Arkansas, H, 1902-1998, Undated

~ ARKANSAS.

LITTLE ROCK — Work week
for state Dept..of Human Services
employees will be cut to 4 days
from.5 for next 7 weeks, Lt. Gov.
Jim Tucker says. Catalyst: project-
ed $43 million Medicaid shortfall.
Emergency funds for department
were OK'd. ... Clemency was de-
nied for Steven Hill — scheduled
for execution next week in ’84 Shot-
gun slaying of state policé investi-

gator Robert Klein. Gov. Clinton °

has final say on Hill’s fate.

Pe Rt came oo - .-

10A° THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1992 * USA TODAY
AT TELL ER ETE
aa ae

ARKANSAS

LITTLE ROCK — State’s Wom-
en’s Political Caucus will lobby
lawmakers during next year’s ses-
sion to change sexual abuse laws.
Catalyst: Charges dismissed April
24 against male teacher who fon-
dled girl, 16, because unless force
is used, no state law bars such ac-
tion. ... Lawyer for convicted kill-
er Steven Hill, 25, — due to die
May 7 for shotgun slaying of police
officer — has filed appeal chal-
lenging legality of lethal injections
when doctor’s not there.

USA TODAY « FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1992+
EE

Friday, May 8, 1992

a
1. NATION

_IN BRIEF
;

' Clinton denies
- Clemency for killer
; LITTLE ROCK — A
man who killed a state
trooper was executed by
lethal injection yesterday
night after Gov. Bill Clin-
ton denied him clemency.
‘. Steven Douglas Hill, 25,
the youngest of 35 inmates
on Arkansas’ death row,
wds pronouced dead at
9:20 p.m., eight minutes
after he was injected with
sag Sad
“+ Clinton returned to Lit-
tld Rock on Wednesday
ot to review his case,
ut denied the clemency
request yesterday after-
noon. The U.S. Supreme
Court denied an appeal
filed yesterday by Hill’s
‘attorney, Mark Cambiano.

~~ om

SSR

vy, May 8, 1992
klandQ Tribune

-_——w—s ~ ©

Oa

Judge Allows Death Penalty
In New York Case

i MY FIM e5/

A judge said yesterday that she
would uphold the constitutionality of
a new Federal death-penalty law in
the drug and murder trial of a reput-
ed Mafia member in Brooklyn.

Judge Reena Raggi, who is presid-
ing over the trial in Federal District

' Court, told the lawyers for both sides

in the trial of the defendant, Thomas
Pitera, that she would reject a de-
fense motion to declare the death-
penalty provision unconstitutional.

The Pitera case is the first one in
New York State to involve the death-
penalty provision. Several others
across the country have been pros-
ecuted under the provision, but no one
has been executed under it to date.

District judges have upheld the
constitutionality of, the death-penalty
provision in cases in New Jersey,
Illinois, Alabama and Texas. It has
not been declared unconstitutional in

"any Case so far. No appeals court has

yet ruled on the provision. .
Judge Raggi, who said she would

' issue a written decision soon, gave

the lawyers advance notice of her
ruling yesterday as she began ques-
tioning potential jurors about their
views of the death penalty.

A tt ome rr mem — ee te LF mM

°c A te pee

eee tO eet ON

a 7

Death Penalty

Clinton Weighs Clemency

_ For Killer Scheduled to Die

By RONALD SMOTHERS
Special to The New York Times

ATLANTA, MAY 6 — Lawyers for.
the youngest inmate on Arkansas’s
~ death row, Steven Douglas Hill, today
pressed a Federal court appeal as well
as a clemency request to Gov. Bill
Clinton in an effort to stop Mr. Hill’s
scheduled execution on Thursday.

For the Arkansas Governor, who
supports the death penalty, it is the
second request for clemency by a con-
demned man that he has had to consid-
er in the middle of his campaign for the
Democratic nomination for President.
Mr. Clinton planned to spend Thursday
in Little Rock to consider the request.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of
the United States Circuit Court of Ap-
peals for the Eighth District in St.
Louis denied Mr. Hill’s appeal of a
lower-court ruling that had turned
down his motion for a stay of execution.
The defendant’s lawyers had asked the
court to consider what they said was
new evidence in the case as well as
their contention that Mr. Hill’s age —
he was 18 years old at the time of the
murder — had not been adequately
considered in his sentencing.

Accomplice’s Confession

In addition to seeking clemency from
the Governor, the lawyers today asked
the full Eighth Circuit court to hear the
appeal.

Mr. Hill was convicted of shooting an
Arkansas state police investigator in
1984 during a crime spree after he and
another man escaped from a state pris-
on. While Mr. Hill, who is now 25 years
old, has never recanted his confession
to the crime, his accomplice, Michael
A. Cox, has been saying for the last

seven years that it was he, not Mr. Hill,
who fired the shots that killed the po-
liceman, Robert Klein. This is the new
evidence that Mr. Hill’s lawyers point
to in their request.

Mr. Cox originally made the confes-
sion in a letter in 1985, after both men
had been tried. In asserting that he did
the shooting, Mr. Cox has said that he
and Mr. Hill had agreed that the young-
er man should take the blame because
they thought that a jury would be less
likely to give the death penalty to an 18-
year-old. ,

Since the state passed its current
death penalty law 16 years ago, only
three people have been put to death.

In January Mr. Clinton denied a
clemency request on behalf of Rickey
Ray Rector, 40, convicted of shooting a
policeman to death in Conway, Ark., in
1981. Mr. Rector then failed in an at-
tempt to take his own life, suffering
severe brain damage. Mr. Rector, who
was black, was executed by lethal in-
jection on Jan. 24.

Before that Mr. Clinton denied the
clemency request of John Swindler,
who was white and who was executed

in 1990 for the killing of a policeman in

1976.

Lawyers for Mr. Hill, who is white,
Said that they were sure that the Gov-
ernor would feel pressure from some
quarters not to grant clemency to a
white inmate when he had not done so
for Mr. Rector.

“T’ve known the Governor for some
time and realistically we know that
politics will bring pressure on him,”
said Mark Cambiano, Mr. Hill’s law-
yer. “‘But he is a fair person and we

i:

ARKANSAS BD :
OF CORRECTIONS

. BAX SECUMITY UNIT

Steven Douglas Hill, scheduled to
be executed today, was convicted
of shooting an Arkansas state po-
lice investigator in 1984.

‘know he usually votes his conscience.”’

The Governor is scheduled to spend
the day in Little Rock Thursday, in part
to consider the clemency request. His
staff members were conducting a num-
ber of interviews in connection with the
clemency request.

No Clemency Recommended

A third prisoner executed while Mr.
Clinton has been Governor made no
request for clemency. In each case in
which the condemned men have sought
clemency the Arkansas Board of Pa-
role and Community Rehabilitation,
which holds hearings on the requests,
recommended to the Governor that
clemency be denied.

Last week the board, after three
days of hearings, opposed clemency for
Mr. Hill, finding that the confession by

| Mr. Cox was not credible. A Federal
district judge, reaching a similar con-

clusion about the confession, had up-
held Mr. Hill’s conviction, and this was

‘essentially the finding the appeals

court pane] upheld Tuesday. .

Mr. Hill and Mr. Cox, who was 22 at
the time, escaped from a Wrightsville
Prison work detail in October 1984 and

‘| invaded the home of a family in Wood-

son, Ark., tied up the members and held
them captive before stealing guns and
a pickup truck and fleeing. They raided
another nearby home and when police
arrived and surrounded them, Officer
Klein was killed by a blast from a
shotgun.

Mr. Hill confessed to killing the offi-
cer shortly after his arrest. Mr. Cox
was sentenced to a total of 86 years in
prison on kidnapping and assault
charges.

CL TD Ot et me ey A Oe rR et a

menna

New York €

a

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l,m Mt Aa zsTs os

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pelt

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\

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1992


A-18 | Friday, May 8, 1992

EE

apo

"NATION

IN BRIEF °

DEATH PENALTY: Riots in Los Angeles are testing Presi-
dent Bush and his likely fall opponent, Bill Clinton, on their
ability to balance a law-and-order commitment with con-
cern over the underlying causes. Now Democrat Clinton,
whose party is called soft on crime by Republicans, faces
another chance to stand tough. Stephen Douglas Hill, 25, is
scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday night in Ar-

a a

kansas unless the governor blocks his execution. zn ble Clinton denies

when, fleeing a first-offenders work detail, he fatally shot a ; sea Ae
police detective. Clinton has allowed three people to be exe- clemency for killer ?

cuted, including one since he entered the Democratic race. » LITTLE ROCK — A

man who killed a state

trooper was executed by.

iethal injection yesterday
night after Gov. Bill Clin-
ton denied him clemency.

~~ ma . : Steven Douglas Hill, 25,

| thé youngest of 35 inmates
on: Arkansas’ death row,
was pronouced dead at
9:10 p.m., eight minutes
after he was injected with
thé drugs.

‘' Clinton returned to Lit-
tle Rock on Wednesday
night to review ‘his case,
but denied the clemency
request yesterday after-
noon: The U.S. Supreme
Court denied an appeal
filed yesterday by Hill’s
‘attorney, Mark Cambiano.

Lea)

OaklandDTribune — -

FINAL PLEA: Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton took time to hear
clemency pleas for Steven Douglas Hill, 25, set to die by

injection tonight for slaying a police investi

gator. Three ex-
ecutions have been carried out under Clinton. He has never
granted clemency. (Jerry Brown interview, 11A)

Friday, May 8, 1992


iv

Howling silence marks
execution of killer

Editor’s Note: This is an account
of the execution Thursday night
of Steven Douglas Hill at a state
prison near Varner, Ark. The re-
porter was one of 14 ‘people cho-

sen to watch from a room wi th a.
window providing a view of the
death chamber. Hill died for the

1984 shooting death of Arkansas

State. Police in vestigator, Robert
Klein. :

The Associated Fleer

revealing Steven Douglas ' ill
strapped to a gurney. :
-Hill’s 5-8, 184-pound frame’ was

covered from chin to toes by a

bright white sheet full of sharp
checkerboard creases.

Lying on his back, Hill, 25, |

stared at the ceiling. His arms
were bound to the gurney by tan

| straps. His head was secured in

place by a yellow plastic brace,
A. L. ‘Art’ Lockhart, state pris-

‘on director, fidgeting with the

collar of his own shirt, asked
Hill if he wanted to make a last
statement. The witnesses could
not hear, but could see Hill mov-

ing his lips for about 30 seconds.

Afterward, they were told that
Hill said, “T ask for my family’s
forgiveness, for the

to be raised cwithauk a fathers si

ain’ I.
caused, and Officer’ Klein's fami-
ly, The children shouldn't have ,

ein eS RN Higa Se
, wide . cheeks:

“Ry Ron Fournier” ia *"never moved again. He turned

ashen, and was pronounced
~ dead at 9:10 p.m. i
VARNER, Ark. — The curtain’.

in the death chamber flew © en,

ready to go.”

As he gave his statement, Hill $
right hand twitched repeatedly..
His index finger went up and
down, as if he were rapidly flip-
ping a light switch:

At 9:02 p.m., the injection of a

lethal drug began began and |

Hill voluntarily closed his eyes.
-A .minute later, his torso

: surged upward briefly. His

»puffed out slightly. He

The curtains closed.
“The witnesses were quiet

: throughout the execution.

Hill’s religious adviser, Rev.

‘George Tribou of Little Rock, sat

quietly with his right elbow rest-
ing on his left hand. His head
was bowed. At times his lips

moved.

Larry Carpenter, one of Hill’s
two attorneys, watched the ex-
ecution bent forward in his

chair. —

-After the curtain closed, Car-
penter put his hand on Tribou’s
right shoulder and asked, “Are
you doing all right?” Tribou

nodded.

As Tribou was walking away
from the witness room, he was
asked if he wanted to make any

“comment. He shook his head:no.

But as he got into a prison vehi-

cle, he changed his mind and

‘Said,.“It’s monstrous and uncivi-
‘lized. f

Wn “pet Peplr 5191967.
You WWoatte


Above is spot at outskirts of Stuttgart where mur-

derer abandoned the truck of Doyle Mulherin, driver

“You bet,” said Glover. “As fast
as I could get to a phone. They just
called me back a few minutes ago.”
He slipped a notebook from _ his
pocket, glanced at it. “The car was
registered in the name of Edward
Carl Adams, aged forty-five, of Hum-
boldt, Kansas. They’re trying to
reach his family now.”

“Was the car smashed?” asked
Scroggin.

Glover shook his head. “Not a
mark on it. I haven’t let anybody
touch it, yet, so your men can check
for fingerprints. The gun hasn’t
showed up.” ;

“T’m betting it won’t,” said Scrog-
gin dryly. “They never do.” He
turned back to the body. “When you
get Adams’ description, we’ll know
whether this is what’s left of him,
lying here.” He kicked aimlessly at
the dry leaves. “When' K. C. calls
again, ask them if he was traveling
alone.”

Glover nodded. “You mean he may
have picked up a_ hitchhiker? I
thought of that.”

Two men, carrying a stretcher,
threaded their way through the trees.

The officers stepped aside as they”

approached, fell silent for a moment
as the dead man was gently rolled
over. bikes
Sheriff Glover shook himself vis-
ibly. “I have to arrange for the
autopsy,” he muttered. “Do you want
to go into Fordyce with me? There
might be further word from Kansas.”

“Which direction was the aban-
doned car facing?” asked Scroggin.

“South. It must have'come from
‘Little Rock.”

24

.

for a meat packing company who picked up killer
as hitchhiker, and never lived to regret his action.

“Then we'd better get back there,”
said Scroggin. “We'll take a look at
the car, first. If you get any breaks,
call us at headquarters.”

EVERAL hours later, back- in
Little Rock, Scroggin and Porter
paid a call at the headquarters of
the local police. Chief of Detectives
O. N. Martin received them in his
office. eg
Porter sat down, but Scroggin

restlessly paced the floor. In terse, -

. jerky sentences, he told Martin what

had happened down on Highway 167.

“And this is the toughest: part of
it, right now,” ended Scroggin, fling-
ing the words over his shoulder, “Un:
til we hear from Kansas .... until
we get a report on the fingerprints
.... until the coroner hands a bullet
over to the ballistics men... we
might just .as well play tiddley-
winks.” ;

“And you’ might just as well sit
down,” advised Martin drily. “Wear-
ing out my rug won't help you any.”

Scroggin flung himself into a
chair. Beside him, Porter meditative-
ly rubbed his jaw.

“I wonder,” remarked the Super-
intendent slowly. “I was just think-
ing. Remember the case of that guy,
down near Salem, a couple of months
ago? His name was Hamilton, if I
remember correctly.” .

Scroggin nodded. -“That’s right.
C. F. Hamilton, to be exact.” Mechan-
ically he recited: “C. F. Hamilton,
aged 45, barber by trade... .” Sud-
denly he straightened in his chair,
Swung around to face his superior.
“I see what you mean. Hamilton

re area

was shot in the head and robbed.
Somebody marched him off the road
and then gavé him the business. Just
like this poor devil, today.”

“Exactly,” said Porter slowly.
“And we never found a clue.” He
paused for a long moment, then add-
ed quietly: “It might be that the
two crimes are connected.”

The statement was a sobering one.
Silently, with tightening jaws, the
three officers considered it.

It was Scroggin who broke the
silence at last. “Let’s hope you’re
wrong. I’m figuring a hitchhiker did
today’s job. And I don’t believe the

‘barber ever owned a car.”

Martin shrugged. “Either way, I


a ed, he

* ‘yr, Jooking: for, “it'll” the sheriff and hung up, “Gloverjust
“7% OF @ needle'in a hay-"‘heard from Kansas,..The body #1 the
«woods ‘was. Adams,’ all. right: (he

found his\ wife and she verified the
description. She said: he was or, his,
ay to the Naval Ordinance Plant at ‘
Camden, \ to look :for; employment...’
here. He was ‘traveling ahaa, Oh ts

nsulted: the pad. “Mrs,

aa “st Smart and flagged
#<ftgtate car, he’s prob-.
Bos DY: NOW. acne a past
gin “could reply, ‘the
, is desk buzzed , shrilly.:
, regal it, answered, and :

0 the door, *Deal .me in. Tl.
; g out for the fellow with th
e watches, and ‘clocks, I'l
and‘ Judd‘ on. the‘cas
is ‘initials, Le _and‘have them stick: with: it till it’

usband. had with him., He
$25 on him and two watcher

ngraved : with
had a

EEK passed’ by. A’ state-wide
bee “hunt: for the hitchhiker with a
‘dh <suitcase brought no results, Bus line

Tigk

¥

“and clocks wil

Martin wa

On the afternoon of Friday, Feb-
Scroggin grinned wryly. “Oh yeah? — rnary 9th, Scroggin entered Porter’s
I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Re- office at State Police Headquarters.
member, Adams came from this - “T never knew there were so many
direction.” He placed his hands on kicchhikers in Arkansas,” groaned
the edge of the desk and faced Mar- . tne Superintendent. “Look at these
tin squarely. “Figure it this. way. reyorts. Everyone saw the killer, or
Suppose the killer wasn’t a regular juve him a ride, ‘on the day Adams
hitchhiker. Suppose he deliberately was shot. But no two descriptions are
planned it to look that way. Suppose alike. Which, if any, was our man?”
he flagged Adams right here in Lit- “Martin was right about this

tle Rock, intending to hold him up as case,” answered Scroggin gloomily.

soon as they got well out of town.” , (Continued on Page 61)

Center, detectives look on as killer, third from left, in-
dicates place where he killed Edwiard Carl Adams. Below,
police investigate spot on road where madman
flagged State Inspector Newcombe. Murderer searched
Newcombe, then robbed him, ard finally killed him.

robbeu wy
he ro
$8. J lis

slow Ik

iKer did
eve the

way, I

a


vas: killed.
ne on the
bank.”

’ Walrath

the time
d,” Walk-
2 time the
rew some
{r..Moore,

over and
ith asked.
‘re to get
ou right,”

xchanged
sto voce,
tid, “Sure
ace,” and

tobert G.
ad drawn
time be-
p. m. on
hours, he
indow at
it 12:80.
e, Moore
xed the
m., ex-
es after

nk was
ot where
and, and
rom her
lent ap-

vor.
ake
one
ggle

her and
n sixty-

erposed,
it with
20k was
it know
id drave
fe could
on that
Tgeant,
, or al-
what I
at, say

Walker
id then

laybe,”

Walker
ninute,
‘lothes.
has to

20d on
»0d on
ares a

Valker
might
at the
ent to
rum-
Y air-
‘racks,
second
pened
3 and
n the
aot in

ee ars ee tee eae Eee

ren aaa

“Them... lemme‘see,” Walker said.
“Oh, I sent them to the cleaners... .”

“No, Larry,” the other soldier said.
“Not on Saturday afternoon. Don’t pick
up clothes on Saturday afternoon.’

“Why don’t you mind your bus-
iness rid Walker demanded, angrily and

‘the fat was in the fire. The officers,

aided by a detail of M. P.’s from the
air force base headquarters, began a
minute check of the barracks and final-
ly came to a unit garbage disposal. The
M. P.’s plunged gingerly into one GI
can and came up, first with a maroon
shirt and next a pair of grey gabardine
slacks. On both were unmistakable
bloodspots.

“Not mine,” Walker said. “Never saw
’em before in my life.”
' “Let’s go into your quarters and
you'll try them on,” Walrath suggested.

“Put them things on me, right outta
that GI can?” the elegant sergeant
said. “Not me. No sir!”

“Yes, you. Yes sir!” Walrath said.

“Either that. or try ’em on down at
the county jail,” Schrader said.

Reluctantly, Walker tried on the

trousers and shirt. They fitted him per-

fectly, even his attempts to draw in his
already lean flanks failing to alter the
fact that they obviously had been made
for him.

“Anybody’s pants fit pe Si like
me,” he pointed out. “I buy clothes off
the store shelf, they fit. Never have to
alter them anytime.”

“We'll have to let the court decide
that, Lawrence,” Walrath said. “In the
meantime, I’m arresting. you on a
charge of carrying concealed weapons.”

“Whaddya mean?” Walker \de-
manded. “I ain’t carry nothin’.”

“You forgot about the gun in your
car,” Walrath said.

“Not mine,” Walker said, sullenly.

~“Don’t know nothin’ about it.”

A warrant charging possession of a
gun without a license held Walker
in lieu of an enroute charge. An en-

“None of the missing stuff has turned
up. The only prints in the car were
those of Adams himself. And Lieuten-
ant Templeton says the bullet in
Adams’ skull was a .388—that negro
barber was killed by a .45, remember?”

Porter spread his hands in a hopeless
gesture. “We've done all we could. All
we can do now is wait.”

He was interrupted by the telephone
bell. He reached for the phone, barked
a gruff “Hello.” Scroggin saw him
stiffen. ;

Porter barked at Scroggin: “An-
other highway killing, down near
Stuttgart. Shot in the head and rob-
bed—just like Adams!” ‘

The town of Stuttgart lay some
sixty miles southeast of Little Rock.

As he and Porter drew up, two fa-
miliar figures came to meet them. They
were Sheriff E. O. Hamilton of Prairie
County and Police Chief Willbanks
from nearby England.

route charge is an instrument of jus-
tice in California whereby a. prisoner
may be held indefinitely while sup-

. posedly enroute to Zanzibar or Shangri

La, thereby establishing an interim in
which the police can either clinch a case
against him or justify his demands for
release. af ‘bringing a posstense of
weapons charge against him, Walrath
had removed him from the reach of a
habeas corpus writ which frequently
nullifies the power of the enroute in-
strument.

As Walker awaited further action in
the county jail in Riverside, the gun
found in his. car, the .bullet found be-
side the quarry rim and -the shell re-
covered from the point where Laird
had been pistol whipped, were sent to
the FBI in Washington for official
ballistics checks. Seventy-two hours
later, word came back that the bullet
definitely had been fired from the auto-
matic and that the shell, also, had been
fired while in the same gun’s chamber.

The FBI also announced that they’d
found Walker’s fingerprints on the gun,
in spite of obvious efforts to wipe them
off, efforts which had thwarted local
fingerprint experts. The FBI also an-
nounced that the fingerprints corres-
ponded to those of a Lawrence Walker
indicted in New Jersey a year and a
half before for the murder of a woman,
but. later released for lack of sufficient
evidence.

As Walrath and Schrader, together
with District Attorney William :O
Mackey, prepared to go to trial on

murder, kidnapping. and felonious as-

sault charges, vigorous efforts to free
Walker were began. A famed Eastern
attorney, handled the legal aspect of
the case for Walker and petitions were
widely circulated among his friends
insisting that Walker’s presence in the
bank on the day of the Cook slayings
madé it impossible for him;to have
committed those crimes.

Even when Mrs. Mead and Laird
identified Walker as the same man

ee eee

salami ,

f

who'd assaulted them and kdddap ad:
and injured Mrs, Mead, the fight to free
him continued. Eventually, it led to a
dangerous situation in Riverside which
was climaxed thirty days after his
arrest . b a demonstration among
aroused citizens in which they picketed
the couely jail bearing placards sa ing,
“Kill Walker,” and “Let Walker Die.”
Only a detachment of National Guards
was sufficient to disperse the demon-
strators. After that, the efforts in
Walker’s behalf, while persisting, were
considerably subdued.

Walker went to trial and his. chief
counsel based his defense on Walker’s
presence at the field during the time
when. the Cooks were slain and a com-

lete denial of any connection with the
Mead attempt. The trial was brief, the
arguments bitter, after which the jury
‘of eleven women and one man, retired
for their deliberations.

For forty-eight hours they deliber-
ated and then announced that because
one juror was. holding. out, they could
not reach a verdict. Judge Russell S.
Waite, obviously incensed, castigated
the jury remorselessly for: what he
termed its dereliction of duty and sent
the twelve back to reach a verdict.

Thirty minutes later, the jurors re-
turned with a verdict. They found
Walker guilty of the murders of the
Cooks, but appended a recommendation
of life imprisonment instead of the
death penalty..On the Mead charges,
they had failed to agree.

Judge Waite declared a mistrial on
the Mead charges and accepted the
Cook verdict.

The trial closed, the jurors revealed
that the long deadlock had resulted
-when one of the women jurors’ held
‘out against the death penalty. There
never had been, they said, any question
of Walker’s guilt in the Cook deaths.

_ Editor's Note: The names of Mrs. Betty

Mead and Sgt. Jimmy Laird are fictitious to
_ Spare embarrassment to innocent persons.

KILLER WITH A SMILE

(Continued from Page 25)

The exchange of greetings between
the officers was brief. Then the local
Sheriff led them to the body. It lay.in
the center of a grassy hollow. The back
of the head swam in a welter of blood.

“His name was Doyle Mulherin,”
said Sheriff Hamilton. ‘“He’s from Lit-
tle Rock—drove a truck for a meat
packing company. The truck’s down by
the railroad tracks.”

“You said on the phone he’d been
robbed,” said Scroggin, kneeling be-
side the body. “Do you know what he
was carrying on him?”

“Not exactly. But he delivered meat
in Humnoke this morning. We figure
he had cash and checks totaling $200
on him. His watch is gone, too.”

“No clues, I suppose,” Scroggin said
bitterly.

Hamilton shook his head. “No gun.
No bullets—except for the one that’s in
his head. But Chief Willbanks has
something that may help you.”

“It’s not much,” said Willbanks. “But
last night a stranger stayed in a vacant
house in England. He’s been described
to me as six feet tall, weight about
160. He was wearing a dark suit and
coat and a green checked cap. Those
wno saw him say he was drunk.”

It didn’t sound like a hot tip. But
automatically Scroggin noted the de-
ach and thanked him.

ere’s the point,” continued Will- ,

banks. “This morning this same man
thumbed his way into Humnoke. Re-
member, ‘Mulherin stopped there to
deliver some meat. He might have
picked up this hitchhiker there.”

EWS of the murder of Doyle Mul-

herin spread swiftly. From all over
the state, phone calls and telegrams
poured into headquarters. But in spite
of this, Martin’s dour prediction was
fulfilled with a vengeance. It was still
a tough case and try as he would,

61


“If our hitchhike killer did this —
there’s just one answer. Newcombe had
guts .... he fought back.”

If the public was already aroused by
the other highway murders, the death
of Newcombe was a sensation. J. D.
Newcombe, Jr. was’ one of the most
widely known and popular officials in

‘the state.

Outraged citizens clamored for ac-
tion. Offers of rewards for the capture
of his slayer came pouring in, mount-
ing to a total of $1250. For the next
eight days, letters and telegrams piled
up on Superintendent Porter’s desk un-

‘til he was distracted. And Scroggin

hated to answer the telephone.

There was one call, however, that he i
prayed for, And finally it came. The
sound of Martin’s voice,-coming over

‘the wire, was music in his ears.

“Captain—I think that 1000 to 1
shot came home. We've got ‘Red’ Hall

_over here. Peterson and Judd just

brought him in. You’d better come
over.....”

‘The receiver dangled from its hook.
Scroggin was already on the way!

The red-haired cab driver lounged
in his chair, one knee crossed negli-

‘gently over the other. He smiled pleas-

antly at the officers around him.

“I’m telling you the truth,” he said
easily. “I don’t know what happened
to.Fayrene. I don’t care. She spent my
money faster than I could make it.
That’s what we fought about.”

Martin offered the cab driver a
cigarette, lit it for him and then said
casually: “Are you sure you didn’t
fight over Lucy Watson?”

The cigarette bobbed in Red Hall’s
lips; then he recovered. ‘“Who’s she?”
he asked. }

Martin slapped the cigarette out of
his lips. “Don’t stall, Red—you know
damn well who she is. Lucy Watson on

_ Center Street—you’ve been sending

her registered mail.”

“All right, so I’ve been playing
around a bit,” sneered Hall. “So what.
Lucy and I are just friends.”

“Maybe,” said Scroggin. “We don’t
mind you being friends with Lucy but
we do mind you sending her an electric
clock.” He snatched ‘open the drawer of
the desk, pulled out an electric alarm
clock and thrust it before Hall’s eyes.
“Ever see this clock before?”

“How do.I. know—all clocks look
alike.” :

“Not when they -have dents and’
scratches on them like this one has,”
said Scroggin, indicating the mark-
ings on the clock. “You know who the
real owner of this clock is. His name
was Adams—the guy you killed out
on highway 167.”

Hall’s debonair manner slipped from
him. “You’re nuts,” he said. “That
clock might belong to Adams but I
never killed him.” |

“You admit sending it to Lucy?”

“Sure I’ admit it but that proves
nothing. I bought that clock from a
guy in Camden. He offered it to me
right on the street and I gave him five
bucks for it.” - '

“You're lying,” said Martin. You
might as well come clean. The boys are
going through your room right now.
They’ll turn up those, watches and the
-38. We’ll prove that you killed Adams,
Mulherin and Newcombe. What we

‘| The fingerprint expert

want to know is what you did with
Fayrene. Did you kill her, too?”

Hall relaxed in his chair and grin-
ned amiably. “You got me wrong, pal,”
he said. “All wrong. I’m not that kind
of a guy. Look. My old man was a
minister. I read the Bible every day. I
was married before, I have a two-year-
old boy. Ask his mother if I don’t send
them money regular.”

P ETERSON, who had been shrewdly
sizing up the young cab driver,
answered: “Then in the name of that
two-year-old son of yours, why don’t
you act like a man,” he said slowly.
“Come clean. It won’t be so hard for
.the kid to take when: he grows up.”
The appeal shot home. Hall’s eyes
dropped and Peterson saw that he had
scored. “Come clean for us now,” he

continued, “and. we’ll do our best to. |

see that the kid never knows.”

Hall hesitated a moment, then met
Peterson’s eyes squarely. “It’s.a bar-
gain, pal,” he said. “Yes, I killed them
all. Fayrene was the first to go. She
was always nagging me.”

A stir ran through the room, the of-
ficers drew into a closer circle to hear
the most cold-blooded recital of crime
in their experience.

Calmly, now that he had confessed,
without any visible expression of re-

ndianapolis police recently were
faced with a strange theft. They
were looking for clues in the theft
of a fingerprint kit from. a free-.

lance’ fingerprint expert

: rt ‘eported
that the kit was stolen from’ him.
as he ate dinner in a’ restaurant.

morse, Hall told how he had killed his

young wife with his bare hands. He had’:

lured her out the old river road near
the Riverside golf course. There he
had attacked her suddenly without
warning, hitting her over the head at
least twenty times with his fists before
she died. He had made no effort to hide
her body and insisted that his con-
science had never “bothered him since
the crime.

His next victim had been the barber
in Camden. He had planned the rob-
bery deliberately, gotten the man out
of town on the pretext of selling him
whiskey. Hall, at the time, was armed
with a .45 but when he pulled out the
gun, the barber snatched out a .38. Be-
fore the-barber could fire, Hall blasted
him to eternity. Having read in detec-
tive. magazines that bullets could be
identified, he had taken the barber’s
388 after having rifled the body of two
dollars in small change. The .38 was
the weapon used in the subsequent
crimes.

Once he had started to talk, Hall
went into great detail. But the tech-
nique he had used was much the same
in all the murders. When at last the
gory recitation was over, no one was
more grateful than Scroggin. Small
wonder that he had been having night-
mares, while the mad taxi killer was
loose on the highways.

The next afternoon, Red Hall was
again the center of a knot of officers.
This time he was wearing handcuffs
and he stood by the bank of a river. He
scratched his head’ and looked around
him with a puzzled expression.

“Are you sure this is the place?”
asked Scroggin.

Hall nodded. “It was right around
here some place that I killed her. Funny
I can’t find the body.”

The officers poked around,: turning
over logs, stirring the driftwood along
the bank of the river. While they
were searching, a stranger walked up.
He stared at the men curiously.

“Looking for something?” he asked.

“A body,” said Scroggin grimly.
“Who are you?” =:

“T’m Cecil Foster..I’m a woodcutter
and I live over that way a bit,” the
man replied. “And I guess I got what.
you’re looking for.” The officers stared
at him in unbelief as he continued. “I
found a skull here about three months
ago. I just found the top of the skull—
thought probably it had been here for
years. There ought to be a jaw-bone
here someplace.” He stooped over,
peered under a rotting log. “Yep, there
it is, covered by them leaves.” ;

Hall craned his neck as Scroggin
picked up a whitened jaw bone and held
it up for the officer’s inspection.

_ “That’s Fayrene, all right,”-he said, al-

most proudly.
“How do you know?” asked Scrog-

gin.

“T can tell by that buck tooth there,
still sticking out,” explained Hall. “It
used to hurt me when I kissed her,”
Dragging Peterson, who was manacled
to him, he stooped over and rummaged
in the leaves. “And ‘here’s her dress,”
he said triumphantly. “I told you she
was wearing a red dress, remember ?”

Back in his cell, Red Hall was further
pleased with himself. He learned that
police from all over the Southwest
were clamoring for his fingerprints,
hoping they might solve other highway
murders. The demand was so great
that Martin was having them printed
in batches.

“Of course I killed others,” he
boasted. “I remember that woman in
Salina, Kansas, six years ago. She
tried to rob me, threatened me with a
knife. So I beat her to death. I remem-
ber her because she was the first. I
guess I killed maybe seventeen alto-
gether.”

Here was a job for Martin and
Scroggin, to verify these other crimes!
But they needed no more evidence

‘against Hall. Three guns, Adams’ shav-

ing mug and Newcombe’s watch had
been found hidden in his room.

The fact.that he was facing the
death penalty did not worry “Red” Hall.
“I’m reading my Bible and preparing
myself for Heaven,” he: said. “The
world will be better off without me.
I don’t have any reason for the bad
things that I did. I knew all along that
wi I was doing was wrong, but I just
couldn’t help myself. Some devil inside
of me just made me do it. After I had
killed once, the rest came easy. But I
know what I’m talking about and I feel
certain of my salvation,”

The name Lucy Watson is fictitious, to pro-
tect a person cleared of all complicity én
the crimes.

63


SPODELI

WITH

oa

By ANTOINE FLAMI/:?

wearily over his shoulder 9 his
companion.

“Pockets all yanked ingide ov: But
his clothes aren’t mussej, Se»? He
never put up a fight.”

Jack Porter, Superintendeyt »* she
State Police, nodded, squatted co~n
beside Scroggin. “Poor devil,” ic
muttered. ‘He never knew whit
blasted him.”

“No,” grunted Scroggin. ‘The kil'-

er stuck a gun in his ribs; marched’

him in here off the highway and then
let him have it.’
“The set-up looks simple enough,”
said Porter. “Murder. and robbery.”
He breathed on his blued fingers,
then scowled. “As you say, the mur-
der part wasn’t necessary.”

“Murder never is,” said Scroggin |

bitterly. For a long moment he stared
in silence at the pitiful object that

_had once been a man—a man, young,
‘vigorous, in the prime of life. Over-
head, the wind soughed dismally

trough ‘1e leafless trees in a plain-

tve dire Scroggin shuddered. He
wisn’t quite sure whether it was
Zonn tae cold or from the smell of
vent death. It was a lonely spot,
ey iit miles fyom Fordyce, Arkansas,

0+ Tighway 167... a beautiful spot

fur raurder on the morning of Febru-

avy Ist, 1945,

sc had been an urgent call for help,

al. our before, from Sheriff T. H.

Gover of Cleveland County, that had

b:vaght Seroggin and Porter from

heriquarters in ‘Little Rock, to the

wwere of the crime. Now, at the
‘.~iliar sound of the Sheriff’s gruff

\'2 behind him, Scroggin straight-

toee stiffly to his feet.
The County official wasted no time
i, wasual greetings. He got down to

kvaas tacks at once. “Things have —

hwepened since I ’phoned you,” he

sid briskly. “Right after that we ,

fynd;an abandoned car down the
iva. It'was carrying Kansas plates.”
croggin struggled with a match
cigarette in the wind. “Have you

ce »ul Kansas, yet?”

Below, murderer identifies

‘ skull of pretty Fayrene Hall,

above. He recognized skull
by buck tooth which, he said,
hurt him when he kissed her.

orn one

a

. patiently, “cases like

it

USSU he ae oau ch aneart nara

the skull of the slain truck driver,
There was no mistaking it. It was a 38
and was grooved and marked exactly
like the one that had killed Adams!
That settled it. It was cold certainty
now that a kill-crazy bandit roamed
the highways. Scroggin’s days were
hectic; his nights sleepless. He tracked
down every tip, no matter how wild.
But not one of th
or watches turned up. And the myster-
ious stranger in the green checked cap
had apparently vanished into thin air.
Scroggin became a frequent visitor
at the headquarters of the local police,
He dropped in often to consult with
Martin, to learn what progress, if any,
d

these periodic calls. A glance at Mar-
tin’s face was enough to tell him that

Martin looked at him keenly, “You
look’ like’ you could use an aspirin,”

Scroggin shoved back his hat and
closed his eyes. “You said it.”

“I know how it is,” said Martin
sympathetically. “This case is sure a
beaut. Peterson and Judd haven't
turned up a thing.”

“It’s not their . fault,” muttered
Scroggin. “They haven't anything to
go on. I wish I could get some sleep, I
si seeing a guy in a green checked
at.’

There was a knock on the door and
Detective Peterson stuck his head in.
“That farmer, Clemmons, is here again.”

artin made an impatient gesture.
“Tell him I haven't any news for him,
I'll let him know when I do.” Then; as
Peterson hesitated, he changed his
mind. “Oh, all right. I know the old
man’s worried. Send him in.” ”

As Peterson’s head disappeared, he
turned to Scroggin, “Stick around,
I'll be through with this man in a few
minutes,” .

‘Mr. Clemmons, the farmer, took the
chair Martin indicated, i
' “IT know I’ve been bothering you
a lot,” he began apologetically, “But

_ the missus and me are still worried

about Fayrene. It was last. August
that she disappeared,”

“But as I told you,” said Martin

Clemmons shook his grizzled head.
“Not Fayrene. She's only nineteen,”

“We've already investigated this
We got the whole
story from her husband.” | Martin
crossed to a steel filing ‘cabinet and

read: “Fayrene Clemmons Hall. Fa-
ther, A. Z, Clemmons of Lonoke.
Husband, James Wayburn Hall, age:
24, taxi driver, Little Rock. ..-. Ac.

reled. In the morning she was gone.
She took her purse and about $40 with

62

, reas, es NEP eae ths} Nieaias StMegiies test Hoo bd
PEE RET RIP Aie Sen ORR oR 60? pa cali "

her. But none of her clothes were
missing.”

“That’s Red’s story,” said Clemmons.
“But why didn’t he tell us she wag
gone? Why did he wait till our cousins
found it out?”

Martin shrugged. “Lord only knows,

e just figured she walked out on him.
It happens every day. All the other cab
drivers describe him as a swell guy.”

“They don’t know ‘Red’.”, Clemmons
shook his head stubbornly, “Fayrene’s
a nice girl, easy to get along with. But
he used to beat her. I know he did.”

“I guess he had a temper, all right,”
admitted Martin. “We had him in once
for assault. Let’s see,” he consulted
the papers again, “Here it is. He beat
up one William Blevins, in. an alley
near Second and Center Streets. He
was fined $100 for that little job... .”

Scroggin had been listening to all
this in silence, Now, hearing Martin’s
voice trail off, he glanced up sharply,

“What’s up?”

Martin came to with a. jerk, turned
abruptly to Clemmons. “You go home
now. Tell the Missus to stop worrying,
We'll have another talk with ‘Red’,”

Bewildered, but satisfied, the. farmer
left. Martin whirled on Scroggin.

“Does that guy in the green checked

Deputy Sheriff" Peter.
f Spokane, Wash.,
‘Knocked on a door of a house in.
the course of. duty, he was told

‘in no uncertain terms to “shut. up.
and: be off.!4j- > Pes pia ee
_ Looking through window, he
Saw the source of he abuse, an
angry parrot. aan

cap, that haunts your dreams, have
red hair?” he demanded. 3

“I don’t know,” Scroggin replied.

“IT just remembered,” said Martin,
“When Hall was arrested for that as-
sault job, he was wearing a green
checked cap.”

Within a matter of minutes, Peter.
son and Judd were getting their orders,
Martin told them to go to Hall’s room
to. question him again.

“Pretend it’s just a routine call,” he
warned. “Just another check on
whether he’s heard from his wife, Don’t
mention the highway murders,”

When the detectives had gone, Scrog-
gin and Martin prepared for an anxious
wait.

It was Peterson who returned alone,

“The guy was out, Chief,” he re-
ported. “Judd’s gone looking for him.
The landlady let me in. Said he was
such a quiet, pleasant boy.”

“Did you find anything ?” interrupted
Martin eagerly,

“I couldn’t poke in the closet, she
was with me. There was a Bible in the
room,” he explained aside to Scroggin.
“He’s a minister’s son, you know. And
there was a detective story magazine,
open at a page that explained all about
ballistics.” He fished in his pocket,
brought out a small stub. “I palmed
this. It’s a receipt for registered mail.”

Seroggin and Martin bent their
heads over the bit of paper. It was

}

dated February 2nd and was made out
to Lucy Watson, at an address on
Center Street, Little Rock.

“I phoned there just before | came
in,” explained Peterson. “Miss Watson
is out of town and they don’t know
when she’ll be back.”

Martin grunted. “When she does
come back—you’ll be waiting for her.”

TWENTY minutes later, Captain.

Scroggin, driving his police car in
the direction of home, heard the radio
on the dashboard click out an urgent
Summons. He listened, swore under his
breath, then yanked the wheel savage-
ly around, ( :

They were waiting for him, seventy
miles north, just above Heber Springs.
Another highway murder and this
time, even more shocking than the
others,

By the time he got there, the officers
already on the scene had had time-to
collect more details. It was Porter who
flagged him to a halt on the highway.
He yanked open the door, piled in be-

side Scroggin and breathlessly gave

directions,

“Right up here a way—turn into that
logging road.” Then as they jounced
off the highway: “We've just checked
up on the license plates. It’s New-
combe—the state boiler inspector!”

“Good Lord,” breathed Scroggin.
“What happened? Where is he?”

“You mean—what’s left of him,”
said Porter. His voice dropped. “We've
carried the body to that shack over
there. It’s pretty tough. He . was

\ burned. There’s nothing left but a
charred torso, the stubs of his legs
and his head.”

Scroggin was horrified, stunned.
While he collected ‘his wits, Porter
pointed out the death car. It had left
a crazy trail from where it had swerved
off the road, crashed through a fence,
ploughed across a field and ended up,
with two flat tires, in a wood-lot. ;

“The body was found in the back of
the car,” explained Porter, as they ap-
proached it. “That’s where the fire was
centered. That’s why: Sheriff Turner
and Sheriff Tatum Plant knew im-
mediately that it was no accident.”

They peered into the car. As the Su-
erintendent said, the front was not
feaiy damaged by the fire. Bloodstains
were faintly visible on the upholstery
there, !

“When I got the radio call, I thought:
our hitchhiker was up to his old tricks,””

to the shack. The Cleburne County
Coroner, Dr. Faust, was in there, mak-

ing a_ preliminary examination. They -

met him coming out.

“It’s almost certainly murder,” he
greeted them. “There’s a fracture on |
the left side of the head.”

Scroggin asked the question that was
uppermost in both their minds. “
that fracture caused by a bullet?”

Dr. Faust nodded. “Probably. I'll ,
know for certain after the autopsy.
I’m going to make arrangements ;
now.” ; ;

He left the two officers. staring
sombrely at each other. Again they
shared the same thought. And again,
it was Scroggin who put it inte words,


Brewer his first

loor which con-
house, he locked
to the home of a
and child. Irwin

I~ ~~ before the
| ned.
i. wild flight.

ice. Officers were
his house, having
watch it. Again
circled through
hia, then set out
ng a roundabout

he secreted the
eld and attacked
time. With only
‘un, $2.45 in his
ns of gas in the
stop several new
vas his intention
‘r, then continue
ichine that would
ntified. None of
s for him.

noon broadcast of
the Oldsmobile.
_ his latest crime,
d safely continue
and once more
yn. In spite of the
lvania and New
been alerted and
er of the Brewer
able to drive 50
racting the atten-

C

7 2r on U. S.
i little town
and bought gas.
idant recognized
e had seen in a
rst murder victim
loyed, the ends of
served when the
rsey State Police-
d John A. Smith

aington in their
’ officers quickly
ldsmobile. Irwin
time. Tramping
e floorboard, he
/a gravel road but

he sedan hit an em-

ed

Behind it the po-
op.
elled to his cap-
run in hand. But
wuffering girl had
ew herself out of
| ran toward the
d to fire as Irwin
reserve along the

lyn’s flight took
’s line of fire and
ioting before they
2 fugitive. Irwin
ees, While Ofiara
«  ‘ wwracks for

1g motorist
wy~vetical girl to

ie desperado had

n the cylinder of

ee aaa

*,
>

Foe Oe sages

cates
Se,

= it

Warren Lee Irwin’s revolver was empty.
Did that mean that-his luck had run out?
Perhaps not. If the gathering storm would
only break! But no wind stirred. No rain
fell. The promises of the lightning had
become taunts.

A smoke would have felt good, but he
dared not strike a match. How much of
the night was gone? How long would it
be before the zero hour of daybreak? It
was easy now to understand why animals
trapped in the night chewed off their
legs rather than face what the rising sun
ble bring.

That self-pity which ts in some degree
a part of the character of every psycho-
pathic criminal must have overwhelmed
him, What could he do with five bullets
against hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
men? The whole world was against him.
It had been against. his mail-stealing
father. The hell-bent son had seen his
father lying dead with a revolver in his
hand and a self-inflicted bullet wound

in his head, Such a sight would be un-

forgettable,

Irwin squinted again at the sky. Even
the elements had conspired against him.
The storm that could mean so much to
him would never break. What could he
do? Well, he could make good his boast
that he would never be brought to trial.

Tearing off the glasses which he had
always despised as a symbol of weakness,
Irwin flung them to the ground. He
turned the empty chamber in his revolver
10 a position where the hammer would
not fall on it. His left hand—the hand
he had always hated—came up and the

cold muzzle of the Smith and Wesson
pressed against his head.

The report of the revolver was lost
in a clap of thunder. A roaring wind
whipped through the woods and rain fell
in sheets, obscuring the vision of the man-
hunters or driving them from their posts.
A dozen lanes of escape lay open. But
Irwin did not know it.

At sunup, the great manhunt was re-
newed with posses milling through trees
and thickets and cars parked bumper to
bumper along roads for miles around.
But the search was soon over. Looking
down from one of the many planes that
circled the game refuge, Arthur Doan and
Joseph Nardolli sighted the body lying
amid a tangle of brush.

The suicide and his gun were later
flown to Michigan, where detectives and

‘ballistics experts soon satisfied themselves
that he had been responsible for all the.

crimes of which he had boasted. There
remained only the question of why Irwin
had run amok.

Dr. Ira Altshuler, a famous psychiatrist
on the staff of the Wayne County General
Hospital, had an answer.

“Irwin was a schizophrenic who could
not help asserting himself,” he said. “His
self-assertion took the wrong direction.
Feeling that he had been unjustly de-
prived of a father, he tried to revenge
himself on the world.”

With this diagnostic epitaph, the whirl-
wind career of the lustful weakling who
had tried to show the world that he was a
strong man by killing, raping and rob-

4 ot 9
bing, was forevey, ended.

Clue of the Skull

[Continued from page 13]

the spot where the victim had been
struck down, the sheriff picked up a ring
with two car keys. One was found to fit
the ignition, the other one the trunk.

“This answers a question that’s been
running through iny mind,” Glover told
his deputy. “T was wondering why. the
killer would risk capture by failing to
use the car for his getaway. It’s quite
likely he dropped the key ring after the
killing and didn’t take the time to search
for it.”

“There’s another possibility,” Mc-
Collum said. “The victim was forced to
march into the woods. It could be that
he might have deliberately dropped the
keys in an effort to defeat or at least
delay ‘the murderer's escape in his car.”

In,the meantime, news of the killing
had been radioed to the state police.
Oliphant and Sims, arriving at the
windup of the county men’s on-the-scene
investigation, conferred briefly. They
agreed that the slaying had all the ear-
marks of being the work of a hitchhiker.

Tending to support this theory was
the only information they were able to
obtain in a canvass among residents and
operators of business establishments in
the neighborhood, A farmer declared that
about 4:30 that afternoon he had driven
past the spot where the car was parked.
At the next intersection he had noticed

a tall, well-dressed youth who was hold-
ing a suitcase and thumbing a lift.

A dispatch to the Humboldt, Kan.,
authorities brought back information ob-
tained from Mrs. Adams. Her husband
had left home to accept a job at an
Arkansas war plant. He was traveling
with a large suitcase which contained.
among articles of wearing apparel, some
scarce wartime merchandise such as ciga-
rets, razor blades, and two brand new
electric alarm clocks. When he left he
had a quantity of gas ration coupons
and more than $100 in cash on his person
and was wearing a 17-jewel Gruen wrist-
watch, the face of which had luminous
stones instead of numerals to indicate
the hours,

On the morning of February 8, Oli-
phant and Sims were engaged in running
down a few tenuous tips that had come
into headquarters when they received in-

' structions by radio to proceed to the

scene of another murder. The lifeless
body of a man had been discovered by
a fisherman in a patch of woods off High-
way I] at a point about two miles north
of Hazen in Prairie County.

Upon their arrival the officers con-
ierred with Sheriff E.O. Hamilton, under
whose supervision a preliminary investi-

gation had been completed. The victim
had been identified as Doyle Mulherin,
a truck driver for a Little Rock meat
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2

‘morning of January 8, 1945, a man
driftwood along the bank of the
ér found a human skull. Tossing
eekup trio he —— it to his
me on the outskirts of Littl

ee ittle Rock and

scene. They found the victim stretched

the ground of a small clearing in the wood, is
arms were spreadeagled in the sleeves of his un-
buttoned overcoat and jacket. There was a bullet
wound in the chest. The trouser pockets were -
turned inside out. A wallet lying on the ground
contained only a few cards, one of which identi-
fied the victim as a Camden resident named C
F. Hamilton. Conspicuous by its absence was a
ring which obviously had made the impression
around the second finger of the left hand.

Closer examination disclosed that the bullet
had gone straight through the chest, leaving an
exit wound at a point just below'the left shoulder ’
blade. The slug, found shortly after the body was

» removed, was a .45. But no weapon or sign of a .
struggle was discovered. Nor did the officers ob-
tain any useful information in their methodical
canvass of residents in the neighborhood.

_. From the victim's wife they learned that Ham-
ilton, who was a barber, had left home shortl
before 9 o'clock the previous evening. Believing
that some unexpected business had come up she
rags ap op oo by his overnight absence.
Y e first ti i
without molting on he had remained away
rown flashed over Oliphant’s face. “
nig 2 business would keep a barber our a

Na és,of human conduct. Prom
‘ord’of the discovery would have taken a killer
‘of circulation before he struck a second
ime, His detection’and arrest then would have
swarranted a few newspaper headlines. As it was,
the best detective brains in the state were chal-
denged for months by a series of baffling mur-
We have absolute proof that the murderer
ik ve lives and attongly suspect his handi-
kin 13 other killin
An ll-day layer of |

gs.
st covered the skull in

nd Sgt. Homer J.
ighway 79 to the

i “wha murdered five

‘The woman hesitated. Finally she disclosed that Hamil-
ton had been doing a little bootlegging on the side. She
frequently had pleaded with him not to engage in the
illegal traffic, but he pérsisted. He must have had a size-
able sum of money in his possession because he had gone
to pick up a supply of liquor. When he left he had a .38
caliber revolver in his pocket and was wearing a gold ring
set with a blue stone around which was carved the replica
of a snake.

Out in the squad car, the officers recalled rumors that
a number of bootleggers had become the prey of a bandit
as a wholesaler of illicit liquor. He would arrange
show up at a pre-arranged secluded
spot with a six-shooter, and stick his victim up. For obvious
reasons no complaint had been made to the police, so that
the identity and description of the marauder remained a
mystery.

“My money says that Hamilton was killed because he
resisted,” Sims told his partner.

Oliphant nodded. “His unusual ring might one day ope
the killer. That and the missing gun are just about all
we've got to work on.”

A description of the ring was flashed to peace officers
over a wide area. In the days that followed, Oliphant
and Sims concentrated on questioning men suspected of

posin
a deal by telephone,

was

Former Chief Deputy Prosecutor, Sixth Judicial District

“I had to get rid of her,” said the
man at left, holding the tattered
garments of the girl above, “because
she knew too much.” Handcuffed to
Detective H. R. Peterson, the mur-
derer subsequently opined that he
“got a kick out of not getting caught.”

trafficking in illicit liquor but they got nowhere. All of
them possessed the silent virtues of their clan.

Late on the afternoon of February 1, exactly two weeks
after Hamilton's murder, Deputy Sheriff C. E. McCollum,
of Cleveland County, was driving along Highway 167 when,
a few'miles north of Fordyce, he noticed a parked Ford
which bore Kansas license plates. Several documents scat-
tered on the front seat caught his eye. Stopping to examine
them, he saw they were insurance policies on the life of a
man named E. C. Adams, of Humboldt, Kan.

McCollum glanced around him. His attention was ar-
rested by a number of footprints that led from the edge
of the highway into a patch of woods. Curious, he inspected
“them closely. Two distinct sets of impressions led into the
underbrush but it was plain that only one man had re-
traced his steps. The deputy followed the trail for a distance.
of about 50 feet. There, face downward, lay the body of
a man. There was a gaping hole in the bac of his head.

In response to the deputy’s message, Sheriff A. D. Glover
arrived with the coroner. Rigor mortis had not yet set in,
indicating conclusively that the murder had been com-
mitted during the daylight hours. Empty pockets made it
clear that robbery had been the motive.

An inspection of the Ford yielded nothing. About half

the way between the highway and [Continued on page 59]

of Arkansas, as told to ALBERT BRAGER

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type. No money was found on the victim
and once again there was an absence of
clues to the marauder’s identity. Foot-
prints leading to his body told the now
familiar story that the murderer had
marched him into the woods to his doom.

About an hour later the news was
flashed over the police radio that the
missing truck had been located in the
business section of Stuttgart, about 20
miles south of Hazen. When the state
investigators got there, they found that
a search of the vehicle by technicians for
usable fingerprints had ended in failure.

Oliphant and Sims joined the local
officers in an attempt to get a line on the
man who had abandoned the truck. A
gas station attendant told them he had
scen a young man pull it to a halt at
the curb and enter a nearby cafe. There
a waitress recalled she happened to be
glancing out the window when the stran-
ger parked the truck and headed for the
eating place. She said he was a good
looking, blue-eyed fellow whom she
judged to be about 24, and close to being
a six-footer. :

The police surmise that Adams and
Mulherin had met death at the hands
of the same killer was given a big play
in the newspapers. Included in the ac-
count of the latest murder was a more
comprehensive report of the earlier one.
Published for the first time was a detailed
description of Adams’ missing watch.

That same afternoon, over in Alex-
andria, La., C. W. Ingram, the manager
of a jewelry store, got in touch with
Police Chief George Gray. He reported
that the previous week a young fellow
had sold him such a Gruen watch.

Gray passed the word on to the state
police in Little Rock. Late that afternoon
Oliphant and Sims obtained a detailed
account of the transaction from Ingram.
He said that on February 2 a man who
gave his name as H. W. Willis of Bunkie,
La., had come into the store with the
watch and a ring. He wanted to pawn
them for $25, which he said he needed
to pay the fine of a buddy who had-been
arrested for a traffic violation.

“I told him we weren't licensed to
Operate a pawnshop.” the manager ex-
plained. “However, to help him out I
agreed to purchase the jewelry for that
amount with the understanding that he
would buy it back the follawing Monday.
When he failed to return I realized there
was something phony about him.”

Ingram pulled the timepiece from a
manila envelope and handed it to the
officers. It was Adams’ watch. When the

manager reached into the container a

second time and produced a ring with
the carved figure of a snake embracing
the blue stone setting, their faces grew
tense.

“Hamilton’s ring and Adams’ wrist-
watch,” Oliphant said. “Now it’s a cer-
tainty we're dealing with the fellow
who committed both murders.”

Further inquiries elicited additional
details about the straw man the officers
had begun to build from the description
they had obtained in Stuttgart. Ingram
told them that his well-dressed visitor
with the blue eyes had had a good choice
of words, spoke in well-modulated, polite

60

tones, was about five feet 11 inches tall,
and flashed a toothy smile.

Several hours later, when the officers
showed the ring to Mrs. Hamilton, she
was quick to identify it as her husband's,
Mrs. Adams, who had come to Arkansas
to claim her husband’s body, also in-
stantly recognized the watch as the one
worn by her mate.

Although the police held little hope of
picking up a lead in Bunkie, an inquiry
was nevertheless undertaken. As they
suspected, the name Willis was unknown
in the town.

When Oliphant and Sims got back to |

headquarters, they learned of two de-
velopments that had taken place during
their absence. Lt. Allen Templeton, state
police ballistics expert, had completed a
study of the slugs which had caused the
deaths of the three victims. The .45 which
had figured in Hamilton’s killing yielded
no enlightening information. But tests
on the other two, both .38s, showed they
had been fired from the same gun.

“It looks as if the .38 the killer took
from Hamilton,” Oliphant said, “might
have been the gun he used on Adams and
Mulherin.”

The second development was another
result of the newspaper publicity. After
reading the account of Mulherin’s mur-
der, a man named Albert Johnson had
reported to the Little Rock police that
he picked up a hitchhiker on the high-
way shortly after 11 a. m. on February
8 when, according to the press report,
the suspect had been seen in the Stutt-
gart cafe. The description he had given
of the rider left no doubt that he was
the same man who had been pegged in
Alexandria. From time to time, Johnson
had reported, his passenger would slip

his hand into his coat pocket and keep _

surveying the traffic. Convinced he was
planning to hold him up, Johnson got
rid of the hitchhiker by pulling into a
busy filling station and ordering him out
of his truck.

“He didn’t say he lived in Little Rock
but I'll give odds that he does,” Johnson
remarked. “He knew a lot about the
streets and the night spots around town.”

The possibility that the suspect was a
resident of the capital city presented a
challenge to Detective Sgt. Harold M.
Judd and Detective H. R. Peterson, of
the Little Rock police department. Not
only had these officers won deserved
recognition as first rate crime fighters
in their city work but. frequently loaned
to us to help out on important investi-
gations throughout the county, they had
never failed to “bring back the bacon.”

A period of peak activity began for
Peterson and Judd. Selecting from the
police files a list of possible suspects,
they began rounding them up and check-
ing their stories. Most were able quickly
to be cleared of suspicion. Those whose
accounts required checking were de-
tained in the Pulaski County Jail. One of
these, a hard-eyed, ruthless ex-convict
by the name of George Blake, turned out
to be a real hot suspect. Although unable
to be fingered conclusively by any of
the witnesses, he gave an alibi that
cracked under the detectives’ probing,
and then another which they were also
able to rip apart.

t

On the afternoon of February 27, when
they arrived at the jail for another session
with the suspect, the warden beckoned
them into his office. He told thent that a
newly-arrived prisoner named James
Waybern Hall had been placed in Blake's
cell. A short time later Hall had tipped
the warden off that his cellmate was
worried to death and had hinted that
the police were on the right track.

“Hall is the minister's son,” the jail
official advised, “who was questioned
some months back about his wile’s dis-
appearance.”

The officers recalled the details of that
interrogation. Late in September, Hall’s
18-year-old wife, Fayrene, had been re
ported missing by her mother, Mrs. Vada
Clemmons. The husband told investiga-
tors that she had left him on the night
of the 14th, shortly after the windup of
a dance they had attended with one of
her close friends, Katherine Bryant. As
they were leaving the hall, a few heated
words passed between them, and Fayrene
threatened to leave him. Before their
marriage the previous March she had
been on friendly terms with an army
lieutenant stationed at Camp Robinson
but who later was transferred to some
distant post. She had never told him the
officer’s name. But whenever they had an

‘argument she would refer to her friend-

ship with. him and boast that he would
pa Al her if she ever decided to join
him.

Everything seemed to indicate that the
young wife had deserted her husband.
Katherine Bryant had recalled Fayrene’s
assertion she had made up her mind not
to live with James any longer. Other
girl friends had recounted conversations
in which the missing girl had expressed
a longing to revive her former romance.
Even some members of her family were
inclined to believe she had left James
for somebody else. Moreover, Hall’s ac-
tions had indicated genuine concern over
his wife’s disappearance. He had
promptly and with visible agitation re-
ported the matter to her parents. During
the days that followed, he had brokenly
visited her friends to inquire if they had
received any word from her and had been
known to take solace in the Bible.

“What's he in for?” Peterson asked
the warden,

The jail official replied that Hall had
been charged with atrocious assault and
battery. It had grown out of a fight at 4
o'clock that morning with a young man
whom he accused of making passes at a
girl friend who worked in a cafe near the
courthouse,

A deep frown creased Judd’s forehead.
“Quite a bit out of character for the
Bible-reading son of a preacher.”

“This is an eye-opener, all right,”
agreed Peterson. “Let’s do a little quiet
checking into that old case.”

Evincing only a mild interest in Blake,
they interrogated Hall about his hints
to the warden. Pinned down for facts,
he admitted that his fellow prisoner had
not only made no admissions to him but
had steadfastly maintained he was being
held on a bum rap. That Blake was not
involved in the murders became clear
to the detectives the following day when,

Eg hie:

under the pressure of proof that he had
given still another false alibi, he broke
down and confessed that at 10 a, m. on
February 8, the approximate time of Mul-
herin’s slaying, he had stuck < a filling
station attendant near Pine Bluff. On
the horns of a dilemma, he had given the
false alibis until he finally realized that
his only recourse was to come out with
the truth. His identification by the gas
station attendant, which ultimately led
to his conviction and imprisonment, com-
pletely exonerated him on the more seri-
ous charges.

Peterson and Judd now quietly t\rned
their attention to the old mystery of
Fayrene Hall's disappearance. When they
ascertained from members of her family

, that she was still missing, they decided

to make a search of Hall's quarters in a
North Little Rock. rooming house. The
landlady told them that he had first im-
pressed her as a pleasant, clean-living
young man but as time went on she be-
came puzzled over his frequent absences.
He seemed to be doing surprisingly well
for one whose only visible means of sup-
port were the occasional short perjods
of employment as a taxicab driver. She
changed her opinion about him when she
found out that he used to sneak a woman
into his room now and then.

“A day or so before his arrest I saw
a loaded gun in his bureau drawer,” she
continued. “I decided he had better get
out but I didn’t want to raise a fuss.
So I simply told him I had made up
my mind to rent my rooms only to
women. He said he'd look for other quar-
ters and asked me to give him a few days
to find a place.”

The detectives met with no success in
searching Hall’s room for a weapon. An
item which arrested Peterson’s attention
was a detective story magazine dog-eared
at a page giving an account of a ballistics
test which linked a suspect to a murder
by proving that the rifling marks on test
bullets fired from his gun matched those
on the slugs recovered from the body of
the victim.

Judd, who had been studying a Kansas
road map he picked up in one of the
bureau drawers, called his partner's at-
tention to a penciled tracing on a high-
way stretching north from Wichita. “I
don’t know what this means,” he said,
“but it’s a good thing to bear in mind.”
Turning to the landlady, he asked, “How
about visitors? Do you know the names
of any of his pals?”

The woman recalled that he had ar-
ranged to have a friend named Bob Nick-
erson, whom she described as a thin,
tough looking character with shilty eyes,
occupy his room while he was away one
night sometime around the middle of
January.

The detectives exchanged significant
glances. Nickerson was an ex-convict
whom they had questioned during their
recent roundup of criminals. He had
been able to provide unbreakable alibis
for the times of the murders. But during
the course of their prying into his affairs,
they found in the police files a report
made by him early on the morning of
January 19 that his automobile had been
stolen the previous day. The car, gutted
by fire, had been found on a lonely coun-

try road several hours after he had re-
ported the theft.

Peterson pledged the landlady to
secrecy about their visit and led the way
to the squad car. There he pointed out
that January 18, the day Nickerson had
claimed his car was stolen, was the date
of Hamilton's murder.

“I don’t think that's a coincidence,”
he said. “If we keep on digging, the
hidden clam is bound to squirt.”

“You're right,” replied Judd, “but
we've got to be careful not to tip off
our hand. How about getting hold of
somebody who'll consent to play the role
of prisoner for a few days? Let’s get him
placed in the same cell with Hall. Maybe
he'll pick up something worth while.”

“It's worth a try.” agreed Peterson,
“and I've got the right man in mind.”

On the morning of March 7, when
the detectives were ready to put their
plan into operation, they learned to their
chagrin that Hall had been released on
bond. A check disclosed that he had been
reinstated as a taxi driver by the man-
ager of the concern where he used to
work.

The following afternoon, while they
were continuing their quiet inquiry into
the two men who had come within their
sights, Sheriff T. L. Turney, of Cleburne
County, received a report that an auto-
mobile was afire in a stretch of woods
along Highway 25 at a point a few miles

_ south of Heber Springs. Investigating,

he discovered, sprawled across the rear
seat of the burning car, the body of a
man with a bullet hole in his forehead.

The blaze was extinguished before it
could do much damage to the car. Papers
in the dead man’s pocket identified him
as J. D. Newcomb, chief boiler inspector
of the State Department of Labor, and
a check of the registration tags disclosed
that he was the owner of the machine.
Again the absence of any valuables made
it obvious that robbery had been the
motive.

Turney’s message to state police head-
quarters sent Oliphant and Sims rushing

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to the scene. While they were on their
way, the sheriff and his deputies picked
up a couple of significant leads. Two
hoys disclosed that they were sitting on a
bluff overlooking the highway about
three miles from the spot where the body
had been discovered when-the sound of
a flat tire on the wheel of'an approaching
car attracted their attention. It was a
blue Oldsmobile sedan. The driver, a
hatless youth they guessed to be about
25 years old, had red. wavy hair and a
ruddy complexion, Stretched out on the
floor in the rear was a man whose gro-
tesque position made them think he was
in a drunken stupor.

The officials next came across a school
teacher who reported that while she was
waiting for a bus on the highway near
the trail that led to the hidden auto-
mobile, a hatless, red-headed young man
approached as if from nowhere just as
the vehicle came around a bend in the
road. He took a seat across the aisle from
her and she had a chance to observe him
closely. Her description of his facial fea-
tures left no doubt that he was the phan-
tom marauder whose ruthless killings
had aroused the entire state.

After the state investigators arrived
and obtained details of the local inquiry,
Oliphant said, “According to the story
of those boys, the killer must have been
riding around with his victim. Of course,
Newcomb might have been unconscious
and met death here but I'm inclined to
think he died elsewhere. It's likely the
murderer was looking for a good place
to dispose of the body before making his
getaway in the car when that flat tire
made him change his plans.”

Over in Little Rock, meantime, Peter-
son and Judd had swung into action at
the first flash about Newcomb’s slaying.
At the Department of Labor office they
learned he had left at 9 o'clock to make
a number of inspections in Faulkner and
White Counties. By a phone call to the
manager of a manufacturing plant in
Conway, his first scheduled stop, Judd
found out that the inspector had not put
in an appearance. “Conway is only 27
miles from here,” he pointed. out. “It
means that in less than-an hour after he
started out Newcomb was either killed,
knocked unconscious, or abducted by
someone he picked up somewhere be-
tween here and Conway.”

Peterson was handed a bulletin giving
additional details of the probe in Cle-
burne County. His eyes narrowed as he
saw that this time, because the suspected
killer was hatless, the witnesses had been
able to observe his red, wavy hair.

“This settles it,” he told Judd. “Hall's
got a crop of hair like that. Let’s get a
line on his movements today.”

The detectives found out plenty within
a short time. Hall had not reported for
work that morning. Another cab driver
had run into him on a street corner and
they had stopped to chat for a few min-
utes.

“He kept bellyaching about the money
he had to pay the lawyer who sprung
him,” the driver stated. “When he left
he winked at me and said he had a good
cure for the disease of being broke. I
saw him hop a bus that runs out to the
Conway Pike.”

62

The officers rushed over to his room- + conference between the local and state

ing house. The landlady told them that
when he got out of jail she had repeated
her request that he move out, but he
again pleaded for a little mor€ time. The
last she saw of him was when he lett
the house around 7 o'clock that morn-
ing.

{n making another search of his room,
the detectives found a parcel post re-
ceipt in the pocket of a jacket on a hanger
in the clothes closet. The stamp it bore
showed it had been issued at the Cam-
den post office on February 1.

“By George!” exclaimed Judd. “That's
the day Adams was killed. “Let’s ask the
police down there to find out what they
can at the post office.”

“And the time has come for us to pick
Hall and Nickerson up,” Peterson said.
“There’s no sense in gumshoeing around
any further.”

. They were unable to locate Hall but
Nickerson sat facing them at headquar-
ters shortly before midnight.

“A fellow with a record ain't got a
chance with guys like you,” he snapped.
“What do you want with me now?”

Peterson ignored his belligerence.
“Nothing but the truth.” He leaned for-
ward in his chair and fixed his brown
eyes on the pinched, sallow face in front
of him. “Think back to January 18. That
was the day you loaned Hall your car.
He drove it to Camden, where he killed
Hamilton. I don’t have to tell you what
could happen to you if convicted of being
an accessory to murder.”

Tk was conjecture on the detective’s
part, but in his mind was an abiding con-
viction that his theory was anchored in
the truth. Nickerson’s hands began to
shake, his eyes were harried. and his
Adam's apple made a couple of fast
round trips. “I'm not going to protect
him any more,” he said hoarsely. “I'll
tell you what happened and give it to
you straight.”

He began his story by relating that
Hall had dropped hints which made him
suspect that he was the bandit preying
on the bootleggers. Although he denied
sharing the loot, he admitted loaning
his car and his .45 automatic to Hall
at different times, including the day of
Hamilton’s murder.

Nickerson admitted that Hall got him .

out of bed before dawn on the morning
following the killing, told him he had
tossed the gun into the Arkansas River,
and urged him to report the theft of his
car, F
“I knew, of course, that he must have
killed somebody. But he didn’t come right
out and tell that he did. I reported the
car stolen but had nothing to do with
burning it up. He was the one who set it
afire out there in the country.”

Responding to further inquiries, he
insisted he knew absolutely nothing
about the disappearance of Hall's wife.
He surmised that Hall was involved in
the slaying of Adams and: Mulherin be-
cause he was out of town during the vital
hours, was just about broke when he left,
and came back on each occasion flashing
bills. .

