Florida, C, 1939-1991, Undated

Muuariy Heeecn
Ge. US Nee
PRAC= in,

Says Morin Died Fighting For Gun;
Asks To Be Electrocuted

Vincent Christyja the Ieopold-Morin killer.
Ble killed Irvirey. opold “to settle an old score, be sald in a

gormplete confession Saturday night. .
jie did THER to kill “the kid” (Leopold's atapson, 8) or young

Ralph J. Morin, jr., hé revealed, e “had to kill Mra. Leopold

Qweause she started screaming and refused to stop. 1 killed her
deliberately.” ;

Chriaty told his story in the presence of State Attorney G. A.
Worley and alx other city and county officers within a few minutes
after his arrival here from Jacksonville at 7:16 p.m.

1. FR. Mills, atate investigator for Dade county, who heard

Christy's atatements, said “Christy positively is the killer. Hae has

See Pictorial Highlighte of Case On Page 8-R

rontessed and his description of the crime tallies perfectly with t
evidence we already have.” ee F

The confessed killer immed ipbebintabodefar the electric chal 2 c

“And I don’t want 10 yeara or life, ether. Fjectrocute me, I
ont wantan attorney,” he waa quoted as saying.

Worley sald he would go to court Monday and ask that a grand
jury be called for the following Monday. He predicted a quick
indictment, but sald he did not know how soon Christy could be Ve
brought to trial.

Christy sald he shot Stephen Leopold, 6, stepson of the mur-

dered J.eopold, accidentally when the boy cling to Leopold's leg
while he and Jeanold were scuffling. He sald he started shooting

\fter his vict both his Wrists,

i pee @ "T wasn't sure that Leopold Ads
SLL ER UNBALANCE? the man I was after unl J Sg
Mie showed > pe ‘ohevecter | hung around his apartment for BEV
H efter killing ¢h Legpois | eral days,” Mills quoted Christy as
mA mhy have een set UAS or ol easy OFT was sure, and I
Mb with Taeopoln- - } went into the apartment. Any.

Pees "19-y Sar nid Faso
= pvlered 404 doubt I had about him disappeared
him away and when [ entered the door because
’ he recognized me ahs jumped up

and started ftghel ng

Yan tH 4%

poe ceet ney PenAiores |

9" Prison officinalis whe vs
:

fem ceomea anc 20.
OTT a@n,

Seba d ae gum?
Eevee ERS TE ON

think oh
unhbalances neo

bite cot Tara D nag wero


ae eee

%
4
AAdge?
%
?
es

1S

7 “,

Dh a

“7

ds Qh. 4
te Se £4 ‘

B AA.

Juestion Prisoner Eleld

Miami Heparin
a VASE AA

in Leopold-Morin Murders

>
.
dh
7
.
eal
r
:
s
’ fe
3 a
“<«
SF
‘
Bo eth 9 he
* 3
#: bats, «*
ut:
we,*
$i ? m4 Ag
Z % F-> ¢ arn
j ? % eae S
£ ” 4 lo oe 4°) tg
LAPS Shey a. fe yi’ Fs ‘kei '
Did! thee, P de , oe
Aes) Ve : Tin
yes rf i z
‘ a
eS aN *
bi ge
are 2 a qrerrnemnenns ae emcee

A at ely Ae en ena


Know It Means Chair,’
aves Prisoner Held
In Jacksonville

pcm ae LSS

By HENRY OC. RENO

and MILTON PLUMB
Herald Stat? Writers

f know I am in serious trouble
it couldn't be any worse. I know
means the electric chair. I know
gotta face it so [ might as well fo
tek and face tt now. Can I enter a
f guilty?”

Bat. police sald, was the com-
nt of Vincent Christy, an ex-con-
at nabbed in Jacksonville, when
¢ was questioned after the Federal
ureau of Investigation declared
bullets that killed Ralph Morin,
f. and the Leopold family were
ired from the guns the suspect car-
fed’ when arrested. :
Christy's statement camé as offi-
r’ pressed him on the mass Miam!
j*layings, but the suspect himself
| fever mentioned the names of the
Victims.

“Whatever possessed you to do
}@uch < horrible thing?” Capt. E. W.

: [Me . of the Miami police detec-
ey * ee all call 2. Xmen © ee Fie om £7
“(Uve squad asked him {n Jackson-

Ville

Thursday pight. “We can un
derstand vou would kill the man
4 aod his wife—put his ehlid?”
| “A Horrible Thing”

“l@ was a horrible thing,” Christy
“43 reported to have replied with-
“ acding further comment. or
= T“Pntoning names.

Phe 36-vear-old Christy has prom-

ilo “tell everything’ while on
4 “ay from Jacksonville to Miami
dll the custody of three local officers.
© ER Mills. state's investigator
Dade county; Melchen and Sgt.
‘In Deas of the citv detective bu-
‘TMH return Christy to Miami by
“OMOohtile, according — te an. an-
"coment by Melehen in Jackson-
Jrsdayv.

3

on

oe

Se AUS S lak ee

re

RES

Niwa \ Pecan

PY. 1), 12 4z
PACE in

Mills, who arrived in Washing-
ton from Jacksonville early Thurs-
dav“ morning, informed Deas and
Meichen from the capital that F.B.1,
ballistics experts declared the slugs
Which snuffed out the lives of the
four Miamians were fired from
Buns taken from Christy after his
arrest on a holdup charge in Jack-
sonville,

a a oo
q j

©

Description Fits
The three Miami officers went to
Jacksonville Wednesday, Mills go-
ing on to Washington to have
Christy's weapons checked against
the death slugs which were in the
Possession of the F.BI.
Christy, whose
matched perfectly that
who committed the quadruple
Miaml murders, was reported by
Melchen to have sald while being
questioned In Jacksonville:
“It was a horrible thing. T am
Willing to go back to Miam! and
clean the thing up, and show where
I spent the night (the night of the

murders) and Set the rest of my
Stuff.”

The suspect had in h
When the aler

Nabbed him,

description
of the man

Is possession
t Jacksonville officers

the guns—one a .38
callber revolver and the other a .22
automatic pistol—which brought
death to the Miamians.

Guns Positively Identified

Mills, after 8oing to FBI offices
in Washington, declared that
Christy’s guns were “posilvely” the
ones which killed Morin and the
three Leopolds.
Mills said in Washington late
| Thursday that he would return to
Jacksonville by plane today to re.
Join Deas and Melchen,

Mills said 1] 22-callber cartridges
and two slugs fram a 38 Were sent


snensnmmairnace :
coristy, cuepent in the.
fteapold-Morin, murders
‘wee betrig returned here
might, thug onding, Lb wag:
@ of the crenteat pdm
the history of Miami. |
wyearold ex-convict wae
sugitt from Jacksonville
was arrested by police
en a robbery chatge,. to
eyes of murdering Irving
his wife, Esther, her son
marriage, Stephen, ang
Morin, jr. ae:
custody of Capt FB. W.
of the Miami homicide bu-
John Deae of the Miaml
lepartment @no7 1. R. Milla,
@etigator for Fade county,
was being returned here
nts degued on affidavits
slice Chief H. Lasile
ng him with the quad-
urder, The three. officers
Jacksonville Wednesday
hey were notified by Jack-
police that = an they ar.
for robbery ciceely resem-
S clroularize: ‘eecription of

4 te %
‘ wanted hers for the Leo-

Aa

z

: ayines, tle gaye his
™ Vincent Christy, they said. |
Tleere end their prisoner left
mVville by car 4! 10 a. m. Sat-

which made his relegae mandatory
inasmuch as he waa a second fe ony

‘Buffalo, N. Y., for burglary and

! Has Long Frivos Record |
Christy bas a long criminal rec- |
ord and spent about 14 vears of his |
‘ife in prison, according to {nfor- |
mation recelved Saturc
‘Quigg from Charles 1°. McMenamin,
sentor parole officer. Siste of New
| York, Buffalo, —

“We regard him a< 1 dangerous
criminal with. a cold personallty
who is described by our institution.
al, psychiatrist ae - ‘very un-
ecu od, vicious
criminal repeater,’ whose release
“never would have been =pproved by.
the New York state. division ef
parole,” McMenamin said in his re

He explained that Chriety i
discharged from Auburn state
prison, April 21, 1942, under a statu.
tory provision of the New York law

offender serving a definite sentence.
Was sentenced to prison for
10 years from Erie county, N, Y.,
June 3, 1938, for robbery in the
third degree and as a second: of
fender.

> Served In Ban Quenit
. Christy, accordinig to the parole
officer, was first sentenced at Los

Angeles, April. 16, 1826,-to San
Quentin prison for from five yeare
to life on & charge of robbery, He
was paroled after serving six years,
On July 5, 1934, he was arrested at

larceny, but there is no record of
the disposition of the case, accord:
ing to the New York authorities,

He was again arrested at Buf-
falo on March 8, 1935, on a charge
of attempted grand larceny, and on
the next day he was charged with
another similar offense. However,
on March 15 he was released on
both counts, evidently for lack of
oe ak About Bie ee later,
April @ wet 4 artested, on
a robbery chatea i

“at Buffalo, and.
on May 14 of the same year, he was

taken into custody. at Buffalo on

sy by Chief |

beth counts, evident! y for lack
evidence. About a toth Me
April & he’ was again arrested on
a robbery charge 2: Buffalo, and
on May 14 of the Same vear, he was
taken into Custody 2° Buffalo on
another robbery charges,

Later Christy was placed behind
pNson walls at Atticn, xy.’ follow.
(ane his ost at AUsfaig Jan. 15

*,On two charge- of robbe ;
/Apparently while ait in eee
prison, McMenamin said, the pris.
oner confessed to another robbery
and was ‘transferred to Auburn

r Sept. 17, 1936, under 4

T sentence as a second af.


am-
as
aid,
aim
‘im.
his
shot

an I
sion.
lays.

1 the
-arted
oulled
wry.
Morin
- way
ve here
o push
he boy
the 22
him in
tomatic
yarched

jon’t be

mand he
foothall
temple,

sons,
cistie told
_partment,
wrecke'
more than
Blanding,
barber for
ent on to
shsequently
man who
- jin Dania,
e garage to

la prisoner
uilty State s

presenting
ind Christie
wr counts of

e Judge Paul
1 September
Attorney by
y, Although
“did not have
one, the court
~ Okell to de-

4ristie on the
pold and spec-
kind of a de-
ow of oink he
against him.
a life Monday
jsinterested, al-
; witnesses 1O!-

id, each driving
‘ing him nearer

an, special agent
Investigation In
ratory in -
{ the guns

" jury, with the
hs, how the tests

-2 SW. 7th Street
and told how she
- coming from the
spon rushing from
‘ace with Christie.

“I was so close to him I could have
touched him,” she winced.

“Is that the man you saw that after-
noon?” asked Worley.

“It is,” replied Mrs. Downey.

Mrs. William Glick, 1967 SW. 8th Street
said she saw Mrs. Leopold attempt to run
out of the appartment and saw a man jerk
her back. She identified Christie as that
man.

Lorene Downey and Hack Churchill
identified Christie as the killer. They told
how he ran through the Downey yard and
how Churchill pursued him and saw him
kidnap young Morin.

Witness followed witness to the stand.
Each identified Christie as the killer. State’s
Attorney Worley closed his case rather
abruptly and nodded to Attorney Okell.
The long awaited moment had arrived—
what defense would Christie attempt?

The answer was not long in forthcoming.
Christie strode to the witness-stand and
narrated one of the most amazing and fan-
tastic tales ever heard in a Florida court-
room.

He not only repudiated his confession
but placed the blame for the murders on
one fem Cohen, a character he claimed
to have met originally in New York and
later in Miami. He was unable to re-
member where or under what circum-
stances he originally met Cohen nor was he
able to divulge the present whereabouts of
the man. He freely admitted making the
confession, which had previously been read
into the records under protest from his at-
torney, but declared he had made it for
the purpose of committing suicide in the
electric chair. He failed to explain why
he had changed his mind about commit-
ting suicide and had decided to enter a plea
of not guilty.

He -said that he met Cohen in Mi-
ami and that Cohen had offered him $50
to make silencers for the two guns, the .38
and the .22 automatic. He said he agreed
to do the job and spent several weeks pick-
ing up parts he would need in various
Miami machine shops. During one of the
tests he said he and Cohen went out into
the Everglades and that he accidentally
shot himself with the .22 automatic, thus
explaining away the wound in his chest.

He neither confirmed nor denied owner-

REAL DETECTIVE

ship of the spectacles found in the Leopold
kitchen. He admitted wearing glasses oc-
casionally and said that the pair found by
the police looked something like the pair
he owned. He said that on the day of the
killing Cohen came to his aparatment and
got the guns and a pair of rubber gloves.
The glasses, he said were lying on a dresser
and Cohen might have taken them.

After the murders he said Cohen re-
turned to the apartment and brought back
the guns and then disappeared. Christie
said he had not seen Cohen since. He said
he read about the killings in Miami news-
papers and felt sure that Cohen was the
murderer but refrained from notifying the
police on account of being a parole violator
and knowing that he would be investigated
if he went to the police. He denied ever
having seen a single one of the victims in
his life.

At the conclusion of his testimony he re-
marked calmly, “Send me to the electric
chair if you want to—but I have told the
truth.”

State’s Attorney Worley summed up the
state’s case briefly. He ridiculed the story
told by Christie from the witness-stand and
declared that robbery was the motive for
the crimes and that in view of the over-
whelming evidence he did not believe fur-
ther argument was necessary.

The jury evidently thought the same
way because they found Christie guilty on
the first ballot and failed to recommend
mercy which makes the death sentence
mandatory in Florida. Christie heard the
verdict without the least emotion and re-
mained silent as Sheriff D. C. Coleman
fastened an “Oregon Boot” on his’ ankle
to lead him back to his cell to await trans-
fer to the death house at Raiford.

Although Christie was not tried for the
killing of Mrs. Leopold and her son or the
Morin youth, those charges still remain
against him. He will probably never have
to face them. The Miami police have
marked the case closed and are making no
effort to locate “Hymie Cohen.”

Capt. Melchen breathed a sigh of relief
when the jury’s verdict was read.

“T knew those guns would send the mur-
derer to the chair if he was foolish enough
to hang onto them. And Christie was
foolish.”

REA

DETECTIVE

that war is here, these men ask only the
additional privilege of helping win it.

For. this type of prisoner, all America
over, dead hope has sprung to life again—
and with reason. After months of heckling
and haggling and newspaper controversy
about the propriety of permitting ex-con-
victs to join America’s armed forces, the
Government has stepped in and settled the
matter once and for all.

An Intra-mural Selective Service organi-
zation has been created to deal with all men
now serving time in American prisons, State
or Federal. This Board will have supreme
power. Its recommendations will be almost
tantamount to parole. It will pass on the
merits of every case.

And yet parole is not exactly the idea be-
hind it. According to the published ac-
counts of its intent, this new board will re-
lease men with no strings tied to them what-

LIBERTY IS REBORN

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4)

soever to join the armed forces or take their
proper places in war industry. These men
will not join up with the stigma of being
an ex-convict attached to them. They will
be free and untrammeled as long as they
deport themselves as men, All they have
got to do is go straight and the slate is
clean.

_Many a worthy man here in Folsom is on
his toes at that alluring prospect. Another
chance—another chance! The hope they
abandoned so long ago on entering the
prison has returned to them. It is not a
prodigal hope, but a bright shining angel of
light. And, like Hansley and Percy-the-
Lug, they have greeted it with grateful
hearts. Yes, even without their citizenship,
some of these men here are now awaiting
their chance to acquit themselves as Amer-
icans with hearts bursting with gratitude.
Hell lies behind them. A new job lies
ahead and they are anxious to get at it.

93

“YOU ARE UNDER
ARREST”

5 ‘<9 There’s a Thrill
ree q => in Bringing a
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; minutes later.

{Preme court to a hearing before

THE TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, Monday, 2 March 1942, page l.

GEORGE NEWSOM
PAYS WITH LIFE

N egro Is ~~ Blectrocuted
For Lummus Slaying |

RAIFORD, (*)— George New-
som, negro, was electrocuted here
today for the robbery slaying of
Mrs Marie Lummus, near Talla-
hassee, last October.

The switch was thrown at 10:28
& m and Newsom was dead a few

A: fury in Leon county circuit
court convicted him of first de-
gree murder without recommend-
ing mercy. That made the death
penalty automatic. .

- (By The

The supreme today. ‘halted
the scheduled execution of Angie
Michael Caingetti for murder un-
til it decides s new legal proceed-
ing by his attorneys.

Caingetti’s execution was set
for today: His counsel filed in
the supreme ‘court a petition for
reconsideration of a habeas cor-
[bus action which she gourt ye

“A decision by ‘the. court prob-

ad

penitentiary { tor murder, was de-
nied the. t today by the su-

the Duval county circuit court to

determing whether he should have
anew trial, |


‘State T dhes |
Lives of Four
Convicted Men |

They Die Within 58 Min- ;
utes in Raiford Electric |

| Chair.

RAIFORN. March 23. 7P— With.
In the short Span of 58 minutes, |
the State of Florida today exacted
the supreme penalty from four con-
Victed slavers
Worth Roberson, sentenced for
killing Mars Annice Roberts tn Gil-
christ County in 1937, was the first
{9 80 to the electric chair at the |
State Prison here and wag pro- |
nounced dead four minutes after the |
| Current was applied
The next to KO WR8 Angle Mich.
ae! Calnyetts, convicted of the ham-
| mer slaving of Mrs. Anna K- Hen-
oan of Daytona Beach In 1940. ded
murinered a prayer When he wag!
’ Dlaced In the chair burt maintained |
his composure to the end He was |
dead seven Minutes aftee the SWitch
| WAS thrown.
: Then Jecy Crawford, negro, who
_ Stabbed Bronson Sweat to death at
' Jacksonville tn 1939, and Walter
| Roberson, negro. Who killed his wife
' WitD an axe in Dixie County tn 1941 |
were executed tn turn. They were |
, Pronounced dead seven and five '
i; Minutes, respectively, after the elec-
i tricity was turned on by the State's
hooded executioner whose identity
; # kept secret |
| Prison Buperintendent 1. FP. Chap-
‘man said it was a “terrible but nec.
| Casary” task for the Biate.

t Aepsany

‘TVET YOAeW FZ
(S@TTtTAuosyoecr) NOINN-SAWIL VWaGINOTA AHL

“TT ebed

executions of the men had
j been scheduled at an earlier date
| but were Postponed to allow court
| appeals or petitions to the Btate

Pardon Board in each case.


CIANGETTI, Angelo Michael, white, elec. Florida state Mg | ;
(Volusia County) on March 23, 1942... as en d

| :
|
HE small man lay stretched wy,
out lazily ... pensive ... com- ;
pletely relaxed. Close by him 7
on the wide, double bed slept .
Mrs. Anna K. Henson, the object of yo
| his nocturnal meditations. Her we
chest rose and fell as the sounds of “G
{ her heavy, rhythmical breathing
broke the tomb-like silence of the A
room. th
A gust of wind from the sea eh
| rattled the window-pane, reached
out its cool hand, touching for an P}
| instant the hot, feverish brow of
f the scheming little man who went Hi
by the name of Angelo Michael “37
Phillips.
Downstairs, a clock chimed the
hour—3:45 A.M. Before the last in
} musical note faded into the night, m
| a momentous decision blazoned i
| through his contriving brain. le
| _ Yes, it would have to be done! in
On this tranquil morning of Jan- si
uary 18, 1940, he would have to
commit murder! Ww
a No sense of remorse or panic gi
2 TRACES or BLOOD— te Be et _gripped him as he arose and quietly P
were discovered on the hammer found is the Henson home by — made his way out of the bed-
Ernest L. Rowland, Tees show in le Rect debra with the awecpen.., _. chamber. re
} ee * A few minutes later he re- | it
turned, carrying something. Each
\ movement was deliberate, as he y
f calmly placed the object on a chair b
f close to the bed.
‘ Sitting quietly on the edge of the
bed, facing his intended victim, he lc
fell into another fit of musing. A d
} crooked smile flicked at the edge of n
his mouth and quickly disappeared.
t ‘ n
j A® though the contemplations of
f the plotter had suddenly over- t:;
flowed and spilled their venom on p
the recumbent figure beside him, oO
| Mrs. Henson’ suddenly awoke. -
| Slowly she opened her eyes and le
saw the eerie figure of Phillips.
“Is anything the matter, Fritzy?” : y
she asked, yawning drowsily. h
“No, Anna, just couldn’t sleep,
that’s all,” he replied nonchalantly. Yr:
The springs groaned ‘under the d
\ tall Mrs. Henson’s weight of one ¢
hundred and seventy-five pounds , t
| as she struggled from the bed and
ce» aD went into the lavatory. “
’ TRUSSED BopYy— sf Nei Clambering back into bed a few i
of Mrs. Anna K. Henson Lis Gucend Just citer it was Saeed: ‘rout! minutes later, she prepared to re- \

the grave which her slayer thought would never be iapeven ne: sume her slumbers when Phillips’
voice reached her. f

“You know the argument we had
ead on the beach today, Anna,” he re- ¢
‘ a minded her. é
As if she could forget so soon! Jf

CONCEA

CRIME DETZACTIVE MAGAZINE, November, 1940, page 64.

i
‘
i


When This Daytona Beach, Florida, Woman
Was Reported Missing, Officers Had No
Definite Evidence of Murder. But What
About the Mysterious Mr. Phillips? And—

appeared at any of the meetings and
otherwise shunned contact with Day-
tona Beach society. Her sole recreation
consisted of afternoon drives in her
car, and on week-ends she would
make trips to Port Orange, about five
miles south of Daytona Beach. She
apparently had a number of friends in
Port Orange and Allandale whom, for
several years, she had helped in a
financial way whenever a bit of cash
was needed and she took great pleasure
in organizing and conducting Sunday
beach picnics and swimming and fish-
ing parties for them.

ree weeks before, according to the
neighborhood information, Mrs. Hen-
son had closed her house and left for
New York. Although she had told no
one among her neighbors of the trip,
word got around—how, no one knew—
that she had been suffering a chronic
ailment and had gone North for treat-
ment. She was not expected back until

the following Fall. namaste

Ts investigators endeavored to de-
termine the time of the departure
exactly and decided, after talking to
several persons, that the closest they’
could get was in the afternoon of Feb-
ruary 15. The day had been warm and,
according to the information, Mrs. Hen-
son had walked slowly down to the
waiting car. She wore a dark dress
and a large, floppy-brimmed hat.

The officers also were told that the
house apparently had been left in
charge of a janitor-carpenter named
Sam McNeely, and he might be found
in the rear where a garage-apartment,
owned by Mrs. Henson, joined at right
angles with her Wisconsin Place lot.
The garage apartment faced on San
Juan Street.

The officers found this building a
frame structure with a garage on the
ground floor which was, for the time
being, empty. On the second floor were
living quarters, untenanted. A canopied
veranda encompassed the upper story
which was reached by a wooden stair-
way at the rear of the building.

The two men noted, without com-
ment, that a small addition had been
built onto the rear of the garage
beneath this stairway. In contrast to
the rest of the building the new, un-
-painted boards of the shed showed how
recent was its construction. The door
of the appendage was padlocked.

While they were thus exploring this
part of the Henson property, the car-
penter, McNeely, put in an appearance.
He viewed the two men with a curiosity
that was natural enough under the cir-
cumstances. He was a short man in
overalls and deeply tanned. Rather
bluntly, he asked what they wanted.

Captain Ben Clifton:
His theory dug deep

The investigators explained they had
come to make some inquiries about
Mrs. Henson.

“She’s been in New York for about
three weeks,” the workman replied.

“So we understand,” Clifton an-
swered, “but where in New York?”

McNeely didn’t know. The chauffeur,
whose name, McNeely said, was Mich-
ael Caingetti, had told him, before
driving Mrs. Henson north, that Mrs.
Henson had complained of a nervous
disease and that there was a particular
hospital for ‘that malady where she in-
tended taking treatments. That was all
McNeely could tell them, but he did add
that Mrs. Henson’s legal matters
always had been handled by a Daytona

(Continued on Page 40)

As Mrs.

Mrs. Henson told no one about
the Journey she was going to take

Michael Caingetti, with Deputy Bill Slaughter:
Henson’s chauffeur he got around

23


and dark complexioned, walk up to
the box, twist the dials deftly, as if it
were automatic with him, and open it.
The detectives closed in. He looked
at them in surprise. The usual words
started from his mouth, “What is the

meaning of this?” The officers, with-
out explanation, took him to Head-
quarters.

Under the direction of Gasque, who
cautioned the other officers not to
mention the finding of the body, the
questioning began. The suspect ad-
mitted at once, in a quiet tone of voice
and a manner that seemed simplicity
itself, that he was the much-sought
A. M. Phillips. His statement was
matter of fact. He said that he had
been, besides a financial advisor to
Mrs. Henson, her close friend and more
recently her husband.

He further stated that he had gone
north February 17, two days after
Mrs. Henson had driven up with her
chauffeur. This fact, he said, could
be proved because he had engaged a
chair on the New York train which
left at 2:40 p.m. A telephone call to
the local ticket office confirmed this.

Once in Manhattan he had met Mrs.
Henson and they had become man and
wife. After a short stay there in an
out-of-the-way hotel, as he described
it, he had returned to Daytona Beach
to manage her affairs while she stayed
on in New York. She expected to
commute to Philadelphia for treat-
ments for a difficult ailment.

p tele his return to Daytona Beach,
February 28, he had been living in
a small house on the Peninsula facing
the ocean. This was a house owned
by Mrs. Henson but, at the moment,
unrented.

“TI considered it less expensive and
work-saving to stay there rather than
at the big house on Wisconsin Place,”
Phillips said.

The matter of his collecting debts
due Mrs. Henson was explained as in
keeping with his position as her ad-
visor and husband. Taking her checks
and writing the nieces a reply, which
he admitted doing for the past two
months, he said was done on instruc-

tions from Mrs. Henson herself. He
produced a power of attorney author-
ity which he claimed she had given
him. Captain Clifton looked at it.

“But that hasn’t been notarized,”
Clifton said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that
was necessary,” Phillips replied. “It’s
an oversight which Mrs. Henson her-
self will clear up later.”

“If you’re married to her, why do
you call her Mrs. Henson?” Clifton
shot at him.

Phillips blushed beneath his tan
complexion. For the first time he
looked uneasy. Then he smiled.

“l’m sorry again,” he said. “Just a
matter of habit, you see. Not used
to being married yet.”

He grew serious when the officers
asked him where he thought Mrs.
Henson was staying in New York. His
forehead clouded in a puzzled frown.

“I’m not sure where she is at the
moment. I know she checked out of
the hotel where we had stayed and
when I left she was shopping for a
quiet apartment. She was undecided
whether to stay in New York or move
to Philadelphia to be nearer the ‘hos-
pital. However, I’m sure she’ll let me
know: the moment she decides on a
permanent place.”

The problem that faced the officers
was this: Mrs. Henson had been mur-
dered for her money. That was fairly
obvious. Phillips was in the position
to benefit by her death. In fact, he
already had collected a large sum from
her estate.

But on the other hand, where was
the chauffeur, Michael Caingetti?
Where was the car? And what about
the statement of a Wisconsin Place
resident having seen Mrs. Henson de-
scend the steps to her waiting car. on
the day she was supposed to have
started north for New York?

Furthermore, it was evident that
Phillips had, indeed, gone to New York
on a train two days after Mrs. Henson
was supposed to have driven north.
Suppose he had married the woman in
Manhattan. Was it possible that he
had returned on February 28, while
Mrs. Henson stayed on in New York

for a few days, then returned to Flor-
ida herself, unexpected, unannounced,
and, when she arrived, been mur-
dered? That is, murdered without
Phillips knowing it?

These were facts the detectives had
to prove one way or another before
they formally could charge Phillips
with murder.

Several witnesses from Port Orange
were brought in to identify Phillips as
the man who had collected Mrs. Hen-
son’s debts and who had known her
as a close friend. They identified him
without difficulty.

However, when witnesses from the
Wisconsin Place neighborhood, espe-
cially McNeely, were brought in, the
officers were in for a surprise. They
identified Phillips as Mrs. Henson’s
chauffeur—Michael Caingetti.

flim McNeely had hailed him as
“Mike—where have ‘you been?”
Clifton and the other officers formally
charged the prisoner with murder.
Stubbornly | silent, Caingetti—for that
was his real name—was taken to the
morgue and shown the body. He ad-
mitted, then, that he had murdered
Mrs. Henson.

He said he first had met Mrs. Hen-
son two years before when he came to
Florida and was looking for work. She
had made him her chauffeur. They
got on well together and on week-
ends, when she went to Port Orange
for her outings with the workingmen’s
families, he would shun the uniform
and his identity as a chauffeur and
even his name, all with Mrs. Henson’s
permission.

Gradually, Caingetti and Mrs. Hen-
son had, he said, fallen in love. And, as
a consequence, he received more
money from her than his salary called
for and handled many of her financial
affairs—especially the job of cashing
her checks. After a while they opened
a joint bank account.

However, Caingetti didn’t discover
the size of Mrs. Henson’s fortune until
two years later. Then he made up his
mind to get his hands on the money.
He asked Mrs. Henson to. marry him
but when he insisted that they take

her name she became suspicious and
refused.

Caingetti then decided to kill her
and when she was in her bedroom one
night he hit her with a hammer and
killed her. He then hid the body and
two days later on January 20, he
buried it behind the garage-apartment.
The following day he built a shed
over the spot. He told McNeely that
Mrs. Henson wasn’t well and that she
was thinking about going to New York.

Caingetti stayed around in Daytona
Beach until the February check ar-
rived from the nieces. He then wrote
a letter to the nieces, as he knew Mrs.
Henson would, and on February 17,
took a train to New York.

When asked about the woman,
neighbors had seen going down the
stairs of the Henson house, Caingetti
told the officers that he had a friend
of his walk down the stairs and enter
the car. Officers found it to be true, but
the woman knew nothing about the
murder and she was dismissed.

He also told officers that he had
wired a man in Port Orange that he
and Anna Henson had been married.
When he returned to Port Orange it
was easy to convince the persons who
had loans from Mrs. Henson that he
was the one to collect them. He ad-
mitted that he had to keep his identity
as the chauffeur secret on his return
from New York, while he could appear
in Port Orange as Phillips.

However it was necessary for him
to slip into the Henson home at Day-
tona Beach to get the typewriter for
the second note for the March check.
It was then that he noticed the mat-
tress with the patch showing. He
also turned the mattress over.

With his confession and the facts of
the case as proof, the authorities had
little difficulty charging Caingetti with
premeditated murder. He was thus
convicted in the Fall of 1940 and sen-
tenced to die in the electric chair. An
appeal to the Supreme Court of Flor-
ida only upheld the lower court’s de-
cision and the Governor, in February,
1942, refused to commute the sentence.
Caingetti was electrocuted in the Flor-
ida State prison on March 23, 1942.

To Comfort the Woman He Killed (Continued from Page 27)

Hesse was not permitted to go home.
He was asked to stay voluntarily in
Brooklyn. He agreed and a detective
took him and his wife to a hotel where
the city paid for their night’s lodging.

And as he remained as the guest of
the city, the police worked frantically
to try to pick up some new lead in
the baffling case. To make sure that
the criminal laboratory had not made
a mistake on the hair found in Mrs.
Watson's hand, strands of hair from
Hesse’s head were secured and rushed
to the laboratory.

Examination of these hairs con-
firmed the first findings. Hesse’s hair
showed only about ten globar hairs,
while the strand belonging to the
killer had 21.

The laboratory continued their work
on the hair and they found other in-
teresting facts. Segments of the hairs
were cut away and when these were
magnified a hundred times, they
showed that the hair of the killer had
a slight curl.

Chemical tests on the hair brought
out the fact that the killer was of a
thin, nervous type, lacking acid in his
system.

And this last deduction brought the
officers face to face with the strange
and mysterious lemon found in the
apartment.

Lacking acid in the system, a person
would be addicted to sucking the juice
of a lemon.

When morning came Hesse was dis-
missed completely as a suspect and
the case was again wide open, except
that the criminal laboratory had de-
termined the age and the physical type
of the killer.

Detective Tracy had worked far into
the night to compile a list of the ten-
ants in the three houses -and those

42

that might, by a long stretch of the
imagination, have had trouble. with
Mrs. Watson.

None of these tenants fitted the pic-
ture of the killer.

The criminal laboratory made many
other tests. They placed the dust under
special tests but it disclosed nothing
of importance. Analysis of particles
found in the apartment showed
none of any substance that would tab
the killer as a person from any special
section of the city.

5 bape second day passed and the of-
ficers strived to pick up a new thread
but when evening came the death of
Mrs. Catherine Watson was fast slip-
ping into the category of one of Brook-
lyn’s most amazing unsolved slayings.

The police went back to the be-
ginning of the case and compiled what
they knew. First, the killer was young,
nervous in temperament. Mrs. Wat-
son had been killed by blows to the
head from some weapon, fairly long,
an inch wide, and very heavy.

A thorough search of the apartment-
house, the cellar and the rear grounds
had failed to produce this death
weapon. By this time, the work of
Detective Tracy had given the police
some idea of the amount of money
she had in her possession that day.

From the tenants in the three
houses, she had collected $470.00. She
had not made a deposit in the bank
that day, so it was a natural assump-
tionthat she had this amount in her
apartment when she was killed.

One thing that puzzled the police
was the care the killer had used in
laying out the body. A hardened thief,
killing for money, hardly would do
anything like that. Then there was the
angle of where the money was hidden.

This, coupled with the fact that no
money had been taken from the pock-
etbook of Mrs. Watson, confused the
officers.

The failure to steal the diamond ring
quickly was explained. Robbers, unless
they deal in diamonds, have difficulty
in disposing of the diamonds and there
is some element of danger.

But who would have known that
Mrs. Watson hid her money in that
third drawer? It had been pulled out
and the money was missing.

A week later these questions still
were staring the officers in the face
and no answer had been found and
the case had been accepted by the
press and the public as just another
one of those cases where the police
have failed.

The police worked on the case but
it was getting cold. The search con-
tinued for a slim, nervous type of
youth but no trace of him was found.

Was the death of Mrs. Watson actu-
ally a robbery? The officers couldn’t
get this question out of their minds
but every move they made, the cold
hand of science and that strand of
hair found in Mrs. Watson’s hand
balked them. Then there was the fact
the door had been pried open.

But one officer didn’t let science balk
him. He turned to the criminal labora-
tory in working out a theory of the
crime which had come to him. This was
Assistant District Attorney Heffernan,
whose stubbornness in following a case
is something of a legend in Brooklyn.

“That killer left his mark behind,”
he said to Inspector Reynolds. “And
I’m going to memorize that trade-mark
so vividly that I’ll never forget it.”

He and the Inspector returned to
the Watson apartment. Heffernan got
the superintendent up from the cellar

and instructed him to take the apart-
ment door down and when this was
done, Heffernan loaded it in a police
ear and drove to the laboratory.

“I want the mark just above the
lock on this door examined,” he said
to Detective Keene at the laboratory.
“The trick of springing a door is old
but it isn’t used by professionals. This
killer gained entrance to Mrs. Wat-
son’s apartment by inserting a thin
tool just over the lock, springing the
door until he could use a thin chisel
or file to push the lock back.

“I admit there’s nothing new to that
but this mark left by the tool he used
may be important. I want you to make
casts of that tool and then magnify
those casts until I can see every grain
and every defect in whatever was
used.”

It took the criminal laboratory a day
to complete this difficult job but when
they did, Heffernan had on his desk
a magnified picture of that tool mark.

And this picture showed every grain,
every defect in the piece of steel used.

“Now,” Heffernan said to Inspector
Reynolds, “we are going to play a
game that may be very long and dis-
appointing. We are going to learn a
great deal about steel and how it is
made.”

ITHIN two weeks the killing of
Mrs. Catherine Watson became a
closed book to the public, the press
and to most of the police. Other cases
broke to occupy the attention of Brook-
lyn Headquarters and the Watson case
remained in the files to gather dust.
But in those two weeks Heffernan
had learned a great deal about steel,
how it was cast, the cause for certain
defects in casts, and using the exact
measurements of the print left by the

AD 5


beneath the bed-pillow in our room.
He came into the living-room to say,

in an odd tone, “Did you move the’

gun?”

“Why, no! It’s under your pillow,
isn’t it?”

“It’s gone,” he told me. “I just went
to clean it, and it isn’t there.”

Ravis, my youngest daughter, was in
the room. [ heard her give a little
gasp and then she said, ‘“Mother—
Frankie knew where you kept the
gun.”

I turned to face her and I saw that
her cheeks were bloodless. She seemed
to hesitate and then she said, “Jean-
ette told me _ something, Mother.
Frankie said he—wasn’t going back to
camp. Not ever. He said they weren’t
going to be separated.”

ERROR was choking me. “How
stupid!” I said, sharply. “Of course

he'll go back—he’ll have to.” I looked
beseechingly at my husband. “He
wouldn't do anything foolish! You
know he wouldn’t!” Searching wildly
in my mind for an explanation, I cried,
“Jeanette must hove gone back with
him. Maybe he took the gun to pawn—
to get the fare so she could go back
with him.”

“He might have done that.” Looking
at my husband, I could tell that he
was trying to reassure me, that he did
not mean what he was saying. “Just
the same, I think I’ll ask the police in
McAlester to pick him up, to be sure
nothing happens.”

Oh, how can I describe that eternity
of terror, the waiting? When Ravis
said in a tone made blunt by fright,
“They might kill themselves,” I was
driven beyond myself by desperation.
I searched for her letters from Frankie,
and when I found them I read words
that sickened me with cold fear.

Over and over the boy had written
that he never would stay in camp,
that he never would be separated from
her again. Wild jealousy was inter-
woven through the words, such brutal
things as: “You’d better stay home
nights ... You’d better not love any-
body but me!”

The passages were intermittent
expressions of black despair and wild
threats of what would happen if she
did not go on loving him. Through
them all ran the constant repetition
“When I come home again, you must
promise me that we will end it all.”

Then I knew. I knew why all these
months my girl had been a pale, pre-
occupied shadow of her former self,
why horrible nightmares made her cry
out for me at night. In her little box

I found a letter which she had started
to Frankie. Some lines in it ran
“Frankie, Honey, you mustn’t feel the
way you do. I love you dearly, and
some of these days we’ll be together
again, you and I and the baby.” It
was a heartbreaking letter, pitifully
brave, pleading with him for patience,
for trust in her—and it trailed off as if
the grief of having to write it, to be-
seech the boy she loved for the
strength she needed so desperately,
were more than she could bear.

The police did not find Frankie and
Jeanette. Another sister of Frankie
said that he and Jeanette came to her
house early on Tuesday morning.
Frankie took off his uniform and put
on his brother-in-law’s suit. He told
his sister that he was deserting and
going to Amarillo to work. She told
him, “You’re going to get yourself into
a lot of trouble, Frankie. But if that’s
what you’re bound to do at least don’t
drag Jeanette into it.”

And Jeanette said stonily, “I’ll go
where Frankie goes.”

Then they had gone away, together.
No one had seen them since.

Our search ended abruptly at noon.
I was at the Mosco home talking to
Frankie’s mother and we were trying
desperately to think of something to
do when her daughter-in-law burst
into the room screaming, “Frankie and
Jeanette have killed themselves!”

A horrible darkness seemed to de-
scend upon me. I don’t remember
what happened. Afterward they told
me that I walked out of the Mosco
home and started down the highway
moaning, “My baby—”

| tapi neighbors hurried after me,
put me into a car and we hurried
toward McAlester. The first I remem-
ber is when we stopped at a tourist-
camp and the man went into the office
to telephone. When he came out he
was smiling.

“Good news, Mrs. Bell,” he said.
“They’re both alive.” :

I was shaken from my _ stunned
lethargy and I wept.

At the hospital we met a white-clad
nurse in the corridor. I grasped her
arm and demanded, “Where is the girl
who was shot?”

She looked curiously at me.

“She’s dead,” she replied. “She died
before we could operate.”

I think she realized then that I was
the girl’s mother and her eyes softened
with pity. But I turned away from
her detaining hand and stumbled down
the white corridor. Something was
screaming in my brain, “Jeanette is

"Where's Anna and Her Man

Beach attorney named W. J. Gardiner,
with offices on Orange Street.

Before talking to any more wit-
nesses, however, the officers decided to
have a look inside Mrs. Henson’s home.
With the cooperation of McNeely, who
had keys to the front door, they entered
the house. They spent a good hour
going through the various rooms. In-
spector Allen was interested to find,
in a small library room, a large stock
of blue stationery and the typewriter
which, after he had made a test of it,
he claimed was the one used in typing
all the letters to the nieces.

One other item in the house drew
the attention of the officers. That was
a mattress in a room which McNeely
said was Mrs. Henson’s bedroom. No
covers were on the bed, and for some
reason, perhaps out of an instinct for
prodding in unlikely places, Captain
Clifton lifted it up, then flopped it over
completely. He discovered that an ex-
pert job of patching had been done on
the outer cover of the mattress near
one end. By exploring with his fingers
around the patch, he found that a fair
amount of ticking had been removed.

McNeely said he knew nothing about
it,
As this, the first phase of the in-

vestigation, closed, the officers were

forced to admit that the evidence on
which the case had started did not now
seem so convincing. The explanation
of Mrs. Henson’s departure sounded
reasonable enough and the oddity of
the signatures, even the curtness of her
letter, might be explained by her ner-
vous disease.

On the other hand the minds of the
detectives still persisted in a growing
conviction that some things, not quite
definite yet, needed answers. Perhaps
it was the fact that the wealth of Mrs.
Henson, her failure to notify the nieces
of her illness or her departure for
New York, made a perfect background
for crime. At least, it was a situation
in which an unscrupulous person could
operate effectively.

After a lapse of several days, Clifton
and Allen had a talk with Attorney
Gardiner. He had returned from an
cut-of-town business trip. He told them
that for a number of years he had
attended to Mrs. Henson’s legal affairs

dead ... dead... dead!” They were
words without meaning, without form
or sound. They meant nothing. I
kept thinking, Oh, no, she can’t be
dead! She’s going to have a baby .. .
she was so proud of her baby.

Frankie was alive, although critically
injured. They let me see him for a
moment but they said I mustn’t excite
him. Frankie looked at me with dark,
haunted eyes and said, “Jeanette’s
gone, Mrs. Bell.”

I said, “Yes, she’s gone.” When I
said the words they first meant some-
thing to me; they brought me the truth.
Jeanette was gone. She was dead.

I looked at Frankie. “She won't
suffer any more. Maybe it was the
will of Fate.”

Frankie turned his face to the wall.

After a little I learned what had
happened. Frankie and Jeanette had
spent all day Monday at a tourist
camp, registered under the name Jack-
son. The next day after they left his
sister’s they had gone out to Tower
Mountain, a picturesque hill overlook-
ing the city. Residents in the area saw
them climbing the hill up the winding
road, hand in hand—and they were
laughing.

An hour later Frankie staggered
into the yard of a home at the foot of
the hill, a bullet in his body just above
his heart, and collapsed upon the porch
in a pool of his own blood. In his
hand was clutched a note. It was
written by Jeanette—and it said sim-
ply that she and Frankie had decided
to go on together and asked me not
to worry.

She said that she had shot Frankie
and then herself. In her childish
scrawl, beneath her signature and
Frankie’s, she had added, “Mother,
give my wrist-watch to Ravis,” and a
request that I take good care of her
little dog, which she had adored.

They had found Jeanette on the hill
sitting against a rock, the life-blood
draining slowly from her and crimson
splashing the stones where she had
dragged her dying body.

I never shall know the answer to a
question which haunts me day and
night. Were her feeble efforts to go
toward the road an attempt to reach
help for the life which she never really
wanted to give up?

I cannot believe that Jeanette
wanted to die. She waited with such
longing and such tenderness for the
baby which was coming. She had
such radiant dreams for the life which
would belong to the three of them once
Frankie came home again, the home
that would be theirs. But his despair-

ing unhappiness, his helplessness, his
lack of strength against his loneliness
and his unreasoning jealousy—before
these my baby’s dreams died slowly
and with them the love of life went out
of her heart and the eager youth went
out of her eyes. And in the end his
determination to “end it all,” his con-
stant pleading with her to die with
him—these defeated her.

Frankie did not die. For days he
lay at the point of death in the hos-
pital and then, slowly, he recovered.
The officials came after him and we
were told that he would be taken to
an Army hospital to face a court-
martial when he was recovered. In
the office of County Attorney Paul
Gotcher, in McAlester, arrangements
were made for the release of Frankie
to civil authorities for trial on an
“accessory to suicide” charge.

She is gone, and so is the baby
that never was born—and in a hos-
pital Frankie lies with his thoughts
that now must be blacker and more
despairing than ever.

HE WILL be tried in September. I do

not know what will be done with
him. I am told that the extreme
penalty for this charge is seven years
in prison. What penalty he must pay
for his attempted desertion is yet to
be seen. I hold no malice toward
Frankie and his punishment could
bring me no relief, nor could it bring
life back to Jeanette.

I have my own punishment. I can-
not escape the haunting fear that my
caution, my unwillingness to intrude.
sent my girl to her death. Day and
night I writhe with the pain of not
having been able to help her, knowing
the anguish that must have been hers
when she realized that Frankie’s in-
tentness on death brought the end to
their dreams ever nearer.

At first I thought that I would not
tell my story. But something Frankie
himself said was indicative of a reason
why the story belonged not to me but
to anyone whom it might help. As he
lay half fainting on the farmhouse
porch, after the shooting, he looked at
a small boy and girl playing in the
yard and said, “Don’t ever let your
boy and girl do anything like this.”

That is my plea to all the mothers
who might read this—to the women
who might think, like I did, that they
should not intrude upon their chil-
dren’s unhappiness. If you think that
danger lies in their domestic unhappi-
ness put aside your caution and your
pride. Don’t ever let your boy or girl
do anything like this.

Friday?" (Continued from Page 23)

but he could offer no information as to
her present whereabouts. In fact, he
was surprised to hear she had left
town. He stated that, in 1934, Mrs.
Henson had been ill and under the care
of Doctor George Greer. At the time
she had undergone a major operation.

Te legal matters that concerned
Gardiner had to do with two wills
made by Mrs. Henson. The first had
bee» drawn up in 1930, naming a
number of relatives as beneficiaries,
and this was superseded by a will
made in 1934 giving her entire fortune
to her two nieces.

The officers were surprised to learn
that Mrs. Henson had a brother resid-
ing in Daytona Beach.

On the theory that he might have
some information to offer about the
trip of Mrs. Henson, the detectives in-
terviewed the brother in his home. The
brother was affable but the meeting
was without result. He was not only
surprised, but worried that his sister
had closed her house and had gone to
New York. t

Why hadn’t Mrs. Henson told her

brother, her nearest relative, that she
was going to a hospital and would be
gone for months?

In further questioning, the brother
said that, although he had called upon
his sister on one or two occasions since
the holidays, he had not found her in.
At the time he had decided she was
away in her car, perhaps at Port
Orange with her friends. As far as he
knew, she had made no attempt to
get in touch with him in the past two
months.

Doctor Greer, whom the officers
questioned later, equally was mystified
by Mrs. Henson’s sudden journey. He
said that, since her operation in 1934
which he had performed, Mrs. Henson
had been in continuous good health.
This he established by the fact that
he had given her periodic medical
examinations. Although he had not
given her a check-up in a year, he said
he never had discovered anything in
her physical condition to suggest a
nervous disease.

Naturally it seemed odd to the of-
ficers that Mrs. Henson had not con-
sulted her physician at the onset of

October Issue of ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES Goes on Sale Friday, September II

40

AD—5 ©


her illness or told him of her intention
of going north. On the possibility
another doctor had been visited, the
investigators rade a canvass of the
city but without avail.

At the same time, every effort was
made, through the cooperation of New
York authorities, particularly the
Bureau of Missing Persons, to locate
Mrs. Henson. Despite a check of hospi-
tals and medical centers, convalescent
homes and private sanatoriums, Mrs.
Henson’s whereabouts remained a
mystery.

At this point, Inspector Allen made
a discovery. In a telephone communi-
cation with Mrs. King in Fort Wayne,
he learned that the March check had
been sent to Mrs. Henson at the usual
address, since none other was known,
and that address was her private letter
box at the main post office on Beach
Street in Daytona Beach.

[= check had been picked up and
cashed.

According to the niece the cancelled
check bore the signature of Mrs. Hen-
son and, as usual, the endorsement of
A. M. Phillips. It had been cleared
through a bank in Port Orange. Need-
less to say, a watch of two detectives
was placed in the lobby of the post-
office.

Inspector Allen also heard from the
niece that another letter had been sent
on Mrs. Henson’s stationery bearing
the rough signature: “Aunt Anna.” It
was, like the February one, brief and
impersonal.

In a quick run down to Port Orange,
the officers talked to the cashier of a
local bank through which Mrs. Hen-
son’s checks had been cashed. He told
them that A. M. Phillips was a tall,
thin man who had, for the last year
and more, cashed all of Mrs. Henson’s
checks, made her deposits and with-
drawals and other financial matters
with her permission. She had, indeed,
identified Phillips as a man who was
to handle her bank affairs indefinitely.

Thus the officers learned that Phil-
lips was not, as they had supposed, a
tradesman. He was known in the
community of Port Orange as a close
friend of Mrs. Henson.

This statement was strengthened
further when the detectives questioned
a number of residents of the town. In
fact, Phillips was known among them
as “Anna’s Man Friday,’ which had
the flavor of a romance. However, no
one knew where he could be found at
the moment. It was supposed in Port
Orange he lived in Daytona Beach.
However, he was seen in Port Orange
often and, if the information given
on him was correct, he was an active
individual. During the past week he
had gone about collecting all the loans,
small and large, which Mrs. Henson
had made, sometimes at Phillips’ sug-
gestion, to various friends they had
in the district. Some paid, others were
unable to do so. Phillips had been
friendly about the collections, not
pressing too hard for them, and he had
furnished a paper showing that Mrs.
Henson had given him power of attor-
ney to collect these debts. No one
could recall whether this paper had
been notarized. His explanation for
gathering in the loans was that Mrs.
Henson felt that, inasmuch as she was
now at a great expense what with
medical treatment and living condi-
tions in New York, she would need the
money.

cys of these witnesses, a man who

owned a small orange grove out-
side the town, saw nothing unusual in
the fact that Phillips had been so en-
trusted with the financial affairs of
Mrs. Henson. ‘

“IT happen to know,” he said with a
smile, ‘‘that Phil, as we call him, went
up north two days after Anna did. He
was up there about ten days with her
and they were married there.”

“How do you know that?”

“I got a wire from them a few days
after he had arrived in New York. Ill
get it for you.”

The orange grower then showed the
officers a telegram which read: “Wish
us luck. We were married today.” The

AD 5

wire was signed, “Anna and Phil.”
The date was February 22.

The witness said Phillips returned
alone February 28 and he had seen
him two or three times since. When
asked if he knew where Phillips could
be found, he replied:

“Have you tried the Henson home
on Wisconsin Place?”

“The house is closed up,” Captain
Clifton replied.

The man frowned. ‘Well, I don’t
know, that’s where he always lived
for the past two years.”

The officers were puzzled at this
statement. It seemed odd to them that
no one, either the workman, McNeely,
or any of the neighbors to whom they
had talked about Mrs. Henson, had
mentioned the fact that Phillips lived
in the Henson home for the past two
years.

Pressing the orange man for more
details, they learned that Phillips was
a New Yorker who had come to Flori-
da to live a leisurely life. He had met
Mrs. Henson in Port Orange and they
became devoted to one another. He
spent freely, it was understood. Of
late, Mrs. Henson increasingly had re-
lied on him to handle her affairs. The
marriage long was expected. In fact,
the announcement surprised no one
who knew the two.

The investigation quickly swung
back to Wisconsin Place in Daytona
Beach. It seemed incredible that Phil-
lips, who seemed so active in the
various communities of the district,
could be so elusive. The detectives
felt that somehow they might pick up
his trail at the Henson home.

The first thing Inspector Allen noted
when he stepped into the large house
and walked directly to the library, was
the disappearance of the typewriter
and with it a large store of the blue
stationery. Captain Clifton questioned
McNeely, who again had let them in,
and the carpenter replied that he
neither had stepped inside the house
himself nor seen anyone else do so.

“Who is A. M. Phillips?” Clifton
demanded.

HE workman looked = genuinely

puzzled. He was silent.

“It’s a man who enjoys the con-
fidence of Mrs. Henson in financial
affairs,” the Captain further explained.
“We were told he and Mrs. Henson
were married in New York recently.”

Solemnly McNeely answered, “I
have never heard the name.”

“But Phillips was supposed to have
actually lived here in this house.”

The workman shook his head slowly.
“Ym sorry, I never have seen him
here.”

The second clew discovered that
afternoon was the fact that someone,
someone apparently with a guilty con-
science, had turned Mrs. Henson’s
mattress over so that the patchwork
was hidden again. It had been a mere
accident that Captain Clifton had left
the patch exposed but that didn’t pre-
vent him from exploring all the
possibilities of the clew.

The discovery started Clifton on a
course of action which he first ex-
plained to Inspector Allen. The logic
was simply this: Mrs. Henson was sup-
posed to have gone to New York.
However, the supposition was based
on nothing but neighborhood rumor
which, if a clever person wanted it so,
could have been planted. This rumor
could not be traced to its source. The
leave-taking was a surprise to all in
Daytona Beach who knew her.

“Our question now is, ‘Where’s Anna
and her man Friday?’” Clifton ex-
plained. “They’re supposed to be in
New York. But this set-up here may
be a pretty good alibi for her disap-
pearance. It might successfully cover
her murder.”

If murder it was, what more logical
place for it than her bedroom? And
was it not possible that some blood
had been spilled, penetrating the mat-
tress cover and the ticking beneath?
That, at least, would account for the
patch and it might also account for the
fact that the murderer, drawn back to
the scene of the crime for the type-
writer, had turned the mattress back

to hide the telltale patch, thinking,
perhaps, that he had forgotten to do so
in the first place.

If the murder theory were correct
so far, Clifton believed that the body
probably had been disposed of on the
premises. Since they had searched
the house and had found nothing to
indicate a body had been secreted in
it, the only thing left was the yard and
the first object that presented itself
to the mind was the newly constructed
shed under the outside stairs of the
garage-apartment.

“But what about the statement of
the witness who said she saw Mrs.
Henson walk down the steps and get
into the car to depart. for New York?”
Allen countered.

“I know, that doesn’t seem to fit
my theory but, at the same time, the
witness had no proof that Mrs. Hen-
son was, then, at that moment, on her
way to New York. Remember, Mrs.
Henson herself confided in no one
about the journey.”

Clifton then talked to McNeely. The
carpenter informed him that the shed
had been built to house garden imple-
ments. Although this might seem like
a perfectly normal explanation for the
construction of the shed, the detective
still thought it a likely burial place.
In any event he advised McNeely that
he would like to have a view of the
inside of the place.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the
keys,” the workman replied.

“Who does, then?”

“Mrs. Henson, I guess, or her chauf-
feur. Mike is supposed to look out for
the garage-apartment. I would say he
has the keys, but he’s in New York.”

“All right then, we’ll break the
lock,” replied Clifton.

A hammer and a piece of steel did
the trick after a few well-aimed blows.

The interior of the shed did, indeed,
contain a number of garden tools.
However, Clifton wondered why, if
the shed were used for nothing more, a
solid wooden floor had been built for
it. Determined to see his theory
through, Clifton called in several other
local officers, including Sheriff Stone
and Deputy Sheriff Bill Slaughter. In
short order the men tore up the floor
and laid bare the sandy earth beneath.

With the ground as soft as it was,
the men had no trouble at all push-
ing a steel rod through it. About two
and a half feet down, the detective
wielding the rod announced that he
seemed to have struck something. Two
men with shovels then went to work
carefully removing the earth and they
soon came upon an oblong object
wrapped in a quilt and tied with a
rope.

Still using painstaking care, the of--

ficers removed the object to the yard
in the sunlight and after removing the
rope and quilt they found another
covering, a cotton sheet, and beneath
this an oilcloth bound by three strands
of wire. Once this had been taken
off, the investigators uncovered the
body of a woman in pajamas. Blood-
stains were on the oilcloth and the wo-
man’s hands had been wired together.

aren the body had been taken to
the morgue, an autopsy was per-
formed by Coroner Harry Haigh. Al-
though the length of time the woman
had been dead could not be determined
definitely, the Coroner announced that
it had been, at least, a few weeks. He
said the cause of death was a fractured
skull following a merciless beating
about the head and face with a heavy
implement. Doctor Greer and a local
dentist were called in and both identi-
fied the body as that of Mrs. Anna
Henson.

Now that murder was proved, the
capture of A. M. Phillips was impera-
tive. All local facilities in Daytona
Beach and its environs, particularly at
Port Orange, were called on to hunt
the man down and a special State in-
vestigator, W. H. Gasque, was called
in to head the investigation.

On the morning following the dis-
covery of the body, two detectives
watching the Henson mail-box in the
main post office on Beach Street saw
a tall, thin man, conservatively dressed

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4]


oe

<

; $5,000 check before being slain:

Tage { a Basa

ecution warrant were ‘scrambling to’
get him a stay yesterday, a day be-
fore his scheduled electrocution...

“Only *One of the’ 24 "men cexectited. #luded ‘area”and* shot “him. twicein:
Aint ‘Florida ‘since.’ the.,staté. Se head -after. Drake. pte thepe me

«, capital : spunishment in “1979° fas ‘sur-*

“vived ” a_ fifth: death warrant. - ‘Willie “

Darden was “electrocuted ‘in March
1988, under his seventh warrant.
After receiving two temporary: re-
prieves.in as many days earlier this
week, Raymond Roy Clark, 49, was
to be executed at 6:01 p.m. today.tin-'
der a warrant that is in effect until
noon Tuesday.
Clark is condemned for the® 1977
fatal shooting of a Pinellas County
businessman who wrote his killer .a-

An Tampa, U.S.’ District-Judge Wits
“Yam Terrell “Hodges. rejected Clark’s’

appeal yesterday, sending defense at- 2

torneys to the llth U.S. Circuit Court
sa Appeals. i in Atlanta.

arlier ole nm iM s sae “state's electric chair tmder their't

on:

nS

orneys Hor. ape area lis

“Death Row inmate ‘under his fifth ex-""*

«=. <vice station “clerk Brenda “Rucker:

=apV olusia County,:got within ‘two hours, > ea

sing | 2MASY-GaTAoads |

Court ‘records ‘ifidicate ‘that. ‘Clark *
and a teenage accomplice. abducted
David, Drake from.a .St...Petersburg .2}
- .bank parking, dt, drove shim .to a. SOs ia

$5,000 check 9%. figs
At the “time Clark “was. ‘on nae @

after serving 10 years of a life sen-“
tence for killing a 14-year-old homo- ‘X
sexual lover. SS

Roy’. Clifton. - Swafford, anothet, aS
Death Row inmate. scheduled for €xe- «,
cution this ‘week, got an ‘indefinite S

"stay from. the federal appellate qu {

- in Atlanta.

Swafford, under his first watt Wy
for the 1982 rape and murder of ser:

in

Of going to she chair early Thursday.

moon.: © **. bailey

_ Since the state resumed executions >
in 1979, no inmates have gone to: oe

al

Ca we

9 warrant.

r So /p ae
fea oe wes > a

pe

|e “Bret “Hallifax”
J Paeccanas Press
S38 sd

4. Mutat susie sed

him a stay Friday, a day before his sched-
uled electrocution, as the nation’s high
court turned down an earlier appeal.

aes

warrant.

After receiving two teipstaty re-
prieves in as many days earlier this week,
Raymond Roy Clark, 49, was to be execut- ©
ed at 6:01 p.m. today under a warrant. that .
is in effect until noon Tuesday. ics

ifor: tid execu on.stay, gs i

7 pea invas. anany Si
ober

ena here for a death.coW jamais un
“Ger his fifth execution warrant 'tried to get...

_noon Tuesday.

