got to get her history,” Peter-
son declared. “Has she been ill? De-
pressed? Was she the sort of person to
kill her children and then herself? Or
was she involved in something that
could lead to death? That’s our job
while we wait for the coroner to tell
us just how these people died.”

It wasn’t easy to get that history. As
questions became more significant the
people, remembering morning chores
and household duties, drifted away.
Presently only the patriarch and a
scattering of children remained.

“You men are thinkin’ mebbe Ger-
trude done this herself,” the snowy-
haired octogenarian said. ‘You're
wrong. In the fust place she wasn't
the kind. Never in this world would
she have hurt them young’uns. Second
place, you ain't heerd 'bout the car what
was parked down the road a piece all
last evenin’. Could be she had more
comp’ny after the folks left last night.”

Knowing the hill people, the Jeffer-
son County deputy offered his inform-
ant a choice cut of tobacco. “What
about this car, Mr.—er—”

Y fae: old man bit off a generous chunk.
“Jest call me Gran’pap. Ever’body
else does.” His wise old eyes grew
somber. “Hit come up from the south,
around nine o'clock, I'd say, an’ parked
yonder by them trees.”

The spot indicated was about a quar-
ter of a mile distant. ‘I was comin’
home from my son’s house an’ I passed
right by,” he continued. “Hit was
plumb dark. I thought I heerd voices
but I wasn’t sure. The lights was out
but somebody was sittin’ thar, all right.
I smelled cigarette smoke as I passed
along.”

“What kind of car was it, Gran'’pap?”

“A two-seater, dark colored. That’s
all I kin tell. But I was curious an’
after I got home I kep’ watch. Hit
set thar ’bout an hour, then went down
the road a piece an’ stopped again. I
was sleepy by then an’ didn’t watch any
longer. Seemed like you ort to know
this, seein’ hit wasn't more’n three
hundred yards from Gertie’s house any
of the time. Could be someone was
waitin’ for the folks to go home.”

Here was a possible starting point.
Booher walked with the grizzled oldster
to the trees he indicated. Crumpled
weeds and a handful of cigarette butts
marked the spot. There were no tire
tracks, nor did any tracks show at the
spot the car had moved to. The ciga-
rettes were of a common brand, of lit-
tle value probably, still Booher emptied
a tobacco tin and dropped them into
it. Taking leave of Gran’pap, Booher
walked back to the wreckage.

The ambulance came and the small
bodies were lifted into it, then Ger-
trude Rorie and as she was raised from
the still smoldering mattress, a secret
the fire had failed to seal was uncov-
ered. The back of Mrs. Rorie’s head
was crushed—whether by blows or
bullets it was impossible to say at the
moment—and her own blood, soaking
into the mattress, had kept it from
burning.

So it was murder!

“A soft-nosed bullet, maybe, or a
club,” Booher said as the big ambulance
moved away.

Sergeant Peterson cut the damp sec-
tion from the mattress and locked it in
his car trunk. With the removal of the
bodies the real work began. Wilcox and
Sebastion were sent to break the news
to Harvey Rorie; Perry and Foster con-
tinued to probe the ruins, Booher and
Peterson turned their attention to the
mystery car.

The first neighbor they approached

knew about it. “I reckon we all do.

You know how talk goes—but we didn’t
want to get mixed up in anything,” he
admitted. “I saw it, sure. In-a lane
near Mrs. Rorie’s house, close to ten
o'clock. Then it was over on the Clear
Lake Road at eleven or so.”

“The Clear Lake Road? That's about
a mile away, isn’t it? You’re sure it was
the same car?”

“I thought it was. It was parked
without lights.”

“You recognized it, didn't you?”

“Well, I—it looked like Troy Ham-
mett’s old Pontiac.”

“And who is Troy Hammett?”

“He's a farmer lives down south a
way. A friend of Mrs. Rorie’s. At
least I've seen him around. I don’t
know as she encouraged it,” the man
added carefully. “Troy just seems to
have taken a shine to her.” -

The officers found Hammett at his.

home on a lower bend of the river. He
was changing a tire on his farm truck.

“Yes, I knew Gertrude,” he admitted
readily. “Knew her long before she
married Harve Rorie. We used to visit
back and forth. That was before my
wife died, when Gertrude was still
living with her first husband. We’ve
been friends all of fifteen years.”

“She wouldn't have moved to Broady
Bend to be near you, would she?”
Booher asked.

Hammett stiffened. “No! It wasn’t
that kind of friendship.” Then, more
quietly, “I understood she wanted to
be near her people.”

“You visited her, we're told.”

Again anger flared briefly. “Sure I
visited her! Why not? I’ve done
errands for her; she’s had a rough time.
But it’s allon the up and up. I wouldn’t
add to her troubles by doing anything
that might get her talked about.”

Pressed as to what he meant by a‘

rough time, the tall widower shook his
head. Any woman left with five
children would find life difficult, he
said. Further than that he would not
go. He hadn't been on the Clear Lake
Road the night before. The generator
on his Pontiac was giving him trouble
+ ile car hadn’t been driven for a
week.

It was well after noon when Booher
and Peterson got back to the murder
scene.

‘OT HERES nothing more here,” Chief

Foster told them. “Suppose we

head into England. The boys may be

back from Rorie’s. Anyway, we'll all

~— better when we’ve had something
eat.”

They spotted the Highway Patrol car
in front of a cafe in England. Wilcox
and Sebastion left counter stools to
join them at a secluded table.

“We found Rorie in bed, late as it
was,” Sebastion reported. “He was
hard hit by his wife’s death and
blamed himself for not going around to
see her when he was over that way last
night. He seemed to feel that he might
have saved her.”

Booher set down his half-raised
coffee cup. “What was he doing in that
vicinity?”

“Buying groceries at Tucker, he said.
Seems his daughter brought her new
husband home and they needed sup-
plies. He got home around ten, accord-
ing to the girl; we talked with her, too,
and looked about some. The only gun
on the place was covered with dust.”

Tucker is a small roadside shopping
center six or eight miles from Broady
Bend. “England would have been
closer. I wonder why he went down
bs gal Peterson remarked thought-
ully. :

“Probably because he’s used to
shopping down that way.” Wilcox
pushed aside his plate. “Didn't some-
body say that he was disposing of his
place preparatory to joining her? Well,
that’s not quite right. He wanted to

‘join her but it seems she wouldn’t agree

(Continued on Page 59)

-——-2#

* svete Luutae would h n
th.nZ to keep her from finis B,
2, 22d making off in the car.

Beizy Jane made and signed a com-
tte statement describing both mur-
‘s. Then in the two months while
? &Waited trial she had a change of
art. In Circuit Court on May 10 she
_ blame for the first crime to her

E SHOT my mother,” she tol
4 Judge Gordon Dorris and the
y. “I told him I was going to tell the
ice. He got white around the eyes
| sad if I’wanted to see the light of

n ded. I pulled the gun from
se. He started towards me. There
to throw. I fired.”

‘€ xames Elva Gaines and Andr
on Gre fictitious. These young ~ sg

n Page 48)

a hook of a hose, appeared per-
L He admitted having worked
wis Miller but denied any knowl-
f the pe plot.

7@ Row, 80 back to Vallejo,”
clared. “You can take all the

wre they found that Venucci was
the many persons who had
opted as he attempted to leave

*. Both men had been visiti

S children in a house just of
| Road where the children were
‘Tec for by a hursemaid.

nutsemaid had corroborated

WUWiu we WL Stune—a LDUY Who had
been sound asleep in a chair the last
time Morris had seen him.

“Wait a minute!” Morris said.

“Yeah?”

“Venucci’s alibi stinks! He claimed
he'd been visiting his children. ‘That's
a lot of hot air. Small children go to
bed early. No man in his right mind

it was saie Lo assume they had mutual
acquaintances. The Officers conse-
quently interrogated the cab drivers
they previously had questioned about.
Venucci. From these drivers they
learned that Dobbs had relatives in
Anson, Texas.

“And Anson is pretty close to the
Oklahoma-Texas border,” said Morris,

di d.
the longhand on the envelope

is yuuior” asked Lynch.

“I guess so. But that doesn’t mean
I knew what Al Venucci had written
inside.” :

“Okay, let’s quit kidding. You printed
the note, too,” said Dierking. “You
figured the difference in the writing

o Stee ek we bss UWU CALUTLIUOLIIEIS
and the confession of Dobbs removed
any threat against Jimmy Miller, and
Dierking saw that Mrs. Miller was ac-
quainted with these facts.

She responded immediately to the re-
lief of her emotional burden. . ‘Her
health improved to such an extent that
she was able to undergo intensive treat-
ment which resulted in a complete cure.

“Whatever Was Gertie Scairt Of?" (Continued trom Page 16)

to it. And he got the idea she had
other fish to fry. He wasn’t very happy
about it.”

“You boys think he’s on the level?”

“He appears to be. We thought we'd
go out there again though and nose
around.”

“Hammett seems to be all right, too,”
Booher declared. “I wonder if the first
husband could have come back from
the Coast.”

“McElroy might know about that,”
suggested Peterson. “Why don’t you
see him again, Pink? He was in no
shape to talk this morning. I’ve got to
run up to Little Rock on another
matter and I’ll drop that piece of mat-
tress at the laboratory. You fellows go
ahead. I'll be back tonight or first thing
in the morning.”

T= group separated, Wilcox and
Sebastion turning east to the Har-
vey Rorie farm and Booher south to

‘ Broady Bend.

There the deputy learned that John
McElroy hadn't seen Gertrude’s former
husband in years. The three surviving
sons, now at their uncle’s home, said he
was definitely on the West Coast and
gave the address of the California home
he had established. J. C., the eldest
boy, also verified the rift between his
mother and step-father. Booher didn’t
ask the reason for their separation. It
could wait. The boys were still numbed
‘by the tragedy.

He found a telephone, called his chief
at Pine Bluff and gave him the name of
this California town. The police there
would check the activities of the senior
Maupin. The sheriff promised to call
him, then added, “I’m glad to hear
from you, Pink. I’ve’ just talked to the
coroner. He says the two children
were alive when the fire hit them.
They bear no wounds of any sort. The
woman was not shot, however. Her
skull has about three fractures. She
was beaten to death with some small
instrument. A wrench, maybe, or a
hammer.”

A small instrument! Booher’s
memory clicked. The last weapon of
that description he had seen was a tire
tool in the hands of Troy Hammett. He
decided to hurry through this phase and
get back to the Hammett place as

quickly as possible, to see that tire tool
again.

Meanwhile, at the Rorie farm, the two
troopers missed the gaunt, bald-headed
farmer they wanted to see. A friend
they found pittering around in his
yard said Rorie had gone to town to see
about funeral arrangements. They
talked again with his daughter and her
very young husband. The girl was
young, too, little more than a child, and
this time they thought she | was
frightened. They wondered if she was
concealing something. Did she think
her father might be accused of murder?

Rorie’s friend dashed that suspicion.
“The kid has reason to be scared,” he
said with a short laugh. “When she got
married the other day she gave her age
as sixteen and she wasn’t but thirteen
her last birthday. No wonder she’s
nervous when the Law comes poking
around.

6 FP gstedek Mrs. Rorie, now,” he

continued thoughtfully. “Harve
wouldn’t tell you, maybe, but he’s been
uneasy about her living so close to Ham-
mett and seeing so much of him. He
figured that’s the reason she wouldn't
live with him any more. It seems they
had about patched up their trouble and
then right after seeing Hammett she
changed her mind and refused to come
home. Harve thinks he broke up their
home.”

This seemed logical enough. It fitted
the pattern—but it was not the story
Pink Booher was hearing back at
Broady Bend. Continuing his inter-
views in the neighborhood, he had come
across Gran’pap again and, like most
older people, he was ever ready to talk.
According to him Gertrude Rorie’s
marriage had been unhappy from the
start.

“Harvey raised Cain about her
young’uns. He thought the boys didn't
do enough work,” the old man declared.
“I don’t figger she had any notion of
ever livin’ with him again. I tell you,
Sheriff, hit’s them cotton pickers she
was wary of. Hit wasn’t until cotton
pickin’ time when they git pretty thick
through here that she began keepin’ her
doors locked so tight. Thar was a
couple along yestiddy. Like I said, they
was hard-lookin’ critters any woman’d
do well to stay clear of.”

The Pine Bluff deputy’s mind was on
Hammett, not itinerant laborers.
Gertrude Rorie hadn’t locked her door
on the murderer. She had opened it to
him. Someone she knew and trusted
had called on her after her friends de-
parted. Someone who had known they
were there and waited for them to leave.
He wondered if the middle-aged
widower smoked cigarettes. And what
about his car? Was it really incapaci-
tated? Booher hated guess-work. This
particular vehicle had been seen at three
different points. He had to know more
about it.

Dismissing the old man, he settled
under the wheel of his own car with the
depressed feeling of being very busy
getting nowhere. His immediate des-
tination was the Hammett farm but he
hadn’t gone far when he found a local
constable waiting at an intersection.
This officer had covered the lake road,
found the spot where the mystery car
stood and come up with another hand-
ful of cigarette butts. They differed
in brand from those previously found.
The constable also had the measure-
ments of a tire-tread he had found in
the dust. And the measured imprint
didn’t fit tires usually found on
Passenger cars.

6s 7s too wide,” the constable af-

firmed. “That must have been a
truck and whoever spotted it took it for
granted that it was the same car that
had been spotted over in the lane.
Looks like two people were on the prowl
last night.”

Booher drew a quick breath. Troy
Hammett had been changing tires on
his truck. Why? Had he watched
Gertrude Rorie’s house from the
shelter of the Pontiac and then, know-
ing he had been seen, changed to the
truck to continue his surveillance from
another spot? It was possible. He
might then realize that he had left
tracks on the sandy lake road and
sought to throw off possible pursuit by
a quick change of tires. The deputy
sped along, more than ever anxious to
see the wrench Hammett had used.

No one was at home at the Hammett
farm. The truck still stood in the yard
but the Pontiac was missing. Evidently
it hadn’t taken long to repair or replace
a faulty generator.

‘

Booher went over the truck minutely.
The tire tool and a hammer, both of
which might conceivably fit the wounds
on the dead woman’s head, he placed in
his own car to be taken or sent to Little
Rock for examination.

Heartened in spite of his weariness,
the deputy Teturned to England. He
wanted a pick-up order for Hammett.
This time the patrol car stood before the
Police station.

Wilcox and Sebastion were closeted
with the Chief.

“We hoped you might be along,”
Foster said quickly. “About those
cotton pickers—we have a pair of
rough-looking customers who admit
they were in the Broady Bend com-
munity late yesterday afternoon. You
can look them over but I doubt if they're
involved. We can also check off the
car Gran’pap told you about. Oh, the
old man saw it right enough, but it
turned out to be a fellow and a girl.
Maupin is in the clear, too. Your boss
says the California police found him
right where his kids said he would be.”

“That leaves Hammett, and he seems
to have taken off,” the deputy said.
“What do you think now? Was Rorie
imagining things when he accused this
man of being interested in his wife?”

Wilcox said, “Rorie wasn’t at home
when we went back this afternoon but
ee aa be now if you’d like to talk to

“T think we’d better,” Booher decided.
“See if you can find him and bring him
to town. He just might do us some
good.”

NUGHT had fallen when for the third
time in eight hours the patrol car
pulled into the Harvey Rorie farmyard.
This time there was no doubt of the girl
bride’s nervousness. Her father was
still absent. She didn’t know where he
was or when he would return. Wilcox
Swung their car in a wide circle to re-
turn to the road. That was when their
lights fell on the truck.

It had been standing there all day,
Wilcox remembered, but he hadn't
been interested in trucks then. He
jerked toa halt. “Now, I wonder—” he
was beginning when his partner took
the words away.

“If that’s the car spotted over on

Wedding picture
of the Rories,
Harve and Gert

By Fred Winslow
Special Investigator for
ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES

Officials looked for a tire-iron and found instead this ball-
peen hammer, stained with the life blood of a, woman

through England. He'll be right along.
And the sheriff’s men are on the way
up from Pine Bluff. Nothing can be
done until we’ve had a chance to find
out what happened.”

Men and women fell back submis-
sively enough but under cover of the
movement Wilcox caught what seemed

.a@ guarded remark. Someone said, “I

wonder if Harve has been called?”

He asked quickly. “Who is ‘Harve’?”

“Gertrude’s husband, Harvey Rorie.
He’s a farmer out east of England. She
.and the kids have been living here
about two months—until he sells his
place, I reckon.” The man who had
borrowed the fuel oil answered the
question.’ “He ought to be told what’s
happened.”

John McElroy, however, shook his
head dully. “There’s nothing he can
do now. Let bad news wait until we
find out how the fire started.”

A second police car pulled into the
yard bringing Chief Joe Foster and
Officer Olin Perry of England, a little
town ten miles to the north. They
were followed almost immediately by
tl Sheriff Pink Booher, of Pine

uff.

T= Broady Bend community is just
inside the Jefferson County line.
Technically, Deputy Booher was in
charge. But before he had time to get
any of the details a shout from Leo Wil-
cox drew the officers together. At one
corner of the wreckage, now beginning
to cool, the patrolman had found two
bodies.

They lay on a smoking mattress. The
springs beneath it had collapsed as the
bed frame burned. . ;

“The woman and the little girl,” Wil-
cox said thickly. “I wonder if by some
miracle the boy escaped.”

McElroy quenched that hope. “He
couldn't, He was asleep when I left the
house at ten o’clock, and the way Ger-
tie locked up at night nobody could
get in or out without a key. He’s in
there somewhere.”

Deputy Booher, regarding the bodies
gravely, decided that he had better get
the history of these people. Country
folks don’t often bother to lock their
doors, he reasoned. I wonder why this
woman did. Whatever was Gertie
‘scairt’ of?

No one, however, could offer a reason
when he questioned the neighbors.

“Hit come of livin’ alone, prob’ly, her
an’ the young’uns,” the old man ex-
plained. “Her husband ain’t been
around much since they moved and she
was alone a lot when she and Maupin
broke up. Hit always seemed to me
Gertie acted kind of afeard-like. I
don’t know if hit was because of the
cotton-pickers or what. There’s a sight
of ’em around, come this time of year.
A couple stopped by my son’s house
yestiddy, lookin’ fer work, they said, but
I figgered they wasn’t lookin’ too hard.
Now if Gertie was scairt—”

He broke off at a sharp cough from
his son, Booher caught the signal. The
old man was talking too much.

“Maupin is the kids’ father,” the
son explained briefly. “He’s supposed

to be out on the West Coast some-
where.”

“How many children did the Rories
have?”

“Thirteen,” McElroy answered.
“Harvey had eight and Gertrude had
five of her own. The two in there and
three older boys.

“Gertrude and Harvey were married ‘

about two years ago,” he explained.
“They lived over on Harvey’s place but
it didn’t work out so well. Too many
children, maybe.”

Pink Booher agreed. A couple might
well have difficulty trying to raise thir-
teen children.

With the first slanting rays of early
sunlight now beginning to show, Ser-
geant H. R. Peterson of the State
Police at Little Rock arrived. Booher
strode to meet him.

“I’m glad to see you, Sergeant,” the
big deputy said. “I’m beginning to
wonder about this case. For an acci-
dent it has an angle or two I don’t like.’

Briefly he explained the circum-
stances. “I’m curious about the way
this woman locked her house at night.
She was afraid of something.”

Sergeant Peterson listened quietly
and then went directly to the bodies on
the burned mattress. At another cor-

‘ner of the wreckage the patrolmen.

aided by Perry and Foster, were trying
to raise the battered tin roof.

Presently Sergeant Peterson called
sharply, “See if you can find a long
stick or a hoe! I think we’ve got some-
thing!”

Booher handed him a piece of
charred wood and watched as Peterson
drew from beneath the bent, twisted
bedspring a small round object about
the size of a silver dollar.

The deputy turned it over curiously.
“By George! The cap of an oil can!’

“Directly under the spring,” Peter-
son said. “Right where someone might
have dropped it if he stood beside the
pane tag poured kerosene over these two
bodies.”

H UDDLED at a distance, the people of
the community couldn’t hear this
conversation but almost at once the
police felt a change in their attitude, as
though they sensed the trend the in-
vestigation had taken and stiffened to
meet it. Hitherto frank replies now
became guarded. Gertrude Rorie was
39 years old, her husband about 45.
Rorie was a decent, hard-working
farmer. The neighbors had little to
say about Maupin, her former husband.

Booher and Peterson learned that
much by persistent inquiry and then
gave up, for the moment, when the
lifted roof disclosed the body of nine-
year-old Frankie. Had the child
awakened and_ stumbled _ through
smoke-filled’ rooms vainly trying to
find ‘a way out? It was impossible to
say, but in seeking the answer they
came upon something else of singular
import. In this room, near the ter-
ribly burned body of the little boy, lay
a five gallon can. The cap Peterson
had found fitted it perfectly. The
officers also found a lamp base, black-
ened and cracked by the heat but still

ail SHANK, Mark H
ine e, wh, ele AR oa
— 1935. Ce ARS (Salinw Co.)

a eee om ATI

| “
| (Right) Donnie, the (Right, seated) The (Lower right) Clyde ;
canine detective that exhauste d man Colley, the four-year- .
| aided officers in track- Donnietracked down old survivor of the ym ‘
> ing down the mys- in the Arkansas wholesale poison fe )., * Z mS if
inthedeath woods. (Left) A. G. tragedy. Clyde aided - ge i
officers of the law in . {

with: Stedman, Supt. of the
Tucker Prison Farm

branding the killer

HE Ford roadster careened crazily down the Hot Springs-Malvern Highway,
‘vst after noon, August 15th, 1933. Detectives

under the blazing Arkansas sun, Jus
d Charles Buckalew, whom I had sent out from headquarters,
bank bandits, stared from their own car.

in Hot Springs, to look for rumor

“Maybe that’s the bunch we're after,” said Buckalew. “Let’s catch up.”

Akers, at the wheel, speeded up and pursued the Ford. Its driver seemed to be losing
He did lose control—the roadster lurched from the concrete on to the shoulder of
the road, teetered sickeningly at the top of the embankment and plunged fifteen feet into the

ditch.
Akers slammed on his own brakes.’ Even as his car 8¢)
pavement. Fach whipped out his gun, ready for any emergency if these were in
approached the edge of the embankment. A moan rose

is heels. ‘They gained the ditch

“Somebody’s hurt,” said Akers, and scrambl
just behind the car, separated and came up on opposite sides, weapons poised.

The Ford had crashed into a fence. ‘Akers, approachin f saw a blond, slim man in rough
clothes slumped motionless over the wheel. On Buckalew’s side sat & q man, dark-haired

Gre erm ieagltcess i
. eptsts SGhgieae Sas
— ~ - —erreh

; TRUE DETECTIVE,
February, 1935

ree MOLE.

eae Toa 9

NELLMAN and

Arkansas’
Astounding

S CRABAUGH |

of the victims i
toll of four lives

“see that it, W
*T jumped into my car,
minutes I was at the spot
with Sheriff Tom
al go officers and citi-
been almost forgotten 1
-gterious tragedy -

= 1 ee,” replied Bucka-
my next

man and this poy,” b
wo bodies.

“Also & woman

The boarding-house in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
where information concerning the stricken family
was obtained

Sheriff Fisher was bringing forward an _ intelligent-
looking farmer whom he introduced as A. C. Murray.

“There were two grown men, Chief Wakelin,” Murray
told me. “One was driving—that dead man yonder,
I believe. The other was on the running-board.”

“Sure it was a grown man? Not one of the boys?”’

“J saw him as clearly as I see you. I live about a mile
or so up the road, and I was out in front of my house
when this roadster came whizzing by. From where I was,
I could see things at close range. The people were twist-
ing and scuffing around in the car, J couldn’t figure why.
I stopped what I was doing and stared. About two
hundred yards past my place, just as the car started
around the curve, the man on the running-board jumped
and fell sprawling to the pavement. His hat fell off as
he did so, and he got up, grabbed his hat and ran out
of sight around the bend. That made me curious, so
I got my own car out of the garage and set sail after them.
And here’s the end of it.”’

F. D. Cooper, the coroner from Malvern, had also
arrived and was making a careful examination of the
bodies. “I feel fairly certain that it’s poison, Chief,”
the said to me. “Look at them! No blood or visible
wound, not even a bruise. Yet the muscles are rigid
and the faces all contorted as if with dreadful internal

agony.”

Crystals 49

“T agree with you,” I nodded. “I've seen death by
poison before. This is the way it looked. And poison
means suicide—or murder.”

“T’m going to order an autopsy to make sure,” added
Cooper.

I turned back to Murray. ‘How clearly did you see
the man who jumped off the running-board?” I asked
him. “Would’you know him again if you saw him?”

“Tm afraid not, but I can give a little description,”
replied the farmer. ‘He was tall and thin, pretty well
dressed from the glimpse I had, and evidently young.”

“How young?”

“T can’t say that, either. But when his hat fell off I
could see that his hair was dark, and when he ran he
made good speed—nothing infirm about him.”

“Well, we want that man,” I announced. “He can
clear this mystery up for us. Did anybody trace him?”

Nobody had.

ep got the answer to that, too,” I went on. “Tt’s a
job for bloodhounds. Send to Hot Springs for
Deputy-Sheriff Sol Goodwin and _ his hound Donnie.
She’s the best trailer in the South; and that takes in
all the two-legged ones.”

Somebody dashed away with the message. While
we waited, we turned our attention to the searching of the
roadster, There were bags of clothing, camping equip-
ment and the general run of tourist baggage.

‘Here’s a letter that we found on the woman,” Bucka-
eer: agian “Tt’s what Akers thought might be a
ead,”

The letter was addressed to Alvin Colley, care of
General Delivery at Hot Springs, and was postmarked
from Akron, Ohio. The letter read:

I enclose $6, and there is nothing new; but arrange
to stay around Hot Springs. It may be that I will
come down and give you all (Continued on page 74)

Houston Emory, Prosecuting Attorney in Hot
Springs. At the request of Chief Wakelin, Emory
explained Arkansas Law to the accused murderer

rae

pager eRe

and pale-faced, barely conscious but tightly clutching 4
bright-eyed, prown-haired boy of four...

“These aren’t the bandits,” commented Buckalew
shortly.

“They're hurt—dying!” exclaimed Akers. At that
moment the moan rose again. It came from the rumble
seat, and the detectives turned to look. They saw &
pathetic sight—two more boys, about six and eight years
old respectively, huddled together in the rumble an

crying weakly.

‘Akers looked up toward the road. A couple of cars
had paused there, their occupants staring down in curi-
osity. He motioned for them to come down and help.
In a few moments several men descended to the bottom
of the ditch. They helped Buckalew get the woman and
little boy out of the front seat. Others lifted the two
crying youngsters from the rumble. One of them still
wept and writhed. The other went limp and motionless

even as he was hoisted out.

“{ JES dead,” pronounced Akers, bending over him.

“And so is this man at’ the wheel. Leave them—
the coroner won't want us to disturb them. But there
be a chance for the others. Rush them to Malvern,

may
the fastest car, and get them into the hospital

uu with
there.”

The group loaded the woman and the two surviving
boys into the car designated and it dashed away. Bucka-
lew and Akers looked at the two corpses remaining. An
ordinary looking man, an ordinary looking pboy—such
figures as could be found in almost any average American
home—suddenly became important by the strange and
sudden death that had overtaken them.

“Stay here and guard things,’ Akers instructed his
partner, then mounted to the road and drove to the
nearest farmhouse that had a phone. I was taking it
easy in my office at Hot Springs when my telephone

(Below) Chief of Police Joe Wakelin, of Hot Springs,
who has given this story of the poison
IVE MYSTERIES

Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Colley, two of the victims in
_ the poison murder plot that took toll of four lives

rang. - I picked up the receiver and heard Akers’ excited
voice.

“Hurry up, Chief. Two people dead out here on the
Malvern Highway—maybe more.”

“Dead?” I repeated. “What's it all about?”

“Pm not exactly sure;” he replied, then followed this
with a brief account of all that he knew about the case.
I told him to wait, slammed up the receiver and spun
the cylinder of my revolver to see that it, was loaded
and ready. Then, hurrying out, I jumped into my car,
and drove like mad. In twenty minutes T was at the spot

bed.
~ Buckalew met me there, together with Sheriff Tom
‘Fisher, of Malvern, and several other officers and citi-
The bandit-hunt had been almost forgotten in
the amazement ‘over this mysterious tragedy.

lew. “He must have p you on the way
“How many were there in the car?” was my next
question. °

“Akers and I found this man and: this boy,” he an-
swered, nodding toward the two bodies. “Algo a woman

The board
where infor

Sheriff Fisher
looking farmer ¥
‘There were ti
told me. “One
I believe. The «
“Sure it was a

I saw him as

or so up the roa
when this roadste
I could see things
ing and scuffling ‘

I stopped what
hundred yards p
around the curve.
and fell sprawling
he did so, and li
of sight around °

» I got my own
car «
e And here’s the en

F. D. Cooper,

> arrived and was
bodies. “I feel |

he said to me.

_ wound, not even
and the faces all
» agony.”

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POISON

(Continued from page 31)

knees the sheriff made a minute ex-
amination of the ground near the blan-
ket. A few minutes of searching brought
him to a faint stain on the sod—a place
where the green blades of grass were
tinged purple.

. Fisher’s lips tightened as he rose and
mopped the perspiration from his fore-
head. He knew now that he was deal-
ing with murder—cold-blooded and pre-
meditated. A killer without conscience—
who deliberately poisoned a bottle of
grapejuice from which an entire family
was intended to drink, and who care-
fully poured his own portion on the
grass.

Returning to the Steadman farm, the
sheriff found Chief Wakelin from Hot
Springs awaiting him. With the chief
was Charles Buckalew, a detective from
the same city, and Virgil Rucker, sheriff
of the county.

Saw Man Leave Car

“There were six people in that party,”
Wakelin greeted him excitedly. “It
seems the kids talked about this picnic
all day yesterday to the landlady. She
told us that they had invited some

‘stranger, a tall, thin man to go with

them. They left this morning with the
two boys in the rumble seat and the
father, mother and this stranger in front.
The woman held the baby in her lap.”

“I can go you one better,” Fisher told
him -laconically. “There were six peo-
ple in the party, all right, and the tall,
thin guy, whoever he is, poisoned the
rest.” Quickly he told them of his find-
ings at the picnic grounds.

“I stopped at Leo Grote’s place—a
farmer who lives about a mile away
from the lake,” he explained, “and
warned him not to let anyone near the
spot until we photograph the scene and
check .everything for fingerprints.”

Detective Buckalew grinned. “That's
my meat,” he said, indicating a camera
and fingerprint equipment. “We'll get
‘out there right away.”

He stowed his paraphernalia in the
sheriff's car, but before they could get
underway Mrs. Steadman called from
the house that Fisher was wanted on
the phone.

It was Grote calling. News of the
peculiarly wavering coupe driven by
Colley had spread.

“A) Murray called me,” Grote in-
formed the sheriff. “Said he saw this
coupe go by his place. It wasn’t going
very fast, and just as it passed a man
jumped from it and ran off through the
cornfield. At least he’s almost certain
the guy got out of the car. I thought
I'd better give you a ring.”

“You did right,” Fisher assured him.
Learning the location of the Murray
farm, he hung up the receiver and ad-
vised his fellow officers of this newest
development. A few minutes later they
stopped at the Murray farm.

“He was a tall, thin man,” the farmer
told them excitedly. “I sort of won-

537 S. Dearborn St. Chicago, #1.

dered about it at the time, but it’ wasn’t

any of my business—until I heard about
these people dying.”

“Where did you see all this?” Fisher
asked. :

Sensing the importance of the part he
was playing, Murray led them down the
road to a spot several dozen yards be-
yond his house. “Right here,” he said,
pointing. ,

The four officers scattered to look
for tracks. They weren’t hard to find.
“This is it,” Buckalew announced a mo-
ment later.

The imprints were plain in the loose
gravel at the roadside. “He jumped,”
Fisher surmised. “And from a moving
car, at that. You can see where he
stumbled and fell in the ditch.”

“How about bloodhounds?” Sheriff
Rucker suggested. “I can have some
here in less than half an hour.”

“Make it as soon as possible,” Fisher
‘told him. “While you're telephoning
we'll scout around a bit. Perhaps the
fellow was injured when he jumped and
didn’t get very far.”

Dog Picks Up Trail

It was a false' hope. The tracks of
the. fleeing man led off the graveled road
but‘ were immediately lost in the thick
sodded fields beyond the edge of the
highway. The officers scattered but were
unable to pick up the trail. There
was nothing to do but wait until the
dog arrived.

Deputy’ Sol Godwin of Hot Springs
was the dog-man of Sheriff Rucker’s
staff. True to his word, both the deputy
and his dog were at the scene in slightly
less than the promised 30 minutes.

The keen nose of the animal had little
difficulty in picking up the scent. Baying
hoarsely, he led the way across a nar-
row strip of cornfield and into a field
of mown hay. The short, sharp stub-
bles of clipped timothy and alfalfa
caught at their shoes and slowed the
pace of the officers. The field was
brown and withered, beaten down by
the blazing sun.

Beyond the hayfield was a swamp.
Here tall reeds grew green and bright
in the sunlight, interspersed with lush
grass that sprouted from little hills and
hummocks. The ground looked solid
but the perspiring officers sank ankle-
deep in the soggy soil, leaving behind
them little puddles of water that were
quickly concealed by the up-springing
blades of, grass. .

The dog hesitated as his sensitive nose
lost the scent of the man whose trail
he followed. He circled disconsolately,
then stopped.

“The marsh has us licked,” Deputy
Godwin said grimly. “We’ll never be
able to pick up the trail in here.”

“There’s a house over there on that
hill,” Fisher said, pointing. “After all,
it’s a bit unusual for a man to be running
through this swamp. If anyone saw
him, they might remember which way
he went.”

The house was little more. than a
shack. Bleak and unpainted, it did
lonely sentinel duty on a low promon-
tory overlooking the parched fields.
_ The owner eyed them curiously as
they approached. A tall man, with
stooped shoulders, he wore faded over-

HEADLINE DETECTIVE

Victims,
directly
no prote
to being

DECEMBE}.

still tethered team of mules, “when
this car came down the road.

“It was weaving all over the place.
I stopped to watch it, figuring the
driver must be drunk. All of a sud-
den it ran completely off the road and
into the ditch.. The guy didn’t even
cut his motor—it just stalled. I saw
then that something was ‘wrong, so I
tied the mules and climbed over the
fence to see if I could help.” He
spread his hands in a vague gesture.
“It was all so sudden. I knew the
driver was dead, so I ran for a phone.”

Fisher let his eyes rest unbeliev-

‘ingly on the stalled machine, as

though he needed some concrete
corroboration of Farmer Steadman’s
fantastic tale. It seemed incredible
that a carload of people could sud-
denly be smitten with lightning
death that snuffed out the lives of
four out of five victims.

“The doc said_ strychnine,’ he
mused. “I wonder where and how
they got it.” | :

Slowly he waiked around to the
front of the car, noting abstractedly
that it bore Ohio license plates. The
occupants were from out of the state,
then; probably tourists.

He circled the-machine completely
and opened the door on the driver’s
side. An identification card fastened
to the steering column showed that
the coupe was registered in the name
of Alvin Colley of Akron. In a side

The slayer wearily rests his head on
his wife's shoulder during the trial.
At the right his mother sits absorbed
in the presentation of the testimony.

) J

pocket of the door was a soiled en-
velope addressed to Colley in care of
an address in Hot Springs.

Hot Springs was 20 miles from the
place where the death car had jolted
to a stop. Strychnine is not an ex-
ceptionally fast working poison, but
the sheriff knew it would have been
impossible for the family to have
driven that distance before the drug
took effect.

Obviously the entire family had
eaten or drunk the deadly ingredient
somewhere along the road. Had it
been administered inadvertently or
intentionally? If the latter—why?
What motive would anyone have to
poison an entire family, particularly
strangers from out of the state?

