tag cities Dave secured
of watebes. and jr is pt
attempr
Cities an
been
Nester for. a weak,
eR I ann
connection with the
tofiice, “which ‘was also
» Helchamber “sind
~
Wright; howerer,
this has. paything
Barnés,
a
4 a man
i fe train,
bf not yet
ae train at
eX victuity
¥e “The
vi at at his
u seatot
‘ On. the
rs hare
ie will upe
Use - Domi ble
Dg to dispose
boety Whea he went
within ihe
a
thoroughly investigated
Seon Sar ih
murder
Was committed Tues-
time - at Vermillion, 12
he thieves broke
|} Syracuse
wah
pair. of - tight colored
ons
phatically
ft did it,
ATTACHED THE MONKY.
McBrilad On Want Seme of tho Meney
< 7)" Stolre Fron Thew.
the Man ndw ander’ arrest on’ suspicion
wera each served with oopies of attavh-
‘} Ment papery signed by Justice Vana and
issued on motion of Attomey William
Notiogham, who rapresonta. the ehoe
tem of MoBrtile & €o.\ The store of thig
frm was burglavized on Juno 5, and: the
afiiartts on which’ the papers “Were
atamted presume thet Burnes is one of
the gang that ‘conunitted the. robbery
and-that the money found vn his person
was part of-that stolen. The Priveipal
affidavit is made by Wil
sonter meouber of the firm,
stance as t
“That on:the third diy of June, 1893,
which was Savurday, there was left. ia
the -safe of the plaintiff's store, at. the
close of business. beurs, the _ sum of
$451.17, end that ‘said safe was locked
op and the eture was fockal; that upon
the folkwwing “Monday, {2 going to the
store, the deponent discovered: that. the
store and sefe had been broken opeo. and
the money taken therefrom and Carried
away, and that. there were scattered
4
‘Kan min: FF
Courier’ er Edwind OT
cul hatey
‘euongn for
‘of bia “a
had on a ray coat,
trreat did vot:
a; "Tac as
say; however, that hia partner
‘>t deucon and Rey, J. J. Keumreiy aa master
The power of the law was yosterday
lnvoked to. rogorer-the money fownd on
of being the: ‘munterer Juwos Harvey,
Chiat of Police Wright and the prisoner,
who gives the name of George A. Barnes, }
liam McBride, |-
and is Im sud-.
water Gl Were Superintendent. J PB.
Cleary, Deceesiren. Thomas Ducklow,
Benjamin: rar hers: Qoorge : Loug: TJ,
ward O'B Peter Low-
ughiiy and Haury Baker,
n DOP Callaoan,
reese; Antone, Selrute, Itoson:
along, MeCertby, Hickey, Ant-
od: Billiagham; froar
and Officers. William
MoCarthy, William MeQut-
Police at Watertown, was
; the 'parlon.of the house
of the’ casket were’ fwo
of the Guard Was
hie part. 22.504.
Phe)
La)
yb, Clark th:
of
Kempf,
reportar,
cae ty
self., We caught.
Rave pame. that
us for xeveral
of the formes,
%
the
Daniet
Thomas M urphy,
«Tho services in the church were very
fmpressive. Soler bigh mse was cole
brated with Rev. J. AL McGuire aa celo-
brant, Rev. J. P. Mages as deacon, Rev,
J. F. FPloming of Lanenster, Pa., aa sub-
& few who haven
vate of 18 to 16."
inerubers. Captain Clark says the neti
not. been, od of any
in conversation..wi
‘last. evening, “The
who espoused: the -cagge '
+} ald so nt. the request, of 3
othe sex-Captain int
he) %, Levin
tion “of succeeding the “ex-Captain, © *,
publixked list of those who are to resign
be coutinnéd, fa’ inaccurdt
vote. to reconsider. the sotten sates AL
Chirk tW the ranks wis
th a Gour
> xentlgmas
of the
wt. Flis
and of indis
ures slg poll
¢, 86 there a
o desire th: ledve.
s wot by @ fin
ie te a
bocha a
ei 4.
vig
-}of ceremonies. Father Kennedy, vicar fy
general of the didcese, preavhed the fn- Tue roe
neral sermon. He spoke briefly but tto-
quently of Mr. Harvey's life aa 2 Chris-
tan and an officer. At the conclusion of
the sermon, the cholr sang “Jerusalem,
My Happy “Home,” and: then the, body
Was taken to its last resting ‘place.
apply ta deposits
} Dated, J
OPERATED IN ROCHESTER, Many do not know
Ut $s Thowght Thore That Rarnce Waa One
Z of thea Meine Gang
Tt is thowsht in Rochester that “George
A. Barues,"' the man under arrest here
for fe murder of -Detoutive-Harvey, is
& meaner of the same gang of Duredars
which has been operating in that city for
smoe wooks past. In speaking of the
affair, the Domocrat and Chronicle of
that city sald last evening:
“Thare are soveral reasons for thinking
that the murderer and his compazion are
the bunglars who operated in Rochester
Annual Clearsnce
baskets, trieveles,
and new. 3350) So.
John Parychel
struck by a D. L.
West Shore ems
has suffered inten»
at the House of th
more couifortably.
Notices: FR oe
tion of the Onondaga
Savings Bank repuiringnotice ef in:
tention té withdraw depoaits dees
this date, which will be paid as usual.
KE. S. DAWSON; President,
uly 31, 189B% eo Bae
a ieee
Langeage of Plawera
the slaughtered prices always at Wood's
oe
Parychei’a Conditten More Fuvorshie
ally since the accident.
a late hour fast evening he was resting
f Count;
x
inade:oa< and after
¥
.
. bat: the public knows
Sales;" Hammocks,
velocjpedes, all beighr
Salina St. ;
’
vt Solvay, whe wes
& W. freight at the
ing Taesday evening
« pain almost contiwu-
He still remains
« Good Shephard At
Monday morniog. They were both seen
in Syracuse Saturday amd Sunday. The
probaf.tlity isthat they left Syracuse on a
freight tnain Sunday night and arrived in
Ra-hester about 2 o'chck Monday morn-
ipg. Unrmediately ufter their arrival here
they baxan operations in the eastern part
of the city. After they finished their
work here they again boarded a freight
train and went back to Syracuse, arriving
there ‘but a short time before the deteu-
ye attempted forarress them. They were
about the store amt « 'g i cotrsiderable
GUAT of Weoes Of cigntclics, wasen bad
been partiahy amoked up; that the person
who had broken opes the store auil.safe,
sod had tdken. the-money was diligently
sought for by the deponent and others,
and the detoctives of the aity, but could
wet ke i shersia: eo a
nif at the defendant was the person
who, broke open the atore aud pa and
took the money and converted the same
te bis-own use, as depondent is informed
and believed, and as clearly. appears from
the facts set forth in this affidavit; that
the defendant ‘was, ns the depondent ts
informed by ona: Daniel Savage, whose
atidavit the depoment has not beon able
to obtain,
the city af
Syracuse, for a few days be-
fere the b
urglary: above otescribed and
took ble meals at the restraurant of one
Prod Palmer on ‘Warren Street, wherv
said Savage was employed, and did: net
continuously live or reside in said city;
that although depouent has resided in
for a number of years, aud bas
a large acquaintance thereiu, he had not
seen the defendant there up t June 4.
That as the deponent is informed by
one Doalet Savage,“who ie a waiter: ip
said restadraht; and 9
said defendant, whilé-abtajn
there ptlor to sald date, ac
ausricicus
said Savage being away, ‘in }
net seon in Sylucuse from” Stinday even
ins till a short time before the detective} :
met them. They could easily come tof.)
Rashester from Syracuse In the manncer]:
stated, coumnit the ‘burglaries and get
back to Syracuse again, between Suoday
evening and 10 o'clock Monday morning.
“Since his arrest ‘Barnes’ bas smokad
cigarettes in his eed! almost incessantly,
The bunghars who operated in this city
were cigarotte smokers, for they ‘left a
number of ‘cigarette euds on the. bit
pordh of Orlando K, Foote's resilence og.
North Quiver street, where they stole 4
pale of diamond earrings, a gold watch,
and same money. 7 nee 24 gis
“It is undoubtedly the same gang that
‘gperated in this ofty: the fore part of
June, when the office of the Rochester
Oandy works on State streot was en-.
teral, the’ watthman hold up and an. at-
ytempt malo to blow the safe. It will
he remembered that on :this occasion the
mien fired on Oliver MeBride. The same | ant to the taste, the refreshing and truly
‘gang abso broke into several rosidences 1 properties of a perfect lax-
‘at Chat tlne, aud every time thoy Ative; effectually cleansing the system,
discovered they promptly fired their: re] dia ng colds, headaches and fevers
volvers. The fact thar the men fired. so ently carip pation.
vromptiy oa Detective Harvey waht | I¢ has given satisfaction: onssnd
load to the belief that they are members | met with the approval of medical
of the same wang. | Sy a a n, because it acts on the Kid-
“The attempt to broak into the post+} neva, Liver and Bowels without wesk-
office at Ovid eucently was without doubt eaing them and it ia perfectly free from
male by the same gang. It will be re! every abjectionable su Ee
miamberixl that when discovered by Bank ea pot is for sala by all
pro:
teller: rebu
in'the form moxt sce
ue to its presenting
table and
'
TIE: ‘uéstON “OF “GUILT
Many People Doubt That George a.
Barnes” Fired the Fatal Shot But | the
Others “ara: Sure That. He Dis,
Detecitve Harvey’ 8 Funeral,’
Two lmportant questions ‘aed now pare:
wount ja the discussions over the tragedy
witoh robbed the pulice force of a brave
oltivep ant rei our of ty mea & mar-
derer. SFR Se: Sree
Did the - ans “George A. Barnes,”
who fs° now: unter arrent, fice the fatal
shoyt ?
Whert bs thie man’s “yal whe sevapes
after the foul munier was comudtted ?
Nether of these momestows queries
unve at the time of jhe prewat writing
mot with satisfactory or ooaviuging an-
awers. Thore are, of conrse, so many
and yarions theories afloat, but all are
a2 ‘plaialy proabmacacal, that they vnly
saryve to lnoraase the enystery and make
the general situatton afl ebe more per-
ploxing. No happeaing in ghe city of
Syracuse in many years has awakenwl
so gamed an iuterest or so widesprend
luikigrfation. AI] day yestenfay and late
a
into Jayt aight here was a large crowl
oskle the patice station, and alrhouch
“rere was nothing to be seea or bean the |,
coowd sntyed aud looked. Every prisoner
heought in way accorded mare astention
thu was deserved; erery movement of a
i pvdee ottiver was looked upon as some
thang of great impurtauce In oonneviion
wevh the case.
One thing is certain, the police are saxt-
isfied thet the maa, now’ taking life easy
behind the bars of ene of Chief Wright's
private cells, is the one who euded Detve-
tive Harvey’s life by seuding a bullet
crashing through hia brain. Nor is this
opinion without foundation. ““Dick'? Ma-
lone, the colored mau who was first in
the chase after the men who-perpetrated
th>acime, is very positive that “the mau
with the derby hat,” asthe one now un-
der arrest is described, was the one who
used the revolver, This statement ia not
without corroboration, M. Jervis Myers
did not see the murder, but saw Barnes
ruuniug over the Warren street bridge
and is positive that the pistol which he
held in bis hand was smoking. Chief
Wright: is also authority for the state-
ment, that there are several otber affida-
vits in his possession, which affirm posi-
tirely that the man under srteat is the
one who did the shooting. - >
One other corroboration of this’ “claim
was brought out prominently. by the au-
topsy, which was held’ yesterday, ; Coro-
ner 0. 8. Roberts, Police Surgeon D. M.
Totman and Dr.. McLeary conductad the
post mortem exatination. There was
nothing to be learned of course except the
conrse of the bullet, which it was learned
had entered at the dower angle of the |
right eye, passed along the base of the
sbrain’ avd passed. ont the back of the
head, a littl to the left of the central
-line. Now, it is generally argued | by
thoae who have the matter under discus-
sion that this fact alone wonld tend to
show that the man uuder arrest was the
guilty one. It is known that Barnes was
on the right side of Detective Harvey as
they came down Water street, and, it Is
argued hy those who believe in Baryes'
guilt, that if the other man had fired the
shot the ‘bullet would have entered the
left eye.
One other thing is beought forward by
these people in subdiaurfation of their
belief ia the prisoner's guts. The bullet
hole in the unforvaate officer's haad $s
said to be pinty that matle by a bullet
of 45calibre. Whea acrested. / Barpes
had in his possisdon a 435-calbre revol-
ver. It was fully loadad, but that is
nowt consilwed as pevof that ft waa fiat
‘fired, az it is Gaimed that the man srould
have had time to reload ¥# white om the
pan, ot while he waa hiMog under the
stoop on Lock street. |
This, however, is looked apon as poor
atgurment by those who do not think that
the police have caytured the man who bs
reaily guilty of the mamleor of Detvoti®e
beat
' Flarvey., ‘Miey any chat it wontd be al-
Exalt vars, andl finaly,
; es al rowid, 2 ecu
ete Bakice hare
ae gent ms ievery city, a amd
howde® within © hondt] usiles, but noc
& worl ‘has beet bhoant of ti where-
abouts, Several false alurius were sent
ius: the Central’ Pokee utli-e yesterday
by peragas. who were sure that they had
seva the waoted oeag, but ia every: case
bs hese to be & Wordless chwe fer
affteers. There: are thos who tink
that: the man bas mot left tows wt od,
but ie fo hiding. here usd: coyer of
soins frigud‘a profeutiun. :
- My js oe wan iu th:
anton that, the otissine criuusal be
mptured than Chief of Putce Maries BR.
Wright. Whew seen by a Courier’ rev
porter kast evening; the Chief wis in
raat: winnaar st with » Paice Commissioner
4yon, .
“Any news, Ouiet?” Was waked,
“Noe I wid T bad something tuucibts
to teit you," way the answer,
“Nothing has: been heard from the
musing oninwduad 7”: -
“No, bat To wish we coult cot hold of
him, just to satisfy. the public. Ma
“Dhon you doatt’ fak thar
Who escaped did the shooting 7”
“ "Weill, shee are cemtaiaiy atldavits
ewuel to che effet ther this man here
did the ghouting.”
“CL see,” comtioued the Chief, “thar
sume of the papera: say that chis man
laid burglar. tooka on bim when arrested.
Vaat is not so,”
Then the Chief presented the reporter
with pictures of the man Barnes, which
were taken yestenlay morning. Barnes
Was escorted ta the phot, egraph gullery
diy more
the one
5
iy
jof B.S. Ryder by Detectives O'Brien
and Sheppard and Deputy Sheriff Krary.
*Station, and the party were quickly
driven to the gnilery on Nonth Naling
Street. Here Barnea started in to be
obstiuate and when placed in frout vf
the camera refused to hold bis faee up
so that a naccnarate’ picture vould be
secured. The twist was pluced on his
wrist and under ite persnasive intluence
Burnes coaseuted to have his face re-
presented on cardboard. Three views
were taken and then the prisoner was
hurriedly ied to the back and driven
back to the station. Here there was a
big crowd in waiting to get a glance at
the man. whe killed Detective Harvey.
With an officer on each side of him
Barnes was pushed through the crowd
and agan placed behind the burs.
Although this process of identification
was not pleasing to Barnes, he showed
no ill effects of his trip when again
placed in a cell. He lay on the cot,
retaining that coolness, which has. dis-
tinguished his. conduct ever since arrest.
He is an invotorate smoker of cigarettes,
seldom. being without one in his mouth.
When interviewed yesterday he express-
ed some anxisty as to what the news-
ably were saying about him, buat re
ed to tell anything about himself. He
then expressed a wish: that his picture
be kept ont of the’ papers as he did uot
care te have his family know of hia ar
rest. So far as the/officers knew from
frequent visits to his cell, Barnes. skept
well during the sight and
sigus of uneasiness because of the stave
charge which confrotts him, © 1.
'Who and what the urate {s can only. ‘be
conjectured as yet.” That ts one of a
‘gang of buiglars.is established “almost
beyond doubt, but that the gang is Jed
by the notorious “Jinimy"” Hope, as suz-
gested by an enterprising paper ‘yester-
day, Is absurd. Such met as “Jimay”
Hope de not spend time or, “Jobs” which
would not offer a better return thin
those. operated ip this Aty during the
past few months and. by the ganz of
‘which Barnes is undoubtedly @ member.
“Barnes refuses to say anything about
himself and seems content to let matters
tuke any course they wilh |
The funeral of the widpetenate officer
WHl be held this morning from his home
on Cerbon street at 9:30 o’tlock and
‘from St, John the Baptiet’s church at
10 o'clock. The polico. department vill
send offerings of flowers, and as many
‘of the members of the department as
cau be spured from duty will attend the
funeral. Chief Wright. received a mess-
age from Chief Cleary of Rochester last
evening, saying that himself and eight
members of the deiective force ofthat
elty will be here to attend he funeral, It
is probable also thar @ representation
from the Auburn wlice department will
be here to pay thvir tribute to the mem-
he was hustled Into a hack at the Police |
showed a0-
SUCCUMBS 0 CARS
i] Alleged epachent of Cora
Bolton and Max M’Kinney.
A SYRACUSE OPERA SINGER
Miss Bolton Be of. This City and |
‘M’Kinney of Rochester.
Au article ‘in which there is a bit of
Relative.
Deny-the Story and Allega ‘Spite. |
taut
interesting news to many people in this”!
city was give space in the Rochestye |
Union and Advertiser yesterday.’
the more interestics from the fact that
the young lady who dyurse so prominen-
dy in the affair is a Syracusan with au
extensive acquaintance. The article
reads: | foe :
“Max McIXiuncy, nute broker and sicvis
broker of this city. und Miss Etta Bol-
tou, a charuiug subretto singer with the
Buker Opera compuay, have eloped. At
feast that is what Max’s fricnds say,
and they seem to know all about ig Mr.
McKinsey is a gay youuy man 25 yeacs
of age ang the possessur of a moderate
fortune, He is recoguized about tuwn as
“one of the boys.”
“Miss Boltun is a petite, dark-eyed
little ludy who hay been with the troupe
during its engasement in this city. She
is studying for the stage and bas been
chaperoned by her mother. Mr. Me-
Kinney atteuded a performance early in
July aud Miss Botton seems to hae eape
tured him cowpleiecly. The fadr aften
sang winor parts and on these occasions
Max and his friends were always on band |
showered pre:
! Sigh:
; its,
to upplund. The former
sents and attentions without anmber ou
the object of his affections.
“Last week Miss Bolton's mother was
called home and Mr. Meitianey became,
if possible, more attentive. Sunday was
spent at the Jake und the plan for the
elopement, if such it was, seems to have
been arranged there. At aor rate Miss
Bolton informed Mauager Baker yester-
day that her cugngement with the com-
pany wus at an end. The ludy drew her
salary aud bade her friends good-bye yes-
tenday afternoon.
“Max teck several friends into his
confidence and tohi them that the girl
was ail the world to him. He said that
he could not live without ber. He tx
hibited two tickets for Cleveland and
said that he and Miss Bolton were leav-
ing for there last night. They intended
to get married aud afterward visit Miss
Bolton’s family living near Clevelaud,
so Max sald.
“Mr. MclIXinney’s office at 16 State
street is closed today. He boards at the
Centropolis. The landlady informed a
reporter this noon that Max called at the
honse last night with a lady in a car-
riage. He stuyed but a short time and
reentoring the carriage ‘drove awaf. He
did not return during the night.
“When told of the elopement story the
landlady snid: ‘Well, did you ever! Why,
Mr. McKinney sent his mother off on a
yacation only last week. He gave it out
that he was guing ta very busy. So he
-has gone away with a gnicty girl! Well,
“I've known him for years aud. he has
been a pretty wild boy.’
“Mr. Baker could not be found this
morning, but representatives of the eom-
pany déclined to say avything about the
case, except to ucknowledge thac Miss
Bolton had left the company.”
An Associated) Press dispatch received
last evening annuunced the same story
in fewer words.
The young Judy’s name is not From
Bolton, as the article reads, but Cora
Bolton. She hes been connected with
the Baker Opera Coimpsny for some time
her sister being in the cast with hor.
They have repeatedly appeared in this
city. Both ‘of them enn sing well ad
are considered quite handsome. They
took to the stage xevernl yeuts ago nua
have suog in choruses since that time.
They buve been with the Buker Opera
Company in Rochester for a few weeks
past.
A relative of Cora Bolton was in Roch:
ester over Sunday vielting her e:ster's
family. He has returned. Lust evening
ho declared the story to be a spiteful oue
coneocted by a member of the Baker
company. He declared that be was
present with Mr. McKinney and Miss
Bolton at the Inke on Sunday and over-
rheont
ory of a brave oil
heard the conversation had the
It ts jing Srocks,
3 C= Be
Investme
Hom
th Nat |
~
ee ree een me
ney Leaued
DsAeuture |
cases issued
Vesimeat Con
aed,
Municipal B
A fow choice
City property,
bitty shares
S38.500 to kk
City Property
filty share:
Stoel.
BUY -
All Cry Bon
and Stocks. a
AM transact
strictly cortid
MONRO}
Banke
16 and 18 Br
STOCKS,
I
DIMESTIC
Securities
om, uatgh
Draft.
Foreign «
ita, Cable Tr
tr ives avai
World,
if
rpuzoxon DJ
en ¢
®arcrday even
WihLiam B.
Gxoaex B, Kay
Charles F. Will
Francis B. wal
Wiliam #.
Charities It, eens
Reorgs M. Bact
William D. Dan
T= sYRAC
Corner James 4
INCORP
interest pald v«
%
5 of sm
| Wea interviewed yesterday he express. Centropolis, Che fandiady informed a
ed. some anxiéty ax What the news- | reporter this noon that Mux called at the
pers ware cathe eae: him, lene house last night with a lady in a@ car- Expert and
7 im | fused to tell anything gAout himxelf, He | rage. He stayed bue a short time, and Ne. 3 0
ru- | then expresste’’ a ‘wiah:-that his picture | reentoring the gurriage ‘drove away, [ie | 88. nendaga
be kept out of*thapapers an he did uot | did not returw during the night. =
+g care to have hie 2 auy know of his age} ‘When told of the elopement story the sete "ciemtenes
he | Test. So far as tha: officers knew. from landlady said: ‘Well, did you ever! Why, netions a specisity. |
te Seavert Visits (Bie cell, Barney. shept | Me. McKinney sent. his mother off on a |
he} Well during the aight and wot a6] yacation only lust week. De gave it out rpuBononpada
ed | Mens of uneneinetebeca use of the grave | that ho: was going ta very busy. So he ;
he Which comfrouts: timo 62 shag gone away with a gulety girl! Well, ;
~ bal” and what the watts ean only. be "Lye known bim for years amt he has og Apri
no | Conjéctured ay yet.’ That bets ono of a been a pretty wild boy! rose been
al | ¥4ng-of burulara is established *almost “Mr. Baker: coald not be found this and Panik
iy | beyond doabt, bat that the gang in Jod morning, but representatives of the com-| - Interest Pata oz |
by the notorious “Jims” Hlupe, ua suxz-| pany deciined to may auything ubout the} ooo pes, is
gested by an euterprising paper yeater- case, except to acknowlédge that Miss Regular Diviget: |
‘
: x
| to
| w | day. ie abrurd, Such men’ as. “imay” Bolton had left the company.”
is} Hope-de not apeud tim ‘On “Jobs” which An Associated Presa dispatch recelved Guardians, Trusto:
x} would got offer a better return than | Jaat evenlug announced the same story | accustomed to Baar
is] those operated iy this Aity during the | in fewer words, ayy ae Boer ene
*} past few months and by the ganz of The young Jady’s name is not Fi a | the President ant
v{ Which Barnes is undoubtedly q member, Bolton, as the artivly reads, but Cora | te 1p attendance dar
e| Barnes refuses to say, anything about! Bolton. She has been conneeted with | ® eam epee mene
himself and seems content to let matters | the Buker Opera Company for sani time | ¥aterday eventngs tr
y | take any courga they will. her sister being in the cast with bor. TR
r; The funeral of the unfortunate officer They have repentedly appeared in this Epwa
ty] will be Lek uis morniag, from his home city, Both ‘of them can sing well tuih Casta B. Ansove, :
S$} on Curbon street at 9:30 o’tlock and arc considerod quite handsome. They “Pasay
tj from St, John the Baptist’s church at took to the stage xevernl years Ugo ind vg Bae
+} 10 o'clock. The police department will | heave sung in choruses since that titue. Panties Z- Wrttianca, F
-| send offerings of flowers, and ax many They hxre been with the Baker Opera | Willem H. aruor, 4
a] of the members of the department as Company in Rochester for a few Weeky | Charles £1, Duell, |
: i} cam be spared from duty will attend the past. dy << _ :
1) funeral. Chief Wright received a mMeds- A relative of Cora Bolton was in Rovh- ; Ou :
>| ago from Chief Cleary of Rochester last ester over Sunday visiting her sister's ;
2{ Cvening, sayine-thu himself and eight | family. He has returned. Lust evening HE SYRACUBB
members of the detective force ofthat ! he declared the atory to be u spiteful one T |
ry city will be here ty attend he funeral, It coneocted by a member of the Biaher | OfDet James and 84
. t}{s probable also thit a representation company. He declared that he was
3] from the Auburn ilice department wil] present with Mr. McKinney and Mia« INCORPOHA'
‘| be here to pay their tribute to the meim-| Bolton at the luke on Sunday snd over: :
ory of a brave ollicnr, heard the conversation had about the Soreness pekd annt-0¢
‘The Inquest will be held tomorrow | trip to Buffalo. Miss Morton of the FOUR PER ©:
+ | oveniug, Baker company had left. the cumnpLuy | Bxeeaters and Adz]
‘ : > +) aud was to make her debut in a new role | Trustess, Town Of
\ Pleawant Beach. in Buffalo. [le explained that: purty poy arog ees are
The $100,000 horse “Bonner” is cer-j inctuding Mr. McKinney gil Miss Bol- | Banx open datiy :
tainly the marvel of the age A large | fon bad wude arrangements to ev there seeasay Sreninge te
audience witnessed the ty performances and Withess the opening perlocmunce, 0 give any dasired L: ,
given in the sawdust covered arena yes-{ From there, he mid, Miss Bolton in- 7 7
é terday afternoon and evening. Under} tended to go to Clevelund to visit: her Sisute oa |
the direction of M'lle Bonhuer the bean- | Sister for 2 few weeks. Tuking advan- , |
tifal animal performed an alinost endless | fage of these circumstances, a member Th
. ; Wm. Brown Smith,
number of fetts and tricks, Savoring of | of the company, whose name was known | Oitver c. Potter,
Senuine human inuteiligence, That the | to bim, had made up the story about the | Nicholas Peters,
citizens of Syracuse will take advantage clopement, he eaid, and caused it to be Francis Hon iricks, :
of Proprietor Ablridge’s Benerosity in | circulated. He insisted that a fuller exe James J. Belden,
offering them so xruud a free show, we | planation wonld be made if any further | Amos L. Mason,
have no doubt. Great is “Bonner™ and [4ublicity was given to the allegat clope- ;
great is Pleasant Beach, - ment.
rf Ae aan ee
% ; Bass Jumping. © Reay Harvestn.
Phe fish In Onondaga lake are ail to | Anub the public abways docs at Wood's The S fagl
sump when Woud's sunnal clearance site | pay porta vind mine re Bead quer .
vf trstaluss tackle commences. Bait | nie ye Seach oe ee
pails, spoons, fines, books and rods. ts Poa Sees Baka, Chnue eacly” iu
: iehe day.
ep
Courier Ofico Merenaded.
‘At noon yestordays during the parade | ;
} . } Pe ~ F: 3 *"? e se eu
rod “ Was igre drove the famous | Mie fear igs Sarin
horse Boaner a i the stevets vt | house at 2y Wet Owumd uss street THE (
tho ony. —— bridle, haker or about 2 vvluck yesterday aftoracoa. The re
reins, Potovk's Mersant Boach baud |
+ Caurt . He i Yaguish.l the blaze, _
‘a nr of the Wastes et Chetuival sw exvaguishol che 7 - OF SYR
halting i frour of t sil bailding | Wiki was in a clysd: ou the soud
discounsed oof th if ;
airs in mnt unions mn ace thor, Whe department wis cailul to the; 2ZO4 War
Flames tn a Cloact.
; ‘band is realy an exccttent one and we | “™° mene eter se = ; EYES EXA
‘ oe — make. e i's . “Fine Gat tHaots, : cine .
Notice. | Revls. linva, rods. | Wood's great An-
The action of the Syracusa Savings! nual Clearacce Salo,
- - | Bank, requiring notice of intention to
; withdraw deposits does ‘Rot apply to de-
WHEN EATING
Tt acts lize a charm and billtatl:
g tastes splendid. Be sure to
zet the ‘gennine,” whigh
W4 must have the signatne of
tok oh onana pee" om bya neck
ey Of Gvery bottle, and take»
Detitate so Ji “4 '
‘But aotunl 1893 standard bicyeles at
Woud's annual clearance -sales. 334 and
3. Sowth Saiina. Those age stmples
fromour. ageuts and only 4 few of
ere a ee mionigs’
“Réx-the ‘hnported Sheet
by Bi i Ra
; noaits made after ~~ 5 ane ‘
ated July Sist, 1893, ©. ecomes troublesome, di-
j en C, P. CLARK, - Restion defective, sleeping
ct] 215e - President. pnw er ioagih f- ee
ee, 5 !
: U Ro Ghests, — Hofi’s Mait Extract, i
thd
e
then,
beaut
yal
te In the st
had | mitted -
‘3 ; heaved, :
Shecee
“aty. where twocpevelvers and a number
of: burgtars’ tool were found. upon “his
permon, aud alga, a. large sum (of moucy
cuvented in the stockings which the do-
feadant) wore; that the “dofendant: is
from his appedrance inveterate smoker
of cigarettes, and that there f& na doubt
in depanent’s mind that be took he. mou-
ey bofara mentioned and committed. the
aw pet handkerchio
"paengers hand went Ba
(} With a-qnick mevem
fp ellug wan thought: of
he oxeaped des-
Was afraid
‘& detective
' : ‘fend that he-would be shot so-lie changed
, Sa bat Bob (f bis-seat and when the ¥illage of Fulton
‘that will roswaken wes reached got off the! train -anc el
; 5 menor o he neni sxbh {hat the may
ch of ‘eomt: sweyd,
Pulten,' 0 * Fits) ‘be? 2
Mes AE Briliback * of.
street’ furnished. the pallcewith anothor
Possible. clue: yesterday: AVord. was rent
to the police gtation that the tobber had
*y sf been~seen tn-that vicinity; ho time beine
<j Stated. Officers Fuaseumeyer.and Lee at
*} once hurried to the. place and found ir
was Tuesday noon: that. Mrs, Brillback
maw the tan anaverlng the description
ot: Barnes’ “pal.” Ha stopped at her
house “and ‘asked’ for somethiug -to ent.
She sure him a bow! of bread and milk,
burzlary: above deseribed.’. 0/5! aoe
» Wher. seen by a Courier reporter about
“4 o'clock “yesterday | afternoon. Chief
Wright said that -he had been‘served with
a copy of the’ papers. He alwo said that
the prispier did not have $421.17 oa his
Person ayken arrested. All be did have
Wore $50-In bile and a. fow ecnts ‘in
changésall of which ix still In. the Chief's
ponsemplate. ohh TR A mF sais
“RAL at RESTS
Co
*Z
“wot off at
1S. Dewitt
?
Impressive Funerat wervices Over the Bee
- l alan of Retective Harvey.
With all the sulewu rites of the Cath-
a iS Fake ‘ FL which jhe ate sitting on the back wy | vite Church, the funeral of Jamea THar-
mesh ne Toe aya he Das not reinxel at] He then lett and walked ap Oak cen vey, the murdered detective, was held
to run dewn the other
{Orme The Chief was in-eqnsuitation
swim Distric: Atcorney Shove apd Asse
Tao THatao: Sedesvirk, whon a Courier
toward James street. That was the last
shn saw of him. In connection with this
story comes another from a farmer named
Abell, why was working on hix farm near
the east end of James street Monday
afterncon. He saw a suspicjons-looking
man twalking across one of the fields. in
that ricinity, By le
Miles O'Donnell, a Inborer who’ was
working In a ditch near where the
Mini gat eae ae eee ae even:
per. aa. ows: “Toowus di 4
[in the ditch when T saw a. wan pogrom
ath the aad suddenty, turn ‘around, and fire his
? Wertadaty” on- big
yesterday inorning. Seldom is such horor
pald to the memory of any man ia the or-
dinary walks uf life, aa was granted to
that of the man who wer death in the
‘performance of his duty as an officer.
The peculiarly sad ending of 2 strong and
prosperous life, the honor, respect and
esteem fu which he was. held and the ua-
usually large number of friends and ac-
anaintanecs, which from bis position and
qualities he bad made, all tended to make}
this last ceremony over his dead body one
of great impressivencss,
- Over 50 members of the focal police
force attended the funeral in a body un-
be ; Phat ocher follow wader
i “Bo
revolrer. J. did ‘not know what. he was
; er? OEE a ager anf Shooting: at.” Detective Harvey was bi:l der the command of @aptai
enw Ne : a es : : F Japtain Quigley.
eae. Intertogated: the Dis- — o. by a vix tool box. which stood Chief Wright and Police Comuissioners
onposite where he fell,
“was 30 feet in front of him, -I jumped:
? Lars The wan
ich way did be gol” asked Mir. out of the ditch'as soon as the shot was
Lyon, Degan nad Listwan also attended
the funeral aud marched in the funeral
procession from the house to the chereh
As an additional mark of respect mem-
bers of the police departinents were sent
here to attend the funeral. Frou Roch-
ester there were Superintendent J. P.
Cleary, Detectives Thomas Ducklow,
Benjamin Furthor, George Long, P. J.
Kavenaugh, Edward O'Brien, Peter Low-
er, Edward O' Laughlin and Heury Baker,
from Auburn, Captain DP. Callanan,
t
BUY 20 eae é meee. ae pores lying. on the
“Bast,” briefly, ed the Chief and | Pound. y t police return with
fied Wis tacasl ‘he vorderensen ea it Sretttey AW that be was not.the man
os oh ‘, o fired shot... T.only saw one man:
enough had been ald in the bearing of snd be had on.a dark coat asd west. 8
.| pair of light colorad. tronsera and a
white straw hat.”. > ‘ BAe
Mr, O’Donuell called at the Courier
office last evening and asked that a cor-
rection be made, -“I never told the re
porter anything about the cdler of the
man’s pants,” said Mr. O' Donnell, “be-
cause T did not ¢ee him close enough for
Officers Breeze, Antone, Schute, Hosen-
bloom, Malone, McCarthy, Hicker, Ant-
water, Holmes and Billingham: from
Oswego, Chief Doyle and Officers William
that. All that: I. remember of bis ap
pearanee fg that he had on a gray coat
and a straw hat.” - hana ey Kae
When asketl abont his positive declara-
tion that the man now under arrest did not
fre the fatal shot, he snid: “I am as
sure-that the mah who was captured is
not the one who fired as I am that I am
a Hving- this moment. .I saw the man
plainly, when ‘he; raised the revolver iu
oF aks usa 5 ) | both batds and, fired and then saw. him
Sen, Yoluntoered, the in| rub. » But ; when - ther... browahs the one.
vest, F fly eerie 2 : a Sante the honse vast pa Farin grid amr
. : ‘ ; ee eg ae to the church. e. pa arers were: } €
eee ree ei been Tee. Mee enee ane aren Tet Oabed F001. . Keeler, Jobu (i: Keel Mabert Mey
demeanca. - Ho, oats aud pleeps well, Carthy, Samuel . J. Abbott, Danie}
and smokes hia clgaretted as calmly rs if ee re Mara, tpenee Murphy *
was vill to walk away a und oat SNS ae
as Rag in ks lon Sat Ke la > The services iu the #hirch wero very
self, but when questioned ‘denies: em- | !mpressive. Solemn bigh mass was cele-
phatically that. he did the shooting. He — hy rs°5 atid he * Soe
‘ nt, ev. Jd. Aa, % ’ .
beg ways powers, that ax eps J.P. Pleming of Lanenster, Pa,, as sub-
4 . “ss. ce f dencon and Rev. J. J. Kennedy as master
|, ATTACHED PAE MONRY. [ot ceremonies. Father Kennedy, vicar-
Motiride, & Ca Waut seme of tho Mowey | guneral of the diocese, preachet the fu-
‘(oles Prom Them, -< “<P peral sermon. He spoke briefly but -elo-
; ; : ; nently of Mr. Harvey's life as a Chris-
VTi PONE YE ene Tae (a8, rewire tan and an officer. At the conelusion of
invoked to recover the" ‘money foun i on ‘the sermon, the choir sang “Jerusalem,
the man adw under arrest om euepicion | yy Franpy “Homo,” and. then the, body
at being the> murderer James srs § was taken to its last resting place, ©: |
jef of Police Wright andl the prisoner, |. . : : : oth
Soe oe OPERATED IN ROCHBATER.
who gives the name of George A. Barnes,
. +" Je Thewaht There Thac Rarneq Was One
Grant and McCarthy. Willem McCut
chen, Chief of Police at.Watertown, was
also. present. phos ‘
The body lay in the parlor of the house
and at-the head of the casket were two
magnificent floral pieces, one a broken
column from. the’ Police Commissioners
and the other from the mombers of the
departinent, It was marked, ¥The Gates
Ajar,” and, “James Hafvey, our brother
Officer, at rest.d: boo 40 S35 ey
‘At. 10 o’cloek the, hody wag, borne fram.
dim adi, right.
to do Dow ta -get the
i oe ee
ie
: poker auvhorities “in
<: Bieir of the firm of Blair &
brokers in the Bastable block,
| Barses instantly whea shown
picture by 4° Courter reporter yester-
s@xys that within a day or two
tective
Bo wl
PBS Jostd
a
to be important
Prove that Barnes
bers. The gang
were each s with copies of attach-} ="%
mowt papers signed by Justice Vana and ns, Warneg. Vi
igsuad on motion of Attorney Willlam foo + of the Suma Giang ny
Nottingham. who repreasnta the’ shoe} “It fs thowsht in Rochester that “George
FUP Bede & Co! Phe atora of “tia! 4 he oman under aeros hore
fem Parnes,
sister. I
id that he
name was
. He said
ss but that
she lived.
15 Strath-
for some
he did not
re she had
d that she
et, but he
r. He de-
1 and left
er.
verell’s de-
1 as if he
: about the
asked him
rouble with
1 he was a
whip him.
sat quietly,
ign of grief
hesitate in
d killed his
er the ques-
repeated it
” Then he
hy I did it,
my mother
| been dead
ed that the
been excel-
manner, and
old me that
is father on
e days pre-
im what this
me that he
ting a tomb-
own business
had a quar-
supper. He
ch contained
ticed in the
ther that he
nuld you get
a job; you
d you're no
ited.
> the actual
‘tal, premedi-
t gun he had
er it was the
ae by saying
itomatic rifle
> of a cousin,
| a half mile
nain highway
d how he had
» that he had
en and taken
corner of the
into a little
actly how he
ler. His story
ore is in sub-
ten statement
idence against
at to bed that
t the supper
table about 8 o’clock. Then he went up-
stairs to his room which was directly over
that of his father, and laid down for about
an hour. Then he got up and walked
along the hallway on the second floor to
a gable end of the house where there was
a window leading into a woodshed next
to the kitchen. Here he crossed some
planking laid overhead inside this wood-
shed to a ladder leading to the ground.
Pushing out a small door in the back of
the woodshed, he got out doors without
awakening his father.
He told next how he had gone through
the back fields, following along the brook
that led to the village and the George
Witherell home. He went up to the house
and entered. Apparently, the members
of the household slept soundly as no one
heard him. He took the rifle, a Reming-
ton automatic, from where it stood in a
corner of the kitchen, and one of three
cartridges for this gun lying on the win-
dow sill. Leaving unobserved, he_ re-
traced his steps back through the fields
and along the brook again with the rifle
in his hand. He had no intention of using
either of the two rifles in his room. By
leaving them cleaned and with the empty
Savage shell on the dresser for the police
to find, they were sure to become con-
fused when they compared these guns
ig the caliber of the bullet he planned
to fire.
gle eg the house in the same
manner in which he had left, he took
care not to make thé slightest noise. Secur-
ing his own flashlight in his room, he
made his way slowly down the creaky
stairs, creeping up to the door of the
bedroom where his father lay asleep.
He paused outside the door a minute to
make sure that his father was not awake.
Then he pushed the door open easily and
entered the room, approaching to within a
few feet of the bed. He held the flashlight
along the gun barrel the muzzle of which
was within six inches of his father’s head.
Then he flashed the light and fired.
“He did not wake up and I pulled the
trigger. He never moved.” These were
Stephen Witherell’s exact words in the
confession.
He went back upstairs and changed into
a blue suit and then he returned to his
father’s bedroom and took a hundred
dollars from his father’s pocketbook. I
asked him why he left $15.34 and he
said he did not want it to appear as
though he had been robbed. After taking
the money he folded his father’s trousers
neatly on the floor and left the house. He
took his father’s car and drove to the
George Witherell house where he left the
car outside. At this point he threw the
empty Remington shell in the bushes.
It was never recovered although a careful
search was made for it. He then replaced
the borrowed gun in his cousin’s kitchen
and started for Albany. From there the
rest of his story followed closely the true
story he had already given us about going
to New York to be married.
I sent Sergeant Dick Walters and
Trooper Maloney to the George Witherell
place to check on this story of the bor-
rowed gun, still thinking that the Savage
had been used. I told Walters to get
the gun, if there was one there, and bring
it back. They readily obtained it from
George Witherell who was quite astonished
to learn that it had been taken from his
home without his knowledge and used in
the commission of a murder. When the
officers brought it back to me, Witherell
readily identified it as the murder gun.
Later tests made by Captain William
Jones of New York City proved conclu-
sively that the lethal bullet taken from
the pillow under the victim’s head had
True Detective Mysteries
been fired from the Remington owned by
George Witherell.
It was one of the most carefully plotted
murders occurring in this region in years.
Stephen Witherell’s plans, especially his
alibi, went awry when neighbors failed to
inquire into the absence of his father, and
when his telegram sent to the dead man
from Albany was not delivered.
“T sent that telegram so that it would
look like it was not me that done it,” the
former army mechanic confessed.
After he had made this oral confession
to me I called District Attorney William
D. Ingram and Sheriff Edson Martin over
from where they were visiting with the
other troopers and asked Witherell to re-
peat his story to them, which he did. The
murderer was taken to the Canton lock-up
early Sunday morning where he wrote an
signed a confession which was used against
him at his trial in November.
During his trial an unique defense was
set up in which his counsel and Stephen
Witherell refused to admit the dead man
was his father. Albert Hamilton, of Au-
burn, ballistics expert for the defense,
claimed that two guns were used in the
murder, one a revolver that made the
wound in the victim’s hand; while a much
higher powered rifle than the Remington,
Hamilton claimed, had been used to make
the head wound.
The mutilation of features and de-
oo ail of the body was what tempted
Witherell to deny the identity of the
body, and there is where the missing
finger on the raised hand became so sig-
nificant. For in life Charles Witherell
had but three fingers on his right hand
and that was the hand raised so dra-
matically when the murderer returned.
Justice Christopher J. Heffernan, who
presided, quizzed the defendant rather
closely on this point of not admitting the
dead man was his father, with special
emphasis on whether he had not noted
when he found the body that the hand so
raised had one finger missing. Witherell
replied in the negative.
ITHERELL stated on direct exam-
ination there, that he did not kill his
father; yet he testified that the oral state-
ments he had made, and the written con-
fession he had signed were made by him
without duress, threat or promise, his only
exception being a statement that some of
the things in the confession were not true.
On trial he denied knowing that the dead
man found by him was hie father, nor
would he admit on the witness stand
knowing whether his father was alive or
dead.
Stephen Witherell was sentenced No-
vember 5th, 1932, to die in the electric
chair on the week of December 16th.
The case was appealed but the conviction
was upheld, and the sentence affirmed.
The final appeal to Governor Lehman was,
likewise, unsuccessful. Witherell was exe-
cuted in Sing Sing on August 17th, 1933.
Mary Zikesky had no knowledge what-
soever that when she stood before that
clerk in the Bronx marriage bureau that
beautiful June morning that she was
marrying a patricide of only two days. A
letter admitted in evidence, which she had
written to Stephen at Hopkinton before
the crime, urged him to have some gump-
tion, to do something, and to ask his father
for money with which to get married.
After the murder, when New York
Spage sought her picture and informed
er of her husband’s arrest on a murder
charge, she stuck by him saying: “I will
never believe it until I-hear him say so.”
She appeared at the trial in his behalf.
So ended Hopkinton’s Memorial Day
murder, the crime where death waited
patiently to accuse.
89
All the World
LOVES
BEAUTIFUL
HAIR
DANDRUFF isc MENACE
HY éndanger your business and
social life with Dandruff when you
can correct it so quickly and easily with
Lucky Tiger Hair Tonic? Made under our
Standardized Formula for two decades—
used by millions everywhere. Happy re-
sults with the very first application—Guar-
anteed Results from the first bottle. Costs
little at Druggists and Barbers.
Also makers of Lucky Tiger Magic Sham-
poo, Lucky Tiger Hair Dressing for Dry Scalp and
Lucky Tiger Antiseptic Ointment for Ringworm,
Athlete’s Foot and Skin Infections.
Lucky Jigerg
HAIR. TONIC
Make money taking pictures. Prepare quickly during
spare time. Also earn while you learn. No experience
necessary. New easy method. Nothing else like it.
Send at once for free book, Opportunities in Modern
Photography, and full particulars.
AMERICAN gchoot OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Dept. 1492 3601 Michigan Ave. Chicago, U.S.A»
BECOME A SUCCESSFUL
mee OU DETECTIVE..
Trained Men and Women in Demand
Everywhere for Secret Investigation
and Confidential Work. Experience un-
necessary, Write to-day for FREE
Detective Paper and Particulars.
NATIONAL DETECTIVE SYSTEM, Dept. B
340 Electric Building Omaha, Nebraska
S
a Queer Way
to Learn Music!
N° TEACHER—no confusing details. Just a simple,
easy, home-study method. ‘Takes only a few minutes
—averages only a few cents a day. Every step is clear
as A-B-C throughout. You'll be surprised at your own
rapid progress. From the start you are playing real
tunes perfectly by note. Quickly learn to play any
“‘jazz’’ or classical selection—right at home in your spare
time. All instruments.
FREE. Send for Free Booklet and Demonstration Les-
gon, These explain our wonderful home study method
fully. Mention, instrument, preferred. Write today!
U. 8. School of Music, 4202 Brunswick Bldg..N.Y C.
mn
bo
(Right) Lieuten-
ant Charles B.
McCann, referred
to by the Defense
as the ‘‘master
mechanic”’ of the
investigation
horror then creeping toward one of those peaceful homes.
To appreciate this setting, it must be remembered that major
crime was unknown in Hopkinton. Its residents live somewhat
off the beaten path and what they knew of actual violence was
what they read in the newspapers, much as one reads of a
famine in China. , Until this night, homicide was unthought of
in their midst. d ;
Charles Witherell, aged sixty-eight, was a typical resident.
He lived a somewhat secluded, retired life with ample means for
his own modest needs. Occasionally, he went off on fishing
trips in his little car; at such times he might be gone several
days. Again, he enjoyed working in bis garden. Mrs. Witherell
had died two years before, and his children had grown up and
left him; although they returned occasionally to visit their
father. .
Mr. Witherell retired early on this night as was his custom.
Dan Hurley, who lives across the road and a little farther up,
saw him coming from his garden about supper-time and that
was the last time that Mr. Witherell was seen alive except by
his murderer.
His neighbors all said afterward that so far as they knew—
and in such a small village one’s whole life is known—Mr.
True Detective Mysteries
(Above) The New York State troopers that were detailed
on the scene of the Witherell murder. Left to right:
Lieutenant Charles B. McCann, co-author of this story,
who was in charge of the probe; Troopers J. L. Malone,
L. M. Van Alstine and W. A. Ashley; Corporal Basil Post,
and Sergeants Dick Walters and M. A. LaFave
Witherell had not an-enemy in the world. At any rate his
sleep was untroubled by any premonitions.
He never heard the first stealthy sounds of entry in I is back
woodshed which adjoins the main house. He never heard
the cautious entry through a gable window leading from the
top of a ladder within the woodshed to the upstairs hallway.
Charles Witherell slept on soundly while his unexpected
assailant came slowly down the creaking staircase in stockinged
feet, clutching an automatic rifle in one hand and a flashlight
in the other. Nor did he awaken when the unknown, after
listening outside for a moment, slowly pushed the bedroom
door open and crept to within a few feet of his intended victim.
The rifle was raised until its muzzle was but a few inches
from the victim’s head. The flashlight was held unlighted
along the gun barrel. Still Mr. Witherell slept on, never stir-
ring.
HEN for one brief instant that death room was illumi-
nated, the rifle flashed and the bullet that marked Mr.
Witherell for eternity went crashing through his brain to bury
itself in the feathers of his pillow.
In that last split second, between the flash of the light and
the firing of the shot, the victim threw up his right hand, either
subconsciously to ward off the blow, or, more likely, to shield
his eyes from the sudden glare.
Whether in that brief instant he comprehended his extreme
peril and recognized his assailant, will never be known. The
first significant circumstance was that the hand raised in death
gesture remained in that position until the body was found.
With the elbow propped against the bedclothes, the forearm
and hand stuck straight up in a most grotesque position. The
official police photograph of the body, too gruesome to publish,
and which is on file at State Police Headquarters, shows this
vividly.
In the darkened room the murderer went through his vic-
tim’s trousers. From an old-fashioned wallet he took a sum
of money leaving a few bills and some silver. Then back
through the house he went as silently as he had come.
Hopkinton slept on. Not a soul had heard the shot.
Morning came and the neighbors went about their own every-
day affairs, little dreaming that a cruel murder had been per-
petrated in their very midst. It is one of the strangest facts
in criminal history, along this border, that in such a small
community nearly a week elapsed before Mr. Witherell’s body
was discover:
Monday nig!
Death it s
the finger!
Fate had
discovery ot
missed him c:
on one of hi-
gram for Mr
from the Wi
to the Hurley
on Saturday
It was a tel:
Russell With«
informing his
day and woul
RS. HUR
took pair
then hurried
glad tidings.
but got no res
moment!
She failed t
closed house
was never de
covery.
That Satur
Witherell, bri:
father’s home
follow in a fe
night’s vacatic
letailed
right:
3 story,
Malone,
sil Post,
ve
iy rate his
in lis back
ever heard
g from the
rs hallway.
unexpected
stockinged
a flashlight
own, after
ie bedroom
ded victim.
few inches
1 unlighted
. never stir-
was illumi-
varked Mr.
‘ain to bury
.e light and
hand, either
ly, to shield
his extreme
known. The
sed in death
was found.
the forearm
sition. The
e to publish,
s, shows this
ugh his vic-
took a sum
Then back
yme.
‘d the shot.
r own every-
ad been per-
rangest facts
such a small
herell’s body
New York’s Memorial Day Murder Mystery 53
(Above) Captain Charles B. Broadfield, com-
manding officer of Troop B, of the New York
State Constabulary. Broadfield assigned Lieu-
tenant McCann to the Witherell case
was discovered on the Saturday night following the
Monday night of the murder.
Death it seemed was waiting to accuse, to point
the finger!
Fate had apparently intervened to circumvent
discovery of the crime. Mr. Witherell’s neighbors
missed him casually, but supposed that he was away
on one of his pericdical fishing trips. Then a tele-
gram for Mr. Witherell was relayed by telephone
from the Winthrop Station to Nicholville and thence
to the Hurley residence across the street. It arrived
on Saturday morning.
It was a telegram from Mr. Witherell’s son, Stephen
Russell Witherell, thirty-two, sent from Albany and
informing his father that he had been married Thurs-
day and would be home Sunday night.
RS. HURLEY, like the good neighbor she was,
took pains to write down that brief message, and
then hurried across to the Witherell house with the
glad tidings. She knocked at the door repeatedly
but got no response. Death was hiding for the right
moment!
She failed to smell the horrible odor in that warm,
closed house and she went away. That telegram
was never delivered. Death had again evaded dis-
covery.
That Saturday night about 9 o’clock Stephen
Witherell, bridegroom of two days, returned to his
father’s home. His bride, they had planned, was to
follow in a few weeks when she was to get her fort-
night’s vacation with pay from the New York publish-
ing house where she was employed. Stephen was temporarily
out of work.
There was no light in the house and he let himself in through
the kitchen door which also opens into the front street yard.
Instantly he was struck by a nauseating, overpowering,
accusing stench that filled the house with a very atmosphere of
death and decay. Gasping for breath he threw up some of the
windows and made his way upstairs to his own room where he
opened another window, leaning out for a breath of fresh air.
Revived after a moment, he made his way downstairs and to
his father’s bedroom on the south side of the house.
Opening the door he saw his father’s body, lying in his bed,
the top of the head completely gone, blown off, and one hand
raised in the death gesture.
It was significant, so significant, that one finger of that hand
was missing!
After one hurried glance, Stephen Witherell ran from that
room and out of the house. He crossed to the Hurley resi-
dence—it was then about 10 o’clock—and asked Dan Hurley
to call a doctor, that his father was sick or dead. Hurley replied
with the laconic dryness of the neighborhood.
“Tf he’s dead you need an undertaker, not a doctor.”
FROM that point events moved rapidly. Death had set the
wheels of justice in motion. Doctor William C. Smith of
the neighboring village of Winthrop was called on the tele-
phone by Dan Hurley at the request of Stephen Witherell, who
then talked to the doctor himself. Witherell told Doctor
Smith, who is also the coroner of St. Lawrence County, that
his father was dead. Doctor Smith confused the case with a
relative of the same name Jiving next door whom he had been
treating, and knowing this patient was critically ill he was
not surprised at news of adeath. He (Continued on page 88)
William D. Ingram, District Attorney of St. Lawrence
County, New York, at the time the ‘‘Memorial Day”
murder case broke in the village of Hopkinton
~~
88
True Detective Mysteries
New York’s Memorial Day Murder Mystery
replied over the phone that he would send
the undertaker.
Michael T. Hamil, the undertaker, ar-
rived soon after accompanied by his as-
sistant. They went into the house, and
when Mr. Hamil saw the condition of
the body he exclaimed, “Why, this man’s
been murdered!”
He left at once to call the coroner.
Doctor Smith immediately called William
D. Ingram, District Attorney of St. Law-
rence County, at his Ogdensburg residence.
The district attorney then called Ser-
geant M. A. Lefeve at the Canton sub-
station and in a very short time Sergeant
Dick Walters, Corporal Basil Post and
Trooper Maloney were at the Witherell
residence in Hopkinton.
As is our custom in all homicide cases,
these men notified Captain Charles B.
Broadfield, commanding officer of the
Troop B of the State Constabulary, with
barracks at Malone, and Captain Broad-
field assigned me to the case. I arrived at
the Witherell residence about 12:30 a. M.,
Sunday morning, accompanied by Trooper
George Ashley.
I went into the house with Sergeant
Lefeve and by means of a flashlight ob-
served the body in the bed. The victim’s
right arm was extended upward, palm out-
ward, and there was a bullet hole between
the thumb and the index finger.
PAS viewing the body and the con-
dition of the room, I noticed a pair of
trousers folded neatly on the floor. In
these trousers I found a silver watch and
an old-fashioned clasp pocketbook con-
taining $15.34 in bills and coins.
The troopers told me that the young
man in the yard was the dead man’s son.
He had just arrived home that night
about 9 o’clock and it was he who had
discovered his father’s body.
I went upstairs after looking the ground
floor over carefully and examined the
rooms on the second floor. In the room
occupied by Stephen Witherell, when he
was home, the bed was made up with the
exception that the blankets had been
turned down on one side. In one corner
of this room stood two rifles, a Savage
.300 and a Winchester .30. Examination of
both showed no indication that they had
been fired recently. They were well
oiled. On a dresser I found a discharged
empty shell. It was a Savage .300. On the
floor there was a rifle cleaning outfit with
small rags. It looked as though the guns
had been recently cleaned by this outfit. I
took possession of the shell. This room
was apparently in order and I then ex-
amined the other rooms in the house.
My next move was to learn what the
Witherell boy could tell me. He was a
quiet young man who had served in the
army as an aviation mechanic at Mitchell
Field. He had been discharged in the
Spring about April and after working for
a time at Ossining had returned home.
I talked with him along general lines
after asking him his name. I said that I
understood he had been away and had
just got home, and I asked him where he
had been. He replied that he had been
to New York where he had been married
on Thursday, two days before.
In answer to questions I asked, he told
me that his wife was in New York, that
her name was Mary Zikesky and that
she was employed by the International
Magazines, Inc.
Stephen told me that they had planned
to get married June 13th, but due to the
fact that it was hard for a single fellow
to get a job, he had decided to get mar-
(Continued from page 53)
ried as soon as possible. He said that his
father had given him a hundred dollars
with which to get married, and had
loaned him the use of his car. That
statement of getting married so that he
could get a job easier, struck me as some-
what singular at the time.
We were sitting in an open car with the
top down, pashedt in the dooryard.
Lights from some of the other cars were
shining our way so that I could observe
his face.
Continuing his story in the’ same quiet
way, he said that he had left home on
May 30th to get married. The ceremony
had taken place June 2nd in the Bronx
(New York City) marriage bureau with a
Mr. King, a clerk in the bureau, officiat-
ing. His wife’s sister and brother-in-law
were the witnesses. His girl, Mary Zi-
kesky, had taken the afternoon off. He
had not yet informed her of the tragic
turn of events on his arrival home. Steps
were taken immediately to have her
questioned at the White Plains barracks,
Our talk lasted about an hour and a
half. The district. attorney and Sheriff
Edson A. Martin had arrived in the
meantime. Stephen Witherell seemed
rather cool and unconcerned about his
father’s death. In our talk he had not
said anything about smelling the odor on
entering the house, nor had he said that
he had looked for his father on entering.
The fact that he opened the windows
before looking for his father, and that
he did not put his car in the garage after
getting the keys to unlock it struck me
as singular to say the least. I thought he
answered some of the questions hesitat-
ingly and in a manner that led me to con-
clude that here was something wrong.
I ASKED him how he went to New York
and how he had arranged with the girl
to get married sooner than they had plan-
ned. He replied that his father had loaned
him the auto to go to New York and that
he had arrived in Albany on the morning
of May 31st. Witherell said he sent a tele-
gram to Miss Zikesky informing her that
he would arrive in New York at 9 o’clock
that evening. He arrived at 9:30 and
proceeded at once to the girl’s home where
she lived with her sister and brother-in-
law at 379 East 159th Street.
“Upon our arrival we went out for a
ride and during the ride we approached
the matter of getting married sooner than
we had planned,” he told me. “She agreed
to take Thursday afternoon off. I pur-
chased a new suit of clothes and a wed-
ding ring. After the wedding, I stayed at
her home until Friday night when I
started back for Hopkinton by way of
Albany and Syracuse.”
At this time, in answer to my questions
as to why he had not brought his wife
back with him he stated that she did not
want to leave her job then as she was to
get a vacation, with pay, in two weeks
time, and that she would come up later.
He told me that on his way down he
had stopped in the Postal Telegraph office
to send her the telegram. On his way
back he arrived in Albany early Saturday
morning. When he arrived there he went
into the Western Union office and sent a
telegram to his father, which read:
MARRIED THURSDAY BE HOME SUNDAY
NIGHT r
This was the telegram that we learned
later Mrs. Hurley had tried unsuccessfully
to deliver to the dead man.
From Albany, his story continued, he
went to Syracuse to see his sister. I
asked him her name and he said that he
did not know exactly what her name was
then as she had several names. He said
that he did not know her address but that
he could find the house where she lived.
He finally looked for her at 115 Strath-
more Drive where she worked for some
doctor as housemaid. He said he did not
see her, that she had left where she had
last worked. He was informed that she
was working on Division Street, but he
did not get the house number. He de-
cided to go on to Hopkinton and left
Syracuse without seeing his sister.
had been observing Witherell’s de-
meanor closely and it seemed as if he
might possibly know something about the
murder of his father; so I asked him
whether he had ever had any trouble with
his father. He said only when he was a
young lad his father used to whip him.
All during our conversation he sat quietly,
staring ahead. There was no sign of grief
visible. At times he would hesitate in
answering questions.
; ama T asked him if he had killed his
ather.
WiUTHERELL did not answer the ques-
‘ tion and after a time I repeated it
again, gently.
“Did * ha kill your father?” Then he
answere
“Yes, I did. I'll tell you why I did it,
but you won’t believe me.”
I asked him why he did it.
He said: “He was mean to my mother
when she was alive.”
He told me his mother had been dead
for two years. We had learned that the
reputation of his father had been excel-
lent in the community,
Maintaining the same cool manner, and
continuing to stare ahead, he told me that
he had had a dispute with his father on
Friday night, May 27th, three days pre-
vious to the crime. I asked him what this
dispute was about. He told me that he
had asked his father about getting a tomb-
stone for his mother’s grave.
“He told me to mind my own business
and that he would tend to his.”
On Monday night he again had a quar-
rel with his father after their supper. He
was reading the magazine which contained
the murder story I had noticed in the
house, and he had told his father that he
was going to get married. \
“Father told me: ‘How could you get
married? You haven’t got a job; you
haven’t got any money; and you're no
good anyway,’” Stephen related,
Then came the story of the actual
crime, a sordid story of a brutal, premedi-
tated patricide.
I had inquired of him what gun he had
used to kill his father, whether it was the
Savage .300. He surprised me by saying
that it was a Remington automatic rifle
.
he had obtained at the home of a cousin, '
George Witherell, who lived a half mile
away at the junction of the main highway
and Parishville Road. I asked how he had
got this gun and he told me that he had
simply walked into the kitchen and taken
it from where it stood in a corner of the
room,
Then I asked him to go into a little
more detail and tell me exactly how he
had planned the whole murder. His story
as I summarize it briefly here is in sub-
stance the same as his written statement
which was admitted into evidence against
him later.
He said that his father went to bed that
night after their quarrel at the supper
table about 8 «
stairs to his rox
that of his fath:
an hour. The
along the hallw
a gable end of
a window lead
to the kitchen
planking laid c
shed to a ladd
Pushing out a
the woodshed,
awakening his }
He told next
the back fields,
that led to th
Witherell home
and entered.
of the househo
heard him He
ton automatic,
corner of the
cartridges for t
dow sill. Lea
traced his ste;
and along the
in his hand. Hi
either of the t
leaving them cl
Savage shell on
to find, they v
fused when th
with the calibe:
to fire.
E-ENTERIT-
manner in
care not to mak
ing his own fi
made his way
stairs, creeping
bedroom where
He paused ou
make sure that
Then he pushed
entered the roo:
few feet of the }
along the gun |
was within six i
Then he flashec
“He did not x
trigger. He ne
Stephen Withe
confession.
He went back
a blue suit and
father’s bedroo
dollars from hi
asked him why
said he did nc
though he had |}
the money he f:
neatly on the flo
took his father
George Withere]
car outside. At
empty Remingt
It was never rec
search was made
the borrowed gi
and started for
rest of his story
story he had alr
to New York to
I sent Serge
Trooper Malone:
place to check «
rowed gun, still
had been used.
the gun, if there
it back. They
George Witherel]
to learn that it
home without h
the commission
officers brought
readily identified
Later tests m
Jones of New }
sively that the
the pillow und
rts’, lived
art’s kit-
o o'clock
she asked
very late
thought
2n to get
- on the
the back
t out on
‘ed back.
t I didn’t
n talked,
» go out
wo pack-
d around
own into
‘lap bag,
artled at
> yard at
{r. Mohl
had put
t
all pack-
he wrap-
ter “W.”
ind went
olumbers
upstairs,
vhat was
Clue of the
_ Then Taggart took his knife, slit through the burlap and
a layer of newspapers. The two men drew back in horror.
A shriveled human skull, with the nose and chin burned
away, the upper teeth intact, Payson 5 The sack con-
tained a blackened and frightfully burned human torso, the
members gone.
Mohl ran to the East 67th Street Police Station. At that
moment John Hauser triumphantly produced a fresh entry
he had found in an old note-book in Wolter's trunk:
“Name, Ruth Amos Wheeler. Nationality, American.
Occupation, pA p09 Where Educatedr Merchants
and Bankers school. Do you live with your parents? Yes.
es offered, seven dollars a week. Thursday, March 24th,
Mohl staggered in, breathless: “Come quickly,” was all he
could yo
With him went Inspectors James McCafferty and George
F. Titus; Captains Edward P. ae and Arthur H. Carey.
The burlap bag and its pitiful contents were placed in
the basement until four-thirty when Coroner Herman W.
Holtzhauser, and Doctors Philip F. O’Hanlon and Timothy
LeHane arrived.
They found the torso had first been wrapped with after-
noon sla eng dated Thursday, March 24th, then put
in the bag. This bag, John Mohl recognized as being simi-
lar to one he had given Wolter for kindling. The whole was
secured by wire, which Mohl again recognized as resembling
that which had held up the cook-stove pipe in Wolter’s liv-
ne .
_ The body was taken to the East 67th Street Police Sta-
tion.
The coroner rushed to the little fireplace—two and a half
feet high, eighteen inches wide, twelve inches deep—in the
Wolters’ former living-room. Nobody, not even Pearl
Wheeler, had thought to look there.
It was a sickening sight. Charred pieces of arm and leg
bones; bits of toes and fingers; hair, part of a handbag,
corset stays, and a silver lovers’ knot hatpin, intact. Cling-
ing to the flesh of a finger they found a gold signet ring,
’ bearing the letters, R. A. W.
Cindered Hand ea
The coroner ripped off the marble, and found that grease
and discolorations from burning the body had penetrated
through to the outside. That was the reason for the black
paint.
In the heating and cooking staves in the kitchen, they also
found remnants of charred clothing and auburn, hair.
At the Police Station, Doctor O’Hanlon made his ex-
amination. A three-inch manila rope was imbedded in the
girl’s neck, along with a string of turquoise beads. A bit
of towel clung to the mouth and nostrils. There was no
doubt that it was all that remained of Ruth Wheeler. She
had been gagged, strangled with the rope, and burned while
still alive, though unconscious, for her lungs were congested
with smoke. te
Two distinguished scientists from the College of ie ha
cians and Surgeons of Columbia University offered their
services. They were Doctor George S. Huntington, the ana-
tomist, and Professor John H. Larkin, the pathologist. Doc-
tor Ae pres proved that the bones in the fireplace be-
longed to the torso. Professor Larkin, examining specimens
submitted him by Doctor O’Hanlon, found the little girl had
been outraged, and that she had died from asphyxiation and
strangulation.
x * *
That afternoon, several newspaper reporters were in the
Wheeler apartment. Adelaide and Mrs. Wheeler were there;
Bee was out on an errand. Mother and daughter wept
silently.
Anything definite about Ruth would have been better
than the heartbreak of those terrible surmises.
oe in the street, newsboys commenced to shout
“Extra.”
“Go down, Adelaide,” the mother said. “Maybe they
have found Ruth.”
Adelaide came back quickly. Deep sobs shook her. She
could not were the ghastly news from her mother.
Mrs. Wheeler heard all. She sat in her rocking chair,
dazed. “Poor Ruth; poor little (Continued on page 54)
(Above) Ruth Wheeler, burned alive by a leering fiend
who preyed on young girls. (Left) The room which con-
tained the answer to the baffling riddle of Ruth’s strange
disappearance
14
“1 certainly will help you,” Hauser said,
“but you must do something for me.”
“Pll do anything,” she promised.
“You go and knock on Wolter’s door,”
he said, ‘and when he comes, you scream.
I'll be waiting below on the landing.
You can say he insulted you; I'll come
up and arrest him. You see, last night
they had no grounds for an arrest.”
Hauser, accompanied by Detectives
Michael Hegarty and James Devine,
reached the house on East 75th Street.
Mohl let them in.
Pearl went up and knocked at Wolter’s
door. She waited a few seconds;
knocked again. There was no sound
from the apartment. A_ third knock
brought no response.
“Nobody's there,” Hauser said. “Will
you let us in, Mr. Mohl?” Mohl ex-
plained. as he unlocked the door, that
it was a peculiar lock; there were only
two keys to it. He had one; Wolter the
other,
While they were waiting for Mohl to
return, Pearl saw a pretty blonde girl
in a room across the hall from Wolter’s
apartment. She spoke to her.
Master
a Jooking for my sister. She's a
young girl. She came here yesterday,
somewhere between nine and ten. Did
you see her?”
“I’m sorry,’ said this girl, whose
name was Katie Gillie, “but I wasn’t
here yesterday.”
“Have you seen the Wolters today?”
“I have never seen either of them,”
she said, “but while you are in the apart-
ment, I'll keep a lookout, and let you
know if they are coming. I do hope you
find your sister.”
By daylight the apartment looked
more squalid than ever. Franti¢ally
Pearl went from room to room, search-
ing every inch of space, looking again
behind furniture, into closets.
“Come here,” Detective Devine called
to her from the bedroom. ‘‘Here’s a lot
of lady’s clothes in this closet. Some of
them may belong to your sister.”
Pearl looked them over, slowly, one
by one, and turned away disappointed.
“No,” she said.
Detective Hauser was searching a
bureau which stood close to the living-
room door. He produced a_ rubber
stamp: “A. W. Wolter, Secretary,” and
beside it a red ink pad.
“He wrote that card all right,” he told Pearl.
“Of course,” she said.
Again they questioned every tenant; searched as on the
night before. They found nothing suspicious.
Since January Ist of that year, fifty-seven girls had dis-
appeared from their homes in New York City. Forty-two
had been traced, some of them found. The rest had never
been heard of again. White slavery was rife. Had Wolter
abducted Ruth and sold her? = *
John Hauser persuaded Pearl to go home and try to get
some rest. He and the two other detectives, he said, would
wait until the Wolters came home; then he had hopes of
learning something.
Baffled, tired, dicotieensil: torn with anguish and grief,
Pearl Wheeler went home. But here there was no rest.
From 11:40 that morning until seven in the evening the
three detectives, Hauser, Hegarty and Devine, kept watch
on the Wolter apartmént. Shortly after seven, John Mohl
gave Hauser a signal. A young woman came into the house.
It was Mrs. Wolter.
As soon as she’d had time to get out of sight and hearing,
Hauser went over to Mohl.
“I saw a man coming out of
arrow).
said Mrs. Taggart, who lived next door to the house of doom
Detective
the back window (indicated by
He was shoving a heavy object out on the fire escape,”
“Go up,” he said, “and see what's going on; don’t aro) se
her suspicions.”
“Okay,” said Mohl.
them.”
“She was crying terribly,” he told the detective when he
returned. “Says her husband told her they had to mo-e.
He can’t live in a place where the police come down on
them in the terrible way they did last night. She’s packing
a few things to take with her, and says she'll send for ‘he
trunks later. Day before yesterday she paid me two wees’
rent in advance. That’s funny, isn’t it?”
Hauser and Mohl separated. Soon Mrs. Wolter appeared.
She had a bundle wrapped in a newspaper, and three um-
brellas tied together, under her arm. he detectives iol-
lowed her. She crossed over to Park Avenue, and wal).ed
up to 79th Street. Between 79th and 80th Streets she
stopped and waited half an hour. Then she moved w'st,
to Madison Avenue. Between 80th and 8lst Streets, she
assed a young man whom the detectives were sure \vas
olter, though she made no sign of recognition. Both
crossed the street, and in the middle of the next block, t vey
began a conversation.
“I’ve got a couple o! letters or
16 Master Detective
They had returned to the East 67th Street Police Station,
heh the telephone rang. “Take it, Hauser,” the sergeant
Sald.
The man at the other end of the wire spoke with a Ger-
man accent.
“My name is Wolter. Albert Wolter is my son.”
Hauser replied in fluent German. He grabbed his hat,
and was at the elder Wolter’s home at 120 East 53rd Street
in a few minutes.
Albert Wolter, senior, a man of soldierly bearing, ad-
mitted the detective to a modest apartment, which was
bright with an air of home.
When the father heard the charges against the boy, he
said he didn’t doubt it was true; he’d have nothing to do
with him.
“Perhaps he has a touch of insanity?” Hauser suggested.
“No. He is bright, vain, timid and cruel, too. As a
little boy he was wild.” He turned to his, wife for con-
firmation.
“Yes,” she said, “he was always crazy about girls.”
The mother sat in a cosy corner on a sofa. She was
crying and could hardly speak. The detective saw there
was a decided resemblance between mother and son.
“Last night,” the father said, “the girl brought us the
first word we've had of our son since last December.”
“Your son’s wife came?” Hauser asked.
“She is not his wife!” The mother’s tone was indignant.
“She only lives with him. Her name is Katchen Mueller;
she’s been in this country three years; she brought him to
this.” Sobs choked her.
“I cannot agree,” the father said. “She is eighteen, our
son’s age. | ast night she said they'd lived in 75th Street
three weeks. And she’s supported herself and my son on
the little sum of six dollars a week she earned in a bakery.
She told me Albert worked for a month with her, at a
boarding house in Irvington, for a man named John Bender.
But he hates work.”
The father told the detective everything. The boy was
born out of wedlock in Germany. The father had come to
America fourteen years before, and married. When his
wife died he sent for the mother of his son. They'd been
married the day she arrived at Hoboken, two years before.
From that day, the son took his father’s name; he'd lived
under his mother’s name, Ziegenbalz, before that.
Young Albert had graduated from a high school in Dres-
den. When he came to America, his father got him a job
in. a piano factory, where he was an expert workman.
The boy threw that up. He was always at cheap dance
halls: often he didn’t come home all night. Then he slept
during the. day.
The father disliked him from the first. The mother
couldn’t stand him around the house. They made him leave.
But they established him in lodgings and guaranteed to pay
his rent.
E worked a short time for another piano company, col-
lected $18, didn’t turn it in, was arrested and imprisoned.
The father paid, and the charges were dropped.
A few days before Christmas, the mother persuaded his
father to give him one more chance. Together they went
to the lodging house and found him living with Katchen
Mueller. They begged him to come home Christmas Eve,
and try to live decently. Sullen, as always when confronted
with his faults, he half-promised.
But he didn’t come, and on Christmas morning the par-
ents went after him. He and the Mueller girl had moved,
leaving no address.
The tragic story of this family moved the detective to
pity. Nothing he learned was in favor of young Wolter.
Neither had he any new evidence against him in regard
to Ruth Wheeler’s disappearance.
It was now one Glock Saturday. Hauser hoped that if
he saw Katchen Mueller alone, he’d be able to get some in-
formation. He went to the bakery on Third Avenue near
83rd Street. The proprietor told him he had discharged the
girl that day.
Back at the Police Station, Hauser broke open the trunks,
and scrutinized their contents.
John Taggart, his wife and two little boys, lived on the
top floor of 222 East 75th Street, adjoining 224, and shar-
ing a fire escape with that house.
In a room on the same floor, opposite the Taggarts’, lived
Mrs. Frances Ringles. Often she used Mrs, Taggart’s kit-
chen to do ironing or cooking for herself. Before two o'clock
on Saturday she came in.
“What's that lot of rubbish on your fire escape?” she asked
Mrs. Taggart.
“Oh, something the neighbors at 224 left there very late
Thursday night,” Mrs. Taggart said. “I hadn't thought
of it again. But that night | went into the kitchen to get
some water. Just as | reached for my pitcher on the
shelf near the window, | saw a man coming out of the back
window at 224. He was shoving a heavy object out on
the fire escape. When he saw me coming he darted back.
| didn’t like all that garbage on my fire escape, but I didn’t
want to make trouble.”
It was now just two o'clock, and while the women talked,
John Taggart came home. His wife told him to go out
and remove the rubbish.
He stepped out on the fire escape. There were two pack-
ages; one, white muslin, much stained, and wrapped around
a little bundle of refuse. This Mr. Taggart threw down into
the yard below.
He turned to the big package. It was a burlap bag,
stained, and secured with wire. He raised this, startled at
its weight, and let it fall over the rail, and into the yard at
Number 224,
He then sent Mrs. Ringles down to explain to Mr. Mohl
what he had done, and that one of Mohl’s tenants had put
the packages on his fire escape late Thursday night.
Mohl went into the yard, and shook out the small pack-
age. Ashes, pieces of wood, hairpins fell out. The wrap-
ping was a shirt, and upon it was worked the letter “W.”
he large bundle he pushed over by the fence, and went
back into his kitchen on the ground floor, where plumbers
were working.
Mrs. Ringles had hardly had time to get back upstairs,
when Taggart had an irresistible impulse to see what was
in the big package. He rushed downstairs.’
“Open it,” he said to Mohl.
“1 will not.”
don’t arouse
‘ letters for
ive when he
ad to move.
ne down on
he’s packing
send for the
> two weeks’
er appeared.
d three um-
tectives fol-
and walked
Streets she
noved west,
Streets, she
re sure Was
ition. Both
block, they
Clue of the Cindered Hand 15
“T could see the fire escapes all the way down, and there’s noth-
ing on any of them,” said Patrolman Shaw. But a startling
discovery was later made at spot marked by cross
That Good Friday was one of the hottest on record. The
detectives removed their coats and hats, and sauntered along
informally. But it was difficult to keep the Wolters in sight
without arousing suspicion, for they stopped, stood still,
and doubled back.
Eventually they entered a building at 122 East 105th
Street. Here also the detectives were wary, giving the couple
several minutes to get settled before intruding.
Then Hegarty rang the janitor’s bell. “I’m looking for a
young man named Wolter,” he said.
“There’s no such person here,” replied the janitor. They
described Wolter.
“Sounds like a young man who engaged a room here
about six o’clock tonight. He said his name was E: W.
Miller, and paid a week’s rent in advance.”
Hauser knocked. Wolter, himself, opened the door. When
he heard who they were, he burst out laughing. Hauser
looked at him closely. Unusually strong and virile, he was
about five feet, seven inches tall; weighed around one hun-
dred and forty pounds; had long arms and large white
hands. Scrupulously neat and clean, he wore a well-pressed
gray suit of cheap material, but smartly cut. His wife, how-
ever, was shabbily dressed, toil-worn,
disheveled and frightened. She was cry-
ing.
eWhat is your occupation?” Hauser
asked Wolter. >
“I’m a bookkeeper, but just now I’m
looking’ for a position.”
“What about that Wheeler girl who
came to you Thursday morning ?”
“T never saw her in my life. 1 don't
know anything about her.”
“How about that postal card?”
+ “| wrote that.”
“How many have you written?”
“Oh, quite a few.”
“Well, what’s the idea of your writing
postal cards for young girls to come to
your place on promises of a position,
when you aren’t working?”
“Oh; [ just write the cards for prac-
“I'd like to hear what you were do-
ing all day yesterday.”
“1 left my house at eight in the morn-
ing and went to 116th Street to a five-
and-ten-cent store. Bought a can of
peat and a brush. | went to Central
ark and stayed there until eleven. Then
I came down to the bakery where my
wife works. I had coffee and cake at
the bakery, and returned to the park,
read the paper, and stayed around until
three o'clock. Then I came back to
the apartment, and painted the fireplace.”
“Did you ever use a rubber stamp with
red ink?” the detective asked.
“1 did have one,” Wolter admitted.
“Better get ready,” said Hauser, “we're
going to take you along.”
Hauser was a German and spoke the
language. As they were going to the
Police Station, Wolter said to him, in
German:
“Vm in trouble, is it not so?”
“You are, indeed,” Hauser replied.
“What can they do to me?” Wolter
asked.
“If they found you guilty, you could
be electrocuted.”
“They couldn’t do that, I’m too
young,” Wolter said.
Among the few things they’d taken
from him was a handkerchief covered
with blood. He said he was subject to
nose-bleed. In a note-book in his pocket,
they found the addresses of ten girls in
New Jersey, several in New York, and
twenty in Germany.
They asked him why he had these. He
said he was an expert German stenographer; he wanted to
correspond with these girls to improve his style.
Most of the American girls, when questioned, didn’t even
know Wolter. Two knew him only to speak to.
A letter from a cousin of his in Germany was also found.
In it the cousin warned him not to boast too much about
the fun he was having with the girls, as he'd probably find
out he’d be punished in America.
Friday night he was subjected to long and severe police
uestioning, but stolidly denied knowing anything about
uth Wheeler.
Saturday morning, Wolter was brought before Magis-
trate Matthew Breen in the Yorkville court, of New York
City, who ordered him held for abduction.
MAGISTRATE BREEN did not hold, and was not asked
to hold, Mrs. Wolter. She was in the courtroom with
an elderly woman who wept continually.
Before ten-thirty that morning, Detectives Hauser and
Devine went to 224 East 75th Street, to look around once
more. They took charge of the two locked trunks the Wol-
ters had left.
Sos NNN ——— ST
young girl. The leg and arm bones had
ma been deliberately broken. The legs were
B ok bent upward along the torso, and the
range arms were squeezed tightly against the
5 legs. gi but strong wire bound them
. together.
oer All of the skin had been burned from THA 7 / TAY ‘4
t Cap- the body, ~ the — exon in = /
: iny spot between the shoulders.
d ni i. the right side of the neck was a small, STAR B LADES |
investl- partially burned strand of manila rope,
letec- and on the left side were the blackened
ae 1 remnants of a similar piece. Around the
ee aa neck was a charred necklace of tur-
; quoise beads.
rel ‘Ruth Wheeler,’ murmured Hughes,
Maybe ‘was wearing a necklace like that when
half she vanished. This is her body.”
ed pen “Who found it?” demanded Devine,
her biue turning to the janitor. Mohl pointed to
of sleep a thin man with gray hair. “He did—
- John Taggert.”
miner “It was on the fire escape,” -volun-
sing ord teered Taggart. “I was eating a late |
ight, an breakfast in the kitchen a little while ‘cenaint 1 ct a h ter Ruth
ther peo~ _ago when my wife remarked that she Wheel es tod hime?” sda ares Cg:
strangely. had seen a dirty bundle on the landing rm lg ew AQ || Easy to use Viscose Home Method. Heals many old
, madman outside our window. I found this sack — Vd guess 7 wes 49: gover We Ser ae eeeed Ladetes or ws cost for trial if it
imself and there. I decided it was rubbish, and ‘™Portant evidence in her-murder,” the woe to show anor
ried, and threw it over the side into the yard inspector said. “That fireplace cree! Dut. Viscose COMPANY
atter, but below. As I did so, I noticed some Tack onthe peen the scene of the. girl's funeral ce naan hana
business.” ane : iti pyre.
" bed. she aac elo Sains woebied : The coroner tore away a black metal SEE BEFORE YOU BUY
Ai > orriea me. Finally I hield ki the f t of th fire- —— = Diamond-dazzling Zircons fom
> sleep. called Mohl and went out to the’ yard es ene Se ere pe ~ Vy Mita Ettetion a0 pesenenstee,
ened by where I had thrown the bag. I slit it place. He stooped and began ‘sifting ) Stand acid; cut glass: full of
a brick open—and there was the girl’s nner ye ashes on the grate inside. After a few a A a eg Ml
.e chimney, Inspector George H. Titus and Sass seconds he rose and examined an ob- i Sent. Rent on-telal. write tor
ter was out tain Arthur Carey of the homicide ject he had taken irom the heap of NATIONAL ZIRCON ELM ILS
sen kitchen squad, together with: Corofier A ' residue. It was a twisted garter buckle. oar: co., dept. 82a FJ-143
‘him what Holtzhauser and his medical inacianne A. second ‘seat of Sas sehen tga
go back to Dr. Philip O’Hanlon ne ° cant ered several white fragments which
7 Pacaes olice el ni ceens me uptown were identified as human finger bones.
Helin made : brief report to Titus Still deeper in the, aime bic iare nvated
ape nal Corl th A tile eiveei- found a small bundle of clothing which ore nat nDENSE ale BE OEALY fOr
: y as the coroner and his physi- ad not been wholly consumed by the Bree PRINS canurience necewanty. Easy
ughes eager- cian stooped to examine the charred flames. Inside was a bloodstained man’s Work uniforms. ‘Advertising on. garments
behind — Pee. shirt with the embroidered initial “W.” ted. Write iminediately for FREE Outht
iilding been
‘We covered
ee the janitor
othing there.”
ou see? Wol-
me heavy ob-
it of the win-
e fallen all the
-ized' Haggerty.
on the fire
t, the phone
desk. His eyes
ard. “Good!” he
up!”
tanded Devine
Hughes, spring-
snty-fifth Street
up to the ad-
‘ters had lived.
waiting for them
Excitedly he led
where a crowd
in one corner.
, elbowed their
1d residents to
t—a bloodstained
on one side.
arred body of a
ae TT
Clues In Fireplace
“What do you make of it?” Holtz-
hauser at length asked Dr. O’Hanlon
after he had completed his initial
examination.
“The victim has been dead for about
24 hours,” O’Hanlon said. “Pending an
autopsy, I’d say the girl was strangled
before the body was set afire—although
there’s a possibility that she may
merely have been unconscious and was
burned alive.”
Captain Carey turned to Hughes. “I
understand you have a suspect already
in custody.”
“Right,” nodded the detective captain.
He briefly sketched the story of Ruth
Wheeler’s disappearance and of Wol-
ter’s arrest. “We’re dead sure he’s the
guilty party, but so far we haven’t been
able to crack him.”
“We'll take that suite he occupied
apart if it’s necessary to dig up clues,”
said Carey. “Meanwhile send a couple
of men up to his new room in Harlem.”
The janitor let the officers into the
flat formerly occupied by the Wolters,
and which Miss Gowan had taken after
the German couple moved. Hughes’
attention soon was fixed upon the
freshly painted fireplace in the kitchen.
“That was part of Wolter’s alibi, that
paint job,” he said. “Now why did he
“Even if he won’t confess his crime,”
said Hughes, viewing these clues,
‘we've got enough on him to send him
to the chair.”
The officers pulled away pieces of
the tile which formed the hearth. Un-
derneath were splotches of dried blood.
“Her limbs were twisted with such
savage force,” the coroner explained,
“that severe hemorrhages resulted.”
While the search was going on in the
East Seventy-fifth Street apartment,
Detectives Devine and Haggerty were
at the Harlem rooming house. There
Mrs. Wolter, morose after the discov-
ery of the girl’s body on the fire escape
convinced her that her husband was
not blameless in Ruth Wheeler’s death,
was helping the officers in examination
of Wolter’s personal possessions.
In. a collar box they found several
black wooden beads and a gold amulet
matching the descriptions of ornaments
the slain girl had worn when she left
home. From a suitcase the detectives |
took the rubber stamp with which |
Wolter had signed the postcard he sent
to the business: school.
Finally, beneath a stack of shirts in
a dresser drawer they came upon a
gmall notebook filled with notes and |
newspaper, clippings on murder cases,
one of the latter the account of the
recent slaying of a woman by her hus-
2330 W.Cermak Rd.,Dept. C-12, Chicago, I1!.
Exquisite -like Picture le from
Ts 'ae tlag pias. Pad poten onl Si Serine Ore.
a? fiend trated ie acta, Phote ratarned with Fins.
ney back guarantee. Send photo and ring size now.
PORTRAIT RING CO., Dépt. M105, CINCINNATI, O.
sy INVENTION
6 HAIR oe
—
.
BARBER BILLS
=
= Trims hair as it combs! Esay!
uick! Keeps men's, wotnen's,
children’s hair trim, nent, freshly
cut looking all the time! Trime,
tapers, thine out uneven hair. Use
‘ike ordinary comb. Safe. Simple.
No experience required. _ Fine for legs, underarms!
Sample offer sent im
SAMPLES FOR AGENTS reante ts Sil whe
send name at once. A penny postal will do, SEND NO MONEY. Just
yourname. KRISTEE CO., 991 Bar St., AKRON, OHIO
LOOSE DENTAL PLATES
RELINED AND TIGHTENED AT HOME $1
NEWLY IMPROVED DENDEX RE-
LINER, a plastic, builds up (refits)
loose upper and lower dentures. Really
makes them fit as they should without
using powder. Easily applied. No heat
ing required. Brush it on and wear your
plates while it sets. It adheres to the
plates only and makes a comfortable,
smooth and durable surface that can
be washed and scrubbed. Each appli-
Setis Wke wild!
1 }
for generous supply, brush and directions. DEN a
Dept. 429, 2714 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, Calif.
IF YOU PREFER C.O.D, — PAY $1 PLUS POSTAGE
o/
Cea tae
silts
report to Captain Edward P. Hughes.
Pearl explained how Ruth had been
sent by the school to see Albert Wolter
about a job, and how she herself had
visited Wolter’s flat, only to find no
trace of the missing girl.
“There’s something wrong, all right,”
Captain Hughes agreed. “I’ll send two
of my best men up to your home right
away.”
Detectives Visit Wolter
Some time later Detectives James
Devine and John Haggerty arrived at
the Wheeler flat.
Meanwhile Pearl had notified her
uncle, Amos Wheeler, and Thomas A.
Stone, a friend of the family, of Ruth’s
disappearance. Both men were waiting
at the Wheeler apartment when the
detectives entered.
Devine and Haggerty listened care-
fully as Pearl repeated the story she
had told Captain Hughes. Then they
questioned the others briefly about
Ruth, her habits and her acquaintances.
The missing girl, all agreed, was highly
respected, well-disciplined and devoted
to her family. They were sure she had
not stayed away from home of her
own accord.
“First,” declared Devine, “we must
establish, if possible, whether Ruth
ever reached the East Seventy-fifth
Street building. If she did, our inves-,
tigation will be centered there. If she
didn’t, we’ll have a tougher job trac-
ing her.”
This time Pearl remained at home
while Mrs. Wheeler, Adelaide, the
uncle and Stone accompanied the de-
tectives to Wolter’s address.
Led by the officers, they trooped up
the stairs to his flat. Devine rapped
sharply on the door and Wolter opened
it. The young German frowned as the
detectives showed their badges. Grudg-
ingly he stepped aside to let them
enter.
“Are we going to be kept up all
night by visitors?” he complained.
“If necessary,” Devine replied grimly.
“A girl has disappeared, and we are
not satisfied that this is not the place
where she vanished.”
Wolter smirked. “Of course, my wife
and I are kidnapers. We have her tied
up under the bed where Mrs. Wolter is
sleeping. Gentlemen, you are welcome
to search the place, I assure you.”
While Mrs. Wheeler and the others
engaged Wolter in conversation, the
detectives went through the living-
room, bedroom and kitchen. They
found nothing to indicate that Ruth
Wheeler had been there. Mrs. Wolter,
in a hastily donned negligee, identified
several articles of feminine clothing
in the suite as her own. As a double
check the detectives showed these to
Mrs. Wheeler, who declared they were
mot Ruth’s.
Then the officers turned to question
Wolter. .
“Did you hire this Lena Schwartz
whom you admit you interviewed here
last night?” asked Devine.
“No,” replied the young man, still
scowling. “I told her to come back
today.” ‘
“But,” pointed out Haggerty, “you
informed Pearl Wheeler that both you
and ‘your wife were out of the flat
today.”
“Most of the day, yes. But I thought
Anders would be here to see her.”
“Who is he?”
“Peter Anders, my partner in the
shorthand school we are planning to
establish. He is a waiter at Coney
Island.”
“Was he here today?”
“IT don’t know,” admitted Wolter. “He
has a key to the flat and may have
been here. But he left no message.”
The detectives obtained the address
of Anders from Wolter in order to pick
him up for questioning. Then they
pressed Wolter with further inquiries
about himself and his activities.
Although his hobby was shorthand,
in which he was an expert, he was a
piano tuner by trade, he said. He was
employed by Steinway & Company at
Fourteenth Street and Irving Place,
but because he was not feeling well
he had not gone to work that day.
Painted Fireplace
“Tell us exactly what you did,” -de-
manded Devine.
‘J got up around 8 o'clock,” said
Wolter evenly, “and had breakfast with
my wife.. She left for work at the
bakery at the same time that I went
down to the store and bought a paint-
brush and some paint. The fireplace
in the kitchen has needed painting
badly for some time.”
“We saw it had been freshly painted,”
observed Haggerty. “Did you do that
today?”
“Yes, this afternoon. But from the
store I went to Central Park, and sat
there awhile until it started snowing.
Then I went to the bakery where my
wife works and had lunch. I stayed
there until 2 o’clock, when I came
home and painted the fireplace. After
that I went down to the barber shop,
where I remained for half an hour. I
came back here at 5 o’clock. Kathie,
my wife, came home about 7:30.”
This story sounded almost too pat
to the detectives; but they had no
evidence with which to dispute it.
There was no other course for them
but to leave the Wolter flat and try
elsewhere to develop a fresh lead to
the missing stenographer.
The officers (Continued on page 55)
NAIR Re NCI
25
DOOR OF DEATH
(Continued from page 25)
drove Mrs. Wheeler and the others back
to the 134th Street address and prom-
ised they would do their best to pick
up Ruth’s trail on the following day.
Then they returned to the station house
and checked out for the night. The time
was shortly before midnight on Thurs-
day, March 24, 1910.
Early the next morning Devine and
Haggerty conferred with Captain
Hughes in the station house, and re-
ported on their interview with Wolter.
Estey, the school director, already had
telephoned Hughes, begging him to do
everything possible to find Ruth Wheel-
er. he missing girl still had not
returned.
“I agree,” snapped Hughes, “that
Wolter’s story sounds cooked up. Un-
doubtedly he knows more about the
girl’s disappearance than he is telling.
And we must pick up his partner Peter
Anders, and see what he has to say.”
The captain proceeded to outline a
plan of action. He would have Brooklyn
police take Anders into custody at the
Coney Island restaurant where he
worked. Meanwhile, Hughes continued,
Devine and Haggerty were to keep
Wolter and his blonde wife under con-
stant surveillance on the chance that
the couple would make some incrim-
inating slip.
“But be careful,” Hughes warned,
“that the Wolters do not know they are
being shadowed.”
From the station house Devine and
Haggerty went.to Seventy-fifth Street.
They entered the building where Wol-
ter lived, and made their way to the
janitor’s rooms at the rear.of the first
floor.
There they found the short, bald
superintendent Frank Mobhl, and intro-
duced themselves. Taking him into their
confidence, they asked his aid, and he.
readily agreed to assist them.
Wolter and his wife, the janitor told
them, had Sone to work and would
probably return around 7 Pp. .
Devine and Haggerty, Posing as sales-
men, sauntered over to the building
opposite and rented a room from which
they could watch the other entrance.
Then they began their vigil, taking
turns going out to make hourly reports
by telephone to Captain Hughes.
Packing To Leave
The hours slipped by and neither
Albert nor Kathie Wolter appeared.
The janitor was correct in assuming
they would not return until nightfall, |
for it was 7:30, and dark, when Mohl
dashed across the street and reported
to the detectives that the Wolters were
in their rooms. Devine and Haggerty
.them into conversation. Tell them you | fo
WOW! MUSIC LESSONS
for fess than a day!
WHICH INSTRUMENT
00 YOU WANT TO
LEARN TO PLAy ?
PREFERS WOME STUOY METHOD
T have taken lessons from a pri
ark as my Chureh Choir with much ease,
se *X.L.w., Hubbard, Texas.
Thousands have learned to play this quick, easy short-cut way, right
r ' SEND FOR FREE PROOF
at hom AND YOu CAN, TOO! If you really. Want to Jearn music . . .
ma € coupon for ee “Print and Pic-
FF YOU spend only a half hour of your ture” aut and Illustrated Booklet. See
Spare time each day foll the in- for yourse Rew, isasy oan pleasant it is to
structions, you, too, should be able to play earn to play Us quick, money-saving
simple melodies sooner than you evey play. B'S. School Beaament, you want. to
dreamed possible. With this modern U. S. Bide, New York 10, N.Y.
School method you learn to play by play- FREE PRINT and PICTURE SAMPLE
ing. You need no special talent. aa Pupil’s name on request. Picture by professional
PRINT AND PICTURE METHOD | dase gigtiaia,
You learn to play real tunes almost from | 512 Brunswiek Bidg., N.Y. 10, N.Y, |
the start. But you can’t go wrong. Be- { Please send me Free Booklet and Print and Picture
cause first you are told how to doa thing | pantie. we pe eS lay instrument checked |
y the simple printed instructions. Then Plano Accordion Trumece” |
a picture showed you how. Finally you do | Guitar Saxophone Trombone
it yourself and hear how it sounds. And Violin Mandolin Tenor Banjo |
sooner en you ever gir hag ue | See Ge T cenit bmndbner sca o, o-- |
aying almost any popular piece Yy note
Ana just think, you can take lessons on — a eee
any instrument you select, for less than 7c | WAVE deetig pices
New Designs ji =a
FRANZITE GRIPS):
Modernize Your Qua! Improve Your Seore!
Most durable made,
pont For Colt’ ae
had seen several persons enter the
building, but in the darkness were un-
able to identify them.
“Now this is what you do,” Devine
directed the janitor. “Go up to the
Wolters’ flat on some pretext and draw
onyx, ete.
anted.
Dept. T-12, Chicaze, | x
/
know of our visit last night and try to |
find out how they feel about it.”
Mohl did as he was told. Fifteen min-
utes later, he hurried back across the
street to the detectives’ hideout.
“The Wolters are packing up to
leave!” he said. “They told me I could
rent the flat to Miss Gowan, the girl
across the hall, who has been wanting
it for some time. Mrs. Wolter said the
visit by the police and Ruth. Wheeler’s
people had upset her and made her
husband act queerly.”
“Good work,” said Devine. “Go back
and report to us when the Wolters leave
the building.”
The detectives watched as Mohl re-
turned and took up his post. Then they
saw a woman walk out, carrying a
Suitcase, followed by the janitor, who
darted over to them.
Leaving their rented room, they met
Mohl on the stairs.
“Wolter got away!” the janitor ex-
claimed in a hushed voice. “He must
have gone out the back entrance. Mrs.
Wolter left the front way. If you hurry
BIGGER f
ELECTRICAL & RADIO
Tnouble Spot] <
FREE! i Yr. Technical
y ma
Coyne Staff, on fous’ 4
trouble-shooting
Problems,
AS
NS
SEND NO MONEY! Ny -
You need wharst below. \
ou 8 Pract
book NOW. Act! NS
AS =
Be ee Se oe eae ee a ce sm ts en en
H, C. Lewis. Pres. b. » 93-2
@ COYNE ELEtTRicaAL FR
you can catch her. She hasn’t reached | S005. 2 noe 42, IRinote
€ corner yet!” & Shootin veaWithin 5 dave ‘after cone
. . ry nae yon one a Fymonthl until total
The officers set out after the hurrying | ¢ Put: free trial and return privilses, 94” = OVER 10%, Same
woman. They tailed Kathie Wolter at
a safe distance as she turned into Park
Avenue: and started uptown.
a
NAME et
1
SSSI States
\
wu
GUARANTEED SOLID
STERLING SILVER
Both Only
Leadin jewelers ask how can we afford
t
we
to make money on this offer—but we 1
o “give away’ two such gorgeous
rings for only $1.49,
Jo expect to make thousands of new cus-
e don’t expect
tomers. Both rings are dre.
set in f. 1 ve ° -
«raved genuine’ STERLING SILVER. mounting.’ The,
SWEETHEART WEDDING BAND combines beauty,
taste, and superior Me Beautifully engrav
s
iL 7
rings are not plated, but GUARANTEED SOLID STERLING
SILVER ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Why wear plated xinge
when you can now have fine jewelry-at such unbelievable
bargain prices? Just send name ‘and address, together
with ring size; say ‘‘I love to wear fine jewelry.’’ Enclose
$1.49 in full payment for both—nothing more to pay, i
*.0.D. pay postman $1.76. Wear 7 days at our risk, If not
delighted, your money back. Fair enough? Write now!
FIFTH AVENUE JEWEL CO., Dept. DM-12
545 Fifth Avenue New York, N. Y.
FOR INVENTORS itcoto race
Write today for valuable 72-page booklet ‘How to Get
Your Patent’? and ‘Record of Invention'’ form—both free.
L. F. RANDOLPH, 742 Victor Bidg., Washington, D. Cc.
PLAY GUITAR
ue THE cows
Yea Jost out—very latest guaranteed, sim-
G2 s le, method. Play cowboy *
BEX Western way in a few minutes by
ZS amaze your friends. Be in
tai: te
SE
ly $4.00
OF send
/ Se ¥.
on the to,
ND NO MONE
7th YEAR
We make FALSE TEETH
for you from your own
impressions in strict ac-
cordance with new U.S.law
4 LOW
60 DAY TRIAL |B AS
SATISFACTION protects you. “(i | [| pen
SEND NO MONEY BececP ond htaccnan
J. B. CLEVELAND DENTAL PLATE CO.
East St. Louis, Ilinois
Asthma Mucus
Loosened First Day
For Thousandsof Sufferers
Choking, gasping, wheezing spasms of Bronchial
Asthma ruin. sleep and energy. Ingredients in the
prescription Mendaco qu - circulate through
the blood and commo: y help loosen the thick
strangling mucus the first day, thus aiding nature
in palliating the terrible recurring chokin;
spasms, and in promoting freer breathing an
restful sleep. Mendaco is not a smoke, dope, or in-
jection. Just pleasant, tasteless palliating tablets
that have helped thousands of sufferers. Iron clad
guarantee—money back unless completely satis-
actory. Ask your druggist for Mendaco today.
LEARN AT HOME
Are you adult, alert, ambitious, willing
to study? Investigate LAW! We guide.
you step by: step—furnish all texts, in-
cluding 14-volume Law Library. Train-.
ing prepared by leading law professors
and ere by members of bar. Degree of
LL.B. conferred. Low cost, easy terms.
Send NOW for Free, 48-page “Law
Training for Leadership.” y
LASALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY °
A_CORRE CE INST:
STITUTION
DEPT. 1248-L CHICAGO
~
At Eightieth Street and Park Avenue.
the blonde Mrs. Wolter was met by her
husband. The couple set off across town,
with Wolter glancing ower his shoulder
occasionally, as if trying to discover
whether he was being followed. They
doubled back east from Madison to
Lexington Avenue, with the detectives
still shadowing them unobserved.
At last they reached a rooming house
in East 105th Street in Harlem, and
entered. Devine and Haggerty watched
the place for some time, then decided
the pair had holed up there.
“We'd better not take a chance on
that guy,” said Haggerty. “He’s cer-
tainly acting suspicious. I think we’d be
smart to grab him and grill him in the
precinct house.”
“Yeah,” Devine agreed. “But we'll
not arrest his wife. If we leave her at
liberty we may be able to get more
information out of her. Remember, she
| told the janitor her husband was acting
queerly. Perhaps she’s becoming sus-
picious of him, too.”
The landlady was plainly amazed
when the officers flashed their badges
and asked for the Wolters.
“Why, I just rented them a room,”
she said. “They’re up in ‘5-B.”
There was no response when Devine
knocked at the door. He tried it, but it
was locked.
“Open that door, Wolter!” he com-
manded. “Open up, or we'll come in
after you.” - .
Pal Denies Story
A key rattled in the lock, and Mrs.
Wolter stood before them. She was
weeping. Beyond her they saw her hus-
band, standing in the center of the
room, his arms folded, glowering at the
intruders.
“He hasn’t done anything,” the wife
protested. “I think he’s sick. Please take
him to the hospital.” -
“He’s going to the station house,” said
Devine grimly. “And he’d better go
quietly.”
Wolter accompanied the officers,
grumbling in protest. His blonde wife
lay sobbing on the couch as the detec-
-tives closed the door after them.
Upon hearing of the arrest, Captain
Hughes ordered the man brought into
his office. Seated there with the detec-
tive captain was a tow-headed, husky
young man in a waiter’s uniform. It was
Peter Anders, whom Wolter had named
as his partner in the shorthand school
venture.
“Why are you here?” Wolter de-
manded, seeing the waiter.
Anders did not answer; he looked
questioningly at Hughes.
~ “Pil tell you why he’s here,” the
captain said sharply. “He has given us
a complete statement regarding this
shorthand school, and about his ac-
tivities yesterday. He. was not in your
apartment, and had no intention of be-
ing there. His alibi has been checked,
and it’s correct. Furthermore, he says
you abandoned the idea of that short-
hand business long ago.”
“He doesn’t: know what he’s talking
about,” Wolter said angrily, '
“We'll see about that,” said Hughes.
.
“I’m releasing him upon his promise to
remain available for questioning. But
we're holding you until we clear up a
few angles that seem pretty strange
just now.”
Grilled for four hours, Wolter denied
any knowledge of the fate of Ruth
Wheeler. Shortly after midnight Cap-
tain Hughes ordered him booked on an
open charge, pending further investi-
gation.
Early Saturday morning the detec-
tives met again in Hughes’ office to plan
their next move.
“Bring in Mrs. Wolter for question-
ing,” Hughes ordered at last. “Maybe
we can get her to talk.”
Devine and Haggerty returned a half
hour later with Kathie Wolter, her blue
eyes deeply circled from lack of sleep
and _red-lidded from weeping.
“Something is wrong with Albert,”
she conceded. “After the missing girl’s
sister visited us Thursday night, and
the detectives came with the other peo-
ple, he started acting very strangely.
He paced up and down like a madman
after they left, muttering to himself and
biting his nails. I was worried, and
asked him what was the matter, but
he told me to mind my own business.”
Finally Wolter joined her in bed, she
continued, and they went to sleep.
About 2 a.m., she was awakened by
a thudding crash. She thought a brick
had fallen out of the fireplace chimney,
as it had once before. Wolter was out
of bed, standing by the open kitchen
window. When she asked him what
happened, he told her to go back to
sleep. She obeyed him.
Body On Fire Escape
“Just a minute,” said Hughes eager-
ly. “Has the courtyard behind the
Seventy-fifth Street building been
searched?”
“Yes,” replied Devine. “We covered
it when we went back to see the janitor
yesterday, but we found nothing there.”
“But the crash—don’t you see? Wol-
ter could have thrown some heavy ob-
ject—such as a body—out of the win-
dow.” ,
“And it might not have fallen all the
way into the yard,” theorized! Haggerty.
“It could have landed on the fire
escape!”
At this very moment, the phone
jangled on the captain’s desk. His eyes
sparkled at what he heard. “Good!” he
roared. “We'll be right up!”
“What is it?” demanded Devine
eagerly.
“Come on,” ordered Hughes, spring-
ing up from his desk. “A body—or
what’s left of it—has been found on the
fire escape of the Seventy-fifth Street
building!”
The detectives sped up to the ad-
dress where the Wolters had lived.
Mohl, the janitor, was waiting for them
outside the front door. Excitedly he led
them to the rear yard, where a crowd
of tenants -had gathered in one corner.
The captain and his men elbowed their
way through the excited residents to
the center of interest—a bloodstained
potato sack, slit open on one side.
Inside was the charred body of a
Clan stan
rer
“What
auser at
after he
€Xaminati:
“The vic:
24 hours»
autopsy, |’,
before ‘the }
ere’s a
merely hav:
burned aliy
Captain C
understand
i custody.”
“Right,” m
He briefly <
heeler’s q
ter’s arrest
guilty Party,
able to crack
“We'll take
apart if it’s pn,
said Carey,
of men up to |
The janitor
formerly (
and which Mis
€ German ,
attention SOor
freshly painted
“That was ps
Paint job,” he
GEORGE
MASTERS
ENNIE KONISH tried to scream, but only a low gur-
gling sound came from her throat. She wanted, more
than anything else in the world, to run wildly out of .
her room and the house. Yet the muscles in her body
were so paralyzed with terror that she couldn’t even
move a finger. So she remained in the center of the
floor, staring in stark horror at the foot of a man which
protruded from under the davenport bed.
It was early in the morning of October 13, 1942. Jennie
had spent the week-end with her parents at their farm
outside of Dundee, a.small town thirty miles, from the
city of Elmira, New York, where she worked in the Rem-
ington-Rand factory. She had come back to Elmira the
7
day before, Monday, but had arrived
at her room so late that she’d had no
‘time to look around. That evening
she had gone to a movie with a girl
friend. Too tired to bother cleaning
up when she got home after the show,
she had gone to bed, planning to get
up early the next morning to put her
room in order.
She had run the vacuum over the
rug, noticing little brown specks on
the flowered carpet, which looked
like something had been spilt. But
it wasn’t until she moved the daven-
port bed to clean under it that she
saw the man’s foot. It stuck out
straight and stiff, like.a board, and
there was dried and caked blood on
the trouser leg.
A aa gl Jennie managed to get
enough strength to stagger out
into the hallway -and finally found
her voice. Her wild and hysterical
screams brought Mrs. Etta Tebo, the
landlady to the head of the stairs.
“What's the matter?” she cried. |
Jennie gasped: “O, Mrs. Tebo..
a man... a dead man... under
my bed.”
“A dead man?” the startled land-
lady cried. “Have you gone crazy?”
Jennie didn’t answer. She just
stood there, her body shaking from a
nervous chill, while Mrs. Tebo, be-
lieving the girl’s mind had cracked,
came down the stairs, walked past her,
and entered the room.
Mrs. Tebo uttered a scream when
she saw the dead man’s foot. Then
she and Jennie raced out of the house
and didn’t stop until they came to the
Auto Storage Battery Service, at 222
William Street, where Leo Rinwalski,
“another roomer at the house, worked.
“Leo,” Mrs. Tebo was only able to
talk in whispers. “There is a dead
man under the bed in Jennie’s room.
I just saw his foot.”
Rinwalski wasn’t impressed. He
CHEATED DEATH
The day before he was to be sentenced,
fear invaded this hardened criminal.
He slashed his wrists in an unsuccessful
attempt to commit suicide. Note
bandaged hands and bloodstained
trousers.
looked at the two women, as a per-
son would at two persons who have
suddenly gone insane. Then with an
impatient shrug, he walked out of the
building, crossed the street and en-
tered the rooming house.
He took one look at the foot. He
walked out to the phone in the hall-
way at once and called the sheriff’s
office.
[PTE TEEN minutes later Deputy
Sheriff Fred Duhl, Deputy Sheriff
Clarence Culver, Chief of Police El-
vin D. Weaver, and Lieutenant Fran-
cis J. Bastilla were in Jennie Konish’s
room on the first floor of the rooming
house at 452 Church Street. Deputy
‘Duhl and Chief Weaver had moved
the davenport bed and the dead man
lay on his right side, face against the
wall. His head was covered with
caked blood. A deep cut was visible
behind his left temple. He was around
forty years of age, only fairly well
dressed.
“Murdered,” Chief Weaver an-
nounced grimly. “Looks like he’s been
dead several days.”
Medical Examiner S. Tracy Hamil-
ton, Technician Detective Lynn Brun-
ner, and. District Attorney Walter B.
Reynolds arrived. Without a word .
Doctor Hamilton knelt down be-
side the dead man, pulled him over on
his back and examined the cuts and
gashes in the face, head, and chest.
“This man has been dead at least
forty-eight hours,” he said after his
quick examination. “The exact time
of death will be learned when I per-
form the autopsy. He was kicked and
beaten, .but death was caused by
knife and glass cuts. Knife used was
small, but must have had a long blade.
Can’t tell any more until I can make a
more complete examination ‘at the
morgue.” ‘
Chief Weaver was studying the face,
as if trying to identify the dead man.
Detective Brunner knelt down, pulled
a wallet from the coat pocket and
opened it. Ona soiled card was the
name: “Albert Lowman.”
“Albert Lowman,” Chief Weaver
repeated. “I remember him now. He
has been at’ headquarters several
times for intoxication, but no charges
were ever filed against him. He’s a
carpenter and outside of his drinking
bouts has an excellent reputation.”
District Attorney Reynolds asked:
“Whose room is this and who reported
~—~O As wmas
mt
tir
e)
Su
ho
a
Homi
: Cartoon wove
| With Laughs
ENTERPRISES, Inc.
07-C Hollywood 28, Calif.
VORRY
amazing results. Light,
sor stiff springs to chafe
n, women and children.
) trial to prove it. Never
of imitations. Write for
no-risk trial order plan
ospondence confidential,
> State St., Marshall, Mich.
|! ING!
\ tographs 2 5
and NAVY .
yackets con f%
vis, only 25e lab.
hy the Gov-
s you want.
ind address
mittance in
e
er SEE NEW AIRPLANES, GIANT
ag -sTANKS, QREADNAUGHTS
ude IN REAL ACTION"
genuine photographs, valu-
\t in years to come, Order nowl
OEPT.ARRGME DANVILLE; TLLINOIS
ds and Stamps
L-TIGHTENS
SE TEETH
ily at Home
vourself can do it easily with
-PLA-STIK. Onl;
1.00 plus postage charges or
stage, Guaranteed to satisfy
STIK Laboratory
ishington, Chicago,U.S.A.
NKLE
four Skin Older
han You Are?
crows’ feet or baggy eyes make
rob you of popularity? Use
tins real TURTLE OL, recog-
n excellent skin rejuvenant,
cy back, Liberal supply with full
aid, (Postage extra if C.0.D.).
. Dept. GD-10, Brooklyn, N. Y.
at Home
chnician
ple lesson
‘Win Rich
Tit FREE.
is hoom- RADIO
“\ trained
helps get
to $10 a week extra fixing
n after enrolling, Find out what
ns, Police 4
LESSON
\rmy, Navy,
upon for lesson and book FREE.
Vresident, Dept. 3KJ
ute, Washington - 9, D, C.
ok FREE. (Write plainly.)
his home. His mother and father told
us so.”
The Police Chief paused a moment
to let his words sink in. Then—
“We know you didn’t have anything
to do with the actual murder, Regina,
but you do know a lot more than you
have told. How did it happen that
Lowman was killed in your room? Did
Wood have a key?”
|" WAS easy to see that hapless
Regina Galek was numb with fear.
She repeated, weakly:
“TJ didn’t know Lowman.”
And that was as much as the two
officials could get from her.
“There must be some way,” said
Weaver, as he and Reynolds left, “to
overcome her fears. She’s not talking
because she’s afraid of something. I
never saw such terror in a girl’s eyes
before in my life. Did you?”
The District Attorney agreed.
The break came quicker than either
anticipated, however. Upon their ar-
rival back in Weaver’s office, they
found Sergeant Beardsley and Detec-
tive O’Connor awaiting them. -
“Chief,” reported the Sergeant,
“we've found witnesses who told us
that Fred Wood and Lowman argued
over Regina Galek. They weren't
rivals or anything like that, but they
were heard having words over her.
Maybe that’s our motive.”
Regina Galek still was half hysteri-
cal when Weaver and Reynolds again
confronted her, this time with this
-new information.
“No, I didn’t know Lowman,” she
sobbed. “Wood had a key to my room.
But I don’t know what happened. I
do know this though: Fred Wood will
mountainside be continued until day-
break if necessary, Clark and District
Attorney Lewis proceeded to the mine
office at the tunnel. There they ques-
tioned Powell, who supplied a descrip-
tion of the man he had seen on the
bank subsequent to the explosion.
“TI must have been dazed. I thought
it was Shovlin. He was built a lot like
Rocky,” said Powell. He described
the stranger as being about six feet
tall, weighing close to 200 and wear-
ing a soft hat and a brown overcoat.
’ “Notice anything peculiar about
him? Anything that stands out in your
mind? Think hard now,” Clark urged.
Powell meditated, then answered,
“Yes, there was. I remember now that
I could make out a scar on the side
of the man’s face. It would be on the
right side, the side that was facing
me.
“That’s fine,” said Clark, with an
approving nod. He told Powell to go
home and then boarded a squad car
and left for Wyoming.
Clark’s mind raced during the ride
to the barracks. A battery. A piece
of wire. A scar-faced man whose
identity at this stage of the investiga-
tion could not even be guessed at. Not
much to go on here. Still they were
clews of a sort. And Clark was not
easily discouraged. .
Back at the Barracks, Clark sent for
the battery. When Corporal Benjamin
K. Lee, squadron finger-print expert,
carried the battery into Clark’s office
something about his manner caused
the commander to await Lee’s words
expectantly.
“Tt’s a radio ‘B’ battery. Made in
New York. No prints on it,” Lee said
laconically. “But: look at this, Major,”
‘he invited, turning the battery bottom
side up.
Lee pointed to a tiny tab of paper
on which was written in ink the price
symbol, $1.19.
“Little unusual, don’t you think, to
see a battery of this type sold for
$1.19?” Lee asked. Clark nodded
vigorously, at the same time bending
closer to inspect the price tag. He
studied it in silence for a minute or
two, then spoke softly to Lee.
“That can mean only one thing.
This battery was purchased at a
kill me because I have told you this.”
“Wood won’t hurt you,” reassured
Reynolds, “You can be sure he’s safe .
in his cell; and he won’t get out.”
Regina Galek was questioned at
great length, but apparently could add
nothing to what she had said. The two —
officials left her.
They then went to the Tebo room-
ing-house. ® They still couldn’t figure
out how Lowman could have been
slain without anyone there hearing
any commotion such as must have
taken place in view of the violence of
the crime. .
Mrs. Tebo, after a moment’s thought,
filled in this gap, however. She said
that she and her other roomers had
all been to the movies on Saturday
night; that they had left the house
about 8 p.m., and hadn’t returned
until after 11.
“That accounts for it,”? said Weaver.
“Wood must have known the house
was deserted when he took Lowman
there about 9 o’clock, after he had
been seen at the tavern. He had plenty
of time to commit his murder, then
hurry home and establish his ‘alibi’
by going to bed early.”
The two officials—Weaver and Reyn-
olds—decided to make one more at-
tempt to get a straight story from
Regina Galek. Greatly to their sur-
prise she seemed to welcome their re-
turn now.
“Fred Wood told me all about it,”
she shrieked. “He told me that he got
in an argument with Lowman because
Lowman said something bad about my
character, and he killed him. Then he
threatened to kill me if I told anybody
what I knew. I was afraid.
“He accompanied me to my room on
greatly reduced price, probably at a
sale. If we can locate the store which
had such a sale and find out who
bought this battery then we’ve gone a
long way toward solving these mur-
ers.
“What about the wire?” Clark in-
quired.
“Ordinary green and black wire.
The green wire looks newer than the
bla¢k. Tons of it around the mines.
Probably stolen.”
“Not much of a clew there,” Clark
conceded. He dismissed Lee. He sat
alone in his office for a long time be-
fore retiring for the night.
H fens next day brought the customary
crop of wild tips which always follow
a major crime. The all-night search
of the mountainside brought no trace
of the killers. Further search of the
immediate vicinity of the explosion
disclosed, just as Clark had suspected,
that the $36,000 pay-roll, except for
currency destroyed by the blast itself,
was intact. Clark comforted himself
with the thought that those respon-
sible for the horror had at least been
deprived of ready cash to complete
their getaway.
While collecting the scattered cur-
rency near the wrecked pay-car, the
State troopers made a significant dis-
covery. Just a scanty few feet from
where the death-dealing charge had
been set off they found buried in the
bank along the tracks an additional
nineteen sticks of dynamite. A length
of wire and a dynamite cap were fas-
tened to the explosive.
Clark shuddered. This second charge
certainly had been planted with de-
liberate intent to kill every man on the
pay-car. If it ever had gone off while
the searchers were milling about the
area the previous night the loss of life
would have been appalling.
Where did all this dynamite come
from?
Mine officials expressed the belief
that it was part of a box of dynamite
stolen from the colliery powder-house
on the night of January 7. But where
was the box? It had contained con-
siderably more dynamite than had
been accounted for thus far. Did this
mean that the balance was buried
Sunday; told me the body was under
the bed. Then he took me to his own
home where he made. the rumpus that
caused him to be locked up in jail.
He said that I.could easily prove that
I was away when Lowman was killed,
and that he’d get me if I told.
“I couldn’t do anything else but fol-
low out his instructions. And I—I
stayed in that room one night—with
that body. My date on Sunday night
was with Fred Wood, not with ‘Al’ as
I had told my brother and you.”