‘sie<Only:<one: ‘of. ‘the'24 men executed : se sete eos peepee
(Florida's ‘Since*the state. resumed. capital 2) “is
« punishment in: 1979 as “survived | a Sen's! shooting ‘of ‘Pinellas Court “bi

If Hodges - denies, Clark’s appeal, de-
fe

|CORRECTION oe

A story in Friday's Democrat listed _

attorney. Cusick. is a. Bovernment..
consultant.

| ‘the occupation of Michael Cusick as. ani ' a eed pron y

~ After receiving two temporary re- HE
ath 6, this: =
’ ar was - ee
peraatey 6:01'p. Mm today® is ae

der a warrant that is.in effect until

ve adem ig fe the 1977, fatal :
ty usinessman *,
son woven as ore to write is ; Fe: ey

 mnnicrea

Clark’s case was before U.S. District
Judge William. Terrell Hodges in Tampa, |
“=who was out of town’ ‘omen expected back —
‘early Friday afternoon.» - |

“attorneys will turn to. the 11th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and

from there to the U.S. Supreme Court. Both

| appellate’ courts have denied Clark’s ap-
tea dove ay.

ent fa rom. the. ones S
high court came Friday, with only Justice, |

Toyrnoes 9 Marshall gemoran


CLARK, Raymond Robert = Flerida

3 = : ‘| Defendants who could afford private
hee? a lawyers and Psychiatrists were

ae ¢ ve ot eS | allowed to keep their evaluations |}. eeatete
Jenks Ke f Cz Ayr t "SRR ae eee . | secret, he said. Ta eR Peel te : im geet any
Sei NY eri “Because he was indigent he was Be AES
reece 3% | denied that fundamental right which
Aeccwsnecets | 7 believe is tantamount to the effec-
tive assistance of. counsel,”’
Said. ie cf Ys tpt ish hg ee Ri) he bipd
At an earlier mercy appeal to Gov.
Bob Graham and the Cabinet, Lewis
said Clark denied abducting 49-year-
old businessman David Drake from a
bank parking lot and murdering him
after extorting a $5,000 Check, os yet ff
The only trial testimony indicating
Clark committed the murder came
“*| from his co-defendant and -16-year- | |. pe
“| Old homosexual] lover, Lewis told the }:E=
3] ¢lemency board. °°"... stg eon
.AAt the time of Drake’s death, Clark
was on parole after Serving 10 years
of a life sentence for killing a 14-year-
old homosexual lover in California. ~ -
“Former Public “Defender Susan
Schaeffer, now a circuit court judge
in Pinellas County, obtained a
California psychiatrist’s statement
Saying Clark was incompetent to
stand trial on the earlier murder
Miami lawyer Neal Lewis said in Charge, said Assistant Attorney
court arguments Wednesday. = *|} :| General Michael Kotler of Tampa.
The rule dropped in July 1980 re- |} << seppee< sige | But Ms. Schaeffer never pressed for
quired indigent defendants to show "<=" "=" | further evaluation, he said...
prosecutors their court-authorized _ She also testified at a later hearing
psychiatric evaluations, Lewis said. that Clark showed no sign of mental
_-»In another mercy appeal Wednes- illness, Kotler said. 9%. vy
day, attorneys for Carl Allen Kotler said Ms. Schaeffer _
Caruthers asked justices to reduce relied on the insanity defense to win
their client’s sentence to life in prison: numerous other cases. She also spent
because the 1983 convenience store considerable time interviewing Clark
murder he confessed to Santa Rosa and researching his’ case and was
County sheriff’s deputies was un- well qualified to determine whether
premeditated. =" safe $ Be an insanity plea was justified, he
In the first case, Lewis said Clark’s Said. pers PR Be eB
trial attorney feared ‘disclosure of |. sets '_In the Caruthers case, lawyers said
psychiatric records would damage | |. the trial court failed properly to.
her defense. As a result; she decided weigh mitigating factors such as
against trying to prove rk. was Caruthers’ voluntary confession, his
mentally ill, Lewis said. <4 %) & agreement to plead ‘guilty in ex-
change for a life, sentence and his

Sine a" oe orn @ eon
Justices overturned the disclosure

In the state
Lawyer says
killer denied |
defense right oie

. . TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -—f 2
Lawyers for a death-row inmate
have asked the Supreme Court to
spare their client because a legal rule
abolished after his trial prevented
him from pursuing an insanity |
defense. — ist Phiten Es eR
Raymond Robert Clark, sentenced ||.

to die for the abduction and fatal
Shooting of a St. Petersburg
businessman, was unfairly penalized
at his 1977 trial by a rule declared un-
constitutional three years later,

Lewis

z

+ “

eri oces

rule after deciding it violated ‘con-
stitutional guarantees of equal pro-

mh
Jey

Das 5 ERE VSS. RRA eR Fe ay
4, ~\ Caruthers told sheriff's deputies

tection and freedom from. ‘self- », that he shot Martha Zereski while {|<
incri ination, Lewis said. "', <j = Tobbing the conv

oe


-<-

Graham signs

warrants for

Clark, Michael

The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE — The execution
of convicted murderers Raymond
Rober: Clark and John Michael was
set for April 16 Wednesday after Gov.
Bob Graham signed death warrants

-' for them.

It was the first warrant for both,
and the 10lst and 102nd warrants
signed by Graham since he took of-
fice in 1978. :

Clark, 43, was convicted In th

April 27, 1977 abduction and shooting |.

death of 49-year-old David Drake, &
convenience-store clerk in Pinellas

* County.

ER ota

- Michael, 42, was sentenced to die
for the July 2, 1980 stabbing death of

82-year-old Fern Umble in Largo.
Graham and the Cabinet, sitting as
the Board of Executive Clemency,
heard appeals from the men June 7,
1984, ?
. The warrants cover the period be-
ginning at noon April 10 and ending at
noon April 17. Florida State Prison
Superintendent Richard Dugger set

the execution for 7 a.m, April 16.

Drake was reported missing in
1977 and his family received a call
two weeks later demanding $10,000 in
exchange for him.

,. Police traced the telephone calls to

Clark. A co-defendant, Ty Johnson,
was arrested in California and he ad-
mitted the kidnapping. Johnson sald
the two obtained a check for $5,000

from Drake and Clark shot Drake In |*
’ the head. pr: s

rarer er


CLARK, Raymond Rébert, wh.,elec., Fla. SP (Pinellas County) on 11/19/1990,

"MARTINE? SIGNS DEATH WARRANT: Florida Gov, Bob Martinez signed a
death warrant Saturday authorizing a Nov, 1) execution for death row

inmate Raymond Robert Clark, who was convicted of murdering a

Pinellas County businessman. 1t is the fifth time a death warrant

has been signed for Clark s exefution, The warrant authorizes the

execution to take place any time between noon Nov, XKXXK 13 and

noon Nov. 20. Florida State Prison Superintendent Tom Barton

has scheduled Clark's death for Nov. lh. Clark was convicted and
sentenced to death for the April 27, 1977, murder of David Drake, a

Pinellas County scrap yard dealer,."CONSTITUTION, Atlanta, GA,

11=--1990 XMRRXXX (A21-1.)

"Tallahassee... =xecution is Wednesday for Raymond Clark, convicted
of killing David Drake during robbery. Series of appeals, last-
minute stays have prevented execution ) times..." USM TODAY,

Nove 8, 1990 (134=2,)

CHRISTY, Vincent, elec. Fl. (Dade) March 1.1943

VINCENT J. CHRISTY
EXECUTED MARCH 1, 1943

Laura Pena
November 5, 1991


Ms. Leopold's parents, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Davis from Manaquan, New
Jersey owned a hardware business and survived their daughter.

Ralph J. Morin was survived by his parents, a brother Charles,
and three sisters, Eileen and Patty of Miami and Mrs. Marian
D'Angelo of Detroit.

5

The Offender: , i‘ we) iy ao
Vincent Christy was 36 years old and olish descent. e had (Ch (
been in and out of prison for th St 2 nd used variou

aliases during his life of crime such as, Vincent Christowski,
Vincent Chrostowski, Vincent J. Crosley, John Chrosley and
John Cox. He was of average intelligence with an IQ of 107.
He had no family, few friends, and no money. He spent a total
of fourteen years in prison. Psychiatrists considered him to
be a vicious criminal who had once been a leader of a gang.

Trial and Execution:
Trial proceedings began September 21, 1942. He admitted to the ~~?

murders and claimed to have been sorry that he killed alle af hg r
victims - S sees Mr. Leopold. He claimed to have a(grudae against
ee ee

Leopold and him out in order to kill him.

The jury found him quilty of murder in the first degree on October
29, 1942. Since he had confessed and since there were witnesses to
his leaving the scene of Morin's murder, it was not a very long trial.

After the verdict was handed down, Christy then began to change his
original story, now claiming he was ipsane at the time of the murders
and did not know why he did it. He was examined on November 3, 1942
by Dr. James L. Anderson and Dr. I.H. Agos, two psychiatrists. Both
of these doctors found him not to have any significant mental or
nervous disturbances. They found him sane.

On November 7, 1942 he was sentenced by Judge E.R. Letterman to
the death penalty. He was remanded to the penitentiary pending
the Governor's date for execution. While still in the aunty jail,
and only a few hoyrs after being sentenced, he attempted to escape
by holding a knife aa inst the throat of a jailer... he did in
fact gain freedonfor 47 minutes, was captured and returned back
to jail.


On March 1, 194, Vincent Christy, 36 year old Miami killer
went to his death in the state prison's electric chair. The
current was applied at 9:07am and he was pronounced dead at
9:16am.

The newspaper articles relating to this case were numerous and
lengthy and focused primarily on the investigation and capture
of the killer, Vincent Christy, but once it was determined that
he was the killer, there were very few follow up articles in the
newspaper on the actual trial proceedings.

Sources: Miami Herald, August 17, 18, 29, 1942; Sept. 9, 11,
13, 14, 16, 21, 1942, March 1, 1943

Miami Daily News, September 1, 3, 4, 10, li, 12, 13, 14,
1942, March 1, 1943


On July 17, 1942¥Irving Leopold and his wife Esther were :.
playing checkers 1n heir living room. Their son Stephen (by 4
Mrs. Leopold's formey pammiage) was writing a letter to the ;

Lone Ranger. w/e ? buneyh 2 4

PM that evenjng Vincent Christy entered thé apart-

hich was/ located at 2011 SW 8th Street. He ¥
. Sjx shots were fired into Mrs. Leopold’ Lt "
Ss killed instantly. Leopold was

Jand chest. He never regained
Littie Ste

f At approximate |
| ment of the Leé
was armed wif
body, |imps/
struck in #

\ ears old, was driving to a friend’
house when Christy jap stols against the boy's head, and
forced him *q driye”away. ‘s body was found the following

day beneath a clump of tree far South ayshore Driye amd Vista
Court. The boy apparently die\ inser

Christy drove away in Morin's car. The vehicle crf&shed into a
tree at S.E. 8th Street and Miami Road. The car was then ‘
abandoned on SW 13th Street and the Florida East Coast Railwa
Crossing. Vincent claims to have stayed in Miami for two weeks

after the slayings in an apartment complex a few hundred feet fy
where he wrecked Morin's car. He then bought a bu9 ticket and

traveled to Jacksonvil] Florida. Vincent Aived 4n a boarding
house in Jacksonville wmtil his orrestchergfbReptenber 12, 1942.
He was arrested in Jagksonville for robbi a bar owner at gunpoint } A i.
i , PS ksonville pol icg UMS ii,
af e incident. fame q < hip iP
Ar :

FS A GE ig nn EE gee en

ee ee ee ee

Ste Ss pee

‘ "7 9 Pty Siem ae ers ee og
eas 2 coe a SER RTS is

and driving away in
in the stolen ca

wan

0, 20 ails

Irving Leopold, age’ 37, was a Jewish businessman. He owned a kosher
delicatessen located beneath his home at 211 S.W. Eighth Street.

His wife Esther was 32. She was nine months pregnant when she was
killed. Esther was a wife and mother and worked with her husband in
the delicatessen.

THE VICTIM:

Steven, was Ms. Leopold's son by a former marriage. He was six years
old when killed.

Ralph J. Morin, age 19, of 1720 SW 12th Avenue was a student at Miami
High School and had worked at his father's business for the last three
years before his death. He had lived in Miami for nine years. He was

i originally from Detroit.


£D KILLED AT FATHER'S KNEES —

wi shooting. Theichild was
; Veer oe first. -
off one of my g ir

b
of Morin. And
4 ing revelation that fought Christy
ope aetually k one of the 8 guns away and
m with it. That Christy had wounded was not
Igven to police Saturday night. ‘Then
Wither: the bullet spar, a deep woe ot teat

chest, almost

d the man to/get out of his ¢ar,” Chiisty
his questioners, but he Saad He tried to fight

He"grabbed
him out of the car
f tasked him to sta re. |
f that he would fipd it. He made # football tackle at

Ming me around the feet and I shoot him.”
hee almost incredulpus details f da ys isty
pay Coleman as saying he stayed in.

patter the shooting — in an apartment house a
fel feet from where {he partially wrecked Morin’s a

E
§
F

mving car for h
eof it and walk a

shen residents of the apartment
mph Friday seve
had conn

Oi with the mass slaying. iota oe knew he
mia bullet wound from the shooting. — as
»OD GANG ORGANIZED’

y refused to divulge the + of the apartment,
@ eh Christy smashed Morin's automobile against an
. Within a block of a large apartment building. The
at S. E, Eighth gt. and Miami road. ~
"sty. according to the sheriff, refused to tell why he
~ ‘evenge on Leopold. As risty was in prison in
“rk from 1935 until last and admitted he had
q, ‘*°.\\d a number of years, it was presumed the

; kal dated ‘before 4 ’
§.°8™an said Christy was asked what he did for a
rand replied: “I had a gang organized until that.
CHRINTTS ae

(Tura Te Page 5

Boewotd | t me and grabbed/both my wrists and

mand from which apartment house two women trailed

‘

|

: !
|

Maan theracp

SEPT. -& \

Zorkt D .

_ CHRISTY TELLS OF LONG
HUNT FOR FAMILY HEAD

Child Clinging To Father's Knees
First Victim In Apartment Fight

(CONTINUED PROM Pace ON)
crook — and then Stopped short. ‘
Yone else mixed up,” he reportedly added.

closely.

mv story once, in court.”
“I'm not takinz you to court until I kno
In the case.” Worley told him, ithi

Chnist ¥ began talking, it was Said, without further delay.

_ He refused to see newspapermen, but whil ,
being fingerprinted, Steve Harris, a Daily pein
asked him if “you're ready to go.”

“Any time,”

newspaper reporter?”

tell Christy at first reportedly refused to talk, saying, “T'1) |

Harris told him he was and Christy shut up,


a
‘
Hi
i
i

AID FROM FRIENDS INDICATED.

It was apparent from

believes Christy had several friends in
revealed hotel records in Jacksonville, where Christy was

caught. were made to appear

the day before the Miami slayings.

‘He was given the aid of
saw he was hurt and didn’t

declared, but he indicated that perhaps not all the aid was
ianocent. The state attorney said, however, that Christy

refused to divulge any names,

the glasses which it was thought the killer dropped in Leo-
pold’s apartment did belong to him,

reports. he had telephoned a

1 a.m. and demanded food.
* Tne negro reported his nocturnal
visitor had a bloody shirt and
i:tted somewhat tne quadruple kill.
ers descmption. Five hundred men
spent two days combing the sur-
round:ng countryside without re-
Suit. A
Arcording to Worley, Christy has
Said ne will picad guilty and doesn’t
even want a lawyer, Worley said
Christy told him he intended to go
eiraight after his release from the
New York prison, but apparently
his grudge against Leopold preyed
on ms mind. :
“He seemed remorseful about kill-
ing tne baby and Morin," Worley
said. “He called Morin the bravest
man ned ever run up against.’
. When, if ever, Leopold's supposed
former associatton with - Christy,
uno as a criminal record dating
1425 as Lagh Angeles, will be
Cony reds {ter of speculation.
Letpod was’ ®parded dy. {friends

And nusiness asbociates as a (dese.

mostne . : ustrian:?. .
nes:ned man, a\native of Aust * several times, pointed a gun~at

snient on amproving his English.
Shows Ne Emotion

Crristy., woo is lsted as Chros-
towsKi on some police. blotters, said
re coaidnt remember where he wag
Dorn. °

Throughout his questioning here
Saturday, Christy show$d no emoe-
tion. When he was brought to th

- ~€@ o eer ee br nt nd bee we ft

Trrougnout his questioning here
Saturday. Christy snow¢d no emo-
tion. When he was brought te the
ja.. office to be booked in on firat
cegree murder charges he uttered
noi a word. He is about five feet,
Po unches tall, with curly brown hair
receding from his forehead. He
“was wearing a brown suit, as was)
tne s.aser on the night of July 17.

Wor.ey said he asked the prison-
e: .5 he had) been mistreated at
Jacksonville and was told police
tnere nad been “nice” to him. “I
Boudnt have talked anyway,” V@or-

sey Gaueted nom as saying. “They
Gount get anytfilng out of me in
New York atfer 40 days and
nisats ;

“ate parole author.
ief Quigg Saturday
. a» '¥., \ é

wt

remarks by Worley that he
- It was

that he had checked in there
some sympathetic citizens who
know who he was,” W.

He also said Christy admitted
but Christy denied

; garage to have the partially!
wrecked ‘automobile towed away before police found it.

According to the reputed confession, the two-day man-
hunt at Dania was a false alarm from the start. Christy was
quoted as saying he left Miami by bus for Jacksonville and
produced a ticket stub to prove it. The search was launched
when a negro at Dania reported a white man aroused him at.

Christy, known to them as Chro-
stowski, had an IQ of 107 and they
had considered him very danger-
ous. He was released there on pa-
role made mandatory under New
York law, after serving six years
of a 10-year sentence for robbery.
“We regard Chrostowski as a
dangerous criminal with a cold
personality who is described by the
institutional psychiatrist as a ‘thor-
oughly unscrupulou,s unprinci-
pled, vicious criminal repeater’
whose release would never have
been approved by the New York
state division of parole,” the letter
said. ;
‘Quigg said he would recommend
the $1,400 reward posted for the
slayer's arrest and conviction, $500
of it by the Daily NeWs, go to Lieut.
H. V. Branch, Detectives 8, New-
some and Sgt. M. Powers of the
, Jacksonville poliee department.
|* Last Wednesday Christy waiked
; into the home of Ernie Stauss, in
, whose Jacksonville bar he had been

Stauss and demanded money,
Stauss told him he had none, but, :
jin fear of his life, offered to go
| downtown and get some,

To this Christy agreed, and the
‘two started. toward the business
(qection in Stauss’ automobile.
Christ}, however, took $6 from
Stauss, made him get out of the

To this Christy agreed, and the
two started toward the business
section in Stauss’ automobile.
Christ}, however, took §6 from
Stauss, made him get out of the
machine before they reached the
business section, and drove away.:
Strauss ran to a telephone and
called police.

Trapped By Police

Branch and Newsome in ea radio
| car picked up the call and drove
to the St. Johns river bridge, some
two blocks away. Right after them
came Powers in another machine,
just as Christy showed up in Stauss’
; automobile. The police stopped him.
| grabbing him before Christy could
| take off rubber gloves he was wear-
‘ing and reach for one of his two
guns. :

“If I could have gotten my gun
there would have been some fun,”

Manne |

SEPT. B\ Conrt'p.

HACD

the Jacksonville
at once, and they

Y, R. Mills, tn
attorney,
guns, a Colt .88-
revolver and a .22
plato!l, to the Fi
Investigation at:
pared there Thu
found in the

the Miami kill-

ct Mills found
Christy's hat-
on the right

This, plus the
bloodstains benea
band and a fresh
side of. hia head,
the case. Witnes
killer run from t!
ment reported bi
down the right
from beneath his

Equipme

Equipment for. king gun silenc-

;ers, a coil of light rope and a

notebook containing the names, ad-
dresses and automobile license
numbers of a n Jacksonville
business men fere found in
Christy's hotel r there, It also
was learned Christy had worked at
Camp Blanding {or a week ag a
barber.

Mills, Police Capg. Eddie Melchen
| and Detective Sgf John L. Deas
| of the Miami force brought Christy [
back by automobil} Saturday. Mel-
(chen said Branch And Newsome of
ithe Jacksonville Worce were, by
‘coincidence, checking a clue re-

Christy, according to Worley, said
he bought the ¢ (Oo guns which
‘trapped him at Jacksonville while
)he was in Texastseveral months
‘ago. Worley also ghid Christy told
him he'd been to ffve cities check-


Mami tteeraca
StS ePT. Bi PRaee LA

Secteur

PRISONER RETURNS—Heavily manacled and close

self-confessed Leopold-Morin mass murderer, is shown upon his acriva
ment of the Dade county courthouse Saturday evening from Jacksonvil
picked up by police after Staging a holdup there. On the killer's left is-Police ¢
Eddie Melchen, with State Investigator Ray Milis, center, and D S

Jeveclive Spt. John
The officers brought him back from Jacksonville. Daily News photo by Willits.

ly guarded, Vincent


( 7s mt | bree nmun

“DEPT. S51 Pace LA

Do... D.-:
Prisoner Praises
Morin For Bravery

Shows Wound Youth Inflicted:
Refuses To Reveal Grudge Cause ”

Mean
us, according to State Attorney G. A. Worley, Vin-
cent Christy, 36, small featured, cold-blooded Pole, cleared
the mystery Saturday night which has surrounded the slay-
ing of Leopold, his wife Esther ana her six-year-old son by a
former marriage, and Ralph J. Morin, jr,, 19, here July 17.
However, he did not explain his reason for revenge.
The attorney said Christy expressed hia sorrow over
“having to kill the woman and her child and the young boy.”
Worley, Sheriff D. C. Coleman and Police Chief H. Les-
lie Quigg questioned Christy immediately after he was ar-
rested here in custody af police from Jacksonville, where he
was arrested Wednesday. Christy was taken to the 24th
floor in the county jail at 7:16 p. m. and an hour later pur-
portedly had confessed.’ |

Although he has been grilled almost continuously since
he was arrested, Saturday night was the first time he re-
portedly had admitted the killings. |

QUICK TRIAL PLANNED BY WORLEY

Worley said he expected to ask for a special seasion of
the grand jury Monday or Tuesday, hoped to have it in ses-

sion by Sept. 21 and to have Christy's trial completed within
60 days.

The Leopolds were killed about 7:15 p. m. July 17 in
their apartment over Leopold's delicatessen store at 2011
|S. W. Eighth st. The'slayer, brandishing two guns, fled
|through several vacant lots within plain sight of several
passers-by, stopped an automobile driven by young Morin
and forced him to drive away. Morin’s body was found the
next morning near S. Bayshore drive and S. E. 17th ave.,
bullet wounds in the head.

Here is the amazing story which a stenographer took
down as Christy talked to Worley, Coleman and Quigg: ,

“I came to Miami some time before I found Leopold.’ I

came here to hunt him out and kill him. J wanted revenge.

My Te ee . ; ;
I dj oe wee Tt Leopold or the child, nor Morin.

Leopold a was the dne I wanted. I found

watched around his e several days
'|the man. Then I aw fim go up to
followed: him. |

“He knew me when I stepped inside ! door. He knew
I'd come im, . The child
kept grabbing Leopold d his kne¢s and I asked the

woman to get the child apray. She wouldn't do it.


Postal Inspector E. G. Allen, at Miami, Florida, with a request
for an investigation,

Inspector Allen wasted no time. He was in Daytona Beach
the following morning, March 8, where he sought the aid of
Captain of Detectives Ben Clifton and the Sheriff’s office. The
Sheriff, “Ed” Stone, directed one of his shrewdest Deputy crim-
inal investigators, Bill Slaughter, to aid the other two officers,

According to the telephone directory, Mrs. Henson lived in a
house on Wisconsin Place, a fine residential section of the city,
and the officers made it their first stop. Arriving at the location,
the house proved to be definitely on the expensive side.

The door was opened by a small man, dressed in lounging
pajamas. He was about five feet, six inches in height, about
fifty years old, and compactly built. He smiled pleasantly, in-
quiringly.

Slaughter, who was nearest the door, said, “We're looking
for Mrs. Anna Henson. She lives here, doesn’t she ?”

“Indeed she does,” the man answered pleasantly. “But she’s
not home just now. Won’t you gentlemen come in?”

He ushered them into the living room and the four men sat
down.

Wiclow img

oo ¥. neg 7

the Wealthy

Here Sheriff §. E. Stone is examining the con-
fession that he helped obtain from the slayer.

a

|
|
i
j
!
|

{


“Slept a little late this morning,” smiled their host, apolo-
getically, “so you gentlemen will have to excuse my appearance.
Your bell woke me.”

Inspector Allen frowned. “Sorry,” he nodded. “We wanted
to talk to Mrs. Henson. May I ask who you are? And how
you happen to be in this house? My understanding is that Mrs.
Henson is a widow.”

“Well, she was,” admitted the host, smiling, “but she and I
were married a few weeks ago. I’m A. M. Phillips. Mrs. Henson
is my wife—or rather I should say that she is now Mrs. Phillips.
She’s up in New York right now, for some needed medical at-
tention.”

“TI see,” nodded Allen. He produced the photostatic copies
of the letters received by the two nieces in Fort Wayne and ex-
plained the nature of the visit. Phillips smiled uncertainly and
looked puzzled.

“I don’t understand this,” he stated promptly. “There was no
reason for her to write to her nieces for any money—lI’ve been
sending her what money she needs; and if she needed more, all
she’d have to do is wire me.”

Inspector Allen smoothed out the copies of the letters. “The
idea is,” he continued, “that it looks like someone is trying to
obtain money by using your wife’s name. Both her nieces claim
that she didn’t write these letters. Can you identify them, by
any chance ?”

Phillips studied the letters with a puzzled frown. “I don’t
know what I can tell you from a typewritten letter,” he con-
cluded finally. “The signature looks like hers.”

“Does your wife carry a portable typewriter when she’s away
from home ?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Do you have a typewriter here, at home?”

“No, sir.”

“Suppose you tell us about your wife’s whereabouts.”

“Well, as I told you, she’s in New York for medical treatment.
We both went north last month and got married in Philadelphia.
Then we went on to New York. After a short stay, we returned
home. A little later, Anna got sick again, so she went back to
New York.”

“You didn’t go north with her a second time?” asked Clifton.

“No. Ihad to stay here and look after our property and other
interests.”

“Do you know her New York address ?”

“Certainly, That’s the correct address on those letters. She’s
staying with a Mrs, Coyle, an acquaintance, at 109 West 90th
Street. I sent her money at that address every week,”

“Okay, thanks, Mr. Phillips,” nodded Allen and the three
officers left.

T HEY got into their car and drove off, but Clifton, who was
driving, stopped as soon as he had turned the corner.

He told the others, “Won’t do any harm to ask the neighbors
a few casual questions.” ,

Captain Clifton was soon back. He reported: “There seems to
be a difference of opinion among the neighbors. Phillips, says
: one, was Mrs. Henson’s business manager and
looked after her property. He lived at the Henson
The victim, once a home, they say, but they know nothing about the
nurse, had inherited two being married. Another neighbor came up
$50,000 from an old with the interesting statement that Mrs. Henson
patient: a letter to a has been having dates with another man named
niece asking a loan Jim Stacey.” ;
instigated the probe. “You mean that horticultural guy,” asked
. Slaughter, “who raises trick flowers?”

“Must be,” nodded Clifton. “Some neighbors
say she was fond of exotic plants and raised some
of them around the house.”

While the other officers returned to headquarters Slaughter
went in search of the amateur horticulturist, Stacey was not
difficult to find. He was puttering around his extensively culti-

n

|


With this hammer, the killer

flailed to death the wealthy
widow who befriended him.

The killer admitted to Dep.
Campbell, left, he forged
widow's power of attorney.

Slaughter did. He typed several sentences, using all the let-
ters on the keyboard, and arose.
“Thanks,” he. said. “TI’ll be shoving off now, Mr. Stacey.”

A‘ HEADQUARTERS Slaughter turned over the specimen
of typing from Stacey’s machine to the criminologist at-
tached to the Sheriff's office, and asked for a quick report. Then
he reported his conversation with Stacey to Sheriff Stone and

52

Det. Captain Clifton
helped locate body.

Inspector Allen. And he learned, in turn, that while he had
been questioning Stacey, Allen had received some additional in-
formation from District Attorney Fleming. He had sent Allen
two identical telegrams. Each of Mrs. Henson’s nieces had re-
ceived one, They had forgotten to give them to Fleming before.
The telegrams were both dated February 22, 1940. And each
one read: “MARRIED TODAY. LOVE. AUNT ANNA
AND PHIL.”

Allen pointed to the two photostatic copies of the letters sent
to Mrs. Henson’s nieces. “These are dated February 7th,” he
stated, “and speak of her ‘husband to be,’ so it seems to check.
I take it that the ‘Phil’ mentioned means Phillips.”

or Tanyas


lo-
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di
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and

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The
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and
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the

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Iti-

vated garden; and smiled pleasantly when Slaughter introduced
himself.

“Do you know Mrs. Henson, who lives over on Wisconsin
Place?” asked Slaughter.

“Anna? Indeed I do,” smiled the other, a pleasant, well-
preserved man in his late forties. “I’ve known her for about a
year. We're both interested in rare tropical plants, and I’ve
given her some cuttings.”

“Have you ever taken her out ?”

“Well, we went to a couple of movies during the last year, if
that’s what you mean. Nothing serious.”

“Did you know that she was lately married to Phillips ?”

“Why, no. I know Phillips, of course. He’s her business
manager, as I understand it. So they were married, eh?”

Slaughter nodded.

“Come into the house, Mr. Slaughter,” Stacey invited, “and
have a drink, I’ve got some lemonade I made from my own
home-grown Tahitian limes. Unusual taste. They almost have a
sort of perfume.”

Slaughter accepted. In the living room he drank the lemonade
while his host discoursed learnedly about lime culture. Asked if
he had been in New York lately, Stacey smiled. ‘“Haven’t left
my place here in several years,” he told Slaughter. “I never go
north any more.”

Slaughter nodded. That statement could be checked later.
Meanwhile, he asked: “What sort of plants are you and Mrs.
Henson interested in?”

“Oh, gardenias, mostly. I gave her several grafted specimens,
and they’re planted near the stairs of her garage apartment
where the soil is sour.” ‘

Slaughter allowed the plant enthusiast to. talk on for several
minutes. He noted a typewriter on a desk in a small alcove.
“Mind if I use your machine to make a few notes ?” he asked.
“Go ahead,” nodded Stacey. “Help yourself.”

Dep. Conderman, rt, helped
get confession, recorded by
Court Reporter Kelly, left.

The killer first
said the widow
was drowned.
Behind him is
Deputy Sheriff
Bill Slaughter.


—".

SA

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Execute ene 1A

representative for a scrap-metal
company in Tampa.

Drake said Monday that he un-
derstands the feelings of death-
penalty opponents, about 10 of
whom were gathered in the field.
“But I was raised with ‘an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ and
with the idea that you’re responsi-
ble for what you do. Being raised
that way, that’s how I still feel,” he
said.

His mother, Donna Drake of.

St. Petersburg, also lived for the
day that Clark would pay the price
for killing her husband.

“It totally wrecked my life, the
best years of my life,’”’ she said in
an interview.

Mrs. Drake waited out the exe-

cution Monday morning with Rob-

ert Krauss and Peggy Quinn, the
assistant attorneys general in
Tampa who worked on the case.
“I’m happy Clark died gentle,”
Mrs. Drake’ said. “He didn’t fight
it.”
The murder of David Drake
was one of the most bizarre crimes
St. Petersburg has seen. Accord-
ing tc court testimony, Drake was
abducted in a bank parking lot on
April 27, 1977, and was driven
away in his new Cadillac. Drake
wrote his kidnappers a $5,000
check, but they shot him anyway.

When bank tellers wouldn’t

cash the check, Clark began tele-
phoning Drake’s son, Gregory, de-
manding $10,000 in exchange for
David Drake’s life — although
Drake was already dead.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1990

Police traced the calls Clark
made to Gregory Drake and to
Clark’s 16-year-old accomplice and
homosexual lover, Ty Jeffrey John-
ston. After Johnston was ques-
tioned in California, police found
the victim’s decomposed body in a
palmetto thicket on the shore of
Tampa Bay, nearly a month after
the abduction.

Johnston, who testified against
Clark, was sentenced to 25 years
in prison for second-degree mur-
der and was released after serving
nine years, according to the state
Department of Corrections.

Clark was on parole for killing a
14-year-old boy in California when
he killed Drake in St. Petersburg.
He became the 25th person to die
in Florida’s electric chair since
1979.

‘“‘He was very courageous,
very calm and very concerned
about his family and the friends
that have stuck by him,” said Su-

san Cary, a Gainesville lawyer and

advocate for death-row prisoners
who visited Clark on Sunday night.

“When we spoke last night, his
real concern was for the Drake
family. He was really hoping that
they can get:on with their lives and
begin healing and letting go of the -
anger and pain,” Cary said.

Clark never expressed re-
morse to the Drake family, Grego"
ry Drake said. But he and-his ©
‘mother do intend to get on with
their lives. — :

“TI want to live,” said Mrs.
Drake. “I’m going to have a great
. life.”

— Times staff writer, Karen Datko
contributed to this report.


a

ESQUIRE
April 1980

Reproduced by permission of Esquire Magazine (April 1980).
Copyright (c) 1980 by N.E. Corporation.

TEXT BY ROBERT FRIEDMAN

IDEATH ROYV

“TWO DO-GOODERS COMINGIN.”

The stony-faced guard in the con-
trol tower relays the news of our ar-
rival over the intercom as he throws
the switch that opens the first of two
sliding gates in the double chain link
fence demarcating Florida State
Prison from what its inmates call “the
free world.” The palm trees in the
prison parking lot seem to wave
good-bye. We pass through the
twelve-foot-high outer fence topped
with coils of barbed wire and wait for
the gate to slide shut behind us. On

narrow space between the two

Starke, more men

getting lost back there.”

The inner gate slides open, and we
take our first steps into a world where
the fluorescent lights never dim. We
pass through two more remote con-
trol sliding gates that quickly lock
shut behind us, a metal detector sen-
sitive enough to find the penny I pur-
posely left in my pocket, and yet two
more gates before arriving at “Times
Square,” the main prison crossroads.

To the left is the hospital, where a
staff of two doctors, a dentist, and a

is run by a Dr. Innocent. To the right

gps psychiatrist tends to an inmate popu-
either side of the entranceway, in the IN yam er ala lation of nearly 1,200 men. The clinic

fences, German. shepherds and |_
Doberman pinschers bask in the
warm Florida sunshine.

The appearance of tranquillity is

wait to die than
anywhere else in the country.
Hear their stories. Read their
faces. Consider their lives.

fake stained-glass windows, admin-

istered by a Chaplain Savage. (Where
do they find people with such names?
The man whose name is affixed to the

deceptive. Just the night before,
three inmates cut their way through the bars of a cell
window, dashed across the prison yard, climbed the
inner fence, set off a homemade smoke bomb to keep
the dogs at bay, and cleared the outer fence as guards in
the control tower fired at them with AR-15 rifles. Two of
the escapees have already been captured, but the third,
serving 215 years for robbery and possession of mari-
juana, remains at large.

“That’s one more for the alligators,” a guard dead- -

pans, “and one less for us.”

HERE, AT THE GATE TO FLORIDA’S MAXIMUM-
security prison, which is ten miles from the town of
Starke, on the banks of the Alligator Creek, jokes sink
like stones. Behind the pale-green walls of this three-
tiered prison, 144 men are waiting to die. Here, there are
more condemned men under one roof than anyplace else
in the country.

“Welcome to death row.” Our guide, Vernon Brad-
ford, a former Tampa newspaperman who now flacks for
the Department of Corrections, comes out to greet us.
“Stay close,” he says, smiling. “We don’t want y’all

official death-sentence papers in nearby Jacksonville is
circuit court clerk S. Morgan Slaughter.)

Beyond the chapel, a spotlessly clean corridor a quar-
ter of a mile long leads to the room where John Spenke-
link, the first man to be put to death by the state of
F lorida since 1964, was electrocuted last May. At right
angles to the hallway are the twelve wings where in-
mates are housed. The topography of the prison follows

a contour of rising danger. ‘‘Open population”

prisoners—those considered the least troublesome—
live in the first few wings; so-called management prob-
lems are confined farther down the corridor; and, finally,
on the two wings at the end of the hall, near what is
grimly referred to as the death facility, the condemned
are housed.

“Warehoused” would be more accurate. The inmates
are lockedyin their six-by-nine-foot concrete cells nearly
twenty-four hours a day. They eat, defecate, read,
sleep, and dream all in the same tiny space. Three times
a week they are allowed out for recreation: two two-hour
sessions in a fenced-in outdoor yard about the size of a
basketball court and one two-hour period in front of their

is the prison chapel, resplendent with

PHOTOGRAPHS BY WILLIAM COUPON

ESQUIRE, APRIL 1980

Social Issues Resources Series

jDallo5

SUOI

Volume 2 - Article #45


as

FRRAYMOND CLARK.

WHEN RAYMOND CLARK ARRIVED ON DEATH
row in September 1977, he found himself reunited with
an old prison buddy from California—John Spenkelink.
The two, who had served time together in 1973, quickly
renewed their friendship through smuggled notes and
occasional visits to the Law Library Annex. After
Spenkelink’s execution, Clark took it upon himself to
expose what he claims is the sordid treatment his friend
received at the hands of prison officials. Relying on what
he says he was told by a staff technician present at the
electrocution, Clark wrote a letter to the St. Petersburg
Times that eventually led to an official investigation.
Among his charges—none of which were corroborated
by the governor's investigators—were that guards had
inserted cotton into Spenkelink’s rectum to prevent him
from soiling the electric chair and that his mouth had
been taped shut to prevent him from making a final
statement to the press.

“When I wrote the letter,” Clark says, “I knew it
would come down to me against the prison. But even

though the report said there had been verbal abuse but
no physical abuse, what I set out to do I did. It ain’t going
to happen to anybody else, what happened to John.”

‘Like many inmates, Clark preserves the outward
manifestations of his former life. In his case, it is the
biker look: the sleeves torn from his T-shirt to expose
tattooed biceps, the slicked-back hair. But his face, like
his manner, is an odd amalgam of tough and soft.

“I can understand why people are more in favor of the
death penalty now than ten years ago,” Clark says.
“They really don’t understand what capital punishment
involves, but it’s in their minds that if we kill them, maybe
others will get the idea not to do it. Yet it’s been proven in
study after study that at the time of a murder the man
isn’t thinking about what’s going to happen to him.

“Almost a third of all the people in this country under
the death sentence are in Florida. That shows there’s
something wrong with the judicial and legislative
branches of this state’s government. It just doesn’t jibe.
Something's out of whack.” @

ESQUIRE, APRIL 1980

92


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urg Ti eS

Florida’ Ss Best Newspaper.

Weather High, near 80; sunny. 2B 2

tucctav: November 20, 1990

By CHARLOTTE SUTTON
Times Staff Writer

STARKE — Long before dawn.
Monday, Gregory Drake left his St.
Petersburg home for Starke so he
could watch his father’s killer die in the
electric chair. Drake wanted to hear
the killer’s last words.

But Raymond Robert Clark died
silently, declining to make the tradi-
tional final statement granted to con-

Raymond Robert Clark, left,
was executed for the 1977
killing of Pinellas County
businessman David Drake.

demned men.

Clark, convicted of kidnapping and
killing David Drake in St. Petersburg
13 years ago, was grimly composed as
he walked to the oak electric chair. As
officials strapped him in and attached
the electrodes, the burly man looked

‘out through a plexiglass window at 35

people gathered in the witness room,
appearing to gaze into the eyes of
many.

Asked if he had any last words,

Clark said simply, “‘No.”
Clark’s execution was the first for
a crime committed in Pinellas County ~

since Florida reinstated the death pen-.
alty in 1979. Clark was 49, the same |
age at which his victim died.

Gregory Drake had vowed he

would watch his father’s killer die in —

the electric chair. Prison officials al-
lowed it after deciding Drake was emo-
tionally prepared, even though rela-

tives of the victims and the condemned

‘Victim’ s son watches as killer of Pinellas man is executed

generally are not permitted to witness
executions.

“I know my dad would have done
“this for me,” said Drake, 38, as he
stood in a frost-tinged field opposite

* the Florida State Prison shortly after

the execution at 7:07 a.m.

Drake, who dropped out of college
after the murder to run his father’s
scrap-metal business, now is a sales

Please see EXECUTE 8A

Gregory Drake
says Clark didn’t
express remorse.


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| IRISTY ARREST
Moar Herat OVES THEORY

ox, trboro’s Robbery Motive!
PT. AN, \942. Apparently Upheld In

Ppa KE. An Mass Murder

rest of the suspected killer of
Leopold family and Ralph Mo-
jr., js another proof of the old
ve adage that a rgbber who con-
es to rob will get caught even-
. iv, Police Chief H. Lesile Quigg
Detective Chief L. O. Scarboro
ted out Thursday night.
his fs an even more remark:
instance than other cases {tn
nistory of crime,” Chief Quigg

) : “It in pecullar that a robber
ld carry the same guns, wear |
same clothes Including the,
4, and act in the same way as
job that resulted {n four mur

a

believe he watched the Leo-
stere and knew that they did
af business and that one of the
vers Was downstairs and that
noney probably would be up-
s 2 think that he went @p-
. to rob Leopold who, known
is stubborn resistance, prob-
put up a fight and that the
r then shot everything that
a notee”
ght Robbery In Jackaonvtile
» Jacksonville suspect also at:
ced a house robbery in day-
went into his wictim’s auto
e and ejected him, Quigg}
ad out. . =
nen we are looking for a rob-
e want him to keep on robbing
7 se we know he will be caught
" r or later.” Quigg continued.
this fellow with his prison
1 and being a parole violator
{ not only continue his career
so wear and carry the same
s and guns and even the
$s something that 1] can’t ex:

boro practically has been
in holding to the robbery mo-
ince the night of the Leopold
s July 17,
aid then that if the robber
it the tratl was cold—as itt
ne would continue using those
rungs and thatif he kept them,
sould cateh Aim up.” Scar-
Quigg Taude Co-operation
“He already has adinitted that the
vas here when he sald te ts ow ae
iy toa Spo baek and straighten out
his horrible crime “ Chief Quige
ontgnued, ‘
“We have bad wonderful cooper
Hon can this erse fram pallies
roughout tlre Canvey vat depart
ert wascen the jeb dy prep arin,
good bulletha and Jacksons tlle
dice Were on the yoo by realtziig
nen thes had tim
“Ponow will plan to take MN va-
stom, ot far of course, bul T dla
towant fo ial 0 ato ail until this

oni wk ease Base


4

{

arges |
PRIVATE BOOK

HINTS PLAN FOR |
OTHER THEFTS

eae ohh

Dangerous Crimina + Quigg Says

Evidence mounted Saturc y nat Vincent as
ce drove him from J. e to Miami to face four

— aaah Leopold-Morin slayings
duly 1

y te.
Handcuffed and wearing g irons, . i
from the Jacksonville jail at 10:10 &. m. for the Miami drive |
with State Attorney's Inve. igator I. R. Mills, Police Capt.
Eddie Melchen and Detective &¢
1. Police Chief H. Laslie Quigg
York authorities they comsidered Christy a “cold,
ous criminal ;” . .
2. Jacksonville police found A notebook in a
hotel room with the names of a
nessmen, several of ‘ en. with -
berg addresses and the license numbers of their automo-
3. Jacksonville policé seized | holster, .38 caliber am- -
munition and tools for thaking gun silencers in Christy's ;

room ; | io:
4. State Attorney G. A. Worley prepared to ask cire

NY. Considers Chris ‘Cold, =}

murder charges. |

That the prisoner realizes | he's
dangerously close to the electric
chair was shown Saturday! as
police quoted him as saying: “Give
me a gun and one’ bullet ru
gave the atate a lot of expense.”

Christy, unless he's talked om the
drive to Miami, had nothing to say
about the notebook found in his
room. He told police jugt bpfore
he started on the trip here, where
he had Hved while in Jacksonville,
& cheap hotel within sight of the
bar whose owner he held up
Wednesday, a crime which Jed to!

his arrest.

cuit court for a special gtand jury to indict Christy on the [ :


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11

SIRT.

Minar News

ser. (2,1\PK2

PRaAE ZR CONT'D.

Murder Sus

ect On Way Here

NUED FROM PAGE ONE) -

files, punches, rubber atripe and
plates out of which gun @ilencers
may be manufectured. There also
was @ coil of small rope.
Obtains Barber Lice
The hotel operator said! Christy
had registered there shorijy after
the Miami! slayings under name
of John Cox. Charlies 8%,
maker, Jacksonville barbe# college
operator, aaid Christy cam? to him
under the name of Vincent Crosby
and sought help in obtdining a

job at Camp Blanding,
work and back with felio
from Aug. 22 to Aug. 27.

“He was one of the
humblest guys I ever saw,

meekest,
was the
Christy.

Christy disappeared afte
& weew at Blanding,
Served Pirse, Tee

|W, Eighth at.,

Chief Quigg received letter
Raturday from Charles F. McMena-
min, senior parole officer, for New
York, regarding Chrigty wh
served six years in Aub prisor.
under the name of Vincent Chrosa-
towski. McMenamin rote in
part:

'“We regard Chrostowpki as a
dangerous criminal! with a coid
personality who is descri by the
inatitutional paychiatr ao 8
‘thoroughly unscrupulo unprin-
cipled, vicious criminal} repeater’
whose release would né@ver have
been approved by the Mew York
state division of parole.

“As an evidence of r appre-
hension and concern gbout the
activities of this subject qubsequent
to the mandatory releaje (parole
was mandatory under Wew York

like to point out that forma! noti-
fication wag forwarded] to police
authorities prior to
March 11, 1942.

“He has an IQ of 107 and this,
together with his criminal raake-
up, makes him extremely danger-
ous.”

release

bery in Buffalo, |
1936, |

FBI records at Washington show
Christy to be Vincent J. Chrostow-
ski, a Californian of Polish descent.
Although never; before charged
with murder, Chtisty has a record

N. ¥., in June,

nce he was given
five years to Hf : tin
penitentia. vet pery. He
was pargied in TRY

-year-old son .y
ge, were shot to
partment at 2011 3
aly 17, by an in-
truder who estaped passers-by
brandishing a guh. The slayer ran
across several lo{s and stopped an
automobile driven by Ralph J.
Morin, jr. 19, whom he forced to
drive him away. | Morin’s body was
found the following day near S.
Bayshore drive and 8. E. 17th ave.
No trace was |discovered of the
killer after he gbandened Morin's
automobile at S| W. 13th st. and
the ratiroad :
the killings until
in Jacksonville.


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REAL DETECTIVE

steel in his eye, “One more inch toward
that pocket and it’s curtains for you. Come
out with your hands where I can see them.
Don’t try anything funny.”

The man complied.

Branch kept him covered while Newsom
searched him. He found not one gun but
two, a .38 calibre revolver and a .22 auto-
matic pistol.

Branch peered closely at the two guns
and walked his prisoner around in front of
the automobile lights for a better look at his
face. He also noted that the man was
wearing rubber gloves.

Finally he drawled, “Buddy, I think they
want you down in Miami.”

The man did not reply but glared sullen-
ly at the two detectives as they bundled him
into the police car.

The prisoner was rushed to police head-
quarters where he sullenly gave his name
as Vincent Christie. He said he was 37.

Branch dug a circular from his files and
compared it with Christie. He gasped and
reached for a telephone.

Chief of Police H. Leslie Quigg, in
Miami, listened intently as the description
poured over the wire and when Lieut.
Branch told him about the two guns he was
all ears. Within a few minutes after Chief
Quigg finished his conversation Capt. Mel-
chen, Investigator Mills and Detective Deas
were specding toward Jacksonville. In the
meanwhile Christie was booked on a charge
of armed robbery and his fingerprints
rushed to the FBI in Washington.

When confronted by the Miami officers
Christie was sullen and refused to talk.
The Miami detectives were amazed at the
similarity betwen the artist’s composite pic-
ture and Christie. It might almost have
been a photograph.

“Tt doesn’t make much _ difference.
whether you talk or not,” advised Capt.
Melchen. “These two guns will tell us the
whole story.”

_ “It was a horrible thing,” blurted Chris-
tie and then closed up like a clam. As he
was being led back to his cell he muttered.

“IT was in Miami. I am willing to go
back and clean up the whole thing but I
don’t want to talk now. If you are taking
me to Miami I can talk on the trip. I can
show you where I stayed that night.” Be-
yond that he remained silent.

The Miami officers did not press him.
They had other things.to do. Investigator
Mills hopped a plane for Washington with
the two guns taken from Christie at the
time of his arrest and Capt. Melchen dis-
patched a set of his fingerprints to Miami
for a check on the Miami files.

A few hours later Investigator Mills had
Capt. Melchen on the telephone.

“We've got our man,” he shouted ju-
bilantly. “The guns check. The bullets
that killed those four people were fired
from these guns. There is no possibility
of a mistake.” Mills also advised Melchen
that Christie’s record was on file with the
FBI and that his real name was Vincent
Chostowski. He was listed as a parole
violator in New York and according to
FBI records had spent nearly half of his
life in prison. He had served long sen-
tences in both New York and California
on armed robbery charges and was listed
as vicious in the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation files.

When faced with his record and informed
that the murder guns had been positively
identified Christie weakened.

“I know I am in serious trouble,” he
said, “I know it means the electric chair.
ed I plead guilty? I want to get it over
with.”

Immediately upon his return to Miami
Christie was taken before State’s Attorney
G. A. Worley who was preparing to go be-
fore a hastily called grand jury to seek

first degree murder indictments. Christie

told his story to Worley and six police
officers.

He claimed he killed Leopold to settle
an old grudge but refused to elaborate upon
the grudge beyond saying Leopold had
double crossed him and that he had been
hunting for him for years. He said he
shot Mrs. Leopold to stop her from scream-
ing and accidentally shot the small boy as
he clung to Leopold’s leg. Morin, he said,
was killed after the youth had attacked him
and taken one of the guns away from him.

“He shot me,” said Christie opening his
shirt showing Worley a fresh gunshot
wound on the right side of his chest.

“I wasn’t sure Leopold was the man I
was after,” said Christie in his confession.
“I hung around his apartment several days.
Finally I was sure. When I entered the
apartment he recognized me and started
fighting. He knocked me down and pulled
the silencer off of the .38. I am sorry I
shot Mrs. Leopold, her kid and the Morin
boy. If they had stayed out of my way
and done as I ordered they would be here
today. I shot Morin because I had to.”

He recited how he had attempted to push
the youth out of the car and how the boy
had fought back finally wresting the .22
automatic from him and shooting him in
the chest. After retrieving the automatic
from the youth Christie said he marched
him into the bushes.

“Now you lay down there and don’t be
a fool,” he said he ordered.

Instead of complying with the demand he
claimed Morin lunged at him in a football
tackle. He then shot him in the temple,
he said.

“Take me into court and let me plead
guilty. I want the chair. I don’t want
ten years either, I am sick of prisons.”

Included in the confession Christie told
how he calmly went back to his apartment,
only five blocks from where he wrecked
the car, and remained there for more than
a month before going to Camp Blanding,
Florida where he worked as a barber for
a couple of weeks and then went on to
Jacksonville where he was subsequently
arrested. He denied being the man who
went to “Baby” Wilson’s shack in Dania,
and also denied having called the garage to
have the wrecked car towed in.

Armed with the confession and a prisoner
professing a desire to plead guilty State’s
Attorney Worley lost no time presenting
his evidence to the grand jury and Christie
was promptly indicted on four counts of
first degree murder. ,

Christie was arraigned before Judge Paul
D. Barns in Circuit Court on September
26, and electrified the State’s Attorney by
entering a plea of not guilty. Although
Christie told Judge Barns he did not have
an attorney and did not want one, the court
appointed Attorney George S. Okell to de-
fend him.

Worley elected to try Christie on the
charge of killing Irving Leopold and spec-
ulation was rife as to what kind of a de-
fense he would attempt in view of the over-
whelming evidence piled up against him.

Christie went on trial for his life Monday
October 26. He appeared disinterested, al-
most bored, as a parade of witnesses fol-
lowed each other to the stand, each driving
home damning points shoving him nearer
and nearer the chair.

Capt. T. Frank Baughman, special agent
for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in
charge of the ballistic laboratory in Wash-
ington positively identified the guns and
carefully explained to the jury, with the
aid of enlarged photographs, how the tests
were made.

Mrs. J. J. Downey, 1972 SW. 7th Street
took the witness stand and told how she
was attracted by screams coming from the
Leopold apartment and upon rushing from
her home came face to face with Christie.

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REAL DETECTIVE

an’s pocketbook is in the bedroom right out
in the open and there is more than $20 in
it. There is a small sum in another pocket-
book in one of the dresser drawers.

think our best bet is to check on the private
lives of these people and see who might
have had a motive for such a brutal crime.”

The detectives, satisfied that no further
progress was to be made there, closed the
apartment after the boy’s body had been
removed, placed a police guard at the door
and left.

The investigation moved swiftly. From
Dave Kleeber, Leopold’s partner, they
learned that Leopold was Austrian born
and had been engaged in business in Miami
for a number of years. Kleeber showed
them the cash register notation left by
Leopold, listing the day’s receipts at $20.
His next bit of information fell on eager
ears. He told the detectives that Mrs. Leo-
pold had been married: before and that the
boy was not Leopold’s son but the son of
her former husband. He explained that
Mrs. Leopold had been married in Cincin-
nati and that she had obtained a divorce in
Miami about three years previous to the
tragedy and had married Leopold within
a few months after obtaining the divorce.

“What was the name of her first husband
ee is he now?” queried Investigator

ills.

“His name is Sol Singer, but I do not
know where he is. I understand he did not
come to Miami to contest the divorce ac-
tion. I think I remember hearing Leopold
say once that he was in the Army.”

“There is your motive,” snapped Detec-
tive Deas.

A few moments later an urgent telegram
was on its way to the War Department in
Washington.

In the meanwhile word was received from
the hospital that Mrs. Leopold was dead
upon arrival and that her husband was still
unconscious and had not uttered a word.
The detective on watch at the bedside
quickly supplied information that no money
had been found in Leopold’s pockets.

Locating the woman’s former husband
was uppermost in the minds of the detec-
tives. That clue, however, went up in
thin air a few moments later when it was
learned the former husband was at Camp
Swift, Texas, hundreds of miles away,
without the least possibility of being con-
nected with the crime in any way. He was
dropped as a suspect and never again en-
tered the case.

HILE CAPT. MELCHEN was running

down the former husband angle, the
rest of the detectives and police had not
been idle. At least a dozen persons fur-
nished descriptions of the killer. He was
described as being tall, about six feet. His
age was given as thirty-five or thirty-six
and his weight estimated at 165. He wore a
dark coat, light trousers, a Panama hat
and tan shoes. His features were described
as thin, his nose prominent and his voice
deep and low, almost guttural.

The killer’s description was flashed over
the two-way police radio, together with a
description of the get-away car and Chief
of Police H. Leslie Quigg called in the day
shift to do double duty in helping throw
down a road block and to help spread the
dragnet. , °

Other detectives checked on the license
number of the getaway car and even be-
fore the killer’s description was broadcast
were at the home of Ralph J. Morin Sr.,
whom the records showed to be owner of
the car.

From the elder Morin they learned that
the car was driven by his 18-year-old son
Ralph Jr. The boy had borrowed the car
to make a few calls to tell his friends
goodbye before leaving the next day for
Detroit to work in a defense plant. From

the distracted father they learned that he
had about $20 in his pockets and a bus
ticket to Detroit.

When identification of the car’s driver
reached Capt. Melchen his voice shook as he
cele it to the radio dispatcher.

“His life isn’t worth a dime unless we
act fast,” he said.

The radio crackled new orders which
spurred the hundreds of police officers al-
ready searching the city for a trace of the
kidnaped youth. Dozens of cruisers and
motorcycle officers scoured the city and
all surrounding suburbs.

The search, as far as the car was con-
cerned, was brief. In less than 30 minutes
after the police had succeeded in identifying
its owner, it was found partially wrecked
and abandoned near S.W. 13th Street and
the F.E.C. Railway. A hysterical woman
reported having seen the car strike a tree
at S.W. 8th Street and Miami Place and
then crawl away. She followed it in her
own car for five blocks and saw a tall
man pull it to the curb, leap out and dis-
appear in the darkness. She did not see
his face.

Police rushed to the scene and were
greatly amazed to find a wrecker from a
downtown garage attaching chains to the
car before hauling it in.

“Get away from that car,” shouted De-
tective C. C. Papy. “Who told you to haul
it in?”

“Dunno,” drawled a mechanic. “Some
bird just telephoned and told us to come and
get it.’

Capt. Melchen sped to the scene. It was
the first tangible clue which might lead to
the killer and the whereabouts of the kid-
naped youth who appeared most important
at that stage of the hunt.

The garage owner, however, was unable
to amplify the information given by the
mechanic.

“Some man called,” he explained, “and
said that he had had a wreck. He said he
had taken a couple of drinks and wanted
to get the car off the street before the
police found it. That’s all I know.”

Capt. Melchen and Capt. Barker ex-
amined the car carefully, searching for
bloodstains or possible fingerprints. They
found neither but low on the front door on
the driver’s side they found a bullet hole.
The car was towed to the police garage
for a more thorough examination.

The mystery became complete shortly
after daylight the following morning when
Capt. Melchen, who had remained at his
desk throughout the night, directing the
search for the killer and the kidnaped
youth, received two messages almost simul-
taneously. The first was that Irving Leo-
pold had died without ever regaining con-
sciousness.

The other was that the body of Ralph
Morin Jr., had been found by a caretaker,
behind a clump of bushes near Biscayne
Bay about two miles from his home. He
had been shot in the head and had been
dead for several hours when the caretaker
accidentally stumbled over the body which
no attempt had been made to conceal. His
pockets: were turned inside out. Both his
money and the bus ticket were missing.

With the entire Leopold family dead and
the kidnaped youth slain; the woman's
ex-husband climinated from the picture
and no fingerprints the police found them-
selves without a single clue except the pair
of spectacles found in the Leopold sink and
as yet they had not been connected with
the killer. Of course the autopsy might re-
veal some clue but little could be expected
from that source except recovery of the
bullets which would fall into the same
category as the dozen or more witnesses
able to describe the killer. Until he was
taken into custody the witnesses were
worthless and until the murder gun was

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90 REAL DETECTIVE

located the bullets could not be fitted to it.

The autopsy, however, did turn up an
unexpected angle. It revealed that not one
gun, but two, had been used by the killer.
Bullets extracted from the bodies of Irving
Leopold and Esther Leopold were .38 cali-
bre revolver bullets and young Morin and
the Leopold boy had been killed by bullets
fired from a .22 automatic. The autopsy
report also revealed that young Morin had
been dead since approximately 8:30 o’clock
the night before which told the detectives
he must have been driven directly to his
death from the vicinity of the Leopold
apartment.

RMED WITH THEIR meager clues the

detectives went to work under the
guidance of Capt. Melchen who dropped all
other duties and took personal command of
the case. The broken glasses received at-
tention first but failed to lead anywhere
when it was discovered they were of the
cheap variety sold almost everywhere with-
out a prescription. One link, however, was
forged when it was ascertained that none
of the Leopolds wore glasses which made it
almost certain that the spectacles had been
dropped by the killer. They bore no finger-
prints, due to the fact, the detectives pre-
sumed that the killer wore gloves while
committing the crime. They were carefully
filed away for future reference.

The bullet hole in the automobile door
puzzled the detectives. Their only theory
concerning it was that young Morin had
put up some sort of a fight and that the
killer had fired a wild shot which struck
the automobile door. They were certain
that the automobile cushions bore no blood-
stains.

As hours passed Capt. Melchen became
more convinced than ever that robbery was
the motive for the crime. This theory was
greatly advanced by finding young Morin’s
pockets rifled. He theorized that the killer
had been frightened away before he had
time to take the money from Mrs. Leopold’s
purse.