Pending investigation of his story, he
was detained in the county jail. At a

officials it was decided to withhold for
the time being any public announcement
that Hall was wanted. Alerted by such
a move, he might succeed in putting him-
self beyond the easy reach of the law.
If he thought he was safe there was a
good chance of his walking into the trap
baited for him in Little Rock.

Peterson and Judd. returning to head-
quarters after a few hours of sleep, found
a message from Camden awaiting them.
It brought the information that the in-
sured parcel had been addressed to Miss
Janie Munn at a Louisiana St. address in
Little Rock.

Contacted a short time later, the
woman gave the detectives a straightfor-
ward story. About three months previ-

ously she had struck up an acquaintance-

ship with Hall in the dining room of a
ot ta hotel, where she was employed
as a waitress. His frequent out-of-town
trips puzzled her and she had once asked
him about them. He gave her an evasive
answer, so she let it go at that. In a
long distance phone call from Camden,
he told her that he was mailing her a
package and asked her to hold it for
him until he got back. She did as he
requested and when he returned he
opened it in her presence. Her descrip-
tion of the contents left no doubt that
they were the scarce wartime items re-
ported by Adams’ wile to have been in
her husband's suitcase.

“That's one of the alarm clocks,” she
said, pointing to a timepiece on an end
table. “He sold it to me for $5.”

Early the next morning, Peterson re-
ceived a phone call from the manager
of the cab company which had employed
Hall. “You asked me to get in touch with
you if he showed up here,” he said. “Well,
right now he’s trying to talk our dis-
patcher at the stand near the Missouri
Pacific station into taking him back
again.”

He was still there a few minutes later
when Peterson and Judd arrived. Plac-
ing him under arrest, they brought him
to state police headquarters, where top
officials joined them in interrogating
him. He countered their accusations by
snorting indignantly, laughing mock-
ingly, or making categorical: denials.

Peterson opened a drawer and slowly
began placing some articles on the desk.
They included the parcel post reccipt,
the alarm clock which he had sold to
the waitress, Adams’ wristwatch and
Hamilton's ring.

Hall glanced at the exhibits, ran his
tongue over his lips, and swallowed hard.
For a few moments there was silence.
Then he took a deep breath and said,
“I know when the cards are stacked
against me. I’m ready to talk.”

His mood was one of calm resignation
as he launched into his confession. Oc-
casionally he grinned as he recounted
what he thought had been a clever move
to confuse the police. He admitted that
during the previous two years he had
held up an untold number of bootleggers
in an area covering eight states. His dis-
closure of how he had worked the racket
confirmed the police surmise about it.
Until Hamilton had pulled the gun on
him there had been no hitch in the plan.

“It was his life or mine,” he said. “And
I was just a little faster with my gun.”

He admitted using Nickerson’s car and
automatic in the killing. This phase of
his account wholly supported his friend's
claim that he had no knowledge of the
use to which the automobile and the
weapon were to be put, thus clearing
the ex-convict of any complicity in the
murder, The .38 he took from Hamilton,
he disclosed, was hidden in the springs
of an automobile cushion in a closet in
his room, where it was later found. This
weapon, he also admitted, was the one
he had used in his subsequent ki@ings.

He thought it too risky after Hamil-
ton’s murder to continue the same pat-
tern of crime. The ease with which he
had been able to get lifts, he declared,
made him think of victimizing motorists.
He admitted holding up several who ap-
parently had made no complaint to the
police. Adams had been the first to offer
resistance. After he shot him, he couldn't
find the keys to his car, so he flagged
another motorist who drove him into
Alexandria. |

“Mulherin made no attempt to get
away,” he admitted, “but I had to kill
him because it was isolated territory and
I needed the truck to make my getaway.”

He went on to say that Newcomb was
another who died because he had put up
a fight. The boiler inspector had picked
him up just outside of North Little Rock.
Before they got to Conway, he stuck his
gun on him, ordered him to halt the
car and walk into the brush. When New-
comb made an unsuccessful lunge for the
weapon, he shot him between the eyes,
rolled his body over the back of the seat
into the rear of the car, and began his
long drive through the rugged hill coun-
try in search of a river where he intended
to dispose of the remains. When the tire
blew out he decided to set the car afire
and get back to Little Rock by bus.

Sitting back in his chair, young Hall
glanced around at the stony faces in front
of him and said, “I’m glad it’s off my
chest.”

“You're not through yet,” Peterson re-
minded him. “Now tell us about Fay-
rene.”

“Guess I might as well,” he drawled.
“I had to get rid of her because she knew
too much and was going to turn me in.”

In the same unemotional manner in
which he had recited details of the other
murders, he launched into the account
of his wife’s slaying. Her frequent refer-
ences to the lieutenant who had been
a factor in her life, he said, played into
his hands because it presented a plausible
reason for her disappearance. After they

left the dance and dropped Katherine

Bryant off at her home, Fayrene had
threatened to go to the police and unfold
the story of his banditry. After knocking
her unconscious with his fist, he drove
her down to a field near the bank of
the Arkansas River, dragged her out of
the car, choked her to death, and hid
the body in a ravine.

That afternoon when he was brought
to my office, where he repeated the de-
tails of his confession, he seemed to be
the most unconcerned person in the
room. As I listened to the account of his
monstrous crimes it occurred to me from

‘

reading the official reports that during ~
the course of his bloody trail he had
also been able to impress some of his
neighbors as a God fearing youth whose
righteous mode of life could well serve
as an example to others. It made me
think of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

“I suppose you thought you had the
knack of committing the perfect crime,”
Robinson said to him. “Didn't you think
you'd be found out?”

“There is no perfect crime,” he re-
plied. “But there is such a thing as get-
ting a kick out of not getting caught.
I figured I'd be picked up for question-
ing but until I saw all the evidence you
got against me I thought you'd have a
tough time pinning anything on me.”

The next day he led a group of officials
and newspaper reporters, spearheaded by
Robinson, to the scene of his wife's mur-
der. While he was searching for the spot
where he had hidden the remains, a man
detached himself from a group of on-
lookers and approached the prosecutor.

“My name is Cecil Foster and I live
down the road a piece,” he said. “In
my attic I’ve got a skull that I found
down here about three months ago.”

As soon as the assembled officials re-
covered from their surprise, Robinson
instructed a detective to accompany Fos-
ter to his home and bring the gruesome
exhibit back with him. When they re-
turned, the prosecutor asked the local
resident to point out the spot where he
had found it. He led the way to a large
cottonwood log which partially obscured
the aperture of a gulley. When the tree
trunk was lifted the searchers found a
number of bones, a shock of long black
hair, the tattered remains of a red dress
and a few teeth attached to a jaw bone.
Hall at once identified his wife from
these pitiful remains.

Reports of the killer’s many crimes
were published in newspapers through-
out a wide area. Investigators from dis-
tant points, who were wrestling with the
problem of solving similar crimes, flocked
to Little Rock to interrogate the pris-
oner. He denied being involved in many
of them but admitted a number of others
and then repudiated the account he had
given. In connection with 13 of these,
certain circumstances strongly pointed to
his guilt. One case was especially sig-
nificant. A doctor and a soldier who was
riding with him had been killed by a
45 automatic in the hands of a hitch-
hiker. They had met death near Canton,
Kan., a town along the pencil-marked
route on the map found in Hall's room.

On order of Circuit Court Judge
Lawrence Auten, the ministér’s son was
committed to the state hospital for men-
tal examination. The report came back
that he was legally sane. He went to trial
on May 11, 1945. Three days later the
jury returned a verdict which made a
sentence of death in the electric chair
mandatory. His attorney took every pos-
sible legal step to save him from the
extreme penalty but met with no suc-
cess. James Waybern Hall died in the
electric chair at Tucker Prison on Janu-
ary 4, 1946.

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The discovery of the slain girl’s skull led the police to look deeply into the suspect’s (¢. wearing cap) past.

The solution of one crime led police
to look into their prisoner's past

‘ IN HIS YEARS with the Arkansas State Police,
Captain J. Scroggin had seen many sordid and ugly
things. Murder was always the ugliest of all. The veteran
officer looked down through narrowed eyes at the grim
corpse that had once been a man. He grunted and turned
up his coat collar. The grotesque thing that had brought
him there made the bleak wintry day seem even colder.
HE body was face down in the fallen leaves, arms out-
flung, the fingers of both hands tightly clenched. One
knee was drawn up crookedly in a grotesque gesture. In the
back of the dead man’s head was a neat, round hole.
Scroggin jerked his head around when, up on the highway,
a siren wailed suddenly, then died away. Another police car
joined the long row already parked on the shoulder of the

i ds to
road. More officers came hurrying through the woo
join the investigators around the body. Scroggin, of the

~~ AIRL’S SKULL

POLICE FILES

CLUE |

IN THE
SLAIN

Ae

rs cab

aati

tA eh faa
Seprcemerecrts

Arkansas State Police, gave no heed to the newcomers. He
squatted down on his heels, waved a hand at the body and
spoke over his shoulder to Jack Porter, superintendent of
the state troopers.

“Pockets yanked inside out. But his clothes aren’t mussed
up at all. See? He never put up a fight.”

Superintendent Porter nodded, knelt down beside the
corpse. “Poor devil never knew what blasted him. Got it
from behind.”

“The killer stuck a gun in his ribs, marched him in here
off the highway and then let him have it,” Captain Scroggin
said.

“The set-up looks simple enough,” Porter agreed. “Murder
and robbery.” He breathed on his cold fingers, then scowled.
“As you say, the murder part wasn’t necessary.”

“Murder never is,” Scroggin said bitterly. For a long
moment he stared in silence at the pitiful object that had
once been a man—a young man, vigorous, in the prime of
life. Some mother and father would be shocked with grief.
Maybe a wife, too—and kids. Scroggin shuddered. He wasn’t
quite sure whether it was from the cold of this first day of
February or from-the sight of violent death at this lonely
spot eight miles outside of Fordyce, Arkansas, on High-
way 167.

It had been an urgent call for assistance an hour before,
from Cleveland County Sheriff T. H. Glover, that had
brought Captain Scroggin and Porter from the state police
barracks in Little Rock to the isolated murder scene. Now
the familiar sound of Sheriff Glover’s voice behind Scroggin
caused the trooper captain to straighten stiffly to his feet.

The sheriff wasted no time in casual greetings, got down
to brass tacks at once. “Things happened since I phoned
you, Earl,” he said briskly. “Right afterward we found an
abandoned car down the road. It was carrying Kansas
plates.”

Fayrene’s cab driver husband was questioned about his
wife’s absence but he had a plausible explanation.

POLICE FILES

17

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The captain struggled against the wind to light a cigarette.
“Have you called Kansas yet?”

“You bet,” Glover said. “As fast as I could get to a
phone. They just checked back a few minutes ago. The
sheriff slipped a notebook from his pockets, glanced at it.
“The abandoned car was registered to an Edward Carl

Adams, 45, of Humboldt, Kansas. They’re trying to contact -

his family now.” ;
How faa the car?” Scroggin asked. “Smacked up?
Bloodstained?” :

Sheriff Glover shook his head. “Clean. I haven't let any-
body touch it, so your lab men can check for fingerprints.
The gun hasn’t showed up.” ; : é

“I’m betting it won't,” Scroggin said dryly. “They rarely
do.” He turned back to the body. “When you get the
description of Adams, we'll know whether this is what's left
of him, lying here. Better ask Kansas City if Adams was
traveling alone.” : :

Glover nodded. “You think he may have picked up a
hitchhiker? I thought of that.” ;

es men, carrying a stretcher, threaded their way
through the trees. The investigators stepped aside as the

Detective Chief 0. N. Martin led the investigation.

medics approached, fell silent for a moment as the dead
man was rolled onto the stretcher. ate 2

Glover turned away. “I have to arrange for the autopsy,
he said gruffly. “Do you want to go to Fordyce with me?
There might be further word from Kansas.” _ .

“Which direction was the abandoned car facing?” Scrog-
gin asked. : -

“South. It must have come from Little Rock.” Z

“Then we'd better get back there,” Scroggin decided.
“We'll take a look at the car, first. If you get any breaks,
call us at headquarters.” :

Several hours later, back in Little Rock, Captain Scroggin
and Superintendent Porter paid a call at the headquarters of
city police. Chief of Detectives O. N. Martin received them
in his office. Porter sat down, but Scroggin restlessly paced
the floor. In terse, jerky sentences he told Chief Martin
what had happened on Highway 167. “ Saag

“This waiting is the toughest part of it,” Scroggin said,
flinging the words over his shoulder. “Until we hear from
Kansas. Until we get a report on the fingerprints. Until the
coroner hands a bullet over to the ballistics men. We might
just as well be home sleeping.” __ :

“I wonder,” remarked the superintendent slowly. “I was
just thinking of that guy killed down near Salem, a couple
of months ago. What was his name—Hamilton? i

The captain trooper nodded. “Right. C. F, Hamilton, to
be exact. Age 45, barber by trade—” Suddenly Scroggin
straightened up and stopped pacing. “Hamilton! I see what
you mean. He was shot in the head and robbed. Somebody
marched him off the road, then gave him the business. Just
i is poor devil today.”

Ter And oa never found a clue, also like today,” Porter
said. “It just might be that the two crimes are connected,

Decaying bits of Fayrene Hall’s skeleton

The three officers considered this silently for a moment.
Scroggin spoke first. “Let’s hope you're wrong. I’m figuring
a hitchhiker did today’s job—and the barber victim didn’t
even own a Car.”

Chief Martin shrugged. “Either way, I don’t envy you
this case. If it’s a hitchhiker you're looking for, it’ll be like
hunting for a needle in a haystack. If he was smart and
flagged another out of state car, he’s probably miles away
by now.” :

Before Scroggin could reply, the phone on the desk buzzed
shrilly. Martin reached for it, answered, and then shoved the
instrument over toward Scroggin. “It’s Sheriff Glover—
for you.”

Eagerly, Scroggin took the phone. Glover’s gruff voice
came over the wire and Scroggin motioned with his hand.
Detective Chief Martin handed him a pad and pencil and
the captain began at once to scribble. When he had finished
he thanked the sheriff and hung up.

“Glover just heard from Kansas. The body in the woods
was Adams, all right. They found his wife and she verified
the description. She said he was on his way to the Naval
Ordnance Plant at Camden, to look for employment there.
He was traveling alone.”

Scroggin consulted the pad. “Mrs. Adams gave a com-
plete list of the things her husband had with him. He had
about $25 cash on him and two watches, one engraved with
his initials. He also had a suitcase which contained an
electric clock, a brown alarm clock, a razor, shaving mug
and plenty of cigarettes. Mrs. Adams described the clocks
in detail right down to the dents and scratches.”

Porter rubbed his hands. “This is more like it. The killer
lugged all that stuff off with him. Those watches and clocks
will turn up somewhere.”

Chief Martin was not so enthusiastic. “Mrs. Adams said
her husband was traveling alone. That still leaves you with
a hitchhiker as your best bet. And I’m still glad it’s your
case—not mine.”

Scroggin grinned. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Chief.
Remember that Adams came from this direction. Suppose
the killer wasn’t a regular hitchhiker, but just deliberately
planned it to look that way. Suppose he flagged Adams
right here in Little Rock, intending to hold him up as soon
as they got well out of town.”

“You mean he might be here in Little Rock right now?”
Chief Martin said.

“Why else would we come to you?” Scroggin asked.

“Deal me in,” Martin said crisply. “I'll put a tag out for
the fellow with the suitcase, the watches and clocks. I'll
put.Peterson and Judd on the case and have them stick with
it till it’s closed. If your killer is in Little Rock, they'll get
him, if they have to take the town apart.”

WEEK passed by, and neither the city or state-wide

search for a hitchhiker with a suitcase had brought
results. Bus line and railroad terminals had been combed;
drivers and ticket sellers questioned. In Little Rock, every
pawnshop was on the alert for the stolen watches and
clocks. But if the killer was in the city, he was too wary
to attempt to dispose of the stolen goods.

On the afternoon of Friday, February 9th, Captain Scrog-
gin entered Porter's office at state police headquarters.

“I never knew there were so many hitchhikers in Arkan-
sas,” groaned the superintendent. “Look at these reports.
Everyone saw the killer, or gave him a ride, on the day
Edward Adams was shot. But no two descriptions are alike.
Which, if any, was our man?” (Continued on page 38)

and some of her clothing were found buried near a woodcutter’s cabin. :


Pee es |

Ls Jou JAMES

(oe

we ME

by BILL KELLY

t was the last Saturday in

September and the capital

city of Little Rock, Arkan-
sas, was busily absorbed, in
a long and protracted battle
against a crime wave that
was sweeping the state like
a typhoon. Seated at his
desk, in his mahogany-pan-
eled office, Chief of Detec-
tives O.N. Martin glanced at
the pasteboard handed to
him by one. of his staff. The
card was from the sheriff of
Lonoke County. Scrawled
across the back was: “This
is to introduce Mrs. A.Z.
Clemmons. See what you

can do for her.”

The small, fragile-looking woman
with jade sparkling eyes seemed to be
between 45 and 55, nicely dressed
with a ‘sallow complexion and a
whispery voice. She wore a black
polka-dot dress and a straw hat that
kept falling over her forehead as she
spoke; partly with a nervous stutter

0 DETECTIVE FILES,

lf only the bones of all
his victims could talk...

and partly determined purpose.

“Our sheriff said you might be able
to help me,” she began. “He said if
you couldn’t, nobody could.”

“Okay,” Martin invited. “What's
the trouble?”

Suddenly,

the woman twitched

nervously in her chair and her spar-

kling jade eyes filled with moisture.

“I’m afraid that something has hap-

pened to Fayrene,” she sobbed. ,
“Fayrene?”

Cracks in the victim’s skull
confirmed killer’s boast that he
beat her to death.

pore

Jim Hall smiling with detectives
during his interrogation. He had
a cold beer after the kill.

CLUE IN SLAIN GIRL’S SKULL
(Continued from page 19)

“Chief Martin was right about ‘this
case,” Scroggin said. “None of the miss-
ing stuff has turned up. The only prints
in the car were those of Adams him-
self. And Lieutenant Templeton says
the bullet. in Adams’ skull. was a .38—
that barber, Hamilton, was killed by
a .45.”

Porter was about to reply when the
telephone rang. He answered it, and
stiffened as Scroggin watched. Porter
turned to Scroggin and exclaimed: “An-
other highway killing, down near Stutt-
gart. Shot in the head and robbed—
just like Adams!”

The town of Stuttgart was located
about sixty miles southeast of Little
Rock. Scroggin and Porter headed to-
ward it by official car as soon as they
could get started. As they arrived, they
were met by Sheriff E. O. Hamilton of
Prairie County and Police Chief Will-
banks, from nearby England. The offi-
cers exchanged brief greetings, then
the local sheriff led them to the body,
which lay in the center of a grassy
hollow. The back of the victim’s head
was a welter of blood.

“His name was Doyle Mulherin,”
Sheriff Hamilton said. ‘“He’s from
Little Rock. Drove a truck for a meat
packing company. The truck’s down by
the railroad tracks.”

“You said on the phone he’d been
robbed,” Scroggin said, kneeling near
the body. “Do you know what he was
carrying with him?”

“Not exactly. But he delivered meat
in, Humnoke this morning. We figure
he had cash and checks totaling $200
on him. His watch is gone, too.”

“No clues, I suppose,” Scroggin
asked.

Hamilton shook his head. “No gun.
No bullets—except the one that’s in
the head. But Chief Willbanks had
something that may help.”

“It’s not much,” Willbanks said
quickly. “But last night a stranger
Stayed in a vacant house in England.
“He’s been described to me as six feet
tall, weight about 160. He was wearing
a dark suit and coat and a green
checked cap. Those who saw him say
he was drunk.”

It didn’t have the sound of a hot tip.
Automatically, however, Captain Scrog-
gin noted down the description and
thanked the chief.

“Here’s the point,” Willbanks went
on. “This morning this same man
thumbed his way into Humnoke. Re-
member, Mulherin stopped there to de-
liver meat. He might have picked up
this hitchhiker with the green checked
cap.”

News of the second—or third—mur
der spread swiftly. From all over the
state, phone calls and telegrams poured
into headquarters. In spite of this,
Chief Martin’s dour prediction was ful-
filled with a vengeance. It was still a
tough case and try as he would Captain

38

Scroggin couldn’t crack it.

The worst blow was a report from
Lieutenant Templeton. The ballistics
expert had studied a bullet taken from
the skull of the slain truck driver, Doyle
Mulherin. There was no mistaking it.
It was a .38 slug and was grooved and
marked exactly like the one that had
killed Edward Adams! The connection
between the Adams and Mulherin slay-
ings was made—but that of C.. F. Ham-
ilton, the barber, remained a mystery.

Still, it was certain now that a kiil-
crazy bandit roamed the highways of
Arkansas. Captain Scroggin’s days were
hectic; his nights sleepless. He tracked
down every tip, no matter how wild.
But not one of the stolen checks, clocks,
or watches turned up. And the mys-
terious stranger in the green checked
cap, alertly reported by Chief Will-
banks, had apparently vanished into
thin air.

Scroggin became a frequent visitor
at the headquarters of the local police.
He dropped in often to consult with
Detective Chief Martin, to learn what
progress, if any, was being made at
that end. It was exactly a month after
Doyle Mulherin’s death that Scroggin
made one of these periodic calls. A
glance at Martin’s face was sufficient
to tell him that nothing new had turned
up, so he sank wearily into a chair.

Martin looked at him keenly. “You
look like you could use an aspirin,” he
said.

Scroggin shoved back his hat and
closed his eyes. “You said it.”

“I know how it is,” Martin said sym-
pathetically. “This case is certainly a
beaut. Peterson and Judd haven’t turned
up a thing.”

“Not their fault,” muttered the cap-
tain. “They haven’t anything to go on.
I wish I could get some sleep. I keep
seeing a guy in a green checked cap.”

There was a knock on the door and
Detective Peterson stuck his head in.
“That farmer is here again.”

Chief Martin made an impatient ges-
ture. “Tell him I haven’t any news for
him. I'll let him know when I do.”
Then as Peterson hesitated, he changed
his mind. “Oh, all right. I know the
man’s worried. Send him in.”

The farmer entered and took the
chair the chief indicated.

“Sorry to be bothering you so much,”
he began, “but the missus and me are
still worried about Fayrene. It was last
August she disappeared.”

“Cases like that happen every day
in the city,” Martin said patiently. “A
wife quarrels with her husband and
walks out on him. She doesn’t want him
to find her, so she doesn’t write home.”

The man shook his head. “Not Fay-
rene. She’s only 19.”

“We've investigated this case thor-
oughly,” Martin said. “We got the
whole story from her husband.” The
chief crossed to a steel filing cabinet
and came back to his desk with a bulky
envelope. Extracting some Papers, he
read: “Fayrene Clemmons Hall, of
Lonoke. Her husband, James Wayburn

Hall, age 24, taxi driver, Little Rock.
According to his story, he took Fay-
rene out the night before she disap-
peared and when they got home, they
quarreled. In the morning she was
gone. She took her purse and about $40
with her. But none of her clothes were
missing.” ;

“That’s Red’s story,” the father said.
“Why didn’t he tell us she was gone?
Why did he wait till our cousins found
it out?”

Martin shrugged. “Who knows? He
just figured she walked out on him. It
happens every day. All the other cab
drivers describe him as a swell guy.”

“They don’t know Red,” the man
said, stubbornly. “Fayrene’s a nice girl,
easy to get along with. But he used to
beat her. I know he did.”

“Guess he did have a temper, at’

that,” admitted Martin. “We had him
in once for assault. Let’s see,” he con-
sulted the files again. “Here it is. He
beat up a man named Joe Stevens, in
an alley near Second and Center
Streets. Hall was fined $100 for that
little job.”

Captain Scroggin had been listening
to all this in silence. Now he was sur-
prised when Chief Martin suddenly
whirled and jabbed a finger at him.
“What kind of cap was that mystery
guy wearing?”

“Green checked,” Scroggin said,
somewhat puzzled. “What’s up?”

Martin turned abruptly to the farm-
er. “You go home now, and tell your
wife to stop worrying. We’ll have an-
other talk with Red Hall.”

Bewildered, but satisfied, the farmer
left. Martin turned to answer Scroggin’s
unvoiced demand. “Does that guy in
the green checked. hat haunting your
dreams have red hair?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” the captain replied.

“Reading that file off just then, I -

remembered that when we arrested this
James Wayburn Hall he was wearing a
green checked cap!”

ITHIN a matter of minutes, De-

tectives Peterson and Judd were
getting their orders. Martin told them
to go to James Hall’s room to question
him again.

“Pretend it’s just another routine
call,” he warned. “Just a check on
whether he’s heard from his wife. Don’t
mention the highway murders.”

When the detectives had gone, Scrog-

gin and Martin prepared for an anxious —

wait. It was Peterson who returned,
alone.

“The guy was out, Chief,” he re-
ported. “Judd’s gone looking for him.
The landlady let me in. Said Hall was
such a quiet, pleasant boy.”

“Did you find anything?” interrupted
Martin.

“I couldn’t poke in the closet, she

was with me. There was a Bible in the

room—he’s a minister’s son you know. ~~

And there was a detective story maga-
zine, Opened at a page that explained
all about ballistics.” He fished in his

POLICE FILES

SE ER a tema etodhamee

OS ee ee Sis SAE Sn be ee Seka hima

7 I ‘ < = ri ePaey Sgt Ss
eas eer WERE Ae hae wetter BR A


pocket, brought forth a small stub. “I
palmed this. It’s a receipt for registered
mail.”

Scroggin and Martin bent their
heads over the bit of paper. It was
dated February 2nd, and was made out
to Miss Lucy Watson, at an address on
Center Street, in Little Rock.

“I phoned there just before I came
in,” explained Peterson. “Miss Watson
is out of town and they don’t know
when she’ll be back.”

“When she does come back—you’ll
be there waiting for her!”

Twenty minutes later, Captain Scrog-
gin, driving his official car in the direc-
tion of home, heard the radio on the
dashboard spin out an urgent summons.
He listened, swore under his breath,
then yanked the wheel savagely around.

They were waiting for him, seventy
miles north, just above Heber Springs.
Another highway murder—and this time
even more shocking than the others.

By the time Captain Scroggin got
there, the officers on the scene had had
time to collect more details. It was
Superintendent Porter who flagged him
to a halt on the highway. Porter yanked
open the door, piled in beside Scroggin
and breathlessly gave the directions.

“Right up there, turn into that log-
ging road,” he said. Then, as they
jounced off the highway: “We've just
checked up on the license plates. It’s
Inspector Newcombe—the state boiler
inspector.”

Scroggin glanced quickly at Porter.
“You know Newcombe—how come you
had to check the plates?”

Porter's voice dropped. “We've car-
ried what’s left of the body to that
shack over there. It’s pretty rough. He
was burned. There’s nothing left but a
charred torso and head, the stubs of
his legs.”

Scroggin was horrified, stunned.
While he collected his wits, Porter
pointed out the death car..It had left
a crazy trail from where it had swerved
off the road, crashed through a fence,
ploughed across a field and ended up,
with two flat tires, in a wooded lot.

“The body was found in the rear
of the car,” Porter explained as they
approached it. “That’s where the fire
was centered. That’s why Sheriff Turner
and Sheriff Tatum Plant knew imme-
diately that it was no accident.”

The state sleuths peered into the car.
As the superintendent said, the front
seat was not badly damaged by the fire.
Bloodstains were faintly visible on the
upholstery there.

“When I got the radio call, I thought
our hitchhiker was up to his old tricks,”
Scroggin said. “This doesn’t look like
his technique. This is horrible—the work
of a maniac, a ghoul!”

Porter suggested that they go over
to the shack. The Cleburne County
Coroner, Dr. Faust, was in there mak-
ing a preliminary examination. They
met him coming out.

“It’s almost certainly murder,” Faust
said. “There’s a fracture on the left
side of the head.”

Scroggin asked the question that was

40

uppermost in both their thoughts.
“Was that fracture caused by a bullet?”

The coroner said it was, but that he’d
have to make arrangements for an
autopsy to give them a more definite

Statement. He left the two officers, hur- ‘

rying toward a panel truck.

“If our hitchhike killer did this,”
Captain Scroggin said, “there’s just one
answer. Inspector Newcombe had guts.
He fought back. That accounts for the
way the car veered off the road, as
though it were out of control. It prob-
ably accounts for the burning of the
victim. Our killer was enraged more
than ever by the resistance.”

The public was already aroused by
the three other highway murders, but
the death of Inspector J. D. Newcombe
Jr. was a sensation. He was one of the
most widely known and popular offi-
cials in the state.

Outraged citizens clamored for ac-
tion. Offers of rewards for the capture
of his slayer came pouring in, mounting
to a total of $1250. For the next eight
days, letters and telegrams piled up on
Superintendent Porter’s desk until he
was distracted. And Captain Scroggin
hated to answer the telephone. There
was one phone call, however, that he
prayed for. Finally it came. The sound
of Chief Martin’s voice, coming over
the wire, was music to his ears.

“Captain, 1 think that thousand to
one shot came home. We’ve got James
Hall. Peterson and Judd just brought
him in. Better get over here at once.”

Scroggin was on the way immedi-
ately. He found a red-haired cab driver
lounging in a chair at Martin’s office,
one knee crossed negligently over the
other. Hall smiled pleasantly at all the
officers around him.

“I’m telling the truth,” he was say-
ing as Scroggin entered. “I don’t know
what happened to Fayrene. I don’t
care. She spent my money faster than
I could make it. That’s what we fought
about.”

Chief Martin offered the cab driver
a cigarette, lit it for him and then said
casually, “Are you sure you didn’t
fight over Lucy Watson, the good-look-
ing brunette?”

The cigarette bobbed in James Hall’s
lips. Then he recovered. “Who is this
Lucy doll?”

Martin took a cigarette out for him-
self. “Don’t stall, Red—you must know
who she is. You’ve been sending regis-
tered letters to Lucy Watson, on Center
Street.”

“All right, so I’ve been playing
around a bit,” Hall sneered. “So what.
Lucy and I are just friends.”

“We don’t mind you being friends
with “Lucy,” Martin said, “but we do
mind you sending her an electric clock.”
He opened the drawer of his desk,
pulled out an electric alarm clock and
thrust it before Hall’s eyes. “Ever see
this clock before?”

“How do I know—all clocks look
alike.”

“Not when they have dents and
scratches on them like this one has,”

Captain Scroggin said, indicating mark-
ings on the clock. “You know who the
real owner of this clock is—a guy who'll
never wake up again. A guy you killed
out on Highway 167—Edward Adams!”

Hall’s wide grin slipped from his face.
“You're nuts,” he said. “That clock
could belong to Adams but I never
killed him.”

“You admit sending it to Lucy Wat-
son?” Scroggin said.

“Sure. But that proves nothing. I
bought that clock from a guy in Cant\-
den. He offered it to me right on the
street and I gave five bucks for it.”

“Naturally, you don’t know: this guy
and he probably wouldn't recall you,”
Martin said dryly. “The boys are going
through your room right now. I’ve got
a hunch they'll come up with some
watches and a .38 gun. I have a hunch
you killed Adams, Mulherin and New-
combe, and probably Hamilton, too.
What we want to know is what you
did with Fayrene. Did you kill that
poor girl, too?”

Hall relaxed in his chair, grinning
amiably. “You got me all wrong,
Chief,” he said. “All wrong. I’m not
that kind of a person. My old man was
a minister. I read the Bible every day.
I was married before. I have a two-
year-old boy. Ask his mother if I don’t
send them money regular!”

Detective Peterson had been shrewd-
ly sizing up the young cabbie. He now
said: “Then for the sake of that boy,
why don’t you act like a man? Come
clean. It won’t be so hard for the kid
to take when he grows up.”

The appeal hit home. Hall’s eyes
dropped and Peterson saw that he had
scored. “We'll do our best to see the
kid never knows.”

James Hall hesitated a moment, then
met Peterson’s eyes squarely. “It’s a
bargain,” he said. “Yes,” he said, with
a gushing sigh, “I killed them all. Fay-
rene was the first to go. She was always
nagging me.”

STIR ran through the room, and

the officers drew into a tighter
circle to hear the most coldblooded re-
cital of murder in their lives. Calmly,
now that he had confessed, without
any visible expression of remorse, James
Wayburn Hall told how he had killed
his lovely young wife with his bare
hands. He had lured her out the old
river road near the Riverside golf
course. There he had attacked her sud-
denly without warning, hitting her over
the head at least twenty times with his
fists before she died. He had made no
effort to hide her body and _ insisted
that his conscience had never bothered
him since the crime.

His next victim had been the barber
in Camden, C. F. Hamilton. He had
planned the robbery deliberately, got-
ten the man out of town on the pretext
of selling him some whiskey. Hall, at
the time, was armed with a .45 pistol
but when he pulled it out the barber
drew a .38 to defend himself. Before
the barber could fire, Hall blasted him
to eternity. Having read in a detective

POLICE FILES

magazine that bullets could be identi-
fied by police laboratory experts, he had
taken the barber’s .38 after rifling the
body of two dollars in small change.
The .38 was the weapon used in the
subsequent killings.

Once he started to talk, Hall went
into great detail. But the technique he
had used was much the same in all the
murders. When at last the gory recita-
tion was over, no one was more grateful
than Scroggin. Small wonder he had
been having nightmares—while a mad
taxicab driver and killer was loose on
the highways.

The next afternoon James Hall was
again the center of a knot of officers.
This time he was wearing handcuffs,
and he stood by the bank of a river.
He scratched his head and looked
around him with a puzzled expression.

“Are you sure this is the place?”
Scroggin asked.

“It was right around here some place
that I killed her,” Hall said. “Funny I
can’t find the body.”

The officers poked around, turning
over logs, stirring the driftwood along
the bank of the river. While they were
searching, a stranger walked up. He
stared at the men curiously.

“Looking for something?” he asked.

“A -body,” Scroggin: snapped. “Who
are you?”

“I’m just a woodcutter, live over that
way a bit,” the man said, gesturing.
“And I guess I got what you’re looking

for.” The police stared at him, amazed,
as he continued. “I found a skull here
about three months ago. I just found
the top part, though probably it had
been out here for years. There ought to
be a jaw bone here some place.” He
stooped over, peered under a rotting
log. “Yes. There it is, covered by them
leaves.”

Hall craned his neck as Captain
Scroggin picked up a whitened jaw
bone and held it up for the others’ in-
spection.

“That’s Fayrene, all right,” Hall said,
almost proudly.

“How do you know?” Scroggin said
intensely.

“I can tell by that tooth there, that
one sticking out,” Hall explained. “It
used to hurt me when I kissed her.”
Dragging Peterson, who was manacled
to him, he stooped over and rummaged
in the leaves. “And here’s her dress,”
he said triumphantly. “I remember she
was wearing a red dress that night.”

Back in his cell, James Hall was fur-
ther pleased with himself. He learned
that police from all over the Southwest
were clamoring for his fingerprints,
hoping they might solve other highway
murders. The demand was so great,
Chief Martin was having them printed
in batches.

Detectives asked Hall about the other
murders. Did he know anything about
a woman bludgeoned to death in Salina,
Kansas, six years ago, for instance?

“Of course,” Hall grinned. “I re-
member that woman. She tried to rob
me, threatened me with a knife. So I
beat her to death. I remember her be-
cause she was the first. I guess I killed
maybe seventeen altogether.”

Here was a job for Martin and Scrog-
gin, to verify all these other crimes.
But they needed no more evidence than
they already had to take care of James
Hall, the minister’s son who had turned
into a grinning devil. Three guns,
Adams’ shaving mug and Newcombe’s
watch were found hidden in Hall’s
room.

The fact that he was facing the death
penalty did not worry Red Hall. “I’m
reading my Bible and preparing myself
for Heaven,” he said. “The world will
be better off without me. I don’t have
any reason for all the bad things that I
did. I knew all along that what I was
doing was wrong, but I just couldn't
help myself. Some devil inside of me
just made me do it. After I had killed
once, the rest came easy. But I know
what I’m talking about and I feel cer-
tain of my salvation.”

The salvation of a mass murderer is
a matter for a Higher Authority than a
court of justice. James Wayburn Hall
was sentenced to die. If he hadn’t killed
the girl whose kisses hurt him, Fayrene
Hall, he might never have been caught.
On January 24th, 1946, the grinning
devil of Little Rock was placed forever
upon a fiery throne—the electric chair. «

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“My daughter. Everybody tells me The picture that Mrs. Clemmons blouses and above-the-knee skirts—
not to worry,’ that I should know gave of her pretty and scintillating and she usually succeeded.
how Fayrene is. I know how she is, daughter was that of a 19-year-old “Jim, poor fellow, he’s my son-in-
but I can’t help worrying. I know girl who loved life in the fast lane. law, Faye’s husband,” the woman
something terrible has happened to She always doted on making herself went on, “he came to see me a couple

ner. desirable to men—low cut, revealing (continued on page 49)
Seated on the electric chair, ‘Big Jim’ Hall Pretty Faye Hall, the beating victim. Her love
declared: ‘Ican take it.’ He did. letters played a role in the case.

‘I didn’t strip her or cover her or do anything to hide’
the body,’ the killer bragged. ‘lleftherwhere the |
vultures and animals could gnaw at it to nothing. ’


victims, he wrapped a huge arm
und her throat, as if applying a
epar or choke hold, and pointed his
tim’: *=ad away from him so she
uldr e his face. He led her in
$ manucr out to the living room,
ere he forced her to her hands and
ees. In that position he raped her.
Afterwards he helped her up,
shed her toward the bedroom and
d her to call the police. Everything
out the attack smacked of the Shad-
Park Rapist.
His next attack was a month later,
ptember 21, on a 60-year-old
man. He removed her bedroom
ndow screen while she was doing
ndry. After she went to bed and
1 asleep, he crawled through her
ndow and raped her. The modus
erandi was the same as in other at-
ks.
In that same month a special police
k force was formed. Its mission
s to catch the two serial rapists
ying on the females in the city.
[he task force did a lot of surveil-
ce work and put a lot of pressure
suspects which were at the top of
‘list. By letting the. suspects know
y were being watched, police
ped the rapist would be compelled
chi his modus operandi and
ke i suotake. The plan worked.
On October 8, 1987, the rapist tried
abduct two different women, and
the course of the attempts, ex-
sed himself while masturbating.
th women got the license number
his car, and police were waiting
the suspect at his apartment when
arrived there 20 minutes later.
seorge Nicholas Grammer, 25,
s taken into custody and charged
h first-degree attempted kidnap-
g. Police weren’t publicly pro-
iming that they had their man, for
re was still much work to be
ne.
But much to their surprise, George
ammer was a man who told police
was remorseful for what he’d
1e, and on October 21 gave a 38-
ye confession to Detective Marc
nnett. In this confession he. gave
ails of his modus operandi which
y the rapist and investigators and
tims could have known, police
d.
Accrding to police, he told of his
ont ble hatred toward wom-
anu ui is burning desire to rape a
Zin, which resulted in his foiled at-
< on the 14-year-old and his exe-

cuted attack on the five-year-old.

He allegedly told Detective Bennett
what the rape victims had done seve-
ral hours prior to the rapes. All of the
details were consistent with what the
victims had told investigators, ‘police
said.

A newspaper reporter wrote
Grammer a letter requesting a jail-
house interview. Grammer complied,
and proclaimed himself to be the
Shadle Park Rapist in print. -

The story ran on November 13, in
the Spokane Chronicle. In it Grammer
not only admitted to raping at least
eight females, but also revealed he in-
tended to turn to murder. He was
stalking a female District Court judge
for the purposes of rape, and had
marked Superior Court Judge John
Schultheis for murder. Policemen also
were on his hit list. .

“IT hate women,” Grammer said in
print. “I hate women so bad that a lot
of times I'll think about how I hate so
bad, that I can actually make myself
start puking up blood.”

Once the newspaper broke the sto-
ry, the television stations clamored
for interviews, all of which Gram-
mer granted. He repeatedly said how
he hated women, how the rapes
were actually cries for help, and how
he was sorry he’d done them.

He said he intended to plead guilty,

and willingly would submit to castra-
tion if his victims wanted such.

His willingness to talk so freely
publicly sent ripples of uneasiness
through the rape task force, which
still was trying to catch the city’s
child rapist. What was Grammer up
to? Why was he saying these things?
Rape squad leader Sergeant Earl En-
nis prepared for anything. And in Jan-
uary, when it came time for Grammer
to enter a plea, his public defender in-
stead called for mental exams.

His attorney also said he didn’t put
much stock in the public statement
Grammer had made, because the man
might have been mentally incompe-
tent at the time they were made.

The case may not hinge so much on
the statements as a revolutionary so-
phisticated genetics test known as

_ DNA fingerprinting.

Semen samples from some of the
rape victims and blood samples from
Grammer have been sent to a labo-
ratory for processing.

As of this writing, George Gram-
mer’s trial date had not been set. He
must be presumed innocent of all
charges despite his quoted confession,
until he has been. found guilty in
court.

Also as of this writing, Spokane
police were still seeking the child
rapist. *

Murderous Rampage Of ‘Big Jim’ Hall

- (continued from page 11)

of days ago. They’d split up, he said,
and he was very upset. They split up
on Friday, the 25th, and Jim came to
see me on the 28th.

“So you see I’ve waited a month
before reporting this to the authori-
ties,” the woman said defensively.
“We’ve waited and hoped—Jim and
my husband and I. Jim’s a fine boy,
minister’s son. He comes from a nice
Enola family. The Reverend Samuel
J. Hall and his wife. Lovely people.

“I was glad when she married Jim,
him being such a fine boy, and she
had always .been so_ reckless—a
mother hates to say these things, but
with the war and boys going away to
get killed and soldiers home on leave,
all so lonesome and wanting to spend
their money on her.”

The chief nodded. “So you felt that
she would settle down when she

_ married? But did she?”

“For a while. Then Jim says she be-
came restless again. He says Faye
threatened to dissolve their marriage
and move to California. Well, Friday
night they had a squabble and she
stormed out of the house.”

“Did she ever mention any partic-
ular place in California?” the chief
asked.

The distraught woman shook her
head no. All her life she wanted to go
to California. She remembered that
once while they were chatting she
said to her mother, “Mom, someday
I’m going to save enough money and
we'll go to California. Won’t that be
swell?”

It was half-joking and half-prom-
ise. But now she felt uncomfortable
that her daughter had never accom-
plished that far-fetched dream. Faye

(continued on next page)
49

Murderous Rampage Of ‘Big Jim’ Hall

(continued from page 51)

Kansas authorities that her husband
had left home fully primed to settle in
his new job and anew community.

The report from Kansas said that
Adams had a problem; once he dozed
off an earthquake couldn’t awaken
him. So he always carried two ear-
busting alarm clocks, one spring-driv-
en, the other electric and brand new.
The older clock, according to Mrs.
Adams, could easily be identified be-
cause its case had been blatantly dam-
aged by a cigar burn.

With a complete inventory of all of
Adams possessions that he had. with
him on his trip, the police alerted

pawnshops, and dealers in second-

hand articles throughout Arkansas and
adjacent states. Police hoped that the
killer would try to dispose of some of
this booty.

As soon as it was learned from
Mrs. Adams that her husband was a
fanatic about avoiding tardiness, po-
lice wondered why he had broken his
mapped-out journey by zig-zagging to
Little Rock. Such an unconventional
procedure seemed to have been totally
out of character. Investigators won-
dered if he had picked up a hitchhiker,
and perhaps was bullied and cajoled
into shifting his course. This theory
caused the state police to notify the
Little Rock police.

An autopsy determined that Adams
had been killed with a .38 caliber
weapon, not the heavier .45 which
had taken the life of Hamilton. But in
each instance a single slug had suf-
ficed to kill. This indicated that the
killer was an ace shot, and caused
newspaper reporters in the area to

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dub him “The Camden Killer,” al-
though Hamilton resided in the Oua-
chita County seat and Adams never
reached that location.

Doyle Mulherin, age 30, was a res-
ident of Little Rock and an employe
of unblemished reputation who
worked for a local meat packing com-
pany. On Thursday evening the Little
Rock Police Department received a
phone call from Mulherin’s supervi-
sor, explaining that his driver was
long overdue from his route. He had
neither called in nor had he completed
his day’s route.

“He had a large collection day, and
could be a likely target for a stickup,”
the supervisor said.

Since there was no report of an ac-
cident concerning a meat packing
truck, the dispatcher immediately
turned the report over to Lieutenant
Oliphant’s squad of state police.

The wait was scant. A few hours
later a passerby noticed the meat truck
parked in a desolate spot near the
town of Stuttgart, in Arkansas Coun-
ty, some 40-odd miles from Little
Rock. Hundreds of police and civilian
volunteers combed the area in a 50-
odd mile sweep and the body was
found in a secluded spot near the bor-
der of Prairie and Arkansas Counties.

By checking the driver’s logbook,
and by backtracking his route and
chatting with customers he had al-
ready served, the police were able to
estimate that he had been robbed of
$125 of company money and whatev-
er personal money he had on him.

Taken to the Forensic Science Lab-
oratory, pathologists extracted a .38-
caliber bullet from the truck driver’s
skull. It was handed over to Lieuten-
ant Templeton, State Police ballistics
expert. It could not successfully be
connected with the .38 slug that had
plummeted into the skull of E.C. Ad-
ams.

On Friday, March 2nd, a patrol car
was instructed to proceed to Second
Street to break up a fist fight between
two patrons. Quickly came a second
alarm, this one calling for an ambu-
lance.

When the Little Rock officers burst
into the barroom they discovered a
small crowd gathered around a youth
who was stretched out cold on the
floor. Blood gushed from battered lips

ne

onto a rumpled grey suit. A scruffy,
blonde in a tight-fitting sweater knelt
beside him, trying rather unsuccess-
fully to revive him with a jigger of
whiskey.

His vicious-looking antagonist
stood at the bar, bearing no marks of
battle. The fight had been one-sided.
He was an immensely built fellow
with unruffled clothes, a concrete
jaw and icy-cold eyes. His hair was
flush-red and wavy. Some of. the
boys that were gathered around him
were calling him “Big Red.”

Ambulance attendants arrived and
began caring for the injured youth.
Two. more policemen arrived and
now the officers preoccupied them-
selves with “Big Red.”

““What’s your name, fellow?”

“Hall. Red Hall in the ring. Jim
Hall on the job.”

“Oh, so you have another job be-
sides cold-cocking guys half of your
size?”

“Come off it, copper, he started it
and I finished it.”

“We'd better get this guy to a hos-
pital right away,” the ambulance at-
tendant said. “He might not make it.
It looks like you kept hitting him after
he was unconscious.”

Big Red stopped smirking. “Maybe
my foot slipped. Look, I’m no trou-
blemaker, I’m a cabbie, but when
you're in a fight it’s you or the other
guy. Maybe I shouldn’t have hit him
so hard, but he asked for it.”

The local man, identified as Dave
Walton, was lifted onto a stretcher
and taken to the nearest hospital. Jim
Hall was taken into custody and
booked for aggravated assault. But
bond was posted in the amount of
$500 and he was soon back at his job
with the cab company.

Following the Second Street bar
brawl, Dave Walton lingered On the
critical list for three days and nights.
Then, slowly he began to mend.

On Tuesday morning the accused
redhead, who said his name was
James Waybern Hall, and describing
himself as a Navy veteran, acquired a
hearing and pleaded guilty to simple
assault before a magistrate. He was
freed with a reminder that his fists
were bludgeon-like instruments, and
combined with a frenzied temper,
could get him into serious trouble. He
paid $100 in fines, plus $6.90 costs,
and walked out.

And now the chief of detectives in

(continued on next page)


Murderous Rampage Of ‘Big Jim’ Hall

(continued from page 49)

may have not wanted her husband to
know her new address, but she never
would have failed to notify her moth-
er of her whereabouts. She knew her
mother was a worrier, and that she
had a weak heart. |

“Do you think she ran off with an-
other man?” Chief Martin asked.

“I don’t dare to think. Faye is capa-
ble of anything. She’s wild. She has
nerve enough to go to California
alone. But Jim says she only took a
small overnight case, and she couldn’t
have had more than $25 on her.”

The chief found himself impressed
by this woman’s mixture of firing-
line reasoning and parental concern.
He picked up the phone.

“Send Peterson and Judd in here,”
he said anxiously.

Herbert A. Peterson and Harold
Judd were two of his best detectives.
After introducing them to Mrs Clem-
mons he briefed them on the issue to
be investigated. Mrs. Clemmons was
asked to go over her assumptions,
while the two veteran sleuths listen-

ed enthusiastically.

At the end of the meeting, Chief
Martin told the tormented woman:
“‘We’ll do our best to find your daugh-
ter. I’ll personally see to it.”

And so the hunt for the sexy 19-
year-old with the flamboyant and rest-
less nature was on.

After Peterson and Judd went over
the statements given by Mrs. Clem-
mons in regard to the strange disap-
pearance of Mrs. Fayrene C. Hall,
they proceeded to the house of James
_W. Hall, the missing woman’s hus-
band. He wasn’t at home, so they
drove to the taxi barn where he was
employed as a hack driver. He was
on the road, so they queried his super-
visors. They stated that Jimmy was a
pleasant fellow and an immenseley
valuable employe.

Next, the detectives drove to the
Union Depot, the stand that Jimmy
was assigned to. They found Jimmy
Hall to be a friendly individual, built
like a stevedore, with movie star
good looks. He spoke passionately of
his wife and uttered astonishment
about her disappearance.

Asked why he had not reported his
wife’s disappearance to the police,
but had left that to his mother-in-law,
he said that he figured she was just

50

-about Faye.

punishing him for their quarrel and
would have returned by now.

“This isn’t the first time she’s
pulled this,” he told the officers. “She
left me last June for a while, but
came back.”

“How long have you two been
married?” Peterson asked.

“Since last March 14th.”

“And you’re already on your sec-
ond separation?”

“That’s the way it goes, officer. I
guess I’m a washout as a husband.
But, hell, I sure have tried. I’m nuts
I know she screws
around on me, but I still love her. But
she’s one of those girls that can’t keep
her legs closed, and I can’t keep her
happy.”

Trying to tame Faye was like try-
ing to capture and tame a fiery flame
that refused to be quenched. Hall said
that they had been out that night,
dancing and drinking, and Faye, as
usual, was bumping and grinding on
the dance floor with every guy who
asked her for a dance. On the way
home they had some words. “Small
stuff,” he said, “nothing serious.”

He fell asleep, and when he woke
Faye was gone. There was no note.
A small overnight bag was missing
and a few of her things.

The deserted husband said he
thought that Faye was staying with
some friends or acquaintances, and
just like last June, she would come
home after a cooling-off period. But
when she failed to come home, or
even contact her mother, he rapidly
formed the opinion that she ran off
with another guy to California. If she
did, she would have at least told her
best friend, Betty Miles, to whom
Faye had confided her desires,
schemes and dreams.

Chief Martin’s’ men found Betty
Miles to be a cute blonde with ice
cubes for eyeballs and a nice figure.
She said that Faye had complained to
her that Jim was unromantic and
couldn’t fulfill his obligations in bed.

She said she was tired of marriage
and abhorred housekeeping; and was -

going to California to start a new life.
Miss Miles also told the investiga-
tors that she had tagged along with
Faye and Jimmy that Friday evening
of August 25th when they attended
the dance at the Rainbow Gardens.

She said they all had a good time,
adding, “..but then, there’s always a
good time ‘when Faye’ s around.”

Miss Miles explained that she had
been a witness to a trivial squabble
aggravated by Faye’s insistence that
they wait for the elevator to take them
from the fourth floor, while Jim
wanted to jog the downhill steps to
avoid being crushed like a sardine in
the elevator. Miles said the three of
them laughed it off by the time they
arrived at her house. She invited the
couple in for coffee. Faye was will-
ing to accept the invitation, but Jim
begged off. “We'll take a raincheck,”
he snapped, grabbing Faye by the arm
and hustling her off.

“Jim was tired,” she explained.
He had mentioned that evening that he
had begun work over 18 hours ago,
and had to get up at 5 a.m. to begin all
over again.’

According to Miss Miles, Jim ar-
rived at her door that Monday morn-
ing bright and early. “He seemed ex-
cited, and fidgety.” He wanted to
know if Betty had seen or heard from
Faye. She told him she had not, and
Jim left. “I felt sorry for the guy ,
Miles said. “It was as much Faye’s
fault as it was his.”

On Wednesday, October 4th, the
case was put on the back burner after
Chief Martin got the report from his
two top detectives. It was a plain
case’ of a free-and-easy girl who
sought affection elsewhere—parts
unknown.

There the case of the missing 19-
year-old with magnetic charm might

have ended, but for the hand of fate.

On the Wednesday ‘before Christmas,
December 20th, Chief Martin got a
call from a relative in Lonoke. The
relative said she had received a
Christmas card from Fayrene, posted
a week ago from Bakersfield, Cali-
fornia. It was addressed to Betty
Miles and bore a mesage to Fayrene’s
mother:

“Plese tell Mom and all that it’s
really great out here and I soon will
feel settled and will write.” A posts-
cript was added: "Do you see Jim
around?”

“Would you have Miss Miles bring
in the envelope,” Chief Martin asked
the relative. “I’d like to contact the
authorities in Bakersfield.”

That would be impossible, the

chief was told. Jim took the letter. He
thought that through his connections

(continued on next page)


in the taxi industry he could trace
the whereabouts of his wayward
wife and persuade her to come back
to Arkansas. The Chief called Jim at
his job and Jim assured him he would
drop off the letter and the envelope.
He never did.

Everyone was too indulged in the
excitement of Christmas and New
Year to give Faye Hall a second
thought. But. after the holidays, on

Sunday , January 28th, a killing took.

place 78 miles southwest of Little
Rock, in Ouaehita County. It was so
insignificant that it didn’t even brief
the desk of Chief Martin. He hap-
pened to come across the small article
in the newspaper.

It seems that around daybreak on
the 29th a truck carrying a load of tim-
bermen was skirting a deserted back
road when they spotted a red Ford
nosed into a clump of bushes. When
the men investigated the dilapidated
Ford, they found a man slumped over
the steering wheel. He had been shot
through the heart.

Further investigation proved the
dead man to be Carl F. Hamilton, a
respected barber of Camden. Carl, a
burly man in his middle 30s, also had
expensive tastes that made him a re-
ady participant. in anything where a
speedy buck could be made. Scuttle-
butt said that. Hamilton dealt in
moonshine. ;

The coroner said that the barber had
been dead for a few days. The fatal
wound in his heart was made by a
-45-caliber slug. ;

Conclusive identification was
made by relatives, who could shed no
light on a motive for his slaying.
Neighborhood chums of the murdered
man said the barber-bootlegger was
always flashing large sums of money.
In any case investigators found only
$3 and pennies in the murdered man’s
pockets.

Since the barber had been snuffed
with a .45-automatic, this strongly
indicated that the killer might be a
serviceman. On this assumption the
sheriff of Ouachita County requested
the help of the Arkansas State Police.

Captain J. Earl Scroggin ordered
two of his top aides, Lieutenant Rhett
Oliphant and Sergeant Homer Sims,
to Camden to investigate the tech-
‘ique and motive of the C.F. Hamil-

yn murder. But while enroute to
Camden, Oliphant and Sims received
new orders from headquarters. An-
other homicide had just been discov-

ered.

This crime had been reported to the
state police by the sheriffs of Ouachita
and Dallas Counties. The two detec-
tives were consequently directed by
Captain Scroggin to join him and

Lieutenant Allen Templeton, the
State’s ballistics expert, at the scene
of this second slaying.

. The part fate played in the death of
E.C. Adams, a Kansan, was remark-
able. A resident of Humboldt, Allen
County, he had driven from his home
in Little Rock, arriving Wednesday,
January 31st, around daybreak. A
highly-skilled mechanic, Adams had
been assigned to a war plant near
Camden, Arkansas, He set out for his

destination on February Ist, but never

arrived.

Deputy Sheriff Edgar McCallum
was cruising U.S. Highway 167, a
few miles outside the town of For-
dyce, when his eyes focused on a car
nosed off the shoulder. It had Kansas
license plates.

Deputy McCallum got out of his car»

to investigate. When he looked inside
he noticed blood. He stood momen-
tarily stunned.

Casting about him for exterior
clues, McCallum noticed four clear
footprints. They pointed like a bird

dog to a clump of underbrush off the
roadside. It was the only invitation he
needed. The underfoot going was dif-
ficult, but McCallum tramped dog-
gedly through the tangled thicket for
about 50 yards. Finally, he came upon
the body of a man, spread-eagled in a
patch of mesquite. He was sticky

_ with blood. The top of the victim’s

head had been blown away, appar-
ently by a high caliber weapon.

Since the victim’s pockets had been
turned inside-out, and his wallet lay
emptied of currency only a few feet
from the body, the deputy naturally
concluded that the motive was rob-
bery.

Without touching the wallet, he
Studied the dimmed gilt initials
“E.C.A” branded into the timeworn
leather. He took a twig and turned the
flaps until he came to the driver’s li-
cense issued to E.C. Adams, Hum-
boldt, Kansas. .

Later that day Captain Scroggin,
assisting in the investigation, notified
the sheriff’s office in Iola, county seat
of Allen County, Kansas. By nightfall
the Adams family of Humboldt re-
ceived the tragic news.

After Mrs. Adams had recovered
sufficiently from her shock, she told

(continued on next page)

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-:» HILL: v.-LOCKHART | 347
Cite as 927 F.2d 340 (8th Cir. 1991)

We have. reviewed carefully, as did the

District Court, Hill’s videotaped, statement

to police and the pretrial hearing regarding
its admissibility held by the trial court... At
the pretrial hearing, Hill acknowledged
that he was read his rights and understood
what rights were available to him, but
chose not to exercise those rights at the
time. “During his statement to police, Hill
was relaxed, forthcoming, and consistent.

His demeanor lends no support to his alle-

gations of coercion and we find no evidence
that any coercion occurred. Basing ‘our
determination on “the totality of the cir-
cumstances,” Miller, 474 U.S. at 117, 106
S.Ct. at 453, we conclude ‘that Hill’s state-
ment was voluntary.

Hill’s confession was obtained in a man-
ner consistent with constitutional safe-
guards and his challenge to its admission
therefore affords him no basis for habeas
relief. . .

Vis:

{9] Finally, Hill claims that he received
ineffective assistance of counsel in that his
counsel failed to (1) object to the prosecu-
tor’s demonstration ‘with the shotgun; (2)
object to the use of the previously commit-
ted felonies as evidence of an aggravating
circumstance; and (3) properly make Cox’s
post-trial affidavit a part of the record for
appellate review. These contentions have
no merit.

The now familiar standard for judging
ineffective assistance of counsel claims is
set out in Strickland v. Washington, 466
U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674
(1984). To prevail, an appellant must dem-
onstrate that counsel’s representation fell
below an objective standard of reasonable-
ness and that, but for counsel’s errors,
there is a reasonable probability that the
result of the proceeding would have been
different. 466 U.S. at 687, 694, 104 S.Ct. at
2064, 2068. Hill has fallen far short of
meeting this burden in any of his ineffec-
tive assistance claims.

First, the record indicates that Hill’s
counsel did object to the prosecutor’s dem-
onstration with the shotgun during closing
argument. Every court that has reviewed

the propriety of the prosecutor’s demon-

stration has found that the issue was pre-.

served for appeal by way of a proper objec-
tion and we do not understand Hill’s argu-
ment in this regard. Second, as the Arkan-
sas supreme court, the District Court, and

this Court have found, evidence concerning.

the crimes Hill committed prior to Klein’s
murder clearly was admissible to prove the
aggravating circumstance contained in
Ark.Code Ann. § 5-4-604(3). Accordingly,
Hill was not prejudiced by his counsel’s
failure to object to the introduction of this
evidence. Third, Hill’s counsel attempted
to get Cox’s affidavit into the record
through the writ of error coram_ nobis.
The fact that he did not succeed does not
constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.
Furthermore, as our previous discussions
regarding the credibility of Cox’s recanta-
tion make clear, Hill cannot demonstrate
that the Arkansas supreme court’s consid-
eration of Cox’s affidavit would a have
led to a different result.

VII.

We have given careful consideration to
each of Hill’s constitutional challenges to
his conviction and. sentence. Because.we
find that none of Hill’s claims has merit,
we affirm the District Court’s denial of his
petition for writ of habeas corpus.

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge, dissenting.

I respectfully dissent, and I would re-
verse and remand for resentencing.

Ark.Code Ann. § 5—4-605(4) (1987) speci-
fies “the youth of the defendant” as a
mitigating factor in assessing whether a
sentence of death should be imposed. The
statute does not define “youth.” The Ar-
kansas Supreme Court has indicated that
“{ajny hard and fast rule as to age would
tend to defeat the ends of justice, so the
term youth must be considered as relative
and this factor weighed in the light of
varying conditions and _ circumstances.”
Giles v. State, 549 S.W.2d 479, 483, 261
Ark. 418, 421 (banc) (1977) (upholding
jury’s finding that defendant’s age of 19 or
20 was not a mitigating circumstance but


344
analysis with approval. See Parker, 292
Ark. at 428, 731 S.W.2d at 759. In Parker,
the defendant shot at an individual outside
her home and then entered the home and
shot at two other persons, this time fatally.
The Arkansas Supreme Court held that the
attempted murder outside the home could

not be considered to be a previous violent

felony for purposes of section 3 because it
“was so closely connected in both time and
place” to the later murders. Parker, 292
Ark. at 428, 731 S.W.2d at 759. We have
no difficulty holding that the factual differ-
ences between’ these two cases justify the
different results reached by the Hill and
Parker courts. ‘The previous crimes com-
mitted by Hill that were used as an aggra-
vating circumstance occurred in another
place and ‘involved victims who were not
connected with the murdered police officer.
Using the earlier violent crimes to establish
an aggravating circumstance was neither
arbitrary nor improper and did not impinge
on Hill’s constitutional rights in any man-
ner.

Il.

[3] In his closing argument at the pen-
alty phase of trial, the prosecutor attempt-
ed to rebut the defense’s contention that
Hill was a frightened youth who accidental-

ly shot Klein by arguing that after firing at-

Klein and Patillo, Hill reloaded his weapon.
In his argument, the prosecutor attempted
to demonstrate how the shotgun was load-
ed. The prosecutor first asked one of the
police officers in the courtroom to assist
him but the trial court sustained defense
counsel’s objection to the officer’s assist-
ance. The prosecutor continued with his
demonstration and after some difficulty
with jamming, he succeeded in demonstrat-
ing that the gun would hold only five
shells. He then argued that because the
gun held five shells when Hill surrendered
and two shots were fired, Hill necessarily

2. Hill also argues that the prosecutor improper-
ly referred to the personal qualities of the vic-
tim in his penalty phase closing argument. Cf.
Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. 2529,
96 L.Ed.2d 440 (1987). This claim was not
raised in any of Hill's state court proceedings
and was not mentioned in the District Court

927 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

must have reloaded his weapon after kill-
ing Klein. Trial Transcript at 1730-34.
Unfortunately, the prosecutor conducted
his demonstration with the 16-gauge shot-
gun and not the 20-gauge shotgun that
was the murder weapon. Defense counsel’
objected to the demonstration at trial and
later made a motion for new trial based on
the use of the wrong shotgun. This motion -
was denied after a hearing. Hill now ar-
gues that the prosecutor’s argument was
improper and renders his sentence “unfair
and unreliable.” Appellant’s Brief at 21.7

As the District Court recognized, in a
habeas proceeding the appropriate stan-
dard of review for allegedly improper state-
ments by the prosecutor is “whether the
prosecutors’ [sic] comments “so infected the
trial with unfairness as to make the result-.
ing conviction a denial of due process.’”’.
Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181,
106 S.Ct. 2464, 2471, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986)
(quoting Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416
U.S. 637, 648, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 1871, 40
L.Ed.2d 431 (1974)). By analogy, we apply:

the same standard at the sentencing phase

to determine whether Hill’s sentence of
death ‘rather than life imprisonment is
tainted by a denial of due process. We
easily conclude that it is not.

The prosecutor made his argument re-
garding the shotgun in an attempt to prove
the existence of the following aggravating
circumstance:

() In the commission of the capital

murder, Steven Douglas Hill knowingly

created a great risk of death to a person
other than the victim.

Jury Verdict Form 1. The Arkansas Su-
preme Court ruled that any misconduct on
the part of the prosecutor was harmless
because the jury failed to check this aggra-
vating circumstance. Hill, 289 Ark. at 394,
713 S.W.2d at 236. Hill challenges this
conclusion claiming that the court did not
properly consider the impact of the prose-

opinion. Because Hill has failed to show cause
for his procedural default or allege any actual
prejudice arising therefrom, we are procedural-
ly barred from considering his claim. See
Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497,
53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977).


HILL v. LOCKHART 345
Cite as 927 F.2d 340 (8th Cir. 1991)

eutor’s demonstration on the following ag-
gravating circumstance, which the jury did
check: Se,

() The capital murder was committed
for the purpose of avoiding or preventing
an arrest or effecting an escape from
custody.

Jury Verdict Form 1. We are not per-
suaded by this argument. At the time of
the murder, Hill was an escaped convict, on
the run from committing several additional
felonies, and hiding behind a garage as
several police officers approached. When
two officers advanced on him he shot at
both of them, killing one. Whether he
reloaded his shotgun after the shooting has
little or no bearing on the jury’s determina-
tion of whether he committed the murder
in an attempt to avoid arrest. In his state-
ment made to the police immediately fol-
lowing his arrest, Hill stated: .

HILL: What it is, I got caught. Because

I know if I hadn’t have got caught,

there’d be more people dead.

GAGE: What do you mean by that

STEVE? i |

HILL: Oh like, when he started coming

towards me, I just seen myself locked up,

then I shot.

GAGE: Did you tell your partner that
was with you today that you'd just do
what you had to do, that you wasn’t
going back to the penitentiary?

HILL: Both of us made that statement.

Transcript of Hill’s Pretrial Statement at
1849. Given the circumstances of Klein’s
murder and Hill’s own statements after the
shooting, we can hardly imagine a reason-
able jury not finding that Hill shot Klein
“for the purpose of avoiding or preventing
an arrest.”

While the prosecutor’s demonstration
may have been unwise and obviously was
botched because he used the wrong shot-
gun, we conclude that it did not deprive

3. We note that the evidence indicates that the
20-gauge shotgun also holds a total of five
shells.

Hill of a fair sentencing procedure and
provides him no basis for habeas relief.

IV.

On October 18, 1985, after Hill was con-
victed and sentenced but prior to the filing
of briefs in Hill’s direct appeal, Cox sub-
mitted a written statement in which he
stated that he and not Hill had killed
Klein.4 Based upon this affidavit, Hill’s
counsel filed a petition with the Arkansas
supreme court for a writ of error coram
nobis asking for a hearing before the trial
court. This petition was denied as was
Hill’s request for the court to reconsider its
decision in his direct appeal. Hill argues
that due process requires an evidentiary
hearing be held to determine whether a
new trial must be granted. -

[4] An evidentiary hearing must -be.

granted if “there is a substantial allegation
of newly discovered evidence.” Townsend
v. Sain, 372 US. 298, 318, 83 S.Ct. 745,

757, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963). However, “such _

evidence must bear upon the constitutional-
ity of the applicant’s detention; the .exist-
ence merely of newly discovered evidence

relevant to the guilt. of a state prisoner is.

not a ground for relief on federal habeas
corpus.” Townsend, 372 US. at 317, 83

S.Ct. at 759. To warrant a hearing, the |

new evidence must be shown to be likely to
produce an acquittal if introduced at a new

trial. Hall v. Lockhart, 806 F.2d 165, 168.

(8th Cir.1986).

[5] The District Court considered Cox’s
affidavit and heard Cox testify consistent
with his affidavit at the habeas hearing.
The court also reviewed the videotaped
statements made by both Hill and Cox im-
mediately following their arrests. The Dis-
trict Court then stated:

Based on his demeanor [at the habeas

hearing], the inconsistencies developed

on cross-examination, the video state-
ments of both Cox and Hill, the video
presentation of the crime scene, and the

4. Cox pled guilty to the same offenses as did
Hill in return for the dismissal of the capital
murder and attempted capital murder charges.
Cox was sentenced to an eighty-six-year term of
imprisonment. ,


346 927 FEDERAL REPORTER, 24 SERIES

trial transcript, I am of the firm opinion
and I find as a fact that ‘Cox filed a false
Statement and that he committed perjury
in the habeas hearing by testifying that
he and not Hill fired the fatal shot at
Kigini,?) 09 10% ise besir: ca

Hill, 719 F.Supp. at 1477. A. searching

review of the entire Tecord convinces us
that the District Court’s finding in this
regard is not clearly erroneous.

This Court has stated that we view a
recantation by a convicted codefendant
with great skepticism and believe it should
be supported by additional, independent ev-
idence whenever possible. Hall, 806 F.2d
at 168. Cox stated to the police following

his arrest and to the state court in a prelim-

inary hearing held concerning the volun-
tariness of his confession that he did not
shoot Klein and, in fact, did not even see
the shooting. Hill readily admitted ‘to the
police after his arrest that “he shot officer
Klein. We agree with the District Court
that Cox’s subsequent recantation and tes-
timony at the habeas hearing was incredi-
ble and, if introduced at a new trial along
with the statements of Cox and Hill after
their arrest, the physical evidence at the
crime scene, and the testimony of other
witnesses, would not be likely to produce
an ‘acquittal or a sentence of life imprison-
ment. Accordingly, Hill is not entitled to
any further evidentiary hearing based on
this asserted new evidence.

V.

Hill next argues that his conviction and
Sentence were obtained in violation of his
due process rights because a statement
made by him while in police custody was
improperly admitted into evidence. Hill al-
leges both that the rights form he signed
prior to his statement was deficient and
that his confession was involuntary be-
cause he was intimidated by thréats from
several officers.

[6] Hill’s claim that he was not fully
apprised of his constitutional] rights prior to
questioning is without merit. Hil] was told
that he had the right to remain silent,
anything he said would be used against
him in court, he could have an attorney

present prior to and during questioning, if
he could not afford an attorney one would
be appointed for him, he could stop the
questioning at any time, and that he had
the right to waive any or all of these rights
and make a statement to the police. Hill
answered that he understood each of these
rights, initialed each individual answer, and
signed the rights form prior to any ques-
tioning. The rights form read Hill by the
police fully complied with the constitutional
standards set out in Miranda v. Arizona,
384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d.694
(1966).

_[7] We are equally unpersuaded | by.

Hill’s contention that his confession was
involuntary. Specifically, Hill alleges he
was coerced into giving his videotaped
statement by officers who threatened him
and then played with their guns off-camera
to intimidate Hill. The police officers ‘in-
volved in Hill’s arrest deny these accusa-
tions.