Planned a Picnic

It was a fantastic setup that con-
tinued to grow more strange as he
considered the various angles. Care-
fully the sheriff examined the enve-
lope, hoping for some clue. But there
was nothing. The letter had been
removed and the envelope probably
tucked away in the pocket of the door.
It had been mailed from Akron and
was postmarked August 1—ten days
before. But that information didn’t
help much.

Requesting Steadman to stand
guard over the car, Fisher walked the
300 yards to the farmer’s house. There
he telephoned the Hot Springs police

department, requesting information
regarding the address on the letter.

Chief of Police Joe Wakelin listened
in amazement as the sheriff recounted
the almost unbelievable facts.

“IT know that place,” he ‘said finally.
‘It’s a rooming house. Stick around
for a bit while I do some checking.
If the family lived there perhaps: I
can get some information on them.”

Although irked by the delay neces-
sitated by Chief Wakelin’s investiga-
tion, the sheriff had no alternative.
Finally the call came through.

Alvin Colley, it seemed, had been
rooming at the Hot Springs address
with his wife and three children. The
landlady informed Wakelin that the
family had packed a picnic basket
early that morning and left for an
outing in the woods. Where, she could
not say. fear:

Sheriff Fisher was electrified by
this unexpected information. If his

, theory was correct, the family had

stopped for lunch somewhere along
the road. In some mysterious man-
ner, all had been poisoned by strych-

-nine. Realizing this, the father had

attempted to drive them to the nearest
doctor, who was in Malvern, five
miles from the place where death
overtook them.

Lake Catharine, less than four
miles from the Steadman home in the
direction of Hot Springs, was the most
logical place for an outing.’ Several

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Judge Thomas F. Toler presided at
the trial at which the poisoner
was sentenced to die in the chair.

Only five persons were poisoned, but
the sheriff found six cups scattered.
at the picnic scene. The poison box
came from the suspect's home in Ohio.

DECEMDER, 1942

9
.

grt

acres of open woodland, bisected bys
small stream that fed the lake near
the edge of the grounds, the spot had

’ long been a favorite of picnickers.

After making arrangements to have
the Colley car taken into town, the
sheriff, acting on a hunch, ‘climbed

in his own machine and drove out to’

the lake.

The attractions of the spot had not
been exaggerated. Despite the heat
of the August afternoon, it was cool
beneath the sprawling trees.

At first glance, the grounds seemed
deserted. Fisher walked about slowly,
looking for signs of a recent party.
Reaching the bank of the stream he
followed the shoreline until the creek
made a horseshoe curve near one end
of an island. There he found what he
sought.

In the doubtful shade of a small
bush was an unopened picnic basket.
Spread on the grass was a blanket on
which were scattered half a dozen
paper cups. At the edge of the blanket
was a large bottle containing several
ounces of grapejuice.

Finds Six Cups

The sheriff studied the scene in
silence. The unopened picnic basket
was mute evidence that the poison
had not been contained in. the food.
Neat stacks of sandwiches wrapped in
wax paper confirmed this belief.

An examination of the paper cups
showed that all had contained fluid
of the same color as that in the bottle.
Fisher eyed it grimly. He could im-
agine the happy family spreading the
blanket in preparation for a meal but
quenching their thirst before opening
the food.

He would have the contents of the
bottle analyzed, of course. But a

Carefully guarded by Sheriff Ricker Not and several deputies, the con-
demned man (arrow) was returned to his cell
execution through appeals and stays until four years after the murders.

after his conviction. He evaded

chemist’s findings would do little

more than confirm his suspicions. |

What the sheriff wanted urgently to
know was where that bottle of grape-
juice had come from and who had had
access to it before the Colley family
started out on their fatal picnic.

But again he was at a blank wall.
Perhaps the landlady of the rooming
house. But where was her motive?
What motive could anyone have had,
for that matter? Unless. . |.

Fisher gasped as an ugly thought
struck him. The adult members of
the family, of course! Was it possible
that either the father or mother had
attempted a mass murder and suicide?
If so, which one? ;

The dead woman was the most
logical suspect. The’ very fact that
the father had bundled his family into
their car and driven in search of a
doctor indicated his innocence. Un-
less he had had a change of heart at
the last moment.

The sheriff scooped up the paper
cups and the bottle. But as he lifted
the last cup from the blanket he

. dropped it as though it were hot.

There had been five members of
the Colley family. Three children
and the parents. But there were six
cups on the blanket—and all of them
had been used! |

Feverishly, he looked through the
picnic basket. Wrapped in a clean
napkin was a large layer cake—cut
into six pieces. There were six paper
plates, six knives and six forks.

Fisher was getting beyond his depth
now but he marshaled his scattered
wits with an effort. Who and where
was the sixth member of this party?

The paper cups provided the clue.
All had contained ‘the lethal drink.
On hands and (Continued on page 50)

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alls with twisted shoulder straps. Sher-
iff Fisher identified himself and_ his
companions and flashed his badge.

“The fellow you want went this way,”
the farmer told them, waving a long
arm in the general direction of the rear
of his farm. “I saw him about an hour
ago.” ;

An hour ago! 'It was a good headstart.
With a brief word of thanks the officers
circled the building. The dog, anxious
for the quarry, quartered the field at a
swift pace, dragging the Sweaty, tired
deputy at the end of his leash.

With a sudden bellow the hound struck
the trail, tugging frantically as Godwin
strove to hold him in check. Over the
edge of a small rise they followed, pant-
ing, into a valley and up the hill on the
other side. ,

. “We're getting hot.” The deputy gulped
for breath as his dog bayed louder, “It
won’t be far now.”

Suspect Threatens Sheriff

Five minutes later they found him
—a tall, cadaverous individual who
watched the dog with fear in his eyes
and then turned questioningly to the
red-faced officers,

Sheriff Fisher snapped handcuffs about
his wrists. “You might have known
we'd catch you,” he said succinctly,

Their prisoner drew himself up. “I’m
sure you gentlemen are making a mis-
take,” he said quietly. “And I think I’m
entitled to an explanation of—this . . .”
He looked down at his manacled hands.

“You'll get an explanation,” Fisher
said shortly, still winded from the chase.
“I suppose you don’t know anything
about an entire family being Poisoned
back there on the Picnic grounds?”

“A family . . , poisoned! And you
think I... gentlemen, my name is
_Mark H. Shank, of Akron. I’m a lawyer.
I lost my way while walking. . . |.”

“Save it,” Fisher interrupted. “If
we're wrong we'll apologize.”

Shank smiled thinly, “An apology
won't suffice, I’m afraid.’ Have you ever
been sued for false arrest?”

The sheriff laughed in spite of him-
self. “Not yet, I haven’t,”: he said.

“There is always a first time,” the
stranger remarked dourly. “It isn’t a
pleasant experience.” \

‘Tl risk it,” Fisher retorted curtly.
He cut the conversation short by herd-
ing his prisoner back over the fields to
where their cars were parked beside
the road,

Despite his air of assured confidence
the sheriff was uneasy as they drove
back to town. He had no doubt that
Shank was the reputable lawyer he
claimed to be. Such a statement would
be too easily checked for the man to
lie. And apparently he had done noth-
ing more than walk alone in the coun-
try. At least that was his statement.
It was up to Fisher to find the motive
behind the slaying and then pin it on
the lanky lawyer—if he could. The
sheriff was perturbed at the prospect.

In the faint hope that the man would
break down when confronted with the
victims, the officers took their prisoner
directly to the morgue. Shank voiced
no protest. After his initial objection
to being taken in custody he seemed to

“DECEMBER, 1942

let events take their own course until
his time came to go to bat.” Until then
he would wait. But he gasped audibly
when the sheet was. drawn from the
face of the dead man. The still fea-
tures were gray and chill, A last con-
tortion had twisted the lips in a macabre
smile. ;

“My God!” the lawyer’ exclaimed, his
eyes wide and staring. “That's Alvin
Colley!”

One by one the sheets were lifted un-
til’ Shank. covered his face with his
hands. “I was to join them on a
Picnic,” he said brokenly. “What—
what happened?”

“I think you know what happened,”
Fisher assured him bleakly. “Only the
baby lived—Clyde Colley, the smallest
one.” i

The lawyer looked at him coldly,
“These people were my friends,” he
said. “I had no reason to wish any of
them dead. If you are charging me
with murder you had better be pre-
pared to support it!”

The sheriff moved fast to accept his
challenge. The operator of the room-
ing house where the Colley. family had
stayed positively identified the bodies
and also recognized Shank.

Goes to Ohio

The Colley family, it seemed, had been
living at the rooming house during the
past week. Shank had showed up only
the day before. He had been greeted
as an old friend and invited to attend
the picnic with them.

A checkup showed that the lawyer
was registered at a Hot Springs hotel.
An examination of his baggage disclosed
a.small package containing traces of
strychnine. It bore an Ohio drugstore
label. Evidence of the deadly poison was
also found in the dregs of grapejuice
found at the scene of the devil’s feast at
Lake Catharine,

“We've got the threads,” Fisher ex-
claimed exultantly, when he heard this
news. “All.we have to do now is to
tie them together.”

To do that the sheriff made. a trip
to.Akron in an effort to establish some
contact between the Colley family and
the man who stood accused of poison-
ing them.

His investigation disclosed that Mark
H. Shank was a lawyer in Kenmore, a
suburb of Akron. He was known. to
his associates as an egomaniac—a man
with a warped personality. He was a
former mayor of Kenmore, as well as a
justice of the peace.

But what most interested the Arkansas
sheriff was the fact that Alvin Colley
had been Shank’s friend and assistant
for years. Colley was a perfect foil for
the overbearing nature of his employer,
His character was weak and he was
content to take the lawyer’s abuse for
a small salary,

Fisher, however, was more disheart-
ened than encouraged by this informa-
tion. If anything, it tended to throw
into disrepute his theory _that Shank
was guilty of the mass murders.

Were the. circumstances reversed—
with Colley playing the role of slayer
—there might have been ‘some logical

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By Scott Bowles
‘Gazette Staff ;
Ronald Gene Simmons, the Do-
ver man convicted of killing more
family members than anyone in
U.S. history, is ¢ '
scheduled to die ©»
June 25. oe
Bill =##

Gov.
Clinton Thurs- ,
‘ day set Sim- i

mons execution

date for seven
days after John

Edward Swin-

dler is sched- ~

uled to die. Swindler is convicted of
killing a Fort Smith police officer
_in 1976.
If either man dies, it will be the
first time in more than 25 years
that the state has carried through

Simmons

Simmons’ death"
set for June 25

Execution could be 7 days after Swindler’s

on a death sentence. The last exe-
cution in Arkansas was Jan. 24,
1964, when Charles Franklin
Fields, 32, was electrocuted.

Simmons was convicted in sepa-
rate trials of murdering 14 family
members and two Russellville resi-
dents in a killing spree within a few
days of Christmas 1987.

Six of the family members were
shot with a .22-caliber pistol; eight
were strangled with cord. Clinton
signed death warrants for both
convictions.

Since his 1988 convictions, Sim-
mons has said he wants to die to
“end the torture and suffering in
me,” but his execution has been
blocked by outside parties.

The first scheduled execution,

See SIMMONS/11A

Continued from Page 1A
for the Russellville slayings, was
blocked when the Rev. Louis
Franz, a Catholic priest, appealed
on Simmons’ behalf.
- Simmons was eating his final
meal March 15, 1989, when his
second scheduled execution, for
the family slayings, was halted by
fellow death row inmate Jonas
Whitmore.

The courts struck down both ap-
peals, and officials said Thursday
that the only person capable of
stopping Simmons’ execution is
Simmons.

“All things are go unless he
changes his mind,” said Robert
Fisher, spokesman for the state

\attorney general’s office. ‘He holds

his own fate.”
Jack Gillean, assistant attorney

\general, said Simmons can run the

gamut of appeals if he chooses,
which could delay his execution for
years.

ARKANSAS
GAZETTE

FRI. TUNE |,
| “1990

“But I’m not aware of anything
else that can be done,” Gillean said
Thursday. “Someone may try to do
something I’ve never heard of be-
fore, but it seems the Supreme
Court has closed the door on any
third parties intervening.”

Art Allen, a Little Rock attorney
who handled the second appeal of
Simmons’ execution, said he has
no plans for further intervention.

Allen said he intervened to force
the Supreme Court to determine
whether Arkansas should require
mandatory appeals for convicted
killers.

“Frankly, I’ve pursued the ques-
tion J felt needed answering,” Allen
said.

Edith Nesby of Colorado, sister
of Simmons’ slain wife Rebecca,
said Thursday she also was not
concerned with the execution.

“T don’t care if he lives or dies

anymore,” Nesby said. “I can’t al- |.

low him to have any more control

of my life. It’s all so sad, I don’t like
to think about it. I will tell you,
though, if he’s going to be exe-

cuted, I wish it was on June 8 or

June 9.” eee :

Rebecca Simmons was born June

8. She married Ronald Gene Sim-
mons June 9.0 cee
There is still an outside chance
Swindler’s execution could be de-
layed until after Simmons’ sched-
uled execution. Unlike Simmons,
Swindler has vigorously attempted
to avoid being electrocuted or le-
thally injected, a choice he will

te oR

have to make because he was con-

| vieted before 1983.
| §windler’s attorney, Thurman
' Ragar of Van Buren, said Thurs-

| day he planned to ask Clinton for x f te -

executive clemency.

The governor, according to
spokesman Trey Schroeder, has
never commuted a death sentence.

Ragar said his alternatives are
tereThe only two options we have
are the executive clemency and a
second habeas corpus and 1 don’t
want to say that either of those
avenues are completely, totally

without hope,” he said.

VARNER,: Ark.’ —. R..-Gene
Simmons, convicted of 16 killings
in a Christmastime 1987 ram-
page, was put to death: Monday
night, two years after he’pleaded
in court for-a' swift:execution to
“let the torture and suffering in
me end.”

A lethal injection ended the life
of Simmons, who had waived his
appeals. Prison spokesman David
White said the first solution was
injected at 9:02 p.m. and Sim-
mons was pronounced dead 17
minutes later.

The execution of Simmons, 49,
was the second in Arkansas in a
week. The June 18 electrocution
of John Edward Swindler was the
State’s first execution in 26 years.

Unlike Swindler, Simmons was
convicted after the state’s method
of execution was changed to lethal
injection. : |

Simmons shot, clubbed, shot at
or strangled. 21 persons, 16 of
whom died. He was convicted -

ws = - -

wo gf
> &

ey fo oar

? ie i

R. Gene Simmons \,

... killed 14 relati as

’ first of the killing o : wo Russell-

ville residents, then‘ at a second
trial for the slayings of his 14

relatives. Eight of the 14 relatives

° \

_ KANSAS CITY STAR

—_
io

20L7 90
A4-2.-

were children, ranging from age 1
to.17. The killings were believed
to have occurred Dec. 22-28,
1987. |

After his first conviction, Sim-
mons pronounced the verdict and
penalty just. He said he wouldn’t
appeal and asked that no one
interfere.

“T only ask for what I deserve,”
he told the court. “Let the torture
and suffering in me end. Please
allow me the right to be at peace.”

Death penalty foes nonetheless
delayed the execution for about
two years.

Surviving family members have
sought to find out Simmons’ mo-
tive for the slayings, but without
success. Since his arrest, Simmons
has offered no explanation.

Simmons’ execution was a few

hours before the scheduled death

of a Texas death-row inmate,

. James Smith, who also said he

wanted to die.
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
* June 26, 1990 Vol. 110 No. 256

(ISSN 0745-1067)
The Kansas City Star is published daily. Subscrip-

yqeT feyTum **y-pyesuoy *SNOWWIS

fut °

066T=-Se-9 UO

Simmons can waive ‘appeal

. WASHINGTON (AP) — Conde-
mned murderers who waive their
right to appeal
@jand say they
Sk! want todie may
| be executed
Meven if no
appeals court
reviews their
cases, the Sup-
reme Court
ruled Tuesday.
The decision
4 will let Arkan-
R. Gene sas authorities
Simmons execute a man
who killed 16 relatives and ac-
quaintances during a 1987 ram-
page. No state appeals court has
reviewed the validity of his convic-
tions or sentence.

_ By a7-2 vote, the justices ruled
that only convicted mass murderer
R. Gene Simmons — and not fellow
death row inmate Jonas Whitmore
— has the legal standing to chal-
lenge Simmons’ death sentence.

‘*Mr. Simmons, unless he
changes his mind, will die this sum-
mer,”’ Arkansas Attorney General
Steve Clark said at a news confer-

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A US.
Supreme Court decision leaves one
man to decide whether Ronald
Gene Simmons will be executed for
the 1987 murders of 16 people, in-
cluding 14 members of his family,
attorneys said Tuesday. That man
is Ronald Gene Simmons.

‘‘Mr. Simmons, unless he
changes his mind, will die this sum-
mer,’’ Attorney General Steve
Clark said. ‘‘I think the only thing
that can stop this is Ronald Gene
Simmons.”

Art Allen, the attorney who
argued on behalf of a death row in-
mate to require an appeal against

Simmons’ wishes, said the Sup-

Convicted mass killer may
be executed this summer

reme Court's 7-2 decision appears
to prohibit third-party appeals.

“We saw what we thought was an
important issue and took it as far as
we could go with it. It would be my
opinion that Mr. Simmons... will be
executed before the summer,”’
Allen said. ‘‘The only thing that
could happen would be that Mr.
Simmons could change his mind.”

Simmons, 49, has insisted he
wants to die, saying ‘“‘Let the tor-
ture and suffering in me end.”

He was within 12 hours of being
executed and had already eaten his
last meal when the Supreme Court

SEE CONVICTED-16A

ence in Little Rock. Noone has been
executed in Arkansas since Charles
Franklin Fields, 32, was electro-
cuted on Jan. 24, 1964.

Whitmore mounted his challenge
even though Simmons prefers

death to end “the torture and suf- |

fering in me.” Whitmore had asked
the justices to rule that state
appeals courts must review all

SEE SIMMONS-16A

Che Jonesboro Sun

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1990.

| Continued from page

Simmons-

death sentences — even when not
asked to do so by the condemned
murderer.

In fact, many states provide
automatic appellate review in
capital cases, regardless of the de-
fendant’s wishes. But Whitmore,
trying to stand in for Simmons, had
argued that such review is constitu-
tionally required.

The court did not address the con-
stitutional issue, ruling instead that
Whitmore cannot make such an
argument in Simmons’ behalf.

‘‘Whitmore, having failed to
establish that Simmons is (mental-
ly) unable to proceed on his own
behalf, does not have the legal
standing to proceed,”’ Chief Justice
William H. Rehnquist wrote for the
court.

The decision in the death penalty
case lifted a stay the justices had
imposed on the eve of Simmons’
scheduled execution last year.
Arkansas officials will be free to
schedule a new execution date as
soon as they officially receive word
of the court’s ruling, 25 days from
Tuesday.

Justices Thurgood Marshall and

William J. Brennan, who oppose
capital punishment in all circumst-
ances, dissented from Tuesday’s
ruling.

Writing for the two, Marshall
said, ‘‘The court today allows a
state to execute a man even though
no appellate court has reviewed the
validity of his conviction or sent-
ence.”

“The court does not address the
constitutional claim presented by
(Whitmore) — whether a state
must provide appellate review in a
capital case despite the defen-
dant’s desire to waive such re-
view,” Marshall said. ‘“‘Rather, it
decides (Whitmore) does not have
the standing to raise that issue be-
fore this court.

“The court needlessly abdicates
its grave responsibility to ensure
that no person is wrongly ex-
ecuted,”’ Marshall wrote.

Simmons, 49, killed his wife,
three sons, four daughters, a son-
in-law, a daughter-in-law, four
grandchildren at his home near
Dover, Ark. Their bodies were
found Dec. 28, 1987. Officers went to
Simmons’ home after he was
arrested for killing two people and
wounding four others.

Officers found five bodies at Sim-
mons’ home. They found seven in a
grave which authorities believe

was dug prior to the killings. They
found two infant boys’ bodies in
dark green plastic garbage sacks in
the trunks of abandoned cars 300
feet southeast of the house.

Six of them had been shot with a
.22-caliber pistol; eight of them
were strangled with cord.

Three days before Simmons was
to die March 16, 1989, Whitmore
sought to challenge the state’s
death penalty law in Simmons’ be-
half.

On the eve of the execution, the
nation’s highest court postponed
Simmons’ death to study Whit-
more’s argument that the Constitu-
tion requires state appeals courts
to review all death sentences, even
when the convicted defendant asks
to die.

Led by Rehnquist, the court re-
jected arguments by Whitmore's
lawyers that the uniqueness of the
death penalty and society’s interest
in its proper imposition justifies
some kind of relaxed legal-
standing standard.

“The short answer to this sugges-
tion is that the requirement of a...
case or controversy is not merely a
traditional rule or practice but
rather is imposed directly by the
Constitution,” Rehnquist said. ‘‘It
is not for this court to employ un-
tethered notions of what might be
good public policy to expand our

jurisdiction in an appealing case.”

After rejecting Whitmore’s
standing to press the appeal in his
individual capacity, the court re-
jected his attempt to press it as a
“next friend’’ of Simmons.

The legal concept of ‘‘next
friend’’ is employed by the courts
when prison inmates are incap-
able, usually because of mental in-
competence, to appeal in their own
behalf.

Convicted—

stayed the execution March 15,
1989, pending the appeal filed by
death row inmate Jonas H. Whit-
more.

Allen, who represented Whit-
more, argued that Simmons should
receive a mandatory appeal. The
Supreme Court said such an appeal
can’t be filed by a fellow death row
inmate.

‘‘Mr. Simmons may stop walking
by his cell and spitting on him,”
Allen said when asked for Whit-
more’s reaction to the ruling.
Neither Allen or Simmons’ attor-
ney, John Harris of Russellville,
had talked to their clients Tuesday.

The decision could hamper
efforts to require state officials to
appeal death penalty cases even
when the convicted inmate doesn’t
ask for an appeal, Clark and Allen
Said.

The Supreme Court has ruled
that nobody can appeal a case ex-
cept for the person who’s rights
may have been violated, Clark
said.

Allen called that ‘‘circular
reasoning.’’ He said the issue of
having a mandatory appeal should
have been addressed by the court.

Justices Thurgood Marshall and
William J. Brennan dissented.
Marshall wrote for the two, saying
the court failed to act on the consti-
tutional claim presented by Whit-
more.

“The court today allows a state to
execute a man even though no
appellate court has reviewed the
validity of his conviction or sent-
ence,’’ Marshall wrote.

Allen said most of his death row
clients get frustrated with the idea
of spending their lives in jail and —
at one point — usually ask to forego
their appeals. They later change
their minds, he said. Allen said the
state could use the ruling to expe-
dite executions as soon as a death
row inmates asks to die.

“The minute they hit the valley
and say the don’t want anymore
appeals, bingo ...,”’ Allen said.

Allen said he wouldn’t be sur-
prised if Simmons asked for an
1lth-hour appeal.

“J still have a faint belief that Mr.
Simmons may try to thumb his nose

at the system one more time by
asking for an appeal after all this. It
would be the ultimate nose-
thumber,”’ Allen said.

Clark said the case could be tied’
up in appellate courts for 15 years if
Simmons decides to appeal.

The ruling came in the conviction
of Simmons for the killings of his
relatives. A priest has appealed a
separate conviction for the shoot-
ings of two acquaintances. That
appeal led to a stay of execution
Aug. 4, 1988, and is pending before
the 8th U.S. District Court of
Appeal. Clark said the court will
have to dissolve its stay because
the priest doesn’t have anymore
standing than Whitmore.

The Whitmore case, involving
the family members, will remain
under the Supreme Court’s juris-
diction for 25 working days. If Whit-
more doesn’t ask for a re-hearing,
the case will go to Gov. Bill Clinton
as early as May 24.

Mike Gauldin, a spokesman for
Clinton, said the governor will fol-
low his normal policy under which
he takes about 10 days to set an ex-
ecution date. The execution dates is |
always set within 30 days after that,
Gauldin said.

Harris said he had no reason to_
believe that Simmons would-
change his mind and ask for an:
appeal.

aot

R. Gene Simmons waiting for his 1989 trial to begin in
Clarksville, Ark. He was convicted of killing 16 people.

Arkansas puts to death —
multiple killer Simmons

ASSOCIATED PRESS

VARNER, Ark. — R. Gene Sim-
mons was put to death Monday
night, two years after he pleaded in
court for a swift.execution to “‘let
the torture and suffering in me
end” after being convicted of the
1987 murders of 16 people.

_ A lethal injection terminated the
life of the blue-eyed, bearded killer,
who had waived his appeals. Pris-
on spokesman David White said
the first solution began at 9:02 p.m.
and Simmons was pronounced
dead 17 minutes later.

Before Monday, 130 people had
been put to death since the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in 1976 to
allow executions to resume.

The execution of Simmons, 49,
was the second in Arkansas in a
week. The June 18 electrocution of
John Edward Swindler was the
state's first execution in 26 years.

lInlike Swindler, Simmons was

The Houston Post/Tuesday, June 26, 1990

> w Associated Press

convicted after the state’s method
of execution was changed to lethal |
injection. |

Simmons .was convicted first of
the murder of two Russellville resi-
dents, then at a second trial for the
murders of his 14 relatives. Eight
of the 14 relatives were children, |
ranging from age | to 17. The kill-
ings were believed to have oc-
curred between Dec. 22-28, 1987.

After his first conviction, Sim-
mons pronounced the verdict and
penalty just. He said he wouldn't
appeal and asked that no one inter-
fere.

“T only ask for what | deserve,”
he told the court. ‘Let the torture
and suffering in me end. Please al-
low me the right to be at peace.”

Death penalty foes nonetheless
delayed it for about two years.

Surviving family members have
sought to find out Simmons’ mo- '
tive for the slayings, but he has
never offered an explanation.

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leged information and might be used
against him. Simmons refused to return
to counseling. *

So on August 10, 1981, three charges
of incest were filed against Simmons.
When authorities went to arrest Simmons
on the following day, they discovered
that the family had moved during the
night. .

An anonymous phone call tipped so-
cial services that the family had moved to
Arkansas. A letter called a ‘‘protective
services alert’’ was reportedly mailed in
March 1982 to the Arkansas Human Ser-
vices Department, a letter which that or-
ganization claims it never received.

On August 11, 1982, exactly one year
later, all charges pending against Sim-
mons were withdrawn. Ortero. County
said this was routinely done on a regular
basis to clear their file. ‘

Sheila married Dennis McNulty, who
adopted her 3-year-old daughter. Lat-
er they had a son, Michael. Dennis was a
devoted father to both children.

Simmons was the only suspect in the
multiple slayings. No one else was ever
considered. But Simmons had never said
a word. There were no witnesses. Link-
ing evidence was sparse. —

Soon, however, a vital development
did crop up in the case. A ballistics report
from the state crime lab provided an im-
portant missing link. The guns seized
from Simmons at his arrest and: other
weapons removed from his car had been
sent for ballistics tests to the crime lab.
- Captain. Paul R. McDonald, head of
firearms, reported to Sheriff Bolin that
the bullets removed from the bodies of
Kendrick, Chaffin, and Sheila McNulty
had been fired from the .22-caliber pistol
taken from Simmons. It was the first solid
piece of evidence that tied Simmons to
the mass slayings.

Ownership of the guns was verified.
Agents traced them to a store in Russell-
ville. Simmons had bought them on Sep-
tember 3, 1984, for $94.87.

. Bolin is a fourth-term sheriff and for-
mer policeman who is well trained in all
areas of police work. After careful analy-
sis, Sheriff Bolin proposed his~ theory
about the sequence of the methodical
massacre that occurred over the three-to-
five-day period. He emphasized that this
was theory only. But further investiga-
tion and amassed evidence proved its ac-
curacy.

The first seven people were killed be-
fore Christmas, probably on the night of
December 23rd or 24th. Loretta, Eddy,
Marianne, Rebecca and Barbara were
strangled with cords. Eddy’s bedroom
gave ‘crime-scene evidence that he was

the only one of the victims who even had

a chance to struggle. The childrert were .

probably strangled while they slept:
Bécky was shot twice in the head.

.,Ronald Gene Jr. was shot four‘ times in

the head and once in the stomach..
These victims were buried in ‘their

nightclothes in the shallow grave and a

covered with a sheet of tin.

Sheriff Bolin figured that after’ Sim-
mons buried the bodies, he waited for the
other relatives to arrive for their Christ-
mas visit.

The first three people who came in
were William Henry Simmons II, 23; his
wife Renata, 21; and their 20-month old
son, Trae.

The couple were enticed into the din-
ing room, where both were shot several

‘times. The baby was strangled with'a

cord. Then he was stuffed into a plastic
trash bag which was heavily taped: This
sack -was locked in the trunk of the car
parked in Simmonses’ yard.

A few hours later, Sheila, her hus-
band, their six-year-old daughter (the

child allegedly fathered by Simmons)

and baby Michael ‘came to the house.
Sheila and the children came in while
McNulty unpacked the car. She put the

‘children down and entered the living
‘room. She was probably shot just ‘as she
“saw the bodies. She was shot five times

in the head. ' t

McNulty heat the s shots and ran in-
side. He was shot several times. Silvia
ran into the bedroom to hide. Simmons.

‘followed. She: was found later there,

strangled with'a cord; ‘face-up on the
bed. Baby Michael was strangled, wrap-
ped in another garbage bag — locked in

‘another car trunk. #*:
Then Simmons went on the rampage

that ended with his arrest with the

‘now-proven murder weapon in his hand.
» The doctors who examined’Simmons
‘have requested an extension of time for

further tests. This Was granted. At this

‘time no trial date has been set. Until and
“unless Simmons has been tried by a jury

of his peers, he must be considered inno-

cent of all crimes,’ in accordance with .

due process as guaranteed by the Consti-

tution.:’ He ae" ann

iy
oe 2 eee)

Kim’s Killers
Nailed by ‘Book’

ogist guessed that there had probably
been three to four assailants.

~ As he read the autopsy report, Detec-
tive Vallandigham’s confidence ebbed.
If the victim was grabbed off the street by

a carload of street-gang members’ for a-

gang assault and was then killed to. si-
lence her, it would take a great deal of
luck to solve this one. The sleuth began
to run down the names in the secret ad-
dress book, as well as names and ad-
dresses in a family address book,

At the end of the first day, one piece of
the puzzle fell into place. On Friday
night, July 11th, Kim spent the night at
the home of a family friend in the Engle-
wood district of Chicago. One of the
things a seasoned police investigator
learns is that not everything is a shrouded
mystery: sometimes, to get a simple an-
swer, just ask a simple question. Kim left
the Englewood home on Saturday being
admonished to go back to her own home

and make peace with her family. She

didn’t.

Students at South Shore High Schiool
were aware of Kim’s stormy romance
with a lad identified as Kevin Campbell,
age 17. None of the friends had seen her
with Kevin that weekend, but if -they

“were asked to ‘guess, they’d guess that

she’d spent part oe all of ssi weekend

with him.

When Kim’ teft’ the hhiae in Engle-
wood she was with two of her girl-

- ‘friends. She was later seen at a parking

lot in the parking ‘area opposite 66th
Street‘on Racine Avenue. She was seen
dancing to the music of a car radio. De-
tective Vallandigham was unable to dis-

‘cover who the car belonged to: or who

else might have been there at the time.

The time was Honepee Te sometime

in the afternoon.’’

Having turned up enough information
to ask some reasonable questions, Val-
landigham went to' Englewood to inter-
view Kevin Campbell: The youth
straightforwardly admitted that he knew
he was not at all welcome in the Boyd
home or even to talk to their daughter. Of
course, knowing what one should do and
doing what one’s ‘heart dictates can be
two different things. dy

Vallandigham asked Campbell if he’d
talked to Kim over the weekend. Camp-
bell stated frankly that he had. Kim said

‘that’s why she came to stay with her .
relative in Englewood—to see him.

They talked and argued as usual, both
knowing that as much as they wanted
things to work, they couldn’t, because
Kim’s family kept'a tight rein on her.
Kim left to go back to the relative’s home
to stay the rest of Friday night, according

‘to Campbell. 'He never saw her again.

‘Master Detective 49

chase Gomer t

<a aia Ree aimmpy baie canoe. Se

PENA:

Pistol was offered to terrified witness
by. gunman, who said, “Don’t worry...
I've igtten everybody, who hi has hurt me.” ty

firm’s North Cumberland Street office.
*Aninstant later, James Chaffin lay

ae “mortally wounded on the floor, his face

blown away by a two-gun-wielding,
balding, pot-bellied, disheveled man. In
addition, one of the owners of the oil
company had been hit and seriously
w unded by the intruder. 3
“At approximately 10:35 a.m., three
miles. down U.S. 64 at a mini-market,

the store manager was in a back office,

having a midmorning cup of coffee with
a close. friend. A 46- -year-old woman

store’ employee was in the front,'at a

_ cash register. The store manager saw a

balding, pot-bellied man pull a pistol

' from.under his coat and fire twice. One

slug hit the woman cashier in the jaw.

. The-store manager was also wounded.
' However, he did manage to:throw. a

chair at the assailant while his coffee-

- break companion hurled cans of soft

drinks at the retreating figure. . a oe

-<sAt approximately 10:45 a.m,, an ex-

ecutive ofa freight oneeny at Bernard

24 Fron rene Detective

market, ‘saw a balding, pot-bellied man
enter the premises through a side door.
The gunman made his way to the desk
of a 35-year-old woman supervisor, by-
passing five other employees. The gun-
man fired twice, wounding the woman
in the head and the chest.

The gunman then moved to a woman
employee;who'was crouched on the
floor, held.a gun.to her head for a sec-
ond, and. then apparently thought better
of his plan,

The man ‘said in a voice pitched low
to instill'a sense ‘of reassurance, “Don’t
worry. I’m_not going to hurt you. I’ve
done what I wanted to do and now it’s
all over,, I've gotten, everybody who has
hurt me.) ie

The man then offered his gun to the
woman employee. When she said she
did not want the weapon, he laid it on a
desk while he went to forage for ciga-
rettes. Very quietly, he asked his hostage
to call the police.’

This was the situation as Russellville
Police Chief Herb Johnston and Assis-
tant Chief,Ron Stobaugh arrived at the
crime scene in answer to the hastily
placed telephone alarm.

Entering the freight company offices,
the two police officers, exhibiting a
commendable display of coolness and
professionalism i in the face of an emo-
tionally volatile and perilous confronta-
tion, managed to persuade the gunman
to surrender his, two .22-caliber hand-
guns. ig ved %

Now came the beginnings of the grim
task of sorting ‘out the details of just
what had happened to turn the small and
friendly community of Russellville into
a Christmas-week charnel house. Why
had two people died and four more been
wounded in a shooting spree that, on the
surface, seemed to have no logical pat-
tern? What did the six victims have in
common that had led to the shedding of
their blood? °°}.

‘The lone gunman’ s shooting spree left two. persons. -
a ead and : four wounded a before lawmen caught up with

The answer to this phase of the probe ;
was quick in coming, It had to do with .

the identification of, the alleged killer.

The man in question was 47-year-old .
R. Gene Simmons Sr, a resident: of 3

nearby Dover,. Arkansas. A. sullen,
brooding, former. air force master ser-
geant, Simmons had picked his victims
carefully. Each of those who had died or
been wounded in the Russellville phase
of the shootings had at one time or an-
other been co-workers or executives in
local firms where Simmons had been
employed. mae oh

Kathy Kendrick, the lovely young di- a

vorcee and mother of a five-year-old,

had been formerly employed at. the

freight firm, as had Simmons, Rather
than feeling flattered by the middle-
aged former airman’s advances, she had
been repelled by them. When Kendrick
had complained, the woman supervisor
(who had been shot in the jaw, but sur-
vived) had spoken to Simmons about
his unwanted advances toward the
young woman.

James Chaffin and Simmons had been
employed at the same time by the oil
company. So had the company manager

(who survived). Simmons had also’

worked at the -mini- -market where the

Under Captain Paul R. McDonald’s super-
vision, firearms section amassed evidence
vital to building case against suspect.