A dozen witnesses who saw the killer,
and stood ready to identify him were sum-
moned to police headquarters and an artist
from one of the daily newspapers called in
to listen carefully and make a composite
picture of the fugitive. Identity of the
witnesses was carefully concealed for their
own protection because the police were cer-
tain the killer would not hesitate to kill
again without the least provocation.

When the composite picture was finished
the witnesses were amazed at the likeness.
They declared it was practically as good as
a photograph and thousands of prints were
struck immediately and mailed to every
police station in the country. A seven state
radio alarm was sounded and peace officers
in every city on the east coast of Florida
were urged to exert extraordinary precau-
tions to prevent the killer from getting out
of the state if possible. A special appeal
was broadcast to South Florida physicians
asking them to report immediately any man
attempting to secure treatment for a head
injury. Hospitals were checked thoroughly
and all bus, railway and taxicab stations
guarded.

Witnesses mingled with detectives at the
funerals of the four victims in the vain
hope that the murderer might follow the
time worn habit of returning to the scene of
the crime; but no success was registered
from that source.

Satisfied that the dragnet was carefully
spread and that the Florida peninsula was
bottled up, Capt. Melchen turned to a sur-
vey of the private lives of the Leopolds.
If he expected to find a connecting link
there, he was disappointed. Leopold was
described as a quiet man utterly in love
with his wife and with no vices except for
an occasional small wager on the horse

races. Mrs. Leopold, too, was found to be
without interests other than her husband,
home and son.

Even the habit of Leopold in wagering
on horse races occasionally was not over-
looked. It might have been possible that
he had made a winning and had been fol-
lowed home by the murderer. Bookmakers
where he made his bets declared that no
such winning had been made and that he
had not even made a wager for several
months. At best, they said, he never bet
more than $2.00. The police were convinced
that the gambling element did not figure in
the solution of the case.

Six days after the murders the police
were still fighting for the first definite clue.
It seemed incredible that the killer could
slip through the net with at least twenty
persons practically being eyewitnesses to the
crime but it appeared to have been done.

The sagging spirits of the manhunters
were revived a day later when “Baby”
Wilson, a Negro airport worker at Dania,
Florida, a small hamlet twenty-two miles
north of Miami told a strange tale to the
Chief of Police of Dania.

According to Wilson, who appeared very
frightened, a man answering in every detail
the description of the murderer, had ap-
peared at his shack on the outskirts of the
little town at 2 o'clock in the morning
demanding food. He backed up his demand,
Wilson said, with two guns; one a “big
one” and the other a “little one.” The
scared Negro said the man had a cut on the
right side of his head. He ate two pounds
of spareribs. Upon departing he handed
the Negro a dollar bill and told him “he
might be back the next night.” As soon
as it was daylight the Negro was telling
his story and putting into operation another
of Florida’s famous manhunts.

From the south, Miami and Hollywood
police converged upon the area. From the
north, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton and
West Palm Beach, police cruisers and mo-
torcycles moved in. The State Police estab-
lished a central radio station with a mobile
unit and 500 American Legionnaires were
deputized to help scour the area extending
from the ocean on the east to the Fver-
glades on the west. For two heart-breaking
days the search was carried out but if the
man who ate “Baby” Wilson’s spareribs
was the Miami murderer he succeeded in
slipping through the cordon.

Weeks passed. From a dozen different
parts of the country came reports of men
answering the description of the man
wanted in Miami. The police followed each
case carefully but none of the suspects
proved to be the right one.

By that time the Miami detectives had
arrived at a definite conclusion that rob-
bery was the sole motive for the crimes, all
other possibilities: having been eliminated.
Capt. Melchen pointed out, bitterly, the
handicap under which he and his men were
working in answer to newspaper criticism.

“The murderer probably picked Leopold
on account of the more or less isolated
position of the market. He probably figured
the day’s receipts would be heavy and more
than likely anticipated no resistance on the
part of Leopold. As far as we can deter-
mine he made no arrangements for a ‘get-
away. He may possibly have intended to
tie the whole family up or it is even more
possible that he did not know there was
any Mrs. Leopold or small boy. When
Leopold started fighting his plans were
frustrated. He simply shot them all to
death and fled.

“T am positive we are looking for a
hardened criminal. He wore gloves which
indicates that his fingerprints are on record.
It is most unfortunate that Leopold saw fit
to fight rather than submit to the killer’s
demands. In that case he would be living
today and so would young Morin who cer-

tainly y,;
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e killer’s
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who cer-

tainly was an innocent victim. When Leo-
pold started fighting Mrs. Leopold probably
tried to help him and was shot. One of
our witnesses saw her attempt to leave the

apartment and saw the killer reach out and

pull her back from the landing. Whether

the boy was shot deliberately, and in cold
blood, I cannot say. At least a dozen bul-
lets were fired in that small apartment and
he may have been hit accidently. After
killing the Leopold family the killer had
nothing to lose by killing Morin. Another
life did not mean anything to him then and
it doesn’t now. We may eventually take
him alive but I am inclined to believe he
will shoot it out, when and if cornered, and

am certain he will be cornered. He only
got a small sum of money from his vic-
tims and that won’t last long. He will rob
again and again. I only hope that he is
foolish enough to keep the guns he used in
these killings. If he does they will send him
to the electric chair.”

Even Capt. Melchen did not know, at that
time, just how true his prophecy would
turn out.

Days turned into weeks. The Miami de-
tectives worked doggedly running down
false clues, sending out new stacks of cir-
culars and keeping a constant watch on the
witnesses upon whom they depended: for
eventual identification of the killer.

On Wednesday morning, September 9,
another crime was being committed in Flor-
ida but this time in Jacksonville, 366 miles
north of Miami.

Ernest Strauss, a bartender, awoke to
find a man bending over him with a revol-
ver pointed at his head. Before the fright-
ened bartender was fully awake the man
demanded $25.

The quivering victim climbed out of bed
and took $6 from his trousers pockets.

“Tt’s all I have,” he said in a quaking
voice, “but I can get the rest for you down-
town.”

The gun moved nearer Strauss’ head
and for an awful moment he thought he
saw the gloved finger of the gunman
tighten on the trigger.

“Don’t shoot,” he pleaded, “My life is
worth more than $25. I will get the money
for you.”

The gunman hesitated than finally said
“All right, get your clothes on and let’s go.”

Strauss lost no time complying with the
demand. When he was dressed the gun-
man prodded him out to the sidewalk and
pushed him into. the automobile which
Strauss designated as his own, 4 ;

Half way to town the gunman suddenly
changed his mind. ‘

“Stop the car and get out,” he ordered.

The amazed Strauss lost no time in fol-
lowing orders this time and neither did he
look back as the gunman slid under the
wheel and sped away.

Strauss sprinted for the nearest telephone
and reported the robbery and the theft of
his car. He gave the police the license

number and it was: flashed over the police
radio system.

Detective Lieutenant H. V. Branch and
Detective S. Newsom were seated in a

REAL DETECTIVE

Well I can say to them that God is most
certainly NOT dead for I TALKED WITH
GOD, and as a result of that little talk with
God a strange Power came into my life.
After 42 years of horrible, dismal, sickening
failure, everything took on a brighter hue.
It’s fascinating to talk with God, and it can
be done very easily once you learn the
secret. And when you do—well—there will
come into your life the same dynamic Power
which came into mine. The shackles of de-
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mering—and now—?—well, I own control
of the largest daily newspaper in our
County, I own the largest office building in
our City, I drive a beautiful Cadillac limou-
sine. I own my own home which has a
lovely pipe-organ in it, and my family are
abundantly provided for after I’m gone. And
all this has been made Possible because one
day, ten years ago, I actually and literally
talked with God.
You, too, may experience that strange
mystical Power which comes from talking

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Anna Henson: She never was herself
on the beach parties she arranged

HEN Inspector Harold Allen,
of the Post Office Department,

got off the train at Daytona

Beach, Florida, and ordered his -cab
to take him direct to the local police
Headquarters, this
March 7, 1940, he was, as usual, intent
on investigating what appeared to be
a mail fraud. However, he had an idea,
despite the paucity of the information
available, that a more sinister plot lay
behind. the case of Mrs. Anna Henson.
The evidence that had brought the
inspector all the. way from Fort

22

warm day of

-_

Wayne, Indiana, was safely enclosed in
his large, tan brief-case which he kept
close to him at all times. A few minutes
after his arrival in the city, shortly
before noon, he told his story to Cap-
tain Ben Clifton, of the Daytona Beach
Detective Squad.

First, Inspector Allen described what
he knew of Mrs. Anna Henson. He said
she was 57 years old, owned a house
at No. 336 Wisconsin Place and had
been a resident there for twelve years.
Clifton recalled the woman as a kind-
faced person who rode around town in

\

By Francis

a large, chauffeur-driven automobile.
_ Inspector Allen then dipped into the
woman’s background. Her earlier life
had been spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana,
where she had served as a private
nurse for an extremely wealthy man.
When he died, he had left her a size-
able piece of his fortune, in apprecia-

. tion for her long years of devotion to

himself and his family. After that,
Mrs. Henson had settled in Daytona
Beach,

“What brought her here, particu-
larly?” Clifton asked. “Did she know
anyone?”

“Not that I know of.”

“And her husband?”

“Divorced years before.”

Inspector Allen, continuing, said that
Mrs. Henson, had made two married
nieces the sole administrators of her
estate, an arrangement made _ before
Mrs. Henson had left-for Florida. The
nieces were Mrs. Margaret King and
Mrs. Louise. Simminger Begg, both of
Fort Wayne. From them Allen had
obtained his information on Mrs. Hen-
son.

Each month the two nieces sent their
aunt about $400 of her income and,
after receiving the check, Mrs. Hen-
son regularly and promptly acknowl-
edged it witha friendly letter. These
letters were written on blue stationery
and invariably typewritten. Mrs. Hen-
son usually dashed off her signature at
the bottom in ink.

On February 10 the nieces had sent
the usual check. A few days later they
received a reply. It was anything but
friendly. In fact, it was only a few
lines and as impersonal as if a total
stranger had written it. |

Inspector Allen opened his brief-
case and took out a sheaf of letters
held together by a metal clip. These
he handed to Captain Clifton. The let-
ters were, as Allen said, typewritten
on blue paper with Mrs. Henson’s
initials embossed at the top of each
sheet. Allen explained that all the let-
ters, including the final one in Feb-
ruary, had been typed on the same
machine. Mrs. Henson’s signatures,
scrawled at the bottom of them all,
read, simply: “Aunt Anna.”

Cbhahial re

Special Investigator for
ACTUAL DETECTIVE STORIES

V. Roberts

‘On the brief, formal letter acknowl-
edging the February check, which
Clifton examined last, the signature
seemed a little different. He mentioned
the idea to Allen. The reason for the
difference, the Inspector explained,
might have been one of several. Mrs.
Henson might have signed under a
difficult condition such as illness or
it might have been a clever forgery.
That, however, would be hard to prove
without having more copious specimens
of Mrs. Henson’s handwriting.

T= signature on the cancelled Feb-
ruary check, which Allen next pro-
duced, was countersigned by an “A.
M. Phillips.” Allen then explained that
this was nothing unusual as all Mrs.
Henson’s checks,’ for the past two
years, had been indorsed by A. M.
Phillips and the nieces felt that he
probably was some tradesman with
whom Mrs. Henson dealt and cashed
her checks.

Clifton asked, “Is that all?”

“Well, not quite. The nieces were
puzzled at first and wrote their aunt
for some explanation for her curt
reply. Their letter went unanswered.
Then they wired. Still no _ reply.
Finally, they tried to telephone and
they learned that Mrs. Henson’s phone
had been disconnected.”

That was all the evidence Allen had
to offer but he felt and the nieces, too,
that something had happened to Mrs.
Henson. Captain Clifton stood up.

“Let’s drop over to the Henson place,”
he said. The officers and Deputy
Arthur Campbell got into Clifton’s car
and headed for the Henson home.
When they arrived at the house it
seemed deserted. Blinds were drawn
and the officers received no reply
to their persistent ringing. Peering
through a slit between the curtain and
sill of one window, Captain Clifton saw
that the furniture in the front rooms
had been covered with sheets.

A few neighbors, who knew some-
thing of Mrs. Henson’s customs, sup-
plied some rather sketchy information
on her. They told the officers she lived
a quiet life. Although she belonged to a
fashionable bridge club, she seldom

a |

Traces of blood were discovered on the hammer in the Henson home
by Ernest L. Rowland, Jr., shown in his laboratory
with the murder weapon.

but found no trace of her.

The station house atmosphere was
thick with a feeling of suspicion. A
pall of strong «doubt clouded the
room.

Campbell telephoned Sheriff Stone.
“Sheriff, it looks like murder over
here.”

“T’ll be right over,’
crisply.

Together with Murray Sams,
State’s Attorney of Volusia County
and W.°H. Gasque of Jacksonville,
special investigator for the state of
Florida, and who, for twenty-two
years had been pitting his wits
against criminal brains, Stone sped
towards Daytona Beach. They
combed the Henson home meticulous-
ly, located an innocent looking ham-
mer and took metal strips off the
flooring of the stairway.

Ernest L. Rowland, Jr., an ama-
teur chemist who had proven to the
police he was an expert on blood:
analysis, microscopically examined
the hammer:-and metal strips.

’

replied Stone

His pronouncement was: “Human: °

blood.”
Sams, the fiery little state’s attor-

ney, became a dynamo of energy. He.

questioned half a dozen people. A
case of murder was gradually shap-
ing up. But where was the body?

52

Hard to convict a person without
proof of a corpse.

The Volusia County jail was un-
dergoing extensive repairs and was
considered unsafe to lodge a prison-
er. So Stone decided to take Phillips
on a long trek to the Dade County
jail at Miami. Due to his friendli-
ness with Sheriff D. C. Coleman of
Dade County, Stone felt that per-
haps the sheriff, an acknowledged ex-
pert. in third degree questionings,
might obtain an admission of guilt
from the prisoner. Coleman was out
of the city and Chief Deputy Joseph
Conderman and Deputy A. L. Bu-
ford took charge of the prisoner.

Before leaving for Miami in com-
pany with Clifton, Sheriff Stone as-
signed me to the case. I’m located
with him in the Deland office. Later,
I learned that after a six hour grill-
ing Phillips signed a confession.
Conderman, discovering. that Phil-

lips’ father had been an Evangelistic .

minister, gave him a rosary and con-

, ‘tinued to hammer at him: “Don’t
‘you want her to have a Christian
burial? ... Where is the body!”

Realizing the courts might be in-

‘clined to show slight leniency if they

did not actually see the dead body,
Phillips said in his confession that
he had drowned ‘Mrs. Henson, push-

ing her out to sea. Upon completion
of his testimony the Miami officials
transferred him to Orange Coun-
ty jail house at Orlando, forty-two
miles from DeLand.

But a sixth sense continued to
haunt Murray Sams. He felt that
the prisoner was not telling the en-
tire truth.

“Let’s go have another talk with
him,” he urged Stone and Gasque.

While Phillips was being grilled
in Orlando, I was suffering from in-
effable boredom at the Daytona
Beach police station. It was a dull
day and everything was as quiet as
the center of the Gobi Desert. Walt

‘Campbell’s idea to go over and take

a look at the Henson home struck a
responsive chord in me. Ben Clifton
went with us.

We entered by way of the kitchen.
Hardly were we through the door
than I paused and sniffed the air,
standing stock still.

“Do you smell anything peculiar,
Walt?” I inquired.

Campbell inhaled heavily. ‘Yeah

... like rotten potatoes.”

“No... not rotten potatoes. That’s
a formaldehyde odor,” I’ told him.

“Formaldehyde!” I could see his
body stiffen unconsciously. He
smelled again. “You’re right, Bill,
it is formaldehyde,” he agreed.

We exchanged glances and silent-
ly agreed that the body of Mrs. Hen-
son might be embalmed and in the
house.

We went through every room care-
fully, inspecting the closets, tapping
the walls. “I’m going to call up
Harry Haigh and get him over
here!” I said at last.

Haigh, of the Haigh and Brooks
Funeral Home, was an undertaker,
and he would be certain to detect the
odor of formaldehyde without a mo-
ment’s hesitation.

The mortician arrived and instant-
ly agreed with our diagnosis. But
that didn’t help us much.

Wandering out of the house with
a brass rod I had picked up, I be-
gan poking around in some flower
beds Phillips had built. Not very
hopefully I kept shoving the rod
down into the soft ground at a depth
of about three to four feet. That
was as far as I could go without
striking water.

Nothing came of this. I went in-
to the garage. Clifton, Campbell and
Haigh came out and stood watching
me.’ “Not much use trying there,
Bill,” they counselled. “The Sheriff
tore the floor out and didn’t find any-
thing.”

PAR

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and Chief Deputy Joe Conderman

enjoy the melodramatic situation he
had caused. He was the cynosure of
all eyes. His ghastly ego was swell-
ing like a sponge.

When he took the witness stand to
face the barrage of questions fired
by the prosecutor, he was equally un-
disturbed. His replies appeared to
be prepared and ready before his in-
quisitor finished asking them. Neat-
fy dressed, perfectly at ease, he re-

sembled a welcome visitor in a home,

idly discussing the weather.

One incident while he was on the
‘stand, ridiculous though it sounds,
painted the murderer in his true col-
ors. Directly above the witness chair
an electric fan poured out a current
of air straight at the back of his
head. It caused two separate sec-
tions of hair at the back of his head
to stand erect, giving him a pair of
devil’s horns!

While the jury filed out, Phillips
became loquacious with several news-
papermen. After affording them ad-
vice on bridge playing, he complain-
ed about a. photograph they had
used. “That was a bad picture and
didn’t do me justice,” he grumbled.
He was vexed, too, that he had been
deprived of wearing his best clothes.
“Tf they’d have let me wear my new
slack .suit to this trial I’d have

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112

20 Vesey St., ‘ck Cy

heard confession.

Small Bust cy

W ad start- ; 4 knocked ’em dead!” he lamented.
changed his f : - Just before the jury returned, the | | WOMEN! Bustline Allure
steady parade of them taking the immaculate little Italian became ex- | | For YOU i Minutes!

body to the | stand during the three-day-trial. traordinarily facetious. When asked | Latest Stylish “Life-Like

ampbell and The defense had not a single wit- if Mrs. Henson couldn’t be traced to | 5ust Cups" for Glamour

nundle. The ness. The efforts of Judge and Hod- German descendants, he replied, Why conte” fe io

though you _gen were valiant but ineffectual in “yes and I’m Italian — but you looking busine? Men Po

n. Her eyes _ the face of such tremendous testi- couldn't exactly call us Axis part- luring: “thapely | “bunine

‘in was slip- mony. ners.’ y ppeal!

When Sams, his voice thundering Once during this period of waiting is i i

there was a knock on the jury door

b j 8
Ene: were through the oppressive air of the

n, who was ; stifling court room, read the confes from the inside and as the bailiff | Nev,*,. east Sat ylfes Lite f
A sion, it was like driving a nail into - : st) er delighted women, ust Cape
is Mrs. Anna lee hurried to open the door, Phillips urself a NATURAL LOOKING, are per-(ie
d the Italian’s coffin. In a burst of i; A YP AND OUT" BUSTLINE with fectly hid-
se performe , : said calmly, “(Here comes the bad | ,UP2 AND OUT” BUSTLINE with (pct ie es
+ goiter and prolific oratory he riddled the de- news!” But it was a false alarm. A | Bet Sur") Gaining popuiaicy ice eed
fense’s plea of self-defense. Brand- . nd a lll eng

thirsty juror called out, “Bring us | 2%%,,,
eleven cokes and a chocolate milk.” Now Wear All Dresses,

Phillips released a peal of ae Blouses, Sweaters, etc.,

revealed. He
and discov-
ick the dead

ing all Phillips’ testimony as a series
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oe radi. | the first degree or freedom. This ter. “That er it a hung eer Our, Scner Quality bites -Like Bust Cups’’ are easily placed
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Michael Cain- \

vealing the clothes may

The jury deliberated for fifty-nine

—and proudly display beautiful

crime in the annals of Volusia curves! THEY FEEL AND LOOK NATURAL! Made of 2 ape:

: on Ae 7 a. .
ips opened t | County. It is inconceivable that a minutes. . - ae ieee ae pg an ME yh bo
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Wash ily. ,
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It is doubtful that an earthquake “Crime does not pay”. satisfied, may return merchandise for my money

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“Guess you’re right,” I said wear- _

ily.

I was about ready to give up the
search. But something prompted me
to keep at it a few minutes longer.
I went up the east side of the garage
on the outside: One of the neigh-
bors, William Murphy, came over to
watch.

“When did Mrs. Hensun build this’

1 house on the side under the stair-

way?” I asked him.

He studied it for a moment. “She
didn’t,” he replied. “Mr. Phillips
had it built. Just before he made his

New York trip. Supposed to be a

wash-house.”

A queer, indescribable feeling
rippled through me. I looked into
the little house. It was about six by
twelve feet and as high as the stair-
way would allow. There were no
tubs, no bench, no water spigot in it
—nothing, in fact, but one little box
of tools. It didn’t look to me like an
ordinary wash house. That’s why I
thought there might be something
under it.

There was one window and a door
in the wash house. The flooring was
built on the ground. The two-by-

fours were lying on the ground with .

the flooring on top of them.

“Ben,” I said, “just for fun I’m
going to look under this floor. Give
me a hand at pulling the boards out.”

We removed two pieces of eight-
inch flooring in the center. I shoved
the brass rod into the ground.

Suddenly I struck something soft
and spongy.

“There’s something funny down
there!” I cried as calmly as I could.

Ben took the rod out of my hand
and pushed it down hard... He looked
at me excitedly. “Bill, you’re right!”

I smelled the rod, but in the ex-
citement of the moment, I could not
determine whether it was decom-
posed flesh or the strong brassy odor
of the rod.

I kept pushing until I outlined
what ever it was ... We tore out
another part of the floor—two more
boards. With a shovel we dug into
the sandy earth. The parted soil re-
vealed what resembled a large bundle
of old clothes. I was afraid it: was
a false alarm.

Then I saw a rope. “We pulled on
it. Something came loose.

Two human legs! It was the body,
all right!

Haigh and I yanked out the corpse
while Clifton and Campbell rushed
to the telephone and called Stone ‘at
the Orange County jail.

He was in the midst of question-°

ing Phillips. When’ he confronted

54

J. E. Kelly (left)
Court reporter

the prisoner with this new and start-
ling discovery ‘Phillips changed his
testimony.

After transporting the body to the
funeral parlor Clifton, Campbell and
I undid the gruesome bundle. The
body was well-decayed, although you
could tell it was a woman.- Her eyes.
had sunk in and the skin was slip-
ping on her arms when the wire was
removed.

Dr. George M. Green, who was
called in, identified her as Mrs. Anna
K. Henson. He had once performed
an operation on her for goiter and
the scar was plainly revealed. He
performed an autopsy and discov-
ered that Phillips struck the dead
‘woman so viciously that pegs of skull
‘bone were driven into her brain.

The trial of Angelo Michael Cain-
getti, alias A. M. Phillips opened on
June 10, in the Volusia County
Courthouse, DeLand, under the jur-
isdiction of Judge Herbert B. Fred-
erick. Murray Sams represented the
State and William W. Judge and
Howard B. Hodgen were the attor-
neys for the defense.

It was clear from the outset that
the defendant did not have a splint-

“ered legal leg to stand on. The State
introduced innumerable witnesses, a

{

and Chi

i

Steady pz
stand du
The -defe)
ness. The
gen we

. the fa

mony.
When §&
through {
stifling co
sion, it w
the Italie
prolific o
fense’s pl
ing all Ph
of lies, he
compromi
the first
man is gu
crime in
County.
human box
Throug}
Phillips Sé
at times b
a baby’s.
pig-like—s
sockets. I]
must be ra
Lindbergh
It. is dou
could have
man ‘image

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stiieres ie
ee Ne +

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ot rhe E>...

464 Fila.

men leaving the place of business where the
deceased was later found bearing wounds on
her head from which she died some few
hours thereafter. The finger prints of one
of the defendants were found on a glass and
later identified as the finger prints of one of
the defendants.

The defendants were arrested by some
members of the police force of the City of
Jacksonville on September 10, 1938, and on
the evening of the following day made con-
fessions of the entire crime. The confes-
sions were reduced to writing by a court
reporter and the same, during the trial of the
case, were offered in evidence by the prose-
cution. The defendants went to the scene of
the crime with some of the police officers
and pointed out the spot near the store
where the two bicycles were parked while
the crime was being committed, and, in fact,
details of the entire crime from the time it
was planned by the defendants until con-
summated was confessed or acknowledged
by the defendants. These confessions were
made in the presence of a number of wit-
nesses and these witnesses were each called
to the stand and testified that the confessions
were freely and voluntarily made and no re-
ward or hope of reward was given or held
out to either of the defendants, nor was
force or duress resorted to.

The defendants testified that they were
by members of the police force and officers
whipped with a rubber hose and kicked and
beaten over the head with a black jack some
few hours prior to the time that these con-
fessions were made, and that the reason
for making the confessions was that they
had been beaten so severely that they were
afraid not to make the confessions, and
signed the same after they had been pre-
pared by the court reporter. The sevesal
officers testified that the confessions were
made by the defendants freely and volun-
tarily and that the defendants had not been
whipped or beaten, nor was hope of reward
held out to them. This testimony was ¢on-
tradicted by each of the defendants. The
trial court heard much evidence, in the ab-
sence of the jury, on the question of whether
or not the confessions were free and volun-
tary, and concluded that the evidence was
proper to be submitted to the consideration
of the jury under appropriate instructions.
It is contended that the confessions were ob-
tained under duress and fear and that the
same were not freely and voluntarily made
and the admission of same into evidence
on the part of the State was error.

196 SOUTHERN REPORTER

[5] It is well established law that when
it is shown a confession was freely and
voluntarily made and that no improper in-
fluences were exerted or reward held out
to obtain it, the confession is properly ad-
mitted into evidence. See Bennett v. State,
96 Fla. 237, 118 So. 18; Nickels v. State,
90 Fla. 659, 106 So. 479; Green v. State, 40
Fla. 474, 24 So. 537; Browne v. State, 92
Fla. 699, 109 So. 811; Williams v. State, 48
Fla. 65, 37 So. 521; Davis v. State, 90 Fla.
317, 105 So. 843; Sims v. State, 59 Fla. 38,
52 So. 198; Gantling v. State, 40 Fla. 237,
23 So. 857; Holland v. State, 39 Fla. 178, 22
So. 298. It is likewise the law of Florida
that if an alleged confession was not freely
and voluntarily made, it is error to admit the
same into evidence against the party mak-
ing same. See Browne v. State, 92 Fla. 699,
109 So. 811; Davis v. State, 90 Fla. 317, 105
So. 843; Crawford v. State, 70 Fla. 323, 70
So. 374; Deiterle v. State, 98 Fla. 739, 124
So. 47.

[6-8] The extrajudicial confessions of
the defendants, offered in evidence by the
prosecution in the lower court and assigned
as error here, were by the trial court, as
shown by the record, cautiously and care-
fully considered in the absence of the jury
sworn to try the issues. The court heard
the testimony of the witnesses present when
the confessions were made and a broad field
of inquiry was permitted as to the circum-
stances, conditions and surroundings under
which the confessions were made. The de-
fendants were allowed an opportunity, in
the absence of the jury, to show the cir-
cumstances, conditions and surroundings at
the time the confessions were made, and sub-
sequently the same was admitted in evidence
before the jury. It is shown in the record
that the defendants testified that the officers
took them to a room in the jail and placed
them on a table and whipped them with a
rubber hose and struck them over the head
with a black jack, and because of this mis-
treatment they were afraid to deny the crime
when the State Attorney and court reporter
appeared at the jail, and the confessions
were signed, but this testimony was directly
and positively contradicted. It is true also
on cross examination they admitted that at
the time the confessions were made before
the court reporter no threat of violence or
force was made. It is shown that the de-
fendants had attended school and had com-
pleted several grades in the Duval County
public schools. The fact that the defendants
were questioned by the police officer about
the crime when taken into custody is not a

admuv..dle

extrajudi-
mitted in
ously and
ce of jury,
sent when
tted broad
tes, condi-
hich they
that offi-
orney and
sions were
ly contra-
on cross-
iolence or

ons.

zes of de-
ommitting
victed and
iressed to
ind cannot
on appeal

Lt’

alker, and
of first-
“OF.

Gill, all of

T

Gen., and
Gen., for

x B. Clay,
well, were
al County,
he murder
al County,
November
‘the lower
orney Har-
ar, was by
oresent the
wer court.
1 and each
ch count of

fte: T=
"up ial

on the indictment of murder in the first
degree in the Circuit Court of Duval County,
and on December 8, 1938, the jury rendered
a verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree, without recommendation to mercy.
On December 8, 1938, the defendants,
through counsel, filed a motion for a new
trial on eight different grounds, some four
or five of which raised the question of the
sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the
verdict, while the seventh ground was to the
effect that the trial court erred in overruling
the motions of the defendants to exclude
the alleged confessions of the defendants
from the jury. The eighth ground was
that the trial court erred in overruling and
denying defendants’ objections to the intro-
duction into evidence and the consideration
of the jury of the alleged confessions of
the defendants. On January 13, 1939, the
lower court made and entered an order over-
ruling and denying the motions of the de-
fendants for a new trial and sentences each
of the defendants to death by electrocution.
From these judgments of conviction an ap-
peal has been perfected to this Court and
several reasons or assignments of error are
presented and argued for a reversal of the
said judgments.

The record shows that Willie B. Clay was
born December 25, 1922; Edward Powell
was born April 15, 1923, and Nathaniel
Walker was born August 8, 1923, and the
three are colored boys and all under 16
years of age at the time of the commission
of the crime on August 8, 1938.

[1] The trial court for some time prior
to date of trial, in compliance with the provi-
sions of section 8322, C.G.L., caused no-
tice to be served on the parents or guardians
of the defendants, viz.: Eveline Smiley,
mother of Willie B. Clay, and she attended
the trial of her son; the father, Sidney Clay,
was notified at Atkinson and Cordele, Geor-
gia, and he conferred with the mother of
Willie B. Clay after the arrest of their son
and prior to his trial. Annie Mae Walker,
mother of Nathaniei Walker, was notified of
the arrest of her son and attended his trial;
it was impossible to locate his father be-
cause no one knew where he was. Edward
Powell’s father was notified of the arrest
and charge against his son, but he failed to
attend the trial. Annie Stevens and Cleve-
land Stevens, related as aunt and uncle of
Edward Powell, attended the trial. We
think there was a substantial compliance
with the requirements of the statute. See
Blocker v. State, 90 Fla. 136, 105 So. 316.

CLAY v. STATE
196 So. 462

Fla. 463

[2] The defendants were convicted of
murder in the first degree, without recom-
mendation to mercy, and it is contended here
that after the rendition of the verdict, it
became and was the duty of the trial court,
under the provisions of Section 3684, C.G.L.,
to commit the defendants, and each of them
as delinquents, or that the court had the
power to sentence or commit them to the
Reform School for Boys under the provi-
sions of Section 8644, C.G.L., and that at
no time did the court have the power to

sentence the defendants to electrocution, be-

cause they were around 16 years of age at
the time of the alleged crime. Likewise, it
is contended that the defendants could have
been committed by the trial court under the
provisions of Sections 3705, 3706 and 3707,
C.G.L. See State ex rel. Hamilton v. Chap-
man, 125 Fla. 235, 169 So. 658. We have
examined each of the provisions of the stat-
utes supra and the authority cited, but we
are unable to find merit in this contention.

[3,4] The defendants were under 16
years of age at the time of the commission
of the alleged crime. The relatives of the
defendants had been notified as required by
statute, and some of the relatives of each de-
fendant attended the trial. The contention
cannot be sustained that the defendants
should not be punished for their crime of
which they were convicted because of their
respective ages. It is well established at
common law that a child under the age of 7
years is conclusively presumed to be incapa-
ble of committing a crime; the common law
rule raises a presumption of incapacity of an
infant between the ages of 7, and 14; and the
presumption is that the incapacity after 7
years of age decreases with the progress of
his years. The defendants here do not fall
within the common law rule cited. See
Hamiltan v. State, 133 Fla. 481, 182 So.
854; Kelley v. State, 79 Fla. 182, 83 So. 909,
16 A.L.R. 1465, 14 Am.Jur. 811, par. 61; 31
C.J. 1096, par. 218; 14 R.C.L. 264.

The evidence shows that Mrs. Mary
Louise Curtis, at her home and little store,
100 Magnolia Street, Jacksonville, Florida,
around 8:30 P. M. on Saturday evening,
August 6, 1938, was murdered by blows on
her head with a blunt instrument, which
blows broke her skull. Some three witnesses
saw two of the defendants enter the store
where deceased was living and heard the
reports of blows and saw the same two de-
fendants emerge from the store and hastily
leave the premises. These two defendants
were by the witnesses identified as the two


y that when
freely and
nproper in-
rd held out
roperly ad-
ett v. State,
‘Is v. State,
v. State, 40
v. State, 92
v. State, 48
tate, 90 Fla.
59 Fla. 38,
10 Fla. 237,
Fla. 178, 22
- of Florida
is not freely
to admit the
party mak-
92 Fla. 699,
Fla. 317, 105
Fla. 323, 70
“la. 739, 124

nfessions of
lence by the
ind assigned
ial covert as
ly a ire-

of Jury
cou.. neard
resent when
a broad field
the circum-
idings under
de. The de-
ortunity, in
10w the cir-
roundings at
ade, and sub-
1 in evidence
n the record
it the officers
il and placed
them with a
ver the head

of this mis-
sny the crime
ourt reporter

confessions
was directly
t is true also
aitted that at
made before
f violence or
that the de-
ind had com-
Juval County
aed lants
off bout
toc a not a

a

i
ne Te a ee ees

Ro eae

MOTES vy. PT'TNAM COUNTY Fla. 465
196 So. 465

sufficient cause to exclude the confessions
subsequently given. If the confession ema-
nates freely and voluntarily and is made
without fear, hope of reward and promise
of escaping punishment, or some other il-
legal influence, the same is properly admit-
ted. See Smith v. State, 135 Fla. 835, 186
So. 203: Cawthon v. State, 118 Fla. 394,
159 So. 366; Dabney v. State, 119 Fla. 341,
161 So. 380; Harrison v. State, 110 Fla.
420, 148 So. 882; Nickels v. State, 90 Fla.
659, 106 So. 479; Green v. State, 40 Fila.
191, 23 So. 851; McNish v. State, 47 Fila.
69, 36 So. 176; Sims v. State, 59 Fla. 38,
52 So. 198: Williams v. State, 48 Fla. 65,
37 So. 521; Moore v. State, 68 Fla. 91, 66
So. 431; McDonald v. State, 70 Fla. 250, 70
So. 24: Davis v. State, 90 Fla. 317, 105 So.
843; Chambers v. State, 60 S.Ct. 472, 84 L.
Ed. —-; Bram v. United States, 168 U.S.
532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568; Ziang Sung
Wan v. United States, 266 U.S. 1, 45 S.Ct. 1,
69 L.Ed. 131. We think the care and caution
required by law of a trial court in the admis-
sion into evidence of these confessions were
properly observed and followed.

[9] We fail to find error in the record.
The ages of the defendants here present a
very serious question. We feel that this
question, under the laws of Florida, is ad-
dressed to the discretion of the Board of
Pardons. The judgments appealed from are
hereby affirmed.

TERRELL, C. J., and WHITFIELD,
BROWN, BUFORD, and THOMAS, JJ.,
concur.

FON a Ses
@ ‘ KEY NUMBER S¥STEM >
r fPree™

Vy

MOTES v. PUTNAM COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Florida,
May 21, 19+0.

1. Counties C175
The law applicable to a board of county

commissioners’ action with respect to matters.

of the issuance of refunding bonds in place
of outstanding bridge bonds of the county
was applicable to action by board of bond
trustees of Putnam county concerning issu-
ance of refunding bonds for outstanding
bridge bonds of the county, since the board of
bond trustees was substituted by legislative

196 SO.—30

a

enactments for board of county commission-
ers in regard to such matters. Sp.Acts 1923,
ce. 9582, 9583, 9585; Sp.Acts 1927, c. 13333;
Gen.Acts 1931, Ex.Sess., c. 15772, § 2.

2. Counties €=—52, 88

Under constitutional provision that
county officers shall hoid their offices and
keep their official records at the county seats
and under applicable statutes, it was intend-
ed that cfficial meetings for transaction of
business by boards of county commissioners
and like boards should be publicly conducted
at a known place in the county seat. Sp.Acts
1923, cc. 9582, 9583, 9585; Sp.Acts 1927, c.
12333; Gen.Acts 1931, Ex.Sess., c. 15772, §
2; Const. art. 16, § 4.

3. Counties 52, 88

While members of boards of county com-
missioners and like boards may meet in
places other than the county seat for purpose
of investigating matters under considera-
tion and discussing matters which may come
before the boards for disposition, when such
boards assume to take official action involv-
ing public rights, that action must be taken
in the county seat and in a place open to pub-
lic. Sp.Acts 1923, ce. 9582, $583, 9585; Sp.
Acts 1927, ¢. 18333; Gen.Acts 1931, Ex.Sess.,
ec. 15772, § 2.

4. Counties 175

Where board of bond trustees of Putnam
county, due to illness of board’s chairman,
held a meeting in chairman’s home five miles
from county seat, a resolution adopted by ma-
jority of board at such meeting providing for
issuance of refunding bonds in place of out-
standing bridge bonds issued by county was
ineffective, notwithstanding that no fraud
was alleged in connection with action of ma-
jority and contention that an emergency,
which, existed because proposed fiscal agents
insisted that board take immediate action
concerning issuance of refunding bonds, ne-
cessitated board’s action. Sp.Acts 1923, ce.
9582, 9583, 9585; Sp.Acts 1927, ¢c. 18383;
Gen.Acts 1931, Ex.Sess., ¢. 15772, § 2.

5. Counties 175

Where majority of board of bond trus-
tees of Putnam county, in meeting held at
residence of board's chairman, adopted a
resolution providing for issuance of refund-
ing bonds in place of outstanding bridge
bonds issued by county, action of board of
county commissioners in subsequently pass-
ing resolutions purporting tc authorize re-
funding of outstanding bonds was without
effect, Sp.Acts 1923, cc. 9582, 9583, 9585;


CLAY et al. v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Florida.
May 24, 1940.

1. Infants €=68

Where notices of arrests of boys under
16 years old at time of their alleged com-
mission of murder were served on their par-
ents or guardians some time before their
trial on such charge, and mothers of two de-
fendants and aunt and uncle of third de-
fendant attended trial, there was substantial
compliance with statutory requirements.
Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, § 8322.

2. Infants <=69

After first-degree murder convictions of
boys under 16 years old when they commit-
ted crime, without recommendation to mercy,
trial court was not bound to commit them
as delinquents and had no power to sentence
or commit them to reform school for boys,
but had power to sentence them to electrocu-
tion. Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, §§ 3684, 38705-
3707, 8644.

3. Infants €=—66

The fact that defendants convicted of
first-degree murder were under 16 years old
when they committed such crime did not ab-
solve them from punishment therefor.

4. Infants €=66

At common law, a child under 7 years
old is conclusively presumed to be incapable
of committing crime, there is presumption of
such incapacity of infant between ages of
7 and 14 years, and presumption is that such
incapacity after age of 7 years decreases
with progress of child’s years,

5. Criminal law €=517(1)

An accused’s confession, shown to have
been freely and voluntarily made without
improper influences being exerted or reward
held out, is admissible in evidence against
him, but it is error to admit confession not
freely and voluntarily made. '

6. Criminal law €=519(9)

The fact that defendants weit ques-
tioned by police officer about crime charged
when taken into custody is not sufficient
cause for exclusion from evidence of confes-
sions subsequently given by them.

7, Criminal law @=520(1)

A confession, freely and voluntarily giv-
en by one accused of crime, without fear,
hope of reward, promise of escaping punish-

(Duval) 12-29-1941

196 SOUTHERN REPORTER

ment, or other illegal influence, is admissible
in evidence.

8. Criminal law €=531(3)

In murder trial, defendants’ extrajudi-
cial confessions were properly admitted in
evidence, where trial court cautiously and
carefully considered them in absence of jury,
heard testimony of witnesses present when
confessions were made, and permitted broad
field of inquiry as to circumstances, condi-
tions, and surroundings under which they
were made, defendants’ testimony that offi-
cers beat them before state’s attorney and
court reporter appeared and confessions were
signed was directly and positively contra-
dicted, and defendants admitted on cross-
examination that no threat of violence or
force was made at time of confes#ons.

9. Criminal law @=1147

The question presented by ages of de-
fendants under 16 at time of committing
murder for which they were convicted and
sentenced to electrocution is addressed to
discretion of Board of Pardons and cannot
be considered by Supreme Court on appeal
from judgments on convictions,

—_———_o-——_—

En Bane.

Error to Circuit Court, Duval County ;
Miles W. Lewis, Judge.

Willie B. Clay, Nathaniel Walker, and
Edward Powell were convicted of first-
degree murder, and they bring error.

Affirmed.

McGill & McGill and S. D. McGill, all of
Jacksonville, for plaintiffs in error.

George Couper Gibbs, Atty. Gen., and
William Fisher, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for
defendant in error. |

CHAPMAN, Justice.

The plaintiffs in error, Willie B. Clay,
Nathaniel Walker and Edward Powell, were
‘ndicted by a grand jury of Duval County,
Florida, on October 18, 1938, for the murder
of Mary Louise Curtis in Duval County,
Florida, on August 7, 1938. On November
8, 1938, plaintiffs in error were by the lower
court adjudged insolvent and Attorney Har-
ry Silver, of the Duval County bar, was by
the lower court appointed to represent the
defendants when tried in the lower court.
These defendants were arraigned and each
entered a plea of not guilty to each count of
the said indictment.

The plaintiffs in error, hereinafter refer-
red to as defendants, were placed upon trial


Christy Trial Expected This Month;

Waitress Volunteers Information

wo
. possibility that Vincent Christy, 36, reportedly con-
! quadruple slayer, will go to trial on first degree mur-
arges before the end of the month was revealed Tues-
y State Attorney G. A. Worley as a coroner's jury be-
?eace Justice ‘Thomas S. Ferguson named him as the

ev. Va, (P42
vam | Weeacn
<< Ae

i
;

j

Leopold-Morin slayer.
Six witnesses, Mrs. Alta S. Gregg,
1963 S. W. Seventh st.; Jerry Renn,

2940 S. W. 19th st.: Dr. Chester W.
Walsdorf, 1981 S. W. Elghth at.,

and Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Downey and
Lorine Downey, 1972 S. W. Seventh
st., positively identified Christy as
the man they saw running from the
Leopold apartment at 2011 S. W.
Eighth st. July 17 after the killings.

The. six picked Christy out of a
line-up of 10 men in county jail
late Monday and testified at the
inquest Tuesday, although Christy
was not brought to the hearing.

Guilty Plea Indicated

A special session of the grand
jury, called to convene next Mon-
day, probably will get the Christy
cese Wednesday or Thursday, Wor-
ley said. He then added he be-
Heved it possible to bring the pris-
omer to trial before the end of
September. Christy has indicated
he will plead guilty and has said
he’s ready for the electric chair.

Authorities belleve they have a
clear case against the suspect with-
out the amazing confession he pur-
portedly gave Saturday night.

a. R. Mills, investigator for the
atate attorney, and Capt. E. W.
Melchen of the Miami police de-
partment testified at the Inquest
regarding federal bureau of inves-
tigation Identification of the two
guns found on Christy as the same
two used in He sleyings.

The peace justice held Christly


pte IRS from a 38 were sent
othe FHI from the scene of the
druple killings,
“Every plece of the deadly busle
g was a perfect fit" he declared.
Stills said department of justice
s showed that Christy had
rely been out of fail since he
— °0."’
Am indication that the Jackson.
suspect went to the North
glina mountains for reftige ime
diately after the TUéopold mur
3, and Then went back to Jacke
vilé& when he thought the trail
a too cold to lead up to him, was
emoin a statement by Mike Ha-
men, OOK ON. ke 35th ter.
Sneculate On Grudge
Mavarth, just returned from
wih Carolina, came to the® police
ion (oOo inspect photographs
ee seeing a picture of the mur.
ispect In Thursday's Miamt
@id. He posttively identified
photographs as those of a man
saw asleep with a vounger man
am automobile in Waynesville,
i. neanwdshevilie—Le—said he
fd a Waynesville policeman to
. up the sleepers, but the po-
Man told) him:
Ve don't bother those kind of

Ri

‘iristy., who readily admitted the
heonville holdup, refused to
® any statement when confront:
with the FBI report on the bal-
Mics tests, Melchen said,

Mills will arrive in Jacksonville
| Plane from Washington at 7
Mm. today, Deas said. Melchen
§ Deas were reported planning
“testion Christy again todav.
Melohen, although Police Chie?
lesiie Quigg of Miami contended
' “robbery was the motive” in
Leopold slayings, said in Jack-
cle that he belleved Chrisis
Leopold because of “some
Wige’* \re

ae

ind) (a.
Sap

"SSA a ee

the Mitlings,
the neighborhood of some of
tha’ witnesses who sew him after
the shooting and that ene of the
Withesnes Lived ta @n ad joining
apertment,

#118 apartment, he geld, wasortih
ina halt-bieek of ise Trew j whieh
he cPEHGd with the Morin car
while eeeaping from the oCene of
the murders, .
Records in Jacksonville “showed
that Christy rewietered at a Posen bos pr
house there on duly 17, the night of
the slayings here, indicating ptain-
ly, Mille said, thet efforts hel bon
- made by friends to frame an wh ibet
x for Chisty.

Says Mothiag Of keg
Christy in his emnifoeion sel
MAING of the berrown, hag he was
reported by witnesses tn have Leon
peeing 3 when he deahed Srey Une
Leopold apartment efter the nth.
inge. One witness e257 ba fips the
beg wihiet Christy Aropped ara
handed §$t over ts @ police offer
whe arrived on tie bere Bw irort
tne later, i

After hein gp FF i OME A A pease |
| Bre prred. finger pyr intact end giving |
his rarer A, tire la Me? wee Ylarad |
fr @ fas! rat! os & fe oe

Bia weiyess tt wet fmnerehin af the
| pleases ferwpcl in te baeeote $A wee!

i fearvet arth gaia ty were @ ees
LOA tet; [rr # ae Pigelise, gp eyef at phe
jhad CANARIO OD mI be f wlifere rig

eter @ bin (Or ste "he Wewaag
i Ce tev idert ‘oe Oe oF tee Parc@ttsle 6. ya
Seto wehbe bs. tow [oie @ taet omen ye
' Pey PNP ishme aie y Mot ting
LOR INTINIM in) ms .

4 8
i ee ee a

' The crwinwen - A eer Pky gt |
‘
El fale ar] we ity. tthe a

| [lee

Oi samerh ge

Ree erage TC et Te Maer i
ARON Biel ao

re et a Sle a

canal


Leopold Gets Gen “

Christy admitted that 7
knocked him down once in rela

hia
a t one gun
dway fram him and nit him op ons
head.

sorry that I killed Mra. Leo.
pold, her kid and Morin,” the ex-
convict told Mills. “Bue it Just

couldn't be helped. Mab es-dadLay ed

Out of and did as.

then to, the ere (

didn d °

hat moihle-agalngt them.”
Friends of Christy who apparent:

ly didn't know of his” erimes
“helped him’ white he was in
Miami, the state investigator point.
ed out. Mills refused to elaborate
on that point.

“Tt shot Morin because TL bad to,
not because I want needed
tnal ;
Mil

8 as Saying.
Morin Fonght Rack

Christy revealed that he killed
young Morin only after Morin had
wreste’ chia .22 pistol from him and
shot him in left breast. Milla said
Christy related that he had pushed

Morin out of the car, but that
apd shot hig.
‘Now you tay down there and

don't be a fool,” Christy said he
told Morin after he retrieved his
gun and marched the car owner into
the woods. ‘The youth refused to
obey Christy's command, Christy
said, but jumped up and ma
football tackle at Chr

the
car.
“You are not
car.’ Morin according
Jr °

So he shot Morin, Mills sald
Christy related in his confession.

Child Killed Accidentally

Mills sald Christy also revealed
that the Leopold boy was killed bv
two bullets that ranged downward
when one of the guns went off in
the acuffie with Leopold. He said
at one time he tossed a plece of
twine to Mrs. Leopold, and told her
to “the that kid up before. he gets
hurt.”

Christy told his estioners he
came here specificalPuscs settle an

Lold wettest) Leopold. He re-
‘fused to reveal the nature Hee

Krudge, Mills said, but indie
that Jt stemmed from “racket =:
Uv itleg and. SOT irate
peg ‘3

Mills said he told how he had
sought Leopold for three months

Sr re nd Da
Miar ¢ eee wh pee
geance. tle emphasized that rob-

| bery was not the molive.

| (Christy made his statements {n
a calm, deliberate manner, and in
the same manner traced his move
ments from the time of the killings
until his arrest in Jacksonville.

SEPT. 11,1942
—ort’p,

eet

28 OR mee gS 14a cweng re


14 Years Behind

: - Se

‘of Police Lesila H. Quigg from
Raarie F, McMenamin, _
parela officer, State of New York,
Ewa véeird him as a dangerous,
erlmina! with @ cold pergonallty
who ia deecribed by our institution.
inl psychiatrist aa &
i ur ee oo 4 a

rrimingi” 3 6486
iever would have been approved A!
he New York state division
Parole,” McMenamin said in his re
amet.
X tHe explained that Christy _
Vecharged from Auburn plate
i prison, April 21, 1842, under'a —
‘tory provision of the New York law
| which made his release mandatory
| inaermuch aa he was a second felony
| offender serving a definite sentence.
‘Christy was sentenced to prison for
:9 years from Erle county, N. Y.,
tone 3, 1936, for robbery in “the
‘hird degree and as @ second of-
he Ja San Quentin
Served Ta San Qu
“lety, aceording to the parole
~, wag first sentenced at Los
ngeles, April 16,° 18926, to San
rentin prison for from five years
) life on a charge of coher He
wan paroled after serving six yi a
io Jul $, 1934, he was arrested &
‘ffalo, N. ¥., for burglary and
‘sreany, but there is no record of;
6 cleposition of the case, accord-
“> to the New York authorities.
war again arrested at Buf-

.

“arch 8 1835, on a charge
moted grand Jarceny, and on
so ay he was charged with

i er similar offense. However,
i ‘tereh 15 he was released on
" eointa, evidently for lack of
@. dence, About a month later,
| \pril 8, he was again arrested on
| ° robbery charge .at Buffalo, an

Torn %o Page 112A

.

oe ee
De ying:

is.

Tost coast,

Contineed From Page 1
‘Sineae omsct oneenBResneRara nds act:

on May 14 of the same year, he wag
‘aken Into custody at Buffalo on
another robbery charge,

Later Christy was placed beRind
prizon walle at Attica, N: ¥., follows
ing his arrest at Buffalo Jan. 16,
1936, on two charges of robbery.
Apparently while eull in Attica
prison, McMenamin sald, the pris
i ner confessed to another robbery
snc was transferred to Auburn
‘prison, Sept. 17, 1936, under &
io-vear sentence as a@ second ofe
fender,

Violated Parole Terma

Subsequently, on April 21, 1642,
Christy war released m Aubort

and the mext day a warrant was
issued for his arrest for’ violation
of his parole since it was learned he

i had abaconded from the jurisdiction
fof the New York parole board. He
Iaone to have heen under the super:
vision of the parole board until
‘Merch 30, 1948. +3
viously shielded for ae thme by
relatives in Buffalo, Christy later,
McMenamin said he learned, dd
cided to go “nowhere” and left
Puffalo in a car he bought there,
Presumably with part of the $880
he had when he Jeft Auburn prison,
the money being his share of hig
™other’s estate, The parole officer
“ier was told Christy had left fer
“'. Louis on April’ 22, and the
clecer believed he was headed for
es Angeles, where his wife, Jose
“ine Christowski, was reported to
Christy took an apart.

meant on the same street on which

‘his wife was residing, but he left

‘hera’on May 4 for San Francisco,

“ere his wife had fled when ehe

“?* tipped off by Los Angeles police
Christy was headed for the
California police, Mc-

faint

“enamin said, lost Christy’s trad] in

isen Francisco.

Los Angeles officers said they

/svere told later that Christy was
“heovily armed and that he threat
7ned to shoot any arresting officer.

“eMenamin also said Los Angeles

othofities told him Christy was
“uspected in several robbery C2ees,

Miuam LreriacD
SoeNpayY SEPT 13,177
Page 4A

2 Anooctated With Hoodtuses
(ne report received by Chief
Quigg also revealed that in Buftato

Cy was associated with: an
oo ide gang of hoodlums” who
or a

ra time terrorized the city with
& series of robberies, Christy, he .
«aid, was suspected of participating

in at least one shooting effray.
He said

07 End
with his crtmina!

New York  state’s division of
parole is sending a warrant here
for the arrest of Christy as a parole -
violator, :
Christy’s real name is Christow-
ski. In addition to hig wife who
zoes under that name, he has, &
brother, Chester Chirletowsk!, end
two sisters, Mrz. Helen Kamia and

Mrs, Hattie Paljsano, all in |


-ecagtentrentnininnnaie

=

vous strain had made him very tired, he realized sud-
denly. Going into an upstairs bedroom he lay down
and tried to sleep.

Sleep refused to come. At a quarter to eight he arose,
dressed, shaved and went outside of the house to find
a suitable place for burial—one that must never be de-
tected.

One spot in particular appeared sient: It was located
under the stairway of the garage apartment which was
on the Henson property, not far from the house. A
vine, growing between the stairway and the garage
wall, would shelter him from prying eyes as he dug the
grave. Mr. and Mrs. William Murphy were Mrs. Hen-
son’s amiable tenants in this apartment.

He felt carefree in this first fling at murder, not an
unpleasant thought.clouding his mental horizon. He
had made his plans and they would materialize.
When they did, the slightly built Italian who had
changed his name from Caingetti when he departed
from New York many years ago, would cut the Henson
financial melon. Her estate was valued at about
twenty-five thousand dollars.

Two years ago, this forty-nine-year-old Machiavel-
lian, living by his wits, had found that a world grown
vigilant and wary from economic strife, was no longer
easy pickings. Times were exceedingly hard for. A. M.
Phillips. He even had had to try his hand at work.

son ...an angel who did her marketing in the same
grocery store he frequented. His mouth watered greed-
ily as he heard her order fine cuts of steak from the
butcher, when he could only decide whether it was
beans or a hamburger that he could best afford.
Striking up a casual acquaintance, he eased his way

DETECTIVE——
Captain Ben Clifton,
who tells here how
the case was broken.

ol ‘shenand along came an angel in the person of Mrs. Hen- —

into the Henson home at 336 Wisconsin Avenue, Day-
tona Beach, Florida, until he became a lodger there,
ceased to pay rent, and for two years occupied the
same room as his landlady. Mrs. Henson was a trusting
and lonely woman. Ten years previously she had been
divorced from a well-to-do grocer, Thomas Henson.

When she fell in love with Archibald Webb, an
Orlando insurance agent, the expensive hopes of Phillips
began to wane. What to do about it? How to gain the
purse-strings of her estate? How to continue forever
this life of toil-less ease? There was only one way,
and compared to it, all other plots paled into insig-
nificance. Murder was his answer. Murder it was. It
had been almost too easy!

He was in no hurry whatsoever to bury the body.
First he must see that a carefully fabricated story con-
cerning Mrs. Henson’s disappearance was circulated
among her friends.

Wasting no time, he called on F. B. Orr, the dead

COURT REPORTER—— (
J. E. Kelly (left) and Chief Deputy
Joe Conderman heard confession.

sor
he


n!

| q C

“Yes. I remember, Fritzy. Why?”

“I’m not angry any more, Anna,”
he announced in a forgiving tone.

“Well, that’s nice of you. I knew
you would eventually see it my
way,” she complimented him.
“Goodnight.” ,

Phillips pulled on the bed lamp.
A pale light suffused the room. In
the soft rays, on the edge of the
chair, lay a shiny-headed hammer.

“T want to have a talk with you,”
Phillips continued.

“But it’s so late, Fritzy,” Mrs.
Henson protested. “Why not wait
until tomorrow? Please.”

“No, tonight, not tomorrow!”

Realizing that when Fritz was
immersed in one of his stubborn
moods she had no choice but to
listen, she resigned herself to the
lengthy discussion she knew was
inevitable. “Very well,”
she said reluctantly.

‘Did you mean _ it
when you said I had to
get out of this house?”
Phillips. began.

Wea. ss DP did.:. sok
meant every word of
it,” she assured him.

“After two long
years!” he mumbled

brokenly.
“T’m sorry... . Really
I am .. But I’m in

love! Can’t you un-
derstand what that
means?”

“You’re in love with
me, Anna,” he begged.

“Stop that kind of
talk!” she snapped im-
patiently. “Over and
over again I’ve told you

—and learly—I A. M. PHILLIPS——
1 ibe Reahibate “Wen » born Angelo Caingetti, had found Nr
i times bad for getting rich quick, ae

“He'll never marry
you!” Phillips warned
her.

“Of course he will. It’s all ar-
ranged. Just as soon as he gets his
divorce, he’s coming over here from
Orlando. So I insist that you leave
this house. .. . Is that clear?”

Phillips drew a deep. breath.

“Perfectly!” he conceded, clench- -

ing his fists until the knuckles shone
white.

HE time had come!

With no more emotion than that
of a child about to play with a new
and fascinating toy, he reached out
and picked up the two-pound ham-

aA,

mer, spinning its head around in his
hand. His lips were silent. His
face was drawn into taut lines.

Anna Henson turned her head
sideways, a wistful, questioning
look in her eyes. . .. And in the
cold, immobile eyes of the killer she
must suddenly have read’ her
answer. :

“No! No! Fritzy!” she gasped.

Mere pleading words were futile
—impotent—dashed into fragments
by an iron-bound determination.

Springing to his feet with the
furor of a panther, Phillips raised
the hammer aloft, brandishing it
for a split second over his cowering
victim. To see the shivering figure
under bedclothes pulled tightly
around her gave him a warm glow
of triumph.

“Please! Oh, please! Oh, for

The elaborate plans
of a cold-blooded
slayer were work-
ing perfectly, but
he had made the
one inevitable
stupid error.

By DET. CAPT.
BEN CLIFTON

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.

as told to
JOHN RYNNE

‘ AN
God’s sake, Fritzy!” she pleaded.

But her entreaties for mercy fell
on deaf ears. The hammer made
one forceful, unobstructed blow
and smashed the skull of the cow-
ering woman on the bed.

Again and again and again he
struck with murderous force!

A geyser of blood leaped into the
air, saturating his fingers... . unno-
ticed in the feverish excitement of
his lust to kill. The hail of blows
ceased. Downstairs the clock
chimed four. Anna Henson emitted
a weak, strangling gasp—her last!

She lay very quiet. ... A corpse,

white-skinned, silhouetted against
a background of gore.

With an air of efficiency, Phillips
went to the bathroom, where he
scrubbed his hands clean, washed
all traces of blood from the ham-
mer, then re-entered the room of
death, stood silently by the bed,
gazing serenely at the havoc he had

- wrought.

Lighting a cigar, he stood as if
transfixed. The exertion and ner-

av

£
i
f
&

woman’s banker, at the Florida Bank and Trust
Company.

“Anna was taken sick and I had to put her on a train
for Jacksonville,” he informed Mr. Orr.

“Well, I’m certainly sorry to hear that,” said the
banker sympathetically.

“Yes, it’s a shame... . Anna always enjoyed such
good health. She couldn’t stay in Jacksonville, for her
old doctor had gone to New York and she wanted to
be with him. She’s going to take treatments there.”

The banker consoled him. Everything would come
out satisfactorily—he was sure. ,

“Oh, yes,” Phillips said casually, “I nearly forgot.
She wants me to. collect her property rentals. These I
will deposit to her account.”