The girl suddenly went berserk. She
leaped to her feet, shrieking wildly.
She was returned to her cell and a
physician. was called. She was defi-
nitely affected by the shock concur-
rent with her experiences.
Her mental condition ebbed and
flowed like the tide for more than six
weeks. Then it became so bad that
she was committed to the Bingham-
ton State Hospital for observation.
She still was there, unable to dis-
cuss the case coherently, when Freder-
ick Wood was placed on trial for
murder on March 10, after several
postponements due to Regina Galek’s
condition. Finally, District Attorney
Reynolds virtually was forced to pro-
ceed without her as the State’s star
witness.
A jury, presided over by County
Judge Bertram L. Newman, found
Frederick Wood guilty of second-
degree murder on March 13. He im-
mediately was sentenced by Judge
Newman to serve 20 years to life in
State’s prison. Today he is in Attica.
As for unfortunate Regina Galek, no
charges were ever lodged against her.
And after a short period of rest she
was released.
Dynamiting Himself Out of $36,000 (Continued from Page 19)
somewhere in the area, for possible use
in another terrible crime?
Clark decided that these questions
must be answered without delay. Upon
his orders the search was resumed in
the vicinity of the tree where the bat-
tery was found. There, within a brief
time, in a gulley skirting the Lehigh
Valley Railroad tracks, the dynamite
box was found secreted beneath a pile
of brush.
The remaining dynamite was lifted
gingerly from the box. “Get the box
up to the Barracks immediately and
have Corporal Lee go over it for
prints,” instructed Clark.
Close on the finding of the dynamite
box came two more important dis-
coveries. Corporal Hess and Detective
Dempsey picked up a blue bandana
handkerchief from the explosion de-
bris. One edge of the handkerchief
had been torn off.
“Might have been carried by one of
the victims of the blast,” Clark said
after examining the handkerchief. “‘On
the other hand,” he pointed out, “it
could have been dropped by one of
the killers while they were fixing the
fatal charge.” He placed the hand-
kerchief in an envelope and tucked it
into his tunic.
Clark forgot about the handkerchief
for the time being when a _ trooper
who had been one of a squad assigned
to search a near-by rock dump rushed
up and saluted. The State Police Com-
mander’s eyes widened perceptibly
while he listened to the trooper’s re-
port.
“We went over the rock dump care-
fully. We found about 30 feet of wire
missing on an electric-light line on
the dump. The wire remaining matches
the black wire which was used to set
off the explosion,” said the trooper.
Clark grew thoughtful. “So the black
wire was stolen right here at the
mine,” he said. “That means it will
be of no help in tracing the killers.
Well, we still have the battery and
the green wire. Suppose we get busy
with that.”
Clark sent for Lieutenant Oftedahl
and Corporal Hess. “Get your squads
out with the battery and the green
wire. Hit the auto-accessory stores first
and find out where you can buy such
OD—8a
oDpD—
WOOD, Frederick Charles, w 3
eu Maroh 21,, 1963. s, white, electrocuted New York SP (queens)
WEEK-END EPILOGUE
tera three-day out of town visi
a strange man under her davenport.
A girl comes homie af + and finds the bloody
body of
6
— a,
[met ¥ flereeTvé
No véew GE fF, 1943
cs, on radio, and tele-
tout that night of July
llowing day.
‘a, New York, some 300
1e scene of the double
1el Morgan, news direc-
o Station WELM was
‘ont of the AP teletype
ing the keys click out
the machine. He waited
to end, so he could edit
t for the noon broadcast,
on that July 5th.
the text of the note left
jer scene. The words,
ye people on the Parole
are real intelligent,”
aews director with an
mpact. *
mediately recalled a re-
it had arisen between law }
officials in Elmira and the™
state Parole Board over
of a convict who had
aars of a 20-year-to-life
second-degree murder.
rederick B. Wood, 48, had
ted and jailed for the
ming of a carpenter, John
nan, in an apartment on
, Street, in Elmira. The
been bashed on the head
bottle and his skull frac-
opened like this:
sane, 24, had returned +o
on the night of October
Sunday, after having been
ae week end visiting her
their farm. She went
.e to her East Church Street
and to bed. The next morn-
shed off to work without
cing her bag. That night she
‘te and again went straight
to sleep. The following
ie arose early to do some
fore leaving for her job
egan to vacuum the living
noticed dark brown spo
pet. She didn’t remembe
Jed anything on the floory
»4 to examine the stai
. she did so, the vacuu
se sucked the skirt on the
over and lifted it just high}
reveal—a man’s foot!
ad, Laurie ventured one
under the sofa, saw the
nan lying face down on the
; and legs twisted weirdly,
e room in panic.
to her landlady and told he
had found. With Dan West,
roomers, the landlady and
nt back to the room to in-
urther. After West looked at
he advised that police be
’
shocked and trembling girl
> the (Continued on page 64)
hhocked even veteran official:
64
Paroled to
Murder Again
(Continued from page 24)
landlady down to her living room, West
phoned police.
Lieutenant Francis Bastilla and Detec-
tives John O’Connor and George Beards-
ley arrived at the old frame house in
minutes. A few minutes later they were
joined by Police Chief Elvin Weaver and
Deputy Sheriff Frederick Duhl.
It was difficult to identify the victim
because of the savage bludgeoning. The
deputy sheriff tentatively identified him as
John Albert Lowman, but it wasn’t until
fingerprints were checked out that the
murdered man’s identity became positive.
The autopsy by Coroner S. Tracey Ham-
ilton indicated Lowman had been beaten
on the head with a beer bottle, causing a
compound fracture of the skull. He also
had been stabbed in the chest with a
knife, which had punctured his lungs and
caused hemorrhaging. The time of the
murder was set as Sunday night.
Questioning Laurie, police learned she
knew the 40-year-old Lowman and had had
some dates with him. But she swore she
didn’t know he’d been slain in her room—
until she discovered the body.
Police checked and established that she
had been out of town over the week end.
They asked why Lowman would be in her
room. The door was locked when she re-
turned home, there was no sign of forced
entry, and Lowman assertedly had no key
to the flat.
Laurie couldn’t answer that. But her
landlady suggested that police ask Laurie
about a fellow named Freddy, who had
visited the girl the previous week.
But even before police got around to
asking her, they knew who Freddy was.
He was Frederick B. Wood, an ex-convict
with a record of 19 arrests spanning a
dozen of his 30 years, for almost every
crime in the books—robbery, auto theft,
felonious assault with a gun, molesting
women, disorderly conduct, and numerous
other crimes. The police knew Wood had
been there because they had found his fin-
gerprints in Laurie’s room.
Detectives O’Connor and _ Beardsley
were directed to pick up Wood, but they
returned to report empty-handed to Lieu-
tenant Bastilla and Chief Weaver.
“I guess we can check Wood out,”
O’Connor said. “We don’t even have to
ask him for an alibi. He was in jail Sun-
day night. He’s been in jail ever since.”
O’Connor explained: On Sunday, Wood
arrived at home early in the evening in
sullen mood, and went to his room. At
about 10 o’clock that night he burst into
his parents’ bedroom and demanded
money. His father refused it. Fred went to
the kitchen and came back with a knife, .
threatening to kill his parents unless he
got his way. A neighbor heard Fred’s
mother scream and called police. Carted
off to jail for the night, Wood went before
Recorder Charles Gardener the next day
and was sentenced to five days in jail as a
disorderly person.
With Wood in jail, Detective O’Connor
shook his head and said, “Our own blotter
says he didn’t kill Albert Lowman.”
When police asked Laurie about Wood,
she admitted he’d been to her apartment,
but insisted Wood and Lowman did not
know each other.
But in the course of the investigation,
Detective Beardsley picked up various tid-
bits of information. Fred Wood was in
love with Laurie and bitterly jealous of
his rival, Al Lowman, he learned. Wood
knew Laurie would be out of town over
the week end, so he planned Al’s murder
in a way he knew would baffle police, the
detective theorized.
Knowing Lowman to be a drinking man,
Wood would get him drunk, bring him to
Laurie’s room, for which Wood had a key,
kill him, and leave his body under the sofa
for the girl to discover when she returned.
_ He knew Laurie would not be accused
because of her alibi. The only thing left
--was to provide himself with an unassail-
able alibi. Then with no suspects, no leads,
police eventually would drop the case and
he’d have his girl.
What had Beardsley léarned about
Wood’s movements to support this theory?
First of all, Beardsley had toured some
of the city’s bars to get the lowdown on
whether Lowman had been seen in any of
them on that Sunday night. One bartender
remembered seeing him early in the eve-
ning with a young man whom he didn’t
know. But he recalled Lowman addressed
the stranger as “Freddy.”
Beardsley hurried back with a mug shot
and the bartender identified Wood as the
carpenter’s drinking companion.
Once he broke this part of the alibi—
that Wood had never met Lowman—
Beardsley reasoned out the rest: Freddy
‘
@| November 1960 a)
at September 27th
went home, kicked up a fuss with his par-
ents, locked himself in his room, then
sneaked out, met Lowman again, took him
to Laurie’s room, killed him, stole back
into his own room without his parents
knowing it, then: purposely acted-up with
them to get himself arrested—his “perfect
alibi.” .
When police finally gathered their evi-
dence on Wood, they went with it to Dis-:
trict Attorney Walter B. Reynolds. The
prosecutor ordered Wood brought to the
office, but all he got from the suspect was
a big laugh when Reynolds began talking
about the crime.
“You’re not thinking of pinning that on
me, ares you?” Wood laughed. “Just be-
cause I got a record, you figure I’ll be an
easy fall guy. Get it out of your head. I
read the papers in jail. I know when Low-
man was killed Sunday night. And where
was I Sunday night? Right in your own
lockup!” j
“After you murdered Albert Lowman,”
Reynolds shot back.
“Will your medical examiner swear
Lowman was killed before 10 o’clock that
night?” Wood, a crook wise to the ways of
murder, scoffed at the prosecutor.
Reynolds retorted that he wasn’t de-
pending on a coroner’s ruling. They had
evidence he’d been seen drinking with
Lowman. More importantly, they had
taken saliva tests of a cigarette butt
stained with Lowman’s blood, found in
Laurie’s room.
“We also took saliva tests of cigarette
butts you smoked here in jail—and the lab
test shows it’s the same saliva. The saliva
of every person is different—and the evi-
dence is as good as a set of fingerprints.”
Wood went white. But still he insisted
he never had killed anyone. “I’ve done lots
of things, but I never killed a man,” he
screamed.
But other evidence was soon uncovered
and it was enough to bring about Wood’s
arrest and eventual conviction for second-
degree murder.
Chemung County Judge Bertram L.
Newman sentenced Wood to from 20 years
to life in prison, and recommended “the
prisoner serve the maximum—or life—
term for the protection of society.”
While in the county jail awaiting trans-
fer to Attica Prison, Wood tried to commit
suicide by removing a light bulb from its
ceiling socket, smashing it, and cutting
both forearms and wrists with the broken
glass. The attempt at _ self-destruction
failed when guards found him in time. It
took 32 stitches to close the wounds.
As the doctor worked over him, Wood
said, “Save your energy, Doc, I just want
to die.”
A note penciled by Wood and left in his
cell read:
“I am fairly positive I could never go on
beating down the years behind bars...
Only in death can I hope to attain surcease
in the event I am convicted. I know, be-
cause I already spent 11 years and two
months in weary confinement and my life
has been a living hell ... at least... I’m
where I can no longer be hurt or hurt
others. I have wanted to wind it up a
thousand times since this (the Lowman
murder) happened, but my optimism has
held me back.”
Wood recovered and was committed to
Dannemora State Hospital for the Crim-
inal Insane, and later was transferred to
Clinton State Prison at Dannemora, known
as the “Siberia” of the state’s penal sys-
tem, located near the Canadian border.
This was the case that came to the mind
of Michael Morgan, WELM’s radio news
director, as the story of the Queens double
murder clacked over the wires. The 18-
year-old Lowman case was fresh in his
memory, for it had been only a matter of
weeks. before that Elmira officials had
voiced loud and vigorous protests against
Wood’s release on parole.
Objections came from every quarter.
County Judge Newman, the sentencing
jurist who had gone on to become a justice
in the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court, the state’s highest tribunal, and
since retired, was one of the protestors.
“I would not release Fred Wood,” New-
man told the Parole Board. “I had Wood in
court from a young age down through the
years. He had been arrested for a number
of offenses.
“When he was only 15, his father,
Charles A. Wood, had Fred committed
to the Binghamton State Hospital. But he
was released after only two months be-
cause psychiatrists couldn’t agree on
whether he was insane or extremely in-
telligent.
“His parents always cooperated with me
and we tried everything conceivable. But
we never seemed to get anywhere with
him.”
Justice Newman cited Wood’s record in
the ensuing years—in 1927 he was arrested
for stealing a car, but beat the rap with a
suspended sentence. Nevertheless his fa-
ther had him committed to a private in-
stitution for waywards. A year and a half
later, in 1929, still only 17, Wood was re-
leased and promp!
quarter. He was si
tory to do two yea
but was recommit
getting drunk and
For a short time
sent from Elmira
Hospital for psych
ment.
By November, h
a good parole risk
A month later, he
disorderly conduct
This time the Paro
to extend its kind
Wood served out |}
ary, 1940.
Two years later,
der that Justice }
be enough of a
Wood committed f:
.Among other of!
Judge Newman w
Eugene F. Golden
undesirable who cx
outside prison. “I
boyhood days,” C
went to school tog«
That’s why I opp
the sort of things \
mitting. I probably
ter than any othe:
And the then dis
who - successfully
urged the Parole
Wood. Reynolds :
the Supreme Cou)
holds.
But all the pro
nity and those w
bring about a con\
der case, did not st
The board made
Elmira—it paroled
area. In a statemer
Parole Board Chai:
declared: “Wood h
years. His adjustm
given a lot of indic
get along. His big ;
“This is the eva!
who have been in
for several years.
“After his relea
strict prohibition a;
be under very int«
“Because of co:
Elmira, we have n
there.”
Wood was rele
went to live in a rc
He took a job in
Parole Board line
was May 28—just
bludgeoning of Fr
Rescigno.
Michael Morgan
the note left at th:
people on the Parc
intelligent.” Wasn
sive supervision”
Didn’t the Parole
conduct would be
chairman, Oswald,
lot of indication h:
Yes, but to Mors;
son to be suspicio.
cunning a crook W
bered how carefu
executed Lowman’
wondered, why w
trouble of writing
Board?
Lastly, perhaps :
was the similarity
heartless bludgeon
beer bottles.
Morgan decided
Press in Elmira.
notified the New Y
newsman’s suspicic
Astoria station hou
nson was found under bush
Board. They are real in-
cried with the note to Lieu-
Cormack, who was in Res-
iroom with Deputy Inspec-
Connor, commander of
ttectives, and Captain John
son, supervisor of Queens
who had just arrived.
ack read the note and passed
iperior on the piece of card-
ler and O’Brien had used to
1 the counter top to preserve
fingerprints might be found
ller deliberately placed the
e we'd find it readily,” Mc-
said.
every available man thrown
2arch for the killer at once,”
Connor told Captain Thomp-
ieutenant McCormack, after
the note. “We’ve got to find
kind of murderer can strike
u never know where or
is an ex-con—someone who
experience with the Parole
jons were phoned immedi-
dolice headquarters in Man-
- a 13-state alarm for a killer
wn description. Any police
the Eastern Seaboard who
jed a “hot” suspect in their
a local crime—or even knew
e capable of such a crime—
iested to notify New York
out the suspect.
e of the brutality of the mur-
derisive note, and the absence
:tempt to cover up his crime,
rass and detectives at the
‘re convinced that they were
with a deranged killer who
to satisfy his blood lust—but
‘adoxically, has a compulsive
ye
and subconscious wish to be caught.
Thompson said, “is to kill again.” But
he warned that police must not be
lulled into believing only a maniac
was capable of the killings.
“There are many other possibilities,”
he told his aides in a briefing session
held in the death cottage after he had
discussed procedures and tactics with
Inspector Connor and Lieutenant Mc-
Cormack. It was agreed a -200-man
detective complement would be as-
signed to the task. -
“Remember this also could be a
grudge killing, possible sex perversion,
even robbery, although it doesn’t : ap-
pear anything was taken,” Captain
Thompson advised the detective supe-
riors who would direct the 200-man
detective force for the citywide search.
As police moved swiftly with their
plans for the dragnet, experts: from
the police department Crime Labora-
tory arrived on the scene to dust for
. fingerprints and gather evidence. It
“And one way to get caught,” Captain -
involved sweeping. up with extreme
care every piece of broken glass for
removal to the lab, where a thorough
analysis for fingerprints would be con-
ducted. ;
News of the crime had spread quickly
through the neighborhood and relatives
of both victims had been notified. First
to arrive was Fred Sess’ brother Au-
gust, who lived in Astoria.
August Sess was at a loss to explain
the murders. “My brother was a fine
man, a very decent guy,” he said. “He
didn’t have anyone who disliked him.
I don’t know who would do this to
him. Or to John Rescigno, either.”
John Rescigno’s brother William,
who lived next door, had been taking
an afternoon nap when the commo-
tion outside the house awakened him.
He came downstairs and, informed |
that his brother had been murdered,
went into the cottage to talk with the
police.
After viewing his brother’s battered
body, William Rescigno gave the police
Before transfer to prison on first conviction he cut his wrists. Ai
Now, 17 years later, he sneered as he confessed to five murders *
investigation an unexpected lift when
he told Lieutenant McCormack, “I saw
aman walk to the door of the cottage
last Thursday night. He was medium
build, about 45, 5 feet 9, and had
grayish hair and a gray suit. I’d never
seen him before.”
An addition to the alarm was quickly
phoned to police headquarters with the
new and descriptive rundown on the
wanted criminal. Of course, it wasn’t
known whether the man William
Rescigno saw was the killer, because
he had not seen him enter the cottage.
Rescigno said he had just happened
to glance from his window for a
moment, caught sight of the stranger,
then turned back to finish something
he was doing in the house.
“For all I know, he could have found
my brother and Fred out at the time,”
William Rescigno added.
But that was ruled unlikely, since
neighbors agreed that both men seldom
went out, and when they did it was
during daylight hours. The two elderly
oe ee
24
D.A. Reynolds, now a high court judge,
vehemently opposed the killer’s parole
pensioners, neighbors related, would
play an occasional friendly game of
Italian’ bocci in a nearby park, or sit
on a bench in the lazy manner of re-
tired men. Once in a while they
enjoyed a glass of wine or beer, but
neither was much of a drinker.
Veteran detectives and neighbors re-
called that in 1941 the Rescignos—
William, and John, and _ another
brother, Frank—owned a tavern just
across the street from the murder
cottage. On the night of February 28,
1941, Frank, then 34, was behind the
bar alone tending to a few customers
when four armed bandits sauntered in
and demanded the money from the
cash register. When Frank moved too
slowly to please the holdup men, they
shot him to death. No one ever was
convicted for his murder. :
And, five years ago, Fred Sess was
accused of stabbing a Brooklyn man
in the back yard of the cottage during
an argument. His roommate at the time
—not John Rescigno, but another man
—was arrested with Sess. But they
were released when a grand jury
failed to indict them for lack of
evidence.
“It didn’t matter to me who I killed—just so long as'1 could kill,” said prisoner whose story shocked even veteran official
While these incidents of violence out
of the past were carefully scanned for
possible clues or leads, Captain Thomp-
son thought it unlikely that either the
19-year-old murder or the more re-
cent stabbing could be linked with the
current double murder. “This is the
work of a madman,” the captain said.
“It has no rhyme or reason.”
Some three hours after the discovery
of the murders, after the bodies had
been taken to Queens General Hospital
morgue for autopsy, police locked the
windows and dooxys of the cottage and
moved on to the Astoria station house
to continue their investigation from
that base.
Fourteen detectives remained behind
in the immediate neighborhood to talk
with every resident and storekeeper.
Since it was a holiday, most stores
were closed, but restaurants, taverns,
and candy stores were open, and detec-
tives hit every one of these.
Detectives O’Brien and Edgar Sands,
also of the 114th Squad, paid a visit
to one of the nearby bars where they
found the bartender behind the ma-
hogony. They didn’t have to tell him
about the two killings. The news had
spread through the neighborhood. The
bartender knew both victims.
“I know what you're here for,” he
told the detectives. “You want to know
if I saw anyone who could fit the
picture as a suspect. Well, I did. I
remember a man in his late 40s, dressed ©
in a gray suit, who came in here late
Thursday night for a few beers.
“I remember him because I noticed
blood on his hand and I asked him
what had happened. He told me he’d
been in a fight. He was casual about
it. He talked politics while he drank
his beer, then he left. I didn’t think
anything of it at the time.”
Pressed for a more detailed descrip-
tion, the bartender said the man was
about 5 feet 9, weighed about 150, and
had gray hair—exactly the same des-
cription as that of the mysterious
visitor seen at the cottage by William
Rescigno earlier that same Thursday
night.
O’Brien and Sands reported this im-
portant new evidence to their superior,
Lieutenant McCormack.
“It looks like the gray-haired, gray-
suited stranger is our man,” Mc-
Cormack commented. “We've got to find
him.”
On the strength of what O’Brien
and Sands had picked up from the
bartender, the words “drinks beer,
likes to discuss politics,” and “may
have cut on hand or wrist’”” were added
to the alarm previously sent out.
This alarm, coupled with details of
the crime in all its chill undiluted hor-
ror and brutality, was headlined in
the newspapers, on radio, and tele-
vision throughout that night of July
4th and the following day.
Up in Elmira, New York, some 300
miles from the scene of the double
murder, Michael Morgan, news direc-
tor for Radio Station WELM was
standing in front of the AP teletype
printer watching the keys click out
the story on the machine. He waited
for the story to end, so he could edit
and prepare it for the noon broadcast,
an hour hence, on that July 5th.
Then came the text of the note left
at the murder scene. The words,
“God bless the people on the Parole
Board. They are real intelligent,”
struck the news director with an
electrifying impact. P
Morgan immediately recalled a re-
cent furor that had arisen between law
enforcement officials in Elmira and the
New York State Parole Board over
the release of a convict who had
served 17 years of a 20-year-to-life
sentence for second-degree murder.
The killer, Frederick B. Wood, 48, had
been convicted and jailed for the
fatal bludgeoning of a carpenter, John
Albert Lowman, in an apartment on
East Church Street, in Elmira. The
victim had been bashed on the head
with a beer bottle and his skull frac-
tured. It happened like this:
Laurie Deane, 24, had returned ‘of
Elmira late on the night of October
10, 1942, a Sunday, after having been
away for the week end visiting her
parents on their farm. She went
straight home to her East Church Street
apartment, and to bed. The next morn-
ing she rushed off to work without
even unpacking her bag. That night she
got home late and again went straight
to bed and to sleep. The following
morning, she arose early to do ‘some
cleaning before leaving for her job.
As she began to vacuum the living
room, she noticed dark brown spots
on the carpet. She didn’t remember
having spilled anything on the floor.
She stooped to examine the stains
closely. As she did so, the vacuum
cleaner hose sucked the skirt on the
sofa’s slipcover and lifted it just high
enough to reveal—a man’s foot!
Frightened, Laurie ventured one
quick look under the sofa, saw the
body of a man lying face down on the
floor, arms and legs twisted weirdly,
and fled the room in panic.
She ran to her landlady and told her
what she had found. With Dan West,
one of the roomers, the landlady and
Laurie went back to the room to in-
vestigate further. After West looked at
the corpse, he advised that police be
called.
As the shocked and trembling girl
was led by the (Continued on page 64)
The same Frederick Wood,
chair, the two notes. Offhand he would
say that the mention of the parole
board meant the murderer had a rec-
ord, right now might be out on parole.
Connor winced at the thought of
parole. When a parolee commits a
crime, it inevitably means that thou-
sands of men and women who have
gone foul of the law, done their time,
understood right - from wrong, and
10
seventeen years earlier,
sentenced for life for an ill-conceived act of chivalry
striven to go straight, will suffer
unduly. Every parolee would be chal-
lenged; every man and woman up for
parole would find it that much harder
to prove they wanted to join and live
within the normal mainstreams of
American life. :
“We only found them today,” Connor
reminded Rescigno, pointing to the
bloodied bed and floor. “Let’s hope
ay
Scene of the ery
called the cops when he s
‘
that will help us. Tell me. everything
you can about your brother.”
Now the floodgates of memory and
recollection were released and William
did his best to fill in‘the movements and
patterns of his brother’s life, and he
even told how Fred Sess had once lived
with another man, ‘and this man had
been stabbed in a fight.
“But that was fifteen years ago,” Wil-
liam continued. “Before my brother
knew Fred. I don’t see how it could
matter now.”
“We'll check it out,” Connor prom-
ised. “Meanwhile, keep thinking. Any-
thing and everything might help. You
Saw your brother with a fat man.” Con-
nor turned to McCormick and Otten.
“See if anyone else remembers seeing
he man.”
As his subordinates began to circulate
among the small groups of People in the
street, Connor examined the door and
windows. The windows had not been
forced. Neither had the door until
Patrolman Dispenza had broken in. The
lock had been in good condition, so the
murderer had been readily admitted,
must have been known to Fred and
John. Connor sighed, the men had
known hundreds of people in the neigh-
‘borhood, but Bill Rescigno insisted the
fat man with his brother was a
stranger. There must be ‘hundreds—
thousands—of fat man in Astoria alone.
How many were in all of Queens? In the
other four boroughs? If the old men
had gone to Times Square had they
become acquainted with a wrong guy?
The area abounds in Petty crooks,
musclers, queers, borderline nuts. Every
week the police pick up hundreds of
Suspects. How many fat men were there
around Times Square? They had to
have more to go on.
‘Police work, like any research sci-
ence, depends upon the greatest multi-
plicity of facts—most of them mundane,
Bho v-
:
ear-old crime. Wood's girl-friend
owed her the body behind the sofa
tiresome and repetitive; then there are
the elements of chance, which the
Police and all law-enforcement agencies
welcome and, last but not least, the
criminals’ mistakes. Meanwhile the
neighborhood legwork would begin.
“The fat man,” Connor instructed
the other men assigned to the case. “See
who else saw him with Rescigno and
Sess. And see if you can put together
last Thursday from morning on.”
The habits of the old men were fixed
and their movements easy to trace, for
like most old people they were crea-
tures of habit, and their meagerness of
income fixed their routines. John Res-
cigno lived on his military pension:
Fred Sess received social security and
city welfare assistance. The men stayed
at home mornings, sat on the stoop dur-
ing pleasant days, visited the taverns
late afternoons and evenings, where
they were well known, listened to the
radio and watched television and, to-
ward the last of each month, eagerly
awaited the arrival of the first. Then
they would cash their checks in a local
grocery or bar, buy food to keep them
for the week, become expansive in a
local tavern where they might stand
treat for a small round of drinks, buy
a bottle of whisky, wine for spaghetti,
beer for pizza and, feeling proud and
confident, would go to Times Square
with the same zest and anticipation
with which other travelers embark for
Europe or the Orient.
All this was established readily; then
the contradictions began to pour in.
Some neighbors insisted that both pen-
sioners liked company and welcomed
someone stopping into their little apart-
ment; other people, who swore they
knew John and Fred intimately, insisted
that the old men were recluses and
never would permit anyone to enter
their kitchen. Some People said the old
men were sociable drinkers—not drunks
—who enjoyed talking to friends and
ing Sing sens) March <1, 65
Frederick C white, elec. Sing Sing (queens)
WOOD, Frederick C., wi ‘
. The
Case
‘That
Changed
By Irving Shulman
Author of .
THE AMBOY DUKES
The novel that sold 3,000,000 copies
Two harmless old men in Queens,
New York, were wantonly murdered
and the slayer left two taunting
notes, challenging law-enforcement |
‘authorities from the Governor down
Sianain
The face of Frederick Wood, paroled murderer, who
tipped his hand when he tipped his hat to a lady
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE EOPRIES paeo |
¥
£
fH
etisae
W
“3
ous Pmt, —
a
In an apartment in the basement of this building, the two pensioners shared their lives and, finally, their deaths
of major national celebration, and
the Borough of Queens was doing its
best to be-as noisy and patriotic as the
rest of New York City. But on a street
within walking distance of the Tribor-
ough Bridge people had not gathered
for speeches, fireworks, or other forms
of celebration. The sober, depressed
crowd formed, dispersed, and reformed
into new clusters to speak in hushed,
shocked whispers, and men and women
in the groups wondered how safe were
their children, or they, or anyone?
Not very, it seemed, because in the
basement apartment at 27-20 Hoyt Ave-
nue South, police technicians methodi-
cally were collecting: for laboratory
examination a broken beer bottle, a
bloodied shovel, and a splintered chair
—-ordinary household and kitchen items
which had been converted to use as
weapons of death. Scattered and hard-
ened drops of blood, tissue, and bone
also were collected for examination.
The bottle had been broken and used
to cut the first man’s throat and jugular
vein; the shovel had split the head of
the second; the chair had been em-
ployed as the third sadistic weapon—to
beat and batter both men after they
were dead. It was difficult to believe
that the two cheerful old men were
dead, murdered; impossible to under-
stand why two harmless and well-
meaning pensioners, liked by their
neighbors and without known enemies,
had become subjects of violence. ‘
The men never had wronged anyone;
the neighborhood police officers and
tavern owners knew Frederick Sess, 76,
and John Rescigno, 62, as—well, nice
old men, friendly and open handed,
nothing mean about either of them.
Sess had lived in the basement apart-
ment for 25.years; Rescigno had come
to live with him about eighteen months
before their death.
The character, habits and personality
of the men ruled out deliberately
planned murder; the choice of weapons
substantiated this hypothesis. Thus, the
murders had to be unpremeditated vio-
[: WAS Monday, July 4, 1960, a day
lence. But why? The people outside the
basement death apartment couldn’t an-
swer this question; neither could the
police who had got there after the
crowds. ,
Then, in the performance of their
grisly, stomach-churning task, to which
the technicians had been hardened by
experience but never inured, they came"
upon two notes, written on scraps of
paper, which editorialized on the re-
volting, senseless brutality. If the notes
were meant as explanation, the reasons
offered were so obscure to be, at first
reading and examination, worthless.
The first note was found on the
kitchen table. “How do you like these
two murders? O-o-o I’m sorry.”
Mocking, wantonly cynical, the note
was also a challenge. Strong, decisive
action and results would be demanded
when the note was made public. Dep-
uty Inspector Henry J. Connor of
Queens Detective Headquarters knew
this. Right now he didn’t have the an-
swer; maybe, he hoped, the second note
would provide some clue as to why John
Rescigno and Frederick Sess no longer
would be able to celebrate the arrival
of their pension checks with a cheap
bottle of whisky. No longer would they
join the regulars at the neighborhood
taverns to tell a joke and take one, no
longer would they spend the first day
of each month wandering around Times
Square, marveling at the variegated
electric and neon signs and the excited
movements of crowds. Their days of
simple, harmless fun were ended, and
people told each other how Fred and
John had really looked forward to the
Fourth.
Connor was joined by Lieutenant Jos-
eph J. McCormick of Queens Detective
Headquarters and McCormick’s subor-
dinate, Detective Harry Otten. As if in
answer to the question asked in the first
note, they shook their heads. No, they
didn’t like the murders. The man—this
looked like the work of a man—was
sick, warped, and dangerous; years of
police experience, of extensive knowl-
edge of crime and criminals proved this.
These detectives knew people and the
baseness of which they were capable;
for more years than they cared to re-
member they had dealt with drunks,
big and small thieves, voyeurs, mug-
gers, molesters of children, pushers,
wifebeaters, and jackrollers; they knew
that people could be cruel, mean, evil,
could delight and exhilarate in the mis-
ery and misfortune of others.
But even the worst, the most brutish,
of men had a code of conduct which
abjured beating dead bodies. The abuse
of the murdered men was senselessly
savage—and stupid, for a murderer
hurries to leave the scene of this most
heinous crime. Yet this murderer had
spent precious seconds, which he could
have devoted to flight, in the abuse of
two old men. Then he had taken the
time to write two taunting notes. There-
fore, the writer of the notes almost cer-
tainly was insane, but that only made
him more dangerous.
The second note, found on the kitchen
_floor, read: “God bless the people in
the parole board. They are real in intel
eat.” It was safe to guess that the author
had attempted to spell “intelligent.”
There they were: two notes, both of
them challenging society and its author-
ities, and society would demand that
these challenges be met and overcome.
For hours now, ever since the landlord
had become concerned at not seeing his
aged tenants since the first of the
month and had decided to make his
suspicions known to Patrolman Peter
Dispenza, the police had been ques-
tioning anyone who would speak. John
Rescigno’s brother, William, lived next
door, and he corroborated the landlord:
he had last seen his brother on June
30, when he had advanced him fifteen
dollars against his World War One
pension check, to spend on the monthly
expedition to Manhattan.
-“Tt’s tough.” William Rescigno’s
voice broke. “Nineteen years ago my
brother, Frank, gets killed by some
stickup artists in our family’s bar and
grill because he didn’t move quick
-him look pale.
enough. Now John gets done in. How’s
a@ man to know when he sees his brother
for the last time?” he demanded.
“When was the last time?’ Connor
asked.
William wiped his eyes. “This past
Thursday morning. No—I saw him
again that night. About seven.” —
“Go on,” Connor prodded..
“He was with another man, sort of a
fat guy. They were going down into the
basement to John’s apartment. I never
seen the fat guy before.” :
en to remember what he looked
e.”
William knew the questions were nec-
essary, but grief crowded recollection
to make description difficult. He knew
how the police worked, had seen enough
of it on television where they always
‘got their man; but in real life it was
different; nineteen years had passed
and the murderer of Frank had never
been caught. God, how he wished that
the TV cops would take over the city;
it would make things easier for the
average Joe and tougher for the crooks
and murderers. Or would it? Because
on TV the average citizen was a jerk,
and the thieves and murderers had
brains, nobility and courage—only the
TV cops and private eyes had more.
This thief had stolen a few pitiful dol-
lars from the old men and snuffed out
their lives in cruel, brutal and sadistic
fashion—beat them after they were
dead and left two taunting, actually
obscene, notes . .. he had to cooperate,
aia what the stranger looked
ike. .
“I’d say he was about forty-five or
so.” William closed his eyes as if to
squeeze into view an absolute sharp
focus of a scene to which he had given
little attention. ‘““Maybe the light made
I know he had wide
horn-rimmed glasses. And a gray suit.”
“That’s all?”
“That's all. Do you think you'll find
him?”
Connor shrugged; the laboratory
technicians would go over everything:
the broken beer bottle, the shovel, the
9
eets, a scant half block
residence, after three
‘ly visiting bars, gro-
sens and restaurants
two officers showed
re to the proprietor.
the reason for the
iber him,” replied the
He was in here Sat-
er man. You’re right,
bottles of beer—a
an did.” '
Freddie Wood. Lives
comes in often.”
the chief said with
1e fellow we won't
g for.”
ed that on Tuesday
minutes before John
“ody was discovered,
L, 31, of 585 Thomp-
raigned before Re-
ner on a disorderly
Preferred by his
ood, and was sen-
in the county jail.
iat Frederick Wood
e of man who could
e murder. He had
art of his adult life
ory following con-
heft, assault with
1 attempted rape.
d on February 10,
worked occasion-
ant to know more
conduct charge.”
sitated when the
1. F inally he said,
Gantner came up
He told me they
of @ scrape, and
him an alibi for
told him frankly
me abusive
th a knife. I had
: all.” '
ighten the father
against his son,
idquarters with
out Reynolds,
mn seated in the
I wild-eyed, she
ie heavy burden _
words, “Mrs.
eart, Frederick
»wman, as you
J you first learn
hhe a lashed
nou dropped
hung slack in -
lispiritedly, a
ld me Sunday
He said he and
‘oom Saturday
- Not knowing
LINE DETECTIVE
wr fio
I was away—and that he hit John with
a bottle and stomped on him.”
“Why didn’t you come down and
tell the police?”
“I couldn’t. He threatened to kill
me if I did.”
“What was the reason Wood killed
Lowman?”
“He was jealous. He told me he
showed John a picture of me while
they were drinking Saturday, and John
made some nasty remark, Fred got
sore and hit him. Afterward he put
his body under the couch and picked
up the pieces of broken bottle.” :
She signed a statement, and Fred-
erick Wood, also brought from the
county jail, was confronted with it
late that same night.
“T only told the woman I killed him
so I'd raise myself in her eyes,” he said
calmly. “He had been annoying her
lately.” :
“And you were her protector—that
is, you wanted her to believe you
were?”
Wood nodded. “That’s it exactly.”
For hours he insisted he was inno-
cent of the crime. Then Brunner, at
Weaver’s suggestion, compared the
fingerprint on the drinking glass with
the suspect’s classification on file at
headquarters. “They match,” the iden-
tification man announced.
This and other evidence amassed by
Chief Weaver finally broke down the
prisoner. He signed:.a complete con-
fession of guilt, exactly as related by
Mrs. Gantner.
County Judge Bertram L. Newman
held Wood without bail for a hearing
on October 17, and Mrs. Gantner in
$5,000 bond as a material witness. In
lieu of this, she was returned to the
county jail.
At the hearing Acting Recorder A.
William De Fillippo ordered the con-
fessed killer held for the November
session of the Chemung County grand
jury, which promptly returned an in-
es charging second degree mur-
er.
A few days before this arraignment
a second tragedy occurred. Retha
Gantner lost her reason and was com-
‘mitted to the Binghamton State Hos-
pital for the Insane.
Wood was found guilty as charged
by a jury which began hearing the
evidence before Judge Newman on
March 8, 1943. On March 11 he was
sentenced to from 20 years to life.
“I hope you will have to serve the
maximum term,” the court told him.
“That will be my recommendation.”
That same night Wood slashed his
wrists in the county jail with pieces
of an electric light bulb he broke
against the bars. A keeper discovered
him bleeding, ‘and doctors took 39
sutures in his wounds.
“Don’t waste your energies,” the
killer told them. “I'll only do it again.
Say, how high up will my cell be at
Dannemora?”
Eprror’s Nore: To spare possible
embarrassment to innocent persons,
the names Retha Gantner and Joe
Antonini, used in this story, are not
real but fictitious.
SEPTEMBER, 1943
‘was no longer alive, and we were
CRAZY TO KILL.
(Continued from page 27) ’
additional bulletins on young Slater.
We were convinced now that some-
thing was definitely rotten in Den-
mark. Where was Dale? Where was
his car? Had both skidded off the
face of the earth?
From Mrs. Slater we learned that
Dale wore a belt buckle bearing the
initial “D,” and that he had a chauf-
feur’s badge in his possession. We
sent out this information to all law:
enforcement authorities on the Coast.
The fear had grown real that .Dale
sure that Gilbert Collie—a man who
had been suspected before in con-
nection with murder—might know a
great deal about the case.
On the morning of November 15
MacCreadie and I hurried out to see
Mrs, McConnell, in response to a hur-
ried summons from the Fourth Street
rooming house landlady. She showed
us a pair of postcards from Collie,
one from Sacramento and the other
from Tracy, Cal.
The Tracy card, dated November
4 and postmarked ten days later, rea
“Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell. Hol
everything. Tell ’em nutting. Will
see you all this coming fall. Getting
cold up here now. Yours a friend,
Bert.”
We asked Mrs. O’Connell what Col-
lie’ meant by the words, “Tell ’em
nutting,” but she was unable to help
us. The phrase, she said, was as
mystifying to her as it was to us. We
believed the landlady implicitly.
We dispatched messages to Sacra-
mento and Tracy, requesting a
sharp lookout for Collie. Our efforts
got us nowhere. Collie had vanished
again. What sort of man was he?
He seemed always within reach, yet
we couldn’t lay a hand on him. The
strain had grown so great that Mac-
Creadie and I were almost scowling
at one another. We had taken a lot
of ribbing and we didn’t particularly
care for it, among other things.
The most important thing, of course,
was that we refused absolutely to
give up. We would break this case
if it took the rest of our lives!
Five days after the visit with Mrs.
O’Connell, the phone rang: in the
homicide bureau and Detective Lieu-
tenant Gene Bechtel answered it.
After listening a moment, he extended
the receiver to me with the laconic
declaration, “Mrs. O’Connell.”
I scooped up the receiver and
shoved it against my ear,
“He’s here ... in his room... Mr.
Collie!” came the -landlady’s words.
“What shall I do?”
“We'll be right over.” I swallowed
hard. Could it be that, five months
after Dale Slater’s disappearance, we
were about to learn something
about it?
I picked up MacCreadie and *Cap-.
tain Allen and we drove rapidly to
- the East Fourth Street rooming house.
ELECTRICITY
How Men-and Women-
géttheBETTER pepper
WAR JOBS!
Applicants for war jobs are discovering that they
can get more percha ad pong and advance more
quickly, with a knowledge of Riectricity.
Here's ¢! ick, easy to prepare yourself! The
New Lait Sack, Sony Coyee raining and Reference
Set covers the many different branches of the feild.
ELECTRICITY, Radio, Electronics
LEARN AT HOME THIS EASY WAY
Built around famous Coyne “ shop
met! ire success. This 3-volume sct
war work as Aircraft Electricity, Elec-
vision, ‘Electric Eye"’ controls. Over 2,
1258 big pages.
FREE 1s0'Covne suor eninrs
Wiring diagrams, radio hook-ups, etc. Hi youdojoba
RIGHT. Sent FREE with act while pon ti lasts.
ALSO FREE if you act now—1 Year Personal
Technical Service by mail om any electrical or
radio problem,
SEE ENTIRE SET —7 DAYS FREE
This COYNE Training, 3 handsome leatherette
vols., now shipped FREE TO YOUR HOME—NO
NI Examine 7 days, then either re-
turn at our expense or send $1.95 and then $3 monthi:
until NO MONEY JUS of only $13.95 is paid.
Mrs. O’Connell met us at the door.
SEND NO MON UST MAIL THE COUPON.
pt? eee? 2% FREE TRIAL
4 as Ely ag oa yereeen H
a tra ECRCTRICIT =
© einen ae niak Meecnctieatinet Ut
. price of $13.96 la pald. Coyne paye al charges. a
a
8 NAME 8
y snomme
8 orrr STATE______.
: OOcUPA' ace " LM
r) VE 10%. permed oh Some Teday ee tril cal ven #
otare privilese. s
FAIRY STONES
$1.00 each
Novel! Rel -
See a
D. SMYTHE CO.
6 Newark, Me.
Free for Asthma
During Summer
If you suffer: with those terrible attacks of
Asthma when it is hot and sultry; if heat, dust
and general mugginess make you wheeze and
choke as if each gasp for breath was the very
last; if restful sleep is impossible because of
the struggle to breathe; if you feel the disease
is slowly wearing your life away, don’t fail to
send at once to the Frontier Asthma Co, for a
free trial of a remarkable method. No matter
where you live or whether you have any faith in
any remedy under the Sun, send for this free
trial, If you have suffered for a life-time and
tried everything you could learn of without re-
lief; even if you are salaries discouraged, do not
abandon hope but send today for this free trial.
It will cost you nothing. Address
Frontier Asthma Co. 411-K Frontier .
462% Niagara 8t., e ' Buffalo, N. Y.
61
44. +ivingston xeaublican, Keb. 11, 1855. ;
5 at ese £ could net find any evidence thet relatives attended
this firss trial; none of the Pike eae cestified,
bOe ds Fane rue xepublican, web. 11, 1858
47 oi #OG, CLG.
48. Ibid.,. July 22), i853.
49. Lbid., feb. ll, 1858. ne ;
ibic., feb. 18, 1858, daly 15, 2858; sivingston County Clerk’
vifice, uyer and Perainer, Lib... 2, O25ets -
sivinzston County vlerk's Uffice, vrer and Terminer, Lib. 2, p
aivinagston County ulerx's Office, vUyer and Terminer, Lid. 2, D
$38, sivingston xepublicen, usy 6, 1855.
imeo elt. end sivingston Repubiisan, ay 13, 1858.
Mn
: eS
[3)
Shan ANNAN
TO hw
@
. a:
‘3
4, savingston vounty vlerk's “ffica, vyer and Terminer, Lib. 2, p
$45; sivingston keaublican, usy 20, 1858.
DZe +iVingston Aspublicen, may 20, 185,
56. Livingston vounty vlerk's bifice, Urer end Terminer, Lib. 2, p §
2 ‘ aoe her ts - nw 7 1s Fo rf ‘ 4 Pp oy a } . pe
eie Hewark ~entinal, June 15 and June 22, 1852; Livingston Republica
- dune LY, duiy 1, and July 15; 1558. apie
58, sivingston mepublican, July 15, 1858. ‘
S90 #evark eentinsl, June 29, LE5&.. .
i ~ - oe “ |
oC. iiVingston xepubllcan, July 15, 1L&5é.
61. Newerk veaotizal, guiy 13, 1258.
C2. Livingston Hepunlican, July 15, 1858.
a: Peet wing = |
O20 ibad., daty 22, 23353 0
: T = sare 2 > & $2
See isid. aflZZcst oe 4858. . , ;
a 7 5 1 “y mis 3 SFB, } tee m > . Pan ate 14 a, >
$3. Zbied., July 22 end sugust 5, 1555; Newerk -entineal, august 3, 18
soe ie ; 2 og tr. wei 4 4 es : Zhe a Ue |
Co. my Converseaticn with wr. uharies “heppard of YVeneseo, argust 192
: f°? ‘ 4erinwatonn Reédublieasn Buses £ Ses. TAY es ws a? Dmbenmthina?} '" a “
we ff 2 cme © sia Waar dA acne te ee fe So ee “3 fw ANG vita i we Uda darwin g HL SLES & -
LETS oi
‘ ery a See ne w . > al See, ee - wt
woplesS Of tne Nework continel ere on file at the New Jersey Historic
~“cvicby in Newark, N. J.
"Phe Isaac Le Wood Murder Case," by John G. Wood; Verona, New Jersey, August, 19356
WILSON, Lucius R., white, elec. Auburn (Onondaga) 5-1-1869).
= 5
bie hs . DaLrivord ae ee
7 “gee As o 7 : Bo G + J pt BC ’
jn M Le ibd white n = U6Ti é ait ’ a 4 iJ . 4 er 8 ba *
aD : bs a! d : ; Py < oa. . 4
nese: th between: th ne and TE IS: TE
ty if ae ae Di ae ve
7 D * ‘
e
" G nf : of fi act ‘
; 4 : Py ¥ u ‘ cr Re a ba
Pees! oa hy mode eb v ‘ 00 u 5 o if a -
“| rm (furee’A ani, : a U 0 Re
us * = r U méon i ’ . +
presen feéiged Qpws ~ r
‘ ’ sit tat a raed) Fs
wi SRari B mie z. need of mone q b G ‘2 apexes: 0
‘a= misdem 7 + Union ray
’ on wv ro nd: contrib ht Oma x 6G C3 Is bein & org ow) Es
‘ Baleiv ‘ tO &: 0 wu ' ' ; sad z9 we rmarm. b n r
OPFIOES oc hemor 2 F of the comm nited did. vant to die onc:
> U Oey. 30 Chariti Building OS. Ex: a Becond ri D "
BED rye eeds ’ Hed mo o 5 biz a te
ut “ aati es: b — ‘ 1 ’ mi
e ote ‘ ° - . ®
a7.3:18 OF. Br 4s 6. : | OGIK A fT) , ou on Oo (3) 5
N = ‘ = EE 0 e sohis Qo] ’ y D1 J
u 5 > TR a ate ‘ ‘
. ‘ + , "' wit, od act ot. Ps age i a. rh Ty re 3 HR ERG r “p 2 5 iit 7 “ a =
‘ aD ‘ ’ hirsed: b bei y ‘
4 aikine a: = e f) nek Can omrnetios, tot
. ate Pre: ‘ ae ote *
' . ’ . ’ ry ry Fe GOOG Oo F seh teey ‘ ’ i
- td Si ode ’ of ' t in ' toe
reel ‘ Ye wet . ry}
ection ge Brot Det SR. ‘ ‘ ' sta POP Ik £no ad ' ’ Bo b
mt ‘ ‘ ’ ada ant
wil fi St 4 paterd EnGOD Pa 4 taped Go) Afi . :
* * os 1 e
’ pi . r) : , on * ‘ ‘ [Ol ae ‘
re ol ad we ' ’ D bal VSCARESA if 1S ’ 3
‘ +) x i: parsanis ¢ F 7 dided ' o ’ 81 ? :
a - . . 7 a fi ste age u ‘iw
- ~}) so, 0g
. tqarpered oc ‘ no ron ' pat Veahie > - JOO phar a ye C
Ses! £23 aaeee ‘
. ry < ‘ Dustin EEO VY cre v4 1 a) puG ‘
" x. of cai mick eould no ‘ ’ '
© v AIG) Seni ta ying » Rai 4 Tabs 3 a af m ¥s
, pi
« ’ 7 - y ‘ 3 On step ta bar c
5 4 tite ’ ' Bros ior A Sing ’ 8] ’ i ’ a Cee t ‘Cmare:
te ae te f i: ' .
' ‘ 14 Pi BPC ? ‘ye
= te. Cre ‘ Paty Pi Dua 0 + te
43 ee 4 otha ao t ero 1 ' ord t 7 ay
. nn ’ g -) ’ ow yibee ped or x no
: ie’ 7 4 ‘B
; ‘ : ' SSP an . st ae arr. = - Doan 4 « Oo tas ' .
‘ bers 4
: Om: H PO D mo ‘ ati a
POS, as = Cs * iy ae sagpriel o On Be Wiener: + Sar hd ad
eo by Du ’ ' t
xt : i o ¥ ¢ . Sipsee ebete ns
&f : aa: for cen } ' :
. ! git thee f tt oy 4 . ’ ‘ 1 de ’ an :
oth (2 G U ae
si ie y: ” St Sphone in had beer :
= : breth ‘@ Bo
i : ue i re : 5 + ‘ Zi pu nd sah
: LSE 2? 4 “yeye i ‘ S Ou fallin at bs eRe
: ed ie @ PD . 2ISNe ot aon y Ph arneah eG CRS oi 2 S th
4 0 ~ vs SC: +
24 , i . mn oO phy iro imc . . tare 1 1 - .
Pa Eee Bd bse f Det 7
7% ie Pig wuen 4 5 i Pei : Eo ' ty nich ; D ie o Hee CLasa or & minn O 0
€ ’ Sti fg aarh ' ‘ * Ra p
ae : Vitty ¢ : rote ty G wed va we ? ‘ ae * a0 1 . ie « F
‘ >! —@> <5 cy Pi 0) ia 1 se hed na: dre that ' AG Gl Ghd: a G we ae a4
v4 abad 7 Phir ti Sass, Ree ' ? membe o he og brouwh ' ns
‘ ‘ “ alo Ws r tino
° Rein : 26! ' Wind ‘
Oppel a Be re Be ; s3he Peed !
aa 4 i hie thy ' os 0 Ogiis ' SUanrerm: burt! te
Distillers Must Settle. Ur
me eee : i . e A ait : . y 19 ” the teat
4, on es
F + AEE) * * ’ a
3 ; : j 24 TE or a - : 5 ate Ta © Huobtiard ) nL
7 an-
Lom: © hen i: § Of ye
% ret { ® a Yor H . B6a Hi fi rm sf we BH ’
¥ i 2 : . ‘ a m ban ho
( . % . . ee 4 1 hay ' ae fe Buen ‘ rp a Oi a
i :
3 paltis uD ‘ a bond no ?
a +f ® ‘4 vibtet. " @ enw hE ' 52 Bi he 5 ‘ 6606 ’
* ~js - . ad ‘
: * fe ‘ ‘ ‘ ’ Vis ws * 48 t wOG ane! i =a :
i
4 mH 4 ‘ ‘ 1 ve
~ x A t at oo rof. ry ts vy a Tete 2 i : = is OLED)
4 = ‘ rt * _ &3 4 dj a owed th nudge Loicago Bd tebura
4 af rat ns ' i ' vet : came . gppisemen ‘ sade 4.0. ne COM
wv i parry one! Orn ‘ , 4
oad t 0 20 pieaded & Seo
i ‘ + Oz U * - = » + te u =i. .
ISmens pe e i By 5 + n ate ' . + * ‘d © ‘ Or G D bonded od
.
Bes et cy nie: ti purse ye ' te ¢ te con nce m Bac ‘
+ mk aes oR ' puld . ' 80 U
- 2 at i S ‘ tye 9 ~f. “d: 5 ;
ae 5 iv. moun mon 18 A
. aerate) iw a) a 2 ' i ' . ' 4 ‘ i *,
‘ Re Ban ' =
4 hele
c - ay g av Geclined oD B ‘ i D@ do r ; .
Pi BiG ue Ra. Send ' 2 O
a 5 . ‘ 5 Sen nin K ufman: © ° S90 ag “ .
« . mov ‘ nSce are
a ‘gears Ba nat 2 S85 g © m eu ve
ub a ora, Bt 5 On, o ’ 3 ne ‘ z
“ fF Ou iG ry 2 res ,
me p ‘ . pemar Hi @: rive botD t
me ad hy A Yeoloc ‘ mornin SIH] 0 G Amon ' AN
afm i ‘ we aD ome iy n) me: Pq 1 onein A —_ .
cs ee ed rt . ' t ty J ,
. ' olic ’
QT 5 Ie @ ‘Vejer Reb nd p ceman
we ary * , oe a 6 ' t ‘ i oo ’ 3 Bu LOS O » ’ ww
Orman Brno ad * 3s
ote a ry g afin M2 d * ad 7 is ~ :
: teks = 5 *
: (end) ie a > , . = .
m = ‘ oH Oe
5 ‘ Ban
‘ on ‘ ' o .
Areata i 26% Done + h Did Gen pian ‘ Greenfield
. ar Suyd OY 00 ye 4 ry 7
3Fy t,t Bid 5 6 engyy : Bloom authxy Soden . : ng ,
ee i + a on VUoun . Stenh ry
een ‘ 4 u M 3 OSU - z eS ULUe i“ Beld. H : Coun
id + + Saat ' ‘ ots ’ « o o * Pes '
" Ps . UG + Po e aa Wi ’ Pow 3 be a
ry T
: . & G 8 ‘ v" = GS
r) nelon a
tte hbac BReravings
Dili
wr tt . ' ‘ aye, 5 BO) = : : 3 tow >
ks ae .
ay ‘ oa Poetrn er i) om Banis Ses: 1@} 4 Bit tO-d fren a H
' ‘
‘ co! 3 Den: Len < 7 ne (36 ishpae
, aK ee; Cy te Pask OF cS suf iN Aye ae ? ' .
saw Harriet Newton ci "4 a wi
followed ber. . ee te.
monstache om
~ hefore.
idudge bed prooguiléed ee sentence pam a
j bim be looked mp and said, “is thaQlall
He then returngd to bis peat g
took & paper of tobacgo out of bi
Pleceda chew in his ‘seouth, 4
him with the groutest uDeoncern
while there were many in. thp neon dee
Livivés Tow REPU Bd 14Aw
Z oe _ apne
Nevém BER 1, 1865
Prats a, Ges, &
~He- is to be executed on the 20th of Septenbers" THE NEW —
_ ORK JOURNAL AND PATRIOTIC REGISTER, Now Yorks NY, Sept.
4, 1792.
or
WILSON, William, wh, hanged Kingston, NY, September 21, 1792
Case of WILLIAM WILSON.
| His execution at Kingston, New York, on September 2lst 1792 is now CONFIRMED.
Per THE GOSHEN REPOSITORY, (newspaper) of 9-25-92 (3:2) and 10-23-92 (3:1)
Unique originals at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester Massachusetts.
"On Friday last WILLIAM WILSON was executed at Kingston pursuant to his sentence.
This case was a lulu. The details are gleaned from*his 'Confession' which was
published in THE GOSHEN REPOSITORY a month after his death. Wilson was born
in the parish of Rye, County Donnegal, Ireland in the year 1768. At the age
of 18 he obtained permission from his parents to come to America and landed
at Newcastle, Delaware, on October lst 1786. He worked his way to Ulster
County, New York, and there "married into a reputable family much agatnst
thetr consent". Translation: W.A.S.P. girl bringing home Irish Catholic
boyfriend was almost as bad as bringing home a one-eyed nigger in those days.
He was also apparently bisexual which may or may not have had something to
do with it. At any rate, he bedded a local yokel named Malcolm Duffy and a
terrific scandal arose in the neighborhood. One night in early August of
1792 they were in bed together "for a nameless purpose" when the local
rowdies decided to harass them. A great commotion arose from the blowing
of horns and bugles outside the bedroom window and the house was pelted
with rocks like a hailstorm. One rock came in through the window and
struck Duffy as he lay with his lover whereupon he burst into tears from
fright. This enraged Wilson who snatched up his gun and stormed out of
the house to confront the gay-bashers. He found them not but fired plenty
of shots into the woods around the house to scare them off. A week later,
on August 10th, Wilson was at home half-drunk in the evening when Duffy
drove up furtively for a tryst. Wilson was not expecting him and not
recognizing him in the darkness, thought that the rowdies had returned.
So he snatched up his gun again and fired it out the window at the
silouetted figure that was then driving a wagon up to the house. The
shot struck the driver and hurled#{®ff of the wagon onto the ground
whereupon Wilson ran out of the house in a rage and finished the person
off by bashing his face to smithereens with the butt end of the rifle.
It was only after the fatal deed was done that Wilson realized that he
had slain his lover by mistake! The fact that Wilson was convicted of
capital murder instead of manslaughter eleven days later is strongly
indicative of anti-gay bias above and beyond the already well-known
anti-Irish Catholic bias of the era.
nd then, dra-
nt the accus-
+t in northern
perhaps fifty
od about the
there as any
ers had been
it their own
ine, and little
planning still
its customary
stant tinkle of
frogs in the
| place.
ngs when the
meness of the
one the lights
their sense of
tehed and un-
thing but deep
tsoever of the
i
Memorial
M
Day
By Lieutenant . oe
CHARLES
B. McCANN
Troop B, New York
State Constabulary
As told to
ROY G. LAFAVE
The death bullet,
presented as evi-
dence at the trial
of the killer
The old Witherell home
in Hopkinton, New York,
scene of the atrocious
“Memorial Day’’ murder
STERY ©
ee
elec. NY
New York’s
_wrence) Aug.
had elapsed in that quiet rural community, and then, dra-
matically enough, the victim was ready to point the accus- 1
ing finger, smashing & well-planned alibi.
Hopkinton is a sleepy little cross-roads hamlet in northern °
St. Lawrence County, New York State, with perhaps fifty
or sixty homes clustered in a little neighborhood about the
general stores and the church.
Memorial day, May 30th, 1932, was as quiet there as any
Sabbath. After the graves of the old soldiers had been
decorated, the good people went home about their own
affairs, enjoying the warm, bright May sunshine, and little j
dreaming that one of their number was that day planning stil]
another grave in the little churchyard. @
Soon after sundown the village was wrapped in its customary
cloak of evening silence, broken only by the distant tinkle of
a cow bell, or the mournful nocturne of the frogs in the Tro
brook that meanders back of the old Witherell place.
It was one of those still late spring evenings when the St
peace of it all made you think of the wholesomeness of the a
countryside. All nature was hushed. One by one the lights
flickered out in the little cluster of homes. In their sense of
security and peacefulness, doors were left unlatched and un-
bolted. Out in the fields there seemed to be nothing but deep
shadows, shadows that gave no warning whatsoever of the R O
(Above) Charles (Right) Stephen
Witherell, of Hop- Russell Witherell,
kinton, New York, son of the slain \ : Ay ; I ih
victim, whose up- man. His ,honey- ‘ :
raised hand = ac moon was shadowed
cused his murderer, by his father’s bru-
‘a even in death tal murder
HAT made the Memorial Day murder
in Hopkinton seem unusual to me was
that its solution was hastened by the
delay in its discovery, paradoxical as
that may be. Here was a case where death
actually waited to accuse.
While it is never safe to generalize in police
| work, it seems obvious that in a majority of
| cases the sooner the authorities are on the scene,
the hotter the trail may be, and the sooner an
: | arrest may be reasonably expected.
Call it Fate or what you will, something inter-
vened in strange fashion to prevent discovery
of the Charles Witherell murder until a week
50 q
TRUE DETECTTVE
a Ek DETECTIVE, Februar
ee
49
igy tenement
appeared on
come to help
2,” cried the
earch of her
tragic secret
rman Holtz-
scovery
Mrs. Emily
shastly news
fate
SS cel
Clue of the
“Don’t touch that door, Kat-
chen,” Wolter commanded.
Then Pearl turned to him
with burning indignation.
“You'd better let her open it,”
she said, “for if you don’t, I'll
scream and the policeman who
is waiting downstairs will come.”
Wolter motioned his wife to
open the door.
‘ pe he age lightly, ‘‘no-
ody’s going to hurt you.”
There wa no einen: but
the threat served its purpose.
Once outside, Pearl decided to
go home. She had visions of her
sister sitting beside that terrible
creature, while he promised her
work. Ruth would have been
wide-eyed and hopeful, aston-
ished by the place, and dis-
mayed, a little uneasy—with a
growing fear. It was too terri-
le to think of.
At home the dinner stood un-
tasted. Her mother and Adel-
aide were crying. Their worries
were not alleviated by Pearl’s
report of her visit. In action,
sister Adelaide was calm and:
strong. Together the girls de-
cided they would go at once,
find Ruth, and bring her home.
Their brother, one D. Wheel-
er, lived at Elizabeth, New Jer-
sey. He could never get there
quickly enough. But they got
in touch with an uncle, Coors
Amos, and a friend, Thomas H.
Stone, of 157 East 103rd Street.
Mrs. Wheeler, Adelaide and
Mr. Amos went on ahead. Pear!
waited for Mr. Stone. She’d al-
ready telephoned Mr. Estey,
who notified the police.
Captain Edward P. Hughes
was in command of the 3st
Precinct that night. When he
received Mr. Estey’s call, he
spoke to Officer Albert Hebrank.
“Go to 224 East 75th Street, and
on your way pick up a couple of
men to go with you. You're to
meet several people in front of
the house there.”
Cindered Hand 13
As he went along, Hebrank got two patrolmen, Philip
Dunn and Joseph F. Shaw. It was before ten o’clock when
they all met in front of Wolter’s apartment. They were
admitted to the house by John Mohl, who accompanied
them upstairs. It was some-minutes befofe their knock was
answered.
Shaw and Mohl had gone ahead and unlocked the trap-
door in No. 222, which Mohl also leased, to look on the roof
and fire escapes.
Eventually Wolter appeared. He invited the two police-
men and Amos and Stone into the apartment.
Mrs. Wheeler and the two girls stood in the hall, outside
Wolter’s living‘room door.
“What have you done with Ruth Wheeler?” Dunn asked
Wolter.
“[ have never seen Ruth Wheeler,” he replied calmly. “I
never even heard of her until this evening when a young
lady, who said she was her sister, came here asking for her.”
“You sent a postal card to Mr. Estey, asking that a
young girl stenographer be sent you for work in a real
estate office?’ Dunn asked.
“I remember no such card.”
“What is your business?”
“T am a bookkeeper, but I’m not working just now.”
“You were here all day and saw no one?’
“No, I was out looking for a position.”
“That took you all day?”
“No, I came home around three o'clock and painted the
fireplace.” He pointed to the iron apron and the marble
under the old-fashioned marble mantelpiece. This apron
was hinged in front for a stovepipe to be set in. Certainly
that had received a fresh coat of black paint.
The two officers, with Stone and Amos, searched all the
rooms, looked under the bed, behind furniture, into every
closet. Wolter unlocked the back door for them. He said
that the two buildings, Numbers 222 and 224, shared the
same fire escape, and by it anyone might enter their rooms
idea h the kitchen window. That is why he kept the door
ocked.
THE kitchen itself, contained a table, two chairs, a cook-
stove and a small iron heater. There was absolutely
no trace of the missing girl.
Shaw and Mohl came back from their search of the roof.
“IT could see the fire escapes all the way down,” Shaw
reper tes to Hebrank. “And there’s nothing on any of
them.”
Then Mohl, Amos, Stone and the three officers went: into
every apartment in the house. They searched the cellar.
Not a sign of the girl.
The Wheeler girls were far from satisfied. They insisted
that Wolter be held responsible for the disappearance of
their sister, Ruth.
But the police had found no sign of the girl; certainly
nothing to Justify an arrest.
“Have you tried the Missing Persons Bureau?” one sug-
gested. :
“No, I haven’t.” Pearl Wheeler seemed high-handed and
unreasonable. “And that wouldn't be any use, for I know
my sister is here.”
But she could offer no suggestions as to where else the
police should look. And as they had done all they could,
the officers returned to the station house. The rest of the
party went to the Wheeler apartment.
Meanwhile a general alarm for the missing girl was sent
out by the police. It described Ruth as being five feet,
three inches tall; weight about one hundred and ten pounds;
dark auburn hair, in a pompadour, the braid coiled up on
the back of her head. She was wearing a white madras
blouse, a blue skirt, green coat, three-cornered black velvet
Colonial hat, pinned on with a silver lovers’ knot hatpin.
She wore a string of turquoise beads. with gold rings in
them; a gold signet ring with her initials on it, R. A. W.
She carried a black leather handbag and a_ black. silk
umbrella.
A little after ten o'clock the following morning, Pearl
Wheeler visited the East 67th Street Police Station. De-
tective John H. Hauser was sitting there.
“I want to search every inch of that Wolter place my-
self,” she said to him. “! want Wolter held responsible for
my sisters disappearance. | know vou can help. me.”
12 Master
hut with some strange intuition she felt she was there.
She managed to walk into the bedroom, and stood at the
foot of the bed. The room was dimly lighted, but she saw
Wolter lying on the bed half-naked. The youth made no
effort to draw up the covers as she approached, but he
glanced up insinuatingly. Quantities of bright golden hair
covered his head. His eyes were large and of a lovely shade
of blue. But the instant Pearl looked at his young face, she
was struck with a feeling of repulsion.
“| came here,” she said, “to find a Miss Ruth Wheeler.”
Wal are you talking about?” The young man’s tone
was almost impudent.
“T am looking for my sister,’”’ Pearl explained patiently.
She was sent here this morning by Mr. Estey of the Mer-
chants and Bankers Business School. Have you seen her?”
“T have not.”
She didn’t talk to him any more; she didn’t believe him.
Whatever he said. Ruth was there, or had been there.
Pearl looked under the bed; in the closet. The back room
was locked. She couldn’t get in to search the kitchen. She
asked to go in there; Wolter only laughed.
“Ruth, Ruth!” she called. “I’ve come to help you. If
you're here, answer me—don’t be afraid—lI’ll take you
home.”
She listened intently.
“Ruth! Ruth!” Her voice died in a sob, and _ tears
streamed down her cheeks, She made an effort to calm her-
self,
“If you know where my sister is,” she said humbly,
“please, please tell me. I'll take her and go away without
disturbing you any more.”
Wolter only leered, and as she looked at him pleadingly,
he suddenly threw off all the covers. Except for a garment
that reached to his waist, he was naked.
Pearl ran to the door. She had not observed that it had
a spring lock; the catch was on. To unfasten it she would
have to turn her back upon these young people. This she
dared not do.
Mrs. Wolter had stood somewhere behind her in the liv-
ing-room. She came toward the door.
“Please open the door,” Pearl said.
Up ele
Detective
(Above) Arrow points to the dingy tenement
portal through which Ruth disappeared on
that fatal Holy Thursday. “I’ve come to help
you. If you’re here, answer me,” cried the
courageous sister who came in search of her
(Left). This fireplace kept its tragic secret
until the day when Coroner Herman Holtz-
hauser made a gruesome discovery
“Poor little Ruthie,” sobbed Mrs. Emily
Wheeler (right), on hearing the ghastly news
of her youngest daughter’s fate
of
‘re. I’m
they’ve
said at
y come
11s go.”
k when
d. She
of evil.
sident,
d only
uth on
as fair
a
Thrilled by the prospect
of her first day’s adven-
ture in the business world,
fifteen-year-old Ruth
Wheeler (right) walked
innocently toward the
looming shadow of a
frightful death
RUTH WHEELER
to give the girl ten minutes’ grace. When she didn’t come,
I gave Ruth the address, A. W. Wolter, 224 East 75th
Street. Mr. Wolter has written several times requesting us
to send graduates to interview him. He wanted a steno-
grapher for a real estate office. [I just gave Ruth the postal
card Mr. Wolter sent, with my business card...”
“I’m going there,” Pearl declared.
“Please Jet me hear how you make out,” Mr. Estey said.
She promised.
Pear! hurried from the telephone booth to the street car.
Reaching the address on East 75th Street, she saw the
house was an ordinary East Side tenement. Her anxiety
increased. This was a most unlikely building and neighbor-
hood for a real estate office.
She went into the vestibule; looked for the name, Wolter.
Not being able to find it she rang the janitor’s bell.
Mary Mobhl, wife of
John Mohl, the _ lessee,
appeared,
W. Wolter live here?”
Pearl asked.
“Yes, on the top floor in
back.”
“What sort of person
is he?”
“He’s young and _ lives
there with his wife,” Mary
Mohl explained.
At this information,
Pearl drew a_ sobbing
breath of relief.
“Did a young girl call
on Mr. Wolter this morn-
ing?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Mohl.
“She was young and fair.”
Even in her trouble,
Pearl had to smile; Ruth
had looked so sweet and
fresh as apple blossoms
that morning. “Did she
wear a black velvet three-
cornered hat, and a green
coat?”
“Yes!” The kindly Ger-
man woman beamed upon
Pearl. “And she had a
postal card in her hand.”
“Did you see her go into
Wolter’s apartment?”
“No, I only saw her go
into the hall downstairs.
She could not find which
bell was Wolter’s. But |
told her. She rang. |
heard the latch go click-
click-click. She turned the
door handle and walked
into the hall. Then |
went to do my marketing,
where I’d been going when
I saw her.”
Pearl’s fears increased as
she ran up the dark, nar-
row stairs. The landings
were cluttered with posses-
sions that the tenants
couldn’t get into their rooms. Combined odors of paint,
cooking and old clothes pervaded the house. Anything dread-
ful might happen here, she thought. Perhaps Ruth had only
stepped inside, or she might have been seized on the dimly
lighted stairway. Pearl reached the top floor. Hopefully
she knocked.
A young girl, half-dressed, answered.
Pearl asked for Mr. Wolter. She was invited in.
“He is in bed; come on into his bedroom.”
Brought up as Pearl Wheeler had been, this seemed an
amazing request. But perhaps he was ill.
Her first glance at the rooms increased her apprehension.
The atmosphere of the place was in keeping with the young
wife’s immodesty or indifference. And when Pearl came
from the small private hall into the apartment, she was so
frightened she could hardly stand. She didn’t see Ruth,
1]
Cc. ARNOLD
“Does anyone named A..
Cnt! ae te
re a 4 Ty C (Naw Varic) anuary 29. 1912
WOLTER, Albert, white, elec. NYS (New York) January 29, 1912.
LUE of the
INDERED |
VERY five minutes that had passed since (Center) The chamber
six o'clock, had increased Emily Wheeler’s of death, to which
anxiety. It was now twenty ‘minutes to Pretty little Ruth
seven, and Ruth, her youngest daughter, he heigg ne sige oe
aged fifteen, had not come home. ul tas ee
ful fate at the hands
Ruth had gone out that morning in the hope of of a passion-mad slayer
obtaining her first job. She was sure she would
get it, for at the business school she attended
there was only one graduate student ahead of her *
on the list of pupils to be sent to fill positions on
call. She was so elated she could hardly eat her ;
breakfast “I never saw her in my
Two weeks before, she had completed a steno- i _— rine] said
graphic course at the Merchants and Bankers . :
ae ae oe pe a the dapper young man
Business School on Madison Avenue at 58th below, when questioned
Street. New York City,
: . about Ruth’s disappear-
Emily Wheeler was a little woman; she looked ance
fragile. She had been a
widow for twelve years.
Her husband, John Wheel-
er, an engineer for the
Harlem River railroad,
had been killed in a
wreck. Mrs. Wheeler, who
had done dressmaking,
maintained an apartment
at 313 West 134th Street.
She had kept her four at-
tractive children together.
And today she hoped
would mark the comple-
tion of her efforts to see
them all self-supporting.
They had all done well,
so far. Pearl, aged twen-
ty-eight, was a bookkeeper
in a Manhattan depart-
ment store; John, twenty-
seven, Was married and
worked for the Standard
Oil Company; Adelaide,
nineteen (who was already
at home that evening), was
secretary to W. R. Greg-
ory, the publisher. And
now, the mother waited
for Ruth to come in with
an account of her first
day's _xavaature In £09 The Amazing Riddle of
It was Thursday in Holy
Week, lowering, warm and
rainy. The mother smiled as she remembered calling Ruth premonitions, but I anticipated she wouldn’t be here. I’m
back to give her an umbrella. ‘For Ruth was too excited to going right out and telephone the school; see where they've
peeeeeientess ere rs
think of anything but the opportunity of getting a job. sent her; and get in touch with the people.”
At five minutes to seven, Mrs. Wheeler put down her “I'll go with you,” Mrs. Wheeler and Adelaide said at
sewing and walked the floor. But quick steps were on the once.
stairs; someone was at the door! “No, Ill let you know as soon as I can. Ruth may come
It was Pearl. She had shared family responsibilities with any minute, but I’ve got a feeling we shouldn’t let this go.”
her mother since she was sixteen. The three older Wheeler children had started work when
“Where’s Ruth?” was her greeting. very young. Ruth had been a gay and engaging child. She
“She hasn’t come yet.” The mother was becoming fright- had grown into a sensible, wholésome girl, ignorant of evil.
ened. ‘I didn’t worry when she didn’t come home to lunch,” Pearl ran downstairs to the drug store telephone.
she explained. “She seemed so sure she'd get work, and She called the school. Sherman T. Estey, the president,
I knew if she did she’d stay until the last minute. But she answered. He was distressed.
should be here now; I’ve been terribly worried.” “She left here about nine-thirty,” he said. “I had only
“You're right to be worried,” Pearl said. “J simply didn’t one position to give out. One girl was ahead of Ruth on
want her to go this morning. You know I don’t believe in my list. Ruth got here first. We both decided it was fair
10
\ f)- 7 4 oy
Bre k ZX oma
s LA LAL
/) ” - 2 i
ZL tt _O VG 2 H,
avily= populated
DID THE SUSPECT DREAM HE STRANGLED
THE BLONDE WHO WAS “TOO BEAUTIFUL
TO LIVE”, OR WAS HE HER MURDERER? -
~
BY BARTON BLACK
,othing under
rector for his
hung Up and. .
hat she had
> to go at once .
th Street ad-
persuaded her
vas Pearl who
v, driven by @
he girls cheeks
the Seventy-
¢ the East Side
New York's
-ons of German
fur collar of
her chin, she
hastened toward
Estey.
by
OR AIOE.
© eee
é pe ony
Onn a =
dining-room table in the modest
flat of the Wheeler family. Mrs.
Edna Wheeler peered anxiously from
a third floor window of the four-story
red brick building at 313 West 134th
Street in the Washington Heights sec-
tion of New York City. At the table,
nervously toying with the silverware,
sat two of her three daughters—Pearl
and Adelaide, both pretty brunettes in
their early 20s.
Ruth, the youngest daughter, had
failed to come home from the school
‘where she was studying to become a
ttenographer like her sisters. The
widowed mother and the older girls
were worried, for the 15-year-old ash-
blonde, developed beyond her years,
was a stunning beauty. It was 7 o’clock
in a bitterly cold March evening, and
darkness had fallen. Who could say
what perils lurked in the ice-glazed
streets for an attractive girl?
Only a few days earlier Ruth had
completed her course at the business
school, where her tuition was paid by
a fund made up of the joint contribu-
tions of her sisters and her uncle, Amos
Wheeler. She had been making daily
trips to the school since her graduation
to take advantage of a system by which
the institution found positions for its
alumnae.
“I just can’t understand it,” declared
Mrs. Wheeler. ‘Ruth never has been
this late before.”
“Maybe,” suggested Pearl, the eldest
daughter,.‘“‘she got, a job.”
“That must be the reason,” agreed
Adelaide. “She probably had to work
late on her first day.”
Mrs. Wheeler was unconvinced. Her
forehead furrowed by an _ anxious
frown, she pointed out, “Ruth would
have telephoned me if she was work-
ing, but she hasn’t called since she left
early this morning.”
“She probably didn’t have time,”
countered Pearl. “Don’t worry. She'll
show- up any minute now—with. good
news for us. You know how anxious
she’s been to get to work so that she
can repay us for her tuition, bless her
heart!”
Mrs. Wheeler shook her head sadly.
“T have a strange feeling—a premoni-
tion, I guess you’d call it—that some-
thing has happened, something dreadful.”
“Mother!” reproved Adelaide. “You
are just being silly!”
“Well, I can’t get used to the idea
of my little: girl going out to work.
Ruth is so attractive.”
“Let’s not hold up dinner any longer,”
urged Pearl. “We'll keep something
hot on the stove for Ruth.”
Reluctantly Mrs. Wheeler was per-
suaded to eat. But she hardly could
[ining WAS growing cold on the
.
Ee ed ak Se ee ae en I
—+H/ WA N
nf y/
HV gr ¢ f
AY VLL& _
touch her food. Shé was. worried sick.
The Wheelers finished the meal with
their eyes on the antique Seth Thomas
clock on the sideboard. It was almost
8 o’clock. The mother, her small white
hands clenched tightly, suddenly stood
up at the table.
“T can’t stand it any longer!” she
exclaimed. “I’m going to call the
school.”
“But, mother,” said Pearl, “no one’s
there at this time of the night.”
“Well, then, I’ll call Mr, Estey him-
self at his home.”
Hurriedly leafing through the Man-
hattan directory, Mrs. Wheeler found
Sind lin be hc line Sa
Estey could not recall the name or
address of the office, but said that he
would be glad to drive down to
school and obtain it from the recor
The Wheelers waited anxiously for an-
other half hour until he telephon
with the information.
“I gave Ruth a postcard we
received from a man asking for’
stenographer,” he related. “I remem=
ber now that the name was imp
on the card with a rubber stamp,
Our files show that the applicant was
Albert Walter Wolter of 222 East Sev-)
enty-fifth Street. Apparently he has
no phone. None is listed, and the
SHE KNOCKED
AT
THE
DOOR OF DEATH!
the residential listing for Sherman. C.
Estey, director of Estey’s Merchants’
and Bankers’ School at 605 Madison
Avenue. She called the number and
got him on the wire.
Sent Her Out For Job
“This is Ruth Wheeler’s mother,”
she said apologetically. “I’m sorry to
bother you at home, but we’re worried
about Ruth. She left early this morn-
ing for the school and hasn’t come home
yet..I haven’t heard anything from her
all day.”
The school director was puzzled. “I
hope nothing’s wrong,” he replied. “We
sent. Ruth out to apply for a job at
about 10 o’clock this morning. When
she didn’t come back,we assumed that
she got the position.”
“Where did you send her?”
information operator has ng thing under ~
that name.’
Thanking the school director for his
trouble, Mrs.. Wheeler hung up and _
told her dayghters what she . had ,
learned. She made ready to go at once.
to the East Seventy-fifth Street ad- —
dress, but the two girls persuaded her
to remain at home. It-was Pearl whe
volunteered to go.
Fine particles of snow, driven by | a
blustering wind, stung the girl’s cheeks
as she emerged from the Seventy-
seventh Street station of the East Side
subway in the heart of New York’s
Yorkville. district, heavily - populated
with Germans and persons of German
descent. Clutching the fur collar of
her coat tightly under her chin, she
braved the wind as she hastened toward
the address furnished by Estey.
~
ke
1 Seema oe te
At last she reached a drab, six-story
srick flat building and entered the
dimly-lighted front hall. Examining
the mailboxes, she fouhd one bearing
a card with the rubber-stamped name
Albert Walter Wolter. His apartment
was 3-A.
Pearl climbed the steep stairs to the
third floor and knocked on the door
of the rear apartment. Shortly it swung
back, and a young woman stood sil-
houetted in the strange light shed from
a crimson-shaded lamp in the room
behind her. Her flaxen-blonde hair
was wound around her head in tight
braids. Her eyes were large and blue,
and her full red lips drooped at the
corners with the trace of a pout.
“Yes?” she inquired with a_ thick
German accent. “What do’ you want?”
“IT am looking for Mr. Wolter,” said
Pearl Wheeler. “My sister, Ruth, was
sent to see him today about a job as
a stenographer, and she hasn’t come
home.”
Denies Ruth Called
The blonde frowned. “My husband
doesn’t want a stenographer that I
know of,” she replied. ‘“‘He’s already
gone to bed, but I’ll ask him about it.
Step in.”
Pearl entered the garishly furnished
living room, and Mrs. Wolter went to
arouse her husband. She returned in
a short while, followed by a dark-
haired, thin young man with cold blue
eyes.
“Are you Mr. Wolter?” asked Pearl.
The young man nodded, and she con-
tinued. “I’m looking for my sister,
Ruth Wheeler. Did she come here to-
day to see you about a job as a
stenographer?”
Wolter frowned. “Wheeler—Wheeler?
No, that was not the name. It was
Schwartz—Lena Schwartz. And she
wasn’t here today, but last night.”
“What did she look like?” asked
Pearl.
“She was tall, blonde—and quite
fat.”
“No. That couldn’t have been Ruth.”
Mrs. Wolter turned to-her husband.
“But Albert, you didn’t tell me :you
were going to hire a girl .. .”
Wolter gave her a black look. “I
didn’t tell you because you don’t like
my plan to start a German shorthand
school. But I’m going ahead with it,
and I must have a stenographer to
help me.”
“Didn’t you write to the Estey school
for a girl?” asked Pearl Wheeler.
“I may have,” replied Wolter. “I
wrote to several schools. Your sister
might have come here today, but she
would have found no one at home.
Both my wife and I were out until this
afternoon.” :
Dejectedly the missing girl’s sister
left the Wolter flat. She paused for a
24 Moment in the hall and studied the
LARA NIRS Dei
door of the front flat on the opposite
side. Perhaps someone there: had seen
Ruth call that morning.
Hopeful again, Pearl rapped on the
door. It was opened by a_ sharp-
featured girl with black hair and eyes.
Quickly Pearl described her sister and
asked the girl—Jane Gowan—if she had
seen Ruth.
“I’m sorry,” replied Miss Gowan. “I
didn’t see anyone visit the Wolters
today.”
Blinking to keep back the tears,
Pearl returned home and told her
mother and sister that she had found
no trace of Ruth.
“But Mr. Estey said he sent Ruth to
that Seventy-fifth Street address,” in-
sisted Adelaide. “Surely somebody saw
her there.”
Mrs. Wheeler’s eyes widened. “Do
you suppose she has been kidnaped—
that- someone could be holding her
captive there?”
Pearl made a sudden decision. “That
settles it!” she said firmly. “I’m going
to call the police!”
She phoned the East Sixty-seventh
Street police station. The desk lieu-
tenant connected her with the detective
division, and she quickly gave her
Peg eR ee
¢
charred rope was -*
any rope like this -
t room?” Kate was
itly for a moment.
ally, almost in a
ke some of the rope
ad been taken from
th Wheeler!
s picture appeared
1 steady stream of
jin to make charges
., he was known to
- as “woman crazy.”
le clothes, the flash-
uy for little money,
of a veritable lady
1e New Jersey town
ad tried to strangle
- this she kept cor-
Three others liv-
hborhood came for-
| the Yorkville Don
lter’s illusory alibis
th. At one of the
ly recalled he had
t of the day on which
d with a friend in
ited by police, the
nd why Wolter could
e Thursday, the day
ed, and that together
ropolitan Museum in
1 not leave my house
cked and found truth-
eek
BE)
|
a
yg antl ness lea nl nn
iplapipnay
.
ful. Another of Wolter’s tales had been
blasted into thin air! - :
Meanwhile police worked feverishly to
line up their case in preparation for the
trial. Professor Huntington, an_ in-
structor of anatomy at the college o
physicians, was called in to assist wit
the assembling of the heap of blackened
bones.
Working with meticulous skill and
aided by experts and medical men he was
able to reconstruct the bones into an al-
most perfect skeleton of Ruth Wheeler.
After days of effort, by placing in
the corresponding positions on the
human body what remained after the
torch had been set to the lovely 16-year-
old, there arose from the ashes a grisly
figure to point the finger of guilt at the
suspect. But Wolter still shouted his
innocence. °
In the myriad phases of police activity
there remained one major mystery to be
cleared as far as the authorities were
concerned. Wolter’s room used gas for
illumination and the kitchen stove in the
apartment, coal and wood. Before the
murderer had touched the match to Ruth
Wheeler he had drenched her with kero-
sene. Who had purchased that kerosene?
Inspector Titus sent out word to find
the buyer of the death liquid. Squads of
men working under Captain Carey
combed the upper East Side, canvassing
store after store.
The search didn’t last very long. In
the course of their inquiries, police came
to a small hardware shop on Second
avenue. The proprietor scratched his
head for a moment and then recalled ex-
citedly that Wolter had come on the day
of the murder to buy kerosene. One
more link had been forged by the police.
et OWING the finding of the store
where the kerosene was purchased,
police, through the clever work of Captain
Carey, located a shop on Third avenue
where Wolter had purchased a brush and
can of paint which he used to repaint the
fire screen.
“Yes,” Wolter admitted without flinch-
ing, “I bought the stuff there but it was
between nine and ten o’clock when, I am
told, the girl was supposed to be coming
to my house.”
“But the woman who sold you the
paint and brush is ready to identify you
as the person who came in and bought it
at three o’clock in the afternoon.” —
“Well, then, I guess it looks bad for me.
But I am still innocent,’”’ was the amazing
reply.
But Inspector Titus was not to be put
off by the youth’s composure and soon
had forced a significant admission from
him. It was when he informed Wolter
that Katie had given police the Wheeler
girl’s umbrella that the prisoner displayed
the first signs of cracking. :
Then, without realizing the importance
of his words, he shouted, “W4ds the um-
brella found in the fireplace?”
Suddenly he stopped as he saw his
question implied knowledge of what was
in the fireplace.
Three weeks after he was arrested
for the slaying of Ruth Wheelér,
Wolter went on trial before Judge Foster
in a jammed Tombs courtroom.
The defendant, the man of a thousand
moods; seemed to glory in his position as
ae ‘ ;
‘fingering his carefully knotted necktie.
The grisly gunnysack was introduced
as one of the exhibits. The proprietor of
the paint store pointed to Wolter and
identified him. The hardware store owner
singled him out as the young man who
had bought kerosene. Through it all
Wolter sat filing his carefully groomed
finger nails.
Without once faltering, Katie told her
story. On March 24 she had come home
after. 12 hours at the bakery to find Albert
waiting for’ her. She was rather sur-
prised when she noticed the fire screen
had been repainted and she inquired about
Wolter told her, she said, that the paint
had only cost ten cents and it brightened
up the appearance of the fireplace.
“That same night,” snapped the dis-
trict attorney, “did you hear a noise?”
“Yes,” she said, “about 1:30 there was
anoise. It sounded like something falling
down and made a report like a gun.
“T called to Albert and asked him what
he was doing. He said he was fixing the
fireplace and that I should go back to
sleep.”
Because New York’s criminal law de-
mands that there be indubitable identi-
fication of the corpus delicti in addition
to testimony given by members of the
family, the pitiful scraps of bones were
exhumed from a grave in Maple Grove
cemetery. Professor Huntington was
prepared to reconstruct the skeleton and
bring it into court. The spectators gasped
at his suggestion but their morbid ap-
petites were deprived of this macabre
sight when Wolter’s attorney conceded
the body to be that of Ruth Wheeler.
Ironically enough, it was the hand of
the murdered girl that was brought into
open court to loom like the hand of death
over Albert Wolter. With all the bones
in court, Professor Huntington extracted
the left hand and the signet ring it had
clutched in death. ‘
Women and men in the court sat hor-
rified at the ghastly black object and the
ring which bore the initials “R. A. W.”
found in the gunnysack.
state had an air tight case.
On the morning of the murder, Wolter
claimed, on the witness stand, he had
breakfast, went out looking for work and
spent the rest of the day in Central Park.
Here again alert police work smashed
another Wolter alibi. A cigar store keeper
whose shop was near the East 75th street
rooming house was found and testified to
seeing Wolter loitering in front of the
building on the morning of the crime.
The verdict was inevitable. The jury
was out for exactly three and a half hours.
Reporters and spectators dashed for their
seats as the jurors filed in. Judge Foster
asked the foreman for the verdict.
“We find the defendant guilty of mur-
der in the first degree.”
Wolter was hustled from the court-
room and a week later sentenced to die.
Maybe it was his unshakable insistence
that he was innocent that gave him sev-
eral dramatic stays of execution. In any
event, Wolter lived for 676 days in the
death house at Sing Sing while his law-
yers manoeuvered for a new trial with
an appeal, several motions before the
court and various other methods.
But at 5:38 of a bitter morning in Jan-
uary, the slim killer was marched to the
It seemed the
Learn ta Make
$30,550,575 a WEEK
J tram you at
home im spare tune,
Chief
} Operator
Broad-
casting
Station
“when I completed
20 lessons, I obtained
m, Radio Broadcast
ator.’’ —-HOLL .
HAYES, 85 _ Madison
St., Lapeer, Mich.
Own
Business
“T now have my own
Radio business which
shows three hundred
dollars a month profit
—thanks again to Na-
tional Radio.’ FRANK
T. REESE, 39 N. Fel-
oe St., Philadelphia,
ae
Time
“T knew nothing about
Radio. After four les-
Vae
Dept. 7
Washington, D. C.
Mail this Now
Get 64-page Book
J. E, SMITH, President,
NH3, i
National Radio Institute,
Dear Mr. Smith: Without ob-
ligating me, send ‘‘Rich Re-
wards in Radio,’
points out spare time and
full time opportunities in
Radio and explains your 50-50
method of training men at home in
spare time to become Radio Experts.
(Please Write Plainly.)
Do you want to make more money?
Broadcasting stations employ en-
gineers, operators, station mana-
gers and pay up to $5,000 a year.
Spare time Radio set servicing
pays as much as $200 to $500 a
year—full time servicing jobs pay
as much as $30, $50, $75 a week.
Many Radio rts operate full
or part time _ Radio businesses.
Radio manufacturers and jobbers
employ testers, inspectors, fore-
men, engineers, servicemen, paying
up to $6,000 a year. Radio oper-
ators on ships get good pay and see
the world, Automobile, police,
aviation, commercial Radio, loud
speaker systems offer good oppor-
tunities now and for the future.
Television promises many good jobs
soon. Men I trained have good jobs
in these branches of Radio.
Many Make $5, $10, $15
a Week Extra in Spare
Time While Learning
Almost every neighborhood needs a
good spare time serviceman. The
day you enroll I start sending Ex-
tra Money Job Sheets showing how
Through-
experience. I GIVE YOU A COM-
PLETE, MODERN, PROFESSIONAL
VE, LL PURPOSE RADIO
SET SERVICING INSTRUMENT TO
HELP SERVICE SETS QUICKER—
SAVE TIME, MAKE MORE MONEY.
Find Out What Radio
Offers You
Mail coupon for ‘‘Rich Rewards in
Radio.”" It’s free to any fellow
in Radio and Television; shows you
letters from men I trained, telling
what they are doing, earning;
shows my Money Back Agreement.
MAIL COUPON in an envelope, or
paste on a postcard—NOW!
J. E. SMITH, President
Dept. 7NH3
National Radio Institute
Washington, D.C.
FREE 3
which
star attraction. Gone was his sniveling, electric chair to pay for his cruel crime. H (OE Eg ee WOR coved
crying spell and gone was his truculent, Quickly he was strapped into the chair BL RERS 6. nc So deiicaletee Bo a tiinae ce Ooh cceee
rebellious mood. He sat at the defend- and 1,960 volts were sent surging through a cane
ant’s table, a pleased smile on his face, . his body; WCU cosas cae seseon ts venes dbes BVA so. os 023 5
, Wuen: Answerinc: ApvERTISEMENTS, PLEASE MENTION Decemser Darinc DeTEcTIVvE 81
a eae
Weaver ordered two patrolmen to
drive her to District Attorney Reynolds’
office. :
’ “Call a doctor and get a police ma-
. tron to look out for her,” he ordered.
“We'll give her a little time to calm
down, then try tp question her some
more. Maybe when she’s not so upset
she’ll be able to recall something that
will help us.”
Weaver and his aides then ques-
tioned Mrs. Tebo again, without add-
ing to their store of knowledge anent
the murder. Rinwalski, and neigh-
bors on either side of the rooming-
house, and those living across the
street could give no help. None knew
Lowman; none had seen him enter the
house, and none had heard any sounds
from the murder room.
“It’s incredible,” District Attorney
Reynolds said, “that a man could be
brutally beaten to death without those
who live only a few feet away hear-
ing any commotion. I can’t under-
stand it.”
Sergeant Beardsley, meanwhile,
through a chance question asked Mrs.
Tebo, learned that Regina Galek had
lived there only three weeks. She had
moved there from another rooming-
house on Harmon Street, about eight
blocks away.
Inquiry at her former address
brought to light the fact that Regina
Galek had been married to a soldier
but had been separated from him
about three years. Coulda motive for
ley and the others made a «:
check-up on Galek’s present wh.
abouts,
They found he was in North At:
had been there for several moi:
Consequently, Galek’s married life
quickly discarded as having any ;:
sible bearing on the slain man fo.
in his estranged wife’s apartm.
How about Regina’s private life? ‘
she popular with men?
At the war plant, where she wor!.
a foreman told Beardsley that the
was well liked, that she did her
well and was of an extremely «:
nature. Mrs. Tebo, too, as well
Regina Galek’s former landlady, :
spoke highly of her.
“Beardsley,” ordered Chief Wea:
“you and O’Connell drive over to
home of this girl and check with
parents on her story that she spent
week-end out there. There’s svi:
thing decidedly screwy about
whole thing.”
Nothing came out of this ang}:
the -investigation. Beardsley’.
O'Connell quickly established corre:
ration of the girl’s week-end visi‘,
the -marriage of her girl friend
Saturday, and the fact that her you.
er brother had driven her back
Elmira, and had then taken he:
the tavern, where she had a “da:
before leaving for home.
Weaver ordered every known unc
world character, every hoodlurn
Elmira, rounded up for questioning
Lowman’s murder lie in this? Beards-
(Continued on Page 42)
Police readily saw through the “brilliant” plot con-
cocted by this killer who stupidly believed that his plan
was the master strategy that would fool authorities
The only clew the officers found
on the victim, shown here after
the davenport had been lifted off
it. was the dead man’s name
borrowed time, Regina said. She had
slipped on a worn dressing-gown and
went out into the hallway to borrow
the lindlady’s vacuum cleaner. This
in hand, she returned to her room.
slipped the plug into the electric
socket and hurriedly started over the
rug.
Then, she said, her attention was
first attracted by the broken glass and
the mysterious-looking brown specks
on the flowered carpet at one end of
the davenport. While looking at these
she saw the dead man’s leg and ran
out.
EAVER pondered a moment, then
said:
“Now, Regina, we know this man’s
name is Albert Lowman. Did you
know him?”
Regina Galek shook her head.
“No, I didn’t,” she screamed. “I
never heard of Albert Lowman.” :
“But,” pressed Weaver, “how did he
get into your room? He, or: who-
ever killed him, must have had a
key.
“I don’t know,” the girl shrieked
at the top of her voice. “Leave me
alone. I don’t know anything. It’s
awful. I was out home over the week-
end. And then I came back and—and.
—and I must have been sleeping right
over his dead body for that one
night I—"”
She tried to rise, fainted dead
away.
Writer!
ste extra dollars by writing
tations, program directors
cus, Rew writers, new acripts.
for this fascinating field, in
» growing opportunities and
ful radio writing from the
ly school devoted exclusively
rn in your spare time .. .
to-read lessons and practical
ipproved by the California
the success of many grad-
ustrated literature
© details.
aegis STITUTE
a?
cer/HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.
)MB-A-TRIM
New Quick Trimmer
ething New! Trim your
without any experience.
easy! The excess hair
nes off smoothly and easi-
by just pulling trimmer
hrough hair like an ordi-
ary comb. Also removes
air from legs—armpits.
save on hair-cut bills...
rrim your own hair or bn
ind your Comb-A-Trim
vill be sent at once,
SPECIAL OFFER
pr ec anh 2 for $ {
ind save 1Be.
COMB-A-TRIM CO.
ono Cincinnati, O.
YOUR 2%
hinking mind? If you ?
90 per cent of your ?
ccasional hui are
leeping force im yout ?
develop and direct it. ?
id master life with an
voked. Send for FREE ?
tells how to obtain
cesss Scribe X.1.U. &
RUCIANS?
2C} CALIFORNIA
+ *
VAR BONDS
‘CTORY
oe
MAGIC FORMULA
2 —_—
can be yours. I personally
!ON or I will refund your
na $1-and T'll pay. postage.
to work for you. MIKHAIL
Su. Sta., New York 18, N. Y.
est Styles
‘y ordering glasses
‘ome. Many hand-
yles. Low Prices. +
NO MONEY
« for FREE Catalog.
‘inge of big money sav-
repalr broken glasses,
iptions,
SPECTACLES, INC,
Dept. C-10, CHICAGO, ILL.
witch, allure and captivate with
s rare, stimulating fragrance,
st one drop of this secret aroma
‘lL endure for hours and will add
nore thrilling, irresistible charm
ALSO FREE PERS!
in ti ye Pay posi
ov send 81 and we postage.
tered. Money Back Guarantee,
52 West 42nd St., New York City
gl own deductions would have kept
at it.
About noon on March 25, 1943, De-
tective Schuchman plodded up the
steps of a house on 75th Street. He
punched the bell and listened wearily
to the echoes.
From the back came the sound of
feet. The door opened. Schuchman
automatically touched his hat to the
little old lady who stood there.
“I’m looking for a gentleman,” he
it would be to his advantage if I could
find him. Here’s his picture. Perhaps
he—”
“Oh, yes, oh, yes!” fluttered the
landlady. “He’s one of mine. Mr.
Pickett, isn’t it, and so—so rough-
looking in that picture.”
“T take it that Mr—Mr. Pickett isn’t
at home?” :
The landlady peered backward at a
clock in the hall, whose ticking jarred
the chandeliers.
“No, but he’s due any minute now.
Won’t you wait?”
“T’l] come back,” Schuchman de-
clared hastily, backing down the steps.
From the tail of his eye he had seen
a man walking toward the house and
at almost the same instant the man
had stopped, looked for a moment,
then turned and strode quickly back
the way he had come.
Schuchman tried not to hurry as he
went down the steps. He cursed brief-
ly on his luck. He had found the nest
but the bird, about to alight, had flown
again. Would he get away?
The man ahead did not run but his
long legs covered a lot of ground in a
hurry.
The detective was in a-quandary.
If the man ahead was Pacia, had he
actually spotted Schuchman talking to
the landlady, or had he merely forgot-
- something and was going back for
it?
He decided to go on the theory that
the man was Pacia and that he had
spotted him. His behavior seemed to
indicate that. Therefore there was no
need for caution.
He reached back and unlimbered his
gun, stepping up his own pace until
he drew nearer to the hurrying figure
ahead. -
They reached Roosevelt Avenue at
almost the same time. The man hur-
ried up the stairs to the elevated sta-
tion. Schuchman was ten paces be-
hind, but there were several people in
the way.
The suspect darted a hand into his
pocket, fished out a nickel and dropped
score of officers were sent out to check
on barrooms, restaurants, to see if any
of their employes had noticed a man
with bloodstained hands or clothing.
“That killer,” said Weaver, “must
have been spattered. He had to be
according to the beating he gave Low-
man.”
Coroner Hamilton, in the meantime,
had completed his autopsy. He found
that Lowman died from a compound
fracture of the skull and a deeply
pierced lung.
“Pierced with what?” demanded
Weaver.
Doctor Hamilton frowned an instant.
“Well, I'd say by both a fragment
of glass and a knife; possibly a small
paring-knife. I noticed that broken
glass on the floor, and I’m inclined to
believe it was a broken bottle, not a
drinking-glass as we supposed at first.
I think the killer hit Lowman with
the bottle, broke it, then stabbed him
through the lung with the slivered,
smashed end. Then he took a knife
and made sure the victim was dead by
shoving it through his chest.”
RESSED further, the Coroner con-
cluded:
“As near as I can tell, my first es-
timate of the time Lowman has been
sometime Saturday evening.”
As Doctor Hamilton was leaving,
explained. “I don’t know his name, but .
dead is correct. I’d say he was killed.
it in the turnstile, hurrying through.
The rumble of an approaching train
made speed urgent.
Schuchman groped for a coin and
found he had none! To stop at the
change booth would waste precious
seconds, s0, disregarding rules, he
vaulted the turnstile.
“Hey!” shouted an astonished guard.
“Come back here, you!”
Schuchman thought: “I wonder
who’s going to get arrested first!”
The train was thundering in to a
stop. The doors slid open.
Far down the platform Schuchman’s
quarry darted inside.
The detective had just about reached
the door of the same car when he was
jerked around by a rough hand.
“Hold it, Buddy!” said a tall guard.
“What you think we got them turn-
stiles for?”
“l’m a cop,” snapped Schuchman.
“A man I’m after just went in that first
car.”
“Sure!” the guard said silkily. “I
was thirty minutes on the job me first
day and I heard that one! Come on!”
Schuchman could hear the air sig-
nals beginning at the back of the train.
When they reached the motorman the
doors would close, the train would pull
out, and that would stop the Pants
Bandit’s capture for many weary
months.
Desperately he jammed a foot for-
ward just as the doors began to close,
The train could not move until every
single door was shut. At the same
time he fumbled for his shield.
“Here!” he said. “Help me! I’m
after a guy on this train!”
When the guard saw the familiar
badge he calmed down.
“TLet’s go!”
“I can’t!” replied Schuchman. “Sig-
nal the conductor!”
The guard whistled and a trainman
popped his head out from between the
cars.
“Hold it!”
[= doors flew open again. Schuch-
man expected to see his quarry dash
out for the stairs at the opposite end
of the platform, but nothing happened.
Schuchmar walked forward on the
balls of his feet, alert for trouble.
Gently he tipped the paper down to get
a look at a reader’s face.
The face looked up at him, startled
and angry. It belonged to a minister.
“Sorry!” said the detective.
Then Schuchman spotted the man
he wanted. He was feigning sleep, one
arm on the narrow window ledge, his
Detective Brunner, the technical ex-
pert, came in. He verified the Coroner’s
theory that the smashed glass’ origi-
nally had been a bottle. He added:
“There were no identifiable finger-
prints on either the broken bottle or
the drinking-tumbler. And the only
prints on ‘articles in the room were
those of a woman—probably those of
the girl who lived there. I’ll take her
prints and compare them to make
sure just as soon as she snaps out of
this hysteria.”
Detective Brunner fiddled around
with an envelope a moment, then
continued:
hd Bde got one clew here which I hope
will turn out good. It’s a cigaret
which I found in the waste-basket in
the murder room. I believe it was
smoked by the killer.”
Brunner paused a moment, went on:
“You’ve heard of that famous Niki
saliva test, haven’t you? Well, scien-
tific testing of the component parts of
the saliva left by a smoker’s lips can
reveal the approximate age of the
smoker, many of his habits and his
nervous temperament. I—”
Chief Weaver interrupted.
“Can you make that test?”
Brunner smiled.
“No, I cannot,” he said. “But I know
somebody who can. That is Doctor
Carlton Constant. He’s up on all those
hat tilted to shield the other side of
his face.
The officer kept one hand on his
gun while he tapped the alleged sleeper
with the. other.
“Come on, Paul, before there’s
trouble,” said Schuchman. .
Pacia looked at him blankly, but he
saw the determination in Schuchman’s
eyes.
Without a word the bandit rose and
strode from the car, while Schuchman
clutched the sleeve of his natty over-
coat. ~
They walked the length of the sta-
tion platform and down the stairs.
Schuchman was beginning to get ner-
vous. He knew that Pacia was des-
perate. An ex-convict has little to
lose. He wanted to get him to the
police station quickly.
ACIA solved the problem for him
at the foot of the stairs.
“Look behind you!” he cried sud-
denly.
Schuchman’s gun came from_ its
holster with the speed of a striking
snake.
“I’m not looking,” he said. “If I get
it, you get it.”
The words were spoken: in a low
tone, but two’men just beginning to
climb the stairs heard them. They
stopped, looked and saw the gun, then
came over, not exactly friendly.
“What's going on here?” one asked
gruffly. ‘We're policemen.”
“I'm Detective Schuchman, Main
Office,” Marty responded. “This is my
prisoner and he’s playing games.”
The two officers identified them-
selves as Patrolmen Joseph Dwyer and
John Keller of the 112th Precinct.
They said they would keep a watch.on
‘Pacia while Schuchman telephoned for
the wagon.
At the Jamaica Police Station Pacia
was identified by half a dozen store-
keepers. He was formally charged
with the holdup of a grocery on Octo-
ber 19.
Sehuchman pressed in vain for some
information about the mysterious girl
lookout that several of the victims had
reported. The detective never did get
anything on Lou, the phenomenal girl
bowler. If she is waiting for Pacia
she has a long wait.
The Pants Bandit pleaded guilty and
on May 3 was sentenced to serve from
15 to 30 years in Sing Sing.
The name Detective Jim Emmett is
fictitious to protect the real officer in-
volved in this case.
One Night with the Dead (Continued from Page 29)
scientific tests like that. I’m going to
take it over to him now. Maybe he
_ can give us some sort of a picture of
the killer.”
Chief Weaver and Brunner’s other
listeners frankly were skeptical. But
the case now had developed to ‘the
point where the investigation was at
a complete standstill so far as actual
clews were concerned.
“All right, go to it,” the Chief di-
rected. He then turned his attention
to the latest bynch of “suspects”
rounded up in his city-wide dragnet.
He had only seven of them and he got
rid of them in quick order. All either
had alibis or personally were recog-
nized as harmless by various detec-
tives.
“This whole case rests in that girl,”
Weaver mused, half aloud, once he
had turned loose the group of small-
time hoodlums. “I’m going to see if
she can’t set us on the right track.”
With the jail physician and a police
matron looking on, Weaver and Dis-
trict Attorney Reynolds went in to
the ante-room where Regina Galek
was stretched out on a couch. She
was pale as a ghost, trembling, but
her hysteria had somewhat subsided.
“Regina,” the Chief urged, kindly,
“we need your help. How did that
dead man get up in your room?”
The young woman’s eyes clouded
with tears. She seemed about to break
op—8
lvin,” he said to the Chief, “this
s been dead forty-eight hours, at
Maybe longer. All signs indicate
I can’t tell you anything more,
\itely, until after an autopsy. It
s to me like that blow over the
le killed him.”
ve Coroner knelt at the victim's
Then—
‘d say the killer kicked him several
s after he was down, too. Looks
e like at least three ribs are caved
\nd look at these marks, too. He
't dead yet when whoever bludg-
‘d him lifted that heavy davenport
socked it down on top of him.
-here are the marks of the springs
iis back, where they cut in.”
§ official group crowded up and
ewed the crisscross marks of the
tress springs. The sofa had not set
enough off the floor to clear the
It literally had squashed the
im.
eanwhile, Brunner went briskly
it his work. He. dusted the furni-
photographed the victim from
ous angles and made an inch-by-
| search of the room for other tan-
e evidence. Strangely, except for
series of blotchy-brown blood-
1s and a pile of shattered glass in
corner, he found no physical evi-
e of violence except that shown
he dead man’s body.
hen Brunner had completed his
nical observations, Chief Weaver
the Coroner turned the body over,
ched the clothing for evidence
ch might reveal his identity.
moment later Chief Weaver pulled
itered wallet from the slain man's
_ In it were several business cards
one issued by the Elmira Selec-
Service Board.
\lbert Lowman,”
ce Chief.
Vell, what do you suppose he was
g up here in this girl’s room?”
lired Sergeant Beardsley, more to
self than to Chief Weaver.
That’s what we've godt to find out,”
announced the
Lieutenant Francis J. Bastilla:
He found that the man he was
seeking already was in jail
answered the Chief. “We'll talk to the
landlady, see what she’s got to say.”
Coroner Hamilton, meanwhile, or-
dered the body taken to the Morgue
for an autopsy. Detective Brunner by
this time carefully‘ had wrapped up a
water tumbler and had scraped up
broken pieces of glass from the floor.
These fragments, with a single, half-
smoked cigaret which he had taken
from a waste basket, he pocketed, then
left for Headquarters.
Out in the hallway, Garageman
Rinwalski still waited. Weaver and the
others almost had forgotten him. How-
When these detectives found a suspect's record, held here by
Sergeant Raymond Beardsley and viewed by Detective John
J. O'Connor, they were certain they had hit the right trail
erev, questioning of Rinwalski by the
Chief revealed that all he could tell
them was that he had been called by
Mrs, Tebo; that he had checked her
report and then made his hurried call
to Deputy Sheriff Duhl.
“Maybe the two women can tell you
more,” he suggested. “Really, Chief,
I don't know any more than I’ve al-
ready told you.”
4 one official group found Mrs. Tebo
and her still hysterical roomer in the
landlady’s combination sitting-room
and office. Mrs. Tebo was trying to
calm Regina Galek and having little
success. The young woman wept con-
vulsively, her shoulders shaken by
great sobs of hysteria. i
“Mrs. Tebo,” said the Chief, “suppose
you let the girl lie down there on the
daybed a few minutes. I’d like to talk
to you.”
“I don’t know anything,” Mrs. Tebo
volunteered. “I just heard Regina
scream and I ran up to the room. She
was standing there in the hallway,
pointing and yelling something about
a man’s foot. I walked inside and saw
it too. And then I got out of there
quick and ran to get Mr. Rinwalski.”
Chief Weaver then drew up a chair
alongside the daybed where Regina
Galek lay sobbing. He patted her,
fatherly fashion, on the shoulder.
“There now, Child,” he soothed.
“Quiet down and tell me what hap-
pened.”
Regina Galek fought bravely to get
her emotions under control. She told
of her activities prior to finding the
body under her bed. Apparently she
had slept with it under her bed com-
pletely unaware of its presence.
Regina said .she had spent the
week-end at her parents’ home in a
small hamlet near Elmira. She said
she had been bridesmaid at the wed-
ding of a girl friend on Saturday, and
had returned to E)mira-: shortly after
dusk in a car driven by her younger
brother.
Her brother, she said, had carried
her suitcase up to her room, tossed it
onto the davenport, and then had
driven her to a near-by tavern, where
she had a date to meet a man. The
man, she said, worked at the same
place she did, but she only knew his
first name, “Al.”
Regina said it was past midnight
when her escort left her at the door
of her rooming-house, and that she
was so tired she went straight to bed.
Then, the next morning, she said she
had overslept and neglected to clean
her room because she had to rush to
keep from being late punching the
time clock at the plant where she was‘
employed.
Even on that morning, when she
started to clean up, she did so on
down again. But she bit her lip and
then sobbed:
“Please, Chief, don’t ask me _ that
again. I can’t stand it. What will my
parents think of me?”
“Your parents?” ejaculated Weaver.
“What have they got to do with it?”
The girl sobbed bitterly.
“I mean—I mean—well, what will
they think?” she moaned. “That dead
man right there in my room.”
She flung herself down on the couch
again, and the police matron walked
over and tried to console her.
“There, there, Regina,” she com-
forted. “Chief Weaver didn’t mean
anything by that. What he meant was,
how could the man have gotten into
your room while you were away, if
you or somebody else didn’t give him
a key?”
The girl shrieked again.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she
protested. “But I didn’t know the
man—this man, Lowman. I tell you—
I didn't!”
Reynolds and Weaver exchanged
glances. The latter shrugged.
“I guess we’re stuck,” the Chief said.
“Wasting time.”
Back in his own office, Weaver sent
for Sergeant Beardsley.
“Ray,” he said, “I want you and
O’Connor to find out where this man
Lowman lived. Then I want you to
trace every one of his friends—ac-
quaintances. Find out where he was
Saturday; every minute of the day.”
Beardsley and O’Connor were joined
by Lieutenant Bastilla and four other
detectives on this mission. A plan of
action was mapped out whereby every
bar and tavern in downtown Elmira
would be covered without too much
duplication of their efforts.
Within two hours this angle of in-
vestigation seemingly bore fruit. At
the White Cross Cafe Sergeant Beards-
ley and Detective O’Connor learned
that late Saturday, Lowman, who was
well known there, had been drinking
beer with Frederick C. Wood, 30, an
ex-convict.
Lowman was intoxicated, one wit-
ness told the two officers, and Wood
had been “bawling him out.” An-
other man who had been present in
the bar said he had seen Lowman and
Wood walking down East Church
Street toward the Tebo rooming-
house shortly after 9 pm. He said
that Wood carried a large parcel under
one arm and seemed to be helping
Lowman along.
“This looks to me like the works,”
suggested Beardsley to O’Connor. “I
know this Wood. He’s a bad actor.
His parents are nice people, but he’s
spent most of his life in jail. Started
out when he was a kid; sent him to
Reform School for burglary, and he’s
been in and out ever since. Let’s get
back to Headquarters and dig up his
address from the old records.”
Chief Weaver listened to their report
eagerly.
“It’s certainly worth going after,”
he agreed. “The only flaw I find is—
how could Lowman and Wood have
gotten into Regina Galek’s room? Go
out and pick him up!”
Police records revealed that Wood’s
last known address was his’ parents’
home on Thompson Street. Beardsley,
O’Connor and Bastilla sped to that ad-
dress.
Ts suspect’s elderly father and
mother readily answered the officers’
questions. Yes, their son had lived at
home since his latest parole. He had
been working regularly and had come
home early Saturday night. Yes, he
had been drinking a little, but went
straight to bed.
“Well, where is he now?” demanded
Bastilla.
The elderly couple glanced at each
other, hesitated a moment, then the
-suspect’s father answered, in embar-
rassed fashion: .
“He’s in jail. Your men took him in
Sunday night after he had some sort
of a fit here at home.”
Another check-up at Headquarters
proved the Woods’ story true. Their
son had been arrested by Patrolmen
Eugene F. Golden and Charles T.
Gardner after neighbors had called
Ob -8
and reported something was amiss in
the Wood home.
As the policemen approached the
house they saw the youthful ex-con-
vict in the Wood front yard with his
father and a young woman. When he
saw them, he ran behind the house,
attempted to hide. The two officers
cornered him behind a house two doors
away and arrested him on a disorder-
ly-conduct charge.
Another policeman, John Strong,
who had arrived meanwhile, found a
sharp knife a few feet away from
where young Wood had crouched be-
hind an outhouse, he reported.
The ex-convict’s own mother had
said that she and her husband had
made sacrifices all their lives in an
effort to help their wayward son.
Each time he got into trouble they
had given their savings to defend him.
But to him they were old and fool-
ish, the mother said. They had gotten
him a job as salesman for a cosmetic
house upon his last parole. But Fred-
die hadn’t done so well.
The distracted mother admitted that
her son had protested and complained
about his work. He didn’t make
money enough to maintain himself the
way he wanted to, and he continually
demanded some of his father’s earn-
ings. She said this had resulted in
many violent scenes when her son
actually threatened him.
“I think,” said Mrs. Wood, “that
there is something the matter with
Freddie’s head. On Sunday night he
came here with a young woman and
all of a sudden he began yelling at the
“top of his voice.
“Freddie, Freddie,’ I said, ‘What is
the trouble?’
“*Trouble!’ he shrieked, ‘trouble.
You know what the trouble is. You
get me that crazy job selling com-
pacts and things. I don’t want that. I
have got to have some money.’ ”
Mrs. Wood said she had protested
that she didn’t have any, and then that
her son seized a knife from the kitchen
and threatened them. At this point
the neighbors called the police.
“I see,” said Lieutenant Bastilla.
“And who was this girl who was here
with your son?”
MBS. WOOD and her husband again
. exchanged glances.
“Must I tell you that?” the woman
finally asked. “She is such a nice
girl—and she had nothing to do with
the whole thing. Freddie was just in-
toxicated and crazy-like. She tried to
calm him down but he just ignored
her. I don’t like to get her mixed up
in this terrible thing.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Wood,” said the
officer, “but we’ve got to know all
about it. Who was this girl?”
Mrs. Wood hesitated a moment, then
said slowly:
“Well, if you must know, her name
is Regina Galek. She has been going
with my son for some time now. She
is a very nice girl.”
The officers leaped into their car
and rushed back to Headquarters,
where they informed Chief Weaver
of the new developments.
Weaver did not get excited.
“T knew that girl was hiding some-
thing,” he said. ‘Now I’ll make her
talk.”
This was easier said than done, how-
ever. The jail physician reported that
Regina Galek was in a state of total
collapse; that she had been given a
sedative, and that she couldn’t possibly
be questioned again for at least an-
other 24 hours.
“Well,” announced Weaver to Dis-
trict Attorney Reynolds, “let’s take a
fling at this Wood. He’s in the jail
house—see what he’s got to say.”
Wood, a handsome man, was found
lying on his cot smoking a cigaret and
lazily watching the smoke drift ceil-
ingward. He seemed unworried and
kidded Peter Urkel, the jail guard,
when the latter unlocked his cell door
to admit Weaver and Reynolds. -
“Come on into the reception-room,
Wood,” ordered the Police Chief. ‘“You
and I and the District Attorney have
got a lot of talking to do together.”
The ex-convict grinned amiably.
“Quite an honor to have two such
distinguished visitors,” he volunteered
cockily. “What are you accusing me of
now?”
“Murder!” announced Chief Weaver,
with just a taste of sarcasm. “We came
here to compliment you on the clever
murder you pulled.”
“I don’t know what you are talk-
ing about,” Wood answered. “What
murder?”
“Albert Lowman,” replied Weaver.
“Oh, yes, I read about that in the
paper since I’ve been here in jail,”
the ex-convict commented. “Too bad
you can’t pin that on me. I must have
been right here in my cell when the
thing happened.”
Ta District Attorney eyed him
steadily. ‘‘We happen to think differ-
ently. We know you were drinking
with Lowman late Saturday. We also
know that you and Regina Galek were
out at your parents’ home Sunday,
after she had returned from her par-
ents’, So if you think you’ve got an
praion you’re barking up the wrong
ree,”
The prisoner maintained his air of
casual aloofness.
“I did know Lowman,” he finally
admitted. “And we drank a few to-
gether Saturday. But I left him out-
side a bar and went home. I was
home asleep when he was murdered.
And I defy you to prove otherwise.”
He glared at the two officials, waxed
indignant.
“Huh—you two think you’re smart.
Well, you didn’t find any of my finger-
prints in that murder room, did you?
What kind of evidence have you got?
You haven’t found anybody who saw
me up there, have you?”
“No,” conceded the Police Chief.
“You wore gloves. That’s the reason
there are no finger-prints. But we’ve
got something else just as good.”
He fumbled in his coat pocket a mo-
ment, brought out a sheet of paper
tightly filled with writing. It was the
Niki-test report made for Detective
Brunner by Doctor Carlton Constant.
“Wood,” said Chief Weaver, “you
think we have no evidence, do you?
Look at this. You will likely think a
great deal about this cigaret butt you
dropped in the murder room. See this
little spot on the butt? Well, that’s
Albert Lowman’s life blood.
“This cigaret was dropped by the
man who killed him. The test shows
that the smoker was a man of about
30. The saliva proved that. It also
* reveals that the saliva was from a
ruthless, slender man who was in-
clined to criminal activities.
“Saliva, you know, has many dis-
tinctive characteristics. None exactly
the same. It’s as definitely different
as finger-prints. The acid content
varies. We got one of the cigarets
you tossed out of your cell, too. It
ehecks perfectly with that found in
the waste-basket.
“So, you’re elected. I arrest you for
the murder of Albert Lowman.”