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22 Front Page Detective

front

a Among dead were four Simmons children—Marianne, Edward, Rebecca (top, Ler.),

and Loretta (I.)—as well as Sheila, Dennis, and Sylvia McNulty (bottom, I.-r.).

» KATHY C, KENDRICK, 24

. JAMES D. CHAFFIN, 33
14 MEMBERS OF THE
SIMMONS-McNULTY FAMILY

. INVESTIGATED BY:

RUSSELLVILLE PD,
POPE CO. SHERIFF’S DEPT. «

AT approximately 10:15 a.m. on De-
cember 28, 1987, willowy, sparkling-
eyed, 24-year-old Kathy Cribbins Ken-
drick was seated at her desk in the Main
Street law office in Russellville, Arkan-
‘sas, where she was employed as a secre-
tary/receptionist. Whether or not she
was aware of the balding, pot-bellied,
disheveled 47-year-old man who had
‘just entered the office will never be
known, +’ ee ms
- An instant later, Kathy Cribbins Ken-
.. drick was dead. .. -
At approximately 10:25 a.m., 33-
year-old James Chaffin, an oil company
driver, was opening the door to the

Il-/9 90

owner and.the cashier had been wound-:

ed. The wounded § store “executive de-

scribed Simmons as. ha good worker, he |

was honest-with the cash. receipts.” But
the ex-serviceman had become disgrun- ‘

“ger,” she:said with relief.

She' described the perp as follows:
“He just J Jooked like a mad dog glaring
at me. “I saw his teeth bared, and the

ow whites of his eyes. He had a hellacious

tled over what he ‘considered low pay » grin on his face and his gun looked as
and excessively long working hours and.” big as a‘cannon.’

had quit his job at the mini-market.

Although Simmons, now under ar-

ically by eyewitnesses at the four busi- i)

ness establishments he had invaded.

spate

4
Hyp

At the trucking company, a male wit-
ness said of the alleged killer, ‘“He
looked around and saw the supervisor
‘on the opposite side of the room. He
-walked around past five people and shot
twice, The whole thing took about twen-
y seconds. Then he walked back to an-

Russellville Police Chief Herb Johnston handled the suspect with ocpmag He
averted any further bloodshed by persuading gunman to relinquish his weapons.

ing her first day on the job, recalled hav-..,
ing heard the gunfire and at first thought
it was a joke, But when she looked over,
at her boss’s office, where the sound had

come from, she saw a co-worker being.

hit in the face by.a slug.
Then she continued, she had seen’.

- Simmons. “Simmons turned toward me..

and pointed the gun. I screamed, ‘No,
no, no!’ and ducked to the ground. The
gun went off and the bullet went
through my hair.

“The Lord pushed me to the ground.
The only thing that happened was I
broke a fingernail ang bruised my fin-

26 Front Page Detective

other woman who was kneeling on the
floor. He put the gun to her head,
grabbed her arm, and said, ‘Don’ t wor-
ry. I’m not going to hurt you...

“He offered her the gun and she said
she didn’t want it. He then asked her if
she wanted a cigarette and she said yes.
He put the gun on the desk beside her
before going for the cigarettes.

“He asked her why she hadn’t visited
him at the mini-mart. She said she had
but that he was never there when she
went there. Then he asked her to call the
police. By this time the chief of police
had arrived. She saw the chief at the
window and told Simmons and he sur-

rendered,”* concluded the witness.

News of the Russellville slayings
brought'a sense of numbing horror to
the small Arkansas community. But in a
matter of’a few hours, the residents of
Pope County were to learn that much
worse was yet to come. The toll was
about to reach such grisly proportions
that it would rank alongside the most
notorious.mass murders in American
criminal history.

While Simmons was being held on
information filed by Police Chief John-
ston of two counts of capital murder and
four counts of attempted capital murder,
the court machinery arrayed against him
was moving forward. Pope County
Sheriff Jim Bolin said formal charges
would not be filed for at least a couple
of days.

Sheriff Bolin said Simmons would
not talk about any motive in the case.
“The suspect has not muttered a word to
us,” the sheriff reported. ;

Even when Circuit Judge John D.
Patterson asked the suspect whether he
understood his rights, Simmons did not
respond.

Prosecutor John M. Bynum predicted

that Simmons would undergo a 30-day.

psychiatric examination.

Meanwhile, lawmen moved to check
out Simmons’ mobile home in Dover.
Despite the horrors of what they had
seen in Russellville that morning, they
were ill-prepared for what awaited them
now.

As Sheriff Bolin put it, “The gifts
were all out under the tree and packed in
a closet as though they didn’t have a
Christmas at all.”

What Sheriff Bolin was describing
was the ominous silence of the Sim-
mons home—the sense of incipient de-
cay amid the brightly wrapped

-packages. All thoughts of cheer and

goodwill were cruelly. erased from law-
men’s minds. As they moved past the

kitchen stove and saw the assortment of

pots and pans that were to have been
used in the preparation of the holiday
meal, they began to understand the
enormity of ‘what had happened there.

The harrowingly grim forebodings
were more than confirmed by the dis-
covery of five bodies—four adults and
one child—sprawled throughout the
house. All of the adults had died of gun-
shot wounds to the head. Police could
not be sure whether the child had been
shot or strangled.

Nor could they be certain that the two
murdered in Russellville and the five
bodies recovered from Simmons’. house
represented the final victim count.

anger

sseteiteteamininnetscehtaie lies ant naestnsnsedtten.

‘y

They found no tire wrench but in-
Stead a ball-peen hammer. It, too, was
old, its handle worn to satin

“We'll take it along,” Wilcox decided.

tt’s tools are
important. He might like a look at

* WAS late when they got back to
England. Chief Foster was not in his
office nor had Peterson returned. There

And while they were in the city they
could drop the hammer and knife at
Headquarters.

to his
Shared his home he should be on the
highway with a return load picked up at
Shreveport.

A stop order flashed along his route.
He was to be held for questioning. The

her when she t
There was more in the same vein. By
the time Combs finished

went to talk to him.
In those three hours the officers cov-

bars of reticence went down.
“He was a jealous fool,” one man

“He was mean to the kids,” said an-
other. “They were all afraid of him.”
“He sat there in a Tucker beer parlor
all Priday evening and talked about his

= Combs bb others. .

e questi went on for hours
with only a change of scene to break
the tension. As feeling mounted
the jail facilities were deemed inade-
quate and he was removed to Pine Bluff
for safe-keeping.

man blood. Blood of Same type
was found on and knife
though these articles showed signs of

scrubbed recently. And

still Rorie stuck to his declaration of
innocence.

To get through to him it was neces-

: Ts broke the man. Once the emo-
tional

floodgates were open he talked

to be shot for it—and declaring in the
same breath that he had not harmed
her two children.
Peterson regarded him with extreme
. “They're dead, aren’t they, of
the fire you set in their home?” he de-
manded coldly.
“But I didn’t hurt them! I never
touched them!” Rorie repeated. “I was
in Tucker that night. I drank a few

and see Gertrude. I parked the truck
on the Clear Lake Road and walked

er... she fell across e bed. Then
hit her. I don’t know how many

Rorie went that far but he balked at
the last detail. “Go on,” Peterson
prodded

Wife murder, murder while
crime of arson, and

guilty he did not succeed. The trial
continued in spite of his hope that the
judge rather than the jury would fix
his punishment. It took the twelve an
hour and a half to decide and the man
helph ieee a ath wine cae
elpless ea pay

his own life in the electric chair.

As this issue of OFFICIAL DETEC-
thom ie bees £oes to ress, his execu-
tion is being upheld Pending an appeal
to the State Supreme Court.

Noah Combs and Troy Hammett are
fictitious names.

"Stop, You're Killing Me!" (Continued from P age 10) OFICIAL DeTmetitk “Sronues

knew Hattman. He was a roomer at
her home.

“This may come as a shock to you,”
Detert said. “Hattman was found dead
in Cedar Rapids this mo: af
The woman paled. “What did he die

“Killed! Mr. Hattman! But—but

Sums with him when he traveled. It

“He was on the road quite a bit?”
Detert asked.

“Yes. He went to Cedar Rapids fre-
quently. About every month.”

‘ound ‘
Tom Condon sat in his office with his

brother, the mystery appeared to have

deepened rather than lessened.
Detective Condon considered the cu-

rious divergence of their scant lead«

eran, unmarried and he has worked for
the Emerson Company two years,”

“Which tells us very little,” his -

brother commented.
“It also says that ellow-employes

A complete canvass of the hotel,
Kudrna’s report stated. had revact_i

Seems to have. covered everything
there.” ‘

The detective grinned. “Sure, like I
told you. Sit down and let’s talk it all
over. Sometimes a little jawing helps.”

and

drummed
on the desk with his fingers. “Tom, the
more I think about it, the less it looks
like robbery,” he finally declared.

we don’t have proof. The only thing in
our favor is the wrist-watch on Hatt-
man. A genuine crook would never
miss anything like that.”

“But the missing and spec-
tacles cancel that out as far as we can
tell.”

Detective Condon arose and strode
several times up and down the «mall

find out
move now is to pi

would remem

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i ay | i! : BW 5
* 9 Ark, 220 SOUTH WESTERN RE 9 4} iluee
3 ia : Saree ee RORIE v. STATE Ark, 421 = Bi
; : : Cite as 220 S.W.2d 421 é i] ;
ES to husband to show on appeal that pre- Chancellor considered oral testimony, and a : ati
€ onderance of evidence established a result number of d iti On th ti f apr eAces Ate Buren. Aepreet hat veer HBL Se
3 pte : t ve el e ise are Hern ‘ ~ Asis pia RORIE v. STATE. estranged front his wife, Mrs. Gertrude = Hii
¢ Bees tO; GNSS ne “ge men 4 oF * S * Sata é No. 4559. Rorie. On the night of October 8, 1948 ry ii ;
; 3. Divorce =231 : aye ee es : nets gx * Aes - he went to her home when she was alone Jie
z Although court dismissed husband’s “778 the other es ane aus Pe Supreme Court of Arkansas. with her two small children. When she re- Re 2 ig
; divorce suit on ground he was not a bona piety erie os = eee May 9, 1949. fused to become reconciled with him, he

; fide resident of the state either when suit Witness for Joseph: “Mrs. Leo was struck her on the head with a hammer, and

was brought or when decree was rendered,
court had jurisdiction to award maintenance
to wife.

Appeal from Chancery Court, Sebastian
County, Forth Smith District; C. M. Wof-
ford, Chancellor.

Suit by Joseph Leo, Jr., against Annie
Belle Leo for divorce. From orders dis-
missing the complaint and directing plaintiff
to pay maintenance to defendant, plaintiff
appeals.

Aflirmed.

Iranklin Wilder, Fort Smith, for appel-
lant.

lloyd E. Barham, Fort Smith, for appel-
lee.

GRIFFIN SMITH, Chief Justice.

Joseph Leo, Jr., left Glouster, Mass., in
1948, arriving in Fort Smith July 4th. His
suit for divorce was filed 62 days later, al-
leging cruclty, and separation for three
years. The complaint was dismissed De-
cember 21 because the plaintiff was not a
bona fide resident of Arkansas, either when
the suit was brought or when the decree
was rendered. An order was entered di-
recting Joseph to pay his wife, Annie Belle,
$50 per month, less conditional credits, The
appeal questions correctness of each order,

The Chancellor believed that reasonable
inferences arising from the evidence dis-
closed an intent by the plaintiff to utilize
the State’s quick-divorce machinery and
then return East. It is urged, however, that
there was no testimony affirmatively dis-
closing such a purpose. In this respect the
appellant is correct. However, intent, pur-
pose, or design may be reflected by con-
duct more convincing than the spoken
word. Before determining that the plain-
tiff was not a resident of Arkansas, the

cruel. She called him ‘fool’, ‘crazy’, a ‘jerk’,
a ‘dope’, and ‘one damned fool’, She
swore at and cursed him, constantly belit-
tled him, and as a result he suffered a nerv-
ous breakdown in 1943, for which he is
still under medical treatment”.

Witness for Annie Belle: “They used to
visit me about once a week, both before and
after they were married, and appeared to be
swecthearts, and fondly attached to each
other until Joseph ran away, leaving her
‘flat’? in 1945”,

Other testimony was equally contradic-
tory.

[1,2] A plaintiff's veracity may be
judged by depositions procured and used on
his behalf, as well as by testimony given
in open Court. In determining what cred-
it should be given Joseph’s claim that he
came to Arkansas on a doctor’s order,! and
intended to make Ft. Smith his home, the
Chancellor weighed all of the testimony and
reached an appraisement balance against
the plaintiff. Joseph, being before the
Court, and the Chancellor having found
from what he said, the way he said it, and
from the record as a whole, that Joseph
did not intend to become a resident, the
burden then passed to appellan* to show, on
appeal, that a preponderance of the evi-
dence established a result contrary to the
decree; and this he has not done. Cassen
v. Cassen, 211 Ark. 582, 201 S.W.2d 585.

[3] Appellant’s final contention is that
if the trial Court lacked jurisdiction to
grant the divorce, it was without power to
award maintenance. The contrary rule has
been. followed. Mohr v. Mohr, 206 Ark.
1094, 178 S.W.2d 502,

Affirmed.

HOLT, J., did not participate in the con-
sideration or determination of this case.

1A Massachusetts physician testified by
deposition that Joseph Leo suffered from

climate would be beneficial; hence, Ar-
kansas was suggested.

Rehearing Denied June 6; 1949.

1. Criminal law @=980(2)

Where defendant pleaded guilty to
charge of murder in first degree, trial court
properly impaneled a jury to examine the
testimony and find the degree of the crime
and fix the punishment. Ark.Stats. §§ 43-
2152, 43-2153.

2. Criminal law €>1134(1)

On appeal from conviction in capital
cases, Supreme Court considers each as-
signment of error and examines the tran-
script for each objection made by the ap-
pellant. Ark.Stats. § 43-2723.

3. Homicide €=253(1), 347

Evidence sustained conviction for mur-
der in the first degree and justified death
sentence and refusal of Supreme Court to
modify to life imprisonment. Ark.Stats. §
43-2153.

4. Criminal law C=829(1)

In murder prosecution, trial court prop-
erly refused to give requested instructions
which were covered by given instructions.

pay ren

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jefferson
County; T. G. Parham, Judge.

IIarvie Rorie was convicted of murder in
the first degree, and he appeals.

Affirmed.

Lawrence E. Dawson, of Pine Bluff, for
appellant.

Ike Murry, Atty. Gen., and Jeff Duty,
Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

McFADDIN, Justice.

On a plea of guilty, the jury convicted the
appellant of murder in the first degree, and
assessed the death punishment; and_ this
appeal is an effort to obtain a reduction in
the sentence.

either killed her or knocked her uncon-
scious. Then he sprinkled kerosene over
the bed where she and her two sleeping
children were lying. He set fire to the bed
and departed. The children were Frankie
Maupin, aged 11, and Joyce Maupin, aged
9, being stepchildren of appellant. As he
left the premises he heard the children
scream; as he reached his truck a few hun-
dred feet away, he saw the entire house in
flames: but he drove to his home and re-
tired for the night. Mrs. Rorie and her
two children were burned to death. Only
the skulls and bones remained the next
morning after the fire, but these were prop-
erly identified. ;

[1] Appellant was arrested on the morn-
ing of October 9th, He promptly confessed,
and gave the officers his clothes and the
hammer, all of which showed human blood
stains. He identified the container from
which he had poured the kerosene. In
short, his confession was freely made, and
amply corroborated. ~He was tried on an
information which charged him with mur-
der in the first degree for the killing of the
two children, done while he was perpetrat-
ing the crime of arson. Appellant duly en-
tered his plea of guilty, and the Circuit
Court empaneled a jury to examine the
testimony and find the degree of the crime
and fix the punishment. The learned Cir-
cuit Court followed the statutes and our
cases covering such a situation. See sec-
tions 4041-4042, Pope’s Digest, sections 43-
2152. and 43-2153, Ark.Stats. of 1947, and
these cases: Lancaster v. State, 71 Ark.
160, 71 S.W. 251; Wells v. State, 193 Ark.
1092, 104 S.W.2d 451; Ray v. State, 194
Ark. 1155,2 109 S.W.2d 954; Carson v.
State, 198 Ark. 112, 128 S.W.2d 373; and
Jones v. State, 204 Ark. 61, 161 S.W.2d 173.

[2] The cause was tried to the jury
just as though the defendant had pleaded
not guilty. very essential fact of the

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422 Ark. 220 SOUTH WESTERN
crime was established. The jury was in-
structed on the degrees of murder and the
discretion as to the punishment. The ver-
dict is in the form required by law. It
reads:

“We, the jury, find the defendant guilty
of the crime of murder in the first degree
as charged in the information and fix his
punishment at death in the electric chair.”

In capital cases we not only consider each
assignment, but we also examine the tran-
script for each objection made by appellant.
Sce section 4257, Pope’s Digest, section 43-
2723, Ark.Stats. of 1947, and sce also Bates
v. State, 210 Ark. 1014, 198 S.W.2d 850.

[3,4] Afer having studied all of the as-
signments and all of the objections, we
specifically hold:

1. The motion for continuance was
properly refused.

2. There was no error in the Court’s
ruling relative to the opening statement of
the prosecuting attorney.

3. The evidence is sufficient to sustain
the verdict.

4. The trial court ruled correctly on
each of the cight objections relating to the
admissibility of evidence.

5. Each of the nine instructions given
by the Court was correct, and—together
with one unnumbered — instruction—they
covered all phases of the case.

6. The Court ruled correctly in refusing
each of the nine instructions requested by
appellant, since such requested instructions
were cither incorrect, or had been covered
by correct instructions given.

7. In addition, the record reflects that
shortly after the arrest, the trial court on
its own motion had appellant’s sanity as-
certained.

In the brief the attorney for appellant
makes a strenuous argument against capital
punishment. Our statutes, section 4042,
Pope's Digest, sec. 43-2153, Ark.Stats. of
1947, allow the jury to assess the death pen-
alty; and the amending of the statutory
law is a matter for the Legislature, rather
than the Courts.

Finally, appellant’s counsel asks this
Court to “exercise its constitutional power

REPORTER, 2d SERIES

and reduce the death sentence to life im-
prisonment.” Among other cases, we are
cited to Blake v. State, 186 Ark. 77, 52 S.W.
2d 644, in which case this Court modified
the judgment, from the death sentence to
imprisonment. When this Court finds that
the evidence is insufficient to support the
punishment assessed, then we have the pow-
er to modify the punishment. Our cases
clearly reflect, however, that his modifica-
tion is done, not on a basis of judicial
clemency, but only in a case in which the
evidence would not sustain the higher pun-
ishment assessed. In the case at bar we
find the evidence sufficient to support the
jury verdict.

Therefore, the judgment is affirmed.

anmse

HESKETT v. McREE.
No. 4—8859.

Supreme Court of Arkansas,
May 16, 1949.

1. Schools and school districts C=41(2)

The statute providing that consolidated
school district is liable for debts of con-
stituent districts and may be sued therefor
does not require consolidated district to
pay every outstanding warrant issued by
constituent districts, regardless of validity.
7 Ark.Stats. § 80-423.

2. Mandamus C170

County treasurer would not be com-
pelled by mandamus to pay warrants issued
by school district which had gone out of
existence and had become part of consoli-
dated district without giving consolidated
district, out of whose funds the debts of
constituent districts were payable, an op-
portunity to be heard and to present any
valid defenses. 7 Ark.Stats. §§ 80-423,
80-1003, SO- 1004.

—_—_—+—_——_

Appeal from Circuit Court, Phillips
County; D. S. Plummer, Judge.

HINTON v. WILLARD Ark. 423
Cite as 220 S.W.2d 423

Mandamus action by Andy . Heskett
against Bessie McRee, treasurer, Phillips
County. From a judgment denying the
writ, the plaintiff appeals.

Affirmed.

Dinning & Dinning, Helena, for appel-
lant.

C. L. Polk, Jr., Helena, for appellee.

GEORGE ROSE SMITH, Justice.

Appellant brought this action for a writ
of mandamus to compel the county treas-
urer to pay school warrants in the amount
of $180. The appeal is from the trial
court's refusal to grant the relief sought.

These warrants were issued by School
District No. 27 in October and November,
1944, ostensibly in payment for services
performed by Sarah Burton as a school
teacher and by her brother as a janitor.
They were presented to the county super-
intendent for counter-signature as required
by Ark.Stats. (1947), § 80-1004, but for
reasons not disclosed by the record that
official refused to sign them. No further
action appears to have been taken by the
payces until April, 1948, when the appel-
lant, to whom the warrants had been as-
signed for convenience, filed a suit to
compel the superintendent to sign the war-
rants and the county treasurer to pay them.
The court ordered the superintendent’ to
affix his signature but dismissed the action
as to the treasurer, without prejudice.

In obedience to the court’s order the
superintendent counter-signed the instru-
ments. The present suit was then brought.
At the trial it was shown that District No.
27 had gone out of existence in 1947,
having become a part of Consolidated Dis-
trict. No, 2. The appellee defended the
suit on the ground that she had no funds
to the credit of District No. 27 and that
she. was prohibited by Ark.Stats. (1947),

§ 80-1003, from’ paying out of current.

revenues school indebtedness incurred in
an earlier year.

[1,2] We find it unnecessary to decide
these questions, as we have concluded that
the appellee is not the proper defendant.
Although it is provided by Ark.Stats.
(1947), § 80-423, that a consolidated dis-
trict is liable for the debts of its con-

stituent districts, the statute also states that
it may be sued therefor. We do not con-
strue the Act to mean that the new dis-
trict must pay every outstanding warrant
issued by its predecessors, regardless of
validity. It may be that the warrants now
presented are invalid’ for any of several
possible reasons, stich as forgery of the
directors’ signatures, want of considera-
tion, etc. The real party in interest is the
consolidated district, whose funds will be
used to pay the claims. It has not been
made a party to either suit and has had
no opportunity to present its defenses. It
is not unreasonable to assume that its
directors have a reason for failing to set
aside funds for the payment of these
warrants. If there is a valid defense it
would be circumvented if the appellant
were permitted to proceed directly against
the county superintendent and treasurer,
without making the district a party. We
accordingly affirm the action of the trial
court, without prejudice to appellant’s
right to pursue the consolidated district.

° KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

aAnme

HINTON et al. v. WILLARD et al.
(two cases).

Nos. 4—8809, 4—8810.

Supreme Court of Arkansas,
May 2, 1949.

Rehearing Denied June 6, 1949.

1. Judgment €-870(1)

The purpose of revivor of a judgment
by scire facias is to continue the lien of
judgment by holder thereof for amount due,
less credits, and ownership of the judgment
and extent of credits are matters within
scope of defense in such proceeding. 3
Ark.Stats. §§ 29-601 to 29-607. :

2. Judgment C724

Orders in scire facias proceedings re-
viving judgment in names of assignecs
thereof were res judicata on questions as
to ownership of judgment by assignees and

¥Y7IO TOOHDIS

AMSUBMUD oe.

ROSE, Robert, white, 27, elec. Ark. (Independence) February 23, 1956.

he
Independence County

CHRONICLE

P
ep
A
i) D
{fi Dy /

Ringgold House — See Page 3

OCTOBER 1959
Volume I Number 1
Published Quarterly
By
THE INDEPENDENCE COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Batesville . Arkansas

peer owe

gman a = ' 3
4 Ark on April 29, 1911...
Village Ar a) ae #4
o, , —— ed ake Village, is

& wl a ack 4
Ivu it

NEGRO HANGED For ASSAULT.
‘Richard Raffin Pays Penalty * Bea.
fold for Ile Orime,

Bdecial to the Gazetta,

Lake Village, Apri} 20.—TWohard Roa
er @ DOgru, was egally hanged in the
ai

Matthews springing the rap at 9:10 a
™. Kullin was couvicted g

Part of this county, noar Portland, s0me
Mentha singe,

Kuflfin at first admitted hig but
later realizing the Bravity of the crime
and -the Punishment awalting bim, de.

nied’ It, and finally confessed the eatire
| Bffalr. Ne Madea very brief statement
'On the scaffold, alleging that he had
| fully confessed and made his peacs with
thie Creator, after which he pra
ifor quite while, a large dale
‘from the immediate Vielnity 6 the
Crime eame Over, but arrived too late
to witness the execution,

pass through your body currents of electricity of sufficient
voltage, and intensity to cause your death, and that said
currents of electricity be continuously applied to your
body until you are dead, dead, dead; and may the Lord
have mercy on your Soul.”

On February 23rd, 1935, the above sentence of the
Independence Circuit Court was carried out in the death
chamber at Tucker Prison. Fifty one days after Rose shot
and killed Deputy Sheriff Everett Wheeler he paid the
legal penalty by forfeiture of his own life. It is believed
that, that was a record for the narmally slow, legal
process of arrest, trial, and execution of a man for the
murder of another human being. The Arkansas Gazette
at Little Rock commented editorially that this was one
case where justice was surely and swiftly meted out
and suggested that if all other capital crimes were
handled with such speed and certainty of punishment
it might serve as a warning to all “trigger-happy” people.

Those who knew Rose best lived in fear of him.
He was a man to avoid if possible and if not he was to
be obeyed without question. He was a tall, thin man
who wore glasses. But behind those glasses were “killer-
eyes.” I know that many persons believe that such a
thing is merely a figment of the mind, but most law
enforcement officers, at sometime in their career, have
looked into such eyes. I would not describe them as
showing anger or hate, but rather, more resembling the
flat, cold, unworking eyes of a reptile.

Contrary to most murder trials, the Robert Rose
trial was truly the anti-climax of the affair. In contrast
to a number of murder trials in which I have been
assqgciated, on one side or the other, this one was dull

and lacking in the usual drama of such occasions. There |

was no doubt of the defendant’s guilt and the only ques-
tion, in the minds of the state’s attorneys, Roy Richard-
son, prosecuting attorney, Dene H. Coleman, Bates-
ville attorney and myself as deputy prosecuting attorney,
was whether we would be successful in our request to the
jury for the penalty of death.

The electrocution of Robert Rose is the only such
execution that has ever been meted out by a jury in
Independence County.

—36—-

INDEPENDENCE COUNTY MARRIAGE RECORD
1824-28

Robert Ivy and Lucendy Shadden by Richard Peel,
JP, February 12, 1826.

David Canady and Polly Shadden by Richard Peel,
JP, April 5, 1826.

Abraham Creswell and Sarah Graham by John Red-
mon, JP, October 22, 1826

Wm. H. Johnson and Eliza Bean by Richard Peel,
JP, October 19, 1826. ;

Charles Hagerton and Polly Wiseman by David
Litchford, September 14, 1826.

Allen Hulsey and Vicey Tyler by Andrew Boyd,
Methodist Episcopal Church, February 20, 1824.

Robert Bates and Mary Ann Blan by John Redmon,
JP, March 27, 1827

Jeremiah Cromwell and Nancy Davis by Richard
Peel, JP, April 28, 1827.

Gabriel Davis and Tracy Penn by Richard Peel, JP,
April 15, 1827.

Eli Sherill and Nancy Henson by John Redmon, JP,
May 1, 1827.

John Spence and Polly Turpin by John Redmon, JP,
August 30, 1827.

John Cobb and Rebecca Turpin by John Redmon,
JP, October 28, 1827.

Samuel H. Creswell and Louisa G. Lafferty by Hen-
derson L. Lafferty, Preacher of the Gospel, Methodist
Episcopal Church, July 6, 1827.

Samuel R. Henton and Elizabeth Ramsey by John
Redmon, JP, March 11, 1828.

James H. Harris and Miss Ester Ruddell by James
Boswell, JP, July 4, 1828.

John Davis and Elizabeth Sherrill by John Redmon,
JP, September 14, 1828.

Rev. Josephus A. Cromwell and Miss Nancy Hardin
by Jonathan Blan, Minister of the Gospel, November 13,
1828.

Edward Tatom and Lucinda Huddle by Parker Sned-
ecor, Preacher of the Gospel, December 24, 1828.

240 Ark.

purported copy of a conditional sales agree-
ment as of that date in which the Imple-
ment Company purported to retain title to
the combine and the equipment, showing a
balance of $1,854.47.

When the Implement Company filed suit
on January 21, 1953 on the $1,854.47 note
it asked for an attachment against appellees
for the cquipment and the combine. The
sheriff served the attachment and took the
equipment and combine into his possession,
and, under orders of the court, advertised
and sold the same for $405. It is not shown
to whom the sale was made, but the court
did not approve the sale, but ordered the
money paid into court. Later in the trial
of the cause testimony was introduced
showing that, after the suit was filed, appel-
lant took charge of all of the equipment
and the combine prior to the issuance of the
attachment. To corroborate this, there was
introduced into the record a chattel mort-
gage dated May 2, 1953 wherein the com-
bine and equipment were mortgaged to the
Merchants National Bank of Ft. Smith,
said chattel mortgage being signed “D. W.
Lee Implement Company” (by) ‘Juanita
Lee Edwards.” There is, however, nothing
in the record to show what authority Jua-
nita Lee Edwards had to sign the chattel
inortgage.

[1,2] As we view the above factual
situation it appears to us that when the
Implement Company, on December 14, 1951,
together with the appellee partners, exccu-
ted the purported conditional sales contract
the Implement Company had no power to
retain title to the equipment and combine.
It is undisputed that all of the equipment
was paid for in cash and of course the title
passed from the Implement Company to the
partners. The combine had “been bought
some 4 months previously, and the new
note which was executed on December 5,
1951 included the $1000 borrowed moncy.
It is our opinion therefore that said pur-
ported conditional sales contract should be
treated as an equitable mortgage. This
being true it makes little difference in the
result we reach in this case whether or not

291 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

the Implement Company had in fact taken
possession of the equipment and combine
after suit was filed. Morcover, the con-
tention on the part of appellees that the Im-
plement Company took possession of the
equipment and combine is hard to reconcile
with the undisputed fact that the sheriff
levied upon and took possession of same
at a later date.

[3] Treating the Implement Company
as a mortgagee it did not, by taking pos-
session of the equipment and combine,
waive its right to recover on the note, and
it can be charged only with the fair market
value of said equipment and combine. The
situation existing here is parallel to the
situation set forth in the case of Wells v.
Derrick, Ark., 287 S.W.2d 4, 6, where we
quoted with approval: “Where mort-
gagees took possession of mortgaged chat-
tels, but failed to sell them under the power
of sale in the mortgage, they are chargeable
with their market value at the time of their
conversion’ ” “‘“Where the defendant is
a mortgagee, who was entitled to the pos-
session, with power to sell at the time of the
seizure or conversion, and who has become
a wrongdoer by reason of the manner of
acquiring possession, or in the irregularity
of the sale, he is liable to the mortgagor
(in the absence of proof of special dam-
ages) only for the value of the property at
the time of the conversion, less the amount
of mortgage debt.”’” There is no proof
in this record of any special damages.

Upon remand, the trial court is directed
to enter judgment against Andrew Erick-
son, Ben George, and Ray Brown for the
full amount of the note sued on plus inter-
est, and the said appellees to be given their
option of crediting against said judgment
the amount of $405 [the proceeds of the
sale] or to have another sale and credit
the proceeds thereof against said judgment,
or the privilege of retaining said equipment
and combine and paying the full atnount
of the judgment.

Reversed and remanded for further pro-
cedure in accordance with the conclusions
above set out.

Ark. - 241

Cite as 291 S.W.2d 241

Leo SCARBER, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.
No. 4834.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.
June 4, 1956.
Rehearing Denied July 2, 1956.

Defendant was convicted in the Cir-
cuit Court of Nevada County, Lyle Brown,
J., of rape with imposition of death penalty,
and ,he appealed. The Supreme Court,
Millwee, J.,, held that court properly in-
structed jury and replied to juror’s inquiry
with respect to imposition of death penalty.

Affirmed.

1. Rape €=51(1)

Evidence sustained conviction of rape
with death penalty.

2. Criminal Law @>1038(!)

A judgment will not be reversed, even
in a capital case, for an erroneous instruc-
tion which was not objected to in trial
court.

3. Criminal Law €=1172(7)

Defendant could not complain of er-
ror in instruction where it placed a greater
burden on the state than it was required to
assume under the law, by authorizing jury
to fix death penalty only if they found be-
yond a_ reasonable doubt that defendant
should receive such punishment.

4. Criminal Law €=863(2)

In rape prosecution, where juror in-
quired whether there was any way of
assuring that life sentence would be served
if assessed, or whether defendant might
“stay up there awhile and get out,” court’s
reply that matters of clemency were strict-
ly within power of executive and, should
hot enter into jury’s final decision was
adequate.

291 S.W.2d—16

5. Rape €=59(20)

In rape prosecution, instruction on as-
sault with intent to rape was unnecessary
Where facts establishing the principal
offense could not be interpreted as proving
the lesser offense instead.

6. Jury €=29(2)

A jury may not be waived where the
death penalty may be imposed, and it was
mandatory that court impanel jury to fix

punishment in rape prosecution. Ark.Stats.

§§ 41-3403, 43-2153.

7. Criminal Law €=1115(2)

Where record affirmatively showed that
jury “were duly qualified, accepted and
sworn,” objection that jury and officers
were not properly sworn could not be sus-
tained. Ark.Stats. §§ 43-2121, 43-2122.

8. Criminal Law €=854(2)

Permitting jury to separate for five
minutes prior to submission of the case to
them, after giving of statutory admonition,

_was not an abuse of discretion in absence of

showing of any improper influence exer-
cised during the recess.

9. Criminal Law ¢=1039

Assignment of error as to exercise of
‘discretion in permitting jury to separate
temporarily cannot be considered on appeal
in absence of objection in trial court.

—_—_—————

Harry C. Robinson and Gordon H. Sul-
livan, Little Rock, for appellant.

’ Tom Gentry, Atty. Gen., Thorp Thomas,
Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee. :

MILLWEE, Justice.

This appeal is from a judgment entered
upon a verdict imposing the death penalty
against appellant, following his plea of
guilty to the crime of rape.

The offense occurred in the early morn-
ing hours of August 29, 1955. The prose-
cutrix, a 76-year-old woman, lived alone

£-IVERSITY
RGHROL AE

942 Ark. 291 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

in the Willisville community in Nevada
County. Appellant entered the home by
removing a screen from the back door.
After grabbing the prosecutrix by the
throat, beating her about the face and
threatening to kill her, appellant proceeded
to satiate his lust by ravishing her. A
‘deputy sheriff tracked appellant to a barn
where he was taken into custody.

Appellant was charged with rape and
committed to the State Hospital for exam-
ination as to his sanity, and on October 3,
1955, hospital authorities reported that he
was without psychosis. After a thorough
investigation of the case by able local coun-
sel appointed to defend the appellant, a plea
of guilty to the charge was entered on Oc-
tober 17, 1955. A hearing before a jury
impaneled to fix the punishment on October
24, 1955 resulted in a verdict of guilty and
assessment of the death penalty.

[1] The first three assignments in the
motion for new trial filed by counsel em-
ployed since the hearing challenge the
sufficiency of the evidence to support the
verdict. Aside from the plea of guilty,
which is equivalent to a conviction, State v.
Wright, 96 Ark. 203, 131 S.W. 688, there
is ample independent, uncontradicted evi-
dence to sustain the verdict.

(2,3] Appellant next contends the court
erred in failing to instruct the jury as to its
power to fix the punishment at life im-
prisonment or death, There was no objec-
tion to the instructions given prior to sub-
mission of the case to the jury. In these
instructions the court made it clear that it
was within the jury’s province to impose
cither life imprisonment or the death
penalty. In this connection it is also argued
that the court erred in telling the jury that
they could fix the penalty at death only in
the event they found “beyond a reasonable
doubt” that appellant should reccive such
punishment. Not only did appellant_fail
to object to the instruction given but his
request that it be amended to fully define
“reasonable doubt” was granted. A judg-
ment will not be reversed, even in a capital
cuse, for the giving of an erroneous instruc-
tion which was not objected to in the trial

court. Johnson v. State, 127 Ark. 516, 192
S.W. 895. Even if there had been a proper
objection, appellant could not complain of
an error that placed a greater burden on the
state than it was required to assume under
the law.