Then he went to see William J. Gardiner, Mrs. Hen-
son’s attorney and trusted business adviser, to whom
he repeated the same tale, adding, ‘In New York she
will be able to get radium treatments. You know

ON THE HORIZON——

turning over a list of the properties to Phillips.

learned the concocted story from his talkative lips.

her with a cheerful “Hello”.

“J want to take all my lunches with you,” he an-

nounced.

“J guess that will be all right, Mr. Phillips,” Mrs.

Clark agreed.
“Good! Then'I’ll start today.”

“Aren’t you staying at Henson’s any more?” Mrs.

Clark asked him.

“Oh, sure; this is only a temporary arrangement until

Anna returns,” he told her.

Mrs. Clark was puzzled. “Returns? ... Why? . .

Where has Mrs. Henson gone?”
“I’m sorry,” apologized Phillips.

Was bloody death and murder for wealthy widow.
Mrs. Anna Henson (right), shown on Daytona Beach.

how it is when the health of a woman begins to break.”
“yes, I understand,” the attorney said courteously,

Almost every acquaintance he met that morning

By noontime he was hungry and crossed the street
to the. boarding house of Mrs. Margaret Clark, greeting

“IT thought every-

body knew. You see, she had to go to New York for
treatment. Gland trouble. The doctor is using radium
on her.”

For the remainder of the day the murderer attended
to his nefarious schemes and puttered around the house
and the yard, while the rapidly stiffening body of Mrs.
Henson lay inert upon its murder crib where it reposed
until 4:30 p.m. the next day. But he first stripped two
diamond rings ‘from her fingers. These he hid, along
with her wrist watch and earrings.

A passerby would have observed nothing unusual
in Phillips’ behavior that afternoon. Sleeves rolled up,
shovel in hand, he was the picture of domestic tran-
quillity. Between the stairway and garage wall he

fashioned a neat and lengthy grave—almost four feet

deep. Now to prepare the body for burial.

He felt no compunction in touching the corpse. What
had to be done, would be done, he told himself philo-
sophically. Carefully he wrapped the body of Mrs.

a.
Fe

DEPUTY SHERIFF—

Walter Campbeli of Daytona Beach telephoned his
chief: “It looks like we've got a murder over here.”

Henson in a sheet; covered the head with newspapers.
Around the bundle he rolled a quilt, which he ‘covered
with a sturdy canvas, binding the entire bulky package

with strong wire.

OST of his neighbors were finishing their dinner.
No powerful rays from automobile headlight in-
terfered with the darkness. Everything appeared safe.
Cautiously he opened the door, seized the heavy dead-
weight burden and dragged it across the yard. ... It

was fatiguing work.

He rolled the body laboriously into the freshly dug

grave and filled the excavation with sand.

The. next morning, under the subterfuge of water-
ing the flowers, he patted down the sand with his
shovel, making it firm on top of the grave. But he

wasn’t through yet. ...

Both he and Mrs. Henson had been friendly with Sam
McNealy, the carpenter, and his wife. He called Sam
(Continued on page 82)

7)

on the phone.

ts

<>

v,

a

82

ternal upheaval incited by outside
forces.” ;
Here, in Southern California, the
menace is especially great. We lead
the nation in aircraft production. One
of the nation’s greatest naval bases

is at San Diego. An equally impor-~

tant air base, March Field, is within
our borders. And only a few miles
and a few hours away—the foreign
soil of Mexico! We are the natural
target of all the traitors, all the Fifth
Columnists.

It is a big job. We are going at it
full blast. President Roosevelt has
given the F.BJI. full charge of all
anti-Fifth .Column work. That in-
cludes espionage, sabotage, subver-
sive activities and violations of the
Neutrality Act. The F.B.I.’s personnel
was increased 10 per cent. But it is
still far too undermanned. Just con-
sider the number of subversive ac-
tivity cases handled by the Bureau:

During the years 1933-38, the av-

DETECTIVE

“Sam, I’ve got a job for you.” He
explained he wanted the carpenter to
enclose the apartment stairway and
to construct a wooden floor.

“It will serve for a wash house,”
he told the carpenter, thinking how
safe the body would be under the
wooden floor.

McNealy carried out Phillips’ in-
structions, the Italian acting as over-
seer for awhile. Then he retired to
the house, reclined in an easy chair.

The mistress of the house was gone
forever, but her blood was on every
step. Opening a bottle of formalde-

“hyde, he endeavored to eradicate the

traces wherever they appeared. The
mattress, though, refused stubbornly
to give up the evidence and Phillips
was obliged to use a sharp knife to cut
out its tell-tale marks.

The mattress was a wreck, but
Phillips decided it would be wasteful
to destroy it. Jumping into the car
he went to see a mattress maker
named Jack Greenman, intent on pur-
chasing a cover. Greenman had no
cover in stock but agreed to accom-
pany him to the house and sew on a
new one.

As he trudged up the stairs with
Phillips, Greenman saw a pool of
blood Phillips had overlooked.

“What happened here last night, Mr.
Phillips? Did you have a murder?”

Phillips paled slightly, turning his
face away to hide any emotion that
might slip to the ‘surface.

“Why do you say that?” he asked
calmly.

“Blood!” Greenman pointed a
pasty at one of the steps. “See! Right

ere!” :

“Oh, that.” Phillips laughed. “A
woman visitor from New York did
that. She had a miscarriage. It was
on the mattress, too.”

Without further thought, Greenman
went to work sewing a new cover on
the disfigured mattress.

Mail was arriving for Mrs. Henson.
Phillips’ carefully laid plans pre-
cluded this. At 109 West 90th Street,
New York city, resided Mary Coyle.

CRIME DETECTIVE

erage was 35 sabotage and espionage
cases a year.

In 1938 there were 250 cases.

In 1939 there were 1,651!

And this year there will be many,
many more. Complaints are pouring
into the fifty FBL field offices every
day and in ever mounting totals.

With the able assistance of Sheriff
Eugene W. Biscailuz we have organ-
ized an  Anti-Subversive Division
here in Los Angeles County. Its per-
sonnel is drawn from the District
Attorney’s staff, the Sheriff’s office
and all the departments of the police
force. Plus the police organizations
of the various aircraft manufacturing
companies, the motion picture studios
and the public utility companies.
These men, all highly trained investi-
gators, devote their entire time, at-
tention and efforts to combatting un-
American activities.

Up to July 1, 1940, the Anti-Sub-
versive Division handled more than

2,000 complaints. This, however, does
not include the flood of phone calls
and letters we have received. Phone
calls, alone, average 150 daily.

The Division’s aim and purpose is
to work with the F.B.I. in stamping
out treason in Southern California.
We are doing so in a calm, quiet, un-
hysterical way. But vigorously and
with utmost efficiency. And above
all, in a wholly legal manner. We do
not intend to fight un-Americanism
with un-American methods. Our task
is to protect and defend the Consti-
tution of the United States. We can-
not do that by tearing it down.

Those enemies within our gates
who would destroy our American
birthright of freedom and liberty
must be crushed out.

To this sacred duty we have dedi-
cated all our time, all our energies,
all our thoughts.

There can be but one Ism in this
country—Americanism!

CASE OF THE CONCEALED CORPSE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 67

For a number of years she filled the
bill of landlady to Phillips. She be-

lieved in: him implicitly; would do '

anything he asked.

In a long letter Phillips asked her
to remail all letters Phillips sent to
New York; also to forward to him
letters sent to Mrs. Henson in her
care. It was a forceful letter, in-
structing her to obey without ques-
tion. Knowing nothing of the murder,
Mrs, Coyle did as she was asked.

Ripping open Mrs. Henson’s letters,
he framed .answers on a_ portable
typewriter and forged her signature,
This took many hours of tedious prac-
tice, but Phillips was not discouraged.
Forgery had been another of his side-
lines and not too difficult for him.

Anybody now receiving letters from
Mrs. Henson would naturally believe
that they came from New York where
she was supposed to be undergoing
treatment,

Hus did the diabolical plotter
gain power of attorney over Mrs.
Henson’s bank account and for the
first time in his crooked career could
sit back and write out checks.’ Rent-
ing a safe deposit box at the Florida
Bank and Trust Company, he stored
away the jewelry of the deceased
woman. Later this would be con-
verted into cash.

He then went on a letter-writing
spree, addressing letters to himself.
These he would occasionally display
to people. All of them spoke very
highly of him with references to
“Phil dear” and “Phil is such a good
man”. Invariably they told of sums
of money, one sum in particular
totaling five thousand dollars he had

given her.

Mrs. Henson had two nieces in Ft.
Wayne, Indiana. They were wealthy
women of excellent social standing.
Their names were Mrs. Margaret King
and Mrs. Louise Beggs. It would do
no harm, thought Phillips, to snip
open their purse strings. To accom-
plish this, he wrote to each:

“And now, Margaret, dear, this

is what I want from you and your
sister Louise and that is I need
some money you see dear it is
costing me some money here in
New York and Phila and I have
two Doctors to pay and my hus-
band to be has given me wright
up to now about five thousand
dollars and only on the morning
that I left he gave me five hun-
dred dollars moor and you see I
don’t want to sponge on Phil dear
as much as I did as I Kave been
taking all this cash away and I
don’t want to let him know that
I am running out of money. And I
could youse about three hundred
dollars. And now I will close as I
want to write to Louise and tell
Susie that I will write to her soon
so give my love to Susie and Sul-
via and Doc.

Love, Aunt Anna.”

This idea of fake marriage struck
his fancy. He would go to New York
supposedly for that purpose, then re-
turn alone, claiming his new wife had
to remain there for treatments. As the
established husband of Mrs. Henson
he would feather his nest with her
money, gradually liquidating all her
holdings. After that, he would leave
Daytona Beach. Possibly a sea voy-
age with a one-way ticket.

To pave the way for the New York
trip he let it be bruited about that he
contemplated marriage with Mrs.
Henson. Just in case anybody going
from Daytona Beach to that city
should attempt to personally get in
touch with her, he exhibited various
letters to the effect that she was com-
muting between New York and Phila-
delphia for treatments. This would
forestall any attempt to see her.

Before leaving for New York he
again called on F. B. Orr. “Orr,” he
proudly informed him, “Mrs. Henson
and I = to be married in New
York. am leaving immediately.”

“Well now, that’s fine,” Orr said
impersonally. He had never been too
friendly with Phillips, but was a

‘


Jee

T omm 4 1,

a] \ NOG A Mi .2 o - y M4
LiANGETIT, Angelo Michael, wh, elec. FL (Volusia) ,arch 23, 1942.

Clifton of the Daytona, Fla., police force,
Postal Inspector: E. G. Allen drove thought-

fully toward the quiet residential street called Wis-
consin place. The houses on the street were
substantial and in good taste and it seemed a ‘
pleasant, friendly neighborhood. AG \
“That’s the Henson place there,” Clifton said, ie an
pointing to a brown coquina stone bungalow, set OR ; '
in the midst of palms, bamboos, magnolias and
}

A clifton of the by Detective Capt. Ben

hibiscus. The officers turned toward the house.

Two mysterious letters mailed to two women in
Fort Wayne, Ind., had brought the officers to this Aa
house on that warm morning of March 8, 1940. Y iy ‘
Something was drastically wrong and what it was, % }
the officers intended to learn. The letters had been +e
mailed from New York to two nieces of Mrs. Anna :
K. Henson, formerly of Fort Wayne, who had lived

November, 1940

ie te

for many years in Daytona Beach. Mrs. Hehson was a well-
to-do divorcee and owned a considerable amount of property
in the Florida city.

In the letters she had told her nieces that she was ill and
in a hospital “somewhere between New York and Philadelphia”
and needed $300. A return address on the letters named a room-
ing house in New York.

Highly suspicious, the nieces had turned the letters over to
the postal authorities. The women knew that Mrs. Henson did
not need money. They did not believe she was ill. They were
certain that she did not write the letters because they were
typewritten and filled with poor English.

Postal authorities in New York had gohe to the return
address given on the letters and found a wothan who said she
mailed them at the request of a man named A. M, Phillips of
Daytona Beach. The investigation was shifted immediately
southward and placed in charge of Inspector Allen. He enlisted
the aid of the local police and obtained astonishing information,

Months after Mrs. Anna K. Henson, above, vanished from

this comfortable home in a quiet section of Daytona Beach,

police were called into the case and discovered the key to
her disappearance in the wash shed, arrow, left.

A. M. Phillips had been boarding-at the home of Mrs. Henson

' for several years and only a month earlier the local papers had

carried an announcement of his marriage to the comely divorcee !

A brief moment after the officers rang the bell at the Henson
home, a small, dark man, about 45 years old, came to the door.
He was neatly dressed in comfortable sport clothes. He ap-
peared slightly surprised when the officers identified themselves
but immediately cordially invited them inside.

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” Phillips asked genially.

Inspector Allen wasted no time. “Did you write letters to
two women in Fort Wayne, Indiana, signing Mrs. Henson’s
name?” he asked.

Phillips raised his brows in surprise and asked for the names
of the women. He repeated them, then shook his head slowly.
“I am very sorry,” he said, “but I do not know them at all.”


The officers noted that Phillips spoke with a noticeable accent.
There was evidence in the suspicious letters that they had been
written by a foreigner or someone not thoroughly familiar with
the English language.

‘Are you an Italian?” Allen asked suddenly.

“Yes,” the man said. “My parents were Italian. My name is
Angie Michael Caingetti, but almost all my life I have used
the name of Phillips.”

“T see,” said Allen. “Mind if we look the house over ?”

Phillips produced an elaborate shrug. “Certainly not. I will
help you.”

“Oh, I guess I can find my way around all right. You stay
here and talk to the captain. He might want to ask you one
or two questions.”

Inspector Allen went off on his search and Detective Clifton
said:

“Yes, I have a question. Where is Mrs. Henson?”

“She is in a hospital somewhere between New York and
Philadelphia. I don’t know the name of this hospital.”

“When did she go up there?” ;

“Well, let me see.” Phillips frowned in deep concentration.
“Yes, now I know. I took her to the train at fout-twenty a. m.,
January eighteenth.”

‘Have you heard from her since then?”

“Oh, yes. She has written me many letters. The last one I
got about the first of March. She told me she would be home
about April.”

“May I see that letter ?”

“Sorry, I am afraid I have destroyed it.”
Clifton scowled. “I hear that you and Mrs. Henson got
married. Is that right?”

Phillips beamed. ‘‘That is true. I went to New York—let me

see—February seventeenth, it was. We were married in New
York.”

“Now, look,” said Clifton. “Your wife is ill enough to have
been in the hospital for almost two months. Yet you don’t
know what hospital she’s in. Is that what you want me to
believe ?” ,

“That’s right. She changed hospitals so I am not sure which
one.” 4

Inspector Allen called down from upstairs: “All right, Cap-
tain, bring him up here a minute.”

Phillips and Clifton went. upstairs. The inspector pointed to
a typewriter on a table in one of the bedrooms.

“Can you use that?” he asked Phillips.

“Not so well.”

“Well, suppose you just sit down and write me a letter on
that typewriter. I’ll dictate it slowly.”

The inspector took one of the letters out of his pocket that
had been mailed to Ft. Wayne. via the New York address. He
dictated it slowly while Phillips typed laboriously. Allen took
the sample out of the machine and compared the two letters.

“Now,” said the inspector, “let’s go back downstairs.”

Down in the living room, Allen saw a writing desk over in
one corner. With Phillips and Clifton standing by, he went
through it carefully. It yielded nothing to serve his purpose.
The postal inspector’s sharp gaze then fell on a waste basket
beside the desk. He stooped over and fished out the torn

Officers opened the shallow, secret
grave, right, and discovered a
quilt-wrapped corpse which was
used to cinch the case against a
nonchalant murderer.


New

have
lon’t
ie to

hich
Cap-

ed to

er on

t that
3. He
1 took

rs.

ver in
> went
irpose.
basket

e torn

é , eh.
}

ae ae | poate

llow, secret
scovered a
which was
> against a
lerer.

portions of a letter. These he pieced together on the desk.
“Ah, yes,” Phillips exclaimed triumphantly, “I am glad you

- found that. That is the last letter my wife wrote me from New

York. See, she says she is getting along nicely. I just told Mr.
Clifton I was afraid I had destroyed the letter.” ;

Inspector Allen looked up with a sarcastic smile on his lips.,
He said:

“You destroyed it all right. Then you planted it here as.an
ace in the hole to prove your story. But you weren’t very smart,
Phillips. Mrs. Henson couldn’t have written you this letter
from New York. It was written on that typewriter upstairs.
So were the ones mailed to Indiana. :

“The typewriter isn’t the only thing that gives you away,
Phillips. All of these letters are written with an ‘accent,’ the
same one with which you speak. Moreover, we know that this
woman remailed the letters for you in New York. Now what’s
your story?” ae

A look of consternation flashed across the other’s swarthy

’ features.

“You have talked with the lady in New York ?” he asked
incredulously. “You did that?”

“Sure we did,” snapped Allen. “So you might as well quit
stalling. You avrote all of these letters yourself, didn’t you?
Even this one addressed to yourself? And forged Mrs. Henson’s
signatures to them?” .

oe ES Daaiey codhnt Si hasta

Phillips sighed audibly. “Yes,” he said, “I wrote the letters

myself, You seem to know everything.”
“Not everything by a jugful,” cut in Clifton sharply. “If

. you forged all this stuff, I want to know where Mrs. Henson is.”

“Well, if there’s another angle to this plot,” said the postal

‘inspector, “you fellows can tackle that. My job is the mail

fraud angle and I’ve got plenty of evidence on that.” He turned
to Phillips. “(Get your hat and coat. We'll be leaving.”

“First I will put down the windows and lock up,” the little
man replied coolly, and unhurriedly performed the task under
the watchful eyes of the two Officers.

Phillips was then lodged in the city jail and held on_the
technical charge of using the mail to defraud while Capt.
Clifton and his aides propounded the question:

“Where is Mrs, Henson?”

They continued to’ propound that question unceasingly
throughout the. rest of the day and night. Phillips, however,
resisted the strenuous quizzing with a cool demeanor. He stuck
to his original story with unshakable stubbornness. Mrs. Hen-
son, he said, was hospitalized at an undisclosed location.

When asked to produce a marriage certificate to corroborate
that part of his story, the prisoner replied that it was in the
possession of Mrs. Henson. He was evasive about all details
of the ceremony, where it had taken place and where he and
his bride had resided afterward in New York.

On the following day’ the detectives requested the aid of
S. E. “Ed” Stone, sheriff of Volusia county. The sheriff took
complete charge of the investigation into the mysterious where-

abouts of Mrs. Henson. The officers were convinced they were
[Continued on page 64]

His attention drawn to the disappearance of
the well-to-do divorcee through a crude mail
fraud effort, Sheriff $. E. “Ed” Stone, above
left, plunged into a search for the vanished
matron. Deputy Slaughter, right, discovered
the attractive victim’s secret grave.


Saturday,

lea i ie ie

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9 Bee ee rer ile ae
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8/8 ond HN Hi ese rr
gee 2s de bain fin hi dof gondg Hay 82
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On Eee 4 ’

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mer RT Sect

ea Ae tg

ears

. “st Senge

* sae sie

CrAss Or SERVICE

This is a full-rate i” oe oe
Telegram or Cable-

DL = Day Letter a
NM = Night Message © | '
NL = Night Leteer 730." | 3

2 pets

am unless its de-
<a is ix LC = Deferred Cable :- :~
dicate a suitable
symbol aoe or pre NLT = Cable Night Letter
ceding the address. J. C. WILLEVER
: pang BP oe eee ¢_ > St She Redtogren

Tho filing time shown in the date line on telegrams and day letters is STANDARD TIME at point of origin. Time of recoipt is STANDARD TIME at point of destination.

Received at 1939. AUG 318 Pi 10: “3 00 4
JNA280 55 NU a EXTRA= JACKSONVILLE FLO 21) “4 *

MR CONE= rot
_ SECRETARY TO GOVERNOR TALLAHASSEE FLO= eer

ELECTROCUTION “OF THREE JUVENILE NEGRO BOYS WHO ARE BEING
EXECUTED ON. MONDAY SEPTEMBER FOURTH WHOSE AGES ARE FIFTEEN.

AM APPEALING TO YOU ‘TO ASK GOVERNOR CONE TO STAY THE. ih

IL FURTHER INVESTIGATION THEY. HAVE NOT HAD |

a en nn nt np ee

AND SIXTEEN UNT.

A HEARING IN THE SUPREME COURT PLEA

YOURS FOR HUMANITY =
EARTHA M M WHITE,

ee

ASE CONSIDER THIS APPEAL:

—-

611 WEST ASHLEY sr

: =NO ‘ADDITIONAL CHARGE, ate MADE FOR | REQUESTING A REPLY BY WESTERN UNION

MONET Sr ai

SAR MATS: a St

WESTER]
UNION

NEWCOMB CARLTON |...

Ciass. OF SERVICE

* pL Day Lael a
| KNL@Night Lecrery
eis ees ae

“This is a full-race
Telegram or. Cable [| 20 00s.’
gam, unless its dei }yo-4 4

rred character is ine! |---| .%
dicated by a suitable |...
symbol above or pre- |. =
ceding the address. ;

R. B. WHITE © yr”

A PRESIDENT |”

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

i
The filing time shown in the date line on telegrams and = letters is STANDARD TIME at point of Eat

NBL22 51 DL=VACKSONVILLE FLO 29 1131A\{
— FRED CONE ey
"(GOVERNOR CLINTON HOTELS! 2 Sa
me ye eee tin 4 ‘ m ue ‘, ;
-THREE BOYS UNDER 17 YEARS SENTENCED TO DIE MONDAY MORNING
-|-REPRESENTED THEM AT TRIAL RESPECTFULLY REQUEST STAY OF

EXECUTION AND OPPORTUNITY TO A

a!

PPEAR BE BEFORE PARDON BOARD.

a ‘

ING THESE BOYS | 4

Mn tg

(THOUT A ELNAL

p HARRY “SILVERe

oe er CY a ‘ : oop ches oe

THD comrany WILL APrRECIATH SUGGESTIONS FROM ITs PATRONS CONCERNING
: 1 RGIS ‘F Fa

FRANCIS R. BRIDGES, JR.
CHAIRMAN

JOSEPH Y. CHENKY FLORIDA PAROLE COMMISSION

COMMISSIONER“SECRETARY

JAMES T. VOCELLE

COMMISSIONER ‘TALLAHASSEE 1)
December 10, 1941 (e (Q) Pp

reproduced by

FLORIDA STATE ARCHIVES

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

R. A. GRAY BUILD’ —
State Board of Pardons eitean vi 32399-025
Capitol Building qu Bo. ——

Tallahassee, Florida
Gentlemen:

The Parole Commission has, pursuant to your request,
carefully read and considered the record in the case of the
State of Florida vs. Willie B. Clay, Nathaniel Walker, and
Edward Powell, convicted“in’ the’ Circuit Court in and for
Duval County, Florida, on December 8, 1938, of the first
degree murder of one Mary Louise Curtis, and sentenced to
death, and we submit our conclusions with reference thereto.

It appears from the record in the case that the
defendants had a fair and impartial trial. They were ably
represented by experienced counsel. The case was fairly
and impartialy handled by the able and distinguished State
Attorney of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, Honorable William
A. Hallowes, III. The jury impanelled to’try the case
rendered a verdict of guilty without recommendation to mercy.
A motion for new trial was duly made and denied. A Writ of
Error was sued out to the Supreme Court of Florida and on
May 24, 1940 that Court handed down its decision by which
the conviction was upheld in a unanimous opinion written
by Mr. Justice Chapman. The entire gist of the opinion is,
we think, summed up in the first sentence of the last para-
graph thereof in which the Court said: "We fail to find
error in the record."

A petition has been made ‘to the State Board of Pardons
on behalf of the defendants for commutation of the death
sentence to life imprisonment. The sole basis for this peti-
tion is on the ground of the youth of the defendants. The
Supreme Court in its opinion having said: "The ages of the
defendants here present a very serious question. We feel
that this question under the laws of Florida is addressed to
the discretion of the Board of Pardons."

It appears from the testimony of Nathaniel Walker that
— he was born on the eighth day of August, 1923. It appears from
the testimony of Edward Powell that he was born on April 15,

1923, and from the testimony of Willie B. Clay it appears that
he was born December 25, 1992. Ye thus appears, so far as the

~s

ngs. One ofthe:
‘longed to a close”
10, understand-*

» be identified.

McGrath ' several | Ff

tings at the state

jid not seem in-. .
ing the killings,
3s remorse. He

sted, remembers

is classmates re-

ned.

ss—?” McGrath
bout one of. his me

Ss.

ag, bitchy as ev-

iend.
hould have told
hn McGrath.

ll the years: ‘Me- ‘3
n to speak with ©
authorities about:

; no record of his .”
t for what he had —

vith one newspa-
days after his'ar-..

| always enjoyed
” and exploding

ony fronts.” The’ *

t some of his -.
ea and confused Me
ncerned over ru- »

tempted suicide:

out to be the one:
ed,” he respond-~.
e figured out by .
the biggest.front ;

er he would: fool 5

juvenile. hearing

shootings, a local
ice certified Mc- .
iction of the’ Su- —

‘dered him placed
it the state hospi-
4s appointed .and
to administer the
oy John’s parents.
»sychiatrists pro-
1 incompetent to

ears later a Grand >

-Grath was insane
nootings and com-
state hospital for

d his love for
_ aid enrolled in
urses in computer
ame something of
ven serving in the
dent of a hospital

¥ Gregory Drake watched grimly as.
. the man who murdered his father:
¢ 13. years earlier was finally: exes:
>: cuted in the electric chair ‘at Flo
. ida State Prison in Starke.

Jaycees chapter. In 1968' h
and obtained:court: permission
‘tend a local technical training” insti-
tute. Less than one year la
thing went very wrong. =) fee >
McGrath was baieee rrameferred |
to the state prison from the/hospital
after he became heavily involved in’ He

JUSTICE

Thanks to interventioi’ by the
- Gov. -Bob Martinez, 38-year-ol

‘The. killer, Raymon

ae

The kidnappers could ot: ash

‘Less than three’ ‘week al er, int

© Virginia, 37-year-old Buddy Earl.
_ Justus went to the electric chair for _

~ the rape and slaying of 21-year-old -
Ida Mae Moses, almost niné months .

. pregnant, back in 1978. Later the’
» same month,’ he murdered a 32-,':
»> year-old woman in Georgia and a
. 21-year-old woman in Florida..He.
“'~ also received the death penalty for”

_ these atrocities, but the pe ireinia:,
conviction. was first. Ohh.

: “Let me be the last per on, ” he | Te
said of the “barbaric” death pen-
* alty. “There is a better wa} y to deal
‘with ‘crimes than eee eoples’.

Oe iow |

lives.” 38
ey. Gopreetowa? U
professor had futilely argued on Jus-'
tus’ behalf that recent tests had dis«

e ought —

onito at-

AT LAST

osed he was born with brain dam-
age worsened by head injuries at age
. Gov. L. Douglas Wilder re-
ected a petition urging clemency.

gomery County who had investi-

gated the Moses rape-slaying and
: -— remained haunted by it ever since,
sh Clark, 49, was the 25th inmate ex-.
ecuted since the state resumed cap-'
*. ital punishment in 1979. Three: years

::. earlier,: the Supreme Court <re-.
*, instated the death penalty ’ ‘and all
. told since then there have been 142

» executions. Florida is second only
4, to Texas in the total number.
 » With’a teenage companion, Clark.
- kidnapped David Drake, @ scrap

' yard owner, from the parking lot of f
‘. a St. Petersburg bank on April 27,
» 1977, and made him write.# check —
" for $5,000 payable to cash.'In a se-_
cluded area, Clark, then on parole’

>, from California in the killing of a:

* 14-year-old boy, shot, Drake twice ©

-. in the head. Eee

witnessed the execution.

» “He was afforded a great deal
more dignity than Ida Moses,” the
sheriff said. “At least he had ,his

Justus was the 11th person to die
in the Virginia electric chair in the

"past nine years and the 143rd to be
“put to death since the death penalty

was reinstated by the Supreme
Court in 1976.

“In Redwood City, Calif., there
‘was an anguished plea for speedy
» justice from a man who had lost his

wife, three daughters and two .-

“granddaughters to his son-in-law, -

~27-year-old Ramon Salcido. In ad- —
* dition to killing his wife and two |
e ' daughters, his mother-in-law and -
* the check, so they phoned Gregory: “two sisters-in-law, Salcido also killed
-~ Drake, promising his father’s saf ;
_ return in exchange for $10,000. Po-.,. “I ask everyone to forgive me for
-- lice traced more calls and arrested ;
~ Clark’s’ companion. He’ testified”
~ against Clark and served nine years =
~~ of a 25-year sentence bef re peing,
‘f pardoned. ie ti:

a winery supervisor. ©

the things that I have done,” Sal- _
“cido told the court. “I want to ex- —

"press that I repent for the things

“that have happened to the family —
| that I loved the most, and for all the
i ‘grief and pain that I have caused.” *
But his stricken father-in-law, |,
‘Robert Richards, sobbing loudly, ©

- told Judge Reginald Littrell of Sier-
‘ra County Superior.Court: “Why
drag this out for years? He ad-
‘mitted he did it.”

if: Judge Littrell, who could have re-
aduced a jury recommendation to life P

‘in prison without parole, agreed,

‘and sentenced Salcido to die in the .
. San Quentin gas chamber. — .
Prosecutor Peter Bumerts, who |
was later asked whether he thought -
'Salcido’s apology had been sincere, :

_replied tartly:

"sincere outpouring.”

, from an overdose.
(continued on page 50)

Sheriff Louis E. Barber of Mont-

“1 think we saw a single out- :
pouring of emotions by Mr. Rich-
_ ards today —and that was the only

| narcotics and hallucinogenic drugs.
i‘ According to local police, McGrath
and another inmate broke into the
AI hospital pharmacy and stole drugs,
“some of which they sold to fellow
\ patients. One patient nearly died

a tle ACD

3 Moen. Ase, V7, 1949
- pe PAGE 4A

Rye AUCH WILLIAMBON

wide World Geevtel Wetter
Aug. 16.—Nobody can beat the
fice department's record on murder
for ‘he first six months of this year,

four murdera committed: 24

the record achieved? Inspector

“fle man with a blue sult and
‘ha maroon hand, settled him-
neat, glass-topped desk,

‘is. he sald,
‘hy most murdererg are Cap»
* people ask us to guarantee them
hefore they will talk. +
on naturally feart

Continned From Page i

“ha case hecomes : tcnitnelpeinmaeruay
neler Al cae eae retuired good detective work Pank, Cash shot Alm to death
| people were found, and they list. hia hody trite R oats a0 and ul |
te ody w ed Beard’s Daiins haunts. j * Hee oS Reece which |
somechody wha . - Detec. | ee had bought es reclally ff
os, eo tives kept watch on these places | so nurp ai ehic oe cane
nation—a sweets and one dav Deard showed H PORE, estimating hig Victim's
15, An enemy. When ae eee up, nize accurately, *
nemy, He was romptly collared and c |
oo ‘argh placed the cotton sack
kes contact with} taken to jail. end ite bloady contents {
‘he care uaually is. The cage of Robert Lacy Cash car trunk and County drove pts
ig aiftferent. He committed an town ta return ‘the pistol] Th
‘era, Fritz points “ almost-perfect crime, only to give he went to @ lone] sub vey |
‘the-moment « af- himself away, Cash wag sen. welghted the cotton foe: oer
tre little or no tenged to a life term in the Texas ‘hrew Helfman's body Into a peol
Most of those nitentiary- for the slaying of Questioned when Helfman' was
‘ote total, this , marry Leon Helfman, a Brooklyn, missed, Cash explained that he
at variety. But, N. Y., salesman, on Nov, 15, 1937, had bought Helfman's car. He dis.
‘anned fingers “He doesn’t know how near he raved the bill of sale and said
sh afile- lake tie Came to getting away with it." ‘oat Melfman had told him he
Heard—that one the Imapector mused, pushing his “a8 going to New York
mong, straw hat back on his-head. 'f Cash had stuch h
frocuted for the Reads Crime Magazine the motor company pe ets
Roberts, a ree Cash working ¢ ® free man ‘today. “But afte,
‘active. Motor company ano ne eeae eral police questionings ne pee
> shows that driver. He met Hel ke ans parently hecame frightened,
“vice station on learned that Helfman intended go. 186 (he tar for a cheaper one,
Serts, who war iug to New York. Cash bought rocketed the difference and left
 aOn. reached and read a number of detective oe. :
and ta ee about crime: oh something “Moxie and. bese ould heed
as gun killed Then he talked with Helfman "highways. Cash wag found A
and made a deal to buy the New * Curist camp. He showed police
‘lee Work Yorker’s car. He told Helfman ‘here to find Heifman’s body.
2 But a phesiess to make out the bill of sale, then to ese
“save, But do. accompany him to his bank. for
ARE: Wake the money,
Aaa} ‘Iiption, | Helfman never reached the
"money freely, | Tern to Poa
‘aired and hanc- i. eo “6:6
“*S a candy sales-


Miami News
Proce, 17, (O42

Pace 72

Drop Latest
Murder Clue

4 wueamaaisil that lace wr, Fttin-
ger, 28, held by Salt Lake City, a

police, on a Los Angeles fe
charge, is the man wanted in
nection with the ‘Leopeld- Marin

lv eliminated Monday, Capt.
Melchen of the homicide, bureau,

gaid.

Police headquarters in ine thah
city disclosed that Ettinger,
_|Gilbert Williams, was held at
Douglas in Salt Lake City on July
17, the date of the quadruple killing
here, as an army deagrier from Fort
Myers, Fia., Melchert said,

Ettinges. was turnest over ta civil.
lan authorities for prosecution on
the forgery charges after an inver-
tigation ‘revealed he. had a prison
record, Salt Lake City police said

The asserted the man taken into
custody there deserfed from the
United States army air base at Fort
Myers Mav 24, and that he had

forged checks in several
cities, including Philadelphia, In-
dignapolis, St. touls, Denver aa
Los Angeles.

murders here July 17, were ctw.

Mian News
6 617, 1042

Hage \G

TV» tty

AS MURDER SUSPECT

Poasibility of a connection
tween an alleged tomer eal and army
deserter held by Salt Lake City,
Utah, authorities during the week
end and the Leopold-Morin mure
ders here on July 17, was virtually
eliminated Monday.

Police officials at Salt Lake City
disclowed Monday that the suepect,
George W. Ettinger, allaa Gilbert
Williams, who was held on Loe
Angelea forgery charges, was being
held at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake
City on July 17, the date of the
Miami quadruple slaying. They said
Ettinger was held as a deserter
from Fort Myers, Fis. -

Ettinger was turned over ta

.[ civilian authorities: for prosecution
_jon forgery charges.

SOROS 2 ee as Be Seater eae ht BS ea

TES ee a

a

Ky STERPHESN HARRIS
their seventh week of

iooumte

meretigating the quadruple Lao.
peid-Morin murders of July 37,
‘Miami palice Monday estimated
thes asd onvestigaied al least a

catagen suspects. none of whom were
itetained more than a few hours
om (he (ist waa the former
of Mra Ether Leopold,
a@he wae eliminated a few hours
when it war learned he was
army camp in Texan. Neat
i fhan to draw (heir attention, a foe-

j
ner

i Boeat
ye foeg nc

iit ee

Par

Mah MRS

i also in a Texas army
pian

I

|

Following that, a number

efoinen were picked up and placed

Police Still Baffled

partner of Laopold. ended the!
| eame way with decovery that th@! saw

in imeups because they resembled

Miaiami Davey Newe

“aes. —>err. |, 1540

Pace AB

the deacription given by witnesses
of the killer they saw danh away,
from the Leopold S W. Elghth at.
kosher butcher ebop.

Other Suapecta

A few daya Idter there wan «
Murry of excitem@nt when the body
of a man whom police aaid re-
acmbled the killer's deacription,
was found in Eiscayne bay. At
check of the maf's movementa at
the time of the killing eliminated
hm as a suspect, however,

High point of fhe cutraordinary
cnae to date camhe when Florida
its greateak mobilization of
police end manpdwer for a search
of the desolatd ptnelands and
swamps lying we$t of Dania. Tha

search resulted ftom “information” |
f

'

supplted by “Babe” Wilean. illiter-
ate Dania negro fieldhend, who
told of being routed out of bed and
being forced to feed a jnan who
colsely answered the killer's de-
acriptlon, H
The manhunt, in whict at feaat
300 law enforcement menifrom the
southear: Florida area pmrticipat-
ed. waa abandoned 48 hdurs tater
when the exhausted pbearchera
came to the conclusion that there
waa more imagination than fact
in the negro’s report. !
aspect In Fligh(
Investigators apparentiy tet the
beat suspect to date alip through
their fingers when an éx-convict
left town while his northWwast sec-
tion residence wea under ¢lose aur-
i

1
§

By Leopold-Morin Murders

velllance. The man recently had.
returned ta Miami after serving a
10-year Ralford penitentiary een
tence for a heidup in which his-
cousin and accomplice in the Robd- |
up was shot and killed by their.
intended victim.

Gnly worthwhile clue on which
police are now working ts the sup-
position that the killer dropped «4
pair of epectacies ga he was leav-
ing the Leopold home after the
murders. Police have since ¢ir-
cularised every optician and eptem-
otriat in the mation but, inasmuch
ae it would take some time fer
each eye man to search his ftles,
it le feared that many of the search
requeata ended up in the trash
piles,


Miami Newe

tt Fo
~ In Mass Murders

Man Reports Theft
Of Two Guns Like
Miami Killer Used

Police revealed Thursday that
they are now working on tit “hoi-
est clue’ yet developed in the
quadruple Leopold-Morin’ slayings
of July 17. The lead was furnished
by R. E. Holden. of 241 N. E. 58th
st. who reported on Aug. 28 the
thef: of an automatic pisto!] anda
revolver, identical to the two weap-
ons used by the hawk-nosed whole-
sale killer who shot Irving Leopold,
37, his wife. Estber, 32, her six-
year-old son, Stephen, and ‘Ralph
J Morin, jr.. 19, ee

Holden said he had been ouc of
the city and the guns had been

_ Btolen some time durmg the 9v-
Gey period preceding the datc of
his report. -—#

Police pointed oiit that any per-
aon having knowledge of the where-
abouts of the two weapons might
well be able to collect the $1,400 re-
ward offered by the city, tne coun-
ty and the Miami Daily News.

_ Descriptions of the weapuns were,
&@ 22 caliber Colt Woodsman auto-
matic pistol with a four and one-
half inch barrel with serial numbcr
B-94048. and a Smith and Wessun
38 caliber police special with bone
handles. The last weapon bore
serial numbers 598025,

Investigators have been busy
sending out. circulars throughout
the country in hopes the guns mighty
have been disposed of in some oin-
er city. Detectives have a clue &e
to the identity of the thief who
stole the guns and are instituurg
&@ nation-wide search’ for him. —

Meanwhile. with’ Holden's co-a)°
@ration they are Urving to tind bul-
lets) discharged from the two
weapons and if tney are able tu Go
Bo tnev could positively determine
whether or not Holden's guna were
the murder weapons by comparing
them to bullets akeh from thc

bodies of the victims.

rs


Can't Think ’
{Christy Sobs

i
4
{
f

‘In Death Cell

Saya He'll ‘Walk To
Chair’ Today; Refuses
Further Details of
Quadruple Killings

By JACK BELT

Merald Tewn Crier
RAIFORD, Feb. 28. — Vincent
Christy ts echeduled (9 go to the,
Pelectric chair here at Pa. m. Mon-
dav, probably with more than one
baffling myetery crime locked In
hie heart when the current ends

his unhappy career as an enemy of
h socicty.

Sunday night he was 2 broken,
detected figure.
| "My body's sick, my¥ brain's sick,
PIocant think,” he sobbed,

Lying with his heed buried in

: the bed clophes of Wis cot In the
grim death vell, Christy lamontodk

P this. It's tough especially when
vou can't get ap without falling

to carry me to the chair, but they
won't. If they don’t kill me tomor-
row I'll kill myself anyway.”
SILENT ON CRIMES

Since last Monday when he war
placed in the death cell preparatory
to his final walk to the chair. thir
man who has spent most of his

Pt te tough to be sick and tired Ike!

down, But I won't fall down to-})
morrow. They think they'll haye|

'sime in prison since 1928 has re-
fiend to talk to any one about the!
crimes. Miami officers were here
sunday attempting to question him
| : nhoul. several robberics, and 16
so quadruple murder in Miami inet
| q Mav 17.

They got nowhere. The murderer
| { of Irving Leopold, hic wife, their
"24 evenrold son, and Ralph Merin,

“Canldn't remember ansthing.”
“'t seal it has been that war.

Tan ann Fill dav onfter he owas
pieced in the daath cell he ier >
caintely motionless, Father Tice as

| : 7 Marphy, Catholic priest 9

Starke, went to him several times.

Christy said nothing. te Fe fae

man, superintendent of the prison.
o

‘ 19-7 4 ef TY . sy -at
nikod to him twiee. He wou not

tay
)

a oot Oe ) ood oe eke

Maecth 4, 124%
Miami WeealD
ePaawxe LA

nannanuonstae NOTHING |

Several days ago the writer tried|
to talk with Christy and could get)
nothing from him except mumbied
statements that his head ‘hurt, he-
could remember nothing. At that
time I expressed the opinion he

never would give officers the con-
fession he promised them. Now. it

‘appears he will go to his death

without revealing anything further.
ontiaml officers had —— to get,

risty to give. mation
whith, nfight a ene ‘pther
‘erimee -and though they fteted
they've closed the Leopold case and
with fo forget it, they'd Ttké to
learn why the man killéd the Leo-
pold family. That he was a hardened
criminal: no one will deny, inelud-
ing Christy himself.

He was shrewd, as criminals go
hut certainly he long since had
considered society as his enemy and
2 New York psychiatrist has des:
ienated him a “very unserupulots.
unprincipled and vicious criminai
repeater.”

= en are


Bererass JTIE 9

VTA wWnAay
Vineen Ug

Fate had not played her tragic
eard when this picture of Irving
and Esther Leopold was taken.

B.

r WAS A FEW MINUTES before 8 o’clock
on the evening of July 17th, 1942.
There was no hint of sudden death
in the quiet neighborhood of the
semi-residential district on the Tamiami
Trail, that famous strip of concrete
which stretches across the Florida Ever-
glades from Miami, on the Atlantic to
‘Tampa on the gulf. Twenty blocks from
the Miami end of the Trail there was
a lull in traffic and residents were just
pushing back from dinner tables.

CROSSLAND

Irving Leopold, 37, co-owner of the
Miama Kosher Market, near the corner
of the Trail (S.W. 8th Street) and S.W.
20th Avenue, looked at the clock and
nodded. He walked to the front door and
scanned the street. Except for an occa-
sional passing automobile the street was
practically deserted. Leopold removed
his apron and stepped to the cash regis-
ter to count the day’s receipts. He made

a notation of the amount in the register,
about $20, and placed the slip in a com-

ETECTIVUE

44%

partment for his partner, Dave Kleeber,
who opened up in the morning.

With the money in his pocket, Leo-
pold carefully locked the front door and
stepped outside, pausing for a moment
to breathe the fresh, clean air.

He had no inkling of tragedy wher
he turned and walked slowly up the long
outside stairway on the side of the new
white building that housed the market
The upper story of the structure wast
modern apartment, the home of Leopold
his 32-year-old wife Esther and a sever
year-old boy. The lad was the son ¢
Mrs. Leopold by a former marriage.

Just wha
old market
ment that |
son knows,
evening \ =
screamed.
another scr
the apartn)
blurred for
out onto th:
the stairwa
one sweepi:

violently. 7
followed by
cession; anc

Startled ;
certain the
physician ji
and dashed ;

A_housewif:

dishwater, j

youths passi

the bottom «

girl joined t!

on their way

pold apartme
down the sta

Vineent (€!
to thoroug
Officers ir


The Execotion
Miami (News |

ae

ee
*»

=
exes

rt Sy eye

PAIN ORE, Mare’ 7.—This is one of th- ‘set protographs made of Vincent J.
‘“iamii’s mocv killer, before he was :ut to death 3 Florida's electric chair
ONGRN worming, Teer in his tinv death cc. # sh alice Chief H. Leslie aut 4

ct
ide
ee)
~~
>
pat

at loft.) and Sheriff D.C. Coleman -° Dade cow fat right) -attemptine to F
converre with the concemned slayer. Christ: ‘= shown on his cot, The Pee
range AN Minmi Police Captain James O. Barer and

Peet on a


He Tells ey:
Had owe insane

=e Saleaiy. after cl to

Christy would have to pe carried

ministrations of the Rev. Thomas
J. Murphy, Christy walked the a
short stepa and mt down fm the
cate with a look of retignation
hla face.

-Tter he was seated in the chair
Fother Murphy again appealed te
athe killer to = nis — with
v God,

“Tam not a hypocrite, Sater
Ti tell you that,” was the ‘only

tply that Christy made.

As attendants strapped the leg
‘lectrode just below his right
‘Anes, Christy asked with a faint
“ms, “Ig it tight?” Told that
“se “thing wag in order he nodded
“co gald, “That's fine. Everye
‘'g Gkay then.”

He
IMiam | Neve Ga. ZA

2M were eaught 6m. a8 ‘upper!
oor Of the jell hust ae thaw moe
| shat to rush the wn any ‘wore
[ <Gher nie near ¢
Ss | wate rushed te Ral:
EX€sotTicN Gently, fimeth

of the prison, had sale ger
te the chair, but after refwaing lowed

don’t remember”

want to dle, aein't inna Ee any’
Pe at ah =

Tewering imder his. blankets, the
nude and bearded killer even de
nisd remembering ever havin:
been in Miami

Chapman, with Milam! and Dads
acuriy offtelale, agreed that Christ:
whe BRN,

Without @ friend ot a penny ff |
the werld, Christy wag belleve:
Sundar tobe making & desperate!
effort to appear Insane ao he would
ho tranefarred to an asylum by |
Inet-minule reprieve.

These whe belleved Christy wr-
‘signing insanity reasoned that the
murderer knew that he would 4!)

Seas” Cuts Ou Scalp

With his completely shaved bead
bearing the deep five-inch long
laceration across the top, received
laat Thursday when he dashed |
against his death cell bars, Car oy
was a much changed men fps
debonair killer whe defied cally
following his arrest with the ad
ment that he would soom eercaps,

Christy wam seated in the chair beat recelve only @ brief reprievs,
at 9:07 a m, and 2,200 velts of ‘| lby telling of hls previous carser
electricity shot through ks body ‘fof crime, whereag {? he could be
for 45 seconds by the drab gowned | 7 ceciared ingane he would be trans-
and heeded executioner, At 8:16 ferred io Chattahooches.

a. 3m, Christy, 8th man te go @
bia death in Railford’s chalr, was
pronounced dead by Dr. J. ML

Once in the asylum he might ac-
complich the egeape he go nearly
menaced In Dade county jail.

Hampbree. :
‘| Some hours before his death the | Refuese To Talk
Miami killer's funeral arranges Hin head bandaged as a reault of
menta were complete. He will be a deep, laceration received iar

buried in the Raiford eemetery ta Thuraday when he butted agains!
a rough pine box, and instead of the barr of his tiny death cell, the;
& headstone he will have e metal _; doomed man stared blankly at bir!
peg in the. ground at his beed, P questioners, but for s moment at
bearing only his prison — time nm shrewd and calculatines
37,219. - gleam could be seen in his eyes.
Faye on Suele Oem | Sheriff D.C. Coleman first en-.
While the heavy black : rubsor tered Chriety’s death cell alone, but
hood, which reached below hig carne out @ few Sines alse an.
chin, was adjusted, Christy —— nouncing that he was sure the mar
no motidn anoent for a a rl woulds: talc |
ing with his fingers on eo : 3
ae wooden arm of the chair. ee See ae me ein |
He patted the thick rubber saat o |

and Deataatluve Capts. James Cc
under the chair slewly with his | Barke- and EL W. Melchen tect |

| furn= trving to persuade the killer.

{Lo balls But Christy only mu!
‘*, T can't remember, I can’t

wahan tt
\fter nearly an hour of trying !°
‘he ™an to unburden himself o/
rn crimes, the officials absn
i ineir efforts, and left Christ:
vacantly through hig ce

would | unb a6! bg la
facts af numerous - etbiar Th

“sn's jailorg said Christ
uttered more than a fe
af @ time since he we-
Ls it the death cell a weer
iaro ‘ts showed Httle interest i>
faad Sorting hig stay in the death |
joel ell Sunday, when he -wer!
[reports to have eaten a chicke: |

pe aes
Sf

owered “et
ca hose down. the outside of thal
“vsoraper jail, end then decided |
tn “overnower the night we 2
vad of ehancing the bh
‘> down the hose,

Sy REAR AR ener meme Stet aaa te intie oe See


er F

Sen es ae

CIANGETTI, Angelo Michael, wh, elec

Trussed body of Mrs. Anna K. Henson is shown just after it was

removed from the grave which her slayer thought would never be >

discovered.

SLIGHTLY built man and a

large woman strolled silently
over the white, hard-packed sands of
world-famous Daytona Beach, Flori-
da. Close together they moved, as if
sharing an inseparable kinship.

It was the time when nature, util-
izing her illimitable stage and stand-
ard props of fire-spent ball of sun
and iridescent streakings of sky, was
staging the final act which heralds
the close of day.

Every sound human ears are cap-

28

able of detecting blended perfectly
into this tranquil atmosphere. Shells
crunched under the feet of the strol-
lers. Gently rolling breakers flung
themselves tiredly upon sprawling
beds of sand grains. Now and then
could be heard the whir of a peli-
can’s wings.

Yet neither of the couple was pay-
ing the slightest heed to this ideal
setting.

The man, Angelo M. Phillips, was
thinking: “Life is sweet for me...

LATEST, DETECTIVE, Winter, 1948

FL (Volusia) March 23, 1942

Wehonair

emon

and it always will be ... A fine
home... the best of food... every
luxury.”

The woman, Anna K. Henson, was
thinking: “How can I break the
news? It is so terribly difficult.
What will he say? What will he do
_,. this little man I call Fritzy?”

She hesitated for a moment. Then ‘

she turned determinedly towards
him. In a_half-whispering voice
which harmonized with the murmur-
ing of the waves, she announced :
“Arch and I will be together soon.”

Phillips seemed not to hear. His
thoughts were lost in a distant wave
which seemed to be congratulating
him on his unique good fortune.

Mrs. Henson plucked impatiently
at his coat sleeve. ‘“Fritzy, I don’t
think you and I will be seeing much
more of each other,” she said more
firmly,

This time the announcement pene-
trated Phillips’ mind with full force.
“What! What was that!” he ejacu-
lated.

“T believe you heard what I said,
Fritzy. You'll have to get out of the
house by the first of the month,”
Mrs. Henson repeated calmly.

The man shook his head dazedly.
Fear, icy and cold, clutched at his
heart. What did this mean? He
hoped she did not hear the loud
thumpings of his heart beats.

“You don’t know what you are say-
ing, Anna!” he managed to blurt
out.

“Yes I do... perfectly. I’m go-
ing to marry Mr. Webb. He’ll have
his divorce soon... That’s all I can
say to you, Fritzy,” she ended lame-
ly.

Phillips regained his composure.
“Don’t make me laugh,” he taunted
her sarcastically.

Anna Henson looked angrily at the
little man walking beside her in the
dusk. “How dare you talk like that,
you... You little shrimp!” she ex-
postulated. Walking hastily to her
parked automobile, she gathered up

Angelo

It Alway
Wa

the remains
packed then

Phillips f:
he folded tt
able table.

“Yes?”

“Nothing

Jumping
steering wh
the city of
him sat th
living with
years. In
same table.
out benefit

Anna He
seat cushic
united witt

. Archi
insurance
years old, |}
dead youth
stream an
her.

But the
small, stro:
moving at
such happ)
his clever!
collapsed .
a thunder!
ing sky.

Born i:
Italian n:
Caingetti,
City and
Beach and
unexpecte:
the persor
a divorce:
her confi
home. It
Mrs. Hen:
pliable in

She wa
tate wort
sessions
ings in
what he \

For tw
in his ne\
odd jobs
or an o¢

Mrs. Henson said she would like it
very much. She was relieved and
amazed at the way her Fritzy was
taking it. Perhaps she didn’t really
know him as well as she imagined.

For two hours Phillips sat beside
Mrs. Henson in thé dark interior of
the Lyric Theatre. Though his eyes
were fixed on the screen, he saw
nothing. Nor did he hear the bursts
of laughter that came from an ap-
preciative audience. He was like a
piece of statuary ...a frozen thing.

When they left the theatre and
headed for the Henson house at 336
Wisconsin Place, the pale and silent
southern stars shone down upon a
dapper, bespectacled man, whose out-
ward appearance was one of frosty
calm.

Could unsuspecting Anna Henson
only have known the thoughts that
lay buried deeply in the recesses of
his cunning mind!

As usual, they slept in the same
room, in a double bed, on that eve-
ning of January 17, 1940—that is,
one of them slept ... Mrs. Henson.
The rising and falling sounds of her
even breathing-could be heard in the
quiet room.

Phillips lay quietly, his mind fresh
and geared into high speed racing
to meet new issues .. . which would
crop up within a scant few hours.
Gradually an insidious plan took
shape and evolved itself.

Foolproof!

At four o’clock he _ noiselessly
eased his small body from the bed.
Putting on his slippers and bathrobe,
he stole quietly down the stairs.
When he returned, he carried some-
thing in his hand . . . something in-
distinguishable. He placed this ob-
ject on a chair by the bed.

Mrs. Henson awoke with a start.
Could some grim foreboding of evil
have roused her from her slumber?

She made her way to the lavatory,
returned and climbed into bed. Phil-
lips was seated on the-.edge of the
bed facing her. He pulled the cord
of the bed lamp.

“Anna!” he called huskily.

“What is it, Fritzy?” she asked
sleepily.

“Did you really mean what you
said on the beach today?”
“You referring to

Webb?” y

“Yes, Anna!” :

“IT meant every word of it, Fritzy
... All is over between us.” There
was positive conviction in her voice.

A moment of foreboding silence

. . Then Phillips’ hand shot out.
His fingers were tightening around
the wooden handle of a hammer ..

30

Archibald

Sieeeee nahaieemn naa cee ce te ee eee See wrearrae

Deputy Sheriff
W. M. "Bill" Slaughter
of Deland, Florida.

He must act fast! Mrs. Henson
weighed approximately 170 pounds
—40 pounds more than he did—and
she was a good four inches taller...

Mrs. Henson stared in unbelieving
amazement. Her eyes dilated in
shocked horror. She was even now
the same as a corpse in her grave

. if she didn’t do something...
anything ... But she must act!

The hammer was in the air. Rays
of light from the lamp concentrated
on the dull metal head twinkling for
a brief second like a falling star, as
the instrument of death streaked
downward on its murderous path,
the skull of Mrs. Henson as its tar-
get.

Crunch!

The startled eyes of Mrs. Henson
burned with unnatural brightness,
like the last flicker of a waning
electric bulb.

A small fountain of blood spurted
upwards, spattering the hands of the
assassin, as if to sear him with his
guilt.

Four times more the killer raised
the hand that held the two pound
lethal weapon and crashed it relent-
lessly against an already numbed
brain.

A gasp came from Mrs. Henson
. .. her final earthly sound. Then
she lay quite still. Warm blood
flowed from what had once been the
living, breathing head of an active
woman. It trickled to the blankets

and made large, red blotches on the
white sheets . . . It seeped slowly in-
to the mattress, while her flaming
orbs became still and glassy, staring
blankly at the ceiling.

The gory sight didn’t seem to dis-
turb Phillips as he sat down abruptly
upon his own bed and dropped the
hammer. He glanced down at his
blood-drenched fingers . . . the tell-
tale red hands of a killer. Then at
the mutilated figure dripping with
blood.

If he had any slight feeling of re-

“ morse, his face did not reveal it. The

deed was accomplished. Phase one
of his plan had been executed exact-
ly as he had designed it.

Leaving the death chamber, the
erstwhile Angelo Michael Caingetti
made for.the lavatory, washed the
red, sticky evidence from his guilty
hands, coolly watching the blood as
it oozed down the drain. He felt very
self-possessed, very confident, very
well poised as he carefully cleansed
the hammer.

Returning to the murder chamber
he fished out a long cigar, lit it
with clean, steady fingers, deeply in-
haling a cloud of dense smoke. The
cigar was a refreshing tonic. He
was enjoying it immensely. He felt
not the slightest tremor of emotion
as his eyes nonchalantly rested on
the broken skull, not the slightest re-
gret that he had become a murderer.

Going into an adjoining bedroom,
he lay down on the bed to relax and
contemplate on his next move...
How to hide the corpse! This was
phase two of his undertaking. It
must be carried out as neatly as the
first!

At eight o’clock he arose and
stretched his arms, yawning .con-
tentedly. Meticulously dressed in a
symphony of light .brown, he fixed
himself some breakfast. Methodical-
ly storing away the dishes, he went

outside to tour the surroundings for -

a suitable burial place. It must be
safe! ...He found the spot he was
looking for. It was safely hidden
away under the stairway of the ga-
rage apartment, concealed by a vine
growing between the stairway and
the garage wall. Mrs. Henson had
rented this apartment to Mr. and

. Mrs. George Murphy. A simple mat-

ter to dig a grave here unnoticed.

He decided to permit the body to
lay in its resting place for the en-
tire day and night... Why rush?
...A dead woman couldn’t tell tales.
He had read a lot concerning’ crim-
inals who hurried. They always end-

‘ed in the electric chair or swung

from the end of a rope... But not


pees een fi

jlotches on the
eped slowly in-
le her flaming
glassy, staring

1’t seem to dis-
- down abruptly
id dropped the
4d down at his
-s . . . the tell-
killer. Then at
dripping with

at feeling of re-
ot reveal it. The
ied. Phase one
executed exact-
d it.
h chamber, the
ichael Caingetti
ory, washed the
from his guilty
ing the blood as
ain. He felt very
confident, very
arefully cleansed

murder chamber
ng cigar, lit it
ngers, deeply in-
ense smoke. The
shing tonic. He
mensely. He felt
emor of emotion
ilantly rested on
t the slightest re-
come a murderer.
joining bedroom,
bed to relax and
; next move...
orpse! This was
undertaking. It
t as neatly as the

k he arose and
is, yawning .con-
usly dressed in a

brown, he fixed
<fast. Methodical-
e dishes, he went

surroundings for-

slace. It must be
d the spot he was
vas safely hidden
airway of the ga-
yneealed by a vine
the stairway and
Mrs. Henson had
ment to Mr. and
hy. A simple mat-
ve here unnoticed.
sermit the body to
place for the en-
it... Why rush?
1 couldn’t tell tales.
t concerning‘ crim-
_ They always end-
‘ec chair or swung
a rope... But not

A. M. Phillips! If a man used his
brains crime paid heavy dividends.

By noontime he was hungry and
decided to go over to Mrs. Margaret
Clark’s, a neighbor and friend of
Mrs.-Henson’s who ran a boarding
house. Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Henson
often had exchanged words from
their front porches.

“Mrs. Clark,” said Phillips when.

he had entered the house, “I want to
make arrangements to take my. lun-
ches here until October .. . Is that
satisfactory ?”

“Why, yes, I guess 80,” agreed
Mrs. Clark. She had never felt very
friendly towards Phillips, but after
all, she was in business. “Where is
Anna?” she asked.

“I put her on a train for Jackson-
ville,” the murderer lied glibly. “She
was sick,. you know, and went there
for treatment.”

“Why I had no idea anything was
wrong: with Anna,” Mrs. Clark said
surprisedly.

“Oh, yes, she’d been ailing for
quite a while,” he informed her.
Then drawing close.to her and low-
ering his voice, he added confiden-
tially, “Gland trouble. .. You know
how it is.”

“Well I do declare!”