[8] The admissibility of a defendant’s
confession is a mixed question of law and
fact and as such merits independent consid-
eration by a federal court in a habeas pro-
ceeding. Miller v, Fenton, 474 U.S. 104,
112, 106 S.Ct. 445, 450, 88 L.Ed.2d 405
(1985). However, “subsidiary factual ques-
tions, such as ... whether the police in fact
engaged in the intimidation tactics alleged
by defendant,” involved in a state court’s
determination of voluntariness are factual]
determinations entitled to the presumption
of correctness under 28 US.C. § 2254(d)
(1988). Miller, 474 U.S. at 112, 106 S.Ct. at
450 (citing LaValle v. Delle Rose, 410 U.S.
690, 693-95, 93 S.Ct. 1208, 1205-06, 35
L.Ed.2d 637 (1973) (per curiam)). After a
lengthy pretrial hearing held in response to
Hill’s motion to Suppress his statement, the
trial court found that Hill’s allegations of
intimidation were not credible and his con-
fession was voluntary, and admitted it into
evidence. In Hill’s direct appeal, the Ar-
kansas supreme court considered his claim
of intimidation at length and determined
that Hill’s argument was without merit and
that the confession properly was admitted.
Hill, 713 S.W.2d at 235.

ee ee

Clinton sets execution date for law officer’s killer THURS
&

@ LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Gov. Bill Clinton set a May 7 execution date for

Steven Douglas Hill, who killed a law officer. Mr. Clinton, the Democratic bd he | ade 4 2
presidential front-runner, has been criticized by rival Jerry Brown for al-

lowing the execution this year of another man who murdered a law officer.

Mr. Clinton has scheduled 69 executlons during his 11 years as Arkansas

governor. Three have been carried out while Mr. Clinton was in office. Mr.

Hill’s attorney sald he plans to petition Mr. Clinton for clemency.

. DALLAS MoRniIng vntw


Ber

e Continued from Arkansas Page

Gov. Bill Clinton; who will
use it in making adecision. :
| Another option, which

Cambiano described: as a

“very long shot,” would be to
‘attempt further appeals in

federal courts. If a federal

judge agreed. to accept the
appeal, a stay could be js-
sued. ‘

_ Hill, who was serving five
years for breaking or entering
7and criminal mischief, and Mi-

chael Anthony Cox escaped
‘from: the Wrightsville Unit of
the’ Arkansas Department of

Correction on Oct. 16, 1984.

’ While free, the two men en-
tered a house at Woodson and
tied up the occupants. After
stealing weapons and a truck,

' they went to a nearby house.
They were soon surrounded by
police. As Klein walked
toward the house, he was shot
and killed by a single blast
from a 20-gauge shotgun.

Since Hill’s sentencing, Cox
has said that he, not Hill,
killed Klein. But Woods dis-
missed a request for a.new
trial, saying Cox was attempt-
ing to save his friend’s life.

“fc if7e—

Inmate facing execution.
files clemency. request

er re aren Cetra
“BY ANDY.GOTLIEB ~. |
+ Democrat-Gazette State Desk .. -

5

*<. An inmate facing a May 7

-execution “date has changed
attorneys and also filed for
clemency. .

Steven Douglas Hill, 25, of
Scott,-has replaced attorney

.Larry, Ge: pent of North Lit:
tle Rock With Mark Cambiano
of Morrilton (Conway County),
Cambiano said Monday. Cam-
biano said he conferred with
Hill’ for. the- first time Mon-
day. .

Cambiano declined to dis-
cuss the reasons for. the
switch. He .represents three
other death row inmates.

.. Hill} who is the. youngest

inmate. on.death. row, was
convicted March 8,: 1985, for
the Oct. :15,° 1984, shooting
death of Arkansas State. Po-
lice investigator Robert

Klein.

“fe is very calm about it,”
Cambiano’ said.’: “He’s ac-
cepted the fact that the exe-
cution could be carried out.”
Because he has completed
the appeals process, Hill’s .
execution appears likely, As-
sistant Attorney General Jack
Gillean has said. A stay of ex-
ecution was: dissolved in
March by U.S. District Judge
Henry Woods, clearing the
way for the execution.
Cambiano’ said‘ he has
mailed: an application for’
clemency to the state Board

of Parole and Community Re-
habilitation. He said he was.
-‘told' by board’member Carol

Bohannon that’ a‘'tentative
hearing before the board is.
set for 10 a.m. April 27. of.

The board’s role is to pass.
along a recommendation for

See HILL, Paae 10B

Ae epsses Déneceat Gee a

At yy 1992,

Judge asked to lift.
stay of execution
for trooper’s killer

BY ANDY GOTLIEB

Democrat-Gazette State Desk
“* A motion to dissolve a stay
of execution for Steven Doug-
las Hill, convicted of killing a
state trooper, was submitted
Tuesday to U.S. District
Judge Henry Woods. ©

Hill, 25, of Scott could be
executed in as little as two
months if the stay is  dis-

solved, Deputy Attorney Jack.

Gillean, who filed the motion,
said. Because Hill has com-
pleted his first round of
appeals, it appears unlikely

the execution could be.

stopped, Gillean said.
* “It is fair to say he’s run-
ning out of options,” he said.
Hill would be the second
death row inmate executed
this year. Rickey Ray Rector
was executed Friday. Two in-
mates were executed in 1990,
ending a 26-year moratorium
on executions in Arkansas.
Gillean estimated ‘Woods
will take 10 days to two weeks
to rule on the motion. After
that, Gov. Bill Clinton would
have 10 working days to set
an execution date. That date

must fall within 30 calendar
days of his decision.

Gillean said he believed
Woods would dissolve the
stay, allowing the execution

_to proceed.

“It’s very likely unless the
attorney gets a stay of execu-
tion from some other review-

_ing court,” Gillean said.

Hill’s attorney, Larry Car-
penter of North Little Rock,
said Tuesday afternoon he

-had not seen the motion. He
said he could notcomment. .

“Not before I talk to Mr.
Hill,” he said, indicating that
he. was hoping to visit Hill
this week.

Hill, who was serving five
years for breaking or enter-
ing and first-degree criminal
mischief, and Michael. An-.
thony Cox escaped from the
Wrightsville Unit of the Ar-
kansas Department of Correc-
tion on Oct. 15, 1984. ;

After stealing a pickup
from a Woodson home, they
went to.:a nearby house,
which was soon surrounded

‘ See STAY, Page 5B

ieneeneemenetieenenenee ee

by. police.

‘As Arkansas State Police

Trooper Robbie Klein walked
toward the house, he .was
killed by a single shot in the
face with a 20-gauge shotgun. A
second trooper was shot at but
not injured.
' Hill was convicted in March
1985 of capital murder and
sentenced to death. Cox, who
pleaded guilty to escape, bur-
glary, theft, aggravated rob-
bery and kidnapping, was sen-
tenced to 86 years in prison.

State Trooper Robbie Klein
was killed by a single shot in
the face with a 20-gauge
shotgun.

A stay of execution was
granted July 1, 1988, although
Woods denied a habeas corpus
petition for Hill in August
1989. Carpenter had attempted
to.secure a new trial after Cox
insisted that he, not Hill, had
killed Klein. Woods dismissed
Cox’s statement as an attempt
to save his friend’s life.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in St. Louis affirmed
Woods’ denial in February
1991.

The U.S. Supreme Court re-
jected Hill’s argument Oct. 21,
1991, that he was unfairly sen-
tenced to death.‘ Hill argued
that his age — he was 18 at the
time - should have been con-
isidered.

A second round of appeals
fis possible, but the likelihood
of engaging a court would be
difficult, Gillean said.

ARKANSAS DEmockAT- Gazerre
WED, TAN. 29 1992

as confirmed execution,
mistress and hanged, Lewrence County, A rkansas,
on January , 1832. Cites sARKANSAS GAZETTL,
Little Rock, Dec. 7, 1831 (3:1), and Yanuary 9,
g052 (Del).

DEAN, Moses and Mrs eae ¢
From Agreti re Dini N ,.
blacks, hoteie ecco MO Seg Dean ang w;
BGS! Citeg weeeee! County, arcane
1868, C1 J ae Gaze), fans
2 “~~y AN ‘

Murr Ler

HARRIS, William and ROSENBOROUGH, John, blacks, hanged Marion,
Crittenden Co.. June 9, 1871.
“Fearful Scenes in Arkasnas.
“Hanging of Two Negro Desperadoes-Exciting Scenes and Incidents.

“Two negroes, named Wm. Harris and John Rosenborough, who were convicted of
murder some time ago before the Crittenden county (Arkansas) court, were hanged to-day at
Marion, in the presence of about fifteen hundred persons, mostly negroes. At noon the sheriff
went to prepare them for the execution, whicn they both set upon him and beat him severely.

The assistance of one of their fellow prisoners was called into requisition, and when about to enter
their cell, Harris struck him a fearful blow with a brick, breaking it over his brow. The assistance
of five other prisoners was then called in. On their approaching Harris, he struck one of them
with an iron bar: after a severe struggle, both were overpoered and brought out into the hall.
When they saw the light of the sun they began to pray and sing, and thus they continued while
they were being tied and until they got to the scaffold, whither they marched between a guard of
whites and negroes armed with shot guns, colored preachers in the meantime offering prayers and
exhortations. Upon the scaffold they were asked if they had anything to say, whereupon
Rosenborough began speaking, and continued his remarks in a rambling, incoherent manner,
praying and singing part of the time, for nearly half an hour, and making a full confession, giving
in detail the manner in which he killed young Freeman to obtain possession of two revolvers.

He finally wound up by giving his hearers, particularly the negroes, some wholesome advice.
Harris then began in the same strain, singing and praying, at times, for 35 minutes, denying his
guilt to the last. The caps were then placed upon their heads and prayer offered, the prisoners
singing until the word ‘Amen,’ when the trap was sprung at 1:30 and both men were swinging off.
The bodies remained suspended fourteen minutes, when they were cut down and placed in coffins
and carried away.”-Constitutionalist, Augusta, GA, 6f/14/1871 (2/3).

360 276 SOUTHWESTERN REPORTER

cluding this testimony must be treated as
prejudicial, for we have no means of deter-
mining what effect it might have had on the
minds of the jury. There was a sharp con-
flict in the testimony as to who was the
aggressor, and, though other witnesses testi-
fied concerning threats, the excluded testi-
mony of witness May might have turned the
scales in appellant’s favor.

[2,3] Appellant was introduced as a wit-
ness in his own behalf, and he detailed the
association between himself and deceased
since they became acquainted, about two
years before the killing occurred. He testi-
fied that he began working for deceased as
bookkeeper, and later became the latter’s
tenant on afarm. He testified concerning the
state of feeling between himself and deceased
for several months prior to the killing, and
stated, among other things, that his wife had
informed him that-the deceased had insulted
her by making indecent proposals. This tes-
timony was repeatedly offered in the course
of appellant’s examination by counsel, and in
each instance the court excluded it. We can
perceive no theory upon which this testi-
mony was admissible, and we are of the opin-
ion that the court properly excluded it. The
fact that deceased had made indecent pro-
posals to appellant’s wife could not he es-
tablished by hearsay testimony, and the of-
fered testimony was purely hearsay. Nel-
ther the fact that deceased made such pro-
posals, pr that appellant received information
that he had done so, afforded any excuse or
justification for the homicide (Fisher v. State,
149 Ark. 48, 231 S. W.181; Flowers v. State,
152 Ark. 295, 238 S. W. 37), and the receipt of
such information could not even be consider-
ed in mitigation, unless it came so close in
point of time to the commission of the of-
fense as to arouse a sudden heat of passion
which continued without let or hindrance
down to the fatal encounter. Flowers v.
State, supra. Counsel for appellant insists
that this testimony comes within the rule
announced by this court in Prewitt v. State,
150 Ark. 279, 234 S. W. 35. We do not think
that the decision in that case has any bear-
ing upon the question now under discussion,
The testimony of a conversation between ap-
pellant’s wife and the mother of deceased
was held admissible for the purpose of cor-
roborating the appellant in his statement that
he had not made derogatory remarks concern-
ing deceased's mother, as charged against
him. No such question is presented in the
present case.

[4] After appellant had introduced testi-
mony attacking the reputation of deceased,
the state introduced a number of witnesses
to prove that the reputation of deceased was
zood. All of the witnesses who testified on
this subject stated that they had heen per-
sonally acquainted with deceased and knew

(Ark.

he lived, but on cross-examination some of
them stated that they had never heard his
reputation discussed. Counsel for appellant
moved in each instance that the testimony
be excluded, and the refusal of the court to
do so is assigned as error. We do not think
that the court erred in refusing to exclude
this testimony because the witnesses said that
they had not discussed the reputation of de-
ceased with other persons. Each of the wit-
nesses stated on direct examination that they
were acquainted with deceased and knew his
reputation. This qualified them to testify
on the subject. The fact that they admitted
on cross-examination that they had not heard
the reputation of deceased discussed by any
one did not render the testimony incompe-
tent, but merely went to its weight and to the
credibility of the witnesses. There was
therefore no error committed in this regard.

Fach of the paragraphs of the court’s
charge to the jury was objected to and ex-
ceptions duly saved. We have examined the
instructions, and find no error in any of
them, except in No. 3, which reads as fol-
lows?

“You are instructed that, even though you
may find that the deceased had made some
threats against the defendant, and that these
threats had been communicated to the defend-
ant, still this would not justify the defendant
in taking the life of the deceased, but can only
be considered by you in determining who was
the aggressor at the time the deceased was
killed.”

[5] This instruction was erroneous in tell-
ing the jury that proof of threats could only
be considered in determining who was the
aggressor. In another instruction given im-
mediately following this one, the court told
the jury that such testimony could be consid-
ered, not only to determine who was the ag-
gressor, but also to determine “whether or
not the defendant acted under an honest be-
lief that he was in danger of losing his own
life or receiving great bodily injury at the
time of the killing.” The erroneous omission
of this statement from instruction No. 3 may
have resulted as a mere inadvertence, and, as
the judgment is to be reversed on another
ground, we need not determine whether or not
the defect in instruction No. 3 would caus?
a reversal, in the absence of a specific objec-
tion. We merely call attention to the defect
now so that it will not occur in the nest
trial. :

Appellant requested 17 instructions, all 0!
which the court refused. The same instruc-
tions may not be asked in the next trial, and
it is unnecessary to discuss them, There is
one feature, however, which we think calls
for discussion in view of the fact that 4
same question may arise in another tria
The court gave the following, among other.
instructions at the request of the prosecuting

his reputation in the neighborhood in which

attorney:

Ark.)

HARRIS v. STATE 361

(276 S.W.)

“No. 1. There has been some evidence intro-
duced bearing upon the bad character of the
deceased prior to the commission of the crime
charged in the indictment in this case; and in
this connection you are instructed that you are
to consider this evidence for the purpose of
determining whether or not deceased was mak-
ing an attack upon the defendant at the time
of the killing, or whether the defendant hon-
estly believed, at the time, without fault or
carelessness on his part, that the deceased was
about to take his life or do him a great bodily
injury.”

“No. 6. You are instructed that the right of
self-defense is founded solely on the principle
of necessity; and, before the plea is available
in this case, it must have appeared to the de-
fendant, acting without fault or carelessness
on his part, not only that danger to him at
the hands of the deceased was imminent, but
that it was so pressing and urgent that to save
himself from immediate death or great bodily
harm at the hands of the deceased the killing
of the deceased was necessary.”

[6] It will be observed that these instruc-
tions, particularly No. 6, stated in substance
that the plea of self-defense is not available,
unless it appeared to the defendant, acting
without fault or carelessness on his part, that
the danger was so pressing or urgent that, to
Save himself from immediate death or bodily
harm, the killing was necessary. These in-
structions were correct as far as they went,
but appellant was entitled to an instruc-
tion telling the jury affirmatively that, if the
danger appeared to the defendant, acting
Without fault or carelessness, to be so press-
ing and urgent that the killing was necessa-
ry, and he honestly believed that it was so,
he would be justified.

{7] Several instructions on this subject
were asked by appellant, but refused. One
of them (No, 17) reads as follows:

“You are instructed that to justify a killing
self-defense it is not essential that it should
appear to the jury to have been necessary, but
if the defendant believed there was a reasonably
®pparent necessity to kill to save himself, though
to the jury there may not seem to have been any
Such necessity, and if in fact there was no such
necessity, yet it is suflicient if the defendant
honestly thought, without fault or carelessness
on his Part, that the danger was so urgent and
Pressing that the killing was necessary to save
his own life or to prevent great bodily injury,
if you find that to the defendant there appeared
Such facts, then you will acquit him.”

in

(8] That instruction was not accurate, and
the court was therefore not bound to give it,
because it contained the words “reasonably
"pparent.” The thing that affords justifi-
cation is that the necessity to kill appears to
© real, and not merely reasonably apparent.

1€ necessity may not actually exist, but it
must so appear to the accused acting without
ees or carelessness, and he must honestly

eve so before he is justified. There must

5. Homicide

estly entertained, that there is a real neces-
sity—not merely a belief that there is a rea-
sonably apparent necessity. The distinction
may seem technical, but the trial court in
giving or refusing instructions has the right
to refuse one which is not technically cor-
rect. We merely mention this to show that,
while the court was correct in refusing this
particular instruction, the request for one
on this subject should be granted. Other in-
structions on the subject are open to the same
objection,

For the error indicated in refusing to ad-
mit the testimony of witness May, the judg-
ment is reversed and the cause remanded for
a new trial.

(169 Ark. 627)
(No. 193.)

Oct. 26, 1925.)

1. Criminal law @==1166(1)—That special
term was held more than 10 days after call
therefor held without prejudice to defendant.

Fact that call for special term at which de-
fendant ‘was indicted and tried was dated

March 31, and special term was called April

14, not being within 10 days, as provided by

Crawford & Moses’ Dig. §§ 2211-2214, held

without prejudice to defendant, where call was

made under section 2218, providing that circuit
judge may at any time hold special term for
trial of persons confined in jail.

2. Courts ¢=>64(3)—Statute authorizing spe-
cial terms of court construed with reference
to public policy.
Crawford & Moses’ Dig. §§ 2211-2214, pro-
viding for special terms of court to prevent
mob violence, must be construed with reference

to public policy which it was designed to ac-
complish.

3. Courts €=64(3)—Presumption that act as
to special terms was directory must be in-
dulged in until contrary appears.

Presumption that Crawford & Moses’ Dig.
§§ 2211-2214, are directory, and that holding
of special term of court more than 10 days aft-
er call would be at most irregular, must be in-
dulged in until contrary appears,

4. Criminal law €==594(3)—Refusal of con-
tinuance for absent witness held not abuse of
discretion.

Where evidence showed that absent wit-
ness left state because there were charges
against him, and court was right in finding that
he would not likely return, and defendant could

HARRIS v. STATE.

(Supreme Court of Arkansas.

not have procured his attendance at trial, even

if it had been held within 10 days within time

of killing, there was no abuse of discretion in
refusing continuance.

@=253(1)—Evidence held to
warrant finding defendant guilty of first de-
gree murder,

Evidence held to warrant finding defendant

& belief on the part of the accused, hon-

guilty of first degree murder.

@=For other cases see same topic and KEY-NUMBE

R in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes

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362 276 SOUTHWESTERN REPORTER (Ark,

~

6. Courts ¢=-114—Nune pro tunc order show-
ing trial jury was sworn held without error.
In view of positive evidence that jury was
sworn before trial began, there was no error

in nunc pro tune order made by judge who |
tried case, showing that jury was duly mae’

eled and sworn.

7. Criminal law €=1166(1)—Validity of or-
ders cailing for special term held without
concern of defendant.

Where court made order under Crawford

& Moses’ Dig. §§ 2211-2214, calling special

term for trial of accused alone, canceled such

order, and subsequently entered of record a

new call for purpose of trying accused and oth-

er persons confined in jail, since both orders;

were made on same day, in so far as defendant
was concerned, it made no difference which one
was held to be valid.

8. Time ¢==!!—Law does not consider parts
of a day.

The law does not consider parts of a day.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Ashley County ;
Turner Butler, Judge.

Aaron Harris was convicted of murder in
the first degree, and he appeals, Aflirmed.

Vernon Bankston, of Hamburg, for appel-
lant.

H. W. Applegate, Atty. Gen., and Jno. L.
Carter and Darden Moose, Asst. Attys. Gen.,
for the State.

HART, J. ‘ Aaron Harris was indicted for
murder in the first degree, charged to have
been committed by killing Scott Streeter. He
was tried before a jury, which returned a
verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree,
and, from a judgment upon the verdict sen-
tencing him to death, the defendant has duly
prosecuted an appeal to this court.

{1] The first assignment of error is that
the call for the special term of court at which
the defendant was indicted and tried was
not made according to law. The order con-
yening the special term of the court is as
follows:

“Whereas, the sheriff of Ashley county has
notified the judge of the circuit court that there
is reasonable ground for believing that mob
violence will be committed within the state of
Arkansas, and has requested the said judge to
eall a special term of court in order that the
above-named persons be brought to immediate
trial, and such other persons who may be in
the county jail and unable to make bond: ‘

“And, therefore, it is ordered that a special
term of the circuit court in and for Ashley
county, Ark., shall be convened and held on
the 14th day of April, 1925, and it is further
ordered that the clerk of said court issue a
special venire for a grand jury to appear at 9
o’clock on the forenoon of said day to investi-
gate the case of the state of Arkansas against
the said Aaron Harris and Dick Davenport and
others confined in jail, and it is ordered that
such other and further proceedings be had at

1 said special court as may be necessary for the
|immediate trial of the aforesaid persons.

“Tt is further ordered that the clerk issue a
| notice to the prosecuting attorney of the Tenth
judicial circuit of the time and purpose of said
| Special court.

“Witness my hand as judge of the Tenth ju-
i dicial circuit this 31st day of March, 1925.
“Turner Butler, Circuit Judge.”

The transcript also shows that this order
{was spread upon the record of the circuit
court, and that the prosecuting attorney was
; given due notice of the holding of the special
| term for the purpose of trying Aaron Harris,
| Dick Davenport, and such other persons as
might be confined in the jail of Ashley coun-
ty charged with crime.

The first objection to the call is that it is
dated March 31, 1925, and that the special
term was called for the 14th day of April,
1925. Under our statute providing ror special
terms to prevent mob violence, in certain cas
es, it is the duty of the circuit judge, upon
receipt of notice and request from the sheriff
for a special term as provided by the statute,
to call a special term of the court and begin
the trial of the person charged with crime as
designated in the statute within 10 days from
the receipt by such judge of such notice from
the sheriff. ° Crawford & Moses’ Digest, §§
2211-2214. Hence it is insisted that the judg-
ment of conviction in the present case must
be reversed because the special term of court
was not held within the 10 days prescribed
by the statute.

[2] In the first place, the statute must be
construed with reference to the public policy
which it was designed to accomplish. The
framers of the statute evidently passed it
for the protection of persons accused of cer-
tain crimes, and intended that the trial of
such persons should be begun within 10 days
to protect them from mob violence. Bettis v.
State, 164 Ark. 17, 261 5. W. 46.

[3] While the precise question was not de
cided in that case, it is evident from the read-
ing of the opinion that it proceeded upon the
theory that the act was directory or precau-
tionary. If the act is directory, holding the
special term of the court more than 10 days
after the call was made by the circuit judge,
would be at most irregular, and would not
constitute prejudicial error, calling for a re-
versal of the judgment. ‘The presumptioa
would be in its favor, and this presumption
must be indulged in until the contrary ap
pears.

There is nothing whatever in the present
record to show that the defendant was prej-
udiced by the special term being held more
than 10 days after the call.

It is argued that an absent witness might
have been secured if the trial had been held
; within the 10 days; but there is nothing
| whatever in the record to show that the at
| tendance of this witness could have been pro-

GF or other cases see same topic and KEY

-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes

Ark.) HARRIS v. STATE 363
(276 S.W.)

cured, as will more certainly appear in the
discussion of the alleged error for refusing to
grant the defendant a continuance.

Moreover, the record shows that the call
was made by the court under section 2218 of
the statute, which provides that a circuit
judge may at any time hold a special term
for the trial of persons confined in jail by
making a written order to that effect and
transmitting it to the clerk, who shall enter
the same on the records of the court. ‘he
transcript shows that the call was made, en-
tered of record, and notice given to the pros-
ecuting attorney, and that all the other steps
required by statute were made in conformity
therewith and in accordance with the rule
laid down by this court. Beard y. State, 79
Ark. 293, 95 S. W. 995, 97 S. W. 667, 9 Ann.
Cas. 409; Hill y. State, 100 Ark. 373, 140 5S.
W. 576{ Reece v. State, 118 Ark. 310, 176
S. W. 165; and Bell v. State, 120 Ark. 530,
180 S. W. 186. Hence we hold that this as-
signment of error is not well taken.

[4] In the next place it is insisted that the
judgment should be reversed because the
court erred in refusing to grant the defend-
ant’s motion for a continuance. It appears
from the record that the defendant killed
Scott Streeter on Saturday night, March 28,
1925, and that he was captured on the fol-
lowing Monday morning and confined in jail
until a special term of the court was called to
try him on the 14th day of April, 1925. In
his motion for a continuance, the defendant
states that Dan Dupree was standing within
10 or 15 steps of Scott Streeter at the time he
was shot by Aaron Harris, and, if present, he
would testify that he saw the deceased draw
his gun and tell Aaron Harris to stick up his
hands, that he snapped his gun at Harris two
or three times, and that Harris then drew
his gun and shot two or three times, and that
the deceased fell beside a fence post.

The sheriff and two of his deputies were
examined by the court as to the whereabouts
of Dan Dupree, the absent witness. Accord-
ing to the testimony of the sheriff, he had a
subpoena for Dan Dupree before the grand
jury about 10 days before, and had made all
efforts to locate him, and among other things
had telephoned down to the farm where Du-
pree lived and tried to locate him. There was
a liquor charge and a pistol charge against
the witness, and the sheriff had arrested him
on these charges. The owner of the farm on
which Dupree lived agreed to be personally
Tesponsible for his appearance before a jus-
tice of the peace, and the sheriff released
him. He went down to where Dupree lived
on the 12th of April, 1925, and found that
he had left there. According to the testimony
of a deputy sheriff, Dupree left on Sunday
night, one week after the shooting for which
Aaron Harris was charged. The deputy was
informed that Dupree went to Louisiana.
Another deputy sheriff testified that Dupree
had left the state, and other people in the

community said that he had left because
there was a whisky charge against him. ‘The
house in which Dupree lived was vacated,
and his wife had gone to her relatives.

The defendant made no attempt to show
that he could secure the attendance of Du-
pree at another term of the court and did
not ask that the trial be postponed to a lat-
er day of the special term in order to take
his deposition. Under these circumstances
it cannot be said that the circuit court abused
its discretion in refusing to grant the defend-
ant’s motion for a continuance. Bruder v.
State, 110 Ark. 402, 161 S. W. 1067; Miller
v. State, 94 Ark. 538, 128 S. W. 353; Wood
v. State, 159 Ark. 671, 252 S. W. 897; Burt
y. State, 160 Ark. 201, 256 S. W. 361; and
Scott vy. State (Ark.) 275 S. W. 667.

In this connection it may be stated that
the evidence shows that Dupree left about a
week after Harris shot Streeter, and that he
left because there was a whisky charge
against him. Under these circumstances the
circuit court was right in finding that he
would not likely return, and that the de
fendant could not have procured his attend-
ance at the trial, even if it had been held
within the 10 days from the time that defend-
ant shot the deceased.

{5] It is also earnestly insisted that the
testimony is not legally sufficient to sustain
a verdict for murder in the first degree.

Burl Odell, a 16 year old boy, was one of
the first persons to arrive where Scott Street-
er fell. According to his testimony he found
Scott Streeter lying on his left side with his
face to a fence. He had his left hand on his
stomach and his right hand over his left
hand. A physician was.summoned and found
that Streeter was shot in the stomach. He
gave him at different times two hypodermics
of morphine and carried him to a hospital
at Lake Village to be operated on. In per-
forming the operation it was found that his
intestines were cut in three places. Streeter
was shot Saturday afternoon March 28, 1925,
and died at 12:30 o'clock on the next morn-
ing.

According to the testimony of R. C. Avery,
he saw three shots fired by a man standing
under a light and he took the man doing the
shooting to be a negro. When the last shot
was fired, the man who did the shooting broke
and ran, and the witness did not see him any
more. There was no flash light turned on the
man doing the shooting. He was standing
something like 8 or 10 feet from an electric
light, and there was no other light except
the flash of his pistol. When the firing
ceased, the witness went to where the mam
who had been shot was lying and found that
he was Scott Streeter. The man who did the.
shooting was about 15 feet from the man.
who was shot.

Other witnesses for the state testified thar
when they picked up Scott Streeter they saw
a gun, a flash light, and a cap and handcutts

&

SOlMONL or rey


364 276 SOUTHWESTERN REPORTER (Ark.

on the ground. They looked as if they had
just fallen out from Streeter’s coat pocket.
They were lying close to his body, under the
arm of his coat, like they had dropped out of
his coat pocket. The flash light was not
burning when it was picked up. ‘They ex-
amined the pistol, looked in it, and found
that it was unloaded.

The defendant is a negro, and other wit-
nesses, both white and black, say that the
defendant told them that he had shot Mr.
Streeter because he was “around seeking for
whisky.” It was shown that Streeter was a
deputy sheriff, and had been especially depu-
tized by a justice of the peace to look after
persons violating the liquor laws. It was
also proved that the defendant knew Street-
er, and knew that he had acted as a deputy
sheriff some time before this. The sheriff tes-
tified that after he was arrested the defend-
ant told him that he knew Mr. Streeter and
knew that he was an oflicer at the time he
shot him.

According to the testimony of the defend-
ant and two other persons, Streeter had a
flash light and pistol in his hands at the time
he was shot. He threw the flash light upon
the defendant, and told him to put up his
hands. The defendant whirled, and Streeter
snapped his pistol at him two times. ‘The
defendant then got his gun out of his pocket
and shot at Streeter three times and ran.
He testified that he did not know who Street-
er was at the time he shot him.

According to the testimony of the witness-
es for the state’ the defendant had a bottle
of whisky-at the time he shot Streeter. He
knew that Streeter was an officer, and he
shot at him three times. Streeter did not
shoot at the defendant at all, and his pistol
was examined by persons who went to where
he fell immediately after the shooting. ‘They
say that the pistol was unloaded, and that the
flash light was not on. Other witnesses for
the state testified that Streeter did not turn
the flash light on the defendant, but that
the defendant fired three shots at him, and
that Streeter did not attempt to shoot at the
defendant at all.

This cestimony is corroborated by the fact
that the pistol was unloaded, and that the
flash light was not turned on when Streeter
fell mortally wounded by the shot in his
stomach. His hands were both on the wound,
and the jury might have inferred from this
that as soon as he was shot the deceased sank
to the ground and placed his hands upon his
wound.

The evidence for the state, if believed by
the jury, warranted it in finding that there
was a specific intent in the mind of Harris
to kill Streeter at the time he shot him, and
that the intent preceded the shooting, and
must have been formed after deliberation
and premeditation. Under these circumstanc-
es the jury was warranted in finding that
there was a willful, malicious, deliberate,

and premeditated killing, and that the de-
fendant was guilty of murder in the first de-
gree, Coats y. State, 101 Ark. 51, 141 8S. W.
197; Cegars vy. State, 150 Ark. 648, 235 8S,
W. 36; Webb v. State, 154 Ark. 67, 242 8S. W.
380; Outler v. State, 154 Ark. 598, 243 S. W.
851; Burns y. State, 155 Ark. 1, 248 S. W.
963; Beason vy. State, 166 Ark. 142, 265 8.
W. 956.

{6] Another assignment of error is that the
judgment should be reversed because the rec-
ord does not show that the trial jury was
sworn as required by statute. On this point
there appears in the record a nune pro tunc
order which shows that the jury was duly
impaneled and sworn to try the case of the
state of Arkansas against Aaron Harris, But
it is contended that the judge was not war-
ranted in entering of record this nune pro
tune order. We cannot agree with counsel
for the defendant in this contention. On
this point the circuit clerk of Ashley eounty
testified: That he was the clerk of the court
at the time Aaron Harris was tried, and that
the court docket shows the following:

“Jury impaneled and sworn; case heard, ver-
dict of guilty of murder in the first degree,
4-16-25.”

That the above is in the handwriting of
Judge Turner Butler, wuo was the presiding
judge of the case of the state of Arkansas
against Aaron Harris. ‘The clerk testitied
further that he administered the oath to the
jury which tried the defendant.

The court reporter also testified that his
notes show that the jury was sworn before
the trial began, and that he made the nota-
tion at the time. ‘The witness further testi-
fied that he always looked at his watch when
the jury was sworn, and made a particular
notation of the time when the jury is sworn,
and that there could be no mistake at all
about his testimony.

The same judge who tried the case made
the nune pro tunc order, and it cannot be
said that he was not fully justified in mak-
ing it.

{7} Another ground relied upon for a re-
versal of the judgment is that the court first
made an order calling for a special term for
the trial of Aaron Llarris alone, and subse-
quently entered of record a new call which
we have copied in this opinion. The language
of the two orders is precisely the same, ex-
cept that the one copied in the transcript con-
tains the names of Dick Davenport as well
as Aaron Harris. The record shows that
both calls were made upon the same day, and
that the first call was canceled and the sec
ond one made and spread upon the record be-
cause the circuit judge by mistake had not
included Dick Davenport in the first call for
the special term. ‘Lhey were both made
on the same day, and, so far as the defend-
ant is concerned, it would not make any dif-
ference which one was held to be valid. If it

Ark.) ; HERREN v. STATE 365
(276 S.W.)

should be held that the first call was the
valid one, it was spread upon the record and
contained all the essential requirements that
were contained in the second call. . If it
should be said that the second call is valid,
then, as above stated, it contains all of the
essential requisites of the statute.

[8] Moreover, it may be said that the law
docs not consider parts of a day, and that the
circuit judge had a perfect right to amend his
call on the same day and to include Dick
Davenport in the call.

We have carefully examined the record,
and find that the defendant was given a fair
trial. His rights were carefully guarded by
the court, and the instructions fully and
fairly covered the respective theories of the
state and of the defendant.

We find no reversible error in the record,
and the judgment must be affirmed.

(169 Ark. 636)
HERREN v. STATE. (No. 194.)

(Supreme Court of Arkansas. Oct. 26, 1925.)

1. Criminal law €=>134(4)—Change of venue
denied, where affiants not credible.
Change of venue held properly denied, where
supporting affiants were not credible persons
within meaning of the law.

2 Intoxicating liquors €=>238(2)—Identity of
defendant held question of fact.
In liquor prosecution, whether defendant
was person who sold liquor to witness held.
question of fact.

3. Intoxicating liquors @=>236(4) — Evidence
held to identify accused as person selling liq-
uor.

In liquor prosecution, evidence held to sup-

Port finding that defendant was’ person who

sold liquor to witness.

4. Criminal law @=>351(3)—Evidence of do-
fendant’s flight when arrested held admis-
sible,

In liquor prosecution, evidence of defend-
ant’s fligut when arrested held admissible as
having some evidentiary value on question of
his probable guilt.

5. Witnesses €=>380(5)—Examination of wit-
ness for state relative to contradictory state-
ment made to prohibition officer held proper.

Witness, who on her cross-examination
fave testimony adverse to state by making
doubtful defendant’s identity as person who
had made sale of whisky, held properly exam-
ined relative to contradictory statement she
had made to prohibition officer, especially where
she admitted having made statement and that
it was true.

6. Criminal law @==372(2) — Testimony held
Competent as tending to show defendant was
engaged in business of selling liquor.

In lquor prosecution, testimony of wit-

Bess as to finding a quantity of liquor in de-

fendant’s house held competent as showing de-
_—_—_—

fendant was engaged in business of selling liq-
uor,

7. Witnesses €=2337(2) — Testimony that de-
fendant’s reputation for truth and morality
was bad held admissible as affecting credi-
bility.

Where defendant became a witness in his
own behalf in liquor prosecution, testimony of
state to effect that his reputation for truth
and morality was such that impeaching wit-
nesses would not believe him on oath held. ad-
missible, where court admonished jury that it
could be considered only as affecting credibility
of defendant as witness.

8. Witnesses €=—2319 — Defendant becoming
witness in his own behalf is subject to im-
peachment.

Defendant, who takes stand in his own be-
half as witness, is subject to impeachment in
same manner as any other witness.

9. Intoxicating liquors €=>236(11) — Evidence
held to support but one conviction for selling
intoxicating liquor.

In prosecution for making two separate
sales of intoxicating liquor, evidence held to sup-
port but one conviction.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Sebastian
County; John E. Tatum, Judge.
C. O. Herren was convicted on two indict-

ments for selling intoxicating liquor, and he
appeals. Aflirmed as to first indictment, and

reversed and dismissed as to second indict- .

ment,

E. D, Chastain, of Van Buren, for appel-
lant.

H. W. Applegate, Atty. Gen., and Jno. L.
Carter and Darden Moose, Asst, Attys. Gen.,
for the State.

SMITH, J. Appellant was twice indicted
in 1922 for selling intoxicating liquors, the in-
dictment in the first case being numbered
S698 and in the second case 8699, and on
June 30, 1925, was, with his consent, tried
upon both indictments at the same time,
and was convicted in each case and given a
sentence of one year in each, the second sen-
tence to begin at the expiration of the first.

[1] Appellant filed a petition for a change
of venue, which was overruled by the court,
and this action is assigned as error. This
assignment of error may be disposed of by
saying that the affiants supporting the peti-
tion were examined in open court, and their
examination touching the state of the public
mind in regard to appellant was such as to
warrant the finding made by the court that
the supporting affiants were not credible per-
sons within the meaning of the law.

[2,3] The prosecution rested on the testi-
mony of Della Brannon, who testified that
she had bought whisky “once or twice” in
1921 from a man who had been introduced
to her as Owen Llerren; this being appel-

lant’s name. This witness testified that this

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

SCMOOL Ar re 9

tee (Special Dispatch to the Atlanta Bun, June 9.
-. Fearful Scenes in Arkansas. |

qn meremmn

| of murdet’ some time ago before the Crit-

| tenden county (Arkansas) court; werehang-
ed! today at Marlon, in’the’ presénce ‘of,

: about fifteen hundred persons, mostly. ve-
grpes.. At noon the sheriff went.to prepare
them for the execution, wheti they both set
upon him and begt him severely. The 4s-
sistancé of one of their fellow-prisoners WAS
called: into requisition, and:when abgut ‘to
enter their cell, Harris struck bin a/fearfal

blow witha:-brick, breakl¥og it: over: his |

brow. . The assistance of five other prisan

| erp Was then called in. On their approach-
Ing Harris, he strack one of them with an
overpowered and brought out tato the hall.
When they saw the. light-of the sun they.
bégan to pray and sing, and thus they con-

‘Ontil they got to the scaffold}. whither they

5

ers in’ the:‘méantime offering: ‘prayers and
exhortations. Upon the scaffold they were
‘askéd {f they had anything’ to day, _where-
upon’ Rosenborough: began speaking, and

herent manner, praying and singing pdrt
of, the time, for nearly half an’ hour, ahd
‘making a full’ confession, giving’ in detail
{o¢ manner jn which he killed young Free-
man, to obtaln possession of two revolvers.

particularly the: negroes, some. wholesome
advice.. Harris then began’ in the same
strain, singing’ and -praying, at times; for
: 8h minutes... denying “hfs -gullt; to the last.
‘The Pane Mee ‘then praced upou their heads
ave prayer offeted, the: pr sopers singing
mi
|

til the word “ Amen,” when. the ‘trap
WAS sprung} at 1:30, and both ten were
swinging offs’ After'a few convulsions, life
Was, extinct The, bodies remainéd: sts-
p¢aded: fourteen ; minutes, when, they, were
cut down and placcd in coffins and carrjed

e
| | . mene: rt re he iia 3 te 3
.

a i :

; anging of Two Negro Desperadoes— i
*. | Exciting Scenes and Incidents,

Two negroes, named Wm. Harris and
\John Rosenborouzh,. who were convicted

‘fron bar; after 4 severe Straggle: both were

tinned while” they..wers being tied and

marched between a,guard of whites and ne-
goes armed with shgt-guiis,colored preach-

continued his remark¥in e rambling, inco-

e finally. wound up by giving, his hearers,

Corrgia
57/

/
FL
bs

Ate
o // 4
Ce

CONSTITUTIONAL. 1ST~
J

Monday, May 11, 1998-~
ARKANSAS:

A man convicted twice in the shooting death of a Fort Smith furniture
store owner will be executed by lethal injection on july 8, Governor Mike
Huckabee said Friday.

Wilbum A. Henderson, 55, has gone to trial 3 times for the November 1980
murder of Willa Dean O'Neal and in February failed to win a 4th trial.

His ist trial ended in a mistrial, and he was convicted 2 times since.
Arkansas resumed capital punishment in 1990, and to date has executed 16
condemned prisoners. In the 2 years since Huckabee became govemor, 5
inmates have been executed in the state.

(sources: Dallas Moming News and Rick Halperin)
>>

Saturday May 11,1896 America Online: Gatbads

Page: 1

No Appeal
HAWKINS, John, black, electrocuted at Arkansas State Prison (Little River County) on
March 13, 1917.

"Ashdown, Ark., Nov. 17, 1916-lwo weeks ago when Section Foreman Diles returned home after
his day's work, he found his wife, baby and shotgun missing, He immediately notified the
officers and an allenight search was instituted. One of the hunting parties, about 10 o'-
clock the following morning, found his wife and baby's bodies in a clump of underbrush not
far from the home, The wife had been shot with a shotgun and the baby had been brained with
the gun's stock, Last night, John Hawkins, a negro section laborer, after beins mch oques-
tioned and cross-questioned, confessed to having committed the murder, according to officers,
He was rushed to Texarkana and thence to the state penitentiary at Little Rock to avoid mob
violence. It is claimed the negro's motive was robbery. He entered the Diles home and
asked Mrs. Diles for money. She ran, screaming, fromthe house, The negro, after a search,
found $15; then grabbed the shotgun and pursued Mrs. Diles, who was running with the baby
clasped in her arms. He overtook her and, as she turned, shot, the full charge entering

her head. He then brained the child with the stock of the gun, according to his confession,
The negro then remained at his home nearby until arrested yesterday, The reward of $1150

is claimed by former Sheriff Sanderson and a detective from an agency in the north who
effected the arrest and confession," AMERICAN, Austin, 11-18-1916 (2-).)

i

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i } } o oe j yo ee ie a" ry i a v + 4 val )
. yi oh ae | ra ilo i) need add bud Gid baa @ dC Cn 5 a a.
Ps dd de LN g AL io 9 Oe > Ww he g ap See Ne Ww V 9

-

Re ete ame etna oe sah

The crime for Wich. Melton . wan
t Tangent Wis the nes i Ba bee -
ay fr : arses ret eronE |
sear Wife Had hit arcested ona charge of
Van Vikniny ond he war helt by. Justice |:
i” yi (eiety under bon to NOeWeer tq the
Bes Kemuedl Jury, on the mornin of Rop-
ton appenred at O'Kel-

Aiel after paying hin fitry’
| | : ents Unt wats dune, atuldenty nied with
ae ; ; re EG ae Lent wiurning pulled on pistol and ‘shot
HE: MET HIS FATE; COOLLY jo Retty an the abdomen, bata

e

i Pecovercd from the wound, After shoot.

4

a abe

Kit Helton Hanged at
|—-Buren-Friday-Morn tember 2 ple

* ae: ° *y ty ee ' Iv'n 1 n ‘
ae 4 ou. agin E. a rendnne

WE Nelly Helton

‘Ooo. Went to hie home

Nast ‘an mad, calling hha wite TO Clee ite, noe

Jao Cay Wer sy Wer throweh the hemrt, kalllig Neer bate
Refused to Have a Minister ‘or to Have Re- “tantly, He then left, eupressing cde:
Cm Ns ye ‘mn Des aN) ty Coven dna eden to Linvnng Wp omnad Mut Hruah
liglous Exerclses—Fifteen Persons Stewart, bbe atenwan, Late that ihe

: oe \ ve eA oe favs Velton was Useoveree iy eae

_+ Witnessed the Execution, x, ‘tom ; farmers who were looking: for ‘him: af-

‘oto ohh an, " hae AB AN Bet tort piteiead battle in Whoet Helton
cat AL : as AD Re Ware Wottneded, aod his Dintel hevuntivg

¢ bey as bs / et Ra es © loreohe ne de SUPrTendered, ile ‘sn is
Bpecial to the Gasette, vif a Nae eil by the grand jury nt it lage
Van Kuren, March TsAt. ce As ” Nee terin rd euUrt Ud wate gtyeg
morning Kherift -Pitcock * sp ing.;/-the ' “ns ardent fab vost sia pigs which

Purpose aon Jura

@l- lust the ow or
pay Sane I _ P SUTIN placed on trial for
* getenl feet, Nis mantty amd on Jury Neelaring ting
sane, be wis then Placed

traplond dropped the DK
fon, the ‘wifg” murdeptel,
breaking his neck, In eleven) ‘minutos

Vaprengy
Itelton was prononnced dend ‘nud the the marter, ‘The Jury, ation eine ved
lnnly waa let down and turned ivver to but a few hours returnest a Verdot of
the undertaker for burlal  ; ¢ £3 te murder in the tree degree, and he was
Molton mept well Inst night ‘nbd ate “erteneet to tee bitncel Vebruary 7,
a hearty breakfnst this morning, Later Ile sttorneym deejelea) not to. appeal
ho stated that-he was hungry, ,and' ate he case, but trutt to egecutive elem
a recond break Cast. Lig eed te a, ttn eney. Caavernor Davis rnre bing ® thir
‘After asking for a white shirt and ‘yay respite, bat pefimel to commute
| colfar he refusel to wear themm,' but the nentence, aut

requested to be allowed to taka. thein
to tho scaffold and that they: be buried
Withy bhi, AL Wt Mherit Piteoek re
celved at inexsace from Governor Davis
ordering a atay of exceution until neon,
At UH5 another messnge was received
from the governor onlering that: . the
exeoudon re -proceuded’* with’ 1Tentea
displayed no nervousness, but, walked
Patendily from the Jail tu the enclosure,
and after mounting the ataira he step.
ped unalded upon the trap. When ask:
at If ho had anything to aay he. wtated
In nv loud aint xtendy volee that he bad
nothing te may except. té thank ,. all’
friends who had been kind to hing He
nso requested Jatler Miller to not }
draw the strap so. tight as to hurt hia
aris. A crowd of about one thonsand
beople congregated around | the court.
hottie yard, but wae very omertly,
When the body wae taken own and
the Dlnck enp removed {t Wie found
that the right alde of the neck JWAR
Daddy Ineyrupedt At Dhalsensete feqtrent

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EXECUTION

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~~

HILDRETH, Wesley, black, elec. Ark. (Phillips County)
17 SOUTH WHSTHRN REPORTER, 2d St

622 Ark,

ment must fit into our jurisprudence in its
true form, as a species of attachment, and
as such it is subject to the restrictions ap-
plicable to the broader remedy.

Affirmed.

FRANK G. SMITH and ROBINS, JJ.,
dissent.

ROBINS, Justice (dissenting).

I respectfully dissent.

It is conceded by the majority of the
court that, under the letter of the last
legislative enactment on the subject, a
claim growing out of tort is included among
those for which garnishment may be is-
sued before judgment. But, say. the ma-
jority, the historical background of the
matter is such that, in the opinion of the
majority, the legislature did not intend so to
include a cause of action arising from tort.
The best way to interpret a statute is to
take the plain English of it. Judges are
treading on dangerous ground when they
assume authority to disregard unmistakable
language of the law—and attempt to justify
so doing merely by opining that the legis-
lature did not intend to do what it did do.

oO KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

aAums

HILDRETH v. STATE.
No. 4-4539.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.
Feb. 21, 1949.

1. Criminal law €=126(1)

Statute authorizing change of venue
is based on premise that accused is en-
titled to change when hostile public senti-
ment makes an impartial hearing impos-
sible. 4 Ark.Stats. § 43-1502.

2. Criminal \aw C137

Trial court must be guided by evidence
and cannot rely upon its own knowledge
of local conditions, in passing on penticn
for change of venue.

3. Criminal law > 134(1)

Under statute requiring that petition
for change of venue be supported by afh-
davits of two electors who are not related
to accused, where accused, instead of of-
fering affidavits, submitted sworn. state-
ment of his attorneys that numerous resi-
dents stated that accused. could not obtain
a fair trial in the county, and that such
citizens refused to make affidavit lest they
incur enmity of general public and par-
ticularly of interested persons, testimony
by attorneys as to the statements made in
their affidavits should have been admitted.
4 Ark.Stats. § 43-1502.

4. Criminal law C-134(2)

Under statute providing that petition
for change of venue be supported by afh-
davit of two electors who are not related
to accused, relief cannot be denied because
of a lack of affidavits, when public feeling
is so antagonistic that affidavits cannot
be had. 4 Ark.Stats. § 43-1502.

ROBINS and FRANK G. SMITH,
JJ., dissenting.

a

Appeal from Circuit Court, Lee County;
D. S. Plummer, Judge.

Wesley Hildreth was convicted of rape,

and he appeals.

Reversed and cause remanded for new
trial.

W. Harold Flowers, of Pine Bluff, for
appellant.

Ike: Murry, Atty. Gen. and Jeff Duty,
Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

GEORGE ROSE SMITH, Justice.

Appellant asks us to reverse a judg-
ment sentencing him to death, following
conviction for the crime of rape. The

“most serious question concerns the trial

court’s refusal to grant a charlge of venue.

Our statute requires in part that the peti-
tion for such a transfer be supported by
the affidavit of two electors who are not
related to the accused in any way. Ark.
Stats.1947, § 43-1502. Instead of offering
these affidavits the appellant submitted the
sworn statement of three attorneys ap-

on Tesember 23, 19:9,

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HILDRUTH v. STATE } Ark. 623

Cito as 2 LT S.W.2d 622 =

“pointed to conduct his defense, to the °f-

fect that they had questioned numerous
residents of Lee County and that every one
of them thought Hildreth could not obtain
a fair trial in the county. Further, that
these citizens refused to make affidavit
lest they incur the enmity of the general
public and particularly of the interested
persons.

When the petition was presented, the
three attorneys offered to testify to the
statements made in their affidavit, and
one of them offered to swear that four
members of the jury panel had told him
they couldn’t try the accused fairly. At
this point the trial judge responded: “It
is possible that the prosecuting witness
herself might have been. on this jury
panel. I believe that he can get a fair
and impartial trial in Lee County; for
that reason the motion for a change of
venue will be denied.” The prosecution
then interposed an objection to the form
of the petition, but the judge stated ex-
plicitly that he would not stand upon any
technicality and that if he felt that the
accused could not get a fair trial he would
permit the motion to be amended. “I am
not dealing with the form of the motion,
but the Court feels that he will obtain
a fair and impartial trial.”

[1] The statute is evidently based on
the premise that the accused is entitled to
a change of venue when hostile public
sentiment makes an impartial hearing im-
possible. It would be patently illogical to
grant the petition when affidavits are ob-
tainable, but to refuse relief when public
feeling is so antagonistic that the aff-
davits cannot be had.

[2] The court’s action in refusing to
hear testimony was contrary to established
principles. We have held that the trial
court must be guided by the evidence and
cannot rely upon its own knowledge of
local conditions, for the judge must not
also be a witness. Ward v. State, 68 Ark.
466, 60 S.W. 31. In very similar situa-
tions the courts of our sister States have
indicated that the prisoner should be given
the opportunity to present his evidence.
Blanks vy. Commonwealth, 105 Ky. 41, 48

S.W. 161; Mitchell v. State, 43 Tex. 512;
cf, Shiver v. State, 41 Fla. 630, 27 So. 36.

[3,4] As far as we can tell from the
printed record this appellant was tried
fairly; but we cannot make that deter-
mination in the face of the unanswered
possibility that the local prejudice sug-
gested in the petition might have existed.
We must conclude that the court erred in

‘refusing to allow appellant’s witnesses to

testify. Had their testimony confirmed
the asserted grounds for a removal of the
cause, of course the State would then have
had the opportunity to submit proof to the
contrary. Robertson y. State, 212 Ark.
301, 206 S.W.2d 748.

Reversed and remanded for a new trial,
at which the accused will be permitted to
adduce evidence to support his petition.

FRANK G. SMITH and ROBINS, JJ.,

dissent.

ROBINS, Justice.

I respectfully dissent,

The General Assembly, to which our
constitution, Art. 2, Sec. 10, expressly com-
mitted the power and the duty to pre-
scribe when and by what procedure an ac-
cused person may obtain a change of venue,
has enacted that such change of venue
may be obtained by making application
by petition “setting forth the facts on ac-
count of which the removal is requested;
and the truth of the allegations in such
petition shall be supported by the affidavits
of two (2) credible persons who are quali-
fied electors, actual residents of the county

and not related to the defendant in any
way.” Sec. 43-1502, Ark.Stats.Ann.1947.

Originally the statute required that the
allegations in the petition be supported by
the affidavit of some “credible person”.
Act No. 98, Acts 1873. By Act No. 93
of. 1899 it was changed so as to require the
supporting affidavit of “two credible per-
sons who are qualified electors, actual res-
idents of the county, and not related to the
defendant in any way”. This language was

not changed when it was re-enacted as
a part of Initiated Act No. 3 of 1936.

eee nb a ttt
ORAL OI tt A Mitte Sing

OPCS MET AOD Anat ROE on mC NR Ei

‘
[
§
‘

Slaves HENRY and SAM, blacks, hanged Union Co., Ark. 189

"Arkansas: The El Dorado UNION contains an account of the murder of
Mrs, Abbot who was found dead in her chimney corner. For some days

it was supposed she had fallen from the chimney gutter but on inquiry
being made among the negroes, it was discovered that they were the
murderers. The circumstances says the UNION are these: It seems that
two negro men after sending off all in the house but themselves, seized
her by the throat and choked her untilx life was EX nesrly extinct

and then procured the coupling pin of a wagon, and placing it across her
neck, the two hegroes stood one on each end of the pin until she was
dead. These, we are told, are the main facts as BBARK confessed by

the negroes now in jail. It is thought there are others concerned in
this awful tragedy."

TIMES-PICAYUNE, October 17, 189 (h:1.)

eircum-
a

ich satis-

ul it

s Power
it to fix
enjoined
here evi-
of crime
| support
plea for

‘he Com-
inal law,
0 classes
, imputed
re placed
e spoken
that are
alain se.
‘y, arson,
* * *
respect to
d severe
tence of
emplated,
hat “If a
thi “eld,
WwW er,
her. shall
shalt do
! no sin
he found
ed damsel
her’.—ch.

civil law
and con-
- was ex-
Gothic or
lar to the

the death.
innovation,
conscious-
any litera-
custom, or
ipport for
sonsequen-

WALLIN’

JTUAL BENEFIT HEALTIL& ACCI DIENT N Ark. TDy

Cite as 2°23 5,W.2d 759

ces of rape are negligible to the community
and of but minimum importance to the out-
raged woman.

Affirmed.

° KEY HUMBER SYSTEM

AuUmMe

HALLEY v. MUTUAL BENEFIT HEALTH
& ACCIDENT ASS’N.

No. 4-894 1.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.
Oct. 24, 1949.

Ben H. Halley sued the Mutual Benefit
Health & Accident Association for death
benefits under a health and accident policy.

From a judginent of the Circuit Court,
Third Division, of Pulaski County, J. Mitch-
ell Cockrill, J., for defendant, plaintiff ap-
pealed.

The Supreme Court, Holt, J., reversed the
judgment, holding that defendant’s reinstate-
ment of the policy on insured’s late pay-
ment of a quarterly premium created a new
contract covering accidental injuries sus-
tained during the full term of three months
thereafter, though insured accepted, with-
out protest, defendant’s premium receipt
stating that the payment reinstated policy
only until the first day of the next quarter.

1, Insurance C146(3)

An insurance contract prepared by in-
surer must be construed most strictly
against the insurer when any doubt arises as
to construction thereof.

2. Insurance €=365(1)

An insurer’s. reinstatement of health
and accident quarterly term policy on in-
sured’s late payment of quarterly premium
did not restrict renewed coverage to period
from date of, reinstatement until first day
of next quarter only, in absence of policy
provision that fractional part of month
after date of reinstatement should be paid
for by insured as full month or that in-
surer’s premium receipt, stating that pay-
ment reinstated policy until first day of
next quarter, would become part of policy,
nor did insured’s acceptance of such re-

ceipt without protest make it part of con-
tract or bind insured by its provisions.

3. Insurance €=365(1)

Where term policy, providing for no
grace period for payment of premiums, is
reinstated on late payment of premium, re-
newed coverage runs from date of. rein-
statement for period purchased by amount
of premium paid.

4. Insurance C=365(1)

A health and accident policy is gen-
erally regarded as species of “term insur-
ance” not renewable without insurer’s con-
sent after insured’s default in payment of
premium,

See Words and Phrases, Permanent

Edition, for other judicial constructions
and definitions of “Term Insurance”,

5. Insurance ©=365(1)

Reinstatement of health and accident
policy on insured’s late payment of premium
has prospective effect dating from time of

reinstatement, which is in effect a renewal.

for another term, creating new prospective
contract covering losses thereafter sus-
tained.

6. Insurance C>365(1)

Reinstatement of health and accident
quarterly term insurance policy, providing
for no grace period for payment of premi-
ums, on insured’s late payment of quarter-
ly premium, created new prospective con-
tract covering accidental injuries thereafter
sustained during full term of three months.

—o—__.

Warren E. Wood and Griffin Smith, Jr.,
Little Rock, for appellant.

Malcolm W. Gannaway and James B.
Gannaway, Little Rock, for appellee.

HOLT, Justice.

Appellant sought by this action to recover
death benefits under the terms of a health
and accident quarterly term policy issued
by appellee September 3, 1940 to Anna
Powell, appellant’s wife. Anna Powell was

accidently killed January 5, 1948. Appel-
lee, insurance company, contended that the
policy was not in effect at the time the in-

rae ete RNA

fA ‘s = re tied tee?
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+


ments contained
mule it is quite
“4 of action
ig the court
irrer thereto and
‘tiff declined to

ent is reversed
le the order dis-
'e one sustaining
rrule the demur-
consistent with

HILDRETH v. STATE Ark, TD57
Cite as 223 S.W.2d 757

HILDRETH v. STATE.
No. 4573.

‘Supreme Court of Arkansas.
Oct. 17, 1949.

‘Rehearing Denied Nov. 14, 1949.

Wesley Hildreth was convicted in the Cir-
cuit Court of Phillips County, Elmo Taylor,
J., of rape with punishment of death and
he appealed.

The Supreme Court, Griffin Smith, C. J.,
affirmed the judgment of conviction, hold-
ing that evidence was sufficient to sustain
conviction, that Supreme Court had no pow-
er to reduce punishment and that defendant
was not entitled to have punishment reduced,
on ground that consequences of rape were
negligible to the community and of but min-
imum importance to the prosecutrix.

1. Rape C=51(1)

Evidence sustained rape conviction,
though prosecutrix admitted that she made
no alarm and did not see defendant -with
any weapon, where attack occurred in a
rural area, and prosecutrix testified that de-

fendant threatened to kill her if she

screamed,

2. Criminal law 1183

_ The right to fix punishment is primar-
ily a duty enjoined on juries, and only
where evidence does not sustain degree of
crime expressed in verdict, but docs sup-
port a lower finding, may a plea for par-
tial relief be successful.

3. Criminal law €-1183

Where evidence sustained rape convic-
tion, Supreme Court had no authority to
reduce the punishment from death penalty
to life imprisonment.

4. Criminal law €=20

A crime to which wrong is imputed
only because lawmaking bodies have placed
them in a forbidden category, are “mala
prohibita”, while acts that are inherently
wicked are “mala in se,” in which class are
robbery, arson, murder, manslaughter, as-
sault, and rape.

See Words and Phrases, Permanent
Edition, for other judicial constructions
and definitions of “Mala Prohibita” and
“Mala in Se”.

5. Criminal law C1183

One convicted of rape by verdict im-
posing death penalty, was not entitled to
have death penalty reduced to life impri-
sonment, on ground that the consequences
of the rape were negligible to the communi-
ty and of but minimum importance to the

_ prosecutrix.

——_@—____——

Flowers, Trimble & Davis, Pine Bluff,
for appellant.

Ike Murry, Attorney General, Jeff Duty,
Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

GRIFFIN SMITH, Chief Justice.

By information filed August 4, 1948, the
Prosecuting Attorney for Lee County
charged that on August 2d Wesley Hild-
reth raped a designated female person.
The accused appealed from a judgment in-
flicting the death penalty and procured

reversal on the ground that the trial

erred in refusing to hear testimony relating

to his petition for a change of venue. Hild-
‘reth v. State, 214 Ark. 710, 217 S.W.2d 622.

When the cause was called on remand in
April, 1949, the defendant again asked that
the venue be changed, resulting in a direc-
tion that trial should be ‘in Phillips Circuit
Court, at Helena. In appealing the fol-
lowing statements appear in counsel’s brief:

“Appellant, a Negro, was convicted of
rape and sentenced to death. The prosecu-
trix was a young white woman. Appellant
did not testify, and no evidence was offered
in his behalf. Questions involved are, (1)
whether the evidence warrants death where
the prosecutrix admits she made no alarm
and did not see appellant with any weapon
which might produce fear and submission,
and (2) whether the Supreme Court may
reduce the punishment assessed by a jury”.

In support of his plea for substitution of
life imprisonment for electrocution, appel-
lant’s counsel says: “* * * We wish
to emphasize the fact that the consequences
of this crime are within the realm of mini-
mum damage to the community and to the
prosecutrix”.

[1] First—Sufficiency of the Evidence.
—The victim of appellant’s lust was 21

se cae cnn conta
cA ace 2AM


This Ark. 223 SOUTH WESTERN
years of age, married, and the mother of
a three-months-old child when the attack
occurred at the rural tenant home between
Marianna and Helena, three or four miles
from the paved highway. The undisputed
evidence is that the prosecutrix was attend-
ing to her household duties the morning of
August 2d when appellant—whom she had
never before seen—entered through an
open kitchen door; and, as the witness ex-
plained it, “he was standing right in front
of me when I first saw him’. The baby
was sleeping in an adjoining room. Appel-
lant’s first question was, “Where is your
husband?” Without waiting for an answer,
appellant went into the baby’s. bedroom,
looking: backward as he walked. The
mother, thinking the baby might be in dan-
ger, followed. Appellant grabbed her and
warned that if she screamed he would kill
her. He then said, “Did you ever have a
date with a colored man?” When the an-
swer was “No”, he remarked, “Well, this
is one time you are going to have one”.
Efforts of the young mother to free herself
were unavailing.. She was “dragged back-
ward to the bed”, where the criminal act
was consummated.

In leaving, appellant warned that if the
woman told her husband what had occurred
“T will return and kill you”. Disregarding
the threat, the prosecutrix ran perhaps a

quarter of a mile to where her husband was

working in a cotton field. Several hours
later treatment was given by a physician,
who verified assertions that force had been
used. When arrested, appellant admitted to
a deputy sheriff that he “had done it”.
There was corroborating testimony, with
identification.

The jury, believing the injured woman
and other witnesses,. found that violence
through fear prevented outcries, the ab-
sence of which is emphasized in urging by
inference that there was want of resistance,
with tacit consent. .

It is difficult.to see how any verdict other
than one of guilt could have been returned.
The fact-finders, through instructions, were
told that they could fix punishment at life
imprisonment, or death. The members of
that body must ‘have read, from the expres-

REPC....2R, 2d SURES

sion and demeanor of witnesses, circuni-
stantial and affirmative conduct which satis-
fied them beyond a reasonable doubt that
the act complained of: was beyond the
borderline of extenuation.

[2,3] Second—Supreme Court's Power

to Reduce Punishment—The right to fix
punishment is primarily a duty enjoined
upon juries. It is only in cases where evi-
dence docs not sustain the degree of crime
expressed in the verdict, but does support

a lower finding, that an appellant’s plea for

partial relief may be successful.

[4] Third—“Consequences to the Com-
munity’.—Text writers on criminal law,
and court decisions, deal with two classes
of crime.. Those to which wrong is imputed
only because lawmaking bodies have placed
them in a forbidden category are spoken
of as mala prohibita; while acts that are
inherently wicked are said to be mala in se,
In the latter class we find robbery, arson,
murder, manslaughter, assault, * * *
aiid rape. Thus, public policy in respect to
this most detestable crime found severe
expression long before the existence of
Arkansas was even remotely contemplated,
for in Deuteronomy it was said that “If a
man find a betrothed damsel in the. field,
and the man force her, and lie with her,
then the man only that lay with her shall
die; but unto the damsel thou shalt do
nothing; there is in the damsel. no sin

worthy of death, * * * for he found.

her in the field, and the betrothed damsel
cried, and there was none to save her”’.—ch.

221 a; oO 27.

Blackstone tells us that the civil law
punished ravishment with death and con-
fiscation of goods. Like penalty was ex-
acted by ancient Saxon laws. Gothic or
Scandinavian treatment was similar to the
Saxon.

[5] It will thus be scen that the death
penaity for rape is not a modern innovation,
predicated upon race or class conscious-
ness; nor is there to be found in any litera-
ture dealing with the law, or with custom, or
with social relationships, any support for
appellant’s proposition that the consequen-


eee

624 Ark,

By the decision in the instant case the
court is adding to the legislative prescrip-
tion this amendment: That, when counsel
for defendant say they are unable to ob-
tain signature and oath of two supporting
witnesses to the petition for change of
venue, this requirement of the legislature,
made under express constitutional author-

itv, and re-enacted by the people in an _

initiated Act, must be disregarded by the
trial court. While such an amendment
might be desirable—and that question,
from a practical standpoint, is open to
debate—this’ court does not, in my humble
judgment, have the power to make it.

| 217 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d DOK

Of course, if a petition for change of
venue in proper form had been filed the
refusal of the judge to hear same for the
reason, as assigned by him, that he felt
that accused could have a fair trial in
Lee County would have been error. But
in the case at bar no such petition was
filed, nor did appellant offer to file same,
and'any reason assigned by the judge for
his action, if erroneous, was harmless
error, because, until a proper petition was
on file, appellant had no right to invoke any
ruling of the court on the question of
change of venue. :

i. C

mad:
rant

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immi
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misd
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pres

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a dead
directe

HILL v. LOCKHART 341
Cite as 927 F.2d 340 (8th Cir. 1991)

justifying denial of evidentiary hearing
based on purportedly newly discovered evi-
dence.

6. Habees Corpus @722(2)

Evidence belied state murder defen-
dant’s claim that he was not fully apprised
of his constitutional rights prior to ques-
tioning by police; defendant was told. of his
rights, stated that he understood them, and
initialed and signed rights form prior to
any questioning. :

7. Habeas Corpus @722(2)

Evidence established that state murder
defendant’s videotaped statement was vol-
untary, despite defendant’s contention that
officers threatened him and played with
their guns off camera to intimidate him.

8. Habeas Corpus ¢°775(1) —

Since admissibility of confession is
mixed question of. law and fact, indepen-
dent consideration is- merited by federal
court in habeas proceeding.

9. Criminal Law ¢641.13(2, 6, 7)

- State murder defendant was not de-
nied effective assistance of counsel by vir-
tue of counsel’s alleged failure to object to
prosecutor’s demonstration with purported
murder weapon or use of previously com-

mitted felonies as evidence of aggravating

circumstance warranting imposition of
death penalty, and failure to make defen-
dant’s posttrial affidavit part of record for
appellate review; counsel did in fact object
to demonstration, evidence concerning pre-
viously committed felonies was admissible,
and counsel attempted to get affidavit into
record through writ of error coram nobis.
U.S.C.A. Const.Amend. 6.

Charles L. Carpenter, Jr., North Little

Rock, Ark., for appellant.

Jack Gillean, Little Rock, Ark., for appel-
lee.

Before McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge,
HENLEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and
BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

1. The Honorable Henry Woods, United States
District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkan-

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Steven Douglas Hill was convicted of

capital murder and sentenced to death for

the murder of police officer Robert Klein.

After exhausting his state remedies, see —

Hill v. State, 292 Ark. 144, 728 S.W.2d 510,
cert. denied, 484 U.S. 878, 108 S.Ct. 208, 98
L.Ed.2d 159 (1987); Hill v. State, 289 Ark.
387, 713 S.W.2d 283 (1986), cert. denied,
479 U.S. 1101, 107 S.Ct. 1831, 94 L.Ed.2d
182 (1987), Hill filed a petition for writ of
habeas corpus and the District Court! de-

nied relief. Hill v. Lockhart, 19 F.Supp. °
Hill raises several

1469 (E.D.Ark.1989).
issues in his appeal to this Court: (1) the
jury was permitted to ignore a statutory
mitigating circumstance; (2) the jury was
permitted to consider an impermissibly
vague aggravating circumstance; (3) the
prosecutor made an improper argument

during closing argument at the sentencing |
(4) the District Court

phase of the trial;
erred in not setting aside Hill’s conviction
and sentence on the basis of an affidavit by
Hill’s accomplice, Michael Cox, stating that
Cox and not Hill shot the officer; (5) the
District Court erred in admitting Hill’s pre-
trial confession; and (6) Hill received inef-
fective assistance of counsel.

On October 15, 1984, Hill and Cox es-
caped from a unit of the Arkansas Depart-
ment of Correction. Shortly after dark,
they arrived at the home of an elderly
couple, Merle and Billie Jo Rice. They
robbed the Rices of money, a 16-gauge
shotgun, an automatic carbine, and a 20-
gauge automatic shotgun, and tied them
up. Hill threatened to rape Mrs. Rice and

told Mr. Rice he was going to kill him but»

Cox dissuaded Hill from both actions. The
escapees left the Rice home at approxi-
mately 10:30 p.m. in the Rice’s pickup truck
and proceeded to an unoccupied residence
some two miles from the Rice home. Sev-
eral police officers soon arrived at the
scene after spotting the Rice’s pickup in
the driveway. As officer Robert Klein and
Lieutenant Conrad Patillo approached the

Sas.

We affirm. —


342 927 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

garage behind which Hill was hiding, Klein
was shot and killed by a 20-gauge shotgun
blast. Patillo was fired upon but not in-
jured. Several hours later, at approximate-
ly 4:30 a.m., tear gas forced the two men,
who had barricaded themselves in the ga-
rage, to surrender.