[4] After a period of deliberation, the
jury returned into open court and one of
the jurors inquired whether there was any
way that body could be assured that a life
sentence would be served if assessed, or
whether appellant might “stay up there a
while and get out.” In reply, the court
stated that matters of clemency were strict-
ly within the power of the executive de-
partment and that such matters should not
eter into the jury’s final decision which
should be based solely on the evidence and
the law given them by the court. Appellant
objected on the ground that “the court
should have instructed the jury to deter-
mine the penalty involved and not to Con-
sider any clemency matter which was out-
side of their scope and should have given
this as a direct order rather than in the
ambiguous method used.” We find no am-
biguity in the court's reply which clearly
and correctly answered the juror’s query.
See Glover v. State, 211 Ark. 1002, 204
S.W.2d 373.

[5] Appellant also contends that the
jury should have been allowed to consider
the charge of assault with intent to rape.
No request was made for an instruction on
this issue and there is no assignment in the
motion for new trial based thereon. Even
in cases which do not involve a plea of
guilty, we have held that such an instruc-
tion is unnecessary when the facts estab-
lishing the principal offense cannot be inter-
preted as proving the Icsser offense instead.
Whittaker v. State, 171 Ark. 762, 286 S.W.
937; Needham v. State, 215 Ark. 935, 224
S.W.2d 785. That is the situation here and
this contention is without merit.

[6] Appellant also assigns error in the
court’s action in impancling a jury to fix
the punishment. While Ark.Stats. § 43-
2153 did not repeal the old statute, Ark.
Stats. § 41-3403, fixing the penalty for rape

MORRISON v. BLAND ee Ark. 243
Cite as 291 S.W.2d 243

at death, it empowered the jury to reduce
the punishment to life imprisonment. Alli-
son v. State, 204 Ark. 609, 164 S.W.2d
442. A jury may not be waived in a case
where the death penalty may be imposed and
it was mandatory that the court impanel a
jury to fix the punishment under Ark.
Stats. 43-2108. Carson v. State, 198 Ark.
112; 128 S.W.2d 373.

[7,8] Appellant finally contends for re-
versal on the ground that the record does
not affirmatively show that the jury and
officers in charge of the jury were sworn
in accordance with Ark.Stats. §§ 43-2121
and 43-2122. The record does affirmatively
show that the jury “were duly qualified,
accepted and sworn” to try the case. Un-
der this state of the record an objection
that the jury was not properly sworn can-
not be sustained. Pruitt v. State, Ark., 11
S.W. 822. Prior to submission of the case
to the jury it was within the court’s discre-
tion under section 43-2121 either to permit
the jury to separate after proper admonition
or to be kept together in charge of an
officer who was properly sworn. In the case
at bar, the record affirmatively shows that
the “statutory admonition” was given to the
jury upon being permitted to separate for
a five-minute recess prior to submission o
the case to them. There is nothing to indi-
cate any abuse of the court’s discretion in
permitting the jury to so separate instead
of requiring that they be kept together in
charge of an officer. Appellant made no
objection to the separation of the jury or
the admonition given and there is no as-
signment in the motion for new trial re-
lating thereto.

[9] In the recent case of Baxter v.
State, Ark.1955, 281 S.W.2d 931, relied on
by appellant, there was a reversal because
the record did not show that the officer con-
ducting the jury to the scene of the crime
had been sworn in compliance with Ark,
Stats. § 43-2120. That holding is inappli-
cable here. As the majority pointed out in
that case, it was within the court’s discre-
tion under section 43-2121, supra, to permit
the jurors to separate under proper admoni-
tion by the court or to require them to be

kept together in the charge of officers
properly sworn. In cases where the court’s
action in exercising its discretion under the
statute is properly brought forward in the
motion for a new trial, such assignment
cannot be considered on appeal in the ab-
sence of an objection in the trial court.
Lesicurs v. State, 170 Ark. 560, 280 S.W.
9, Further, there is no contention that the
jurors. were subjected to improper in-
fluences during the five-minute recess and
no abuse of the court’s discretion has been
shown. Under these circumstances, no er-
ror was committed in permitting them to
separate after being given the statutory
admonition. Borland v. State, 158 Ark. 37,
249 S.W. 591.

We find no prejudicial error and the
judgment is affirmed.

ROBINSON, J., not participating.

Byrd MORRISON, dolng business as Byrd
Morrison Lumber-Company, Appellant,

v.
Robert P. BLAND et al., Appellees.
. No. 5-967.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.
June 4, 1956.
Rehearing Denied July 2, 1956.

Action for price of lumber and for
foreclosure of lien against property on
which lumber was used. The Chancery
Court, Greene County, W. Leon Smith,
Chancellor, rendered judgment for defend-
ants, and plaintiff appealed. The Supreme
Court, Robinson, J., held that buyer, who
had paid ostensible seller, was not liable
on any contract, or on a quantum meruit
basis, to third party (subsequently contact-
ed by ostensible seller) who agreed with
ostensible seller to furnish material and pay

#9
oN

QSITY

nques-
e that
Leslie,
! made
red re-
arison.
irinals,

trial,
plea to
ntenced
here he

find out
tloating
‘ice that

could be
iviction,
ted. Re-
arty di-
him in
as SOOR
Deputy
intment.
. former
rying to
etective.
eil, who
-e of Ak-
ie in her
d Alvin

iY.

ized the
ster, got
) for the
ig. They
she con-
crt De-
house at
y imme-

home at
on. They
and his
and de-
:30 a.m.
id of the
st in the

Y flooded
iesitated.
e wire in
Colley’s,
uch they

ud of the
ured into
s of the

o lenger,
unt of the
rgery af-
s, and the-
i Colley.

d that At-
‘aucher in
1, and that
had hired
lice of the

er quietly,
in the rob-
mistaken,

Mark Smith and Mark Shank are one
and the same. And I’m guessing that
we’re going to hold Shank as the mur-
derer... !” ,

Meanwhile, even as the connection
was being put over the thousand miles
of copper wire, Deputy Godwin and his
bloodhounds were closing in on the fugi-
tive. He was traced half a mile from
the highway to the home of a Mrs. Sims,
where he procured a drink of water. A
quarter of a mile further on, the
stranger halted at a farm to inquire the
way to Benton.

The man’s clothes were torn and he
was limping badly then. As the fugi-
tive was inquiring, the baying of the
dog could be heard in the distance.
With the first faint yelp, the stranger
hastily departed, stumbling off into the
darkness. Deputy Godwin is a woods-
man, his quarry was not. The deputy
could see, as he closed in, where some
tenderfoot had blundered into tree
trunks and rocks—sometimes being vio-
lently tripped and thrown—then rising
and forging ahead once more.

Suddenly the hound’s hair bristled,
he emitted a savage growl and almost
tore the leash from Deputy Godwin’s
hands as he lunged into a thicket.

“For God’s sake, call the dog off,”
shrieked a voice. A tall, tattered figure
crawled out of the underbrush and
threw himself face down on the turf,
clutching at the officer’s ankle. Deputy
Godwin muzzled his dog, slipped the
bracelets on his prisoner and took him
into Malvern. |

An ugly, menacing crowd surrounded
the jail as soon as news of the fugitive’s
capture leaked out. Inside, the prisoner
looked out from the steeMbarred win-
dows and shuddered as the howls and
threats of the increasing crowd outside
became louder and more demanding.

“Ready to talk now?” Akers asked
quietly.

The man, who up to now had refused
to reveal even his name, took one last
look out of the window at the mad, mill-
ing mob. Fury was mounting higher
and higher out there. Any moment it
might break the straps of reason and
flame into the uncontrollable hysteria of
lynching.

“Get me out of here,” he pleaded sud-
denly as he whirled away from the win-
dow. “I'll tell you what you want to
know.”

Minutes later, in the presence of a
stenographer in Malvern jail, Uncle
Mark, or M. Smith—-who admitted he
was Attorney Mark Shank, in Ohio—
confessed to the murders. He was
rushed out of the back entrance into a
closed automobile and started, under
heavy guard, for a stronger prison at
Hot Springs.

En route, Attorney Shank took the
officers over the same roads on which he
led the Colleys to their death. It hadn’t
taken Shank’and the Colleys long to
leave civilization behind there in the
Ozarks. At a crossroads store operated
by Mrs. Mary Brown, Shank purchased
some sandwiches, two watermelons, and
a jug of grape juice. He inquired for a
nice quiet, wooded spot to eat and was
directed down a side road. The cross-
roads -store was about six miles from
Malvern. Shank led the officers down a
back road, a quarter of a mile from the
store, thence down a little-used lane for
a mile and stopped as headlights of the
officers’ car singled ‘out half'a dozen
newspapers on the ground under the
trees,

“Here it is,” shouted Shank, and the
party alighted from the cruiser. At
that stage, Mark Shank became actor

and director of his own drama, pointing
out the various events that led up to the
climax.

“Here is where we parked the road-
ster,” said Shank, borrowing a flash-
light from an officer to single out the
tracks, about 15 feet from the newspa-
pers on the ground.

“Mrs. Colley spread out the lunch
there. I went around to the opposite
side of the car and emptied the grape
juice from the jug into the stewer. I
told Colley we would have to get some
water to thin out the grape juice so
there would be enough for all. A farm
boy came along just then, and he volun-
teered to direct us to a spring. I handed
the jug to Colley, and told him to go
with the boy.”

While Mrs. Colley and the children
were busy on the other side of their ma-
chine, Shank sat down on the running
board and emptied grape juice into five
paper outs and a china cup. Then he
pat strychnine in the paper cups. He

ept the china cup for himself. Shank
was taking no chances of getting hold
of the wrong cup when dinner was
called.

The actor wanted his audience to
know that he had done his part as well
as he could. The poisoner has always
been an egotist. He pursues his method
with consummate cunning. His move-
ments are as sly as the feline’s, his aim
swift and sure. If he has made slips,
the blunders have generally been com-
mitted after accomplishment of the plot.
So it was in this case. Shank could not
foresee that one of the children would
consume so little strychnine that he
would have a stomach ache; that when
he did, his father would insist on rush-
ing to a doctor; or that on that trip, a
carload of detectives would be encoun-
tered.

“I walked around this way,” con-
tinued Shank, rounding the spot where
the leaking radiator of the roadster had
spilled part of its contents. “I gave a
paper cup to each member of the Colley
family. They all drank it.” -

Shank needed no typewritten lines
from which to take his cue. He would
never forget that within three minutes
little Clyde Colley was writhing in
agony. Nor did Shank require any pre-
pared directions to lead him to where
nature had come to the rescue of the
baby and discharged part of the nause-
ating matter from the child’s stomach.

“It was then,” the actor said, his eyes
on the ground, “that little Clyde began
to scream. I remarked that he must
have the tummy ache. The screams be-
came louder and more agonized.”’ .

Then Colley had shouted that he was
going to take Clyde to a doctor. Shank
tried to dissuade them. He was playing
for time. He wanted them all to die
there in that lonely spot, so he could
strip their bodies of all marks of iden-
tity and escape in the Colley machine.

But Colley was adamant. Perhaps
he was a bit suspicious. Maybe his own
stomach was beginning to feel queer.
Colley put the two older boys in the
rumble seat, placed the screaming child
in his wife’s lap next to him and took
the wheel. Shank climbed on the left
running board. Perhaps all was. not
lost. Colley might die at the wheel. He
would be in a position to grab the wheel
and salvage the roadster. It was then
the car swung out of the woods on its
grim journey of death.

It was all the officers could do there
in the woods to restrain their feelings
toward the poisoner as their lights
weaved about the remains of the picnic
lunch. Flies that had buzzed about the

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paper cups and sampled the contents
had dropped into the dregs. There were
no deadgflies in the china cup.

ChiefeAkers gathered up the six cups
and contents intact, flies and all, and
stored them away in a grip for evidence.
Then he pushed the murderer into the
cruiser and the party continued. to Hot
Springs. Akers determined that Saline
County, of which Benton is the county
seat, would have jurisdiction over the
crime. The lawyer administered the
poison in that county, although the vic-
tims died in Hot Springs, and the poi-
soner jumped from the car in the latter
county.

t Hot SprInGs that night Attorney
Shank signed a written confession

of the four murders in the presence of
Chief Akers; Chief of Police Joe Wake-

lin, and Detectives Charles Buckalew

and Cecil Brock of the Hot Springs po-
lice department; Congressman D. D.
Glover and his son, City Attorney Glo-
ver of Malvern; V. A. Rucker, sheriff
of Saline County, and D. M. Halbert,
prosecuting attorney of the Seventh
Arkansas Judicial District, of which
Saline County is a part.

Shank said that when he heard a war-
rant was out for Colley for burglarizing
the prosecutor’s office, he became
alarmed. .He had worked his way
through Ohio Northern University,
tod gy along in the practice of law
until he became a magistrate in Ken-
more, then a suburb of Akron, and in-
tended to’run for judge in the Fall. He
had put Colley up to the burglary, and
he was afraid Colley would ‘“‘peach” on
him if the officers ever got their hands
on him. Shank visualized his whole fu-
ture crashing down about his ears.

So he determined to get the Colleys
out of Ohio. He told Alvin Colley of an
opportunity to get rich out west. He
bundled the family into a roadster he
had purchased for them, and went along
in his own coupe. Mrs. Elsie May Fox,
mother of Mrs. Colley, accompanied the
party. The two cars drove all of July
25th, and all night, arriving at Nash-
ville the next morning. Shank remained
there with the Colleys for several days,
putting them up in a tourist camp.

What should he do now? For several
dave, Shank could not decide.

~~ T he made up his mind. He
bestowed the name of Roy Fetty on
Colley, gave him 25 dollars, and told
him to go on to Hot Springs, notify him
of his address, and await a letter which
he would sign M. Smith. He was even
careful to adopt for himself a pseudo-
nym that would chime with his laundry
marks. Then Shank started back to
Ohio with Mrs. Fox.

It was arranged that if Mrs. Colley
wanted to write to her mother, she
should enclose the letter in an envelope
and mail it to Shank, who would for-
ward it from his law office at the cor-
ner of Kenmore Boulevard and Thir-
teenth Street in Akron. Mrs. Fox was
to transmit letters to her daughter in
the same manner.

When he reached Ohio, Attorney
Shank took Mrs. Fox, who had been
living with the Colleys in Akron, to the
home of relatives in another county.
The lawyer forwarded ome. another
25 dollars, and then six dolla
with the letter found on Mrs. Colley. It
was after writing the last letter that he
decided to wipe out the family, and made
his departure for Hot Springs by bus.

Mrs. Geraldine Shank collapsed in the
palatial Shank home on a ten-acre es-
tate on Manchester Road, near Lock-
wood Corners, when informed of the

rs more.

murders and her husband’s confession.
It was difficult for friends of the thin,
bespectacled lawyer in Ohio to believe
the story. They knew him as a past
president of the Kiwanis Club, a suc-
cessful lawyer, a good mixer, a man
with a brilliant future.

His wife promptly sacrificed their
home to obtain funds, and went to Ben-
ton, Arkansas, to be near her husband.
The grand jury, on September 5th, in-
dicted Shank on four counts of murder,
with one count of attempted murder in

‘the case of Clyde Colley. The child

lived, and scores of persons in Arkansas
wanted to adopt him, but he was brought
back home to ‘his maternal grandmother.

In preparing for the trial, officials
learned where Shank had purchased the
strychnine—at a drug store next door
to his law office on Kenmore Boulevard.
He bought 120 grains, telling Milton E.
Bright, the pharmacist, he intended to
use it to kill rats. Cleverly he engaged
Bright in conversation so long that the
pharmacist neglected to have the law-
yer sign the poison register.

| Zpsuegieeenis HIS ARRAIGNMENT at Ben-
ton, Shank was hustled to the es-
cape-proof jail at Little Rock. Deputies,
with revolvers in their hands, had to
force their way through a milling, tur-
bulent crowd of more than 200 persons
to take him to an automobile.

Injuries to his right kneecap and body
while fleeing through the woods were
still bothering the attorney. Despite
the fact that there were reliable wit-
nesses present when Shank dictated his
confession, and signed, it, he claimed
that it was forced from him.

“They beat me, kicked me, shot at my
feet and even threatened to kill me,”
Shank sobbed. Chief of Police Wakelin
denied that Shank had come. to physical
harm at his hands, or that the confes-
sion had been forced.

He was returned to Benton for trial
on November 27th, 1933, before Circuit
Judge Thomas E. Toler. Prosecutor
Critchfield was there to assist Pros-
ecutor Halbert in the case. ;

The crowd around the courthouse in
that town of 1500 people was much
greater than the population of the town
itself.. Spectators began arriving at
daylight in buggies, wagons, miscella-
neous conveyances and on foot.

Shank maintained a pose of apathy,
resting his head now on the shoulder. of
his wife, and then on the trial table.
Mrs. Shank was observed several times
writing notes and passing them to de-
fense lawyers during the questioning of
witnesses.

Nathan McDaniel, chief counsel for
Shank, promised the jury in his opening
statement that he would prove the de-
fendant was “hopelessly insane.”

Critchfield was placed on the witness
stand to tell of the close relationship
between Colley and Shank and the bur-
glarizing of his office by Colley of pa-
pers relating to the Braucher forgery
case. He was permitted to relate the
statements of Peggy O’Neil and De-
Veaux that Colley had told them Shank
was implicated in the robbery. Thus a
motive was established for the wiping
out of the Colley family, or rather, the
murder of four members, as little Clyde
had by that time fully recovered his
health.

Late on the night of December 1,
1933, the jury ordered the death penalty.
It had deliberated nine hours. Shank

. evinced little concern. He was still in

the same apparent stupor that marked
his ert throughout the trial.
Mrs. ank collapsed and was carried

from

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“ak

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of Alvin Colley?” came floating over the
wire.

Miss Wolf hesitated. Colley—Colley.
Alvin Colley. She ran the name over
her tongue questioningly. Suddenly it
came to her in a rushing flood of mem-

ory...

5 bow MORNING of May 18, 1933, Pros-
ecutor Critchfield had arrived at his
law office on Liberty Street, in Wooster,
Ohio, to discover that it had been broken
open and entered during the night.

The office was on the second floor, two
casement windows opening onto a slop-
ing roof in the rear. One of these had
been jimmied. There were fingerprints
on one of the metal file cabinets but as
far as Miss Wolf and he could see, noth-
ing had been taken.

Clients began to drop in, and it wasn’t
until noon that the prosecutor thought
of the matter again. At that time, the
youss. partner of Attorney Mark Shank,
of Akron, called to discuss a forgery
case set for trial on May 23, five days
away. Critchfield had agreed to turn
the forged documents in the case over to
defense counsel for inspection.

The Wayne County grand jury had
indicted Kenneth Braucher for forgery,
and Braucher had retained Shank to
represent him. It was << to the pros-
ecutor’s office to prove that Braucher
had forged a receipt of $275, signing the
name of W. M. Coffman, to whom
Braucher had given a note for that sum.

The receipt read:
August 28, 1931

Received from Kenneth Braucher,

Two Hundred Seventy Five Dol-

lars, paid on loan of note, $275.00.

Have laid note away and cannot

find it, and will return when found.

W. M. Coffman

After Coffman’s death, his admin-
istrator: discovered the note, found no
evidence of payment, and_ filed suit
against Braucher for the face of the
note, plus interest. At the hearing, At-
torney Shank produced the receipt and
eleven cancelled checks as standards of
comparison, all purporting to bear Coff-
man’s signature. A judgment was ren-
dered against Braucher, and at the con-
clusion of his trial he was arrested on a
charge of forgery. Critchfield had a
suspicion then that Shank, rather than
Braucher, had committed the forgeries.

So when Shank’s partner brought up
the Braucher case that morning, he
asked Miss Wolf to bring in the manila
envelope containing the file. To his sur-
prise, the envelope was empty. There
were rather plain fingerprints on it, and
even to his unpracticed eye it was ap-
ere they were made by the same

and that left the prints on the file case.
So, he mused, the motive for entering
his office was solved.

He explained to Shank’s ogy that
the evidence against Braucher had dis-
appeared.

“Well, then, I suppose the trial will be
indefinitely postponed?” queried the Ak-
ron lawyer.

“No, I'll be ready for trial Monday,
as per schedule,” Critchfield smiled.

At the trial, Attorney Shank did not
appear to defend his client, but sent his

PICNIC MASSACRE

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 65)

partner, a young lawyer of unques-
tioned integrity, with the message that
he was ill. Fortunately, Scott E. Leslie,
Cleveland handwriting expert, had made
photostatic copies of the questioned re-
ceipt and standards of comparison.
These, in lieu of the stolen originals,
were introduced as evidence.

On the third day of the trial,
Braucher suddenly changed his plea to
guilty. Judge Walter Mougey sentenced
him to the Ohio Penitentiary, where he
served 15 months.

Following the Braucher trial, almost
two months sped past. Then, at 2
o'clock on the morning of July 25
Critchfield was called out of bed by a
long distance call from Akron.

“How much will you give to find out
who robbed your office?” came floating
over the wire in a masculine voice that
he did not recognize.

He replied that if evidence could be
produced that would obtain a conviction,
the services-would be compensated. Re-
fusing to give his name, the party di-
rected the prosecutor to meet him in
front of an Akron drug store as soon
as possible. Critchfield and Deputy
Sheriff Ed Mills kept the appointment.

The informant proved to be a former
Barberton policeman who was trying to
= established as a private detective.

e told them that Peggy O’Neil, who
operated a roadhouse on the edge of Ak-
ron, was telling of a boast made in her
place by. an Akron chap named Alvin
Colley of his ability as a burglar.

“Why, I’m so good I burglarized the
prosecutor’s office down in Wooster, got
away with it, and was paid $500 for the
job,” Colley was quoted as saying. They

ooked up Miss O’Neil, and she con-
firmed e story; so did Robert De-
Veaux, a customer in the roadhouse at
the time.

They decided to arrest Colle imme-
diately and proceeded to his home at
1188 Sherman Avenue, in Akron. They
missed him by an hour. He and his
family had packed up hastily and de-

arted in their roadster at 6:30 a.m.

omchow Colley had caught wind of the
spreading of his drunken boast in the
roadhouse.

8 THE ENTIRE CASE HISTORY flooded

her memory, Miss Wolf hesitated.
The man on the other end of the wire in
Arkansas might be a friend of Colley’s,
and trying to discover how much they
knew about the Colley affair.

Chief Akers on the other end of the
wire grew impatient. He poured into
her ears the horrible details of the
family massacre.

Quickly then, hesitating no lenger,
she gave him a rapid-fire account of the
events connected with the forgery af-
fair, the robbery of the fil
connection between Shank and Colley.

Confidentially, she explained that At-
torney Shank represented Braucher in
their forgery case against him, and that

' believed Mark Shank had_ hired
Colley to burglarize their office of the
evidence against him.

“Well,” Chief Akers told her uietly,
“J doubt whether you'll ever pin the rob-

bery on Shank. Unless I’m mistaken, «

es, and the:

Mark
and t}
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derer.

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: 6th, in-
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to physical
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efore Circuit

Prosecutor
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courthouse in
ie was much
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arriving at
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se of apathy,
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ef counsel for
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ak and the bur-
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raucher forgery
ed to relate the
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told them Shank
robbery. Thus @
i for the wiping
ly, or rather, the
4s, a8 little Clyde
‘iy recovered his

of December 1,
the death penalty.
ne hours. Shank

He was still in
upor that marked
aghout the trial.

and was carried

from the courtroom to her hotel on a
stretcher.

He was sentenced to die on February
2, 1934. For more than a year his at-
torneys attempted to save him. Losing
in Arkansas Supreme, Court, they car-

ried the fight to Federal court, hoping’

to force a sanity hearing. Early in
March, 1935, defense counsel announced
that they were withdrawing their Fed-
eral court action, and.would go direct to
the United States Supreme Court for a
writ ordering the sanity tests.

After the Federal court action was
withdrawn, Governor J. M. Futrell sur-
prised Shank’s lawyers by setting the
electrocution for just three days ahead.
Defense counsel immediately issued a
statement, deploring the governor’s
speedy action and announcing that in-
sufficient time remained to carry the
case to the United States Supreme
Court. ,

As he set the hour of death at_dawn
on March 8, 1935, Governor Futrell
telephoned Mrs. Shank that he would
grant a further short reprieve if she
wished to see her husband once more
alive. Mrs. Shank rushed to Attorney
Blake Cook, of Kent. Cook wired the
Arkansas executive that Mrs. Shank
was too ill to make the trip. He pleaded
for delay, however, saying that six Ohio
physicians would testify that Shank
was insane.

Governor Futrell replied “that two
Arkansas doctors already had declared
the doomed man sane, and proceeded

with plans for the execution, On March
7th, Shank quit his cot in the con-
demned cell at the prison farm near
Tucker, and donned his clothes for the
first time in sixth months. He shook off
a year-long stupor, called for a priest,
later asked for a table and sat writing
for several hours.

“You have some message to give out,
an announcement?” asked Prison Su-
perintendent S. L. Todhunter on his
daily visit.

“No,” said Shank. “I'll do my talk-
ing to the priest.”

At sunup the next day he was taken
half a mile across the penal farm to a
small frame structure pepe Bo the iso-
lated electric chair, and instruments
that had never before taken the life of
a white man.

Stepping from his last dawn into
artificial light, Shank paused on the
threshold of the death chamber to mum-
ble a prayer. Then he sat down in the
electric chair, friendless and alone, and
died.

No clearer trail of the road to Hell
exists than Shank’s career. It started
with a small lie in the Braucher case.
To cover the lie, he stooped to forgery.
To cover the forgery, he resorted to rob-
bery. To hide the robbery, he com-
mitted murder. A trail to its inevitable
end—the electric chair.

All his widow has left of the property
she and her husband once owned is an
old bull dog.

R
D

with the crime even remotely.”

Several hours later, Dr. Snow tele-
phoned. The body had been remove
“and an autopsy performed.

“Definitely murder,’ he reported.
“Death was caused by a fractured skull.
There are 18 head wounds, also a leg
bruise.”

“How long after she was struck did
she live?” the detective asked.

“She might have lived five minutes or
an hour,” the coroner informed him.
“I’d place the time of death as some-
time between 8 o’clock yesterday after-
noon and midnight.”

Griffin recalled the bottle of frozen
milk. Richard Noyes, Newbury milk-
man, said he left the bottle at 6:30
Tuesday morning.

“Was Miss Cook around?” he was
asked.

“T can’t say as she was,” Noyes told
Griffin. “I’m usually there about the
same time, and Miss Cook generally is
up, but I didn't see her on this de-
livery.”

“Was the back door locked?”

“No, sir, it wasn’t. She most always
opens the door when she gets up, and I
put the milk inside.”

At Griffin’s request, Sullivan sent a
patrolman to Edward Dow’s home to
bring him to headquarters.

Dow, a clean-cut, bright-eyed boy of
13, entered. He stood on one foot, then

au:

on the other, fidgeted with his sweater
and appeared awed by the novelty of
being summoned by the police officials.

“Come in and sit down, Edward,”
Griffin invited him. “Don’t be nervous.
We aren’t going to hurt you. We only

SPINSTER’S HOARD

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25)

want some help and we hope you can
give it to us,

“We understand you worked for Miss
Cook at times,” he continued. “When
did you see her last?”

“T saw her Monday afternoon.”

“What time Monday afternoon?”

“T guess it was about 5 o’clock, may-
be half-past five.”

“What were you doing there?”

“I came over to ask if I could cut her
grass or something. I do some odd jobs
for her once in a while. She isn’t over-
strong and needs help once in a while.
So I thought I’d see if there was some-
thing I could do. She said there wasn’t
any work, so I stayed around a few
minutes and played with her cats and
then I realized it was getting late so
I said goodbye and started for home
and supper. On the way home I met
some of the fellows and we chewed the
rag a little. Then I went home.”

Griffin patted him on the back and
asked, “Did you see anybody coming
near the house as you left? Any strang-
ers, or anyone else?”

The boy paused, as though trying to
recall. Then, he answered, “No, I can’t
say as I did.”

“Okay, son,” Griffin told him. “You’ve
been a help, and we may want to eall
on you again.”

OMEHOW, WORD GOT AROUND, as it is
bound to in a town as small as
Newburyport, that young Dow had been
questioned by the_ police. Over back
fences, women talked about the case.
There were whispers.
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saw.”
y now
m Hot
vns, as
| were
When
greatly
lendid
» had
adster,

where
ment,

the

for a

ip the
loudly
e fields.

cures, the
searchers
timber

a curve, |
, atal picnic

"came all the way down here to warn
him and give him legal advice," said
man (seated above, with Supt. Stedman)

"| told papa and mama not to drink
it," said little Clyde Colley “above

Ranging ourselves in open order, with
Sheriff Fisher and myself as leaders, we
followed her over fences and through
pastures. She led us straight for a big
patch of timber.

“Our man will be hiding in those
trees,” I said confidently.

Eagerly the possemen spread out and
encircled the patch of trees.. After a
couple of minutes, we heard Donnie bay-
ing triumphantly.

“She’s found him,” I yelled to my com-
panions. “Close in, quick!”

They passed the word along. We con-
verged on the central ‘clearing from
which Donnie’s barking came. There,
in the green brush, lay a man—a tall,
thin man, face down and motionless, his
head in his arms. Donnie stood proudly
over him.

I approached the prone figure. “Get
up,” I ordered, and he rose. - His clothes
—they were good clothes—were torn,
and his forehead was skinned and
bloody. He was slim, and his lean,
seamed face was not bad looking. His
exceptionally large, dark eyes had a
direct expression.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

He only looked at me, as if dazed.

“Answer me,” I commanded sharply;
but still he was silent. .I-wondered if
he was suffering from shock or was only
shamming.

“He’s our man,” I said confidently.
“Probably he barked his forehead and
tore his clothes when he jumped from
the car. Let’s take him back to Malvern
and lock him up. He’ll get to talking
later.”

At Malvern, I checked up at the hos-
pital. Medical care had come too late
for the attractive young woman and
the older of the two remaining boys.
They were both dead. The youngest
of them all, the little shaver who had
been in his mother’s arms when the car
went into the ditch, had been the least
affected. He had taken medicine cheer-
fully, prattling gaily to nurses and doc-
tors.

Four, then, were dead—a harmless-
looking man; his young, lovely wife, his
two innocent little boys. It now seemed
quite definitely - established that they
all had met death through poison, al-
though we were awaiting the chemist’s
report on that score. I knew murder
had been committed. But what could
be the motive?

When I returned to Malvern police
headquarters, word came that Detective
Akers was calling on long distance.

He told me the result of his quest.
The letter he had found had come to the
victim, Alvin Colley, at General De-
livery in Hot Springs. The absence of
a home address had indicated to Akers
that Colley was a stranger in that town.
Since Hot Springs had no more than
twenty-five thousand in population, the
rest was easy. He had made inquiries
in one boardinghouse district, then an-
other, until he had discovered that a
landlady, Mrs. C. C. Costello, had re-
cently rented a suite of rooms to Alvin
Colley, his wife and three boys. Mrs.
Costello spoke highly of Mr. and Mrs.

.. Colley:and their children.

Questioned further by Akers, she told

‘how, the evening before, a stranger had

come to rent a room. The Colleys seemed
to know that stranger, she said, and he
had driven away with them in the morn-
ing.

“The stranger must be the man you
found,” Akers said to me in conclusion.

“Right,” I agreed. “I’m going to talk
to the prisoner again.”

I found that he had already been
questioned by Millard Halbert, the
prosecuting attorney at Malvern. I went
to Halbert’s office. “What did you find
out?” I asked.

“The man’s too close-mouthed to be
innocent,” he answered. “I asked him
if he knew the Colleys, and he wouldn’t
answer one way or the other. When I
pressed him for answers, he replied
that he was Mark Shank, an attorney
from Akron, Ohio, and that he knew
enough law to be sure of his rights when
placed under arrest.”

“Mark Shank, did you say? That’s
the name signed to the letter we found.
It’s more of a lead than he intended to
give us.”

I went with Halbert to confront the
man again.

The prisoner had broken his silence
and now appeared willing to talk; in
fact, he was even genial. When I told
him that the letter proved his connec-
tion with the victims he nodded agree-
ment.

“Of course I know them. Alvin and
Elsie Colley are the parents, and the boys
are Clement, Clarence and Clyde. But
I don’t know how they died any more
than you do.”

“Don’t stall, Shank,” I said. “If you’re
really a lawyer, you know the value of
a straight, honest account of any hap-
pening. You were with the Colleys to-
day and you jumped out of the car. Why
did you do it? What was happening to
them?”

“TI don’t know,” he said slowly. “I’ve
been a little dazed. I jumped to save
my own life. It’s all very vague. Some-
thing they ate, perhaps—”

“What do you mean, something they
ate?” I interrupted. “Start at the be-
ginning.”

“All right,” he began with a sigh. “We
had a picnic lunch, the Colleys and I, at
a little grove just off the highway. We
were eating and having a good time to-
gether when one of the boys—Clement
or Clarence, I’m not sure which—took
sick. We got into the car and set off to
find a doctor. Colley, who was driving,
suddenly went crazy, as if from pain. I
thought that the car would be wrecked.
As we came to a curve, I jumped. I fell
down and hit my head, stunning myself.”

“And then?” I prompted him.

“T don’t know anything that happened
after that—either to myself or to the
Colleys. I must have wandered about.
half-stunned, till you found me. I’m not
completely clear in the head yet.”

“Can you take us to this picnic spot?”
I asked.

He nodded silently. Sheriff Fisher
and several others joined us as we
started out in my car.

We passed the place where the Colleys
had been found; passed the point where
Shank had jumped from the car; passed
the grove of trees in which Donnie had
tracked the (Continued on page 68)

RAPA ed cs vt Sah aaah Ta me Se we Hh AD i on

Chatting and laughing, the six sat down to the feast,

while a seventh picnicker—Death—waited in the shadows

By J. Wakelin, Former Police Chief, Hot Springs, Ark., as told to

Chief Joe Wakelin, co-author

M- W. WELLMAN 4nd M. W- CRABAUGH

A FORD ROADSTER CAREENED
crazily down the Hot Springs-Mal-
‘vern Highway, under the blazing
Arkansas sun, just before noon, August
15th. From their patrol car, Detectives
Herbert Akers and Charles Buckalew
spotted the vehicle, seemingly a run-
away. “Looks like someone’s in trou-
ble,” said Buckalew. “Let’s catch up.”

Akers pressed his foot hard on the
accelerator. The roadster ahead, they
saw, now appeared completely out of
control. It lurched from the concrete on
to the shoulder of the road, teetered at
the top of an embankment and plunged
fifteen feet into a ditch just as Akers
d:ew up alongside. Both officers rushed
from the patrol car and stood for a mo-
ment at the edge of the embankment.
Below, the roadster had landed up-
r“ht, had crashed into a fence, and
stalled.

As Akers and Buckalew scrambled
down into the ditch, they heard a moan.
Reaching the bottom, the officers ap-
proached the roadster from opposite
sides. Akers, coming from the left, saw
a blond, slim man in rough clothes
slumped motionless over the wheel. On
Buckalew’s side of the car sat a quiver-
ing young woman, dark-haired and
pale-faced, barely conscious but tightly

clutching a bright-eyed, brown-haired
boy of four.

“They’re hurt—dying!” exclaimed
Akers. At that moment the moan rose
again. It came from the rumble seat,
and the detectives turned to look. They

saw a pathetic sight—two more boys,

about six and eight years old respec- .

tively, huddled together in the rumble
and crying weakly. :

Akers looked up toward the road.
A couple of cars had paused there, their
occupants staring down in curiosity. He
motioned for the onlookers to come
down and help. In a few moments,
several men descended to the bottom of
the ditch. One of them helped Bucka-
lew get the woman and little boy out of
the front seat. Others lifted the two
crying youngsters from the rumble. One
of the two still wept and writhed. The
other went limp and motionless, even as
he was hoisted out.