That evening in the death house
Phillips discovered that murder had
no noticeable effect on his appetite.
He opened up several cans of food-
stuffs, the makings of a salad and
prepared a pot of coffee, eating rav-
enously, with little thought for the
dead woman who lay upstairs, whose
blood had congealed on a battered
skull, a sight frightful enough to
the most callous.

Before retiring for the night. he
approached: the body and stripped
two diamond rings from the lifeless

fingers. Beneath the touch of his.

hands the flesh felt cold and stiff.

When he undressed in his new

room, he crossed to the window,
opened it and inhaled deep lungfulls

of soft southern air. ‘How good it .

is to be alive!” he thought as he
gazed at the starlit sky. He became
speculative ... absorbed in inward
contemplation. With Mrs.. Henson
out of the way no obstacles con-
fronted him.

Just by pulling a few crafty tricks
from his ample bag he would easily
get his hands on that estate. The
estate was composed mostly of prop-
erty. His imagination swelled and
cut loose from its moorings—drifted
into the future. Money... - Money
... Money... for the rest of his
natural life—if his plans worked.
And they would. ;

SAAN

Financial independence, that pre-
cious tangible feeling men battled
for would be his, and all that went
with it — amongst other things, a
handsome wardrobe of clothes.

- Mid-afternoon of the following
day found him busy working over
the body. At the side of the bed on
which the dead woman was out-
stretched, he had carefully placed a
sheet on which he now dropped the
inert body, rolling it into a-center
position, placing the sheet securely
over the corpse. Then he swathed
newspapers over her head.

Procuring a thick blanket, he cov-

ered her remains, and finally clothed

the entire package, which by this
time was large and bulky, in a can-
vass as an outer covering, tightly
encasing the bundle with strong

binding wire. The late Mrs. Henson .

now resembled a mumified person.
Pushing, pulling and tugging, the
murderer struggled towards the
stairway with his huge burden. At
the head of the stairs, he paused for
a rest and. went outdoors for a fur-
tive glance up and down the street.
Nobody was in sight! With a sharp-
edged shovel he ‘easily dug a long
grave, three and a half feet in depth.
It was a small matter to transport
the body to the bottom of the stair-
way. Holding on to the bindings
over the feet, he eased the dead
woman down the flight of steps,

handling the package carefully so as
not to jostle the wrappings. Then
he carried the gruesome burden into
a downstairs bedroom and, without
the slightest trace of nervousness,
calmly lit a cigarette and patiently
waited for darkness.

When the sun slipped off the edge
of the earth and night stood distinct
in the sky, he summoned all the
strength his frail body possessed. At
an amazingly swift rate of speed he
dragged the heavy corpse to the bur-
ial place, and smiled with grim Satis-
faction as, he covered the fresh grave
with sand. It was the completion of
the second chapter in the neatly con-
cocted plot that would give him life-
long independence.

Weary and fatigued, he slept the
dreamless sleep of the tired laborer.

In the early morning, under pre-
tense of watering the flowers, he
thoroughly moistened the sand on
the grave. With the body protected
by a three and one-half foot cover-
ing of earth, and his chief worry
eliminated, Phillips was ready for
phase number three, upon comple-
tion of which untold opulence would
be his: forever.

The next few days he devoted to
‘spreading the news subtly that Mrs.
Henson was out of town and ailing.

To Mrs. Virginia Murphy of the
garage apartment, he explained:
(Continued on page 47)

Wash house where flooring has been ripped out to reveal grave of
‘ Mrs. Anna K. Henson.

31

comarca at hn oo

it
On

ve . .. A fine
food... every

K. Henson, was
1 I break the
rribly difficult.
Vhat will he do
call Fritzy ?”

moment. Then +

inedly towards
rispering voice
th the murmur-
she announced:
together soon.”
it to hear. His
a distant wave
congratulating
od fortune.

xed impatiently
‘Fritzy, I don’t
be seeing much
’ she said more

yuncement pene-
with full force.
hat!”? he ejacu-

ird what I said,
-o get out of the
of the month,”
d calmly.
is head dazedly.
clutched at his
his mean? He
hear the loud
cart beats.
vhat you are say-
inaged to blurt

rfectly. I’m go-
Vebb. He'll have
That’s all I can
she ended lame-

his composure.
igh,” he taunted

-ed angrily at the
beside her in the
ou talk like that,
shrimp!” she ex-
g hastily to her
she gathered up

Angelo Was Thinking: "Life Is Sweet For Me’...
It Always Will Be..." Little Did He Know That He
Was About To Commit A Vicious Murder.

Daytona Beach

By
Deputy Sheriff BILL SLAUGHTER

the remains of the picnic supper and
packed them in a basket.

Phillips followed meekly. Silently
he folded the camp chairs and port-
able table. “Anna...” he began.

“Yes?” .

“Nothing.”

Jumping into the seat behind the
steering wheel, he headed the car for
the city of Daytona Beach. Beside
him sat the woman who had been
living with him as his wife for two
years. In the same house. At the
same table. In the same bed. With-
out benefit of clergy.

Anna Henson reclined against the
seat cushions. Soon she would be
united with the man she really loved

. Archibald Webb, the Orlando
insurance agent. She was fifty-six
years old, but the thought of a long
dead youth surged through her blood

stream and seemed to rejuvenate -

her.

But the man beside her, whose
small, strong fingers guided the fast-
moving automobile entertained no
such happy thoughts. All his plans,
his cleverly concocted schemes had
collapsed . . . with the suddenness of
a thunderbolt from a clear, deceiv-
ing sky.

Born into the world under the
Italian name of Angelo Michael
Caingetti, he had forsaken New. York
City and his name for Daytona
Beach.and a new life. He found one,
unexpectedly juicy and fruitful in
the person of Mrs. Anna K. Henson,
a divorcee. Worming his way into
her confidence he moved into her
home. It had been almost too easy.
Mrs. Henson was a lonesome woman,
pliable in his unscrupulous hands.

She was known to possess an es-
tate worth $25,000.00. His own pos-
sessions consisted of the few belong-
ings in his battered suitcase and
what he wore on his back.

For two years Phillips had basked
in his new-found luxury . .. No more
odd jobs working on Daytona Beach,
or an occasional job as chauffeur.

Deland, Florida
— As told to —

MORGAN RAYBURN

oe

ay

Angelo Michael Phillips,
born Angelo Caingetti, taken into

custody. Following him is Deputy
W.M. Slaughter of Deland.

Yes, at the age of forty-nine “A. M.
Phillips” had done mighty well for
himself .. . until this ruinous an-
nouncement just made by Mrs. Hen-
son on the beach. The thought of
such an upheaval would have seemed
fantastic only a few short hours be-
fore.

In his avarice, Phillips had cold-
bloodedly and calculatingly covered
all angles to insure himself a life-
long rock-bound security. Now it
came to him with sudden force that
he had overlooked an. all-important
human angle...

Love!
Love which is ageless . . . timeless
_.. often elusive... It must not be

now. Cupid had unsheathed his pack
of arrows, drawn a taut bowstring
and let fly. One of his arrows
pierced deeply into Mrs. Henson in-
noculating her with joy.

But it had brought sharp reper-
cussions in the outraged Phillips. Its
detonation threatened to shatter his
snug life to smithereens.

It must not happen!

Catastrophe was closing in about
him. He must have time to think, to
work matters out to his advantage.
He must be cautious.

“All right, Anna,” he said at last,
as the car neared the city. “I can’t
tell you how to run your life. We
won't talk about it. .. How would
you like to go toa movie?”

29

952 Cal.App.2d 526

PEOPLE v. CLARK . 525,

Cite as 60 Cal. Rptr. 524

iron pipe used as murder weapon was not
“jn apartment and that obviously defendant
had to go and get it and bring it back to
‘the apartment, that wounds suffered by
victim were not result of aimless swing-
‘ing of pipe but were located and centered
where blows would be lethal, that there
was a complete absence of provocation,
that defendant failed to secure medical at-
tention for victim, that there was a vicious
form and obviously long duration of as-
-gauit, that defendant told roommate on
ight of murder to stay away and defend-
ant locked door so that roommate could
not get in established that murder was com-
mitted with premeditation and deliberation.

Judgment affirmed.

1. Homicide €>232

Direct evidence of deliberate premedi-
tated purpose to kill is not required as ele-
ments of deliberation and premeditation
may be inferred from proof of such facts
and circumstances which furnish a founda-
tion for such inferences.

2. Homicide €=232
Evidence that defendant and his vic-
tim during their prior relations had no
violent quarrels, that piece of iron pipe
wsed as murder weapon was not in apart-
ment and that obviously defendant had to
go and get it and bring it back to apart-
ment, that wounds were located and cen-
tered where blows would be lethal, that
there was a complete absence of provoca-
ton, that defendant failed to secure medi-
fal attention for victim, that defendant told
foommate on night of murder to stay away
find defendant locked door so that room-
ate could not get in established that mur-
Was committed with premeditation and

Exclusionary rules are not designed to

ent use of all incriminating statements

ponly when such statements are im-

erly obtained by an agency of law en-
ment,

4. Witnesses €>208(1)

Admission of certain admissions made
by defendant convicted of first-degree mur-
der to his psychiatrist did not constitute
error.

5. Criminal Law @=412.1(2)

Testimony of woman that defendant
convicted of first-degree murder told her
that he was going to kill victim was ad-
missible as woman was not a representa-
tive or agent of any branch of law enforee-
ment and therefore defendant was not en-
titled to any recitation of his constitutional
rights before talking with her.

a

Maxwell S. Keith, Los Angeles, under
appointment by Court of Appeal, for ap-
pellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., William
E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Jerold A.
Prod, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

_| FOURT, Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of
conviction of murder in the first degree.

In an information filed in Los Angeles
County on December 31, 1964, defendant
was charged with murdering Marshall Al-

len Taylor on December 5, 1964. (Pen.
Code, § 187.) A jury trial was duly waived
and the judge found defendant guilty of
murder in the first degree and sentenced
defendant to the state prison for the term
of his natural life. A motion for new trial
was denied. A timely notice of appeal was
filed.

A résumé of some of the facts is as fol-
lows: In March, 1964, defendant and a
friend, Gary Prothero, rented an apartment,
which was located over a garage, from
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. The Taylors had
two sons. One of the boys, Marshall, aged
14, was engaged by defendant in a homo-
sexual love affair. Defendant and Mar-
shall went to movies on weekends and on
occasions Marshall spent the night in the
apartment and slept with defendant.

Prothero and defendant were employed
at Best Lathing Company. Prior to De


on
ins vents ey eens

_Ls21

526

cember 5, 1964, work was slack and they
worked only a day or so a week. Pro-
thero told defendant that he (Prothero)
was going back into the Navy. On Mon-
day, prior to the killing of Marshall, de-
fendant asked Mrs. Taylor if he could stay
in the house after Prothero went into the
Navy and she replied in the negative.

On the evening of December 4, 1964, de-
fendant gave Prothero $7 to spend the
night elsewhere and, in effect, told Prothero
that he did not want him around the apart-
ment that night. Defendant stated that he
was going to tell Marshall that he (Clark)
was going to leave. Prothero thought that
this might generate an argument and per-
haps some trouble, and he did not want
to be around the apartment. Prothero spent
the night in a hotel in Long Beach.

Prothero returned to the apartment at
about 9:30 a. m., December 5, 1964. The
door to the apartment had two locks on it,
one near the door knob and a second one
which was activated with a separate key.
Ordinarily defendant and Prothero used
the door knob lock. However, when Proth-
ero went to enter the apartment the second
lock was engaged and he was unable to
gain entrance to the apartment. Prothero
went downstairs and had a cup of coffee
and talked with Mrs. Taylor for about an
hour. He went back to the apartment and
again tried the door and again found it
locked. At this time he smelled gas where-
as he had not the first time he had been
at the door. He then went downstairs to
Mrs. Taylor’s house and asked for a key
to the second lock on the door. He se-
cured the key and entered the apartment.
The smell of gas was j much stronger.
Prothero noticed defendant lying in the
hallway covered with a blanket, his head
close to a gas jet. Prothero turned off the
gas, moved defendant’s head, and knew
then that defendant was alive because he
could see him breathing.

Prothero went downstairs and told Mrs.
Taylor to call an ambulance. Prothero re-
turned to the apartment and discovered the
body of Marshall lying on the living room

60 CALIFORNIA REPORTER

252 Cal.App.2d 526

floor next to a couch bed. Marshall was
dressed in shorts, which were inside out
and backwards. There was a great deal
of blood about Marshall’s head. Protherg
knowing that Marshall was dead, went
downstairs and told Mrs. Taylor.

Defendant has blood type “A.” Marshal!
had blood type “B.” Marshall’s blood was
in a dried condition, whereas the blood
about defendant was fresh whén Mr. Klein,
a Long Beach criminologist, arrived at the
apartment. There were substantial areas
of dried blood on the walls and ceiling of
the living room. Type “B” blood was
found on a piece of iron pipe which was
located underneath the couch bed. A coffee
table in the living room was split in several
places and had numerous tool marks on it.
The table appeared to have been damaged
by a force which could have been caused
by blows from the iron pipe. Particles of
bone and several hairs were present on the
iron pipe and in other places in the general
area of Marshall’s body. Marshall, in ad-
dition to having a fractured skull and hav-
ing suffered a cerebral contusion, suffered
two broken fingers.

Prothero had never seen a piece of pipe
around the apartment before. Mr. Taylor
had seen a similar piece of pipe under the
stairway leading up to the garage apart-
ment. A razor blade also was found which
had some type “A” blood on it.

A note was found under the lid of the
stereo which read: “We will always b¢
together now,” and signed “Marshall Allen
Taylor, Raymond Robert Clark.” The bocy
of the note was written by defendant. The
signatures were those of Marshall and the
defendant. Frequently Marshall had signed
his name on blank pieces of paper and Mrs.
Taylor had thrown away many such papers.

That defendant had beaten Marshall te
death with the piece of iron pipe is "*
questioned. The defendant had told a Mrs.
Joyce Clark (no relation) that Marshall
knew that he (defendant) was going =
kill him, but Marshall was not to know ot
when such was to take place. The defend-
ant had j homosexual relations with David

962 Cal.App.2d 529

Clark (no relation), the so
of twelve years, about five
mencing a few years prev
Joyce Clark further t
fendant had stated that

for second degree so he

seven ycars, eet life and

jn seven years. He would
* * * he was waiting

down to the second degree
he would get life in pris
seven years * * * tha
the gas chamber.”

Appellant called as his
trist who testified that h
appellant while appellan’
has asked him some q
reviewed. some records
appellant. The doctor
opinion appellant had reg
tive level of functioning
murder, that he was f
in his thinking and beh
had not premeditated
Marshall. The doctor s
part his opinion was
appellant told him. F
testified that he did
questions of appella <
the preliminary exe’
appellant had not to:c
tionship between Mars:
to be broken, that he c
if what he had relat
truth, that he had not
the appellant was goir
that appellant may
falthough there is no
mech a view), that he »
+f he had hit Marshai
gece of pipe, and th:
ily important to hin
elicit any answer

Appellant now asset!
imsufficient, as a m:
iberation and pre!
€ments to the do

ion and should r
€nce of premedit:

1 526

| was

€ out
: deal
thero,

952 Cal.App.2d 529

PEOPLE v. CLARK 527

Cite as 60 Cal. Rptr. 524

Clark (no relation), the son of Joyce, a boy
of twelve years, about five or six times com-
mencing a few years previously.

Joyce Clark further testified that de-.
fendant had stated that “he was waiting

for second degree so he could get off in

seven years, get life and he would get out

in seven years. He would plead guilty then
* * * he was waiting for them to come
down to the second degree murder and then
he would get life in prison and get out in
seven years * * * that he did not want
the gas chamber.”

Appellant called as his witness a psychia-
trist who testified that he had visited with
appellant while appellant was in jail and
has asked him some questions and had
reviewed. some records with reference to
appellant. The doctor stated that in his
opinion appellant had regressed to a primi-
tive level of functioning on the night of the
murder, that he was markedly disturbed
in his thinking and behavior, and that he
had not premeditated the act of killing
Marshall. The doctor stated that in large
part his opinion was formed from what
appellant told him. Further, the doctor
testified that he did not ask any specific
questions of appellant with reference to
the preliminary examination record, that
appellant had not told him why the rela-
tionship between Marshall and himself was
to be broken, that he did not ask appellant
if what he had related to him was the
truth, that he had not asked appellant why
the appellant was going to leave Marshall,
that appellant may have been drunk
(although there is no evidence to support
Such a view), that he did not ask appellant
if he had hit Marshall on the head with a
Piece of pipe, and that it was not neces-
Sarily important to him (the doctor) to ask

F elicit any answer to such a question.

Appellant now asserts that the evidence
§ insufficient, as a matter of law, to show
“cliberation and premeditation, that his
atements to the doctor were admissible

y to show the basis of the doctor’s
Pinion and should not be considered as
Vidence of premeditation, that his state-

o

ments to Joyce Clark were inadmissible in
that no admonition with reference to his
constitutional rights preceded the conver-
sation.

There is no merit to any of appellant’s
contentions.

[1] Direct evidence of a deliberate and
premeditated purpose to kill is not required.
The elements of deliberation and premedi-
tation may be inferred from proof of
such facts and circumstances which furnish
a foundation for such inferences. (See
People v. Hillery, 62 Cal.2d 692, 703, 44
Cal.Rptry 30, 401 P.2d 382; People v. Bru-
baker, 53 Cal.2d 37, 40, 346 P.2d 8.) In
People v. Lewis, 217 Cal.App.2d 246, 259,
31 Cal.Rptr. 817, 825, it is said: “* * *
‘The presence of premeditation or the ab-
sence thereof is to be determined from a
consideration of the type of weapon em-
ployed and the manner of its use; the
nature of the wounds suffered by the
deceased; the fact that the attack was
unprovoked and that the deceased was un-
armed at the time of the assault; * * *
and any other evidence from which an
inference of premeditation may be reason-
ably drawn. * * *” No specific interval
of time has been established as being the
minimum time within which deliberation
and premeditation can take place.

[2] Appellant relies in part upon what
is stated in People v. Caldwell, 43 Cal.2d
864, 279 P.2d 539 with reference to the
view that multiple acts of violence standing
alone do not establish premeditations and
deliberations. The record in this case
demonstrates that there were many cir-
cumstances other than the multiple blows
which establish that appellant deliberately
and with premeditation murdered Marshall.
Among other things, the record recites that
during their prior relations there were no
violent quarrels, that the type of weapon
used in this case (a piece of iron pipe)
was not in the apartment and obviously
appellant had to go and get it and bring it
back to the apartment. The wounds suf-
fered by Marshall were not the result of
aimless swinging of the pipe but were


_1ss0

528

located and centered where the blows would
be lethal. There was a complete absence
of provocation. Appellant failed to secure
medical attention for Marshall and he ob-
viously attempted to conceal the murder
weapon. Further, there was the vicious
form and the obviously long duration of the
assault, the manner of using the weapon,
the fact that the victim was undressed at
the time, all of which facts add up to in-
ferences that appellant set about to kill
Marshall. Furthermore, appellant told
Prothero not to be in the apartment on
the night of the murder and gave him $7
to stay away and appellant locked the door
so that Prothero could not get in. And,
too, appellant told Joyce Clark that Mar-
shall knew that he, appellant, was going to
kill him sometime. In other words, not
only did appellant deliberate on the matter,
he communicated to the victim his thoughts
as to what was to occur.

There is at least a clear inference that
Marshall resisted the act as best he could
(suffered two broken fingers), was killed
by appellant by blows on the head with
the iron pipe (which appellant had to go
out and get), that appellant put Marphall’s
underwear shorts back on him (inside out
and backwards) and then hid the pipe under
the couch bed.

[3,4] Appellant next asserts that the
admissions made to his psychiatrist are not
admissible as evidence of premeditation.
The appellant in this case was represented
by counsel at all stages of the proceedings;
presumably, he saw the psychiatrist at the
request of his own attorney. Had appel-
lant desired that his psychiatrist not be
questioned, he could have accomplished
such by not calling his doctor as a witness.
The exclusionary rules as developed are
not designed to prevent the use of all in-
criminating statements but only when such
statements are improperly obtained by an
agency of law enforcement. There is no
evidence of any violation of any constitu-
tional right of appellant. (See People v.
Price, 63 Cal.2d 370, 378-379, 46 Cal.Rptr.
775, 406 P.2d 55.) The doctor here was

60 CALIFORNIA REPORTER

252 Cal.App.2d 529

not a court-appointed psychiatrist ang no
error was committed under the circum.
stances in receiving the doctor’s testimony

[5] The statements of appellant to Mrs
Joyce Clark were properly admitted into
evidence. She was not a representative or
agent of any branch of law enforcement
and, accordingly, appellant was not en.
titled to any recitation of his constitutiona}
rights before talking with her. There was
no police interrogation involved and what
was said was completely voluntary. (See
People v. Price, supra, 63 Cal.2d 370, 379,
46 Cal.Rptr. 775, 406 P.2d 55.)

There is no prejudicial error in the
record in this case.

The judgment is affirmed.

WOOD, P. J., and LILLIE, J., concur.

KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
ANP OANLN gmnde

°

aAnms

252 Cal.App.2d 496

_[_ Frances C. ROGARS, Plaintiff
and Appellant,
v.

ST. JUDE HOSPITAL, a Corporation,
Defendant and Respondent.

Civ. 29618.
Court of Appeal, Second District,
Division 3.
July 11, 1967.
Hearing Denied Sept. 7, 1967.

j i : ‘tad Th
Action by patient against hospital. +t
Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Lew «

T. David, J., rendered judgment on verdst

for defendant, and plaintiff appealed. The

Court of Appeal, Shinn, J., held that in
struction on presumption of due care, wh
erroneous, was not prejudicial in patient
action against hospital for injury sust#

mothy te

allegedly due to nurses’ failure promp*
respond to call, where evidence was

evenly balanced and instruction was

small part of lengthy instruction given
response to jury’s questions.

Affirmed.

‘a

8

52 Cal.App.2d 496 E

{. Hospitals €=8

Instruction, in action
patient allegedly resulting
failure promptly to respon
“‘ospital was entitled to pres
gare was erroncous where
“hospital testified as to the
“what took place.

4. Evidence 6591

Hospital, in action for ir
“was bound by testimony of
testified for it.

“4, Appeal and Error €=928(4)
: It would not be presume:
testruction on presumption «
“been requested by plaintif
that error was invited, a
_ failed to show which part:
_ struction, where plaintiff v
@? contributory negligence,
would be credited to court.

& Appeal and Error €=1064/

Instruction on presu!
fare, while erroneous, was
@ patient’s action against
ery sustained allegedly
failure promptly to respon:
#eidence was not evenly |
®ruction was but small
metruction given in resf
sestions.

%. Appeal and Error ¢=994(I
Reviewing court does
ty of witnesses as trier

Appeal and Error €>1026
In order to determine -
- Was prejudicial, revie
er factors which ju
red in reaching ¢
it of conflicting evide:

gence €>138(2)
ction on presum;
perly given wher


*SneREROASIRALEE E SamReRRaa RETA

on firet degree murder charges
without bond.

Police meanwhile checked angles |
in the case about which Christy de-
clined to tal kag including how he

remained in Miami for two weeks
after the shootings, and with a bul-
let wound in the flesh of his left
chest, without being linked with
the slaying.

Blonde Enters Case ,

A blonde, 26-year-old waitress
walked into the state attorney's
office Tuesday afternoon to report
she had known Christy for several
months but did not connect him
with the crime until she saw his.
picture in the newspapers last week
following his capture in Jackson-
ville.

“He was the mildest, quiest per-
son’ you'd ever ret,” the girl told
Joe Otto, Worley’s assistant. “It
never occurred to me that he might
heve been connected with that
shooting. I never saw him with
a gun and I didn’t know he was
wounded.

“Hie used to tell me about his
travels, and said he was a tech-
nical sergeant. in the 13th field ar-.
tillery, stationed in Hawaii. He,
also said he had a4 sign shop in
California but that it was taken

‘over by the government and that

he went into bankruptcy.”
Regular Customer

The girl said Christly ate regular-
ly in the downtown restaurant
where she worked and that she,
had become acquainted with him |
there. |

“lr didn’t think anyone would
want to talk to me about it,” she,
told Otto, “but if I can answer any
questions I'll be glad to do it.”

Mr. and Mrs. Leopold and Mrs.
Leopol’s ¢ix-year-old son by a for-
mer marriage were shot to death
in the apartment. Th slayer then
stopped an automobile driven by
Ralph J. Morin, jr. 19, forced
Morin to drive him away 4nd a
short time later also killed the
youth.

Serr. >, > Gr2,
PaKe LE cont'p,

Peter here from Jacksonville
Welk, oe a he was arrested
holden mn connection with a

Christ
fessed the stays reportedly con-

yings, and said he/

only meant to kill

: Leopold,

whom he had an old bul ane
plained grudge.

Police want td find out what

have been.

Meanwhile, the prisoner, under
24-hour watch in county jail, re-
portediy has been sleeping well

and eating with a healthy appe-
tite.

this grudge, which Christy reput- |
edly said led him through five’
cities in a hunt for Leopold, could |

|

1
{
1
{


L

‘

and you have a picture of w y 19 mur.
were perfect crimes in Dade @ounty dur-
ethe last 19 months,

The record speaks for itself.

‘Sixty-four murders committed; only 45

‘Murders In which killers supposedly are
wn but not yet arrested don't count as
ad. And that goes for those doubtful homi-
mw with the suspicious festooning of mur-

‘There is no single authority in the Miam!

Rwho can settle back behind his glass-

——— > topped desk end tell you why
such things are so. If there were,
the killers of the three members
of the Leopold family and young
Ralph Morin, jr. Pete Clifford,
Frank Lepins and many others
might be on some stage of the
journey to the electric chair,

Instead, there are many offi-

- Clals, all making thelr own -pri-

vate murder investigations, hav-
ing nothing in common with
each other except that none of
them gets his man.
There is Miami's Detective
Chief L. O. Scarboro, who got his
first information on the recent
brutal. LeopoldgMorin slaughter
in hig morning Herald the day’
after, . ;

There is Detective Capt. E. W.:
Meichen, who corrals a murder
investigation into his particular
corner of the detective quarters,
tossing tid-bits of information
now and then to Police Chief
H. Leslie Quigg or across the

Street to State Investigator I. R.
Mills. ; _

-" f Pah i i
4
bce i te ‘
. Ps ripe f
; ae ae 4 La
‘ i ee ae, .) $9
a Be, Le eG
as si. a
tae Ss %
‘

Jmogine & pack of | nds on the
ag, without leash, without nee, tum.
g over each other in a wild pursuit of one

Co

ou babes

pout conveniently tagged “suicides.” fe

Witmeases Bounce Around

Since Mills and his superior,
State Attorney G. A. Worley, are
responsible for the
Of the kilier—{f

and
is caught——Mills does hig probing
from Ris fifth-floor office in the
courthouse,

he ever

jpold-Morin tragedy, are
among these in-

SO many basket-
balls, each to tell his story

murder probe,
Statements to different investiga-
tors varied so much the officers
found it hard to belteve they
were all working on the same
case,

This confusion, which hit an-
all-time high in the Leopold-
Morin murder and left citizens
astonished that a killer seen by
70 many was able to wipe out a
farhily and a youth fin separate
sections of the city without being
trapped, binds Dade county’s

law enforcement like stout cord.
casé as a°

‘Using this unsolved

—_———

rosecution ,

|

anaiemuaeaini
blundering example, the :-saeonn
why thin aréa’s pollee eoctem
moves like a rusty tank fooling a
fohralarm emergency «look up
about af follows:

There i@ no central *ininia-
trative authority for cows) wide
police investigations of an< smor.
®ency nature such @s osurder,

Worley, the eventual proe-rutor,
is nominal boss but the ¢ opera.
Won given him is next ts ii,
Miamt's police radio ayciom fa
one of the finest In the country,
but Miami Beach has {i's own
radio system. Police in thet com.
munity ignore, for the mo: part,

Miarni’s broadcasts.

The detective bureau a! Miami
police headquarters close« at 10
Pp. m. daily during the eonmer
months, leaving cruising plain.
clothesmen to their own (evices, ’

Petty Feuds On Forres

The identification burea:: closes
dally at 5 p.m. all year. Pecause
of this many an apparently
harmless vagrant ts found ‘to be
wanted for murder or robhery—
after he is released from fatl,
Failure to make an immediate
check of fingerprints has caused
this blunder time and again.

The Miami detective force als
shot through with petty jealousies
and feuds, which made possible
the comedy of several winters
ago when two of them, angered
because they failed to get pay
raizes and promotions, staged un-
authorized gambling rald:. ~

Inveatigations, particuisriy of
murders, tend to overlap. Offi-
cers on the night of the Loopold-
Morin affair were double-parking
each other in their rush to ques.
tion witnesses first.

Leave Zones Unproter! +3

Squad car patrolling policemen
and detectives alike make > dan-
serous practice of leavins ‘hetr

zones unprotected while the» con-
verge on the crime scen-.

And so the glaring ~rrors
mount. They e in why the

Laopold-Morin killer is still at
large, why the death of Frank
Lepins, whose fire-charre:! hody

was found on a south o-cnty
roadside, was dismissed >> “sui.
cide,” how Pete Clifford wv: shot _

to death in front of his Miamt
Beach night club by a. murderer
who calmly walked away.

They explain that ineffectual
State of mind to which '- on.

Ap etnaerrnctmngeg ener

forcement officiala in thi: frea
are reduced—like Detectiv: Chief
Scarboroa, who confided to fg
friend the other day that the
Leopold-Morin murderer walked |
right in front of him.
“If I hadn't awakened, I'd have |
rotten him—in my dream.” he |

Pa i eee | —

SS a ITE SAE ieee Sot ger
et % wi " -: s s Fae SE SEO - — “ne * aback
EEN TS RE PEALE EN EI PR IR 8 LO BOON RR PERN Or eR ep TORE RS

oR


Muar Weracn
Seer. Zi, 1942,
Pace. LB

By TED WARD ‘
Hieralé Mall Writer by

Impaneling of
grand ju at 10a. m.
to motion legal machinery «x

pected to pitchfork Vincent Christy,
confessed Leopold-Morin killer, toe
Sore conviction and the electrid
_ Indictment of the tall, sallow ex-
gonvict, however probably will not
ibe asked of the grand jury until
Wednesday, State Attorney G. A.
|Worley seid Sunday.

'. Indictment of 11 other persons
‘charged wtih murder also will be
requested of the grand jury, the
State attorney explained, and Chris-
ty’s case must await its turn.

. There is “only a slight bility”
that Christy's case will brought
before the jury today, he added.

:
:

Six witnesses who. positively iden- ~

tified Christy as the suspect seen
fleeing from the slaying scene
have not been subpoenaed for today.

If Christy is indicted, he will be
arraigned before a circuit fudge
here. An attorney will be appointed
by the state to defend him, then a
trial date will be set.

Officers said the 15 murders to
-be investigated, including the four
| eredited to Christy on the night of
July 17, approached, if not estab-
lished an all-time record for one
grand iurv seeaion jn Dede county.


ireman’

ells a

§ | rt tor rr

itress

after he shot and killed four
grt Calvert. a city fireman as 6
eed to the central station,
adon a southside bus only a
days after the murder a man.
he believed fitted the descrip-
of the gunman sought by
He noted the poiht at wh
raan ‘left the bus, a point near
Miami Ve, and 10th at.
Coivert reported his observations
poliee and suggested a sys-
mati. check of all buildings in a.
» of several blocks from the
t where the gsuspect left the
Police, although they tramped
igh the brush for two days in
¢ “Dania manhunt,” did not act
| Calvert's proposal.

Wore Blee Trousers

Weeks passed, then Christy was

fed in Jacksonville. Police
d°'he had quarters on 8.
mi ave. near 10th sat., where
could have nabbed him if they
followed Calvert's idea weeks
xe, Moreover, Calvert, taking
look at pietures of Christy,
“That's the guy I saw on the

@ fireman, who said Christy
.~& wrist watch on each arm,.
d that the killer wore blue
ers but no coat when he was
onethe bus. Police have veri-
since Christy's arrest, that he
seen wearing blue trousers
without a coat on occasions

‘durin - hie stay here.
 altwege Gs On. Worley
A vite foan in Miami wait-

Christy, confesged slayer of four
Miamians, appeared at the office of
State Attorney Gr A. Worley of ‘her
own volition Tuesday.

She knew Christy. she readily ad-
mitted, bul didn’t know that he was
an ex-convict, a holdup specialist

@ going to Christy's apartment
|

waitress, who explained that
vae married but estranged

Reveral occasions .to drink beer,
Told Worley that Christy told her
ce was “connected with the army.”

By CY BERNING
Moreld Gialf Wriier °

Had Miami! police taken the advice of a city fireman, Vincent
Christy probably would have been taken into custody here a few

her husband and who ad-|

4
Es

; Gally during

She made Christy's acquaintance,

,She said, at a restaurant where she |

Miamilans on July 17.

motive wag revenge, and also Chris
ty’s statement that he gave tke
Morin boy a chance for his life.
Meanwhile—it was about as valw
uable as sunglasses at midnight—s
coroner's jury impeneled before
Peace Justice Thomas 8. Ferguson
returned Tuesday a verdict that
Christy, the confessed slayer, wat
telling the truth.

Low Requires Inquest
At least one saying was made ir
the name of Dade county, however
The jurors deliberated on the quad
ruple murders jointly, so only one
sheet of paper was needed for thet
report, the contents of which coulc
hardly have been called a stagger
ing Leaae ree ‘ ,

State ttorney Worley was
among the first to agree that a cor
oner’a jury was not essential &
prosecution of the 36-yearold Chris
tv for ahooting to death Ralph J
Morin, jr. and the three member
of the Irving Leopold family.: How
ever, Worley pointed out that th
law prescribed as a duty of .

eace justice that of impaneling
me to investigate each death f
which evidence of foul play }
shown.
Christy waa not brought befor
the jury. That saved the county
bit of money, too.

The witnesses who told the jur
they saw Christy fleeing from th
scenes of the murders include

Russell Rocco, 6&3 8. W. 13th #1
who testified he saw Christy aba:
don young Moring car at 13th s
and the railroad after the murde:
and-that Christy walked away dow
the railway . tracks.

1wo Baw Wim Hanning

Mr. and Mrs, J. J. Downey ar
daughter, Lorene, 1972 S. W. Se
enth st., who told of seeing Chris
run through several yards in fle
ing from the Leopold kosher mz
ket after slaying Leopold, his wi
and stepson,

Mrs. Alta S. Gregg, who testifi:
that she saw Christy drop from
ledge of the Leopold apartmer
then flee and jump into Morin’s 2
tomohile.

|

Whe Care,
waitress ‘continu
Ca

sh

the f
0.

tim
eeing

ort time.
Scarboro Tuesda

robbery.

Mrs. Belle Kraft, {
ond st.. who said geld
death shots in the Leopold apa
ment, that Christy looked 1
(at her ag he ran her wh
| Persons pursying “Kili
yelling “Grab ‘hin P-
80 “mean,” she a&¢
| back into her hothe,!
| Dr. Chester W. Walsdor?, 1
S. W. Eighth st., who ran to the rv
of the pold market-epartms:
building when the shots rang o
He saw Christy leaning on a led
outside the apartment, he said, t
the killer ordered him away af
explaining that the shots w:
sar “fireworks.”
Oucemen C. B. New

John Holland described ihe Lops
apartment ag they found it, the
cation of the three bodies, the fi
ipa! of Lea tee in the kitcNen ai

d a window : |
the mupdener ee

State Investigator TR. Mills Int
duced the evegiasses in evider
teatifving that Chrtaty admit
purchasing them in Low Angeles

A $228.65 expense bill aubmit
to fhe county commission Toeer
by Mills, tnveetigater for State
torney Worley, in coanection w

the apprehenston of Christy 1

A $228.65 expense bill submit
t
to the county commission asodsy
by Mills, investigator for State At-
torney Worley, in connection with

the apprehension of Christ
ners down for lon
n.

Phe bill covered Mills’ expenses to

Jacksonville, where the confessed:
murderer was captured, from Jack-

sonville to Washington, where FBI
officers identified the killer’s guns,

and returnin the rison
Miami. Z : sy

Blemding |

ge ea the
o

was golvig to mp Blanding. Ac

did go to Camp Blanding 3
employed ag a barber mig Wad

With Sgt. J. i.
omicide bureau, Det, enn ‘g

=

‘Deae declared Monday
, day thet h
dizcounted Christy's claim that hig!

lack of itemize-


}

wy eats

5% ry wy Res
Vb Dak, ANSE LO
— ie a ji
ica 1° Ay 9 “be »

T WAS a cold morning in late February, 1940, when two
puzzled ladies of Fort Wayne called upon James R. Fleming,
United States District Attorney of Northern Indiana. They

introduced themselves as Mrs, E. A. King, of Cook Road, and

Mrs, Harry G. Beggs, of 1725 Ardmore Road.

The ladies explained that they had each received a letter from
their aunt, Mrs. Anna K. Henson, of Daytona Beach, Florida.
The letters, however, had been postmarked New York City,
February 7, 1940, and one of them asked for a loan of three hun-
dred dollars,

“Well,” asked Fleming, “what’s wrong with that ?”

They spread the letters out on Fleming’s desk and invited him
to look them over,

“We're puzzled,” began Mrs. Beggs. “We've corresponded
with our aunt a good deal, but this is the first time she used a
typewriter, and these letters are misspelled and ungrammatical.
My aunt is a trained nurse and well educated. It just doesn’t
sound like her at all.” ,

“Not only that,” continued Mrs. King. “We
can’t understand her trying to borrow three hundred
dollars from us. She’s a rich woman. She never

tried to borrow anything from us before. And not long ago,
a grateful patient of hers died—an old man—and left her ang
additional $50,000.”

Fleming turned to the letters and studied them carefully. Cer-
tainly, they did not sound like the efforts of a literate person.

“Well,” Fleming decided, “in that case this could possibly be
an attempted mail fraud. And if it is, it’s a job for the postal
inspectors. Do you know this Mrs. Coyle with whom your aunt
is supposed to be staying ?”

“Never heard of her,” promptly answered both women.

“T'll send these letters to the proper authorities,” decided
Fleming. “It might be an idea if we started checking at Daytona
Beach, where your aunt has her home.”

The two women left and the letters were subsequently sent to

The washroom under the porch, that did not
contain any facilities for washing, and
its acrid odor, aroused Deputy Slaughter.


CRIME DETECTIVE

DISCOVERED MURDERED WIFE

James Sorenson of the Bronx, New York, is shown being taken to
the Police Station for questioning after he discovered his wife
dying of head wounds in the bathroom of their apartment. Below
is the victim of the assault. She died a few hours after attack.

(7

athe.

eu SG
beast
Has

eke
Pas

Ss eo ?-
AF
tiberied

warm, personal friend of Mrs. Hen-
son.

“I wonder if you would do me a
favor?” Phillips asked.

“Certainly. What is it?”

“When the happy event takes place,
I’ll send you and Mrs. Orr a telegram.
Please have it put in the papers.”

The banker said he would be glad
to oblige.

Phillips collected some rentals on
the Henson property and cashed a
few checks against her account. In a
few days he was in New York. He
wasted no tim? and arranged a liaison
with Mrs. Mary Coyle, registering
with her at the Empire Hotel as “Mr.
and Mrs. A. M. Phillips.”

Should anything ever go amiss and
inquiry be made into the activities
of his marriage to Mrs. Henson, the
proof was inscribed on the hotel reg-
ister.

On Washington’s birthday he dis-
patched three telegrams. Two of
these went to the nieces in Ft. Wayne;
the other, to Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Orr.
They all were worded the same:

“Married today Love
Anna and Phil”

Time flitted by speedily and Phil-
lips and Mrs. Coyle visited some of
his old haunts. In Daytona Beach,
Orr followed his instructions and
communicated with Miss Florence
Pepper, society editor of the Daytona
Beach Evening News. The marriage
announcement was made public news
in a widely read column.

Eleven days later found the pseudo
bridegroom once more taking up life
at the Henson home in the winter
resort. “The bride, of course,” he
explained, “was to stay for treatments
and afterwards visit her nieces in In-
diana.” This allowed him plenty of
time for a coup against the Henson
estate, the nature of which would be
a general cashing in of all holdings.

WO weeks later, towards eight in
the evening, as he lay on his bed
pondering as to why no word had
come from Ft. Wayne, in answer to
the entreaties of his forged letter ask-
ing for three hundred dollars, a series

83

of knocks resounded through the still-
ness of the house. Hastily throwing
a dressing gown over his semi-clad
person, he went downstairs and
opened a side door.

I stood outside.
very slightly.

“Why, Ben,” he asked in surprise,
“what are you doing here?”

“Just a friendly visit, Phillips. Want
to have a little talk with you. Do
you mind if I come in?”

“Certainly not.” Phillips held the
door wide open. ‘

As I passed through the portals an-
other knocking sounded at the front
of the house. ;

“That’s a friend of mine, Postal In-
spector E. G. Allen. He wants to talk
to you also,” I explained.

Phillips’ hopes must have plum-
meted earthwards. But his face was
immobile.

I admitted Allen who introduced
himself and asked if the three of us
couldn’t sit down and have a talk.

“Sure,” agreed Phillips, “why not?”

“Mr. Phillips,” began Allen, “I want
to warn you that any statements you
make may be used gg you.”

“Yes, I understand. But tell me
what you want of me?”

Phillips knew me

“I will. Are you and Mrs. Henson
married?”
“Yes, Weare. She’s in...”

““Never mind. We'll get to that
later,” cut in Allen.

His eyes burned into the Italian’s
as he abruptly fired:

“Did you write any letters, signing
the name of Mrs. Henson?”

“T did not,” he denied promptly.

Then Allen asked, “Have you a
typewriter?”

“Yes, I have one.”

“Would you please get it and bring
it into this room?”

Phillips arose. “Glad to accom-
modate,” he said. Leaving the room,
he reappeared a few minutes later
carrying a portable.

Allen motioned him to place the
machine upon a table and draw up a
chair. “I’ll dictate, Phillips ... you
write,” he ordered.

For the better portion of two hours
Phillips pecked out everything the
postal inspector dictated. Then Allen
gathered up Phillips’ writing, sat in a
corner and with a long, sharp pencil
drew circles around certain words.

THE VICTIM

a

84

All this time I was observing Phil-
lips. He displayed no nervousness.

The only reason I was in his house
was because Allen had dropped into
the police station and asked for some-
one to ¢ome over with him. On the
way he explained the case.

tor three reasons Mrs. King and
Mrs. Beggs did not believe the letters
they had received had been written
by their aunt:

1. Mrs. Henson had plenty of mone
and certainly would not have to call
on them for the small sum of three
hundred dollars.

2. Their aunt was an educated wo-
man. The letters contained badly
constructed sentences and were filled
with misspelled words and mispunc-
tuation.

3. Mrs. Henson had always been a
well and hearty woman and they
could see no reason for her sudden
departure to New York for medical
treatment.

Their suspicions aroused, the two
young: nieces called on James R.
Fleming, U. S. District Attorney of
Northern Indiana, who directed Pos-
tal Inspector W. C. Lytle to start a
series of rigid investigations. Col-
laborating with the New York postal
inspectors one of the letters from
Phillips to Coyle to the nieces was
intercepted. As this encompassed an-
other territory, Lytle communicated
with Allen whose jurisdiction in-
cluded Daytona Beach.

een looked up from his perusal
’ of the sheets Phillips had typed.
Misspelled words in the letters and
in the sheets before him corresponded
exactly. “Use” was constantly spelled
“youse” in both places; “Sylvia” was
spelled “Sylivia” and “wright” was
written for “right”, to mention only a
few. There was no doubt of Phil-
lips’ guilt. :

“It would be childish to deny you
wrote these letters. We've got you
cold,” Allen finally announced, look-
ing at Phillips intently.

Phillips drew a long sigh. Dreams
of ease and luxury went crashing
about him. But this was no criminal
charge, he thought quickly. It would
be wise to confess to this.

“Yes, I wrote those letters,” he ad-
mitted, “but only because Mrs. Hen-
son asked me -to.”

“Furthermore, I know,” said the in-
vestigator stabbing into the dark,
“you and Mrs. Henson are not mar-
ried.”

“No, we’re not,” Phillips conceded
after a short pause.

“Then why the pretense?” Allen
continued.

“Just to quiet talk. You know how
it is when two people live together in
the same house .-. . gossip is thick.”

Allen arose from his chair and I
got up with him. “I think, Mr. Phil-
lips, you better come over to the sta-
tion house with us,” he said lightly.
I knew he wanted time to fix up a
warrant on forgery and using the
mails to defraud.

Calmly Phillips tidied himself up
and the three of us went to police
headquarters. I accompanied him to
an_ upstairs room, where I left him.

reported the proceedings to
Deputy Walt Campbell who tele-
phoned Sheriff Ed Stone of Volusia
County. The sheriff’s office was in
DeLand, twenty-three miles distant.
Stone, busy on another investigation,
placed the entire matter in the cap-
able hands of Campbell.

CRIME DETECTIVE

FINGER MAN

Whitey Krakower, left, the “finger man” in the Schachter slaying
and Harry Schachter, the murdered man, whose number came
up because he asked for money and was getting dangerous.

AND VICTIM

We held Phillips in custody for sev-
eral days. Intermittently during this
time, either one or the other of us
around headquarters fired an un-
withering stream of questions at him.
Allen, on his side, checking on the
Italian’s activities, interviewed Orr,
Mrs. Clark, Gardiner, McNealy and
others.

While Allen’s findings left us up the
proverbial tree regarding the where-
abouts of Mrs. Henson, they gave us
more than a glimmer of suspicion that
there was something more serious
than a mere forgery in this case, al-
though none of us came out and said
S03!

On Monday morning, March 9,
Campbell, Ollie Lancaster, Jr., and I
decided to have a final fling at coax-
ing something incriminating out of
Phillips. Lancaster had his pad and
pencil handy just in case...

Phillips at length decided to make
a statement. “Why shouldn’t I?” he
asked. “I have nothing to hide.” He
started to talk and Lancaster took
down every word.

In the statement he said when he
went to New York to meet Mrs. Hen-
son he could not find her. In Phila-
delphia, too, there seemed to be no
trace of her. After calling all the
hospitals, he said, he returned with-
out her.

The statement was a contradictory
one. Although some of his statements
were logical enough, others were
hopelessly muddled and confusing. At
the conclusion the three of us ex-
changed significant looks. Campbell
immediately telephoned Sheriff Stone
and said: _

“It looks like we’ve got a murder
over here, Ed.”

Murray Sams,. firebrand State At-
torney of Volusia County, became
deeply engrossed in the case. He con-
tacted W. H. Gasque, special State
investigator, and together with Stone,
Clifton, Campbell and myself, went
back to the house for further investi-
gation. Sams, Stone and Gasque
talked to everybody on the outside
who had the slightest knowledge of

anything pertaining to Phillips.

Greenman, the mattress man, told
of his visit to the Henson house., The
excuse of miscarriage for the traces
of blood sounded phony to us. The
mattress was ripped apart, metal
strips off the stairs removed and an
innocent appearing hammer found in
the house. These were sent to E. L.
Rowland, Jr., a young student chemist
who had aided the police several
time before.

Rowland found traces of human
blood on all these articles.

We felt we had enough circumstan-
tial evidence against Phillips to build
up a strong case. But still we lacked
proof any harm had befallen Mrs.
Henson. The Volusia County jail
house at DeLand was under repairs,
so we decided to take Phillips to the
Dade County jail in Miami. The long
ride might loosen his tongue. It
didn’t though.

TD =POS!ITING our prisoner at Mi-
ami, we returned home. Perhaps,
we thought, the boys there, noted
for their questioning ability could
wheedle something useful out of him.
Chief Deputy Joseph Conderman and
Deputy A. L. Buford worked on the
prisoner while we headed back for
Daytona Beach.

For six hours Conderman and Bu-
ford questioned Phillips. J. E. Kelly,
court reporter, sat with his pencil
poised. ike butchers cutting a piece
of meat, the two officers sliced up the
inconsistencies of Phillips’ statements,
working on the supposition he had
murdered her.

“Come on,” urged Conderman near
the close of the sixth hour, “Where’s
the body?”

“Where did you hide it?” chimed
in Buford.

Conderman handed Phillips a ro-
sary. He took it between his sweaty
fingers, turning it over and over. His
father had been an_ evangelistic
minister.

“You’re a religious man, Phillips,”
Conderman urged. “A woman lies
dead. You killed her. Don’t you want

hy


Heth ike

her to have a Christian burial?”

“Yes, a Christian burial,” echoed
Buford,

A man can stand only so much—
even one calloused as Phillips. Worn
to a frazzle by this relentless grilling,
he looked wearily at Kelly, who
leaned forward eagerly.

_Phillips released a deep sigh. “All
right! Get your pencil and paper
ready!” he said at last. ~

Without further ado, he confessed
to the murder of Mrs. Henson, stating,

-however, that he had drowned her,

pushing her into the Atlantic Ocean.
Within his fertile mind remained the
one ray of hope that without recovery
of the body chances were better for a
light sentence.

Upon our return there was a phone
call waiting from Miami informing us
that Phillips had signed a lengthy
confession. The following day Stone
and Campbell picked up the prisoner
at Miami and transported him to the
Orange County jail house at Orlando,
forty-two miles from DeLand.

The case appeared practically
closed to all of us except Murray
Sams, the District Attorney whose
reputation in going to the bottom of
cases was widespread.

“I don’t believe he drowned her,”
Sams told Sherif Stone.

“Funny,” said Stone, “I’ve been
thinking the same thing.”

“Let’s go over and see if we can
straighten him out,” Sams suggested.

At the identical time that Sams,
Stone and Gasque along with. Mrs.
Jesse Kleinman of Titusville, a court
reporter, were persuading Phillips
into making a second confession, Walt
Campbell back at the Daytona Police
Station said to Deputy Bill Slaughter

CRIME

DETECTIVE

responsible. However she said noth-
ing either way. Her own mental
stream was torn from its natural
channels. Everything was so uncer-
tain. She was only sure that she
loved Archie and that at the same
time she loved Gladys. It was a
strange triangle.

“You better take along a few extra
dresses,” Gladys suggested.

“T guess this one will be enough,”
Frances said.

In Los Angeles Gladys urged her to
go to her relatives. Frances objected
that she had no money for carfare.
“I have twenty-five cents,” Gladys
pushed the coin into her hand. “Or
we can drive you out there.”

“But it’s so far,” Frances still ob-
jected. “Clear on the other side of
town.” ;

“Listen, if Frances don’t want to
go, she don’t go,”’ Archie stated flatly.
“She’s going back with us.”

Facto was on duty from mid-
night to 8:00 A. M. Saturday.
After he had left the Carter cabin for
his shift, Gladys talked long and sis-
terly to Frances. “This is an awful
thing to happen to us, Frances. You
being in this condition,”

“Don’t say things like that,’ Fran-

CRIME DETECTIVE

of Deland and me, “Boys, let’s run
out to the Henson house and look
around.”

We were there in a few minutes. No
sooner had we entered the front door
than the three of us started sniffing.
The empty house had been permeated
-with an intense odor,

“Just like rotten potatoes,” Camp-,
bell and I agreed.

But Slaughter thought differently.
“That’s formaldehyde,” he said.

To settle the question we tele-
phoned Harry Haigh of the Haigh and
Brooks funeral home. Hurrying over,
the undertaker took one whiff of the
air and announced, “Formaldehyde is
right.”

Formaldehyde! The body might be
embalmed and right here in the house
or yard!

A diligent search of the house re-
vealed nothing. We prowled about in
the yard. Slaughter walked over to
the garage and peered into the newly
built house under the stairway. It
was about six by eleven feet and as
high as the stairway would allow.

unny, I thought, it was supposed
to be a wash house, yet there was no
spigot, no bench, no tubs. Flooring
covered the ground.

Slaughter looked puzzled. “Help
me pull these boards out,” he re-
quested. of

We did, and bare ground was re-
vealed. Slaughter began poking with
a brass rod down to a three to four
foot depth.

“Somethin’ funny down there!” he
exclaimed with .conviction.

He handed me the rod which I
pushed into the ground. I touched
something soft and spongy.

Working like beavers, we tore out

85

all the remaining floor boards and
with a shovel dug into the soft
ground. Pretty soon we had dug up
a long bundle and without undoing
it, we knew instantly that it was the
remains of Mrs. Anna K, Henson.

I ran for the telephone and called
Stone at Orlando. Briefly I described
our findings. He hung up and con-
fronted his prisoner with the news.
Overpowered by the discovery of his
secret, Phillips made his final con-
fession. It was a voluminous affair
of twenty pages and he signed each
page on the bottom.

Although the body was badly de-
composed for the short time it had
been interred, it was still possible to
recognize the lines and physical. fea-
tures of a woman. Dr. George Green,
former physician to Mrs. Henson,
identified it during the autopsy by a
scar the dead woman bore from a
goiter operation he had once per-
formed.’ The autopsy revealed that
so terrific had been the force of Phil-
lips’ blows that pegs of skull were
driven into her brain.

These were some of the gory de-
tails unfolded in DeLand to a Volusia
County jury on June 10, 1940.

Judge Herbert B. Frederick was the
presiding magistrate. Murray Sams
represented the State. Howard B.
Hodgens and’ William W. Judge were
the court-appointed defendant’s' at-
torneys.

The jury was out fifty-nine min-
utes, during which time Phillips,
cocky and confident, confided to the
Crime_ Detective representative, “I
know I’m guilty, but I believe they’ll
show me mercy.” :

He was sentenced to die in the
electric chair.

DON'T COME IN HERE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

,

Sces cried back. “I’m not in trouble.”

Stolidly Frances refused to admit
that she was pregnant. But Gladys

knew, as a woman knows, that Fran-.,

ces was in trouble and that her hus-
band was responsible. As she sat
close by the girl she really loved,
Gladys knew better than Frances how
she felt.

A great flood of sympathy welled
in her heart for the girl. Frances saw
it flash from her kindly eyes and.
quivering lips. Suddenly Frances
could not stand it. She burst into
convulsive sobs.

“There, there,” Gladys comforted
her. “Don’t cry, honey, somehow
we'll work this out. It’s such a
shame.”

“Tm afraid ... awfully afraid...”
Frances sobbed.
“There ... there...”

The situation. was beyond words
.. then. Neither of the two women said
much. They both knew. without
words. Knew things which only one
woman can know and share with an-
other. They knew something which
was infinitely beyond Archie Carter
or any other man, beyond all men to
comprehend.
Gladys took Frances into her own
bed that night and consoled her into

a fitful sleep. “There... there ..
everything will work out all right,’
she repeated over and over.

Gladys wanted to keep telling
Frances that everything would work
out all right because, in her own
mind, that is what she wanted to be-
lieve. :

On the surface, Gladys blamed
Archie. When he came stalking in
shortly after 8:00 A. M., he dropped
his .38 on the table. Hungry, he de-
manded his breakfast and forgot to
remove the cartridges from the gun.

“Archie,” Gladys said, “I don’t
blame Frances. I blame you. ’Cause
ie are older and you should have

nown better.”

Archie laughed at her. The humilia-
tion of that laughter touched off an
explosion in Gladys’ mind.

Underneath, Gladys blamed Frances
for the situation. Below her surface
expression—which was entirely hon-
est and sincere—Gladys hated this
girl who had come between her and
her man. She despised her youth
and beauty which, she felt, had
robbed her of her rightful love. It
was her fault for not heeding every
wife’s warning: “Don’t come in here.”

They were all four in the front
room of the cabin that morning. Dis-

’

ar

with the
l. “All the

”

fr.

Mrs. Hen-
Bill go back
p to bottom.
cad that will
vat her fate

surprised to
ag a signed
Henson giv-
unt. Phillips
is had made
ainst the ac-
nation of the
i much-cha-
reed with the

e for kidnap-
rong,” Stone
.d Campbell
Jhat did you

r replied dis-
place upside

lution of the
hat there was
Northern hos-
as not known
d.

the officers’
oner admitted
[enson’s prop-
to the power
ent interroga-
they had never

wife,” he now
| together for

headed visitor
Stone asked.

. him,” he re-

earance of deep
» not recall,” he

characteristic
where do they

st in the dark, a
tle the prisoner
ission.

at Mrs. Henson
was living you
ge her name to
ind to that power
over her house.
afraid that she
ith you. But you
enough to swing
w she was dead.

ected blandly, “I
in the hospital.
hings.”

said persistently,
‘re of those fan-
en’t dupes. You
lean and tell us
n we can at least

tian burial.”

t murdered,” the
y. “You cannot
ered.”

“Oh, so that’s it? No corpus delicti, no
murder charge, eh? Well, listen, you don’t
get out of this ona mail fraud count, Phil-
lips. The charge is going to be murder,
and you’re going to be somewhere in the
court room when it is made. We'll find
Mrs. Henson’s body, sooner or later.”

“T hope,” Stone amended beneath his
breath on the way out. Had the comely
divorcee actually been murdered? If so,
how? Shooting? Poisoning? Knifing?
Strangulation? Bludgeoning? Drowning?
How? By whom? Phillips, the mysteri-
ous redhead, or others? Murdered or kid-
naped, where was she? The sheriff was
convinced the woman had been slain but
he had not a vestige of proof. These were
unanswerable questions, and Phillips ob-
viously wasn’t going to talk in the belief
that they would remain so.

“Now let’s try to reason this thing out
from what we’ve already got,” Stone said
to Slaughter and Campbell the following
day. “Mrs. Henson was last seen on the
afternoon of January seventeenth. She
disappeared after that. So she must have
been killed sometime that night, if she
was killed.”

“Phillips says he was home that night,”
put in Campbell, “and the neighbors bear
him out.”

“He was seen around the house on three
following days,” said Slaughter. “So if she
was murdered, he could not have taken
the body away very far himself. Of course
the redhead or somebody else, could have
called after dark and done ty

“All right then,” Stone said, “let’s sup-
pose she was murdered that night either
by Phillips or somebody else working
under his direction. Couldn’t the body
have been hidden somewhere in that
house? Let’s go out there and search that
place again!”

They did. They started in the down-
stairs bedroom where there were twin
beds and French doors and worked up-
stairs to the middle bedroom and the one
on the back of the house.

“Examine those sheets and bedclothes
carefully for Bloodstains,” Stone directed.
“Look in every drawer, box and nook for
a gun, knife, rope or any kind of a murder
instrument. Check the towels and wood-
work in that bathroom. Shake out all the
clothes in these closets. Go up in the attic,
if you haven't been there.”

A that was done, the officers work-
ing like beavers. But there was no
trace of anything incriminating.

Slaughter came upstairs with a hammer
he had found on the back porch. “Wonder
if this was used?” he said.

They inspected it carefully under the
light. “If it was,” Stone said finally, “the
user didn’t leave anything on it. Nothing
suspicious about it. Let’s go down and
look under the house.” ~

“Bill and I did that yesterday,” Camp-
bell said.

“Let’s look again.”

They did. They looked under the house,
in the back yard, all around the house.

“Well,” Stone said wearily at the end of
the fruitless search, “if she was murdered,
somebody’s holding out a corpse on Us.
We'll question the neighbors again. We
might have overlooked somebody who can
give us a lead.”

This was done. The officers worked
house to house, person to person, inter-
rogating closely, making notes. And at
the end of the tedious job, they had only
more discouragement. Were they wrong?
They could not be. Yet they had nothing
to show for their suspicions.

“Back to Phillips,” said Stone. “He’s

got to talk. Wait, I’ve got an idea about
that. :
“Every uniformed man in town has
been trying to crack Phillips for four days.
We'll take him out of town and let some-
body else try their luck with him. Sheriff
D. C. Coleman down in Miami is mighty
good at this quizzing business. And on
the way down there we'll try a little psy-
chological experiment on Mr. Phillips.
Bill, you stay here and see if you can dig
up that red-headed roomer. Campbell, and
I will take Phillips for a little ride down
state.” 4

That night they took Phillips out of the
city jail and hustled hirn into the sheriff's
car with the pretense of great secrecy.

“Where are we going?” the prisoner
asked as the car raced south along the
dark-wooded highway. |

“We thought we'd better get you out
of town,” Stone replied uneasily. “There
have been a lot of ugly rumors going
around. Some threats were made by Mrs.
‘Henson’s friends.”