The uncontroverted evidence at trial indi-
cated that .Cox had secreted himself in the
attic of the garage prior to Klein’s murder,
and did not.see or participate in the shoot-
ing. After his surrender, Cox was found in
the attic with an automatic carbine that
had not been fired. The 20-gauge auto-
matic shotgun—the murder weapon—and
twenty-one shotgun shells were found in a
corner of the lower room where Hill had
hidden behind a mattress. Hill and Cox
were taken to police headquarters where
they were read their Miranda rights and
made videotaped statements. Hill readily
admitted using the 20-gauge shotgun to
kill Klein.

Hill was charged with capital murder,
attempted capital murder, escape, burgla-
ry, theft, aggravated robbery, and kidnap-
ping. He pled guilty to all charges except
capital murder and attempted capital mur-
der. Hill was tried by a jury and found
guilty of both capital murder and attempt-
ed capital murder. After a bifurcated trial,
the jury imposed the death sentence on the

capital murder charge and fifty years im-.

prisonment on the attempted capital .mur-
der charge. Hill now challenges his convic-
tion and death sentence.

I.

{1] Hill first argues that his sentence
should be set aside because the jury found
no mitigating factors despite the fact that
Hill was only eighteen at the time of the
murder and the youth of the defendant is
set out by statute as a mitigating factor to
be considered in imposing the death sen-

‘tence. Ark.Code Ann. § 5—-4-605(4) (1987).

The jury verdict form concerning mitigat-
ing circumstances gave the jury four
choices—unanimous agreement that a cer-
tain mitigating circumstance existed, par-
tial agreement that a certain mitigating
circumstance existed, unanimous agree-

ment that although there was evidence of a
particular mitigating circumstance, it did
not exist at the time of the murder, and
unanimous agreement that there was no
evidence of any mitigating circumstance.
The jury selected the fourth option, indicat-
ing that they found no evidence of any
mitigating circumstance. In_ rejecting
Hill’s argument that the jury’s selection
demonstrates that it improperly ignored
the evidence of youth placed before it, the
Arkansas supreme court stated:

We do not interpret the jury’s action to
mean that they did not consider the evi-
dence of mitigation that was offered.
Rather we find the jury determined that
the appellant’s youth was not a mitigat-
ing factor, as they were entitled to. do,
and so indicated that no mitigating cir-
cumstances were found.

Hill, 289 Ark. at 396, 713 S.W.2d at 238.
We find this interpretation entirely per-
suasive.

The Arkansas statute does not define
youth in terms of mere chronological age.

_ “Any hard and fast rule as to age would

tend to defeat the ends of justice, so the
term youth must be considered as relative
and this factor weighed in the light of
varying conditions and circumstances.”
Giles v. State, 261 Ark. 418, 421, 549
S.W.2d 479, 483 (en banc), cert. denied, 434
U.S. 894, 98 S.Ct. 272, 54 L.Ed.2d 180
(1977). In Giles, the defendant, aged twen-
ty, contended that the statutory factor of
youth was imprecise because the jury in his
case failed to find youth as a mitigating
factor while the jury in a recent prior case
found that the defendant’s twenty years of
age mitigated against a death sentence. In
rejecting this argument, the Giles court
stressed the unique ability of the jury to
observe the defendant throughout trial and
assess his alleged “youth” based on his
age, “mental and physical development, ex-
perience and criminal tendencies.” 261
Ark. at 421, 549 S.W.2d at 483. The Giles
court did remand the case for resentencing
because the jury found no mitigating cir-
cumstances when the evidence was undis-
puted that the crime was committed when
the defendant’s ability to conform his con-


HILL v. LOCKHART 343
Cite as 927 F.2d 340 (8th Cir. 1991)

duct to the requirements of the law was
impaired by mental disease or defect. 261
Ark. at 421, 549 S.W.2d at 484. Giles
clearly demonstrates that the jury’s obli-
gation to consider mitigating evidence
presented to it is consistent with its liberty
to determine whether an individual’s age
Operates as a mitigating circumstance at
all. The determination of whether an indi-
vidual qualifies as a youth for purposes of
mitigating against the death penalty is a
subjective one appropriately made by a
properly instructed jury.

We believe the jury in the aetint case
evaluated Hill’s age—eighteen and an adult

under Arkansas law—his criminal history |

and experience, and the seriousness of the
crimes. for which he was charged, and sim-
ply rejected his youth as a mitigating
factor. We do not agree with Hill’s argu-
ment that the only proper selection for the
jury to have made in this circumstance was
option three—evidence of a particular miti-

gating circumstance was presented but did —

not exist at the time of the crime. This
option seems to apply mainly to factors
such as insanity or diminished capacity, i.e.,
mental or physical deficiencies which may
exist at one time in an individual’s life and
not exist at another. Hill was necessarily
only one age when he committed the crime
and there was no decision to be made by
the jury as to his age at the time of the
crime. The only decision to be made by the
jury was whether Hill’s youth mitigated
against the death penalty. The jury was
repeatedly reminded of Hill’s relatively
young age throughout the trial and in the
opening and closing arguments of Hill’s
counsel. We are confident that the jury
did not ignore this evidence. We believe
the jury merely determined, as was its
right, that Hill was not a youth for pur-
poses of § 5-4-605(4) and that, therefore,
no mitigating circumstance existed.

Il.

{2] Hill next claims that the jury was
permitted to consider an impermissibly
vague aggravating factor in its decision to
impose the death penalty. Specifically, Hill
alleges that the statutory aggravating

factor which allows the jury to impose
death if it finds that the defendant previ-
ously committed a violent felony, Ark.Code
Ann. § 5-4-604(3) (1987), is impermissibly
vague because it does not define “previous-
ly committed.” Hill argues that it was.
improper for the jury to be allowed to
consider the violent crimes he committed at
the Rice residence prior to Klein’s murder
because they were part of the same crimi-
nal episode as the. murder.

This argument was. advanced without
success in Hill’s direct appeal to the Arkan-
sas supreme court. The court stated that
the purpose of section 3 is “to allow the
state to show that the defendant has a
character for violent crimes or a history of

“such crimes.” Hill, 289 Ark. at 395, 713.

S.W.2d at 237. The court continued:
Since there are other avenues by which
the state can prove crimes immediately.
connected with .the principal crime, the
only logical conclusion is that-section (3)
applies to crimes not connected in time or
place to the killing for which the defen-
dant has just been convicted. In this
case the crimes used to prove an aggra-
vated circumstance involved other vic-
tims, in another place and previously in
time. Therefore, they were properly
used as an aggravating circumstance.

289 Ark. at 395-96, 718 S.W.2d at 237. A
state court’s interpretation of state law is
binding upon this Court. See, eg,
Williams v. Lockhart, 873 F.2d 1129, 1181
(8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 110
S.Ct. 344, 107 L.Ed.2d 333 (1989).

Because other courts have found that
crimes that occurred at a different time
and place were part of a single criminal
episode and should not be considered under
section 3 as an aggravating circumstance,
see, e.g., Parker v. State, 292 Ark. 421, 731
S.W.2d 756 (1987), Hill argues that section
3 is impermissibly vague and is applied by
the Arkansas courts in an arbitrary man-
ner. We do not agree. The’ facts of the
cases cited by Hill to show the Arkansas
courts’ alleged arbitrariness can easily be
distinguished from the circumstances: of
Hill’s case and, in fact, the most recent
case listed by Hill refers to the Hill court’s


Yee

340

Steven Douglas HILL, Appellant,

vV

A. L. LOCKHART, Director, Arkansas
Department of Correction, Appellee.

No. 89-2558.

United States Court of Appeals,
Eighth Circuit.

Submitted June 13, 1990.
Decided Feb. 28, 1991.

After his conviction for capital murder
and sentence of death were affirmed on
direct appeal, 289 Ark. 387, 7138 S.W.2d 233,
defendant sought federal habeas relief.
The United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Arkansas, Henry
Woods, J., 719 F.Supp. 1469, denied relief,
and defendant appealed. The Court of Ap-
peals, Bowman, Circuit Judge, held that:
(1) finding of no mitigating factor was jus-
tified even though defendant was only 18
at time of murder; (2) statutory aggravat-
ing factor of previous commission of vio-
lent felonies was not impermissibly vague;
(3) defendant was not deprived of fair sen-
tencing procedure as result of state prose-
cutor’s botched demonstration with pur-
ported murder weapon; and (4) defendant
was not entitled to evidentiary hearing on
claim for new trial based on newly discov-
ered evidence.

Affirmed.

MecMillian, Circuit Judge, dissented and
filed opinion.

1. Homicide €=357(4)

Fact that defendant was only 18 at
time of murder did not foreclose jury find-
ing under Arkansas law that there was no
circumstance mitigating against imposition
of death sentence, notwithstanding statu-
tory mitigating factor of youth; statute did
not define youth in terms of mere chrono-
logical age, and jury could conclude that
defendant’s youth, when considered in con-
junction with his criminal history and expe-
rience and seriousness of crimes with

Mat / We pene Vive Jel executed S- 7-

927 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

which he was charged, was not mitigating
factor. A.C.A. § 5-4-605(4).

2. Homicide €=357(5)

Statutory aggravating factor allowing
jury to impose death sentence if it found
that defendant previously committed vio-
lent felony was not impermissibly vague as
applied to capital murder defendant despite
his contention that statute did not define
“previously committed” and that violent
crimes he committed prior to murder were
part of same criminal episode as murder;
crimes committed by defendant prior to
murder occurred in another place and. in-
volved victims who were not connected
with murder victim. A.C.A. § 5-4-604(3);
U.S.C.A. Const.Amend. 14.

3. Criminal Law ¢715

State murder defendant was not de-
prived of fair sentencing procedure when
prosecutor, in attempting to rebut defen-
dant’s contention that he was a frightened
youth who accidentally shot a police offi-
cer, conducted reloading demonstration us-
ing wrong weapon; demonstration was
part of attempt to prove existence of ag-
gravating circumstance that defendant
knowingly created great risk of death to
person other than victim, and jury did not
find that circumstance, and defendant was
incorrect in his contention that demonstra-
tion could also have impacted on jury’s
finding that murder was committed for
purpose of avoiding or preventing arrest or
effecting escape from custody inasmuch as
defendant was escaped convict on the run
at time of shooting. U.S.C.A. Const.
Amend. 14.

4. Criminal Law <959

To warrant evidentiary hearing to de-
termine whether new trial must be granted
based on newly discovered evidence, new
evidence must be shown to be likely to
produce acquittal if introduced at new trial.

5. Habeas Corpus €=722(1), 749
Evidence supported finding in federal
habeas proceeding that petitioner’s accom-
plice in murder filed false statement and
that he committed perjury in habeas hear-
ing by testifying that he rather than peti-
tioner fired fatal shot at police officer, thus

G

/

2.

}
«

‘Man Who Murdered Store Owner

_ Is Executed by Injection in Texas

HUNTSVILLE, Tex., May 7 (AP) —
A 46-year-old man was executed by
injection at thé state prison here early
today for killing a store owner in a
holdup 14 years ago.

The prisoner, Justin May, went to his

. death after the United States Supreme

Court had rejected late-hour appeals in
which he argued he had been framed.

His sister and a woman he had re-
cently married .witnessed the execu-
tion. ia a ears

Mr. May became the 48th person
executed in Texas since the state re-
sumed carrying out capital punish-
ment in 1982, The total is the nation’s
highest since the Supreme Court, in a
1976 decision, allowed resumption of
executions. :

Mr. May was put to death for the
fatal shooting of Jeanetta Murdaugh,
43, in Freeport, Tex., about 65.miles
from Houston. Her husband was also
slain in the robbery, which occurred at
the couple’s auto-parts store, but Mr.
May was not tried in that killing.

Mr. May was not linked to the Mur-
daugh slaying until 1984, six years af-
ter it had occurred. He was serving 15
years for another murder when a fel-
low prisoner told the authorities he had
heard Mr. May brag about killing the
‘Murdaughs. Richard Miles, the man
convicted as Mr. May’s accomplice in
the holdup, also testified against him
and was paroled in 1990.

Mr. May contended that he was at his
mother’s home when the holdup oc-
curred, and his lawyers later obtained
affidavits in which both the informer
and Mr. Miles recanted.

In November, a Federal appeals
court stayed Mr. May’s execution
pending the outcome of his appeal, and
only 13 minutes before he was to die the
Supreme Court declined to lift the stay.
But in January, the Supreme Court
turned down that appeal. :

Clinton Denies Clemency

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 7 (AP) —
Gov. Bill Clinton today denied clemen-

Ny, TIMES

Supporters of a condemned Virgin-
ia man say they have evidence that
could clear him. But his execution is
set for May 20. Law page, B10.

cy to a prisoner scheduled to be execut-
ed tonight for the 1984 slaying of a state
police investigator.

Mr. Clinton had interrupted his Pres-

idential campaign to return to Little
Rock on Wednesday night and review
the case of the 25-year-old prisoner,
Steven Douglas Hill, the youngest of 35
inmates on the state’s death row.

The Governor’s decision to deny
clemency was relayed through a
spokesman late today. There was no
accompanying statement.

Mr. Clinton’s decision left Mr. Hill’s
fate in the hands of the United States
Supreme Court, where the prisoner's
lawyer, Mark Cambiano, filed an ap-
pealtoday.. : °°
_ As Governor, Mr. Clinton has sched-
uled executions for 26 prisoners, of
whom three have so far been put to
death. He has never granted clemency
for a death-row inmmate. ‘We do sup-
port the death penalty for cop killers,
multiple murderers and drug king-
pins,”’ he said earlier this year,

Mr. Hill was an 18-year-old state

prisoner in 1984 when he and another’

prisoner, Michael Anthony Cox, es-
caped while on a work detail. They tied
up the occupants of a central Arkansas
home, stealing weapons and a truck
before heading to a nearby house. The

police surrounded the house, and a.
State police investigator, Robert Klein, |

was killed by a shotgun blast.

Mr. Hill, whose confession was video-
taped by the police, was sentenced to
death for the killing. Mr. Cox, sen-
tenced to 86 years for related crimes,
later said it was he — and not Mr. Hill

- “|+- who had pulled the trigger. But state
‘| Prosecutors, a Federal judge and the

state parole board have said they do
not believe:Mr. Cox, who they say has
changed his account several times.

8 SIS/1942-


aad nl wi

Clinton refuses

LITTLE ROCK, Ark, (AP) — A : }
: “nearby house. Police surrounded —
‘the house and investigator Robert ©
Klein was fatally shot with a shot ~

man who killed a state trooper was. -
executed. by lethal. injection last ~
night after Gov. Bill Clinton denied

him clemency.

Also yesterday, Texas executed an... | 3 : Vi
inmate for killing a store owner in a “taped by police, was ‘sentenced for
“the murder. Cox was sentenced to
86 years for related crimes. Cox lat-
er Said hé —. not Hill — pulled the

death row, was pronouced dead:at’ trigger, §.0 ye
3 .. State prosecutors, a federal judge

holdup 14 years ago...) me

Steven Douglas Hill, 25, the youn-_
gest of 35. inmates on Arkansas’.

9:10 p.m., eight minutes. after he

was injected with the drugs, ’ °

Clinton returned to Little Rock on.

Wednesday night to review his case,

preme Court denied an appeal filed
Thursday by Hill’s attorney, Mark
Cambiano. ij
Cambiano had taken the case to
the Supreme Court after the 8th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St.

Louis voted 8-1 yesterday to reject

an appeal by Hill, condemned for

the 1984 shooting death of an. Ar-
kansas State Police investigator.

As governor, Clinton has sched-
uled executions for 26 prisoners, of
whom four have been executed. He
has never granted clemency for a
death row inmate.

Hill was an 18-year-old state in-
mate in 1984 when he and a fellow
prisoner, Michael: Anthony Cox, es-
caped while on a work detail. They
tied up the occupants of a central
Arkansas home, stealing weapons

Supreme Court rejected late-hour
appeals in which he argued he had

them and appreciate -all the sup-
-port,” May said in a final statement.

ae “*
‘

inmate clemency —

‘ "5

val

and a truck before heading to a.

i PoeUM, | ite 3

. Hill, whose confession was video-

--and the state parole board have
Said they.don’t believe Cox, who
they said changed his story-several
but denied the. clemency request: Len ee Sa
yesterday afternoon. The U.S. Su: _,~ «Hill apologized to Klein’s family in
“-a hearing before the parole board.

“In Huntsville, Texas, Justin May,

times,"

46, died by injection after the U.S.

been framed.

May’s execution was witnessed by
his sister and a woman he had re-
cently married by proxy.

“Tjust want to tell them that I love

After the lethal drugs were ad-
ministered, May went into a cough-
ing spasm,’ groaned and gasped,
lifted his head from the gurney and
would have arched his back if he
had not been strapped down.

May became the 48th person exe-
cuted in Texas since the State re-
sumed carrying out capital
punishment in 1982. The total is the

.’ nation’s highest.

He was sentenced to die for 1978
shooting of Jeanetta Murdaugh, 43,
in Freeport. Her husband also was
Slain in the robbery at the couple’s
auto parts store, but May wasn’t
tried in his death.

PPO REE

: _

3

»

a
3

«
4
%

es

Police

State sets May 7
aS execution date
in officer’s death

BY ANDY GOTLIEB ..__

Democrat-Gazette State Desk: t peer
An execution date of. May 7

for convicte murderer Steven

Strong Probability the execu-

tion will be carried'out on that -

ate.”
- “I’m simply. not aware of

the May,7 date,” Gillean said...
 £9,.0f. Scott is . the
youngest inmate on death row.
He was convicted. March 8,
1985, for the Shooting death
Oct. 15, 1984, of Arkansas State

i investigator :, Robbie
Klein... . hae

Hill -.who was serving five

years for breaking or entering

+> Vang first-degree criminal mis-

chief - and Michael Anthony.
Cox escaped from the Wrights-
ville Unit of. the:Arkansas De-
partment of Correction on Oct.
, 1984, - :
During the escape, Hill and
Cox entered a Woodson home
and tied up the occupants,
After Stealing weapons and a
truck, ‘ they - traveled to a
nearby house, Vhere they were
‘Soon: surrounded by Police. As
Klein walked . toward. the
. house, he was shot and killed
by.'a. single ‘blast: from ‘a 20-
,8auge shotgun., - wt -
A. stay: of execution was
&ranted to Hill on July 1, 1988,
although U.S, District Judge
Henry: Woods: denied relief. to

. ‘Hillin August.1989,

Hill’s attorney, Larry Car-
.Penter,, tried. to secure a new
a fie = See HILL; Page 5B


Hill —

e Continued from Arkansas Paae...

trial as Cox: insisted - that: -he,
not Hill, had killed. ‘Klein.

Woods dismissed Cox’s’ state-* ie fa

ment’as an attempt to-save his ‘

friend’s'life::Cox-had‘received - .. Bane

86:years !in: ‘prison; on inumer-. as

ous lesser chargesiiir }x;tsny™

Carpenter:.declined. tohcome me

ment : Wednesday/!:But!\ previ-
ously he has: said he: wiliseek
clemency from Clinton: }dixa::

’ “Aside: from: clemency, 1Gil-
lean said Carpenter also could
try. further! appeals-in federal
courts. He said the chances for

a stay of execution were slight.
Hill had.a previous petition:

denied by the U.S. Supreme
Lourt on Oct. 21,1991. sis. rt
“You can never-say never in
federal habeas: :litigation,% 'Gil-
lean said. trv tang gerigy’
’ Department: of Correction
spokesman David White’.said

execution’ procedures _ will.
begin’ April’ 30%i—* seven": ‘days:
before to the date.Clinton ‘set. °-

Hill’s‘routine‘ will’ not ‘change a tah ‘executed; in 1990,

before to that, he:said:'iT hs: f

ViIn' that: week, : Hill::will.-be

moved from the: Maximum ‘Se-
curity ‘Unit ‘at: Tucker: (Jeffer-
s60n County) to‘a‘cell adjacent
to ;the': death chamber: fat‘the
Cummins: ‘Unit at: Grady *(Lin-

Steven D. Hill.

‘coin County), White'said: Other
preparations will‘ be" made at

that time.

Hill- would’! ‘be! ‘the: ispeond
person executed in Arkansas
.this year. He would follow Ric-

‘jKey;’ Ray. Rector, who was exe-

rcuted ;Jan,, 24. aT WO: other. .in-

it He “Clinton, ‘the pie paid
?Democratic»'presidential ‘ can-
-didate,: received ‘some --criti-
cism nationally. after Rector’s
Yexecution:

ARK. OEMOCCHI CA AETTIE

th/4p-

A6 Friday, May 8, 1992 @ The Fresno Bee

NATION

Killer dies after Clinton denies clemency; Texas also executes man

By Ron Fournier
Associated Press .
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A man who killed a
state trooper was executed by lethal injection
Thursday. night after Gov. Bill Clinton denied him
clemency.
Also Thursday, Texas executed an inmate for
killing a store owner in a holdup 14 years ago.
Steven Douglas Hill, 25, the youngest of 35 in-
mates on Arkansas’ death row, was pronounced
dead eight minutes after he was injected with the
drugs.

Clinton returned to Little Rock Wednesday night -

to. reyiew his case, but: denied the clemency request
Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Supreme Court de-
nied an appeal filed Thursday by Hill’s attorney,
Mark Cambiano.

Cambiano had taken the case to the Supreme
Court after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at
St. Louis voted 8-1 Thursday to reject an appeal by
Hill, condemned for the 1984 shooting death of an
Arkansas State Police investigator.

Clinton has scheduled executions for 26 prison-
ers, of whom four have been executed. He has

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1992

Murderer by Injection a
Huntsville, Texas — Justin May baru
- Was put to death by injection early _—_

14 years ago.

Texas Executes

today for killing a woman nearly

May, a 46-year-old ex-welder,
was condemned for the June 27, |
1978, shooting death of Jeanetta
Murdaugh, 43, during a robbery at
a store in Freeport owned by her |
and her husband, Frank, 42. Frank |
Murdaugh also was killed, but May
was not tried in his death. |

May had come within moments
of execution in November, but a

never granted clemency for a death row inmate.

“We do support the death penalty for cop killers,
multiple murderers and drug kingpins,” Clinton
said earlier this year.

Hill was an 18-year-old state inmate in 1984

when he and a fellow prisoner escaped while on a’

work detail. They stole weapons and a truck before
holing up in a central Arkansas nearby house.
Police surrounded the house and investigator Rob-
ert Klein was fatally shot.

In Huntsville, Texas, Justin May, 46, died by
injection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected

Texas executes murderer

appeals in which he argued he had been framed.

After the lethal drugs were administered, May
went into a coughing spasm, groaned and gasped,
lifted his head from the gurney and would have
arched his back if he had not been strapped down.

May became the 48th person executed in Texas
since the state resumed carrying out capital pun-
ishment in 1982. The total is the nation’s highest.

He was sentenced to die for 1978 shooting of
Jeanetta Murdaugh, 43, in Freeport. Her husband
also was slain in the robbery at the couple’s auto
parts store, but May wasn’t tried in his death.

mr

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — An in-
mate was executed by injection
early today for killing a store owner

in a holdup 14 years ago.

Justin May, 46, went to his death
after the U.S. Supreme Court reject-
ed two appeals and two requests for

a reprieve.

May became the sixth inmate
executed this year in Texas andthe |
48th since the state resumed carry-

ing out capital punishment in 1982 —
more than any other state. He came
{ within minutes of execution in No-
| vember, when he. won a reprieve.

Cn ed

federal appeals court issued a stay
after his attorneys obtained affida-
vits from two ex-convicts who said.
May was not involved in the rob-
bery and slayings. In January,
however, the U.S. Supreme Court-

turned down his appeal. /
| ppeals 5. ALG

San Francisco Chron

THE VOICE OF THE WEST

|| A@ Thurs., May 7, 1992

Che Bakersfield Californian x


Clinton: Execution was tough call —

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Bill Clinton
said Friday his decision to pro-
ceed with the execution of a con-
victed cop killer gave him one of
his “toughest days as governor”
but added he will now put the
grim experience behind him.

“There is no guilt,” the proba-
ble Democratic presidential
nominee told reporters Friday be-
fore leaving for a West Coast
campaign trip.

Steven Douglas Hill, 25, died
by injection Thursday night for
- the 1984 shooting of a state police
investigator. The U.S. Supreme
Court rejected two last-minute
appeals and Clinton turned down

have called. off the execution at

son executed during Clinton’s
tenure and the second this year. :
Clinton left the’ presidential

campaign trail to be in Arkansas —

for the execution: He returned to

Little Rock* Wednesday night to’

review the written record and

ing Hill’s confession. |

He said reviewing a clemency
request is tougher on him than
the hours afterward. | 7

“The days of the execution are

the toughest days as governor ...
because I have to review all the
information and see if I could sec-

ond-guess the jury or see if the -

7 ‘Clinton said. fe
any time. Hill-was the fourth per- »

“are very difficult times.” ¢: 6°)»

*
%

“We're dealing with life here:' :
Those are very. tough days. and =

‘nights. When ‘it’s. done. and. it’s* +;

out of my:hand;* I: don’t:.:.”: he: .

‘said, his voice trailing off. “These: "

ment. claim Clinton’s ‘death pen? *
view related videotapes, includ- ¢ :
refused to talk about the political «:

alty position is dictated by poli-. «

implications of the death penalty. :.*i
“The law is clear,” Clinton saidi':,

“I support the law. That is what < ;
4

we have criminal justice for —-»
judges, juries, trials and appeals. »,
I support capital punishment.” ., , .

Clinton, a Baptist, said* the +.

Hill’s clemency request. judge, the prosecutor or the ap- death penalty does not,conflict; +.
The Arkansas governor could pellate court made_ a mistake,” with his religious beliefs... a ra

. et sh rn ei ae Was Ae NES ey | wipes eee. “a 4 ne viet et y oa iat

—= 1 ; : ater ade

4A/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Sun/Saturday, May 9/4992 :

i RRS ASR a ot
near 3 $e : ha ee

i tne

‘

MEDIA ACCOUNT
OF TRIAL:

“MEDIA ACCOUNT
OF EXECUTION:
METHOD: AN 9/~9

STAYS OF
EXECUTION:

EXECUTIONER:
WITNESSES:
RITUALS:

LAST WORDS:

OTHER NFORMATION:


HILHOUSE, Mary, black, female, hanged Lawrence Co., A rk., ware

a/
q”
‘ad

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT DATA SHEET

AR kansas

STATE

OFFENDER:

NAME: m4ey Wil house
RACE: /3

SEX: ia

OFFENSE; ™uU2DeRr

DATE EXECUTED: JAY) /EZ2e
county: laweuce Co.

AGE:

VICTIM:

NAME:
‘RACE: L/

AGE:

RELATIONSHIP
TO OFFENDER:

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

or Awe

mislee oS

DATE CRIME
COMMITTED:

DATE
SENTENCED :

DAY OF THE
_WEEK EXECUTED:

OFFENDER
RESIDENCY:

MEDIA ACCOUNT
OF CRIME.

INVENTORY #

SOURCE OF DOCUMENTATION

(PROVIDE TITLE, DATE AND PAGE#)
Dickartas Ory HWE

tz/7 /&/ 3 i /
3°/


gH SW 718

HAMMONS, Charles A., white, hanged at Morrillton, Arkansas, on March 1s. 965 :

"Special to the Gazette = Morrillton, Arkansas, March 7 = Charles A. Hammons, a white
man, was hanged-here today in the presence of a vast crowd, having been convicted of
the capital crime of criminal assault on his eleven-year-old stepdaughter near Plue
merville last September, Under the act of 1901 the Bxecution was public. Despite
the rain, early this morning.throngs of people on foot and in vehicles made their
way west of town about a mile, where Sheriff B, G. White had previously prepared a
scaffold, By 12 o'clock the crowd was variously estimated at from 5,000 to 6,000,
At 12:30 Sheriff B, G. White and peputy Sheriff J. M. Gordon escorted the prisoner
from the jail to a closed carriage which was in waiting in front of the court house,
and took him to the place of execution, Hammons, upon arriving there, walked up the
steps and from the scaffold looked around upon the sea of faces before him, recog-
nizing a number of persons in the audience, In a brief talk he assured the crowd
that he was 'going home to heaven,' He admonished his hearers to lead better lives
and to quit 'crap shooting' and rowdyness . Hammons made a full confession of the
crime this morning at the jail, On the scaffold he said he regretted that the deed
was committed, but added that there was some one else as ‘deep in the mud as he was
in the mire.' At 1:08 the drop fell. Drs. Bradley and Pressly pronounced him dead
in seventeen minutes, At 1:35 his body was cut down and turned over to his mother
and family and taken to Old Portland, where it will be interred. Ex-Sheriffs Roe
Flynn of Independence County and J. H. Hicks of Lonoke County were here and assisted
Sheriff White,

"HAMMONS AND HIS CRIME,
"Hammons lived with his family, including Zelma Thomas, his eleven-year=-old step=
daughter, near Plumerville, on the Arkansas River, The crime for which he was con-
victed was committed in September, 190). He assaulted his stepdaughter, Zelma, and
when his wife, the girl's mother, tried to interfere, Hammons held her at bay with a
pistol, threatening her life if she approached, When the occurrence became known
excitement ran high and there was some talk of lynching Hammons, He was spirited
away and taken to Little Rock for safekeeping, Hammons was indicted and convicted at
the October term of court in Morrilton, He was without means to employ counsel and
Hon, We Pe Strait was appointed and requested by the court to defend him, and, with-=
out price, made one of the hardest legal fights in the annals of the state for his
client's life. But the testimony was so strong and convincing that the jury con-
sumed but Little time in returning a verdict of guilty, and the defendant was sen-
tenced to hang November 25, Counsel for the accused filed a motion for a new trial,
but it was overruled by the court, and an appeal to the supreme court was obtained
and a stay of execution granted, After an exhaustive and thorough presentation of
the case both upon trial and motion for rehearing the supreme court, by a majority
decision, affirmed the case and Gov, Davis fixed March 7 as the day of execution.
The condemned man's aged mother made a last and vain effort to have the governor
commute the sentence to life imprisonment, Hammons' father lives in Kansas, and the
condemed man lived there until the Spanish-American War. He volunteered as a sol-
dier and was sent to the front, His command was sent to the Philippine Islands and
he took active part in several battles, in one of which he was wounded, He was
honorable discharged and drew a small pension for the wound he received while fight-
ing for his country." ARKANSAS GAZETTE, Lyttle Rock, Ark., March 8, 1905 (1:5%6 =
Photograph in columh five.)

"Springfield, Ar, Mar. 16, 1905- G. Le Horton of Lick Mountain, 8 miles northwest

of here, was here yesterday and reported the tragic and singular death of a 7-year=
old boy named Cecil Rhodes, stepson of Sam Carpenter, The boy was found hanging from
a rafter in a low shed, His body was suspended by means of a chain fastened to the
rafter, There is no way in which to account for the unsual occurrence, The theory
is that the boy was ‘playing hangman.’ The child's tender age precludes thé idea
that he was capable of entertaining thoughts of deliberate self-destruction, He
seems to have formed a good idea, however, of the manner in which a hanging is accom-
plished and the supposition is that his imagination was fired by hearing accounts of
the public hanging of Charles Hammons at Morrilton last week. He is surmised to have

undertaken to experiment to the extent of experienging how it feels. 5
in his childish Innocence carried the venture too fare ‘the boy*s Tike ike heres, and

was playing with him, but she is too small to give an intelligent account of her
brother's death. ' ARKANSAS GAZETTE, Little Rocky AR, Mar. 17, 1905.

NMR SME aelepe Sink tingly? Gi ae

2 sl ahi tat Lae IN RS

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; hilled another negro named -Hobin-

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rides When the  sectiqn: atia<hopbor camp > ihe var’ the scene of
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son al. Bay ‘last fourth of July and
wilk peobably® answer: for tlie*.act

With his lifes
The jury in the case against Lixn-

vet ato theo depst swith
Aas extinct, Ped, to prove lds identity,

Sain ea ata aaa. sfoaichie oes hn ae - her Jim, couvicted on tes same A*
gE S AVS ‘. | ? m charge, were Gul only afew niinutes '
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muh jut Syteress, Laura

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a a —”

1392

1068, 1077, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963) (control-
ling weight may be given to a prior deter-
mination on merits when “ends of justice
would not be served” by redetermination)
and Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U.S. 436,
454, 106 S.Ct. 2616, 2627, 91 L.Ed.2d 364
(1986) (plurality) (court required to enter-
tain successive petition only when petition
supplements claim with “colorable showing
of factual innocence’). Although Kuwhl-
mann v. Wilson, supra, was a plurality
opinion in the United States Supreme
Court, it has been cited with approval and
applied by the Court of Appeals in
Williams v. Armontrout, 855 F.2d 578
(8th Cir.1988).
In order to demonstrate that the ends of
justice mandate another hearing, the
prisoner must make a “colorable showing
of factual innocence.” Kuhlmann v.
Wilson, 4717 U.S. 486, 106 S.Ct. 2616,
2627, 91 L.Ed.2d 364 (1986) (plurality).
Williams does not attempt to meet this
burden. Williams has neither shown nor
alleged unfairness at any step of his
collateral review, and we find that the
district court did not abuse its discretion
in dismissing the petition.
Id. at 580.

{3] With regard to the abuse of the
writ, the Supreme Court stated in McCles-
key v. Zant, — US. —, —, lll S.Ct.
1454, 1471, 118 L.Ed.2d 517, 545 (1991):

The cause and prejudice analysis we
have adopted for cases of procedural de-
fault applies to an abuse of the writ in
the following manner. When a petition-
er files a second or subsequent petition,
the government bears the burden of
pleading abuse of the writ. The Govern-
ment satisfies this burden if, with clarity
and particularity, it notes the petitioner’s
prior writ history, identifies the claims
that appear for the first time and alleges
that the petitioner has abused the writ.
The burden to disprove abuse then be-
comes petitioner’s. To excuse his failure
to raise the claim earlier, he must show
cause of his failing to raise it and preju-
dice therefrom as those concepts have

re “ TOTS Eee ee es a

791 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

to meet the burden of cause and preju-
dice will not include an evidentiary hear-
ing if the District Court determines, as a
matter of law, that the petitioner cannot
satisfy the standard. If the petitioner
cannot show cause, the failure to raise
the claim in an earlier petition may none-
theless be excused if he or she can show
that a fundamental miscarriage of justice
would result from a failure to entertain
the claim.

The burden is now on the petitioner to
excuse his failure to raise his present claim
in the first petition.

[4] If petitioner could clear the above
hurdles, he is unable to succeed on the
merits. It seems obvious that Hill’s two
felony pleas were part of a trial strategy to
keep the reprehensible facts of his prior
crime from being developed at the penalty
phase of his trial. As a result of his guilty
pleas, only the fact of the convictions could
be introduced. In the absence of a plea,
the state could present live testimony of
those persons victimized by petitioner dur-
ing the kidnapping and robbery. At the
first habeas hearing, there was testimony
that petitioner threatened to rape an el-
derly woman and stuck a gun in the mouth
of her elderly companion and threatened to
kill him. Prior unadjudicated crimes can be
used as aggravating circumstances to sup-
port a death sentence in Arkansas. Ark.
Code Ann. § 5-4-604(3) (1987); Miller v.
State, 280 Ark. 551, 660 S.W.2d 163 (1983);
Gardner v. State, 296 Ark. 41, 754 S.W.2d
518 (1988). Such evidence does not in-
fringe upon a defendant’s federal constitu-
tional rights. Gilmore v. Armontrout,
861 F.2d 1061, 1073 (8th Cir.1988), reh.
denied en banc, 867 F.2d 1179 (8th Cir.
1989) (Lay, Heaney, and McMillian, dissent-
ing). While these cases may be interesting
from an academic standpoint, they have no
relevance to the case at bar because unad-
judicated conduct was not presented in peti-
tioner’s trial.

IV. COMPARATIVE REVIEW
[5,6] For the first time Hill argues that

SPESLORESSZTECzt o 1%, hh 4.42 0 Conaetes 7f OOme
trate,

alalrt LeLpvelsep. >> a2 o>>

the Arkansas Supreme Court failed to con-

ees been defined in our procedural default
SEES >: decisions. The petitioner’s opportunity duct comparative review of his death sen-

<a pe ee
mon S =$
in RS

«-


1394 791 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

The Court of Appeals entertained a sim-
ilar view with respect to the alleged ‘‘con-
fession” of Cox:

A searching review of the entire record

convinces us that the District Court’s

finding in this regard is not clearly erro-
neous.

This Court has stated that we view a
recantation by a convicted codefendant
with great skepticism and believe it
should be supported by additional, inde-
pendent evidence whenever possible.
Hall [v. Lockhart}, 806 F.2d [165] at 168
[ (8th Cir.1986) ]. Cox stated to the po-
lice following his arrest and to the state
court in a preliminary hearing held con-
cerning the voluntariness of his confes-
sion that he did not shoot Klein and, in
fact, did not even see the shooting. Hill
readily admitted to the police after his
arrest that he shot officer Klein. We
agree with the District Court that Cox’s
subsequent recantation and testimony at
the habeas hearing was incredible and, if
introduced at a new trial along with the
statements of Cox and Hill after their
arrest, the physical evidence at the crime
scene, and the testimony of other wit-
nesses, would not be likely to produce an
acquittal or a sentence of life imprison-
ment. Accordingly, Hill is not entitled to
any further evidentiary hearing based on
this asserted new evidence.

Hill v. Lockhart, 927 F.2d 340, 346 (8th
Cir.1991). Without question the Cox “‘con-
fession” has been explored in great depth
in a full evidentiary hearing in the U.S.
District Court and also by the Court of
Appeals. To relitigate this issue would be
an egregious violation of Rule 9(b), supra.

VI. CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISH-
MENT

[8,9] On April 29, 1992, petitioner filed
an amendment to his writ of habeas corpus
in which he contends that death by lethal
injection as carried out in Arkansas consti-
tutes cruel and unusual punishment. The
Petition states, “The previous execution of
Ricky Ray Rector, Ronald Gene Simmons,
and John Swindler were performed by per-
sons who were not medical doctors.” ' He

1. Swindler was electrocuted and not executed

claims that this practice violates A.C.A.
§ 5-4-617 which provides that “a defen-
dant’s death must be pronounced according
to accepted standards of medical practice.”
I interpret this statute simply to mean that
the death of a person who has been exe-
cuted must be pronounced according to ac-
cepted standards of medical practice. An
execution ends with the pronouncement of
death by someone qualified to determine
the absence of vital signs. The statute
does not require such determination to be
made by a doctor. Other medical person-
nel can make such determination “accord-
ing to accepted medical standards.” The
absence of a physician at an execution is
hardly a deprivation of a federal constitu-
tional right. It should be pointed out that
no proof has been adduced that a physician
was not present at the other executions
mentioned by petitioner or that a physician
will not be present at petitioner’s execu-
tion. Petitioner seeks to implicate the fed-
eral constitutional right that to be free
from cruel and unusual punishment on the
basis that it is sometimes difficult to locate
a vein suitable for an intravenous injection.
Petitioner attempts to attribute such diffi-
culty to the absence of a physician. How-
ever, it must be noted that even in a hospi-
tal setting intravenous injections are gener-
ally given by a nurse or other medical
personnel. On the rare occasion when
there is difficulty in locating a vein, more
than a single needle insertion may be nec-
essary. This is hardly the cruel and un-
usual punishment contemplated by the
Eighth Amendment.

There is general agreement that lethal
injection is at present the most humane
type of execution available and is far pref-
erable to the sometimes barbaric means
employed in the past. Many states have
now abandoned other forms of execution in
favor of lethal injection.

VII. CONCLUSION

The Court, having fully examined the
transcript and proceedings in state court
and having held a full evidentiary hearing

by lethal injection.


—— en eee Ee

HILL v. LOCKHART

1391

Cite as 791 F.Supp. 1388 (E.D.Ark. 1992)

ing the death sentence. Ark. Code Ann.
§ 5-4-605(4) (1987).

The jury verdict form concerning miti-
gating circumstances gave the jury four
choices.... The jury selected the fourth
option, indicating that they found no evi-
dence of any mitigating circumstance.
In rejecting Hill’s argument that the
jury’s selection demonstrates that it im-
properly ignored the evidence of youth
placed before it, the Arkansas Supreme
Court stated:

We do not interpret the jury’s action
to mean that they did not consider the
evidence of mitigation that was of-
fered. Rather we find the jury deter-
mined that the appellant’s youth was
not a mitigating factor, as they were
entitled to do, and so indicated that no
mitigating circumstances were found.

Hill, 289 Ark. at 396, 713 S.W.2d at 238.
We find this interpretation entirely per-
suasive.

Hill v. Lockhart, 927 F.2d 340, 342 (8th
Cir.1991).

The first ground raised in Hill’s second
habeas petition, which was thoroughly ar-
gued in the first habeas petition and reject-
ed both by this court and the Court of
Appeals, is clearly in violation of Rule 9(b)
set out, supra.

III. PREVIOUS CONDUCT AS AGGRA-
VATING CIRCUMSTANCE

[2] The second ground raised in the
present petition is that trial counsel was
ineffective for allowing petitioner to plead
guilty to two felonies involving force or
violence prior to his capital murder trial.
Petitioner now also contends that counsel
should have challenged the procedure
which allowed aggravating circumstances
to be proved with unadjudicated conduct.
He also attacks this procedure directly.
These issues had not been raised previously
and are therefore procedurally defaulted
and are an abuse of the writ of habeas
corpus. See Rule 9b), supra.

There have been three recent definitive
opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Eighth Circuit on the subject of succes-
sive habeas petitions.

In Fairchild v. Lockhart, 900 F.2d 1292
(8th Cir.1990) the Court of Appeals held
that the district judge abused his discretion
in entertaining Fairchild’s second petition.
In his second habeas petition, Fairchild
made a due process claim which could have
been raised in the Arkansas courts. Fair-
child was likewise barred from urging the
due process point in his federal habeas
petition since he was unable to show
“cause” for his procedural default in the
state courts and “prejudice” resulting from
that default. Wainwright v. Sykes, 433
US. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 538 L.Ed.2d 594
(1977). ‘There are excellent reasons for
the rule that claims not properly preserved
in the state courts are normally not open
on habeas. The trial in state court should
be the main judicial event.” Fairchild v.
Lockhart, supra at 1294.

The Court of Appeals also held that “it
is, with some exceptions, an abuse of the
Great Writ to assert new grounds for relief
that were available at the time of an initial
petition.” Jd., citing Woodard v. Hutch-
ins, 464 U.S. 377, 380, 104 S.Ct. 752, 753,
78 L.Ed.2d 541 (1984) (per curiam) (Powell,
J., concurring joined by a majority of the
court) and Smith v. Armontrout, 888 F.2d
530, 540 (8th Cir.1989). Fairchild abused
the writ because his new claim and the
evidence to support it were previously
available and because none of the recog-
nized exceptions applied.

Smith v. Armontrout, contains a cogent
analysis of the limitations on successive
habeas petitions. Judge Arnold summa-
rized the governing principles: ‘An at-
tempt to raise claims omitted from a previ-
ous petition should be rejected as an abuse
of the writ if (1) the previous omission was
the deliberate choice of the petitioner or (2)
the previous omission is not excusable un-
der the cause-prejudice-innocence approach
of Wainwright and Murray v. Carrer,
477 U.S. 478 [106 S.Ct. 2639, 91 L.Ed.2d
397 (1986) }:” Smith, 888 F.2d at 545.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the refus-
al of the district court to entertain a second
habeas petition in Wilson v. Lockhart, 892
F.2d 754 (8th Cir.1990), citing Sanders v.
United States, 373 U.S. 1, 15, 83 S.Ct.


|
|

HILL v. LOCKHART 1393
Cite as 791 F.Supp. 1388 (E.D.Ark. 1992)

tence and failed to conduct a review of
adverse trial rulings as required by Ark.
Sup.Ct.R. 11(f). These contentions could
have been made in the state court proceed-
ing and in the initial habeas proceeding.
This is both a procedural default and abuse
of the writ without any showing of cause
and prejudice. However, there is no consti-
tutional right to comparative review or
plain error review. See Pulley v. Harris,
465 U.S. 37, 104 S.Ct. 871, 79 L.Ed.2d 29
(1984) (no right to comparative review);
Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct.
2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977) (contemporane-
ous objection rule bars habeas review ab-
sent cause and prejudice). Hill makes a
due process argument based on the Arkan-
sas Supreme Court’s adopted rule of com-
parative review, Collins v. State, 261 Ark.
195, 548 S.W.2d 106 (1977), and its rule
regarding review of all adverse trial rul-
ings abstracted by the appellant. Ark.Sup.
Ct.R. 11(f). Hill has adduced no evidence
that the Supreme Court of Arkansas did
not conduct adequate review in this case.
The court has recently given the assurance
that “We have taken the review of death
cases aS a most serious matter, giving
these cases extra attention and considera-
tion, being certain that a defendant has
received a fair trial.” Ruiz v. State, 280
Ark. 190, 194, 655 S.W.2d 441, 443 (1983).
Ruiz contains an extensive review of death
penalty cases in Arkansas since Collins v.
State, supra. It demonstrates that in a
substantial percentage of these appeals the
defendants have secured reversals or re-
duction of the death penalty.

With regard to Rule 11(f), it is clear that
the rule does not absolve the appellant of
the obligation to object at trial as a prereq-
uisite to appellate review. Withers v.
State, 308 Ark. 507, 511, 825 S.W.2d 819
(1992). The court reviews “all objections
brought to [its] attention in the abstract
and briefs in appeals from a sentence of
life imprisonment or death.” Jackson v.
State, 306 Ark. 70, 74, 811 S.W.2d 299
(1991). Hill specifies no error which the
Arkansas Supreme Court overlooked pur-
suant to Rule 11(f). As a matter of fact,
that court said on the direct appeal: “As
required by our rule 11(f) we have re-

3 SE RRRE NL AAT ITN AEM RN NCIS SRINAGAR RIETESRRSPRERENERRIENENS ZENE NAAEN ENN ENED ENED ENESCO EDEDCIEEEED PONE IIGINN
hohhs Con SEAN SOS RLU AREER NCALS ESS SMREREA AL SER RL AT ESSORES LSREERET SINGS LSSSUSSAAISEERSE OLE LS SEL TS ANROEL EES CO RS COGS SREOEE RSA praia SERIER RTO CRERSIOSIED ES oot

Ss

viewed all abstracted rulings adverse to
appellant as well as the points raised on
appeal.” Hill v. State, 289 Ark. 387, 389,
713 S.W.2d 233, 234 (1986).

V. THE WRIT OF ERROR CORAM NO-
BIS

[7] Petitioner claims a due process vio-
lation in the failure of the Supreme Court
of Arkansas to give him permission to seek
a writ of error coram nobis in the circuit
court based upon newly discovered evi-
dence, namely, the statement of Michael
Cox, exculpating Hill as the “trigger” man.
Cox initially denied shooting the officer but
changed his story while the case was on
appeal. The petition for error coram nobis
was denied by the Supreme Court of Ar-
kansas on December 9, 1985. The issue
was raised again on direct appeal without
success. Hill v. State, 289 Ark. 387, 398-
99, 713 S.W.2d 233, 239 (1986). It was also
addressed in the Rule 87 petition. Hill v.
State, 292 Ark. 144, 147, 728 S.W.2d 510,
512 (1987).

Petitioner also argued this issue in the
prior habeas on due process grounds. Cox
testified at the habeas hearing in substan-
tial conformity with his affidavit filed with
the coram nobis petition. I made the fol-
lowing findings with respect to his affida-
vit and testimony:

On the habeas petition I held an evi-
dentiary hearing in which the matter of
Cox’s “confession” was fully explored. I
heard the testimony of Cox with regard
to this “confession.” Based on his de-
meanor, the inconsistencies developed on
cross-examination, the video statements
of both Cox and Hill, the video presenta-
tion of the crime scene, and the trial
transcript, I am of the firm opinion and I
find as a fact that Cox filed a false
statement and that he committed perjury
in the habeas hearing by testifying that
he and not Hill fired the fatal shot at
Klein. I find that Hill was the trigger
man and that Cox’s testimony to the
contrary is frivolous and incredible.

Hill v. Lockhart, 719 F.Supp. 1469, 1477
(E.D.Ark.1989).

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Associated Press

“TITTLE ROCK, Ark: ~ A man who killed a
“state trooper was executed by lethal injection
. "Phorsday night after Gov. Bill Clinton denied

if

‘.« Also Thursday, ‘Texas executed an inmate

nouriced dead at 9:10 p.m., eight minutes after
he was injected with the drugs.

‘Clinton returned to Little Rock on Wednes-
day night to review his case, but denied the.
clemency request Thursday afternoon. The |
U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal filed |

Thursday by Hill’s attorney, Mark Cambiano.

As governor, Clinton has scheduled execu-
tions for 26 prisoners, of whom four have been
executed. He has never granted clemency for a
death row inmate.

“We do support the death penalty for cop
killers, multiple murderers and. drug king-
pins,” Clinton said earlier this year.

_ -fov:killing a store owner in a holdup 14 years

» 886. In Huntsville, Justin May, 46, died by in-

« jection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected

« Jaté-hour appeals in which he argued he had

" been framed. -_

_-» “Steven Douglas Hill, %5, the youngest of 35
* inmates on Arkansas’ death row, was pro-

rth is t }

-_ i ape “a -~ -_

Cambiano had taken the case to the Su- | Death penalty. opponents claim Clinton’s
preme Court after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court _\Stance on capital punishment is dictated by
of Appeals at St. Louis voted 8-1 Thursday to — politics.
reject an appeal by Hill, condemned for the “He’s not dying to be president, but he is
1984 shooting death of an Arkansas State Po- killing to be president,” said Carrie Rengers of
lice investigator. the local chapter of Amnesty International.

a

carrer see seT TTR,

, A16 The Sacramento Bee Final ¢ Friday, May 8, 1992

(PEON Y TRI: _ Ee teen ised

~ "ARKANSAS

LITTLE ROCK — Work week
for state Dept. of Human Services
employees will be cut to 4 days
from 5 for next 7 weeks, Lt. Gov.
Jim Tucker says. Catalyst: project- |
ed $43 million Medicaid shortfall.
Emergency funds for department —
were OK'd. ... Clemency was de-
nied for Steven Hill — scheduled
for execution next week in’84shot- >
gun slaying of state police investi-

_ gator Robert Klein. Gov. Clinton
has final say on Hill's fate.

- THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1992 ° USA TODAY
aaa a nn ieiiiiemianeeal


-_—-_—-— ~~ we see

Arkansas Executes
Convicted Killer

Gov. Clinton rejects appeal for clemency

Los Angeles Times

Little Rock, Ark.

A man convicted of killing a
state trooper in 1984 was put to
death by injection last night af-
ter Governor Bill Clinton turned
down a plea for clemency.

Steven Douglas Hill, 25, was
pronounced dead at 9:10 p.m.,
eight minutes after he was inject-
ed with the lethal drugs at the
state prison near Grady.

The decision to deny clemency
was announced in a one-line state-
ment by the office of Clinton, the
presumptive Democratic nominee
for president.

“Governor Clinton denied
clemency after reviewing the
court files, including the videotap-
ed confession and transcripts of
the clemency hearing and discus-
sions with individuals involved in
the case,” said Clinton’s press sec-
retary, Mike Gauldin.

Clinton made his last public
comment about the case Wednes-
day night, when he arrived in Lit-
tle Rock after campaigning in
West Virginia. “I still have some

‘ yideotapes to review,” he said.

He spent yesterday in the gov-
ernor’s mansion, reviewing the
case and awaiting court decisions
on Hill’s last appeals.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied
an appeal yesterday by Hill’s attor-
ney, Mark Cambiano. Earlier, the
US. Court of Appeals in St. Louis

turned down a request for a re- ©

hearing of the case.

Hill was 18 years old and in pris-
on for breaking and entering and
criminal mischief when, on Oct. 15,
1984, he and another inmate escap-
ed from a work detail and holed up
in a farmhouse south of Little
Rock.

Several hours later, state police
investigator Robert W. Klein was

shot in the face as he approached
“the house. In a videotaped state-
_ ment to police that was played for

the jury at his trial, Hill said he
fired the fatal shot.

After Hill’s trial, his fellow es-
capee, Michael Anthony Cox, con-
tended that he himself had shot
Klein. That formed much of the
basis for Hill’s plea for clemency.

But on April 29, despite Hill’s
tearful appeal in which he apolo-
gized to his victim’s family, the
state parole board recommended
that clemency be denied.

Clinton has never commuted a
death penalty sentence. Hill was
the fourth man to be put to death
during his governorship.

He also was the second execut-
ed in Arkansas this year. On Janu-
ary 24, the state executed Rickey
Ray Rector, the brain-damaged
murderer of a police officer. That
execution drew criticism from op-
ponents of the death penalty.

Gauldin said the governor re-
ceives about 250 requests for clem-
ency each year, for a variety of
crimes and penalties. The state
Board of Parole and Community

Rehabilitation typically recom- ~~

mends granting clemency in about
15 cases a year.

Since 1983, Clinton has granted
clemency in eight cases. In each of
those cases, the parole board had
recommended leniency.

Unlike most recent Democratic
candidates for president, Clinton
personally supports the death pen-
alty, which he says is justified for
extreme crimes. “We do support

the death penalty for cop killers, -

multiple murderers and drug king-
pins,” he said earlier this year.

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— Llos Angeles Times

A32__ FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1992
é

‘Clinton Denies Condemned Inmate’s Plea of Clemency

‘By CATHLEEN DECKER

TIMES POLITICAL WRITER

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Arkansas
Gov. Bil] Clinton turned down a
plea for clemency Thursday and

» cleared the way for the execution

;of a 25-year-old convicted mur-

| derer.

y Steven Douglas Hill, sentenced
‘to death for the 1984 slaying of a

j State police investigator, was
«scheduled to be killed by lethal

tinjection Thursday night in the

' execution chamber at the state
) prison near Grady.

, Clinton denied the clemency re-

‘ quest Thursday afternoon; the U.S.

Supreme Court later rejected a

' last-ditch appeal.

' The decision by the governor

, and presumptive Democratic presi-

' dential nominee was announced in

ta one-line statement issued

: through his office.

5 “Gov. Clinton denied clemency

‘after reviewing the court files,

‘including the videotaped confes-

‘sion and transcripts of the clemen- .

icy hearing and discussions with
:individuals involved in the case,”
‘said Clinton’s press secretary, Mike
‘Gauldin.

“ Also on Thursday, the U.S. 8th
Circuit Court of Appeals in St.
Louis turned down a request for a

rehearing of the case.

Clinton’s last public comment
about Hill was delivered Wednes-
day night, when he arrived in
Little Rock from campaigning in
West Virginia.

“I still have some videotapes to
review,” Clinton said before driv-
ing off past a gathering of local
television reporters.

He spent Thursday in the gover-
nor’s mansion, reviewing the case
and awaiting a decision by the
courts.

Clinton has never commuted a
death penalty sentence. Hill would
be the fourth man to be put to
death during his governorship.

He also would be the second to
be executed in Arkansas this year.
On Jan. 24, the state executed
Rickey Ray Rector, the brain-
damaged murderer of a police offi-
cer.

According to Gauldin, the gover-
nor receives about 250 requests for
clemency each year, for a variety
of crimes and penalties. The state
Board of Parole and Community
Rehabilitation typically recom-
mends granting clemency in about
15 cases a year.

Since 1983, Clinton has granted
clemency in eight cases. In each of
those cases, the parole board had
recommended leniency. Unlike

most recent Democratic candidates
for President, Clinton personally
supports the death penalty, which
he says is justified for extreme
crimes.

' State prison spokesman David
White said Hill was held until late
Thursday in a holding cell 20 feet
from the execution chamber. “He
was extremely quiet this morning,”
said White, who added that tele-
phone calls from Hill’s family ap-
peared to have bolstered his spirits
later.

Hill was a teen-ager imprisoned
for breaking and entering and
criminal mischief when, on Oct. 15,
1984, he and another inmate es-
caped from a work detail and holed
up in a farmhouse,

Several hours later, state police
investigator Robert W. Klein was
shot in the face as he approached
the house. In a videotaped state-
ment to police that was played for
the jury at his trial, Hill said he
fired the fatal shot.

After Hill’s trial, his fellow es-
capee, Michael Anthony Cox, con-
tended that he himself had shot
Klein.

But on April 29, despite Hill’s
tearful appeal in which he apolo-
gized to his victim’s: family, the
state parole board recommended
that clemency be denied.

As execution day approached

- here, the chorus of calls against the

death penalty increased. Four of
the state’s religious leaders called
in a letter published in the Arkan-
sas Democrat-Gazette for Clinton

ia CORD

to rescind the sentence.

“We believe the death penalty is
increasing the cycle of violence in
our society rather than curbing it,
as many men and women of good
will intend it to do,” said the letter,
signed by leaders of the Roman
Catholic, Episcopal, Jewish and
Methodist faiths.


—

stele arene

By Ron Fournier *
Associated Press eae a

'. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. + A man who killed a
state trooper was executed by lethal injection
Thursday night after Gov. Bill Clinton denied
him clemency.

Also Thursday, Texas executed an inmate
for killing a store owner in a holdup 14 years
ago.

'” Steven Douglas Hill, 25, the youngest of 35
inmates on Arkansas’ death row, was pron-
ouced dead at 9:10 p.m., eight minutes after
he was injected with the drugs.

' “Task for my family’s forgiveness, for the
pain | caused, and Officer Klein’s family,” Hill
said as he lay strapped down in the execution
chamber. “The children shouldn’t have to be
raised without a father. I’m ready to go.”

Clinton returned to Little Rock on Wednes-
day night to review his case, but denied the
clemency request Thursday afternoon. The

U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal filed

Arkansas,

Clinton denies request for cleme

Thursday by Hill’s attorney, Mark Cambiano.

Cambiano had taken the case to the Su-
preme Court after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals at St. Louis voted 8-1 Thursday to
reject an appeal by Hill, condemned for the
1984 shooting death of Arkansas State Police
investigator Robert Klein.

As governor, Clinton has scheduled execu-
tions for 26 prisoners, of whom four have
been executed. He has never granted clemen-
cy for a death row inmate. —

“We do support the death penalty for cop
killers, multiple murderers and drug king-
pins,” Clinton said earlier this year.

Death penalty opponents claim Clinton’s
stance on capital punishment ‘is dictated by
politics.

“He’s not dying to be president, but he is
killing to be president,” said Carrie Rengers

of the local chapter of Amnesty International. .

A black, brain-damaged inmate was exe-
cuted Jan. 24 in Arkansas, drawing criticism

ncy;

Texas execute two killers’

Supreme Court rejects last appeal

“from death pefialty foes and black leaders. A

man who killed a police officer and a mass
murderer were executed in June 1990.

About 25 people, including one person
dressed as the Grim Reaper, protested
Wednesday outside the gates of the Gover-
nor’s Mansion in Little Rock.

Hill was an 18-year-old state inmate in
1984 when he and a fellow prisoner, Michael
Anthony Cox, escaped while on a work detail.

They tied up the occupants of a central Ar-; »
kansas home, stealing weapons and a truck »

before heading to a nearby house. Police sur-
rounded the house and investigator Robert
Klein was fatally shot with a shotgun.

Hill, whose confession was videotaped by
police, was sentenced for the murder. Cox
was sentenced to 86 years for related crimes.
Cox later said he — not Hill — pulled the
trigger.

State prosecutors, a federal judge and the
state parole board have said they don’t be-

lieve Cox, who they said changed his story
several times.“ ope th, OT

Hill apologized to Klein’s family in @ hear-
ing before the parole board last month.

“I'd just like to tell the family of officer
Klein that whoever pulled the trigger, I’m the
one responsible,” Hill told the state parole ~
board.

. Hill’s family and sympathizers said the in-
mate is a victim of a tormented childhood. ,

They said his troubles started at age 1234
when he was hit in the eye by a stray bullet |
while shooting at rats in a barn with his
brother-in-law. His family said Hill never re-
sponded well to the taunting he received for
wearing an eye patch.

Hill, a frail teen, was raped repeatedly
when imprisoned for breaking and entering
and criminal mischief, said a Catholic priest
who befriended Hill in prison. The rapes
prompted Hill to escape, the Rev. George Tri-
bou said.


"Morrilton, March 6 = Charles A, dlammons, a white man, will be hanged here tomorrow

for criminally assaulting his ll-year-old stepdaughter...Your correspondent saw
Hammons in jaik here this afternooh and talked with him, He is perfectly resigned
to his fate and claims that he 'feels safe' and that he is 'going to’heaven.' He
He says “Ne never denied the offense, but that there were mintigating circumstances
which the dtrial did not develop, His wife came in¥d#ax* today and spent some time
with hém husband..." ARKANSAS GAZETTE, Little Rock, Ark., Mar. 7, 1905 (2:3.)

R
t

g

126, SW 90.

HARDING, Henry, hanged Wynne, Arkarisas, on May 6, 1910.
"HARDING PAYS PENALTY DEATH/Grimly announcing that he. was meeting

s. @eath bravely and boasting that he had never asked Governor ZINA GP LE

to’ spare his life, Hardin, aged slayer of J. T, Patterson, went .

to his death on the gallows here with a smile on his lips. A crowd.

A“ef almost 800 people drove where the execution took place, After a in

| drive of 3 miles from Wynne, Hardin mounted the sceffdld.at 12:20... x
o'cleck, Fors minute he talked to the wihnesses within the stockade,
Then, smiling calmly, He stood quietly while ‘awditing a blindfold _---
unreadable <-- _fourteén minutes after the drop, bhe body was cut down ..
‘and Drs, W) B, Barner ‘and ‘Ls'H. Lipsey pronounced Vife extinct. Har-..
@XKXH din's' neck Was broken by ‘the fall, The condemned man refused to-
talk to any minister. In his finsl speech he denouncéd the man ‘for

whose murdelt he was executed, and O, N. Killough, an attorney at Wynne,
who was connected with the lawsuit which led up to the killing. Hardin
left his cell in the -t. Francis county jail at Forrest City shortly
after 8 o'clock Friday morning in company with Sheriff Rolfe of Cross
county, and was taken to the courthouse at Wynne, making the journey

from ohe one town to the other on a train, KA&KH A crowd of more than
2,000 people gathered around the courthouse KX¥H soon after his arrival,
and at the request of the condemned man he was permitted to address

them, His words were strikingly bitter, and he said nothing to show he
regretted the crime for which he was so soon to die. He spoke from the
courthouse steps. ‘I am an Englishman by birth and have no relatives

that I know BAX¥XXXMMXHXZH of,' he said. ‘If the state had let me live
six more days I would have been 63 years of age. I have been in Memphis,
and around Cherry Valley, Cross county, for the past three or four years.
While a youth I was taught in a Methodist Sunday school, and I always
clung to the Methodiest belief. I was baptized in that church, I killed
J. T. Patterson in his law office because he grabbed a chair and was go-
ing to hit me, He was employed as my attorney in some land litigation,
and his fee was $100, The papers were not fixed up right, and Patterson
was working with 0, N, Killough, who was on the other side, I told Pat-
terson so when I found it out, and he answered: "You are a liar.” We be-
gan to fuss, when I KE killed him, and he will not sell out anyone else,'
'Why were you carrying a pistol?’ ankeg someone in the crowd, ‘I had been
carrying the pistol two KK years,’ replied Hardin, ‘But I never thought
of killing Mr. Patterson, I have considerable property which is tied un
in XXKXIK litigation in this county and in Memphis. Mrs. XXXXKHHWKK Pat~
XRXXWHAXEHANXMR terswon sued me for damages when I killed her husband,

and she got a $7,500 judgment against me, which is tied up in Litigation F
I MGR made a mistake in employing my attorney KMMXX and I feel that m

life should have been spared under the circumstances, RAKKKKX&XXHXK x
RHKEEK Patterson was a cutthroat, but he will never perpetrate any more
frauds with Killough.' As the old man finished talking the --- unreadable
---He turned and was led back into the courthouse, After the KAZE con-
demned man had eaten a light dinner, Sheriff Rolfe, Sheriff Cain of WKH
WABAXKA Woodruff county, Sheriff Bracher of Poinsett county and Deputy
Sheriff S. 3, Kirby started with him in a buggy for the poor farm, A
scaffold had been receted there instead of at the county jail, which is
only a short distance from the Wynne school. Despite the weather, KAWKERE
however, people had been arriving at the farm through the morning and
many buggies were there when the party arrived. Hundreds of BMHX people
were gathered at the door the the stockade within which the gallows were
ready for its victim. Only about 18 or 20 people, including sheriffs

and their deputies, physicians and newspaper men, were admitted KAXXHAXaRR
RXAKWER to see the execution, Hardin walked firmly up to the scaffold and
began to talk to talk, He ip peickily what he had said at the courthouse,

adding denyncfations of the former, seritt Parnedly, sekseneReataa Hem

fairly. “e said that*’he did not fear death and boasted that he had never
asked the governor to spare his life. _. bon = pe, wien es rie

"Looking over thé little group of witnesses, he commented on the fact that
none of his enemies was there, Not a tremor passed over the old: man's form
when the blindfold was placed across his eyes. :He stood with.the smile fix-
LKKKAIXK fixed on his lips until Deputy Kirby cut-the rope which KKXWKX-al-
lowed the body ta drop arid gent Hardin toeternity. Long before death had
come the door ‘of the stockade was thrown open and-the crowd rushed XANKAS
outside rushed in, .Fourteén miriutes aftér the drop..the body was cut down
ABA and after formal examination was turned over to the undertaker, rand, it
was sent. to Memphis... J. T. Patterson, Hardin's victim, was ly -years.-old
when killed last September, He had lived in Wynne ‘for 15 years, and |.
taught school at (?), White county, for a number of ¥SXHRX¥KA years before
coming td Wynne.” BLADE-DEMOCRAT, Wynne, 4rkansas, TXKKAK Tuesday, May

11, 1910, page one, —( Cis‘ S Pe oireiace pk hg gall ng

e Ci€ m| 2 o e
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ai [
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Tyrus Clar 4
~DenyingGuiltOf 4
Killing of Banker |

; Professing his innocence to the last, and calling upon
| God to forgive those responsible for his ‘death, Tyrus Clark,
'a native of Dugger, Ind., was electrocuted at the penitentiary
Friday morning for the murder of Lou M. Stout, Sulphur
Springs bank president, during a holdup of the Bank of Sul-

|
!
j
\

w~ Clark was the first to

phur Springs on June 10,

“Oh, Lord, forgive them all,” were
the only wonla that Clark uttered

prior to that time he had talked (revly
with ministers and religious workors
in his ecll, and, although they con-
atantly urged him to admit tho kill-
ing if guilty, he stuck to bis original
atory, that the murder had been com-
mitted by Boyd Jewell, a companion
in the robbery, who is serving. a 49-
year Kentence on the state peniten-
tiary_ farm.
Negro Admits Gullt.

Aaron Hburria, Ashley county noe!
gro, who was electrocuted with Clark,
for the munrler of Scott Streeter, a
Rdeputy sheriff, freely admitted his
\ir however, and prior to entering

the death chamber told negro win-
asters with Lim of thy» shooting of
the officer, He made no xtatements
after entering the death chamber.

The execution of both Clark and

Harris was witneased by Telatives of | |

the two deceased men. Tonia Stout,
Us-rear-old aon of the alain) bank
peesident, witnessed the executhon of
Clark, while Mrs, Streeter, her aon
and Streeter’s aged father witnesecd
the exeention of tha negro,

A second negro, Martin Davis, who
Was to have been electrocutal Friday
morning for the murder of a Hamburg
taxl driver, Was granted a rexpite by
the supreme court Wodlnexday after-
noon, when bis attorneya were grant-
ed a writ of error by the court clerk,
in order that hia conviction might be
passed on by the court.
® to the
chair, He entered the death chamber
at 7:12 o'clock, and the electricity
was applied at 7:14. One minute
later he was pronounced dead by the
poet wl Harris entered the
eath chamber 12 minutes later, and

after eutering the death chamber, but |

at 7:30-o’clock ho was pronounced
dead. .

KELL LS RC ee Ce ee ee ee 2 ES

I

shley) ong

o: TRS
Aa. e =. * s®
“<9 : - . mF
& : “Wt
“ey oe a ake”

” 1e8 f
.
Vy °

\poe at

eo ere!

a?
*

Urdserot
Bue Bek, Arlt

pokes

Ss Cigiaul

) ice lial i
' Bandit Dies Salling. }
Both Clark and the negro walked

ifrom theie cells to the chair without

assistance, Clark amiled during the

time that he was being strapped: in
the ehalr hy penitentiary repped |

peemed: ke ‘an intereszainn the
pan ae he ms ore
¢ ftom: thyte be~ ved the
death ¢ r unt the. electrigty
was applied.) oo Lye
Ray Clark of Dugger, a brother of
the bank robber, syas with him for
several hours botdte the execution.
and.took charge of the boldly immedi-
ately after the sentence waa carrird
oot, He announced that the body
would be taken to Jacksonville, Ind., |
the preecnt home of Clark's parents,
where {it will be buried. The body
will be prepared for shipment by
Overman & Fagan, local undertakers,
The body of Harrix alen was taken in
charge by Overman & Fagan, and ia
belng held pending instructions from
relatives,
<Clark’s brother discussed the crime
for which Clark was executed with
newspaper men prior to the electrocu-
ton, and was especially bitter in his
denunciation of Jewell, who he aaid
was responsible for the murder, Jew-
ell, like Clark, had formerly lived in
Indiana, according to Clark « brother,
aud had been cared for many ycars
by Clark's parenia,
st Jewell was responsible for Clark's
participation in the crime, according
to Nay Clark, and also waa respon-
sible for his conviction, having plead-
ed gullty and testified against Clark
at his trial Jn Bentonville, Clark
had never been {fn trouble previously,
according to his brother, s
~ Clark's brother arrived here Thurs- ;
day, and Thuraday afternoon made a
final plea to the governor in an ef-
fort to save hig brother's life. He
will leave with the body Friday after-
voon, be sald... ¢ AEE 2
“The murder fof which Clark pald
the death penalty waa committed on
_ 10, when he and three compan-
na, Jobn Burchfield, Alva MecDon-
ald and Jewell, attempted to eacape |
from Sulphur Springs, after looting |
the bank there of appresimatcy

<Barchfleld ‘and McDonald were
wounded while attempting to reach
the bandit car, and were captured a
few bours later, but Clark and Jewell
escaped Into Oklahoma, and were not
captured for several daya «2
veClark was tried first for the erime,
and aentenced to the chalr, Jewell
and Rurchfield testifying that he fired |
the shoe thar killed the bank presi-
dent. Burchfield and MeDonald later
were giren life sentences, while Jewel!
pleaded guilty aod received @ sentence
of 49 years. ;

° 4

‘The murder for which Harrie was
convicted . occurred when Deputy
Bheriff Ntreeter attempted to place
Marris under arrest om a whiskcs
eharse. . ‘

? Clark's body willbe sent to Dug-
ger, Ind.. by Overman & Fagan Fri-
day night. ‘

* Ve is survived by bla widow anil
One son, his perenta, Me. and = Mre.
Enoe Clark of Dugger; four bruth-
ers, Jloy of Dogger, Ray of Vicksburs.
Ind., Albert of Colum Ind., and
Charlea of ColUms, Ind. and tan os.
tera, Mre. Glenna Riel! of Sullivan.
Ind., and Mrs, Eunice Luten of Ja<-
sehville, Jod.