“He’s dead,” pronounced Akers, bend-
ing over the child. ‘And so is this man
at the wheel. Leave them—the coro-

ner won’t want us to disturb them. But
there may be a chance for the others.
Rush them to Malvern, you with the
fastest car, and get them into the hos-
pital there.”

The group loaded the woman and the

two surviving boys into the car desig-
nated and it sped away. Buckalew and
Akers looked at the two figures remain-
ing in the roadster. An ordinary looking
man, an ordinary looking boy—such
figures as could be found in almost any
average American home—suddenly be-
came important by the strange and sud-
den death that had overtaken them.

“Stay here and guard things,’ Akers
instructed his partner, then mounted to
the road and drove to the nearest farm-
house that had a phone.

I was in my office at Hot Springs when
the telephone rang. I picked up the
receiver and heard Akers’ excited voice.

“Hurry up, Chief. Two people dead
out here on the Malvern Highway—
maybe more.”

‘Dead?” I repeated.
about?”

“T’m not exactly sure,” he replied, then
followed this with a brief account of all
that he knew about the case. I told him
to stand by. In twenty minutes I was
at the spot Akers had described.

Buckalew met me there, together with
Sheriff Tom Fisher, of Malvern, and
several officers and citizens.

“Where’s Akers?” I asked.

“Gone back to Hot Springs on a lead,”
replied Buckalew. “He must have passed

“What’s it all

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52

ceivably have rebelled against his em-
ployer’s tactics and abuse and turned
on him. But Shank’s motive for wip-
ing out the family of the man on whom
he could vent his ego was beyond the
sherif’s comprehension. In despera-
tion. he appealed to Lyman Robert
Critchfield, district attorney of Wayne
County, O.

The district attorney cooperated read-
ily. Forty-eight hours later he called
the sheriff to his office.

“ve had my investigators working
on the case,” he explained. “And I think
we've unearthed a motive for you.”
He continued, as the sheriff expressed
his satisfaction. “Shank recently rep-
resented a local man in a minor civil] suit
involving several hundred dollars. Ap-
parently there was a shortage of $200
and the plaintiff demanded an inves-
tigation. Colley had handled the finan-
cial transactions, so a warrant was is-
sued for his arrest.”

“But why .. .” Fisher began, only to
be waved to silence.

“I think that Shank was involved,”
the district attorney said earnestly.
“When he- realized that it was only a
matter of time until Colley was appre-
hended—he had disappeared meqnwhile
—Shank was compelled to make a de-
cision involving the life and death of an
entire family.

“Undoubtedly he knew where his as-
sistant was hiding out. But he knew, too,
that once Colley .was caught he would
confess and involve his employer.”

The mass murders had occurred on
August 10, 1933. Six days later, after
four days and nights of questioning, both
the suspect and interrogating officers
were virtually worn out.

The crime had been reconstructed
from beginning to end. Every piece
fitted perfectly, but Shank, with his
lawyer’s shrewdness and training, bland-
ly refused to commit himself.

“We'll take ‘it to court,” Fisher de-
cided. “I think I know what a jury
will say.”.

Shank apparently thought so too.
Unexpectedly; he sank on his cot and
asked for a cigarette. ;

“I did it,” he admitted. “I faced dis-
grace and disbarment. I knew Colley
would talk as soon as he was caught,
so I decided to get rid of him and his
family.” ,

He paused a moment, thinking back
over ‘the events of the past week. “I:
didn’t know poison would do that,” he
said quietly. “I thought it would take
them quick. When it didn’t, and Alvin
started for a doctor, I had to go along.
If that farmer hadn’t seen me jump from
the car I would have got away.”

His confession was transcribed and
signed. But when he was brought up
for trial he pleaded not guilty and used
every trick at his command to escape
the penalty for his heinous crime. Judge
Thomas F. Toler presided at his trial.

For two years the case dragged out
in the Hot Springs courts. before it
finally closed with Mark H. Shank sen-
tenced to the electric chair. Stays of
execution prevented the carrying out of
the sentence for still another two years.

At last in the summer of 1937 he
walked to the chair and paid with his

life for his crime against society.

BIRTHDAY

(Continued from page 41)

formed an autopsy and gave his report
as speedily as possible.

“There are minor abrasions on his feet
and legs,” the doctor said. “The head,
face and front. part of the chest are filled
with shot. There’s also a wound on his
head that was caused by a blow from
some heavy object.”

“Is that what caused his death?”
Williams asked.

“The death certificate will state that
the cause of death was. drowning,” the
doctor said.

“Drowning?” the officer gasped. “Then
he was alive when thrown into the
shaft?”.

“Undoubtedly. There’s water in the
lungs. He was probably unconscious
when hurled into the mine, and might
have died eventually from gunshot
wounds, but the immediate cause of
death was drowning.”

The officers decided upon a further
search of the shaft. Alfred Avalos, a
young man of the community, volun-
teered to go into the pit, and after prob-
ing the brackish water for. some time,
he brought up the shotgun.

Williams saw that the breech was
missing. “He was shot, clubbed and
thrown into the shaft while still alive,”
the deputy said. He turned to Henke. “Is
this the gun you loaned Wheeler?”

“That’s it,” the father said. “I wound
that copper wire around the stock just
about a week ago.”

The gun held two discharged 12-gauge
shells.

“Shot with both barrels,” Wallace said.
“It’s strange to me that no one heard
the gunfire.”

“That party made a lot of noise,”
Henke explained. i

Kirby and Owens protested they had
heard no shof. Williams questioned
them separately. “Sam acts mighty ner-
vous,” he remarked to Kirby. “Did he
and Wheeler get along all right?”

“So far as I know they did,” the miner

replied. “But after I went to bed last:

night it sounded to me like they were
quarreling.”

When the deputy questioned Owens,
the man’s nervousness turned to anger.
“I tell you I don’t know anything about
it,” he shouted. “I went to bed when
Chuck left the last time to feed the pony.
That’s the last I saw of him.”

Shaft Pumped Out

“You didn’t hear ary disturbance?”

“No!” Owens roared. Then his bra-
vado vanished. Veins in his neck
swelled to throbbing ridges, and terror
flared in his staring eyes.

“You’re under arrest, Sam,” the deputy
said quietly.

When the officers reached Silver City
with their prisoner they learned that
Sheriff Murray had found Imogene Tip-
ton and her companions of the night be-
fore. All four were in jail.

The girl’s companions admitted being
on the picnic, but they swore they had
not seen Wheeler, and had heard no

HEADLINE DETECTIVE

agreec
for a
bunch
looks
the ou

The
the fiy
furthe:
admitt:

the scen:

Murray
© mine
‘over the
went dire
the mine)
peered in:
- “Let’s k
ing away
A few }
the office
- tethered,
“Wheeler
feed that ;
Start from {
Wallace y,
F rom habit
‘Look!” he
pered with
fired upon
Pony.”
None of t}

was with the
track the be
Williams sug
. The office:
times, and on
site where
friends had £
a in a ri
e ho
Williams said
are.” ;
“Maybe the
the pit on the
Back-trackj;
officers came ;
footprints som.
That makes
on the Party,”
the only grou
here.”

The searcher:

DECEMBER, 194:

ee apy

EP at

PE TE: a ee Bik we LES,

wear

you on the way in. Here’s a witness who
claims he saw someone else besides the
couple and the three children we found
in the crash.”

Sheriff Fisher was bringing forward
an intelligent-looking farmer whom he
introduced as A. C. Murray.

“There were two grown men, Chief
Wakelin,” Murray told me. “One was
driving—that dead man yonder, I be-
lieve. The other was on the running
beard. I live about a mile or so up the
road, and I was out in front of my house
when this roadster came whizzing by.
From where I was, I could see things at
close range. The people were twisting
and scuffling around in the car, I couldn’t
figure why. I stopped what I was doing
and stared. About two hundred yards
past my place, just as the car started
around the curve, the man on the run-
ning board jumped and fell, sprawling,
to the pavement. His hat fell off as he
did so, and he got up, grabbed his hat
and ran out of sight around the bend.
That made me curious, so I got my own
car out of the garage and set out after
the roadster. I caught up with it just as
it crashed into the ditch.”

F. D. Cooper, the coroner from Mal-
vern, had by now arrived and was mak-
ing a careful examination of the bodies.
“I feel fairly certain that it’s poison,
Chief,” he said to me. “Look at them!
No blood or visible wound, not even a
bruise. Yet the muscles are rigid and
the faces all contorted as if from internal
agony. However, I’m going to order an
autopsy to make sure,” he added.

I turned back to Murray. ‘How clear-
ly did you see the man who jumped off
the running board?” I asked. “Would
you know him if you saw him again?”

“T’m afraid not; but I can give a little
description,” replied the farmer. “He
was tall and thin, pretty well dressed
and, from the glimpse I had, he evi-
dently was rather young.”

“How young?”

“I can’t say, exactly. But when his
hat fell off, I could see that his hair was
dark, and when he ran he made good
speed—nothing infirm about him.”

“This is a job for bloodhounds. Send
to Hot Springs for Deputy Sheriff Sol
Goodwin and his hound Donnie,” I in-
structed. ‘‘She’s the best trailer in the
South.”

While this was being done, we turned
our attention to searching the roadster.
There were bags of clothing, camping
equipment, and other tourist baggage.

‘“Here’s a letter that we found on the
woman,” Buckalew volunteered. “It’s
what Akers thought might be a lead.”

The letter was addressed to Alvin Col-
ley, care of General Delivery at Hot
Springs, and was postmarked from
Akron, Ohio. The letter read:

I enclose $6, and there is nothing
new; but arrange to stay around Hot
Springs. It may be that I will come
down and give you all of the dope.
Just use your heads, get something
to do if at all possible and everything
will work out O.K. I’ll have all
the news and keep you posted. ‘I
am about sick and may have to go
to the hospital. You know how that

is. But don’t worry and don’t lose
your heads, for we will beat them
and I believe it is the chance of a
lifetime, for I am sure that Alvin
can make a fortune and is smarter
than they are. Just put her over.

The letter was signed ‘‘Mark Shank.”
It was apparently the letter of a close
friend, warning of trouble, even danger.
“Colley must be the dead man,” sug-
gested Buckalew. “And since the letter

indicates that he has been in Hot Springs
recently, Akers has gone there to check
up.”

“We'll go through this baggage thor-
oughly after a while,” I said. “Just now
I want to prepare for hunting down that

Landlady of boardinghouse (above)
said stranger seemed to know victims

tall, thin man Murray says he saw.”

There was a sizable gathering by now
—police officers and deputies from Hot
Springs, Malvern and other towns, as
well as several armed citizens. All were
eager to take part in the manhunt. When
the bloodhound arrived, I was greatly
encouraged, for Donnie had a splendid
record. Murray, the farmer who had
seen the man jump from the roadster,
led us to his home.

We ascertained the exact spot where
the man had jumped to the pavement,
and Donnie’s master put her on the
trail. She quartered to and fro for a
moment, then seemed to pick up the
scent. She bayed once, sniffed loudly
and headed from the road into the fields.

Over fences and through pastures, the
bloodhound (above, r.) led searchers
straight toward big patch of timber

"I thought that the car would be wrecked. As we-came to a curve, |
jumped," said survivor (shown with head on wife's shoulder) of fatal picnic

i ad

came
him an
man (seate

"| told papa
it," said little

ort

Sheriff James Bolin had the unenviable
task of checking out the Simmons home
in the aftermath of the carnage there.

: “Understanding the need for positive

identification’ of the dead, the county,

"State, and federal authorities began an
‘intensive search for surviving Simmons
. family members. Despite intensive can-

vassing, they couldn’t locate anyone
who was related by blood to Simmons.
~ As December darkness fell, Sheriff

Bolin, Prosecutor Bynum, FBI agents,

and local and state officers continued to

‘speculate on the absence of Simmons’

kin.in the Ozark environs: :
-On Tuesday, December 29th, a deci-

‘Sion was made to institute an exterior
’- search of the Simmons homestead.

-' The spot was approximately 150 feet
behind the house. The earth was soft
and spongy, the way it is when it has
been newly turned. The searchers did
not have to dig deep. What the soil hid
was relatively close to the surface. Once
the covering dirt had been removed,
there was no way of avoiding the ghast-
ly sight that lay below. Veteran lawmen
who felt they had seen it all recognized
that nothing in their professional experi-
ence could ever be compared to this.

_ Seven bodies—some dressed in

nightclothes, some nearly nude, some

clad in jeans—lay in the pit. All had the

grotesque sprawl that comes with vio-
‘lent death.

“Nor was this the end of the horror.
Hidden in the trunks of two abandoned
cars, wrapped in plastic garbage bags,
were the corpses of two toddlers.

es In all, the lives of 14 people, adults

and children, had been snuffed out

28 Front Page Detective

“it ARLE NEON OO ACEI EU i

sometime during that Yule week. The
Simmons family: was no more.

The corpses discovered inside the
Simmons house included the alleged
killer’s son, William H. Simmons, 23;
the son’s wife, Renada; a daughter,
Sheila McNulty, 24; the daughter’s hus-
band, Dennis, 23; and Sheila McNulty’s
daughter, Sylvia, 6. 5

The seven bodies recovered from the
open grave were the wife of the accused
former serviceman, Becky Simmons,
46; two sons, Ronald Gene Jr., 27, and
Eddie, 14; three daughters, Loretta, 17,
Marianne, 11, and Rebecca, 8; and
Ronald Gene’s daughter, Barbara, 3.

_ From their garbage-bag shrouds were
taken two of the suspect’s grandsons—
Michael McNulty, 21 months, and Wil-
liam Simmons Jr., 20 months.

Now police were able to reconstruct
the probable. scenario for the bloody
Christmas rampage.

They believed that the bloodletting
had begun either late on the night of De-
cember 23rd or early on December 24th.
According to this theory, Simmons al-
legedly killed the nine family members
who were at home at the time. (This
would explain why Becky had been
dressed in nightclothes and one of Sim-
mons’ sons had been naked except for
socks.) 3334) 9%

Under cover of darkness, the alleged
slayer had dragged his victims one by
one to the open grave, dumped them in,
and covered them up. The two toddlers
had been encased in the plastic bags and
consigned to the abandoned cars.

On December 26th or 27th, according
to the reconstruction, when Simmons’
married.son and daughter arrived at the
Dover home for.a post-Christmas cele-
bration, they were shot down almost as
soon as they walked into the house.
This explained why they and their dead
children were still clad in heavyweight
outer winter clothing when their sheet-
covered bodies had been uncovered.

Sickened by the unmitigated brutality
of the mass murders, Prosecutor Bynum
vowed to seek the death penalty for the
alleged slayer. Although Bynum be-
lieved that Simmons’ rejection by the
young divorcee, Kathy Kendrick, might
have triggered his deadly outburst, the
investigation was still wide open and
other possible motives were being ex-
plored.

Each new step of the probe brought
another chilling discovery.

One was the report of Chief Deputy.

Billy Baker, following an exhaustive
study of the makeshift grave where the
seven bodies had been secreted. Baker

revealed that there had been moss cling-
ing to the sides of the pit. This was
taken as an indication that the grave had

been dug as long as a year before the -

killings. 7 es

Other pits had been found on the
property. Both large and small, they had
been scattered around the desolate loca-
tion.

Said Deputy Baker, “We are getting a
geologist to determine when the grave
with the bodies was dug. It was a good
little while ago.’”

The belief was that if Simmons had
indeed prepared the common burial spot
that far in advance, he had planned the
slaughter of his family months earlier.

Commented the deputy, “We fully
expect that the other holes were dug as
graves, too. Who he expected to use
them for, we don’t know. They could
have been for-somebody else.” ’

The first grave had been dug in thick
red clay, a few yards from a vegetable
garden Becky Simmons had started.
Measuring six feet by four feet, it had
provided a pitifully inadequate crypt for
the bodies of the seven adults squeezed
into it. The unused pits were said to

have been covered with galvanized iron. .

The stealthiness of Simmons’ alleged
movements through the house’ during
the first wave of family murders was
emphasized by the theory that he sup-
posedly strangled the younger children
with lengths of cord to prevent their
cries from awakening the unsuspecting
adults. According to police theory, once
the children had been dispatched, the
accused man used two handguns to slay
the adults. She ;
(Continued on page 60)

ened to a time bomb ready to explode.

‘March 25th, the rage exploded. After
Gonzalez was kicked out.of the club, he
was determined. to express his anger
once and for all.

Walking around the Bronx at three
o’clock in the morning has never been
safe, but Julio Gonzalez had other
things on his mind as he walked toward
a gas station on Southern Boulevard.
The exact nature of his thoughts might
never be known, but, as he later said,
“The devil had got into me.” Grabbing
a can of antifreeze on the way, he
reached the gas station sometime after
3:00 a.m.

Behind the bulletproof glass, the at-
tendant commanded a view of the gas
station, a fortified oasis in the rundown,
littered landscape of that New York bor-
ough. A 20-year-old college student

G working the weekend shift, he was eas-

ily persuaded by Gonzalez to break the
city law forbidding the sale of gas in
containers.
_' Words were exchanged through the
intercom system, a dollar bill was de-
posited in the metal box, and Gonzalez
obtained enough gas to change the his-
tory books in the country that for a de-
cade had been his new home.

Walking back to the club, Gonzalez

hovered outside, waiting for an oppor-

tunity to slip back through the entrance.
Inside, when someone came his way, he
pretended to make a telephone call.
Less than a minutej later, Julio
Gonzalez poured the contents of the can

- through the entryway, stood back, and

threw a match onto it. He swayed back a
pace and watched the whole place light
up like a funeral pyre.

After this suspendéd moment, con-
vinced that no one had witnessed his ac-
tion, Gonzalez retreated to his room to
‘sleep and let his rage seep away.

-* By 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Lieutenant

. Malvey, two detectives, and a fire mar-
~ shal banged on a door on Garfield Place
in the Bronx. Julio Gonzalez answered
_. the door groggily; he had been sleep-

ing. He reeked of gasoline.
Once in the room, the lawmen spotted
a pair of sneakers still reeking of gas-

-oline. They were surprised at how easily

Gonzalez started to talk.:i-
They asked him to come to the pre-

_ cinct for further questioning. ‘He acted

like he was being picked up for a traffic
warrant, like it was nothing,” Lieuten-
ant Malvey said. On the way Gonzalez

asked for a cigarette, but everyone be-

came concerned that another fire could
Start because of the residue of gasoline
still on his clothes.

Once at the precinct, detectives began

60 ‘Front Page Detective

questioning Gonzalez slowly. ‘‘We
asked him who he was and what he did
last night,”’one said. Gonzalez slowly
recounted the series of events that led to
his return to the club with the lethal can
of gasi 4.ge"

In the interview, Gonzalez told detéc-
tives that he left after setting the fire, but
came back to watch. He recounted the
story with hardly any trace of emotion,
according | to police, while detectives
took notes in the precinct squad room. It
was only after a detective read back his
statements that Gonzalez seemed to re-
alize the enormity of it all.

After that, he provided extensive vid-
eotaped testimony in Spanish as well as
further oral and written testimony. In his
statements'to the police, Gonzalez said
he set the fire because he was angry
about having been kicked out of the
club; ‘I got angry. The devil got into
me, and I set the place on fire.”

Serrano later identified Gonzalez in a
police lineup. After a while Gonzalez
started to cry, as if he moved finally
from realizing the enormity of what he
had done to being completely over-
whelmed.

At 2:00 a.m. Monday, he was given a
bulletproof vest and taken for arraign-
ment. As word spread among the vic-
tim’s families of Gonzalez’s arrest, cries
for immediate justice spread through the
crowd outside the burned-out club. Po-
lice officers became concerned that
someone might take justice into their
own hands and avenge the murder of a
relative or a friend.

Minutes later, Gonzalez was ar-
raigned on 87 counts of murder commit-
ted in the course of arson, 87 counts of
murder by depraved indifference to hu-
man life, one count of attempted mur-
der, ‘and two counts of arson.

In.the indictment returned by a grand
jury later in the week, he was charged
with the largest mass murder in U.S.
history. Bronx D.A. Robert Johnson had
him placed on suicide watch in a prison
psychiatric ward.

Meanwhile, in accordance with the
U.S, Constitution, Gonzalez must be
presumed innocent of the charges
against him until and unless proved oth-
erwise by due process of law. O00

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Peter Sierralta, Carmen Serrano,
Maria, and Teresa are not the real
names of the persons so named in the
foregoing story. Fictitious names have
been used because there is no reason for
public interest in the identities of these
persons.

That one of the victims might have
fought for his life was indicated by a
bloody handprint left on a bedroom
wall,

Investigators working with Pope
County Sheriff Bolin were reasonably
sure Simmons had not spent the final
night before the Russellville shootings
in his own home.

Now new information was surfacing
which alleged that long before the slay-
ings, Simmons had been an abusive hus-
band and father.

Forensic tests were under way to de-
termine whether his wife and children
had been physically or sexually abused
during their lifetimes.

In the basement of the State Crime
Laboratory at Little Rock, the medical
examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak, was super-
vising the autopsies on the remains of
the 16 people who had died during Sim-
mons’ rampage, —.

Said the M.E., ‘‘We’ve worked
through the night and we’ll keep on
working. We’ll have reports on the tests
in two weeks,

“We're looking for things like child
abuse, beatings, sex abuse, everything.”

One of the morgue assistants, moving
among the 16 gurneys on which the
draped corpses lay, summed up the feel-
ings of the staff when he said, “It’s the
kids that get you. They: never had a
chance at life.’’.

That long-term abuse had been a fac-
tor in Simmons’ family relationships
was shown in copies of a letter released
to the Arkansas Gazette and the Arkan-
sas Democrat by close relatives. The
four-page, handwritten letter had been
mailed by Mrs, Becky Simmons to her
son, William, who had himself become
one of the shooting victims,

Becky had depicted a life of isolation
and fear on the Dover farm,-She had
written, “I don’t want to live the rest of
my life with Dad. I am a prisoner here
and the rest of the kids, too....Dad has
had me like a prisoner.

“Every time I think of freedom, I
want out.”

-Mrs. Simmons wrote that although
she was thinking of leaving her hus-
band, she worried over her ability to

find a job and had decided to wait a little -

longer: “God is telling me to be more
patient. Right now I’ll just say do some

aoneensmianae.mnesaniataatae teat tna ic: tates aa aaitiiccilim iit, sascindiishilialiiiedills

checking ar
my decisior
_ One of th
the letter t
Gene Simr
of his wife’

“We thir
writing orn
tell him of
know.

“Tt kind
mons) had

There w
written by
(one of the
said, ‘I do
depressed '
me. He sa:
he claims
to my mon
understanc
yeah. God
hard I try.
used to pr
when my
didn’t hel|

“I'd rat
this.”

In anot!
ta’s miser
wrote, “A
to act hap;
I’m at hon
I’m alone
one else |

- fight. Like

“T just c
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cares. I ju
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pretending

Then,
came wor:
problems,
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Steven
County d
been set tc
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charge of
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daughter
Dover ma

Accord:
ties went
miles outs
co, to arr
1981, but

Sanders
about the
ings and 1
he was s
couldn’t |
connectec

wrote, “We are doing fine hcre. I keep
busy as ever. Would sure love to get a

long letter from, | you and tell me how the .

family is.”
Said the relative, “This is the first
. time Beck ever included a letter inside
her Christmas card..I think she sensed
this, like she was asking for help. I wish
we'd been a closer family and someone
would have © been. able to take her away
from him.” yy,

On December. Bist, traffic.in
Russellville cae to a halt to allow the
funeral procession for 24-year-old Ka-
thy Kendrick to wend its way to a me-

- morial park on the outskirts of the city.
The sad business of burying the dead
was under way,

; Eight other yictims were to be buried
later in the day,

At St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic

Church, as the coffins of Dennis and |

Sheila McNulty and the tiny caskets

" containing the bodies of their 6-year-old

daughter, Sylvia, and their 20-month-

old son, Michael, were lined up in the

church’s center aisle, Deacon Joseph

- McCaffrey spoke of the McNultys as
loving parents...

By grisly coincidence, it was on this

day of deep mourning that the autopsy —

findings were released. Tests had shown
that eight of the children, ranging in age
from 20 months to.17 years, had been
strangled. The six older relatives had
been shot to death. |

The medical examiner had found that
some of the victims still carried the
strangling cords fixed to their necks as
their bodies were secreted around the
property.

Ronald Gene Simmons was con-
victed on May 12, 1988 in the deaths of
Kathy C. Kendrick and James D,
Chaffin and on charges of attempting to
kill five others. He was sentenced to
death, as well as to 147 years’ imprison-
ment. Subsequently, Simmons waived

appeals on the death sentence, which —

was set for June 1988.

Accordingly, on June 25, 1988,
Ronald Gene Simmons became the sec-
_ ond person to die by lethal injection,
‘a method of execution recently adopt-
ed by the state, and the second to. be
put to death by the state in 24 years.

is 600

American
Heart
, Association.

WE'RE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE

“62 Front Page Detective

October 31st and November 6th.
Carrol’s disappearance sparked an in-

‘tense investigation by Minneapolis po-
lice. The narcotics division was
interested in learning who his supplier

was from among the list of suspected
dealers they had on file.

_ An informer who didn’t wish to be
identified called police on October 31st
and reported having seen Scratch and
another man dining at the Bloomington
restaurant. He said they appeared to be
in good spirits. He described the man as

‘being six feet tall, well built, and proba-

bly weighing about 200 pounds. He was
well dressed and groomed.

* From the informant’s description of
him, detectives suspected the man was
James Wayne Johnson, a well-known
drug supplier. He and his wife, Sondra,
lived in an apartment in Edina, a suburb
of Minneapolis. Detectives had been

"trying to pin him down for some time as

‘to where he obtained his supply of drugs
and the distribution point where he sold
them, but they had been unsuccessful in
their search.

_. Seeking to verify the sighting of Car-

‘rol and his companion, police showed

the waitress who served them at the
restaurant mug shots of both men. After

“studying them closely, she identified the

two as resembling Thomas Carrol and
“Big Jim’ Johnson. “‘They seemed to
be nice and the big man left a liberal tip
when they left. I remember that,” she
said.

" With their identities confirmed, suspi-

‘cion rested heavily on James Johnson.

Unfortunately, sleuths had no informa-
tion or evidence that could incriminate
him, no eyewitnesses to Carrol’s disap-
pearance or possible slaying, and no

_body. It was highly improbable, they
‘reasoned, that Carrol’s corpse would be
- discovered afloat in the Mississippi Riv-

er. Johnson would be careful to see that
the corpse would not be discovered and

‘undoubtedly would have the body bur-

ied in some remote area in the heavily
timbered forests of northern Minnesota.
_ The investigation dragged on for

weeks without any apparent results.

Drug addicts were interrogated with
probers hoping they might have some
information about Carrol’s disap-
pearance or at least might be aware of
his link to Johnson in drug trafficking.

Lawmen were hopeful the users might
have a lead that would be of help to
them. But no additional information was
forthcoming from these interrogations.
In February 1982, Royal Hayes and
his girlfriend visitéd ‘‘Big Jim” and
Sondra Johnson at their Edina apart-
ment. Hayes, a close friend of the John-
sons, had moved from Minneapolis to
California, where he had built up a pow-
erful cocaine-trafficking operation head-
quartered in Santa Cruz. Hayes had
come. to Edina to deliver some guns to
James Johnson that allegedly were used
in December 1981 in the shooting death

of two persons linked to a $250,000 co-

caine deal.

Royal Hayes was well known to the »

Minneapolis Police Department. In
1962, he was found guilty of killing an
Oregon man. Known to possess a vio-
lent nature, Hayes had frequent brushes
with the law.

During his trial for the Oregon slay-
ing, psychiatrists testified that Hayes
had a split personality, and the court de-
cided that he was not guilty by reason of
mental disease or defect. The judge
ruled that he be sent to a mental hospital
for treatment. Hayes was transferred
from a maximum- to a minimum-securi-
ty unit. Within six months, Hayes man-
aged to escape and, despite an intensive
search, no trace was found of him with-
in the states of Oregon or Washington.

Six days after his escape, Hayes sur- -

faced in Minneapolis, where his first act
was to rob a downtown pharmacy. As he
fled from the building, he was caught
before he could draw his weapon. This
time a Hennepin County jury convicted
him of first-degree robbery. He was sen-
tenced to serve 20 years in prison at
Stillwater. Four years later, he was out
on the'street on parole.

In another homicide, Hayes was ac-
quitted of shooting the manager of a
Hennepin Avenue bar. A year later he
was convicted of the felony possession
of a firearm. This time he was sentenced
to two years at a federal prison in Mis-
souri. He was paroled after serving one
year. .
Later, in California, Hayes became
involved in trafficking marijuana and
cocaine, and little by little began build-
ing up a powerful drug empire, Over the
years, he had maintained a close friend-
ship with “Big Jim” Johnson and was
reputed to be supplying him with co-
caine.

‘Johnson, too, was no stranger to the
law. He was convicted of extortion in
the late 1970s in the Lino Lake kidnap-
ping of a prominent St. Paul banker’s

ims might have
indicated by a
on a bedroom

ing with Pope
vere reasonably
spent the final
Iville shootings

n was surfacing
before the slay-
an abusive hus-

nder way to de-
fe and children
sexually abused

he State Crime
ck, the medical
alak, was super-
‘h~ -emains of

uring Sim-

ve’ve worked
we'll keep on
orts on the tests

1ings like child
se, everything.”
istants, moving
on which the
ned up the feel-
2 said, “It’s the
y never had a

had been a fac-
/ relationships
i letter released
and the Arkan-
relatives. The
letter had been
simmons to her
1imself become
ims.
life of isolation
farm. She had
live the rest of
a prisoner here
too....Dad has

of freedom, I

: that although
aving her hus-
‘her ability to
d to wait a little
» be more
y do some

checking and then it will help me make
my decision.”
_ One of the relatives who had released
the letter to the press speculated that
Gene Simmons might have been aware
of his wife’s correspondence.

“We think he might have found her
writing or maybe she got up the nerve to

_ tell him of her plans to leave. We don’t

know.

“Tt kind of makes us ; think he (Sim-

mons) had a reason.’
_ There was another letter, this one
written by 17-year-old Loretta Simmons
(one of the victims) to a friend. In it, she
said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been more
depressed than I am now. My dad hates
me. He says I’m not good enough. Yet
he claims I’m conceited. You can’t talk
to my mom about anything. She doesn’t
understand. Who is there? No one. Oh,
yeah. God. But it seems no matter how
hard I try, I can’t get close to Him. I
used to pray to Him when I was little,
when my parents would fight, but it
didn’t help. What does He care?

“I'd rather be dead than go on like
this.”

In another letter, the extent of Loret-
ta’s misery was pathetically told. She
wrote, ‘“‘At school, around people I have
to act happy and joke around. And when
I’m at home, I can’t be depressed unless
I’m alone because I have to keep every-
one else laughing and joking or they
fight. Like my mom and dad.

“] just can’t take it any more. I’m los-
ing all my friends and no one anywhere
cares. I just can’t do it alone. With no

~ one to talk to, I just can’t go on anymore

pretending to be strong. Not alone.”
Then, from Otero, New Mexico,
came word that the Simmonses’ family

problems, with possible overtones of in-

cest and sexual abuse, went back years.

Steven Sanders, a former Otero
County district attorney, said he had
been set to prosecute Gene Simmons af-
ter Simmons had been indicted on a
charge of incest on August 11, 1981. It
was alleged that the former air force
master sergeant had impregnated his
daughter Sheila (who also died in the
Dover mass murders).

According to Sanders, sheriff’s depu-
ties went to Simmons’ house, about 20
miles outside of Cloudcroft, New Mexi-
co, to arrest Simmons on August 11,

1981, but the family had moved away.

Sanders noted that when he had heard
about the Dover and Russellville kill-
ings and realized.it was the same man,
he was shocked. He remarked, ‘‘I
couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t
connected in some way to his obvious

inability to relate to the world and his
family in a normal sexual fashion.”’

The school nurse who had pressed for
Simmons’ arrest at the time of the incest
charges blamed ‘‘a total breakdown in
how the system works” for allowing
him to flee the state’s jurisdiction.

After authorities had learned that
Sheila was pregnant, the nurse reported,
Simmons ‘‘was seen bringing his
daughter to school. He would sit in the
car with his arm around her and plant a
really sexy smooch on het, It was dis-
gusting.”

The nurse recalled that Social Ser-
vices had taken Sheila away for a night
or two, but had then returned her to her
family.

Sanders noted that part of the prob-
lem in prosecuting Simmons had
stemmed from Sheila’s “remaining loy-

al” to her father and having had to be
ordered by the court to testify | before the
grand jury.

“They were all afraid of him (Sim-
mons). His'wife told the kids she was
going to get a divorce once they were
settled. But she never told him.

“We only visited when we knew he’d
be away. He would just stare at us and
say nothing.”

But the woman)refused to consider
Simmons a one-sided monstef. She felt
that, in his way, he loved his family.

“They always had food and decent
clothes and toys,” she said. He had a
good pension from thé military and he
worked hard for them.” — ***

A playmate of the Simmons children
talked of the family stresses, She com-
mented, ‘“‘Their mom and the others
were pleased that he held two jobs be-
cause he was away from home so much.

“They used to say they’d like it if he
worked seven days a week, twenty- -four
hours a day.”

According to the youngster, the’ Sim-
mons children had constructed hide-
aways on the property where they could
go when their father was home.

Other neighbors talked of having
seen Simmons supervising his children
on the steep and long driveway of his
home while they filled in ruts with
stones and dirt they’d collected. They
said he had conducted himself like the
air force master Sergeant he had once
been.

To others, Simmons represented a
strange mass of contradictions.

One Dover resident recalled that the

day after Simmons had moved his
family into their Dover home, he had
put up a “No Trespassing” sign. Within
two months, Simmons had erected a
five-foot-high cinder-block wall around
his home and covered it with mabed
wire. *

“The word was clear,” said one
neighbor. “You did not dare go up there
because he’d shoot you.”

Another added, “He had his own lit-
tle kingdom up there. He was king and I
think something challenged that. He
was a time bomb waiting to explode.
Whenever he was there, they aoaed
around.”

“Every day after school he had them
picking up rocks—I don’t know how
many buckets of rocks,” commented
one woman. “He wasn’t a father, he was
a warden. Those kids never gota cilance
to play.”

It was reported that 17- -yeafield
Loretta had received the harshest treat-
ment from her father. Noted one of her
friends, “He wouldn’t let her go \ ‘out or
get'a job or teach her to drive a car.
She’d write letters to her friends and I’d
have, to:sneak them out for her because
he thought she was writing to a boy.”

A close relative of the slain Becky
Simmons remembered that the Sim-
mons children had tried to protect their
mother. from her husband’s rages

Still; ’a@ number of Russellville towns-
people said they had never seen the ugly
side of ‘Simmons. To them he seemed
“as normal as the next Joe—even nice.”

Said ‘one woman customer’ of the
mini-market where Simmons had once
worked, ‘He is the kind of guy that if
you bought a small coke, and they had
large ones on sale, he’d tell you.” pe

Said One relative, “I think the rage fi-
nally got to him.” She told of suspicions
that the alleged killer had been a Wife-
beater. -

Of the beatings, the woman. ‘ita,
“We could never find out for sure: be-
cause he kept them so isolated. He never
let us see them and Becky kept it hidden
becausé She was so ashamed.” ©?"

One of Becky’s male relatives ttaced
the crisis in the Simmonses’ lives to the
incest indictment.

“Getting the daughter pregnant Start-
ed all the bad things clicking. He (Sim-
mons) started secluding (his wife) and
kept her from us. He didn’t want any-
thing to 0 with our family. He’d get vi-
olent.”’ ® 3

Ina findwritien letter to her relative
just:days before she was slain, Becky
had seemed cheerful about the family
and indicated all was going well.She

”

Front Page Detectives: 61

at ee ee

—

4 -eexee ste

RORLE, executedarkansas 7/32/2959

| cere ect

eA AM ET .