Wood appeared dumfounded. All the
fight had left him.
“I didn’t kill any man,” he said,
shakily now. “I’ve done a lot of
things, but I never killed anyone.”
When Wood had been taken back to
his cell, Chief Weaver and Reynolds
again conferred at ‘length.
“To tell you the truth, Elvin,” said
the District Attorney, “we will have a
hard time proving murder against
Wood with the evidence we’ve got;
even including that Niki test thing. It
will be hard to make a jury under-
stand such a deeply scientific proceed-
ing.
“In addition to that we’ve got the
fact that witnesses saw Wood and
Lowman together. That really doesn’t
mean anything at all. We’ve simply
got to get that girl to talking.”
The following morning the two offi-
cials again confronted Regina Galek. '
And again she stoutly denied knowing
either the slain man or Wood.
“Now, Regina,” said Chief Weaver,
patiently, “‘we’ve got Wood locked up.
We know he was seen walking up
toward your rooming-house with
Lowman late last Saturday. We know
that you were out with Wood Sunday
night; that you accompanied him to
reach place
SAFE + SURE MG
SANITARY Byarie
DAINTY
FAST VACUTEX
PLEASANT fo
10 DAY TRIAL
Ballco Products Co., Depi
516 Sth Avenue, New Yor
Enclosed find CD
35.08 Send me
Vacutex postpaid. $i
My dollar will be refunded if
NAME.....ccccservereeeereess
ADDRESS.......0scsereneeeer:
7 Days FRE:
=Costs You Nothing
Amazing New 3 Vo!
REFERENCE BOOKS 0:
PRACTICAL TR
ELE or “01
Say, do you
as Fi Electricit)
tronics? W:
this knowle:!
Then you 1m
REFEREN(<
2000 illustr
subjects al
can add m
vertised price of $1305 is pal
NAME
ADD! Serene
cry
OCCUPATION ——
SAVE 107. fend cs price: 3
Buy War Bonds «
GU!
NEW PLAST
TIGHTENS T.
Apply It Your
Now—in a jiffy—you
ping dental plates {11
Just apply amazing new PLAS’!
dental! plate reliner. Squeeze on \\
plates y set! Before you :
fit like new once again. Not a past
be scrubbed or washed. ONE A}
5 to 6 months—OR "ERO
your
FREE OFFER— i"
extra cost with each order. Clear
Won't fade or harm denture.
Send No Money — Test
Send name and address. When pack»
tus posteme with trnan. Use entir
led 100: fnoney back, If $1
postage. Write tuday.
ST LABS., 127 N. Dearborn, |
aking with
they had
irette butt
, found in
of cigarette
and the lab
The saliva
nd the evi-
erprints.”
he insisted
ve done lots
a man,” he
. uncovered
out Wood’s
for second-
3ertram = L.
»m 20 years
ended “the
—or life—
aty.”
iting trans-
1 to commit
ub from its
ind cutting
the broken
-destruction
in time. It
ounds.
him, Wood
I just want
i left in his
never go on
d bars...
ain surcease
[ know, be-
rs and two
and my life
880°) Tm
art or hurt
ad it up a
ie Lowman
ttimism has
mmitted to
the Crim-
nsferred to
1ora, known
penal sys-
1 border.
to the mind
radio news
eens double
es. The 18-
resh in his
a matter of
ficials had
ests against
ry quarter.
sentencing
me a justice
1e Supreme
ibunal, and
cotestors.
“ood,” New-
iad Wood in
through the
r a number
his father,
committed
ital. But he
months be-
agree on
tremely in-
ced with me
aivable. But
where with
‘s record in
vas arrested
rap with a
less his fa-
private in-
- and a half
sod was re-
Venter eeet eae
leased and promptly robbed a man of a
quarter. He was sent to Elmira Reforma-
tory to do two years, was released in 1931,
but was recommitted a year later after
getting drunk and annoying women.
For a short time that same year, he was
sent from Elmira to Dannemora State
Hospital for psychiatric study and treat-
ment.
By November, he again was considered
a good parole risk and given his freedom.
A month later, he was back in Elmira for
disorderly conduct and annoying women.
This time the Parole Board did not see fit
to extend its kind hand of leniency and
Wood served out his full term, to Febru-
ary, 1940.
Two years later, he committed the mur-
der that Justice Newman advised should
be enough of a danger signal to keep
Wood committed for the rest of his life.
.Among other officials who agreed with
Judge Newman was Elmira Police Chief
Eugene F. Golden, who called Wood an
undesirable who could never adjust to life
outside prison. “I knew Wood since our
boyhood days,’ Chief Golden said. “We
went to school together. He was a bad egg.
That’s why I oppose his parole. I know
the sort of things Wood is capable of com-
mitting. I probably know Fred Wood bet-
ter than any other man living.”
And the then district attorney, Reynolds,
who successfully prosecuted the case,
urged the Parole Board not to release
Wood. Reynolds sounded his plea from
the Supreme Court bench which he now
holds.
But all the protests from the commu-
nity and those who worked so hard to
bring about a conviction on the 1942 mur-
der case, did not stop the Parole Board.
The board made only one concession to
Elmira—it paroled Wood to the Albany
area. In a statement explaining the action,
Parole Board Chairman Russell G. Oswald
declared: “Wood has been in prison for 17
years. His adjustment in recent years has.
given a lot of indication he will be able to
get along. His big problem was drinking.
“This is the evaluation of many people
who have been in close contact with him
for several years. :
“After his release, he will be under
strict prohibition against drinking and will
be under very intensive supervision.
“Because of community sentiment in
Elmira, we have not permitted him to go
there.”
Wood was released from prison and
went to live in a rooming house in Albany.
He took a job in a laundry which the
Parole Board lined up for him. The date
was May 28—just 33 days before the fatal
bludgeoning of Frederick Sess and John
Rescigno.
Michael Morgan read over the words of
the note left at the scene: “God bless the
people on the Parole Board. They are real
intelligent.” Wasn’t Wood under “inten-
sive supervision” in the Albany area?
Didn’t the Parole Board promise Wood’s
conduct would be exemplary? Hadn’t the
chairman, Oswald, said Wood had given a
lot of indication he’d “get along?”
Yes, but to Morgan, there still was rea-
son to be suspicious. He remembered how
cunning a crook Wood was and he remem-
bered how carefully he had plotted and
executed Lowman’s murder. And, Morgan
wondered, why would anyone go to the
trouble of writing a note about the Parole
Board?
Lastly, perhaps most significantly, there
was the similarity in the two crimes—the
heartless bludgeoning of the victims with
beer bottles.
Morgan decided to call the Associated
Press in Elmira. In turn, the AP there
notified the New York desk, and the radio
newsman’s suspicions were relayed to the
Astoria station house at noon.
KNOWLEDGE
THAT HAS
ENDURED WITH THE
PYRAMIDS
A SECRET METHOD FOR
THE MASTERY OF LIFE
mighty Temples of the Pharaohs? Civilization began in the
Nile Valley centuries ago. Where did its first builders ac-
quire their astounding wisdom that started man on his upward
climb? Beginning with naught they overcame nature’s forces and
gave the world its first sciences and arts. Did their knowledge come
from a race now submerged beneath the sea, or were they touched
with Infinite inspiration? From what concealed source came the
wisdom that produced such characters as Amenhotep IV, Leonardo
da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and a host of others?
Today it is known that they discovered and learned to interpret
certain Secret Methods for the development of their inner power of
mind. They learned to command the inner forces within their own
beings, and to master life. This secret art of living has been pre-
served and handed down throughout the ages. Today it is extended
to those who dare to use its profound principles to meet and solve
the problems of life in these complex times.
This Sealed Book — FREE
Has life brought you that personal satisfaction, the sense of achievement and
happiness that you desire? If not, it is your duty to yourself to learn about
this rational method of applying natural laws for the mastery of life. To the
thoughtful person it is obvious that everyone cannot be entrusted with an
intimate knowledge of the mysteries of life, for everyone is not capable of
rt using it. But if you are one of those possessed of a true desire to
‘orge ahead and wish to make use of the subtle influences of life, the
Rosicrucians (not a religious organization) will send you a Sealed Book of
explanation without obligation. This Sealed Book tells how you, in the
privacy of your own home, without interference with eg personal affairs
or manner of living, may receive these secret teachings. Not weird or strange
practices, but a rational application of the basic laws of life. To obtain your
complimentary copy use the coupon below or address Scribe A.E.H.
ghee ROSICRUCIANS
Wnts came the knowledge that built the Pyramids and the
SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA
(AMORC)
Scribe: A.E.H.
The Rosicrucians (AMORC)
“Use this
San Jose, California coupon for
Please send free copy of Sealed Book, which | FREE
I shall read as directe copy of book
Name ‘
AMENHOTEP IV
Address FOUNDER OF EGYPT'S
City. MYSTERY SCHOOLS
Captain Thompson took the message. He
immediately notified his boss, Deputy In-
spector Connor, who hurried to the sta-
tion house. With Lieutenant McCormack, '
they immediately got in touch with the
Parole Board to get a rundown on Wood’s
whereabouts.
The answer finally came. Yes, the Parole
Board reply said, Wood was released from
jail, was confined to the Albany area un-
der the terms of his parole—but he had
skipped out!
However, the Parole Board advisory
continued, there was nothing to worry
about. Wood already had been picked up
by the Elmira area’s parole supervisor,
George Gould, and was safe in the lockup.
In which lockup?
Why, right in New York City’s famous
old Tombs, in Manhattan.
And he’d been there as a parole violator
since the previous Sunday, when Gould
tracked him down in a Bowery flophouse.
Captain Thompson whirled around and
shouted instructions to Detective Sergeant
Fulton to have Wood whisked out of the
Tombs at once. The job fell to Detectives
Butler and O’Brien.
In a little more than an hour, they were
back in Astoria with Wood—a gray-haired,
gray-suited man, 5 feet 8 inches tall,
weighing 150 pounds. He fitted the de-
scription given by the two witnesses, Wil-
liam Rescigno and the bartender.
As Wood went on the grill, he professed
complete ignorance of why he’d been
brought to the police station. “I’m only a
parole violator,” Wood said. “I’ve been in
the lockup since Sunday. You can’t pin any
crimes on me.”
It was the old tune, harking back to
1942 when he thought he could alibi his
way out of John Albert Lowman’s murder.
But under the relentless questioning of
Deputy Inspector Connor, Captain Thomp-
son, Lieutenant McCormack, and the other
detectives, Wood gradually withdrew from
his original position and admitted he had
been in Astoria the past Thursday. How-
eyer, he denied any part in the murders.
More questioning ensued, but Wood
clung to his story.
The break came swiftly and startlingly
when all at once Wood cracked, shouting:
“Okay, you're nice guys. I’ll make it easy.
I killed those two bums—and I also killed
a few other people!”
A police and district attorney’s stenog-
rapher, who’d been standing by, began
taking down the confession as it tumbled
from Wood’s lips.
Here, according to police, is the way
Wood gave his confession:
“It didn’t matter to me who I killed—
just so long as I could kill.
“I came to New York City after taking
it on the lam in Albany. I got disgusted
with that laundry job. I couldn’t take it
any more. When I got here, I took myself
a flop in the Bowery. I figured I could lay
low there for a while.
“On Thursday, I went up to Times
Square to do some panhandling. I was
running a little low on dough. While I
"Why should | return the ring? I've grown
tired of you, not your ring.”
was walking along Broadway I met Res-
cigno. We got friendly and we bought a
bottle of wine.
“After a few drinks we took the subway
to Union Square, bought another bottle of
wine, then went by subway to Rescigno’s
place in Astoria.
“It was around dusk. Fred Sess was
asleep in his room. But I didn’t know that
then. We continued to drink. Finally Res-
cigno got soused and made some advances
I didn’t like. I pushed him away.
“He then went to bed. As he lay there,
I got the idea I ought to kill him.
“IT took a beer bottle and smashed Res-
cigno’s skull while he was lying in bed.
He opened his eyes and stared at me. But
there was no fight in him. He gave me no
argument. I hit him again. The bottle
broke in my hand.
“Then I hacked away with the broken
glass at his jugular vein. I just hacked
and hacked until I’d cut his neck and
made sure he’d bleed to death. When he
was dead, I took my penknife and chopped
up his body.
“After this I looked into the other room.
Sess was sleeping there all the while. I
didn’t know he was in there. I went into
his bedroom and took an iron coal ‘shovel
and cracked him over the head with it.
He never woke up. He just rolled over to
the wall, moaning. After that he never
budged.
“Then I smashed a beer bottle on his
head. The bottle broke in my hand again.
After that J took a chair and whacked him
over the head until I was sure he was
dead. As I hit him on the head, one of the
chair legs broke off. ;
“It was dark now. I walked around in
the apartment. I was confused. I had a
hard time getting out of the joint. I finally
found my way and went to a corner gin-
mill for a couple of beers. Afterward, I
took the subway down to the Bowery
where I had my flop.
“The next day I needed more wine. I
needed money. I thought of mugging
somebody and I went back to Astoria. I got
an iron bar and went around looking to
roll somebody. I had a bottle of wine in
my pocket, but it was down to the last
slug. I finished it off and then I fell asleep
in a junk yard.
“When I woke up, it was night. I went
back to my flop. On Saturday, I did some
panhandling and bought some more wine.
“And Sunday—well, you know what
happened. The parole guys caught up with
me.
“It was funny. When they picked me up
they never asked me about the killings. I
guess they didn’t know about them then.
I hadn’t seen anything in the papers, be-
cause the killings weren’t discovered until
Monday.”
When Wood had finished confessing to
the Astoria crime, he insisted he wanted to
tell how he had killed the carpenter, Low-
man—the murder for which he had been
sent to prison.
“Yq been drinking when I did that job,”
Wood related in his confession. “We got
into an argument. I hit him on the head
with a beer bottle. He tried to slug me. I
hit him again. He fell down. He tried to
get up. I stomped him on his head. There
was no more fight in him. Then I cut him
up with my knife. And I did that over a
dame who went and lost her mind after
that.”
Wood was referring to Laurie Deane,
who found the terrible burden on her
conscience—that she indirectly was re-
sponsible for Lowman’s murder—too
much. It led to her mental breakdown and
confinement to an institution.
It was the first time Wood had admitted
the Lowman killing, but so far as the in-
vestigation was concerned the admission
didn’t add much to the case, since the de-
\
tails were known 1
who had marked th:
But Captain Thc
Wood saying he was
mind of “some ot!
asked the unremors¢
Thompson reasoned
that police had neve
“Sure,” Wood sa
about the dame I |
Mrs. Pearl Robinso)
1933 and the cops d
who did it.”
Wood was talking
word—about a mu
suburb of Elmira, v
1933. Mrs. Robinso
found in a clump o
a Southport back y
she was walking t
Street.
“I got a knife anc
went out looking
Wood continued, st
emotion. “I saw the
down the street. I f
walked too fast. Th:
of the Broadway t
Mrs. Robinson gett:
lowed her for thre«
“T sneaked up or
around her neck
stabbed her. I dc
times. I just kept
said the autops)
wounds.)
“T cut her every
her head to the tip
goner. But I wante
her. So then I hit
the iron bar until |
I pushed the bod:
took off.”
For police who 1
tale of homicide °
Train quickly {
Claim Investic
students and ¢
an hour SPAR!
Time. You nee
tion. And your
HE
As a trained Clain
DISTRIBUTE MONE
No other business
ity. Here’s why:
Adjusting Professi
service industry. /
must be investigat:
Steamship Lines, é
Investigate full tin
your home and ea:
NO investment in
SEND NOW for E
show you how si
Investigator. At ho
years to master. A
students have pai:
long before gradu
No salesman will c
UNIVERSAL SCI
o
cs
WU, #Pederick G,, white elec. Sing Sing Pri, (queens), March 21
. a Ay ole 9
Y’
5
(original eri
1G
Keri bahay
- The killer plays a monstrous prank by hi
e 3
{ ss ‘ty, 4 h Magli we ot es
ae * i, ~ ‘ i
' ~~ ~\ : \ ~ N
& zn ae
OS LANE?
psn thee a
sis i,
uth Galeski slid her suitcase into the closet and glanced ne
R again at her watch. There was barely time to get to ti es
her job, but; no matter how few the minutes, enough ey
for her to run a brush through the soft sheen of her dark P }
‘curls and to freshen her pretty face for the street. spille
_ She left her furnished: room that Monday morning and beprr
rode to the factory with never a care in the world, feeling th 7
alive again after a week end with her parents on the farm. ne
It was glorious in the country in upstate New York in uu
October, with the cidery tang of autumn in the air and the as sh
lively patchwork of color everywhere upon the hills. comer
However, much as she loved her parents and liked the a
farm, it was nice to be back in Elmira. It was good, too, to crazil
be twenty-four years old and independent, freed of the The
bonds of an unhappy marriage, able to support herself, with hen 4
the choice of doing what she wished to do and with whom. ate .
Ruth worked late that day. She dined alone in a down- eld }
town cafe, then went to a movie she had promised herself daver
to see. It was late when'she got home. She was tired. Too “Th
tired to do more than to prepare hastily for bed, although quick.
her usually neat quarters did need brushing up after her i
absence. her
r_
&
ay I met Res-
we bought a
ok the subway
other bottle of
’ to Rescigno’s
red Sess was
in’t know that
:. Finally Res-
some advances
iway.
he lay there,
1 him.
smashed Res-
lying in bed.
ed at me. But
e gave me no
1. The bottle
h the broken
just hacked
lis neck and
ith. When he
and chopped
2 other room.
the while. I
. I went into
a. coal shovel
lead with it.
olled over to
at he never
0ttle on his
’ hand again.
whacked him
sure he was
d, one of the
:d around in
ed. I had a
dint. I finally
corner gin-
Afterward, I
the Bowery
‘ore wine. I
of mugging
\storia. I got
{ looking to
of wine in
to the last
I fell asleep
ight. I went
I did some
more wine.
know what
ght up with
cked me up
2 killings. I
them then.
papers, be-
vered until
nfessing to
> wanted to
inter, Low-
: had been
1 that job,”
1 “We got
1 the head
slug me. I
fe tried to
ead. There
TI cut him
nat over a
nind after
sie Deane,
n on her
was re-
urder—too
-<down and
| admitted
as the in-
admission
ce the de-
2
tails were known to upstate authorities,
who had marked the case closed.
But Captain Thompson, remembering
Wood saying he was going to unburden his
mind of “some other people I killed,”
asked the unremorseful killer about those.
Thompson reasoned they might be cases
that police had never been able to solve.
“Sure,” Wood said, “let me tell you
about the dame I killed. Her name was
Mrs. Pearl Robinson. That took place in
1933 and the cops don’t know to this day
who did it.”
Wood was talking—boasting is a better
word—about a murder in Southport, a
suburb of Elmira, which occurred July 5,
1933. Mrs. Robinson’s hacked body was
found in a clump of blackberry bushes in
a Southport back yard. She was killed as
she was walking to her home on Hazel
Street.
“TI got a knife and a rope that night and
went out looking to do somebody in,”
Wood continued, still without a trace of
emotion. “I saw these three dames walking
down the street. I followed them, but they
walked too fast. Then I took off to the end
of the Broadway trolley line and I saw
Mrs. Robinson getting out of a car. I fol-
lowed her for three blocks.
“I sneaked up on her and got the rope
around her neck and stabbed her and
stabbed her. I don’t know how many
times. I just kept stabbing away. (Police
said the autopsy showed 142 knife
wounds.)
“I cut her every way, from the top of
her head to the tip of her toes. She was a
goner. But I wanted to make sure I killed
her. So then I hit her on the head with
the iron bar until I had crushed her skull.
I pushed the body into the bushes and
took off.”
For police who listened, it was a sordid
tale of homicide that shocked even the
HII III IK IIIS I ASIII IISA IIASA ASS
BUY U. S. SAVINGS BONDS
AND INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE
FO III III IIIA IIA A I I A I
veterans whose daily bout with brutality
never approached the cold disregard for
- human life this killer manifested.
Lieutenant McCormack then somberly
asked Wood if he’d killed anyone else.
“Yea,” came the reply, “one more.” He
then went on to tell about that killing.
“This one happened a long time ago. I was
only 14 then. That was back in 1926. I
killed my girl friend, Shirley Longo, at a
party in Hornell, New York. Shirley was
15 then.
“Although she was my girl friend, I was
getting the runaround from her and I got
mad. So I decided to kill her. I decided to
poison her. I bought some arsenic and
stuffed it into cream puffs that were on
the table at the party we went to.
“Three girls ate them and they all got
sick, But Shirley was the sickest. The oth-
ers got well. But not Shirley. She died.
And I was happy .. .”
With those words, Wood brought his in-
credible saga of murder to a close.
New York police immediately notified
authorities in Hornell and Southport that
Wood had confessed the old, unsolved
murders in those communities.
Then followed the headlines: “Parolee
Confesses 5 Brutal Murders.”
After that came the explanation from
the red-faced chairman of the Parole
Board, Oswald, who now admitted that he
and the members of the board had granted
Wood his parole despite an unfavorable
psychiatric report on the killer.
“The report from the psychiatrist was
not a favorable one,” Oswald said in an
official statement. “But after we weighed
all the factors, the board decided on the
parole.”
As a wave of public indignation and out-
rage rose over the release from prison of
a man with a long history of psychiatric
imbalance and criminal ‘and murderous
tendencies, Governor Nelson A. Rockefel-
ler ordered Chairman Oswald to submit a
full explanation on the board’s action.
As the Parole Board readied its reply
to the Governor, one thing was clear:
That thing was society’s assurance that
now, at last, Wood never again would stalk
innocent victims and commit any more
outrages against humanity.
Even if by some unforeseeable miracle
Wood could escape punishment for the two
Queens bludgeon murders—the maximum
penalty could be death in Sing Sing Pris-
on’s electric chair—he would still face
trial for the gruesome slaying of Mrs.
Robinson and even the poison killing of
Shirley Longo.
And still there was that unexpired 20-
year-to-life term he owed the state.
On July 14, 1960, a Queens County grand
jury indicted Frederick Wood for first-de-
gree murder in the deaths of John Rescig-
no and Frederick Sess.
Wood’s own note had provided an ironic
footnote to his last two murders:
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, I’m so sorry,” he wrote.
A grim jest indeed. oo¢
EpitTor’s Norte:
The names, Laurie Deane and Dan
West, as used in the foregoing story, are
not the real names of the persons con-
cerned. These persons have been given
fictitious names to protect their iden-
tities.
INVESTIGATE ACCIDE
Train quickly for repeat income in the exciting, secure
Claim Investigation and Claim Adjusting field. Our
students and graduates are already earning $6 to $10
an hour SPARE TIME — and up to $10,000 a year Full
Time. You need NO prior experience or higher educa-
tion. And your age does NOT matter.
HERE IS YOUR CHANCE FOR ACTION
AND REAL JOB SECURITY
As a trained Claim Investigator you will (1) INVESTIGATE FACTS and (2)
DISTRIBUTE MONEY as the representative of wealthy organizations.
No other business offers you greater opportunities for success and secur-
ity. Here's why: The huge, rapidly expanding Claim Investigation and
Adjusting Profession right now distributes more money than any other
service industry. And it's growing fast. Over 200 MILLION ACCIDENTS
must be investigated this year for Insurance Com
Steamship Lines, and Government Offices.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
Investigate full time for one company — or open your own business from
your home and earn up to $10 an hour as investigator for many companies. |
NO investment in equipment needed. We show you how. It’s easy! » | UNIVERSAL SCHOOLS
EARN WHILE YOU LEARN
SEND NOW for Big, FREE, illustrated Universal Schools Catalog. We will
show you how simple it is for you to become a fully qualified Claim
Investigator. At home in your leisure you can get know-how that used to take |
years to master. And the cost is low. You may earn while you learn. Many
students have paid for the cost of their training — 3, 4, 5 times over —
No obligation on your part. | Address
fong before graduation. FREE employment help.
No salesman will call. Send coupon TODAY. Gt APPROVED. | City
DALLAS 5, TEXAS |
UNIVERSAL SCHOOLS INC.
panies, Airlines, Railroads,
6801 Hillcrest Avenue
| Dallas 5, Texas
Dept. M-10
——/
| Please rush me your FREE book on Claim Investigation. Th
| obligate me and no salesman will call.
a
Se
is does not
Name
Age
!
l
!
|
|
|
(APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR KOREAN VETERANS) _—f
!
i
t
t
|
|
@
ow
Man Who Murdered For A Hobby
(continued from page 29)
‘*T cut her every way from the top
of her head to the tip of her toes. She
was a gonner. But I wanted to make
«sure I had killed.her. So, then I hit
her with the iron bar on the head until
I had crushed her skull. I pushed the
body into the bushes and took off.”’
‘““What next?’’ the detectives asked
themselves as they listened to the cool
‘recital of the grizzled beast in front of
them.
‘‘There was one before that, > he
continued. ‘‘That was in 1926 in
Hornell, Steuben County, New York.
I was fourteen. She was fifteen.
**1’d met Cynthia Longo at a party
in Hornell. She was my girl friend. But
we had a fight because she went out
with other guys. I read a book on
arsenic poisoning and decided to
poison her, even though I liked her. I
bought some arsenic, ten cents worth,
and stuffed it into cream puffs that
were on the table at a party we went
to. .
‘‘Three girls ate them and they all
got sick. But Cynthia was the sickest.
The others got well. But not Cynthia.
She died, and I was happy.’’
This ended his horror saga. His story
backed his boast that he used anything
he could get his hands on when
compulsion to kill seized him — beer
bottles, knives, iron pipes, chairs,
ropes and poison.
A ¢heck was made with the autho-
rities at Elmira and Hornell. As Wood
related, Pearl Robertson, 33, had been
clubbed and stabbed to death in Elmira
in 1933. An autopsy revealed 142 knife
slashes on her mutilated body. Wood,
the records disclosed, had been
questionned in the case, but not
detained. The murder had long since
been written off as ‘‘unsolved’’.
The death records at Hornell
revealed that Cynthia Longo’s death
had been laid to dilation of the heart
caused by excessive vomiting, and no
criminal angle had been suspected.
Strangely, county birth records
revealed that she was 22 years old,
instead of 15, as Wood had asserted.
However, the files disclosed that the
murdered girl could have easily passed
for 15 because of her size and imma-
ture appearance.
After his weird confession, the
compulsive killer’s criminal record was
checked. It disclosed that his first |
arrest was in Elmira in 1925 for some
unrecorded juvenile offense. His
second came in 1926. The third, for
drunkenness and incorrigibility, in
1927.. His father, who exerted every
effort to rehabilitate Wood up to his
death in 1952, tried to help his son by
sending him to Binghamton State
Hospital for mental observation. He
was discharged two months later as
normal.
He was arrested later in 1927 for
auto theft and was sentenced to ten
years in reform school. His father,
however, sent. him to a private
institution for wayward boys at Dobbs
Ferry,-N.Y., and the sentence was
suspended. He was at Dobbs Ferry for
a year and a half.
Then when Wood was 18, he held
up a man for 25 cents. For this his
suspended 10-year sentence*was
reinstated and he was sent to Elmira
Reformatory. He was paroled in
March, 1931.
A year later he was returned for
drunkenness and annoying women.
In August, 1933, he was transferred
to Dannemora State Hospital for the
‘ Criminally Insane, then back to Elmira
Reformatory, then paroled again.
In August, 1933, he was picked up
for pestering women and as a parole
violator sent back to prison to finish
out his term. He was released in 1940
after serving full time.
Next came the murder of John
Lowman in 1942, followed by 17 years
in prison, a number of which were
spent in the Dannemora Hospital for
the Criminally Insane. Although the
reports from the psychiatrists were not
favorable to Wood, he was never
declared insane.
When Chief of Police Golden of
Elmira, who knew Wood as a boy,
heard of his confession, he shook his
head and said, ‘‘Nobody ever had a
good word for him. Everybody was
afraid of him, especially women.
“*He was one of the most excessively
polite individuals you could meet. He
was always tipping his hat, even to
», women with whom he was not ac-
quainted. He overdid saying, ‘Yes,
ma’am... no ma’am.’ Women thought
he was effeminate, sneaky, yet for-
ward.”’
When word of Wood’s confession
reached the state house in Albany,
Governor Nelson Rockefeller asked
for a full report on Wood’s parole.
Wood’s hat was apparently some
sort of symbol to the killer when it
was on his head. He told reporters,
“*1’m not claiming I was drunk (when
he killed the two aged men in Astoria).
I remember everything that happened.
When they brought me to Queens
Tuesday night, I resolved to tell the
truth.’’
.When Wood was arraigned on first
degree murder before Magistrate
Bernard Dubin in Queens, Bernard
said, ‘“This man kills as easily as taking
a cup of coffee.”’
During the hearing, Wood told his
court-assigned lawyer, ‘‘Yes — mo-
rally, mentally and spiritually — I
knew what I was doing.’’
‘As the mass killer was led back to
his cell a detective called after him.
‘*Hey, you won’t be able to wear that
hat in the death house.”’
This prophetic sally seemed to
plunge Wood into deep meditation.
But this attitude did not remain with
the multiple murderer long. He proved
to be one of the most enigmatic
characters in criminal history.
Frederick Charles Wood was found
guilty of murder in the first degree,
‘Judge Albert H. Bosch was. on the
bench that Thursday, December 7th,
-1961, when the prisoner came up for
the mandatory sentence of death in n the
electric chair.
Judge Bosch was about to pronoun-
ce a death sentence for the first time.
As would be expected, he was solemn.
In contrast, Fred Wood took the whole
thing lightly. There was a twisted smile
on his face and a mischievous twinkle
on his eyes. He showed less concern
than an ordinary vagrant about to be
sent to the workhouse for 30 days. -~
The judge asked the routine ques-
tion: ‘‘Do you have any legal. cause
_ why sentence should not be passed on
you?”’
The prisoner’s iicted smile gave
way to achuckle. ‘‘Sure thing,’’ Wood
told him. ‘‘I got schizophrenia and I
was wondering if the judge could
prescribe shock treatments for me.’’
He then burst into a loud laugh.
“*T don’t think that’s funny,’’ Judge
Bosch snapped.
Wood just stared at him. Finally he
said, ‘‘I feel sorry for you, Judge.’’
All was quiet as the death sentence
was pronounced. Judge Bosch finished
with, ‘‘May God have mercy on your
soul.”’
: The condemned man looked up at
Bosch and said, ‘‘That’s real sweet of
you, Judge. Thanks a lot.”’
And Frederick Charles Wood stayed
in character until the end. Just a few
moments before he died in the electric
chair at Sing Sing he quipped to the
reporters, ‘‘You are about to witness
the effect of electricity on Wood.” ¥&-
43
by GEORGE LAVORATO
Tver of his 48 years
were spent in prison.
He was the prototype
of the typical Skid Row bum
in appearance, but unlike
most burned out derelicts, he
was a vicious devil guilty of
at least four murders,
numerous sex assaults and
armed robberies. Frederick
Wood was in a class all by
himself when it came to
crime. It can be said, without
exaggeration, that murder
was his hooby.
When Wood committed his last two
murders, for which he was sentenced
to the electric chair, he little thought
he would provoke Sing Sing’s first
massive, although orderly, demons-
tration in almost 150 years.
The protest, which consisted of
almost a 100 per cent cell sit-in on the
part of the convicts, was aimed at a
tightening up on paroles by the New
York State Parole Board. This
crackdown came as a result of an
inquiry ordered by Governor Nelson
Rockefeller into the release of
Frederick Wood from Clinton State
Prison in June, 1960. Wood a month
later killed two elderly men in Astoria,
Queens, New York. This caused a lot
of re-examination of the parole system
in the Empire State and as a result the
board began thinking before granting
paroles.
In New York the parole board has
the right under the law to use its own
discretion on giving time off for good
behavior. Since Wood, a twice
convicted murderer, killed twice-more
after being released, the board has
T \LSTTE
DETTE
‘T TV} at) ; DRA ,
least of allo
THe put no value on ite
on his own...
written off credit time for good
behavior if a prisoner is turned down
for parole at the end of his minimum
sentence. This practice was what the
Sing Sing convicts were demonstrating
against for four days in November
1961, when most of them refused to
_ leave their cells to eat, exercise or work
in the shops. Meals were served to
them in their cells by the kitchen help
and guards, although the food was
much skimpier than it would have been
in the dining room.
The convicts were completely
orderly in their passive resistance and
at no time threatened trouble. Warden
Wilfred Denno, a shrewd psychologist,
made no effort to curb the sit-in,
figuring in its own good time it would
end.
State Correction Commissioner
Paul D. McGinnis addressed the
prisoners over a prison intercommu-
nication system and assured them he
would do what he could to have the
legislature enact.a statute that would
make time off for good behavior a
continuing, mandatory matter. The
cons took this well as they knew the
commissioner had always shot square
with them.
The disruption that whispy, greying
Fred Wood caused had its beginning
in New York City’s Astoria, Queens,
indirectly the day Mrs. Ruth Swenson
met her neighbor, John Kendall in
front of Kendall’s apartment house on
Hoyt Avenue South in Astoria.
The two long-time friends chatted
a while, and then Mrs. Swenson asked,
“‘How are Fred and John doing?”’
‘I bought ten cents worth of
arseni¢ and stuffed it into some
cream puffs,’ the killer calmly
recounted. ‘Three girls got sick,
but my girlfriend got the sickest.
She died and I was happy.’
: ‘
Carefully shackled Frederick
Wood is escorted to his cell
on Sing Sing’s Death Row. _ !
She was referring to Fred Sess, 78,
and John Recigno, 62, World War I
veteran pensioners who shared a two-
bedroom basement apartment in
Kendall’s house.
The landlord thought a moment.
“*Come to think of it,’’ he. said, ‘‘I
can’t remember seeing Fred and John
since Thursday morning.’’ (This
conversation took place at six o’clock
Monday evening, July 4th, 1960).
‘*They both got their army checks in
Thursday’s mail and paid their rent.
That’s the last I saw or thought about
them. Why do you ask? Do you want
them to do some work for you?’’ The
two elderly pensioners did odd jobs
around the neighborhood to enhance
their monthly allotments.
**No, not that,’’ Mrs. Swenson said.
“It’s only that since Saturday I’ve seen
Sess’ bare feet, toes up, on the end of
his bed. He doesn’t seem to have
moved. The shade in his bedroom is
up, but that’s all I can see.’’ Mrs.
Swenson lived in a bungalow directly
behind ‘John Kendall’s modern
apartment house.
MAN WHO
MURDERED
AS A HOBBY
“‘Maybe they started to celebrate the
Fourth early, seeing as how they both
got their checks,’’ Kendall said. ‘‘You
know how they are. Could be that old
Fred is just sleeping it off,’’ he
shrugged.
“For three days yet?’’ Mrs. Swen-.
son questioned. ‘‘That would take a
lot of vino.’’
‘‘Maybe you’ve got something,’’ the
76-year-old landlord said: ‘‘Guess I’d
better go take a look.’”’ He disappeared
down the steps to a door leading to
the basement apartment.
A minute later he was back up, his
benign, lined face chalky white.
“*They’re dead,’’ he quavered. ‘‘I gotta
find a policeman.’’ He half trotted
down Hoyt Street. At 29th Street he
found the beat cop, Patrolman Peter
Dispensa. Panting, Kendall drew up
in front of him.
‘Hurry, Pete,’’ the landlord ex-
claimed. ‘‘Old Fred Sess and John Re-
cigno have been butchered — killed!’’
“‘Butchered?’’ Dispensa gasped.
‘*Where?”’
“In their flat,’’ Kendall managed.
“It’s a regular slaughter house. Blood
all over.’’
“*You sure?’’ Patrolman Dispensa
exclaimed, regarding the landlord
sharply.
“Tm sure,’’ Kendall said, waving
his hands.
‘*Then I’d better call in,’’ the
patrolman said. He walked across the
street to a police department telephone
and rang the Queens Borough station
house. ‘‘Tell Inspector Harry Con-
nor,’’ he told the dispatcher, ‘‘that
there seems to be a double-murder at
John Albert Lowman lies dead
among shards of beer bottle
smashed against his skull.
27-20 Hoyt, basement apartment. Two
old men. Haven’t seen it yet. The
landlord just reported it to me. I’m
on my way there now.’’
When Patrolman Dispensa entered
the smelly, grimy two bedroom
apartment, he was appalled by the
shambles and had not fully recovered
by the time Captain John Thompson,
supervisor of Queens Borough detec-
tives; Detective Sergeant James
Fulton, Queens Homicide Squad com-
mander; Homicide Detective Bill
Butler; Dr. Richard Grimes, Queens
deputy chief medical examiner, and a
team of technicians arrived.
John Recigno’s body lay on the bed
in his room under a pile of clothing.
He had been stripped. Dr. Grimes
quickly determined that his skull had
been fractured, his jugular cut after
being slashed a score of times, and his
body mutilated with a pen knife. A
broken quart beer bottle beside the bed
betold the fatal weapon. Near it lay a
bloody penknife.
coe
Fred Sess’ corpse was clothed in
underwear and was propped up in bed
in his room across the kitchen from
Recigno’s. His skull had been battered
in. His torso and face had also been
slashed, obviously by another shatte-
red quart beer bottle, whose splinters
sprinkled the dirty bed linen. A
furnace stoker shovel had been flung
on a ragged rug. Rust-colored streaks
of dried blood showed that‘it, too, had
been used in the lunatic assault. A
splintered chair lay on its side near
Sess’ bed, indicating that it had also
contributed to the aged man’s horrible
death.
Dr. Grimes pointed out several
monstrous features in the twin attack
and said they indicated that the killer
was plainly a sadistic psychopath.
As Captain Thompson directed the
shakedown of the apartment, Homi-
cide Sergeant Fulton came into
Recigno’s bedroom and handed him
two scraps of paper.
“Found them on the kitchen table,”’
he explained.
Thompson saw they were two notes.
One of them read:
‘How do you like these two mur-
ders? O-O-O! I’m so sorry.”’
The second one, in the same
scrawly, childish handwriting, said:
“‘The people on the parole board
are intel eat.”’
Handling the two slips gingerly so
as not to mar any possible fingerprints,
Thompson studied them intently.
“*T get it,’’ he said a moment later,
intel eat.’ The killer meant ‘intelli-
gent.’ Well, he was crazy enough to
leave us something of a calling card.
It’s apparent that some time or other
he has had something to do with a
(continued on page 26)
um SseTzeuD ¥
ete *TS eqT
J
en
e
MON
f
A.
yto
nd)
3U99
)
Investigators said that it was possible
the killer was no longer in the area
because the crimes had taken place
within a few days or a week of each
other,
But, no such luck. Joliet had
another blockbuster shock in store.
Saturday morning, August 20th,
Marilyn Baers opened her shop on
Cass Street, just outside the east city
limits of Joliet. The 45-year-old
woman had a thriving business in
ceramics. She called her shop, at the
end of a deadend street, ‘‘Greenware
by Merry.”
Her first customers that morning
were 29-year-old Pamela Ryan with
her 75-year-old mother-in-law, Anna
Ryan, and a friend, Barbara Dunbar,
38. They came to the shop to buy some
supplies for ceramics they were making
at home.
Later in the morning a customer
came to the shop and found the front
door open. She walked in to find that
there was no one in the sales room.
She called out to Marilyn, but there
was no answer.
The customer browsed around the
sales room for a few minutes, calling
out several times for the owner, and
then left. When she reached the
highway, she spotted a sheriff’s patrol
car and flagged it down.
Sergeant Gae Luckoski and Deputy
Warren Miller were transporting a
prisoner at the time, but when the
customer voiced her suspicion that
something might be wrong at the
ceramic shop, they stopped to investi-
gate.
Luckoski went into the shop and
then to the back room where there was
a kiln. Elderly Anna Ryan was lying
on the floor, blood seeping from stab
wounds and a bullet wound in her
head.
Drawing his weapon, Luckoski
entered a second back room in the
shop. There were two more bodies.
Both victims had been bound and
gagged before being executed by
gunshot wounds in their heads. They
were Pamela Ryan and Marilyn Baers.
With his weapon ready, Luckoski
opened a door to a restroom. Barbara
Dunbar was in there. She had been
bound and gagged and shot in the
head. a
A call to headquarters brought a
flock of officers who had been
working on the other murders around
Joliet. .
‘‘What kind of a bastard would
cold-bloodedly kill four women after
he had them bound and gagged?” one
investigator asked. ‘
‘‘The same kind of a bastard who
killed those five people out on the road
near Lockport,’’ a deputy answered.
Before the bodies were removed, a
crime lab team began the routine tasks
of taking photos, making diagrams
and collecting possible physical
evidence. ‘
Investigators checked the area for
anyone who might have heard the
shots or had seen anyone around the
place. Because of the shop’s location,
they weren’t able to come up with
anyone who had heard the shots.
Lab technicians reported that they
were unable to locate the purses of the
(continued on page 39)
Man Who Murdered For A Hobby -
(continued from page 23)
parole board. That should mean some
sort of a lead for us.’” He handed the
notes over to the head of the labora-
tory crew.
All night the homicide detectives
and the technical crew went over the
basement apartment, passing up
nothing in that thorough, skillful,
intuitive fashion which has been the
‘ despair of murderers in New York
City. Outside the cryptic notes, no
solid clues were found in the flat.
Detectives questioned all neighbors
during the night and one woman said
that at around midnight Thursday,
June 30th, she had been up ironing
and heard someone fumbling at the
back screen door, which opened on an
alley back of the slain men’s apart-
ment. She called her husband and he
went to the door. A stubble-faced man
in a grease-spotted grey striped suit
and battered fedora hat stood there.
When asked what he wanted, he began
to babble crazily. It was clear that the
stranger was drunk, the housewife
said. Her husband told him to be on
his way and slammed the inner door
of the kitchen. She said the intruder
was between 45 and 50 years old and
about five feet ten inches tall.
This couple were the only neighbors
who had noticed a stranger in the
vicinity during the last five days.
26
Tuesday morning, Detective Bill
Butler, questioning tradesmen in the
area, learned from a bartender at a
saloon at Hoyt and 24th street, that
around midnight the Thursday before,
a stranger dressed in a spotted,
rumpled grey-striped suit and stained
fedora had dropped in and had several
beers.
‘“‘He wanted to talk politics,’’ the
barkeep said, ‘‘so I obliged him.
Business was slow. I spotted a smear
of blood on his hand and asked him
how come. He said he had been in a
fight; and I forgot about it. He left
shortly after. He was a cool one and
did nothing to arouse my suspicions.”
The man the bartender had served
was doubtlessly the same person who
had tried the housewife’s kitchen door.
After Butler reported what he had
learned, Captain Thompson was
convinced that the seedy looking
individual in the disreputable striped
suit and fedora hat was the mad killer.
His conviction was sustained when
post mortems on the two victims
disclosed they had been murdered
sometime after six o’clock Thursday
evening. A quantity of wine was found
in Recigno’s stomach, but Sess had not
been drinking, a chemical analysis
showed. :
As the Queens Homicide Squad
continued its painstaking blood-
hounding in the murder neighborhood
in Astoria, Michael Morgan, news
chief of radio station WELM in
Elmira, N.Y., some 200 air miles
northwest of the Big Town, reported
for work Tuesday morning. His first
task each day was to check the news
service teletypes. As he read the
dispatches, he noticed the story of the
double murder of the two old men in-
New York City. As it had no ostensible
local angle, the item made no great
impression on him at the time and he
temporarily forgot it.
During a lull in activity later in the
morning, however, his subconscious
began to work and the bulletin on the
double murder again came to his mind.
For a few minutes he could not explain
why. Then it struck him. The two old
men so brutally slain in New York City
had been bashed over the head with
beer bottles, brutally slashed time and
again with pieces of glass and a knife.
Back in 1942 a carpenter had been
slain in exactly the same heinous
fashion in Elmira. The killer, one
Frederick Wood, had been paroled on
June 7th from Clinton State Prison at
Dannemora after serving 17 years of
a 20-to-life sentence. Morgan im-
mediately went to the station library
and called for files on the 1942
homicide.
The murder victim was John Albert °
(continued on next page) .-
Lowman, 42. He had been found
under a convertible bed in a room
occupied by a girl in her mid-twenties
in an East Church Street lodging
house. All evidence pointed conclusi-
vely to the fact that Lowman had been
killed in the room, on a Saturday night
in October, some 36 hours before his
corpse had been found. His skull had
been battered in, his lung pierced by a
shard of glass from a broken beer
bottle, and his jugular vein slashed.
Pieces of the quart beer bottle, with
the exception of the jagged neck, were
found in the room. The neck appa-
rently had been used to cut the jugular
vein and had been carried away by the
killer, who apparently was aware his
fingerprints were on it.
The girl who rented the room
proved that she had been visiting her
parents at a farm outside of Elmira
from Friday until early Sunday night.
She had gone out on a date on
returning to Elmira, she said, and had
tumbled into bed, under which the
’ corpse was lying, early Monday
morning.
When she arose Monday morning
to go to work, she hysterically reported
to police that she had seen blood on
the rug, followed its trail and saw the
foot of a man sticking out from
underneath the convertible.
The room was given a thorough
going over and several sets of finger-
prints found. In an empty wastebasket
detectives discovered a cigarette butt
stained with a speck of blood.
The girl denied knowing the mur-
dered man and told the detectives she
had no idea how anyone had entered
her room. She named the man she had
been out with Sunday night during the
hours the murder had been perpe-
trated. The man was questioned and
verified her statement.
Specimens of the victim’s blood and
the cigarette with the bloodstain were
sent to the FBI laboratory in Washing-
ton, D.C. for analyses.
In their efforts to trace Lowman’s
whereabouts the day of the murder,
detectives discovered he had been
drinking at a bar with a young man
called ‘‘Freddy,’’ on Sunday evening:
several hours before the autopsy-set
time for Lowman’s death. ;
The girl’s landlady was questioned
thoroughly. She said that at the time
the murder had been committed she
and her three other lodgers had been
at the movies and the house was
deserted. This explained why no one
had heard the noise which must have
accompanied the killing. The lodging
house owner also said that several
times she had heard a man in the girl’s
room, and once had heard her call him
_ **Freddy.”’
Police ‘chief at the time was Elvin
Weaver, and, on putting the barten-
der’s and the landlady’s intelligence
together, he was convinced the man
he wanted to talk to was ‘‘Freddy.”’
The only Freddy he knew was Frede-
rick Wood, a social misfit who had
been in a perpetual jam with the law
since he was 13 years old. Wood lived
with his parents, a highly respectable
couple, on Thompson Street, a proper
thoroughfare in a correct residential
area of the town. Wood’s father and
mother had exhausted their resources
trying to set the incorrigible straight,
but to no avail. Lawlessness apparently
was in his genes.
Weaver sent two of his best men out
to the Woods home to question
Freddy. The detectives found that he
was not in. He was in the local jail!
Late Sunday night he had returned
home with a girl and demanded
money. When his parents saw he had
been drinking, they refused to give him
any. He went into the kitchen and
returned brandishing a butcher knife.
His terrified mother screamed and a
neighbor hearing her shrieks had called
the police. Two patrolmen arrived
shortly and took him to jail. The next
morning — the day John Lowman’s
corpse was discovered — Woods was
given eight days in jail for disturbance.
When the two sleuths heard the
name of the girl with young Woods at
the time, they rushed back to Police
Chief Weaver. It was the young
woman who rented the room where
the battered corpse had been found.
She was called in, as was the young
man who had testified that he had had
a date with her at the time Wood’s
parent said she was with their son. .
The girl’s date quickly confessed he
had falsified the story of the date at
the girl’s request. When confronted
with this, all she could moan at first
was, ‘‘He’ll kill me... he’ll kill me! He
told me he would if I told on him.’”
The girl was finally prevailed upon
to tell her story. She said she had
returned home Sunday and had met
Wood before going to her room.
Weeks before, she had given him a key
to the quarters. When she went up to
the room with him later that night. he
pulled the convertible bed out and
showed her the body of John Albert
Lowman. He had vowed he’d kill her
if she didn’t go through with a plan
he had devised. In terror, she had
agreed, and had sat up all Sunday
night, not daring to sleep on the bed
underneath which a corpse lay.
When asked if Wood had given her
any motive for the vicious murder, she
said that she had dated Lowman
several times and Wood had told her
he was jealous of the fellow. The
killing had apparently been one of
revenge.
Chief Weaver decided to say
nothing about the girl’s story for
several days. At the same time he saw
to it that Wood got plenty of cigarettes
in jail. His discarded butts were
harbored and followed the stub found
in the waste-basket in the murder room
down to the FBI crime lab in the
nation’s capital. :
The one obstacle in the path of ©
Wood’s conviction was the coroner’s
estimate of the time at which Lowman
had been killed. According to his
findings, the victim had died while
Wood was in jail. However, the
coroner admitted, and the police
knew, that the time of death cannot
be set within three or four hours after
a period of a day and a half had
passed. And those three or four hours
were the necessary difference.
When a report was received from
the FBI in Washington, Chief Weaver
took his first step toward breaking the
case. He and several detectives called
the suspect into the interrogation
room.
“Such an honor to be entertained
by such big brass,’’ Wood said
insolently as he entered the office.
‘“*Going to send me to the chair
because I had a hassle with my folks?’’
“Not for that,’’? Weaver said, con-
taining himself, ‘‘for murder.”’
“So,”? Wood smirked, ‘‘who am I
supposed to have done in?”’
“John Lowman!”’ Weaver snapped.
“Sometime between seven and ten last
Saturday night in your girl friend’s
room.”’
“‘Strange,’’ the prisoner said sar-
donically, ‘‘but I was in jail at that
time.”’ ,
“No, you weren’t. Not until after
ten,’’ the chief said.
**You can’t prove I was in her
room,’’ Wood said.
“Oh, yes, we can,’’ Weaver said.
‘Ever hear of the Niki test?’’
Wood’s cockiness slumped some-
what. He stared at the chief and the
detectives.
‘‘With the Niki test,’’ Weaver
continued, ‘‘it’s possible to prove
(continued on next page)
27
Man Who Murdered For A Hobby
(continued from page 27)
many things. Everyone’s saliva 1s
different when analyzed under the
microscope and chemically tested.
We've collected some of your cigarette
butts since you’ve been here. Also we
found one which you carelessly left in
your girl’s room at the time of the
murder. We sent them all to a Niki
expert — the FBI. Their report said
that the saliva on your jail butts and
the cigarette stub found in your girl’s
room are the same. Which proves you,
were in her room.”’
“<Of course, I have been in her
room,’’ Wood said defiantly. ‘‘I left
the butt behind then, and you can’t
prove otherwise.”’
“You know about blood types,”’ the
chief said. ‘‘Well, on that cigarette
stub was a fleck of blood. Lowman’s
blood, your saliva. Now how does that
strike you, young fella?”’
“Get me a lawyer,’ Wood mumbled,
all the self-assurance drained out of
him. : :
On March 13, 1943, he was convict-
ed of murder in the second degree and
sentenced by Chemung County Judge
Betram L. Newman to from 20 years
to life in the penitentiary. In passing
sentence, the judge recommended that
the vicious killer serve the maximum
sentence for the ‘‘protection of
society.”
Before the trial, the girl in the case
went temporaily insane and was
committed to a.state hospital. Several
years later, however, she recovered.
As he read the record of Frederick
Wood, the WELM news director grew
more convinced that the unknown
killer of the two aged pensioners in
Astoria Queens, was Wood. He
recalled that when word of Wood’s
pending parole reached Elmira in May,
1960, the entire city seemed to rise in
arms against his being turned loose
again on society.
Bitter protests against his parole
were made to New York State Parole
Board Chairman Russell G. Oswald by
virtually all of Elmira’s officials.
Among those opposing the con-
templated release were the judge who
had sentenced him and advised life
imprisonment, Betram L. Newman,
who since 1943 had risen to Appellate
Division Justice and was retired; State
Supreme Court Justice Walter B.
Reynolds, who was prosecuting
attorney at Wood’s trial; District
Attorney Paul McCabe, and Elmira
Chief of Police Eugene Golden.
28
Golden had known Wood since
childhood and had gone to school with
him, until the latter was transferred
to reform school at the age of 16.
Golden said, ‘‘If Wood comes back
to society, there will be more mur-
ders.”’
Members of the State Parole Board
did not agree. They said Wood’s
“prison record was outstanding. After
17 years in jail, he did not commit a
single infraction of the rules.’’ They
also claimed he appeared to have
“‘adjusted himself to society.”’
Before Wood was released on June
7th, 1960, the parole board assured
District Attorney McCabe of Elmira
that Wood would be under the strictest
supervision and would not be returned
to Elmira because of the protests of
the citizens there.
When Wood was freed from Dan-
nemora, he went to work as a clothes
presser in a laundry in Albany, N.Y.
That was where he was supposed to
be at the time of the twin murders in
Queens.
As radio newsman Morgan finished °
reading the station’s files on Wood his
mind was made up. He immediately
telephoned the radio news desk of the
Associated Press in New York City
and gave voice to his suspicions. He
suggested that New York pass the
word on to the proper authorities.
The news desk agreed and called
Chief of Detectives James B. Leggett
at Centre Street Headquarters and
relayed Morgan’s hunch. The head of
the New York City detectives was
impressed with the information and
phoned Deputy Inspector Connor, the
Queens detective boss in charge of the
Astoria murders.
Connor called in Captain Thompson
and Lieutenant Joe McCormack,
commander of the 114th Street
Detective Squad. ‘‘This may be it,’’
the inspector said, as the three set off
for the Manhattan office of the New
York State Parole Board.
There a check was made in their
request on the whereabouts and
activities of Frederick Wood of
Elmira. Minutes later a parole board
official found that Wood, after
working as a presser in Albany for
three weeks, had skipped out of town.
Elmira’s parole supervisor, George
Gould, had launched a search for him
and traced him to New York City.
Gould, learning that Wood was on a
drinking bout, had gone immediately
to the Big Town’s skid row, the
Bowery, and on Sunday had ferreted
him out at a flop house there, snapped
the cuffs on and had him jailed at the
Tombs. oe ae
“‘He’s still there,” the parole board
aide said.
Late that afternoon, Tuesday, July
Sth, Sergeant Fulton and Detectives
Butler, O’Brien and Ottens went to the
Tombs, picked up Wood with the
parole board’s permission, brought
him to the Astoria station house and
put him on the grill. The questioning
went on until 3:45 Wednesday mor-
ning. The results left the interrogating
officers flabbergasted.
When Connor and Thompson began
to question Wood they had to ask him
several times to remove the sorry
fedora hat he kept putting back on his
head.
Wood said, ‘‘I like this bonnet. I
bought it when I got out of Danne-
mora. You don’t get a change to wear
a hat on the inside. I like to wear it
and I like to tip it.”’ ee
The detectives quickly noted that
when the hat was on his hnedd,| Wood
was talkative. When it was off, he
clammed up. As a result, they Jet him
wear it throughout the cuesohing
After a half-hour of denyihg any
connection with the murder of the two
World War I pensioners, the shifty-
eyed, stubble-faced, sunken-cheeked
criminal compressed his shoulders in
a gesture of resignation, and said, in
an even, dispassionate voice, ‘‘Okay,
okay, you’re nice guys. I’ll make it
easy.’’ He then launched into a story
of inhuman violence and evil that had
even the veteran police aghast.
“I’m at the end of my string,’’ the
ineffable creature said. ‘‘} might as
well tell you everything. I know I’m
going to the electric chair.’’ He spoke
so rapidly, that the police stenographer
at times had to ask him to slow up.
. “I met Recigno in Times Square
Thursday afternoon. I had been
panhandling in Greenwich Village and
Times Square since I arrived in town
on a bus from Albany. I braced
Recigno for two-bits. He gave it to me
and we got friendly: He bought a
bottle of wine. After a few drinks we
took the subway to Union Square,
polished the bottle off and then bought
another. Next, he invited me to his
place and we took a subway to Astoria.
“It was around dusk. This Fred Less
was asleep in his room. But I didn’t
know it then. We continued to drink.
(continued on next page)
iach
Finally we got soused and Recigno
made some dirty advances to me. That
sealed his fate.
“He then went to bed. As he lay
there I got the idea I ought to kill him.
I took a beer bottle and smashed his
skull while he was lying in bed. He
opened his eyes and stared at me. But
there was no fight in him. He gave me
no argument. I hit him again. The
bottle broke in my hand.
“‘Then I hacked away with the
broken glass in his jugular vein. I just
hacked and hacked until I’d cut his
neck and made sure he’d bleed to
death. When he was dead, I took my
penknife and chopped up his body.
“After this I looked into the other
room. Sess was sleeping all the while.
I didn’t know he was in there. I went
into his bedroom and took an iron coal
shovel and cracked him over the head
with it. He never woke up, never even
budged.
“Then I smashed a beer bottle on
his head. The bottle broke in my hands
again. After that I took a chair and
whacked him over the head. until he
was dead.
“It was dark then. I walked around
the apartment. I was confused. I had
a hard time getting out of the joint. I
took three dollars and some change
out of Recigno’s pockets, then I finally
found my way and went to a corner
ginmill for a couple of beers. After-
ward I took the subway down to the
Bowery where I had a flop.
“The next day I needed more wine.
I needed money. I thought of mugging
somebody and I went back to Astoria.
I got an iron bar and went around
looking to roll somebody. I had a flute
of wine in my pocket and as I looked
around I took a sip now and then.”’
He then went on to relate how he
followed two women, but gave them
. up, and eventually crawled into a junk
yard and fell asleep, awakening the
next morning. .
Hardly pausing for breath, Wood
said, ‘‘So I killed those two bums in
Astoria. And I also killed a few other
people. It didn’t matter to me, just so
long as I could kill.I’d use anything I
could get my hands on to do it just so
long as I could kill.’’ At this point his
voice took on a boastful note.
He then related how he had invited
John Albert Lowman up to his girl
friend’s room on October 10th, 1942,
- and murdered him when he made an
“Gnsulting remark about her picture.”
“*] hit him on the head with a beer
bottle,’’ Wood recited in a monotone.
‘He fell down. I stomped on his head.
Then I cut him up with my knife.”
ocoeneanemanneaineaeniaemaeaataeaenanaasttoaraiatiatia catia dtaatitneeasemnannenenaitiaianeaititininnieabtininn nana
He paused, then said, ‘‘Now let me
tell you about the dame I killed.”” The
listening detectives’ eyes opened wid-
er. ‘‘It was 27 years ago tomorrow,
July 6th, 1933, in Southport, an El-
mira suburb, on Hazel Street.
“T got a knife and a rope that night
and went out looking to do somebody
in. I was sore at women because a
prostitute had given me venereal
disease. I had to get revenge.
“Il saw three dames walking on
the street. I followed them, but they
walked too fast. Then I walked to the
end of the Broadway trolley line and
saw this Mrs. Robinson — I never saw
her before in my life and learned her
name from the newspapers the next
day — getting off a street car. I
followed her for three blocks.
‘*} sneaked up on her and got the
rope around her neck and stabbed her
and stabbed her. I don’t know how
many times. I just kept stabbing away.
(continued on page 43)
Case Of The Killer Massage Girl
(continued from page 21)
twenties, wearing slacks and a dark
maroon blouse.
The description matched the vo-
luptuous blonde seen sitting in the
hotel bar late Thursday evening. The
bartender said the woman later struck
up a conversation with one of the
patrons and the two left together at
around 10:0’clock. Shown a picture
of Hardung, the barkeep was unable
to identify him as the man seen leaving
with the woman. '
The murder of the Palm Springs
man was the eighth Las Vegas slaying
that month and the third in four days.
On Tuesday, police found the body
of a Sterline, Michigan, man in the
desert near Centennial Street and
Jones Boulevard. The back of his head
had been blown away by a shotgun
and his body was dumped in the
desert, still dressed in his jogging suit.
Two days later a 48-year-old woman
was found shot to death in her
Crawford Street apartment. There
were no suspects in the murders, which
didn’t appear to be related to the
Tropicana slaying.
The detectives worked the case, off
and on, through the hot summer but
were unable to turn up a suspect or
other robberies that fitted the modus
operandi of the slaying that newspaper
tagged the ‘‘Pillow Case Murder.”’
Then on September 27th, police
were called to the Las Vegas Hilton
to investigate another shooting. A
tourist had checked into the hotel in
the afternoon and returned to the
room that evening, with a hooker he
met on the Strip.
“‘T started taking my clothes off
when I looked up and saw the broad
had a gun in her hand,”’ he told police.
The gun roared and the slug grazed
his skull and fragmented, leaving him
with a terrible headache but very much
alive. Before a second shot was fired,
he pushed her to the bed and beat her
hard enough to put her out.
The prostitute was taken to Las
Vegas Memorial Hospital where she
was treated for heroin withdrawal and
for injuries suffered in the beating at
the hotel.
The girl, however, told police a
different story. She said she had gone
to the hotel room to give a massage
when the man pushed her to the bed
and began to beat her. She said she
“managed to break free and pulled a
small automatic from her purse. “‘I
told him to stop or I would shoot,”’
the hooker maintained. ‘‘But he put
his head down and charged me like a
bull. That’s when I shot him.”
Police didn’t buy the explanation
and held her on charges in connection
with the shooting. Because of her
injuries, she was allowed to stay in the
hospital ward.
The following day, Detective Chuck
Lee went to the hospital to question
the hooker about the murder of
Thomas Hardung. The m.o. in the two
shootings fit and the Las Vegas Hilton
was only a short walk from the
Tropicana.
But Lee didn’t get a chance to
question the hooker. Just hours
earlier, she had obtained clothing from
another patient and slipped past
security and out of the hospital.
The woman had given her name as
Maggie Fiske, 29, of the Terrace
Gardens apartments, Las Vegas. The
name was phoney, as was the address.
Police issued a circular on the fugitive
to vice officers and patrol officers
describing the woman as in her late
twenties, 5-foot-7, 125 pounds with
shoulder-length blonde hair and brown
eyes. It was noted on the circular that
the woman was wanted in connection
with the shooting at the Las Vegas
Hilton and was a suspect in the murder
(continued on next page)
29
nife with the initials
ia the handle ; a rubber comb ; a silver
about forty trunk door keys; @
yer; a sponge ; read, needles ; a,
of epetm candle ; aroll of amali
cstecpphpsiage bch marae
| Sinnally Tae oe ined |
n ofa knife with which he sawed bis |
| Bjackles nearly off. (He kept chained
most of the ime.) His. ir plan
Rwtetcadaic edies aa
Sheriff was absdht. The plan was that w
the Sheriff 's son came intg the jail to give the ’
|| prisoners their supper, Wikon, was to kill him, La
| gad thea by dragging bis body to thedoorand ?
sticking his band through (be diamond shaped ha
| opening, to give thesignal, and the door would | ,
hese aanapasbans Wilson, and the
This:
Val s-eseoh apie ep. The Sheriff |
‘Lapem dearning it weat into the jail cod ds |
| mande@ of Wilson the knife with which be had | °° 7.
} sewed binwbacklen He denied having any |
| knife, and was very insolept, whon the Sheriff |
selged bim by the (nroat hod eboked him un-
ti] hg Was blaek ite the face. “He thea gave up |
the/Knife, and that plan was fustrated. Since |
‘be has often sald that he would never'|
nis rethh
rhe sourderer was tried at the O shat bile
# Livingston ole se Tecedape. Hos.
i ancheoy ‘Dera
Dec en BER z 3, o>
page Xp Ce te ky 5,4
> WILSON, William ...
—_. (Mot-confirgeds)
| “On-Friday-last in the
eder.-was- committed b
town of Walkill a most horrid muye
d-by William Wilson on the body of Mr, |
Malcolm.Duffy.. It appears that for some slight provocae
tion: Wilson had contracted a most inveterate hatred for
Duffy, who having occasion to 60 with a wagon to the house
of Wilson and being about to retire
when Duffy turning partly around, received the contents of
Wilson's musket, (which was charged with shot), in his |
breast, neck and face, which terminated his existence | 4
_ immediately. Wilson is committed to Kingston Gaol and —
will doubtless receive the reward due the author of so
detestable an action." THE NEW YORK JOURNAL & PATRIOTIC
ws ‘\son
e Wilson called to him,
REGISTER, New York, NY, August 18, 1792.
learn from Kingston in Ulster County that sentence of
aceon was last week’ passed upon William Wilson for the
Walkil/ Comerery Association buried reyster *
—Withon. 2/ Seotember 17.92
veneer Lay tae beand
ee te Visit eae os
time aad curetuiiy
sork and want, of
ready Us Tepert ar
eroe bowrd of cindy
unl vonferetier
mference edueition
wasens, Hot to
ttors. i
in fitting w spits
the depurince af
iyo a@ fitting tribie.
ees fu bela op
_ SESSLUN,
—
En
y\
\
of the American
Honor,
a. fioan | ce
¢ fiu | \% “| 4 }
Ji! j { sacted atthe Session
i wt
ho Next sevaton
at Satatega.
Vfrom Thome Cou. !
SY UWvited all ung.
mircth af the Agnor
> Seis Tp NR a cu ae |
endy an if the gros
than, Des
a
: P pat
Vac of Detective Harvey's As-| ji
owutk awed
' omf j tae ok baa
i sallants Still at Large. | ldive been seine ty every: tee wb] ime and
| pec gens a& huts. | ote. Dah nog
f Pt Weel bes Ween lieve. ly ™ where
i '*. Tg ! i ! Aupead es “i
i i ‘ ' Vartan. Sevemal false: aheny signe ant
This QUESTION (if GUILT mts che Coated Po i apile viele bey
i seeesloiae iby petauwis Who Were ase iy: iNey lad
4 Seo dhe witha man, iar: , CVOEy nee
‘Many People Doubt That ‘George H. * prowl’ to bw 's. Woreic cies re
me offferm. ‘Mete are Vier Mok
| Barnes” Fleed the Fatal Shot But,
! 1 Shar be aman bas woe dos oa all,
; Others are Sure That He Did.i tu ain Riding: Die. sii: ite ce
| Deteurive Harve: 'S Funeral. wane Cricnd’s provant ni
: (ewe ke om an in iy trop
Pwo iupetaat quem oos ace now Para Ceoviany phe tte miele pay vatoby
Ueot an the dorassus over the tragedy yturel phan Chief of we Moire TE
Weed robtat the patice force of 4 brave) Wifgar. Wien Koon my ee a ee
eller aad myde vue of gu men a mur: pa irra Pei. yy :
depen, » Lyon
id the maa, “Cieutge AL Barms," | “Any powe, Oblef wae gy
Who is gene under anvent, fice tae fetal} “Noo I Wid Thm soo icc rucet ts
sine? Sto tell yen," was the aay.
: . i Nothir r Ot ae ory a bs
Where te this nad’. “pal whe estes Nerhimg hae been tooo rmothte
Ur oing cinioead #7
“No, iret Lowi we oy {owe oh
tei, jist gy salbety the .
Ty You doatt thts
yell the sh»:
efer chy foul aisles was comuttteel?
j N her of those
t ;
PASKO at the time of ghe present wr ayy 4
STMT SOs cginertas |
iN
Alleged Elopement of Cor
Bolion and Max M’Kinne
i
ae
te nt ae fj oN
A SYRACUSE GPERA SINGER
ze 2737 Learned
Miss Bolton is ct [his City ane aly
MKinney of Kuuhester Kaiative .. stun ,
‘ ere ;
Deny -the Stary sod ANega Spie. 7)
Aue article in THI, fae fe go bie oy gs Meath
intercsting ews p, iGahe people fa ef, : >
aber P ‘ 8 ‘ Poe PES
CUS Was given spices i thee Pils sbiskigtiee
Uliow and Ades rice Yortoudiys fe reg anc’
Me giore interosic.: fp mo the fae “ weiner ye E
the: young bast Whe ruroe ge pvt OES Prop oti )
Iv in the aMeir ¢. 4 MyYraecusci y ‘a Paty sheers ;
ettenusive as Peabo Ce, The art . :
Main: 7 ryry .
Mas MeRamne.. ets beuker ands
hoober of titis air, tind Mixes Ieten 3? Alba Teer
eM eMbie sleotie singer With: nis
odbaye Tevet ited, .! All tetas
thoi# What Masts frietuds y thee
Wet They seers te knew all abut i@ MM. enna »
‘ted<ina PN ES yatta mat 2S) veers
oot jagger igh tla Pedi akg Maybe diptee \It )N KO} A
af -
vob about tuwt as
fortune, Tie is cece
” of ule a
Satta
Retner pose
ACCC
Flivoma 385 «
alobaele ber fejemds goed fis Yur
atteruoni, ; , Liwks aud A a
OMe toch aes ietends Gute his Asees and LL a
eoufdenos and ted te That the Gg _ Eeieurettons p
na 1 ver Titueu,
Wan all the World ty Ihe x SS) Leig experte
he coubl mot live wicvet her. Pleo. aan oo t
Wbited two tiekers ot bhoaead Where Campion
thaet tie aand Maes is te ‘
ik op tt Tatoos! ! .
too wef om j Cusblersof
we : j tert of atest
Bolbow'’s fhamitlys 5
Mae With watinfactory ae couve rz ath ‘
ue, s vf Now | awers, “Dave are, of aurea many “Well ghere are oer ON bays
c their elsuth rogue | a ek Pee ae. Hove enn ro phe effaet ebas oo. cia here
te mee: with then | oO bie “us theo afloat, bur all wi OEE the shoud,” |
hook. De letting | a) gmaiat, prado weal, thst thee vai he | aun,” courted ‘
WW The Anaweuana! | Sar¥e fe inoriaee che doy tery tad athe sme af the papers say |
eMeuithel oye j the eosimacnu all cho more per: ted baogiar toobs of beim j
Mev emt iin te i mtosting, Nu happesing in Mie ire of, Pat is Wot gu."
rare ai bovscers | Syouenuse taopeuy oye } betel Miett the Chieg Prese
allb-ers, } Oyi ii pey Year tia i bho tae d with biotures of the bins
ad Ooaneil was [<0 womont an interes or so widesutet | were taken yesterdav ry
VE poten | Mebirrstion, AT! day yostentey ane 2 OWES escortel to the ph
Hall by Coan | to has night here was a lange eraag oof PF S. Ryder by Dyer .
Mae tieeg eter | otesMe rhe : orth, wT attis ogy : roppard and Depic so aA
tee sf od. , oy fey Tee seer age ast che. hustlod into at le: ut
ww be che looked, By iS her Station, aud the puarhs
anon warn of, iN OWas decor lal more ay jou Uriven to othe goilery oy.
Pe Kay geek | pe otbeseteved: evry vera ef a ettecr Tere Burnes
tag eatin Un bine sf ices Was Leokaal Mpon as steps obstinate aad when opt:
slid: "Whe ancane |! we! oxroat laper Obst fhe comers refused ty te
. a gage | WOED eo enya bso that i naren urate pee
WoO oats ; ro) (ie thins is certain, the police wre sag. ballin he Twist Wits
SUR ad ond iMied thot dhe aan, now taki lide etsy a aad under Ms) persn.
So TOETR, shogye | Bebid (he burs ef one of Chied Wr Les; * wuusented to have
en lors gt Privates edn thts Ou who coded Derg P ited on cardhnari.
At te sey aay tice | ave i ey's life by sealing a taller | een ieee und then ii
Pe Se rntedae | OPES hrowgh bis besoin Nor is tig: mck t 'y — Ane A ae
OE voit peewee | UE Mlen without fouudation. biek? Mas) ro rye. areal ! - 4 utanes rt
Palen iaeg gage | eee the colored man whe wes tiret in| es “Paws a ri b. ~ a = _
i? Hy ’ tie chawe after the yin whe perpeterted ae mun ow M ville eof gece be ue Ven
ot. a a | the cine, ie vary POS ive that “the teat ? thoan otheer on eget oi. ot Hout
tP..3 PEE tp, the derby hint,” as the one were ane | Barnes was pitshed thrench the erowe
fois On Drrsveetae- filer arrest in described, was thy. une whe | atl agen plitcod behind tle Beate ; i
‘ Boormtn Pused the revulyver Vhie statement ix toot | Nithough this Drees of itcutition tion
Vin, 241, | Withont corroboration. Mo Jervis ; D Was not pleasing to Bares. he showed |
: Was Wiae, | did uot see the imurder, bat. « my tn iH effeats or his ty \
wien be TENS running over the Warren atrent bridge Piel ia a cell He i:
hl cad is positive that the pistols he. Petinings that) evolness, hi
beth im hin hand owas sanekine. nef | Weutshed his conduct ever sir
Wright is alse authori Y for the state. | Le is an Hiveterite: smoky ale sureties, H
hieut that (here are. se veral other atlidae seblou being Without om tomonth |
jp vits in his possession, whieb aiien posie) When taterviowed yester. eS
tively thot the iman uuder arrest is tue) el seme WUxICtY Aa to wha Lie Hews
uno who did the shooting. Pipers were saving abou: ham, bat ores |
I,
Doodine
CVEDE Str troy
ISO Weithour che
Yootte year Missy
evblent ty your
ton he assauned bis
ou oplins were
uP of our adimja-
Lo purpese to felt
clo We have sips
us tilboing faces:
"at folhowinige year
ma Dane Seo, IST,
We fost 457 mer.
eX months, or fem
te Jina » See,
% Ta dhe phted sx
OO, TSO, Taw
+ least 93 Hr tm,
US fo stop the de
UZ sttecee, Daring
or fren Doocay-
2 TSE yy. have
' heities oat made np
rand Conall turin
hay sh Pel am ine
OOM over our last
t.
tmhander elosed | his
S that the urder wae
On Tie post but, fey
THOKe Vesploident hry:
order, ms
Cirnnd Noe fairy was
tuberstity at the sexe
'D and duly SAL Dsus,
f 127.
teand Treasarer Was
; Cash en hand.
eee
i
~ ! » n? t33 oe .
hie other corroboration of this claim ! ay to tell bir gegen “—o . hi. nc Pin
‘ 1 nee ‘ - tohis nietnre
Was brovcht out prominently by the an-j ' _ ian i. _ ae lk aes =
7 i be ws its hee ‘
ee A Wet ee he eee Laster oe hee te en ES Ui
her C) R. Roberts, Police Surgeon D. M5 care Me Ne is Canily kis of - 7
Totnian snd Deo MeLenry comluctod the | Test. Se for aw the otlisrs kisevt Auer
poxt Cxaiuination Pfroquent visits to his i Barnes slept
¥ , : iG
Ihortems
wed oshrowest
ral
tlie
an is emu only be
at he i af
resus
ising paper
iopen ws
ft is known that Barnes was) Hope do net spend: ou “jobs whit
vn the rieht side oof Detective ELarver as | would not offer a hetter reticent Vinay
they cume doesn Water street, and. it is | those opernted in this er durins :
urgned hy these whe believe ju Barges’ | past few manths ood by the gaoe ef
cuit. that if the other man had tired the | \
shot the bullet would have entered the! Barnes refuses fo say anything
lefr ove. i himself and seems contene to let niatters
One other chlag is leourht forward FE tule auy course they will,
these poople sulslaurtation of thee | The funeral of the unfortonate otfiere
beltaf fa the peiverer’s gull. ‘The battes
fvole taovhe qadeamiate offivar’s hoard by
yak oto te plaioty pat aeathe by a bulles
of Peertbre Wey ‘ath Barnes
+h
Cie
te
an
eon Cerbou street at DSO) oehock
from St, John the Baptists ehureh oar
TO oelowk. Lhe pedtes departmenr will
i
4
i
head in his possesion a -akbre povol- i send offerings of tlawers, and ns Many
ver, Te owas fully beaded, rafof the members of the departnient as
AN it dasd as pate phat it owas aot lean be specced Poon iaty will attend pte
so Man stia.
Metingves’s ait. weoWth Seats
Postreen Es chosead ged Tf Ueaeaeds ar
Pepedis. Pye. Mhudy infers
reporter this noes that Mocx called h i.
Pair . | Ths f'
house lasi uight with a lade in Ao.ur £ pert an(
He stared bar a thoes ned | Ps
reentering the carriage st awar fio Ra S$ Onendi
sary pues ao ae Miah. a Estates sett:
: eth ton . . on eyed tight He | yoeted, esam!n
landlady sated OW ell, {Nel VOU ever W ts, netions @ specia
Mr. MeiWinney sent his torher of .. a
Vacution only fast week. Phe aage iteui | "pe oxonn,
that le was going ta very bee So fue} .
hos gone away with aeni ty viel! Wer! .
: ; | ‘ :
Pye Knowg bia for years wtb hie has | aartered 4
plein a Sowihi tev! ) 211 300
Arial ea ar . etncipally Inv
“Mr. Taker could not te found Chin | and P
erring. bet represents: soa etme Interest Pa
iyo declined te sas must ned irl thee voun PER
‘ execute uehkmowtaice thar Miss erates 1
: ; os Rega 1
Bolten beet lef rhe On pas be
An Assovintad Prose tisoutel ee wivend ! Ugarilaus, Tr
{Which Barnes is uadoubtedly a menber. i
Abn |
fired, adr is chen thar rhe man waalhd | frucral, Chief Writ peeeived ales
fave tad) Cine to reload $ owhite cart vi) ase from Chie€ Cleary of Rochester fase.
me oor while he was hiPay usder the , eveuina, saying that tamsete gust eight
members of the
hawever. dx fookel upon as poe) ety will be here 1
Wier de got teak ther, probable
wins ) trou the Anbkarn
be here te pity ths
ory ofa bray
The In pacer 9
‘he -
Moop oan Teck «root
This,
brynetietds by ries
Cre petor havo eaueure! the gaan
telly puiliy the manler of Pots
Hhvevny. Miey soy dat it w mad be ate.
Moe ampersiide far Garis rc
rend Ne funerod, tt
fo opepresenta n
cebee departnicnut will
tribute to the amen:
~ pla
*
th,
fo have
Pwlil be helt this morning from his hore,
' sened |
hootives foree of tine.
}
{
‘
last evening anuounedd thi SAVERS po teaats aeratoinied te
in fewe “30 ‘Dia Daux oa sat:
in fe wer words, ; t make devoalt
Che yous ddys tans is that Pl ge fhe President
Roltou. aa the articde teads, but Coy) PO in atteudane
. | Shy destred tut
2, 3y. . - is 06 ae ee Pm
Buir She bh > broom n , Lane open c
he Baker Opera Canynrniy ' ' Saturday even!
her stster beitus in ie asi her, :
They have rer Wty aparece mil
CUP Brothe ok tres ti tte yeep oe 0) ULL ae %. Ai
me " ° oo ian oasK B. in
ure considered quite handsome, They :
tik. tee i! Mite weweniel 14 gee
4 1. Pak eee eee er , harles oo Wl
hay WOSMOR i char USO sities Srenels Cae
Phey freee been With the ba fem 4. Ws
Cogan fs ep fer tried ih Dow
i paay iu Rochest Usdeoran'M Aare
Pitst. ; nl Woiitaie 2) Dean]
A relative of Cors Botton vies in dete. |
water over Nuadey visiteas hoe untied cance.
tamily. He has returned Lost evening ‘RAR S¥ Kau
Te deelarest the Vote be a sete nf ope A
Peemeoeterd by or anens bs roof tie bf... ‘APueC James d
TOON E ata Nt Te deelarad cor 4
present with Mr M Winey stad 3 imNCUKA
Baltom at the tite on Shitt es i 1
heard the conversation te Yoo bag —— an :
fee Pat ates Nias OM eae | FOr ee
: i Lf EO a nee natn i cnet le fe ee
be Debt tomorrow {
i?
WILSON, Lugius.Q.
ork TIMES, 5-15-189),
v
he
New
O..
Imago.
n, and that,
n which an
n this plat-
tle-and the
rbing topic
tterday. Al)
ged about
ed all: day
duty throw-
ruins of..the
as ‘it stands
8 resembled
While the
Regent pfe-
What had
f New-York
a Were busy
rtions of
igh inthe
over at any
icle building
vuted amony
pepe ue epgeuted
Auburn
Reeth Mint al Le
7 ~Ean
ra mies ge eae
in aD Ante-
« Clarps His Brother Innocent.
t
‘AUBURN, N. Y.,; May 14.—Luctus R. Wil-
Bon was executed here to-day by electricity
for Killing Detective. Harvey Yn Syracuse
last July.| Wilson’s: brother, Charles, is in
the Sygacyse jail, charged with: guilt equal
to his her's in the Harvey murder. The
State’s, thpory is that ‘the brothers were
acting % foncert, and that though but one
shot was fired both were fairly chargeable
with the crime. ? .
‘Against [this theory will now -.be opposed
the ante-mortem statement of. the brother
executed to-day. The statement-was written
out this morning, two hours before the exe-
cution. (tis as follows: ,
A desire make af my dying statement, as
follows: t Charlie F. Wilson, otherwise
known as rge Calhoun, his reat name being
Charlie F,; Wilson, and is my brother, who is
jointly indicted with me for the killing of Mr.
James Harvey, is.entirely innocent of any con-
nection wigh. said Mr..James Harvey’s death.
He is notithe man with me.at
Prison,
“ a 5 aes
aa:
gas
Se.
—
“You seein to be on the verge of \hyitesi.:
ria,’ grimly ‘put in Mr. Brooke, causitig a=
genera? laugh, in which Mr. Brooke, svho ye
was not in a good humor,;did not join..’>
This. joke seemed too much for Recorder =
Smyth, who adjourned court as soon as; Dr. .~
Herold’s testimony was concluded. < my a :
: E Sic \2
Thought Her Child Was Polson¢d.\_ ia
Mra, Gustave Kaufmann of 114 Be wae
Street, -Brooklyn, who is suffering -from <>
temporary insanity, called at Mayor sile~-
ren’s home, 405 Clinton Avenue, and jtoid
him ‘her child tad been poisoned. pee
acted 60 peculiarly that the Mayor senf for
@. policeman, who took her to the Depart«
ment of Charities. She had a baby in: her
arms, and claimed that it had bewn. pole
oned. She told the Charities Co
that she knew the baby had been poisoned «
because its eyes were blue. Her thusband |
took her-home,. Aad a Ve
‘
>»
ios
nti
i
{
4
~
ae
pi :
tae Va Se
~
ie
oy
NS
‘
ar “
%
t
A iter es en
b Beit wae
‘\,
7
aoe
yt lw dhe
‘
d vistltane ‘agit be
Seven of Her Crew memes FS
BUENOS AYRES, May. 14.—The -
‘ "hae
Gh
a the time said | Argentine steamer Thyra, ca $50/tons ©
Pi eke James Harvey met his death, ; of wheat, was in saiinien tutes Gaal ago-os
scturera ‘and | The substance of this statement was re- | with the iinian steamer:Remo from Genca » =
‘tral Lloyd's, , Peated injthe'death chamber while Wilson | at San Pedro, Rio Grande do Sul. iThe “4
2.500; North “ee ntensteg, re dg handy waiting to be | Thyra went down. almost immediately, and <¢.
' s Pp pO ge seven of her crew we whe ee |
oa iy aout se crime = ta a ae ee for one ; Tie PPE D bags g
5 000: - | felted tock place July 3}, . tective 8 See
“3a, $2,800; James Fink gla ae ot map undertook to| Mingston Brickmakers Orsanised. . +
eriey | arrest /men whom he suspec as bur- KINGSTON, N. Y., : brickyard ~ =
° Niwe¥ork glare, ‘They walked along apewe: A with him |° strixers bave formed ong tes Biwi pie Veer mG.
"Greenwich, | until within 200 feet of the police: station. ; “\
nix of Lon- | Then, suddenly, one of the men hit the de- | ®™folling all the men, Work was resumdd at. -
5,000; Will- j tective injthe head with the butt of his re- | two or three yards this morning, but /at 3.
-".. = 1 volver, and the other shot him in the head. | o'clock the men left again on sceing about 500 ~ 5
was insured | The detective was killed instantly. The] strikers, who were making a tour of the yards -¥
’ Campanies |} Men ran, and @ block away separated. Lu- | epproaching.. No intimidation was used, the 3
oyds, $2,000; | clus R. Wilson, or “‘ Dink’ Wilson, as he } men stopped work at once, oe Pit
sland Cor- | Was better. known, Was under arrest within.|) NEWBURG, N. Y., May 14. There ts a ktrike Eee
vich, . .$1,000, at ceneed but the brother, Charles, was.| in progress among the brickyard men at Roseton 7g
irniture ‘was '| not cap Until Aug. 20-0 ee J aan rin the yards of J..B. Rose" & . “3
veHampshire:} 9°. 1 gee — ; ; tan, gee nae J. ag i eas ap romaine fae,
a t oO: xg . ES SE: ae. hy ; Be ret ai ere Kings e se a
- Bi a Rr Strikes -Horeed .Workers.to Leave. | and without notice, the men went out aes
-@a.ch, ITTSBURG, ‘4—Firty' laborers loxea | Lome erred to remain.at their places, bu :
uliding orgn We 4 Races = yee others’ compelled them to.go out... Proprictors |
‘ion he. Oty | on the shurg.. Etna and Millvale Electrio | say they will shut down thair yards for the s38-:
erat! TO. 5 | Rallroad TUCK : tosday” against. reduction in | ‘gon. ‘than {norease wages. The market Iz’,
norte “will, -Weyes, ry Dy Nourighing revotvara, knives, and | full of bricks, the- demand Lrmited, and. PERS
ee : 1j Clubs, .auieesded in wputting to fight $00-men | poor, The strikers Bumber uprand of te gree:
Ursnce ¥IR,-'| who were! willing “to work - ‘The Wortiugmem | fay they wili remeta-quist unicsa an aliempt Jei-st
ate ewe gaa | Rue thttaawives cok masa ta Sh AHP Mey, - When Way Wis. Be OK
Oe Mast BES | gc that th B19, GTR Bay NaS 8 ease
increase,’ $348,009;
Crease, $87,000;
00, and circulatf
7]
a
nce, 80 B
ad Btred
pricea as follgwsa: 4 .
* a ox ras a
> aia Ue. GS fae (A ih J by
Poets 3 uk
es ee Tes
Scania mains Sag aa
: LE fo ta
' sth 4
4
i”
D 1 AARNE
SAstion
RICH
ut
hy
ike
W. DONALD, Auctioneer,’
° a. ay cs a Z,
Pek tt ahs ae es
AES mea in Pp Pa eS
ey Ra
BED ape Se
Ck an
4 Se ES tg Se. .
a. TF ate:
beg eerie A Fh gl Lor agg in ;
Aasoctation number, : dt SANG
wetanniieireee
a .
al ia a gees Bias / dale eer’ , rm begs
New Mass. from Hearn, info needed: 3 ee eee
ut
| : ,
Alice Lake, white, hanged for Witchcraft at Boston in 1650, .
‘When Will the Law Protect
Society Fully Against Such
Men as This Dealer in Wo-
men, Rapist and Murderer?
period, a bow, of blue ribbon at her throat and her hair
dressed “pompadour.”
She was supposed to let the school know promptly
whether she had landed the job, but her failure to report
back that day caused no alarm. It was different at her
home, where she always had been punctual. Late in the
afternoon her mother telephoned the Merchants and
Bankers, and was given the address to which Ruth had
gone. Dinnertime came, and the girl did not show up.
The family grew seriously worried.
WONDERED at the time, and | still wonder, whether
the mystery ever would have been solved without the
energetic action of Pearl Wheeler, Ruth’s eldest sister.
There was talk in the home of notifying the Police at
once. This would have been the proper step, but it was
not done. Respectable folk are apt to dread the public-
ity of a false alarm in such cases. Pearl Wheeler, how-
ever, cut the argument short at ten o'clock that night
by leaving the home apartment on West 134th Street
and going straight to Wolter’s East 75th Street address.
She was seen looking at the bells in the vestibule
by Mrs. John Mohl, the janitor’s wife. The latter ad-
mitted her and told her that Wolter lived on the fourth
Ruth’s heart-
broken mother,
whose only com-
fort in her hour
of sare trial was
the assurance that
her other daugh-
ters were safe
Ruth as she looked when
she answered a call for
stenographers, expect-
ing to get her first job,
but going to her doom
floor rear. Pearl mounted the stairs’ alone, which took
courage in an age when visiting a man at that hour of
the night was equivalent to labeling herself nine times
in ‘ten as a prostitute. She knocked at Wolter’s door.
In a few minutes the door was opened by a very
young-looking, blond German, who asked her what she
wanted. He was wearing a nightgown. She countered by
demanding if he was Albert Wolter. He said that he
was. She then explained that she was searching for her
sister Ruth. Ruth had called there during the day to
apply for a position. What could he tell her about the
girl?
Wolies appeared to be somewhat flustered. He in-
vited her to come in, which she did. The lock of
the closing door clicked behind her in a peculiar way.
It was a patent spring-lock, and she was the man’s pris-
oner until he chose to open it for her.
Denying that he knew anything about Ruth
Wheeler, Wolter retreated toward the bedroom. Through
the half-opened door Pearl saw a young woman sitting
up in the double bed, staring at them.
“But Ruth was here. She had a post card signed by
you, asking her to call,” Pearl insisted.
“If she came, she must have been interviewed by
somebody else. | was not here,” Wolter replied.
Pearl turned and tried to leave by the main door.
She could not open it. In sharp tones she requested the
man to let her out. He merely laughed at her, his man-
ner as she afterwards described it being cruel and threat-
ening.
“I brought a policeman with me,” the girl then
told him. “He is waiting at the front door. If you don’t
let me out, I'll scream.”
There was a moment of hesitation, during which
Pearl noticed that the parlor smelled of fresh paint.
She did not have a. policeman with her, But her bluff
worked. Wolter grudgingly opened the door, and she
fled down the stairs.
Te resolute girl went from the 75th Street house to
the Police Station on East 67th Street, where she
told her story and asked that Ruth’s movements be
traced. The precinct was commanded by Captain Ed-
ward B. Hughes, who later rose to be a distinguished
inspector. He lost no time in putting the wheels in mo-
tion, through the Missing Persons Bureau at Headquart-
ers and otherwise. A detective was sent immediately to
Wolter’s place, to question him.
I was attached to the precinct, and I heard the de-
tective make his report when he returned shortly after
midnight. It was negative. He said that he had found
Wolter in bed: with the young woman mentioned by
Pearl Wheeler. They seemed to be a harmless couple, lit-
tle older than a pair of kids. He did not believe that
they had criminal knowledge of the whereabouts of the
vanished stenographer.
‘Captain Hughes commented that the report was not
good enough./ He ordered two men to question Wolter
again in the morning and to seaxch his rooms for clews.
An attempt was made to carry out these instruc-
tions, but that next morning the birds had flown, The
janitor let the two detectives into the apartment, where
they staged an amazing performance. Bungling guilt
such as theirs is rare indeed in (Continued on Page 35)
21
ee
->
WOLTER,
nat
ve
sietneeeaceatind
’
STERILIZATION
ase
Albert H., white, elec. NYSP (NEW YORK) January 29, 1912,,,
Wolter, the Cadet Rapist
Albert Walter Wolter and, below, the room he occu-
oied when he raped and murdered Ruth Wheeler, then
tied to burn her body in the fireplace shown in photo
September a bill which provided for the steriliza-
tion of feeble-minded and insane persons, degen-
‘rates and habitual criminals. He thereby did a grievous
vrong to his State. Over the heads of its legislators, he
orevented it from being the 29th State in this country
o adopt the only scientific, humane means known of
copeins crime at its source,
*rankly, | take credit for having helped to make
\Mlabama think about the subject. While the law was
veing debated, the pro-sterilization arguments advanced
n this series of articles were quoted often. The Gov-
rnor worded his veto message violently. But even he
Bis: GRAVES, Governor of Alabama, vetoed last
ad been impressed to the point of using phrases I have -
en hammering home. He concluded as follows:
1 ME know that the enforcement of the provisions of
YY this bill, as to girls and young women, will entail
1ajor operations upon many thousands. We know that
n operation within the abdomen is one of the most
‘rious of all major operations, and that of necessit
here will bea great number of deaths. Those who will
ie are innocent and pure, have committed no offense
gainst God or man, save that in the opinion of experts
hey should never have been born.”
I maintain that, consciously or unconsciously, the
hrase “should never have been born” was taken from
ly writings. I have used it in all my articles, and the
0
By Ex-Operative 48
facts about sterilization have not been given
in any other popular publication besides this.
_ My answer to the Hon. Bibb Graves is
that abdominal operations are not dangerous
unless there is an already infected condition.
To say that there would be “a great number
of deaths” is to raise a bogey. If one steril-
ized woman out of 1,000 were to die it would
be a high percentage, and it would be due to
sccident--the sort of physical mishap that oc-
casionally and extremely rarely costs a life
after a tooth has been extracted, or a boil
lanced.
PERSONS who should never have been born,
usually do not remain “innocent and pure,”
to use the romantic Southern Governor’s own
words. Even when they do, they must be ster-
ilized for the good of society, so as to prevent
them from reproducing their kind. | mean
that subnormal adults should be stopped from
having subnormal children. The parents may
not have fallen into crime, but there is great
danger that their offspring will become delin-
quents.
I shall now give the details of a hideous
case on which I worked as a young detective.
I defy anyone—including Governor Graves—
not to admit after he has read this story that
the sterilization of Albert W. Wolter’s father
or mother would have been a small price to
pay to avert the menace of their son’s existence.
baer Pe Bs
On March 24, 1910, the Merchants and
Bankers Business School, at 58th Street and
Madison Avenue, New York City, received a
post card with the following message:
“Please have girl call in reference to posi-
tion of stenographer at residence of secretary.”
TH signature “Albert W. Wolter” had been
printed, and was affixed with a rubber
stamp. The address given was 224 East 75th
Street, which was in a rundown tenement sec-
tion.
No business college in a great city today
would dream of sending a girl to answer a call
before investigating the standing of the writer.
But the methods of 1910 were pretty careless.
There had been no recent expose of the white
slave traffic. An official of the Merchants and
Bankers confessed later that he had seen no
reason to look up Wolter. The words “at resi-
dence of secretary” had made things appear to
be all right. Many businessmen wanted appli-
cants for jobs to be interviewed first by secre-
taries.
So the post card was handed to Ruth
Wheeler, 17, who had been graduated two
weeks before. She was a sweet-faced brunette,
popular in church circles, the youngest of three
daughters who all had been trained for office
work. Ruth exclaimed joyfully at the chance
to get a position., She hurried off, an eager
little figure in a tight, corsetted frock of the
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES, 3/1936e,,
“the second sister, Adelaide
¢ looked at the
appalling roasted body, : Unexpectedly, it
was Adelaide who kept the better grip on
herself through this ordeal. She positively
identified the corpse as that of her sister
Ruth, by the teeth, the hatpin and purse-
clasp, and by a string of turquoise beads
which she had seen Ruth put on before
leaving home to hunt for a job.
The lumps around the burned neck
erie to be the turquoise beads, which
ad become embedded in the skin and
covered with char. We dug several of
them out and cleaned them. They shone
a bright blue. Their shape was distinctive.
Adelaide swore that she could not be mis-
taken in placing them as Ruth’s beads.
I may as well remark at this point that
the autopsy established that the 17-year-
old victim had been criminally assaulted.
We had expected that, for the murder
plainly had been committed by a lust-mad
degenerate. The coroner’s physician testi-
fied that death had been by strangling. “I
found the lungs congested and a deep
mark on the right side of the neck, caused
by a rope,” he stated. “Over the right
nostril and on part of the face I found
the remnant of a square of linen. | be-
lieve that the girl was put into the fire-
place while still alive, but unconscious.”
The next move was to search the fur-
nished room at 122 East 105th, where Wol-
ter had been arrested. This produced
three important pieces of evidence. They
were Ruth Wheeler’s umbrella, a new
paint brush stiff with lampblack and oil,
and a diary in Wolter’s handwriting.
Katie Muller, the wretch’s commonlaw
wife, so far had not been picked up,
though I am sure she made no serious
effort to evade the police. She simply ‘had
been wandering around in a daze. At 11
a.m. the morning of Sunday, March 27,
she was discovered sitting on the stoop of
122 East 105th Street, penniless, and was
rushed to Headquarters, ,
Faced with the facts, Albert W. Wolter
resorted to a blanket denial of guilt. He
was cold and cynical. Appearances were
against him, he said, but he could not be
sent to the chair for that. He would prove
in court that someone else must have slain
Ruth Wheeler.
We all knew he lied. The sobbing Katie
Muller’s protestations of innocence, on the
other hand, carried conviction. Only 17
years of age, she told how she had worked
im the bakery from 7 in the morning un-
til 7 at night, and ihc wo earnings to
Wolter. The rent always had been paid
with her or She vowed she knew
nothing about the occurrences of the day
Ruth Wheeler died. When she had come
home to supper, she had found Wolter
penting the fireplace. He had accounted
or the visits of Pearl and the first de-
tective by saying that a silly girl had been
trying to make him. She had been jealous,
but she had believed his story. She had
agreed when he said they must move, so
as to avoid the girl in question. Then he
had been arrested, and she had fled, not
knowing what to think.
Katie’s plight aroused sympathy.
Charging her as an accessory never was
contemplated. But New York’s fury
against Wolter became boundless. The
grand jury met specially and indicted
him on March 30, The time of his trial
was set for April 18, the earliest possible
date. I do not recall another lust murder
for which vengeance was meted out so
swiftly, by due process of law.
As one of the detectives assigned to
probe Wolter’s past, I concentrated on the
psychopathic side of the case. It was like
der of Ruth Wheeler.
He should not have been at large prior
to March 24, 1910. Society had no excuse
for ignoring his type, even though he had
kept out of Magistrate’s Court.
Sor Wolter was primarily what was
known in the slang of the time as a cadet.
We have a short and uglier word for it
today. He was a creature who refused to
work himself, but who exploited girls for
his financial advantage. His father had
brought him from Germany when he was
fifteen and had got him a a in the piano
factory. He quit in a few weeks, and
drifted from one position to another.
After he had been with eight .different
firms, he gave up the pretence of being
willing to work and became a loafer in
underworld saloons. His. strict German
father told him he was an_ incorrigible
and threw him out of the home.
Albert Wolter then adopted another
calling. His English was imperfect, but
that did not prevent him from round-
ing ” a considerable number of girls
and directing them in a career of pros-
titution, Many were ordinary street-
walkers. He advised the prettier ones
to keep to their rooms, and sent cus-
tomers to them, Yet he managed to col-
lect his commission in all ‘cases, His
evil precocity was astounding, for he was
barely sixteen when he started at this
game.
It was his regular habit to write to busi-
ness schools, employment agencies, et cet-
era, to send him girls who were looking
for jobs. He answered advertisements in
the Situations Wanted columns of the
newspapers. It was not proved that he
killed any girl who visited him, with the
exception of Ruth Wheeler. But some of
those on his list never were found. We
may assume that he forced a certain pro-
portion of them into commercialized vice.
His diary, found in the furnished room
on East 105th Street, proved to be a re-
vealing document. It was less a record of
his movements than a practise-book in
which he tried to perfect his English. His
method was to copy articles’ from news-
apers and magazines. These were singu-
larly all along the same general line. Wol-
ter trained his memory by entering into
his book with great care highly-colored
accounts of murders, stories of the Ten-
derloin, obscene poems and filthy jokes.
He had a huge collection of dirty post
cards, some of which he had pasted in his
diary.
| hold that the pimp, as such, is a so-
cial enemy. [le falls into the class of de-
linquents who should be sterilized. Had
there been in 1910 an advanced system of
crime deterrence, Wolter would have been
seized and surgically denatured the moment
his means of livelihood was known to the
police. And it was known, never fear! A
pimp cannot operate in a district without
the local officers catching on to him, even
though evidence on which to make an ar-
rest may be lacking.
This cadet, furthermore, was far more
venomous than the run of his kind. He
wanted to murder women as well as to
debauch them. He was mentally diseased.
Once, when he was in a hospital at Eliz-
abeth, New Jersey, he tried to strangle a
nurse because she ‘had resisted his ad-
vances. He often hdd threatened to choke
Katie Muller, whom he met qt a dance
and immediately cajoled into coming to
live with him, Yet his father said that
Albert had cried for several days because
his mother had killed a mouse in his pres-
ence. Morbid paradoxes of the sort are
not uncommon among degenerates.
The layman may find it well nigh in-
credible that Wolter should have raped
and butchered the virgin Ruth Wheeler
when he was living as a husband with a
girl of the same age. The impulse towards
rape ordinarily grows out of sexual de-
privation. But Krafft-Ebing has pointed
out that this does not hold true of the
sadist. The latter is subject to periodic
fits of mania, which a normal sex life in
between is powerless to check.
Krafft-Ebing’s Case History No. 221, in
Psychopathia Sexualis, bears a certain re-
semblance to Wolter and his crime. The
man, designated only as L., was married
and seemingly fond of his wife. Yet he
lured a girl to the bell tower of the church
of which he was sexton, and there killed
her. Trapped by circumstantial evidence,
he confessed to another similar murder.
Both bodies showed numerous bruises
about the fleshy parts of the head, frac-
tures of the skull and injuries to the brain.
Both had been violated. L’s motive, ac-
cording to his own admission, was “lust
ot Di cruellest and most abominable
ind.
Another sadist described by the great
Viennese psychiatrist was living with his
third wife when he suddenly broke loose
and strangled six prostitutes in rapid suc-
cession.
Albert Wolter came to trial on the date
scheduled, before Judge Warren W. Fos-
ter. The prosecutor was District Attor-
ney Whitman’s first assistant, Frank
Moss, a lawyer widely known as a social
reformer. The defense attorney was Wal-
lace D, Scott.
Nothing new came to light, and the end
never was in doubt. The proceedings, how-
ever, were dramatic, due to the contrast
between the hard-faced boy moron in the
dock, and bearded Frank Moss, The
Prosecutor’s treatment of Wolter as a
clinical problem interested scientists the
world over. Physicians rubbed elbows
with sensation seekers in the jammed
court-room.
The State rested its case upon the re-
port of the Coroner, the festimony of Pearl
and Adelaide Wheeler, Katie Muller and
at woman neighborhood storekeeper who
swore that she -had sold Wolter a paint-
brush the afternoon of the murder,
Then the accused took the stand. He
spoke in a loud and sometimes defiant
voice, portraying himself as an unlucky
young man who fad found it hard to make
a living and’ denied that he ever had seen
Ruth Wheeler. He had met a waiter at
Coney Island, he said, who planned to
start a business school. Wolter was to
have been an instructor of German short-
hand, and he had written to girls hoping
to interest them as pupils. The waiter—
whom he could not produce—had used his
flat during the daytime, and must have
been the person who murdered Ruth.
This preposterous story did Wolter no
good. The trial was over in five days. It
reached the jury late on April. 22, and
in one hour a verdict of guilty in the first
degree was rendered.
Wolter had been taken back to his cell,
where he promptly had gone to sleep. He
entered the court-room yawning, between
two guards, and heard the verdict calmly.
Asked if he had anything to say before
sentenced was passed, he answered with
icy cynicism:
“No. I’m tired.”
On the same day died Mark Twain, the
writer, who had expressed a horrified in-
terest in the case. He passed on without
learning the outcome.
The usual appeal delayed Wolter’s fate,
but he was electrocuted et Sing Sing be-
fore the end of the year, still protesting
his innocence.
There was nothing else that Society
could have done with him. The problem
typified by his crime, however, is one that
must be solved by prevention rather than
vengeance. To offset the Southern Gov-
ernor quoted herein, consider the views
of a rugged conservative, the Reverend
Doctor George Barton Cutten, President
of Colgate University. During the same
month that Bibb Graves vetoed the Ala-
bama_ sterilization law, Doctor Cutten
said, in an address to his faculty and the
student Kody:
“The greatest sinners are probably the
hilanthropists and the doctors. They
have done everything they could to keep
the unfit. Nature provides immunity to
certain diseases by eliminating all those
who contract the diseases. Now we have
a protected race, rather than a resistant
race, If anything happens to the protec-
tion, the race is doomed.”
He pointed to the preservation of the
feeble-minded and other unfit classes, and
argued that if we were to leave them alone
Nature would make short work of them.
If the world felt that it must coddle and
save the feeble-minded, he said, then it
would have to prevent them from propa-
gating their kind, by sterilization or some
other means.
Modern criminologists endorse the the-
ories of Doctor Cutten, Doctor Schmal-
fuss of Germany, Lombroso and others, as
against those of the Hon. Bibb Graves.
But progress in Alabama merely has been
checked, not defeated. As surely as the
sun rises and sets, a sterilization law will
some day be enacted there. No civilized
State can afford to take a chance on the
birth of potential Albert W. Wolters.
Indiana's High School Love Slaying (Continued from Page 24)
Ward had been removed from the Pike
County Jail to the Davies’ County Jail
at Washington, Indiana, in the fear that
he might suffer violence at the hands of an
angry mob of citizens, and had been. re-
turned to Petersburg about a week after
the shooting.
It was on a Sunday afternoon, about ten
days after the shooting, that I went to the
Sheriff's residence and jail at Petersburg
to talk with Ward. Sheriff Weathers
brought the youth, at my direction, into
‘he living room of his foes which ad-
joined the jail. 1 said to Ward at that
time, “Ward, you are in serious trouble.
As prosecutor, | must prosecute you if
you are guilty of a crime. Circumstances
indicate that a crime has been committed.
You may have and are entitled to counsel
and to an attorney to represent you. You
are under no obligation to say anything to
me, but if you want to make a voluntar
statement, with the understanding that it
can be used against you in the trial in
36
your case, | shall listen to you.”
Ward, looking at me sullenly, replied:
“I do not see why I should make you any
statement. You are going to indict me
for murder.” .
To his statement I answered: “That will
depend entirely upon any statement you
may make and the other evidence in the
case. My mind is still open.”
I suggested to him that he answer two
questions which might clear up some mis-
understanding. He agreed. “Where is
this marriage contract,” I asked, “that you
were trying to get Annavieve to sign?”
“There was no marriage contract,” he
replied.
‘Where were those dogs that you told
the owner of the gun you wished to
shoot?” I asked.
“There were no dogs,” he answered.
“That was all newspaper talk.”
Damaging admissions, indeed. Why had
the youth borrowed a*gun at all, if there
. Were no dogs to be killed? Why, indeed,
wel agi col lh II ince Sea tA
unless he contemplated some other more
horrible kind of killing? Slowly, the web
was tightening about the youth.
Most important was the discovery that
the young couple had had a spat and that
the girl was apparently trying to break off
her ‘ove affair with the tempestuous youth.
It was with reluctance that Annavieve
had written a note of acquiescence for the
fatal drive—a note that Joe Tislow car-
ried to young Davis—we learned.
Many persons were found who had seen
the parked car, some who had recognized
the couple. But one there was, Mrs. Laura
Willis, who lived close by, and who stated
positively that she had watched the couple
for some time—that they seemed to be ar-
guing and quarreling.
With the dead girl’s body was found a
woman’s wet handkerchief—Annavieve’s
handkerchief—wet with what we believed
were tears of the lovely girl—mute evi-
dence of what we believed to be her an-
guished plea for her life.
From Fred Limp, a hardware dealer at
phere tel we learned that the youth had
purchased twenty cents worth of pistol
cartridges of the same caliber as that with
which Annavieve had been killed. The
purchase had been made on Thursday, the
day of the tragedy.
ut what was most damaging con-
cerning this bit of evidence was the fact
that the purchase had been made after
young Davis had borrowed the car and re-
ceived the girl’s note agreeing to take the
drive with him. ;
The wand jury returned an indictment
against Ward Davis and, charged with
first-degree murder, he went on trial for
his life in the Pike County circuit court,
Monday, September 10, 1934.
I was assisted in the prosecution by At-
torneys Frank Ely and S. E. Dillin, both
of Petersburg.
Davis was represented by Attorneys W.
D. Curl and S, M. Krieg.
Circuit Judge John L. Sumner of the
I Sa
On July 9 he astonished a crowded
courtroom when, his eyes averted and his
knees shaking, he pleaded not guilty to
the murder in Recorder’s Court! He
fainted as he was being led back to his
cell for-a recess in the hearing, and Mc-
Crea sent for a doctor. But within a few
minutes he was brought back into. the
courtroom and confronted with Lillian
Gallaher’s brother, Clayton. Again he
seemed about to collapse as the Gallaher
boy sneered his hatred and contempt.
Goodrich, catching the look, slumped
quaking into his p while the boy tes-
tified how he had gone to the County
morgue to identify the mutilated body
of his little sister.
On July 17, 1935, Goodrich went on trial
in Recorder’s Court for first-degree mur-
der before Judge Henry S. Sweeny and a
jury composed of seven men and five wo-
men. Unshaven, his hair uncombed, the
Prisoner still wore the soiled white trousers
and dyed coat he had been wearing when
apprehended in New York. He was ‘de-
fended by Harry C. Hanley, appointed
by the Court. ‘
For two days the State pounded away
at Goodrich’s defense of temporary in-
Sterilization—Wolter, the Cadet Rapist (Continued fea Page 21)
the long annals of the New York Force.
They searched the flat and they made an
inventory of its contents. They did not
look, however, either in the fireplace
which was shielded by a curved iron guard,
or on the fire-escape outside the rear win-
dow. The significance of their oversight
soon will be clear.
: They scarcely had returned to the sta-
tion house when Pearl Wheeler also ar-
rived. She told Captain Hughes that no
word had been heard of Ruth, and pleaded
with him to find and arrest Wolter as
the girl’s abductor. Her emotion, as well
as her insistence, were so impressive that
they outweighed the proneness of the de-
tectives to pooh-pooh the whole affair. A
stiff command was issued. The blond Ger-
man youth must be brought in.
Behind the scenes, the Police figured
this as an abortion case at the worst. They
doubted whether Ruth would have been
so’ simple-minded as to go looking for a
stenographer’s job in the tenement. on
East 5th Street. She must have had a se-
cret friendship with Wolter, they thought.
He had spirited her away, perhaps to have
an illegal operation. The girl who lived
with him might have connived at it, or
she might have been hoodwinked; but her
resence in the picture made murder high-
y improbable.
I did not agree with the above theory.
Pearl Wheeler had convinced me that her
sister was innocent to the ‘point of child-
ishness. Besides, there was the post card
which the official of the business school
had given to Ruth. It transpired that no
written record had been made of this, But
how could the man be mistaken? He had
sent Ruth out on a blind call.
Locating Wolter that second day, March
25, proved to be a tedious job, though not
a really difficult one. He had moved from
his parlor and bedroom. We canvassed
the street-corner transfer companies, which
at that time did most of the local moving
of trunks. At length we found that a
trunk had been taken from the 75th Street
house at 8 a. m. The driver was out on a
long round of deliveries. There would be
no way of learning whether it had been‘
Wolter’s trunk, or where it had been de- .
livered, until the man returned late in the
evening.
Meanwhile, the janitor, John Mohl, re-
vealed that Wolter’s girl friend was named
Katie Muller, and that she worked in a
bakery on upper Third Avenue. | was as-
signed to jek for her there, and was in-
formed that she had not reported for
work that day.
At 10 p. m. the transfer company’s driver
showed up. He confirmed that he had
handled a trunk for a pale-complexioned
youth, This youth had refused to give a
name, but had ridden uptown on the
wagon with him and helped to carry the
trunk into a rooming house at 122° East
105th Street. This circumstance was in
itself suspicious,
_ It-did not take long after that to appre-
hend Wolter. He was found alone in his
furnished room and was brought to the
Fast 67th Street Station house by two
sanity. On the third day of the trial, fol-
lowing the testimony of Doctor David R.
Clark, psychiatrist, that Goodrich was
not insane, the defendant asked his coun-
sel to obtain a brief recess. At its conclu-
sion, Goodrich said to the Court:
“Let’s get this all over with. I want to
plead guilty.”
A rustle went through the courtroom
as Hanley formally entered ‘the guilty
Eee, A little later the killer stood trem-
ling as Judge Sweeny sentenced him to
life imprisonment at hard labor in the
Michigan branch prison at Marquette.
Mrs. Goodrich, who had been arraigned
as an accessory after the fact, sobbed
loudly. Conviction on that charge also
would carry a maximum penalty of life
imprisonment. The crippled woman was
ordered held without bail for separate ex-
amination, and her husband was removed
to Marquette prison the next day to be-
gin serving sentence.
In_a ceremony in New York, Mayor
La Guardia handed Patrolman Harris a
check for $2,000 from Wayne County, Mi-
chigan, and $1,000 from the Detroit News,
patrolmen. Charged with knowing some-
thing of the whereabouts of Ruth Wheeler,
he laughed scornfully and said the police
were chasing shadows. I never had seen
so cool a customer for his years,
He was booked as Albert Walter Wolter,
18, born in Germany and only three years
in the United States. His parents had pre-
ceded him here. His father worked in a
Piano factory on 14th Street.
The arrest earned a few lines in the
morning papers. But before Saturday,
March 26, was ended, New York had been
treated to a crime sensation that left the
city gasping with horror.
At 2:30 in the afternoon Janitor Mohl
arrived at the station house, his eyes bulg-
ing, his manner hysterical,
“There’s a dead woman in our back
yard!” he shouted. “She’s burned to a
crisp. It’s murder!”
_A squad of uniformed men and detec-
tives, headed by Captain Hughes, rushed
with all speed to the building where Wol-
ter had lived and where Ruth Wheeler,
Presumably, had disappeared. A horrible
sight awaited them. The contents of a
burlap bag covered with Paper, which had
burst open, were spread upon the icy
March ground. The chief exhibit was a
human torso and head, so charred that it
was unrecognizable. Burned fragments of
flesh, the remains of clothing, ashes and
other debris surrounded it.
This once had been a woman, rather
small, possibly a girl in her teens, The re-
mains of a rope almost reduced to cinders
was still about the neck: and underneath
this a series of lumps, the nature of which
could not be established for the moment.
The hair seemed to have been cut away
from the head, except in a few spots. Two
rows of teeth in perfect condition grim-
aced through the roasted lips. The eyes
had been consumed. The ears were like
gnarled black twigs on a dead tree.
Captain Hughes rounded up the persons
to whom the discovery of this pitiful
corpse had been due. He heard a story
which made his blood boil at the detectives
he first had sent to interview Wolter.
John Taggart, a waiter, occupied a flat
with his wife on the fourth floor rear of
No. 222, adjoining Wolter’s rooms in No.
224. The two buildings were under the
same management. During the evening of
Thursday, March 24, earlier than ‘the ar-
rival of Pearl Wheeler in search of her
sister, Mrs. Taggart had heard a queer
noise outside her window. She had parted
the curtain, and had seen a man leaning
out of Wolter’s apartment to place a bun-
dle on the fire-escape. He had pulled back
at sight of her, but had left the bundle.
The event had not seemed important to
Mrs. Taggart. It was common enough in
those tenement houses for people to get
rubbish out of the way by putting it on
the fire-escape. At 2 p.m. Saturday, how-
ever, she chanced to show the Parcel to
her husband. John Taggart reached out
and poked at it. It fell into the back yard,
where it broke partly open, and Taggart
peering down thought that it had assumed
anodd shape. He descended to the yard,
his reward for the spprehension of De-
troit’s escaped Child Enemy No, 1.
But while Harris rightly collected the
reward for the actual arrest of the psycho-
pathic killer, it was Detective Dalton who
won the commendation of his Chief and
the praise of the entire department for
a the infallible finger-print compari-
son. There are dozens ot such petty ar-
tests in New York City every day, and
many of them slip through the minor
courts before they can be investigated
thoroughly. And it was only. when con-
fronted with Dalton’s irrefutable finger-
print proof that Goodrich confessed the
revolting crime.
Tom Dalton, nemesis of criminals, has
testified at hundreds of trials in which he
spelled a defendant’s doom by establishing
beyond question — his identity through
finger-prints. When called upon, this ace
expert always gives a clear, Precise ex-
planation of his methods and results to
the judge and jury. In all his court cases
there is not one error charged against him.
When visiting officers wish to see the
New York finger-print system and files, it
is always Detective Dalton who is sum-
moned by his Chief for the explanations.
But it was not until he cut the string
around the package and tore at the Paper
that he realized what he had found. Sick-
ened, he notified Mohl and the latter had
gone for the police.
As was then the custom, the body was
taken to the station house, for possible
identification before it was sent to the
mofgue. An officer started. for the
Wheeler home, to fetch one or more mem-
bers of the family. Inspector McCafferty,
in charge of the Detective Bureau, and
Captain Carey, head of the Homicide Bu-
reau, were apprised by phone. “Both said
they would be-at the scene as quickly as
Possible, ‘
The search of Wolter’s tooms that was
now made, left-us further humiliated’ at
the failure of the precinct men to spot the
evidence sooner.. One glance at the fire-
place after its iron guard had been re-
moved, and we knew exactly what had
happened there. The sides had been
scorched by a furious blaze, the recent
soot from which hung in flakes. A faint
odor of kerosene clung to the rubbish in
the grate,
Clinching the ‘matter, we found three
small parcels wrapped in clean Paper and
stacked in a corner of the fireplace. They
contained the incinerated hands and feet
of the victim, a hatpin and the melted
metal’ clasp of a purse:
That fireplace was only two feet wide,
two feet high and less than two feet deep.
Yet the dead woman had been crammed
into it, soaked with kerosene oil and the
attempt made—over a period of hours—
to reduce the body to cinders. It had not
been successful. The task was impossible,
for it takes a powerful forced draught to
burn the flesh from a human corpse and
destroy the bones. So the killer had be-
come panic-stricken, had bundled up the
remains and then had lacked the nerve or
the opportunity to remove them from the
building. He probably would have dis-
posed of them the next day, but Pearl’s
visit scared him into fleeing. :
The exterior of the mantel-piece and
the slab in front of the grate had been
painted freshly with lampblack and_ oil.
his accounted for the smell which Pearl
Wheeler had noticed, and the work obvi-
ously had been done to hide blood-stains,
No other relics which might have be-
longed to the dead girl were found in the
flat. But Wolter had done his packing
carelessly and in wild haste. He had left
many damning things behind. Among
these were scores of indecent French post
cards, more than 1,500 letters and picture
post cards from women, and a notebook
containing the addresses and descriptions
of girls. Ruth Wheeler’s name was in that
D Use reliable time-te
LY RELIEF COM)
TEED-PURE-HARMLESS, Constituen:
and nurses many years, Used and praised byt
women, $2.00, Rushed Ist class mail, ;
within I hour of receipt of order. TRIAL }
B-X PRODUCTS CO., 1505E, 60thSt.
Ss E x LEARN T(
THE OPP
TRUTHS 2,23"
love. STOP
to ignorance and fear... 64 page
information by leading Sexologist:
pend postpaid for 25c cash or sta
only,
FOGE-BOOKS,
Dept. O-91, 301 - 4th Ave., Nev.
MEN ~.54"'
cialties, Supplies
direct from manufacturer through ou:
Dept. All personal items are mailed
us in plain, sealed package. We hav
Send for FREE, illustrated mail-o
THE N-R MFG, Co.,
Box 353, Hamilt:
Order your Hy;
direct through o
der Department
a complete line
of Sanitary Ne.
men and wome:
(4) poral articles s¢
4 y us in plain, s
Pers. Write today for FREE illustr:
REX DRUG CO.,,
Dept. 49-AA, 201 E. 35th St., Ci
Dept. H-55,
Just put tasteless Cravex in his coffee, tea,
He won't know and soon his craving for whi
wine should disappear. New, proven treatmen
prescription. Tones nerves-——aids nature sto
n't upset stomach. Thousands bene
faction guaranteed. Mailed postpaid in ;
for $1 ©. 0. .D, if desired.
CRAVEX CO., Dept. 13, w. Los An;
A Baby for Yo
If you are denied the blessing of
‘our own and yearn for a baby’s «
baby’s smile do not give up hope.
in confidence to Mrs. Mildred Owen:
534 Hanan Bidg., Kansas City, Mc
will tell you about a simple home m
helped her after being denied 15yrs.