( feay 5?


The Associated Press

Steven Douglas Hill, exe-
cuted Thursday night for killing
a state police investigator, apol-
ogized to the victim’s family
again, and to his own family as
well, on a videotape he made
eight days before his death.

Hill was put to death by in-
jection for the 1984 shotgun slay-
ing of Arkansas State Police in-
vestigator Robert Klein. In a
clemency hearing last week be-
fore the state Parole and Com-
munity Rehabilitation Board,
Hill took responsibility for
Klein’s death and apologized.

On April 29, Hill’s attorney,
Mark Cambiano, made a video-
tape of a statement by Hill. The
statement was taped at Tucker
Maximum Security Unit, where
Hill was kept on death row be-
fore he was moved this week to
a cell near the death chamber at
Cummins Maximum Security
Unit. a

The videotape was obtained
by Little Rock television station
KARK-TV, Channel 4, and
broadcast Thursday night after
Hill’s execution.

Here is a transcription of
Hill’s videotaped statement:

“My reasons for making this
tape is there are people who I
would like the opportunity to
apologize to, for the conduct of

Arkansas Democrat Gazette 5/11/92

Hill’s videotaped apology airs after execution

© Related articles 1A, 17A

my life in the past.

“First I want to say I don't
blame anyone for my situation, I
take responsibility for my own
actions as well as we all should.
My life up till now is — I never
really did anything that ... was
considered good, that was ... my

-parents would say, would look

down to me, ‘That’s my son,’ and
be proud of me.

“T’ve always basically, I’ve al-
ways been in trouble, and if I
would have someone like I’ve
got now -— that’s Father Tribou,
hand and guidance —- as I’ve
grown up, then I think, then I'd
like to think that I would not be
making this tape now, there
would be no reason for it.

“I’m not saying that my par-
ents didn’t do their job.or any-
thing, that’s not what I’m trying
to say, it’s just that, they
couldn’t control me,. and I un-
derstand that it’s my actions
that brought me here because I
was into drugs, alcohol, and al-
ways trying to impress the other
people. ...

“And first off, I would like to
apologize to my: family and

friends, my neighbors, all the -

people who cared about me and
tried to help me, but all I ever
did was — I was basically —- be-

cause I would go out and I
would — people would try to tell
me, but I would never listen to
them. ;

“I know I have caused every-
body grief, I know I have caused
people a great amount of pain,
suffering, and it’s all those peo-
ple ... I would like to say that I’m
truly sorry and... that, no matter
what happens, know this: I did
hear you. I love all of you ... but
if it’s not time pow to reflect on
that, it’s time now to get on with
what must be, and all I ask is,
for your pain, your anguish, your
suffering, I apologize.

“And I would like to apolo-
gize to the people that known
me, people who, since I’ve been

in prison, people who tried to:

help me, and counsel with me,
some of the guards, the chap-
lains, volunteers, the volunteer
chaplains that come by ... and
again, in that situation, I was
trying to play this big, macho
role, like I didn’t need anybody,
and I'd like to apologize to you
for wasting your time when I
should have been listening.
“And I would like to apolo-
gize in full to the family of
Trooper Klein, to his wife, his

‘children, father and mother,

brother, sisters, all of his rela-
tives. .. The incident itself, I
now realize was ... the responsi-

bility lies on me and Michael
Cox.

“Officer Klein was doing his
job, trying to keep people like
me from doing things I'd done in
the past. Like I saw, you have
every right in the world to hate
me, and to which to see me
dead, and I understand that and
I realize why. But I hope in time
that you can forgive me; the
hardest part is, I truly want your
forgiveness ... but the hardest
part for me is to forgive myself,
and the main point that I
wanted to make is to the chil-
dren of the officer Klein, be-
cause no child should ever have
to grow up without a father, no
one should lose a loved one, but
that’s in God’s hands, but I hope
that you can get on with your
lives.

“It’s been seven years since
the incident and I know you've
suffered, you’ve had your hear-
taches' and your staying up
crying at night ... but now it’s
time, not to forget, but to move
on, because I'm sure, from what
I understand of officer Klein, I
believe that’s what he would
want ... and it’s, as I said, the
only thing — I have no right to
ask — but I guess, if you can to
find it in your heart to forgive
me. If not, I understand that,
too.”

Tough to deny
Hill clemency,
Clinton says

BY NOEL OMAN

Democrat-Gazette Capito! Bureau

The decision to deny Steven
Douglas Hill’s request for
clemency was especially diffi-
cult because he was not a mul-
tiple murderer, Gov. Bill Clin-
ton said Friday.

Hill, 25, of Scott, the young-
est inmate on Arkansas’ death
row, was executed by lethal in-
jection Thursday night, hours
after the governor refused the
request for clemency.

“The others were all multi-
ple murderers,” Clinton said
of the first three inmates exe-
cuted under his administra-
tion. “That’s why I spent a lot
of time going over the ... video-
tape ofthe confessions, the vi-
deotape of the crime scene,
the videotape of the clemency
hearing, a lot of written re-
cords. | :
“IT even went back yesterday
and called the state police and

~got some information from the=

case file. I spent several hours ;

personally going back over this 4

case.”
See CLINTON, Page 7B

oo ee woes me rte me

—-~- life-there,” he said.

@ Continued from Arkansas Page

But Clinton added that

“while the decision was diffi-
cult,’ the presumption was
‘against Hill.

‘“T think the presumption

‘should always be against over-

turning the verdict of a jury
and the sentence of the court,
Kut I think that when someone
asks. for clemency and a life
hangs ‘in the balance, particu-
larly ‘when it was not a multi-
ple murder case, you have to
really get fixed in your own
mind about intent, conse-
quences, circumstances.”

And although all death
Gases are extremely trying for
him: personally, Clinton said,
Qnce.he makes a decision he
has. no problem sleeping at
Hight.
: Beforehand, it’s tough, but
the days of the execution are
the; toughest as governor be-
cause I have to review all the
linformation to see if I should
‘second guess the jury, or if the
judge or the prosecutor, th
‘appeals court, has made a mis-
-take and you’re dealing with a

————

“Those are very, very tough
days and tough nights. When
it’s done, it’s out of my hands...

‘but’ these are very difficult

times.”

_ ‘Later, Clinton added: “I
ave no guilt. The law of the
State is clear. I support the
Jaw.”

 !@linton reiterated his legal
-and-"moral support for the
death penalty, which he sees
as: a-deterrent in some cases,
‘especially when it is carried
out quickly, and punishment in
other cases.

“But it is never easy,” Clin-
ton. added. “When I’m asked to
‘review clemency, I do it.”

The governor refused to
consider or.comment on the
circumstances of upcoming
‘déath-row inmates, several of
‘whom could have their execu-
tion ‘dates set in the coming
year:


nili, s»2teven D., wh,

DIGEST CONTINUED

dants, an 18-year-old anda 17-year-
old.

The victim was garroted in his fa-
ther's car as he was reciting the final
words of a prayer. It was alleged that
two of the defendants were with him
while the other two sat in another car
as lookouts and the fifth defendant,
charged with masterminding the
murder, waited at home to hear that
the deed had been done.

White Plains, New York—June 26, 1992:
Convicted a month earlier for the

January 1989 gunshot murder of

Betty Jean Solomon, her lover's wife,
28-year-old former schoolteacher
Carolyn Warmus was sentenced toa
maximum term of 25 years to life.
Just before Westchester County
Court Judge John Carey pronounced
Sentence, the sobbing and shaking
woman whimpered, “I did not kill
Betty Jean Solomon. I don't want to
spend time in jail for something I
didn't do.” She went on to say that
she was devastated and asked for le-

_niency on the basis of her declared

innocence.

In passing sentence, Judge Carey
labelled the crime as having been
planned maliciously and cold-
bloodedly by the convicted woman.
He said, “No community which hopes
to be bound by the rule of.law can tol-

erate any such merciless slaughter.”

14 Inside Detective

The judge also sentenced Warmus to
5 to 15 yearsona separate conviction
for criminal possession of a weapon,
specifying that this sentence may be
served concurrently.

The case, which made national
headlines, is presented with com-
plete, behind-the-scenes details in
the story titled “9 Slugs Shattered the
‘Fatal Attraction’ Triangle” in the De-
cember 1992 issue of True Detective
Magazine, which will be available at
newsstands on September 10th.

ULTIMATE JUSTICE DISPENSED...
Little Rock, Arkansas — May 7, 1992: After
the U.S. Supreme Court denied an
appeal filed by his attorney, 25-year-
old Steven Douglas Hill, the youngest
of 35 prisoners or Arkansas’ death
row, was executed by lethal injection.
Hill stood convicted in the 1984 slay-
ing of Arkansas State Police Investi-
gator Robert Klein. The lawman was
shot to death when Hill and another
man went on a crime spree after
breaking out of state prison.

It was shortly after his arrest that
Hill confessed to the cop-killing. Lat-
er, after their trial, Hill’s accomplice
asserted that he, not Hill, was the ac-
tual shooter. Michael A. Cox, who
was sentenced to an 86-year prison
term for kidnapping and assault,
maintained that the two men agreed
between themselves that Hill should

Carolyn Warmus (both photos): 25 years to life for “Fatal Attraction” slaying.

) 5/7/1992

claim responsibility for the actual
shooting. The pair believed that be-
cause Hill was 18 years old at that
time, a jury would be less likely to im-
pose the death penalty.

Officer Klein was felled by a shot-
gun blast when he and other lawmen
Surrounded a home where Hill and
Cox were holed up. After escaping
from a Wrightsville Prison work detail
in October 1984, the two fugitives
burst into a Woodson home, bound
the family members, swiped some
firearms, and stole a pickup in which
they fled to the second house, where

Convicted for cop-killing, Steven Hill
was executed by lethal injection.

the police action went down.

A bid for clemency to Arkansas
Governor Bill Clinton was also de-
nied. Hill was pronounced dead eight
minutes after he received ‘the lethal
injection,

=i.

Huntsville, Texas — May 21, 1992: Jesus Ro-
mero, a 27-year-old migrant worker
convicted of a rape-murder, became

the 49th person to be executed in

Texas since the state resumed capital
punishment in 1982. Romero was
tried in 1985 for raping and murder-
ing 15-year-old Olga Perales in an as-
Sault by four gang members.

During his trial, Romero was 19,
and he giggled as witnesses de-
scribed how the victim was stabbed,
beaten witha Pipe, and raped repeat-
edly. In contrast, he was somber, vis-
ibly nervous, just before receiving the
lethal injection. 600


Execution forecast:
6 more in 12 months

BY RON FOURNIER
Associated Press Writer

A man accused of stabbing a
woman to death in 1979 could
be the third Arkansas inmate
executed this year, and four

convicted murderers in an--

other case could soon be put to
death on a single day, a state
prosecutor said.

Jack Gillean, the lead death
penalty litigator in the attor-
ney general’s office, said at
least six of the 34 death row in-
mates could be executed in the
next 12 months.

Steven Douglas Hill died by
injection Thursday for the 1984
slaying of an Arkansas State
Police investigator. He is the
fourth person executed in Ar-
kansas since the state began
carrying out the death penalty
again in 1990.

Rickey Ray Rector, also con-

victed of killing a police offi-.

cer, was exeeuted Jan. 24. John
Edward.Swindler, convicted of
shooting a Fort Smith police-

man, and mass murderer
Ronald Gene Simmons were
put to death in June 1990.

“It becomes a little bit diffi-
cult to be sure, but everybody
here seems to agree that
Charles Singleton is probably
the gentleman who is furthest
along” in his appeals, Gillean:
said Friday.

Singleton, 33, was convicted
in the June 1, 1979, stabbing of
Mary Lou York. Police said he

’ killed the woman while robb-

ing a Hamburg (Ashley County)
grocery store.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals at St. Louis last week
upheld the conviction and sen-

_ tence, Gillean said. Singleton
- can now request another hear-

ing or ask the U.S. Supreme
Court to look at the case.
Singleton is arguing that his
attorney was ineffective in the
sentencing phase of the trial.
Gillean said the U.S. Su-

See DEATH, Page 7B

Arkansas Democrat Gazette 5/10/92

(Acc)

® Continued from Arkansas Page

preme Court likely will rule on
the case in the fall. If the rul-
ing favors the state, the execu-
tion could come before the end
of the year.

He said the execution prob-
ably would not be scheduled
before Nov. 3, when Gov. Bill
Clinton likely will be the Dem-
ocratic nominee for president
on the general election ballot.

_ ‘Clinton’s support of the

“death: penalty has been a
-minor issue in the campaign.

_. Another death penalty case
winding its way through the

courts involves four men con- ;

victed at the same time for the
same crime. They. could be ex-
ecuted on the same day, Gil-
lean said.

Hoyt Franklin Clines, 35,
James William Holmes, 35,
Darryl V. Richley, 44, and Mi-
chael Ray Orndorff, 33, were
convicted in Benton County in
1981 for the robbery and mur-
der of Don Lehman. Police
said the four.men had dis-
cussed among themselves the
necessity of murder if they met
resistance at Lehman’s home.
‘--The four men, armed and

wearing ski masks, burst into .

Judge questions Hill’s execution |

Lehman's home, robbed him of
$1,200 and split the money up
after he was murdered.

All four were found guilty of
capital murder and were sub-
ject to the death penalty under
Arkansas law, although as few
as two of them were actually in
Lehman’s bedroom when the
man was killed. .

Gillean said the 8th Circuit
has yet to rule on their appeal.
He said the execution could
take place 30 days after the 8th
Circuit rules, perhaps by the
end of the year.

State officials have said
Clinton might schedule all
four men to die on the same
day because their cases are
joined. Clinton declined to
comment Friday on the case.

“We could have four execu-
tions on one day,” Gillean said.
“That would be a real stressful
day for us.”

Gillean said he thinks Ar-
kansas would be the first to ex-

ecute more than one person on
the same day since the U.S. Su-
preme Court reinstated the
death penalty in 1976.
Another death row inmate
running out of time is Barry

’ Lee Fairchild. Unless he can

get his conviction overturned
or the execution delayed
again, Fairchild likely will be
executed early next year, Gil-
lean said.

Fairchild, 38, has been close
to the death chamber before,
but he won a stay while the
courts consider allegations
that he was coerced by police
to confess.

Fairchild, who is black,
maintains that blacks were
routinely beaten by Pulaski

‘County sheriffs deputies dur-

ing the investigation into the
1983 rape and murder of an Air
Force nurse.

The 8th Circuit heard oral
arguments in the case last
month.

Criticizes court decision to reject last-minute appeal

BY ANDY GOTLIEB
Democrat-Gazette State Desk

_ A senior circuit federal
judge on Thursday sharply
criticized an appellate court's
decision not to hold a rehear-
ing of Steven Douglas Hill’s
final appeal.

_ “Iam disturbed by the ques-
tionable legality of the sen-
tencing process in this case as
it relates to Hill’s proposed ex-
ecution on May 7, 1992,” Senior
Circuit Judge J. Smith Henley
of Harrison wrote to members
of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals at St. Louis.

Hill, 25, of Scott, was exe-
cuted Thursday after last-min-
ute appeals to the 8th U‘S. Cir-

cuit Court of Appeals and the
U.S. Supreme Court were de-
nied. Hill was convicted of
killing Arkansas State Police
Investigator Robert Klein on
Oct. 15, 1984, after escapin
from a state prison. ’
A three-judge panel of the
8th Circuit — which included
Henley — on Tuesday unani-
mously rejected an appeal by
Hill. But Hill’s attorney, Mark
Cambiano of Morrilton (Con-
way County), asked for a
rehearing by the full court.
The rehearing request in-
cluded a new twist. Cambiano
contended that because Hill
had been sentenced to 86 years
in prison for various crimes

before being sentenced to
death, Hill would have to serve
the first sentence before he
could be executed.

The 8th Circuit, however, re-
jected that appeal 8-1. Only
Judge Theodore McMillian of
St. Louis voted to grant a stay
of execution. Because Henley
has taken senior status, he can
only participate in hearings to

which he is assigned. He can- |

not vote with the full court.

That did not stop Henley
from making his position
known. He noted that Hill's
sentences were imposed con-
secutively, not concurrently.


BERRY v. SONOMA COUNTY

1395

Cite as 791 F.Supp. 1395 (N.D.Cal. 1992)

in connection with the initial habeas corpus
petition, finds that under Rule 8(a) of the
Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the
United States District Court, no further
evidentiary hearing is necessary in this
case. All issues can be determined on the
basis of the pleadings and briefs.

The petitioner was afforded a jury trial
in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County by
an able and experienced judge with wide
experience in criminal law. The case has
been twice reviewed by the Supreme Court
of Arkansas and twice reviewed by the
Supreme Court of the United States. The
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has
reviewed the case once and will doubtlessly
have another opportunity before petitioner
is executed, as will the Supreme Court of
the United States for the third time. This
is the second occasion for this Court to
review Hill’s conviction and death sentence.
The review in the federal courts is a rather
limited one, being confined to an examina-
tion of whether any of petitioner’s federal
constitutional rights have been impaired in
the course of the legal proceedings result-
ing from the murder of State Trooper
Klein. As pointed out, supra, the review
pursuant to a second habeas corpus peti-
tion is even more limited.

I have concluded that there is no basis
under the binding decisions of the Court of
Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the
Supreme Court of the United States, and
the evidence heretofore developed in this
case, for me to grant the petition and
amended petition filed by Stephen Douglas
Hill. It follows that there is no basis for
granting a stay of his execution.

w
° € KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

Tt

Gregory BERRY, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
SONOMA COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
Civ. No. C-89-4476 SAW (FSL).

United States District Court,
N.D. California.

Feb. 28, 1992.
On Motion to Reconsider May 1, 1992.

Deputy coroners brought suit under
Fair Labor Standards Act against county
sheriff’s department seeking overtime com-
pensation for time spent on-call. Following
trial, the District Court, Langford, Chief
United States Magistrate Judge, held that:
(1) deputy coroners were entitled to over-
time compensation for time spent on-call;
(2) sheriff’s department did not willfully
violate Act; and (3) coroners were entitled
to attorney fees award totalling over $215,-
000. ;

Judgment for plaintiffs.
See also 763 F.Supp. 1055.

1. Labor Relations ¢=1270

Fair Labor Standards Act generally re- _
quires employers to pay overtime compen-
sation to employees for hours worked in

excess of 40 hours per work week. Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, § 7(a), 29
U.S.C.A. § 207(a).

2. Labor Relations 1270

Fair Labor Standards Act has estab-
lished special set of rules for payment of
overtime compensation to fire protection
and law enforcement employees. Fair La-
bor Standards Act of 1938, § 7(k), 29
U.S.C.A. § 207(k).

3. Labor Relations 1270

Fair Labor Standards Act required
deputy coroners employed by county sher-
iff’s department be paid overtime compen-
sation for time spent “on call” since on-call
investigations were substantially same as
on duty investigations, coroners responded
to investigation requests as soon as possi-
ble, between three and six telephone inves-


“May 7; 1992... a Sishihad

~ NATION

an appeals court stepped i in or the |

ciated Press
—— Eyernot granted clem-

TTLE ROCK; pk. Gov. ,, Bill

inton was. heading home -.
5 Inesday to hear final clemency
as from a condemned killer'in a
Se that could renew debate over
ne. Democratic presidential can-
idate’ s support for the death pert: &

othe ‘6th U. Ss. Circuit ‘Court of
Appeals in St. Louis on Tuesday
turned down the latest efforts to
7 save Hill from execution. —

. Hill, the youngest of 35 inmates .
on death. row in. ‘Arkansas, was
convicted. in the 1984 slaying of
state Puss investigator Robert

yet Steven Douglas Hill, 25, was set —
‘to: die by injection: tonight unless

Clinton was expected to review
. the written record of the Hill case
~ and the videotaped confession

that Hill made to police: before .
making a final decision on clem-

-ency:
___As governor, Clinton has sched
uled executions for 26 prisoners,

of whom three have been: execut--

ed. He has never granted | clemen-
cy foradeath row inmate.
That puts him at odds. with

Detnperatic \iberals guch as 1988.
presidential nominee Michael Du--
kakis, who. opposed: capital pone

ishment. :

Polls show most Americans sup-
‘port the death penalty.
_ “We do support the death perial:
ty. for cop killers;. multiple
murderers and drug kingpins,” .

Clinton said earlier this year
when asked his position on arial
punishment

‘The Arkansas governor’ stand ?
angers , ‘death penalty . opponents, 8
who say i it is nites pritnardly ny

politics.

“He’s¢ not, vibel i be president; pig
S, ‘his sanity is not:

but: he's. killing. ta_be president,”

. said Carrie: Rengers of Amnesty
International at a clemency hear- .

ing last week.

‘Death coe iia t

black lester | were me critical of the

( linton facing last-minute f plea to spare conc emmn

*. Jan. OA executiger in Arkin ki oe
Rickey Ray ‘Redbor, a brain-darh-

aged prisoner convicted of mur;
dering a police officer. .

* Unlike Reetit, Hill is: white
a legal i issue.

=

Mass murderer Ronald’ eats

Simmons andiconvicted cop Kiltée”

James Edward Swindler were ‘put
to death in Arkansas in 1 dune
1990. iW Fe :


* Friday, May 8, 1992 A-7

\Murderer executed after
Clinton withholds mercy

| Arkansas inmate
killed state trooper

‘| EXAMINER NEWS SERVICES

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A man
-who killed a state trooper was exe-
cuted by lethal injection Thursday
night after Gov. Bill Clinton denied
| him clemency.

Steven Douglas Hill, 25, the

youngest of 35 inmates on Arkan-
sas’ death row, was pronounced
dead at 9:10 p.m. CDT (7:10 PDT),

-minutes after he was injected with

the drugs.
Clinton returned to Little Rock

‘ on Wednesday night to review

Hill’s case, but denied the clemency
request Thursday afternoon. The
U.S. Supreme Court denied an ap-
peal filed Thursday by Hill’s attor-
ney, Mark Cambiano.

Hill was condemned for the
1984 shooting death of Arkansas

state police investigator Robert »

Klein.

As governor, Clinton has sched-
uled executions for 26 prisoners, of
whom four have been executed. He
has never granted clemency for a
death-row inmate.

San Francisco Examiner


Thursday, May 7, 1992

Clinton
considers
clemency

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK; Ark. — Gov.

Bill Clinton broke from the presi-
dential campaign trail yesterday
to hear a final clemency plea from
a condemned killer in a case that
could renew debate over the
Democratic hopeful’s support for
the death penalty.
Steven Douglas Hill, 25, was
_ set to die by injection tonight un-

less an appeals court steps in or

the Arkansas governor grants
clemency.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of’ |:

Appeals in St. Louis on Tuesday
turned down the latest efforts to
save Hill from execution.

Hill, the youngest of 35 in-
mates on death row in Arkansas,
was convicted in the 1984 slaying

of state police investigator Rob-

ert Klein.
Clinton headed to Little Rock
from campaigning in West Virgin-
ia to review the written record of
the Hill case and the videotaped
oe that Hill made to po-
ice. wide
As governor, Clinton has
scheduled executions for 26 pris-
_ oners, of whom three have been
- executed. He has never granted
clemency for a death-row inmate.
That puts him at odds with
- Democratic liberals such as 1988
presidential nominee Michael Du-
kakis, who opposed capital pun-
ishment and who was portrayed
as soft on crime by the Bush-
Quayle campaign. Polls show
most Americans support the
death penalty.

‘“‘We do support the death pen-
alty for cop-killers, multiple
‘murderers and drug kingpins,”
Clinton said earlier this year

- when asked his position on capital

punishment.

' The Arkansas governor’s stand

angers death-penalty opponents,

who say it is dictated primarily by

politics. ~
‘He’s not dying to be presi-

dent, but he’s killing to be presi- —

dent,’ said Carrie Rengers of
Amnesty International at a clem-
ency hearing last week.

‘Mr. Clinton is a candidate for .

the presidency, and I’m sure he
expects this to catapult him in the
polls,’ said Leigh Dingerson, ex-
ecutive director of the Washing-
ton-based National Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty.

Death-penalty opponents and
black leaders were critical of the
Jan. 24 execution in Arkansas of
Rickey Ray Rector, a brain-dam-
aged prisoner convicted of mur-
dering a police officer. a

Unlike Rector, Hill is white,
and his mental capaity or sanity is
not a legal issue.

Mass murderer Ronald Gene
Simmons and convicted cop-killer
James Edward Swindler were put
to death in Arkansas in June
1990.

Clinton did order the reduction
of 70 prison sentences in his first
term, including 19 ‘‘midnight
clemencies’” he granted as a
lame-duck governor in January
1981 after losing his re-election
bid two months earlier. The sen-
tences of 40 convicted murderers
were reduced during his first
term. .

While campaigning to regain
the governor’s office in 1982, the
sentence reductions became an
issue and Clinton promised not to
reduce the sentences of convicted
murderers. Since 1983, he has

- reduced just seven sentences, in-

cluding four for convicted murd-

— erers.

a |
©.90 (C4) Unjon-

L:A33

LA

STi bh COS

-

SAN,


in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A man
who killed a state trooper was
executed by lethal injection last
night after Gov. Bill Clinton de- »
nied him clemency.

» Steven Douglas Hill, 25, the
youngest of 35 inmates on Ar-
kansas’ death row, was pro-

‘+ nounced dead eight minutes after
he was injected with the drugs.
Clinton returned to Little Rock
on Wednesday night to review
~ Hiill’s case, but denied the clem-
ency request yesterday after-
noon. The U.S. Supreme Court
denied an appeal filed yesterday
by Hill’s attorney, Mark Cambi-
ano. -
Cambiano had taken the case
to the Supreme Court after the
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
at St. Louis voted 8-1 yesterday
to reject an appeal by Hill, con-
demned for the 1984 shooting
death of an Arkansas State Police
investigator.

Associated Press


HALL, James Wayburn, wh, elec. AR® (Pulaski), January

* ae

This beautiful girl had the terrible misfortune of marrying
a man who claimed her as one of his many murder victims.

suppressed a shudder as he
stared at the still form on the

ground. Partly concealed by un-
derbrush, it lay face down in a
dense woodland near the little
town of Fordyce, Arkansas.

“Looks like he’s been dead sev-
eral hours,” he said to his deputy,
Edgar McCollum. :

The deputy nodded, rising from
a squatting position. “The killer
evidently didn’t, take any chances
with him,” he observed. ‘‘He’s shot
squarely in the back of the head.”

While the deputy hurried back
to the highway to go for the cor-
oner, the sheriff remained at the
scene. Near the body he picked up
two crumpled pieces of paper.
They were sales slips, made out
to “E. C. Adams, Humboldt, Kan-
sas,” by a department store in Lit-
tle Rock, Arkansas. They bore the
date of February 1, 1945. It was
now the third.

“Two days ago,” Glovers cal-

yee Sheriff John Glover

culated. “I wonder whose name
that is—this dead man’s or his
murderer’s.” He folded the papers
carefully and put them in his

pocket.

HE deputy soon returned with the

coroner, followed by a number of
excited citizens of the neighborhood. The
medical expert examined the body, giv-
ing his opinion that the man had been
killed by the pistol shot in the head
two or three days before. A search of
the victim's person revealed that every-
thing of value, including papers by which
he might be identified, had been re-
moved. When the examination was
finished the body. was removed to the
mortuary at Rison. The sheriff’s next

“move was to call Captain Earl Scrog-

gins, of the State Police, at Little Rock,
inviting him into the case.

In the meantime it was not hard for
Glover and McCollum to formulate and
agree upon a theory of the murder from
the physical facts. Less than an hour
before the sheriff arrived at the scene,
a telephone call had come to Deputy
McCollum, who resided in the vicinity,

VITAL DETECTIVE,

September, 1945

4, 1946

By CIRCUIT CRIMINAL JUDGE
L. D. MILLER

MURDER RUNS AMOK IN ARKANSAS BUT

PERSISTENT EFFORT ON THE PART OF
THE POLICE BRINGS ABOUT A SUDDEN

Ps 4x

This electric
between 2 ™

from the State Police station at Cam-
den, twenty-five miles away, requesting
him to investigate a report of an aban-
doned automobile on U. S. Highway 167.

The deputy had found the car on the
side of the road. With little difficulty,
owing to the nature of the ground, he
had discovered two sets of men's foot-
prints, one following the other into the
woods. Tracing them approximately
seventy-five yards he came upon the
dead man’s body. Thereupon, he had
called Sheriff Glover at Rison.

“It looks like a case where some hitch
hiker has turned on his benefactor.”
Glover observed, while he and his depu-
ty waited at the abandoned car for the

ARREST AND MULTIPLE CONFESSIONS

5 gpa la Ss
— NS

clock and
urdered man an

Re ee

razor provide P
d one accused o

State Police. “These Kansas licenses in-
dicate that the poor fellow was probably
a stranger in this part of the country.”
At this juncture Captain Scroggins.
accompanied by Lieutenant Rhett Oli-
phant, arrived from Little Rock, cover-
ing the seventy miles in record time.
Obtaining all the known facts from
the county officers, the efficient police

X

joined them in an effort to solve the ,

case. Scroggins, recently made President
of the International Association of Iden-
tification Experts, dusted the Kansas
car, obtaining several clear impressions.
Then, speaking to Oliphant, he said
crisply, “Lieutenant, for the present I’m

leaving you here to work with Sheriff -

it in-
. road
was

h car,
ier as
an an
inding
, the
me.

gating
tnesses
seeing
sville-
Heber
er, the
give of
ill and

g $1,250
yn lead-
n of the
spector.
its, was
{ Plant,

Asso-

Harris,
nd Pres-
iends of

Peterson
iS office.
in Hall’s
ra pack-
at 412%
on we
sut of
lay or

_. -hough
f so, why
ttle Rock

the chief
3! We've
that State
cked up a
, 67 a half
itas. He’s
rying con-
i two guns
inition on

iblin, Indi-
nant A. E.
ioning him
hway mur-

They're

rrupted by
son. It was
_ reporting
ectedly re-

tin told his

this news.
yself.”

the officers
as not Faye
but a friend
isband,. They
eipt that had

niling. “That
4d sent me. +
five dollars.
ast. “Let me
ia tensely to

oked again at

e date. Then
“Td like to

>” he said. “I
voking for.
‘led. “But

_ said firmly,
question now,
, be mixed up
yusiness, you

us now. You

have nothing to tose. If it isn’t the
one we’re hunting for, it will be re-
turned to you. In the meantime, keep
quiet about the whole matter.”

The girl produced the clock. Within
minutes, the two officers had burst into
Porter’s office.

“Unless I’m crazy,” Martin declared
setting the timepiece down on the
desk, “that’s the clock stolen from
Adams’ suitcase.”

Astounded, the state police super- ’

intendent picked up from his desk a
description of the sought for clock,
which Mrs. Adams had given him.

“Same dent in the back—same
scratch on the side,” he announced
excitedly. ‘Where in the devil did
you get it?”

“We were looking for a mfssing
woman. Peterson went to see the hus-
band, James W. Hall, and found a
registered mail receipt in his room.
Tracing it, we.discovered it was for
a package mailed to a Nancy White
of Little Rock. It turned out to be
this clock. I suspected it was Adams’
clock when. I noticed it had been
mailed a day after his murder, from
a town near Camden.”

“Of course,” the detective continued,
quelling the superintendent’s exulta-
tion, “this doesn’t solve the murders,
but it certainly looks mighty suspi-
cious in regard to Hall. We'll go talk
to him and see what he has to say
about it.”

“What does this Hall look like?”
Porter wanted to know.

“About 5 feet 11 inches in height,
weighs about 160, has red hair and a
good build. Quite good looking.”

While Martin, with Peterson. and
Judd, whom they picked up at head-
quarters, were trying to find Hall for

questioning, Porter received a_ caller.
It was William J. Baker of 110 Louisi-
ana Street, Little Rock, and he had
with him a brown alarm clock.

“T heard you were looking for two
stolen clocks,” he told the state of-
ficer. “I thought I ought to tell you
that I bought this one from a stranger
on the street one day last month. I
paid him $2 for it.”

Porter leaned across the desk in-
tently. “Was the man tall, red-headed
and fairly young?” he asked.

Baker shook his head. “No. He
was middle-aged.”

The ‘officer examined the clock.
“This looks like the one described by
Mrs. Adams,” he admitted. “Better
leave it here. We'll see if we can
identify it.”

Porter put in a call to Mrs. Adams,
asking her to come at once to Little
Rock to look at the timepieces. He
had no sooner hung up than he re-
ceived a call from Indiana State
Police headquarters.

“We've just arrested Oscar Winter,
a hitch-hiker answering your descrip-
tion of the man seen in Humnoke the
day Mulherin, the meat truck driver,
was killed,” he was informed. ‘He
admits being in Humnoke that day,
but denies any knowledge of the
murder. He’s drunk as a coot, and has
about $175 on him and two gold
watches, neither of them engraved.”

“T’ll send Scroggin and Sims up to
question him,” Porter declared. “He’ll
have a lot of explaining to do.”

There was no time to effect this
move, however, for at that moment
Martin, with Peterson and Judd,
brought James Hall into the police
superintendent’s office.

“We brought him in to look at the

PStrtr

clock,” Martin explained, pointing to
_the timepiece retrieved from Nancy
White’s room.

“Ever see that before?” he asked,
addressing the young man who stood
nonchalantly by.

“No. Why?”

“We got it from Nancy White.”

Hall’s eyes wavered for a moment
from the penetrating gaze of the police
officers.

“What’s that got to do with me?”
he inquired.

Martin produced the registered mail
receipt. “You mailed that to Nancy a
day after a Kansas man was murdered,
near Fordyce. That happens to be the
slain man’s clock. How do you ac-
count for that? You’ve denied ever
seeing it before. But we know you
mailed it. We have the postal re-

ceipt.”

The taxi driver seemed undisturbed.
“How did I know it was Nancy’s
clock you were talking about? They
all look alike. Sure, I bought it from
a guy in Camden.”

The detective chief gave Peterson
and Judd a sign and they departed.
“We'll have to detain you,” he said
to Hall, “until we check your state-
ment.”

Hall only laughed. ‘“You’re just
plain crazy,” he replied. ‘You'll find
out you’re making a big mistake.”

If Martin had any doubts, however,
they were soon dispelled. In a short
_time Peterson and Judd returned and
placed on the desk three guns, a shav-
ing mug and a watch.engraved with
the initials J.D.N.

“We found these in his room,” Pet-
erson said quietly. “The guns were
under some loose floorboards. The
watch was hidden in a car cushion.”

“| TALKED WITH GOD”

(OH YES, I DID)

pened as a result of that talk
with God, for a strange new
Power came into my life. After
42 years of horrible sickening
failure, life took on a very much
brighter hue. And it will for
you too, when you learn the
secret of talking direct to God.
The whole world is waiting for
this revelation of the simplicity
with which God can be contact-
ed, and the POWER OF GOD
used. It’s amazing.

Try to imagine what YOUR
LIFE would be like, if you
knew how to talk with God.
You can’t... can you? Well
let me tell you this—the

and the world knows what hap- |

Rt. Rev. Frank B.
Robinson, D.D., Ph.D.

shackles of defeat which now
bind you, will go a-shimmering,
and your every waking moment
will throb and pulsate with the
greatest Spiritual Power you

THE RIGHT REVEREND FRANK B. ROBINSON, D.D., Ph.D.

Dept. M-33, Moscow, Idaho

have ever imagined. And all
this is for you—NOW.,

L won't say much more to vou
now. But IT do want you to
write me for more particulars
about this sensational religious
discovery. You will... won't
you? Just a letter, or perhaps a
post-card, And address it as fol-
lows, and FREE. information
will come to you by return
mail. But write... NOW for
we are working at capacity
here in Moseow. Our own print-
ing presses are printing over
300,000 sheets of this FREE
information daily. So get your
card to us NOW. Here is where
you write:

Advt. Copyright 1945 The Psychiana Religion.


Glover. Vl take these papers and. see
what I can learn at the Littke Rock
store.”

Back at the capital city, Scroggins,
by patient inquiry, learned that a man
answering the description of the mur-
der victim, shopping alone, had been
issued the sales slip found by Glover.
The clerk in the department store re-
membered that he had waited on Adams
near noon on the purchase date. This
information was immediately relayed to
the sheriff's office at Rison.

In the meantime Glover and the lieu-
tenant had made an intensive investi-
gation in Cleveland County in an effort
to locate witnesses who might have seen
the Kansas car before it was abandoned.
No such person was discovered. And no
information regarding a suspicious per-
son in the vicinity of the murder was
found.

“Adams. from Humboldt. Kansas,
must be the dead man,” Oliphant ob-
served that night. pacing the floor at the
jail. “Suppose we try to contact his
family.” he suggested to Glover.

The sheriff approved the suggestion
and a few minutes later he had the wid-
ow on long distance. The news of her
husband's tragic end shocked her speech-
less for a time. Finally, however, she
bravely suppressed her grief in a deter-
mined effort to aid the officers.

“Mr. Adams was on the way to ac-
cept employment at the Government
Project at Camden.” she explained
brokenly. “He planned to reach Little
Rock on February Ist and go right on
to his job.”

“How much money did he have?”
Glover queried, with a significant glance
at the lieutenant:

“As much as fifty or sixty dollars,”
she replied.

“Did anyone leave Humboldt. with
him?”

“Not to my knowledge. I understood
him to say that he would be alone.”

HEN, on Friday, February 9th, the

tragic death. of Adams still remain-
ing unsolved, a routine report came to
the State Police Headquarters from of-
ficials at Stuttgart, Arkansas, that a
truck belonging to the Western Meat
Packing Company of Little Rack had
been found there, apparently abandon-
ed.

Official investigation revealed that the
truck had left the plant in charge of
Doyle Mulherin. While admitting that
the driver had considerable funds be-
longing to the company, his employers
stoutly defended him.

“We've never had a better or more
reliable man in our employ,” one high
official elaborated. “He's always on the
job, doesn’t drink, and has a family
of which he’s very proud. In our opinion,
something serious has happened to him.”

And he was right. On the following
day a fishing party stumbled on the
dead body of a man in a remote sec-
tion of Prairie County near the village
of Stuttgart. From papers found on the
corpse along with several outstanding
physical characteristics it was quickly

identified as that of Mulherin and al-
lowed to remain at the scene until Cap-
tain Scroggins and Sergeant Homer Sims
arrived. A bullet hole in the back of his
head mutely revealed how the man had
died. His pockets were empty.

The State Policemen viewed the body
and examined the surroundings with
grave concern.

“This and the Adams murder bear
the trademark of the same killer,” Cap-
tain Scroggins said succinctly to the
young sergeant. “Both killed, robbed,
and their bodies left in the woods, evi-
dently compelled at pistol point to leave
their vehicles on the road and walk
out of the public view before being shot
down. Remember, also, that both men
were shot alike—from behind.”

HE, two shocking murders having oc-

curred in the same general section of
Arkansas stirred the people until the
pressure on the hard-pressed law officers
was galling. But, seemingly, they had
exhausted every clue without avail.
Then, to augment the confusion, Mrs.
J. D. Newcomb, Jr., a prominent Little
Rock matron, her drawn face evidencing
great concern, called at the office of
Detective Chief O. N. Martin. On the
verge of éxhaustion, she reported that
her husband had left for Clarksville,
105 miles to the northeast, on March
9th:

“He was to go there on business.” the
distraught wife cried, “but the people he
was to call on say that he never got

i

there. Chief Martin, I'm terribly alarm-
ed about him. I wish you'd please do
something.”

The veteran chief evinced deep sym-
pathy. “Mrs. Newcomb, don’t you think
you might be unduly alarmed?” he ques-
tioned gently. “You understand that we
have complaints like this very often.
And nearly always the missing person
turns up with a good reason for over-
staying the time.”

“Yes, Chief. I’m sure that’s true,”
she agreed brokenly. “But, as you know,
my husband is an experienced business-
man. He certainly wouldn't stay away
like this without letting us know.”

Impressed by these thoughts. the
chief immediately launched a state-wide
investigation. And, while this was going
on, Trooper Johnnie Moore of the
State Police, stationed at Searcy. re-
ceived a call from Sheriff Tatum Plant
of Cleburn County.

“We may have something on that
missing man from Little Rock,” he said
“It’s just been reported to me that a
1941 Oldsmobile sedan, bearing Little
Rock license plates, has been found in
the woods near Heber Springs. I'm ready
to go there. Could you join me?”

The quick answer of the efficient
young officer was in the affirmative, and
a few minutes later he and Plant were
talking with the two natives who sent
in the alarm. They stood on the high-
way two miles from the well known
springs.

(Continued on Page 34)

;


MURDEROUSLY Y

(Continued ‘from Page 7)
bi} 7 aed!

-s

OURS

Sick man or monster? Confronted with identifying witnesses this man

eat

has confessed to a number of murders committed throughout the nation.

“Somebody, drove a big car right
through my fence.” one of the men
complained. pointing out the broken en-
closure. “I keep stock in there, and
naturally, when I found the wire brok-
en down I investigated. I followed the
tracks about two hundred yards and
found the automobile. I think it’s been
on fire and I believe there’s a dead man
on the front seat. But you'd better come
and look for yourselves.”

HE officers were soon gazing upon
a scene which, even as experienced
investigators. they will long remember.
In the front seat, burned beyond recog-
nition, were the remains of a man. The

interior of the expensive car had been °

gutted by flames. Trooper Moore, check-

ing the license plates, found they tallied

with those on the missing car.

“There can't be any doubt now,”
Moore said grimly. “Mr. Newcomb is
dead, probably killed and robbed by
someone he had befriended with a ride.”

Sheriff Plant, noticeably shaken, nod-
ded. “And this case, in my opinion,
needs some scientific investigation,” he
replied. “I wish you'd report it to Cap-
tain Scroggins and ask him to help us.”

Responding with all speed. the. State
Police Captain and his co-worker, Ser-
geant Sims, reached the scene near mid-
night. Plant and the local trooper quick-
ly informed them of the circumstances
under which the burned automobile was
discovered. In the meantime, the coroner
had arrived and authorized the removal
af the body to a mortuary in Little
Rock. The medical examiner, they add-

34

ed, had indicated that’ Newcomb had a
bullet wound in the head.

Grim-faced, though coldly efficient,
the two new arrivals searched the char-
red interior of the car. But their efforts
went unrewarded.

“T suggest that we post a guard here,”

said Scroggins. “We'll return in the

morning. We need the advantage of
strong daylight.”

On the day following, the Little Rock
men returned. While Captain Scroggins
dusted for prints on the unburned parts
of ‘the car, Sergeant Sims again  in-
spected the inside. But, as on the night
before, he found nothing of value. There
was no sign of jewelry, keys or papers
—only the rubble left in the wake of
the fire. Scroggins, on the other hand,
was elated by finding several legible fin-
gerprints.

“The way that car dodged trees in
here,” Scroggins remarked as they strode
toward the highway, “I believe this hap-
pened in daylight. Consequently, there’s
a chance that someone saw the occupants
on the road.” ,

“Yes, Captain,” Sims agreed, “and
there is something else. Don’t you think
this case somewhat resembles the Adams
and Mulherin murders?”

“I certainly do,” the captain replied
with fervor. .

Assuming that Newcomb was killed
during daylight, after Scroggins depart-
ed the others began a systematic inquiry
along the highway toward Little Rock.
And for the first time in any of the
three cases, it appeared that a break
might be coming as a reward for dogged
persistance.

Late in. the afternoon, they found a
truck driver who gave them some wel-
come information.

“On the afternoon of March 8th,” he
said, “I left my truck at home and was
standing, with another man, beside high-
way 25 at the end of a bridge, hoping to
catch a ride. An Oldsmobile sedan came
coasting down the hill and stopped on
the bridge. A big red-headed fellow
without a hat was driving. He leaned
over, acting like he was looking at some-
thing on the seat. Then, when he saw
us, he raised up and started the car.
Instead of offering us a lift he speeded
up. When he started up the hill, it sound-
ed like a tire blew out. But he kept
on going and soon disappeared.”

Trooper Moore, remembering that the
Newcomb car had a flat tire that had
been driven on, questioned the man.

“Are you sure about the tire?” he ask-
ed.

“Pretty sure. I could see the car wob-
blling.”

Greatly encouraged the men _ con-
tinued with the investigation. They
found another man who had seen the
red-head in a big sedan. Then, even
more to the point, they questioned a

police

Arkansas he ‘4 by

fyaxi opera

nearby resident. who remembered that in
the afternoon of the 8th a man of the
‘same description caught a bus for Heber
Springs nearly opposite the break in the
stockman’s fence.

At Heber Springs they talked to a
local resident who asserted that he rode
the afternoon bus from there to Little
Rock on the 8th. He said that a big,
red-headed man, hatless, sat on the op-
posite seat all the way.

That night Oliphant and Sims met
with Scroggins at headquarters. Oliphant
reported the finding of an empty suit-
case with the name of E. C. Adams,
Humboldt, Kansas, stamped on the side,
in the woods near Camden. A big red-
headed man also figured in his report.
Oliphant said that on February Ist. the
day Adams was slain, the postmaster at

found thes

Camden recalled a man of that type,
seemingly very nervous, coming in and
registering a package addressed to a
woman in Little Rock. The officer stated
that the official was seeking authority to
disclose the names of the man and the
woman to the law enforcing officers.

OW satisfied that the killer resided
in Little Rock and because the
State Police are constituted under the
law as a cooperative agency, Scoggins
called upon his long-time friend and
associate, Detective Chief O. N. Martin
of the Little Rock force to aid in
directing the search for the wanted man.
The affable chief was immediately
alert. He carefully studied the descrip-
tion furnished by the State Police, his
strong features drawn into a puzzled
frown. Something was stirring deeply in
the recesses of his mind. Had he not
had occasion in recent months to in-
terrogate a man who fitted in with that
type? He stored the puzzling thought
away: for the time. Then shrugging im-
patiently he pressed a buzzer and sum-
moned his ace investigators, Detective
Sergeants H. R. Peterson and Harold
Judd, instructing them fully regarding
the call from the State Police.

Two days dragged by—days during
which numerous men falling into the
wanted type were picked up and grilled,
only to be released. Then, on March 12,
Lieutenant Oliphant made some progress
in the Adams murder. Having been sup-
plied with the names of the sender and

e three pi
ho jokes 8

bout m

the man

sendee of the parcel from Camden he
went directly to the woman’s room in
a cheap hotel in one of the back streets
in Little Rock.

She admitted having received the
package but disclaimed any knowledge
of its contents, insisting that she had
put it away for the man until he should
call for it. She said she did not know
the present whereabouts of “J. E.
Smith”, the. name under which it was
sent.

. The officer was frankly skeptical. “Do
you mean to tell me.” he snapped, “that
you're in the habit of receiving pack-
ages from men who travel around the
country without permanent addresses?
You must tell me where I can find this
Smith. It's important!”

For a long moment she hesitated. her
blue-gray eyes narrowed. Finally she said
slowly, “I guess you want him for some-


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Martin whipped out a pair of hand-
cuffs and snapped them on the suspect.
“Newcombe’s watch!” he gasped. “So
you killed them all! Adams and Mul-
herin and the negro, and probably
your wife!”

There was a moment of silence, and
then the grilling began.

“Okay,” the suspect said finally. “T
killed them all. I’ll tell you all about
it.”

“My wife squandered our money,”.

he said, “so one night last August I
decided I had had enough of it. 1
took her out to the old river road
near the Riverside golf course, led her
into a ravine on the river bank and
beat her to death with my hands. I
didn’t make any effort to hide the
body.

“As for the colored man, I had gone
to Camden planning to commit a rob-
bery. I met the negro and got him
out of town on the pretext of selling
him some whiskey. I had a .45 re-
volver. When I tried to rob him he
drew a .38, so I shot him twice. I
took his money—it was only $2—his
gun and some extra cartridges. I used
his gun to kill the others.

“On February first I flagged Mr.
Adams on the Arch Street viaduct
and when we got almost to Fordyce
I drew my revolver, forced him to
stop, marched him off the highway
and shot him in the head. I got $26
from -him. I threw his watches
away and sold the contents of his suit-
case.”

Hall confessed to killing Mulherin
and Newcombe in the same way. New-
combe struggled, he said, so he pushed
the boiler inspector in the back seat
and shot him in the face. He shot
Newcombe near Conway, he said, then
drove toward Heber Springs intending

to throw the body into a stream,’ but.

couldn’t find one deep enough. When
a tire blew, he drove into the wood-
land lot and burned the car and the
corpse.

“My first murder was in 1937,” he
said, laughing. “I beat a colored
woman to death in Salina, Kansas.”

“Will you take us to where your
wife’s body is?” Porter asked.

“Sure,” Hall replied. “I’ll take you
where her body is. That wouldn’t
bother me a bit.”

Prosecuting Attorney Sam Robin-
son was in the group of law enforce-
ment officers who, led by the hand-
cuffed prisoner, trekked rimly
through the woods the next day in
search of the slain woman’s body.

For an hour they wandered, prob-
ing the driftwood left by the river
overflow. Finally they met Cecil
Foster, a woodcutter.

“TI may have something that will in-

terest you,” Foster drawled. “TI found
a skull in the woods about three
months ago and took it home. It's
there now. A while later I found a
jawbone over by that cottonwood log.
I didn’t think anything of it.
thought the bones had been here for
years.”

Foster led them to the log. The
jawbone, with a few teeth intact, was
still there.

“That’s her jaw, all right,” Hall an-
nounced. “She had a buck tooth, just
like that. Why don’t you look for her
dress? It was red, and had some un-
usual fasteners. There was a pin
held by a small chain and to fasten
the dress the pin was inserted in a
small eyelet.”

Searching through the leaves and
dirt, the officers picked up remnants
of the dress and several of the fast-
eners. Her pocketbook and_ rings,
however, could not be found.

Charged with first degree murder,
Hall was lodged in the county jail.

Mrs. Adams positively identified the
electric clock and shaving mug as be-
longing to her husband, The brown
alarm clock, brought in by William
Baker, however, was not the one that
had been owned by the murdered
man.

Peterson and Judd obtained infor-
mation that on March 8, the day New-
combe was killed, Hall had boarded
a bus for Levy at Markham and Main
Streets, after telling a friend he was
going out on the highway “to get some
money,” and that he had a gun.

A gray coat, similar to that de-
scribed by passengers in the Heber
Springs bus that afternoon, was found
in the alleged murderer’s room.

In the meantime, Oscar Winter and

‘Lloyd Jordan, whose alibis were sub-

stantiated, were completely cleared of
any suspicion in connection with: the
murders, and no charges were brought
against Nancy White.

When news of Hall’s arrest spread
throughout the southwest, demands
for Hall's fingerprints, from police
seeking evidence in connection with
many unsolved murders, became so
heavy that several batches of prints
had to be made.

Informed of this, Hall remarked cas-
ually that he had killed 17 persons on
highways in four states.

Hall, who admits to one of the
bloodiest careers ever recorded in
Arkansas, now awaits trial for his life
for mass murder almost unequalled
in the annals of crime.

Eprror’s Note: The names Nancy
White and Oscar Winter are fictitious,
to protect innocent persons involved
in the investigation.

I TRIED TO

STRONG ARM THE LAW

Continued from page 37

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accepted. No doubt my sailor’s walk

when I left the courtroom was vir-

’ tually a swagger.

The strike didn’t last many days
longer. We won it; but the end of
strife closed out my job. Restlessness
began to come over me. I yearned


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a posse of Boy Scouts to scour the
countryside from here to Lonoke in
search of the pocketbook. We looked

thoroughly for a body last fall, but

the winter rains may have uncovered
a hidden purse or even a corpse, for
that matter.”

W itn fifteen minutes, Peterson
cand Judd had arrived at the home
of Mrs. Fannie Rose of 1522 Magnolia
Street, North Little Rock, where
James Hall had a room. They found
the husband at home. As usual, the
tall, red-headed taxi driver was af-
fable and co-operative.

“We're working on the theory now
that your wife may have been killed,”
Peterson explained, sitting down in
a chair beside a small table in the
room. “We think perhaps she was
murdered and robbed of that $50 she
had in her purse.”

Hall looked stricken. ‘“That’s a ter-.
rible thing to suggest,” he said with
a shudder. “I’ve gone iene all this
time thinking she had just left me. It’s
a shock to be confronted with some-
thing like this.”

“T know,” the detective went on.
“It may not be true, but we’re taking
no chances. Try to think whether she
took any jewelry with her—or a valu-
able compact or watch or anything
like that. We also want a detailed
description of her pocketbook, if
possible.”

“l’m positive she didn’t have any
jewelry, except those two rings I told
you about,” the young man replied.
*As for compacts, I don’t think any
of them were particularly valuable.
All I can remember about the purse
is that it was smooth brown leather. I
told you that before.” .

“Did your wife ever do any hitch-
hiking?” Judd put in.

“Not that I ever heard of,” the hus-
band replied, and then suddenly
looked at his watch. “If that’s all you
want to know,” he said, “I think Id
better go. I’ve got a call to take a
fare to the station. Ill be back in
half an hour.”

“Go right ahead,” Peterson urged.
“If we want any more information,
we'll be here when you get back.”

Hall dashed out of the room, and
Peterson, who was filling his pipe with
tobacco, spilled some on the table. He
reached out and brushed the fine
shreds into a wastepaper basket. As
he did so, a small slip of paper on the
table caught his eye. He picked it up
and put it in his pocket.

Back at headquarters, Martin was
anxiously waiting» “What did you
learn?” he inquired as soon as the de-
tectives returned.

“Not much,” Peterson admitted, “but
I found this ey mail receipt in
Hall’s room. just had a hunch it
might be a clue. Maybe he knows
where his wife is and sent her a
registered letter. The funny part of
it is, it’s issued by a downstate post
office.”

Martin closely examined the re-
ceipt. “Humm,” he commented. “It’s
an old one—dated February 2. Better
follow through on it.”

Within an hour, however, several
leads developed in regard to the New-
combe murder which required the
combined efforts of local and state
officers. Porter’s men had found a
truck driver who stated that on Thurs-
day at 3:30 p.m., he had noticed, in
his rearview mirror, a car racing down
the highway outside Heber Springs at

an unusually high rate of speed. He

had expected the car to pass, but in-
stead it turned down the logging road
off which the Newcombe car. was
found.

Believing this to be the death car,
police fixed the time of the murder as
between 3 and 4 p.m., and began an
immediate probe aimed at finding
someone who might have seen the
killer leave the scene of the crime.

The next day, after interrogating
hundreds of persons, several witnesses
were found who remembered seeing
a strange man board :a Batesville-
Little Rock bus which left Heber
Springs at 4 o’clock. However, the
only description they could give of
this man was that he was tall and
was wearing a gray overcoat.

By this time, rewards totaling $1,250
had been offered for information lead-
ing to the arrest and conviction of the
slayer of the state boiler inspector.
The money, in varying amounts, was
pasted by Sheriffs Turner and Plant,
the Arkansas Butane Dealers’ Asso-
ciation and its president, B. T. Harris,
the National Board of Boiler and Pres-
sure Vessel Inspectors and friends of
Mr. Newcombe.

That afternoon, Detectives Peterson
and Judd walked into Martin’s office.

“That receipt we found in Hall’s
room,” Peterson said, ‘‘was for a pack-
age mailed to a Nancy White at 412%
Center Street, Little Rock. When we
went there we found she was out of
town, but would be back in a day or
so. Her description sounds as though
it might be Mrs. Hall. But if so, why
should she be living in Little Rock
under an assumed name?”

“Keep checking on her,” the chief
replied. “But listen to this! We've
just got word from Porter that State
Patrolman Wyatt Patrick picked up a
17-year-old boy on Highway 67 a half
hour ago, near Pocohontas. He’s
booked ona charge of carrying con-
cealed weapons—they found two guns
and 192 rounds of ammunition on

“What’s his name?”

“Lloyd R. Jordan of Dublin, Indi-
ana, a hitch-hiker. Lieutenant A. E.
Frazier up there is questioning him
in connection with the highway mur-
ders. He gave an alibi. They’re
looking into it.”

The discussion was interrupted by
a telephone call for Peterson. It was
Nancy White’s landlady, reporting
that the girl had unexpectedly re-
turned.

“Pll go with you,” Martin told his
aide, when informed of this news.
“I'd like to talk to her myself.”

The girl who admitted the officers
to her room, however, was not Faye
Hall, as they had hoped, but a friend
of the missing woman’s husband. They
told her of the postal receipt that had
led them to call on her.

“Oh, that!” she said, smiling. “That
was an electric clock Red sent me. I
bought it from him for five dollars.”

Martin was thinking fast. “Let me
see that receipt,” he said tensely to
Peterson.

The detective chief looked again at
the place of issue and the date. Then
he turned to the girl. “I'd like to
take that clock with me,” he said. “I
think it’s one we’ve been looking for.”

Nancy white was puzzled. “But
why—?”

“Miss White,” Martin said firmly,
“we can’t answer that question now,
but unless you want to be mixed up
in some rather messy business, you’ll
hand that clock over to us now. You

Weighs
good |}
Whil
Judd, v
« Quarter


thing. But I don't know where he is. He
moves around so much.”

“How does he look?”

“Fine,” she grinned. “He's big, husky
and has pretty red hair.”

“What kind of work does he do?”

“The last time I saw him . . . about
three weeks ago, he was driving a taxi.
I don't know what he’s doing now. All
I know is that he said he might be out
of town and he asked me to keep any
packages he sent until he got back. And
that’s what I'm doing with the one I've
got.”

“May I see it?”

“Not hardly, big boy,” she replied,
smiling. “But you go and find my red-
head and if he says so. I'll hand it over.”

Ten minutes later Oliphant was using
a drug store telephone, dialing Detective
Headquarters. He left word for Peter-
son and Judd to join him at once, Then
he stationed himself where he could
keep the woman's hotel in view.

Meanwhile. Sergeant Sims continued
with the Mulherin investigation at Stutt-
gart. A prominent merchant, recognizing
him on the street. called him aside. “Ser-
geant.” he said guardedly, “I understand
that you fellows are looking for a big,
ted-headed man in the Mulherin case.
Am I right?”

“Yes,” Sims replied with eager an-
ticipation, “can you help us?”

“IT don't know,” he said frankly, “but
I feel like I should give you what I
know. There's a fellow here that might
fll the bill. TH tell you who he is if
youll promise not to mix me up in
the case.”

“TM give you that assurance.” Sims
replied. “What's his name and where
does he live?’

“Dee Lynn. He's about nineteen, was
turned down by the army on account
of his past record. and has been in
trouble around here ever since. He lives

out the highway about four miles with,

his father.”

“Why do you think he might be the
one we are after?”

“Because on the day that fellow Mul-
herin was here unloading meat . . . the
same day he was killed from all reports
. . . Dee was hanging around him here
on the street. Several of us remember
it.

A few minutes later Sims was ques-
tioning the youthful suspect in the barn
at his father’s home. He readily admit-
ted that he was acquainted with Mul-
herin and that he was with him in
Stuttgart on the day he was killed. He
stoutly denied any knowledge of the
murder

“You're crazy.” he exploded when
the sergeant pressed him for details.
“Sure I've been in all kinds of trouble.
But I didn’t kill Mulherin or have any-
thing to do with it. I left him in front
of the drug store and was around there
for hours after he drove out of town.
1 can prove it by a hundred people.”

For once, at least. it appeared that
the reckless young lawbreaker was inno-
cent. Numerous responsible witnesses
spoke in his behalf. satisfying the officer
that long after the truck driver left,
the suspect was on the streets of Stutt-
gart f

ACK in Litthe Rock the authorities

had made some powerful progress
On Oliphant’s information Peterson and
Judd secured a search warrant and im-
mediately went to the hotel room occu-
pied by the woman with whom Oliphant
had talked a short time before. They de-
manded the mysterious package: and
when the hard-faced. contentious blonde
refused to produce it’ they proceeded
to search. Tt didn't take them long. Still
unopened they ‘dug it out from under a
pile of shabby undergarments in a bureau

Detective Chief O. N. Martin

of Little Rock, Arkansas.

; “A
It was Chief Martin who dug into his

hs

card-index mind and brought forth. the clue which resulted in the arrest of a murder suspect.

drawer. It contained an electric clock,
an old watch and some toilet articles
that a man might use,

The clock immediately drew the ex- -

perienced detectives’ attention, It had a
long hole in the plastic face, giving the
appearance of having been burned some
time in the past.

“Easily identified.” Judd observed.
eyeing it critically. “If it belonged to
one of the victims, the widow can tell us
about it by telephone. Let’s get back to
headquarters and call them,”

Mrs. Adams, in far away Kansas, de-
scribed the electric clock in detail. She
explained that the hole in the face was
burned when she accidently touched it
with an electric iron. Questioned on the
specific point she replied that when he
left home her husband had the clock.
his clothes and shaving materials in a
suitcase bearing his name and address.
This conformed to the description of
the empty bag found at Camden,

Chief Martin’s face beamed when he
heard the report. “Now, we must get
that red-head,” he said. his jaws rigid.
“You say that his girl friend claims he’s
a cab driver.” he continued addressing
the detectives, “and that his name is
Smith? Well, I guess his name's some-
thing else.” He leaned back, closing his
eyes in thought.

A few moments later he sat up. a
questioning glint in his eyes. “Say, men.”
he said firmly, “I believe I remember
a fellow who fits in with everything
about your suspect except the name.”
He turned to Peterson, “Get the report
of missing persons for last September,
Pete.” he said. “I want to refresh my
mind a bit.”

With the file before him a few mo-
ments later he suddenly raised his eyes
to the detectives with a tight smile.
“Listen.” he said. pulling a paper out
of the folder. “The missing person was
a young married woman. Her parents
made the report, She was twenty years
old. Her husband was listed as James

W. Hall, taxi driver. 1 recall that we
had this fellow in here and questioned
him thoroughly. But, as I ‘recall, he
insisted that his wife had simply desert -
ed him, leaving him as well as her
parents in the dark as to where she had
gone. That's about as far as we gol;
but now this coming up reminds me
again of that fellow. He's a big. red-
headed man, about twenty-four, brazen
and defiant. I suggest that you bring
him in.”

They located the suspect with little
difficulty. He was sitting in his cab. his
bushy red hair carelessly rumpled.

“Okay, Hall,” Peterson snapped. “The
jig’s up. You're wanted at headquar-
ters.”

“What the hell?” Then. when he
recognized the detectives his half-smile
froze on his lips, his hard blue eyes
stared. “What is all this?” Now his
disarming smile returned and his voice
was strangely soft and mild. “You fel-
lows ain‘t got nothin’ on me.”

“Cut your stalling,” Judd said sharp-
ly. “You're wanted on a little matter
like murder—three murders . . . maybe
four. Get out of that cab and don't
forget to keep your hands in the air.”

The suspect shrugged lazily, yawned
and slid to the curb. “Okay.” he said,
again smiling. “You guys will find out
that you're making a big mistake. Let's
go.

“Wait a minute.” Peterson said. slip-
ping into the driver's seat. “I want to
do a little looking.” And two minutes
later he stepped out of the vehicle with
three pistols. “Looks like you've been
getting ready to join the army.” the grim
faced detective remarked.

N order to round out the various cases

in which Hall was the suspect Chief
Martin called # conference of all the
investigators. This gathering. deciding
that the accused cab driver was.one of
the most calloused killers of modern
times and that he was not likely to vol-

a
untarily confess. resolved to exert al!
their powers to garner sufficient evidenc:
to assure his conviction in court

Sergeant Sims brought in two wit-
nesses from the vicinity of Stuttgart who
positively identified Hall as a man thes
had seen in Mulherin’s truck as it ap-
proached the spot where it was later
abandoned. The woman to whom th
package was mailed from Camden un.
hesitatingly identified Hall as the mar
she had known as J. E. Smith. Abou:
the same time Lieutenant Oliphant ar-
rived with a postal clerk from Camder
who pointed to Hall as the man who
mailed the package in which the de-
tectives had found the incriminating elec -
tric clock

Confronted with these witnesses stil!
smiling. the bold suspect bantered ther
for their ignorance. and denied that he
ever saw them before. To this assertion
the sleazy blonde uttered Imprecations
which, even now. the men around heac-
quarters refuse to quote

The three pistols taken by the ck
tectives from Hall's cab were examine:
by Lieutenant Alan Templeton of thi
State Police. well known as a ballistic:
expert. On March 16. his report assert
ed that the bullet removed from Dovk
Mulherin’s head was fired by one of the
weapons.

Hall listened to this fateful accus
tion with a surprising show of studiec
nonchalance. In the silence that follow-
ed he relaxed and smiled into the gnm
faces of the officers. “Well. it looks lik:
you've got me.” he said casually “Sur
I killed that truck driver, 1 got $12(
off him. And as vou seem to know
got Adams and Newcomb. too.” Here hy
paused. his eves slowly appraising tne
group

“You consider yourself quite the kil
¢r. don't you” Chief Martin snapped

“That's right: murderouslv your:
Hall grinned broadly. “I killed Fave. m
wife. too.” he continued. “On the 141}

(Continued on Page 50

w
oy

eee

F

| _ MURDEROUSLY ours

Bees on from Page’ 34),

sor

Wee isi

last September. Got tired of her
Would you like to know where | buried
beep
fees officers quickly accepted the in-
vitauion, A few minutes later with the
prisoner as guide. they found a sunken
spot in sume woods on the outskirts of
Little Rock. Opening the shallow grave
they removed the pitiful remains of his
ence beautiful young wife. But on his
face there was not the slightest sign of
regret or show of emotion.

Now that his calm was broken. the
-ontessed killer made further admissions.
He admitted killing C. F. Hamilton, a
Camden barber. on January 10, 1945,
thereby enriching himself to the extent
of $2.00 in cash and the pistol with
which he snuffed out the life of the
peacetul Doyle Mulherin. In the next
breath he calmly related that in 1939, in
Salina. Kansas. he murdered a Negro

weman, robbing her afterwards. Then,
adding to his score. the unnatural slayer
counted the fingers on both hands, claim-
ing to have murdered that many Mexi-
cans and one white man during a short
stay in Arizona a few years back. At
this writing these latter killings have not
been verified. -
Justice is moving swiftly. On March
28. James W. Hall was indicted. Respon-
sible officials Say that he will be brought
to trial at an early date. Meanwhile, he
sits in his cell, eats with relish and pro-
fesses to sleep soundly. The good citizens
of Little Rock will no doubt sleep with
a greater degree of peace when they
know that this man is at large no longer.

Editor's Note: The mime Lynn, as used
in this story, is fictitious in order to pro-
tect the identity of an innocent person
and save him from all possible embar-
rassment,

“BLONDE TROUBL

(Continued ‘from Page 10). ,

When the man had gone, Francis said:
Perhaps we havent been paying enough
itenuion to Colbert. I guess it’s be-
cause everyone around here gives him

clean bill. How much do you know
about him. Charlie?

@He came here several years ago from
New Hampshire.” Baker replied thought-
fully. “L heard him say he made fre-
quent trips tu Portland. For what reason,

he wouldn't say. He's about 66. years.

old and physically is the biggest man in
these parts. When he came here he
vpened his own saw mill. Osborne has
worked for him.”

‘Ts he married?”

‘No. but I understand he’s sweet on
‘is blonde housekeeper. Edith Bell.”

1 want vou to go to Portland in the
morning.” said Francis. “Check all pawn
shops and sporting goods stores selling
hrearms. Find out if Colbert ever bought
i 32 at any time. I'll be busy down
here.”

When Baker left for Portland the
following morning Francis delved into
Jim Colbert's past and came up with
plenty. Colbert had been convicted in
the United States District Court of New
Hampshire in 1924 for unlawfully trans-
porting liquor and again m 1926 on the
same charge

He learned too. that Edith Bell, high-
lv respected in town. was more a busi-
ness partner to him than a housekeeper.
At one time they jointly operated two
of the largest saw mills around Conway,
New Hampshire.

Francis stopped at a neighbor's house
situated near the Colbert place. An alert
looking woman with dark eyes answered
the door bell.

“I’m checking up on the Osborne
case and would like to ask you a few
questions.” explained Francis showing
his badge. “Do you know of trouble
existing between Colbert and Edith
Bell?”

“Well. I guess there has been a little.”
the woman replied hesitantly. “Edith
and Osborne have been here visiting a
few times.”

“Did Colbert know of this?”

“Well, on the same day that Osborne
was shot, Colbert came to ask me if
Osborne and Edith had been over here.
When I said they had. he became real
angry and stormed out of the house.”

“What did he do then?” queried Fran-

Cis.

50

“Well, 1 don't know but in a little
while I heard gun shots. 1 dashed out
to see what had happened. Colbert was
shooting at a tree trunk just letting off
steam, I guess.”

“Thanks a lot, you've been very help-
ful.” and with that Francis left hur-
riedly. He got into his car and drove
to the general store where he awaited
Baker's return, a grim smile hovering
about his lips. The East Brownfield
deputy, tired but triumphant, finally ap-
peared,

“I got the dope you wanted, chief,”’

he said wearily. “Jim Colbert bought a
32 caliber gun from the firm of Ed-
wards and Walker back on April 17th,
1943. The sales manager remembers
the eevee iy

“Good,” Francis approved. “That’s all
we need.”

“You've dug up something. sheriff,”
Baker remarked, eyeing him shrewdly.
“Come on, give.”

Francis smiled and stood up. “You'll
see when we pick up Colbert.”

HE officers drove to Needham's

Corners where Colbert had his saw
mill. They found the man busy working
around his place. Edith Bell wasn’t in
sight. When he saw the officers his eyes
simulated surprise.

“I'm taking you in for murder, Col-
bert.” Francis said, evenly.

The giant shrugged his shoulders. “I
hope you know what you're doing,” he
said flatly.