“Eh, that so?”

rine roared on through the dark,
moonless night. Campbell, who was
riding on the back seat beside the mana-
cled Phillips, leaned forward and said in
a sotto voice, just loud enough for the
latter to hear: !
“Say, Sheriff, you don’t think we'll be
hijacked, do you? It would be awful if
a gang took him away from us and strung
him up on one of those pine trees out
there. You think that might happen?”
“IT don’t know,” Stone replied in the
same voice. “That would be mighty bdd.”
“Say, will you give mea cigaret, please,”
Phillips said nervously. 7
Campbell made a pretense of search-
ing his pockets. “Fresh out,” he replied.
“Sorry.” After a minute he leaned for-
ward again. “Everybody knows Mrs.
Henson was murdered,” he whispered to
Stone. “What they’re really mad about,
is that she can’t have a decent burial. 1
think we could control them if it weren’t
for that.”

“But how cath we give her a decent -

burial?” Stone asked. “We haven't found
the body yet. So I guess he’ll have to
take his chances.”

Phillips squirmed. A car flashed past.
Campbell leaned forward again.

“Didn’t that car look suspicious to you,
Sheriff? Five men in it.”

“Syre did,” Stone said nervously. “I
might have to cut through these woods.”

Phillips burst out: “Hey, look, I don’t
like this ride!”

“We don’t either,” Campbell told him.
“We're just as scared as you are. I hope
we make Miami safely!”

They did, and their prisoner was plenty
“ripe” when he was taken into Sheriff
Coleman’s private office. For a few hours
he resisted the patient and skillful inter-
rogation put to him by Coleman, his
deputy, Joe Condermann, Stone and
Campbell. Then finally he waved a hand
for silence and calmly antiounced:

“Give me a cigaret. I will tell every-
thing now.” After-lighting the cigaret, he
said flatly. “I killed Mrs. Henson.”

“How did you kill her?” snapped Stone.
“Where is her body?”

“T drowned her in the ocean, then I
pushed her out on the tide. She disap-
peared.”

Stone grimaced, “The missing corpus
delicti act again, eh? Don’t give us any
more of that stuff, Phillips.”

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65


head by
rpus de-
isfactory
ie details

topsy re-
Attorney

Orlando ,

ier. This
t was his

ad signed

Caingetti,
under the
is by that
own,” the
1 in New
n 49 years
of the late
she and I
wife from
- death on

rs. Henson.
» back bed-
ished with

vent to bed
m., on the
ortly there-
4 a. m., on
Mrs. Hen-
to the bath-
e bathroom
to fuss with
d previously
-d to marry.
me go back
me, I then
slapped me

i she hit me
slippers. At
mer lying on
-uck her with
cnocking her
-he bed, face
ore times on
vhile she was
od from the
head caused
pattered over
> gave a long
; dead.
n and washed
ack and stood
4 a cigar, and
ed on how I
I then went
upstairs and
re I remained
it in the morn-

s and out into
ce to bury the
ander the stair-
ent, which also
1, and was lo-
t to the house,
yury it, because
owing between
rage wall that
d permitted me
eing noticed. I
ntil late in the
day after I had

mitted the body
- had fallen. On
jug the grave I
body in a sheet,
round the head,
na quilt and a

canvas, binding it securely with wire.
About 6:30 in the evening | dragged the
body down the stairs into the downstairs
bedroom and waited for it to get dark.

“As soon as I concluded that it was
dark and that I could do so without being
seen, I dragged the body out of the house
and placed it in the grave and covered it
with sand.

“The next day, on a pretense of water-
ing the lawn and flowers, I thoroughly
wetted down the sand on the grave, an
on Feb. 14, I had a carpenter inclose the
garage apartment stairway, which in-
cluded the grave and construct a wooden
floor in the space, which completely cov-
ered the grave.

“At the time I washed the blood off my
hands I also took the hammer into _the
bathroom and washed the blood off of
it as well. When I got up on the morn-
ing just after I had killed Mrs. Henson, I
went back into the room and removed
from her fingers two diamond rings.
These I kept in my. possession, along with
Mrs. Henson’s wrist watch and a pair of
diamond ear-rings, until about March 1,
1940, when I placed them in a safe de-
posit box where they now are.
> “Tn answer to the inquiry of neighbors
as to the whereabouts of Mrs. Henson
I told them that I had taken her to the
railway station, where she boarded a train
for Jacksonville for the purpose of re-
ceiving medical attention and that she
had gone from Jacksonville to New York
and from there to Philadelphia, and was
located in a hospital somewhere between
those two cities, receiving treatment from
physicians both from New York and
Philadelphia.

“On Feb. 17, 1940, I left Daytona
Beach and went to New York. I stayed in
New York until Feb, 24, 1940, when I re-

turned to Daytona and resumed my resi-
dence at Mrs. Henson’s place. While in
New York, my former landlady who
later mailed the letters, accompanied me
on a train journey to Elkton, Maryland.
In returning to New York, we passed
through North Philadelphia: where I sent
telegrams to Mrs. Henson’s two nieces
at Ft. Wayne, and to a neighbor at. Day-
tona Beach, signed ‘Anna and Phil,’ which
stated ‘just married’.

“Blood from Mrs. Henson’s head
stained the mattress on which she was
lying. I cut out the mattress cover and
packing showing these blood stains, and
four or five days after I had killed Mrs.
Henson, had a man sew a new cover on
that side of the mattress.

“Since Mrs. Henson’s death I_ have
collected the rents on her properties in
Daytona Beach, amounting to something
like $130 per month, and applied it to-
ward payment of current bills. I signed
her name and my name as attorney in
fact to all checks drawn by me against
her bank account.”

Phillips never explained the odor, of
formaldehyde in the house. It-was felt
that he used the fluid either in a crude at-
tempt to embalm the victim or as a disin-
fectant in removing evidence of the crime.

At Phillips’ trial in June, 1940, the
above statement was admitted as evi-
dence. On June 12, he was declared
guilty in the first degree of murdering
Mrs. Henson after a jury deliberation of
59 minutes. Judge H. B. Frederick, of
the Volusia county circuit court, pro-
nounced the death sentence.

As this is written, Angie Michael Cain-
getti, alias Phillips, the cold-blooded ham-
mer-slayer of his “pride,” awaits the date
to be set for his electrocution in the state
penitentiary at Raiford.

Doomed Prospectors
[Continued from page 11]

feet and placed in the grave. There was
nothing to indicate it had been dragged.

Shortly afterward the county coroner
arrived to take charge of the body and it
later was turned over to a Fossil under-
taker. Also on the scene now was George
Dukek, 29-year-old district attorney.

The grim search for the second missing
man and the killer was on. There were
suspects, as there are in all crimes. There
were rough men in that area, any one of
whom might have killed for a few dollars.
We soon found a tough youth whose
reputation was shady and who had been
seen recently with more money than
usual.

“You can’t pin this on me, Sheriff,” he
said confidently. He was right. His abi
proved correct. He had not been in the
district at the time. Other suspects proved
equally disappointing. We turned then to
an examination of Cline’s affairs, seeking
to learn more of Chetty and the Alaskan
plans.

We had luck there. Within a few hours
we had located Grace Jones, a girl who
used to keep house for Cline. She could
not help us-with the mystery but she
filled in some puzzling gaps in the story.

Chetty, she said, was about 35 years
old and came from Xenia, Ohio. He was
an old friend of Cline. Eleven years be-
fore they had prospected near Hailey,
Idaho. A few days before Chetty’s arrival,
Cline had written him, asking him to come
to Oregon and go on to Alaska with him. -

The lure of gold! The lure of Alaskan
gold still continued to be a magnet nearly
as strong for many as in the days of the
Yukon stampede.

Cline told Chetty, according to his
former housekeeper, to go to Dayville,
jn a nearby county, where he would meet
his stage.

Chetty arrived in Dayville on Wednes-
day, May 1, 1940, just a week before. He
cailed Cline and the Oregon man, who
had no automobile, got a son of an old
prospector to get him in his automobile.

We immediately contacted the driver
and he told us the first thing Chetty
greeted Cline with was:

“I hope this Alaskan business is a sure
fire prospect. Because IT had to borrow
this money from the old man and I don’t
want to see him get stuck for it.”

“Everything’s okay,” Cline was re-
ported as saying.

The three men returned to Spanish
Gulch where Chetty went to Cline’s small
cabin. What went on from there was
something we had yet to learn.

We did learn, though, that on Saturday,
May 4, the fourth day after Chetty’s ar-
rival Cline hired another miner to take
him to Mitchell, a cattle and cow town
20 miles away.

“Cline came to me and wanted me to
take him to Mitchell,” the miner said. “I
said to him, ‘You haven’t got any money,
Claude. You owe me three dollars now.’

“Yes I have,’ Cline replied, and then

1 pence lurked in the shad-
owed recesses of Spook
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67

on.


SRS ee EE

+
}

confronted with a puzzle’ involving far
more than mail fraud. They pursued the
investigation with grim determination
and foreboding, yet they were stumped

‘at every turn.

It was evident that Phillips, from his
long residence in the Henson household,,
was thoroughly familiar with the woman’s _
personal and financial affairs. It was ap-
parent also that he had gone about his.
nefarious business of attempting-to ex-
tort money from her relatives with the
belief that she would not be available to
upset his scheme.

Where, then, was Mrs. Henson? Was
she being held captive somewhere, either
in a local hideout or in New York? Had
she been murdered? Had Phillips been
working alone or with confederates?! Dis-
closure of the woman in New York sup-
ported the latter theory, though she had
declared herself to be an unwitting ‘ac-
complice in the attempt at mail fraud.
What other details of this obviously well-
planned plot had not yet been disclosed?
Why was there need for any such fraud
with Phillips and Mrs. Henson married?

SHREWD judge of the criminal

mind, Stone discerned at once that
this dapper prisoner was not going to
“sing” for the moment, probably not until
some tangible evidence concerning Mrs.
Henson’s disappearance had’ been’ dis-.
covered to shake ‘his confidence.

In a routine move, Stone soon had all
mails, wires and teletypes humming with
requests to all hospitals between New
York and Philadelphia and those: within
the two cities for any: information. con-
cerning Mrs. Henson, or Mrs. Phillips.
Prints and descriptions of Phillips were
flashed to the FBI and other departments
in hopes of disclosing former confederates
or activities that would throw some light
on the present mystery.

While awaiting these reports, Stone
picked up two of his deputies, Bill Slaugh-
ter and-W. H. Campbell, and went out
to see’ what information could be ob-
tained from the neighbors around’ Wis-
consin place.

A man, who lived next door, told them:

“I last saw Mrs. Henson on the eye-
ning of January seventeenth. A few days
later I asked ‘Phillips where she was and
he said she had gone to a bospital up
near New York somewhere to take some
treatments. About three weeks later he
told me he was going up to New York
and ask Mrs. Henson to: marry. him. He
said if I got,a wire from them saying they
were married, to publish the announce-
ment‘in the paper.

“He left for New York about the middle
of February, I believe. A couple of days
later my wife got a wite saying they had
just been married. The wire was from
Mrs. Henson. So I put the announce-
ment in the paper. Then Phillips came
back alone about four days later. When ~
we asked where his bride was, he said she
had remained up North for more hospital
treatments.” ‘

’ “Tn the days before he went to New
York, and after he came back, did he act

‘suspicious in any way? Did he act like he ©

was worried about anything, or trying to’
conceal something?”
- “No,” replied the neighbor, “he acted

natural enough. He just went on working. ,

Vaniebed Di

rentedthe back bedroom upstairs.

‘town,

.naper, murderer, maste :
Stone mentally tabulated the questions, >

out, *

1s Pee Pie HP

vorcee andthe S
[Continued from ‘page 7}.

rd Ae

i '

around the place there and keeping things
_in order. ‘He always did;that.” /* Ai) :

“You” didn’t ‘notice’ any © strangers.

-around the house about-the time of Mrs. ©

Henson's disappearance?”’,

He thought.a minute, “Come to think»

of it, there was one,” he’ said’ “A young
man about thirty, with: husky. build and
red hair, He was a queer sort, That is, he
didn’t keep any ‘particular hours: ‘He’
stayed about two weeks. I understand he?

~ "This" was ‘after. ‘Mrs,.
peared?!" ‘ ;

He didn’t, look like a tourist’ to’ me and 1
dan’ ti shink he worked anywhere around

saw
Phillips in the living room seyeral nights .

but that’s all I’ know about him. I never. -

did see him leave.”' 4
Who was this redheaded stranger? Had
he been only an innocent roomer:at the

“house, or had he been an’ accomplice in’
‘the disappearance: of Mrs. Henson? If: -

the latter, what part had-he played? Kid-.
mind, or what?

then walked around, the.corner into San
Juan avenue and stoppediat the garage
apartment adjacent to, the stone house.
This property also was,owned by Mrs.
Henson. » The woman.,who rented the

prestment came to the door,.Her story —
a

out Mrs. Henson’s disappearance was
substantially the same.as the other neigh-
bor’s; but she added: us.
“While Mrs. Henson is. away, Mr. Phil-
lips has been collecting the rent from us.
We've paid it to him regularly, twenty-six
dollars a month.” i

. “The woman. declared ‘she had noticed
‘nothing suspicious about: Phillips’ actions, .

during Mrs.’ Henson’s absence. She had.
noted the redheaded stranger upon one or
two occasions but. knew nothing -about
him or where he had goney::

Deputies Slaughter and Campb ell.

‘worked up opposite sides of Wisconsin j
place The’ stories.they had ‘obtained tal- ~

ied with the others but revealed nothing.

new. “Nady y PREM aie RS nee
“Well, it’s obvious,” remarked Stone,
“that he was mighty anxious for this ‘hos-'

pital and bride’ story to get around. This’

‘whole plot was' worked out pretty care-

fully in advance,” eee Sons AO as
“In advance, of what?” asked Camp-!

bell. “The same thing I think?” ° é

~ “Sure,” said Stone, ‘{Mrs,' Henson “was %

either kidnaped ‘or, murdered.’ I’m: con-

- vinced of. that: But whether Phillips did

it, or- that red-headed stranger, or some-
body else, we don’t know yet." .

_. “What about the motive?” questioned ,
Slaughter. ‘Haye we got a motive strong

i

enough for that kind of crime yet?”
“It’s getting stronger,” Stone pointed
ss hillips has" been: collecting rent,
from the garage apartment. Mrs. Henson
owns the property, that filling station’s on
over there on’ Atlantic ‘avenue, also an-
cther ‘house down there by the railroad
tracks: I’ll bet he’s been collecting rent
from those places, too. Still, ifthe has that,
why would he try.a crude jshakedown
of her relatives?” )) PMB ee
A few minutes later ‘the owner of the
filling station revealed that Phillips had

‘been collecting. the monthly’ rent of $60. ~

The people renting the lous¢,down by the

‘tracks ‘stated they hacabean paying him:

ecret Grave

Jenson disap-..”
Aiea . icy Sn y ~-during the past two. months had’ made
“Yes, he arrived about:a\month ago.*.

him "playing® cards ‘with’ \

“What's. he been . doing . with the
meneyt) pondered Campbell. “All the
, neighbors say he’s a quiet liver.”
. #41’ go by the bank where Mrs, Hen-
‘son did her banking. You and Bill go back
and search that house from top:to, bottom.
See if you can’t find some lead that will
tell’ us where she is, or what her fate
-: might have been.” :

“At the bank, Stone was surprised: to

“Jearn that they were holding a signed

“power of attorney from Mrs. Henson giv-
ing Phillips access to her account. Phillips

deposits and withdrawals against the ac-

count, After a careful examination of the ~

“document, an amazed and much-cha-
grined young cashier now agreed with the
sheriff, that it was a forgery.

_.\ “Well, somebody's motive for kidnap-

- ing or, murder is plenty. strong,” Stone .

said when. Slaughter and: Campbell
checked. in that night. “What did you
‘-find-in the house?” ee
. “Not a thing,” Slaughter replied dis-
“gustedly. ‘We turned the place upside
down,” fag akooh ys !
-«To further stalemate solution of the
mystery, reports came in that there was
no trace of Mrs. Henson in Northern hos-
“pitals, Likewise, Phillips was not known
“to have any criminal record.
When confronted with the’ officers’

work. of the day, the prisoner admitted

collecting rents on Mrs. Henson’s prop-
erty and forging her name to the power
of attorney. After persistent interroga-
_ tion he also admitted ‘that they had never
‘been: married.
- declared. “We have lived together. for
about-two years.” a ro,
‘“What about that red-headed visitor
‘* you -had at the house?” Stone ‘asked.
Who. was he?” * she,

0) phillips hesitated. “Oh, him,” he re-

‘plied. “Just a roomer.”
~ “What was his name?”
‘. The other gave the appearance of deep
“concentration, “That, I do not recall,” he

ES ily

© «said. finally.

“o “Where is he now?” > |<)

‘) Phillips’ produced his, characteristic
shrug. ‘‘These roomers, where. do they

‘go? How could I know?”: |, ay

TONE then tried a shot in the dark, a
bluff intended to startle the prisoner
‘into some sort of an admission. «
“Phillips, we know that Mrs. Henson
was murdered. If ‘she was! living you

“ wouldn’t have dared forge her name to
letters asking for money and to that power
. of ‘attorney, and taken over. her house.
You would have. been ‘afraid; that she
«might have caught up with you. But you
- ‘thought-you were smart enough to swing

the job because you knew she was dead. |

. ,That’s right, isn’t it?” tn ‘

v. “No,” the other corrected blandly, “L
“thought she might die in the hospital.
‘That’s why I did those things.”

“Now, look,” Stone said persistently, -
more of; those fan- -

’ “don’t. give us an

tastic answers. e aren’t dupes...You

<tmight as well come clean and tell us,

where her body is. Then we can at least
give her a decent Christian burial.” .
‘Mrs. Henson is not murdered,” the
other stated stubbornly. “You cannot
- prove.that’she is murdered.” | |
a8 © is ‘ } v \

> +5 ls 7 Mery
lon ih

_“She is my common law wife,” he now \

“Oh, so
murder ch
get out of
lips. The
and you're
court roo
Mrs. Hen:

“T hope
breath on
divorcee <
how? Sh
Strangula
How? By
ous redhe:
naped, wl
convinced

_ he had no

unanswer:
viously w
that they

“Now |
from wha
to Slaugh
day. “Mr:
afternoon
disappear
been kille
was kille«

“Phillip
put in Ca
him out.”

“He wa
following
was mur<

. the body :

the redhe:
called aft
“All rig
pose she
by Phill:
under hi
have bec
house? L
place agz
They «
stairs be
beds and
stairs to
on the bz
“Exam
carefully
“Look in
a gun, kn
instrume
work in :
clothes i:
if you ha

LL th
ing
trace of
Slaugk
he had fc
if this w:
They
light. “If
user did:
suspiciot
look und
“Bill
bell said
“Let's
They «
in the bz
“Well,
the fruit
somebox
We'll q
might hz
give us
This
house tc
rogating

’ the end

more di:
They cc
to show


ror.

ME Le eee RMS Pt aE

“You ask me how I killed her, and
where is the body,’ ’ shrugged the other.
“So I told you.’

Phillips declared that while on a beach
picnic with Mrs. Henson they had gotten
into an argument over another man.
Whereupon Phillips had dragged her into
the ocean, held her head under, then
watched her body float out to sea. That
was his story and he stuck to it. A few
hours later he signed a statement to that
effect.

“This is just so much fiction,” Sheriff
Coleman said wearily, handing over the
confession, “but I’m afraid it’s the best. I
can get out of him, fellows.”

“At least it’s an admission of murder,”
replied Stone. “But we’re still just as
far as ever from knowing where that body
is. And we've got to find it. We have no
proof of anything as yet.”

Stone took his prisoner up to Orlando
and lodged him in -jail there. With the
officers attempting to use that first con-
fession as an entering wedge, Phillips
was subjected to more interrogatory ham-
mering. But he clung steadfastly to his
latest story, resisting his score of ques-
tioners with an amazing stamina. The
sheriff was baffled. The mysterious red-
head, he felt was merely an innocent
boarder,

ig WAS the following day that Gov.
Fred P. Cone sent Special Investigator
W. Hz. “Buddy” Gasque in on the case to
assist with further interrogation of the
prisoner. State’s Attorney Murray Sams,
also was sent over to try and get the case
ready for trial since there had been a
confession of murder.

“But how can I make a conviction stick
against that man without a corpus de-
licti?” Sams wanted to know. “You fel-
lows have got to find Mrs. Henson’s
body!”

Nine days had now elapsed since Phil-

lips’ apprehension on the mail fraud °

charge. And still the all-important ques-
tions were: How had Mrs. Henson been
murdered? Where was the body?

Phillips still had them there and he
knew it.

The officers went out again to look the
house over. Stone, Slaughter, Campbell,
Gasque and Dr. George M. Green were
in the group. Dr. Green had been Mrs.
Henson’s physician.

They no sooner entered the house than
Stone exclaimed: “Whew! This place
stinks! What is that smell?”

“Bill and I noticed it the other day,”
Campbell said, “but it wasn’t so strong
then. The house has been locked up for
several days now.”

“It’s formaldehyde,” said Dr. Green,
naming a well-known embalming fluid
and preserving agency.

Stone smacked a fist into his palm.
“Then her body is somewhere around
this house!. Bill, you and Campbell go
get some crowbars and hammers. Rip
this hotse to pieces if you have to! But
find that body!”

Stone and Gasque agreed that while this
was being done they would
Orlando and have another try at Phillips.
They picked up State’s Attorney Sams
en route.

In the jailer’s office there, Phiflips faced
the three of them.

He was soon off on a modified version
of his drowning act.
freely, waiting for a chance to trap him.
He elaborated his confession, saying that
he and Mrs. Henson quarreled while on a
picnic. After that, he said, one word led

66

go down to.

They let him talk °

to another and finally he pushed her into
deep water, then stood on her body until
she was dead. Afterwards, he said, a
wave washed her body out to sea. He
waited for half an hour and it did not re-
turn.

The officers could not shake this story.

Meanwhile, Deputies Slaughter and
Campbell were working like a couple of
Trojans at the house up in Daytona
Beach.

Inside the house, Campbell was sound-
ing out sections of the walls, flooring,
closets, attic, anywhere there. might be
a cavity large enough in which a body
could have been hidden. -

“ Outside, Slaughter had a long brass

rod and was jabbing it down into thes

flower beds around the house, sections
of the lawn, the back yard and under the
trees. He stopped to wipe ‘the perspira-
tion off his face, then moved over to re-
sume his prodding near a shed that had
been built under the stairway leading. up
to the garage apartment.

While this was going on, a neighbor
from across the street walked over and
watched the deputy interestedly. After a
minute he remarked idly:

“Phillips had that shed built there last
winter.”

“What for?” asked Slaughter.

“Said he was going to use it for a
wash shed.”

Slaughter walked around and entered
the shed. It was a narrow little room
about four feet wide and six in length,
with a wooden flooring, cluttered with
odds and ends. The deputy thought it
peculiar that there were no signs of
wash tubs, soap, clothes, pins or running
water.

On a sudden impulse, he stooped down
and ripped up several of the flimsy floor
boards. There was loose sand under-
neath. Slaughter got his brass rod and
made a few jabs down into the sand. Each
time, the rod struck something spongy.
Slaughter stuck his head out of the shed
and yelled:

“Hey, .Campbell, come here! I think
I’ve. got something!”

The two deputies quickly Hope up the
rest of the flooring. Then they picked
up shovels and dug away the loose sand.
After a minute their shovel blades grated
on something coarse and rough.

“Be careful,” said Slaughter. “I think
we've found what: we're after.”

"PREY had. A few minutes later a body
was gingerly removed from ° its
shallow two-foot grave under the “wash
shed.” It was wrapped in a quilt and se-
curely bound with 95 8 After permission
had been granted

Slaughter promptly phoned the sheriff
down in Orlando and the message inter-
rupted the interrogation of Phillips.

At the morgue, the rope was cut and
the quilt removed, before the horrified
eyes of Deputies Slaughter and Campbell,

Dr. Green, and a few others. Underneath

the quilt was a covering of canvas and
newspapers about the head and upper
part of the body. The victim’s hands had
been wired across her stomach. The can-
vas and newspapers were removed, to

disclose the body wrapped in a sheet. -

When that was removed Mrs. Henson’s
pajama-clad body was disclosed.

Dr. Green officially identified the vic-
tim, then performed the autopsy. The
body was decomposed but Dr. Green was
able to determine that Mrs. Henson had

y. Justice Charles -
Beers, the body was taken to the morgue.

met death from blows on the head by
some heavy, blunt instrument.

3 At last the officers had the corpus de-
icti.

Could they now obtain a satisfactory
confession from Phillips?

On the following day, with the details
of the body’s finding” and the autopsy re-
port in their possession, Stone, Attorney
Sams and Gasque--went back to Orlando
to confront the stubborn prisoner. This
time, he was ready to sing. It was his
swan song.

He broke at once, dictated and signed
an amazing confession.

“My name is Angie Michael Caingetti,
but for many years I have gone under the
name of A. M. Phillips, and it is by that
name that I am generally known,” the
confession read. “I was born in New
York City of Italian parents, am 49 years
of age, and reside at the home of the late
Mrs. Anna K. Henson, which she and I
occupied together as man and wife from
April, 1938, to the date of her death on
January 18, 1940.

WAS: never married to Mrs. Henson.

We slept together in the back bed-
room upstairs which is furnished with
one double bed.

“Mrs. Henson and myself went to bed
in my room about eleven p. m., on the
night of Jan. 17, 1940, and shortly there-
after I went to ‘sleep. About 4 a. m., on
the morning of Jan. 18, 1940, Mrs. Hen-
son got out of bed and went to the bath-
room. She returned from the bathroom
in a few minutes and started to fuss with
me about a man.whom she had previously
informed me that she intended to marry.
I asked her to shut up and let me go back
to sleep, and she slapped me, I then
slapped her back. She then slapped me
back a couple of more times.

“I jumped out of bed and she hit me
on the arm with one of my slippers. At
that time I picked up a hammer lying on
a chair beside the bed and struck her with
it on the top of the head, knocking her
senseless. She fell across the bed, face
up, and I struck her four more times on
the head with the hammer while she was
lying on the bed. The blood from the
wounds on Mrs. Henson’s head caused
from these hammer blows, spattered over
my hands, both hands. She gave a long
gasp and I realized she was dead.

“T went into the bathroom and washed
my hands. Then I came back and stood
beside the body and lighted a cigar, and
while I smoked, deliberated on how I
could dispose of the body. I then went
into the middle bedroom upstairs and
lay down on the bed where I remained
until about a quarter of eight in the morn-
ing.

“Then I went downstairs and out into
the yard looking for a place to bury the
body, and determined that under the stair-
way of the garage apartment, which also
belonged to Mrs. Henson, and was lo-
cated immediately adjacent to the house,
would be a good place to bury it, because
at that time a vine was growing between
the stairway and the garage wall that
concealed this location and permitted me
to dig a grave without being noticed. I
did not dig the grave until late in the
afternoon of the second day after I had
killed Mrs. Henson. ,

“In the meantime I permitted the body
to lie on the bed where it had fallen. On
the afternoon before I dug the grave I
bound and wrapped the body in a sheet,
wrapped a newspaper around the head,
then I wrapped it all in a quilt and a

canvas, b
About 6:3
body dow
bedroom
“AS soc
dark and t
seen, I dr:
and place:
with sand
“The ne
ing the 1:
wetted d¢
on Feb. 1
garage a
cluded th:
floor in tl
ered the ¢
“At the
hands I :
bathroom
it as well
ing just a:
went bac
from her
These Ik
Mrs. Hen
diamond
1940, whe
posit box
“In ans
as to the
I told the
railway st
for Jacks
ceiving 1
had gone
and from
located ir
those two
physician
Philadelp
“On |
Beach an
New Yo:

feet and
nothing
Shortly
arrived t
later was
taker. Al
Dukek, 2
The gr
man and
suspects,
were rou
whom mi
We soor
reputatio
seen rec
usual.
“Vou ¢
said cont
proved c
district a
equally ¢
an exam:
to learn

_ plans.

We ha
we had
used to }
not help
filled in ;

Chetty
old and
an old fr
fore the
Idaho. A
Cline hac
to Oregc


: 7 ry) blacks, elec. Fla. (Pinellas)
Willie George, and-PAUL,. John Edward, blacks,
CITY, Willie. Ge ee? ’ a
on. November 13,.1959. ag

"St. Petersburg Times, Fridey, Nov, 13, 1959,
“COLLINS DENIES STAY.

ES

oes
Today

z
yi
R

* s :
Ff

or
and
Pi-
had
the|
pe-/

z YEARNING
“He had an irresistible yearn-
+. ing for women, regardless of col-
or.” Davis said. -;

Paul's attorney said the Negro

, : 1 | Would not have been convicted
a: ee : ‘ . if he had not been a Negro. “It
a ; : does not take much to convict |

ee ; ;@ Negro in this state,” he told;

. ai Bi pled. the Pardon Board.

D eRe eg
me ite t a ae

; : sen-
Ltenced- Ing &@ woman he
‘ ; kee did not r pe. the |UBderstand

the executions.

The second half {
will present popular fay

“ }singing, instrumental and nove
Commutation pleas were heard | numbers, 9 Se
Sonne ner tate tents

onan einen. apg

ad

> + 2
x j . 5 . aA Prat) pia eA ol itaheeade ty Seine tN Baby Boy ere pai setae oh a ates Ahk ON Neg ote ae
i oil tinh ae aes ane Bee owt Bi ty RANA ray eee Se cians oe Dahan Matas aes Na ae ues Te Se CRs Spent . geen ened. Pi 8 oe
Se Re cs A aging es : BMS a A eoth Deere a Mee ee ete a iE ea Rn AS MM Leet ome 5 , : oie ; 3
<4 Fa SEE Ae Bs RSS ae eras SS at aah eisai Mery Rae Soe OE eR eo OR Re fest ‘

a : = ~

47 7 4 h~ fe
Witt, UlwOK,

élec. FL (Pinellas) 11-13-1959

THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Saturday, 14 November 1959, page 22.

| N:A.A.C.P. PROTESTS
2 Rapists Electrocuted
After Delay Pleas Fail

RAIFORD. Nov 13 |UPI) Two admitted multiple rapista died in
the electne chair today after last-minute pleas for delavs were denied
by the governor.

John Paul. 23. and Willie City, 22, died 16 minutes apart for
separate attacks on white women. Gov. LeRoy Colling denied pleas

to delays from his sick bed last night.

City had admitted to six rapes ee

‘in Pinellas County in 1956, and
| Prison Supt. DeWitt Sinclair said
Paul confessed to four such at-
tacks. City died specifically for the
‘Tape of a white widow near Lar
go and Paul for the cmnmina! as-
sault of a 47-year old grandmoth.
er at Clearwater.

Except for a brief stasement dv
City, Sinclair said the exeditions
at the State Prison here \were
routine.

Following the electrocutions, the
Florida NAACP lashed out at the
action in a statement which said
In part. ‘We pray that the execu-

‘tions of these men doea not mean
-that the State of Plorida is re
‘turning to the so-called traditions
Qf the South. whereby a Negro
;must die for a crime against
‘womanhood while # white man 1s
/miven a lesser penalty for the
same cmme when committed
against Negroes or women of
other races

“Em sorry for the crimes 1
have committed.” City told pris
on offictala before his death.
“And I hope none of vm: all will
ever do anvthing like I did God
bless my mother. my wife and
two children. Amen."

Paul made no statement and
walked calmly to the death chair
Ap indictment also was pending
against Paul for raping a Negro
woman abot the same time the

White woman was assaulted

Sapreme Penalty for
Marder Paid By Four

Men in Electric Chair

meen nee
Continued from Page 6.

the electrodes to his head were put
in place he said “Goodbye boys” to
guards. Sheriff Coleman threw the
switch, at 10:33 A. M., and seven
minutes later, Milligan was pro-
mounced dead. The current was
kept applied to his body for 55
second

Death house guards said no word
of farewell was exchanged between
Casey and Milligan, as the former
led the “lage 40 steps” to the elec-

c chair.

Sentenced Fer Wife's Death.

Third man in the “procession af
death” wag L. D. Padgett of Santa
Rosa County, who was convicted of
slaying his wife in 1934.

With a bewildered look, Padgett
entered the chamber, Paused for a
moment, then took hig seat in the
chair

Head bowed to watch the guards
adjust the straps, Padgett began

which could not be distinguished
by the witnesses. He stil] was pray-
rimg at 11:08 A. M.. as Sheriff Joe
T. Allen threw the switch. He was
Dropounced dead seven minutes
later.

to mumble a prayer, words of/

Bi ititte ate Of smal] sta-

ter his one re-
mark, until the current was thrown
into his body by Sheriff H. B. Gan-
dy of Escambia County.

ai


CLARK, Lee, elec. Fl.(Escambia)) Oct. 19, 1936

THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Tuesday, 20 October 1936.

ee

Supreme Penalty for Murder
Paid By Four Men in Electric
Chair at Florida Prison Farm

First Quadruple Execution
in State’s History; Leader
Exhorts Witnesses to
“Make Peace With God.”

RAIFORD, Oct. 19, ()—Within
lesg than an hour four men paid
the supreme penalty for murder to-
day in the white thick-walled death
house at the St‘tate Prison Farm
here.

With almost mechanical prectsion
the first quadruple execution in
the electric chair here was carried

out by Supt. L. F. Chapman and:
his assistants.

First of the four condemned men,
Clarence D. (Red) Casey, entered
the death chamber at 10:35 and 52
minutes later Dr. W. E. Murphree,
prison physician, turned to Superin-
tendent Chapman to announce of-
ficially the fourth of the condemn-
ed men dead.

Casey was the only one of the
quartet to speak to witnesses seated
at one end of the execution cham-
ber. Casey, with James R. Milligan
who followed him to the chair
within 15 minutes, was convicted of
alaying Frank D. Palmer, Miam!}
druggist, during a holdup in 1932.

-earrent, starting at 2000 volts and

Exherts “Make Peace With God.”

As he was escorted into the cham-
ber, Casey threw a quick look
around and standing before the
oaken chair in which a minute
later he was executed he exhorted
witnesses to “Make peace with
God.”

Casey told the witnesses “Wher-
ever you are tonight, get on your
knees and make peace with God.”
As the black hood slid over his
head he said to the electrician “God
be with you,” and a moment later,
“God have mercy on my soul.”

@heriff D. C. Coleman of Dade
County then stepped to the switch
and thew it in. Casey's body
lunged against the heavy black
straps, as the current surged
through him. For 80 seconds the

then dropping gradually to 300
volts, only to be stepped up again,
was kept applied.

Dr. Murphree stepped forward as
fhe switch pulled out, and at 10:43
A M., announced Casey was dead.

Milligan entered the death cham-
ber within three minutes after


ee gyre res 7 e—— @8-3 t.F

fee Pag. wh Loa

By MITCH STACY

Sun staff writer

STARKE — After his life was spared three times last week
by court-ordered reprieves, Raymond Robert Clark died qui-
etly in Florida’s electric chair Monday morning for the
murder 13 years ago of a Pinellas County businessman.

Clark met his death at 49, the same age as David Drake
when the St. Petersburg scrap dealer was abducted from a
bank and shot twice in the head in April 1977. After declining

Gainesville Sun, Tuesday, November 20, 1990—

a Te ee ee ee iain

Go Re a Bt Mah Fee ety ret
f

year-old oak chair and pronounced dead by a prison doctor
at 7:08 a.m.

Clark’s attorneys said they received word about 6 p.m.
Sunday that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his last
appeal. The execution, first set for Wednesday morning, was
delayed three times while appeals were exhausted.

Among more than 35 witnesses to the execution was the
victim’s son, Gregory Drake, who said afterward that he
drove from his home in Tampa to the Florida State Prison

Fisg0

FM PMP ETT te TR ETT MALT Se aon Byte

near Starke to see if Clark would talk about his father’s
murder or address any of his last words to the Drake family.

“I honestly thought he would make a statement of some
nature,” Drake said. He said Clark’s death brings some sense
of finality to the family, although Clark’s accomplice in the
murder served time and was freed several years ago.

“Basically, it’s over,” he said. “It’s not going to bring back
my father.”

Witnessing the execution process didn’t change his opinion
See CLARK on page 2B


CLARK, Robert R., white, elec. Fla, (Pinellas) 11-1901990.

Florida executes man for 1977 slaying

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Raymond Robert Clark went silently to his
death in Florida’s electric chair Monday for shooting to death a scrap

yard owner after forcing him to write a $5,000 check.

Clark, 49, made no last statement before a hidden executioner
threw the switch that delivered a 2,000-volt electric charge at 7:01
a.m., prison authorities said. A prison doctor pronounced Clark dead

at 7:07 a.m.

The. night before, Clark spoke of the family of David Drake, of

Pinellas County, whom he murdered on April 27, 1977.
Clark was the fourth Florida inmate to die this year.

DUERTI SER,

> FLO ” Is
' todeath inlA EXECU) ‘ON: Raymond Clark, 49, was t
ing Of Pig uorida’s electric chair for the 1950 gunshot sie
time, Clark was cate I. tronnman David Drake. At the
’ Ole fro j ‘ eas
Year-old boy, reported to he his loner for killing a 14.

Tin we wee


t
i

2B* a Fe Oe Fe AM Be gt RR ce SR BT &
; 7 ‘
*

The Gainesville Sun, Tuesday, November 20,

1990 -

CHAIR

Contiaued from page 1B

that the death penalty is justifiable

punishment for murder, Drake said.
“I was just always raised that it’s

an eye for an eye and a tooth for a~

tooth, and you’re automatically re-
sponsible for what you do,” he said.

Department of Corrections
spokesman Bob Macmaster said it is
unusual for a
member of tbe
victim’s family to
witness an execu-
tion, but the
governors office
and DOC officials
reviewed Drake’s
request and al-
lowed him to
watch Clark die. oe

Ciark’s pastor, Clark
the Rev. Jack Saarela of the Univer-
sity Lutheran Church in Gainesville,
visited him Sunday night and then
was allowed to stay outside his cell
until 5 a.m., when Clark was served
his last meai: filet mignon, french
fries, tossed salad, strawberry short-
cake and chocolate milk.

The heavyset Clark was led inte
the small death chamber just before
7 a.m. and seated in the three-legged
chair as five men quickly converged
on him to fasten leather straps
around his chest, arms and legs. He

-appeared calm, but his eyes were
wide as he scanned the witnesses in
front of him.

When Florida State Prison Super-
intendent Thomas L. Barton asked
Clark if he had a final statement, the
inmate answered, “No.” His head
was strapped against the Chair, a cap

ae > ee

bearing an electrode was attached to

his shaved head and a black hood
was pulled over his face. An elec-
trode was attached to his right leg.

After speaking to the governor’s
office on a telephone at the back of
the room, Barton nodded to the hood-
ed executioner to begin the
automated cycle of 2,000 voits
pushed by 14 amps. Clark’s chest and
arms tensed against the straps and
then relaxed as white smoke began
billowing from the electrode on his
leg.

Physicians waited for Clark’s final
heart palpitations to stop before pro-
nouncing him dead five minutes
later.

Saarela, Clark’s pastor, waited in
the field across from the prison dur-
ing the electrocution. He said Clark

was “very calm, very peaceful” in |

the hours before his death. Clark did
not taik of the crime.

“T think it was a very peaceful and
courageous letting go of his life,” he
said, adding that Clark has been pre-
pared to die since his fifth death
warrant was signed Nov. 3. Only one
inmate has survived a fifth warrant
since the state resumed capital pun-
ishment in 1979.

Susan Cary, a Gainesville lawyer
and death penalty opponent who
helped Clark with his appeals and
visited him Sunday night, said he ex-
pressed concern for the Drake
family and hoped “they will be able
to get their lives back on track.” She
said Clark hoped the Drakes could
“focus on life now instead of his
death.”

At the time of David Drake’s mur-
der, Clark was in Florida on parole
from California for killing his 14-
year-old homosexual lover. Drake
was reported missing in Aprii 1977

-—

when he did not meet his family as
planned after making a bank deposit.

Several days later, his car was ~

found in a wooded area of St. Peters-
burg. About two weeks later, a man

called Gregory Drake and demand-~ ~~~

ed $10,000 if he wanted to see his ~~

father again. ;

Police traced later ransom calls to
Clark, and through the tapes of those
calls also arrested a co-defendant in
the murder, 16-year-old Ty Johnston,
in California.

Johnston admitted that he and

Clark had kidnapped Drake and
forced him to write a check for
$5,000 in cash before Clark made
Drake kneel in the bushes and shot
him twice, execution-style, in the
head.

In exchange for his testimony,
Johnston was allowed to plead guilty
to second-degree murder and was
sentenced to 25 years in prison. He
served more than nine years before
being released in January 1987, ac-
cording to DOC records.

Clark became the 222nd person to
die in Florida’s electric chair since it
first was used in 1924 and the 25th
person to be executed in Florida
since the U.S. Supreme Court rein-
stated the death penalty in 1976.

Macmaster said Clark had no fam-
ily visitation, and he refused a group
media interview granted to inmates
the day before scheduled executions.
Cary said Clark has an elderly moth-
er who lives out of state.

Gus Eversney, a Panamanian who
lives in Gainesville, was among the
handful of death penalty opponents
who gathered in the field across
State Road 16 from the prison. It was
his first trip.

“One reason I’m out here is that
I'm very opposed to the death penal-

“| was just always
raised that it’s an
eye for aneye...

and you're

automatically
responsible for
what you do.”

GREGORY DRAKE

ty,” Eversney said as he left the field
in the early morning sun. “It’s
against everything we as human be-

| ings stand for.”

~


Gainesville Sun" Sun, Sunday, y, November 18,°1990

*

PRY ee ree oe —

RFE Sows Oe a ge

OXer Nd gor oe Pee 1990.

Letina os i tine tials ra ale, Biel A ic en eae

ene VEG aa
Sa An

Appe

id 40 a sie - eat at 3,

Clark’ s sexe scution

“we Seg tc? EES Sit 5  3aGh vt FQ

aoe Ass ‘

By JACKIE HALLIFAX
Associated Press ae

TALLAHASSEE — fepiann Rob-
ert Clark, sentenced to death for the
1977 shooting death of a Pinellas
County businessman, won a tempo-
rary stay of execution Saturday from
a federal appeals court.

But his appeai options were run-
ning out as state prison officials reset
the electrocution for 7:01 a.m. Mon-
day at Florida State Prison near
Starke.

The ilth U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals in Atlanta granted a reprieve
until 7 a.m. Monday with less than
seven hours before his. scheduled

Saturday evening death but rejected ©

the appeal itself by refusing to grant
a motion for certification of proba-
ble cause.

Clark’s only remaining appeal pos-
sibility was before the U.S. Supreme
Court, but the high court already re-
fused once last week to intervene on
the convicted killer’s fifth death

warrant.
Only one of the 24 men executed in
Florida since the state resumed capi-

= ot ewes

ie

Offi cials reset the -

- electrocution for
7:01 a.m. Monday
at Florida State

-Prison near Starke.

tal punishment in 1979 has survived
a fifth death warrant. Willie Darden
was electrocuted in March 1988 un-
der his seventh warrant.

Clark, 49, and a teen-age accom-
plice abducted David Drake from a
St. Petersburg bank parking lot,
drove him to a secluded area and
Shot him twice in the head after

Drake wrote them a $5,000 check.

At the time, Clark was on parole
after serving 10 years of a life sen-
tence for killing a 14-year-old
homosexual! lover.

Two weeks after Drake’s disap-
pearance, his family received a call
demanding $10,000 ransom to return
Drake unharmed, and police used a
wiretap to trace the calls to Clark.

ew Fee a “ - ++

Sr ~re ~wwe

PRN ARG FOU Meteo ne ape

iays. c

ee

——o we ee

>), Bf SIARKE

Kille er preparing
for execution

Coavicted killer neyuniin Robert
Clark prepared to die in Florida’s
electric chair at 7:01 a.m. today after
the U.S. Supreme Court denied his
final request to delay his execution.

The justices voted 8-1 against
Clark in two separate emergency re-
quests Sunday evening. The lone
dissenter was Justice Thurgood Mar-
shall, who opposes the death penalty
in all circumstances,

A somber defense attorney, Billy
Nolas, said Clark had no other ave-
nues of appeal left.

“It’s just tragic,” Nolas said before
going to Florida: State Prison in
Starke for a final visit with his client.

Clark, 49, was convicted of the
1977 shooting death of a Pinellas
County businessman. He and a teen-
age accomplice abducted David
Drake from a St. Petersburg bank
parking lot, drove him to a secluded
area and shot him twice in the head
after Drake wrote them a $5,000
check, court records show.

Gainesville. Sun, Monday, N November 1 19, 1990"

He Sanandien cs

oe bill puts -
doubt on suits —
over eae

/ Florida, B-1

‘ss

SE ED RANE S Det pe BARE TNR ee

oe Cates Hat En Tare Ge TERS ORS ine Bes gen i eh
sot BB ESS SASSER KS Bare eae eben CRON eI

‘Champions’
clash tonight
in ‘River City

Lifestyle, D-1

Copyright 1990, Florida Publishing Co.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1990

125th Year — Number 324 — 5 Sections — 40 Pages 25¢

f
sas ee The bed ar

Killer Clark offers: no. ast words before’ = in electric chair

By Bruce Ritchie
Staff writer

STARKE — Gregory Drake drove from St.
Petersburg to Florida State Prison yesterday
morning to hear Raymond Robert Clark's last
words before his execution for killing Drake’ s
father in 1977.

Drake watched with other witnesses as Clark
* — convicted in the April 27, 1977, murder of

David Drake in Pinellas County — was led into

«the execution chamber shortly before 7 a.m.~~ >
The inmate was seated in the electric chair _

~ by prison officials, who placed straps over his
legs, arms and chest and an electrode on his
right ankle.

Asked by prison Superintendent Tom Barton
whether he wanted to make a final statement;
the 49-year-old Clark replied, “No.”

A headpiece containing another- electrode
was placed over Clark’s head before the 2,000
volts of electrical current was applied. He was
papi dead by A ieee anedical: staff at 1:07

"Gregory. om: a ‘38-year-old scrap metal

ee ee

ad
re

ee ee ae

buyer who lives in St. Petersburg, said he had
planned for years to attend the execution to
hear any possible last words from Clark.

_ “I honestly thought he would” make a final
statement, Drake said. “I don’t know what I
thought he would say.”

Drake had received permission to witness the
execution from the Department of Corrections,
on a recommendation of the Governor's Office,
a department spokesman said.

~The Department of Corrections usually pro-
hibits family of either the nici . or. the con-

A ke ee eh etal me Re =

demned inmate to witness the death to prevent
possible “emotional problems,” said Bob
Macmaster, department spokesman.

Drake said he is glad that Clark will not have
another chance to return to the streets. He

‘said that the execution “is not going to bring

back my father,” but that it will help his fami-
ly put the slaying behind it.

Clark was sentenced to death Sept. 26, 1977,
> (See KILLER, Page A-2)

Clark a. Drake


executed

ther’s ‘safety;

(From Page A-t)

for the murder of David Drake, who
owned a scrap metal business. Greg-
ory Drake -said he sold the failing
business last year.

David Drake was reported missing
by his family when he failed to meet
them as planned after making a bank
deposit.

His car was found several days la-
terina wooded area northeast of St.
Petersburg, * court “records: indicate.
David = Drake’ s “. badly decomposed : 3
body was found later. ayia

About:.;two weeks after: *« David
Drake's. * disappearance, s
Drake ‘received : telephone
manding $10,000 000, in es for ‘the: fa-

fg sory
The: “calls were; strated by.

., Gregory

C police |

Clark,:who was‘on ‘parole ‘at the time

for; pose Sista eas

P38e Sae- TSF aphy
“calls?de- ~Across- the road: from’ Florida’ State. Prison; | pros —

: ; after serving nine Years: 27%

.

x Setanta Settee car ae Bed i tah a ase aca eS ele abate

aoe

“Ggegn eee — Amy L. Spaude-Hambly/staff
j's¥ execution of - convicted, killer. ‘Raymond

“testers. ‘conduct ¥a ‘Vigil durin esterday. morn- = "42 Robert Clark. ee ree we aS
ee a ed Posen ee es hire ee

ining a $5,000 check fror om him:* he- receive -temporary;" aye fr from Clark’ s death. ;

 dannston was ened 2lis peat state and federal: courts.; iatasiens *" Clark _ was dant thee revidt
Suilty* :to “second-degree ““murde d=his* fappeals
“exchange -forhis- testimony against. Preme Court { Foluse his" fappe _ evening by his ..attorneys. and. a

. Sunday #é HBT rg eas NS church _ pastor. His elderly: mother —_
= ai ae wast parked. in ise, About’ dozert death: penalty tppo"~ lives ‘in’ another ‘state-and could not
5 efinents ; Estood (jin | daz field 2a across”, the, visit : -her son, said Susan: Cary, -a

Clark’s “execution = “was “reschi & way? “from the: prison: “during: ‘the - Gainesville attorney who | ‘represented 2
‘three times” ‘in, the*past deal y after aPsceution, They’ it c2 lit. candlées to°T protest s Clark: Bester: ees ig one SS

oe ee


Gainesville Sun, Saturday, iii

as a . oF 24 ee OT Ki tes

‘Death Row inmate | low on on appeals i

od mais

) >. eee ezea 58
saad BR 4

coe! $33 Le

= CYNTHIA BARNETT
' Sun staff writer...

STARKE — Pending 11th-hour Sentai. a
convicted killer who has survived 13 years
on Death Row is sched- 7
uled to die at 6:01 p.m.
today in Florida’s electric
chair for the shooting of a
Pinellas County man.

- Raymond Robert Clark,
49, was convicted of first-
degree murder and
sentenced to death in Sep-
tember 1977 for killing ae
David Drake in St. Clark
Petersburg.

Clark is under his fifth death warrant and
already has exhausted most of the appeals
available to him. His execution was sched-
uled for Wednesday, but he was twice
granted stays late this week so his attorney
could again turn to the higher courts.

Only one of the 24 men executed in Flori-
da since the state resumed capital

punishment in 1979 has niteed a fifth *
death warrant. Willie Darden was electro- ~
cuted in March 1988 under his seventh

warrant.

Clark’s case was before U.S. District J udge

“William Terreil Hodges in Tampa Friday.

From there, defense attorneys planned to
turn to ilth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Atlanta and from there to the U.S. Supreme
Court. Both appellate courts have denied
Clark’s appeals before.

The latest denial came from the country’s
high court Friday, with only Justice
Thurgood Marshall dissenting. That rejec-
tion was in response to an appeal filed last
week, according to Billy Nolas, the chief as-
sistant in the state-paid office that defends
indigent inmates on Fiorida’s Death Row.

At the time of Drake’s murder, Clark was
on parole from California for se killing of a
14-year-old boy.

Drake, 49, was reported missing in April
1977 when he did not meet his family as
planned after making a bank deposit.

¥ pce? ee ze *, e t' eu r3P8
ee “bit sinks il ea a

bigoted rns

4 eA Ye
nd - set "29 : o? aig te. baer at _o2 gee
“Several days later, Drake’s car was found °

in a wooded area of St. Petersburg. About *

_ two weeks later, a man called Drake’s son =

and demanded $10,000 if he wanted to see ~*

¢

‘his father again. sca eis ste? 9) SS oa oes

-Police traced later ransom calls to Clark, =~

and through the tapes of those calls also ar- ~
rested a co-defendant in the murder, ©
16-year-old Ty Johnson, in California. ---_-'.<

Johnson admitted that he and Clark had
kidnapped Drake and forced him to write a
check for $5,000 payable to cash before
Clark made Drake kneel in the bushes and
shot him twice, execution-style, in the head. .

In exchange for his testimony against
Clark, Johnson was allowed to piead guilty to
second-degree murder and was = to
25 years in prison.

If he is executed this evening, Clark will
become the 222nd person to die in Florida’s
electric chair since it first was used in 1924
and the 25th person to be executed in Florida
since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the
See INMATE on page 5B

INMATE

Continued from page 1B
death penaity in 1976.

According to Department of Cor-
rections spokesman Bob Macmaster,
Clark is to be visited in his cell this
afternoon by legal representatives
Susan Cary, Nancy Norelli, Nolas
and Julie Naylor, and by his pastor,
Jack Saarela from University Lu-
theran Church in Gainesville.

Macmaster said Clark has had no

ee ee =

family visitation and that he may not
have a family. Clark refused a group

-media interview granted to inmates

the day before scheduled executions.

Clark requested a last meal of filet
mignon, french fries, tossed salad,
strawberry shortcake with whipped
cream and chocolate milk, which
was to be served at 3:30 Daa
afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to
this report.

Ss See. te See ee


}

bs 2 TALLAHASSEE

a i

} e
| Governor signs
, warrant on killer

* Gov. Bob Martinez signed a death
* warrant Saturday authorizing a Nov.
! 14 execution for death row inmate
$ Raymond Robert Clark, who was
4
i
;

—

{ convicted of murdering a Pinellas
‘County businessman.
It is the fifth time a death warrant
‘ has been signed for Clark’s
* execution. i
, The warrant authorizes the execu-
tion to take place anytime between
noon Nov. 13 and noon Nov. 20.
Clark was convicted and sen-
: tenced to death for the April 27, 1977
. murder of David Drake, a Pinellas
x County scrap yard owner.
‘ \Clark’s last death warrant was
signed by Martinez Jan. 6, 1989.

Gainesville Sun, Thursday, November 15, 1990

aah,

| STARKE
‘Execution stayed
.on new appeal

: The execution of Raymond Robert Clark

, was delayed again Wednesday, while attor-

’ neys for Roy Clifton Swafford filed an appeal

‘ {in federal! court to stop his scheduled execu-
tion today.

. Clark, 49, avoided the electric chair for the |
second time in as many days when U.S.

District Judge William Castagna stayed the
execution until 6 p.m. Saturday. The death |

warrant — Clark’s fifth — is in effect until
noon Tuesday.

Clark had been scheduled to die in the
electric chair Wednesday, but the Florida
Supreme Court Tuesday postponed the exe-
cution to consider an appeal for a new
sentencing hearing.

However, the state’s high court ruled
against the motion, sending the case to feder-

-al court in Tampa, where Clark got his
reprieve until the end of the week.

Swafford, under his first death warrant, is
scheduled to be executed at 1:01 p.m, today.
Defense attorneys turned to federal court in ,
Orlando with Swafford’s appeal.

* Clark was convicted of the 1977 shooting
‘death of David Drake of Pinellas County.

‘ Swafford, 43, was convicted of the 1982
‘murder of service station clerk Brenda
Rucker in Volusia County. Swafford abduct-
ed her, raped her in a wooded area and shot
‘her nine times with a handgun. i

Al4 San Francisco Chronicte wx ws

NATION

—

cae
a ee is
7G

“Tues J{-26=

WE ee ee
-

a petal SS eo emer

Tre |

ih tee ee ee

NATIONAL REPORT

Postal Service

Florida

Executes
Killer

Chronicle Wire Services

Starke, Fla, — Raymond Robert
Clark was executed in Florida’s
electric chair yesterday for the
and murder of a 1

lege, thus beca

tion with no

Bowdoin, is a Small liberal arts co
lege in Maine. .

Clark, 49, was granted a tem
rary stay Saturday by the US.
Court of Appeals in Atlanta to al-
low the Supreme Court time to
hear the case. But the Supreme

Court denied his appeal Sunday by
an &-to-1 vote.

to submit either

American College

Bates’

month voted 94 to#'to make all
admissions testing optional start.
ing with freshmen entering in Sep-

tember 1991, admissions Dean Wil-
liam C. Hiss said.

Test, or ACT.

About a hundred Colleges have
made SAT and ACT scores optional
for admission, according to Fair.
Test, a Cambridge, Mass.-based or-

hessman David Drake, was execut-
ed at 7:08 a.m. at

Prison in Starke.

ganization that keeps tabs on those
Atlanta Curfew requirements.
For Kids Challenged
Atlanta — Civil libertarians said2 No Fraud Found

new curfew that took effect yes.

terday violates the First Amend- In Fusion Tests

College Station, Texas — A Texas
A&M University faculty review
Panel uncovered no evidence of
scientific fraud in controversial re-
sults of cold fusion experiments at
th

in what has become the nation’s
crime capital.

The curfew written by the City
Council requires those un

Test optional, Bates College has an-
nounced that it will no longer re-
quire students to submit any stan-
dardized test scores for admission.

Bates, a small liberal arts col-

me only the second
highly selective College in the na-

Standardized admis.
sions test requirements. The other,

Bates made the SAT optional in
However, entering freshmen
who did not submit SAT scores had

three achieve.
ment test scores or results of the

faculty earlier this

Has Contract
Deadline Today

The Washington Post
Washington

Contract negotiations between
1. the U.S. Postal Service and unions

representing more than 660,000
employees face a midnight dead-
line tonight with the key issues of
wages, health care and automa-
tion still unresolved.

“I cannot say that the outlook is
encouraging,” Senior Assistant
Postmaster General David Char-
ters said of the negotiations, which
began almost three months ago.

Whatever the outcome of the
talks, no disruption of mail service
is expected. Postal workers are
prohibited by law from Striking. If
agreement cannot be reached at
the negotiating table, the dispute

will be submitted to binding arbi-
tration.

Terms of the final settlement
are apt to have a direct effect on
postage prices, because labor costs
account for 83 percent of the Post-
al Service budget. Before the talks
began, the Postal Service applied
for a rate increase that would raise
the cost of a first-class stamp from
25 cents to 30 cents.

The four unions involved in ne-
gotiations are the American Postal
Workers Union (APWU), National

Association of Letter C


CLARK, Robert Rie» White,

@lec,

524

us believe. It is well settled law, requiring

™ no citation of authority, that where the
rights of two or more persons are affected
the one who was at fault must bear the
loss,

[13-15] For the reasons hereinabove set
forth, we conclude that appellant did not
allege sufficient facts entitling it to relief
under section 5096, subdivision (b), of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, and since it
did not allege or attempt to allege sufficient
facts to bring its case within the purview
of Revenue and Taxation Code sections
4911-4916, we also conclude that the judg-
ment of dismissal must be affirmed. As
said in Wicklund v. Plymouth E. School
Dist., 37 Cal.App.2d 252, 254, 99 P.2d 314,
oie:

“Tt is a familiar rule that where a right
of recovery is purely statutory and is
granted upon conditions, one who seeks
to enforce the right must by allegation
and proof bring himself clearly within
the conditions.”

Appellant, however, goes outside of the
record to assert that it communicated its
mistake to the tax collector and requested
that the erroneous payment be applied to
Property actually owned by appellant, but
that the tax collector refused. Thus, rely-
ing on the case of Keidatz y. Albany, 39
Cal.2d 826, 249 P.2d 264, appellant requests
this court to permit it to amend its com-
plaint in order to state a cause of action
under Revenue and Taxation Code sections
4911-4916, if we should determine that it
should have proceeded under these sections
instead of Revenue and Taxation Code sec-
tion 5096, subdivision (b).

[16-18] It is almost axiomatic that the
trial court may enter a judgment of dis-
missal after it has sustained a demurrer to

_[347 thejcomplaint if the plaintiff elects to stand

on the complaint and fails to amend (CP.
§ 581; Jeffers v. Screen Extras Guild, Inc.,
107 Cal.App.2d 253, 237 P.2d 51). It is also”
almost axiomatic that under these circum-
stances the judgment of dismissal must be
affirmed if the complaint is objectionable
upon any ground raised by the demurrer

ewled by Sate of ; |
Cloride Amon dky -19-40 Ger 1M Pinellas

Fla,

252 Cal.App.2q 346

(Sutter v. Gamel, 210 Cal.App.2d 529, 26
Cal.Rptr. 880). Consequently, this Court
does not have the power to reverse the
trial court by setting aside a Proper judg.
ment of dismissal in order to give appellant
the opportunity to amend its complaint a:
this stage of the Proceeding, nor does
Keidatz stand for this Proposition. That
case simply reaffirms the principle that a
judgment of dismissal baSed upon a defec.
tive complaint is not necessarily a judgmen
which determines the merits, and hence n>
necessarily a bar under the doctrine of res
judicata to a subsequent action. (See also
Goddard y. Security Title Ins. & Guar. C 0.,
14 Cal.2d 47, 92 P.2d 804, and 3 Witkin,
Cal. Procedure, p. 1938, for a complete dis-
cussion of this subject.) Consequently, it
may be possible for appellant to file a new
action by alleging new or additional facts
which would entitle it to relief. We do not,
however, pass on this point in this appeal.