Say this had helped bless their jiv
now and try for this wonderful
Do You Kn
there is a. sure, safe way to practic
hygiene? Use dependable, healthful,
cones. Write for free booklet
valuable information regarding you
problems, Send $1.00 for large pac
instructions,
RICHLAND LABORATOR
Box 16-A, Mansfi
Feel run down, ity?
the joys of former years? You will be amazedt
le possible with GLANNUX—a remarkable
made up of i di orued hey atcenlel
EPILEPSY-EPILEP)
Detroit lady finds relief for
after Specialists home and abroa
All letters answered.
MRS. GEO. DEMPSTER, Ap
6900 Lafayette Blvd., West, Detroi
MEN OVER
And many under 30, with pains below
slow burning urination, stricture, kidn
der and prostate infections and weak +
write fully giving five years health
relief. Good also for acute Female 1
ARYAN HERB-TONIC CC
Dept? 111, ° Ga
book, her height, weight, age and calling
being given, along with the comment “$7.”
We assumed that he had jotted down this
information at the start of his interview
‘with her. Among the other names and
addresses in the notebook were those of
several missing girls the police were try-
ing to find. an
A the East 67th Street station house a
AE POWER ano
7 ke & O RO OUR
A MULTIGLANDULAR PRODUCT. ACTUA:
you REAL gland extracts. Doctors prescribe it for
down men whose IMPORTANT GLANDS need nou
New interest in life, FULL POWER of the STIML
that science claims for gland extracts are YOURS (
+++ 100 tablets, a month's supply, $5, tAeday un.
couple of hours later, Pearl Wheeler and
$2. (Send 15¢ for C.O.D.) Guaranteed, or your m:
International Biochemists.. Dept. B-1, Holly:
my
ind the
10 of his shrill laugh-
’ ears.
iome, she went to the
ition house and told
k lieutenant. He as-
» return to Wolter’s
nake an investigation.
ed them and told the
: more politely. Fear
uniformed officer had
bravado and he an-
‘ns more courteously.
-d through his rooms,
is denials. He had
{ and had never seen
stated that he was a
rried on his business
t. He seemed to be
re investigation.
1 of their search, the
1 that Adelaide’s sus-
less. Even if Wolter
ird, which he denied
ed evident that Ruth
che apartment. There
but leave.
g morning, however,
»peared. Accompanied
a family friend, Ade-
fervent appeal to the
rey, chief of the homi-
| Detectives Haggerty
k into the mysterious
mber of possibilities,”
the pair discussed the
y be lying about the
1s, he may never have
er may have stopped
he door of the apart-
er away or she may
-d the place on 75th
»b is to find out all we
gave them a clear pic-
ckground. Attractive
osition, she had been
to help her family by
n the morning of ‘her
had gone to the busi-
und that there was one
1 the list. But the rival
Ruth had been sent out
’s” post card.
a description of the
ficers again hurried to
eon 75th street. There
ndlady and questioned
en they described the
Ruth on the morning of
., the landlady became
here,” she cried. “TI re-
use she was so refined
‘om the other girls that
Iter.”
me of Wolter’s present
etectives asked, describ-
who had been present
héeler first called at the
1s called Katherine or
lady said. “She is a
has lived with Wolter
eeler leave after calling
Perhaps she did. I
f the house most of the
2 where she went.”
’
t
inal
Baie tay is ae
Although ‘Ruth Wheeler might have
left the 75th. ‘street house alive- and
well, Wolter had a lot to explain.
The officers, unable to find him at home,
yi
v
waited until Katie arrived. When she, _
left a few minutes later, they followed
her. -She walked to 85th street and Park
avenue where she met Wolter. Through
winding streets and avenues the pair
walked, several, times retracing their
steps. It was apparent that they were
discussing something and had no definite
destination. At last they returned to the
rooming house where the police again
confronted Wolter.
“TI don’t know what you're talking
about,” he’said coolly when the landlady’s
story had been repeated to him, “I have
done nothing wrong.” :
“Why were you advertising for a sten-
ographer when you had no money to pay
her?” asked one of the detectives.
“What did you want with a_ sten-
ographer anyway?”
As the questions came from every side,
Wolter only laughed and shrugged.
“T know German shorthand,” he said
at last, “and I thought maybe I could
make some money teaching it.” ;
“So you sent the card to the business
school?”
“No!” Wolter declared firmly. “Never
did I write a post card. Never did that
Wheeler girl come here. That landlady,
she lies. She don’t like me anyway.”
““7OU’RE coming to the police
station,” one of the officers said
sharply. “We will have some more ques-
tions to ask you.”
While Wolter was taken away, some
of the officers remained to search his
quarters again. This time they met with
more success. In a waste basket they
found scraps of cards, most of them from
business colleges in various parts of the
country. Confronted with this new: dis-
covery, Wolter merely laughed and re-
peated his story of having wanted to teach
German shorthand.
“T write to lots of girls,” he said. “I
want to learn how to write good English.
That’s why I write those cards. Maybe
these girls want to know German short-
hand. Then, if they teach me English,
I teach them German.”
That was as much as he would say. He
steadfastly denied meeting or writing to
Ruth Wheeler and claimed that he had
been away from home on the day the girl
was supposed to have called. :
Wolter’s clothes had been searched and
their contents placed in an envelope for
examination by the detectives. When the
questioning failed to bring results, the
officers turned to an examination of the
German youth’s personal belongings. Al-
most at once they made a startling dis-
covery. In a small memorandum book
they found an entry that cast an entirely
new light on Wolter’s story. One of the
pages bore the following ase :
“Ruth Amos Wheeler, stenographer.
Lives with parents. Offered $7.00 wages
a week.”
Not only did the entry prove that
Wolter had been lying, but it gave the
officers definite information that he had
met Ruth Wheeler. Only a few persons
knew that her middle name was Amos.
The girl must have met and talked to
Wolter and, in answering his questions,
given her middle name.
“Why have you lied?” the detectives
demanded when. Wolter was _ again
brought up for- questioning. .““We know
definitely that you saw Ruth Wheeler.”
The German smiled coolly and took his
time answering’
“That is very easy to explain,” he said.
“T didn’t want to get: mixed up in this so I
said I didn’t write the card. Yes, I wrote
it but I wasn’t home when the girl called.
I got all that information from other
sources. That’s how I. wrote down her
middle name.”
Nothing would shake his story. In the
face of his bland, smiling denials, the
officers realized that the mystery would
not be solved by a confession. Wolter
was either telling the truth or lying with
a consistency so great that nothing could
crack him. ;
But unknown to the detectives, the
mystery was already nearing an end.
Mrs. Carrie Taggart who lived with her
husband on the fourth floor of the East
75th street building had seen Wolter
dump a large bundle out on the fire escape
in the middle of the night. He had ducked
quickly back into his own room, pulled
the shades and closed his window.
4 Bonn next day Mrs. Taggart looked out
her window and saw the large bundle
still lying on the fire escape. She peered
closer ‘and saw that it was a gunnysack
tied with heavy cord.
Indignant because it blocked flight in
case of fire, she pointed out the litter to
her husband. He was equally angry and
in a moment was out on the balcony
where he flung the gunnysack to the
courtyard four stories below.
It landed with a hollow .thud and
brought out Mr. Mohl, the caretaker, who
asked who had tossed rubbish into the
yard. Taggart yelled down that it be-
longed to Wolter and told Mohl to open
it. But the caretaker, the sudden police
activity on Ruth Wheeler’s disappear-
ance still fresh in his mind, asked Taggart
to help him with it.
The two men examined the gunnysack
for a few minutes and tried to figure out
what it might hold. Nervously Taggart
took a pen knife from his pocket and
slashed the cord. As the sack fell open
the men.leaped back paralyzed with fear.
Their faces drained white with terror
as they stared at a collection of charred
bones and pieces of seared flesh. A brown
dress, a night shirt and a small gleaming
object that was later identified as a signet
ring, clutched in the remnants of what
was once a human hand, also lay on the
ground before them.
With a mad rush, both men fled from
the building to the East 67th street pre-
cinct: In a few moments the courtyard
was a beehive of police activity. In-
spector Titus, of the fifth district, joined
Captain Carey in examining the grim find.
When, Adelaide Wheeler hysterically
identified the dress and ring found in the
gunnysack as her sister’s, an intensive
questioning of the puny little German
youth was set into motion. But Wolter
displayed the same disdain for the officers.
He stoutly denied once again having ever
seen Ruth Wheeler. Nothing would
draw a confession from him.
And then came the coroner’s report
that shocked and horrified New York.
Ruth Wheeler had been attacked,
strangled and burned alive! Put in the
cold, blunt words of the medical man it
was “asphyxiation and incineration.”
The newspapers of the day, generally
conservative, screamed out the ghastly de-
tails of the Wheeler torch murder in lurid
headlines. Every police official in the
PHOTO
OR SNAPSHOT
ENLARGED
SIZE 16"x 20”
pees low price for full ¢
e ‘orm,
Sy +» OF
enlargement of any part
of group picture. Safe
eturn As your origi- NEW LOW
nal photo, snapshot or PRICE
tintype guaranteed,
Our secret process produces supe-
rior enlargements for. only 89c.
SEND NO MONEY
Just mail pte, or snapshot (any
size) and within a week ro will re-
ceive your Lover i x life-like enlarge-
teed fadel
>
e.
FREE a hand-tinted
FR E With each enlar; har pan youn seud Wei cane
FREE mninaye eprepucur ae eetster QuiteS PORTRAIT
100 &. Jefferson St. Dept. W-177, 0» ill.
NorHine can keep a man from
being a success who refuses to be
anything else! Ambition plus
training is an unbeatable com-
bination. If you want to be a suc-
cess, and if lack of training is
one of your handicaps, I. C. S.
is a golden aid beckoning you.
This coupon is your passport to
greater things. Sail it back to us!
INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS
Box 5498-L, Scranton, Penna.
Without cost, please send me full particulars about
the subject before which I have marked RY
TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRIAL COURSES
O Architect 0 Sanitary Engineer
OQ Architectural Draftsman OQ Steam Engineer
O Building Estimating © Marine Engineer
O Contractor and Builder O Bridge Engineer
Q Structural Draftsman O Bridge Foreman
O Structural Engineer O Building Foreman
O Electrical Engineer D Diesel Engines
O Electric Lighting 0 Aviation Engines
QO Telegraph Engineer O Automobile Work
O Telephone Work (© Radio (© Plumbing OC Steam Fitting
O Management of Inventions (© Heating 0 Ventilation
O Mechanical Engineer O Air Conditioning
O Mechanical Draftsman O Refrigeration 0 Pharmacy
O Patternmaker 0 Machinist O R. R. Locomotives
O Foundry Practice OR. R. Section Foreman
O Reading Shop Blueprints CO R. R. Signalmen
O Heat Treatment of Metals (© Air Brakes ( Coal Mining
O Sheet Metal Worker O Chemistry O Fruit Growing
oO Welding, Electric and Gas (© Navigation ( Agriculture
Q Civil Engineer 0 Toolmaker 2 Cotton Manufacturing
O Highway Engineer O Woolen Manufacturing
O Surveying and Mapping O Poultry Farming
BUSINESS TRAINING COURSES
0 Business Management O Business Correspondence
O Industrial Management O Lettering Show Cards
O Traffic Management O Stenography and Typing
O Cost Accountant O Civil Service 0 Mail Carrier
OC. P. Accountancy 0 Railway Mail Clerk
O Bookkeeping D Signs 0 Grade School Subjects
OD Secretarial Work [ French 0 High School Subjects
O Salesmanship 0 Spanish ( College Preparatory
O Service Station Salesmanship (Q First Year College Subjects
O Advertising O English 0 Illustrating O Cartooning
DOMESTIC SCIENCE COURSES
O Professional Dressmaking O Millinery
and Designing O Foods and Cookery
CO Home Dressmaking Tea Room and Cafeteria
O Advanced Dressmaking Management, Catering
Name. Age
Address...
OB sis sdicesiceistbercaae
Present Position
Tf you reside in Canada, send this coupon tu the
International Correspondence Schools Canadian, Limited,
Montreal, Canada,
Wuen Answertnc ADVERTISEMENTS, PLEASE Mention DecemBer Darine DEvTECTIVE 79
we
Famous for Beet palit z
an
Classified Ads
AGENTS WANTED
BIG MONEY taking orders; Shirts, Ties, Hosiery,
Underwear, Raincoats, Dresses, etc. Sales-Kit
FREE! Experience unnecessary. Write NIMROD,
Dept. 178, 4922-28 Lincoln Ave., Chicago.
SIGN LETTERS for Store and Office Windows;
500% profit Free Samples) METALLIC CO.,
445 N. Clark, Chicago.
AMERICAN POLICE JIU-JITSU
KNOCK-EM-COLD! Learn Police Jiu Jitsu! 36
secret knockout blows without fists, many one-
fingered, headlock breaks, etc. New complete illus-
trated course by world-famous instructor only 15c
today. §. J. JORGENSEN, 312 Maritime Bldg.,
Seattle, Wash.
DETECTIVES
DETECTIVE-TRAINING—EARN REAL
Money—Easy Method—Short Time—By Former
Government Officer—Particulars FREE—Write— °
INTERNATIONAL DETECTIVE SYSTEM,
14-F Journal Square, Jersey City, N. J.
DETECTIVES — WORK HOME— TRAVEL.
Experience unnecessary. Detective Particulars
ie GEORGE WAGNER, 2640-T Broadway,
Ny if
BE A DETECTIVE. Make secret investigations,
Excellent opportunity. Write for free particu-
lars. Raymond Stults, Elkhart, Indiana.
FINGER PRINT EXPERTS
FINGER-PRINT—OUTFIT—Modern—Complete
with Instructions, for Police—Beginners—Com-
mercial, | International System, 14-F Journal
Square, Jersey City, N
FOR INVENTORS
WE SUCCESSFULLY SELL inventions, pat-
ented and unpatented. Write for proof, and tell
us what you have for sale. Chartered Institute of
American Inventors, Dept. 8A, Washington, D.
INSTRUCTION
WORK FOR “UNCLE SAM”. $1260-$2100 year.
Men-women. Prepare now for next examinations,
List positions—particulars telling how to get ap-
pointment—FREE. Write today. Franklin In-
stitute, Dept. J32, Rochester, N.
MALE HELP WANTED
STEADY WORK—GOOD PAY. RELIABLE
MEN wanted to call on farmers. No experience
or capital required. Pleasant work, Home every
night. Make up to $12 a day. Wonderful new
proposition. Particulars Free. Write McNESS
CO., Dept. 78, Freeport, Illinois.
PATENTS
INVENTORS—WRITE FOR NEW FREE
BOOK—*“Patent Guide for the Inventor,” and
“Record of Invention,” form. No charge for
preliminary information. Clarence A. O’Brien &
Hyman Berman, Registered Patent Attorneys, 3-S
Adams Building, Washington, D. C.
INVENTIONS “PROMOTED. Patented or Un-
patented. Write Adam Fisher Co., 616 Enright,
St. Louis, Mo.
* PHOTO DEVELOPING
ROLLS DEVELOPED—25c coin. Two 5x7
Double Weight Professional Enlargements, 8
gloss prints. CLUB PHOTO SERVICE, La-
Crosse, Wis.
SALESMEN WANTED
WANTED COUNTY DISTRIBUTORS. &x-
cellent opportunity for earnings. Nationally
advertised product. Large company. Dept. 251,
Fyr-Fyter Company, Dayton, Ohio.
STAMPS
STAMP ANNUAL, FREE—Special Coronation
Edition—Describes and illustrates Albums, Sup-
plies, United States, British Colonial, Coronation
and foreign stamps. This Ay pase catalogue
FREE. GRAY STAMP COMPANY, Dept. F.D.,
Toronto, Canada.
i
Laughing
isis) COPAY Nd wc ee > iN
New York’s Torch Mystery and the
Lothario
[Continued from page 39]
the buxom girl indicated another room.
“He’s in there, sister.”
Adelaide stepped into the room and
glanced around. Obviously this was a
dwelling place and not the office of a
small company. Poverty had left its
stamp on the room and its furnishings.
A flickering gas light shone on the
scratched furniture and the threadbare
couch and carpet. Throughout the place
was the odor of recently cooked foog-
and the stale, sweet smell of cheap per-
fume.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” the
woman who had admitted her sneered.
Adelaide’s. fingers tightened until she
could feel the nails pressing against her
skin. Slowly she moved across the room
and entered the door indicated by the
buxom girl. There, sprawled across a
bed, was a thin, pasty-faced young man.
“Are—are you Mr. Wolter?”
“Ya, that is my name,” the youth re-
plied. His heavy German accent made it
almost impossible to understand what he
. was saying. But there was no possibility
of misunderstanding his actions. « Grin-
ning evilly, Wolter rose from the couch
and eyed his attractive visitor. “What
you want?” he demanded.
“My sister, Ruth Wheeler, came here
today. Where is she?” .
“T know not’ing about a sister. She is
not here.”
“But you sent a postal,” Adelaide cried..
“Your name was signed to it.”
“Maybe somebody sign my name. She
is not here—but you are.” The youth
leered at Adelaide and stepped toward her.
His strange laughter and the look on his
face clearly revealed his meaning.
D ESPERATELY the girl backed to-
ward the door. Controlling her fear, °
she pleaded with Wolter to take’ her to
her sister. But the man only laughed at
her and attempted to detain her.
“Look around,” he said at last. “See
for yourself if this sister is here.”
A brief search of the apartment revealed
that Wolter was telling the truth. No-
where could Adelaide Wheeler find evi-
dence that her sister had entered the
apartment. While Wolter and his com-
panion grinned at her, Adelaide called her
sister’s name.
“Ruth, Ruth, can you hear me? Answer
me if you are here and I’ll help you.”
There was a dead silence to her frantic
words. Wolter’s actions became so offen-
sive that Adelaide was terror-stricken.
Hurrying to the door, she attempted to let
herself out. To her horror she found that
the door was locked.
“Let me out of here!” she screamed.
“I—I have a policeman outside. If you
don’t let me out, I’ll call him.”
The ruse worked. Either because of
his fear at her threat or because of his
buxom companion’s jealous anger, Wolter
opened the door. Rushing out, Adelaide
clattered down the stairs and into the
gas-lit street. ;
As she hurried away from the house,
her mind was filled with disturbing
‘thoughts, It seemed to her that Wolter’s
story didn’t ring true, The man’s large,
effeminately blue eyes, his thin, evil face
and low forehead all tended to arouse her
suspicions. The echo of his shrill laugh-
ter still rang in her ears.
Instead of going home, she went to the
East 67th street station house and told
her story to the desk lieutenant. He as-
signed an officer to return to Wolter’s
room with her and make an investigation.
The youth admitted them and told the
same story, this time more politely. Fear
at the sight of the uniformed officer had
replaced his early bravado and he an-
swered their questions more courteously.
While the two looked through his rooms,
Wolter repeated his denials. He had
written no post card and had never seen
Ruth Wheeler. He stated that he was a
bookkeeper who carried on his business
from the apartment. He seemed to be
amused by the entire investigation.
At the conclusion of their search, the
officer began to feel that Adelaide’s sus-
picions were groundless. Even if Wolter
had written the card, which he denied
vigorously, it seemed evident that Ruth
had never reached the apartment. There
was nothing to do but leave.
On the following morning, however,
Ruth had not yet appeared. Accompanied
by her mother and a family friend, Ade-
laide again made a fervent appeal to the
police. Captain Carey, chief of the homi-
cide squad, ordered Detectives Haggerty
and Hauser to look into the mysterious
disappearance.
“There are a number of possibilities,”
Haggerty said as the pair discussed the
case. “Wolter may be lying about the
card or, as he claims, he may never have
sent it. The writer may have stopped
Ruth Wheeler at the door of the apart-
ment and lured her away or she may
never have reached the place on 75th
street. Our first job is to find out all we
can about the girl.”
A few questions gave them a clear pic-
ture of Ruth’s background. Attractive
and sweet of disposition, she had been
extremely anxious to help her family by
finding a job. On the morning of ‘her
disappearance she had gone to the busi-
ness school and found that there was one
girl ahead of her on the list. But the rival
did not appear and Ruth had been sent out
to answer “Wolter’s” post card.
Furnished with a description of the
missing girl, the officers again hurried to
the boarding house on 75th street. There
they found the landlady and questioned
her carefully. When they described the
clothing worn by Ruth on the morning of
her disappearance, the landlady became
excited.
“Yes, she came here,” she cried. “TI re-
member her because she was so refined
and so different from the other girls that
came to visit Wolter.”
“What is the name of Wolter’s present
. girl?” one of the detectives asked, describ-
ing the woman who had been present
when Adelaide Wheeler first called at the
Wolter apartment.
“I believe she is called Katherine or
Katie,” the landlady said. “She is a
German girl and has lived with Wolter
for a long time.”
“Did Miss Wheeler leave after calling
on Wolter?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps she did. I
was in the back of the house most of the
day and didn’t see where she went.”
78 Accept No Susstitutes! Atways Insist on THe ApbveRtISED Brann!
ee ee
Althoug
left the
well, We
The office
waited uw
left a few
her. -She
avenue w)
winding
walked,
steps. It
discussing
destinatio
rooming
confronte:
“T don
about,” he
story had
done noth
“Why v
ographer
her?” aske
“What
ographer
As the «
Wolter o1
“T knov
at last; “:
make som
“So you
school?”
“No!” \
did I writ
Wheeler ;
she lies.
s OU’!
static
sharply.
tions to a
While °
of the of
quarters a
more suc:
found gcré
business ¢
country.
covery, W
peated his
German s|
“Sy write
want to le
That’s wl
these girl
hand. Tl
I teach th
That wz
steadfastly
Ruth Wh
been away
was suppo
Wolter’:
their conté
examinatio
questionin:
officers tur
German yo
most at or
covery. Ih
they found
new light c
pages bore
“Ruth A
Lives with
a week.”
Not only
Wolter hac
officers defi
met Ruth \
knew that
The girl r
Wolter and
given her n
“Why he
demanded
brought up
Would You Believe that
ICEBOATS
QUADRUPLE
THE SPEED
OF THE WIND? ©
OUNDS impossible, but they
S actually do! They whiz along as
fast as 100 miles per hour and provide
perk
hair-raising thrills for both pilots and
spectators. An extremely interesting
article in the December issue of
MODERN MECHANIX explains why
- these phenomenal speeds are possible.
Also in the December issue of Amer-
ica’s most popular mechanical maga-
zine—
Advance Showing of the 1938 Cars—Engineer-
ing features of next year's automobiles and how
they will contribute to increased safety, econ-
omy and smoothness of operation.
Filming a Movie War—Have you ever won-
dered how those terrifying battle scenes you
see on the screen are staged? This article
reveals the studios’ secrets.
Special Section on Modern Photography—A
dozen pages packed with kinks, ideas and short-
cuts of value to every camera owner. If you
haven't succumbed yet to the current camera
craze, you will after reading this section.
PLUS ** 69 pages of hobby, homecraft and
shop projects for young and old—home repair
notes—Christmas noveltie s—radio ideas—
stamp review—latest developments in scjence
and invention.
1s
a copy
at all
newsstands
MODERK x
MECHANI
80 Accept No Susstitutes ! Atways INSIST ON THE ADVE!
te " ms Aa oie ‘
department from Police Commissioner
Baker down ‘took a hand in running to
light evidence that would strap Albert
Wolter in Sing Sing’s electric chair,
The day after the discovery of the girl’s
body, police literally took Wolter’s room
apart board by board. In the center of
the room was an old-fashioned fire ‘screen
sealing a fire place. It had been freshly
painted and stood out like a sore thumb
in the dust laden room, Crowbars pried
it off in a few seconds.
Hardened detectives stepped back with
a gasp. Ina neat little pile in the center
of the fireplace were the flame-blackened
bones of Ruth Wheeler’s limbs from the
knees down. It was later discovered the
gunnysack contained bones of the torso,
and head. ‘
Through all the turmoil Wolter pro-
claimed his innocence, at once sullen and
servile, flashing defiance at questioners
one instant and laughing the next. The in-
variable cry of insanity was raised but
Coroner’s Physician O’Hanlon reported
no signs of an unbalanced condition.
Alternating with their interrogations
of Wolter, police concentrated on Kate.
There was never any attempt made to
connect her with the crime and not once
in the investigation did the shadow of
suspicion cross her path.
Her initial appearance was made be-
fore a coroner’s jury, New York’s pred-
ecessor to its present grand jury.
Without hesitation she identified an
umbrella shown to her as one she had
seen in Wolter’s room on the night of
the murder. It was the same umbrella
Ruth Wheeler owned and carried into the
death room with her.
eh
A snaky len
produced.
“Did you ev
in the East 75t
asked.
She studied
“Yes,” she said
ee
gth of charred rope was *
er see any rope like this -
h street room?” Kate was
it intently for a moment.
id finally, almost in a
whisper, “that looks like some of the rope
in the flat.”
The charred
the neck bone
When the s
rope had-béen taken from
of Ruth Wheeler!
uspect’s picture appeared
in the newspapers, 2 Steady stream of
young women paraded in to make charges
against him.
In Elizabeth, N. J., he was known to
many of the residents as “woman crazy.”
In his cheap East Side clothes, the flash-
jest attire he could buy for little money,
We played the
‘role of a veritable lady
killer. One girl in the New Jersey town
told police Wolter had tried to strangle
her. Yet even after this she kept cor-
responding with him. Three others liv-
ing in the same neighborhood came for-
ward with tales of the Yorkville Don
Juan.
Even one of Wolter’s illusory alibis
came from Elizabeth. At one of the
grillings he suddenly recalled he had
spent the greater part of the day on which
Ruth was murdered with a friend in
Elizabeth. Confronted by police, the
friend said:
“T do not un
derstand why Wolter could
say he was with me Thursday, the day
that the girl was killed, and that together
we went to th
Central Park.
e Metropolitan Museum in
I did not leave my house
all_day_ Thursday.”
His story was checked and found truth-
RTISED BRAND!
“His last request was to entertain the crowd with rope tricks!”
ful. Another c
blasted into th:
Meanwhile p
line up their c
trial. Profes:
structor of an
physicians, wa
the assembling
bones.
Working w
aided by exper
able to recons
most perfect s
After days
the correspc
human body
torch had bee
old, there aro
figure to poin
suspect. But
innocence.
In the myri
there remaine
cleared as fa
concerned. \
illumination <
apartment, c
murderer had
Wheeler he |
sene. Whoh
Inspector
the buyer of
men worki
combed the
store after s!
The searcl
the course of
to a small
avenue. Thi
head for a m
citedly that \
of the murd
more link ha
OLLOW
where th:
police, throu;
Carey, locat
where Wolt:
can of paint
fire screen.
“Ves,” Wo
ing, “I boug
between nin
told, the gir
to my house
“But the
paint and bi
as the perso
at three o’c
“Well, the
But I am sti!
reply.
But Inspe
off by the 5
had forced <
him, It wa
that Katie h
girl’s umbrel
the first sigi
Then, wit!
of his words
brella found
Suddenly
question imy
in the firepl:
Three we
for the sl
Wolter, went
in a jamm
The defen
moods, seerr
star attracti:
crying spell
rebellious mr
ant’s table,
nded a job and”
in the evening.
ning a shadow
nds. Ruth had
after a gloomy
lesperate. Tor-
‘ath the wheels
ide what to do.
lege,” Adelaide
know where
the house and
here her sister
urse. Because
lace was open
laide found the
o the manager.
aced her some-
s disclosed the
d that morning
secretary's job.
lame as A. W.
r on East 75th
\delaide copied
the dark streets
ired her desti-
* ' ; 4 ye A * MOA ae yi *)
nation, she discovered that she-was enter-
ing a section of shadowy rooming houses”
and shabby tenements. Every. corner. had
its group of bums and drunks who leered
at the attractive girl and sometimes ‘fol-
lowed her across -the..street. The -black,:
twisting alleys seemed filled with nameless
terrors.
More alarmed with everystep, the girl
at last found the address. The house was ~
a narrow . four-story brownstone: structure
that had a grim appearance in the faint light
from the street lamps. A few lights gleamed
dully through the dusty windows upstairs
but the entrance was dark and deserted.
The landlady admitted her and informed
her that’ Wolter’s room was on the fourth ©
floor rear. Ina short while she was knock-
ing on the door which her young sister had
supposedly entered in the morning.
Footsteps sounded in the room and pres-,
‘ently the door was flung open by a buxom.
young- woman. For a moment the. two
stared at each other. Then the girl facing
Adelaide spoke sharply.
“Well, what do you want?”
“May I speak to Mr. Wolter?”
“Why not?” ‘With a jerk of her head
[Continued on page 78]
Across the Bridge of Sighs sbeve’ which connects the Tombs with the New York courts, the torch
fiend was led to his trial. He is shown at top, wearing the light suit, as he was sentenced. Captain
Arthur Carey, right, was, instrumental aes the vicious killer.
hs lan aay S wena
Ma Eee a
Do
ing girl, Mrs. Wheeler couldn’t stand the anxiety any longer.
“Ruth was supposed to go to the school first,” she said.
“Pl] call there and find out what happened.”
Pearl and Adelaide told their mother the school would
be closed at that hour.
“Then I’m going to call Mr. Estey at his home,” Mrs.
Wheeler said. “This uncertainty is too much.” +.
_ Pearl found Sherman C. Estey’s residence phone number
in the directory. “I'll call him,” the older girl said.
mg THE SECRETARIAL SCHOOL director answered the
telephone himself. Pear] told him she was Ruth Wheeler's
sister.
“l’m sorry to disurb you at home,” she said, “but we're
worried about Ruth. She left our house at 9:30 this morn-
ing. She said she was going to stop at your school hoping
you'd have a lead on a job. She was supposed to call home
if she got one. Ruth didn’t. We haven’t heard from her all
day. My mother’s very worried.”
Estey seemed astonished. “Ruth did come to our school
shortly after 10 o’clock this morning,” he told the sister.
“T talked with her myself. The placement bureau sent her
out to apply for a position. We didn’t hear from her after
that. I took it for granted she was hired.”
Pearl asked him where Ruth had been sent.
“T don’t recall the exact name or address,” he replied,
“but I do remember they were on a postcard. The man
“wanted a secretary. Pll go down to the office and check our
files. That will take a little time, but T’ll call you back as
soon as I can. You've got a right to be concerned.”
Mrs. Wheeler and her two daughters waited for more
than half an hour for Mr. Estey’s call. Finally it came.
“The name is Albert Walter Wolter,” he told Pearl, who
answered. “His office is at 222 East Seventy-fifth Street.
The file card doesn’t list a telephone. I remember now that
Captain Arthur Carey—he ordered close search
at the apartment of the mysterious Mr. Wolter.
Wolter’s name and address were imprinted on the card with
a rubber stamp.”
Pearl Wheeler thanked him, hung up and told her mother
and sister what Mr. Estey had said. Adelaide looked
Wolter’s name up in the telephone directory. No such per-
son was listed at that address. The younger sister called
Information. No help there.
“That’s strange,” Pearl Wheeler said. “A business man
who needs a secretary should certainly have a telephone.
That is, unless he’s just started and hasn’t had time to have
one installed.”
Adelaide agreed. “Just the same,” she said, “I’m going
to that address and see what this man Wolter can tell me.”
Mrs. Wheeler jumped to her feet. “Not alone,” she said.
“It’s late. That’s a strange neighborhood—the Yorkville
district. I don’t want you going there at night alone.”
Pearl Wheeler had no idea of letting her sister make the
trip all by herself. “I’m going with you,” she told Adelaide.
‘ g IT WAS BITTER COLD in the streets and fine particles
of snow were falling when the Wheeler girls came out of
the Seventy-seventh Street subway station on the East
Side. They had to walk several blocks to the address Albert
Wolter had given.
“This place doesn’t look like a good location for a busi-
ness office,” Pearl Wheeler said when they came to num-
ber 222, an ordinary, middle-class apartment house.
The girls found the names on the mail boxes difficult to
read in the dimly-lit vestibule. Finally they came to one
marked, Albert Walter Wolter.
“It’s 3A.” Adelaide said, pressing the bell.
The door lock clicked and the girls entered a hallway.
Apartment 3A was on the third floor. Pearl knocked on
the door.
After a short wait it opened. A flaxen-haired young girl
looked surprised when she saw who was there. “Yes?” she
said.
“We are looking for Mr. Wolter,” Pearl Wheeler told her.
“It’s about our sister Ruth. She came here today to see Mr.
Wolter about a job as secretary. Can we talk with him? My
name is Pearl Wheeler and this is my older sister, Adelaide.”
The girl in the doorway looked puzzled. “I don’t know
what you're talking about,” she said. “What's this about
a secretary? My husband’s gone to bed already. What would
he want with a secretary?”
Pearl Wheeler said she didn’t know. “But Ruth was sent
here this morning by the Merchants’ and Bankers’ School.
It’s run by Mr. Sherman Estey. He says Ruth came here.
Please let us talk to Mr. Wolter.”
The girl shrugged her shoulders. “All right,” she said.
“Step inside.”
As the Wheeler girls entered the unkempt apartment a
bedroom ‘door opened and a dark-haired, thin young man
with cold blue eyes came out. He was wearing a bathrobe.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Pearl Wheeler repeated what she’d told the girl at the
door. ~
“J don’t know any Ruth Wheeler,” the man said impa-
tiently. “A girl named Koenig was here last night. Willa
Koenig.”
The girl who'd let Pearl and Adelaide in turned to Wolter.
“What’s this about hiring a secretary?” she asked.
Albert Wolter told her he hadn’t said anything about
it because she didn’t like his idea of starting a German
shorthand school. “I need a secretary to help me,” he said.
The wife just looked at him.
Pearl Wheeler asked Mr. Wolter to describe Willa Koenig.
“She was dark-haired, short and fat,” the man replied.
“J didn’t like her.” ’
The Wheeler
“You're sure
laide asked. “‘S}
The man said
“But you did
asking them to
“Maybe. I wr:
here today she
I was away unt
Pearl and Ad
they left the ap
hurried to the
no place was oy
“We talked \
“He claims he’:
The girls’ mc
he sent her the
her!”
Adelaide Wt
to call the poli
m THE GIRL
the East Sixty.
ation in detail.
the type of gir
‘said he would
Pearl was 1
James Devine
her uncle, Am
Stone.
The girls ar
they could ab
vine and Hag
the type of gi
reason.
“We'll start
Street buildin
your sister sh
time today so
Pearl and
uncle, Amos
building.
The searchi
detectives tol:
about and ask
Wheeler’s des
Detective L
the sound of
voice was he:
Finally Alb
when he saw
who'd been t!
“Can’t am
Devine anc
missing,” the
by a placeme:
Albert Wo!
look around,’
wife. We hav
neath the be:
I'd like to ge’
Mrs. Wolte
some feminir
they weren't
Devine anc
by room. Th:
been inside 1
Detective
the girl the)
the card with
d her mother
laide looked
No such per-
sister called
business man
» a telephone.
1 time to have
id, “I’m going
- can tell me.”
one,” she said.
the Yorkville
‘ht alone.”
ister make the
told Adelaide.
d fine particles
ls came out of
a on the East
address Albert
ion for a busi-
came to num-
t house. ,
yxes difficult to
‘y came to one
red a hallway.
arl knocked on
iired young girl
vere. “Yes?” she
Theeler told her.
today to see Mr.
k with him? My
sister, Adelaide.”
. “I don’t know
hat’s this about
ady. What would
it Ruth was sent
Bankers’ School.
Ruth came here.
right,” she said.
mpt apartment a
thin young man
aring a bathrobe.
d the girl at the
man said impa-
last night. Willa
turned to Wolter.
she asked.
j anything about
-arting a German
help me,” he said.
ribe Willa Koenig.
the man replied.
The Wheeler girls knew that couldn’t be their sister.
“You're sure no Ruth Wheeler was here today?” Ade-
laide asked. “She’s young, blonde. Medium build. Not fat.”
The man said he hadn’t seen anybody like that.
“But you did write to the Merchants’ and Bankers’ School
asking them to send a girl?” Pearl asked.
“Maybe. I wrote to a lot of places. But if your sister came
here today she found nobody home. My wife works and
I was away until late this afternoon.” ;
Pearl and Adelaide Wheeler were greatly confused when
they left the apartment house at 222 East 75th Street. They
hurried to the subway and returned home. It was so late
no place was open from which they could call their mother.
“We talked with. Mr. Wolter,” Pearl told Mrs. Wheeler.
“He claims he’s never seen Ruth.”
The girls’ mother was almost hysterical. “Mr. Estey says
he sent her there!” she cried. “Somebody must have seen
her!”
Adelaide Wheeler had stood all she could. “I'm going
to call the police,” she said. “They'll know what to do.”
m= THE GIRL SPOKE with Captain Edward P. Hughes at
the East Sixty-seventh Street station, explaining the situ-
ation’ in detail. After being assured Ruth Wheeler was not
the type of girl to run away from home, Captain Hughes
“ said he would send two detectives over at once.
Pearl was talking on the telephone when Detectives
James Devine and John Haggerty arrived. She was calling
her uncle, Amos Wheeler, and a family friend, Thomas A.
Stone. ;
The girls and. their mother told the officers everything
they could about the missing girl. When they finished De-
vine and Haggerty were convinced Ruth Wheeler wasn’t
the type of girl to cause her family concern without good
reason.
“We'll start our investigation at the East Seventy-fifth
Street building,” Detective Haggerty said. “That’s where
your sister should have gone. If she showed up there any
time today somebody must have seen her enter or leave.”
Pearl and Adelaide went along with the officers. The
uncle, Amos Wheeler, and Stone met them outside the
building.
The searching party rang the superintendent’s bell. The
detectives told the man what the late hour visit was all
about and asked him if he had seen a girl answering Ruth
Wheeler’s description that day. He hadn’t.
Detective Devine knocked on the door at 3A. There was
the sound of someone moving about inside. Then a man’s
voice was heard. “Wait.a minute,” he said gruffly.
Finally Albert Wolter opened the door. His eyes widened
when he saw the four men in addition to the two girls
who’d been there earlier.
“Can’t a man get a night’s rest?” he asked.
Devine and Haggerty identified themselves. “A girl is
missing,” the first officer told Wolter. “She was sent here
by a placement agency to see you. We’re trying to find her.”
Albert Wolter motioned the party inside. “Take a good
look around,” he said. “I’m not a kidnaper. Neither is my
wife. We haven’t killed the girl and hidden her body be-
neath the ‘bed. Just look around and convince yourselves.
I’d like to get some sleep.”
Mrs. Wolter had come out of a bedroom. She identified
some feminine garments as hers. Pearl and Adelaide knew
they weren't their sister’s.
Devine and Haggerty went over the place carefully room
by room. There was nothing to indicate Ruth Wheeler had
been inside the apartment.
Detective Haggerty asked Wolter about Willa Koenig,
the girl the man said he’d interviewed the previous night.
‘Mrs. Edna Wheeler—she knew her daughter must
have met mishap while looking for employment.
“What did you tell her about the job?” the officer wanted °
to know.
“I told her to come back today.”
Detective Devine intervened. “You told her to come back
today?” he said. “And you say you're not here most of the
day. How come?”
Wolter said, “I expected Stahl to be here.”
“Who's this Stahl?”
“Karl Stahl,” Wolters told him. “He’s going to be my
partner in the shorthand school.”
Detective Haggerty made a note of Karl Stahl’s address.
Subsequent questioning of Wolter showed that although
he was a piano tuner by trade, employed by ‘the Steinway
Company on Fourteenth Street and Irving Place, he’d al-
ways been interested in shorthand as a hobby. Wolter hadn’t
gone to work that day because he wasn’t feeling well.
“I had breakfast around 8 o'clock this morning,” he said
in answer to the detectives’ questions. “My wife works in
a bakery. She left earlier. I went down to a store and bought
some paint and a brush. The fireplace needed brightening
up.”
The officers had noticed the newly painted fireplace. They
asked Wolter if he had done the job that day.
“Yes,” he told them. “But I went from the store to the
park and sat there a while. I thought the fresh air would
make me féel better. Then I went to the bakery where my
wife works and had coffee and cake. I didn’t come home
until around 2 o’clock. It took me only a few minutes to
paint the fireplace. When I finished I went to the barber
shop. After that I went for a walk, getting back here around
5 o'clock. Kathie, that’s my wife, carne home at 7:30.”
Wolter said the fireplace job had taken him less than an
hour. “If a girl came here today,” (Continued on page 49)
ts as he saw
and George
ve fallen al-
i been able,
' protect her
nut her face
and assigned
)né of them’s
Rowe. Earl’s
n that jalopy
about it.”
amsey asked
tho said he’d
ficer said. “I
it what hap-
at the scene
tid at first to
ent.
managed to
sition. Then
dry ground.
junk yard.
irl,” Johnson
ondition you
tamsey
police
attention.
car,” he told
Now look at
n alive when
| over in the
been on the
there were a
soaked with
t fact. “Let’s
‘he said.
examination.
hard to tell
“But as far
m any more
h was bound
ng apparatus
‘er the side.”
Yow let’s try
vay it really
egan. “It was
proached the
en the whole
it against the
1 the under-
eling at high
ne air before
ack-track up
it was all the
ve been
sau, working
on page 78)
he insisted, “It wasn’t during that time.”
Both detectives thought Wolter’s
story sounded a little too pat, but they
had nothing to disprove it. They left
and took the Wheeler sisters and Mr.
Amos Wheeler and Mr. Stone back to
the 134th Street address. Detectives De-
vine and Haggerty went upstairs and
assured Mrs. Wheeler they would con-.
tinue the investigation until the mys-
tery of Ruth Wheeler’s disappearance
was solved. Then they went back to
their station house and made a report.
By then it was early morning, Friday,
March 25, 1910.
m CAPTAIN HUGHES went over the
report and talked with his investi-
gators about the case after they’d
caught a little sleep. 3
“This man Wolter’s story could be
true,” the captain said. “Ruth Wheeler
could have gone to his place, found no
one there and been accosted by some-
body else. You'll have to question ev-
erybody in the building. P’ll have Wol-
ter’s partner, Karl Stahl, interrogated.
I'll also see to it that Albert Wolter and
his wife don’t run out on us. They’ll
be kept under surveillance until this
case is cleared up.”
Sherman Estey, director of the secre-
tarial school, was so concerned about
Ruth Wheeler that he made a special
trip to police headquarters to tell about
sending her out on the job possibility.
Devine and Haggerty were detailed
to talk with the superintendent and
tenants at the East Seventy-fifth Street
building. Nobody appeared. to be able
to help. As far as the detectives could
learn, Ruth Wheeler had vanished in
thin air.
Frank Mohl, the superintendent, said
Albert Wolter and his wife were at
work. “They usually get in around 7
o'clock,” he told the investigators.
Devine and Haggerty decided to rent
a room across the way from which they
could watch the coming and going at
222 East Seventy-fifth Street. They
made hourly reports to Capt. Hughes.
The Wolters didn’t return until shortly
after 7.
Mohl hurried across the street at
7:30. ;
“The Wolters are packing up to
move,” the superintendent told Devine
and Haggerty. “They claim they’re up-
set by you people. I tried to persuade
them to stay, but they wouldn’t listen.
Said they got no sleep last night and
don’t want to live én a place where they
have no privacy.”
The detectives saw Mrs. Wolter
leave by the front carrying a suitcase.
They had started to follow when Super-
«
COME INTO MY PARLOR
(Continued from page 39)
intendent Mohl ran out and said Albert
Wolter must have sneaked out the back
way.
“He won’t get far,” Devine told him.
“Other officérs are covering the back.”
The two detectives tailed Mrs. Wol-
ter to Park Avenue and Kightieth
Street. She stopped there, put down her
suitcase and waited. Albert Wolter
joined her minutes later. As Devine
had said, the husband was being shad-
owed by other plainclothesmen.
Haggerty and his partner signaled to
the other men to return to the East
Seventy-fifth Street apartment house.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolter walked west
and then doubled back east from Madi-
son and Lexington :Avenues. The de-
tectives could see by their furtive
actions that they thought they were
being followed. The trail led to'a room-
ing house on East 105th Street in Har-
lem. Devine and Haggerty didn’t go in
right away. But the fact that Albert
Wolter had. continually looked back
over his shoulder to see if they were
being followed made the detectives be-
lieve he was concealing something.
“Let’s put the arm on him and take
him to the station house,” Haggerty
said. “We don’t have to take the woman
in. I doubt if she knows anything about
this.” .
The rooming house landlady was sur-
prised when the detectives identified
themselves. ‘“‘What’s the matter?” she
asked. “Are those people wanted by
the police? I just rented the room.”
Haggerty and Devine didn’t bother
“to explain. “Take us to their room,”-
they ordered.
“Such a business!” the woman sighed
as. she led the way upstairs.
Haggerty knocked on the door.
“We’re police officers,” he said. “Open
up.”
Mrs. Wolter unlocked the door. She
had been crying. Albert Wolter stood
in the middle of the room looking like
he wanted to take.a punch at some-
body. ;
“Albert is innocent,” the flaxen-
haired girl said. “He hasn’t been feel-
ing well. Don’t take him to police head-
quarters. He needs medical care. Take
him to a hospital.”
Devine said, “We know where to take
him.”
' Albert Wolter wasn’t as upset as his
wife. “I haven’t anything to hide,” he
said. “We moved because you men were
hounding us. I’ll go along. I’ll also con-
vince you I never had anything to do
with a girl named Ruth Wheeler.”
= THE PIANO TUNER who wanted to
start a German shorthand school ac-
75 meses AN agil
———~
companied the officers to the station
house. When Captain Hughes found
Wolter had been brought in the ques-
tioning took place in the captain’s office.
Included in the interrogation was a
young, tow-headed German: Karl
Stahl.
When Wolter saw the man he claimed
was to be his partner in the shorthand
school he shouted, “What are you doing
here?”
Stahl just looked at him.
“He’s here because you lied about
him,” Captain Hughes told Wolter.
“He’s told us all about that shorthand
school idea. He was not even supposed
to be in your apartment yesterday. We
know he’s telling the truth because
we've checked his alibi. Most impor-
tant, he says you both gave up the idea
of starting a shorthand school weeks
ago.”
“He’s a liar,” Wolter snapped. “May-
be he gave up the idea, but I didn’t.”
Captain Hughes was getting the re-
action he’d expected. “We’re not hold-
ing Stahl,” he told Wolter, “because
we’re convinced he knows nothing
about Ruth Wheeler’s disappearance.
You do.”
Karl Stahl was allowed to leave after
promising to remain available. for fur-
ther questioning if necessary.
Hughes, Devine and Haggerty gave
Wolter a going-over for hours. But the
stolid German insisted he knew noth-
ing about the missing girl.
“You searched my apartment,” he
said. “You didn’t find anything, did
you?”
Captain Hughes said, “We haven’t
found anything yet. You’re running in,
luck so far. Apparently no one saw
Ruth Wheeler enter your building.
We’re sure no one saw her leave. But
we think she was there. You’d be sav-
ing yourself a lot of trouble by coming
clean.”
Albert Wolter smirked. “A man’s in-
_nocent until proved guilty,” he said. “I
know all about your American laws.
You can’t prove I’m guilty because I’m
not.”
“We can lock you up on an open
charge,” the captain told him. “That’s
exactly what we’re going to do.”
Mrs. Wolter was brought in for ques-
«tioning the following morning, Satur-
day. The girl’s eyes were red from cry-
ing and lack of sleep.
‘I’m so confused I don’t know what
to think,” she told Capt. Hughes. “Al-
~bert acted so strangely after that girl’s
disappearance. Thursday night, after
the detectives left, he was like a caged
lion pacing up and down the floor.
When I asked him what was the mat-
49
ter he snapped at me—told me to shut
up and leave him alone.”
Mrs. Wolter went on to tell how
they’d finally gone to bed.
“I went to sleep,” she said, “and I
thought Albert did too. But I woke
up with a start. ['d heard a window
open. Albert wasn’t beside me. I heard
a thud. It was like a heavy object land-
ing somewhere. I jumped up and ran
into the kitchen. Albert was standing
in front of an open window. When I
asked him what happened he told me
to go back to bed and mind my own
business.”
Captain Hughes asked Haggerty and
Devine whether the courtyard in back
of the apartment building had been
searched. They assured him it had.
“Wolter must have thrown something
out that window,” the captain said. “It
could have been Ruth Wheeler’s body.”
The detectives insisted the courtyard
had been given a thorough going-over.
Just then the captain’s telephone
rang. Devine and Haggerty heard the
officer say, “That’s good. We'll be right
there.”
When Hughes hung up he told the
detectives there was work to be done.
“The mutilated body of a young girl
has been found on the fire escape out-
side apartment 2A at 222 East Seventy-
fifth Street,” he said.
= A LARGE CROWD of curious people
was gathered in one corner of the
courtyard when the officers arrived.
The building superintendent moved
them back as Hughes, Devine and Hag-
gerty approached.
The gruesome sight on the ground
was even more than the case-hardened
policemen had expected. Somebody
had ripped open a big potato sack. What
was left of a young girl was sticking
out. The body was charred. Arm and
leg bones had been broken and twist-
ed grotesquely so the whole thing could
be stuffed into the sack. A crude
butcher job had been done and most
of the skin burned from the torso and
head. The only clue to the victim’s
identity was a discolored turquoise
necklace.
“We've found Ruth Wheeler,” Cap-
tain Hughes sighed. “Her mother told
us she’d be wearing a necklace like
that.”
After having the coroner notified,
the captain questioned the tenant who
had found the potato sack on his fire
escape.
“Tt could have been there a day or
so,” the man said. “But I didn’t notice
it until a little while ago. We don’t open
the kitchen window in this weather. I
thought it was somebody’s rubbish at
first. All I wanted to do was get rid of
it. I opened the window and picked the
sack up. I was going to throw it down
into the yard. But it was so heavy I
knew something was wrong. I really
heaved it when I saw the bloodstains.
Then I ran down and told the super
about it. We ripped it open and called
you people right away.”
With the grim discovery of the corpse
in the sack, Inspector George H. Titus
and Captain Arthur Carey of the
homicide squad entered the case. Coro-
ner August Holtzhauser and Dr. Philip
O’Hanlon took the murdered girl’s re-
mains to the morgue. The unpleasant
task of informing the Wheeler family
of the tragic news fell to Captain
Hughes. The widowed mother and her
two remaining daughters sobbed bit-
terly when they heard Ruth’s fate.
“I knew something bad had hap-
pened to my little girl,’ Mrs. Wheeler
managed between tears. “It was more
than a premonition. Ruth was such a
good girl. I knew she wouldn’t run
away. Not once during her whole life
did she cause us a moment’s anxiety.
When she didn’t come home that night
I knew I’d never see her alive again.”
Captain Hughes, along with Detec-
tives Devine and Haggerty, brought
Captain Carey up to date on the case. ©
The homicide officer now took charge.
“Get that man Wolter in here,” Carey
said. “I want to talk with him. Mean-
while, send a detail to the apartment
on Seventh-fifth Street he moved out
of. Turn the place upside down. But
come up with something. A man can’t
kill a woman, butcher her and burn the
body without leaving some clue. Have
some other men check Wolter’s new
room in Harlem. Bring back every-
thing he owns. We'll crack him.”
Detectives centered their investiga-
tion at the Seventy-fifth Street apart-
ment around the newly painted fire-
place. Tearing away a black metal
shield masking the front of it they
found ashes and what looked like finger
bones.
Other investigators working at the
Harlem room found a gold amulet an-
swering the description of a charm Ruth
Wheeler had worn among the suspect’s
personal belongings. Also a rubber
stamp. with Wolter’s name on it. This
matched the signature on the postcard
the Merchants’ and Bankers’ School
had received asking them to send a girl
to his place to apply for a job. The
* conclusive bit of evidence was a note-
book in which Albert Wolter had writ-
ten the name, Ruth Wheeler. There
were many other girls’ names in addi-
tion to that one.
m CAPTAIN CAREY confronted the
prisoner with all this evidence. “We
know you killed Ruth Wheeler and
how you killed her,” the homicide man
told Wolter. “She came to your apart-
ment looking for work. She was young
and innocent. She knocked on the door
and you let her in. Maybe you even
promised to hire her. But you had other
things in the back of your mind. Ruth
Wheeler wouldn’t go for them. You
killed her when she resisted. Then you
tried to get rid of the body. You butch-
ered it, burned it. It was still there
Thursday night when the poor girl’s
sisters came looking for her. When they
left you paced the floor like a caged
lion. You pretended to go to bed. But
you got up and threw the body out of
the window. It landed on the fire escape
below or detectives would have found
it the next day. You're a cold-blooded
killer, Wolter. You’re going to burn.”
The accused man’s face was as white
as a sheet. “I won’t burn!” he shouted.
“J won’t burn because I’m not guilty. I
didn’t kill that girl!”
Captain Carey kept at him. But Al-
bert Wolter refused to confess. Finally,
on Sunday night, the homicide officer
ordered the prisoner taken back to the
Tombs.
Veteran guards in the Manhattan
prison are accustomed to hearing pri-
soners cry out in the night. But Albert
_Wolter’s screams unnerved them more
than most.
Each time they went to quiet the ac-
cused murderer they found him sleep-
ing soundly. The next morning he asked
to speak with Captain Carey.
“Something fantastic happened last
night,” Wolter said. “I had the same
dream four times. It was brought about
by the lies you've told about me. I was
alone in my apartment on, Seventy -fifth
Street. This beautiful girl knocked on
the door. I let her in. I wasn’t going to
do anything to her. But she started
screaming. She was such a pretty thing.
I had to kill her. I put a rope around
her shapely neck. I told her she was
too beautiful to live. Then everything
went black. I woke up screaming.”
Captain Carey looked deep into the
prisoner’s eyes. “You know why you
dreamed that, don’t you?” he asked.
Wolter said he didn’t.
“You dreamed you killed a beautiful
girl because your crime against Ruth
Wheeler is preying on your subcon-
scious mind. You'll have no peace until
you confess.”
Albert Wolter said that wasn’t so.
“You can’t trick me,” he told Carey.
“J’m innocent. I’ll not dream any more.”
= ALBERT WOLTER was indicted on
a first degree murder charge the fol-
lowing Wednesday. He went to trial be-
fore Judge Warren Foster in General
Sessions court on April 18, 1910.
The state’s case was ably presented
by Assistant District Attorneys Frank
Moss and Robert Turnbull. The excel-
lent detective work done by Captains
Carey and Hughes aided the prose-
cutors greatly.
The evidence included fragments of
bone from the dead girl’s fingers found
/
lames Ess
after his
eseax 3
Injured Carl W
‘
¥
DITY nines
re was no second chance. en ps a7
D description of the man because they knew that if.a
better lead didn’t materialize, they would be reduced
to going through the police files and pulling the file
on anyone who*’came close to the description. ~
us bottles of beer and wine _ Of course the detectives were just as interested in
itchen sink, they were able '. finding out if anyone had seen the man leaving the
uld have had only a few §& cottage, and on this score they found an excellent
n he was killed. Though the eye-witness.
than a dollar in change in 9 3 \
dicative since a few dollars § : HE WAS a woman who lived in-one of the houses
thing other than to provide § you could see if.-you were sitting at Sess and
i q Rescigno’s kitchen table looking. out the window, On
alked to Sess and Rescigno, 4 Thursday night, around midnight, she told the officers,
re house was situated, some 2 she was standing in the kitchen ironing shirts. All of a
help knowing about their § _ sudden she heard footsteps in the backyard and a.man
house was actually in back @ appeared at her back door. Without saying a word, he
d no street frontage of its tried the screen door handle, but found that it was
so close together all around locked. The woman got (Continued on page..52)
within eye- and ear-shot of
| d to talk to most of these 9% ~ Eee :
' of the investigation; none Beata i
they had heard any loud
a fight on the previous |
m, however, recalled seeing -*
n Sess at all, but he didn’t . J
10 had been amply observed
| two or three of the neigh-
in the company of another , }
c the men to have a guest.
he neighbors said, Rescigno
rt, heavy-set man, graying,
eed. of a shave. Most of the
them. guessed his age to be 4
‘ties or early fifties. ~
scigno’s friend before? None
id neither was he someone .4
e neighborhood before, The
ind slowly, compiling a good
a ° » A
At just such a parole board meeting as this, Frederick Wood won freedom over protests of judge, D.A., and police chief.
This is the suspect that didn't get away (L.) with a
Wy
sst. D.A.'s.
Newscaster Morgan got a hunch that caught wanted man.
23
52
Longbrake home for some time. Wynston
claimed he first learned about this after Ger-
ald went to jail on the robbery charge. He
said he blew his top, and immediately moved
the package out to Piru Canyon, where he
buried it.
The foil package with its grisly body parts
was dug up on Wednesday night, June 29,
1960. The head was turned over to Dr. Harold
Kade for autopsy. Kade removed a bullet, and
sheriff’s ballistics experts took it for com-
parison.
It matched none of. the guns they’d found
in the jewelry store and in the possession of
the gang members.
On Saturday, July 2, police arrested another
member of the gang. He had the gun that had
fired the bullet, : ;
On Tuesday, July. 5, the! evidence went’ to
the Grand Jury for indictments. ’
Ditson refused to give a home address for
himself, But his car was at the home of his
girlfriend, an attractive clerk in his shop, at’
the time of his arrest.
- Carlos Cisneros’. olive-skinned, :23-year-old
wife had borne their fourth child since the
murder, She insisted Carlos was innocent.
“I can’t believe my husband was a robber
or a murderer, He eats good and sleeps like
a baby and I don’t think he had a worry 4 in
.
the world. I hope a lawyer will come forward
to help us. I want him’ back and so-do the
children. He always spent his weekends with
us and took us to the beach or the park and
to a drive-in movie, ~
*T know the police said he was keeping late
hours, but he was always. at the store when
I called him at night.” '
But by Carlos’ own admission, there was
one night back in November when, if his wife
had, called, there would have been no answer
from the jewelry shop in Sun Valley. The
owner and his trusted employe were out on
business ‘and only a jury can determine what
kind of business that was. a
)
.
I'm So-o Sorry
continued from page 23
frightened and called her husband who was
in the next room. The husband came into the
kitchen. “What do you want?” he asked, the
man at the door. .
“How do I get out of here?” the man de-
manded. He was dishevelled and frantic look- |
ing. He apparently was trying to get from the
area back of the houses to the street, and
couldn’t find any place that wasn’t blocked
by a fence or shrubs. The houses were old
and none of them had any driveways running
beside the house. The husband pointed to a
place where there was a passage to the street,
and the man turned and dashed towards it
without a word. His description? In his late
forties or early fifties, graying hair, unshaven,
shabbily dressed. The exact description given
by the other neighbors of the guest they had
seen Rescigno come home with.
"THE neighbors who had first supplied’ this
description gave the police two’ additional
facts: both the stranger and Rescigno had
already been drinking when they came home
at 7 p.m., and Rescigno had been carrying
packages which may have been groceries and
the bottles of wine and beer which police
later found, empty, on the sink.
On the back of one of the wine bottles was
a store label. The store was close to the sub-
way entrance, which indicated that Rescigno
could very well have bought the wine on his
way home. A couple of detectives dropped into
the liquor store, but none of the clerks who
might have been on duty were able to recall -
selling the wine.
By the end of the first day of the inves-
tigation, over 50 Queens detectives had been
assigned. to the case. The murder room had’
been photographed, fingerprinted and care-
fully examined for any clues that might be of
help, but there was*nothing that looked as
though it would be of much value. There were
thousands upon thousands of shabby, ill-
shaven, gray-haired men in New York City, .
and without some way of distinguishing the
suspect from the mob, the investigation would
never be able to get off its feet. So far the
only things the police knew of that made the
murderer different was that he was a man
who was capable of a brutal, vicious murder,
and that he might be or had been a parolee.
Police also knew he was a man able to
sustain his frenzy for quite a long time,
long enough to batter his first. victim with -
more than a dozen blows to the head and face :
with a bottle, several more with a coal scuttle,
then carve him up with glass anda knife. be-
fore goingfon to a second victim on whom
he worked not quite so long or carefully, but
long enough to indicate that this was not: a
case of one man simply getting mad at an-
other and ‘killing him. The anger span’ was
' too long for that. Everything pointed ‘to a
mania. They had to find a man who, having
brutally killed two old men, feels neither, men-
tal nor emotional exhaustion, nor regret nor
remorse nor any’ of the: predictable after-
effects, but instead picks up a piece of paper
and leaves a twinkling note saying he’s “g0-0
sorry. ”
The police isveatigation forked’ off in two”
directions, one concentrating on’ the ‘search
for a parolee who might fit the description, the
other looking for an escaped or recently re-
leased mental. patient.
_ The detectives, however, were not the only
people who’ were shocked by. the case, The.
grisly details’ were ‘published in the: news-
papers and read! over the airwaves all over
the Eastern seaboard, And it was on the next
_day, Tuesday, July 5,° that the details of
the double murder stirred’ something ‘in jthe
memory. of an Elmira, N.Y., radio news fan-
nouncer, Michael J. Morgan.
Morgan had been a news hawk for a good
many years and the memory went back to .
1942, and had been revived in vivid detail
only a couple of weeks before. It’ involved a
carpenter by the name ‘of, John--Lowman
whose badly battered and hacked body had.
been. discovered in. an Elmira rooming house.:.
The body had been there for several days
and the man who had rented the room, Fred-
erick Wood, had vanished.” The police found
him after a brief search—in jail—where he
had been put on complaint of-his father. He
had a long record of minor crimes. Now a
big one was to be’ added to, that record, for,
questioned about Lowman’s murder, Wood)
confessed.’ The reason, Wood said,’ was _be-
cause Lowman had. allegedly. annoyed his
girlfriend. Wood then went into some detail
on how he’d lured Lowman to his rooming
house. Once there, Wood hit him over the
head’ with a beer bottle, After he’d fali
down, Wood stomped on his head, ‘Then,”
' Wood : continued,
“I cut him up with my
knife. . .”.Wood had planned. to hack the
body up into little pieces and’ cart them
away, but before \he had ‘the chance, he ‘ran
into his'\father, got into an ‘argument: with .
him, and on his father’s complaint. had landed
in ay Wood was eared tried, spovigred an
i Beh Ml!
[
i
at
sentenced to a twenty-to-life term. As sen-~
tence was passed, Chemung County Judge
Bertram’ L. Newman remarked, “For the pro-
“tection of society, this man should never be
released from. prison.”
Shortly after entering prison he was trans-
ferred to the Dannemora State Hospital, where
he remained until 1950. He was transferred to |
Clinton Prison and in 1956, despite the judge’s
opinion, the question of Wood’s parole came
up. The judge and prosecutor, Walter B. Rey-
nolds, and the present prosecutor, Paul Mc-
Cabe, all protested, The parole was turned
down, but in the spring of 1960, came up
again. Again there were protests, but this time
Wood won his parole, On June 6, 1960, he had
been released with’ the stipulation that he stay
away from Elmira.
Radio newscaster Morgan had follovwed the
case over the years, And because the Elmira
officials had’ protested the parole, the case
was fresh in his mind. The beer bottle,
bludgeoning, and the words, “Then I cut him
up with my knife” were still pretty fresh in
Morgan’s mind. When he. picked up a news
release about the two Queens murders, Mor-
gan decided that the Queens detectives ought
to know about Wood. The parole had stipu-
lated Wood should not return to Elmira; was
it possible he had gone to New. York?
~. Morgan got in touch ‘with someone on the
wire ‘service which had carried the story of
the Queens murders, and told him about
Wood, suggesting they get in touch with the
police:
They did, and that afternoon, the New York
' City police: began to search for Frederick.
Wood. First they contacted the parole board.
There they learned that. the parole board, for
entirely different reasons, was also. looking
for Wood. Wood had recently lost his job in
a laundry and had failed to report to the
parole officer. A pick-up order had been is-
sued several days before. Now homicide joined
He inig aor
T WE on all day Monday; early Tues-
day, the police finally learned that’ Wood
was perfectly safe. The day before, it turned
out, a couple of parole officers had picked him
up. in ‘an 80 cents-a-night Bowery hotel, and
had ‘stashed him away in the City Prison in
- Manhattan, |.
~ Queens detectives picked up Wood and
rushed ‘him up to Astoria. The first thing the
detectives noticed' was that Wood bore a
good resemblante to the description given by
\
the neighbors who
haired man enteri
cigno and leaving a:
bily dressed and a’
be ill-shaven, and
haired and in his ]:
to Queens, no eff
, Wood and he seem
_ turbed. °
When: the ‘police
trict Attorney Be:
Wood, they had ;
Wood’s criminal ;
sources. He had co:
Elmira family, bu:
into some juvenile |
he was 16, his fath:
State Hospital for
was released in tw
he swiped. a. car, gc
was placed in a p
ward boys by his
later, when he car
and in that year
cents and was se!
months, —
HEN he was
drunk, and an
plained to police a:
revoked, After a f
Hospital for Insane
again. In 1933 he
conduct and annoyi
until 1940. He ren
dered: John Lowmz
- His was-a curiou:
he had been guilty
ness—except for Li
in spite .of repeated
ties, no one seemed
had, that he need:
When he was par
he went to Albany
a laundry, He staye
then he ‘suddenly \
at which the police
ing his story. The)
a few dollars with
They also: knew 1
straightforward life
vouched for him ar
the latter noted t
with other employe
It was the parol
had become ‘disco
with this. He said |
dry job ‘after thre:
bus to New York
job. He-hadn’t co:
and to save money
flop houses. :
Where ‘had he |
‘Wood. paused, saic
-the evening: loungi:
walks. Could he prc
find someone who
a possibility. He di:
he thought he mig
Where had: he sle;
sure abqut that at :
nights between flop
then he came up wi
at a Bowery Hotel
.of his story with \
and willingness.
‘Then the police:
. They asked him if
Sess: He promptly
<3 asked him if he’d
ie forward
so do the
cends with
> park and
eeping late:
store when
there was
_ if his wife
no answer
Valley. The
vere out on
“rmine what
a
———
TT
orm. AS sen-—
ounty Judge
‘For the pro-
uld never be
he was trans-
(ospital, where
transferred to |
ite the judge’s
5 parole came
Valter B. Rey-
tor, Paul Mc-
le was turned
(960, came up
;, but this time
6, 1960, he had
on that he stay
id followed the
wuse the Elmira
varole, the case
re beer bottle,
Then I cut him
pretty fresh in
:ked up a news
; murders, Mor-
detectives ought
yarole had stipu-
1 to Elmira; was
Jew York?
someone on the
ied the story of
told him about
a touch with the
on, the New York
ch for Frederick
the parole board.
parole board, for
was also looking
tly lost his job in
to report to the
rder had been is-
yw homicide joined
ynday; early Tues-
learned that Wood
y before, it turned
‘ers had picked him
Bowery hotel, and
the City Prison in
ed up Wood and
The first thing the
hat Wood bore a
description given by
che ‘thought he m
the neighbors who had seen the shabby, gray-
haired man entering the cottage with Res-
cigno and leaving at midnight. Wood was shab- -
bily dressed and at the moment happened to
be: ill-shaven, and besides, was short, gray-
haired and in his late forties, On the ride over
to Queens, no effort was made to talk to.
Wood and he seemed calm and not at all dis-
turbed."° 4
“When: the police officers and Assistant Dis-
trict Attorney Bert Kohler sat down with
Wood, they had already: received a file on
Wood’s criminal past from, up-state police
sources. He had come from a very respectable
Elmira family, but when he was 14 he got
into some juvenile brushes with the law. When ©
he was 16, his father took him to Binghamton
State Hospital for a mental examination. He
was released in two months. That same year
he swiped. a.car, got a suspended sentence but
was placed in a private institution for way-
ward boys by his father. A year and a half
later, when he came out, he was almost 18,
and in that year “he held up a man for 25
cents and was sentenced to Elmira for 18
months. muh
HEN he was. paroled, he promptly got
drunk, and annoyed .a woman. She com-
.plained to police and caused the parole to be
revoked. After a few moriths in Dannemora
Hospital for Insane Criminals, he was released
again. In 1933 he was back—for disorderly
conduct and annoying women. He stayed there
until 1940. He’ remained free until he mur-
dered John Lowman. . © Ns,
. His was a curious record. For the most-part,
he had been guilty of: crimes: of petty vicious-
ness—except for Lowman’s murder. And too,
in spite of repeated contacts with the authori-
ties, no oné seemed to recognize, as his father
had, that he needed ‘psychiatric’ care.
When he was paroled for Lowman’s murder,
he went to Albany where he got a job with
a laundry. He stayed at it exactly three weeks;
then he ‘suddenly vanished. This is: the point
at which the police asked Wood. to start tell-
ing his story. They knew he’d probably had
a few dollars with him when he'd left’ Albany.
They also. knew “that ‘he. had led a pretty
straightforward’ life in Albany. His landlady
vouched for him and so did-his employer, but
the latter: noted “that “he couldn’t compete
with other employes.” é a
It was ,the parole officials’ opinion that. he
had become ‘discouraged, and Wood agreed
with this. He said he couldn’t stand the laun-
dry job ‘after three .weeks and had’ taken. a”
bus to New York where he hoped to find a
job. He- hadn’t ‘come up with anything yet,
and to save money he had lived in the Bowery
‘flop houses. Mas On fori
the evening: lounging along the Bowery side-
‘walks, Could he prove it? He thought he could
find someone who had noticed him, It was
a'possibility. He didn’t. know their names, but
:
sure about that at first because he’d alternated.
nights between flophouses and doorways—but |
then he came up with .the ‘answer. He'd stayed -
at a Bowery: Hotel. He'd delivered this much
of his story with what seemed to be candor
and willingness. _ ‘en Sy ae
Then the police*officers bore down. on him.
"They asked him if he’d known. Rescigno and
Sess; He promptly ‘shook his head. Then they
asked him if he'd read abdut the murders in.
“Where ‘had. he been on “Thursday night? -
“Wood. paused, said: he was ‘sure he’d spent
: ht recognize them. by sight.
“ Where’, had: he slept that night? He wasn’t
enough for a money-making career
in art. Find out free! Take the. sim-
ple Art Talent Test that has started
vertising art, illustrating, cartoon-
ing. Write today for Talent Test.
Free, no obligation.
Take Free Art Talent Test
1\
Does a pencil in your hand start e,
yousketching? You may have talent. .
thousands towards careets in ad-..
—\| va SE ERP GN| Dips ot BNty ee TT ane aE a
ART INSTRUCTION, ING., STUDIO 10520
500 South 4th Street + Minneapolis 15, Minnesota .
Please send me your Talerit Test, without cost or obligation.
(PLEASE PRINT
' Name
Occupation __AGE
Address Apt. County.
. City. Zone State j
the newspapers. He shook his head and an-
swered ‘no. Then the police officers began
talking, They went into details about’ the
“murders and dwelt at length on the fact that
the neighbors, several of. them, had: had-a
good look at the man who'd come home with
Rescigno that evening. and. were willing and
even anxious ‘to cooperate ‘with the police. The
neighbors would have a look at any suspects
the police thought likely.’ i
“Okay by- me,” Wood answered. The police,
however, detected something in his voice and
manner, a nearly. imperceptible change, that
told ‘them that it was not as okay by him as
he said. Instead of immediately taking him
up on it, however, they continued to hammer
away on the fact that the solution of the.
case was a simple . matter and: up -to the
witnesses who had seen the murderer,, The
entire interview had lasted only about thirty
minutes when Wood suddenly looked. up, and
in an utterly cool manner told. the officers, -
“Pm at the.end of my string.” Then he waited
a moment. before he continued. “I, might .as_
"swell tell -you everything. I know I’m going to
‘the electric chair.” -
” ‘The police .officers didn’t move a muscle
and Wood stopped again, as though he wanted
to think’ about his words for a moment. He
thought them over, then launched into a long,
remarkable recital. He had lived 48 years and
much of his life had been spent behind bars _
or in institutions’ or under.parole supervision.’
Yet in the: years: in which he had’ freedom, »
and there were only a few, he had amassed a
criminal record, that the authorities had. not
even dreamed existed; a secret history of blood
and violence’ that, presumably, all the: psychi-
atrists who had examined him did’ not’ know
he was capable of. ** id
Sess and Rescigno? Yes, he’ said, in a'forth-
“right voice, he “had killed them. While a
stenographer took down every word, he started
‘at the beginning. Thursday afternoon, he told.
them, he had been’ busy panhandling in. the
)
ge eh RRA GE AIEEE 7a
a eee anne Foy
Times Square district. He spotted Rescigno
walking along the sidewalk and asked him
for money and Rescigno, in an expansive
mood, said, “I'll. do’ better than that,” and
took. him to the nearest liquor store and
-pought a large bottle of wine. They took it
down to, Union ‘Square where the police were
less likely to frown on open air boozing, and
slowly consumed the bottle. When they’d fin-
ished it, Rescigno, still willing to be convivial,
suggested they. go to his place in Astoria and
go through another bottle or so. Rescigno
popped for a couple more bottles of wine and
’ some beer and at the cottage the conversation
suddenly. diminished in friendliness and be-
came rather heated. An argument ensued and,
in the reported words of Wood, “I took a beer
bottle and smashed Rescigno’s skull. He gave
ime no argument ... the bottle broke in my
hand .’. .-Then I hacked away with the
broken glass at his jugular vein... When he
was dead I took a penknife and chopped up
his body.
“Sess was sleeping all the while. I went into
his: bedroom and took a coal. shovel and
- cracked him over the head with it... then I
smashed a beer bottle on his head .... after
that I took a chair and. whacked him over
the head until he was dead... .”
ii WAS a shocking recital. And even Wood
realized that it was similar to the Lowman
murder and without being asked, he suddenly
started. telling the officers about how -he’d
murdered John Lowman, 4 crime he com-
mitted 18 years before and gone to prison for.
Time hadn’t dimmed the memory any. “I hit
him on the head with a beer bottle—he fell
down; . . . I stomped on his head a while,
then I cut him up...”
Three violent and’ bloody murders rolled
off his tongue like -he’d been waiting to get a
chance to tell them. As he went on, he really
warmed to his subject, and even began gen-
eralizing about the murders. “I’d use anything
-
I could get my hands on just so long as I
could kill,” he said, eyes glittering. :
And then, leaning forward in the manner of
_ a man who knows.that his audience is hanging
on every word, and: fully. aware of the look
of complete surprise on every police officer, he -
told them, “There were others, .. .”
He waited. “I'll tell you’. about those
There was a woman in Elmira—no, it was
outside mae: in Southport. That was in
July of 1933. :
He had never seen that woman before in
his life. He spotted her out in the backyard
hanging up clothes on the line. He walked up
to her and after a few words, suddenly picked
up a clothesline from the ground and wrapped
one coil around her neck and pulled it tight.
Then he pulled out a knife and began stabbing
her. He kept stabbing and stabbing and then
he began cutting. In Wood’s. words, “I -cut
her every way from the top of her head to
the tip of her toes . . . then I crushed her
skull . . . I kept hitting her on the head
with an iron bar until I’d crushed it... .”
When he finished his whole: story, and the
police checked into all the details, they found
that the murdered woman was Mrs. Pearl
Robinson, who was 33 in 1933, and that her
body had been found: in her. backyard in a
clump of blackberry bushes and that the
medical report stated that there had been a
total of 143 knife wounds in her body. |
But Wood wasn’t’ finished with his story.
As for Mrs. Robinson’s murder, he could offer’
no reason except that he hated women. He
said that he once had contacted a venereal
disease from a prostitute and that was the
reason for the hatred, but a little later, when
he launched into the. details of still another
murder, his first, he contradicted himself,
since the first time<he: killed was years before
he'd had venereal disease, many years before.
‘+ Wood went on to his first murder, and he
recalled it like’a man recalling a “youthful case
_ of. puppy love. He was 16; his victim, a girl,
was only 14, Her name was Cynthia Longo
~and he’ was incensed at her because he thought
she was paying. ‘attention. to another boy. His’
revenge was plotted with care. In a store he
was able to buy a dime’s worth of arsenic
and from a pastry shop he got three cream
puffs, ‘sprinkled them all with arsenic and
gave them to Cynthia and two of her girl-
friends. -The girlfriends lived, but Cynthia
died andthe autopsy listed it as dilation of )-
the heart due’ to excessive vomiting, No one
had even guessed that she had been murdered.
FYE murders. All except the first, violent
maniacal murders. Why had Wood been
paroled? Why hadn’t the authorities been
cognizant of this man’s mental condition? Or
why was he paroled in the face of opposition
from so many well-qualified men—the judge
who had sentenced him, the. prosecutor, the
Elmira police chief?. According to a member
of the parole panel, the objections. of these
people to Wood’s parole were taken’ into con-
sideration. “However, we considered these
(objections) with the knowledge that they -
were based on. opinions they. had formed of
the man’17 years ago. He was a model pris-
oner throughout his entire 17 years of con-
finement. Wood was granted his ‘parole last
March after two turndowns dating back four
years . ... Three of the five parole board
members present voted for’ his parole .. .
“Even so his release was held up and Wood
was brought back before another three-man
‘board on June first. He was interviewed at
— length on June second, at a special meeting
of the five-man board. _ ;
“It’s a heartbreaker.
“There aren’t’ enough prayers you can say
to make up for our mistake, but it was an
bong error of judgment,
«The parole. board had a feeling that
; the fellow had actually changed and seemed
to represent a good risk .. . Of course we
didn’t know akout those 1933 and 1926
murders. | -
“But dodaiay the easiest way to be
heroes in this field is to parole nobody. .
About the’ only person around who had
something good to say about Federick Wood
was. Wood’s landlady in Albany, who re-
portedly said that he was a good’ boarder,
paid his rent.on time, and that she would
take him back in a minute if she could.
On Wednesday, July 6, Frederick Wood
was brought before Magistrate Dubin of
Queens County Felony Court. After he heard
the long and shocking recitation of the five
slaughters, the official opinion was that. “This
man kills as duane as you’d take a cup of
coffee.”
After it was over, Wood was asked if he
rales what he was doing. “Yes,” he was heard
to say, “morally, mentally and spiritually.”
After’ a brief. consultation with Wood’s
court-appointed attorney the magistrate or-
dered him sent to King’s County Hospital for
mental observation, and it~will be ‘on the
results of this examination that the courts
will decide whether Frederick Wood will stand
trial for any or all of the four murders with
which he is charged. . \ |
After the Ball Is Over
continued from page 41
At the appointed hour, she climbed the stairs
to the second-floor studio. There were young —
people there—pretty girls and handsome, well-
dressed men. Miss C.’s welcome was gracious,
the talk sweet—
And by the time she left the studio after
her first “free” lesson, Miss C. had signed a
contract to take 20 half hours of dancing
instruction! The cost was $239.
Six days later, on May 15, Miss C. received
a telegram, from the studio.
The wire gave her.the thrilling news that
she had been nominated for the studio’s “Coun-
try Club,” provided she made a grade of 85 or '
as long as possible. I am dying to have her
better on an “approval” test!
She went to the studio the following day
and passed the “approval”.test with points to
spare. Before she left, she signed a contract to
take the “Country Club course” of dancing.
This was a ten-year course, and the, cost
was $6500!
The following month, in June, Miss C. had’
to return to Nebraska to take care of. some
business. Before she left Denver, though, her
handsome, youthful dance instructor mentioned
one afternoon that he was involved ‘in a “sales
contest” at the studio. As a result, Miss C.
went to a bank and borrowed $3500 at 6 per-
cent interest so she could make a. large pay-
ment on her Country Club contract, rs
Miss C. came back from Nebraska in early
August. Waiting for her was a new offer ffm:
the dancing masters.
If she could get the full endorsement of her
fellow dance students, and: all of the studio
instructors, she could become a member of
the’“Town & Country Club course!”
Miss ‘C.’s. personal instructor even. wrote a
letter recommending her in glowing terms for
membership in the “select”. group. He wrote:
‘I would love to have Mrs, (sic). C—— be a
“Town & Country Club member from now till
Heaven. I: want’ her to be young as ‘Spring—
graceful and elegant in her every movement,
capably expressing outwardly, eloquently, her
inner moods.
I want her to excel as soon as possible for
radiate the way she feels when music trans-
ports her, I want :her to be admired in: public
for her, dancing, notin spite of it. I want her
to-dance a million thrilling dances im her own
thrilling, way.
_ I want her to live, live, live;.to. be excellent
in this one endeavor vital to her-inner soul.
To help Mrs. (sic): C—— develop into _the
most exquisite ballroom dancer in this city is |
my heartfelt duty and my most ardent desire.
- One instructor was’ reluctant for-a while, but
finally relented to the majority and recom-
mended Miss C. for membership in the “Town
& Country Club” group. | |
-On August 26, less than a month before her
‘72nd birthday, Miss C. received another tele-
gram,:This was from Los Angeles, but it was
signed by her dance instructor. And it pro-
claimed in breathtaking fashion that he had
persuaded top studio officials in the movie
city to accept her as a Town & Country
clubber.
“Yippey,” the wire: said, “we did it. I can’t
‘ wait to get back and sweep you off your feet
at our inaugural dance date. Please don’t worry
about the money . . .' This is just about the
most wonderful: time in, my life.”
He must have had a more wonderful time
Jater, because the same day she received the
wire, Miss ° C. inked her signature to a new
contract providing her with dance lessons
for 20 years! | :
The cost was $5490!
Just: five days later, another contract was
placed before her. It was for the “dedication
course”—and the price was a flat $5000!
Miss C. signed it.
Included in the “dedication course,” for, Miss
C. were several fascinating items. She said
they included:
A trip to Acapulco, Mexico, and other ex-
citing spots.
A portrait in oil. _
Honorary dancing imetabership for the rest
of her life.
A formal dedication ball with dedication of a
‘studio to the “most pedicated: "
A plaque. :
And, the honor of ‘cutting the ribbon for
. the grand opening of the new studio.
By mid-October of 1959, Miss.C. had paid
F eauuae
es
$5314 on dancin;
cheery voice had t:
months earlier th
lessons.”
Besides what sb
sands more.
It didn’t occur
tracts she had sig
chaing until she r:
“T never thoug
“T’ve always been
I’d always be that
But if that did
else did.
“T was,” she sai
finally admitted I
ishly into a dance
But unlike othe
to sit tight and p
publicly and reve
decided to “do so
She consulted a
| February 0!
sued Miss C. i
$4800 the agency
her dance contra
But on May 1
counter suit in t!
the spinster had
the dance contrac
As far as Miss
fighting her own
counter suit wot
of investigation.
Bert M. Keatir
trict attorney in |
operations right
Three federal :
of their own int
intensified invest
Other dance st
Miss C., filed su
At least one sc
came forward an
the-music skuldu
dents from their
—plus soft talk,
And secret s:
dance teachers w
on how to beguil
more and more
sons, were unc
Denver’s sudd
dancing studios «
big studios have
of the country, a
cover they’ve bu
pair of dancing
about it.
Indications ar:
official attention
rake in millions
hard-sell-and-so!
Last fall in §
such a tempo th
J. Lefkowitz, c
studios and wor
the studio head:
According to
reau bulletin, d
after investigati
dance studios ei
violated agreem:
vide them with
Additionally,
the complaints
victims of high
them to sign co
of them to be
a
The grilling had lasted two hours Returning to Elmira after the war,
and the officials were making no prog- he was employed as a clerk in the
ress. production department of the Ken-
“All right,” the prosecutor said. nedy Valve -plant, and later as a
“We'll check your story. Meanwhile Pennsylvania railroad flagman. In
you'll have to stay in jail.” more recent years he worked as a
Strangely the woman did not resent carpenter, but lately had been in
her detention. But she had suffered trouble with the police because of his
intensely during the past few hours drinking habits. '
and seemed overwrought. A police’ “I think we ought to try to learn the
physician administered a sedative to true relationship between Lowman
enable her to rest. and Mrs. Gantner,” Weaver said. “He
“How does it look to you?” Weaver may have been closer to her than she
asked Reynolds when they were alone. has let us believe.” ,
The prosecutor shrugged. “I agree “Good idea. Also, you might check
with your theory that the woman on his activities Sunday and Monday. .
must have done it. But there’s some- When Coroner Hamilton fixes a defi- |
thing wrong somewhere. Her story’s nite time of death, we may be able to
fantastic. And the time element is link her with him.” — Lee
going to figure strongly in the solu-
; em of = bars Sols Roomer Had a Visitor
“Have Beardsley run out to Dun ee
and talk with the iewité You and I Before departing for East Church
will go up and see Mrs, Tebo. If there Street Pepin oe apeareny, Seg spt
assign etectives s task. Low-
was a struggle in that room, she must man’s last known address was 521 Sines
Street, but he had no permanent home
in recent months. The officers knew,
however, that the best way to get a
Church Street, she had lived in board-
ous rage? ; ¢ line of the man’s activities was to visit
res g of this F oe houses on William and Harmong taverns he frequented.
i , treets. Weaver and Reynolds talked with
tention ¢ ‘ ; yn
Saati It was in the former place, the wo- Mrs. Tebo, who said she had heard no
Beardsley j ae ene! ed, jn Boa versal J rot sounds of a struggle in Mrs. Gantner’s
: : 7 rt Lowman for the firs e. He room either Sunday or Monday.
the quar- ; seemed attracted to her, Mrs. Gantner “What do you mean, Sunday?”
3 ry blood - said, but she had little to do with the Weaver asked. “Mrs. Gantner wasn’t
gan Sev- . man because he was unemployed and here then, was she?”
; aed just. =. — drank heavily. The landlady seemed surprised.
wr e Brun- i | “And you haven't seen anything of “Oh, yes,” she replied. “She got back
ee ached ; him for months, as you previously Sunday night.”
oa of furni- -} Stated?” Reynolds wae — The officials eyed each other..The ”
hi Mrs. Gantner nervously twisted a woman had been lying to them, then.
apy , handkerchief. “Well, I've seen him “Did you see Lowman come up here
a few times on the street, but I was
never very friendly toward him.”
“You have no idea how he got into
Sunday or Monday?” Weaver asked.
Mrs. Tebo pondered this question.
iggle went on
ted , " “No, I didn’t see him, but Mrs. Gant-
on turned, to Your raom?” District Attorney Walter B. Reynolds ner had a man visitor Sunday night. +
“mean to say i. * None. worked hand in glove with the police She went to the door and let him in, I as
jood and the “ Both the prosecutor and the Police chief in solving the Elmira, mystery. heard his voice. . G
home, as :} chief were forced to smile. This was : “Did it sound like Lowman?”
a | vi an incongruous situation, to say the “I didn’t know him. I never heard “
head. “I least. Here was a suspected killer have heard the noise. In addition, she his voice.” ‘ se MAR re
ig te morning, ‘brazenly telling a story which, on the might be able to tell us something “But you didn’t hear any rumpus ~
pir ed a clean- ; face of it, seemed absurd. How would about Mrs. Gantner that we don’t in the room?” re Ae
; , _ Lowman get into the room, unless already know.” “Not a thing. I would have, too, for:
as stony. ‘= Mrs. Gantner admitted him? How The chief picked up a card from his everything was quiet in the house
. tered, “I ‘| could he possibly have been killed ‘desk. “This is Lowman’s police rec- Sunday night. I was sitting in the
_ : without her knowledge, as she ord,” he told Reynolds. “We’ve had kitchen, sewing.”
y- _ -§ claimed? him in here quite a few times. Only The investigators believed the. visi-—- =F
Drinker _ “Come, come, Mrs. Gantner,” Rey- recently he was put on probation in tor must have been the-murder victim. :
a weeping. “I’ve #. olds’ finally chided. “We're not SO connection with a charge of sleeping The police chief remembered the fin- .
gullible as to swallow that story whole. in Brand’s Park. But his file shows gerprints Brunner had taken frorn the
“J a
ne bebbled. H You must realize you're in a bad posi- _ he once did a term in the reformatory ‘ drinking glass and the furniture. He ©
er an hour . F, tion. Telling the truth is not going to for grand larceny in Buffalo.” wondered whether these would place
. a Weaver @ hurt you—it will help you.” Information in possession of the po- Lowman, alive, in the room. If SO, |
a B. Reyn- The woman stiffened. “I have told lice also showed that the dead man Mrs, Gantner would have to do a lot of
ve *§, ‘the truth,” she answered icily. “Iwas had been the son of Mr. and Mrs. explaining.
* ag woh come to © — away from home from Friday toMon- Jefferson S. Lowman, native Elmirans. He wondered, too, what weapon had
peer months & day. I didn’t know Lowman was At the age of 16 he enlisted at Scran- been used to fracture Lowman’s skull. '
— nt in the under the couch until this morning. ton, Pa., in the Fourth Aerial Squad- Nothing had been found answering the
pager mov- —@% You'll have to believe me. That’s ron, and was wounded several times description of the club believed by the _
nt. lace on East- “9% everything I can tell you.” in the Argonne offensive, coroner to (Continued on page 58)
15
DETECTIVE : } een, 1943
of both Chief
Attorney Rey-
nan had died of
of the skull. In
da large bruised
ollarbone, three
‘tured lung and
. the throat.
reported, were
tific force, and
‘e caused when
ant had jumped
ictim’s prostrate
ton elaborated,
such.a_ beating.
— been a man
ed the coroner, .
i since approxi-
noon or about
ody was found
‘re could be no
| Hamilton and
‘omposition had
aver and Rey-
ompletely elim-
as the killer,
ibtedly at her
v, for instance,
» the woman’s
f Mrs. Gantner
iad never been
one? If so, then
orutally beaten
ad done it?
e been the mo-
thorities knew,
ndling stage of
He never had
‘s in his pocket,
n it took him to
Robbery, was
eating he took,
3y might have
f reasoned.
d. “What about
Gantner?” he
te be working
tr a_ telegraph
ing I'm going
kly dispatched:
ad been inves-
ereabouts over
. They hadn’t .
ie who saw the
1 midafternoon
medical exam-—
the chief com-
e seen last?”
med a popular
was there with
,” according to
they went out
ightful. “That
‘eynolds. “I’ve
vho once knew
ve gone up to
ing to borrow
LINE DETECTIVE
os
ote el
~
° fie
some money. He probably took this
Joe with him. Not finding the woman
at home, they sat down and waited.
Some kind of :an argument ensued,
and Lowman was slugged and killed.”
Beer Bottles Found
“But wouldn’t Mrs. Tebo have heard
the fight?” the prosecutor asked.
“Maybe she wasn’t home,” the chief
countered. “We've never talked to her
about Saturtlay, because we didn’t
know the crime occurred that far back.
Let’s go see her again.”
The landlady had significant infor-
mation for them. “I went out to do.my
weekend shopping about 1 o’clock Sat-
urday afternoon,” she told them, “and
didn’t get back until almost 6. If any-
one was in Mrs. Gantner’s room during .
those hours, I wouldn’t have known
about it.” :
Leaving with the district attorney,
Weaver noticed five empty beer bot- |
tles standing in the front hall.
‘Where did these come from?” he
asked Mrs. Tabo.
She eyed them disinterestedly. “Oh,
they’re from Mrs. Gantner’s room.
She put them out here when she was
cleaning up this morning.”
The chief took out a pocket hand-
kerchief, lifted each bottle carefully by
the neck and inspected it for blood-
_ Stains. He found none.
Back in headquarters Detective
Brunner presented Weaver with a
photograph of a fingerprint he had
taken from the drinking glass. “It’s
the only one that’s any good,” he told
the chief, “but I’m going to have a
tough job finding its counterpart in
our files, if one is there.”
“It's not Lowman’s?” the chief asked.
Brunner shook his head. “No, I
fingerprinted the dead man at the
morgue.”
“How about Mrs. Gantner?”
“It’s a man’s print—someone who
had big, thick fingers.”
“How about those pieces of glass?”
“They came from a beer bottle. I
could tell that by the smell, without
making a test.”
The chief told the identification man
to keep scanning the files in an effort,
to match up the fingerprint.
Beardsley had returned from Dun-
dee, so the chief put him to work
checking on all men named Joe in
the “intox” file.
“Tf this fellow was a crony of Low-
man’s,” Weaver said, “the chances are
that we’ve had him in here at least
once. Get me out all the cards of
drunks whose first or last name sounds
like Joe or Joseph.”
Shortly before midnight, while the
chief was still in his office, a wire was
received from the South. The hus-
band of Mrs. Gantner, the information
said, had been contacted at his war
job. He couldn’t have been within a
thousand miles of Elmira over Satur-
day or Sunday, October 10 and 11.
On the following morning Weaver
and Reynolds debated the question of
talking with Mrs, Gantner again. The
chief could not see any immediate
advantage in doing so.
“She didn’t tell the truth about the
seprempber, 1945
I NEVER META
MAN WITH $0
SMOOTH A CHIN/,
YOUR FRIENDS
DONT USE STAR
BLADES, HONEY!
“lime she got home,” he said to the
prosecutor, “but that could have been
due to her confused state of mind. And
the fact that she had a Sunday night
visitor doesn’t mean anything now.
She could have had a dozen. Johnny
Lowman was dead then. I suggest we
wait until we progress a little further
with this case.”
“Any ideas yet?” Reynolds asked.
Weaver nodded. “A definite one.
I’m certain Lowman was hit on the
head by a beer bottle.”
He went on to explain that he sus-
pected this when he saw only five bot-
tles standing in Mrs. Tebo’s hall. “A
person buying beer usually says, ‘Give
me half a dozen.’ Well, one was miss-
ing, if my theory’s worth anything.
You remember, we found some small
pieces of glass in the room? Brunner
says they came from a beer bottle.”
One Companion Identified
“Then you think the killer took time
to pick up the larger fragments and
carry them off with him?”
“Undoubtedly. Didn’t he stop long
enough to stuff Lowman’s body under
the davenport?”
“Any suspects?”
“Yes, A fellow named Joe was the
last man seen with Lowman. They left
a downtown tavern together. I have a
hunch they wound up in Mrs. Gant-
ner’s furnished room. They could have
got in easily, since it’s the first floor
front.” : ’ .
“Checking on this Joe?”
“Yes, Here’s Beardsley with the
names now.”
The sergeant entered the office with
several cards.
“There’s a lot of Joes, chief,” he
said, “but I have one here who seems
to fit the bill. He and Lowman once
‘were picked up together for drunken-
ness.”
Weaver read the name on the card—
Joseph Antonini. He saw that the man
had -been mugged; his picture was
attached.
“Run down to the tavern and give
the bartender a look at the picture. If
this is the fellow who was with Low-
man last Saturday, I want him picked
up right away.”
ily, yourself, at hom
POEMS WANTED
FOR MUSICAL SETTING Mitisties Conse or any oye
Don't delay eed va ake BUYING DICTIONARY.
RICHARD BROTHERS, 43 Weeds Guilding. Chlease, Il.
Shampoo and eeter your hair at the same
time with SHAMPO.KOLOR, quickly, cas- WAY
ily, e. Any shade, close to
scalp. No dyed look. Will not rub off. Permits perm. ware,
‘ree
lence needed, Caution : Use only as directed on label,
Valligny Prod. Inc., Dept. 55-F, 254 W.31St., N.Y.
ASTHM
"nit FREE TRIAL OFFER!
If you suffer from Asthma Paroxysms, from cou, gasp-
fog. wheezin for daring REE TRIAL
“hopeless” eases especially invited. W
MACOR, 406-Z, State Life Bidg.,
SUPERIU JITSi
DOUBLE-QUICK!
.even
whenthey are . This pow-
erful fighting system is unbelicv-
ably cient, You "t need
ox-like muscics—it's brains that
count! New, easy oelf-study
course at meceynad ( flaw ice.
-back cenrentey, Ke rite
Nelson Co., 321 S. Wabash
reet, Department J-504, Chicago. 5
Free-trial offer and mi
today for FREE DETAILS
BUY FROM THE OLDEST ESTABLISHED
FIRM IN THE UNITED STATES
SELLING EYE GLASSES BY MAIL
Select the lens that suits you best in your own home
from our 14 lens testers. Priced to meet your purse from
$1.95, $4.50, $6.20 and up. Many latest styles to choose
from, featuring Seamless Bifocals
and Ful-Vue Arcways. Select the
style that looks best on you at your
owsr privacy. Give our eye glasece
a trial and if you are not satisfied
your money is refunded. You are
the sole judge. We believe le
-Ton’t that honorable and fair? Bro-
ken re ryt re
paired at low
fost. Write for Jey
Free now. F CRip TION
A penny post ILLEG
card will do. $e
ADVANCE SPECTACLE COMPANY
SHROO nimors (DEPT. 0-8]
59
$ix
MONTHS
TRIAL
WRITE FOR
FREE CATALOG
TODAY
——
|
— ao
Vuu
DRY SCALP
DULL HAIR
JERIS
HAIR OIL
MILLIONS OF BOTTLES USED YEARLY
low retail price,
field. Handle thie fier Sse plus 200
\ other quick t items. Many
io experience © needed. Amaz-
so facta FREE. Write TODAY
, OF RLD’S sient EA bg
WHY DONT YOU WRITE?
Writing short stories, arti hobbies, civilian
—. war perce poe watece will a gg to —
fork Copy Desk Met
York Cony’ Desk Bi hod teaches ma how to write’—tve way
news! r men learn, by writing. Our snlane TRS bib |
tu wrkting: "Yori enjoy this
LAW.. be
STUDY AT HOME ene and big peal oy ad oo
and public life. Greater opportuni
More Prestige: Mere Money We Page yee
ee LL. 'e
sone paar reee Le izeck in all
1 og “m4, UF ines—$30
to 30 ss Eee ee
oe oeeian rs use, to NOW “for
Bulletin. ‘No obligation.
: AMERICAN scneoL
DDGII, Drexel & 58th
. Chieage
ATHLETES ATHLETES FOOT
Don’t wait! If your feet itch, or
if the skin between your toes is
peeling, raw or cracked—it may be
Athlete's Foot! Get Dr. Scholl's
SOLVEX at once. Relieves intense
itching; kills fungi oo contact:
helps heal irritated skin. Liquid or
Ointment. Only $0c at your Drug,
Shoe, or Department Store.
Pfaus fired. The man _ screamed,
dropped to his knees, scrambled along
the ground for a few feet on all fours,
then leaped upright and resumed his
race to the fence,
He reached it and swung himself
upward. He was halfway over when
Pfaus fired again. The man’s body
‘went limp, teetered on top of the fence
for a moment and then dropped over
into the alley.
His gun still ready, Pfaus followed.
The man was lying on his face, a
gaping hole in his chest. Pfaus pee
the body over. ._He was not surprised
to see that it was Adam Prochowski.
There the cultured burglar lay in
the gutter until carted off to the
morgue, all that was left of a brilliant
and able young man who, despite his
keen intelligence, had proven himself
just as much of a fool as his less ef-
ficient brethren in thinking that he
: | could beat an unbeatable game.
The mystery of the fingerprint and
glasses at the Reynolds home was
never solved. It was the theory of the
police that another prowler had seen
the open window, and had gone in-
side to see what he could steal, but
had been frightened away.
“DEAD MAN"
(Continued from page 15)
have been the implement of death.
Then he asked himself, «“Would a
woman as frail as Mrs. Gantner be
physically able to overpower and deal
a death blow to a man as husky as the
hard-drinking war veteran?” The an-
swer to this seemed to come from his
knowledge that Lowman often drank
to excess. In an intoxicated condition
he would have been vulnerable to such
an attack, even by a woman.
Returning to headquarters with Rey-
nolds, Weaver found a report from
Beardsley, who had telephoned from
Dundee. The parents of Mrs. Gant-
ner, who was only 24, had innocently
trapped their daughter.
Questioned regarding her weekend
on the farm, they said she arrived late
Friday afternoon and departed after
supper on Sunday evening, explaining
that she had a date in Elmira.
Who was this date with? Could it
have been John Albert Lowman?
Until the authorities learned defi-
Mrs. Gantner had mentioned no names
to her parents.
Autopsy Clears Her
The woman had been taken to the
county jail as a material witness.
- Weaver and Reynolds planned to ques-
‘tion her on the mysterious Sunday
evening visitor to her room, but be-
fore they could do so, an important
development occu
_ Coroner. Hamilton filed with the
prosecutor his report of the autopsy,
which he performed with the assist-
ance of Dr. Charles Haase, prominent
Elmira surgeon.
The findings were destined to alter
nitely, they could only guess, since
materially the views of both Chief
Weaver and District Attorney Rey-
_nolds.
Hamilton said Lowman had died of
a compound fracture of the skull. In:
addition, the victim had a large bruised
area under the left collarbone, three
fractured ribs, a punctured lung and
several lacerations on the throat.
The head blows, he reported, were
administered with terrific force, and
.the body. injuries were ca when
the dying man’s assailant had jumped
with both feet on his victim’s prostrate
form.
No woman, - Hamilton elaborated,
could have inflicted such.a beating.
Lowman’s killer must have been a man
of considerable strength.
Furthermore, declared the coroner, .
Lowman had been dead since approxi-
mately Saturday afternoon or about
60 hours before his body was found
Tuesday morning. There could be no
doubt about this, both Hamilton and
Haase stated, since. decomposition had
already set in.
‘This revelation, Weaver aad Rey-
nolds instantly knew, completely elim-
inated Retha Gantner as the killer,
since she was undoubtedly at her
parents’ farm at the time.
At the same time it succeeded in
; enshrouding the case in still deeper
mystery. Quite a few things were still
left unexplained. How, for instance,
did Lowman get into the woman’s
room, a place where, if Mrs. Gantner
could be believed, he had never been
before?
Had he gone there alone? If so, then
how had he been so brutally beaten
and slain? And who had done it?
Next, what could have been the mo-
tive? Lowman, the authorities knew,
had reached the panhandling stage of
habitual drunkenness. He never had
more than a few pennies in his pocket,
and these no longer than it took him to
reach the nearest bar. Robbery was
definitely out.
“I'd say, from the beating he took,
that revenge or jealousy might have
figured in it,” the chief reasoned.
The prosecutor agreed. “What about
that husband of Mrs. Gantner?” he
asked. “He’s supposed to be working
in the South—but is he?”
Weaver reached for a_ telegraph
blank. “That’s something I’m going
to find out right away.”
The message was quickly dispatched.
Then. detectives who had been inves-
tigating Lowman’s. whereabouts over
the weekend reported. They hadn't
been able to find anyone who saw the
war veteran later than midafternoon
Saturday.
“That jibes with the medical exam-
iner’s autopsy report,” the chief com-
mented. “Where was he seen last?”
One of the officers named a popular
downtown tavern. “He was there with
some man he called Joe,” according to
the bartender. “Then they went out
together.” ‘
Weaver became thoughtful. “That
ties in,” he finally told Reynolds. “I’ve
a hunch that Lowman, who once knew
Mrs. Gantner, could have gone up to
her room Saturday hoping to borrow
HEADLINE DETECTIVE
Poe’
some mo:
Joe with
at home,
Some kir
and Lown
“But wo
the fight?
“Maybe
countered
about Sa
know the
Let’s go :
The lan
mation fo:
weekend s
urday aft«
didn’t get
one was in
those hou
about it.”
Leaving
Weaver n
tles standi
“Where
asked Mrs
- She eye
’ they’re fr
She put ti
cleaning u
The chi:
kerchief, |
the neck
stains. He
Back i
Brunner
photograp
taken fro:
the only o
the chief,
man’s,” We
that we’ve
once. Get
drunks wh
like’ Joe or
Shortly |
chief was s
received f:
band of Mr
said, had }
job. He co
thousand n
day or Su:
On the {
and Reyno!
talking wit!
chief coulc
advantage i
“She did:
SEPTEMBER,
EASY WAYeows
Black, Brown, Auburn
.or Blonde -
RARE UNUSUAL — BEAUTIFUL
Cues. *Mexican, art pictures, books, mi
cellaneous, samples, lists, 50c,
Jordan, 135-R Brighton es Beston 14, aS
SONG POEMS 22" "ers:
tion. One cent well spent. (4) of my ——, alone
sold’ over. half. milion records. Be convinced!
Ray Hibbeler, C-40, 2157 N. Avers Av., Chicago, Ill.
GIP < CHARA PERFUME
n enchanting perfume of ir-
Aiistible valiee, cing for
hou scinat-
Wf two are
Box 124, REXBELL, Dept. 387
Huntington Station, . VY.
.LASTICS
TRAINED MEN NEEDED IN
NEW, ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY
Plasti¢s, thoes new materials aireaty inampen-
peaed in, wer
pcg
Any Photo
or Picture’
SEND NO
MONEY!
Sets eins bre oe |
‘and ring sing bow:
SO, Dept. NI0S, CINCHIMATI,
ae age oy t
a ° ka |
BETTER SIGHT POR YOU THROUGH SIGHT TRAIN-
NG. ENJOY the advan of an expertly Lnigeoner
eyentgi. PROPIT by this training whether you
hi
’ glasses or MPROVE your ney and
tunities, INDIVIDUALIZED IN UCTION.- ar oppor. ich
en do nl need, near or distant vision?
ESUL' GUARANTEE for FREE SIGHT ,
CHART WITH AINSTRUCTIONS. now.
UNIVERSAL SIGHT-TRAINING INSTITUTE, Dept. DDS
4057. Budiong A » Les Angetes 37, California
{isinaecone send me your PREE Sight Chart with
[Name
Vaddrese
don’t WORRY
secmiea diosa ort os
worry? Try a Brooks
Automatic Air Cushion.
This ‘marvelous appli-
ance permits theopening
to close, yet holds reduc-
ible rupture securely,
com fogtably—sey a
night, Thousan: achat port dail results. Light,
neat-fitting. No
oratiff springs to chafe
or gouge. Made for men, women children.
Durable, cheap. Sent on trial to ve it. Never
sold in stores. Beware of imitations. Write for
Free Book on Rupture, no-risk trial order plan
and proof of results.Correspondence confidential.
BROOKS COMPANY 116D Stete St., Marshall, Mich.
)
The bartender identified Antonini’s
picture, and Beardsley went looking
for the man, who, like Lowman, was a
down-and-outer. Worse for drink, he:
was found in a cheap South Side bar.
Beardsley freshened him up with some
cold water and took him to see Weaver
and Reynolds.
“Why did you kill Lowman?” the
chief asked.
Antonini jerked his heavy head up-
ward and stared at the officer through
bloodshot eyes.
“Now wait a minute,” he answered
thickly. “I didn’t kill nobody. Who'd
you say was dead? Lowman? Hell,
he was alive and kickin’ when I left
him last Saturday.”
“What time was that?”
The suspect tried to remember.
“Well let’s see. About 3 o'clock, I
guess. We was drinking in a down-
town place—John had a half dollar.
Then we ran outa dough. John said he
yas going to see some lady friend and
‘get some. I wanted to go along, but he
told me to scram. I went in another
joint up the street and stayed until
closing time.”
“Without money?”
“I met a friend. He had dough.”
He gave Weaver his companion’s
name and the approximate location of
the second tavern. Beardsley left to
make a hurried check. Antonini was
given a much-needed bunk in the
headquarters tank.
“I have a hunch he’s telling the
truth,” the chief told Reynolds.
This was verified when Beardsley
returned. “He was there, all right. The
bartender remémbers him and _ his
friend.”
Reynolds threw out his hands. “That
ends it,” he said in a gesture of hope-
lessness. “I’m for giving Mrs. Gantner
another going over.”
Weaver leaned back in his chair.
“It’s not as bad as it seems,” he told
the prosecutor. “I’m certain that six
bottles of beer went into her room be-
tween Saturday afternoon and Sunday
night. But she didn’t take them there
herself. Neither did Lowman. He
didn’t have a nickel. Besides, his type
of drinker doesn’t go in for the luxury
of bottled beer. It would be ‘smoke’ -
or bay rum.
“I think he must have headed toward
her place and met someone on the
way—someone who bought the beer
and later killed him with one of the
Bottles.”
“How you going to find out who this
was?”
Clue In a Grocery
Weaver got up from the chair and
took his hat from the top of the desk.
“Beardsley and I are going to check
every place that sells beer all the way
from that downtown tavern up to East
Church Street, If Lowman’s killer
bought the beer, then Lowman must
have been with him. I’m going to show
the owners of these places Lowman’s
picture. He was probably drunk as a
fool, so they won’t have any trouble
remembering him.”
This proved to be the case. At.a
grocery on the corner of East Church
and William Streets, a scant half block
from the Tebo residence, after three
hours of patiently visiting bars, gro-
ceries,: delicatessens and restaurants
en route, : the: two officers showed
Lowman’s picture to the proprietor.
Weaver related the reason for the
visit: »
“Sure, I remember him,” replied the
grocer promptly. “He was in here Sat-
urday with another man. You're right,
they bought six bottles of beer—at
least, the other man did.”
“Know him?”
“Sure. He was Freddie Wood. Lives
around here and comes in often.”
““Well, sergeant,” the chief said with
relief, “there’s one fellow we won't
have to go looking for.”
Both remembered that on Tuesday
morning, only-ten minutes before John
Albert Lowman’s body was discovered,
Frederick C. Wood, 31, of 585 Thomp-
son Street, was arraigned before Re-
corder W. "E. Gardner-on a disorderly
conduct charge preferred by his
father, Charles Wood, and was sen-
tenced to five days in the county jail.
They knew too that Frederick Wood
was exactly the type of man who could
have committed the murder. He had
spent the greater part of his adult life
in Elmira Reformatory following con-
victions for auto theft, assault with
attempt to kill and attempted rape.
He had been paroled on February 10,
1940, and since had worked occasion-
ally as a cosmetics salesman.
“Wood will have to do some * explain-
ing,” the detective said. “Are we
going out to the jail to talk to him?”
Weaver shook his head. “No, let’s
go up to Thompson Street and talk
with his father. I want to know more
about that disorderly conduct charge.”
Charles Wood hesitated when the
chief put the question. Finally he said,
“Frederick and Mrs, Gantner came up
here Monday night. He told me they
were in some kind of a scrape, and
wanted me to give him an alibi for
Saturday afternoon. I told him frankly
‘that I wouldn’t. He became abusive
and threatened me with a knife. I had
him arrested, That’s all.”
Weaver did not pallen the father
as to the suspicions against his son,
but returned to headquarters with
Beardsley and sought out Reynolds.
“Now it’s time to talk to Mrs, Gant-
‘ner again,” he told the prosecutor.
“T’ll have deputies bring her down
from the jail.”
The woman was soon seated in the
chief’s office. Pale and wild-eyed, she
showed the effects of the heavy burden |
on her mind.
Weaver wasted no words. “Mrs.
Gantner, your sweetheart, Frederick
- Wood, killed John Lowman, as you
know. Tell me, when did you first learn
about it?”
She recoiled as though he had lashed
her with a whip. Her mouth dropped
open, her lower jaw hung slack in-
dejection.
“Yes,” she drawled dispiritedly, “I,
knew he did it. He told me Sunday
night after I got home. He said he and
John had a fight in the room Saturday
—they came to see me, not knowing
HEADLINE DETECTIVE
epae’
I was away—and th:
a bottle and stompe
“Why didn’t you
tell the police?”
“| couldn't. He
me if I did.”
“What was the r
Ya
“He was jealou:
showed John a pi
late that same ni
“I only told the
so I'd raise myself
calmly. “He had
lately.”
“And you were
is, you wan
were?”
Wood ‘nodded.
For hours he ir
cent of the crime
This and other
Chief bg gh fir
prisoner. He sig
fession of guilt, «
Mrs. Gantner.
County Judge
held Wood withc
on October 17, :
$5,000 bond as a
lieu of this, she
county jail.
At the hearin;
William De Filli
fessed killer he
session df the Cl
jury, which pro:
dictment chargi:
der.
A few days b
a second trag:
Gantner lost he:
mitted to the
pital for the In
Wood was fo
by a jury whi
evidence befor
March 8, 1943.
sentenced to fr
“I hope you
maximum tern
“That will be
That same 1
wrists in the
of an electric
against the ba)
him bleeding,
sutures in his
“Don’t was
killer told the:
Say, how hig!
Dannemora?”
Eprror’s N
embarrassme)
the names F
Antonini, use
real but fictit
a en
. ' . 7 : ¥ 4 ie 4 2 me)
Sree ee eg | Det tS BE OD! em ea 3 feeds cere ge B eis state a se
Feb 42 od £4 Fe tae @) eff
; nf : , 5 ar 42oef oF EEG: me We cee . G iA OD ewng
ae a, cag a ake Geer =? 4 HTD yet ob Gay oF fae FO OES topir ba
Po et OF A Ly fy rs my ot ' } Fg j ie PF a: 6 oo “awe 0 if £3 O GY Sa
ey fr fperd 49 eens sEO€ x SF chart ar re > Pas See @ U6 at ty) . WD CD ae
arene: a re ae Se 0 "I f . { “J SBS GC? CE OP et {4 ve : i 4 {D> ED my cf fy :
2 A oyta de BO OMe Ue OO Ge by % et Mat OF fa O be ot os Hote 43 Ww AS oh th ont e778
eee et fag i 0 ‘ fs. tea fa - OO : Jord 1) #4 f ¢ atl » OO Get OF O Ged br fy GOON OmM wo +3 me
Stata AM 8 OG OW drt © O49 UG Oe fea ie kot 03 Net AF sy? he ke be KE MeqG@ Oo. Gh ats ps
"Out ch © OG a Oo eO Rd] hk @ Q Ff ba 4? end fs Gi i fy. Got ef 4 “oie ie: fe 4° ae he D «> by Cech fe
| let a Oo ens oe W EIAs "OP mS CO mag . O DM - Ort 224 oer a Pg. Ob OSA dt:
2a cg vow \HVYO mos 42 [4 ent sah OO Mo AO dB gg «a th td oUt hy . bed.
mks tbe 2 TO eh pe 9 Gk fe Oy 0 by aft & 4) Ot AT C2 fy f+: © C) 43 “% eer! o ay ch f+ Op Oo er Om.
O aby ed Det ¢ Aet d Oo afi mn ws 42 Vsti oO % g Re fy ont 00.04 <3 aaa 420 ee > Ds Be ® .
pie i ae aad & Ow e3 fe cd 63. | @ G? ™ ‘as £ io . Ging Gt fa BOF Mod cf OT C45 4 fs MFO 4 SP b4 oh & yt? OI Xf
EEN oe ee Wa] 6? 4 O heb py OO tO Od OO eg bP so yh anf FZ: KS KL omfg @ of @ 0 qi O Od Gi a O et
Bars ae M42 43 ag E49 °C eed yO AD Pg ae Re 03 CY 0 DS Fat eh eof Get OL ang Oo? (tp @ OD Wet cp ty OD Es at of 2H st | Cin ant tH sf
PLN es eo ° f ae C ot uf CP Me 4d Re tnd ba OK hem o Chat Oy Red OQ mM a ag up & 49: 43 O fale 0 £4 be
Soe be ae aon td Oo wd a OF) ot Qo. .o MD C2 ep ome CP 4 CD LT wt ref C2 eed Sf hy td QO ef chet Fa fH bs of Gh ty 6)
epee: OC) ° 4 Dk MD ¢. > st ob tcf Uh eg oM o & £44 by © Ch hy th D bed rep DP rH sQ WOM . saa OG et
ii Tap heteet td fe ag Gi omy Dy f° @) e ns | ny up TS fa et 02 OO nd $7 Up AF ery Re ES Hert ff G? a> Fe uf @ o:-2 0%: © ft 7 2) wu ct
eee of gp GS 0}! meer Qed 4 @ Ew MQ a Beet bate? Syed oe CP a my OC ee co Lf UW oh ey ect fy
PP heed Cs FEA Og hy SR RS | Get De EO Ae Bom! O Ord Owais oki G4 = © GY ky
Peete 25 oh ot af Su (24 fs» md eo ata Om ee OST oD fa ro) Oo ge dew gh Ga st fe G@ Meo GD 4d OC BD hamid OF G4 ) ft G4
es <b Cafe Ci £$ fe fa O ; t$ G4 Cf GO oF @ Me O 49 fe (3 9 Lf ay Set Of ONS OG 84,0 O- 2 OG 42 Cs ned QO og ©
gee ea aa FG CD erat os 3 ot G4 Ch ad onl 43 Ge ip 6) oth +) °@a ct ct a Og OogewroaWyooagd -s
: a & eB) fy fy 0 42 f4 te} of ef OO Mr QM Mang QS .. ey : iS Bef O GORD Obed Chet ox fq 42 02 4? fe £9
a Fe dow G) Ges cL he ih Ch Da ed wy fr} ct CS aj > Cog Sg oR Ni dtert OOM tHwl Geter gdg2e2an
: & leet HAt td £10 O 9 ht ot fy cf - 49 03 @ OU og&s omar oq rics ced ted 2 - gtpwo i tS eng
eee Bee oO oO Q Gd Qivtetet feed Rope ©. GD MAD. 42 Oe! Gof DY se KG § ft CE vd 43 ss Me 4] oy OD 4
tes OoOodadsd 02 FOr EL OG Ot ot OQ hich he OO M4 . thet cj oH ac 2 Mord MW ict of ey QO 49 OF OO ay ke O- W me se Y) a
eM ears gy. 42 G Gt 9 eo ao 3A Re J42 5 eel 4a | Om PO © eo 2 Od Get G hie G3 48 WO Oat edt
ee ee Stet om mi Ofte &y @ CEP GOH A AQat & Geatge Co Prk cot Oba rded ch FY OG og Mt ef $7 23 49 Sf ert Fe OD
- aah ch ar Ge pl Gay G8 SE fed HE ah et ed | $2 44 CF-O bs POOF 964 Org OB YM 44 or wt oe RG OG Ba,
& ert OD OF OQ, af he fe Fe CY ak og mf © Oo OO - §f On? Aor OG ty @ tye A) GCA meg cf Get 4g ae ¥
pooe St Poa GO Eb fade mM 3 «2 FY bdr SY OF A Ge CF eed ong Cerf of Cry FE Oy Wd Ry mm She act & &} O a 6h wi mo O
it See Otc Ch OO - .g 49 C8 43 2 0} ytG eH O ta fryert ct 4 he fi PHO A Of oO O41 & 44 LS Clwt oS ct.