A search of the tidy, three reom
house revealed a miniature arsenal. They
found three rifles. a double-barrelled
shotgun, an air rifle. a .32 caliber re-
volver and a .25 caliber Belgian auto-
matic pistol}.

Seated in the general store, he calmly
faced a barrage of questions from Ba-
ker and Francis.

“We've listened to enough nonsense
from you.” Francis snapped, his uvraised
hand halting Colbert’s vehement denials.
“Here is what really happened. On the
dav of the murder. you went to a
neighbor’s house and .asked her how

many times Osborne had been there:

with Edith Bell. When she told you he
had been there several times, you be-
came furicus. You took the .32 and
started practicing with it in the back
yard behind your house. You intended
to pick a fight with Osborne and kill

him, claiming self-defense. You hated
Osborne because you feared he was cut-
(ing you out with Miss Bell. Isn't that
ie"

Colbert's: massive shoulders slumped
wearily. “Yes, that’s it. I did go gun-
ning for Osborne. After Breslin drove
away I told him to stay away from
Edith. He told me to mind my own
business, that Edith was old enough to
choose for herself,

“That got me mad. 1 called him a
name and he knecked me down. I was
dazed. so when I saw him coming to-
wards me. I pulled out the gun intend-
ing to fire over his head. but instead.
the bullet got him in the face. He went
down so slowly I didn't think he was
hurt bad. I got up and kicked him in
the stomach. When he stretched out
I stomped him, twisting my boot in
his face,

“When I saw he was dead. 1 got
panicky, I came home and hid the gun.
When they told me about Breslin find-
ing Osborne's body on Route 35, I
thought that by coming back to the
scene I'd steer suspicion away from my-
self.”

Sheriff. Francis and Milton drove to
South Paris that night with their prison-
er, afler first turning the murder gun
over to the State Police for a ballistics
test. While there, they learned officially
that Cass Soliday’s gun had not fired
the fatal shot. They also found that
the boots belonging to Sue Darby had
been returned by the local state barracks

‘examiners with a report which cleared

her completely.

Jim Colbert -was arraigned before
Judge Harry M. Shaw in Norway. Maine
on creer January 19th, 1945. He plead-

“Did Mrs. Boyer wear expensive jew-
elry?” ‘Barrett inguired. Mary nodded,
her eyes popping wide open again.

“Yes, sir,” she answered. “She never-

was without her emerald and diamond
ring. She wore it on her wedding ring

finger. You couldn't help seeing it; it’s °

so big and it’s got a funny-shaped set-
ting, a sort of triangle. She once told
me it was worth $1,000.”

There was no sign of the ring in the
apartment. Whoever slew the wealthy
matron had made a good haul. Would
a man have taken a fur jacket? A
woman could carry it over her+arm,
but a man—well, anyone seeing him
with a garment like that would remem-
ber it. Barrett certainly was anxious to
find Sue or Emily, particularly the lat-
ter.

On Friday morning, the autopsy re-
port was completed. Death had been in-
stantaneous, two .32 caliber bullets hav-
ing lodged in her brain. The bullet hole
in the finger might have been caused
when she raised her hand to try to
ward cff the shots fired by her murder-
er. The early estimate as to the time

_of death was corroborated.

Barrett sent the two bullets and the
flattened pellet he had picked up from
the floor of the apartment to the FBI
for ballistics tests. He flashed word to
all police to cover pawnshops for the
stolen ring and fur jacket.

That morning. Mrs. Mitchell and her
husband arrived from their home in
Massachusetts. The daughter, in a state
of collapse, was unable to view the
body but her husband identified it ‘for-
mally. Lieutenant Mitchell explained
that before he was commissioned three
years previously he was an attorney
for several government agencies in
Washington. Mrs. Boyer had lived in

ed not guilty, but) was) promptly in-
dicted for first degree murder and bound
over for trial in the Superior Court. in
March.

Meanwhile Captain Sheppard found
that Colbert's gun had fired that fatal
shot which snuffed out Gerald Osborne's
life on the evening of January 15th

Stella Manning was questioned and
she admitted going to Osborne's shack
to ask him to do a repair job on her
house. Finding the cabin empty. she
walked to the road and came upon Os-
borne’s body. Frightened by an on-com-
ing car, she fled across the snow covered
field. Colbert's confession exonerated all
others from suspicion.

The trial began on Tuesday, March
20th. in Rumford’s Superior Court be-
fore Justice Nathaniel Tompkins. The
defense put up a stubborn fight. The
lawyers conceded that Colbert fired the
fatal shot, but stoutly maintained he
had done so in*self-defense, stating that
as Osborne had struck the first blow,
he had been the aggressor.

The trial lasted for five days and the
case went to the jury at 3:50 p.m.. Sat-
urday. March 24th. The jury returned
after one hour and 50 minutes delibera-
tion with a guilty verdict of man-
slaughter.

On Monday, March 26, Justice Tomp-
kins sentenced Colbert to a term of
10 to 20 years in prison.

Editor's Note: The names Manning,
Pauls, Breslin, Bell, Darby and Soliday,
as used in this story, are fictitious in
order to protect the identity of inno-
cent persons and save them fram all
possible embarrassment.

the capital for many years. he. said.
and her divorced husband was an army
officer stationed somewhere in the mid-
west.

HE mysterious Sue tunred up at

10 o'cleck Friday morning. A tall.
statuesque brunette, she called at the
apartinent building to inquire where
Nancy's body was. A detective on duty
there questioned her.

“I read about the horrible affair in
this morning's paper and came right
over,” she said.

A visitor in Washington. having come
from Spokane, Washington about a week
earlier, she stated, she became acquaint-
ed with Nancy Boyer in a beauty salon
while both were having their hair set.
She did not know any of the crowd
except a man with whom Nancy seem-
ed to be friendly and whom Sue had
met a few days previously.

“Was that Fischer?” Barrett asked.

“Fischer? No, I don’t think that was
the name. I think his name is Hanan.”

However, her description of the man
tallied somewhat with that given by
other players and by the naval officer
who saw him with Nancy in the lobby
Monday afternoon.

“Who is Emily?” Barrett asked.

She did not know about Emily. she
replied, except that she was one of the
card game guests and left early.

After the party, Sue said, she took
a taxicab to the home of her host and
hostess, where she was spending a brief
vacation. She explained her refusal to be
escorted by saying simply, “I didn’t
care too much for the crowd.”

Police investigated Sue’s story, and
verified it in every detail.

Barrett was puzzled by the fact that
the missing male card player was known


HALL, James W., white, elec$rocuted Arkansas (Pulaski County) on 1-h-1916. Beak
Fayrene Clemmons Hall married a killer who decided he didn’t
She paid for her mistaken love with her life.

By Antoine Flame

DETECTIVE WORLD, November, 195. oa her teeth.

HE day was raw and bleak. An icy

wind from the north lashed sleet into

Scroggin’s face. With numbed fingers he jerked up his
coat collar, looked down at the body through slitted eyes. It
had once been a man. Now, it was just a nasty sight. Murder
is always a nasty sight, even to case-hardened cops.

The body lay face down in the fallen leaves. The arms were
outflung, the fingers clenched. One knee was drawn up
crookedly in a grotesque gesture. In the back of the dead
man’s head was a neat, round hole. .

Far back. up on the highway, a siren wailed, then died away

22

as another police car joined the long queue already parked on
the shoulder of the road. More men came hurrying down
through the woods to join the officers around the body.

Scroggin, Captain J. Earl Scroggin of the Arkansas State
Police, gave no heed to the newcomers. He squatted down on
his heels, waved a numbed hand at the body and spoke wearily
over his shoulder to his companion,

“Pockets all yanked inside out. But his clothes aren’t
mussed. See? He never put up a fight.”


“<The top gun was
- used to slay C. V.
..Hamilton; lower left
‘gun killed three other

men and the other,
the fiend planted.

= ort pee Stee:

This is the lonely spot on
road where Hall pulled off
to search and rob one of
the men he was to murder.


smilingly confe
‘investigation

Chief of Detectives O. N. Martin
of Little Rock, who cracked case.

Jack Porter, Superintendent of the State Police nodded,
squatted down beside Scroggin. “Poor devil,” he muttered.
“He never knew what blasted him.”

“No,” grunted Scroggin. “The killer stuck a gun in his
ribs, marched him in here off the highway and then let him
have it.”

“The set-up looks simple enough,” said Porter. “Murder
and robbery.” He breathed on his blued fingers, then scowled.
“As you say, the murder part wasn’t necessary.”

“Murder never is,” said Scroggin bitterly. For a long moment
he stared in silence at the pitiful object that had once been a

a

Lt. Allen Templeton, of the State Police, compares bullets used
in the Adams, Mulherin and Newcombe killings in lab test.

S

man—a man, young, vigorous, in the prime of life. Overhead,
the wind soughed dismally through the leafless trees in a plain-
tive dirge. Scroggins shuddered. He wasn’t quite sure
whether it was from the cold or from the smell of violent death.
It was a lonely spot, eight miles from Fordyce, Arkansas, on
Highway 167...a beautiful spot for murder on the morning
of February Ist, 1945.

It had been an urgent call for help, an hour before, from
Sheriff T. H. Glover of Cleveland County, that had brought
Scroggin and Porter from headquarters in Little Rock, to the
scene of the crime. Now, at the familiar sound of the Sheriff’s

23


140 Fe Ah fil aan

The laughing killer nonchalantly holds up part of his
murdered wife’s dress after he dug it up from spot
where he had left her body to slowly decompose.

re rors

gruff voice behind him, Scroggin
straightened stiffly to his feet. :

The County official wasted no time in
casual greetings. He got down to brass
tacks at once. “Things have happened
since I phoned you,” he said. briskly.
“Right after that we found an abandoned
car down the road. It was carrying
Kansas plates.”

Scroggin struggled with a match and
cigarette in the wind. “Have you called
Kansas, yet ?” ge

“You bet,” said Glover. “As fast as I
could get to a phone. They just called
me back a few minutes ago.” He slipped
a notebook from his pocket, glanced at
it. “The car was registered in the name
of Edward Carl Adams, aged 45, of
Humboldt, Kansas. They’re trying to
reach his family now.”

“Was the car smashed?” - asked
Scroggin.

Glover shook his head. “Not a mark
on it. I haven’t let anybody touch it,
yet, so your men can check for finger-
prints. The gun hasn't showed up.”

“Ym betting it won’t,” said Scroggin
dryly. “They never do.” He turned
back to the body. “When you get Adams’
description, we’ll know whether this is
what’s left of him, lying here.” He kicked
aimlessly at the dry leaves. “When K. C.
calls again, ask them if he was traveling
alone.”

Glover nodded. “You mean he may
have picked up a hitchhiker? I thought
of that.”

Two men, carrying a, stretcher,
threaded their way through the trees.
The officers stepped aside as they ap-
proached, fell silent for a moment as the
dead man was rolled gently over.

Sheriff Glover shook himself visibly.
“T have to arrange for the autopsy,” he
muttered. “Do you want to go into
Fordyce with me? There might be
further word from Kansas ?”

“Which direction was the abandoned
car facing ?” asked Scroggin.

“South. It must have come from Little
Rock.”

“Then we'd better get back there,” said
Scroggin. “We'll take a look at the car,
first. If you get any breaks, call us at
Headquarters.”

GEVERAL hours later, back in Little
~~ Rock, Scroggin and Porter paid a
call at the headquarters of the local police.
Chief of Detectives O. N. Martin re-
ceived them in his office.
_ Porter sat down, but Scroggin rest-
lessly paced the floor. In terse, jerky
sentences, he told Martin what had hap-
pened down on Highway 167.

“And this is the toughest part of it,
right now,” ended Scroggin, flinging
the words over his shoulder. “Until we

hear from Kansas .. . until we get a re-
port on the [Continued on page 79]

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_ pathetically.

Scroggin became a frequent visitor at
the headquarters of the local police. He
dropped in often to consult with Martin,
to learn what progress, if any, was being
made at that end.

It was exactly a month after Mul-
herin’s death, that he made one of these
periodic calls. A glance at Martin’s face
was enough to tell him that nothing new
had turned up, so he sank wearily into
a chair.

“T know how it is,” said Martin sym.
“This case is sure a beaut.
Peterson and Judd haven't turned up a
thing.”

There was a knock on the door and
Detective Peterson stuck his head i:
“That farmer, Clemmons, is here again,
Chief.” ,

Martin made an impatient gesture.
“Tell him I haven’t any news for him.
I’ll let him know when I do.” Then, as
Peterson hesitated, he changed his mind.
“Oh, all right. I know the old man’s
worried. Send him in.”

As Peterson’s head disappeared, he
turned to Scroggin. “Stick around. I’ll
be through with this man in a few
minutes.”

Mr. Clemmons, the farmer, held his
hat respectfully in his hand as he was
ushered into the office.

“I know I’ve been bothering you a lot,”

he began apologetically. “But the missus

and me are still worried about F ayrene.
It was last August that she disappeared
and:we haven’t heard from her yet.”
“We've already investigated this case
thoroughly. We got the whole story from
her husband.” Martin crossed to a steel
filing cabinet and came back to inis desk
with a bulky envelope. Extracting some
papers he referred to them from time to
time as he went on: “Fayrene Clemmons
Hall. Father, A. Z. Clemmons of Lonoke.
Husband, James Wayburn Hall, age 24,

taxi driver, Little Rock... . Accordings

to his story, he took Fayrene out the
night before she disappeared and when
they got home, they quarreled. In the
morning she was gone. She took her

‘purse and about $40 with her. But none

of her clothes were missing.”

“That’s Red’s story,” said Clemmons.
“But why didn’t he tell us she was gone?
Why did he wait till our cousins found it
out ?”

Martin shrugged. “Lord only knows.
He just figured she walked out on him.
It happens every day. All the other cab
drivers describe him as a swell guy, cheer-
ful and always willing to help anyone
out.”

Scroggins had been listening to all this
in silence. Now, hearing Martin’s voice
trail off, he glanced up sharply. He was
just in time to see Martin stiffen, stare
unseeingly into space.

“What's up ?” ’

Martin came to with a jerk, turned
abruptly to Clemmons. “You go home
now. Tell the Missus to stop worrying.
We'll have another talk with ‘Red. ”

Bewildered, but satisfied, the farmer
left. Martin whirled on Scroggin. “Does
that guy in the green checked cap, that
haunts your dreams, have red hair?” he
demanded.

“I don’t know,” Scroggin replied.
Ba: ik the cap covers his hair. Why ?”
“When Hall was arrested for that assault
job, he was wearing a green checked
cap.” With these words, he pushed a
buzzer on his desk,

Within a matter of minutes, Peterson
and Judd were getting their orders. Mar-
tin told them to go to Hall’s room to ques-
tion him again.

“Pretend its just a routine call,” he
warned. “Just another check on whether
he’s heard from his wife. Don’t mention
the highway murders. If he’s our man,
we don’t want to put the wind up to
him.”

When the detectives had gone, Scrog-
gin and Martin prepared for an anxious
wait,

It was Peterson who returned, alone.

“The guy was out, Chief,” he reported.
“Judd’s gone looking for him. The land-
lady let me in. Said he was such a quiet,
pleasant boy.”

“Did you find anything?” interrupted
Martin eagerly. .

“T couldn’t poke in the closet, she was
with me. There was a Bible in the room,”
he exclaimed aside to Scroggin. “He’s
a minister’s son, you know. And there
was a detective story magazine, open at a
page that explained all about ballistics.”
He fished in his pocket, brought out a
small stub. “TI took your advice, Captain.
I don’t know if it means anything, but I
palmed this. It’s a receipt for registered
mail,”

Scroggin and Martin bent their heads
over the bit of paper. It was dated Feb-
ruary 2nd and was made out to Lucy Wat-
son, at an address on Center.Street, Little
Rock. s

wena minutes later, Captain
Scroggin, driving his police car in
the direction of home, heard the radio on
the dashboard click out an urgent sum-
mons. He listened, swore under his
breath, then yanked the wheel savagely
around,

They were waiting for him, seventy
miles north, just above Heber Springs.
Another highway murder and this time,
even more shocking than’ the others.

By the time he got there, the officers
already on the scene had had time to col-
lect more details. It was Porter who
flagged him to a halt on the highway.

“Right up here a way—turn into that.
logging road.” Then as they jounced off
the highway: “We've just checked up on
the license plates. It’s Newcombe—the
state boiler inspector !” _

“Good Lord,” breathed Scroggin,
“what happened? Where is he?”

“You mean—what’s left of him,” said
Porter. His voice dropped. “We’ve car-
ried the body to that shack over there.
It’s pretty tough. He was burned. There’s
nothing left but a charred torso, the stubs
of his legs and his head.”

“The body was found in the back of the
car,” explained Porter, as they ap-
proached it. “That’s where the fire was
centered. That’s why Sheriff Turner and
Sheriff Tatum Plant knew immediately
that it was no accident.”

just remembered,” said Martin, .

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fingerprints .. . until the coroner hands
a bullet over to the ballistics men... we
might just as well play tiddley-winks.”

“I wonder,” remarked the Super-
intendent slowly. “I was just thinking.
Remember the case of that darky, down
near Salem, a couple of months ago? His
name was Hamilton, if I remember
correctly.”

Scroggin nodded. “That’s right. C. F.
Hamilton, to be exact.” Mechanically
he recited: “C. F. Hamilton, aged 45,
barber by trade. . . .” Suddenly he
straightened in his chair, swung around
to face his superior. “I see what you
mean. Hamilton was shot in the head
and robbed. Somebody marched him off
the road and then gave him the business.
Just like this poor devil, today.”

“Exactly,” said Porter slowly. “And.
we never found a clue.” He paused for
a long moment, then added quietly: “Tt
might be that the two crimes are con-
nected.”

Before Scroggin could reply, the
phone on the desk buzzed shrilly. Martin
reached for it, answered, and then shoved
the instrument over toward Scroggin.
“It’s for you. It’s Sheriff Glover.”

When he had finished, he thanked the
sheriff and hung up. “Glover just heard
from Kansas. The body in the woods
was Adams, all right. They found his
wife and she vertified the description.
She said he was on his way to the Naval
Ordnance Plant at Camden, to look for
employment there. He was traveling
alone.”

He consulted the pad. “Mrs. Adams
gave a complete list of the things her
husband had with him. He had about
$25 on him and two watches—one en-
graved with his initials. He also had a
suitcase which contained, an electric
clock, a brown alarm clock, a razor, shav-
ing mug and plenty of-cigarettes. Mrs.
Adams described the clocks in detail,

_ right down to dents and scratches.”

Porter rubbed his hands. “This is
mote like it. The killer lugged all that
stuff off with him. Those watches and
clocks will turn up somewhere.”

WEEK passed by. A state-wide

hunt for the hitchhiker with a suit-
case brought no results. Bus line and
railroad terminals had been combed;
drivers and ticket sellers questioned. In
Little Rock, every pawnshop was on
the alert for the stolen watches and
clocks.

On the afternoon of Friday, February
9th, Scroggin entered Porter’s office at
State Police Headquarters.

. “Martin was right about this case,”
answered Scroggin gloomily. “None of
the missing stuff has turned up. The

only prints in the car were those of

Adams himself. And Lieutenant Temple-
ton says the bullet in Adams’ skull was

To Kill

[Continued from page 25]

a .38—that Negro barber was killed by a
.45, remember ?”

He was interrupted by the telephone
bell. He reached for the phone, barked
a gruff “Hello.” Scroggin saw him
stiffen. An excited voice buzzed shrilly
over the wires.

Porter. clapped his hand over the
mouth-piece and barked at Scroggin:
“Another highway killing, down near

Stuttgardt. Shot in the head and robbed .

?

—just like Adams

Scroggin waited for no more details
and started for the door.

The town of Stuttgardt lay some sixty
miles southeast of Little Rock.

When he had pulled into line and
jumped out of the car, he was swallowed
up in a crowd of excited farm folk.
Roughly he shouldered his way through
and made for a bare, grassy hollow that
was obviously the focus of attention. As
he and Porter drew up, two familiar
figures detached themselves from the
push and came to meet them. They were
old friends of Scroggin, Sheriff E. O.
Hamilton of Prairie County and Police
Chief Willbanks from nearby England.

The exchange of greetings between
the officers was brief. Then the ‘local
sheriff led them to the body. It lay in
the center of a grassy hollow and at first
glance it looked as though the man was
sleeping peacefully. His left arm was

crooked under his head, pillowing his .

cheek; his legs were relaxed. But as
Scroggin came closer he saw that the
eyelids were half open, the agonized eyes
rolled far back in their sockets. The
back of théshead swam in a welter of
blood.

“Fis name was Doyle Mulherin,” said
Sheriff Hamilton. “He’s from Little
Rock—drove a truck for a meat packing
company. The truck’s down by the rail-
road tracks.”

“You said on the phone he’d been
robbed,” said Scroggin, kneeling beside
the body. “Do you know what he was
carrying on him?” '

“Not exactly. But he delivered meat
in Humnoke this morning. We figure
he had cash and checks totaling $200 on
him. His watch is gone, too.”

“No clues, I suppose,” he said bitterly.

News of the murder of Doyle Mul-
herin spread swiftly. From all over
the State, phone calls and telegrams
poured into headquarters. But in spite
of this, Martin’s old dour prediction was
fulfilled with a vengeance. It was,still
a tough case and try as he would,
Scroggin could not crack it.

The worst blow was a report from
Lieutenant Templeton. The ballistics
expert had studied a bullet taken from
the skull of the slain truck driver. There
was no mistaking it. It was a .38 and it
was grooved and marked exactly like the
one that had killed Adams!

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ow,” Scroggin replied.

cevers his hair. Why 2”

embered,” said Martin, .

s arrested for that assault
caring a green checked
ese words, he pushed a

{ minutes, Peterson
‘etting their orders. Mar-
x0 to Hall’s room to ques-

just a routine call,” he
nother check on whether
his wife. Don’t mention
rders. If he’s our man,
to put the wind up to

sctives had gone, Scrog-
prepared for an anxious

2 who returned, alone.

out, Chief,” he reported.
<ing for him. The land-
aid he was such a quiet,

anything ?” interrupted

ce in the closet, she was
as a Bible in the room,”
de to Scroggin. “He’s
you know. And there
ory magazine, open at a
ed all about ballistics.”
pocket, brought out a
ik your advice, Captain.
means anything, but I
a receipt for registered

fartin bent their heads
? “t was dated Feb-

out to Lucy Wat-
L.. ater Street, Little

nutes later, Captain
‘ing his police car in
me, heard the radio on
‘k out an urgent sum-
ed, swore under his
2d the wheel savagely

ting for him, seventy
tbove Heber Springs.
murder and this time,
g than‘ the others.
got there, the officers
1e had had time to col-
It was Porter who
halt on the highway.
1 Way—turn into that.
en as they jounced off
ve just checked up on
It’s Newcombe—the
aad
breathed’ Scroggin,
Where is he?”
at’s left of him,” said
lropped. “We’ve car-
iat shack over there.
2 was burned. There’s
iarred torso, the stubs
ead.”
und in the back of the
as they ap-
2re the fire was
iy Sheriff Turner and
iy knew immediately
nt.”

2

Se AAA DH ate age

,

Porter suggested that they go over to
the shack. The Cleburne County Coro-
ner, Dr. Faust, was in there, making a
preliminary examination. They met him
coming out.

“It’s almost certainly murder,” he
greeted them. “There’s a fracture on the
left side of the head.”

Scroggin asked the question that was
uppermost in both their minds. “Was
that fracture caused by a bullet?” —

Dr. Faust nodded. “Probably. ll
know for certain after the autopsy. I’m
going to make arrangements now.”

If the public was already aroused by
the other highway murders, the death of
Newcombe was a sensation. J. D. New-
combe, Jr., was one of the most widely

known and popular officials in the

state. |

There was one call, however, that he
prayed for. And finally it came. The
sound of Martin’s voice, coming over the
wire, was music in his ears.

“Captain—I think that 1000 to 1 shot
came home. We've got ‘Red’ Hall over
here. Peterson and Judd just brought
him in. You'd better come over... .”

The red-haired cab driver lounged in
his chair, one knee crossed negligently
over the other. He smiled pleasantly at
the officers around him... 4

“l’m telling you the truth,” he said
easily. “I don’t know what happened to
Fayrene. I don’t care. She spent my
money faster than I could make it. That’s
what we fought about.”

_ Martin offered the cab driver a ciga-
rette, lit it for him and then said casually:
“Are you sure you didn’t fight over Lucy
Watson ?”

The cigarette bobbed in Red Hall’s
lips; then he recovered. “Who’s she?”
he asked.

Martin slapped the cigarette out of his
lips. “Don’t stall, Red—you know damn
well who she is. Lucy Watson on Center
Street—you’ve been sending her regis-
tered mail.”

“All right, so I’ve been playing around

a bit,” sneered Hall. “So what. Lucy

and I are just friends.” :

“Maybe;”- said Scroggin. “We don’t
mind you being friends with Lucy but we
do mind you sending her an electric
clock.” He snatched open the drawer of
the desk, pulled out an electric alarm
clock and thrust it before Hall’s eyes.
“Ever see this clock before ?”

“How do I know—all clocks look
alike.”

“Not when they have dents and
scratches on them like this one has,” said
Scroggin, indicating the markings on
the clock. “You know who the real owner
of this clock is. His name was Adams—
the guy you killed out on highway 167.”

Hall relaxed in his chair and grinned
amiably. “You got me wrong, pal,” he
said. “All wrong. I’m not that kind of a
guy. Look. My old man was a minister.
I read the Bible every day. I was mar-
ried before, I have a two-year-old boy.
Ask his mother if I don’t send them
money regular.” ,

Peterson, who had been shrewdly
sizing up the young cab driver an-
swered: “Then in the name of that two-

year-old son of yours, why don’t you act
like a man,” he said slowly. “Come clean.
It won’t be so hard for the kid to take
when he grows up.”

The appeal shot home. Hall’s eyes
dropped and Peterson saw that he had
scored. _

Hall hesitated a moment, then met
Peterson’s eyes squarely. “It’s a bargain,
pal,” he said. “Yes, I killed them all.
Fayrene was the first of all. She was
always nagging me.”

A stir ran through the room, the of-
ficers drew into a closer circle to hear

the most cold-blooded recital of crime in ,

their experience.

Calmly, now that he had confessed,
without any visible expression of re-
morse, Hall told how he had killed his
young wife with his bare hands.

His next victim had been the Negro
barber in Camden. - He had planned the
robbery deliberately, gotten the man out.
of town on the pretext of selling him
whiskey. Hall, at the time, was armed
with a .45 but when he pulled out the gun,
the Negro snatched out a .38. Before the
barber could fire, Hall blasted him to
eternity.

NCE he had started to talk, Hall

went into great detail. But the

technique he had used was much the same
in all the murders. :

The next afternoon, Red Hall was
again the center of a knot of officers. This
time he was wearing handcuffs and he
stood by the bank of a river.

The officers poked around, turning over
logs, stirring the driftwood along the
bank of the river. While they were search-
ing, a stranger walked up. He stared at
the men curiously.

“Looking for something ?” he asked.

“A body,” said Scroggin grimly. “Who
are you?”

‘“ “T’'m Cecil Foster. I’m a woodcutter

and I live over that way a bit,” the man
replied. “And I guess I got what you’re
looking for.” The officers stared at him
in unbelief as he continued. “I found a
skull here about three months ago. I just
found the top of the skull—thought prob-
ably it had been here for years. There
ought to be a jaw-bone here someplace.”

Hall craned his neck as Scroggin
picked up a whitened jaw bone and
held it up for the officers’ inspection.

“That’s Fayrene, all right,” he said.

almost proudly.”

“How do you know ?” asked Scroggin.

“T can tell by that buck tooth there, still
sticking out,” explained Hall. “It used
to hurt me when I kissed her.”

“Of course I killed others,” he boasted.
“T remember that colored woman in Sa-
lina, Kansas, six years ago. She tried to
rob me, threatened me with a knife. So
I beat her to death. I remember her

because she was the first. I guess I killed.

maybe 17, altogether.”

The fact that he faces the death penalty
does not yet worry “Red” Hall. “I’m
reading my Bible and preparing myself
for Heaven,” he says. “The world will
be better off without me. But I know
what I’m talking about and I feel certain
of my salvation,”

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elec, Ark.

Boasting of a record of seven-
teen murders, killer, above,
proudly holds up rag of dress
of one of his victims, below.

UNDERWORLD DETECTIVE, Dec., 1951.

HE day was raw and bleak.
An icy wind from the north
lashed sleet into Scroggin’s

‘ face. With numbed fingers
he jerked up his coat collar, looked
down at the body through. slitted
eyes. It had once been a man. Now,
it was just a nasty sight. Murder is
always a nasty sight, even to case-
hardened cops.

The body lay face down in the fall-
en leaves. The .arms were outflung,
the fingers clenched. One knee was
drawn up crookedly in a grotesque
gesture. In the back of the dead
man’s head was a neat, round hole.

Far back, up on the highway, a
siren wailed, then died away as an-
other police car joined the long queue
already, parked on the shoulder of
the road. More men came hurrying
‘down through the woods to join the
officers around the body. —

Scroggin, Captain J. Earl Scroggin
of the Arkansas State Police, gave
no heed to the newcomers. He squat-
ted down on his heels, waved a
numbed hand at the-body and spoke


Little Rock read in the papers about
the fight at the Second Street bar.
While stirring his morning coffee he
tried to connect the name of the red-
headed bully. “Hall...James Waybern
Hall. Jim Hall.. Sure, that’s the fel-
low who is married to that missing
girl, ah...Fayrene Hall.”

Investigation into the background
of Jim Hall proved that he was not
quite the congenial young fellow that
Betty Miles had made him out to be.
He had been drafted into the Navy in
1943 after doing all he could to avoid
the service, and was dishonorably
discharged after eight weeks of train-
ing. He got as far as San Diego, but
he couldn’t obey the tiniest order. He
had been playing war hero since.

Chief Martin remembered the
Christmas card, supposedly posted
from Bakersfield. He remembered
asking Jim Hall to bring it in, yet he
never did. He tried to confirm Faye’s
residence in California, but the sher-
iff’s office in Kern County called
back to say they were unable to locate
any Fayrene Clemmons or Fayrene
Hall.

So Peterson and Judd were ordered
to give the Fayrene Hall case top
priority. Once again they beat the
bricks, interviewing ‘everyone who
even looked like they knew the miss-
ing girl. Eventually they found their
way back to Betty Miles, who by
now had changed her mind about a
few things, including Jim Hall.

“I actually didn’t mean to lie to
you,” she said. “It’s just that I’m not
one to. gossip, I. mean, hurt people
with scandal when it might be my
imagination.” ice t,

“Suppose, Miss Miles, we begin
with something you did not imagi-
ne,” Detective Judd said. “Chief Mar-
tin was promised a look at that
Christmas card that came to you from
Mrs. Hall, from Bakersfield. How
come he never got it?”

“Jim Hall borrowed it. He prom-
ised me that he’d bring it around to
you at police headquarters, where
you’ could decide if it was genuine.
But then he said he lost it.”

Betty went on to say that Jim Hall
was exceptionally attentive at first,
dropping by to ask, “Have you heard
from Faye?” Then soon after the
“4ristmas card incident, she noticed

irksome change in his personality.
re began asking her for dates, and
when they were alone he tried des-
perately to get her into bed. She said

She had reason enough to turn him
down.
There were stories circulating that

Jim used his job at the cab company to

set up dates with girls for servicemen

or other affluent outsiders. Rumor al-
so had it that Jim was a blabbermouth

. when it came to sexual feats.

From their interview with Betty
Miles the two detectives garnered
other ripe morsels of Jim Hall’s life.

Gullible Faye had met the headstrong
redhead shortly after he got out of the.

Navy. He kept her enamored by his
fictitious stories of hard-fought battles
off Midway and Guadalcanal and
courted her zealously.

With this, Betty modified her ver-
sion of the last time she saw Faye.
The elevator incident had provoked
Faye and she slapped Jim’s face hard.
Jim’s ungentlemanly counterstroke
was even harder, leaving a welt on
the side of Faye’s face. Before they
dropped her off, Betty said, she tried
to get the couple to kiss and make up.

It didn’t seem to be a serious
enough row to wreck a marriage.
Faye had recently bragged to Betty
that Jim was pulling down $50-a-
night, enough to keep her in the latest
feminine apparel. She was especially
proud of the new two-piece azure-
blue dress she wore the Friday eve-
ning of the dance, the one Betty de-
scribed for the benefit of the police re-
cords, which were now transferred
to 100,000 circulars that had been dis-

tributed in Arkansas and California. '

The circular asked for people to be on
the lookout for Fayrene Clemmons
Hall, now missing for six months
and 12 days.

Betty said that Faye was willful
and spiteful and wildly extravagant.
The quarrels which began on the hon-
e€ymoon became more and more acri-
monious as time slipped by.

Chief Martin became intensely in-
terested in these disclosures.

“There’s one thing sure,” the chief
commented sourly. “Hall must have
cooked up that Christmas card hoax.
He probably had some other cab driv-
er he knew that was driving to the
coast to drop it into a mailbox in
Bakersfield.”

Chief Martin decided to have a talk
with Jim Hall, so he sent Judd and
Peterson to pick him up. A spokes-
man at the cab company said that Jim
had been granted a leave of absence,
Starting that day, March 8th. He said
the “coughing up that $106.90 in

court Tuesday,” had put a strain on
him and he wanted to collect some
money owed to him by a man who
lived in another state.

So the two detectives reported back
to Chief Martin that Jim Hall had left
town suddenly.

Chief Martin had better news.
Lieutenant Rhett Oliphant of the State
Police had called to say that he and
Sergeant Sims had been talking to a
woman named Cindy Clark, and she
definitely had reliable testimony
about the unsolved slaying of Carl F.
Hamilton, of Camden, Ouachita
County, back in January. Oliphant
Suggested that there was a possibility
of a connection between that murder
and Jim Hall.

Moments after talking with Oli-
phant, Chief Martin received a call
from the owners of a factory in
Clarksville in Johnson County. They
were baffled by the strange disappea-
rance of J.D. Newcomb, Jr., chief
boiler inspector for the State Labor
Department. His call, in his official
Capacity, was long overdue.

Neither his home nor his office had
an idea of his whereabouts. He had
intended to keep his appointment and
had set out from Little Rock and
should have arrived in Clarksville five
hours ago. Since an important produc- .
tion schedule hinged on his punctuali-
ty, unquestionably, Newcomb, a
widely known authority in his field,
would have notified those involved if
he was unable to keep his appoint-
ment.

The report of Mr. Newcomb’s dis-
appearance while motoring his Old-
smobile over back country highways,
horrifyingly reminded police of the
recent Adams and Mulherin murders.
Every law enforcement agency with-
in a hundred miles was duly alerted.

About the mysterious phone call
from Cindy Clark concerning the
murder of Carl Hamilton, the 22-year-
old seemed more concerned about the
safety of her lover, Billy Jo Halop,
than she was for herself. When Cindy
read in the papers that Jim Hall was
arrested for knocking a guy senseless
in a barroom brawl, she figured Billy
Jo would be Hall’s next victim for
violence. According to the frightened
Cindy Clark, her boyfriend had im-
petuously lent Hall his automobile on
Sunday, January 28th. In the glove
box of the Chevy was a .45-caliber
pistol, belonging to Billy Jo.

(continued on next page)


Murderous Rampage Of ‘Big Jim’ Hall

(continued from page 53)

Billy Jo got his car back, as prom-
ised, the following day. Later, when
Billy Jo examined the weapon, he
found one cartridge missing. He sniff-
ed the muzzle. The gun had recently
been fired. Soon afterward he read in
the newspapers that the Camden bar-
ber-bootlegger had been shot in the
chest by a .45. Billy Jo swallowed

hard. He knew that Jim had many un- ©

dercover liquor deals with Carl Ham-
ilton.

Cindy was frightened but had
promised him she would keep quiet
for fear that Big Jim would come af-
ter Billy Jo. Now she promised Oli-
phant that she would bring in the .45
so that it could be tested against the
slug that had been extracted from
Hamilton’s body. Lieutenant Temple-
ton would have the answer in 24
hours.

Meanwhile, sleuths questioned
Newcomb’s family and state labor as-
sociates to see if anyone knew how
much money he would be carrying on
his cross-state trip. Guesses ranged
from $60 to $80. Many people have
been killed for much less.

On Friday, March 9, 1945, Lois
and Elmer Williams were plodding
across a portion of their farmland just

_ outside the tiny town of Herber
Springs, in Cleburne County, some
65 miles north of Little Rock, and 90
miles east of Clarksville. They were
totally shocked to see a burned-out
automobile on their property. The rear
of the car was especially charred.

Williams peeked in the car. For a
moment he stood immobilized.
”Don’t look!” he cried to his wife.
Together they ran across the field un-
til they came to a neighbor who had a
phone.

The officers sent to check out the
fire-ruined Olds discovered a charred
body in the rear seat. Certainly unrec-
ognizable, it was believed to be the
remains of a murdered male. Homi-
cide probers were immediatly dis-
patched, as was an. ambulance to
transport the body to the morgue. The
probers discovered that, oddly, the
vehicle hadn’t been entirely obliter-
ated by the blaze. The front seat was
soaked with blood.

The victim, they reasoned, had
been slain while seated at the wheel,

54

then hoisted over into the rear seat and
set afire. This suggested a powerful
killer. The unrecognizable corpse
was ample, implying that the victim,

before being incinerated, must have

been a big fellow.

State Police ran the vehicle’s li-
cense number through DMV and
came up with the owner’s name. The
tags had been issued to J.D. New-
comb Jr. A Little Rock dentist exam-
ined the undamaged teeth and x-ray
photos on file and officially estab-
lished that the victim was indeed J.D.
Newcomb Jr.

Meantime, “Big Red” Hall was
still wanted for questioning about his
wife’s disappearance, as well as Bil-
ly Jo’s .45 and the missing cartridge.
Little Rock sleuths Peterson and Judd
were still dogging his footsteps. As it
developed, Hall had changed his liv-
ing quarters twice since the absence
of his wife.

. Peterson and Judd finally learned of
Hall’s current address. While search-
ing his room, they came upon a post
office receipt of an insured package.
It was mailed from Camden, Arkan-
sas, on February 2nd. What was Big
Red doing in Camden on the 2nd? On
the Ist the Adams murder occurred
out on U.S. 167, near Camden.

Next, the Camden postmaster’s re-
cords showed that the parcel had been
addressed to Miss Patty Alburt. Patty
was a waitress in a Little Rock eat-
ery.

Detectives working on the case
found Patty to be uncooperative. She
didn’t know any Red Hall. She never
received an insured parcel from him.
She didn’t even know what they
were talking about.

Every cop knows dames like Patty.
Big Red took his cut of the wealth
from Patty’s boudoir shenanigans
with servicemen and out-of-towners.
When Judd mentioned the penalty for
receiving stolen goods, Patty flared.
“Stolen? Okay, I got the parcel. But I
paid Red Hall cash money for those
alarm clocks.”

The detectives confiscated the
alarm clocks—one was spring-driven
and bore an eye-catching cigar burn,
exactly as Mrs. Adams had verba-
lized. They warned Patty not to warn
Hall or lend him assistance. She
swore she had not seen Hall for three

days, that she didn’t know where he
was holed-up. She did know that he
was trying to raise money for a get-
away because he tried to borrow fifty
bucks from her.

Judd and Peterson obtained a
search warrant and returned to Hall’s
pad. Hidden in a locked closet were
300 rounds of .38 ammunition. There
were shaving mugs and brushes that
exactly tallied with miscellaneous
items listed among pilfered posses-
sions of the slain E.C. Adams.

A suitcase held another avalanche
of evidence. Wrapped in a blue ribbon
was a packet of passionate letters.
They were all signed, “Faye.”

Peterson theorized that these love
letters had not been saved by pure af-
fection. More likely they served as
handwriting specimens which Red
Hall probably used to forge the
Bakersfield Christmas greeting from
Faye to Betty Miles. ;

The detectives did their best to keep
the evidence from the media, as they
didn’t want to frighten the suspect
off. Believing that he would reappear
sooner or later at one of his habitual

haunts, stakeouts were posted. No

wanted alarms were issued for Big
Red’s arrest, but law enforcement
agencies in Arkansas and abutting
states were notified to be on the
lookout for the suspected killer.

And now, the .45 brought in by
Cindy Clark and tested by Lieutenant
Templeton systematically proved to
be the weapon that took the life of
Carl Hamilton. In the Adams case,
the evidence of the parcel and its con-
tents, posted to Patty Alburt from
Camden the day after Adams’ demise,
seemed definitive. And most of those
near to the case seemed certain that
poor Faye Hall would never be seen
alive again. :

On a balmy Thursday, March 15th,
Detectives Judd and Peterson were
travelling remote byroads just outside
of Little Rock on the chance that a
murderous hitchhiker might try to flag
down his next victim. As_ they
rounded a bend by some scrub trees,
they caught glimpse of a towering,
red-haired man with his thumb stuck
out. The squad car pulled over.

“Hi, Hall. Hoping to hitch another
ride?” Peterson said triumphantly.
“Well, you’ve made it. Get in!”

Big Red hesitated. Police guns

were drawn. “Don’t reach, Red, ex-
cept up!”
(continued on next page)

With his hands in the air, and Peter-
son covering the suspect, Judd took a
-38 Smith & Wesson from him, and a
nocket watch with the inscription:
‘J. D, Newcomb Jr.” Even so, at
~ittle Rock police headquarters, Jim
Hall insisted he was innocent of any
wrongdoing.

He was confronted with the alarm
clocks, shaving mugs and assorted ar-
ticles that belonged to E. C. Adams.
He shrugged when they read him the
ballistics findings of Allen Templeton
on the borowed Billy Jo Halop gun
that had killed Hamilton: The Smith
& Wesson pistol taken from him at
the time of his arrest was the one that
had snuffed both Mulherin and Ad-
ams. biatns
And with each’ passig day, Hall
denied his guilt, while being grilled
by District Attorney Sammy Robin-
son and his assistant, Otis Nixon.

Finally on Friday, March 16th,
Robinson turned to Nixon and whis-
pered loud enough for Hall to hear:
“T’ll bet you lunch when we find
Faye Hall we will find that she was
killed with that same Nk}: Rad

Hall came unglued, “I didn’t use a
gun on her, stupid!” Then, catching
- aself off balance; “You dopes will

rer find her body anyway. No
body, no conviction.” -

But Red Hall broke down and ad-
mitted that he had killed Hamilton,
Adams, and Mulherin, shooting all
three. He acknowledged that he will-
fully shot and killed Newcomb, then
set fire to his car.'Then, unpredict-
ably, he related how he had done
away with his child bride.»

Hall said that he had put up with
his trolloping » wife’s: - shenanigans
long enough, and that August night
after the dance, the elevator bicker,
the slap in the face, well, that was
the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Td been’ nuts’ about her. But
enough’s enough,” he snapped. “So I
took her out to the old river road near
the Riverside Golf Course and made
her come with me into a ravine on the
bank of the Arkansas River. She
' Stopped pleading for mercy after I
struck her hard. I beat her to death
with my bare hands. I must have hit
her on the head 20 vicious blows.”

After he had beaten his wife to

| he went to a bar and had a beer.
-- --dn’t bother me one bit,” he said.
“I didn’t strip her to make identifying

fougher, or cover her up or do any-

thing to hide her body. I left her
where the vultures and animals
would gnaw it to nothing in a short
time.”

Hall guided police and the district
attorney to the obscure spot where he

- had dumped his wife’s body. As they

were searching, a farmer approached
them and said back in January he had
found a skull while collecting drift-
wood. He figured it had to be the
skull of a drowned person, washed
up by the Arkansas River currents. He
mounted it on a stick in the shed.

Confronted with the skull, Hall
snickered, “It’s Faye, all right. See
those crooked teeth? Used to hurt me
when we made love.”

Probers uncovered Faye’s red
shoes, a clump of matted hair, sticky
with dried blood, a handful of human
bones, and some tattered rags that on-
ly that previous summer had been an
azure-blue party dress.

Hall admitted that he had gotten
less than $300 for the other three mur-
ders. He took $78 and a gold watch
from Newcomb, $80 from Adams,
and from Mulherin $130.

He snuffed Hamilton in a dis-
agreement over a liquor buy. The .38
he took from the dead bootlegger was
the weapon he used on the succeed-
ing murders. Hall said Adams was a
“nice guy” who offered him a lift.
After swapping dirty jokes, Hall
pulled his gun and forced Adams to
walk a short distance off U.S. 167.
Adams begged for his life but Hall
shot him dead. The bloodstains on the
front seat happened when Hall
punched Adams in the nose.

Mulherin was another do-gooder
who offered Hall a lift. At the first
opportunity Hall shot him, emptied
his pockets, and left him, driving his
truck a short distance before ditching
it and hitchhiking back to Little Rock.

Newcomb resisted, and therefore
suffered a more horrible death than
the others. He shot him with the .38
but he was still alive when Hall
dragged him into the back of the Old-
smobile and set fire to the car. As Hall
walked away he could hear New-
comb screaming.

The trial opened in Little Rock on
Monday, May 7th, 1945, before
Judge Lawrence C. Auten of the First
Division’s Circuit Court. He was de-
clared indigent and public defender
N. M. Moody was appointed as his
barrister. District Attorney Robinson
represented the state.

The defense made an effort to bar
the prosecution from seeking the
death penalty by Claiming that Hall
was suffering from madness.

Robinson, in establishing the cor-
pus delicti, told the court, "If those
little bones could only talk, they
would tell you of a terrible, ungodly
night of horror. Fayrene Clemmons
Hall wasn’t given any trial.

The jurors were convinced. They
deliberated 45 minutes and returned
with a verdict at midnight, May 9th.
Hall, they said was guilty, and they
recommended the electric chair. On
May 14th Judge Auten pronounced
the death sentence. Hall was taken to
the Tucker prison farm.

The Arkansas Supreme Court in
those days was a no-nonsense court,
and they denied every appeal made by
Attorney Moody. Governor Ben Lane
then set the execution date as Jan-
uary 4th, 1946,

On that date Big Red Hall took that
last, fateful journey to the electric
chair. “Boys,” he said. “I’m not
afraid, I can take it.” And he did. All
2000 volts. *

(Editor’s note: The names Betty Miles, Cin-
dy Clark, Patty Alburt, Dave Walton, and Billy
Jo Halop are not the real names of the persons
SO named in the foregoing story. Fictitious
names have been used because there is no pub-
lic interest in the identities of the actual per-
sons.)

The Madman
Who Romanced
His Magnum

(continued from page 9)

“We looked at each other with a
weird look on our faces because he
looked weird,” she said. “Danny said
he didn’t like the looks of the guy and
told me to run. We both did.”

The man yelled at them to stop and
chased after them. “The man was
gaining on us,” the girl said. “Danny

Said we wouldn’t make it and stayed

back to give me time to get away.”
The girl said she ran into the street
and unsuccessfully tried to flag pass-
ing cars. Behind her she heard Danny
and the man yelling at each other. She
said she started back to help Danny

(continued on page 57)
55

HALL. John,

black, elece,

Arkansas SP

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April 2, 3915.

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a *


HILL v. LOCKHART

1389

Cite as 791 F.Supp. 1388 (E.D.Ark. 1992)

5. Habeas Corpus ¢898(1)

Petitioner procedurally defaulted with-
out showing cause and prejudice and
abused writ of habeas corpus by arguing
for first time in second petition that Arkan-
sas Supreme Court failed to conduct com-
parative review of death sentence and re-
view of adverse trial rulings. Rules Gov-
erning § 2254 Cases, Rule 9(b), 28 U:S.C.A.
foll. § 2254; Ark.Sup.Ct.Rules, Rule 11(f).

6. Criminal Law ¢1208.1(6)

There is no constitutional right to com-
parative review or plain error review in
death sentence cases.

7. Habeas Corpus <897

Claimed due process violation in failure
of Arkansas Supreme Court to permit writ
of error coram nobis based upon allegedly
new evidence consisting of confession by
another person could not be raised in sec-
ond habeas petition without violating rule
against successive petitions; question of
alleged confession was explored in great
depth in connection with prior habeas peti-
tion, and petitioner argued issue on due
process grounds in prior case. U.S.C.A.
Const.Amends. 5, 14; Rules Governing
§ 2254 Cases, Rule 9(b), 28 U.S.C.A. foll.
§ 2254.

8. Criminal Law 1218

Arkansas statute requiring defen-
dant’s death to be pronounced according to
accepted standards of medical practice does

not require determination of death to be
made by doctor. A.C.A. § 54-617.

9. Criminal Law €-1213.8(8)

Death by lethal injection is not “cruel
and unusual punishment,” even if locating
vein is difficult and more than single needle
insertion is necessary. U.S.C.A. Const.
Amend. 8.

See publication Words and Phrases
for other judicial constructions and
definitions.

Mark Cambiano, Morrilton, Ark., for
plaintiff/petitioner.

Jack Gillean, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of
Ark., Little Rock, Ark., for defendant/re-
spondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HENRY WOODS, District Judge.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Petitioner Stephen Douglas Hill was con-
victed of capital murder and sentenced to
death by a jury in Pulaski County on March
8, 1985. His conviction was affirmed by
the Arkansas Supreme Court, Hill v. State,
289 Ark. 387, 713 S.W.2d 233 (1986), cert.
denied, 479 U.S. 1101, 107 S.Ct. 1331, 94
L.Ed.2d 182 (1987). He subsequently filed
a Rule 37 request for post-conviction relief,
which was denied. Hill v. State, 292 Ark.
144, 728 S.W.2d 510 (1987). Review was
again denied by the Supreme Court of the
United States. 484 U.S. 878, 108 S.Ct. 208,
98 L.Ed.2d 159 (1987).

Hill then filed a federal habeas corpus
petition asserting the following grounds:

(1) Hill’s video statement given to the
state police was not voluntary;

(2) the jury was permitted to ignore evi-
dence of mitigation;

(3) the jury was permitted to consider an
impermissibly vague, aggravating
factor alleging prior acts of violence;

(4) the prosecuting attorney’s demon-
stration of how Hill had reloaded the
shotgun after killing Klein constitut-
ed prosecutorial misconduct;

ra

(5) while the appeal was pending, Cox
had submitted a written statement
alleging that he, not Hill, had killed

Klein; and
(6) counsel was ineffective.

After a full evidentiary hearing, I denied
the first habeas petition in a lengthy opin-
ion. Hill v. Lockhart, 719 F.Supp. 1469
(E.D.Ark.1989). The Court of Appeals af-
firmed. Hill v. Lockhart, 927 F.2d 340
(8th Cir.1991), and the Supreme Court de-
nied certiorari, —— U.S. —, 112 8.Ct. 344,
116 L.Ed.2d 283 (1991). The State sought
revocation of the stay of execution which I
had placed in effect pending appellate re-
view. The stay has been dissolved, and the
Governor of the State of Arkansas has now
set an execution date of May 7, 1992.

SBN,
PS
ietet N
3339234


1388 791 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

faulted. The petitioner is not entitled to
relief on his guilt phase claims relating to
pretrial publicity, ineffective assistance of
counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.
Thus, the capital murdef conviction must
stand.

The petitioner’s penalty phase claims of
prosecutorial misconduct and sentencing in-
struction error are procedurally defaulted.
The petitioner is not entitled to relief on
any of his penalty phase claims of ineffec-
tive assistance except for the failure of
defense counsel to make a Collins objec-
tion. Becaus¢ of that failure, the Court
ide the death penalty subject to
further review by the Arkansas Supreme

FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS BY IT
OR AT ITS DIRECTION.

°

saAYWms

KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

¥ Steven Douglas HILL,
Plaintiff/Petitioner,
Vv.

A.L. LOCKHART, Director, Arkansas
Department of Correction,
Defendant/Respondent.

No. PB-C-92-240.

United States District Court,
E.D. Arkansas,
Pine Bluff Division.

April 30, 1992.

Federal habeas relief was sought after
conviction for capital murder and death

sentence were affirmed on direct appeal,
289 Ark. 387, 713 S.W.2d 233. The United
States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of Arkansas, 719 F.Supp. 1469, denied
relief, and petitioner appealed. The Court
of Appeals, 927 F.2d 340, affirmed. Peti-
tioner filed second petition. The District
Court, Henry Woods, J., held that: (1) de-
fendant had already raised some issues and
procedurally defaulted with regard to oth-
ers; (2) Arkansas statute requiring defen-
dant’s death to be pronounced according to
accepted standards of medical practice does
not require determination of death to be
made by doctor; and (3) lethal injection is
not cruel and unusual punishment.

Petition denied.

1. Habeas Corpus <=897

Claim in second habeas petition that
jury finding of no mitigating circumstances
was ambiguous and that federal courts ap-
plied incorrect presumption of correctness
was thoroughly argued in first habeas peti-
tion in connection with issue whether jury
was permitted to ignore mitigating evi-
dence of youth and, therefore,: was raised
in violation of rule against successive peti-
tions. Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule
9(b), 28 U.S.C.A. foll. § 2254.

2. Habeas Corpus <—898(1)

Petitioner procedurally defaulted and
abused writ of habeas corpus by raising
issues for first time in second habeas peti-
tion. Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule
9(b), 28 US.C.A. foll. § 2254.

3. Habeas Corpus <—899

Burden was on habeas petitioner to
excuse failure to raise claim in first habeas
petition. Rules Governing § 2254 Cases,
Rule 9(b), 28 U.S.C.A. foll. § 2254.

4. Criminal Law <1208.1(5)

Using prior unadjudicated crimes as
aggravating circumstances to support
death sentence does not infringe upon fed-
eral constitutional rights.

{
{
}


a a ee ee

1390 791 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

The petitioner Hill has filed a second
successive habeas corpus petition and has
contemporaneously filed an application for
a stay of his execution. A second or suc-
cessive writ is governed by Rule 9(b) of the
Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the
United States District Courts. This rule
reads as follows:

(b) Successive petitions. A second or
successive petition may be dismissed if
the judge finds that it fails to allege new
or different grounds for relief and the
prior determination was on the merits or,
if new and different grounds are alleged,
the judge finds that failure of the peti-
tioner to assert those grounds in a prior
petition constituted an abuse of the writ.

Each of the petitioner’s contentions, in-
fra, are embraced within its ambit. For
the most part he fails to allege new or
different grounds for relief. He simply
restates the same grounds by altered ter-
minology. The new grounds could have
been asserted in the prior petition and thus
constitute an abuse of the writ.

In his second habeas petition, Mr. Hill
asserts four grounds for relief:

(1) violation of due process when the Dis-
trict. Court erred in applying the pre-
sumption of correctness to the state
court findings regarding the presen-
tation of mitigating (youthfulness)

* circumstances at petitioner’s trial;

(2) denial of right to effective assistance
of counsel when his trial] attorneys
allowed him to plead guilty to the two
violent felonies charged after his es-
cape from prison which were then
used as aggravating circumstances
during the penalty phase of the trial;

(3) denial of due process when the Ar-
kansas Supreme Court failed to
search the record for errors under
state procedure, and failed to conduct
adequate comparative review; and

(4) denial of due process and equal pro-
tection when the Arkansas Supreme
Court denied petitioner permission to
proceed with his writ of error coram
nobis regarding the newly discovered
evidence.

II. THE YOUTH ISSUE

{1] Petitioner’s youth was an important
feature of his defense during the jury trial
and in the state appellate proceedings. It
was argued thoroughly at the time of the
first habeas hearing and on appeal to the
Court of Appeals. Petitioner claims that
the jury’s finding that “there was no evi-
dence of any mitigating circumstances”
was ambiguous and that the reviewing fed-
eral courts applied an incorrect presump-
tion of correctness to the jury’s finding. I
find this argument to be without merit, as
noted in my opinion denying the first habe-
as petition:

I am in agreement with the Supreme
Court of Arkansas with reference to this
issue. The trial court properly instruct-
ed the jury that form (2) of the verdict
forms listed some mitigating factors it
could consider. (Trial Tr. 95, 1720). The
youth of the defendant was specifically
included on this form. (Trial Tr. 84,
1765). See A.C.A. § 5-4-605(4) (1987).
The jury was told it could find other
mitigating circumstances, and space was
provided for their listing. (Trial Tr.
1720, 84-86, 1764-65). In closing for the
defense in the penalty phase, the youth
of the defendant was_ repeatedly
stressed. (Trial Tr. 1742, 1743, 1744,
1745, 1747).

Nothing in the record suggests that
the jury disregarded petitioner’s youth or
failed to give it consideration. It was
repeatedly placed before the jury in the
verdict forms and closing argument.
The jury simply rejected his youth as a
mitigating factor, which was clearly
within its province.

Hill v. Lockhart, 719 F.Supp. 1469, 1473
(E.D.Ark.1989).

The Court of Appeals made similar com-
ments:

Hill first argues that his sentence ©
should be set aside because the jury
found no mitigating factors despite the
fact that Hill was only eighteen at the
time of the murder and the youth of the

_ defendant is set out by statute as a miti-
gating factor to be considered in impos-


348 927 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

rejecting its finding of no mitigating cir-
cumstances when evidence revealed defen-
dant was an imbecile and suffered from
organic brain Syndrome). ~
‘The jury in this case was given a form
for assessing the existence of mitigating
choices: ©’
(1) Unanimous agreement that a factor
exists. © ee
(2) Agreement by one or more jurors
that a factor exists. : ee.
(3) A finding that evidence regarding a
_ factor was introduced but the jury
unanimously agreed that factor did not
exist at the time of the murder. -

circumstances * that gives the jury four

(4) No evidence of any mitigating factor.

_ Defendant introduced evidence that he
was 18 at the time of the offense, and
“youth” was among the mitigating factors
which the jury, was instructed to consider.

‘Appellant argues that if: the jury had
properly considered and rejected his miti-
gating evidence, it would have chosen op-
tion no. 3. Although option no. 3 is no
model of clarity, it would have been a far
better choice than the selection of option
no. 4. Option no. 4 states.there was “no
evidence of any mitigating factor.” This is
contrary to the undisputed evidence that
appellant at the time of the offense was in
fact 18 years of age. As noted above, the
youth of a person is set out by statute as a
mitigating factor to be considered in impos-
ing the death sentence. Ark.Code Ann.
§ 5-4-605(4) (1987). The jury selection of
choice no. 4 indicates that it impermissibly
ignored or disregarded the mitigating evi-

dence. A finding of “no evidence of any.

mitigating factor” is not the same thing as
considering youth as a factor and then
rejecting it. A finding of “no evidence”
Seems to say that the jury found appellant
was not even a youth. I would have no
quarrel if the jury had been permitted to
find that appellant was a youth, but his
youth did not excuse his conduct. Al-
though it is true that a jury may reject
evidence, it is not true that it may ignore or
disregard evidence material to an issue.

Even if the Arkansas Supreme Court is
willing to speculate by saying the jury

choice of option no. 4 does not “necessarily

indicate that the jury ignored evidence of
appellant’s age,” in a death case, this I am

unwilling to do.

Here, ‘the jury checked the wrong box,

and to affirm the decision of the district

court requires this court’ to second guess

the jury’s thought process. Consequently,
I would reverse and remand for resentenc-

ing on this issue, because I believe that the

jury might have ‘misunderstood what it
could and could not consider. — |

O © KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

4nums

Stephen ADAMS, Appellant,
Vv

RESOLUTION TRUST CORPORATION
as Receiver for Midwest Federal Say-
ings and Loan Association; Harold W.

Greenwood, Jr.; Donald Snede; and.

John Does 1-10, Appellees.
Stephen ADAMS, Appellant,

v

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE COR.
PORATION (FDIC) as manager of the
FSLIC Resolution Fund, Appellee.

Nos. 90-5123, 90-5124,

United States Court. of Appeals,
Kighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 12, 1990.
Decided Feb. 28, 1991.

Purchaser of subordinated debentures
from federal Savings and loan association
brought action to recover for securities and
common-law fraud and sought to rescind
unpaid balance of securities obligation
against debt owed to association. Receiver
was appointed for association, and purchas-
er challenged purchase and assumption
agreement transferring association’s assets
to assignee association. The United States


Clinton calls day
before execution
one of toughest
Associated Press. O- 1 -F OX

’ LITTLE ROCK — Bill Clinton said Friday his
_ decision to proceed with the execution of a con-
victed cop killer gave him one of his ‘‘toughest

\ days as governor’ but added he will now put the
fpr . grim experience behind him. ~ a :

'  ““There is no guilt,’’ the probable Democratic
GS “le presidential nominee told reporters Friday before
*) - leaving for a West Coast campaign trip.

/ _ Steven Douglas Hill, 25, died by injection

{ Thursday night for the 1984 shooting of a state

» police investigator. The U.S. Supreme Court

* rejected two last-minute appeals and Clinton
turned down: Hill’s clemency request.

__ The Arkansas governor could-have called off

“the execution at any time. Hill was the fourth

person’ executed during Clinton’s tenure and the

Second this year.

th ti hn

\ wo
\

Clinton defends decision on execution

M LITTLE ROCK — Bill Clinton said Friday that his

decision to proceed with the execution of a convicted

killer of a police investigator gave him one of his

“toughest days as governor” but added that he will

put the grim experience behind him. “There is no

guilt,” the probable Democratic presidential nominee
| told reporters Friday before leaving for a West Coast
| Campaign trip. Steven Douglas Hill, 25, died by injec-
| tion Thursday night for the 1984 shooting of a state
| police investigator. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected
__ two last-minute appeals, and Mr. Clinton turned down
Mr. Hill's clemency request.

H Saturday, May 9, 1992 The Ballas Morning Xrws


What might have been

Not to rekindle passions over
last week’s execution of Steven
Douglas Hill, but an unsettling
question was raised by Judge J.
Smith Henley of Harrison on the
day of the execution.

It’s too late now for Steven Hill,
but Judge Henley wanted to know
which of the condemned man’s
consecutive sentences should
have been imposed first — the 86
years he received for various
crimes? Or the death penalty that
came later for killing a state po-
lice investigator?

The fact that the two sentences
had been imposed consecutively
rather than concurrently did not
escape Judge Henley’s notice. He
criticized members of the appel-
late court for their decision not to

grant Steven Hilla rehearing. ‘Phe
judge’s view apparently was ~
shared by Judge Theodore MceMil-
lian of St. Louis, who stood alone
in the prevailing 8-1 vote against
granting a stay of exec ution.

Senior judges like J. Smith
Henley can’t vote but their coun-
se] merits consideration. Linger-
ing questions about the guilt of
the condemned man may have
been dispelled by a prison log
noting that he admitted that he
“did -the crime and was ready to
pay for it.”

But the legal question about
which consecutive sentence
should be carried out first may
have to be answered sooner or
later, and should be kept in mind
by sentencing judges.

Established 1871

Arkansas Democrat Arkansas i Oazelle

Established 1819

SS]

Paul R. Smith
V.P. / General Manager

John R. Starr
Managing Editor

Arkansas Democrat Gazette "Wot"

An Independent Daily and Sunday Newspaper

Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Publisher

Paul Greenberg
Editorial Page Editor

8B e ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE @ TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1992 @ @

een wnereneten hem ne ee enon — —

John Mobbs

Advertising Director

Larry Graham

Circulation Ouector

Estel Jeffery, Jr.

Director of Promotions


tf The NATIONAL EXECUTION ALERT NETWORK is a project
of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
For more information, contact: Pamela Rutter, NCADP

1325 G St. NW LL-B, Washington DC 20005 (202)347-2411
Peacenet Access Code--ABOLITION//Non-Business Hours Alert Answering Machine 202-347-2415 ;
Partial Funding for the Alert Network is provided by the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation,
the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, the Boehm Foundation and the Unitarian Universalist

Foundation.

ALERT 92-4 April 30, 1992
“*EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT**
FLORIDA 1 MAY 1992 ELECTROCUTION

EDWARD DEAN KENNEDY, (Black), age 52 has been on death row since January
1982, He was convicted of the robbery/kidnapping/murder of 2 white males,

FLORIDA 6 MAY 1992 ELECTROCUTION
NOLLIE MARTIN, (White), age 43 has been on death row since November 1978. He
was convicted of the robbery/kidnapping/rape/murder of a white female. Martin
and his codefendant both confessed to the killing. The codefendant received a life
sentence. Martin has a history of mental illness.
TAKE ACTION ON FLORIDA CASES, CONTACT: Gov. Lawton Chiles

State Capitol

Tallahassee FL 32301

(904) 488-2272 & 488-3494

FAX (904) 488-9578

TEXAS 7 MAY _ 1992 LETHAL INJECTION
JUSTIN LEE MAY, (White), age 45 has been on death row since 1987. He was
convicted of the robbery/murder of a white female. May and codefendant
Richard Miles were accused of holding up a Western Auto Store when the couple
owning the store were killed. May was only tried for the murder of the woman.
Miles was accused in participating in the shootings and testified against May as part
of a plea bargain that gave him a 42 year prison term. Miles won parole in
December 1990.

TAKE ACTION ON TEXAS CASES: Atiny Gen. Dan Morales Gov. Ann Richards

PO Box 12548 PO Box 12428
Austin TX 78711-2548 Austin TX 78711-2428
(512) 463-2100 (512) 463-2000
FAX (512) 463-1849
ARKANSAS 7 MAY 1992 _LETHAL INJECTION

STEVEN DOUGLAS HILL, (White), age 25 has been on death row since March 1985.
He was convicted of the robbery/murder of a white male police officer. Hill and
codefendant Michael Anthony Cox had escaped during work detail at the Arkansas
Wrightsville Unit where Hill was serving a 5 year sentence. Cox received a 86 year

sentence for his role in the shooting. Cox insists that he fired the shot that killed the
police officer.

TAKE ACTION, CONTACT: Gov. Bill Clinton
State Capitol
Little Rock AR 72201
(S01) 682-2345 FAX (501) 682-1382

” TEXAS _20 MAY 1992 _ LETHAL INJECTION
JESUS ROMERO, (Hispanic), age 25 has been on death row since July 1985. He was
convicted of the rape/murder of a Hispanic female. Romero’s 3 co-defendants

received a variety of sentences. 1 co-defendant recieved a death sentence while
the others received different life sentences.

ee a


Arkansas Democrat Gazette 4/27/92

/ Clemency hearings, appeal presage Hill execution

| BY ANDY GOTLIEB
Democrat-Gazette State Desk

A flurry of activity related

to Steven Douglas Hill’s im-

, pending execution is likely as
the date draws near.

Three days of clemency
hearings start today, and a new
appeal challenging Hill's
death sentence is likely to be
examined this week in federal
district court.

Hill, 25, of Scott is set to die

the Oct. 15, 1984, shooting
death of Arkansas State Police
Investigator Robert Klein.
Hill, the youngest of Arkansas’
35 death row inmates, was 18 at
the time of the incident.
Members of the state Board
of Parole and Community Re-

by lethal injection May 7 for -

habilitation will convene at 10
a.m. today at the Maximum Se-
curity Unit at Tucker (Jeffer-
son County) to interview Hill,
board member Leroy Brown-
lee said. Several people are
expected to speak in support
of Hill.

On Tuesday, Klein’s family
and others will speak in favor
of carrying out Hill’s sentence.
That hearing takes place at 11
a.m. in the board’s Little Rock
offices.

The full board will meet
9:30 a.m. Wednesday to vote on

whether to recommend clem-_

ency for Hill, Brownlee said.
Gov. Bill Clinton said last
week that he, not Lt. Gov. Jim
Guy Tucker, expects to weigh
Hill’s clemency petition.

Tucker serves as governor
when Clinton is campaigning
out of the state.

A ruling on an appeal filed
Tuesday by Hill’s attorney,
Mark Cambiano of Morrilton
(Conway County), could come
later this week. U.S. District
Judge Henry Woods is han-
dling the case.

Cambiano — who ales filed
for. a stay of execution — chal-
lenged Hill’s death sentence
on four grounds. Hill’s youth-
fulness and the fact that Hill’s
accomplice later confessed to
the crime are the two key is-
sues, ;

Assistant Attorney General
Jack Gillean has filed a re-
sponse to the appeal, which he
described as a long shot.

Later this week, the state
Department of Correction will

move Hill to a cell adjacent to ©
’ the death chamber at the Cum-
mins Unit in Grady (Lincoln .

County).

Hill’s case has moved rap-
idly — as death penalty cases
are concerned — and quietly
through the legal system. Fif-
teen inmates have been on
death row longer than Hill,
some by almost 10 years.

Hill’s case also has drawn
little notice, compared with
those of the three inmates exe-
cuted in Arkansas since 1990.

John Swindler’s 1990 execu-
tion drew attention because it
was the first execution in the
state in 26 years.

Ronald Gene Simmons’ exe-

cution a week later also was
heavily publicized for two rea-
sons: the numerous murders
- committed and his wish to

e.

Rickey Ray Rector’s Janu-
ary execution was noteworthy
because of questions about his
mental competence.

Hill — who was serving five
years for breaking and enter-
ing and criminal mischief —
and Michael Anthony Cox es-
caped from a work detail at the
Wrightsville Unit of the De-
partment of Correction the af-
ternoon of Oct. 16, 1984.

After traveling along a
nearby stream, the two men
entered a Woodson house and
tied up the occupants. After
stealing weapons and a truck,

‘sentencing,
‘that he had shot Klein. In a
1989 letter to Gage, Cox wrote

they went to a nearby ban
which was eventually sur-
rounded by police. ,

As Klein and another offi- |
cer examined a truck near the
house about 11:50 p.m., Klein
was shot and killed with a sin-
gle blast from a 20-gauge shot-
gun. ,

Hill surrendered several
hours later after tear gas was
lobbed into the rear of the
house where he was hiding.
Cox surrendered Jess than an
hour later. He had been in the
attic of the house.

According to state police re-
cords, Hill confessed upon
questioning to shooting Klein.
Investigator Bill Gage, who

worked on the case in 1984 and
, 1985, said Friday that he has
no doubts that Hill, not Cox,
shot Klein.

After Hill's conviction and.
Cox contended

that he told Hill before the es-
cape to confess if anyone was
killed. Cox, whose 1984 capital

| murder charge was dropped,

; . ‘ received 86 years in prison in
1985.

In 1989, Woods dismissed

Cox’ claim, contending that

Cox was trying to save his

friend.


HALL, Frank, black hanged at Little Rock, Arkansas, on Dece 9, 1881.