TWO CLUES
SPLASHED IN
RED

[Continued from page 37]

Kansas City,” suggested one detective.

“With every road out of the state being

watched, with a description of the killers
and the car, and with that license num-
ber, we should be able to grab them be-
fore they get very far.” :

“We'll notify the highway patrol,” said
Field, and the description of the pair
was added to the six-state alarm.

The hunt intensified in the northern
section of the state. Troopers checked on
an abandoned car seen on State Highway

- 33 near Cushing.

At noon, deputy sheriffs halted a 22-
year-old hitchhiker near Cleveland head-
ing toward Tulsa. Tulsa police located a
second youth after the hitchhiker told
the deputies he was to meet a companion
there that night. .

Both were brought to Oklahoma City
and held for questioning. The store clerk,
hotel and parking lot employes, however,
failed to identify either of them. But not
until their alibis were thoroughly checked
did Field send them on their way.

Meanwhile, the autopsy had been com-
pleted at Edmond. It was interesting, but
not overly helpful in forwarding the in-
vestigation. It verified the coroner's re-
port as to the time of death. A probe of
the wounds proved that the shots had
been fired from directly behind the vic-
tim.

‘THis further indicated that both youths
were present at the moment of the
slaying. Probably one had been riding in
the front seat beside Beach, while the
other sat in the back and fired the gun.

From his face and neck, the physicians
extracted the only two bullets remaining
in the body. They were .38 caliber. Both
were good enough for ballistics tests.

“These will clinch our case if the pair
are not arrested in Beach’s car but still
have the gun in their possession,” said
Travis. ;

But the officers were convinced that
the killers were still driving the stolen
machine. All during the afternoon they
kept the wires of the widespread com-
munication network hot. By telephone,
radio, code and teletype the pick-up order
spread north, east, south and west.

Kansas City police were alerted, and
this department swung into action to see
what could be learned about two youths
named Jack Springer and Max Palmer.

Joplin police also were notified on the
chance that Beach had picked up the pair
in that city where he had stopped to have
his. windshield wiper repaired.

Though the murder bore all the ear-
marks of a robbery slaying, Field was
still convinced that the crime was moti-
vated by anger or revenge, after which
the pair had disposed of the body in this
out-of-way place near Arcadia where, had
it not been for the carelessly left clue of
the blood-splashed laprobe, the body
might not have been discovered for sev-
eral days, giving the killers plenty of
time to get out of the country. h

This was evidenced by the fdct that
they had spent so much time in Oklahoma
City. Obviously they had checked out of
the hotel immediately after the evening

Wy 129

papers hit the street announcing the dis-
covery of the corpse.

Although the killers had more than
twelve hours start, the condition of the
car might not have permitted them to
get out of the state, and there still re-
mained the possibility that the mystery
might. be cleared up in Oklahoma.

All roads were patrolled carefully and
blockades at the exits of all main high-
ways were tightened.

The hours passed, but there was not a

trace of the car or the hunted men.

Meanwhile, Herman Edgar, operator of
another parking area in downtown Fort
Worth, Tex., was making a startling dis-
covery on his corner lot set between two
hotels. Painters working on the fire
escape of one hotel had splashed red paint
on several automobiles in the lot.

- FLASHES
“a on
STARTLING CASES

STALKING THE TRIPLE
KILLER (March, 1949, issue)—
On December 6, H. H. Rorie heard
a Jefferson County Circuit Court
jury fix his punishment at execu-
tion for the slaying of two step-
children near England, Ark, Oc-
tober 10, 1948. ‘

+ SMASHING THE MIDWEST

» BANK MOB (February, 1949)—

' Fred Pate was sentenced to ear
years October 13 in connection wit

. the robbery April 29, 1948, of the

» Citizens Bank at Hebron, Ind.

HOLOCAUST OF HORROR.
(January, 1949)—Thomas Patrick ~
Brophy, who solved the Brooklyn
arson fire of October 14, 1923, in
which six persons lost their lives,
retired December 31 as New York’s
chief fire marshal and head of the

’ Bureau of Fire Investigation.

4 ;

Edgar was called and started checking
all his customers’ cars. In addition to
red paint on the right running board of
a blue Buick sedan, he noticed other spots
which. he took to be blood.

He also noticed a bullet hole through
the window wing of the left front door.
More blood stains showed inside on the
front cushion. When he opened the door
on the driver’s side, a spent bullet rolled
rhe i running board and dropped at his
eet

He went to the phone and notified the
police. Detective Inspector H. E. Chap-
ple dispatched homicide Detectives John
Dunwoody and Guy Haire to investigate.
In a few minutes the bloodstained car was
identified as the murder sedan sought in
the pickup order from Oklahoma.

The contents were intact. But the two
youths had stated to an attendant that

they would return for their luggage as
soon as they found a hotel room. So the
detectives took up positions and waited.

Their vigil was soon awarded. Exactly
at 3 o'clock a blond youth, nattily attired
and looking anything but tough, saun-
tered up to the booth and presented his
stub for the Buick sedan.

Dunwoody closed in behind him, block-
ing the exit from the lot. Simultaneously,
Haire stepped in fromrone side, hemming
him between the booth and the cars. The
youth managed a sickly smile when Dun-
woody told him he was under arrest,
then straightened angrily. “What's this
about?” he demanded.

“You should know,’ snapped Dun-
woody. “Where’s your pal?”

“I’m alone,” muttered the youth. “I
don’t know what you're talking about!”

They searched him, but found no
weapon. Dunwoody slapped on the cuffs.
Leaving Haire to watch the car, he took
the youth to headquarters, For twenty
minutes he was subjected to continuous
questioning, but he denied everything
and disclaimed all knowledge of the car.
Chapple had him removed to a solitary
cell and issued orders that no one was

. to see him,

A short while later, he and Dunwoody,
checking hotel registers in the downtown
area, found the names of Jack Springer
and Max Palmer. They went up to the
room and yanked the black-haired,
swarthy-faced youth out of bed.

“This is it,’” said Chapple sharply. ‘We
know how you killed that New York man
up in Oklahoma and dumped his body in
a ditch. What did you do with the gun?”

The youth hesitated and glanced fleet-
ingly toward a bureau drawer. “Now
what would I be doing with a gun?" he
sneered. “What's the idea? You guys got
no right busting into my room—"

UNWOODY walked to the bureau,

pulled out the drawer. Hidden in one
corner was a wadded pair of blue jeans
and wrapped inside was an Owl Head .38
caliber revolver. One leg of the trousers
was stained with blood. There were five
empty shells in the gun.

“I guess this is what we are looking
for.” He smiled grimly. ‘These are the
trousers you wore and the bullets they
got out of Beach’s head up in Oklahoma
will show they were fired 5 this gun.”

A few minutes later they unloaded him
at the station. His fingerprints identified
him as Max Klettke, 23, of Lansing,
Mich., where he was wanted as a parole
violator on an auto theft conviction for
which he had been sentenced in 1944.

Authorities there also were searching
for Klettke on a charge of larceny by
conversion of a rented car in which he
and another youth had left Lansing the
night of October 31, and which had been
found abandoned at Fort Wayne, Ind.,
the next day.

Taken aback at this revelation, Klettke
broke down and admitted that the names
Jack Springer and Max Palmer were fic-
titious. He identified his blond compan-
ion as Harry Eugene Riskin.

After that it took less than ten minutes
for the officers to obtain a complete state-
ment from the pair. Both confessed the
slaying of Carl Beach, filling in gaps
which officials had only been able to guess
about.

“We had planned to go to Galveston
from Lansing and find jobs on a fishing
boat,” Klettke said. “The car we rented
broke down at Fort Wayne and we hitch-
hiked to Indianapolis. We caught a ride
with Beach the next morning.”

They ate ‘nothing on Monday or Tues-

STARTS MME DE IS TRIES ISLE ATS BIL ORE TON

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The woman recoiled as the visi-

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do you want?" she cried.

eg Harvie, wh, elec.

AR (Jefferson) July 22, 1949

BY HUGH V. HADDOCK

OVE LIGHTS A PYR

Rorie was able to forget her loneliness. But as she stood

in the doorway of her modest home and heard the last
friendly voice fade'in the darkness, the night seemed to close
in on her. Just as on so many other nights, she now felt utterly
cut off and alone—and afraid:

Hurriedly slamming the door, Mrs. Rorie turned up the kero-
sene lamp. Nine-year-old Frankie and his sister, Joyce Dean,
12, lay sprawled in slumber on her bed. Carrying the boy into
the next room, the woman returned and began disrobing for
the night.

The sound of heavy footsteps on the porch and a sharp knock
checked her. For an instant she felt a stab of terror. Then she
noticed that one of the men had forgotten his hat. It still lay
on the table near the lamp. The woman slipped back into her
dress and hurried to the door, flinging it open.

“Back so soon?” she said laughing. But the laughter froze
in her throat when she stared into her caller’s narrowed eyes.

“You!” she gasped, recoiling.

A” LONG as the company had remained, attractive Gertrude

FRONT PAGE "rae LO
APRIL, FEGe

Prosecutor Carleton Harris de-
manded the death penalty after
getting killer's written confession.

Deputy Pink Booher knew the iden-
tity of the murderer after hearing
of a suspect's violent jealousy.

“Yeah.” The man shouldered his way
through the door and advanced slowly.
“You weren’t expecting me, were you?”
he said.

Gertrude Rorie’s anger now over-
whelmed her first surge of fear. “I told
you not to come here again!” she
snapped. “What do you want?”

The man silently raised his hands and
the woman retreated in terror...

Troopers S. F. Sebastian and L. W.
Wilcox of the Arkansas state police
were. cruising east of Little Rock at 2
aM., October 9, 1948, when their radio
blared an order to investigate a burning
farmhouse. The location was the
Broady Bend community in the Ar-
kansas River bottoms, ten miles south-
west of the town of England, and more
than 25 miles south of their position.
Swinging about, they raced to England,
pausing there only long enough to pick
up Police Chief Joe Foster and Deputy
Sheriff Olin Perry of Lonoke County.

Then, with a sullen glow against the
sky to guide them, the four officers
sped the final miles over a gravel road
that twisted along the levees and bay-
ous of the rich cotton country.

The house was set back from the road
nearly 100 yards in a flat expanse. As
the investigators sprang from their cars
and strode toward it, nothing remained
but blazing embers and a tower of
sparks which leaped skyward as the
last piece of white-hot sheet-iron roof-
ing sagged and fell in. .

Fifty or more spectators, tight-lipped
men, women and children, stood
numbly watching the terrifying scene.
Joining them, the officers learned that
39-year-old Gertrude Rorie and her

Her slayer was no stranger to “Gertrude
Rorie. Photo at left was taken in days
when their romance was unmarred.

Sergeant H. R. Peterson (left), who led
the investigation, questions the suspect
(center) with the help of Deputy Booher.

two youngest children undoubtedly had
perished in the flames.

One of the men, who identified him-
self as John McElroy, Mrs. Rorie’s
brother-in-law, led Sebastian and Wil-
cox to one corner of the ruins. He
pointed a wavering finger. Within a few
yards of them, yet cut off by the shim-
mer of heat and smoke, the’ troopers
could see two charred forms resting on
a white-hot bedspring. One lay diag-
onally across the scorched metal. Mc-

Elroy identified it as Mrs. Rorie’s body, .

the other as the remains of Joyce Dean.
There was no sign of a third corpse,
but McElroy was insistent that nine-
year-old Frankie also had been trapped
and that his body was somewhere in
the ruins. ,

In response to the officers’ questions
as to what had happened, McElroy
confessed that he was utterly puzzled.
In a broken voice he related that Mrs.
Rorie’s three oldest sons, aged 14, 16,
and 18, had gone to England late the
previous afternoon with a load of cot-
ton, planning to spend the night in
town. Several relatives who lived in the
immediate neighborhood had dropped
in after supper to keep the woman
company, and had not left until nearly
11 P.M.

The brother-in-law turned and
pointed to a house in the distance.

A Metal Cap

“I live over there,” he said. “Just
about 11:45 something made me look
out the back window. This house was
afire, like it had caught all over at
once. My family and I ran over as fast
as we could, and the other folks came,
too. But there wasn’t a thing we could
do. All three of them were dead by
then. I just can’t figure it.”

This information pointed to arson, ~

but a lanky, hard-jawed farmer at
Sebastian’s elbow shook his head.

“Coal oil lamp,” he said. “Likely she
left it burning for the night, and it just
plain blew up. One of those things that
happen when there ain’t no man around
the place.”

Wilcox turned to McElroy. “Where
is Mrs. Rorie’s husband?” he queried.

McElroy shrugged. “Her first hus-
band—the kids’ father—is in Califor-
nia, last any of us heard,” he replied.
“Yer second husband, Harvey Rorie,
lives east of .England, nine or ten
miles.”

The relative explained that the mar-
riage between hard-working widower
Harvey Rorie and his second wife had
broken up after only two years. Fric-
tion over the woman’s five children was
given as the reason. Late in the sum-
mer Mrs. Rorie had brought her family
to live in a neighborhood peopled
largely by her relatives, while one of
Rorie’s own eight offspring, a daughter,
had remained to keep house for him at
his farm.

Realizing that a woman living alone,
even near relatives, ran a _ certain
amount of. risk, the officers circulated
from group to group, asking questions.
But always they got the same story.
Mrs. Rorie had no enemies. And before

Twisted 1
intensitv

Cor

of a tragi
noticed tl
man’s bod
awakened
and had
get up fr
exploding

“Ts tha
demanded

“T reckc

Neither
Chief Fos:
ry. But th
covered 1
children h
line in Jef
were withy

“We'll 1
claimed gr
patrol car
contacted
Little Roc?
ment’s ace
Peterson, v
he asked
sheriff's off
In respor

lly aa

4 him-
Rorie’s
d Wil-
s." He
aafew
» shim-
roopers
ting on
y diag-
al. Mc-
's body,
e Dean.
corpse,
t nine-
trapped
here in

uestions
UcElroy
puzzled.
iat Mrs.
14, 16,
late the
of cot-
light in
d in the
dropped
woman
il nearly

ied and

ince.

Me 10u0Nn
yuse was
over at
ras fast
ks came,
we could

dead by

‘0 arson,
irmer at
head.

ikely she
nd it just
lings that
in around

. “Where
. queried.
irst hus-
. Califor-
e replied.
ey Rorie,
e or ten

the mar-
widower
Wife had
ars. Fric-
ildren was
the sum-
her family
1 peopled
ile one of
. daughter,
for him at

ving alone.
a certain
c ed
q ns.
yme® story.
And before

Twisted metal remnants attested to the
intensity of fire set by killer. Below,
Coroner Ed Dupree douses the hot ashes.

Cain KR A
4 se . we te

the fire nobody had seen anything un-
usual or heard any outcry from her
home, although three other houses
stood within 300 yards.

No one questioned that Mrs. Rorie
and her children had died as the result
of a tragic accident. The f2w who had
noticed the position of the dead wo-
man’s body on the bed thought she had
awakened to find the house in flames
and had fainted as she attempted to
get up from the bed. All blamed-an
exploding kerosene lamp. ‘

‘Ts that your own idea?” Wilcox
demanded finally of one man.

“T reckon Cader Atkins mentioned it
to me first,” the farmer replied. “He’s
over there, talking to those two
women.” .

Wilcox and Sebastian turned and
stared at the overall-clad sharecropper
who first had given them this theory.

“Y’m not convinced,” Wilcox snapped.

Neither was Sebastian, nor were

Chief Foster and Deputy Sheriff Per- .

ry. But the latter two officers had dis-

_ covered that Mrs. Rorie and her

children had met death just over the
line in Jefferson County and-that they
were without any authority in the case.

“We'll remedy that!” Sebastian ex-
claimed grimly. He strode back to the
patrol car and, with the two-way radio,
contacted state police headquarters in
Little Rock. Assured that the depart-
ment’s ace investigator, Sergeant H. R.
Peterson, would be assigned to the case,
he asked that the Jefferson County
sheriff’s office at Pine Bluff be notified.

In response to Sebastian’s call, Depu-

This steel cap was found beneath Mrs.
Rorie's bed. It was the lone clue in

a crime which claimed lives of three. -

ty Sheriff Pink Booher and Coroner
Ed Depree, of Jefferson County, and
Sergeant Peterson arrived just before
daybreak. They found that Deputy
Sheriff W. T. Wilbanks of Lonoke
County had also come to offer his ser-
vices.

The five officers at the scene had
learned little more than they knew
when Sebastian reported, but they had
prevented the growing crowd of rela-

.tives and neighbors from disturbing

anything that might aid in the investi-

‘gation. As Peterson and Booher

listened to the report and: studied the
still-smoking embers, however, there
seemed little chance that the flames had
left any clues to aid in filling out the
story.

When daylight arrived the ashes and
debris had cooled, and Peterson in-
structed Coroner Dupree and his as-
sistants to remove the bodies. This
done, the sergeant began a close exam-

dination of the scene. His attention was

caught by an object which lay directly
under the fire-twisted iron bed frame.
It was a scorched metal screw cap about
the size of a silver dollar.

“J wonder where this came from,”
the officers said.

Deputy Booher stared at the cap a

‘moment. “From a five gallon oil can,

if ’'m any judge,” he exclaimed.

“It probably was lying on top of the
bed when the fire. started,” Peterson
observed.

The officers’ conversation was cut
short by the voice of Dupree. Turning,
they saw Gertrude Rorie’s body lying

face down on a stretcher, and the: coro-
ner pointing to the back of the head.
It was obvious that the woman’s skull
had been crushed with a heavy instru-
ment.

Repulsed Admirers

“But nobody heard screams or any
noise,” Sebastian pointed out.

“They could have been muffled’ in
any one of a dozen ways,” Perry re-
torted.

“Anyway you take it,” Peterson cut
in tightly, “there’s our answer. Mrs.
Rorie, at least, was murdered. Then
the killer set the house afire to cover
his crime. Now what about the little
boy?”

That question was answered a few
minutes later. Clearing away the
blackened sheets of metal roofing, they
found the child’s body, burned beyond
recognition. A short distance away lay
a five-gallon oil can which matched the
cap Peterson had found.

In wiping out half a family, the mur-
derer had succeeded in covering his

. tracks appallingly well. Except for one

mistake his crime might have been ac-
cepted as an accident. As it was, the
flames had left nothing to point to his
identity except for the empty oil ean,
and the officers guessed that it had be-
longed in the house. If not, tracing it
would be an almost impossible task.
Hunting for a possible motive, the
investigators circulated among the
spectators still at the scene. Relatives
and friends in (Continued on page 60)

FOR OFF

‘POLICE. AND SHERIF’
-FORDESSCQURCOUNTAY

| a |

9 SLANERS

‘Every available city detective and patrolman and virtually |

the netire force of Pulaski co
Monday, were scouring roads |

noon |

unty deputy sheriffs, by
Rock, |

eading out of Little

searching for the two men who early Monday morning shot!

and killed Detective George M

oore and dangerously wounded

Detective L. S. Hay, when the officers attempted to arrest them
tn a house at 1005 Chester street.

Two cera filled with heavily armed

= r P lteputy sheriffa were iu the meigulerc-
hen of Kenton and Mausite, where |
Saline and Garland evunty ulfieere |
were cooperating ia the search ‘Two !
vara luaded with city detectives aud
y petrolinea wee va the Hing Huff aud
~ Acct alceet pikes, lnuvktug fue the wen ,
vue clues Na definite clue bad been |
anmaenaing eatabliohed wo fa teem, bat Ht te the |
. . geucral belief of officers that the sley
Another $600,000 Fight, re a frou Little Meck in an |
’ automobile '
A Manlac’s Interest. The two deaperadoes, believe tu be:
Typewriter Athletles, Arthur tLaoge, Oblabuma bandit, aed
“Diamond Joe, i caught probably wili
Steel Co, Insurance. be bruught tu the city dead AL olf
cere have inatructioas te shoot te hill”
. ‘ ruse on eight. "Phe officere are armed with
, BY ARTHUIC BISBANE, sLotguns loaded with buckahot, ‘

Eighty thoueaud citiaens pald about
$000,000) Mondey might) to see twee

seg | Jewlet Loy, Levnard and Teud-} peradues left
ee, fight. jehowting vecurrel,
j steect, ta ua Burd coupe,
H Sera

Henny Leonard's ability to bent any
Christian of hia weight does wore tu
create respect fur Jews among UTeir-
flane (han ail the great Jawiew writere
combined, could de.
satiun,

——)

Concerning your digestion, notice that!

‘hate cur civalt-|

Tftghwaye fewding wat of Latthe Meek |
i are heavily guarded, as the two see:
he Leuse ti whist the |
LOOT Cheater |

at Ked Gatee Inn '

Firat information leading te the poe |
alble tueation of the pif came fro
Hed Gates tun, on the Littl Mock Thar |
Koringe read, A Burd euspe emiutartia. |
two wen answering the cdeacription wt |

the young fighters, havitdg Leen weighed! the pair pasenl the inn alent Ue!
to pruve that they were unde Jud] o'clock, headed apparently foc Tec
in the day, ute 4 muder-| Springs. Cheef of Poliew MOG) Sutin!

pounds, early

ate meal, lay down ta sleep for the aft-)

ernovn, and did oot cut again watil
after the fight. Rewemoer, teut if yeu
eat heartiif~p at noon and then enpect
to werk, deawing to your brain the
blood that the stomach needs, yuu are
inevitably cheating eltbec stuinacn oF
brain,

F. W. Buydam, confined in the in-
seoe asylum in 1874, bad less than
> $50,000. The Supreme Court pow die
~ tributes smong bis heirs a imillioa dol-

lars, Because he was insane, the pil-

ing up of interest kept om with the re-

mo certainty of arithmetic aad
\dese than, {ity thoussnd dellars became) tgining five numbers, anid
pied re apt oa inane Oe einen hur pumbers were "4-124
preety shoutd tet be :

wo (6 go erasy in order to let interest”
ve for him... Bear that in mind when you
~ i paas g savings bank, instead of guing ia.
yas gre et.
TB oReeve, 16 years old, uses on
“the iter two fingers on each hand
4 -and makes (wenty strokes a second. As
an athletic formance that ia
+ rkable than anything done by
hiers of marathon runners. .
be brain. should hear: words ia dicta-
Mivide those wards instancancous-
nte-rletters. and.write them, dows
to.the second, je really a mara-
Pou marvel oo cyl see mgt res
Many ‘a young. wowan at ber (type
“writer lays. more- reoarkable nerr-
euq and physical equipment , than. Mr.
‘Dempecy-_ ever dreamed, of... oes .

more
That

= THREE BUNK EMPLDES

van nid Sheff Woo. Downer, with
a force of alficers feft: hut Springs to
ineet the var, luaves alan were organ |
sel at Henton and Bauaite Jeffersen!
county officers were patrolling the Lit
tle Mach Pine Ustulfl roast, woile alias
lac atepa had been taken on other roade
leading out of Little Mock,

The meu drove enat when they left the
Chester street house, negroes living 1
the neighberhoot aaid. (me of the men
tleagged hbimaelf aa If he was wounded
io one jeg, they vail.

q Pervors ja the nelghborbdod said that

the caP bore ‘a gtute license fag con-
{hatrthe last
‘ 2h An: tiny om
tigation a¢ the wiate highway depdrt-
ment showed that a Heeter for a Word
foupe with the numiter 74-124" had
been lasued to JL I. Maxwell uf Sileam
Nprings. .

The Democrat got in touch with Mr
Maxwell shortly alter nuun Tuesnlay.
He said hie car bore state Jicense No.
74-128, but that it had not been stolen
and was parked in front of his resi-

ence, ,

The eity ofrered a $1,000 reward for
the capture ilead or alive, of the pair.
-; The grand fury, which was in sesaivn,
wae ed te return Jirst degree inur-
der |ndietments against the two wen
during the afternoon, :

HOT DURING HOLO-UP

landits Get $84,000 in Curren-
ey After Staging Bold Rob-
bery-in Toronto. -

HOUSE WHERE SHOOTING OCCURRED. SLALN |

ECTIVE KILLED, 1 SHOT

DETECTIVE, COMPANION, AND MAN SOUGHT,

WHE LS EF $42 eased ten

The Tfome of Mube Waddell, Negre, 1008 Cheater Mireet,

Where the Shouting Orcurred

CITY DETECTPLY f, SLAIN IN BATTLE,

GEKUKGUK MOOKK,
de

HAFRISON SLAYER
S SENTENCED TO
DIE SEPTEMBER 21

Eulos Sullivan, Who Killed J.
Walter Casey, Deputy U.S.
Marshal, Takes Verdict of
Court Calmly.

Harrison, July 24.—Eulos Sulllvao,

messen, an
= s “gee
here t

, >
“; Toreato, ‘July 34.—PFourteen . bank

guards were held up

yaen, all bank mesaen-
H.W, Harris and

ar cae
retusning to
elearing house,
“when . they were
The. bandits sbet
the, en: whe were
yfilled “with cur

f ee hapa

escaped Otlahoma convict, who a week
ago phot and killed J, Walker Casey,
deputy United Mtates marsbal and well
known Harrison business man, this
morniog wae sentenced by Circuil
Jdadge Mbina to be electroculed.sep-
tember. 21, i
Sullivan was convieted Saturday by
a jury Iin’eircult cour for first degree

‘lmurder, following Indietment eartier in

the week.by the Boone county graad
forge. oo oe at :

The prisoner sat unmoved during a
talk by Judge Shinn tn whieh tha cane
wan reviewed by the ceusgt- aod in
which the condemned man waa told
that he bed been accorded every jegal
comideratiog toe which he wae enti:
tled,. He was feelingly admoniahed by

ed to be the Inevitable. 6 pc: cow
<Un cegg piiance’ with. what. be. concely-
ed to-be..bla daty,sAt Arbangh

torne
hed for @: new’ trial)-aad latiowin a

a
dental “iMHad nattne tnd aunaal «@hish

Judge Shinn to prepare for what seem-"

AND COMPANTON, BADLY WOUNDED

Crow hae offercl a

desperadves who shot down

than Captain Crow received
to the reward.

Hint with $50,
The Democrat believes
It is

the

popular subscription,
erally known that
finances are tedly
ant even 81,000 means

thing, Offers should be
phoned to Gaptaln Crow at

.
e
se
°
°
°
e
e
e
e
°
e
e
°
e
°
°
°
°
e
°
°
°
.
°
°
cy
e
°
e
°

Oe ee ee

Captain Crow |Ivarned of the
shooting,

Hardly had the. news of
Moore's death been cireulated

eral voluntary offera to subscribe
4. toy Nteuber of
the 355 ‘INre Company beaded the

this reward should be raised by

city’s
Ailaptdated
eoine-

phone 4.1234, of send contribu.
tlonw through the Democrat,

RAISE FOND FOR REWARD,

Acting Chief of Vulice BE.
rewanl of
$1,000, dead or alive, fur the twa -

Ww.

Ie-

eve

that

ken:

tele-
tole.”

GERMAN PR
COMMUN

ISECUTOR
DURING
615 AUT

Dr: Haas Fatally Injured: Whi

IMAN SOUGHT AS

MOORE'S SLAY sid

ar yet on i
2 ‘ .

‘hote by Pultee Department
Acthur Lange.

BURGLAAS RANSACK
PINE BLUFF HOME:
GET S000 IN LOOT

Clothing, Jewelry and Silver-
ware Taken While Family
Attends Movie — Robbers
Frightened Away. ~-

Pine laff, July 24.—Burglars ear:
ly last wight broke jnto the residence
of Fred Nenyacd, HO Weat Fifth ave
nue, and atuole clothing” ‘jewelry and
silverware veluel ut about §7U0 oF
$oou, Entrunce waw gained through
a front window and the front pare of
the house thuronghiy ransacked, but it
ia believed the burglars were frighten:

ed away before they finished plunder-
ing the houne, ae
The stolen articles Included .two

larga asllver-mounted perfume bottles,
a ollver. smelliag walta. bottle, a: solid
silver manicure set, ailver-mounted mil.
ltary bruvhes, @ silver tray, a allree
mounted toilet set, a amall gold watch
and a gold ring set with a 5 pe pink

arl and two georgette crepe dresses,

rand Mra. Senyard left bome, they
said last. night, shortly after dinner
ond: after “a.drive went to a pleture
show, 1. They: returned bome. about #2 x.
and: went :directly:, to >the -reae-of «the
house for majixdt. tunch. before entering.

I Arthur
ratreet, shortly after 8 0

Teseah 32: Gneemereen “temtenting « poik, 2 en — 7
va. 9° A aA N\@

. “iil : : a c 1s |
RS ¢ = = _ ( Joe Sullivan 7
ty FIFTY-SECOND YEAR - >. x LITTCE ROCK, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 24, 1923 alvasS Shaw |

Po
Aft

Cauehtat >

“Diamond Joe,”
Detective Moore ani
to have been capture
description of “Diame
at Sheridan, Phe was
that was stolen at 11
bandits left here tay
spatlered about the
the Detnecrat aver do
hin taine
presence Of bhead an
have transferred his
wna Chat he later atuen
companied by a Derm
ly after noon.

waa Jo |

City Detective Gace
his partner, Detective E.
with two white despory
Rube Waddell,

dloes escaped |
Moore died shortly
pital, but despite his av
tending surgeons say |
hot Jost consciousness s
The two desperadoe
notorious Oklahoma bar
said to be a former TPwel
Mo. Lange is wanted
Luny, a Sapulpa patrel
is wanted for a Kansas

NEGRO OCCUPAN
DEATH HOUSE f
> CHARGE OF Mt

A. G. (“Rube”) Wadd
gro, Held by Pollee }
Clearing Up of Shoo
City Detectives,

A formal chatge of murs
laced againag A. Gi. (Mubes
n whose howe the fatal ste
Delective Necgeant Moore eee
the Joral police at avon ‘Puen!
dell denies that he wae in
connected with the shooting
police wish ta held him nae
thorough investigaation of u
can be made,

Waddell told) a Democrat
Tuesday morntog that the
called his home sbortly alter
and told him they wanted to
a diamond, They arrived sh
er telephoning him, “Diame
as one of the mea is known
three-karat diamond
offered to sell
saya he told the men he coulk
it as be did mot have that

Mle Story of Khoon

They had been in bis bow
10 minutes, he says, when 3
Hay arrived, ag sai. | to |
Itay entered the froat door a
stoud ov the front porch,
the three men not to be e
alurmed, Withoug a ward of
Waddell saya, Lange drew a |
began firing, At the first stu
rau Into tbe house and was
a yvolley,. > ‘

“Waddell ‘saya be jumped up
bed. and ran frow the house
by the back door,, As he Sef;
door be pays "Diamond Joe” 1
in frunt of the house pad we
rear’ -dte had a pistol tn |
and was holding one of bis |
he :had been. shot, %, Waddell
aimeighbor's- bouse,..where:d¢

covered; storie eee aC

the ‘freatrooma shay hud been! home,

Bursary ra oterbe

“ ee
= ive rt Bb tae SR Te ay Yr pay TENE ay, ee é ee ee PAS AIS Ra
Tahar cakes PRET BOE hy abe ae :; : : a “

ae een! eA = : Cus oe axa RB no, F we oe

SSTOSARKANSAS DEMOCRAT? 20000 °: oo JULY 24, 1923

—————— = : ; NEGRO OCCUPANT OF (Se a

‘FINANCIAL Moun “| |{) RealEstate Transfers |||. Travelers’ Stunts DEATH House Facks || DIXIE LEADERS __ |
eda Noma . + 3 ogee tn cma From Day to Day | CHARGE OF MURDER |" LEADING MITTEN,

. . - (Continued from Page 1.) | Playere, . tube ai mobs
« 2.2 WE e a -wi © a ” . Mtoe ne a Neen dee wh we
ATHBR ; : M. & Pheipe sad wife te Paul RATTINU AV KRAUKA, My wite wid ft were starting. Wr: lone, Mobic, t ote nse oat
Tompereturce end Rainfall, ~°*| gress, lote 3 and 4, bieck 18, Newton Players, AU WW Bee | eateh a etrvet car aC TW we Me Wiiaia Monte 140 ete
sbeervat taken at 8 < S setay) a dear LEE Sao considerations. - a 1 b .b00) Themipenn aid Ne we left the house | terme Naen Bee pda ee
a emperatuce Raintea ‘oul (L Smudgress to M. &. Iheipe and 12 66 lane i t { tj Mateett, deus alot 4
atlene—. _ Migh- Lew. 36Rre| others, lets 3 and ¢, block 18, Newton's 16008 late + heard a qiuentere at ppt ! pir . ‘ .
F aay, % 9 Additiea—ti and other consideorativeas. st) be ee enth and Chester alrecta aie Walther Use Nunes,
+4 be - nels Maloney. ¢vmmlssioncr, te Ouy of 8b dee} tp there Ae fo cnme to the corner, | "
* Fratton, north half let § and south inres- 96 19t 898 maw the little jie crawl from the house 1"
yo 7. atte nite biee 38, Marenall & Weil's 4 a ae (Warde ot om hin manera and ole hand, : . ne
oe be ¢ Uur A. liration and wife te Poter mie. ‘ © day bobbing fe mbvlenmen wath the other Huyton Nweters _ ’
HF; i ¢: : phones, nesen Ralf lot #8 and ail tae , 46 80 B80] Dileveet wae 4 frony tebe atedoneen Wates, thattan see 1
. . eck $3, Marehali & Weill addition + 13) bed ts .
0 i 0.00) 5. PR. Mathie and wife tu MU. Wile veo gar] Ele crawtat toward anew Pond enipe Nene
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4 6.60) ran eot-—§700. big wen. carrying twee heavy revolvece there, Al gtte "
1 @.00 Clarice Iniow Livia and ethers te R. R. Cnine frome the licuee mtd walked te Mamet Ddewtte flere « Pemine)
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te 0.02] wend, tot 2, Pieew 11, Mraddeck’s addition Mer ail 482] wid TE otheught he wae tytog tele ae the Vomoot WMyppunenta’ Mine
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P. e ee w ' we ‘
Hy H ° e af, AG, biseh. 2, theaeh's eiul 2 Seana a “The remarkable thig was the cust ! . Athante ° ry t ‘ ‘
rT) 9.00] Gearge W. Manaeney aad wife te Thos SOUTHERN LEAGUE | ncce whet teth thee snen showed gp Neon the erg
¥? COR] R. Aeheralt, uniivited bait interest in CULDRKTA MOWER Wise Reber une of eoveral uegiee whe gate | nttee “ ns ee
1$ bt H + se $8, Mudoun'e addition tu Ag: Momypnio July be Mansger itberle! sigiitiig alt, what the teoutle was, three ‘i : tel a
” ' ey ’ ' UY
as 0.00 Campbell and wife to mw [ROS athe, cient ree ea te aod en Vithey emit a adetective Nast abet
ie : oT) enrnes S88 wile, late 1, re %, blece 11, er, Dote fim @ duel Between Weimer | inmt ti the house ail wae taking Isian | ae
*. Meuuatain Home aAdition—-§66a » : ‘
te @.a8 KR bharnes ond wife tu Frank Otto Warmeth The a away, TF thought the big ian woe the | Leading Hitters \|
te O08] and wife. tote 7, 8 and 0 biesk IT, down: N ONLEANS. ale Wot be ao] letertive mad (he title tim peusee | ‘ -|
16 @.08 lain Home stdltinn—O1,000 Bene, cee Ok 0 he had whet, Phe big ais did net aren | in the Majors:
se ote Vora Alrheart, widew, ty Tem te nd liiinert, cf | ‘ $8 OT bie the lemet nervous we eae thet Ihe? ‘
14 0.99) Vide Baum, tote tt and 38, dinew 13.) Ts > + @ © @ @ ——— a ee
ee, Paid not the elighemt attention te any | ciieees ae
16 6.03 | Leowere addition —§h. Tucker, ef oboue4«oe.e NS VGbON GG, DLP vet m
it) @ 00 oS Pratt and wife te tT. J. Paristte, Rwaolit. oe e 1 ‘ ry ep etre wtaivddtcg abeconst tvel cbbel ance rent wnsyerg’ ee ot A ry es ;
3 hae Nou th, pie Bi, Jones & Worthen es ed: lx neuup, tb. . © 8 68 OF glance at me, thengh he walked within lions wt od hie ey
. Alftoan — so ® 1 6 , . . . , i
ts ed Mectza ot \C. fa Vigadereen. te Taute Sones, ewer. 1. ; , ' > og | Pe feet of ine when gem te the ea } oh mh e -
64 0.16} weet half northeast quarter svutheaat | wei yy . ote 8 @ “After theme men dtove aany, bowent, Viste ink aan ;
ay : as nwarter section 7, township 3 nerth, range : ‘ i ee oe inter the beowee, where fo aaw Detective . Pa \ ive bes
‘ . 1 woat-—§ied : 2 Totale o..ceuee cr ee ee ce 7 teenth | AME.
eo o.a8 Commissivner In Chancery te Young MEMPHIS am WoW bo am Atost ne at full ah ha ba bee a i Vlavere te i rae Mood
40 9.90) Mena TWullding Aseneiation, lot 2, block . @ 0 « i of themed. Phy wae witting bie thee oecined oe Woiivcaner teat . . Se dee ‘a
6 0.001 4. T. OM Martin's additive. $1,900 ee Se Oe j Mun NOY tes fe tna ‘
TY ~- 0,08 nH OP. Champten and wife ta A, a. 4 9 $F 6 @ 8 "What's rour name” Po onehked tiie dyeaner, tteve vol eouas “1
66 0.00) Nendie and wife, tet 3, block @, Fern 3 1 ry ' ry ny, . Hav. t nowursert jdaniteon tteve so a une '
. 1m 0.00] dalo--pane @@ 6 4 yf Detective Har” te viewer [Snweu, vie ‘
Franecioce ’.... 46 . fo o nd athere to Nella Hen- “What'a the matters f mabesl btie ete i ans cote '
ae ’ os Juba Aaron a ' ry ‘ a ' e 8 7 |
a eee a “s ray SRO He TRS tN iether © vee 8 : H H ; "Ther ott ame,” he watt Vohneckod | Pt qratndtect [tanretem eine ke Wee mi,
bs ae PR== . . . ‘ee ne ’ ,
+4 tink Honeen’ de 1. talburacAasan, ‘tat Fogaets ees 7 ; : ok Che HEC te nereee the bed, tat | Whot'e testlt tape ectecie cw teen al
16 4 Blog 2, t Muthere addition Of. a eS en om: wn - = Pete age wlth. Chet ene help H var. Wash
6 a somes Teotele ....... at FY > af 48 ry “Powent te get a ichoetar ail it wae
3 C TT TOC ore by Innings. eeveral mannten after CE cetienest with! or a euat Meth wore white ahiere
S . 0 ON S KS ' eo tee ee EP hie Phat the prsitee mertved Ht waa The tlw fellow, wher weighed about bie
' ve BELOW 75 000 _ Hummary. between atl Mi ustttee alter the wink wae very at wally dba be
mt) . Two baoe Mike Achiem Badgont, Camp | alesting (hat aiblittonal podieon meetved | were peas teeter ‘Phe tittle fest
os Btocka of enttan hell In compresses tires bee Mi Cem . Wan ai "Neither of the inven had on what had ea khaki entered tonaeces
HY In the atate dropped below TH O00 bales} bert macritivee-Watker, Hepan boutie| _ : .