Po, ogee geet 4 o. be raw oR die «gw £3 ch a a @ G43 OL. whi os Wiw at cs = a ot fj 3 f= OF be Om Met | E Os emg 7 tc net
aa Q of a ot Af = Sf ct bostd me $4 Obra cha aoe Oo Mc hed Aki YO ag GW cl Reet Ep Ce Re
eed Sd a Oo Deri SH a I Dis OD Set ed Th 42D By 42 4D eed CE CD reef SE ten OR ed oS 1 O re a fe GY Be fered Gu 4r43 @ oOo a °
Ce ba fa? OS) EIN 1 rint 2 Oo® Wap ke AO a O emia ¢ dW Bad oO oy ot 3 PEAr ty oes Oo fe
mt OS SP OD Q Oo °aQa tO ws FY c? @ ™ gd 4D ot if ake OO gw fs ay at 4913 LT QE SAG cg BD OD Fy Ob fayKy
Oe TET ade nmaat ytd good os Hh he eg co Ff yO ky Ag 7) fg 429 0) goo ms ct a mE es
: = eee Se a “4395 “| 3rd bg OD OQ Ge IF Ogee ho a OA cA Oecd aa 42 9 Kf eh 4 of fy O O pod hy CE 9 Teed ie
eee OOUN ae ep © ¢QgQore OC ¢f mF Mad AD et “ 1POwM ADO MMW FSO Deelrg YU: otf mtad of Ord G fa tH
eee f= aS do has. of St fe [(%Wj- OR Yol+d st “OH ct F-§ aed 49 Kf > a Ww fe fq O 4 eed CRY ed UP MD emf CE A AS ed Vy TZ OC
Bee 43 Ud TED Gey ot “4 3 OYE, eI ke 8 O Road CA CoO Cc 44 ce he ay ee te Wo Fe ot ed Sh LEG SE Om ef Nn oO aa Eo |
PS set GQ OE FEAT ate go °aQag ED Ee OP eet Ch OY Gags | Dyed Fp AB 4 GF OP GP omP el GY ee ert m Sf Gt eee +
‘ am etch Aus Ks ok atm a td GD 2919 o9 eh , BDA Of QB Det O-F nT mek Clha a fe o Gg cf
tha - 42 ut 42 ee 4 os Q i a4 4 FE CD vd ay xm 8) | “acs on a met 6 GOR gk
a. .A0.9 mana dha aa a a ofS s QO #6 oh 8 G4 Seed Bost oo ct 4 as ~“ oa hcactkoa gm 4 hp 0 Mw by
a wt ot qa of 4 Ct os} @ CE > fe Whey At. MO BAG BHO we Mad ac fy GOD Gd EP a> ce hg et Bet MH KE OFZ of
‘ Gh fri O raf ES Sh CS Wf CF C449 4d TF cee eo ad Bt ae 42 ui 5 rE SH OD SCWNn KH |W Ff Od > &
* 9 a H def 1 Owt3 ¢°0 4-0 ae y 2 UY ey fy 1 C3 Ct AD od Qn Ud dd veh SF Ot BP OE SD rf OO ¢ 4 @ 6
) CP GR 42 27 5 4 YP ao 2) oO 4 food a fi Ce th ate Ve ba we tf ha fy Mee oe hed | fe 3 oO 4 OO a moat ol q Ry =
ceed te cf tg He storud fy, fg & O? fa my OO 4958 Q 10a vehi C ig anf Od c$ AG CL UE er] OD et bef og gS 3 *AaQ
\Qu 9 eet Q OV BMH 48 ox ee bry yO Wp Creag fe Geel CE Mat ah 4 OD M4? OA 449 Fe ma ~d
‘ag O hem Ppa & GY FA 38 ih sf oh AR LY Ce oF EE Bem Ht Ry DD Get ont = Gg OO b $ 843 BO — 3 ot me
OOK 1 My SE SU ct AF tO ~ 0 dy a hg | ban? oO :. eOoOOms as Ar, 42 0) oh eet i 9 OAs
ge OD a eis a tat Det Pea ie HOG ede N18 Bas @ 42 Hwee voOgGdAUPr Ae. OO Sa
SS el op 4h OM ate Of a HS oOo ¢, BS Osfer ie fywe (ct ao O qgqaIowwd gq QO Sid < fit? sf 4 Freed Ont UO at ts
ae re Oe hh Cy Sedort Hf hr O Ferd iy O +43 G&A eve§ EM, is +h O sy] Re af Q a) BG US LF OF CY org Q #~<L fh wf © DO Rey ty
th Baa oare i" wee tt wd a od ps "% al cf O ed ery rh : Ad 3 a} ry iF ry 4 ert “TA ke aS) fu4 eI Oy fies Get ff tt fa @ z W 43 te 43 Ad G3 &?
* cece +8 tN HOO FPO te ikenl ob, OO RA Ge oO ef GH gp fe O40 Seed te dit Qetet KUO Gao doda
mess Cs 35.09 CO a ee dS mt ft Qey Cf fa th od ix Sibert JO We Act A Oech Otek OG td Ort yOR NAO wh teg OO OD of
Oy ER Bao GA $8 o) ore tee i tr a 9Q°D wMtUGe BAY Ee AeBe Gg Ae ys cf re tol GA Urs 2}
See N En re ee ‘ead oie ria a Ee a ee a ew ow 3 E ey
i ip ae is, Mer ea See Se Mesa 1% “ Hed ant ° : 4 iy e@ 2 : eo ‘ : Wy fring 1 eg i i ti ty
te on G) Se On O & Bt ae Poser’ oe 3] fq eo vy el 23 a noe y 4
ne : ray a2 ye GO tate by eg em? 24 CY GI wef C23 ey ogg fe peg! 7 Oo £18 a @-
Ga os O + Syed od ) - a BA a ‘40 Ft By ed a on 6 be: oh mf asa a w i. A Chon eS By OY a sly
nome BP Fy OF yet et 3 AS Kg aye us emf oe be fiped £3 CG) 32 Ge cy ed og ta ok
Or ens ad iF > v4 Gi Gired by x ‘I & fy 3 = 9s ‘J ao wh CL Le O Cf 4 rts 4 Oe 4 ; 4 aon +
Zs et oo YO detAg eo 5 QO fe CJ eng t Hio oO g a? o St iC ae al | ed 4 dy mg o MOC) ky hy cf ei ay es rs
oag d OGM oF OF AA Aha se Aone Oo go A> SM aise OO of oe
by 4 a a OSH OE A oi oe OO byt Gd te Od Gh em OO isi py rf oo Mu as
fy Gt ref oO =. 2 0° Oct O oO co UF. St Ref eee HI O O49 24 Ey AT ed yy Hike o wf hom G3 *
Woe @ OO 4 eof} OY © OY 4) he Q eamny o £4 et PO OE Bet a ape Ary a wg Ob, =
gs ob Be a fog tio BAD eM oD OL) Od et V4 Gi 33.6? $$ ereder Ng 000? turd a wap ed wy ty
a8 8 fe fb oD OQ et OU Gert UOT oO ed ¢ fri, ch @ OF “4 Se te on eee ee ee “ch
Qvooodon OS SNA HHOO fete) Oetis OMe eta Set Aw GOL oy a Oe} wey pot:
tf OD bs BO EwH AY. ef eet OO et ot Bj rt wet . & oO MS Ch Md EO a ed OLD ed fy g 4D nen) 4.9 }
OE NES eee fx) oGaebret pp fact fd Obed Dad eo -) pO 4 CC $45 eg a f oe eS Os a Be | t4 wf
cis aff a fi OM Oat OO} M43 O {is £7 FD tks Si Attbet @ ap Peed oad Ge ft hesred og .; ood wv “ay
f° og Bet ss POM a Pegg soy ww eee wt Ge MORE OD D ema ay we £3 e2 ah ey 43 at
eg °* u ~% +3 bo we tJ nes 43 < ay f fag it i 2? ta : wt ee SG 3 $3 ‘3 ‘ A 2 th) ¢ Sl eas ef oO ay oe
b. jr> mse end & yt 1 Gee Cy at he UL bet md CD IG MIS let © bh © aQne Lo |
gO OO sod et OO SiS Ba aoGoAIdaay go YOU ts se Ow fog” 2.
Spd «© EP Oef YAt gas OOO UV os wo > Yd i td o WA ey ry Us oe yr” pe: ot 4-39 oe
“Ort oO 49 4D ef med 42 fey OC) Sed ord fre 3 ad ag TOF Q Oc} Ai vb cd es oes es en | 4d fry ere ang Ce fp 44 G og:
“sg 042 et Set! Bey Gteled ed? Oe & Fri hey O et oo oO 7 ees ar he Ch fe Me F eo ef fs fs
GO sed - ff OO eto ed O : 43 Gag GO & ay fgrej dg ay CAM OS MI Bo ed CG Ores O Bt
> eg is Ee Cy be iC ef Wo ano A 4 a °9 2 0 ray Ea Py oe eA Ge oF he ly OG By Gey a 22 OG} op be
WOM OT mg age ar oe WD EL QUNTT ot | om de ae SB teu) oe on --j CF OF ES oe
cf oO & ert 1 dat Fp a Ve Sf DO fas 680 en] 49 St eeEP sp Qi ws. = rant ow aj ty he Oo eet CO O ti G3 ik
aH e 9G O i OO £4 a Ky Woot vB cu Cy hy: CF mnt ri SY ed ay .
et (4) ¢ oO CX | fw | ane x A | Bo i (e) of} phe 4 MQ 2 wine ro | cf F a O x tf cs 03 $< re | ve pa tf} te 4 tm td why 6 ; aye a 3
a egy @ a @ a 43 bey fy by ocd agtomg & rs a) ut GQ sede oh fy -] AO a a os 2 ret et ne CS wt 3) cf m3 42 "Y
fb ary 0) . %4 ed be Med FAG oh Gere Bebe Cy UY oy Qesed ty ff mm O oe eee mes mae i he Bes ca
oJ Rt Lo OF W ee C Co my cs Sperm} ub SY Oky Cyd us ear Gy wi Ot Gb OF cai ff OY 9 td he ASD LQ MEY ad mg pei
Of ak OF O o Ry et of ted Ge good Seed “3 -0) @ 2 Watet Os st O00 fe, OME CE wo eras 9 1 J
Se Hag ee OE OT OA UT © Gad | O mt (EE OW PO Ot A'S Oe” Oa) Bore. ! i423
w Chef a yc a ped aed Ui ct MAW CY Bed « Gf £ Fi ty fa OY eA th ws OMY a fy, @ hey Moy cl 44 4d fy 4 = a ‘eg S23
aomgat a uy a) f4 a Le Hd Oded oF Art Si OF es +4 Ci ko oo O42 oaely tif Gey & O ct creci 42 fr. ts
A Teo us ah O) pep ad ci a fy he @ ya OOo WO Dedhy Cf “y "sale fe Th oP “HG wi O42 EO
PO 2 9% io ae Ad Mud” Gomdd oud oe GH “wes OO AM qg AAO Sm ys
4 EF cy Fa 4 0 HOGA hy Wwe POO G2 eS Sf 42 2 ed 0 Get Hote dosed ow oe 449 oe
Ref OSB ey > = tf eati GO O erg LYS O - & @aforg 22 > UY Oo bs f2 ood UO Ged woke ey Gg oO ms ry
43.6) ve a8 (a1 fet Ge oy a ct > QY hibes qd re vd boy fj & fs by LY a3 0% € ne) rd Bask pos! pod 4 ug Ant rat of ms ith) re] Le | a3 my *
Y- din fs °o OH UFw@d hy Pro av YR Oe BY 3 eto or "OS wet a Hook o vor as x es
fy SS 4 be LD Ae at ct 6 by eS 3 ey C4 LY he UD wf i ae Ee Kg - 9 3 © yr} cea G ut tt 49 49} ct YO Ss}. le ise
SO Bb God” BOOK eeAGre GO VS DU Bel BS coed ~t so 85 ibe by Oy BAO BG Otegs aya ig oF
4d Cf od ce EAD a 8 aahO etd SS MH UO AHO OO Meets © WO wt te pas
f G4 q> Ra) =~ ad rf WD P wf oO pes “103 wy & ® a} anf ® % QO Gag or} a“ C} nee i) ey fed cS ee © e bay oat eh £*) om af a ah | Bice a ° Q) ey ; & :
gS od owt! Sono mMOkrr keegan qo Bw OO e BOO het Yew tt Ch 43 cl a cf © eS
S Gt ach cf. oo Yo wi Rey red OF ox oy WD 8 Oe O Fy EE caddes O > a Cl by 4 fy Eb ang to BE heh Net FO
43 Owe} Gg Oy O Ort 2 Oc he etree OO Vpt we Adaed as a 3 QtQert ri A fy te ob wD ae Od ‘cf ia 8
— em). AMG) Def Dewte Goat 9 YOUtrtis dw hd assy avg ow ud O BZ
KOR eANAS VBP WTI ie ee tee a mud OW fa O ng Gated QP Ny Bay ds OC Gherg
4 SO d wea a ad a B4 Baa AGA Octet POP BZo” FC SOTHO eZ adyewn ota wd =
_ # *aod ) v2 qod 9 adore le a a olae eat Gh R4 etme Chat bee a a.
Oo” Gh Jie oY OF OG0'd O4% a a SQ bet POV AG OS MP weadelys 9 wo Nao |
edt YD Het Gode Hoods add & ao ego en 3 Ao £9 OF1f0 Hawdweg Aaoaa gp
Hs aNd eae ie Bags s wh O So <] red 1 Pia a ors ~W~ GVOHOK Ada be Gap, oe
oy SB Odio. ayo 3 mc) is sa Qt og Y Cy $4 Oy O 2 etd. 1 ibe ry. yt} £:
he @ aN ‘A OG WAY hyig A H wy =] Oo S34 O44 100 ow ys a ct cles
vee ct O Cy" e q ape chord +3 € set wu ters O «feet OS O EO ras wf CP ord fy
fe 4 241. 0 by pd Ord Getled OG Simp Gv tr, @ as aq e S a
oo 8. 27% 5 Lhe Co ed det gt a7 GBS cy 2 veortZ G 4% ‘¢ oD cf xf ty card ow mo gcd cg
sod oa 8 “ap — Baga oda a aby we a o@ ey a) vo
(eedagg by OS, 5 Siar eb B: Pe Be ORC ce A Sie me
a a4 : CEAD AZ ddd wed fe oy yet ed ed Be CL GY Herd ee *
St by Of O O V4e COM Beg Ott Q sdet Sed Bh u fe sgt.
OH whet! SY ee os “ap OU ge ny 4 9.2 O a B oe
(>
; te
ey
s on his eee mo
idered one of the stworgest Weve
ecod was con
Oe Une a
S
-
P)
Se
OG MDo Hen
ee
24 te break &
é
&
eel age |
o
ed
SE tri
country und k
ry
=
ee
—
y gor &
Gee
"~
+.
os
2y oa ce ef OD
GQ & ct
iris | 43
14 2 as es Od
wd CL L3 CS
ee OS
ss a Oo
4 sf -
mao wa
og TH OF CD Fa
POO ff 3
Go at O KG O49
SD ay
oF
e & C Oy gt
CS CS wet «3
é oy wt
cr) ra) fe 03 i by
fi. 20-4
Syerf (¥ ot
fe GY @
oO & 3
ty fa sf 49
fg.
43 03 F4
tc
~
a
WD
we
3h
T -OtRe
Ly Ss
J, 4G
3
-
22 fl 4d cy
a
Rowe
a
3
ied
ee
3S
sae
Joka
=
“4
r
ug) tO 9 et 3
tad
e
Gea
Be
Ss. ¥e
3
)
£4 oa te &
42 f4 Cf &t
OO Met UW
£9 Slat 42 © wi
&
id
ms
se
Ss reoresent
o
emer
y
o>
fod whee
Be OA
hel
We
=F tS
LB
nF
WA ede
&
Cae
mal 4 tt i
yd4 2 20 ‘4 ‘
Set Oo
J
4
a 4 ta ay Rey
‘rea
a
a
+
od
4 ugorww
OR ee a
du
2
te
rox it Th A>
GQ) (2 cS th and ond i we 9 wo “
he ctw a)
(> Oa
—
ad
f York, seth sola o
MELten o
6)
By
re paca
"
~~
ed ketor
ry
a
a
to
ro
&
R
“as not
‘s
=
a
x
&
A
n@enee hed s
u
i
“th
also tried
Q
9
Lt aust |
Ls matte
=
abs
s
2
» eyivenn
vwoleconla, wise
=k ($2)0
3
rae
‘o¥e the genu
“7,73
ee
EFERS
ORE.
CCEE o
iy Ot
(aries 08 Od & 3
The oniy impor
§ 38r00!
au
orf tS het De
— dled & G Be 9 Os
i ~)
ety ber? @
: stdac
pf G) O43 OD ort 43
4 fg Tes te 4 i 44
“.
(rad
Sy
%
and
Row
«
roa
& a Nee
vo £4 Oo @ 23
—
we
. &) 2 | Cc}
3208 rr)
<3 Guy $e
Def 6) © on
ste
ws
a
<
-
*
aq, 5s
wime ef
ak
w
3
a
kPie
a
ances
2 &
~ iw
3
é
ibe
, ad
wo
ct
43
43
a
ui
re}
3
¢
va
Of EO %
e prisonor
B
mo ow 4 0 ,
the cei:
‘Phe
he:
eae
G} Am) af J
tne
4
+ Zz Pe
uring
4
ple y
a
+
u
CY me CF ray
Lg ey ey £9 44
seven
peo
O we
oul
CA se CS OF
é a
nd
as
w)
@ 474s 9
(> C2 Gd aj wg
fy fet 43 a
Rygeng ead ba «2 et
Gi @& Cen £f
ff LD CL ke
Og wt tg +
om 6K}
es ch
os O W& ret
Ovetad HEC
bey bi 49 GW C3
3 Oo G
oe Gao
6) 03 49 @ et
PU QM NA
OF Se ef 42 Cd ay
be: yo ef G4
£4 LF emt Q
fff, GO <e fs»
°
ong 5S oc). 0
W
3
&
se
>
as
oe
a)
> Ba
AD RE eet!
d to manh:
ress.
ve
u's us re | C}
™ ad
& lt
wt? Ci By
fy Mh O43
62 O Qed oO
eee
in
nA
ee eh
&
f pronouncing sentence,
ef
BOUP &
-
-
ef, 20%
‘Un usy 1Sta a
Urvose Oo
}
«hen asks:
en eurly
y. afvected, s
the p
Herc
f
wld:
c
epdk
BES
hyM0
toca gd
Fat
te’
rJanh £3 6
Fae
ee
O Oe ied
nthe
Cc
.
a
the pr
sald cti
S9 Heinscus a:
very
9
oa
7:
,
a
eld to
opi t.
oeeok
to w
Lfer$ 42 vj
q
aq EO
Gee Gog fy,
wt fog 2 Dp
%
ss
a
ee atte Sake
WS dd Py 4F wt 49
Sets Ge rt
fq we
AE.
t
=
fy wd
be oo
“nj
if cf of 43
e343
ree
@,
Ce
CP Gog UG 1D aed end 09 €
treba g CE GS:
wt te sh tbe
aft
i]
racy Gb Uy
ad -
& 230
a
~
<4 DLE Ort O CO
Gg 4D beg eg S3 f
Oo fn «&
th day
3 GH Dens
Ha cd 3 O
4
<
Oo have been x
A
ww
<
hg the sane
a
ad
‘ef
>
a
poison
Gt, ong the £
he a
Tt
ae
aL
2
a
2
Pi J
ss
Gri
en om
he
os ees Molt en ae |
wt fe Of
Cr 4 US 4
SO Cf KIO tT a,
@ cf ba dg
da
at
any Mouly
Be
M
F 4
13
GO Ww
gen yo
i
12>:
3 Ky
_
~
ss
Yhe Fy Cb
toe:
3
ft
-
ns
ang on
x
Bla 0
a ¢
has Ygsen aft
23 6
~~
ad
=.
Ne me
oresal
Qo 4s
on ee Meare Bn Ws |
9Gris> GY RAG
our 6x9
™
Oud
ed W vi EY
eutles
eves Gin
bali Luinsterei ac
4
Ld
ASE of 5:
y yeE 2 -
prt: ; teatye . Oalrinned
“ “8 e . Py 19 eS
ay no do
ee : : Stn : A C 4 HBS t 4
hoa! " : : 48; , nt ou ; ‘
. (fant j , D - ‘ :
ral 2 the als : ‘ 1 1 “ ’ » he ~~ ‘ye : n 7
x! * S Off * A sa . ry ° age
* e ; t ° ow a 7
? ie 4 7 g i iS PATNA AB ESO n
- ‘ aon ‘ Gl ot pec!
* ide * SX r pike 0 r
ab _
+ ‘ + ogi atte Od ‘ ry r
5 i SMe + at oo 5 ate one
peas a ay t : : > Tueare :
u rf ‘ re + ‘ aor! neil aEIGN
; she ree nd mo
pow ee, Bg, © Gee & 2M) a ~aiv differeh Arn. theo . 6 ate! p ord n9ed ’ nix
‘oy : os Rorden ‘ neu ‘
: ait patech " © ; Ny . A ae ‘ Py [OmeTe! rhe Aid n@ ’ 0 -
414 nol BER: 5 nid syie yoke ‘
¢ On nd 0 neGokhe ' bad ne |
BRae? ‘ . ‘ y fi of ont ’ ‘ a6 Oren treiit hae ’ Oru UJ
ft c < aad nto x ; . nif Dy He sen
4 at . Pi ’
= yet of ‘ ' been geen ’ _, 6 3 2 ‘i 5 ad 500 m De
rage Di d ' we rie: bi Dre ' c
oa ty ~ . + eG) ' fy ‘ U at. ote 5 Be a}
nye 301 cy OF ‘ at oi 4s ‘ = su 5 eerye ' Y ‘ : ‘4
> Go. u : * D . ny wb A t ‘ ee
' + * ‘} \ Be Faw TFOm rete bed 14e 5 " + Ne aerk 1 2 - x ies) Di 5
é ‘ 8 ar ’ mow 1 8 ' ' ’
. ‘ ¥ 4 fb
bs § ay uy fasoription. 0: = mrmrd oo hed rj ng 7 ’ n & athe : Rien ison no OFC
} : ? rf ony D , t 3 arn ployed alo ° : ab
nant asicor: 0: ae OOO i u i piace 9 Be Bhep bh : ih 2B
ry rs Tee qty . 5 Oi 5 . att bd
rs ib) = eee eR Te a) ie Be OR 7 & Ent are, (mamed A ay ’ Tomeon nie Bo
Pek: . a 4 J 1 ' be ’ + .
ore, DO nd © . 5
‘ Eee Baed ‘ 70 OF) 5 : d sit ' : p nm me Hy Pichardecn orcs a0
4 ~« ‘ U Py 4
3 ‘ ry EES - a oe . qt. . ait =) ?
. . ew ee D wy a) > Out T ’ Se ¢ Tehe ‘¢ 3 Payne ru i .
et: t 5 ah ate Var 1 Ps
» ve TOPE: C) ai t i alas a 4 . 426 i ry ‘
3 : sy nce. 0 + ne 0 ' ‘ he God g Bi 2
’ < Ore f . : b Bund
. ‘ le te Pin EO Roms. be 2: rh ed fal ~ 4 : i i now Fi bre ‘
pte) ob. Be , ‘ Ld “4 ' Y ; . ad “jt on nd
yy wey a ce 6 ’ fee te athe + 1 ’ s J Bw the CEs ¥
* Rae ed oF iganeee 5 : : nareckh in BOI: wt
? ‘ ° he & mom 9 anoth ay G1 . ‘ : ‘
pitas ae ree) ote ae i H Me 3a ‘ v 5
he) o vot 5 man ry 5 : t rhet , Hamin ue oferec. u orern i
GRR rm Di shee ib i . Be nh mem
re & @ » (}e000 ~~. ~ y Pe oe ff Tee nthe i 70 . ‘ ' Hab {
4 ve tert ‘ ’ [or F r s ouin HS Ai tfc .
omer , 7 i an " pad am: Reat , t yeade rap ti 1 1 ‘ Rone)
& weet f ti oes ; hie Gase
wae ad Bn PT) fi we 4 3 . aaa Prom DI p’ G1G0 ‘ SoH ' rar ont DG a
‘ Be ‘ PZ tg ;
' ¥ + ‘ amet * at ry ‘ 8 pi se ’ ’ ale tt o we ob:
Raa a aust pore erat 3 i She
wyNs on tts ‘ 1 minted) ’ ' o "1
a e r miki Of : ut L patil ‘ at i : 1 A
tayo « C()80C0 i : ‘ rhaee t no wid * ‘ th ’
wa it ’ ' Ee ’ ‘h: & © rgeele n wie ‘ more ’ ’ ‘ its ' me
. > if ‘ 17% a a od a - ,
ayers tt rf 1 malig wend ii : nc 6! ri ‘ ’ 1 4 sh i & \
o = et s§ ' . 4
pe . rat vite 1 here neo BOD 0 ' tr ey eomin tt more 0 . 0 |
~ < 1 ety t ee bee! 5 Py fi o . noesu 4 oi go ‘ ty ’ 4 2 ’ Bd o as Bm dC ’ . |
ras tr eyte eit 4 :
: , : : q od ‘ ' D ‘ pre z ¥ z , ' an > Bu 4
t ot
M be pid met pyproreof Am 5
v* ta
¢ Saye Ass ; ce tr: : a fv casting CoMr 50) ‘ : ap th master they decidce +
i ; no o nal netz: ‘ nich <; ON
2 y * See: sf tate . . .
; i A a4 x ij from DC ae 1 b
: * . >
in * - . Pe, wel ’ ali ’
‘ snk ante SAGES L100) a © 24 ab . berde! 5 * i : é
‘ Di peegees - 0 . qth a
oe rth i - . ' abe - Thi Reser
. af etter PS th Ree t ‘ at ‘ ce 1 phe oJ
» % ze . 2 o pa * @qut % a '
p E fie : wis a git Pi 40 agi a rm ae Tt) 4 fo ay Re i z
nek & ‘ 4 7 , eee 3
: te xT ‘ “ + Bee heaped
alas af art mel Ty ad Ps Ere eed use 2 ' ae en CPi ese he te: 2"
7 , \é ae €D ag zy ’ ; a b
ne © Ti a. oF im. x $ iG ¢ im 2ernoon
: 3 ena Ss nd ra cot war meses ‘
g ‘ a4 ‘ s . -
eS Cam T ae 4 e = 5 whe vast en . 2a! 5 a
om tiye ‘ oy) Tire mepigs Tae 4 yy tt aa
‘a ' iiteass i. Sint Pe
om ek p BOS. Se . ‘ nso 4 . ae Post Off
fe { ’ 4 roms Dire mee Tie) af
ne . . ’ 5
. i rf ’ EMG 5 : te gs Sons FE a}
: hess Bis a o u Ch Lew Clemeni 1
: vt f Pears’ ay ‘ \ neeeee rer Gi! oe Ts Or sili g opet Pie Ge » KBUEe pan oF re oe 3 seetr abies
= ate ine shoe ay card . rif S
é 7 1 : 1 wat Breeki yD au 2 %
of Py 7 r ' : Sr TH1lieshe.0r ’
‘ , : . By , ‘He < soe Post OF ‘ matin GOR tEs iO ae - P Rav P 4
rs an 9) peer re Gag : : ¢ i es Bed ‘her Ver traartet Wey ¢ z
4 ‘ ‘ ‘ 7 ’
k this: «
7 a : et :
. . : - re ment fy waht th 0) n in mee 29
Ry ‘ SY Ge . 4 i ¢ a7
a of FE Y op earl ras g Swe atl Gin 5 b ARE < . ”, 53
" ie % 7 rove a 6H ree G! i ¥ OIG. w vy t- 1 } .
a BS Py ? 4 A oy Venaye + 0 ye ‘ Ph none Bh r A wri fi
Lhe i) ‘ ‘ ‘ . Vyas D ‘ wad *
' E is = offic ‘ and
4 qi ' « ‘ 5 , f BoP nandikion : ‘ a 08 669 £5 ‘ x
at ' ety 1a ‘ Be ‘
qiit 4 SRC yf x g rot : ‘ in : 5) ararr, B ‘
> an br he ene! Po O}iG
4 ef Y u , ‘ ps8 ‘ A t 1 ‘ 4 ae ’ Ye ry ' . ote p
cerns , ny yee am ed : off] ans ‘My os ‘ ine band : ‘ '
Fi (| Ve . Aiesan
d i - t ’ ’ ’ * Fat)
ee 5 ay : At ed ’ tee! ies - ts misc ’ U ‘ Ascoun on wore all at 4 v .
‘ Pw: ry tees toeapt!
ve eration 4 neem TRO t ~)}! pund Ae ‘
‘ Zamsec Road t ec |
- = . tt al = ' 44 > 4 soul The nd
4 ' or 8 rs ar-at e s- eopoa- bs 146! pepeoel i) ' {
ul Bs 1 ‘ 4 ‘ i Ve 4 1 ‘ ;
ke |
¥ ' ‘ y ets GD ‘ ‘ ved ' 5 no: = i
Ld * iu i Sasi ~ ‘a Uj spet. . ‘
‘ ions n on. 8 @) ‘ ’ mi 1 ‘ H
t Pra 5 SUS . ye ‘ 4 . i
. x eee 4 ary «i304 5 ERS Ass r t a Ve u : iS e ¢e e 1
eee ss mS Mert eh ae: ’ aud ate pone ' a A nate p + ‘ &
3 ° Af oes oe 2 se “ ~ = 5 pe ae
a tmp an © atCt ets ’ 4 Baw, LO} ‘ ‘ Oo } ’ : " ae
! i: > Cys LUN ‘ a t
aes 5 epee, ‘ ri ? ; mee ae ¥ t ’ ‘ ah fj aus +8 z
Bt ' ‘ . ’ : rf
ot ” lt ¢ 5 - ens ss Sith 5 ‘ send on. ne ¢ :
t aa gaan He OS K eesiereut . . 5 , ‘ seus i
nara aspera ee g 5 .- es os z ‘ TONS ' oe ' nd aom pie ' ~@ 57 4 Ee =
: ee: 2 a ; % fen ‘ j wten ‘
* 5 s i 5 Bae Pi al , i
" . ' 4 ’ ypet ‘ ‘ ;
x . ’ are di eink : raw BED , regs) Rear ee t
‘ ae 7 fot 0 is: shy on 8 wel ‘es WU at \
G € tt ’ arty 2 pif = » ta . K 20 5 o ne b f rer mornin : }
+ ‘ A ee Ot f 4 . : mb én) :
a: : tik vs i ¥ ‘ °C 25 £ A A : ' iS al ket
nO + Es 4 tt ' ae o) ‘
a ao Pon orn ory a if t ‘ yids t Vea ‘ ly GS, Gare + ‘
i a i ' \ ’ Yu ay rie
eT aatieill oS
ae F 3 - ? “eh _ aan of , 5 ns
a % Se ry a = 525 1 7 ct Gs ER cd a 4 meé ’ :
Savy? fH YS i) a fy ’
, tite * . th « .
. » a: cube U : i) Eb eo ~« fFORs 0: a + ‘ alt
4 ‘eh , ry r? at . * ' r) ny fs
5 if : *
54
Hy a
i
: ; ’ ra} ~™ ag 7h) NET Ts \ 1 eg a yy 1) 4 jm}
oy : (9 < THE SYRAGUSE COURIER. TUESDAY, AUGUST? 1, i593,
yaa si : <
- ae es 8 Se ne a megane me mT . val Goan eee ernran reer oat? 2 paces renner crag TIDES SS — — one
if 1 reasponaidlity of asenring their arrest on | eincleshiend stripes white shirt. el employed fn the galt yerd= of the city, H anw Ho wele cwrougat ue ia a Red
} ; *%is inforniaziva shuuld they prove othet | bice ie, prominent check-boues, wore! A few years later he weit fe tcatop.is bf excitera ;
: tran Vs. bonny aa. To this Detective ' shors tasted of boats.” | where he spent some thse ii: sauina, | baal Phat sass 4 :
eae Tarvey agcend. With him, aad waiksl i tL etective Rarver's Body. { voiug for several omentis at Sautis i : ; ». feeepieh yo oamae 3
ce smttaide to wait for the appearance vty (eho : fie one a 1 Aduerien. On bis vette to has ' ; toe se !
fs anes, "Dhey Gnished their breakfast |) 0)" lie mala NE ee ee aa (dueested: tingly fe peal ests G exeit i
: : herstrely, pacd for rt and walked wut che! uF Tass roof the wubthy Bhvay idee ert Hive eure eer oe : |
De ective James Harve feont door withunt beceaying the leo f SU Bes aly. 10; care. Far SEG imided. cb maya \ :
‘ 'y Hee : FASS Las formg of thechente aan wie lind eee cM aby ie ; f
ws ; goaies e a the trap whieh bad be Ctost dite dite while perfortuiing ao haty pt] Sat te Miss Margaret ©. " :
Killed by & Prisoner. sg sie Shem. Hewiriting bas fer i ui The “baxtly Wi phaved ou A Piast Pebraary, Glia faethe! ae a 4
ve * ig Hy Fas Dk iechan rca eag battetete; and varricd to the gpeaber att |} ¥e a posse - eee rt sti ee . : :
aoe ; wathetin telaurety yaad Gewssen attie Bates as Sei terete os ae = } ae : eae gerne my fsa : ave sreenid ce as i : '
; Thee hes Hie ee ak eas eae patel ‘ telerl thse elle that wey hav CST “ ; a a ; = i — Lh ee ho
TWO }) , hits i pout Perey sre} store, te cai: see ee poe _ Aan is ay age aa :s aes ee gpa bes PVR YEE be S
: f j ! . . de U oe vem flo: piglyt ewe. qarertuag Pherae tle pet ‘ lee rege ; ipa i :
: D ESPER \{I: MEN : ales ait oe es : ET vee oy! in read “ fies due felt Wats ot HUNT Y 25. S80 Dike i : : { oF 4 ! : ig ee ‘ ae {
‘ Atk : ‘ thas : = mica tow vt 3 walle: vat tet. Phe deoda ow as ftubety buf erie meas troubde Pag © Ca! H ay - neat : f
eo ie } Waotaiiha cs caergae, Where FO WES pare Godot, Std He ON ie ee t get eee bt. RA
Te ,° Paved Cader Areeat. Ppared for tartab and Uren porawenh CF ge tladie taatbist his chart i ees ee os : ice ;
L Soothe trie procuoded ax fae as Joba | (ie Wb tinaae tonivs hetae al GT Cie Poros ge allies wets uate ayn ait ee :
Placed Under Arrest by the! i. Manes Sea hues He aw Hee Le after ik wow age wee tase: NN ae hae ic
‘ B Ori ‘ Block oo Warren street. DPere the office: i Viren Whose saw it. i fore, be ge ee eye ‘ a oasres i cs os ae : ees oS ;
rave mucer. stepped forward (oe the mata, aud pushing | he wwert aevernt porsons wha chiding] Sth foes of Tiss Pe ;
his way beoween thein peak cael Uy an pit hove seea The tritgedy. tiaeesugte soatace | ue ce : ee ree ne Em
aris Wad eid cee unde tectient 1b Cl eee ee ee fatnd abot Greed yO share ane ee a Ce ee lope : oy
Was Gndoubteddy, attheush Che trays ee eae a perhaps. | i? evens: of aie h : 2 ae awe aes
RO ) ) J " } rivtheer did nee dive ta tell the stars. ud Hie catered man Madea, who chased Che oe HES DSC a ae : : me
4 L BREAK FOR LIBERT) premio ter the moon ta eocssteba thou a Role HG ata ee cree es oo is coe ‘
fevdyos taader arrest. Some wordt pieced Pore peportem ts as featows: 4 teoeme the rennin of ito popeg Phe '
‘Thad Ween te ay, ated flieve the taaieh de ne Powers sitthag. ett pheark the ends ae a tage ee WU VIET NAT : tat 2
‘ : f Dobe Stauem was taded ay aad : Ske arene nue pole tase’ fee os eo le } get mot tug Vet MBMeard abitic teen
i tietective at grovenb oa antette tee decel trod, appwesetes ttre ton Pestaten Mat cas) CG eS mete ‘
And the Fatal Shot is Fired by One) Passnc: Firouels die a om Ti [tee baildivg, when Deteetive Harves | ey onterr, Me. Harve. « wa | : Mead
x . . Dravetis ahs attention tle three farned el faut iy fated wore on Caeie shoals. p Pees end comtlemantiv, Too patil] tige tee the feet git
of the Misoreants, Only One of! ta Water street. The atdescatl wan] hose the street tom ued the poties station ete at ibe: proper thue, Tie ta fe ing tied been toad » head
jedoch udev wath Che ‘najertat Demag vimeed ¢ Phin detective wars henyecn the etongers bored peenanentiy ip all the: ee oe ree eee
Them Has Been Captured, But the lis the construction of the new Hastably Vue his dards were on ¢hefe shoulders, be Witriia fis eottectansy tiv tie dee iis Malssins ‘ re
13 A e therter ninfione the three tupieed oti noo db Roew the hetective and Whos Toma tf int ud (nee Inne pre fa
Police Ara in Active Search for the i the read, Wp to Uhis tare mee inciel flor those au Puvasnis Toensyt ceted that | 2 eee 1 RS Sten GP ce RL) RMT
Oe ar See fe; F ‘ Z i Roewi the peleeaces tat sabedttcd FOR SAT ATE tks ta Were Under arrest fo ata TWo OF A GANG, SCGYES AOE
Uther. Two of a Gang of Robbers. | nil re af the il Had Hot Sratcht at hem when one of] oe :
Soged oesds Fee ges cc] tiers the stughbay rea sti } fetid [Tao Wen Thouaht te be Gli-Paims dl PE EN a econ
tet Were desmerntio and | oboe eeyal ery of h wehve, | Practical Rebbers. \ pede
a ‘ oe too enmrpaded as: the of hate eeaetal pnuiprosstae a
" —— oe BM hy: Gide we :
Murder Most Kou, prisoner qniekis cdrmy tt svolyes : uit
fd ' at thy hat rar Ne tate utea, mite of : i) ‘
Kon wed paaiat - , '
Litttict ; up ower pe Boe
ae ue and a Pe Eee (eae La '
une “arrect cpieseah | PREY Tee pus ATs . as t
i Me Brie Wodridge. ‘Dhen thes parted a a Rove certhuly pit cages td oe ay
i he teller mina turning ite da cfrey Seite, WHO lve Lome Coane ar: 2 : :
Ww A ethes, bay the ou ! tnd the ether carts ante Boddbers’ Boas Poe a ee
fal vet senna aud ia at ii \ that the mailer of the Gwo Gad, oe 8 Oi ie ; ;
the e@ucss of the tae ! ee t dio followed 3 it techie Thoarvey nee hia deg ‘ sat fe
village cod hauilet ow \ a tech: oho did net pean picid: into: Beit sticet. passe] a fis | ee e Dan Bee : sl a :
Rilew of M¥racdse heeqae the ease dhoterute vied sie hor atne | fo (recht onps, dotkged fife a vord amd? ae “al Vaiber Serie. naa or é
waieh {os him Lsdiut tts wengion tec an a ib, trey opuasrdd te Pork strect. Lda ine re et aS ma :
Deana ee frreuek Che etheor a vietsine Pd ye ; \ treaesd catnel aa “You t eh Stvire td i 5 ae :
{head. just lehind the ear ot is trey “? Nt us et : i
Pires fer the hbase stunned tise =| yor sure!” Miving a crow is nas Hs i ; qe
pend he tured shawty peti ac Soups be mae, he turned | EOP seine tine: pi at. [- ‘s i aS
piel on the Wher ve Wiad famed rea ge He inte the yard? 2 be was net on : we
fimwerd is semiewhat va doubts) bet athe faved orawded ender the atoan, The erawd | in yestembay ta $
Peate there wes a re, avd Detective dand aonumber of otheers cume up. Li peda be had ofr : '
{Harvey fell fy tlie meds othe Mood [ peqeged under the atoop, draged che; | what they were or s : a
Cwaitng frome an its wound da his beaa [ fedes out ead then the offi poate . til smould perhars. ls ;
With s EES singer hr eiectnnts tort feria charge of dim, Taio postive the | pipet assixiaiere bes H ets
Vinee df fren: the aren nal pointid TO FV rndtos inna did the stenting. popiemag te place them under. “wa
wae dic Hedi pwn Phen fe fol) Duck) was dune in the atteet opheut OU: feet lot ele ha, ats
vad, 4 ; “mt of where Eaves sittlugon the plugh pelea wee: men, impeiawted iu te deacy id police an =
Porentt of the Vardermrs tidooudy on fem: feet fraar the sidewalk. ne Deteerive Harvey, are bar cies mois over and walt of ose ‘
There were Tit too ten ated t dave knew thie unyone bat aiyeif tYle2 head ian of the gang. omucepent fe Wet The ve ee
ited Wright cnrviel tes sous talke
}
" thoced that tle omen haye :
Y PDeteeiite: Basuts. «tile
eweveral Qrumdred wire tecard othe om
eohuptiy with ane other.
stver wha acted) que One wae BB.
aii thee pbaeeet ing,”
Daniel Ol Merion, 2 contractor, ue anoth-
O'Donnell, whe at he or Who claitia (0 have acon the shootigg. | on" weasisys aml thea wsiy rertbernl faa nes 2
* eee one stargate sf ss ae foyeicy wis as oer oar | Seas £
uf the fallea offierr, iia ib save that he wos bitehisg his horaes | OUSTOs [the fecepiedie. Z
free, a wd atainy bowil he tb in front oof Adwords enal effter, when | Clog W rel feof the ovis sae eh Lit Tue : die ; ‘
ehomad: OMy Goek VovG Lietecdve: Lberves saef the (wo men csagae tued ace aniy ince of the gag e whereabouts of eat i
Whe other was fh
kivewn colomsd i
Telegram of Cuondterest.
awell toilong. chs Ghey passed dn fount of the
seen The E Ra Qe hte theatre the fellow snddeaty
)
WAS MEE MGT ¢
Wohied
aiic ane deat uel ao urement in going
: 5 pulled a revalver and stepping behiad his
wnopucsait of the Guen why had dene} companion. deelt the detective ao heavy Or Should Detective Urever (Inve Necured | +t
|
|
i
\
'
{
{
Ata fowl “dace Phe micleres and his} hiew in the back ef the head. Lberh Anwtatancs. :
pal ran east t9 the Warren street bereboe meu then started ito ru, Serauce: The cold-tdeodab muoier of aa otheer | ;-
se ae half a > ea sbturned slowly ground with ao dazed adr in the stracis of the ¥ has cl ena!
and é a Se dee! Sa? and cts tt repeat wos Acard enphk ta the barcuted ao great oumecor Of interest ands ease Accept the of?
ivf vied this a hee the regut syle OF b ground. Me. te then said Chat be was 4 tie affaicw is loked wi wod diseussed i pt th f of betes
DETECTIVE JAMES TLASRVEY. the bealge. By Hus tinae at aa eliee, Vi] su veeupled ia owat hing Elarvey after the Pevery posstble helt a iany Genres aa Z
(By Perniiasion of the Tera! big ete ey os pee ee me ee blow Aue struck, that he could net tell} fas unfortunate ina he lost hin tifuc ts apie
Win carder) olives. Ditech Biase sara ate . te Bo bi oa ie ees ae Hhonsht te have been ut fault fn aed ead i 2
he murdered oflicer, Dete ur tested Encr erie taurees alt: Ons COAL Coon af Oran, is positive that the Jak asdistanee before acempiiag te arrest
b nye eres Pay : t Nee Sipe ba “7 2
reaana for thie, Lait the qecnde ip the bagi under arrest as fhe ane who did dhe | O¥o steh despernte ny Tut giecls
sew it. dedi Bliller, euesion ts alwaes gar cob an the pobit
the police departinent, the fault, if there wos aay, was «of
plead nor oot the heoat Detective
eer ig ageneraliy eoocedied to hav iy
emeoof the Deavest qaca on the force jird
BS. in the dubbs of the
About Gtb Walack jyeaterday tuerntie. petowil did ave Haw oor apace tate ow Wal aha thug,
oue Of the Wravest ated aioe. trusted gies had heen dene aad the other half were? paps ey
i the depar wnt. “her: it Pew z :
on oe pe spe! ere ‘ ee | lnchirainas theae ten had puss. Chen: _ feat is et eertivin whi
oe . =—s We i TOO tL harks dsdesperate as Thea two had preven Cheete | on of the tee cfr the shooting, Atter
egenineyer answers} '
dieinehitusdl fo duterfere the tet 8 tf ome the cptes
i
gelvee to de ; i
Pseives to fy ney Chories To Strouse was standing at
“Le Detertive “Flesan th, be ee ee re ae tok tf ; : ery 3 : ;
& iy a : an » Oren there?’ ennic anger Dee k" Tovweser 3 * in het lhe earner of Aaron andl Woier strests his actiou iM attereptia alone to take
a e Ware, vay? sh , 4 His pay Pee hewh. ree ' aria pees ; :
sees ey Ree Be nee ek re ret ans ie nee Pets ttt ee Women into ensteds is aseribed ony fo |
: : Bs ibe lad avtectel as the umederer Atert way 4 ir he frat lie kne 7 his rolavk oof fens andl lis nite ts
etactive Sheppard there?” i piesingy dhe Ider (ie parece pa ee ee ee ee aay ree Fe
! ; A «tei ’ aot pid ' a i Ponble wae when fe any the taller of Mey a
the ahomeers one farming dew inte MeL a hay “ pees itis ge ‘ asscaeiaty? @ » tater of Seti Wrenn! f ©
There waa an moment ef ledection aod | ee i < ts e Phe twee ier pin by with a reyalyer in] |, 38 on the {eats : es al eet ' f
ke : ‘ trong Thaw aed weoetert tee Wp Sate tie 4 and he opr me oirrent beg tf oo Sian : et 1
then Oticeran Beaenimever sritgested | geryuys Ae ks sar) ee aes le . ea - Oey <
twat thesercive: Il : : Leen atreet. After thia aue Moles ein, fit Roger (ranwer a trudiuuat who-elatn vey had net been staged hy the we
etaertive a “oe a ee 1 if hs H Hy rebt if ne ~ : 7 ‘ H : me wine
- 3 FY OY OB Soho pew news by a dare crowed Ofesui ia pee Mow, he wohl los. aivem the ehsneca- : oe i . :
wight do aa well. This wi pacelveak } ie Lo Ww ; to have heron ais eteswwitiesm@ fo the ajar ; = er : iy ' feb ree sted ft ater: herve dae seh?
‘ eG . 1 oer ey aie ce mier, Whe tr . . stevens oct Parpead diatit tee © ther «ce er ‘
with faror and the dofermation oats ¢ pees aun t Aver Vol or, save fowas staudiug im frout ef . : ' : re (ey cer away “a, biomting, fide:
} vere in the oatiee offi-e whe the tasedy ; ; A : Tfe. was -kuowi y possess tattered .
that there were tWo #aspieieua ct: * be lanes Lata : - v Wl Phtheimer's stece unleadiag amy truck bore tide ee ey aust : ys ir SUN ive
‘ Paw? vttitod tors da the omewd, drive: menagthy, edto: ase) eis i fitiipe Lesh hw ots
ters eating breakfast iu Fred Patna ty a Cre Ta Ue oes Ee when Larsson Mone with the owe bein r a eae : s ot orale ee tad ‘licen oe
ar » atpat y , Ho ; : ra welbhow e Aadoredoia ‘hine (sek Eninfa st ace
Testanmint, aad as tt was arraiaret ward Ue stot ted pile Ga Ce nen one ob each side of him. Te had He ; Pepe tenia poe WE eS i
acton- al © peice, DD eae i eneal | a One offices said | chic Tin’ Yan c! toto tamer .
the men there tl the conse wire : ieee be tmcierer catited | heb oof chele arts. and aa they aot dn Hs : eae hs ee tr
' ty De Te 9h thas Natit pile! where aoe ar 4 Se ok peed could tare wh Vfour such trou as Sen ktee
pee : an aes ' : a
' roth yet, ne es :
h 7 oalYigmcu. i neo
propel J no doubt b 3e6 4
Cape Suy n fen bt: on 5 b y a ,
3 ” .
aad ant to n he race: } : eee 5 a PAIN.RO LLSUR
:- ther - 2 382 és a, iN .
f in2z1
ere i pmser fi offered Hea! nets ) .
to | Bterciad re mode en : ook) yr Disco Con ning: the: » Who Bill
ne od ch ‘ ‘ os D ’
Hie. GHEE Broo on ord D : 22 vu
jin eS EN C Of ; Dec
D rh) of ti Philadeiph nb be: h q - : t : : a
5 0 ’ EBs os
> decide Bto the r ‘ ’
D Eh 955 att rj nd 6 ; iG hee mmPd a J) ‘a
me 2 « ‘ . ve | sf u
ry
i A ' . ° ‘ fed b D ’ Polls . PT1£aR C S
43 UER e . t] i a . <
DU neti £ 2 ye UIs
~ ‘ ove oe ede . ' ate ' UU * = Re
A ' ‘ oh ob tits He Bo ey y
. ’ 0D 06! 04 ' Souts i
' 5 s ce . patra
5 BH on 0 ‘ ran RIG SO DPed
it D PH) ' BUMS fardin ' OC am ” 3 & Of ‘ ~ GD one
: Readin ad i Sark. V Railfroad Ban F 5 so Road Glend O,. Om. th
> 20
apehabitiy Ms 4 ‘ 1 mate ay A . "Ty ya mien + re ©) hs S J =f wy ‘ Q
ths ROie) at ’ paen : 40 see =}t ’ OH ‘ . a et FUDD DGFT) 00 zu ‘
geen ne meh ; Hon © he Read > Ae ech) bean ci Hammond nd
4 oo ad ' Road wo Ly SER hin yaa? q- ou Lone
, tt ’ Si net thepe af ye ’ G souIG wif oSn velsis Oa ’ + au da. sa)
5 7 w
not b managed on ite held: te sedan ' pi On mn
ne ‘ ' RG + onGe more Gea Nee ad b Ad ¢
so =
Hedan ‘ nd ’ ‘ D>. & t ’
number o cad. Mer o nd oth . ~
' beer captu , nd ae +
‘ rettin , bead ‘ b
N men have nos been: firhkting FB d ' ng 2 which Wilsaz h ' a
1 ‘ D ba peen- on ne on ‘ +
ey tere ohhe ages 1 é LSee u ’ ry ° Ad
D t 2p om Buafralo a 8
‘ am imeid of on 3 es Ot. mm: depend . nd ‘ Lozen BOD =
heey ‘C 7 a) ‘ i ad son 0 ' 8 ‘ Sad : + 1 me
- ¥ aye fe on . Ht eat Re rig
Ober &sfya we eoadeage LJ . ' ,
2 feds b. G@m! t ott on re ff
a u 4 1 ME eS! b uGir © i rom Ounce 4 t ' ‘ ’ Be +
wapidi¢tw in aiic in Yor! DB Con 3 oe ; pes Bd)
7 rned my . RPA ‘ Say vs
Soin Merc id etl tg ‘ " ber
thee Du sh ' vigitert. a th ‘ d
teat, i wit
’ ad : 1 ‘ pou o> naw ‘
« DGEZGG UNoLr 2 MOSS PICICGIOU
ore + eet H BG 1 4 ete eetiae Bz .
seeit: abe ’ 1 ’ i ’ monovde
' ‘ Lz) ' ' . t uJ oe
b atic t: ie a ee@ee h best! Den
f nou m D ! ‘ + BBG sen ‘
D nd be H fins ; be th connec
’ ‘ Bs. b soOO ad ns confident ¢ ou
D ' nd thus become th: apa ; D if
’ the cy CC) a =}? . 46 . ‘ .
Bead b Aon ‘ ’ on Par [O- 8 ’
t [pall a? i} ’ O@ 5 ' ’ oh . ae yy '
roulh ma 4 seuld. b ' ' pided
1 J 3
1 “4 mows ' Btn H ‘ . 0 z
pas D Ag ‘ ‘ 0 Di pou . DUIS ifs A Chae: D Giend 4 ‘
* t Oa ' ae “apt ’ U ug syepe ' uJ soe UD ' fy te sobe
Py : nd aS \ y
i siggy tpe 1 ‘ gate u G J x
a ‘“S@q-2 } tT 4 ’ ime €3 ' ’ a i
dt the me Du 20n de public. pe DG lice fn. th sin of 8 ou On: th
; ‘ 1 . ng . . ou. b Been 01 sO PS 35 e ‘ o
af pron . : an ro DOPY 4 D ‘ 5 Ou ng Sax . uG 00 .
whioh Ss Opped
ad On 0 bu men ‘
if t mck: Wo Satis tied 0) big . open ad pbbed
D
t ee n ae ¢ mon ch ‘me ’ ob
Cer 7s 1 Ot Sheet ad er ' ms
’ re capture ad on adi (]
} ‘ae 5 are! ‘ 5 IO Rao t wte : < : q i * « 1 a
° z .
ai office to we bh: 7 7 ‘ wh nd & ye Hedger ' nd ' ma San
. nolsc t+ 5 noth abe
vite oo . Py Lh ae t Ati}y ’ ‘ . 7
’ Le ng 6d in 1 ~iet : ‘ ‘
ii arto: & ’ pur! 1 : 3 ‘ “Vy Dew > Mag
€ , we OC id if ‘ moe ma 3} pieGad , aU «pe need
r
ge “ge ul LS a ek ° ' . '
’ iP a -™ com petif£a ‘ . ‘ 149 ’ De <
com off a b y eTm: oc 8
‘ (on t Oe > . 4Uope ; n h 3 mn on han o
Lo Siriimerto vite le ite 0 DBe ’ ' nt om yton iwZedag t ’ iY.
a ad Bb ACCE 1 zs '
’ tr ‘ + FrEsemen & Ome: the
sate had neo in ntion of m ' noth
ons ” tet ve ' » t iz] U 0 vets é Oa] (2.0
: a : ned
28 epee » @ rn ness: th NO « ' ad oO Gs =
wmmaass mM <- pS OUIS 0 AU obb ‘ p 1
a eh no te ed ‘ Ae ord +
aa. ai oom fo f ou K BOD a t Om mG gi OG ‘ 3 v A :
se
. % 3 Pf . ’ ’ af. e] On 5 Ph a) SOI mod . ' ‘ ate ' , G
> 7% Ww tey
RL ATRY te P54 fi ‘ SDOIG OO a.0 a.60 . ae
' » b Ha6 oe derable ad ats im pric
5 so fB 7 ' Incael
& 4 > pm, Gid aC mt! ne Hoc mace gracha a u 23. a ta aS s
’ , t popciu g hed he hy neE d o Db t mmti ' ‘ 2D
er’ Be; sg) Rieurned un e
bd ’ § ma$ée mi prog! 5 OPIN ‘
f ~@ meantim der b ‘
/ o am produc Dp th Pgs biek- wp: ’
1 Rape) a a ’ ihe tan e ‘
1
4 . * 18 cas : 5 : Bu . She nd
ie sd atet ga. , ‘ a to ‘ ‘
: : J ' 0 ofc 9
hie. brough olex o C8 i Of nd Go:
oO ' ? a 4 ‘ 4. ' ot +
9 m pen wyiye tin ’ '
nd b bh ‘ ers G ohan 2 Sev
5 : Tuc ,
cat y : ' & =P) on et ive UTE SS ) * ¥ :
s hi Pierce 0 ' pal ad
ry
* SRerea C Our. LBairuEe! g Be 330 a ¢ PO TE Ti 1) b Dterz yt Y) yy ¢
Mesetare « Hr bison ie nd Sar hougt im de! d ; ‘ ; ; 38
* wipe ' DE Gl Oi Ox ’ ?
Bee GP yo ep a: fro den . age e Sse
ye in wraly Se 4 ,
a4 t Bey } * fen ¢ 8 eres 4 a
‘ qs 4 Pee ye} ry ’ 4 Lawes &
m 7 t we
¥ ‘ cape ase 7
448 . *
eee
- ACME PEPER ARG EI ees
r {ng the Inet few tonthe, ft was thoacht
wol This waa’ pe veut
Yariec and the “information @ame
that (here were fwo sospicious charac:
‘tors seating breakfast in Frad Palmer's
Teeth urdet, wad ne it was yurtiisel by
the men there that the couple Were du
pleated ta the different robleriva ahich
have faco perpetrated in this elty dur:
best ty inform the polls Thia was oul
hews to the police, who have bese Jays
Ing for the men for wocks past, and
Deiortivo Harvey at once left the olice
on what was destined to be bis Inst
piece of work for the police depart fs
le Lest Asvignvencnt
Tt tock but a few momenta —
» Ustective to walk from the atatt
* the restaursot, where the two wen w
“ested at a table eatiuw as g>r) a bre
taly sete Wom me Peyrt wtih btedewtiny
Harvey feil Ne P
U been dune ©
disinclined fo tn
Mowperate ay
selves to ho.
howd now by at
Foseaneyor ay
the tray
Was oiticted, were dia ecrowid biviig
ation at a glineso Mhe giuslerer turned
fo the jott at the Athamtry ga dodging
through the dine of frobelit care at pat
Pent wae lost tm yiyw of thy enord.
Pat the colorel mag owas a goed ranger
aml wae close eneuw@a belied ty soe the
Hau weing through w@ yard to Leek street.
Fr here he taraed bits Pearl al rout
ate fiagly tMmund a haliig place oe
Welling hous, peeupied by Mes, Ida
» Harrington at 113. Lock
om
and Sutherland e
spot
Malove was on
the hiding ‘place
ofeera goon had ¢
“AN LD ask fs that a fair
show,” he iv eratited with saying when
‘amlued, pot 1
f, Barnes hut
rigs
tempted, 3
faeard thy shoy atad talon in, they atta f
# quertioi he |
2 oe ;
ager Gronier a truc
Ye been
amionp West Geneseo ‘st
other ray up James street
W. * Abel, Whee keep Wy al
store im the Bastable Block,
| men rin by the block aod
rewt, ‘Two. lady «3
fen store also saw
bel gays (hat the ma
girls thik jt w
he was,
re Bo tinfegt
Was taken by
ply:
death wou’
efeft had the rovolyor in’ wh
Varnes when anfert ;
four. sucle 13
thome fellows.” oe ie
But white tigi armed aud: tis
perate straite’ atfeccch is no match for
denth-dvallug. am tha?
Mr. Palmer #
chatter <iteberte Get
ing decided to hs inquent in the
eg eres
VITHERELL, Ste Russ
RELL, Stephen Russell, white, elec. NY@ (St. Lawrence) August 17, 19
sa _ mo 9 } whe
noudh'® | seve
Y shove went
OU: SUDDENLY CAME
N A MURDERED MAN,
¥ LONG WOULD IT
YOU TO MOVE?
‘ING DETECTIVE, November, 1942.
ATA T
AMA r
AMAZ uf)
the station I washed some blood from
my right hand in the lavatory. I then
took a taxi to my boarding place.
“I noticed then that the cuffs of my
shirt were covered with blood and I
washed them as best I could, and also
wiped some blood from my revolver
and cleaned the barrel. I re-loaded
the gun, put it in my overcoat pocket
and left the house.
“Sunday afternoon I telephoned
Mrs. Simpson from Hall & Lyons’ dru
store that I had just heard that Fred
Bishop had been found dead in his
home. I then went to my boarding
place and told her all about what I
said I had heard.
“The badge that police found in the
bedroom of Bishop’s flat is mine. I
used it when in my duties as inspec-
tor I posed as a police officer to cre-
ate-an impression of authority. I
bought it from a mail order house.
It was torn off in the scuffle. The
holster must have dropped from
my pocket when I pulled the gun.”
Pouce took no stock in Cham-
plin’s version of the killing. Dr.
Longfellow examined him and found
no bruise of any kind upon him, in
spite of the alleged struggle with the
powerful and athletic Bishop. The
medical examiner adhered to his first
theory that Bishop was asleep when
assaulted.
Chief O’Neil subjected Champlin to
further questioning: “You say in: this
statement here that Bishop told you
he would leave the door unlocked
and that you found it unlocked, but
Mrs. Bishop has said that she had
given you a key to the back door and
you admit that all her statements are
true. We found that key in the door.
Here it is. Is that your key?”
“No, it isn’t. Mrs. Bishop did give
me a key once, but I lost it.”
O’Neil then reached for the pear]
handled revolver. “Is this the gun
with which you shot him?”
“No. I threw the gun I used into
the Providence River.”
O’Neil accepted this statement as
-
VETECT
he was watching her sharply. Re-
verting her gaze to the house down
the road, she said nervously, “’Course
we know there ain’t nobody there or
we'd have seen a light.”
Fifteen minutes later, the farm
woman lay beneath warm bedclothes
and stared at the ceiling of the dark-
ened sleeping chamber. Suddenly,
she heard the purr of an approaching
auto motor. When the glare of head-
lights swept across the bedroom win-
dow, she sat up abruptly.
“Who's that coming along at this
hour?” she exclaimed. ‘T think
they’ve turned in at the Witherells.”
Her husband got up and went to the
window. “Can't see for sure,” he said
after a moment, “but it looks like
Charley Witherell’s Ford.”
“You going over with that telegraph
message now, Sam?” his wife asked.
“At this hour? Danged if I am!
ped)
He can wait till mornin’. “
52
AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES
true, as the pearl handled revolver, it
was apparent, had not been fired for
several years.
(Police spent several days in drag-
ging the Providence River, but the
missing weapon was never found.)
“Where did you get the blackjack?”
inquired the chief.
“I bought it eighteen months ago
from a pawnbroker.
“Champlin, your story won’t stand
up. Why not come clean? Isn’t it a
fact that Mrs. Bishop knew you
planned to murder her husband and
that she went away to afford you the
opportunity?”
“No, sir. She had no idea that l,-
was going to call on Bishop or that I
intended to injure him in any way.”
“Now, listen, Champlin, you went
there prepared to kill, armed with a
blackjack and a gun. You unlocked
the door, crept up the stairs and
bludgeoned Bishop while he was
sleeping peacefully in his bed.”
“I went there prepared to defend
myself from any attack from a man
physically my superior, that’s all.”
“Well, no one will believe it, but
if you want to leave it that way, all
right.”
On the following day Champlin was
arraigned on a first degree murder
charge in the Sixth District Court,
which was crowded to capacity. He
was represented by Attorney Alonzo
R. Williams and entered a plea of not
guilty. “I find you probably guilty
and hold you without bail to await the
action of the grand jury,” announced
Judge Howard B. Gorham after a
brief hearing.
Champlin was promptly indicted,
and then, apparently, he began to
think that the story he had concocted
would not be convincing to a jury. On
December 28, 1915, Champlin ap-
peared before Justice J. Walter Rath-
von in Superior Court and pleaded
guilty to second degree murder. He
was sentenced to the Rhode Island
State Prison at Howard for 27 years at
hard labor. There has been no capital
punishment in Rhode Island for
nearly a century. No charge was pre-
ferred against Mrs. Bishop.
N April 19, 1930, there were two
long-term prisoners among the
inmates at Howard, “Whitey” Miller,
serving 35 years-‘for bank robbery,
and Thomas V. McNeal, undergoing a
like sentence for. highway robbery.
In an attempted jail delivery, Miller
and McNeal disarmed two guards,
and Harry McVay, another guard,
was shot near the heart and brutally
' clubbed by two gunmen who were
staging an effort to free the two long-
termers. =
Warden Charles E. Linscott hear-
ing the commotion. came on the run.
He was unarmed but jumped into the
fight. His entrance was met by one of
the gunmen who pressed a revolver
against his breast and pulled the
trigger on an empty cartridge. Three
more clicks sounded. The gun was
empty. It was a miraculous escape.
A trusty came running. Like the
warden, he, too, was unarmed. It was
Everett Champlin. He had served
nearly 15 years of his sentence and
had won considerable time off for
good behavior. Champlin arrived on
the scene while the battle was at its
height. It was his opportunity and
he seized it. He dashed for the siren
and sounded it. At that instant death
spat from two revolvers in the hands
of one of the jail breakers. Champlin
spun around crazily and dropped to
the floor—dead.
The attempted jail delivery was a
failure. None of the prisoners es-
caped. McNeal and Miller held off
Prison Guards, State Troopers and
Providence and Cranston police for
half an hour but with the sounding
of the siren, McNeal realized that
escape was impossible and blew out
his brains.
Philip Bognio, Melvin Carters, Mrs.
Simpson are fictitious names, used to
protect the identity of innocent per-
sons, ‘
13 MINUTES TO DOOM
(Continued from. page 21)
For the next twenty minutes, the
woman’s ears strained against the
night’s heavy silence, broken only .by
the heavy, regular breathing of her
husband.
Then, abruptly, she heard running
footsteps. They pounded onto the
porch and a heavy, frantic fist banged
on the front door.
“Open up! For God’s sake, open
up!” a hoarse. voice shouted from
below.
“Wake up, Sam! Wake up!” The
woman shook her husband.
Seconds later, she trailed his night-
shirted form to the top of the stair-
way as he descended to the front door
and flung it open.
“What’s happened? What’s wrong,
Steve?”
Their husky, ashen-faced neighbor
lunged into the room breathlessly.
“My father!” he gasped. ‘My father!”
“What about him?” the startled
Dreher asked his young neighbor.
Stephen Witherell gulped, emotion
choking him. “Get a doctor, Sam!
He’s—I think he’s dead!”
Mrs. Dreher ran back to the bed-
room and donned a wrap. Then she
hurried back to the living room. Her
husband was talking into the _tele-
phone. The shaken Witherell sat
hunched dazedly in a chair.
“Dr. Smith said he’d be right over,
Steve,” Dreher said.
“What happened to your father?”
the woman asked gently.
The neighbor’s grief-stricken eyes
lifted momentarily, and he -replied,
“The top of his head’s nearly blown
off. Someone shot him, I think.”
“Murdered?” Mrs. Dreher gasped.
Then glancing swiftly at her husband,
she moved purposefully to the phone.
“The state police should. know about
this,” she said tonelessly.
“T don’t get it, Steve,” Dreher said.
“Didn't Char
“No,” Wit
parent effort
ahead to Nev
as I'd been p
Tuesday—De:
“Good Loi
“Did you bri
trouble?”
Witherell s)
she’s spared
New York fo
HEN Ser
’ and Troc
rived from thi
at Canton, a
black patrol
murder farm 1
it was filled w
ous neighbors.
ceived Mrs. |
_a half hour be
of June 6, 193
Shouldering
crowd, they s
and entered th
Sergeant W:
and coughed.
“the smell in h
man down!”
His partner
and covered h
_ They found
liam Ingram ;
the bedroom, t
remains of the
Aged, thin-]i
lay face up o
bed. What or
was now an
flesh. His heav
were folded
chest.
“Never knew
Walter aloud.
t the sounc
and Dr. Smith
clan nodded,
up close,” he sa
asleep when it
“What was tl]
sergeant asked.
Dr. Smith t¢
leaden pellet.
nounced, “It
eyes and course
of his skull.
of his head. I du
Walter grun
opined. “He pc
to within a few
head and let hi
long’s he been cd
ee Can't be posi
Mee it suet bi
ast, judging f
the bod ” af
That's a swe
killer,” Walter
jerked his head
and both left tt
around the place
Fifteen minute
had been compl:
“Looks like thi
enough,” Walter
and his partner
torney Ingram in
The prosecutor
ho discover
geant Walter ing
“The old man’s
erell,” Ingram an
ing outside.”
When the inve
the bereaved yo
ee, — oo
o charge was pre-
3ishop.
), there were two
oners among the
“Whitey” Miller,
or bank robbery,
Jeal, undergoing a ~
highway robbery.
il delivery, Miller
med two guards,
another guard,
ieart and brutally
unmen who were
free the two long-
=e
E. Linscott hear-
came on the run.
ut jumped into the
was met by one of
yressed a revolver
and pulled the
y cartridge. Three
ed. The gun was
iraculous escape.
cunning. Like the
is unarmed. It was
He had_ served
’ his sentence and
able time off for
amplin arrived on
e battle was at its
s opportunity and
ashed for the siren
that instant death
ylvers in the hands
wreakers. Champlin
ly and dropped to
ail delivery was a
the prisoners eS-
nd Miller held off
tate Troopers and
‘ranston police for
with the sounding
Neal realized that
sible and blew out
Jelvin Carters, Mrs.
lous names, used to
ty of innocent per-
iis young neighbor.
‘rell gulped, emotion
‘Get a doctor, Sam!
‘s dead!”
an back to the bed-
dawrap. Then she
the living room. Her
liking into the tele-
iaken Witherell sat
in a chair.
id-he’d be right over,
said.
ied to your father?”
ed gently.
's grief-stricken eyes
rily, and he replied,
head’s nearly blown
,0t him, I think.”
Mrs. Dreher gasped.
wiftly at her husband,
sosefully to the, phone.
se should know about
tonelessly.
t, Steve,” Dreher said.
’
_)
a
FROM AUTHENTIC POLICE RECORDS
‘Didn't Charley ,go away with you?”
“No,” Witherell replied with ap-
parent effort. “He told me to go
ahead to New York and get married
as I’d been planning to do. I left last
Tuesday—Decoration Day.” -
“Good Lord!” Dreher exclaimed.
“Did you bring a wife home to this
trouble?”
Witherell shook his head. “I’m glad
she’s spared that. She’s staying in
New York for a while.”
wien Sergeant Richard E. Walter
and Trooper James Maloney ar-
rived from the state police sub-station
at Canton, and parked their sleek
black patrol car in the yard of the
murder farm near Fort Jackson, N. Y.,’
it was filled with a collection of curi-
ous neighbors. The troopers had re-
ceived Mrs. Dreher’s telephone call
_a half hour before on that warm night
of June 6, 1932.
Shouldering their way through the
crowd, they stamped onto the porch
and entered the farmhouse.
Sergeant Walter pinched his nose
and coughed. “Gosh!” -he gasped,
“the smell in here’s enough to knock_a
man down!”
His partner nodded with a grimace
and covered his nose.
They found District Attorney Wil-
liam Ingram and Dr. J. J. Smith in
the bedroom, bending over the pitiful
remains of the murdered man.
Aged, thin-limbed Charles Witherell
lay face up on the blood-drenched
bed. What once had been his face
was now an ugly mass of pulpish
flesh. His heavy, work-gnarled hands
were folded peacefully across’ his
chest.
“Never knew what hit him,” mused
Walter aloud.
At the sound of his voice Ingram
and Dr. Smith looked up. The physi-
cian nodded. “Yep, he got it from
up close,” he said. “Looks like he was
asleep when it happened.”
“What was the weapon, Doc?” the
sergeant asked. “A rifle?” .
r. Smith tossed the trooper a
leaden pellet. ‘Seems so,” he an-
nounced, “It hit him’ between the
eyes and coursed upward to the back
of his skull. Emerged near the top
of his head. I dug it out of the pillow.”
Walter grunted acknowledgment
and handed the bullet to Trooper
Maloney. He moved to the foot of
the bed, eyeing the floorboards care-
fully. “The killer stood here,” he
opined. “He pointed the rifle barrel
to within a few feet of the old man’s
head and let him have it.... How
long’s he been dead, Doc?”
“Can’t be positive,” Smith declared.
“But it must be five or six days at
least, judging from the condition of
the body.
“That’s a swell head-start for the
killer,” Walter growled. Then” he
jerked his head at Trooper Maloney
and both left the room. “Iset’s look
around the place,” he stated grimly.
Fifteen minutes later, this operation
had been completed.
“Looks like this is a tough one, sure
enough,” Walter declared when. he
and his partner rejoined District At-
torney Ingram in the living room.
The prosecutor nodded soberly.
“Who discovered this mess?” Ser-
geant Walter inquired.
“The old man’s son, Stephen With-
erell,” Ingram answered. “He’s wait-
ing outside.”
When the investigators confronted
the bereaved young farmer, Walter
asked, “You lived with your father?”
Witherell nodded.
“How come you didn’t learn of his
death until tonight?”
“I’ve been down in New York for
the past week. Got married down
there. I was supposed to wait until
the thirteenth of the month so Dad
‘could come along with me. But the
day before Decoration Day, he told
me to go ahead alone and get it over
with, if waiting was so painful. I left
the next morning. God knows, now I
wish I had waited.” ‘
“Why didn’t he go along?”
“Well, he said he had some business
to attend’ to. He said he’d only be in
my way, anyway.”
‘Did he mention what this business
was, or who it was with?”
Witherell shook his head. “I never
questioned the old man when he
didn’t volunteer information about
personal affairs.”
“Your wife is still in New York?”
“Yes. She was supposed to come
up here next week when she got her
affairs straightened out.”
“When did you arrive in New
York?”
“The morning of June 1. Dad lent
me his car. I drove right yooh. a
“J. guess your wife can _ establish
that, should it be necessary,” the ser-
geant said. “Just for the book, what’s
her present address?”
Witherell readily complied, and
‘said, “I was in Albany yesterday and
sent. Dad a telegram = Id be
home tonight. Sam Dreher got the
message by telephone from the Hop-
kinton office.”
“T suppose you couldn’t guess who’s”
responsible for your father’s death or
you’d have told us of your suspicions
by this time.”
Witherell fingered his chin momen-
tarily. ‘Dad didn’t have any real
enemies that I know of,” he said. “But
most people didn’t seem to know how
to rub him the right way. He got
into plenty of arguments in his time
and got the reputation of being a
sourbelly.”
‘Do you recall anyone he argued
with lately?”
Witherell smiled wanly. “Nearly s
everybody in these parts.. Espe-
cially——”
“Go on,” Walter urged.
The young farmer frowned. ‘Well,
I don’t like to take chances on getting
an innocent man mixed up in this,
but he and Sam Dreher had it hot and
"Now you stay there while | call the
police!"
heavy a couple of times in the last
few weeks.”
“What about?”
“Search me. It couldn’t have been
very serious, though, or I’m sure he
would have told me about it.”
The roar of a racing motor momen-
tarily ended further conversation.
Bright headlights knifed the darkness
and made a curious tableau of the
farmyard’s scene. A black squad car,
bearing familiar state police markings,
was braked just off the road.
Seconds- later, Lieutenant Charles
McCann and Sergeant Mitchell Lefeve
from Troop B headquarters at Malone
joined their fellow officers of the
crack Black Horse Troop, as it is
known throughout the wild environs
of the north country.
After the lieutenant was acquainted
with fhe preliminary details of the
case, he headed the group of troopers
and civilian officials that entered the
oar where old Charles Witherell lay
ead.
After quick scrutiny of his sur-
roundings, McCann asked Sergeant
Walter, “Pick up anything that looks
like a lead?’
“I’m not sure that it means anything,
but I found out that the folks down
the road—Sam Dreher and his wife—
got a phone call from Hopkinton yes-
terday saying there was a telegram
from Steve Witherell: for the old
man.”
The officer sporting the two silver
bars on his shoulders looked at him
quizzically.
“Just get a whiff of this place, Lieu-
tenant,” Walter explained. “The odor
of death is strong enough to knock
you over. Doesn’t it seem odd that
Dreher didn’t notice it when he came
over here with the message, looking
for old man Witherell?” :
McCann’s eyes narrowed. ‘Maybe
he didn’t come near this place at all,”
he said slowly.
The sergeant nodded. “That’s exact-
ly the point. If not, what was his
reason for avoiding it? And he didn’t
get along well with Witherell. Do
you think ‘that that fact adds up to
something?”
His superior shrugged. “That re-
mains to be seen. Find out anything
else?” .
Walter nodded. ‘“We found an
empty .30-caliber rifle shell on a win-
dowsill in the kitchen. And in an
upstairs bedroom—the son’s room—
we located two rifles. A .32-caliber
Winchester and a .30 Savage.”
‘Fired lately?” McCann
eagerly.
“No such luck,” growled the big
sergeant. “Both as clean as a new
pin. Well oiled, too. The condition
of the oil indicates that: they haven't
been used in some time.”
“You seem pretty sure a rifle killed
him. How come?”
Trooper Maloney handed McCann
the lethal slug found embedded in the
oi underneath the slain man’s
ead, Examining it closely, the latter
said, “Caliber .30. That cinches it.
It was a rifle, all right.”
“And it fits this empty shell we
found in the kitchen like a hand in a
glove,” offered Sergeant Walter.
asked
FTER seeing to the removal of the
deceased for Dr. Smith’s autopsy,
McCann and Walter left further exam-
ination of the murder farmhouse to
Sergeant Lefeve and Trooper Maloney
and went down the dark road toward
the Dreher home.
53
cost
etter
left
had
post-
said
seen
went
tr”
n ofr
There
2s by
> was
1”
ation.
- was
Aarch
n the
=
June, 1937
Early in his imprisonment, he was
handed a letter. When he saw it he burst
into tears.
“I'll open it for you, kid,” said one of
his cellmates.
When Wolter read it, he fainted. The
others tried to read it; but they couldn't;
it was in German. This is the transla-
tion:
Dear Al: You have been good to
me. I beg you to tell the truth. They
found a sack on your fire escape and
from what they tell me, | think that
you are guilty. I beg you to tell all.
| will forgive you. You have always
been so good-hearted to me I can
hardly believe it. Take my advice
and tell everything. You- know what
| know. I appreciate your kindness,
but I believe you guilty, and beg vou
to confess. And no matter what hap-
pens, I will always love you.
Katchen
\Volter’s father retained Wallace D.
Scott as counsel for his son. The boy him-
self remained self-contained and dapper.
He wore a white carnation in his button-
Ruth Wheeler’s slayer (in light suit)
stands to receive his well-deserved
sentence
hole; neatly pressed suit, immaculate
linen. He was vain, too, keeping all news-
paper clippings about himself and talking
eagerly to reporters.
He was tried in the Court of General
Sessions before the Honorable Warren W.
Foster. His trial commenced on April
ISth, and lasted five days.
Assistant District Attorney Frank Moss
told the court that he had to prove his
case by circumstantial evidence: “Some
of it will be repellent, even gruesome.”
Hlis witnesses were convincing. But he'd
held a startling bit of evidence in reserve.
Hie brought this out one afternoon when
the courtroom was drowsy with the long,
tedious but necessary testimony of an
expert.
“You have produced.” Moss said to Doc-
tor George S. Huntington, “what you say
is the remnant of a hand.”
“Yes, sir,” Doctor Huntington said. “It
as separate in form. There were some
hairs attached to it.”
“Were there any marks of fire on the
hairs?”
“The marks of fire were visible.” Doc-
tor Huntington said, ‘on the protruding
ortions of the hair. This is a left hand,”
e continued under question. “The tuft
f about a dozen hairs was here where
ou see this line in my hand.” He clenched
is fist.
“Did you compare this hair with that
n the skull or headr”
“| made such a comparison.”
“Was it different as to colorr”
Master Detective
Something about
the way it’s aged, something about the
way it’s flavored that makes it taste and
smoke entirely different. Finest Kentucky
Burley leaf tobacco, ripened in Nature’s
sunshine and cured in
Nature’s own way.
| It?s mild and mel-
low and sweet as a
hickory nut in your
pipe or cigarette. Just
try it.
FIVE REASONS WHY
YOU’LL LIKE VELVET
1. Fine old Kentucky Burley
aged-in-wood.
2. Flavored with pure maple
sugar for extra good taste.
3. An altogether different
fragrance.
4, Cut to pack easy in a pipe
—cut to roll smooth in a
cigarette.
5. Every tin contains 2 full
Copyright 1937
LicceTt & MYERS é
Tosacco Co.
ounces.
or cigarette
wm
qt
ee
o>
36
Ruth Wheeler (I.) sought a career and independence
but met man obsessed with stronger ambition: murder
BY DICK HALVORSEN
Lr. WAS the biggest day in Ruth Wheeler’s life, a kind
of coming of age for the pretty 17-year-old who had
just finished business school and was now getting ready
to go out on her first job interview. She was up at dawn,
restless in her excitement. The job meant being indepen-
dent of the mother-hen concern of her widowed mother,
who guarded her three daughters jealously. It made Ruth
feel grown-up to know that soon she would be helping
to support them. i
Her hair hung in two long braids that reached to her '
thighs and with swift, dextrous movements she whirled
them to the top of her head and pinned them there and
- went in to run her bath. The sound of the running water
woke the others and soon her mother and sisters were
excitedly chattering and moving around, helping get
everything ready for Ruth’s big day.
“She’s going out into the cruel, cruel world,” sang her
younger sister as she pulled out a chair for Ruth at the
breakfast table.
But Ruth scarcely touched her food. This was a special
day that thrilled her so there wasn’t room for food be-
cause of the butterflies in her stomach. Soon she was
dressed and ready, trim and tidy and bright-eyed with
anticipation. There was a flurry of hugs and kisses, and
Ruth went off down the street to get the streetcar down-
town, her umbrella swinging lightly from her arm.
At the Merchants and Bankers School from which she
had just graduated, she was told that her interview was
uptown on the East side.
“Mr. A. W. Wolter,” the girl at the desk said. “His
address is two-twenty-four East Seventy-fifth Street and
he runs a real-estate office.” She glanced at the clock on
the wall. “The appointment’s for ten—you’re going to
be late.”
Ruth hurried uptown and when she reached the address,
Wadler
more than fifteen minutes late, she found that it was a
residential apartment which, to any other eyes but the
excited girl’s, was shabby and run down. She went into
the vestibule and found the name she was looking fof
over a mailbox and pressed the bell. There was no
answering click but a moment later a tall, hollow-cheeked
young man with dark hair and morning stubble on his chin
opened the door. He was clad in a bathrobe, his bare
feet stuck into carpet slippers.
“Well! Good morning!” he said with a look of surprise.
She turned away aloofly as he rummaged in the mailbox
marked “John T. Kranz,” scarcely taking his eyes off her.
* Impatiently she rang the Wolter bell again. A woman,
passing by with her arms loaded with packages, looked in
and “humphed” as she saw the girl and the barelegged
young man.
Kranz grinned at Ruth and said, “Now I wouldn’t keep
you waiting,” and went in, the door closing behind him.
‘An instant later came the answer to Ruth’s ring, an angry
burst of clicks followed by a second. She pushed the door
open and disappeared inside. ye
At about the same time that Ruth Wheeler had been
awakening her household on West 134th Street, Albert
’ Wolter was being kissed awake by a young German im-
migrant named Maria Schlech, who had for the past
month, been sharing his apartment. a
Wolter pulled away, burying his face in the pillow a
moment, and after the girl had gotten up he turned a
bored face toward her as she got out of her nightgown.
They were alike enough to be brother and sister, with
square faces and pale blue eyes and blonde-brown hair.
Her face was pink, however, and Wolter’s sallow, and
his squat, flat-muscled body was overmatched by her tall
amply fleshed stature. Like a Rubens figure, she was
big busted and big hipped, and the same touch of pinkness
f~
> ee amis seen
ees Ce aki a
LY
of her fac
was almost
Wolter
too impress
to his den.
security in
guidance u
“Aren’t \
She nodc
hairpins.
Suddenl;
ment this n
watch on t}
¥)
2222 cope soe ones
a4
Master Detective
The “Reclaimed” Fugitive
worked on my nerves. [Il pay the price,
but | hope my wife doesnt have to
suffer too much. It’s all my fault. |
should have told her. | hope she doesn't
hate me, and I'll come back to her as
soon as | can.” He paused a moment,
then continued, “I gave her a wrong
name when | first met her but then, when
she agreed to marry me, 1 told her my
true name. She trusted me so she never
asked any questions.”
The reporters were sympathetic. Their
papers carried the story and the whole
community was on the side of the newly
married couple. Allen had started a small
business of his own and had many custo-
mers. He sometimes earned as high as
$35 a week. He even worked nights, and
was well liked by his friends and custo-
mers. Policemen often sto ped to chat
with him when he was how aan on their
beats. He was known everywhere as a
sober, industrious young man, and the
news of his arrest with its subsequent dis-
closures, was a shock to everyone.
AS Allen waited in his cell for the Ohio
authorities to send for him, knowing
that he would have to spend twenty days
in the prison punishment cell when he re-
turned, his twenty-two-year-old wife told
of her devotion to him.
“No girl can imagine what it means
to suddenly be awakened at two o'clock
in the morning and see a squad of police-
men in your house telling you that your
husband is a convict. | didn’t believe it.
No one could make me believe it except
my husband. Yesterday he told me it was
true. | must believe it now. But it won't
make any difference. I love him and |
always shall, I'll wait for him.”
Calm and composed at last, the young
wife was proud and firm in her determi-
nation to stick by her husband. | She
dared not think of their child who would
be born while the father was in prison.
He’d be back again and they’d be happy
once more.
She had met Floyd Allen that summer
at a dance. They had taken to each other
at once and other dates had followed.
Soon they were talking of love. They
decided to marry as soon as Floyd was
making more money. Then he had started
his business and had had a hard time of
(Continued from page 48)
it at first because of the competition by
older residents. Allen was a stranger in
town, but he had succeeded in making
friends and getting customers.
They were married on Thanksgiving
Day and went to live with her relatives.
They had been so:-happy, planning their
own home ag soon as they could a ord it.
Then, after eight. months of liberty, and
within three months -after his wedding, he
had been/arrested... = 7
A week. later, another story, broke in
the papers which brought unbounded joy
to the,young bride:and* bridegroom. Floyd
Allen’s exeniplary ,conduct after his escape
froméprison; his desigé’ to go straight; the
testimony,j,and recommendations of his
many; ftiends;,.and the staunch love and
SUP DOT Ae Morites. - wife, had their
effect on the authorities. A judge, a dis-
trict attorney, clergymen, usinessmen,
pales: and even jailers who had read of
is interrupted married life, had felt sorry
for their plight. The State of Obio, too,
had not failed to understand a man’s de-
sire to begin a new life.
Investigation had shown that Allen was
one example of how a youthful crime, with
its resulting imprisonment, had taught him
that the worth while things in life are
those that are gained honestly. No one
yet has ever got enough out of crime to
make up for the miserable years spent in
prison; the terrible agony of a guilty con-
science; the constant fear of the law.
Ohio dismissed its fugitive warrant.
Floyd Allen was free. He had _ suffered
enough. He must have known, deep in
his heart, that his seeming happiness
could not last. Some day, the arms of the
law would reach out and snatch every-
thing away. Regardless of what it cost in
giving up his home, his wife and all that
was dear to him, it must have been a
ronderful relief to have his secret ex-
posed and the slate cleared forever.
The decision had been made for him.
No longer need he wonder whether to
burden his wife with the truth about his
past. He need no longer fear losing her;
need never fear to face a policeman again.
No longer will he send unsigned letters
and cards to his mother and sister. He
can go openly now and visit them.
“You have your chance—now g0
straight.”
With those words ringing in his ears
Floyd Allen went home a free man. Grea
was the rejoicing at their home. Dozen
of telegrams, congratulating him on hi
release and promising new customers fo
his business, poured in.
“Why darling, you'll have to hire an
assistant to take care of all this business!
his wife exclaimed. “I never knew peopl:
could be so fine. All the past is wiped ovt
now. All we have to think about is the
future.”
Floyd was just as happy, but still some-
what dazed. He repeated:
“The judge told me they have given
me my chance. He said | had been given
a chance because | had _ been going
straight. Well, I’m going to continue ‘0
go straight. Anyone who didn’t, after the
way the people here have acted—and the
Ohio authorities—well, they've been like
folks you sometimes read about in books.
but never seem to meet.”
The $100 reward offered by Mast&R
Detective for the capture of Floyd Allin.
was given to the bus driver who reco g-
nized Allen’s picture in The Line-Up, even
though the Ohio fu itive warrant had
been dismissed and Allen was a free min.
The Line-Up played an important purt
in the lives of these two couples. If Wat-
son had not identified. the picture of
Allen and caused his arrest. the fugit:ve
would have had to continue. to steal his
happiness at the expense of his conscier ce.
Always before him would have been the
threat of exposure. The more firmly en-
trenched he became in his business anc in
his wife’s heart, the harder it would have
been to bear the punishment. The Line-
Up brought, his crime to light, and while
the bus driver has $100 to use for his
hospital bills, Floyd Allen has had a new
life given to him.
May he live and prosper to a ripe old
age!
NOTE:—!In the foregoing story we are
refraining from publishing any photo-
graphs in connection with this fact case,
and have changed the actual names 0! the
persons involved so that there may be no
possibility of placing difficulties im the
way of this young man in his efforis to
rehabilitate himself and make a success
in life—Ed.
Clue of the Cindered Hand
Ruthie,” she said over and over.
Meanwhile Pearl was approaching home.
A reporter came into the lower hall just
as she arrived. ‘
“Have you heard anything?” she asked.
He looked at her, and she knew: “Tell me
the worst,” she begged. “Where was she
found: was she disfigured?”
He spoke a few words and had to catch
her: she was fainting. -
Robert McLeod, an old family friend,
had already seen the body. But it was
necessary for a_member of the family to
make an_ identification. And before six
o'clock that night, Pearl and Adelaide
were at the East 67th Street Police Sta-
tion.
They had placed the body on a raised
platform.
Adelaide knelt there beside, it. Im-
bedded in the throat were the turquoise
beads, once Pearl's, but given to Ruth be-
cause she liked them so much; about the
neck were shreds of the white madras
(Continued from page 17)
blouse the mother had made. The per-
fect set of upper teeth were intact.
“It’s my little sister,” she sobbed.
Nobody at the 67th Street Police Station
that afternoon ever forgot Adelaide
Wheeler’s tragic young face, as she tried
to carry on with dignity these last acts
for her little sister. She made a second
identification soon after for the coroner.
She got through it somehow. Detective
Hauser says the ordeal would have taxed
any man. Then she looked piteously up
at them and fainted.
At the apartment on, 105th Street, the
detectives who were waiting, were at last
rewarded with a sight of Katchen Mueller.
, She had returned as she had nowhere else
to go. She was a pleasant-faced young
girl with blonde hair, but she looked sad
and tired.
“1 came home Thursday night at seven-
thirty,” she said in answer to the officers’
questions. “Al was painting the fireplace.
| asked him why he did that when we
have so little money. He said‘ ‘It cost
only ten cents, and look how much hetter
it. 1s.”
“Had the stove been up when yo': left
on Thursday?”
“Yes. and he had taken that down ”
“Is that allr”
She hesitated. “After Miss Wheelcr had
gone, | quarreled with Al for writing post-
cards to get girls to come there. He said
he had written some. but he had not seen
Ruth Wheeler.”
“Then, after the police and peopl: went
away, did you sleep soundly all nigit?”
“Twas awake again about eleven or
twelve o'clock; | was very tired. There
was a noise and Al was on his knees by
the fireplace. I asked him what he was
doing and he said it had fallen down.”
She was held in the House of Detention.
On Monday, March 28th, Wolter was
removed to the Tombs, and on March
30th he was indicted for murder in the
first degree.
fn
E
hanc
into
|
his
MW
othe
it
tion
S
I
]
nee oersrone
eS ey aoe
ar: cities
aa 8
56
“It was different.”
The little clenched hand, preserved in
a glass case, had been found in the hollow
of the right arm, miraculously protected
from complete destruction.
There was an ominous stillness in the
courtroom while the jury examined the
hair. Involuntarily each of the twelve
men had to look at Wolter. His head
moved from side to side: he was agitated,
It was as if the little girl, herself, had ap-
peared before them all with proof that
she'd been fighting for her honor. This
hair was Wolter’s.
Katchen Mueller was called to the wit-
ness stand. When her eyes met Wolter’s,
she was so frightened she could hardly
speak.
“Have no fear,” Judge Foster said kind-
ly. “No one can hurt you.” At times he’d
prompt her gently to speak a little louder.
On this occasion she said the stove had
been moved on Wednesday. She identi-
fied the shirt marked with the “W” as
belonging to Wolter. It had been clean
when she left the apartment on Thursday,
Amelia Lewis, owner of the house at
speed out of town.
Hamilton grinned as the car drew fur-
ther and further away from the scene;
he was driving toward Katie and he had
money in his pocket. The usual police
activity followed and posses were or-
ganized at once to follow the bandits, but
Hamilton and his brother had vanished.
However, Federal agents and police offi-
cers had a hunch that Raymond had a
hideout in Dallas, and Federal Agent
Frank Blake organized a squad of his men
and with a number of Dallas police officers
set out for a house on Harrison Street
which had been under suspicion. Early
on the evening of this day of the Carthage
bank robbery. they gathered quietly about
the place.
T" was a frame duplex house and the
twenty-seven officers surrounded it. The
information concerning Hamilton’s pres-
ence in the hideout had come from a re-
liable source. There was a good chance
that the outlaw was at this moment hid-
ing within, and that a gun battle was im-
minent. The house was dark; the shades
were drawn. Agent Blake stepped to the
front door and rang the bell, drawing his
gun as he did so. :
He stood there grimly expectant, his
men behind him. The door swung open.
A pretty girl stood there, framed in the
opening. Blake recognized her as Mil-
dred Hamilton, wife of Floyd.
“Yes?” asked_ Mildred quietly.
“We want Raymond Hamilton,” an-
nounced the Agent.
“He's not here,” said the girl.
“We'll just come in and have a look
around if you don’t mind,” said Blake.
He stepped inside, closely followed by
several of his men. Quickly and _ effi-
ciently they searched the house. Ray-
mond wasn’t there, but in a bedroom
they found one of the most attractive
girls the officers had seen. She looked up,
astonished. Blake stared at her Gernly
and demanded:
“Who ate you?”
“Why, I'm Katie Jenkins. I’m visiting
Mildred Hamilton. Her husband’s away
on a trip somewhere.”
“Oh, yes?” said the officer. “I don’t
suppose you know Raymond Hamilton,
by any chance?”
“Oh, no, I’ve never seen him.”
Master Detective
122 East 105th Street, had handed the de-
tectives the three umbrellas Katchen
Mueller had carried the Friday night she
and Wolter had fled from 75th Street.
Among them was the one Ruth Wheeler’s
mother had called her back to get that
rainy Thursday morning.
Katchen Mueller said she had seen this
umbrella in the closet on Thursday night.
Going back to her seat, she lingered
wistfully as she passed Wolter, hoping for
a smile or a look of recognition. But he
only scowled and turned his head away.
On April 22nd, the jury wept out at
seven oclock. Taking an hour and a
quarter for dinner, they returned at ten
o'clock,
When they went to summon Wolter to
hear the verdict, they found he had rolled
his coat into a pillow and was lying in
his cell, sound asleep. He awoke with a
grin.
He heard the “Guilty” verdict unmoved,
and swaggered out of the courtroom.
He was sent to Sing Sing Prison; his
execution set for the week of June 6th.
On April 27th there was a move for an
Outlaw Terror
(Continued from page 43)
The shrewd Federal Agent saw at a
glance that the two girls were in all prob-
ability awaiting the return of Floyd and
Raymond. He had them taken down to
Police Headquarters for questioning, then
gave orders to clear the neighborhood. He
didn’t want to run the risk of people in
near-by houses getting hurt in case of a
gun battle. Next, he stationed his men
at strategic points, out of sight. Some
Nel were inside the house, others out-
side.
Then Blake and his men settled down
to await the expected return of the ban-
dit. They knew Hamilton had been driv-
ing a Buick sedan for several days and
police officers had been keeping a sharp
lookout for a Buick.
While these men haunted the Hamilton
house, awaiting the outlaw’s arrival, Ray-
mond and Floyd were driving toward
Dallas on one of the guarded roads. They
were heading straight for the Harrison
Street hideout where they knew Mildred
and Katie were expecting them that night.
Raymond whistled happily as he sent the
Ford they had commandeered that morn-
ing in Carthage, humming over the smooth
highway.
hen they reached the outskirts of
Dallas he turned into back streets and
took a circuitous route to the rendezvous.
Raymond eased the Ford up to the curb
before the front door, and Floyd whis-
pered:
“You stay with the car until I make
sure everything’s safe.”
“Okay, but hurry. I can’t wait much
longer to see Katie.”
Raymond watched Floyd walk swiftly
to a side window they used as a signal.
Knocking on this window, Floyd called
softly: “Hello, hello!”
“Put up your hands!” boomed a voice
from within, as a gun was thrust through
pe yenaaw’ only a few inches from Floyd’s
ead.
Raymond was electrified into action. He
shot the car forward at full speed and
turned it down a near-by alley. Out of
the corner of his eye he had seen Floyd
wheel about, pull his gun and sprint away.
A volley of shots came from the inside
and outside of the house. Bullets were
whizzing about the Ford, striking the rear
and penetrating the car’s windows.
Hamilton saw that the end of the alley
appeal, which was heard February 7th
1911. It dragged along until Decembe:
12th, 1911, when the court handed dow:
a decision confirming the original verdict
His execution was to take place the wee!
of January 29th, 1912.
Wolter showed all the criminal’s vanit
in the last statement he left with Warde:
Joseph S. Kennedy. He wrote it in Ger
man script, with all the flourishes an
shadings. In it he maintained he wa
innocent.
He’d made a home of his cell, decorat
ing it with pictures, books, little adorr-
ments his mother brought. He went firm
ly to the electric chair; had nothing t
say, and died quickly.
Ruth Wheeler's death was of benef
to every girl-seeking employment in Nev
York State. For on April 28th, 1910, th
State legislature amended Section 190 o
the General Business Laws, and on June
25th of that year, it became a law that
“.. No licensed person shall send ou
any female applicant for employment
without making a reasonable effort
investigate the character of the employer.
was blocked. He slowed down and, slip
ing from under the driver's wheel, ra:
ike a flash. Floyd came tearing dowr
the alley behind him. Bullets whistle
around the running men and_ thudde
against the abandoned Ford. Raymond
quick eye caught sight of a large red truc!
parked in the street ahead.
Straight for that truck he headed, close-
ly followed by Floyd and the pursuing
officers. If only he could reach the truc}
before they got him. He knew then h
would have a chance of escape. He seeme:'
to fairly fly through the air as he leapec’
and landed in the driver's seat. Auto-
matically he reached out. Yes, the kei
was there. He turned it, and the big
truck started as Floyd jumped into the
seat beside him.
At a crazy pace the big, red car drove
off amid a fusillade from the shouting
running officers behind. It seemed incred-
ible, but the Outlaw Terror had escaped
again.
The twenty-seven officers chased through
the deserted streets and out into the high-
ways, but the Hamilton brothers hac
dropped from sight. Descriptions of the
bandits and the red truck were broadcast
every fifteen minutes.
THE following day the truck was found
abandoned at the near-b towr
of Rhome, Texas. And that aged Floy«
Hamilton was picked up at Shreveport
Louisiana. He was brought back to Dallas
and is in the county jail. One hun-
dred dollars of the money stolen the dav
before from the Carthage bank was foun’
on his person.
But try as they would the police couk
uncover no trace of Raymond. Kati
Jenkins was held several days, then re-
leased. The Government trial against the
twenty-three friends and relatives who had
been charged with harboring the bandits
opened on February 22nd. Judge Atwel!
ordered Lillian McBride, Hamilton’s sis-
ter, released for want of evidence. Bur
the others, including his mother, Mrs
Steve Davis, Mildred Hamilton and Mary
O’Dare were all found guilty and given
light sentences.
Mary O’Dare was sent to Alderson, West
Virginia, for one year. She no longer
heard from Raymond and she learned with
bitterness of his love for Katie Jenkins.
he war
picture
titude
and a
mitted
bravad
mick.
paper.
hours,
as_he
oner a
parked
Tennes
farmer
leased.
ic desc
conver:
bandit.
BO!
ere:
~“McKin
Ranger
themse
Range:
the ba
that m
stable -
tip. an
waiting
further
Sud¢
road, 1:
men.
road a
velled:
Quic
the d:
autome:
scarcel
windo\
to pou
constal
but the
never |
Han
body T
road a'
Fults.
him t
out of
and tr
Ok:
rifle fre
on his
matic ;
Rayr
out for
one, a
stop.
road a
up to
“Iter
Anyc
throug}
cepting
the Fe:
defrauc
The
are eag
—to st
and p)
from w
plagiar
lishers
ng ae ce
Sidinislanee ee
a
en
eae
Si Law one ee
SASS Tate
band. In this notebook was inscribed under. But he was. still defiant. th
CARPENTERS the name of Ruth Amos Wheeler, and “We've got you dead to cane “
after it the date, “March 28.” nounced Hughes. “We’ve foun ut
AND BUILDERS GUIDES It was not much of a task, in view Wheeler’s body, which you left on the T |
ae iiiere: Joere Bate: | of all the clues at hand; for the sleuths fire escape; her bones, where they fell |
on MN 5, Mechantg "and “a oot to reconstruct the crime completely. in your fireplace: and her name, writ- wl
[eis orm Ruth Wheeler, lovely, blonde and bare- ten in your notebook. You'd better co:
piace, systems aod | I more than a child, had set”out on a make a clean breast of everything.” ov
see progr pacd ete. | Chill March morning for her first inter- For a moment, the accused man ex
tnd Gakk Refereaey he view for a job. looked as though he had seen a ghost. Th
aa She had ascended the stairs to Albert Then, obviously forcing himself to ap- Fr.
ewe Better wo« | Wolter’s flat, clutching her purse nerv- pear calm, he said tonelessly, “I don’t ten
4VOLS. $6.. ously, little quivers racing through her know what you are talking about.” C
How ¢ sete ty ow to sap ele Sse as she knocked somewhat fearfully at _ His refusal to admit his guilt was the
i Sak SlneCarpancare faving’ meneo- the door of 3-A. The young husband incredible to the officers. Overlooking te
Hs sales and ella Hono ha root had opened the door, admitted her, and no detail, they described the evidence Jud
Brawlog up spociscaiong Hes "ta’yaoa aie pai probably had agreed to hire her, setting they had against him—showed him the Gen
Safe eee ood cadet Sigh “deta se March 28—the following Monday—as grisly clues—and at last took him to repr
one pee ese Dalat i aes the day she should report for work. the morgue. There they confronted him torn:
pat Rielle tee CoUEoN Then, in an indescribable rage he had __ with the pitiful remains of the pretty bul)
THEO, AUDEL & CO., 49 West 3rd S| New York j iy 2 ~]53 } 2]
Us gee teak erage a a Denuaital ot her and had slain the ee na slain. But still he was es
foes The detectives leafed through the “I did not do it!” he insisted calmly. soure
$ Sees . book and found the names of more Inspector Titus ordered Wolter Price;
1 Referenop DELL than 40 girls, with their »addresses. booked on a charge of homicide and printe
Pt A Noro mows yu | There were various obscure notations locked up in the ancient Tombs prison. who,
BE A DETECTIVE after the entries in the notebook. The next morning, on Sunday, Wolter come
Work home or travel. » Experience unnecessary. “Good Lord!” exclaimed Devine. was led to homicide squad headquarters this y
DETECTIVE Particulars FREE Write “Wolter could be a mass murderer!” and grilled again for many hours. But to do
$0. D. L: WAGNER, 125 West 86th St. N.Y. “Or he might have planned to ‘be- he still stoutly maintained his inno- Dr.
i ‘ { come one,” suggested Haggerty. Later cence. On Sunday night he whs taken Wheel,
LE investigation failed to show that the back to the Tombs. focate,
Is Your Skin Older man had slain other girls, Between Sunday night and Monday ing or
Than You Are? The two detectives hurried back to morning a weird occurrence took place traces
ps “ook old "prematurel—ranyCeet,ot DAKEY, eyes make | their stationhouse with the clues they a fantastic sortie into the realm of had be:
recognised SQUTHSKIN. Contains real TURTLE Ott. had discovered, and there met Hughes, abnormal psychology. it was |
recognized by many doctors ag an excellent skin rejuye ~ : ; . P : -
nant, r{iuaranteed. effective iohsmoney back. Liberal supply Inspector Titus, Captain Carey and the Several times during the night his Conf)
(01D) PERMA.RGFlathush Ave. Deut.D -12 Brcko coroner, who had returned from Wol- guards heard Wolter scream. Each time dence |
oT. — Yu ter’s former living quarters. when they went to investigate they 4 stan
c ° i A. Strange’ Dreaen found him sleeping soundly on his cot, I heele;
SIGHT-TRAINING technique ores. Every-
pode hes results now. WRITE: Dept Diz
Huges sent for Wolter and the stolid
prisoner was led in from his cell to
In the morning—visibly shaking—he
asked to see Inspector Titus.
“I want to tell you of a strange
Instruct face the detectives, Pallid, his eyes dream I had last night,” Wolter said
Name .... bloodshot, he showed the gruelling ef- in a quavering voice. I dreamed I
Danie fects of the examination he had been was alone in my old flat in Seventy-
ASTHMA wicous Rosine
Soc Te Hecate
lets, the ine that gave me relief! suffered agony
for six years. Now I have no awful spells of choking “a
PSORIASIS SUFFERERS
ENJOY A CLEAR SKIN
IT IS POSSIBLE!!
a liquid applied externally,
Mobster Flees
fifth Street with a girl—a beautiful girl
like Ruth Wheeler. She was flattened
against the wall, weeping and pleading,
‘No! No!’ I drew near her, gripped by
an overwhelming desire to kill her
because she was such a pretty thing...”
Wolter paused and covered his face
with his hands. “Go on,” prompted
Titus.
“In my hands I held a rope, lifting it
toward her soft white throat. ‘You're
too beautiful to live!’ I told her. Then
I strangled her—and everything went
MONEY BACK WITHINGS WEEKS black. I woke up screaming. I knew
NOT GReasy — $,.00- mEOTTLEE it was a dream and I went back to
eT oe ee oe o toaas Roy: sleep. But I dreamed the same thing
631 Society for tht boned Cleveland, 0. over again—four times! Could I be
be = going mad?”
; T “Is this a confession?” countered the
| AVY IO | rN a inspector.
Be An ARTIST!
Trained Artists Capable of Earning
$30—$50—$75 A WEEK
Learn to Draw at Home in
Your Spare Time for a
Fascinating Hobby ‘and
Profitable Post-war Career!
‘
It's pleasant and intere
mck Art the W.S
TAL
by our” practical methods since
1914. TWO ART ‘
Thomas J. Runyon, former Barker gang
“Oh, no,” insisted the suspect. “It
was just a dream. I think I had it
because of all the things you accused
m+ of doing.”
Litus persuaded Wolter to repeat his
strange story for a stenographer, but
‘ne prisoner still would not call it a
confession. “It. was nothing but a
dream, I tell you,” he declared.
An ‘4
TOONING, an in ONE. "etmptets
oO vi . .
hecessary—hundreds “nay merence Subconscious Confession?
Two days later, he was indicted on
’ an r i
WAShinaron SeuBo. “ae gee | member, escaped from the lowa prison a charge of first degree murder and
hoe Boab 1115—15th st ’
binges ee one by digging under an electrical. fence. held without bail for trial. Between eesti se ei St Sent
th the »
Stamp for retur, Ta
Ss sn saa ene al
it his
; time
they
is cot.
ig—he
trange
said
med I
venty-
ful girl
ittened
eading,
ped by
ill her
ing...”
iis face
ompted
ifting it
‘You're
Then
1g went
I knew
back to
1e thing
id I be
ered the
pect. “It
| had it
accused
epeat his
oher, but
call it a
g but a
ed.
sted on
urder and
Between
this time and the start of the trial he
was questioned repeatedly, but stead-
fastly refused to admit his guilt.
Wolter’s dream became a_ cause
celebre among psychiatrists, some of
whom contended that it constituted a
confession by his subconscious mind,
over which he had not the control he
exercised over his conscious mind.
They cited the writings of Sigmund
Freud in support of their various con-
tentions.
On April 18, 1910, three weeks after
the ghastly crime, Albert Walter Wol-
ter went on trial for his life before
Judge Warren W. Foster and a jury in
General Sessions court. The state was
represented by Assistant District At-
torneys Frank Moss and Robert Turn-
bull. The defense was in the hands of
Wallace D. Scott and L. H. Saper.
There was much mystery about the
source of the funds to engage the high-
priced defense counsel, and newspapers
printed stories about a wealthy widow
who, believing Wolter innocent, had
come to his aid with her fortune. But
this was never confirmed, and subject
to doubt.
Dr. O’Hanlon testified that Ruth
Wheeler had been strangled, then suf-
focated by smoke from the flames feed-
ing on her own flesh. He had found
traces of kerosene, indicating the body
had been drenched with the fluid before
it was ignited.
Confronted with overwhelming evi-
dence of his guilt, Wolter denied on
the stand that he had ever seen Ruth
Wheeler.
But on April 22 the jury found him
guilty of first’ degree murder. The
jurors deliberated only three hours and
23 minutes, of which one hour and 15
minutes was spent enjoying a leisurely
dinner.
On April 27 Judge Foster sentenced
Wolter to die in the electric chair at
Sing Sing in the week of June 6. Wol-
ter looked impassively at the judge,
but smiled and shook hands with his
counsel.
A series of appeals and reprieves
kept the doomed killer from:the chair
for 18 months. But at last all hope was
gone.
At 2 a.m. on January 29, 1912, almost
six hours before he was to die, Wolter
wrote out a statement in his cell in
the death house for Warden J. S. Ken-
nedy to make public after his death.
Written in even, clear letters like a
copper plate etching, it read,
“Now that I am departing from this
earth to go into the presence of God,
I wish to make this last statement. The
world has refused me justice, but our
Father in Heaven, who knows our in-
ermost, He will give me pure and
undefiled justice.
“I wish to state I am innocent of the
crime I was convicted of. I have been
a victim of circumstantial evidence. I
hope that there may come a time when
the conscience of the perpetrator will
overpower him and he will come to the
front and acknowledge his guilt. It is
my honest prayer to God that he may
bring the person guilty of the crime to
justice, that my. name may be cleared
of that stain, and that the people may
see the injustice done me, and that they
have killed an innocent boy.
“To those who have given me their
kind assistance and have trusted me,
I give my sincerest thanks. To those
who have maliciously persecuted and
killed me, for them I pray God’s for-
giveness.”
In this note the officials responsible
for his conviction saw clear evidence to
support the verdict of alienists that he
was legally sane—a psychopathic per-
sonality possessed on occasion by an
overpowering lust to kill—but never-
theless responsible for his acts. Like
Hans Schmidt, the Mad Priest who
killed little Anna Aumuller because he
thought “certain persons should be
eliminated,” Ruth Wheeler’s slayer had
a weird obsession that the ultimate fate
of beauty should be death.
Edgar Allan Poe touched upon this
strange complex. Oscar Wilde, in his
Ballad of Reading Gaol, wrote that
“Each man kills the things he loves . . .”
This twisting of normal emotions was
the basis of Albert Walter Wolter’s un-
doing.
At 5:41 on that cold January morn-
ing, Wolter was strapped into the elec-
tric chair. He did not speak, but stared
vacantly into space. One shock put
him to death.
Eprror’s Note: To spare possible em-
barrassment to innocent persons, the
names Peter Anders and Jane Gowan
used in this story, are not real but
fictitious.
OOK OVER <-
‘Sanrsnots You,
Forgotten Snapshot
Makes Treasured
ENLARGEMENT
Look over your snapshots and
Kodak Album for pictures ot
ones. Just send a print or
negative with the coupon and a 3c
stamp for return matling today
f ee TFET
Hew ENLARGEMENT
Just to Get Acquainted We Will Beautifully Enlarge Your Favorite
Snapshot, Photo, Kodak Picture, Print or Negative to 5x7 Inches
If You Enclose the Coupon and a 3 Cent Stamp for Return Mailing!
Everyone admires pictures in natural colors because the
surroundings and loved.ones are so true to ‘life, just the way
they looked when the bagi bh taken, s0 yy Fay Fp to know
also about our gorgeous colored enlargements. ink of having that
small picture or snapshot of mother, father, sister or brother, children STARA P
or others near and dear to you, enlarged to 5 by 7-inch size so that the de
you love are more lifelike and natural.
sparkle and life.
oil colors an
of our work.
a Moines, Iowa.
a beautiful enlar
way of gettin ae
en
Hos State.......... :
Fas 2k on SO ek St TH HR SOS SE SSD OD tS SR om ome ome nP
tails and features
Over one million men and women have sent us their favorite snapshots and pictures
for enlarging. Thousands write us how much they also enjoy their remarkable
true-to-life, natural colored e
in handsome black and
tell us that their hand
nlargements we have sent them
old, or ivory and —_ frames. They
colored enlargements have living beauty
You are now given a wonderful opportunity to receive
gement of your cherished snapshot,
photo or Kodak picture. Look over your pictures now and send
us your favorite snapshot, photo or Ke
Please include the color of
gain offer giving you your choice of handso
second enlargement beautifull
odak picture to be enlarged
hair and eyes and get our new bar-
me frames with a
hand tinted in natural lifelike
sent on approval. Your original is returned with
your enlargement. This amazing enlargement offer is our
uainted and letting you know the quality
today as supplies are limited.
Mail This Coupon Today
Re eae oo om ot
Enclose this coupon with your favorite snapshot, picture or neea- §
§ tive and send to DEAN STUDIOS, Dept. 658, 211 W. 7th St., Des 8
‘
Color of Hair 4
50
start working
hat happen-
“On her first
oO stay late.”
ailed to con-
If Ruth was
have found
out I haven’t
he left early
ther’s hand.
have time.
any minute
for us. You
> been to get
’ us for her
ieart! You'll
vacantly to-
‘re she. had
lere’s some-
irmured, “I
1ig—I guess
| aition—that
s happened
lelaide re-
the silliest
Man shook
he same, I
‘dea of my
work. Ruth
can’t trust
n’t hold up
1 said. “We
° for Ruth
ould touch
persuaded:
“y gnawed
al as the
sideboard
3. Wheeler
ips, thrust
i upright,
clenched
and!” she
he school
left.”
wW,” Pear]
you wait
pressed
. get the
Estey at
ok their
dly leaf-~
in tele-°
Mr. Es-
‘oments,
ou, Mr.
s Ruth
hasn’t
et, and
> hasn’t -
> school
“Well,
wrong.
about
apply
> able to:
ALBERT WALTER: His peculiar
actions interested the police,
for a position, When she didn’t re-
turn, naturally we assumed she got
the job.” ; :
Mrs. Wheeler hesitated, her heart
pounding. “Where did you send
‘her, Mr. Estey?”
The school director could recall
neither the name nor address of
:the prospective employer, but add-
ed that he would be glad to drive
down to the school and obtain it
‘from the records there. For an-
other half hour, the Wheelers wait-
ed anxiously until. he telephoned
with the information.
I recall it, the name of the ap-
Plicant was imprinted on the card
with a rubber stamp, Our files list
him as Albert Walter Wolter of
phone, but none is listed in the
directory and the information op-
erator reports no listing under such
& name at that address,”
Mrs.’ Wheeler thanked the school
director for his efforts and, hang-
ing up, related what she had learn-
ed to her daughters.
“I’m going down, to that East
Seventy-Fifth Street address right
away,” she announced firmly, start-
ing for her wraps.
But the two girls finally persuad-
ed her to Stay home while Pear]
went instead.
A BLUSTERING wind stung the
girl’s cheeks with fine particles
- of snow as she came out the 77th
Street station of the East Side sub-
way into the city’s Yorkville dis-
trict, populated principally by Ger-
mans and persons of German de-
Scent. Holding her fur collar close-
ly around her throat, she headed
into the driving snow toward the
address given by the school direc-
tor.
Reaching it at last, she found a
drab, six-story brick flat building
and entered the dimly-lighted front
hall. There she studied the mail-
| pe
Albert Walter Wolter on the box
for Apartment 3-A,
There was no elevator, and Pearl
climbed the steep stairs to the third
floor, : where she knocked on the
wound around her head in tight
braids. Here eyes were large and
blue and her lips full and pouting.
“What is it?” she inquired with
a heavy German accent,
“I'd like to-see Mr. Wolter,” Pear]
Wheeler replied. “My sister, Ruth, .
know if he’d seen her.” :
“A stenographer?” the blonde re-
~ peated, frowning. “] didn’t know
t my ‘husband wanted one. He’s
already in: bed, but 11 ask him
about it..Step in.”
Pearl waited in the garishly furn-
ished living room while Mrs. Wolter
went..to* arouse her husband. She
returned ‘shortly, followed by a
dark-haired thin young man with
celd blue eyes, clad in a red silk
dressing .8own,
“T am. Albert Wolter,” he said
with less of an accent than his
wife. “Can I help you?”
“Yes,” Pear] replied anxiously
“I’m looking for my sister, Ruth
Wheeler. Did she come here today
see you about a job asa stenog-
rapher?”
Wolter’s brow furrowed in a
frown. : “Wheeler — Wheeler? No,
. fat.”
Pearl. Wheeler shook her head.
“No, that couldn’t have been Ruth.”
Mrs. ‘Wolter, puzzled, turned to
her husband. “But, Albert, you did-
n’t tell ‘me you were going to hire
@ girl—”
German shorthand School. But I’m
f0ing ahead with it anyway, and
I must have'a stenographer to as-
sist me.”
“The Estey school said you wrote
to them for a girl,” said Pear]
Wheeler, “Isn’t that so?”
“I don’t recall,” replied Wolter,
“but I may have. I wrote to a num-
ber of schools. If your sister came
here today, she would have found
no cne at home. Both my wife and
I were out until late this after-
noon.” j
Thanking the Wolters for their
trouble, the missing girl’s sister left
while the Wolters were out.
Once more hopeful, Pearl knock-
ed on the door. It was opened by
@ sharp-featured girl with black
hair and eyes. Quickly Pearl de-
scribed her sister and asked the
girl—Helen Manning—if she had
seen Ruth.
Miss Manning shook her head.
“l’m sorry,” she replied, “but I saw
no one -visit the Wolters today.”
. Pearl inquired of other tenants
in the. building, but none had seen
her sister, Tears welling in. her
“That’s Strange,” observed Ade-
laide. “Mr, Estey said he sent Ruth
to the Seventy-fifth Street address,
RUTH WHEELER: No one seemed’
remember having seen her.
WOLLRN,g A
re nn teens =
LOErT
vy white o
No doubt many. unsuspecting women were
saved from a tragic fate
When the disappearance of a young girl
uncovered a murderer's
sinister plans
_ RS. EDNA WHEELER used
her apron to wipe. the con-
densed moisture of her:
“breath from the cold window
pane through which she peered
anxiously down at the ice-glazed
. street. On the dining-room table
in- the modest third-floor apart-
ment at 313 West 134th Street
in the Washington Heights sec-
tion of New York City, dinner
already was growing cold. Pearl
and Adelaide, the two eldest of
her pretty daughters, sat at the
table casting uneasy glances in
her direction.
. All) were worried because
Ruth, the youngest daughter,
had not yet returned home from
the secretarial school she at-
tended. It was now past 7
o'clock that bitterly cold March
evening, almost two hours after
12
C cE (DEN TIAL
RUARY L749
the time she had been expected.
The darkness conjured up new
perils in their minds for the 16-
year-old ash-blonde, developed
beyond her years and a stunning
beauty.
A few days earlier, Ruth had
completed her course at the school,
where her tuition had been paid
by the joint contributions of her
sisters, both of whom worked .as
stenographers, and her uncle, Amos
Wheeler. Since her graduation, she
had been making daily trips to the
school to take advantage of a serv-
ice through which the institution
found positions for its graduates.
“Two hours and not a word from
her,” declared Mrs. Wheeler, turn-
ing away from the window. “I just
can’t understand it.”
“Don’t worry, Mother,” said Pear],
the eldest daughter. “Perhaps she
got a job and had to start working
right away.”
“That’s probably what happen-
ed,” agreed Adelaide. ‘On her first
day, she’d be likely to stay late.”
These reassurances failed to con-
vince Mrs. Wheeler. “If Ruth was
working, she would have found
time to telephone me, but I haven’t
heard from her since she left early
this morning.”
Pearl patted her mother’s hand.
“Oh, maybe she didn’t have time.
She’ll be coming home. any minute
now—with good news for us, You
know how anxious she’s been to get
a job so she can repay us for her
tuition, bless her little heart! You'll
see.”
Mrs. Wheeler stared vacantly to-
ward the window where she had
been keeping vigil. ‘“There’s some-
thing wrong,” she murmured. “I
have a strange feeling—I guess
you’d call it a premonition—that
something dreadful has happened
to Ruth!”
. “Why,
Mother!” Adelaide re-
.proved sharply. “That’s the silliest
thing I ever heard!”
The gray-haired woman shook
her head sadly. “Just the same, I
can’t get- used. to the idea of my
little girl going out to work. Ruth
is so attractive, and you can’t trust
men.”
“I do think we shouldn’t hold up
dinner any longer,” Pearl said. “We
can keep something hot for Ruth
when she comes.”
_ ‘Mrs. Wheeler hardly could touch
her food after she was persuaded:
reluctantly to eat. Worry gnawed
inside her.
They finished the meal as the
‘antique clock on the sideboard
pointed to 8 o’clock. Mrs. Wheeler
touched a napkin to her lips, thrust
it on the table and stood upright,
her small white hands clenched
tightly.
“This is too much to stand!” she
cried. “I’m going to call the school
and. find out when Ruth left.”
“There’s no one there now,” Pearl
pointed out. “Why don’t you wait
a few minutes longer?”
Her mother’s lips were pressed
in a thin line. “If I can’t get the
school, then I’ll call Mr. Estey at
his home. At least he’ll be able to:
tell me something.”
While her daughters shook their
heads, Mrs. Wheeler hurriedly leaf-
ed through the Manhattan tele-
phone directory and found Mr. Es-
tey’s number. In a few moments,
she reached him.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr.
Estey,” she said. “This is Ruth
Wheeler’s. mother. Ruth hasn’t
ccme home from schoo] yet, and
we’re worried about her. She hasn’t
even telephoned us.”
“Is that so?” countered the school
director, obviously puzzled. ‘Well,
I certainly hope nothing’s wrong.
You see, we sent Ruth out about
10 o’clock this morning to apply
are TECTIVE),
hk,
~~
4
{ a
od
bdetes
Fi
How Find the Truth Be
hire
A
.
om Sy shy re
dee
VY BS :
a3 we c hind the Murder of Th
AS eas se . Elmira, New York, Ma
SiS is x Whose Body Was Le!
rit BS ve Under a Woman's Bed
i a yo “
Police Chief Elvin D. Weaver:
He found that a saliva test more
than made up for the lack
of finger-prints in the case
strument, appeared just behind th
left temple. The body was sprawle
face down.