"Little Rock, Dece 9, 1881l-Frank Hall was hanged today at 12:15 for the mrder of Paul
Saunders, The scaffold was erected within the jail yard, and only a limited number of
tickets issued, The execution, however, was witnessed by a large crowd from the adjacent
house=-tops, A few days since Hall embraced the Catholic faith, the rites of the church
peing administered by Rev, Father Henneman, He expresskd Himself as being fully prepared
to die, and ascended the scaffold with a firm step. He made no remarks, but exhibited re-
narkable fortitude throughout the trying ordeal, He died without a struggle,
"The murder which Frank Hall expiated on the gallowstoday, was committed in this county,
something over a year ago, Hall, at that time, was a clerk in the store of Colonel J. M
Dillard, some miles fromthis city. He had acouired considerable influence among the
colored people in the vicinity, and, in a measure, controlled their patronage, On the
evening of the day of the mrder a large number of persons gathered in the little hamlet
in which Dillard's store is situated, Later, four negroes came in the store and bought 2
bottles of bitters from Hall, who, putting the money in the drawer, closed and locked the
store, and went across the street to Colonel Dillard's residence for his supper, On his way
back he met Colonel Dillard, who told him that the store had been broken into, and the con-
tents of the money drawer carried awaye
"The thieves had entered by the main door, abstracted all of the money, anddecamped, leaving
everything else untouched, Steps were taken to capture the robbers, Suspicion pointed
to the nezroes who had last been in the house, and who knew that there was considerable
money in the drawer, They were found at a rival store, spending money freely. Colonel
Dillard announced the robbery and directed Hall to search a colored man by the name of
Pennington, The latter grew very angry and demandedthat Hall should have a warrant, adding
that if he searched him and found no money he would kill him, ‘he threat attracted a crowd,
nearly all of whom expressed sympathy for Pennington, Hall asked for a revolver. One was
handed him, when thetold the throng to keep back or he would hurt somebody, No attmtion
was paid to the command, and Hall began shooting into them, apparently regardless of conse=
quences, The crowd scattered like frightened sheep, running in all directions in order to
get out of the way of the flying bullets,
"Only one person was seriously injured, and this was a colored man named Paul Sanders; who
was fatally wounded and shortly died, in the confusion Hall disappeared, and nothing was
heard or seen of him until recently, whe he returned to the scene of his crime, and was
at once arrested, He was tried, convicted and sentenced, today being selected as the date
of execution, Sincethe death sentencewas pronounced, he has been very cheerful, ‘the
gallows was er@cted in plain view of his window, and he watched its construction with great
interest, manifesting deep concern regarding the soundness of the timber and the thoroughness
of the work. This moming he told the GALVESTON NEWS correspondendt that he was more con-
cerned about being hung in his old clothes than anything else, and expressed great pleasure
when informed that he would be arrayedin a new suit, adding that ‘everybody nowadays were
measured by the clothes they wear.' Hall was 0. He was a noted character, having, it is
alleged, committed two murders in North Carolina and as many more in this State. He like-
wise served a three years term in the state prison for robbery." NEWS, Galveston, Texe,
12-10-1881 (1/7,)

HALL, James We, @hite, 2, electrocuted Arkansas (Pulaski Co.) on Jane ly 1916.

"By Pat Walsh, United Press Staff Correspondent. = Little Rock, Ark. = (UP) -
James We Hall, 2heyear-old taxi driver, confessed murderer of six persons, strutted
‘like a proud turkey gobbler! before other prisoners in the Little Rock jail Satur-
day night. State police and city and county officers meanwhile s studied details of
his confession to the series of hitchhike murders and attempted to decide in which
of four counties they would charge him with first degree murder. ‘He's back there
in the jail laughing about the killings,' Chief of Detectives 0, N. Martin said,
'He thinks he is a very smart man. He struts around like a turkey gobbler.' The
S-foot-10-inch Hall was an inveterate reader of Detective Story magazines, Martin
said. He particularly liked stories of murder cases. 'We found one of those maga-
zines open in his room to a story in which the victim was shot in the head and

his body burned to prevent identification,’ Martin said. That was the méthod used
¢o kill J. D. Newcomb, Jr., chief boiler inspector of the state labor department,
However, we identified Newcomb's body by Xeray pictures of his teeth, Hall had
two businesses besides running a taxicab, Martin said. One was that of killing
for a thrill and for such money as he could take off his victims, The other was
the operation of a date bureau for sehvice men. ' A search of his belongings re«
vealed a small. book in which he had the names and addresses of 50 women,' Martin
said. 'He fixed up dates for them with service men and it looks like he made be-
tween $20 and $50 a day driving his cab and making dates, He was doing a land-~
office business but he had this killing and robbing stuff in his mind most of the
time and apparently thought out ways and means of hitching rides and killing the
persons who gave him the lifts.' Hall, a 175=pounder, has light red hair with a
nice wave in it. He is a man would would be attractive to women, He failed to
finish high school and uses poor English, 'He was drafted,’ Martin said, ‘and
placed in the navy but was discharged because he was unshitable for service, It
seems he refused to take orders and was always getting into trouble,'" NEWS ,
Jackson, Mississippi, March 18, 1945 (1:2

"Little Rock, Arke (AP) = A 2heyeareold taxi driver - 'when he worked! = was held
in Pulaski county jail here Saturday on charges after police reported he had con-=

fessed to killing six persons, including his second wife and an Arkansas state
official. State Police Sergeant Homer Sims and City Detective Herbert R. Peterson
said James We. Hall, red-haired native of Enola, Ark.e, told them last night that he
killed: Je De Newcomb, Jr.e, of Little Rock, state boiler inspector, whose charred
body was found in his automobile last Thursday night near Heber Springs; His second
wife, Mrs, Faye Clements Hall; E. C. Adams, of Humboldt, Kansas, found slain in
his car near Fordyce, southwest of Little Rock, Feb. 1; Doyle Mulherin of Little
Rock, Packing Company truck driver, whose body was found on the roadside between
Brummett and Stuttgart in eastern Kansas on Feb. 8; An unidentified negro woman at
Salina, Kansas, seven years ago; An unidentified negro at Camden, Ouachita County,
in Januarye Peterson said Hall, a five-ten, 170 pound dapper looking man was
arrested Friday morning on a tip that he had left Little Rock and headed toward
Conway, Arke,y on the day Newcomb was slain. Conway is between Little Lock and
Heber Springs, where Newcomb's body was found." NEWS, Jackson, MS, Mar. 17, 195

(835


wayburn, electr Arkansas (Pulaski) on


sO ONE REPORTED the car during the first 24 hours.
* © Truckers following U. S. No. 167 across southern Arkan-
sas on February 1, 1945, saw it parked just above Fordyce.
That was on Thursday evening. Early Saturday morning a
customer in E. C.. McCollum’s little country store brought
it to the proprietor’s attention.

“That owner crowds his luck,” this man remarked.
hate to risk my machine like that.”

McCollum snapped the string on a parcel. In addition to
storekeeping he was deputy sheriff of this district. ‘Is it
still there? Maybe I’d better look into it.”

“I thought you might. The tires are in fair shape. I’m
surprised it hasn’t been stripped.”’

One look at the abandoned auto told McCollum that,
although not stripped, it had been thoroughly looted. Scat-
tered papers lay on the seat. The glove compartment was
open and empty. The keys were missing and an attempt had
been: made to wire around the ignition. He also saw—and
followed—the footprints of two men leading into the timber
on the right. That’s how he found the body.

“I'd

ot
baa tree
as
bee,

ra,
\ Paw
te vy
res erg

bY ER Se en eT

os
: 4 pier
&& ia Bengt

Without stopping for a close examination he hurried to
the store and called Captain J. Earl Scroggin of the state
police at Little Rock.

“It’s murder, probably 36 hours ago. The man was shot
through the head and robbed. It’s a Kansas car.” McCollum
gave Scroggin the license number. “I've called my chief.
He'll be here by the time you make it. I’ll stand guard until
you come.” .

Captain Scroggin summoned Lieutenant Rhett Oliphant
and Sergeant Homer Sims. Passing through the outer office
he dropped the license number on an assistant’s desk. The
three officers swung out of the old prison yard in which the
state police are quartered and sped south some 70 miles
into Cleveland County.

McCollum had roped off the car. He and his superior,
Sheriff A. D. Glover, had examined its interior. Small tools
lay on the floor. -The papers were Kansas, Oklahoma and
Arkansas road maps. There was no luggage.

State officers followed McCollum and Glover some 75
yards into the woods. The dead man lay face down on the
leafy earth carpet, shoes removed, the pockets of his clothes
turned inside out. .

“Walked in here and shot from the rear,” Captain Scroggin
muttered. “He didn’t have a chance.”

Glover nodded. “The killer circled some distance in getting
back to the road. Mac and I looked for tracks coming out.
Thus far we haven’t found any.”

“You said 36 hours, McCollum. How do you fix the time ?”

“T was over the road twice Thursday afternoon,” the deputy
replied. “The machine was here at 6 o’clock, but it wasn’t
parked at 4:30.” ;

There was nothing on the déad man to indicate his identity,
but they did find the missing car keys in a small hidden
pocket of his coat. Evidently he had secreted them as he
left the auto and the killer failed to find them, hence the -
effort to wire around the switch. The body was removed
to Rison, seat of Cleveland County. Glover and McCollum
remained at the scene to continue their investigation. Scrog-
gin detailed Oliphant and Sims to assist them, and returned
to headquarters to set the state’s police machinery in motion.

A notation lay on his desk. The car was registered to
E. C. Adams of Humbolt, Kan.. Calling this town Scroggin
settled the slain man’s identity. Adams had left home to
seek work in the recently opened ordnance plant-at Camden,
Ark. He was making the drive alone.

Oliphant and Sims returned that evening with a bullet
found in the victim’s head and sales slips from two Little

’ Rock stores. The slug was turned over to Lieutenant Alan

Templeton, state ballistics expert.

“We checked on these sales,” Oliphant said. “Adams
bought overalls, the sort painters wear, at one store and a
yard of white duck at the other. Probably intended to make
a carpenter’s apron. That was shortly before noon, Thurs-
day.”

“Was he alone ?”’ ;

“In the stores, yes. No one saw him at his car. We've
studied those maps. His route is marked. If, as it appears,
he followed U. S. No. 64 from Muskogee, Okla., we should

‘ be able to check back and see if anyone was with him. We

thought we’d do that tomorrow unless you’ve got something
else laid out.” ;

“Good idea.” Scroggin calculated the mileage. ‘Leaving
home Wednesday, he’d make it to Fort Smith that night
and with steady driving should be at the spot where he was
killed at about the right time. It looks to me like a hitch-.
hike murder.”’

That opinion soon became general. Inquiries at hotels,

bo Sob te gs alae
ge hci eit OReant bee
;


a

tourist cottages and eating places along
Highway No. 64 established the fact that
Adams was alone as far as Little. Rock.

veland County officers spent days in a

Itless search for anyone who might
Nave seen him after he left Arkansas’
capital city.

At the end of a week they had one slim
lead. On the morning of February 3, in
Camden, 25 miles below Fordyce, a pool
hall operator turned over to the local
police a suitcase he found on his door-
step. It contained masculine clothing;

*a few shirts and white overalls laundry-
marked with the initials of the murdered
man,

FIREMEN in Stuttgart. Ark. drained a
sewer down which the slayer said he had
dropped a set of keys. They were not found.

HERE the case was deadlocked. Weeks
passed. Then on March 8 Captain
Scroggin received another. telephone call.
Two of them, in fact, within ten minutes.
The first was from the Western Meat
Company asking that his men search for
one of their delivery trucks lost some-
where between Little Rock and Stuttgart,
55 miles to the southeast. The second
came from Stuttgart. A truck load of un-
delivered meat had been standing for
hours in a side street near the railroad
tracks. The keys were missing. There
was no sign of the driver.

Scroggin relayed this information to
the meat firm. ‘““‘What about your man on
this truck?” he inquired. “The police
down there think he got to drinking,
maybe, and abandoned it.”

“Not Doyle Mulherin,”’ was the prompt
reply. “He’s one of our most reliable

@: You could set your watch by

“i deliveries. That’s how we knew some-
thing was wrong when they began calling
in to say he hadn’t shown up. He'd never
go off and leave the truck, captain.”
_ Scroggin paused long enough to’ tele-
phone a request that Stuttgart police
guard the truck. Lieutenant Oliphant
was out. He took Sergeant Sims on the
trip. :

There was nothing questionable about
the truck except that its driver was .
missing. The meat was intact. Retracing
the route they found that Mulherin’s last
deliveries had been made at Humnoke, 13
miles west. They made the rounds of
markets he had visited. In each instance
he had been on time and gone on promptly.
But there was no trace of him after his
last stop in this town.

Returning to Stuttgart they were ex-
amining the truck for fingerprints when a
frantic call reached the local police. A
man and woman, fishing along the bayou,
had found the body of a man lying in a
rice field not far from the bank. He was

WITH James Hall (hatless) in, their cus-
toedy. officers revisit the scene where an
automobile was bumed with a dead man in it.

shot through the back of the head and had
been dead for hours. _

Here it was.again, the pattern of hitch-
hike murder, perhaps the. hardest of all
crimes to solve. Hastening to the scene
the two officers found their fear realized.
Doyle Mulherin had been killed at mid-
day, 75 yards from a well-traveled high-
way. His pockets were turned inside out.
The money he would have collected for
his employer was gone.

“His daring is what gets this killer by,”
Scroggin remarked at the finish of a vain
search for evidence. “I'll leave it to you,
Sims. It’s a real job, with less to go on
than in the Adams case. Let me know if
you need help.”

The body was taken to town. Captain
Scroggin waited while medical examiners
recovered the bullet. Sims remained at
the scene, questioning everyone in the
neighborhood. Several persons thought
they had seen the slayer.

*He’s a big chap,” one man declared.
“T saw him run across the road about the
time the meat truck usually comes along.”

Two boys fishing in Bayou Meto, which
flows past Humnoke, described a man,
they had seen loitering near the bridge.
He was young, good looking and had
light, curly hatr. A woman told of seeing

‘murder scene.

a man in striped overalls walking in the
field at about the hour of the murder. He
had light, stringy hair. And still another
woman heard a gun, which she took at the
time to be a car backfiring. and saw a
man entering a bit of timber near the
But the person she de-
scribed was middle-aged and walked with
a slight limp.

Sims spent days running down these
and other stories. At the end of a week
he was back at headquarters with just one *
tangible lead. The Mulherin killer was ~
young, good looking and had red hair.

“T finally found two fellows who agreed —
on that description,” he told his chief. —

STOPPING ONE victim's car on this best
highway (X) in broad daylight. the . killer
shot him. “You have to work fast.” he sai:

“Neither knew the other had seen him. ~
They’re colored men, father and
The father lives near the highway.
son drives a truck from Stuttgart
to England. ee
“You know how truckers get to know |
each other and signal as they pass. This
colored boy generally met the meat truck
as it approached Stuttgart. On the day
of the murder it came along at about the —
right time. He was all set to give the —
high-sign when he saw a stranger at the ~
wheel; a young fellow with red, wavy __
hair. Now this boy’s father saw the same
redhead in the truck with Mulherin some-
where between Humnoke and Brummitt.
Seems the old man was going to town that
day and went out to the highway to ride
in with his son. He’d seen the meat truck
many times. He knew Mulherin. I[t was
the first time he'd ever seen him with
rider.” :
“And their descriptions tally.” Scrog
gin fingered a paperweight thoughtfull
‘You've noticed the different ideas people.
often have of what they see. Hair tha
one person calls red and curly might af
pear light and stringy to another.
these two agree—so we're that muc
ahead. Now I’ve news for you, sergeant
I have Templeton’s report on the bulle®

Adai
same
qT
ning
too
boile
parti
spect
“to th
made
an in
pear,
telep!
“Eh
comb
a lift

feared
Scrog;
the ala
the sta
anxiou
finally
night,
Oldsm:
smoulc
80 mil
miles i
had st
machir
At
seemed
sped th
driven
and fir
_ State,
guard
Turney
Plant « |
cooled —
the lic
Inspect
comb’s

HE

Wit
took th
Tecove:

Adams and Mulherin were killed with the
same gun. It’s a .38.”

This conference occurred on the eve-
ning of March 7. About noon on the
following day J. D. Newcomb, Jr., chief
boiler inspector with the state labor de-
partment, left Little Rock to make an in-
spection at Clarksville, about 100 miles
to the north and west.
made the drive in a few hours. It was
an unportant job. When he failed to ap-
pear, the firm that had called for him
telephoned to inquire about him.

‘That is how the’search started. New-
comb was a friendly man, ever ready with
a lift for the other fellow. His friends

ski

LEFT to right:

~Newcomb was

He should have.

Lieutenant Rhett Oliphant. Sergeant

teeth intact and an upper denture such as
known to’ wear. There
was also a set of keys held together by a
metal bar, the leather burnéd away. There
was no bullet, no weapon, no valuables
of any sort.

By noon a Little Rock dentist had
established the dead man’s identity. The
keys fitted Newcomb’s desk. His family
reported an undetermined amount of
money, a gold watch bearing his initials
and a ring he habitually wore as missing.

The task, then, was to search for these
items and to trace the course of New-
comb’s car. Sims and Patrolman Moore
undertook the latter job, leaving Turney

5 my
Peterson,

James Hall, Sergeant Homer Sims, Sergeant Harold J. Judd.
State Police Captain J. Earl Scroggin and Sheriff Gus Caple.

teared for him from the start. Captain
Scroggin, absent on another matter when
the alarm reached his office, failed to hear
the statewide broadcasts. He missed the
anxious telephone calls. When word
finally reached him at 10 o’clock that
night, a car believed to be Newcomb’s
Oldsmobile had been found burned to a
smouldering wreck near Heber Springs,
80 miles northeast of Little Rock and 120
miles from the place to which Newcomb

- had started. A man had burned with the

machine.

A third hitch-hike murder? ‘So’ it
seemed to Scroggin and Sims as thev
sped through the night. The car had been
driven some 300 yards along a side road
and fired.

_ State Patrolman Johnny Moore was on

guard with two local sheriffs, T. L.
Turney of Cleburne County and Tatum
Plant of White. By then the wreck had
cooled enough that they could examine
the license plate. It, and tools a boiler
Mspector uses, told them this was New-
Comb’s car.

HE BODY was virtually cremated.
With the coming of day Sims under-

_ took the grim task of sifting human ashes,

Tecovering a piece of lower jawbone with

and Plant to scout the immediate vicinity.
Little Rock police made the rounds of
pawnshops. And in the office of Chief of
Detectives O. N. Martin, Sergeant Her-
bert Peterson discussed the three cases.

“It strikes me that our man is oper-
ating right out of Little Rock,” the grave-
faced detective declared. “Notice how the
crimes have branched out from here. One
north, one east, one south. It’s a perfect
pattern except that in this case the car
and body were burned. Chief, don’t we
have a record of another auto that went
up in flames not long ago?”

“It had nothing to do with murder,”
Martin said. “That car was supposed to
be stolen. There was something odd,
though. The woman who called in said it
belonged to her nephew who didn’t know
how to report a stolen car.” Martin
grinned. “Later we found that the nephew
was an ex-convict and figured that was
why he didn’t phone. That machine
burned out west of town about the middle
of January. What are you getting at,
Peterson ?”

“YT don’t know exactly.” The detective
filled his pipe and puffed at it thought-
fully. “It’s just an idea. What's the fel-
low’s name ?”’

“Eddie Ricker.

Why don’t vou scout

around?” Martin suggested. “Be inter-
esting to see what. you turn up.”

Martin couldn’t have guessed just how
interesting it was going to be. Peterson
sought Ricker’s aunt, who didn’t know
where he was. Two days were spent
searching for him. Meanwhile Sergeant
Sims was following the backward trail
of Newcomb’s car. It began with a bus
driver.

“I’m sure I saw that Olds. It picked
up speed just as 1 passed it a little way
out of Heber Springs,” this man declared.
“I watched in the mirror thinking it
would go around me, but it didn’t and
when I looked again it wasn’t in sight.
There were no crossroads. I knew it had
either dropped back or turned off into
a lane.”

Sims. found several people who had
noticed dense smoke in the woods about
4 o'clock in the afternoon of March 8. He
talked with two boys who had seen the
car turn into the logging road. Except
that he was young and generally fair they
couldn’t describe the driver. The car had
come from the north. A rear tire was
flat.

Sims headed north. Some distance
above Heber Springs he found where the
Olds had forded a flooded stream.

“The driver drowned his motor and
had to wait for it to dry,” a youth who
had observed the incident reported. “No,
I don’t know what he looked like. I was
standing on a bluff and couldn't see. into
the car. All I know is he was alone.”

To Sims that meant Newcomb was al-
ready -dead at the time. There was no
further report. Completing a long, fruit-
less circle he returned to the scene of the
fire. By this time the local officers had
word of a young man in a gray overcoat
who boarded a Heber Springs bus late
Thursday, afternoon. Sims sought the
local bus station and found the trail lost
in the purchase of a ticket for Little Rock.
No one had seen the gray overcoated man
enter a Little Rock bus or emerge from it.

Was this ticket purchase a blind or did
it really bear out the theory that the killer
was operating out of Little Rock? Ser-
geant Peterson would have given much
to know. All through Friday and Satur-
day he had sought the elusive Ricker.
Late Saturday night he learned that Ricker
worked for a local taxicab company. And
about the time this knowledge reached
him, Captain Scroggin received an anony-
mous telephone call. A woman wanted to
know why he didn’t investigate one James
Hall in the case-of C. F. Hamilton, shot
to death in Camden on or about Jan-
uary 17.

The call was traced to a pay station.
Hall, the woman said, lived in Little
Rock at an address that seemed familiar
to Detective Chief Martin when Scroggin
passed it on to him, along with what in-
formation the state police had on the
Hamilton murder. The name Hall was
also familiar but Martin didn’t place it
at once. He turned the matter over to
Peterson and his partner, Sergeant Harold
J. Judd.

“Hamilton was a Negro barber,” he
explained. “He was shot through the
side with a .45 and his body dumped out.
oi a car by the roadside. Two steel
jacketed bullets were removed.”

“Was this (Continued on page 43)


CONTENTS SEPTEMBER, 1945

INSIDE d elective

West Peterson, Editor

Carlos Lone, Betty Gleason, Associate Editors Otto Storch, Art Director

THE THIRD DEGREE......... fies tel tne oe The Old Sleuth 4 | POSTMASTER: Please send no-

want York 16, New Y
HY + 5nd Snowe sling Fags oe sav 0 Oe Vinevas odin d Bh ccacs. 1
HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION.............. Dr. LeMoyne Snyder 8 ‘e
CHASING CHICAGO’S PHANTOM FIREBUG... Harrison T. Carter 14
INSIDE CTIVE, Vol 22,

APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH................ Anthony Durand 18 ns 2 sit oor
SAN FRANCISCO’S LADY cops............_. ni sn gi Otek, 2i ety Ie. Published pont

e ¢ of publication at ing-
MURDER SMELLS SWEET.....:.. Jack Harrell 22 No Bremen ond
PUZZLE OF THE PAPER SCRAPS... John M. Makris. 26 Avene Now York 9a 33"
ie Chicago advertising office, 360
CASE OF THE SCHEMING HATTER... __ Walter S. Tobias 30 - ‘!: /Wichisan Avenue, Chicago
CAMERA FLASHES Single copy price ten cents. Sub-

COSMOTE Oe Ooo arene $45 sep death MME S'S 32 —xcription in the United States
. $1.00 hy pape sub-
ssp oad By gin Dorothy Merrill 34  Sibscrimtion $9.90 Cover
tered as second class matter

NECKTIE PARTY

Office at Dunellen, N. J., under
Ac 3, 1879. The
isher accepts no responsi-
Gover Kodachrome by Pagano bility forthe return of unsolicited
material. All manuscripts

accompanied by stamped,

information and self-addressed envelope.

district attorneys and jurists,

__ Te * RUST-RESTSTART, The Third Degree

4 B L A D E § _@@ | WE HAVE three “postscripts” this month life imprisonment.” The killer was a good
to bring Insme D

INSIDE DETECTIVE is a periodical for the dissemination of technical
crime-prevention news to the police officers, county coroners,

ETECTIVE readers up to Prophet; the death sentence was imposed.
date on cases described in recent issues. :

‘ “ " Policy pay
se In the May I. D., under the title of “Mrs. THE OLD SLEUTH béca g to sicknes
ey, Doom,” Bert Murray gave the inside story of an uncle, or something, the other income

es bio of Mrs. Louise Peete, one of the most ex- day when Larry Roberts, conductor of months,
3s as | traordinary murderesses in the. annals of the “Nothing but the Truth depart-
merican crime. Since then, the woman has ec 2 became the proud father of a
‘been sentenced to die. “Douncing baby boy. The junior crimin- .
“Louise Peete is scheduled’ to go to the ologist weighed in at 7. pounds 8 ounces, ere ao
San entin gas chambey,” Bert informs and—yep, you guessed it!—he was im- an ac
The Old Sleuth. “A jury of eleven women mediately’ turned over to a hospital aha
and one man found her guilty of first degree identification expert who took his foot- samt
murder, without recommendation of mercy. prints!
The death sentence was imposed a few days THE POLICE have no end of odd experi- 4
later by Judge Harold B. Landreth, How- ences in the pursuit of duty. -These.can often j
ever, under Eslifornia law an automatic. ap- be exasperating, but they have their amusing }
peal is entered in behalf of all persons so _ side as well. , Sat 1
sentenced, At this writing, Louise is in- Witness the recent labors imposed upon the
ehachapi prison awaiting review by the force of Old Tappan, N. J., when a 12-year-
appeals court. She’s hopeful... .” old boy breathlessly reported he had seen a
-D. readers will remember the case of human head floating in the calm waters of
Joseph Medley, whose murders of red-haired Reif’s Lake. The constabulary and fire de-
women were related in the July issue. Tried partment closed off a dam at the head of
in Washin for the slaying of Nancy the lake, pumped out a half-million gallons
| Boyes Medley heatd a iary vote the death of water, and discovered—a murder victim’s
sentence agaimst him, also. As we gotopress corpse? Not at all! On the muddy lake bot-
defense counsel announce they will appeal tom they found only a rag doll, 14 inches in ;
“on the basis of newly found evidence.” length! The “human head” seen by the boy , Policy pays
In the July I.D.’ ‘also we presented the belonged to the discarded plaything! for sickness,
amazing tale of James W. Hall, 24-year-old While on the subject of odd police jobs, ‘ antes hosp
taxi driver who took up: murder as a sideline we might mention that the bluecoats of per pion
o .and confessed to numerous hitchhike slay- Rockaway Beach, N. Y., had to take a five- seetioae ond
ng —~s : ings, as well as to the-killing of his wife. foot alligator into custody. It seems that S tarvice
5 BLADES PPB LEE € was put on trial in Little Rock, Ark.,. in neighbors complained that the ’gator was eat- specified to o
3 ron . © EF connection with his wife’s death, and the jury ing all their cats. The owner of the strange
25. Bim ceeined a midnight verdict of “guilty in the pet was ares into court on a sate - The SE!
rst degree.” arboring a dangerous animal. .. .We R s
PROFESSIONAL BLADE CO. Our story quoted Hall as’ saying, “I sup- _ variety, so they Say, is the spice of life. See 475-P
4 32 GREEN STREET NEWARK 2, N. J Pose I'll get the chair, but that’s better than. you next month! —THE OLp Steuta.

eR ESS sain 4 si on eal . a


-~

Smiling Slayer

(Continued from page 29)

those hitch-hike jobs?”
There was nothing of

another one of

“I .don’t know.
value on Hamilton.”

“Who is this fellow Hall?”

“T don’t know that, either, but I’ve heard
the name before. I’ll check our records.”

Six days had passed since Newcomb's
death and the investigation had reached a
discouraging deadlock. On the morning of
March 14 city police were still combing the
town for someone who might have ridden
the Heber Springs-Little Rock bus with
the man in the gray overcoat. Sergeant
Judd went to Camden for further details
on Hamilton’s death. Peterson picked up
Eddie Ricker at his taxi stand.

The 30-year-old former convict was ex-
tremely nervous. “My car burned, all right.
but I had nothing to do with it,” he blurted.

Peterson hid a smile. No one had accused
the man. He had a guilty conscience. “Who
did?” was the natural query.

“Hall. He set fire to it.”

Peterson’s pulse quickened. Here was
a most unexpected break. “That's a strange
thing to do to a friend’s car,” he said gravely.
“Would you know why?”

“No. He just did.”

Suspicion grew in Peterson’s mind. “This
was in January, about the time a man was
killed down in Camden.” He paused, then

added evenly, “What did Hall do with the _

gun?”

Ricker whitened. Again in his fear he
said too much. “He. brought it to me. I'd
no use for a gun so I sold it.”

“You mean you didn’t want it after he'd
used it on Hamilton. Is that it?”

ISIBLY THE former convict pulled

himself together. “No, I just didn’t
need a gun,” he insisted. He denied all
knowledge of Hamilton’s death. He knew
nothing of Hall’s present whereabouts, he
claimed. Peterson put him in a cell to think
it over, and sought Chief Martin.

“I found the Hall record,” Martin told
him. “He’s the young fellow who drew a
$100 and costs fine for his part in a street
brawl not long ago. I also find that last
fall we hunted a James Hall to inquire into
the disappearance of his wife, whose people
asked us to look for her. I don’t know that
both Halls are the same person. We never
found either of them. It looked like a family
splitup: Maybe we'd better see if she ever
came back. Her parents live out at Lonoke.”

Calling this little town the police found
that Faye Hall, aged 19, had left her -three-
room apartment on Maryland Avenue on
September 14 and nothing had been seen or
heard of her since that date.

“Her husband told a friend she had left
him and was in California visiting a sister,”
the mother of the lost girl said. “That’s
not true. We have no daughter in Cali-
fornia. We've been terribly worried, but
when the police failed to find her we didn’t
know where to turn.”

Interest in James Hall went up another
degree. He no longer lived at the Maryland
Avenue apartment.

“He left months ago and hasn’t been back,”
the owner said. “We never knew of any
trouble between him and his wife. She was
a sweet, quiet girl. He was always smiling
and agreeable. We hated to lose them.”

Were there two James Halls? Peterson
took that question to Eddie Ricker.

“The one I know is also called James
Wayburn, and he’s separated from his wife,”
Ricker said sullenly. “That’s all I can tell
you.”

Sergeant Judd returned from Camden

AN ADVERTISEMENT OF PEPSI-COLA COMPANY

“Oh, boy! Where did you get that!”

to report nothing new in the Hamilton case.
The two officers concentrated on Hall. Late
that night they learned that he was due to
report for work with a taxicab company the
following morning.

One look at him and they knew what they
had. He was young, handsome and his red
hair was wavy. Both minds flashed to the
Mulherin case. But instead of mentioning
ender the policemen inquired about his
wife.

“Oh, is that it?” he said jovially. “I sup-
posed you were interested in that police
court fine. I can pay it now that I have a
job. About Faye—she quit me six months
ago. Just walked out of the Rainbow Garden
where we’d gone to dance and never came
back. I’ve no idea where she is.”

He took arrest on suspicion with a smile
and surrendered personal things—keys,
pocket knife and billfold—without protest.
Doubtless he had forgotten the damning bit
of evidence tucked into one of the wallet
compartments. It was a parcel post receipt.
The package had been mailed in Camden.
The date was February 2.

The day after the Adams murder! Quick
to get the significance, Peterson and Judd
contacted postal authorities who traced the
receipt. The parcel had been mailed to a

- girl in Little Rock. They paid her a visit.

“Yes, I got the box, along with a card
from Hall asking me to hold it for him until
he called for it,” she said.

“Then you don’t know what was in it?”

“Oh, yes. He opened it in my presence.
There were cigarettes, two clocks, a shaving
mug and some razor blades. I bought ‘one
of the clocks.”

She surrendered her purchase, an electric
model for which she had paid $5. The other
was brown enameled, she said, with an alarm

that needed repairs. Peterson and Judd tele- °

phoned to Humbolt, asking the Kansas
police to check with Mrs. Adams on the
contents of her husband’s suitcase.

The reply came promptly. Among his
personal effects he had carried cigarettes and
two clocks of the sort described.- The painted
timepiece had his name scratched on it.

Jubilantly Peterson and Judd reported to
their chief. “We've got the Adams killer,
and that takes care of the Mulherin matter,
too, for he answers the description we have
and we know the two men were killed with
the same gun. Our next job is to find it.”

“You might go a little easy, now that you
have your man,” Martin suggested. “You boys
haven’t taken time to eat in 17 hours.”

The two sergeants exchanged wry grins.
“We'll eat—and sleep too when we get him
sewed up tight. To do that we’ve got to
have his .38.”

With this in mind they sought Hall's
present rooming house as listed with the
taxicab company. It was in North Little

His landlady was quite disturbed. “He
seemed such a nice boy,” she said unhappily
when told of the officers’ business. “So quiet,
with no bad habits. He didn’t drink or
smoke. He paid his rent promptly. He was
so polite. I can’t believe anything wrong
of him—except . . .” her voice trailed off
uncertainly. ‘

“Yes?”
what?”

“That he kept such irregular hours. It
worried me for I like to lock my house. I
finally told him—just last night, it was—

‘Rock.

Peterson prompted. “Except

that I wanted to rent his room to a woman,

and asked him to find another place.” ,
In the room of this “nice, polite” youth the
two detectives found a great quantity of ciga-

rettes at a time when they were very scarce. .

They unearthed a .38-caliber Smith and
Wesson revolver tucked under a mattress.
And they came upon a gray overcoat.

The gun was turned over to Lieutenant
Templeton. Within an hour they knew
it to be the death weapon. There remained
one more point before they were read¢ to

43


confront the suspect with their evidence.
eddie Ricker could clear it. Peterson talked
very straight to him.

“We've got your friend: Hall on these
iitch-hike murders,” he said flatly. “Unless
rou want to be charged with him, tell us
vhere you sold the .45 you loaned him, along
vith your car, the time that Camden barber
was shot.”

Ricker gasped.
about the car?”

“You did loan it—didn’t you?—and it
came back so covered with blood that you
had to get rid of it. So you and Hall set
fire to it.” And while Ricker faltered under
this shrewd reasoning, Peterson clinched
the matter by adding in level tones, “Unless,
uf course, you drove the auto yourself on
that murderous expedition.”

“No... No, [ didn’t! I just let him
have my machine and gun. When he came
hack he said we'd have to do something
about them. So, like I told you, I sold the
gun and he burned the car.”

“What do you mean—

DURING THE questioning Ricker let

fall another damaging statement. “I sug-
gested once that we get on at the Camden
ordnance plant. Hall laughed at me; said
he never worked and would go out on the
highway to get his money.”

“Just when was this ?”” Peterson demanded.

“A few days ago. About a week, maybe.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be the day New-
comb was killed?” the detective inquired
evenly. But Ricker refused to say more.

It wasn’t necessary. That night Captain
Scroggin set a careful stage in the old peni-
tentiary building at the edge of Little Rock.
City police had recovered the .45 from the
man who had purchased it. On a table under
a newspaper lay both guns, an electric clock,
cigarettes, the gray overcoat and a small

asteboard box neatly wrapped in white

iper. The captain sat at the head with a
ace opposite for Hall. Lieutenants Oli-
phant and Templeton and Sergeant Sims
were on one side. On the other were chairs
for Peterson and Judd. -

The jaunty young prisoner was brought in.
At Scroggin’s suggestion Peterson did the
talking. Piece by piece the evidence was
uncovered. The .45 with two steel jacketed
bullets removed from Hdmilton’s body. The
.38 and its matching slugs.

Hall parried every question, eyeing the
clock indifferently, shrugging away the over-
coat. He was still amiable, still smiling
When the package was unwrapped and the
ashes of J. D. Newcomb spread out on the
paper before him. Even then his expression
didn’t change. His glance swept the faces
about the table. To all appearances he was
the coolest man in the room when he finally
said deliberately, “All right, I killed them.
I'll tell you all about it.”

There was little elation in that sober
group of officers. Instead, wonder mingled
with regret that a youth of so fine an appear-
ance, with such an ingratiating personality,
should go so terribly astray. For Hall
showed no compunction. He was as un-
concerned as though he were discussing
the slaughter of chickens. :

“It doesn’t bother me to kill,” he said.
“Animals or people. I could always do it—
but I never hurt anything.- You see I never
let anyone suffer,” he added hastily. “It
was always quick and easy.” Yet he told
of beating his pretty bride of six months to
death with his bare hands. “

“It was the night of the dance. She’d

‘en spending too much money. I got tired
v1 it so I drove out along the river bank,
took her into the woods and killed her. I
must have hit her 20 times. I can take you
to the spot . . . Those others, well, I needed
money. I went out on the highway and Adams
was the first man along.

“I can always get rides,” he boasted. “It

44 isn’t the gesture, it’s the look you give the

driver. I can stop anyone. I rode with
Adams to a likely place and marched him
into the woods. He tried to run. [ couldn't
afford to let him get away .. . He had two
watches and some money. About $25, I
guess.”

“Not much to kill a man for,” Peterson
remarked gravely.

Hall flashed his quick smile. “No, but if -

you keep knocking them off you hit the
jackpot after awhile. I got better than $100
out of the next one. About those watches,
one had a lot of fancy engraving. I threw
it away ... I couldn’t start his car without
the keys so I took two suitcases and caught
a ride on into Camden.”

Hall was equally matter of fact about
Doyle Mulherin. “He picked me up at the
Bayou Meto bridge, just outside of Humnoke.
I only rode a few miles with him. He’d made
some collections. The money was in three
different wallets. I took it and drove into
Stuttgart. I dropped the truck keys into a
manhole. At another place, on Main Street,
I threw the wallets into the sewer. I ate
lunch and looked over the shows but there
was nothing I wanted to see, so I caught a
ride back to Little Rock.”

“Evidently the $100 didn’t last long, since
you had to have more within a week.”
Peterson was watching his man’s moods, lead-
ing him carefully. Hall shrugged.

“I had to pay that police court fine.”

“You couldn’t earn the money?”

The redheaded killer smiled again. “I
haven’t worked four months in my life. That
day I rode a bus out north of town. Newcomb
came along and picked me up. We rode
almost to Conway before I made him stop
the car.”

“In broad daylight, with all the traffic on
that road?”

Peterson put just the right amount of awe
in his voice. Hall grinned. “Sure. You
work fast—that’s all. This fellow didn’t
follow orders. He tried to jump out. I
jerked him over into the back seat and had
to shoot him. Semeone came along—[
thought he was going to stop but he stepped
on it and went on. I shot Newcomb in the
ace...”

“With the same .38 2”

“Yes. The bullet probably melted or you'd
have found it, too. I drove north—a long way
—looking for a stream big enough to take
him. When I didn’t find any I headed back
toward Little Rock and the Arkansas. It
would be night by the time I got back and I
could drop him into the river. But a tire blew
out just above Heber Springs. I couldn’t
afford to run on the rim—it made the car too
conspicuous—so I drove off on that logging
road and set fire to it... I got {bout $70 and
a good watch out of that deal. You'll find the
watch in my room—if you fellows look long
enough.”

He finished with a swagger. “That makes
four jobs,” Peterson reminded him. “Now
how about Hamilton?”

“Oh, that was easy. I got him into the
car by telling him I could sell him some
liquor—cheap. When we got into the coun-
try he tried to pull a gun—it was the .38
on the table there—so I let him have it. He
and my wife weren't the first, though. I
killed a colored woman up in Salina, Kansas,
seven years ago. I was just 17 at the
time.”

So the weird tale continued. He added
details on the various murders. He gave an
account of his wanderings through practically
every state in the Union. Hearing this story,
Chief Martin sent a series of letters into
western states, describing the stalwart young
killer and his method of operating.

In swift response came scores of inquiries.
Officers from Oklahoma and Kansas wished
to question Hall about killings in their
states... New Mexico police were still in-
terested in the widely publicized murder of
Mrs. Weston Frome and ,her daughter

-sewer was abandoned because it emptied into

Nancy, of Berkeley, Cal, in 1938. The
sheritf of Los Angeles County had four un-
‘solved cases that followed Hall’s particular
pattern. .

Arkansas authorities weren’t ready to press
Hall on these matters.

“We know he has killed others,” Martin
declared thoughtfully. “He’s too expert—
and in 27 years of police work I’ve never
seen anyone so cold blooded. He had murder
down to a science. That’s what made these
cases so hard to crack. We'd never have
broken this if it hadn’t been for the perfect
cooperation between all branches of the law
enforcement agency. As to Hall, any state-
ments he may make are wholly voluntary.
We're letting him coast along and not
pressing him on any outside cases until we
get our own clinched.”

To that end Peterson and Judd searched
until they found Newcomb’s monogrammed
watch stuffed into a small tuck-in automobile
cushion in Hall’s room. Accompanied by
Lieutenant Oliphant and Sergeant Sims they
began a series of drives with the prisoner as
their guide.

They went south to Fordyce and Cam-
den where he readily reenacted the Adams
and Hamilton murders. The Mutherin
matter was more difficult for streams were
now at flood. stage and it was hard to
locate the exact spot of the killing. Under
Hall’s direction Stuttgart ffremen drained
the manhole into which he claimed to have
dropped the truck keys. It had been cleaned
the week before and all refuse carried away.
Search for the purses in the Main Street

a flooded stream.

At Alexandria, La., they had better luck.
Hall led them to a shop where they found
‘Adams’ watch. The clerk identified the
affable prisoner as the man who had sold
it. And back in Little Rock they recovered
the brown alarm clock from the man to whom
he had disposed of it. Adams’ name was
scratched into the enamel. :

So, bit by bit, the state built five cases
against the killer who had, by this time,
led the police to an isolated spot along the
Arkansas River, practically inside the Little
Rock city limit, where they found the skull,
ribs and other. bones of the girl he had led
to her death six months before. They also

found and he identified the red dress she had _
worn, and a tangled mat of dark brown

hair. ; ‘

Police doubt the story of that slaying.

They have evidence that Faye Hall wasn’t
extravagant, as he claimed; that she feared

her husband and wouldn’t have accompanied
him to that dark, lonely spot. His claim of —

beating her to death is refuted by the lack

of any skull fracture. They believe she was _
. killed somewhere else and her body left there —
at the mercy of predatory animals and the |

elements.

Hall scorns the question of insanity. “I’m —

not crazy,” he declared. “I suppose [ll get -3 v4

the chair but that’s better than life imprison-

ment. I have this,” and he waved the Bible
he had taken to reading after his arrest. =

“I was brought up on it. My father is a
preacher. I’m not afraid to die.” "
His manner seems to bear out this claim.
His only show of emotion came as he fa z
his father. It was momentary. Police be-_
lieve him sane but in the interest of justice -
a sanity hearing will be arranged. cas
Meanwhile he has confessed to killing 4
robbing 11 Mexicans during his wanderings
in Arizona in 1938. This, if true, brings his_
murder total to 17. At this writing the
death of the Mexicans and the woman @
Salina, Kan. seven years ago, have not
been verified. eS

Epitor’s Note: To spare possible en
rassment to an innocent person, the?
Eddie Ricker, used in this story, tS
real but fictitions. a8

aoe:


pine

“Catch That Hitchhiking
~— Multiple Killer!”

The Terror That Stalked These Highways of Arkansas Already Had Taken the Lives
Of .at Least Four: Men. With Everyone Wondering Who Was to Die Next—

41 IS teeth and that there little
old scrap of cloth,” the
Sheriff said, pointing to the
piece of blue cloth beside the charred
body. “That’s all we got to go by.”
“I’m betting it’s’ Newcomb,” said
Captain J. Earl Scroggin of the Arkan-
sas State Police. “We know this is his
car. We know he left Little Rock yes-
terday, that he never reached his des-
tination, and that he’s still missing.”
Sheriff T. L. Turney of Cleburne
County nodded without looking at the
Captain. He couldn’t tear his’ gaze.
from the dead man. Never had he seen
a crime more brutal.
dead man lay in the back seat

By H. L. Spade

Special Investigator for
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES

of the car parked in the wooded hol-
low. He had been burned beyond
recognition, deliberately. It even was
imposible to tell what had killed him.

‘It looked as though one side of his

head had been caved in, but the flames
might have done that.

Apparently the killer, had poured
gasoline over the body. Behind the
car the officers found a hose that prob-
ably had been used to siphon gasoline
from the tank.‘ But that was peculiar;
even though they searched the entire
area, the officers could find no can

used to transfer the gas from the tank.

Had the killer taken it with him? Why?

| MMEDIATELY on arrival, Sheriff

Turney had checked the license
Plates of the 1941 Oldsmobile sedan,
They had been issued to J. D. Newcomb,
Junior, Newcomb was an important
man in Little Rock, the capital of
Arkansas. Chief Boiler Inspector of
the State Labor Department, he was
recognized nationally as an authority
on boilers and had been chairman of
the National Board of Boiler and Pres-
sure Vessel Inspectors. He was a labor
leader in Little Rock. And in addi-
tion he was a past post commander of

oe

After driving twenty miles with a dead man, the killer drove his cor off the road at this point and robbed the body


“Was Arthur Logan the kind of man
who might have killed his wife in an
Insane frenny?" one oMfecer asked a
neighbor.

“No. He was a very fine man.”

“What can you tell us about Mrs.
Lee Borden Judson, the housekeeper
for the Logans?”

“Mrs. Judson is an elderly lady who
seems to have been an old friend of
Mrs. Logan’s. She came here to take
care of the house about a year ago. In
May of this year, we understand she
was married to a banker. The marriage
had the blessing of the Logans, appar-
ently, for Mr. Judson was a frequent
visitor at the house and seemed to be
accepted as one of the family.”

T= police officer held up a small
photograph. “Is this a picture of
Mrs. Judson?”

“J think so. But it must have been
taken a long time ago. Mrs. Judson
should be fifty-five or sixty years old
now. But I’m pretty sure that was Mrs.
Judson when she was young.”

Captain Thad Brown was tramping
over the ground in the back yard of
No. 713 Hampden Place. A néwly ce-
mented area against the lower wall of
the house attracted his attention.

“Why do you suppose that was
done?” he asked his companion, Lieu-
tenant Vaughn. “It seems to have been
done recently.”

“Seepage,” replied the Lieutenant.
“This whole section slopes into the sea,
and there’s a natural drainage into
cellars and substructures. ‘That was
done to keep water out of the base-
ment.” A

Captain Brown stared down at a
flower bed neatly marked off with brick
and stone, which rested almost against
the side of the house where the new
cement had been installed.

This particular flower bed, thought
the officer, seemed to be a favorite in
the yard, for it seemed to be tended
better than the others that were laid
out around the place. Its proximity to
the house was also unusual; and it was
undoubtedly the spade work that had
gone into this little six-by-three-foot
plot which had loosened the earth and
caused the seepage into the basement.
A small cross-like marker also was
visible at the head of the flower bed.

Lieutenant Hansen came quickly
around the corner of the house.

“An elderly man has just let himself
in the front door,” he said.

The officers hurried around to the
front. They had barely reached the
top of the short stairway leading to
the door when it opened, and a pleas-
ant-looking gentleman, wearing glasses,
greeted them.

4 JELLO,” he said. “I thought you
were my wife coming around
from tending the garden. Is there some-
thing I can do for you?”

“You must be Mr. Lee Borden Jud-
son,” said Captain Brown.

“Yes. Won't you come in?”

“We'll be frank with you, Mr. Jud-
son,” said Captain Brown, as he fol-
lowed Judson inside. “We’re the police,
and we're here on a serious matter.
We're specially interested in a flower
bed in the back yard that appears to

be marked with a cross. Can you tell
us anything about it?”

“You mean the one oulslde my bed-
room?” asked Judson. “My wife had a
man lay that out last September. Then
she found that water was seeping into
the house through the cracks, and she
had the same man put some cement
against the wall. But I never noticed
it was marked with a cross or anything.”

“It’s just a marker,” replied Captain
Brown. “Perhaps just to support some
of the flowers or shrubbery.” He paused.
“May I ask where Mrs. Judson is now?”

“It may be she went to visit Mrs.
Logan in San Bernardino,” replied Jud-
son. “She does that occasionally, you
know—and now with Mr. Logan dead,
she probably feels an even greater con-
cern for Mrs. Logan’s well-being.”

“So Mrs. Logan lives in San Bernar-
dino,” said the Homicide Captain.

“Yes, so my wife tells me. I haven't
seen Mrs. Logan for at least six months
myself, but since Mr. Logan was com-

mitted, Mrs. Logan sold the house to.

my wife and went to live in San Bernar-
dino to be near him. Of course, I don’t

know what she'll do now that he’s dead.”

“T understand you have been married
to Mrs. Judson less than a year,” Cap-
tain Brown said.

“That's right,” stated Judson readi-
ly. “We were married on May second, to
be exact. We went to live in a hotel
during the month of May, and on May
thirtieth my wife visited the Logans.
The next day I got a telephone call to
come out there. I did, and I found blood
on the living room floor.”

- this room where we’re standing
now?”

JIN(ES, on that rug there,” Judson

pointed to the center rug. “It. has
been cleaned since then. My wife told
me it was the result of Mr. Logan going
berserk and attacking his wife. She
said Mrs. Logan had gone away, for
her own protection, and that she—my
wife—had been retained to take care
of things during her absence.”

“You never saw Mrs. Logan after
that?” asked Captain Brown.

“No—but she was here several times
while I was away at work. She would
drop in during the day and leave
quickly.”

“Your wife told you that.”

“Yes.”

“what was your wife’s maiden
name?” asked Captain Brown, kindly.

“Anne Leigh. Her full name was
Lou Anne Leigh.”

“This living room has been recently
redecorated, I believe. May I ask when
that was done?”

“When Mr. Logan went crazy and
attacked his wife, he also shot at her
and several bullets were imbedded in
the walls. The room was redecorated
to remove the marks of the bullets.”

“Could you tell us where those bul-
let holes were?”

“Yes.” Judson walked over to one
of the walls. “They’re somewhere
back of that wall paper. They were
not plastered over, to my knowledge.

“Thank you, Mr. Judson. And now
that will be all for awhile, except that
we'd like you to come downtown with
us to put this statement on paper
with the department. I’m sure you

won't object to that."

“T certainly will not!” Judson was
wrowlng Indignant TF nhall be glad to
make any statement to you at any Lime
and at any place. And I am sure my
wife will feel the same when she gets

home!"

|7 WAS three o'clock in the morning
of December 21, 1944, and Captain
Brown and Lieutenant Vaughn _ were
digging softly in the flower bed locat-
ed against the bedroom wall of the Lo-
gan house. They did not have to go
very far down before they came to
what they were looking for. The de-
composed body of a woman was buried
shallowly about a yard below the
ground. The back of her head had
been beaten in with heavy hammer
blows.

Captain Brown stepped out of the
grave and mopped his brow. Then he
stared curiously at the dark house ad-
joining the flower bed. He whispered
a word to Vaughn to leave things be,
and he walked around the side of the
house to the front door. There he
up the knocker and sent a hard, metal-
lic sound ringing throughout the
rooms inside. When no answer came,
he inserted a key and let himself in.
He walked softly through the living
room, and into a den-like chamber at
the back of the house. A heavy-set
woman whirled from what she was do-
ing as the Captain’s step sounded on
the threshold. Papers were scattered
all about her, and jewelry gleamed
from the strong box under her hands.
When the officer said nothing, the
woman straightened up and demanded:
“What do you want?”

“It's the police, Mrs. Judson,” said
Captain Brown. “Please do not disturb
Mrs. Logan’s effects further. It’s
much to late to cover up now.”

“TI know you're the police,” the wom-
an replied calmly. “And I know you've
been digging out there. I heard you.”

“Then you know what we found.”
Captain Brown said evenly.

“I admit I buried the body after Mr.
Logan killed her,” said the woman in
the room rapidly. “But that’s all you've
got on me—”

“We know who you really are, Mrs.
Judson,” said the officer.

“Well, what of it? The Parole Board
gave me the right to change my name.”

“Then you don’t deny you are Mrs.
Louise Peete, who was convicted of the
‘cellar-crypt’ murder of Jacob Denton,
retired millionaire, in 1921?”

UINAJHAT good would it do me to deny
it, when I served eighteen years
in San Quentin and the woman's prison
at Tehachapi for a crime I did not
commit!”

“Following which,” Captain Brown
continued, “you were paroled in 1939
and became the housekeeper for Mrs.
Emily Latham, State Parole officer,
who died quite suddenly in September
a year ago—” e

“Are you going to say I killed her,
too?” shouted the woman. “Are you
going to say I killed my benefactor, Mrs.
Latham?”

“I didn’t say that. But Mr. Denton
was your benefactor, too. He allowed
you to move into his house before you

had bought it. ‘That was on February
fifth, 1921. Shortly thereafter, he drop-
out of aight —and after months of
vestigation hin body wan found hoe
hind a boarded-up cupboard in the
basement, under a mound of earth. He
had been shot In the back of the head,
It was found you had obtained money
by pawning his jewelry—”

“Stop!” cried the woman, “I didn’t
do it! I’m innocent!”

“Do you still deny killing Mrs.
Logan?” asked the Homicide Captain
gently. “Do you still deny it, Mrs.—
Peete?”

“Yes,” replied the woman. “I deny it.
If I killed Mr. Denton, as they said I
did, then why would I want to kill
again? Mr. Logan killed his wife in
an insane frenzy. I didn’t do it!, You
can’t ever make me say I did!”

BOOKED on suspicion that day, Mrs.
Louise Peete-Judson was charged
formally with the murder of Mrs. Mar-
garet Logan by the District Attorney’s
office in a joint complaint which also
named her husband, Lee Borden Jud-
son, as an accessory. This action took
place on December 23 when the couple
appeared before Municipal Judge Wil-
liam M. Byrnes. Preliminary hearing
on the charge was set for January
10, 1945. As the arraignment was
nearing its close, Mrs. Judson took
the occasion to say, “My husband, Lee,
is absolutely innocent of anything. I
wish everyone would disabuse their
minds of any suspicion by act, word or
form about Mr. Judson. He never knew
I was Louise Peete, with all that had
gone by. Time and time again I tried
to summon the courage to tell him.
But I guess I was just a coward. I
didn’t want to hurt him...”

Meanwhile, at the Coroner’s inquest
on January 3, 1945, named Mrs. Peete
as the killer of Mrs. Logan, Los Angeles
authorities went about tightening the
case against the suspect. Coroner
Prank Nance reported that Mrs. Logan
had died of gunshot wounds in the
back of the head, as in the Jacob Den-
ton case, complicated with the brutal
bludgeoning on the skull. The bullet
extracted from the head of the body
matched those bullets found imbedded
in the wall of the living room, and these
in turned had been fired from a .32 cal-
iber revolver which was found hidden
in the basement of the Logan house.

WEDNESDAY, January 10, 1945,
the Judsons appeared for a prelim-
inary hearing before Judge Wallace
Curtis in Superior Court. Judge Curtis
ordered the woman held for trial. Lee
Borden Judson was freed by the court
and entry made that he was innocent
of any connection with the slaying of
Mrs. Logan. Judson appeared delighted
by the verdict of the court. Then on
January 12, he walked to the top floor
of a building in downtown Los Angeles
and leaped to his death down the stair-
well. When the police reached his side,
he tried to say something, failed in his
effort and died wordlessly.

Mrs. Peete has pleaded not guilty, as
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES goes
to press, her trial date has been set for
April 23, 1945. She has asked permis-
sion to be tried as Mrs. Louise Peete.

"Catch That Hitchhiking Multiple Killer!" (Continued trom Page 11)

they known each other, been connected
in any way? And would that way,
whatever it was, account for their
common fate? Perhaps somewhere,
sometime, their slayer had known all
of them, known them and hated them.
Perhaps this was no simple multiple
hitchhiker killing, but a subtle com-
plicated plot. The possibility could
not be overlooked. And it meant an
enormous amount of work, for it in-
volved digging into the private lives of
all the victims.

The driver of the Batesville-Little
Rock bus said, “I remember him. He
got on right where you say he might,
just beyond the long suspension bridge

50

over the Little Red near Tumbling
Shoals. We were heading south, to-
ward Heber Springs.”

Sheriff Turney asked, “Did he seem
excited or anything?”

44 JO, I wouldn’t say so. I just remem-

ber him because I thought it was
funny that he was out there in that de-
serted stretch and because—well, he
didn’t look like a farmer.”

“why?”

“His overcoat, for one thing. It
looked like an expensive coat, and pret-
ty new. It was a sort of bluish-gray,
and it didn’t fit him any too well.”

Captain Scroggin looked at the

/

Sheriff and nodded.

Sheriff Turney asked, “What else
was he wearing?”

“J think he was wearing a khaki
shirt and pants under the coat, like
part of an Army uniform. No hat. He
was red-headed. I remember that.”

“How old?”

“Oh, maybe twenty-eight. He was
a nice looking fellow. Average size.”

“What did he do?”

“Just flagged me down at the side
of the road. Didn't say anything when
he got on.”

“You didn’t see the car?
— still been burning.”

“ ‘o.” .

It must

“What time was this.”

“Let's see. We're due in Hebe
Springs at three o'clock. But we were
pretty late that day. It must have
been about half-past three Frida}
afternoon. Yes, that’s about right.”

“Where did this man get off?”

a CAN’T tell you that. I don’t re-
member at all.”

Well, it was a start. Now they hac
a description to work with. And a red.
head—that was a break. People re
member a red-head.

But how could they trace hin
further?

They decided to ask the newspaper

It was on this part of the highway that the hitchhiking killer
got a ride with one of his victims—a routine he often followed

“Was he in the habit of carrying a He sent some of his men out to help
lot of money?” Sheriff Turney back-track Newcomb’s
“I don’t think so. No more than you’d route. While the State officers drove
ordinarily carry.” along the probable route, stopping at
“How about jewelry. He had a thin, filling-stations and restaurants, the
white gold watch with his initials, Sheriff’s men talked to people in Heber
J.D. N., engraved on it.” Springs and farmers near there to see _
Captain Scroggin had noticed no_ if anyone had seen the killer. That way
watch in the car. Had one been in the . they hoped to fix the time when the
auto the fire might have melted it down 'y was set afire and perhaps even to
but not destroyed it. The killer must pick up the killer’s trail after he left
have stolen it. That was a good angle. his victim. For the officers had studied
Detectives would be sent to get the seri- the rain-softened earth at the scene of
al number of the watch and the Pawn the crime and it was obvious that no
Shop Detail would get busy. other car had driven off the road there.
Newcomb’s friend asked, “Do you So they figured that the killer left on
think he was robbed?” foot. In that deserted region he might
have hitchhiked a ride or he might
“W/E DON’T know,” Scroggin re- have flagged the Batesville-Little Rock
plied. “He could have Picked bus on the highway. Until the time
up a hitchhiker and been robbed and could be fixed, the officers would have
killed.” ‘ to talk to all bus drivers who had
“He was in the habit of Picking up passed the crime Scene from early
hitchhikers. Like I told you, he drove Thursday afternoon — Newcomb left
all over the State and he hardly ever Little Rock at noon Thursday—until
made a trip that he didn’t Pick up a late Friday afternoon, when the body
soldier or a civilian thumbing a ride. was discovered. ,
He preferred to pick up soldiers.” And other officers went after the ser-
Scroggin nodded. Camp Joseph.T, ial number on Newcomb’s missing
nm, a large infantry training watch.
center, was just outside Little Rock,
The Captain asked, “You're sure he “Now what I want to do,” said the
was going straight to Clarksville?” Captain, “is dig into a couple of
“As far as I know. He didn’t say old murders.”
anything about going to Heber Springs. Sergeant Homer Sims grinned.
I never heard him mention the place.” “You mean the Adams case? Or Mul-
The body had been found near Heber herin?”
Springs, almost straight north of Little “Both. And the Negro—Hamilton
Rock. Clarksville lay northwest. To. —down at Camden, too.”
go to either place you started north out “Right,” replied Sims. “I’ve had the
of Little Rock on Highway 65. AtCon- same idea. I'll get the files.”
way, about 32 miles. north of Little The three cases weren’t so old at
Rock, the road forked. You could con- that—only a few weeks old. But al-
tinue north toward Heber Springs or ready they looked like they never
you could swing west toward Clarks- would be solved. The officers’ hadn’t
ville. Heber Springs was along ways been able to get anywhere on them.
from Clarksville. They had the earmarks of hitchhiker
Captain Scroggin left the Labor De- killings. And that was why Captain
partment and went to his own Office. Scroggin and Sergeant Sims wondered

The charred body of J. D. Newcomb, Junior,
was found here in his blazing Oldsmobile

Officials are standing where Newcomb,
the widely-known labor leader, was slain

if the same hitchhiker had slain all
four men—C. F. Hamilton, E. C. Adams,

Junior, Doyle Mulherin, and now
Newcomb.

AMILTON’S body had been found

late in January just outside Cam-
den along a roadside, and later his
abandoned car was located on a@ side
road. He had been killed with a 45, and
he had been robbed of his money and a
.38 caliber revolver. And that was all
the officers had been able to learn.

Not many days later, on February 3,
1945, the body of E. C. Adams, Junior,
of Humboldt, Kansas, was found in the
woods off U. S. 187 about fourteen miles
north of Fordyce. Adams’ car was
parked about 50 yards from the road
and Edgar McCollum, a deputy sheriff
and operator of a store on the highway,
Spotted it. Investigating, he found the
body deeper in the dense woods. Adams
had been struck over the left eye with
& heavy instrument and a bloody
hatchet lay in the car. Later, an.
autopsy showed that Adams also had
been shot with a .38, Robbery looked
like the motive: All his pockets had


Investigators examine the skull
of the young bride, one of the
first to die at the killer's hands

the American Legion and a well-known
Little Rock clubman.
. Now he was missing. He had left
Little Rock about noon yesterday,
Thursday, March 8, 1945, to inspect a
boiler at Clarksville. The company he
was to have visited phoned the Labor
Department Friday morning to ask
why he hadn’t arrived.

This occasioned only uneasiness, no
alarm.

UT a few hours later Lois and Elmer

Williams, walking through the
woods near their farm not far from
Heber Springs, discovered a car stalled
in a wooded hollow. It stood about
250 yards off the highway and they

could see plainly that it had been driv- —

en off the road and through a wire
fence.

They called Sheriff T.’L. Turney’s |

office. He was in Little Rock on busi-
ness, and so Sheriff Tatum Plant of
nearby White County was notified. He
visited the scene, posted a guard and
returned later with Sheriff Turney.

Soon Captain Scroggin, head of a

State Bureau of Identification, an
Sergeant Homer Sims, of the State Po-
lice, arrived at the hollow.

They went to‘work at once. At first
glance the crime seemed without a.

clew. Indeed, some things about it ap-

Mrs. Faye Hall: The discovery of her :

remains in a ravine brought the number
: of known victims to’ a total of six

peared senseless. For instance, why
had the car been driven straight
through the fence and dumped here
away from the highway?’

Captain Scroggin said, “The killer
was in a hurry to get off the road.
Notice that both rear tires are flat.
You can tell by the tracks that they
were flat when he left the highway.
Chances are somebody on the road saw

~~

~

\

him driving with two flats and got
curious so he hit straight for the woods
and didn’t stop for the fence or any-
thing else till he wound up here in
the hollow.”

That was something to go to work
on—find the man who had spotted the
death-car. :

Sheriff Turney. said, “You figure the
victim was already dead and the killer

was driving when the car turned off
the road?” :

“I figure he’d been dead for a long
time before that. I don’t think he was
killed anywhere near here.”

“Why?”

The Captain pointed to the outside
of the car door, where dried blood had
stained the door and running-board.
Obviously the victim had lost a lot of
blood while he was in the front seat.
But it had not simply run out onto the
running-board—it had splattered back
against the rear fender in a fine spray.
That could only have happened while

the car was moving. And moving fast.

“I think,” said the Captain, “he was
killed a long ways off, driven here,
thrown over into the back seat and set
on fire.”

That made sense, good sense. The
next job would be to try to determine
where the actual killing had occurred.
That meant the route of the car would
have to be back-tracked. If the dead
man were indeed Newcomb it might be
pretty easy to trace his movements
after he left Little Rock, since his
original destination, Clarksville, was
known. :

But why, if the killer hoped to foil
identification by mutilating the body,
had he left the body in his victim’s own
car without even troubling to remove
the license plates? That part of it

’ didn’t make sense.

Captain Scroggin picked up the lit-
tle square of blue cloth which had es-
caped the blaze...

U\W/ELL try this,” he told the other
officers. “But the best bet is to
check the teeth. We'll get a cast of the
dead man’s teeth, the ones that are
left. And we’ll find out who Newcomb’s
dentist was.”

As he headed back for Little Rock,
the sun was climbing high in the sky.
This was in northern Arkansas, one of.
the wildest, most remote and moun-
tainous regions of the State, and one
of the most scenic..A promise of
Spring was in the air.

Yet from this place of beauty, this
woodland glade, a killer had escaped
only a few hours ago. His had been one

of the most vicious crimes in the
State’s history.

Yet this single slaying was -only the
beginning. Before the officers pushed
their investigation much further they
were to uncover evidence of ‘multiple
killing. Shocked as they were by the
blackened body in the sedan, they still
knew nothing of the long-buried skele-
ton of the lovely young bride. Nor of
the others who had died by lonely road-
sides. They didn’t even know about the
watches that stopped at four o'clock.

THE dead man was Newcomb, all right.
His dentist in Little Rock identi-
fied his teeth from x-ray plates. ‘
But nobody had any idea why he
might have been killed..
His widow was prostrated with grief

and so the officers didn’t bother her. .

Newcomb’s friends and business as-

. Sociates knew of no private enemies he

had had. He was well-liked in labor
circles, :

The other men at the State Labor
Department said he had been in good
spirits when he left Clarksville. Noth-

- ing had been weighing on his mind.

So far as his friends knew, he had in-
tended to meet no one on the way.
“How was he dressed?”

“He had on a.dark business suit and

a blue-gray overcoat.”
“Did the coat look like this?” and
Captain Scroggin pulled from his

-pocket the scrap of cloth found beside

the body.
“That’s it.” :
Scroggin nodded. “I’m betting that
the killer stole Newcomb’s overcoat. He
probably saw it was a pretty good coat
and took it-off the body and threw it
out of the car before he started the fire.
It probably got torn in the struggle.” —
That was one more thing the cops
could look for—a man near the scene

in a blue-gray overcoat. Little bits of. °~

information; but they might add up to
something.
. Captain Scroggin asked, “And this
was just a routine business trip for
Newcomb?”
“That's right. His work took him all
over the State, making inspections. He
traveled all the time.”


Pye
*

iP
at

A suspect, flanked by investigators, is holding the tattered remains
of Mrs. Hall's dress by which her identity definitely was established

been turned inside out, his billfold lay
empty beside the body, and even his
shoes and socks had been removed, ap-
parently in an effort to find hidden
money. Moreover, a pale band of flesh
on Adams’ tanned wrist showed he had
worn a watch; this, too, was gone. And
a checkup with Adams’ wife revealed
that he had carried several other
watches and clocks in his car. These
were missing also.

WEEK later, the body of Doyle
Mulherin, of Little Rock, a driver
and collector for a packing company,
was found in a desolate spot 30 yards off
Highway 30, near the long wooden
bridge over Bayou Meto, Arkansas, be-
tween Humnoke and Stuttgart. Mul-
herin had been making his rounds
when he was killed. His truck was
found abandoned near the railroad
tracks in Stuttgart. His employers
figured that he must have had about
$100 in collections when he was killed.
His watch also was missing. And he,
too, had been shot to death with a 38.
Sergeant Sims and Lieutenant Rhett
Oliphant had worked tirelessly on the

cases. But they learned almost noth-
ing of value. By back-checking Mul-
herin’s route collections, they had dis-
covered he had been alone when he
left Humnoke, so he must have picked
up a hitchhiker who had killed him.

N THE Adams case, they had back-
¥ tracked him and they had found a

railroad worker who had seen a Car re- -

sembling Adams’ stop and pick up a
hitchhiker at the Arch Street viaduct
near 33rd Street in Little Rock at
about the time Adams would have been
passing on his way to Camden.

They learned one more important
thing: The slugs that killed Adams and
Mulherin had come from the same .38.

And because a .38 had been stolen
from Hamilton at Camden, and be-
cause of the similarities in the crimes,
and because they had been committed
near a cluster of towns south of Little
Rock, the officers thought it possible
that the stolen gun was the weapon
used to kill Adams and Mulherin—that
the same man had killed all three.

So now the officers wondered if he
had struck again, if Newcomb was his

Police are examining the area where Mrs. Faye Hall was beaten to
death." All they found were parts of her skeleton and some clothing

James Hall: Officers thought they could

3 trail his wife's killer by tracing stolen loot

latest victim. If so, how could the of-

4 ficers get a line on him? Already four

were dead. How many more would die

before they could get on his trail.
Yet it wasn’t certain that the same

man was responsible for all the deaths.

APTAIN SCROGGIN said slowly,
“Remember, Newcomb’s body was
mutilated, probably in an effort to balk
identification, That usually means the
victim knew his killer, that it was a
private killing. And none of the other
.victims—Hamilton or Adams or Mul-
herin—was mutilated. There wasn’t
any attempt to cover up at all.”
Sims nodded. “I'd thought of that.
The mutilation by fire doesn’t tie in.”
And there was another angle. It
hardly seemed possible that a mere
hitchhiker would go in for multiple
murder. Rarely does such a criminal
repeat, at least in the same vicinity, in
a short space of time. More frequent-
ly, each such slaying is an isolated
crime, committed, more often than not,
by a wanderer far from home.
Indeed, the officers had worked hard
and fast on the Adams and Mulherin

. cases, figuring a hitchhiker was guilty

and that they would have to get him in
a hurry before he moved on, far away.
They had failed. And as weeks passed
without another similar crime, it had
looked as though the slayer had in-
deed gone away, probably for good, and
that he never would be caught.

But now, suddenly, Newcomb had
been slain. Was the same killer still
nearby?

“I wonder,” said Scroggin slowly,
“if he’s a local man.”

Sims shrugged his shoulders. “I
never heard of a local hitchhiker
killer.” .

“Neither did I. And it’d take a lot of
nerve to go out deliberately hitching

rides near your home and knocking
people off. Usually a hitchhiker is
traveling cross-country, grabs a ride,
kills his man, robs him, and gets as far
away as possible in a hurry. I never
heard of anybody making a regular
racket out of hitchhiker killing. But—”
and he shook his head—“it could be.”

If the autopsy disclosed that New-
comb had been shot and if the slugs
could be found, that would tell the
story.

“Funny thing,” Sergeant Sims said
thoughtfully. “In all-three of these
cases a watch has figured.”

“That’s right,” Scroggin replied.
“What does he do with all the jewelry
he steals?”

“Beats me. None of it’s ever turned
up.”