- during the weet ending Fadas, account. pide bnew OY ate Sree tw , ener.
Weather Corditions, ing to the weekly report of the Arkan °

Ne Nsteaw §, Memphis 6 Ihacee
mosreterce Bars tees. atgWUy” ot) gag Cotton Trade Association, lesuedt an Weve Ger Wate il Wasa
ner prevetia this morsin pt or eras: Monday, a¢ followes jiteaien ae peretere Wittiat ‘asc “Motuwan
Jase lasonetis, ecateak -paalenday heosived shipped. Nene rene eee ta WIN RARELY
upper Lakes, maven aes | ABRAOWA Vocceeeee 3 ‘ aoe Naeohville, July 26 Neensilie piled up
ed by moderate shaw: | Mateeville . 7 Ub five rune tn the iret inning an Mucthen
from the upp Missloeippl eaeitwart Miytheviile ; a and Allentea wee never able tu averenine
ve Atlaatia. eval- ee é 16 tne lead the Viele winning 6 tw 2 dlawne
Nae aoeen 4 at 6 fow atettnda slows Lire ; . who dguble acd laler Bie heat
r canliaucd ware, weaned Bi lerada e lee The ryima wom aA £
iteated for Arkansas, Forrest wity e ‘ * * § tf 8 4
River Bulietin, tn ° § 4 © @ # @ @
“Fieed Weight Change Rafl : se i] o r) e
sien Glage. Foot. si nea tare ry Ti ‘ o ry a . ‘
“t Qibesa “ay te. aa | Latte 1 bh “ : rr re rr P . . .
OF rere ! ’ # @ | 3 w 6 in
Rrra | 8 Belicsce” ome - speed Ree pporates is contributing its share
aville ee te ol Mertiiton . Moges 3 t} 5 ° 2 6 ° °
Newport svrvevves e 6a oad | Maer
Dae rameeer Sar Screed Cag ee HR [oe ee toward Building Economy
— . ‘ weweliville .seves ~_— ©. ae « -
; ceaeienseee: r r) 430 7
pind mer sree Se Teuarkans . . ° ad ay eicieaal tee Muthieen in. sink a“
al yy H Welnwt tides ll 8 cd Pierre eee a mc N THIRTY YEARS the cont
; Totale ese Mer heen Yager ton gece f ft bt gs _to the public of moat com.
t watcceee 7 bao . ‘ :
Kame week idtiss 1,131 bbie genera]! eee se Ha oe ere modities haarisen, Inthirty
MEN, KNOWN TO Bidet a 0: te tae years coal and Inbor, the two
POLICE, ESCAPE Fire ee fg gE Gg heaviest coat Items In the man-
AFTER SHOOTING | fotate ........ 09 8 18 1 ne ufacture of cement, have risen
“(Continued from Page 1.) Reeve by lanings. >
and doctors worked In valu to staunch seenesers ©900009 6 O—? _ dn price. Bue ATLAS Portland
tho flow of blood, Hlecd also poured ponccrocny 6 0 6 8 F166 3-6 Cement sells for less today than
from the wound In his ablomen, and 7 Hite Hs whee Deh a
5 . ‘ f m te: 2
said that hie death wae de jon Daeescarh se nacrities <mitert, Ku. tt did thirty years ago,
® hemorrhage, although the wound in aoee - Reville 7, Al-
p[hin- brain ultimately would have cauaml|\eole tt ek tigtcctty Peete fue In building the average home
leuth had the dectora heen sucersefui | worrison 1. Mite—Olf Morsioon 10 ja 6 the cost of the cement used {s *
iw-stopping the flow of binod. Ile died ort emnace 4 im 0. HW by Pucker
: . 4 rrieon c le a a aA item --},
pre llmag ap witpout ecg fi hig “Promo ad Morrison. | Pacecd Vall--Siller, tweing only 2% of the total cost of the
Fhe; Waite. wil WW, FH ty ate he “MeCaskin, a ae Pima tikee et Pleneinert bullding. Even In the building
| the latter’ (wo bousy physicians, worked |, Chetianeeec., duly “te Wiemingham of the average reinforced con-
| to, save the two olfotcers. Dr, Bunith Leia dy lay attormnan, “bumberding, Wise. r erete factory the cost of the
a it 4 Merk
Saks edceca cake Galtier cial coma tor ote cighns iar as cement used Is only 6% of the

» UNlew unforeseen compl
rations poe “The Rey, Harry ,| five. mee op
Kanwlee arrived. atthe hospital just) - pinwinaHa. Ara x
hefore [letective Moore dled and stood | Mrausen, 30, 1,05.
by’ the. poeretteg, san, Lt a a briet ene na taeeve
rayer as the officer ex Gee + fF. ove
Ui Whee. the mon, fled Trem’ the house | (arses, &
they: leaped: inio ‘ord coupe parked

total cost,

In- spleto of the tremendous

: .. . demand for cement, ATLAS, bee ,-- -
“~*~ cause of its economy, hase™ ».

>." pemalned available for all work, «-° ~
‘big or letle—no other type of ©
product the result~of a°com=~7 =~
“plete _ manufacturing |: process oe
° sells at s0 low a price, es
Bh andbenrodlnad you desire «
xt Information on any phate o,

Rew eeatesaves

| Yr We

Y pte pe hs Leda seatenk 3

il: 4

sf =

aE a

i i %
i pa
e 4
id aoe
; ne

a Sat vO TNE BT ROT

aVawiiy FAP WWee bf
Police, Escape
After Shooting

eh meetin) <i ilpowscng in emt |

Caught at Sheridan, Report Says. AEAR EAST TREATY
“Diamond Joe," one of the two desperadoes who killed |
Detective Moore and wounded Detective Hay, was believed | ’
|

to have been captured at Sheridan. A man fitting the

: .
‘ ; ‘ . description of “Dinmond Joe” was arrested by the sheriff
gin ota tn en y ; ‘ a ae i 1 at Sheridan, He was driving a Ford touring car, however, t

that was stolen at Pine Hlaff, Monday night, whereas the {|
bandits left here in a Ford coupe. Mauch blood was | Sigoutures Attached to Pact at

’

ees rw eee enret Fairoeeah F ; . : :

nat Mes vy spattered nbout the interior of the car, the sheriff told | Lausanne, Formally Eutab-

SES 0 | the Democrat over long distance. The man arrested: suid lishing Peace With European

his name was J.C. Green, but refused to discuss the
’ uw wi i . ° @ , eo re . } ya ‘ ‘”

presence of blood in the car. Police here believe he may | banannne, duty fb cate ane A 1)

have transferred his partner, Lange, to the touring car, (Lhe Dusmiie peace treet Cornally
(added, Negre, 1008 Cheater Mireet, Where the Mheooting Occurred. and that he dater abandoned Lange. A posse from here, ae Potablishing james betwen the bares

SI AIN IN BA TTLE, MAN SOUGHT AS ae in a Democrat reporter, left for Mbertaan short. a a grieve saan “Pushes, mine: mated

N, BADLY WOUNDED MOORE'S SLAYER) Peak aes sigue des oat
; . | City Detective George Wo Moore wan fatally wounded, and the vi ; an

Mhe pone the eague of Netions va

Powers,

toler peenetelone of tha treaty, Vue-

‘hia partner, Detective LC. Thay, was shot six tines, i a bate i ptiag. at ecqunlits

|with two white desperadoes ano negro dwelling occupied by! Coustiamdnopte gore defitele to Pues

Arthur Robe Waddell, negro taxicab driver, at 1008 Chester:
, OAT fceegiers well be wittilia wa

atreet, shortly after 8 o'clock Tuesaday morning. “Phe desperits) the teatr unekee peace belweee

does escaped. any most Purhe ' ‘al ‘
: . « Nitengete tee gain peelerentlal trent:
Moore died shortly after beieng removed to the City hose lyechy neice future ut. elute one

pital, but despite his six wounds, one through bis bedt lang, at fbemete tee tee ge ip ile a -
tentel tea Wane te bh . weet tee .
tending surgeons say Hay has a chance to recover. tle had . . ue ‘ tart

reoene io the

not Jost consciousness shortly before noon {jet v ote veane Sue bel fetaniee
The two desperadoes, tdentified by police as Arthur Lange, | berkee bes tere et eae foe
notorious Oklahoma bandit and murderer, and “Dinmond Joel lias ee Thelen givee bee a mires

eepege etree fae aw pretend of

Ghee beta dt neh eed ge

said to bea former Twelfth street saloon Keeper in Kansas City) &
Mo. Lange te wanted in Sapulpa, Okla, for murdering John
Luny, a Sapulpa patrolman, on September 16, 122, and alse Pecber mlthong
in wanted for a Kansas bank pater as police records here nhow. | Merkl war ns

feahed in the
of Crerteang,
et | aueanne
“‘Luemep ere

etter Pep three eee

wlfered a Th AMA ge ea

wily hae

leet” leur the tween. lead we alive beematenetesl oar Kind axenegedetoty

| Phe two detectivea lack geome te the ete the tere ew

\W adel] hetie ou a toy that twa white) Lemey \Wine bt ame,

teem were there ta diapese of menue ateben Phe ‘Viaree terteh wae peeduced @

| bem sesnnede to a fener. “Phe front door! geen acdties Peniet Mantas whe in the

| has Hol locked eid the twee officrre pegetintione here haa shown Dineell

i quietly entered, only to meet a shower lin he one of the Bicatent statesman of

fot whole are Digapbicen of the two dee | Burope 7

' lot tke o@ sloutiug frum be- Veniet wareted the evlelrated Lard
a fact the atficern 1Curaon, Heltial mecteters of alate foe

‘The offtwers replied, Play abooting foceigu affarie at the fret atage ol the
| ihaee Unie before a abet cathe shewatder baveanne conference
faent bine te the floor Whether Pete) demet comstonthy planed two eweda:

ALG. ("Rube") Waddell, Nee | tiie Moore, whe wie abot thisugh the | Puanpes AN be bemtre peace va

fotehe tl and abdonen had a chance to! the ewe Pet at altost ane price
yro, Held by Police Pending | steot, could ner te aacestumed Newth stand the camggerated dinportinee Torker

ow velit officers catablial whether etth. | possessed wen worl power thiough hee
—Ehata by Polive Uepartinent Clearing Up of Shooting OF 66 ct the desperutees wae wounded geeermphical poattion

i. 8. 1
Wounded

Arthue Lange, ) , aMecre's ovat wae pulled beck and bos Auoeved ta the treaty of Lauaane
Sor eo eT are . City Detectives, revolver hulalee wae rusty a shectal “straits cunsention ’ whereby
e ° ° A formal charge of murder wae Warklell, in the bouse when the the watermure lishing the Mediterran

Nd Othe Waddell, eheating began plunged through @ win Sean amd Wack veae henceforth eta
mhowting af thew, taking the frmsioe med me itoen with Uta epee tee beth the warelipa mana
tone dao bie plomge the wae bead later teerchant men of all nations It te the

shavest mgmt
tip whese bene the fatal
Detective Neogeant Mewre eecureed be

the locnd potter at neon Tucetag Wark j telling ta mie meljotnting hheawe the new Cubans reelet Chat mevtet Tamata’e
Hell dentes that he woe in nny way ta at pol leachpaaetere flier tnebaventes ode ih tee adhere ti thee

sted with the ehoottug but the Ulay SOE Conmactous, Agreement stants wut ma the met alg
| soaliew oh Bhortly lies the eheeting a ontgre nitteant stogle feature of the Lansannd

ole 4 with amare 1
poltee wink ta belt hiae un Woman felephonet heaqunrtere that conference Pelehevik Moana probably

(fair
beat Investigaation of the : there had heen “a shooting’ in the has comuasitted Mussia foe all tine to
Few be tude ' -purter Woacletl hawer, and Detective Prewitt opening the atraita te inenol war,
Waddell told a Democrat repurtet | ced pelufurcements aeut te the nevne, Theugh Lord Curaon wae unable to
Tuesday mernuing that the (we duet of nme :

° AISE FUND FOR REWARD,
cting Chief of Volice k. W.
Crow has offered a rewanl of
1,000, dead or alive, fur the twa -
peradves who shot «lown Ie-
tective Mergesuts (ieorge Sloore
aod L. C. May Tuswiay morning.
The offer wae made ay soon as
Captain. Crow learnel of the

°
°
s
° .
° °
. .
s .
& e
° e
e °
° .
* shooting. ° i j
: ttyl had the news of ° lcedled ila I hott alter 7 widoet Jobn Gees, a forme member the. be qereeni wt the arcond eitting of the
core’s death bern cireulated * celled bia heme ehortly afte oo whee force who tives i the neigh: conference, he continued ta he the ah
J. © than Captaia Crow received sev. * Clothing, Jewelry and Silver- and toll bine they wanted to nell bine pothuod, goto te the sevne about the reefing mind dn shaping ite course
3.] ° eral voluntary offers to subscribe * ware Taken While Family ‘1 amend ‘They merived abortly alt [rwswe tue wid lornted Warltelt, { Vuderdying all of the weary, endiese
*- to the reward. Moy Nteuber of ° er telephoning hin, Diamond Joe | pietective Prewitt and bis compan. daily ateugales, one thought dominated
af} « the 355 ‘Nre Company beaded the * Attends Movie — Robbers| ne one of the men ie known, had @ line entered the house and Goond all deacuesion, TC wae that ‘Turkey
° Net with $50, Sire tnghinatye eweronpe © . . there karat diamond ring whieh he Moore lying on the Move Ina an vf rhoull be brought back ta Burope aud
. The Democrat believes that ° Frightened Away. olfered to well for $20 Tha negro bied, aul Hay Atting on a bed. Trot he forced by ostraciim to cast her
3.) ° this reward should be raised by ° Pine luff, July 2h —Murglars ears awya he told the men he could not buy “Kor God sake, hurey age and do tot with) Mohammedan porate of the
‘w | ° -popelar gubseription,. It is gen- “}ly jest wight broke juto the vestdence' lit ae be did wot have that money, something fur me, Hav emul faintly, | Feet Bavot, India, Persia, Arabia aad
Y.0° erally knewn that the city's °juf Fred Meuyard, tht) Weet Fifth ave Mle Story of Mbuuting. Moore ta ead, P think ‘ Afghantotan,
1)? . finances are. sadly dilapidate! °jnue and stole clothing Jewelry ated They bad been in hia house about Vrewitt and hie companiona imine. | . ——-- ;
a] © and even $1,000 means some: “Sjailvermare veiued wt about $700 oF TO minutes he raya, when Moure and [diately Huriened am moe , Constantinople, July 2-01 N. Ay
ud? thing. Offers shoukl Le tele- *!) gn Eatrance wan gained thtough jay arcived, Aceurding ta lite atocy, | teehed the mennededd officerm to the City | --- ATE Conetistinnple Jaen foto totay
a~ 1° phoned to Captain Crow at tele-' °la front witmiuw and the front pact of (Hay entered the frout dave and Muoce Theepital, Moore atled shortly after be-j in celebration of peace. The ceretnonies
°” phone 41234, or send contribu- ° {tbe house thorvughly ransacked, but it |atoad ou the front porch, Hay told {16 placed on the operating table, with. | will Inet until the aerival of lainec
*-tioes through the Democrat, lis believed the Lurglars were frighten: |the three men not to be excited oF Oc eing thine foun thes , ae. \Vasha from Lausanne ay July 28,
= . : ed away belure they finished plunder: yalarmed, Withoug a word of warning, ay war ohot fuur thues with All butldings are gaily decorated and

calber steel jacketed bullets and twice! ‘the warshipa in the barber tear Mage

CO a ee
vith a dicablen Two shots, ane in| | In honve of the vernaion, The mosques

ing the house, Wardell saya, Lange drew a pistol aud
The atulen articles Included two {began fining, At the firrt alwe, Steure ike abwalder.

hich ranged dawnwars Woo 1
oe ; th “ wi © illuminated every night until
| sama be oa od oe the house and wae wet we ~ B silage oigr i hie ses duis ahs Med the celebration ends,
. ujhet ia eo loaner part u he le , *
silver manicure ect, nilrer-mounted til. Waddell saya he jumped up from ble more Gred from behind. Play wee nid | OS dare was a huge proceesion through

. Mon
{tary berusbes, @ silver tray, a silver (bed. and rau frou the house, leaving biwiew in the right leg, below the kr a ee inthe provi

Mounted soilet set, a amail gold wateh | by the back dour, . An he le the rear | aed if be regavera be probably will loed :
and a gold ring vet with a laege pink |yuor he says “Disnond Joe” ranacoutd tig tog: He abo way abot through the no sid gc’ ley ee r Lert
Biirhy and (wo georgette crepe drenses, }in front of the house pud webl in the [sight -ieg telow’ (he knee and ouce enrseen-

’ -
r, and Mra Henyard left home, they |rear, Hle had a pistol In one hand |inrough the left groin. pipe Mr a, pat gpa els pork

A » | pala last might, shortly alter dinner land was holding one of hin lege ae if i “Tr ed Us," Kayw May,
nt and after a deive went to a picture |he had been shot, Waddell san. intu “They repped os,” sald Hey at the nei gp al Turkion gs
z show, They, returned bome about UH) ig neighbur's bouse, where be was Glee ty hoenlial, “Moore went in firet.| orphane. Theie future offers one of

{a Tliase ry

Ge
aj and went directly (0 the reae of the covered, ‘Lhey waited until we both t inside Turkey's biggeat problems
. house for alight lunch before entering The Regro says that be had nevet jand then the amaller of the two meu " '
: Dr: ¥ is Fatally ‘Injured While the front rooms, “They had been home, | sen anes but Nhat he met the other |cpened fire. Uay at firae ies ouly ha eae a the ohn rejleing ‘the
4 they cald, 1% of 2U minutes before It iman two years ogo in Keneae City. une man fired at him, “but If ['m shot) Turkish erulser Hamidiel to go to the
e was discovered that the house.bad been |i1¢ claire the man, weoted hin ‘to jin the back, the other man did It,” b@) ¢ioiten Hoen to fire salutes as a signal
hurglarized. ___ ——-——-—-+ bring-sowe-whishey to. Little sen for jeald. Thrv dencribed one of the men “when the signatures are formally placed
«cg ].. A pistot in the rear of the house was | bis, an being short, ewarthy and. black+! win the peace treaty at Lausanne, : .
a Si mot taken and thie fact led officer) A graphic deweription of what “hep ee alan the other as tall and sandy | Up imarrow ‘all Musselmane will ae- a
who lavestigaied the case in believe pened alter the shouting, as the slay- haired seinble in. the moeques to offer up pray- 4

jthat. the. sobvers ted been frightened the pollee arrived, After the deeperadore hed emptied

awey by the return ef Str. and Sirs Te ian the’ Inmenret ‘Toredas vy | thelr gune they turned aod fled through He Gr a eig ag eh sa
Henyard betore they ingot) their | J, 1°, Thompeon, an auomodile palee-|& rear dene, he sald. key has pe engaged “In the peat 13
srarch of the house, <u man Mlving a blotk ‘frum, the erene, at] -Detective Moore bled profusely from | years. Oniera have been given that na
1117 Ringe street, pho caw the bandits|the mostrila after being placed om the! \iusselman shall remain “S- (frogs
’ feave, but thought They were setectives.|operativg table at—the city boepital,} these devntiona,~ ~--- ~ .
a. (Continued oa Page 8.) uw sx (Continued on Page *) 37 =’

PLANS | FOR“WORLD PEACE” ARE |" INJURED

eBY CARRIAGE

“SFLOODING-INTO BOK’S OFFICE iis sidrut se

me: 5 pmtnmenpeet “ Pe
Vor Little Reet: and Violate Part.
choudy tonight and inl

warm, owes ‘tesD aghcons

“Rome evers man te ehurch—If all, men were Mae trewd of srtple: pottared suns
a we'd have ne: war. 20%: eae eg Fayeliafirmary,” ranning . down .

egy 8 by. educating’ the ehlid about 20 wamen and ehifdren
se ond war meres ‘we have: soa :

BRERA MS Retin by tii >.

eee moan De the

ee a ah lk ee

a,
ers

=—_ SAS VE!

se as

LITTLE ROCK, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 27, 1923

dthiy

NTY-SLAVE
TTQUAST

{witha religions fervor bordering on fanaticism and
o the last that a miracle would save him, Herbert
-ter county man, died in the clectric chair at 5:50

lay morning for the

om the death call to the chair he was baptized in the

ith by the Reverend

se, and ag the straps were being adjusted he declared
é happlest man in the walls.”

oday

ego
‘s Tomb! Too Bad.
‘rlasting League.
d Peter the Great,
idn’t Play Golf.

CHUR BRISBANK, ~
itsoa, geatie kngiish poet,
“The Woman With the
gue,” turm his attention
pee m lady, the
of Liberty in the barbor
To her he addreanes
reee, published in Loadon

‘a's peters: ot Liberty,"
ng at fume;
@ at- hast thy tom

sad for this country to
tomb., But perhaps the

el ale die,” he told the warden,
tons, | that. God: will. save met sn a mire

WHY | >< Sease) harangued

cee es
ten t

| Mary, Mother of Uirace, Mother uf Mer-

.
aed:

| Ee bea

<}tently geeured.

HAT
Alt

murder of P. H. Davidson. On

Father A. L. Fletcher of Little

“How je averyboly thie morning?”
wae Bease's cheery greeting as le en-
fered the death chamber, where about
1) witnesece were asesemblel. As he
wae being strapped jn the chair, he
— “You came here to ace me die, but
‘m not golng tacgle ‘The vame Gul
(bat aavet treaiel “Mil save ie.”

Apparenily Deranged.

This statement was followed by a
loud laugh, like that of a man mentatiy
derauge’. Ae the leather mask was
pullet taut acrows hie face, shutting out
the iight of day forever, he muttered:
“Pinve you gut it on all cight, bayer’
‘The altendanta wepyet back, amd &@ tmeo-
ment Iatee the (uetenlnge clicked aie
hia heavy frame stilfeucd in a single
convulsive invvement,

The electrodes made a thin, singing
sound which inade a wierd accompant
ment to the Catholle “prayer for the
tying” read by-Father Fletcher aa the
electrie current wid ite deadiv woek.

cy, protect him from the enemy, and
receive him in this hour of his death.”
The awitch bebind the acreen clicked
after one minute, and the form in the
hale relaxed and ceumpled. De, Dew:
ell Gann placed a stetiirecupe over the
heart aod nolded, Ilervert Hease wae
ne more, hile long battle for iife aad
nreecom was over.
4 > Has Sound pleep.
“Agcerding to the prison guards, Beare
lepe be em gen Be went! 2330 u clock Friday

el hola, the :
rd. oe primoved,

“You may put
me in the ehalr, but.

I'm not going to
“I was never

Sa.sure of anything in my life as I am

acie.”
crow ch eg sl “to: ‘bla bis: wife a‘ final
she left hie cell at 4
pee Thursday afternoou, He insis-
-that be would “see
again tomorrow,”
the crowd that

Preesed about the window ofsthe death
evl} & ~ before the execution,. The
pression of rape.abstraction
hfe bursts of hollow laugh-

isconnected maunderings
sonnel the whe ee hia _jbat the

y-pelerred 4 the faving
arian cn bearers that

ast

al; which has set x new pace for ra
of - developmen, “mialmum .of -fa

; ba aig wrrg ey in

Mm
td) rtleon plantation ine Sibeslaatpek seer

Me. ti. U8. Witeetow hae just teen ap
pointed ancletant secretary of the Ualt-
wl Ntates ‘Treasary, in charge of the
Flacal ffler, ja W nshiugton.

20 COUNTIES SIGN
FOR EXHIBIT SPACE
ON "BOOSTER TRAIN”

Exhibit) From Famous’ Lee
Wilson Plantation in Misais-
aippi County Will Be Feature
of Exposition Special.

Although the campaign was only re-
field work or-
anization for the aa Traveling
Eapesitten, approsimately CO counties
iu the state have wompleted contracts
and have applientione in for reserva-
Hons of exhibit booths and accenimeda-
tlone for their delegation on the tour
this fall, The number of bootha takea
tange from two te four for each county
that has taken steps for representation,
Recs ’ to J. 1. Mand, managing di-
| peeteg,. = Ate NM RAE eee he - =”
Lawrence county will be represented
with four booths and a lArge delegation
of boosters, for the pur of bringing
cotton mills and wouod-working facty-
rie into that section, The mineral re-
sources of the county aleu will be fea-
tured, ~
Saline county will show an claborate
Claplay of hee unique variety of mate-
rials that are a basi for veelul manu-
fecture, ‘The Niloak pottery industry
at Benton will form ome of the attrac-
tlons on the exposition, ‘The immense
beds of pure gines‘sarul, kaolin, Fuller's
earth -and- bauxite are all to be well
featured, together with attractions that
will. be he¥@pout_fta manufacturing iu-
Hdastry~hy reason of. fsewton’s Ineation
ta the Heamel dara on the Ouachita
river, *
oFl Dorado will be ‘shown as the
eer and premiér of the wondes oil

eld
cratic fe
lures
and - maximum .ef .prodaction, growing
trom nothing to fourth renk among the
two gad er

One-of th
kangas will be a
tyyone of the largest individually own-

emt el. plantations in theswortd,: which: ts

"1 play the sing.
06 The bounds,

C Pialdetion
heeithey be fou

situated im the leading cotton producing
county -of "tha, United -Mrates. ~7
“Ltaxter’ and Marton countles will die
lead Speeerony within
peor ae ato. Interest |
h-ather_ mineral. pro} *
“A aie advantages to} “=
sfnitha

tsa dietriet, op ,qoders,
thon: with: power ‘developm it
Hink-thoee, pete Banity age Canibers

Fhe.

=f man in 740
Wickes

Fels atk county, wll be fea ree

3 4 a
: emote ouige ee He

ooneetion’

AIN
Jt ALLE
JUGMEN

Six suits for $2
ery B. Connell,

| TS |

Reset

_~ fF rt

the three defendants for
judgments asked $160,000,

The pulta were filed tn Pulowhi Cor
cult Court by Wot Nelmtisene Cla
fon Breensane mid Ntetevey 2 sD eu baees,
whe were nanied atternera foe the two
wishowa by Morsienguel dadge Kreg W
AN tesipetaey garnishment wae
eet Cute vnpe a d peneege
tlefemdante anti the caer
fivally be chee oehel ol
Police BOW. Ctuw wae named gat |
Hiphivent offtor: ail he jamediately at
tnebed all prepetty of the
tee Dbtt de Vleet denedin
and other peeperty weed tee Wotebedbell, |
proprietor of w twat tine, aid attach
fing dimienede jeweler, teens aed oth
er permennl property of aud

Lewin
laenedd by the ov
eety of the

Asfing Ohief

hefendaate
automobiles

Uersonetl

|
|
i]
|

TAKES DARKER HUE
AG PARLEY TOTTERD

Operators and Workers Again
Resume Conference After
Disagreeing Over Closed

Shop and Check-Off Syatem.

Atlantic (its, No J. duly 27.— (By
the A. 1°.) —‘Mhe etrike cluud which hae
hovered over anthracite wage confer:
enves at the Motel Ambaseador since
July 6, appeared svoty black todgy os
operstors and intners, having parted
lust night tu utter dina greement over
the slogrd shop and the check off; aed
‘agala tar7deetde whether Ie wyald
any use tu continue peaceful pega
tlons,

Neither olde could see any rift in
the cloud, cach devlacing It wan stead-
fast tn the attitude which lal ta the
breek in‘the conference, Hoty decline
to cumment ou the gooalbility of federal
intervention. The .alucre already have
announced they do net propose to arbi-
trate, The present crivis was reported
when John 1. Lewle, president of the
United Mine Wockers of \merica, em-
bodiel the check off and “coniplete rec-
dgnition. of the uuwn" interpreted as
the closed shop, iu a resolution on
which thg jeing committee voted four te
four. - Wie i+

.- Me, Lewis announced that, taeemerk
an the.operators were “arbitrarily Te-
Jecting the peopositivn,” the cunferences
inight ae well adjourn, The operators
asked an overnight truce and the nsinery

agreed to attend another seesion on the

new that im the meantime there might
be a weakening sumewhere, - 2.12% 6.

The attitude af the miners expressed

by Mr, Lewle today. was,:“We are in-

\} sistent on thie poiut and will continue
| to = be.

Cn a a nn

alias Arthur Lange,

$25,000,

to Wid

AYE

ler dire ting

Shaw, and Arthur (“Rube”) Waddell, under indictment for the |
hilling of City Detectives George Moore and L,
widows of the two clain officers,

Woastelen

PR. ‘SMILING§|
STATE WOULD TAKE

|
|
i}
'
|
|
|
{

Mastin at the

Penbbeutiney tee puny the yecnery tee Edvaae

away

low Water.

Heattle,
tranaport

frou

Ueryon. .g,-

but

taken off.

water,

Leili

ran onte

aceldent

it ae 0:0,

“home’*

mis’
the bat
drawn

‘Jones

\
Reattle= _ “the

weeks’ a

| = 8D. Warrines, the. operatars’ s
man: replied when asked if their
was # final: LWe presume jt ia” «;

S in°Two. Chicago™: Es

fe
aeSroents
s: Seti cloned
upaand ‘pabberdt 3
“Kilneaat:
ite Newt or

FAN

meee

pet pritiaty- theta | ht
pec

pelwain

~{ Callfornta,
| Land, Tem

The

hattlesh!
after anathe

Gets’ sat in LD WOLD Cash hee

S hi
“»Forty- deatroye

| the.oceansand

Wareh,
Hendersun,
Viarding wud ble pacty ret
a toue of Alaaka, rumined th
etruyer Zellin in Puget Mound, 40 miles
nocth of here, nceording to a wirelees
Meesage received bere from the Hen-

h “Ades

This mesaage stated that bot
rooms of the Zaljin had been flowled,
that all on board hee had been
The destroyer
at the time the mesauge
attempting to tuw the

Meattle, Wash, Jul
H.)—President @ Mardi

rbor,
‘The Henderson came out of the
i overhanging Elliott hay to

gin TRO

rite preniaeutts «Clute WN oT po sa
a algnal-for a succession of ears
ting detonations from. other ansem
vans the Hendersan moved
plawly. alang the line fof “ships.

gun fren .the battleshina
A Mosico,
nesace, J
vada, - Pennsylvania, \

Hed
me

MINE STRIKE CLOUD HARDING'S STEAMER
RAMS DESTROYER; ALL
UN BOARD AnE OAFE

Both Engine Rooma of Vessel
Hit by President's Ship Are
Flooded—Is Towed to Sh

uly °7.—The
carrying

shew A .

Nicholas,
Wee sent, was
t Intu shalluw

Nieto reports had stated thar the
rocks at
where the latter message sald that she
hat been rammed,

The previous reports stated that the
had occurred
tourning, while the later memaga put

the point

at D34mN

27.—thy 1. ON,
came hack

today .to the accompaniment
of deafening welcome from the J’acifie
fleet, assembled for. review in Neattle

je equadron of the Vacific Moet
p smartly ‘in line for presi-
dential ‘Inspection,
=}ytle--guna. ffom., Admiral -

roar of gigan-

the Reattle fn

this

Hillary Uy].
the .armored crulser
twelcoming “note ‘off >
the nevaldnt' he homecoming, alter three
~Lahted. Xtatea4

|
|
|
|
|
!