“This is murder, all right,” Chic
Weaver announced. “I’d say he’s bee
dead quite some time, too. He’s sti:
as a board and already decompositio
has set in. It’s warm in this room, to
warm for a body to keep.”
Weaver turned to Detective O’Con
nor.
“John,” he ordered, “go call up an
find out what’s holding up the corone:
And get Lynn Brunner up here toc
so he can take care of the technic:
stuff.”
On his way out, O’Connor almos
bumped into Coroner S. Tracey Ham
ilton, Detective Brunner ‘and Distric
Attorney Walter B. Reynolds on thei
way in. Owing to the gas shortag
they had found difficulty in. gettin
transportation in a hurry.
Doctor Hamilton went to work im
mediately. He tried to flex the arm
of the slain man. They were se
tightly in rigor mortis. He the
tried the victim’s legs. They, too, wer
A scheming slayer led his unwary victim into this house where inflexible. The odor from the now un
neither of them belonged and killed him in a locked room covered body nauseated him.
2;
PS ee ete tage ci <a
P 4 % _ ()
ASO ©O D 7 ti Cal
(AN_L@ os 0
District Attorney Walter
olds:
B. Reyn-
He was puzzled because no
nee
4
FLAS,
oF WA
one had seen or heard the killer
and his victim in the rooming- house
By Arthur Mefford
ome NO,
Special Investigator for
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES
“HE full-throated scream that shat-
tered the homey silence of the
rooming-house at No. 452 East
iurch Street, Elmira, New York, was
sighted with terror.
Mrs. Etta Tebo, the 40-year-old
mer of the lodging-place, came on
» run, She found fragile, doll-like
gina Galek, her 24-year-old roomer,
le and swaying in the hall outside
r room,
The veins in her delicate brow stood
t in bold relief. Dots of perspiration
vered her forehead as with labored
cathing she fought to talk.
‘What happened, Regina? What’s
» matter?” Mrs. Tebo asked anx-
isly.
The distraught girl found her voice
th a shriek.
‘There! There! A man’s foot—under
y bed!” :
Mrs. Tebo, long accustomed to deal-
‘ with the bizarre, with the unex-
patted
cted traits in her roomers,
y
the young woman on the shoulder in
motherly fashion, soothed her.
“Now, now, Regina. You’re seeing
things that aren’t there.”
Boldly Mrs. Tebo walked into the:
room, to the end of the davenport
where her hysterical roomer was
pointing. Then she too saw the pro-
truding foot. She dwelt horror-stricken
a moment, fled from the sight. She
seized Regina Galek by’ the arm,
dragged her down the stairs.
On the ground floor Mrs. Tebo left
the young woman standing’ in the hall-
way in a virtual daze. She ran across
the street and around the corner to
the Auto Storage Battery Service sta-
tion at No. 222 William Street, where
Leo Rinwalski, another of her roomers,
was the manager.
Rinwalski laughed and, doubting
what he heard, returned to the house
with Mrs. Tebo.
Rinwalski left the two women
huddled in each other’s arms inside the
An officer points beneath this davenport on which Regina Galek
slept to the spot where she saw the leg of the murder victim
front door while he climbed the steps:
to investigate. Less than a minute later
he rushed back downstairs and around
the corner to a telephone, where he
called Deputy Sheriff Fred Duhl.
“Sheriff,” he reported, excitedly,
“there’s a dead man under a sofa in
Mrs. Tebo’s rooming-house. Better
get out here—quick!”
Duhl calmed the garage worker,
finally obtained the street address.
“You wait till we get there,” he
ordered. ‘Don’t let anybody touch any-
thing in that room!”
Minutes later, Duhl, Deputy Sheriff
Clarence Culver, Elmira Chief of Police
Elvin D. Weaver and Police Lieuten-
ant Francis J. Bastilla arrived. Hardly
hade they stepped from their police
car when another, its siren shrieking,
sped up the street and skidded to a
stop at the curb just behind it. From
this second car leaped Detective Ser-
geant Raymond Beardsley and Detec-
tive John J. O'Connor.
The official group literally scrambled
over each other in their haste to get
up the stairs. At the doorway to the
murder room, Rinwalski stood on
guard, as he had been ordered by
Deputy Duhl. Mutely he pointed in-
side.
Quickly Chief Weaver and Sergeant
Beardsley lifted and swung the end of
the heavy sofa to the middle of the
room. And there, exposed to full view,
was the body of a man of about 40.
Obviously he had been murdered;
bludgeoned to death.
The victim’s somewhat skimpy hair
was matted with coagulated blood. A
deep cut, inflicted by some heavy in-
WOOD®, Frederick C., wh, elec.
NYSP (Queens) March 21, 1963
Alphonso Catalano has been acquitted
of the murder of Reverend Vincent L.
Belle. The 78-year-old Buffalo, N.Y., re-
tired laborer had consistently contended
that he was innocent. Father Belle had
been found slumped over the wheel of his
automobile in the garage of the church
rectory. The prosecution maintained that
Catalano shot the priest because he felt
Father Belle was interfering with his efforts
to court a middle-aged woman. The all-
male jury greed with Catalano that the
prosecution’s case was unfounded (God,
What Have I Done? April FRONT PAGE,
1960).
James A. Hedges, the Marine Corps
private convicted by a court-martial of be-
ing The Pink-Panty Strangler of Waikiki
Beach (December FRONT PAGE, 1958) who
murdered Helen Peoples, has been ordered’
a new trial. This decision was made on the
basis that, since several members of the
court-martial. were engaged in some aspect
of crime prevention or detection, the court-
martial seemed to have been “hand-picked”
by the government. Hedges, a native of
Muncie, Ind., was on duty in Hawaii at
the time of the murder.
Jerry T. Nyback, Minneapolis-born slay-
er of 84-year-old wealthy recluse Darwin
W. Keyes, has been sentenced to 20 to 30
years in. the North Dakota state peni-
tentiary. Nyback, 25, was employed.as ad-
ministrator of the Memorial Hospital of
Lisbon, N.D., when he came up with a story
of having been attacked by a Phantom As-
sailant (September FRONT PAGE, 1960). It
was subsequently . determined that the
phony story of an attack had been pre-
sented by Nyback to account for visible
bruises he had acquired while murdering
the elderly Keyes. The motive was Keyes’
realization that a 50¢ check he had made
out had been altered to $502.50 and cashed
for that amount by Nyback.
Thomas Whitaker has been ordered ‘to
receive a new trial by the Indiana Supreme
Court on the grounds the jurors had been
permitted to separate before reaching their
decision of guilty. Whitaker, whose agree-
ment that /’ll Swap You My Wife For
Yours (October FRONT PAGE, 1957) ended
in the deaths of his former wife and his
two children, was sentenced to death
specifically for the slaying of his nine-year-
old daughter. ~
Chicago, Ill., Superintendent Orlando W.
Wilson, hired to clean up the scandal-rid-
den police department, made another clean
sweep with the suspension of seven officers
on charges ranging from being the central .
figure in a Mexican dope smuggling ring
to drinking while in uniform. In addition to
EW TRIAL
these suspensions, Wilson also asked ¢he
_ civil service board to fire four other of-
ficers. The offenses included one detec-
tive’s suspension for being seen in the
~~ ORLANDO WILSON
Eleven down—how many to go?
company of a known burglar and denying
it; another’s for falling asleep at his post
. following four disciplinary actions
for drinking; a third jailed for defying a
court order and continuing to molest his
former wife; and another officer—joyful
news to all drivers!—chastised for using
“coarse, profane and insulting language”
to a driver being curbed for a traffic vio-
lation. And that’s only the beginning,
promised the new broom hired to sweep
up after The Biggest Canary In Chicage
(May FRONT PAGE, 1960) sang out about
widespread police corruption.
Frederick Wood's possible implication in
the murder of two elderly men, following
his parole from prison while he was serv-
ing a sentence for second-degree murder,
has temporarily halted release on parole of
all prisoners convicted of homicide or
serious sex offenses in New York.’ This
decision was to be in effect only until
completion of a revised code of parole
VIFE-KILLER GETS LIFE tt
LA RULED SABOTAGE
cy
R “PINK-PANTY STRANGLER
procedure, Governor Rockefeller’s office
said. Parole procedures had been receiving
“intensive studies” as a result of the Wood
case, in which the State Parole Board has
conceded- it made a mistake in releasing
Wood from prison. Wood is believed to
have killed, just six weeks after his parole,
two elderly, Queens, .N.Y., men and to
have left a note in which he wrote “J’m
so-o sorry” (October FRONT PAGE, 1960).
Joseph Selby has been found guilty of
plotting the murder of his wife, Wilma, 48,
and given a penalty of life imprisonment.
The jury of seven men and five women
deliberated for four hours and 40 minutes
before reaching their decision that he was
guilty as charged as an accomplice to
murder. This means that the jury decided
Selby was guilty of plotting
i)
we
JosEPH SELBY
A loving husband.
his wife, but was not actually present
when the crime was committed. Earlier
in. the day the state had abandoned its
second count against Selby charging him
tas the murderer. However, in asking the
death penalty nevertheless, the state ar-
gued that the evidence showed Selby “wick-
edly and wantonly planning this monstrous
scheme which is almost without parallel”
because of his “festering notion to get a
divorce by murder.” The state contended
that Selby had set out on several occasions
the death of
parlor empl:
Mae testific
and a thirc
Selby home
furnished b
Who Fired
PAGE, 1960
gie Morgan
com
\\\\\\\
M
Life +
after r
friend o
ning wil
the rob!
to 23 nr
(Where
FRONT 1
A Co
of mur
death o
tauratet
in a s¢
July FR
he’d te
grand »
Eddi:
has he
ell
i
a
in the newly painted fireplace in the
Wolter apartment.
Dr. Philip O’Hanlon testified traces
of kerosene were present on the
scorched flesh. “That indicates the body
was drenched with the fluid before it
was ignited,’ the coroner’s physician
told the court. “The victim was stran-
gled. She suffocated from smoke from
her own burning flesh.”
The prisoner took the stand and
swore he’d never seen Ruth Wheeler.
The jury thought otherwise. They took
only three hours and 23 minutes to find
him guilty as charged. Judge Foster
pronounced the death sentence.
Albert Walter Wolter insisted he was
innocent. After all hope for clemency
the captain snapped. “Let me tell you,
Alonzo Pattmore is the kingpin who
runs things there. Even if there was
some suspicion, which I doubt, Patt-
more could easily prevent any investi-
gation just by saying the word.”
mw THE DETECTIVE reserved judg-
ment on that. He still found it hard to
tell just how much of Sumner’s state-
ments were fact and how much were
products of an over-active imagination.
He was interested in the letter Annie
had received from Pattmore. He sent
another operative out to her lodgings,
who waited until she went out shopping
and then sneaked into her room. He
found the letter, all right—a strange
one. It read:
“My own Annie: Poor Abigail has
left this vale of tears, death due to
dysentery. I cannot but feel thankful-
ness that her ordeal is over. This means
that you and I can soon be husband and
wife in name as well as spirit. I look
forward to your speedy return—alone,
after you have accomplished the duty I
instructed you in.—Your husband,
Alonzo.”
This was a puzzler indeed. Pattmore
was writing as though he and Annie
were already husband and wife, al-
though his real wife had just died. How
could you explain that? Then there was
that suggestion that Annie should re-
turn alone, after she had performed an
unnamed “duty.” “Alone” undoubtedly .
meant that she should come pack with-
out her brother. What was the “duty?”
Pinkerton’s operative did a little more
snooping. Following Annie on her shop-
ping tour, he found that she had stopped
at a drug store and bought a box of
rat poison.
That didn’t sit well with Pinkerton.
He recalled Sumner’s story that Annie
had made two previous attemps to poi-
was gone he wrote a long letter say-
ing, in part: “I am departing from this
earth to go into the presence of God.
The world has refused me justice, but
Our Father in Heaven, who knows our
innermost, He will give me pure and
undefiled justice.”
The condemned man was executed at
Sing Sing’on the morning of January
29, 1912. Like a fellow countryman,
Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who went
to the electric chair in New Jersey
many years later, Albert Walter Wol-
ter died with a lie on his lips.
, No charges were ever brought against
Kathie Wolter. A thorough investiga-
tion had shown she knew nothing
about Ruth Wheeler’s visit to the East
THE GREENVILLE GHOULS
(Continued from page 43)
son him. It looked as if Annie was still
trying, and that this was the “duty”
her secret lover Pattmore had left in
her hands. In a hurry, Pinkerton got
next to Captain Sumner again. He in-
structed the captain to let Annie know
casually about the fortune teller, Ara-
bella, so conveniently located nearby.
He went on to warn him once more
again taking any food that Annie might
have anything to do with.
“If you want to stay alive,” he said,
“you will be very careful on that score.
I feel that your will has something to
do with this. As an extra precaution,
you should tear up the will in your
sister’s presence and let her know you
are making out a new one in which
she is not a beneficiary.”
Sorely distressed, the captain agreed
to do all this. Pinkerton now rounded
up two of.his operatives, Henry Knox
and Abel Green, and grabbed the next
train for Greenville with them.
They found Greenville, Ohio, to be
a pretty county-seat town in which, just
as Sumner had said, Alonzo Pattmore
was the power behind everything. In
’ addition to being the wealthiest man
in the county, he was the political boss
to whom every local official owed his
job. As publisher of the only news-
paper, he had a large ability to control
public opinion in directions favorable
to Alonzo Pattmore. No one seemed to
like Pattmore particularly, for. he was
a cold fish, but his sovereignty was
pretty universally acknowledged.
By this time Pattmore had won the
Democratic nomination for Congress,
which meant he was as good as in.
People were saying what a shame it
was, just as he was about to achieve
his lifelong ambition, that he should be
sorrowed by the-loss of his wife Abigail.
m ABIGAIL’S DEATH had: indeed
OPT aT Te
Seventy-fifth Street apartment.
Although the crime against Ruth
Wheeler was one of the most fiendish
murders in New York City history it
did prove to be a service to the com-
munity and working girls in particular.
On April 28, 1910, the New York State
legislature amended Section 190 of the
General Business Laws. The new law
read: “No licensed person shall send
out any female applicant for employ-
ment without first making a reasonable
effort to investigate the character of
the prospective employer.”
Eprror’s Nore: The names Willa Koe-
nig and Karl Stahl, as used in this
narrative, are fictitious.
been ascribed to dysentery, and she had
been buried three days earlier under an
impressive tombstone in the town cem-
etery. No one, of course, had even sug-
gested that an investigation be made.
Why should they? Inquiring around,
Pinkerton and his men found that the
coroner, one Phineas Fairchild, was a
good friend and political ally of Patt-
more. The sheriff, Morris Blankenship,
was a harness maker in private life who
had never investigated anything more
serious than chicken thievery. If Alon-
zo Pattmore wanted to slip his wife a
fatal dose of poison, the set-up in
Greenville Was such that he could do
so in perfect safety.
Pinkerton decided that he could get
his sleuthing ball a-rolling by starting
a rumor campaign. With Green and
Knox, he visited several of the town’s
drinking places. Each of them, striking
up a conversation with a neighbor, vol-
unteered that he had “heard someone
say” that Abigail Pattmore had not
died of dysentery at all but had been
poisoned.
It astonished even Pinkerton, wise as
he was in the ways of human nature,
to witness how quickly this got around.
Within two hours all Greenville was
convulsed with the rumor—which no
one could pin down—that poor Mrs.
Pattmore had been murdered. As the
rumor got around, it gained in color
and detail, so that there were some who
went so far as to say they had heard
that Pattmore was suspected of poison-
ing his wife, of whom he had never
been noticeably fond. ;
When the gossip reached Coroner
Fairchild, he nearly blew his stack.
“This is pure political dirty work!”
he snapped. “I wouldn’t put it past the
Republican candidate to start such an
underhanded rumor in an effort to
blacken the reputation of our best citi-
~
zen, Mr. Pattmore. VW
them! We'll have a spec
to nail that lie!”
Whereupon he wrote
order for the exhumatic
and the calling of a sp
jury. Then he drove ove
place to inform him of th
der-and let him know ho:
being handled.
Pinkerton, who was k
of these events, had got «
action he wanted. If Pat
deed guilty, the detectiv«
his consternation when t
formed him about th
order. But—if he was gu:
could not object to the
that would betray him. F
to act as if he was heart
the move.
However, still followin;
22
Elmira news director Morgan tipped off New York Scene of earl
close. behind, the policeman made his
way slowly to the adjoining room,
careful not to step on the jagged pieces
of glass, many stained red.
In the second bedroom they did not
have to look beyond the bed. Fred
Sess was lying there, his body wedged
between the bed and wall, his skull
crushed and blood-crusted like Res-
cigno’s. His arms and legs bore small
perforations.
Huge blotches of dried blood cov-
ered the bare wooden floor. Several
broken beer bottles littered the floor
of the bedroom also, and many of the
smashed pieces were similarly blood-
stained. :
A small iron shovel used to stoke
coal in a pot-belly stove lay alongside
Sess’ body on the bed. On the floor was
a chair, one of its legs broken off. The
leg lay on the bed next to the shovel,
and both bore telltale stains of blood.
The landlord finally broke the
shocked silence. “Who could have
wanted to kill these harmless. old
creatures?”
Patrolman Dispenza shook his head
in pity. Then he said, “Take me to a
phone—TI’ve got to call the desk right
away.”
The landlord led the policeman to
his apartment, where he called the
station house. In response, nearly three
dozen patrolmen and detectives has-
tened to the scene, including the
borough’s highest ranking police of-
ficials who were off-duty and home on
the holiday. :
An assistant medical examiner, who
arrived with the first policemen, ex-
amined the bodies and voiced his
opinion to Detective Sergeant James
Fulton, commander of Queens Homi-
cide Detectives, that the victims ap-
parently had been dead three days.
cs
“I’d say they were killed about last
Thursday, June 30th,” the physician
told Fulton. “We'll be more certain
when we do the autopsy. Both men
were bludgeoned. Their skulls are
crushed—enough to have caused death.
But they also were stabbed with broken
glass arid a knife. :
“That one in there,” the assistant
medical examiner went on, indicating
Rescigno, “had his jugular vein sev-
ered. I think you’ve got a mad killer
on your hands.”
sergeant Fulton penciling notes in
his report, said, “It’s pretty obvious
the broken bottles and that shovel and
‘the broken chair leg were the murder
weapons.”
. “Right,” said.the ME. “Sess was
struck with the shovel and the chair,
as well as with a beer bottle. The other
victim’s head apparently was battered
with the bottles. The killer probably
broke five or six of them over his
head.” :
Sergeant Fulton instructed Detectives
William Butler, also of Queens Homi-
‘cide, and Detective Thomas O’Brien,
of the Astoria Precinct Detective
Squad, to search the cottage for clues
to the slayer.
Meanwhile, other detectives under
the command of Lieutenant Joseph
McCormack, commander of the Astoria
Squad, were directed to question neigh-
bors for information about the two
men, in the hope someone might be’
able to provide. a lead about their
activities up to the time of the murders.
As Detectives Butler and O’Brien
searched the kitchen, they came upon
a small piece of cheap paper lying on
a cabinet counter top with a cryptic
message written on it: “How do you
like these two murders? Ooh, ooh, ooh,
- I’m so sorry. God bless the people in
ier slaying; body of Mrs.
Robinson was found under bush
the Parole Board. They are real in-
telligent.”
They hurried with the note to Lieu-
tenant McCormack, who was in Res-
cigno’s bedroom with Deputy Inspec-
tor Harry Connor, commander of
Queens Detectives, and Captain John
H. Thompson, supervisor of Queens
Detectives, who had just arrived.
McCormack read the note and passed
it to his superior on the piece of card-
board Butler and O’Brien had used to
lift it from the counter top to preserve
whatever fingerprints might be found
on it. :
“The killer deliberately placed the
note where we’d find it readily,” Mc-
Cormack said. .
“I want every available man thrown
into the search for the killer at once,”
Inspector Connor told Captain Thomp-
son and Lieutenant McCormack, after
studying the note. “We've got to find
him. This kind of murderer can strike
again—you never know where or
when. He is an ex-con—someone who
has had experience with the Parole
Board.”
Instructions were phoned immedi-
ately to police headquarters in Man-
hattan for a 13-state alarm for a killer
of unknown description. Any police
force on the Eastern Seaboard who
apprehended a “hot” suspect in their
area for a local crime—or even knew
of anyone capable of such a crime—
‘was requested to notify New York
- police about the suspect.
. Because of the brutality of the mur-
ders, the derisive note, and the absence
of any attempt to cover up his crime,
police brass and detectives at the
scene were convinced that they were
dealing with a deranged killer who
must kill to satisfy his blood lust—but
who, paradoxically, has a compulsive
and subconsc
“And one w:
Thompson sai
he warned t}
lulled into b
Was capable o
“There are 1
he told his ai
held in the de
discussed proc
Inspector Con:
Cormack. It
detective com
signed to the t
“Remember
grudge killing,
even robbery,
pear anything
Thompson adv:
riors who wot
detective force
As police mc
Plans for the
the police depz
tory arrived or
. fingerprints an
: Before transfer
Now, 17 years |
adge whether or not she is guilty
rconspiracy has been declared a
However, the trial was ordered
of Gordon Watson, the man who
| with plotting with her the death
sband in order to acquire - Parvin
fortune and clear the path for an
‘ance (Paged To Fill A Coffin
ONT PAGE, 1959), ’
rchina, who seven years ago was
2d of shooting his wifeé’s ‘mother,
er and brother to death and of
his wife in.a wild spree (My
Your Lives, May. Front PAGE,
in faced a trial, this time in
y. Archina, an immigrant from
the shooting took place in"Den- -
ANK. ARCHINA
smory lingers on,
> sentenced to death_by a
ut the sentence was reduced
to his homeland when psy-
ed he was temporarily in-
1e of the shooting. Italian
um as soon as he arrived on
has been in prison in Rome
years. During that time an
trist examined him and
© stand trial for murder.
id he will. plead: for
n grounds that he has
1x years in jail awaiting
uilty, he could receive life
Charles Kelley, of Minneapolis, Minn.,
has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder
charges in the death of Alvin Koehrsen—
after a jury could not agree on the death
penalty for him: The jury of nine women
* and three’ men reported to District Judge
Leroy H. Johnson that it was deadlocked
on whether or not Kelley should hang: for
his part in the killing of the 54-year-old
Walnut, Iowa, man. The jury foreman and
another juror had been holding out for life .
imprisonment for the 20-year-old whose
Three Nights Of Kill-Kill-Kill (June rront
PAGE, 1961) was climaxed with the death
of Koehrsen. After the judge dismissed ©
may prove a final appeal against the death
the jury, Kelley’s court-appointed attorney
conferred with the defendant and the jury
foreman, and Kelley entered his guilty plea,
which left it up to the judge to determine
the penalty. Charles Brown has already-
been tried for his role in’ the slaying, and
sentenced to hang at the Iowa penitentiary.
Both men. have also been charged with
murder in Omaha, Neb., and_Minneapolis,
Minn., in connection with slayings there.
Edward Vogt, 18-year-old accused of
killing Robert Giuttari} 14, while trying to
steal the tips the boy was earning by de-
livering Christmas trees, has been. found
guilty of first-degree murder in the Jolting
Case Of New York’s Boy Killer (April
FRONT PAGE, 1961). At the trial, Vogt re-
pudiated his confession, charging police had .
put words into his mouth and threatened
to throw him out a window unless he con- -
fessed. The all-male jury got the case at .
12:30 P.M.; after deliberating for: nearly
8% hours, they presented their decision to
Judge Joseph. A. Sarafite, with their recom-
mendation of life imprisonment; The rec-
ommendation’ of. life imprisonment does
‘ not. necessarily mean Vogt will spend the
rest of his life behind bars. Assistant. Dis-
trict Attorney Robert J..Reynolds said that °
under a recent law, Vogt would be eligible
for parole in about 27 years. Before the
law’s enactment, a lifer was ‘ineligible for
parole. ‘ ;
Gary. Sizemore, 17-year-old Houston,
Tex., student with a blueprint for crime
’ that included the item P.S. Kill If Neces-
sary (August FRONT PAGE, 1961), has been.
indicted on two counts, one charging him
with armed robbery and the other with the
murder of Bennie W. Hoelscher, Each
charge could carry the death penalty on
conviction. Cyan
rederick Wood, 48, convicted killer pa-
roled over the protests of Elmira, N.Y.,
officials, and later picked up for the brutal
murder of two elderly Queens, N.Y:, men, .
has been adjudged mentally competent and
remanded to Queens County Jail until his —
scheduled trial. Wood had ‘been convicted ~
of the 1942 slaying in Elmira of John Low-
man, and sentenced to a. 20-year-to-life
term. After serving 17 yeats, he was re-
- leased on parole. A little over three weelis -
after his parole, the two elderly men-were
found dead. In their apartment were found
two scrawled, misspelled: notes, purportedly
written by Wood. One read: Now aren’t
these two murders a dirty shame? I’m so-0:
sorry. The other said, And God: bless the .
parole board—they’re. real intelleant peo-
ple (I’m So-o Sorry, October FRONT PAGE,
1960). is" a
Simonne Cristmann, lovely Air France
hostess, has been convicted by, a’ Federal
Court jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., of violating
, the narcotics law by attempting to bring
4% pounds of heroin—worth $500,000 on
the user’s market—into the U.S. concealed
in her underclothes. She faced a minimum
penalty of five years and a maximum of
, 20 years in federal prison. Her defense ‘had
been that she thought she was smuggling in
an essence of perfume for a man with whom
she had become infatuated. (Case Book,
July FRONT PAGE, 1961).
Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan’s son made what
sentence imposed on his mother for the
murder of his wife. Mrs.. Duncan, Luis
Moya and Augustine Baldonado were con-
victed in. 1959 of murdering the woman’s .
_daughter-in-law,. Olga Duncan. Moya and
Baldonado confessed they had been hired
to kidnap and murder the young woman.
Their appeals were to be heard along with
_.Mrs.' Duncan’s,. based, according to the
other attorney accompanying’ Mrs. Dun-
can’s son to Washington, on contentions that
.three jurors of the convicting panel. later
‘admitted prejudice, and because the court
failed to grant a change of venue justified
by pretrial press coverage and sentiment in
the Ventura, Cal., community. Mrs. Dun-,
can awaited the outcome of the appeal. at
Corona Prison for Women;. the two hired
killers were on San Quentin’s Death Row
(in The Witch’s Tentacles, April FRONT
PAGE, 1959).
Lester Langrehr, George Heldebrand and
‘ George Pat Jordan have been sentenced for
the roles they played as The Will Makers
(July FRONT PAGE; 1961) for two elderly
people who:-actually had died intestate.
Langrehr, a farmer from the Monmouth-
Maquoketa, Iowa, area, was sentenced to
‘fone to three years after Assistant State’s
Attorney, Louis Garippa described: him as
the mastermind who concocted bogus wills
to loot the $150,000 estate of the late Mrs.
Kitstine Jepsen, and thé $390,000 estate of
the late Max Roeder. Heldebrand and Jor-
“dan were each sentenced to 90 days. Jor-..
dan had admitted writing the fake Jepsen
will, while Heldebrand confessed he wrote
_the phony. Roeder will.
Harold E. Kistner Jr. entered a surprise
"plea of guilty to a charge of aiding and
. abetting Mrs. Burnice
Geiger to embézzle
$2,000,000 from her father’s bank in Shel-
don, Iowa (The Lady And The Looted
Bank, May FRONT PAGE, 1961), Kistner also
‘pleaded guilty before’ U.S. District Judge.
Henry N. Graven to one charge of fraudu-
“Tent sale of securities in the now-defunct
. Northern Biolchemical Corp, «. gl eae oe
Pierre Joyeux, sought since October,
1959 in the slaying of Robert Bessoudo
over a girl named Germaine whom both
men: wanted while all three were at a
French nudist colony (Scandal In The
, Nudist Colony, February * ¥RonT- ‘PAGE,
“1960), may have been found . . . a skeleton
- hanging from a-rope wound around a tree
branch. The body. was discovered on the
isle. of Portcros, near Toulon, France.
‘Nearby . was a notebook in which was
scrawled Good-by My Germaine, good-by
my. Mediterranean, good-by my little boat.
phe
‘Che
umman
Touch
GRAVE WARNING—Pestered by ped-
dlets, a family in Lockport, N.Y., hit upon
a unique method of discouraging un-
. Be
Rp
i
|
wanted visitors from their door. On the
front lawn of their home is a large, white
headstone bearing the epitaph: “Here
Lies a Salesman.”
WAD’S THIS?—In Washington, D.C.,
energetic burglars broke into a store,
lugged out a 250-pound safe and dragged
it across railroad tracks into a hidden
spot and then spent an estimated two
hours tearing off the door. The owner re-
ported this inventory of the safe’s con-
tents.to the police: a wad of scrap paper
thrown into the safe once because it was
closer than the wastebasket. .
GRIME RHYME—No criminal offense,
but a crime against humanity was the de-
cision of an Indianapolis, Ind., judge who
took a long look at a dirty roller towel in
the court washroom, then penned a poetic
appeal to the -building superintendent.
Following a preamble in which he con-
tended that “cleanliness is next to Godli-
ness” and just next above justice, the
jurist rhymed:
“TI think that I shall never see
’ A towel as dirty as it be.
A towel whose grimy folds are pres’t
Against the face of all the rest.”
FIRE TRAP—Tired of warning local
motorists about following the fire truck
when it was en route to a blaze, the Ath-
ens, Tenn., fire chief set a trap for the
culprits. He intentionally set a rubbish
pile ablaze, then waited for results. Its
£ "oth
A
siren screaming, the fire truck arrived at
the scene, followed by a stream of curious
local residents in their cars. Thirteen of
them were cited for a court hearing for
illegally following the fire truck.
LaF /G fy |
~~ we
To
detectives a red-hot lead to a “rehabilitated” killer
When the bed was lifted a
WOOD, Frederick C, wh, elec. NY (Queens) Mar. 21, 1963
PAROLED
Murder Again
The hunch of a quick-thinking newscaster gave New York
released on parole only 33 days before
way, the bludgeoned body of Lowman was
sessnay
SAS ede
TRUE DETECTIVE,
October, 1968
PELOSI Iae Bea
Gee Se eee
ot “<p,
2A RIIET
BY CHRYS |}
ent from an
that it was In.
‘1960, and there
spirit in the air. |
Island, the quiet
hood was broken
the explosion of
cracker, but ge
tranquil.
Many of the neig)
the beach or on tric
borhood woman had
her occupied—her ge
o’clock on this wa
July 4th, she was ou
bushes behind her h:
pruning.
As she worked, s}
I’ WAS A DAY
York
er
room identified his slayer
rate ee oe
enlee SOR? *
a a
BY CHRYS HARANIS
ent from any other, except
I’ WAS A DAY not much differ-
that it was Independence Day,
‘1960, and there was a holiday
spirit in the air. In Astoria, Long
Island, the quiet of the neighbor-
hood was broken occasionally by
the explosion of an illegal fire-
cracker, but generally all was
tranquil.
Many of the neighbors had gone to
the beach or on trips. But one neigh-
borhood woman had a hobby to keep
her occupied—her garden. And at 5:30
o'clock on this warm afternoon of
July 4th, she was out tending her rose
bushes behind her house, clipping and
pruning.
As she worked, she became aware
of a strange, stifling odor that grew
stronger and became almost unbear-
able. It seemed to come from the open
window at the rear of the tiny cottage
behind a small apartment house front-
ing on 27-20 Hoyt Avenue South. She
noticed flies buzzing around the open
window.
This cottage was occupied by two
elderly bachelors, both pensioners and
the neighborhood’s oldest residents.
Since before 1930, the two men, Fred-
erick Sess, 78, a retired foundry worker
who lived on Social Security, and John
Rescigno, 62, a disabled World War I
pensioner, had been familiar figures in
the community. Since 1958, they had
been living quietly together in this
small shingled cottage of two tiny
bedrooms and kitchen.
The woman remembered there had
Src sf
been some talk in the block that after-
- noon, some of the neighbors comment-
ing that they hadn’t seen Fred Sess or
John Rescigno since the previous
Thursday. Driven by an urge to deter-
mine the source of the unusual odor,
the woman edged her way to the win-
dow of Sess’ bedroom and looked in.
What she saw caused her to drop
the garden clippers she was holding
and run screaming to the apartment
house landlord, ‘who also owned the
cottage that was rented to the two old
men. “Come quick!” she cried. ‘‘Some-
thing’s wrong inside the cottage. I saw
a pair of feet sticking from the bed—
and I think I saw blood.”
The landlord, who was just sitting
down to supper with his family, rushed
to the cottage and took one look. Then
he hurried down the street to the
nearby Astoria precinct and found
Patrolman Peter Dispenza on traffic
duty outside. “Something’s happened
at the cottage,” he told the policeman,
whom he knew. “You’d better take a
look.”
Patrolman Dispenza accompanied the
landlord back to the cottage and to-
gether they entered the front door
with an extra key the landlord had
to the place.
As the two men walked into the
foyer, a choking, sickening odor gripped
their nostrils, prompting Patrolman
Dispenza to remark, ‘This place has
the smell of death.”
A second later, upon entering the
bedroom occupied by Rescigno, the
younger of the two men, a scene of
incredible violence and horror greeted
the policeman and landlord. They
found John Rescigno in his underwear,
sprawled on the blood-drenched bed.
His skull was battered and crushed, his
neck appeared to have been slashed
with a jagged instrument, like a broken
glass, in the region of the jugular vein,
and the rest of his body was literally
perforated with stab wounds. The floor
was strewn with broken beer bottles.
Shocked by the grisly find, Patrol-
man Dispenza and the dazed landlord
looked at each other in speechless
horror. Dispenza then pointed to the
other bedroom. With the landlord
Escorted by Det. Ottens (l.), murderer
was given his freedom 17 years later
21
ital shooting, and that they had gone
‘ether to the woods, where they had
igged the body to the spot where it
s buried. McParlin added that he
d returned alone the next day with a
‘k and shovel to hack into the frozen
ound and dig the grave.
After that McParlin had continued to
id the grave, as described by Ray-
ynd Poisson. .
A checkup on McParlin’s recent ac-
ms led investigators to Monica
nory, his part-time girl-friend. She
id of her woodland drives with the
nfessed slayer and said that his occa-
nal strolls, his chance comments, had
used her suspicions. She was the
yman who had made the anonymous
11 to Leo’s mother. But her tours with
cParlin had been so roundabout that
e wasn’t able to pinpoint their park-
g spot. She’d tried to guess it from
ad signs. ‘ :
The autopsy on the victim showed
‘at Hallal had been killed instantly by .
bullet fired directly behind his right
ir. The slug passed through the skull
id came out the right temple.
More than 30 State’Troopers searched
ie Lincoln Woods area where McParlin
aimed he had thrown the death gun,
it failed to find it in the places that
(cParlin pointed out. Geiger counters
ad mine detectors were used in the
unt, to no avail. Lack of drag marks
n Hallal’s body raised further doubts,
ceording to Captain Newton, indicat-
ig that Hallal might have been slain
lose to the spot where the body was
uried. :
ane the Hallal case had been
slowly working to its climax, Paw-
ucket detectives had kept tabs on the
thereabouts of Russell Banville, who
ow loomed as a key figure.
Banville was picked up near Balti-
aore by local authorities and taken: to
se] Air, Maryland, where he was-ques-
ioned by Rhode Island Detectives
»eter O’Connell and Robert McCaffrey.
Janville admitted complicity in the
‘rime and waived extradition the offi-
‘ers said. While he was being brought
yack to Pawtucket, investigators made
, thorough check of places where Ban-
ville and McParlin had been seen
together. ;
At a Central Falls restaurant that the
pair had frequented around New Year’s,
detectives gained a lead to a girl-friend
of Banville’s, Kitty Reddick, who told
of a conversation that the two men had
held at least a week before Hallal’s dis-
appearance.
“McParlin offered Russell some
money to dig a hole,” the girl testified.
“He was willing to pay two hundred
dollars, and from ‘the way he talked I
thought he meant a grave.”
Further check of this surprising angle
drew a blank until detectives talked with
McParlin’s estranged wife, Eileen, re-
garding visits Banville had made to
their home. Eileen recalled a similar
conversation between her husband and
Banville. It had taken place in the
kitchen while McParlin had supposed
Eileen was asleep in the adjoining bed-
room. According to Eileen’s statement,
McParlin had offered $150 to Banville if
he would “dig a hole” somewhere.
Banville, on his return to Rhode
Island, was allowed to meet his young
wife, whom he had not seen in months.
During the reunion she tearfully begged
him to tell his full story. In a
new statement, police said, Banville ad-
mitted that McParlin had asked him if
he “knew a good spot to bury some-
thing.” This was a full week before
Hallal’s disappearance.
There had been talk, too, of payment
for “digging a hole” but Banville re-
portedly had ‘rejected it because he
<r that McParlin ever would pay
m.
Later, according to Banville’s re-
ported statement, McParlin had taken
him to the spot in the Burrillville woods,
where he had seen Hallal’s body. Later,
while they were driving away from the
scene, Banville was sure that McParlin
‘had thrown something from the car.
That “something” in the opinion of
certain investigators could have been
the missing gun. Rs
In his complete statement Banville
admitted that he had driven Hallal’s
car to New York, where he had aban-
doned it near Grand Central Terminal,
sent the telegram and taken the train
back to Providence, all as directed by
McParlin. ‘
Hallal’s widow, Joan, also decided to
add to her account of the fateful eve-
ning of January 7. She made this de-
cision before taking a lie-detector test
at the request of the Rhode Island State
Police. According to the State Police,
her new version included preliminary
events not previously disclosed.
Investigators quoted her as saying
that Leo had made an appointment to
“talk over” the situation with McParlin
‘and his wife; that all four had been
supposed to get together as Leo’s niother
had suggested. Joan had picked up Leo
at six o'clock as stated, and at 7:15
they had arrived in front of the Roger
Williams Bank in Pawtucket, where
McParlin had joined them.
McParlin had come alone because his
wife had been unable to get a baby-sit-
ter, or so he claimed. They'd gone to a
parking lot where Hallal and McParlin
argued heatedly for more than an hour
over their “love triangle’ problem.
They’d finally dropped McParlin. at
Goff Avenue and Dexter Street, several
blocks from his home.
Afterwards Joan had quarreled with
Leo while they drove out along the
Louisquisset Pike, where he finally had
thrust her from the car. .
‘Captain Newton, meanwhile, had as-
signed State Police detectives to ques-
tion residents of the Burrillville area
regarding any suspicious cars or stran-
gers who had been seen in that sparsely
settled sector shortly after New Year’s.
‘The local police aided in this exhaustive
check, which soon produced a new de-
velopment.
A Burrillville contractor stated he
helped free a car mired in snow and
mud at a sandpit near where the body
was discovered, some time during the
past winter. He was unable to specify
the date, but said that the occupants
were &@ man and a woman, answering
the descriptions of: James McParlin
and Joan Hallal.
State police quoted Joan Hallal as
saying that in April she had quarreled
with McParlin when he had come to
her apartment. According to her
statement, McParlin then had said,
Case That Changed
“J pointed out where the station was,”
Haak added. :
_ They had narrowed the area of
search by tens of square miles, hundreds
of blocks, and Connor directed that
detectives be sent, into the gray, bleak
streets of the lower East Side, through
which the Bowery throbs like an alco-
holic artery. Flop-houses, missions,
greasy-spoon restaurants, low bars and
pawnshops were entered and the same
question was asked again and again:
had anyone seen, did anyone know, &
heavy-set man, about 45 or 50 wearing
glasses, a gray suit and a gray fedora
hat? A man who tipped his hat politely
-when women were around? ;
Although much had been accom-
plished since the discovery of the bodies
that Monday, July 4, it seemed as if
- Tuesday would be a total-loss, until a
detective entered a cheap cafeteria on .
the Bowery and patiently told the man-
ager what sort of man he hoped to find.
And the manager smiled because he
thought it rather strange that more
than one man was searching for a fel-
low who tipped his hat...
“Two men were in last Saturday, I
think. it was Saturday’—he paused,
then nodded—“and they also were look-
ing for someone who went around tip-
ping his hat.”
“I’ve done something bad to get you
and I’m not going to lose you.”
To that, according to the police re-
port, Joan said she had retorted: “What
did you do? Kill my husband?” That
was the nearest approach to giving
away his Secret that McParlin had
made in Joan’s presence, so far as @
recorded statement was concerned.
DOLice now issued a warrant for the
final figure in the crisscrossed case—
McParlin’s brother, Edward, who had
allegedly helped bury Hallal’s body.
A tipoff soon reached the Rhode
Island State Police, stating EdWard Mc-
Parlin was in Englewood, California,
near Los Angeles. A wire to the local
sheriff brought quick- results. The
younger McParlin was ‘picked up and
arrangements were begun for his extra-
dition by Rhode Island authorities.
Attorney General J. Joseph Nugent
announced that a special grand jury
session would begin on Monday, August
22, to hear evidence in the killing of
Leo Hallal.
And on that date James E. McParlin
was indicted for murder. ‘
On August 22 indictment also was
brought against Russell Banville for
compounding a felony. ; ,
A similar indictment was brought
against McParlin’s brother, Edward,
who, meanwhile, has been -extradited
from California.
Raymond Poisson, who first disclosed
the spot where Hallal’s body was buried,
was likewise indicted on August 22 for
compounding a felony.
On August 26 Mrs. Hallal was ar-
rested on a secret indictment charging
complicity.
Two Rhode Island state detectives
made a special trip to New York to
check on Hallal’s car, which, according
to the alleged confessions, had figured
heavily in the case and might possibly
yield important evidence. The car, a
1953 model, had been consigned to a
Brooklyn junkyard, since no arrange-
ments had been made for its return to
Rhode Island.
Rhode Island investigators sent the
shovel found at Hallal’s grave to the
FBI laboratory for special processing,
along with the dead man’s clothing.
— car was due for similar inspec-
on.
The names Monica Amory and Kitty
Reddick are not the actual names of
persons; pseudonyms were used to pro-
tect the innocent. . :
Parole (from page 11)
“You know who they were?” the de-
tective asked.
The manager’s jaws hardened. “They
said something about the parole board.
But I didn’t see your man, or theirs,”
he added.
Parole officers also were looking for
a man who tipped his hat; the mur-
derer had left a note in which he
taunted the parole board. Tuesday had
not been wasted.
“Telephone the parole office,” Con-
nor ordered when told of this develop-
ment. “Find out who’s looking for a
man who tips his hat. Because he might
be tipping his hand.”
While the call was being placed and
routed to the' proper offices in the city’s
parole department, the papers con-
tinued to bannerline the murder, the
news services sent it out over the wires,
and at station WELM in Elmira, Mike
Morgan read the teletype dispatches
about the Astoria murders and the au-
topsy report; then returned to read
them again: Fred Sess had died of mul-
tiple compound depressed skull frac-
tures; Rescigno’s jugular vein had been
severed and he bore deep lacerations in
many other parts of the body. The
slashes were consistent with those that
could have been made with the broken
beer bottle.
SHIRTS
WITH YOUR EXACT
LONG SLEEVE LENGTH
PERFECT FIT IN your big
size! Sleeve lengths to 38,
neck sizes to 182! Ivy
League stripes, plaids, solid-
tones, whites in Sport ond
Dress styles. New wash-
and-wear fabrics! Bodies cut
4" longer than ordinary
shirts! Not sold in stores —
by mail only! We are
work shoes, boots, sox, | America’s best-known spe-
slippers. All FOR BIG | cialists for BIG MEN ONLY!
MEN ONLY! A postcard | Finest quality at sensible
Shoes, size 10AAA to _
16EEE! Fine quality in
smartest new dress
styles. Also sport and
brings you big color Cat-. | prices! Satisfaction Guaran-
alog, FREE! Write today! J teed! Write for FREE Catalog!
KING-SIZE, INC. 5100 BROCKTON. MASS.
Learn PACKAGING!
maxe to 2500% PROFITS ar some
you PACKAGE WE DO YOUR SELLING!
‘ Package products at home for nation-
hn _ wide sales force. You package bulk
items in your own home, We do your
Hy selling coast-to-coost. FREE ‘No Selling
Pian’ reveols thousands full, spare time
qa
- ‘Neo salesmen will coll,
HOME PACKAGING CO., Dept. C59B
DP 2212 E, Jesse St., Los Angeles 23, Calif.
RUPTURED
BE FREE FROM TRUSS SLAVERY
Surely you want to THROW AWAY
TRUSSES FOREVER, be rid of Rupture Wor-
ries. Then Why put up with wearing a griping,
chafing and unsanitary truss. For there is now a
new modern Non-Surgical treatment that is de-
signed to permanently correct rupture. These
Non-Surgical treatments are so certain, that a
Lifetime Certificate of Assurance is given.
Write today for our New FREE Book that
gives facts that may save you painful, expensive
surgery. Tells how non-surgically you may again
work, live, play, love and enjoy life in the man-
ner you desire. Write today—Dept. H5805
Excelsior Medical Clinic, Excelsior Springs, Mo.
PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATORS
PO Box 41197-N, Los Angeles 41, Calif 9
Helps You Overcome
FALSE TEETH
Looseness and Worry
No longer be annoyed or feel ill-at-ease be-
cause of loose, wobbly false teeth. FAS' .
an improved alkaline (non-acid) powder,
sprinkled on your plates holds them firmer so
they feel more comfortable. Avoid embarrass-
ment caused by loose plates. Get FASTEETH
at drug counters everywhere. .
NEW— POCKET SIZE INVENTION HELPS
=: HYPNOTIZE
; YOURSELF or OTHERS
IN MINUTES!
MUST WORK OR MONEY BACK!
hypnotic stunts, etc. Get the COIN, Booklet and Stand for Self
ypnosis — only $1.00 ppd. Sent in a plain wrapper. Money
back if not delighted!
HYPNOTIC-AIDS © Dept. A-51, 1133 Broadway, N.Y.C, 10
s
$ Jo — eed
63
ote
Wood said he killed another woman at this spot in 1933. At right, Elmira radio announcer
Mike Morgan, whose memory stirred when he read reports of the double murders in Queens
strangers; others: said that John and
Fred were quiet and kept to themselves.
Then there were differences of opin-
ion about the ability of the old men to
spot a phony: some acquaintances swore
they were like children; others insisted
the pensioners were shrewd judges of
character, not easy to fool, especially
since they had been around for a long
time.
So the interrogation continued, and
although people wanted the murderers
caught, the presence of police. made
them uncomfortable, because minor in-
fractions of the law might be noticed
and punished, and the presence of the
police in and out of uniform—well, it
put people on edge.
Public opinion raised its loud voice,
feature writers were carpingly critical,
but the police kept on doggedly with
their investigation until a man and wife
were found who recalled having seen
John and another man about a block
from their apartment Thursday eve-
ning. The man and wife had taken a
walk after supper, it must have been
about half-past seven, and had smiled
at Rescigno and the jolly but polite
stranger with him.
“John said hello,” the woman told the
police. “And this man said ‘good eve-
ning’ real polite and he tipped his hat
like a gentleman.”
A man who wears a hat in the sum-
mertime is one of a minority. “A hat?”
the detective prompted.
“A grayish-brown fedora,” the hus-
band said. “He was about five eight, or
nine. He wore a gray or a sort of gray-
ish-blue suit. And the fedora.”
“A felt fedora?” : ‘
“Is there any other kind?” the hus-
band asked. “Of course it was felt. My
wife liked the way he tipped it. Said I
could learn something from it.”
Why would a man wear a heavy felt
hat in the end of June? This was
unusual and narrowed down the field
of search: all thé police had to do was
search the five boroughs, among the
9,000,000 people who lived in the city
and the millions who lived in the sub-
urbs and came to the city, and find an
eccentric man who wore a felt hat in the
summertime and was polite. The man
did not live in this neighborhood, the
eager informants insisted; they had
been residing in Astoria for 25 years
and had never seen him before.
“Anything else?” they were asked.
The man and wife looked at each
other. “He had glasses with thick
lenses and horn rims,” the wife said.
The husband spoke up again. “In all
the years I’ve known Fred and John I
never saw them with anybody who
wasn’t known around here by everyone
else. Except that other night. I’ll bet it
was the guy under the hat. The one who
tipped it so politely,” he added with a
sidelong glance at his wife.
Then another woman was found who
had something to tell the police. She
lived in the same apartment house as
the slain men and had been ironing that
Thursday night when she heard a
sound, as if someone were trying to
break into the rear door that led to the
apartment hallway. Frightened, she
had called to her husband and he had
opened the door. A man, heavy-set and
wearing a battered felt fedora, his
breath redolent of wine, apologized and
ran into the alley.
While other detectives continued to
scour the neighborhood for clues and to
ask about a heavy-set stranger who
wore glasses, a grayish suit, a fedora,
and might have been drunk, Connor
and McCormick attempted to recon-
struct the events before the crime and
after. Initially puzzled at finding Sess
in undershorts and Rescigno completely
undressed, they now suggested that
both men could have slept that way
because of the summer's heat.
Although it was only 7:30 when wit-
nesses saw John with the _ polite
stranger, the officers reasoned that the
old men might have gone to Times
Square, met him there, and invited him
back to their apartment for the eve-
ning. They might have been drinking
together, then let the stranger out when
the hour grew late. But if the old men
were drunk, befuddled, the stranger
might have set the catch, and come
back later to rob them. Yet, if the old
men were drunk it would have been
easy to rob them. So why had they been
murdered? ‘
It was important to determine the
actual sum of money because it might
have been more than enough to make
murder worthwhile. Rescigno’s veter-
an’s check was for $66 dollars and Sess
had a check for $39, making $105. Wil-
liam Rescigno had advanced his brother
fifteen dollars, to be repaid later. So
between them, the old men had $120,
out of which, the detectives learned,
they had paid the month’s rent, spent
$20 for food, paid off about $30 in debts,
and bought three dollars’ worth of beer,
two bottles of inexpensive whisky and a
bottle of wine. That left the pair with
$35 or $40, no more. And six dollars
had been found in the apartment. The
conclusion became even more horrible:
someone, probably the man in a gray
fedora, had valued $30 more than the
lives of John Rescigno and Fred Sess.
Before gloom could depress them
‘further, a detective telephoned Connor
to meet him at a tavern not far from
‘the murder apartment. Connor sat at
the bar and nodded as the bartender
told him of serving a heavy-sét man in
a gray suit and felt hat a short time
after midnight. Long experience at lis-
tening to countless stories and discus-
sions and participating in them, which
a good bartender must be able to do,
made Bill Haak fluent. In pungent
A
Sar UA Sor
but graphic style he told Connor and
McCormick what had happened; the
stranger had come in after midnight,
jittery and pretty well boiled, but not
enough to be considered drunk, had
asked for several shots and tossed them
off quickly. Also, there was blood on his
shirt, which might have meant he had
been in a fight.
“You’re sure the hat and suit were
gray?” Haak was. asked. ;
Haak pursed his lips and nodded as
he mopped at the bar. “Sure. He was
about fifty, I’d say. Sort of on edge,
eyes moving behind those thick glasses.
And he wasn’t from New York.”
“He told you that?” McCormick
asked.
“Didn’t have to.” Haak explained
that the stranger had asked for direc-
tions to return to New York. Natives of
the city would have been specific, ask-
ing for Manhattan, or uptown or down-
town. “But he said New York,” Haak
was emphatic. “And when I asked him
what part he said the Bowery or any-
where around there.”
“I see,” Connor approved. “Anything
. else?”
“Mind if I say something?” a man at
the bar, listening intently, moved his
drink toward the detectives. “I was here
the night Bill spoke to the guy in the
funny get-up. Pin-stripe suit and wear-
ing a hat like a diplomat—it was gray—
but get this, with a T-shirt! But it
didn’t faze him a bit. Every time a
woman came in he tipped his hat like
he was doing a commercial on polite-
ness. But that T-shirt sure made it look
funny. And, like Bill said, there was
blood on it.”
McCormick felt his heart beat
quicken. “Anybody question him about
the blood?” he asked.
“I did,” the customer said. “And he
told me I should’ve seen the other guy.
Then he walked toward the subway.
(Continued on page 63) .
1
News of vicious assaults, murders,
came over the wire every day, so why
was Morgan so disturbed by this par-
ticular report? Could it be that it
jarred a dim recollection, nothing
much, but still it was an irritant be-
cause these murders, the autopsies, re-
minded him of—what? Why—murder
with a beer bottle! Right here in E)-
mira! But who had been murdered?
As Morgan dialed the number of the
Chemung County District Attorney’s
office, the movement of the dial stirred
his memory—Lowman, John.Lowman
—that was the victim’s name. He
cradled the phone again and headed for
the news files. He still didn’t remem-
ber the name of the convicted man,
but it had been in the news recently,
not more than two months ago, when
the killer was paroled after serving
about seventeen years.
Back at his desk Morgan pored over
the records. The crime had shocked
the people of Elmira deeply because of
the senseless reasons that had prompted
it and the senseless brutality employed
in its commission. Even now, Morgan
shuddered in sympathetic shock.
John Lowman had been a carpenter,
living and working in Elmira. One day
Lowman had made some tasteless re-
mark about a woman, and this had
been reported to her friend, Frederick
Wood. From youth through his major-
ity, Wood had had a long and active
record as a delinquent and petty crimi-
nal; charges against him included
automobile thefts, public brawls, the
molestation of women and suspicion of
other crimes, including homicide. Soon
thereafter the woman left for a visit
out of town and: Wood lured Lowman
to his rooming house, where he cracked
the carpenter’s head with a. beer bottle.
After his victim fell, Wood decided to
punish him further: he stabbed Lowman
repeatedly with a knife, hacking him
with the steel blade, then stomped on
the dead man’s head. Now, like a bright
boy who must show how cleverly he can
lift a plum from the pie, Wood hid the
body behind a sofa and when his woman
friend returned, pridefully revealed the
corpse and explained his recipe for the
revenge of her honor. The woman was
not impressed by the grisly evidence
of his regard for her good name and
reputation and shared the feeling of the
community and presiding judge, who
reg ga Wood to serve from 20 years
to life.
“For the protection of society, this
man should never be released from
prison,” was the recorded opinion of
Judge Bertram Newman.
Wood was transferred from prison to
Dannemora State Hospital, a maximum
security institution for the criminally
insane, and then was sent on to Clinton
Prison, There he adjusted to the rou-
tine, caused no trouble, and made two
applications for parole—in March, 1956,
and March, 1958—which were denied.
Undiscouraged by both negative deci-
sions, Wood made a third application,
which was opposed vigorously by Judge
Newman, who had retired from the New
York State Supreme Court, District
Attorney Paul H. McCabe of Chemung
County, and the Elmira Chief of Police,
Eugene F. Golden. Again they pointed
to Frederick Wood’s criminal past, his
proved mental instability, and the hein-
ousness of his last crime; it was their
contention that for the protection of
society, and for the protection of Fred-
erick Wood, he should not be released
from custody.
The parole board weighed the objec-
tions, evaluated them soberly, and
decided to release Frederick Wood be-
cause of the evidence of rehabilitation
which he had shown for a long period
of his incarceration. There were strong
opinions that Wood had matured, ori-
ented and aligned his sense of values to
conform with those of good society and
could become a member of such society,
which he had never been before.
However, because the resentment
against this murder was so strong in
his native city, the parole board made
64
one concession to local feeling: Wood
would be paroled on June 6, 1960, but
he would proceed to Albany, where a
job had been found for him, and he
would never return to Elmira or its en-
virons.
Now that all of this was in proper
historical alignment, Morgan remem-
bered that the silliest offense for which
Frederick Wood had been committed
earlier, was in March, 1932, when he
was sent to the Elmira Reformatory
because of public intoxication and—
annoying a woman by tipping his hat
to her again and again.
These facts were too coincidental to
be ignored, and Mike Morgan put in a
long-distance call to the New York of-
fices of the Associated Press, where he
was connected with Irish Donnélly at
the city’s bureau desk. After the usual
amenities and mention of the weather,
Morgan informed Donnelly of the El-
mira murder of 1942, and the parole in
June of the murderer.
“Maybe there’s nothing to it,” Mor-
gan added, “but the note thanking the
parole board and all—I can’t help won-
oo elgg if Wood mightn’t be in your
city.”
As soon as Donnelly thanked Morgan
and hung up, he dialed the Astoria szuad
room and luck again was on the side
of the man in the street, because -Lieu-
tenant McCormick took the call. Mc-
Cormick’'s voice trembled with grateful
excitement because the news relayed to
him coincided with their search for a
parole violator. It was an easy and
simple promise to make to Donnelly:
that he would get the first news of a
break if this tip paid off. Minutes later,
McCormick entered Henry Connor's
office and found him telephoning a
member of the parole board.
Quietly, now in calm control of his
voice, McCormick suggested that Con-
nor ask the parole official if his men had
been searching the Bowery area for
Frederick Wood, formerly of Elmira,
more recently of Clinton Prison. And
the note of excitement in Connor's
voice was excusable ‘when he was in-
formed that Frederick Wood had been
picked up the past Sunday afternoon
on the Bowery. Wood now was in the
city prison and the parole officials
agreed to be there when Otten and Mc-
Cormick would arrive to question the
parole violator.
Both men had been filled in on the
events that led to the parole, and both
men now sensed the tragedy which
would spread beyond the families and
friends of the murdered pensioners in
Astoria: for what Frederick Wood had
unwittingly done, was to crack the foun-
dation of the entire parole system for
New York State, and the shock cer-
tainly would affect the rehabilitation
organizations of other states.
HE presiding officer of the board-that
had passed on the case of, Wood was
Russell G. Oswald. Twice rejected for
parole, Wood had been in prison for
seventeen years; he. was 48, but looked
older. The man’s record was good and
the board was faced with the difficult
problem of keeping him locked away
forever in an abnormal environment, or
permitting this prematurely aged, mild-
mannered man to return to a city of
normal men.
Oswald explained that a rigid system
had been set up to supervise Wood:
liquor had been part of his problem,
so he was forbidden to have even one
social drink; he never could return to
Elmira. Violation of either of these
meant his immediate return to prison.
A laundry job had been obtained for
him, a,room in which to live was ap-
proved, and Wood was to be under the
daily care and surveillance of an as-
signed parole officer.
Within two weeks Wood had quit his
job at the laundry because his health
was poor, he could not compete with
the other workers, and seventeen con-
secutive years of imprisonment had
steeped him too deeply in institutional
habits to allow him to adjust to the
freedom of movement and decision per-
mitted him within the limits of his
parole. On June 29, Frederick Wood did
not return to his room and an agent at
a bus depot remembered selling a man
of Wood's description a ticket to New
York. For three days the investigators
of the parole office had searched the
Skid Row area of Manhattan, and‘on
Sunday afternoon he had been picked
up in a dreary flophouse.
The man Otten and McCormick inter-
rogated was not the neat man described
by the married couple and the bar-
tender: Wood appeared seedy, his gray
suit was unpressed, his T-shirt was
dirty; but he still wore the fedora, which
was grayish-brown. He did not smile
and his manner wag so mild that the
detectives wondered if the long arm of
coincidence would not trip them now,
because similarity of appearance, even
past history, never should be used alone
to charge a man with murder.
It was time to begin the interrogation,
and it ended before it began, for at the
first question asked of him—whether he
had been in Astoria the week before—
the parole violator sighed, asked for a
cigarette and confessed. According to
the police, Wood gave them the follow-
ing account:
N THURSDAY, June 30, he had left
the Bowery, where he had been able
to cadge a few drinks, and made his way
to Times Square, a good area, he had
been told, for panhandlers. There he
had approached John Rescigno, who
had listened with sympathetic concern
to Wood’s hard luck story. The old man
had given Wood some change, then de-
cided to buy him a bottle of wine, and
he agreed to the old man’s friendly
suggestion that they go somewhere to
drink and talk. They had taken the
subway to Union Square. After they
finished the wine in the little park,
Wood mentioned that he would have to
use a bench as a bed. Touched by the
helplessness of the neat, mild stranger
who wore a hat like a gentleman, John
Rescigno invited him to spend the night
at the Astoria flat.
It was Wood’s plan to rob his bene-
factor, but Sess was in the apartment
when they arrived. Therefore Wood
decided to be patient.
At this point in the narration, Detec-
tive, Otten reached out to remove
Wood's fedora, and Wood clamped down
on his tongue.
“Give me my hat,” he demanded. “I
like to wear it. In prison, they don’t
let you have one.”
The hat fixed firmly on his head,
Wood continued. The three men had
sat around talking, drinking, until
Rescigno, benefactor and host, said
something that had enraged Wood. But
Wood didn’t disclose exactly what.
“He sealed his fate when he did that,”
police quoted Wood as saying then.
“I picked up the beer bottle and let
him have it on the head. He fell on the
bed. He gave me no argument. The
bottle broke in my hand. I hacked away
at him with the broken glass. I knew he
was dead and I chopped him up some
more with my knife.”
The recital of horror, authorities say,
continued calmly, related in a flat, un-
emotional voice. Wood insisted that he
found only two dollars. Disappointed,
because he had figured that the old man
had a big roll, he searched the other
room of the little apartment.
When the disturbance awakened Sess,
it was for the last time, for Wood
cracked his head with the coal shovel,
then smashed a beer bottle on the
broken skull. After all that, he had
beaten him with the chair. On his way
out he had become momentarily lost
and stumbled against:a door. When it
had been opened by a man who told him
to get out, he had done so and gone on
to a bar for several drinks to steady
himself.
“What about the notes you wrote?”
Wood was asked.
He thought for a moment. “Oh, yes,
I forgot. I cut my hand and went into
the kitchen to wash it. Then I saw
some paper and decided to write them.
Don’t ask me why. I guess I have a
flair for the dramatic.”
Police thought it was all over, but
Wood hadn't finished.
Now, authorities say, he boasted of
the murder of John Lowman seventeen
years earlier, then told of two other
murders he had committed. According
to the police, he claimed to have killed
a woman in 1933 and a young girl a
few years before.
“I followed a woman from a street
car in Elmira and I had a sudden urge
which prompted me to hit her with an
iron bar I was carrying,” police further
quoted Wood. “Then I took out my
knife and stabbed her a lot of times.”
Later, he told the officers, he read
newspaper accounts of the murder and
learned that the woman’s name wast
Pear] Robinson.
A few years before, according to the
Official version of his story, he had be-
come angry with a young girl he was
dating and had put arsenic in some
cream puffs which she ate. He said he
hated women because he once “caught
a disease and had to get revenge.”
Elmira authorities reported that
Wood had been questioned during the
investigation of the murder of Pearl
Robinson in 1933, but he had been re-
leased. ‘The woman had been slashed
142 times in one of the most vicious
crimes in the upstate area’s history.:
Wood was arraigned immediately and
ordered sent to Kings County Hospital
for observation and mental examina-
tions. Meanwhile, handwriting experts
stated that the taunting notes could
have been written by Wood; witnesses
identified him as the man they had
seen near the apartment the night of
the slaying.
On July 13, 1950, a Grand Jury lis-
tened to the testimony and returned an
indictment, charging Frederick Wood
on two counts of first-degree murder
for the slaying of Rescigno and Sess.
THE final act of the drama of Frederick
Wood will be written at his trial,
which was pending when this issue of
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES Magazine
went to press. The impact of the case
on the whole parole situation in New
York State is only beginning to be felt.
In the past 20 years, the New York
penal system has undergone vast
changes. Prisons are administered
according to the most enlightened con-
cepts. Men within their walls can look
forward to learning a trade, receiving
education through high school, psychi-
atric orientation and hope through
parole.
Now, in the light of the Wood case,
the question was asked; Where had the
system failed? Because he wanted to
know, Governor Nelson Rockefeller
called upon the state’s parole chairman
for a full report on the case of Fred-
erick Wood and temporarily banned all
paroles of murderers and sex offenders
pending revision of procedures.
Then, on July 25, Governor Rocke-
feller issued an executive order, direct-
ing the State Parole Board and the
State Departments of Mental Hygiene
and Correction to establish special psy-
chiatric tests for murderers and sex
criminals who were under consideration
for parole. He ordered that appropriate
Staffs of psychiatric experts be pro-
vided at Sing Sing and Attica prisons,
and that all persons convicted of seri-
ous crimes, or who have been confined
in institutions for the criminally insane,
be transferred to either Sing Sing or
Attica for intensive mental studies be-
fore the Parole Board acts on their
petitions for release. ©
All those concerned admit that the
release of Frederick Wood was a tragic
mistake. However, Parole Board figures
show that of 357 killers paroled from
1950 through 1959, none committed
another homicide and 279 of them have
not been in serious trouble. They hope
that out of the brutal deaths of two
harmless old men will come an even
more successful system for rehabili-
tating deserving prisoners and, at the
same time, safeguarding the public.
Caper
hour after Mrs. Bussey’s car, with her
body in it, had been seen being parked
where it was found.
“If Schwensen is telling us a straight
story, that cuts another half hour from
the time,” Shields said. “It leaves. us
just five and a half hours unaccounted
for.”
It appeared likely now that Mrs.
Bussey had driven to her home and had
been getting out of her car when she
was accosted by someone who had
forced her to drive out in the country
and later had abandoned the car with
the body in it.
“Try to get a line on that drunk at
the cocktail lounge, just in case he
trailed her,” Shields told Nelson. “And
let’s make another thorough canvass
around the neighborhood where Mrs.
Bussey lived. If a prowler grabbed her
maybe someone saw him.”
Blaszak and Sims reported in that
they had checked with the school
teacher who had picked up Schwensen
at 6:30 on Monday morning, the
eighteenth. They had driven to the
rural school, where Schwensen had
spent the day observing classroom in-
struction.
The pathological examination of the
body continued. Coroner Smith re-
ported that additional medical exam-
iners had confirmed the findings of
Doctor Lehman that Mrs. Bussey had
died as the result of an embolus. The
fatal air bubble had entered her blood
stream from an internal organ. They
also confirmed that death very likely
had taken place within ten to fifteen
minutes after the bubble entered the
blood stream.
“It’s beginning to fit into a pattern,”
Shields said. “The woman was forced to
drive someplace out of town, onto a
country road or some field, where the
car was damaged. During an assault,
the air bubble entered her blood stream.
Whoever did it may have figured at first
that she merely passed out. Then, when
he discovered she was dead, he just left
her in the car.”
“But why drive the body and the car
back into town?”
Shields pointed out that the answer
was obvious. The person wanted to re-
turn to town. He had left the car in a
suburban area where he could get pub-
lic transportation.
“Have you inquired about any cabs
called to that area on Monday morn-
ing?” Shields asked. ‘
Hoff nodded. ‘That's one of the first
things we did. And checking the buses
won’t give us much, because the car
wasn’t parked there until six o’clock in
the morning and the public transporta
tion from out there gets pretty he
at that time of day. Without a dd@rn
good description, and right now \we
haven't any kind of a description,
couldn’t expect a bus driver to remem>
ber who he picked up.”
It looked as if the investigation was
pretty well stymied, unless the officers
could find some kind of a new lead or
get some kind of a break. The fact that
the body had remained undiscovered
for a week gave the person who had
abandoned the car plenty of time to
cover his tracks, and it also dimmed the
memory of anyone who might have seen
him.
The following day Schwensen called
Shields and angrily protested that
newspaper reporters had located him
and insisted upon having his picture.
“It’s a lousy break for me because peo-
ple are going to remember it and it may
hinder my chances of getting a job
teaching school,” Schwensen said. “I
don’t know why I have to become in-
volved in this thing.”
Shields told him he was sorry the
newsmen had bothered him. However,
when Schwensen continued to be
abusive about it, Shields snapped back:
“You were the one who went into the,
bar, and you were the one who had her
drive you home. If you don’t want it
known that you go to cocktail bars, then
the only answer is to stay out of them.”
The investigators were unable to lo-
cate anyone in the area of the Bussey
as
residence who recalled having seen any-
one prowling around on Sunday night or
early Monday morning. They had no
more luck locating the drunk who had
bothered Mrs. Bussey.
A fingerprint examination of the car
hadn’t given the lab crew anything.
And the soil test of the mud found on
the undercarriage of the vehicle had
placed it only as being in the lowland
section around Portland.
The case almost had come to a com-
plete halt, as far as any new informa-
The girl explained that on the night
of July 13 she had been in bed, asleep,
when a man broke into her apartment.
She had resisted his advances and he
had slugged her with a pistol.
A police report had been made on the
attempted assault at the time. The girl
had told the investigating officers that
the man had beaten her repeatedly, for
almost half an hour. Finally, she had
pleaded with him that she was losing
so much blood from the wounds on her
head that she might die. He had prom-
service-station attendant.
Up to the Minute
T= confession of a jobless machinist in Saugus, Massachusetts,
has cleared two youths who have been under indictment for the
Palm Sunday slaying of Philip A. DeVlaminck, a 22-year-old
At one time, Stephen A. Dobson, eighteen, told police that he
and his friend, nineteen-year-old James P. Hornbraye, had shot
DeVlaminck. Hornbraye consistently had denied any knowledge of
the crime. Murder indictments against the two youths, both of
Boston, were dropped when Frank G. MacEwen, Jr., 35, confessed
to the killing after police found the death weapon in his car. Judge
Robert Sullivan accepted MacEwen’s plea of guilty to a man-
slaughter charge and has sentenced him to nineteen to 20 years in
the state prison.
The investigation which led to the arrest of Dobson and Horn-
braye was described in the August, 1961, issue of OFFICIAL
DETECTIVE STORIES Magazine under the title “The Tab Was
Paid with Hot Lead.”
June, 1961).
Parole,” November, 1960).
rvisory teacher at the
attende i)
work which led to Jones’ arres'
ECAUSE he said he “didn’t want to have to buy Christmas
cards,” James Kendrick refused any last legal appeals and
asked for an early execution in San Quentin’s gas chamber. The
State cooperated and Kendrick, convicted of the slaying of Cali-
fornia Highway Patrolman Richard Duvall, 26, was put to death
on November 3 (“I’ve Got a Hot One,” June, 1960).
Two other California cop killers also face death in the gas
chamber. Donald F. Ketchel, 23, and Thomas E. Sears, nineteen,
have been convicted of slaying Monterey Park Officer George
Elder. Sears’ older brother, H. B. Sears, 26, the driver of the get-
away car for the holdup attempt which ended in the shooting
of Elder, has been sentenced to life imprisonment (“Even When
a Cop’s Off Duty,” November, 1961).
WO convicted killers in New York also are to die for their crimes.
is by a jury which failed to reco!
ng the death sentence mandatory unless an
cessful (‘‘I Identified Little Googie’s Killer,”
A Queens County jury also failed to recommend leniency for
Frederick Charles Wood, paroled killer who admitted the bludgeon
slaying of two elderly Astoria, Long Island, men who had befriended
him, Frederick Sess and John Rescigno (‘‘The Case That Changed
N CHICAGO, fourteen-year-old Lee Arthur Hester has been E
convicted of the fatal stabbing of Mrs. Josephine Keane, 45, a 2 at
me of 6,000,”” August, 1961).
JURY in Madison County, Missouri, has imposed a sentence of
99 years in prison on Jewell E. Jones, who was found guilty of
the murder of eleven-year-old /Paul Dean White. The detective
( was described under the title, “It
Always Goes Back to the Carnival,” in the December, 1961, issue.
-slaying of
tion was concerned, when a young
woman appeared at Headquarters and
asked to see “one of the detectives in
charge of the bubble slaying.” She was
sent into Shields’ office, where Nelson
and Hoff were present.
“I’ve been debating with myself for
almost two days as to whether I should
come in and see you or not,” the girl
announced. “I wanted to forget about
it, but I finally realized that I had to
come in. If that man remains at large,
then the same thing could happen to
someone else.”
“I don’t quite follow you,” Shields
said. “What man do you mean?”
“The man who tried to attack me.”
ised to take her to a hospital. She had
managed to flee from him and had run
all the way to the hospital, where she
had been confined for nearly two weeks
with multiple lacerations and two
severe fractures of the skull. .
“Now, what man are you talking
about?” Shields asked.
“This man,” the girl declared, pro-
ducing a copy of the Portland Journal
with a photograph of Richard Schwen-
sen.
“Are you positive?”
“I’m positive,” the girl answered.
“Tll never forget that face.”
Shields sent detectives to bring
Schwensen in to Headquarters. He was
placed in a police line-up and Shields
claimed that the girl identified the col-
lege student as the man who had
slugged and attempted to assault her.
In a face-to-face meeting, Shields
claimed that the girl had told Schwen-
sen: “You are the man!”
“You're crazy,’"’ Schwensen pro-
tested. “I never saw you in my life
before.”
“Go out to his apartment and see
what you can find,” Shields told Hoff,
Blaszak and Jackson. “Maybe we can
locate some physical evidence.”
The detectives claimed that they
found four shotguns, two pistols, two
pairs of binoculars, cameras and radios,
which Schwensen allegedly later ad-
mitted he had taken in six burglaries
and two car prowlings during the past
year and a half.
Shields claimed that one of the pistols
located in Schwensen’s apartment had
a bent trigger guard and there was dried
blood still adhering to it. It was a
weapon identical to the one the girl had
described which the attacker had used
to beat her over the head.
Confronted with this evidence.
Schwensen allegedly admitted the at-
tempted assault upon the girl. He
then was questioned about the death of
Mrs. Bussey.
Shields claimed that Schwensen
changed the story he originally had told
the investigators. He allegedly told
them that Mrs. Bussey became ill when
they left the cocktail lounge. He had
offered to drive the car and, while she
was unconscious, he had driven it out
into the country and parked it in a
field, where he had assaulted the un-
conscious victim.
“T’ll admit it, but you’ve got to get
one thing straight,” Schwensen was
quoted by Shields as saying. “She was
a good woman. She didn’t know what
was happening. When she offered to
give me a ride home, it was because I
chased away that other guy who was
trying to bother her and she knew I was
studying to become a schoolteacher
. She thought she could trust me. You've
got to get it right in the newspapers
that she was a real nice lady.”
According to Shields, Schwensen al-
legedly became stuck in the fleld and
then had difficulty getting the car back
on the road, which caused the damage
to the tire and undercarriage of the
automobile. When he drove back to
wn, he discovered that Mrs. Bussey
dead.
didn’t know what to do,”’ Schwen-
to/where she was found, and got back
_4t0 my place in time to meet the teacher
who picked me up.”
N AN interview with newsmen.
Schwensen allegedly told them: “I
figured I was going to get away with it.
that’s why I called the police and told
them that Mrs. Bussey had been in the
cocktail lounge. I figured my alibi was
pretty good, but when you guys took
my picture, I knew I was finished. I
was afraid that girl would spot me, and
she did.”
Deputy District Attorney Oscar D
Howlett filed charges of assault with
attempt to rape against Schwensen for
the attack upon the girl.
On December 1 the grand jury heard
the evidence against Schwensen in the
death of Mrs. Bussey and returned an
indictment charging him with first-de-
gree murder. District Attorney Howlett
said the state contends that the fatal
air bubble entered the victim’s blood
stream during the commission of 4
felony, rape or attempted rape.
At the time this issue of OFFICIAL
DETECTIVE STORIES Magazine went to
press, Schwensen was being held
without bail pending trial on the
charge.
The tavern name, Sam’s Clam, is fic-
titious in this story.
: ah sis
‘ ower eey
4, 280 the train reached
ty; the crowd
f wit
a of witnesses
At noon the
Wal crowa
4 here was a long wait.
It Was & tow minutes after 1:90 When
intl, | C. Stout gave the word
» to. those Who had invitations and had
be: off on the official iat by
In the main
line was formed,
Witncises falling tn two abreast,
.. Watdet, the line moved at a sharp walk
to the basement, along a
short cortidor, left wheel in,
into the death map ay
conmipanytng illustration.
section of
vercons allowed
erection took thelr placeg,
The west ena of the room was taken
up with the electrical Switch board
and the executioner's box or elnset.
The chair, into which “Dink’ Wilson
was to be strapped and killed,
& little to the west of the center of the
foom.
Srma and back to bing the unfortu-
nate victim of electrucution.
of the spectators
When the witnesses had taken their
Keats, Warden Stout raised his hand
for silence, and in a Clear and Impress
sive tone sald:
“Gentlemen:
' how turti on the
that the chair
working order.
tetain your seats
tjiilet.’’
There was no oppressive stillness Jn
the room.
The eléctrician will
bower and show you
and apparatus is, in
After that you wit
and“temain berfectly
ti a low buss of conversation. On the
#eat of the chair was attached a row
fastened ty a
board, and as the electrician turned
' the awitch these lights flashed wut
Was repeated
well satisfied
that the chalr was feady for its vic.
tin.
At # signal from the Warden,
sistant Warden Shaw stepped to
door on the south side
fapped.
Aa-
the
of the room and
the Prison
Who had
in ore passed
ey could until mid.
¥; the tine set tor the satisfaction of
Office of the wap.
ed, Many who had not
,, arsed findltig entrance to the
by a uniformed + keeper and the
?
8 = Za
|
| or
9 a
8 8
1. Bpace for spectators,
Chaltr.
Hlectrical switch: board.
Executioner's box.
Warden, |
Pleetrician.
Dr. Totinah.
*3aistant Warden Shaw,
Prison Physician Bawyer,
So 98 MA SD we co 80
the Syracuse jail is in no Way con-
nected with the case, In no way what-
ever. He is perfectly Innocent of the
charge."
All this was sald while the keepers
were strapping ‘Dink's” arma and legs
to the chalr. There was a slit in the
right leg of the trousers, and to this
one electrode was applied. The clr-
cult wags completed by another elec.
.trode applied to the head.
As the keepers put on the leather
which fastened the electrode to the
head, “Dink” spoke again and said:
“{ have made a written statement
which Is in the hands of my attorney
and which ts true in every sense of
the word.”
That was all. Those words were the
last words Which Lucius k. Wilson
evert spoke. Before the task ecom-
pletely covered his face he recognized
Sheriff Hoxsie and Keeper McNaugh-
ton In the crowd and bowed to them.
Hardly had the last word been
Spoken when the warden gave the sisr-
hal to the electrician by a Slinple nord
of the head, the curtent was turned on
and the body straightened up in the
chair.
As the 1680 volts of electricity passed
through the body the hates gripped
the arms of the chair and for five sev-
onds the body remained tigtd. Then
the voltage was reduced tu 200 and In-
stantly run up to 1400 volts, followed
quickly by a reduction tu 160) volts,
As each charge was made the holy
trembled.
The right knee of the electrocuted
criminal was free and an the changes
In voltage were made ft moved from
side ty side. A deathly patior came
over the face, the lips parted, and as
the current was turned off the dend
body—for “Dink” Wilnon was dead—
almost collapsed.
Prison Phystelan ‘sawyer stepper]
quickly forward and as the keeper re-
tnoved Wilson's collar and Mpped open
the front of his shirt applied his ear to
_ bat tap wae given at exactly 12:39,
ae A We
4
the region of the heart, He shouk his
tT 6 06d Va, 5 2 ~ dO, B
real name being Charley F, Wilson, aj
is my brother, who tg jointly indie
with me for the Killing of Mr. ames Ha
vey, Is entirely innocent of any conne
tion with sald Mr, James Harvey's deat
He Is not the man with me at the tin
sald James Harvey met hig death,
L. A. WILSON,
has caused mu
Did “Dink,” knowing th
he must die himself, take the opporty
nity to say a good word for his broth
er, which, although not admisaible a
evidence In the trial, could not fall t
have sume effect on the case of thi
younger man, jointly indicted wit!
“Dink” for the crime? This met many
hellevers, But would a man in hh
last breath, knowing that he had bu
&@ moment to Iive, tell a deliberat
falsehood,
This statement
discussion,
the
“Dink
wrote another letter yester.
day,
as follows;
Chief of Police Charles RR. Wright:
person at the time of my arrest to m
brother, Frank L.
everything,
L. H. WILSON.
person outside of the guna,
caliber Colt revolver,
Smith & Wessun.
Tu his brother, Frank,
dressed the fullowing:
sary, and send trinkets to the folks.
L. R. WILSON.
Among these trinkets are
Ivory sleeve buttons and a pair o
Germart silver cuff holders, taken from
him when he entered the prison.
Tu the warden and prison officials,
“Dink sent the fullowing:
Auburn, N. ¥., May 14, 1894,
Hefore my death, | wish to thank the
Agent and Warden Jatnes C. Stuut, and
Deputy Warden Mr. William C. Shaw,
for their unifurm consideration and kind-
ness tuward me. 1 also wish to thank
iny keepers, Mr. Dantet MacNaughton
and Mr. George Main, for thelr iInany
and iinvarying acts of hindness, ‘They
hive treated me in a manner deserving
of the highest degtee of tespect a taed
whieh f freely tender thet,
I desire to express ny sincere thanks to
Mr. Stout's fainily for tiutmerous kind
acts,
My attorneys, Judge John D, Teller and
Mr. 1), Nathnntet MacNaughton, t wish
to slneerely thank for thelr untiring and
fealuus efforts in my behalf, which are
deserving of the highest praise and f re-
atest my family to see they have a
proper compensation for thelf services,
can only express
fiaty ever attend them
I. KR. WILSON,
whe had any connection with
Uncomnuntivative prisoner
thuught he wuuld make,
even to help a brother’
This was doubted by many, and there
discussion on the statement rests!
Auburn, N. Y¥., May 14, 1894, ;
Please deliver all articles found on m
Wilson, guna and
There was not much found on his
a large 4-
and a 93-caliber
“Dink” ad-
Frank—Take things as cool as possible
and try not tu grieve more than necess'
a palr off
{
tiny earnest desire fi
that good fortune, health and pleasure }
each throwush tHfe. |
This was all “Hint wrote, but ft |
wie a erent deal more than any ote |)
the cold, [
ever |};
(sACUSE COURIER, TUESDAY, MAY. 15, 1804,
y Dr.
le his
ad in
lot
‘a
sign
shyst-
dead,
jesses
rward
feeper
ink's”
i been
r, the
id five
have
min-
inute
1680
cient
etive
ace of
s vere
id.af-
n the
most
a this
» and
9
THE MURDERER’S BRAIN.
Larger Than the Average-The Left
Kidney a Foature of the Autopay.
When the physician had pronounced
the murderer dead and the twenty-
four witnesses had examined the body
to their own satisfaction, they were led
to the Warden's office and signed the
certificate as prescribed by law. Those
who certified that they.had witnessed
the electrocution were: H. D. Peck,
Frank BE. Maine, F. H. Parker, FE. W.
Gardiner, BE. D. Parker, FE. H. O'Hara,
Charles M. Fesenmeyer, B. M. Wilcox,
John C. Kratz, William Quinn, William
O'Brien, Louis F, La Pointe, John A.
Hoxsie, George W. Standen, James
Sheppard, E. O. Murphy, Joxeph F.
Tebeau, A. G. Waler, Charles G. Miller,
D. M. Totman, D. Colvin, L. 8. Wilson,
Walter J. Werfelman, and Martin A.
Hanlon.
Following this came the autopsy, an
important event succeeding every elec-
trocution. The post-mortem was per-
formed in the same room that the exe-
cution took place, and was perfcrmed
by Dr. W. 8. Cheeseman of Auburn,
assisted by Sedgwick Austin, also of
the Prison City. Dr. Totman of this
city kept the record, and several other
physicians assisted in various ways.
“Dink's” brain was found to be sev-
eral ounces larger than the average,
showing that he was a man of no ordi-
nary intelligence. But the feature of
the autopsy was in the location of one
of the kidneys in the pelvic cavity, an
unprecedented case. One kidney,
which was in the right location,
welghed ten ounces, while the other,
which was in such an unusual position,
welghed but three and one-half ounces,
and still was apparently normal and in
a healthy condition.
The official report of the physiclan
was made out by Dr. Totman and
signed by all the others. .
The physicians certify that they
made the autopsy in accordance with
the law, and that Lucius R. Wilson
was duly executed by passing a cur-
rent of electricity through the body.
The resulta of the autopsy are given
as follows:
“Rigor mortis, absent; body well de-
veloped; mustular; marks of burning
on right leg, just below the left side
of the knee; no other marks except a
scar on posterior part of right leg,
from a bullet wound; heart distended
with dark fluid; heart action stopped
in diastole, some small clots in right
ventricle; valves of right heart nor-
mal; also valve of left side normal;
weight of heart, 19 8-4 ounces; lungs
normal; no adhesion of pleural mem-
branes; Hver formal, weight four
pounds siz: ounces; right kidney ten
ounces, left kidney found in pelvic cav-
ity behind the peritinition, weight
three and one-half ounces, flattened
and distorted; capsul in either kidney
nonh-adherent; stomach partly filled
with semt!-fulde: infestines normal; no
ette dropped from his fingers and with
the coolness of a man who was in no
danger of death he said to Keeper
Patterson:
“Pick that up, will you?"
How much. the man. appreciated
what he was saying can never be told.
He was laboring under a great ner-
vous strain and hardly” appreciated
the meaning of hia request. It would
have been amusing, If It had not been
tragic—this man who was dead the
next minute asking that a half-smoked
Cigarette be restored to him.
A SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION.
(pink) Wilson Was Sent from Life
ta Death in a Second,
That the electrocution yesterday
was a complete success no one who
witnessed it could or did doubt for a
moment. Only one contact was neces-
sary, the current remaining on one
minute, and “Dink"’ Wilson, who shot
down Detective Harvey in cold blood
on Water street July 31 last was put
to death tn as quick and humane a
way as human mind can conceive.
There were those in the audience
who had never before seen an electro-
cution and all of them were astound-
ed at the quickness and ease with
which a strong vigorous man was
killed.
Electrician E. F. Davis was well
satisfied with the working of the ap-
paratus and the electrocution from be-
ginning to end. ;
“Ig not this the most successful one
ever held In the State?” he was asked.
“No,” he answered, “all of the re-
cent electrocutions have been thor-
oughly successful. Of course acci-
dents may happen at times.
“We are dealing with two unknown
quantities, life and electricity, and just
what {s going to happen no one can
foretell.”’
“Was there & man in that execution-
er’s box?" was asked in pursuance of
rumors to the contrary.
“Why, certainly,” the State Electri-
clan replied. “He and I were separated
by a one-inch board, that’s all. A cord
passed through the board, and with it
1 give him the signal. Then he throws
on his switch and that sends the cur-
rent to the chair. That ends his work,
and from that time on I have full con-
trol of the current through this switch
board."
“What Is your idea of the advantages
of a central electrical station at one
prison, where all electrocutions for the
State can be performed?” was asked.
“That is @ good plan,” he replied.
“tt's the only way. These temporary
arrangements are not good."
“Blow many electrocutions have you
had since the passage of the law?"
“Twenty-three. Six here in Auburn,
thirteen fn Sing Sing, and four at Dan-
nemora. And Carlyle Harris was the
worst one of the whole lot,” added the
electrician.
CP -. af? basses Haq sha tases antinion
table block he stepped between them
and told them they were wanted at
the police station.
When nearly in front of the old
News office the smaller of the two,
who was afterward = identified as
Charles Wilson, attempted to trip the
detective up, and at the same time hit |
him on the forehad with the butt end
of a revolver.
Then Lucius, allas “Dink” Wilson,
drew hia revolver, and taking quick
aim, sent a 44-calibre bullet crushing
through Harvey's brain. The _ blood
spurted like a stream from a fountain,
for the ball went completely through
his head, and he fell with a groan.
Several bystanders rushed to his side
and heard him murmer, “Lord have
mercy on my soul,” as he breathed his
last.
Over the Warren street bridge the
pair dashed and at a distance five or
six men pursued them crying ‘“mur-
der! murder!” In the van of the pur-
suers was “Dick” Malone, an eye wit-
ness to the shooting. At the corner of
Warren and James streets the two
separated. “Dink” ran down North
Warren street, while his brother,
Charles, went down Robbers’ Row
almost unheeded. He ran to North
Salina street, crossed over to I. H.
Brounstein’s clothing store, there
bought a pair of socks and went out
the back door. That’ was the last that
was seen of him.
“Dink,” the murderer, crossed over
Willow street bridge. Between Willow
street and Union place he was seen
going into & yard on the north side.
He jumped the fences and came out on
Lock street. But this taetic was ex-
pected and the chase continued west
on Lock street. At Union place the
man turned south again and ran to
Pearl. He continued on westward,
nearly to the middle of the block and
then again turned in. Malone was
behind him how and he shouted back
to the officers, Fessenmeyer, Winter
and Larrabee, who had pressed a de-
livery wagon into service and who had
been lashing the horges in a frantic
endeavor to keep up with the race.
Malone located the fugitive in thé
yard of 113 Lock street, back of the
premises occupled by Mrs. Ida Har-
tington. “Dink” was found crouching
under & back porch. Officer Fessern-
meyer instantly covered him with &
fevolver and compelled him to throw
up his hands. The murderer at first
started to reach for his gun, but when
he saw that the officer had the drop on
him he put his hands above his head
without wasting any time. Then Offi-
cers Lartabee and Winter seized him
and disarmed him, and with the help
of Malone, who shoved him from be-
hind, they dragged him to the street
and loaded him on 4@ cart.
Wilson was taken to the police of-
fice and to the chiet'’s private cetié.
He seemed strangely oblivious of the
terrible ctime which he had commit-
ted. He did not for * moment treatise
* a & <ARte-ciortem Siatomens He De- “You aa oe - = the verge of ‘hystes«i
ria,” arimiy ‘put in Mr.
image. + Clares His Brother Innocent. generat laugh, in which Mr. Brooke,. pees
a, and that, ‘AUBURN, N. ty May 14.—Luctus R. Whe |-- This-.joke seemed too much: gor Recorder =
n which an |_80N was executed N@re to-day by electricity Smyth, who adjourned court a3 soon as; Dr
n this piat- | for killing Detective. Harvey th Herold's testimony was concluded. < af VRE
Ye. a. , | jast July.! Wilsons brother, Charles, is in fa
terday. All | to his igrother’a in the Harvey murder. The | Mrs, Gustave Kaufmann of 114 Bergen.~
irged about | State's, theory is that’ the brothers were | Street, *Brooklyn, who is: suffering from
ed all. day | acting %M concert, and that though but one | temporary insanity, called at Mayor Schie--%
duty throw- ; shot was fired both were fairly chargeable | ren’s ‘home, 405 Clinton Avenue, and told =
ruins of. the | with the crime. . him ‘her child ‘had been poisoned. ‘She-*
m ce
eas
gait stand® | against this theory will now .be opposed | acted so pecullarly that the Mayor sent for
while the | the ante-mortem statement of. the brother A ge erie sail so ord eet
Regent pfe- | eXecuted to-day. The statement was written a claimed that-it had b y . pl :
Fynat Shad’ | out (his morning, two hours before the exe- | Shed’ She told the Charities Commissioner 7
f New-York | cution. It: is as follows: that she knew the baby had been poisoned ~~
a. were busy I desire to make as my dying statement, aa ere =
portions of } follows: That Charlie F. Wilson, otherwise oe ae olue.. Her ‘husband, re
‘ ome. ‘
high in the {| known as George Calhoun, his reat name being took her -h : nn eae
over at any j} Chariie F.. Wilson, and !s my brother, who ts =
"1 Jointly indfcted with me for the killing of Mr. Seven of Her Crew Drowned.; ~~.
. James Harvey, is entirely innocent of any con- = mall =
sso terest nection with. said Mr. James Harvey’s path, BUENOS AYRES, May 14.—The small --
-Hampshire, | 7¢ is aot ‘the man with me.at the time aaid | Argentine steamer Thyra, carrying 350;tons =
rR Iphia, 34,000: |—~2mes Harvey met his death. of wheat, was In collision three days: ago =
acturers ‘and | The substance.of this statement was-re- | with the Italian steamer: Remo from Genca + -
eN ‘tral Lioyd’s, , Deated inithe death chamber while Wilson | at San Pedro, Rio Grande do Sul. ; The -.
‘ 2,500; North | Sat there,:; cigarette in handy waiting to be | Thyra went down. almost immediately,,and ,
a Stuyvesant, j Strapped so the chair. seven of her crew were drowned. > ge Ee
34.250: South The crime for which Wilson's life was for PN
$5,000; Em- | feited tock piace Detective +4
ted @
eraey City, | 3rTest two men whom he suspected as ure KINGSTON, N. Y., May 14.—The brickyard |
° weYor? lars, They walked along quietly with him: . 7
Pal Lay unthh within 200 feet of the police: station, | St iers bave formed an association and are.
| { nix of Lon- | Taen, sucdenly, one of the men hit the de- | enrolling all the men. Work was resumed at ~-
5,000; Will- | tective inthe head with the butt of his re- | two or three yards this morming, but jat 3.
volver, and the other shot him tn the head. o'clock the men left again on seeing about Soo -
Uy “gau, 32.500; | James Harvey of Syracuse undertook to sfingston Brickmakers Crsanized. -
a" was insured | The detective was Hilled instantly. The | strikers, who were making a tour of the yards
' campanies | Men ran, and a block away separated. Lu- approaching. No intimidation was used, for the
oyds, 32.000; | clus R. Wauson, or “ Dink’ Wilson, a3 he } men stepped work at once. yf in
siand Cor- ; Waa better. spown, ‘as under arrest within | NEWBURG, N. Y., May 14.—There is a strike — 1
‘ich, $1,000, | ten. minutes, but. the brother, Charles, was.j in progress among the brickyard men at Roseton. ~ -
é imnltura wag} 20t captured until aug. 34. - °° toss | and Danakaamer in the yards-of J..B. Rose"&. =
\ Hampshire ; a : — oak — J. pele delegation pa ess
Pavadeiphia |. ‘ea, : 2" ami - -e ss ou. b Btrikers Kings am them last ‘week, ——
S= coin Kip ». Strikes Sorced Workers.ta Leave, and without notices the men went out to-day. =
e2cnh, making .j. PITTSBURG; ‘May /$14.—I itty’ laborers emploped Some preferred to remain at their places, but the oo
say they will shut dewn thair yarca for the sag--.
sand
“fot as Z
rent iey ‘sy & reduction in j Son. rather than inoreare wages. The markst ‘fe*23
> .sertath wil See aa ae full. of bricks, m .the- damand ueaiet. a ony bee
ieee oe g > : poor, a8 SS Turi ; = oT : < Ae
I. BF ace gists he. wortingiaen say. they ist nis:
BASa8 ay.
1S aay { Bs
3 J * ae 5. yw coe © 5
"Bass wt TR ae tt ?
= se - Pad
oo ts Fg meee ea et Rhee te ga
Sh, ee ep ee A me > Thee a 3
eek | ae ES Vere *
ak ae Rs hace " Kings 1
Tang EE eer gear aR SA
3 pat =i i os yen
4
so
eS Migs car
3 mt. ahs] :
Pee el he tere Fey |
Wil
y
ng
he
; <a C ia pass
increas, §322,009;-
“{Increass,’ $348,002: .
crease, $57,000; de- RIGH
00, and circulatfoy,
. } c-
Be pea 2 ge Bae a aN Aye
ae eo et eS
° E ae ab Ss f
co 5
+2 mgt tet.
er 08
DY. HARNETT
ro oo a BANKS. =. 2.) Sigg
=e : ar wr: yo , 4 °:} CLEARING HOUSE HANES i Taw Soe
A HENRY W, DONALD, Austionser,: ‘dowing Ust are arranged ta tho sxdae oes
nee, 30 Broad Stree “he ; , Association number, lo ee Py peels
vices as fuillgws: x.y | Dao . ode a
Ian A tant, tt Sata
Rb ae 4 eet Soong
a ee " fait tas shai ne oe
mes a RLS
ee .
Doth. | ct a AAI BWAAAG aftacnen
pie “pie Wale Re ui i A He Meare tana saath wiih
VACS Ct MAR
maa ei vz
i A a Nea EABY, " i ee
Fi we Fe Ney, WR na. + had Ch Aber a
23 $0. Atle ¢ § he he
aka i igh ea PABA i vn ee wha ne its a tan of Ne mh Went ah ba 2 a iow
Pe imah Ame tyls il sfepined AF bin eothes's drat: aw 19. a ia e00cehe Ae lark ‘4
Ay tf FS WASY mn of his ra ye a AAPA The BAKA WHROMS Bevdg @ Aaa ; BATRA arn Wie 8 aaa
BRP vt \ 90 and pyaaiply BIS ayy tie ey Pe tie wie he aereard gather (eqs: | ARANBAE WHO wae Gt ABA VE
i broke Hh Ane Saal Af i gg pate ‘ tha it RARE whe a Wie | RE, ns 4 4 Pil ae iS val 15
malts RS ni CAA ARBRE CRATE” Waa VRe fe a ‘ Ait ener iy a ue Wad to” Gin the eh a the, 2 \ Or
amd De cant ach of ‘ SeRhe ; ay wh te ne Favawe”) Wwe a ices
he mis | ait aha aves Bia Faas als ss Fer * mM Al ee ah i \ cane
ia ani 7 hy eh ihe iat
#
. avi wt ct a ie hak re Sante
4 ef
yeh tne sehen ot Wi ty ret Aad tne Pane : f
ve aN a itien ae a a i] “hs Hy a Pua i Se a hd A ia
RRB [oer tera
aR yates: | fh one
Mae “th
3 ¥ ue \r ma cate Mh watt 1 Wa Ge at ‘an BS aE ee b ax
19 ved Re eit ata 4 the eRyee SaNeah Tae MAAS by. |
eel i Ate ey ile sy a aa ay
fifa Fi . ake AN Tach, aM AE ane fa EL i aE ay waa i :
CSI vite a biker tly SPE 2 | BR en aye re Aig
Ai bate i ane sihne eine E tha Risa We eae ie
ts ven +
VA om Ris { cit & his feet 3 fakay a 4 vi j
Ad. ae ba Chae A in Wate ; He eae his Wren, AG “iy a
oT Eek i ah ae iC 180 OF THE CRIME. peg F peer ie are
5 Us
Hg 94: i mH uty ue mahWin. ai sew : . rin
ny a ae, Ae S ayy aie agvay Waa Ausdaeed ana Mh vn 9 ee
ue 4 i tr
ca: wh vaneaeytes We ata ony WUA dames Harvey was
. Ph ah Ath ut i Wart: : Ta 4 Fatt hy Lie “he \ ua th ie Wy val ae
aly, Naa Wr WY, i Far Wie ae ae ie Ta sth whe Hie
bin He +f ania OR. serAb AEE i Aa a Aaa Ne tenia te es ‘a lat {aa “a vane ane
tat a A if nid ti Kn Weert rin “i at yao wie i ike We :
that ve Hie ae “Thaler, Hiei ai Ee ie f ‘yey YO hava ee | rise ips AWA tha week of man
.
?
mk ATS, 4 ‘ate 4 at Pei a u eats bi aia nian ee
rn AR A ty nt
e UNS Vagee-ala Ka i a Ni gatsik AE 9, é
hr Wt 43 Heys 4 Ne} te a torney, HE Mert on Yoconbes |
as Ws 4 He Vat Ph Wh aA [SR RMS: ans Vay Tok | ay; Pret 0 ten Des a
t a} 4 hoe fi a
I tk anes Bi i ait iy | EARNS ny “at ru AS
ae ob cork Showy seen aSrae Mine Ria | The AA VRAl Tae shee walt a be our, of A ‘
Day ae wa i bt can a a? ited she HN My Saha the ih i, 4 Me we LARA Na
sah 9, R AN Ant. ba a earee,
a COPE ati hes ae
ctadwireel a i a
mad blo
(eye His wal Veneta BAAR Vn fea WAsy 4 ws % ARRAY 8 RUA
a] hoarse “aa ligt Lotti ea en
met i a Ry Pot wane A wih 4 i ae F 2g EN ahi ay ae wl ine oN "y Wie % me
BAY Febery. m gone by (aa AM.
teenies te ae of Wer i. BA A my nay Ai PANY OAX A vis SIAR ih Ii Nirman
a et ayy " A : ty aia Ht ‘eu ie ae wn ‘ ‘if ia a i Ne. re Naren a tae ‘i wean -
res ce ne eae Faint ras Hi ty oth A Y i i Vex pease aa 6 tt ‘, i ee of ? 4
Ni nn "ei ad Me ous re! a iy Ar 4 i Fr Hg ie ‘f i yar vlan WA + es Rin re
Tay Fe. [ASABE AHA AT A fei ‘ Wil AAI sen a a WH RR? Ae
wihar ae a ah WAH Me He RR | pK ANAL 8 ae As é hae wh ( y
A Ipc i a an enh” Be Saad, uae Una vy Ay am (NA ae ha lo Uh Ge aia
rete | “h eyeee it a Ag ke Buk ant BAN 7 Wt ve Mh 4 ree a WAR
OE AER tain A ie eta
4 wut ey With a Me a HN Se ii a
AY 4h aves be oha ah A me
eG ie. fa tH
| lt vr ria wiv
ag ®
2 Sheri Reports It As a Double
Mur r, Husband ‘is Held for “i
_ Ruestioning, Discovered by {
' $ Identified, | :%
Frank,’ 54, an employee of the¥
3ethlehem' Steel. Co., in Lacka-&
vanna, © ers |
Wojcik: was located by the Erie
. ‘ounty sheriff's deputies shortly |
~!< iefore Saturday noon at the home}
_ fa son, Chester, ‘onthe Bullis
‘oad in the town of Elma and was
, 0 the ‘sheriff's. office in!
for questioning..? 0
Kennedy *. termed “the!
Sheri
leaths
WOJCIK, Frank, electrocy¥ted
Sing Sing (‘Wyoming Coun
on April 1), 1953. —
jCharlotte Smallwood, Wyomi
County -District Attorney was in:
Albany last Wednesday: to oppose’.
any attempt by ‘attorneys repre-
-“harie Smallwood, Wyoming
younty District Attorney, was also.
-alled to'the scene.)
» DRO MLA, Bissell of Attica, Wy-
‘ming county. coroner was at the
Vojcik home shortly before 11:00 |
_ Sheriff Kennedy reported Toj-
Owski lived with the Wojciks and.
/orked on the small farm. He ad--
ed that the shooting occurred
ame time during the night and
tat the Wojnicks had no children «
ving at home. This was her sec-
nd marriage.
Wojcik was taken before Coun-
vy Judge Barber B. Conable when
e was brought to Warsaw from
‘Uffalo on Saturday evening and
*O plea was entered and he was -
eld without. bail. Wojcik is rep-
_@sénted by Attorney Eugene V.
uckowski of Buffalo. - Pero atr |
J He will be tried on a first de-!
detmeulen in Su
i. "Tae trial’ follo
death of Wojcik
preme Court here,
ed :the. shotgun’
’S wife, “Agnes, 50,
‘December 8, 1951, Gn-their farm:
i. Mear Arcade. The District Attorney
explained that a motion’ by de-
‘fense attorneys to have their time
Appeal extended until after J anu-.
was denied by the high
© BEC 4 "1952"
A mnnamed Warsaw, NY,
newspaper.
wise tetra eles
oF pwikah alae sneiee
Bee er
ay
cae Gadi
ie
“ fully prosecuted a first-degree
murder case before, ~. 98°):
‘ pe Wyoming County District
it Attorney Charlotte Smallwood
_ is First Woman Attorney in the
United States to Prosecute a
3
3 > KF frst Degree Murder Case
i
ci
‘Trial i
Lae
r,s
i
t
joie ° r f fsa ae £ v
o indermeulen
‘ing sentence on
Tuesday morn-
k last
Case Goine to the Jury
“It is the judgment and sentence
‘Of the Court that you be commit-
“ted to the custody of the sheriff of
* Wyoming County until removed to
“Sing ‘Sing State Prison and tht
you: there be confined until some-
. time during the week beginning
‘dune 23rd, 1952... OF not pea
“)c And it is the further Judgment
Of the Court, for the murder fn the
first “degree “of Agnes Wojcik,
Wherefore you are convicted, you
be and you hereby are sentenced
“to the punishment of death; and it
‘Is “ordered that within ten days
. “after, this day's session. of Court,
' the Sheriff of Wyoming County
- (deliver you, together with the war
rants of this Court, to, the agent
end the Warden of the State Pris-
on Of: the State of New -York ‘at
“Sing Sing, whereby. you will be
tists «Kept. lh solitary confinement, until
y of ) the ‘week beginning June 23, 1952,
ie and upon some day of that week so
OS with.
4
Appointed by the Agent or Warden
“of the’ State Prison js commanded
_ to execute and to do execution up
on you, Frank’ Wojcik. in the mode
“and‘ manner :
e “gree murder, first’and second de- i ,
‘gree manslaughter of first, second!
tor third degree assault. ae
Sef hae A ase ae ane RR
if “After the case has been given t
ba
tfc bs eS
‘er ungil a verdict has been reach- "4
' Thus ends a murder trial ‘that
continued for about three “weeks.
“-at’a total cost of the county Sheriff
Kennedy estimates will run into
at least ten thousand dollars. |
4 Sheriff “Kennedy expects to
\make a special report, when all of
“the: bills are in, to the Board of
) Supervisors for an extra allot-
;ment: to the Department Funds
; from surplus in the budget as his
estimate ‘for the year did not an-
ticipate a murder trial © ~
e-—~ NTATTER Trepesco v. GENERAL Exec. Co.
N. Y. 544] Opinion, per FRroesseL, J.
. the minutes of other meetings tend to further indicate a
-e relationship with, and domination by the employer over,
activities of GHAA.
uere was, it seems to us, more than adequate basis for the
rd’s conclusion that claimant’s injury was incurred out of
in the course of his employment. All of the activities of
\A, which are conducted on the employer’s property, are
.ously carried out with the sole purpose of providing an
erated plan of recreational activity in which the employer is
nant. However beneficent. to the employees such plan may
ts primary motivation is undoubtedly the furtherance of
ovee relations and the building of an esprit de corps and
» will which redound to the benefit of the employer. ‘The
arable conection with the employment and the complete
ultimate control not only possessed, but exercised, by the
over could hardly be better illustrated than by the complete
ation of association activities during the 1945 strike. The
rast between this and the Wilson case (supra) is thus aptly
omized in that fact alone. Moreover, the inapplicability of
case is also illustrated by the presence here, and the absence
-, of the following factors, among others: (1) the activities
on the premises; (2) the financial support was substantial,
slight; (3) the control by the employer was dominant; (4)
rtising and business advantage benefited the employer; (5)
suployer could halt the program at any time.
.e order of the Appellate Division should he reversed, and
award of the Workmen’s Compensation Board reinstated,
costs in this court and in the Appellate Division.
cavis, Ch. J., Conway, Desmonp, Dyx and F v1, JJ., coneur;
. Vooruis, J., taking no part.
“der reversed, etc.
MEMORANDA
OF
DECISIONS RENDERED DURING THE PERIOD EMBRACED IN
THIS VOLUME
Tur Prorie or THE Strate or New York, Respondent, v. FRANK
Woscik, Appellant.
Argued Deeember 3, 1952; decided February 26, 1953.
Crimes — murder in first degrec — defendant convicted of crime of murder
in first degree upon evidence that he had killed his wife by shooting her with
loaded shotgun — evidence consisted in part of written confession signed by
defendant and testimony of his oral confessions — principal contentions by
‘defendant in Court of Appeals that premeditation not proven beyond reason-
able doubt, that trial court had erred in admitting certain evidence, and that
charge had been erroneous — judgment of conviction affirmed.
AppraL from a judgment of the Supreme Court at a Trial
Term held in Wyoming County (VANDERMEULEN, J -)s rendered
May 13, 1952, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime
of murder in the first degree. The indictment charged that,
on December 8, 1951, in the town of Arcade in Wyoming
County, defendant, with a deliberate and premeditated design
to effect death, killed his wife by shooting her with a leaded
shotgun. <A written confession signed by defendant was
admitted into evidence, together with other oral confessions
or admissions by defendant that he had committed the crime
charged in the manner deseribed in iis written 5 pes
There was also received in evidence an Information Charging
defendant with assault in the third degree, sworn to by his wife
on December 25, 1950. The prosecution stated that the infor-
mation charging defendant with assault was offered to show
a motive for the crime in question. Defendant argued in the
Court of Appeals that the trial court had improperly received
in evidence certain alleged threats that defendant had made
against decedent; that the prosecution had failed to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of premeditation and
deliberation; that the December, 1950, information charging
defendant with assault had been improperly received into evi-
dence; that the trial court had improperly charged the Jury
551
"€S6T/9T/T Uo (Aqunep SupwesM) yIOX MeN peqnoorqoeTe 699 Seqtum SyuRaz *yrorom
02 ~~ MEMORANDA. [Vol. 303
Prepared by State Reporter from Appeal Papers
in respect to that information and to defendant’s alleged con-
fessions, on the defense of insanity and as to the contentious
of the parties, and that the trial court committed reversible
error in refusing to charge as requested by defendant with
reference to the prosecution’s failure to eall certain witnesses
aud in refusing to charge with respect to the various degrees
of assault.
Charles J.
appellant.
Charlotte L. Smallwood, District Attorney, for respondent.
McDonough and Eugene V. Buczkowslhi for
Judgment of conviction affirmed; no opinion.
Concur: Loucuray, Ch. J., Lewis, Conway, Desmonp, Dye,
I‘utp and FrogsseEu, JJ.
YY ed
THE Propte or THE State or New Yorx, Respondent, v. WiLutam
VANDERWYDE, Appellant.
Submitted February 24, 1953; decided February 26, 1953.
Motion to amend remittitur granted. Return of remittitur
requested and when returned it will be amended by the addition
of the following: Questions under the Federal Constitution
were presented and necessarily passed upon by the Court of
Appeals, viz., (1) the appellant contended that the order of
the trial court, dated March 27, 1952, granting the motion of
the District Attorney for a special jury to try the issues herein,
over the opposition of the defendant, was based upon moving
papers which were wholly insufficient to warrant the relief
applied for; that the granting of said motion for a special jury
on insufficient papers constituted a denial of due process and
a violation of the defendant’s rights under the Fourteenth
Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. (2) The
appellant contended that subdivision 4 of section 749-aa vf the
Judiciary Law of the State of New York as construed and
applied in this case constituted a denial of due process and
a violation of his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of
the Constitution of the United States. The Court of Appeals
held that the rights of defendant under the Fourteenth Amend-
ment of the Constitution of the United States had not been
violated or denied. [See 304 N. Y. 937.]
Ge LEM Sates. «i
N. Y. Rep.] MEMORANDA. . oe
Prepared by State Reporter from Appeal Papers
| Ture Prorpte oF THE State or New York, Respondent, v.
Au Kesuner, Appellant, et al., Defendants.
Submitted February 24, 1953; decided February 26, 1953.
Motion for reargument and to amend remittitur denied
[See 304 N. Y. 968.]
Capito. Prece Dye Works, Inc., Appellant, v. Kuers Coat Corp
Respondent.
Argued January 8, 1953; decided March 5, 1953.
Frauds, Statute of — contracts — partial delivery — action by purchaser
recover damages from seller for alleged breach of oral contract to deliv~
fabrics at stated price — fabrics had been loaded on purchaser’s truck >
seller but were subsequently removed therefrom — contentions of purchas
that agreement provided for check by it as to quantity to determine total pric
that partial delivery had been made, and that summary judgment was improp:
— Court of Appeals reversed judgment of Appellate Division and order
Special Term and denied motion for summary judgment on ground reco:
presented triable issue as to whether there had been partial delivery of fabric
Capitol Piece Dye Works v. Klein Coat Corp., 279 App. Div. 1052, revers:
AppraL from a judgment of the Appellate Division of 1°
Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered M: :
28, 1952, affirming, by a divided court, an order of the Supren.
Court at Special Term (Horstaprer, J.), entered in New Yo:
County, granting a motion by defendant for summary judgme
dismissing the complaint under rule 113 of the Rules of Civ’
Practice. Plaintiff sued to recover damages for an allege
breach by defendant of an oral contract, alleging that in Decen
ber, 1950, defendant had agreed to sell to plaintiff 400 pieces «
woolen fabrics for $3 per yard; that on December 12, 195
defendant made partial delivery of said fabries to plainfi
but that defendant refused to complete the delivery there«
and that by reason of said failure plaintiff was damaged
the sum of $24,000. In its bill of particulars plaintiff alleg
that the contract had heen for 380 pieces of goods at $3.10 p
yard, and that under the terms of the agreement, payment w:
to be made after delivery and after it had checked the me
chandise. Defendant, in its answer, pleaded, as a separ®’
defense, that the alleged agreement was unenforcible hy ren
let
d-
the
the
was
vrti-
, as
etec-
and
s ad-
when
it the
with
» cor-
them
d this
urant,
yn up
yrietor
ment.
York-
een a
{auser
g they
would
ch for
» have
yoman
ibrella.
heeler
house.
away;
iat the
rat of
emory
hat he
is men
och and
xed on
-ported
on that
or more
_and a
with a
idy jobs.
nough,”
10 Eng-
wkville.”
then, at
standing
.e heard °
e looked
hen saw
vall yard.
sut to in-
ped with
aslin tied
id match
, brown-
» window
woman’s
and the
‘ked off in
the pack-
with the
- package
» for some
ne.
vr. Inside,
think. The
imself did,
the house
yeone had
_ surely be
d. He ran
g anything
, where he
4 of time it
xicabs after
em at their
er, Devine
the grisly
to Wolters’
apartment while he awaited their arrival
and had found no one there, he said.
Asked by Hauser to describe the flight
of the falling package he had seen, Mohl
was able only to say that it had fallen
from above. “It wasn’t thrown over the
fence or anything,” he said. “If it didn’t
fall exactly straight down, it might have
come from Two-two-two because it
bounced to the right.”
Hauser sent Devine and Hegarty up-
stairs to query all the tenants in both 224
and 222 and find out what they knew.
Most of the apartments were dark, Hau-
ser noted as he looked at the rear of the
building, but one light was still on.
“Kranz still drinking?” Hauser asked,
and Mohl nodded. Hauser couldn’t help
thinking that this looked like the whim of
a drunk.
Twenty minutes later, Mike Hegarty
was back leading the man who had thrown
the packages into the yard. He was a man
named Evans who lived in a rear flat of
apartment 222. His was the fire escape
which adjoined Wolter’s.
Hauser took him inside to Mohl’s apart-
ment where the man told his story. “I was
away ona joba couple days,” he said, “an’
I got back this afternoon an’ tonight I no-
ticed somethin’ smelled bad. There was a
couple of packages on my fire escape—an’
I knew right away it was that thick dutch-
man left ’em there. He’s left his garbage
on my fire escape before. So I chucked it
right off—into the yard of Two-two-four,
naturally, where it belonged.”
Evans was released after his statement
was taken down.
Ngw, for the first time, Hauser was able
to breathe easy. “We've got the corpus
delicti now, Chief,” he told Hughes. “I’m
going to have another look at Wolter’s
apartment.”
His search centered on the fireplace. He
realized now that in all probability the
paint job Wolter had done was not merely
to pretty up his room, but to cover blood-
stains. It was a large fireplace and Hauser
got down on his knees, struck a match,
and peered up the chimney. He reached
up then, felt around with his hand, and
then the mystery of the girl’s disappear-
ance was revealed.
Just about on a level with the mantel-
piece, a foot or two up the wide flue, was
a setback in the brick just big enough to
conceal a human body! He strained up-
ward, after lighting another match, and
fumbled along the ledge. One, two, three
hairpins, just like the ones in the yard!
“That's where he kept her, all right,”
Hauser told Hughes as he crawled oui of
the fireplace. “Now to find the butcher!”
The contents of the packages were sent
next morning to the police medical lab
where positive identification was made
from Ruth Wheeler’s dentist’s chart of her
teeth. Her ring, corset stays, a partially
burned handkerchief and her beads were
merely added evidence. The girl had been
raped, they found.
Meanwhile Hauser had every available
man hunting the missing Wolter and his
paramour. Once again, Hauser visited the
bakery where Maria’s friend worked. This
time the woman was more guarded, but
when Hauser told her the penalty of
shielding a fugitive she opened up.
“She's working under the name ol
Gretchen Eidam—over at Max’s on First
Avenue.” She gave Hauser the address.
That night Hegarty and Devine fol-
lowed Maria home from work. It was a
small rooming house at 122 East 105th
Street. They closed in on Maria just as she
entered the house.
“Lead us to Wolter,” Devine said.
Maria gasped, then started stolidly up
the steps. She opened‘a door and they fol-
SUCCESS
Trained meat men needed. Good pay, full-time jobs,
year-round income, no lay-offs—HAVE A PROFIT-
ABLE MARKET OF YOUR OWN!
LEARN BY DOING
Get your training under actual meat market condi-
tions in our big modern cutting and processing rooms
and retail meat market. Expert instructors show you
how—then you do each job yourself. Nearly a mil-
lion dollars worth of meat is cut, processed, displayed
and merchandised by National students yearly!
PAY AFTER GRADUATION
Come to National for complete 8-weeks course and
pay your tuition in easy installments after you gradu-
ate. Diploma awarded, Free employment help. Thou-
sands of successful graduates. OUR 3st YEAR!
FREE CATALOG—MAIL COUPON
Send now for big new illustrated National School
catalog. See students in training. Read what gradu-
ates are doing and earning. See meat you cut and
equipment you work with. No obligation. No sales-
on postal card. Get all the facts NOW! G. I.
APPROVED.
lowed her in. Wolter was lying on a bed
reading, and he leaped to his feet, his face
ashen, as he saw the two men.
“Come along, Wolter,” Devine _ said,
“you’re wanted for murder.”
Wolter was brought before Magistrate
Matthew Breen in Yorkville Court and
held without bail on a charge of abduction
and murder. A little over a year later Wol-
ter went on trial for his life in the Court
of General Sessions before Judge Warren
W. Foster. The whole case of the prosecu-
tion was based on circumstantial evidence,
the defense thought, because no one had
actually seen the girl and Wolter together.
But Dr. George S. Huntington, a distin-
guished pathologist of the time, had ex-
amined the girl’s remains and tound the
clue that was the clincher. By a strange
quirk of fate, the girl’s hand had been
tucked brutally beneath her elbow as she
burned, so that the tips of her fingers were
not even seared by the heat.
And in her fingers was a blonde hair
trom the head of A. W. Wolter!
On April 22nd, 1911, Wolter was jound
guilty and sentenced to death, but he ap-
pealed the verdict and after a Jong court
fight he lost the appeal and was at last
electrocuted on January 29th, 1912.
It was a case of some legal significance,
because as a result of Ruth Whecler’s fate,
x law was passed which stated that no em-
ployment agency shall send out a female
applicant on a job without making “every
reasonable effort to investigate the char-
acter of the employer.”
Eprror’s Nore:
The names, John T. Kranz, Maria
Schlech, Mrs. Beryl Latter and
Evans, are fictitious.
G orrerns YOU
And SECURITY
In The Best Established Business In The World ° PEOPLE MUST EAT!
TRAIN QUICKLY in 8 short weeks for a job with a x" yy hike lee PGE
bright and secure future in the vital meat business. ; ;
nae
Saker
+
—————————— aeinie 4, onio |
| NATIONAL SCHOOL OF MBAT CUTTING, ING., Dept. v-36, Toledo 4, Ohio |
National School Of Meat Cutting, Inc.
Dept. F-36
|
\
|
man will call, Send coupon in envelope or paste |
|
|
|
|
Toledo 4, Ohio
Send me PRED S2-page school catalog on LBARN-BY-DOING training in
PROBUPABLE MBAT CUITING, SUCCESSFUL MBAT MERCIAN DISING |
and SHLE-SERVICE MEATS at Toledo, No obligation, No silestuan will eal |
(Approved for Training Korean Veterans)
Name, coereeeceerere? caanedeverasrougeddsssensisecsswapeen ee eles FS SS 07” Age..eeee
i rance cia dacs title pedo nee SRE ee eee 0
City scesccceccsencceseeeeeer ete TE VA ee Mtuteg ow ede ese gees |
De —_—_— eee eae ce eam econ eco ich en ep ins i ee an een Bk ITI J
65
as pe SE ae
enleeee tet
|
Ripping a:
were shoc!
the disapp
SHARP
in the gu
134th str:
head a leaden s!
the towering s
had not yet rel
Yorkers, hurry
offices, pulled tl
chilly breeze.