The judgment is affirmed.

CONLEY, P. J., and STONE, J., con-
cur.

fo] KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

4ums

252 Cal.App.2d 524

_j|_ The PEOPLE of the State of California,
Plaintiff and Respondent,

Raymond Robert CLARK, Defendant
and Appellant.

Cr. 11912.

Court of Appeal, Second District,
Division 1.
July 12, 1967.

Appeal from judgment of conviction,
entered by the Superior Court of Los A™
geles County, Fred Miller, J., of murder
in the first degree. The Court of Appea
Four t, J., held that evidence that defend-
ant and his victim during their prior rela-
tions had no violent quarrels, that piece of

few

NL BER a Tae CT eae RTS RM Peet hae TRS

(Pinellas) 11-19-1999
60 CALIFORNIA REPORTER

952 Cal.App.2d 526

tron pipe used as murd
ja apartment and that (
had to go and get it a
the apartment, that w
yictim were not result
ing of pipe but were Ic
where blows would be
was a complete absen
that defendant failed t:
Gention for victim, mas
form and obviously lo
‘gault, that defendant

night of murder to sta
ant locked door so ti
_ pot get in established “
~ gnitted with premeditat'

Judgment affirme

i, Homicide €=232
Direct evidence ©
tated purpose to kill :

ments of deliberatio:
may be inferred fron
and circumstances wh
tion for such inferenc

2 Homicide €2232
Evidence that d
tim during their pr
violent quarrels, tha
used as murder weap
ment and that obviot
go and get it and b:
Ment, that wounds v
tered where blows
there was a complete
fon, that defendant
I attention for victi
mate on night o
id, defendant locke:


JUTSE LOLI Oe CCU ey aoe pours

Florida killer is exec

tted

after losing court appeal

ASSOCIATED PRESS

STARKE, Fla. — Raymond
Robert Clark was executed in Flor-
ida’s electric chair Monday for the
1977 slaying of a businessman who
was shot to death after being
forced to write his killer a $5,000
check.

Clark, 49, died at 7:07 a.m. EST.
His appeals were exhausted when

the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1.

Sunday to reject two emergency
requests for a delay. The lone dis-

‘| senter was Justice Thurgood Mar-

_| shall, who opposes the death penal-
ty in all circumstances.

The appeals were based on .
changes in the capital punishment’

law since Clark’s sentencing. |
Clark was the fourth Florida in-

_mate to be put to death this year

and the 25th to die since the state
resumed executions in 1979. In all,
142 people have been killed nation-
wide since the U.S. Supreme Court
reinstated capital punishment in
1976. Florida has had more execu-
tions than any state except Texas.

Clark was convicted and sen-
tenced to death for the April 27,
1977, murder of David Drake, a
Pinellas County scrapyard owner.

(p97. Ao

i * :
L sf
Monday afternoon

NOVEMBER 19,1990

LATE SPORTS

EDITION

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS

secre eran me

4

SCO

ci

ran

San ff

.Z
|
OY

iva

<

tha

Nnemarw Alaaten

‘USA TODAY * MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1990+ 7

uled for 7:01:a.m: today.

Clark, convicted in the 1977 fatal shooting of a Pinellas

County businessman, has no appeals left.

mah Ben

”

ALSO SUNDAY...
> EXECUTION APPEAL: The U.S. Supreme Court re-

> OIL SPILL: A 6-million-gallon oil spill from the Norwe-
jected a request by Raymond Clark, 49, to halt his execution

gian tanker Berge Broker 700 miles southeast of Nova Sco-
tia shouldn’t affect the U.S. coast, officials said. The spill

occurred Tuesday during an Atlantic storm.
in Florida’s electric chair, sched

ar epcmecr spe. « one ge ccna eT anes Hg TLE ee
=f cee aye ee cs eas ea <4
tyre ed eS te a.
ae pe eT as es: ee ad
= P ne ay F :
*% yt Fe PN gg TN PEE

—

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1990-

Murderer Is Executed in Floride

convicted murderer, Raymond Robert

Clark, was executed today in Florida’s
electric chair.

_ Mr. Clark, 49 years old, died at 7;07

A.M. at the Florida State Prison here.

He did not make a final statement.

Among the two dozen witnesses was
. Gregory Drake, 38, the son of Mr.
Clark’s victim. Gov. Bob Martinez had
asked that Mr. Drake be allowed to wit-
ness the execution, said Bob Macmas-
ter, a Department of Corrections
spokesman.

In 1977 Mr. Clark and a teen-age |

companion kidnapped Mr. Drake’s fa-
ther, David Drake, and forced him to
write a check for $5,000 payable to
cash. Mr. Clark then shot him to death.

Mr. Clark exhausted his legal ap-
peals on Sunday when the ~ United
States Supreme Court voted 8 to 1 to re-
ject two emergency requests for a
delay in the execution. The dissenter
was Justice Thurgood Marshall, who
opposes the death penalty in all cir-
cumstances.

The appeals were based on changes
in the capital punishment law since Mr.

The New ork Fimes

Founded in 1851 ‘

STARKE, Fla., Nov. 19 (AP) —-A~

Clark was sentenced. 2h

Mr..Clark was the fourth Florida in-
mate to be put to death this year and
the 25th to die since the state resumed
executions in 1979. In all, 142 people
have been killed nationwide since the
United States Supreme .Court. rein-
stated capital punishment in 1976. Flor-
ida has had more executions than any
other state except Texas.

David Drake, a scrapyard owner,
was abducted from the parking lot of a
St. Petersburg bank on April 27, 1977,
and driven to a secluded spot, where
Mr. Clark shot him twice in the head.

When Mr. Clark and his companion
were unable to cash the $5,000 check,
they telephoned Gregory Drake and de-
manded $10,000 for the safe return of
his father, who was already dead.

The police traced later calls and ar-
rested Mr. Clark’s 16-year-old compan-
ion, Ty Johnston, who later pleaded
guilty to murder and testified against
Mr. Clark. He was paroled in 1987 after
serving nine years of a 25-year sen-.
tence.

At the time he killed Mr. Drake, Mr.
Clark was on parole from California
for the killing of a 14-year-old boy.

— OM (1

er nS

Pe tet Rt tet


: TOGECT. XMS POWELL, Edward, and. WALKER, Nathaniel, —
‘Spat: LP, ison’ (Duval Omani) on: names Beguaber) Pe. ie ce

CLAY, Willie, Be, 1
oe blacks, electrocuted Florida

de or

“KEEP “EM FLED

Buc Abbotts Laih) Costetiey !
pretence

bl feopbestern ffor: ts
Mor! of tne: bridge

M edt} to the: bridge’ for Ray
ae} Wary 3) persdnnes 5: ie ‘
~ ae ew: Commission “ay
; ihe fi Steen: he: wou! eats ~ 73 | |

a i atedeicg Storer oa ae posed, maine én # er: ae ; ‘of a eT, ; Edward -
: Willje' Clay were: e-ecuted yes<
ctor niche al res dal ae ° estan yk tha. electric chair ‘at the.
Sy tomey, .took “tne: Sedation? 10 ial oe ; : # ; h bed feshx: Fatm at Raifard. for.
ae snd tate Attorney’ Wiliai) A, up at BREADS ea ude Ma “th + 193£ of: Mrs: Mary.
i TY, he bad tee aloe bf ate 2 full| nhl Gloedod + Covorn OU IRE erg according:
3 investigatiqn and ‘fecalied vhis!' ae 4
lew. th. the jury had been’ for. i expects Clerk) Butts

epee ‘was Lists ‘verdict | a#far.| right Tecords ‘wes etic Big
"aa AWE" fury! ia” edtieerned ' Stilver: Jeltartebiaah ibn “bp ieee

ON
fom)
1
7
|
La
:
8
9)
x
7 OO
wc
io.
. nw
S
Zl
Fs

sp a ee. oie “ ya nf ie Ss ‘ “al tt Ps a 5 Sanat
‘hy toa and, Powe! were : i BS.) pets a ce : ; : m
less thari'a month following the'Curs:|. * ee

a

“as ais ying They had) :péée? ‘aga: ltskahe
; oeapn detec a | ;
ss fly Peapon: y * ed To ae oP ‘
as (i ee ee ae ea etree Inu oni in Duval Cir”
A et wom to. prepare. Bibi “hae Ghie Cents en 8. er a
y Late +o } oft cK ii t . : m @. oranda: -
tee a) Jory verdict “of guiltyyor Ie
a : nye aires §f

Florida Times

ee arte ay Af 5
e's ory ~for--|
uate tina ee


COACH) J.e9
MAN,J.C.,elec Fla.(Manatee) 5-6~1925

THE FLORIDA TIMES-
) “UNION (J
Thursday, 7 May 1925, one

a

Manatee Negro
Pays Penalty

Electrocuted at Raiford for
Murder.

Sreciel to Times-Union.
Cc! Coachman,

RAIFORD, May §.—e-.
negro, W oat today
e

teg county

of a seven-year-old negro girl.

In his statement pefore entering |
aule eonrecses e efrime and,
warned every bod
asked those presen
and said he was re

ber unsuppo
nervousness.

—-———— y


From the Minute Books of the Florida Board of Institutions
(state cabinet), Series 431, Volume 6 (H), entry for
5 May 1925, page 136:

"J. C. Coachman --- Date Set For Electrocution.

"A communication was received and read from the superintendent
of the Florida State Farm advising of the date and hour set for the
electrocution of J. C. Coachman. The Attorney General advised the
Board that he would go to Raiford and represent the Board at this

electrocution."

Bradenton Herald, May 7, 1925, pg. 4

eee 2°

Ae nr seee © >
4 s
if

AS

eatin ey Site

N

Sent ’ Into. Etemitv. By
«Electrocution at the State

?Un. Prison Farm ts

; fo Making in full: confession of the
es crime ‘which sent him’ to the. electric
soehale, J, C. Coachman, negrn, cone

‘placed Herbert (“Slippery”), Thomp-

»” wrieted’ dnd sentenced to death at: the

~ “fal term of the cirenit court in this Bi Paiford. ”

rege Comnty for’ effecting the denth of
o> STrene’ Fostick, “a * negro “girl seven
Wis vears: of age Inst: Octaher, naid the
5 extreme nenaltv at the stat ncn
“ofan at Raiford, at 2°20 nob Wer-
~""wesday afternoon, To Sheriff IL J.
- Stewart of Manatee ecunty, who was :
present at the time of execution,,
aoe fell the duty of turning on the cur-:
‘rent which sent the negro into eter-
nity. - Death was almost instantan-
pr eous, but the body was allowed to re-
oS main. in the electri¢ chair for five
- v minutes, after which it was removed
-. and prepared for burial in the ceme-
. >" teve gttached to the farm.
Sheriff Stewart, wha desired to
/ “pwitness the execution of Coachman,
2 owas handed the death warrant by
+f prison officials a short time before
+. the time for execution, .He read this,
“'-te the negro,..who showed signs of
* much nervousness. The document
,. having been read, Coachman, who
7, had been in a nervous state for sev-
* eral days, ., during which time he
2 had: been ‘attended by several neero
_. 5 preachert who conducted services for
y)., the condemned © man, in preparation |
- } for - the execution, told .the «sheriff
.., that he “was ready to go,” and that
She was guilty of the erime of which
he had, been convicted). ,
ss Confesses in Shadow of Death
“2: At-2:80 the negro was led from his
<2 yell, accompanied by his spiritual ad-
2S tgors, Strapped. into ‘thé chair, and

“the black ‘cap drawn’ over. the’ con-}

p1e% demned: man's face, ‘Coachman axked
von if he could ‘make a statement, and he
<y-qwan ‘given ‘the privilege. 2.

<"s ps] want to say that I am ready to
‘go and meet my Maker. I am guilty
3 of the crime charged against me. I
“S2,yant to warn all boys und young men
“to keep” away {fon®bad. company; to

tos
i IS ihe

Ye SRS gS FE pi
Re! Sele te ea
—— Ne
Parr tt oat Seti Be Eo Ne.
lead a” good life, becatise ‘bad com:

every one TT
Tes wad naked if he had “anything
inore. to say,cand answered In’ ihe:

negative, “Sheriff: : Stewart aatd$,],
“Goodbye, Coachman,” to ‘Which the}

nogro replied, -nnd the electric evits}
rent. was turned on which hrought an
end to the black's career, Three phy:
sicians were on hand,‘and Coachman
was pronounced dead within a few
minutes, . wk
_ Sheriff Stewart retnmed Thorsdsy
morning from an official trip which |:
tank him to Marianna, where he

yon jn the reform school, From
there he went to Tallaliassee, and

then enent. a-day at the prieon farm


.

a a

*

SEA PL hes

|
'
j . i
| By HENRY O REXO:
| Bwentd iwi Wyincs
Bubiets weuffed out the ives of a
| | mother. her &reerekt son
end ber entwrn child Pricey might,
ang pent het husband to the hespt
tal wm desperateiy wounded - dea
Ba Beever news '
| The toll of the i:ller mar gp even
: higper A€ police seared thew
cam unen the wroried car ty gure
_} _CTRER Picttnas pace 1-5
Men had commandeered megr ine
mevemy of hom icrime. taking with hom
| *8 & hostage the 1Ssemrold értver.
i A bullec hole was found in ote

Ne

| Aomoe | neat te the driver's seat |red-
| ing ide te helteve thar the jos
age

RSI case

&* 6hOt after i
attermpung to get -° ¥
| Say bv crashing
nt tree. A hul-
i et wag retrieved
froert the interior.
_ be hestage,
Palrt\ J. Morin,
Ww iT2o S| Ww.
ave. was
URI at an

Mur toda.

Tore hebeve he
“23 lomed! from
‘h@ rar after he Y
w&88 shot apd that the killer’ drrre
‘M@ ¢ar geveral blocks with 2 Yencder

Ta the ure.
; Bibte lnvpatiostor IR. Mille sate

he been toid bw authargiee im
ie der dale that a Iiecte-heker
Pitkhe ep there tnid of having ~vt-

(am iin 9 cag in whieh @ bow m ‘Se
Ort seat moaned. “Mm shot. [rn

se hk wt es

SS FEN AR AS TS gr yeaa

+ SS



Ce SiS Saimin se, SOR DH

©

‘vam, EL]e gate

dou ig D472, CAG. LA.

Mystery Veils
Slayings; Police
Hunt For Motive

Former Husband
Is Located In
Texas Army Camp

Four Miamians were dead Sate
urday, victims of a fast-shooting,
cold-blooded killer ta whose idene
tity poltce have no definite clues,

Slain were:

Irving Leopold, 37, of 2011 S W.
Eighth at.. who died Saturday
morning in a Miami hoapital
from bullet wounds in the head,
cheat and shoulder.

His wife, Esther, 32, who would
have hecome g mother within a»
few weeks for the second time.

Mrs, Leopold's son by a former
mmrriage, Stephen, aged nix.

Raiph J. Morin, jr. 19, of 1770
S. W. i2th ave., apparently kid-
naped by the siayer, who wanted
te use his automobile.

Police. at a loss for a Motive for
the crime,~checked on Mrs. Leo-
pold's former husband, but learned
Saturday he js in an army camp in
Texas and haa not been away from
hia post.

Young Mortn's body wan the last
to be found. It was discovered about
® & m. Saturday beneath a clump
of pine treea Rbout 100 yards east
of 3S Bayshore drive And 100 feet
from Viata court, which is near S.
E. 17th ave.

|

Body Found Under Tree

Apparently he was shot close to
where his body was found and
dragged under the trees in the
sparsely populated area. Polive
Lieut. James ©. Harker reported
an examination showed the Miller
held his gun agninat Morin's head
and fired. Barker said the Leo-
polis also had been Shot at close
range.

Morin’s body was identified by
his father, Owner of the Offset
Printing Co., and David Levy, 1828
S..W. 12th at., business associate of
the elder Morin. The father col-
lapsed when he viewed his slain
aon.

After shooting Morin, the killer
apparently drove northward on 5S,
Bayshore drive, turned west on
S. E. Eighth st. and sideswiped an
oak tree at S. kb. RFighth st. and
S. E. Miami road. Despite damage
to the automobile, he continued
southward on §S. E. Miami road
into Miami ave. and then westward
on S. W. 13th st. abandoning the
automobile near the Florida East
Coast railroad crossing on S. W,
13th st.

A garage reported someone called
Friday night, saying he had
wrecked his automobile and giving
the S. W. 13th at. location, asking

TURN TO PAGE TWO—KLAYER)

(CONTINUED FROM FPAGB ONE)

Slayer Of 4 Miamians Escapes

‘theaen to tow the car in and saying
te would cell about it Saturday
motning. This occurred about an
hour and a half after the Leopoilds
were shot.

Police theught the killer
the garage in an effort to get the
automobile off the’ -street and
thereby. delay efforts to trace him.

| Pi

man ran to an automobile, put his

j @t. Coming upon it parked by the is
sultvend ereasing. Thay said 2 sige been ~ ; hes
was in it and hand over Eilleer and .

his fa¢o as if to shield himself from | So" ye, ta Me, Bees tan
sight, They watched him get out of Detroit. oa
of the machine and walk northward (Gro 0), o° ag bags od and.
on therspacks. ticket have:
The Gunen ; him to DO} ceugi. a bus to
\lice az -belng dressed, Weer | visit his sister He at-
‘ing & brown coat, panama or straw tended Milam! high ‘and hed
i trousers, and light tan gloves. They tee Inst three years. Marien
said he appeared about six feet} come here nine years age trom De-

tall, rather slender, with browa

Young Morin reportedly had
about $30 on him, but Détective
Capt. E. W. Melchen said the
slayer evidently robbed him, leav-
ing marixe of bloody fingers inaide
Morin's pockets. Leopold wag be-
‘Mewed to bebe had about $20 with
‘him, and this also was missing.
| The Leopolds resided in an apart-_
ment over their kosher market at
2011 & W. Bighth st. At 7:15 p. m.
|\Wriday the slayer apparently en-
| tered their residence without warn-

a shooting.
ee Tad tacaa checker board
indicated Mr. and Mra. Leopold
were playing checkers at the tine.
Léttle Stephen apparently had just
compieted » letter to the Lone

r, radio character.
erin felled his mother and
foster father, Stephen ran toward
the bedrom, but his flight was cut
shert by a bulelt in his head as he
reached the. bedroom door, —

Woman Sot ¢ Times

“Bix bullets struck Mra. Leopold
and she died instantly. Bocause of
the fury of the killer, pollee be-
Heved the multiple slaying was &
crime of frustrated passion and
therefore sought te check on Mr,
Leopold's former husband.
Two bullets a Apetg eb end
‘threes hit Leopoid, who was uncon-
,sclous when pollee arrived and
never recoverec sufficiently to fell
police what happened. . P
Neighbors and passers-by geve
investigators their chief olay
drew Greenfield, 1786 ey
ot, walked past the »
and keard the shoo

outside stalrway | r ® the Lao-
pold apartment ands

the killer dropped”:
from a baleony an

EF

treit, .° .: :
Dave Kleber,
ia the ‘Taamiomi:

;

F i
be

right" sj 02
te aif polled: but eam
sothing
killer’s .
33-caliber revolver
wee shet with a
balleved
sana and ready

i
2.
es
i

about five feet 11 Hiches tall, with
a medium bulld. He sald the man.
fell on his side, recovered quickly ;
and ran. Greenfleit threw a rock
at him but missed.

EB. Che@mpion, 2036 8. W, Seventh
st. a neighbor, heard the shooting
and geve chase to a man he saw
running. He quit, however, when
he saw the man reloading a re-
volver from a peper sack contain-
ing bullets,

Two other nelghbors reported the

RL NA

Greenfield deserg

Tt
. &
ne
1


;
&

Set

En lle: Se iy ae
VIEWS SON’S BODY—His face contorted with grief, Ralph J. Morin, 1720 S. WwW.
12th ave., is shown as he viewed the body of his son found Saturday morning near S.
Bayshore drive and Vista court. Young Morin apparently had been kidnaped and his
automobile taken by the unidentified man who killed Mr. and Mrs. Irving Leopold and
Mrs. Leopold's six-year-old son in their apartment Friday night. Left to right, are
Police Chief H. Leslie Quigg. Morin, David Levy. business associate of Morin, and

Police Lieut. James O. Barker. Young Morin’s body, covered with a blanket, is in the

bait UL

FL TELE NE LAI


pristy Asks
ental Test —
Wrmal request for the mental

cent Christy, convicted killer,
led by Defense Attorney

'S, Okell before Judge Paul.
Saturday. The judge took

{ion under edvisement.

4 ' for the murder of Irving
mold, one of four persons he
charged with slaying here,
17,

“@ petition states that “his ae-

Roof this case indicate that he
jg P0t a person of norma? mental

mortly after his capture in Jack-

i, 50 days after the- crime,

wi made a complete confes-
dn the witness stand he r

the confession. sering he

wy
he
nN
ie
SS

Sd
“
fet
€

RES‘ ONLY DECEUBE he pref erre-”

‘PR electric chair to enather term

Mination by two psychiatrists.

Ejur returned # verdict Thurs.
Btor. icning Christy to the elew.

#and manners throughout the:

Miami Keen

Novy. 12, 1942
Pace \&

Christy Case
Doctors Named

en ae

Two psychiatrists, Dr. J. H. Agos
and Dr. James L. Anderson, were |
appointed Monday py Circuit Judge
Paul D. Barons to examine Vincent
J. Christy, convicted murderer, to
determine his sanity.

The appointments were made on
the petition of Attorney George 5.

Okell, court-appointed counsel for
the Polish born ex-convict who is
‘ute Pea ce

d, Mrs. Leopo e a

sie feae aie zon and Ralph J. Morin
July 17. He wes convicted last week |
of killing Leopold, the jury fall-
ing to recommend mercy and there
by making the death penalty man- |
datory.
The psychiatrists were ordered to
report their findings to the court. |
There was no indication of when.
the examination would be made or
how long it will take. Christy will
not be sentenced until the sugges-
tion of insanity has been disposed

of,

lugs

Christy F

On Sanity Test
~~ amy

The unpredictable Vincent
Christy, convicted slayer of four
Miamians, emphasized that part of
his nature again Tuesday when he
told two psychiatrists appointed by

the court to examine him that all

of ‘this business was not of his
making. ;

Christy met State Investigator I. R. |
Milis, who jokingly temerkog.t |
From the way you testified, I
thought you were a pretty smart
man, and now I find you are to be
examined to see if you are crazy.”
The slayer quickly retorted:
I want you to understand this
iis none of my damned business. |

and James L. Anderson lasted |

{hour during which Christy |
talked freely. The examiners were
appointed on petition of George |
| 8. Okell, court-appointed attorney, |
| Who defended the Slayer at the trial |
last week which resulted in Chris-|
‘ty’ conviction of the murder of |
j one of his four vie . |

i i


Miam Weeacp
Nlev, & }OA2
Pace AK

COURT TO HRAR
SERISTY'S tik

° ie ea

: Vineent J. Christy, convicted mur-
whose sanity was established
Thursday by the report of two pey-
chiatrists, might hear his often ex-
pressed desire to die in the electric

ae al

chair legalized at 10 a. m. Saturday |
when his motion for a new trial is
heami.

After receiving the written re
of Dr. James L. Anderson and)

J. H. Agos that Christy is sane,

Judge Paul D. pe bn Ele merited
George S. Okell,
Gefense counsel, that the eaten
‘would be disposed of Saturday.

Pointing out that his statement,
was no indication of how he would:
rule on/ the motion and that he
would decide only after hearing
Okell’s arguments,, Judge Barns
said that if his ruling should deny
&@ new trial, he probebly would sen-
tence Christy immediately after.
ward.

DEATH MANDATORY
Convicted of firstdegree murder.

for the death of Irving Leopold and
without @ mercy recommendation

{from the jury, the Gesth pendity ig)
PMande tors. Rk
}  Chriety st eleo charged with hay.

ij ing slain Leppal's wife. and her,

Gyear-old son in their

over a Tamiami Trail "avail eer mary
ket July 17. rhnagerwcgar~eben Sey
automobile drivan by.:Ralph = J.
| Morin, jr. in leaving the ecene,

‘Christy is charged with heaving

'gter resisted,

Captured by Jacksonville police,

yee the youth when the lal

officers, Christy confeased the kil"

fnge. but leter renudiatec the con?

SESE WNL oT Soot fhe WL T Mptagir

rie Sip fats bio omentel of nereour
cGirturbance. His mentel fecultbe:
are unimpalred. Exeminers find
(Vincent J. Christy sane’

e® @ 6

Coote

se ERNE EP Re oP

_ Meralé Stat? Writer

| Condemned to the electric chair only a few hours carlier for the
, aying -of Irving Leopoid, cold-blooded Vincent Christy gained
r om for 47 minutes late Saturday night by pressing a knife
pgainst the throat of a jailer in an unsuccessful escape attempt.

> The quadruple killer, together
with two other prisoners, who tried
to escape with him, surrendered
quickly when two Miami policemen.
| closed ih as floodlights played on
| the sides of the Dade county court-
house and hundreds of spectators
stared upward from W. Flagler st.

Warned by «@ trusty who had
been convicted as a murder accom-
plice, some 50 city and county po

See Pictures On Page 8&-A
licemen ‘carrying revolvers, rifles

and shotruns surrounded the court: ?

- house efter Christy and the two
prisoners had roamed for 42 min- |
ules from the 19th to the 25th fioor |
of the courthouse before a general
alarm was sounded.

“DON'T SHOOT” 18 PLEA

Christy and the two prisoners,
Richard Schattka and Carl Kreu-
len, were captured by Officers W’.
T. Fulford and G. D. Rogers and

‘Chief County Deputy Russell B.
Bavenson.

Christy and Schattha, and the iti
Oners fell flat. on their tices thy
the pieas, “Don't shoot!” 2-5)
_ Not knowing that three /prigone
hai attempted to escape)
anc Rogers did not gae tH
mo dak hid . few feet. dor
ai’ corridor, but, instead, bag i
searching fer Christy and Benner
ka. A few seconds later Eavenson
appeared and Kreulen raised ‘his
hands over his head and walked
coweringly from his hiding place,
Almost instantaneously the cor.
one hecame crowded with other
offioerg, |
WERE SERVING MILK
The prisoners made their break
for freedom at 6:01 p. m. when
Jailor James Coleman, nephew of

Yt:

‘Sheriff D. C. Coleman, and two
tritstins, Albert G, Taylor, 23, and
Willie Clifford, 32-yeardéld negro, |
opened the cell-block door on the
251} floor to distribute mifk, =
Chriaty lunged at Coleman and
placel a Rmall paring kalfe against
the jatler’s throat with the warn:
ing: “Don't move, Jimmy, or V’ll,
kill vou!”
. Schattka, waving a palr of large
 Sticcers, shoved the trusties into
the cll block and locked the door
nftrr Kreulen had rushed outside,

Teen Ct Nn


AILE Ds |

ile Christy continued to hold
the «knife against Coleman’s neck,
/Schettka and Kreulen searched the |
sjaticr and tied his hands behind |
him with torn bedsheets. Handker- |
chiefs were used to gag the jailer, |
who had left his revolver in a pre
cautionary effort.in the jail office
on the 19th floor,

The prisoners, collecting fire hose
as they went, forced Coleman to
accompany them to the 22nd floor.
White Kreulen and Schattka re-
mained to guard the jailer, Christ
operated an elevator to the 18t
floor. peeked out and saw Deputy
Sheriff A. B. Robbins, who was
armed, sitting behind a desk some
25 fect. from the elevator,

ES 3?R ABANDONED

Discovering that the elevator did
‘no! operate below the 19th floor,
Christy returned to the 22nd floor,
conferred with Kreulen and Schatt-
ka, and then dropped the fire nose
out a window. Presence below of

olicemen and-the crowd, Christy
ater told deputies, caused the trio,
to abandon the attempt for escape,
by ‘the hose,

A few minutes later they were
approhended.,

Meanwhile, Tavlor had escaped
from the cell block by unlocking the
door with a clothes hanger given
him by Zachariah T. Goldsmith,’ an-|
other prisoner. Taylor, followed by
Goldsmith, then notified Robbins. |

Taylor was sentenced to a 20-|
year jail term Saturday by Circuit)
Judge Paul D. Barns ag an accom
plice “o ‘the murder of ,Fred
Knust, Dee, 26, 1940. Schattka was
being held on a murder charge;
Kreu'en, a rape charge; Clifford, a
breating and entering charge; and
Goldsmith, a murder charge.

CHRISTY THANKS JUDGE }

“Thank you, judge,” was Christy’s
retort when Judge Barns sentenced
him. . ‘

Grim wordage of the formal order
in such cases includes some blunt
remarks about having “a current
of electricity sufficient to cause
death passed through your body, |
and may God have mercy on y l
soul,” but that affected the co
victed killer not at all. His court-
appointed attorney, George Okell, |
not knowing a Herald reporter was
listening, sald he would not appeal
the decision.

If by some miracle, a new trial
would be ordered, he atill faces
chargea of killing Leopold's wife,

==

Miuamt he PALD
Noy, 3, IAC)
Kontip.

PRIES? MAKES CALL

After sentence was passed, the
Rey. ‘Vaiter E, Conley of SS. Peter
and Paul's church, called on him at

‘the js!) and he greeted the priest.
cordially, Christy, it was‘ learned,
did not send for the churchman
but seemed to welcome the visit. -

The sentence was passed after
Judges Barng had overruled Okell’s
motion for @ nev: trial, a. motton|
base) on nine points to which: the
defense had taken exception: during |

‘the course of the trial. - ie
| Principal argument war Yer ;
introduction by State Ai 9G, A.
Worley of close-up photog.aphs of
ithe bodies of Mrs. Leo_old- and her
‘child. The defense contended thear
were not proper evidence; and ‘avi;
been introduced “solely. to pais
dice the jurors.” Okell als ed
attention to the fact that whe thé
state had been unable to establish
Christy's confessed motive of “an.
old grudge,” it had introduced evi-
derice of no other motive. ‘Invest
eS unable to: ~
any place’ e background of:
either Leopold or Christy where.
their paths might have crossed. —
Christy'a defense was one of the
most amazing é¢ver heard in a locaj

a

her 6-year-old son, Stephen, and
Ralph Morin, jr.

eourt room, nying in its entirety
phis earlier confeasion, he said he
made that statement only because
he preferred death in the electric
chair to another prison term which
would have been assured him in
Jacksonville, where he was cap-
tured in an armed robbery. He al-
ready has served,some 15 years in
nrisons, — . ey

al a 2s


“Is she really married to Phillips?” asked Slaughter thought-
fully. “We have only his word for that. Let’s wire the Phila-
delphia authorities to check the marriage license bureau. We'll
soon get the straight of that.”

“What about this fellow Stacey?” asked Stone, after the wire
had been dispatched.

Slaughter considered. ‘‘He’s a canny, deliberate chap,” he
replied. “His story of their friendship sounds straight enough,
but I think he’ll bear a bit of investigation—just for luck.”

“Go after him,” directed Stone.

Slaughter did; but two days of close checking failed to turn
up anything derogatory against the calm-eyed horticulturist.
He had definitely not been out of town for a long time; and
although he had been known to be in Mrs. Henson’s company
often, there was no evidence that it had been anything but
friendship and a mutual preoccupation with exotic plants.

Two days later, on March 10, the sheriff’s office was notified
by the Philadelphia police that there was no official record of
Mrs. Henson’s marriage to Phillips.

Stone tapped the telegram nervously. “Okay, so they’re not
married,” he said. “Scandal isn’t our business. What we want
to find out is who was trying to chisel those two Fort Wayne
women out of three hundred dollars, using Mrs. Henson’s name.”

“And the only way to do that,” answered Slaughter, “is to
talk to Mrs. Henson. That’s the whole
crux of this job. She’s supposed to be in
New York, at the 90th Street address. To
get to the bottom of this we’ve got to
find Mrs, Henson.”

“Okay,” agreed Stone. “Go ahead and
find her.”

Slaughter frowned. “I think first I’ll
talk to Phillips again.”

Phillips was at home and _ plainly
anxious to be of service. He confessed
that he was now worried about not hear-

Det.

State Attorney
Murray Sams

prosecuted the kil-
ler and won a first
degree conviction.

A wilting bush
of flowers led
Slaughter,
above, to infer
the body might
be very near.

ing from his wife. He had wiretl her but had as yet received
no reply. “She did say something about staying with some
friends in the suburbs,” he explained, “while she was getting
medical attention; but I’ve been sending her mail to Mrs.
Coyle’s place.”

“Who is her doctor?” asked Slaughter.

“T don’t know. ‘She keeps changing. The last one was some
“specialist that another woman recommended.”

“What’s wrong with your wife?”

“Oh, some complicated feminine business.”

“By the way—where were you married in Philadelphia?”
asked Slaughter casually.

“Well,” smiled Phillips lamely, “it wasn’t really Philadelphia.
It was really in Camden—but we always referred to it as Philly.”

Slaughter nodded. It' might be so. This meant another check
in another city. He said: “If you hear from her, let me know,
will you?”

Phillips promised.

Slaughter now concentrated on finding Mrs. Henson. He
had obtained a snapshot of her in a bathing suit, taken at
Daytona Beach. Mrs. Henson, it seemed, was inordinately fond
of swimming, according to her neighbors. This likeness
Slaughter sent to the New York Police by air mail, giving
Mrs, Coyle’s address and asking them to make inquiry. Mostly,
he wanted the whereabouts of Mrs. Henson,
and data as to her availability for questioning.

REPORT soon came from the New York

Police. They had done a thorough job.
Mrs. Coyle on whom they called said that
she had never heard of Mrs. Henson. She
looked at the snapshot without a glimmer of
recognition. Adroit questioning, however,
elicited the informa- [Continued on page 68]

The victim's skull is evidence
of the savage attack the killer
made on the sleeping widow.


for questioning. But again he repeated
his p otis statement, explaining care-
fully why he had not, at first, reported
the accidental drowning.

State Attorney Murray Sams, who
had taken a hand in the examination, was
dissatisfied.

“IT believe he killed her,” he stated
grimly, to Stone. “And I don’t believe
she was drowned. She was much bigger
than he is and much too strong and husky
a woman for him to drown.”

“Then, why should he tell that story
and throw himself opefi to the possible
suspicion of murder ?”

S AMS shrugged. Stone frowned over
» the enigma in silence. Slaughter sat
staring out of the window, pensively.
Suddenly he turned to both officers.
“Look here,” he suggested. “I’ve been
wondering about Phillips’ story. It’s
puzzled me plenty why he told us about
it. He didn’t have to. He’s a shrewd and
canny guy. Knows the law. No corpse—
no first degree murder rap. No corpse,
and he wiggles out on some pretty flimsy
circumstantial evidence. And if no will
turns up, he may try to get all the
woman’s property and money as her
common law husband. Phillips had some
reason why he wants us all to think that
Mrs. Henson’s’ body is forever lost in
the sea. That guy is too smart to tell a
damaging story like that for no reason.”

“But. what reason?” asked Stone.
“Think of one.”

“To keep us from looking somewhere
else.”

And suddenly the simple logic of
Slaughter’s reasoning seemed. to illumi-
nate whatever complex strategy was be-
hind Phillips’ disclosure.

“Where would you look?” asked Sams.

“T’d start at her home.”

Together with Deputy Sheriff Camp-
bell and Captain Clifton, the four men
set out once more to search the mystery
house on Wisconsin Place. Campbell
and Clifton decided to make another
minute search of the inside of the house,
while Stone and Slaughter elected to
prowl the outside.

Slaughter circled the garage apart-
ment,.alert for sqme clue that might open
a wedge into the case. Near the second
floor stairway a large gardenia bush, de-
spite the evident robust health of its:
surrounding fellows, was yellow and
withered, dying.

The alley ran in back of the house and
as Slaughter circled, he noted an elderly
man in a yard diagonally across the alley
who was watching him in evident curios-
ity. He strolled over finally and intro-
duced himself as A. B. Corbine, and
informed Slaughter that he had taken
care of Mrs. Henson’s yard in the past.

“Looks bad now, doesn’t it?” he con-
tinued. “I kept the place looking pretty
good until the latter part of January.
Then, Phillips told me that Mrs. Henson
had gone north and he didn’t need me to
look after it any longer. Said he was
going to take care of it himself, but he
hasn’t. It's full of weeds.”

Slaughter agreed. “The place looks
neglected. That gardenia bush over
there seems to he dying.”

“T don’t know why it should,” answered

Corbine. “Unless the carpenters or.

painters spilled some turpentine when
they built the washhouse.”

Slaughter strolled’ over to the wash-
house, his curiosity aroused. It was a
small addition to the garage apartment,
built under the stairs that led to the
second floor. The room, he saw through
a window, was small, and he wondered
why they called it a washhouse. It had
no conveniences for washing. It had no
water spigot, no tubs, not even an electric
outlet. He contemplated the locked door

_ and finally decided to open it for a closer

look inside.

It was opened with little difficulty and
Slaughter entered. He was immediately
conscious of a faint but penetrating odor
—probably strong laundry soap. And
while he stood there, absently staring
around the bare room, Stone and Clifton
joined him. Clifton wrinkled his nose in
distaste.

“What in heck do they keep in here—
potatoes? Smells like there’s some rotten
ones around somewhere.”

Slaughter amended: “Smells more
like strong soap—or some chemical.” He
wheeled suddenly to stare at the dying
gardenia bush near the entrance.

“Hey !” he exclaimed suddenly. “Come
on. We're ripping up this floor right
now.”

The two other officers stared at him
for a moment in surprise, then instantly
interpreted his meaning.

There were, some tools in the garage
and the three men began a demolition
job. As the floor boards of the wash-
room came up, the odor grew stronger.

“I’ve got to get something to probe
with,” declared Slaughter. “Maybe
there’s something in the garage.” He left

at once and was back in less than a,

minute with a long metal rod. This he
began to push into the soft ground he-
neath the washhouse floor. And all at
once he paused.

“There’s something soft and spongy
down there—about two-feet down.”

With the shovel they had secured in
the garage, the men took turns digging
and the work went fast. Not more than
two feet from the surface, they struck a
yielding mass. And examination dis-
closed it to be a human body. It was
wrapped in some newspapers, an old quilt,
some canvass and a bed sheet, and was
bound together with rope and wire.

While Clifton and Campbell went to
phone for more help, Slaughter and
Stone attempted to raise the body to the

‘surface, but the bindings were rotten and

broke; so they secured a fresh rope from
the garage and pulled the body from its
impromptu grave. ;

Inner wrappings of newspaper at-
tracted the attention of both officers. One
small scrap of inner wrapping gave a vital
clue: It carried the banner head of a
Daytona Beach daily newspaper and tlle
date of issue—January 17, 1940.

Stone and Slaughter exchanged signifi-
cant glances. It fitted their suspicions
like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
With the arrival of additional officers and
Dr. Charles M, Green, the mystery sur-
rounding Mrs. TTenson lifted. Dr. Green

identified the body as that of Mrs. Henson

by pointing out several scars of an old
operation he had performed.
That clinched the matter of identity.
Later the autopsy would give them the
cause of death. But the indefatigable
Stone and Slaughter were not through
even then. While obtaining tools for
their task, Stone had glanced apprais-
ingly at the coupe that was housed in the
garage. Both men went back to have a
closer look, at the car, known to be
Phillips’.
And in the trunk compartment, under
a welter of tools they found a battered
case containing a portable typewriter.
“He wrote those letters with this,”
nodded Stone in answer to Slaughter’s
inquiring look. “We'll turn it over to
the lab for comparison.”
* Phillips, with these developments, lost
some of his poise and confidence, but he
was still an enigma of unbreakable will
and clear-headedness. He shrugged and
grinned fatalistically, eyeing the officers

like a player who had done his best but »

had lost the game. Seemingly it was all
very impersonal to him; and his nerves
were as unflurried by the horror of his
act as if they had been made of steel.
Stone told him: ‘“‘We know that you
killed Mrs. Henson on January 17. That
was the last day she was seen alive.
There’s no sense in denying it, Phillips.”
“Okay,” nodded Phillips, “so I killed
her. I never thought anyone would find
her, buried under that, washhouse.” :

“But we did,” answered Stone. “And °

just about the most sensible thing for
you to do would be to come clean and

: let’s have the story.”

“T’ll tell you,” agreed Phillips.

L\ PART, Phillips’ confession reads as
follows: “My name is Angie Michael
Caingetti, but for many years I have
used the name of A. M. Phillips. I was
born in New York City. I’m forty-nine
years old. For the past two years I’ve
lived at the Wisconsin Place home of
Mrs, Henson, as her husband. I was
never married to Mrs. Henson.

“Mrs. Henson and I went to bed about
11 o'clock on the night of January 17,
and shortly after I went to sleep. About
4 A.M. ahie woke me as she got out of
bed. When she returned, she began to
quarrel with me about different things,
and she said we were through. I told her
to shut up and go back to sleep. She
slapped me and I hit her back. Then she
jumped out of bed and hit me with her
slipper. She was a big and strong woman,
you know. I got up and went downstairs.
I was afraid of her. I undressed, took a
hammer out of.a drawer, and then re-
turned to the bedroom.

“Anna had fallen asleep again. I was

. afraid if I went to sleep she might hurt

me, so I hit her with the hammer before
she could do anything. The blood from
the wounds on her head had spattered all
over me, so I washed my hands in the

bathroom. Then I went out and took a -

shower in the rain. I smoked a cigar

while I thought out what I could do with .

the body. T couldn't think of anything, so
I went to the middle bedroom, upstairs.
and lay down.

69


+

“Then I got scared and I dressed and
went out and drove off; but I came back
later because no one knew what I had
done. I looked around downstairs for a
place to bury the body. I decided that
the best place would be under the stair-
way of the garage apartment.

“I didn’t dig the grave until the after-
noon of the second day after I’d killed
her. That would be—January 19. In
the meantime I left the body on the bed.
The afternoon before I dug the grave I
wrapped the body in a sheet, put some
newspapers around the head and then
wrapped the whole thing in a quilt and
some canvass, binding it all with some
heavy wire and rope.

“When it got dark I dragged the body
out of the house and buried it. I dumped
in a lot of embalming fluid which I had
got hold of. The next day, as an excuse
for watering the flowers, I wet down the
earth over the grave pretty well.

“On February 14, 1940, I had Sam
McNealy, a carpenter, build a .wash-
house right over the grave. He built a
wooden floor in the washhouse which
completely covered the grave.

“There was a lot of blood on the mat-
tress. I cut away the bloody part and
four or five days later I had a man from
the Pullman Company, on ‘Wild Olive
Street, sew a cover on that side of the
mattress,”

As he signed this confession, Phillips

the prompt reply. “I’d say he was killed

around four o’clock this morning.”

This coincided with Dr. Streker’s
story of hearing a body fall at that time.
O’Neil straightened up, walked around
the room. Herbert T. Caffrey, the de-
partment’s fingerprint expert, arrived,
opened his kit and started to work.
O’Neil walked into the kitchen, examined
the kitchen door.

The key on the inside was flecked

with crimson. It told him one thing. The

killer had. locked the door behind him
before following Bishop into the bed-
room. After the murder, his hands
stained with his victim’s blood, he had
turned the key and being in such a hurry
to leave hadn’t closed the door.

But the motive. Robbery was out.
O’Neil mulled over other possibilities,
Revenge! Hatred! Jealousy! Which?
And there was Dr. Streker’s word for it
that Bishop’s wife was a’ beautiful
woman. Did she fit in anywhere? O’Neil
didn’t know what to think as he made
his way into the living room.

Bishop’s body was removed to the un-
dertaking parlor of J. W. Carpenter.
Detectives combed the neighborhood
without success. Nobody had heard any
cries or shots during the early morning
hours. The killer hadn’t been seen leav-

70

looked at Slaughter. “How’d you know
where to look?” he asked with curi-
osity, but without the slightest emotion.

Slaughter considered the confessed
killer. “The embalming fluid you threw
into her grave was killing a gardenia bush
near it,” he answered, “and I wondered
wy it was dying.”

hillips considered this gravely. “A
mistake,” he acknowledged unemotion-
ally.
Slaughter agreed. “Your confession
sounds straight,” he probed, “but I’d
like to know the real reason why you
killed Mrs. Henson.”

Phillips smiled faintly. “She was a
pretty wealthy woman, and I figured that
I could use her money much better than
she could.”

“How did you expect to get away with
it? You were never married to Mrs.
Henson, and even if we had never dis-
covered the body, you couldn’t have in-
herited her money.”

“That’s very simple,” replied Phillips.
“After I killed Anna I went to New York,
as you know. When I saw Mrs. Coyle, I
tried to get her to marry me. She refused,
but promised to think it over. I figured
that after we had been tharried a while, I
could get rid of her; too, pretending all
the time that she was Mrs. Henson. Then,
as the husband of the supposed Mrs.
Henson, I’d inherit her property. It
didn’t work out,” concluded Phillips rue-

ing the scene of his crime. O’Neil could
well understand this. People weren’t in
the habit of meandering around at such
an‘hour on a Sunday morning. '

All persons questioned in the neigh-
borhood had nothing but kind words for
the victim and his attractive wife. The
murder motive seemed all the more re-
mote as O’Neil assigned O’Malley and
McGann to check on Bishop’s move-
ments the night before, by starting from
the time he reported for work at the
trolley company and until he left.

Caffrey, the fingerprint man, hit a
snag. There wasn’t a legible print in the
place that he could dust .off and photo-
graph,

Returning to his office, O’Neil sat at
his desk and re-examined the special po-
lice badge and the Holster. The two
clues to the killer. He took out a magni-
fying glass, scanned the badge closely.
He scowled, looked absently at the wall
across the room. The badge was old and
had been recently replated. O'Neil could
think of a number of places where such
work was done. ;

He summoned Ahern and Monahan,
explained about the badge, then said:
“I think the odds are against us, but
take a whirl at it, boys. Check all nickel-
plating shops in the city. Try Paw-

Triangle Was Doom

[Continued from page 57]

fully. “I guess I must’a made a few mis-
takes.”

Later, it was discovered that Phillips
had forged Mrs. Henson’s name to
checks drawn against her bank account,
as well as to a fraudulent power of at-
torney.

Phillips was arraigned on a first de-
gree murder charge on June 10, 1940,
before Judge H. B. Fredrick. On Wed-
nesday afternoon, June 12, after 58 min-
utes of deliberation, they brought in the
verdict—guilty as charged—murder in
the first degree.

Phillips was sentenced to be electro-
cuted. A motion for a new trial was
denied when Phillips pleaded that he had
killed Mrs. Henson in self-defense, And
it was young Ipeputy Sheriff Slaughter
who took him to Raiford, Florida, to the
State Prison, where he was to await
execution.

And on March 23, 1942, with ever
legal stratagem and delay exhausted,
ae stoically went to his death in the
chair.

To the last he maintained his attitude

, of complete indifference as to what went

on around him, and at no time did this
curious phlegmatic killer reveal any com-
punction for his act.

The name, Jim Stacy, as used in this story is
fictitious, to avoid embarrassing an innocent man
involved in a murder inquiry.

tucket too, Here’s another. thing. You'd
better include jewelers who handle such
work,”

Around 7:30 that evening, O’Neil re-
ceived a call from Dr. Streker, Mrs.
Bishop had returned.

He was on his way out when he met
O’Malley and McGann.. They told him
very little about Bishop’s movements.
The slain man had reported for work at
his usual time, had a routine day and
knocked off at 12:30 Saturday night. It
was his habit, according to friends at
the trolley company, to walk home.

“Anything personal ?” asked O’Neil.

McGann shrugged. “Not a_ thing,
chief,” he said. “Far as we could find
out, Bishop was a strait-laced guy. No
drinking or gambling. No chasing after
women, Happily married and very much
in love with his wife. His life is an open
book.”

“Okay, boys,” O’Neil said, a faint
trace of irritation in his voice. “I’ll see
you later,”

Leah Caroline Bishop was a tall,
handsomely gowned woman in her late
thirties. Her head was pillowed on.a
sofa cushion. She finished drinking a
sedative that Dr. Streker had given her,
sat up a little straighter, and focused
her eyes on O'Neil. They were nice eyes,


tion that a man from Daytona Beach had
roomed at her place a few weeks before,
She described him as in his late forties,

of medium height, with graying hair ; and
~ added that he was a very nice and polite
person, who seemed to have plenty of
money. His name was A. M. Phillips.

“When he left,” added Mrs. Coyle,
reminiscently, “he told me that he was
coming back to New York, and he asked
me to marry him when he did. He was
nice enough, but he was a bit eccentric,
too, and I couldn’t picture myself mar-
ried to him. Not only that, but there was
some woman he was seeing here in New
York.”

Asked if it could have been Mrs. Hen-
son, the rooming house keeper said she
didn't know, she had never seen the
woman. Phillips had casually mentioned
her as an “old flame.” That was all she
knew.

Checking with New York hospitals
and specialists who catered to feminine
maladies proved without results. Mrs.
Henson hadn't been a patient.

Armed with this information, Slaugh-
ter went to see Phillips again, accom-
panied ‘by Sheriff Stone. Phillips was
cooperative, eager to be of service; but
Slaughter dashed his equanimity with
direct queries that demanded direct an-
_swers,

“Phillips,” he began, “you’ve told us
a few lies that'll take some real explana-.
tions. You weren’t married to Mrs,
Henson in Philadelphia or Camden. I’ve
checked that. There’s no record in either
place, Mrs, Henson never stayed at Mrs.
Coyle’s place and the woman never heard
of her or ever laid eyes on her. You've
not been sending her any mail or money.
Let’s have it—and make it pretty fast
and convincing.”

HILLIPS sobered, and a_ grin

twitched his lips. “All right, so I
lied,” he answered, “I think you fellows
will understand my reasons for it. Anna
was pretty ill and couldn’t write. She
dictated the letters: I wrote them. I had
gotten her,a room with a private family,
downtown. We needed cash at the time.

We're pretty well fixed, but you can’t .

always turn your holdings into cash at a
moment’s notice. I gave Coyle’s address,
certainly, because that was where I was
staying and where an answer was ex-
pected. And I still don’t see anything
wrong with writing a couple of letters
. for your wife.” 7

“But she isn’t your wife,” countered
Slaughter. “I told you that there’s no
record of your marriage in either place
you mentioned. What about that ?”

Phillips hung his head. “Well, I said
so because it seemed a good idea to com-
ply with the conventions. We're common
law man and wife, and as I understand

68

it, this is a common law state. We've been
living together for two years.”

But Stone and Slaughter were not to
be lulled by plausible explanations of his
marital status. There was a more sinister
implication looming dimly on the hori-
zon.

“Phillips,” Sheriff Stone continued,
“I’m not interested in your affairs of the
heart. What we want to know is, where
is Mrs. Henson? We know that you
were the last person seen with her, and
that was on January 17. After that she
seenis to have disappeared. You claim
she went to New York for medical treat-
ment and is up there somewhere now. I
think you’re lying. I believe Mrs. Hen-
son is dead. And you're in a bad spot.
You’re headed to face a murder charge
as sure as fate.” :

“On circumstantial evidence that she’s
missing, as you claim?’ asked Phillips.
“Hardly! There's no corpse, Sheriff.”

Stone and Slaughter stared at the man.
A breathless silence seemed to’ have
fallen in the room,

“So, that's how it is,” said Slaughter
finally. “Well, Phillips, I have a pretty
good idea what it’s all about now, and
I'm going to find Mrs, Henson—alive of
dead.” :

Phillips eyed the two officers with an
acute and penetrating appraisal. He
seemed to be weighing something in
his mind, balancing values, computing
chances; and after a long minute of
silence he announced:

“You'll never find her.”

“We certainly Will,” Stone assured
him. “If we have to turn the entire
United States upside-down.”

“It won’t help you,” Phillips told the
sheriff. “You're right about me being
with her on January 17, but what you
don’t know is this: on the 18th Mrs.
Henson and I went swimming at the far
end of the beach. It was rough and a big
wave came along and swept her out to
sea. I grabbed for her, but before I could
do anything she was gone. I tried to
find her, but it was out of the question.”

This revealing confession, coming so
suddenly, startled both officers,

“Why didn’t you report it?” snapped
Stone.

“TI was afraid to,” acknowledged Phil-
lips shame-facedly. “Don’t you see?
Some neighbors might have heard us
quarreling about this guy, Stacey, and
they’d get the wrong idea. They’d
think—”

“Yeah!” snapped Slaughter. “They'd
think you drowned her on purpose, eh?
Because you were after her money and
were jealous of Stacey—afraid she’d
marry him and do you out of a soft
thing. And I think you did drown her
on purpose—what d’you think of that?”

Phillips lifted helpless hands. “You

Slaying of the Wealthy Widow

[Continued from page 53]

see? That’s just the attitude I was afraid
of. You’re all wrong. She was my wife
and I loved her.”

“You also loved the $50,000 she in-
herited, eh ?” ;

“That’s the very attitude I dreaded,”
he replied, resignedly. “I’m telling you
the truth. Think what you please.”

But Slaughter eyed Phillips sardoni-
cally. “You're lying,” he stated dryly.
“That was in the very middle of our cold

spell. The temperature was down around .

forty. It was too cold to go swimming
and the sea was too high after that
storm.”

Phillips shrugged. “Anna was very
fond of the water,” he countered—and
the officers knew that this was true, “and
she went swimming all winter. Mostly,
I went with her,”

PHILLIPS went to jail for further

questioning and the two officers went
over his bizarre story. Certainly, he was
lying about Mrs. Henson’s request for
him to write those letters, since by his
own story she had drowned on January
18, and the letters had been dated from
New York on February 7. He could be
convicted for the attempted mail fraud

possibly, but the investigation seemed .

definitely headed for the unexpected un-
earthing of a brutal murder,

Phillips had been under no necessity
to tell his story of Mrs. Henson's drown-
ing, and since there was no proof—and
no witnesses—it would have been to his
own interests to remain silent; yet he had
chosen to endanger his liberty and per-
haps his life by this confession. The
puzzled officers searched for a motive
they felt must be concealed somewhere.

Slaughter checked with the Coast
Guard. No body had been found along
the coast, they informed ‘him. And with-
out any evidence except Phillips’ star-
tling story, it would be difficult to convict
the man of anything but the attempted
mail fraud.

A new factor entered the curious case
at this time. The story of the drowning
had leaked out and the social conscious-
ness of Daytona Beach was aroused. Phil-
lips’ failure to report the story of the
tragedy earlier inevitably convinced the
public that he had deliberately drowned
the woman, Crowds began to collect out-
side the jail and demanded that Phillips
be turned over to them. And Stone knew
that in their present angry mood Phillips
would be strung up to the nearest live oak
tree without benefit of trial. To keep him
out of reach of the growing mobs’ hands,
Phillips was secretly taken to the Dade
County jail in Miami by Deputy Camp-
bell, Captain Clifton and Deputy Slaugh-
ter. ‘

When public indignation died down,
Phillips was brought back to Orlando

é


Pt PAGE 0-4

25 cents

* ; peat 3
si -. - # = ‘ hy

"Monday, November 19, 1990

—— [os
Le Sete a

pe
e a et eRe AW *,
fo bs a ‘

a a ae eae

dans

. Qaktand, California <2" A Pulitzer Prize-winning news

} * soe ee,
* :

inna Fan lle

Florida killer to be ekecutsd®

"The Associated Press

STARKE, Fla. — The U.S. Su- «

preme Court refused yesterday
to stop the execution of a man

sentenced to die in the electric

chair for killing a businessman
‘for $5,000.
The execution of Raymond

~ Robert Clark was scheduled for

4:01 a.m. PST today at Florida
State Prison. :
The justices voted 8-1 against
two separate emergency re-
quests on Clark’s behalf last
night. The lone dissenter was
Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Clark, 49, was convicted of the
1977 shooting death of a busi-

nessman. 2° ?7FR


wv. Gin

Tallahassee, the Florida Supreme
Court granted a stay of exectition
for convicted killer Raymond Rob-
ert Clark, on Tuesday about 20
hours before he was scheduled to
die in the electric chair.


HuCauons ror COUGLEIL, AauLic,

FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE — 20% of
newcomers to state avoid $295
fee to register car here,
state millions of dollars, officials
said. Most sell cars to friends, rela-

mn e

Bri

— i! — A et ONT mt A et ee

tives in state, then buy them back wae itis
oher colnbtianipg residency, avoid- TUESDAY.
ng fee. ... Execution is Wednes- ‘ OC on:
day for Raymond Clark, convicted : NOVEMBER ay we of
.Of killing David Drake during rob- OR ;
bery. Series of appeals, last-minute SN PEC ERASERS OST

Stays have prevented execution 4. |
times. ... ST. AUGUSTINE — 3. CC;
rare baby Chinese alligators that +
—— _Were stolen Sunday were foundde- ¢

* wvQe

; Florida Executes Man, 49,
'» for 1977 Murder-Robbery —.

STARKE, Fla.—Raymond Rob-
' ert Clark was executed in Florida’s . ‘
electric chair Monday for the 1977
‘ slaying of a businessmati who was -
' forced to write a $5,000 check at
' gunpoint, then shot to death. ,
Clark, 49, died as a handful of
death-penalty protesters and sev- °
eral proponents gathered outside
the fog-shrouded Florida State
Prison. Among the two dozen wit-
nesses was Gregory Drake, 38, the
victim’s son. a
— Associated Press

USA TODAY « THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1990: 7A

N)

ALSO SUNDAY ...

> OIL SPILL: A 6-million-gallon oil spill from the Norwe- 3 ee Oe, Smee ie
gian tanker Berge Broker 700 miles southeast of Nova Sco- pte ny -_T. 2 ee
tia shouldn't affect the U.S. coast, officials said. The spill Oe ~ |
urred Tuesday during an Atlantic storm. ie

* EXECUTION APPEAL: The Us Supreme Courtre | " Slog Angeles Gimes

jected a request by Raymond Clark, 49, to halt his execution FA Times Mirror Newspaper —
‘in Florida’s electric chair, scheduled for 7:01 a.m. today. , bd Daily Founded Dec..4,, 1881
"Clark, convicted in the 1977 fatal Shooting of a Pinellas For home delivery, call: 1-800-LA TIMES

County businessman, has no appeals left. VOL. CIX_NO. 352

* AWTATAAWTET. Tha coun cat in Dareanr Alnaba tha . LOS ANGELES TIMES (ISSN 0458-3035) is published daity

by The Times Mirror Company, Times Mirror Square, Los
0 9A seme. CA eoese. Home Delivery fates in most areas
® Hi " inf ion, bo i,
USA TODAY » MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 199 _» Sacond-lase postage paid af Loe Angee oe
1 tional mailing offices, POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to the Los Angeles Times at the address above.

oF 25 hE me

BA aan thn ONO AF tha Aaionrint

ALSO WONDAY ...

> NAVAJO ELECTION: Voters in the USA’s largest Indi-
an tribe today choose a president under a new system that
limits the executive’s power. Candidates: Peterson Zah and
7 Leonard Haskie. Suspended Chairman Peter MacDonald

y was disqualified after his conviction on bribery charges,

> FLORDIA EXECUTION: Raymond Clark, 49, was put
to death in Florida’s electric chair for the 1977 gunshot slay-
. ing of Pinellas County businessman David Drake.

me Ere ee eo ~nvaral

USA TODAY +» TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1990 -

Er er re


a

-_ rt wew -—

ri
Pie

25 a

roe: November 20, 1990

‘Convicted killer : a)
executed i in Florida

The Associated Press

STARKE, Fla. — Wisdinisd
Robert Clark went silently to his
death in Florida’s electric chair
-yesterday for shooting to deatha
scrap yard owner after forcing
him to write a $5,000 check.