OVER 6,007 MILES
OEAOAD UNDE m

mend, Che total tetbeage Of Cle preyed |
jebate biel ae we etene bie enele comity oo
the ctate wohl be we follows

Chey

thee seed
‘at biewe

Pwttenug
‘the

‘

y State Enginecr Issues State- J
ment to Correct Misappre- o'cloc
hension as to What Proposed Cacif:

j Law Would Provide. ‘wett,
; , Pia , - An a corrective for misapprehensieona cf fos
5,000 each were filed Friday against Mime | which he seit he had found peesatent | heed
. bee ; Iho omeme sectiona of the atate ovee the tled
Joe Sullivan, alias Joe Peevivions of the propose! highway ball (J
that im tee be stabetttedd tee a aprertal pew " u
; Frton of the AeSanene tieneral \ewwmtde Kudd
Co Hay, by the) we a tate for the restertion af fetecut Will
: Pte TLC Paneer. etate bth ete Mh:
Each widow sued each of 2": ;
: bi j Rteeen, Petdey immersed me statesneiit wtiens
' Null
makin the a regate of | ‘ee the enact tmumber of austhles tn each
if KRUCKE f vets flat wereld be taken over ty Pity ow
the otnte marvel be cenete rected ae reece Lal bee
Wallivan. which Were taken fem tiem etre teed mad ocalatanned eationly De the lo ie
Wt the thee of thete ‘Tuesday jofate taking the Vorvende ne cel thee ceraty
: ‘ j Jelee ol the loentet volved okie:
Wihethee the atte rte ue | Dele D vu
Peregpeerty cof the belt son, afb ot None af the 3. esmntion af the atate| le
Whiertte ate dell watleenst Peered wall pee | beee teow there 4d nthe of dng twas | bees
fea fee willy Clee ne tertreteng af tie wpe Eb t weeded tee ee ta hene ver mtd sien [teen
tee abe fered the meetimed eee ecb ant | Ctebeedd at tate ea teime Msp thane | he
Free beaeteerh Patel swt toeateeen ever TORD pedes White county, worl salty
MELD Pitre ee hee beens tentatively | PML tebe e tee thee teat atte tree | bert
tetrad fee stefend Conmuell mick Malley comity, with oe dew, ae the leat | While
vate, mad Phendey mae pad om te | Phe average te well seer TA nilee pee bbe ted
Pminting fee af RO at ot east fumed | ceuety. thee tetab cathemge ta the state) Hea
we Cmmeth at the time of hes actemt, | beteg OheRh7 Ht eaten
after Connedl bad sities a written en Neoneesliog te Mal Paimerieh'e state |

Krust
Team bev

we ley

wide,

leeany

‘The
focgites
there ae
the th
lievent
ohutte
be wot
that b
at Lae
to be
trole

faptte
we uth
ieadia

qitent
la nal
hak t
lo asl
sherif

Ma
the bh
wouth
pall |
Inenne
at th
nell ec
wile
trode
all of
had
wan
draw
heave
peare
wars
the

$,087.9i>—

Ware

Misaias
lahoma, T
ut. l

Arisona, nad
ippt. Nee f-

Ni SAID TOBE KN.

$1, 000 “for * ‘Having

TENE NEWTON BAKER rie |

ker,“a
vi] Gin In . Bheeps'

PX Molor Boat. aS

oe)
wv. York. July 27—Jullan BR. ha
sp teeetabes the © Yomeqns yom
end-bay, @ nald by
rd {Rarnes, ‘qsalstant: evilector of
2 to: bem brother, of

led oa sa Feces baat: Modeoty

Fea ba boa
taceanen of; mhiskey aboard Meal

eters on Board of st] tr

alive ... A picnic for a mother and a father, their three
children—and a hideous, grinning guest who could easily
have been Death himself!

When he discovered the picnic spot, the sheriff nursed a
hope that the family had fallen victims to accidental poisoning
—botulism from eating spoiled canned food, for instance—
in spite of the doctor’s positive statement that strychnine had
been the death agent.

Now, as he finished his observations and walked back to
his car. Fisher knew that these deaths had been planned.
He left the soft shade beside the babbling brook to take the
trail of the sixth person who had attended this devil’s feast.
In the harsh glare of the sun on the open road he drove
his car to the first farmhouse, a scant mile distant.

Leaving orders with the puzzled farmer, Leo Grote, to
guard the picnic spot against intrusion until he could return
with a camera and other paraphernalia, the sheyiff hurried
back to the Steadman farm. A cluster of automobiles was
in the farmyard. From near one of them three men came
running to meet him as he stepped from his own machine.

Sheriff Fisher recognized Joe Wakelin, the police chief
from Hot: Springs; Charles Buckalew, a detective from the
same city; and Virgil Rucker, sheriff of the same county.
Rapidly the sheriff recounted his
finding at the woodland picnic spot.

Detective Buckalew smiled grimly.
“That's the break we want,” he said.
“We know there was a sixth. Prints
from that grape juice bottle will—”

“How did you know?” Fisher in-
terrupted him. ;

“The rooming house,” explained
Chief Wakelin. “This family left
with a tall, thin man who had been
invited to attend their picnic. The
kids were all excited about it, the
rooming house woman said, and
chattered all yesterday afternoon
about their picnic. They left this
morning, the two boys in the rumble
seat. the father, mother and _ this
stranger in the front seat. The
mother held the baby in her lap.”

The city detective was already
moving his bag of fingerprinting ap-
paratus and camera to Sheriff Fish-
er’s car, when the telephone rang in
the farmhouse and Mrs. Steadman
called that Fisher was wanted.

Over the buzzing and party-line static the sheriff recognized
the voice of Leo Grote, whom he had set to guard the picnic
place.

“Neighbor called me,” Grote was saying. “Al Murray. He
saw this coupe go by, and after it had passed his place a
man ran through a cornfield. Thinks the guy got out of the
coupe. but isn’t sure. He can point to the spot.”

The sheriff asked the location of Murray’s farm, and hung
up the receiver. In the yard he told his companions of the
telephone call. Two cars quickly roared out of the Steadman
yard.

A few minutes later they stopped beside a man who was
waving his arms frantically in the middle of the road near
where Sheriff Fisher had turned off the main highway,
less than a mile from the picnic place.

A. C. Murray was excited. “I heard about it on the tele-
phone,” he said. “and I’m sure now that this guy left the

‘coupe. The car was driving funny—that’s why I looked at

it. After it had gone by I looked back down the road and
there was this guy staring at me over the fence.”

They hurried to the spot which the farmer pointed out.

Detective Buckalew was the first to see and read the im-

prints in the loose gravel at the roadside. “He jumped,”
the investigator said. “Jumped, stumbled in the loose gravel
32

INSIDE DETECTIVE

THE LAST WORD
When the wholesale poisoner was found
guilty, Judge Thomas E. Toler gave him
the mandatory penalty—the electric chair.

and fell into the ditch. Then he got up quick and ran.”

“He was a tall, thin man,” Murray hurried on as this
discovery added to his excitement. *“Tall, thin, and pale
as if he hadn't, been in the sun overmuch. A city guy.”

“The sixth man at the picnic,” murmured Chief Wakelin.
“Think we could track him?” .

“Not two hundred yards,” declared Sheriff Fisher hurriedly.
“We could follow him as far as the weeds and grass were
tall. After that you couldn’t see a trace of where a man
passed. The pastures are dry and he’d take to the short
sod. There’s one chance though—’

“Bloodhounds,” put in Sheriff Rucker, starting for his car.
“IT can have one here in thirty minutes.”

While Rucker telephoned from the Murray farm to his
deputy Sol Godwin in Hot Springs, Detective Buckalew left
the group of investigators and drove rapidly towards the
picnic spot. He returned in fifteen minutes.

“Not a print on that bottle,” he reported. “It’s been wiped
off. But I’ve got samples of the grape juice from all the
cups and from the bottle.”

Deputy Goodwin arrived a few minutes later. An eager
hound leaped from his car, held by the restraining leash in
Godwin’s hands. The trail of the tall, thin man whom
Murray had observed, was easily
found in the narrow strip of weeds
beyond the fence. And there the
dog was led. After a moment of
preliminary questing over an area ten
paces wide, the trained animal started
off on what Godwin believed was a
warm and positive scent. Sheriffs
Fisher and Rucker, Chief Wakelin
and Charles Buckalew followed.

The dog trailed across the narrow
cornfield into a pasture where the
summer’s sun had beaten down the
grass until it was brown and with-
ered almost to its roots. Here the
hound lunged and strained until God-
win was forced to trot to relieve his
arms as the huge animal forced all
its strength against the leash.

But on the other side of the pas-
ture the pace slackened. With its
nose close to the ground, the dog
swung first to the left and then to
the right. The men felt yielding
ground beneath their feet. Water
squeezed over the soles of their shoes
as they entered a low marshy area that skirted the river.
Ahead of them tall rushes shone green and bright in the
sunlight. The dog hesitated, roved in a small. circle, and
stopped.

The trail had been lost in the low pasture where water
defeated even the keen nose of the hound.

The men circled in search of signs. Despite its boggy
subsoil the sod was firm, but the unskilled trackers could
find no trace of a man. An Indian might have seen a bruised
grass stem or a broken weed. But the men in that trailing
party were accustomed to seeking their clues in scenes more
urban than that lowland area at the edge of an Arkansas
pasture.

In despair they turned towards a gray, unpainted house
on higher ground half a mile away. They were met at the
rickety garden gate by a woman in a gingham dress, whose
face was tanned to the color of a ripe chestnut.

“He went thataway,”’ she announced before anyone could
speak to her. “If it’s a thin fellow afoot and muddy up to
his knees yo’re looking for. He went thataway about half an
hour ago.” She waved a bare and capable-looking arm
towards the rising ground at the back of her house.

With a brief nod the officers surged past her, anxious for
their quarry. (Continued on page 48)

SHANK, Mark H., white (atty.), elec. Ark 6P (Saline) 3-8-1935

"I faced disgrace, so | decided to SSW Shee we oe
et rid of Colley and his family,” HE The onl

the killer confessed. He thought ~ ies
the poison would act quickly, but

4 in that he made a serious mistake.

y member of the Colley family to sur-
vive the poisoned grapejuice served at the
picnic was little Clyde, the youngest child.

AOR ty

HEADL (WE DP ETECTIVE >
Ficernwtor, 17 F 2

BY JONATHAN SHUPP

HE FARMER RAN wildly down

the dirt road, -his legs driving

piston-like as he covered the in-
tervening ground to the white farm-
house’ some hundred yards distant.
Sweat blinded his eyes and stained
the blue denim shirt he wore; his
breath came in labored gasps.

Reaching his home he pounded over
the porch and slammed the screen
door as he raced through the house
to the telephone on the dining room
wall.

His wife, startled by the commotion,
came in from the kitchen. Her eyes
widened as her husband frantically
turned the hand crank of the instru-
ment and shouted incoherently into
the mouthpiece. ‘

Inexplicable terror tugged at her
heart as she crossed to the door and
looked outside. About 300 yards
down the road a small coupe was
parked with two wheels in the ditch.
On the far side of the fence that
bordered the highway her husband’s
team of mules was tied to a post. They
stood stoically, wagging their long
ears in annoyance at the buzzing flies.

It was a peaceful scene; one of pas-
toral tranquillity. For a moment the
woman was puzzled, then her hus-
band’s voice came loud and hoarse
across the room. “There’s some people

dying in a car!” he shouted into the
mouthpiece. After identifying him-
self as Tom Steadman and giving the

enecessary directions to. reach his

farm—which was located on the Hot
Springs-Malvern road in Arkansas—
he slammed the receiver back on its
hook and turned wearily away.

Sheriff Tom Fisher lost little time
responding to the farmer’s summons.
After a few instructions to his men
he jumped in his car and hastened to
the scene.

It was a macabre sight that greeted
him when he slowed his car in re-
sponse to a gesticulating, white-faced
man in the middle of the road.

A man, a woman and two children
were in the car which apparently had
stalled on the highway and coasted
into the ditch. The man gripped the
steering wheel with stiffened hands;
the woman huddled against him. Both
were dead. The children were doubled
in the throes of convulsions, their
features contorted. <°

“There wasn’t anything I could do,”
Steadman explained. “I thought I’d
better wait .. .”

“We've got to get them out of there,”
Fisher said. He was sweating pro-
fusely, more from horror than the
heat. “There’s a doctor on the way.”

Saw Car Weaving

Passing motorists stopped their cars
to lend assistance. In a short time
both the living and dead had been

- placed on a blanket at the side of the

road. There were five in all, for still
a third child had been found in the .
rumble seat of the machine. His body
was stiff and rigid as a board.

A car skidded to a stop in a cloud

_ of dust. A door slammed and a phy-

sician raced toward them to render
what aid he could.

One quick, professional glance told
him the story. “Strychnine,” he mut-
tered, kneeling beside the writhing
body of the youngest child. “There
may be some hope for the baby—the
rest I doubt.”

Taking a stomach pump from his
kit, the doctor went to work. In the
distance an ambulance siren ululated
eerily. Striving frantically to loosen
the clutching fingers of Death, the
physician worked grimly as the bodies
were placed on stretchers and loaded
into the big machine. And then, where
all had been confusion, there was
now sudden quiet as the ambulance
raced to a hospital with its pitiful
cargo.

Sheriff Fisher mopped at his fore-
head and turned to the farmer whose
summons over the phone had advised
him of the tragedy.

“What happened?” he asked. -

Tom Steadman stared blankly for
a moment in an effort to correlate his
thoughts and adjust his mind to
swiftly moving events. ;

“I was working in the field,” he ex-
plained, with a gesture toward his

A PICNIC BESIDE AN ARKANSAS LAKE BECAME A DEATH FEAST

Paper cups in which beverage was served,
the poison, and victim's viscera were on
exhibit when the murderer went on trial.

DECEMBER, 1942

for the killer (arrow).

Justice J. P. Carter (seated, tie? presides at a preliminary hearing
Sheriff te

his deputies are witnesses at proceedings

irgil Rucker tg ft) and
fore the justice.

Death's Picnic
Party

(Continued from page 32)

“He hung around here quite a time,” the
woman continued, eager to gossip. ‘“Ain’t
had time to go very fur.”

Sol Goldwin slipped the leash from the
hound. The dog bounded forward as the
trainer directed it with a wave of his hand.
The animal gave a deep, throaty bark and
set off up the hillside on a lope. The men
dashed forward, but Godwin restrained
them.

“Don’t try to keep up, boys,” he said.
“Donnie'll howl when he hits the hot trail.
He’ll let us know if he corners that fellow.”

The men slowed down. Donnie vanished
over the edge of the rise. A moment later
the dog’s baying spurred the men on again.
“Trailing,” muttered Godwin. He hesitated.
“Hot trailing,” he added as the deep-
throated bellow came faster.

It took the dog less than five minutes to
run its quarry to earth. The hound’s weird
baying brought the officers on the run, and
they raced towards a willow thicket whence
the sounds came. They found the dog
seated on its haunches, and ten yards away
a tall, thin man stood—arms upraised, stark
terror in his bulging eyes.

“Call him off,” the fugitive begged. “Call
him—”

“Harmless,” Sol Godwin assured every-
one gleefully. “I figured a poisoner wouldn’t
have a gun, so I turned Donnie loose. He’s
trained to trail, not to hurt anybody.”

“A poisoner?” the tall, thin man said.
He turned a blank face upon his captors.
“What does he mean?”

No one answered. The officers were
panting for breath after their brisk run
down the hillside. Sheriff Fisher slipped
a pair of handcuffs.on the man.

“Back you go,” he said grimly.

Apparently bewildered, protesting his
ignorance of any crime, the cadaverous
prisoner was led away as Godwin patted
his hound affectionately.

”

T THE courthouse in Malvern, the
stranger again balked at his treatment.
“Tam Mark H. Shank of Akron, Ohio,”
he said with dignity. “I lost my way walk-
ing, gentlemen. I am a lawyer—”

Sheriff Fisher ignored his air of injured
innocence and interrupted him. “Some peo-
ple we want you to see,” he said curtly.
Then he led the way into the morgue,
where the victims’ bodies had already been
laid out.

Shank gasped audibly when the rubber
sheet was removed from the face of the
dead man.

“It’s Alvin!” he cried. “Alvin Colley .
Why, I was to join them on a picnic—
Colley and his family. I got lost...”

The sheriff led him by the arm to a
second slab. Another sheet was removed.
“Mrs. Colley,” muttered the lawyer.

“Died in the hospital a half hour ago,”
Sheriff Fisher said quietly.

The next stretcher bore a double freight.
Two boys, the older less than nine, the
younger about seven, lay there, stark and
terrible in the death that had relaxed their
— features but left their bodies still
rigi
7 “Only the baby lived,” the sheriff said.

Only the smallest one... I'll trouble you
to identify these people.”

“It’s terrible,” Shank said, but his voice
was emotionless. He turned to the coroner.
“The man is Alvin Colley,” he continued.
“The woman is his wife. The two boys
are Clement and Clarence. The younger
child is named Clyde.”

INSIDE DETECTIVE

Shank gave the information as calmly as
if he were discussing a minor lawsuit.
There in the morgue, surrounded by the
four persons who had died in such agony,
he was pompous and assured.

But when he turned to go, the sheriff
grasped him by the arm. “Not so fast,
Mr. Shank,” he said. “We think you know
more about this.”

The Ohio lawyer drew himself up in
amazement and indignation.

“You have made a grave charge,” he said
stiffly, his hawk-like face now damp with
perspiration. “You must be prepared to
support it. I am a lawyer, sir, and I chal-
lenge your right to detain me with no
evidence except that I was walking, alone
and lost, in the country!”

It was a weighty speech. But the sheriff
had heard such words before from weaken-
ing lawyers facing the loss of a case in the
courts. He locked Shank up in the county
jail and set out to find the motive for this
brutal crime.

While Fisher was urging a_ telephone
operator to connect him with all possible
speed to the city of Akron, Ohio, Chief
Wakelin entered the office.

“Strychnine in the cups and the bottle,”
he said. “The stuff they drank was grape
juice—ordinary, commercial grape juice.’

The sheriff nodded his thanks as a third
person entered the office. Wakelin ‘intro-
duced the newcomer.’ “Mr. Roy Fetty,” he
said, “keeps the rooming house where this
family lived. I had him take a look at
Shanks in his cell.”

Fisher hung up the receiver after receiv-
ing the operator’s promise to speed the call
to the district attorney in Akron. He ac-
cepted Fetty’s report and put it into writing:

“This fellow in the jail left with the
family this morning,” the rooming house
proprietor announced. “I’d know him any-
where. Colley and his family have been
staying at my place for a week. This other
one showed up only yesterday.”

The sheriff thanked him. He still had
no clues to a motive for this wholesale
poisoning. But he was convinced that the
Ohio lawyer was the sixth person at the
-picnic of death and that Shank was the
man who had poured the contents of his
cup upon the ground while he watched his
victims drink the poison that threw them
one by one into horrible convulsions. But
why had he planned to wipe out the family?
What reason was there back of it all?

It was two days before Sheriff Fisher
had an answer to these questions. In that
time he had taken Shank to the picnic
grounds and openly accused him. ' The
lawyer looked him squarely in the eye.
“You need proof and a motive,” he said
coldly.

Even when a package containing dust of
strychnine was found in Shank’s baggage
at the Hot Springs hotel where he had
registered the night before he joined the

“Papa built it to peer through when
he feels homesick.”

Colleys on the fatal picnic party, the lawyer
was unmoved. “You have no proof,” he
repeated.

ORTY-EIGHT hours after his arrest the
lawyer was the subject of a lengthy con-
versation between the sheriff and Lyman
Robert Critchfield, busy district attorney of

_ Wayne County, Ohio:

“T have had all my investigators on the
case,” Critchfield said. “Shank is a lawyer
in Kenmore, a suburb of Akron. He is an
egomaniac—the type of man who is ob-
sessed with the idea that he is too big for
ordinary things. He was mayor of Ken-
more when it was a separate town and he
has been justice of the peace. Alvin Colley
was his assistant for years, but he was
more a stooge: than an assistant. Colley
was a weak character, and he did Shank’s
bidding and took his abuse for a pittance
of a salary.

“Recently, Shank represented a man in a
minor civil suit involving a few hundred
dollars. When an investigation of the
handling of this suit was demanded by the
plaintiff, we found that $200 or so had not
been accounted for. We issued a warrant
and Colley disappeared.”

There was more to the conversation, but
these were the essential points which inter-
ested the sheriff. He saw Colley fleeing into
Arkansas to escape the lawsuit which would
result in his exposing the machinery of a
crooked lawyer’s office. He saw Shank fol-
lowing with a scheme to wipe out his
assistant and the entire family and so re-
move once and for all the danger of the
weaker man telling all he knew about the
lawyer’s practice.

It was August 10, 1933, when the coupe
with a dead man at the wheel stopped at
the side of the country road in Arkansas.

Six days later, after four days and nights
of questioning, when every phase of the
poisoning had been reviewed for him and
the motive he had so blatantly demanded
was described, Shank relaxed his long thin
body on a cot in the Hot Springs county
jail to which he had been removed after
the Akron district attorney had made his
report.

“T didn’t know poison would do that,” he
admitted after a long period of silence. “I
thought it would work quicker—on the
spot.”

“Then you confess?” he was asked by
Congressman D. D, Glover of Malvern,
who had accompanied Chief Joe Wakelin
to the poisoner’s cell in a last attempt to
induce the man to tell the truth.

The cold-blooded poisoner nodded thought-
fully.

“T faced disgrace and disbarment,” he
groaned. “Colley would talk, I knew, if
they ever caught up with him. He was
weak—no character. He would talk and
ruin me... I thought the poison would
work faster, I tell you! When one boy got
sick and they started for a doctor, I had to
go along. You know the rest.”

Shank followed this statement with a
written confession. But when at last he
faced the cold reality of a trial for his life,
he brought every wile and trick of his
warped legal knowledge to bear as he
fought to escape the electric chair.

It was two years before the case was
closed in the courts of Hot Springs, and
Mark H. Shank was doomed to the electric
chair. For two years more he cringed in
his cell, saved by stays of ‘execution.

At last, in the summer of 1937, Shank
walked the last mile to the death house.
His talon-like fingernails grown to more
than an inch in length, his hawk face pale
with terror, Shank stiffened and died
quickly as the electricity surged through
him. Far more quickly, far more merci-
fully, than his four victims of the picnic
party...

The
Love

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SimMb aS, Jonold J.

MD BLOCKBUSTER SORE

Monday after Christmas, December

28, 1987, at the prestigious law firm -
in Russellville, Arkansas. At’10:15 the
office staff was already busy catching up
on the mail after the holiday vacation..

[: WAS:-businiess.:ai: usual on the

Seven people were in the office at the:

time—two attorneys, each with a client;
two. legal secretaries; and Kathy Ken-

drick’s. desk was’.in the foyer a short
distance from the: main office. -

Suddenly, ‘at: 10:17, gunshots rang
out. One of the attorneys heard a scream
and ran out. Kendrick lay slumped over
her desk,: shot..twice in the head. :The
lawyer didn’t.see the fleeing: gunman,
but sy did see a brown Toyota os

SAGE Ree SB oes ait

A ‘22-callber pistol was one of murder wea
straight-A student, shown in her one moment of:glory (r.) when she was elected to her high school’s “Valentine Court”

40 . Master Detective

“by! BILLIE TAYLOR

We nthe es 5 .
‘down the driveway. He gave a detailed
description of the car to, the Russellville
_ City police officers who reached the scene
“moments after the shots were fired.
ie, While authorities were’ at the law of-
efi ice, another call came in at 10:27. An oil
*¢ompany.1.2 miles from the law office
had been the scene of a similar shooting.

A lone gunman wearing a dark overcoat
drick, the firm’s receptionist.. Ken-. |

and cowboy hat had entered and started
: blasting away.

One of the witnesses told i investigators
of the:terrifying experience; “‘I was talk-
ing to Jim Chaffin, one of our part-time
drivers.’ He was telling me what a won-

derful Christmas he had had with his chil-
. dren. ; ;

“Te t and went to the bathroom. I

pons ‘used to slay 16 persons, among them oouay 17-year-old Loretta Runchoe,

| Vo Fath

Simmons during hearing; his desire for a quick execution has met opposition.

capital punishment, the reasoning goes.
For example, Whitmore “merely” robbed
and killed one elderly woman in 1986.

Ronald Simmons, who hardly knows
Whitmore, does not consider him to be a
next friend or, indeed, any friend at all,
according to his lawyer, John Harris of
Russellville. In his own appeal, Whitmore
is arguing that he was mentally incompe-
tent to stand trial. “It’s a case of the incom-
petent representing the incompetent,” jokes
James Lee, a spokesman for the Arkansas
attorney general’s office.

“Arkansas doesn’t need a mandatory ap-
peal,” says Harris, because “99,99 percent
of defendants appeal if they have been sen-
tenced to death.” He contends that Arkan-

sas law already contains adequate safe-
guards to prevent a miscarriage of justice:
The judge must hold a hearing to establish
the defendant’s competency to waive ap-
peal (which was established for Simmons),
and the state high court must conduct a
review of the trial and sentencing records,
even if there is no appeal by the defendant.
Furthermore, Harris says, he hired his own
psychiatrist to examine Simmons to per-
sonally assure his soundness of mind.

The Arkansas Supreme Court rejected
Whitmore’s claim that the Eighth Amend-
ment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual
punishment requires mandatory death ap-
peals. And on Jan. 10, a less-than-enthu-
Siastic U.S. Supreme Court heard the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court argument gen-
erated its own contretemps. The justices
refused to let Harris share time with the
attorney general’s: office in defending the
State law, saying there could be only one
lawyer for each side. This made Simmons
angry, says Harris: “As a death penalty
defendant, he thought at the very least he
ought to be able to have his own lawyer
argue his case.” For a while, it looked as
though no one would take Simmons’s side
at the Supreme Court, but at the last minute
the two factions buried their differences,
and Arkansas Attorney General J. Steven
Clark made the trip to Washington.

Harris says that, were Simmons willing
to let him make an appeal, he could raise
several meritorious grounds, including the
prosecutor’s denial of his client’s rights to
a speedy trial and protection from double
jeopardy by breaking the case up into two
trials. But Harris insists that he is bound as
a lawyer to honor. his client’s wishes. “I
think the fact that a prisoner can show some
self-respect and take his punishment — the
benefits of that are greater than any man-
datory appeal,” he says.

Allen disagrees. “When you’re trying to
get your client killed, it raises the question
of what kind of advice you’re giving.
That’s the reason an attorney takes an oath
to uphold the law — it’s not to just blindly
follow the wishes of his client. An attorne
must go beyond the wishes of his client.”

extensions for various reasons, along with

torney General William

Hill of Georgia,

trips back to state court to litigate issues,
all accompanied by stays of execution. The
Proposal also calls for the repeal of virtually
all the restrictions the Supreme Court has
placed on federal habeas corpus during the
Burger and Rehnquist years.

States would have to provide two free
lawyers to indigent inmates during every
Stage of the proceeding, using qualification
guidelines set by the American Bar Asso-
ciation and paying them at rate guidelines
set by the American Bar Association.

The sanction for noncomplying states:
All their proceedings in any given capital
case would be subject to reassessment by
federal judges.

. Optimistic observers say the ABA pro-
posal, accompanied by a lengthy dissent
from California Chief Justice Malcolm M.
Lucas, cochairman of the 11-member task
force that drafted it, would likely shorten
the average time it takes to litigate a death
case by only about 2% years. Another dis-
senting task force member, Deputy At-

INSIGHT / FEBRUARY 12, 1990

Powell’s panel would shorten deadlines.

ROBERT TRIPPETT / SIPA

calls the ABA proposal “a capital defen-
dant’s wish list” that would drag out death
proceedings even longer than now.

“With this proposal,” he adds, “the best
lawyer is a lawyer who screws up. You raise
some issues on appeal but not all of them.
Then you come back 10 years later and say
it was all due to your ignorance or ne-
glect.”

Perhaps one should wonder: Are the
organized bar and Congress serious about
federal habeas reform? One federal judge
who has reviewed numerous capital cases,
Edith Hollan Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, says that no legislative
overhaul would really be necessary if indi-
vidual federal judges were willing to put
death cases on a fast track and Stop granting
open-ended execution stays.

“I have seen cases where judges sat on
them for years,’ says the Houston-based
Jones. “What the courts need is a docket
management system for capital cases.”

— Charlotte Low Allen

wee

Mass killer

is'‘executed —

in Arkansas

By Bill Simmons
Associated Press :

-VARNER, Ark. — R. Gene Sim-
mons, convicted of 16 murders in a
Christmastime 1987 rampage, was
put to death Monday night two
years after he pleaded in court for a
swift execution to “let the torture
and suffering in me end.”

.A lethal injection terminated the
life of the bearded killer for capital
murder — a charge of which he was
convicted twice. He waived his
appeals, choosing to die.

Prison spokesman David White
said Mr. Simmons was pronounced
dead 17 minutes after the solution
began dripping into his veins at 9:02
p.m.

Mr. White said Mr. Simmons
made a final statement: “Justice de-
layed finally done is justifiable
homicide.”

The execution of Mr. Simmons,
49, was the second in Arkansas in a
week. The June 18 electrocution of
John Edward Swindler was the
state’s first execution in 26 years.

Unlike Mr. Swindler, Mr. Simmons -

was convicted after the state’s
method of execution was changed
to lethal injection.

Mr. Simmons shot, clubbed, fired

"at or strangled 21 people during the

1987 Christmas season. Sixteen of
them died. The victims included 14
members of his family, several of
them children. He lived in a rural
area near Dover in west-central Ar-
kansas.

-Mr. Simmons died without re-
vealing his reasons for the worst
family massacre in U.S. history.
Again and again, relatives and oth-

ers had asked him for an explana-.

tion.
A woman held hostage by Mr.
Simmons said that, \when arrested
at the end of his killing spree, he
told her: “I’ve come to do what I
wanted to do. It’s all over now. I’ve
gotten everybody who wanted to
hurt me.”

After his first conviction, Mr.

Simmons startled the trial court by _

announcing that he would not ap-
peal, pronouncing the verdict and
penalty just, and asking that no one

R. Gene Simmons... killed
16 people, including 14
members of his family, in a
rampage during the 1987
Christmas season.

interfere. “Let the torture and suf-
fering in me end,” he told the court.

Death penalty foes nonetheless
delayed his execution for about two
years.

When Mr. Simmons was moved
from his cell to the death chamber
shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, “he
was very quiet,” Mr. White said. “He
appeared to be somewhat nervous,
but there was no resistance.”

Mr. Simmons ate his last meal —
filet mignon, well-done, and as-
sorted vegetables and breads —
about 4 p.m., the prison said.

- \ Sunday was the last day under

prison rules for Mr. Simmons to
have visitors other than his attor-
neys or a spiritual adviser. The in-
mate declined any visits, Mr. White
said.

~-He declined to speak with family |
members or a chaplain Monday but |
did talk briefly with his lawyers, of-
ficials said. ; a

The murders began to come to

light on Dec. 28, 1987, when Mr. Sim-

. mons shot six people and shot at an-

other in Russellville. Two of them
died. _

When authorities went to Mr.
Simmons’ home after the Russell-
ville shootings, they found the bod-
ies of 14 members of his family —
his wife, children, their spouses
and his grandchildren. Authorities
said Mr. Simmons had slain them
during the week before Christmas
Day. The adults had been shot and
the children strangled.

ALLAS Mcewing NEwS TLES. £-26-S0

The Unusual Battle for a Right to Die

The German philosopher Immanuel
Kant contended that murderers actually
have a right to be punished by death — on
the theory that capital punishment recog-
nizes their human dignity as moral agents
who have gravely transgressed the moral
law. Not to execute a murderer is to treat
him like a child, an animal, an insane per-
son, not like a rational and responsible
adult, Kant said.

Few convicts, however, have been eager
to exercise that right. One who did was
Gary Gilmore, the first person to be ex-
ecuted after the Supreme Court reauthor-
ized the death penalty in 1976.

Convicted in Utah on Oct. 21, 1976,
Gilmore demanded an immediate execu-
tion; when the sentencing judge declined to
follow Utah guidelines requiring the execu-
tion to take place within 60 days of sentenc-
ing, Gilmore called him a “moral coward”
and filed a writ of habeas corpus demand-
ing to be executed or freed (a state court
later ruled the guidelines were not iron-
clad).

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liber-
ties Union stepped into his case, techni-
cally representing his mother, Bessie Gil-
more, and secured a stay of execution from
the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether
Gilmore was mentally competent to waive
his right of appeal. On Dec. 13, 1976, the
high court ruled 5-4 that Gilmore was of
sound mind and that his mother had no

legal standing to mount an appeal on his
behalf. Gilmore went to his death by firing
squad Jan. 17, 1977, amid a flurry of last-
minute filings by the ACLU.

Now, a case involving another person
wanting to die for his crimes is before the
Supreme Court. The defendant is Ronald
Gene Simmons of Russellville, Ark., who
in late December 1987 went on a highly
publicized shooting spree over two days,
killing his wife, his seven children, six
other relatives and two former coworkers.

Gilmore wanted execution or freedom.

TIM KELLY / BLACK STAR

He was convicted of all 16 murders in two
separate trials in 1988.

Arkansas is the only state without :
procedure for automatic appeal to its high-
est court of either the conviction or the
sentence (Congress’s 1988 law setting
death sentences for drug murders also lacks
an automatic review procedure). So Sim-
mons wants to go straight to his death. But
he has run into opposition — from Arkan-
sas Churches for Life, a coalition of defense
lawyers, Roman Catholic pacifists and
other death penalty opponents. The organi-
zation contends that allowing someone to
waive an appeal in a death case is unconsti-
tutional. But, given the Gilmore ruling,
how to get a court to review that claim?

The solution: A Churches for Life mem-
ber, Little Rock lawyer Arthur L. Allen,
represents Jonas Whitmore, another con-
victed murderer on Arkansas’s Death Row,
who has raised the argument as Simmons’s
“next friend,’ claiming Simmons is men-
tally incompetent to insist on death. Allen
says his client, unlike Bessie Gilmore, has
legal standing because, if the Arkansas Su-
preme Court is forced to review Simmons’s
conviction, it will go into the “pool” of
death penalty convictions the high court
uses in deciding whether any one death
sentence is out of line with other penalties
for similar offenses. Simmons’s crime was
so brutal that next to it, other murders will
look less serious and thus less deserving of

the definition of abuse of the writ to require
inmates to use due diligence in trying to
litigate all their claims at once.

Lately, however, the laissez-faire atti-
tude toward lengthy postconviction review
in death cases seems to be on the wane.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which
allowed capital punishment for the first
time for drug-related murders, contains
specific language requiring federal appel-
late courts to give priority to capital ap-
peals.

The same law also specifically directed
Rehnquist to set up a panel (the Powell
Committee) to scrutinize the review pro-
cess and instructed the Senate Judiciary
Committee to introduce a bill modifying
federal habeas corpus in death cases within
15 days after the committee filed its report.

As might be expected from a panel
picked by Rehnquist, the five-judge com-
mittee took a hard line on writs. It recom-
mended limiting federal petitioners to one
round of habeas corpus in capital cases
unless a change in the law or a newly

Le ST YY LIL EN RT PT SRR

discovered fact would undermine the
court’s confidence in the underlying guilty
verdict. The committee also would give
death row inmates just six months — with
an automatic stay of execution — after the
conclusion of direct appeal to get their fed-
eral petitions on file. In return for speedier
executions, states would have to pay for
defense lawyers in state postconviction pro-
ceedings, but inmates would be barred
from arguing the incompetence of their
postconviction lawyers in subsequent pro-
ceedings.

The committee’s proposal generated a
flurry of criticism, not least from 14 of the
27 federal judges who make up the U.S.
Judicial Conference and are expected to be
able to review the report at their March
meeting. Rehnquist rushed the proposal to
Congress Sept. 22, setting the clock run-
ning for the Judiciary Committee to get a
bill into the hopper and generating an angry
letter from the 14 judges.

The bill that emerged from committee
and is calendared for early February floor

consideration is not likely to please either
Rehnquist or state prosecutors.

Written by Judiciary Chairman Joseph
R. Biden Jr., a Delaware Democrat, the bill
would give death row prisoners a full year
after direct appeal ends to file habeas peti-
tions and would allow second and third
filings whenever necessary to prevent a
miscarriage of justice, such as when the
inmate had a good excuse for failing to raise
the claim the first time. And it would effec-
tively override Teague vs. Lane.

f the Biden bill seems but half-

hearted habeas corpus reform, a

proposal by the American Bar
Association’s Criminal Justice

Section due for consideration by

the organization’s House of Del-

egates at its February meeting

contains even more provisos. Like the Bi-
den bill, the ABA proposal would give
death row prisoners a year after the conclu-
sion of direct appeal to file federal peti-
tions. It also would allow lengthy stays and

INSIGHT / FEBRUARY 12, 1990

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Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Christina Marie Riggs executed on 2000-05-02 in Arkansas (AR)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: June 27, 2019

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