On the door:
woman paused
her mother. It
to ask for an e:
was on her wa:
mined to do her
family income t
ment after an
planned to try
Drawing her
apartment entra
wind whipped |
from a cord at |
she turned to |
standing by the
upturned face <
Ruth Wheeler
As the morni
dering drays a
proach of noo:
chill ‘air, ming
vehicles. Fro
1912-type roare
home, its drive
rough cobblest
to return for lu
Although sh:
the 16-year-ol
family and wa
her home ther
girl failed to r
Albert Wolter,
they sought to
{
DETECTIVE
SHARP March wind picked at the papers
134th street toward the Hudson river. Over-
head a leaden sky formed a gloomy background for
the towering skyscrapers of Manhattan. Winter
had not yet released its grip on the city and New
Yorkers, hurrying to their work in the downtown
offices, pulled their collars high and shivered in the
a chilly breeze. . ")
On the doorstep of a two-family house a young
woman paused for a moment. to wave goodby. to
her mother. It was a tremulous gesture that seemed
to ask for an encouraging smile, for Ruth Wheeler
was on her. way to look for a job, ‘She was ‘deter-
mined to do her share toward increasing the meager
family income but she had met with one discourage-
ment after another. Today the 16-year-old girl
planned to try again. ‘ ;
Drawing her.coat around her, she turned from the
apartment entrance and started down the street. The
wind whipped at the small umbrella which dangled
from a cord at her wrist. As.she rounded the corner
she turned to look back at her home. - Her: mother,
‘standing by the window, caught a glimpse of a rosy,
upturned face and a hand raised in farewell.’ Then
Ruth Wheeler disappeared from sight.
As thé morning passed the streets filled with thun-
dering drays and delivery wagons. With the ap-
proach of noon, the cries of peddlers rose on the
‘3 chill ‘air, mingling with the clatter of horse-drawn
vehicles. From time to time an“automobile of the
1912 type roared along 134th street past the Wheeler.
| home, its driver’ steering an erratic course over the
ae rough cobblestones. It was almost time for Ruth
: to return for lunch.
Although she appeared older than she really was,
the 16-year-old girl was the baby of the Wheeler
family and was showered with affection. But: at
her home there was no worry when the attractive
girl failed’to return for lunch. It was assumed by
Albert Wolter, right, was questioned by
they sought to solve the mystery of Ruth
strange disappearance.
DETECTIVE
lice as
eeler’s
Ripping aside a fire screen in the room above, police
were shocked to make a ghastly discovery. regarding
the disappearance of beautiful Ruth Wheeler, right:
A in the gutter and sent them whirling up West -
i”
¥
$
we
it
Mihi
on gee
aca Sani Basis Webue
at ah Are
Inspector Titus, above, played an
important part in solving the.
weird mystery. At top is shown
the apartment where, Ruth
Wheeler went seeking employ-
ment. The torch fiend, captured
after brilliant detective work, was «
held in the Tombs, right.
her mother and sisters that she had landed a job and
everyone waited happily for her return in the evening.
When they prepared dinner that evening a shadow
of worry began to creep into, their minds. Ruth had
not yet returned and at eight o’clock, after a gloomy
dinner, the mother and sisters became desperate. Tor-
mented by visions of their sister beneath the wheels
of a dray, the older girls tried to’ decide what to do.
“I’m going down to the business college,” Adelaide
Wheeler declared. “Perhaps they'll know where
she is.” ‘
Avfew minutes later the girl left the house and
hurried to the school on 58th street where her sister
had “recently completed a business course. Because
evening classes were in session, the place was open
and most of the staff on-hand; . Adelaide found the
office of the school and told her story’ to the manager.
“Ruth Wheeler? We may have placed her some-
where. I’ll have to check the files.”
‘A brief examination of the records disclosed the
necessary information. Ruth had called that morning
and had been sent out on a job. ;
“A postal came yesterday offering a secretary's job.
It was sent by a man who gave his name as A. W.
Wolter. Here’s his address. It’s over on East 75th
street,”
Determined to locate her sister, Adelaide copied
down the address and set out through the dark streets
toward East 75th street. As she neared her desti-
natio1
ing a
and s
its gi
at th
lowec
twisti
terro)
Mc
at las
ana
that |
from
dully
but t!
Th
her t
floor
ing ©
supp
Fo
-ently
youn
stare
Adel
ey
me!
“y
ELECTRICIANS
ag ¥ Coyne Book of
\ 150 wire AND RADIO
ae |
me i PRE
ScincuirTs ---
@ARMATURES
Shien
FREE BOOK COUPON
B.W.Coeke, Dir., Coyne Electri Dept. }7-E6-
500 S. Paulina Street, Chiease. (2, iMinels
SEND NO MONEY
TEST YOUR OWN SIGHT at Home with our NEW
LOW
] 6 GLASSES
AYS’ eum AsLow As
and :
U.S. EYE-GLASSES CO. 322% Bis gy eiaeaecs
x watto SP OP TOBACCO?
MEN, WOMEN OVER 40
oe ee life — tired, miserable,
? When your
syntem becomes clogged, you fet loey older. ond
eliminati
your system function properly.
Help to GET RID OF THE DISTRESS THAT
PREVENTS YOU FROM ENJOYING A MORE
NATURAL AND HEALTHIER LIFE. Life will
take on greater
are Nature’s own
money order, or check and we pay all charges.
boo poe se $2.5). We GUARANTEE you must
sai or Price refunded. Order
SPARK SEEDS today.
SPARK SEEDS CO., Dept. CD-17
220 BRQADWAY NEW YORK 7, N. Y.
46
0 LP lila tine be teaient
‘CONFIDENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES
6. A series of appeals and reprieves
kept the doomed killer from his
fate for almost 18 months but at
last all hope was gone.
At 5:41 cn the bitterly cold morn-
ing of January 29, 1921, still with-
out confessing his crime, Albert
Wolter was strapped into the elec-
tric chair at Sing Sing. He did not
speak, but stared vacantly into
space. One shock put him to death.
Newspapermen among the wit-
nesses were reminded of the writ-
ings of Edgar Allen Poe, who had
of Sid Davis so perfectly?. After a
moment of reflection, Jennison de-
cided that it would be more profit-.
‘able to gather concrete clues.
Going outside once more, he
learned from Fielding that Davis’
‘neighbors were few and far be-
tween. Nevertheless, he spent the
rest of the afternoon questioning
i them.
The sheriff’s canvass was not en-
tirely unproductive. He learnd that
during Mr. Davis’ absence, Dick
Morrill, handy man for another
farmer, had done some chores for
the dead woman. He was seen at
the rear cf the house on Sunday.
Unwilling to overlook a single
| clue possibility, Jennison rode to
the farm. He talked with the farm-
er. who told him that Dick Morrill
often worked for Davis over week-
ends. Right now he was visiting
with his parents at East Swanzey.
Since the interview with Morrill
would have to wait until the youth
returned, Jennison returned to
Keene and telephoned officials of
the company where Sidney Davis
werked,: requesting that Mr. Davis
return to Keene at once on a mat-
ter of utmost importance.
T evening Sidney Davis ap-
peared at the sheriff’s office and
Jennison told him about his wife’s
death. The sheriff gave the widow-
er a moment to recover from the
shock and then asked, “Where did
4 you go when you left your house
on Sunday, Mr. Davis?”
“First to Chesham,” was the
prompt reply. “I drove there to de-
liver a parcel left at my home by
a friend.
“On my way back I stopped at
a@ farm near Marlboro, to pick up
an oil stove they wanted to give
me. That was about one o’clock. I
had been on the road to and from
Chesham in the meantime. I stay-
ed there about an hour.
“My brother-in-law stopped by
and asked me to drive him home.
I did, and stayed with them about
touched upon the weird obsession
that the ultimate fate of beauty
should be death, and of Oscar Wilde
who, in his Ballad of Reading Gaol,
wrote that “Each man kills the
thing he loves...”
This twisting of normal emotions
obviously had been the basis of Al-
bert Wolter’s undoing.
Note: The names Helen Manning,
John Klein and Tom Kelly are
fictitious to protect innocent per-
sons from embarrassment.
SECRET OF THE MYSTERIOUS BLONDE
‘(Continued from page 11)
‘two hours. It. was right close to
four when I left. I drove home
then. Dinner wasn’t ready, so I
went out for a walk. I was gone
about an hour; met Fielding on
my way back.”
Davis spread his hands. “Beulah
hadn’t been feeling well lately and
I suggested I would stay home from
my job to look after her. However,
she insisted and I left home about
seven o’olock. I arrived at the trail-
er camp: where I stay while at
Springfield about eight and retired
for the night.”
After Davis had gone, Jennison
turned to one cf his men who had
remained quietly in the background
awaiting orders.
“Do as much checking along the
Chesham Road as you can before
it gets too late,” he directed. “Then
report back to me right away.”
He turned to another deputy.
“¥ou’d better see the man who left
the package with Davis and also
his brother-in-law, Saxon. Check
and report,”
The deputy waved his hand and
followed his partner out the door.
“Now,” mused Jennison,. “we'll
call and see about this young man
who does work for Davis. Wonder
if he’s returned from his visit.”
When the connection was com-
pleted, Jennison put his thoughts
into words.
“I don’t know where Dick is,”
was the reply. “He hasn’t shown
up yet.”
The sheriff wondered about this.
What if Morrill had not gone to
see his parents? Suppose he had
remained in the neighborhood, only
to flee during the excitement when
the body was discovered?
Another phone call, this one to
Chief Regan, put out the dragnet
for the young man. Regan’s men
found him cowering in an empty
freight car in the railroad yards
at midnight. Jennison was called.
“Thinking “about going some-
where?” asked the. sheriff.
“What's it to you if I am?” coun-
If you }
pains of
want yor
send you
are to us
at the pa
your suff
owe us !
MONEY.
we will r
1
Chicago ‘
10
DRE
Sizes 12 t
Better us:
12 to 44
Children’:
dresses.
and print
Mail $1.¢
plus poste
apparel |
back gua
Ki
191 Se
SON
Publish ,
? claims to be
GUARANTEE
(26 Lexingte
WATCH T!
ptde tell-ta!
annarent, ur
with masse
more youtl)’
scientific «
gredients re
many . beaut
thoustinds of
m.
o
jar $10.00.
‘action guar
79 De Kalt
anv sirineeittaigpichinaainiegemeyenrnanarntrniiats Ge
CONFIDENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES
Thanks, (can eat Steak again!
© Fit-Rite
emakes
eFALSB
eTEETH
etight!
REFITS and
y RELINES, Cons
DENTAL PLATES! LS fetes
TIGHT:
Improved Newest
Plastic Reliner
Lasts for Months!
FIT-RITE quickly makes loose, slipping, clat-
tery dental plates fit snugly and comf: ly.
Eat, talk and laugh naturally and confidently !
FIT-RITE you apply—at Home
Simply squeeze FIT-RITE on your dental plate
and put it in your mouth, where it hardens and
makes false teeth feel and fit likenew. No fuss,
no muss—no heating. Not a paste or powder.
Becomes a part of plate. You apply it yourself.
«RITE IS 100% O.K.
ON ANY DEMTAL PLATE .
FIT-RITE won't harm any denture or your
gums. Tasteless, odorless, sanitary — cleanses
and sweetens the mouth and hel prevent gum
soreness. It won't come off w’ scrubbing or
washing. EVERY APPLICATION GUARAN-
TEED TO LAST FOR MONTHS or NO COST.
SEND NO MONEY Sco tor coty 81.00.
’ day, for only $1.00.
Use coupon below. Enjoy teeth like new again.
198 jon guaranteed or money back.
FREE TRIAL Offer!
SPECIAL— generous package of dental plate
cleanser absolutely free. This ope
brushless cleanser WORKS LIKE MAGIC a
will not harm any denture. Try Fit-Rite first.“
FIT-RITE CO. Sipe Ta *omenee 22,
Wail This COUPON =-------
=.
r] Send 1 tube of #1T-RITE Dental Piate Reliner that you
guarantee to satisfy 100% —or it won't cost me = penny.
01 will deposit $1.00 plus postage with postman
when package arrives. ;
(C0 Enclosed is $1.00—You pay postage. %
DDRESS.... ------ ------ ---- --snne eon nne teres
ITY ......---------------_- STATE.--..- ------
S.2— LI RUSH TS ORDER TODAY!
Pene2esees
4 Qe 2
Le
POWER !s233!
SH, a fai hy Wine roe
Root has strange mystic
powers to bring MONEY.
SUCUBSB. LOVE. HAPII-
i NESS. If you lark anv of
ta a Sp these, the ‘Prophet’s High
AF John the Conqueror BR -
. bang! gion Ol may be just what
you need. Contains genuine High John the Conaucror
Rom in GUARANTEED, real Hoty type oreult anointing
oll, ag ment in the Bible. Large size hottle com-
plete with full confidential information. only $1.29 poxst-
paid or C.0.D, plus postage. Use High John the Con-
‘queror Recension Oil for 7 days. Hf net thoreuchly sat-
istied, your money will be refumlal.
. PROPHET PRODUCTS CO.. Dent CAD-!
32) West {25th Street ~— New York ae. ¥.
WHAT CAUSES
EPILEPSY?
A booklet containing the opinions of famous
doctors on this interesting subject will be sent
FREE, while they last, to any reader writing
to the Educational Division, 535 Fitth Ave.,
Dept. CD-12 New York, N.Y. ° ;
4
v
more than 40 other girls, with their
addresses. After each entry was a
cryptic notation.
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Devine.
“Wolter might be a mass murder-
er!”
“At least he could have planned
to become one,” suggested Hagger-
ty. But later investigation failed to
establish that he had slain any
other young women.
The two detectives hurried back
with their newly-found evidence to
the station house, where Hughes,
Captain Carey and Inspector Titus
-and Coroner Holtzhauser had re-
turned from the scene of the crime.
Hughes sent for Wolter and the
stolid prisoner was led in from his
cell to face the detectives. Pale
and haggard, his eyes bloodshot, |
he showed the effects of the gruell-
ing examination to which he had
been subjected, but he was still de-
fiant. ;
“you're headed for the hot seat,”
the captain announced grimly.
“we've found Ruth Wheeler’s body,
which you threw out on the fire
escape: her finger bones among the
ashes in your fireplace, and her
name written in your notebook. If
you know what’s good for you,
you'll tell us the whole story.”
For a fleeting moment the ac-
cused man Jooked as though he
had seen a ghost. Then, in an ob-
viously desperate effort to control
himself, he replied tonelessly: “I
don’t know what you're talking
about.”
The officers were amazed at his
refusal to admit his guilt. Sparing
no detail, they described the evi-
dence against him, showed him the
grisly clues and at last. took him
down to the morgue. There they
confronted him with the pathetic
remains of the pretty girl he had
murdered, but he still was unmoved
| by the sight.
“J tell you again,” he insisted
calmly, “I did not do it.”
Inspector ‘Titus ordered Wolter
pooked on a charge of homicide
and locked up in the ancient Tombs
Prison. ;
TS next morning, on ‘Sunday,
h
1e was led to homicide squad
headquarters and grilled again for
many hours. But unwaveringly he
protested his innocence and on
Sunday evening, he was led back
to the Tombs.
Then, during the night, a weird
occurrence took place—a fantastic
sortie into the realm cf abnormal
psychology rivaling anything in fic-
tion. ;
Several times his guards heard
Wolter cry out. But each time when
they went into his cell to investi-
gate, they found him sound asleep.
On Monday morning. Wolter, vis-
ibly shaken, asked to see Inspector
Titus.
“J want to tell you of a strange
dream I had last night,” he told
Titus in a quavering voice, his eyes
large and luminous. “JT dreamed I
was alone in my old flat in Seven-
ty-fifth Street with a girl—a beau-
tiful girl like Ruth Wheeler. She
was flattened against. the wall,
weeping and pleading, ‘No! No!’ I
drew near her, gripped by an over~
whelming desire to kill her because
she was such a pretty thing...”
Swept by emotion, Wolter paused
and covered his face with his
hands. “Go on,” prompted the in-
spector.
“In my hands I held a rope, lift-
ing it toward her soft white throat.
‘you're too beautiful to live!’ I told
her. Then I -strangled her—and
everything went black. I woke up
screaming. I knew it was a dream
and went back to sleep. But I
dreamed the same thing over again
—four times. Could I be going
mad?” -
“Is this a confession?” counter-
‘ed Titus.
“No,” insisted the prisoner. “It
was just a dream. I think I had it
because of all the terrible things
‘you accused me of doing.”
The inspector persuaded Wolter
-to repeat his macabre. story for a
stenographer, but he still would not
call it a confession. “It was noth-
ing but a dream, I tell you,” he de-
clared. ,
Indicted two days later on a
charge of first degree murder, he
was held without bail for trial. Be-
tween that time and the start of
his trial, he was grilled again and
again, but clung to his claim that
he’ was innocent. .
The dream of Albert. Wolter be-
came a cause celebre among psy~
chiatrists, some of whom contend-
ed that it represented a confession
by his subconcicus mind, over
which he had not the control he
eculd exercise over his conscious
mind. They cited the writings of
Sigmund Freud in support of their
contention.
Three weeks after the ghastly
crime that shocked the city, state
and nation,.on April 18. 1919. Wol-
ter went on trial for his life be-
fore Judge Warren W. Fester and
a jury in General Sessions Court.
Dr. O'Hanlon testified that Ruth
Wheeler had been strangled, then
suffocated by’ smoke from the
flames feeding on: her ‘own flesh.
He had found traces of kerosene,
indicating the bodv had _ been
drenched with the fluid before it
was ignited.
Even though confronted with
overwhelming evidence of his guilt,
Wolter denied on the stand that he
ever had seen Ruth Wheeler. But
on April 22, the jury found him
‘guilty as charged.
On April 27. Judge Foster sen-
tenced him to die the week of June
a
WOLTER, Albcrt H., wh, elec. NY (New York) Jan. 29, 14942
ted
Ruth Wheeler had just completed a secretarial
course when she vanished while seeking a job.
How could a girl apply for
a job, then suddenly disappear
from the face of the earth?
m= BY 6 O'CLOCK Mrs. Edna Wheeler was worried. Her
youngest daughter, Ruth, had gone out looking for a secre-
tarial job that morning. She’d promised to call her. mother
if anything developed. Otherwise Ruth was supposed to be
home in the early afternoon. No call had been made. The
pretty blonde had not returned. i
At 7 o’clock when Ruth’s older sisters, Pearl and Ade-
laide, came home from work Mrs. Wheeler was crying.
“Something has happened to Ruth,” she sobbed. “I just
know something terrible has happened.”
The two girls tried to comfort their mother. That Thurs-
day of Holy Week had been an important day in the modest
Wheeler flat at 313 West 134th Street in the Washington
Heights section of New York City. ,
Ruth had completed a secretarial course at the Estey
Merchants’ and Bankers’ School at 605 Madison Avenue
the preceding Friday. There was a placement bureau con-
nected with the school. When:a girl finished the course she
was furnished with leads to a job.
Getting out into the business world and making her own
money meant a great deal to Ruth Wheeler. Her widowed
mother had supported the girls by taking in sewing until
first Pearl and then Adelaide had gone out to work. Pearl
was 29. She was a bookkeeper for a Manhattan department
~ store. Adelaide was 19, a secretary to a publisher.
The two older sisters had provided the money for Ruth’s
secretarial course. Upon its completion the younger girl
was anxious to get a job and help out with the family
ef § Stra 5
‘
A_ policeman
finances, well
Although R
far beyond he
ceptionally pi
mother and h
she went.
Now she w
Pearl and »
but they did:
best to convin
“Maybe Ru
away,” Adela
don’t like for
office time.”
al course at the Estey
‘t 605 Madison Avenue
placement bureau con-
| finished the course she
rid and making her own
, Wheeler. Her widowed
y taking in sewing until
gone out to work. Pearl
a Manhattan department
y to a publisher.
jed the money for Ruth’s
pletion the younger girl
ielp out with the family
A policeman is on guard at the fireplace where investigators combed the ashes and found significant clues.
\
finances, well knowing how much her help was needed.
Although Ruth Wheeler was only 15, she was developed
‘far beyond her years. She was blue-eyed, blonde and ex-
ceptionally pretty. Her figure was provocative. Both her
mother and her sisters realized men noticed her wherever
she went.
Now she was missing. .
Pearl and Adelaide were as concerned as their mother,
but they didn’t dare show their feelings. They did their
best to convince Mrs. Wheeler everything was all right.
“Maybe Ruth got a job and they put her to work right
away,” Adelaide said. “You know, mother, some bosses
don’t like for their employes to make telephone calls on
office time.”
Pearl Wheeler assured her mother that was true. + A86,;
she said, “Ruth would want to stay until the last minute
her first day on a job.”
Mrs. Wheeler was aware of all that. But her mother’s
intuition told her something had happened to her youngest
daughter.
“Ruth, is so attractive,” she said. “I made a point of ask-
ing her to be sure to get in touch with me. She could have
gone outside and called me.”
The girls finally persuaded their mother to go ahead with
dinner. But they hardly touched their food. Pearl and
Adelaide were as concerned about Ruth’s safety as their
mother. But they had to hide their apprehension. +
When 8 o’clock came with still no word from the miss-
4
j
cigarettes and get me a cigarette
smoked by Wood in his cell. I think
I can help you.”
The two officers wasted no time in
complying with the doctor’s request.
And, while he conducted his tests,
the officers drove to Mrs. Tebo’s room-
ing house where they found Jennie
Konish pacing the floor of her room
like a wild animal. Her. hair was
down; her eyes dull with a strange
look. Her face muscles were twitch-
ing and she was mumbling to herself,
She looked up as the two officers
entered, but no expression came on
her face. In a low monotone, she
started to talk.
“Frederick killed Lowman. He told
me he did when I saw him Monday.
He said he brought Lowman here and
Lowman made some vile remark
about my picture and Frederick lost
his head and beat him and killed
him. Frederick told me all this... .
Frederick was insanely jealous of me.
Perhaps, Lowman may have seen me
and was interested. It is hard ‘to say.
Everything is hard to understand, ex-
cept that Frederick killed Lowman
and he will kill me because I am tell-
ing this.”
“He won’t touch you,” Chief Weaver
assured her.
She looked at him with her dull
eyes and then she started to laugh. It
was an insane, incoherent laugh that
(Continued from page 13) .
lucky I came along when I did. You
little fool, why did you come out here
with him?”
“I—I thought he was all right. He
told me he was a divinity student. I
thought—” ,
“Never mind what you thought,”
snapped the sergeant. “Get in the
car and I'll drive you home.”
A thought had come to Emahiser—
a thought, which if it proved correct,
might well lead to the solution of Ruth
Hildebrand’s death. ©
He dropped the girl at her home,
then headed for State Police Head-
quarters. Hallway glanced at him
through little narrowed eyes.
“Is this a pinch?” he demanded.
“It’s a pinch, all right.”
“For what?” oe
“We'll start out with disorderly con-
duct. Maybe later, we'll change it to
first degree murder.”
Hallway gasped. “Murder?” He
thought for a moment, “My God,
TIMELY DETECTIVE CASES
rose to a shrill crescendo; then it died
away and she started to pace the
floor again.
The two officers walked out of the
room. In the hall, District Attorney
Reynolds said: “She told us the truth,
but it won’t do much good. The girl
‘has broken mentally. She will have
to be taken to a hospital.”
Two hours later Doctor Constant
walked into Chief Weaver's office. “I
think I have good news for you,” he
said. “The acid content of the saliva
on the two cigarettes you gave me—
the chemical analysis—is exactly the
same. Wood is your man.”
“Excellent,” Chief Weaver said.
“Now we will talk to Wood.” -
TH cocky youth came sauntering
again into the reception room, un-
concerned with the fact the two offi-
cers wanted to question him again.
“We have some news for you,” Dis-
trict Attorney Reynolds said.. “We
are going to arrest you for the murder
of Lowman and we are going to con-
vict you.”
Wood’s face paled and he stared at
the two officers. “Arrest me for mur-
der?” he gasped. “Did Jennie talk
... did she tell you a lot of lies ... ?”
“No, Wood, we are not arresting
you because of what Jennie said,”
Chief Weaver said. “We are arresting
you because you overlooked one little
MYSTERY
NUDE BODY
you're not trying to pin that Hilde-
brand rap on me, are you? You're
not—”
He broke off in a panic. Emahiser
‘vouchsafed him no information. When
Hallway was locked in the detention
cell, Emahiser voiced his suspicions
to Lansing.
“Maybe we’ve had it thrown into
our laps, skipper,” he said. “Get this:
Hallway told this kid he was a divinity
student. Obviously, he did it so that
she’d feel safe in riding out to Lover's
Lane with him. Well, if he did that,
isn’t it quite likely he could be the
guy who told the Hildebrand girl he
was a copper for the same reason?”
“Maybe,” said Lansing thoughtfully.
“You-searched him?”
“Sure.”
“Got his driver’s license and regis-
tration card?”
Emahiser handed the prisoner’s’
wallet to the captain. Lansing ex-
amined them carefully. “There are
no sevens in his license number,” he
IN THE RIVER
late thirties who owned a 1940 coupe. ie
i
4
ae
detail in a perfect alibi. You will i i
know about that when the trial comes :
up.” 4 i :
' Frederick Wood started to tremble
and his eyes lost their cunning and
became the eyes of a cornered beast,
knowing that death is about to strike.
“What ... what... did you find?”
“You'll know about that later,” Dis-
trict Attorney Reynolds said.
It wasn’t until March 10, 1943, that
Frederick Wood learned the one weak
link of his perfect alibi. It was the ri
testimony of Doctor Felix Constant ;
that the cigarettes found in the mur-
der room had been smoked by Wood.
Doctor Constant went into detail
about the Japanese saliva test. The
state had other evidence—Wood’s be-
ing with Lowman, Wood’s reputation, i
and the tampered clock. — i
Jennie Konish didn’t appear for the f
state. She was in an institution, her
mind completely broken by the
ghastly tragedy that had come into
her life. :
The jury believed Doctor Constant
and found Wood guilty of second de-
‘gree murder. He was given a sen-—
tence of from twenty years to life. __
Dae SRL a eRe eee
Risa
The name of Jennie Konish as used
in this story is fictitious, to protect the
identity of a person innocently in-
volved in a, murder investigation —
The Editor. ..
OF THE
observed. “And his car’s a ’38 model. iE
That doesn’t check with the descrip- eo
tion of either the man or the car that {
I got from the Hildebrand neighbors.” }
Nevertheless Hallway was thor- :!
oughly grilled by both officers. True,
he had no positive alibi for the night
of June 7th, the evening of the mur-
der, but he did not break down. He
insisted that he had gone to a movie
alone and retired before midnight.
There was a desperate sincerity
engendered, doubtless by utter fear, -
that seemed to give the ring of truth 4
~ to his statements. Lansing booked fd
him on a disorderly conduct charge a
‘and locked him in the cell for the ay
night. a
The following day, the state police-
men drove out to Camp Adair. They
learned that a girl answering Ruth
Hildebrand’s description had attended Bil
a dance there on the evening of June
7th. They learned further that she
had been driven home by a man in his qy
a &
ood and bits of hair
licated-that- this, too,
id acted in a frenzy,
aything he could lay
ind before he’d made
ooint where he could
otes. The thing that
ynor and Lieutenant
lice who took charge
ers seemed to be ad-
nyone else. The most
't prove to be a con-
int that the murderer
idlord, the detectives
could about Sess and
me seemed to know
7d lived in the little
were both living on
ks. They paid twenty
rest went for food,
ccording to the obser-
to take precedence.
‘ared to be a serious
-beer and wine mostly,
tration whenever one
and quiet and there
at anyone they knew
since, if someone had
one of the men, why
hem? Robbery didn’t
have thought either
inless they thought it
but there was no sign
e place trying to find
only one they could
sceived a check three
the medical examiner
ace. It was a simple
cent had been paid for
educting the probable
d on the kitchen table,
continued on page 22
IT WAS A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK
APOLOGY FOR A FANTASTIC
32-YEAR HISTORY OF MURDER
%
WOOD,
20
Frederick C., wh,
elec. NY (Queens) March 21, 1963.
I'm So-0 Sorry
by JOHN CAMERON
NEW YORK, N.Y., JULY 8, 1960
m@ For the third day in a row, he’d walked by tl the little
three-room cottage, and through. a-window. whose shade
was open a few inches: he’d seen those long skinny feet
in exactly the same position at-the end of the bed. When a °
man doesn’t move his feet for three days it’s something
to talk about and that’s what he did—with the neighbor -
a few yards away who owned the cottage. Of course they
didn’t know whose feet they. were, Sess’s or his crony’s.
They were both pensioners who had lived in the place
several years. They were both old, Sess 78, Rescigno 62,
and were known to be pretty steady drinkers—quiet, but
steady—especially about this time of the month when
they received their pension checks. But they had never
been known to drink themselves into a stupor that lasted
three days.
The neighbor and the man who owned the cottage went
over and banged on the door and then the owner opened
it with his: key. It was a shocking and terrible sight.
Rescigno was on the floor of the first room, a heap of
bloody ‘flesh and clothing. He was surrounded by over-
turned furniture, broken | glass,: _blood-splattered junk.
He had been dead for days and‘so had Sess. ‘They found
him in the next room, on a bed. He was in a pair of under-
shorts, partly covered with an. old blanket, but his face —
an unrecognizable mass of battered and shredded flesh;
his toes right by the window where the neighbor had seen
them. There were pieces of broken glass all over, some of
it thick with blood, and the bed itself was soaked and
stiff with the dead man’s blood.
It was a downright slaughter, a dismal, squalid atrocity. -
But the most atrocious things of all were the'notes spotted ~
a short time later by one of the detectives assigned to the
case. There were two notes lying on the kitchen: table
near the front door. They were misspelled and scrawled
in pencil. One read: Now aren’t these two murders a dirty
shame? I’m so-0 sorry. The other: And.God bless the
parole board—they’re real intelleant people. Yes, the
notes were every bit as shocking as the murders themselves.
It took a preliminary medical investigation to determine
" how the men had been killed—by a bludgeoning over the
ONT PE AGE
head with empty beer bottles—and with such force that
the skulls of both had been crushed. Then there were
the deep horrible gashes covering the bodies of both men.
Some of the gashes had been made, apparently, by. the
broken parts of the beer bottles, but then too, the detectives
came up with a bloody knife that indicated that the mur-
derer had switched tools.’ A little later the officers dis-
i DETECTIVE, October, 1960
covered a heavy coal scuttle with blood and bits of hair
and flesh clinging to one edge that indicated-that- this, too,
had been used as a bludgeon.
Whoever had murderéd the men had acted in a frenzy,
swinging and slashing with almost anything he could lay
his hands on. But when it was done, and before he’d made -
his escape, he had cooled off to the point where he could
scratch out two taunting, sarcastic notes. The thing that
struck Deputy Inspector Harry F, Connor and Lieutenant
Joseph McCormick of the Queens police who took charge
of the investigation was that the letters seemed to be ad-
dressed to the police as much as to anyone else. The most
significant thing, of course, if it didn’t prove to be a con-
cocted false scent, was the valuable hint that the murderer
_ Was a parolee.
FROM THE neighbors and the landlord, the detectives
tried to find out everything they could about Sess and
Rescigno. Surprisingly enough, no one seemed to know
much about them, even though they’d lived in the little
bungalow for several years. They were both living on
World War I veterans’ pension checks. They paid twenty
dollars a month for rent, and the rest went for food,
drink and coal. Of the three, drink, according to the obser-
vations of the neighbors, seemed to take precedence.
Nothing rowdy, but just what appeared to be a serious
and steady application to the bottle—beer and wine mostly,
and with a somewhat deeper concentration whenever one
of them received a check.
. They were known to be kindly and quiet and there
"was no reason on earth to think that anyone they knew
would have wanted to kill them.
The police went. along with that since, if someone had
murdered to settle a grudge against one of the men, why
* would he. have murdered both of them? -Robbery didn’t
seem likely, because no one: would have thought either
old Sess or Rescigno had money—unless they thought Hit
was squirreled away in a mattress; but there was no sign
that the murderer had ransacked the place trying to find
anything.
Still, the robbery angle was the only one they could
check on, because Rescigno had received a check three
days before, on Thursday, the day the medical examiner
deduced the killings had taken place. It was a simple
matter. They learned first that the rent had been paid for
out of the $65 check, Then, by deducting the probable
amount of the bag of groceries found on the kitchen table,
continued on page 22
~ For John Albert Lowman, there was no second chance.
and the cost of the various bottles-of beer and wine
standing empty on the kitchen sink, they were able
to tell that Rescigno could have had only a few
dollars in his pockets when he was killed. Though the
’ detectives had found less than a dollar in change in
the house, this was not indicative since a few dollars |
could have gone for something other than to provide
a motive for murder,
The neighbors seldom talked to Sess and Rescigno,
but because of the way the house was situated, some
of the neighbors couldn’t. help knowing about their
comings and goings. The house was actually in back
of another house and had no street frontage of. its
own, and the houses were-so close together all around
the block that ‘they were within eye- and ear-shot of
a dozen or so families. —~ .
The detectives managed to talk to most of these
neighbors on the first day of the investigation; none
of them reported that they had heard any loud
arguments or sounds of a fight on the previous {
Thursday, Several’ of them, however, recalled seeing ‘}*
Rescigno. They hadn’t seen Sess at all, but he didn’t
go out very often. Rescigno had been amply observed
- on Thursday evening, and two or three of the neigh-
bors recalled seeing him in the company. of another
man—and it was rare for the men to have a guest.
. Along about seven pP.M., the neighbors said, Rescigno
had come in with a short, heavy-set man, graying,
shabbily dressed and in need: of a shave. Most of the
neighbors who had. seen them. guessed his age to be
somewhere in his late forties or early fifties. -£
.Had they ever seen Rescigno’s friend before? None ¥
“of the neighbors had, and neither was he someone /
they ‘had seen around the neighborhood’ before. The ©
officers worked carefully and slowly, compiling a good
bs |
or
RTT?
At just such
description c
better lead ¢
to going thr
on anyone v
Of course
finding out }
cottage, and
eye-witness.
QGHE WAS
you cou
Rescigno’s k
Thursday ni
she was stan
sudden she }t
appeared at
tried the sc
locked. The
tograph pro
act the find-
's body under
ual scene hg
was occuple
w the victim:
eoscenmnmnee ENTE
Pe . seereusee, 1943
Lo fay
° 4 .
LAY BENEATH A SOFA IN THE APARTMENT!
BY JOHN S.
RS. RETHA GANTNER hummed snatches of
M a gay popular tune as she ran a vacuum
cleaner over the rug of her combination
living-sleeping room on the first floor of Etta Tebo’s
boarding house at 452 East Church Street in Elmira,
N.Y. It was 9:20 a.m. on October 13, 1942, :
Working in her kitchen, Mrs. Tebo heard the song
above the buzz of the cleaner and was pleased that
her front room tenant was happy.
The landlady liked to have a roomer so contented.
With war workers constantly shifting jobs these
4
days, it was difficult to obtain a steady renter. And
the high wages ih defense plants made the workers -
restless; they were continually looking for more
expensive quarters.
Mrs. Tebo’s place was nothing elaborate, the
woman herself knew, but it was homey and comfort-
able. The fact that Mrs. Gantner had remained
more than a month seemed a good indication that
she might stay indefinitely—as long as her job at
the Remington-Rand plant lasted, anyway.
‘Busy with her dishes, the landlady did not note
the simultaneous cessation of ‘the song and the
vacuum cleaner’s hum. When she finally became
aware of the silence, she reasoned that Mrs. Gantner
had merely finished her cleaning.
Then a piercing shriek echoed from the front
“room. Startled, Etta Tebo let slip a dish, which
clattered on the floor.
“My goodness!” she exclaimed. “What could have
happened?”
She threw her drying towel across a- rack, ignor-
| ing the broken dish, adjusted her glasses, and hur-
ried down the hall. At that moment. the door of
Mrs. Gantner’s room was flung open and the tenant
herself came rushing out.
Her white face reflected great fright. Her lips
quivered, her whole body trembled, and’ it was
several seconds before she could control her speech.
“In—in here!” she blurted. “Under the couch!”
Mrs. Tebo seized her roomer by the shoulders.
“What's under the couch?” she demanded. “What's
scared you?”
Retha Gantner leaned heavily on the landlady,
THORP
Police Chief Elvin D. Weaver was
sure he could trace the killer by
a sale of six bottles of beer.
sobbing uncontrollably. Finally she managed to
gasp, “A shoe! I saw a man’s shoe!”
Mrs. Tebo was not of the timid type. . Despite
her tenant’s protests, she decided to investigate.
“If it’s a thief,” she told Mrs. Gantner, “I'll soon
root him out of there. Come along.” —
Corpse Beneath the Couch
. Mrs. Gantner went inside with her. and pointed
fearfully to a shoe protruding from beneath the
couch. Then she fled, leaving Mrs. Tebo alone.
“Come out of: there, right away!” Mrs. Tebo
snapped. “Fine thing; scaring the daylights out of
@ poor woman!” me
But the shoe did not move, so Etta Tebo reached
down and seized it. Then, with a choking gasp of
horror, she dropped it quickly. The leg attached
to the shoe was stiff, and seemingly lifeless!
The landlady ran into the hall and saw Mrs.
Gantner seated on a chair. “Don’t go back into that
room!” she cautioned. Slipping a coat over her
shoulders, she ran to the Auto Storage Battery
Service at 222 William Street, and sought out Leo
Rinwalski, an attendant. — Sexe
“There’s a man under a couch in my house,” she
told him. “I think he’s dead.”
Rinwalski, incredulous, accompanied the woman
to her home. He verified her suspicions. :
“He’s dead, all right,” Rinwalski said. “T’ll call
the police.” :
There was no telephone in the Tebo house, so
the service station man went out to notify Deputy
Sheriffs Fred Duhl and Clarence Culver. Duhl re-
layed the message to the Elmira police; then he and
Culver went to the house.
Police Chief Elvin D. Weaver, Detective Sergeant
Raymond L. Beardsley, Detective John J. O’Connor
and Detective Lynn Brunner, identification ‘expert,
went at once to the scene, followed soon by Coroner
S. Tracey Hamilton. Duhl and Culver were guard-
ing the body when the police arrived.
“We haven’t found out who he is,” Duhl told
Weaver. “We haven't tried to pull. him out from . ,
under the couch.” a ear 5 See
13
1 and
they
was
lucky
ed at
vut in
ng is
snows
Chief,
.00th-
id I'll
Fred
ci and
yvman.
oe out
anned
iat he
cops.
drink-
drunk
Ruth’s
> rival
ch for
ned.
of the
1 been
; com-
‘0 pro-
ibi and
leacs,
igation
of the
i went
y said.
m and,
‘e until
ey.
in,
ned
without
hearing
enough
at when
as ten
oof. He
ody the
f death
< should
red that
o'clock.
iands of
d, “I’ve
d would
go to his room and wait until his parents
were in bed before he stormed in to ask
for money. Why didn’t he make his de-
mand when he first came home Sunday
evening? I think you’ve hit on the truth,
George. But how are you going to hang
the job on Fred Wood?”
“I hope he made a mistake,” Beardsley
replied. “One mistake somewhere. A guy
plans a murder, he can’t think of every
little thing. And maybe Freddy Wood
didn’t. If he missed up somewhere, we’ve
got to find where. It’s our only chance.”
They called in the lab technicians who
had worked on the case. All the blood-
stains in Ruth Galeski’s room, he reported,
were of Al Lowman’s type. There had
been no fingerprints on the fragments of
the quart beer bottle used to bludgeon
and stab Lowman to death.
“I was sure there wouldn’t be,” Beards-
ley commented. “He’d be smart enough to
wear gloves, Didn’t you guys find any-
thing else in the place? Anything at all?”
“One cigarette stub,” one of the lab men
said. “It had some blood on it.”
“Just one stub?”
“Only one.”
“Then there it is—maybe. Wood must
have attacked Lowman right after they
got in the room. If they’d sat around for
a time, there probably would have been
more than just one stub.”
“After he killed Lowman,” Beardsley
went on, “Freddy probably lit a cigarette
to quiet his nerves. He put it out and
threw away the butt. And if that’s what
he did—there’s our case.”
The officers learned that Fred Wood
usually smoked cigars, but occasionally
switched to cigarettes. They made sure
that he had only cigarettes in his cell and,
after they had collected a few of his dis-
carded butts, they were ready to spring
the trap upon him.
District Attorney Walter B. Reynolds had
the suspect brought to his office. When the
prosecutor began talking about the Low-
man murder, Freddy Wood laughed at him.
“You’re not thinking of pinning that on
me, are you? Just because I got a record,
you figure I’ll be an easy fall guy. Get it
out of your head. I read the papers in jail.
I know when Lowman was killed. Sunday
night. And where was I Sunday night?
Right in your own lockup.”
“After you murdered Albert Lowman,”
the district attorney said.
“Will your medical examiner swear
Lowman was killed before ten o’clock that
night?” Wood scoffed. ‘He couldn’t come
within two hours of the time and make it
stick, and you know it.”
“We're not depending on the ‘coroner,
Freddy,” Reynolds said. “But we do have
something that says you were in that girl’s
room with Lowman. You were with him in”
a bar. You got him drunk and you took
him to Ruth Galeski’s room. And there
you killed him.” ‘
“I was with the guy in a bar, so what?”
Wood sneered. “Was he killed in the bar
when I was there?”
“There’s no sense in stalling,” the prose-
cutor said. “You made a mistake when you
lighted a cigarette, after you had beaten
Lowman to death. Then you left the butt
behind. That was a real blunder.”
Wood laughed again. “Don’t tell me you
found a butt with Freddy Wood's name
printed on it. I smoke regular brands—
all the brands—so even that don’t mean a
thing.” :
“Ever hear of a saliva test?” Reynolds
queried. “It’s as good as a set of finger-
prints. The saliva of every person is dif-
ferent, and there is a laboratory test that
will identify specimens from any man
or woman and show if they match up.
“We have that cigarette stub you left
behind, under the couch with Towman’s
-
Reg. in U.S. Pat. Off.
NOW! Get Amazing New Comfort and Relief with
rch ad EASER
A Piper Brace Product
®@ For mens Women and Children
Pat. No.,
2606551
NO STEEL OR
LEATHER BANDS
Strong form-fit-
ting washable sup
port. Snaps up in front.
Adjustable back lacing and leg’!
strap. Soft flat groin pad—no!
steel or leather bands. Invisible
measure lowest part of abdomen ;
and state right or left side or,
and side when ordering.)
Piper Brace Co., Dept, MG-122
811 Wyandotte, Kansos City 6, Mo. !
Yeu can sleep
= in it... you
can work in it
+. + you can
bathe in it.
Right or Left
i 395
Double........ 4%
OVER 400,000 GRATEFUL USERS!
10. DAY:.TRIAL OFFER -—ORDER NOW
Money - Back Guarantee if you don't get blessed relief
Piper Brace Company, Dept. MG-122
'
811 Wyandotte, Kansas City 6, Mo. ;
' Please send.,, RUPTURE-EASERS by return mail. j
p Right Side © $3.95
t Left Side
Measure around low- i
est part of my abdo-
O $3.95:
§ Double O $4.95 FIO Wiccdincciicce INCHES §
under light clothing. Also used as 14
after - operation support. Just! Enclosed is: (1) Money Order () Check for $............ :
10) Send C. O. D. We Prepay Postage Except on COD’s
(Note: Be Sure to give Size and Side when ordering.)
double. (Note: Be sure to give size § Nome............. H
' AGN OAD sssgigecies esa Piscsisvsasssvsivossren’ tha Deasddesvacensvssssuse 1
i]
CARY GOING SRB, oisceinsperrsseheecrcinsstesctelsincesedogssteresoncsacseess
body. It has his blood on it, and it had
been wet at the end—with your saliva.
You see, Freddy, we got other stubs from
cigarettes you've smoked here in jail. and
we had the lab test made.”
Wood turned pale, but still he would not
give in. “I never killed any man,” he said.
“I’ve done lots of things, but I never killed
a man.”
After the news broke of Wood’s arrest
for murder, other evidence against him
was unearthed.
Detectives located the tavern where he
had bought a quart of beer at about nine
o’clock the night of October 11th, 1942—the
date of Albert Lowman’s murder.
Then two residents in the neighborhood
were found who said they had seen Wood
and Lowman, walking up East Church
Street toward Ruth Galeski’s rooming
house. This was around nine o’clock. Wood
was carrying a brown paper bag under,
one arm.
And now Ruth Galeski had more to tell.
From the beginning, she had figured that
“Freddy Wood might have been Al Low-
man’s slayer. What had held her back
from voicing her suspicion, she told the de-
tectives, was, first, a fear of Wood’s vicious
tenfper, and, second, her belief that since
he apparently was in jail when the killing
occurred he must be innocent, despite her
knowledge of the fact that he was jealous
of Lowman.
“Freddy could get in my room when-
ever he wanted,” she said. “He’d been
there more than that one time. I gave him
a key.”
The weight of the evidence now lined
up against him led Wood to make a partial
confession. He admitted having been in
Ruth’s room with Lowman for a time, but
he insisted that he had left Lowman there,
alive and well, bul somewhat drunk.
“Ruth Galeski was held in jail as a ma-
terial witness. There she began to break
down. Within two months she was com-
mitted to a mental institution, her mind
gone.
Thus she was not available to testify
when Frederick Wood was brought to
trial in March of 1943. However, District
Attorney Reynolds, although he had
counted heavily on her story, did not need
the girl’s testimony.
Wood was convicted of second-degree
murder. Judge Berman L. Newman
sentenced him to from twenty years to
life in prison. A few days later, in the
county jail, he tried to commit suicide by
slashing his wrists, but the attempt at self-
destruction failed.
He was sent to Attica prison, later
transferred to the Dannemora State Hos-
pital for the Criminal Insane and, late in
1950, transferred once again, this time to
Clinton prison.
Thus, despite his “perfect alibi,” Fred
Wood paid dearly for the savage crime
he had committed. And the unfortunate
girl, Ruth Galeski, for love of whom Wood
had sought to eliminate his rival, could
not long bear the burden on her con-
science. Innocent though she was of any
part in, or knowledge of, the murder plot,
memory of the dreadful deed, and her
effort to escape it, at last unhinged her
mind.
Epiror’s Nore:
The names, Ruth Galeski and Bill
Ogden, as used in the foregoing story,
are not the real names of the persons
concerned. These persons have been
given fictitious names to protect their
identities.
M
71
{
\$
whe Wy th
we @ 3 tidy Elec, ,
- aed
J
irae 4 1] \
Wh By ee dei ee CL LIne . d
4
;
In this composite photograph pro-
fessional models reenact the find-
ing of Johnny Lowman's body under
a couch. at the actual scene ©
the murder. The flat was occupie
by a woman who knew the victim.
iced eas ROEM TNT LE
LAY
| The chief studied the situation. “We
1] won't try to pull him out,” he finally
, | told ‘Beardsley and O’Connor. “Let's
| lift the couch.”
| ' “When this was done, the face of
the dead man became visible. All the
| * officers recognized him.
“It’s Johnny Lowman!” exclaimed
Beardsley. “How did he get here?”
Chief Weaver was peering at an
ugly. wound behind the left ear of the
4l-year-old veteran of the first World
a War. “Johnny was murdered,” he
3 announced at last.
Coroner Hamilton verified Weaver's
. surmise. After a superficial examina-
tion of Lowman’s injury he said that
. the man’s skull had been fractured
by a blow with a rounded instrument,
probably a club. He found, also, that
the davenport had rested so heavily
on the victim’s body that imprints of
the springs were left on his clothing.
“How long has he been here?” the
chief asked.
Hamilton deliberated this point.
“Roughly, two days,” he finally an-
nounced. . ; :
To the assembled officers it seemed
- Yncredible that the corpse could have
Jain under the couch for 48 hours or
more. without being discovered. But
as Mrs. Tebo soon pointed out, the
sofa cover had effectually concealed
the entire body until Mrs. Gantner
thrust the vacuum cleaner under it.
“Who’s Mrs. Gantner?” the chief
asked. :
“The tenant who occupies this
room.” :
“Where is she now?”
“Out in my kitchen.”
Weaver sent Beardsley to bring the
- woman forward for questioning.
She Was Away
Her eyes reddened from weeping,
Retha Gantner refused to enter the
bedroom until the coroner's assistants
had removed the body to the county
morgue for the post mortem examina-
tion. This was done shortly, however,
and the timid woman was induced to
face the police. :
The chief observed that her eyes
darted immediately to the couch when
. | dered involuntarily upon gazing at the
- .. place where Johnny Lowman’s body
had rested.
-* eut and dried. The woman and Low-
man had a quarrel during which she
- struck him down. Then, he concluded,
she placed the body under the daven-
port and pretended not to find it until
today. A woman. who could sleep in
a room with a concealed corpse surely
was hard and callous, he told himself.
‘Weaver taxed the roomer with the
crime. “I don’t. see how you could
have slept here fortwo days, knowing
he was under the couch,” he said.
14
she entered the room; that she shud--
This case, he thought to himself, is
Manacled, the arrogant
er is seated in a police
to be taken to the
Detective John J. O'Connor (left)
and Sergeant Raymond L. Beardsle
scan the murderer's police record.
Mrs. Gantner turned eyes widened
with terror upon Him. “No, no!” she
protested vigorously. “I did not know
he was there! I haven’t been in this
room since Friday—that is, until last
night. Then I got home late and went
right to bed.”
It was Tuesday. Friday would have
been four days earlier. If the woman
was telling the truth, perhaps the
medical examiner had been wrong
about the time of death. Maybe the
crime had occurred on Monday night.
The woman might have come home,
found Lowman in her room and fought
with him.
“Where have you been since Fri-
day?” the police chief asked.
Mrs. Gantner answered. slowly.
“Visiting my parents at Dundee. They
own a farm near there.” ;
“Did you know Lowman, the dead
man?”
She started to shake her head, then
apparently changed her mind, and
nodded.
“Months ago,” she finally said. “I
met him a few times when I first
came to Elmira to work. But I haven’t
-seen him in a.long time.”
“Are you married?”
“Yes, but my husband and I have
been separated for three years.”
“Where is he now?”
“The last I heard of him he was
working in a defense plant down
South.”
‘She gave the police his full name,
and the last address she knew.
Weaver pondered this angle. Could
it have been possible that Gantner,
paying a surprise visit to Elmira, had .
found Lowman with his wife? Was
it likely that the husband had killed
jannemora prison.
young sloy-
parle
the war’veteran in a jealous rage?
The police chief said nothing of this
surmise to the woman, his attention
having been attracted at that moment
by discoveries of Sergeant Beardsley
and Detective O’Connor.
These officers, inspecting the quar-
ters of Mrs. Gantner, found blood
spattered on the walls and rugs. Sev~ .
eral pieces of broken glass lay just
under the davenport. Detective Brun-
ner noted fingerprints on a drinking
glass and upon several pieces of furni-
ture. He dusted and photographed
these; then scraped samples of blood
from the rug.
“Looks like quite a struggle went on
here,” Beardsley commented.
The chief nodded, then turned to
Mrs. Gantner. “Do you mean to say
you didn’t notice the blood and the
broken glass when you came home, as
you say, last night?” ,
The woman shook her head. “I
didn’t even see the blood this morning,
but I noticed the room needed a clean-
ing.”
Weaver’s expression was stony.
“Frankly, madam,” he countered, “I
don’t believe your story.”
Victim Heavy Drinker
Retha Gantner began weeping. ‘“T’ve
told you the truth,” she babbled. “I
don’t know anything more.”
She persisted in this when, an hour .
later, she was closeted with Weaver
and District Attorney Walter B. Reyn-
olds at police headquarters. {
Mrs. Gantner said she had come to
Elmira from. Dundee’ three months {|
before to obtain employment in the |
Remington-Rand plant. Before mov- °
ing to Etta Tebo’s place on East - ;
HEADLINE DETECTIVE
2 3 + as 4
pica petinigta iis ce alone
re, re “pepe ‘a
a A, si ABI Ang eerie ep ae ‘
aad om
never very
“You ha
your raom
“None.”
Both the
chief were
an incongr
least. Her
’ brazenly te
face of it, sc
Mrs. .Gantr
could he ;
without h
claimed?
“Come, ™
nolds finall:
gullible as t
You must re
tion. Tellin
hurt you—i
The wom:
the truth,” s
away from h
Fe
Snes
donde ‘ap: aanth
«
as
t
Bee hee
7.
eo and ee” abe
ot
ak
as
¢ Tre
“ee eres hee
~~ &
a)
rs
22
¥
pe
ia S
s
=
ie Bioko
sam toma
nga @
cy 43 oo
48
a
rf
fs
a oe
7
ae PNT
24
vB de eee
ut
oy
"rT ; :
PS edn AP alin War Ok we as My
pir
a
eo
ant £9
QO
ae
oy
y ae ay
AY Rg ome
4% [4S]
he 4
—
a tee
¥
a
oe t
2
we
3
%
°
ser oe
Us
im
-
~_o-
a
Tes B
.
wee
eae ie
— ft
we tw ee
£.
og Ge OD
43 J
(hp f-9
2 oj
> Se
49
Ce
Ct
ix)
ud
5
rs
tr
43 OF Gee
JS GG Oo
RU. et Te
ehdee LF we
Porgy eg wd
2 a]
mee
eryiaen
¥¢ bee
\
3
fey
VAN Oh ee ee &
eA
<
y
34 Bie
PKS.
ww
re |
-
Rh, 4
eee
+
ae band
wre
4
33 ted
hee ee
i
am
thm meee
--
=
a
f
®
*
aa
nw
Yat
=:
@
TED ee A
ce ntek ode
i
Ce caer i
ca
as
jo
’
fi
vt
Us. w&
Per ie] Sq be,
wet if a oO a
tere) © WG to
‘S44 be Get cg
2 6244 pe us
Of tt
bg &f ch
ily
bi» 4.3
Cp wt
tz bs
a]
modes
C
«<9 UY
us 3s
2
a
(a bey
ra) qa)
bet 04
wd £2 @ O
oy
fg
+ CF
KS oJ
i J
Chet
bg Drgu€
aa
tA
‘Uy i
ung a
<7 12 ¢s 1
Ons Yao
cry O43
<r
t+
ou)
”
dies
a
Bi
ated
Wet cr
m 01 ey Me
tt wae. 4
mf ~
iw 2UVES
bi
‘ _ eB
: ua! cs é4
evoe-} a? 49
ef iz; Db
a "£5 YY
4 oheler ff 4
Gt £3 a) b
af bk ho
cy. of £3
ty Os
C3 base 47 4s
e5 y
ta eo st
qi ra ve
CY 43 +3 t 9
Oth & Ww
ine ref ed
Ww -Q> Cy FY
Cr (2 Ad UY
C2 ag eh!
a 7 Ww
md O& GQ °
4-9 E-9
af eed {dos
At mdie§ 24
@ ny ~
em C1 J
ws, Uo
Ui 43 led gy nc
at } Co
3 es oes
Gi emt wy 0 C3
(ty 42 43 OD G2
fs Ce wg O.
43 01) @
an Ef ig
do} by ner a
at Tite 4 C) 02
43 4
Oo oi tn
oO QG
of OS.
4% ay
BR a.
CLE
&
“4 45 <4 a o
Set ee Wl
bes SH fy
v OW ¥
3 | aw O
re) bs
VUVddd o
ei Od tt w
ve YXof wo
7 24 C
= oy w ¢f
p= aist riot attorney), you too must sometime go to the judgement! Christ ~°
- will pe the judge; we cannot deceive Him, I sey I eam an innocent men.
i shell ruther die’ ten thousand deaths than be persecuted as I have ©
peen for the last five weeks. To die is gein for me. .(Pointing to 2h
thes og Goa Knows what has caused this. He knows the injustica Ee
Se of th -He Knows how men have erred sage ‘¢ may be men who believe.
J. 8B. adams, dsq. then: ‘read “the death warrant (62), 7%
re “Rev. wr. Bowne then stated that ace hed selected the follow.
42) OZ passages of scripture to be read on “the ecosasion of his execution
ena from which he dssired his funeral sermon to ke preached in New -
= Jersey: rsalms 31:13, 14, 15.° Mr. Bowne read the tr the eto Service
“apgrorlate to the oceaseion, (62) 9 hee aay : -
(au, Nash then eanncuncea that the time had arri vea’ for the
“exccation. “wvod? Sas were pinicned. oni ie him just above the ele
» be exclaissd, "Ch? Lord Jesus, re-
c sive wy spiritt nual sberife, you heve been so kind to me? Let me
“= Gie as easy as won? Sant He vee then seated in a chair. Deputy Chase
. --@djusted the rope cut his neck, the black cay was drawn Cver-his —
fete, wpa just us che sheriff stepped to the resr of ths geliows, the —
trewbdling culvrit attengted to seize hold of the chaix with his Hanis.
ana at bal to turn to the sheriff, exeleined, "Sheriff! Sheriff{", and
in en instant said, "so subter.n. wherirY hevartney touched the spring:
at 23 Santee past three ofclock, the latch fell, and with it tne ae
Weisht.. with a bound wood Sprang into the eir about Six SeCb: & nd thes
feil heavily to within two feet of the groun: :
covines were at an end (62). Ss vac é
“has the drop Teil, ere ye who stced h
“who hua married a nices of Is.uac "
Cost was the only human sound hea
gleyed a ‘solenn Gires. Gthe elas.)
See wOOdts pulse continusd ° ito tee
tes. Phe bocy hung for ubout & kelf an Nee when the physicisne
attendance pronounced wood dead, and the becy was taken dover, wets
ere waS mo aistortion of the face and the features were as even and *
ULar as though aslesp. fhe sister in sims bad made preparations ©
interment und an underteker cf avon wes waiting for ths body
@ received soon after at wes taken from the gallows. Rs ¢con=
it te avon cad thet svening interred it just outsides the erave-
ae It wos und
6 e
»
f .
an
mS
Bs
ces)
W]
(9
oY
cr
id
oe
Lea
c
j
ie
fy heat SY)
er
(2. O
fd
ae et 2 ctw
; @
t
ty
qd
bade
els)
ts
=) ER
”
hy ©
rea)
~ 2 f5
orb hy py ets
re oO Mm fF kb &
ae hy
ie
(2 br fe
om
“Be
nds would” remove the booly et & te GS=
Oe m
bey
1 pe
fu tl fs
O) e+
ft
[x iy es
f fs ft
green
Sl «fh ON
2 rm
©
fa
aj
5
Lad
<
3
et
Jf
ay
«<}
“ &)
p=
@
fs GO
G2 ty Wd we
~
cr
> Ey ct
ar
ey
9
3
i
: j3 BS)
GO ch
Q et $3
a
” ES
CHM aD
va
ct eB
; ia)
fo kh fo be LY Qu tb
ra otc ad
ay
E
7)
€)
my
REES
o @ fH
2 &
at:
ty fp .
AN
by
C49 © 4
eae {- fete ag $+
ar cr @
a3)
fz bi p
is
aa}
mm bin &
ons tt
o £), %
e
ase a
ras)
iS
$
-
@
menyuO0L Isaac wooG? Ss
tha 1 re was guilty of the
ere are alss regicents of
tan Gs hanzed (66). xis g ae
ty be would at the lest moment ss his guilt. District Ate
ney Hendes seid that hs bed chtaj a partial confession the nisht
cre the execution, put this was aon a by the others who vere tree ~
t et the interview PURE aaa et a uy Soe See ves
by
Gao)
rend ty iH
and friends wOule never be
rwhich he was executed (65
30 today who believe thet an fi
ni aid thet if Isese were
bh
ty ks bee
2 bead JD ¢t
Ge ap fo eb Re
m
bs
Ged) HR o> PT be
fr Mhty tem 0
80 er PM be
o ¢
i] a Lr oO « a)
ft Ad ba?) we ( C2
= g Oo. fon € on | 7 *M yan
© OO i) Es fry. o Ww Gs Gs 4 a (ia)
et. rt be aa on) ig 0 et O14 ma ° © FX
td e fry ch Ww ty VP ng ct e ¢y wh )
“ole ° C3 et Pe ig end hs ok $4 » 6
Oo SM Be ww & a °° u ab es a) Q m3) MON
cy My G QO ro) Cy. a ; $ - @ - ef f> t= e 4 tO
y a] 42 ond ani i a Cy wet _& iow wb oe |
ot oo. ® i | 4 > t4 hy Ce ca
w c Sot Ce fe et Cf w TZ Ci A ny tN > 4 *
i fF Qf ° oO 9] a SE on "9 ct G +a wy 43 rtooot
So O° He. 3 8g. =P £4 Ley af et Viet 4 © Pa |
ear 9) Q C1 og (y c™{\ 4.4 wf o gs: Wo o.8
4H ee es fates = O° am?) Be wt » QO MN. fa .
oO | Od a -o © f4 oO chun oS wo .¢@ .4
by ha (1 fy © @ £3 Py 0) ty tet 3) 4 Fy oy onan ot ci «>
no) CoD 4 Sh pt Mm C <3 rc hy +" 42 re a 63 a fig
2) > aoe om) \O 42. * v] Rea if 4 O « fe {2 © (© ° F ©
@ cy i Tm e 8) Le a @ » J ON OG O43 43 wd 4 ft
rt O°. 4 ao His , o@ kA Ley at ca At G3 ® © Geary Gs as
ae rab | Od :- Ex i) of a ae) a a © ay GF CY tx F-3 ra)
43 : i’ wo eet af e. 2 OG he a ee) a) & o od
@ a) mod et rp ty & ° rf oO CD ert oy « ee > Se > |
49 e) & Sq ed 43 © wi oad. ky LY £4 ond wt] Gg an bb om ff fa
re a dS at UH OD BoM mere ‘aat ee
43 uy 8 1 ond ay “03 oy a e 7 . ee G-t 9 bag ies BB) Te Cy
(2 0 OG ae Se as, mea Nea 24 3. a 2 oO S$ ek rd uy em fx wo
HH ONS <> ae ': Paes a Gry. Ct ° o. S$ oo o Te ° tj 0 - ¢@ ee oO ne
@ af OO veg = e c5 oo Mar WO, O- ad “3 ot OO ao wonano ww 3~tO > = & oO AUN by
bq fey mh ee} bo C) 49 b tO Ou ON WN MUN Fg OX © U\eo fy uy un 9 on wy «6 Ne) gq.
et! fa W 45 vay io ® 63 h4 00 moro oD woo ww a tO oa tw er ra)
e O &-] fj e x 40 et se Fy oe | 5 a | Gh} 439 ef ef ied ef Get: 8 we ri ON x= 4
on sf Cy ke . “4rd oO ef pe tml by i oo eel aL} 2 UW?
17 wh a Ewes OQ «© Dh @. =» ©) @© KE «a tf) e ty} “ Se OO WM. «4 o = eC Q 1)
ea et Cy 42 9° CY OD Gk. we eed end ~} rf ona) 2 YD Gird @) mf caret r-f vy mt Ry fcy c CO ed 2 vf ue cy
@ $4 WN Qa fa ed G> emf HUN Our ef 4> Ord ie eo eS | ste} oO uve “| S40 ort
met OW bf, o De be ME? es Bae <2 ® cy ie fa ‘ f-4 haw a mw) ma © Ww ft»
rf rt Fy eh OQ =f Ty vd rot J e wy ¢ eo mw ee) LP ye ve ey ". @ ft 43 © ° meq oe 42 ~) wet
of Of OX 43 feted oi«f © © Ym ca | | oe 9 90 On Gr 4 CY aw fy |
PO et? CO 4 Sa & ayed ‘4 eo oO wUOY Oo ff Mv Oia a) emf; Oo
3 wf @ (Deh by O wt (> of 4) de ,] 0 je "xy (i? “xy ig OF Fry 8 ¢ "xy 4 hey ° 7 Orn ON e oa
tia or SS $2 fg Oy Ty Tey Mf 0 J y fl p4 oe bg nm '> a st a t=
wu O j why a ab av } J {4 8 rh a od ny Up « YQ «a * 4 o Uw ua ory ; Fs w- coy a f
Arete . GO W- e© 4 «VO MeN Fl ord Cf end cf ° myY\oo “sf O » ‘mh GM on cy
BA OM pt Sot ke Rm cy £1 et 00 Ort OG eld kort a 1 J ag brea ci oof Aight aDWel wW
oo”: £7 2M OOD "G34. 4FSNN OO. BO; FL Oo weOr~gd og a OO OU UV
try CP wot oe “7 aw bm, o NE ort wees | ©) ony Sof ACP of tert fg OQ cry try ef Et 4 00
f4 3 es 8. oO Slt oe Spat Be fy by LYON —-F ty ony ‘= . dn oes, ep oeef Pe UN Qf “Ady - A maAled be» y
ar 7's raf. ti} oF omg corre OF G) —4 42 $3 a} AY 4 £Y 42 fe 43.5" Ae £3 en SQ re a oo a ® | 49 Qy
weed a ah oF a4 £2 U4? a o Ff ai ey ey ¢ a ff ¢ 3 ch ty as e$ baperd ry ets pcs ae
ay wf 0 CO G oy cH O oF AON oS rf Cy eh AQ GS 22 Cy Age ee em vy WS Cry fg hg ayy GS Heo Ve 6
J eb MG O WY OOH Yet Oy UN Ow eW 4 UW, WO co UF yD o sO ~: @ Ww of be ay tf o Ve -O N
® ¢t 45 eg 7 — CDer) & w aD "3 md “ety <P a 4° 20 YIN 9 FG st Oe oe 9 xy ord Ot Ft cet “3
pee Cyne G2 ac 9 ae. wt) ® of. 42 ~f LY Ww cn 42 np) ° °
QO WM % af Ef «4 o | esl ry a = #5 Bao > eee y Bs nets woe Sf oo ee OS eo td Ch oe | Cdicdtad «Aa
Rae eS fe Aw ch Oe 274 °QO 0M O wi SO Co OD MODMY O 0 om O of GQGeoeoMWDIdADaD o
my fry FQ iS 0 cy Wowm-pwo vp avs) + Ot 49 49 49 49 49 +943 orf 43 49 4) 19 43 O 4449 47 QD ates G2 ads
eey 2G OF a 04d by 4 D uy 1 ong U1} my} SG eomf Oo a US apg pe emf UY a 2 Va “4 WT we fong CO YU) od Yee] or] A «Mf U? 4
Cri k ft Seah OD eto 80 @ 4 OO Ad Wed ky Oo 40 Oo OQ WN add WOO he Wo F4 oe Os oO i) ehtO «
“tb, 2 ef Ort 1G 5 OG ef e 3 Fr De sy ff qc] eud Wom. - Ocef he ve S it + cf o
cd oo ts YD a a wef ey C7 Cf ved es ed Fe emeeg 0 YY ond 49 Prd 0 8 Amp Oeefard Cyd anh 8 © og ONL [Nerf © © eped rtd ag 0 ics
Ob tb eb eed diay 043 SPed et OD A Ped abe ed SO f- O ah 4 I Gb fe CS beg U2 2 CP OF fe Cs KEEN Ee OO Te dt bad be Cd J
Dd 43 pwede 4 ed OP 4 RG Se CO be ef SE og £2 ON O oink iar Oo Oe G Ce O se ar ta Bp fiwiet OO Ort O SMe OG M2 od Gt ord fsa O a
Pere TE UG Gb We O nf a Gd fp emt Jbted Obed 3 7° SA 44 447 AB WAR AHAAD NAD A AB 1D art 4
ey die ped ached TM Ap xy -4
7 o oO o 6 ® 6 © © 0 09:-e@ o @ oe © © 6 © 8 o ‘9 ee ¢ 6 oe e@ 8 eb
o 4 S48 « © ¢ o 8 OOK OS OH. not Ad be ~WOrOef COON Uy VD COWS ef ON PUG Cet ORR NY
ft AS WO & Ode det Adit N A WN CEQA NEDO TRON ONO ON st
on
Lod
‘
——
7
a
A” 0! igs Aa ; ase pf Ww fet ol Oye Bee a QO dey dA gh {4
tcf CT Oe : Ag. Se eens | 4 ds Gy Od 4 Ws boa 14 ut pt dee Ra ped vy bie ft eg OH SL
a CG he OS TB MH: a? Wo oe feo <i Oi Sep Of a7 et fay OW ae —ghedi A @ ia fh «hs Oh 4 Ff
PUM beet Chet cd Ot is ee ee Hy § my wh EP OOM Loo hoe Oi Tre 0 8 Uf eyes 42 st i a
ub ei Gerd 44 Od GHG O 448 ie FJ si CP m4 Fh fog te SF re OO rf ate set 4 ee GY) fpenred ts bp 43
i rf og fp ho” WA eyo fe is Gg 45 fy TY GO cp kr Ad ce Cy Oy dag FTG a p32 0)
cn cf pay e ele & GO 23 Sy tit wo wt O op bes Boed Gt4e Oo O 49 face ee EY NY a ed OR be a 6) oF.
OG 6) fac e424 & O Ged a et efie3 8 City ff wag stand t) 6- ct Ub ee bes 3 as is ba OY Cf Fy Ub eng
nt &3 a & ak gm 0 <j ci Gy © SG bd £9 ee} 2.3 J cy 45 4 ty cee BRT es 14 G2 SH ub ca Ohad iy :
Ay) eee ed a See Os SEM CM WO ipeg G42 w Fi hs sd has os De uy Coeff: O9 wi G4 OF TS ef 2 Dag ee
CF ved oy fo fyert cp he Gt Ry 4 et Dh ag Ef | UY fy Ooo 4d Ob Gay ee Og OAD a ERS Met rot wt } SEP On oO G-4 25 gt $3
SS an OL Se a th wt art ody bt a &O 4 ifort Crest i Vad wt ES JSS iS eb 03 OY wd = Ded fae’ i AY 44
ur ay @3 My i» co emg ob fe a ky 47 G4 4 LT Carel F438 Gt 4 4 a ft: aj fs | " tt fi RA wa 49 13
ped 0 Ot § Oe ew 48 O18 OG & s3 M ay vy @ ‘ 7 so “a5 of ff Gose ty Fe tied ir) ci sf
Ore Ope os agagy1oog iO ws 4400 Mo Bo. OOM « £49517 GG Ow md w-e OG te et OG 45
: ciocd $. ates «f ™ a 6) 3 fyd oO O Dh hrrt Mts 3 My dado w) fe ft? f9 bt fe £4 Gf ON TG Owed OOS 349 Sy wert ad
Pees (2 S83 .33-0 Bee A OoM ad Ow tae OG wt Get & So O 7... OU 4 t) @ od eet “ten od f., ad $f 03 cs €1 ze
SS oy mH A org OD i odo oO SJ fy ade$h Su MO w Qej UR OF abet cop ge tle ter O Mew Cha OR pie
sate ghee. Bag ops C$ «et. af am. tj fers oe a fe O Tye ha & art es Bei wfie 43 a i» GO c§ i fou oy Ww
Gd tC oc a we © a? Gert O A Go A GY Oo © mov et ft i oO f-4 Uref of 47 1 3 CS aa = |
Go cage Hc oqoddgaoohtoore OW BOO OO gaed ce bie HHO LF OG Gl yews & Oo
agi a Oa 44s 1 et SA i Gs "I aoicys 43 fy 829 G Of Gf © maid O64 bg U2 2 Cb EY GD A et ed 0 G4 Ch et Ott
” eet QA Ocks “4 e | ve Oe OT} O49 Lo cg te rj ow 5 3 45 g$0 0 . Oat #) Oo (4 tats Cl ep oof
boy eed SI pied GeO arl deo OSG OG ft re ae eg “ori t) Weng mm et fy. tye Of Sp tiet. © Oat DO Oo Fi
a2 CP 8] O tF SE Ga GS ed eed OO AE AD md Bettie? O QE iO HOBO away Veli HOD GW Had E mes O p49 C4 ae w
. ch wt fy Or «wa et ef co Wa op 4a cay 2 Os rpg. oho BGO sheet 7" yA 0 0) i ee t3 bint rs
meet Ly MM a oy soug 2 ad Cl of C3 Fae 0 of aoa qt Gy ES wed fa 8S Q ® Riga ck wet Ge o GD rt O) | 82 bs a ot zt”
pee OO fo sits Ses O O OE G Noy 4 wu ¢ ¢¥ cf 4 BG at Gey i) Sato etorgad ch sc] od qe gwd w Gy
ot ee ey ef 4 G2 Wt a Fe Tl et ak Oe ° {led 245 Ww i @ rai rf a3 £3 sf et ‘fF Uae ~ DO Sh ay es GH ume ao Was:
ote * { ro er a oe? a © OO eect CB bed bc rd rd oay we «6 a Se ian * fas 9 be uh OF «49 Ort ey et ct
wa gq sp at O a ert of “4 Gs t3 oo a aac} of © a 2 phy & | wy us of Ceeg $1 Ong be ct Get £4
a> aes Co ace UD 43 | ese ak wo Ut Of 44 4? 3 Sh e4 wueRp Od Octet Wet SLEW Oo O Ot 44
4d Gq CF ¢ ; WwW Ast et bE Ub ced eng OY oar ae f os) ied Oe Sot GG a iY, He Sod
ST web tae SEED CPE £5 40 Ef ord et Gt rf Oe 43 3 fa co fs fp td EY 2 G4 US 43 GH oe 4-4 Ped We heed PHL Gy Eo YU
Gere 43 a Oo 2 O/H G ORs awoena Rr i O +3 Oty oO ea A Ort cae | QOO2 430 oN Od Sf cp4eet OC OIG Pa £7 ke b>
“lee = gh by ti O Bs 4 5 va @ 1 tt ima % by Ee] be ob eed Spee Rare) pth Oy tH ort ST OD Senet OF OO Gs £9 oe cf ud Oa bo Go.
Poets oe OOF Fe GOW Dm wv O wv G wkemowo aff OO Os P Ow Hot Hw @ Gx in + ee ee ee
SS eg OM 4H OG: BO Q . fe CP GP. CU Re AU Oe Gs OG pe ao OC 4 & ff = 3 CD m4 Gb eyo hei o
ES et C2 £9" tf fd Oy Cf} G42 Sd wet Co 2 ort oe Cp wee wi eg FOO OL eB Gad ea Go ms ay Ef eey CH ai!
ae eg) 43° Gf Vat hy HO HO Ot 4 rd O 4-5 q-4 bei TL OY 0 et a t> eg 64 Ch ot qd fy Ob ma YO Ow |
es ae ee om OG FS Ww cf hot O14 EA GD wg sh t Ged chee cf oo of A) 6d Gms 44 2 o G4 4 ws Oo Sted yep SA : |
See ot, Q w eet wo s Gy 4? KE fy yz Oo x ea gassdwo we Orso Wy Goad & OCF wed 019 OT 4, |
PROM SE hg SE YG Get ef of C2 ST Oto @ o¥ Oke wg 4 Ft oie 3 efed BOG cH iNeed Tet 3 Uy Gag Gert vi ws Oo cf of od OC. |
aemteeaeet: C} Sqr es Def CO Pp OG Gta Oo © 7 AY) werg EL 49 CS Cr} od De 49 yh GO Geb AL y 4 D> Cr D fy CF Of
ee eee ty CES. OO clo Gtertedg Ori Ge |. | a we a hy O Chad Fe FF Oe He DO GO Ord + 4 49 «3 I ty TE Be hast te OG Sea,
Coe et OTD OUD SU POGAUU AM: W owt AxY@g Qw Bchet he Qu Ha OO Vet OY G iH Get he Wie wo D $s ob Oss |
ee ee fe ee Boe 63 GY eqnd i) G uN ty ty cf Oo a ot fe oe 6 CF OF fe ay fy Gs riaded CP PG tae ey O GC
Gaodddady Beouvud Bow Oo OU Jeng feud at oti G@ hued a oA: we ST 11d w} fe. 42 SS OD Fy eee SC
af fb ef Gpewt wef CF OO Ke od 4 C969 GiGi wrfed oF 3 OO wephyo Wada et Seed TH OO KE eg ry © fe Ong OD WY a
ab fe Ot $0 G44 3h O OY OO SUI DWord ao CPC GP MMOD HN GUM OOL 40 £2 ye O SF a ny] o tic:
S04 Oh be RSS vet. £3 dyed GG Fe CL CY weet Oo wt cok Set OO Gs SATOH OY GW |
“ag ct 3602. &w& AG 20D eed ed 4 ct mao 5 cg QO Co -th4s Moet OY 4s yo a sd ty gym
—¢y Sf ep a3. at C3 fa2b (} ) Me mas w S$ fe G | ert bt vet 2 fh ed + Chey G = a§ cy ef 42 ecient def GD of 3-0
Perl ww oO fh OQ ha Od 43 C3 CB 4 OI LY Oh fe PO OS Bhd 43 Baga Oh FORA HU Oi fe HS cy -+?
wae Ge wt -d4ya spac eo ra chet fy 8S fg ta oe ee Q Cc 2 OD Ue? Ss O go tier £7000 F egw.
Ue OE eh ges ep set MMM ON Oat Hoe wre OP O ears (7 es >) ed i= aed s be
cl eet & the Of% a 4 4 O43 dqgodd ~oe8 640 BQved oh dy ‘A Cy syed at G trad OW,
ed rt beer? 03 27D ct SY wef Gord St fs fe cd 4 2 OO GI +4 Batch og ts cs OD fp ce Cy ee Sy
“ acd pd au 0O”u AS CGO GgHORWoO Nae AO Pep ue GG GHeENAAR WY Ww MM
oma Sd @UQ wad Gag ad& we pH w’OoMORMOYA Ss by cv A sheeted = x 0 Sade
Say AoOnNNHd sg: Be cdheetat a} > 1 ed Rep Qe Sa wile D8 98, G-1m OO 243
Sep get, of 6 TOO CT ge AD OD Ob fi MD Oe Bo PYF Oe GG Getty So & Sot OG SY Cy wd ls.
poy SOONG A at ay fei by gf he ie oe @ Cf “ere 22st GA: ek 6m O “SME Oe OO DAR ‘.e$ SA- frees
i". od hot 2245 G1 ob ed kh ant SOW GO nt O “aj ord wo u my Mord = Be YwOdg & yp a oy 42 49 OQ.
mie Sig Gor > Ry be op tH BH PO yin | a GO le ed Oy Shoes DO Sow . di AO O ted
did re i ore dg © Uf ~ cir aie oe. Bou adgo oh ta won do Of Oo FO
yO eh ecpee ord By SO” wt AOO CV A Ge. Oo Mo wl a a Cy aby Wed o> be 1A OD af
Ss ct OO Beprg B go o> @ ch Qeh ws ty Ee | fi 4a iy 0 f4 ft be a1 cy te ba he 64 49 Gary it TH qa ct a) fa ei
Gvpqaisaa ‘des Be CY Wagvwdadoaw oo FROOAANOW wht eb on @ | Deh FM EA ee Sod of gs |
es 2Ow eds 5 A yal 5 og Wa RA sis 9'O pep os Ow hkid Oo Het go God Meee |
Lee : ae , : ‘ : |
ve
¢ Taesday and Friday, aad}
seMmary of wews, Foreign’
cobs geld iy mehr
‘found in any paper jo Cegial
ahécriptun price. for the. your,
waneGs foraie onthe, 76 conty in ad
foc tagee months, 32 conts in advance.
a ee A ae CR
"Now. Tork, voutherty “winda;
* Seid np cet 5
Sew “Yoel, vartable winds:
T'Tker.> |” Bar. | wise,
conast 08 des.| Oak | NW.
74. deg.: 30.30 3 NW,
7 ez. 90.25 | NEL
™ . deg:| 0.35 | “'B.
MSE coe B84 deg., S022 x
Me Be tuweendye 3 deg. 30.15 | ¥.
‘Police court, Ne aday George Cook,
‘ with being a vagrant, and Carrie
‘ustin, a public prostitute,’ were each
Lins “seitence of 90 days. |
Ladies’ Aid Society. of Pilgrim
Sn ud their mouthly busiooss
thie evening at 7:30 oclaock. A
peninens. wilt be sivea at 8
2 “bay, firing at 621
as bitten by a dag on
“Bodlety vy ‘he: Belle
o Chureh will have a
which, all. are hel wg
hare
vate this pvening, © .--)..;
¥oxeieo Commissioners’ will: “meat
In reguisr session next Monday évening,
tention to the subject of: granting a
~ Heense forra saloon at 106 Laurel street,
tba Tralian quarter, oe
“Clark. was arrested: yesterday’
warrant for petit larceny swore out
of polica'‘of Auburn: “He
hali<for $200 for his appearance in
; Yeday. The’ mate wall: eeey.
ent | was. -tesued doatueday
‘gn the farm of Daniel N. Hol-
ty ef Fabius, on the claim of William
Yage, as executor of the ‘estate of
“Polly Ano Godfrey. The claim le for 75
‘fons of hay.
oe Me. Harriett A. King, wife. ‘of ‘Ea-
rd MY. Ries died at the residence cf
sister, Mrs. M.' 1. Mason, at 230
fg street, Welneatay, in the 40th
gar-of her ages -Prayer at the house at
‘Py -M Friday and at the church at
tville ‘at 3 o'clock. -;
J. Frank Dorston and family left
day for Cranberry Lake.
<‘gud Mra. -Alexander Grant’ and
en eft yesterday for Star Lake...
arry 8. Edwards has gone to Cart-
“Yand for a two weeks’ visit among, rela-
: an. Two ‘Different Seotions t
a ‘which time they will give their at-|
‘that place and it was thought that tbe
pee Reaeived by ‘the Board
ps
: e City’ ‘About Lack of ‘Proper
© Protection. < Routine Business
“Phere, was ® anseting. ‘of the Board’ of
Ptice Comaianianere yesterday: < afters)
noon, and, of course, ‘the murder of De}
techiva Hapvey wus. referred (0. “Tt ret
eeived bur pagabeg notice, however, amt
no Undination tor discuss tho: aad affuir}
was amnifseted, After the routine busi-
ness of’ the Baard bad been tranaacted, |:
Chief of Police Wrisht wald: ork
“T dom’ é know that it i@, hecessary, “to
make any report of what had heen done
by. Wis. department in ‘gelation wta. the
murder of Detective Elarrey. I: would
say, baworer,. that wothing bas beon. left
undoes.” te ;
“That Ie po," » said Coasastadianes: ay
who waa ia the'chalr, “and I know that
thie Poard ds. viltirely satisited with all
that the. Ching has- done.”
“Certalaty,”” put in’ Commissioner De-
Gaa,. “{ bava bees hero several: times
atuve the affair took place and the Calef
Ras been red bot all che time.”
“There is of course a desire ip same-
quarters to pemprain and opiticiae,”. an-
awered the Chief, “buc’—
“That iv all right,’ said Cousniesionar
Listman, “we are perfectly satisfied.”
“The Breat trouble is,” continued Com-
tuissionwr Los, “that same of the steps
takea by the Police Department must,
naoessarity, bo kept guiet and the people
do not know all that is being done.”
Here the conversation ended, but it
was phin' that every momber of the
Board awas perfectly. cognizant of all
that rhe Chief had done and was doing,
and that they had complete contidence
In his ability to do what’ was best.
Cader phe present police pension law
the widow of an officer, who served the
required anumebr of years in the depart-
ment, is entitled to a pension, not to ex-
ceed $500.a year. The Board yesterday
discussed this uratter in reference to
she widow of Adam Group, who died a
fow moutba ago. She is ontitfed to the
ponsion {f granted unanimously by the
Board, but the Commiasioners decided
to ke no action yesterday owing to the
fact that Presideot Warner was absent.
That the Police Deparament in its prea-
ant condition is not all- that it should
be was plaivly shawn by the receipt of
two cummunications, capphiining that
sufficient police protoction waz not fe-
corded to certain parts of the city. One
was received from the residents of Pond
street bebween Park and Carbon streets,
asking that “he patrol beat in their vicja-
ity be extpaded at feast: one nyore. block,
gwing protection. as. far as the «corner
of Carbon” ‘street. The, communication
stated that fights were pot infrequent in
presence of a police officer a certain
times doring the: day and aight would
abate the nu e apd make the loaslity
much more snjoyaiie a a plese . of resi~
dence.
“Te other. cofamurtication.. was mach
more. emphatic than its predecessor. It
was from H. J. Baldovin, and was pri-
onary addrosed to. the Mayor, who
turned it over fo the Police Board, as
being the proper perzoys to receive and
consider the eomplaint, Mr, Baldwin
wrote in behalf of the property owners
und rosidents of the upper end of the
7 ward, and atated that more police
tection in that vicinity was peataialy
seumaen He had spokan to. the Obfe:
on fhe matter sovemil times, but’ sotetan
had deen done. The worst point, the
sommunication atited, was at the comer
of Willis and Winteo avenues, where
sine sort of ‘a street brawl tovk place
every night. Whe letter referred in par-
: hyesterday afternoon. A request was made
ooo cemareciea a
Health Commiesionéra srecelved (a -tele-
gram from Mayor Amos, who is at Bos-
‘ton, ‘atent the: special session of the
Board that waa to oegur at the Clty. Hall
to. postpone. the meeting to next ‘Phurs-
Lday, but. as the Commissioners were con-
Fyened.. the session was! not adjqurned,
frhough business pertaining to the crema-
Ftiog of garbare, how was bot the
‘order of tho afteruaoniz ~
| Presented with asgourenir. spoon, The
hspoon wae a fie-similo of the Tinh city
‘souvenir that the Commissioner had lost
‘from: a rast collection while on the return
trip: from Seranton.: He wax meh
grieved over what he termed a disjxaex
ion of his spoon, bat was more thin
gratified when the sonventr wre returned
with a neat presentation ‘speech by one
of the other members of the Board.
Besides inspecting cromatories and ex-
aaming the different methods of the is-
position of garbage. tn the various cities,
the
attention to the general workings of the
age, strect cleauing and water-snpply sys-
tems. In every city visited, valuable tn-
formation was acquired that will assist
the Syracuse Hoard in making a profit-
able and judicious selection of a crema-
tory
The Engle crematory at Lowell is lo-
eated a mile and a balf from the city.
The cost af running the plaut is expen-
sive. There is but very little stench con-
nected with the. process. The cost of
constrnetion was $7,500. If this system
was adopted here two erematories’ would
be required, each costing about 310,009.
The Brown crematory at Boston will
consume garbage faster than the Engle
plant. The inventor ‘of ‘the system said
that Syracuse could, operate a crematory
for 45 cents a ton, but the Superiaten-
dent of Streets of Boston, who has charge
of the garbage, informed the Commis-
sioners that it cost $1.15 on the avernge
to cremate the garbage. The Simonian
system at Providence pleased: the Syra-
cense Board. There is no fire employed in
this: proceda, Providence erected the
plant and Mr. Simonian disposes of all
garbage brought to the crematory free of
cost, deriving hia income from the sale of
the fertilizer. It is thought tha? same
like arrangement can be. made with the
inventor by the local Board of Tfzalth.
The ‘Vivarttas’ crematory at &fanton
sjoners arrived there as the builder, G. C.,
Sivith, was out of town, not anticipating
a visit from the,Comuissioners gutil next
week, The Board took advantage of the
“shut-down” and a thorough examination
of the machinery was made., ‘The plant is
havring-a (0 days’ trial, Tt has. been in
use 40 days and it is snid to be giving the
best of xatisfaction. The record shows
that In 88 days the frruace cremated
6,181 batrels or about 15 tons of garbage.
a day. The company agrees to put ap &
of Syracuse's garbace and only burn-one
ton of coal a day. The plant costs about
$8,000, and if it fs not a success after a’
trial has been given, the city need ‘not:
accent ft. >
After inspecting the ‘Vivarttas’ ‘aysten,
the Board held an‘informal: disenasion.
deciding to ask the various companies
for. estimates for the construction ‘of a
plant in this city with a guarantee of die
posing of a stated amount of garbage
dally A trip will be made to Buffain
next week to examine the Merz system
In operation there. Scranton will tage be
visited. a peeey j
aye Rouren out RY rien. aes
©. E. Powers of Jerdan Awake’ ni Find
Hils Hoase ia Flameca-Totally Reumeree-
udence to the Courier, —
“JORDAN, Aug. 8.—Fire broke out “3
the dwelling house owned by Mrs. C, E.
Powers, situated on South Beaver street
at abont 1 o'clock this mornin: and to-
-
Dastern cities, the |.
Coniralastoner Malviiiil was formally i
Commissioners also gave quite a litte |:
Health Boards, investizating the sewer-| +
was not fo operrtion when the Qommis-}.
bond that their crematory will doatroy all}:
Dae.
=
ra a ftp whitch tock plice there
thor nt ‘ oraiy
ad
@ ea aetuds 1564,9 in,
|
|
}
‘
‘Twe Prisoners of the Oawego Jal
‘
it
al
ae Ow ee >. 4”
‘ot f
WHERE To PIND THE: 72a
(ecnernl--Puyee Peenedd 2,
Pefoatiot the Tacuy MD Pre Me ted og
Phe Miberting of Wwiites NT ee
Hiriazih aad Vortuyenp ot Hida o.
Voto tie Meetirten Prestea
Sow York vty Prete of
(aise of the Hrookiva bire 2
LO one bre ee eT yy Ne
UMN Wilner Dyin the Penalty f & 8
The Boft Coul Wirtatne |
Omwowo Conviete Mreak dnil od
The Mayor Little Hurpr tise 8,
The Phatmanieen (ee Neen 8,
Patelntetia MiUGent dn Town &,
Pt CROOK Ge Aes er 7
Poder Mtottenbrr' ps Verwred PULL 7,
Plaht Por Cont, ptereme rf
PDT poe Mattel 7,
Llcwnres Chonted 7,
Kone of Veterwen Daten oN,
Nerth Midera W not Water &,
Vhivmtetenes: Cron Wilooaver the State
POM enmaort Mlenen bee prbeadiaee | 8,
Velunteer iipemen
Bolvany da Potttters K,
Hernwrd of beds Webern &.
Tlohoee fi Potton Cooutt 7,
Sisghites mtd Min Vintages 7,
AMuUKementa v
Hdltorintl-sMuage 4b.
: Doadtonrtiate
Nartiettein Dadeempenta,
Tari Gaine ane Losses,
Women--Paye 3, |
Raphael's Daily Catde, )
Molly (ioe)
Machton'sa Panales
Interentiing
Ve Machontuata Wj (Story.)
Cotmmerctale-Paye 2,
Ayraciae Wholesale Market,
Myracuae KRotnil Markee.
The Renal Matate Market,
The Mtock Market,
Gratn and Produen
Spore NueeMaye 2,
Store ta Wanadoo Clothes,
WWD eecebecatrey aaned Springheld Win,
Phe Nuthonad Qacngeten.
“Needy Hehool fefents ‘Varnlty,
Roman Race Mrizen,
Ne eh ik Rn ee
CONVICTS ESCAPR,
6+ wee
Dty Through the Wattle,
Rpecint te The Courter,
Qhiwene, Mary 0b Mate affernoon
Whol bate dae te George ~ Matloney,
Charged with oxanult in the second
Cegtee upen oan ote Htalinn, and Wy
Ino Dawler, charged with the abdue-
Hon of Tiaey Mtinplina of BYeanyerdbad,
escaped from the Oxuwewo county fall
by into a hole throweh the brick
Wall at the omouthenad corner of the
corridor whtely surrounds the merry.
Reroted Sheriff Kellock had Gone to
Hvructian thia) morntiog, leaving the
turnkey, Mer. Dineen, dt charge of the
Jatt
About 4 pom, Mr. Jones wont down
fo the Court Flouse, but was only gone
whout ten minutes. When he returned
the Macovery wan made that the two
Prinonera had emeaped, The police were
INMOVED =
HE WENT
10 DEATH
Dink Wilson Speaks
Prom the Chair,
NOT FOR HIS OWN SAKE
But Says That Charles Was
Not With Htn July 31.
RELATIONSHIP ADMITTED
Autopsy Shows Some Unexpected
Things About Wilson.
BURIAL TO-DAY AT THE PRISON
The Electrocntion One of the Most
Nucceaatnl Ever Held,
“Fla’s dead.”
That in what five physicians sald’
four minutes after "Dink" Wilson en
tered the denth chamber at Auburn:
prison yeastordny afternoon,
Iv wan true, Detoctive Harvey's
had nvenged and the
Ayracusansa present at the electrocution
mundo been
eer
felt @® thrill of antisfaction as thoy me
heard the statement of the reputable
phyaiclann who pressed their ours to,
the ab ’ baw eV ¢
+h
é
[a
> :
iy
eae
$
ae ‘
| BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL.
|
Brazil Ordors ter Minlater In Ldabon
to Sever All Diplomatic Relations
| With Portugal.
|
{ Dette, May 24 -Senbhor Viniaa de
Tdi, the Pragiiton Mtatater here, has
lreeedvordd fiestemethons Crone de Rover.
utente We tthe che Pnetre fee sever abl
i diplomuatte relatlons with the govern.
| pnveent ef Portugal and withdraw from
| opdstocy WHED Dele tre,
|
}
|
|
!
Woastilnipg ton, Miy Hi, Diplomatie
relation«e between Uravil ond Porta.
Ppetloteve heen mus pended= — becmuse
bof othe conduet of the offeers of
the Portuguese warship dn connection
With Doe Chagas stirreneler,
Senor Mendonca, the Bravittan min.
Ixter, this morntiugg received (he follow.
Pring cuetele: frome Bam pgoweraient:
“The Republic Nat atuspended atple-
nthe Polethor with Portugal, peivdrnge
Pieporta to Count Parity and the per.
monned of Chie Portunguiecnee leperthon oat
Hie, nil ordered: the Brazittvn legatton
at Lisbon to wlhtheleaw."
2 eR a ae
COXEY MOVES AQAIN,
emo
Byatteville Wan TnhoapltableesGQone
to Bilndeoaabury,
Washington, May tt Coxey maved
ids getty this orveorebage from Eby tte.
Ville to Phwdeusbunag, where they were
Offered the tree of the yard surround.
fiog the firmrous old bomtedrey, the George
Washibatou Pbotse,
One reason for the change was the
fhaceesxthltiy oar CCnmp Eaberty ane
the comseequent dheerenge dn parte gion
may,
Another recast wae the dodospitabte
spiett dinplaved Dy Piya ttrvdlle people,
Whee Devel ctpeprec ted be the nuthee cltes
top prestce Che ary aos a Estee,
Captain Cltcgerald Lett Belt,
Phttededptota, Mary to Phe New brig.
lane Fiedustetals Quave narehed an. a3
stromag, beavis Chebe demden, 'Cupetaga’’
Mitvecercateéb dao etll, unable fo secure
botedstriet
Two Boys Killed,
Midddletowo, Miay db - Vestibule tradn
Ne Soot the dirte rattroad: last nthe
mtruek ated Killed (we bey at Blan.
boek. Phew were babar and Chiavetes
Mattory, aged respectively Thand 16,
Sulctde of a Tene Vear-old Girl,
Anne, UL, May ti Datay Vaughan,
ten venrs old, dfed veasterday from oa
Siw at poison whieh she teak becuse
heromether would not det Ter daiat a
neiehbertna farmer in planting corn,
Tronaury Ualanee,
Woashinecton, May 4 The stated
‘reamury badumee today da $22,657,000,
f which $89,301,000 fs Ju gould,
in the dimceharwe of bin duty had gone
before a higher tribunal to anawer for
hia crime, ie
Cruel, blood-thirsty os it may seem,
the truth should be told not one of
many Syracusans present felt the
lenmt muspleian of sorrow when the
denth dealing electric current wag
turned oon, “Dink Wilson's body
straightened out and hin apirit went
to a higher court than the Court of
Appeals of the State of) New York
which aMirmed the decislon of wie lowe.
or court, that the Western bandit,
train robber and dcaperate oriminal
win guilty of the worst crime in the
calendar of buman crimea—murder in-
the firat degree,
Soo much for the Syrnousans, They
went with one desire in thelr hearta;
that desire ta see Lucha be Wilaon's:
lifwonded, That destre being satiafled,
they took the train for home with the
View of another trip ins thelr mind's
eye -anether trip to Auburn when
Charles I. Wilson, allas George Cale
houn should alsxo yleld up hia Hfa in
the electric chale and the murder of
James tEfarvey ahould be doubly ex
phartecd.
“Dink Wileen never flinched,
in the face of denth he amiled, and
walked to the fatal chatr with = the
atep of am man confident of enjoying
the plensures of Hfe for n hundred
yenrs to come, He smiled, but it was
nw ghastly smile. Those who had aeen
himdn the cell at the pottee stition, até
the Court House and at the prison bee
fore bia fate was cortnin, could not
fall to note the difference between the
simile of the man who hoped for Tbe |
erty and the man who had nerved
Hinoseif durtog the dast two days to
meet the awilft and sure death of the
eleetrie chair,
Hut though the ghastly smile bee
traved Che dnoward fecllnogs of the
criminals heart, his words were those
of the snme bravado who fneed the
overwhelming Mow of convietlog ouvle
denee during the trial without a treme
er, andoeven Nia bitterest enemies
could not repress an exclamation of
neltndration for the man whe, facing
sure death, would practlently asame
oll the pulle Himself and atcempt ta
free the man who ia almoat certain to
dle the snme death for the aame erima,
“My brother ts Innocent.”
That da what the condemned man’
snide In substance with the last breath
Which was permitted himoon this earth,
Inatend of making a atatemont charge
ing hin brother with the murder for
which he wan electrocuted, as had been
rumored he would do, "Dink" Wilson
had) proelatmed to the world in his
Inst Dbrenth that the mnan confined in
the Court Hicuse cella here waa innoe
Even
—< ~-
(Continued on Sixth Page.)
UNMOVED
AE WENT
Continned from First Page)
cent of any crime —-in faet, that he
Was not here on the day of the mur-
der. :
Woukl amas he in the list mo-
ment of his existence”
That is the aiuesttiom whieh flashed
before the minds of ad hoarers ryt thre
murderers Vesterdav, amd tet
One ANSWer was given positively tn the
attirmative :
Such oan rom of perv me
“Dink™ Wilson disphiscd vesterdiay Dave
Belidom Been seen the death chamber
of any prison Prepared ote odie. he
walked to the fatal chair and enid) his
say in A volce notch steadier than any
other man in the room could have
spoken. As the ¢leetrode was applied
to the head he made his lust statement
and calmly submitted to being
strapped in position to receive the volt-
Words
fF
vette
ewer
age which was te number him amon |
the numberlees dead.
Like clockwork the work procoed «1
Trained keepers to place the murderer
in position, trained men to perform the
little details which took the condemped
man’s niind from his death, so near. a
trained man—Warden James C. Stout. -
to give the signol when all was rendy.
a skilled electrician—F. F. Davis —tea
operate the switchboard, and the deel
was done.
It was the most succeseful electrocyu-
tion ever performed—done before the
witnesses realized that the time had
come, and with such “smoothness and
dispatch that hardiv a second seemed
to have elaperd hetween life and death.
“Well, he’s dend.”
That was all the speotators snail, but
_they admired the nerve of the mur-
Gerer, the skill of the electrician, and
the thotoughness with which. Warden
Stout had arronged the detafls of the
electrocution.
On July; 31, 1893) Detective James
Harvey was murdered: on May If, 1894,.
murderer Lucius KR. Wilson was eloc-
trocuted at Auburn prison.
Another page of history is written.
BEFORE THE EXECUTION.
March From the ‘iain Hall to the
Death Chamber.
Twelve Syracusans boarded the 9:30
train for Auburn yesterdny morning, !
all bent on the came errand ote ee
10 DBATE
etcetera: oe
It marked th. Prova
“Dink”
het of the end of
Wilden career
Tether picneere tte eR MY DT
MPa weet tae Kiceepeogy HES ppeerre cd tn
tothe corridor pa win WAR beeted
thre Comderrpiesd Ts edt
Pro See ond be Peppy
PUAN tipped Breathing, for weete hts
Weis thi Murderer, thee mann whe it
three gittutes Wits otis De
With the aead
[tC was a Moment Chat
CusNans Rad wrtted Mw lt otonittis ony
See umd row the MiVeopreres opr
Presstve Wort PoMoweat Was drdeed cs
See OF Intonee tterese
red aid Avery
Hany Sepa
Vrecatrars
“DINK’ MEELS HIS DEATH,
Sitteen Muudred and Eighty Wolt«
Avenge Detective Mlarvey’s Warder.
“DINK OWibeon thie:
Chamber
Same ntr oof bravado whieh Chiarvaetes
ied Ndi as oy Hardened orbit’ Cron
entered
the ttre af the Cried murder of 4
brave oMecer throwseh the done trdad
aod months of dmyeteonment. If any
Change wis retheemdede Vf wore fer frase
fice, whieh was slehely paler thin
USUAL, cod dite faws were firmiyvo eet
The man whe tad Tone reapedher dn
An effort ta retain bis Wberty had
BAined complete control of Hitusedf tae
fore entering the peso Whore bbs life
Was to be given Up im expintion of oy
terrible crime, and ta at agpearancad
Was AS Cool AX any person dm the
crowd
: Wilson wos dressed dao om pent nove
Well Attineg suit of blade Clothes. Fle
often down ocodlar seed tilmek
wore
|
of
|
stepped aside te attow. pay
Prevvel geaned ;
POM. ‘Pottian of this afty to take h
Pte Di Poti steak fils heed
Phe tie peeotttee wav and three oped
Phvrdboiees extn f othe Boddy te ded
tration without CGrvetisag the dene: Bled
lifes 4
Tt Worse Just PUN When thre dee phys
Dehn promentunecd Pde Widen denel
Mittibere gd |
Viel thre warredlen dmvdted ofther wt reseed
of the efectrocuttam to step forward
ettel ew ageebnees t)hee Deeds
Potter osertteerteca Pree Chee tiene i te
thesethy !
Yesterday afternoon with the
Shiv repped oan thie hor te “Pranks
hired Pee ere
Seed ere teben, the game
Prorgehe dreoosteapped tn the elusie, th
current turned on, turned off and five
Hoectort Had pronounced death to have
All im four ming
Peceere Pepsetureitorticccnges
Te |
The etrrent was an burt one oebnata
peo gerredinated dn voltage freee LAS
Pee TSO eb Th pressed compty sattbeteret
for cp yerretee thie orm eder Of Pieteetiy
Phos tr Goes cetrt the tenterce a
theee Porweet ccopet, fostered cog fhe vers
Het of a repress abatives parva fd
firmied Yer the dlselpeset eeviurt ite thee
“tite of New Yards A ae eo ET 0
Gers oe fib exeouthons over hetd tn thfs |
or anv other State, gewiff) cure and
pradts bees ;
“CHARERY IS INNOCENT.’
Ko Sald “Dink In a Written State-
trent to the FPnblic, {
Contrary to the
those who thouweht they bape three
CAetimed naa best, “Pbk Wotsen hed
alt
FF. 5
eOxpectation oof
- @.-.
Leecimes R. WILSON,
necktle of the made-up
lia nomthy
fovrr Var brand
atyye brvir oer bern bee af
before hie denth,
che Phi og i? .
statement
edt
n
bers y
trainake
Vea ane
nothing else worth
ressed his lips and
“One more question.
r own a_ .30-caliber
one of Steve’s when-
iting. Steve has two.
and the other’s—say,
ed with a .30 rifle?”
ak, McCann quickly
’ murmured With-
one. He. seemed to
is thoughts momen-
2 declared, “There’s
should know about,
.e with me.”
Lefeve followed the
chen. He pointed to
e back door of the
as a box of rifle ear-
o-loading Remington
» wall above.
go I bought this new
dges,” said Witherell,
» McCann. “When I
day before yesterday,
und?” .
ag!” exclaimed the
ded. “I can’t explain
parent bewilderment.
at gun off the wall!”
“Use your handker-
ure enough,” Lefeve
passed the weapon to
the end of the barrel
ien asked Witherell
did you use this gun
t in months. I cleaned
‘ing the gun and car-
le,” McCann said over
‘Stick around, With-
re seated in the squad
‘ned to Lefeve. “This
‘eak we've been wait-
I miss my guess, this
gun. Ballistics tests
just it for fingerprints,
i make of Witherell’s
at the missing car-
sergeant asked. “He
vou know.”
gged. ‘We will have
ether he is trying to
tending someone stole
the job, he may have
ibered leaving behind
ll we found on _ his
wsill.”
here in Hopkinton,”
d. “Are we going to
ur next stop.”
‘ncountered peene Al-
e was about to leave
Apparently, he ‘was
at the news of Char-
tragic death. But he
) be of assistance. He
d the same routine of
troopers had put to
‘ll. Their replies. co-
about the hot words
the slain man, Eder
and said, “It was just
argument. I’m sorry
) the poor old fellow
I really liked him for
adedness.”” 4
him keenly. “Did, you
g with the old man?”
of times; that is, until
FROM AUTHENTIC POLICE RECORDS
a few months ago when he told me
he didn’t want me to visit him any.
more on account of the argument.”
- “But we heard the old man didn’t
own a rifle.”
'“That’s right. We always borrowed
Steve’s guns.”
“We?” asked the trooper sharply.
Eder nodded. “I don’t own one
either.”
“How well do you know old Char-
ley’s brother, George?” McCann con-
tinued.
Eder looked puzzled. “Not well.
I only-met him once at Charley’s.”
Then he added, “Why? I might know
the answer you're looking for.”
McCann hesitated, then said, “Char-
ley was murdered with a .30-caliber
rifle. His brother owns one that was
discharged not more than a week ago.”
“Say,” Eder exclaimed, “‘I’m glad
you mentioned that. It reminds me of
something. It may not mean much,
but here it is anyway.”
What Alfred Eder told the eager
troopers sent them hurrying to their
patrol car a few minutes later. They
soon left Hopkinton behind and
roared north toward the Malone bar-
racks,
“As soon as we dust that rifle for
fingerprints, I want you to hop the
first train for New York,’ McCann
told Lefeve, “Take the gun, cartridges
and the slug that killed Witherell
down to ‘Bull’s-Eye’ Jones. After his
ballistics tests, we’ll know for sure if
George Witherell’s gun did the job.”
As an afterthought, he added, ‘“‘There’s
another job you can do while you're
down there. I guess you know what
it is.”
Within one hour District Attorney
Ingram, Sheriff H. E. Martin of St.
Lawrence County, Sergeant Walter
and Trooper Maloney had gathered in
Lieutenant McCann’s office.
“Gentlemen,” McCann announced,
“I haven’t, got positive proof yet, but
I'm certain that I know the identity
of the murderer of Charley With-
erell,”
The assembled officers exchanged
surprised glances.
“First, I want to question Stephen
Witherell again, just to clear up some
minor points in the case,’ continued
the lieutenant. “We’ll go down to
Fort Jackson right away.”
When the quintet of investigators
arrived at the murder farm, they were
sadly greeted by the bereaved man.
“Mr. Witherell,” McCann said quiet-
ly, “I find it unpleasant to subject you
to additional questioning at this time,
but I think I know who killed your
father and I want to clear up some
questionable points.”
“Yes?” said Stephen Witherell,
arching his eyebrows with attentive
surprise.
“T’d like you to tell us just how you
found the body,”
Witherell cleared his throat, “Well,
when I pulled up to the garage, I
found the doors locked,” he began.
“So I went to the kitchen for the keys,
opened the garage, and parked the
car inside.
“When I returned to the house, I
noticed that all the windows were
closed. It was awful hot and stuffy,
and I wondered why my father hadn't
opened them.” :
“One moment,” interrupted Lieu-
tenant McCann. “What windows did
you open first?”
“Those in the. kitchen,” he replied.
“Then those in the parlor; then the
ones upstairs. After that, I went into
my father’s’ room. That’s when I
found him dead.”
“What did you do then?”
“I ran over to the Dreher place and
told them about it. That’s when we
phoned Dr. Smith and you fellows.”
The lieutenant studied the farmer
closely for a moment. “What time
did you start for New York last
Tuesday?” he asked.
“T think it was about 7 A. m.”-
A dramatic silence enveloped the
group of men. A sudden grimness
fell across McCann’s face like a mask
and a_ hard, contemptuous look
glistened in his eyes.
“District Attorney Ingram,” he said,
turning to the officer, * “I accuse.
Stephen Witherell of the murder of
his father. Sergeant Walter, I order
you to arrest this man and turn him
over to the custody of Sheriff Martin.”
Although the accused man _ vehe-
mently declared his innocence, he was
quickly hustled to the sheriff’s car.
Soon afterward, he was lodged in a
cell in the county jail at Canton.
HAT afternoon Lieutenant McCann
told a gathering of officers, “Of
course, it was all theory, in a sense.
The odor at the farmhouse was ter-
rible last night. Yet, Witherell
claimed he entered and only found it
hot and stuffy, entirely overlooking
the odor. It and its cause should have
commanded his attention right away,
if he didn’t expect to find them.
“Next, consider the lapse of time
between his arrival home and his an-
nouncement to the Drehers that his
father was dead. Dreher says his wife
told him that all of twenty minutes
elapsed between Steve’s arrival and
his appearance at their home. I timed
myself opening every window in his
house. And it can be done in less
than seven minutes without hurry.
.That leaves thirteen minutes unac-
counted for. A man who comes sud-
denly upon murder—his father’s mur-
der, at that—doesn’t stand around for
thirteen minutes looking at the corpse.
It was those thirteen minutes that
really doomed Steve Witherell.
“Next, we come to Alfred Eder’s
“tie Witherell said he left for New
York at 7 a.m. on Decoration Day—
now, obviously, the day of the mur-
der. Yet, Eder contends that he saw
him sneak into his uncle’s home in
Hopkinton that night at 9 p.m. and
per a few seconds later carrying a
rifle,
“George Witherell claims that three
.30-caliber cartridges are missing from
his kitchen. Meanwhile, we find one
of these empty shells in Witherell’s
home and know that the lethal slug
was of that caliber.
“I’m confident that when the bal-
listics report comes through, we’ll be
sure that the posing shell and bullet
were fired from George Witherell’s
rifle, which the killer borrowed—per-
haps not the apt word; I should say,
stole—from his uncle’s home.”
However, Stephen Witherell con-
tinued to maintain his innocence, even
when Lieutenant McCann confronted
him with these facts and the additional
evidence that a thumbprint, found on
the stock of the murder gun, was
proven .irrefutably to be his.
“You carefully wiped the gun after
the killing,” the lieutenant opined,
ae slipped up somewhere along the
ine.”
Late the next day, Sergeant Lefeve
arrived at Malone with the findings
of “Bull’s-Eye” Jones. They proved
definitely that the, .30-caliber Rem-
ington was the murder weapon. Still
Witherell demanded his release on
grounds that he was innocent.
However, when Lefeve informed
him that he had interviewed his wife
while in New York, and learned the
motive for the brutal crime, plus the
fact that he hadn’t arrived in the
metropolis until June 2, the callous
killer broke down completely.
Stephen Witherell’s bride, a city
girl, had flatly refused to live at her
husband’s rustic home. He needed
immediate funds to set up a city
residence. Completely unknown to
his wife, Witherell decided to kill his
father, inherit the farm and sell it
as a means to this end.
“Yes, I did it,” he sobbed to Lieu-
tenant McCann. “I killed him just
like you said the night I left for New
York.”
“What did you do with the muffler
you used to deaden the sound of the
shot?” the trooper inquired.
“The towel? I burned it in the
kitchen stove.”
Sam Dreher, Alfred Eder and
George Witherell were, of course,
mpletely absolved of any connection
with the crime as a result of this
dramatic confession.
District Attorney Ingram, on be-
half of the State, refused to accept
Stephen Witherell’s tae of guilty to
murder in the second degree, and the
killer went to trial in St. Lawrence
County Superior Court at Canton.
A duty-minded jury quickly found
him guilty of first degree murder, and
Judge C. G. Hefferman sentenced him
to death by electrocution on Novem-
ber 4, 1932.
Nine months later, he went to the
electric chair in Sing Sing Prison.
The names Sam Dreher and Alfred
Eder, as used here, are fictitious in
order that innocent persons may be
spared embarrassment. ‘
“BEASTS OF PARIS”
An astounding exposé of life in Paris under Hitler's hordes—told by a girl who has lived through this
degradation and has set down her searing experiences that the world may know and ufderstand—in
NATIONAL DETECTIVE:Cases for December
DON'T MISS IT!
55
After a few preliminary inquiries,
Lieutenant McCann got down to busi-
ness. “Did you go looking for Old
Man Witherell when you were phoned
his son’s message?”
Dreher shook his head. “I was sure
he wasn’t home,” he declared.
“How was that?”-
“Well,-he told me he and Steve were
going to New York together. When I
didn’t see either of them for a few
days, I figured they’d left.” .
“But didn’t you think it queer that
young Witherell would send that mes-
sage if he and his father were to-
gether?” McCann asked.
Sam Dreher nodded slowly. “Yep,
I did for a fact. My wife did, -too.
But I guessed they’d separated and
old Charley stopped off to visit friends
or relatives on the way home.”
“And you didn’t go near his place
either yesterday or today?”
“Nope.” .
The manhunter watched him intent-
ly. “Sure you didn’t have some other
reason for not going near his house?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Answer the question!”
The farmer was defiantly silent for
a moment. Then with extreme sure-
ness he said, “I had no other reason.”
“You didn’t exactly love the old
man like a brother,” Lieutenant Mc-
Cann pressed doggedly. ‘“We know
that you had a few arguments with
him. Now, if you have anything on
your mind we ought to know, by way
of clearing yourself of suspicion, you’d
better spill it.”
Dreher grinned easily. “Sure, we
had our tiffs,’ he admitted. “But
Charley didn’t stop with me. He’d
had at least one set-to with every
man, woman and child in the county
at one time or another.”
“What did you disagree on?” the
lieutenant asked sharply. ‘
Dreher shrugged. ‘Nothing much.
The return of borrowed tools one
time. Him getting too many calls on
my phone, another. Nothing serious.
Old Charley was hard to get alon
with sometimes, but underneath it al
he wasn’t a bad fellow.”
McCann frowned. “Know any of
these relatives and friends of his you
spoke of?”
‘The farmer scratched his head.
“Well, no. Charley didn’t have many
visitors. But his brother, George,
from down Hopkinton way’s been up
here off and on. And there’s a young
fellow named Alfred Eder from those
parts who used to visit him now and
then. I don’t know either of them
well, though.”
When he had concluded a smirk
curled Dreher’s lips that the trooper
lieutenant didn’t like. ‘What’s so
funny?” the officer demanded.
“Nothing much. I was just thinking
about the last time Eder was up here.
He and old Charley had a whopper
of a fuss about something. I could
hear ’em way over here. ‘I don't
think the fella’s been back since.”
McCann and Walter exchanged
swift glances.
“Witherell was killed about a week
ago,” declared McCann. “Did you
hear the sound of a rifle shot coming
from his home about that time?”
“Don’t recall any.”
“What about strangers? Notice any
prowling around here lately?”
“Not a one.”
“Okay, Dreher, you're still in the
clear—for the time being,” McCann
said. “But stick around. We may
want to talk to you again.”
54
AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES
SERGEANT RICHARD E. WALTER: "The
killer probably stood at the foot of the
bed, held the rifle a few feet from old
Witherell's head and let him have it.”
A few minutes later, Sergeant Le-
feve and penoper Maloney reported
that a thorough search of the death
house had failed to uncover any clue’
that might lead to the identification
of the ruthless’ killer of Charley
Witherell.
NOME eight hours later, a fast patrol
car carrying Lieutenant McCann
and Sergeant Lefeve sped south to-
ward Hopkinton.
When they arrived at the small vil-
‘ lage that was their destination, they
went directly to the. telegraph office
and verified the fact that a message
addressed to the slain man had actu-
ally been received from Albany two
days previously. It had been signed
“Steve” and. had been relayed to Sam
Dreher - telephone,
Next, the troopers located and vis-
ited the modest home of George
Witherell. The man who admitted
them bore a striking resemblance to
his dead brother.
“T heard about poor Charley last
night,” he said, “and I’ve been ex-
pecting you fellows. Have you any
idea who killed him?”
“Not yet,” McCann admitted. ‘We
came to you hoping you might be able
‘to help us.”
“T’ll do all I can.”
“Good. First of all, I’d like to know
if there was any friction between your
brother and his son?”
Witherell appeared startled. “Surely,
you don’t think that Steve “4
“We suspect everybody until our
man furns up,” McCann stated calmly.
George Witherell blinked. “Steve
wee very devoted to his father,’ he
said.
McCann nodded. “We know the old
man didn't go out of his way to make
friends. But did he have any real
enemy to your knowledge?”
“No, I don’t know of any.”
“What about Sam Dreher and Al-
fred Eder?” .
“I don’t- know either of them very
well. Charley only mentioned them
casually to me a couple of times.”
“That might mean that the killer’s
motive wasn’t revenge, but robbery,”
mused the lieutenant. “The killer
‘may have been a transient or someone
living in these parts who knew Steve
was away and saw his chance to rob
the old man. Tell me, did your brother
keep any valuables in his home?”
money he had saved he kept in the
“Not that I know of. Whatever’
bank. He had nothing else worth
much.”
McCann compressed his lips and
sighed wearily. “One more question.
Did your brother own a_ .30-caliber
rifle?”
“No. He used one of Steve’s when-
ever he went hunting. Steve has two.
One’s a Savage and the other’s—say,
was Charley killed with a .30 rifle?”
Sensing a break, McCann quickly
nodded.
“T didn’t know,” murmured With-
erell in a low tone. He seemed to
_ Struggle with his thoughts momen-
tarily. Then he declared, “There’s
something you should know about,
Lieutenant. Come with me.”
McCann and Lefeve followed the
man into the kitchen. He pointed to
a shelf near the back door of the
house. On it was a box of rifle ear-
tridges. An auto-loading Remington
rifle hung on the wall above. -
“Two weeks ago I bought this new
box of ..30 cartridges,” said Witherell,
handing them to McCann. “When I
looked at it the day before yesterday,
this is what I found?”
“Three missing!” exclaimed the
trooper.
_ Witherell nodded. “I can’t explain
it,” he said in apparent bewilderment.
“Mitch, get that gun off the wall!”
McCann said. “Use your handker-
chief.”
“It’s a .30, sure enough,” Lefeve
remarked as he passed the weapon to
the lieutenant.
McCann lifted the end of the barrel
to his nose, then asked Witherell
quickly, “When did you use this gun
last?”
“T haven’t—not in months. I cleaned
it then, too.”
“We're borrowing the gun and car-
tridges for a while,” McCann said over
his shoulder. “Stick around, With-
erell.”
When they were seated in the squad
car, McCann turned to Lefeve. “This
looks like the break we’ve been wait-
ing for. Unless I miss my guess, this
is the murder gun. Ballistics tests
wil) tell. We'll dust it for fingerprints,
00.”
“What do you make of Witherell’s
telling us about the missing car-
tridges?” the sergeant asked. “He
didn’t have to, you know.”
McCann shrugged. “We will have
to find out whether he is trying to
cover up by pretending someone stole
them. If he did the job, he may have
suddenly remembered leaving behind
the empty shell we found on his
brother’s windowsill.”
“Eder lives here in Hopkinton,”
Lefeve then said. ‘Are we going to
see him now?” y
“Yes, that’s our next stop.”
The troopers encountered ae Al-
fred Eder as he was about to le
home for work. Apparently, he was
greatly shocked at the news of Char-
ley Witherell’s tragic death. Buthe
seemed eager to be of assistance. He
readily answered the same routine of
questions the troopers had put to
George Witherell. Their replies. co-
incided.
When asked about the hot words
he had with the slain man, Eder
grinned wryly and said, “It was just
a silly political argument. I’m sorry
now I spoke. to the poor old fellow
the way I did. I really liked him for
all his hard-headedness.” .