“Have we got a complete inventory
of the watches?”

“I think it’s complete. I'll recheck

““Do that. Then be sure the hock
shops are covered.”
“Right.”

“BESIDES that, you’d better recheck
all the circumstances in the other
killings. Go back over everything. Keep
in touch with what we learn in the
Newcomb case. Because something in
one of the others that didn’t mean
anything at the time might mean a lot
in the light of what we learn in the
Newcomb case. Don’t just check the
reports—go down to Fordyce and
Stuttgart and Camden and get a fresh
pmo I'll put some other men on it,

And something else had to be cov-
ered. Was it possible that some other
connection’ existed between the vic-
tims? Had something more than blind
chance dictated their deaths? Had

(Continued on Page 50)
1


THE SKULL——

of the slain woman, Fayrene Clemmons Hall, was
identified by her husband from the protruding
teeth which he said hurt him when he kissed her.

PEEDING south from Little Rock, capital city of

Arkansas, on the cold, raw afternoon of February

1, 1945, Superintendent Jack Porter and Captain

J. Earl Scroggin of the State Police rolled up the
windows of their sedan and pulled their coat collars up
around their necks.

Unable to converse above the screaming siren, they
sat tensely silent, eyes grimly fixed on the road ahead:

When they reached the Cleveland County line Scrog-
gin, at the wheel, slackened the pace, then getting his
bearings, raced down Highway 167 in the direction of
the town of Fordyce._ a

Just short of that objective he brought the car to an
abrupt stop alongside a queue of motor vehicles that
had gathered on the roadside.

The ‘two officers jumped out and quickly made their
way through a milling throng of spectators. Cleveland
County Sheriff T.H. Glover, disengaging himself from
a group of local and county officials and State Troopers,
came forward to greet them.

+2

: Pras ee
KILLER'S ARSENAL——
At top is .45 he used in shooting C. V. Hamilton.

Lower left is the .32 in slaying of Mulherin and
two others. Lower right is .32 found in his room.

Ser DAS Ses TO Serene Sra Rink


as

to help them. They issued public ap-
peals:' for bus passengers to come for-
ward. And they went to the bus sta-
tion at Heber Springs and questioned
the employes and hangers-on there.

Nobody there remembered having
seen the red-head leave the bus. So
the officers drove: on south down the
dus route, stopping at each station.

They had learned nothing from their
irduous canvass by the time they
‘eached the end of the line, Little
tock. Tired and discouraged, they be-
‘an a systematic check of all employes
it the Little Rock bus station. One by
me they questioned them and drew
lanks—until they talked to a porter
vho said, “I think I saw your man get
ff here.”

“Off the Batesville bus?”

"y=s.” He described the blue-gray
overcoat and said the man wear-
ag it had been red-headed. “But he’s
n older man than you say,” he added.
I think I’ve seen him somewhere be-
ore, and I thought he was older, may-
e about forty. Bigger, too.” .
“You've seen him before? Where?”
The porter scratched his head. “I
on't know for sure. But it must have
sen somewhere around town. Maybe
ght around the bus station.”

“Can't you remember where? Try
) remember. It might mean a lot.”
But the porter could not recall where
2 had seen the red-head previously.
e thought it must have been around
1e bus station, maybe getting on or
ta bus; but he wasn’t sure. Nor did
>» know where the red-head had gone
ter leaving the Batesville bus.

“I don’t know whether he walked
vay or got into a taxi or a street car
another bus or what. I just remem-

1 that he got off, because he was be- °

nd a woman with a lot of packages
at I was helping, and I noticed this
poe because I thought I'd seen him
ore.”

And there the trail of the red-head
ded. He had come to Little Rock.
it that was all. The detectives
uld trace him no further than the
's station. The ticket sellers didn’t
member selling him another ticket.
body but that one porter recalled
m at all. He had vanished into the
dowd at the station and disappeared
mpletely.

Who was he? A hitchhiker? A few
urs later, the detectives wondered
they were wrong in concentrating
on the hitchhiker theory. For the
icers back-tracking Newcomb re-
rted that a waitress in a restaurant
Conway had seen Newcomb having
ich with a group of other people.
He had left Little Rock alone for
irksville. Since the road forked at
nway, the officers had figured all
ng that he might have picked upa
chhiker before he reached Conway
i been forced to take the Heber
tings fork rather than the Clarks-
e fork. But now the waitress said
had lunched at Conway with several
»ple and that they had appeared to
friendly. That would mean New-
nb had taken the Heber Springs,
k voluntarily.

3ut_ who were these people? Where
1 Newcomb met them? And why
i he not told his associates at the
ite Labor Department that he in-
ded to meet someone? Suddenly
: Officers realized that this put an
irely different complexion on New-
ab’s trip and, therefore, on the whole
e.

{EY tried to trace Newcomb from
the Conway restaurant to Heber
‘ings. The most direct route lay a
miles up Highway 65 then east on
But nobody on that route had seen
vcomb’s 1941 Oldsmobile. That was
inge. Then the detectives started
cking the time element. The bus
ver had estimated that he had picked
the red-head leaving the crime
ne at three-thirty. That probably
int that the killer drove Newcomb’s
off the road no earlier than three
ock. This was corroborated by the
vass of the vicinity, which turned
two boys who had been fishing on
nearby bridge over the Little Red
er and by a truck driver who had
n driving along the highway at

about three o'clock. These witnesses
recalled seeing Newcomb’s car cross the
bridge at about three o'clock, and the
trucker said he heard a tire blow out.
When ‘he looked in his mirror a little
later, the car had disappeared.

Alt this meant that Newcomb had

consumed three hours in driving
from Little Rock to the spot near Heber
Springs where his body was found. He
had reached Conway before one o'clock,
the waitress said. How could he have
spent two hours more in traveling the
40 miles to the place where the body
was discovered?

The mystery seemed to have only one
answer—that during those two hours
Newcomb and his killer had driven
around the countryside, reaching the

not as a robbery-killing by a hitchhik-
er but rather as a private slaying?
Captain Scroggin said doggedly, “I
know it looks bad. But I’m still keep-
ing my men busy at Stuttgart on the
Mulherin case and at Fordyce and
Camden on the Adams case.”
Lieutenant Oliphant and Sergeant
Sims were working night and day on
the cases, striving desperately to turn
up new clews, to wring new meaning
from old facts. “Anything, anything
at all,” Sims said to Oliphant as they
plodded about Stuttgart’s streets.

‘sr were checking the neighborhood
near the Maple Street railroad
crossing in Stuttgart where Mulherin’s
meat truck had been abandoned by his
killer. They were going from one store

Lieutenant Garner Brown examines the area where Cora Moore's
body was found. The position of her personal effects indicated
she been dragged into the orange grove. Story on Page 2

wooded glade near Heber Springs by a
circuitous route. Perhaps they had
been arguing; perhaps they had
stopped in some deserted spot to con-
tinue their argument. And during the
argument Newcomb was slain. Then
his body was driven on and dumped.

ALL this threw an entirely new light

on the case. It meant that Newcomb
had not been killed by a hitchhiker, but
by someone who knew him. - This
seemed to explain why the slayer had
attempted to foil identification. And
it explained the time element,

But where had Newcomb met his
killer? And why had he told his busi-
Ness associates nothing of his true
plans? And what had become of the
other people in his party whom the

‘waitress had observed? Only the red-

head had boarded the bus. Who were
the others? Curiously enough, the
waitress wasn’t sure how many People
had been with Newcomb, since the res-
taurant had been crowded that day.

Did this mean that the officers would
have to start all over? Instead of try-
ing to hook up Newcomb’s death with
the Hamilton, Adams and Mulherin
cases, would they have to regard this

.

to another, talking to everybody. They
had done this at the time of the crime
without result.

And then, in a little hole-in-the-wall
beer tavern where they were talking
to the proprietor, they heard a man
behind them say, “Why, I remember
that truck. Remember when it was
parked there.”

Sims turned. He saw two young fel-
lows sitting at a table drinking beer.

“You do?” .the Sergeant asked.
“You mean you saw it parked?”

44QURE.” And the young fellow looked
at the man with him. “Don’t you
remember it too? Remember, we said
something about it. We'd seen it be-
fore around town, we'd even had a beer
once with the driver. What was his
name?”
“Mulherin.” Sims supplied the name.
“That's it, Mulherin. Well, this day
the truck parked and I sort of thought
we might have a beer with him. But
when I saw the driver get out I said I
guessed they’d got a new driver. This
Mulherin wasn’t driving any more.”
“Where'd the driver go?” "
“I didn’t: notice. When I saw it
wasn't the guy we knew we forgot

about it and went on your way.”

“Can you describe him?”

The youth frowned. “Well, he was a
sort of ordinary looking guy. Kind of
nice looking, you might say. About,
maybe, twenty-five. Pretty well set up.
There isn't much you can describe
about a guy like him. Except,” he said,
“I do remember one thing for sure—
he was a red-head.” 7

That was the first direct tie-in be-
tween the Newcomb case and the
Hamilton, Mulherin or Adams cases.

By this time the detectives who had
been checking the friends of the dead
men reported they could discover no
Previous connection among them.
And so the officers decided that their
original theory had been right—that
all the men had been killed by a red-
headed hitchhiker whose motive was
robbery.

True, this didn't jibe with the testi-
mony of the waitress who thought she
had seen Newcomb lunching with
friends at Conway. But the detectives
had run into a stone wall there—they
could find nothing in Newcomb’s
private life to explain her story, no evi-
dence that Newcomb had not. intended
to go to Clarksville. So they ignored
that. But how could they get a line
on the hitchhiker?

“y™M BETTING he operated out of
Little Rock,” said Captain Scrog-

a. gin. “He came back here by bus after

the Newcomb killing. He hitched a ride
with Adams at the edge of Little Rock
going south. It looks to me like he went
out to the edge of town, thumbed a
ride, and killed his man out in -the
country in a lonely spot. And chances
are he brought the stolen watches
and things back here to pawn them.”

But so far the officers had been un-
able to locate any of the stolen stuff.

They had telephoned Adams’ home
in Kansas and obtained a detailed list
of Adams’ possessions which his slayer
had stolen. It included two watches
—one old-fashioned, elaborately-en-
graved, and the other a modern watch
-—two alarm clocks, and a collection of
shaving mugs.

It wasn't until later that the investi-
gators thought that Adams had with
him a strange assortment of posses-
sions. But they were so intense in
their investigation, that they didn’t
take time out to ask what he was do-
ing with watches, alarm clocks and
shaving mugs.

However, in checking Adams’ affairs,
they learned that he might have had
a lot of cigarettes with him at the time
he was killed. They had obtained the
serial numbers of Adams’ watches and
of the watches stolen from Mulherin
and Newcomb. And Captain O. N.
Martin, Little Rock Chief of Detectives,
had put Detectives H. R. Peterson and

. H. M. Judd and a Pawn Shop Detail

on the job of tracing the stuff in the
neighboring cities.

But so far they had had no luck.
The watches had not been pawned in
Little Rock,

Captain Scroggin said stubbornly,
“He must have got rid of the stuff here
some way.”

H's men knew what he meant. Little
Rock was the only sizeable city in
the area. It was the logical place to get
rid of stolen loot. But how had the
red-head managed it?

Well, he might have fenced it
through some underworld source, con-
sidering it too hot for pawn shops or
other regular channels. Chief Martin
told his men to go out and contact
their sources, to send the word down
the underworld grapevine that in-
formation was wanted—and wanted
badly—about a batch of clocks and
watches that might have turned up re-
cently. :

Something had to click soon. New-
comb had been a prominent man in
Little Rock, a man with many friends:
the city was aroused over his death.
His brutal slaying was the chief topic
of conversation in Little Rock. And
the citizens were doubly outraged when
it became known that the police be-
lieved the same man who killed him
also had killed others. Was it, people
demanded, unsafe to travel the roads
of Arkansas? How long would the

51

in August the Clemmons’ cousins from
Pine Bluff went to Little Rock and
learned that Faye had been gone sev-
eral days. Worried, they drove to
Lonoke and told Mr. and Mrs. Clem-
mons, who went to Little Rock. But
Poa could find neither Faye nor Red
Hall.

THOUGH deeply concerned, Mr. and

Mrs. Clemmons hoped Faye had left
him. They kept thinking that some day
she would show up. But about a month
later, Hall appeared at their farm;
bringing with him Faye’s clothing. He
said she had deserted him.

The officers hurried back to Head-
quarters at Little Rock. They felt the
tension that they always felt when a
case was coming to a head. But this
time they felt something more, too.
Something akin to dread. They almost
feared to begin their questioning of
James Hall. For they had a feeling that
they were on the threshold of terrible
knowledge, that the things they would
wring from him would be more than
they had bargained for when they be-
gan this case.

They needed only one thing more
to begin questioning him. From Lieu-
tenant Templeton, the ballistics expert,
they got it: He reported that a test
bullet fired from the .38 found in Hall’s
room matched the slug that had killed
Adams.

Armed with this and the mass of

other evidence they had accumulated,
they went after Hall. Detective Peter-
son took the lead in the questioning.
At first Hall denied everything.

They showed him the gun and he
only smiled. They showed him the
alarm clock and he burst out laughing.
They asked him about his wife and he
grinned at them. Several times he said,
“Go ahead and file a charge against
me and let's have a trial.” And once
he said quietly, “I know you fellows
think I killed my wife, but all I know
is she left me.”

For two long hours they kept after
him relentlessly, handling him care-
fully, pouring it on hard at times, then
treating him with deference, then urg-
ing him to take the consequences like
&@ man—until, without warning, he
said quietly, “All right. I'll tell you
all about it.”

AX? then, he confessed to having
killed six people: His wife, Hamil-
ton, Adams, Mulherin, Newcomb and a
Negro woman whose name he couldn't
remember, slain seven years ago in
Salina, Kansas.

He described the crimes in detail. the
detectives announced, corroborating
most of the information and theories
they already had assembled about the
slayings of Hamilton, Adams, Mulherin
and Newcomb. The second Adams
watch was sold at Alexandria, Louisi-
ana, where officers later recovered it.

Strangely, it had stopped at four
o'clock. So had the second Adams
alarm clock, sold on a Little Rock
street to a man who brought it in to
the police a few days later. Hall, the
detectives claimed, later re-enacted
the Mulherin, Adams and Newcomb
crimes, and was identified by various
witnesses.

But what interested the detectives
most was his story about the death
of his wife, in which Hall admitted he
took her out the old river road near
the Riverside golf course just outside
Little Rock, led her into a ravine on
the river bank, and beat her to death
with his bare hands. He killed her,
he said, because she nagged him and
wasted their money.

He said he had made no attempt
to conceal the body. Yet a quick search
of police records disclosed no report of
the finding of a body in that vicinity.
And so the officers wondered if Hall
were telling the truth, if, in fact, they
could believe any of what they termed
his long calm confession. 5

They asked Hall if he would help
them find his wife's body. He said he
would. And he led them on a two-
hour search through the woods near
the river until, in a rough ravine, they
found a human skeleton and some bits
of clothing which Hall identified as be-
longing to his wife. He had described
the clothing in advance, down to a

minute description of a certain clasp
on her dress.

And as officers were continuing to
build their cases against him, trying
to decide which crime to try him for,
Police from all over the southwest came
to Little Rock to determine whether
Hall had been involved in other un-
solved hitchhiker killings.

And as still other officers from States
as widely separated as New York and
California prepared to go to Little
Rock to question Hall, he confessed
eleven more killings. Detectives said
that Hall admitted he had slain ten
Mexicans in Arizona in 1938 and a
white man in Texas in the Fall of
1944.

T= Officers checked with authorities
in Texas and Arizona but could ob-
tain no corroboration of the eleven kill-
ings to which Hall confessed. Neverthe-
less, the man stuck to his story. Further
investigation was planned.

As OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STO-
RIES goes to press, Hall is being held
on a murder charge while authorities
are investigating the various crimes of
which he is suspected. They have not
decided as yet on which case he will be
tried first.

The names of Ted Drew, Hal Manton
and Grace Cookson are fictitious to
protect innocent persons from unnec-
essary embarrassment.

How Many Homes to Hide a Killing? (Continued from Page 33)

one or two-acting suspicious?”

“If he did I didn’t see him,” replied
Matlock. “Most of the guests are de-
‘ense workers and: have to be up early
‘or work. Very little traffic goes
shrough here after midnight.”

Nor had anyone with the first name
» nickname of Tommy come in while
ve was behind the desk, declared Mat-
ock. He admitted, however, that any-
me knowing the hotel’s layout could
lave entered the back way and gone
ipstairs without his seeing him.

McCarty and Dufresne returned to
he squad car and waited for reports
rom the other buildings being can-
‘assed. His men drifted back with
legative results. Shaking his head,
A4cCarty said half to himself: “If the
iller doesn't live in any of the build-
ags bordering the Hotel Touraine’s
ard, how did the bag get there?”

“Could be the killer once lived at
he Touraine,” replied Dufresne, “and
new about that rear entrance.”

“You may have something there,
wrt,” and McCarty nodded. “It would
e a swell way. to throw us off the
cent.” .

“Suppose we check through the
‘ouraine’s files and sift out those with
‘homas for a first name who still live
1 this district?” ’

“Good idea. You handle it and take
$s many men as you need. I’ll go back
>) Headquarters and see what’s new.”

}ACK at his office, McCarty found sev-
eral reports on his desk—all bad.
he officers checking the names in Mrs.
‘olt’s address book found them to be
uesmen having business with the
‘olt family. Although familiar with

1e slain woman these men could shed.

9 light on her private life.

The research laboratory reported
iat the bloodstained handkerchief
longing to Frank Langlois did not
yntain the same type blood as the
ctim. Nor did the pocketknife reveal
iything incriminating.

Detective John Mendonca entered
cCarty’s office with news.

“I’m on the detail, Captain, can-
issing the district between the Polish
tub and Bonneau Court. I found a
»ot where I think the guy and the
oman stayed for nearly an hour.”
“Did you get his name?”

“The bartender says his name is
homas St. Don. He says he remem-
2red it because it’s such an odd name.
e knows nothing about the man ex-

cept he once worked as a fisherman.”
McCarty’s eyes narrowed. “St. Don,
ot It sounds familiar. Good work,
‘ac Ang
McCarty spent the next ten minutes
telephoning. When he was finished he
had St. Don’s record before him. In
1936, St. Don was arrested on a morals

charge. In April, 1944, he was booked -

on a charge of assaulting his wife and
given probation.

The city directory gave him an ad-
dress on North Orchard Street.
Carty frowned when he saw this. St.
Don's residence was far removed from
the second-class hotel district on which
he felt sure the killer lived. Also, noth-
ing in his record indicated his having
lived in hotels, and the Captain realized
that Mrs. Holt’s killer must have been
acquainted with the back entrance of
the Hotel Touraine. .

The phone jangled on McCarty’s
desk. It was Dufresne.

“I got a list of the former tenants
with the first name Thomas,” the de-
tective told him. “The men are check-
ing the district now.”

“Have you a copy of that list handy?”
asked McCarty. ‘When Dufresne ac-
knowledged that he had, McCarty
asked: “You don’t happen to have a
Thomas St. Don on it, do you?”

He caught Dufresne's exclamation of
surprise. “Why, yes! How did you
know?”

“I'll tell you later. Report here at
Once and let the men continue search-
ing. We've got something hot.”

When Dufresne arrived, both officers
drove to the North Orchard Street ad-
dress, a two family frame house'on a
quiet, tree-lined street. Ringing the
doorbell, a refined, white-haired woman
answered,

a ’D like to see Mr. St. Don,” re-
quested McCarty.

“I'm sorry, but the St. Dons have
gone,” was the disappointing reply.
“Mrs. St. Don left her husband about
a month ago and took her four-year-
old daughter with her. She got tired
of his drinking and abuse.”

“Can you tell us where he’s gone?”

“No, but I saw him driving a Dial

.Cab along Acushnet Avenue about a

week ago.”

“I thought he was a fisherman?”

“He is, but he also drives a cab be-
tween trips. It was while he was away
on a trip his wife left him.”

The officers thanked her and drove

Mc- |

to the office of the Dial Cab Company
on Purchase Street. The manager in-
formed them St. Don hadn’t worked
since Friday, December 15.

“He's been drinking his head off,”
he explained. “He reported for work
Saturday, but was so drunk I wouldn't
trust him with a cab. I sent him home.”

‘Where is his home?”

“The Plaza Hotel. That’s a block
down the street.” :

McCarty turned to Dufresne. “This
guy sure has a lot of homes to hide a
—e I wonder how many more he

as?”

Summoning additional help from
Headquarters over the two-way radio
hook-up in the squad car, the officers
drove to the Plaza Hotel. Three min-
utes later, another squad car pulled
up behind them and Detective Ser-
geant Michael Deane and Detective
Stephen Downey piled out.

MccarTy posted Downey at the door
and entered the hotel. At the desk
ee eenes St. Don’s room number was

“Is he in?” asked McCarty.

“He must be, His key isn’t here,” re-
plied the clerk. “You say you're offi-
cers? Well, I’ve got an extra key—”

“Let me have it,” interrupted Mc-
Carty.

The three men were whisked to the
eighth floor where they stopped before
St. Don's door, inserted the key and
entered. A man lay sprawled on the
bed, sleeping. From the description
supplied by Kurowski, they knew their
search was over.

He was wakened, allowed to dress
and handcuffed. St. Don appeared in
a stupor as he watched the detectives
search his room. There they found a
bloodstained handkerchief. A white
shirt, thrown in a corner, was smeared
with blood, as were the soles of a pair
of dress shoes.

In the adjoining bathroom they
found a hotel towel splattered with
stains. However, a thorough search
failed to reveal the death-weapon.

Brought to Headquarters, St. Don
gazed at the officers stupidly as they
bombarded him with questions. Kurow-
ski and his three waitresses promptly
identified him as “Tommy.” Despite
the overwhelming evidence against
him, he continued denying having
killed Mrs. Holt.

However, twelve hours’ grilling by
District Attorney Frank Smith, his as-

sistant, Andrew P. Doyle, and Captain
McCarty broke him down.

“Mrs. Holt became angry with me
when I broke a date with her last
Saturday night,” he said dazedly. “She
accused me of going around with other
women. It made me so mad I showed
up Saturday night with a blonde I
picked up. Blanche was furious and
refused to wait on our table. I left
early and came back after ditching the
blonde to make up with Blanche.”

St. Don said he met her on Sunday

- night after work.

“On the way home we stopped in for
a few drinks and the argument started
all over again. When we reached the
court yard it was going full blast.

“She was real abusive and we started
pushing each other around. Suddenly
I found a knife in my hand. I don’t
know how it got there... . My mind
seemed to go blank. I don’t remem-
ber anything until I found myself walk-
ing along Acushnet Avenue with Mrs.
Holt’s pocketbook under my arm. {I
took the money from it and entered
through the back door of the Hotel
Touraine where I once lived.

“I threw the bag in the yard and
came to my room in the Hotel Plaza.
I took off my clothes, washed my hands
and went to bed.” F

“What did you do with the knife?”

“I threw it into a yard near the taxi
stand on Sawyer Street, a few feet
west of Acushnet Avenue,” he replied.

“pr you know Mrs. Holt was dead?”

St. Don shook his head. “I did
not. Had I known such a thing could I
have gone home and slept, which I did?”

Frank Langlois was released from
custody with apologies. Detectives
were sent to the spot where St. Don
claimed to have thrown the knife, but
they failed to find it. His bloodstained
clothes were sent to the research lab-
oratory for comparison with Mrs.
Holt’s blood.

St. Don was arraigned before Judge
Walter L. Considine in the Third Dis-
trict Court and he pleaded not guilty.
Having been indicted for first-degree
murder as OFFICIAL DETECTIVE
STORIES goes to press, St. Don is
awaiting his trial which has been set
for June, depending upon the result of
&@ pending mental examination.

The name Frank Langlois, used in
this story, is fictitious to protect the
identity of an innocent person.

53

killer remain at large, free to roam the
highways, free to kill again?

Captain Scroggin was utilizing every
facility of his department. He sent out
n State-wide alarm for the red-head,
furnishing as accurate a description
as possible. And he told Lieutenant
Oliphant and Sergeant Sims to keep
back-checking the earlier cases.

That way, Oliphant and Sims picked
up one more bit of evidence, picked it
up unexpectedly. They were in Cam-
den. checking the killing of Hamilton
and looking for a fence the slayer
might have contacted there, when they
got something that tied the red-head
directly to the slaying of Adams. Adams
had been killed near Fordyce, on his
way to work at Camden.
the officers found a man who said that
a red-head answering the fugitive’s
description had sold him several car-
tons of cigarettes on the day after
Adams was killed. And the officers re-
membered that Adams might have had
a lot of cigarettes with him when he
was slain.

[F THE killer had slain Adams then
gone on down to Camden to sell the
cigarettes, might he not have also dis-
posed of Adams’ watches there? Cam-
den was a small place normally but
now it was war-swollen. The officers
left Stuttgart and Fordyce temporarily
to concentrate on Camden.

Meanwhile patrolmen cruising over
the State were keeping on the alert,
stopping and questioning all hitch-
hikers. Patrolman Wyatt Patrick,
Griving down Highway 67 near Po-
cahontas, picked up a young fellow
named Hal Manton. Something in the
youth’s uneasiness caught the officer's
attention. He took him to Newport for
questioning. And, searching him, he
found two pistols and 192 rounds of
ammunition.

The officers’ faces tightened as they
saw the guns, and they bore down hard
on their questioning. Lieutenant A.
E. Frazier took over. Manton told him
nervously that he was from Indiana,
that he had been traveling with his
mother and brother to Van Horn,
Texas, that their car had been wrecked
near there, and that he had taken his
own pistol and his brother’s and
started for Indiana. He said the guns
had been purchased in Indiana. The
Lieutenant examined them. One was
a .30 caliber pistol and one a .32. The
gun the officers were hunting was a .38.

Martin’s story seemed  straight-
forward. Moreover, he was only seven-
teen years old, and his hair wasn’t red.
Nevertheless, he was held for further
investigation.

Scarcely had Captain Scroggin fin-
ished studying the reports on Manton
when officers at Conway called and said
they were holding a youth from Pope
County. He was Ted Grew and he
was 24 years old. He had been picked
up in connection with a bicycle theft,
a strictly routine pickup. .

But when the officers started talk-
ing to him they noticed stains that re-
sembled blood on his clothes. So they
went to work on him, checking him
thoroughly.

Certainly now at last the officers
were getting action. They had half a
dozen irons in the fire. Something
ought to break soon. Which way would
the case crack?

Not through the Little Rock under-
world. Chief Martin said, “He didn’t
fence the stolen watches in Little Rock.
Or if he did, he did it through an en-
tirely new connection.”

THE Officers finished back-checking

the Adams, Mulherin, and Hamilton
cases. They had nothing additional
to report.

And now one by one the other possi-
bilities blew up.

Young Hal Manton’s story about the
pistols and his trip from Indiana stood
up under investigation; he was re-
leased.

So was Drew, who had been pinched
in connection with a bicycle theft.

The waitress at Conway decided the
man she’d seen having lunch with
friends wasn’t Newcomb after all.

And officers who had been trying to
trace the stolen watches at Camden,
Fordyce and Stuttgart reported com-

52

In Camden .-

plete failure.

Captain Scroggin said wearily,
“We're just about back where we start-
ed. We've got nowhere at all.” He
looked at his men sternly. “But we
can’t stop now! We've got to catch
that hitchhiking multiple killer!”

AND almost simultaneously requests
for information began to come in
from all over the southwest. Officers
everywhere, reading the papers and
noting the descriptive fliers Captain
Scroggin had distributed, recalled un-
solved hitchhiker killings in their own
territories. From Oklahoma, from Tex-
as, from New Mexico, from Missouri,
from nearly all the southwestern States
and others, too, they telephoned or
wired Captain Scroggin.

Most of the unsolved slayings had
been single isolated killings. Hereto-
fore no attempt had been made to link
them. But now that the hitchhiker
had struck four times in a few weeks
in Arkansas, officers everywhere noted
various similarities. Almost always
the slayer stole his victim's watch.
The watches were rarely, if ever, re-
covered. The killer almost never at-
tempted to sell his victim’s car but,
rather, abandoned it either at or near
the scene of the crime. Sometimes he
set the car or the victim on fire. And
in one or two cases the officers had
found a witness who recalled vaguely
having seen a red-haired man hitch-
hiking in the vicinity, or driving a car
resembling the victim’s, or in some
other apparent connection with the
crime.

But always the red-head had van-
ished completely, leaving behind him
no clews. How could he get away so
cleanly? Where was his hideout?
What did he do with the watches he
stole?

Captain Scroggin ran his hand
through his hair and looked at the mass
of reports on his desk, the requests for
information from other States, and he
realized that he was in the center of
one of. the biggest criminal investiga-
tions in recent southwestern history—
and that he was getting nowhere.
Somewhere in this vast area a killer
was holed up, laughing at the law
which could not find him.

Scroggin said, “And I'm still betting
that his headquarters is right here,
‘just as we’ve thought all along. But
how can we get at him?”

How indeed? The officers had tried
everything they could think of.

Scroggin told his men slowly, “You
know, the strangest thing about the

. Whole deal is that we haven’t been able

to locate any of the watches he’s stol-
en. That's the one thing that sets this
case off from all others like it I’ve ever
heard of.”

He tapped thoughtfully on his desk
with a pencil. The other officers sat
around his office tired and discour-
aged, watching him.

CROGGIN, thinking out loud, went

on. “He doesn’t get rid of them
through pawn shops. Nor through
fences here. Some of the men from
the other States report they checked
fences in the vicinities too. Well,
then, what does he do with them?”

“Maybe he just hangs onto the stuff
for awhile.. Maybe he waits till he gets
a pretty good-sized pile of it together
then gets rid of it all at once.”

Scroggin shook his head. “It’s
harder to get rid of a big collection at
one time than of a single item. He’d
know that.”

They were silent a few minutes. Then
one of them said, “Maybe he’s part of
a ring of some kind. I mean, a sort of
Syndicate. Maybe he sends the stuff
somewhere else to be fenced. Like to
Chicago, or New York, or somewhere.”

Scroggin looked up. He said slowly,
“We've checked almost every other
Possibility. I wonder.”

He sat quietly a moment. Might not
the killer have had aid in disposing of
the loot, aid from some metropolitan
center?

It seemed possible. And the of-
ficers were ready to try anything.

They began a check of post offices
and railway express offices.

First they hit Little Rock. They
asked whether a man answering the

ved-head's description had mailed or
expressed a _ registered or insured
package at about the time of the kill-
ing of Mulherin, Adams, or Newcomb,
or Hamilton. They drew a blank.

Scroggin told Lieutenant Oliphant
and Sergeant Sims grimly, “All right.
Try the towns near the killings.”

They hit Heber Springs. No dice.

Then Fordyce, near which Adams
had died. Nothing.

Then Camden, where the red-head
had sold Adams’ cigarettes and near
which Hamilton had been slain. And
the postal clerk said, “Why yes, I re-
member a nervous red-headed man
sending an insured parcel post pack-
age. It was just a few days—well, may-
be a few weeks ago.’ Wait just a min-
ute,” and he turned to thumb through
his records while the detectives watched
tensely.

JILJERE it is,” he said and showed
. them an entry dated the day
after Adams was slain.

The package had been addressed to
a woman in Little Rock. Sims copied
her name and address and that of the
sender.

“He probably gave a phoney name
and address for himself,” he said as he
and Lieutenant Oliphant left, “but the
woman's name and address would have
to be right.”

The sender's was a phoney all right.
No such address existed. The Officers
hurried to Little Rock and talked to
Chief Martin who assigned Detectives
Peterson and Judd to aid them.

Peterson said, “That: woman’s ad-
dress on Louisiana Street sounds real,
all right. Let’s go see.”

The address was only a few blocks
from the police station, just back of the
business district of town. Grace Cook-
son lived in a flat above a store, the
store proprietor told the officers. They
climbed a dingy stairway to the sec-
ond floor and saw a faded thumb-
marked card on a door: Grace Cookson.
They knocked. No one answered. And
again. Still no answer. One of them
called, “Western Union.”

Still no reply. The cops went back
downstairs. They staked out the place.
While one of them watched from across
the street, others took up posts nearby
and still another began making inquir-
ies in the neighborhood.

And he learned that a red-haired
man, a taxi driver, often visited Grace.
He seemed to be about the right age
and size.

Grace came home. They knocked and
she let them in. Peterson said, “Police-
men. We want to talk to you.”

Her eyes widened. “What about?”

“Did you receive a package February
third?”

“I might have. Why?”

They glanced at each other. “Listen.
You help us and if you’re in the clear
you're okay with us. But if you don’t
help us you're hurting yourself. Okay?”

She tried to stare them down. But
then she said, “Okay. What do you
want to know?”

They told her. She admitted she had
received the package from her boy
friend mailed at Camden. It had con-
tained two clocks, a razor, blades, sev-
eral shaving mugs, and sewing needles.
She didn’t know where her boy friend
had got the stuff, she insisted. He had
come to Little Rock in a day or two,
Picked the stuff up at her flat, sold her
one of the clocks, and gone out to sell
the rest. She showed them the clock. It
answered the description of the brown-
faced alarm clock stolen from Adams.
It was. stopped at four o'clock.

PETERSON asked, “What’s your boy
friend's name?”

“James Hall.”

“Where does he live?”

“I don’t know. But he’s a taxi driver,
off and on. He’s usually at a stand near
Markham and Victory.”

“Off and on? Is he on now?”

She bit her lip. “I think so. He just
went back to driving.”

“What's he been doing lately?”

“I don’t know,” she said, and she
stuck to that. -

The detectives hurried to Markham
and Victory, only a few blocks away
near the center of the city and not far
from the bus station. At the cab stand

they talked to the starter, who sald
that Hall was out on a run but would
be back soon.

They waited, keeping in the shadows.
And while they waited they wondered
if they were close to the end of the
trail. Was Hall the man they wanted?
After all, they had but little on him.
Almost nothing, in fact. They would
have to handle him tactfully when they
did pick him up.

A cab drew up to the curb and the
starter turned to the officers nervously.
“That's Hall’s cab.”

Peterson and Judd moved, one to
each side of the taxi. Peterson pulled
the door open and spoke to the driver.
“Police. We want to talk to you, Hall.”

Hall looked at him, blinking.

Judd said, “Let’s go.”

Hall nodded. “All right.’ And he
got out of his taxi.

They took him to the station and
told him to take his cap off. His hair
was red. He was about the right age
and size, too.

They searched him. In his wallet
they found a receipt for the package
he had mailed at Camden the day after
Adams was killed.

He told’ them he lived on Magnolia
Street in North Little Rock. They
locked him up to sweat it out while
they went to see what they could get
on him.

THEY threw the full weight of the
State and local departments into in-
vestigating him. While Peterson and
Judd searched his rooms other officers
questioned his neighbors, his fellow
cab drivers, and everybody else they
could find who knew him. They want-
ed to learn every single fact about the
life and affairs of James W. Hall.

And they discovered plenty.. As soon
as they walked into his room they
spotted a gun on his dresser. They
seized it. But it was a .32 caliber. None
of the dead men had been shot with a
.32. So they searched further. They
found about 200 rounds of .45 and .38
caliber ammunition, But not until they
had gone through the room four times
did they dig up a .38 caliber revolver.
It was hidden shrewdly between sheets
in a dresser drawer. The .32 appar-
ently had been left out in plain view
as a red herring. The cops rushed the
38 to Lieutenant Allen Templeton,
State Police ballistics expert, and went
on with their investigation.

Shoved far back in a corner of a
closet they found a blue-gray overcoat,
dirty and crumbled. It looked like
Newcomb’s.

And then they found Newcomb’s
watch. It had been tucked into an
auto seat cushion, then the split in the
cushion had been sewn up again and
the cushion put in the closet beneath a
heap of clothing. ‘The watch, curiously
enough, had stopped at four o’clock,
like the alarm clock believed stolen
from Adams.

Bur the most interesting thing that
the officers picked up was the flock

of rumors about Hall’s missing bride.

Nobody had seen her for months. She
had married Hall about a year ago,
their friends said, but sometime during
the Summer of 1944 she had dropped
out of sight.

‘The peculiar thing was that, while
Hall had simply ‘said vaguely that she
had gone away, rumors said she was
dead.

From one of her girl friends the cops
learned her maiden name—Faye Clem-
mons, of Lonoke. They went to her
parents and they told them a curious
story.

Her mother, Mrs. A. Z. Clemmons,
said that Faye had married Hall
on March 23, 1944. Faye was only
nineteen at the time, five or six years
younger than Hall. Hall had _ been
married previously. He and his first
wife were divorced after four years of
marriage. Not long after he married
Faye, she appeared at her parents’
home badly bruised. But though some-
thing seemed to be preying on- her
mind, she told her parents nothing.

On another occasion her parents
saw her when she was bruised. But

““Red,” as his wife called him, said

they had only been scuffling. They
never saw their daughter again. Late


cnet ee enenneeeneeonmnrestai

abandoned down by the railroad tracks in Stuttgart.”

“Any: clues?”

The sheriff shook his head. “No gun. No bullets.
No discharged shells. No footprints—the ground is
hard. No fingerprints on the car. We know that Mul-
herin delivered meat in Humnoke this morning, but so
far we haven’t found anybody who saw him after he
left that town. Willbanks and I both have men working
on the case.” i

“Probably picked up the same hitch-hiker that killed
Adams,” the police superintendent declared as, with
the others, he carefully surveyed the area around the
highway. “And I’m inclined to think, in spite of the
different bullets, the same guy murdered that Camden
negro. All three were shotin the back of the head at
approximately the same distance from the road.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Hamilton conceded. “Incident-
ally, we’re checking the trains to get a line on pas-
Sengers getting on at Stuttgart. We're also trying to
trace Mulherin’s route from Humnoke.” ;

Porter went back and leaned over the dead man.
“Looks to me as though that bullet didn’t come out of
his head,” he remarked to the sheriff. “If it shows up
in the post mortem, get it up to Little Rock right away.”

That night, Lieutenant Templeton minutely examined
the bore marks on the bullet which the Prairie County
official had hastily dispatched to State Police headquar-
ters as soon as the autopsy had been completed.

In a few moments, the lieutenant gave’ a verdict that
galvanized Porter into action. “The shot that got Mul-
herin,” he said, “is a .38 caliber. It was fired from the
Same gun used on Adams.” i

“That killer is a fiend!” the police superintendent
cried, reaching for the phone. “Until he’s caught, no-
body in the State of Arkansas will be safe.”

SS WIFTLY, the wheels of the law-enforcement agen-
cies were set in motion for a gigantic man-hunt.

FAYRENE HALL—— ;
She had been missing for several months before the
Arkansas investigators connected her mysterious

12 disappearance with the killings in their territory.

Although an alarm was flashed to eight states, the main
efforts were concentrated within a- 100-mile radius of
Little Rock, ‘which seemed to be the killer’s chief hunt-
ing ground. Hundreds of persons were questioned by
local, county and state- authorities, and in the city of
Little Rock, Detective Chief Martin assigned to the case
two of his ablest assistants, Detectives H.R. Peterson
and H.M. Judd.

Two days later, Chief Willbanks phoned Porter.

“We believe we have an important tip on the Mul-
herin murder,” he told the state official. “We've
learned that a man, described as about 40 years old,
spent Thursday night in a vacant house in England. The
next morning, the day the truck driver was killed, this
man hitch-hiked to Humnoke on Highway 30.

“You’ll remember that Mulherin stopped in Humnoke
to deliver some meat. He might have picked up the
hitch-hiker there. We have a description of him—he’s
six feet tall, weighs about 160 pounds, wore a herring-
bone-weave suit, a green checked cap and was carrying
a bundle. When last seen, he was drunk.”

_ “We'll send out an alarm,” he declared.

“There’s one flaw in the report,” Willbanks came
back. “Only one shot was fired into the truck driver’s
skull. A drunk probably couldn’t aim that accurately,”

“That’s true, but we can’t overlook any: lead,” the
superintendent asserted. “We’]] order his arrest, if he’s
found.”

While the troopers were trying to track down the
mysterious suspect, Detective Martin’s men were delv-
ing into the slain truck driver’s affairs.

They learned that several of Mulherin’s customers
had given him checks totalling about $200 on the day
he was killed. Banks on which they were drawn were
asked to report to the police the appearance of any of
these drafts for collection; but after several days it be-

‘came apparent that the killer had made no attempt to

cash in on this money.

In conf
the crim¢
to me wt
trouble t:
ing—not
Mulherin
or pawns
or else w
tims’ bod

The st:
the days

N the
Litt]

a middle
sidewalk
ment, he
That o
which ke

to the
entered.
“Oh, he
you hear
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desk. \
WOITy.

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these hig
thing ha;
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* “Well,
pocketbo
of her cl¢
walked ;
the high\
and robt

AS PETE

1 the police

wide area
zerprints on
{ man. The
guy’s brain.

you recover
on find out
the colored

an autopsy
-wide man-
vards Little

riff Glover
{ been iden-
ldt, Kansas,
2n route to
mployment.
1 about $25
with his
contained,
own alarm
None of
rder scene.
orter theo-
head of the
vould. have
way? The

vas called
orm sewer
iad tossed
1is victims.

THE CONFESSION——

Killer (still smiling} gives details of the murders.
Left to right, Detective R. H. Peterson; the killer;
and Lieutenant Rhett Oliphant of the State Police.

Hes

killer abandoned the car, so if he isn’t holed in some- —

where in that part of the state, he must have continued
his travels on foot or by bus, or maybe hailed another
driver, who gave him a ride.”

“Yeah,” the captain agreed.
flagged a car with an out-of-state license. In that case,
it will be hard to discover who picked him up.”

The superintendent nodded and immediately took
steps to trap the murderer. All bus lines within a
reasonable distance of Fordyce were contacted and the
drivers interrogated as to their passengers on the after-
noon of February 1. Railroad employees also were
questioned. :

Efforts were made through the press and radio to
locate a motorist who might have picked up a hitch-
hiker carrying a suitcase. Jewelry stores and pawn-
shops were alerted to be on the lookout for the
watches. Wide publicity was given the stolen clocks,
in an effort to recover them.

“A man ruthless enough to commit murder for $25
is liable to strike again,” Porter warned, in a message
to the State Troopers. “He may already have struck
twice, as it is.”

The next day, however, it seemed unlikely that the
murder of the Camden negro and the prospective war
worker were committed by the same person, for when
Lieutenant Allen Templeton, ballistics expert, analyzed
the bullet taken from Adams’ skull, he found it had
been fired from a .38, not a .45-caliber gun.

A week went by. In spite of increased vigilance, the
phantom highwayman remained at large.

On Friday afternoon, February 9, in his office at State
Police headquarters, Porter with Scroggin was sifting
a batch of new reports from persons who had noticed
“thumbers” angling for rides.

The superintendent had put down a sheaf of papers
and was lighting a cigarette, when the telephone rang.
He picked up the receiver. |

“If he was smart, he ©

him by papers in his pocket.

‘Yes, this is Porter,” Scroggin heard him say, but at
his chief’s next words, the police captain sprang to his
feet.

“What’s that?” Porter was fairly shouting into the
phone. “Shot? Robbed? Near Stuttgart? Yes. Okay,
sheriff, we’ll be right down.”

poe dropped the receiver back on the hook and
wheeled around. “There’s been another highway
killing—a Little Rock man—Doyle Mulherin, truck
driver for a meat-packing company. Shot in the head
and robbed, like Adams.”

Within seconds, the State Police car was roaring
towards Stuttgart, a municipality with a population of
about 6,000, situated about 60 miles southeast of Little
Rock and a good 100 miles in a direct line northeast of
Fordyce. Closely following, in an official car, was Chief
of Detectives O.N. Martin of the Little Rock police
force.

Sheriff E.O. Hamilton of Prairie County and Police
Chief Willbanks of nearby England, county seat of
Lonoke County, were investigating the scene of the new
atrocity when the Little Rock officers arrived, and dep-
uties were holding back the crowd of curious onlookers
which had rapidly collected.

Porter, followed by Scroggin and Martin, strode
across the grass. Thirty yards from the highway lay
the bleeding corpse. It was the body of a husky, 29-
year-old man.

“Face down, back of the head blasted,’ Porter mut-
tered, then turned to Sheriff Hamilton. “What’s the
story?”

“We found him about an hour ago,” the sheriff re-
plied. “There was no money on him, but we identified
We called his family.
Relatives said he had a watch, and carried his money
in a wallet. The watch and wallet are gone, so ob-
viously he was robbed. We found the meat truck


Y “TLL TELL

HER BODY
Is!”

BY FRANK JOHNSON

CONFESSED SLAYER—— “a 3
is seen in photo at lower right. His smile here tricks
is typical. He continued to smile as he described ;
various murders which made hardened officers wince.

+o eT Sy

ae VICTIM’S DRES
V. Hamilton. is identified for officers and newspaper folk by
(ulherin and the killer (with visored cap). The stick in his
in his room. hand he used to poke in the ground for girl’s bones.


-

10

“Shot through the head and robbed,” the sheriff
announced, as he ushered them through the cordon of
police. “There’s no identification on him, but we think
that’s his car over there. It wag abandoned on the
highway. We’re checking with Kansas authorities, It
had Kansas plates.”

Porter, who had been moving ahead all the while the
sheriff was speaking, stepped back involuntarily when
he reached a spot about 30 yards from the thorough-
fare. At his feet, sprawled face downward in a con-
vulsion of death, lay the body of a well-dressed, middle-
aged man. Blood, which had poured from a hole in
the back of his skull, had formed a sticky pool on the
hard earth. From the gaping pockets of his clothes it
was obvious that he had been filched of his money and
personal belongings.

“Marched off the road at gunpoint, shot through the -

head and robbed,” the State Police superintendent mur-
mured reminiscently, turning to Glover. “That’s what
happened to that darkey down in Camden a couple of
months ago. Think there’s any connection?”

“I reckon there might be,” the sheriff responded, “al-
though it looks to me like this fellow was killed by a
hitch-hiker. I doubt whether that poor duffer in Cam-
den had a car. Ever find out who he was?”

“Yes. He turned out to be C. F. Hamilton, a 45-year-
old barber,” Porter replied. ‘He was killed by a .45-
caliber bullet. We never found the gun, and ‘so far
haven’t been able to trace the killer.”

“This killer didn’t leave any clue, either,” Glover

THE SPOT——

where the slain Mulherin’s truck
was abandoned. Left to right,
Simms, Peterson and the killer,
who blithely aided investigation,

pointed out, as if answering a question. in the police
superintendent's mind. “We’ve combed a wide area
around here. There’s no gun—and no fingerprints on
the steering wheel except those of the dead man. The
coroner says there’s probably a bullet in the guy’s brain.
That will tell us something.”

“Send it up to headquarters as soon as you recover
it,” Porter requested. “Templeton can soon find out
whether it’s the same as the one that got the colored
man.”

The body was taken to the morgue for an autopsy
and after sending out an alarm for a state-wide man-

hunt, Porter and Scroggin headed back towards Little
Rock.

VV BEN they arrived af their offices, Sheriff Glover
already had phoned. The slain man had been iden-
tified as Edward Carl Adams, 45, of Humboldt, Kansas,
who had been traveling alone in his car en route to
the Camden Naval Ordnance Plant to seek employment.
According to his wife, Adams had on him about $25
and two watches, one heavily engraved with his
initials. He also had a suitcase, which contained,
among other things, an electric clock, a brown alarm
clock, a shaving mug, razor and cigarettes. None of
these possessions had been found at the murder scene.
“Everything points to a hitch-hiker,” Porter theo-
rized, addressing Captain Scroggin, who was head of the
State Identification Bureau. “Who else would. have
murdered and robbed Adams along that highway? The

FIRE DEP’T,—

at Stuttgart was called
to pump out storm sewer
where killer had tossed
keys of one of his victims.

killer ab
where in
his trave
driver, v
“Yeah
flagged :
it will b
The s
steps to
reasonat
drivers |
noon of
question
Effort
locate a
hiker c:
shops \
watches
in an ef
“A m
is liable
to the :
twice, :
The :
murder
worker
Lieuten
the bul
been fir
A we
phantor
On F
Police
a batct
“thumt
The
and w:
He pic!

»s, the main
le radius of
chief hunt-
estioned by
the city of
{ to the case
R. Peterson

Porter.

nn the Mul-
il. “We've
) years old,
igland. The
; killed, this
30.

in Humnoke
‘ked up the
f him—he’s
2 a herring-
vas carrying

banks came
uck driver’s
accurately.”
’ lead,” the
rrest, if he’s

k down the
were delv-

s customers
on the day
drawn were
ce of any of
| days it be-
») attempt to

\
j
t
f

acerca AIOE TIS

In conference with Porter and Scroggin a week after
the crime, Martin blurted out suddenly: “It’s a mystery
to me what that bird does with his loot. - He took the
trouble to take Adams’ watches and suitcase, but noth-
ing—not even the clocks—have shown up anywhere.
Mulherin’s watch hasn’t appeared in any jewelry store
or pawnshop, either. The killer must want those items,
or else why would He bother taking them from his vic-
tims’ bodies?”

The state officers admitted they were baffled, and as.

the days went by the mystery only deepened.

N the morning of March 9, a car drew up to the

Littlé Rock police headquarters and from it stepped
a middle-aged farmer, who walked slowly down the
sidewalk and into the building. Hesitating only a mo-
ment, he went directly to Detective Martin’s office.

That official, deep in the investigation of information
which kept pouring in from various sources in regard
to the recent murders, looked up when the visitor
entered.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Clemmons,” he said, cordially. “Have
you heard anything from your daughter?”

» The farmer sat down in a chair opposite the chief's
desk. Martin noticed that his face was lined with
worry. ,

“No, we haven’t,” he replied. “I hate to keep bother-
ing you, but my wife and I have been reading about
these highway murders and we think maybe the same
thing happened to Faye.”

“What do you mean?” the detective queried.

“Well, we know that Faye left that morning with a
pocketbook containing about $50. She didn’t take any
of her clothes with her, so she, could quite possibly have
walked and then hitched a ride with someone. Maybe
the highway killer was in the car. Maybe he killed Faye
and robbed her.” (Continued on page 71)

JAMES HALL——
(the coatless figure) poses above with, left to
right, Lieut. Oliphant, Detective Peterson,

Homer Sims, H. M. Judd and Capt. Scroggins.

bat go Lee)

. discovered a valua
‘that point on, the weird case was q

BALLISTICS EXPERTS——

Lieut. Allan Templeton, comparing bullets used in the

Kdams, Mulherin and Newcom

be killings with those

found in a gun located at the room of a strong suspect.

oOo. N. MARTIN——
Chief of Detectives of the Little

:

Rock Police Force. He

ble clue in a postal receipt. From
uickly solved.


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74

one did after it left the road. Where’s
the body?” .

"urner led the police superintendent
to an old store building where the
charred remains of the- unidentified
man were spread out. Porter was
particularly interested in the dead
man’s skull. ‘Gingerly, he examined it.

When he had finished, he turned
grjmly to Coroner I. S. Faust of Cle-
burne County, who had just com-
pleted a cursory examination.

“Think he was shot?”

“T.ooks like it,” the coroner replied.
“Where’s a fracture on the left side
of his head. It’s almost certain he was
murdered. We'll probe for a bullet
when we conduct the autopsy. rl
let you know later.”

Porter returned to the death car,
where with the other investigators he
went over the remains of the vehicle
and the surrounding terrain.

They found bloodstains on the front
seat, and sifting the ashes where the
body had lain,’ they discovered a few
of the victim’s teeth. These Porter
handed over to Captain Scroggin as
a possible means of identifying the
dead man.

A search for the murder weapon was
fruitless, however, and finally Porter
walked over to two men with whom
Sheriff Turner was talking at the edge
of the woodlot.

“Lois and Elmer Williams, here,
found the body,” the sheriff explained,
introducing them. “They live only
200 yards away.”

“Hear any screams or shouts yes-
terday or today—or a shot?” Porter
asked. ’

“Nope, didn’t hear any sounds,”
Elmer replied.

“How about you?” the state officer
inquired. :

“Nope, didn’t hear a thing.”

“That looks as though the victim
was murdered elsewhere and his body
| was brought here for cremation,” the
police superintendent observed to
Sheriff Turner.

“That’s entirely’ possible,” that of-
ficial rejoined, “and my guess is he
was killed by a hitch-hiker. New-
combe was always giving people
rides.”

Satisfied that nothing more could
be ascertained at the scene, Porter
and his men returned to Little Rock
to await results of the autopsy and
word from the identification aes

Late that night, through -ray
prints in a local dentist’s office, it was
definitely established that’ the teeth
found in the human ashes in the death
car were indeed those of J. D. New-

7

combe, Jr. r

| gre ran high. in Arkansas,
especially in Little Rock, when
the news broke. The dead man was
one of the most popular and widely
known state officials. A past com-
mander of the Gordon Gale American
Legion Post, he had been chief boiler
inspector for the state since 1919, when
the office was created. Recognized as
an authority in his field, he had at-
‘tained widespread fame and was
chairman of the National Board of
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors.

Thursday noon, March 8, he had left
Little Rock for Clarksville, a city 100
miles northwest of the State ca ital.
His body was found the next a ter-
noon at a spot in the opposite direc-
tion, about 30 miles from the route
which he would have taken on, his trip.
This, the investigators felt, strength-
ened the theory that he had been

murdered by a hitch-hiker, whom he
had picked up either in Little Rock
or just outside the city limits.

The next morning Porter phoned
Martin.

“Tt was Newcombe, all right,” he
told the detective chief. “They didn’t
find any bullet, but he’d been shot in
the head. I’m convinced this is the
work of the criminal who murdered
Adams and Mulherin and probably
that Camden colored man.

“He’s apparently a hitch-hiker who
thumbs rides not for the purpose of
getting places, but to get money by
filling the drivers full of lead. New-
combe had a watch initialed J.D.N.,
which is missing. That sounds a fa-
miliar note. His wife said he didn’t
have much money, but we know the
man we're looking for will shoot a
guy for $25.”

“well assign a detail to look for the
watch in pawnshops, and we'll comb
the city for clues,” Martin replied,
fervently. “That madman has got to
be caught.”

The chief cradled the receiver. Then
he pressed a buzzer, summoning Pet-
erson and Judd.

“We have reason to believe that the
highway murderer got Newcombe,”
he pointed out to his aides. “But
there’s one thing about this killing
that is different from the others. This
time, the killer tried to dispose of the
body. I’m beginning to think now,
that what Clemmons said may have
some merit—that is, about his daugh-
ter having been killed by the L.igh-
wayman.

“She disappeared last August. May-
be this bird did murder the girl and
dispose of the body. Maybe he waited
several months to see if he really had
gotten away with the crime—then
became emboldened and undertook
wholesale murder.”

“Yeah, but it’s more than six months
since the Hall woman disappeared,”
Judd remonstrated. ‘What can we do
now that we haven’t already done?”

Martin pulled out a map. “Well,
I have an idea,” he announced, spread-
ing the parchment out on the desk.
“Lonoke, where Faye Hall’s folks live
is about 15 miles from here. There’s
a number of wooded places and
streams around there, including the
Kerr River. It might be her body was
dumped in one of those places.

“We haven’t been able to find any
of the loot taken from Adams, Mul-
herin or Newcombe. The killer evi-
dently hoards it. What I want to know
is whether Faye Hall had any jewelry
with her. She disappeared more than
six months ago. It might be that by
now a killer, thinking the excitement
had died down, is disposing of what-
ever he took from her.

“It would be helpful, even, if we
could just find the girl’s leather pock-
etbook. There might be fingérprints
on it. I’ve an idea the murderer, if
there was one, took the money and
threw the purse away.”

The chief paused and lighted a cig-
arette.

“What I want you fellows to do,”
he continued, tossing the match into
an ashtray, “is to. go up and talk to
the woman’s husband again. He told
us she had on her engagement and
wedding rings and that they were set
with diamonds and rubies. But find
out if there wasn’t something else—
a watch, some other rings, a gold
compact—anything that might have
been sold by a criminal.

“Tf that line fails, we could organize

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NELS
321S.Waba:

yd been
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t have it.
ind nine
vd hitch-

this Rip?
Virgie’s

ie a reply,
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1en Steven-
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ith lightning-
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‘Why, I hard-

us,” Detective

1 were jealous

r wife.”

is heavy-fea-

‘~-4 otherwise
‘ he chal-

‘diately set
ien beneath a
in a closet in

the suspect’s home, FBI Agent Farley
made a damaging discovery. He found
a man’s shirt, recently laundered,
which still bore faint traces of what
appeared to be blood. Equally im-
portant, he discovered a pair of
women’s shoes that revealed dark
brown stains on the soles.

But even when Farley pointed out
that chemical analysis would deter-
mine whether or not the suspicious
stains were human blood, Weathers

and his wife continued to protest

their fhnocence.

Midnight of Saturday—six days af-
ter the -commission of the crime—
found the investigators no nearer to
obtaining a confession than they were
at the moment of the double arrest.

“Without a confession, we can’t get
to first base,” Agent Farley told In-
vestigator Anderson wearily. “I’m
worn out, Whiz. Suppose you try your
hand with Weathers.”

Anderson agreed and he and Weath-
ers were left alone in the room.
The experienced investigator eyed the
sullen suspect appraisingly. “Rip”
Weathers was calm, collected—and
cold as ice. Since all other means had
failed, a bluff might turn the trick,
Anderson decided. He reached into
his coat pocket and produced an
envelope. Slowly, then, without pay-
ing the slightest attention to the
suspect, he spread the contents of the
envelope out on a table—four ciga-
‘rette stubs and four burned matches,
the wooden ends of the latter reveal-
ing that they had been chewed.

Still carefully ignoring Weathers,
Anderson turned toward the suspect’s
chair, his eyes exploring the floor.
He stooped, retrieved four cigarette
butts and four match stems from the
floor, placed them beside the others
on the table and nodded thoughtful
He looked at his watch, said aloud,
“It checks! Right to the minute!”

Out of the corner of his eye he
observed Weathers’ reaction. Gone was
the cocky air of confidence. The sus-
pect’s forehead was beaded with
perspiration, his swarthy face was
drenched with it. Abruptly, as if he
could stand the suspense no longer,
he blurted out: “What you tryin’ to
pull on me? What you gettin’ at?”

Anderson pretended to be annoyed.
“Don’t bother me, Rip,” he said im-
patiently. “I’m getting these exhibits
ready for the saliva tests. This case is
about wound up.”

Weathers squirmed and fidgeted, his
fear and curiosity getting the better of
his judgment. “What you mean?”

Anderson looked up. “Don’t you
know?” he asked innocently. “Why,
ever since we’ve been questioning
you, I’ve been recording the number
of cigarettes you smoke each hour.
You see, I found these fou. 2ome-~
made cigarette. butts in the bushes
where you and Virgie lay in wait for
Jimmy Revels. Since you smoke an
average of four cigarettes an hour,
it’s a safe bet you waited near the
barricade for Revels about one hour.
That checks with statements of wit-
nesses. Pless says Rh left his home
about nine, an iss Maybrey says
Revels left her at ten. You had just
a few minutes walk to the ie where
you barricaded the road. Right?”

“No, no!” Weathers almost screamed.
You're just bluffin’!”’

“A jury won't think so,” Anderson
returned evenly. “You see, Rip, you
have a habit that is rather distinctive
to say the least. Every time you light
a cigarette, you put the match stem
in your mouth and chew it, then spit
it out. What you didn’t know is that
we have scientific apparatus for test-
ing saliva. In other words, our tests
will conclusively prove, that the per-
son who smoked the four cigarettes
and chewed the four match stems
near the barricade on Blue Goose
Hollow Road, is the same person who’s
sitting in your chair right now, Rip.
Why don’t you get it off your chest?”

Weathers’ thick lips became a thin
white line. Through the barred win-
dow came the street sounds—the
clanging of a trolley, a “screaming
siren, strident voices lifted in drunken
revelry. But in the room there was
thick silence, broken at last by An-
derson’s inexorable voice.

“You first struck Revels near the
barricade,” he was_ saying. “Blood-
stains prove that. He ran and you
overtook him, beat him down to the

round and finished him with a knife.

hen, you loaded his body into his
own car, drove down near the creek,
threw the body into the water and
drove, the car back to East Chatta-
nooga, Then, you deliberately set fire
to the car.”

“Stop it! For God’s sake, stop it!”
The suspect’s face convulsed and he
half-rose from his chair, both clenched
fists raised above his head. “I can’t
stand any more, I tell you! Virgie
done it! She killed him on account of
what he tried to do that day they
went swimmin’!”

Anderson summoned Agent Farley
and a stenographer and an amazin
story was taken down. Virgie, escorte

into “Rip’s” presence and advised that
he had accused her of the actual mur-
der, turned on her cringing spouse
like an enraged tigress.

“Yellow!” she raged. “You're plumb
yellow! But you won’t get away with
it. You’re not going to make me the
goat. I'll just tell the truth.”

Now the two suspects indulged in
an orgy of accusations, each striving
to fasten the atrocious crime upon the
shoulders of the other. Tiring of the
charges and counter charges, the offi-
cers pointed out that the physical
evidence clearly revealed that both
were involved. Whereupon the pair
agreed that both had, indeed, partic-
ipated in the actual slaying.

“We were at Jake Pless’ home last
Sunday,” the joint statement began,
“when we learned that Jimmy Revels
had a date with Celia Maybrey. We
decided to give him what he deserved.
He had tried to make Virgie one day
when they were swimming, and he
had kept trying to break up our home.
We put rocks in the roa and when
he stopped his car, Ri hit him on the
head with a pistol. We got in the car
and Rip drove off the main road in
the Park. He stopped the car and
Revels jumped out and started to run.

“We both took out after him. -Rip
knocked him down several times with
the automobile crank, and Virgie
stabbed at him. He finally fell down’
and Virgie finished him with a knife
Rip gave her. At first we didn’t know
what to do with the body. Then we
got to talking about what he had done
to Virgie and decided to throw him
in the creek.” -

Under date of December 8, 1937,
Virgie and Roy Weathers were
brought to trial before U. S. District
Judge Charles B. Kennemer at Rome,
Georgia.

The motive for the fiendish slaying,
officers insisted, has been two-fold—
Virgie’s jealousy of the dead youth
because he had broken off with her,
and “Rip’s” jealousy of his alleged
attentions to ae

On December 9, the jury returned
a verdict of guilty as charged, and
Virgie and Roy Weathers were sen-
tenced to serve life sentences.

Jake Pless and Matt Tanker were,
of course, completely absolved of any
complicity in the crime.

Eprror’s Note: The names Jake
Pless, Matt Tanker and Celia Maybrey,
used in this narrative, are fictitious
to prevent embarrassment to innocent
persons.

Martin reached into a drawer and
pulled out a folder labeled ‘“‘Fayrene
Clemmons Hall.”

Quickly, he reviewed the case. Mrs.
Hall, pretty 19-year-old wife of James
Wayburn Hall of Little Rock, had gone
to a night club with her husband one
August evening, had returned home
with him about 1 a.m., and retired.

The next morning, when the hus-
band awoke, his wife was,gone. Her
pocketbook, with the money, , was

rLL TELL YOU...

Continued from page 13

missing, but none of her clothes had

been taken. No trace of the girl ever

had been found. The detectives had

finally come to the conclusion that the

vous woman had walked out on her
usband.

“What you say, of course, could be
true,” Martin observed finally to the
father, A. Z. Clemmons, who had been
a frequent visitor to his office, “but
in reality, there isn’t any similarity
between the disappearance of your

daughter and the three recent mur-
ders. For instance, this killer makes
no attempt to conceal the body. He
kills and robs and leaves the victims
lying alongside the road. Then again,
your daughter disappeared last Au-
ee. This highwayman seems to have
egun his activities months later.”
“I know,” Clemmons agreed, “but
the more I think about it, the more
I think Faye was hitch-hiking home
that morning. I’ve been thinking that

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7\


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ever since ‘Red’—that’s her husband,
you know—got fined for beating up
that Blevins fellow up here. He may
have gotten nasty with Faye the night
before she left and she decided to
clear out and come home. She ap-
parently left the house early in the
morning. At that hour, she’d almost
have to hitch-hike to get down to our
place in Lonoke.”

The detective chief fingered through
rts, ; some papers in the folder and studied

reath, FREE the record. It was true that “Red”
TIGHTE : } | Hall had been fined $100 in Municipal

NS Court for beating William Blevins, a
FA LSE TEETH or NO cos few weeks before, in an alley near
He’

| blonde <a 2nd and Center Streets. ;
JUST 3 STEPS Here's new ara single cent see “That attack, we noted at the time,
8 oe Lelie eqite foe ¥ooa.° seemed to be out of character, some-

) Sat wha 204 SE EETH On weet | what, for your son-in-law,” the
RTIALS, LOWER

FALS

ith This Offer.

PERFECT ca, Don't, sulter LowERS | detective pointed out. “You'll remem-

ewan hates. ADpIY, CROWN, "ioore || ber that when your daughter disap-
‘A y A

seays chat way up to ts onths. NO ola peared, we invest ated him: thor-
No.2 fashioned hente Sway from your mouth, | oughly—even trailed him for a time.”
wan your teeth pag ior is 1 At ae eeu. Martin began reading aloud the

thority 1m g°tor CROWN RELINER to testimony W ich had been filed con-
Rene soaps fin CROW te et cerning the 24-year-old husband, a
te KA ferecting the out, or cient CHOWN taxicab driver and minister’s son, who
trowe REUINER 15 ee Has that astoral pink formerly had made a living selling
seat color. /T DER OR PASTE it Bibles.

nan fot intieds xh eos edTand aa hi

tn woutm i . Co meee All his fellow workers had described

him as a “swell guy” who was good-
natured and friendly and always will-
ing to help anyone who needed help.
Although divorced from his first
wife, an Enola girl, he had been
prompt in fulfilling his obligations to-

Rhee Lous wbenica son by that marriage. He ad been
today mOWN Sought married to Faye Clemmons only five
— ; RUSH months before she vanished.

x COUPON “We haven’t closed the case of your

daughter’s disappearance, by any
rT Td means,” the detective reassured the
\ father. “We have alerted police all

CROWN PLASTIC CO., Dept. 809 <

4358 W. Philadelphia Ave., Detroit 4, Mich. over the country to be on the lookout

sce ca it eegts AB | | weeks Reports come in here, eveey

four monte josing reer rege f used tube for refund. week, from persons who t in t ey

i ccama @ dollar in full payment—same mre found her. We pursue every such
NAMe...ceereeesrenerseneeeeeee® ead.

| Adaress....-- ees ad “But the fact remains,” he contin-

- ued, “that your daughter’s disappear~
Le ee ee ance follows a pattern which is taking

place in every city these days. You
‘ admit that last summer Faye confided
to you that she was going to leave

her husband, don’t yout:

To be set to music. Send your song “And we have testimony of rela-
poem today for’ free examination by tives that she had left him several

our staff headed by nationally famous “That’s true.”
i hit composer of “Dream A Little “There was no sign of a scuffle in

: our daughter’s a artment. No
hit Dream of Me.” Our new 6 step plan 1s seaport or ody was Neer found. Her

most liberal and complete ever offered. husband was cleared of any suspicion.

| . Everything looks as though she
| Write today for free booklet. walked out on him. It’s different to-

# day than it was a few years ago.
SCREENLAND RECORDERS Young women know they _can make
Dept. HD Hollywood 28, California big money in war plants. They know

they won’t starve if they leave their

husbands.”
$ The father shifted in his chair. “But
why wouldn’t she get in touch with
us, then? Why has she never sent

Most Precious Keepsake You Can a aaa word?”
a

Detective” Martin was silent for a
Made from Any Photo moment. Then he shrugged. “Could

be a lot of reasons. Maybe she’s
Te manne ashamed oa emnbartansec. 5 wee
Any clearlytopre she’s making lots 0 money an oesn’t
duced 2880 Neepsake itul.onys; =| want to give any of it up. Maybe
yu wil, for years! | she’s afraid you'd make her come

ad clemg. | home, Were doing everything we

can to find her, but as for this high-
way killer, I’m almost certain his

pete scat 26 and leave her body on the roadside.
Goer ege 120 OW. PORTRAT You must remember that we never

‘.

Faye was murdered. And we made a
searching investigation.”

The farmer looked disconsolate, then
he said pleadingly, “J know you have
done everything you could. I know
you don’t think she was killed. But
1 do. I know Faye. She'd get in
touch with us, if she were alive. You
te YOU sce do you think you could
start a new investigation?”

Martin frowned. His first thought
was to tell the man flatly that it was
impossible. After all, the department
had every available man working on
the highway murders. How could de-
tectives be spared to pursue again an
inquiry which for all practical pur-
poses had been exhausted?

But when he saw the plaintive look
on the father’s face, he relaxed and
smiled. “Of course, Mr. Clemmons,”
he said. “We'll put someone on it
right away and we'll take it up with
the’ State Police.”

Relieved, the farmer thanked the
detective and left.

When he had gone, Martin picked
up the folder containing data on the
Hall case and took it over to the State

news.

“Newcombe, State Boiler Inspector,
was found burned up in his car this
afternoon,” the state officer told him.
“Horrible thing. Nothing left of him
but a charred torso, the stubs of his
legs and his head.” .

Martin was stunned. “Newcombe!”
he gasped. “Good God! Where'd it
happen?”

“Out off a logging road, near Heber
Springs. He had two flat tires, and
the car evidently swerved off the road,

Turner just called. He says some as-
pects look suspicious. I'm going right
up there. Tll give you a ring when
I get back.”

Porter went to the door and opened
it, then turned back. “T say New-

~combe,” he said, addressing Detective

Martin again. “Ts not absolutely cer-
tain, but there’s little doubt that that’s
who it is. © The body hasn't been
positively identified, but the sheriff
has determined from the license plates

moment later as he left the building,
he heard the screech of the siren on
the car that took the police superin-
tendent, with Captain Scroggin and
Sergeant Homer Sims, speeding north-
ward to Heber Springs, a logging com-
munity about 70 miles north of Little

Following instructions given them
by Sheriff T. L. Turner of Cleburne

that official and Sheriff Tatum Plant
of adjoining White County, the state

back of the front seat,” Turned pointed
out, “and that’s where most of the fire
was. The front of the car wasn’t
badly burned. Looks to me as though
the man had been murdered and the
killer tried to burn the corpse. The
car is cold. It must have happened
quite a while ago.”

Porter nodded. “J¢ doesn’t look
much like an accident for another rea-
son,” he observed. “When tires blow,
the car usually ,comes to a stop or
turns over before it goes as far as this

ES EPS