Clark, 49, made no last state-
ment before a hidden execution-
er threw the switch that deliv-
ered a 2,000- volt electric charge

_at 7:01 a.m., prison authorities

said. A prison doctor pronounced
Clark dead at 7:07 a.m.

The night before, Clark spoke
of the family of David Drake, of
Pinellas County, whom he mur-
dered on April 27, 1977, said Su-
san Cary, a Gainesville attorney
and unpaid advocate for death-
row inmates.

“One of the things we dis-
cussed was his real concern for
the Drake family,” Cary said.

Clark was the fourth Florida
inmate to die this year and the
25th to be strapped into the elec-
tric chair since the state re-
sumed executions in 1979.

Under his fifth death warrant,
Clark had been scheduled to be
executed Nov. 14. But a pair of

EI wwry |

tonnes court dekave’ pushed

it back first to Saturday and _

yesterday morning. “

Among those witnessing the
execution was Drake’s 38-year-
old son, Gregory.

, “It’s wrong, taking so long,”
he said. “I would like to see. the

appeals system changed. I am
definitely for a person having an
appeal. But I don’t think it
should continue, continue and

. continue.”

The victim’s wife, Donna
Drake, did not attend.

‘“‘My sorrow is for my’ hus- —

band,”’ she said in St. Peters-
burg. “I won't call it revenge.
It’s just a feeling that I owed this
to my husband — to make sure
he (Clark) didn’t get back on

‘those streets and do it again to

someone else and ruin ‘another
family like he’s ruined us:"" *

Clark’s appeals were exhaust.
ed Sunday when the U.S,"Su-
preme Court voted 8-1 to reject

two emergency delay requests. |

Dissenting was Justice Thurgood
Marshall, who opposes the death
penalty in all wacoatanns cis

i Aehlt 4
4 ‘ee i

i a |

«vd wee we

ng new

2-winni

A Pulitzer Pri

‘Oakland, California:

i
i

—

| Mim Nizwes
TFeipny Beer 4
Perce tA A

POLICE BUNGLE NEW!

MASS SLAYING

een.

CLUE

Waste Time On False Lead
Without Notifying Expert

By STEPHEN HARRIS
‘Many valuable man hours have been wa d during the

last week in the police i

pold-Morin murders of Jily 17 due to fla
properly co-ordinate thei probe, the Mia

estigation of the quadruple Leo-

nt failure to
Daily News

learned Friday. This is the second expose pf bungling of

the investigation brought to

having been uncovered by the Daily News.

light, the first instance also’

On Aug. 28, E. Holden, 341
N. E. 55th at. cathe to police head-
quarters, reporting the theft of @
.o8-caliber Smith; and Wesson re-
volver and a .22 galiber Woodsman
automatic pistol {from his home
some time durigg the preceding
tity of the thief,
believed known
and a nation-wige search imme-
diately was instituted inasmuch
as his general] description an-
awered that of
murderer. Inve
the guns stolen
those used by the killer.
Qn Thursday the Miami Daily
News published] the story de-
scribing the gunjtheft clue as one
of the “hottest” to date uncovered
by police in theif efforts to solve
the wholesale mprder.
‘Thursday everting, a News re-
porter discussed] the sad with
Capt, James Lj Barker, Miami
n and ballistics
expert. The repprter was amazed
to learn that thé ballistics expert,
of all people, Had not been in-
formed of the n¢w and important
development. |
The reporter j supplied Barker|
with the deserigtion of the guns)
stolen and the
ly shook his hegd, saying: “Well,
that’s out because the rifling in
the .38-caliter wrapon used by the
killer spirals to » left, while that
in a Smith and {Wesson spirals to
the right. The} bullet from the
killer's gun was} fired either from
a Colt revolver @r a copy of some
Spanish make.”
Thus uninten@ionally the police
officer revealed! the sad lack of
co-operation 4 co-ordination
furn te Pagd 2-A; POLICE)

(CONTIND ED PAGE ON®) |

“POLICE

Which permi men to work for)
almost an entife week on a false!
lead which cpu have been cleared |
up in a minute's time.

Some time] ago, another clue de-
veloped which is still believed
to be one gf jthe hottest. s0 far
to come toj light. The clue re-
volved about the knowledge that
the killer injured his shoulder
when he dropped some 20 feet
i ond floor roof of Ir-

A few deys jater, it was learned
ly answering the

Je put back into
was evasive, paid
$10 cash for the medical treatment:

i man who had
| Saturday, Jul
‘killing. Aft

| pressed the!

and left withdut giving his name
after telling fhe nurse one story
of how he sustained his injury,
and the doctog another. ~

It was lear that the man was
a former convict and thus his pic-
ture was avgBable in lee files.
Both the nurs@ and the doctor con-
firmed the fatt that this was the
isited their office on-
18, the day after the

police had been
# lead for at least a
reporter mentioned
t.to the state attor-
tor, Raymond Mills,
‘all murder invésti-
gations are supposed to centralize.
Mills in Yr xpressed amazement

working on t
week, a New

and said {he jhad never been in-
formed of thei new development.

Through th@se and other similar,
incidents it’ Became clear that a
lack of co-o tion and co-ordina-
tion on the /various things that
come to light/in the investigations
is obviously handicapping the tn-
vestigation of! Miami's most bruta!
wholesale mufder.

Many informed quarters ad-
vanced the tBeory that the $1,400
reward pos by the Miami Daily
Newa, the city of Miami and Dade
County Sheriff D. C. Coleman, may
be hinderij the investigation
rather than Belping it. They ex-
ry that various ef
the police department factions may
be trying to keep their/best infor-
mation to themselves,
collect the reward.

Another feature ha
investigation is believe t
various factional bitternpsses in the
department, which prgvents men
from giving full co-operation to

those they personaliy dislike.


A pair of gjassea oruppou

RDER SUS

To Trail Slayings |
» On Examination |

here July 17. |
ee -| Christy, ae: Wednesday in

killer was fg@und in the Lagpald
apartment anti Melchen said rhe
. T ~ on Christy's [nose and ears | jindi-
| MURDER | cated he word glasses.
. | Police quotpd Chrinaty as stying
(CONTIN RD FROM PAGK ol ) Wednesday ght he could nb re-
4 i member whdre he had bees or
will compare! the gun with Hbllets | what he had been doling for the
Ll D taken from the borties of the! four aeeest wiiral he i gy ane
; . RUM ¢ ‘ e rf

\oam \ eeAL Miamiana. t | in San Quentin oaaltentlary and at
D477 t State Attorney G. A. Worley, In- the New Yor® prison at Albany for
rl. \ ©, \ ormed of thd progress in the Fase, robbery. He was reported aa jhav-
said Thursday that as soon Ws he ing said he Was released fro} Al-

AL in “satisfled”) Christy is the Killer bany five mohtha ago.
aN he would refuet the circuit ¢ourt After grili§ig Christy, Melrhen
to impanel ajspecial grand juty so turned happ@y to the ‘asaet bled

ESTING GUNS _
ECT

the case ma
iest possible fiate,

Ralph J.
the victims, fold the Daily |
Thursday when
newest developments: “T

“I want to thank the Daily
for all you have done. You've
pulling for usjall the way thr
I haven't beeh able to sleep’ bi

ments he would like to pul
switch to electrocute his
slayer and when told that
not be permisgable, said he wanted

be tried at the fear!-

rin, father, of one of

police office
declared: “I
Turning to
“You're
you'll go bac& with uns,’ H

It wan decded ater, how ver,

and newsmen) and

elieve he’s our
Chriaty, hea

cit mane te hope he ig the that Milla wbuld take the pilptols

* | ‘found on Cheisty to the Wadhing-

Mrs. Morin! interrupted to ce lton FBI offipe for ballintle | éom-
" |

parinons, Chripty’a capture in dewn-
town Jackson WAS
believed to h:
play.

|
ad etd ion killed, but maybe I'll The suspect} wag quoted by p lice
— now. . as having said “there would! have
Morin reitgrated carlier gtate- been some fuh If I'd got my jgun.”

Thursday confidently awaited ballistic “Wondarful Progress” . es os
mn which they believe will juphold murder a<Dave Klebey close friend of Leo- | Fiabe frsecngdierony: ofiiaviy oll
mocent Christ 36 in the! Leo id-Morin : t . tng and reached towary a pocket In

y i po ner in a deli¢atessen busin for which he carried the 38-caliher

onnection with a
hold-up there, r¢portedly has tac-
itly admitted beifg in Miami. Two
guns found on risty and his gen-
eral description Fitting that of the
Miami killer profnpted Jacksonville

Jacksonville in

Detective Chigf L. O. Scarboro
said Thureday he had talked with

“That was &
in Miami. I waat to get back and
get it all cleanesi up. When I get
back I will ah you where the
| rest of my atuff is and where I
spent the nigh

Melchen said
| mitted, except

risty had not ad-
y the implication

‘thing about thd wholesale slaugh-
ter here. f

| short-barrel revolver and @ ,22-

In the quotati@ns, knowing any- |

j running fro

two years, c¢
the case “wohderful.” He

“I give the police due cred}
following the pase through.”
The Daily News posted a $

ward for the brrest and convittion
of the Killer} and the fund

Mills, who flew to the n
capital, told @he Daily News
p. m. Thursday he had delf
the guns to the FBI and hog
get a report during the afteg

the parents of Mrs. Leopold}
reside in New} Jersey. ;

Christy and’ “ used here ar¢ the
| Same. sy

witnesses sai
the Leopold @part-
_ W. Eighth at,
down the right
| Of his face fr@m beneath his

Irving Leopold, hia wife

and Mrs. Leopold's be nere abit

ment at 2011
blood tricklin

by a former

hours later ngar S. Bayshore | @rive

st. railroad drossing less than an

straw hat wés seen to lea the
machine an walk northward
along the railpoad,

A pair of glasses dropped by the
killer was fgund in the Lagpold
apartment anti Melchen said marks
on Christy's ‘nose and ears Sndi-

he saw the player!

|

arriage were shpt to.

automatic.

Melchen aald he a
to return to Miami
two, and will await
ton report before mpving, Jack-
sonville police conajder Christy
liable to take his own fife and have

not expect

awelled to $1 by additions from ;
police to notify |Mlami authorities | the city, Sheriff D. C. Coleman and placed a special guarfi at his ceil.
of the arrest. who Detective Capt. J. Barker, bal-
Hiatics expert for the Diam! police

st week the

the quad-
ither a Colt
rifiinga alm-

department, reported
-3-caliber gun whic
ruple killer used was
or a foreign gun wit
ilar to that of a Col

. ichen, who .

Wonk tot duck vile Wodasetay Eleven shell jcasea from th¢ .22 seh’ thant bn aia Lea Cariety

night, and that Melchen had quated | *Utomatic usad by the killer’ form “ a e Te perry a
Chriaty as saying: the chief hépe of determining : ot e = beats

rrible thing down | Whether the| gun taken — from new It was so ® urope

They quoted him as
“Polish and Russia
French.”

The suspect told
lived in Callfornia, Ban Fran-
ciaco and other Paciffc coast cities.
He said he couldr’t ‘remember
much about his Hfg, but pollea
quoted him as saying{he had stolen
the two guna in Atignta.

Christy was arrested early

lice he had

with him to get more.
En route downtowb, the bandit

here, formerly lived |§ Miami, hav-
ing an interest in t§e Rits hotel!

hour after the Leopold slayings and owning stock In d dog track,
and a tall mkn with a prominent Police pointed out fhe almilarity
nose and wadaring a Panam®g or of the Stauar holdup fwith the Mi-

ami case, The killeg entered the
Isopold apartment, kipling its three
occupants when he agparently met
a fight, then stopped |Morin in the
passing t@utomobile {o make his
getaway,

Chriaty faces charkes of high-
way robbery in conmection with

‘he Jacksonville haldbun.

Melchen, State Attorney's Inves- | geath in the apartment. The killer Wednesday a short time after |
tigator L R. lis and Detective | dropped from a second-story | bal- Ernie Stauas reported a man had i
Sgt. John Deas frrived in Jackson- | pony of the partment, ran étrose forced his way into fis home and I
ville Wednesday night to question |) severa) lots dnd stopped an guto- robbed hirn of $6 at the point of a !
the suspect ang Mills went on to|/ mobile driven! by Ralph Morin jr.. kun. Stauss asid the bandit de- I ie
Washington toideliver the guM8|i9 forcing Morin to drive | him. manded $25 but accppted $6 and a
|taken from risty—a .38-caliber |) away, Morinjs body was fousid 12| Btauss’ promise to drive downtown i H

caliber “Woodsman” automatic. Thef ang S. E. 17th ave. He had peta f 4 8
Federal Bureep of nvestigation | shot through ne head. || (| forced Binuns. to gel out fhe ‘|
(Tere te 8-A) MURDER) Morin's half-wrecked autompbile | away. Btauss according to reports if
- . a rr: @ was abandonéd at the S. W,/13th ;

Pie eels re aa hh ne inven nonetird

<A ESRCTRRERST

SE

sneer


iOfficers
rive With

ct Sturdy’

ener Sought
Pa: ole Violator:
cted To Talk

Christy. 36, cobber and
ter will be returned to
ieably Saturday to face
wt be rnurdered four peo-
sly 17 when cornered in
robbery attempt in the
_@f Irving Leopold, 2011
A oat.

was arrested in Jackson-

gay and Thursday the

ee ee im—tbere
i by The Federat Bu-

wre gation in Washing.
PF kame two- which were
fhe cof=Btooded” Miami

Miterney G A. Worley has
y he will seek a special
to indict Christy, so he
@Pranht to apeedy trial, Po-

md the suspect might
y although he haa nat
#4 ary connection with
vig saying.

Wderr Meichen and Sgt.
twas oo the Miami police
“ror queationing.
‘xsonville Friday, |

awaiting the re-
ls Worley's inves-
etre fis trip to Wasbing-
2 Cera: y's guns. The three
"#8? expected to drive here
i with the suspect.
Wet he wife Esther. who
*#>e°\ant mother, and Mra.
a * #2 year-old son by a for-
“e-aze were shot to death
* apartment over! pold’s
Passera-by, at-
eoting. saw a tall
yw minent nose and
. wn the right side
Jee ceneath hia straw

the second-story
4opol@epartment
a

pinved a révolver,

47's end ran across
'O Jump into an Buto-
‘" »y Ralph Morin, jr..
" ‘arced.to drive away.

“was found, shot
“ead the following
* revolver and

sutomatic pistol,
apartinent and
EAE? aera oe i os Cay aed

Prisoner Faces

Quick Trial

(CONTINUED FROM aes GONE)

tims, linked Christy with the slay-
ings when ehe-RUNpeCY Was Habbo

by Jacksonvilig police for ques-
tioning concerning a robbery there
Wednesday,

The FBI, after comparing the
gung taken from Ch with the
slugs and shell cages, declared
Christy’s guns, without’ doubt, had
fired them.

Christy steadily denied implica-
tlon in the Miami killings, but in
answers to questions implied he
had been here and knew about
them,

“I want to go back to Miami! and
straighten things oyt,” he was
quoted by Melchen as saying
Thursday. “I will show you where
the reat of my stuff is and where
I spent the night."

Jackaonvilie police quoted Chris-
ty as asking If he could enter a
plea of gully.” e

J. Edgar Hoover, FBI chief, told

-| the Dally Newb Friday that Christy
‘| was on thelr reconds us Vincent

Chrostowsk! and was wanted in

‘| California for parole violation and

charges,
m1 gen-

in New York on similar
He said Chrestowak! had.

tenced both ta_San Quentin and
the Now Zork prison at Afbany jor

It was robbery, too, whith led to
Christy's, or Chrostowski® jailing
in Jacksonville. i

Ernie Qtausz, a former
who now operates a bar

manded money. Stauss
$@, but when the robber |
more at the point of a gun, said he
would drive downtown and get
more.

The bandit got in Stauss' auto-
mobile with him, then put Stauss
out after they had gone several
blocks and drove away with the
machine. Stauss called police, who
nabbed Christy in the automobile
before he could pall one of the two
guns he had with him. |

Struck with Christy's similarity
to. the description broadcast by
Miami police of the quadruple
killer bere and made more sua-
picious because Christy's guns
were of the same caliber as those
used in the Miami slayings, Jacik-
sonville police telephoned Miami.

Mille found what he said were
odatains on the sweatband of

aty's hat on the right side and
fresh scar corresponding to the.
in on the hat. This checked
b the reports of Miamians who
saw the slayer run from the Leo-

pold apartment. Mills at ence flew
te Washington with the gung,

where the bullets and shell cases
of’ the Miami crime already had
been) sent.
lstics tests were made and
the I reported Thuraday eafter-
that Chriaty’s two guris had
fired) the shots, Police hbelleved
thelri case against Christy was
clinched, even though the prisoner
may iconfess nothing.
Through hourg of crose-question-
ing the aleepy-eyed, chajn-smoking

Chrigty eat in a police

headguarters,

“Did. you know these on (the

Leoppids) the day before they were
killed?” Christy was osked.

“I'@ rather not enewer that,”
was tie reply. Later, he did not
deny| having known Leopold, but
he did say he had never known
Mra. | Leopold.

“Atrobher wouldn't have killed a
wom and mea itrennsl eee
Jackgonviile De ive Lieut. H. V,
Brante asked Christy.

“That might have been a mis:
take,’ Chriaty responded,

Mejchen
Chrigty would tell all, and planned
to question him further on the
arivgi to Miem!,

Az jpolice reconstructed the Leo-
pold isidyings, the Killer intruded
upon| them ae they were playing

checkers and Mira. Leopold's little
boy, Stephen, was Satine fan
letter’ tobi favorite radia star

A Wloodatained checkerboard and

checkers were scattered about tha
epartment. The arentiy

Nad attempted to ieee
{room .te bd felled by two bullets

as hetreeched ine thresheld. ‘
It was thought at the time that
Id, described as «, powerful
c put up a fight. The dis-
arrayiof the apartment indicated a
struggle. Mrs. Leopold died tn-
stan from four or five bullet

wounds, but Leopold lived for eight
or ni " hours, although he did not
regbin consciousness while police

were pear to question him.
Criticism was directed at Sie ps
lice for fate i ie: Pul.&

and might fave bees. able Uo talk.
Ralph Morin, father of the fourth

victi told the Dally News he/

would! Hike to pull the switch
which) would electrocute hig son‘s
slayer, and informed that would

Miami Hepacp
SEPT. MM, 1947
Pace rena

expresaed confidence:

not be p rmissable, -i asked Khat
witness =~ execution, . |

Help inj.
mulling at bs ali the way |

be the killer's «

The ‘cities last was a in ay |
ami when |he abandoned || {
automobile lat & W. 13th and
the Floridg East’ Coast,

inegro Deanla . tald |
wis wen bak Meee nhs
approached his cabin about | I
and demanded food, tor we fick he
paid with a: $1 bill.

A two-day search of wedds abd
fields in thd area, in which | Blood: |
hounds and’ planes were ed. fe~
a ne sti of the auspi :

siuad with the exception of & b per
of glasses which were droyped in

the Leopold apartment, i


~ ‘TU Kill Him If He |
Doesn’t Get Chair’

mM | Lheeaun

Comtinued From Page 1

REPT, |

WW, 1942.

Eiven my boy the same chance,”
Mrs. Morin said.

Young Morin's body was found in
@ Vacant lot near the bayfront the
*. day after Leopold,

6-vear-old son had
- been shot to
death by a killer
who then com.
ae Mandeered the
me Morin car to
fmake his get-
f away.
Mrs. Morin
hopes that police
iy ye NOW will be able
” Geepprea definitely to es.
STEPHEN tablish the motive
for the quadruple murder,

“We haven't been able to sleep at
night,” she said, adding that she

il Him If H e Doesn't
air, Ts Vow By Father

NNE BELLAMY

Pald Stal’ Welter

m't get the chair, I'll
” if.”

of 18-year-old Ralph
spoke those words

calmly but resolutely Thursday
after learning that the guns found
on Vineent Christy had been iden-
tifled positively as those which

we

killed young Mo w...

rin and the three .
members of the ©
Irving J. Leopold
family -here two
months ago. =. a

Mts. Mortn, <@
helping her hus-.%
band and his co-
workers. in the

his wife and her.

felt sure many other Miami familles
would rest easier now,
Christy's arrest brought relief,

too, to Dave Kleber, Leopold’s
nér in the meat market at 2011 8.
W. Eighth at.

It was in the apartment above
the market that the Leopold family
lived and died.

“It has been quite a burden to_
us,” Kleber said, after finishing a
‘telephone conversation with a cus-
tomer inquiring about a pound of
&round meat,

“Everyone who passes here has
been inting the finger. This
will relieve their mind quite a bit.”
He said he had resumed “normal
business,” but | ee
Mrs. Kieber, seat-
ed nearby in the

shop, chatting ©
with customers, 7
didy not quite
agree.

“We are ner.
VOUS wrecks,”

she said. “My
husband wouldn't
be able to keep
going but for his

assistant.”
The assistant LEOPOLD . |
was busy cleaning a chicken

while Kleber discussed the Polfee
announcement that the suspected.
killer had been captured.
Electrocution will be “too quick,”
Kleber seid.

“They ought to teke him down
in Beyfront perk and pull him
apart bit by bit and let ey
watch and see what happens to a

= who commits a crime like
t at.” ‘

, Mrs. Kleber said she received a.
detter recently from the parents '

N. W. Firat<®
st, took time out 4
to phrase - a
eam relaying the =.
foes of the arrest to her daughter,
Mrs. Marion V’Angelo of Detroit,
“I know ‘she wants to know
about it,” the berecves mother ex.
plained. ; Noe | i
She stifled a sob et the thought |

printing shop at
136

2° 4 eety we Nbettan we }
tthet her son mick! ef! he tete:

ohe hed tereya :- elon eae e
of his aucomobiic ai wes Ernie |
Stauss, former: Migmian, whose

holdup .at J#ekson ile led‘to the
oa: hy be couldn f have

fi - ee
0 att NH net.

}
‘

SBE ICic my

-Of Mrs. Leopold, who returned to
jtheir home in the North. after at-.

Nap ye oe tending the fu.
y: — neral here,
“Her father

“% wrote to ask

Gf people,”

rg ‘ " i ré. K eer LE |
MRS. LEOPOLD MT Mleber” re

Although she dic riot

P39 on

e t#.;
amplify

{thie comment, the sedgners tn Were
I

ated ee

OF whispered
uipht heve
AG een

Wlebers ever


her tragic
: of Irving
vas taken.

Jave Kleeber,

ing.

pocket, Leo-

ront door and

‘or a moment
alr:

tragedy when
ly up the long
ie of the new,
d the market.
ructure was @
ne of Leopold,
r and a seven-
as the son of
marriage.

evening was shattered. A woman

Half way down he suddenly spied the
little group of excited people at the bot-
tom. Irom the corner of his eye he saw
others nearing the place and automobiles
beginning to gather in the street.

Placing his hands on the concrete
railing of the stairway he vaulted over,
landing heavily on the ground ten feet
below. A thin trickle of blood ran down
the right side of his face from beneath
the Panama hat which was pulled low
over his brow.

“What happened ?” queried the physi-
cian.

“Kids shooting firecrackers,” growled
the man in a deep guttural voice.

. “Bunk,” ejaculated one of the youths
stooping to pick up a stone.

The man who had leaped from the
stairway pulled his hat tighter over his
eyes and snarled as he jerked a revolver
from his pocket. Witnesses saw that he
was wearing red rubber gloves. He
backed away, keeping an alert eye open,

Chief H. Quigg, Ralph Morin,
Sr., David. Levy, Capt. Barker
at spot where body was found.

Just what happened after the 37-year-
old market operator entered the apart-
ment that fateful evening only one per-
son knows, but suddenly the quiet of the

Screamed. A gun roared. There was
another scream and for a brief instant
the apartment door flew open and a
blurred form partially propelled itself
out onto the small landing at the top of
the stairway. The blur disappeared in
one sweeping motion as if jerked back
violently. Then came another explosion,
followed by several more in rapid suc-
cession; and then utter silence.

Startled neighbors rushed out to as-
certain. the cause of the commotion. A
physician jumped from his front porch
and dashed toward the market building.
A housewife, her hands still dripping
dishwater, joined the physician. Two
youths passing afoot halted abruptly at
the bottom of the stairway and a young
girl joined them. Other neighbors were
on their way when the door of the Leo-
pold apartment opened and a man started
down the stairway.

Vincent Christie was subjected
te thorough questioning by the
officers investigating case.


=

j
;
;
t
i
;

Schoolmates are shown attending funeral of Ralph Morin, Jr., who 17th Avenue and S.W. Fifth Street. It
by a trick of fate, was kidnapped and murdered Simply because he | turned south on 17th Avenue and was

ted by ill-
happened to be passing the scene of Miami's atrocious crime.

iook place
the store.

er

lost to view.
+ Back at the Leopold apartment a large
crowd had gathered at the foot of the
stairway, but no one had ventured up
the steps. No sound issued from the
| Leopold apartment.

The squealing of brakes heralded the
arrival of Officers John Holland and
C. B. Newton. They leaped from the
police cruiser and with drawn revolvers
| followed directions of a dozen pointing
. hands up the stairway and into the liv-
_ing room of the apartment. The two
veteran officers, not unused -to the sight
of violence, drew sharp breaths as they
surveyed the scene before them.

Mrs. Leopold was slumped beside a
couch, blood streaming from a gaping
wound in her temple onto a checker
board which lay on the floor. She was
fully dressed and was moaning feebly.
Checkers were scattered all over the
room and furniture was overturned.

Six feet away lay Irving Leopold.
Even as Officer Newton knelt beside him
the red splotch on the front of his white
shirt grew larger. His fingers twitched
and his lips moved, but no sound was
emitted.

“He is still alive too,” said Newton,
looking around for a telephone.

“But this poor little kid isn’t,” replied
Officer Holland from just inside a bed-
room door.

“My God, another one?” ejaculated
Newton.

“Yeah,” answered Holland grimly. “A
little boy shot through the head.”
Officer Newton dashed down the stair-
way to call an ambulance and to notify
‘ j ‘ ey the Miami detective department. Officer

Holland remained behind. He stepped

Sheriff D. C. Coleman stands by Be carefully toward a radio, which was
(Continued on page 86)

a

ida police of- ©
madman to
dad this case. _

as deputies attach Oregon boot —&
, to murderer’s leg after capture.

39


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REAL DETECTIVE

whom she had never seen before?

Then there is the Alabama man himself.
If he wasn’t guilty, why didn’t he come for-
ward?) The fact that such a man had en-
tered the orbit of Mrs. McConnell’s life had
been publicized since her death.

A. businessman in Chattanooga with
whom the writer discussed the case at
length has an ingenious theory. He has
devoted a great deal of his leisure to study-
ing the known facts, because the mystery
fascinated him from the start. He pointed
out that rarely in criminal history have
spoken words and sentences, and even their
arrangement, assumed such paramount im-
portance in a crime.

For example, he said that those who ac-
cepted the guilt of Jonas made much of his
use of the words, “The poor little woman,”
believing that they referred to Mrs. Mc- .
Connell. Yet it has been proved by close
friends of the accused man that this was the
habitual way in which he referred to his
wife, before and after her death.

They say that every time Jonas took a
couple of drinks he’d become remorseful
because he hadn’t been as good a hushand
as he might have been. Then tears would
fill his eyes and he would talk about “the
poor little woman.”

This businessman called attention to the
phraseology of the husband, “She prob-
ably thought I was trying to trick her,”

uttered at the hospital. What could Eula’s
husband trick her on, except a secret she
hoped she had successfully kept from him,
but wasn’t quite sure?

Then there was the words of the dying
girl. Why did she declare she knew the
man, if she didn’t; and then change her
mind? Why did she say he came in the
back door, and explain, “I know. I closed it
again” when the Chief checked her by say-
ing he had found the back door locked?
The ingenious theory mentioned absorbs all
these points, makes sense of them. But per-
haps that is its only virtue.

There is also the theory that two men
called on Mrs. McConnell that fatal day:
the man she knew from Birmingham, and
the man, —" whom she didn’t know.
The man from Birmingham, aware of the
woman’s fidelity to her husband, went to
the back door, in case there should be a
scene. Jonas entered the front door, as he
said. Mrs. McConnell, with her mind in a
chaotic condition from the attack, confused
these ‘two events and combined incidents
from both in her broken story.

This last theory is given merely for the
record. The case remains absorbingly per-
plexing after a great deal of study. oi
tainly the Jonas theory, accepted by the
Sheriff’s office as a sufficient explanation,
leaves much to be desired. But then so does
any other theory that can be suggested.

REAL

DETECTIVE

playing softly, and peered at a piece of
writing paper beside which lay a stub pen-
cil. Without touching it he saw that it was
a partially written letter addressed to “The
Lone Ranger.” The scrawl was plainly
that of a child.

The ambulance and Dr. E. C. Thomas,
county physician, arrived at the same mo-
ment followed almost immediately by a
squad car carrying Captain of Detectives
E. W. Melchen, Captain James O. Barker,
head of the identification bureau, State In-
vestigator I. R. Mills, and Detectives John
Deas and William Davenport.

After a hasty examination Dr. Thomas
ordered the man and woman taken to the
hospital and continued a more thorough
examination of the dead boy.

“The man was shot three times,” he in-
formed the police officer. “Once in the head,
once in the chest and the other bullet en-
tered his leg. The woman was shot at least
six times. I doubt that she reaches the
hospital alive.”

“How about the boy,” queried Capt.
Melchen.

“He was shot through the head,” re-
sponded the physician. “He died instantly.”

The detectives waited impatiently for
Captain Barker to finish his photographs
and dusting of the whole apartment for
fingerprints.

- “That's all,” he finally said. “There are
a lot of prints but it will take some time
to sort them and see if the killer’s are

among them.”

TT" DETECTIVES WENT to work. A thor-
ough search failed to reveal any trace
of the murder weapon. Outside of the liv-
ing room which showed signs of a violent
struggle, the rest of the apartment appeared
undisturbed. In the kitchen sink the detec-

tives found a pair of spectacles with one

MASSACRE

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39)

lens cracked. They carefully lifted them
out, wrapped in a handkerchief. They did
not know whether the glasses belonged to
one of the Leopolds or had been dropped by
the killer.

The search completed, Capt. Melchen
hurriedly detailed his force of manhunters.
Some were instructed to query neighbors
and get a description of the killer. Others
were assigned to find out everything pos-
sible about the victims and another officer
departed in a squad car for the hospital to
remain at the bedside of the’ victims to
obtain statements if possible.

Capt. Melchen attempted to reconstruct
the crime from the meager evidence avail-

ble.

“Looks like the man and woman were
playing checkers,” he surmised, “and the
boy must have been writing a letter to the
‘Lone Ranger’.”

“How do you account for the wreckage
of the apartment?” asked Investigator
Mills. “From the looks of this living room
I should say a terrific fight had _ been
staged.”

“Why was the woman shot six times and
the man only three times?” asked Detec-
tive Deas.

Capt. Melchen shook his head.

“It has all the earmarks of a revenge
killing. I should say the woman was the
one the killer was after and that the man
and boy were shot in the struggle. It is
possible that the man tried to protect his
wife and also possible that the boy was shot
accidentally. On the other hand, he might
have recognized the gunman.”

“How about robbery?” asked Deas. “I
didn’t get a very good look at the man
before they took him away but one of his
pockets appeared to be ripped.”

“Possibly,” replied Melchen, “We can't
afford to overlook any angles but the wom-


The flecing man waved his gun wildly
toward the group. The lad with the
stone hurled it, missed, and fell back
with the others who were then secking
shelter. ‘Che man continued to back
away across the vacant lot like an ani-
- mal at bay. When he reached the rear
end of the store building he turned on
his heel and strode rapidly toward S.W.
20th Avenue, which intersects the Tami-
ami Trail 100 feet west of the market
building.

Reaching the avenue, he broke into a
dog trot and continued northward. Two
youths, more daring than the others, at-
tempted to follow seeking shelter behind
trees and bushes as they edged forward.
The fugitive crossed the intersection of
S.W. 7th Street and continued on north-
ward. Several persons sitting on
porches or lawns viewed the startling
spectacle in wonderment and joined in
the procession now following at a safe
distance.

The man reached another intersection x
and paused briefly, looking in all direc- ey! | 5 :
tions. ‘The pursuing neighbors closed in nab dal ek 1 a” cs ,. ews
slightly but fell back quickly when the Curious crowds swarm around market owned and operated by Hil-
man raised his gun. After the hesitation fated Irving Leopold. The cold-blooded triple murder took place
he plunged on, still heading north. in room with open windows immediately over front of the store.

ONG SHADOWS WERE BEGINNING to

fall when he reached the intersec-
tion of S.W. Fifth Street and 20th Ave-
nue, but enough light still remained for
the pursuers to see the man’s face
plainly. At the corner of S.W. Fifth
Street and 20th Avenue the man came
to a full stop and looked in all directions
again as if trying to decide which way
to go. It probably was fate which di-
rected him to turn east on S.W. Fifth
Street, heading toward downtown Mi-
ami and it probably was also the same
fate which caused a youth of eighteen
to apply the brakes to his automobile
and bring the vehicle to a stop in re-
sponse to the waving arms of the fleeing
man.

As the car halted the man leaped to
the open window on the right side and
pointed his gun at the amazed youth’s
head. Holding the gun in one hand he
opened the door of the machine with
the other and climbed in.

“Get going; get away from here,” he
commanded in a voice so loud that the
pursuers were able to hear.

“Don’t take that man anywhere,” one
of them shouted from concealment be- te : a La Ne ,
hind a nearby tree. The elusive killer made his getaway in this car. Florida police of.

“He has a gun pointed at me,” came fieials believed that the crushed fender forced the madman te
the shaky voice of the young driver. a@bandon the machine. A dramatic eapture climaxed this case.

Further conversation was lost in the
meshing of gears as the car sped away
in a zig-zag course.

One of the pursuing youths jerked out
a pencil and wrote down the license
number of the car and at the same time
noted that it was a gray Plymouth
sedan. Others, likewise, took note of the
color and make of the car which by that
time had reached the corner of S.W.

3B

Schoolma:
by a tricl.
happened


please look after
1 away as you no
k for sometime.
dvance

ruly Yours

.. Henson”

1e banker looked
was granted full
over Mrs. Hen-
Phase three of
‘as running along

iam Gardiner he
Ars. Henson’s real
rom each of these
n the first of the

the money to Mrs. °

He also rented a
t the bank in his

ich he placed the .

ad woman, which
and a diamond

he office of F. B.
ifided to the bank-
-* ~arrying Mrs.
i letter signed
a”, he hinted
before they were
st as soon as he
w business affairs
v York.
and wife a wire
<es place,” he told
ie a favor by hav-
papers. We want
<now.”
. were shaping up
vas marking time
ful moment when
‘a master stroke,
‘as gnawing at his
ardly wait for his
‘enius to liquidate
‘rs. Henson’s hold-

®t. Wayne nieces, .
of affluence, could -

re their resources
ing all his nefar-
ind a.common nu-
and sent the fol-
‘ary Coyle for re-

»ceived and it was
me no that Mrs.
away as I am so
nes death and you
et that old time is
ar I am feeling a
y infect the best
a New York and
d two letters from
t she is doing
and allso have
...ter Louise all-
Irs. Sander death.

‘

And now Margaret dear this is what
I want from you and your sister
Louise and that is I need some
money you'see dear it is costing me

money here in New York and Phila.

and I have two Doctors to pay and
my husband to be has given me
wright up to now about five thou-
sand dollars and only on the morn-
ing that I left he gave me five hun-
dred moor and you see I dont want
to sponge on Phil dear as much as I
did as I have been taking all his cash
away and I don’t want to let him no
that I am running out of money. And
I. could youse about three hundred
dollars. and now I will close as I
want to write to Louise .and tell
Susie that I will write to her soon
so give my love to Susie and Doc
Love. Aunt
Anna”

Phillips wasted no time. After a

few days of travel he appeared in
New York on February 20 on a com-
bined business and pleasure trip and
went straight to the apartment of
Mary Coyle. Taking her tenderly in-
to his arms and whispering honeyed
words into her ears he induced her
to stay with him at the Empire Ho-
tel.
With a bold flourish of the pen, he
inscribed the names on the guest
book, “Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Phillips,
Daytona Beach, Fla.” This would be
written proof of his marriage to
Mrs. Henson.

A speedy transition came over the
erstwhile resident of Daytona Beach.
New York was his to take in his
stride . . . Not only New York, but
the whole world was temporarily his
oyster. And he had Mary Coyle who
surrendered herself. to him unyield-
ingly!

Inhibitions that he had harnessed
for fear of a false step, burst loose.
Torrents of imprisoned passions
broke their shackles. Life suddenly
became a carnival of riotous gayety.

A murderer on vacation metamor-

phosed into a playboy! He. began to.

spend money like water... the
money of a trusting woman who lay
buried unceremoniously in a shallow
grave.

Her spirit never seemed to haunt

him as with reckless abandon he_

wallowed in voluptuousness. Phillips’
program of intemperance included
all manner of debauchery. Through-
out the carnality he never wasted a
moment’s remorse, never gave a
fleeting thought that his black! past
might catch up and strangle him.
February 22nd, Washington’s
birthday, found him scrawling on a
telegraph ‘blank in a midtown office:

“Married today. Love. °
Anna and Phil.”

Three of these telegrams crackled
across the wires to Mr. and Mrs.
F. B. Orr and to Mrs. Beggs and
Mrs. King, the two nieces.

Climaxing his revels with a trip
to Elkton, Mq., Phillips returned to
New York, parted from Mrs. Coyle
and began the long trek back to Day-
tona Beach, his thirst for mad orgy
temporarily satiated, his business of
establishing marriage to a dead wo-
man taken care of.

* * *

Two modishly dressed women,
Mrs. Louise King and Mrs. Margaret
Beggs, were sitting in the reception

._ room of James R. Fleming, U. S.

District Attorney of northern In-
diana.

A secretary announced: “Mr.
Fleming will see you ladies now.”

The nieces of Mrs. Henson came
directly to the point, as they faced
the D. A.

“We do not believe our Aunt wrote
these letters, Mr. Fleming,” they af-
firmed. ‘

“You have, of course,' good reasons
for saying this?” the D. A. inquired.

“Yes, sir, excellent reasons. You
see, our Aunt Anna is an educated
woman. These letters are filled with
grammatical errors. She asks us for
the sum of three hundred dollars...
Strange, isn’t it, when she is com-
paratively wealthy? Also those treat-
ments she is receiving ... We can’t
understand them. Anna Henson was
always a woman of robust health.”

Fleming knitted his brows and
cleared his. throat. “There’s some-
thing amiss here,” he said. “You
ladies just leave these letters here
ahd I’ll conduct an investigation. Be

assured I’ll keep in close touch with
you should any developments occur.”

Developments did occur . . . with
incredible speed. Fleming turned
the letters over to Indiana Postal
Inspector W. C. Lytle. Working
with the New York branch a new
Phillips’ letter was intercepted. Con-.
vinced it was a forgery Lytle placed
the entire matter in the competent
hands-of Post Office Inspector E. G.
Allen of Miami. Daytona Beach
came under his jurisdiction.

He stopped at the Daytona Beach
City Police Station. “Boys,” he in-
formed them, “it looks like I’ve got
a case against a man named Phillips
up at 336 Wisconsin Place. Appears
to be a forgery and using mails to
defraud. Could I get someone to ac-
company me to the house, while I
look around?”

Detective Captain Ben Clifton, Jr.
was detailed to go with the postal
inspector. On the evening of March
8th at 7:30 P. M. Allen knocked on
the front door of the Henson home.
Clifton went around to the side door
and timed his own knocking with
Allen’s. Merely routine precautions.
To Allen it was just another one in
the curriculum of mail fraud probes.
He had not the slightest suspicion
that he was on a murder case.

A sleepy-eyed Phillips answered
the side door rapping. He had just
awakened. He knew Clifton slightly.

“Hello, Ben,” he greeted. “Come
on in.”

Clifton made entrance, while Allen
was admitted.

“We want to have a little talk with
you, Phillips,” Clifton said.

“Sure ... Why not? Just make
yourselves at home and have a seat
boys,” he replied genially.

ET PRE Rar

4

ZHLAK WHITER
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Enclosed is 50c, Please send me copy of The HEALTH and HAPPINESS ALPHABET.

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oo

ist, “I'll go
e with you
hear I’m in
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nething like
‘d and help

will. Of
she doesn’t
ist have to
ll right and

it, “is where

Home, Leon
in deep and
fused to ac-
me, claiming
ings no man

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fe and, with
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ckly indicted

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idea of her

ip: By going
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THE END

ehonatr

lemon
Of Daytona Beach

(Continued from page 31)
“Mrs. Henson was taken to a hospi-
tal at Jacksonville and later sent to
New York for treatment.”

To Mr. and Mrs. Sam’McNealy,
friends who frequently joined Phil-
lips and Mrs. Henson on afternoon
excursions to the beach: ‘Anna is
in New York so she can be under
the care of her old doctor. He al-
ways did her a great deal of good
and understands her case.”

To Attorney William J. Gardiner,
counsel for Mrs. Henson: ‘‘Anna has
to commute between New York and
Philadelphia for her treatments.”

To F. B. Orr of the Florida Bank
and Trust Company where Mrs. Hen-
son maintained an account: “She
isn’t well at all. Doctors are giving
her radium treatments.”

But tell-tale marks of blood re-
mained in the Henson home. The
stairway looked like the gory trail
leading out of a _ slaughterhouse.
Phillips had'to do something about
it. Purchasing a large bottle of for-
maldehyde, he rolled up‘his sleeves,
got down on his knees and endeav-
ored to scrub every step clean.

The stained mattress presented a
perplexing problem. While he knew
he might burn it, this could attract
attention; and besides, the mattress
was thick and expensve, and his
thrift impelled him to save it.

With a small, sharp knife he dex-

terously cut out the blood stained
parts of the mattress cover and
packing. At a local mattress factory
he endeavored to buy a slip cover,
but they had none in stock, so he in-
vited a young mattress repair man
named Jack Greenman in his car and
drove him to the house, to sew up
the holes.

As he wended his way up the
stairs behind Phillips, Greenman
spied some blood stains on the steps,
which Phillips had overlooked in
spite of his meticulous scrubbing.

“What happened here last night?
Did you have a murder?” he ques-
tioned jovially.

The question struck Phillips force-
fully. He paused, almost missing a

_step and losing his balance.

“What did you say?” he asked
tensely.
The mattress man chuckled. “I

Mrs. Anna K. Henson,
Victim.

was only joking,” he said good-na-
turedly. “Thought I saw blood on
the stairs.”

“Oh, that,” laughed Phillips, re-
covering his composure, then quickly
added, “A woman from New York
was visiting here and she had a mis-
carriage.”

It was a speedy explanation, effec-
tive enough to dispel any slight re-
flections Greenman might have had.
When Greenman noticed blood on
the mattress, too, Phillips gave the
same explanation.

To a few intimates the sudden de-
parture of Mrs. Henson appeared a
bit Unusual, but the reason advanced
by Phillips was plausible enough.
They were certain Mrs. Henson was
in New York.

Daytona Beach is a far cry from
cosmopolitan New York. Phillips
had discovered this as soon as he
left the metropolis of stone and steel.
Despite a population of 23,000, life
in this resort city is closely-knit and
a good story runs the length of the
town before newspaper presses can
grind it out.

Phillips appreciated the value of
gossip. All he would have to do
would be to sit back and leisurely
wait a short while before trumpet-
tongued chatterboxes disseminated
his words. So here and there he
dropped a hint in productive conver-
sational soil: ‘Mrs. Henson and I
plan to get married.”

Pressed for further details, he
would admit with apparent hesi-
tancy: “I’m going to join her in
New York. No date has been set
yet.”

Having accomplished the task of
planting the gossip, Phillips contact-
ed Sam McNealy, a carpenter. ‘I’ve
got some work for you to do over at
the Henson house, Sam. Would like
to start tomorrow.”

McNealy went to work enclosing
the apartment stairway which
housed the grave, and constructed a
wooden floor at the base. This would
serve as a wash house. The base was
directly over the grave. Under the
ground, and with a wooden:covering
on top, the body of Mrs. Henson was
now doubly safe from disclosure.

Living in New York at this time
was a former landlady of his named
Mary Coyle. At her apartment at
109 West 90th Street he had in the
past employed the identical tactics
used against Mrs. Henson, convert-
ing the New York woman into the
role of mistress. Positive she could
be trusted, he felt no hesitancy in
calling upon her for reasonable
favors.

47


He asked Mrs. Coyle to re-mail for
him in New York forged letters
which he had written and signed
“Anna K. Henson.” Imitative pen-
manship was another of his lurid ac-
complishments. Copying the signa-
ture of the dead woman and using a
portable typewriter, he kept up all
her correspondence with -Mrs. Mar-
garet King and Mrs. Louise Beggs,
nieces of Anna Henson and socially
prominent in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

He even sent several letters to
himself, just in case he ever needed
to furnish proof of the missing wom-
an’s whereabouts. The following
letter reached the office of the bank-
er, F. B. Orr;

“Mrs. Anna K. Henson

c/o Mrs. Coyle
109 West 90th St.
New York
Ne Y.
1/24th /40

Florida Bank & Trust Co.

Dear Mr F B Orr

Just a few lines to say that I am so
sorry that I could not see you before
leaving for New York as I had to
leave at once Thursday morning be-
cause my gland was giving me
trouble and I had to come to New
York to see my old Doctor and he
said that I will have to stay here for
at least three or Four months and
thats that.

And this is what I want you to do
for me and that is that I want Mr.
A M Phillips to draw checks to my
account and allso give Mr Phillips
full power to sign my name on all
checks that are made out to me as I
am giving Mr Phillips full charge of
my business while I am away and I
want you to get in touch with Mr
Phillips as you no Phil and you may
call him on the Telephone by calling
2898.

GE

ee

\

( CANT FIND YouR GUN —

So YovLL HAVE To USE JUNIORS TONIGHT. ©

48

Mr. Orr will you please look after
Phillips while I am away as you no
he has been sick for sometime.
Thanking you in advance

Very Truly Yours

Anna K. Henson”
AKH

The letter to the banker looked
genuine. Phillips was granted full
power of attorney over Mrs. Hen-
son’s bank account. Phase three of
his airtight plot was running along
smoothly.

Calling on William Gardiner he
obtained a list of Mrs. Henson’s real
estate holdings. From each of these
he collected rent on the first of the
month, depositing the money to Mrs.
Henson’s acccunt. He also rented a
safe deposit box at the bank in his
own name into which he placed the
jewelry of the dead woman, which
included earrings and a diamond
wrist watch.

Dropping into the office of F. B.
Orr one day he confided to the bank-
er his intentions of marrying Mrs.
Henson. Showing him a letter signed
“your wife to be, Anna”, he hinted
it wouldn’t be long before they were
man and wife—just as soon as he
could clear up a few business affairs
and journey to New York.

“T’ll send you and wife a wire
when the event takes place,” he told
Orr. “Please do me a favor by hav-
ing it put in the papers. We want
all our friends to know.”

Although affairs were shaping up
smoothly and he was marking time
until that delightful moment when
he would put over a master stroke,
the God of greed was gnawing at his
vitals. He could hardly wait for his
guiding hand of genius to liquidate
and gobble all of Mrs. Henson’s hold-
ings.

Mrs. Henson’s Ft. Wayne nieces, .

reputedly women of affluence, could
well afford to have their resources
tapped. Crystallizing all his nefar-
ious thoughts around a common nu-
cleus, he prepared and sent the fol-
lowing letter to Mary Coyle for re-
mailing:

“Dear Margaret:

Your letter just received and it was
nice of you to let me no that Mrs.
Sander had past away as I am so
sorry to hear of ones death and you
no that when we get that old time is
short and now dear I am feeling a
little better today infect the best
since I arrived in New York and
allso I have recived two letters from
Susie and I.ll say that she is doing
very good for her age and allso have
a letter from your sister Louise all-
so telling me of Mrs. Sander death.

Pe A

|

And nov
Iw
Loui
money 5
money |}
and I h:
my hus
wright
sand dol
ing that
dred mo
to spong
did as I
away an
that I ar
I could
dollars.
want tc
Susie tl
so give

Philliy
few day
New Yo)
bined bu
went st)
Mary Cc
to his az
words ir
to stay \
tel.
With a
inscribec
book, ‘‘\
Daytona
written
Mrs. He:

A spee
ersty**!
New
strid
the whol.
oyster. .
surrende
ingly!

Inhibit
for fear
Torrents
broke the
became a

A muri
phosed in
spend mc
money of
buried un
grave.

Her spi
him as \
wallowed
program
all manne
out the ¢:
moment’s
fleeting t
might cat

Februa
birthday,

telegraph

ctanenitnsoasecnmnittre at AH

Phillips was obliging and polite.
Beaming affably, he excused himself,
going upstairs and putting on a
dressing gown. Then he came down

and the trio moved chairs close to-

gether.

Allen, a veteran at questioning,
started in in the usual way. “This
is purely a friendly visit, you under-
stand.”

Phillips nodded.

“T’m a postal inspector and have a
few matters to clear up with you.
Now you don’t have to answer any-
thing you don’t want to. But if you
do make admissions,’ he advised
him, “they can be held against you
later in prosecution. Is this perfect-
ly clear?”

Phillips nodded again.

Allen thrust a batch of opened
letters under the nose of the suspect.
“Did you write these?” he demand-
ed.

Phillips scanned them hurriedly.
“No I did not,” he answered.

“Are you and Mrs. Henson mar-
ried?” asked the postal inspector.

“Yes, we are!” :

“Do you own a typewriter?”

“T do.”

“Will you please get it?”

Phillips arose and went out the
side door. Clifton watched from the
window, as he went into the garage
from whence he emerged carrying a
portable machine.

Allen set this upon a folding table
and drew up a chair. “I wonder if
you’d oblige me by typing what I
dictate,” he requested.

“Not at all... be happy to.”

For the better part of two hours
Alien dictated ... and Phillips wrote
. . . breaking the monotony by an
occasional pause, during which the
men discussed everything but the
subject they were most interested in
at the moment. As he dictated the
inspector worked in many of the
words which were misspelled in the
letters to Mrs. Henson’s nieces.

Phillips repeatedly wrote “infect”
for “in fact’, “recived” for “re-
ceived”, “wright” for “right”, “no”
for “know”, “Sylivia” for “Sylvia”;
and the most oft-repeated error:
“youse” for “use’’.

No doubt existed in the mind of
Allen that he had his man and he
told Phillips so.

“All the errors match. You wrote
these letters .. . Why don’t you ad-
mit it?” he repeated several times.

“Phillips pondered, and then said:
“Yes I did.”

“But why?” Allen asked.

Phillips became alert. “Sure, sure,
I wrote them. What’s the use of

50

Murray Sams,

Firebrand State Attorney of
Volusia County, Florida, who
prosecuted the murderer.

denying it? But I did it for Mrs.
Henson. She requested me to.” After
all this was just a postal offense.

“How... by mail?”

“Yeah, yeah... by mail.”.

The inspector asked if he might
see the letter of request.

“No you can’t, because I destroyed
it,” the accused man said quickly.

“You're not even married,” Allen

. said disbelievingly.

“No, I’m not,” Phillips admitted.

Allen.and Clifton then proceeded
to search all the wastebaskets and
the garbage cans. Fragments of a
letter Phillips had planted in the
event of just such an emergency
were found. Allen put the pieces in
his pocket. .

“I think you had better come over
to the police station with us,” the
postal inspector suggested. He want-
ed to detain him long enough to fix
up a warrant.

Phillips willingly complied with
his wishes. Acting as though he had

not a care in the world and that a
huge mistake had been made which
would soon be adjusted, he dressed
impeccably, deliberating several min-~
utes over the selection of a necktie.

How little he knew of the ma-
chine-like precision of the law!

Phillips was placed in one of the
upstairs rooms of the station house.
Deputy Walter Campbell who was in
charge communicated with Sheriff
Ed Stone of Volusia County at De-
lano. Stone was knee-deep in an in-
vestigation involving a murdered
woman. He instructed Campbell to
act in his place.

Phillips was held at the station
house for two days. The experience
failed to unnerve him. During this
time Allen had interviews with F. B.
Orr, Margaret Clark and Attorney
Gardiner.

The fragments of the letter found
in the wastebasket of the Henson
house were pieced together. Signi-
ficant phrases appeared: “Nice of
you dear to be looking after my
business while I’m away. I am de-
pending a lot on your money and the
five hundred you gave me when [

left Daytona Beach is about gone...:

up to: now you have given me about
five thousand dollars Phil dear and
now dear I am waiting for you to
come to New York as soon as you
can get away and we will be mar-
ried at once.
From your wife to Be
; Love
Anna”

Campbell, Clifton and Ollie Lan-
caster, Jr. faced Phillips in the up-
stairs room of the Daytona Beach
police station. ‘Lancaster’s hands
held a notebook and pencil.

Campbell asked: “I wonder if you
would be willing to make a statement
concerning your whereabouts since
Mrs. Henson’s disappearance?”

“Yes ...I don’t see why not,” he
readily answered. ;

Phillips attempted feverishly to
hook up the continuity of his life
since Mrs. Henson’s disappearance
and offer excuses for the writing of
her letters. Often he was vague, im-
palpable and incongruous.

While the fingers of Ollie Lancas-
ter’ raced over the blank pad, Phil-
lips related how Mrs. Henson wanted
him in New York with her to quiet
rumors of their living together. “She
suggested by mail I send the mar-
riage wires,” he stated glibly, relat-
ing a story of how he journeyed to
New York by boat and Mrs. Henson
failed to meet him at the dock. He
called all the hospitals, he said, and
even took a train to Philadelphia,

yf

PARTI

Why “‘Instinc
Secrets of S«
How To Con:
Choosing a |
What Marrie
Love Problen
Honeymoon
Correct Sex
The Weddin:
Overcoming
Birth C

Facts A

Test fo:

Can Sex of L
Chosen?

Re-awakening
Feminine H
Culture ie
Intimate Que:
Is Petting Wis
How To Avoic
Common Misc
How To Win |
First Love Exp
Unresponsive
Keeping Love
Rules of Marri
Superstitions f

Pregnancy
++. and much

purus tRATE?


a

State Board of Pardons
Page 3

The facts with reference to the arrested defendants,
Walker and Powell, in the attempted holdup subsequent to the
commission of the crime in this case does not appear in the
record of the murder, but we have before us and it is trans-
mitted to you herewith a statement from the Honorable William
A. Hallowes, III, State Attorney, substantiating these facts.

We, like the Supreme Court, and like yourselves,
dislike very much the situation that arises upon the record

in this case of the necessity of passing upon the question

of whether or not men as young as the record in this case
discloses the defendants to be should be executed. However,
it appears, that the defendants have had a fair and impartial
trial; that they were ably: represented by experienced counsel;
that the jury trying their case, having all the facts and
circumstances before it and not being swayed, so far as our
attention has been called, by any prejudice or otherwise,
determined that the extreme penalty of the law should be
exacted. The case has been reviewed by the Supreme Court of
Florida and that Court has determined that there was no error
committedtin--tae*trial of the case. ‘Two of the defendants
attempted a subsequent holdup which had it been successful
might in all probablity have resulte@ in another murcer. The
defendants appear from the record to be above the average in
intelligence and education for boys of their age and race.
Since capital punishment is fixed as the penalty for murder
in the first degree except where recommendation by a majority
of the jury trying the case makes it otherwise, we can reach
no other conclusion consistent with the protection of society
and the administration of the law than to report to your

Honorable Board that in our opinion the sentence and judgment

of the law in this case should be carried out.
Very truly yours,
FLORIDA PAROLE COMMISSION

By. Crone TS (oe te WN.

y Chairman

By BAL (7, DA Ripe al
fi?
jee:

ommissioner


THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Tuesday, 30 December 1941, page 13.

Three Die in
Prison Chair

Negroes Pay Penalty for
Slaying Woman. ~

Three young Jacksonville negroes,
Nathaniel Walker, Edward Powell
and Willie Clay were evecuted yes-
terday 1. the electric chair at the
State Prison Farm at Railford for
the slaying In-193¢ of Mra. Mary
Louise Carter, according to Asso-
ciated Press advices.

The killing occurred on August
8, 1988. when Mrs. Carter was beat-
en to death with an iron pipe dur-
ing an attempted robbery of her
store on Magnolia Street. The ne-
groes were found guilty of first de-
gree murder by a jury in Duval Cir-
cult Court om December 8, 1938.
The death sentence. made manda-
tory by a jury verdict of guilty of
first degree murder without a rece
ommendation for mercy was hand-
ed down by Judge Miles W. Lewis
on January 13, 1939. Willlam A, ’
Hallowes III, State's attorney for
the Fourth Judicial Circuit, con-
ducted the prosecution. .

igen:

p

aay

State Board of Pardons
Page 2

recor® is’ concerned, that on day of the crime in question, to-

wit, August 6, 1938, that Walker lacked two days of being fifteen

years old; that Powell was a little over fifteen years old and
that Clay was nearly sixteen years old. It appears from the
testimony of Walker that he was in the ninth grade in school
and that Powell had finished the tenth grade and had been pro-
moted to the eleventh while Clay had finished the ninth grade
and had been promoted to the tenth. The youth of the defendants
is, we admit,a serious question, but it appears from the record
in the case that he defendants had more than the usual educa-
tion of members of their race and that they were unusually
intelligent for boys of the ages which they represented them-.
selves to be.

The crime committed in this case was a dasterdly one.

The record shows that the defendants admitted cool and deliberate

preparation and that the victim was a woman fifty-nine years

of age, quietly carrying on with her husband a small legitimate
business in the City of Jacksonville; that these defendants
deliberately and pre-meditatedly planned to rob and kill her,
and that Walker and Clay actually struck her with an iron

pipe which they had with them for that purpose, and that Powell
stood guard as the look-out while Clay and Walker were actually
perpetrating the offence. It appears from the confessions
admitted in evidence that Walker cnd Clay went into the store
where Mrs. Curtis was and asxed her for "five cents worth of
onions." While Mrs. Curtis stooped over to get the onions,
Clay struck her one time and Walker, after Mrs. Curtis had
_been struck.down by Clay, took the iron pipe from Clay and

hit Mrs. Curtis three or four times on the head from which
blows she died.

; It was sometime after the murder before the defendants
were apprehended and the apprehension came about because there
was one fingerprint left on a shéwcase in the store where Mrs.
Curtis was murdered. Sometime gfter the murder, Walker and
Powell attempted a daylight holdup in a West Ashley Street
business place in downtown Jacksonville and in this attempt
Walker had a gun. From the fingerprints of the two men, the
fingerprint on the showcase in the Curtis store wes identified
as the fingerprint of Nathaniel Walker, thereupon the defen-
dants admitted their guilt in the killing of Mrs. Curtis and,
as a matter of fact, reenacted for the officers the commission
of the offense. The Supreme Court in its opinion said: "We
think the care and caution required by law of a trial court
in the admission into evidence of these confessions were pro-
perly observed and followed."


STATE OF FLORIDA-

OFFICE OF THE

ATTORNEY GENERAL

GEORGE COUPER GIBBS TALLAHASSEE

October 11, 1940.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Honorable Fred P. Cone, Governor,
Executive Officés,
Capitol.

RE: DEATH WARRANT FILE OF
EDWARD POWELL.

Dear Governor Cone}

H.E.CARTER

ROY CAMPBELL

M.C.McCINTOSH

JOHN L.GRAHAM

WM.P.ALLEN

J.COMPTON FRENCH

TYRUS A.NORWOOD

LAWRENCE A.TRUETT
ASSISTANT ATTORNEYS GENERAL

We have examined the file in the above
case and find it sufficient for the issuance of
the death warrant for the execution of the convict.

Inquiry has been made of the Supreme
Court and we are advised that there has been no
action in that Court which would preclude the is-

suance of the death warrant.

svectfully yours,

WF:G

COPY

reproduced by
FLORIDA STATE ARCHIVES
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
R. A. GRAY BUILDING
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250

Series Carton