McCann eyed him keenly. “Did, you
ever go hunting with the old man?”
“Sure. Lots of times; that is, until
ave:
a few m
he didn’t
more on
- “But w
own a rif
“That’s
Steve’s gi
“We?” ;
Eder n
either.”
“How w
ley’s brot!
tinued.
the answe
McCann
ley was n
rifle. His
dischargec
“Say, ’
you menti:
something
but here j
What A
troopers s:
Patrol car
soon left
roared nor
racks.
“As soo)
fingerprint
first train
told Lefev
and the .
down to ‘I
ballistics t
George W
As an afte:
another jo
down ther
it is.
Ingram, S
Lawrence
and Troop:
‘Lieutenant
“Gentlen
“T haven't
I'm certair
of the m
erell.”
The ass:
surprised
“First, I
Witherell :
minor poir
the lieute:
Fort Jacks
When th
arrived at :
Sadly gree
“Mr. Wit)
ly, “I find i
to addition
but I thin)
father and
questionab
“Yes?”
arching hi:
surprise.
“T’d like
found the
Withere]
when I pi
found the
“So I went
RECORD
-~ 28 2
Finda, eee T=
VICTIM LE AGE RACE METHOD
CA Tidak: | wa | Lik hod Lee bask drip)
LD TET af Antade. th, taehek_
SYNOPSIS
e 2 . ° re : i .
a ewe Lg C04 Lf) “PriACK aoe 3 AMAL AA LL A ALA é La
TRIAL
EXECUTION
— FRANK NEWTON OFFICE SUPPLY—DOTHAN
r
Li or tA YGST | As 19a) Sishasr j hy parr
ee ee / a FF.
‘Murder, Husband is Held for
ee oe Discovered by
of ‘a double: murder, an Arcad
woman and her
the western edge of that village.
brother, I
their §0’s.
tlarm for the woman’s husband,
Frank, 54, an employee of the
vanna, ‘
Wojcik. ‘was located by the Erie
‘ounty sheriff’s deputies shortly ¥
efore Saturday noon at the home
-oad in the town of Elma and was?
aken to the sheriff's office int
3uffalo for questioning. of
Sheriff Kennedy’ termed the’
leaths as “apparently double’
vere shot in the back. A shotgun
voodshed,
Roy Offhaus of East Aurorky. a!
nilk truek driver, who stopped at
ye farm te pick up the morning’s
ilk, discovered the shooting.
“Offhaus,” according to th
efore and couldn’t understand it.’
le went to the house to investi-,
vate and found Mrs. Wojcik and.
he woodshed.”
Offhaus telephoned Arcade po-
«@ Chief Donald Owens who.
ummoned Sheriff Kennedy. Mrs.
‘harlotte Smallwood, Wyoming
‘ounty District Attorney, was also
afled to the scene.
Dro M.A. Bissell of Attica, Wie
ming county coroner was at the
Vojcik home shortly before 11:00.
ing
Sheriff Kennedy reported Toj-
owski lived with the Wojeiks and
/orked on the small farm. He ad--
ed that the shooting occurred
me time during the night and
yat the Wojnicks had no children
ving at home. This was her sec-
nd marriage.
Wojcik was taken before Coun-
' Judge Barber B. Conable when
e was brought to Warsaw from
uffalo on Saturday evening and
Oo plea was entered and he was
eld without bail. Wojcik is rep-
esented by Attorney Eugene V.
‘uckowski of Buffalo.
He will be tried on a first de-
rée@o.murder charge at the Janu-
ry Term: idly ‘the pypreme Court.
“Mosel Reports It le As Double ©
ed to’ five been the victim),
brother were;
found shot to death last Saturdays.
morning in the woedshed of theire
home on the North street road on#
Wyoming County Sheriff, Thom-)
as Kennedy identified the victims® ..
ag Mrs. Agnes Wojcik, and her, ‘@
eo Tojdowski, both nk
The sheriff sent out an
3ethlehem) Steel Co., in ‘Lacka- q t Jchanious 4 Smallwood,
County District. Attorney was. ae
‘Albany last Wednesday to ead
of a son, Chester, on the aut senting Frank Wojcik, 58, of Ar+
nurder:”?: He related the victims; .
vas found near their bodies dn the.
heriff, “found the milkcan empty.;:
le said this had never happened! ‘
appeal extended until after Janu-
, court.
er brother dead on the floor of) |
ee es it
any attempt by attorneys repre- :
cade, to have a first degree mur-
ti im last ‘Oant
dee convition Aaeiee a three days by Attorney ee
echo as who ace vipiee
tober set aside. Wojcik was repre-
“sented by Charles’ MeDonough and ¢Mcb
Eugene Buckowsk | Buffalo at- pit
sorney?. ie
near Arcade. The Dis trict Attorney
explained that a motion by de-
fense attorneys to have their time
ary lst was denied. by the high
BEC 4 "1952"
Tri
Vocus pee
c
‘fense being | presented for two or
ees 8, 1951, Gn their farm [dus
ali
Ne ear.
Immed diately
Dubie | this oo AL ele
‘cik murder trial. held in ‘Warsaw
-has been well attended with close-
Jv packed court room every day to
‘listen, to the presemetion of ‘ely:
ae Chae lotte
ad “clear-cut
This. i followed! by the de~
lday rpening cree summations by 3
the. prosecution ‘and defense will:
‘be given and then. followed by,
charges by the court.
A choice of sever’ verdicts can.
be :
1
i
|
second de-'
‘gree murder, first: an
ior third degree assault.
apa 3
Cees Unt
the case has. been given to} T hab
Attar
brought in, first. and second de-| :
Igree manslaughter | of fine second!
is ty 7
2 Atlorney Charlotte. Smallwood
is First Woman Attorney in th«
United States to Prosecute a
First. Degree Murder. Case
wee | AY i 5. 1968
' Justice George T. Vandermeulen
BE dig the following sentence on
ore Wojcik last ehaiedl morn-
a at is the judgment and sentence
of the Court that you be hana
ted to the custody of the sheriff of
» Wyoming County until removed to
Sing | Sing State Prison and that
yeu: there be confined until some-
time during the week beginn’
dune 3 23rd, 1952.
And it is the feviher Judgment
of the Court, for the murder fn the
first degree ° of “Agnes Wojcik.
wherefore you are convicted, you
“be and you hereby are sentenced
“ta the punishment of. death; and it
is ordered that within ten days
after this day’s session of Court.
the Sheriff of Wyoming County
deliver you, together with the wur
“rants of this Court, to, the agent
and the Warden of the State Pris-
on of the es o new ‘dual at
pon some righ he of that seek 80
appointed by the Agent or Warden
‘of ‘the: State Prison is commanded
‘to execute and to do execution up
on you, Frank Wojcik. in the mode
and: manner prescribed | by the
State of New York.”
On- Tuesday afterno: om, Sheriff
Thomas Kennedy, Under-sheriff
| Epearick Cook ard Deputy Sher-
ff Dalton Ca ney left to toke
Frank Woicik to Ossining. a a
Sing Sing is located.
ard. €. Mason of Arcade.
nan of the jury of nine men
and three oe ere the
‘the jury, they will. be. kept togeth= | ‘a a
er ‘until a verdict has ‘been reach-_ oe
ed and if they take more than one
day, Sheriff Kennedy will be busy
trying to find a- place for all of.
them ‘to sleep.
"
continued for
of precedent has beer.
fully prosecuted
owed! swith the ae Bie tens
i all of which were ruled on and ob-
jected to on the Tuesday session
No doubt but that some kind
established
‘for no woman district attorney in
the United States has ever suecess-
a first-degree
murder case before,
Thus ends a murder trial that
about three weeks
at a total cost of the county Sheriff
‘Kennedy estimates will run into
at least ten thousand dollars.
4
Sheriff Kennedy expects to
make a special report, when all of
the bills are in,
Supervisors for
ment to
to the Board of
. an extra allot-
the Department Funds
from surplus in the budget as his
estimate for the year did not an-
i
amt
ticipate a murder trial.
38
didn’t get the job and if she should start to work that day
she would surely be home by: six. Mrs. Emily Wheeler
had been pacing the floor of the apartment since six,
finally sending her two daughters out to wait for Ruth’s
streetcar. :
They came back at 7:25, chilly in the early April eve-
ning. Pearl was overwrought by Ruth’s failure to show
up and worried about young Adelaide because of the
mashers who kept accosting them at the street-car stop:
“Pm going to look for Ruth,” she told her mother.
“Alone.”
She went first to the corner drug store and phoned the
Merchants and Bankers school where, fortunately, Sher-
man-T. Estey, the head of the organization, was working
late. She learned that Ruth had been to the school, left
for the appointment, and hadn’t returned. Pearl was
given Wolter’s address. :
Not finding the name listed in the phone book, she went
by streetcar and cab to the apartment on 75th Street. She
rang the bell over Wolter’s name, got clicked in and made
her way through dim corridors to the apartment on the
third floor. The door was open and Maria, comfortable in
a loose kimona, stood in the doorway.
“You wish to see Mr. Wolter?” she asked suspiciously.
Pearl nodded, and Maria called Albert to the door. He
was in shirtsleeves and he had a stein of beer in his hand.
“What is it?” he asked, irritated, and then, discerning the
prettiness of the girl in the corridor, became charming
and asked her to come in.
“Pm looking for a girl—my sister—her name’s Ruth
Wheeler. She had an appointment with you today.”
Wolter frowned. “I know no one named Ruth Wheeler—
unless that’s the name of the girl the agency was sup-
posed to send me.” -
“She—she didn’t show up?” Pearl faltered.
Wolter shook his head as Maria came up beside him
and said, “What's she talking about?”. ;
“The agency said they would send a girl here,” Wolter
continued, putting his stein on a tabaret. “She was sup-
posed to be here at ten this morning. I waited—and then
around quarter past ten I went into the kitchen to put on
some coffee and the bell rang.” He pointed to a button
by the door. “I came out and pushed the bell to let her in—
and I opened the door and waited.” He made an empty
gesture. “I thought I heard the door slam downstairs, but
no one came up.” :
As he talked Pearl had been gazing around the room,
for some occult reason feeling a suspicion that there was
something wrong here. The room smelled of fresh paint
and beer and though there was an oak desk and a wooden
file in the corner, the place didn’t have the look of an
office. At the rear of the parlor there was a corridor which
showed a kitchen beyond, and to the right of the corridor
entrance was a closed door.
“Maybe your sister was sent on another job and went
there instead,” Wolter was saying.
Pearl shook her head slowly. Suddenly, on an impulse,
oa to the closed door and flung it open and looked
inside.
Maria grabbed her and pulled her back as Pearl saw it
was the bedroom, the bed unmade, and Maria’s clothes
drapped over a chair. .
“What do you think you’re doing!” Wolter roared. “Get
out of this apartment!” He yanked the door open. “I don’t
know what you’re up to, but if you don’t get out of here
quickly I’ll call the police.” *
Outside Pearl went to the nearest drug store and
phoned Mr. Estey, who had promised to remain in his
office for her call. Swiftly she told him what had happened.
“Y’m going to call the police,” he said. “The precinct
station house is on Sixty-third Street—I’ll call there. You
go right over and they’ll know all about it by the time
you arrive.” ;
Pearl Wheeler hurried over to the police station where
Captain Edward P. Hughes was waiting for her. Once
again she went over the circumstances of her sister’s dis-
appearance and her visit to Wolter’s. He chided her for
her hasty action in trying to search Wolter’s apartment,
but decided the place was worth an official visit and de-
tailed Officers Albert Hebrank, Joseph Shaw and Philip
Dunn to accompany Pearl back to Wolter’s to question
him.
Wolter was furious at the second intrusion. “I think
this girl’s crazy, he said to Hebrank, pointing at Pearl.
.“P’'m beginning to think she’s made up this whole wild
story.”
“Well, didn’t you send for a secretary from the agency?”
Hebrank asked.
Wolter nodded angrily. “Of course I did. ‘And I told this
girl what happened.” He repeated the story he had told
Pearl earlier. “And now,” he shouted, “this girl is
practically accusing me of having abducted her sister!”
Hebrank tried to mollify him. “Now, no one’s accusing
you of anything. Her sister’s missing and she’s upset. We
haven’t much to go on—and the trail ends at this build-
ing.” He glanced around the apartment. “Just to put Miss
Wheeler’s mind at rest—mind if we look around?”
He covered tracks of his crime with uncanny cleverness—
unaware the victim of his rage held his fate in her hand
“T ce!
himself
But get
me any
Hebra:
and Wo!
touched
through
finally re
“What's
“It’s a s
connects
that way
a hook or
empty. T
opened th.
“Well, I
Hebrank
visit. Thi:
coming ba
Hebrank
Persons—;
routine i:
turned rec
ground,” }
think
Pearl.
le wild
ency?”
old this
.ad told
girl is ©
sister!”
.ccusing
set. We
3 build-
out Miss
‘yyound?”
ry cleverness
hand
ve in her
Charred sections of corpse, in
bundles, were hurled from the
fire escape (bottom) into yard
(r.), surprising building owner
“] certainly do.mind!” he roared. Then, as if resigning
himself to the inquisition, he shrugged, “Oh, go ahead.
But get it over with quickly. And please don’t bother
me any more.” ,
Hebrank and his men started to look around the parlor
and Wolter said, “Be careful of the wet paint there.
touched up the fireplace today.” The men continued on
through the apartment, opening and closing closets, and
finally reaching a door in the corridor that was locked.
“What's in here?” Hebrank asked.
“Ts a small pantry that opens onto,the fire escape that
connects with the house next door. Anyone could get in
that way so I keep it locked.” He took a key. down from
a hook on the wall and opened the door. The pantry was
empty. They concluded their search at last and Wolter
opened the door for them.
“Well, I hope you're satisfied,” Wolter said, and after
Hebrank thanked him, he said, “Now I hope that’s the last
visit. This has upset my wife very much. You won't be
coming back, will you?”
Hebrank was uncertain. “We'll have to notify Missing
Persons—and then the detective squad will be making a
routine investigation.” He hesitated as Wolter’s face
turned red with fury, “But I'll tell them I’ve covered this
ground,” he added hastily.
The police took Pearl Wheeler
home and soon afterwards a gen-
eral alarm went out for Ruth,
describing her as 17 years old,
five-foot-three, with reddish-
blonde hair, and weighing 110.
When last seen she was wearing a
gray suit, white shirt-waist, tur-
quoise beads, a gold signet ring
with the initials “RA.W.,” and a
black straw hat. She was carry~
and an umbrella with a white
bone handle. .
The account of her disappear-
ance was written up in the morn-
ing paper, bringing instant noto-
riety to 224 East 75th St. The
customary addendum to the news
story, “Anyone having any infor-
mation as to the girl’s where-
abouts please notify police head-
quarters,” brought quick action.
A woman named Mrs. Beryl
Lattner appeared at the 67th
St. station house and said she had some information.
She was shown into the detective squad room where
Detective John H. Hauser, who had just been assigned to
the case, was going over the details with Michael Hegarty
and James Devine, his two assistants, and Captain Hughes.
Mrs. Lattner needed no prompting. “T just knew some-
thing must be wrong after what I saw yesterday morning.”
She made a shocked gesture with her hands. “Honestly!
It looked just terrible—the man in the bathrobe and that
girl standing there.” Gradually, after expressing shock,
dismay, indignation and horror in a dozen ways, Mrs.
Lattner revealed that she had passed 224 while shopping
and as she looked in she saw a girl answering Ruth’s de-
scription talking to a man “who had practically no clothes
on!” She calmed her exaggeration down and finally she
gave a satisfactory description of the encounter between
Ruth and the young man,
“You're sure the girl fitted the description of Ruth
Wheeler?” Hauser asked.
Mrs. Lattner nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes. The clothes
to a T—although I didn’t get a good look at her face. It
was the same time—around ten something. And naturally
I noticed the umbrella with the white bone handle—they’re
unusual in our neighborhood.”
After she had gone, Hauser and (Continued on page 64)
ing a black leather pocketbook:
39
-
64
APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
(Continued from page 39)
his men went to the apartment house and
while he and Hegarty rang to see the land-
lord, Devine was sent out to look for
possible witnesses along the street and in
neighboring apartments.
John Mohl, the landlord, was unable to
shed any light on the mystery. “Appar-
ently, the girl rang the bell,” Hauser told
Mohl, “but according to Wolter she never
reached his apartment.” He saw that Mohl
could not possibly fit the description Mrs.
Lattner had given of the man in the vesti-
bule. “She seems to have disappeared im-
mediately after ringing the bell—whether
she went inside or not we don’t know.
But so far nobody we’ve found saw her go
out.” Swiftly he told Mohl about the tall,
dark man, and asked for a list of the ten-
ants.
He ascertained that Kranz was the man
he wanted to see next. He went to the
apartment on the second floor rear and
rang the bell. The door opened, just a
crack, and Kranz peered out.
“What the devil d’you want?” he asked.
Hauser flashed his badge and the door
swung open. The apartment was a mess;
the shades were drawn and there was a
sour smell in the room. Dirty socks and
shirts and clothes littered the place, and
there were bottles all around.
“Just wanted to ask you some ques-
tions,’ Hauser said, entering the room,
followed by Hegarty.
“l’m not botherin’ anybody,” Kranz said
surlily.
It was obvious Kranz had been on a pro-
longed drunk. He hadn’t seen a paper in
days, so Hauser told him about the disap-
pearance of Ruth Wheeler, giving a full
description of the girl. “She was here yes-
terday—shortly after ten—do you remem-
ber her?” Kranz was undoubtedly the man
Mrs. Lattner had seen, even to the color
of the striped bathrobe.
Kranz shook his head. “Look, officer, my
head’s sort of fogged—I just woke up—I
can’t think—just a minute.”
He got up and walked over to a table
and lifted a bottle; it was empty. Then he
went to the kitchen and a moment later
emerged, looking happy, with a full bottle
and a glass. He poured a tumblerful and
drank the whiskey at a gulp.
He shivered, coughed, blew out his lips,
and then smiled. “That’s better,” he said.
“Now give it to me again, slowly.”
Hauser repeated his question and then
understanding appeared on Kranz’s face.
“Sure, I remember her. Day before yes-
terday—” he snapped his fingers—“yester-
day, it was—I went out to see if there was
mail—there was a girl outside—a real
peacherino—she was waiting for the door
to open. Going to see somebody she didn’t
know well, I figured, because she didn’t go
on in when I opened the door. I certainly
hated to close the door in her face—but
she was the snooty kind.”
“She didn’t come in, then?”
Kranz frowned. “I can’t swear to it—but
when I got to the second floor I heard the
latch click and the door open. I got to my
door an’ I thought I heard footsteps on the
stairs—a woman’s—I didn’t look around
an’ I closed my door—” Kranz looked off
into space, then slapped the table before
him. “Yes, dammit, I’m sure she came in.
I had an awful head an’ I remember the
tap-tap-tap of a woman’s heels in the hall
and going up the stairs.”
“Mind if we have a look around in
here?” Hauser said, and Kranz okayed a
thorough inspection of his apartment. The
detectives found nothing.
Hauser and Hegarty went through the
whole building, quizzing the tenants. No
one had seen the girl, There was no one at
home at Wolter’s. They returned to the
precinct house, where they found Devine
nakingt out his report. Two people, Devine
said, had seen the girl enter the building;
no one had seen her come out.
Hauser faced a blank wall in the investi-
ation now. He went over all the reports
ol the officers who had searched Wolter’s
apartment, the testimony of Mrs. Lattner,
all the information Pearl and Mr. Estey
had been able to give and the notes on his
interviews with Kranz and Mohl. It wasn’t
much.
He picked up the phone, and called
headquarters. “Find out if we have any-
thing on John T. Kranz,” he told the clerk
in Identification, “and Albert W. Wolter.”
He gave the address and then hung up.
“It'd look damn silly,” he muttered to
Hegarty, “to report that the girl just van-
ished into thin air.”
The next morning, March 23rd, Hauser
vol a reply from headquarters; they had
nothing on either of the men. This did not
alter his convictions, however, and he was
just getting ready to send Devine over to
75th Street to bring the two men in for
questioning when his phone rang.
It was John Mohl, the landlord, begging
him to come over to the apartment at once.
PEEP THE POLICE
The pet shop owner was rather
hurt and puzzled after burglars
broke into his store in suburban
Philadelphia. His theft loss was
$120—19 talking parakeet birds.
“Why didn't they say some-
thing?” he said, staring at the
empty cages.
Mohl and his wife were in a state of high
excitement. As Hauser and Hegarty en-
tered their apartment they both began
speaking at once, their words coming out
in rapid bursts. Hauser sorted it out, then
pieced it together:
Yesterday afternoon, not long after the
detectives had left, Wolter and the woman
known in the apartment as his wife re-
turned to their flat. Mohl, working in the
corridor, nodded to them. An hour or so
later there was a knock at Mohl’s door and
Wolter and Maria stood outside. A pair of
battered suitcases were on the floor by
Wolter’s side while Maria clutched a heavy
carpet bag, a raincoat and three umbrellas.
“Wolter told me he was moving out. He
said, ‘I can’t stand being bothered by the
police—and now the whole neighborhood
is looking at the apartment as thought it
were a house of shame. I’m moving out.’
Then I reminded him that he was paid up
a week in advance, but I wouldn’t be able
to give him his refund until I was sure I
could rent his place. He told me to forget
its?
“But John—about the trunk and—” his
wife broke in.
“Wolter said he’d left his trunk in the
room and would be around to get it the
first thing in the morning. He didn’t show
up—and then my wife and I were talking
about them—and suddenly she remem-
bered something. The woman—Maria—
she was carrying three umbrellas! And
one of them had a white bone handle—and
I've never seen one of those fashionable
things around here!” Mohl said quickly.
“The trunk!” Hegarty said. Hauser got
the key to Wolter’s apartment and the de-
tectives raced to the third floor and let
themselves in. The trunk stood in the mid-
dle of the room. Gingerly, expecting the
worst, Hauser undid the straps, broke the
lock, and lifted the lid. The trunk was
neatly packed with linen and toilet arti-
cles. Nothing else. No missing girl, as
Hegarty had suspected.
While they were there the two detec-
tives searched every corner, closet and
cubicle, but could find nothing.
“They didn’t leave any forwarding ad-
dress, did they?” Hauser asked Mohl when
they got downstairs. They hadn't, but the
landlord said that Maria was friendly with
the woman at the bakery around the cor-
ner and she might be able to tell them
where Maria worked. They checked this
lead and got the address of the restaurant,
only to find that Maria hadn’t shown up
for work. The only address the proprietor
had for her was that of Wolter’s apartment.
This area of New York is called York-
ville. Since the last century it has been a
colony of German-Americans. Hauser
knew that if the pair were in hiding they
would be hard to trace here. He would
have to tread carefully in his search for
them, too, for after all, what did he have
to go on? Mrs. Mohl had seen the woman
carrying a white, bone-handled umbrella.
Or thought she had. And Ruth Wheeler
might never even have entered the house.
Granted, no one had seen her go away;
but the only testimony they had that the
girl had entered the house was that of
John Kranz, whose drink-fogged memory
was admittedly tricky.
It was tiny and circumstantial, what he
had to go on, but Hauser ordered his men
to press the search for Maria Schlech and
Albert Wolter. Devine had checked on
Wolter in the neighborhood and reported
to Hauser the consensus of opinion that
Wolter was lazy, rarely working for more
than a couple of weeks at a time, and a
peacock of a man who had lived with a
succession of women who held steady jobs.
“Maria will be working soon enough,”
he said, “and speaking practically no Eng-
lish, she’ll have to find work in Yorkville.”
Another two days went by and then, at
10:30 on Friday night, Mohl was standing
at his bedroom window when he heard
something thud into his yard. He looked
out into the dim moonlight and then saw
a white object bounce into the small yard.
He took some matches and went out to in-
vestigate.
One was a burlap package wrapped with
wire and the other was white muslin tied
tight with string. He lit a second match
and saw that both were stained a brown-
ish red. He brought them near the window
and began to open them.
The first thing he saw was a woman’s
head, the face half-burned off and the
hair a cobweb of cinders. He backed off in
horror as he saw that the rest of the pack-
age contained a blackened torso, with the
arms and legs gone. The other package
contained nothing but ashes, save for some
hairpins and beads and bits of bone.
He staggered to the back door. Inside,
for the first time he was able to think. The
police suspected Wolter, as he himself did,
and the man hadn’t been near the house
for days. Then, suddenly, someone had
tossed the remains of what must surely be
Ruth Wheeler into his backyard. He ran
out of the house without saying anything
to his wife and sped to a saloon where he
phoned the police.
Half an hour later, the length of time it
took them to dress and grab taxicabs after
the desk sergeant had called them at their
homes, Captain Hughes, Hauser, Devine
and Hegarty were examining the grisly
remains. Mohl had gone up to Wolters’
apar
and
Ask
of the
was :
from
fence
fall ©
come
bounce.
Hau
stairs
and 22
Mosi
ser no
buildis
“Kra
and
thinkir
a drun
Twe:
was ba
the pac
named
apartii,
which
Hau:
ment \
away ¢
I got h
ticed s
coupli
T knew
man |
on my)
right «
natura
Evar
was 1;
Now
to bre
delicti
going
apartn
His
h
tions
and +
how—
lion d
and r
Come
pay y
ate, [
sands
Send
catalc
ates
equir
man
on
APPR
Nati
Depi
THE HUMAN TORCH INTHE
FIREPLACE POINTED OUT ~
ONE SEARING TRUTH—THE
t it was a
es but the
went into
‘ooking for
re was no
»w-cheeked
on his chin
.e, his bare
of surprise.
the mailbox
syes off her.
A woman,
»s, looked in
. barelegged
yuldn’t keep
behind him.
yg, an angry
ied the door
ay had been
reet, Albert
German im-
or the past
the pillow a
he turned a
- nightgown.
sister, with
-brown hair.
sallow, and
| by her tall
ire, she was
h of pinkness
GUILT OF A WILY KILLER
of her face tinged the curvy whiteness of her body. She
was almost matronly at 19. .
Wolter was a little tired of her. She was too adoring,
too impressed with his being a gentleman, too subservient
to his demands. He appeared to be a beacon light of
security in her lonely life in America and she followed his
guidance unquestioningly—but relentlessly.
“Aren’t you late for work, Maria?” he said in German.
She nodded and muttered something, her mouth full of
hairpins.
Suddenly Wolter remembered that he had an appoint-
ment this morning. He leaped out of bed and looked at his
watch on the dresser. Eight-twenty. He went into the stiff,
f
Job interview was scheduled at
building (arrow) but the lovely
applicant was late and instead
found her future forcibly linked
with fireplace in monster’s room
masculine parlor, which also
that everything was in order.
He had decided to operate out
of here instead of taking com-
mission jobs at real-estate and
insurance brokers’ offices in the
neighborhood. It wasn’t a good
address, but touched up with
a little paint here and there,
the parlor would make an im-
posing office. He hadn’t told
Maria about his plans for hav-
ing a secretary, but his plans weren’t going to concern
her much longer anyway.
A vain man, it took him a long time to dress and he
had barely got started by a quarter to nine when Maria
kissed him goodbye and left for the restaurant on 86th
Street where she worked.
An hour later he was ready, his high stiff collar gleam-
ing, his hair pomaded so that it glistened, his skin redolent
of lilac water. He went out and got a paper and then sat
down to read and wait for the secretary he had sum-
moned for a 10 o’clock interview.
By 7:30 that night, Ruth Wheeler hadn’t returned home.
Ruth had said that she would be home by noon if she
served as his office, and saw
37
rr rn ten
Mahon went to work on the thin-
nosed Donald Eberle. By charging
his two companions blamed him for
everything, clever questioning and
manipulation of words, Mahon in-
duced Eberle to babble the other
man’s name. He was John Pleyer,
a criminal] well known to the Chi-
cago police.
The records were checked and
Pleyer’s card in the Bertillon - file
revealed he was mugged more than
once. The dragnet was spread and
the following morning the cold-
voiced killer found himself facing
a barrage of questions. He, like Eb-
erle, laughed and was derisive.
After _a while he broke down but
he did so mockingly. “Robberies,”
he sneered. “I’ve pulled more than
you dicks will ever figure out. Not
in Cleveland’ though,” he -added
quickly: “I always worked right
here.”
By his own admission he and
his companion had committed over
500 robberies. The Chicago officers
worked swiftly. They checked their
list of unsolved robberies and the
trio received credit for most of
them. They wanted to bring them
to trial in Chicago, but the Cleve-
land prosecutor had a much better
case against them. He said he
could give them the electric chair
for murder. In due time, the ex-
tradition was arranged.
Margery Hall was sent to Cleve-
land with a police woman and two
days later Eberle and Pleyer follow-
ed her by plane in the company of
Wolf and Mahon. An army of wit-
nesses was called and one by one
they identified the trio as the ones
who looted their registers.
LONMFIDENTIAL
DEMEGHIVE
Wheeler, her eyes widening, ‘that
Ruth has been kidnaped—that
someone could be holding her cap-
tive there?”
Pearl rose abruptly from her
chair. “We'll soon know,” she said
firmly. “I’m going to call the po-
lice!”
‘She telephoned the E. 67th Street
station of the New York City Police
Department, where she was con-
nected with the detective division
and quickly told her story to Cap-
tain Edward P. Hughes.
After describing her sister, Pear]
told how Ruth had been sent by
the school to see Albert Wolter
about a job, and how she herself
had visited Wolter’s flat, only to
find no trace of the missing girl,
“Something’s wrong, all right,”
Captain Hughes agreed. “I'll send
two of my best men up to your
40
° *
CONFIDENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES
Joseph Wesoski’s accusations
were the most damning. He desig-
nated Donald Eberle as the man
who had killed his son. Pleyer was
the one who had shot him as he
- rushed to his dying boy’s aid. Mar-
gery Hall was named as the one
who had beat Albert Wesoski over
the head with a gun. John Chegas
and the taxicab driver added their
accounts to the already overwhelm-
ing.evidence. . ene
Fingerprints taken from the
stolen cab matched those of the
trio. Chemical arjalysis proved that
the bloodstains on the seat were
made by the same type of blood as
that of Eberle.
Indicted ‘for first degree murder
and with the electric chair staring
them in the face, they exposed
their true characters. They quailed,
accused each other and their stor-
ies slowly changed into confessions.
Their tales and the accounts of
the witnesses presented an accurate
account of what happened up until
the time they stole the taxicab.
Margery Hall filled in the blank,
spaces after that. She admitted
abandening the cab and catching
the street car, but. after leaving Jit
at 63rd and Euclid she would: not
say where they went.
“I knew you’d be watching the
hospitals and doctors,” she explain-
ed, “sq I operated on Danny my-
‘self. I'd do anything for him be-
cause I love him.”
Looking at the smooth-faced girl
- the officers found her story of the
operation hard to believe, but they
knew it was true. The fact that
there had been no reports from
the hospitals or physicians sub-
stantiated her story.
“I won't tell you where we stay-
ed,” she repeated. “But we hid right
in Cleveland for three days before
John left. He went back to Chicago
and I stayed with Danny until he
was strong enough to walk. That.
was almost a month. Then I hired
a speical car to drive’ us back, to
Chicago. You know the rest.”
On trial Margery Hall pleaded
guilty to her part in the crimes
and the defense built up jury sym-
pathy by stating that she had been
led astray when but a young girl.
She did not know that either of
her companions were gangsters un-
til it. was too late. Despite this
build-up, Hall was convicted, and
sentenced to one to 20 years in the
Women’s Reformatory in Marys-
ville, Ohio.
Donald Eberle blinked his one
good. eye when he heard the sen-
tence pronounced on him. His life
was the price he paid on June 24,
1936, when he was electrocuted by
the State.
In August of the same year, his
dapper companion, John Pleyer, re-
ceived the same punishment,
The trio who successfully robbed
hundreds of stores and other busi-
ness establishments proved them-
selves no different from anyone else
on the’ “left-hand-side-of-the-law.”
Sooner or later they were bound to
make ‘a mistake. It was the old
percentage game and the odds are
always greater on the moral side
of the law.
Note: Margery Hall is a fictitious
name to protect a person who
served a prison sentence and is
now living a decent life.
TOO BEAUTIFUL TO LIVE
(Continued from page 13)
home right away. Give them all
the information you can.”
It, was not long before Detective
Jameés Devine and John Haggerty |
appeared at the Wheeler flat. Pearl
meanwhile had notified her uncle,
Amos Wheeler, and Thomas A.
Stone, a friend of the family, about
Ruth’s disappearance, and both
men were waiting at the Wheeler
apartment when the detectives ar-
ved.
Devine and Haggerty listened
carefully as Pearl repeated in. de-
tail the story she had told Captain
Hughes. Then they questioned the
others about Ruth, her habits, ac-
quaintances and activities. The
missing girl, all agreed, was highly
respected, well-disciplined and de-
voted to her family. They were-
certain she-had not remained away
from home of her own accord.
“We must establish first,” De-
vine declared, “whether or not Ruth
ever reached the East Seventy-
fifth Street building. If she did,
we'll start our investigation there.
But if she didn’t we’re going to
have a tougher job tracing her, I’m
afraid.”
‘Pearl remained at home this
time while Mrs. Wheeler, Adelaide,
the uncle and Stone accompanied
the detectives to the address where
Ruth Wheeler had been sent by
the school. ,
There they trooped upstairs, led
by the officers, and halted in. front
of Wolter’s flat. Devine knocked
sharply and Wolter himself open-
ed the door. He frowned as the de-
tectives showed their badges, and
grudgingly stepped aside to let
them enter.
“Are visitors going to keep us up
Seg eaten ee eee
-errupted
» the de-
thed the
nty-fifth
: covered
see the
id noth-
> twink-
on’t you
thrown
3s a body
“And it
the way
‘It could
cape!”
nee, the
: jangied
dis lips
hat he
‘We'll be
manded
spring-
- what’s
on the
ity-fifth
et’s go!”
Kathie
‘ers, the
uad car
s where
de. The
em out-
y he led
i, where
-athered
and his
ugh the
.terest—
ck, slit
body of
m bones
berately
vent up
1e arms
inst the
> bound
r.
burned
cull, ex-
en the
2 of the
i strand.
the left
aains of
i neck-
i clung
Wheel-
jhe was
it when
janitor.
led. The
an with
Kelly.”
,” Kelly
vas eat-
kitchen
1e€n my
a dirty
‘ide our
there, I
tossed
|
}
i
|
on Sa ef
i
CONFIDENTIAL FACTS FROM POLICE RECORDS
it over the side into the courtyard. :
. But as I did so, I.noticed. some dark
stains on the bag which might be
blood.
“Those stains worried me. Finally
I called the janitor and we went
into the yard where I had thrown
the sack. I slit it .open—and there
was the body.”
The janitor vouched for Kelly’s
_ story. Hughes called Manhattan
Headquarters. Soon _ Inspectcr
George H. Titus and Captain Ar-
thur Carey of the homicide squad
_ arrived with Coroner August Holtz-
hauser and his medical examiner,
Dr. Philip O’Hanlon.
As the coroner and his physician
bent to examine- the remains,
Hughes made a brief report to Ti-
tus and Carey.
At length Dr. O’Hanlon completed
his examination and Holtzhauser
asked: “What do you make of it?”
“Y’d say the girl has been dead
for at least twenty-four hours,” the
‘doctor replied. “Pending an autop-
sy, it looks like the girl was strang-
led before her body was set afire,
although there’s a possibility she
may merely have been unconscious
and was burned alive.”
Carey turned to Hughes. “I un-
derstand you already have a sus-
pect in custody.”
“That's right,” nodded the detec-
tive captain. He quickly reviewed
the ‘circumstances surrounding
Ruth Wheeler’s disappearance and
Wolter’s subsequent arrest. “We're
almost positive he’s the guilty man,
but so far, we've been unable to
break him down.”
“If it’s necessary to dig up clues,”
said Carey, “we'll take that suite
he occupied apart. While we're
searching it, send a couple of mien
up to his new rocm in Harlem.”
The officers hastened upstairs
with -the janitor, who ' admitted
them to the flat formerly o¢cupied
by the Wolters, into which Miss
Manning since had moved. Hughes’
attention was fixed on the newly-
painted fireplace in the kitchen.
“That paint jcb was part of Wol-
ter’s alibi,” he told the others. “But
maybe it’s significant that he re- .
painted the fireplace only a few
hours after Ruth Wheeler was sup-
posed to have visited him.”
“It must have been to cover up
some important evidence in her
murder,” Inspector Titus concluded.
“The fireplace may have been the
girl’s funeral pyre.”
Bending down, Coroner Holtz-
hauser tore away a ‘black metal
shield masking the front of the
fireplace. Reaching into the grate,
he withdrew a handful of ashes
and sifted them between his fin-'
gers. In his palm lay a twisted gar-
ter buckle!
A second,- more thorough search
of the ashes revealed several white
fragments which were identified by
Dr. O’Hanlon as human finger
bones. Still deeper in the grate, the
coroner found a small bundle. of.
clothing which had not been en-
tirely consumed by the flames. In-
side it was a bloodstained man’s
shirt embroidered with the ini-
tial “Ww.”
Hughes viewed the clues with
confidence, “Even if Wolter won’t
confess,” he declared, “we've got
enough on him now to send him
to the electric chair.”
Next the officers pulled away
‘pieces of the tile which formed the
héarth.. Underneath they found
dried splotches of blood.
“It’s obvious,” said O’Hanlon,
“that the Wheeler girl’s limbs were
twisted with such savage force that
severe hemmorhages resulted.”
While the search was going on in
the East Seventy-fifth Street apart-
ment, Detectives Devine and Hag-
gerty were busy in the Harlem |
rooming house.
There Mrs. Wolter, morose over
news that the girl’s body had been
discovered and convinced that. her
husband was somehow involved in
Ruth Wheeler’s murder, was help-
ing the officers in their examina-
tion of Wolter’s personal. belong-
ings.
In a collar box they found three
black wooden beads and a gold
amulet matching the description:
of other ornaments the girl had
worn when she left home on that
fatal Thursday. From a suitcase
the detectives. took: the rubber
stamp with which Wolter had sign-
ed the postcard he had sent to
the business school.
Concluding their search, they
found, beneath a stack of shirts in
a dresser ‘drawer, a small notebook
filled with notes and newspaper
clippings on murder cases, amcng
which was the account of the re-
cent slaying of a woman by her
husband. Had Wolter, they won-
dered, also planned to do away with
his wife?
On the one page of the notebcok
was inscribed thé name of Ruth
Wheeler and opposite it. was the
date, March 28!
In view of all the clues at hand,
it was not hard for the detectives
to reconstruct the crime complete;
ly. The lovely, blcnde Ruth Wheel-_
‘er, scarcely more than a child, had
* set out on that chill March morn-
ing for her first interview with a
prospective employer. She: had as-
cended the stairs to Albert Wolter’s |
flat, atremble as she knocked some-
what timidly at the docr of 3-A.
The young husband had admitted
her, and probably agreed to hire
her, setting March 28—the follow-
ing Monday—as the day she should
report for work and carefully re-
cording it in his notebook. What
‘transpired next was obscure, but in
an indescribable rage, he had turn-
ed upon her and slain this beauti-
ful, innocent girl.
Leafing through the notebook,
the detectives found the names of
sa]
twice ws Wluch
LIFE INSURANCE
Policy Pays These Benefits
war: FIRST 5 YEAR Perlod!
Travel Accidental
$3360. pune
Automobile Acciden-
3040 LT tal Loss of Life
u f Life d A
$1120. 00 pradesh hoe
dent or Natural causes
COSTS ONLY °1°° A MONTH
This is your opportunity to obtain Life Insurance
backed by Legal Reserves, that provides genuine
protection, not only for your loved ones but your-.
self, too! Pioneer THREE-WAY Life Insurance
Policy provides CASH for YOU in emergencies .
CASH for your FAMILY when you pass on. Offers
features found in much more expensive policies!
10 POINT PROTECTION
Policy pays FULL benefits for Loss of Life due to
(1) Natural Causes. (2) Any Sickness. (3) Any
Accident.. ‘Pays DOUBLE for (4) Auto Accident
Death. Pays TRIPLE for (5) Travel Accident
Death, In addition policy provides these benefits:
(6) Loan Values. (7) Cash Surrender Values.
(8) Paid Up Whole Life Insurance. (9) Paid Up
Extended Insurance. (10) Automatic Non-For-
feiture Protection.
SEND FOR FREE DETAILS—NO OBLIGATION
Amount of insurance according to your age when
Policy is issued. Benefits shown above are based
on age 21; other ages in proportion. Pays FULL
BENEFITS, regardless of age attained, as stated
in Policy! No automatic age cancellation. Issued
to Men, Women, ‘Children in good health, ages
10 to 65 years. ACT AT ONCE! The sooner you
apply, the more insurance you may have! Infor-
mation Mailed FREE. Don’t wait; write TODAY!
PIONEER LIFE _ INSURANCE COMPANY
5320 insurance Exch. Bidg. © Rockford, ill.
‘Kibo IN LUCK?--$$
: BRAE: 9 RED OLIVE
~~ Lodestones as MOSTP OWER-
* FUL MAGNETIO “LUCKY”
* CHARMS, one to ‘‘attract’’
Ns Good Luck in Money, Games,
. Love, Business, Work, rc
the other to ‘‘prevent’’ Bad Luck, B08,
Trouble, Harm, ote. Believe in Luck? Te Pals
of these B Red Live Lode-
stones! We make no supernatural claims. $1.97
Postpaid for the two, with all information. 81.97
and 270 extra if 0.0. D. Satisfaction GUARANTEED
or Money Returned. Order yours NOW!
ASTROL CO., Dept.£-203 “tele P.O.
: Box 72, BROOKLYN, N.
NOTICE! Beware of im tations! We aboeltnks GUARANTEE
. ae ALIVE! We beli
b eaey are juet what you ent’ the i. THIN: G—POWERFUL
DRAWING, EXTRA HIGHLY ‘MAGNETIC! Fully Guaranteed—
Order FODAY! Copyright 1937—A. Co,
PILES Seca corrected of no |.
cost!.New painless, low cost
home treatment. perfected by RECTAL
SPECIALIST helps many. Send for FREE
trial offer. No obligation.
DR. MOLZAHN'S CLINIC, Dept. clo
Box 135, McCook, Nebraska
TOMBSTON ES
DIRECT TO YOU ¢ |
Gomme Heretnd Sepaie
Fees teenr ek, EASY
it. Terms
ROCKDALE MONUMENT CO.
Dept. 887 JOLIET, LAINORS
tox!
I Ali
subjects “st atatecie
ih ald er thn meee tit
bargain
Write Nelson Co., |) 39 5S, Wabash rsh Depr46 Coneqed at
43
aence SouseS ne ent pre inotrug-
CONFIDENTIAL FACTS FROM POLICE RECORDS
all night?” the young German ask-
ed sarcastically.
“If necessary,” grimly replied De-
vine. “A girl has disappeared and
we're not sure that this isn’t the
place where she vanished.”
Wolter sneered. “Of course, My
wife and I are kidnapers. We have
tied her up under the bed where.
Mrs. Wolter is sleeping. Gentlemen,
you are welcome to search the
place, I assure you.”
Leaving Mrs. Wheeler and the
others in conversation with Wolter,
the detectives went through the
living-room, bedroom and kitchen.
But they found nothing to indicate
that Ruth Wheeler had been there.
Mrs. Wolter, in a hastily-donned
negligee, identified several articles
of feminine clothing in the suite
as her own. As a double check, the
detectives showed these to Mrs.
Wheeler, who declared they were
not. Ruth’s.
At last the officers turned to
question Wolter.
* “About this Lena Schwartz _whom
you admit interviewing here last
night,” said Devine. “Did you hire
her?”
“No, replied the young man,
scowling. “I told her to come back
today.”
“But,” pointed out Haggerty,
“you informed Pearl ‘Wheeler that
both you and your wife. were out
of the flat today.”
“Most of the day, yes. But I
thought Klein would be here to
see her.”
“Who is he?”
“John Klein, my partner in the |
shorthand school we are planning
to establish. He works as a waiter
at Coney Island.”
“was he here today?”
“J really don’t know,” Wolter ad-
mitted. “He has a key to the flat
and may have been here. But he,
left no message.”
The waiter appeared to be a pos-
sible suspect, and the detectives ob-
tained his address from Wolter in
order to pick him up for question-
ing. Then they pressed: Wolter with
further inquiries about himself and
his activities.
His hobby was shorthand, in
. which he was an expert, he said,
but by trade he was a piano tuner.
He was employed by Steinway &
Company at 14th St. and Irving
Place, but had not gone to work
that day because he was not feel-
ing well.
The detectives exchanged a
knowing look. “Tell us,” demanded
Devine, “exactly what you did to-
day.”
“I got up around eight o’clock,”
Wolter said evenly, ‘and had break-
fast with my wife, Kathie. She left
for work at the bakery at the same
time I went down to the store and
bought a paintbrush and some
fresh paint.”
“But you said you stayed home
from work because you didn’t feel
well,” put in Haggerty.
“That’s right. I didn’t feel well
enough to go down to Fourteenth
_ Street, but I did feel able to paint
the fireplace in the kitchen. It has
needed painting for some time.”
“We noticed it was freshly paint-
ed,” observed Devine. “You did that
today?” °
Wolter nodded. “But not until
this afternoon. From the paint
store I went to Central Park and
sat there awhile until it started
snowing. Then I went to the bakery
‘where my wife works and had
lunch: I stayed there until about.
two o’clock, when I came home and
painted the fireplace. After. that I
went down to the barber shop,
where I remained for half an hour.
I came back here about five o’clock,
and my wife returned home around
seven-thirty.” i
The young piano tuner’s story
sounded almést too pat to the de-
. tectives, but they had no evidence
with which to contradict. it. Their
only course for the present was to
leave the Wolter flat and seek a
fresh lead elsewhere.
Going.down to their car, the of-
ficers drove Mrs. Wheeler and the
others back to the 134th Street ad-
dress and pledged their best efforts
to pick up the trail of the missing
stenographer: on the following day.
Then they returned to the station-
house and checked out. It was
shertly before midnight on Thurs-
day, March 24, 1910.
EVINE and Haggerty met early
next morning at’the station
house and reported to Captain
Hughes on their interview with
Wolter. The captain already had re-
ceived a cali from Estey, director
of the secretarial school, begging
him to do everything possible to,
find Ruth Wheeler, who still had
not returned to her home.
“This Wolter’s story does sound
cooked up,” Hughes agreed. “I have
a hunch he knows more about the
girl’s disappearance than he’s tell-
ing. We must pick up his partner,
John Klein, and see what we can
get out of him.”
Then the captain proceeded to
outline a plan of action. He would
have Brooklyn police take Klein
into custody at the Coney Island
restaurant where he worked. De-
vine and Haggerty meanwhile were
to keep Wolter and his blonde wife
under constant surveillance on the
chance that the couple would make
scme incriminating slip which
would give the detectives an open-
ing.
“Take great care,” Hughes cau-
tioned, “that the Wolters do not
know they’re being shadowed. That
might block the whole investiga-
tion.”
Devine and Haggerty went at
once to the 75th Street building
where the Wolters lived. Entering,
’
they made their way to the jani-
tor’s rooms at the rear of the first
floor. Taking him into their confi-
dence, they asked his aid, and he
readily agreed to assist them if he
could.
“Wolter and his wife both - left
for work early this morning,” the
janitor told the officers. “They usu-
ally don’t return until around sev-
en in the evening.” tie
“Good,” said Devine. “We'll con-
ceal ourselves inthe building across
the street on the chance that the
Wolters might come back during
the day. It’s vital that we keep out
of sight, but if either or both of
them do return, you will come at
once to our hideout for furth¢r in-
structions.”
Posing as salesmen, Devine and
Haggerty sauntered over to the
building . opposite and rented a
room from which they could watch
the other entrance. Then they be-
gan their yigil, taking turns going
out to make hourly reports by: tele-
phone to. Captain: Hughes.
But the hours slipped ‘slowly by
and neither Albert nor Kathie Wol-
ter appeared. The janitor was cor-
rect in assuming they would not
return until] nightfall, for it was
- 7:30 and dark when at last the
janitor dashed across the street and
reported to the detectives that the
Wolters: were in their rooms. .De-
vine and Haggerty had been await-
ing him eagerly, for they had seen
several persons enter the building
but could not identify them in the
darkness.
“This is what. you do,” Devine
told the janitor. “Go up to the
Wolters’ flat on some pretext and
draw them into conversation. Tell
them you heard about our visit
last night and, try to find out how
they feel about it. Then come back
here and let us know what’ they
say.”
The man did as he was directed,
and 15 minutes later hurried back
across the street to the detectives’
hideout.
“The Wolters are packing up to
leave!” he said excitedly. “They
told me I could rent their flat to
Miss: Manning, the girl across the
hall, who has been wanting it for
seme time. Mrs. Wolter said the
visit by the police and Ruth Wheel-
er’s people had upset her and made
her husband act queerly. That’s
why she wants to get out.”
“Good work,” said Devine. “Now
go back and report to us when the
‘Wolters leave.”
The officers watched as the jani-
tor returned and entered the build-
ing. In a few minutes, they saw a
woman emerge, carrying a suitcase,
followed by the janitor, who darted
across the street. Leaving their
rented room, they met him on the
stairs.
“Wolter got away!” he exclaimed
in a hushed voice. “He must have
gone out the back entrance. Mrs.
al
¢
Wolter left the front way, If you
hurry you can catch her. She has-
n’t reached the corner yet!”
The detectives set out after the
hurrying woman and tailed her at
a safe distance as she turned into
Park Avenue and started uptown.
At the corner of 80th Street, the
blonde Kathie Wolter was met by
her husband and the couple set off
across town. Wolter glanced over
his shoulder occasionally, as if he
feared he was being followed. They
dcubled back. east from Madison
Avenue to Lexington, with the of-
ficers still shadowing them unob-
served.
Finally the couple reached a
rooming house on East 105th Street
in Harlem and entered. Devine and
Haggerty watched the building for
more than half an hour, then de-
cided that the pair had probably
taken a room there.
“That guy certainly has been act-
ing suspiciously,” Haggerty told his
partner. “We'd better not take any
chances. I think we’d be smart to
grab him now and take him, back to
the station for questioning.”
“Right,” Devine agreed. “But we
ought not to pick up the wife. If
we leave her at liberty, we may be
able to get more information out
of her. Remember, she told the ©
janitor her husband. was acting
queerly. Maybe she’s. in the clear
and is suspicious of him herself.
The. landlady was startled when
the detectives flashed their badges
and asked’ to see the Wceliters. .
“Well, I declare!” she exclaimed:
“why, I just rented that couple
a room. They’re up in 5-B,”
Upstairs, there was no response
when Devine knocked on the door.
- He. tried it and found it locked.
-“Welter, open that door!” he
commanded. “Open up or we're
coming in after you!”
Moments later, a key turned in
the lock, the door swung back and
Mrs. Wolter stood before them. Be-
yond her they saw her husband,
standing with his arms folded,
glowering at the detectives.
“Alberé hasn’t done anything,”
she protested, her eyes filled with
tears. “He’s a very sick man. Please
take him to the hcspital and let
the doctors examine him.”
Devine’s mouth was a, thin, hard
line. “He’s going to the station-
house, lady, and he’d better go
quietly.” ?
Grumbling protests, Wolter
struggled into his overccat and ac-
companied the officers out of the
room. His wife threw herself sob-
bing on the couch as they closed
the docr behind them.
Informed by telephone of the ar-
rest, Captain Hughes was waiting
in his office for Wolter when the
officers led him into the station.
Seated beside the captain was a
tow-headed, stocky young man in
a waiter’s unifcrm. He was John
Klein, Wolter’s supposed partner in
42
SET Tile cee en See ee ee
CONFIDENTIAL DETECTIVE CASES
the shorthand school venture,
whom Brooklyn detectives had
picked up at the restaurant where
he worked.
Wolter’s eyes narrowed as he saw
the waiter. “What. are you doing
here?”.he asked suspiciously.
Klein did not reply, but instead
looked questioningly at Hughes.
The captain turned to Wolter.
“Sit down,” he commanded. “I’lJ
tell you why Klein’s here. He has
given us a complete statement re-
garding your shorthand schocl and
about his activities yesterday. He
was not in your apartment and had
no intention of being there. His
- alibi has been checked, and it’s
sound. Furthermore, he says you
abandoned the idea of that short-
hand venture long ago.”
__ Wolter’s eyes blazed. “He doesn’t
know what he’s talking about!”
“We'll see about that,” said .
Hughes, a wry smile playing on his
lips. “I’m releasing Klein on his
promise to remain available for fur-
ther questioning and possible testi-
mony. But we’re holding you until
we clear up some angles that seem
pretty strange.”
For the next four hours, Wolter
was grilled relentlessly by the cap-
tain and the, detectives, but he
steadfastly denied all knowledge of
Ruth Wheeler's fate. Shortly after
midnight, Hughes ordered him
booked cn an open charge, pend-
ing further investigation.
f pe detectives met again early
Saturday morning in Hughes’
ioffice to plan their next move in
this baffling, challenging case.
“Bring in Mrs. Wolter for inter-
rogation,” the captain ordered at
last. “Maybe: we can make her talk
if she knows anything.”
A half hour later; Devine and
, Haggerty returned with Kathie
Wolter, her blue eyes darkly circled
and swollen from weeping.
“There’s something wrong with
Albert,” she conceded. “After the-
missing girl’s -sister visited us
Thursday night and the detectives
came back with the other people,
he began acting very strangely. He
paced up and down like a madman
after they left, muttering to him-
self and biting his nails. I’ve never
seen him like that. I was worried
and asked him what was the mat-
ter, but he told me to mind my
own business, so I went to bed.”
An hour later, Wolter retired, she
continued, and they went to sleep.
At about 2 a. m., she was awakened
by a thudding crash and was
alarmed to find the bed was empty
beside her. She thought a brick
might have fallen out of the chim-
ney, as it had once before, and she
rushed out into the kitchen: Wel-
ter was standing beside the open
window, staring down at the court-
yard below. When she asked him
what had happened, he told her to
go back to bed and she obeyed.
“Just a minute,” Interrupted
Hughes eagerly, turning to the de-
tectives, “Have yoy. searched the
courtyard behind the Seventy-fifth
Street building?” |
Devine nodded. “Yes, we covered
it when we went back to see the
janitor yesterday, but found noth-
ing of consequence there.”
The captain’s eyes were twink-
ling. “But the crash—don’t you
see? Wolter could have thrown
some heavy object—such as a body
—out of the window.”
Haggerty snapped alert. “And it
might not have fallen all the way
to the yard,” he theorized. “It could
haye landed on. the fire escape!”
By miraculous coincidence, the
phone on the captain’s desk jangied
at this very moment. His lips
twitched anxiously. at what he
heard. “Good!” he roared. “We'll be
right up!”
“What is it?” Devine demanded
eagerly.
“A body,” said Hughes, spring-
ing up from his desk, “or what’s
left of it has been found on the
fire escape of the Seventy-fifth
Street building! Come on, let’s go!”
Leaving the astounded Kathie
Wolter with two other officers, the
men hurried out to a squad car
and raced up to the address where
the discovery had been made. The
janitor was waiting for them out-
side the entrance. Excitedly he led
them to the rear courtyard, where
a crowd of tenants had gathered
in one corner. The captain and his
men elbowed their way through the
‘throng to the center ‘of interest—
a bloodstained pctato sack, slit
open on one side.
Inside was the charred body of
a young girl. Her leg and arm bones
had been cruelly and deliberately
broken. The legs were bent up
alongside the torso, and the arms
were squeezed tightly against the
legs. Thin but strong wire bound
the grisly remains together.
All of the skin had been burned
- from the body and the skull, ex-
cept for one spot between the
shoulders. On the right side of the
neck was a partially burned strand.
of manila rope, and on the left
side were the blackened remains of
a similar piece. A charred neck-
lace of turquoise beads still clung
to the neck.
“This is the. body of Ruth Wheel-
er,” murmured Hughes. “She was
wearing a necklace like that when
she vanished.” :
Devine turned to the janitor.
“Who found it?” he demanded. The
janitor pointed to a thin man with
graying hair. “He did—Tom Kelly.”
“It was on the fire escape,” Kelly
volunteered, trembling. “I was eat-
ing a late breakfast in the kitchen
cf my flat a while ago when my
wife remarked she had seen a dirty
bundle on the landing outside our
window. I found this sack there. I
decided it was rubbish and tossed
Lege Ie
La een
LIEUTENANT.
Francis J. Bastilla did some expert
sleuthing and helped bring the town's
"bad boy" to justice.
finding the body to the authorities?”
Leo Rinwalski was in the hallway
and Deputy Duhl motioned for him
to enter. He came in slowly, looking
nervously at the dead man.
“This is the chap who called the
sheriff's office,” Duhl said.
“Yes,.I called the sheriff after Mrs.
Tebo and Jennie Konish came run-
ning over to the Auto Storage Com-
pany to tell me there was a dead man
in this.room,” he explained.
“Where is Jennie Konish?” the Dis-
trict Attorney demanded. \
“Upstairs in .Mrs. Tebo’s room,”
Rinwalski replied.
D'StRIcT Attorney Reynolds and
Chief Weaver went upstairs.
There was little to the case that pre-
sented a baffling murder mystery to
them as they entered Mrs. Tebo’s
room. A man had been found mur-
dered in a furnished room and it was
obvious that the person occupying
the room would have to know some-
. thing about the crime. ,
Yet as Reynolds and Chief Weaver
- looked at Jennie Konish, who was sit-
ting on a couch, her face pale and her
eyes filled with horror, their mental
picture of the mystery didn’t seem
ROOMING HOUSE
No one suspected, on that peaceful —
Sunday, that murder was loose in the
house. In fact, the corpse wasn't dis-
covered until two days later.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Walter B. Reynolds helped solve and
expertly prosecuted the killer. .
quite so conviicing as it had before..
Jennie Konish was twenty-four,
pretty in a wholesome and clean-cut
way. Certainly there was nothing
about her looks that would indicate a
cold-blooded murderess.
And when she finally was able to
find her voice to answer them, the
two officers’ were still more puzzled.
“I spent the week-end with my par-
ents on their farm near Dundee,” she
explained. “I came home Monday
morning just-in time to get to work.
I was so tired that night that I went
right to bed. It wasn’t until this
CHIEF OF POLICE
Elvin D, Weaver concluded that a clock
had been tampered with and broke the
perfect alibi.
morning that I started to clean and
saw the foot of a man when I moved
the davenport bed. I have no idea
who the man is.”
“Do you know Albert Lowman?”
Chief Weaver asked.
“Albert Lowman,” Jennie Konish
repeated. “No, I never heard that
name. I am positive I don’t know any
such man. Why? Is that the dead
man?”
“The man who was murdered in
your room,” District Attorney Rey-
nolds corrected. “He was beaten and
. stabbed to (Continued on page 62)
i
|
fused to even permit his father or
mother to see him. —
“The question of time is very im-
portant,” Chief Weaver said to Patrol-'
man Gardner. “What was the exact:
time you were at the house and made
the arrest?”
“I remember distinctly going into
the house to talk to the father and
mother while Goldman had Wood,”
Gardner replied, “and the clock on the
mantel showed it was exactly five
minutes past ten.”
“And the parents said that’ Wood
had gone to bed around seven-thirty,”
Chief Weaver asked. “If this is the
case, and he was in bed, he couldn’t
have been in Jennie Konish’s room
when Lowman was killed.”
“The parents said they were sure he
went to bed,” Patrolman Gardner an-
swered.
“But they have no way of knowing
that he really did,” Chief Weaver
said. “There is something phony.
about this fight at the house. It looks
too much like Wood wanted to be ar-
rested and placed in jail. No alibi
would be as good as that.”
“Lowman was killed between eight’
and nine,” District Attorney Reynolds
said. “Wood could have. gotten up
and gone back to the house, but this ©
still doesn’t explain how it happens
he used Jennie Konish’s room for the
murder.”
“We better talk to her,” Chief
Weaver suggested.
Jennie Konish was brought to the
District Attorney’s office. She was
still pale and jumpy and her eyes
had a frightened look. At. first she
denied knowing Wood, but finally she
changed her, story. ,
“Yes, I liked Frederick,” she ad-
mitted. “Everybody said he was bad,
but he was always nice to me—very
nice.”
“How well did you like him?” Dis-
trict Attorney Reynolds demanded.
“Very well,” Jennie Konish admit-
ted. “But I know he didn’t kill Low-
man. He didn’t even have a key to
my room. Frederick might be wild,
but he isn’t a killer. I tell you he
isn’t a killer...”
‘““How afraid are you of him?”
Weaver asked.
“Afraid?” Jenie Konish looked at
the Chief with terror in her eyes. “I
‘am‘not afraid of him. I love him and
a girl doesn’t fear the man she loves.”
“Take it easy,” Weaver said. “We
are going to give you time to think
this all over. There is a lot you have
not told us. I know you are sensible
enough to realize that it isn’t going
to do any good holding back informa-
tion., Wood is in ~ He can’t hurt
you.”
“T have told you iveihina” Jen- :
TIMELY DETECTIVE CASES
HIEF Weaver and District Attor-
ney Reynolds let her go home.
Then they went to the county jail to
‘talk to Wood. He was brought to the
reception room of the jail. He walked
with a jaunty stride and smoked a
cigarette and sneered at the officers,
who had sent him to prison the last
time.
“Well, coppers,” he said with a
laugh as he sat down, “what’s on your
minds?”
“A little matter of murder,” Rey- .
nolds said. “You killed Lowman and
we want to know why.”
“Who in hell is Lowman?” Wood
retorted. “Oh yes, I read about his
murder. Neat job, wasn’t it? Got
any idea who did it?”
“A very good idea,” the District At-
torney shot back. “We even suspect’
you because you were with him and
drunk and you know Jennie Konish
and only you would be rat enough to
use a girl’s room to commit a murder.”
“Interesting,” was Wood’s comment.
“I suppose you have proof—finger-
prints and all that. Plenty to send me
.to the chair.”
“You built up a nice alibi,” District.
Attorney Reynolds admitted. “You
were drunk with Lowman at around
seven and then you appeared at your
parents’ home and did an amazing
thing—something you never did be-
fore in your life. You went to bed at
seven-thirty in the evening. Your
parents unfortunately trust you and
they believed you had gone to bed.
Sometime later they were awakened
by you yelling at them. That is also |
a little unusual. One doesn’t get
‘worked up in a frenzy against people
who are asleep. Anyway, you started
a fight to get yourself arrested so you
would have that alibi. You were suc-
cessful.”
. “Think you can convict me on that
evidence?” Wood sneered at the Dis-
trict Attorney. “I can make you look
like fools in court.”
“When we get you in court,” the
District Attorney replied, “you won’t
make us look like fools. The most per-
fect alibi has weak points. I think we
already have found one of those weak
points, the clock on the mantel read
five ‘minutes past ten. Yet when we
booked you at headquarters, it wasn’t
yet ten. o’clock. You couldn’t by
chance, have tampered with that clock
in such a way as to lead your parents
to believe you arrived home at seven
o’clock when as a matter of fact it was
after eight when you got there?”
‘Wood lost some of his cocky atti-_
tude, but he nianaged to sneer:
“Rather hard to prove that, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps not as hard as you be-
lieve,” Reynolds replied.
But back in Weaver’s office; the Dis-
nie replied weakly and a little wildly. trict Attorney wasn’t as confident as
64
he had sounded when he gave Wood
that parting shot. The time element
convinced the Chief and District at-
torney that there was something
phony about Wood’s story. But prov-
ing 1t and making it stand up in court
was a different matter.
“He’s got an alibi that will make us
look like fools if we arrest him for
murder,” the District Attorney said.
“He turned the clock back, but a good
defense lawyer can kick that around
so that a jury wouldn’t believe our
theory. And there are no.other loop-
holes in his story.”
“There is one—a great big one,”
Weaver said. “That is Jennie Konish.
I am certain that she knows Wood
killed Lowman. But he has the finger
on her and she is afraid to talk.”
2 “We'll need more than that,” Dis-
trict’ Attorney Reynolds countered.
“That girl is verging on a mental
breakdown and she never could stand
a-cross examination on the witness
stand. Besides, it would be her word
against his. We need something more
—something definite to break down
his ‘perfect alibi.”
“There is Doctor Felix Constant,”
Chief Weaver said. “He has worked
miracles in his laboratories. We could
give him a shot at it and while he is
working on that, we can concentrate
on Jennie Konish.”
OCTOR Felix Constant is Elmira’s
best-known scientist. A small
man, with a thin face, he works day
and night in his laboratories, making
tests for war plants and industrial
concerns. As a chemist, he is the
most famous one in upstate New York.
As a hobby, he has gone into crime
detection, working on cases for the
local police.
Chief Weaver and the District At-
torney drove out to his home. The
Doctor received them and listened to
their request.
“You say you have two cigarettes
found in the room,” he said.
“Yes, and one of them has some
blood on it,” Chief Weaver replied.
“This proves that they were smoked
by the killer. -But they have no
usable fingerprints .
“But they have saliva,” Doctor Con-
‘stant interrupted.
Chief Weaver looked a little sur-
prised as he said: “I suppose. They
were smoked.”
“In that case we may not need
fingerprints,” Dr. Constant explained.
“About ten years ago a Japanese
scientist—shame to give the Japs any
‘ credit—discovered. that saliva in no
two persons was the same as regard-
ing acid and chemical contents. For
years the Japs have used this saliva
test in crime work and have found it
almost infallible. Get me the two
Potts had loved scratched whimper-
ingly at the side of their mistress’s
grave. The detective escorted Potts
upstairs to the living room. Jack put
through a call to headquarters while
the: broken Potts talked to Mark
O’Brien: ,
Potts chain-smoked ‘cigarettes and
told the complete story of the murdet
of his wife. He related how he had
believed that his crime would forever
remain undiscovered.
“I thought no one would ever know
about it,” he said. “No one, that is,
except those damned cats. It seemed
(Continued from page 9)
death. Why was he killed in your
room?”
Jennie Konish’s lower lip started
to twitch. “I ...1... don't know
why he was killed in my room.” She
was near the breaking point. “I wasn’t
here. -I never heard of Lowman. I
didn’t know the body was there until
this morning : . . last night... last
night ... I slept in that bed... and
the body was under me... I don’t
understand it ... it’s all so crazy...
impossible.”
-“You locked your room ‘when you
went to visit your parents,” Chief
Weaver suggested. “Somebody must
have had a key. .Who has keys to
your room?”
“Nobody . . . nobody,” Jennie Kon-
ish sobbed. .“Nobody has a key.”
District Attorney Reynolds turned
to Mrs. Tebo, whom he knew as a’
‘woman of the highest reputation.
“What do you know about that dead
man down there?” he asked.
Mrs. Tebo was nearly as hysterical
as Jennie Konish. “I don’t know any-
thing,” she answered weakly. “The
first I knew about that man being
down there was when I heard Jennie
scream and I went down in the room.
The door was locked all the time Jen-
nie was gone. Nobody was seen en-
tering or leaving the room and no
sounds came from there while I was
here.” ‘
District Attorney Reynolds looked
at Chief Weaver with incredulity in
his eyes. The whole thing was im-
possible—almost fantastic. The con-
dition ‘of the dead man showed that
there had been a struggle and a fight.
Blood was on the floor—small brown
flecks of it.
Finally District Attorney Reynolds
said to Jennie Konish, “I am going
62
TIMELY DETECTIVE CASES
as if they knew, as if they tried to
call attention to the body.”
A few moments later a‘ police car
pulled up outside. Into the house came
County Coroner Economy and his .
Deputy William M. O’Brien, accom~-
panied by Chief Deputy District At-
torney David Rosner and Detective
Captain Childers.
They exhumed Mary Potts from her
earthen crypt and took the body to
the County Morgue. Detectives Jack
and O’Brien led Potts, crushed and
sobbing, to the door in handcuffs.
“Wait,” said Jack. “What about
CASE OF THE
to ask you to go with us. We will
have to make sure that your story is
“true.”
yas hours later her story had
been checked. and every detail sub-
stantiated. Detectives Raymond
Beardsley and John O’Connor were
sent to Dundee to question her par-
ents. They found that she had ar-
rived there Friday and remained at
the farm until Moriday morning when
her brother drove her to Elmira, get-
ting there in time for her work at the
Remington-Rand factory. At this
factory, Chief Weaver was told that
Jennie Konish had reported for work
at nine o’clock Monday and had’ been
at the plant all day, working over-
time and not leaving the factory un-
til around seven in the evening.
District Attorney Reynolds had
‘checked her background in Elmira
and found that she was a quiet, pleas-
ant girl, who had no more than the
average number of men friends. She
had been married, but the marriage
had not been successful and there was
a separation. The husband was in
the army. He was at once eliminated
as a natural suspect when it was found
‘that he was in Egypt with the Ameri-
éan maintenance crews for the British
Eighth: Army.
Medical Examiner Hamilton had
completed the autopsy and | had
reported that Lowman had been mur-
dered sometime between nine and ten
on Sunday night. The mystery of
how he could be killed in that room
without Mrs. Tebo hearing the sounds
of a struggle was cleared up when it
was learned that she and her children
had gone to a picture show and all the
other roomers were away from the
house at the time.
Detective Brunner had searched for
those cats? They'll starve to death
locked up here.”
“Leave them here until tomorrow.
We can notify the S.P.C.A. There’s
enough food on the kitchen floor now:
to keep them going.”
They dragged Potts to the squad car
outside. They drove through the night
to Police Headquarters. To Potts it
meant doom—execution.
That night the good. people of Mil-
waukee Street slept soundly. For the
first time in almost two months, the
cats whom Mary Potts had loved were
silent.
PERFECT ALIBI
fingerprints and had found none of
value. Pieces of glass were discov-
ered on the floor and when these were
put together it was determined that
they had come from a broken beer
bottle. This caused the assumption
that Lowman had been beaten over
the head with a beer bottle, though
knife wounds in his body indicated
that a sharp, long-bladed knife had
also been used.
Two cigarette butts were the only
other clues found in the room. These
had been tested for fingerprints. A
vague and indistinct part of the spiral
whorl had been brought out. This,
however, was not enough to be of
any value. One was bloodstained
which tabbed it as having belonged to,
and having been smoked by the killer.
Jennie Konish had been questioned
and requestioned. She was at the
‘point of a complete nervous collapse.
She reiterated her story about coming
back to her room on Monday and find-
ing the body under the bed on Tues-
day. Mrs. Tebo was also interrogated
and she stuck to her story.
Detectives picked up the movements
of Lowman on Sunday and learned
that he had been drunk, and that
about seven in the evening, he had
been seen in the Carey Restaurant
with another man and they had
quarrelled so.much it was necessary
to throw both out. ;
“Would you know his companion if
you saw him again?” Chief Weaver
_asked.
“Sure, ’'d know him,” Carey an-
swered. “I’ve seen him around, but
in this business you see so many peo-
ple that it’s hard to remember their
names.”
This was the only trace of Lowman
the police could find on Sunday after-
noon, just before he was murdered in
CS Ye
Qu fu p
Pos
Jennie Konish’s room. Friends of
Jennie were questioned. All were
Positive that she knew Albert Low-
Another angle about Lowman fur-
ther complicated the case. While he
did drink once in a while, and got
troublesome, he was never known to
be mixed up with women. When sober
he was industrious and pleasant—the
last man to bother anybody,
Chief Weaver, however, worked
swiftly and intelligently on the mys-
tery, which by this time had become
known all over Elmira. He called a
conference of the officers investigating
the case. :
“Jennie Konish as the killer is out
of the question,” he announced. “In
the first place, we know that she was
at her parents’ farm when the crime ®
was committed. Besides that, she is
too small, too frail of body to have
killed Lowman: Everything we can
learn about her shows she is a girl
who has never been in any trouble.
Mrs. Tebo is also out of the picture.
She has no roomers who ‘would have
reason to kill Lowman, or even so
much as know him.” '
“Frail or not, we can’t overlook that
Lowman was killed in Jennie Konish’s
room and whoever killed him had to
have a key,” District Attorney Rey-
nolds injected. ;
“That's about ‘all we do know,”
Weaver replied. “So we are going to
check every known acquaintance of
Mrs. Konish. Somebody had to be
able to steal the key from her. Though
we can’t overlook completely the
theory that somebody could have gone
to Mrs. Tebo’s room and stolen her
passkey.” ‘
“This person,” District Attorney’.
Reynolds said, “would have to get into
the Tebo house first. I think it was
gotten, or stolen, from Jennie herself.”
“She is the clue to the whole thing,”
Chief Weaver admitted, “and I sug-
8est we check on her first.”
THs check-up took the remainder
of the afternoon and most of the
night. Lieutenant Bastilla handled
this, while Weaver and Reynolds pried °
deeper into’ the background of the
murdered man, trying to pick up some
lead to the motive of the murder.\
This proved as puzzling. as the crime
itself. Lowman appeared to be the
last man in Elmira that anybody
would have reason to kill.
The list of all acquaintances of Jen-
nie Konish wasn’t completed until the
next morning. Chief Weaver, District
Attorney Reynolds, and Lieutenant
Bastilla scanned it carefully.
They didn’t have to go far down
the list until they came to the name
of Frederick C. Wood. '
“Frederick C. Wood!” Weaver ex-
TIMELY DETECTIVE CASES
claimed. “What in the world did a
girl like Jennie Konish have to do
with a person like Wood?”
Wood was one of the best known
police characters in Elmira. He was
only thirty, but twelve of these thirty
years had been spent in prisons, his
crimes ranging from hold-ups to petty
thievery and auto thefts. His parents
were fine, hard-working people, who
had sacrificed everything in life for
their only son. -
He had started to steal when only
a little boy and at fifteen he was in
Reform School. His parents got him
out, convinced that he was only a
little wild and would, in time, get
over these habits. He was out only
long enough to stage a hold-up of a
grocery store. This time he went to
prison, but the parents, ‘mortgaging
their home, had him paroled.
The next fifteen years saw Wood in
and out of prison, and his parents liv-
ing in that strange dream world of
fathers and mothers who refuse ‘to
look at reality when they see their
children. His last prison sentence had
ended only several months before, and
the father had gotten Wood a job asa
cosmetic salesman for an Elmira con-
cern. ;
He hated the job, resented his par-
ents for making him work. He didn’t
want them to get him work. He want- -
ed them to give him money—all the
money he needed. But because of the:
parole board, he made a pretense of
working as a salesman.
The three officers didn’t go any
further down the list. They had
plenty of pictures of Wood and one
was rushed to Bill Carey at his res-
taurant. Carey took one look at the
picture and said: “Sure, that’s the
chap with Lowman that night. I
heard him threaten Lowman about
something, but I didn’t get what it
was.”
This was sufficient for Weaver and
Reynolds. They returned to head-
quarters, but here they were con-
fronted with an amazing fact about
Wood, one that seemed to eliminate
him completely from the picture.
“I wouldn’t get too excited about
Wood,” Lieutenant Bastilla said. “You
see, he was arrested Sunday night,
according to the desk report. Right
now he is in jail, charged with dis-
orderly conduct. He started a fight
with his parents, threatened to kill.
- them if they didn’t give him money,
and the mother had to call the police.”
“Who made the arrest?”
“Patrolmen Charles P..Gardner and
Eugene Goldman,” Bastilla replied.
“They’re coming in now.”
PATROLMAN Gardner gave the
Chief the details of Wood’s arrest.
Saturday night he and Patrolman
Goldman were cruising in the neigh-
borhood of Thompson Street, when
some residents came running toward
their car, calling out that there was
trouble at 585 Thompson Street. The
two officers drove there. They found
the elderly Mrs. Wood out in the front
yard, crying and wringing her hands.
Neighbors were with her, trying to
give her some comfort, though they
were doing it cagily as Albert Wood
was behind the house and had a knife
and had apparently gone beserk.- His
father was at the corner of the house,
trying to talk to him.
Gardner and Goldman quickly sur-
rounded the beserk youth, closed in
on him, and made the arrest without
his putting up much of a fight. From
the father and mother they got the
Story of what. had happened. Fred-
erick Wood had come home a few
minutes after seven in the evening,
drunk and in an ugly mood. He went
into his room and his parents believed
he had gone to bed. At nine o’clock
they retired. te
They were suddenly awakened by
_ the son screaming at them from the
door of their room. He cursed them
vilely and blamed them for getting
him the job, which he didn’t want. He
demanded money, lots of money and
claimed they were plotting. against
him.
The mother got up and tried to
plead with him, but he had a knife
and he swung at her. The father
leaped out of bed, infuriated at this
move, and he managed to send the
son staggering back with a blow to
‘the face. Then the fight became a
neighborhood show.. The mother ran
out into the yard, with Wood after
her, swinging the knife, and the father
trying to catch up with him. In the
yard, he screamed loud enough to be
heard for over a block and neighbors
rushed out to see what was happening.
Wood ran around behind the house,
yelling curses and threatening to kill
everybody.
As soon as he was arrested, he
calmed down greatly and seemed to
be anxious to be taken to the county
jail. The next morning, he was ar-
raigned before Recorder Charles
Gardiner, his gray-haired father and
mother were at his side to plead for
leniency. .
Wood appeared in’ excellent spirits
and said: “I don’t know what hap-
_ pened. I went home after drinking
a little and tried to sleep. My nerves
seemed to snap and I know I acted in
a disorderly manner. _ But I didn't
hurt anybody.”
Recorder Gardiner, knowing the
reputation of Wood, finally agreed at
the insistent plea of the father to limit
Wood’s sentence to five days in jail.
He was taken to his cell and he re-
63
She arose early enough on Tuesday morning to do
the cleaning. It was then that she saw for the first
time the dark brown spots on the carpet.
What could they be? She could not recall having
spilled anything on the floor. As she stooped to ex-
amine the stains, the vacuum cleaner edged forward,
lifting the skirt of the plaid slipcover. on her sofa. And
thus—a man’s foot was revealed.
Ruth’s heart turned to a hammering lump of fear
as she stared incredulously at it. She lifted. the slip-
cover a bit farther. Beneath the couch the body of a
man lay face downward, his arms and legs twisted
crazily. Ruth Galeski fled, screaming, from her toom.
The landlady and Bill Ogden, one of the men room-
ers, returned with her. Ogden touched the man’s
hand. It was stiff and cold.. He struck a match and
held it near the floor, as he stooped to lool tinder the
davenport.
“There’s a lot of blood,” he said, straightening up
quickly. “I guess we better call the cops.”
The landlady led Ruth, moaning hysterically, down
t her own living room while Ogden hurried to phone
the police. The girl was still weeping uncontrollably
when Lieutenant Francis Bastilla, with Detectives
John O’Connor and George Beardsley, drove up be-
fore the old frame house in East Church Street.
“Tl show you,” Ogden offered. “We better leave
Miss Galeski down here.” :
The officers lifted the sofa aside. That the man
had been murdered was plain. From his savagely
bludgeoned face and head a great pool of blood had
seeped out upon the flooring. The stains on the rug
were also of blood, the detectives were sure. Around
the body were fragments of brown glass. ©
“A bottle,” O’Connor said. He studied the pieces of
glass without touching them. “A quart beer bottle, for
a guess,” he added. j :
There were steps outside the door and Police Chief
Elvin Weaver and Deputy Sheriff Frederick Duhl
came in..
“I think I know him, though from the way he’s
been slugged I can’t be positive,” Duhl said after a
long study of the,corpse. ‘We can check his finger-
prints, to make certain, but I believe he’s a carpen-
32
ter named: Albert Lowman. -We had him in once as a
drunk. He’s about forty, single, no real troublemaker,
but a guy who takes one too many every now and then.”
The coroner came in to do his’ job. Identification tech-
nicians carefully gathered up the pieces of the broken
bottle, which they figured had been the murder weapon,
and went over the room for fingerprints. In the meantime
Lieutenant Bastilla and Detectives Beardsley and O’Connor
went downstairs to interview the most important living
person of whom they knew in ‘the bewildering case on the
upper floor. : ; te ;
Ruth Galeski was seemingly badly shocked, but she
agreed to try to answer questions. “I don’t know who he
is,” she moaned. “I didn’t even see his face. I don’t know
how he got in my room.” j .
“He's been dead for some time,” Bastilla said. “A couple
of days, anyway.”
. The girl shuddered. “And I—I slept in that room last
night! I was away over the week end, up to. my dad’s
farm, near Dundee. I got back yesterday morning, just. in
time to go to my jo ae : :
“And you saw nothing suspicious then?” Beardsley in-
quired. -
“J was in a hurry. Last night I.went right to bed. Then
-—then this morning—” :
“We know,” Beardsley said. “I’m afraid you'll have to
‘come with us to headquarters to make a statement. - After
all, it’s a serious thing to discover a victim of murder in
‘your room.” a,
- The detectives doubted that Ruth Galeski could have
committed the crime. For one thing, Lowman had been a
strong; active man, not easily to be everpowered by a girl,
even with a: bottle for a weapon. For another, this was
not the type of murder a woman would be apt to commit.
Lowman had been attacked with savage force, beaten
without mercy. After the bottle had shattered, the killer
had. driven a razor-like shard of glass deep into the vic-
tim’s chest. . :
Coroner S.. Tracey. Hamilton’s autopsy report showed
-Lowman’s death to be due to compound fractures of the
‘skull and to hemorrhages resulting from lung punctures.
Lowman had been drinking heavily before he was slain.
The time of the murder was estimated to have been Sun-
day night. ; .
That let Ruth Galeski out. It was simple for the cops
to verify her story that her brother had driven her to the
farm on Friday night and that she had not returned until
Monday morning.
“But why, since the girl was out of town,” Lieutenant
Bastilla pondered, “would Lowman have been in her room?
And who in the devil could have been there with him?”
Being interviewed for her formal statement, Miss Galeski
now admitted that she had known 40-year-old Albert Low-
man, whose identity, as the victim was firmly established
by a fingerprint comparison.
“J honestly didn’t know—I didn’t see his face—there in
my room,” she said. “Then when you said who it was, I
was scared to-tell you that Al and I had some dates, that he.
said he was in love with me. I was afraid if I told you:
that, you’d accuse me of:killing him.”
“Do you have any idea who did?” Beardsley queried.
“Any other boy friend, who was jealous of Lowman?”
Ruth thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
There was no one she could think of who might have killed
Lowman in a jealous rage. For that: matter, she could not
imagine how Lowman and his slayer had got together in
her room in her absence.
cult.’ A skeleton key. would’ have unlocked the doors in the
old frame building. But the meeting of the victim and the
’ killer in the girl’s room, at a time when all other occupants
apparently were absent, posed a real puzzle. .
That the house was empty at the time of the murder was
established when the landlady and the other roomers in the
East Church Street: lodging house were questioned. The
landlady and two of the roomers habitually attended the
movies on Sunday evening. Bill Ogden, the only. other
lodger, had a date.on Sunday night. There had been no
one in the house between eight and eleven o’clock that
night. Age .
Like a good many rooming-house keepers, Ruth Galeski’s
landlady was sharply aware of what went on in her estab-
lishment.
That girl,” she said, when the detectives inquired if Ruth
had other suitors, ‘ad a man in her room, only last week,
and it wasn’t Al Lowman. It was someone named Freddy.
I heard her call him that. She told me he had come in to
move some furniture for her. You can believe that if you
want to.- I don’t.”
Jt wasn’t necessary to ask Miss Galeski. who “Freddy”
Three alert officers who. ferreted. out the one clue: which could
Lieutenant Francis Bastilla, District Attorne
identify killer. (L. fo re).
y Walter Reynolds, Police Chief Elvin Weaver
Ri
Be pt SE
70
DEAD MAN UNDER THE GIRL’S BED
(Coatinued from page 33)
disorderly conduct for his knife-wielding.
“So we get one real, pood, live suspect,”
O’Connor concluded. “And where is he?
Where we couldn't touch him in a dozen
years. Our own blotter says he didn’t kill
Albert Lowman.”
“The only mark we've got against him,”
Beardsley put in, “is that his fingerprints
were found in Ruth Galeski’s room. And
since we know he was there with her last
week, that doesn’t mean a thing.”
With their ready-made solution to the
fantastic murderer obviously a misfit, the
detectives turned anew to the case, seek-
ing leads in other directions.
They set out to trace Al Lowman’s move-
ments before his fatal meeting with his
slayer in Miss Galeski’s room on Sunday
night. They began checking into other an-
gles of the case, too, in the hope that a sus-
pect might be turned up.
Bill Ogden’s alibi, they quickly discov-
ered, had a hole in it. He had been with
his girl only until about ten o’clock that
Sunday night. At that time he drove off
in an angry mood, after a lovers’ quarrel,
The tiff had started when the girl, open-
ing the glove compartment in Ogden’s car,
had found a woman’s handkerchief with a
strange perfume scenting it. This, the cops
thought, might be a crack in the solid shell
of mystery around Al Lowman’s murder,
a crack that could possibly be widened to
reveal the kernel within.
“Suppose that handkerchief was Ruth
Galeski’s?” Detective O’Connor speculated.
“Suppose Ogden was her secret boy friend? :
Living right there in the house with her,
that is not stretching guesswork too far.
And suppose he came home a little after
ten, when the others in the place were still
at the theatre, and perhaps he saw a light
in Miss Galeski’s room and figured she had
come back from the farm? And then, say,
he went into her room, and found Lowman
there—”
With absolutely nothing else to work on,
the theory seemed good.
Bill Ogden admitted that he had parted
from his girl friend early enough on Sun-
day night to have returned to his room
ahead of the landlady and the other lodgers.
“But I didn’t,” he said. “I was hopping
mad. I explained to her about that damned
handkerchief. I found it on a sidewalk. I
don’t know why I picked it up, but I did.
It looked expensive. I tossed it into my
glove compartment. I thought maybe it
could be laundered and my girl’d like it.
Then I forgot all about it till she found it
and started raising hell.”
“And where were you,” Beardsley quer-
ied, “after you left her?”
“In a tavern, trying to drown my lousy
temper in highballs,” Ogden said. “I’ll take
you there. The bartender will tell you. I
was around there till well after eleven
o’clock Sunday night.”
The bartender did remember Ogden, but
could not be certain what time the young
man had left the place Sunday night. “Bill
had at least four drinks, though, if that’ll
help,” he said. .
Ogden gave the detectives the handker-
chief which had caused all the trouble.
They showed it to Ruth Galeski. She said
she never had seen it before. O’Connor
asked for one of hers. She took one from
her purse.
The detective sniffed. Although he was
no connoisseur of perfumes, he could tell
that the scent Miss Galeski used was not
that still clinging to the handkerchief which
young Ogden had handed over.
“This and the bartender’s story,” he said,
“ought to be enough to put Ogden in the
clear. Even a guy who was mad at his girl
could scarcely drive to that tavern, down
at least four highballs and then get back
to his rooming house to commit a murder
before the other residents returned—all
in the space of less than an hour.” .
With their second promising lead tn-
raveled to an unrewarding end, the Elmina
detectives now concentrated upon learning
where Albert Lowman had been on Sun-
day afternoon and evening, and whom he
had met. .
He was known in several taverns which
he frequented. In one of these he had
been drinking with a younger companion
up to about seven o’clock on Sunday eve-
ning. His companion was not known in
the bar, but Lowman had repeatedly ad-
dressed him as “Freddy.”
“There’s already one Freddy in this
mess,” O’Connor said. “Maybe we'd bet-
ter make sure.”
They took a mug shot of Fred Wood
back to the tavern. The bartender iden-
tified it.
“He’s the guy, all right. I remember him
because he was sort of holding back on
his drinks while Al was loading ’em in,
like he did every now and then. But this
fellow left Al alone in the bar. When he
walked out he said to Al, ‘T’ll see you
later.’ Or something like that.”
What had Wood meant by telling Low-
man he’d see him later? Was this merely
a casual parting remark? Or did the two
men actually plan to meet somewhere
again that night? And could it be mere
coincidence that Fred Wood and Albert
Lowman, both in love with the lovely Ruth
Galeski, were drinking together only a
short time before one of the pair was
beaten to death?
“Tf there’s one thing I distrust in a
criminal investigation,” Beardsley said to
Police Chief Weaver a short time later,
“it’s coincidence, Maybe once in a blue
moon—but I haven’t seen any blue moons
recently.”
“You still can’t deny that Wood’s got a
nice solid alibi,” the chief countered.
“And you can’t deny a few other things,
too,” the detective persisted. “One is that
while the Galeski girl says Lowman and
Wood didn't even know each other, they
were together the night Lowman was
killed. Another is that, by a very lucky
coincidence, Fred Wood was arrested at
just the right time to give him an out in
the murder. And still another thing is
that Wood’s no amateur crook. He knows
his way around, and he’s not dumb. Chief,
I think we're handling one of the smooth-
est deals we’ve ever come across, and I'l]
tell you how I think it was worked.”
According to Beardsley’s theory, Fred
Wood was in love with Ruth Galeski and
bitterly jealous of his rival, Al Lowman.
Wood knew that Miss Galeski would be out
-of town over the week end. He planned
“the murder of Lowman in a way that he
figured would completely baffle the cops.
Aware that the carpenter was a drink-
ing man, Wood would get Lowman drunk
and then persuade him to go to Ruth's
room. There Wood would kill his riyal
atid leave the body beneath the couch for
Miss Galeski to find when she returned.
He knew she could not be accused of the
crime, since she could prove she had been
at her parents’ farm when it was com-
mitted. All he had to do then was to pro-
vide himself with an unassailable alibi and
the police, with no suspects, no leacs,
eventually would drop their investigation
and relegate the case to the file of the
hopelessly unsolved.
“He left Lowman at the bar and went
home to set up the alibi,” Beardsley said.
“His parents saw him go to his room and.
so far as they knew, he stayed there uniil
he broke in on them demanding money.
Actually he slipped out, met Lowman again.
took him to Ruth’s rooming house, killed
him and then sneaked back home, without
his folks knowing he’d been out or hearing
him return.
“Now Wood also was a smart enough
crook to know something more—that when
he set up his arrest alibi as early as ten
o’clock Sunday night, it was foolproof. He
knew the coroner, examining the body the
next day, could not set the time of death
within an hour. So, even if his trick should
be suspected, it could not be proved that
Lowman was not killed after ten o'clock,
when he, Wood, was safe in the hands of
the police.”
“All along,” Chief Weaver said, “I’ve
thought it strange that young Wood would
“I don't know when I've tasted such delicious cake!"
go to!
were i)
for mo
mand °
evening
George
the job
“T ho
replied.
plans a
little t)
didn’t.
Sot to fi
They
had wo
Stains ir
were oi
been no
the qua
and stab
“T was
ley com:
wear gl
thing el:
“One ¢
said. “It
“Just ¢
“Only
“Then
have att
got in th
a time, t
more tha
“After
went on,
to quiet
threw av
he did—t}
The of
usually 5s
switched
that he he
after they
carded bu
the trap u
District
the suspec
prosecutor
man murd:
“You're
me, are yo
you figure
out of your
I know wh
night. Anc
Right in yo
“After yi
the district
“Will yc
Lowman w;:
night?” Wo
within two
Stick, and y
“We're ni
Freddy,” R«
something t)
room with IL
a bar. You
him to Rutl
you killed h
“T was wi:
Wood sneer:
when I was
“There’s n
cutor said. ‘
lighted a ci;
Lowman to «
behind. Thai
Wood laug
found a but
printed on ;:
all the brand
thing.”
“Ever hear
queried, “It’<
prints. The s.
ferent, and tl
will identify
or woman an
“We have
behind, unde)
: a 2a
Removal of bed revealed man's body, lying face down, His head had been savagely bludgeoned. Blood stained the rug
was, The identification men came in with a set of finger-
prints belonging to a man well-known to the Elmira cops.
His name was Frederick Wood.
The prints had been discovered in Miss Galeski’s room.
Ruth admitted that she knew Wood, but insisted that he
could not be Lowman’s killer. “Why, Al and Freddy
didn’t even know each other,” she said.
The detectives had other ideas about Wood, however. He
had a crime record extending back over a dozen of his
thirty years, a record of auto thefts, robbery and one in-
stance of having shot a man in a stickup. He lived with
his parents in Thompson Street in Elmira.
O’Connor and Beardsley lost no time in calling at Fred
Wood’s home, but an hour later they were back with Lieu-
tenant Bastilla and Police Chief Weaver.
“I guess we can check Wood out,” O’Connor said. “We
don’t even have to‘ask him for an alibi. He’s got one with-
out asking. He was in jail Sunday night. He’s been in jail
ever since,” O’Connor, then related the story he had heard
from 'Wood’s father, and supplemented it from police
records, é
On Sunday, Fred Wood had arrived at his home early in
the evening in a sullen mood. He had gone to his room.
His parents went to bed. $
At about ten o’clock the son burst, into’. their room,
awakened his mother and father and demanded money.
Earning only a modest income as a door-to-door sdlesman,
Fred often had begged additional funds of his family, of
late. His parents suspected he was spending the money on’
a girl,
On this Sunday night the father refused’ Fred’s demand.
The young man went berserk, snatched up a Butcher knife
in the kitchen and returned to his parents’ room, threaten-
ing to kill them unless he got what he wanted. .
A neighbor heard his mother scream and called the cops.
Two patrolmen had locked up' young Wood, and the next
morning in court, Recorder Charles Gardener had sen-
tenced him to five days in jail for (Continued on page 70) ©
Handcuffed suspect, -brought to D.A.'s office,
"Where was | Sunday night? Right in your own
sneered,
lockup!"
WOOD, Isaac L. hanged Geneseo, N.Y. July 9, 1858
oe e ley we carretera
: iP. My eerie ="
need ‘shack
Atcad Be ic Ce ciad by justice, or
any one lee sot so depraved as to sympathize with
\ntme as well es critpinals.
Wood wad net jafficted in a spirit of revenge, and
‘was utteuded with none of those riotous aad dis.
graceful procevdinigs on which the ne of
the death penalty. harp'so much. Isage L. Weod,
who murdered his wife, his ‘brother, brether’s
sife, and sought to nmrder two innocent children,
wns brought to the gallows by the powpie of Lail
imgstan coenty in an orderly manner;
great solempity hag paid the penalty’ ies
with his life, aud the ecenes of eae aay i
made an impression for good upon all whe: wit-
. neased them and life is the more secare in that sec-
stan: of the Nate, Thinking that the paople of
| Monroe may proat by the lesson of their noighbors:
at the south, we give a report of the execution.
Of she trials and conviction of Wood we need
ut speak in @etail, as all our readers are familiar
with what has tranépired in the courts. Wood
was convicted of the murder of his beother’s
widow by powon, at Dansville, nearly three years
same. PY revipasly, his brother bad died and his
own wife, all under the symptoms ofspoiseg.—
Atathe time of the leat murder there was pot ‘suf |
nvient evidence to Warrant an arrest, gnd nothing
wae done about the affair, Wood suught to aweep
iron) existence a whole family, including two
Oldren of his" brother, that he might posaces
bet jittle property, of some of which he had
possessed haga by a pcries of furgeries, He
nearly accumplished hig purpose -the children
alone survived: ~artl fled to the West, wherw he
remained in seclusion for about two years, when |
as munder will? ont—facts were obtained to war- :
rant his arreat,iand he was brought beck & an-
nwer: He waa ‘tried opco and the jury faileg to
The punishment of §
if
I.
)
agree ; but # eatond trig) resulted in his convie- |
tion. The pr
ability by Major A.’ ‘A. Hendee, District Attorney |
of Livingston, aad the defence was assi;
Col. Wood. able lawyer of Genesco, t
ution Was conducted with great |
ned to’
who did |
‘all that man ¢ Haid do to save his client from the
gallows. ‘ After the seatenbe ‘was pronounced, to
‘take ¢ on thie obth of ‘toes, an effort was made
to gb ba weit of error gn the gtound that the
crime of forgeryierne prey on the trial, but-Jndge
Jotinson was firm, and refaged the application, af.
ter giving the subject due-reflection and listening
) to one of the ‘most elear and convincing legal ar-
/pipents that we ever read, from Maj. Hendee, for
the Poopfe.. The argument was published in this
? paper. Gov} Paina granted & respite of two weeks
to Wood, and. respite ended yesterday with
| his life, Of the jastive of the sentencd, fow: if any
| doubted, altheegh Wood pe ig his inne
cenee'of crime from first to Iey— ta partial, 4
confession betrayed him, and Tomoy from the |
- minds of aj] af the lest mien, whet Bs pabtelthey |
, mey have entertqined, .”
| Wood waa'a quan thirty, eax sears ne ny
"penal stature, weighing only one hnadred gad te
‘_poands, He had’ a cémmon' education, and Shae
@ sedident ent of Dabav ille he fas a member of the
Methodist chuteh, and) franteined fanily worship
at Oe time Be Gal destroying the lives of his-vic-
tims, . At the time of bia trial be exhibited aymp-
_ toms of levity ind indifference to religion, which
‘led wany to auwpoct his guilt, and which destroyed.
all confidence je is singerity as a professar of re-
tigiow. In time df trial and great embartassment,
_ the true cbriatian, flods a consolation in his faith,
and does nol then put aside ite profession tw re-
sume it when al} is supaliipe-and prosperity. -
Whee the Jadge tnige eharged the jury, and they had |
, Wend retarned to the jail
of
with bis brother Iho. propimed to spend a season
derlined; saying it wes |
From om moment his '
mo time to prev then.
-brother wavered jn his
how, we believe, with ah. isi
that Wood was ‘a! geitty
{ imnocence, aad |
Tutiven, bob
' Sircunsstance to shaw the
how much hig: voligions pe
well as to explain: the
. thons attended | op
When Col. Wead,
the prisoner the fat
hy no Beedle |
es
ommend
ther: hope ot oatael
; he seems to have set
_ purpose of putting on’ ‘mado Aare
| and making pedple betiera bao Was o persecy.
| ted and jnnocest maa. was advised by his }
' Counsel to call epirites! advisers ‘and he imtimp |
ted hin Wwillingpesp to do so.' Hé asked: Cal. W. to
rend ‘such 8 clergyman as he: erat woeld bet
* paitable, ree as ae , Rec
‘¢ toPof tie Episqopel Ob rth|at G >, sali de a |
J bin régularly at the pare
ior his life, affurded euehe
4 advice as he. ould, Rev;
‘and Rev, Mr,! Neetestiie ef
chureb, the pi while ut thet place,
also called | wt hie fi tly, and the former
attended him ty the Slows oes :
| prisoner, before}
budy ) an unde m Avon, who was to
have” it properly interred: | ‘The. bevther of the
to, teeidea in New dersey,
and wap at Dansville ‘yesterday, but did met see
the condemned. lif him afosl adice. Mr. Kar-
nard, of Livogia, Who marrind a neice of the prig-
Oucr, Was present ‘6 the @xeqution. He, in com-
mon with the oat of the fambty, regarded lain os
@ guilty man: | Pope by alf his relafives,
who hail papal frteowbie gut this verted
man on. to his |
evening before thee cation, by request,
+ aula onal Headee, Heri McCartny,’ J. |
Korehoor, Eay,,. and two depetian visited Use fel- |
€0’erobm in the Jail. He talked. of the crime fur |
“Whieb-he wag. ‘condemned, apd it was enpposed .
that be'was shpat be make a wunfeseion. . ls: was |
then that he volwateered:to aly that Ae Freee thet'|
‘bie wit, brother, ead brothet's wife were tilled |
Y wison, sey aso an ektempt a made ty kill |
thildren. He hot t
‘Was, but would ak pabays seal “mali Dar he
wae not the yullty dpe. We udderatang thas what
e-said, was reducett to Writing, and will be peb- j
lubed. | That be mada the statement, we kuow |
from those who heard {t. This -was: tawtamount |
ta Couifession of his guilt; and gave the lie to all |
be protested ig bis dying moments. " :
Ou Tluredey night be wag quite colt. eed sept
‘for more than two bours soumdly and qeictly, ae
I the Jailor states. He spent moet of the
ead the time ” » his heat
merwing
neta: wish thet
' clergy.
reopite, in @
nide of ond
as eee
lie, From the ether
tal setae and aloo.
La
’
Rochester Union and Advertiser July 10, 1858
i!
aei
/
yor
His step was quite firm, be cartied his head erect,
end looked apam the gallows trpme :
cpaLnepnceeey rae in, 4}
+ Deputy Sherif Nash | Tease L-
Wood bad but twenty utes to | peat itold:
tim thet be bow fad on opportunit epéak.
_ Weed, thea ing, tga pat gat ary shad
in his band, | aon ne ree
Lous, bat t peep
-dreed el tem Sa often ws
erated aod repeated, aud @ not,read well if
Mterally reported. We: dive here of
what he said as follows: | age!
_* “Here J am condemnelt| by the laws} [ my ooan-
try to die; dnd in 0 few moments ‘shall be gone—
I shall away from this w
anus ope of hupa, of happiness and
giory, and @ii notw ithetending, the, world may
call me guilly. Blessed be God, ‘this world is not
ruy ebiding place. I sball soon ha dtretched between
heaven and and stand at the judgment seat
of Gyd. You, Mr. Hendee, (Dist. Atty. } mast ‘go
there.tov-- you cannot escape the judgment. Ulery
to God! His judgment is impartial. Jequs
Christ will judge ua, and we canit degeive bim,-—
We mey the world, bat can’t him! | Blessed be
God! [ard an innocent man— fem persecuted,
but I shall soon be out of the of my perse-
ertors, Iam innocent of the charge | iof nty-per-
secutors, for:which I am condemned tio death. I
know perfictly well what I am Say PZ 1. had
| rether die a thousand deaths than endyrf the per-
secution that | have for five weeks pest. Blessed
be God! to die iss gain to me. | Blemed be the
name of God! What is the cause of all thir,
{pointing to the gallows;) God knows—+blessed be
his holy name. I know that it is injustice... I feq!
it, I know that Lam persecuted by men? but men
Bere tiable to err. He knows they har erred.- <
‘There may be those who believe me-—”
Here’ the Sheriff interrupted Wood, aad called
hin to listen to the reading of the death Warrant.
J.B &dams, Esy., then read in a clear and fir
vaice the death warrant, the respite, and the let-
ter of the Governor refusing farther joterter.
ence inthe matter. Wood listened ty, alll, uccer
sionallf wiping bis face and neck with hie hend-
kerchief, and looking upward { toward the gallows |
frame, ‘and occasionally Bbepering | oe if aa!
prayer. . 2
had selected! the following passages of §
Vor’ 1 have heard the slander of man Ww
| every side: while they took oma iT na " on
d of trouble and ff
Rev. Mr: Kowpe then stated that the Prisoner |
iptare, | i
to be read on this oecasion—to he forind| mn if Boatey | i
; Bist, versea BK, 14 and 15:
Sy, dev jeed to take away my bist, yom
1 trasted ia thee, 0 Fiat a ‘sald: Thou art in ‘Goa.
tines are ini thy band ; deliver ime from the basal of
ne engmles, and froth them Aha. perecute me,
Mr. Bowne then kneeled for prayer W dod aad
kneeling. A fervent and ppcbpriate prayer. nas |
then offered by Mr, B, eching meray for the
cundeuned and pardon at | the Throne of Grace,
| if iunotent-~and if guilty, asking that Gu@ would
‘open fis mouth at this moment to cantess bis
guilt efure men, that be: might hope for atone
ment, iw ood exclaimed “ Amen,” often jduring’|
the prayor, and when the qgestion of his guilt was
alluded to, his Amen. was lguger than betdre, >.
Kev iMr. Bury hmore then read frpap the Epigco-
pal Bek of Common Prayer she serviod spproe
priate fo such an otcasivn, —*
Att He conclasion of the mayers W ond) dev ne on
to rt eth In tip low a tohe ty he lieard }
distinc Ig by all. Just as he commenced tg seal |
again, inp Nash told him that he haat: but 12
fade mune Lolive. He said; Lord | rege v my |
| apicit '; Blessed’ be God tor th¢ hope T have in
YCbristd (A giags of water wai
given him. 1]
thank fhe Lord God that there iain religicin te ate:
tain me- the religion of the’ Bible, (Po uf Ravior, |
Jeeus Christ. It is the only religion to support:
one in puch » time. Blessed be God! Towmay
call we what you please-4¢ is no matter! There
ie something in religion that cum suppoR me; in
‘this bogr. [trust in Jespaq Christ, -flis blesged
‘promises T have to comfort nes ~all those blessed
) Promisys. 1 claim them ah J uN ts ta him' to
forgive all my mos. 4 lug innogent- have a
hope the world knows not of- LE bave the ¢daforts
of via Mstqinwe: than and gi¢ce bhi 1 BONE
thing reat upod in this wherid and hope ‘of ey:
mortality,’ T am shout to “i changed; [
I dm gu-
ing to another world. “Bleaped be God.
hepary
utes wore tohire. | |
wart. } trent
ou whb me o
thehe this
vid bo bat a lomp of clpy ~but the nppiret a
pacend fe Gud, thi ‘impartial and just Jodge. i,
long to Pepart; God knows my heart+H ae
I asm imgocent. You cannot know it, Duc tte gn.
That is i. [Deputy Nant + + Threr wmutea more
to hive. ; ‘T shall soon be gbne forevet trom my
farewtll +f nwell - |
Vean dip aime
t ue!
a
Nesh- You hare seven mi
canoat xpress (he (elings bf my
2 The same God thpt has
in Je
i E etill ¢eust in!) You mh
‘ni¢ce of Woud and who stoed near bim:
Pelation,
Pieesens
f. Butchmore asked the ptidoger Ine eit
: and was trad} Ww pret iGod?
lied “yus—J amjresign
4 inf
ing words. God knows ‘thy i
veime grace to dit, end ire
enemy:;-deeth} lord rem
A ama ready to go! Lord
i whet I am saying. 1
¥ Gud in heaven.
eal tetacd to the tlergy, the Sb
ities and others Wround, shook ‘bands with
' bade ae fare. His
ned.” He es
Buimed, ; ial Lord as recive.
berlf,'you have heen so kind
a4 wany a6 I can.” A |
Chase adjusted the rope: about his use, |
‘cap wee draws pret, his fave, a be |
in the eheiv. | His tasne had ‘come,
the drop was to fall ghe trembling
aut the chair, then tried ta raive hin
a, "Ob, Sheriff,” Ob, Sheriff” and
voned te look ever his left sho ee to
tread— foot of Shetif’ MCartay
8 21 minu past three, the latg8—the
aud with a bound poor Waoud sprang
nto the aif, fell bearsly to: within two
ground, and hie sufferings wegu at an
end. Heung heavily and quietly fore
ménia, wi aa @ocessonal emda: of ate tog o
aud soum pe wee dead. |
Ae the drop fell, Mr. Beraard, ‘ibe arias RY
tieked
“Oh, Dede |" end that was the ooly bumad wand
utlered alithe soleinn moment. Thé Hand Pithout
by « signgl, played « aglemn dire and othacw ine |
ailence re{ ned around.
at vig hy minutes the pulne, of Wood had! ‘cwased
tu beat, hit he was suspended thirty tive nhnuter |
when th phpnicluns. in attendance pronpunced |
hig “ar the body wan takcnvown, ‘placed
Ww mo-
in @.00 furnished by a sister uf the colpbit, and
taken furtiwith to Weat Avon, where it was ini
Inddiately {uterred W be remyvad ey some future
time to New Jerseys: | oe
ies ae eo ge,
had left the greend, the mititary formed. for a
LS suck an déeired, remained to witpmas it,
went homeward is borrow; We
tare airey oh erestan all we haxe room for is
the executiqn. Of other | matters, more
\Felhect upon, in the besetiful Valley of
a, we-whall say more at bnother time.
it} OAD is
a fo sacs ole
G4 a 4.4
be Met O
es ie £2 oj be» i a
Pik Fed a wet
i {4 ry os
hse AE} me :
ef Ott bs es
old g +
od i a a i
0 ee in 3 eq
“Os At evi oe
1 te§ UR UNS
fad 4 ie ie fod
es ion m
a Ry ue 63
ay fi Sco? or
Etna EL mat
uy H J 7
q}
a, 4 cH 3
oO Sie a
am ota bs
HO of
‘a: C ry i)
a a Coed ott ty.
Un eS ripen
o%. ed © Pe
ve #9
oe
.
*
2
B
‘ecue
: 3 = a 198
ia
ong fg rf fe
ee ho ee
erg!
ait oy ih ee
i ek cP a
.
‘a
e
¥
a tas
wen VAST
£
3
a ane ted
ade!
abe
b
es |
wis o
2 ee nce
3S
ay ae
ei G
fe 63
hy oS
&
oo mom,
©
Bee
we CS Eh
freed OF cp:
bs
>
~
Wg 4 @ i
Maines
See a a ra oO ghee} a Eee SES Lr E> geo aeemreen pak Oe o ; “pad &s SARS 50 OS ach ee ob
rave fg : a) Pan nb ; - 4ha pe te oF O05 et, (Se WD fee ON Gy Ot 3:
ae SG Oe ada ce ie mt ti ie Bee Ge ROM ong Geek aa Oe
OM PRS OD Det 2 ant CF bY Det fy wat OM Qemeers OS TAG cs fgets Be Gl cy te ny eh.
) o off ipet > fad Oo O47 8) A by a be far: LY yj Py jot i GO Cf HG tj 4 G) Ge OF Co op wf foi i
| ns wt as uh yo fs Fh lA Cl a} rd i +4 of Yi # iS Be AF MS A GOV OP Ge Rte Oo seat eda se ap be G hy
* ed noe 4 Om vb oboe: KS Daed wt GO flag es yi a fr o£ fi. SS ct dl ot i tal Os 64 2 GS 4 47, w met @ £3. &
od Oty Oo MAW HOOD Ort 43 ot O kd ad © ny 1 ed pet Ro wt OG = OE ORD BO
by .0 Peed Oe od Or wi OF At MORO oy Oyo ff Nom ohrwa wu crea tt sow oO pp4> py hs Bre
oe ped bs ty GH ove skh de eodOOet Ba 4d 44 Gepa bh OG “HOMO OY Yas Ot ag Re be
“oh a of by Ci C3 KS - f{wod wt Gh CS fa be Fy HT Hy as CS eo} @ wl FB ee Me Wet BS 420 ' {$2 be Fw Ly] #2 Cf ded Gidrig ©
2S got 2 gh ssf Go wf GO et G OF ORO & oe OO he Sn be weed O° AG B hed. oii 2 G 2 42 Oo Fe C395 HK] O oh. ey 3
os.) ay QAG OK SIS Mee Ot op ow Se WS at Ad ee 09 Weg OL O49 Gt @ fy ce
Oe fat OMS AOE OG DOWN Ge OOM | wf OW eto ix wd M4 Bae 4g Ch @ me Ca yt ob
oof "ey gas O43 Oo | fRky WD U3 a3 as Gt O33 a) cy & Wer cece wo Fe .GO Vues aces rr it Ws? O G3 £3 01,
fon Heo Gg BOD Off a Bede og wh Og O Qc a Mpa ag Lh eef @ fond & a A Oey O tO pe
4g Oat OO Lt srtny oe) st GG 8 mh Fy wD ye OFA Ff oO BR GOhe GYM we HS go
ore Het to + fH OU HS OOM OOO oO Acy 44 OG fiwg ORE YOO. Y HOO d 0 fy oF
fee. Hs ¢y @f> O Cf Yao by be Me OPN OO 4 ODO NWO G GU BMY OO (da sf O by it Ve
ty 6 O44 CY CH wy 44 Oty . 24s of CO byt o ~ feat Po wt DO Bis 49 Coss By fe gg bey OF OG a Rc be eS at ef OI Gi Rd ag
ais G Get kt O aa toot 4 a) ef wi O 49 rel is ee Sh eS . 13 oS aad t? £2 @ we. beg Kg O eed GS Gag art Ch eng 48 Gs Kn no os oui
8 th 49 43 O44 GF G8 O ferme 4. PRE fe th aed Meet CF CH LY SE hand OV ds Eat erp td v0 ie Be TS LY wy O & hy 45
of 0 faeietat Geatiziag OO Wong o 8a 00 FAY. Det Fw & O. Brits Meow GO w wy SG GU O45 ef jf Oo D CJ wy ot
Se ed O Ger OR USP YOO Re tao . CHAD fg fy eh OG efe Rid clag 1? GE rd SOG: Paw gg oma g
et PO OSI SO MN Oo . 49 GI HF 9 CP LY fg eB mo} G) he et ocd fy evsef Sat ty = QE SO et ag Oo Of cf ey cy gh
eee ae os to CR 4 BWauee Or es byttilo fy fy Bas © ew tp EJ wt vied (By CF ed ee a? ae OD G3 exp UF} 4% CD fg hy Oy Oe Me 7 oO 0
: be 0 Beg ee 3 Boe OO DME SO » & feds 3 83 Ce) CHORAN H dost oon ef) S220:.80 iQ o
rj 043 0 FF oF ug te! oy fe OY 40h OD te as dt ede CF LS a ¢ it @ 5 -°O =. - uf OF cy AUN RQ ag Fp ab Ce eo 4h LE CS that a (} w° 43 ay
‘ a etoucl hy of oh A Ge he 443 FP Vi IO Mag Ot tem weet 2 ee POW a a hey 43 %3 Oe O ¢ 249 © wd vj
aw OW 04 chy 2 8 £Y One Was aa fe 23 62 UD ui a3 Og Oise G 4 i) guy OM rg Od ci oto goo as woh GO £3 © ax
ee ay = bey 4d ES ed eG 4 ogo 5 CY vg Cf wee fa Cy . wef of o ‘moO ete oud G G i Oyo <§ Yee Oo Co >:
beet 49 a 0 C3 2 CY iS S:4 004 & ot hy ok ed UD Er? it ee MES Gs LT iy $e ey Re Chet Ce £8 ost “J a hi ®t 43 @ a by
eg: BONG, wah an ff ch dd Gg gcd mn a Git Qoeuo a, St > > NH FG os @ of vee VD Rotel oh 4 SO a Qe!
Alt OO OH a 4 o4d CS KEE O OY CO byt Fy Ty af Eset Pade g us et epoOo Jaan § owed cl ov “0 aby es
et ge ASTON GAO G syst YVOH Of sas rtd Gf S BRAS OO & ‘ef Chop 44 oh ta Cf w OF © Om oy
ape Gye gf ty sh CO Oort ag. Oo ey «ds oq 09 tb Y Any Re 8 ENS eet Od OF Hy Ge D4 Py Ges OTe LEE Pe fe go HE CE Oh ay tp ae f. s
ent et C} tit kf Ga td ct Owe cf ED OP teed OO by wl booed do Ob ued Cha Peo EL st aa Way 844 eS 1 af x3 Op
So toni he O Ole Oy Oo fe Got — EF AN Gt Sq 8 OQ AE Ui om et ee Ces aut Op La Ce eed KE CY Abed ct a ae op
fs 49 O49 CC OD eh Qi eR eg tA Oo he rs Qa dd oles fa 45 4 ve Gece os OY & oC) a ie fe gg fe Ot. te ¢9 Hyd gy 8
oy tf hp O64? Mh OS he £4 ed RE Ba US an tp c¥ 43 ef ony ot eeforg Ly Fe fe a $y ey bs SOY ke Py Meycry ary} b, wy? $f ORS BD BR Bec:
Og OO OAM HO EB Gy wi ETO of . IO Lf off fe as ew eh Y Oke bd OM a & O53 Ot OH fy er ¥
ne ub OV ow St ta ay CP wf Ee ve ‘d yi orl Fe Gy bowie oY ff if Gy Oa g ye WW ra Th FF a Am ows. dct ga a orm wk
Se OE hit OO AO ed ibe ig OE ed NO) EO Gated 49 | etry ® © Bye
BTy-f4i 0738 *% Uae FOO GO h Wg Fate Gi UP te KY ay < Y Fale ken Yev cy a ts Be 2 AV OY SG) ugg 4 Cj ie
“ay Lo o 4 OP eed a i in en 'F4. x | 4 vs e Qo =| vy ef $ se 0g OY SCD of. ay ES TEE by fy : = 0p wb oe eT ape SP ET Ot - t~ 4-9 4.9 a ;
SE AO OOM ch ety ae MW SE te FO Depa ort mb F Madd ed BE aS & GEOL Deep og Jo a a ri AN GO. ies
oo AQ © 43 a ass ud hidrcd Gtd ffm HH rs Gyo Vet GN) be gy OF Gb Oy et OE OR OS A Mane a ee
eee Beg ed C9 Sed chcs ofl CO Get itt SP OD eH CRS ot wed UN end ba gh Ra 4 faienh GE OY Ky So OF eae PD mt TF Ot~ aa
Sg pacet ag g SO a "OG 43 “Cy Cy Th OD he hg Pang ome HY ot cf Op OQ w Daa et ty rt Se ot r af 2 - Ge © a chs
Pas OO fhed O by Ey be Canett wt CY Cr © be G) [> we OT eg rd pe Paced OF beg Gh sp SH aQaaggda Mv tesa eA Ag? 4
Fat et Se YS a Oe OD ES oe om ah oo 2 8 Giese u WO PAG Ged et a O Guys Sag |
- Ae ene q) ao 49 Uo cosce kwh ab Mh Ce eg 7 40 2 osd Shy ey. MSY tw ot i) ch oy 3 eS So he Det $44 8] 43 3
SME EE ee ad OC Syed Ge bated Viet Shao be G@ bb eed ES ee oy O Gi es yi fy oe & Ww OO GAY OW of bos ob galt
A tre SU OR eS Ey Oa Fe ry SY fe LT Be wt Gt 403 eet ae ; 4 % off omen es We hy —O + 3 fest on pore OS Be Ob 4D eed eg by cp
cab epgae be 4 ky OO SR fat ee Sof OG cf ha SpE wal OP AD mn OD eg 44 Gey fe a Pe Cat @ Ged SS be oy fe ah ot oe
LP est oy ics OO eteg 9g og Ose. SY et iw ee Sd eb Pe STO Beg oS Ga OY MS 2 ta 107 SS O36 M4 wf ud @ SS of ee OS oe
iw ape drt 3A 1d a Yee COG cy yh 48 G4 ns ee es es | 1 3 oo GbE 4.3 4d rn] we fe 42 ong - ae et
aE awed Cag S$ BO GE UN et ba Oy Or 0 0 Hat OS a7 A 4a Fo tof et ch a Aa ovo: o cf 4 | ae
pare. S44 oh 0 xt Gh bf CP UY CF Gag Co Oe ee Ch Co red UH OP TH AS bod oY : we ah te? 3 OY Cb UY et fee ect Sy Ss ox090. -
tat! eS > CR Up Fe bey Phe OG eet APO S ae a ee fy D & © as) tb ey 4 19 4 Ff O OTS af do. 49 af af 4d Thee a3 yg ees
ed iter er 09 DG CP 2D mq 63 & } : f¥ : C} (3y'CF 4-3 ey Q a : aw fy @ > a ‘ a a & Ue Ip i GF hq 3 Fg Oe xr cj ; ¥
ai rats ec ‘ peg et 5-08 ab ed Ej ok Get ma Cys OE LEO V a Ly ang ‘cH A Woe DY UG Gres OM Marah 4 ee GS ATP Ree Wes
; ih eae em es 9 WOR 4 Re A oe tS Bes Cy of fas 44 cy.
“eat Yor ea Vf ep CH Citord ef Se pe LE ae be ay 45 Fe. ch 3 MG cr bE bd weg uw)
o TH ty oO fact 62g) Wwe Ga © “ay.ct od oO Ge WS wkd eo Ge Be
Be my ty ~y 4 if fg ty : Cos ; $3 gel oy be ons ot ty hea “ney : a) qs 3 abi.
fe aor NS? EG etd 3 ad G C3 az Pow fh 2 ee fa PAN GO be
: eo 23 ee z *s x ai Ure OY cr ongesy Ad ¢ be wy as 343
7 0b 38 43
OG Re) Ome as Bias
t, " x ‘ ee :
